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Surveillance, staying quiet, and keeping hidden had never, ever been on the top of Beau's skillset. Even though honest work - a structured job with the Rangers - had expanded his horizons to think beyond charging into a situation first and thinking later, there was only so much he could do; even when trying to navigate through a habitat without disturbing the native fauna, he still had pokemon running from (or at) him simply due to his lack of grace in most situations.
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This one was at least different, and Beau couldn't say whether his sudden almost-competence with subterfuge was due to months of experience or the presence of one Gunner Graves, who seemed to handle every hurdle with calm control. Miraculously, Beau had made it to the rise without alerting their quarry below the ridge. It would have been scenic, if the constant fall of particles from the air consisted of snow, but instead gray ash blanketed the area, and it seemed to underline the grim situation below them.
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Gunner's eye movement was enough to catch Beau's attention, and he nodded in response, not trusting himself to whisper back. The message was clear, anyway, and just beside him, his Kubfu and Pangoro dug a little harder into the ground, both with a slight curl of their muzzles at the rough-up to come.

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The signal came, and the would-be heroes went.
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Torben and Orson struck an odd pair as they barreled down the slope, an enormous bear and a diminutive one that might, if one squinted, have seemed parent and child. Certainly, they fought as though they'd worked together for years; the poacher who'd stepped away turned with a yelp at the sudden fracas surrounding the Cufant, launching a pokeball distractedly as he fumbled with his zipper.
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The Kubfu didn't break stride, meeting the emerging Geodude with an IRON HEAD that knocked the Rock-type to the ground with a resounding crack, while the Pangoro thumped past uncaring to land a DARKEST LARIAT on the trainer himself that left him slammed against the ground, out cold.
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The pair of poachers at the truck were already responding as well, calling out Corvisquire and Mightyena as they sent their pokemon toward the position of Gunner's team and the newly-liberated Cufant. "Get 'em!" Beau hissed, and his bears responded in kind, turning to charge toward the commotion.
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They wouldn't make it before the advancing poachers' pokemon, but they were more than capable of cleaning up.

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Oh, crap.
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This wasn't necessarily Beau's first run-in with poachers, if he had to think about it, but he'd expected this encounter to go as all of his previous ones had; a little bit of fight, a little bit of resistance, but ultimately with Beau (and Gunner, this time) providing a wrecking ball to scatter through whatever shoddy camp had been constructed in order to rescue the pokemon in the poacher's purview.
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He hadn't yet come across a group with this level of firepower - and where the heck had one of them gotten hold of a Metagrossite? The black market really had everything.
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He didn't have time to assess, though, because the Mega Evolved Psychic-type was already unleashing a devastating attack at the center of the camp that threatened to engulf all of their pokemon. "Watch out, take cover!" He called out, but he was too far away - his bears were too far away - it was going to get them -
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Torben stepped coolly in front of Orson, baring his fangs in a challenge. The Psychic attack split and dispersed around the Pangoro as though it were simply colorful lights, the larger pokemon using his body as a shield to protect the Kubfu thanks to his Dark typing. Beau heaved a sigh of relief, and Torben glanced over his shoulder to make sure his smaller companion was safe.
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Distracted, the Pangoro was not ready for the BODY PRESS that the Mega Metagross slammed into him with, its TOUGH CLAWS tearing into his vulnerable midsection.
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With a low, discordant thrum, the Metagross bore Torben bodily across the enclosure, the bear suspended on its claws, and when it ripped all four arms free in a spray of crimson blood, the Pangoro choked and slumped, motionless.
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Beau gaped at the sight, his features instantly going sheet-white. No. No, no, no. He tore off his pack and frantically rummaged through it - who did he have, what did he have, he had to fix this. A pokemon center wasn't going to do Torben any good if it wasn't right here, and last Beau checked they were miles from civilization.
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Presuming it's not too late already.
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Shutting up the unhelpful portion of his thoughts with a snarl, he landed on a Dive Ball and thought frantically. Alomomola? Maybe, if he could get close enough, but not with that huge thing in the middle of the fray.
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He chanced a look at the Mega Metagross, and saw it turn to surge toward Gunner's pokemon instead. Thank Arceus, it wasn't going to get Orson, because the little Kubfu was-
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Glowing.
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Glowing?
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Orson had moved to stand in front of Torben's fallen form as the larger pokemon had done for him only moments before, but the rage on the little pokemon's face caused Beau to flinch even from his position. The Kubfu's entire frame was glowing with a white light, tinged with flecks of red and black, and Beau blinked. "No, brah, get out of there! You can't fight that thing by yourself!"
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As the glow intensified, it seemed that the Kubfu wasn't in any position to heed Beau's commands.

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The ground shook.
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For an instant, the ground shook. The glow around Orson intensified, a crimson-and-black vortex that consumed him before exploding outward, leaving an Urshifu that mirrored Gunner's own, standing taller than Torben and wearing a glare that promised murder upon the Mega Metagross before him.
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As Beau gaped, he blinked and lost sight of the newly-evolved ursine, who lunged forward at such speed that he seemed to vanish between one place and the next, landing a WICKED BLOW on the Steel-type that sent a shockwave through the air from the impact. The enormous pokemon resisted - or attempted - before an enormous dent appeared in its hide from the force of the blow.
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With the sound of splintering metal, the Mega-Evolved assailant was sent spinning end-over-end, crashing into the cliff below Beau and Gunner's position. It twitched, attempting to move its limbs, but could not seem to raise itself from its fallen positon. Before Beau could think to gather himself and issue another command, Orson pressed the attack, lunging forward to the Metagross's landing site.
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"Uh...kick its ass!" Beau whooped, before turning his attention to the prone Torben. "Shit!"
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He scurried across the embankment, carefully avoiding the melee going on beneath him, and slid down to land next to his fallen friend, rummaging in his satchel and liberally spraying the site of Torben's wounds with a Hyper Potion. "Come on, come on..."
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He couldn't lose one companion at the expense of another. He couldn't.

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The acrid scent of smelting metal rose into the air as a loud BANG sounded behind Beau. He turned, diverting his attention from the fallen Torben to witness Orson laying a FIRE PUNCH directly into the crumpled wound he'd inflicted on the Mega Metagross only moments earlier. With this, the metallic juggernaut went limp among a tremendous creak of plating and limbs.
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Offering a satisfied, vitriol-laced grunt, the newly-christened Urshifu approached Beau and Gunner, the heat of battle ebbing out of his stance and movements to be replaced with the same concern Beau wore as he looked upon his fallen mentor. Gunner's words were of some relief, at least - Beau trusted the other implicitly. Though they had only worked together a few times, Beau had a sense that Gunner didn't say things frivolously, and so he had to hope that between his medicine and the Heal Pulse from Bayleef, Torben would pull through.
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But what now?
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"I gotta try to make this work. Can you wrap up here? I'll come back as soon as I can, but I gotta get him to a Pokemon Center." Uncertainty screaming in his mind with every motion, Beau recalled Torben, replacing him with Callum the Gallade. He had to hope that the pokeball wouldn't worsen Torben's condition, but he had to do something.
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He laid a hand on Callum's shoulder, and Orson moved to mirror the motion on the Gallade's free side before Beau could even think to recall him. "We gotta get to Fortree, now," Beau issued lowly to Callum. The Gallade offered a perfunctory nod before the trio vanished in a flare of light, TELEPORTING from the scene.
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Even instant travel might take too long, but he had to try. He had to.

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