dog pokemon have never much been in her purview. she has a narrow skillset, but she's a master of one if there ever was one. and part of dragon-taming is knowing the ins and outs of their adversaries - fairies and ice-types. 

but pokemon like this? she has no idea the extent of their capabilities. which makes them dangerous. she at least has an edge on the terastalization - the first glimmering fractals, she's able to identify its typing and plan accordingly. 

lyune's worked through all the viable transformations himself - over and over and over again so she could recognize them all with the bat of an eye.

her own tera orb sparkles and all the shards adorning lyune's scales glow in tandem. galaxies spin out over blue, turning his scales cobalt, and when he charges through the toxic cloud, his claws gleam with draconic starlight.

[attr="class","heroesgymbar"]

blue murtagh
G1WIQEMa

Terastal Pokémon receive a +15 modifier on every roll that's an even number.

☉

[newclass=.heroesgymbar]background-color:#333333;padding:5px;height:5px;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px;[/newclass]

flames lick at the edge of the glalie's barrier. steam billows outward and away from the cold-hearted pokemon, but lyune anticipates that. he's already on the move, wings spread and claws scraping the earth in an ascent. 

fernando's recovery is quick; ice shards plunge against the salamence's armored belly. frost crawls up to his neck. 

she thumbs the tera orb at her hip, but does not call yet. it's won for her in the past, but fernando has no doubt compensated for it and expects her to use it as her ace. 

and besides, without so much on the line, she wants to pit their raw power together. so lyune's own mega stone sparks to life. he manages to shake off the frozen shards hindering the worst of his movement as his bones shift. draconic fire cleaves through the pitch, racing towards the ball of ice. 

[attr="class","heroesgymbar"]

FERNANDO SILPH
WmzbQ93p
round 2
lyune uses dragon pulse

Mega Evolution users receive a +20 modifier to any two consecutive rolls. These two rolls cannot be split.

☉

[newclass=.heroesgymbar]background-color:#333333;padding:5px;height:5px;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px;[/newclass]

the plants are shades of the real thing, wisps of conjured dragonfire with a gastly tangibility. thorns stud the sides of this thick briar and lyune wades through it. the expended energy makes his sides heave, but still he steps closer and closer to the writhing sylveon. 

he splits his maw again and this time a thin silver streak of light blasts from behind his tongue at the pokemon.

[attr="class","heroesgymbar"]

luka chêne
lyune uses tera blast
83
1nE2Zf9O +15

Terastal Pokémon receive a +15 modifier on every roll that's an even number.

☉

[newclass=.heroesgymbar]background-color:#333333;padding:5px;height:5px;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px;[/newclass]

the dragon pulse burns through his shape, rippling over scales shorn and thrown into the air. his wings are ablaze and his soul shines a brilliant, vibrant purple as he and lyra collide. 

and there he stays, front paws emerging from behind his pauldrons, claws scraping against lyra's hard shell. he towards over the lapras; energy bisects him, but it does not tear him apart. he looks down at her, sides heaving, and then past her, at caleb. 

a low thrum and freya's brows arc. she strides forward, knowing the battle is over, and after a moment lyune drops back down to all fours. he touches the bottom of his maw to the crest of lyra's head and turns, tail dragging behind him. 

freya brushes the side of his face as she walks by him. 

"well, harcourt, you've done the impossible. you and lyra have earned his respect."

[attr="class","heroesgymbar"]

Caleb Harcourt
lyune loses!

☉

[newclass=.heroesgymbar]background-color:#333333;padding:5px;height:5px;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px;[/newclass]

it's a wonder she remembers. when ana had picked her up from the hospital all those moons ago, they'd even teleported to the house. it does, in all actuality, still take her a decent amount of time of roaming the streets, following thin threads of remembrance, to find somewhat familiar ground. 

she could have texted. or called. or something. but a more selfish part of her knows she's here, and wandering, because she's hoping to come across him. there is so much to say, now, but it's still too dangerous for the both of them to arrange a meeting.

the house is still a work in progress. it's ramshackle, but not in a decrepit, forgotten sort of way. off in the distance, freya can make out the sounds that accompany the hoennian coastline. and closer, on the side of the garage, is a quaint snoring; the thick stalk of a venusaur's flower visible among the natural grasses spurting from the soil.

"ana?" she calls as she ducks into the garage. she steps neatly around an explosive array of projects, holding her beat-up quiver close to her chest. 

no response. 

she raps once, softly, and then opens up the side door that leads directly into the kitchen.

"ana? are you home?"

ana fell

☉

these last few matches, lyune has summoned extra strength from his salamencite. maybe it's a comfort for him. terastalization is still so new, and the shards adorning his crest are many. 

in the face of these adversaries, there is one power he's become more familiar with. so it's the silver piece that glitters when the fae's attack volleys towards him. liquid metal spills over his scales; armor stitches itself around him, protecting him from the deadly attack. 

pink motes of dust bounce harmlessly off of his steel scales. the wrought crown above his head glistens and with newfound resolve, he digs his claws into the earth and summons phantasmal plants to entangle his prey.

[attr="class","heroesgymbar"]

luka chêne
lyune uses frenzy plant
QAEE|9_A

Terastal Pokémon receive a +15 modifier on every roll that's an even number.

☉

[newclass=.heroesgymbar]background-color:#333333;padding:5px;height:5px;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px;[/newclass]

his claws find purchase, but a latent draconic energy rises to meet him and lyune hisses as the pokemon launches itself as his armored chest. singe marks are left in its wake; the brief entanglement of their spirits has left a mark. 

enraged at the indignity, the salamencite wrapped in freya's braids begins to glow. he summons his evolution as he's forced backward by the dunsparce. heels dig into the ground as muscles bulge and when the transformation is complete, deadly claws flash out once again to swat the dunsparce away from him.

[attr="class","heroesgymbar"]

Lucia Aldrete
lyune uses dragon claw
Gdyto55x +20

Mega Evolution users receive a +20 modifier to any two consecutive rolls. These two rolls cannot be split.

☉

[newclass=.heroesgymbar]background-color:#333333;padding:5px;height:5px;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px;[/newclass]

and quite suddenly, he is no longer the goliath. the edge he'd given himself is blunted as sparks fly. dragonfire catches and the explosion makes several onlookers shudder when the two impact. 

freya has his ball out before he even begins falling. the salamence won't forgive her for withdrawing him, but unlike the dragon, she accepts when they're beaten. still, her palms sweat, neck craned back, heart thumping painfully in her chest at the sight. 

it's a fearsome, terrible power. and right now, it's wielded by one of the sharpest trainers she knows, and more importantly - one of the most moral people she knows. but what will happen when inevitably these kaijus fall into the wrong hands?

when they have no common enemy to avert their gazes from each other?

when the dust settles, she strides across the pitch to hold out her hand. "that was a damn good match, ollie. tofu's incredible."

[attr="class","heroesgymbar"]

ollie morales
bye-bye
1jupkET|

☉

[newclass=.heroesgymbar]background-color:#333333;padding:5px;height:5px;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px;[/newclass]

all the rest of it is coming. you stand at the edge of the world. i don't know the outcome in its entirety because you do not run like i did. you have roy and alex and fernando and liv and eva. all the horrors, all the bloodshed, it will hurt. but this i know - you will not bow. you will not break.

i linger in the corner of your consciousness. 

memory's fog is rising.

softly, gently, i breathe. your lashes flutter. you say, excuse me and return to your bedroom. the door clicks quietly behind you. you stand before the mirror atop your dresser, searching.

i say through your mouth, thank you. 

and you say, quite simply, you're welcome.

i stand before the mirror atop my hotel dresser, searching, and for a moment, i am disappointed, but then i find you. i touch the corner of my lip, the slant of it. golds soften on an otherwise hard face. your breathy laugh fills in the space where you never were and always will be.

☉

we love her so much.

morning without you, we say, is a dwindled dawn. we touch her nose. we kiss her cheeks. she smiles back at us and our heart aches for her, even though she's tangled in our legs and our arms. thin shafts of sunlight streak over her cheeks. we trace their outline with care.

she guesses, dickinson?

i've been had, we say. but it's true. i've missed you. we miss her even when she's here. we are hopeless in her orbit, the earth to her sun, as though at any moment we may be ripped away from her. as though we don't belong beside her at all - gravity and fate and all the rest of it be damned.

are you nervous? she asks, lacing fingers.

no. yes. are you sure you'll be okay? we'll be okay? with whoever it is?

of course. will you?

of course.

i love you.

i love you more.

the ceremony is magnificent. we wear the vestments of our mother's mother's mother, a shimmering dress adorned with lapis lazuli and rubies. the orb in the palm of our hands, protected after all these years, glimmers a brilliant emerald. we feel the energy coursing through it - raw. untamed. primal. like moth to a flame, soulfire flickers over our skin, in tandem with our beating heart. our breaths are measured.

we are the beckoner. this will be the single most important thing we do.

we do not relent. we do not stop as our lungs begin to wither, fingers blackening, lips stained a scarlet. we are aware of the sound of our lifeblood, dribbling down our chin, over the emerald orb, and then our ears fail us too.

we fall to our knees. our strength fails us too soon. and our beloved lurches forward, but our mother puts a hand on her shoulder, gaze fixated on the sky.

a formal feeling comes. our nerves burn up, entombed in sallow flesh. we fold in prayer, as we were taught, and we beg in the language of blood for forgiveness. repentance. strength. we feel a warm light on our crown and then we do not remember anymore. 


until - 



who are you?

i'm you.

oh. then who am i?

you're me.

and we're us.

yes.

and are we dying?

this place holds just ourselves and immortality.

after, will i remember you?

would you want to?

i don't know - are you kind?

not as kind as you, i think.

you have always known me.

yes.

are you afraid?

no.

are you angry?

i was.

i remember.

the unbecoming?

yes. and the thereafter.

you hate me, don't you?

you had no choice but to stay.

you have my every happiness.

the living hurt you so much more.

yes.

i'm sorry. and, i love you.

you don't know what i've done.

i do, and i forgive you.

i forgive you.

your lashes flutter. you grasp onto me, wriggling as i am, even still do i dig in my heels and do i stutter and say i am undeserving. i am in this life that is not mine, stripped of my autonomy, reduced to nothing but a figment.

you cough wetly into someone's chest and realize your beloved has you in her grasp. you say, in a broken rush, tell her you love her. tell her we love her. and then, when her brows furrow in confusion, you forget me, because green has turned to gold.

i see you, she whispers and she thumbs your brow and kisses our temple, and kisses your mouth and searches inside of you, parting the veil to me, all the rest of the world so far gone, except the rolling flames and the taste of ambrosia on her tongue. 

this is not the first time we have felt loved - truly and wholly loved, but in this vessel we are not embittered. we are emboldened. so much joy courses through us and i tumble through your fervor, our spirits whole and unshakeable. 

you say, laughing against her lips, i always knew it'd be you. 

☉

to the little dunsparce's credit, it stays its ground. ancient-powered rocks fly through the flames and strike lyune's armored chest, molten and smoking. he steps over the coals, crunching them to dust, and flexes his claws into the earth. his long neck snakes down to the ground and he turns his head, considering the creature. 

then he takes a couple of steps forward. his claws scrape against the earth, igniting with purple flame, and he brings down one mighty paw against the dunsparce.

[attr="class","heroesgymbar"]

Lucia Aldrete
lyune uses dragon claw
NPxRW7Ms

☉

[newclass=.heroesgymbar]background-color:#333333;padding:5px;height:5px;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px;[/newclass]

lyune, alternatively, has not learned much humility himself. his losses have only annoyed him and made him reckless, itching to get back onto the pitch after getting healed up by the nearest vct attendant. freya would be more chastising towards him if she minded, but she's come to realize rather quickly that this is his way of blowing off steam. 

so, onward to the battle then.

lyune squares off against the scyther. she's given the first move and gods, she's fast. her scythes cut in quickly, raking against lyune's flank. he weathers the blow with a snarl and turns his head to blast a bout of flamethrower at her.

[attr="class","heroesgymbar"]

John Sullivan
lyune uses flamethrower
_k95NTda

☉

[newclass=.heroesgymbar]background-color:#333333;padding:5px;height:5px;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px;[/newclass]