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A cacophony of thoughts danced within his mind, his stare was fixed onto the bowl of ramen before him, their hollow look gave little away, the bags underneath his eyes showed just how long he had thought about all of this.
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”Ain’t so easy there. I’m strong, I can get stronger. That ain’t my problem, I can be as strong as I want, but a guy can come up with some smarty plan, and it all goes to shit.” He twirled the noodles in the broth, it was never that simple.
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”You’re a detective, got some brains in that noggin of yours.”
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”Ain’t the same here, everytime I tried to use this brain of mine, it blows up in my face.”

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Their location shifted rapidly, the room of an engine but nothing moved, it was different elsewhere, where the song moved its surroundings, this one didn’t move anything. It didn’t in the slightest, nothing special was going on here, not right now, perhaps not ever.
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Still, the sudden arrival of a trio into this dilapidated environment like this one wasn’t good, he heard the creaking, perhaps before anyone else, perhaps not. But a metal beam fell from the ceiling soon after their arrival, Kouji pushed Priam out of the way as he raised his arms above his head, holding it in place, holding it still above him. The impact had caused his arms to creak, to hurt, it felt as if his elbows had almost popped but he threw it away to the side, thanking himself for not slacking on his training, his strength had at least come in handy.
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Kouji ran a hand through his hair, wincing just a little.
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”This thing ain’t working, better for us to find something to get it cracking, and then we come back?”
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Fzp|zEBP

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Dropped, controlled, stopped.
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Kouji couldn’t hide the frustration that all of it had caused, was causing, yet he was too busy dragging himself out of the snow once more, Absol hopped to his side; but the pokemon growled and hissed at the strange creature behind it. A bulbous head, a face like a rabbit, yet ever so sick.
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”Looks painful.”
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His astute observation was all that he had to offer to that creature, his hand on the neck of the disaster pokemon, struggling to hold the aggressive, prideful creature back. Yet, his ears focused on some of the questions asked, many passed, many for this creature, and spears of ice were its replies.
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Still, violence would erupt, but it wasn’t the violence he sought. He looked at the Silph, then back to the noble rider, even sickly; he could tell. Perhaps it wasn’t just him, his eyes went to the black dog he had interacted with only a few times, to the other rockets, and let out a sigh.
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This guy would die.
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”Oi, rubs me the wrong way to have someone get killed before they get to introduce ‘emselves, what’s your name?” He didn’t really care, he wasn’t the one pulling the knife, nor swinging it. That was for those who wished to fell a God, he had a long ways to go before he tried to do the same, he shook his head.
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The myriad attacks, the many that fell, the cold that nipped at his skin; there was a lot to think about. ”Absol, keep yourself sharp. Use Detect, can’t have anyone try to jump us.”
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He turned his eyes from the carnage, it wasn’t something he disliked, it was the opposite; but this wasn’t a fight. Golden eyes brushed over those that had collected here, it made sense yet it was strange. Almost like a messiah and his flock of followers, almost everyone had come together, for the opportunity to fell one who was half dead. It was impressive, the mix of attacks that were thrown, but most of it, the blackness that caused a shiver to fall down his spine. They were united in the idea of killing the one who had embarrassed them, or perhaps it was an act of mercy to he who had acted as a ruler to stop the carnage they were about to release on each other.
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How long would that last?
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qKoYBgvI

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His teammates, Kouji knew one but not the other, had not met them before. He had foolishly convinced himself he had gotten to know the organization he was in far better than before, but there was still so much he had no idea about, people one of those. Kaname was nearby, and so he went to him first after gathering the tools given to them.
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”Me and you again, huh? Glad to have you and your mind on our side.” He said as his calloused hands through his hair, his golden eyes brushed over the crowd to find Cygne as he clicked the bracelet to his wrist.
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His eyes stopped on a face that matched that in the system. ”Alright, let’s go.” Time to gather his team, Kouji felt rather confident. He had a brain in Kaname, brute muscle, in himself, and so that left the last of his dream team, and so came his first question. ”Hey, how good are you with people?” His inquisitive tone rang through as if it were trying to cut through the myriad conversations that took up the room, it might not have succeeded at such, but at least it would reach his teammates.
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There were a lot of strategies that could be talked about, but Kouji wasn’t the man for such…No, that was his issue to begin with. Giving up on the idea, of thinking things through, far too quickly. So, he took in a deep breath, until he felt the strain in his lungs and released the imprisoned air in a large sigh.
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”No point in planning until we know what we’re doing. But, you’ve been around the block here longer than me and Kaname here, yeah?”
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Yet there was the most important point, he wasn't one for names, he didn't even name his pokemon, not even his partner that had been with him a great chunk of his life, his Absol. "How about we don't pick a name? Put a space in there, team blank. I ain't wanna be part of a team that ain't rocket." He said with a smirk, as if to cover up his poor naming sense. It was better to have one picked for them, or to keep it blank.

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As the heat washed over him, he felt the world changed just as quickly, just as he felt himself being able to enjoy the short feeling of victory, he felt himself being sucked in, his Iron Jugulis crashed into the snow, leading to him falling into a large pile of his own. Buried, the heat was replaced by cold.
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Confidence was quickly replaced by uncertainty, enough so that he couldn’t reply to the information being relayed by the comms. Still, he dragged himself up from the pile of snow, pokeball in hand he recalled the large multi-headed pokemon, and withdrew his partner, Absol. ”Keep an eye out buddy.” His words were accompanied by words that almost frosted over. His breath was cold, this place was cold, colder than anywhere he had been before, only the north of Sinnoh had come even close.
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”Damn, is there anyone else here?”
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Yet various voices echoed in his head, those he heard in the radio, and the many lessons forced upon him. ”Fake here, nothing here eit- Wait….” He said as he forced his way through the snow, hanging onto his Absol’s neck as a support.
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The battle that he saw in the distance, the energies that sparked from it, that he felt, that tickled his skin, he had no choice, and so he had his pokemon almost drag him to it, to the battle that was happening against MATIAS SILPH.
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R6STLyxk

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”But you’re standing here now, strong.”
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Kouji didn’t get it, it wasn’t so simple as to just tell yourself that you’d do better, that you would stand strong.
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”Words are easy, any old fogey can do that crap. What’s really important is acting on it. What’s your drive?” He asked, he wondered as he stared at the steaming bowl of ramen placed in front of him.
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”It’s easy to say it’s your lil bro, but it ain’t just that is it?”

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Kouji didn’t know how to reply to that last question.
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His mind was focused on the task before him, there was less to talk about, but perhaps the most important reason was…
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”Lotta things happened, it’s pretty boring.”
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A string of failures, a lesson learned, and yet, he was unable the grasp the very core of that lesson. Just what had Zev Harcourt meant, Kouji thought he understood, thought he had rejected it, and now he stood here, staring at the back of the martial bear as it gave another example, straight at another tree.
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The movement was slower, walking up towards that tree; his head shined a silver, energy coalesced towards it, and then he headbutted it.
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”Lil’ bear, just make sure to take your time. You can do it slowly, charge that energy in your head. As for the big grump Admin over there, it matters. An Urshifu isn’t just a normal pokemon, the type changes based on how they decide to grow. Mine hits hard, really hard, but it’s a singular strike.” Kouji tilted his head side to side for a moment before he figured out a way how to word it.
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”Same as me, most of the fighting styles I’ve learned are called ‘hard fists’, but there’s some that are ‘soft fist’, they flow like water, strike internally, that kinda nonsense. It’s a buncha attacks, but they build up and break you down. Or you just hit hard, once, and break them with that.”

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Kouji heard him, nodded, and then turned.
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His mind was fixed; it was a moment to prove himself, two grunts, rushing at him. He almost went to his beloved knife, but realized that killing his fellow rockets wouldn’t be appreciated. His legs slid forward, martial training since the age of five pumped through his muscles.
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His left foot slipped on the outside of the front grunt’s foot, and then he slid that foot to the side; his arm went underneath the hand, his hip dropped, and then he charged his shoulder to the side to the now unbalanced grunt which fell into the other. He unhooked himself, turned on the foot, and then slammed it down on the first; on his diaphragm. He used that same movement to jump off him.
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He was aware that being in the air was a weakness, any attack you made was easy to read, all attacks had large arcs; that was why; as he tucked in his legs, as he turned his hips, all of it was a simple feint. He kicked his legs out towards the floor, and attacked with a jab.
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A jab was a mere jab.
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It wasn’t a hard hit, the other man swung back at him, an overhead strike that was shot towards him; Kouji raised his arm, it was a solid strike that he felt to the bone. The man was bigger, and yet, he pushed with that same arm, hooking his right around the man’s left, he threw his own weight forward, he hooked his leg around that man’s own and then bucked his hip in order to throw him.
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A proper, clinical hip throw.
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"Sorry for being so rough, any problems there Jayden?"

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Kouji fell onto the stool, his elbows fell onto the counter as he slumped over it, blood had stopped dripping from his nose. He sought to win, to succeed, and yet he had lost to Navi once more. ”Gabe huh? That kid died when we…When they?” He muttered out loud.
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He ran a hand through his hair as he ordered, Miso based broth, he wanted a lotta pork, and no eggs, that was what he was interested in right now. Something hearty, something homy, something that’d fill him up.
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”How’d you do it? Keep your head clear? Know what you’re going to do?”

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There was a lot going on, Kouji gave Hitoshi a lone nod as he let the man get himself into an argument which made Kouji chuckle; the Rustboro native found himself raising an eyebrow at the back and forth. He could agree with both, but prior experience, he knew what he thought was the biggest threat to him, and yet.
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The biggest threat to Rocket was another concept altogether, and the objective of S.P.E.C.T.R.A was a different thing again. He could think of the images, and none of them clicked with the thoughts in his mind. He walked up to the screen his hands hovered over his choices.
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Guys at the bottom of the wrong weren’t supposed to think of crushing those above.
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He spoke loudly as he stood in front of the screen, enough to echo out. ”Guys like us shouldn’t be worrying about the within, leave that for the bosses above, anyone that isn’t part of rocket needs to be crushed.” While he said such, he could feel what Isaac Merlo was saying.
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”Like that blondie was saying, the whole’s important. Rocket’s a singular unit, and SPECTRA is a group within that, the moment we start pointing guns at the big guns we got, then we might as well roll over.” Yet, at the same time, hunting deserters was a past time, a way to make himself feel better, and a way to reaffirm his loyalties.
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”But, we can’t prep for shit we don’t know, can’t gain info on what ain’t known, and if you figure it out, it's known.”
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So he picked his, that which is known, option one.

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[attr="class","body"]Kouji’s eyes narrowed at Amor, it was the way it always came back to that point; there was a decisive difference between the two. He kept his hostility away, even if his hand sat comfortably within his hoodie pocket.
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”If it fails, we go down together…Or do you have ideas outside of rocket?” He said with a raised eyebrow, his golden eyes bore into Amor’s own eyes. He began to speak without faltering. ”That guy never wanted to be bothered, but that’s fine. I couldn’t figure more shit out, and I know information’s important. I’ll learn what I can, but I’ll only ever use ‘em for Rocket.”
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”If Rocket goes down, I’ll go down.”
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He didn’t hesitate to state that simple fact, his life had revolved around it, he would be there forever as far as he knew it. He was new, he was young, and yet that was the only certainty in life that he had.
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”How would you gather it then? You’re a creepy looking dude right now, no-one would trust ya, and even I can’t read what you want. What’s the trick?” Kouji didn’t understand, but he was tense, his eyes were fixed onto Amor, they didn’t move, nor vibrate; his blinks were few and far between. It was a burgeoning lack of trust, that was what he was feeling, enough so that he couldn’t remove his eyes from this guy.
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Yet, he could say this much.
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”As for my old man, that’s why he’s there, if you ain’t got anyone, you ain’t gotta worry about anyone but yourself, and your mission.”

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What was he looking for? Kouji couldn’t tell, he sought a pokemon like himself, perhaps that was the right answer. ”Just looking at what comes up. I ain’t picky, I like me some dark types.”
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He felt exhausted, after all of his missions with Eris Halla, and the various losses that came recently, he wasn’t even sure if he was fit for…Anything?
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He shook his head as he fought away such thoughts.
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He ran his hand over Absol's head, the pokemon didn’t give a single indication that it had received such an affectionate touch.
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”You’re one of ‘em beasts yeah? What kinda pokemon would you even want.”


Sem et tortor consequat id porta nibh venenatis cras.

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Kouji looked at her, and the hand he held in his own, the hand he was squeezing, the hand he was crushing. He found his eyes going from those hands to her own red eyes once more, a smirk danced across his lips.
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”Gross things are gross, acknowledge and love them because they’re gross, not because you’re tryna see ‘em as pretty.” He shook his head, this was hte problem with artists.
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That was why even as the P.A sounded, he didn’t let go, and neither did she, not until his point got across.
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Her hands were soft, comfortable, and yet he knew within that comfort laid disgust. ”Unlike art, life is beautiful when it’s finished; until then it’s disgusting, and you can only roll in that disgust until the end of days…” He said as he pulled at her arm, turning as he did, so he could keep his eyes on that door, so that the pressure and gravity didn’t shift, so he didn’t give up his own back to anyone.
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”Mah, you’ll know what’s gross and what isn’t when you look into and away from a mirror.” He said with a shrug as he looked away into one of the corners, his smirk turned into a shit-eating grin.
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”Gross people like us should just own it, in every way possible. If your entire life isn’t disgusting, well, you’re just a liar.”

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