[attr="class","oznitop"][attr="class","ozni"]

[attr="class","oznimain"]What a good PR stunt this would make. Not only had he gone down here once, but he’d volunteered to do it twice. That obviously meant he cared about this place. He totally wouldn’t run back to white sand beaches at the first sign of danger. Even if he totally would.

Though he turned down a partner for this trip—wanting to appear like a total badass—it would have been nice to have a scapegoat. Just as he reached for the thing, a commotion emerged behind him. Blue eyes turned to face the noise.

The two Pokemon at his side did the same. The younger Arctozolt rushed toward the noise while the Porygon-Z just beeped irritably. Its noises are reminiscent of someone sitting on the remote.

A shock of blonde hair appeared at the capsule’s dip. It was that kid! The one who’d helped him get saddled with Kazooie and Princess Lei. “Yo, blondie!” He totally hadn’t forgotten the guy’s name. The question made him blink. He’d heard of people falling into this hellhole, but he’d never run into someone who did it. It took a certain kind of clumsy to trip into another dimension.

“Arr! Matey! This is the Ultra Sea—” He gestured to the sparkling poison crystal hoard around him. “We’re gathering tera shards for the league.” He gestured to a pickaxe on the ground beside him. “And this ugly little—” He hissed as he laid his hand on the organ. A thousand paranoid thoughts flowed through him. “--bastard is trying to stop us. Probably making you feel like a fruit loop.” It kind of made him want to beat the kid to death with his own kid too. Weeeird.

Grateful for the help, he kicked one of the pickaxes toward Niky. “Might as well mine while you’re here!”

Notes
Take the brunt equally

[attr="class","oznipoke"]

[attr="class","itemcolbkg"]

[attr="class","oznitop"][attr="class","ozni"]

[attr="class","oznimain"]The Arctozolt skidded to a stop in front of the line. It squealed in confusion as its feathers rose in irritable rows. “Zolt!” It squawked at the little grass snake. Thick claws dug into the squelching soil beneath it. But its expression was more hurt than angry. It just wanted to play! “Come on, Icee. Get back here.” As it turned toward its trainer, the ice dino would gift Niky a sneeze

“As a heart attack, babe.” Blue eyes drifted to Niky’s leg as if noticing the injury for the first time. The younger man’s complaints received a sigh in return. One that was punctuated with the sharp ring of steel on stony flesh. “I can carry the stuff—” He paused to flex. ‘I just need you to mine it.” The organ beside him whispered judgment. He’s just dead weight. Why do you even care that he’s here? He’d be better off tossed to the ultra beasts. Like livestock with a fly, the CEO tossed the disembodied voice away.

Not wanting to be a damsel-in-distress, Ozni jerked his head toward one of the nearby tunnels. “Two shields are better than one, right?” A Pokemon saving him was one thing—a human was something else entirely. Flat fins slapped against the ground as the ice-type jogged toward one of the other entryways. Her eyes snapped open as she brought blades of ice crashing down in front of their encroaching threats.

As the leaf cut through flesh, Oz winced. A bandage was wrapped around his left arm. “Careful! That stuff burns!” Some part of him was tempted to shove Niky into the waiting maw. Images of him abandoning him to his crazy ass Dodrio surged to the forefront of the CEO’s mind. The smile he gave the idol no longer reached his eyes. It was sharp and dangerous like the pickaxe he lazily swung at the surrounding crystals.

Notes
Focus on Defense

[attr="class","oznipoke"]

[attr="class","itemcolbkg"]

[attr="class","oznitop"][attr="class","ozni"]

[attr="class","oznimain"]For a moment, there was something dark in those sky-blue eyes. Something other and something angry. A gaze behind the curtain? As quick as it appeared, that look was gone. Again, the effervescent CEO stood in its place. “I didn’t know it was that bad, Blondie.” Now, he’s purposely not using his name. “You should think about getting that fixed. There’s a lot of running in this place.” He thought back to his staff. A secretary in the mailroom immediately came to mind. The constant whir of his prosthetic limbs. “They have some pretty rocking prosthetics these days.”


The rest of his misplaced anger made the CEO wrinkle his nose. He scooped up another poison crystal and slipped it into his name-brand duffel. “And I don’t drive drunk.” Hopefully, this bitter little shit had sued that guy into oblivion. So, he could battle, huh? Not much of a brag. It wasn’t like the humans did any work there. So, instead, Ozni turned a sharp grin on him. “Well, you’ll get to do plenty of that down here.”


As the monstrous hybrid of mask and serpent arose from the crowd, Ozni felt an audible gasp escape. That thing was beautifully horrific. “Talk about a mug only a mother could love, huh?” With Niky doing the work, he didn’t feel much fear. They’d be too busy tearing him apart to stop him from slipping away if it came to it that is. “Icee!” The little dinosaur perked up with a chirp. “Hit that thing with an avalanche—for daddy.”


With a screech, the creature’s eyes flashed a bright blue. Suddenly, the place and attackers were awash in a toxic, oozing purple snow. They began to shriek as if being broiled from the inside out. The ice type shrunk back as a limb exploded from the lavender froth. “Good girl.”

Notes
Fight a fused Pokemon

[attr="class","oznipoke"]

[attr="class","itemcolbkg"]

[attr="class","oznitop"][attr="class","ozni"]

[attr="class","oznimain"]They were out here making hybrids and shattering the time-space continuum, and scientists couldn’t fix a bum leg? Maybe it was a money thing. Poors always got the shrt end of the stick. But it was fascinating what they’d do to make up for it. “That sucks.” The CEO listened to Niky’s complaints with a raised brow. If he lost a leg like that, he’d have zero problem whacking it off—minus his crippling fear of doctors. “I would.” Ozni states simply. Maybe it was because he always wanted to be a cyborg?

The idea that his view was ridiculous never even crossed his mind When you had enough money to fill a swimming pool, most obstacles weren’t a pain to deal with. “I do hope that naughty-waughty leg starts behaving, boo.” Ozni murmured as he waggled a finger at the out-of-whack limb. It really had made it hard to do anything noteworthy down here.

As the tunnel began to clog—just like Icee’s nose—the CEO tore himself away from mining. “Hey!” He shouted as Niky tossed out a few choice chunks. They rolled down the path in a kaleidoscope of colors, coming to rest at the tunnel’s end. One of them was crushed beneath the foot of some beast. Any further protest died in his mouth, By the time he noticed Niky’s distress, Oz had rounded the next bend. “Ah, shoot.”


A murdered singer on his watch? That’d really tank his reputation. For a second, he almost dropped the whole bag. But a Lucario stepped in to play rescuer—relieving Oz of playing piggyback ride. With a nod to Icee, a wall of ice joined the other barriers. As spiderweb cracks started to spread, he continued his long run toward the top.

Notes
Lessen load and escape
TOTAL: 250

[attr="class","oznipoke"]