Oscar could not have sighed heavier. "Already? These fuckers are everywhere." Their push forward had been halted by a band of League trainers, no doubt patrolling the skies in search of cargo to pillage. It was unfortunate for them that their opponents turned out to be two former beasts of Rocket.

Dorian wasted no time, jumping right into the thick of battle. Just as Oscar had heard, Dorian was a vicious combatant. Oscar just leaned back, watching Dorian do his thing while tapping Navitas's head-spikes. Eventually Oscar would decide what he wanted to say.

"So do you miss being a beast or are you cool doing your own thing?" A League trainer managed to slip by Dorian, only for Navitas to whip them in the face and knock them off their mount. The trainer's pokemon disengaged immediately, flying off to catch their master. Oscar barely noticed.

dorian westcliff

Oscar had not expected to lead a raiding party. He was under the assumption that he was to provide a support role while collecting data on the Ultra Deep Sea, you know the unspoken scientist protection clause. Alas, when every commanding officer is busy and a former beast happens to be nearby--well it is what it is. He was assured that it was a very basic operation; someone docked a League ship near a portal and Oscar just had to lead a squad up to take what they can and vamoose. How hard could it be?

As Oscar and his squad approached the vessel, he would very quickly realize that this operation was a terrible idea. He had been on the Sotally Tober enough times to recognize it from afar, and as reality set in Oscar would stop in his tracks and curse under his breath. He had an unwavering loyalty to Rocket, but he was not about to contend with skyler dross. Putting aside that she was his dear friend, Skyler was a horrifying opponent for even an experienced trainer.

Oscar carefully slunk backward, diving out of sight behind some rocks. The grunts had already engaged Skyler, and by their chorus of screams it was not going well. There was only one way to get out of this without getting captured--and if he was gonna do it he had better commit. Oscar removed his disguise, revealing the black suit that he wore underneath--because if he ever had to reveal himself he at least wanted to look nice. He buried his disguise in the sand before taking out an Ultra Ball. It was time to play the hero.

As Skyler's urshifu battled against the grunts, a more cunning member of the brigand band would be preparing a sneak attack from behind with his mightyena. They would not get far, as a mighty Thunderbolt would fall from the sky and fry both the hound and its trainer. From high above the brawl Oscar would emerge from the clouds, his legs straddling his floating Xurkitree. Oscar sent a salute toward Skyler as his Xurkitree rained more lightning upon the Rockets.

"Ahoy captain! Permission to kick some ass?"

This was exactly why Oscar enjoyed Priam, the youth's senseless Optimism reflected his own. Truth be told, Oscar was having trouble keeping up his good attitude today, what with how stressful everything had been so far--but having Priam around magically took the weight off. Suddenly the day did not seem so bad.

Oscar grinned, "My chest hurts so I think I have some bruises. Other than that I'm doing alright, my injuries have only been emotional!" Oscar gave Priam a thumbs up, his grin unwavering despite the growing agony in his heart. Fuckin' Rowan Wrynn destroyed him a little...

Oop gotta repress that! Repressing....Repressing...okay all good. Oscar folded his arms and leaned his hips against a nearby crate, missing his xurkitree placing a large amount of food rations in a crate designated for raw materials.

"You don't think they'd have the beach party here do you? This place kinda sucks, it's cold and I keep hearing screams on the wind. That would kill a party vibe."

priam conrad

Remiel seemed to play into the theatrics, that was a good sign at least. A good sign of what though? They still had to fight--or at least pretend to convincingly. Just long enough to create an opening to escape. Oscar did not get much time to think things through, as Remiel's Golurk would disappear and Remiel himself would throw some sort of flash bomb.

Oscar had not been familiar with Scatterbangs, so he just got confused and annoyed as his eyesight temporarily whited out. "Agh! Mother fucker!" Oscar cried out, teetering back and forth on Genesect. Genesect's artificial eyes were not nearly as frazzled, perhaps aided by Nomi's Safeguard. It still was not loving being out in the open. It floated straight down, attempting to help keep Oscar balanced on its back. Unaware of how high up he was, Oscar's digital voice would shriek when he inevitable fell off of his mount.

Luckily Genesect had made it close enough to the ground so that the fall was more like a mild tumble. Oscar landed on his bum, the former Beast partaking in a prolonged pause as he realized how silly he probably looked. He quickly scrambled up to his feet and pointed toward where he thought Remiel was. "Bring the traitor to ME!"

Genesect reset its visual hud to shake off its daze, flying toward Remiel with intense aggression. From its cannon it would attempt to fire an electrified net to capture the traitor (Electro Web), and then pulls said net whether it was successful in its capture or not back to Oscar (U Turn).

tl;dr
--Oscar got dazed by the scatterbang and fell on his ass. Genesect recovered quickly from the flash and is using Electro Web to try and capture Remiel and bring him to Oscar with U Turn.

MP COUNT
10+ for every IC post

Oscar's gambit worked, but at what cost? Following behind Matias and his dragonite only protected the duo from the Tailwinds, but the fat dragon completely ruined Lancer's boost. Lancer was forced to slow down as the dragon lagged behind, causing both racers to fall behind in placement. Eventually they were being pushed too far back, so Oscar decided that they had no further use of their cover. "Push past them!"

Lancer did so with ease, flying past the dragonite and settling into sixth place. Oscar grumbled under his breath, agitated about the failed maneuver. It was only a temporary set back though, there was still plenty of race left. In addition, their chance for a come back was close at hand!

The field opened up into a large curve, providing plenty of room for everyone. Now would have been a good time to boost forward, but Oscar was more inclined to cruise and let Lancer's natural speed carry them forward. Lancer deserved the breather, and the conserved energy shall be better used toward the third lap of the race...

Speed (A)
Endurance (C)
Reaction (C)

0aym9j0t

tl;dr
--Lancer and Oscar are cruisin' ·

Real? That thing was an actual pokemon? "Oh..." Was all Oscar could manage as he stared up at the sky, unsure if he wanted one or never wanted to encounter it again. Lulu's scatterbang broke his trance, causing him to yelp in surprise. "Fuckin', warn me next time! We're in a battle zone!"

Oscar's surprise melted away as Darkrai made itself known, the silly crown on its head from terastallizing doing nothing to hinder its intimidating aura. Oscar sheepishly kicked the ground as he tried not to make eye contact, "I--was just surprised is all. She can throw as many of those as she wants. Don't mind me."

Luckily for them Lulu agreed that it was time to leave. Oscar was set to follow behind her when the researcher suddenly froze. Oscar peered over, trying to grasp what the hold up was, but before he could ask Lulu would crouch down and start playing with rocks. "Ummm..." Oscar was not sure what she possibly could be doing, that is until he stepped forward and saw a hallucination of his own.

He was suddenly looking down a dock, a rather high quality sailboat waiting for him at the end. The boat bobbed softly in the water, reflecting a perfect sunrise in the distance. On the deck of the boat was a familiar young man; white hair, red eyes, pale skin, but a far more muscular figure than Oscar. A kinder face too. The man looked up, giving Oscar a smile that filled him with nostalgia. "Hey bro, you comin' or what?"

Oscar abruptly slapped himself, an almost instinctive maneuver that allowed him to escape the illusion. He was back within the bleakness of the Ultra Deep Sea, which almost seemed welcoming compared to the nightmare he just escaped. Oscar shivered, now fully understanding what was happening to Lulu. Hopefully he vision was not nearly as horrifically wholesome.

He walked over to Lulu's side, leaning down to gently shake her shoulder. "Lulu it's not real. The mist is tricking you."

Lulu Flint

Oscar looked a lot less graceful than the Mad Dog of Rocket, sitting cross legged on top of his xurkitree as it carried a heavy load of supply crates. Its idle slow spin as it floated did nothing to help, but it at the very least allowed Oscar to keep an eye on their surroundings (Magnet Rise). Oscar had not been very talkative since their journey began, he was not really sure what to say. He had never met Dorian until now, and the stories he heard made Oscar hesitant to engage in conversation.

But it was a long flight across the Ultra Deep Sea so he might as well try! After all, maybe Dorian was more affable than what his reputation would lead you to believe. Oscar reached under his mask to scratch his chin, causing his real voice to mix with his digitized one as he asked Dorian a simple question.

"Hey so um--how's it goin' today?"

dorian westcliff

The first line of defense had begun its effort to repel the invaders as Oscar approached the front-line. It was an impressive setup, though with the League mob setting up Protect shields to push behind he wondered how long they could hold them back. A man with an electronic mask approached Oscar, and for a moment he had forgotten that he had helped mint frost with this very disguise.

Oscar reeled back his neck as he recalled, chuckling as he pulled a pokeball off of his belt. "Shit I nearly didn't recognize you. I'm here on break, or I was supposed to be. Got the shit kicked out of me for several hours." Mint asked if he was alright, and Oscar could not decide how to answer him. Eventually he just shrugged, "Eh I'm alright, ask me again once this shit is over."

Oscar pushed up and threw out his chosen ball, unleashing his Shadow Nidoqueen: Desolence. Oscar clapped his hands together, "Send some earth under their shields!" Desolence roared, smashing one of her fists into the ground. Shock waves radiated from her position, crawling across the earth and erupting with magma within the enemy ranks (Earth Power). That should keep them busy for a moment longer.

Oscar was fine with handling some inventory for a while. He had just finished his break, having gotten a solid thirty minutes of sleep before heading back into the Ultra Deep Sea. After all of the horrific events he went through during the first half of this campaign, the head scientist was thankful to do something a bit more passive.

He had two assistants, one being his dear friend priam conrad and the other being his very own Navitas the Xurkitree. Oscar had assigned Navitas to sort through the supplies and put them in the correct crates. The Ultra Beast's many limbs made the job a lot more efficient then if it were just Oscar doing it. Unfortunately it was anything but hands off, as Navitas's alien brain could not differentiate the items and kept putting them in the wrong crates.

Oscar was correcting such a mistake as Priam approached, "Hey hey no! That's the fifth time you put a potion in the pokeball crate, c'mon you know what shapes are!" Priam's greeting drew Oscar's attention, just in time for Navitas to place several jars of ointment in the weapons box. Oscar's face lit up, it was always a good day when Priam was around. To his question Oscar tilted his head and frowned, "Nope but I've had them thrown at me a few times today. What's up bud, how's the war effort been?"

Oscar nodded confidently, overjoyed by Kaname's investment. "I think you're on the right track, but the resistors are gonna be so small that I think we will be fine with just magnemites. However, you have reminded me of something very important." Oscar rubbed his chin, staring intently at the liquefied steel type. "I don't have any molds to make resistors with."

Oscar paused for a long time, looking as though he had short circuited or ceased functioning. He abruptly clapped his hands together, "Fuck it! I'll wing it. How hard can it be?" Oscar ran over to a nearby workbench and grabbed a slab of graphite. Using an etching tool, he began to freehand some resistor shaped molds. Small little compartments that can hopefully make enough to at least finish the pokemon center machine.

They were not perfect, in fact one might say that they were a little shabby. But Oscar just shrugged and gave Kaname a smile, "I think it's gonna give them a lot of character!" Oscar ran back to the forge and grabbed a pair of giant tongs. He carefully removed the bowl, now filled with orange molten metal, and turned toward Kaname.

"Okay steady the molds and don't flinch."

Kaname Fujihara

Oscar's eyes flared as the stranger grabbed him by the sleeve and pulled him behind a rock. This fucker was lucky that Oscar weighed less than a balloon, otherwise he would be in for a trouncing! As Oscar was pulled to his knees, he angrily leered at the assertive man.

"The fuck are you--" Oscar was cut off as the man held a finger to his lips, the universal request to shut the fuck up. Oscar furrowed his brows, still angry but willing to see what was going down. He carefully peeked over the rock formation, curious about what the man saw that Oscar did not.

At first all he saw was Porygon z, obliviously absorbing as much Interdream Data as possible. Or perhaps it was aware and just did not care about the incoming danger. Said danger finally showed itself, and what Oscar saw made him tense up with terror. It was a squad of police officers, fully decked out in riot gear and carefully searching the area. Their leader was the only one without his helmet, showing clear as day what Oscar was up against. A ghost of his past, Captain John Yahrnam--the very same bastard that shut down Oscar's smuggling operations in Alola.

He had followed him all the way out here? How did he know Oscar had fled to Hoenn? How did he know that Oscar was at Mt. Chimney? Actually--the more questions Oscar asked the more he began to understand what was really happening. The tipping point was when he realized that Captain Yahrnam had died last year; he remembered because Oscar had flow out to Alola to dance on his grave. That was a good trip. But if Yahrnam was dead, who was this guy?

Oscar began to suspect that the Interdream mist was doing what it does best, preying upon Oscar's memories and fears to create some sort of illusion. Lulu had warned him about this nonsense and he fell for it anyway, he felt so very foolish. Yet there was only one way to be sure, if he confronted the illusions and nothing happens then surely they would disappear. Without speaking of his plan, Oscar began moving away from the safety of the rock...

Mage Maddox

That was a close call. Oscar was inches away from death multiple times within the past hour alone, but at last he had crossed over into the Rocket camp outside of the Ultra Sea Portal. You know which once, yeah that one. The one You know. Battered and bruised, Oscar was looking forward to a little rest before heading back into the fight, but unfortunately fate had other ideas.

The camp was in a frenzy, grunts were running about trying to make anything they could into a weapon. Oscar tilted his head as he removed his skull mask, scowling as he tried to read the situation. He could not decipher the panic though, so he grabbed a random grunt by the shoulder and yanked them toward him. "Where's the fire?"

The grunt gulped, his eyes wide with mounting fear. "Not a fire, we're under attack! A big League mob is on their way!" Oscar furrowed his brows, "It's just an expression--whatever go do your thing." He let go of the grunt, who quickly ran off to do something surely important. Oscar cracked his neck, sighing heavily as he donned his mask once more. He would not be getting any rest until this was resolved, so he might as well resolve it himself. Without further delay, he would set off toward the front of the camp.

mint frost

War was hell, this was nothing new. Oscar had seen his fair share of battle campaigns, and yet this one in the Ultra Sea managed to top them all in terms of hardship. He had been put through the ringer in a very small amount of time, prompting the otherwise optimistic scientist to take on a more jaded demeanor. Yet even with all he had faced, Oscar knew he could not slow down. Not until this fight was over.

Oscar was heading back to the portal. His outfit was torn up and the mask hiding his identity was degrading more and more with every trial. He had to suit up, get some rest, and head back in to continue his role in the fight. Oscar could not have been more eager to reach Rocket's camp on the other side of the portal, and while he believed nothing would be able to slow him down he would soon come upon something that would do just that.

It was a dead ranger, just laying there on the path. It was not clear how they died, but there was a lot of blood on their uniform. It was an initially shocking discovery, but Oscar got over it within seconds. Bodies are not exactly uncommon in the middle of a battlefield. As he stepped forward to move past the corpse though, a noise would catch his attention. There was a voice coming from their head--small and barely coherent. Oscar leaned down, and quickly realized that the voice was coming from the ranger's earpiece.

Oscar could not resist, he really tried to but it was like fighting against a roaring current. He quickly took the earpiece out of the ranger and held it up to his own ears. He could now hear the voice very clearly, "Hello? Is anyone on this frequency? We need help!" Oscar smiled, adjusting the earpiece as he continued his journey forward. Pressing into the earpiece, he would hold back a chuckle as he spoke.

"Hey I hear you loud and clear, what's your situation?"

Raziel Beckett