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Beau couldn't help looking around in wonderment as he wandered into the area, taking in the cavernous surroundings and colorful crystalline growths that dotted the otherwise unremarkable features of the cave. This was the deepest he'd been in Area Zero yet, most of his previous engagements taking him no further than the upper reaches of the Great Chasm, and the sheer dichotomy in the surroundings frankly stunned him.
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Behind him trundled his Swampert, who did not seem to share his trainer's sense of amazement in favor of eyeballing the woman and her Mismagius warily. He'd countered enough threats on his way into the Area that he was evidently on guard, ready for any potential surprises.
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For his part, Beau offered Elise a broad grin as he approached, extending his hand for a shake. This particular level of formality was beyond him, so he simply reasoned that his usual approach of getting to know a new face wouldn't offend anyone too badly, even if they were Galarian nobility.
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Probably.
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"Beau Fontaine, good to meetcha!" he effused. "I may be new to the Rangers, but I've got a couple'a tricks up my sleeve, so no worries from me! I'll help you get it done," he assured her. "Any particular things we oughta be on the lookout for, or are we just seein' how deep the rabbit hole goes, so to speak?"
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Beau nodded as the woman introduced herself, and took a moment to examine the area they were in more closely - there really was something new every corner he turned in Hoenn! He'd been here his entire life and thought he'd seen it all, but if the past couple of years had taught him anything at all, it was to expect the unexpected.
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His brow furrowed in a slight frown as she offered an apology from the get-go, and he tilted his head slightly, curious. "Why're you sorry?" he blurted out. You be you, brah! Long as you're not tellin' me that, like, I got rocks for brains or somethin', you can talk fancy if you wanna!"
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He offered a reassuring grin, mirrored by the Swampert standing at his side. "Anyway, don't sweat it, I'm excited to work with you!" He placed his fists on his hips meditatively, peering around until he focused on the cavernous path twisting further into the Area, the sounds of wild pokémon echoing from within.
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"You feel like givin' it a shot that way?" he inquired, firing finger-guns in the indicated direction.
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Beau flashed Elise a jaunty thumbs-up at her response, his grin not fading for even a second. He'd met all kinds of people on his travels, and was pleasantly surprised to note that the majority of them were pretty cool, in their own ways.
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Elise seemed no different, he mused, as they made their way deeper into the cavern. He supposed he could see where some people might give her a hard time, but in his opinion there were bigger things to worry about. Blinking, he noted an enormous series of tracks as they proceeded further into the cavern. Apparently there were LITERALLY bigger things to worry about.
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The only time he'd seen tracks remotely close to this had been when he and Gunner Graves ran across that weird blue thing up in the Chasm, and that hadn't exactly been a picnic either. Still, Elise seemed to know what she was doing, so he was happy to follow her lead as they progressed on.
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A low, heavy growl sounded from deeper inside the cavern, reverberating around the walls strangely, and Beau briefly flinched, causing Nemo to nearly walk into his back, stopping at the last possible moment.
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"Hey, uh, that didn't sound great. Maybe we better keep our eyes peeled just in case, yeah?" he muses, scratching the back of his head and glancing to Elise appraisingly.
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"No idea," Beau offers helpfully as he examins the mysterious tracks. "I mean, if I'm being honest, I'm not the best with tracks on a good day - most of my experience has been in the water," he explains. "But man, there are all kinds of pokemon in this place that I've never seen before."
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He looks around while Elise and her Mismagius take a closer look, peering up the path that they were walking as though the owner of the tracks would leap out at any second to present itself. Biting his lip to stifle a chuckle, Beau couldn't help but snicker at the thought of a giant monster standing still so that they could grab its foot and match it to the print.
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They didn't look quite the same as the set he'd run into above, but maybe it would be helpful to mention if his companion was more experienced with this area than he was. "The last time I saw a set like this, it was a big blue and purple dino-lookin' thing that had attacked some researchers." He tactfully doesn't mention that one of the researchers hadn't made it out of the cave alive - too late, they'd gotten there too late.
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Clearing his throat, he felt a sudden flush of anger toward that monster. "If this is similar to that, we gotta be careful. And if another one of those things is down here, we need to make sure it's not going to hurt anybody."
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Beau frowns, brow furrowing. If his mission with ollie morales had taught him anything, it's that thinking with his fists is for the little league, and he'll really have to work some brainpower into this approach. Granted, he was fortunate enough to have a partner who was more experienced in these sorts of things, so he was by no means up a creek yet, but at least it's an excuse to exercise the old gray matter.
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He's no slouch, and he's positive the woman he's accompanying is even less so, but he'd seen firsthand the kind of damage these strange pokemon could inflict. "Let's note this and include it in our report. I think we ought to head back - the thing doesn't seem to be here, so if it's around, it's further down."
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He shakes his head slowly, remembering his last fight with one and how it had nearly taken him out. "If we know what we're going against, we can come back prepared, or at least fill the next group in. It's not worth gathering data if another one of those suckers costs us a good person in the process."
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He believed that with all of his heart - for missions like this, that were important but not immediately crucial, risks shouldn't be taken if unnecessary, and he at least had some idea of what to come back with. So - report he did. He'd be ready to get the thing soon enough.
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