They continue the hunt in silence. Occasionally, Kazuki will pause to check in on Saint. He has to ensure the newbie is still wandering the steppes. He seems like the flaky type.

As he minds his UI, Combusken has proceeded to sharpen her claws on a rock. She takes practice swipes to it, Kazuki sometimes piping in to tell her to aim higher, to use less force, to try and do an aerial hit. Combusken abides, or she thinks she does. The sounds around her devolves into rhythmic CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

The rock is flayed and gutted by the time Kazuki calls her attention.

The air shifts after that. Combusken has taken the lead. It’s for training, sure, but it’s also to allow Kazuki to observe her. That had been the first instance of her acting out since they began hunting this session. It’s the first time she’s disobeyed despite knowing the order—though there’s still a chance it could be a fluke.

Combusken takes to her duties, seizing her mind by the scruff. After being on the hunt for a while, she must have begun getting sloppy. She takes careful stock of her surroundings, keeping an eye out for any glints in the grass, any prominent silhouettes.

Kazuki grits his teeth, bracing against another hit. He’s managing. Maybe all the grind has been paying off.

But there’s no time to celebrate. His mind is broken in half, focusing on two things at once. The first being, obviously, the rampaging steel type that wants to rip him to little macaroni pieces, the other being Combusken, who still remains on the teetering edge of self-control.

Combusken shows none of it now, though. She takes advantage of the Duraludon’s distraction, swinging relentlessly—CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

“Stop hitting it blindly!” Kazuki shouts to be heard over the combined noise of Combusken playing frying pans for an instrument and Saint’s Vulpix pretending to be a firecracker. The method he’s observed is to synchronize the attacks, focusing on one spot, but it’s hard to do so when Combusken’s on a rampage and his hunting partner is being too protective to let his pokemon get close enough for a precision shot. In the end, he's ignored.

The Duraludon slams into him again. His heels dig into the dirt. ’Should’ve gone Tank at this rate.' Kazuki grits to avoid biting down on his tongue, forced to go on the defensive.

The fire only manages to graze the Duraludon, basically missing entirely. But what does he expect from a newbie?

Kazuki’s still got the Duraludon’s arms in his grip. It lost its ability to push back after Combusken went for the shoulder, but it’s still strong enough that he can’t throw it. “Go again,” he hisses to his pokemon.

Combusken nods, eyeing the burn that’s now marring the dragon’s shoulder. She launches off the ground, preparing her kicks.

There. Combusken lands the Duraludon, and it makes pushing against it much easier. A small burst of fire also aids in keeping the dragon off its balance, though it is definitely not going down just yet.

“Right. Come on.” Kazuki digs his fingers into the cutting metal, his hands aflame. “It's time to go down.”

He twists to throw them both into the dirt, his Combusken leaping again to aim as the Duraludon tips over.

“Fucking seriously?” Kazuki chuckles as the Duraludon slumps on the ground. It’s still twitching, clearly alive, but literally on the barest sliver of health.

“Stubborn bastard.” He gets up, his clothes a mess, body injured as per usual with these fights, but relatively in better shape than the previous Duraludon fight. “Lights out.”

He slams his foot into its back, sending it to the ground.