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Ito understood that the spiky haired delinquent who stood in front of him was- at least by the reasons the league gave- likely a bad person. Anyone working with Team Rocket had to be, that’s just how things were. They were criminals out to prevent others from reaching ultra space, from reaching the real battleground where all the real trainers awaited them.[break][break]

He wasn’t one of those real trainers, just a fledgling city boy in over his head doing what he thought was ‘best’ for a little change, and maybe to live up to the standards of that dream he carried.[break][break]

Meaning… he couldn’t let this the rocketeer standing in front of him stop him, not without a fight.[break][break]

”I… I won’t lose then. I can’t prove anything if I can’t make it against one grunt!” He said, settling back into a pitching stance, only to underhand a pokeball as a red flash burst into a toxic insectoid.[break][break]

We’re gonna win, V. He thought, only for the small bug type pokémon he called a partner to let out its battle cry in sync.[break]

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+10, +50 MP for IC Post (+60 this post)[break]
140 MP total obtained

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Kouji smirked at the kid who decided to power through his lines. Well, calling them a kid might have been wrong, it was someone around his own age. But it wasn’t someone who understood the depths of crime. ”Even if you get past me, you’ll end up in a place filled to the brim with blood, I hope you know how to swim in it.” He knew it as a logical thing, but he didn’t really understand it.

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Sneasel knew it too, but in the way an animal knew it. There was a small moment of silence, letting such a thing hang in there air. The mere grunt looked at his pokemon, the two of them nodded. ”Alright, go Sneasel, take the little bug down.” He told the pokemon as it dashed forward, its claws began to glow as it released a screech, a steel like glow that turned into that of a series of blades.

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It was a handful of knives, and it sought to fall onto the bug that stood in front of it, seeking to put it down in as quick a movement as possible.

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”Filled with blood? Isn’t it a cave with a buncha rocks?” Despite how tense he was, he wasn’t gonna be able to take such a dramatic line so seriously, even if his opponent dropped it in the same breath as sending his Sneasel out to slicing his precious V into ribbons.[break][break]

”Wha- to hell with it, hit back with V” He called out to his partner pokémon in response, who let out a sharp crepitation in acknowledgment. A handful of blades fell upon it, yet its maw merely opened up in response, only to glow with violet light.[break][break]

The bug lunged up and met the blades with sharp mandibles, meeting them head on to both protect itself and strike back against the speedy pokémon that pressed it.[break][break]

It was a brief clash, but the impact rippled throughout the Venipede as if it’d been hit directly, a shock of pain rolling through it for the first time in too long. Still, it needed to push on for its trainer’s sake, so it did, scuttling to the side after the first impact to swipe a second time after a brief interval.[break][break]

It wasn’t the strongest of all bugs, but it was tenacious at the very least.[break]

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+10 MP for IC Post (+10 this post)[break]
170 MP total obtained

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Sneasel’s claws were met with the matching force of a poisonous bite. The sand surrounding them was kicked up as steel and poison met each other; the energies created a breeze that swept through the beach before Sneasel forced himself back. It wasn’t a strong bug, but it was a solid strike. It wasn’t something it would be able to just overcome by merely wanting to, an opening strike to end it in a singular move would not be forthcoming.

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”Sneasel, up your speed.” He said as his pokemon nodded. A series of quick steps of the sand, with each little jump, the number of steps it took was cut more and more, charging around the beach until the moment that he turned into a blur and finally decided to fall onto the pokemon in front of him.

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It was smaller than he was, it might not put out the same force as he could, but at the same time, Sneasel could not say that it was weaker.

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Tenacious as the poisonous creature was, there were some gaps it wasn’t capable of crossing. It found this out the hard way after continuing its attack, only for the following poisonous bite to only rip apart an afterimage, leaving it exposed.[break][break]

Before it could regain its composure though, the rocketeer’s Sneasel would fall onto it, knocking it up off the ground with an impact at a higher speed than it could handle. That same crepitation repeated itself, only this time twinged with the genuine pain of a kicked animal.[break][break]

”That fast!? Alright, just find one good chance and rush ‘em, V!” Despite that, Ito still called out to it faithfully, trusting one of his three partners to not get too messed up by a single hit.[break][break]

This time it charged forward and leapt, pressing its many legs to the earth before springing up to get into the air. More poison dripped free from its mouth than before and it flicked its head, sending a rapid barrage of toxic jabs right down at Sneasel.[break]

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+10 MP for IC Post (+10 this post)[break]
190 MP total obtained

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The initial impact had slowed him down again, Sneasel was aware of that difference between the two of them; understood just what it took to become the best version of itself, and yet, it had come to a halt after a small charge.

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Story of it’s life.

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But it didn’t dwell on it, the small insect dived up, poison globules in its mouth, but at the same time, he wasn’t sure he could dodge all of them. Sneasel braced itself, sharpened its claws, and the metallic gleam from before stood in its grip, jab after jab of poisonous strikes fell on it like rain, but it deflected as many as it could, hands moving like a fast motor, a windmill of death, and yet windmills only existed for the wind, they would not stop the rain. Each impact against its skin sizzled, burned, and grew sickly looking as it continued its defensive onslaught, taking a step forward, bracing its knees, and shooting itself towards his opponent.

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It had foregone defence, in favor of an offense, it was not a sturdy pokemon, a defensive battle would end in his definite loss, and so he struck out even as he took all of the blows, something closer to being called a suicide charge.

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But that was the pride of the darkness of the frozen tundra.

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It took pride in one’s own abilities to accept death as a possibility and charge on anyways, pride only one side of the clash truly had. That was the difference between fighting for oneself and fighting for another’s sake. It’s impossible couldn’t take the risks that matter with someone depending on you to not fail.[break][break]

The Venipede prepared another barrage of poisonous jabs as the first finished, but it once again just wasn’t quick enough. Before the second set could start, a suicide charge broke its tempo, and claws ripped across it. The unbalanced insect’s guard was crushed, and it was sent rolling away, having suffered heavy damage in exchange for its efforts.[break][break]

”V!” Ito cursed his own inexperience as his precious partner dragged itself up, defiant in the face of a highly dangerous foe. It could continue- it was ready to, knowing the battle was one it could win.[break][break]

However, its trainer was too concerned, and called it back without a word.[break][break]

”Sorry, V. I’ll do better next time.” He muttered, stowing the pokeball before removing his backpack. Inky blackness slipped through the cracks of the slipper, only to emerge out on the battlefield in a single burst.[break][break]

A distorted cry echoed out as the shadow emerged into the light, and a Spiritomb replaced the Venipede.[break][break]

”Its on you now Spir!”

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+10 MP for IC Post (+10 this post)[break]
220 MP total obtained across event

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Kouij smirked as Sneasel came out victorious, its steel claw glowed brightly as it raised it into the sky; parts of its fur were entirely burned off. Poison globules burned throughout it, as it was struck through it. It spread through it, purple veins spread throughout all of his body. It shook for a moment before he collapsed, the poison had taken root; and Kouji had no choice but to call him back into his pokemon.
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”Guess I have no choice, come out Scraggy.” He said as he sent out his pokemon, the premier fighting type on his team that knew no fighting type moves. But in the end, he was still a martial artist at his core, and so he would act as one. It hopped on its feet, looking at the Spiritomb that was facing it, looking at it properly face to face before it blew out steam from its nostrils.
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Then it charged forward, lowering itself to the ground as it began to rush forward, before it approached the pokemon in front of him, before he pulled at the very most of his lower lips, and raised his eyebrows as wide as it could go, scary face, its tongue lolled out of his mouth and shook in the air as he made the first move in the battle.

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Of all the things the specter had expected to be faced with, a little hoodlum was not one of them. Compared to the rocketeer’s previous Pokémon, this was one both Ito and his own Pokémon recognized.[break][break]

”Scraggy…? Gotta be on the lookout for-“ He had planned on making some kind of smartass deduction about a pokémon he was somewhat familiar with, only for that very same pokémon to just make a dumb face and stare right at Spiritomb.[break][break]

Spiritomb was an interesting pokémon. By all accounts, it was a specter haunting a rock, projecting itself out from it in a ghastly visage. Its typing was bizarre as well, being one of very few ghost and dark types, sporting an impressive neutrality to nearly all types with the exception of the ever cheerful fairy type.[break][break]

Knowing this, very few people would ever expect for that very same specter to react, let alone emote.[break][break]

Spir make an expression of such abject horror that its tether extended far enough that it nearly separated from the rock, eyes wide and spread apart in sheer terror.[break][break]

In a way, you could say it was super effective.

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+10 MP for IC Post (+10 this post)[break]
230 MP total obtained across event

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Scraggy hadn’t expected it to work out so well, but he still leapt back just in case it had been a trick. The senses of a fighter were telling him this was not the best pokemon for him to face, but he was the best one for this fight. It was a silly conundrum, but he had no choice but to take it on directly. He released a shout, a shout of energy and force before he slowly began to slide his legs forward; a charge of sorts.

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Then he burst forward, scary face was pointless if he was already faster. Kouji understood it too, it was a simple stalling tactic, but also, it made Payback a worse move, it didn’t allow Scraggy to absorb the grudge of being struck, of going behind.

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But that was fine, that wasn’t all that he was capable of doing, as shadowy emanation jumped out from him. Taking the shape of other pokemon, surrounding him; beat up, an attack from multiple directions, as they all jumped in different directions in order to take the strike.

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The spectral Pokémon was still stunned from the 'terrifying' face the Scraggy made as its opening move, and found itself in an even scarier situation immediately afterwards.[break][break]

The hoodlum in yellow rushed in, calling forth the shadows of its allies to attack a single enemy, drawing the strength it alone lacked from those around it to Beat Up the ghost type its trainer ordered it to.[break][break]

Spir attempted to flee from them, but it quickly realized that the rock it was bound to was not that swift to begin with, and the lingering terror of that expression only made it more sluggish. The shadows had their way briefly, pushing the Spiritomb across the field.[break][break]

”Push back Spir! Dark Pulse!" Unwilling to see another one of his partners hurt too badly, Ito took the reins back, and called out to it. As if snapped out of a stupor, the Spiritomb's body suddenly surged with swirling purple and black light, only to release it all in one burst outwards from itself at its attackers.

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+10 MP for IC Post (+10 this post)[break]
260 MP total obtained across event

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The pulse of darkness was something else, as to be expected of a fellow dark type, that was Scraggy’s thoughts as the pokemon shadows that he had summoned had been dispersed; fading into nought but air, he had two moves that were of use against his opponent, one had been the power of teamwork.

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But that had been dispersed by the move that represented evil intentions in its fullest, one’s dark thoughts that could turn into a physical force itself. It was a strike that forced him to cross his arms and was forced back; smoke erupted from his forearms before he tugged at his sagging trousers in order to boost his confidence for a moment.

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That was when he gathered his thoughts into his fists, a sliding step forward that almost looked as if he was gliding across the surface of the sand, a dark spiral coated his fist as he threw it forward, that was the move of his, Payback. Holding a grudge, and using that for one’s own sake.

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And Scraggy was a pokemon that held his grudges.

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Grudges were brought to bear against a singular sentient grudge. Retribution came for all, even specters haunting the land, that was just the natural law of the world. No matter how fantastical the creature, or how exceptional the trainer, it was impossible to beat how the world worked in a battle.[break][break]

That's the hard lesson Ito learned the moment he saw that scraggy rush down his Spiritomb. Like he had done with Venipede, he reached for his bag to grab its pokeball, only to realize that he was just too late this time. His overprotective nature wasn't enough to prevent one of the world's laws from flying right into Spir's ghostly face.[break][break]

If he'd simply chosen to give an order rather than get scared and overbearing, perhaps there could have been a different result. Instead, all Ito gained for his masterful planning was a harsh reality check.[break][break]

The specter let out a pained cry, then retreated into its stone, utterly trounced. For the first time in weeks, Ito returned it to its pokeball, pressing the orange half of the sphere to his temple. "Dammit... you too Spir? I... tch, I'll make up for this, I promise."[break][break]

The look in his eyes changed in an instant, having seen that crimson flash come as the result of his own decisions twice now. A shaky hand firmly pressed down upon a single remaining pokeball, this one painted over with crimson tusks on each end. The shaking ceased as he held it, rolling a thumb over the release as his breathing calmed down.[break][break]

"This is my last Pokemon. This time- with this one- I'm not gonna lose!" Without breaking Kouji's gaze, Ito let his last pokeball fly into the air, allowing the final of his crimson flashes to let out his final partner.[break][break]

Bright scales and crimson tusked reflected the sun's rays as the beast fell from the sky, crashing down across from the Scraggy. It leaned down for a moment, then reared back, letting loose a fierce roar of dominance.[break][break]

[break][break]

Haxorus was finally ready to deliver its own retribution.

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+10 MP for IC Post, +50 MP for own KO (+60 this post)[break]
330MP total obtained across event

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