[FIN] What was lost...

[TawnyAngel]

The green haired man tensed, eyes darting from one rocket to the other as though he was seeking a way out of the situation. Apparently he saw none; he took a pokeball from his belt and held it up. "The Rapidash," he replied tensely, focusing his gaze now on Claire perhaps in an appeal for reason. "Did he tell you he attacked me, or did he leave that part out? I was just getting even."

"You b*****d!" Aulus cut in with a snarl. "Don't you go making out like you're the victim here! You mocked me and you threatened me, and my family! Damn right I attacked you!" He had been angry, beyond angry, and then the b*****d had added the threats and the teasing and it had been too much. He'd shown him that he wasn't some weakling to be pushed around, that he was quite capable of defending himself and that was that "Give that pokeball to me now and I might not break your neck!"

The bug trainer licked his lips and looked at Claire again. "I'll give it to you," he said with a slight shake of his head, which he then jerked at Aulus. "On the promise that after that I can walk away and you won't attack me, and won't let him either."

"Oh, yes, because you know all about attacking people from behind don't you, you sack of s**t! That damn Scyther of yours nearly killed me!" He was right there! There was nothing he would love more right now than to spring on him and twist his pathetic head off with those words, trying to make him sound like he was in the wrong.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

The agent waited until the pair had finished, eyebrows raised quite high and her expression quite unimpressed. Finally she held up a hand to signify enough, and she rolled the dark ball around in her hand. "I don't recall ever hearing a story about what history you two have," she began, her gaze focused unwaveringly on their target, "and frankly, I don't care for a single thing you have to say. There's just one thing I care about - that you have something of his, and he is going to have it back one way or another."

"One more thing," she said after a brief pause. "I don't recall ever saying it would be an exchange. I don't make promises with anyone even half as pathetic as you. I didn't ask you for it back. Zeus," she said, still not taking her eyes off the man, "take it."

The Pikachu sprang into action before Claire had even finished speaking - his target was the ball the moment it was singled out and held up, and he shot a bolt of electricity in front of him before he attempted to jump onto the man, climb up to his arm and try to take the ball from his grasp.  

[TawnyAngel]

The green haired man shrieked and dropped the pokeball, quickly releasing his own team to send after his assailants. The bugs were clearly worn out however, all save for the shiny Scizor that glimmered in the dim light.

A moment later it was glowing rather than gleaming; a powerful Flamethrower from Char toasted the steel and bug type to a crisp, knocking it out in one hit.

Where a few moments ago Aulus had been focused on preparing to dish out some pain, as soon as the pokeball was dropped he had other priorities. The fact that Zeus was more than capable of retrieving it didn't occur to him; as Char took care of the Scizor and the rest of the bug-type team tried to rally into something like a defensive formation he made a dive for the little red and white sphere.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Zeus was quite a bit more agile and capable to maneuver around the sudden and pseudo-battleground to retrieve the ball, though he couldn't help but notice Aulus's desperate attempts to get at it. The Pikachu wasn't sure what was in it, nor did he really care, but the male human seemed to, so he dashed back over to him with the ball in his mouth and offered it to him without complaint.

Alexina figured Aulus's team had a handle on the weary opponents, so instead she aimed an ice beam at the enemy human's legs. Artemis and Luc, meanwhile, aided in roasting the various bug-types into submission.  

[TawnyAngel]

It was a very short battle, if you could even call it a battle. Aulus didn't pay too much attention to it; once Zeus passed over the pokeball all of his focus was on that. Holding it tightly in his hand he ran his thumb over the surface, feeling the familiar little dent it had picked up where its occupant had once kicked it clean across the field and then stood there watching him as he spent two hours looking for it.

The green-haired man meanwhile struggled against the ice for a few moments before falling over backwards, landing on his backside with his feet still rooted to the ground. One by one his pokemon fainted until he was alone, staring up at the people and pokemon who had so thoroughly defeated him. "O-okay, you win, just take the Rapidash and leave!" he stammered, pale now with every trace of cockiness fled. "You want my winnings? You can take those too, I won't tell anyone, just let me go!"

Aulus was still preoccupied by looking at the red and white sphere in his hand, and hadn't noticed that the battle was over let alone that pleading had started.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"We win? Oh goodness, I am so surprised," the agent said dryly, though she did quirk a brow at the offer. "Oh, well, if you insist, we'd love to take that off your hands. Zeus, relieve this man of his winnings." More money for them, anyway. She honestly wasn't exactly sure what to do with him - it had sounded like Aulus had wanted to beat him to a bloody pulp, but all he had done so far was practically throw himself on the ground to get to the pokeball and hadn't done a thing since getting it, so it left her kind of... unsure what to do. Just let him go? Punch him? Kick him somewhere unpleasant? Maybe have Odette go dump him in the ocean...

Zeus gave Aulus a weird look before he scurried back over and sat in front of the green-haired man expectantly.  

[TawnyAngel]

After a few moments Aulus blinked and focused on the world outside his head again, turning towards the defeated enemy with a darkening visage. "I'm really going to enjoy this." Twirling his staff over his hand the scarred man approached, readied himself to strike and-

The b*****d whimpered and recoiled, and his made Aulus' breath catch him his throat. He couldn't do it. He had never imagined he would have a qualm, but that reaction of pure terror was- No. He couldn't attack somebody who couldn't defend themselves no matter how much he hated them. It wasn't a conscious decision to take the moral high ground, he simply found himself frozen with a sick feeling in his stomach and things he wanted to forget bubbling at the back of his mind.

After a few tense moments Aulus lowered his staff and pressed the button to retract it again. "He's not worth it," he said with a sharp shake of his head. He couldn't just let him get away with it though... ah, that would do. Clipping his staff back onto his belt Aulus approached the green-haired man who was just daring to look up and relieved him of his pokeballs. "We'll have these as well I think," he said to Claire as he returned them. "I'm sure somebody we known can make use of them, or we can sell them."

"Wait, what? No! No you can't take them- Please! At least don't take Scythe!"

Aulus looked down at the luxury ball that now contained the shiny Scizor and smiled a very unpleasant smile indeed. "Perhaps her new owner will call her Karma."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"I'm sure we'll find a use for them," Claire replied readily as she slipped her bag off her shoulder and opened it deftly so Aulus could easily deposit the extra pokeballs into it. It'd be much easier than trying to carry them all in their hands. "And that sounds like a pretty good name to me."

Alexina watched the annoying man for a few more moments before aiming another icebeam at his torso, intending to freeze at least one of his arms in place.

"Shall we be going then?" The agent asked amiably as she turned to Aulus, eyebrows raised slightly. She really had no desire to stick around any longer than was necessary to fulfill their purpose - which had by this time been completely and wholly successful. Time to leave now, yes? Yes? Yes, good, time to leave.  

[TawnyAngel]

The urge to beat the b*****d to paste still burned hot but no matter how he tried to turn his mind he couldn't make himself do it. If he was just going to make himself feel like crap then what was the point? He had Phaeth and a different kind of revenge, a lot more subtle and more damaging in the long run. A win from all angles then.

"Yes, I think we're finished," Aulus agreed, casually slipping the pokeballs into Claire's bag before returning all of his own pokemon save for Red. "Let's go then," he nodded to the other Agent, "I could murder a cup of tea." He needed to thank her, needed to thank her a whole lot but not here and now. Once they were back at base he would thank her, or try to at any rate. He wasn't sure he'd be able to find the right words.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Yes, let's," the agent agreed with a coy smile as she slipped her bag onto her back, then returned all of her own pokemon except Odette. "And tea sounds wonderful." That said, she slid up onto her Pidgeot and urged her up into the air and let her fly. She had no need to guide her back to base - such trips had become second nature to the bird.