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Kouji grinned.
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It was a strange sight in all of this, but there was something behind there. He had lost the shine that existed in his eyes the last time they had met, they were murky, something else was swimming in those golden orbs. ”Didn’t think ya believed in that. Route CC.” He told his two pokemon.
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Druddigon had little time to react as it was struck by a Dragon Pulse, it was a strong strike, a powerful move that struck it square on the chest; shooting it backwards; impacting against the wall with an explosion of force. But that only enraged the dragon, the orders were straight forward but it hesitated for a moment before it charged forward with an Iron Head
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The two biggest threats on this field were easy to see, Genesect and Vortigern, but for at least a moment, he could put the dark Garchomp to the edge of his attention; he was dangerous to both sides at this moment. But then again, so was Hydreigon.
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The three-headed dragon of the dark found its minds filled with the evilest of notions as it spotted Vortigern, its sinister thoughts intertwining with the malevolence of its three heads. Energy surged in tumultuous waves, crackling and pulsating, as it witnessed the other dragon, Vortigern, begin rampaging with its outrage. The dragon's heart pounded with anticipation, hope of reclaiming its pride. Nasty Plot was in effect, pushing its strength upwards.
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Evening the odds, Kouji brought out Samurott, the darkened swordsman of a pokemon who would be a calming force on his team. Even if it felt the hidden rocks dig into his paws, into his legs, and various other places; it kept a calm eye on its surroundings.
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”Navy, are you really gonna go two on one, where’s your warrior spirit? Becoming a gym leader’s sure doused it, huh?” There was a playful smirk on his face as he said the words, he didn’t expect the words to have an effect, they were lies; both would know that.
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The stealth rocks would be a problem, might as well provide some to the opposite side. ”Ceaseless edge.” The Dark Type swung his horn, sending shards of blackened crystals around the area as the blade charged towards Mugen.
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The battle had only just begun.
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”I hope you guys don’t plan to pull punches, cos I ain’t either.”

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Kouji nodded without really understanding.
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”Shit sure has changed, ain’t it. Battles happen all the time, and no-one knows when their city is the next one. Must be hard to perform during those times, but y’know what?” He didn’t get her kind of music, he hadn’t listened to her before, but there was a charm to music, something unique only to it.
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”Those guys won’t care about any of that when you start playing your music.” He said as he looked up at the ceiling. ”Dead parents, terrible job, bullying, moving, any kind of drama one has in their life. If there’s anything that makes it better for a couple of moments, ain’t it a song?”
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But then again, the hell did he know, escapism had never worked out for him, the moment he tried to look away, there was a hand to make him look back at that which he tried to ignore.
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”Not like I plan to preach, just the words of some random security guard, Kouji by the way.”

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He knew it was coming.
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He didn’t know it would feel like that, it was a heavy thud that rumbled to the top of his head, it was a prosthetic, that impact was without a doubt a metal limb. He stumbled back a half step, he could feel blood fill the inside of his mouth, and he was sure his jaw was cracked.
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”Nice, now grit your teeth.” He began to bounce on his heels, ready to fight; hands were held up. He’d just have to remind himself this wasn’t a fight to kill someone else, and with that, he dashed forward; low to the ground, before turning on his pivoting foot for a low sweeping kick.
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Naturally, he was ready to follow up with a stomp, it was pretty rare for him to have an all out fight with Xenon.

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With the protect shattering like glass, ephemeral shards hovered in the air, he might’ve been surrounded by five dragons, but he saw the reflections of dozens, his eyes scanned for a gap, a place to move beyond.
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”Weaklings should die.”
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It was his only response, he would most likely lose this battle, he had lost two of his pokemon already, and he was outnumbered even with the ones he had on his person. He had held them up, but he wouldn’t be able to get her to turn around, so he sighed instead.
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”But I ain’t gonna squander this chance to live, but first; Dragon Tamer. What do you consider the most important thing when training a dragon.” Kouji was a dark type trainer, he always would be. The absolute honesty of that type was what drew him to them, but Dragons were different. The were prideful, territorial, haughty, and intense.
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It was a different ride, a difficult ride; so he wanted to blood as many as he could.

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There were a lot of things that Kouji could’ve said in that moment, that she was too weak to live perhaps, or that the man across from him was tangled in with Rocket, little true choice in his hands. But he opted for none of them, it didn’t make sense, and perhaps they were things Bryan already understood.
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”Sounds terrible, so you lost your sister, and now want to make the League pay for it huh?” Kouji didn’t dislike that as a reason, but then again, he didn’t have enough of a leg to stand on when it came to disliking the motivations of others. ”Ain’t easy, I’ll say that.”
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There really was no beating around the bush when it came to Bryan, nor did he really want to. ”We both know it ain’t gonna be a better world with Rocket, you fine with others suffering even worse fates than you or your sister? I don’t mind, this kinda region wasn’t build for people like me, so I’m happy to screw everyone else over. Ain’t sure if you’re the same kinda guy.”
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Once upon a time, he might’ve worked himself to death for his family, but he no longer had one, they were just traitors who’d left him behind; he held no love for them.

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Underestimating a pokemon came at one’s own expense, Kouji knew that full well, Larvitar was a pokemon when given enough time, could eat a good chunk of a mountain.
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Making a building shake heavily should have been child’s play, and it did, the ground underneath Dracovish erupted, and the dragon was shot upwards into the air by the sheer shock of the move.
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”Little guy sure is strong.” He said with a smirk before Dracovish angled its maw downards. ”Path p.” Kouji called, there was no learning anything by using the optimal path, it would just be a beat down…But then again, maybe Howard would surprise him?
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”Dragon Pulse, Serizawa is pretty strong for a Larvitar, you lose some potential when you evolve it. Sure a Tyranitar hits like a truck and is super armored, but being a small target, and still hitting hard, even more so when they’re hurt.” It’s the guts of an upstart, that was what made these guys so impressive.
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”If ya didn’t mind putting him in the way of harm, he’d be a terrifying little ankle biter. So, next up is you. I’m gonna have him use Fishious rend next, it might seriously hurt Serizawa, what do you do?”

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”None of ‘em are my type, so I’ll keep on searching.”
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He said with a laugh before he focused fully on the battle in front of them once more, it was going to get more and more dangerous, Kouji knew that well enough but it was also a good opportunity to cover with one of his newer pokemon.
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”Don’t gotta ask, I’ve got your back.” He said as he brought out Bisharp, the pokemon that carefully balanced on the back of Dracovish, the bladed pokemon was ready. ”If ya die, it’s on you. Prove you’re strong, Bisharp.” He instructed the pokemon who gave a brief nod before Dracovish charged forward.
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As Marina moved, Kouji’s Sharpedo moved on over to Tempest, as if to cover his partner. ”Enjoying your dip.”
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It was a powerful strike, Mega evolution, and a Z move tore a hole in their ranks, a huge gap that would be difficult to fill, but that meant being even more careful, but an untrained pokemon only saw it as a chance. With the Golduck out, Gyarados finished, and various other water type pokemon either ko’d, or close to it.
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Bisharp jumped at an Octillery, only to be met with a Fire-Blast, a powerful strike that exploded on impact and sent him soaring ba-
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It should have, if the Octopus shaped pokemon didn’t latch onto them, and held the Bisharp close as if to use him as a shield.
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”Don’t hesitate, Dracovish, Fishous Rend.” Kouji said cooly.
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Their obstacles were almost finished with, no point in holding back this far into the game.

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It made sense, something like ally switch, confuse ray, or something different; it wasn’t that different to the tactic that brat used.
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But that brought on something else, it might’ve been the long way around to ask this, but Kouji did it anyway. It was hard to motivate himself to engage in this conversation that he sought out; but there was no point being a brat about it.
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”You’re a Beast, so; just how do you decide outside of orders when to fight, and when to run? Not asking ya how to decide what a winnable fight is, but how you decide whether you have to fight.” It was the bigger question on his mind.
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”The way I see it, it’s gotta be a fight for the thing driving you. The goal that keeps you going.” Yet, as he spoke he could only glare at the man across from him, as if that was one of the goals in front of him.

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Such a speedy return, Kouji should have expected such when he was dealing with this speed demon.
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”As expected of Mauville’s gym leader, your pokemon are pretty damn fast.” Tyranitar had quite simply, not expected such a fast return strike, especially from two large pokemon like that, finding himself being blasted backwards, skidding across the ground, Kouji recalled him with his pokeball.
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It was a one on one now, two dragons fighting against one another, and he’d have to leave it to Dracozolt to finish it off. He’d had the pokemon avoiding damage for a reason, to be able to hold it off for a while. ”Use thunder wave.” It warbled, the electricity in the air, to strike at the Tyranitar.
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To slow the pokemon down, it was simple set-up, but taking away the Gym’s strongest tool would be just what he needed to finish this up.

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”Well done.”
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She was excitable, it wasn’t particularly surprising to Kouji, but then again bright eyed individuals were becoming increasingly rare. With time, he only saw them as flight risks, so even as he walked, he decided to break the ice some.
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”What made ya join Rocket?” It was a frontal assault of a question, his eyes were fixed onto her even in the darkness, he allowed her to lead the way back down.
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”You seem pretty chipper for a criminal.”

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Kouji cracked his neck as he found himself back in his homeplace, it really was comfortable to be back after something like that. ”You don’t look like you enjoyed our date all that much.” He said with a smirk, it was pretty amusing to him in the end, he didn’t need to kill to find joy in a fight.
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As short as it was, it was still for the glory of rocket, or some crap like that. He didn’t preach it aloud, but even these jewels would be of some use in that endeavour. It’d make going back and doing it again just that much harder, but it wasn’t his problem.
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”Night’s still young if you wanna brawl.” He said as he cracked his shoulder and rolled it.
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”Or am I not enough?”

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Taking it as an invitation, more so than he really should have; Kouji went to grab the water; he felt parched afterall.
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”Stages are pretty damn hot, y’know? You’ll end up dehydrated, or some crap like that. But it ain’t my job to preach to you.” He said prior to putting away the water, backing it down, and feeling it’s soothing coolness run down the back of his throat, it was just what he had needed.
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”What’s got ya anyway? Feeling some stage fright? Got bitten by some rapid dog or fan?”
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Frankly, it wasn’t his business; but he felt curious. It was a world completely different from his own, but one he occasionally looked into.
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But that didn’t make it any less alien, so he sat down; just to watch and listen, maybe there was some wisdom here that he could make some use of.

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Guys like this pokemon were dangerous, Kouji adored using the combination of ghost and dark, but hated going up against it even more. Spiritomb was dangerous, even if it was just a simulation; it was better to cut past it as quickly as possible.
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What would be the result?
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Spiritomb fought back, the spirits that escaped its shell continued to make haunting noises, just as much as the keystone that bound them to this world. It was like a microcosm of the borders, it was as gross as anything could be.
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”Snarl.” It was a powerful soundwave just moments after Kouji gave the order, a highly focused move that struck Spiritomb with a soundwave, making it more difficult to strike back.
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”That should interrupt ‘em for a little bit.” He said as he looked over his shoulder to Nomi.
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”Can’t believe you keep those things around, they’re creepy as hell.” He said as he looked to the Unown.

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