[Center][h2]Naval Junkyard- Slateport City [/h2][/center]

Rai didn’t say much as he followed Sorel down through the hand-hewn tunnels underneath the shipyard with Kye sticking close to his heels. The complex was a good deal larger than he’d been expecting, especially since it appeared to be entirely underground. He knew from experience most Pits baited in new gamblers and brawlers looking to get their feet wet with the kind of fights he’d walked in on at the start. A lot of showy pokemon, but with no more finesse than to simply wail on their opponent until their pokemon dropped and the trainer was screaming uncle to the tune of a jeering crowd.

But as the tunnels began to open up into a ramshackle gym with larger doors barred off to one side, he could only assume this was the facility they reserved for their proven brawlers. The ones people came to blow all kinds of cash on high stakes bets. Small fights would almost always end up with someone bleeding. The difference was in the small time rings, there were usually a few people ready to pull fighters apart before someone went too far. The only people in the big rings were the brawlers and their pokemon, and he’d seen fights that ended with a few more bodies hauled out to the sewers. Fact was, death drew crowds, and the more brutal it was, the more the Pit made off the betting.

So Rai was less than shocked at his reception by this “Dicky”. It was expected. All he had was the backing of one scrub who’d been assigned guard duty and had even managed to screw that up. Whether Dicky was this Pit’s boss or its senior fighter didn’t matter, his word was obviously the one that would matter in the end. Nothing Rai could say would improve this man’s opinion of him, but neither was he about to back down. He kept his gaze fixed hard on the other man, both hands crammed into his pockets even as the insults were hurled and a thick finger was jabbed into his chest hard enough to bruise. In the Pits, respect was bought with blood. And just a glance at the way Sorel’s face drained of color meant he was going to pay a high price for it indeed.

He turned to glance at Karen who already seemed utterly unconcerned, even whiny, about the supposed chore of taking him on in the ring. She’d certainly mastered the look of someone who’d seen more than their fair share of fights. Her face was scared from here to Kanto, but none of the injuries looked to be fresh. She looked and walked with the swagger of someone who’d been far too long without a proper challenge, and part of him was hoping it was true. Some vestigial part of him he hated to acknowledge was actually looking forward to a good fight.

[color=b3f7ad]“Hey, Limp-dick!”[/color] Karen barked at him, when she noticed his silent appraisal from across the gym, [color=b3f7ad] “You been taking it from behind for so long you forgot what a real woman looks like?!”[/color]

Dicky might not have been worth the wasted breath on a retort, but an opponent was another matter entirely.

[color=b3f7ad] “If you’re a real woman, then my memory is fuzzier than I thought.”[/color] Rai said, maintaining a bored expression in his tone, [color=b3f7ad] “The whores in Johto at least know they have to be attractive to make money. Or maybe you did figure that out and that’s why you’re here?”[/color]

He heard the scrape of heavy equipment moving and saw a rather irate looking hitmonlee starting to push through some of the equipment at him. Kye noticed it too, and Rai instantly felt the air around him warm as his pokemon let out a low growl in response. Karen only laughed as her pokemon strutted over to stand with her. She strode across the distance separating them and mimicked Dicky’s early gesture and jabbed him in the chest with a finger before dragging it up the length of his neck to flick his chin.

[color=b3f7ad] “Don’t forget to tuck that head between your legs and give your ass a nice kiss goodbye,”[/color] She said every syllable in her voice dripping with a threat, [color=b3f7ad] “Because in about 5 minutes, it’s going to belong to me.”[/color]

There was the sound of several more people moving somewhere behind him, and Rai caught a glimpse of a few musclebound trainers lifting themselves up off their equipment to form a kind of wall between him and the exit while Karen made for the arena. They weren’t going to let him back out of this even if he’d wanted too. He started to walk after her, as the heavy doors separating the gym from the Pit groaned as they swung open. The sound set every hair on his body on end in anticipation. He hated the Pit, he hated putting Kye in harm’s way, but he couldn’t deny the fact that years of fighting had ingrained this way of life into his very bones.

[color=b3f7ad] “Here.”[/color] Rai said as her pulled up short of the door and shucked out of his jacket and pack and flung them at the nearest person herding him inside, [color=b3f7ad] “Put these someplace safe for me.”[/color]

[color=b3f7ad] “Char.”[/color] He heard his pokemon snort as they stepped out into the gritty sand of the arena.

Rai sucked in a deep breath as he took a moment to adjust to the bright lights and the sudden roar of angry, excited voices. He could pick out bets being made, people angry at a supposed line up change, jeering that he would be a stain on the wall by the time this was over and done with. He didn’t doubt that last one so much. There were more than a few dark, rusty patches that littered the Pit’s walls. The wire cage over the top of the ring was probably the only thing that had stopped whatever made those stains from making it up into the stands. Rai kicked at the grit under his shoes, stirring up the musty smell of copper and sweat. It was a good mix of rough and fine sand for traction, packed down enough to make a firm surface with just enough traction. Kye scratched at it a few times himself, keeping his nose low to the ground as he inspected their new battlegrounds, oblivious to the crowds around them

[color=b3f7ad] “You like, Johto?!”[/color] Karen shouted at him from across the circular arena, [color=b3f7ad] “This a good enough place for me to bury you after I kill your sorry ass?”[/color]

[color=b3f7ad] “It’s easier on the eyes than you are, for sure.”[/color] Rai called back, gratified to see her face start to turn scarlet.

The doors behind them were starting to grind closed, pulling Kye’s attention back to the impending fight as the cheering reached a fevered pitch. Rai stood calmly at his end, watching Karen and her hitmonlee pacing back and forth on their side like caged houndoom, every bit as eager for blood as the crowd. Rai glanced up into the stands, just in time to see Dicky find himself a seat where he could watch the fight unfold, as the door behind them sealed with a clank that shook the arena. He felt his heart rate pick up and a grin curl across his face despite himself, as a Loudred’s bellow split the air and set the match in motion.

Rai and Kye both dove to opposite ends of the ring, as the Hitmonlee wasted no time in launching its first attack. The pokemon dashed across the arena with impressive speed and the sole of its foot collided with the retaining wall where Rai’s head had been an instant before. Rai ignored the sudden shower of rubble and rolled back onto his feet, every muscle tense and ready to spring. Kye was less passive, and the second he swiveled to face the fighting type he wasted no time unleashing a flamethrower to cook his foe. Rai heard the screech from somewhere within the flames, only a moment before Karen herself came up behind Kye on his blind side.

[color=b3f7ad] “Kye! Move!”[/color]

The charmeleon snapped his attention to the other trainer an instant too late, as she brought a fist down across his face and muzzle in a shower of blue sparks that took Rai by surprise. Kye dropped to the arena floor for only a moment, before a rolling kick sent him careening into the opposite wall of the Pit.

[color=b3f7ad] “Fakking amateur,”[/color] Karen laughed, as Kye slumped limply to the arena floor, [color=b3f7ad] “Bringin’ a fire-type to a fightin’ ring.”[/color]

Rai grit his teeth as he spared another glance over to Kye. He could see his pokemon move a bit, and Rai flicked a hand out behind him in a quick, wordless gesture for Kye to stay down, as Karen and hitmonlee advanced on him. He could see static practically dancing around some kind of patchwork gauntlet around her right arm. Experience had taught him electricity of any kind hurt, and he really could not afford to find out just how big a punch her improvised taser packed.  Karen, on the other hand, seemed all too eager to give him a taste of it, as she swung out with a right hook meant for his face. Rai ducked under her arm, feeling his air stand on end from the static passing just above him, before ramming a fist of his own right into her exposed solar plexus. He heard the telltale “whuff” as the air fled her lungs, leaving her stumbling back clutching at her midsection as she tried to remember how to breathe. Rai charged after her, but only made it a few steps before her hitmonlee intervened.

Rai heard, rather than felt, the impact as he crashed into the wall. The concrete barrier was more than unyielding, despite the fact his skull was trying to tunnel through it at speeds slightly less than conducive for keeping his brain in its proper place. The world pitched hard around him, and everything suddenly became muted for a brief moment as his nervous system struggled to catch up to real time. Rai only vaguely felt something hot start to spread across his scalp, as he struggled to right himself again. It was only the adrenaline in his system that snapped the world back into focus around the same time he saw another kick racing at him. He shifted to one side just fast enough to miss the first blow, only for the low sweep to catch him hard in the chest and send him airborne once again.

Rai hit the ground with enough force to feel at least one rib crack. The sudden shock of pain caused the world to be thrown into sharp relief and to blur simultaneously as his body and consciousness warred over allowing him to stay awake. At least until Karen’s face appeared in his field of view, as she dropped her full weight down on to his sternum with one knee. Rai felt the pain blossom in his side again under the new strain, and a scream tore from his lips, as she started to laugh.

[color=b3f7ad] “That’s it, Johto! Scream for the nice people!”[/color]

Her fist connected with his face once, twice, three times, before Rai started to lose count. The metallic tang of blood filled his mouth after each blow rattled his skull. When he did nothing more than grunt with each impact, she pulled her right arm back, ready to zap him with a jolt of electricity. Rai peeled open one rapidly swelling eye and watched her reel back, as he dug his fingers into the grit of the arena floor under him and flung a handful of the rough sand right into her eyes.

She shrieked and pawed at her face trying to rub the grit out, spitting and cursing at him, when an orange blur collided into her with enough force to knock her clean off Rai’s chest. Rai only smirked as he heard Kye’s muffled snarl and her sudden silence, as he looked over to see his pokemon with every tooth bared as they gripped her neck with just enough pressure to start drawing blood. Rai could see her eyes go wide at the fire-type, but every little flinch made Kye snarl like a revved chainsaw and his teeth dug into her neck a little deeper. Rai sucked in a steady breath as he pulled himself back to his feet, shoving the sharp protests of his ribs to the back of his mind. He’d deal with that later.

[color=b3f7ad] “Keep her out of my way, Kye.”[/color] Rai said, spitting out a wad of crimson tinted saliva into the sand as he turned to face Karen’s hitmonlee. The only reply he got was another growl.

It seemed like his trainer’s sudden perilous position had the fighting-type stunned as it stood indecisively shifting from foot to foot, unsure if it should attempt to intervene and save it’s trainer while  Kye did an excellent job making it clear that any attempt wouldn’t end well.

[color=b3f7ad] “Come on then.”[/color] Rai goaded Karen, [color=b3f7ad] “Are you just going to let your pokemon stand there watching?”[/color]

He swore he could see her eyes bulge out a bit more behind her puffy cheeks for a moment, before her chest started to heave enough to make Kye bob up and down in time with it.

[color=b3f7ad] “K-KILL HIM ALREADY!”[/color]

There. That was better. Rai smirked as the pokemon focused his gaze unsteadily on him. It was hesitating, and that was perfect. Unlike the kicks before that had taken him off his guard, Rai saw this one coming. The heel of the hitmonlee’s foot slammed square into Rai’s chest, meaning to knock him off his feet and flying again. Except this time, Rai was braced for it. Rather than flying, Rai grabbed hold of the pokemon’s stretched leg and wedged it’s foot firmly under an arm. He could feel the muscles waver for a second, the shock of being caught taking it off guard, before the hitmonlee tried pulling it’s leg back in.

Rai didn’t let it. Hitmonlee had notoriously stretchy tendons and muscles in their legs, but it was only an advantage while they were on the attack. Rai could feel the muscles tense and retract in his grip, and pulled back a fist and savagely struck at the pokemon’s leg. The first blow sent shockwaves through his own body, the second he felt the telltale rip of tissue, and the third was simply for good measure before he let go and watched the pokemon drop to the ground with one leg now hanging at an awkward angle.

[color=b3f7ad] “You know…”[/color] Rai started to laugh, turning to face Karen with a cold look in his eye and blood running across his teeth as he grinned at her, [color=b3f7ad] “Here I was really hoping Hoenn would have better fighters than this.”[/color]


He crossed over to where Kye still had a snarling grip around Karen’s neck, and dropped down to crouch next to her head, looking her up and down.

[color=b3f7ad] “Are you going to quit while you can?”[/color]

[color=b3f7ad] “Fuck you!”[/color]

Rai snorted.

[color=b3f7ad] “By all rights, I ought to let Kye just [i]eat[/i] you.”[/color] He chuckled, [color=b3f7ad] “Crowd would absolutely love it. But that would be too nice I think.”[/color]

Rai reached past Kye and replaced the death grip his pokemon had on the woman with a vice like grip of his own and haled her back to her feet by her neck. Her hands flew up to claw at his arm, but Rai hardly noticed as he slung her into the walls he’d been making friends with most of the night. His heart hammered wildly in his chest, making his muscles twitch with anticipation. This was what he loved, this rush, this high.

[color=b3f7ad] “I could keep beating you the way you did me?”[/color] He called out loud enough for the crowd to hear, [color=b3f7ad] “Make you scream for all these ‘good people’?”[/color]

He picked her back up and slammed her back first into the arena floor, making her go limp for a brief moment. He could too. He wanted to do just that. In any other fight, he might have and enjoyed dealing the pain he’d received back one blow at a time. But any idiot with two fists could manage that.

[color=b3f7ad] “I could break your knee, like I did to your pokemon?”[/color] He growled, digging a heel into the muscle just above her kneecap.

[color=b3f7ad] “I could break your shoulder with the same effort it takes to get a glass of milk, I could ram the bones of your nose up into your brain, I could hit you in the tits hard enough to stop your heart from beating.”[/color] Rai listed off, almost as if he expected her to pick her own fate, [color=b3f7ad] “See your boss told you to get in here and kill me, but that’s such a waste, you know?”[/color]

Rai reached out with his free hand, and tapped her temple, leaving a red smear across her skin where he did. She met his eyes, finding a cold excitement reflected back at her, as if he were genuinely excited to share a terrible secret with her.

[color=b3f7ad] “See, if I hit you there? You start having seizures. It may kill you tonight, but chances are, you’ll live. You may even walk out of here on your own.”[/color] He said flippantly, [color=b3f7ad] “But the seizures don’t stop. They get worse and worse. You start losing control of your legs, then your arms, even being able to take care of yourself will be impossible. You’ll be strapped into a wheelchair while people look at you with pity, because while you were once some hot shit in this arena, you won’t even be able to stop drooling on yourself.”[/color]

Rai swore he could see tears actually start to well up in her eyes. From fear, frustration, or helplessness, he didn’t care. This was a Pit fight, and only one of them got to walk out victorious. The fact was, injuries would heal. People would come back for rematches, for revenge. But to completely break someone meant they’d never challenge him ever again.

[color=b3f7ad] “See, I don’t just kill people, I destroy them. I will take [i]everything[/i] from you and leave you a shell of who you used to be.”[/color] He said leaning down to whisper into her ear, [color=b3f7ad] “It’s why people were afraid of me in Johto. I don’t kill people. I just make them wish that I had.”[/color]

For a second, neither one of them moved. Then out of the corner of his eye, he saw her start to tap her hand against the arena floor. One by one, Rai uncurled his fingers from around her throat, able to see the bloody teeth imprints under his own handprint. Even as he let her go, Karen didn’t move and lay starting up at the roof of the subterranean Pit with the slow rise and fall of her chest being the only indication she was still alive. Rai got back to his feet in time for the edges of his vision to start to blur and go black. His head was pounding and swimming while the world pitched under his feet. Had it not been for Kye limping over to lean against his side, Rai might not have managed to stay upright. He dropped a bloody hand down to the top of his pokemon’s head, ignoring the crimson dripping from his face to hit the ground in speckled drops.They couldn’t be weak here. Not now. Not with the crowd roaring with the upset and the feeling of so many eyes on them.

That was the first rule of the Pit: Only the strong make it out. So while Rai wanted to do nothing more than drop to the floor and let the darkness take him, he pulled in a breath that made his ribs shriek in protest and bellowed at the top of his longs to the rest of the crowd.

[color=b3f7ad] [b]“WHO’S NEXT?!”[/b][/color]