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absinthe's eyes rove across the remains of sootopolis as she is carried over the crater and into the city, scarred with kyogre's burst into the rock, steadily flooding. people are screaming. the scent of blood is thick in the air. attacks made of pure energy fly like bullets. worst of all, the sea is rising. absinthe's eyes narrow.[break][break]

the league is terrible, but is rocket any better, truly? it's all a matter of territory, of pride. a pointless war started for oft pointless reasons. does anyone here know what they are fighting for, if not for their own allegiances and loyalty? what is the point of fighting for a city if there will be no one to live in it once the ashes settle? once this night is over, there will be another battleground. more lives will be lost. history will repeat itself forever and ever. making brief eye contact with a woman and a bull-faced god, absinthe fully comes to terms with the hopelessness of all of this. in a war of gods, the most she can do is try to keep the body count low.[break][break]

absinthe's grip tightens on the cool, leathery skin of her crobat as they glide over the churning waters of sootopolis. the once-great city, now reduced to a battlefield of elemental fury, stretches below her, fractured and teetering on the brink of complete ruin. kyogre's rampage has gouged deep scars into the rock, and the floodwaters rise with terrifying speed, swallowing the streets and the screams of the desperate below.[break][break]

sanguinarine screeches, sensing her urgency, and they descend rapidly toward a cluster of panicked civilians scrambling for safety. the scent of blood is overwhelming, mingling with the acrid stench of ozone from the crackling attacks that crisscross the sky like the wrath of vengeful gods.[break][break]

as they land, absinthe jumps from crobat's hold, her boots splashing into the ankle-deep water already pooling around the ruined buildings. panciked people stare at rayquaza's shadowed figure in the sky. "climb!" she orders the mob, grabbing a man by the shoulder and shoving him toward a crumbling staircase. "get to the highest point you can reach. the sea’s coming for this city, and it won't stop. follow my Crobat!"[break][break]

her crobat lets out another piercing cry, circling low over the heads of the civilians, guiding them upward toward the still-standing heights of the city. the pokémon moves with a calculated precision, herding the people like sheep away from the approaching disaster.[break][break]

absinthe watches them scramble after her crobat. it’s the best she can do for them. she hopes that she may be judged fairly in the afterlife.[break][break]

once the last of the civilians are following her crobat, absinthe turns her gaze toward the rising waters, her thoughts shifting to the great dyna tree. there’s no telling how long it will withstand the relentless onslaught of the sea and those that would see it fall, and she needs a sample before it’s too late. to grow a dyna tree at will should they get ample opportunities to research it... unimaginable power.[break][break]

without hesitation, the chemist plunges into the water, her movements swift and deliberate. the cold bites at her clothes and skin, but she ignores it, focusing on her goal. the tree looms ahead, an ancient relic of a world that’s rapidly disintegrating around her.[break][break]

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