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Doug & Kouji Matsubara

After the close encounter with Cillian Quinn, he had seen to it that all possible blind spots in their convoy's security slammed shut— mostly by sheer excess of Orbeetles.

The attack bounced off a barrier, an Orbeetle slowly descending from above, eyes aglow as it stared down the rocket and his pokemon.

Doug waved it off , his attention turning from the disembarking medic personnel behind him to the vaguely familiar young man approaching menacingly.

"What's with y'all?" He asked the other as he hopped off the ship and onto the sands below, his Orbeetle moving to stand before him. "We were all getting along so well— Now yer all tryin' to kill me. So boldly, too! I didn't do anything to deserve this."

Hadn't they buried the hatchet before the big war? Perhaps it had only looked like that to him.

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Doug & Kouji Matsubara

"Why, though? You missed out." He said bluntly, smile slipping away. "A lot of y'all were happy for maybe the first time in your lives."

He couldn't imagine spending 20 years pretending to still be a rocket while the rest of the world around him moved on.

But then, that dream had eventually come crashing to an end, and they were all back to their old chains now, weren't they?

Still, he scoffed at the other's suggestion, patting Blissey patch emblazoned on his shoulder, the words 'Medic Corps' written under it.

"I've a duty to the injured." He said firmly, meeting the other's gaze as he unclipped a net ball from his shoulder holster.

"I didn't come looking for a fight— but I ain't backing down if anyone gets between me and my patients."

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Doug & Kouji Matsubara

"That makes you sound unhinged. Rocket is heaven but peace is hell?" The medic pointed out wryly, hands on his hips as he leaned forward. "I'm (technically) qualified to be a Pediatric Psychologist. I could help out, you know?"

Not that he was expecting the (formerly) young man to accept the help willfully. If he were ever processed by a judge though... maybe they could get him some mandatory sessions?

Hoh. There was an idea! With that in mind...

He clapped his gloved hands, letting one slid down to give a firm tug to one of his gloves before leaning forward once again, squinting his eyes at Kouji, holding a palm level with his brow.

"What am I puttin' up my dukes for if yer pussying out way over there?" He said dryly. "Guess we ain't running the ones today."

Well, that was fine. A regular pokemon battle was more his style anyway.

"Kira." He intoned. A large frame leapt off from the nearby ship's deck, landing heavily onto the sand.

Rising to her full height, the Golisopod popped its neck audibly, its gaze falling unto Kouji.

"Eyes on the water. Something's coming– so!" He swept his arm over before himself. "Freeze the shore!"

The Golisopod did not pause to consider the order, eyes gleaming as she held both arms level with her waist, before suddenly swinging them forth.

Twin archs of frozen energy swung forth and crashed into the water, making waves rise and crash moments before freezing in place, creating thick layers of rock-hard ice over the shore.

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Doug & Kouji Matsubara

"That ain't how human psyche works." He said, beginning to walk towards the other youth. "Ain't no way you were 'raised' like this. Beaten into shape seems more likely."

The other's dragon-fish was stuck all the way over at the beach dealing with his bug. It was a good time to test just how much leeway he could get out of Kouji's conviction to not engage him.

He didn't see exactly what happened next, but a blanket of icy mist had suddenly covered the beach, making him lose sight of the other youth.

He could hear him shouting orders, though.

He decided to let Kira handle the other pokemon on her own for now— He and Kouji had catching up to do.

"Put your mitts up, hairdo!" He screamed into the mist, sprinting in the general direction of Kouji's voice.

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Doug & Kouji Matsubara

"Did you just go 'I'm built different'?" Doug scoffed, swallowing down a laugh.

It didn't last long however— a knife came flying out of the mist, making him swallow his laughter with a yelp as his hand rose to catch it on reflex.

He caught it alright. Pretty deep, too.

"SHIT! DAMN IT! Fudge!" He cursed in three steps: first in surprise, second when stabbed, third when pulling it out. "Hey asshole, you lost something!"

Now armed with a knife in hand, Doug took a deep breath before turning in the direction of Kouji's voice, lightly cocking his head at the other's words.

Not that they could see each other anyway.

"I was born and raised in Kanto." He said bluntly, beginning to walk towards the voice yet again. "My home village became one of the frontlines."

Burning fields, destroyed homes, bloody corpses, friends and family who would never come back.

"Nothing glorious 'bout that hellhole."

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Doug & Kouji Matsubara

Blood tained the sands crimson as Doug caught the slash with his forearm, flinching as it dug into his flesh before pausing at the bone, grinding against it.

"To be fair..." Doug said, his face set in a pained grimace. "You assholes followed me here. Hnghraah!"

With a shout, he shoved back his arm against the other's face, his foot rising in an attempt to front kick him away.

Doug couldn't really compete with Kouji's years of combat training— he had only become a soldier at 16, and knife fighting hadn't been his preferred style anyway.

He could, however, afford to approach it with more confidence and recklessness than any sane, reasonable human being would ever dare.

"And I would rather be in an emergency room, but we're doing this instead." Doug said as he took a guiding stab at Kouji, the blade flying towards the youth's right eye— in hopes he would dodge left and straight into Doug's low, sweeping kick to his ankles.

It was weird, having what sounded like an actual heart to heart with what really was another kid holding a knife. No, that wasn't really right.

They both remembered. They were old men in kids' bodies, if anything.

"But is it a good reason to be here?" He asked the other. "Is an old memory and a history good enough to kill whoever they tell you to, whenever they tell you, whether you agree with the reason or not?"

Whatever the result of his exchange was with Kouji, he didn't press for advantages, pausing simply to stare at the knife in his hand.

"Ya ain't wrong— I know exactly how it ends." He said, before raising the knife. "All the more reason to fight and win."

No more children like him. No more death for the sake of someone's ambitions. He would not suffer it, he would not allow it. Not as long as he drew breath.

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Doug & Kouji Matsubara

The kick rocked Doug's face, the feeling of the knife biting onto something almost missed as his brain did black flips inside his skull, a tooth flying out of his mouth and landing on the sand.

It didn't last, the young soldier's focus snapping back into place like machinework, his eyes aglow as he threw down the knife towards the other's supporting foot.

"No reasons to disagree?" He said, his voice more impassioned, stumbling forward towards the other on the unsure footing of the sand, taking a swing at his face. "Killing people for nothing? Not a reason? Killing your friends because they can't deal with being rockets anymore? Still not a reason?

He was getting heated, and not just because of the harsh sunlight.

"You'll die either way?! What the fuck does that even mean!" He trying to push the other youth to the sand. "You think you're being cool, talking like you're some kinda sociopath? I know you aren't, asshole!"

He was so done with this man's nonsense. He was gonna get his actual thoughts even if he had to beat them out of him!

"Let me beat some self-preservation in ya, see if I fix your moral compass while at it! Grit YOUR teeth!" Swing!