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Technically he endangered his own life by interfering so it wasn't self-defense, it was getting in over his head. Or at least that's how Kratos would see it were he to be asked at a later point. At this moment in time, however, all he could think about was putting a stop to the mess this mission had become. The redhead caught the long-haired man as he fell, not wanting him to receive further damage from impact with the floor, and was about to swing him over him shoulder when he felt the growlithe bite his leg.

Fortunately, Kratos' boots were thick, and while the growlith did puncture his skin, it was nothing too debilitating - he'd know if it was something like that. "Zero," he said, and the Misdreavs nodded, obligingly releasing another confuse ray and rushing at the growlithe, trying to get the puppy pokémon away from his trainer.

Or... well, that's what he did until he noticed the shiny (and bloody) sword on the ground. The misdreavus quietly tried to see about snatching the shiny thing, ignoring the growlithe in favor of the interesting item.

The growlithe had run away, and now Kratos needed to figure out what to do. This situation wasn't going to end well for him regardless - two out of three pokémon wounded, the third incapable of transporting him, and a fairly tall, unconscious young man to haul... somewhere. Then again, he could just leave him here for the pit ring... With a sigh, he shouldered the unconscious human and recalled his misdreavus, carrying him outside and setting him on the ground - well, more of a drop, but at least he was kind enough not to drop him on his head.

The pit boss was waiting there, and Kratos fixed him with a deadly glare. "Payment. Now. And I expect you to cover medical treatment for my team, given that you were unable to maintain the security of your own facility. Your lack of promise as an investment will be reported to my superiors," the redhead said, raising an eyebrow. He would not accept anything less than full compliance from this simpering, vicious and bloodthirsty man.

His remaining standards wouldn't let him.

"Hn," Kratos murmured, frowning after the retreating pit owner. He should know better than to expect extreme amounts of aid from a single grunt with only three battle-trained pokémon on his person. Really, what did he think he was, an executive? Hardly. Glancing down at the unconscious human by his fit, the redhead skillfully hid a wince at just how battered her looked, and nudged the young man with a boot. He wasn't dead - Kratos could tell that he was still breathing and that he didn't appear to be having difficulty with the necessary action - but neither was he in stellar shape.

Which was better than he could say for his team. Fighting to disability was one thing, but fighting to kill was entirely another. How could the young man consider himself so much better than those who set pokémon against one another? Must he rail against his lot in life so hard as to delude himself with illusions of superiority? Nudging him again - a little more gently this time, Kratos knelt next to him and quickly searched for ID; it would be a good idea to run his name through the system to identify just how much of a possible threat he was.

As he did so, he released Zero with orders to keep lookout - you never knew what dangers could come upon you while your back was turned.

It would be a horrible understatement to say that the injuries inflicted on the unconscious man before him would 'leave a mark', but not entirely inaccurate. Kratos estimated that Yuri would be dealing with them for quite some time to come. It would be an accomplishment to be pleased with - he still had his skills, after all - were he not also somewhat disappointed that fate had pitted them against each other.

He paused for a moment over the photograph and ignored the money, but tucked it back into place without disturbing it. Photos were important, and he would not divest the man before him of any more potentially precious items than was necessary. The ID, however, he pocketed. It would be useful for learning more about his new enemy, and ascertaining just what kind of a threat he really presented to himself and the organization. If he was going to keep getting caught up in Rocket business, even side business... well, the organization would need to be prepared.

He would be too - there was no way that Yuri was going to get the chance to severely injure one of his ever again. He took the money pouch from the man, and - more than a little annoyed with his attitude, glanced at Zero from the corner of his eye. "Zero." The misdreavus immediately perked up and flew over to the pit owner, cooing happily before releasing a confuse ray at the man. In the meantime, Kratos shouldered his unconscious burden again, deciding that leaving him here probably wasn't the best idea for anyone.

He ( and his team) needed to get out of here as soon as possible, and get somewhere to treat his injured pokémon.

"Come, Zero," Kratos said, as he began to walk off with his cargo. He had no time to wait around here and deal with fools who couldn't keep track of their own investments, especially when said investments were illegally obtained. The Misdreavus seemed disappointed at having to leave the pit owner alone, and displayed his aggravation by swooping around his trainer in dizzying circles, inadvertently ensuring that Kratos noticed nothing out of the unusual as he walked along.

For his part, Zero didn't notice either - he was too busy attempting to tease Kratos to bother Not that either of them felt that there was anything to take notice of.

In retrospect, Kratos should have expected the pokémon-instigated ambush. Not only were Growlithes known for their unwavering loyalty (something that carried over into their evolved form, it appeared), but also because it was a terribly perfect ending to what had already been something of a disastrous day. Two fire types, both with (probably) deadly intent, and Kratos with only one pokémon able to battle and a decidedly non-fireproof pokémon at that... well, this was going to be trouble.

If he got out of this relatively intact, he needed to obtain a water type to add to his team as soon as possible. But that was something to contemplate later. Right now, he had two very angry fire types surrounding him, and Zero was looking between the two, unsure of what to do. At a quick prompting from his trainer, however, he attempted to use a confuse ray on each of the opposing pokémon in quick succession.

Zero screeched as the arcanine caught the edges of his 'hair' tendrils in its teeth, the Dark effect of the attack making it even more painful to him. Not wishing to deal with a team completely injured and taken out of commission for weeks, Kratos eased Yuri off of his shoulder to the ground before recalling Zero. "Here," he stated, eying the two fire types warily.

"He's yours. I'd like to heal my team, however, so regardless of your dislike of me allow me to ensure that no-one dies from this encounter." It may have seemed a bit silly, trying to reason with pokémon, but the creatures were often far more intelligent than most believed - with a few exceptions. No-one would ever accuse Slowpoke of being intelligent. However, Growlithe and Arcanines were usually smart enough to understand; especially considering the fact that his entire team was wounded and that he himself was really no threat to the creatures.