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As the rain fell a certain former Titan would appear in all its feathery glory and would begin to whip up a fierce gale of wind which would sweep over the Galactic Titan Starmobile, causing the pouring rain to blow into its singular eye, making it difficult to see. While it could sense the others with its newfound Psychic abilities it quickly learned it still needed to actually see these annoying Dark types, only one of them big enough to see with ease. Now that it had the rain in its eye this was becoming much more difficult.

While it was distracted by the wind and Gigantamax Grimmsnarl it was tussling with two Fire Blasts and a First Impression slammed into its front right leg, causing it to buckle slightly and the energy construct that was its leg to wobble and distort slightly before stabilizing again. As it buckled slightly the monstrosity was unable to retaliate and distracted enough for Tristen to drop in and land on its platform. Quickly the thing would recollect itself and rapidly constructed a fifth appendage on its back, aiming to use this new paw to slam down and crush Tristen as he began to pummel and tear at the chi converter.

As the paw came down so did Odd, missing the chi converter but instead plunging Devil Whisper into the paw, resulting in a large explosion of Psychic energy as the construct was immediately destroyed, no doubt sending Odd flying. The Starmobile let out a pained wail as the Ghost energy from Odd's attack flowed through its body, causing its constructs to 'glitch' as it struggled to keep its form. Monique would then come in with her trusty Honchrow and with Foul Play another 'paw', this one made of Dark energy, was formed on the body of the Starmobile and it would swipe and destroy all four glitchy limbs, causing the Starmobile to slam to the ground. With Grimmsnarl released from its tongue the Gigantamax would quickly begin to bind the thing in its hair even more.

This was Tristen's moment, it wouldn't get another chance to destroy the chi converter, he had to do it now while the Starmobile couldn't defend itself. That said, as he tore at the machine he could feel it, the power swelling inside of it, and how it seemed to yearn for him, the energy feeling like it wanted to go towards him, like he was the moon and this power the oceans. He could take this power if he wanted to, such vast amounts of power too, all for him. This was the allure so many power hungry individuals had faced before him. But he couldn't take it, shouldn't, he had to destroy this thing...right?

Seeing their opening Leslie and Buzzwole, once foes, came swinging in on the Revavroom itself, the engine left vulnerable. It could do nothing but stare in shock at the incoming pair, its single going wide began Leslie's hammer came down on it and Buzzwole's fist connected with devastating impact. In that same moment Tristen had ripped off an important part of the chi converter and all at once a huge explosion of Psychic energy was released, threatening to send flying anyone and everyone nearby. Should Tristen go flying, or if he was saved, he'd find he had lost his Mega Evolved state somewhere in the blast.

Grimmsnarl, who was unaffected by the blast would feel the Starmobile get smaller and smaller and would let it go. As the dust settled it was seen that the Starmobile had returned to normal size, the Revavroom that once controlled it knocked out, and no feline features were to be seen. They had won. Seeing this Sub ordered Grimmsnarl to revert to normal, and so the Pokemon did. "Everyone okay?" Sub asked as he began to observe the surrounding area and the carnage. "And could someone end this rain?" He bemoaned as he wiped the rain from his eyes.

"Why? Why!? That's the dumbest question I've heard! Everywhere you people go chaos and destruction follow! You cast Shadow upon every region you touch! You're a plague and your judge-jud-juuu..." Eri began to answer Reno, yelling at him, passionate about Snagem being evil, that was until suddenly and without warning she began to appear sleepy and listless, soon passing out and falling into a slumber. After she did Reno might notice something very strange on her head; a single Tiny Mushroom. What on Earth? Either way she wasn't going to wake up any time soon.

"Well, that was short-lived," Absinthe huffed, leaving me to wonder exactly what the hell she wanted out of this exchange as she recalled her Blaziken.

"Yeah, and I'm grateful for it," I sneered at the teenager before turning my focus to my own Blaziken. "Good work, Angeal. Return," I said before letting him back in his ball. It was then that I noticed someone seemingly at their wits end. It was Deo, if I remembered correctly. His outburst the day before the team had been assigned here by the Pokemon League felt like a distant memory, now. But he was still a newcomer to our line of work, and it seemed like he wasn't emotionally ready to deal with the crap Ein's tech could dish out.

I walked up to him and patted him on the shoulder gently, just enough to get his attention. "Hang in there. The hard part's over. You may not believe me, but you'll get used to dealing with nonsense like this if you stick with us," Of course, I couldn't know if he was planning to quit or not. It wasn't my business, either way - I was just trying to help him.

Noio's landing and attack had done what they needed to do. The Starmobile immediately buckled under Monique and Grimmsnarl and the other paw, its limb attachments ceasing to be and sending the entire machine falling flat to the ground. Monique realized she could not stay on here for long or else she would be in the literal eye of the storm, the winds redirecting large quantities of the locally falling rain into the conveyance's systems. But there was little time to act before a massive explosion of Psychic energy from the chi converter tossed the sheriff and her Honchkrow off the vehicle altogether. Neither of the Dark-types were hurt directly, but the impact rocked the Starmobile, sending the two to the ground like a dog shaking off a flea.

Monique recalled Noio and watched with relief as the Starmobile shrank. For the first time, she had a chance to survey the battlefield. What a mess. This had been the front courtyard to the whole academy, and now it looked like it belonged under the Dome somewhere or better yet was a city reclaimed by the Smog. Even though dispatching Team Star had been on Snagem's to-do list thanks to the academy, the team probably was about to incur a massive repair bill.

She turned toward Reno, who was talking animatedly with a woman she did not recognize. "Why? Why!? That's the dumbest question I've heard! Everywhere you people go chaos and destruction follow! You cast Shadow upon every region you touch!" She didn't know who this was, but she seemed important. "You're a plague and your judge-jud-juuu..." Suddenly, she started slurring her words. Monique did not like the sound of that. Had she fallen ill? She ran over, looking at the woman. She was dressed in quite the costume with a colorful mask fit over her face. Reno was examining her and came to an oddity: a mushroom growing out of her head.

Suddenly, before she could fish out the Poké Ball containing her Audino and try to render aid, Monique started sneezing multiple times. Was it the bad weather, something the sheriff was still not used to? Or was it something else?

Aden kept an eye out as they kept following the tracks, a pang of nervousness still hitting him. "Still weird, though..." he said, largely to himself in the moment. "Even if they scattered when the car came through, I should still be able to sense them. There's gotta be some other reason they're not, even in an isolated place like this."

Eventually, he'd see another fairy circle, with a similar ring and growth like the one they came in from, kneeling down to ensure he wasn't mistaken. "Wait, here's another. Think if there's a trap, it'll be there? Not sure where it'll be connected to-"

Suddenly, with the sudden stop of his words came an intense wave of psychic energy, fear gripping him in an instant and a struggle to keep himself together. While it might not be anything Aile could sense herself, she would feel the sudden push the energy forced around him. Even as it waned, he stared at the sky, his body refusing to budge any further. A life's traumas, flooding his mind in an instant, a crack in his resolve forming much like the very real one in the realm's skies. It reminded him of one he saw in the Endless Woods, when it was still recovering from the team's fight against XD002. He didn't know what the team felt then, it was a fight he wasn't a part of. But he could feel nothing but dread in the moment. Horror. Fear. There was no escaping it, the feelings permeated every fiber of his being and ensured no amount of his mind screaming to run or rewind or simply dive into the fairy ring would reach anything to facilitate the effort. The most he'd manage was to point up even through anything Aile might try, muttering "It..." as the wobbly ball of energy gathered and formed itself.

Up to now, he hadn't met the Ziton. Heard about it, knew of Reno and Crystal's concerns and their run-ins. But today was a special day for Aden, as he now knew what true existential dread felt like and it took a form that he knew much more than he thought he did, incomprehensible as it was. He remained still as a tentacle from it lashed out towards him, too paralyzed in fear and stuck in his hellish thoughts for his survival instinct to kick in.

If nothing was done, he was surely lost.

---


After Buzzwole and Leslie's tag team on the Revavroom, they'd stand next to their unexpected ally for a moment, a respectful buzz coming forth. Immediately after that was a sudden jerk of one of their arms right into Leslie's side to punch her hard, as if they could tell they've met prior and the reunion and a need for catharsis needed to commence. After that came the explosion of Psychic energy from the chi converter, sending them flying in turn and slamming into the academy. Clearly the energy didn't agree with the recipient, knocking them out in an instant from the force behind it. Sol was likewise flung away too, finding himself crashing on the ground shortly after.

"Doing just great," he remarked with a groan after landing and hearing Sub. "Perfect capstone to our vacation." He wouldn't get the best of chances to hear Eri's remarks, slow to get to his feet. "I assume trying to deal with Team Star hasn't been the smoothest experience if this is how they meet us."

Sub would continue to scan the area and acknowledged the presence and status of each of his teammates as he saw them, content in the fact they were okay, that was until he laid eyes on Tristen. His stomach sank as he saw the state of the boy, the Snagem leader eschewing all other thoughts as he began to run towards the young hybrid. "Tristen!" He shouted before he took off. Within seconds he'd be down on his knees at Tristen's side and gentle picked his head up off the ground and rested it in his own lap. Fearing the worse he placed a hand on Tristen's chest and then his ear to it and confirmed a heart beat. Weak, but he was still alive.

"GRAY! I know you can hear me! I need Claydol! Now!" He shouted at the SNAG in his pocket, though it looked like he was just screaming into the sky. As he awaited a response, or preferably the Psychic itself, he looked down at the unconscious Tristen and was overwhelmed with a flood of thoughts and emotions. He failed the boy. He was so happy to learn that Tristen was finally getting to experience a normal life here at the academy, making friends. When Team Star began to target him he tried his best to make sure Tristen could continue on as normal at the academy, Sub not wanting his peace ruined. And yet, look at the boy now. He failed him. He failed Blizzard.

Normally being this close to Tristen, especially touching him, would at minimum cause a normal human to feel a bit tingly and maybe even make you second guess touching something metal right after least you get a static shock. But now Sub could feel nothing. Of course he still had all his fur, every hair in place, but Tristen felt strangely human in this moment, not even the smallest inkling of electricity emitting from him. He hadn't seen Tristen Mega Evolve, had no clue that was what brought him to this point, so what could have caused the spark to leave Tristen was a mystery to him. Not that it mattered though, what was most important in this moment was his survival, everything else came second.

"Doool..." Claydol moaned, snapping Sub's attention back to reality as he turned to face the Psychic now floating next to them. GRAY had heard him alright.

"Get Tristen to Doc Owl immediately! Wherever he is! Then I want you to teleport them both back to HQ! Doc has the tools he needs there, now go!" He commanded the Claydol. The Pokemon would not give the order a second thought and immediately both Claydol and Tristen disappeared in a flash, carried away through space and time to locate Doc Owl and then again back to Snagem headquarters.

Once they were gone Sub did nothing else but stare at the empty space Tristen once occupied, his hands still in the same position they were while he held him. He had fought so many foes, saved regions and the world several times over, faced horrors beyond human imagination, and yet for some reason in this moment he felt a sense of such extreme burden, that all of this was simply too much to bear any longer. How many times would be put his teammates in danger? Especially the kids who have no place being in the situations they put in, especially poor Tristen. This was suppose to be a vacation, finally a moment of peace and normality, and yet once again it ends in disaster. He thought it would get easier once Ein was defeated, he thought he could rest and the world know peace, and yet his promised world had yet to materialize. How much more? How much longer must he endure? "Tristen..." He whispered to himself. He had a lot of explaining and apologizing to do to Blizzard.

After Sol managed to get back up, he'd rush over to join Sub and Tristen. He was relieved to see the Manectric hybrid was alright, but having not noticed his prior mega evolution, he wasn't certain what managed to leave him in such a state apart from the chi converter and the explosion of energy. With Claydol showing up to get him out of there alongside Doc Owl- wherever he was- he'd put a hand on Sub's shoulder after a moment.

"You've already given him the best chance he can have to pull through and recover," he remarked. "For now, let's do what we can to help the rest here. No Estás Solo, your burdens aren't yours alone."

Standing up after getting that Eri wasn’t going to be answering questions any time soon, Tsuki looked around at the remnants of the encounter. Students returning their Pokemon and gossiping, over what just happened and why. Snagems gathered over, weirdly concerned over a knocked out Manetric hybrid. “Is the guy okay?” He asked out loud to the other Snagems, the teenager’s tone indicating that he really did not get what made the adults so concerned. Tristen looked like, 17-18 or something. The call for Claydol did remind him that other students were hurt, either from flying debris or falling over while trying to avoid getting hit. Even Eri, who probably had a concussion and ESPECIALLY the bleeding Odd. Gesturing over to one of the students who had helped fight the Star grunts, Tsuki asked “Hey, can you go get Nurse Miriam? Oh, and Director Clavell!”

Waving Rowena over, Tsuki asked the Titan Pokemon to stay guard over the Team Star Admin. “I’ve seen too many slick bad guy escapes in my life.” He said, shaking his head. The Bombirdier listened and stood next to Eri, although not enthusiastically. She was independent and unruly, not unlike his Hypno when he first caught him as a Drowzee. But unlike Grumps, who would just cross his arms and huff, this one could easily pluck someone’s head clean off if they looked at her sideways.

Landing beside her compatriot in bashing giants in the eye, Leslie would wordlessly extend her fist towards the Buzzwole for a fist bump as they stared at their triumphant takedown of this titanic technological menace. But unfortunately, a running list of mental alliteration for what they had done wasn't going to be able to fix the fact their first interaction was an attempt to kill each other. So naturally, Leslie took the punch from the Buzzwole square on and was sent tumbling along the ground until she eventually indented herself into the wall of a nearby building. Before she could mutter some pithy line or anything, Leslie's eyes would grow wide as she saw her hammer tumbling along after her to join in her in the wall. And through the wall, it would appear as it impacted and only a yelp from the Tinkatuff hybrid could be heard.

-----

Reno would stare at the very aggressive and extremely indignant survivor he had just dragged away from her exploding car, doing his best to keep a mind to what she was saying even as he responded to Crystal. "I'm preferring doing the saving this way instead of having to jury rig a solution that I have no idea if it will actually work." He said, stare flashing over to Crystal for a second to give her a small nod before shifting back to the tirade about them casting shadow on the regions. Shadow? What she saying they brought the Shadow Virus places? Some real blaming the fire fighters for arson type stuff there. Then the sudden skipping in the monologue really caught Reno's attention, the collapse from intense firebrand to lethargic mess so immediately before she simply collapsed. Fearing the worst after his conversation with Eri's mental passenger, he quickly gave her a once over to find her at least still breathing if deeply asleep. But the weird part was the Small Mushroom that was now attached to her head.

Taking a moment to assess whether it might be dangerous to do so or not, Reno would take a breath before removing the strange piece of fungus. Time to see if some reckless disregard did weird stuff again or not.