the fog of war parts as if showing reverence to the charging nidoking.

upper DETECTS its coming a moment before it appears. like the seasoned fighter he is, he ducks down and spins out of the way of the MEGAHORN. dan isn't so lucky. he has his trainer to cover for.

tania's feet are rooted by terror and exhaustion, so her machoke takes the hit for her.

the MEGAHORN digs into dan's bad shoulder. blood begins to leak down his chest. it's not an attack taken for free, however. his good hand digs into the nidoking's torso and the whole of machoke's body tenses.

he squats and leans back, needing to use the rest of his muscles to make up for his useless arm, and the opponent is raised slowly but surely off the ground. from there it's a simple matter of momentum and inertia to deliver the VITAL THROW that hurls nidoking over tania.

no sooner does the nidoking land than dan falls to one knee. he doesn't have another of those in him.

the sound of tania's name on the wind is lost to the pounding of blood in her ears. pure fear and adrenaline in the face of another of her defenses crumbling to the ground.

THEO BECKETT
mission

☉

the POISON JAB digs into dan's stomach. the only thing that stops the machoke from flopping face down onto the rubble is the red capture light of his pokeball.

"eyes up!" tania tries to warn upper, but his sense are frayed. a second DETECT fails to catch the AIR SLASH aimed at his blindside fast enough to avoid it. instead the move cuts at the skin of his arms as he twists to shield his torso.

the call for surrender is heard. for the first time tania's eyes shoot up to look at the face of her newest assailant. her last, with how things have turned out.

"fuck off!" she spits.

bold words from a woman who immediately turns tail and runs down the nearest alley. her hitmonchan vanishes from the field in another flash of red.

THEO BECKETT
mission

☉

the CROSS POISON shreds the skin on the back of her right calf like a pair of whip strikes. were it not for the EARTH POWER that erects itself in front of her she would have fallen to the ground from the pain alone.

as it stands her attempt at collapse slams her up against the newfound impediment while a sudden wave of wooziness almost sends her sliding down it.

the echoed voice is distorted by head trauma and the poison already beginning to burn its way through her system.

"i said fuck off!" she shouts back down the alley, looking desperately for an escape. some back door shows itself like a gift from the heavens and she makes the grim decision to support herself on her left leg so her right can bust it down.

the pain is blinding. the door crashes inwards, and she crashes to the floor when her right leg crumples instead of catching her.

THEO BECKETT
mission

☉

why did she run?

because a rocket never keeps their word. because surrender is just another kind of death. because she's a gym leader and it's her job to try and fight. because this is her fucking city and they burned it down.

it's so much fluff. every thought cornier than the last even as they roll through her head.

she ran because she was scared.

she ran because

"i thought maybe you'd shoot to kill."

the words are bitter but delivered like a matter of fact. her breath does not hitch and her eyes do not water as she says it. but her gaze does stay rooted to the ground even as she forces herself into a sitting position. moves only to inspect her leg -- dripping an ugly, too thick mixture of scarlet and violet.

THEO BECKETT
mission

☉