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Fuck Rocket, fuck the RKS Simulation, and fuck this. It was way too hot for life, and the stupid simulation machine knew it. No wonder Team Rocket hadn't been able to find this simulation initially, they had probably deemed it a failure and decided that it had to go.

Still, the simulation was getting shockingly close to simulating real life, given that Elisabeth Fiorelli and MATIAS SILPH had shortened Mt. Chimney by several meters, and Howard had turned much of Dewford into ash and ice.

Regice would've been helpful right now.

"Gotcha. Send us with a few ice packs when you get a chance." Howard tapped his communicator as he and Hitoshi were sent careening towards their destination. "Won't let you down, Head Scientist."

She hated when he called her that, to his experience.

When they touch down, Josh Devlin's city is melting into slag. The city's walls were collapsing, its ocean was boiling, and several flood walls built up in anticipation for Kyogre's invasion began to droop.

"Hitoshi, we should move towards the western side of the city in order to intercept fleeing League personnel. What're your thoughts?" The admin prattled on, willingly offering them to the blazing Mt. Chimney on a silver platter.

---

Naomi Sato Hitoshi Inoue
Howard is deployed towards Mauville with Hitoshi, touches down.
His Carbink is deployed.
Yapping with Hitoshi on their destination
+10 for mentioning another character (Josh Devlin)
+10 for mentioning the city's defenses
20 total overall

Real or fake, they are here now, and that is all that matters. Deployed like a chess piece, the dog soldier takes a sip of water to stave off the heat and nods, as if Naomi Sato can see the gesture.[break]
"Roger that, Captain Naomi." Someone made the fortunate mistake of telling him her name was 'Nomi'. The information circled around the race track of his brain and came back technically correct. Turning his attention to the city, he sees a location that might be damn near indefensible, yet all the same they are charged with defending the place.[break]
"Rookie, you think she sent Admin Fox on ahead?" Some quiet part of him wishes jayden cross was here, going on this grand adventure with him, but at least the dog will trot back out of this simulation with stories to tell. At the taller man's suggestion, the dog nods and follows.[break]
"Sounds like a plan. Intercept the civvies, see how bad damage to the walls is..." Amber eyes fall upon his cursed blade, eager for the coming bloodshed. "Think I can shore up defenses some fer us n' Admin Fox. We should check on Mauville Hills too, make sure there ain't survivors holed up in there."[break]
As he takes a step forward, he pauses, holding out the canteen.[break]
"Here, take a drink, Rookie. It's 'bout to get hot."

howard slayte

tl;dr
Arrives, chews the scenery, addresses Nomi.
Nominates Mauville Hills as a location they should check.
Offers Howard some water to drink to stave off the heat.
Heads out to inspect the defenses.



+10 for assisting another character (offering water)
+10 for referencing another character via tag (Jayden)
+10 for Hitoshi mentioning he wants to check in on Mauville Hills
+10 for mentioning city defenses

"Probably. Admin Fox would still appreciate your help." Howard took the canteen and took a few quaffs, before tightening the cap on the canteen and tossing it back to the grunt. "As do I, Hitoshi."

It was a miracle that Hitoshi hadn't figured out who Howard was, yet. Call it a mix of luck and divine implication. Oh well, it was better than being deployed alongside parker jones after the trainwreck in the breakroom.

"Let's make haste. Here. It won't help too much with the heat, but it'll keep the ashes off your back." The admin snapped his fingers, and a Light Screen fell over the duo, causing hot ash to slide off their bodies. "Lead the way."

---

Hitoshi Inoue
+10 CHARACTER TAG (PARKER)
+10 ASSISTING HITOSHI WITH LIGHT SCREEN

Thanks, Rookie." It does help. Not by much, but it helps. Furthermore, like any good commanding officer, he takes the lead. This is a creature raised on old stories, where the swordsmen led from the front. It is not his desire to linger in the back or dwell on strategy. They move through the outskirts, where no humans or Pokemon with good sense dwell any longer.[break]
Already, thanks to the heat, the place falls to disrepair. Luckily, an observant dog is on point. Like Zev Harcourt taught him, he dwells on the future. Strange that a void would teach him that lesson, how to plan ahead. Every destroyed street while they make for the western side of civilization's edge is a new potential strategic tool.[break]
"Watch out." His strong grip on the rookie's shoulder jerks them both back. A light pole melted just right in the heat for it to fall in their path. The sound is startling, but his eye keeps them safe.[break]
"Groudon..." That name, at last, he has learned.[break]
"I killed it once in a sim, y'know. Killed every single Pokemon I had and my whole team, but we won.

howard slayte

Heading towards Mauville Hills
Stops Howard as a light pole collapses, saving him from injury.
Ruminates over Zev's teachings.
They continue making their way to their destination.

+10 Assist
+10 Character mention (Zev)

"Thanks." This place is far too dangerous and inhospitible to human life. It's not like the ocean is much better, as it swells and churns and groans as Team Aqua attempts to bring the world back to its primordial beginning by drowning all life. "This is too dangerous, even for a sim."

Bringing the world back to zero, only to end the world its entirety. The alpha and the omega had been reached, and as the world melted, mankind clung to their trivial structures.

How Aurelie Lefevre 's master works sweltered under this all-encompassing heat. To further enhance their defenses, Gemsly splits its guard between the duo, sharing their defenses with one another to bolster them even further.

Divided, they fell.

"I'm not surprised. That's how we win against these things." Howard says as they march towards Mauville Hills. "We are a species of the weak who unify into strength by the force of our will. We can beat any threat, provided we bury our foes in enough corpses."

Or build defenders to die in their stead.

---

Hitoshi Inoue
+10 character mention (Aurelie)
+10 assist via Guard Split

"Rookie?" They come to a pile of broken debris, refuse piled high to provide some sort of natural barrier. He sweats, and takes another sip of his canteen. It won't last him forever, but it's enough for now. Mauville Hills is just past this barricade. There, they can check on survivors and get an excellent view from the roof. The Hasegawa Muramasa hums with an ominous chant, like war drums sounding in honor of a dead god.[break]
"Ya talk weird. Talkin' weird's fine, but none of this buryin' our foes in corpses." He seems less a dog and more a wolf on the prowl as he ascends the debris, knocking things aside. Moving up, he realizes, isn't going to avail them. It's going to get hotter, the higher they climb.[break]
Shadows gather around his partner in crime, snaring him and pulling him up to the dog. They pull him through the air like a rag doll before setting him on solid ground. Malevolent energy rolls off of the blade, a preview of the whole world if Cillian Quinn wins.[break]
"Member how Admin Fox did it in Dewford? No casualties, and we stopped Reginald Ice. We gotta be like that. I made someone a promise. Can't die in some two bit sim."

howard slayte



tl;dr
Hitoshi and Howard make it to Mauville Hills
On the street out front, some debris is piled up obstructing their way.
Hitoshi scales it, uses shadow snare to pull Howard to him.

+10 (mentioning Cillian)
+10 (assisting Howard in climbing up)

Combined FP: 140 (Hitoshi and Howard)

In this simulation, corpses were plentiful. There was no need to justify this world with realism when Nomi could manifest their group with the snap of a finger, should she see fit to deploy more individuals. Still, their material was limited, and so were their people.

Hoenn was a big region, after all. Too many places to hold, too little time.

Too few resources. Too few people. Too few lives left in this city. He wished that Tempest Quinn and Kyogre were closer for a spell.

"Right. Dewford." Flashes of death and screaming and three months in eternity rang out in his mind. "We won't die. Even if it's just a game, too much is at stake."

How fortunate he was that Dynergy poisoning did not extend to the simulation.

"Stop. Let's go through here, Hitoshi." Howard gestured through an alternate route adjacent to the complex itself. "We can cut through the putt-putt course, get into the major complex. I played here with Mauville's Gym Leader a few times, way back when."

A boiling door creaks open as the admin ushers Hitoshi inside. Ever the gentleman.

""Take a left."

---

Hitoshi Inoue
+10 mentioning Temp
+10 assisting Hitoshi by taking a safer route and holding the door

"Put put golf?!" That catches the dog's attention. Where the rookie leads, the dog follows, demoted from fearless pointman to tailwagging follower. They make their way through a course that has seen better days. A thought passes through his mind, an idle fantasy of coming here with Yumi Hasegawa and Mei Liu . It sounds like a fun outing, an opportunity for him to forget about the war with two people he values. Such daydreams fade. They've a mission to accomplish.[break][break]
When the door opens with all of its boiling heat, he huffs and tries to keep his breathing under control. Another memory flashes, of his fight against Groudon in another simulation. It was even hotter there. There will be many flags flown half mast. As they come to the stairs leading up, they find the door locked and secured by chains.[break]
"Hold up."[break]
His sacred sword cuts them a path forward, the door being split clean in two. They're hit by a blast of hot air and the stairs are theirs to take.

howard slayte
tl;dr

Hitoshi follows Howard
Hitoshi muses on better days and better days to come.
They find a locked door and Hitoshi assists Howard by cutting it open.

+10 FP (Mentioning Yumi/Mei)
+10 FP (Assisting Howard)

Combined FP: 180

"Yes, putt-putt golf." The gravioise of the statement lingers in the air for a pregnant eternity. This is what the duo are fighting for. The Glory of Rocket and all that, yadda yadda, but also the human comforts of putt-putt golf. "Get us through this, and I'll get you an in. It's invitation only."

The putt-putt community was very selective, and pets weren't allowed on the premises. Howard suspected that they'd make an exception for a service dog like Hitoshi Inoue.

"Thanks. You're gonna go up the next three stories, and then hand a right. Putt-putt course is through there, and we'll have a good shot at Mauville Hill's apartment complex." Howard scrunched his face up, remembering the direction that he had taken once with Grigori Sokolov . He didn't know how the senior grunt had gotten a membership pass, but the admin wasn't going to complain.

As they progressed, the admin grabbed Hitoshi's shoulder and stopped him from stepping into a molten puddle on the floor, where a melting putt-putt flag invited them to sear the flesh from their bones.

"Almost there." Howard encouraged Hitoshi, before taking a deep breath. This heat made it impossible to keep his stamina up.

---

Hitoshi Inoue
+10 (mentioning Grigori)
+10 aiding Hitoshi (stopping him from burning his foot)

"Holy shit!" He exclaims, mere inches from having his foot melted off. Lava hungers, and flesh makes for a fine meal in the eyes of gods. Instead, he takes a few steps back, steps around it, and slumps. They pass a break room, where the dog waves his companion over.[break]
"Just. Fuck. Just gimme a minute, Rookie." Huffing, he sits in a chair and catches his breath. This place is getting to him. Couldn't @naomi have teleported them closer to their destination? The dog supposes there's no use grumbling, or whining. They're in the thick of things now. When he signed up to wear his SPECTRA armband, he knew what he was getting into.[break]
Still, this heat is scorching. Is this what it means to fight a god?[break]
His sword takes initiative. It goes to a nearby fridge, somehow still intact despite the heat. It peels open the door and finds cool water. A bottle is tossed to its owner and to Admin Fox both, to help cool them and steel them for the journey ahead.[break]
"I'll be good in a sec." The dog takes gulp after gulp, greedy for the feeling of cool liquid running down his throat.

howard slayte

tl;dr
Hitoshi and Howard traverse a put put golf course
Pass by a break room right as Hitoshi starts suffering from a mild heatstroke
His Honedge scavenges and finds water. Both Howard and Hitoshi get some more water!
Hitoshi drinks water.

+10 Mention of adverse effects from heat
+10 Mention of another character (Nomi)
+10 Assist (Scavenging more water for Howard)

FP Total: 230

The admin's gaze flickered as he took a seat to rest, greedily drinking from the water that Hitoshi is able to scrounge up from this irradiated wasteland. In the distance, he sees a familiar woman, though she disappears when Howard blinks.

This world is a nightmare. He wonders if this is the type of study that ameena abadi desires.

Heatstroke, particularly in a heat this intense, is comparable to the poisoning from Dynergy. Normally it'd be nothing to be afraid of, just a byproduct of human life and the weakness of flesh, but this is more ancient, more primal, more infused with the divine power of a god that wishes to remake the world in its own image.

This sunlight and Dynergy are similar for that reason alone.

How he wishes for Regice, and how he curses its volatility.

"Check up ahead." The admin rasps as his Carbink floats ahead, unbound by the fetters that sheath Hitoshi's Kartana. It does not return for some time, chirping that the way forward is clear. "Let's go. Final stretch."

He pours what remains of the bottle into his canteen, before standing up, staggering.

It's time that they press on.

---

Hitoshi Inoue
Howard and Hitoshi recuperate, the admin ponders the toxicity of the heat and sun
Break time
Get water, drink water
Carink does recon to help while they recover

+10 mention Ameena
+10 mention that the heat is bad, actually
+10 assist with recon

"Alright. Final stretch. I bet Admin Fox has already kicked Groudon's ass while we were sittin' around shootin' the shit." He wipes a stray bit of water from his mouth, stands up, and gets to walking. Even still, he does not know that Remiel Calcifet no longer wears the title of Admin Fox. It isn't much farther and they're on the roof of Mauville Hills. At last, they can see what's waiting for them. From up here, they can see all the many places where holes have been poked in the wall, all the intricate failings of a city about to be under siege.[break]
The moment they're placed in a situation not their own, it all seems so farcical. Team AQUA and Team MAGMA threaten to ruin this region, and for what? To return things to the way they always were? Nothing ever changes. Not man, not beast, not stars. All things were as they were, and as they will be.[break]
"Beautiful city, eh Rookie? Look down there, to the west. Looks like part of the wall's melted." His blade uncoils, and gets to managing the business of defenses. The Hasegawa Muramasa throws out screens of blackest shadow across the holes in the defenses. It is all he can do. Groudon will not take them lightly, or unprepared.

howard slayte

tl;dr
They get to the roof.
Survey the devastation, see the holes in the defense.
Hitoshi gets to work plugging the holes, assisting Howard by pointing some out.

+10 FP (Remiel mention)
+10 FP (Assist)

280 FP