You look at what the cat dragged in.

"Damn, you look like shit."

Words you accompany with a smirk.

You think it's kind of funny, this image of a man coming up all bruised and battered to deliver a password to a teenage girl.

This is what they've sent, truly the League's best.

You slip your hand into your pocket and pull out your phone. No reception here, but it's a habit. Something you've acquired over time to demonstrate just how much you care about everything else around you. You glance through your contacts quick, pull up that site out of habit that logs movements of the opposition. Obviously, to no avail.

Connection error.

"I guess that's the right one... or was it...? Can't remember off the top of my head. I'd check my phone, but... no service. So, maybe you should jump through some more hoops for me. Get down and bark like a dog, prove you're one of the hounds the League sent, huh?"

Completely insincere words.

You're bored, and it shows. All this waiting, and you're ready to pour all that accumulated poison down someone's throat the moment you see them. There's nothing else left to do, nowhere for it to go.

"Whatever. I don't care. That was one of 'em, I know that."

You shrug.

There's no loss for you if you hand it to the wrong person. But you know how much work Navy put in trying to convince them you were trustworthy. You still don't believe him. You're the least trustworthy person in Hoenn or thereabouts, you think. But you won't let him foolishly tarnish his reputation on a girl like you.

"You're here for the drop, yeah?"

You raise your eyes from your phone for the first time since you pulled it out. Judging him, for showing up in such a bad state.

A battle isn't an excuse to stop taking care of yourself, now is it?

---

COMMS
+20 MP

The nature of this world was simple.

If you were not allied with the Rocket cause, you were among their opposition. Those who idly did not fight against them were collaborators. Those who sought a third option were nevertheless subsumed into the conflict, forced to choose a side. Because choosing to do nothing was, itself, taking a side.

They would attack you all the same if you were not one of them.

"Well, look alive. There's a couple people who followed you in, moths to the flame."

You smile at that.

As the pitcher plant draws in insects who would willingly let themselves be digested. As the venus fly trap mimics the smell of a bountiful display of flowers. They, too, have followed this hapless victim.

Drawn to the blood.

"Sumi, you know what to do."

You hiss the words, reminiscent of a snake, and your Arbok emerges. She rises in the dark, ornamented hood splayed wide. A single glance into their hearts, evil eyes that glow in the dark, they freeze. Taken by their own fear.

---

Sumire (Arbok)'s Intimidate cuts the opponent's attack!
Sumire (Arbok) used Glare!


COMMS
+30 MP

Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-killer that brings total obliteration.

It is a poison that runs through the veins, affecting even one's heart. And in that moment that one feels fear one is already dead.

You smile wide, watching reactions of the Rockets in the dark. They know not what lurks behind the veil, just that there is a menace that hunts them. In that moment they realize it, they've already succumbed to it.

She wastes no time. Not even a hiss is necessary from your lips to tell her what to do. She opens her mouth wide, and from her fangs a concentrated glob of venom drips onto her tongue. She shoots it with the precision of a bullet, aiming for the face. The most porous place in one's body, a place most likely to reach the inside of the pokemon's body.

The Machamp is already slowed. No further impediment is necessary.

And yet, the burning pain that comes with introducing a concentrated poison that acts like a quick-burning acid, heightening the pain and the fear response - that's exactly what she savors, exactly how she chooses to hunt her prey, blinding it in the dark and slithering forward.

---

Sumire (Arbok) used Gunk Shot!


COMMS
+40 MP

The Machamp stands frozen to the ground, its feet unable to move.

Listening. Watching for any sign of what's in the dark.

It can't move its legs, but even so. The slightest sign. The sound of breath, of a serpent body slithering along the cold, damp ground. The sound of a tongue flicking back and forth to smell it in the dark. It waits for a sign of movement.

And Sumire waits as well.

Letting ice her prey's veins take hold. Letting it linger, giving room for this symphony of torture to breathe. Swaying back and froth, like a conductor to an orchestra only she can hear.

Only when she is sure that is has built to its climax, when the tense fear in the cavern grows to its maximum, does she lunge forward. Fangs poised to bite a muscular neck, to crush its windpipe and squeeze it into submission, to take down her foe with one measured strike. They sink deep into warm flesh, feel scalding blood hit the back of her throat.

Gigantic body wrapping around its neck, she aims to destroy it utterly.

Only for the Machamp to reach up, grasp her body with all four arms, and tear her off of it. Bloodied, poisoned, filled with dread. Nevertheless, it raises the serpent over its head and smashes her into the ground beneath it, a suplex in Revenge for the harm she's inflicted.

"Sumi!"

You hiss her name, hand falling to your waist to pull another pokemon out.

Hesitation.

You trust her. You have faith in her. This isn't over yet for your most trusted partner. And so, your hand falls again, giving her a chance to respond.

You leave it to her.

---

Sumire (Arbok) used Crunch!


COMMS
+50 MP

The Machamp wrestles with her, twists her body around as she tries to struggle free.

Sumire hisses, spitting sizzling acid right in the Pokemon's face. It howls in pain. But still, it does not let go. Blinded, unable to even see what it's doing, it is simply too strong. It doesn't seem to matter in the slightest.

You watch. Composed, waiting.

"C'mon... you've got this."

You whisper it on your breath, nearly a hiss yourself. Your most trusted partner is grappling with something stronger than her, and it's winning.

But you trust her. You trust her with everything.

You won't step in, won't interfere. You simply trust in all her strength.

"Sumi! Don't let me down now, of all times! Remember, they're Rockets!"

You shout, your patience breaking. And just like that, all at once, it seems like that was the push she needed.

Skin slides loose. The grasp of the Machamp can't hold her down if she sheds it completely, coming free of its grasp. Instantly, without time for the pokemon to react, she lunges upward and circles the pokemon's neck with her body.

She doesn't wait to squeeze the life from it this time. That was an error in judgement, assuming she could savor this. She simply squeezes, hard enough to snap bones.

And the threat is gone.

You turn to the man beating the remaining trainer senseless. Excessive violence that isn't necessary in the slightest. You watch, completely detached, as he's mangled into a heap at your feet. You look into his eyes, as his consciousness slips away.

"That's done, then."

It's all you have to say as you take a deep breath, finally able to relax. Sumire slithers up to you and you stroke her chin as you pull out your phone.

"When you're finished beating this shit out of that guy, I've got something for you."

You take a tiny chip out of your phone. The Rotom inside makes a small sound of disappointment, having enjoyed pouring all over that top secret info.

"Was told this was for Daedalus's eyes only. That's you, right?"

Your tone is indifferent, completely flat affect. You're all business now, the venom welling up in your heart completely spent in the midst of battle. There's nothing left there now, just an empty husk.

---

COMMS
+60 MP