[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/IjuWgap.png[/img][/center][@Ambra] [@Solace]

Astrid tried to focus on the battle, rather than a nagging worry. [color=FFFF19]"Hmmm... Wasn't Holly supposed to be joining us?"[/color] she murmured to Hestia. Being fashionably late wasn't unlike Holly, but she'd missed half the match. Telling herself it was probably nothing, Astrid glanced at the entrance, then back towards the battle, just in time to see Timmy's Dynamax band start glowing. She craned her neck forward. [color=FFFF19]"Looks like our young hero is about to turn the tables!"[/color]

Before the Zigzagoon got a chance to Dynamax, however, screams filled the arena as a frantic man burst in. Astrid's stomach dropped. An attack on Postwick? On a quiet, normally low-crime town? [color=FFFF19]"Roger that!"[/color] Jumping up from her seat, she hurried after Hestia, who was right on it. [color=FFFF19]"Come on, crewmates!"[/color]

Nothing could have prepared her for the scene outside. She stopped in her tracks, mouth open. She'd expected a horde of powerful Pokemon, a few Gigantamaxed ones maybe, but not these... creatures, whatever they were. The beasts snarling in the distance bore a vague resemblance to unusually coloured Arcanines, but as they drew closer, Astrid saw they most certainly weren't. Their faces, contorted with aggression, were those of Nidoqueens and Nidokings. Different species appeared to have somehow been fused together. Beside them, a group of people dressed as if they'd stepped right out of a dystopian cyberpunk show casually strode down the street. [color=FFFF19]"Wow. Is it rich to say someone's been watching too many sci-fi movies?"[/color]

The eyes of two creatures locked onto Hestia, who wasted no time in sending out Lazuli. Before the Salamence could land a Dragon Claw, though, one of the hybrids spewed forth a burst of purple flame, outright melting several scales from Lazuli's body. Astrid gaped in horror. She hadn't seen a Pokemon so grievously injured since Pulsar had defended her from that Torracat all those years ago. Her feet seemed to move on their own as she ran to Hestia's side.

[color=FFFF19]"Aries! Eclipse!"[/color] Loath as she was to put her companions in harm's way, these thugs and their attack beasts had to be stopped. In two bursts of light, the Ampharos and Rotom appeared. [color=FFFF19]"Ok Aries, Power Gem! Give 'em the pew-pew! Then Light Screen!"[/color] Aries stood tall, the orb on his head glowing as he fired a laser beam at one of the hybrids. He spread his arms, a luminous yellow energy field appearing between the gym leaders' Pokemon and those of the attackers to dampen incoming special moves. [color=FFFF19]"Eclipse, Shadow Ball at the other one!"[/color] Darting into the air, Eclipse snickered at the opposing Pokemon and lauched a swirling purple sphere.

Astrid cast a frantic look back towards the gym doors. [color=FFFF19]"Mayday! Jennings to Arenas!"[/color] she called, adjusting an imaginary telecommunication device. To others, it may look as if she wasn't taking the matter seriously, but keeping up this act even in dire situations gave her a courage boost. [color=FFFF19]"We need some ground types here!"[/color] Considering the fire attacks and the venom dripping from their fangs, these Pokemon had to have a significant ground weakness - unless they were absurdly strong enough to bypass type disadvantages. Which, if Lazuli's condition was anything to go by, had more than a slight chance of being the case.