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Caleb did not have to wait long before his first opponent appeared.[break][break]
After dropping off supplies with francie myrtle, Caleb had been assigned to keep watch over the Granite Cave rift entrance from the Ultra Deep Sea side. If a Rocket slipped past the outer defenses, he was supposed to deal with them - alone. The League was stretched rather thin: dealing with conflicts at Dewford, as well as skirmishes further into the Ultra Deep Sea. League researchers were looking for Seal Stones, but it seemed Rocket had some kind of lead on how to find them. Everyone was scrambling. He'd been told he'd receive reinforcements soon.[break][break]
That had been over an hour ago.[break][break]
Beside Caleb, Lyra loomed, her familiar bulk a comfort as the oppressive nature of the Ultra Deep Sea weighed down on Caleb. A prickling feeling of paranoia gnawed at him, like he was being watched. The air around him felt charged with anticipatory energy, as if something might happen at any moment.[break][break]
Which, in fact, it did. A humanoid figure appeared suddenly at the rift's edge, their posture tense. Only a Rocket would hide their face like that, Caleb thought grimly. So much for their outer defenses. Maybe this person was especially stealthy.[break][break]
"Stop them," Caleb commanded of Lyra. The Lapras sped forward, immediately sending a DRAGON PULSE at the Rocket.

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A lot happened at once.[break][break]
A streak of green and white hit Lyra so hard she sent Caleb tumbling backwards in a floating free-fall that was partly like getting tossed about by a wave, given the strange nature of the Ultra Deep Sea's water-like environment. Caleb barely had time to register what type of Pokémon had attacked his Lapras before he was forced to narrowly avoid getting impaled by a poisonous barb. The needle-like weapon zipped so close to his cheek he could smell the sickly fumes of the poison, which made him want to gag.[break][break]
His Rocket opponent apparently had very good aim.
Caleb didn't have anything half as fancy as a poisonous barb on him, but he did know a thing or two about how to power up Lyra. Activating the Mega Accessory circling his wrist, he triggered the Laprasite bound to his partner. She began to glow with a blinding white light even as she attempted to regroup after the intensity of the CLOSE COMBAT. She grew three times in size, the air growing so cold around her that tiny particles of ice began to form in the air. With a bellow, she summoned a RAIN DANCE, freezing water beginning to fill the battlefield, adding to the already watery environment.[break][break]
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The lean, graceful man who had attacked Caleb was still a threat, even if Lyra was now better equipped to handle whatever was assaulting her. Caleb was a former Rocket assassin, however, and he had never needed poison to be dangerous.[break][break]
With a burst of athletic speed, he threw himself back towards his assailant, intending to grapple him.

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Caleb had not necessarily been prepared for just how powerful his opponent would actually be. The man was shorter and leaner than he was, so Caleb has expected to completely overwhelm him with his attempted grapple. And yet, even as Caleb grabbed for him, the Rocket squirmed his way into a more dominant position, using his dexterity to flip Caleb onto his back on the seafloor, which kicked up a cloud of sediment around the interlocked men.[break][break]
Damn, he's good, Caleb thought with gritted teeth as the Rocket straddled him. He managed to slap away his opponent's attempt to strangle him, then grunted as he managed to finally use his weight advantage to roll them both over so that he was on top. He pinned his adversary's arms to the ground above his head with one hand, then used his other to rip off the Rocket's mask: seeing the man's face would allow him to track him later should he actually escape.[break][break]
Breathing heavily from exertion, Caleb stared down at...incredibly attractive features. Oh, he thought stupidly, hesitating. He looks familiar...where have I seen that face before? Something itched at the back of Caleb's mind, just out of reach. He could picture this man's smile...an amused laugh...[break][break]
Fed up with the constant barrage of punches from the Gallade, Lyra bellowed and then sent a torrent of HYDRO PUMP at the smaller Pokémon. Powered-up by the RAIN DANCE, she hoped it would be enough to overcome her foe.

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Caleb Harcourt

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With a grunt, Caleb balked against the Rocket's efforts to throw him off, snaking a hand to the man's throat in a desperate attempt to subdue him - with all the flailing, the man's mask ended up flying off, much to Caleb's surprise. Not entirely sure what he had expected, Caleb stared down at...an incredibly attractive man, with eyes so bright blue they were like ice-encrusted sapphires. There was also something familiar about the face, though Caleb could not quite place it. The vague recognition nagged at him, but he was too preoccupied by the fight to spend time wracking his memory.[break][break]
When the man spoke, Caleb couldn't help but smirk. Acting on pure instinct, his grip on the man's throat tightening slightly, Caleb leaned in to brush his lips against the man's ear. "Actually, yes," he murmured in a low tone, grinning into soft midnight hair. Beneath the sweat and dirt, Caleb caught a whiff of something herbal - lavender? And something earthy. Sandalwood, perhaps. He felt suddenly hot - burning, really - for more reasons than just the physical effort of their brawl.[break][break]
Arceus, who was this man? The voice had reminded him of something - someone - too.[break][break]
The HYDRO PUMP hit its target, throwing the Gallade back and away from Lyra. She bellowed victoriously, then wasted no time readying a DRAGON PULSE should to Gallade decide it wanted a round two.

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Caleb Harcourt

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Tighter?[break][break]
He likes it like that, eh?[break][break]
If his opponent had wanted to shock Caleb with his rather intimate declaration, he would be disappointed, for it had the exact opposite effect. The desperation in the man's voice combined with the intensity of his sapphire gaze combined with the extremely-hard-to-ignore way their bodies were...rubbing together, well. It was enough to cause Caleb's better judgement to begin careening right off the cliff of sanity and into the void of desire. He had half a mind to actually lean down and passionately kiss this man.[break][break]
They'd warned him that the Ultra Deep Sea was a very strange place, able to warp the mind and manifest tangible dreams; perhaps it was the nature of their environment that was causing Caleb to forgo fighting in favor of a very different sort of entanglement...unfortunately for both men, their near-tryst would be short-lived.[break][break]
"Maybe we should just -- " Caleb smirked, tightening his grip just as the Rocket had requested, but all of a sudden, the ground beneath the two men began to subtly shake, an earthquake in its very beginning stages.[break][break]
Lyra, recognizing the larger threat, abandoned her own fight with the Gallade in favor of checking on Caleb. Unfortunately, her mega-evolution came to an end just as she turned to begin racing towards her trainer, slowing her down.

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Caleb Harcourt

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Caleb shivered as the man's tongue pressed ever-so-gently, ever-so-seductively, to his ear, ignoring the blade pressed up against his back in favor of pressing himself closer to the warm body beneath him. The shaking earth, however, had other plans for these men. BARNABY FINCH would have to experience whatever Caleb might have done next within his own imagination.[break][break]
Forced apart by the sudden earthquake - the result of some other battle happening elsewhere, it seemed - Caleb watched as the Rocket with the pretty eyes winked at him, then disappeared at the behest of his Gallade. Lyra nosed Caleb, concerned, but he merely shook himself as if coming out of some kind of fever dream. His entire body was on fire and his heart was pounding. Breathing heavily, his clothing suddenly felt way too tight for comfort. He adjusted himself, took a deep breath, then turned to his Lapras, who seemed eager to pursue.[break][break]
"Let him go," Caleb decided. "We'll wait here for backup. I'll try and contact the nearest research team and let them know a Rocket slipped by us."[break][break]
With that, he collapsed against a nearby rock, closing his eyes. He'd rest there for a moment, trying to recall the memory of where he'd seen that man's face before. That piercing sapphire gaze would haunt him for many days to come.

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