Kabutops made a gash in the wall with a single strike of night slash, the aura fading from its claws as the group moved on. Lucas made his way through the cavern with the prehistoric pokemon and a Glaceon trotting along side. Each time they took a turn in the tunnel Kabutops would leave a horizontal gash in the wall, adding a vertical slash through the middle to make a plus if the path led to a dead end. He was devoted to ensuring his return from the cave. Taking a slightly different approach to finding his way than that of Hansel and Gretel.

Light from Lucas' flashlight illuminates the path, covering every inch of the cavern as he watched carefully for any signs of anything.

The scientist freezes as he hears someone call out, he thought that he had been the only one in the cave. Looking back behind him his muscles would relax, it was just a boy. "Probably lost" he thought. "Just follow the single horizontal slashes in the wall and you'll be out" he says. His flashlight points towards the tunnel he'd just come out of. Someone the boy's age should be out with friends, not in these potentially dangerous tunnels.

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1/5 priam conrad

He rolls his eyes as the boy says he can find his way back. "Sure, sure." Once upon a time Lucas was a boy as well, and knew full well that even he would rush into a cave for some excitement at that age. All without a plan on how to leave if they lead too far, however.

It takes a moment for the brunette to answer why he was here. "Well" he says, pausing as wobbles from stepping on a loose stone. Planting his feet on more solid footing he continues. "I'm hoping to find fossils here, like this big guy." The flashlight is turned towards Kabutops. "Or something a bit more interesting. Never know with these Hoenn geologists." He turns the flashlight to illuminate the natural tunnel they traversed. "Always hinting at something, but expecting other people to do all of the work for 'em." His displeasure for the league's handling of these sorts of things spilled out his mouth.

It takes a few moments for him to realize that the boy likely didn't know what he was talking about. He probably viewed Lucas as some rambling adult. He didn't imagine many kids found it interesting to read science reports in their spare time. "Why're you out here though, parents know about it?" He says, turning the question back on the boy. Spelunking wasn't a term he was familiar with.

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2/5 priam conrad

"Basically, sure."

A smile pulls at the edges of Lucas' mouth as the boy answers him. He found the reply of rebellion something he might've said at that age. "Articuno eh?" His face breaks into a smile as he chuckles heartily. Articuno, flying in these tunnels? If it was anything like he'd read it'd be clipping its wings left and right in these caverns. But he could only guess at the wingspan of such a pokemon. The entire idea was humorous.

"Lucas, I'm a scientist, not a geologist though." Light from his flashlight shines through several ice stalagmites dangling from the ceiling. They're a beautiful teal hue. "Do some stuff with genes mostly, like with pokeballs. Make it so your espeon doesn't come out looking like mush when you release it, like a ditto." He wildly exaggerates the dangers of faulty pokeballs, hoping to mess with the boy's head.

The ground begins to slope downwards as the party makes their way deeper. Ice patches dot the tunnel floors. Light reflects off them, outlining their presence. "So you like myths Conrad?" The name sounded odd to Lucas as he said it aloud. "Like the legendary birds. You planning on becoming an archaeologist?" He was hoping the boy would take the path he hadn't walked in life. Hoping that someone followed their dreams.

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3/5 priam conrad

“Well” he was cut off before he could get past one word. His face contorts, he didn’t like being interrupted. How to be polite wasn’t taught to children these days apparently. It’d been drilled into him as a boy, lest he be punished.

“Hmmm.” He thinks for a moment as the topic of salaries was brought up. “Well kinda, sorta, not really. Also hard to find a job.” A blunt response, straight to the point. When you looked at it that way being an archaeologist sucked. Feet slipping on an ice patch he missed Lucas’ arm shoots out, grabbing onto Kabutops for support. He narrowly avoids the fall.

“Ya got a lot of paperwork too.” As the words fall out of his mouth he realizes that he’s painting a very unappealing picture of archaeologists. “They do get to see ancient ruins before anyone else, just like Regirock’s temple. Regirock was found inside too even!” There’s excitement in his voice, forced excitement. Many casualties happened as a result of the temple. People and pokemon both lost their lives. In an attempt to keep the atmosphere pleasant he neglected to mention these facts.

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4/5 priam conrad

"Well, that was a one off" his voice was somber. "No one expected what would happen." He didn't push the topic of Regirock's temple any farther, that was enough for one day.

"Huh?" Lucas turns to look back at Priam as he asks about his past. The espeon beside Priam little more than a crutch "No, not really. Well a little bit actually, few years back. Been working in my spare time even the last few years." He pauses for a moment as the boy stutters. "You worried?" He turns his attention back ahead, mindful of rocks and ice patches scattered along the ground. Whatever happened down here was up to how they handled it, how they chose to react. As long as they didn't rush into anything without thinking first Lucas thought they'd be fine. There was no regirock down here to throw things off course.

"Depends. A lot of stuff goes into museums, and deserves to. Ownership is a tricky thing I'm not too sure about. I have bought a few things that did manage to be sold at auction. A few coins here and there, a vase, and even a bracelet." As the words came out of his mouth he had second thoughts about mentioning the relics to the boy. But dismisses them. Conrad was a young boy still in high school, not some rocket grunt or beast that'd want to steal his collection. "Stuff like crowns pop up too, though I've always been outbid on those." He thought back to those crowded nights where numbers flew through the air.

As the ground levels out he finds himself in what appears to be a room, mostly barren. Shining his flashlight ahead he found that there was no end in sight. Conrad looks to him for answers, but Lucas has none. Moving ahead all he can do is hope something catches his eye.

"Watch out for any crevices in the wall, they might have something." Caves were a good place to hide wealth, or in one instance in Alola makeshift graveyards.

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5/5 priam conrad

"Yeah yeah." Lucas thought that it'd go without saying that it'd be better to split up and search.

His part of the cave had less than satisfactory results as he searched every nook and cranny, turning up nothing. It didn't come as much of a surprise. He knew that many of these caves would be barren. A disappointing but true reality. Running his hand across the cool stone of the cavern walls he doubles back. As he hears Conrad's voice echoing through the room he broke into a light jog, his glaceon doing the same. "Coming!" Had the boy found something? He certainly hoped so. Thoughts ran through his head of what might have been found.

As time went on Lucas' jog breaks into a run as he hears a battle break out. Eyes widen as the battle comes into view. Shattered parts of a mechanism on the ground catch his eye. "What did you do?!" He clenches his empty hand, knuckles white. Something potentially priceless had been broken, already beyond repair. "Ymir, blizzard!" His feelings are pushed to the side as the glalie's blizzard is met with their own. The artificial winds rage in the tunnel, a thin layer of ice forming on nearby stone.

As the blizzards rage glalie hurled itself under their cover. Mouth open wide as it attempts to crunch Conrad's head off. "Watch it. Move!" Lucas was too far away from the boy to push him to the ground. He hoped Conrad would make it, despite his outburst towards him moments ago.

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hit glalie with blizzard priam conrad