[attr="class","nikita"]The chaos had siphoned much of his work away. HBIC was out here trying to suss out who had been brought to Kanto. They were also working to identify those missing and weapon stores. Deigned more intelligence worker than combatant, Nikita spent little time in Petalburg itself. Which suited him fine. If he were to infiltrate the place, it would be without his hands bound in red tape.

Currently, he was moving from one meeting to another (even more redundant) one. This meant taking a short detour on the route itself. Though often invisible, his Houndstone could be seen at his heels. The dog lifted its head. Nikita’s eyes followed. A few seconds later, some idiot blundered through the brush. “Hm.”

Nikita was not an empathetic man. Some people called him heartless. He simply thought of it as being controlled. Before his wife’s death, she had provided the softness his reputation needed. But those icy edges were no longer filed away. Just like these disgusting terrorists, he wore a mask. One built of logic instead of cheap paper mache.

The detective stared at Andrew for a moment. Instead of rushing forward, the man sighed. His grey eyes drifted to Winters. The hound shook its head; the noise made a clattering like a bone xylophone. I see.

A hand lifted to pinch his nose. “Anne.” The grunt’s progress would be interrupted by a high-powered burst of water. It dug deep into the route’s dirt.

Keen eyes scanned the young man’s body. A cigarette leapt into the man’s hands. He seemed almost bored. “And what, pray tell, do you need help with?”

[attr="class","samjerpoke"]

[attr="class","nikitatag"] Makoto Kurumi

[attr="class","nikita"]As Andrew rushed forward, Nikita stepped back. A hand rose as if to ward off the man’s stench failure. A brow rose as words spilled from Andrew’s mouth. He listened to the man’s raving. But, if Andrew expected him to be moved, he would be disappointed. The detective sniffed. “How…distressing.” Sob stories were ineffective against the wizened man.

Notably, he did call off the Intelleon. The blue lizard flickered into existence a few trees away. As always, she is creepily silent. Anyattempts at self-expression torn away by the Rocket who slit her throat. She is not happy about being called of. Bright golden eyes leer down at Andrew. If he steps wrongly, she is happy to put a spear of water through his head.

Keen eyes surveyed the man. They took note of the bruises on his body. A few of them bore the outlines of boot marks. Others were shaped like fingers. “Care to tell me why you were in a warzone?” The last word dangled in the air between them. A brow rose as he waited for this so-called victim to introduce himself. Gray eyes flicked up and down the path as if looking for the attackers.

The hand behind is back gestures the way Andrew had barrelled in. Silently, the Houndstone disappeared from view.

“Tell me what you remember.” In reality, he just needed time. But this ‘civilian’ seemed excited to talk.

[attr="class","samjerpoke"]

[attr="class","nikitatag"] Andrew Fisher

[attr="class","nikita"]The black haired man listens as the ‘victim’ weaves his tale. “A likely story.” It was one that had erupted often over the past few weeks. Many impatient people prowled the exterior of the barricade, peering through League officials like a tiger between bars. A few swipes of his phone revealed the young lady in question was on the list of the missing. Her fate was listed as UNKNOWN in capital letters.

A hand lifts briefly to his ear as if to adjust a stray strand of hair. In reality, he’s listening to his Houndstone’s clattering. Morse code could be quite intelligible with rattling bones. “That’s typically what happens when one wanders into a war zone.” A skeletal, gaunt hand finally raises to his lizard. With a nod, the water type lowers its fingers. This idiot—no matter what he was planning—was no threat to him. He does not think the stolen Pokemon are of a caliber that can help him.

“Show me where the attack happened.” As they walk, Nikita lights up a cigarette. His fingers are stained yellow from repeated use.

[attr="class","samjerpoke"]

[attr="class","nikitatag"] Andrew Fisher

[attr="class","nikita"]Emotions were never his strong suit. They made him uncomfortable, especially when they felt unprompted. When his children cried, he would typically offer them tea or hot chocolate and attempt to talk through it. But his logic was rarely the balm he needed. In Andrew’s case, there was no biological imperative to provide moral support.

So, instead, he turns to the side and continues to smoke his premium cigarette. It’s like Andrew is a friend he is waiting for to change into something decent—an emotionally stable adult. “You could have. You just choose not to.” The detective murmurs after a moment. At the very least, the man heeded to acknowledge it was a choice to put himself in this situation. “Still, I can understand your…distress.” There’s some distance put on that word, as if it’s some obscure medical term he hesitates to speak aloud.

Nikita follows in silence. Cold eyes examine the trail the man left. He pauses as he notices the intensified depression near where he emerged, as if Andrew hesitated. Almost like a predator preparing to pounce. Of course, if Robin was here, she would insist the man was simply scared and traumatized. That woman always was too forgiving. He would say it killed her, but it’d been his own hubris that did that.

As they walked, he pulled out another Pokemon to join his invisible two. A green Kleavor burst from the ball with angry eyes.

Nikita cannot repress a wince as the man is whipped violently into the earth. If this was a play, then Rocket truly did not care about their stooge. Before acting, Nikita indulged himself with a prolonged sigh. He truly disliked playing hero, especially in such a brutish situation. Immediately, his eyes shifted to a tree behind him. “Anne.” The lizard flickered into view as she braced herself against a tree.

A Hydro Pump erupted from her fingers, aiming to knock the dragon from the sky.

The rocky bug, meanwhile, takes the fiery blast. Then, shrugging it off, he attacks the chain itself with a heavy series of X-Scissors.

“We are not friends, I assure you.” Nikita felt the urge to correct.

[attr="class","samjerpoke"]

[attr="class","nikitatag"] Andrew Fisher

[attr="class","nikita"]ANDREW X NIKKI
“Lovely.” Nikita sniffs derisively at the grunt. The idea of being trapped with Andrew churns his stomach. Any more of his whining would tempt him to bash his head against a wall. He quickly banishes these imaginings, however. He has no intention of being captured by these ignorant fools.

Golde eyes narrow as the Hydro Pump flies harmlessly over the grunt’s shoulder. Her tail lashes back and forth like an irritable cat. Suddenly, the tree shes perched on is lit by dancing flames. The heat saps at her natural moisture, partially obscuring her view of the battlefield. But she quickly rallies herself, climbing up higher into the tree.As her feet touch down, her attention returns to the battlefield. Suddenly, they’re facing three times as many opponents.

The ground beneath her trainer is now pockmarked by poison.

Remove one at a time. He prefers to see battle as ann excision. He is an anathema to chaos, which this battle is quickly becoming.Nikita’s response begins with Anne launching a Water Pulse at the Charizard’s face. The man trusts the water lizard to manage her own affair. “Stealth Rock!” Ramses sends sharp stones around his trainer’s side of the field, aiming to to turn any incoming ambush into a double-edged sword.

Then, he rushed forward aiming to use his axes to turn the quadrupedal spider into a tripedal one.

He notes the commotion in the bush and the suspicious flash of yellow feathers. “Winters.” The next word is a wisp of cigarette smoke given human form. But the ghoulish dog hears them. As the grunt knees to tie Andrew up, she’s slammed into by a high-powered Phantom force.

[attr="class","samjerpoke"]

[attr="class","nikitatag"] Andrew Fisher

[attr="class","nikita"]At the Charizard’s name, Nikita sighs. It really tells him a lot about the kind of fools he’s dealing with. Cold, calculating eyes watch as the Charizard eats dirt. As the grunt struggles to his feet—grappling for something at his belt—Nikita lifts his gun. The other man’s hand is wrapped around a hunting knife. BANG! His hand explodes into gory confetti.

The man passes out from the pain.

Just as he opens his mouth to order his Intelleon’s attack, the Intelleon strikes. A reminder that the two are very much in sync and both are ruthless when they need to be. A finger lifts like the mouth of a sniper rifle as the water lizard unleashes a point blank Hydro Pump at her fallen opponent. Though some of it is lost to the steam of the heat spinning around her, it still packs a punch.

A shadow of steel falls across the shiny Kleavor. Its inscrutable, shark-like eyes stare at the raised fist. It is a dance of technology versus weather hewn nature. The Kleavor digs its rocky feet in. It waits until the arm is directly above it. It waits for Nikita’s order. “Ramses.” With a grunt, it swings its Stone Axe at the descending guillotine in an attempt to knock the Metagross off balance. But this is not enough. With a crack, the rocky mantis falls to the earth beneath the metal spider’s attack.

As the toxic chain closes in, Nikita lifts his gun again. A bullet steams toward the bird as he steps out of the strike’s way. But his knee and back are aching from his earlier fight with @makoto. His back protests as he half stumbles. He hits his knee in the dirt. The chain scrapes a nasty line across his cheeks. Fortunately, it misses his freshly replaced glasses. A man could only carry so many extras.

As the woman flies, Winters is quick to pursue her. He lifts his mouth in a Crunch as the woman hits the ground. The grisly crack is deafening among the chaos. Then, he turns to face Andrew in the bushes. A deep growl rumbles in his chest.

“That’s what I thought.” Nikita sighs. “Your acting skills were decent.” His cold tone is positively glacial. “Bravissimo.”

He does not like being made a fool of. This tactic was underhanded. “Perhaps we can have an encore?” The ghoulish dog rushes toward Andrew with flames kindling in its empty sockets.

[attr="class","samjerpoke"]

[attr="class","nikitatag"] Andrew Fisher

[attr="class","nikita"]Nikita felt no pity for the grunts in front of him. They would act no differently if the tables were turned. While he disliked brutality it was hard to deny there was a logicalness to it. The only way to prevent retaliation is to take the player off the board.

The Kleavor lays still in the soil. Flesh is visible through its red-stained armor. As the arm lifts, there’s a SQUELCH. One malachite ax is shattered. “Tch.” The bug-type vanishes into his ball in a burst of red light. Any response to the bird’s squawking stalled as it pivots to stall the dog. Which, in itself, is a confession. There’d be no reason for a Pokemon to do that for some random prisoner.

“I believe you know exactly what I am talking about.” The Houndstone dives beneath the soil, avoiding the worst of the Rock Slide. The ghoul patrols beneath the dirt, waiting for the perfect time to strike. “It was quite a valiant attempt.” He wonders if there is any true connection between the man in front of him and the missing young woman. He hopes the fellow would not be that foolish.

It would reflect quite badly on him. “Though not enough it seems.” He steps over the unconscious grunt. Each beat of his heart sends blood into the soil

The return of the Charizard is the final nail in the grunt’s coffin.


Anne dropped from the tree to stand beside her partner in crime. She glances to him for permission. The detective is quick to grant it, “Go.” The Intelleon vanishes in a burst of shadows as she lunges for the Metagross with a Sucker Punch.

Seemingly reacting to his partner’s movements, the Houndstone chooses that moment to burst from the ground in front of Andrew.





60 MP posts
50 MP for getting your Pokemon knocked out in your skirmish thread.
25 MP for knocking out another Pokemon in your skirmish thread.
25 MP include a theme song or visual involving your character meaningfully in your post.
50 MP have an antagonistic exchange of dialogue between your character and another writer's character or NPC.
50 MP showcase your own character's strength(s) meaningfully.
50 MP showcase your own character's weakness(es) meaningfully.
50 MP have your character self-doubt or cast doubt on another's confidence/allegiances/beliefs, etc.
50 MP have your character attempt to or successfully take revenge in some way.
50 MP have your character make a regrettable decision or make a sacrifice.
50 MP have your character's Pokemon symbolize or represent in some way, the condition of your character.
25 MP for completing your Skirmish thread.
50 MP for "winning" or having a "positive" outcome for your character and their Skirmish thread.
150 MP for having Rocket and League characters and faction-based conflict in the thread (no NPCs).
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685 MP

[attr="class","samjerpoke"]

[attr="class","nikitatag"] Andrew Fisher