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It's over.[break][break]

Exhaustion hits as adrenaline fades, and Orion's legs suddenly lack the strength to hold him upright. He slumps to a sitting position in the grass and laughs with the absurdity of it all, cocooned by a restored Decidueye's wings as she croons comfortingly.[break][break]

Raw, weak laughter is offset by the tears in his eyes, emotions welling up in the absence of danger to hold them at bay.[break][break]

I should have killed him.[break][break]

He sniffles, disgusted at himself for his inability to stem the tide.[break][break]

Get up, he urges himself. You have to get up.[break][break]

He struggles with it, legs shaking as he pushes himself back to his feet with the titanium steadiness of his metal limb. He doesn't bother to wipe the tears nor compose himself, simply trudges over to the Slateport Squad to find comfort in their camaraderie.

[break][break]

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Giddiness and warmth spread in tandem at the thought of a movie date with Tam, and Orion finds his focus drifting between the screen and his own imagination. A cheap jump scare doesn't phase him in the slightest; he chuckles, if anything.[break][break]

Until something thuds against the window.[break][break]

He can't even enjoy the fact that Tam's instinctively pressed close to him, for the noise is followed up by a rumbling groan that sounds distinctly ursine.[break][break]

"Shit."[break][break]

Fumbling for the remote, which had slipped into the crack of the couch, he pauses the movie and scrambles unsteadily to his feet. Altair and Perseus are similarly on alert, the previously dozing Absol shaking off sleep as white fur ripples along his spine.[break][break]

Thud.[break][break]

The window shakes from the impact.

[break][break]

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"No idea. It's not like you know anyone who loves movies."[break][break]

Orion has never made his love of cinema particularly obvious, so Tam could be forgiven for not realising until now. But hadn't the invitation to a movie night made it obvious? Perhaps he had to be more direct.[break][break]

Shame he struggles with that when he likes someone.[break][break]

"You could go with me."[break][break]

He intends it to come across as a pointing out of the obvious, teasing Tam for not figuring it out, but anxiety softens it into something more hopeful. He focuses on the TV to alleviate his embarrassment, especially when Tam calls him cute.[break][break]

"Not this one, no. It's new, so I was saving it for tonight."
[break][break]
He didn't mind reruns, but he had to have some new movies.[break][break]

Outside, something thuds; Orion glances in the general direction of the sound, then shrugs. He was surrounded by wilderness on the ranch, so it wouldn't be the first strange noise in the middle of the night.

[break][break]

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The face of a friend-turned-enemy sees Orion's blood run cold then hot again, memories of their last conversation fresh in a scrambling mind. His muscles tense, the Ranger half-expecting Caleb Harcourt to turn on him.[break][break]

Instead, Caleb stands at his side and joins in his reckless attack.[break][break]

He fails to return the grin through the myriad of emotions that fight to contort his expression, but a barely-there hint of a smile shines through the chaos before he returns his attention to the battlefield.[break][break]

"Together, then."[break][break]

And even together, they are not alone.[break][break]

He nods to Hailee Jacobs when she joins them, returns Noah Camus' distant smile, and wonders idly if Tam Fawley will finally fire him after he'd made his lust for violence against Rocket clear. That would hurt... but he'd accept such a price to bring down the organization that had maimed him.[break][break]

That morose thought is shattered by the ROAR OF TIME.[break][break]

"Cass!"[break][break]

Raw, genuine fear splits his tone, but the Illumina owl does not fall. She shrinks, her starry black wings bleached white - a Dartrix once more. Looking dazed and confused, she flies back toward Orion with a soft hoot of distress.[break][break]

Expression tight with worry, Orion recalls her and sends out his Absol in her stead.[break][break]

"Break those chains, bud."[break][break]

Pulling the pin from his keystone, the stone around Altair's neck reacts. The MEGA-EVOLVED Absol's horn glows with dark energy as it leaps toward the captive Dialga to NIGHT SLASH the binding red chains. It's ability, SUPER LUCK, would hopefully lend power to the move...[break][break]

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"Then don't go alone?"[break][break]

He says it as if it's obvious, shaking his head. He's sure loads of the Slateport Rangers would love to go to the movies with Tam. Orion usually goes to the theatres alone, but that's because he's too awkward to ask anyone else. He doesn't mind it, though, and his loyalty card at the theatre in Mauville has already maxed out on its perks.[break][break]

"I'm an everything critic," Orion shoots back. It's true; he's one of the Squad's more cynical members.[break][break]

He watches enough movies to be sensitive to little things about the cinematography, like what sort of shots they'd filmed or what kind of lighting rig had been used. He tries to block that out on his first watch through, though not always successfully.[break][break]

Tonight, though, he's too giddy about Tam being over to think about it.[break][break]

"You probably haven't," he agrees, reaching to grab some popcorn. "This one's pretty new. Came out... two months ago, I think?"

[break][break]

[attr="class","main"]While most trainers are healing up their teams in the aftermath of battle, Orion is collapsing. A panic attack. He's had them before, he knows how it feels, yet that doesn't stop the way his chest goes tight as he struggles to breath. Tears leak from his eyes even as he wills them to stop: the world is ending, he doesn't have time to fall apart.[break][break]

Thankfully, Cassiopeia can tend to her own wounds. Arcing the path of her flight near MATIAS SILPH' GROUDON, she takes advantage of the DROUGHT to recover from battle with SYNTHESIS.[break][break]

Then she wraps her wings around him and waits out his storm.[break][break]

It's dahlia goode's voice that drags him out of it at last. Reinforcements. Right. There's a war going on. Pull yourself together, Lykos. He's still trembling like a leaf, but he'll die if he doesn't get moving.[break][break]

His voice is rough and wet as he tries to reach Slateport Squad over comms.[break][break]

"Lykos here. Is everyone all right?"[break][break]

If they reply, if they even receive the message, further communications would be delayed by the disturbance at the PRIMAL POINT. Trees sway and snap beneath a pulse of energy and Orion whips around to witness the panes of reality crack like thin glass.[break][break]

"What the hell is that?"[break][break]

He had not been to Cyberspace. He had not seen Dialga even in its alternate form, when citizens of Hoenn had been pulled into a corrupted time stream. When he sees the great centaur-dragon descends, all he knows of it is danger.[break][break]

The assassin clears it up for him. Dialga. The Dialga? The Arceus?[break][break]

The stranger's words have their desired effect: hopelessness blooms in the pit of his stomach. Rocket were a foe he could fight, but a god? The god, according to common mythology? He shudders.[break][break]

Reinforcements shift the tides.[break][break]

"Bulu!" He recognizes the island deity he'd once seen at Ramsey's side. Whether it recognizes him in turn or simply happens to be close enough to their side of the field, its GRASSY TERRAIN augments the LEAF-BLADED arrows of his Decidueye.[break][break]

It would do little to Dialga, but that's not who Orion is aiming for. There is a chaos they can use to their advantage.[break][break]

"FIRE ON ANY ROCKET YOU SEE!"[break][break]

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Perhaps unfortunately for Tam, I don't mind is taken as acceptance of whatever horror film Orion has in his back pocket. He doesn't stop to consider that it might be politeness or curiosity that fuels the statement.[break][break]

He does notice the puzzlement in the other's gaze upon asking after his preferences, but as someone with social anxiety, that doesn't concern him much. His brain had a nasty habit of short-circuiting whenever he was asked his feelings on anything, regardless of whether he possessed strong ones.[break][break]

Action movies don't interest Orion much, but that doesn't bother him. Everyone had different tastes.[break][break]

"Really? You never go to the theatre?"[break][break]

He flicks through the list of titles saved to his favourites and settles on something he'd yet to watch. It was a slasher flick, if the poster was anything to go by, but the ratings were decent enough.[break][break]

There were sure to be a lot of jumpscares for Tam.[break][break]

"TV movies are usually the worst ones."

[break][break]