"Alright...got till sundown before we set up camp. Let's rock and roll boys." Those were the only words needed to be shared by Kazimir to his Pokemon as all of them ran through the Wild Area in Galar. Today was a day that was meant for some good fun times and in the case of Kaz and his group of particular Pokemon that meant sweating their butts off like crazy.

First it started with something simple; free rock climbing. Already Domon the Urshifu was way ahead of them as he practically leaped from spot to spot. Kaz was right behind him doing his best to hug the wall as best as he could as he tried to find good footing each step he took. Damn him and his genetics giving him big feet. Below them was a Joltik climbing and being pushed by the long nose of a Buzzwole who made sure its little bug friend didn't fall off.

After tiring themselves up from climbing the next best thing was a good spar. While an Urshifu and Buzzwole went at it with all of their muscles shining with sunlight and sweat Kaz was busy jumping out of the way of his Feraligatr's snapping jaws. "Damn it Kaiju we're supposed to throw hands not take a snack break! No stay back stay back-ack!"

At the end of the day what better way to let one rest was to just go for a nice swim. Well the ones who weren't suffering from aching muscles were enjoying a nice swim. The likes of Kazimir and his Urshifu just floated on their backs letting the current take them away while his Blastoise was just drifting along with them showering them with Life Dew to ease their muscles in the form of a healing spritz.

"What your doing is insane." The words of Thomas Benoit stop him as he turns around before stepping into the Ultra Wormhole to face him. "C'mon you know they need someone to help them. They're whole place is in ruins."

Behind him the gaze of other Megalopolans looked over his shoulder, further behind them were the ruins of a city that they had all once called home. Now they needed to rebuild but the terrors of Ultra Space still haunted them. It left them vulnerable and the more Kaz watched them slowly cross the portal to go back to such lives the more it pulled at his heart. It pulled so hard it nearly sent it drowning.

So he volunteered himself to go and help them rebuild. No one else seemed to really offer. "Yeah but Hoenn needs you, it needs Pokkenger." For a second Kaz's heart climbed its way back up to his chest at those words. Yet it never really reached the top it once sat at. "Yeah and so do these guys."

He puts a hand on Thomas' shoulder. "That's why I'm counting on ya to pick up the slack." Not just him either; Navy's a damn good sheriff with a heart of gold, John Sullivan isn't gonna let anyone suffer through pain, even as deranged as he could be MATIAS SILPH was going to a wall hardly anyone could break down. The region was in some good hands. "But once you go through there there may not be a way for you to come back.

This was true, even with his own Ultra Beasts with im it was a miracle to get this portal open in the first place. Looking back at the Megalopolans looking back at him he patted Thomas' shoulder again before giving him a smile as he walked away. "Hey I found a way out before, I can do it again when I'm done." As one foot was placed after another over the threshold of the portal he looked back and gave a thumbs up as the portal slowly shrunk down till it disappeared.

The bulky man drifted off into sleep in the hammock as the cool beach air lulled him to sleep. For a while he's been having some nice dreams lately so falling asleep wasn't really a worry. What was a worry was what was written on the notebook in his hand as it slowly slipped out of his fingers and plopped onto the white sands, the writing made out to be some sort of list.

CHAMPION?

ELITE FOUR?

RANGER?

TRAINER?

WARRIORESTLER?

POKKENGER?

Blue eyes fluttered open to the sight of not a sunny day but a cloudy evening where white particles were falling onto his face. Instead of a soft hammock he was lying on soft snow. Sitting up he could see that he was in a snowy forest and not the beach anymore. With a heavy crunch of the snow he got to his feet and began to walk forward with no rhyme or reason. If he just kept walking then he was bound to find something.

Then there it was; a ticket booth. Approaching it he found a Totodile sitting inside tapping away at a keyboard as the board behind him was lit up. He recognized the set up, a movie theater booth. On the board was only one title showing today.

KAZ

"Hey, one ticket please?" He didn't even take out any money and already the Totodile gave him a salute and printed him a ticket. As he turned to leave the little croc stopped him with a cry. Turning around he saw a tray with a jug of steaming hot chocolate and malasadas shoved from under the window. So it was dinner and a show. "Sweet. Thanks."

There was a tilled path that he followed to a row of theater chairs in front of a large mountain face. Taking a seat he placed the tray on the fold out table on the side and let his body recline into the back as he nibbled on one of his deserts. There was no time wasted as the whole lighting around him somehow got darker as a light was shone from a tree and onto the mountainside as the count down started.

3

2

1

Who are you?

A question framed in nothing but a black screen and white letters. It cut to a familiar scene that made people familiar with Kaz. Pokkenger holding up one of the previous Champions during an attack on Slateport as he catches her from a nasty fall. Then another, Pokkenger climbing a tree to help a Litten down from a tree. Then another, Pokkenger wrestling with Rocket members as a group of baby Pokemon run from the scene out of an open cage. Finally, Kazimir drop kicking a Rocket Grunt as they approach an Urshifu who's down on their knee and tired.

Are you a hero?

Why do you risk your life?

Another black screen with words asking a question. Now it flashes to a scene of Kazimir standing between a large Haxorus and Elise Calcifet, the world around them looks medevil in setting and their attire matches to boot. Her in a regal gown and a crown atop her head while he sports glistening armor and a sword and shield in hand as he pushes back against the dragon's strike. "Run your highness! I won't allow this beast to claim you! On my honor!"

The scene changes as the blade is thrust right into the dragon's throat.

A dark city is alight as fire and smoke pours out of a building. A fire truck raises its ladder up to a window and the garbed firefighter breaks through the window and hops inside. "Anyone in here?!" Shouts the familiar voice as blue eyes scan through the smoke. That's when they see it, the sight of someone's leg sticking out. Running over they see the sight of Eris Halla clinging onto Chu-e Choi and grab the both of them to lift them to their feet and lead them to the ladder where others are ready to take them.

There's a cry as a Purugly scrambles toward you jumping into your arms and in one motion you toss it towards the retreating ladder and into the girl's arms as the building falls on top of you.

What are you?

Another question. The next cut is one that fills the stomach with disgust. The scene is one of a battlefield as men and women of blue skin pour out of holes that crack the sky as they descend with their teeth bared. Next is a solitary beach where a lone man well built is doing push ups against the back drop of the setting sun, suddenly he lifts one of his arms behind him and continues on with just one hand. Another scene, this one of a typical battle between trainers and their Pokemon as a Lucario dashes past its opponent on the ginger giant's orders. Final scene, Kazimir stands before an old man in a dojo with sweat dripping off their bodies as the younger man does his best to dodge the sensei's strikes.

Are you a warrior?

Why do you hunger for blood?

The same white words fade into a dark alley where two costumes individuals trade blows with one another. Pieces of their suits litter the ground underneath them as each blow to the other breaks of another piece. It isn't until a knife finds an opening in one of the suits that the fighting pauses like a still frame. Slowly the masks of both fall apart revealing the glare of Amor Rose as he looks down at Kazimir's face. Blood drips from his mouth holding back the growl he so wants to let out, yet he'll never express those feelings as he falls forward onto his side in silence.

The scene changes as soon as a dark pool starts to spread from the body.

The roar of the crowds go wild as Kazimir Wynter and noah faber lock arms in this Championship Title match. Sweat drips down each man's body trailing around the bruises they gave to one another. The hold doesn't break until Kazimir knees his opponent in the stomach and he bends over. Noah finds his head under Kaz's arm as he pulls him up into a vertical suplex and slams him onto the mat leaving him prone. Kaz is quick to go for the pin fall and hook his leg up as the crowd counts with the ref as they reach three.

As he's declared the new Champion he plants a foot on Noah's chest and raises his arms for the crowd as they stomp and cheer. Draped over one of his arms is a golden belt, a symbol of his accomplishment for his dedication of proving he was the best in combat.

Do you fight for others?

Do you fight for yourself?

Which is it?

Three questions flash on the screen and the audience sinks into its chair. "I uh... I don't..."

You protect because your compelled to fight.

You fight because your ordered to protect.

You are nothing more than a bEaST.

Three responses that get a small chuckle out of the audience. They couldn't deny that it was that simple. "Alright, got me there. Guess I'm just some guard dog."

The screen starts to glitch, static erupts on all edges as white noise fills his ears. Still he can hear the next words clearly from the film.

"But I don't wear a leash...

I'm just a good dog...

Who's claws have yet been unsheathed..."

Papers and books were spread about the dining table in the Wynter house, all about various legends of ancient Pokemon and people from Kanto all the way to Paldea. Underneath the sleeping head of Kaz was a book on the isle of armor from his home region. Specifically about towers and dojos. About martial artists who honed their skills on said island thanks to the challenges they provided for them. "Need...to get...strong..."

He mumbled in his sleep. An Urshifu just walked over and placed a blanket on him and patted him on the head as it went outside for its nightly kata practices. The path to strength was never ending and everyone had their own way of walking down it.

So what was Kaz's?

What was Domon's?

...


The sea crashed against the cliffs as the lone tower stood as the only landmark all around. At its doors Kazimir looked up to see two symbols at the very top. Well truth be told it looked like two symbols but they looked like they were phasing into one another making them indecipherable. Kaz just went on ahead and pushed through the doors not even paying it any mind. Inside he was met with a familiar setting, the floor itself looked akin to a dojo with a staircase in the back that led upwards. The only noticeable thing was a large plaque in the middle of the room depicting some black and white smudging that looks awfully familiar. When he tries to voice the name of what he sees his voice is silent and his throat stings.

He rubs it tensely and looks towards the stair case and figures if there's no other path for him he might as well see what's up ahead. Climbing he enters a similar room as the ground floor yet instead of a plaque in the middle of the room stand two men. Navy and Kouji Matsubara. A mix of confusion and joy filled his chest; these two had fueled a fire inside of him and now he could sense it coming off of them. That fighting spirit. No words were shared between the three as they charged at one another.

Then Kouji snapped Kaz's neck.

The darkness he found himself receded and he found himself back in front of the mismatched tower once again. He went through the first floor again and was greeted by the same two men. Again they fought and again Kaz found himself ended by their hands.

Rinse and repeat.

After the fifth try he found himself shambling up a flight of stairs that they had been hiding from him. His hands were stained red and a small river of the same red flowed from above an eye.

On the next floor he was met by two Pokemon; Ceruledge and Armarouge. Twin knights that he grew fondly of ever since he discovered their species. Behind them was another set of stairs and each gave one look at Kaz before rushing him down. He gladly took a swing at them to meet the two of them.

Then his chest was impaled by a blazing blade.

He found himself back at the bottom of the tower once again. "Alright...let's try again." He failed the first floor a few times, then the second floor burned him alive a few more times, each time he would awake and then sleep. Over and over. Because he had to reach the top, he wanted to reach the top.

Soon he managed to get to the third floor with burns and bruises. Who stands before him is another pair, but a pair that he knows will be the most troublesome. skyler dross and bryan delarosa. Only now did it dawn on him the pattern this tower was giving him, people, pokemon, avatar. He was going to need to conquer all three if he wanted to reach the top. The drive to reach it was stronger than ever now all he had to do was make due on it. After all he's already been fighting pairs over a hundred of times now. He knew what to do even if they did have powers. Then wispy vestiges of their patrons appeared behind them, each glaring at Kazimir as they slowly became solid beings. "Oh c'mon, four on one is just crazy."

He drowned on dry land thanks to water filling his lungs.

And again and again he climbs. He fails. He climbs again. Maybe he gets lucky. At some point he loses count at how many times he's gone through this trial. Its only when he reaches the top floor that he finds his prize waiting. Standing there is his Urshifu holding a paper crown grinning as it had the words "king of fighters" scrawled on it.

"Oh you think your funny huh? Putting me through hell like that just for some sick joke?" Despite the anger he's still grinning, "Well then c'mon Domon, I'll take your crown and even your head as payback!" Both Trainer and Pokemon drop into their stances and charge at one another, ready to take down the other to be crowned as the king.

Then Kaz is thrown out the window of a four story building.

[attr="class","omacceptedtop"]THREAD COMPLETE!

[attr="class","omacceptedmid"]

[attr="class","omacceptedlinks"]
Kazimir Wynter

"Captain get back here!" Chasing down his Roserade through the forest was way tougher than he thought it would be. For some reason the heroic flower 'mon seemed to be full of energy moresoe than usual and was actually managing to out pace Kazimir. Then again being a strange little avatar chibi or whatever he was didn't do him any favors here. It also didn't help that he had to dodge other Pokemon that were running around the forest floor trying to attack him specifically, leaving his Roserade alone and unharmed.

"Dammit! This is getting me no where!" He cried out as he ducked under the water gun of a Wartortle before running up to it and kicking it towards the forest line. As he watched it sail he took out the Dream Ball given to him and wondered what he would do with it, he knew he could capture his Roserade but what then? Before he could even think about his next move a black tendril suddenly wrapped around his wrist and more around his whole body and spread them wide to hold him in place as his Roserade appeared before him.

Something about its eyes did not look kind.

"Hey! Easy! What ever's wrong with ya we can work out!" Holding out one of its bulb hands towards its trainer and fired a round of Magical Leaves at Kaz who closed his eyes at the sight of them. Then nothing. Opening an eye he saw what looked like a snowman in front of him with the leaves sticking out of its body. Waving a stick arm at the ginger giant it suddenly crumbled before him and a text box appeared in front of him saying;




"Huh...useful." With that he gently tossed the dream ball down to his feet to kick it at the Roserade who was dumbfounded at what just handed only to get hit in the face by the ball as it was sucked into it, its capture making the black tendrils around Kaz fade away as he walked up to pick up the ball. Then another text box appeared giving him two options.

Purify or keep it shadowed.

"Hm...let's try...this." This was all just a game right? Or a dream? So it was probably just for dramatic effect.

A snowman flies across the forest floor and splats against a tree thanks to the blade of a Kabutops as Kaz watches in horror as his little buddy melts into slush. Then he shakes his head. "Alright, not as useful anymore. Captain go for it!" The Roserade sends out a flurry of Magical Leaves that cut the Kabutops down and returns it to the ball of Tempest Quinn who just stares at Kaz before walking up to him, almost stomping as he approaches.

"THAT WAS A HELL OF A MATCH MY DUDE. THAT LITTLE FLOWER OF YOURS IS PRETTY STRONG! HOW ABOUT WE TEAM UP AND STOMP THE COMPETITION HUH?!" Kaz just blink as he watched the avatar of Temp hold out a chibi hand that he accepted. He looked back to the slush on the tree and then back to his Pokemon, it seemed whatever weird ability he had wasn't even going to make a dent in whatever journey this place had planned. Oh well it was a good thing ol' reliable Pokemon were still on hand.

Tempest Quinn JOINED THE PARTY!

"Hey! I found us a new partner! Think we're ready for that one dungeon now!" Kaz called out and from behind the tree came Cillian Quinn who clapped his hands, "What a great battle guys! I knew you could do it Kaz! And its so nice to meet you too Temp, I hope you'll be a big help for us where we're going." With a nod of agreement Kaz and his party made off for the dungeon, together they were sure to conquer it in no time!

What lay before them was a large tower with two symbols smash together to look like the night sky over roaring waves, something that seemed to struck a chord within Kazimir yet he couldn't place it exactly. "C'mon! We got this!" As they charged inside they found themselves on a dojo floor as many Fighting types waited for them and jumped as soon as they entered the door.

With Kaz and Temp barreling through enemies like they were bowling pins it was Cillian who managed to cut them a path all the way to the top of the tower where a door larger than the ones they had passed through waited for them. As Kaz was about to press through the doors he felt something touch his side and scrounging around he pulled out a small plastic package. It looked similar to those that contained trading cards. On the back was a small inscription that he read out loud as he pushed through the doors, "For aiding you in your journey, because your partners will not? What?"

As they gathered in the final room what waited for them was a malformed Suicuine of sorts. "ALRIGHT YOU GAY ASS DOG! LET'S RUMBLE!" Temp was quick on the draw and charged ahead with his Kabutops while Cillian backed him up with his Lycanroc. Kaz took a moment to look at the card pack and open it up to three red cards inside. "Kazimir look out!" Shouted Cillian as Kaz looked up and saw the Suicune running right at him ready to headbutt him. Without realizing he took out a card his instincts took over and he met the water dog with a headbutt of his own, the red card forming into a Rocky Helmet that formed on top of his head that knocked the legendary dog away.

Kaz blinked as he looked at the dog then his head and felt the helmet on top of him. Looking down at the cards and seeing that he only had two left he took out another one and it began to glow as it wrapped around his chest in an Assault Vest just in time as a stray Surf wave washed his companions back to his feet. "Captain! Let's finish the job!" With a spray of Magical Leaves the legendary was beaten down to the last of its health bar. They were almost through!

Then the Ice Beam came. Taking out the last card it wrapped around Kaz in a focus sash that protected him from his health dropping to zero as his Roserade dealt the final blow. A giga drain that stole the remaining life out of the dog and gave it back to the heroic rose.

Trees fall all around the clearing as they're cut down one by one. The sound they make overshadows the noises coming out from the movie projected on the screen and with each thud one brings a shake to the earth that knocks down a chair. As the Roserade throws its leaves and vines all around the makeshift outdoor cinema Kaz watches the movie play out before him. Even if this was one of his favorites he knew that it was all just fictional. It was still an inspiring piece to say the least.

"Not sure hero is what I'd call myself nowadays." He watched and heard about others who were doing much more than he was doing and he had to wonder; was there still a place for him around here? It was a question that he was more than happy to wait for an answer too if he was going to be honest. A part of him was still scared to find out if he would even like the answer to it so no need to rush about it.

All that needed doing was taking down this little dream and returning back to reality. So as he watched the movie reach its climax he walked up to the projector screen and gripped it with one hand. Then he pulled on it. He pulled harder and harder until an audible rip could be heard as he tore it off its hinges and down the whole sheet came down as the film projected onto inky blackness as the sky above them started to go out, stars disappearing and even the moon fading into nothing but pure darkness as it swallowed them hole.

A familiar darkness engulfed him as he finds himself in front of a familiar tree and a familiar figure standing before it. It's @chui. Yet at the same time the memories come flooding back into Kaz and he remembers, "You're not really him."

Not at the time at least. No instead it was a different creature that decided to use his body as a coat or new vessel like some twisted avatar. He thought he was once done with this sort of creature already, though looking back perhaps the encounter with Zev Harcourt was proof that it wasn't gone just quite yet. Part of it still lingered in Hoenn and just like here he was powerless to even put up a decent fight.

The body of a friend once gone charged at him and all Kaz could do was raise his arms up in defense as he saw the flash of black crystals formed into a giant claw rise above him before coming down. Yet as he expected crushed bones instead he found himself in further shadows as one was cast over him. Looking up from his arms he could see a familiar shape holding back the claw with two rock hard hands, the hands belonging to a Golurk.

And not just any Golurk.

"Gutsman?"

The mighty golem pushes the claw back and Kaz wastes no time running up to its side and placing a hand on its torso. Its real and solid, and despite being both a ghost and a chunk of living stone he can feel its heartbeat deep inside. The golem looked down at the man and gave a thumbs up before turning back to the corpse of Chui. Kaz just smiled at the resolve it had even back then, back then when it gave his life for him even as he tried to fight the impossible.

"Alright I get it. You want a rematch then. Well then let's do it. I'll show ya I'm a whole lot better than before, so I'll keep you..." He looks over at the shell of a man he can call friend in a strange capacity, "and him safe. Let's go." As another claw was raised to fall upon them the two brave souls rushed in to both protect and fight once more side by side.