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There was a lull, kind of, as Temp focused on the task he had assigned himself. Listening to howard slayte speak made certain things roll around in his own head, which caused Temp to hum in some half reply.[break][break]

"Most people in Rocket are just regular fucks like the two of us." If Temp could consider himself a 'regular fuck' at this point, anyway. The gem was plopped back into the bag to clink against the others, Temp huffing and pulling out his phone. One of those 'bubble pop' type games loaded up for the ride.[break][break]

"But you gotta be careful. I'm pretty nice." Or so Tempest liked to think about himself, anyway. "But some people are fucking crazy. Just be careful who you trust with your pretty face." Temp snickered and reached over to ruffle at Howard's helmet hair, not caring of the crash risk that might pose.[break][break]

"You ever need more 'hired muscle' for some dumb shit like this, just ask for me. Next time I find some lost tomb I'll ring for you. Sound like a deal?"

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Temp let out a half mad cackle in delight at howard slayte's discomfort. The bag was tossed into his lap and Tempest was already tearing it open as he spoke.[break][break]

"You know it was a good one. It was funny as hell. Admit it."[break][break]

Still grinning, he plucked the sapphire gem up and held it close to his eye. Squinting, he started to wedge his nails under the delicate metals to pull them back and away from the gem itself.[break][break]

"Why do yo- ack!" Temp's foot slammed on the dashboard as he lurched forward, the gem flying from his hand. He only narrowly caught it, almost bashing his teeth into the windshield as he did. That's what you get when you don't wear a seatbelt, folks.[break][break]

"Lot's of Rockets have degrees! You've just been hanging with a shit crowd, sounds like." Already, Tempest was going back to peeling the gem.[break][break]

"You know, this isn't even proper Lavaridge metal? Like, the gems are from Galar, metal's from fuck-all. They really didn't even try with this."

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While howard slayte (rightfully) panicked, Tempest tossed out a pokeball.[break][break]

It was no flying type. Instead, a massive Zarude started to fall with the two of them. The great ape snorted; his massive hands clasped out to grab the two men in a sturdy hug, one shoved up into each armpit. That was sure to smell great when they were done![break][break]

Vines shot out from his hands, latching onto the building. A shift in momentum to redirect their angle- then they were all three rising and falling like this was George of the Jungle or some shit.[break][break]

Then they would land with a thump next to the getaway car and be gently sat down.[break][break]

Temp just laughed like a madman and pat his pokemon on the side before calling him back to his pokeball.[break][break]

"Gestation and Sexual Dimorphism of the Fortress, Lowsley and Perchstein, ISJ 138." Which was nonsense, but Tempest was picking up from their previous conversation as he shimmied him way back into the vehicle.[break][break]

"I'm a Macro Ecologist! Go explode your Fortress so it can propogate it's bloodline!"

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"Whe-"[break][break]

The taunt dies on his lips as the world opens under him.[break][break]

A sudden twinge of panic hits Tempest's chest as an old fear bubbles to the surface. Of the cavern below, even mad-made as it is, crunches and swallows him whole. An old phobia he had yet to escape.[break][break]

A hand still flies for his pokeballs; that much he can do. Keep his pokemon safe so they don't become splats on the ground like him.[break][break]

Agni is easy to return in a flash. It is Mitten that doesn't cooperate. When they had started falling, the Luxray had sparked up her body. A Volt Switch, which she aims at... her trainer.[break][break]

The slam into his body will leave a few burns, later, but she pops back into her pokeball and is replaced by Bongo.[break][break]

The Zarude is massive. Tempest had him for years at this point. A brute of a pokemon who once wanted the blood of his own Trainer, now the large ape grabs to hold Tempest to his chest like a child might a doll with one arm.[break][break]

The other shoots out a vine, wrapping around the Gym's architecture to swing them around at a more controlled pace.[break][break]

Tempest only barely avoids his fate thanks to the quick thinking of his pokemon.[break][break]

Feet on the ground, Bongo lets Temp down. The man sneers, eyes flicking around for some type of escape.

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While @magentic made his move, Temp hopped up. It was hard, with the ice between them, to get an angle he could call back his two pokemon. He almost lost his fingers doing it but it was worth it when he tucked them back into his belt.[break][break]

The explosion rang out.[break][break]

Temp laughed, almost choking himself on the dust kicked up by the rubble, and dashed over to Howard.[break][break]

A hand was clapped on the other's shoulder.[break][break]

"Don't worry! Fortress explode themselves in the wild for mating displays. Keep having it practice and yours will be swimming in bitches."

Then Tempest shoves Howard out of the hole as hard as he can. At the very least, Temp leaps out behind him with a whoop.[break][break]

There are no hidden pokemon waiting on the ground. Just hard concrete. Perhaps, if they're so lucky, some jagged metal stashed behind the building to gore themselves on.

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They flip.[break][break]

As Isaac Merlo bruises his jaw, making the inside of his cheek cut on his teeth, Temp just suddenly belts out a laugh. It's high and wild and manic in it's own way. Another side of Tempest that the other man would be privy to see today.[break][break]

One would think that Temp might fight back or try to get the upper hand.[break][break]

But this wasn't a real fight.[break][break]

Temp had just wanted Isaac to take it more seriously, actually be willing to hurt him like what they needed right now.[break][break]

Iron coats his tongue as he braces.

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The battlefield sings with violence.[break][break]

There is nothing as noble as strength or will or resolve from the fight on Tempest's side.[break][break]

Tempest himself is a whirlwind of fury. What Michael Navidson had done, if he ever deserved this, mattered little. As the meaty pounding of flesh on flesh drives Temp back, he laughs. It is a broken and hateful sound, an echo of a man warped by his love. A shame, truly; perhaps in another life, he and Navy could have been good friends.[break][break]

Navy would feel more than hear a crunch under his fist; blood would spew from Temp's nose. Thought not broken, it looked kind of fucked. Backing away with quick steps, Temp's arms raised with a tight formation to block the worst of the strikes to his face. A feast of adrenaline and pain.[break][break]

Agni is a broken creature made for hunger. Her violence has purpose, deep and primal. An unending need to gorge her body and whatever she can find. Hattori, to the Flareon, is just the latest meal she has yet to eat. Her Shadow blood is thick with a vicious nature that can't be controlled by many.[break][break]

Her urge to sink her teeth into Hattori's flesh and rip is her undoing, narrow minded as she is.[break][break]

The blade sinks deep into her hind flank, making the Flareon trip up. She sputters out, her flames dying, leaving behind only a bleeding and growling dog in it's wake. She tries to stand and fails.[break][break]

Yet she is not one to so easily give up. With a rage that could boil blood, she shrieks out a war cry as black flame one again licks from her lips. Her Shadow Fire burning black and cruel as it boils the very earth under them with her rage.[break][break]

Mitten fights for obligation. A crying, mewling, pathetic thing she had been as a kitten- barely a few days old and ripped from her mother. It had been Tempest who had saved her; she was one of the final remnants of a kind man before Rocket dragged him into something dark and terrible and cruel. She will fight for him and die for him, as if her duty. As is her want.[break][break]

After damage sustained, she is no match for the metal pokemon. Even after the explosive clash, she falls in a heap on the ground. Bleeding and panting, her sides heave with her effort. Mitten was not like Agni, was not like so many other of Tempest's pokemon. She was a creature who was meant to heal and play support.[break][break]

But Wishes do tend to come true.[break][break]

A faint glowing engulfs her already brightly lit body. Some of the more superficial wounds close. The deeper ones stop bleeding but are still raw and gooey. A deep breath in relief as she pushes herself back to standing.[break][break]

Mitten Howls and unsheathes her claws, bracing into the dirt for her next move.

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Cillian Quinn hugs him and Tulio hugs back. For all of the briefness of it, Tulio would hold him with the kind of warmth and love a father should hold a son with.[break][break]

When he pulls away from to the too-brief touch, there is no judgment in his eyes at Cillian's tears. Tulio just gives a sunny smile back; the lines a reflection of Temp's face in a long gone memory.[break][break]

A hand is clapped to Cil's shoulder as he nods.[break][break]

"I've wrangled worse terrors than your dogs." A chuckle and a playful wink.[break][break]

Then Tulio is turning to whistle some of the beasts to him.[break][break]

Later, when Temp would return home covered in soot, with dirt under his nails, and still so manic- he would smile at his father and husband and join them for his first home-cooked meal in weeks.

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As Michael Navidson tries to rise, Tempest shoots out with a swift kick to the chest. You didn't give your opponent a chance to stand again in a real battle if you could help it. Plus, if he could get the Gym Leader on his back....[break][break]

Agni seems to almost giggle darkly as the Thief slices away the Spotlight. Fur flies from the move, the halo of light illuminating the frog pokemon instead. She makes to leap forward, flames licking at the inside of her maw.[break][break]

Just as suddenly she bounces backwards. A shifting of the paws to brace herself steady on the ground.[break][break]

Flame engulfs her.[break][break]

A smiling ball of hate and blood-lust, she speeds at Hattori like a locomotive; the speed boost from her previous Trailblaze adding fuel to the bonfire she was making of herself. She attempts to slam into the other pokemon, a Sizzly Slide on full display. If she lands, bursts of light like fireworks will launch from their connection.[break][break]

The Moonblast is launched. Mitten braces herself, sparks flickering over her body. Then all at once she charges- directly into the attack.[break][break]

But she keeps going, even as injury takes hold on her body from the two powerful blows. Sparks grow into a radiant halo of electricity as she picks up speed.[break][break]

A Wild Charge of teeth and claws and that will harm the strange pokemon much more than it will harm herself should it land.