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"You can try," she snarls back like a monster in her own right, her hazel eyes burning with the same fire that reignited. Genny HAD to save Shalin. From this monster, and her shackles, she'd break those chains.[break][break]

Even as the Rocket defends himself from the ROCK SLIDE, Genny never stopped planning. To his comment, she's fast to slapback.[break][break]

"Not acting as a Ranger," she calls back. This one, this was personal.[break][break]

When the Turtonator spawns out of the Rocket's ball, Genny looks to Shale, and Shale flips onto her side to block the DRAGON PULSE as Genny does the same. Shale takes it, screaming like a banshee from the blast to her shadowy visage, while one Pokeball is dropped, not so much thrown, and spins.[break][break]

A Drednaw appears just nearby the Gouging Fire and Rocket. "Subdue."[break][break]

Titan races forward, intent on a HEAD SMASH into the Baron. To the Turtonator though, Genny roars out the order. "RAM!" The shadowy Aerodactyl responds in kind, throwing her entire body into the Turtonator midair, knocking Genny off low to the ground.[break][break]

The Rocket hurt her friend. So she'll do her best to break him, even as the impact throws her off, closer to the ground, she tumbles, now grounded. Something cracked.

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"Hideo," Genny beams, seeing the sling, her hazel eyes focused on it a moment too long, and an Ariados, who helps him closer. Sweet of the spider, Genny isn't even remotely phased. In fact, the little guy was precious. Cheeto snored quietly on her shoulder, holding on and content. "-it's so good to see you again."[break][break]

His question, however, takes her a moment to think of a proper response. Her eyes look downwards. In truth, this was the first Gym Challenge since the Lord of the Seas nearly killed her.[break][break]

And the vision. Genny turns to examine her bandaged hands, clinching tightly now as she closes her eyes. She sees her again.[break][break]

The Flagbearer, Hero of Hoenn, who stands proudly. Burning away in her mind. The hero, applauded by all, her friends around her, her lover around her, her Pokemon. She sees her mom and dad proud of her. It's so vivid.[break][break]

It's nothing but heroic martyrdom. Genevieve Cromwell the Hero's smile is haunting, not from fear, but from how sure she is.[break][break]

"I'm on... mandatory vacation. And I wanted to catch-up," she admits, her hands trembling, as he looks damn near dejected. "Ever since the ship, I've had this vision burning in my mind, that has pushed me forward. I haven't been able to stop myself." She holds her hands up, and looks at the numerous bandages around her arms.[break][break]

"The Fae Kingdom prompt... it might be able to break it. I'm on vacation now, so now is the best time." Her hands ball into fists. "That's why I'm taking your challenge,"[break][break]

"To break the wheel."

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Genny's been through this song and dance before. Last time, it was with Uzi, and she found her way to the water course. While she didn't succeed then, it gave her insight on how best to take these courses. It's a little sad she left Uzi at home for this, but she only hopes that he knows it isn't personal.[break][break]

Zagreus, on the other hand, makes a huff, and lets some fire out of his jaw, as Genny grins to the opposition. She may have a few bandages over her arms, her legs, waist, and face, but she looks... good? Better than she had been.[break][break]

"Zag and I intend to take it this time," she boasts, patting Zagreus' side. Two other Arcanines to face? Not bad oppositions. "No need though."[break][break]

"I told you I'd be here for the rematch." Getting onto Zagreus' saddle, and petting his head, she would shake her head towards Josh. If there was a place for helmets, she'd need it. She pulls on her shades,s shades she's since bought. Beaming back, she tilts them down the bridge of her nose.[break][break]

"Try to keep up."

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A quiet silence hits the room. Genevieve stares forward, hazel eyes on Ollie for a moment, her hand held in his. An old crush from long ago, and maybe she wasn't expecting that tenderness.[break][break]

"I have to," she smiles to him. "For Hoenn to be safe, to save everyone I love from Rocket, I can't just wait to get better."[break][break]

She tightens her grip on Ollie's hand, and she beams brighter than ever. "To save you too. Ollie. From any pain you, or PENELOPE LIVY face. You believe in me..."[break][break]

"... don't you?"

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Did he not see his own value? He was just a dog of war, but so was she. In a hypocritical kind of way, she can't accept that. Even as he thumbs the tears away, all Genny can do is look at him, sadness worn on her sleeve as she frowned.[break][break]

"I disagree," she starts, wiping at her own face. "Who defines who is worthy?" After all, freya morningstar pushed her into that direction. "You are enough as you are." She says so honestly, before giving her coup de grace.[break][break]

She leans up slightly, the slightly taller Hitoshi close enough so it doesn't make her stretch too far. She places her lips on his cheek, and though it's short, it's just long enough to illustrate her point. Because there was something between them. And when she pulls away, she gives him the smile.[break][break]

...[break][break]

Deja vu.[break][break]

With a thought, half-lidded eyes gaze at Hitoshi, she looks away to the street. "I should be off," she was now twirling her hair between those fingers again.

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Fun part? The fun part was this: seeing Tofu and Lucky definitely having their mini-fight of who deserved pets more. When Ollie came to pull them apart, Lucky would slobber over Ollie's hand at the pet, twisting around for just enough. He might notice the hindlegs missing, and a pair of clackety wheels on the end table.[break][break]

It's in his questions after, that stops her in her tracks. He frowned and looked down at her, and her eyes can't meet his.[break][break]

"Not... so good," she laments, hands together. The talk with paxton concordas left her exhausted, realizing something about herself she didn't like; a development inside of herself. She doesn't know when it started. The Megalopolan Ship? No, that's where it cemented. This started back in the dog mission. Galar.[break][break]

A hero complex.[break][break]

A fire inside of her that burned, currently embers due to the Lord of the Ocean. But not gone out.[break][break]

"But I'll be back out there in no time." she flexes her arm out. No one would keep her down.[break][break]

No one except the man in front of her now.

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Ollie is like a bright spot in a dark and cloudy afternoon. If the rain comes, he's like a sunshower that follows it. He was inspirational, and the fact he's the Head Ranger is no less understandable. If annalise henderson can do it, so can he.[break][break]

When she says her name, she gives back a weak smile. "Ollie!"[break][break]

With the Pikachu that raced towards her, she feels the Pikachu hop to her lap, as Lucky is pushed aside. And in moments, Lucky crawls back, pushing his cheek against the Pikachu. The electric mouse and dog would begin to spark electricity. Lucky didn't want to be deprived of his person.[break][break]

"I was told you've be coming," she starts, turning towards the window. "Sorry you had to spend your time coming to see me like this. I'm glad you came!" Her eyes look exhausted. Like she's not getting enough sleep, and it's clear why. The screams of the God of the Sea continue to weigh her down in fear.[break][break]

She'd be back on the field in no time.

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Fidgeting in place, Genny has grossly misunderstood the moment here. But how can she not? It was so real. Like, a feeling in the back of her mind, like just being on the edge of breakthrough, a memory lost in the chain. It's not gone, it's just not here. Not with this Genevieve.[break][break]

But seeing his cheeks become pink, holds something she was never expecting from the Black Dog of Rocket. For just a moment, in this moment she catches him so off guard, and he stammers like that, how sweet he really is beneath the rougher man... her hand comes to her lips, and instead of gasping, she starts giggling without even a second's thought. Her eyes prick with tears, and she laughs, not at him, but at this situation. How ridiculous it is.[break][break]

'That's what gloves are for, you know.'[break][break]

There it is again. That voice. It's playful? It's flirty. And not Genny's usual flirtiness she exudes when interested, this was how she spoke when she wanted something. But it wasn't her voice; she was older, a deeper voice than her normal.[break][break]

The streaks move down her eyes. Was Genny crying? She moved a finger through the eyelids, and felt them. Those weren't happier tears.[break][break]

"You know, you look so innocent when you blush," she admits, pushing a hand up to his bangs to push them out of his face, getting closer. Just a little closer. To look into his eyes. "And cuter." That heart is pumping.

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The reality is, in this moment, the Black Dog of Rocket was truly just... a man. He didn't like killing, he didn't like hurting. In moments like this, where it was just her and him, she knew it. In their battle, she knew it when he pulled her up and told her to fight back, at the edge of total defeat and death. There was good in the Black Dog.[break][break]

"I killed once before," she starts, and looks down at her hands. "I didn't m-... We had these chains around our mouths, and I lost control of myself." she looks away. No better than a dog of war. "It weighs on my mind every day. I can only imagine what it's like for you."[break][break]

Wait. He said Chien-Pao. The Snow Cat? The one from attacking the dogs? Right. Lady Bloom. She died there, because of Hitoshi. She should feel angry at him, but there's something else there too. Compulsion She grabs towards her head, her eye twitching. Unconsciously, she grabs an old artifact out of her bag. An ancient arrowhead. It was a keepsake from a time she couldn't remember too well, except now. It's still fuzzy, beyond fuzzy. She thought before, with Isaac, she had overcome that trauma, but this wasn't trauma. She looks at the arrowhead closer.[break][break]

'You're not as bad as everyone says you are, wolf.'[break][break]

Was that her voice? It sounded older, wizened. She sounded almost sweet, a quieter whisper, like when she talks to Isaac Merlo. Where was that from?[break][break]

Her hazel eyes move to look at him. He looked different. Something was different. Her cheeks flush, a little hot to the touch.[break][break]

"I have a boyfriend."[break][break]

Record scratch.

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Arrogance? Genny glares at Paxton. This isn't arrogance, this is saving a goddamn country, with people that don't deserve to die. This is selflessness! Every Pokemon she lost, that people lose, every person she knew that was gone, every life changed because of Rocket. How could he not see that?! One person can make a difference, they have to. Avatars are chosen off that very notion, are they not?![break][break]

She heatedly bites back, her voice raspy and pained as she barks it out. "If it saves Hoenn, and leads to Rocket's disbandment, it's worth one life!"[break][break]

'My... life.'[break][break]

She stops suddenly. When said out loud... it sounds like a child playing at a hero. She stares forward, a thousand-yard stare at nothing. But her dream can't be wrong, right? She can make it there. She can stop Rocket, if she just gets stronger, stronger than all of them, than the Avatars, so that even at the cost of her own life, she can make Hoenn better. She could. That's what she believed. The absence of strength leads to the inability to decide how things go.[break][break]

She looks down at her hands, unable to look Paxton in the eyes. Someone she looked up to, someone with whom she has a region's worth of respect for, is frowning, and she knows it. Looking him in the eyes is to watch her idealism crumble and break. Her dream branded a mistake like a poker pushing in, and letting the fire in her gut out.[break][break]

'It's not a mistake.'[break][break]

"We... haven't," meeker, she withdraws. Her mind plagued now, by her mental state.[break][break]

Why did she feel guilty?

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Being an only child sucked... because from the way Navy speaks of him, Genny knew well now, how much Navy loved his brother. The way he treated Gabe, the way that Pokemon flocked to his brother. He spoke so highly of the man, it made her forget, for just a moment, about the war on their doorstep.[break][break]

And then Navy saw just a girl. That Gabe would've crushed on her, has the redhead's cheeks heat up. DESIREE BLOOMS really did help her come out of her shell, and embrace that side of a girly-girl. But that was the warrior on the battlefield, reduced to a simple woman who wishes she could have met this man she'll never know.[break][break]

"Hah," she chuckles, and wipes her eyes. With Navy standing next to the window, he wouldn't see the way she pulled her knees in, and just quietly basked in the sunlight. "Kind and strong."[break][break]

Her eyes close, and Lucky, who has been patient nearby, waddles closer towards her, rubbing into her hip, as the redhead enjoys the moment. "With how you talk about him, I wish I could've met him."[break][break]

She thinks and says without so much as a second thought. "He'd be proud of you."[break][break]

While it still weighed on her mind, it wasn't so much right now. Navy calmed her down, kept her stable and still in-line. She hated this war, and what it did to them all. She had to become the hero. The flagbearer, the Shield of Hoenn. To stop it, so people like Gabe never die.

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Reiner is quick to jump as well, and with Shale biting down, the two of them together force the Steelix to veer off course, the screams of the steel snake as it rumbles the world around it, attempting to fight back, throwing a SAND TOMB at both of them, attempting to make a coffin for both fighters.[break][break]

It's eyes are on the girls once more, as it races towards them, mouth open. Its intentions clear from the hungry glint in their eyes.[break][break]

"Divebomb Giga Impact!" Her orders are clear, and with a quick fly backwards, the monstrous rock dino throws her entire weight into smashing the Steelix into the wall to push it off again, and to leave it an opening for Reiner. The tired dinosaur taking a moment to land from the strike.[break][break]

She looks to Eris, no panic in her eyes, but enough in her body language to let her know that she'd keep Eris safe. If only she knew how strong Eris was by herself, she'd know it was probably vice versa. "Can I get one of those sandwiches? I have a plan."

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Modesty was precious, but that grin was more so, and Genny had to admit, she really enjoyed Thea's presence. And so, the entire time she's explaining O-Soto-Gari, Genny is listening. The throw was for bigger foes, and with Genny's height so short, this was perfect for her.[break][break]

With a nod, the redhead is thrown downwards onto the mat, and it makes sense how. Thea was a natural at teaching this, to such a degree that it was like a puzzle put together. It's all about using their strength and balance against them.[break][break]

With enough practice, it would be easy to replicate! And so she does, moving to make the same movements Thea did. And it takes a couple of times, as she's careful not to hurt her. Every time its done, she gets it a little more.[break][break]

By time she reaches her seventh throw, she's got it down.[break][break]

"Your dad may be the sensei, but you'll be there one day sooner than you think! You teach well enough, and show the steps needed to get there. I'm sure of it!" She grins ear-to-ear, making sure to say the words she honestly felt. Thea may think there's a lot of ways to go, but she was already far ahead.[break][break]

And with her help, Genny now had an understanding of how to fight bigger foes. Most people were, heck, even Thea was taller than her.[break][break]

"Thank you. Sensei," she proclaims, bowing her head to Thea. "I look forward to learning more."

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