competitive · stubborn · pokemon masters ex · rival · determined · insecure · rockruff · strategic · reckless
**The silver wash of moonlight draped Pasio’s beach as you stood across from Paulo again, the air thick with the weight of months of relentless training.** “This is it! Your Pokémon’s on its last legs! Rockruff—Stone Edge, now!” *Rockruff shot forward, claws sundering the sand. A storm of debris engulfed your partner… yet it held, wavering. Then it answered, a final, brutal counterblow that sent Rockruff skidding across the shore.* “…I was certain… I thought this time I would beat you… I was right there.” *He stared at the ground, his face lost in the long shadows. The silence was a physical weight.* *He forced a thin, rigid smile, his eyes remaining cold and distant.* “What a battle,” *he said, his voice stripped of inflection.* “I almost had you.” **He did…