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It was easy, doing nothing. He'd gotten quite good at it over the past few years, he liked to think... Or perhaps he had simply become something less than the prospectful conscript from years past.[break][break]

Maybe that is why he was allowed to sit idly by as others endeavored on great projects, while he gathered dust and faded from public record.[break][break]

Adrian takes a sip from a lidded styrofoam cup, drumming his fingers against the counter, feeling uneasy about his lot. Everything around here had grown so calm as of late, it was itself almost disquieting. He craved something more.[break][break]

Something to distract from his own turmoil.[break]

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It was like pulling teeth. Adrian was being nothing if not difficult, and for little reason as was his nature. But the promise of something in return... It fostered good faith from this kindred spirit. That, and his cooperation would be expected—anything less might be considered treacherous by those less forgiving of his character flaws. "Alright..."[break][break]

Putting his back to the railing, Adrian turns his attention to the fresh haul splattering seawater across their deck. Not unlike the fragment...[break][break]

"The creature itself was depicted on murals, like a sort of guardian deity perhaps,"¹ he began, his memory returning somewhat. One might consider it conjecture, as the actual carvings and allegory could no longer be explored—and many had lacked the foresight to document their findings at the time.[break][break]

"Regirock attacked indiscriminately, but only after we'd triggered several traps and disturbed its sanctum." Another sharp drag followed by a cloud of smoke, the rich menthol dulling the burn that filled his lungs. He couldn't be sure what Howard was hoping to learn, so he reluctantly prattled on, for better or worse.[break][break]

"The ancients depicted what would've been ETERNATUS, in hindsight. I think it was the guardian's foe, but... There was something more it could have been."² Though it would have seemed obvious to them now, he cannot be sure anyone would have made the conclusion before the events that followed only years after.[break][break]

"I believe the guardians were made to be what they are using ETERNATUS' power... But I am not sure how that came to pass." Moreover, he is not able to accurately conclude whether the guardians existed before they had divested the leviathan's power for their own ends.[break][break]

"At the time, I was pursued by Katherine Fairburne for possession of a REGIROCK FRAGMENT. The guardian—Regirock—seemed to protect me for a time, until..." Adrian tried to find the words, though what had actually transpired still escaped him somewhat.[break][break]

"Katherine was able to create an opposing pull, or tether, to Regirock—it was a stalemate... At the time, I tried to steal Regirock's power for myself using... Methods at my sole disposal." Adrian did not lightly share the nature of his abilities as avatar, and no amount of prying would ever change that.[break][break]

Adrian could still remember how it felt. The burning jolt up his arm was nothing like INFINITY ENERGY, the life force of pokemon. And though it responded to his influence, he could not harness it. Moreover, as he pondered over the nature of Regirock's shaky loyalty, it might have been what caused the creature to fall out from under his influence.[break][break]

"At the time I didn't understand it, but I must have antagonized it by attempting as much, forcing it to once more treat me as an intruder. But that power... It had to be dynergy that gave it titanic strength."[break][break]

Adrian turned and cast a suspecting stare in Howard's direction, looking to see any hint of satisfaction—or perhaps even disappointment—painting his features. Though if anything, he thought Howard looked to be expecting something else than what he'd gotten...[break][break]

"Perhaps most of this seems obvious now."[break]

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Howard was one to stand on ceremony, then. Adrian plucks the nail from its coffin, tucking it loosely against the corner of his mouth, allowing it to hang limply while he waited for a light, cupping the flame from the turbulent seabreeze.[break][break]

A puff. A drag. A plume of smoke.[break][break]

Adrian used to soak up this sort of validation, but he found himself faraway from his old self. It was a small comfort, but he supposed it better to the alternative: To be treated as some cumbersome vagabond, purposeless and without value. He should be glad of that lasting impression, even after losing his vestige.[break][break]

'I wonder where this is going...'[break][break]

Anticipation welled up within his chest, his mind left to drift in a brief light-headed euphoria.[break][break]

And there it was. The all important question that had seen these two brought together. Regirock.[break][break]

Adrian manages a knowing glance towards his cohort. Though he could not have imagined the exact nature of their question, it was not uncharacteristic for men of their disposition to desire power in all of its manifestations.[break][break]

"What could you possibly ask that hasn't been answered in some verbose report...?"

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Not hard enough, he might've thought to say...[break][break]

Life on the open seas did not suit him, he felt, clasping a hand to the ship's rail as they broke through open waters. Though he could not fathom the depths of their operations here, Adrian knew enough to understand its importance. Dynite ore, huh? What a treat.[break][break]

Muted echoes of anguish tingle along his arm, a fragmented recollection of times long behind them. It's true that Adrian has seen his fair share, but much and more has escaped him also. The rise of Dynamax is something that has surprised him, among other strange... augmentations that have been rediscovered across Hoenn's mutilated landscape.[break][break]

Would that he could go back to simpler times...[break][break]

"Less so these days." He couldn't claim to have kicked the habit, but his lungs thanked him for the infrequency of his addiction. He manages a curious glance at Howard, wondering what might have provoked this chance encounter. Surely there were important matters—[break][break]

"I'm sure many have seen worse and fared better." Wounded ego aside, there was much and more for him to feel proud having accomplished. Perhaps he cannot look back through rose-tinted lenses, but he does at least acknowledge the good from the bad.[break][break]

Perhaps that is the vein their interest stems from. Though it tires him so, he cannot help but feel himself guessing at ulterior motives when others seek him out with their questions...

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Fallen from grace...[break][break]

The air hangs about them as if to smother that dwindling morale. A low ember roils over what kindling could be scavenged in this desolate place, the Borderlands. Arcanine wraps itself around its trainer, capturing the warmth as it disperses in that grimly lit dark. A modicum of peace...[break][break]

Questions circle around his mind just as smoke and cinders scatter into the four winds around them. Where do I go from here?
Who do I trust?[break][break]

What did it all mean? Had it been deserved?[break][break]

The images burned into his retina, of fire and smoke, offer him nothing in the way of answers. Not even catharsis. But he is able, at least then, to contemplate his course. The first step.[break][break]

At most he could hope to escape without tempting Yveltal's ire a second time over. Yet in doing that, he would be walking tail tucked, back to serve a greater power that he found more often than not contemptible. What to do...

---

[break]

After making his mind, the fire would be drowned in a spray of dirt and grit, stamped out as to mask their tracks as he and Howitzer made their way in pursuit of an exit.

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Freed from the strange delusion, Adrian feels his hand grasping at some vacant shape. A certain weight that'd been acting upon him lessens, but the thought is no less diminished. Even still, he can only think of his freedom, and how he might now use it. First he steadily rouses from his stupor, taking in the warped surroundings—[break][break]

Space-time breaks down around them in familiar sensation, though it interacts strangely with the alien ship. While the Megalopolans make their retreat, he can only assume this is enough to power their ship—though he has no real grasp of the technology. If there was more to it, he could not know.[break][break]

Rowan Wrynn's voice fetches his attention promptly, cutting through the fog of confusion. '...you coming?' As if it could be questioned. He managed a wry smirk before turning his attention to ARCANINE, bringing his fingers to his mouth and whistling sharply for the hound to heed.[break][break]

"Howie, let's go." Throwing a leg over her back, Adrian manages to clamber on before she made a wicked lurch forward, bolting for the space vessel with more haste than grace. Arcanine's remarkable speed would allow them to outstrip any contingent Megalopolan force as yet remained.[break][break]

Once there he would make his stand with them (Rowan, Aidan) as they braced for the oncoming rush. Their NAGANADEL shot globs of poison muck at their ranks, so he thought then to disperse them: "Howie, FLAMETHROWER — scatter 'em!"[break][break]

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CHOICE ONE[break]ADRIAN follows after ROWAN[break]ARCANINE will use FLAMETHROWER (SUNNY DAY AUGMENT)

[break]

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Scaling the sheer cliff along careful passages, Adrian follows after Rowan Wrynn and company, following their guide SPENCER MODELL to the alien vessel. As with many of the strange things here, he might've questioned it if not for the heaviness in his limbs, the resounding sense of malaise that had yet to relinquish its grip on him...[break][break]

Captive in their audience, they are all eventually dumbfounded, the blindfold of the Megalopolans' ruse abruptly ripped off from over their eyes. He might've wanted to utter a curse, and yet... it doesn't seem like it would matter. Perhaps nothing ever had, or ever could again matter so much as that overencumbering emptiness hanging over him now.[break][break]

From out of his sternum, a TOXIC "CHAIN" appears, drooping as if weighing greatly. Adrian himself slouches over, a sensation of disease and virulence overtaking him. Situation emergent, he can only act upon simple impulses.[break][break]

Slowly and steadily, a hand rises to clutch at the strange chain, as if to tug it out... But he seems weary and unable to muster even that, though he fixates on the burden engulfing him even as he stumbles around in a sort of daze, his gait sluggish as if addled by some illicit substance.[break][break]

ARCANINE is much too nible, using its EXTREME SPEED to evade any would-be assault, but does little to hinder those suffering from such a disturbing affliction. Adrian's gait carries him half-stumbling towards those nearest him and Rowan. (Tempest Quinn)[break][break]

A single grasping hand remains clenched against the chain, while the other reaches out, snatching and swiping at what it may—guided by half-lidded eyes, sclera turning bloodshot.[break][break]

XLvZIHc5

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PATH ONE[break]ADRIAN grows a TOXIC "CHAIN"[break](THEME: GUILT/BURDEN)[break]ZOMBIE-LIKE approaching TEMPEST QUINN*[break](Others nearby work as well!)

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