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[break]

Dunsparce felt fear, then felt pressure, as the city began to collapse around him.[break][break]

Mid-spin, the pokemon is only stopped when something pins him to the ground. A weight, a force, had crashed against him so suddenly that there was no time to comprehend the pain, or the reality of the situation that he was in. Gump can only register that he was no longer moving, and that he could not feel his back or the flutter of his wings.[break][break]

He had lived in caves before. He knew what to do when everything was collapsing around him. On some level, he was able to register that this was worse than anything he had ever experienced, but the orders of Bailey Cooper still ring true in his mind. Even if he was a simple pokemon, he still knew that he had to come back—and that this could not keep him from returning to her.[break][break]



With ancient power activated, the hunk of rubble was heaved from his body—and with that release, there came pain, as Gump felt his wounds breathe and burn. Without pressure, everything oozed, and the soreness seemed to suggest that he was lucky to have not been fatally crushed. With little energy, the Dunsparce closed his eyes and focused on breathing, focused on closing what had been done to him as his body was enveloped with a soft, glowing aura.[break][break]



It was a bandage to his wounds. Even if a portion of his pain was alleviated, and the blood stopped its ooze, there was still a sense of weakness as Dunsparce vibrated his tail, burrowing it into the ground as he descended under the surface, digging backward. He had to find his trainer. He was too injured to continue on his own.[break][break]

---

[break]

Bailey Cooper felt fear, and then felt weightlessness, as she was propelled away from the Guzzlord moments after the Zebstrika was devoured; jaws snapping as blood sprayed.[break][break]

The sergeant does not have the chance to wince, but she does have the chance to curse at the realization that persephone amavi had just lost a pokemon...but then there was light. Bright and blinding. It interrupted the suction. She had to shield her eyes from the radiance as the mysterious pokemon was conjured into existence. She cannot see arian coin or Lucas Lane as gravity dragged her downward.[break][break]

But she had to do something.[break][break]

The sergeant grabbed a capsule from her belt, deploying the only pokemon that could stop her fall. Araquanid. Bailey Cooper latched her good arm around the insect as it materialized from the red light. "Get us out of here!" And that was all that needed to be said as the bug type pokemon held her with two of its limbs while its webbing was deployed.[break][break]



The shot landed on the closest object—a building that had been cleaved in half, but still standing. The moment it connected, their bodies swayed at a downward arch. The bug-type pokemon took the brunt of the landing, keeping Bailey suspended from the ground as they skidded across the street. Fire and lights scorched the sky, and as Bailey felt her feet touch ground, the Guzzlord was already engulfed in flames.[break][break]

"Good. Fuckhead," and that was when she felt something sticky latched to her limp arm. Araquanid had turned its attention to her injury, weaving the webbing around her elbow and forearm. It may have restricted movement as it gradually hardened, but it was better than letting the limb sway without control. "Thanks, bud."[break][break]



And that was when a voice graced her mind, the same voice she had heard earlier from that strange, ethereal pokemon. Was that the source of the fire? How the hell did that scientist get his hands on a pokemon like that?[break][break]

Her good hand fetched two pokeballs from her waist as the battle turned. Attacks were being fired from every direction, aimed for the bulking monstrosity as it burned; two red shapes appeared by her sides as her Steelix and Sylveon materialized. "Aight. Fuck 'em up. We're doing this for Pailard."[break][break]





And as those two attacks were executed, she withdrew Araquanid. The bug-type was best kept from the fray, considering its inexperience and mobility...even in the heat of the moment, the Sergeant is able to draw in a breath and get her mind back into the moment. Her eyes scanned the battlefield, discerning the various attacks and from which direction they were thrown.[break][break]

She had never been a strategist, but at least she had experience when it came to not dying.[break][break]

There was a rumble beneath her feet--concrete caving in as a yellow tip revealed itself. A drill. She knew what was on the other end. "Gump?"And one brief glance was all it took to confirm her worst fears. The injuries were extensive, but he... had dug all the way back to her, using his senses to try and pinpoint where she was in this madness.[break][break]

"Rest," and she withdrew him back to his capsule, knowing that this had to end.[break][break]

---

[break]

tldr: dunsparce is pinned beneath the rubble and uses ancient power to lift the largest chunk of debris from his body. Upon lifting the rock, he notices the damage and the excessive bleeding that comes from removing the rock—uses roost to stabilize his injuries, but a visit to a pokemon center will be a necessity to fully treat his wounds. he burrows, using dig to try and find his way back to bailey while underground.[break][break]

bailey cooper manages to escape from her fall by summoning her araquanid and using spider web to web-sling to the closest remaining building, allowing them to swing down to the street without suffering any additional damages. araquanid uses spider web again, focusing on his trainer's broken arm to create a hard, temporary cast to keep her from worsening her injury. she summons steelix and sylveon as victini's voice plays in her head—araquanid is withdrawn.[break][break]

orders steelix to use gyro ball and sylveon to use moonblast; at this time, dunsparce manages to find bailey and emerges from the tunnel that he created. after seeing his injuries, bailey returns dunsparce back to his pokeball.

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[break]

Bailey would have shouted an order, but she knew it would have been a waste of time; however, her stare remained fixated on the battle, oblivious to anyone that was watching.[break][break]

Her Aggron was caught in the moment. His trainer was long forgotten. His focus had sharpened to the strange tremble that laced his arm, keeping him from executing his downward strike as he had intended—his purple eyes shifting from the ground up, spying his opponent as the Alakazam suspended himself.[break][break]

Their hostilities would have been equal at that moment; his maw parted to release a screech that was so shrill, it made Bailey's head tremble from across the room.[break][break]



And with that declaration, the Aggron would launch himself up from the ground with one hard push; swinging at the hip to wretch his tail forward as it was coated in a silvery sheen; an attack that was meant to slap the Alakazam back to the ground, where it would be back in his grasp.[break][break]



"What'd you say?!" Bailey shouted with her hands clasped to her head, still hearing the ringing from the Metal Sound. "I can't hear shit!"

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[break]

The music carried from the Summer Event, filling the air with its sweet sounds.[break][break]

Bailey Cooper had her fill of dancing and her fill of drinking, so she had slipped back into the ocean's wake. The clear, warm waters were just what she needed. Her body cherished the feeling of weightlessness, drifting to the surface so she could float.[break][break]

“Heard you say I'm not the baddest, bitch, you lied—” and the Sergeant couldn't help but mouth the lyrics to the song, hoping that the current would not drag her out to sea. This was a banger.[break][break]

Waves waxed and waned, flushing over her bare shoulders and submerging her ears to the bubbling of the ocean. “Gotta blame it on my juice, baby—DID SOMETHING TOUCH ME?! WHAT THE FUCK?” And her peaceful moment was over.[break][break]

She thrashed, feeling her hand smack against something hard, then slimy, as a yellow appendage latched to her forearm—a Shuckle that was just as frightened as she was. “OFF! OFF! HOLY SHIT FUCK THE OCEAN—!” A mouthful of ocean water interrupted her panic.[break][break]

Her screaming would be drowned out by the music, just like how the turtle pokemon was practically drowning her.[break][break]

She had an empty pokeball—she repeatedly smacked it against the shuckle, hoping that it would dislodge the creature.[break][break]

wLJjVBN|[break][break]

edit: am i a joke

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[break]

Bailey Cooper thought back to the start, trying to chart her destination from here to there, as her trowel split through the soil. Hoenn dirt sunk beneath her nails with each driving motion, separating topsoil from the nutrients that dwelt underneath. The smell of earth had always been a comfort.[break][break]

Reminded her of home—of Lavaridge. The rushing sounds of the ocean were an unfamiliar backdrop to the sight of red, towering rocks that had once surrounded her as a child. [break][break]

She had never been a reflective person—always tried to stay in the moment, just because it was too tiresome to give a shit about every little thing, every little loss, or every little mistake. That mindset kept her sane. It kept her alive... but in the silence of the farm, it was hard to deafen her thoughts as they gradually pooled into her mind.[break][break]

She heard the sound of crashing waves as if it was the sound of a hyper beam; the same beam that had almost obliterated her in the ruins of Mossdeep.[break][break]

An open cooler was to her side, filled with chilled, amber glass bottles. Six, sticking up from half-melted ice, clicking against each other beneath the heat of the sun. She would crack one open when she was done de-weeding and tending to the berry plots. This small farm had become her escape, her getaway, as the young Sergeant tried to recover from her ordeal.[break][break]

It was a place to be vulnerable. It was evident by the small sandcastle that rested on the beach, holding back the tide just as her old friend had done—the one she had lost.[break][break]

She had never lost a pokemon. It stung, just like another loss that festered and scraped at the back of her skull. [break][break]

A cold beer would ease its persistence from her mind.[break][break]

The heat made her strip away her white t-shirt, exposing the stripes of her bathing suit that resided underneath. “Fuck, I'm going to overheat,” and that excuse allowed her hand to drift to one of the cold beers.[break][break]

And then water struck her hand, batting it away with its pressured burst. “Ow! Ow! What the—?!” Her hand stung, but there would be no lasting damage... her eyes narrowed, turning to face the cliff's edge that this farm was perched upon.[break][break]

Remoraid. She could see the silver shine of their scales.[break][break]

“Electra,” and her Alolan Raichu was deployed from her pokeball. “Use Thunder Shock.”[break][break]

The attack was tossed into the waters, aiming to drive away the persistent fish.[break][break]

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[break]

She cracked open a tin of mints—chewed through the chalky confections just to feel her teeth ache.[break][break]

“Been trying to give them an outlet,” and Bailey knew her words would be barely legible as her Steel-type pounded his fists to his chest; a war drum. Blackened blood rose to the surface, bubbling from the cracks and from the scars that had tarnished the polish of his steel coat. When it flushed down his body, it did not stain red.[break][break]

Her efforts were wasted. The Aggron's frustrations were unending.[break][break]

Another roar. Another reverberation. Alpha screamed with such a strength that she can hear the strain; rage that could have only been matched by a wild pokemon driven to the brink.[break][break]

That was what their pokemon had become. Wild.[break][break]

The summoning of the Alakazam signaled the end. Her eyes transferred from one feral pokemon to the other, letting her teeth shine as she gave a satisfied smile. “All in?” A bad joke.[break][break]

Aggron tore forward, bounding to the tainted psychic without a hint of self-regard. His body was lowered, head angled so that his steel horns would be at the peak of his charge; she could hear the scrapings of his claws and the sight of dirt as it was wrenched from the ground in clumps.[break][break]

The psybeam hit dead-on; rainbow lights refracting from her Aggron's helm as he pushed through its onslaught, subjecting himself to the damage with only a grunt to express the damage he had sustained.[break][break]

One metal hand clenched, forearm reverberating with a tremor that made his armor plating splinter.[break][break]



A swing as the fist would be retched upward, curving with the heavy pokemon's momentum as he would throw himself into the uppercut; its target was the Alazazam's jaw, wanting to steer the pokemon from the sanctity of the ground.[break][break]

But he was not done yet. Pushing himself into the second strike, the Aggron would have overexerted itself if it were not for his stubborn, rocky exterior as he would bring down the second fist as if it were a hammer to the psychic's shoulder.[break][break]

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[break]

They were never the same.[break][break]

Bailey Cooper watched from one end of the sprawling battleground, letting her eyes switch from one display of violence to the other. The rush of a pokemon battle came with its benefits—good for the pokemon and good for the trainer—but for Bailey, it had evolved into a necessity.[break][break]

Her Aggron roared—his voice distorted into a sound that no normal pokemon could ever make. It was guttural. It was violent. It was frightful.[break][break]

She was used to it.[break][break]

After the encounter with the Ultra Beast—the first contact—he had grown to crave battle. The medical experts had said that he had been altered, that the Aggron she had once known had been changed in unexplained ways. The poison tainted the sheen of his metal, the blue of his eyes, with its venomous gleam.[break][break]

She waited for the gym battle to end, watching as her pokemon grew stronger and stronger with each blow he sustained. It was a side effect. It was something that was unlike anything Bailey had ever seen before.[break][break]

"How's yours doing? Just as temperamental?" She said as it was time for Arian to switch, letting her Aggron shudder with unspent energy in the middle of the warzone.

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