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 Posted: Sat Jul 14, 2012 10:31 pm
Sometimes doing your job meant having to go against your own personal moral code. It was one of the first things that Kratos had learned upon taking up his work as a bodyguard, and it had only become more pronounced in his time since joining Team Rocket. A criminal organization, after all, forced their employees to dirty their hands far more often than most bodyguard missions. But it was an inevitable effect of the world's corruption, and if he had to commit unforgivable sins in order to avenge Anna and find out what happened to Lloyd, then so be it; he had already committed the worst sin of all by failing the ones he loved, after all. Today's mission was another of the less-than-morally-acceptable kind. Team Rocket wasn't exactly picky about the people they supplied ordinary pokémon to, as long as they were paid, and some of their best customers ran illegal fighting rings. Unlike standard pokémon battles, these were often to the point of critical injury and death, and the pokémon involved were always treated rather cruelly. Personally, Kratos didn't care for the practice, but he would have to set aside his personal bias for today in order to accomplish his mission. At least he was only here to pick up the funds owed the organization, rather than to drop off another shipment of the unfortunate creatures. He would have coped with such a duty, of course, but that didn't mean that he enjoyed the process of handing pokémon over to the source of their inevitable and bloody demise. It was a basic duty, but one that needed to be accomplished as efficiently as any other. What this meant, of course, was that Kratos was having to glare down a reluctant poké-pit owner, Martel at his side. "The organization does not fund your enterprise as a form of charity," he said simply, standing to his full height of six feet and one inch, allowing his reddish eyes and impassive expression to run counter to Martel's carefully-restrained energy ball. "Should you choose not to cooperate, we are perfectly capable of reclaiming our investment and taking our support elsewhere." He didn't feel the need to say any more - the implied threat of both shutting down the operation and taking the pokémon they had supplied back (with interest) should be more than enough to produce a result without requiring elaboration,
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 8:26 am
Yuri had heard rumor of some sort of fighting ring for entertainment, and being the kind of guy that loved to fight, he decided to check it out. What he hadn't expected was for it to be a Pokemon blood bath. There was even a fight going on now, between a battle hardened Scyther and a Persian. The crowd roared as the two fought, and Yuri stood there at the fringes, arms folded and watching with an unreadable expression on his face. Repede was at his feet, and the Growlithe was visibly uncomfortable. He could smell the blood, and hear the screams of the Persian as the Scyther drove one of it's blades into it's side. The crowd cheered and jeered as the Scyther, supposedly a champion fighter, finished off the cat. So was this the kind of sport that people in Kodo liked to do? Yuri huffed and looked away, while two people came to restrain the Scyther and carry off the Persian's body. His eyes then fell onto a doorway that someone now passed through with a caged Growlithe. The Puppy Pokemon was snarling, and trembling at the same time. With the thrill of a fire Pokemon now put against the Scyther, the crowd seemed to get even more excited. Okay, this is just not cool. Yuri turned around and started to walk away, as if to leave. However, he casually adjusted his course and walked to and through the door the Growlithe had come through, as if he was supposed to be there. Repede followed, his fur standing on end. For the moment, the two of them went unnoticed as most everyone was focused on the fight. What Yuri saw beyond the door made him frown. There was rows of cages with Pokemon inside. Many of the animals were in cramped conditions for holding, while those with the slightly larger cages were obviously there for breeding purposes. All of the Pokemon looked at him, growling, hissing, and other threatening noises. We walked up to one cage that held a Raichu, padded with rubber so that it couldn't shock anyone outside of it. The Pokemon glared at him through a small opening probably meant to shove food though. He fumbled with the crude lock for a moment before ceasing and then drawing his sword. With a heavy slash, the small lock was cut away from the cage itself, falling to the ground with a clatter. Yuri then moved on as the door lazily swung open. He didn't want to be in the way of that thing, after all. The Raichu, tentatively at first, pushed the door open and then leapt from the cage and made a run for it. This went on in succession, with slashes, locks hitting the ground, and Pokemon fleeing. Repede helped where he could too, coming across some tied up Pokemon and snapping the ropes with his teeth. Eventually Yuri came across a Pokemon that was far too big to be kept in a cage. Black eyes met blue as a large Arcanine stared him down. The Pokemon had a leather muzzle and and one of it's legs was chained to the wall. Realizing that this Pokemon could cause harm to his person, and not really caring, Yuri cut one of the leather straps of the muzzle with his sword. The dog Pokemon didn't even flinch and instead shook away the muzzle that was now loosened. It's lips curled back in a snarl, but he didn't attack. The man then looked down at the chain, far too thick and heavy for his sword to be any good. Then something caught his eye. Near a fire extinguisher there was a glass case with an axe inside. "For emergency use only." Welp. This was an emergency right? Sure. The glass shattered when his elbow made contact and Yuri reached in and pulled the axe out. He took a moment to judge the weight, flipping it up and catching it by the handle again. He then turned and hurled the axe at the Arcanine, stopping just short of hitting the Pokemon itself and instead breaking the chain. The darkly colored dog immediately took off, and Yuri was nearly knocked over as the huge fire type ran past him, the still attached remains of the chain clattering against the floor as it went. --- With Kratos, there was a man who practically shrunk under the withering glare of the other from Team Rocket. He was the ring leader of this whole Poke-pit get up, and was about to go retrieve payment... when a flock of Pokemon rushed past the two of them and out the exit. "W-what's going on! The Pokemon!" He turned towards Kratos with a panic stricken expression and a bit of a glare. "Do something! Or you can forget about that payment!"
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 5:26 pm
True to the old adage, 'Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.' Kratos' face stayed impassive as the storm of pokémon raced by. Personally, he couldn't blame the creatures for leaving, and judging by Martel's curious reaction as she watched them go, she couldn't either. But... he did have a job to do. He did, however, turn his frown back toward the proprietor. "I'll deal with who is causing this, but if you can't secure your own investments, that isn't the organization's responsibility."
He was here to get that payment, after all, and get it he would - along with a report mentioning whether this would be worth Rocket's continuing investment. If the man proved difficult, then Kratos would include that in the report. He certainly wouldn't mind dealing with him in order to get payment. But for now, he had a vigilante to stop. "Martel," he said, and the Leafeon jumped to attention. The two raced in the direction of the holding cells, Kratos releasing Zero on the way. The white Misdreavus reeled around in midair for a moment before taking off after his trainer and the leafeon, ready and willing to help.
They had to dodge escaping pokémon on the way, and Martel barely got out of the way of a particularly large Arcanine, but once they reached the holding area it was easy to tell that the perpetrator was still there. Unfortunately, it was also someone Kratos had encountered once before already. Oh, well - such was business, the redhead thought. A pity that he was going to have to attempt to take a good man prisoner, but he had his duty.
"Step away from the cages," he said simply, keeping his mask firmly in place. Vigilantism in action. Somehow he wasn't entirely surprised, given what he remembered of his initial encounter with the man before him. It was too bad, though - he seemed like a good sort to know, had their fates not destined them to be standing against one another. By his side, Martel prepared another energy ball, while Zero hovered nearby, ready to fade out and take advantage of his ghostly nature.
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 6:11 pm
Repede heard them coming, and Yuri could tell before they got there, by the Growlithe turning around and growling. Thus he was already facing Kratos when he arrived. There was no point in hiding, and probably not in running either, so he stood his ground. Several of the Pokemon had already been released, but Yuri hadn't had time to get to all of them just yet.
He hadn't expected to see this man though. With a cocky smirk, Yuri rested his shining blade on his shoulder.
"Yeah, pardon me if I say no. Didn't think you were into this sort of crap. You get some sick pleasure out of watching Pokemon kill each other? Or is it just for money?"
He really thought this guy had more integrity than that.
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 6:30 pm
"Not at all. I find the practice disgusting at best," Kratos said, still calm. If Yuri wanted to accuse him of something, then it might as well be something untrue as something that was true. The redhead didn't particularly mind - if it made Yuri feel better about his fate, then so be it. "Unfortunately, my superiors don't share the same opinion." He didn't bother acknowledging the youth's attitude - he knew quite well that to someone who still had a strong view of right and wrong that he was visibly the 'bad guy' in this situation.
"Shall we?" He asked simply, feeling no need to elaborate or begin some ridiculous, over-the-top villainous speech or explanation. He had a job to do, and he might as well get to it. That growlithe, however, was going to be a bit of a problem for Martel, so he nodded at Zero, trusting the ghost to take on the canine pokémon. If things became desperate, there was just enough room in here to release Yuan to help, too - but he'd rather have a backup, just in case.
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 6:36 pm
"Your superiors, huh? So who do you work for?" Not that he entirely expected Kratos to just flat out tell him, but... you never know unless you ask.
With Kratos' question Yuri's smirk faded to a frown. So that's how it had to be, huh? Yuri didn't exactly relish the idea of fighting this guy, but if he must, he must.
"Yeah," and he lowered his sword, ready to take this guy on. Repede was ready too, the Growlithe in attack position and still snarling.
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Posted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 10:16 pm
"Hn," Kratos said simply. He wasn't going to supply Yuri with information the younger man could potentially use against himself or the organization. And besides, now was the time to fight. A deft hand signal sent Zero at the snarling Growlithe, prepping and firing a confuse ray to hopefully incapacitate the fire type, while Martel fired off the energy ball she had ready and waiting in the human's direction.
His leafeon was intelligent enough to know that the puppy pokémon was likely to roast her, both figuratively and literally, whereas the human... well, he had a sword and was obviously trained, but he was a human. This might not be an easy victory, but it did seem likely that they had a fighting chance. Whether or not he managed to take Yuri prisoner, he would get a good idea of his skills and his possible threat to Team Rocket - if he was going to end up a true nuisance, then they needed to know how to deal with him.
Fate would decide how this was meant to end. Kratos and his team were merely going to play their parts.
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Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2012 6:09 pm
"The silent treatment, huh? Alright. You weren't so quiet the last time we met. Kratos, wasn't it?"
Yuri squinted and shielded his eyes at the bright flash of confuse ray from the ghost. Which almost caused him to not see Martel's energy ball coming. He managed to just barely jump out of the way.
Repede wasn't so fortunate though, and was instantly confused by the maneuver. His world started spinning, and for a Pokemon with only one functional eye, that wasn't so great. He stumbled a bit, but tilted his nose into the air, sniffing. Using Odor Sleuth to try and pin point the ghost's location.
Yuri meanwhile, brandished his sword as he made a leap for the Leafeon. He aimed a swing at her. Hopefully he could get that thing out of the way so he could go after it's owner instead. Cowering behind animals while they fought for you, wasn't something he did.
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Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 12:15 pm
Kratos had no qualms about fighting the man in front of him himself, but he needed to take him down, not quibble about pointless things like alcohol and loose tongues. If he could afford to live an 'honorable' life any more then he wouldn't have joined the organization in the first place. So he simply stood, and watched, and waited for the moment when he might have to step in personally.
Martel shrieked when the sword came at her and ducked, but felt it clip one of her ears on the way. The Leafeon recovered quickly and moved to put herself between Yuri and her trainer, using razor leaf as she did so. "Leaf! Eon leaf leaf lea!" This mean man wasn't going to get near her trainer, not if she had anything to say about it!
Zero, meanwhile, swooped about Repede's head and did his best to make the Growlithe's confusion even worse, not attacking just yet but simply trying to hold the puppy pokémon's attention and... well, play with him a bit. Zero thought this was great fun! "Drea! Dreavus!"
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Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 2:56 pm
Sarcasm time was over, for now, and Yuri was all business as he focused on the fight. It wasn't often that he had to fight Pokemon, especially those that were trainers. He could already tell the difference between this one and a wild one.
As the leaves shot at him, Yuri raised his sword to try and deflect as many of the sharp projectiles as possible. He was only partially successful as several made hairline cuts through his clothes and skin. He winced a little as one cut particularly deep on his cheek, causing a bit of blood to trickle down to his chin.
"Damn, and I just fixed this outfit," he muttered while taking just a moment to wipe off some of the blood with the back of his hand. Eyes narrowed slightly and he made a rush for the Leafeon again, aiming a volley of slashes followed by a downward cut and swing of his fist, should she dodge, with the other hand.
Repede shook his head, trying to focus and follow the Misdreavus' movements. However, the blue puppy stumbled and as he tried to lunge in attack, ended up faceplanting against the concrete floor.
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Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2012 8:06 pm
Good, it looked like the other man was finally settling down and taking this seriously. Kratos had been worried that the younger man wasn't going to, which would have been bad mostly because he didn't particularly want to risk killing his opponent. He wanted to stop Yuri (if possible), not kill the man. There was only one person that he personally wanted dead. "Good, Zero, Martel," he said simply, knowing his team well enough to be sure that the compliment wouldn't break their focus, but rather encourage them to work even harder.
Martel couldn't dodge both the sword and the fist coming her way, and so it was with a yelp that she took a deep cut to the shoulder, sending her reeling. The leafeon got back to her paws almost immediately, but she was breathing hard and her right front leg wasn't holding her weight. A quick Synthesis helped to take a little of the edge of the injury off, though, and she prepared to launch herself at the human again. She would have, too, had Kratos' voice not called her back. "No, Martel. Yuan!"
With a glint of red light, the pidgeot was released. He took one look at the injured Leafeon and screeched in fury, launching a Twister attack at Yuri, continuing to screech because how dare that man harm his Martel? How dare he?!?
Zero, meanwhile, finally took his wide-open opportunity and unleashed a Psybeam upon the Growlithe. Playtime was over, he supposed - now was the time to get down to business.
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Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2012 2:26 pm
Well he scored a hit on the Leafeon, but now Yuri was facing one very big and angry bird. s**t.
Being light of weight, Yuri was easily sent flying by the strong gusts due to the twister. There was a crack as he painfully collided with a cinderblock wall, and slid down it. Yuri groaned, clearly dazed as he put a hand to his head. That did not feel good. Not one bit.
Mental note. Take caution when fighting a giant bird's girlfriend.
Repede yelped as he took the Psybeam square on, and was sent sprawling across the floor as well. Wobbling, he managed to get and growled as he summoned a bought of flames. Aiming as best he could for the Misdreavus in a Fire Wheel.
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Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2012 10:43 pm
Yuan screeched as loudly as he could, stalking in the direction of the human and trying to beat him with his wings - not any formal attack, but just a very angry, very large bird. He attempte dto smack Yuri upside the head as Kratos recalled Martel, ppromising her to tend to her wound as soon as he was able. The redhead was rather angry that his leafeon had been hurt in such a manner, but it wouldn't do any good to let Yuan beat him to death - or even really to unconscious, he supposed - so with a quiet but forceful "Yuan," he called the bird pokémon off.
Zero, meanwhile, shrieked in offense as the edge of Repede's Fire Wheel caught him on one side, and he swerved around in circles, panicking. "Drea! Drea dre vus vus vusvusvusvusvus!" he shouted, berating the puppy pokémon for doing such a thing to him. Did he know what being attacked with fire felt like? No? THEN HE SHOULDN'T DO IT - or so the misdreavus thought.
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Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 8:10 pm
Yuri was just coming to his senses when his head was beaten with a wing.
"Agh, dammit!"
He lifted an arm in attempt to shield himself from the pummeling, while the other one reached for his sword. In a flash he then thrust the blade in the bird's direction, hoping to get the thing off him if anything. It could die for all he cared at this point.
Repede naturally didn't pay the Misdreavus' rantings any heed, and instead tried to attack again. Which ended up causing him to run into the corner of a cage with a pained yelp.
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Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2012 12:26 pm
Yuan screeched as his right wing was pierced by the sword being thrust at him and proceeded to panic, flailing madly and keening. This fit only lasted a few seconds, however, before he was recalled by an already-moving Kratos, who approached with all of the speed his own years of training had granted him before attacking Yuri himself, aiming a right hook at the other man's jaw. It was one thing to attempt to interfere with rocket business, it was another thing entirely to nearly kill a member of his team.
Any idea he had previously entertained of showing mercy to the interloper was completely destroyed, and his only goal at this point was to ensure that Yuri never harmed his team or interfered again - he didn't particularly wish to bloody his hands, but he had no qualms with beating some sense into the younger man. None whatsoever.
Meanwhile, Zero cackled at the Growlithe and attacked with another Psybeam, intent on taking the puppy pokémon out of the battle as soon as possible.
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