Welcome to Gaia! ::

Deo was slightly relieved. No time for chat though. Nodding to Brian he rushed to the children and released his Machop and Psyduck. "Major, Xavier, protect the children! Wait! Hand me the children!" After getting to Doc Owl, and the children, he would then take Serena and yell "HEY TER! CATCH!" and Deo would toss Serena like a rugby baby his way. He would then take the other one and toss it to Odd and Lykas "HEY ODD! UPSADAISY!" He would then toss the other baby that way. He would then look at the toddler and say "sorry kid, you are too big" and then walk over to the parents with the other kids and say "You can thank me later"

The second she heard 'CATCH', Keiko leapt into the air catching Serena and only had a second to hand her to me before leaping into the air again to catch Libelle, being as gentle as she could in catching the infants She was grateful for the results, but NOT for Deo's methods.. "WHO THE ~/~ THROWS BABIES!? WHAT THE ~/~ IS WRONG WITH YOU!" Instead of focusing on Deo, though, she instead walked over to Lykas to hand Libelle to him VERY gently. When told that she was too big, Yuna recalled Rala and ran over to me to hug me, assuming that Deo would stop anyone that tried to stop her from leaving that side of the room. Once she made it, she hugged me before handing over Rala's ball. I attached it to its spot on my belt, then addressed Deo. "We're all very grateful for this, but seriously. Don't ever throw infants that harshly. It's not good for them."

"You're not wrong, though I can't say I blame him," Chaos huffed as he rose from his seat. "Guess what I came for here ain't gonna happen, now. Might as well join the shitshow." As soon as he said that though, Absinthe entered the courtroom. She didn't waste any time - once she got the slightest whiff of action, she ran to the Teleporter Pad as fast as she could run. And of course, the first face she saw that she recognized was Chaos's. "The hell are you doing here!?"

Chaos gave her one look and smirked, though it wasn't his usual malicious grin. "Figured you'd show up eventually. I'll explain everything later. You better go help your boss."

Lykas and Odd watched and listened as Monique was questioned, giving her defense and being summarily proven **wrong** with evidence of her existence well before it had been a thing in this reality. What in the hell was going on? Lykas questioned it all much more than Odd, capable of seeing what was happening on the screen while Odd could only hear it. Or would have, hd there been any. Yet, for some reason, Cruxias' so-called evidence was silent. And yet, to te blind Channeler, it was damning enough considering the ruckus that erupted around the courtroom after it was shown.

The pair both moved to stand and object to this as falsified evidence but Sub beat them to it both in speed and intensity of his objection. He brought up the evidence that had been acquired at Realgam fortress, as well, and plead the opportunity to show it in their defense. The moment his request was granted, Odd felt a shift. No energies moving. No channeling or hybrid abilities. Cruxias' activities were utilizing cosmic forces beyond his ability to perceive, after all. However, the spiritually aware were innately capable to sensing when the threads of fate were twisted and tangled. And in this moment, as the very fabric of reality was unraveled and woven anew, Odd felt a sudden sense of impending doom overtake him. Something horrible was about to happen but he didn't know what or how to stop or change the outcome of whatever it was.

Moments later, as Sub's doctored evidence played, Odd and Lykas both felt, more than heard, the ripple of a roar as the immaterial wave of difference cosmic energies erupted in the room. As those waves, rich with time particles, washed over the courtroom, Lykas watched as the world was suddenly warped in strange ways. Their evidence was normal for a split second on the screen. Cruxias's suit was momentarily not a suit. Was that armor? He barely had time to realize that it was, in fact, pale white armor carven with waves of the Unown across it, before Cruxias appeared the same again.

Odd felt strange for a moment as reality rippled under the intense pressure of opposing cosmic forces. Was this what had set off the sense of doom?! And then, like flipping a light switch, the world came starkly back into focus as his eyes began to work again, as if they had never been damaged in the first place. As it happened, he was staring at Cruxias in that momen, trying his best to analyze the man's soul for any signs of true hostility, resentment or any other negative emotion that could be at play here to at least indicate this man was somehow altering evidence on them for his own reasons. As the lights of the world snapped back on, he witnessed not a man in a stark, neatly-pressed white suit but a warrior mage clad in armor pockmarked with divine text, wielding a staff imbued with some arcane force beyond comprehension. Sadly, it seemed that for that brief moment of vision, reality had traded one sense for another and for that brief time, he could hear nothing at all. Not even the eerieness of silence rang in his ears until, a half second later, the sound of the courtroom returned as chaos erupted, his world returning to the blank void occupied only by the souls of those around him. He took a gasping breath as his senses were assaulted multiple times in the span of less than a second and, a moment later, he heard Deo's cry to catch something.

"What? Where?!" He shouted, trying to reorient himself and locate Deo in the first place. By the time he'd identified the hybrid's soul, Libelle was already airborne and, with the collar on her, she was invisible to the once-again blind Channeler. He could hear her terrified cries growing closer and began to panic, unable to find her.

"Keiko's got her!" Lykas assured Odd as the Lopunny hybrid caught Libelle mid-flight and returned her to him. Then the ripple became much more. Both hybrid an Channeler ducked as they both felt an intense pressure suddenly arrive in the room, Lykas holding Libelle close as she cried. The ring of energy that exploded outward cut through everything it touched, making Lykas extremely grateful he'd sensed it just in time to drop. "Odd, help protect the jury!"

The Channeler had little recourse, reaching for the Premier ball containing Cadenza and released the Shedinja, connecting to him and using the Ghost-type's energy to project a silvery halo around some of the jurors that didn't appear to have anyone else protecting them. Cadenza hovered over Odd, his Wonder Guard protecting the Channeler from falling debris as the Guardian Halo did likewise for the jurors.

Only a moment later, the pressure intensified as the courtroom doors were blown open and Snagem was called out by an oddly familiar voice. "Cyrus?!" Lykas exclaimed. The only thing he remembered for certain about the man was that he had taken over the dregs of the Galaxy Club years ago, after Io's downfall, and reformed it into what was now known as Team Galactic. Beyond that, the hybrid was certain Cyrus hated them as much as the likes of Aqua and Magma due to Snagem interfering with them and their plans. But was that Dialga with him? It looked both right and somehow wrong, to him, based on what little he knew of it. Regardless, the crap had fully hit the fan at this point and, to his estimation, Cyrus had just sealed their fates.

Meanwhile, face pressed against the floor, Odd muttered quietly. "Great Renegade, i haven't prayed to you in many years but please give me the strength to keep them safe!"

Sol watched as Monique took to the stand, still beside himself with the revelation of Deo's decision. As he thought more on it, he couldn't bring himself to be too upset about it beyond the fact that it happened. It hadn't been the first time someone in the team threw the rest under the bus. And the last one who did, he'd given her a Skarmory after giving Kaminko's inventions the best use case they could've ever asked for. He'd keep listening, taking to making more observations where he could as Reno gave a more level-headed objection than he would've right now. Cruxias would call Monique to the stand, his 'most decisive witness' as he claimed. He wasn't sure how, knowing of her status as a Faller. He didn't really know how she ended up here, just that she wasn't from this reality and little else.

To him, it didn't matter a ton with his limited understanding. The best thing to do was ensure a transition to living in this one was smooth, same as he tried to do for Buzzwole. Why would she be so crucial to Cruxias' prosecution?

He'd see an answer in due time, as Cruxias went for a flair of the dramatic and the lights dimmed for the projector. Information of another project he'd never heard of, Shadowchild, showed as the projector came to life, showing Monique and Ein. There wasn't much of a question, he'd seen her enough to recognize her. But he knew there was no way what he was seeing was real, it had to have been from the same litany of information they got glimpses of at Devon. There wasn't enough time to look at all of it, but even it hadn't lined up with what he and the others knew. His beak was agape all the same for a moment, turning his head briefly to the gallery behind him.

Only a few seconds after seeing all this and the uproar to come from just about everyone was enough for Cera to suddenly drop her transformation, revealing the Mew's proper form as she curled up into the tightest ball she could. Her tail curled to press itself against the top of her head, eyes shut just as tight as she trembled and shook before the overwhelming sea of emotions- largely anger- threatening to swallow her whole. It didn't matter that she and hopefully the rest knew what was being seen wasn't real, the animosity had reached a fevered pitch and maybe it was all Sub's fault, but that was only because she was put in a spot that sparked the fight against Ein in the first place. And who's fault was that? It was too much, she couldn't take it anymore, she couldn't keep watching her friends all becoming pariahs to the rest of the world. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's my fault, I'm-" Her attempts to stop herself went nowhere, her mental broadcast finding its way through the courtroom as tears started rolling down. Jenny the First's words didn't reach her either, wishing this case would just end.

More than anything, Sol really wanted to try and call for a recess, anything to have a chance to pull Cera aside and help her calm down. He didn't need much of a visual or mental cue when the psychic pressure coming from her was a much more noticeable one, but he didn't really need that one either to know how much this was getting to her. He'd look back Sub when he objected, the nervous look in his eyes hoping this went somewhere. They did have the info and files they found in Realgam Tower, and he and Reno had the Pokemon they rescued too... but would it actually be enough? Would it still be the information as they saw it? He hoped Cera could hold on a little longer, long enough for this at least.

As Sub went towards the projector in turn, he'd finally get a glimpse of Cruxias' prosecutor badge. His eyes widened a little when he noticed the symbols jangling. The symbols, with those spheres and triangle... weren't those the same ones Sub showed when they returned from Realgam? Aden and Volo had something on them with the same design, apparently, at least according to those who managed to see them. His eyes focused on Cruxias intently, he had to have been in on something with those two and the symbols were too much of a conicidence to be anything else. Or, was it the other way around and they were in on Cruxias?

He was probably right, he wasn't affiliated with SWIPE. He probably didn't need to be. He looked at the projector again as it flashed back to life, beak gaping even more when the information before them wasn't anything that lined up with what they saw and were briefed on over a week ago. Sub wouldn't have gone and messed with it; much as actions right now might be making matters worse rather than better, this wasn't the kind of stuff he'd mess with. He knew how much the other members mattered to him, he knew the talks they had about having others in the fold in the first place and the worries both of them had. How much they really didn't want to drag anyone else into their mess, especially not the likes of any offspring like Aden.

Something must've altered it somehow, but he couldn't tell what, when, or how. But before he could think more on it, he felt a noise. It rippled across his entire being along its course through the courtroom, feeling it shake the floor. For the briefest of instants, the projector's feed flashed to show the information as he remembered it. It gave confirmation that something happened- no, was happening- to it, but any chance to process that vanished when he picked up the energy of a Houndoom hybrid he hadn't seen before.

He recognized his massive form as he looked into the gallery again. That crazed look in his eyes, tongue lolling and panting as he barely held himself back. Slobbering, waiting for the second the leash was taken off to rend everyone in the courtroom to shreds for his next meal. That insatiable, chaotic hunger. A look at what could've been, what was. A darker half from worse days that he knew almost as well as he did himself, meeting his desire to protect and guide the flames of those around him with a chaotic wish to destroy and burn everything down. An exact, almost primal antithesis of one another.

He never met that man before in his life.

His visage would vanish only a few seconds later, defying his eyes and mind as an explosion went off, everything reverting back. That hybrid was gone now... right? Or was he still there, still sitting there in waiting? Another sound followed alongside the telltale pressure of a legendary Pokemon, just in time for the pulse of energy that started to shear the courtroom. At once, he pushed himself against the Defense table and vaulted himself from it, his chair sliding back and falling on its back as he landed and spun to face the audience. "Bajar! Get down!" In an instant, his eyes would give a brief glow as he waved an arm and knelt down in turn, psychic energy engulfing the back of as many of the audience's chairs as he could to send them toppling backwards and under the oncoming attack.

Out of anyone else, Cera was still trembling and curled up in her chair, too panicked and overwhelmed to ground herself before Sol's more physical means sent her chair toppling and throwing her to the ground with it. "I'm sorry, I- what?" She'd finally uncurl, forced to process what was going on right now and finally picking up on the energy as the Roar of Time echoed and sheared through the courtroom. Panic overtook her again for all new reasons as she hurriedly tried to create a Psychic bubble, only for the roar to pop it in an instant and leave her to keep low.

In the smoke that followed, Sol found he'd need no introduction to Dialga. He was no stranger to the myths himself, or the statues about how they might've looked. Seeing its form now, he was right there with Sub with his lack of doubt in what he was witnessing. He saw Cyrus alongside and while he glanced at Sub, he had doubts there was some weird favor being paid back this time. Moreover, why did someone or anyone at all actually have Dialga with them? "I'm sorry, I'm not sure I'm familiar with you?" He asked, staring the two down.

Cera waited a bit after the dust settled to finally float up and see what had actually happened, the pressure of a legendary presence finally registering as she saw Dialga and Cyrus. Just as quickly, she dropped down much like a child trying to hide from an upset parent and hoping the chair-shaped blanket would render her invisible to them.

---

"I don't think so, it's too well guarded. I can see if I find anything else, maybe there's a better... angle?"

Amaranth found herself looking towards the front again as commotion unfolded, SWIPE agents and police all running over as someone tried to force their way through. She couldn't get a good look at them before the distant flash of a Pokeball opening crossed her eyes and the massive blue dragon within it emerged. The roar that followed vibrated through her entire being, felt almost more than it'd been heard as she clasped her ears and threw herself to the ground. The resistance put up was futile before it, bursting through the front door and glass flying outward as the windows shattered in turn. People were running and screaming, some flung around from the shock wave that threatened to throw her even this far away. The storm-like pressure she felt too as she stood up again... though, it certainly did mean there was a lot of riled up people for the authorities to deal with now. But if something like that was trying to get in, what did that mean for the others?

"I'm not sure what that was, but it can't be anything or anyone good," she replied as she got a ball out. "We've gotta get in there. If we could get in from the front without the authorities dividing their attention, we could pincer whoever that was with the others inside. The windows should be safer since they got blown out, just... mind the glass." She'd rush towards the side of the gym, moving towards the now open windows for her entry point.

"What are Earth are you talking about!?" Sub shouted his demand. It had been a long day of having words put in his mouth and other lies, the Snagem leader finally at hits wits end of being told by others what he did, who he associates with and so forth. "I don't know what you are planning here or what you intend to d-...Blue!" Sub began to say before he turned and realized who Cyrus was intending to target, the Viridian Gym leader and former (short lived) Kanto Champion himself; Blue. Unfortunately Sub knew good and well there was no way he could get to Blue in time, he wasn't a hybrid or something else that could move that quickly nor did he already have a Pokemon out. Hopefully someone interfered and protected the Pallet Town native from the incoming Flash Cannon.

Once someone did get in the way Sub meant to go on the offense himself but just as he went to grab a Pokeball Looker and the SWIPE troops came charging in. For once he was kind of glad to see them, the more forces to face off against this deity the better. That is, if it were even possible to put it down. That was one thing he was unsure of but more numbers at least made it more likely. Resolving to fight he snatched one of his Dusk Balls off his belt and looked towards his teammates.

"Ulla! Get Doc Owl and go check on the judge, make sure she is okay, we both took a pretty hard fall. Aile, take a few other Snagems and all of you guide the jury, audience and the kids out of the gym to safety. Our parents can reunite later. Everyone else, it's time to fight a god! Leave SWIPE be and let them deal with Cyrus." With that Sub tossed out his Dusk Ball and released from its confines Valdemar the Hydreigon, the beast letting out a three headed roar upon release. "Myth claims that its hide is hard as diamonds so let's test that theory! Valdemar, Focus Blast!" The Dark One cried out, his dragon pulling its three heads together to collect Fighting energy in the shape of an orb between them. Once it was formed and ready the dragon would fire off the blast with a booming roar, sending it flying towards the Temporal Pokemon.

"Lucario Extreme Speed! Get Blue out of there!" Ulla shouted as Lucario turned his head to notice Dialga charge up a Flash Canon. He bent his knees and charged directly towards Blue and hoisted him up over his shoulder and then ran quickly away from the Flash Canon. Ulla directed her Sparkling Swirl at the Flash Canon to counter so the blast wouldn't hit anyone else in the jury. Even though the Fairy Child has become more stronger, she still struggled to handle the attack from a Legendary Pokemon. Both of their attacks clashed, but if anyone were to notice. Ulla's attack started to waver, she held onto her staff with both hands now to keep her attack steady.

The tides then changed when Ulla made a second gust of fairy energy go below the Flash Canon and push it to go upwards the sky. Ulla then made the wind swirl around the attack to contain it in fairy energy and made it implode. As beautiful pink and yellow sparkles started to come down. Ulla breathed heavily as she leaned on her staff a bit to keep her standing. That took a lot out of me surprisingly...I can't look weak now. She thought as Lucario appeared with Blue still over his shoulder as he let the man down. "Sorry for the sudden rescue. Could you aid the rest of the individuals out of here gym? Make sure Professor Oak gets out safely as well. I'll give you all cover." She told Blue as she heard Looker's voice and more steps coming into the gym trying to get a hold of the situation with collars ready.

The Fairy Child heard Sub's order and merely nodded. Togekiss flew right down next to his trainer as Ulla got on it's back as they flew over to Doc Owl and picked him up. Both of them then flew over to the judge and examined her wounds. "Hello Judge. I'm Ulla and this is Doc Owl and we are going to patch you up." Ulla said with a smile as she surrounded themselves in a pink bubble to protect them from any outside harm.

Upon Sub’s command, I quickly kicked off the waist-high door that enclosed the juror’s box right off the hinges. Didn’t need to be fumbling that and making people leaving any slower. “Everyone out before this gets any worse! Clair, I don’t want to hear your pretentious hide! Get the hell out to safety! Go! Go! Go! Everyone out! That way!” I said to the jurors, pointing them to the way of Aile. As soon as I done that, I quickly hopped over the judge’s box wall and took out a Pokeball myself getting my way over towards the Dialga.

As the fights started to go on the way, Doc Owl would make his way, trying to hobble his way through the chaos, trying to keep up with Ulla to get to the judge. Once he found himself at the judge, he started to look about the judge and he couldn’t help but to grimace. “God in heaven…I can’t do anything here. There’s chaos all around and she has penetration causing blood loss. We can’t remove the wood here, otherwise she’d bleed out faster and she’d go into shock before we manage to leave the building and assuredly will perish before we get her into a medical facility. We need to get her out of here.”

Freth and her Grovile would appear on the warp tile in the gym and immediately was awestruck at the destruction about her. “Son of a-…can nothing go typical anymore!?” she said, trying to assess the situation. Snagems engaging with time incarnate, gym building in shambles, mass hysteria. Freth would recall the Grovile, knowing that the situation was probably well above his punching class.

“Dialga!? HERE!? Just what the hell is going on in this reality!?” Eris shouted in the reaches of Freth’s mind. Even she was left in shock as to what kind of stakes were happening.

Before Freth would end up almost undoubtedly get in the fray with the Snagems and the Dialga, Freth would hear someone calling for her. “FRETH!” Doc Owl would shout as he tried to do what he could to get her stabilized for transport…somehow. Even if it was so much to slow the bleeding further. Freth would quickly hover over, ducking and averting the chaos to get down beside Doc Owl. “Freth, do you have your Alakazam with you?”

“Yes? Not that it would matter though! Those idiot SWIPE got that jammer that’s still working!”

“Then how’d you get here!?” Doc asked, looking back. “She needs to get out of here!”

She sighed for a moment. “I know how to get her out of range of the jammer. Its over this way.”

Doc would take out one of his own Pokeballs and gives it a toss. “Orderly! Emergency transport!” he said. The ball would pop open and out came the large, burly Machamp out.

“Machaa?” The Machamp said.

“Easy. Abdominal trauma by foreign propelled object. Blood loss. We need you to carry her.”

“Machamp.”

“Forgive me your honor, this may be a little bit of a bumpy ride.” Doc Owl said. Orderly lifted the injured judge up, cradling her in his four arms. “Freth, do you mind?”

“Got it.” Freth said. The unspoken mission, to escort and make sure nothing got in their way, protect the medical transport at all costs. “Move! Go!” she said, trying to hurry her escort along as she tried to protect them.

Meanwhile, back in the fray, I would toss out a Pokeball, not too sure as to what to send against the likes of this large, legendary Pokémon. Truthfully, I didn’t have much that could stand that much of a chance against the likes of the likes of Dialga, just at an extremely base, fundamental level. Take into consideration that this thing is a literal force of nature just throws the whole equation out the window. “Go! Lucario!” I called out. As the ball lands, the flash of light revealed the fighting-steel type, out ready for battle.

“Lucario, this is probably going to be one of the toughest battles we have in a long time. Go! Aura Sphere!” I shouted.

“RAAA!” the Lucario roared out, putting his hands by him, charging the powerful sphere and firing it towards the Dialga, trying to join with Sub in trying to drill into any weakness, if any.

Lykas watched as the strange blue pulse passed over him, clenching his eyes shut as he barely managed to duck under it while keeping Libelle safe. The girl was more that crying at this point, screaming in the abject terror of an infant who’d been summarily subjected to unassisted airborne travel only or the entire world to go into complete chaos all at the same time. “Shhhhh.” Lykas whispered, hugging her close to his chest, covering her face to keep her from being injured as the rubble continued to fall for a few moments longer before he was able to stand again, at last. Cyrus’ entrance still had him beyond confused as he held Libelle close and gently bounced her to try and calm her down. “Hey! Your poppa’s got you!” He assured the infant gently, trying not to sound as panicked as he felt.

Cyrus’s defense of his arrival made no sense to the blue-skinned man and only served to even further confuse him. Snagem and Galactic being allies?! Since when?! As far as he remembered, Snagem had gotten in Galactic’s way more than once by now and were utterly despised by the whole lot of them.

Odd felt off as he stood back up from ducking the Roar of Time. He wasn’t sure what exactly had happened, certain that he had evaded the blade-like wave of energy that had cut through the building like a knife along its X-Axis. However, standing up and looking around at the souls that had begun to scramble in the chaos, he witnessed Ulla’s soul seemingly guiding the members of the gallery who weren’t Snagem out of the building. The jurors all appeared to still be alive, thankfully. Jenny the First, however, wasn’t looking great. Her soul was suddenly much weaker than before. Had she become injured somehow?! Sub called for aid for the judge a moment later, confirming his fear in that regard.

Then everything went static-y as the remainder of what he could see became a snowy blur. The world, blank void that it was, occupied by the colorful blips of the many souls around him, swirled and spun, blinked in and out, blurred and then suddenly returned to normal. The man covered his face with his hand as he did, though he couldn’t feel anything as he did. Anyone looking at him might notice his hand phase through his own head for a moment as his body seemingly became completely intangible. “Something definitely isn’t right…” He realized, shaking his head. He didn’t recognize the attack that had burst through the building, unable to sense most of its energy beyond something that felt vaguely draconic. However, when he finally caught the soul of Cyrus and the thing he had entered with, he was caught off-guard more than ever. Most souls were vague approximations of their owner’s personality when he looked at them. Small dots of color with some trait that might indicate who they belonged to. Sub’s was a black orb,with neat, clean edges, for example. Terashi’s a pink orb with a bright blue necktie shape hanging from it. Keiko’s was a brilliant orange with large Lopunny ears and Blizzard’s an icy blue with a pair of wings sticking out of it. This, however? There could be no question about this. The being with Cyrus appeared to him as a solid construct of soul, a perfect simulacrum of its physical form, befitting the nature of a deific creature such as - ‘Dialga…” The Channeler breathed out under his breath. Had the Renegade failed him? Deemed him unworthy of an answered prayer? Had it decided, instead, that his request for aid after so long without proper prayer, tribute or any attempt to connect was an affront to its own divinity and the man was worthy of divine retribution?! As the many possibilities of why Dialga, of all things, was suddenly standing before them, he realized what that attack had been.

“Roar of Time…” The signature move of Dialga, known to rend time itself apart, scattering the victims across all of time and erasing them from existence in the process. Was that what was wrong?! Had he not been able to duck fast enough?! Was he now doomed to being erased for his failures? The sisters and, especially, Father Clancy had warned him about Dialga and Palkia both when he was young. That encountering either was surely divine punishment for some transgression and that if such an event occurred, you may as well accept your fate. Certainly those of the Priory believed that sins could not be absolved but… he couldn’t recall ever being taught of any that would call for such a punishment as the presence of this being. Even as he turned to Cadenza, he could feel, for just a moment, his connection with the Ghost-type wavering, as if it were still newly formed and he were struggling to maintain it once again. And then it snapped back to full-strength with a strange spiritual “twang” that, much like Dialga’s roar a moment before, he felt more than heard.

~Sterling… are - right?~ Cadenza’s spiritual question crackled as the connection flickered again, momentarily blinking out of existence entirely. Odd’s breath caught as it did before he felt it reappear. He nearly began to hyperventilate as he realized what was happening to him. Divine punishment, indeed. He must have been struck. It was as if his very existence had been scattered across time and he was blinking to different points in his own history at random. “I… I don’t have much time…” He realized, beginning to feel it more clearly now that he had realized what was happening. His soul had been destabilized by the Roar. He was going to fade away soon enough. He had to do what he was able to now, while he still had time. He had a family to protect, after all. Not just Lykas and Libelle, but all of Snagem. He’d begun this journey as a Channeler for the purpose of gaining the power to protect them and right now, they needed it more than ever.

“Cadenza. We’re using it. I’m not sure how but we’re going to make it work!” He insisted to his partner.

~Are - sure? -Haven - it much.~

“Yeah. I don’t have a choice.” Odd replied, not bothering to explain. Releasing Adagio, Remix and Treble from their balls, he gave each of them the same order. “We’re using it. Let’s go!” He directed.

As he did, the quartet of Pokemon began doing… something. Adagio gently tapped the glass of her head, letting out gentle rings like a triangle. Remix thumped his bone on the ground, creating a drum-like rhythm. Treble’s body swelled and shrank as he sucked in air and released it to produce a sound that somehow sounded like multiple wind instruments at once. As the music began, Cadenza summoned an Ominous Wind that blew into the hole in his back. As the windo blew into his hollow body, it reverberated, echoed and escaped once more, fighting the incoming wind to create a cicada-like buzzing in a long, monotone note. Nothing happened as Odd attempted to direct them, however, beyond chaos. “What’s wrong?!” He asked Cadenza, shouting over the din of their song.

~- Don’t -~ Cadenza attempted to reply.

This wasnt good. Either their connection was stable enough or they still hadn’t figured it out. As they attempted to continue, if for no other reason than to be a distraction, a Pokeball on Odd’s belt popped open, releasing a Pokemon he had brought along solely for the security of having one of his oldest friends on him. As Replay appeared from his ball, a Hyper Voice rang out from the Chatot. Once. Twice. Three times in sequence. “A…. SHARP!”

“What?!” Odd asked, trying to hear his bird.

“A…SHARP!” Replay repeated. “Soul! A sharp!”

“Is that… a note?” Odd asked.

“Play! Listen!” Replay cried back before releasing another Hyper Voice. Odd nodded, just doing as Replay told him, using his Channeling to help Cadenza adjust his note. As he did, the buzzing tone changed until it aligned with A-sharp. As it did, Odd felt something new. Not from himself or from Cadenza but from Dialga itself. The Legendary’s very being was emanating something like a sound. He couldn’t hear it but he also couldn’t sense it. This was beyond energy, beyond sound. It was something that seemed to exist within reality itself. An aspect he’d never been aware of. As he felt the resonance against his own soul, he began to recognize the feeling it gave. His very soul vibrated in response to this feeling almost in the way one might resonate with emotionally evocative music.

“Feel it?!” Replay asked, seeing the recognition on Odd’s face.

“I do!” Odd replied.

“Play!” Replay cried out at that point, using Mirror Move to copy Blizzard’s Lucario and it’s Aura Sphere to actually attack Dialga as Odd returned to the attempt at what he was doing. Feeling those vibrations deep in his soul, now, Odd began to use his Channeling to adjust Cadenza’s notes until the cacophanous noise his party had been creating turned into a hellish song. A true Renegade Symphony began to ring out at that point as his multiple partners synchronized their sounds, wave after wave of spiritual noise crashing into Dialga as they played it a song that resonated with its very soul, intending to try and wound its very spirit. In the process, Cadenza tried to find whatever fragment of the soul they could latch onto and rip it free, aiming to absorb it into themself.

This was still imperfect, Odd could tell. But it seemed to be working! Now the question was if it would do anything at all to Dialga?

Lykas was caught up with watching over Libelle, trying to get her to safety and could only ask himself what in the world Odd was doing. Something was going on for the Channeler to suddenly be playing a concert in the middle of all this but what that was, he hadn’t the slightest idea. And so, for the moment, he simply tried to get to Aile after Sub’s cry to get Doc Owl and the kids out to safety. As much as he didn’t want to be separated from his daughter again so soon, he knew she couldn’t stay here and he couldn’t afford to leave. His strength was definitely needed here. As little as he knew of Dialga, primarily that it was a big blue legendary Pokemon and it was commonly believed to be a Dragon-type.

It took a few moments to find her in the chaos of people trying to escape the ruined Gym and slowly crumbling walls but, eventually, he found her and rushed over. “Keep her safe!” He insisted before handing the still-crying-but-much-calmer Libelle off to one of the Snagems in the escape party before rushing back toward the fray and throwing out a Moon Ball containing his recently acquired Altaria. “Morgan, use Dragon Breath!” He directed the Humming Pokemon. The Altaria nodded and took a deep breath before letting loose a white-hot breath of Dragon energy-infused air with a strange power to paralyze.

~~~ ~~~

Clare watched Aile get essentially bullied into going through the warp pad next only for, moments later, her extra-large bug to come right back through and start trying to drag someone back through with it once more. “Ok. Something happened!” They insisted, rushing over to the panel without hesitation and warping through only to find the court in absolute shambles. Walls were collapsing all around them, the entire building had been bisected horizontally and people were panicked and rushing out, or trying to, around a massive blue Pokemon they didn’t recognize. And then Sub saw them through the collapsing walls, apparently, and called for Aile to take the lead in getting people to safety.

And then Lykas appeared, shoving Libelle into the child-sized hybrid’s arms and rushing back to fight. “I guess we leave, then!” Clare announced, looking for the clearest route out of the building as they tried to get Libelle into a comfortable position for them both, intending to follow Aile’s lead since the woman seemed more equipped to do this sort of thing than them. Especially given their current extremely diminished state.