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The man next to him, Bryan. It was another supply mission, but the cargo was bigger than usual, it was tougher to deal with, tougher to protect. Most likely medical supplies, if not weapons.
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It was strange to work alongside him, Bryan that is, it had been a while, especially with everything that happened in Galar. ”Delarosa, had any run-ins with the monsters on the other side yet?”
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But he did technically work for the man, so there were things to do. Duraludon, the bridge-shaped pokemon dragged it along. It was a strong pokemon, but the battles would come to them eventually.
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”Only ran into the Greyson guy on my end, tough fellow.”

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Kouji listened.
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”This’ll be Ever Grande one day.”
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He said the words, there was a simple truth to this region, it was at war right now. He understood that regret pretty well. Why was he helping her in the first place? Was it because someone who impressed him looked so pitiful?
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”Y’know. I failed once, back in Kanto. A long time ago, I must've been your age, maybe a little younger.” Kouji spoke the words as if they just slipped out. ”Couldn’t make a choice. I had a bag with a bomb inside, the mission was to drop it by a shelter, a false-flag for the Kantonean government to take the fall. It never happened. I got dug out by someone pretty amazing, stopped me from doing it, took the fall and ran away with the bag.”
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There was almost a fond smile on his face, but it was replaced, something close to disgust on his face. ”I promised I wouldn’t do shit half-way again, but I failed at that too, couldn’t kill ya. But, just promising that is enough. You’ve got shit you wanna protect, yeah?” He said as he turned around to the burning building.
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”The world’s too harsh for kids to be kids right now, you’ll need to buck up. It’ll become bigger and bigger, until this place makes Kanto look like heaven. Think about it, what do you wanna do, Eris?”

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It was like this again.
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She stood stock still, not moving, paralyzed, even unable to breath. It made Kouji’s stomach churn and flip. ”You’re an idiot.” It was his natural response, he looked down at her, the far shorter child.
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She looked far more of a child than she actually was, in this place, in this moment. He felt the heat from behind, the building that was crumbling, burning down, people were certainly dying behind him.
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”Are you just going to stand there? There are people dying around you. There’s going to be people that I’ll kill.” He said as he crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes narrowed.
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”I almost killed you, but you didn’t fight back properly until after I gave up. Are you only going to defend yourself, what’s important to you…”
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”When it’s convenient?”

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”Source for the energy…What kinds of energy are there anyway?” When it came to pokemon, there were a lot of them, but Kouji couldn’t really see the difference between them.
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”Just grab ‘em by the scruff or something, wave a thick wad of cash. Actually, pay for another three months of my meals.” He slipped it in, there was some need to purge the pokemon that were here, but he switched his present one out, and brought out one of his newer ones.
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”You’re up Duraludon.” He ran a hand through his hair, he looked at his pokemon who shook in the place before he released a lightning charge in the shape of a thunderbolt.
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The one struck by that blow was the Tinkatink.
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Kouji then threw out his pokeball, it could be useful for another.

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Was everyone really here for that same damn expedition?
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Kouji had a lot of things on his mind, to hunt for a singular pokemon. The people he saw in passing, the people he had his eyes on. Immediately, his eyes landed on @isaac, his expression was even as he wore his facemask that covered the lower half of his face, as if covering a cold. Making a fuss here would just get him jumped, but he went over to make himself known.
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”Fancy seeing you here.”
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It was a snide comment he made as he walked up to Isaac, and the surrounding group, there was a clear smirk in his voice. He avoided taking it any further than that, it wasn’t the fear of being jumped, but the task at hand was different. He would relish a good fight anyday, but whatever this thing was, it was better placed in Rocket’s hands.
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Traitor hunting could wait.
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The fog was difficult to see through, but he patted Isaac on the back before properly joining the group. ”Isaac, Genny.” It was a natural smile, closer to a smirk. He had his hands stuck in his pockets, unbothered about getting wet.
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”This’ll be a lot easier with a ranger around, now, I ain’t met you three before, I’m Kouji. Call me Kou if ya want.” There was no point in bothering with fake names.

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Alba Evovae[break][break]

NOTES

- Poke-Traffiking

MADE BY GUNSMILE

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It was a well-timed protect, he was sure his pokemon were still digging, but it seemed that his sandile was quick to the rescue, the issue with some pokemon is that they were too gung-ho. It was especially obvious in the case of the young, human or pokemon, rushing into the fight. It snuck around from underneath the ground and popped up at the Iron Jugulis.
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Only to end up in the maw of an Iron Thorns, mechanical teeth sinking into it.
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A part of his mind had latched onto the fact he once had a similar plan, but it had only worked out thanks to the man next to him, but it wasn’t so simple this time around.
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”You idiot. Route RS.” Rescue, Weavile was the first to move, being one of his fastest pokemon, dashing between rooftops, spinning at a high speed before the maws of this monster could finish the job, an ice spinner.
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Druddigon stood by Kouji’s side.
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”I can’t tell whether this is better or worse than the actual day.” He said with a wry smile, but he shrugged it off. If his Sandile couldn’t survive, it was simply too weak, and if they couldn’t the same was true.
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Just like it had been for the people who had lived in this city.
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”Only way out is fighting, Druddigon. Path Bb.” His pokemon roared an assent before he ascended.
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But Kouji’s eyes were instead on the landscape. ”We should move sir, these guys might be playing out the role of Rocket, which means the docks aren’t safe.”

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It was a laugh.
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Belly bursting even, at least this guy had a sense of humor. Fighting this guy was a shame, Kouji would’ve liked to be able to go toe to toe with this man in a different environment, but that wouldn’t happen now.
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”I’ll pass, but maybe once I beat the crap outta you, I’ll use you for squats, been meaning to get some new weights.” He said with a smirk, his eyes fixed on his opponent across from him, he slide one of his legs forward, arm braced to begin a fight.
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”It ain’t lifting rockets, but it’s a home workout, so I’ll just have’ta adjust.” His hand went for his pokeball, it was a clear showing before he threw it out. Urshifu stood there, a menacing aura emanating from Qing the moment that he stepped into the battlefield.
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He’d been raring for it, being close to the place that he was born.
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”Hope you’re ready.”

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The floor fell, Kouji could only instinctually go for his pokeball, the dragon that came from it appeared beneath him, the mechanical form, and lights that were all around its body began to switch on and off as if attempting to communicate. ”Urgh, its’ you.” Disgust was apparent in his voice, before he saw Velvet’s plan for what it was.
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”Use heatwave, we’ll make it more intense, no hiding out on this one.” He said just as various shapes started to appear from the darkness, that shape, that color; the ability to change color so comfortably.
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It was Kecleon, smoking them out like that had been the best option, and the flames gave some light as the pokemon were washed over with them.
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”Not a bad idea, so, wanna report back, or kick their asses?”

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Kouji had just missed his pokemon’s strike, but even then that was fine, what he didn’t get was who this woman was talking about, but that didn’t matter to him, did it? The hurricane that whipped out around them. He struggled to hold onto Dracovish as the two of them were raised into the air, spun around at high speeds with water joining the powerful winds to form a waterspout, but Dracovish was at home in water, swimming against it back to the water.
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But it was obvious it had taken some damage from it, and that damage made it more enraged.
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”Does it even matter? You’ll die either way.” Kouji didn’t know, but he could feel it; this place was strange. He didn’t want to know his opponent as he usually did, he didn’t want to talk as he usually did. All he could think about was the fight, all he could do was act like an animal.
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His usually smirking expression was replaced, contorting into a rictus of disgust, a snarl rolling off his lips. ”Disgusting. People like you make me sick.” Dracovish didn’t move, yet a growl was building in the back of his throat.
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”Path Break bite.” Kouji told his pokemon, who finally roared aloud before diving into the depths once more, taking a large arc before jumping out of the water, mouth open, and yet dark energies coalesced around its mouth.
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Crunch, a terrible bite that sought to bite through armor and flesh alike.

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Kouji looked wistfully at the departing group and their words.
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He squeezed his fists together tightly, anger spread through his veins like wildfire, he’d make sure to give them a few very tough rounds in the training room later. As that intensity built up without an outlet, he quickly turned to Grigori but before he could let that vitirol explode outwards.
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Compromise.
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”Yeah…” He took in a deep breath, a long deep one that reached the bottom of his lungs before he nodded slowly. ”Maybe we’ll get another chance in the future, then we’ll share.” He said as he looked over his shoulder and then thought about it.
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”I’ve got some fresh tea leaves in my bag, we’ll sit and chat or something like that.” He said with a shrug as he turned to grab it, some tea would take the edge off infinitely better.
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”Oh, my name’s Kouji Matsubara by the way, what’s yours?”

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It was times like this that Kouji wished he read.
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Something to fix.
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As his gradually reddenning expression, and heat that he felt in his face got more intense, he took in a deep breath, and quickly slapped his cheeks. Whatever, he had made mistakes before, and would continue to do so, it was a matter of minimising them, he wasn’t a kid anymore.
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”Aye, I’d like to join.”
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But as this was an opportunity, Kouji went to take it to ask a question he’s wondered for a while. ”How many families are we protecting right now, and can we expand that?” In a sense, it might have been hypocritical to target them, Kouji wouldn’t have been here himself if that had been the case.
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But others might not have left in the first place if this was true.
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”I’m sure it’s sitting in some files somewhere, but if we can…” He left the unsaid words in the air.

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It didn’t matter what happened here, it was a dream; was it her dream?
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Kouji didn’t know, he might’ve just been a figment of his own imagination, but at the same time he was standing there at that moment, thinking. He looked forward, arms crossed, eyebrows furrowed together. He was part of a team that hunted down these traitors now, but at the same time he was on the battlefield with a hundred other people.
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Should he kill her?
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The fact he had failed before had stopped him, a part of him knew that he’d fail again.
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”So you’re from Kanto huh? Sure looks like hell, which town was this, doesn’t look like Vermillion when it fell.” He said as he looked around, hands in his pockets. He had been watching for a long time.
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”Life was sure shit for y’all weaklings back then, wasn’t it.”

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