The mist cleared in a circle as Silver took the first step, the unmistakable heat rush of an incoming battle washing over him.

He wound back his scythe as he ran, lips stretched into an unhinged smile.

"S'been a while since I had some real fun!" he yelled, fingers gripping tightly to the pole of the weapon, "so don't disappoint me!"

Just when he was about to swing, Dexter smiled. Time seemed to stop.

For that one, stretching moment Silver felt painfully aware of his surroundings. He could count every heartbeat, see every wisp of mist as it dissipated in front of him, and more importantly he saw as the cloaked man began to move.

His foot slid forward, parting the grass in front of it. But no, that wasn't just it; it wasn't just his foot that moved, but his entire body with it. Only a couple inches, just enough to drop into a better stance. In those fleeting milliseconds Silver understood how the complex machinery of his body worked, from his shoulders to his hips, legs and feet, all to take a single, perfect step. A movement so fluid, so simple, he could feel the years of intense training behind it.

Time began to move normally once more. Silver, now aware of the astronomical skill difference between them, felt a tinge of fear that only served to fuel his excitement.

Dexter's entire body moved as he spun on the ball of his feet, slashing the air in front of him with the enormous arc of his scythe.

"You do get it, don't you!"

Silver leaned back, sliding on the mud as he tried to stop himself. The edge of his vision caught the gleam of his opponent's scythe, swiftly approaching. The speed of the swing had caught him off guard. With the momentum he still had he threw himself back, and felt the rush of wind as the scythe flew over him, rustling his hair.

"Those idiots with their Pokemon fights, they have no idea…"

He'd barely dodged the attack, but now he was moments from falling to the ground. Judging by the way Dexter squared up his shoulders in preparation for his next swing, doing so would be lethal.

He rotated his body to the side, right hand touching the ground. Using it as his center of gravity, he pushed himself to the side with all the strength he had. The familiar sound of scythe cutting through air, followed by the cold as part of his shirt was torn open and his skin exposed, told him he'd barely dodged again.

"…of the adrenaline a true battle can generate!"

The world became a black and green blur for a moment before he fell on one knee, his grip still iron tight against the pole of his weapon. He gave himself less than a second to breathe, and looked up. Dexter's eyes met his, and Silver felt his veins turn to ice. He faced him from the side, arms raised high along with his weapon. How'd he move so fast? Just before he was…

"Your weapon is rather pretty," he whispered, the scars at the side of his mouth as clear as cracks on marble. "But mine is a bit more customized, you could say."

Silver's mind had no time to react as the scythe fell on him like a guillotine. By reflex alone he grabbed his with both hands and raised it to meet the man's strike.

The blade struck the metal snath just between Silver's hands, its impact raising a cloud of dust around him as his feet dug slightly into the mud. Somehow it didn't break, which briefly started both of them. Dexter's smile faltered for an instant, cracks of doubt filtering through his maddened expression. A moment's hesitation, one that Silver had no qualms exploiting.

Taking a page out of the man's book he stood up, using all his strength to push him back, and spun around, readying a counterattack. His opponent was out of balance and didn't have time to dodge or cover as Silver raised his leg and kicked him square in the chest.

"Agh!"

Dexter flailed his arms wildly as he was thrown back, a gurgled growl of pain escaping his lips. Silver took the opportunity to breathe in deep, his limbs shaking slightly

"Sorry pal, but I've got someone waiting for me," he declared, forcing himself to smile. "So this ends now!"

Dexter finally regained balance and, eyes still covered in shadows, copied his smile to a T. He raised his free hand in front of his face and moved four fingers towards himself in a Come get me gesture.

Silver felt as if his body moved on its own, the wild beating of his heart deafening him to everything around him. With bliss flooding his veins he lowered his knees and jumped as high as he could, out of Dexter's slashing reach. He saw the man take a step back and move his scythe behind his leg.

Time stopped once more as their eyes met, and in that fraction of a second he could swear he heard him speak.

"Indeed…"

Silver raised his weapon as high as his arms could go and, grinning from ear to ear, threw it down as he fell on top of Dexter, ready to cleave him in half.

"This ends now!"

The strange rune on the man's scythe glowed with a purple, pulsing light as he slashed up. It seemed to almost go through Silver's weapon as it reached him. The last thing he saw before his vision went black was a splash of blood, followed by a pain so intense he almost lost consciousness.

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In the fleeting moments before his body hit the ground, Silver's eyes went wide in shock. How'd… how had his scythe…?

Reality crashed into him just as his body did against the ground, hitting it hard enough to spit all the air in his lungs. Eyes hazy, he looked up and noticed the distinct shape of his opponent's weapon, now stained with some of his blood, raising once more as Dexter prepared the finishing blow.

"STOP IT!"

A very familiar set of colors and shapes ran between him and Dexter, extending both arms to the side as if wanting to shield him. The man did not attack, too stunned by the sudden intervention.

"That is enough!" the girl yelled, fulminating both of them with her gaze. "This fight ends now!"

Contrary to what he would've expected, Dexter did not protest or attack her. Instead he stood still, smile absent from his face for the first time. He looked as if he'd seen a ghost.

"Molly…"

Silver tried his best to push himself to his feet, to no avail. His muscles were numb, and while he still had feeling on his right arm, the pain alone was enough to discourage him from moving it.

A familiar pair of soft hands pressed against him, pushing him back.

"Stay still, I need to stitch and bandage this," she said, grabbing him by the arm and pushing the broken fabric of his shirt to the side.

Silver clenched his teeth. "N-no, we're not done here. I still gotta…"

"Do what she says, kid."

He had to check twice to make sure those words really came from Dexter. The man's tone was completely different from before, and even though most of his face was obscured he noticed something strange in his expression. Regret, perhaps?

"Get that wound checked, and go back to your friends," he said, no signs of the joys he'd displayed present in his voice. "I'm done playing around."

Shame and anger were the only reigning emotions within him as he saw Dexter turn around and start walking away. He stopped a few moments after, however, and through the daze of pain and humiliation he heard him speak.

"Next time, it will be just you and me," he declared, voice strangely devoid of strength. "No third parties involved. Got it?"

----------------------------------------

Sabrina hadn't expected to face a goddamn Scizor.

Last time she'd run into Curly she'd come to the conclusion that he must've been an experienced trainer, but this was something else. He must've really wanted to humiliate her. He raised a cocky eyebrow–aware of his overwhelming advantage– and for a moment Sabrina forgot that she was simply trying to study his weaknesses.

Now all she could think about was how much she wanted to win.

"Go," she told Rokon, tone frigid.

The Scizor moved too fast for her eyes to follow. Yet Rokon, who'd jumped out of her head excited at the prospect of a battle, vaulted over his opponent –with reflexes she didn't think him capable of– and smiled savagely, embers filtering through his fangs.

The flames hit Scizor's wings, spreading at an alarming rate and, judging by the look on his face, causing enough pain to momentarily stun him.

"Sean, what are you doing!?" she heard her opponent's distressed voice, fingers curling around the handle of his sword. "Use Steel Wing!"

A pulsing, white energy covered the Scizor's wings, extinguishing the fire and restoring his focus. Using his segmented body to his advantage he spun wildly, flying towards the airborne Rokon.

However it seemed that an attack with quadruple weakness had taken a toll on him, though it might've also been due to the shock of having been eluded completely just before. His assault missed the Vulpix again, this time without the need for the small fox to do more than move slightly to the side.

The incredulous expression on Curly's face, she couldn't lie, made her smile, even though it was obvious it'd been nothing more than luck. She could feel the wound on his pride and decided to provoke him a little bit. How dangerous could it be?

"Hey, what's wrong?" she asked, spitting out a line of smoke. "Steel Wing against a fire Pokemon? Haven't memorized the type chart yet?"

"That was just a lucky shot!" he replied, setting his jaw. "Sean, Metal Claw! And don't miss!"

Landing behind his opponent, Rokon jumped towards him once more. He saw as the Scizor rotated his body, pincers pulsing, coalescing with a blinding white energy, and slashed at him with all the strength he had left.

Smile never wavering, Rokon vaulted vertically and hit the pincer with his six tails, pushing himself above Sean's head, who was too shocked to react as a small torrent of flames engulfed him. Parts of his carapace and his lower wings began to melt as he screamed in agony.

Rokon landed behind him, not even bothering to look as his opponent's body hit the ground. Sabrina stood frozen, cigarette limply hanging from her lips. She didn't know whose expression was more priceless; hers or Curly's.

I think I like this one, she thought, giving her Pokemon a smile and a thumbs up.

"Useless…"

Curly muttered angrily as he retrieved his Scizor, whose body turned to light as it was absorbed into the Ultraball. The man's dark eyes stared at it for a few moments, expression unreadable. Then, letting out a sigh, he threw the ball upwards. Sabrina's gaze followed its trajectory; it hovered in the middle of the air for an instant before falling back down. Curly raised his sword ever so slightly, the sharp end facing up, and simply stared as the ball fell into it.

The sharp whir of metal against metal made her wince. The thing didn't break in half, though barely. The button at the front flew off into the tall grass, leaving no way for it to be opened again. Curly knelt to pick up the Ultraball and whispered to it.

"If you can manage to get out of there, I might consider training you again."

Not only did he seem rather calm about his defeat, but not even her mocking and taunts had affected him. Not just that, but he'd condemned his Scizor to a slow, agonizing death inside his ball without even batting an eye.

"Rokon, come back."

The Vulpix, who hadn't stopped shaking his head and spitting smoke after his victory, turned into light and went back to his Pokeball. Sabrina didn't see that however, as her gaze was entirely focused on the man in front of her.

This guy… He's dangerous.

He stared at her for a moment, as if waiting for her to do something, perhaps yell at him for what he'd done.

"Here, catch."

A small leather pouch fell at her feet, full of what looked like stacks of bills .

"For your victory; it was an official battle after all," he said, not fazed at all by his previous action. "Your Vulpix is… decent. He's got a future ahead of him."

She knelt to pick up the bag, appreciating its pleasant weight in her hand. She was aware that any trainer with even the slightest sense of honor would've thrown it back at his face.

She was not that kind of trainer.

Curly placed his hands inside his pockets, in a similar way to her. Was he really not going to attack her? Everything seemed to indicate that he didn't have any desire to cause her harm, even though she'd beaten him in such a dirty way and hadn't let go of the opportunity to rub it all over his face.

Could she really turn her back on him?

She did, despite what her instincts told her, and started walking towards the rest of the group.

"Until we have to kill time again."