Faytl

Rosalia was in the team’s private box at the arena before anyone else was. She had opted to keep the lights off, allowing only the light of day to illuminate the box. When the door opened before her to reveal Sai, the shadows in the back portion of the box made him look almost ghostly, his bottom half almost looking like they weren’t there. “Thank you for coming, Sashisematta. I wanted to have a talk with you… about last time.” She rose from her chair and walked around to face him, silhouetted in his vision by the sun behind her. “I’d like for you to hear me out first.” "Of course. I'm always open to criticism from those who keep an equally open mind." “... Your match against Avery was disrespectful to him… But you had intent behind it, a plan. I’m willing to see where it goes… for now. But you went too far against Avery. Do not push your luck… You’re skilled, there’s no denying it. And perhaps you’ll end up being correct about people wanting to see you lose. So for now we’ll wait and see if it works out. But don’t push it with this duel, Sashisematta.” A shrug from Sai. "This duel is different, there is no need for me to play up my opponent. They are already a hero." “I have one other condition.” Rosalia held up her Duel Disk, which was on video mode, paused on Sai’s duel with Avery. She hit the play button and the Sai’s own voice resonated from it. "This is your first duel at a pro level, isn't it?" Avery this time. “I don’t see why that’s relevant.” "How could it not be? I'm sure your team captain is doing just fine, the duelist she is against is an idiot, but can you imagine how she would feel if you let her down?” Rosalia hit the pause button. She hit rewind, repeating Sai’s last words against Daichi. She had not taken her eyes off of Sai the entire time. “Feel free to turn yourself into a heel to everyone else, Sashisematta… But I won’t allow you to drag anyone else on Team Genesis with you. Don’t insult the rest of the team on that stage. Is that understood?” "Ah, I suppose that comment may have crossed a line. I still hold hope that it will incite change within Daichi, but I will take your opinion into consideration." "I didn't ask you to take it into consideration." Rosalia's eyes narrowed. Her expression was only two or three degrees north of a glare. "I asked if it was understood." "Feisty." Sai narrowed his own eyes, almost as if he were a mirror for Rosalia. While the top half of his face held an expression of rage, brow furrowed like a beast about to attack, his lips curled into a gentle smile. "I understand you, better now than ever. Make sure to take some of this fury into your duel." The door opened before Rosalia could react to this, as a very tired-looking Vega came into the room. Sai turned to greet their coach, all smiles suddenly as he greeted her, asking something about when Evelyn would be joining them. Rosalia took a deep breath, looking down at her duel disk. She reached up and closed the video that had been pulled up, before Vega had a chance to see it. Vega didn’t need to get involved. She could handle this. - - - - - - - And I’ll handle it without rage, Sashisematta, she thought as she watched Jonathan with rapt attention. You misunderstand me. It wasn’t rage that motivated me to confront you… It was what the team needed. The only way forward. Just as I’ll find the way forward now. - - - - - - - Back in the box, as Daichi moved one of his packs aside, it exposed the small envelope that had been on the table beneath it, unseen up to this point. It was labeled simply with Kendra’s name in what was recognizably Rosalia’s smooth cursive. The contents were just as simple, once Kendra saw it and was able to open it. Just a short note and a single black-framed card. The note read merely: Thank you for helping me find a way forward. I thought it only fair to help you do the same. -R - - - - - - - I don’t need rage. All I need is to see the path forward… and take the shot. She took a good twenty seconds between Jonathan’s End Phase and the start of her turn, as the drama with Sai started to fade slowly to the background of her mind. To the back of her mind as the only thing that took up her thoughts was the duel. Solemn Warning…. A powerful card, to be sure. But considerably less powerful when I know about it. She thought back to her duel against Kendra in the mall a few days ago. Normally I would want to Link Summon Striker Dragon… But with Solemn Warning he can leave me defenseless. I have two paths forward. I’ll attempt to bait him into using it… or I’ll have to reduce his Life Points below 2000 first! Then he’ll have no chance to activate it. Already everything felt so much simpler, so much clearer. As if everything else was being forced to the sides, out of the long scope she felt in her mind’s eye, a scope that aimed directly at Jonathan. “Draw!” At last she drew for turn, just as the commentator was drawing breath to comment on how long she was taking, hurriedly stopping himself so as not to talk over Rosalia’s move. “First, I activate a Continuous Spell: Supply Squad!” She placed the card in her Duel Disk, in zone 1. Unlike Jonathan, she didn’t verbally clarify the placement. Every piece of a duelist’s turn reveals information… and he’s given away something already. She moved her hand to her cards, taking hold of another one. The fact that he’s so used to clarifying which monster zones he’s using means only one thing… He’s used to summoning Link Monsters as well. “As long as Supply Squad is in play, I draw a card when one of my monsters are destroyed. This ability triggers only once every turn. Summon! Silverrokket Dragon!” A silver-armored dragon with a long, rounded head appeared, searing wings of violet energy issuing from its back. Silverrokket Dragon Level 4, 1900/100 Rosalia waited a few brief seconds after her dragon appeared before she spoke up, allowing her voice to carry across the duel field. “So you’re not using it, then? That face-down card you have?” “Nah, it can wait for now.” Rosalia swept her eyes over Jonathan, appraisingly. Not even a single twitch. He clearly had never even considered activating it. I suppose that’s the difference with S-ranked players… Some would negate the summon of a monster with attack power this high, use it as an opportunity to strike at my Life Points while they’re undefended. I figured it wouldn’t work, that he’d hold onto it for later. But that’s fine. It lets me take away something else from him! “Battle! Silverokket attacks Starfire!” Her monster flew upward, changing into a bolt of violet light as it streamed into the blade of Rosalia’s Duel Disk, suffusing it with glowing sparks. “Fire!” As she pointed at Starfire, the bolt flashed out, piercing directly through Starfire’s chest and colliding directly with Jonathan as his monster shattered into pieces. Jonathan: 4000 > 3400 Every Life Point I take from him makes using that Solemn Warning that much more of a cost, she thought, pulling her hand up to look at her cards. “I place two cards face-down!” As the cards appeared she tried not to look directly at the one she had set right in front of her. Now I’m all prepared for the counterattack… I’ve already lined up the shot. Sashisematta is wrong about me… Rage is something for a pitched battlefield. That is not my duel. I sit far away from the fury of the skirmish, plan everything for the exact opportunity where the enemy exposes themselves to the fatal blow. That, Sashisematta, is the duel of the Sniper. “I see. So you live in fear of my trap.” John nodded as he drew for turn, glancing at it, “Perhaps that’s what Charlie meant when they said this would be a perfect matchup…” Rosalia merely narrowed her eyes at John, almost like her eyes were a warning. “Walking around a Trap you’ve been kind enough to show me is very different from being afraid of it.” “Perhaps. Anyway, I activate my spell, Ties of the Brethren, targeting Caspar.” John’s LP fell another 2000 points as he activated the spell, with Caspar taking a shot into the air, his own red-magma like wing materializing. Jonathan: 3400 > 1400 “For 2000 lifepoints, I can summon two monsters with the same level, attribute, and type as the targeted monster from my deck. I choose Kidbrave to zone 2 and Doc to Zone 5.” Magical Musketeer Kidbrave Level 4, 1600/200 Magical Musketeer Doc Level 4, 1400/1200 Rosalia’s narrowed eyes opened up quickly as she saw John’s Life Points plummet. What?! She stared at the field as two forms started to take shape on the other side of the field. A smug kid, maybe 18 at most, appeared on one side of Caspar, tipping his cowboy hat to Rosalia, while a man with greying hair and a high-tech monocle appeared on the other, brandishing a sniper rifle. He… he threw away 2000 of his Life Points just like that… He’s lost the ability to play his Trap… But he’s traded it for something else. She stared across the field at the suddenly much larger crop of monster John had. None of them were as powerful as Silverrokket. But she knew that likely wouldn’t last long. “No response? Very well. When the new chain begins, Caspar activates, allowing me to search for a Musket. I’ll add Magical Musket Mastermind Zakiel. Then I’ll use Upstart Goblin, behind Kidbrave. You’ll gain 1000, I’ll draw one, and…” Rosalia: 4000 > 5000 Whipping its pistol out, Kidbrave fired two bullets, the first hitting John’s hand and the latter hitting his deck, as the Musketeer’s demonic wing took form. “By discarding the Magical Musketeer Wild in my hand, I can draw two more. Next, I’ll tribute Kid for Zakiel in my hand, which can be summoned with a single Musketeer tribute. I’ll place him in Zone 1.” With a loud chorus of demonic laughter, Kid was grasped by a massive claw and dragged into the ground… only for a demon to rise from it, pointing his fingers at his head like a gun, before taking a mock shot at himself. Magical Musket Mastermind Zakiel Level 8, 2500/2500 “This is what your intent was,” Rosalia said aloud now, finally voicing her internal thoughts as her dragon let out an echoing screech of challenge to the horde of gunmen John had in play. “You were counting on me avoiding your Solemn Warning. That’s why you made sure I knew what it was… So your Life Points were safe and you could use Ties of the Brethren.” “Well, that’s one possibility, I suppose. But I believe thinking I know the top three cards of my deck may be giving me a bit too much credit, miss.” Rosalia shook her head. “No, it’s not that simple. You had no control over the top of your deck, but you immediately knew what the best way forward was… At least at the time.” Rosalia’s hand went to her Duel Disk. “But I’ve set up my own plan. I activate my Trap card!” The set card directly in front of her flew upward, as a massive roar of crashing water started to sound throughout the stadium, a herald of what was to come. “Torrential Tribute can activate whenever one of us summons a monster… And it destroys every monster in play!” This is it, she thought to herself. He’ll be left with no monsters… And I’ll still be left with the leavings of SIlverrokket. All Rokkets can replace themselves with another whenever they’re destroyed. He’ll have no defenses left to protect his Life Points… And they’ve just been lowered to the point where almost any Rokket in my deck can take them all out! At least, that was what she expected. Instead, when she looked at the card, there were multiple holes through the card, before it shattered. “I activated my counter trap, Magical Musket - Last Stand behind Doc, in response. It negates the activation of your trap and destroys it.” “But-” Rosalia’s eyes whipped across John’s field, taking in that the card she knew to be Solemn Warning was still there. “You only have that one card set! Explain yourself!” For the first time, a smirk crossed John’s face, though it didn’t seem to bear any ill intent. “All of my Musketeers enable me to play Muskets from my hand during either player’s turn, without needing to be set. Also, that activates Doc. He can’t add Last Stand back, but… I’ll add Wild back from my grave to my hand.” The sniper took a shot at John’s disk, causing the card to pop out of his grave, before he picked it up and added it to his hand. Rosalia had an expression on her face that was familiar to many on the dueling circuits, but it was one her teammates had rarely seen on her. Her wide eyes, surprise and confusion evident in her face. For the first time in quite a long while, Rosalia had been knocked off balance. “Well, why don’t I take the rest of the turn easy on you? I activate my own Supply Squad behind Zakiel, then I’ll pass. Make your move, miss.” The roar of the audience surged in the wake of John's move, and the commentator was swift to jump in again. "Woah! John has ended his turn with the very card that started Rosalia's own! His field has exploded outward in the wake of his Solemn Warning gambit! The only thing holding him back now is that TIes of the Brethren prevents him from attacking! How will Rosalia Marlowe respond?!?" Slowly, slowly, Rosalia took a step back, her heel sounding like another gunshot in the orchestra of gunfire that made up this duel, taking a more steady stance as her expression slowly settled back into the familiar narrow-eyed, frowning stare, the almost-glare that made up her dueling. Okay… she thought to herself, slowly. So this is how he duels. Perfect matchup indeed. In her minds eye Rosalia idly imagined the scope, with Johnathan in it, a gun raised and smoking in the aftermath of firing a bullet directly into her own. Every move I make in this duel has to be careful, every decision three steps ahead… If I give him an opening, I can already tell he’ll be more than capable of taking it. This is a duel where every. Bullet. Counts.

Fortunately for the four, they were out and about on a weekend. True to Kai's words about the city being a tourist trap, Hau'oli City was alive and well even in this late stage of the day. The setting sun behind them was more than capable of illuminating the many places that were still open. The boutique offered many a different piece of Alolan-made clothing, mostly in the vein of surfing tanks and the like. Most of the citizenry were dressed in a similar manner, with Charlie sticking out quite a bit amongst the four. The Tourist Bureau held many other souveneirs, such as coconuts carved to look like the heads of Exeggutor, miniature rocking horses in the design of Mudbray, and decals of the various islands as seen from above. The Tourist Bureau also had a small section set to the side, where information on other regions was laid out. It was mostly for the benefit of any native Alolans about to make a trip of their own, though there was actually a decent-sized group of people over there this evening. They were collected around a wall-mounted television that was playing a news station sourced in the Kanto region. "Mirabelle here with Indigo News! We're here on the scene of the Viridian City Gym, where today there was yet another bout of seismic activity!" The camera panned over a rectangular building with a brownish-green roof. It appeared the eastern wall had seen some amount of collapse, which the camera focused on briefly before panning back to the dark-haired newscaster. "This is the third such incident in as many months at this prestigious facility of the Indigo Plateau Pokemon League, but it is the first time the Gym has seen such significant structural damage! I'm here with Gym Leader Blue Oak for commentary." The camera cut to a brown-haired young man, tall and dressed in blue and green, and his face with a considerably more relaxed expression than the scenario seemed to warrant. "Yeah, the previous Gym Leader was really into Ground-Type Pokemon," he commented carelessly, looking over his shoulder at the collapsed wall as if it had scuffed his shoe. "Left a lot of structural damage that's only really become obvious recently." "Are you confident you'll be able to halt further accidents?" A snort. "The previous leader may have disappeared without cleaning up his mess first, but he left the Gym Trainers behind. They know a thing or two about Ground-Type Pokemon themselves, and it's not like I'm a slouch with my Rhyperior myself." "Mm, that's good to hear!" The newscaster bit her lip before continuing. "And what do you say to the rumors recently about strange, unidentified individuals being seen around the gym? There are... certain rumors about this previous leader-" "Unwarranted," Blue responded flippantly, turning and heading back towards the Gym. "People like to spread things around, but most of it's nonsense. I gotta help clear away the debris. Smell ya later!" "Oh, please sir, can I just get one-" - - - - - - - She shut off the radio in the midst of newscaster's plea. She gazed up at the roof of the small beach hut she had been living in for the past four months. No company, just herself. She didn't like to go outside much. It ran a risk. Risk of being recognized. Not that she figured it would bring her trouble she couldn't fix. Just trouble she didn't want to have to encounter to begin with. And yet, based on the message she had received ten minutes ago, she would have to eventually. "Idiots," she muttered lowly, giving a glare to the radio as she started to get dressed. She was out here in Alola by herself for months on end and the rest of them got up to... She took a deep breath, trying not to lose her temper. Not all of them were adjusting to this the way she was. Which was apparently to have some sense and do what she was told, she thought bitterly. The wide straw hat she wore out of the house was much darker and lower on her head than the other similar ones that peppered the streets of Hau'oli. It was designed to shield her face from eyes rather than her head from sun. The blue of her clothes was muted, engineered not to stand out when combined with her long, dark hair. One hand held her thin jacket closed in the ocean wind, the other clenched within the jacket around a single Dive Ball. "Aether..." she mused to herself, eyeing the white boat in the harbor and beginning the long ordeal of tracking her targets. "Please... Please let this be something." - - - - - - - The Hau'oli Mall was not as busy as the daytime hours, but there was still a night scene there. Especially as the weekend began and the turnouts from the local Trainer school were able to partake in the food and fervor of the Battle Buffet. Easily the most crowded sector of the mall, it was hard to take one's eyes away from the large throng of young trainers inside. Long tables crowded with Trainer and Pokemon, ringed by long countertops with all assortment of local cuisine. Towards the back were several cordoned-off areas where small battles were taking place, Pokemon diving to and fro while excited cheers were called out from the sidelines. It was a lively bunch, talking about battling and the Trials of the islands, and a few even about the strange object that had fallen from the sky that very morning. Especially the great group that was gathered by the front entrance. All younger boys and girls, circled around a grinning boy with his hair tied back in a ponytail, leaning back with his sandaled feet up on a table. "Are you really gonna go for Illima's Trial, Koa?" asked one of his entourage. "Sure am," he bragged, voice carrying through the Buffet despite the din of battles. "Heading out there first thing tomorrow. Pa says that thing that fell from the sky was a good omen for me; The Totem Pokemon doesn't stand a chance! "Matter of fact," he continued, voice rising even louder, "Best bless my battle with a few good rounds! Anyone who can beat a Trainer blessed by something fallin' from the sky, I'll pay for your meal!" This brought a clamor of challenges from those assembled, loud enough that a few passing Aether workers were sure to notice...

Rosalia listened to Kendra's reply to her impassively, not interrupting at any point, letting her teammate answer fully before she even began to formulate a response. It struck her as much less stressful than she had been anticipating it. Perhaps because conversations with Kendra weren't the verbal swordplay that the topic of their conversation tended to engage in. After a solid thirty seconds of thought, she closed her eyes, taking in a long, deep breath. "I'm sorry to hear that," she admitted, and meant it. "Being captain isn't a position I've ever thought I had the skill to undertake... I've only ever been at my best behind a duel disk. I'm not sure how exactly I got the captain job over you... Sashisematta voting for himself despite being explicitly told not to might have had something to do with it." "Miss Sterling picked me when the vote was tied and I'm still not sure why. I'm not sure I can herd the... wildcats," she went on, pausing on Kendra's choice of terminology, "But... thank you for your confidence, at least." She turned away from Kendra, looking outside the store to the large intersection of mall passages that sat outside. At the junction before the shop several rectangular areas had been cordoned off, and based on the large monsters that were now strewn across it, holographically projected, it appeared to have been commandeered as a dueling area. Mostly local duelists without much experience, Rosalia had to guess. She saw a few monsters she recognized among the groups of duelists: Alien Shocktrooper, Marauding Captain, Princess of Tsurugi, Ghost Gardna, Whiptail Crow, Catapult Turtle... But the thing that caught her eye was the duel field that had become unoccupied while the two were in the shop. "Kendra," she said suddenly, pointing to it. "Do you mind if I ask... You don't feel confident in the duel ahead. I... I don't feel confident myself, either. I don't feel confident about a lot of things... With Daichi not dueling, Sashisematta has to take his place in the Action Duel spot. So one of us has to... We have a way to settle this, I believe."

"Extra Deck options?" Rosalia asked, interjecting in a pause as the two of them began entering the mall. "I don't know much at all about using Xyz Summoning, but I'm sure that's something that we can square away for you. And of course you at least have your ace..." It was Kendra's next words that caused Rosalia to draw up short. Kendra thought she had done the right thing? Rosalia wasn't sure if she agreed with Kendra about that at all. Every time she thought back to that altercation with Sai after the match, she winced inwardly at how ineffectual she had been. She had been only able to ask him why. And not even to act on it. Was what he said even a good reason? Every time she thought back to it she remembered the faces of Team Wilding, and Sai's team members who had been alongside him on that stage... She winced when Kendra mentioned them too. She wasn't sure what the opinions were on their teammates; Any talk of Sai seemed to advertise itself louder than them. Like those boys back at the cafe. Rosalia didn't talk much for the next twenty minutes or so, listening more to Kendra's musings on her deck, accompanying her to the card store to look at various monsters that could be summoned from the Extra Deck. Rosalia had a momentary pang of regret for cutting herself off from her father's finances; She hated using them for herself, but she wouldn't have minded funding the deck-building ventures of the rest of Team Genesis. Especially when she saw the card Kendra had been eyeing up. "Oh," she muttered under her breath, leaning in to get a better look. "That is a good choice for you, Kendra." She was impressed, and it showed. She tapped on the glass of the counter in front of them with an idle finger. "This will probably help you a lot against whoever Team Free chooses to duel you. You have good instincts." There was another moment before she added on: "... Maybe better instincts than me, in some regard." She then clarified the point further: "About Sashisematta." She was looking down at the card, not meeting Kendra's gaze. "I keep... thinking back to that and wondering what more I could have done. What more I could have done so that I was less unhappy with what happened there. So Daichi could be less unhappy. You as well... I think you may have been right to confront him about it. That you might have the interests of the team more at heart than I do. And I think Miss Sterling agrees." She gave an small, embarrassed smile. "She thinks you're the most equipped to duel in the next match. I think you are too... You have the instincts for it, and the skill," she went on, gesturing to the card in the case. "I'm fully confident that you'll be able to outperform any of the shortcomings of your deck... And perhaps the shortcomings of your captain." She chanced a small glance to Kendra to see what her reaction was, but averted her gaze almost immediately, to look impassively down at the case of cards again. "You did a better job confronting Sashisematta than someone like me could ever do. I was too afraid to even push him on the subject. I... I intend to ask Miss Sterling to make you captain of Team Genesis. In my place." She tried as hard as she could to keep a casual tone in her voice while a part of her died inside trying to convey this to Kendra. She had just said more words in a row than Kendra had likely ever heard her say.

yee

Kukui watched the group pick from the Pokemon assembled before them with a warm smile on his face, leaning back in his chair, one hand up to adjust the rim of his hat. Rowlett and Popplio going to their new Trainers just seemed to bring a smile to his face. "Absolutely," he assured Amelia, as she took the Popplio into her care. "Nothing makes me happier than seeing new bonds between Pokemon and a Trainer... Though looks like your Dieno disagrees!" He let out a laugh as he saw Primo start to take shots at the Litten, reaching forward to scoop the fire cat Pokemon out of the danger zone. "No worries," he assured Tia, chuckling as he calmed Litten with a few scratches to the back of the head, the Pokemon giving Primo a bad-tempered glare. "Your own Pokemon being happy with new friends is important as well... Hopefully it's a phase he'll get over." He looked down to the Litten in his lap. "Looks like we'll be spending some more time together, friend," he said softly, taking a malasada and tearing off a chunk for the Pokemon. After getting the rest of the names from everyone, Kukui turned to address Amelia. "No, no, that's absolutely alright," he assured her once again, giving a reassuring smile. "I'm sure you're all wondering exactly what it is Wicke and I dragged you all out here for. We can talk about that now, we've got til tomorrow anyway!" He reached into his lab coat, pulling out a series of photographs. Similar to the images Wicke had shown the four, they all depicted various stages of that same projectile hitting the peak of Melemele Island. "This was early this morning," he explained. "This rise here is the highest point on Melemele, at the top of the Mahalo Trail." He reached up to point, and through the clear Alola sky the group was able to see the very hill depicted in the picture. "That object fell from the sky roughly up there somewhere." Gone was the laid-back tone, and he now spoke with utmost seriousness. "Whether it's a local projectile or something that came from beyond our planet we don't know yet; Aether's reaching out to the Space Center of Mossdeep to retrace its trajectory, but we likely won't know for sure til tomorrow." He leaned back in his chair. "Course, whether it's from space or not isn't the concerning part. What I'm concerned about is where it might have landed." He cast his eyes back to the hill, which was backlit by the softening pink of an encroaching sunset. "The Ruins of Conflict sit atop that hill," he said, a strange sense of foreboding in his words. "And that projectile may have disturbed the guardian of the place." He said guardian with a strange tone, which anyone native to Alola would be able to figure out why. He turned back to the Aether workers. "We're not certain if it landed in the Ruins or just around them," he went on. "If the Ruins are damaged... its guardian might be pretty angry. That's part of the reason I'll be going, to assess any damage to the ruins and see what I can do to fix it. For the sake of the guardian and of course as an important piece of Alola's history." He raised a hand, some good humor returning to his face and pointing to the rest of those assembled. "Meanwhile you four are tasked with finding that projectile. Determine if it's dangerous, if it's hurt any Pokemon while landing, and of course, if it's worth dragging back to Aether for further study." He clapped his hands together. "Course, that's not til tomorrow. In the meantime, get to know your new friends better," he told them, gesturing to Rowlett and Popplio. "Look around the city a bit, especially those of you who've never been to Hau'oli City." He spoke the next through a mouthful of malasada. "Leave getting the essentials for tomorrow to me, enjoy yourselves a little. Once you're all tuckered out for the night, just walk down the beach til you're by that there!" He reached out to point along the beach to a massive hill of grass and brownish-orange stone. "That's Ten Carat Hill there. My house is on the other side of it, you can't miss it." He shrugged with a mock 'woe is me' expression on his face. "My wife is on business on Akala right now, and will be til' the end of the week, so you should all fit in quite nicely." - - - - - - - Elsewhere... "We have a lead, it actually looks promising." "Where did it come from?" "Our plant in the Mossdeep SC." A brief shuffling of papers. "Hmm... Alola. Melemele. Do we have anyone stationed there?" An irritated sigh. "One. I told you Alola was stretching us thin." The harsh glare was almost audible. "Well what do you expect with those riffraff banging around the place? Well... I suppose one is better than nothing." "Aether is investigating it." "Of course they are." A light scoff. "... Have them observe, for now. Tell them not to intervene unless they see a good opportunity. After all, we don't even know if this is worth pursuing. Not yet." "Understood."

"We can work with that. After all, we're a bit lopsided in terms of who can do action duels, so I think this is a fine time for Sai to step up as an action duelist. Maybe see what it's like through Daichi's eyes. And Rosalia, you don't mind filling in for Kendra, do you?" Rosalia was already turning towards the door. Nobody saw the wince in her face. "I don't know, Miss Sterling... I don't know if that's what's best... best for the team." she said simply, bag over her shoulder as she opened the door to leave. - - - - - - - Rosalia left ahead of Kendra, agreeing to meet her at the mall later that day. She took in lunch while she waited Kendra's appearance, one of the few occupants of an outdoor table in the Seattle overcast at the small cafe she had alighted to at the mall's edge. She slowly picked at a piece of a bagel, not taking in much of the wind around her. It wasn't until she heard a familiar voice, distorted by speakers, that she winced back to awareness. "Next time you have lofty ambitions, back them up with more than platitudes." She turned to look, seeing the table just inside the cafe had several young men clustered around it, craning their necks to look at the tablet-like screen of one of their duel disks. A replay of the finish of Sai's duel was on it, and a few of them were laughing. "Man," one of them managed, "look at this jackass." "Yeah, yeah..." one of them sighed through a laugh. "Man, real big-headed for a new guy, right?" Rosalia was suddenly very glad for the fact that she hadn't been in the match alongside Sai; It made her less recognizable. Maybe Vega wanting you to sit the match out is a blessing in disguise. She hurriedly payed her bill, rising and walking to the curb to head back towards the subway. Surely Kendra was still getting ready; She's be fine with Rosalia cancelling, surely. But even as she had the thought, she saw Kendra's head bobbing her way from across the street. She stopped, one of her hands worrying itself in a clenched fist. You want what's best for Team Genesis, Rosalia... This is a good place to start. "Hi, Kendra," she said softly, having changed course to walk to meet her teammate and turn back towards the mall. "Thanks for coming, really. Are you nervous about our upcoming match at all? I mean, after the last one..."

Rosalia sat at the table quietly, as per usual. Her legs were crossed as she listened idly, covered in dark jeans beneath a sweater of dark purple. For once at these meetings she was distracted. The last match was still playing over in her head, as well as the aftermath that had occurred before the group had gone out to celebrate. She had told the rest of the team she was going to freshen up, however... - - - - - - - The parking garage was quiet, to the point where the footsteps of several members of Team Wilding were echoing loudly through it as they returned to their various vehicles. Underneath them all was the strike of another pair of shoes, one that they missed until its owner spoke up, breaking the verbal silence that gripped the team members. “Avery Froswald?” Looking back they could see the tall, stately Rosalia, her dark coat held closed at the front with one hand to keep away the chill. She had been looking dead at them when they hadn’t known she was there, but she quickly cast her eyes downward at the onset of their gaze. Her head soon followed, and she descended into an awkward and embarrassed bow, inclining her body thirty degrees. “I’m Rosalia Marlowe,” she said, speaking to the pavement beneath her. “I’m the captain of Team Genesis… I wanted to approach you about the… match we just had. One part of it, in particular.” “Eh, um… Avery is a bit… preoccupied,” The captain, Honey, rubbed the back of her head with a nervous laugh, “But I can imagine what it is…” “So can I, and I don’t want to hear it!” came a sharp voice from a woman who stood more than a head over Rosalia, walking up next to Honey, “My brother can either handle it on his own terms or you all can fuck off. They purposely left me out so I wouldn’t be too ruthless, but your guy was far past that.” “Come on, Aubrey, that’s not fair,” Honey pouted a bit, looking up to the giant woman, despite being shorter than Rosalia. “Both me and Sorrel liked our opponents. They probably didn’t know what was going to happen. Or how sensitive Avery is…” Rosalia has taken a step back, straightening swiftly at Aubrey’s advance with a slight widening of the eyes. She looked like a deer in headlights. “Yes, it’s… Very much that. If I had known he was going to do something like that… Sashisematta has ideas about dueling and the circuit that some of us think are rather strange,” she finished, immediately knowing it was a rather lame way to end the sentence, especially in the face of Aubrey’s anger, a mistake she endeavored immediately to correct. “I just wanted to let Mr. Froswald know that I…” She turned her head away, looking guiltily out towards the edge of the garage where the dimming sun of the afternoon was bleeding through in a vibrant deep orange. “I’m sorry he had to face that as his first match in the circuit,” she finished softly, the echoing space of the garage the only reason her words could be heard. “He’ll be okay.” Honey smiled at her, walking forward to reach up and pat her shoulder, “He’s sensitive, but tough… And what upset him most was that he… he felt he let me down, and that he let your teammate get to him and trip him up. I appreciate the apology, and I’m sure he will too… But, if I may… be more like Daichi and less like Saishisematta, okay?” - - - - - - - Rosalia had only been able to deliver a very meek nod that day. Sai's dueling had struck an awkward chord in her. On the one hand, she found herself agreeing with Kendra, that it was too far. On the other... He delivered Team Genesis its first victory. And who knows: What he says about people lining up in droves to see him lose... What if he's right? It wasn't until Vega went into their next opponents that she finally snapped out of her thoughts, intrigued by new opponents. Team Free... She saw that two of them were in the S tier of adversary. She mentally started constructing ideas of opening strategies before- "Kendra, Eve, do you two think you're up for this next match?" The flinch she made at this was more inward than outward, but Rosalia quickly averted her gaze from Vega at this. Despite her being one of the more accomplished duelists, Vega was suggesting Rosalia sit this one out. She remembered the coach giving her a look back when the team was talking with Sai at the end of the math last week. Guilt bloomed fresh within her as she connected the dots easily. She thinks I didn't handle the Sashisematta issue correctly, she thought grimly. And maybe she's right. She cast her gaze briefly over to Kendra, remembering her response. Is that it, then? she wondered to herself. Why she's asked Kendra instead? She drew in a low, deep breath as Daichi said he wasn't up for dueling. By default that meant only Sai could fill his place, which Daichi had to know. She felt her thoughts scramble yet again, trying to figure what she could have done better, and to her frustration nothing came. Why was she captain if she couldn't overcome the first hurdle of Team Genesis? Because she was skilled? That seemed fairly useless right now. She stood very suddenly, faster than she intended to, having to quickly reach for the table to steady herself on splayed fingers. She feigned casualness by adjusting her bag, before saying aloud, but not looking to the coach: "This all seems good, Miss Sterling. I'm afraid I... don't really have anything to add today. I can help the duelists prepare for their matches, though." She looked over very briefly to her co-captain, just enough for it to be clear she was addressing her before she looked back to the insides of her bag. "Kendra, I'll have to be going to the mall today to get a bit of shopping done... If you would like to accompany me we could discuss your strategy there." She made no mention of her chaotic inner thoughts. Those would come later.

Risa looked up frantically at the board. ALL these students that she had to worry about, all these people she didn’t know… She zoned in on the ones she knew to be wary of. “First place,” she said quickly, sitting next to Ben as she started to pull off her stabilizers. No way those bulky things would be of any use in this. She would almost certainly have to be the rider. “I saw Hoshi-sama lift a building. We can’t compete with that. Shoshiki also stopped the Ferris wheel on his own, so we should avoid him.” Her voice was fast, her words flying out quickly. But she didn’t have the same manic energy as she had had a second ago. Her brow was furrowed, not looking at Ben, not at anything really, just staring ahead as she finished pulling off her stabilizers. Deep in thought “I know a few of the Hero Course quirks from class, but I don’t have everything. Which ones from Class A do we need to be worried about?” "Class A? Hmmm…" Benjamin looked at the board and nodded. "Sun is unpredictable, like his Quirk. Kio is the most versatile of things, considering how many cards he has. Then again, it depends on which one he ends up using...if he hasn't already used one." He paused, his hand on chin before sighing. "Rika has the range with her chameleon tongue...and Ayane has her sound Quirk. Meanwhile Takehiko has his Pawns with his Chess Quirk...though I [dunno] what else he's hiding up his sleeves." Once again, Benjamin paused before sighing. "The only one I can't put my finger on is Diana. I'm honestly unsure what her Quirk does. I know specifically Sun and Rika up close due to working with them during that ex...am…" Benjamin's face turned slowly to one that didn't look great, as if recalling a bad memory, which...if Risa was smart, she'd realize what it was. He shook his head quickly and cleared his throat. "A-Anyway...I think that we may need to find a way to play it safe and do what we can." Risa, however, was in her own little world, and hadn’t spotted Ben’s pause. She finished removing the stabilizer cages from her shoes, standing and holding them awkwardly in her hands. “Seigi-sama… Well, she’s in the first place team so we should probably avoid her anyway…” She was frowning, deep in thought. “.... Ooooooh, I don’t know who to GO for!” She started bobbing around Ben in a circle. “Everyone in the Hero Course just seems so strong!” "Just need to figure out how to hinder them is all." Benjamin said with a shrug. "How bout this for an idea: instead of figuring out who to go for first, how about we figure out a way to just survive? Ya know, attack and retaliate if necessary. We play it defensive in the long run." Then something popped into his mind and his face lit up. "Ohhhhh!!! Ya know what? Risa we can do something else! You can pull people off balance with your Quirk...and with my spiders doing the same thing, we shouldn't have too much of an issue." “Oh no, what am I doing?!” she suddenly yelled, thrusting the stabilizers into his hands. “Quick, quick, put these on, I can’t believe I just wasn’t going to use them at all!” Benjamin yelped a bit, looking at the stabilizers and shrugged. Doing his best to put them on, he looked awkwardly at them and then at Risa. "I put these on correctly, right??" - - - - - - - After that the buzzer had sounded and they had to rush to their places. Risa was sweating bullets atop Ben’s shoulders as he cautiously tested the weight of the stabilizing soles. I just have to... find a way. Find a way to get Ben through to the next round. That's all you have to do, Risa. The team didn’t have much time to adjust, however, before being set upon by an enemy. Just one enemy. From Class 1B, Mayu wasted no time approaching the team with intent to win. With no more warning than her showing up in the pair’s eyeline, she reached forward, opened a pair of eyes on her hands, and opened fire. “... Eh? What?!?” Risa waved her arms and Ben only barely managed to yank her out of the way of the two beams. “Ben! She doesn’t have a rider! Isn’t that against the rules?!” "Yeah, that's...uh...ref! Ref! Where's the call??" Benjamin blinked. “Oh, I have a rider,” Mayu interjected. Pointing upward, she continued “He’s up there, staying away from the action. As long as he doesn’t touch the ground, anything is permitted outside of lethal force, remember?” “No way…” Risa turned her head, looking up into the sky with wide eyes. Surely enough, there was a red-winged form soaring through the sky, one of two, but this one did not have Diana Seigi atop it. Risa felt her heartbeat starting to thud inside her ear. “Atsushi?!? You can do that?” “His Quirk is Crimson Wings,” Mayu shrugged. “It’s right there in the name.” “I meant not using him as a rider!” she called back defensively, embarrassed somehow amid the chaos. "...well...errors have been made on that." Benjamin sighed, to himself. "Okay then...improvisation is the name of the game." “What do we do?!” Risa asked frantically, almost toppling off of Ben as she ducked two more blasts from Mayu. “We can’t even touch Atsushi’s target!” "I think we have to focus on Mayu first...seeing as she is a bit more of a pressing threat." Benjamin quickly replied. "Also, calm down Risa! If you don't you'll fall...and you won't be able to truly shine with your support items." “Support items?!?” Risa grabbed onto the last word, processing only half of Ben’s assurances. Despite her convictions at the start of the event it had taken her less than a minute to begin panicking. “Uuuum, THIS one!” She reached to her belt and threw a small disc at Mayu, flinging it as hard as she could. Three iron balls sprang from it on long cable cords, and the whirling bola spun its way towards the student. Mayu - not expecting a support item so suddenly, let alone one meant to be thrown at her - was unfortunate enough to have one of her arms caught in the bola. Immediately, she started struggling her arm to try and get it free of the device, but stopped after only a moment. “It worked!” Risa yelled out, sounding just as surprised as she did relieved. "[Nice shooting, Tex!]" Benjamin cheered. Eyes on the Target A prolonged huff sounded from Mayu, as her attention turned back to her target team. “Okay, that’s on me,” she sighed, after a deep breath. “I shouldn’t be sleeping on the support class, especially when it’s someone who rescued a hero course student. I’ll be sure to take this seriously starting now!” Spanning the full breadth of her midriff, a large eye opened up on Mayu’s body, foregoing the previous bullet-type projectiles to fire a fully-fledged beam at the opposing team. "That's...not good." he clicked his tongue, before looking up at Risa. "Hang on real quick!" With that, Benjamin took initiative and began to move them out of the way of the eye-beam. "Hey, you probably need to ease up there. Otherwise I'm fairly certain your optometrist will hate you and the overexertion of those eyes." Yikes...probably not one of his better quips...he'd need to think of something better. Risa clung onto Ben’s head from her spot atop his shoulders, the breath catching in her lungs as the massive ray whizzed by her. She felt a strange whoom sound, felt it, even, almost like it cut through the air around it, and her blood ran cold. "Out of curiosity, Risa...but can you use your Quirk on that bola?" Benjamin asked, keeping himself steady after the evasive maneuver just performed. "Cause if you can, maybe we can catch her off guard. Worst case scenario, we get the bola back." Meanwhile, while he spoke, he flicked his hand slightly...preparing something. Risa turned on his back, looking back towards Mayu, who was still bearing down on them. “Y-Yes…” she managed. “I… I think so. Why?” Mayu sent shivers of dread down Risa's spine. She thought back to every time her sister had bested her in one of her bouts of training, and how every student here was of that caliber. Why does Ben think I deserve to be here? Why does he think I would want to be a hero? "Then call it back." Benjamin simply said, looking in Risa's direction. "We're gonna make it through...and it's going to be all thanks to you and your Quirk..."

Rosalia had been transfixed on both duels since Daichi had been eliminated, but when Sai found a reason to bare his chest suddenly she found reason to suddenly look elsewhere, anywhere else. She rose a hand to her temple, half covering her face as if she were on the street with Sai and people were staring, for once her generally placid face looking awkwardly embarrassed. Why is he doing that? she asked herself, looking out of the box they occupied to see that there was a raucous response from the audience at what she could only call a spectacle. But her embarrassment soon gave way to discomfort, and her discomfort then to a somber stare as Sai proceeded to somehow escalate the situation while picking apart his opponent's field piece by piece. It would have been an impressive feat of skill if she hadn't been thoroughly distracted by how he was conducting himself. Almost as if his words themselves contained the acid of his Starving Venom. And when the dust cleared and the duel was won... For some reason the boos caused Rosalia to wince. This was not a sound she had expected to hear. Especially not in reference to their victory. - - - - - - - She had spent the remainder of the last duel in deep thought, raising her head only to acknowledge a relived smile when Falisha managed to pull out a victory over Sorrel. But she was distracted by two phrases echoing inside her head. "Next time you have lofty ambitions, back them up with more than platitudes." "We have a bunch of skilled duelists but we still have a long way to go..." That gentle rebuke to Daichi seemed to echo louder and louder in her head until it somehow bounced back to her as Sai's biting remark, loudly within her mind. She had trouble shaking it from her mind, not even sure how the connection made sense but knowing in her heart that it very much did. She didn't even notice Vega look to her, but she was pulled out by Kendra beginning to lay into Sai. “Did it never occur to you that the crowd wouldn’t like what you did? We’re not just trying to win, we do have to get some support." She's right. “I understand you have your own views on this. I don’t even disagree." Somehow I don't either. "You need strength to back up your convictions. But what you did was beyond a show of strength. It made us look like bullies. It makes Vega look bad." Maybe I should say something. "It makes me look bad." I should probably say something. "It makes Rosalia look bad." I really should say something. "Your duel will affect how we’re all perceived. First impressions matter. And the first impression we made now is that we’re willing to talk down to our opponents. Demean them. Treat them like that when there was no reason." Why is it so hard to know where to even start? How is she doing it so easily? "When people talk about your victory, it’ll be in the context of how unnecessary your behavior was. Daichi, despite his loss, is the main reason we have any good will with the audience.” Another pang of guilt as she wondered yet again if that one slight disagreement back in the meeting had created some domino effect that led them here. It was salvageable, yes, but she really wished it hadn't happened in the first place. As captain shouldn't she be ahead of this? She let out an audible sigh, making the first proper sound she had produced in twenty minutes. She noticed Vega's eyes flick over to her and thought she saw a hopeful glint in them. She very much wished she had anything impressive to offer but all she managed, with a tired and flat voice: "Sashisematta." She tilted her head up to meet his eyes, despite the twinge of discomfort she felt doing so. "Is there a reason for what you did out there?" she asked simply, merely looking at him and waiting. No judgement in her voice, no discernible opinion easily read from her expression. Just... waiting for his answer.

Faba stood with crossed arms and cross expression, watching the four go about the medication of the Exeggutor pensively from behind his sunglasses. Watched Kai shimmy up the Pokemon's neck, Amelia coax the head down, Tia make the treacherous climb up the sleeping Snorlax, and Charlie make a vertical bridge with his scarf. The first and last in particular seemed to cause a thin smile to move across his face, one that didn't reach his large sunglasses. "That's Assistant Branch Chief Faba, Charles!" he yelled up. He seemed to deliberately be putting less emphasis on the word 'Assistant'. "And if that's not enough for you four..." A diabolical smirk painted itself across his face as he gestured behind him to a pile of large bags overflowing with the same medicine. "Someone still needs to feed the Snorlax." The word 'feed' stirred something in the sleeping Pokemon. The rhythmic snoring slowed as its great bulk shifted, looking up with a sudden, dedicated interest. The other Aether employees drew away, whitening as they looked to where the four were gathered at the base of the Exeggutor. At that point a pleasant female voice came over the intercom. "Branch Chief Wicke to Assistant Branch Chief Faba!" Faba blinked, looking over his shoulder with surprise to the nearest speaker. "Eh? Wicke?" He scowled visibly. "Can you please send Kai, Tia, Amelia aaaand Charlie to the briefing room in Observation? I'll need them for the day... and maybe more beyond that. We're not quite sure yet, we'll let you know once we figure it out!" A cheerful giggle crept through the speaker that seemed to fill Faba with rage, if his stiffened posture and clenched fists were anything to go by. "Hope you four are ready for a bit of adventure!" "... Fine!" he barked, whirling on the four and waving a hand. "Go on! That leaves the rest of you to-" he turned back and saw that all the Aether employees aside from Kai, Amelia, Charlie and Tia had rushed away at the stirring of the Snorlax. "feed... the Snorlax..." His face drew itself into an expression of horror as he felt a large, rotund shadow pass over him completely. He turned with a sweating brow to see the great beige belly of Snorlax, looking down at him with a big, dopey smile. "N-n-now... Easy-" THUD - - - - - - - Melemele Sailing! The wind blew past as the four stood upon the deck of the small boat, not able to hear each other too well over the roar of the motor and the whipping of the wind. They had only known they were close to their destination when they had seen the driver (an Aether employee named Nicholas who had apologized for the motor's noise in advance) wave to them from his spot at the helm. It was just over two hours since they had been called away from Faba, and been called to Observation... - - - - - - - "Oh! Hello, all of you!" The violet-haired Branch Manager Wicke had been embroiled with a collection of photographs on the central table of the small briefing room that overlooked the glass canopy of the Conservation Area they had just left. She straightened from her seat, greeting each of them with an excited ushering to their seats. "I've got something very interesting to show all of you," she had told them once everyone was seated. She slid the photos towards them. They were various angles of a squat mountain, each one showing an oblong shape silhouetted against morning sky before it crashed into the high rock. "We detected this earlier today, some foreign object falling on Melemele, as you see here," she explained, pointing to the oblong shape. "We're a little short-handed on our exploration and observation teams after all the restructuring the President- Well, acting President, I mean, with all the restructuring he's been doing." The mysterious acting President. None of them had spoken with him, just seen the thin blonde boy who couldn't be much older than they were as he stood at the fringes of Aether activity with a serious expression on his face at all times, contrasted sharply to the ever-pleasant Wicke at his side. "SO, because of that, I figured I'd go to all of you guys! Your employee paperwork shows you all have a penchant for exploring, seeing what you can find." She gave Tia a good-natured smile. "I thought you all might be interested in looking into this; After all, it might be something that's harmful to the habitat of the Pokemon wherever it landed. If it is, we'd like Aether eyes on it, so we can see to its removal safely. And who knows; A lot of Pokemon are supposedly from space; Maybe you four will stumble on one waiting for you up there!" She clapped her hands together. "So: What do you say?" - - - - - - - When the four had left, after securing enough of their belongings to hold them over for a day or two, Wicke had assured them that someone would be waiting for them at the Ferry Terminal to escort them to lodgings for the night, but she had been so excited that by the time they were all seen onto the boat she had quite forgotten to tell them who it was. Fortunately, it was rather apparent. "Take a look!" Nicholas called out to them over the quieting motor as he coasted the boat towards the great city of Hau'oli. "Think that's your guy?" He let out a good-natured laugh as he pointed to a tan-skinned man wearing shorts and a lab coat open over a bare chest in the afternoon rays of the Alola sun, arms high over his head to reveal a white sign almost as long as he was tall, with "AETHER!" scrawled across it, standing on a Ferry Terminal that looked more like a miniature boardwalk, littered with pedestrians and their Pokemon sitting at various tables and benches as they took in the scenery of the beach city. "Alola!" the man called, waving cheerily. He tossed the sign aside to rush down the Ferry, catching a line and tying it to the boat. "You must be the four Chief Wicke sent!" he said happily, reaching out to help any over the small gap between boat and dock who needed it. "Kukui's the name, pleased to meet all of you!" He noticed a gust of wind snatch at his sign, and he hurriedly reached out and grabbed it, looking sheepish. "Woo! Better be careful of that. And THIS!" He reached down to the ground where he had been standing, pulling a long box towards him. "Wicke told me you might be heading into something a little hairy up there tomorrow, and that most of you, except the scarfed gentleman here-" He paused to give a cheerful salute to Charlie- "only had one Pokemon to take with you! Figured I might be able to do something about that, just in case you need 'em!" He reached out with a foot, giving a deft kick to the side of the box. It popped open, briefly exposing three freshly polished Pokeballs. They swiftly burst open, and onto a nearby deck table laden with malasadas flashed three darts of white light that coalesced into- "Rowlett, Litten, and Popplio; A touch on the uncommon side, which Wicke told me might interest you!" The three Pokemon all called out as they settled themselves comfortably on their own corners of the table. Kukui strode around the table, pulling chairs away and giving the four a welcome smile. "So eat up a bit, I imagine you must be a bit tired from your ride; We'll get to know each other a while and we can work out if these guys will head up towards this falling object with you tomorrow! Sound good, cousin?"

Rosalia, dressed in a sleeveless black sweater and a long, slanted blue skirt, had kept her eyes trained on the dueling fields before them, but at this exchange her eyes flicked over to Evelyn, taking in what she said quietly, considering it. If that was true, she was perhaps due for some unwanted scrutiny in her debut match as well. Her sister's face flashed in her mind briefly and she shook her head slightly. None of the others knew about her family in the pro scene... Or at least she hadn't told them yet. She crossed her arms, rubbing at her shoulders. Suddenly she felt relieved to not be front and center in this debut match. Her eyes kept finding themselves straying across the faces of her teammates on the screen. Sai, Falisha... and Daichi was up against their captain. The meeting several days ago crossed her mind, another small stab of guilt hitting at her. "This is your chance, Daichi," she whispered lowly. "To show me and Sashisematta the kind of duel you think belongs on this stage." But as she watched the duels unfolding in front of her, she saw that Daichi was ultimately outmatched. Even just the first few turns were indicative of the difference in skill level between the two, as Honey quickly reduced Daichi’s field to ruins. “Her skill level is apparent,” she said quietly, her voice in the analytical tone she generally used when observing a duel. “She’s not missing any opportunities to destroy Daichi’s field… and it’s payed off.” She realized, feeling slightly guilty, that she had been distracted from Sai and Falisha. She mentally kicked herself for forgetting her other teammates, scanning the duel fields to find them. She caught Sai’s duel just as he summoned Squid Drossera, and the apparent rebirth of the dragon that helmed Sai’s deck. She nodded, unsurprised. Masquerade is an exceptionally powerful monster, especially here in a setting where Sashisematta is against pro duelists who use more powerful cards regularly, she thought. Almost all top-level duelists use multiple monsters of that type. Allowing him a repeat performance. Her attention was suddenly drawn back to Daichi as she saw his Pendulum Scales light up, with Dragonpit and Dragonvein in them once again. She looked to a nearby screen and saw the Amazing Pendulum card fading from sight. Is a reversal coming from you, Daichi? She wondered. She had to admit she was impressed at Daichi’s use of Rapid-Fire Magician. A card with an objectively mediocre effect that tied into Daichi’s Action Dueling in a surprisingly smart way. But she winced (only inwardly) as Daichi failed to press his advantage. Honey was starting her turn with Grand Chariot still remaining on the field. That was all he seemed to have: Minor tricks and magics that ultimately didn’t stop that very Grand Chariot from taking the last of Daichi’s Life Points. “Not a great start to our first match,” she commented quietly from her seat next to Evelyn. “But at least Sashisematta still seems confident." Her eye now strayed to Falisha, whom she hadn’t caught sight of just yet...

Pokémon Crossroads OOC Welcome to the World of Pokémon! This world is inhabited by many creatures called Pokémon, each more unique and fantastical than the last. The people of this world have learned to coexist alongside Pokémon. Living with them, proving themselves in battle alongside them, and researching their many mysteries. There is a wide variety of Pokémon, just as there are a variety of Pokémon Trainers! Some challenge the Pokémon League, some attempt to rise to the top of the Contest world. And some take a different path entirely, one that leads to a grand adventure... Aether Paradise The island was artificial; Man-made to house and service Pokémon. A large, stark white collection of rectangular structures all welded together upon a central floating base in the middle of Alola's ocean. The soft rolling of the waves and the screeching of the Wingull that flew through the air were the only sounds that surrounded the great Aether Paradise. A video feed was playing, projected on the wall of a dimly lit office. It was a wide shot from far away, depicting a rolling hill that rose up high above a small village, up against the bright morning sky. The plume of debris and the large moving object that had collided with the hilltop was exceptionally visible against the backlighting of the sunrise. The thin form in the desk chair leaned forward, surveying the feed as it was paused, looking intently at the spherical form that was frozen against the Alola sky. "Do you think it could be one of them?" asked his companion, her voice sounding quite loud in the quiet room. The thin form at the desk considered briefly before saying, with a steady, calm voice. "Perhaps not... The signs aren't identical to past incidents... But it wouldn't hurt to check." "Paranoid, are we?" asked his companion cheerily. But his tone did not lighten as he answered. "Aether's made enough mistakes. I'd like to get ahead of one, for a change. Get us past what got us here in the first place." "You say 'us' like they were your decisions, Mr. President. They were your mother's." "I'm just the acting President... And my point stands. Who here can go?" "I'll see what I can wrangle up. We have some adventurous new hires lately; Perhaps they'll do!" A Day In Paradise The rest of the island was not so somber. A whirlwind of activity abounded in the Conservation Area on the second floor. A great sprawling array of greenery and artificial rivers ran through the floor, all framed by sleek railed walkways that collected at rounded platforms. Often these walkways would be crowded with the visitors that now regularly toured the place, invited by the acting President. But today the greenery was where the real action was. An absolute mess of Pokémon were scattered throughout the garden, of all types and shapes. Corsola, Wingull, Crabrawler, Fomantis, Mudbray, Pichu, Staryu, a few Exeggutor that stretched high up above towards the domed glass ceiling and the bright sun beyond, and even a massive, sprawling Snorlax were crowding up the garden, with a handful of white-uniformed Aether employees struggling to move their way through them without trampling on the smaller ones. "Alright, everybody, hustle, hustle! And no, I do not mean the ability!" A tall, lean man in Aether white with slicked-back hair and a large pair of green spherical sunglasses over his eyes marched through the ranks of employees, clapping his hands together loudly to punctuate his words. The empluyees largely tried to stay out of the way; Assistant Branch Chief Faba was well known to be an unholy terror when he didn't have his orders followed to the letter. Faba held out a white bag, composed of a biodegradable white material and filled to the brim with lozenges of an orange and blue color. "Every Pokémon in our care needs their dose of medicine for inoculation!" he called out, almost being drowned out from the various calls and trills of the Pokémon underfoot. "Be sure to apply the proper dosage, ESPECIALLY to the Snorlax! But first... Somebody needs to take care of the Exeggutor!" He pointed up the great trunks of the four massive Coconut Pokémon, who were staring down at him and smiling dopily. "One dose for each head!" He scowled, pivoting on the spot as he squinted through a small flock of Pikipek. The ones that were more old hat at the Foundation quickly dove out of his sight, some behind trees, others into the nearby river, and one behind the Snorlax, narrowly avoiding being crushed as it rolled over. Finally, Faba's eyes settled on his chosen victims for the task. "You! You! You! Aaaaaaand... YOU!" he called out dramatically, pointing with a flourish on each one. "You four! Take three of these," he yelled out over the din, holding out the bag of medicine, "and get them to those Exeggutor! I don't care if you get them to lean down, lie down, or if you shimmy up their neck, just get it done!"

The results are in, fellas! I've decided I want a very focused cast of characters for this RP, and because of that the number of apps I've accepted is 4! So... @Kazooie with Amelia @Blake with Kai @yui with Tia @() and his unatable-ass username with Charlie You four have been accepted into the RP! All the others who submitted apps, thank you so much (especially @Chaos Sonic, I know you fought a very busy week to get one in, sorry you didn't end up with a slot, you had very good competition) for your interest. Picked the four up above because I felt their characters meshed really well not just with each other but with aspects I'm already planning for the RP. Sorry I couldn't allow for everyone, but again, I thank you for your applying nonetheless. The IC will be up on Satuday, August 21st (or a smidge after midnight on the 22nd, depending on how long I spend writing it). See you guys then!

Looking over the apps today, be sure to send me any expanded details about your character's backstories that you wished to keep out of the app, erryone!

That's a fair point, I hadn't thought about it. Deleting the old check sounds best!

Pokémon Crossroads OP - Sabotage - Ryokuoushoku Shakai The world of Pokémon is filled with a plethora of Trainers, each with their own story and each with a different path through this land with all its strange and mighty creatures. Many challenge the Pokémon League, many seek to study the intricasies of Pokémon and become learned in the field, and some just enjoy the life they have with these companions that can fit inside their pocket. You have chosen to devote your life to Pokémon alongside an organization that seeks to assist any Pokémon placed in arms way: The Aether Foundation. Though your Alola branch has had some rumblings of bad publicity with former President Lusamine the previous year, the Foundation has since flourished under Acting President Gladion. Branch Chief Wicke, your direct superior, has seen an influx of new hires, particularly looking out for ones who need a second chance just as much as the Pokémon in the Foundation's care do. You have all been employed by the Aether Foundation for various lengths of time, but none longer than 3 months. You may know each other a little, but you aren't close. That is all about to change. as you are let loose on the wide world of Pokémon. Rules Character App Feel free to spoiler any sections of this you feel necessary. I'll likely be looking to see which apps I accept in a week on August 17th. Feel free to join the Discord server I've prepared in the meantime (https://discord.gg/56cmKveu) and until then, happy app-ing. ED - Homura - LiSa

The last hour had been very eventful for Risa. - - - - - - - "Hochi-samaaaaaa!" she called, waving to the tall boy with one arm, the other pulling Inu on the makeshift sled behind her as she struggled to catch up with the Class 1B student as he slowly straightened up from setting down his great burden of the entire upper two thirds of a building. "I hope I got your name right! I'm Kawashima Risa from 1G? Can you help me with Satori-sama? He fell out of that building you were lifting just now." Tai Hoshi looked at her with confusion at first from the improper salutation, but his expression quickly changed when he saw the bruised and battered and still very much out cold Inu. He looked over to the building, wincing a little as he imagined exactly what might of happened. "I can't really leave him out to dry now, can I? Leave it to me!" He said as he carefully tried to pick up Inu. "Thank you so much, Hoshi-sama! I think he'll be fine," she assured him, massaging the shoulder that she had been holding a metal cable over for the last few minutes. "I got to him before he hit the ground too bad. Besides, you were real busy with that building! That was so impressive! Is that the heaviest thing you've ever lifted? You must have the best physical strength in the Hero Course! And Shoshiki and Ozoi managed to stop a Ferris wheel earlier too! You're all amazing!" - - - - - - - She had thoroughly talked his ear off the whole way back (he had been a very good sport about it), and, after making sure Inu was taken care of (and finding out his actual surname in the process), she had rejoined the bulk of the student body as they awaited the results. She had tried to find Ben but had been unsuccessful, managing instead to reconvene with a very tired Setsu and Hosodan, the three comparing their experiences an point totals. Risa's heart had sunk when she learned that the both of them had managed upwards of forty rescues. She had barely cracked half that. She had taken a deep, tired breath. Well. There's no way I made it to the next round. But maybe I did well enough to save me from my grades... And at least Sasaki-sama is okay. That last thought really had given her some peace of mind. And then the results were announced. Hoshi-sama is first! she had thought excitedly. Him lifting the building is probably what got him there! she had continued as Orikami began explaining that rescues were based on the danger involved. I got to see that! Oh... Hoshi-sama. I hope he's not sore at me for getting his name wrong. She had then seen Shannon was second. She shivered a touch at that. No surprises there. And then the third- "EEEEEEH?" Her cry of surprise and bewilderment had carried over the entire crowd. All color in Risa's body hard defaulted to stark white as she saw and failed to comprehend the third place spot. "Risa!" Setsuna's hand was clenched around her arm, having immediately clamped onto it as she gasped out her friend's name. "Risa!" she exclaimed again, unable to get out much else. "Additionally," and Risa's entire body, which had been devoid of feeling, suddenly buzzed with shock as her name on the scoreboard, the name that was inexplicably up there for all to see, pulsed green. ”the third place contestant, Kawashima Risa, was awarded a large mass for saving another student from a crisis on the testing ground." Like a fever dream, completely failing to process Setsu's shocked queries, Risa's mind flashed back in an instant to the falling rocks, the crumbling buildings, and the loud scrape of the sled that had contained Inu Sasaki being dragged behind her. I got... points for dragging Sasaki out of there? "Not that such a feat would be unexpected for the second daughter of the late Kawashima Yozo, the original bearer of the title Glory, and once the headmaster of this very school.” And then the applause started. Setsu and Hosodan, looking cowed by the sudden attention that was being directed their way by everyone around Risa in the crowd. Several of the other 1G students were watching Risa with expressions Risa couldn't place, but whatever they were that sentence had opened the floodgates and made her suddenly feel very visible. She trembled in the middle of the throng, those words echoing in her head. "The second daughter of the late Kawashima Yozo... the original bearer of the title Glory... Not that such a feat would be unexpected..." Thrust Into the Limelight "Risa?" Setsu had regained enough courage to gingerly step towards Risa, who was now staring at the ground. "Are you okay? You're third place... How did you do it?" Risa looked back up at the board, forced to acknowledge that it really was her name up there. "The original bearer of the title Glory..." Her father's face in her memory. Smiling, the golden helmet underneath his arm, reaching down to rest a callused hand on her head. "Don't worry, Risa... I'll come home later tonight. I always will for you." "There's been a mistake," she said softly, the wind blowing her hair aside as her eyes were locked on the scoreboard. They were slightly wet. "I need... I need to talk to Deerc-Sensei." "Hey there. Looking for a partner?" She jumped about a mile as Benjamin O'Hara tapped her on the shoulder, letting out a shriek of surprise as all the students who had been attracted by her sudden importance recoiled from the ear-shattering noise. "O'Hara-sama?!?" she yelped, turning around with a red face that progressively grew redder as she had a harder and harder time breathing. "I... I... A part- Um, O'Hara-sama, I don't think you- I don't think this is- Can you give me a few minutes?" She turned and sprinted for the edge of the stadium, eyes scouring the stands for the distinctive deer's head. It didn't take long; He was pretty low down in the stands, and he stood out by way of his Quirks effect on his anatomy. "DEERC-SENSEI!" she shouted, hopping to and fro below him, her stabilizers clattering loudly against the ground. "DEERC-SENSEI, I don't know why I'm up there! I was just trying to do what you told me and show off my support items! I think.... I think the judges made a mistake!" Deerc looked at her and tilted his head. "Yes. You showed them off very well. And because you did, you're 'up there'," He said, using air quotes. "But you know, you also saved someone's life. You think the judges of a hero competition can just ignore something so heroic?" Risa paused in her flailing at the foot of the stands, looking up at Deerc with surprise in her face. "Heroic...?" she asked, softly, far too low for anyone to hear. Deerc looked down at her confidently, and that question he had posed to her two weeks previously in his office echoed in her head. "Kawashima Risa... Why do you want to be a hero?" "Why does everybody seem to think that lately," she asked half-heartedly, turning away from Deerc, looking a bit lost. "Even if I wanted to be I... I'm just not... a hero." She looked back up, seeing Ben staring at her from where she had left him. Setsuna was leaning over and talking to him, gesturing to Risa every once in a while. "But you just have that... desire to want to help." She looked around at the other students who had made the top 16 as she slowly started making her way back towards Ben. She saw a girl with a guitar shake the hand of a blue-haired boy. She saw Shoshiki (he had stopped a Ferris wheel by himself, that was insane) being cajoled by Meguru. One pair she passed was the fifth place girl, Diana, and... Shannon. Risa watched with surprise. That was a pairing she hadn't expected... and a powerful one, if their placings were any indication. Though you got into third, she reminded herself. She shook her head. No, no... no matter what their place they are Hero Course... But he wants to partner with you anyway. She reached Ben, taking a deep breath and slowly beginning to speak. The slowly part collapsed immediately, her words becoming a frenzied run-on almost immediately: "O'Hara-sama, I dunno why I'm third place they say it's cause I did something heroic with Sasaki-sama but I don't think I am and I don't know what to do but if you really wanna partner with me I'll do it but I completely understand if-" She paused for a gulping breath. "-you wanna partner with someone else it'd be silly to throw your lot in with a Support student who doesn't know what she's doing but if you do I'll do my best and try nottobetoomuchofaburdenokay?" The last bit flew out as a single word, Risa taking several deep breaths as she rested her hands on her knees, looking up at Ben with nervous anticipation. The least I can do is try to make sure he doesn't get kept out of round three because of me! she thought fervently. Even if that means... I end up there myself, was the terrifying conclusion to that thought. "... Also what were the rules of the next round? I didn't hear any of them at all."

Rosalia felt guilt mounting as seemingly everybody piled onto Daichi. If she had known they were going to object this much maybe she wouldn't have brought it up. She winced visibly when Sai said he thought Daichi didn't know what he was talking about. Sai had a way of agreeing with her that made her regret voicing the opinion in the first place. The blunt delivery made her own thoughts seem so much harsher in hindsight. She took a low, deep breath as she endured the conversation that had been birthed by her speaking out. She agreed with all of it, that was true, but she couldn't help feeling like she'd placed Daichi at the end of a company of bayonets. She was glad when Eve finally arrived, giving her a chance to change the subject, after Vega had done her best to curtail the conversation. "We've just been discussing the last championship match," she told Eve gently as she reached out and took a donut that was at the edge of the box, a cinnamon-sugar one that everyone else's hands had seemingly avoided. "Thank you," she added softly as she took the donut for herself. "Miss Sterling wanted us to see the duel of champions, the kind of competitors we might be facing." She left it at that, leaving out the debate that had followed. "She thinks it might be helpful to us... Not that it will be, for you and me, at least not immediately." She looked up, back over to Vega. "The first match will be Sashishimatta, Daichi, and.... Falisha, is that right?" she asked, clarifying. She was about to let Eve know that they still needed a team name that she processed fully what several of the team had told her. "Oh... Team Genesis?" She hadn't meant to use the word in the context of a team name, and was surprised that so many of them seemed on board with it. It struck her fancy, too, now that she actually thought about it. "... Yes, I think that's... quite a good one," she said carefully, glancing to Vega. As team captain (a position she still wasn't entirely comfortable with having, but Kendra had been on that side of the vote, and she was relentless), she knew she was supposed to take charge on matters like this, but she felt uncomfortable calling it already, so she had a definite delay in her voice, inviting any other names implicitly. At least she hoped it came off that way. She swiftly stood, walking over to a nearby window with the dull thud of her heels on the floor, drawing aside the blinds that had been lowered for the presentation. Seattle's iconic skyline greeted her, the ever-present Space Needle backed by a gray, rainy sky that matched Rosalia's own eyes. She spared one glance back at Daichi: Brief, but apologetic, with her eyes not quite meeting his own. First meeting as a team and already I'm stumbling as Captain... I wonder if I wouldn't have been better in the solo circuit.

Rosalia had spent the first section of the meeting with her eyes locked on the screen Vega had placed before the six, shutting out Kendra's occasional snores to focus purely on the duels before her. She had sat in the exact same position throughout the meeting, hands clasped just under her eyes as she watched the current champions of the Circuit acclaim their victory. It was impressive, to say the least. Even without the clean sweep. The one loss Team Trinity had taken in particular kept running through her mind. Dritte of Team Trinity had lost the Turbo Duel against Team Demiurge's Arkhan Jacobs. That one match, the single flaw in an otherwise flawless victory, kept being circled back to in her mind's eye. - - - - - - - - - - "You and I are the same, right, Dritte? We both are users of Link Summon... In which case you know of the greatest weapon a fellow user of Link Monsters has to use against you." "Nani??!?" "Link Summon! Knightmare Unicorn! And with these arrowheads... Extra Link!" "What's this?!? In an amazing upset, Jacobs has turned the tide against Dritte and performed an Extra Link before us today!" "Knightmare Mermaid and Knightmare Unicorn in my Extra Monster Zones both lack Link Arrows that point towards any zone on your field... You've lost, Dritte. With this, your Link Summoning is sealed!" - - - - - - - - - - Extra Link... It was an intimidating display of skill to be able to create that situation. Not only to establish, but to create so flawlessly as to reduce the actions of a champion-tier team member to a sliver the width of a hair. This is the kind of prowess we are up against, Rosalia thought to herself soberly, her mind going to the deck that sat within a small box attached to the dark belt she wore over the sensible black skirt. She had performed many Link Summons but never had she managed to set up something as elaborate as Extra Link. Attempted, certainly, but never coming close to succeeding. Definitely none that were so brutal a shutout either. And his team didn't even win. It was at this point that her thoughts were broken by Daichi speaking. She paused in her contemplation, turning to look at him throughout the entirety of his little speech. She didn't meet his eyes, though, keeping them turned down towards the table where his hands were, shuffling the cards to and fro as he was wont to do. As usual, he seemed to find everything she always had trouble finding in a duel: The sense of pizazz and style. Or as he seemed to think, the lack of it. Rosalia took the diplomatic approach and chose not to voice her opinion to Daichi on the matter; After all, he was in the team specifically for Action Dueling, for all she knew he had a point. But the fact that Primrose had been so antithetical... "I found it very helpful, Miss Sterling. That's the caliber of duelist we should expect to face someday, provided we do well starting out?" She stressed the last two words lightly, glancing around at everybody else. "We are just beginners in the Circuit, even those of us who have been dueling for years... You mentioned us being Team Gestalt, Daichi?" She drummed a finger on the table, looking down at it with a preoccupied gaze. "An organized whole that is more than the sum of its parts? Well... As fun an idea that is to entertain we're not really an organized whole yet, are we? We haven't even had our first match in the public eye yet. We have a bunch of skilled duelists but we still have a long way to go before we can even begin..." She paused, glancing briefly over to Daichi. "... to think to challenge anything like the duelists in Team Trinity. This is our start line. Our genesis." She lingered on that sentence, still tap-tap-tapping a finger awkwardly on the table before suddenly: "Except for one of us, I suppose. You have experience in these matters, Sashisematta. What did you think?" She almost seemed to shrink back into her chair, inwardly wilting away. The rest of the team was likely used to this visual queue. It always heralded a long, drawn-out bout of silence from Rosalia, one where she talked very little and engaged with the discussion with as few words as possible. The thoughts whirling through her head were too distracting for her to talk much further, at least for now. A lot of the old members of the club, before they had spit off to become this team now, had often identified it as Rosalia being stuck-up. She didn't know if the five around her now thought the same way; She had never had the courage to ask.

Custom Cards Team Ops

Another one! Risa had to hop up to catch the stuffed horse out of the air, having biffed the angle, but she managed to catch it all the same. She twisted off the weight as she dropped the horse onto a nearby bench (taking an extra half a second to make sure he sat upright, for no particular reason) before rushing off down another street. She definitely wasn't rescuing plushies at the rate the Hero Course was managing, she was confident there, but she wasn't doing too bad for Support numbers, at least she hoped so. The weights had been surprisingly handy, letting her knock plushies off of high ledges and windowsills and bring them sailing back toward her. The stabilizers hadn't been much use, and neither had the bolas, which had been sized for the average human size and not for the bulky robots, in a crippling lack of foresight. Why had she sized them so uniformly when there was such a myriad of different shapes and sizes with how Quirks worked? It's fine, it's fine! She kept telling herself this as she rushed down a side street, avoiding a duo of Class B students. She had been avoiding Hero Course in general since she split off from Ben. So long as I stay where the Hero Course isn't, I'm free to show off! The weights will just have to do! I can't match up to the Hero Curse, but I can- This is Beyond Me[/i] She was violently divorced from her thoughts by a great rumbling crash less than a block away from her. She stumbled, almost tripping over her stabilizers before she whipped around to see a building beginning to topple. She made to take a few steps back, gulping at the sight as one of the front corners of the building had great, splitting cracks run across the surface, cracks that quickly broke and released plumes of brick and dust. Did the school cause it to fall? They really trust the Hero Course to take care of things... She thought, noticing that one of them was rushing up. She recognized him faintly, though she couldn't place a name or Quirk to this particular one. Class B, though, she was pretty sure. Immediately she felt the tension in her chest that had built up at the noise relax a little. Class B had a lot of powerful Quirks, and he certainly seemed confident. He probably had this in hand if he was running to it so aggressively. "Amazing..." she whispered under her breath as he ran to the structure that was still crumbling more and more, threatening at last to tip over. "The Hero Course really is fearless, huh? No wonder they took in Fumiko." She took a deep breath, turning to walk away. "I'll get any of the animals in the area; Keep them away from the debris, that'll be worth a few points, surely-" It was then she saw, just out of the corner of her eye, as the building began to finally tip over. The Class B student was already leveraging it, grabbing at the center and lifting it (how he didn't snap it in half she had no idea) up over his head, preparing to take it into a great overhead carry. But debris was, as Risa had guessed, falling from the building. And one piece of it looked less like brickwork and more like a person- The Desire to Want to Help[/i] Risa ran, stabilizers banging with a jolt against the asphalt with every step. "Hoki!" she called out loudly, taking a stab at the 1B student's name. "Look out!" But he didn't seem to hear her over the crumbling of the building he was holding. Risa's eyes darted back to the falling boy, one she didn't recognize in her frantic run, just seeing a tousled head of gray hair amidst a plume of fire that very suddenly went out. She assumed that to be a bad sign. She tossed a weight at him, cursing the action even as she did it. He's heavier than you, Risa! she thought to herself as she saw the weight sailing up towards Inu, knowing it would do no good. Her mind flew through a million thoughts at once, none of them helpful as she saw him fall toward the ground. Oh no; Unless he's got a physical enhancement Quirk- She didn't let herself finish the thought. She was interrupted by a memory that was, amazingly, actually helpful: The training dummy she had used with Fumiko. The scrap body she had made was always falling over unless Risa used her Quirk to hold it upright, and it had knocked her back whenever Fumiko exerted a lot of force on it; It had outweighed her, exerting her Quirk's power on her. But one time it had happened while she leaned against a wall, and after a brief moment of pressure she had been effectively braced- She renewed her push on the weight, sending it shooting in a renewed arc to Inu. It hit him in the shoulder, latching on just a half a second after Risa tapped her stabilizier heel on the ground to send the iron peg into the street. She felt an uncomfortable pressure across her body as Inu's weight had a brief contest with her own, but Risa was firmly attached to solid ground and Inu was supported merely by thin air. He spun away from her, his downward momentum briefly interrupted, greatly reducing the speed at which he fell. Risa hissed in a breath as she saw him hit the ground, but at a glance it at least looked like his legs were both at the proper angles. A knocked out fall was better than a bone-breaking fall, and as she felt the shadow of the building blot out the light heat from the sun she did see he was indeed knocked out. Which complicated matters. "Sasori? Er, I mean Satori? Salieri? Whichever one you are?!?" she called out over the sound of the crumbling brick above and suddenly around them. Her head darted up with alarm as she saw that while Tai had the building relatively in hand, debris had fallen to the strike the sides of the buildings on either side, which had been smaller and thus sustained major hits. They too, were crumbling, and she saw already that a large section of rooftop was starting to slide off towards her and Inu. "No no no no no no no," she muttered incoherently, giving rhythmic light slaps to Inu's face in a frantic and completely ineffective attempt to revive him. "Pleeeease wake UP," she begged, her plea turning into a nerve-wracked shout as a metal sheet of roofing spun through the air towards them, reflexively pushing on it to thrust it away as it clanged onto the street just a few feet from them. More and more debris was starting to fall, and Risa wasn't nearly as physically capable of moving Inu as he would have been at moving her. She struggled to pull him, drag him out of the danger zone by the armpits, to no avail. "Someone help! Anybody! Hero Course! Please!" But the only one anywhere near them had a building over his head to deal with. Risa struggled to pull Inu. Why was she so small?!? Her sister had maintained their father's height, why couldn't she have- Desperation Idea[/i] Another metal sheet of roofing fell next to the pair and Risa finally processed the METAL part of that equation. She swiftly rolled Inu over, that much she could do, trying not to look over her shoulder every other second at the building she could hear collapsing behind her. As she rolled him onto the metal sheet, she rapped her heel against it, accomplishing a twofold purpose: Steadying it so she could get Inu on it easier, a well as having the peg of her stabilizer punch a hole in the thin metal. That done, she swiped at her belt with numb, shaking fingers. An eternity later that was actually two seconds, she pulled a small cluster of iron spheres out, jabbing at a depressed button that released a spring audibly inside that caused the spheres to fall away from each other, separating them into three orbs connected by a length of steel cable. That was what she needed. With fervor she detached the spheres, looping the cable with difficulty through the hole in the iron sheet. There's no way this works, she told herself all the while, using the mantra to drown out the chaos around her. But upon turning around she saw that it would have to, as the top half of the nearest building was sliding down at last, and the opposite wasn't far behind, waiting to sandwich them between two groups of rubble. "AIIEEEEEEEE!" she screamed in fright and adrenaline, as she took off running and pulled at the metal sheet behind her. It was not graceful and it certainly wasn't quick, but it was definitely faster than if she had been dragging just Inu by herself. She finally started putting distance between herself and the buildings, even with her impromptu sled knocking against the back of her heels every few seconds. I can't believe it's working! she thought feverishly, looking over her shoulder to see they were almost out of danger. Maybe I- She stopped that thought process as she saw several robots falling from the rightmost building, dressed up to look like robbers as they looked very dismayed and fell into the deluge of bricks. But something else noticeable were several tied-together plushes, groups of four or five bundled together in rope restraints. Groups of plushes that gave her an idea. Three weights were tossed out, slowing her progress a little as she had to give up on pulling Inu in order to push her weights as they sailed out towards the bundles. She missed one, but they latched on to two others. She quickly pulled them back, releasing her Quirk just as they flew over the sled, allowing them to fall softly onto Inu below them as she began yanking at the sled with her Quirk, speeding up the final push just as a deluge of rock and pebble narrowly missed crushing Inu's foot beneath it. Risa finally tripped on her stabilizer cages, falling to the street and gasping for breath as Inu's sled slid to a grinding halt beside her. "... Deerc-sensei didn't warn me about this," was all she could muster. She pulled herself into a sitting position, taking in the growing dust cloud before her, coughing as grit plumed into her face. It was uncomfortable, but it certainly wasn't lethal. She reached out for the bundles of plushes: Eight animals in total that she didn't bother to undo the rope on. She gently lifted Inu's head and settled the two bundles beneath it like pillows, before falling back to the ground to lie with her arms spread across the curb as she let out one long, tired sigh.

"So, what's the brilliant plan to deal with this? I mean, aside from chase down this massive attraction like it's a weekly special at the supermarket!" Risa turned to look back towards Ben, looking surprised at the question. "Eh? I thought you might know better than I would. Support students don't really get trained in things like this... We're more about giving you guys the tools to do it." She scratched the back of her head, looking apologetic. "... Which I guess doesn't help us much here where I have the tools and the Hero Course doesn't, huh?" "Ah, so improvisation...honestly, that's a specialty of mine." Benjamin joked. Late to the Party[/i] It took the pair longer to catch up to the Ferris Wheel than Risa had assumed, and by the time they reached an intersection that showed the gouges of the wheel moving around the corner Risa was developing a nasty stitch in her side, breathing hard as she looked around in complete confusion. "Eh?! It turned? How did it turn?" She finally found it, peering down the street to see the two figures at the end of it. "Class 1B... Is that Shoshiki and Oozei?" she asked, heart sinking as she saw the lanky white-haired boy and the pile of plushies that he and Mayu had accumulated between them. “Did the two of them stop it all by themselves?” she asked, wide-eyed, unaware that the situation was even crazier than that. “Wow… So this is the kind of thing possible in the Hero Course…” "Those are...1-B Students?" Benjamin muttered, recalling the day Orikami explained that their one exam with the roborex...that they did it in a faster time than them. "...[Amazing]..." “Yeah, a bunch of them are really strong… But I didn’t think Shoshiki could… They got to it so fast…” Risa scratched the back of her head again, but this time she was turned away from Ben, glancing sidelong at the wheel. “I guess I slowed you down… I’m sorry! You could have maybe gotten some points if you hadn’t had to wait for me. No… You for SURE could have! After all, your Quirk is really good...” "No, no...not at all." Benjamin shook his hands dismissively, chuckling nervously. "You didn't slow me down, Risa. Honestly, I was hesitant on trying to deal with something that huge, but a Hero is always ready to rise to the occasion, right? So it's not an issue." Then he paused, sighing as he ran a hand through his hair. "As for my Quirk, well...it's nothing to write home about. But I thank you for that vote of confidence." “No, no way!” Risa protested, turning back to wave her hands to and fro. “All of us in the Support class get dossiers on you guys to design for you, I remember yours on account it was so interesting! Spider Colony is a really neat Quirk, you’re lucky to get something so versatile! And obviously you’re real skilled at using it, else you wouldn’t be here, yeah?” She looked down at her hands, smiling sadly. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to be a Hero with a Quirk like mine… all I can do is push and pull on metal things. My big sis got the real good one, so I have to do my dad proud like this instead.” Benjamin looked at Risa, legitimately surprised on hearing that his was memorable due to it being interesting. A small smile could be seen for a moment, before he simply broke the silence. "Risa, I'm sure you can still be a Hero. I mean, I don't know what your Quirk is, but you just have that...desire to want to help. I mean, you showed that off immediately by chasing down a runaway Ferris Wheel. Anyone else would just run the opposite direction." Can’t Be Like You[/i] She looked up at him in surprise as he said this, a few seconds of awkward silence between the two before she laughed suddenly, holding up her hands in front of her as if to ward off the compliment. “Well that’s so nice of you to say! But no, I really… Why would I want to be a hero? I’d be no good at it!” She started checking each of the items on her body, one by one and beginning to walk away from Ben, backwards towards a side street. “But I’ve kept you long enough… After all, you’re Hero Course; You’ve got people to impress!” She gave Ben one last thumbs up, turning to go. “Good luck, O’Hara-sama! I know you can do it!” She turned to run away unimpeded, her face losing the happy smile and changing to a frown. Ben was wrong about her being able to be a hero. Clearly just being nice. Yet Risa felt a strange sensation in her belly, almost like a light, breezy sensation moving up towards her throat. Guess that’s just another thing about being a Hero, she thought to herself as she continued. They're able to make you feel better than you are sometimes. Her dad had been very good at that. Maybe that was why so many spoke so highly of him, about things Risa had never fully been old enough to understand at the time. She paused beneath a rickety fire escape, looking up to see two small stuffed frogs hanging from the grate as it swung slightly in the wind that was funneling between the buildings. She put out her arms to catch them, knowing they would fall any second, then stopped, huffing in frustration. "No, Risa!" she said out loud, to nobody in particular. "You're supposed to show off your Support items here!" You just have that... desire to want to help. So let me ask you the real question, sounded Deerc's voice in her head alongside Ben's. Kawashima Risa... Why do you want to be a hero? What I Can Be[/i] She reached impulsively to the bandolier around her chest, pulling out two small metallic triangles. They were heavy in her hands, each one much denser than its small appearance would have implied. She held one up, closing an eye to aim at one of the frogs, and pushed. The metallic plate soared up, impacting the frog and detaching it from the fire escape, sending it careering into the air. She heard a small tic sound, seeing that the weight had latched on. She released her Quirk, then as it began to fall she pulled, and with a small stumble the heavy weight, frog attached, landed in her hand. She shook her head as she lined up a shot on the second frog. It wouldn't matter if I ever wanted to be a Hero... she thought to herself, rushing to get beneath the frog to make it an easier catch. I'm just not Onee-sama, Ben, Almaz, Shoshiki... And I'm definitely not like Dad. I told Ben it was just my Quirk, but... How can I be like people who are as amazing as all that? She set the frogs down on the pavement, detaching her weights and renewing her run down the street. No, I'll just have to do what I can to make sure they lead everyone else! she thought, retrieving a trio of parrots from a locked car that sat on a set of train tracks by piercing the lock mechanism on the door with a judicious stab from the peg inside one of her stabilizers, her foot held up to the lock. She probably could have opened the door with her Quirk, but that wasn't what she was here for, she kept telling herself. I have the worst items in the Support class, and the worst grades... But I have to show them off as much as I can. It's like Setsu said: Aesthetics are overrated!

Risa yelped again as the robot started to get its bearings, raising its four arms to try and wrap around the small girl and immobilize her. She impulsively threw a hand out upward, and one of the arms was thrown back as she pushed at it. Small as she was, that was enough, not that she could ever admit to having done it on purpose. Risa scrambled on all fours off the robot, one of her caged feet hitting it in the face as she did so to elicit an annoyed metallic sound effect. It furiously tried to right itself while Risa, screaming all the way, ran straight away from it, slowing only long enough to reach down and grab the stuffed pig before sprinting pell-mell down the street with the stuffed toy held straight up over her head. What am I Doing Here? She didn't get very far. The contraption attached to her feet made running awkward, almost forcing the act to a goose-walk if she tried to go as fast as possible, and Risa quickly needed a brief respite. She leaned against the wall of a post office, daintily setting the stuffed pig on top of the mail drop box. Breathing deeply, she looked up towards the clouds above, wishing it was a bit more overcast and not quite so hot. She had enough to worry about. Like her competition. Looking across the street she saw a boy, one she vaguely recognized from the Hero Course. O'Hara, she thought dimly in the back of her head, recognizing the foreign name. The third week of classes Deerc had handed out dossiers on the students in the Hero Course classes, basic details about their Quirks. "These students will be with you through your entire journey here at UA," he had told them sagely, nodding his deer-like head. "They'll be the ones you have the most opportunities to work with on crafting your skills. You're here to learn how to equip heroes to keep the people safe, and this Hero Course will be your first testing grounds." Not that his lofty words had done Risa much good. All too often her ideas for support items for this Hero Course went down the drain. A brace and gauntlet that she had been unable to make invisible to match the arms of its wielder. A smoke bomb made to deploy the cloudy user that had the undeniable roadblock of how to throw the thing if the student was inside it. And half a dozen others. A lot of those dossiers had been shelved in recent weeks. Risa had felt the pit in her stomach drop just a little bit more every time news of another student dropping from the course found its way to her through the gossip lines. Konpaku. Yokuna. And of course the big one, Tsubasa. The ones that were left over had to be some of the very best there were if they were still in the course. Seeing Ben scale a wall with what seemed almost no effort, Risa thought she might very well be right. Even his descent, burdened by his load of rescued plushes, was easy. Meanwhile she had trouble with a single robot. Maybe it wouldn't be too long before she, too, was gone, just like so many of the Hero Course. She may as well try to have some fun before she left. After all, she hadn't had the courage to talk to any of the Hero Course yet. Excited Admiration "Hiiiii!" she called out to Ben, rushing over his way, grabbing the pig again and holding it before her two-handed as she rushed to catch up with him, drawing parallel with him as she tried to keep up, feet clanking on the asphalt. "You're Hero Course, right? Kawashima Risa, Support!" She looked back to the two animals Ben had rescued, smiling. "I saw you get those guys! That was really cool! I- Oh are we not supposed to keep these?" She hurriedly diverged from Ben, depositing the pig on the bench of a bus stop before darting back to join him. "I just wanted to let you know we in the Support class think you're all doing a great job!" Not strictly true, Hosodan was often quick to joke about the course having a 'hemorrhaging problem' and a few of the other Support students found them grating, but Risa diplomatically decided to leave that out. "Hm? Oh...well thank you, Risa, right?" Benjamin responded, in quite the shock of all the whirlwind of questions and conversations the young lady was providing. "You're from Deerc's Hero Support class? Well, it's an honor to meet some of the Support class. You guys really do a lot to help. Oh...right, um if you happen to see Deerc, let him know that thing I asked for assistance with, tell him I haven't gotten around to testing them." “You’re working on something with Deerc-Sensei directly? Wow!” She gave a thumbs-up to Ben, with a smile. "All these villain activities and you guys are still going strong! You'll all be great heroes, just like my sister!" The uplifting intent of her encouragement was somewhat undercut by her foot hitting a crack in the pavement that sent her catapulting to the ground in a dead halt. "Aaaaack... Sorry... Still getting used to these," she explained sheepishly, quickly changing to a sitting position and gesturing the the cagelike iron framework that surrounded each of her shoes. "Well...it's just been the one villain attempt…" Benjamin muttered, though his sentence slowly cutting off at the end before clearing his throat. "A-Anyway…" Changing the subject, that's always good. He looked at the iron framework that surrounded Risa's shoes, rubbing his chin slightly. "So what are these for exactly? Hardly the proper fashion statement nowadays." “Oh!” She held up her leg, ignoring the shaking it started to do at holding up her emburdened foot. “Stabilizers! Meant to keep your footing!” She lowered her leg, rapping her foot on the ground as, with a startling chink a small iron peg jolted out of the sole of her heel. “Meant to pierce the ground… Not that I think it’ll be super useful for me today, but, we have to bring what we got, yeah?” She rapped her heel on the ground again, then again, then a third time, a bit more crossly, and the iron peg finally returned to the recesses of the device. "No...way…" Benjamin stood there amazed at this, nodding slowly. "Super useful or not, that's amazing. Honestly...hmmm...seeing that, I may have to do some writing and drafting on something else for my Hero costume. Honestly, I think you've given me some ideas to possibly work with!" He said with a smile on his face. Risa stared at him blankly for a moment before she really comprehended what he was saying. The reaction once she did was immediate. “Wait, you like them?!?” She turned away, face brick-red as she covered her mouth with her hands. “Hosodan thought they were clunky and they stick too much but yeah I guess if you’re climbing walls they could be useful and I’d lovetodosomekindofdesignforyourcostumemaybeaftertheFestivalifyou-” Risa’s voice quickly became an incomprehensible run-on as she darted back and forth around Ben as the two restarted their running forward. In her fluster and excitement she did not hear the great rumbling sound that was getting gently louder, Ben being the first to catch it. "Well a bit of refining, I'm positive it'll be a surefire thing for any Hero to use!" Benjamin said, before noticing through the general talking from Risa...the rumbling sound. "Uh...hey, do you hear that?" “Eh?” Risa finally paused in her deluge of suggestions and concepting, looking side to side. “No, I… Oh yeah… What IS that?” She looked back to Ben, and saw what was behind them. It’s a Carnival Ride?!? “EEEEEEH?!?” Her voice echoed through the street as she pointed to the great Ferris wheel that was steadily rolling their way. “W-w-w-What IS that???” "A-A FERRIS WHEEL?!" Benjamin exclaimed, already making a mad dive to the side. "Risa! You may want to dodge...otherwise you're gonna be a new doormat!" “Why are they throwing Ferris wheels around this place?!” she yelled, jumping in the other direction as the Ferris wheel rolled by, sending massive cracks spider webbing through the street where they had been standing. She looked up from the ground where she had landed, gasping for breath… and seeing a small sewer opening in the curb before her with the barely visible stuffed tail within it. “Oh… Well that worked out kind of okay.” She let out a very tense laugh as she plucked a small calico out of the sewer opening, placing it on the sidewalk as she sat up, looking across the street. “O’Hara? Um, I mean uuuh… Bean? Oh, I don’t know American names, what WAS it? Are you alright?” she asked, finishing her question. "Okay...first…" Benjamin sat up after his basic dive dodge onto the ground. "You were close...Ben...bean with an 'a' is a food." He of course, stifled out a slight chuckle before rolling his shoulders. "As for if I'm alright, yeah. Never better...though, yeah...first the roborex in the one exam and now Ferris Wheels. What's next, a clown parade?" A very nervous laugh was RIsa’s only real reply. She slowly pulled herself to her feet, looking after the Ferris wheel as it rolled off towards the other end of the faux city. “Wow… I guess this IS the sort of thing the Hero Course has to deal with…” The thought seemed to strike something in her, and she streaked across the street back towards Ben. “Hey, do you think there are points in the compartments?” She asked, pointing to the cat she had just procured. “There’s a lot in that thing, like, thirty, I think? They’d be in danger, right?” Benjamin seemed a bit perturbed about this thought as he looked at the wheel heading down the street. "I...uh…" he muttered, looking at Risa and then the wheel. "I don't know…" “I have a bunch of things I need to make sure the Support companies see! I can’t really get the ones high up though…” Risa let out a gasp of revelation, not having caught Ben’s nerves. “But you can climb! You could take the top half! Let’s go!” She took off immediately, rushing down the street after the Ferris wheel, waving her arms and calling “Heeeeeey, waiiiiit,” before reserving her breath for running took priority. "...this cannot be happening…" Benjamin stood there, blinking a bit as he rubbed the bridge between his eyes.

Risa already felt out of place. Sure, she wasn't the only student here from outside the Hero Course, but the more and more she looked around her at the ones who clearly WERE she couldn't help but fidget nervously, the tap-tap-tapping of her fingers on the metallic gauntlet on her right hand being the only noise the usually quite vocal girl made as she nervously sweated amongst the other students of the Support Course. Inwardly was a different story. Okay Risa, you can do this, you just have to make your stuff look good. Yeah! That's all you gotta do. All the people expect from you is a little demonstration of what you put together, all the people... Oh no, all the people! SO many people are watching! What if I mess up? What if everyone sees me? What is Fumiko gonna think? Is Fumiko watching? At that thought her inner monologue spiked into a high-pitched shriek as her knees weakened, bringing her several inches shorter than she already was. "Cool it, Risa." Her classmate beside her rolled her eyes, adjusting the harness on her back that was intended for use in carrying heavy loads easier, having some difficulty with the metallic cylinders she had in place of normal human fingers. "You keep sweating that much your equipment is gonna rust." "I can't help it, Setsu!" The pent-up worry and fear exploded out instantly as Risa grabbed at Setsuna Marifune's arm, shaking her taller classmate back and forth. "Deerc-Sensei told me my grades are riding on this, what happens if I get eliminated first thing? Am I gonna have to repeat the year?" "Nah," was the gravelly reply of Senichi Hosodan next to her, as he tightened a screw on some long-barreled device that had an almost vacuum-like nozzle at the end of it. He yawned, exposing the metal blades that populated his throat like a blender. "UA ain't gonna do that, they'll probably just kick you out." "Thanks, Hosodan," Setsuna said flatly as Risa's panic renewed. "Kick me out? Kick me out?!" Risa shook Setsuna so hard that the stone-faced girl was visible three times at once. "Is that true, Setsu? Are they really gonna do that? I can't afford to have them kick me out if I do badly!" "Well then I suppose you better not do badly," was the patient reply. "I get it, Risa, you have more riding on this than we do. There's not much we can do about it, it's kinda up to you. Besides," she continued, finally extricating herself from Risa's grip and looking the girl up and down, taking in the large metal frames that surrounded her shoes like cages, the bulky gauntlet on her left hand, the bandolier around Risa's chest that contained a handful of triangular metal plates. "You've got a pretty decent array of tricks. It's a shame you couldn't have them all looking a bit more streamlined, but aesthetics are overrated anyway, people here wanna something functional." Risa looked down at the ground with sad eyes. "I don't know if they are functional... The Soles are still really slow to release sometimes. And the glove's kinda heavy-" "Nobody expects you to reinvent the wheel, we're all first-years! I don't think they'll expel you... I'll certainly go insane with just Hosodan for company." "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Setsu." "Bite me, Vitamix." Hosodan was prevented from firing back with another retort by the feedback of a tapped microphone, everyone around them wincing. A voice came over the speakers, and Risa was distracted from her panic as she realized who it was. "Glory..." she whispered under her breath. She had never met the man, but Fumiko had and loathed him. Risa had seen him on her first day at school, greeting various students as they entered the building. Only Hero Course, though. Risa had not been brave enough to approach, and had skirted around him to enter that school that day, unable to meet the eyes behind the glasses. He had looked considerably less intimidating than she had assumed he would, but still... And then Orikami began to explain something called a Rescue-a-thon. Risa had been too preoccupied before, but the thought occurred to her now that yes, the last Sports Festival HAD been just a tournament-style fight. Them being here in one of the mock-cities should have been a clue that something different was going to happen. At least it wasn't something like a Battle Royale. She took a deep breath, looking up into the sky at the various drones circulating around the crowd. Each eye felt like a million, and probably was. Her thoughts turned again to Fumiko. Was her sister indeed watching? She hadn't been able to tell her about how Deerc had impressed upon her the importance of this event, but the pros in general kept an eye on the Sports Festival. Maybe she was still out and about on active hero work. She couldn't help but privately hope that was the case. She already had one person she didn't want to embarrass, and they certainly wouldn't be watching. The sudden clamor around her shook her out of her thoughts as she was pushed to the side by a throng of students. The event had started almost as quickly as Orikami had explained it! Risa was standing stock still amongst a mod of rushing students, and she quickly let out a loud shriek of surprise as she rushed forward, instantly lagging behind Setsuna and Hosodan with her halting start and short legs. "Setsu! Hosodan!" But they were gone, out closer to the front, bombarded by a flock of flaming birds that Risa had mercifully managed to avoid with her slow start. Risa managed to slip to the side the second she passed the gate, gasping for breath two feet to the side of the entrance, eyes darting everywhere. Already she could see several rushing forward: A boy on a wolf of blazing flame, another with pistons in place of body parts, another who rushed directly into the fray with a loud whoop of enjoyment. The Hero Course, she could only assume. She couldn't help but gape at them as they rushed forward. That they could rush into this so fearlessly while she was still shaking in her bulky, iron-shrouded boots... Deerc-sensei really doesn't know what he's talking about... Why would I want to be a hero? Hero Initiate Regardless, her grades told her she needed to at least try and emulate them. Risa was well aware she had the crummiest grades in her Support class, and maybe among every Support student in the school. She had to do something. She took off down a street, trying to avoid the bulk of the Hero Course. If I'm near them there's no way I stand out... And if I'm where they aren't I can get more points! Maybe? The logic seemed sound to her. She knew there was no way to avoid ALL the Hero Course, but she at least wanted to be away from the tougher ones. She had gotten a glimpse of where the boy on the flaming wolf was headed, and while she hadn't seen him engage with Meguru she knew the piston boy had gone the same direction. That was enough to give her a direction, heading into the south-east corner of the mock city, down several narrow streets that seemed to emulate apartment buildings. Hopefully she could avoid THAT one... She didn't hear the beating of wings yet, but it was still far too hard to detect them over the sound of the rushing students and the burgeoning fights. Now I just gotta find stuffed animals? Okay, where are- THERE! She spotted a small stuffed pig just at the intersection near her, placed directly in the center of the street. There were no competing people she could see! This one was- The sudden arrival of a threatening robot when one is not expecting a threatening robot is a disarming and terrifying experience. Hence Risa shrieking at the top of her lungs when a large, multi-armed robot rounded the corner on tank-like treads, placing itself between her and the stuffed pig. "Oh, I-i-i guess that's the d-dangerous situation!" she yelped, impulsively stepping back several hurried steps, almost tripping over her footwear. The robot began whirring loudly as it advanced towards her. What do I do what do I do? It's bigger than anything I have can take down! Her eyes darted everywhere in a panic, until they finally settled on something behind the robot: The manhole cover that the pig was placed upon. Got it! I can use that! She reached out, running to put the robot directly between her and the manhole cover, mentally feeling the metal object as she activated her Quirk. There's no way it can stand this hitting it- The sudden feeling of being thrown bodily through the air when one is not expecting to be thrown bodily through the air is perhaps an even more disarming and terrifying experience than the sudden arrival of an unexpected robot. Risa hurtled through the air, slamming into the only thing perhaps more surprised than she was: The robot. Oh NO! she thought dizzily as both she and robot were sent clattering to the street, the manhole cover not having budged an inch in the corner of her vision. It was too heavy?!?