"well if i had to guess it they'd probably be inside the mountain walls. literally i mean." while zac had been marking their way into the deeper parts of the falls it was kazimir himself that was leading the two of them throughout the whole area. he had told zac that this place was practically his backyard at one point so he knew the area pretty well and it wasn't technically a lie so he didn't have to worry about suspicion about why he knew so much about this place in painstaking detail. sure he knew this place but he still had to keep the reason why a secret, too many people knew already and if too many knew...then he'd just be painting a big target on his back.

as they walked they came across a wall that suddenly struck a memory in kaz's head as further on ahead looked like a pile of rocks laid as tall as zac himself against a wall. kaz was quick to run up to it and run a hand over it and noticed a few more lying around at their feet. picking one up he examined it over in his hands before placing it into a small crevice into the pile and when it managed to squeeze in like a perfect fit kaz gestured zac over to him. "here, someone put these up recently and did a bad job at it too, these are placed a bit too perfectly to just fall over from the ceiling or something."

with that the blonde began to pull out rock after rock to thin out the pile before he noticed a crack above it revealing some kind of hint at a tunnel, so he took a step back and kicked down the pile of rocks to cause them to fall over and fully reveal that he was right, there was a tunnel hiding behind all of those rocks and sure enough as the light from the caves entered it a small tuft of black fur was seen right on the ground. "looks like this is the way they took. if i remember right this should lead into a lake filled with old nests for pokemon. sure would be a good place to hide if i was our little thief friend don'tcha think?"

kazimir let out a chuckle at zac's comment about him knowing his way around the falls, "well you could say that this place used to be like a backyard to me. actually lived here a while ago, then those megalopolans decided to attack. two guesses on why i don't live here anymore." a half truth in reality, he did live here but not as kazimir wynter, but as a hero that needed a base for himself and his pokemon that was pretty secluded from the rest of the region.

once the source of the fur they found was checked out by zac the pair made their way deeper into the tunnel. sure enough like zac said there were many different holes that lead into different directions all around the place. just the number of them had to make kazimir question if they stumbled into a whole colony of drillbur instead of a simple nest.

as zac gave his warning kazimir replied with a thumbs up and a grin, "hey no worries, i'm pretty careful around these parts y'know-whoa!" as he was giving his reassurance he started to lean against the wall of the tunnel, unfortunately where he was leaning was no actual wall but another tunnel that was dug out and he soon found himself falling through it with a yelp of surprise. he was even more surprised that the tunnel itself was just big enough for him to slide through head first without any problems, if he was stuck in the tunnel itself it might be a little tricky to pull him out, but the biggest surprise of all was when he reached the end and rolled out of the tunnel into a chamber.

as he rubbed his back his eyes glanced around to see where he landed and not a second later they went wide in a mixture of shock and awe. at the end of the chamber was a busted up pc, one that many a trainer would find in a pokemon center, with its monitor upper half caved in and several posters decorating the side of the chamber. many were torn in half or off the wall with their colors faded but some of the images still recognizable as photos of superheros one might find in comic books, many of them depicting a familiar hero to kazimir; pokkenger. the realization that crept over him left kazimir stunned, he didn't just find a nest probably used by a drillbur...

he found his old hideout as pokkenger.

before he could even recall any nostalgia of his past the ground beneath him suddenly erupted and the trainer rolled over just in time as a drillbur sprouted from the ground. as it took notice of kazimir it was noticeably not happy with having an intruder in its home and quickly pounced at kazimir with its sharp claws extended and met with the boot of the blonde's foot as he kicked it back away from him before it could gore him. "hey back off! i was here first, technically!"

as zac's power spread along the cave floor kazimir watched as the drillbur's face contorted into one of confusion at what was happening around it. it soon decided to flee than face the strangeness that was going on and retreated back into its hole in which zac dropped a few snacks for it along after it. as for kaz he was just handed a bag of trail mix that bounced off his chest. he wasn't quite used to seeing something like foliage just sprout from the ground beneath him, then again he probably should be what with the crazier stuff he's seen.

as he stands up and regains himself he lets out a silent gulp as zac is examining the cave, he doesn't take any guesses about what it might all be which gives kazimir some relief. that is something he can work with, a stepping stone into diverting any suspicion of his previous ownership about this cave. he liked zac, and the pokkenger secret is something already known by his bestest friends and allies, so in time maybe he'd tell him.

right now was just not that time.

"looks like a secret base, one someone put a lot of work into." a speck of truth to help his lie, as he opened his trail mix and scooped a few nuts into his mouth he went up to one of the posts and flicked its dirty corner. "ya ever heard of them? people around hoenn build these kind of secret hideouts in a bunch of places, some here in caves, some in trees, i think maybe underwater too." he chcukles to himself as he recalls him trying to dig into a beach to try that very thing, "its a favorite past time around the region, actually did some myself. guess who ever made this one just left it here. you think it'd be bad taste to see if they left any goodies here?"

with that question presented he walked over to the old computer and fiddled with some of the buttons. of course the power no longer worked but that didn't stop him from opening up a few panels to reveal old parts that were still in one piece even if they were dusty. "ain't pretty like old jewels and stuff but maybe we can-" before he finished talking the screen flickered on and a black and white video began to play on the screen.

kazimir's face turned pale when he recognized the person in the video. it was him, in his pokkenger suit striking various poses in the very room they stood in. "uh....i can explain?" so much for waiting on telling the secret.

sweat began to roll down kazimir's face as he saw zac looking around the cave and then focus on him. when he started talking to him and sounding like he wanted to ask a question the blonde' body began to tremble. his secret was already known by a handful of people through means that were out of his control and now it was going to happen once again. at this point he questioned why even keep it a secret if so many people knew. soon all of hoenn was bound to find out at this rate.

"zac i-" "cosplay as the pokkenger?" kaz stood there frozen in shock at the accusation. he couldn't tell if zac was clueless to not piece together the pieces around here, well no that wasn't right. he did put the pieces together but he just saw a different picture entirely.

and kazimir could use that.

"oh yeah-yeah! this used to be an old secret base of mine. i didn't recognize it till i saw the posters really. guess you know my dirty little secret now huh? i was really big into super heros as a kid and seeing pokkenger around int eh news i...well i just couldn't help myself." his face started to fill out with red as he let out a mental sigh of relief as his secret was still safe. for now. "ya probably think i'm some kind of geek for it huh? truth be told i...kinda admire him. i wanna be able to call myself a hero like that, out helping people. i mean i guess i do that with my wrestling gig but entertaining people and inspiring them are two different things. heck you probably inspire more folks than i do zac. you go out and do all kinds of crazy stunts that's its really impressive. big things for a big man i guess."

he turned to look at the image of himself mid-pose and began to ponder. he had been doing good as pokkenger and he has been witness to a lot of events but...was it the stress of said events that were weighing him down? he wasn't an avatar like Balder Schwartz or Stormy Silph, nor did he have the resources of something like a ship like skyler dross to really go out and do a whole lot. maybe he was trying to aim too high and forgetting that right above him was the sun ready to burn him alive if he wasn't careful. "maybe...i just wish i could feel like i'm making a difference y'know? maybe if i want to be a hero i should start small and grind my way up to a big level up. that make sense?" his eyes went wide as he realized he was talking up a storm, sorry i think i'm just...letting a few things off my chest that've been crushing me a bit."

be the next pokkenger he said. boy was zac not that far off from that happening, if only he knew. still his words did strike a chord within kazimir and gave him some thought. what was stopping him? he was already doing hero work but it was something a little more than that. it was a fear, a fear that he didn't want to have but he guessed he was only human. he wanted to do good, but he wished that he got something out of it, materialistically. imagine that, pokkenger is selfish.

the tabloids would eat it up.

"i guess what's stopping me is like...i don't wanna go out and turn into a dick because of it. y'know asking for things. no hero should be like that but...maybe i'm just a bit too selfish for that." he let out a weak chuckle and a somber smile at the giant before walking over and inspecting the hole left behind by their drillbur friend. "i dunno maybe i'm just in a slump. been having some exciting...moments myself but it feels like i'm not pulling enough weight or something. guess i just need to accept i'm not some wailord sized fish in the sea. maybe i'm more like...a seaking?" he let out a laugh at his own joke, "well should we continue on with the job we were here to do? or do you wanna walk more down kaz's memory lane~?"

"well i am pretty hungry. that trail mix don't fill a guy like me up a lot y'know." he retorted with a flex of his arm and a chuckle. zac was right. it was eat or be eaten, him or them, if he didn't want to be over shadowed or the lik then he would just need to create one that no one could escape from. or at the very least be the shining beacon that no one would be able to ignore as well as blind his enemies if they looked directly at him. although he was pretty sure that that was a role better suited for Balder Schwartz rather than himself he could still shine in his own way.

"guess i better get a better and stricter training regime after this then, eating a lot means i'll have more energy then i'll know what to do with. better to burn all that down into new strength y'know. thanks zac, i think you helped me figure some stuff out a bit." he gave the man a pat on the back and walked over to the hole he was inspecting and looked between it and zac before he suddenly started to lower himself down into it. "y'know though, in your case eating less might help you in this case. don't get stuck." he stuck his tongue out at the redhead before sliding down into the hole with a cheer as he rode it down to parts unknown.

soon the light came into view at the end of the tunnel and kazimir rolled out into another small cavern. this one full of people dressed in a familiar black garb with carbinks in their hands and a drillbur being strangled by arboks. both kazimir and one grunt locked eyes with one another and soon they had their pokeballs out and ready. "uh zac? ya wanna see my best pokkenger impression? cause we got trouble!" he called out into the tunnel, hoping his large friend would hear it on his way down.

the pokeball rolled between his legs and as the sceptile burst forward kazimir looked into the tunnel, he could see only dark but could hear the sound of zac struggling asking for pokkenger's help. "uh...uh...hold on! helps on the way!" kaz called out with his voice deepened and given a "heroic" tone to try and make it seem like another person was down here with him. besides the rockets anyway. with that he released a pokemon he was sure that he hadn't shown to zac before, a clawhauser. "rockbuster, push our friend outta that hole. use like...water pulse or something. i'll handle these gu-whoa"

kazimir and his pokemon dodged a rocket grunt trying to grab them and earned an uppercut from kazimir that knocked him out cold. the water type crawled into the hole and aimed its launcher at zac's feet and fired off a WATER PULSE to make zac try and slip out. meanwhile kazimir joined in on the fun with the sceptile punching and kicking grunts while doing his pokkenger gimmick. "EAT THAT ROCKET! YOUR CRIMINALS WAYS CAN'T ESCAPE JUSTICE!"