[attr="class","monty"]"Okay."

There was no further questioning. No interrogation about who he was ("I don't know") and if he was innocent ("Yes, he was"). It was just simple acceptance.

He didn't deserve that. Ameena held a murderer in her arms, and she still found it in herself to care for him.

Montgomery's chest ached.

He was silent for a moment longer until he nodded, slowly pulling away from her touch. Slowly, the coolness of the cave sank back into his body where her warmth had been. He reached for his flashlight, dusting off his clothes. His hat was straightened.

"Let's go further." He deliberately ignored her question, opting to investigate further.

[attr="class","montytag"]ameena abadi | ghost tales c

[attr="class","monty"]He expected Howard to change. It'd been five years since they had last seen one another, before he blew up his home and left everything to ash in driftveil. But it wasn't just personality.

Howard, physically, had changed. His appearance, his demeanor, it was different from the coward he'd begun training in Unova. He'd trained him to rid him of his weaknesses.

This man was not weak. His insanity made him stronger.

"Howard-"

And yet, Montgomery wasn't able to convey the words he wished he could. The gears that were slowly beginning to slow down and squeal with effort cracked.

Failure. FailURE. FAILURE.

The wave of dynergy hit him like a hurricane, wiping him away from the ground. Asphalt scraped his skin, nicking cuts deep and shallow into his skin. It took him a moment to regain the breath that had been knocked from his lungs.

Even Pipsqueak struggled in the air, blown back several hundred feet from the force. She returned to Montgomery before charging the attack back at regice. It was a desperate attempt to break down more of the barriers that it held.

"Don't do this!"

[attr="class","montytag"]howard slayte
50 MP have your character directly or indirectly spotlight another writer's character's strengths
50 MP have your character learn something from the other character
50 MP include a motif or recurring symbol of some kind in your thread
10 MP per IC post in your Skirmish thread
total: 670 MP

[attr="class","monty"]Ameena's presence was firm, ever present. Warm. Welcomed. It made his body relax, the tightness in his muscles melting away as ice melted in the sun.

Still, his mind was far away, reeling from the ghost they'd seen moments ago.


Her voice echoed in his mind, drawing him away from the dark. Somewhere, his flashlight illuminated the wall of the cave, giving shape to her shadow-enshrouded arm.

"I'm... home." Montgomery didn't specify where home was. Unova? Hoenn? Or was it simply in her arms?

"Did you see him?" He finally brought up the apparition. "The bullet hole in his forehead-"

"I did it."

[attr="class","montytag"]ameena abadi | ghost tale c | artist

[attr="class","monty"]Just an apparition. Just an apparition.

When Montgomery looked up from his huddled position, the man was gone. The air no longer lingered with the smell of metal, and the blood dripping onto the ground seemed to have vanished.


Shock contorted his features, like he'd be shot in the forehead himself. He barely felt Ameena's arms around his shoulders. He didn't know that man, but he knew him. That bullet hole had been placed there intentionally.

By Montgomery James.

He caught his breath, anxiety slowly shifting to guilt. He found himself nuzzling into Ameena's arms like a child yearning for its mother's warmth.

"It's... it's nothing." He lied.

[attr="class","montytag"]ameena abadi | ghost tales c | artist

[attr="class","monty"]sableye was a fairly common Pokemon Montgomery had seen from time to time in hoenn. He'd been called to a cave or two to evacuate people trapped by fear of the little creature.

This one seemed off.

"Why does it look like that-" Before his sentence could be finished, a purple sludge flung forward. He didn't have a way to protect them, but...

"breloom, stun spore it!"

From her Poke ball, the grass-type stood, charging static electricity. It formed to spores, dispersing in front of them to attempt to stun the sableye.

And buy them a minute to get away.

[attr="class","montytag"]robin coello | ghost tales b

[attr="class","monty"]Montgomery didn't have a chance to respond.

The light from Ameena's rotom phone caught a man standing still in front of them. Scarlet blood drained from the bullet wound on his forehead, smearing down his features.

Even the cheerful vanillite cones drowned in blood.

"You know what you've done."

Montgomery dropped his flashlight as if it scalded his hand, adrenaline shooting through his veins. His face grew as pale as the dead man's face, hands clammy with sweat. In a matter of moments, he hunched over, nausea threatening to empty the contents of his stomach.

"Turn it off!" he shouted, having fallen to his knees while his nails dug into the ground. He shivered.

"Ameena, turn of the damn light!"

[attr="class","montytag"]ameena abadi | ghost tales c

[attr="class","monty"]If Montgomery was concerned about Ameena's ankle — he was — his face remained a true neutral. The only indication of reaction he'd have was a heavy swallow, his Adam's apple bobbing.

However, it didn't seem like the earthquake had been enough to slow her lucario down. He was substantially faster than his runerigus, hoping along rock to rock to come and swipe at him through the ghostly creature's body.

Claws knicked at his skin, ripping through cloth and creating new cuts along his body. Ameena's return was at least enough to allow the wounds to be superficial. In that moment, he truly knew how much she cared for him.

Because thank arceus that Pokemon didn't try to kill him.

"I gotta keep ya on yer toes, now, don't I?" He always preferred to get physical. But, should special moves become priority in a fight, Montgomery could switch his style.

The runerigus would boost his attack, splitting the power between Ameena's Pokemon and himself. And once he did that, he layered stealth rocks across the field to provide continuous damage to lucario.

[attr="class","montytag"]ameena abadi
50 MP have your character learn something from the other character
10 MP per IC post in your Skirmish thread
total: 1240 MP

[attr="class","monty"]Montgomery clicked his tongue, annoyance crossing his features as lucario appeared. Any fighting-type move, and Pipsqueak would be rendered unconscious.

Or worse.

She attempted a return, smacking the lucario with such strong force thanks to her relationship to Montgomery. However, the close combat did exactly as he expected — she fainted, knocked out by the fighting-type.

Ameena was smart. He knew that. And he loved that. But damn, was it annoying sometimes.

"Let's go, runerigus."

From a green dusk ball, he flicked his wrist. The ball spun rapidly, until it opened and released its beast.

The coffin-shaped ghost emerged, shadowy hands reaching out wildly. And, with the risk of hurting his own trainer, he summoned forth an earthquake.

[attr="class","montytag"]ameena abadi
50 MP for getting your Pokemon knocked out in your skirmish thread
50 MP involve the pokeballs of your pokemon in a meaningful way
50 MP describe your character's pokeball throwing style
50 MP have your character learn to respect another character in some way
50 MP have your character make a regrettable decision or make a sacrifice
10 MP per IC post in your Skirmish thread
total: 1180 MP

[attr="class","monty"]Howard had always been stubborn. Even dragging him into team Rocket was pulling an arcanine to water. And yet, Montgomery had succeeded in that.

There was a small glimmer of hope that he could succeed in changing him.

Howard's words were poison, freezing his blood as if the chill in the air invaded his body. He stomped on Montgomery's apology like he was stamping out a cigarette. Innocent grad-student Howard was replaced with someone he didn't recognize.

It was his fault. He did this. No one else was to blame.

He wished he had put that bullet between his eyes years ago.

"Slayte. There's always a choice. Please think a sec about this!" Montgomery insisted. "Rocket don't need ya. Do you know who does?" His hand indicated to the frosty land. "All these people — these people who just wanna live in peace."

But Hoenn would never know peace. Not with the likes of Rocket or the League around. Self-doubt gnawed into his bones, threatening to consume him. In the eyes of Howard, Montgomery would never be more than the Rocket who turned his life upside down.

He was the villain in this story.

"Yer a person! Not a machine! Howard, think a little! Ya have potential far beyond what Rocket can give you!" Montgomery plead. That's what he'd said six years ago. Just in a different way.

There was no more debate, no more convincing. regice attacked. And Pipsqueak only had mere seconds to prepare an attack back. Her blue glowed subtly beneath the crystallization of gray across her body, steel tera energy pouring from her as the attack collapsed into them.

Purple swirled around him, as Montgomery shielded his eyes and felt his body being sucked into the vortex. Ice met his back as he was throw onto the ground.

Above him, Pipsqueak took flight. Her wings formed into something akin to a blade, steel wings coming to slash at the dynamaxed giant's legs.

[attr="class","montytag"]howard slayte
10 MP terastallize your own pokemon in your thread
50 MP have an antagonistic exchange of dialogue between your character and another writer's character or NPC
50 MP showcase your own character's weakness(es) meaningfully
50 MP have your character be injured by another's pokemon directly or indirectly
50 MP have your character self-doubt or cast doubt on another's confidence/allegiances/beliefs, etc
10 MP per IC post in your Skirmish thread
total: 510 MP

[attr="class","monty"]He was surprised that he gave him the opportunity to speak rather than initiate battle. Had he been in Howard's position, Montgomery would not have hesitated to draw his weapon and fire.

Like the time he was training him in the unovan desert, exploding his claydol to prove a point.

"I made mistakes. I'll be the first to admit it. And..."

With a hard swallow, he tipped his head down. "I'm sorry, Howard. I failed you."

Peering back at the admin atop the giant, a look of determination crossed his face. "But it don't have to be like this. Stop the rampage. Come down 'n have another chance."

It was ironic, how he goaded him to join team Rocket. And now, Montgomery was pleading for him to leave.

[attr="class","montytag"]howard slayte
50 MP have your character recall a past thread or event that they have participated in or not (link the thread)
10 MP per IC post in your Skirmish thread
total: 290 MP

[attr="class","monty"]"Yuh and everybody else." He was sure that if he set foot in unova, there would be a swarm of Rockets descending upon him like a hive of combee protecting their queen.

And, deep down, maybe even Montgomery wished he was dead.

But, there stood Howard, atop of the frozen bastard that destroyed his home. Given he had been chosen by this Pokemon it appeared, he must have become stronger in the six years that passed since he'd last seen him.

arceus, what did he do?

Rising guilt built a knot of nausea in his throat, and yet he still held his ground. Perhaps, if he had the chance, he could bring him down. Howard could start over. Montgomery could take him in.

Again.

"Ya don't have ta do this, Howard. Just listen to me for a sec, will ya?" He held his hands up as some sort of peace offering, while Pipsqueak's metallic claws scratched into the ice below like she was itching to fight.

[attr="class","montytag"]howard slayte
50 MP have your character reflect on why they're fighting/reflect on their loyalties
10 MP per IC post in your Skirmish thread
total: 230 MP

[attr="class","monty"]The hunt was still on the continuum.

When Montgomery had heard of the destruction of dewford, he had begun to formulate a plan to find the culprit and bring said individual into custody. For "justice."

That's what he's craved, isn't it? Justice.

Something he had never been brought to for his crimes. Was the deputy a hypocrite for wanting to take revenge on this Rocket and their regice?

He refused to dwell long on the thought, instead reflecting on Navy's words. "Don't kill any Rockets if you can."

At his side, his gun felt heavy.

After months of failure in tracking down the regice, information regarding destruction along route 104 came across his desk. Montgomery had been out the door and wandering the icy trail in a matter of minutes.

He threw Pipsqueak from her Poke ball, which glowed in brilliance with her in all her glory, his wrist twisting as the ball spun rapidly and beamed her out.

Grass crunched under his boots, the air frigid despite the late summer's heat. And, ahead, its bulking figure towered above the ground, pulsing red.

But on top of it...

Was Montgomery's ultimate failure.

"howard slayte."

[attr="class","montytag"]howard slayte
10 MP use a starmobile, shadow, illumina or toxic chain pokemon in your thread
50 MP involve the pokeballs of your pokemon in a meaningful way (e.g. type of pokeball described to reflect the pokemon or character, damaging them, seizing them).
50 MP describe your character's pokeball throwing style.
50 MP reference (tag) another character that is not in your thread in a meaningful way
10 MP per IC post in your Skirmish thread
total: 170 MP