“What would you say is humanity's greatest asset?” Felis asked, pulling on the combat boots from the locker. They didn’t fit perfectly, but the material was good, comfortable and sturdy.
“What are you going on about now?” Remi groaned, doing the same.
“Let me spit some philosophy shit man, answer the question.”
“Fine…innovation?”
“Ooh, nice answer. I’d say you’re close, but not right.”
“Then what?”
“It’s the knowledge of our own weakness.” Felis said, tapping his head.
“Weak?” Remi asked, pulling a vest over his Galactic uniform, “I'm not saying we’re Pokémon, but I wouldn’t say we’re weak. We've got the entire region under human control, that couldn’t happen if we were weak.”
“On the contrary, it happened because we’re weak. Back in my land, if you go back thousands and thousands of years ago, humans were nothing compared to the animals back then. We’re talking beasts that stood over 10 feet tall, monsters with sharp claws and sharper fangs. Creatures with fur to protect them against the weather, beasts with bodies designed to run for miles on end before getting tired.”
“But look at us!” Felis said, gesturing towards himself, “Weak sense of smell, no fangs or claws. If I try running for more than a hundred meters I'm already feeling tired. Only thing we got going for us is our good looks, and let’s be real, not everyone is as blessed as I am in that department.”
“Fuck you.”
“See the fact you thought I was talking about you speaks volumes.” He grinned, “But back to the point, we were weak, we needed to be strong, so what did we do? We adapted. We didn’t have fangs so we built our own. We didn’t have fur so we took from those that did. We didn’t have the stamina of animals, so we dominated the ones we could, and used them instead.”
“Huh. Okay, so where’s this all going?”
“It’s the same with Pokémon, right? We couldn’t defeat them, or conquer them or anything like that. So now it’s a partnership. A mutual contract where both parties agree to something in exchange for something only the other can provide. For Pokémon, it means guaranteed food, shelter, friendship, and the opportunity to pit themselves against stronger opponents.”
“And for us…” Remi said, his gaze flicking to the screen, where that behemoth of a Kleavor still paced back and forth, “survival against Pokémon who don’t need what we can offer.”
“Bingo!” Felis grinned. Finishing with the protective gear he slipped the baton and knife into their holsters. His hand lingered on the handle of a knife, it felt good there, comfortable.
“Anyways.” He said, dropping into a chair and rolling over to the main screen, “With that philosophy in mind, how do we take care of our little friend over there?”
“You sound like you have a plan already.”
“Maybe, but you’re the manager man, right? You didn’t get that for nothing, tell me what you’d do, and I’ll throw in something here and there.”
“You’re talking like you’re the boss.” Remi muttered, though Felis could see the gears turning in his head as he looked at Kleavor.
“It’s throat is ruined.” He observed, “How can it breathe like tha-”
“Focus.”
“Shit, right. Throat’s ruined so I doubt it could manifest any Type energy for ranged attacks.”
“You doubt? Or you know?”
“That’s impossible to say.” Remi sighed, tapping his chin as he leaned back in his seat, “Larger Pokémon like them often circulate their Type energy within their cores, then expel said energy through the mouth. If its throat is ruined there’s no way for the energy to release without combusting in on itself.”
“What about the axes? They were glowing at some point.”
“That’s why I’m saying it’s doubt rather than knowing. I couldn’t tell you whether or not it could expel energy through the axes or if it can simply empower them.”
“Then we treat it as if it can.” Felis said, “I’d rather not take the gamble and get fucking blasted by a high speed rock or something. Anyways, what else.”
“Wounds. A lot of them.”
“Hell fucking yea. Exposed enough for us to take advantage of?”
“A few near its legs and core, the heart too if you want.”
“If I want?”
“This thing isn’t normal, Felis.” Remi said, chewing his lip. “It’s walking around with its throat in ruins! It shouldn’t be able to breathe, or even walk around without collapsing on itself.”
“I mean it’s made of Unown right?” Felis shrugged, “We’re in some ancient fucking temple with people who call themselves “Divine”, this shit wasn’t going to be normal.”
“...I’m asking for a raise once I'm out.”
“That’s the spirit. Now what’s the actual plan here?”’
“It’s legs are a mess…look at the way it’s hobbled.” Remi tapped the screen, “We could take advantage of it, run circles around it before it could even catch us.”
“Take advantage of that little forcefield we got too.” Felis added, “Get Croagunk out there, and as soon as things look bad we return him and run back.”
“Fucking stupid we can’t even send out Pokémon inside.” Remi muttered.
Ah, right. Whatever this place was, it was just anti-Pokémon. They tried opening the balls multiple times to no avail, the devices lying inert.
“Forget about it.” Felis waved, “So Aken’s going to keep using Confuse Ray and Night Shade from afar. Croagunk keeps it occupied up close. Things go bad, we return and run our asses back.”
“Are we going to do anything with the weapons?”
“You’re not going to do shit, keep out the way and command Croagunk. I’ll be sneaking around, but I won’t do shit unless I get a clear opportunity.”
“Huh. I figured you’d want it dead asap.”
“Yeah fuck that, you see that thing? One cut and I’m dead.”
The plan settled, the two found themselves in front of the barrier once more. The monstrosity that was the bleeding and broken Kleavor gave them a look almost akin to glee, as if it could already see the blood it would spill.
“Yeah smile while you can you fat fuck.” Felis thought, drawing out the stun baton, “See if you keep that look.”
“Alright, remember.” He said aloud to Remi, who was nervously looking at the behemoth, “We’re weak. That means we don’t play by the rules alright?”
“Mhm, yea.”
“That means we cheat, we abuse what we can, and take advantage of what our opponent can’t. What do we got?”
“Numbers.” Remi said, his nervousness transforming into grim determination, “We’re quicker, can move around more, have more range options, and we have the barrier to fall back to.”
“Ready?”
“No.”
They ran forward anyway.
“Croagunk, [Brick Break!]” Remi shouted, immediately running to the left as soon as he crossed the threshold.
“Aken! [Confuse Ray!]” Felis said at the same time, breaking right.
Both Pokémon arrived with their faces set in determination. Aken flew upwards, sending down a mote of yellow light that flew into Kleavor’s head. Croagunk meanwhile lunged forward, one fist batting away an axe that came up for defense, the other cracking against its carapace.
Kleavor stumbled back, wild eyes unable to focus on anything within the room. Energy began to form up from its core, white lines that were visible from its ruined throat.
“Get to cover!” Felis shouted, “It’s doing something big!”
“Return!” Remi called, bringing Croagunk back.
The energy turned blinding, both trainers ducking behind whatever they could to escape what was coming. Aken had disappeared off to some corner, Felis wasn’t worried, he was smart. The light continued to build, forcing him to squeeze his eyes shut.
KRK-BOOM!
That…didn’t sound right. Felis glanced up from his hiding place, seeing Kleavor brought to its knees. Smoke trailed from its neck, and it stared at the ground with a look he couldn’t quite place.
“Ha…” The sound escaped his lips before he could stop himself, “haha…hahaha! It can’t do shit! Take advantage, Aken, [Night Shade!]”
His partner heard him, and from the shadows of the ceiling a ghost came hurtling forward, its shape twisting and changing into a monstrosity as it got closer and closer to Kleavor. It ripped into it, the sudden attack causing Kleavor to snap back into attention, leaping away it searched the air only to cut apart the other ghosts that came flying down.
“[Sucker Punch!]”
Croagunk was suddenly by Kleavor’s legs, jabbing into the back of its knees. The behemoth collapsed, retaliating with a swipe of its own that caused Croagunk to stumble back with a shallow cut across his side.
Croagunk didn’t let up, dark energy surrounding his fists as he stuck to Kleavor’s blind spots, continuously throwing hooks and uppercuts in an attempt to break apart its joints. The continuous attacks eventually caused it to lash out in frustration, expelling a mass of brown motes that seemed to hover in the air.
“Felis!” Remi yelled, “Back into the barrier!”
Didn’t need to tell him twice. Felis was already running full sprint, returning Aken back into his ball, the little guy not even giving out a hint of protest as the light encased him once again. He slid into the barrier at the same time as Remi, the two of them watching as the brown motes erupted into flecks of sand, spiralling and twisting within the room outside the barrier, completely obscuring it from view.
“How you feeling?” Felis asked, panting for breath.
“All things considered, good.” Remi answered, his eyes locked onto the mass of sand in front of them. “How do we deal with that though?”
“Fuck do you mean deal with it? We’re staying right here until that shit dies down.”
“Oh…huh, you’re right.”
“‘Course I am.”
From there it was simple clockwork, breaking down Kleavor step by step. They ran in, attacked, confused, did as much damage as they could before Kleavor popped a Sandstorm. As soon as they realized what was happening they’d run their asses back and camp out until it died down.
Cheap? Absolutely.
But hey, they were winning.
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“You know.” Remi said, watching as the sand rushed by once again. “I think I like being weak.”
“Yea?”
“I’m getting the philosophy. There’s no expectation for us to win, so it gives us room to move.”
“Ayy, you’re getting it. One thing though.”
“Hm?”
“When we’re fighting a giant fucking monster, don’t worry about shit like ‘expectation’.”
Remi let out a chuckle, “Yea, sorry. It’s on its last legs now, think we can finish it off?”
“...Maybe.”
“Maybe?”
Felis stared ahead at the barely visible shadow of Kleavor. Its body heaved and shifted, undulating strangely under cover. “It’s doing something…” Felis said, chewing his lip, “I don’t know what but…something.”
“Buffs?”
Felis flicked his gaze over to Remi, “What kind?”
“I…I don’t know. It’s rock type right? Maybe Rock Polish?”
“Roc-speed boosts?”
“That’s the thing, I couldn’t say. Maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t. Maybe it has Agility instead, or an attack buff, defense buff. The question is, what would be the best case scenario for us?”
“Nothing. This is the worst case.” Felis growled, “If it’s applying buffs we no longer qualify as ‘weak’ in its eyes. We are ‘strong’, and if we are strong, that means it is weak. Which means now it needs to plan and cheat to win.”
“So, what should we do?”
“...I’m not sure.” Felis admitted. “I’m half tempted to just wait it out, come back the next day.”
“I wouldn’t be opposed to that.”
“Yea, but it doesn’t really solve the problem.”
“It could waste the move usage.”
Felis looked over, “What does that mean?”
“It’s something you learn in middle school about type energy.” Remi explained, still gazing out at the sandstorm in front of them, “Pokémon have Type energy, how much they have varies though, and it directly translates to how much of what they can use.”
“Do they got multiple types at once? Like they have a pool of rock and normal, or is all just one big pool?”
“One big pool of energy that they turn into what they can use.”
“So theoretically they can use anything?”
“Close. There’s a whole genetics thing that some people study, researchers mostly, but I didn’t get into that stuff. It does explain why some Pokémon can use things outside of their born types though.”
So in a word, the “pool” was literally just PP transformed into a mana pool instead of numbers. Good info to have, wouldn’t be that useful if they got their asses killed by Kleavor though.
“And how does Type energy replenish?”
“Rest, food, drink. The Joy’s have a method of making the process quick, but they don’t share anything.”
“Hmmm.” Felis sighed, sitting back and resting on his elbows, “Okay, let’s play this out. We go inside, take a quick nap, then what happens?”
“That thing’s buffs die down, as well as its sandstorms. An hour or two should suffice. After that we just head back out, and do the same thing we’ve been doing over and over again.”
“It’s not going to regenerate its pool?”
Remi shook his head, “Not fast enough. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the big guy has been using its attacks sparingly, mostly resorting to axe chops and whatnot. My guess is, since it’s technically a bunch of Unown, its Type pool isn’t as strong as it should be. It’ll regenerate, but not enough to hold us back.”
“How sure are you?”
“95%, give or take.”
Felis stood and stretched, “Alright! Nap it is then. If it doesn’t work we’re back to square one anyways, may as well get some rest, right?”
It was then that the sandstorm ended, and the two turned to stare at Kleavor. It…didn’t look any different. It was still the same battered and bruised Pokémon from before. Felis thought it would take one or two more proper beatdowns before going down for good.
Yet…despite the barrier, and the injured Kleavor, something in Felis’s gut screamed danger. He swallowed nervously, watching the empty eyes of a beast that only wanted him dead, how it ignored all rational thoughts of survival to complete its singular goal of killing its prey.
Its throat rattled, flaps of pink and brown flesh flapping as air seemed to wheeze through, and its mouth opened and closed.
“It’s…saying something. Why?”
Just then, Aken’s pokeball went wild on his belt, shaking back and forth, as if demanding release. A quick glance at Remi showed Croagunk was doing the same, causing confusion in the trainer’s eyes.
KRK-THOOM
Felis’s head snapped towards the barrier that had protected them all this time. Kleavor’s blow against the barrier sounded like thunder, the crackling flash of electricity causing the two men to stumble back.
“When did it get here?” Remi asked, eyes wide, “What's it trying to do?”
Another blow against the barrier, another flash of lightning.
At the same time, Bezos flickered into view, looking just a tad impressed as it watched Kleavor strike the barrier again and again, the axes blurring so fast Felis wasn’t even sure if they hit.
“Well this is a problem!” The AI said, “I wouldn’t recommend staying.”
“What? Why not?”
“Well it appears to be striking faster than the barrier can retaliate.”
“What!?” Felis said, “How is that possible? You guys are supposed to be super advanced?”
“Oh we are.” Bezos said smugly, “We have over hundreds of years of exp-”
“Then how the fuck is that thing doing all that?”
“Well they are monsters of almost unparalleled strength. Normally the Ares wing would go out in force to completely wipe out threats, but seeing how you’re on the weaker side, there is a course of action I can suggest before it completely breaks the barrier.”
“What is it?”
“Run.”
The barrier shattered.
“Motherfu-urk!” Felis barely brought up the stun baton in time, blocking the swing Kleavor threw at him. His whole body was flung into the open lobby, rolling about a dozen meters or so before he came to a stop.
His hand instantly went to his Pokeball, and Aken was free, flying down protectively in front of him.
“It’s gotten stronger.” The ghost hissed.
“Yeah, I could tell.” Felis groaned, forcing himself to his feet.
“No, you don’t understand. It’s gotten stronger. Its aura is completely different.”
“I’ll figure something out, [Confuse Ray]”
Croagunk was getting fucked up by Kleavor. Brick break was ready in its arms from the way its arms glowed bronze, but the sheer power and speed of Kleavor’s attacks forced Croagunk back step by step, taking cut after cut against his skin.
The mote of light hit, and Kleavor stumbled, giving enough time for Croagunk to land a clean hit, and for Remi to run out of the security wing and join Felis’s side.
“Croagunk let’s go!” Remi called, “Get away from it!”
“Aken, do you think we could curse it?”
“...no.” Aken said, clearly annoyed, “It has no real spirit for the curse to latch onto. Even Night Shade has had a diminished effect against it.”
Kleavor shook itself out of the confusion, causing Felis’s eyes to widen, “It’s recovering fast-”
And then the behemoth was in front of him.
“It’s like a fucking train.” Felis thought.
Croagunk leapt into the fray once more, punching at one of the axes that swung down. Their blows connected, but only after a brief struggle was Croagunk forced to back off, the blow of the axe causing the frog to stumble.
Right into the trajectory of the second axe.
“CROAGUNK!” Remi shouted. His partner attempted to bring an arm up to defend, but it was too late. The axe bit deep, cutting a deep gash from his collarbone to his thigh, purple and red blood splashed across the gold, and Croagunk collapsed to his knees, shock painted across his face.
Felis drew the knife from his left, rushing forward with the stun baton in his right. He squeezed the trigger, feeling the electricity force the hairs on his arm to rise. Before Kleavor could deal a finishing blow to Croagunk, he jammed the baton into one of Kleavor’s open wounds.
The monster let out a shrill cry that sounded like boiling water from a tea kettle. Before Felis could take advantage of the brief stun however, it rammed its elbow into his gut, causing him to fall backwards.
“It’s like being hit with a fucking hammer.” Felis thought painfully.
“Retur-urk!” Remi managed to return Croagunk away from Kleavor, but that didn’t stop the monster from barreling into him, the sheer force of its speed launching him backwards.
“[Confuse Ray!]” Felis shouted, “Remi! Get the fuck up we gotta go!”
The mote flew, and Kleavor went tumbling to the ground as it tried to run forward.
“I…I can’t keep this up!” Aken hissed, pure hatred in his eyes as he stared at the behemoth.
“Give me a signal when you’re tapped out.” Felis said, “Until then use it every time you see Kleavor snap back to attention.”
Felis ran, hearing Remi’s footsteps close on his heel. The thunderous footsteps of Kleavor sounded soon after, though by the way they scratched and stumbled, it appeared they had just a few moments longer of confusion.
“We need cover.” Felis thought, dashing past the center pool, “Closest place is…”
He burst into the hallway, immediately greeted by the fluorescent whites of the ballroom. Previously he’d seen Kleavor with glass shards and wiring across its feet, yet the room now showed no damages. The dancers still flowed to the same silent tune, their elegant steps a stark contrast to his own mad steps.
“Watch out!”
Felis heard it before he saw, instinctively rolling to the right as an axe crashed into the ground where he was just a second ago. He had no time however, to dodge the kick Kleavor sent out, the blow sending Felis flying down the steps.
His weapons clattered to the side as he brought his hands up to guard the back of his head, tumbling down carpeted steps before stopping at the bottom.
“Argh…” He winced, feeling his aching body groan in protest as he stood. Aken was distracting the Kleavor, flying in and out of its vision as Remi ran down the steps, dragging Felis up to his feet.
“What’s the plan!?” He hissed.
“The...the dancers, use them…” Felis said, “While it's distracted, keep hitting it with the stun batons.”
“Incoming!” Aken shouted, and Felis moved to action, grabbing the closest dancer and ripping it away from the floor and onto the carpet. Glass hands immediately clawed down its face as it let out a scream, the sound of nails on chalk ripping through the automata’s “throat”, grabbing the curiosity of the Kleavor.
Felis spun the thing around, before kicking it towards Kleavor. It screamed at the beast, before leaping up towards it without abandon, ripping and clawing at whatever it could.
“Did you know that was going to happen!?” Remi asked.
“Ominous warning, I figured it was worth a shot,” Felis’s grin was feral, “Now fucking move, and get as many as you can off their floors!”
The sound of crashing glass behind them was enough for Remi to get his ass moving into the crowd, bumping and interrupting the dancers who tried to catch themselves. Felis in the meantime grabbed two more, shoving them into Kleavor’s direction before dashing after them.
“Why are you running towards the death monster!?” Aken demanded.
“Weapons!” Felis said, “I’m not fighting that thing with my fists!”
The first dancer ran straight into Kleavor’s axe, shattering almost instantly, though he noticed both glass and wire seemed to automatically flow towards the dance floors once more. The second fared a little better, digging its hand into flesh and ripping apart whatever it could.
Felis sprinted around both, grabbing the baton and knife from the ground.
“ALRIGHT MOTHERFUCKER!” He shouted, as 4 more glass statues rushed towards Kleavor. “LET’S DA-”
The room turned red.
“CONDITIONS MET.” A robotic voice boomed, “OBJECT; ‘ROOM OF GRACE’, SHALL NOW BE TREATED AS; ‘GLASS HORDE’, PLEASE ENJOY YOUR TIME, DIVINE ONES.”
At once, all the automatas stopped dancing, immediately turning to the three extras in the room.
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
“Oh wow!” Bezos said, clapping his hands excitedly “I love this game.”
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
His name was Remirez Avery, and sometimes, he wondered what he’d done to deserve his fate.
He wasn’t the best of people, he’d be the first to admit it. You didn’t join Galactic’s underground forces if you didn't have some dirt on your record, but he didn’t think he deserved being stuck in an underground labyrinth.
Really, he had a cushy position, underlings, and decent pay, enough for his brother to go to school and eat well, and for him to have a nice little apartment up in Veilstone.
Sure, he heard the complaints. He drove his little minions hard, wanting them to complete shit as fast as possible. But was that really a bad thing? Work ASAP, relax ASAP, and maybe impress some higher ups in the meantime, Remi didn’t think it was so bad.
…
So what the fuck did he do to deserve this?
“Get! Back!” He hissed, swinging the baton wildly at the “dancers” that were currently trying to rip him apart.
He’d managed to rush out of the crowd as soon as the room turned red, sensing the danger. He was glad he did, because the whole room went crazy after. Elegant dancers turned to murderbots, rushing at him with reckless abandon. That big bastard looked like it was having fun though, slashing and stomping its way through the hordes.
“Ragh!” Remi screamed, smashing one apart as it came close. He didn’t know why he screamed, but there was blood pumping in his ears, his heart was hammering loudly, and he was short on breath. Screaming made him forget the terror for a moment, it let him drown out the fear in blind rage.
“Is this what you feel when you battle, Croaogunk? Do you feel the same fear I do when I send you to fight my battles?” He thought, as another swing missed a dancer. The robot-thing grabbed onto his vest, yanking him forward. Two others grabbed at his legs trying to rip apart his flesh, though they only got a handful of armored Kevlar instead.
And then Felis was there. With one hand he smashed apart the one grabbing onto his chest, shards of glass forcing Remi to look away. The ones at his legs he drove his knife into the closest one's neck, the point cracking the glass in half, forcing the robot to go limp to focus on repairs. Remi used his now free foot to stomp at the remaining one, before finishing it with a smash of his baton.
Felis was a whirlwind of movement, both baton and knife were used with dangerous precision. Having him by Remi’s side made him feel like they would be okay, which shouldn’t have been the case.
He was the manager, after all.
Then again, nothing about Felis made sense.
For one, there was no fucking way Felis was a real name. It sounded stupid. The second thing was his attitude. Everything always felt like a joke when it came to their way of life. Pokémon, the mafia, life and death.
Even now, the man was grinning wildly. Even as his body fought for air, as his hair lay plastered against his skin, slick with sweat. But there was focus in his eyes, a sharp intelligence that spoke differently to whatever image the man wanted to show.
Step by step the two retreated back up the steps, past the behemoth who still fought and squashed whatever robot was foolish enough to get in its way. Where Remi’s own swings were wild and desperate, Felis wove and danced into whatever opening was given to him by the masses, giving them both room to breathe.
“Now what do we do?” Remi gasped, as the Automata had abandoned their pursuit of them in order to reach the bigger threat.
“Back to the lobby.”
“The barrier’s fried.”
“We’re going to use the water.”
Remi turned to look at his companion, then at the stun baton he flicked on and off. There it was again. That wild and savage grin, so proud, so confident, it almost put him at ease.
Almost.
Remi liked to think he was a good reader of people. It was how he got to where he was, you had to read the mood to know when to sweet talk. Felis’s eyes betrayed his mood. It showed death, both of the monster’s and his own, a gamble with Sinnoh’s Deposed one.
“You’re going to stand in as bait.”
“...What?”
“Yea.”
“Why would I agree to that?”
“Because if I pull any crazy shit again I think I might pass out.”
And that’s how Remi found himself knee deep in water, nervously waiting as Felis hid among the corners of the room.
“...Why didn’t we do this earlier?” He asked, hearing the smashing of glass and heavy steps get closer and closer.
“I didn’t think of it.” Felis shrugged, causing a spark of annoyance to flare up, “But on the other hand, even if I did, I don’t think I could’ve gotten that big asshat to sit still enough to do something like this.”
“And you’re sure I won’t get shocked?”
“Just stick to the water’s edge, and you’ll be alright.”
He didn’t like how dismissive Felis’s tone was, but stayed nonetheless. At the very least, if he failed here he knew Felis would be dead too, and though the guy wasn’t half bad, there was no way he was going out as bait.
The thumping of feet only got louder and louder, until soon there was no denying it. The beast made it’s entrance, not to the sound of roars and death, but rather to the sound of–
“THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING IN: ‘GLASS HORDE’, WE HOPE YOU ENJOYED YOUR EXPERIENCE!”
It was fast. Faster than a creature of its size should have been, hurtling through the chamber without abandon. In its eyes was only one desire, one burning desire it had been denied again and again. It saw its prize now, it saw its purpose, standing helplessly in the water, and it ran.
“[Confuse Ray!]”
It was the weakest of motes. A dim pulse of light that could barely be recognized as such. It flew into the beast’s eyes, and to the naked eye, it did absolutely nothing, causing only the briefest of stumbles.
But it was enough.
Remi leapt to the side, and Felis moved, stabbing the baton into the water. The effect was instant. The scent of burnt flesh and the sound of a thousand currents filled his senses.
And then a thud.
“Fucking finish it!”
The beast had collapsed outside the pool, the massive fuck still somehow breathing. Felis dashed through the fountain, landing atop the thing and bringing the electrified baton onto its skull.
Fear had Remi following suit, the recent memories of being chased over and over again by that asshat had him swinging harder and harder. They swung even as their arms burned, they swung even when the beast stopped moving, they swung even as he saw the light leave the beast’s eyes.
“It’s…it’s dead.” Remi finally said, collapsing to his knees.
“So?” Felis heaved, bringing the baton down again, “This fucking asshole tried killing us. This fucking asshole nearly killed us!”
Remi looked at his Pokeball. He remembered the pained look on Croagunk’s face as he was nearly cut in two defending him. He remembered how satisfied that bastard looked doing it.
“That’s the spirit!” Felis laughed, as Remi started swinging again, “Scream your heart out Remi, nobody to hear but us!”
This time it wasn’t fear that motivated the beatdown. No, this time it was anger. Anger at how weak he felt, being chased around with no idea what to do. It was like a second wind, and he swung to the sound of Felis’s howling laughter.
And to the sound of his own screams of rage.