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With so many blizzards, the Iron Thorns was struggling as much as the Iron Jugulis, the two of them weren’t fit to be hit by so many of those moves; but a cornered animal, even mechanical, was something to be wary of.
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Druddigon was the first to realise it.
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The cloud of dust from a toppled building parted, a swirling beam of draconic energy struck it head on, shooting it backwards; its back being torn up by the ground it skidded against, and its front being drilled into by the strong beam, Kouji had no choice but to recall it. It was too early for this one yet.
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But…They had time, and so he would wait, Weavile was weaving, cutting between buildings before meeting back up with them, as if waiting on Kouji’s response. They were pretty close now, large trees loomed around them overhead, they were in the forest, and that was fine; darkness would conceal them.
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”We’re here, there’s a clearing up ahead, but how about we go for a bit of harassment first? Wouldn’t that be fun, sir?” He could hear the pulse in his ears, being in this place made him feel like a child again, but this time.
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He wasn’t a cowardly crybaby.
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”You’re up Tyranitar, Absol. Block R.” He gave his pokemon the all clear before he recalled Weavile for his Tyranitar and Absol; a Sandstorm kicked up which quickly connected into a series of growing rocks that were thrown forward in a wave, not at their enemies, but laying out a path.

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Kouji’s leg was grabbed, but he didn’t want to tussle with a man this large…Attacking in this position was too dangerous, so he had no choice but to follow along with the arc of the throw, jumping in the direction that Kaz was spinning in. Before he knew it, Kouji was in the air, it was an impressive amount of strength, and a strong arc; adjusting before he landed; he just about managed to land on his feet, skidding across the floor.
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As for Urshifu, Qing felt the shock of the two Wicked Blow’s scraping against one another, the dark energies shot off light lightning in ever direction, before he felt Domon’s fist impact against his chest, sending him backwards, he flipped and corrected himself before he got down into a stance.
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The fight between the two Urshifu was going to be intense, but for Kouji he had to concentrate on the fight in front of himself, it seemed that his more measured approach was working; he dashed in, fast footwork towards Kaz, he feinted a kick, before going for the overhand punch.
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It was different for Qing who jumped forward with a powerful iron head.

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The man was calm, maybe more calm than the last time that they had run into each other.
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But there was one truth to everything, Kouji disliked that dream, and he disliked how the hatchet was buried, like the goals, objectives, the battles that were fought on Hoenn had never meant anything.
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It made no sense to him.
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”Aye, I’m thankful for your treatment, but I never forgot I was a Rocket, not even for a moment.” His voice was steady, his golden eyes didn’t move from Doug for a moment. It was a moment of respite he had needed in that world, he’d never forget that.
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”I won’t kill ya though, just kick your ass a bit. Or turn around, I’d prefer if you did.”

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[attr="class","text"]Kouji nodded, it was a good approach.
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He wasn’t fond of the wait and see, violence was his preferred path; but he was trying out different things, to learn different ways. ”I’m not the best at tailing, so I’ll let you take the lead on that one.” Kouji would observe the more experienced rocket, gain whatever he could.
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The only experience in tailing he had was before robbing his marks, it was different; intimidation made people take riskier paths. The knowledge they were being followed closed off their routes of escape.
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This wasn’t that.
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The first stop was simple, his office; a man like this was going to be working alongside others, the people he interacted with, the hours he stopped; the bench was only going to be a stop for a few moments as he went into his pocket to pull out a packet of cigarettes, he’d quit after the dream, but it was maybe time to worth it.
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”Nice area though. Don’t look like it sees much crime, thank god. Prim and proper guys like us can’t handle that crap.”
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Time was something that slipped through hands like water, droplets that joined together with a greater pool. Just like that, with time, the sea of people thinned out, and the surroundings were filled with a red tinge, the man they were looking for came out of the building, patting down his face with a towel.

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Kouji grinned, showing his teeth to his enemies, he was ready to dive into the battle in full.
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Iron Jugulis was ready, baring its teeth.
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With the shadow ball, Kouji had a good idea on what to follow up with, opting for a Dark Pulse in that moment, striking for extra critical damage.
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”Aye, we can catch ‘em, they’ll be sneaky and a good thing to give to new recruits.” Kouji said with a nod before he went to grab one of his pokeballs and threw it forward before it hit the pokemon.
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They still had more to go, others came out of the woodworks, and it was time to influence them again.
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”Heatwave.” Another wave of hot air aimed were aimed at the Kecleon.

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The Borders?
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”Urgh…Y’know how weird it is to run into guys you killed? It’s creepy as hell.” He said as he blanched, he needed a little bit of time away from everything to do with that.
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”But I ain’t gonna say no, those treasures’ll be useful to Rocket, and I don’t mind rolling in a battle with the God of Death, wouldn’t that be cool? If I kicked its ass.” He said with a chuckle before he properly stretched out.
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”Just tell me when you’re rea- Wait no, I’ve got a bunch of things i need to do before that, but I’ll drag you off with me when I’m done!”

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Kouji could only blink slowly before he shrugged.
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”Guess that’s fine then, you don’t look like a rookie anyway.” He said as he took the man’s hand and gave it a firm shake. It was paired with a curt nod before he turned around to look over the shore.
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”It’s too nice a day to be playing at war, I sure could enjoy a nice drink, a sunchair, and a day out on the beach.” He said as he released the man’s hand and stretched out. He allowed a hint of a smile onto his face before he turned on his feet.
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”Well, I don’t mind a good brawl either. Gonna kick ‘em guys back to the sea.” There was always an issue or two when it came to being on watch, so many little things to keep track of.
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”So how’re things on the other end?”

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The rolling boulder had thankfully been slowed, Kouji was thankful for that much as he began to move. ”Aye, there should be a way around somewhere.” Or something to that extent? Or maybe there was another solution entirely?
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”Greninja, use Water Shuriken on the wall…” He looked around as he ran away from the tumbling ball, before an indent in the wall became more apparent. To carve a path had been his goal, but the shuriken that landed, high impact pressurised water cut through the facade.
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”There!” If it wasn’t for Alakazam, they’d have been flattened by this point, good thinking. Kouji jumped through, and was surprised at the size of it, but it was still winding even if the walls almost seemed to glow.
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”This place only gets weirder and weirder.” He seemed to mumble, but by the heavy sounds within the confines of that place, it was clear they still were not alone.

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It was cold, but it only increased his assessment of Cillian as a leader, Kouji wondered if other grunts were seen in the same way of the Miltank. No, not just other Grunts, it’d make sense if he fell in that same lens.
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Only the strong had the right to survive, Kouji didn’t consider himself to be an exception to that rule, he just had to leverage it differently now, what they needed was a plan. It wasn’t as if his boss couldn’t do it on his own.
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But if he was just going to be dead weight, it was better to walk into that hyper beam too.
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”Route IHR.” He said aloud, loud enough for Weavile to hear, the pokemon nodded. The slowed down enemies wouldn’t be able to attack just as quickly, and so Weavile began to sharpen his claws, the blades turned sharper and sharper, it’s attention narrowed, his focus increased. Druddigon followed along, tracing the same movement, the same move.
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”Looks like he’s learning. Let’s lead them away from the water, any mix of a hurricane and electric move near the coast will just lead to us being electrocuted. North-East.”
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He just needed to think a little bit more, linear moves weren’t good, and there were definitely other monsters hiding in the town. On the run, unsure of who was an ally or an enemy, danger at every corner, one mistake meant death.
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It was terrifying, but it was that kind of fear that made him move.
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His feet took him north-east, small alleys he used to move goods, to avoid sight, this was the dock town he had smuggled to more than any other. It was that same exhilaration, but he was no longer a child. He no longer had the qualms that he had back in those days, especially not a for a dream.
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”Take down the buildings, make it as difficult for them to follow us as possible.” Weavile and Druddigon split off from him again, the pokemon moved forward with the dragon type smashing straight into the first building he could collide with.
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The dream of fire and smoke was now filled with screams.

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Kouji chuckled.
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”Good, we’re taking this a lot more seriously too this time, we’re not just throwing green grunts into it.” He said as he felt Sharpedo bristle just a little bit, he was always wanting to be the center of attention, the fastest, but Kouji couldn’t give ‘em the attention just yet.
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”And same to you, I don’t want to find your body somewhere on the battlefield.” He said before he turned his attention ahead of them, it was subtle but there was a change in the waves.
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”We should go on a sailing trip once all of this crap blows over.” He said as the cause of it came over the horizon, it was a number of pokemon, sea-based. They were standing there, ready to intercept them.
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The first up, a Gyarados roared in their direction, it swam against the current in a powerful waterfall.

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Kouji looked at the Shiftry who stood there now, his roaring moon could rest up.
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”Tch.”
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He lost sight of her, but at the same time; he could only leave it up to Shiftry; the pokemon was struck by the earth power as he set off a ball light up into the air, setting off a sunny day, the fan-like leaves on his arm began to absorb the light, glowing brighter and brighter for a moment.
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As for Kouji, he began to focus on the surroundings, the last location he had seen her? He moved just as quickly, trusting Shiftry to watch his back as he jumped up, Shiftry’s fan was his base before the pokemon threw him up, to avoid the sand.
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And barely managed to land properly onto the sand, rolling across the ground.
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”Hey, hey, gonna snitch on me this early? I ain’t even get your name.”

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Kouji listened, even as he watched the dragon move beyond the building itself.
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Its hot claws caused the ground beneath it to turn into slag, caused the puddles of blood to bubble around it, the feathers frayed, its wings opened up. But Kouji’s attention wasn’t on that monster which had just been struck with a discharge.
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”Bad? Evil.”
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He brought out his own dragon, Hydreigon roared aloud; filling the air with its rage, it was a creature born of evil, evolved by evil, and in a way it represented a choice that Kouji had made. He understood only after Galar, but he only connected with this dragon during his fight with that dragon tamer.
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”It doesn’t matter either way, but you should know what kind of person I am by now.” Hydreigon gathered energy in its maws as his trainer spoke, collecting together into a singular, larger sphere before he shot it up into the air. The large ball exploded, before raining down on the Roaring Moon.
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”Bad is just how kids explain things they don’t like, Evil is wrong throughout.”
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”I and Rocket are evil.”

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Kouji could feel the flow of energies, dark energy had struck, the two sides were falling; it was becoming more and more intense. Kouji couldn’t tell whether the dark clouds above were caused by nature, or by the many pokemon battles happening on the island.
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Either way, thinking of that wasn’t his task, his task at hand was to defeat the person in front of him.
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Now knowing his opponent’s attitude, he could feel himself grinning. ”Hah! At least you’re not boring, but…I ain’t gonna let ya take from me.” He said as Mandibuzz corrected itself just before it made contact with the water, it’s powerful wingflaps began to kick up waves around it, a conical series of waves as the water was displaced by the forceful flight of the bird.
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There was a shine over Mandibuzz’ eyes as it used mirror move, a lock on, mirrored just above the ocean, it was a game of waiting to see what the opponent would do, copying them to hold them back.
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It wasn’t his old way of fighting, but his old way of fighting had brought him only failures, he was going to move past those.
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”You might just find yourself being taken from now.”

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