The BOOMBURST echoed for a disturbingly long time, past gentle triadic slopes and protruding bleached bone. The stragglers disperse, or get sucker punched, and the group licks their wounds and pride in equal measure.[break][break]

Yujin, sat next to Callan, could easily sense his tenor but said nothing of it.[break][break]

On the conversation of poison resistance, she chirped in ominous sing-song: "Oh, never say never."[break][break]

Thus began the tedious work of cataloguing, followed by Yujin's favorite activity, mining.[break][break]

She'd already set up a bunch of equipment (and pokemon) by the time they were allowed to engage. Derek's question was met with a raised eyebrow, barely visible over a pair of goggles. She took the device from him with a hum. "Rhetorical question, I hope."

[attr="class","bottom"]Callan Young Navy DEREK HOFFMAN [break]

He enjoys the quiet that follows the battle. Even this place, for all of the anguish it seems to enjoy inducing, cannot be insufferable forever. In the lull between attacks, they’re afforded moments of contemplation. Time to mine. Time to marvel at the beauty of this bioluminescent reef. Navy ponders in silence how much of this came to be here. Shuwen busies himself standing guard. Voyager trots about as well, offering a helping hand and moral support wherever moral support is needed.[break][break]
They eventually have what they need. It’s slow work, but fulfilling. When it’s done, he mounts back up. Turning to the other three, he gives a faint smile. They’ll be out of here within the hour.[break][break]
“Say, guys.” Navy pipes up. “While we’re waiting on our ride back to HQ, I know a few good spots around here. Who wants to grab a burger or some ice cream?” On the edge of his periphery, he sees a magenta hum. Something pulses far off, beyond the scope of this expedition. Something watches, waits, invites, teases. Navy refuses to give into Eternatus. Come what may, he will insist upon normalcy until normalcy isn’t an option.

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[break][break]

+ Yujin Ha DEREK HOFFMAN Callan Young

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

[attr="class","icon"]

Reluctant to bother Yujin with a response, Derek pats her on the shoulder as she quickly gets the machine operating. "You're a lifesaver." Normally he couldn't be bothered with technology, but with all that'd transpired since their visit to Galar...
[break][break]

As their work comes to something of an end, the ranger saw it fit to chime in. "Sounds good to me." It seemed like a good idea to get some food in him after suffering from more poison. Even if it was more acidic than toxic.
[break][break]

"And maybe we can work out some kind of deal while we're there, eh Yujin?"
[break][break]

Her handiwork with the mining equipment, and other technologies had made her more and more valuable to as a friend. "I need some help making something. It's kind of an electronic? Anyway, I am not sure who else I can turn to." It was just a matter of getting her to teach him.
[break][break]

"If you've got a price, name it."
[break][break]

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She squeezed Callan’s hand back. Like a reed that bends with the wind, she’d assumed her regular disposition as soon as the storm had passed.[break][break]

“Ice cream…?” [break][break]

Her mouth wobbled in a moment of weakness. Even after packaging the materials, labeling the crates, and attaching them to their mounts, those two words sent her reeling.[break][break]

The journey to the surface was not nearly as treacherous, so the group continued to talk. At Derek’s proposal, one could see her ears perk up—exactly like a conniving cat’s.[break][break]

No doubt he had been awed by her handy-dandy tower scaling device, or maybe the abstractor, or the fact that she’d become the league’s mining affairs dog, or maybe she was just finally acruing friends in the region?![break][break]

“Of course I’ll help. No price. The devil always gets its due.” Accompanied by a lopsided grin, moe-tooth, the works.[break][break]

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