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Kouji watched his bird fall to pieces, splash against the sea, it wasn’t the first time he had lost a pokemon, even on that very day, but it wasn’t a fond experience. He was a survivalist at his core, cutting his pokemon out had never been hard, but that was a particularly grim death.
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Hydregion didn’t care.
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The three headed dragon roared as his attack struck, but the falling meteors were quick to change his mind, the falling rocks were dangerous; everybit as potent as one would expect from a dragon, it dodged, weaved, and it was still struck. One on his hind leg, another on his wounded head, causing it to almost fall down.
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It filled him with terrible thoughts, dark energy pulsed and mixed as he committed to his Nasty Plot, rage increased the power, and his evil notions pushed the rest. Kouji on his back couldn’t even begin to make sense of how to stay balanced properly on the dragon who attempted to soar back up.
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It didn’t care for his rider, he tried to buck him multiple times.
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”Fucking hell, keep your head in the fight.”

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It was true, but he only shook it off with a shrug.
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”Shouldn’t have left, didn’t think our friendship was worth so little.” He said as he looked at the surroundings. ”We hurt each other, you left rocket, I think we’re even.” He said with a chuckle, it was as if it didn’t matter to him anymore, but that smirk turned flat.
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”But once you pick yourself up again, after today, I’ll come for you again. Make sure you’re stronger.” He said as he looked over his shoulder at the flames, just as it had parted, a number of monsters rose up into the air, and Kouji understood that the time for talking was becoming less.
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Guess this was the first test, for the both of them.
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Kouji grinned as the kick grazed past his face as he was forced backwards, a slide across the sand. Taking a man this large to the ground was a mistake, even if he was proud of his Aikido, it was better to take it to a standing fight, even with those muscles he could respond fast enough. Kouji bounced on his heels as he felt a warmth drip down the side of his cheek, it was a sharp kick.
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It was comfortable enough for Urshifu, the Aerial ace struck well, a line of blood fell down his chest, and he found himself bouncing in sync with his trainer, as if their fighting spirit was in sync.
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His grown muscles had helped him somewhat, yet energy gathered around his fist, spinning at a high speed as Qing stepped forward, sand blew in both ways before he punched the pitch-black energy forward, a wicked blow.
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As for Kouji, he had no special energies, or the ability to turn his muscles into armour, it was a simple matter of mind over matter, he began to move slowly, fast steps over the ground as sand was kicked up with him pushing his footwork. He opened up with a jab and then another, just at the edge of his range, before he stepped in for a leg kick.

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Kouji could only muster up the words that came from his own experiences, to think of them, he had dwelled on them for a long time, and he had felt the consequences of those actions. He had sat twenty years watching happiness roll by, and concentrate only on the pain of his own existence, of that world.
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Looking at the little girl in front of him, he could only admit to being a brat.
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”Aye, it never lasts. But it sure does feel better than hurting, whenever it fades, you just fill yourself up with more and more happiness.” He removed his hand from her head, and then smirked.
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”And if it ever overflows, well, that’s when you share it with others.” It was simple really, words that came naturally. It might have sounded cliche, or overdone, but it was what he had come to the conclusion of.
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”If you live every moment scared of losing something, you’ll never have anything in the first place. The strength to move, the strength to try, the strength to succeed. That kinda crap? That’s what comes from having something. Honestly, the brat that showed me up being so pitiful is kinda sad.”

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”Innocents sure are easier to fight.” It was a natural set of words that came out of his mouth as a reply to Cillian’s statement, but rather than dryness; it was tinged in amusement. ”Less fun though, can’t get into a real brawl with them.”
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Kouji could move just fine, even with the Roaring Moon up ahead, the map was perfectly set in his mind, he knew this dock well, and the roads that led through it; so he simply moved. ”There’s a little overhang around the corner.”
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It had been years, but he remembered it, the dozen steps of his childhood, were a few strides in his current years. TIme really was cruel, but in a way these had been some of his fondest years, forged him into his present self.
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But it was still hell.
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”Iron Thorns is a problem, but if we don’t get rid of Iron Jugulis, we’ll be stuck.” He said as he saw Weavile dash past, it was running interference. He didn’t need to give it more instructions, the pokemon knew what to do, it was Druddigon, a newcomer that was more concerning.
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The less said about Sandile the better, it was simply too weak to make it.

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If nothing else, even in the haze of this mist that overtook his mind, Kouji had to admit one thing.
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This Gyarados had good instincts, the Hyper Beam was a tremendously strong attack, Dracovish was fast to react, especially as it was within the sea it loved so much, but not to dodge or defend itself.
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To buck its trainer from its back, Kouji managed to narrowly avoid the Hyper beam that struck his pokemon head on, and blasted it back down towards the water, a large wave ended up crashing into the rocket just as quickly, sending him back, spiralling until he felt a weight impact against him.
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It was Dracovish, he swam upwards with his half-conscious pokemon in tow until they broke the surface of the water, taking in a big gulp of air, he recalled. He could hear what she had said, a reply to his words.
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Yet, the ichor that filled his veins only grew thicker by the moment, it was a rage foreign to him, filling him with words, words that really should not be his own, words that stemmed from the drea-Nightmares, of others.
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”A blight on all the universes? Your universe is a blight on all others.”
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Why did he say that, it was a moment of lucidity he regained and clawed back.
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”Wait, what. Fuck.” The mist was getting to him, he knew that but it was impossible to resist, so he called forth a different pokemon, Mandibuzz. This would be a good test of her, if she could perform better than the last one.
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In battle it was kill or be killed, and with a powerful leer, she understood that assignment perfectly well.

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What was he going to do about it?
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It might’ve been a lifetime away, but it was what had made him the person he was, everybit as important as the decades of torture, it was there that he decided what he was going to do with himself. Everybit as pivotal as his fight with Navidson, it put a direction to the road he was walking on.
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To deny that would be trampling on everything he was. He didn’t move for a second, Kouji was stuck in place, his face contorted through various expressions. In times when it mattered, he really did regress to that gutless coward. Doubt waged a fierce battle within his mind, making the seconds stretch into countless hours. He was supposed to fight, Tsubaki wouldn’t turn around, she had decided to go past him.
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Could he stop her?
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It wasn’t a simple question to ask himself. But he took in a deep breath, he had made choices before, he had failed because his heart stirred before. He promised not to kill his heart to move like a machine, so he wouldn’t. This was for the sake of the world he wanted to create, even if it would cause pain to others.
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”I’ll stop you.”
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Roaring Moon hadn’t moved, the Mystical fire had struck it head on, an explosive force that spread flames across it but draconic energies raged throughout it, a large wingflap to disperse those flames.
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”Don’t cry if you end up swimming back.” He said as his Roaring Moon was spurred onwards, spinning in the air; making tight maneuvers to make it hard to read; Acrobatics that was aimed at falling atop the Flutter Mane.
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All Kouji could do in this fight was hang on tight.

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”Something like that, officially joined right before the attack on Granite Cave.”
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He saw his Greninja move, but that wouldn’t work on its own, spikes were solid for slowing down one’s enemy, make them scared to move on their own, to attack without thinking. But that wasn’t the only option available to him.
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”Shuriken.” The Greninja complied, and followed along, it was still new to the team, but he still threw the watery stars of death at the swarm of Rabsca, it left bodies behind, moving in sync with Marshadow.
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”You recently came back didn’t ya, what had you gone?” It was perhaps not his place to ask, but he didn’t mind whether he got an answer or not, his hands were in his pockets following along the path, there were a number of things coming up ahead, the rumbling of the floor was one of them.
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It was almost cliche, but there was a reason that some inventions were reused consistently, and a giant rolling stone ball was as effective as anything else could be in a narrow path, it was heading towards them.

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Kouji began to roll his shoulders.
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”Reading a human ain’t that hard, especially if you’ve been fighting for your life since you were a kid.” He rolled his other shoulder at that point in time, he was ready to get involved himself. Ever since he had gotten rolled on the ground by Zev Harcourt, he could only think about how to defend against takedowns better, how to counter and roll with Jiujitsu even better.
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He was a striking specialist, just like his pokemon, Urshifu had been dodged, the created space and the growling, it was something that made his body pump up; his muscles tensed up, bulked up. His eyes began to glow as his muscles did the same, the other one moved fast, it was like fighting Absol.
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It was detected in advance, and so he sought to try and counter that. ”Route RR.” He told Qing, who nodded before he struck a pose, it was a similar movement to before, but it was simply a feint before he went in for an Iron Head.
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Kouji used that chance to dive in forward himself, low to the ground, ready to close the distance, a clear smirk on his face. ”Can’t let ‘em have all the fun.”

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Salamence's fangs sank into his Mandibuzz’, it was a death spiral that tore chunks of feather and flesh into all directions, Kouji was struggling to hold on, but eventually those claws would even reach him.
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He went into his pocket as he prepared to leap off, one hand on a pokeball, the other on a knife that the threw towards Freya. Considering the arrow from before, he considered it fair, but what was a more startling realisation as he tumbled in the air was the fact that the skies really did belong to the dragons.
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If that were the case, he could only depend on his own.
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The pokemon that appeared underneath him was Hydreigon, the dragon that existed outside of his control. It was a wild creature, but he had relied on it, the last time he had been here it had been proof of his ethos. You either caught up or died, Mandibuzz was on the way towards death, and the little Deino that could had become a Hydreigon through the span of a battle.
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”Guess you weren’t meant to be. Hope the next one can survive.” Yet, there was no calm in his voice, nor joy, just a tint of remorse. He patted the head of his Hydreigon, one of the heads snapped at him but the dragon otherwise didn’t pay attention to him.
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”We’re going all out in brutality.” The roar of ascent that led to draconic energies building in his maws, a cycling soon-to-be torrent, Dragon Pulse.
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”Let’s avenge Mandibuzz.” Just as the bird had fallen apart into pieces, flesh, blood, bone, and sinew was thrown into all directions.

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Kouji ran a hand through his hair, gripping his fringe between his fingers, he looked at the opponent across the way from him. The man he was fighting was someone worth getting a good scrap with.
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He’d have to keep him alive.
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”That they do, but mine wants to fight right after, makes him tough to handle. I’d love to fight ‘em, but…I don’t really have to explain how that’ll end up.”
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Urshifu, Qing, looked at the one across from him, they were going to clash, to fight directly against one another; there was no point in playing around. He struck a stance, he was of the school of a singular strike, he ducked low, slid his foot forward.
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Then charged forward, a powerful kick, it’s variation of Close Combat, a perfect form delivered to a reverse hip kick on an upwards arc, then going back down with an axe kick, seeking to bring his opponent down as soon as possible.
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Yet, the smirk on the pokemon’s face showed that he wanted a proper fight, and he knew he would be getting it. He’d rely on his youthful energy, it’s chutzpah.
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”Looks like these guys are gonna have their fun.”

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Kouji watched the door slide open.
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His eyebrow shot up, but then again it was to be expected, he was dealing with a former Head-Scientist. He couldn’t see it, his eyes stuck on the path, and the Rabsca that were coming out of the woodworks.
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”You’re up Greninja. Block S.”
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He came out and immediately threw out spikes, its color shifted ever so slightly, becoming more angular, to make it more difficult for the Rabsca to come towards them, but at the same time.
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”How’d you figure that one out? Were you the one up for days?”

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