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Xiura’s shoulders imperceptibly relaxed as the stranger, a woman, claimed she didn’t want to fight.
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“Okay, me either,” Xiura reassured, though she stayed on guard, just in case. It wouldn’t be wise to trust anyone she just met, although the woman didn’t seem to have any physical weapons on her.
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The way back to the temporary base was unfortunately lost to her amid the forest and mist. “Ahem,” she cleared her throat, looking around at the copse of trees they were surrounded by, which looked like a copse of trees she may have passed through an hour ago. Okay, perhaps that wasn’t such a helpful landmark to refer back to. “Did you happen to see a large rock formation shaped like a… a big Tyrantrum anywhere?” She spread her arms to emphasize the size of the formation as she spoke.
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A few twigs and errant pebbles around their feet vibrated from a sudden tremor that went through the ground.
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“Hm. Earthquake?” Xiura inquired aloud, looking around.

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"I - what?" Nenet asks as to a Tyrantrum formation. She blinks once, her mouth opening to speak further before she's interrupted by the veritable earth shaking. Her brow furrows in confusion, which isn't helped when something stomps out of the mist.
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It looks like a Tyranitar, if someone had a vision of building it out of iron and flashing lights.
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"I don't suppose that's it," she quips, her mind racing as to how to get out of this. Is that a pokemon, or something else? The woman before her is clearly in Rocket with that mask obscuring her face like everyone else she's seen. She fleetingly wonders if this is some sort of set-up before the Iron Thorns rears its head back and the ground beneath them quakes again with the beginnings of a Rock Tomb.
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With the only move she can think of Nenet release her Pyroar and demands, "Protect!"

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The earthquake turned out to precede the arrival of a Tyranitar, but a robot-like one. An Iron Thorns.
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“No… That’s definitely not what I was looking for,” Xiura responded, backing away from the Iron Thorns.
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The Iron Thorns used Wild Charge, crashing into the protective shield thrown up by the stranger’s Pyroar. It recoiled from the shield, stumbling slightly, a scratch on its otherwise smooth green veneer. “Good one,” she complimented, then summoned her Gardevoir. “Psychic!” A beam of magenta psychic energy blasted out and threw the Iron Thorns off balance. “Maybe we should get out of the open,” she said, backing up towards a glade of trees, but the movement caught the feral Pokemon’s attention. It snorted, steam pouring out of its nostrils, then wound up for another attack.

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Nenet was immensely grateful that the woman from Rocket was not attacking her, though she couldn't say the same for whatever the hell had manifested from the mists. The Protect shattered into shards of light as it absorbed the Iron Thorns' attack, and at Xiura's suggestion Nenet nods and stumbles towards the clearing as well.
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Only momentarily distracted by Xiura's Gardevoir, Nenet calls to her Pyroar as the Iron Thorns winds up for more, "Flame Thrower!"
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The gout of flame distracts the Iron Thorns from the two women, though it now has Nenet's Pyroar soundly in its sights. Stomping its foot on the ground, rocks tumble around the area towards the Pyroar as the Iron Thorns executes a Rock Tomb attack.
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"We need to get out of here or defeat that thing," Nenet mumbles as she stares at the Iron Thorns.

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Xiura nodded her agreement at Nenet, frowning in concentration as she too examined the state of the Iron Thorns. It seemed far too powerful to take on alone. Could the two of them be enough to take it down?
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"Moon Blast!" Xiura commanded. Gardevoir attacked the Iron Thorns with a beam of pale moonlight, trying to divide the Iron Thorns' attention and distract it from hitting the Pyroar with accuracy. The dinosaur-like Pokemon growled and used another Rock Tomb, Gardevoir trying her best to dodge the falling rocks. Gardevoir seemed to be getting tired, panting for breath.
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"Yeah, I think we should run. It won't be able to follow as well through the thicker parts of the forest," Xiura said, going further into the woods. "Gardevoir, come on!" she called. "Maybe we can find a place to hide out? Or maybe we can lose it in the forest."
Suddenly this clearly non-Rocket member had become an ally to depend on and protect. At least for now.

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"Let's try the forest," Nenet agrees. She suddenly reaches for Xiura and grabs her arm to jerk the woman back as a stray rock goes pinwheeling from the ground where it nearly struck Xiura's Gardevoir.
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She spares a glance with her masked companion - factions be damned, they were in this together.
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"Pyroar, Protect!" Nenet calls once again.
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As the shield of prismatic light ripples into view, fractals of lightning skitter off it and across the air. Darting through the trees in an attempt to escape, their attempt is quickly thwarted when instead of deeper into the forest they emerge abruptly at a cliff.

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Xiura gasped as she was yanked back, narrowly missed by a stray rock. "Thank you," she breathed to the woman as the Pyroar's protective shield went up.
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As they approached the cliff at full speed, Xiura was forced to a full stop, skidding up close to the edge in her boots. Thankfully she didn't stumble; it was a long way down, she noticed as she peered over the edge at the steep drop, promising a painful landing into even more jungle.
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"Gardevoir," her Pokemon said, teleporting close by, the Pyroar following closely after. Her pink gaze calmly observed the
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"Y-yeah," Xiura stuttered, "That's an idea."
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She turned to the other woman, saying, "I don't think we're strong enough to face it head on. Maybe we can fool it into running off the edge." Compared to their Pokemon, the Iron Thorns seemed nearly as powerful as an Ultra Beast.
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There was nothing to hide behind here. It was all or nothing, and all of them would have to serve as bait. Xiura didn't see another way. She and her Gardevoir clustered close to the edge so that there would be no room for the Iron Thorns to slow down.
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She glanced at Nenet with trepidation in her eyes, but clutched her Gardevoir close. "My Gardevoir can teleport us out of the way," she ventured, uncertain if the other woman would accept her offer.

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Nenet looks quickly from Xiura to the Iron Thorns blundering through the brush; with a sharp nod, her hand reaches out to take Xiura by the wrist, ensuring the pair are escaping together, and then she recalls her Pyroar and lets loose her Graveler.
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There is no hesitation as she instructs the rock Pokemon with, "Take it off the cliff with you." The Graveler would ultimately be fine, if a bit beat up from the trip down, and that was certainly a risk Nenet was willing to take.
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The air crackles with electricity when the Iron Thorns suddenly overtakes them. There's a sudden, terribly noise of rock on metal when the Iron Thorns finds itself locked with Nenet's Graveler; rocks fly, electricity zings on the air, and in the chaos of it all the two pokemon tip over the edge.
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With one last shriek Iron Thorns aims a Rock Slide at the Graveler, the attack travelling up towards where the two women and the Gardevoir stand. Nenet's Graveler slumps unconscious, its weight adding to the impact when it and the Iron Thorns slam into the rocks of the cliff.

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The rocks began to crumble beneath their feet after the Iron Thorns and Graveler topple off the edge of the cliff. Xiura screamed, “Now!” and Gardevoir teleported the two women several meters away from the location of the Rock Slide, with only seconds to spare. The feeling was disorienting, like being sucked through an Ultra Wormhole. Taking a few moments to catch her breath, Xiura looked over to ensure the other woman was all right. Her Gardevoir swayed back and forth, humming, pleased that she had helped her trainer.
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Xiura asked the stranger, “Is your Graveler okay?” Xiura looked over the edge of the rock and saw the fallen Graveler below, as well as the Iron Thorns who had fainted from the fall. Xiura nodded at Nenet in acknowledgment, and said, “One more Teleport, Gardevoir.” Gardevoir brought them closer to the site of the impact, allowing Nenet to recall the Pokemon to its Pokeball.
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With that, the Iron Thorns stirred as if it would get up. “I think it’s time to go,” Xiura said, before fleeing with Nenet into the forest. They would part ways soon, each one likely to temporarily forget their fated encounter with all the trials that faced them ahead.

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