39: Sorrowful Cry, Pitiful Guy

Taba enjoys the sight of a raging Emi as she screams to the high heavens. "Kick his ass, Viv!"

Croagunk manages to dodge another Wing Attack from Heart by bending backwards and throwing out a Poison Jab that connects with the small bat directly in the head. The less than effective attack stuns the creature enough for a follow up Tackle which crashes the small mammal to the dirt.

Tyson weighs his options as Emi demands for recompense. Even if he defeated Vivian, nothing changes. She still remains in the tournament; he still remains hated.

The message he received from Luke earlier remains unread. He didn't want to confront that any more or less than he did the rest of this situation he was dealing with already. He had gone from the most heinous villain in the whole game to a target on everyone's radar to be purged.

He had no control or power over events any longer. Though he could command his new team modestly, he couldn't fend off serious threats.

"You're not unskilled for a bloodied killer." Vivian hands out a backhanded compliment as her bloodlust finally begins to thin. Tyson had been quiet and contemplative after the fighting had begun. She expected taunts or faux apologies but nothing was said by the tan heir.

"D rank is a bit harsh for a girl who commands her partner's undying respect like this." Tyson commends her honestly while remembering how Mandy smiled whenever he opened her food bag or how she protected the young man from wild Pokémon whenever he was left in the forest to find his way home or die.

James Banks may have beaten him, but that's ALL he did.

Vivian hesitates calling her next action. Heart had done some damage to the wincing Croagunk; more than she thought she could ever succeed in doing. If this had been a one-to-one battle, she might have had hope.

Tyson had twice the members she did, however. By sheer numerical advantage he would defeat her.

"I just don't understand you." Vivian's calm tone returns as she pushes her emotions deep into the recesses of her heart. "I was hoping you'd act like an asshole… it would be easier for me to justify this…"

Tyson folds his arms and contemplates her words. As wind flows over the field and the flapping of Heart's blackened wings matches the quick beating of his heart, he surmises that he'll have to start somewhere. "Super villains that monologue their cruelty don't exist as far as I'm aware. And even if I was, I was defeated pretty completely. What do you think happens to a big villain after they're thrashed?"

Emi steps to the edge of the arena; her focus on Tyson is filled with such disdain it's palpable and could probably be seen by those attuned to aura readings. "Don't they just try again?"

"I can't win this thing. I think we all know that by now, don't we?" Tyson ignores the murderous aura and watches Croagunk eye his opponent with a glib smile. "I can defeat Vivian, but I couldn't hope to defeat a guy with a psychic team backup nor could I face you, a girl trained with and by Vance Holmes."

Taba has his Rotom floating over the stadium to analyze and store as much information about the two fighters as it can, down to the strain on their Pokémon to their own emotional states. "I don't intend to fight you. I'm not certain I could win just yet."

"I gladly would." Emi summons her Pansage to her side. Panthagoras delivers a cold glare to her master's greatest enemy that matches her own when she adjusts the glasses on her face to reflect all light and hide her intentions.

"Enough games; Croagunk, finish this bout!" Tyson reveals a more decisive side to his newfound nature and orders for an ultimate attack. "Give that bat of hers your best move, the Poison Jab barrage!"

Croagunk leaps high into the air and its arms glow a deeply unsettling purple. As Woobat struggles to pick up enough speed to dodge, the toad lands onto the earth and hops forward with blistering speed. Unable to swiftly move left or right due to its flight patterns and its inexperience, the seven or so strikes to the body and head bring the Woobat collapsing to the dirt.

"No!" Emi expresses her displeasure by cursing Tyson's name. Vivian just hangs her head before calling Heart back to his home. Taba remains steadfast in his neutrality, acknowledging that Vivian did far more than he initially expected. These rankings might not be as set in stone as he initially believed.

"Just because I can beat you doesn't mean I had to." In the end, Tyson finds himself monologuing in a way. "I never found pleasure in fighting for the sake of it. I just sought to grow so I could escape the place I was trapped into."

Vivian eyes him with a mixture of emotions as she appraises him carefully. "You trapped me in a life where my best friend is dead, Tyson. You trapped Grace in a life where her husband AND her daughter were both murdered by monsters masquerading as fucking people…"

Emi chimes in from the side. "It's expected from blue bloods like him. Complain about your parents all you want but you really do act like them. Maybe it's deserved."

Tyson clicks his tongue in dissatisfaction and recalls Croagunk, tossing out his Stunky to greet her Wings as Zubat enters the stage. "I seem to recall none of you bothering to know of my position. Shut your fucking mouth about theirs! You're only going on about this because you know what you feel and damn everyone else on the matter! Nothing I did justifies you acting like a child should be abused when they haven't done a damn thing yet, Emi!"

"It's easy for you to say that when you've never buried someone you cared about." Emi bites back at Tyson's assertions. "I don't take things out on strangers because my mom is dead and my dad's in prison for life for doing it. Do I?"

"What?" Taba exclaims out of shock; even that much leaves him confused that his own emotions are overpowering his logical senses.

Emi is more than capable of regulating her emotions when she needs to. "You may have had it worse than some of us, but don't act like you're above empathizing with us. I hate you because I know what it feels to want to hurt people with happy families." Her bitter younger years come to display that turbulent time of her life. "I resented everyone else for having parents, too."

"You're an orphan?" Vivian loses focus on Tyson for a moment and hesitation in her commitment settles over her.

"I live with Jamie's family now." Emi thanks the stars for the man's family; his mother welcomed her inside that stormy night as she stood covered in rain and tears on their porch step with Officer Turquoise and Cyan flanking her sides.

"None of that has to do with me." Tyson interjects despite the moment Emi is having with her two friends. "You fell on hard times, but you had people to take you in. Somebody showed you there's more to life than pain."

Emi grips the PokéBall she's holding so tightly she worries it might malfunction. With Panthagoras by her side, she isn't worried he'll be injured if she does. "And you could have had that if you didn't kill people! Now you're destined to die a monster!"

"So what!?" Tyson's voice rises as his emotions ignite his battle tendencies. "I'll die on my terms regardless!" No more holding back, he decides in that moment. This charade, this petty dispute between powers far mismatched to ever have a fair bout, will end in nothing but shame. "Stunky; break this pathetic buzzard and remove it from my sight."

Vivian delivers a harsh command for her first partner. "Wings; rend this man's team to shreds! Wing Attack!"

Tyson jumps into the air and catches sight of Zubat's fluttering. "There!" Stunky turns around and blasts poisonous noxious gunk in the direction of the bat, nailing it as it flies low to strike the skunk. The blinding toxic Sludge Bomb catches the bird in the face but a lack of eyes allows it to strike Stunky regardless. The skunk twirls in the air in circles as Zubat switches into a Whirlwind of sorts to keep its foe in the sky.

Unable to break through the high winds, Stunky watches helplessly as Zubat's fangs tear into it to leech the life from its very body.

"Bite it when it can't retreat!" Tyson's orders are cold and concise. Unlike Vivian, his studies show the fruits of his labors as Stunky's Bite rips into the wing near its face. As the Zubat's most defenseless body part is torn from nibbling fangs ripping into it, Tyson issues another order of equal cruelty. "Now grab that weakened rat with wings and fly it to the ground."

Taba acknowledges Tyson silently. Vivian is an amateur; the kind of trainer who announces direct attacks like a child would. Tyson, in comparison, knows more about fighting than just shouting attacks and he's demonstrating strategy. Risking an attack like Leech Life to hit so a weakened foe can regain strength to lure it into physical range is a tested way to handle Pokémon that attack to steal health back from its foes.

Most Zubat trainers abandon moves like that once it evolves into Crobat due to the risks involved. Tyson may have just gotten these new Pokémon but he has clearly understood how to fight.

Emi bites her lip as her anger rides her emotions like the little skunk that drives Wings into the ground, cracking it against the dirt hard enough to send it to sleep instantly.

A moment passes as dust is flung afar from a gust of wind as the shield-like dome covering them dissipates. "Tyson Banks has knocked out his opponent's Pokémon. He has acquired his first victory in the test. Vivian Runa has been defeated in her first match."

The robotic voice announces the results from one of the flying Rotom, and all save one fly off to their next assignment.

Vivian walks up to the Stunky and Zubat in the field of battle and notices the little skunk nudging Zubat until it moves, slowly lifting its head and aiming it at the direction of the sounds Vivian makes every time she takes a step. "Zu…Zubaaaat."

Stunky notices Vivian approaching and sits as if to invite her to retrieve her comrade. To the girl he almost seemed saddened by the prospect of the fight, and as she scoops the wounded bat off of the ground and into her arms, she retrieves a small handkerchief from her pocket and wipes the sludge off of her partner. "This is my fault, Wings. I should have held my tongue."

"I think you did the right thing." Tyson extends his arm out and his loyal friend climbs up his pant legs and onto his arm, resting on it long ways. "That kind of passion is what prevented worse things to happen last time."

Emi rushes forward and Taba knows she just might challenge him then and there. "You cocky bastard!"

Tyson clicks his tongue. "I still get to lay a condition out. In fact, that condition will be that no one on your team can challenge me for three days." A small beep rings out and Taba, Vivian, and Emi notice a regulation being placed on them.

Billiam walks along with Daisy, growing ever nearer to the location of Nathan Roble and Reina Usami. A small indicator pops up on his screen and Billiam reads the note quickly. "Just what happened now?"

"Hurry up!" Daisy's shout brings him out of his thoughts and he quickens his pace to match with hers.

"Great. Who lost to that murderer?" Becca sneers at the face of the man who now has a regulator on her behaviour. "Billiam, why did you give me this mission of all people?" Ever since she set out from their headquarters, naught but complaints are spoken of by the girl. "I don't want to associate with murdering scum."

"Heh." A voice, a young man's, catches her off guard. In an instant her stun baton is at the ready and her ace Axew is standing by her side. "You know nothing of those two, do you?"

Becca's scan of the surrounding area find a few places of darkness and kindle wood blocking her view the person could be speaking to her from. "Show yourself, coward!"

Brush is torn asunder as a barreling hound strips the wood away and Jonas Alterra enters the view of the Reject-hunting heroine. "You can't seem to track us without Daisy being around, can you? It's good to know."

"You… The Alterra heir has come to stop me?" Becca's map indicates where they stand is currently neutral. She cannot yet engage him in combat unless they agree to a sudden death duel. "You know of our alliance, then? Daisy, that traitorous wretch…"

"No, you told me." Jonas grins with innocent glee. "I mean, I could take a guess Daisy would round people up to hunt us, and you're bee lining for where you must have seen Luke, aren't you?" On his own tracker Luke's position has remained unchanged. "Unlike the other teams, we hatched a plan when Daisy wasn't there. You just happened to be the first fly."

Becca insults the smarmy prick in her mind and breathes for a moment, lowering but not turning off her defensive weapon. "You're using him to lure people out, aren't you?"

Jonas pauses, pretending to think as he scratches his head. "Me? Why no way, no way at all, young miss! That kind of strategy isn't how I play." For some reason he enjoys getting a rise out of this blue blood. "Luke made that declaration at the meeting for a few reasons, actually. One is, of course, because he wanted to take the brunt of the damage in this test. The Rejects aren't a… gifted team, so if he has a big enough target on his back, he can control the game more."

"You… You're telling me he's using the death of a man for his own gain in this test!?" Her blood burns brighter than ever. Fuck Billiam's plan; she's taking that bastard down permanently!

"He had more than one reason to confess, Becca. If you're going to condemn the man, speak with him first." He offers a hand out as a sign of good faith, standing a decent distance from her. "None of us ever did before this started, and you'll be surprised."

Becca readies her weapon in front of her and Axew circles behind Jonas. "You're going to take me to him so I can finish this myself. I'm not holding mercy for him; don't get in my way!"

Jonas pauses, reaching for a PokéBall and deciding if it was worth it to outright eliminate her then and there. "I could just take you out of the game right now. You seem ready to try the same… But I doubt Luke wants me to start shit just yet." He returns the PokéBall back into place along his waist and turns away from the girl. "Try not to get any ideas about him before you meet. Besides, he's a sucker for a pretty face."

"I'll kill you both if I have to." Becca's tone signals her distaste for both men and she then releases Petilil, Heatmor, and Vanillite to flank Jonas. "Any wrong move and you're an obituary, got it!?"

"You talk big for a scared little girl." The tone in the heir's voice darkens terribly and then returns to where it once began. "Unlike the other Rejects, Baron and I pack a lot of Bite. I pray you don't force me to demonstrate that." With that threat out in the open, he begins the journey back to Luke's camp. Mark and Kelsie were by his side already, so hopefully Luke would be at his best to make a good impression.

This one might be reasoned with, and if she couldn't, one less threat from Billiam Blakely's ill-fated alliance wouldn't hurt their prospects.

"It's a shame. With more time, Vivian could perform admirably." Marshall remains a positive air as the third fight of the tournament concludes with little fanfare. "Tyson is no slouch, it seems."

Shauntal turns to a new page in her book and acknowledges him briefly. "We'll surprise you soon enough."

Grimsley's silence endures as his Rotom continues recording the conflict between the two. Unlike the others, he suspects Tyson's true nature and stands rooted in observing his every interaction.

Alder and Caitlin take a nap together in chairs on opposite sides of a table while Darach plays Solitaire between them, hoping to pass the time.

"Is our master truly doing the right thing?" The question Lizzie asks of her three less-than-talkative companions fills the silence while Luke and Mark make their own plans for moving forward.

Torbital, Skittle, and Midnight each relax in their own way. Torbital spins to loosen his overly stimulated muscles that keep him going round and round with his cheery smile fixed to his face like a painting to a wall.

Skittle comfortably roosts on a log with his eyes closed as he remembers his last time soaring with Staria while Luke and Skyla awaited the return of their families to pick them up. He coos softly thinking of his feathered friend and wonders what item he could gift to her to show his fondness properly.

Midnight lounges in the sunlight, stretching his clawed paws out to the sun and exposing his stomach with an eye on his compatriots, ready to strike any fingers foolish enough to bring unwanted scritches to his tummy.

"Come on. You can talk. Do it." Lizzie sounds rather annoyed with them. "We all can speak; why don't you?"

"We can speak our language. Using their words is hard with this body, girl." Skittle responds with a haughty tone that falls at the end. "I mean, sorry, I… Look, I'm just thinking of my future mate, okay?"

Midnight growls out a guttural noise before offering some words to chime in. After his feline tongue sticks out of his mouth in an extended yawn, he speaks with a hefty gruffness. "Staria won't settle for a loser who can't confess. Do like Aqua does, you whelp."

Skittle's feathers bristle and he stomps his talons into the log, cutting deep into the dead wood as it shatters from his newfound weight. "I will hear naught from a single and unwanted house cat!"

"I'm adorable." Midnight paws at the air as he kneads an imaginary bed. "I get all of the pets. No one wants a bird who shits everywhere."

"You look so charming in a box on the floor." Lizzie remarks in kind, not amused by the cat pretending to be infantile. "Next you'll drink from the bowl like a common hound."

Torbital chortles at them with a bass-y and scratchy voice befitting a rock star. "Yammerin' on about that, huh? The Boss don't mind how we live. I'm powerin' the fans you use to survive the scorchin' days, yowch!" Another blast of lightning shoots off from the Voltorb as it struggles to contain its uncontrollable voltage.

Lizzie wonders about that. "Clearly he has a preference for the more regal of our kind; the more human, the better."

"That's not true." Skittle shuts her down. "I was first. I won't ever forget the guy who fed me after I pecked him hard enough to cut his skin." Out of the ruffling feathers he removes a single half-eaten orange Skittle, one he had kept and that now grew harder than stone. "He cared for me when he had no one. I say that makes me the best."

Torbital cheers him on with a jolt of energy. "Who adopts a dangerous feller like me without a heart a gold? Our Boss is one in a milli, I tell ya!"

"I don't see anything special." Midnight comments while reflecting on his first and only master after Reyvin had given him away. "The professor and that scrawny kid he gave me to both were about the same. What about you, Lizzie? You had a trainer before him too, right?"

Skittle's head perks up. "Right, you do! What was that friend of yours like?" Skittle knew their tale could never match his own. It couldn't.

Lizzie purses her lips as she tries to think of a way to weasel out of the avian's curiosity. "You can't compare them."

"Whaddaya mean? The Boss most certainly cares fer ya! More than that girl from the dojo coulda." Torbital had been witness to the conversation Lizzie had with Grace about Raya's response. "That lass takes herself too seriously, I tell ya."

How could she word this in a way they could understand? "I was given by Reyvin to help my master's growth into a warrior. Reyvin was certain we'd be hunted and… and that's how her father died. Grace raised us together."

"Like a child she adopted, I bet." Skittle manages to hold some wisdom within his bird brain. "Luke can't replace a sister like her."

"I… Yeah, no, he can't." Lizzie slumps down as her long and lithe body curls into itself and she holds her knees to her chest. "You can't replace family."

Skittle presses a wing against her head and holds it there as his soft down covers her from the cold of the mid-day sun winding down into the evening chills. "You can never replace family."

Midnight perks up and yawns loudly as his fangs reflect sunlight and he sits upright to lick his paw and wipe away at his dirt-covered fur. "That's the reality of the matter, yes."

"But you can add to it." Skittle raises his other wing so that a waddling Serade can sit and slumber next to the bird as it places his trust in the two he's next to.

Midnight's argument dies when a fresh-faced baby bird and its tentatively trusting mother land next to him and the baby Pidgey rests its head against the playing it cool black cat.

Conflict dwells within Lizzie's heart. She notices Aqua and Kelsie sweating in the heat as they train against each other. Flurries of Confusions are deftly avoided by the shape shifter as she switches forms to change the target Aqua's aiming for on the fly. Kelsie's Night Shades in turn are dodged by the teleporting Kirlia as her psychic energy finally taps yet further into her lineage as she grows ever closer to her final form.

"We'll see just how this man's family functions, then." Despite the positive vibes coming from the encampment, Lizzie senses great strain on the group that could easily be forced to the surface.

It feels to her like the last time she saw Lizzie's whole family. Tension in the air constricted their bodies in place and every sluggish movement carried weight a child like her couldn't have known.

Knowing that she might have died protecting Lizzie anyway, she has a sobering thought that perhaps her trainer was happier this way; giving her life for others she loved.

Maybe it was a selfish wish of the girl to not outlive Mienfoo like she had her father. Maybe it was hopeful thinking she would be one day avenged.

Despite having let her down in ending the life of the man who took hers, Lizzie finally feels a sense of peace as Skittle clutches her close and his soft coos lull her to nap like the bud at his other side.

'I'll live in your stead for now. And when I find the right time to live as gloriously and as humbly as you, I'll see you again… Liz.'

Raya stalks the tree line with her hand gripping the bark of an old tree, crunching bits of older wood to dust in her iron grip. Below her, on the ground sixty or so feet below, a lone blonde girl walks towards uncharted territory.

"Ariel Ryder is supposedly a powerful foe. I'll test her myself."

Raya's whispers go unheard and she kicks with her heel, breaking the branch she is on. Ariel's eyes shift to the sound and see nothing as the body of the girl fades into nothing. "Who's there?" Carefully the girl studies her surroundings. Her dearest friends are wrapped around a bracelet on her arm made of the same gold that her hair must have been forged in.

A twig breaks and instantly her focus is in the direction of… nothing. Nothing can be seen in any direction, save for lonesome bug Pokémon crawling along the earthly lands in between her and the mighty and old trees towering over the forest floor.

The light in her eyes burns with the might of a hero. As a hero, she sought to right the wrongs of the world.

In turn she made villains in her mind.

Now she was encountering a real one. That's what she thinks to herself as Raya apparates in front of her with her hand on the poor girl's chin as Raya inspects her face with her unblinking crimson irises. Were they always that color or were those colours shifting?

A blue glow erupts from her face and Ariel, in utter fear, feels her knees lock into place. Instead of fight or flight her body chooses instead to falter and the intimidating girl grins with a malicious air. "Ariel Ryder, I'd like to challenge you to a battle. Would you oblige me?"

"I-I… I will not back down from a challenge!" Ariel pushes the hand of the Huntress away and stumbles back. Ariel not once had been defeated in battle, not by hooligans, ne'er-do-wells, or her own parents.

Despite her glorious record, the feeling she fought to push down as Raya lays one hand out of the black as night cloak she was wearing to reveal a sinister blood red Ball whispers into her mind that life was all about new things and change.

No, not once would she allow herself to be quelled by such an obvious display of overconfidence.

"Since I am challenging you, I'll allow you the chance at setting a rule or limitation." Raya feigns some sort of kindness; the same act of a cat allowing a mouse to scamper off after severing a leg or two. Yes, the mouse is reinvigorated in the moment; the feeling of control, the hope of escape, all lead the creature on.

In the end, the mouse is merely entertaining the hunter; and the Huntress seeks to dine on common pests tonight.

Ariel understands the weight of the fight before her. Ariel is a master class trainer, or so she is told. Her talents lie in all manner of confrontations and in this moment, she believes her foe knows vastly more than she does.

In the end, cowardice has no place for one who would be Queen. "I won't waste my time putting artificial limits on you. I want to beat a villain like you at your full power."

"You consider me a villain merely because I oppose you?" What a curious little toy this girl was.

Ariel slams her fist against her chest much like her father does when he makes declarations of his intent. "Who else but a villain would interrupt my hunt for murderers!? Tyson Banks and Luke Levin must both be expunged from this test and soon!"

Raya's face softens for one second before her eyes light up in a purple hue and she spins the ball in her hand into the air, sending it high and watching it go. "You know naught what a hunt is." As the spinning ball lands on her palm and she twists her body with it and the light of its denizen releasing onto the world begins, her entire tone deepens. "Temperance, child!"

Out of the ball flies a Dartrix with a dark grey coat where a lighter white one might reside. The bird, scowling at the foe it was now flying full speed at, shifts out of reality and passes through her, leaving the girl horrified.

"Dartrix does not yet have the full typing of a Decidueye, but his mastery of ghostly moves like this are progressing nicely." The words Raya strings together make factual sense, theoretically, but in that moment Ariel hears naught of them. "Of course, only weak Trainers can't push their team past their own type limitations."

Ariel immediately understands everything Raya is after. Sweat forms on her head and drips down her cheek as she questions her fate. Most scholars take pride in learning, but others are cursed with knowledge beyond what they can handle or circumvent.

This girl wasn't just the highest-ranked participant. She was on a level beyond even a basic Gym Leader; a master in the art, or so it appears.

"Finally, I have a worthy opponent!" Ariel's cheers into the sky leave even Raya impressed at her fortitude. "A hero needs an even greater villain to grow into their new place! Once I've experienced the kind of power my team can have, I'll know how to match you!"

Raya fights back an amused grin, retaining that same emotionless stare she sends chills into the hearts of men and women alike with. "If I could be so easily matched by the leftovers of a pathetic generation such as this, the world might not need my role in it."

To that, Ariel lacks understanding. Of course, in her mind, she views that as normal. When do heroes understand the motivations of their enemy?

It wouldn't do Raya anything to be mysterious. Ariel would simply defeat her and drag the answers out. With her bracelet moving in tandem with her arm, she grips her Staryu's ball and tosses it high, watching her partner descend; a real star shines bright in the reflected sun as it lands in the center of the arena. Its tendril ends twist and turn as it absorbs water from the air to prepare itself; its body grows wet to allow it to move and slide more easily in the ensuing combat. Potent but latent psychic power allow the starfish to sense its surrounding and finds the Dartrix it would fight landing daintily in front of it, using its wings to hide its face from its prey.

Rotoms appear around the group as a dome of blue light ensnares them into an arena. Holograms produced by the Rotoms change the field they're standing on to resemble a gym floor. "Ariel Ryder has been challenged by Raya Arces; the first high-level match of the competition is about to heat up!"

Ariel revels in the attempt she has been given at trouncing the high ranking femme fatale she's facing. After this, all would know her name.

Raya, sensing the kind of thoughts the other girl is having, says out loud her only response. "I know they'll choose a good photo of you after this match."

"You think!? A front-page spanning pick of the girl who saves us all!?" Ariel has stars in her eyes that strangely resemble her aquatic partner on the field.

"Do they put obituaries on the front page now?"

"I don't care about the rules!" Emi approaches Tyson as his Stunky scowls at her, ready to defend him. "Every time I see your face I see my father on the stand talking about how anyone is one bad day away from doing what HE did!"

Tyson shakes his head and leans back on his right foot that he's putting weight on in case he needs to vacate the premises. "The only thing I hate more than a person who harms others is a person who doesn't commit." Cold barbed words chill Vivian and Taba to the bone. "If you're going to try to hit me, hurt me, kill me, then do it already!"

Taba's appearance between the two heated trainers gives Emi pause from unleashing another hailstorm of insults and provocations. "Emi isn't going to throw her life away over you. Her friends won't allow it."

"Taba…" Emi pauses for a moment and sees her friend Vance in the kid standing between despite being half his size.

"You took Vivian's friend because you were spiteful and jaded but you won't take a second." Taba hides his shaking limbs by tilting his glasses and striking a grand pose with his legs bent and his knees locking into place as he holds one palm out to the monster and one stays in front of his friend. "There is no logic in spreading pain you have endured."

"They didn't die because I was jaded." Tyson decides to correct him despite the risks. "They died because a caged animal that is told to 'win at all costs' found them first. Any member of that team could have been it. Lizzie seemed to buy into who she thought I was, and Jack… that trusting idiot would have gone this way or another someday."

Vivian's blood heats up as she raises a fist to strike the young man. She throws a hard jab into his cheek, knocking him back and causing the Stunky to fall to the dirt. "Scum!"

Wiping the light trail of blood from his bit lip and running his tongue along the inside of his mouth to ensure his cheek wasn't cut too, he responds to violence with harsher words still. "People who believe in others get led to die, girl. My dad believed in my mother's vision of a greater Unova, and that was just one with her sitting on top of others like a fuckin' queen. I believed that if I worked hard, she'd let me leave the basement. If I died in that cage underneath the basement staircase, I'd say the same to that version of me. You should have learned when to obey, and when to bite the hand that beats you."

"You…" Vivian's retort is stopped as tears drip down the face of the man standing in front of her.

"I would run hands along my bruises and ask Arceus why I deserved it. Why did my mom stop visiting me? Why did my dad scream every time he saw my face like a ghost haunted him? Why did it go on after that woman died, after her maid… died?" The heavy breathing of the broken Banks intensifies as he forces his mind to revisit the events that warped him. "After a few years of it, you stop asking."

Taba observes Tyson's body movements and can't determine anything about the truth of his words. Instead he listens.

Tyson faces the dirt and drops to his knees before pressing his hands on the field and clasps the dirt with his curled up fingers. His clothes are dirtied in the grass and mud as he prostrates his entire body before her. "What can I do!? I couldn't get Arceus to listen to my pained wails! How could I get him to undo my crimes, Vivian!? Was I just born to do things that justify my suffering!? If that's what my purpose is, then just kill me! Do what Luke wouldn't and end this wretched life of mine!"

"Tyson, get up." Vivian now finds annoyance in his actions.

"I am not your equal! I never was!" Screams are muffled in the dirt but the echo of them ring out to many on looking Pokémon confused why a human would submit like this. "If you feel anything for my suffering, then do it!" His head raises and the wills of two strong souls clash. "If you agree I was tortured and if you agree that I'm a monster… then grant me a quick end… Don't make me live hating what I've become!"

"Get up." Vivian kicks him in the side with a light tap. The sudden jolt to his body forces him to breathe in and he begins coughing up dirt and spit onto the ground. "If you're so obsessed with the unfairness that led you here, you dedicate the rest of your life to fixing it."

Tyson struggles to comprehend the meaning of her words. "I'm a powerless fool, Vivian!? What can I do!?"

Vivian kneels down and grips him by the collar, lifting his upper body at an angle. "You had the power to ruin my wedding and my future. You can fix things just as easily."

"I ruined nothing! You can get married to that Alterra man of yours still!" Tyson's anger returns to him as she drops his head into the mud and he starts to get up.

"The wedding I planned had Jack as our best man, standing there with everyone I've grown to love in my life." Vivian's once vibrant dream is now draped in shrouds for a funeral. "If I have to attend my own wedding at the place I was met with Jack's closed coffin because of you then you will live and you will suffer and you will fight until you and everyone around you has it better than you or Daisy did. And if you fail to do so, I'll make you plead for death in a VERY different tone."

Taba claps his hands together. "You scare me."

Vivian stands up and rejoins her two friends. "I've said what I need to. The rest is on you, Banks."

"Gh!" Tyson pushes his body off of the ground but the pain in his mouth leaves him wobbling a little as his mud-covered and disgraced appearance matches his shameful life.

"You could never tell who lost here." Emi says with satisfaction as the three students leave. Tyson, free from receiving another challenge, falls into silence as they wander off.

"Mother, what have I done?" Reaching into his coat pocket, a small medallion is removed with cheap silver. Raising his muddied hands to open the case, he pauses when a small spot of blood from a victim of his remains stained on the corner. Bitterness wells up inside him as he stares into the smiling face of his deceased mother and cries.

After a moment of solidarity with his Stunky climbing back onto his shoulder, Tyson opens up his transceiver and clicks on the message left by the man who he hated most; the man who damned him to living this miserable life.

What more could you take from me besides the death I earned?

Each word of the short and concise message leaves Tyson further enraged. A hand outstretched to save him from a pool of darkness he made would be a godsend for some, but for Tyson he only felt pitied.

Sorrowfully the pitiful heir cried; his fingers typing an empty, hollow promise in the response. The next time these two murderers would meet, justice would be done.