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Sirius' assault came to an abrupt stop as a familiar scent caught her off guard, narrowed glare snapping wide as she tore herself from the stone, bristled mane pulling higher as her head whipped sharply to glare toward the towering cliff face serving as an impassible wall along the western edge of the peaceful beach. Ten shifted the light of her phone, its blinding glare exposing the shadowed silhouette of a Meowth slinking along the rocks. The cat arched its back at the sudden flash of light, wide, thin-pupiled stare locked on Ten as its fur bristled, warning the woman it was willing to fight.[break][break]

The Meowth flinched at the sudden, maddened barking from Sirius, the Houndoom having turned her body fully to crouch toward the wide-eyed feline as she anchored herself to the sand, apprehension riddling her posture. The sharp, wild barks were not the vicious, throaty snarls the canine usually had for her opponent, and her cautious stance brought confusion to Apollo as he withdrew his efforts from the near shattered stone, his gaze falling to the frantic dog near in a panic over Meowth's presence.[break][break]

As the feline's lips peeled back with a low growl, attention turning toward Sirius, the dog jolted back - bumping back against the stone she had been attacking as she tried to lengthen the distance between them. Ten had had enough. It was too much noise for the late hour.[break][break]

''Steel wing.''[break][break]

On cue, Apollo sloped down out of the sky, wings cutting against the ocean air to guide a stiff metal wing to meet with the cat's body, crashing into its side to send it tumbling down from its perch on the rocks with his sᴛᴇᴇʟ ᴡɪɴɢ. The cat's claws grappled at the air before it twisted to land gracefully at its feet, its sharp reflexes proving more capable now that it was aware of its decided opponent. Paws launched the cat up from the sand and back onto the outcropped stone, eyes following the turn of Skarmory's body overhead as its jaws parted in a deafening sᴄʀᴇᴇᴄʜ, the sound reverberating off the bird's armor plating.[break][break]

''Air slash.''[break][break]

The Skarmory twisted against the sky, its body whisked around in the air to face Meowth as his wings gave a single, harsh cut against the wind - a blade-like gale rushing from the force of his wings to crash in a decisive blow against the short-furred feline, knocking it back off its boulder to leave it defeated against the cliff.[break][break]

The crazed barking had continued over the course of the fight, its sound still echoing off the beach even as the Meowth lost consciousness.[break][break]

''No, Sirius.''[break][break]

Ten's even warning was paired with the redirecting of her phone's flashlight, the bright circle turned back to the nearly shattered stones the pair had been working on.[break][break]

There was an angry snort from the Houndoom as it studied the rocks, checking for any signs of movement from the Meowth before turning her horned skull back toward her nearly crushed stone. With a whip of her tail she rushed forward, striking at the rock with the sturdy claws at her paw in ᴘᴜʀsᴜɪᴛ to break it into a mass of rubble.[break][break]

Skarmory's body turned slightly to angle itself toward his own stone, another gust of wind sent in an ᴀɪʀ sʟᴀsʜ to shatter its form.[break][break]

''Steel wing will be faster.''[break][break]

The advice came in a light voice as she searched over the broken rocks with the beam of light from her phone, watching for any signs of valuables in the debris.[break][break]

Apollo complied with ease, dipping down out of the sky to carve at a new stone with his sᴛᴇᴇʟ ᴡɪɴɢ, leaving a deep gauge in its surface.

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Apollo wheeled in a sharp arc, angling himself with the ocean breeze to sweep around for another cutting blow at the stone, shattering it against his sᴛᴇᴇʟ ᴡɪɴɢ. The stone gave easily against the swift cut of metal, crumbling open to rest in a heap upon the beach.[break][break]

A shift in shadow at the corner of Ten's eyes altered the course of the illuminating glow of her phone, the light crawling along the beach to stop as it struck against a near humanoid figure, a hand rising to shield the man-like pokémon's eyes from the glare.[break][break]

With a snort Machoke set the heavy boulder resting at its shoulder to the ground, its late hour work out interrupted by its own curiosity. The stone's weight echoed dull over the beach as Machoke set it fully to rest on the shoreline, hand still guarding its eyes from the light.[break][break]

Sirius growled at the pokémon's presence, shifting her angle of attack on the boulder to keep a proper eye on the wild fighting type as she took a few steps back, gaining a bit of distance before bolting forward to crack the sturdy curl of horns at her head against the rock in ᴘᴜʀsᴜɪᴛ.[break][break]

Hand falling away from its face, Machoke's feet shifted in the sand, its body turning to face the pair of pokemon as it gazed over their work. Its hands fell to fists at its side as it stepped toward the pair, arms flexing in show of the thick muscle of his biceps and forearms before curling forward in threat, posture further defining the toned shape of his chest and abdomen.[break][break]

''Keep your distance. Air slash.''[break][break]

Ten recognized his posturing for what it was, her muffled voice calling to the better suited of the pair to handle the situation.[break][break]

Apollo shifted course to cut his way into the sky, his body spinning to face Machoke as his wings readied for a powerful gust before beating harshly downward. Machoke gave a light snort as it tilted its chin up toward the flying type, a foot stepping forward to brace against the shore as he rose a hand to flick his fingers toward himself in challenge, encouraging the hit. Sirius stopped her work at the sight, standing ready to attack nearby her boulder.[break][break]

The Skarmory's powerful ᴀɪʀ sʟᴀsʜ came tearing down out of the sky, the sharp gust met by Machoke's hand as it reached out to catch the blade of wind, swiping to lessen its force with its palm before taking the brunt of the attack head on, hand falling to meet the beach and launch its body up toward his opponent in a single, flowing motion, unflinching as the sharp gale tore a path along its chest and torso.[break][break]

Machoke's strong arms had enough power to send it rocketing toward its opponent, sand kicked up from the beach where it once stood to swirl in the air as the pokémon sailed through the black of the sky to catch Skarmory in its arms, Apollo's wings still recovering from their attack as it hooked its hand at his throat, dragging him back down to the earth with a surge of strength in a sᴇɪsᴍɪᴄ ᴛᴏss.[break][break]

The pair plummeted to the beach, the metal bird's armor giving a faint screech at the force of the fingers at his neck, wings flying up from the sides of his body as his plated back knocked a dent in the white sand, the battling pokémon's impact forming a divet in the beach. The wild Machoke's free hand reached immediately for one of the bird's wings as they met the earth, heels shifting to find a point to anchor against the sand as it lifted a fighting Apollo from the sand. The bird's talon reached to cut like knives at the fighter's stomach, sharp beak clapping in threat as his free wing spanned its feathers wide, flapping abruptly to send a storm of silver, blade-edged feathers to stick themselves in the pokémon's body and work as sᴘɪᴋᴇs along the beach. Keeping a distance was no longer an option.[break][break]

Machoke leaned back on its heel, the foot guided back to catch its weight riddled with spikes as it dragged Apollo's weight through the air in a circle, launching him to crash into the firm stone of the cliffside with a ᴠɪᴛᴀʟ ᴛʜʀᴏᴡ. Apollo's form collided against the stone with another brief screech of metal before he dropped toward the ground, head bowed and posture low, but still willed to battle.[break][break]

What proved difficult for Apollo showed only as interesting to the calculating Ten nearby, her hand reaching for one of the unoccupied spheres in her hip as she watched the battle progress.[break][break]

With the distance he needed, Apollo turned in his place to lash his wings in another ᴀɪʀ sʟᴀsʜ toward his opponent, Machoke taking a decisive step forward to meet the attack with another firm swipe of its hand.[break][break]

The gale proved too strong as its hand was wrenched back, the wind powering through its attempt to send it falling back. The pokémon's hand was quick to reach back and catch its weight, aiming to spring up from the beach and right itself again - but the muscles of its arms found themselves weak, leading the fighter to tumble fruitlessly toward the ground.[break][break]

''Hold steady,'' Ten called lightly.[break][break]

The geneticist stepped forward as the Machoke gathered itself to a knee, braced against its leg as it stared toward Apollo, unfinished with the battle despite its defeat. The Skarmory drew its wings wide as it readied a final blow. Machoke's hand rose to taunt another cut of air from its combatant, but suddenly the pokémon fell slack, its body crumpling forward to rest against the sand.[break][break]

The Virus grunt threw her ᴘᴏᴋᴇ́ʙᴀʟʟ forward, the capsule spinning through the air before drawing itself open near the fallen Machoke's figure, swallowing it up with a familiar glow.

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Ten stepped forward, soles of her boots crushing softly against the beach as the orb fell still in the sand, Apollo's neck craning to turn the point of his beak toward his sore wing, giving it a cautious stretch. Sirius snorted harshly, the thin cord of her tail giving a sharp swat behind her as she watched her trainer approach.[break][break]

She stooped a short ways down to collect the ball, fastening at her hip as she righted herself to continue forward, the stark beam of her phone's flashlight directed to the white grains of the beach as she closed the distance between herself and the hard work of her pokemon. The light shifted smoothly over the sand to rest on the rubble left by their efforts, the shattered boulder's bathed in sickly, artificial light.[break][break]

Sirius took a step back to leave her trainer to her search, Apollo's wing guiding carefully back to his side as his talons cut shallow graves against the sand, steps guiding him slowly back toward Ten.[break][break]

The woman held her phone out toward the Skarmory as he came within distance, his gaze drawing over the device in curiosity before settling on the grunt, unsure of her command. There was a moment of silence before she tilted her helmet to face the pokemon, phone still held out in her grip.[break][break]

''Hold this.''[break][break]

Beak reached forward, he took the machine gingerly in its hold, tilting his head to aim the light clumsily over the scattered debris on the beach. It seemed to be what his master had hoped for, as she knelt herself down toward the ground to begin scouring through the broken rock with her gloved hands, turning over the stones and rolling them from their places to search under their shadows.[break][break]

The two pokemon watched in quiet as she finished with one stone and moved to the next, repeating the process without a word to either of them. Sirius gave an indignant grunt as she righted her posture, lifting her head high to draw her gaze out over the beach, watching in case of another surprise opponent as Apollo fumbled with the light, aiding his trainer to the best of his ability.[break][break]

The sun was already beginning to rise as the search met its end, the dog's eyes turned back toward Ten as she finally moved to stand, a crimson glint reflecting from the precious stone held in her grip.[break][break]

A free hand reached, palm faced upward, toward Apollo - the bird taking a moment to understand before setting the phone back in its grip as her helmet remained toward the shard's glittering surface.[break][break]

The light was switched off with a press of her thumb, phone set back to be fastened in its holster, the sᴛᴀʀ ᴘɪᴇᴄᴇ she had been looking for in hand.