Colton could only stare in horror as he watched the poor Eevee get thrashed about by Burnout's tires, blood staining the ground around its shattered body. Even the Revavroom seemed in disbelief at what he had done, his metallic body drenched with crimson liquid as it slowly rolled down his body.

Both trainer and Pokémon backed away from what they had done as the other cradled his Pokémon in his arms. "I...I warned you...b-but you didn't listen..." he said, his voice hollow as he spoke. Not that his words mattered. He was simply trying to justify this heinous action to himself, something to absolve the earth shattering guilt that gripped his chest.

Burnout's single eye was focused on the Eevee, not even paying attention as the Sneasal and its teammates jumped him, their shadowy fists slamming into him and sending him tumbling back. He made no move to fight back, though, merely zipping behind his trainer to cower in fear.

As for Colton, when the other man suddenly charged at him, he could only stumble back and fall to the ground. His dislocated arm was jarred as he hit the ground, sending a fresh wave of pain throughout his body. He feebly held his good hand out, trying to ward the other man off from hurting him.

"I...I didn't mean to...!"

Kouji Matsubara
OOC: Clash 1/3
10 MP (IC Post), 10 MP (Pokémon killed)
Total: 270

Weirdos in masks and costumes. Why was it always weirdos in masks and costumes? Couldn't this one at least be nice like ana fell was and just let him walk away if he didn't want to fight?

Why couldn't he just catch a fucking break?!

"Enough of this shit! I'm not dealing with anymore of you Rockets!" Colton shouted, turning back to face the Gligar.

"Hurricane!"

The Iron Moth's eyes glowed as it processed the command, its wings extending out slightly before they began to circle around and around, almost like a giant fan. The wind grew impossible to withstand, forcing Colton to shuffle backwards and duck behind his Pokemon before he was sent tumbling about in the wind. Even still, his clothes and hair were wildly flailing about as he braced himself against the gale.

mint frost
OOC: Caves 2/2
10 MP (IC Post)
Total: 80 MP

Colton's heart pounded in his chest, blood singing in his ears. His mind and soul warred with each other, both screaming in his head to press the advantage or let up on the terrified Eevee as it desperately tried to fight back against Burnout.

The stars bounced off of the Revavroom's steel body, hardly even affecting him as his engine kicked up into its final gear. The fastest he would ever get. His tongue wagged excitedly, violet flames burning out from both his cylinders and in his single eye as he stared the Eevee down.

Time slowed. Colton could see every single movement play out, each second feeling like it took an eternity. The war inside him raged on, both sides screaming louder and louder, making it feel like his ear drums were going to burst.

Until, suddenly, everything went quiet. One of the voices had won.

"Spin Out!"

Burnout's tires squealed as he suddenly braked, his donuts turning into a rapid spiral that made him look like a shapeless gray blob, rotating with such blinding speed it was dizzying to look at. And, like some sort of giant top, his path sent him right towards the Eevee, catching the small Pokémon and sending him tumbling end over end along with the Revavroom in a twisting spiral of death.

Kouji Matsubara
OOC: Clash 1/3
10 MP (IC Post)
Total: 250

There he went again. Bringing up his weird research ideas in places he shouldn’t. But at the very least, there was practical aspects, compared to his other harebrained ideas.

“Fair enough, but I’d imagine synthesizing a potential antidote would be useful for future expeditions into Ultra Space. The more we can understand and counter the things in here, the better,” he suggested.

Perhaps it was a bit ambitious to be thinking about cures to Nihilego toxin at that exact moment, but not focusing on the alien jellyfish floating it’s way over to them helped in preventing panic from setting in.

Colton looked towards the path, seeing that Burnout had well and truly left them in the dust. But his tracks hadn’t, the ruts from his tires carving a nice little trail for them to follow behind.

“Stick to the tracks, Meowscarada. It should take us right there!”

Hideo Kino
OOC: Cargo 1/2
10 MP (IC Post)
Total: 130 MP

Colton shook his head, needing to take a moment to breathe and resettle himself. It wasn’t that he didn’t appreciate her concern, but he was teetering on the edge of sanity, his mental state threatening to slip and fall at each possible step.

“I’ll be okay. It doesn’t hurt or anything, so it’s probably nothing more than a cosmetic change,” he answered, managing a reassuring smile with a thumbs up.

Colton had no idea if that was true or not. for all he knew, the coral horn could be sapping his life force to birth another ultra beast or something. but now, in that moment, It was nothing more than a simple horn. One he could push through so long as he kept his focus on the task at hand.

PENELOPE LIVY
OOC: Comms 1/2
10 MP (IC Post)
Total: 120 MP

Colton’s gaze was trained on the Eevee as it tried to escape from the circling Revavroom. Something told him to stop, to hold back before it went to far and just let the poor Pokémon go. Its terrified cries and panicking face made his heart scream to show mercy to it.

But he couldn’t. He couldn’t let up, not without risking a complete shift in the momentum of the battle and giving his opponent something to abuse for an advantage.

”Crank it up higher!” Colton ordered. The whine of Burnout’s engine raised in pitch again before dropping just as suddenly as his gears shifted to allow for even higher speeds. The look of glee on the Revavroom’s face showed that he lacked the same trepidations as his trainee did. His tongue wagged with excitement as the donuts it bullet became tighter and tighter, pulling itself in ever closer.

Kouji Matsubara
OOC: Clash 1/3
10 MP (IC Post)
Total: 240

This Pokeball showed up at my apartment door with a scribble of a lady in red and black washing clothes in my Rotom, but thanks I guess…?

Despite the situation, Colton couldn’t help but feel bad at her response. She had expressed such excitement at seeing Arti and the Rotom was being unnecessarily rude over something harmless. He knocked Arti on the top of its washing machine. ”Don’t be mean,” he said. It rubbed the top of its head with the tube extending from the back of the washing machine, rolling its eyes.

He laughed again as he watched the almost slapstick routine playing out in front of him. At least, the Gengar wouldn’t become Naganadel food now. The sympathy felt strangely placed, considering they had been fighting each other only moments before and said Gengar had fried his Bronzong pretty badly.

Colton looked back towards her at her question, thinking for a moment before shrugging his good shoulder again. ”Unfortunately, no. And I guess the same goes for you?” he asked, though his question was decidedly less of a joke. She was nice, which he didn’t expect, especially considering he had attacked her first, and he didn’t want to risk having to fight her again in the future.

ana fell
OOC: Battle
10 MP (IC Post)
Total: 190 MP

Twoey readied herself as the Mawile charged in, its metal claws glinting in the low light. She brought her horn around to use defensively again, only to receive a shot of dust right into her face from the initial impact. The Mawile doubled over, coughing as her vision and lungs were filled more and more by the ever growing cloud of dirt in the air. With no way of seeing what was around her, she was helpless as stars barraged her from the dust cloud. Scratches appeared along her skin, thin trails of blood leaking down as each one made contact.

Colton glared at the man as he smirked before recalling Twoey back to her Pokéball. A bit of dust and some stars wouldn’t do much to a Steel type other than annoy her, but this wasn’t about how mich damage the Mawile had taken. This guy had decided to punch below the belt here and Colton wasn’t above doing the same.

Burnout soon replaced Twoey on the field, his tongue wagging as his engine revved excitedly. ”Shift Gear,” Colton ordered, the whine of the Revavroom’s engine pitching upward before suddenly dropping as his gears clicked into place. Toxic purple flames flared from his cylinders as his tires squealed and he took off right towards the Eevee.

”Donuts!” Colton shouted just before Burnout was about to slam headfirst into the other Pokémon, prompting the Revavroom to brake hard into a circular drift, his wheels kicking up dirt and dust directly into the Eevee’s face. With his heightened speed, it was hard to keep up with Burnout as he circled the Eevee over and over again.

Kouji Matsubara
OOC: Clash 1/3
10 MP (IC Post)
Total: 230

Twoey watched the Scraggy bounce across the ground in satisfaction, wiping dust from her hands as she went to retrieve her bamboo shoot and pop it back into her mouth. The Mawile was clearly quite smug with her KO streak, an arrogance Colton hoped would hurt her performance for the next Pokémon.

”You can still walk away. I’ve had my fill of action for the day and I’d be more than happy to let bygones be bygones here,” he said, though he knew what he was saying would ultimately fall on deaf ears. The guy appeared to be hyper fixated on the battle, as if it was the most important thing in the world that he successfully jump this one random researcher wandering around Ultra Space.

Of course, the next Pokémon came, a Sneasal this time. Twoey seemed eager to jump back in the fray, her giant jaw quite literally chomping at the bit. But, given how the Absol had so easily avoided a few of Lodestone’s attacks, he expected that more than a few of this guy’s Pokémon shared the same trick. ”Take it easy, Twoey. Just Stockpile for now,” Colton said, the Mawile rolling her eyes as a white glow formed around her body.

By Stockpiling, he could build Twoey’s defenses up, which would hopefully bait his opponent into making the first move by taking the defensive option. Too many Stockpiles and her defense may get too high for the Sneasal to feasibly hurt her through, while also giving him the option to either heal Twoey up or take the Sneasal out in one decisive blow.

Kouji Matsubara
OOC: Clash 1/3
10 MP (IC Post), 10 MP (Knocked out opponent’s Pokémon)
Total: 220

Colton couldn’t help but laugh as he watched the Gengar float away. It almost resembled a Gastly with how it’s fur was standing on end from the electricity still sparking off of its body. Normally, he would have felt bad for the Pokémon, but clearly it’s own wasn’t too concerned, so he figured it would end up alright in the long run. He turned his attention back to Arti as she bent over to inspect the washing machine’s interior, smiling again as his Rotom was very clearly still uncomfortable with this development.

”I couldn’t say, honestly. Whenever I got it, Arti pretty much hopped right in and only leaves when we’re working on stuff,” he answered, the Rotom’s look of concern turning to annoyance at the mere mention of being used to wash clothes. ”The idea’s never even come up before but something tells me it wouldn’t like it very much.”

Arti stuck it’s tongue out at the woman, using his pipe to shoo her away lest she start pouring detergent inside. He made a series of indignant buzzing noises that made Colton laugh again until she pointed out his arm. He glanced down at the limp limb, but only gave a shrug with his one good shoulder. ”I think I can manage,” he said before pointing at the Gengar still floating away. ”I’d be more worried about my Pokémon floating off to become east prey for the creatures that prowl around here.”

ana fell
OOC: Battle
10 MP (IC Post)
Total: 180 MP

Colton was left wandering down the endlessly looping halls, with no exits, windows, or doors in sight. Just the infinite off white with the only sound being the sound of his shoes on linoleum and the hum-buzz of fluorescent lights. He continued to call out, only to hear the echo of his own voice respond. There was just…nothing. Nothing but him, alone, in an endless sea of white.

That was, until he almost ran into another man in the halls.

It seemed that they startled each other an equal amount, which also meant neither of them were aware of what the hell was going on in this place. ”Uh, I’m not really sure where I came from. I’m not entirely sure what this place is,” he responded. With another person now being there, Colton was felt a small bit of relief that he wasn’t going to have to face this alone, at the same time, he felt bad that someone else was dragged in there with him.

”I guess this is that dream most stuff, huh? I’ve only heard about this in passing, so I’m not entirely sure how to approach this really,” he admitted, looking around for a moment before looking back at the man. ”Oh, my mistake. I’m Colton. It’s probably best that we get to know each other if we’re going to get out of it.”

paxton concordas
OOC: Interdream (1/2)
10 MP (IC Post)
Total: 80

Colton gasped as he came back through the rift, falling to his knees and sucking in the stale cave air. It was dusty, stagnant, and likely hadn’t felt a breeze in years. It was the greatest thing he had ever tasted. He had finally made it out, after a gauntlet that had beaten him in both body and mind. He couldn’t help but laugh, relief filling him as he began to pat down his body. The coral horns that had grown out of his head were shrinking down to nothing and his skin turned from scales back to flesh.

Finally, things were going his way.

”Okay, time to get out of this damn cave,” Colton mumbled to himself as he pushed himself back to his feet. There was one issue, though: the cave was pitch black and he couldn’t even see his hand right in front of his face. What he wouldn’t give for the kinds of tools he’d make for the special agents in that moment, but that didn’t leave him out of options. He felt around his waist and pulled a Pokéball from it, releasing the…thing inside of it.

The robotic moth spread its wings out, the glowing orange liquid flowing through various parts of its body lighting up and illuminating the space around them as it stared at him blankly. Colton matched its gaze, still unable to greatly understand what he was looking at. In some sense, it was his greatest dream, the peak of everything he researched about the relationship between Pokémon and technology. But, after what he had witnessed in that dream space, maybe that wasn’t such a good thing…

But there was time to debate the ethics of Iron Moth with himself later. He needed to get out of this cave before he starved to death. His footsteps echoed off the walls, filling the caverns with both dull thuds and the robotic beeps and boops MM was making. It was enough noise that he didn’t hear the person walking up behind him, visibly jumping as the glowing mask suddenly appeared from the darkness behind him before he scampered away, putting some distance between him and the masked stalker.

”Oh, come on, not another one…” he muttered. Clearly, the world was done beating him down just yet.

mint frost
OOC: Caves 2/2
10 MP (IC Post), 50 MP (Participation), 10 MP (Mutation)
Total: 70 MP