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The more he thought about it, the less he thought it was some kind of deep infiltration mission, and that maybe he was just getting the wrong person? Kouji wasn’t too sure, maybe his memory was bad?
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It was a pain in the butt to think about it.
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”The current issues with the sun and electric terrains, and the effects on Dragon Types. Guys like the Chinchou and my Dracozolt both get a bonus from being around in an electric terrain, yet only dragons seem to have big behavioral changes, ain’t that strange?”
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He wasn’t a science type to begin with, he hadn’t even finished his schooling, but he could at least trust his instincts as a trainer. He thought about how to frame it, but a part of had also worried he’d begun to weird this woman out.
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”What a pain in the butt though, I can’t find anything solid yet. So, I’ll have to keep on looking, ya don’t mind now, right?”
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Yet as he looked at the power sources, it was being used by the pokemon, and it was being used by people in other places. Which one was the right choice, and which one was the poorer choice?
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Clean energy couldn’t ever be wrong, but at the sa-
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Too much thinking, this wasn’t his thing.
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”What’re you doing? Stopping people from a region-wide problem seems like an impossible task, y’know?”

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Seeing such a large pokemon, Conkeldurr usually didn’t get that big, but this one was larger than the norm. Stronger just as well, or perhaps it was injured? He enjoyed training alongside fighting types, but this one was a monster as it shook the earth with an Earthquake causing the ground to crack, for itself, its allies, and even Kouji fell on his ass as he felt the clash, Absol had been smart enough to leap towards tree.
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Power of foresight perhaps?
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Still, the Dark type seemed to respond to a presence before he did, before he heard her voice. It was Airi.
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”I’m busy trying to stay out of trouble while failing at doing exactly that.” He said with a chuckle as he returned to his feet. Kouji wasn’t sure why, but the moment she appeared on the scene, his previous plan had gone out of the window...Wait, was he concerned for the safety of another person?
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”What are you do-” He said just before Absol intercepted a thrown rock, the dark type’s horn began to glow a deep black as it cut it in two. Standing in front of them, the dark type looked back for a moment.
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It was a look that impressed upon Kouji that he needed to get his head back in the game, and the Rocket nodded in return. The Conkeldure moved back, ready to let its lackies do the job, a Gurdur, Throh, and a Sawk stood before them, three pokemon.
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”Feeling up to battle? I’ll get to show off in front of ya a little bit.”

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Priam was one of the first people he had worked alongside in Rocket, the one that had introduced him to underboss Beckett, in their rather tempestuous run through the Mechanical Kindom.
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”You’re pretty smart, but I’ve never seen ya fight y’know? You’re a beast and everything, so you’ve gotta be strong.” Kouji said offhandedly, still the level of confidence that Priam was showing was enough to alleviate any worries…Like he had any, Kouji was just talking up the danger of these bees.
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He really just wanted someone who was capable of shooting the shit with him.
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”Just behind that boulder, on the rock face. They’re pretty darn wild.” The buzzing was coming through, yet the Combees were moving around as the hive demanded, collecting various nectars.
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Yet, the buzzing began to grow louder, concentrated, heavier…
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”Could it be? They were actually as aggressive as he had advertised?” It seemed like a big cluster was heading towards them as well; so Kouji drew for his pokeball to bring out his Salamence.

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Kouji could feel the strain of the wrestle, he was trained in this; he had been practicing since he could walk, how to kill a man. He knew where to go to, and where to prod, the moment his enemy got a hold of his shirt, he stabbed the man’s arm, then snaked around him; taking his side, pulling on the arm, and wrapping his legs around his neck, before using his knee as the fulcrum for the crank.
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It was a choke, but he also controlled his opponent’s arm. He just had to pull harder, a knife in hand was a good deterrent.
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But he heard his codename, it was a voice he hadn’t heard before, but at the same time it was a voice of a teammate who needed him. He didn’t have any time to waste, and so he pulled hard, well beyond the point of any safety until he heard a pop.
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Shooting to his feet, and seeing his opponent hold Aqua in a choke, turned around, and struggling. Kouji knew that he needed to do something here, figure out a path to the fastest resolution. Killing without taking his opponent’s name was beyond his creed, so he dashed in. keeping himself low to the ground.
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It was almost careless looking, as if he didn’t mind hitting his own team mate, but he turned last minute, spinning on the ball of his feet to drive his dagger into his opponent’s back, and to kick at the leg of Aqua’s captor, they were quickly causing a ruckus.
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”Break out, and find a way to take over the controls. I’ll keep any people busy, the door’s all yours.” As footsteps approached, Kouji just had to figure this one out in some way or another.

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At least the man was prepared, a gun was a good weapon; loud but it worked effectively to kill a person.
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”Good stuff, I’ll lead the way.” He said with a smirk before his expression returned to neutrality, his eyes fixed on the path in front of him, and his head figuring out different paths towards their goal. Kouji Matsubara was ready, to do another mission for the sake of rocket.
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Glory to Rocket.
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”Ever killed someone?”
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A simple question; yet his attention was fully on Kokou, he needed to see what this man was about, what he lived to do.

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A minor gym, huh?
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”Getting to have as many battles as ya want, and not having to do the boring jobs, heaven.” He joked, arms crossed over his chest as he nodded slowly. A smirk exchanged with Pon, and a sagely nod.
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”Mah, I’ll definitely come give it a shot one of these days. Expect a blood-pumping battle that’ll be talked about for ages…Or something like that.” Kouji said before he rolled up his sleeves, and got ready to start mining. He expected a conflict, but who’d have thought he’d make a new friend.

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With Kommo’o defeated, it was the clash of Bolt Beak and Wild Charge that clashed in the center, Dracozolt could tell; even with the type disadvantage, that this wild charge would have been enough to cause serious damage. It made the dragon acknowledge, and appreciate the enemy he was fighting, but as it stood…Volt Absorb kicked in, the dragon’s skin ate the electricity, gorged until he felt himself fill up.
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It had been a small crack that had formed in the days prior, as the energy of the land surged enough to cause electric terrains to sprout across the region. For it to be able to eat as much as it could, yet in this moment.
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A meal too big had hit its gullet, causing the charge to complete against all odds, clashing against its Bolt Beak, electricity discharged in the air before the crack of the air caused a boom to shake the surroundings.
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So it gathered energy in its maw, the electricity it had eaten began to crackle aloud across its skin, and in the air before it discharged it.
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Kouji couldn’t slack once he had heard Navy’s voice, his best? Wasn’t he giving it his best already? How the hell could he even do better than this? He felt like his vision was going to shut out on him, he had already emptied his stomach, and every time he breathed out his breath reeked with the stench of blood.
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Kouji had nothing else left in him, he fell to one knee after taking another blow. It would be so easy to go to sleep, he couldn’t even feel pain anymore. Just warmth that spread over his entire body, it had become comfortable, he felt comfortable right now. If he could just close his eyes and allow himself to fall forward…
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He swayed, blood dripped down the corner of his mouth, caressing the line of his jaw. The taste of metal filled his mouth, as he breathed out of his nose blood bubbled outwards before falling onto the floor.
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If he allowed himself to fall forward, this pain here would come to an end…He just had to allow the sway to complete, lea-
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And lose.
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”L-Like hell…”
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Comfort? Warmth? When had he ever needed such things? When had those things ever kept him going? Why was he seeking it now? Camaraderie? Bonds? Where did those things exist in his path?
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Why did he seek these things he never wanted?
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What did he want?
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A world of strength.
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Yet he couldn’t find the fire in that dream anymore, it didn’t spark his heart ablaze, Kouji Matsubara wasn’t one of the chosen strong ones. So what? He didn’t need to be like the man across from him, nor like the monsters that ran the course of this conflict. Right now, he couldn’t even figure out his next step.
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But it needed to be forward, and so forced himself upwards, if his arms felt like lead, he’d just have to use his head…To crash it into his opponent’s chin. He just had to fight, that was the only thing this man needed to do at this moment. Kouji Matsubara had no other way out, to find himself…He needed to struggle.
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He’d keep struggling in this conflict.

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Just as expected, they were ready to come towards them even with their own height advantage. There were soldiers, this was a battlefield, and it had the tension of one; whoever blinked first lost.
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As he drew for his pokeball, Kouji released his own Tyranitar who with a roar coalesced the pieces of sand being whipped up by the vents in his armor into rocks, packed tightly to fall in a Rock Slide but the sands below the dune began to shift, and the Iron Treads began to fall in, one after the other.
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With rocks falling, and their footing falling apart, it became obvious that this result was in thei-, no, should’ve been in their favor. But the sky began to change. ”What the hell? This is the worst simulation yet, we don’t even get to battle.” Not that he had a huge hunger for a fight, but it was easier than following the motions.
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Just how far would they have to go in order to break the simulation?
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”I really want to test the limits of this thing, feels like it’s impossible to go off script…” The shadow fell, and began to grow stronger and stronger in color, it seems the next chapter would be waiting for them.

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”The hell are you talking about?” Kouji said with a raised eyebrow, annoyance as clear as could be on his face. ”God General? I hav-” No he had, but there was no Dak Barcode, was there?
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”Y’mean, Zev Harcourt? Weirdly good looking guy with the meanest mug this side of the eastern sea?”
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Yet even as he talked, Kouji found himself staring at Hitoshi’s defense, looking for any weakness, and when he couldn’t find any; he knew he needed to create some. He was taller, and yet lost in the range war, he could only dash inside. Not aiming for the man’s body, but for his blade instead, a series of rapid strikes and stabs made to put the man off balance.

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It had been pretty heavy, even at his young age Kouji could feel the strain…That must have been why people had always impressed upon him the importance of lifting with one’s legs. Now, he had no choice but to do so, or else his back might well have popped. The pressure was high, and so he bent his knees and dropped his waist just a little while shimmying with the box, and keeping a comfortable expression on his face by force.
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It had been a couple of months since he and Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki had been forced to carry that bomb, still things hadn’t settled down in the slightest here. If anything, it had only grown heavier with time, and Kouji had felt it during every trip here.
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It was going to reach a fever pitch sometime soon.
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But he shook his head, it wasn’t time to think on his failures, nor on the terrible deeds he’d done since he’d been saved from doing one.
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”Don’t even stress about it, I offered to help.” said the thirteen year old, putting as much confidence in his voice as he physically was capable of. Moving it didn’t take particularly long, it was just somewhat tiring.
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But it was complete soon enough, he rolled his shoulders before he looked on at Jill. ”Expected it to be cleaner? I ain’t actually part of the team, I just help my pops and older brother. Sadly, the both of them aren’t too happy about me being a child soldier.” He wasn’t as excited about it either after his few runaway attempts at being one.
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But he held a great deal of loyalty towards this team, it was going to be his future, he’d make sure of it.
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”The boring stuff is the good stuff, you look a little too weak to be handling the bloody stuff.” He talked of it casually, yet it still made a chill run down his spine, filled him with absolute terror.

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