TO: Josh Devlin (josh.devlin@hoennleague.gov)
CC: Elise Calcifet (elise.calcifet@galar.gov)
MISSION: "Chasm"
PROTOCOL: Sabotage
DANGER: ★★★★★

The destruction of the Rocket weapons complex has unearthed a chasm leading to the Terastal Caverns. We expect wanted Rocket Executive Grigori Rylixav has fled down there. A lone control console is linked to a large mining operation. Destroying that should render the mining operation impossible and prevent Rocket from securing transport of a large cache of Terastal Crystals.

You know my personal feelings about letting personal vendettas interfering with mission success, Devlin. However, in this case, I think we can turn a blind eye to whatever happens out there.

Your objectives are as follows:

A) Destroy central control console
B) Settle the score with RYlixav

Good luck! We're all counting on you. And remember - you are licensed to kill.

Josh's heart was pounding as he looked over the smoldering complex that he had blown to smithereens with Hideo Kino 's help. What was worse, Elise Calcifet seemed blissfully unaware of the gravity of the situation. "You... don't appreciate the gravity of this situation, do you," Josh asked with a grim look on his face, sitting in the saddle of his own Espeon, Janus, who was also using telekinetic power to help remove what few supply crates were not destroyed in the gigantic explosion.

Josh gently stroked the Umbreon's head if Elise allowed it. "Grigori Rylixav has thwarted our plans at every curve. And now, we've got him cornered. You understand that at most, two out of the three of us are coming out of that chasm alive, right?" he asked, pointing toward the enormous hole on the southeast side of the complex. Even looking down it, it was impossible to see the bottom. League satellites had detected the mining operation down there, meaning there would at least be a relatively safe place to land. With a Pokémon capable of hovering, such as his Flygon, flying out through the chasm would be simple enough... if they survived the encounter with the executive.

"Once you've finished your preparations, we're going."

"I just worry for you is all," Josh replied in a protective, almost fatherly tone. Perhaps he was overstepping his bounds. Any time the two were on a dangerous assignment together, flashbacks of the bitter battle with dorian westcliff came to mind. The battle that nearly took the Galarian royal's life. "It seems like since the moment we've met, our friendship and business partnership has put you in mortal danger. I already lost one close friend because of it. I couldn't bear to lose another."

Once the two were ready, Josh reined his Espeon to the chasm's edge. "Alright, Janus, when you jump, I want you to use PSYCHIC to slow our fall." What the Gym Leader asked, especially with him in the saddle, would strain the purple Eeveelution's mind, perhaps to a severe degree, depending on just how deep underground this hole took them. With brave resolve, his loyal Pokémon obeyed.

[player]https://fi.zophar.net/soundfiles/nintendo-64-usf/goldeneye-007/118%20Cradle.mp3[/player]

Antenna Cradle - GoldenEye 007 OFFICIAL SOUNDTRACK

The sunlight surrounding Josh slowly disappeared into pure darkness, the rider unable to see anything as he felt the psychic power keep his downward momentum steady. As they approached the bottom, artificial lighting revealed a mining rig suspended in a massive cavern only lit by brightly-glowing Terastal Crystals. Touching down on a balcony of one of the rig's six supporting towers, it was clear what the duo had to do.

Settle the score with Grigori Rylixav.

The strain on Janus' mind was immense, pushed to his limits to slow the riders' fall. They had hit one of the support towers' balconies with a metallic clang that reverberated throughout the large cavern lit by Terastal Crystals glowing varying colors associated with Pokémon types. The drop to the bottom was dizzying; a fall would almost assuredly be lethal.

With his Espeon having trouble standing, Josh swapped ride Pokémon to his Glaceon, Inky. The ice-type's blue hair blew forward as though a cold wind was blowing behind him. Lightly kicking at the Glaceon's sides, Josh took point, advancing down the long and relatively narrow span bridging the tower with the central mining rig. "You better brace yourself. This won't be--"

Josh was cut off by the sound of several Rocket grunts taking aim at him with automatic firearms, rapidly discharging clips of BULLET SEED, BARRAGE, and other Pokémon attack-based ammunition. Sparks flew as the projectiles whizzed toward the duo at speeds so high that not even his Zeraora could outrun them. The moment he heard the first ricochet, the Gym Leader leaned as low as he could, using his Pokémon as cover.

Tsukuyomi's PSYCHIC stopped the first wave of projectiles headed their way, but the suspended walkway to the main rig was so long that the two riders would be sitting Ducklett for the next. With loud clicks, the two Rockets firing upon them loaded another clip into their weapons, then held their triggers down once more. Despite his efforts to lean in and take cover, several projectiles of BARRAGE nicked Josh's right shoulder and upper arm, the Gym Leader letting out a hiss as his Glaceon steed reached full gallop. "We gotta step on it! Inky, QUICK ATTACK!"

The Gym Leader was perhaps the one who was most familiar with the intricacies of the simple, swift charge. Pokémon weapon fire continued to whiz by and even graze the charging rider. Desperate, the Rockets pointed their weapons at Inky's face, filling him full of BULLET SEED. The Eeveelution let out a low, alien-sounding squeal before a biting wind blew behind the two. A potent BLIZZARD encased the two in snow, the slope of the walkway causing their icy prisons to roll onto their sides and off the bridge. With how dizzying of a height that was, Josh doubted they would survive. Once they had reached the end of the walkway, Josh swapped rides to his own Umbreon, Kamuy.

Without warning, a loud, klaxon-like alarm sounded. Had Xenon Antheil activated the control console? Or was this some other kind of threat to the survival of the Gym Leaders of Mauville City?

It would take more than a few Gliscor to stop the Master of Faster, the most skilled Pokémon rider in the entire region. Even on the narrow bridge that allowed for little lateral movement, he still had control over one thing: speed. With precise leg pressure adjustments, he baited the Gliscor into dives that his mount would stop short of or run underneath. The very last wave caught onto his strategy, swooping down in formation and chomping into Kamuy with a THUNDER FANG that noticeably slowed down the dark-type and Gym Leader.

Xenon Antheil has activated the central control console! 3 minutes until realignment!

Furthermore, he was now on a time crunch. With the control console active, all Xenon Antheil had to do was stall him long enough for realignment to complete, and she could secure Rocket a supply of Terastal and Dynite Ore so vast that the League may as well have failed in its entire operation. Seeing the metal claws come at him, Josh flicked his Umbreon's reins, the gradually slowing Eeveelution leaping just high enough to clear the weaponized machinery.

Kamuy now a liability at best, Josh performed a nimble mounted quick-switch to Clyde, his Flareon. While the fire-type didn't have quite the speed the Umbreon did, he had tremendous power. The Gym Leader crossed the bridge to the main rig, frantically taking a look inside each of its stations for the control console. Destroying it was the utmost priority of the mission.

As Josh and Clyde sped toward the center of the rig, steel gates crashed down over the room's entrances, the Gym Leader flying out of the saddle and bouncing off one of them broadside. He hissed from the impact, a bruise forming on his arm, but nothing serious. The sound of automatic weapon fire nearby was a sign that more of Xenon Antheil 's goons were coming. Perhaps from both sides. Those were the least of his worries, though: a much more menacing and grotesque sound of a human body being rent asunder.

OBJECTIVE B: COMPLETED

Whether the incoherent speech was true or not, Josh could only assume that whoever was behind that giggling voice had killed the Rocket executive responsible for much of their operation. The score between himself and GRIGORI RYLIXAV had been settled with the Rocket's own blood. The mention of poison gas gave Josh a new objective.

Survive.

Grimacing, Josh sent his weakened Glaceon back out, Inky still wounded from being pelted with firearm rounds. Though the steel doors were resistant to thermal shock, they weren't immune to it. The two saddled Eeveelutions alternated discharges of LAVA PLUME and FREEZE-DRY in an effort to shatter the portcullis' beams. It was taking a lot longer than he expected, giving Xenon Antheil 's reinforcements ample time to arrive...

2 minutes until realignment!