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Ashley had not been kidding. He could take a life. Zev had watched with all the coldness of a seasoned professional, possessing an inner world reminiscent of the heat death of a universe. The aimed gun. The pulled trigger. The fired bullet.[break][break]

Zev had also watched as Ashley wavered and dropped the gun. Vomited. Staggered away only to collapse onto his knees before lowering himself onto his back.[break][break]

Weak.[break][break]

After allowing Ashley a couple of minutes, Zev walked over to his prone form. "Get up," he ordered, his deep voice unflinching in its command. "We have to get rid of the corpse."[break][break]

It would be sloppy to simply leave it for the police to discover.

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Ashley might have thought the man they had found, then promptly killed, was just an innocent bystander, but Zev knew that was not the case. After all, he was not the kind of murderer who killed people 'for shits and giggles'. He was a professional. All of his killings had a point and a purpose.[break][break]

The unnamed corpse lying a few feet away had been a former Blackwell loyalist who'd managed to remain hidden all these years, going so far as to change his name and get plastic surgery. An unrelenting investigation had finally culminated in his discovery, and Zev thought it would be the perfect opportunity to test Ashley's constitution.[break][break]

"Burying them is what I usually do," the hitman said, nodding. The rain had turned the earth to mud, though, which would make their work harder. "Do you have a Pokémon that can DIG?"[break][break]

Even before Ashley could answer, Zev had a Pokéball in hand. He knew how to do the work, but it was important for Ashley — and his Pokémon — to do the brunt of it that day.[break][break]

"There's plenty of cover here thanks to the trees, and we're already pretty far from the main trails. We just have to dig a deep enough hole that the corpse won't be detectable before decomposition does its work."

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Upon the Nidorino's release, Zev returned the Pokéball in his hand to his belt. His own Nidoking rested in that capsule. If he were any other person, the fact that he and Ashley used the same line of Pokémon for such a task would amuse him, but Zev felt nothing — no sense of kinship or even amusement.[break][break]

"No one starts out good at something they do the first time. Or the first few times," Zev said. Despite the reassuring words, his tone was anything but. "That's why we're doing this: so you can get used to it."[break][break]

Turning away from Ashley, Zev considered the corpse. Normally, he would have his Cofagrigus handle moving bodies, but he had a different plan that day.[break][break]

Crouching down, Zev rifled through the dead man's pockets for a moment, removing a Rotom phone, a set of keys, a wallet, and a map of the local hiking trails. After pocketing these, he moved to stand at the corpse's head.[break][break]

"Grab his ankles and help me move him into the hole," he instructed Ashley, bending over to grasp the body by the armpits.

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The corpse of an adult male human was usually between 150 and 200 pounds of dead, useless weight. Someone like Zev, who was in good shape from regular training at the gym, would be able to move a corpse by himself, but it would still require considerable exertion. By halving the effort, Ashley was an immense help — provided he kept it together until the body was in the hole.[break][break]

And thankfully, he did. Zev watched the younger man's face carefully. Ashley was making a valiant effort to appear collected and calm, though Zev could see the tightness in his jaw and the way he kept swallowing.[break][break]

There was little else to teach Ashley with this particular body. Zev nodded at the other man's comment.[break][break]

"Your Pokémon can do it," he said, gesturing to the Nidorino waiting patiently near his master. "We'll teleport to separate locations after this and meet back up on the submarine for a debrief."

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The corpse disappeared beneath a growing pile of black earth. Zev watched dispassionately as Ashley turned away to recenter himself. The younger man had a long way to go if he wanted to achieve his goals of becoming an Admin and killing his father with the same apathy of a chef cutting into raw steak.[break][break]

The two Rockets would have to go on many hunts together until Ashley was desensitized. But there were other options, too. The only corpses a man encountered didn't have to be those made by himself.[break][break]

Ashley's offer of food was unexpected, prompting Zev to raise an eyebrow. He wondered after the younger man's intentions.[break][break]

Shrugging, Zev released his Xatu from a Pokéball. The enigmatic bird chirped up at him. "Do whatever you want," he said to Ashley. "See you at headquarters."[break][break]

And then he was gone, blinking out of sight with the familiar hiss of teleportation.

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