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Xiura was being pursued. But in the mists and fog, she was hopelessly turned around. She emerged into a clearing, hoping to see a familiar landmark or clear route for escape.
[break][break]
"Hey you, stop where you are!"
[break][break]
That voice was sharply familiar. Xiura’s heart dropped as she saw the undeniable figure of jack wainwright before her, several meters away.
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“Sorry, no, thank you!” Xiura called out, pitching her voice much lower than usual.
[break][break]
She quickly about-faced to run back into the forestal jungle. However, as she turned, several trees seemed to sprout where they hadn’t before, tropical and large, strangely familiar to her. A flashback of Psycho Cuts slashing purple scars into the trees to mark a pathway entered her mind. Why did this remind her of Route 119?
[break][break]
She needed to get out of here, fast. Perhaps she could Teleport. She clutched her Pokeball with Hatterene in it, but decided against summoning her. Her worst fear would be that Jack would recognize her, and Hatterene had been a key Pokemon during their mission together that day. She decided against it; she would select another Pokemon later in case she needed a defense.
[break][break]
As she disappeared again down a path into the forest, a strange robotic hum reached her ears. An Iron Moth emerged and caught sight of her, flames immediately swirling around it in a Fiery Dance. Its eyes glowed with aggression and fury. With a short shriek, she jumped behind a tree, just as a plume of flame whooshed past, the emanating heat nearly singeing her clothing. She was trapped between Jack and an Iron Moth, in addition to being hopelessly lost. She didn’t know what to do.
[break][break]
Frozen with fear and indecision, Xiura was abruptly brought out of her spiraling thoughts as a short "Squirtle" reached her ears. Her Squirtle had escaped from his Pokeball on his own and was growling menacingly in the direction of the Iron Moth.

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With a triumphant whoop, Jack set off after his quarry again, filled with certainty that he would soon apprehend them. His long strides ate the distance between them until a tree between them exploded in a burst of flame that sent Jack rolling for cover. Brushing dirt from his face, he peered around the trunk of the tree he had slid behind to see a monstrosity hovering in the air. The ominous pokemon resembled a metal Volcarona but another burst of fire sent Jack back into cover before he could scrutinize it further.[break][break]

Jack reached for the pokeballs at his belt when the defiant growl of a Squirtle caught his attention. Cautiously, Jack peered around the tree trunk again to see the other trainer's squirtle facing off against the paradox pokemon. "Are you insane!" he shouted angrily, his emotions warring between the satisfaction of a Rocket being destroyed and the inhumanity of leaving another trainer and their pokemon to the mercies of of this thing. In the end, though anger flared at being forced to make the choice, humanity won out and Jack stepped from behind his tree and threw a pokeball. In a flash the Ampharos he had traded with his friend Xiura appeared next to the Squirtle.[break][break]

Fire began to swirl around the Iron Moth until a bolt of thunder crashed down from the sky, sending it reeling.

[break]

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NOTES

+ MP total: 20 (posts) + 50 (participation) + 10 (interdream mist) = 80[break]
+ Ampharos is out and uses THUNDER on Iron Moth.[break]

BY GUNSMILE

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Xiura gasped in recognition of the Ampharos she had traded to Jack. She was even more thankful she hadn’t called one of her more well-known Pokemon forth, especially her Bellibolt. Jack couldn’t find out, at any cost. But this Iron Moth stood in their way. She bit her cheek at his shout, and decided not to answer his anger, for fear that he would stop helping her against the Volcarona-like Pokemon. Squirtle surely couldn't fend off the Pokemon alone.
[break][break]
“Squirtle, be careful!” she called out, still attempting to disguise the pitch of her voice.
[break][break]
“Squirtle, squirt!” Squirtle affirmed. He hit the robotic Pokemon with a well-aimed Water Pulse, the pulsating blast of water repeatedly hitting the Iron Moth in the face. It swayed from side to side, seeming to be in a state of confusion after the attack.
[break][break]
The Iron Moth appeared to try and shake off its disorientation, peering at the two Pokemon with its four compound eyes before sending damaging sound waves at them with its vibrating wings in a Bug Buzz attack.

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Ampharos cried out in pain from the blast of buzzing noise and Jack pushed his fingers into his ears. When the attack ended, Jack grimaced but his pokemon seemed okay though a little shaken. A sense of hope filled Jack at the Squirtle and Ampharos together, holding their own against this strange and monstrous pokemon. Perhaps I should have given the little guy more credit, Jack thought admiringly of the Squirtle, though that trainer is still an arse for bringing them out against this thing.[break][break]

The Iron Moth still seemed a little confused after the Squirtle's attack so Jack went on the offensive. "Power gem, Ampharos," he called out to his pokemon. Leaning forward, the Ampharos unleashed a beam of light that glittered with shimmering gemstones as it crashed into the Iron Moth, knocking it into a tree.

[break]

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NOTES

+ MP total: 30 (posts) + 50 (participation) + 10 (interdream mist) = 90[break]
+ Ampharos is damaged by Iron Moth's bug buzz.[break]
+ Ampharos uses power gem against Iron Moth.[break]

BY GUNSMILE

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Xiura cried out, "Water Pulse again!" The blast of surging water pinned the creature to the tree again, its shell cracking under the immense force. Squirtle leaped back in satisfaction as the Iron Moth swooped in for an attack and missed, the speed of the wind in its wake threatening to suck in small plants like a mini Ultra wormhole.
[break][break]
Thankfully the Iron Moth seemed weak to water attacks due to its fiery and robotic nature. It hovered in the air angrily, swinging back and forth like a pendulum as it set its sights on both Pokemon in turn.
[break][break]
It reared back, incensed by the combined retaliation from Squirtle and Ampharos and prepared to attack again. Xiura didn't know what to do besides press on with the strategy that seemed to be working.
[break][break]
"Squirtle, keep it up!"

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Jack nodded in appreciation as the Squirtle's attack continued to drench the Iron Moth. The impressive thing was, it was working. They were slowly gaining ground against the monstrous pokemon. Though Jack's feeling of confidence slipped as the Iron Moth readied another attack. The strange panels that mimicked wings begin to glow as they charged and a worried feeling began to creep into the pit of Jack's stomach.[break][break]

As the Squirtle's onslaught died off and rivulets of water ran down the surface of the paradox pokemon, an idea occurred to Jack as power swelled in the Iron Moth. "Ampharos, quick, Thunder Punch it!" Jack shouted. Wasting no time, his new Ampharos shot forward, winding up a fighting technique as his fist crackled with surging energy. Time seemed to slow as Ampharos' fist struck the pokemon, the electricity discharging in a flash to run up the wet channels created by Squirtle and blasting into the Iron Moth's armor where the water had leaked through into its sensitive mechanical components. Simultaneously, power flashed around the Iron Moth as it Overheated. The air itself caught fire around the two pokemon, detonating like a bomb.[break][break]

As his vision filled with fire, Jack felt himself thrown back into the trunk of a tree before sliding down to the earth. Scrambling to regain his feet, Jack used the tree to pull himself up while he blinked the light from his eyes. When his vision returned, the weakly struggling Iron Moth laid on the blackened earth next to the limp and lifeless form of Ampharos.

[break]

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NOTES

+ MP total: 40 (posts) + 50 (participation) + 10 (interdream mist) + 200 (pokemon death) = 300[break]
+ Bewitching Brews: fighting-type[break]
+ Go, Squirtle! Go![break]
+ Ampharos uses Thunder Punch against Iron Moth at the same time it uses Overheat.[break]
+ Ampharos is killed in the resulting blast.[break]

BY GUNSMILE

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Squirtle and Xiura were blown back by the immense blast, leaving both dazed and disoriented. "Squirtle!" Xiura exclaimed in a hoarse whisper, crawling over to her Pokemon lying in the dirt. "Are you okay?" Her Squirtle didn't respond; she examined him, finding that he had fainted but was still alive. "Sweetheart," Xiura said heartbrokenly, gathering him into her arms, taking out a potion, and spraying him to restore some health quickly. Squirtle nuzzled her chin in his sleep, already looking better, so she kissed him on the forehead and recalled him back into the Pokeball.
[break][break]
Wincing, she reached for her Poliwrath's Pokeball. If the Iron Moth were still alive, she'd have to risk it all and bring out her other Water Pokemon, but the risk was that Jack would recognize him. But at this point, she had to. She didn't want Jack to get hurt.
[break][break]
She turned to check on Jack and saw him standing over the deathly-still form of his Ampharos, the same one that she had traded to him. Beside them was the Iron Moth, too weak to fight anymore. Her fingers fell away from her belt of Pokeballs. There was a pit in the bottom of her stomach, as if an Ultra wormhole had sucked her insides away.
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"Oh," she breathed. Conflicted, she stared at Jack's back, his head bowed and figure hunched in a posture that conveyed shock and sorrow.
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Making her decision, however foolhardy it might be, she opened her mouth to call out to him--but was beaten by another person's sudden appearance.
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"Jack," the person said in her voice. Xiura's eyes widened as her doppelganger stepped out from the mist, touching Jack's shoulder gently. She was dressed in her hiking outfit, the same from Route 119, when they had found that hiker's remains. The entire scenario seemed to be a replaying of a shared memory, but twisted. "I'm sorry," said the fake Xiura, with a kindness and compassion that made Xiura feel slightly nauseated.
[break][break]
But here, something was different. Her clone leaned in and kissed Jack's cheek, saying, "I forgive you. I'm grateful my Ampharos could save your life through his sacrifice. Why don't you take that Iron Moth for your own? A life for a life. It can serve you well." The innocence and naivete of the fake Xiura left the real one dumbfounded and silent.

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Jack hunched over the broken body of the Ampharos with silent tears streaming down his cheeks. He had gone immediately for a healing potion as he ran over but as he got closer, it became clear that the pokemon was beyond hope. Mangled limbs bent at odd angles, the vertebra protruding from Ampharos' long neck, and the burned and missing flesh only highlighted the fact that the pokemon was dead. Jack choked on a sob, but he knew if he let the grief free, he would be consumed by it.[break][break]

Another sob threatened to break him but the sound of his name caused him to snap his head up. "Xiura?" Jack asked, stunned as his girlfriend stood there, ready to comfort him in his grief. As her lips met his, his mind seemed to fog over and mist filled his vision until most of the forest around them faded away with a dream-like quality. He founded himself nodding as she forgave him, nodding at her gratitude for Ampharos' sacrifice. He was grateful Xiura could be here to comfort him, standing there in her hiking outfit as the rain poured down. Just like the day we found Arin's body in the storm. The realization struck him like a blow and he reeled back as Ampharos's body and the still twitching Iron Moth materialized into view again.[break][break]

"You're not real," he growled with chills running down his spine, "Xiura would mourn with me, not just be grateful her pokemon died for me. Not telling me to take Iron Moth for my own, like Ampharos spent his life in some tawdry transaction just for my benefit." Jack slashed a hand at the figure wearing Xiura's face and it sliced through her effortlessly, dispelling the illusion in a puff of pink mist that evaporated into the air. As the figure disappeared, so too did the trees around him begin to bleed mist and the raindrops burst into the same strange fog as they struck the ground.[break][break]

The world around him dissolved away until he was alone with the two pokemon at the center of a thick fog. Without any equipment, there wasn't much Jack could do to dig a grave on this rocky island so instead he gathered up the stones around them. One-by-one he stacked them reverently over the body of the Ampharos until a cairn rose up from the barren ground. Jack was drenched in sweat when he finally stood up. He was uncertain of how much time had passed but when he looked up, he was alone save for the Iron Moth still twitching on the ground nearby.[break][break]

"A life for a life? It doesn't work that way and I won't just leave you here to die too," he whispered hoarsely as he took out an empty pokeball. It opened with a click and the Iron Moth poured inside in a rush of red light. Then Jack was truly alone as choked sobs echoed from the boulders around him.

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NOTES

+ MP total: 50 (posts) + 50 (participation) + 10 (interdream mist) + 200 (pokemon death) + 100 (mission complete) + 250 (draw) = 670[break]
+ Bewitching Brews: chills[break]

BY GUNSMILE

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Xiura closed her eyes as Jack kissed the stranger who looked like her. It felt like a betrayal, although she knew the figure was an illusion created from the mist—although she knew she was already betraying Jack by concealing her true allegiances and even her identity from him.
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She couldn’t blame Jack for believing this illusion was her. It certainly looked like her. And maybe it was a blessing in disguise, where Jack needed someone to comfort him after the loss of Ampharos. She gazed at the fallen Pokemon on the ground, feeling a deep sense of loss. She was grateful that Ampharos had saved them all, but the price had been too great. This mist sent a brief chill through her body. It was growing colder.
[break][break]
She turned to leave, her hand drifting to her lips in a ghostly sensation of what she thought her double might be feeling from the kiss. It wasn’t a feeling she deserved. She looked up, her expression smoothing into neutrality. It was time to run, while Jack was distracted.
[break][break]
“You’re not real,” she heard Jack say. And the false Xiura disappeared with his realization.
[break][break]
Xiura froze as Jack dispelled the illusion with his logic. Her heart swelled as she heard Jack reason with the mist, naming the reasons why Xiura was different from mist's impression of her. Perhaps Jack knew her better than she thought, after all. What a feeling: to be known, to be thought of as good.
[break][break]
Xiura left while Jack pondered alone with his grieving thoughts, stacking stones atop the fallen body of Ampharos. She would make it all up to him after this was over.

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