You're allowed to feel things.

It's an important message, and one Orion needs to hear. He's not used to allowing himself to feel. As a kid, he was supposed to put his family first. As a Ranger, he was meant to put the Pokemon first. And on the Council? There'd been an entire region whose problems superseded his own. But right now? No Pokemon are in danger, he hasn't spoke to his family in years, and he'd lost his position on the Council when Rocket had held him hostage.

You're allowed to feel.

His lip twitches with a bare attempt at a smile.

"Thanks, CJ. That means a lot."

His cheeks redden as he admits it, and he can't meet their eyes, but it's a start.

It's not until he sees CJ take a sip of their coffee that Orion remembers his own. There's a pause between his brain catching up to the situation and his tense muscles finally unclenching, loosening the death grip on the paper cup and lifting it to his lips.

He makes a face. He'd entirely forgotten to put anything in it.

Idiot.

Turning red, hoping CJ won't notice, he removes the lid and starts to methodically pour the creamer and sugar that they'd thoughtfully provided into the cup. The sugar melts a little slower than it would have if Orion had thought to do this when the drink was still piping hot, and the creamer swirls to lighten the liquid within.

Orion is focusing much too hard on CJ's words, the subtle inflections of tone. He hears the unspoken but in the pause that follows, and thinks he understands where it's going before the other Ranger speaks.

Yep. Fafnir.

"It's part of the job," he tries to say, but his voice scrapes against his throat and breaks to betray him. Tears sting his eyes, and he looks away. He clears his throat, takes a sip of coffee. Tastes better, now. "I... I'll be all right."

But right now? His silence implies everything.

It was all bad.

On that much, at least, they can agree.

That he hadn't been the only one to come out worse for wear makes him feel guilty, for the Ranger Elite were meant to lead by example. How were the cadets meant to learn if those examples were set by reckless fools like himself?

But he doesn't say that, because he gets the sense he's making CJ feel bad and doesn't want to make them feel worse.

"She will be," Orion says softly of Cass. "She'll be out of commission for a little while to make sure everything heals properly but it didn't hit anything vital and it won't affect her flight." That was the hardest part about keeping bird Pokemon used for battling, for the wrong sort of injury to a wing could cause permanent damage.

He finally looks over at CJ.

"Have you talked to Vic?" Orion hasn't been able to face any of their team since the incident, Victor Wexler least of all. "I'm worried about him, after his Dragonite..."

He knew the pain of that loss. He was sharing it.

Orion's had time to reflect on the situation, on the choices he'd made weighed against those he should have. He's also spent much of that time being scolded for putting his fellow Rangers in harm's way. So when CJ apologizes, Orion lets out a startled bark of laughter. It's a clipped, awkward thing ⁠— a product of discomfort, not amusement.

"You're sorry? You saved me from being turned into mincemeat by a shadow Pokemon, CJ, I think a little salt was warranted."

There's a lump in his throat as he remembers what recklessness might've cost him. Fafnir. And Vic's Dragonite, too, had been lost in the fighting. There's no way to know if he could've prevented it if he'd made different decisions... but, if anything, that uncertainty only makes him feel worse.

I'm not fine, he wants to admit, but it lodges in his throat.

"Brave?" He echoes the word, then shakes his head. "I didn't do it out of bravery, I just ⁠— I saw that thing standing over Cass and blanked out. I should've used her fucking pokeball, that's what they're for..."

But he hadn't, and here they were.

"Thanks. By the way." He can't look at them. "For helping me out. That was brave."

Orion outranks CJ Mizikar, but the furious authority in the other's voice sees Orion submit immediately to his demand. He sinks to his knees almost in relief that his legs needn't support him any longer. His eyes are glazed with pain.

He has time only to register CJ's warning about more pain before it hits.

"FUCK."

He leans forward and has to swallow back bile, shoulders shaking. Yet when CJ's hands find his face again, Orion is compliant with every touch. Vaguely, he's thankful for the flush of adrenaline covering up the wash of shame.

He manages a nod at the threat. His head is swimming. Adriana Delmar rushes in to protect him, but he can't find words of thanks through the pain. It's only Vic's desperate suggestion that pierces through the fog of agony to find purchase in his thoughts. A landslide? Dangerous, reckless, but...

Orion's gaze is on Victor Wexler, a delayed realization of the other's loss. He can't find words here, either. His breathing is laboured through his pain. How many others will die for this fight? For his own stupidity, charging into the fray and putting his fellow Rangers in harm's way?

Orion clears his throat. "FAFNIR! EARTH POWER!"

But what he can't see from this angle is that the three-headed dragon is trapped beneath the Krookodile's claws.

Fafnir hears. And Fafnir obeys.

There's a deafening CRACK as the ground splits and splinters. The slide, at first, is slow. Pebbles and larger chunks clatter down the mountainside, and the grappling Pokémon are shifted a few inches down the slope.

Hydreigon roars.

CRACK!

A chunk of mountain gives way, and both Fafnir and the Krookodile vanish over the edge. From below, the CRUNCH of broken bone. And at Orion's hip, the light of a pokeball dims.

NOTES
• Orion is in pain and regretting his life's decisions
• Fafnir the Hydreigon sacrifices itself by using EARTH POWER and sending both Krookodile and itself off the side of the mountain. While Krookodile is only delayed, Hydreigon's body lies broken further down the mountain.

PROMPTS
at least 1 pokemon must die against the SHADOW POKEMON. this can be an NPC or wild pokemon. (2/1)
the SHADOW POKEMON should flee by the end of the thread. (Krookodile)

If CJ had received a bit of a tongue lashing for his emergency wound treatment, Orion had been verbally dismantled by their superiors. You're reckless, you put everyone else in danger, you're lucky we're keeping you on at all. That's what stung the worst. In all his years as a Ranger, he's never been in danger of losing his job.

Without it, who was he?

It's for that reason that the Orion Lykos that CJ encounters in the infirmary is noticeably subdued, unable to meet the gaze of his caretaker until a cup of coffee is pressed into his palm. Warm, grounding.

It reminds him, bizarrely, of when he'd been on the Council, and his secretary had always brought him coffee and wished him good morning and not seemed half as intimidated by him as he was of every one of his coworkers. He hasn't reached out to her since the accident. Her calls and e-mails have gone unanswered. He doesn't know what to say.

He hopes she's OK.

Dark brown eyes flick up to meet CJ's gaze for a heartbeat before he glances away, a thanks stuck in his throat. His lips part without sound and a a slosh of liquid from beneath the lid betrays the unsteadiness of Orion's hands as much as he tries to look stable and controlled.

"I—" can barely look at you without cringing, I'm so fucking sorry you have to deal with me, I wish I wasn't like this, I wish I still had my fucking arm "— I'm fine," he lies, unconvincing.

His face hurts, unsurprisingly, but that's the least of it.

Orion has the same experience in first aid as all Rangers, but Lux Defort's injuries are beyond him. He's quick to retract from the situation as CJ Mizikar arrives on the scene with supplies in hand.

Around them, the battle rages on.

"YEAH, I'M FOR REAL," Orion growls over the din, directing the harsh confirmation toward Victor Wexler. All formality and decorum in dealing with the Captain is discarded in his anger. "You think I'd fucking joke about something like that?!"

He turns his back on Wexler without waiting for an answer.

Hydreigon continues to grapple with its foes, summoning the ocean's wrath in a tide of SURF that soaks the mountainside. The Aggron strikes back with reckless abandon, slamming the three-headed dragon into the earth. It quakes under the impact.

It looks as if the Krookodile will follow up on its ally's wrath, but like the BRAVE BIRD that she is, Orion's Decidueye reappears in a flurry of feathers and fury. Shrieking, she fires a LEAF-BLADED arrow at point blank range... but the impact serves to infuriate her foe as well as injure it, and the Krookodile offers PAYBACK with a swipe of its claws.

Blood spatters the damp earth, and Decidueye falls.

"CASS!"

With no regard for his own safety, Orion charges into the fray to assess the condition of his fallen friend. Her pokeball is gripped in the vise of his fingers, pressed against her reddening feathers, and he has no hand free to shield himself from the Krookodile's claws.

He turns, alarmed, and then his world turns white with pain.

He blacks out, regaining consciousness a few seconds later to find himself flat on his back with his jaw in agony and hot blood running down his neck to soak his jacket. His good hand reaches up to grope at his neck, fearing the worst, but finds only smooth flesh slick with blood. The blow had caught his shoulder and part of his jaw, and he clamps sticky fingers against the facial wound.

Perseus imposes himself between the Krookodile and his trainer, snarling in its rage. The Silvally's white crest glows with a sickly green energy before it lunges forward with a Z-MOVE: SAVAGE SPIN OUT and knocks the bulky shadow Pokemon away.

Orion staggers unsteadily to his feet, swaying. The world spins, but he manages to stay upright as he moves toward the others.

"G-Got any bandages to spare, Mizikar?"

Eerily calm for someone in his position. At least he's not missing another limb.

NOTES
• Orion leaves Lux in more capable hands and snaps at Vic that yes, he's for real.
• Fafnir the Hydreigon attacks the shadow Pokémon with surf, which boosts their attack thanks to rage. It gets slammed into the ground by Aggron, and is in critical condition.
• Cassiopeia the Decidueye returns with a valiant brave bird + leaf blade combo only to get absolutely obliterated by Krookodile's payback. She faints.
• Orion is fucking dumb and runs in there to try and retrieve her, gets clawed by Krookodile. (It got him mostly on the shoulder and a little on the jaw.)
• Perseus the Silvally is a good boy. Defends Orion with Z MOVE: SAVAGE SPIN-OUT. Still berserking and not following orders.
• Orion asks CJ Mizikar for bandages LOL.

PROMPTS
• at least 2 rangers must be injured by the SHADOW POKEMON. (1/2)
• at least 6 pokemon must faint against the SHADOW POKEMON. (4/6)

It's the first high-profile mission they've assigned him to since his 'accident', and Orion's nerves are shot. Standing on the windblown mountainside with a scattering of green rangers and the unfairly attractive Victor Wexler, he scowls and broods in his best attempt not to show it. He'd cross his arms if he had more than one but is left instead to fold his right arm around himself in a gesture that winds up looking more self-soothing than aloof as he'd hoped.

He's more than happy to let Vic have sole command; the less eyes on Orion, the better.

When air evacuation is suggested, the elite ranger unclips a weathered friend ball from his belt and tosses it high. With a low hoot and in a fluttering of feathered wings, a shiny Decidueye emerges.

"Cass." Orion's voice is rough, suggesting little use of late. He clears his throat. "Get as many out as you can. Prioritize people; the Pokémon at least have a chance to defend themselves. Go."

She vanishes in a phantom force.

A growl from Vic's Arcanine draws Orion's attention as well, and some primal instinct sees all of Orion's discomfort vanish beneath a steely determination. Another friend ball is thrown hard toward the danger, and a scarred Hydreigon bursts forth with a vicious snarl. It slams its tail into their foes with a breaking swipe, but the attack only seems to anger the violent Pokémon. They strike back with renewed ferocity and in spite of being a veteran of many battles, the Hydreigon falters beneath their brutality.

"We're going to get hurt if we don't drive them off, Wexler! They're Shadow Pokemon — they don't behave like normal!"

Though he had given it no orders, the Silvally standing at attention by Orion's side suddenly springs into action. Ice, fire and electricity battle for dominance in a tri-attack as it lunges for the Aggron.

"Percy!" Orion calls sharply. "Get back!"

But whatever rage has overtaken the Silvally deafens it to Orion's command. Was this some product of what Chu-e Choi had done to him? Had forced him to do to his trainer? Orion's missing arm aches under the memory of the Silvally's bite.

Swearing, he rushes to Lux Defort's side. He offers his hand to help the other to his feet and calls out loudly, "We need first aid over here!" To Lux, he says, "Did you see what got you?"

NOTES
• Orion does his best to look cool and calm but ends up looking brooding and grouchy instead.
• Cassiopeia the Decidueye has been dispatched to assist evacuation and will be unavailable for several posts.
• Fafnir the Hydreigon attacks the shadow Pokémon with breaking swipe, which boosts their attack thanks to rage.
• Orion calls out a warning, mentions that these are shadow Pokémon.
• Perseus the Silvally goes into a berserk rage, and will not listen to commands.
• Orion calls for first aid for Lux, and asks the other ranger if he saw what hit him.

PROMPTS
• ORION LYKOS's SILVALLY will enter a BERSERK RAGE when pit against the SHADOW POKEMON. reference this before the thread's end.
• at least 2 rangers must notice that the SHADOW POKEMON seem more powerful as the battle goes on. (1/2)