"HEY, HIT M-"

He was hit. Something folded in his chest. A bone, maybe. An organ, more likely. Something was definitely breaking in his body, and his body was making that well known with screams of protest and begging for Althus Rex to disengage and find somewhere to recover. Those signals were disregarded.

It was better to say that they had never been necessary to begin with.

He fell backwards, a lung deflated and struggling to breathe. Not because of the punch, though that was the major reason. No, the reason that Rex couldn't breathe was because he was having too much fun. He kept himself from laughing in delight as he forced himself to his feet.

"You're a pretty strong guy, Fisher." The youth's eyes sparkled. "I love that! You gotta teach me that move! But first..."

He spat out a globule, leaving Azumarill to struggle within the Disable until Alba decided to free the poor aquatic Pokémon. Disregarded, Rex threw down another Pokeball, his Gallade coming out in all of his glory. Even with a discarded name, the knight stood proud, before Rex pulled out a locket.

A Key Stone shined.

"I'm getting better, even now. You're not as strong as you used to be, I can tell! When you hit me, it was like we had a connection! You're old, or maybe that wasn't your everything!" His Gallade was surrounded in energy, before transforming. His cape fluttered and shined as a new blade formed on his hand. "Give me your best! If we can't beat you at your best..."

Behind the Mega Scizor, Gallade's Psycho Cut swung down on its head.

Die.

"THEN WHAT'S EVEN THE POINT!?"

---

keiko mori Alba Evovae Grigori Sokolov
+50 (posts)
+50 (thread flashback)
+50 (show throwing style)
+50 (get hurt by a pokemon)
+50 (importance of Pokeballs)
+50 (character strength)
+50 (character weakness)
+50 (highlight another character's strength)
+50 (respect another character)
+10 (mega)

Attacks from all sides, it seemed. Scizor had only just transformed, yet that had been enough to draw the most vicious of ire. Flames would soon engulf his exo-skeleton and turn him to a black husk– if his head didn’t roll from his shoulders before. In the split seconds, time stopped. Frozen in place, he considered the options.

There was no way to avoid both opponents. That much was true. Either be burned alive or swiftly executed. But… what if he didn’t have to suffer either fate? A wicked grin encapsulated his face, and his entire body–

Shrunk?

But what came next was far, far worse. As fire rushed to eat him alive, and blade came to tear steely sinew apart, another flash of light trumped them both. From where Mega-Scizor stood, another being emerged. Grigori felt it on his wrist before it ever happened, but he knew that all-too familiar heat on his skin.

Not from the mega-band, but the tera orb.

Where there was once a perfected being instead stood a paradoxical one. Intense heat engulfed his frame, but it merely licked his crystally red exoskeleton. Atop his head, where a pincer rushed and caught the blade of Mega-Gallade, was now a crown of flames.

Terastilization turned the Scizor into Fire. And this fire couldn’t be quenched. He let the blade fall, but much, much slower. A nasty wound left its mark on his face. A scowl emerged, but it did little to slow his onslaught. Once more, he rushed straight for the Mega Audino– but no longer afraid of any fiery passion.

Another Bullet Punch to the skull.

Grigori didn’t bother to give them the time of day. He focused on Rex, as naive and bold as ever. Admirable, in a way. Not too many could both take his hits and simply get up afterwords. But that’s where the mental compliment ended.

“The point?” he swung his fist around, and blood droplets gently coated the scorched fauna. “This is not a lesson, fool. This is war. People are lucky to die swift.”

His mind wandered towards the pair left behind. They had been lucky in that regard– but he would be the one to carry their burden. They were lucky in that regard as well. The dead had it easy.

It was the living that had to struggle on. Once more his fist pulled back, and he quick-stepped forward. One two–

Rex would get a weird feeling: if this fist connected, he might as well be dead. “The point is you don’t.”

---

keiko mori Alba Evovae Althus Rex

10 MP for Post, however many points for Tera
50 MP for highlighting character strenghts
50 MP for gaining respect for another character (if only a little)
50 MP for antagonistic Exchange

If the fist connected, Althus Rex would die. His bones would fold like glass under the weight of a man who, in another life, could have rivaled gods. Yet he chained himself up and refused to allow his true potential to overflow. It was curious. It was so strange.

As the fist closed the distance, Rex could tell, even now, that this was not everything that Fisher was capable of.

Yet it would be enough to kill Rex when it landed. He wasn't fast enough to dodge it. He was in the middle of a motion, and to fight back now was an impossibility.

Yes, when that attack hit, it would-

CLANG! The arm of Gallade intersected, a sword being used as a shield so that the knight could save his lord from death. Pokemon were more durable than humans, and yet the knight's arm still cracked bone. Grigori Sokolov had broken the bone of a Pokémon with but a punch.

And Rex continued to smile. He turned to face the Light of Ruin, which fainted his Azumarill with but a scrape. The young man continued to smile.

"This is a good way to go." Rex murmured. "It's beautiful. I was never even close. We were never going to beat them. That's so..."

A dry swallow as Rex reached out towards the light, fingers outstretched.

"...exciting."

Yet instead of death, his hands find Keiko's. Her fingers intertwined with his, and dragged him off into the distance. Gallade and Azumarill disappeared in a red haze, and he squeezed her hand tightly as she saved them both from destruction.

"Let's do this again, sometime!"

---

keiko mori Grigori Sokolov Alba Evovae
+60 (posts)
+50 (thread flashback)
+50 (show throwing style)
+50 (get hurt by a pokemon)
+50 (importance of Pokeballs)
+50 (character strength)
+50 (character weakness)
+50 (highlight another character's strength)
+50 (respect another character)
+50 (antagonistic exchange)
+50 (get inspired)
+50 (meaningful character/pokemon moment)
+50 (faint)
+50 (reflect on fighting)
+10 (mega)

Grigori Sokolov was the perfect man for the scenario. Two strangers, neither of whom were particularly capable. One had a death wish, and one wished for anything but. Yet they were smart enough to realize how bad things were. All they had to do was run faster, harder, make sacrifices. Such was their luck.

But the power of the Eternal Floette? There were no gods here– until now. All he could do was jump back and try to wave the pain from his knuckles. Mega Gallade blades, organic as they were, still had incredible density. He’d feel that for a month.

“Stand down, stand down!” He screamed to Alba above the sound of pure destruction. Scizor also had to disengage, and it eyed the smaller creature dangerously. His claws flickered steely gray. “Ordinance not authorized, STAND DOWN!”

It was too late. The Pelipper already took its owner, and the thrill-seeker, away from the battle. Far, far away. His heart let its strain dissipate into his bones; he would not take more life from this world today.

His brain spoke an entirely different story. “...”

“Targets… have escaped,” Grigori held out his Poke ball as the Light of Ruin started to dissipate. Before Scizor could attempt to chase them down, it was swallowed whole and returned to his side. “Why?”

It was all he could muster with the thousands of conflictions within his soul.

---

Alba Evovae keiko mori Althus Rex

10 MP for post
50 MP for being injured by pokemon (Fist bones hurt ) 

Another breathy gasp escaped Rex's lips as he returned to reality. Memories of Littleroot were buried as Togekiss flew away, leaving a trail of fluffy feathers behind. His eyes sparkled as he felt Keiko's hand brush his face as she cupped his face.

"No, no... It was just so exciting. So exhilarating!" He shook his head, before popping the joints in his hand. Blood covered his arm, though he wasn't sure if it was his or Fisher's. After clasping his hand to ensure that it worked, Rex nodded in approval. "Good, it still works."

He was still functioning. He was still strong.

Yet not strong enough. Compared to Fisher and that odd Floette, Rex and Keiko were mere sparks in the sun. Yet as those two members of Team Rocket disappeared into the distance, Keiko Mori's spark became his sun.

"I'm fine." His forehead touched hers, and he slowly lowered her arm so that it could rest. "We're fine. That won't happen again. Next time..."

He'd kill them.

"We'll win."

---

keiko mori
+70 (posts)
+50 (thread flashback)
+50 (show throwing style)
+50 (get hurt by a pokemon)
+50 (importance of Pokeballs)
+50 (character strength)
+50 (character weakness)
+50 (highlight another character's strength)
+50 (respect another character)
+50 (antagonistic exchange)
+50 (get inspired)
+50 (meaningful character/pokemon moment)
+50 (faint)
+50 (back and forth)
+50 (take revenge)
+50 (reflect on fighting)
+10 (mega)
325 (loss/faction conflict/complete)

It was all too simple to stop them. A more precise attack would’ve sealed the deal. Prevention of escape was another method. Corner them like animals. Even if that made them more threatening, it wasn’t anything Grigori hadn’t experienced dozens of times before. Cornered threats were his primary target, back in the day.

But his heart wished this had never happened at all. Experience and knowledge of how things should’ve gone conflicted with the desire to go against the norm. He could describe all the ways they could’ve ensured victory, but an equal number of ways why he didn’t want to.

“The goal of Rocket is to eliminate hostile threats,” was all he could muster. “Your attack either prevented the goal of our organization or prevented us from acting outside its limitations. A Schrödinger scenario we won’t know the answer to until it is too late.”

They could be entirely unrelated to the League, or secret agents with everything to do with the League. They wouldn’t know. Grigori turned around and walked past Alba.

But before he did, a bloody, worn old hand grasped his shoulder. “Return to base without me. I must…”

He didn’t even ask if they had any final promises or wishes. As he let go of his partner, covered in numerous blood types and with heavy stones in his bones, there was only one thing still on his mind:

“I would have preferred to not be out here at all.”

---

Alba Evovae keiko mori Althus Rex

10 MP For Posting
50 MP for hitting rock bottom