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A fight isn’t exactly on his preferred list of things to do. But he can’t afford to just amicably pass by and pretend he hasn’t crossed paths with this rocket agent either.[break][break]

“Ahhhh…think it’s a pretty easy one, really,” he replied, nose wrinkling up. He figured that it was probably sarcasm, but still. His eyes drifted from her to the purugly. The feline looked pretty worn out from what he could tell–a good thing for him, more than likely. Lam’s movements mirrored her own– hand drifting to the pokeballs at his own belt, fully prepared to release more than just his scovillan if she were to nudge him.[break][break]

“Oh yeah?” Lam laughed, posture relaxing slightly. “Not sure how plausible that is, uhh, Kelpie.” He shrugged, and his scovillan stomped forward, the maw of one pepper-shaped head opening up to collect energy. “I mean, nothing personal and all! But yeah, I’m tired, you’re tired. So we’ll make this quick.”[break][break]

The bright, photosynthetic light that had gathered sets loose, the ENERGY BALL aimed directly at the purugly.

[attr="class","bottom"]Calpurnia Kubrick [break]
clash [2/2][break]

SPOILER: Click to show

+ thread participation (50mp) + ic post x2 (20mp) = 70mp

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He shrugged, unbothered. “Guess there’s a point to be made there, ‘what’s in a name?’ and all that.” His hand waved lazily around as he spoke. “In this case, though—not too deep.” Just curiosity as to whether he’d find camaraderie or conflict when they crossed paths.[break][break]

Obviously now he knew it’d stick to the latter.[break][break]

“Me? Not creative? That’s the worst thing to call a painter!” he quipped back, hand passing through his hair in faux distress. “This is all a little more straightforward, though.” His head tilted side to side in a bout of contemplation. “So I think I’m safe there.”[break][break]

If she really wanted him to turn battling into a fine, high art, though…maybe he’d oblige. He was usually pretty generous.[break][break]

She was right, however—it did indeed take two to tango. That much he could work with. The sticky glob, not so much. Off balance by the fact that their heads were suddenly suckered together, Habanero tottered around clumsily as it tried to regain its bearings. It took the sharp hit of the ICE SHARD and howled, stumbling as it tried to shake both heads loose.[break][break]

But not before spewing an arcing round of FLAMETHROWER at the dewgong. Lam worked to retaliate too—chucking a scatterbang out to cause chaos and noise between the two opposing groups as he darted forward to try and assist the pokemon in pulling away as much sticky glob from its tough skin as he could.

[attr="class","bottom"]Calpurnia Kubrick [break]
clash [2/2][break]

SPOILER: Click to show

+ thread participation (50mp) + ic post x3 (30mp) + use of scatterbang (10mp) = 90mp

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She really seemed to have a complex about her name, huh? “I guess so. But its no skin off my back.” He wasn’t about to get all that worked up about it. His own name was…unique to say the least. He wasn’t sure where it came from, or what the thought was behind it. But it had never truly bothered him. He just was. Maybe Miss Kelpie here could stand to relax a little.[break][break]

Too bad a battle was a battle. “ Yannow–I don’t disagree with that!” Lam had learned full well that there was little monetary gain to an artist’s profession. It had never really been about the profit, though–didn’t that defeat the purpose? But battling had its own sort of flair and brought its own sort of success.[break][break]

“Me? Nah I’m fine.” Lam flapped his hand dismissively, nonchalant about her saccharine sincerity. He wasn’t sure why she thought he was mad. He was just, perhaps, competitive. If it kept her from interfering with any more league goals, that was great. But true to his weakness, Lam simply wanted to win. He worked double time to free his pokemon, and eventually their stuck heads came loose with a suction-y pop![break][break]

Oh, nope. Not so fast. “Keep things warm!” he instructed the scovillan as the dewgong cut through the flame with a dousing jet of water. Habanero pulsed with heat, as a SUNNY DAY rippled through the cave and pulled every light source to intensify the swelter of heat.[break][break]

The heat in the air kicked off the pepper creature’s CHLOROPHYLL, giving him a boost of speed as the dewgong surged forward. He twisted away, darting out of range of the attack. Unfortunately, that left Lam exposed. Sent flying by the impact, he rolled across the ground with gritted teeth. With a grunt, he pushed himself back up to his knees– “Keep at it, Haba!” The scovillan doubled back around, charging the dewgong with a ZEN HEADBUTT – both pepper heads tilted down for impact.

[attr="class","bottom"]Calpurnia Kubrick [break]
clash [2/2][break]

SPOILER: Click to show

+ thread participation (50mp) + ic post x4 (40mp) + use of scatterbang (10mp) = 100mp

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He grinned, that self-assurance shining through again. “I know, right? Best of both worlds.” He wouldn't be distracted by the playful banter, however. He still had a task to accomplish. A snort of laughter slipped free. “Bribing doesn’t really work well on me.” He’d never been the most materially minded. That was probably why a lack of financial gain didn’t set him back much.[break][break W

Lam pushed himself back to his feet, dusting off the loose dirt on his clothes, though it felt a bit pointless by that part in the day. He probably looked as ragged as he felt. There was probably a shiner blooming where Alexandra Briarwood had popped him in the face earlier. As the masked rocket complained, he shrugged again. “Better your shoes than broken bones.”[break][break]

It was funny though— buy her new shoes? With what money, exactly?[break][break]

Easily distracted by the fight at hand, Lam pumped a fist in the air as the ZEN HEADBUTT knocked the dewgong back. “Keep it up, Haba!”[break][break]

The ICE BEAM was just a bit too close range for Habanero to dodge in time, though. He bellowed as the impact pushed him backward, the green pepper head shivering more than the other. Frost coated its skin, even though the blaze from the SUNNY DAY soon had the Pokémon moving back up to speed again.[break][break]

“Pull in close again!” A risky move, but with the dewgong backed against a wall, it had even less room to run. With a burst of slowly recovered speed, the scovillan rushed in again, that time one of his two heads stretching on a thin, vine-y neck as it conjured a LEAF STORM aimed at the dewgong’s flank.

[attr="class","bottom"]Calpurnia Kubrick [break]
clash [2/2][break]

SPOILER: Click to show

+ thread participation (50mp) + ic post x5 (40mp) + use of scatterbang (10mp) + complete a mission (100mp) + win a mission (200mp) = 410mp // no mp accrued past this post