Pokemon Youkai Busters 2 Ultra Quickpitch

"Hey, hey! All the strife that befell us is now years in the past! So why, oh why, do you still have that same look on your face?"
"I dunno. Jirachi may be back to her rightful position, and the legendaries have returned to simply overseeing our daily lives, but I fear the same madness that plagued them have now transferred to the very humans who swore to protect us. And who do we have to blame for that?"
"Nobody in particular. We can only hope that the Youkai Busters can figure things out for themselves...hey, wait, what's with that crowd over there? Is that the newspaper stand? Did something big happen?"
"May as well check for ourselves..."


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The front cover of the RENKITOUZA SHINBUN, the premiere Johto Newspaper is having an all-Busters blowout, namely presenting the news of a new massive event called THE EMERALD EXAM, also known as THE STAGE OF HISTORY. This nickname is in place for a good reason; Its entire existence is to shape the foundations of the Youkai Busters (or at least its main foothold) forever.
(The front cover displays a picture of Rayquaza, in human form, standing center between a crowd of the high end elites that run all corners of the Youkai Busters, all bound together by a large scroll that signifies some kind of contract)

"It wasn't too long ago that the region of Johto was under much apocalyptic calamity that threatened to swallow up the whole world if left unchecked. Thankfully, that situation has long since wrapped up, though its effects have still shaken the foundation of our governments to the core. While the culprits, the traitorous group of rogue Youkai Busters as led by Reika Matsuoka, were defeated, they still remain at large, and the union of Youkai Busters is now more like a fragmented supergroup of divisive branches at each others necks at all times. The sheer unstable nature of this structure has brought about much anxiety to the people of Japan.
In this current age, where Youkai attacks are at an all time low, the biggest enemy a Buster has to face nowadays is the vengeful howl of other Busters willing to backstab each other at a moments notice.
...
It has now marked one night since a massive meeting was held in Hoenn at the behest of the Legendary Pokemon that reside there, namely the "Weather Trio" of Rayquaza, Groudon, and Kyogre, all of whom played a major role in the calamity that took place half a decade ago. After much debate and commotion, the various major branches of the Youkai Busters as well as the legendary Pokemon pantheon agreed to settle the score once and for all in the upcoming Emerald Exam.


Due to be hosted all the way up in a small region near Sinnoh, the Emerald Exam is the logical extreme of the various exams and trials required to become a Youkai Buster. These exams have long since been controversial due to its relatively high mortality rate, with the justification being that anyone who perished in the exams would have surely died to the Youkai anyway.
(PICTURE OF A CLASS OF FRESHLY TITLED YOUKAI BUSTERS AFTER GRADUATING THEIR EXAMS)

http://i.imgur.com/PoQOO3x.png
(PICTURE OF NEW GUARD YOUKAI BUSTER HAZUGIRI)
All entrants for the Emerald Exam are Youkai Busters themselves, of differing branches from all over the world. Of note, one of the more popular confirmed entrants has been HAZUGIRI, the face and most outspoken member of the so-called "New Guard" of the Youkai Busters. Hazugiri has been very vocal over the years about the twisted and outdated nature of the old guard, namely its slave-like devotion to Legendary Pokemon, and has infamously touted his beliefs that all Pokemon must remain subservent to humans, and the recent trend of Pokemon being allowed free reign of their lives has caused countless troubles as Pokemon have more of a one track mind and allegedy cannot handle the stress of free will in a civilized world. When asked if he was really willing to die to achieve his goals of finally displacing the old guard, his answer was a smile followed by a simple "Yes."

 Of course, gaining a higher rank isn't the only motivation for the diverse faces of the Youkai Busters. Some, such as the exotic Monk from the middle east Hasshan Devadam, has gone on record saying that his only motive for partaking in the emerald exam is to "spread tranquility and unity among those who most need it." Many others simply see this event as the moneymaking opportunity to end them all, as massive debts along with a shrinking market has led to many Busters being financially unstable in this modern era. All in all, we at the RENKITOUZA SHINBUN have learned that the busters are a varied bunch."

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ON JUTSU

The techniques employed by Ninja, Samurai, and other walks of life among the world of Youkai Busters fall under the system of Jutsu. Jutsu encapsulates a wide range of martial arts techniques as well as manipulation of the "Hadou" (Aura), the life force that's essential to the most basic of Jutsu employed by Youkai Busters. Jutsu comes in all shapes and sizes, though generally techniques are given different classifications. Usually a single warrior dedicates their life to specializing in a certain class of Jutsu, though there are some rare individuals who are fully capable of having a wide spread of techniques beyond such classification. More often though, you're more likely bound to a specific type and are free to train those skills to whatever fits your personality and methods.

Kizuna Genshou- Those who specialize in Kizuna Genshou, aka Bond Phenomenon, are the types who utilize a specific Pokemon to its fullest potential. Once a rare once-in-a-lifetime occurance, modern techniques have become sophisticated enough that Youkai Busters that have mastered unlocking the true hidden potential of a Pokemon are a still uncommon, though more prevalent sight. Not only are Pokemon that have mastered the phenomenon more potent than others in its class, but them and their trainer can think as one, with both parties being able to see out of eachothers eyes at will, giving them hightened awareness. However, while under Kizuna Genshou, both parties can also feel eachothers pain, meaning they more or less share the same reserve of stamina.

Youkai Form- The much dreaded Youkai are fusions between humans and Pokemon, melded into a vengeful and violent being of destruction. While many specialized in Kizuna Genshou try to brush off any relation, there's no denying that the method used in the technique and the creation of a Youkai is strongly related. Fusing with a Pokemon tends to be a very messy and unstable process that comes about the result of two different minds fusing together, creating a single maniacal personality. While there are some that consider the specifics of how Youkai are formed to be hearsay, anyone capable of fusing with their Pokemon are immediately ostracized by their peers and persecuted by the Youkai Busters for fear of causing harm.

Additional Notes- Kizuna techniques, while incredibly powerful in their own right, are often considered impractical by most Youkai Busters since the sheer time and energy it takes to master it often detracts from honing a more specific set of Jutsu for maximum efficiency. Those that go through with mastering Kizuna more often use it to maximize a certain specialization only a specific Pokemon is capable of...or they just really do have a particularly strong bond with their Pokemon. Either way it's not quite the norm.

Even more notes- Much to the contention of certain circles of Youkai Busters, certain Pokemon are fully capable of agency and communication, with some successfully being able to become Youkai Busters themselves, without the assistance of a human trainer. For these Pokemon, the ability to perform a Kizuna Genshou with another Pokemon is fully possible, though there's only one recorded instance of such a thing happening so far.