A Golurk cannot feel pain. It cannot feel rage. It is a machine, belonging to the Sixth Assembly of Masons, beginning in Unova. They were meant to hew rock from stone, protect castles, their lords, their kingdoms. They did not actively seek out conflict, only responding when their primary directives were being prevented due to an outside force.

Shion broached one of those directives as soon as she went after Atlas and Howard Slayte.

Howard was flying through the air, masked, with his grunt uniform flapping in the wind as he flew across the airspace of the island, dodging anti-aircraft strikes from Tinkatons and various other attacks. Howard himself did little. His Golurk was autonomous, and did not require him to input more than the most basic of commands.

That was good. It made up for Howard's ineptitude.

He wished he was on the ground, exploring the ruins on the island. There was so much to dissect, explore, and discover. Howard had lead the charge onto the island, and it was his information that would allow them to breach the island even further. He could not be denied this mission.

A shadow flew past, like a predator hunting pray.

"What the...? HOW DARE YOU INTERFERE?" Howard's voice was a muffled roar, lost in the wind as his nerves were pushed further. This was too much. Simply too much. He didn't want to fight. This wasn't his fault. He wasn't to blame for those who went after him simply based on his appearance.

Atlas's rocket thrusters boosted forward, with a Fly. Atlas and Shion flew around each other as they attempted to gain altitude and speed against one another. Yet Atlas would not budge.

"Let me go. Let me go..." Howard whispered as his Golurk's eyes blinked red.

---

Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki
Notes: Atlas uses Fly.
Masked Howard

The strike from Shion struck well and true against the automaton, yet it did not crack and bend under such duress. Not yet. Its objective was being compromised, and its master was in danger. Atlas would fight until it could no longer maintain its own operating cost.

Death.

Shion burned sure and bright, under the flame of passion and rage. Atlas did not burn. It simply did. There was no emotion the titan could feel that wasn't programmed into it when it was first constructed, eons ago. That emotional rage could be an advantage, but it was also a hinderance. Tsubaki struggled to control her dragon. Howard did not struggle to control his automaton.

Atlas's thrusters sputter under the strike, before reversing and slamming into the Dragalge with the force of a train. With such a winding and serpentine body, it should've been difficult for something as brutish as a slam to make contact with the agile Shion, but there was simply No Guard against Atlas's automated targeting system. It would not miss a strike.

"Wound, but do not kill. I repeat, wound, but do not kill!" Howard shouted. He would not be made a murderer today. He was a good man. An honest man. He had done nothing wrong. Nobody could doubt his virtue, right? These little skirmishes would not be written in the history books, so there was no reason to spill more blood than necessary. He was an academic, not a soldier.

But Shion and Atlas were neither. They were monsters.

The Fly and Bounce struck, and a massive shockwave erupted through the sky, knocking very clouds out of both Howard and Tsubaki's way.

---

Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki
Notes: Atlas uses Fly.
Points:
+50 (mission)
+20 (post)

Howard's eye widened from within his helmet as the Hydro Cannon charged up. You didn't need to be an expert battler to know what was coming next. It was a very choreographed attack, and it needed to be. The amount of energy behind it was truly astounding. Howard balked when he saw it, before pounding on his Golurk's back. "PULL UP! PULL U-"

What had he done to this person to warrant such an aggressive assault?

Atlas began to pull up. If the automaton gained enough height, Shion would have to aim higher to compensate. A fairly difficult task when your energies were being spent trying to shoot a literal who out of the sky. Nonetheless, changing directions quickly was difficult for Atlas. Its thrusters were located on its torso and arms. It did not fly through the sky gracefully like Pokémon meant for the air.

Shion fired her strike, the torrent of water cutting across the sky like a knife through water. It could be seen from the island, so close below. It struck Atlas's thrusters and back, and the energy pushing the Golurk through the air died as the water suffocated the thrusters. "What the...?" Howard muttered as their descent slowed and the rest of the Hydro Cannon missed.

Atlas began to fall.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Howard screamed as he fell, almost letting go of the Golurk as it fell towards the island. The automaton spiraled as it got closer to the island. They only had moments before the two crashed into the island and Howard ate dirt.

He looked towards the thrusters, which sparked with energy but failed to ignite. He looked up with utter contempt at the Dragalge and rider in the sky, damning them for leaving him to this fate. If they followed him now, it was over. The thrusters failed for a final time, before the Golurk's light died as it temporarily shut down. "No!" He cried.

He crawled across the body of his Pokemon as they fell, making it to the seal that controlled the Golurk's power. Funny. He had done something similar to reactivate Atlas with Tsubaki, back in Granite Cave. They had found this Golurk together, and now it was one of Howard's strongest Pokémon.

Where was she now? Far away from here, hopefully.

With a grunt, Howard made it to the chest, where the seal that powered everything had gone dark. It was like an engine, throttling itself after dying. There was only way to kickstart something like this, and it was to rip the bandaid off. Howard tore the seal off, and the Golurk flipped back to life. The thrusters began to spark.

"Up! Up! UP UP UP!" Howard screamed as the thrusters roared to life and the island grew closer. Too late. Howard screamed as he and Atlas crashed into the beach and became enveloped in sand. Were they dead?

---

Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki

What more damage could Shion do to the sand?

As the two landed, they'd see a massive canyon scrawling across the beach, dozens of feet deep. The sand had melted and created a glassy sheet across the wrecked shoreline, resulting in collateral damage to several other Pokémon that had been fighting. Not that the island itself would complain. Blood soaked into sand and left little trace, after all.

At least, it did to sand that was not turned into glass.

The Golurk remained, unmoving, partially buried into the sand itself. That would bring back a sense of deja vu. Its eyes were dim, yet slowly growing brighter, as if it was reactivating. This was as good of a time as any to defeat the automaton and continue Shion's senseless rampage. Did there need to be a justification, as long as the Dragalge crushed villains? As long as her claws were stained red with the entrails of Team Rocket, did it truly matter?

A man stood in front of the Golurk, helmet cracked and side bleeding. Howard looked towards the Golurk, silently weeping, before turning back towards the approaching Dragalge.

He couldn't determine the rider, yet, but he held absolute hatred in his heart. This Golurk was a valuable piece of history, and it was being ruined by a wild dragon that had lost all control. In that moment, he hated that dragon. That rider. Enough to spill out of his other eye socket.

"Monester! How? could you!" A garbled static spat out, inhuman as it rang across the shore in the face of Dragalge's attack. As Shion lunged forward, a Cradily burst from the sand, tentacles wrapping around the toxic dragon. Suddenly, a burst of Confuse Ray danced in Shion's eyes.

How much more rage and confusion could be mixed in before the dragon self-destructed?

---

Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki
Notes:
Golurk is temporarily incapacitated.
Cradily using Confuse Ray
Points:
+50 (mission start)
+40 (post)

A Gengar? From the girl's shadow? He hadn't expected that. He had heard stories of ancient rulers keeping a Pokemon within their shadow to fight against assassination attempts. Between that and Pokemon with teleportation abilities, assassinations were creative historical dramas. They were—

No. Stop thinking about history. Stop thinking about the past. Focus on the now.

As he focused, he wished he could go back. He saw the girl's face. "You?" The suit garbled. Howard reached towards his neck, where a cord led to the voice modulator. He flicked it a few times. "I..."

Dammit, why was she here? Why was a kid out here on the front lines? Howard amended that thought. He had seen her in action when she had helped him explore Granite Cave. She was capable. Of course the League would send her out here, given her proximity to Dewford. If Michael Navidson could see what Howard had done to his girl, then...

Stop thinking.

"I am not under arrest." Howard said with a surprising amount of firmness. "You attacked first. We are both wounded. You might win this battle, but your Pokemon will be weakened far more than you can afford. What if we run into a colleague of mine after arresting me? Will you fight him too?"

If Howard hyped himself up enough, he could talk for hours. Nothing was more hyping than keeping himself out of prison. He could not go to jail. He would not. He had spent years building up his professional standing in academics. His value to Team Rocket was partially because of his public identity. He had done a lot of work keeping it hidden.

He would not lose it here.

"Your dragon is brutal. Why?" Howard's gaze never fully left Tsubaki's Pokémon. His Cradily appeared next to him. "That Pokémon is dangerous." It should be put down. Howard thought to himself silently.

---

Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki
Points:
+50 (mission start)
+50 (post)

Tsubaki was right. Good Rockets always shot first.

Howard Slayte was not a good Rocket. He was an academic who was on this island to support with breaching its inner chambers that hid within the mountain. He had always been distinct from Team Rocket's rank and file. He was no grunt, muscle-bound and content to fight others. He was an academic who fattened Declan Walsh's wallet, who plunged the secrets of the world, who sold his soul to Team Rocket to ensure that he could follow his dreams.

That did not meant he sold his heart. He still had one of those.

The suit was one of Team Rocket's better pieces of technology, designed by a Head Scientist. Amor Rose did not waste any expenses on his aides. They were valuable, and Amor valued loyalty. The best way to inspire that was to treat people as people, and insure their safety.

"You will not use force." Howard said gently, raising his hands as if to comfort her. "Because using force will not ensure your safety, just as it did not ensure my own. Turn around, and walk away. I cannot—will not—harm a teenage girl."

She seemed less confident now, Howard noticed dully. He had seen Tsubaki in action, she was nothing but confidence and action. Now that she was faced with a warzone and someone who would possibly mean her harm, Howard realized something. This was just a scared little girl who had toughened up quickly to defend herself.

Yet the weakness of youth can only be snipped away with time. Could he push her further?

"Please go home." Howard's eye isn't looking at Tsubaki, but at the spirit behind her. It's the biggest threat. He knows this. The Dragalge was a mad dog without a single rational thought in its head. The Gengar? Far more calculating. Far more dangerous.

Far more aware.

---

Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki
+50 (mission start)
+60 (post)
+10 (incorporate path obstacle)

Frowning from behind his helmet, Howard started. "Do not—"

She did. A Hex rushed towards Howard, only to be intercepted by his Cradily, bless Flo's heart. The fossil had fought in several battles over the course of this skirmish between League and Rocket, and despite a desperate guard, the Pokemon fell in battle.

Howard watched his Pokemon fall, visibly casual about the debacle. Silently, he was fuming. Great. If his Cradily fell so easily, Tsubaki would think this fight would be a walk in the park. Granted, normally it would be. Howard would not harm Tsubaki. He doubted that he could. Doing so would mean staring into her father's eyes, knowing Howard was the one to harm the light of his life.

"A crime." Howard sneered, tasting the word. "Did you decide that, or did someone else?" He already knew the answer. He just needed to...

Atlas's eyes blinked on.

...buy some time.

The beach exploded as the Golurk began to move. After a sudden, slow activation, it sprang into action. Tsubaki hadn't been able to defeat this Golurk in Granite Cave, merely subdue it. Admittedly, she was stronger now, but so was Atlas. Now, it had something to protect.

"Strike the shadow. Wound, but do not kill!" Howard barked, and the Golurk responded with a Zen Headbutt that was fated to strike.

---

Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki
+50 (mission start)
+70 (post)
+10 (incorporate path obstacle)