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  "description_bbcode_parsed": "<span style='word-wrap: break-word;'>Emil is a quiet man with a well kept secret; he has little to look forward to but even less to complain about as he works his life away and puts up with his obnoxious wealthy neighbor.<br /><br />That is until a once-in-a-lifetime sequence of events threatens to upend everything he has, should he go for the catch. </span>",
  "writing": "[center]Forbidden Waters – 17[/center]\n\n\nThe crowd had hardened into a solid wall of people, with cameras and microphones poking out like wild hairs, trying their best to visualize this insane spectacle. People gasped and jeered at Arcanine as Spinel lashed his ribbons in wide, uncontrolled arcs like a frightened woman beating a mugger with her purse. “You better back off, or I’ll give you such a smack!”\n\nArcanine growled in frustration as he bit at empty air and got himself a couple stinging slaps across the muzzle for his trouble.\n\nRichard lifted his good hand up, smiling like a fool with a brand new jester's hat. “Alright, show em what you got, booiiiii!”\n\nSpinel knew he had to defeat at least three, but how? The last time he’d battled like this was before he even evolved! What did he know back then? Growl? Tackle? Alright, alright, that was it. He remembered how this worked. He just needed to tense up his back, breathe, and draw the energies up from deep within him…\n\nHis ribbons whipped back, catching the Arcanine off guard as he feinted, and he glowed with an outline of white as his head lowered and he cried with anticipation. He lunged, bucking off the stone road with a puff of filthy powder and discarded cigarette butts, and impacted Arcanine right in the center of his chest. \n\nSpinel bounced right off, slumping down with his front legs split, lost in a concussive haze. \n\n“Bite!” Sergeant Jenny ordered, pointing towards Spinel with a look of stern determination. “In the name of Justice, I’m taking you in, de Blanc.”\n\nSpinel squealed as his diaphragm was snatched up in Arcanine’s jaws, suffused with shadowy energy. Tears welled up in his eyes as he felt the teeth digging into his skin, breaking the flesh to get a taste of his hot, terrified blood. With a whip of his powerful neck he threw Spinel down onto the street, bouncing him ten feet back.\n\nVaporeon’s happy smile wilted into a grumpy scowl as she leered towards the Jennies and their mon.\n\n“Sarge! You can’t use that move, dark moves don’t work so good on them fairy types!” the youngest Jenny instructed.\n\nHer commanding officer huffed, rebuffing the efforts of her direct report. “You’re supposed to use the less lethal techniques first, Cadet!”\n\nShe shook her head and pointed back at her with pride. The little time she had was allowed to dedicate to this little hobby of hers, watching matches on the barracks television, was paying off in spades. “Not in a League Battle you don’t, you wanna hit them with everything you got until they stop moving!”\n\nIt was muffled, but he could hear Richard’s voice over the absolutely incredible ringing in his ears. “It’s gonna be ok, Buddy. It’s not over yet. Get up and follow my lead, ‘kay?”\n\nSpinel wobbled up, facing his attacker once more. He shook the pain away, despite the bleeding from needle-points along his back and sides, and nodded sharply. “{Ok, you got it!}”\n\nRichard’s body burned with the anticipation of getting to work with a Sylveon. They were rare, even in the wealthier corners of the globe, since they only evolved one way and it was a way that money really couldn’t buy. “Alright, give him a big ol’ Draining Kiss!”\n\nSpinel whipped around and scoffed. “{You want me to what? Ew, no!}”\n\n“Fire Fang!” Jenny screamed, and the other officers cheered her on behind her as more bits of food rained on them from a front-line of haters in the crowd.\n\n“{Show me what you got, pinkie!}” Arcanine barked, yawning big and wide to display the razor sharp cremation furnace hidden behind their handsome, fluffy muzzle.\n\nSpinel was engulfed by molten, slobbering jowls. Grabbed this time by the carefully tended, picture perfect waistline he’d worked so hard to maintain, Arcanine whipped him back and forth like a puppy did with a brand new toy. “Veeeeeeeeeeeel Eeeeee! Veeeeeee,\" he screamed as his precious, ivory coat was burned away and his flesh boiled around him into charred mummified wrappings. \n\nWhen the energies for the attack ran their course, Arcanine spat Spinel’s smoking remains off to the side like a spent wad of chew. Spinel’s skull smacked hard against an upended paving stone as Arcanine howled victoriously and the lights went out.\n\n[b][center]“An Eevee? Thank you, thank you so much, Momma!”[/center][/b]\n\nVaporeon growled and her tail dislodged stones from the street as she smashed it down in anger. The only thing she wanted was to swap in and drown the cop ‘mon where they stood, but all she could do was watch as one of her friends was thrashed around and humiliated on camera for all to see.\n\n[b][center]“It’s ok, buddy. We don’t have to battle if you don’t want to. Kisses!”[/center][/b]\n\nSpinel’s paws twitched and his tendrils, curled around like pasta tossed across the floor, began writhing around. “I tried…” he moaned quietly, curling up into a pile of fetal desperation..\n\n[b][center]“I love you, Eevee. I love you so much…”[/center][/b]\n\nRichard pet Vaporeon’s head and she snapped her teeth at him reflexively. Then she breathed out, relaxed her shoulders, and let him stroke her head fins as they watched things unfold. “You save that energy, girl. You save that up reaaaaal gooooood.”\n\n[b][center]“You… You did this to my son, you filthy fucking monster!”[/center][/b]\n\nSpinel coughed a smattering of hot, fresh blood across the ground, baring his teeth as his tendrils brushed the filth from his eyes.\n\n[b][center]“Do everyone a favor and disappear .”[/center][/b]\n\nSpinel pushed himself up and listed left and right with red, wet, empty eyes. “Not again…”\n\nJenny shook her head and smiled with a profound arrogance. “Alright, criminal. Send out your last ‘mon so we can get circus over with.”\n\nRichard smirked in response as he surveyed the area, fiery eyes hidden behind designer shades. \n\nShe huffed and rapped her knuckles against her hips. “What’s the holdup? Send them out!”\n\nThe Mask, judge of this little duel, laughed aloud. “Queue, Devotion!”\n\n“Sylveon, Play Rough!”\n\nArcanine yipped like a kicked pup as his neck, all of his legs, and his muzzle were wrapped in coils of powerful pink and white tendrils. Like a trick yoyo returning to the palm, Spinel snapped onto Arcanine’s back and bit hard into their hard, muscular neck. \n\n“{Nuh…nggggrrrrr. No, I’m doing this my way!}” Spinel snarled as his ribbons tightened around Arcanine’s joints, causing the frightened police-mon to moan in pain, cartilage popping and nerves starting to tingle from lack of circulation. \n\nThis wasn’t about Richard anymore. All he could think of was Val, starving in a prison cell, forced to break open rocks in a penal quarry, submitted to grueling rounds of experimentation, or even worse fates that he unfortunately knew existed. He refused to let these nightmares come alive. This was his chance to repay Valorie for everything she’d done, to make her life better in all the ways she’d done for him and more.\n\n“{Yeah, I can’t battle. SO WHAT?I}” Spinel chomped down again, jerking his little head back and forth, then gagged and spat a mouthful of his enemy’s blood and fur across the cobbles as they fought to escape his deadly embrace. “{But I’m reaaaal good at bondage… You asked for it; coming right up, big boy.}”\n\nRichard’s head tilted and his shoulders slumped as he suddenly failed to recognize what was going on. “Um, what is… Hey Em, you’re the crazy Eevee guy on our block. Is that what Play Rough looks like?”\n\nEmilio shook his head. “Nope, and I don’t know what the hell that is. Wrap, maybe?”\n\nRichard slapped his cheeks and raised a fist in celebration. “Whatever it is, let’s goooo!”\n\nArcanine forced their jaws open for a second, burning Spinel’s ribbons with licks of flame that made it past the teeth. For their efforts, they were rewarded with an even more painful hold on their muzzle, one so tight that it threatened to break bone and dislodge teeth. Arcanine’s limbs flopped and ragdolled, refusing  to follow commands as Spinel’s ratcheting hold made them numb and dumb. Joints started to dislocate, a few teeth cracked and broke at the roots, and eyeballs bulged from Arcanine’s skull as they choked on their own throat and begged for air. Spinel’s ribbons tightened around his prey’s fluffy mane and twisted around his windpipe, scrunching it up like an empty soda can.\n\nOut of pure, red-eyed spite, Spinel caught one of Arcanine’s ears in his teeth and then ripped it away from his skull as the trapped pokemon whined and squirmed in distress. “{You like that, bitch?! Yeah, Daddy does too!}” he hissed past clenched teeth.\n\nThe crowd roared with bloodthirsty encouragement as he spat Arcanine’s flesh onto the ground.\n\nFinally, after two minutes of torturous asphyxiation, Arcanine’s legs stopped fighting, his neck went limp, and his eyes rolled up into his skull.\n\nRichard laughed nervously. “Heheee, um. That’s awesome buddy, holy shit. Ok, ok seriously get off him!”\n\n“Arcanine can no longer continue!” The Mask shouted!\n\n Spinel found himself at the center of the world, perched atop his defeated foe, basking in the warmth of a crowd of a thousand admirers. His head was ringing with pain, blood loss, and physical exhaustion, but he felt absolutely incredible. He trilled with an eerie, predatory Sylveon’s cry, waiting for what came next as his ribbons slithered away from his victim’s body. For a single, brief moment Spinel realized why some Pokemon seemed to enjoy fighting, no matter how much punishment their minds and bodies sustained. He felt invincible, and growled in anticipation for the next dog he got to put down.\n\n“Arcanine, I choose you! Flamethrower!”\n\n“Syvleon, dodge it!” Richard shouted, realizing that Spinel wasn’t moving at all, but it was far too late.\n\nThe crowd scattered like bugs to get out of the way as Spinel’s body was swallowed up by a column of fire that brushed against several innocent bystanders and immolated a traveling falafel cart.\n\nPain is a funny thing. Most of the time it compels against your will to escape the source. But other times there’s so much of it that you’re cemented in place, waiting for your feeble mortal mind to figure out how to package up and process the experience. Spinel felt the rest of his gorgeous body singe away into noxious smelling fumes and his flesh bubble to a crisp. Mind unable to command his body, he quietly sat atop the enemy he worked so hard to defeat, shackled into paralysis with the burden of an unbelievable agony.\n\nOh là là… \n\nSpinel’s charred body shivered as the shock started to set in. He coughed a tiny cloud of soot and then fell over, consciousness starting to slip.\n\n“Oh my Gods!” Valorie screamed.\n\nArcanine number two panted happily as her attack ended. The fire was gone, and in its place was a pile of smoldering coals and burnt fritters. Richard finally looked down at Vaporeon and nudged her butt with his foot.\n\n“Sylveon is unable to…” the Mask began, but was interrupted as Sergeant Jenny shrieked in surprise.\n\nVaporeon had closed the distance, wrapped her tail around the female Arcanine’s neck, and yanked it down to the street. She gracefully scooted her body out of the way as Arcanine snapped and clawed at her, just centimeters from making purchase, and unsuccessful in doing any damage to the nimble water type. \n\n“Wh, what? Let go of her!” Jenny ordered as the others held her wrists to stop her from drawing her sidearm.\n\nRichard nodded.. “Retaliate.”\n\nVaporeon closed her eyes, calmly tightened the grip of her tail, and the crowd was brought to silence with a gut wrenching pop. Arcanine’s body drooped in her grasp, chest still heaving with labored breaths but paralyzed from the neck down. \n\n“{Next.}” Vaporeon ordered, tossing Arcanine onto the pile that Spinel had kindly started for her.\n\nRichard plucked Spinel up from the ground as his opponent was rocked with surprise. “Nice job, Buddy. It's ok now. We’ll get you to a center in no time.” He held his arm out to the crowd. “A potion, does anyone have a potion?!”\n\n“Catch,” Valorie said, tossing a hyper potion from her shopping bag. Then she ran to his side, bundling up Spinel’s ribbons so they were easily covered in meds.\n\nRichard sprayed Spinel down and brushed his ears soothinly as the sorry Sylveon whined and cried at the medicine slowly stitching him back together. “Thanks, I don’t know what that medicine was for, but it means a lot. I’ll make it up–”\n\nVal pushed his face away, softly chuckling with tears still in her eyes. “No need, but thank you. You think Vaporeon can take the rest?”\n\n“C’mon Sarge!” one of her subordinates said, cowering behind her commanding officer.\n\nSergeant Jenny counted her remaining Pokemon like a handful of spare shells, looked into Vaporeon’s eyes, and swallowed down a dry throat full of fear. She felt something horrible seething in her gut. A wretched dread of what was to come.\n\nVaporeon Leered at the Police for ten entire seconds before scowling and barking at them. “What’s the holdup, send them out!” she said in perfect, silky smooth intraregional speech.\n\nAll the officers jumped in surprise. “A-Arcanine, I choose y–”\n\nVaporeon leapt up onto the back of the Arcanine Jenny pointed to and the other three scattered in terror as she bit down on the neck, roiling up strange, steaming water energy within her jaw.\n\n“Tone it down, Sweetie! They’re not at your level!” Emil yelled, realizing Richard was too busy caring for that Sylveon pal of his to reign Vaporeon in.\n\nSorry Emmi, they’ve hurt my friend, they hurt you, and someone’s gotta pay.\n\nThe gang of Jennies and their remaining partners jumped away from Vaporeon and Arcanine as an explosion of steam swallowed them both up. The Scald was so intense and directly placed that Arcanine’s fur caught fire, body totally demolished from the water type energies but also getting a taste of what they had done to Spinel. She smacked her opponent’s head with her tail, blessing them with the sweet release of sleep. \n\nValorie’s mouth hung open. “How the hell?”\n\nRich gave Valorie an energetic thumbs-up. “Been working on that one for a while, hehe.”\n\n“{More!} Vaporeon squealed, shrill and angry, and gouged long, claw-shaped channels into the stone pavers. “MORE!”\n\nJenny was locked up with chains of horrified indecision. This Pokemon was unlike anything she’d ever seen. She was used to ‘mon that were bloodthirsty, man eating even; they’d trained her since birth for that. But never in her entire life had she looked into the eyes of a Pokemon and saw the same kind of intelligent, calculated, burning hate that she once believed only could be forged in the hearts of men. The last time she’d seen a look like that was in the gaze of a serial murderer hidden behind a hostage. She didn’t like the word, but the only thing that came to mind was… ‘Monster .’\n\n “I…” she stuttered and blubbered for a while as she thumbed the shimmering commendations riveted to her chest. She might lose everything she’d worked so hard for, but she didn’t want to throw her remaining partners at a problem that she felt could very well kill them. “I surrender…”\n\nThe crowd cheered. People hopped up and down, hugging one another with intense, uncontrolled emotion at the scene that had unfolded. \n\nVaporeon snarled and smacked her tail against the ground, cleaving a stone in two. “No!”\n\nThe Mask raised his velvety hand, a cool smile on his face as his Pokemon partner started hefting up a jingling sack. “The winner is Richard Stone. As decreed, Valorie de Blanc’s record is now forgiven; her debts to society have been repaid.”\n\n“NO!” Vaporeon lunged for one of the cowering Arcanine, then disappeared with a flash of red light.\n\n“Return!” Emil finally managed to say, holding her Pokeball in his hand, quaking from the stress of the day finally catching up to him. “I’m sorry, Honey…”\n\nRichard wiped his brow as Spinel chirped weakly, snuggling into his chest. ”Whew, that was a close one. What got into her, man?”\n\nEmil pocketed Vaporeon’s ball and shrugged. “I’ll explain later.”\n\nThe Mask bowed as fireworks filled the air with boisterous, colorful merriment. “Faithful citizens of Lumiose, my job here is done! May every day be blessed with Comedies and Tragedies both, and in the end Justice always be served sweet.” \n\nBlaziken reached into the sack and started throwing silver coins of various denominations out into the crowd. The mask joined in as the crowd scurried and fell, scraping up the generosity of their beloved Arbiter. The neat, circular crowd in the city square turned into a riot, and when the sack was empty, the Mask was gone in a puff of rainbow fog.\n\n Richard turned to Valorie and blushed a little. “So, uh… Any chance you—”\n\nValorie scoffed, rolled her eyes, and nodded. “Yeah, one date. One.”\n\nHe jumped like a snapped spring, shaken with excitement, and pumped his fists. “YEAH! You hear that, Sylveon! We did it!”\n\nSpinel groaned and erected an awkward, pawsy thumbs-up. “{Yeah…}”\n\n\n\n[center]\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/[/center]\n\n\n\nThe Stone Crown was over capacity in a way unanticipated by the low nobility delegated out of more interesting work and into entertainment management. People sat in loosely organized rows on the stone ground in the walkways and in front of the original seating of the colosseum, creating a carpet of hats and hair just below the eyeline of anyone lucky enough to get an actual seat. Other, more adventurous patrons hung from the wrought iron guardrails on improvised rope swings, or peered down with binoculars from the maintenance catwalks if they had friends in low places. The battles preceding the day’s event had captured the excitement of the common rabble, and when that happened there was no politically sound way to restrain the flood of clamoring peasantry. \n\nHowever, atop the royal lofts where the elite of the elite enjoyed the fruits of their masterful leadership, there were to be no concessions besides the lavish spreads of extravagant cuisine. Utterly uncaptivated by the world-famous fireblossom dances performed by none other than the Delphox Dancers of Cirque Serena, Prince Clemont pecked at his food and slouched like a sickened Pidgey.\n\n“Master Clemont, I really must insist you dig into some bruschetta if the gougères are running below your tongue. For your health, truly,” Carlisle said as his eyes were glued to the bouquets of fiery blossoms blooming in the air.\n\nBonnie gasped as one of the Delphox vanished in a deafening explosion of blue and green foxfire, and then reappeared across the stage, dancing in a plume of red and orange smokescreens. “Yeah, don’t want the nutritionist added to the retinue again, do you? Picking out your meals, forcing you to eat all the time. That sucked. Eat up!”\n\nClemont winced and folded up his arms, he pushed his soda bottle glasses up onto the bridge of his nose and sighed dramatically. “I don’t feel like eating without everyone at the table.”\n\nThen, as Bonnie and Carlisle began to relent, a mundane, white, ceramic plate of fried bacon mac-and-cheese bites landed itself into Clemont’s lap. “Guess it’s a good thing we didn’t forget all your favorite things then, huh?”\n\nClemont and Bonnie looked up at Prince Meyer, their dearest father, with exaggerated eyefulls of childish admiration. “DAD!” Clemon’t burst out before munching on one of his favorite snacks. “I thought you weren’t gonna make it…”\n\nMeyer collapsed into his throne, body aching from a hard days work, and wrapped his arms around his dearest children, pulling them out of their seats and into a gushy, affectionate embrace. “When it comes to family, even Justice knows to take a knee.”",
  "writing_bbcode_parsed": "<span style='word-wrap: break-word;'><div class='align_center'>Forbidden Waters &ndash; 17</div><br /><br /><br />The crowd had hardened into a solid wall of people, with cameras and microphones poking out like wild hairs, trying their best to visualize this insane spectacle. People gasped and jeered at Arcanine as Spinel lashed his ribbons in wide, uncontrolled arcs like a frightened woman beating a mugger with her purse. &ldquo;You better back off, or I&rsquo;ll give you such a smack!&rdquo;<br /><br />Arcanine growled in frustration as he bit at empty air and got himself a couple stinging slaps across the muzzle for his trouble.<br /><br />Richard lifted his good hand up, smiling like a fool with a brand new jester&#039;s hat. &ldquo;Alright, show em what you got, booiiiii!&rdquo;<br /><br />Spinel knew he had to defeat at least three, but how? The last time he&rsquo;d battled like this was before he even evolved! What did he know back then? Growl? Tackle? Alright, alright, that was it. He remembered how this worked. He just needed to tense up his back, breathe, and draw the energies up from deep within him&hellip;<br /><br />His ribbons whipped back, catching the Arcanine off guard as he feinted, and he glowed with an outline of white as his head lowered and he cried with anticipation. He lunged, bucking off the stone road with a puff of filthy powder and discarded cigarette butts, and impacted Arcanine right in the center of his chest.&nbsp;<br /><br />Spinel bounced right off, slumping down with his front legs split, lost in a concussive haze.&nbsp;<br /><br />&ldquo;Bite!&rdquo; Sergeant Jenny ordered, pointing towards Spinel with a look of stern determination. &ldquo;In the name of Justice, I&rsquo;m taking you in, de Blanc.&rdquo;<br /><br />Spinel squealed as his diaphragm was snatched up in Arcanine&rsquo;s jaws, suffused with shadowy energy. Tears welled up in his eyes as he felt the teeth digging into his skin, breaking the flesh to get a taste of his hot, terrified blood. With a whip of his powerful neck he threw Spinel down onto the street, bouncing him ten feet back.<br /><br />Vaporeon&rsquo;s happy smile wilted into a grumpy scowl as she leered towards the Jennies and their mon.<br /><br />&ldquo;Sarge! You can&rsquo;t use that move, dark moves don&rsquo;t work so good on them fairy types!&rdquo; the youngest Jenny instructed.<br /><br />Her commanding officer huffed, rebuffing the efforts of her direct report. &ldquo;You&rsquo;re supposed to use the less lethal techniques first, Cadet!&rdquo;<br /><br />She shook her head and pointed back at her with pride. The little time she had was allowed to dedicate to this little hobby of hers, watching matches on the barracks television, was paying off in spades. &ldquo;Not in a League Battle you don&rsquo;t, you wanna hit them with everything you got until they stop moving!&rdquo;<br /><br />It was muffled, but he could hear Richard&rsquo;s voice over the absolutely incredible ringing in his ears. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s gonna be ok, Buddy. It&rsquo;s not over yet. Get up and follow my lead, &lsquo;kay?&rdquo;<br /><br />Spinel wobbled up, facing his attacker once more. He shook the pain away, despite the bleeding from needle-points along his back and sides, and nodded sharply. &ldquo;{Ok, you got it!}&rdquo;<br /><br />Richard&rsquo;s body burned with the anticipation of getting to work with a Sylveon. They were rare, even in the wealthier corners of the globe, since they only evolved one way and it was a way that money really couldn&rsquo;t buy. &ldquo;Alright, give him a big ol&rsquo; Draining Kiss!&rdquo;<br /><br />Spinel whipped around and scoffed. &ldquo;{You want me to what? Ew, no!}&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Fire Fang!&rdquo; Jenny screamed, and the other officers cheered her on behind her as more bits of food rained on them from a front-line of haters in the crowd.<br /><br />&ldquo;{Show me what you got, pinkie!}&rdquo; Arcanine barked, yawning big and wide to display the razor sharp cremation furnace hidden behind their handsome, fluffy muzzle.<br /><br />Spinel was engulfed by molten, slobbering jowls. Grabbed this time by the carefully tended, picture perfect waistline he&rsquo;d worked so hard to maintain, Arcanine whipped him back and forth like a puppy did with a brand new toy. &ldquo;Veeeeeeeeeeeel Eeeeee! Veeeeeee,&quot; he screamed as his precious, ivory coat was burned away and his flesh boiled around him into charred mummified wrappings.&nbsp;<br /><br />When the energies for the attack ran their course, Arcanine spat Spinel&rsquo;s smoking remains off to the side like a spent wad of chew. Spinel&rsquo;s skull smacked hard against an upended paving stone as Arcanine howled victoriously and the lights went out.<br /><br /><strong><div class='align_center'>&ldquo;An Eevee? Thank you, thank you so much, Momma!&rdquo;</div></strong><br /><br />Vaporeon growled and her tail dislodged stones from the street as she smashed it down in anger. The only thing she wanted was to swap in and drown the cop &lsquo;mon where they stood, but all she could do was watch as one of her friends was thrashed around and humiliated on camera for all to see.<br /><br /><strong><div class='align_center'>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s ok, buddy. We don&rsquo;t have to battle if you don&rsquo;t want to. Kisses!&rdquo;</div></strong><br /><br />Spinel&rsquo;s paws twitched and his tendrils, curled around like pasta tossed across the floor, began writhing around. &ldquo;I tried&hellip;&rdquo; he moaned quietly, curling up into a pile of fetal desperation..<br /><br /><strong><div class='align_center'>&ldquo;I love you, Eevee. I love you so much&hellip;&rdquo;</div></strong><br /><br />Richard pet Vaporeon&rsquo;s head and she snapped her teeth at him reflexively. Then she breathed out, relaxed her shoulders, and let him stroke her head fins as they watched things unfold. &ldquo;You save that energy, girl. You save that up reaaaaal gooooood.&rdquo;<br /><br /><strong><div class='align_center'>&ldquo;You&hellip; You did this to my son, you filthy fucking monster!&rdquo;</div></strong><br /><br />Spinel coughed a smattering of hot, fresh blood across the ground, baring his teeth as his tendrils brushed the filth from his eyes.<br /><br /><strong><div class='align_center'>&ldquo;Do everyone a favor and disappear .&rdquo;</div></strong><br /><br />Spinel pushed himself up and listed left and right with red, wet, empty eyes. &ldquo;Not again&hellip;&rdquo;<br /><br />Jenny shook her head and smiled with a profound arrogance. &ldquo;Alright, criminal. Send out your last &lsquo;mon so we can get circus over with.&rdquo;<br /><br />Richard smirked in response as he surveyed the area, fiery eyes hidden behind designer shades.&nbsp;<br /><br />She huffed and rapped her knuckles against her hips. &ldquo;What&rsquo;s the holdup? Send them out!&rdquo;<br /><br />The Mask, judge of this little duel, laughed aloud. &ldquo;Queue, Devotion!&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Sylveon, Play Rough!&rdquo;<br /><br />Arcanine yipped like a kicked pup as his neck, all of his legs, and his muzzle were wrapped in coils of powerful pink and white tendrils. Like a trick yoyo returning to the palm, Spinel snapped onto Arcanine&rsquo;s back and bit hard into their hard, muscular neck.&nbsp;<br /><br />&ldquo;{Nuh&hellip;nggggrrrrr. No, I&rsquo;m doing this my way!}&rdquo; Spinel snarled as his ribbons tightened around Arcanine&rsquo;s joints, causing the frightened police-mon to moan in pain, cartilage popping and nerves starting to tingle from lack of circulation.&nbsp;<br /><br />This wasn&rsquo;t about Richard anymore. All he could think of was Val, starving in a prison cell, forced to break open rocks in a penal quarry, submitted to grueling rounds of experimentation, or even worse fates that he unfortunately knew existed. He refused to let these nightmares come alive. This was his chance to repay Valorie for everything she&rsquo;d done, to make her life better in all the ways she&rsquo;d done for him and more.<br /><br />&ldquo;{Yeah, I can&rsquo;t battle. SO WHAT?I}&rdquo; Spinel chomped down again, jerking his little head back and forth, then gagged and spat a mouthful of his enemy&rsquo;s blood and fur across the cobbles as they fought to escape his deadly embrace. &ldquo;{But I&rsquo;m reaaaal good at bondage&hellip; You asked for it; coming right up, big boy.}&rdquo;<br /><br />Richard&rsquo;s head tilted and his shoulders slumped as he suddenly failed to recognize what was going on. &ldquo;Um, what is&hellip; Hey Em, you&rsquo;re the crazy Eevee guy on our block. Is that what Play Rough looks like?&rdquo;<br /><br />Emilio shook his head. &ldquo;Nope, and I don&rsquo;t know what the hell that is. Wrap, maybe?&rdquo;<br /><br />Richard slapped his cheeks and raised a fist in celebration. &ldquo;Whatever it is, let&rsquo;s goooo!&rdquo;<br /><br />Arcanine forced their jaws open for a second, burning Spinel&rsquo;s ribbons with licks of flame that made it past the teeth. For their efforts, they were rewarded with an even more painful hold on their muzzle, one so tight that it threatened to break bone and dislodge teeth. Arcanine&rsquo;s limbs flopped and ragdolled, refusing&nbsp; to follow commands as Spinel&rsquo;s ratcheting hold made them numb and dumb. Joints started to dislocate, a few teeth cracked and broke at the roots, and eyeballs bulged from Arcanine&rsquo;s skull as they choked on their own throat and begged for air. Spinel&rsquo;s ribbons tightened around his prey&rsquo;s fluffy mane and twisted around his windpipe, scrunching it up like an empty soda can.<br /><br />Out of pure, red-eyed spite, Spinel caught one of Arcanine&rsquo;s ears in his teeth and then ripped it away from his skull as the trapped pokemon whined and squirmed in distress. &ldquo;{You like that, bitch?! Yeah, Daddy does too!}&rdquo; he hissed past clenched teeth.<br /><br />The crowd roared with bloodthirsty encouragement as he spat Arcanine&rsquo;s flesh onto the ground.<br /><br />Finally, after two minutes of torturous asphyxiation, Arcanine&rsquo;s legs stopped fighting, his neck went limp, and his eyes rolled up into his skull.<br /><br />Richard laughed nervously. &ldquo;Heheee, um. That&rsquo;s awesome buddy, holy shit. Ok, ok seriously get off him!&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Arcanine can no longer continue!&rdquo; The Mask shouted!<br /><br />&nbsp;Spinel found himself at the center of the world, perched atop his defeated foe, basking in the warmth of a crowd of a thousand admirers. His head was ringing with pain, blood loss, and physical exhaustion, but he felt absolutely incredible. He trilled with an eerie, predatory Sylveon&rsquo;s cry, waiting for what came next as his ribbons slithered away from his victim&rsquo;s body. For a single, brief moment Spinel realized why some Pokemon seemed to enjoy fighting, no matter how much punishment their minds and bodies sustained. He felt invincible, and growled in anticipation for the next dog he got to put down.<br /><br />&ldquo;Arcanine, I choose you! Flamethrower!&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Syvleon, dodge it!&rdquo; Richard shouted, realizing that Spinel wasn&rsquo;t moving at all, but it was far too late.<br /><br />The crowd scattered like bugs to get out of the way as Spinel&rsquo;s body was swallowed up by a column of fire that brushed against several innocent bystanders and immolated a traveling falafel cart.<br /><br />Pain is a funny thing. Most of the time it compels against your will to escape the source. But other times there&rsquo;s so much of it that you&rsquo;re cemented in place, waiting for your feeble mortal mind to figure out how to package up and process the experience. Spinel felt the rest of his gorgeous body singe away into noxious smelling fumes and his flesh bubble to a crisp. Mind unable to command his body, he quietly sat atop the enemy he worked so hard to defeat, shackled into paralysis with the burden of an unbelievable agony.<br /><br />Oh l&agrave; l&agrave;&hellip;&nbsp;<br /><br />Spinel&rsquo;s charred body shivered as the shock started to set in. He coughed a tiny cloud of soot and then fell over, consciousness starting to slip.<br /><br />&ldquo;Oh my Gods!&rdquo; Valorie screamed.<br /><br />Arcanine number two panted happily as her attack ended. The fire was gone, and in its place was a pile of smoldering coals and burnt fritters. Richard finally looked down at Vaporeon and nudged her butt with his foot.<br /><br />&ldquo;Sylveon is unable to&hellip;&rdquo; the Mask began, but was interrupted as Sergeant Jenny shrieked in surprise.<br /><br />Vaporeon had closed the distance, wrapped her tail around the female Arcanine&rsquo;s neck, and yanked it down to the street. She gracefully scooted her body out of the way as Arcanine snapped and clawed at her, just centimeters from making purchase, and unsuccessful in doing any damage to the nimble water type.&nbsp;<br /><br />&ldquo;Wh, what? Let go of her!&rdquo; Jenny ordered as the others held her wrists to stop her from drawing her sidearm.<br /><br />Richard nodded.. &ldquo;Retaliate.&rdquo;<br /><br />Vaporeon closed her eyes, calmly tightened the grip of her tail, and the crowd was brought to silence with a gut wrenching pop. Arcanine&rsquo;s body drooped in her grasp, chest still heaving with labored breaths but paralyzed from the neck down.&nbsp;<br /><br />&ldquo;{Next.}&rdquo; Vaporeon ordered, tossing Arcanine onto the pile that Spinel had kindly started for her.<br /><br />Richard plucked Spinel up from the ground as his opponent was rocked with surprise. &ldquo;Nice job, Buddy. It&#039;s ok now. We&rsquo;ll get you to a center in no time.&rdquo; He held his arm out to the crowd. &ldquo;A potion, does anyone have a potion?!&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;Catch,&rdquo; Valorie said, tossing a hyper potion from her shopping bag. Then she ran to his side, bundling up Spinel&rsquo;s ribbons so they were easily covered in meds.<br /><br />Richard sprayed Spinel down and brushed his ears soothinly as the sorry Sylveon whined and cried at the medicine slowly stitching him back together. &ldquo;Thanks, I don&rsquo;t know what that medicine was for, but it means a lot. I&rsquo;ll make it up&ndash;&rdquo;<br /><br />Val pushed his face away, softly chuckling with tears still in her eyes. &ldquo;No need, but thank you. You think Vaporeon can take the rest?&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;C&rsquo;mon Sarge!&rdquo; one of her subordinates said, cowering behind her commanding officer.<br /><br />Sergeant Jenny counted her remaining Pokemon like a handful of spare shells, looked into Vaporeon&rsquo;s eyes, and swallowed down a dry throat full of fear. She felt something horrible seething in her gut. A wretched dread of what was to come.<br /><br />Vaporeon Leered at the Police for ten entire seconds before scowling and barking at them. &ldquo;What&rsquo;s the holdup, send them out!&rdquo; she said in perfect, silky smooth intraregional speech.<br /><br />All the officers jumped in surprise. &ldquo;A-Arcanine, I choose y&ndash;&rdquo;<br /><br />Vaporeon leapt up onto the back of the Arcanine Jenny pointed to and the other three scattered in terror as she bit down on the neck, roiling up strange, steaming water energy within her jaw.<br /><br />&ldquo;Tone it down, Sweetie! They&rsquo;re not at your level!&rdquo; Emil yelled, realizing Richard was too busy caring for that Sylveon pal of his to reign Vaporeon in.<br /><br />Sorry Emmi, they&rsquo;ve hurt my friend, they hurt you, and someone&rsquo;s gotta pay.<br /><br />The gang of Jennies and their remaining partners jumped away from Vaporeon and Arcanine as an explosion of steam swallowed them both up. The Scald was so intense and directly placed that Arcanine&rsquo;s fur caught fire, body totally demolished from the water type energies but also getting a taste of what they had done to Spinel. She smacked her opponent&rsquo;s head with her tail, blessing them with the sweet release of sleep.&nbsp;<br /><br />Valorie&rsquo;s mouth hung open. &ldquo;How the hell?&rdquo;<br /><br />Rich gave Valorie an energetic thumbs-up. &ldquo;Been working on that one for a while, hehe.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;{More!} Vaporeon squealed, shrill and angry, and gouged long, claw-shaped channels into the stone pavers. &ldquo;MORE!&rdquo;<br /><br />Jenny was locked up with chains of horrified indecision. This Pokemon was unlike anything she&rsquo;d ever seen. She was used to &lsquo;mon that were bloodthirsty, man eating even; they&rsquo;d trained her since birth for that. But never in her entire life had she looked into the eyes of a Pokemon and saw the same kind of intelligent, calculated, burning hate that she once believed only could be forged in the hearts of men. The last time she&rsquo;d seen a look like that was in the gaze of a serial murderer hidden behind a hostage. She didn&rsquo;t like the word, but the only thing that came to mind was&hellip; &lsquo;Monster .&rsquo;<br /><br />&nbsp;&ldquo;I&hellip;&rdquo; she stuttered and blubbered for a while as she thumbed the shimmering commendations riveted to her chest. She might lose everything she&rsquo;d worked so hard for, but she didn&rsquo;t want to throw her remaining partners at a problem that she felt could very well kill them. &ldquo;I surrender&hellip;&rdquo;<br /><br />The crowd cheered. People hopped up and down, hugging one another with intense, uncontrolled emotion at the scene that had unfolded.&nbsp;<br /><br />Vaporeon snarled and smacked her tail against the ground, cleaving a stone in two. &ldquo;No!&rdquo;<br /><br />The Mask raised his velvety hand, a cool smile on his face as his Pokemon partner started hefting up a jingling sack. &ldquo;The winner is Richard Stone. As decreed, Valorie de Blanc&rsquo;s record is now forgiven; her debts to society have been repaid.&rdquo;<br /><br />&ldquo;NO!&rdquo; Vaporeon lunged for one of the cowering Arcanine, then disappeared with a flash of red light.<br /><br />&ldquo;Return!&rdquo; Emil finally managed to say, holding her Pokeball in his hand, quaking from the stress of the day finally catching up to him. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m sorry, Honey&hellip;&rdquo;<br /><br />Richard wiped his brow as Spinel chirped weakly, snuggling into his chest. &rdquo;Whew, that was a close one. What got into her, man?&rdquo;<br /><br />Emil pocketed Vaporeon&rsquo;s ball and shrugged. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll explain later.&rdquo;<br /><br />The Mask bowed as fireworks filled the air with boisterous, colorful merriment. &ldquo;Faithful citizens of Lumiose, my job here is done! May every day be blessed with Comedies and Tragedies both, and in the end Justice always be served sweet.&rdquo;&nbsp;<br /><br />Blaziken reached into the sack and started throwing silver coins of various denominations out into the crowd. The mask joined in as the crowd scurried and fell, scraping up the generosity of their beloved Arbiter. The neat, circular crowd in the city square turned into a riot, and when the sack was empty, the Mask was gone in a puff of rainbow fog.<br /><br />&nbsp;Richard turned to Valorie and blushed a little. &ldquo;So, uh&hellip; Any chance you&mdash;&rdquo;<br /><br />Valorie scoffed, rolled her eyes, and nodded. &ldquo;Yeah, one date. One.&rdquo;<br /><br />He jumped like a snapped spring, shaken with excitement, and pumped his fists. &ldquo;YEAH! You hear that, Sylveon! We did it!&rdquo;<br /><br />Spinel groaned and erected an awkward, pawsy thumbs-up. &ldquo;{Yeah&hellip;}&rdquo;<br /><br /><br /><br /><div class='align_center'>\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/-\\|/</div><br /><br /><br /><br />The Stone Crown was over capacity in a way unanticipated by the low nobility delegated out of more interesting work and into entertainment management. People sat in loosely organized rows on the stone ground in the walkways and in front of the original seating of the colosseum, creating a carpet of hats and hair just below the eyeline of anyone lucky enough to get an actual seat. Other, more adventurous patrons hung from the wrought iron guardrails on improvised rope swings, or peered down with binoculars from the maintenance catwalks if they had friends in low places. The battles preceding the day&rsquo;s event had captured the excitement of the common rabble, and when that happened there was no politically sound way to restrain the flood of clamoring peasantry.&nbsp;<br /><br />However, atop the royal lofts where the elite of the elite enjoyed the fruits of their masterful leadership, there were to be no concessions besides the lavish spreads of extravagant cuisine. Utterly uncaptivated by the world-famous fireblossom dances performed by none other than the Delphox Dancers of Cirque Serena, Prince Clemont pecked at his food and slouched like a sickened Pidgey.<br /><br />&ldquo;Master Clemont, I really must insist you dig into some bruschetta if the goug&egrave;res are running below your tongue. For your health, truly,&rdquo; Carlisle said as his eyes were glued to the bouquets of fiery blossoms blooming in the air.<br /><br />Bonnie gasped as one of the Delphox vanished in a deafening explosion of blue and green foxfire, and then reappeared across the stage, dancing in a plume of red and orange smokescreens. &ldquo;Yeah, don&rsquo;t want the nutritionist added to the retinue again, do you? Picking out your meals, forcing you to eat all the time. That sucked. Eat up!&rdquo;<br /><br />Clemont winced and folded up his arms, he pushed his soda bottle glasses up onto the bridge of his nose and sighed dramatically. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t feel like eating without everyone at the table.&rdquo;<br /><br />Then, as Bonnie and Carlisle began to relent, a mundane, white, ceramic plate of fried bacon mac-and-cheese bites landed itself into Clemont&rsquo;s lap. &ldquo;Guess it&rsquo;s a good thing we didn&rsquo;t forget all your favorite things then, huh?&rdquo;<br /><br />Clemont and Bonnie looked up at Prince Meyer, their dearest father, with exaggerated eyefulls of childish admiration. &ldquo;DAD!&rdquo; Clemon&rsquo;t burst out before munching on one of his favorite snacks. &ldquo;I thought you weren&rsquo;t gonna make it&hellip;&rdquo;<br /><br />Meyer collapsed into his throne, body aching from a hard days work, and wrapped his arms around his dearest children, pulling them out of their seats and into a gushy, affectionate embrace. &ldquo;When it comes to family, even Justice knows to take a knee.&rdquo;</span>",
  "pools_count": 1,
  "title": "Forbidden Waters - 17",
  "deleted": "f",
  "public": "t",
  "mimetype": "image/png",
  "pagecount": "1",
  "rating_id": "2",
  "rating_name": "Adult",
  "ratings": [
    {
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