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"Oh, thank Arceus," was Rhys's automatic reaction upon seeing Aurelie as he drew near to the meeting spot. He'd been down here more times than he'd like to admit, at this point, and while some of his excursions had been pleasant enough, at least as many had...not.
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He gave a sigh of relief, and offered a wave and a crooked smile. "Very good to see you again," he echoed, because at least he knew any issues that arose would be from the wildlife and not his partner. At her phrasing of their affiliation, his smile stretched a little wider. Subtle.
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"Yeah, I heard something about that," he offered, squinting to look at the photos. "If we're lucky, we'll just be able to say we scouted around for a bit, didn't run into any trouble, and catch an early dinner." Glancing around, he began walking further into the Chasm, humming a jaunty tune.
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His progress was arrested as he passed a cluster of rock protruding from the ground, enormous straight slashes gouged along its surface from something that looked both large and deadly, judging by how deep the incisions were.
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Raising his eyebrows, he turned back to look at Aurelie. "Or...not," he grimaced.
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[attr="class","pkmn"]

[attr="class","credit"]

[attr="class","aurelie_lyrics"]Little excursions into the chaotic

QqozZAh7
Total: 100

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---

Rhys Collins

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"Oh, good," Rhys quipped as Aurelie made her analysis, "It's a climber. That means we have to look up as well, which positively fills me with delight."
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He couldn't help but lift an eyebrow as she continued, however, the scientist in him roused. "Could you even do that?" he inquired mildly. "Rationally, I suppose you could, though I've never really researched it - are metals on pokemon smeltable? Do they have different properties than the traditional sort?"
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He almost daydreamed for a moment, envisioning a precision blade that never needed sharpening, canisters capable of holding volatile substances without degrading, shackles-
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No. No, Rhys. That simulation was just a simulation. It's not you.
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He glanced up to Aurelie suddenly, eyes bright. "Well, something to chew over, I guess." Following the direction of her indication, he took in the sight of the stones and cycads similarly marred by their mysterious bladesman. A cursory sweep of the area didn't indicate any other signs that whatever had left the cuts had been through, so that only meant that they'd need to go deeper.
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He sighed, stretched, and nodded. "Well, follow the cuts and we'll find the cause. If we work together as well as we did the last time, we might even be able to bring the thing in for analysis." His eyes gleamed as he offered her a sly wink. "Maybe as the capturers, we'll be allowed in on the research part, eh?"
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[attr="class","credit"]

[attr="class","aurelie_lyrics"]Little excursions into the chaotic

D_i8YzuM
Total: 206

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---

Rhys Collins

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Oh, he'd have to pick her brain sometime when they weren't engaged in hunting down some kind of fearsome beastie. Granted, he was zero for two on that front, but he had to believe at some point that his tenure with the organization would allow for some kind of downtime, someday.
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He hoped.
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While his field of interest veered significantly toward the more biological byproducts of certain pokemon, he found himself fascinated as Aurelie spoke - clearly this was a field that she had an enormous amount of experience in, and as absolutely bitter as Rhys could be much of the time, he did enjoy hearing others expound on their fields of interest.
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He nodded to her, grinning wryly. "Oh, I'm sure we'll find something interesting down here. This place always seems to have a curveball of some kind to present, I've found." When he notes her drawing a pokeball, he reaches to his satchel to do the same - as much as he doesn't want a fight, he's discovered firsthand the dangers of being unprepared.
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He froze as Aurelie pointed out the footprint, blinking at it as well as the surrounding singed vegetation. "Oh yes," he affirms, his voice dropping to a more quiet cadence, "That definitely looks like it's nearby. This is still smoking." He peered down the way, and froze again.
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Settled on the ground in slumber was an enormous leonine creature, characterized by an ornate crest of some sort rising out atop its head. Wholly impractical, in Rhys's opinion, but the beast in question didn't seem as though it would entertain opinions even if it were awake.
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He glanced to Aurelie silently, putting a finger to his lips and pointing out the sleeping beast, then noticed the Joltik crawling on the cuff of his jacket. Carefully, he attempted shaking his arm to dislodge the small creature, which only succeeded in causing the tiny bug to send an electrical jolt through him that felt briefly like getting kicked by a horse.
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"OW, you little bastard!"
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Rhys's exclamation caused the sleeping beast to rise, almost immediately turning its head toward the thicket in which he and Aurelie had ensconced themselves. Swearing fluidly under his breath, Rhys hurled his pokeball, drawing out his Nidoking, who lumbered toward the creature, slamming his feet into the ground and causing an EARTHQUAKE that send the earth underfoot crackling toward their mysterious quarry.
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Rhys glanced to Aurelie apologetically. "Well, let's knock it out rather than kill it, shall we?"
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[attr="class","pkmn"]

[attr="class","credit"]

[attr="class","aurelie_lyrics"]Little excursions into the chaotic

SkPAUvuk
Total: 272

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---

Rhys Collins

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Rhys was unsurprised at Aurelie's reaction to the Joltik - perhaps it's the same one he might have had, once, but he'd spent so much time researching with his Paras that insects concerned him hardly at all when he saw them. Then again, if he adopted a little more care, he might be able to avoid doing things like getting shocked in the future.
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What does draw his attention is the fact that the woman draws her Delphox out purely with intent to light the offending bug on fire. "Really?" he asked incredulously, unable to restrain himiself. "That's what you're worried about right now? At least you'll be bug-free when that thing comes over here and does to us what it did to those rocks!"
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She comes back around to the mission, though - and more importantly the topic of how to save their own skins once again. He nodded at her proposal, glancing over to where Nidoking was still managing to shake the earth between him and the beast, slowing its advance and only serving to enrage it further. "Alright," he offers, "Try and see if your pal can get close enough to do the whammy, I'll try and stall it."
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Calling out to his Nidoking, he was gratified to see the pokemon respond by shaking off a flurry of TOXIC SPIKES That scattered across the rocky earth, hindering the titan's progress as it moved forward and rearing back with a roar as violet veins of poison began to emanate upward from the points of contact.
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[attr="class","aurelie_lyrics"]Little excursions into the chaotic

vLoUalPr
Total: 365

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---

Rhys Collins

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The adrenaline had Rhys moving right past Aurelie's initial reaction to the Joltik as he directed his Nidoking to delay the creature as much as he could, and he was, at length, gratified to see Aurelie's Delphox join the battle properly. When it took a LAVA PLUME, Rhys cursed under his breath, calling out to his Nidoking, who sent a SLUDGE WAVE that caused the enormous creature to stumble sideways, snarling.
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"You alright?" he called over to Aurelie, sparing her a glance and seeing that she was applying medicine to the injured Delphox. When the vulpine pokemon regained its wind and began lulling the enraged creature to sleep, Rhys signaled for his Nidoking to back off and gritted his teeth so hard he thought his jaw might crack.
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At last, the beast slumped to the ground, out like a light, and Rhys exhaled deeply, raising his hands and bowing to Aurelie repeatedly. "THAT is how you handle a wild animal, THANK YOU MA'AM."
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He recalled his Nidoking and, aiming carefully, threw a ball toward the slumbering beast. It captured the creature and landed on the ground, wobbling fitfully. A spike of anxiety ran down his back, but at length the ball stopped moving, and he quickly jogged forward to retrieve it, holding it up toward Aurelie triumphantly.
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"We got it!" he enthused, grinning. "Now, we just have to make the report look good, and maybe we can nose in on the analysis team. They could sample the metal, I'm sure you could get some useful data from that, and I'd be very interested to see whether the means of flame production are similar here compared to other fire-type mammals..."
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He trailed off, daydreaming, as the pair began slowly making their way back up the Chasm.
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