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"No souls?" Rhys inquired, trailing only a step or two behind Yumi as they make their traversal, his own phone raised to capture photographs of the surrounding environment and the strange mechanical apparati that are dotted throughout.
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"Near Area Zero, I noted several Paradox Pokemon that seemed to be more robotic than biological, even for Steel-types. Do you think this could be where they originated?" He canted his head curiously, his Tinkaton trailing behind him with a vacant, wide-eyed expression.
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He considered her question before offering a noncommittal shrug. "Curiosity," he allowed. "This is my second tour through one of these places, and it's every bit as strange in its own way as the first. I feel that's worth researching, because I hear there could be some serious threats to us in these places." He paused to consider. "Or weapons."

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"Fair," Rhys offered in return, as he was no expert on either of the subjects himself. "Still keeps the gears going to speculate, though, don't you think?"
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He thought so, at any rate. Granted, speculation without evidence was baseless, but it was something, at least. If he left his mind to go too long without some kind of focus or rumination, he could find himself almost drifting, simply existing and - if left long enough to his own devices - essentially 'spaced out' for hours on end. He needed a focus, or he'd focus too much on things that didn't deserve it.
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"Johto, huh? I'm not too familiar, if I'm honest, but I hear it's...interesting," he hedges, rolling his shoulders in a shrug. This was conversation, right? Better than walking in silence and snapping photos.
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Her warning brings him up short, and as soon as he sees the robotic Tsareena stagger into motion, he nearly drops his phone in his haste to turn and run before she's even given the directive. "Ooooooh shit," he spat, barreling down the hallway as the distinctive ting-ting-ting of sharpened blades on metal flooring echoed behind him at a frequency that froze his spine.
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Nearing a corner, he waited only an instant for Yumi and her own Tsareena to pass before he snapped a command at his Tinkaton, who swung her GIGATON HAMMER at the floor, causing a rippling wave of sheet metal to surge out and trip up their assailants.
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No time to survey the results, though, as he took right off in hot pursuit of Yumi. "Bought us a couple of seconds," he panted, pointing ahead of them.
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"Elevator. Think we can make it?"

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He felt like he was going to have a heart attack, the way anxiety lanced through his chest. In fact, it felt an awful lot like the elevator door must, sliding shut around one of the mechanical pokemons' blades before it was at last able to descend.
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He let out a groan of relief, leaning against one of the elevator walls and sliding slowly to the floor. After a moment, he realized he was literally gasping for breath and, with some conscious effort, brought his breathing back to a more moderate sense. Damn, he had to quit smoking.
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"No kidding," he panted, glancing up to Yumi with the strange, instant camaraderie of a pair who have narrowly escaped certain doom. "Are they manufacturing those things?" He eyed Kaoru speculatively.
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"Is it because you brought one?"
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Further investigation was halted by the sudden jerk of the elevator as one, then two and three heavy objects fell on the car from above, the telltale sounds of blade on metal echoing through the small chamber once again.
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Rhys jolted up in alarm, eyes wide as he stared at the ceiling. No razor-tipped legs were jabbing through the metal, so perhaps it was thick enough, but -
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With an ungodly shriek, something above the car snapped, and suddenly they were descending much, much faster.

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If he was asked later on what exactly had transpired between the elevator beginning free-fall and arriving more or less safe and sound on the floor below, Rhys wouldn't be able to recount it with any level of accuracy.
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What he did know was that something violet materialized in the cramped confines of the elevator, and then he, Yumi, and their pokemon were somehow on solid ground once more, only a little worse for the wear.
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The disorientation suddenly made the world spin around him, and he lurched to a corner of the chamber and promptly emptied the contents of his stomach. Alright, maybe a little more than little.
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Scrubbing at his mouth with his sleeve, he stood unsteadily and looked around. The numerous doll-like creations were not lost on him, and each time he turned his eyes away from one disturbingly vacant gaze, he found another. Shuddering, he beckoned to his Tinkaton and set off down the passage. "Come on," he muttered, his tone surer than the steps he took, "We're lost, now, and I for one won't be able to live with myself if we stay that way for long."
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The utility passage widened as they went along, eventually opening onto an enormous chamber shrouded in darkness. Whatever used to provide illumination had long since fallen into disrepair, and Rhys had no intention of proceeding into the darkness when they'd only just escaped a cadre of killer robots themselves.
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Digging into his hip satchel, he released his Salazzle, who obligingly exhaled a small tongue of flame that stayed alight, illuminating the surroundings in a flickering orange glow. Empty conveyors, storage shelves, and twisted metal implements whose use was no longer apparent characterized the chamber, and as Rhys and his pokemon advanced, the space seemed to advance with them, as though the walls were fleeing from the group.
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He paused as the firelight caught something smooth, sloping, and rust-red. A sudden juddering shook the floor, and Rhys scrambled back reflexively as power glowed within the shape - a leg - spreading upward and around until the form of a great Volcanion was outlined in the darkness.
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"Darest thou intrude upon this armoury? Fie, humans, flee, lest thou desire to perish for thy folly. The Royal Guard doth be diminished, yet no less strong for it."
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The creature spoke, and spoke with a reverberating, booming cadence that drove Rhys back a further step. Looking around wildly, he sought Yumi and jerked his head backward. "We need to go. Now," he urged.

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Rhys gaped in disbelief as Yumi, in lieu of running, hiding, or even pretending as though she hadn't seen the thing, addressed the Volcanion directly. Great, so she had no sense of self-preservation, better keep that one in his mental notes.
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He cast around, taking in the area to see what his options were. He didn't have any pokemon who could take on the Volcanion directly, and he wasn't enough of a machinist to pick up how even a fraction of this debris worked, but maybe if push came to shove he could bring down some of the scaffolding and give them a chance to escape, if the ensuing fallout didn't get them along with the Volcanion.
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Half-delirious from the shock of moving directly from one near-death episode to the next, he was reminded of a story his mother used to read him as a kid, and as the Volcanion's voice reverberated through the damned floor under his feet, he wondered if he ought to be looking for a man behind the curtain while he was at it.
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"Mine liege-lady lies heartless, and needs must I resuscitate her. Such was the oath we spoke, and now I am the only one who yet may complete it." The chamber shook and juddered as the Volcanion moved for what might have been the first time in...well, a long time, carefully picking up one of the delicate items. A touch of sadness entered its tone. "Her shell lies without, among the bodies of countless pretenders, and the Soul-Hearts lie dormant. Even were I able to breathe life into the hearts, we no longer perceive which is she."
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Rhys swallowed, moving forward to tug on Yumi's elbow surreptitiously. "Come on," he hissed. "Let this thing play with his dolls and let's get moving, he's insane."
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The glow around the Volcanion intensified, the crimson light tinged with electric blue as the creature roared in indignation upon Rhys's comment. "THOU DAREST MOCK THE SACRED COVENANT?!"
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What surely would have resulted in an unpleasant scenario for both humans was curtailed as a lance of blue energy diverted from the Volcanion's frame into the Soul-Heart it held. The creature let out a surprised exclamation, even as a sound like gears struggling to operate began emanating from within him.
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"The heart...it pulses," it marveled. "Humans," it bellowed, turning its attention back to Yumi and Rhys, "I shall grant thee succour from this place should thou deliver one of the shells without to me. Choose the finest, the most magnificent, for only such must be my lady."
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Blinking, Rhys turned his head to Yumi. "Uh...what?"

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Rhys let out an indignant grunt as he was grabbed and dragged led back the way they'd come, scowling miserably but complying as his Salazzle, Raina, offered a larger jet of flame that made leaving a sight easier than entering had been.
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As Yumi set to work sorting through the robotic dolls and moving them to the door, Rhys folded his arms and watched the display unfold, puzzled. These things all looked the same to him, from one to the next, but with the care the woman was putting into arranging them, he had a sneaking suspicion that saying as much could result in him being robotic-Tsareena fodder at the end of all of this.
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"I agree, fourth from the left looks the best to me." He hoped his opinion was conveyed with more conviction than he actually felt. Agreeing did, after all, reduce the likelihood of conflict.
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Deciding that contributing something to the endeavor was better than nothing, he elected to pick up the doll and carry it back to the Volcanion as Raina illuminated the way ahead of them, the darkness only briefly snapping back into place as she paused to gather breath for the next plume of fire.
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Finding the energy-silhouetted Volcanion was no chore at all, and Rhys carefully deposited the motionless doll before it, masterfully fighting every instinct screaming at him to get away from the giant possibly-insane robot pokemon.
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"Full well thou hast done in selecting that of great beauty," the Volcanion rumbled. "I shall forgive the this transgression, pale one, for only those of fairer caste may lay hand upon mine liege-lady."
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Rhys blanched, only too glad to step back, and the Volcanion slowly, ponderously lowered its arm, offering the pulsing Soul-Heart to Yumi. "Undo the latch upon her chest, and restore her heart to her. Do this, and I shall allow thee egress."

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