Lost Cause

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Each step was made with hesitance, but he was fairly certain that this path was the safest. The only problem was that it was a guaranteed safety. His eyes darted about to and fro with a growing sense of dread and anxiety. He was alone, out in the open, in the place he'd last seen Voix. For all he knew the damned Zoroark lived here and yet he was coming back. It made his skin crawl and fur stand. He honestly looked adorably fluffy more so than terrifying. He swallowed his fears as he stepped along, uncertainty kept him from making much progress.

He came with the intent of collecting some items, a sack strapped around his side. The light crystal blue necklace dangled from his neck as he walked on all four legs. It was much more comfortable this way. It kept his stomach less exposed, far easier to run from danger as well. Zadira needed more items though. Not only for his own protection, but to hopefully sell them to the local merchant back at Grassveil, maybe an explorer or two. The debt he needed to pay was big and the lawyer made it perfectly clear what would happen if he couldn't keep on his payments.

It was understandable, considering the pachirisu saved what was essentially the rest of his life, but the lawyer's expectations were brutal. He could either pay up or he was going right back to where he was found.

Mocha: [Energy: 18+1=19]
Maxie: [Energy: 11+1=12]
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Zadira was clearly still fairly overwhelmed, but Mocha got the impression that he was improving—she also got the impression that she was a bit jarring for the other zangoose, but it wasn’t the first time she’d gotten that sort of reaction from someone. For a brief moment, she thought he might have been slipping back again, as a silence fell between them. Fortunately this was quickly remedied by her newest friend speaking up.

She could easily forgive his stammering—she wasn’t always the most elegant of speakers herself, even when she was relatively calm. The admission, however, briefly caught her off guard. “I was convicted and sent to jail for Caritas—” Caritas’ murder. She could fill in the blank herself.  For the tiniest fraction of a split second, she thought the first part was the whole of it; but that was it. The tiniest, shortest, most momentary thought that was quickly swept out of her mind. She knew he couldn’t have done such a thing—even if he wasn’t a trembling mess at the mere sight of blood. She simply just couldn’t believe it.

And from what he said right after, she was right not to. He was innocent, of course. She didn’t let the idea of Zadira doing anything so despicable bother her—she just couldn’t imagine it. What did bother her, however, was the fact that he had been convicted for a crime he hadn’t committed. ”I—how—” There was her verbal elegance. ”How could they do that to you?” Mocha was somewhere between horrified and angry at the very idea.

”Who made that decision? Where was this? I—” she suddenly stopped herself and glanced around. ”Hey, wait… Maxie’s been gone for a bit…” She glanced between Zadira and the direction that Maxie had went.

…

Glancing around, Maxie didn’t notice any threats around—definitely nothing justifying the warning the little archen was screeching about. There was nothing of note, except of course the other Pokemon there, which she had nearly missed until she was about to turn around.

She assumed that, based on its stillness, the Pokemon (a breloom, she realised) was likely asleep. Curious, but not wanting to disturb them, she approached slow and quiet. Once closer, she noticed the bag, and more importantly, the badge upon it indicating the owner as an explorer. She lowered her guard upon discovering the breloom’s affiliation. Surely, if an explorer felt a place safe enough to take a nap, it had to be safe.

Right?

Mocha bumbled over her words almost as much as he did-though for totally different reasons. It felt as if she couldn't keep on the same track of thought for longer than a few moments at a time, but he didn't mind it. Mocha asked for a few details on the question, which he was willing to answer, but a more pressing matter was brought to the light.

Maxie didn't come back.

He looked about himself, absolutely side-railed himself by Mocha's question. He happened to look everywhere but where Maxie came from first, but eventually he noticed Mocha's gaze and followed it along up the path. He didn't see her either...she must have gone awfully far. As comfortable as he was to sit here and talk-as he'd completely forgotten about the potential tyrannitar or steelix threat that was just down the road-he didn't like the sign of a teammate gone missing.

"Y-Yeah, she hasn't..." he agreed. After a small hesitant silence, he spoke again, "We should check on her." He spoke with more certainty.

----

The breloom's slumber was...less than peaceful. It seemed like it was at first, but then he began to snore. Loudly. While it wasn't an attack, it certainly felt like an assault to the ears. The breloom was out like a light, curled up around his bag tightly without any sign of waking up. His chest rose and fell softly with each snore, but he certainly seemed quite comfortable in the spot.

Instead, the mawile's attention should have been behind her. As soon as she grew close to the breloom, a dark shadow formed behind her. It expanded into a large circle before a golden antennae rose up from the darkness. Slowly and surely, the creature's massive form lifted itself from the ground, one large hand carefully and quietly pushed it up and out of the ground with a singular red eye trained on the mawile in front and beneath it.

The air around the mawile grew heavy, as if the air suddenly gained a few pounds of weight. The creature behind her's stomach split open wide like a gaping maw. An blue energy quietly formed inside of the abyss of the creature's gut. It emitted a faint light, just enough to cast a small hue to the area around it and the shadow of the mawile reflected onto the sleeping form of the breloom. The focused and condensed energy lingered only for a second at full power before the Dusknoir unleashed the focus blast towards the mawile with the threat to hit the sleeping breloom if she were to avoid without further action.

Mocha: [Energy: 19]
Maxie: [Energy: 12]
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The sudden sound of the breloom’s snoring spooked Maxie. Only a second later did she realise what it was. A relieved exhale was followed up immediately with stifled laughter—she didn’t want to wake the breloom, after all. She had gone from annoyed to frustrated, then to cautious followed by calm, then suddenly frightened only to finally land on the emotional state she was at now; relieved. Relieved that the warnings of the little bird were unnecessary. Relieved that there was nothing here that may attack her or her allies. Relieved that they could continue their hike unobstructed; that Zadira could pull himself back together now that they weren’t under threat. Yes, she was so very relieved.

It did not last.

Not too long after she had regained control of her laughter, she suddenly felt something else. A strange sensation she couldn’t quite place, like something dreadful was now upon here. Then that sensation turned to proper fear, as she saw her own shadow cast upon the sleeping breloom. She was made aware that there was something immediately behind her, and her reflexes kicked in. Her eyes darted back to locate the threat as her feet moved as quickly as they could to get her away from whatever it was.

She registered the hostile—a dusknoir—just as it’s attack was unleashed. "Wh—" While she had managed to get out of the direct aim of the attack, the blast caused her to lose her footing as she collided with some large boulders. She sat, momentarily dazed from the impact.

…

As if she had completely forgotten the original subject at hand, Mocha grabbed Zadira’s paw and practically tugged him along with her as she walked at full speed in the direction Maxie had went. ”I can’t image she just up and continued the hike without us. She said she was just going to scout ahead, right?” It wasn’t a rhetorical question, but she didn’t wait for Zadira to answer. ”So either she’s found something really cool and didn’t feel like sharing, or she’s in trouble.”

Mocha was very much thinking out loud, the realisation that Maxie may have been in actual danger only coming to her as she voiced it. She stopped suddenly, letting go of Zadira as she turned to him. There was a sudden urgency in her voice, and she spoke quicker than was typical for her. ”Hey, maybe you should, uh, wait here? It’s not that I don’t think you can handle yourself or anything it’s just—” The sound of something blasting stone echoed from up ahead. It was followed by the sound of a little rocky bird not far from the two zangoose screaming something that could have certainly been interpreted as words, but definitely was coherent sentences.

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Mocha Rolls:

Badger carried out 5 launched of one Black Mist Mountain :

, , , ,

Badger carried out 5 launched of one Echo World :

, , , ,

Maxie Rolls:

Badger carried out 5 launched of one Black Mist Mountain :

, , , ,

Badger carried out 5 launched of one Echo World :

, , , ,

The blue ball of pure energy blasted past the mawile and into the sleeping breloom. A rude wake-up call was given to the mushroom. The air was polluted with dirt as the pained cry of the breloom rang into the air. He was blasted back into the rock he used for cover, but was quick to get to his feet. He snatched up the bag and launched himself off the rock and through the cloud, the other claw on his cap as if to hold it in place. Through the dust and even the dusknoir, he landed on the other side of the ghost type with a quick pivot around to face the creature.

The breloom was quick to wake up and face the threat. Poised for combat, he swept a glance around to check his surroundings. He caught sight of the mawile, dazed and seemingly out of it. It was easy to assume that the dusknoir attacked her as well. A brief question of whether or not the dusknoir tried to save him from the mawile crossed his mind, but that was quickly wiped by the dusknoir's turn towards him with an aggressive posture.

"Well that wasn't very nice of you," the breloom spoke to the dusknoir, "I was having a perfectly nice nap just then. I don't suppose you're going to apologize for it now are you?"

The phantom's mouth opened up once more as the air around them intensified. The explorer gave a haughty huff before he bounded forward with his bag slung over his shoulder like a purse. A shot of focused energy blasted towards him, but even despite the intensified gravity, he managed to bolt around the attack. The breloom stopped himself just short of the dusknoir's large frame, pivoted around, and swung his tail into the phantom. The creature backed away from the attack, its back driven towards the mawile.

Small green lights emitted from the breloom's tail. The spores scattered about as they were flung into the dusknoir's face. The single large eye blinked and squinted as the spores were forced into it, but the movements of the creature began to grow sluggish.

---

He lacked the willpower to fight being tugged about like a toy doll. He hardly even had the time to think about responses before Mocha switched to different gears. One minute she wanted him to come along and the next she was...telling him to stay behind. His expression fell from concerned to disappointment, but the sound of a blast switched him right back into concern.

It was understandable that she didn't want him to go along. After what happened last time, he didn't blame her. He didn't say anything, but he nodded. He really should just stay here and let Mocha handle the situation. After all, he'd probably end up freezing up again.

"Be careful..." he cautioned.

Zadira Energy: 4

Kat carried out 2 launched of one Black Mist Mountain :

,

Kat carried out 2 launched of one Echo World :

,

Mocha: [Energy: 19 - 8 - 53 = 0]
Maxie: [Energy: 12 - 33 - 41 = 0]
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Mocha was a little surprised the Zadira didn’t protest, but after a moment of thought, she realised that should have been expected. ”I’m always careful,” she replied quickly before turning to head up the path, only to turn back around an instant later. ”Okay, that was a lie, I’m somewhat frequently not careful—but I’ll be careful this time, for you.” She again turned around and sprinted her way in the direction the commotion had come from on all fours.

…

Maxie shook her head in an effort to clear it. She was greeted to the sight of the breloom—seemingly none too hurt, or at least well enough off to fight back, and with an attitude to boot. The mawile marveled at the scene unfolding before her. The breloom, she could tell, was well deserving of the guild badge he possessed. He had gone from naping to fighting, and based on the spores he had just landed on the dusknoir, seemed to suddenly have the advantage.

The mawile stood up, returning to her battle stance of turning her horns toward the enemy, but she wasn’t sure what her next move ought to be—or if she should even bother. Then she got an idea. She made her way into position—a (relatively) safe distance from the other two participants, but close enough that she could get a good sight line to the thing’s weird maw. She fished around in her bag for a moment, before pulling out the item she was looking for. A moment later, the dusknoir was preparing another attack, once again splitting its stomach, and in that moment, Maxie threw the Blinker Seed she had prepared.

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Maxie: used x1 Blinker Seed

The blinker seed was hurled into the abyss of the opened stomach. Instinctively, the dusknoir's gut snapped shut, the oncoming attack extinguished. A confident and approving laugh sounded from the breloom as the dusknoir staggered in the air as its body slumped and leaned. It placed a hand over its gut, as if in pain, while the other thrashed around at empty air.

Thoroughly regretful of its mistake, the dusknoir slowly and steadily began to slink back into the ground. It was much faster than when it rose, but still a slow process with how difficult it'd become to see. Despite its flight, the dusknoir decided not to leave without a gift to the two. A purple hue shrouded the phantom as it descended. The reaper disappeared underneath, but a shadow of a hand rose up behind the mawile's head. It attempted to grab her, with the intent to smash her face into the ground. With the reduced eye sight of the Blinker Seed, however, the grace in the attack was left with something to be desired.

----

Zadira watched as Mocha ran off. His claws fumbled with one another as he came to the crippling realization that he was alone again. Uncertainty and doubt crawled back up from the depths of his mind as he rubbed his arm. He looked back to the way they had come, then over the ledge he nearly ran straight off of earlier. He wasn't exactly sure what to do here...besides wait.

So, wait he did.

He dropped onto all four legs and sat himself down patiently, uncertain if he should hide or not. He could hear conflict just up ahead, but he knew better than to approach...which was unfortunate because conflict decided he needed some action still despite everything that happened earlier.

"Mocha" was back almost immediately after she left. She looked panicked. Immediately, fear hit him like a train. Not because he knew that this wasn't Mocha, but because he believed this to absolutely be her and that something had gone horribly wrong. She didn't speak, but there was a certain kind of fear in her eyes that begged him to come closer. He approached her as she seemingly tripped and fell. "Wh-what happened?" he asked as he moved to put a hand on "Mocha's" shoulder.

Mocha: [Energy: 0]
Maxie: [Energy: 0]
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Maxie didn’t let her guard down—especially when dealing with Pokemon that could just ignore the boundaries of the physical world. When the Ghost-type’s hand grabbed her, her steel jaws acted on instinct, clamping down hard on the dusknoir’s arm. It was a very effective deterrent. The moment it got its arm free of her second jaws, the dusknoir sunk back below the floor. Still, Maxie remained on guard.

Maxie was about to say something to the breloom, but she was interrupted by someone else. ”MAXIE! You were supposed to be scouting ahead, not getting into a fight—and without me for that matter. Kinda rude—”

”It’s a dusknoir.” Finally, it was Maxie’s turn to interrupt someone.

”That’s a Ghost-type, right?”

”Yes.”

”Oh. … Is it still here?”

”Probably.”

"Great."

Mocha looked at the breloom, as if just now noticing his existence. She gave Maxie a curious look, seemingly silently asking a question. The mawile nodded in response. ”So… I’m just gonna go back down the slope and let Zadira know what’s up and that you… two have it under control.”

With one last glance at the breloom—one that may have been interpreted as anything from mild interest to a vague threat, depending on the viewer’s disposition to strangers—Mocha turned to head back down the slope. She wanted nothing to do with a Ghost-type. She’d be useless in that fight—and she didn’t like feeling useless. She'd feel a lot better hanging back and keeping Zadira company.

The breloom's interest was piqued by the mawile's magnificent reaction time. He hadn't said a word and yet she was capable of defending herself from more stealthy and unfair attacks. The fighter pokemon couldn't help but keep a flippant smirk on his expression as the lazy cries of the dusknoir rang out before it sunk the hand back into the ground.

A zangoose approached the fray, but it was clear to him and they were familiar with the Mawile as they spoke to one another. While he didn't hear the precise conversation, certain words that leaked through made him question whether he heard them properly. He wasn't given much time to ponder, however, as another hand suddenly rose out from directly in front of him.

"Woah-woah-woah, no!" he huffed as he suddenly sprang back and away a good distance, closer to the mawile who he figured was an ally at this point. He remained on the side of caution, but still, at the very least an enemy of his enemy was a friend of his. The dusknoir rose up from the ground once more, flailing at the air in attempt to hit nothing in particular. The breloom watched the show with mild amusement as the phantom struggled to strike any true foe. The combination of the blinker seed and the effects of spore certainly put it through a terrible time.

"So...come here often?" his flirtatious yet light-hearted tone spoke to the fae.

--------

Zadira's paw reached out to touch Mocha, but a flash of gray extended outward and smacked him right across his face. Claws ripped into his fur as his instinctive reaction to pull away from her was far too slow to avoid it. He was quick to turn-tail and bolt. He didn't even bother to stop and ask why as a sudden rush of fear, adrenaline, and confusion pushed him to act now and ask questions later.

He was not permitted to get far, however, as Not-Mocha was quick to catch up with him before he could kick his Quick Attack into gear. Paws slammed down onto his back and crushed him into the ground with far more force than he expected her to be capable of. His breath was knocked right out of him before he was grappled by his scruff and launched back to where he originally ran away from, closer to the cliff side.

His claws dug into the ground, stopping himself just before he was sent flying over the side. He barely had any time to recover before she was upon him again. He narrowly avoided her pounce as her claws impaled the ground he previously stood in. Dust and dirt clouded her landing point, another particular oddity that his mind registered, but was far too busy panicking to process. She yanked her claws out of the ground easily, an angered frown on her expression that struck him as far too familiar to the one she initially gave him...although this look seemed a lot more hostile.

At last, he got the sense to attempt dialogue, but she wasn't about to have it. The zangoose was upon him once again before he could even take in a breath and think. Hisses and spats sounded from the fight, all of them his. Fur flew as "Mocha" had a very easy time in overpowering him. Overwhelmed with fear and confusion, he was littered with scratches and bites in no time. He failed to fight back, his mind focused more on the age-old tactic of running away rather than standing his ground.

Just as quickly as it started, however, Mocha vanished. Her entire weight on top of him disappeared and the endless fury of claws ceased to assault him. He scrambled back up to his feet, eyes wide as they darted about for signs of his aggressor. Not a single sign of her. The only fur that laid about was his own it seemed. His quivering body remained on all fours with his body kept low to the ground, wide-eyed and alert for Mocha's return.

She came back down from the slope again. His eyes locked on her. Just like with the steelix, he froze to the spot.

Mocha: [Energy: 0]
Maxie: [Energy: 0]
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Maxie was caught off guard by the sudden, casual question. ”Wha? No, actually. First time. It’s a bit more dangerous than I had anticipated, honestly.” She watched as the Ghost-type flailed uselessly about, floating up from and then sinking down through the ground, searching for a target. ”... But not too dangerous,” she added.

”What about you? Do you often come to dangerous mountains and get attacked by ghosts in your sleep?”


…

Mocha made her way casually back to Zadira—well, mostly casually. She kept her guard up, just in case the dusknoir showed up and tried to attack her. Of course, she wasn’t sure what she’d do if it did, since she couldn’t fight back. As she rounded the corner, she announced her presence with an explanation of what was going on. ”Maxie found a friend and they’re fighting a ghost or something. Says they’ve got it under contro—” Mocha cut herself short as soon as she caught sight of Zadira again. She realised something was wrong immediately.

”Hey, what’s—” she had started to sprint towards him but stopped short when she realised she was the cause. She checked her bandages, making sure she wasn’t suddenly bleeding again—she wasn’t. Glancing around the general area, she didn’t see any other Pokemon. There were signs of a fight, however, both on Zadira himself and around the environment. ”Did… Someone attack you? Are you okay? Where’d they go?” Her words carried genuine concern—and the last question carried something else, too; implying she intended to get payback from whoever they were.

Mocha was so focused on Zadira that she failed to notice someone else—herself—coming around the bend for the third time. This time stealthier than before, as if plotting a sneak attack on the real Mocha ahead of her. The other Mocha put a single claw up to her mouth, as if indicating to Zadira—who could see both of them—to keep quiet.

"Ahhh first time," he chimed, "New experiences are always a blast." The breloom's stance bounced around, light on his toes and prepared for movement if the Dusknoir finally gained the sense of sight to realize the duo were nowhere near it. "The name's Roi, by the way. Grassveil Guild, Team Breakout, all that jazz. You might have heard of us around the grapevine, since we're just that famous." He couldn't speak with a straight face at his feigned arrogance. A smile cracked followed by a laugh.

The dusknoir's movements grew slower, as exhaustion began to set in. The powerful rock-busting punches slowed and weakened into pitiful slaps against the ground. The dusknoir looked about, utterly confused before it inevitably collapsed onto its back. A long and frustrated groan sounded from the creature before it fell silent. Only a moment later, light snores could be heard from the dusknoir's sleeping form.

"Well, we certainly made it regret its life choices," the breloom perked up. He looked over to the mawile, "And with who did I just have the pleasure of battling along side, might I ask?"

---

She started towards him. He scrambled backwards, but not without turning around. She stopped; he stopped. His wide eyes were focused on her. She spoke, but she acted as if nothing happened. He trembled at the sight of her, unsure of what to think or do. Was she going to attack him again? Was-...was that a second Mocha just behind her?

While he didn't say anything, he couldn't help but stare at the copy. Terror scattered his thoughts as chest heaved with his attempts to breathe. He couldn't bring himself to speak-or do much of anything. This wasn't right. There wasn't supposed to be two Mochas. His eyes flicked back and forth between the two, too fearful to do much else.

Which was unfortunate, because another streak of white blasted into his ribcage from seemingly nowhere. When the streak ceased its movements, a white and blue figure stood where Zadira once cowered. It looked just as terrified and uncertain as he did, but it definitely took a bit more action than him. The false-Zadira looked over to Mocha, "Behind you!" he cried, the mimicry of Zadira's voice disturbingly accurate.

The real zadira, meanwhile, was sent tumbling through the rocks and dirt. His claws dug into the ground, but his hind legs found themselves without any real land to grapple. He'd stopped himself just short of being launched over the side of the cliff. With a mortified glance back, he was quick to scramble back up with terrified yet pathetic whimpers and whines.

Mocha: [Energy: 0]
Maxie: [Energy: 0]
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Mocha turned around just in time to catch a wild attack from her double. The mirror seized the advantage, slashed viciously with her claws. Mocha tried her best to block the incoming slashes, but it became pretty clear that wasn’t going to work as a long term solution. Deploying her claws, she hooked her claws into her duplicate’s side and rolled, reversing their positions and leaving her on top.

Then the zangoose beneath her kicked her off—right in the gut. Mocha fell backward and curled up to protect herself from further kicks. She tried to say something—to call Zadira for help—but she lacked the breath to do so.

With both zangoose currently distracted with their own survival, their doppelgangers traded places. Now it was time to further confuse the poor pair of zangoose.

Now the game truly began.

…

”Maxie, Grassveil Guild, Team Tenacity—you definitely haven’t heard of me.” She really hoped that was true. Thus far her team had a history composed entirely of one mission—failed—and now consisted entirely of one member—herself. Her guild endeavours thus far had been less than middling, and she was totally okay with being an unknown. ”Kind of new to the game.”

As she ran through her memory to see if she recognized his team, a recent memory came up. ”Now that I think about it, I do know of you. Zadira told me about you guys, just earlier, actually. Funny running into the two of you in the same place like this, actually.” She didn’t consider how Roi would respond to being told that she only knew of him and his team because an ex-team member told her about them, and not because of any of his own renown.

Genuine surprise crossed the breloom's face-which only seemed to grow the more the mawile spoke. The breloom's cap tilted off to the right with his head as confusion stirred. His arms folded as a frown replaced the gape. "Zadira? Huh, that is funny...he shouldn't be in someplace like this-especially right now," the breloom commented, "He's not in your team is he? Did you send him back to Grassveil? Don't tell me he's still here..." the request came with a tone of disapproval. Despite what he said, his tone didn't come from anger or any particular frustration.

Concern. That was more like it. The breloom quirked an eyebrow in wait for an answer. Roi hoped that he misheard the other zangoose earlier, but it seemed that was not the case.

----

This reeked of Voix. It was Zadira's go-to thought for such an outlandish issue, which was unfortunately exactly the kind he was exposed to on a frequent basis whenever the zoroark was around. He had absolutely no evidence to support this, but it was his immediate assumption. His distanced himself from the edge of the cliff. His chest heaved against what felt like some invisible force being pressed against it.

False!Zadira looked between the two Mochas, eyes wide with fear-or rather a mock fear. Claws extended, the illusion's eyes snapped between the two, as if he struggled to decide which one was real. "W-Which one's..." he trailed off, hesitant to strike.

The original set eyes on his doppelganger as it stood where he should. Again, his focus steadied on the three zangoose. Only one of them was a friend, the other two were either Voix or thin air-at least so he assumed. It was entirely possible for the zoroark to rope someone else into his plot. His breaths became quick and uncontrollable, but just as quickly as they accelerated, they deepened and slowed. Voix was here.

The look of fear steadily faded into an intense fury. His fur stood out, his claws dug into the ground, and he the helpless look in his eyes disappeared. In a bolt of white and blue, he shot forward for the attack. He didn't aim for either of the Mochas, but instead what he knew wasn't real-himself. His paws collided with fur as he bashed himself straight into...himself? The copy yelped in surprise and pain as it was their turn to be sent tumbling through the rocks.

The doppelganger caught themselves just as he had, but with less threat of being tossed over the cliff side. False!Zadira faced Zadira with wide fearful eyes as he cowered in the spot. He backed away without turning away as the real zangoose propped himself up onto his back legs. His teeth grit together as the rage built up. A dark energy gathered around his claws that shifted them from their baby blue color to an ominously dark hue. He lifted his claws with a growl that evolved into a hostile hiss before he charged towards the doppleganger.

"M-Mocha!" the fake cried in terror.

Mocha: [Energy: 0]
Maxie: [Energy: 0]
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She could hear Zadira—his panicked, terrified scream. She needed to help him. Mocha looked up to take in the scene. The other her was off her now, but watching her, and it had noticed her looking at it. Zadira was attacking Zadira behind it. Mocha reached into her bag in hopes of finding something useful. She did.

Forcing herself up and onto her hind feet, the zangoose bared her claws. The other Mocha did the same. She had no idea what this was—another Pokemon with some sort of shapeshifting trick, or an illusion, perhaps. She wasn’t sure how much like her this copycat really was. Did she know her moves? Her strategies? Just in case, Mocha made sure she had a new trick that even a recent clone of herself couldn’t yet have. She’d just learned a new move.

Taking a deep breath, ignoring the new pain in her front and the old, reignited pain in her back, Mocha bolted with a newfound speed. In but moments, replica images of Mocha were left surrounding her doppelganger. Said doppelganger didn’t seem to like their own trick being used against them.

Leaving herself to deal with her selves, Mocha—the real, true Mocha stopped between the group of herself that was currently being dismantled by a particularly annoyed version of herself, and the two Zadira. The scene would be very difficult to parse by an outside observer—it was fairly confusing for the participants, even.

She stumbled, catching herself just before hitting the ground, grabbing at her middle where she’d been kicked. She looked up at the two blue-striped zangoose in front of her. She had to help Zadira. But which was the real Zadira? Past experience told her it had to be the scared one. Aside from demeanor, they looked practically identical. She couldn’t be certain. Her uncertainty showed.

She had to be certain.

Decision paralysis set in.

She froze.

…

”In order: Why not? No, no. He is—as far as I know.” Maxie was quick to get all of the most important questions and answers out of the way before she elaborated further. Roi’s response, combined with his obvious concern, made her both curious and equally concerned. He clearly knew something she didn’t, and she needed to know.

”To elaborate: we—the zangoose you just saw, Mocha, and I—met Zadira on our way up here. Or, technically speaking, he met us. We didn’t bring him, he’s not on my team. Now why shouldn’t he be in a place like this, and why especially right now?”
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Mocha: Used x1 TM Double Team

These answers displeased Roi. Well, not all of them. It was a relief to hear that the zangoose hadn't turned around and joined someone else's team. Everything else? Well, it made this whole mission complicated. His jovial demeanor melted away into somberness. He couldn't help a forlorn sigh before he continued, "This place is far too dangerous for him. He wouldn't be able to survive along on his own out here-especially with all that crazy stuff going on with pokemon randomly turning psychotic, it's more dangerous than ever!"

"Not only that, but today's a busy day at the shop with the holidays approaching, Caritas's going to be completely floored without him. The hell?" he huffed in disbelief and annoyance. How could Zadira possibly leave her on her own like that? Surely he knew just how much he helped Caritas out in that place!

Roi glanced back to the direction the zangoose walked back to. Hesitantly, he looked back to the mawile and spoke with a quieter voice, "Did he say why he was coming here exactly?"

---

A flash of red and black slashed cut through the air. Not!Zadira bolted away from the spot, but Zadira could have sworn that he should have hit the enemy just then. Unthinking, he pursued the streak of white and blue around the mini-arena this odd slope devolved into. His claws carelessly and recklessly raked across rocks and upturned dirt as he tried again and again to score across the white fur.

The false-Zadira just barely avoided each strike, frantic and helpless glances in Mocha's direction begged for assistance, but it was quick to realize that she'd frozen up. The near-misses were intentional, however. The wild and uncoordinated movements of Zadira were easy to avoid, but the image of helplessness and danger needed to be upheld. With a quick decision, the illusion decided to be just a bit too late.

Zadira's claws felt air, but it certainly looked like he'd scored a hit. A really good one too. The duplicate screamed out in mock pain as its back and shoulder looked as if it were torn open just as Mocha's back was earlier. The duplicate bolted away, but was certain to stagger and drop as if movement was now difficult and painful.

The true zangoose was stopped on the spot, attempts to pursue ceased. The look of fury snapped back into uncertainty as he observed his claws. His arms shook, he could see the blood there, but he didn't feel it. His deep breaths picked up in pace again as he looked up at his grievously injured mirrored image. He was bleeding, yet it wasn't him. It wasn't real. It. Wasn't. Real.

"It's not real," his quivering voice mumbled to himself, "It's not real." He repeated the sentence with certainty. The blind anger was back again. His seemingly bloodied claws spread outward and flexed as another guttural growl prefaced another charge for his "injured" self. All the while, he repeated the little mantra to himself. It's not real. It's not real.

He failed to really notice Mocha-either of the Mochas. His sights were set on "himself" and tunneled into it. Mocha's situation seemed entirely non-existent to him as he moved in with another careless strike against the other Zadira. The alternate's ears pinned back with fear before he bolted towards Mocha, ready to cower behind her and use her for defense against the rage-fueled zangoose that pursued him.

Mocha: [Energy: 0]
Maxie: [Energy: 0]
==================================================
Climbing back to her feet, Mocha watched the two blue-striped zangoose; one chasing the other, trying to hurt the other. Surely that one had to be the fake, right? Mocha was almost certain, until it finally got a hit in. There was blood. The aggressor looked at it, briefly horrified. That had to be Zadira, right?

She couldn’t get this wrong. She couldn’t risk attacking the real Zadira—at the same time, she realised that by not acting, she was risking Zadira himself. There was no winning this without indisputable evidence of which one was real. The bleeding one—that one was practically begging her for help. The other one didn’t even seem to notice her. Neither of those facts helped.

She was suddenly reminded of the fact that she had her own duplicate problem—the other her had finished with her duplicates and was now behind her—claws digging into her back. Mocha yelped in pain as the bandages tore and her wounds reopened. How did it get behind her? How hadn’t she noticed? She didn’t have time to think about it. In a desperate effort the get the claws out of her back, Mocha stumbled forward, swinging her own claws wildly as she clumsily turned around to face her double. The blood dripping from it’s claws was very real.

In her panic, Mocha lost her footing as easily as she’d found it. Her breathing was heavy now, her teeth clenched and bared, claws lashing out at the slightest indication that the other her was going to get any closer.

She had gotten distracted and put herself at a disadvantage. She didn’t have time to consider what the right thing to do was now. She had no time for strategy. Now she was just trying to keep the threat away.

…

Maxie nodded. ”Yeah, he’s looking for valuable items; things he can sell. To pay off a debt, I believe he said. He didn’t say what the debt was, though, and I didn’t ask.” After a moment’s pause, she added ”He actually warned us that this place was dangerous, but we’ve handled ourselves fairly well so far.”

After another, slightly longer pause, she further added ”... I think I know what you mean about him not being able to survive on his own. Lucky he stumbled on us.”