Ned studied Josh's pokemon, and noticed that the absol seemed by far to be the least friendly of the group. While the others were clearly eager to go, the dark-type showed no emotion whatsoever. Stoic and solemn like the marble bust of an ancient king, the creature reminded him of himself, or rather, what he aimed to be.
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"Hey there," Ned said softly as he approached slowly, and the absol turned to face him.
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He was no rider, but he was a better trainer than most. Indeed, no matter the mission, he was confident in his ability to connect and bond with any willing pokemon. He reached out a hand for the beast to sniff.
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"Look at you, nice shiny coat. How would you like to practice with me for a little while?"
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A shiver ran over Ned's body. It had been a very long time since he felt nervous approaching a pokemon. Even so, he did not hesitate.
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[break]

Josh Devlin

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Ned chewed his lip as he approached the Mauville City Gym, and memories painfully flooded his mind. Since he was a boy, he had dreamed of conquering Pokemon Leagues across the world and ascending to the ranks of the masters, but now these ambitions were obscured by hate and uncertainty. Even here in Hoenn, he would have loved nothing more than to take the challenge, but circumstances demanded his attention elsewhere. In this region, resistance thrived, and Ned was determined to aid the fight against Team Rocket however he could.
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"Sorry I'm late," said Ned as Devlin's staff brought him to the course. "Thank you for inviting me. I rode a ponyta once when I was little. You know, the fire-type kind, but we went slow... And thanks again for everything back in the woods. I've been reading about those spacetime things. Apparently one of them opened up in the Unova subway system. A conductor ran in to try to save the passengers and was never seen again. Not a trace of him remained. I'd hate to think what might have happened to me if you hadn't been there."
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He looked over each of the gym leader's pokemon. At first sight, he assumed that they had been selectively bred for their size. But now, having seen the spacetime distortions for himself, he wondered about their origins. The absol in particular stood out to him, with its shiny white coat and solemn, stoic face. He hoped Josh would let him choose that one.
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"But enough negativity. I'm ready to learn."
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Josh Devlin

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Something large cried out from the dark edge of the tunnel, and Ned turned to see himself faced down by a rhydon. With no warning, the creature began to charge. The trainer dove forward and rolled out of harm's way, before jumping back to his feet and calling out his ferrothorn.[break]
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"Ingrain! Leech seed!"[break]
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The metal pod pokemon sank its feelers into the rocky cave floor and began to suck the nutrients from the earth as his opponent charged forth with another take down attack. Wilson was barely fazed, but the rhydon recoiled against his solid weight and cringed from the prick of his iron barbs. The ferrothorn quickly returned fire with a barrage of leech seeds that took hold on the rock-type pokemon's body and began to sap its strength.[break]
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"Giga drain!"[break]
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The rhydon kicked up a cloud of sand to obscure itself as Wilson responded by ripping glowing green globs of lifeforce energy from its body. It began to rush forward with another take down.[break]
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"Power whip!"[break]
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Wilson detached a feeler from the ground while Ned prepared a pokeball. The ferrothorn brought down its green appendage with incredible force, knocking the rhydon from its feet. The trainer hurled the ball towards his target, and the wild pokemon was encapsulated.[break]
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He smirked. "Piece of cake."[break]
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[attr="class","pokeclass"]

He chuckled at Devlin's offer. His new ally was skilled indeed and very friendly, but Ned's path was his own. "No thank you, I prefer to take the long way."[break]
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"Mauville, huh?" he said.[break]
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It had been a long time since Ned had experienced a battle so tense. His memories took him back to the gyms of Kanto, when battling was fun. Things had certainly changed for the worse, but who was to say he could not still chase the glory of old? The challenge could only make his team stronger, after all.[break]
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"Perhaps I'll see you there," he continued as he began to walk towards Rustboro City.[break]
[break]

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Ned raised an eyebrow as he approached the entrance to the Rusturf Tunnel. When he had heard about the passageway to Verdanturf Town, he had envisioned something like the manmade tunnels that connected the cities of Kanto. But this was just a cave, plain and simple. The people of Hoenn were clearly of a much more blue-collar variety, not that he was in any sort of place to pass judgment about that.[break]
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He shrugged. "If it works, it works, I suppose."[break]
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The faint echoes of whismur calling to each other bounced through the cave walls as Ned trekked into the dim, damp tunnel. Five pokeballs rested at his belt, held in place by a magnetic strip. They were strong, he knew. His eyes became misty. His old team was strong, too. In his younger years, Ned had dreamed of conquering the Pokemon Leagues of regions across the world with his charizard by his side. But Team Rocket had taken that from him, and he dreamed only of revenge. Tears welled. Friends and family alike had all been burned away, and there was not a damned thing he could do to save them.[break]
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"I've got to make you all stronger," he said, bitterly.[break]
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[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Ned watched tensely as the team of eevees worked together to take down the torterra, and were then joined by a manectric to finish off the skuntank. The dome was fading now, and with that the hostile pokemon from beyond began to vanish into the same flashes of light that had brought them here. The wind began to die, and Sahara collapsed to one knee as the sandstorm subsided. Finally, the purplish barrier broke, and as the area returned to normal, Ned realized how fast his heart had been racing - a sensation he had not felt in a very long time.[break]
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Ned recalled his tyranitar and garchomp to their capsules. "You've done very well."[break]
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He surveyed the area. Trees had been felled in all directions, and the ground had been absolutely ravaged. Not a wild pokemon was in sight. But still, were it not for he and his new ally, things could very well have been much worse. He thought that at the very least, he should thank the man.[break]
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"I don't remember if I told you my name," he said, extending a hand. "I'm Ned Clark, from Viridian City. You've trained a very impressive team."

Josh Devlin

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

"He wants me to run?" Ned thought to himself. "I'll show him how strong I am."[break]
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"That's not happening!" he shouted to his new ally. His voice carried poorly in the rushing wind.[break]
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The wild flareon attempted a fire blast attack, but Cobalt was just barely too quick. With psychic energy harnessed in its body, it flung itself forward, striking the flareon square in its chest with a powerful zen headbutt. With that, the fiery fox's attack fizzled, and it collapsed besides its umbreon brethren.[break]
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The ground shook violently again, and Ned almost lost his footing as the massive torterra ravaged the earth with its earthquake attack. Sahara's mouth filled with misty vapor as she drained the heat from the air, and sank freezing-cold teeth into her opponent. Roots rose violently through the shattered ground, as the alpha torterra mustered a frenzy plant attack. Thick woody bands wrapped around Saharah's legs, while others pelted her body.[break]
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"Psychic!" Ned commanded, pointing towards the torterra.[break]
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His exhausted metagross rose into the air and began to glow once more, only to be shot down by a fire blast attack. Finally, the steely beast could take no more. Ned growled in frustration as he recalled his pokemon to its capsule and called out his garchomp.[break]
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Sahara managed to wrestle herself free of the torterra's snare, and charged forth to deliver a second ice fang into her massive opponent. She bit down hard into the creature's shell, and the tortoise pokemon cried out as even more of its body heat was drained away. The torterra pulled its legs and head into its shell as frost grew to cover its body, rendering it incapacitated.[break]
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Ned turned to see that his metagross had been felled by a skuntank. The skunk pokemon prepared to breathe fire once more.[break]
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"Gobi! Sand tomb!"[break]
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Ned's garchomp gathered rocky particles from the air and conjured an earthy whirlpool around the skuntank. It began to attack with flamethrower, but Gobi tightened the swirl and stifled the fire with a quick blast of sand to the face.[break]
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Pillars of solid rock shot up from the earth as Sahara tried over and over again to strike down a staraptor. The bird pokemon circled closer to Ned's tyranitar, before swooping in and striking mercilessly with a close combat attack.[break]
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"What the hell!?" Ned exclaimed, having never seen a flying-type pokemon display such a fighting-type technique as that. "Thunder fang!"[break]
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With a flash of lightning and the buzz of an electric shock, the staraptor was down. Ice crackled and broke as the massive torterra freed itself from the ice. Thrashed and disheveled, Sahara turned to meet her foe once more, but Ned could plainly see that she would not survive another big hit.[break]
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He looked to his ally once more, commanding his remaining eevee variants against the invading pokemon. "Team Rocket is responsible for this! They've got to be! Don't give up!"[break]
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Josh Devlin

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

The man proclaimed his hatred for Team Rocket before introducing himself as one of Hoenn's gym leaders. Finally, it clicked in Ned's mind - he had seen Devlin's face on promotional displays for the Pokemon League. But his train of thought scattered in all directions as pokemon materialized around them in violent flashes of purplish light.[break]
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Ned had heard rumors of portal opening into other universes populated by creatures beyond imagination, and that some had managed to capture some of these otherworldly beasts, but this seemed like something else. Light flashed all around as pokemon appeared from somewhere beyond.[break]
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Cobalt groaned loadly in its deep metallic voice as his body was pelted with two simaltaneous super-effective hits from the umbreon and flareon.[break]
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"Psychic!" commanded Ned.[break]
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Rising into the air, his metagross invoked its power and began to glow with a faint pinkish halo. The flareon was enveloped in the same energy, lifted into the air, and thrown deeper into the woods as the umbreon bared its teeth and went for Cobalt with a crunch attack.[break]
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"Meteor mash!"[break]
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With one claw, Cobalt grabbed the umbreon by its throat and stopped it in its tracks. With another, it delivered a steel-hard punch directly into the side of the fox pokemon's head. The umbreon cried out in pain as it collapsed to the ground, and the flareon came running back.[break]
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"Zen headbutt!"[break]
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Cobalt prepared to strike its attacker head-on, but staggered and fumbled as pillars of earth exploded underneath from a torterra's earthquake attack. The large flareon leaped above the shifting, shaking ground with a mouthful of flames, and bit into Ned's metagross with a searing hot fire fang attack.[break]
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"These guys really aren't playing fair," he said as he reached for another pokeball and called out his tyranitar.[break]
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Sahara materialized, and the air became rough with debris as she invoked her power and summoned a sandstorm.[break]
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Ned shouted more commands, and his tyranitar rushed forth to meet the torterra with an ice fang attack while his battered metagross stared down its fire-type opponent and tried to strengthen itself with iron defense before it took anymore hits.[break]
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He turned to his new ally Devlin. "It looks like this is getting hairy!"[break]
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Josh Devlin

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Ned raised an eyebrow as the man approached, flanked by five evolutionary variants of eevee. He looked somehow familiar, but Ned could not place a name to him. Where had he seen him before? Deceiving as looks can be, he did not appear to be of the Rocket variety. Still, one could never be too careful.[break]
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He called out to him. "You there!"[break]
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The crackling became thunder as the bubble grew to a deeper purple, and small bursts of yellow and blue lightning began to ravage the surrounding woods while the wind sharply increased and streams of accelarating air cut through trees and rustled the leafy canopy. The distortion was building, and something was sure to step through. But what? An ultra beast?[break]
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"If you're not with Team Rocket, now would be an excellent time to tell me!" Ned's voice carried poorly in the strengthening wind.[break]
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He reached for a poke ball and called out his metagross. The steelish creature materialized, and growled in a deep, echoing voice that sounded like old metal springs expanding and retracting. "Alright Cobalt - it looks like things are about to get rough!"[break]
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Josh Devlin

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

Rumors had circulated that Team Rocket's meddling with the legendary pokemon had resulted in some bizzare phenomena, some of which said to be quite a bit less-than-natural. Tales had even been told of spacetime distortions, speckled with whispers of people falling helplessly through time. He was not entirely convinced of their existence, but when Ned laid eyes on the great purplish bubble that had expanded above the forest canopy of the Petalburg Woods, he knew unmistakably that he had encountered one of these such events.[break]
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His every instict instructed him to keep away, but he could not shake the suspicion that Team Rocket was somehow responsible. For all he knew, they may have manifested this distortion for some nefarious need. Begrudgingly, he began to run into the crackling bubble. Whatever evil-minded Rocket minion had devised this, Ned would root him out and cut him down.[break]
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Josh Devlin

[attr="class","pokeclass"]