sweet beads on his forehead while he walks. the back of his hand comes up to graciously keep it from falling into his eyes, though he knows more will come. he's on the fiery path, searching for something.

there's supposed to be a hidden chamber deep in the path. rumors have spread far enough to reach him -- though, with his new connection to silph, things don't have to spread as far. darkness shrouds the steamy tunnel, the light of his glowing electabuzz enough to give him a general idea of his immediate surroundings. he's been in here for 9 minutes already, his form staying close to the edge of the tunnel to feel its cracks and crevices for ways to slip in deeper. 

staying in here too long would be suicide; already, his fingers pluck at the center of his shirt to air it out. a futile attempt to remain relatively comfortable seems to ease his mind. to leave without finding what he's looking for would be another failure he doesn't feeling like enduring the weight of, and so he searches on. 

"oh, hell yes." the wall before him is brittle, moreso than anywhere else. it feels hollow to the touch of his calloused fingers, and so he unleashes alm, his nidoking. "horn drill. right....here." his finger picks the point he thinks will bring the false wall down. it takes only a moment before the sound of crumbling rocks fills the dark space. 

zeke swells with pride until the glowing is interrupted by the sound of footsteps. "hello?" are they here to stop him?

the figure that emerges from the darkness is not one of...intimidating stature. it's a grown man, but resembles something more like a boy in demeanor. zeke's tension releases, shoulders relaxing just a bit as he looks at him. "oh, fire types." he mutters, a hand on his forehead once again to clear it of the sweat. suddenly he returns alm to prevent the pokemon from overheating himself, leaving munich out alone.

upon the other guy's inquisition, zeke looks over his shoulder at the massive hole in the wall. a path lies beyond it, leading anyone lucky enough to stumble upon it into the hidden depths of the fiery path. it's aura is mystical, ominous, and alluring all at once, dark lines converging at the end of munich's light's reach. zeke hesitates for a moment before answering. "there's supposed to be some hidden chamber off the beaten path down here. i heard people talking about it in town, wanted to check it out myself..." whatever it holds for him, its not enough for zeke to try and scare the guy off.

"i'm sure there's some tougher fire types down this way, if you're interested. i could use an extra set of hands in case things get dicey." his head nods toward the cave, arms curling up to rest his hands on the back of his head. the sleeves of his undershirt, the last remaining layer between his bare skin and the humid air, bunch up.

"i'm zeke, by the way. you should come with me." now he turns, broad back facing the kiddish man as he makes his way into the darkness, giving the boy no time to rationalize the decision. come or don't come. no sweat off zeke's back.

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"it's all yours." the flickering flame that lights the path ahead of them illuminates the face of the magmar as they close in. zeke steps back to allow the kid to handle the situation, his electabuzz staying close to his trainer and out of the way.

flames erupt in the cavern, their strength quickly snuffed out by the hungry rock walls that encase the battle. zeke watches the riolu engage for a few moments, his gaze dancing between the two pokemon as a flamethrower reflects in his irises. the riolu is quicker and more precise, despite its battle style looking somewhat unpolished compared to persephone amavi 's lucario. a key counter decides the battle, tipping the scales in the kid's favor against the wild magmar.

as the pokeball leaves the kid's hand, zeke turns to find a numel hovering in the darkness behind him. it is timid, though perhaps interested in the group that had broken down the wall to reach the deeper part of fiery path. a battle plan runs through his mind, but mild pacifism keeps him from attack the pokemon that apparently has no interest in attacking him. zurich's arms, which had been up in front of him to defend himself from any sudden fire attacks, lower to his sides.

"i don't think you know anything about the depths of this place, but you can come with us if you'd like." it's an uncharacteristic way for zeke to make friends with pokemon, as a traditional battler. nevertheless, he sets his own spare pokeball down and allows the Numel to decide; its rounded nose presses against the capsule. white light swallows it and blinds the cavern's occupants for a moment before returning to the pokeball that shakes on the floor.

once it finishes shaking, zeke picks it up and summons the numel once again, an amused smirk on his face. "you're mikael now, okay?" the shared moment is brief but the message is received by the numel.

"Alexei," he finally turns his attention back to the kid. "nice to meet you. i'd be more offended if you didn't stare." a moment for a response lingers between them before zeke brushes by him, back down toward the end of the cavern. the electabuzz and numel walk beside him, the electric-type illuminating the path once again. zeke is now hyper-aware of the effect his body has on the guy before him, but refrains from taking his undershirt off for now.

a change in subject feels natural. "so the rumor is that these caves will start to branch and get smaller and smaller until we reach the end where it should open back up." already ahead he can see a path diverting from the one they walk now. "and apparently there's a hot spring beneath here, so things might get a little steamy. we'll just stick together and face whatever we come across together. fair enough?"

he pauses for a moment, giving alexei a chance to confirm that he will be sticking it out. "you don't mind if i take my shirt off, do you?" he feels like a douche bag but the words flow desperately in the muggy air.

---

captured numel! sending amoonguss back to the PC!

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alexei's discomfort does not pass by the attentive zeke; despite the heat in the cavern, he detects alexei's blushing. a chuckle is choked down, and when he is given the all clear, zeke allows the response to sit between them for an instant. part of him does not want to offer himself up for objectification...the other part is ridiculously overheated.

"right, thanks." off the shirt goes, revealing his bare chest to the flustered boy in front of him. "if you have any more, uh, issues, just let me know." he says it as a slight acknowledgement to alexei's attraction to him, perhaps as an attempt to clear the air. he walks on, allowing the riolu and its trainer to share a moment without zeke disturbing it. besides, he has somewhere he wants to be down in these depths -- he isn't truly here to put on a show for alexei, though the affection does make him feel good.

zeke doesn't get very far, watching as a slugma and a torkoal appear before them. the riolu bursts into action, taking on the torkoal with relative ease. zeke summons mother, his marowak. the bursting white light reveals the ground type. "mother, bonemerang followed by stomping tantrum!" the marowak grunts in agreement, launching the club in her hand at the slugma before rushing after it. the club moves too quickly for the slugma to dodge, passing through its lava body to go further down the way. mother quickly follows, stomping the slugma with the power of a ground-type pokemon.

after the attack lands, she leaps back, still boneless. another instant passes and the bone strikes slugma from behind again, knocking it out. the twirling bone returns to the marowak's hand, and zeke moves forward with three of his pokemon at his side.

"mikael, do you know the way down here by chance?" the numel has a good chance of being familiar with these parts, after all. he nods and walks out in front of zeke, leading them down the path that diverts from the main one. it is a little tighter than before.

zeke looks to alexei, rubbing the back of his head to shake some of the sweat off. "i'm ready to move on...how are you not dying of heat exhaustion?" he turns away from the boy and begins to follow the numel, giving alexei the chance to respond from behind him if he so chooses.

---

defeated slugma!

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