Two hundred thousand dollars? To Shred? Was he stupid? That money might as well have never existed. Not that Grigori knew– or even wanted to know. Waking up at six in the morning to do eight long hours of hard labor, only to be dragged here? He slurped his extra large Moped™ coffee and took the orichalcum binoculars from Shred.

“There are numerous factors to explain the phenomenon,” Grigori peered down at Fezandipiti. Just as prideful and bold as the days in that abhorrent prison. Terrible memories. “Perhaps one of the various legendaries and their avatars brought them back. Or maybe the DRK Triad is behind this. Or maybe they don’t exist.”

Huh? Grigori handed the binoculars back to Shred and sighed. “Consider this: we are deep into the month of October. The little ones are getting creative. And with the appearance of a certain ape at Petalburg…”

“All one would need is an image and a Zoroark,” he concluded. The alternative was that these Pokémon were real in the flesh, and they were about to be crushed beneath their heels. But that was much more work intensive. His bones wouldn’t like it.

“But with Mr. Shred’s newfound powers, and Mr. Foxes two golems, I do not feel that either scenario should pose a problem for either of you.”

He took another loud slurp of his coffee. This could be a whole pillow bag’s worth of sweets with how much sugar they jammed into the thing.

---

howard slayte Shred

Two golems? Howard's eyebrows disappeared into his hair as he looked at Grigori.

"They're in Petalburg, shifting rubble and helping with reconstruction. They're not on me, today." He admitted shamelessly, before looking straight ahead. With Howard limited to deskwork under the God General's orders, he wasn't technically supposed to be out hunting monkeys while pretending everything was dori. "I could make a call, get Regirock Dynamaxed and march it out here. It'd probably kill us as it marches, though."

When a Pokemon grew to the size of a mountain, there wasn't much room for subtlety. Regirock and Regice were cudgels, designed to break things with impunity. They were not scalpels, to excise a threat. With the three of them mucking around in the brush, a Max Stonefall had a high chance to kill both Howard and Grigori.

As for Shred, who knew. Orichalcum was a fantasy metal, and it wasn't like the Rocket Beast was going to give him a free chance to study it. It'd likely cost Howard an arm and a leg, like two hundred thousand dollars.

"Grigori's right. It could be anything. I don't think they're illusions, but death means nothing anymore. They could be copies, alternate versions, or whoever knows what. Let's just kill them and drop their bodies in concrete."

Meanwhile, the Loyal Three stood around a campfire, laughing at each other and howling in amusement. Okidogi did a dance that reminded the admin of Andrea Vaneau's Ogerpon. He grunted, and got to his knees.

"I can get them with a Hyper Beam from here."

---

Shred Grigori Sokolov

They did not have the golems OR the crimson king. Grigori’s eye twitched. They were out here hunting ghosts and had not bothered to bring the big guns. Had they not remembered the prison? These were not easy foes to contend with. A Hyper Beam would do little if they were real and he was wrong.

“And it was agony to beat them with less,” Grigori reminded the Boundless. june sleigh would’ve made for a better candidate in this scenario: she would’ve been more than willing to go along with their makeshift plan. Instead, Grigori rose from his perch. His knees complained all the while.

“I… do not know if she would find the notion as affectionate as you hope, Mr. Shred,” he said. From his own poke ball came Pumpkin, who merely stared at the small group. “But if the hyper beam connects, then there should be little to bring back.”

“If it lands.” His gaze returned to the three. They were oblivious to their hopeful demise. He better land it. “Ghost types are not afraid of Normal attacks, Mr. Fox. All it will do is alert them of our presence.”

As energy converged onto the focal point of the Pupitar, Grigori stretched his limbs. There would be hell to pay when the trio was not slain. Kingambit mimicked her trainer perfectly.

“Oh, there will be blood and slaughter a plenty, Mr. Shred! The early bird does indeed get the worm– unlike that bird over there! And sleeping dogs are better left to lie. And monkeys…”

She could not remember a saying for the monkeys. “They shouldn’t be on the bed!”

---

howard slayte Shred

"Lulu's into some pretty fucked up shit, Grigori." Howard scratched his chin as he helped the older grunt to his feet. "I don't think anyone who sleeps for four hours a night is particularly normal. Abnormal, more like."

He didn't actually know when Lulu Flint slept and when she woke up. It was an anomaly wrapped in a coffee mug-shaped container. He knew little of the Head Scientist, actually, despite their vaguely shared interests in academic subjects. Hopefully she didn't kill him when they flew towards the moon later on.

"If the Hyper Beam doesn't hit, Pumpkin can serve them up on a silver platter. We'll adjust accordingly, and no matter what, we'll have knowledge on how these entities work, and we can send SPECTRA in to clean it up."

SPECTRA was supposed to deal with this, anyway, but with Beast Inoue in Petalburg on the admin's orders, it fell on Howard and Friends. It helped that all three of them wanted to throttle the Loyal Three until the life left their eyes. In a red flash, Shirley appeared, snarling.

With his Aerodactyl out, Howard's Sygna Suit sparked to life. With that, he used his Strength to lift up Serizawa. Grunting, the admin threw the Pupitar towards the Loyal Three with remarkable speed.

"DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE!"

A Hyper Beam sent the Loyal Three up in smoke. Howard's eye narrowed as he looked down over the smoking crater. "Did I get them?"

---

Grigori Sokolov Shred

Grigori’s eyes continued to twitch as the smoke settled and the dim yet impossibly strong barriers of Protect… well, protected their targets. Not only were they real, they were now very pissed off. Even worse was the flash of bright light to reveal the headache that was the Gholdengo.

In the past, he’d thought the character cute. Commendable. But after being around the sentient statue more than twice? A twinge of pain spiked his forehead, and he clutched it as he pointed forward with his coffee in hand.

“You did not, Mr. Fox. Pumpkin, intercept please!”

“Aahaha! This fight will be glorious!” The steely samurai trudged forward, a fist of pure malicious intent as she went straight for the Fezendipiti. “I shall tear your bones from sinew! Blood will be my paint, my blade the brush, and the grass my canva–”

Before she could even connect with the bird, the Okidogi pulled back a fist and slammed it straight into her skull. Its raw strength was more than enough to launch Pumpkin way off to the side, and she smashed into a tree.

Leaves rustled over her now-fainted body. The dastardly trio giggled to themselves as they now ran straight towards them. “Mr. Fox, I must request a vacation after this.”

Fezandipiti eyed the grunt dangerously. He took a large gulp from his plastic cup, then tossed the empty vesicle to the side. He’d pick it up later. Another poke ball popped off his belt, and it opened to reveal a might, massive, frightening bear. Freddy had come out, and it’d have to be his savior from this sudden nightmare.

They were upon them.

---

Shred howard slayte

The elusive TRIPLE PROTECT fucked them, and it fucked them good. It didn't help that the Loyal Three actually knew the difference between Protect and Wide Guard, but admittedly, neither did Howard. That was why he paid Shred and Grigori the big bucks to fight in his stead.

"Lucky us. I'll take the fucking monkey." Howard snarled as Pupitar fell to the ground with a crash. In the air, Shirley circled, gliding on wind currents until she smelled blood. For now, she'd suffice in powering his Sygna Suit.

In one eye, he saw the battlefield as Howard Slayte. In his vacant one, he saw it from Shirley's gaze. Two sightlines folded into one.

When Freddy appeared, the Loyal Three cringed slightly, mistaking Freddy for Doug. Luckily, Doug was somewhere else at the moment, likely wandering a different section of the woods. He would be of no help against their loyal threats.

"Serizawa!" The Pupitar flew forward, sheer murderous intent radiating from the pupa's stone flesh. It had been contained in a pupa for almost a year, and it hated the world for that reason alone. Rocks flew forward, a Stone Edge attempting to pierce the monkey's flesh.

Munkidori danced away, his future sight allowing him to dodge the boulders.

I'M GONNA KILL THAT FUCKING MONKEY!"

---

Shred Grigori Sokolov

Looked like they were all getting their rematches. Howard against his equal in intelligence, Shred his counterpart of strength, and Grigori his… beauty antagonist? This had to be a more metaphorical conflict. The image the soul presented, rather than the actual appearance they both held.

Unfortunately for both of them, they were identical in that regard. Fezandipiti was a monster, cruel and unjust as they came. Grigori wasn’t much different. That’s why he ordered the Bloodmoon Ursaluna to engage in combat, as it was a much more interesting conflict. As opposed to the two worst people slapping each other until one stopped breathing.

Unfortunately, the Fezandipiti’s charm worked even on Freddy. Its wicked yet alluring look (alongside a fuck ton of pheromones) drew in the bear slowly yet surely. Nary a hint of bloodlust in its eye, it set one heavy foot in front of the other.

Only then did the bird swing its feet swiftly upon his head, a Double Kick to knock it to the ground dead. Except its mud-caked skull absorbed the blow perfectly. And snapped from the trance for a moment, the earth rumbled before an Earth Power erupted. Mud went flying all over the scene.

And that’s when Fezandipiti used the momentum to soar atop the back of Freddy. Its short arms were barely unable to grab its sharp feet, and several pecks annoyed it to no end.

Grigori’s eye twitched.

---

howard slayte Shred

It's kind for Grigori to assume that Howard was even remotely intelligent, given that he had left his best tools back in Petalburg to pick up litter.

Yet one might call it a show of restraint, to avoid flipping the table by smashing the Loyal Three under an attack the size of a city. Yet it'd solve all of their problems if Regirock or Koraidon could just appear and kill these three bastards with a snap of the finger. Unfortunately, life is full of disappointments.

Which is why as Freddy gives Fezandipiti the blushing side-eye, all Howard can do is shake his head, roll his eyes, and be happy that he's never made a fool of himself out of love.

Dealing with Shred's swooning for Lulu made a man wise.

"Fuck!" Howard dodged to the side as a Sludge Wave cascaded over Serizawa, poisoning the Pupitar due to Munkidori's Toxic Chain. A genuine chain had yet to form on the pupa, but there was still plenty of time. "Oh, for fuck's sake. Do something!"

Fuming, Serizawa leered at the monkey, which caused it to let out a shriek. As he prepared to scry the future, Munkidori saw a maw open to give way to a set of Psychic Fangs.

Howard, meanwhile, used his Sygna Suit to throw rocks at the monkey. Those, the monkey dodged. The nearby dog and bird were not so lucky.

---

Grigori Sokolov Shred