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”You got a few years left, but then again you’re jumping between battlefields now.” She and Hideo were similar in that sense, two kids that couldn’t leave alone, or was it others that wouldn’t leave them alone? Kouji couldn’t quite tell, but he felt the annoyance through her stare.
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”Not like I came looking for ya. I’m here to scout out this town, you just happened to be nearby. I ain’t so rude to not say hi to a friend y’know?” Kouji said as he gave a deep sigh, he kicked the faked energy out of his voice.
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”Want me to have some reason to find you? I’m not hunting you or Isaac for now, hell I’m not hunting anyone at the moment.” His voice was even, still, calm.

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”Being the same person definitely helps.” Kouji said as he rolled his neck both ways until he could hear a pop in his upper back. A sigh of relief, definitely something his nineteen year old body never experienced, but the distortions were weird, and at times it felt like a second, at times he remembered it as years.
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The mind was strange.
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Did he introduce himself as Kouji or Kouma? He was struggling to remember before he simply shrugged. ”Still treating them pokemon well? You did come away with a lot more than just a basket full of strawberries y’know.” He managed to give a smirk, even if the last year had not provided him with many reasons to smile, and more to be depressed about…
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He hadn’t lost his skill at faking it.
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”With that memory, I wonder if only your brain went through a time distortion instead of me.” He managed to chuckle as his eyes landed on her mega crystals, it was interesting just how much time had changed.
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She wasn’t just a musician now, but a gym trainer; a different path than what she had under Callan.

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Kouji had to deal with the incoming people, they were making noise and more people rushed in. The grunt brandished his weapon, holding it tightly in his hands as he stepped forward; eyes facing the opposition.
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He looked at the feet of the men in front of him, not looking upwards before he threw out his own Pokemon, his Greninja making sure to use extrasensory to remove the Pokeball before they could be used only two Pokemon came out in time before the Pokeball were removed. He could let Greninja deal with them.
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He dashed forward, he had been training for about as long as he could live; so he made sure to take them in the narrower passage that led to the more open deck…Using his knife, and kicking out at the right moments. He kept his foot tight, and allowed them to close in; making sure to use his space effectively.
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It came naturally almost, a cycle, attack, step in, push, attack the legs and begin the process once more. The largest one seemed to see the trend as he charged at Kouji, taking the man’s knife into the shoulder as he went for a takedown, but Kouji had to adjust, a man bigger than even him, a bear of a person.
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He kicked out at the man’s knees just as he tried to straddle Kouji; the Rocket Grunt took that moment to grab the man’s arms, and wrapped his legs around it before he pulled, a satisfying snap provided him with the confidence to grab at his knife stuck in that man’s shoulder and turned to the rest.
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”Anyone else who takes a step forward is going to get killed, no excuses. I’ll sink this whole damn ship if I have to.” Kouji said as he backed up slowly, turning towards the control area.
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”You good in there kid?” He said as he turned around only to see the intense fighting happening inside, it was intense but Kouji threw his knife at the Captain’s back, in the hopes to end it. They needed to grab their backup, and get the hell outta there.

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The meals of Pokemon huh? Kouji wondered just what he would feed to his dracozolt, there was always the option of buying some meat from the store, or some pokechow of some kind; but this was different.
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”Something big and full of meat, but we could always do with some Oran Berries too.” He said as he looked to Ettie, so she lived here with her pack? Was she raised out in the wild with pokemon? He doubted that, she spoke language pretty well as far as he could tell.
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”Appreciate the help.” To which his Dracozolt began to buzz, knowing that there was food coming up always excited it, small bits of electricity dancing across the surface of its lower body created the high pitched sound.
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”How’d you meet this pack of yours?”

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It was an overflow of hate, all directed at him for his actions. Kouji would have faced this headone, take it on the chin, allow her to vent, to trade blows until their heart was made just a little lighter.
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He didn’t have that time now.
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”I’m not asking permission.” Urshifu being teamed up on like this was quickly becoming annoying, he needed his pokemon free of these shackles. ”Cut through Urshifu.” A cold voice, he didn’t even have the energy in him to argue any longer.
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The twin attacks struck the martial bear back to back, a kick to the chest from Ogerpon, but Urshifu didn’t have time to deal with the smaller pokemon, it only had eyes for the Ultra Beast; getting attacked directly after his close combat struck far harder, a super effective strike for sure.
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”Go again.” He told the Urshifu who dashed in low, fists primed before releasing an explosive impact at the point of meeting, Kouji had to keep that Pokemon off his own and brought out his Umbreon who released a Snarl into the air itself, a sound based attack.
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This wasn’t the only heartache he would be the cause of today, there was no time to pause for this one as he grabbed hold onto his Umbreon, sitting upon her back. ”We’ll see each other on the battlefield, I’ll go prepare for that, you do the same. Or you can sit here in despair and forget about everything you preach.” He spoke, his tone even, his golden eyes hawkishly fixed onto her.
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”Don’t feel so bad, everyone forgets their principles when it doesn’t suit them anymore. You’re just no longer a freak now.”

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To call the events of the last couple of minutes anything but a tragedy was to miss the point of war. Even Kouji Matsubara, as distorted a person as he was could see that, the heart rending scream that came from Andrea Vaneau was one that he couldn’t help but flinch at. He’d done many terrible things in his life, but to see the consequences of his actions.; What they did to other people. That was new.
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He had spent a lot of time thinking about it in the past, how he would react to it, would he waver, would his heart move?
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It did neither, as he could feel the heartbeat in his ears, the rising body temperature and the feel of his pokemon in his arms. Her scream didn’t elicit anything, neither sorrow nor joy; he had truly been emptied out…Hadn’t he?
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A frown on his face as he withdrew his pokemon, the only thing he could think about was…Finding help.
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His pokemon would perish if he delayed, but if he withdrew, everything would have been for naught. To go forward, or to retreat, that was the question now. He knew that, understood that; felt that.
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”I told you…So many times. This is the result, you shouldn’t have gotten involved…You should have just ran.”
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Words that wouldn’t provide succor, Kouji got back onto his feet, standing up; his shoulders sagging. His words were the kind that just lit fires, he didn’t know how to comfort another person when he was incapable of doing the same for himself.
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A deep breath, to the very depths of his lungs; until his chest inflated so much that it hurt. A deep sigh, until he emptied everything he’d been holding. No answers would come to him, he was just breathing so he could move, a machine.
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”I need to get on with my mission.” He needed to get his pokemon tended to. He needed Absol to survive.
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Yet as the area was bombarded with Draco Meteor, as the land was being upheaved by her very grief itself, Kouji could only watch on with another sigh. He didn’t have time, he didn’t have many options, he had to decide.
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March on.
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Or retreat.
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Save this life, or leave it behind?
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It was important to him, but so were other lives for others. Why was he making exce-
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He shook his head, he didn’t have time for this. He didn’t have time for any of this, he had ot make a decision.
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Break more hearts, or save this one life. Absol or Petalbur-
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”I’m leaving. If you don’t want more hurt, leave. We’re picking up our attack.” He needed her out of his way, her and her pokemon.
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He went to his pokeball, his trusted partner and friend. ”Qing, we’re breaking past that monster.” Guzzlord, a dragon dark type, a pokemon after his own heart. He was going to try and put it down this time.
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His fighting type opened up with a Close Combat, doing its best to weave between the meteors made of Draconic spirit, and finding a few striking its form.

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One who spits on the idea of peace?
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It might’ve brought a smirk to his face had he not witnessed that Ivy Cudgel strike his Pokemon, even as he drew back his Roaring Moon, teetering in and out of consciousness, his mind and eyes were fixated on the events happening behind the battle line…
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One could simply call it a tragic accident, a line of events that would lead to an unfortunate result. The Ivy Cudgel couldn’t be seen as the leading cause; but it had been the spark as it struck Absol, not directly on its horn but just off; on the top of its head causing it to crash downwards and onto one of the pieces of earth forced upwards.
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It wasn’t impalement, but it had led to a nasty injury that caused the Dark Type to howl out. ”Absol!” It wasn’t even a thought, his feet moving in a moment as he grabbed his walkie talkie.
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”Need supporting fire on my position, blast them away.” Battle, a fair fight, clashing ideals, none of it mattered to him right now. Even stopping the civilians from escaping wasn’t his in his mind.
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Getting rid of his enemies was.
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It was a bombardment, and Kouji was running through it as attacks, Technoblasts of various types rained down from above, the sounds of sights locking into the location could be heard. The great war machine of the present age, the Genesect. A truly miraculous and marvelous creation brought down to simple butchery.
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Each strike barely missed as he was knocking from his feet multiple times but he eventually crawled his way to his pokemon’s side. ”Good…” He was still breathing, but he’d need to do something at some point, get him some real help.
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But he had a war to fight.
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Even terrible tactics such as this one went.
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”Sorry. But I can’t afford to lose. I refuse to lose anything else.” For this region, to this region. ”Even if you’re one of the bodies I have to step over, Andrea.”
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This was a shame, they would never be friends after the actions he had taken, and a part of him would not be able to forgive her if anything happened to his partner, his first friend, the only one to stick by him this whole time.
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This town would certainly pay.

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Absol struggled to deal with the pokemon in front of him, even with its attack it was only met by a Spiky Shield that caused the damage to rebound back on him. It was painful, as if many thorns were poking at its body. It had to figure something out, some way around this as his horn began to glow with dark intentions, a Night Slash being powered by the evil notions passing from it to his trainer but instead of heading for Ogerpon, it dashed back towards the group of trainers and civilians.
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”Wrong with the orders? Are we supposed to just sit in an island, and wait for you guys to wipe us and our goals out? Most of us don’t work in the society that you all live in…” It was a group, a coalition of soldiers, of rejects, of those unwanted by society itself.
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Those who rejected society in turn.
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And sometimes, those such as himself who had never gotten the opportunity to partake.
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”I won’t back away from those orders. Wrong or right, we’ll decide by whoever wins. You can choose to oppose us…But don’t cry at the results, I won’t. I’ll keep spitting on the idea of peace. I don’t want it.” Those were tough words for a man who found himself at the bottom of the well.
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”Don’t back down, use Primitive Devouring!” A move of the highest order, a large maw formed from the very draconic energies that lurked within its bodies, a giant head that would bite down on all of its foes at the same time, one that would never let them leave.
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The draconic spirit of one great maw met the draconic spirit formed many heads, a hydra for certain, a monster from myth met a monster from the past. It could only end in one way, for them to tear out at each other.
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An enormous clash, even as simple bites it was an explosion of force that forced even Kouji off his feet, and rolling backwards; uprooting trees, and sending dirt flying up in thick clods. A thick yet fast rolling cloud of dust immediately followed it.

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There was certainly something different; Kouji didn’t step as close as he usually did; it seemed that the Grunt was not the only one going through something. He kept a neutral stance, a hand in his pocket, overall a generally casual looking appearance.
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But the look in his eyes was anything but as he looked the admin over, a mixture of concern, apprehension and exhaustion further emphasized by the bags underneath his eyes. ”It’s been going fine, helping where I can. Training my pokemon, and keeping myself in shape like always. Should try one of my shakes sometime, sir.” He tried to keep it casual, and lighthearted.
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Still, he hadn’t gotten any real answers, it was easy to tell something else was brewing, but exactly what was it? ”Up for a spar?” He said as he rolled his shoulders, he could ask during the clash, when blood began to run over. Perhaps that would be able to melt the building icy atmosphere.

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Venoshock had struck true, hitting to the very core of the Conkeldurr’s self, causing it to almost crumple into a heap as the poison within it had been made to react even further. A truly painful strike that made the large fighting type faint without even a twitch afterward.
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They had succeeded, the graveyard had been protected, and any damages could be avoided. Kouji let out a sigh of relief, as long as no-one investigated around the area for a while, he’d get away scot-free again. There was nothing else to be said for that, as he ran a hand through his hair and approached Absol and Airi. ”Hm? A new trick? Yeah, me and Absol are way cooler now.”
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He forced the smirk on his face, as cocky as it could be before his eye went to the Conkeldurr. ”Figured out what you wanna do with that guy? I could get one of my pokemon to heal ‘im, but he seems like he’ll be a pain in the ass if he wakes up. You’re the Ranger here.” He said as he rolled his shoulders, taking care of crazy wild pokemon was beyond his ballpark, his usual way of dealing with them was to…
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Better not to even think.
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He gave Absol a brush over his head, letting the Dark Type get more and more comfortable as it turned back to its normal state. Instead of reciprocating the affection towards Kouji, the foresight pokemon bumped its head against Airi instead.
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”Oi oi, don’t go betraying me now buddy. I know she’s cute, but you gotta think with your brain.” He teased his Absol who only gave a death stare back, it was a rather menacing look that made Kouji raise both hands up in the air in protest.
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”Alright alright, I give. You guys can run off together into the sunset or something.”

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Kouji could pretend, lie about a better future underneath Rocket, the fact that they are the way and speak of the evils of the league. But he didn’t want to lie, make up stories, he respected his opponent far too much to do any of that.
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”They’ll have to find their way or disappear. Like we all did.” A part of it was pettiness, of wanting people to experience a life like himself, of not truly fitting in. Yet that hatred within him was nowhere near enough fuel for him anymore. He was dried out of that, hatred towards the world would never be a sufficient fuel, it burned for a most of twenty years.
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Galar had robbed those years.
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”Nothing I’m doing is right, I’m not doing it because I think it’s right; it’s what I wa-” Did he want to do it? Not that wasn’t right, he was ordered to do it, and Kouji needed Rocket. ”What I was told to do, it’s my orders. I’ll fulfil them. If you can’t kill me here, then I’ll hurt others.” He needed his opponent to get his head into the fight…Because why?
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He didn’t enjoy fighting anymore, so why?
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He shook his head.
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”Haaah. Whatever, Absol. Kill the guys behind if you need to, Roaring Moon…Dance.” It was a dance, that of a dragon fraying its feathers; a roar and the shingle of its scales. Dragon Dance was a move known by almost all dragons at some point in their life.
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A war dance, an opening act to certain brutality. Kouji’s dragon roared as it felt its fighting spirit increase even further. Absol didn’t have as easy a time, as it found itself ensnared the power of the Frenzy plant whipping away at it, it was a powerful move, a strong strike.
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”Tch. No two ways, let’s do it.” Kouji took out a knife from his pocket, the one which had his mega stone placed within the sheath itself, the energy shining in the air as his Dark Type absorbed it. Unable to remove itself, it could only rely on the infinity energy that was filling it, his horn growing, mane growing, and a secondary horn to pair as it glowed even brighter before the shine disappeared and it freed itself. Quickly opting for a Psycho Cut aimed at Ogerpon.

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The punch struck his ribs, his upper body shot up straight; the force of the punch stopped his swaying. Forced to step back lest he collapsed backward, his mind was swimming, and the answers to his queries were no closer to him than before he had gotten into a slugfest.
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An answer could not be found through fists alone, it put into prespective just how miraculous their first meeting had been. They had seen each other’s lives, they had seen each other’s futures, without trading words in truth, but simply fists.
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But they had been dumber and younger, standing in the same place, Kouji did not stand in that same place now. Perhaps it was a simple matter of self belief, but he could muster it either, so with everything he struggled to gather…
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”Tryna figure out how to crack you a real one that’ll stick.” He said with a half smirk, he could bring out that bravado even if it was for an instant. ”I wonder if your balls can take it.”
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It was a kick, but it wasn’t truly aimed for the balls as he snapped upwards to land towards Navy’s head, leaning backwards all the while.
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It was a battle he was destined to lose.
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”Tch. You guys are all pains in the butt. How’d you stay so motivated, look at your damn town; you gonna build your ideal world like this?”
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Dracozolt’s battle wasn’t easier as electricity danced across the ground, the pokemon sought for a release but instead was hit by a powerful strike by the typing that struck to its very core. As energy from myth fought down its own draconic aura, fairy and dragon; whishes and brutality, it was brutality that lost.
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Finding itself flying into the rockface, feeling the exact same fate that its brethren did, but only two remained. The brutal dragon from a hypothetical past, born within this very cave, and the manifestation of Kouji’s fighting spirit, who sought at least some guidance from his trainer yet known came.
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It was the Roaring Moon that sauntered forth, manifesting the energy within itself, and bringing it ever higher and higher, a giant draconic head of dark energy coalesced around it; a maw growing ever larger.
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”Wanting to hurt them? I don’t give a crap about them. They’re just in our way.” That was all Kouji had to say. Other aspects of Rockets could scream of League Evilness, and Rocket Rightousness, but he never believed in that to begin with.
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But what did he believe in right now? After having suffered through Galar, being poisoned by that chain, beaten by Navy, and broken down by Zev Harcourt? He had followed the motions, tried to pretend he wasn’t afraid, and where had that gotten him? He didn’t know why he was doing the very things he was doing now.
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As he took in a deep breath, filled up his lungs with air that smelled more and more of smoke as the moments passed on, he threw away thoughts of doubt. It would only harm him, he could take on the idea, of wanting to create a world where simply strength mattered again. Where the strong could do what they wished…And that he was among them.
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He’d find his goal again another time.
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He grit his teeth so hard until he could feel them almost crack, a fake smirk on his face; bravado that he dig up from the very depths of his gut. He’d been living the normal life in Rustboro for weeks until howard slayte came to grab him. Off the radar, he needed this.
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”I don’t want to hurt any of you, but I will kill all of you.” Kouji said without any hesitation, tone filled with mirth as if he was simply cracking a joke. He turned his attention fully onto his pokemon. ”Let’s stop playing around, use Acrobatics in close range, avoid taking strikes to important areas.”
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Roaring Moon roared into the air as the pokemon finally found some true guidance, being torn and chipped away at had filled its feathers and scales with blood, but in that moment it released its jaws and claws, spread its wings, and began to maneauver within the tight space.
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Strafing attacks, as if trying to minimize the chance of being hit while delivering its own strikes. Against this duo, even the ancient pokemon of dreams couldn’t clash head on, it had to be smart even if it hurt its draconic pride.
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Absol had a different plan, as it felt a strike coming towards it by way of detect. Unlike others of its kind, it was unable to make sounds, and it was unable to see the future, it could only use its combined experience to replicate a similar effect. The shift in the air, the sounds surrounding it, what it could see, in order to predict. That was Detect, the ability to avoid danger in the last potential moment, as it leapt up and avoided a critical strike before shooting a look at its trainer, in the distance.
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This pokemon was far stronger than it, as Absol hadn’t fully avoided the playful roughousing, a slight scratch across its shoulder the primary sign.
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”Tch. The hell is that thing anyway, never seen one like it. You an avatar as well? Why not just use your strength to blow your enemies away? You enjoy playing hero or something?”

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