"I dunno." Rex shrugged. "Maybe there are women in there."

The door creaked open. There were not.

For a moment, Rex didn't reply. His gaze wandered the restroom like a demon infringing upon Eden. This was a world that no man had or would ever see again. He was here temporarily and with a purpose, but that did not mean that he belonged here. His eyes landed on pipes dripping water from the ceiling, resulting in clear liquid pooling at their feet.

Mighty inconvenient. The Sea Mauville folks could've at least left a decades-old wet floor sign in here as a contingency. It was rude of them not to. Hindsight was twenty-twenty, he supposed.

"I'm good. Just preparing to live out my life in prison when we make it back up to the surface." He was far too honest. A verified boy scout and battle junkie. "It feels wrong being here. It's exactly as I imagined it."

Like the men's restroom, but with no urinals.

"Let's see..." By Rex's feet, a Togepi followed him, demanding uppies. He eventually complied and scooped the egg up and held him close. "I'm not a kid, y'know. I can drink! I can adult."

With the pouty expression and the Togepi waggling nubby arms, that claim continued to crumble. He was more of a teen pretending at adulthood. The classic 'Pokémon Trainer' complex.

---

AIRI WATANABE
03. Address environmental hazards.

Togepi looked at Airi with large round eyes, full of childish innocence as he waved his arms around happily. The glee of youth was a delicate flower, threatening to curdle and turn to ash within an uncouth and harsh world. The small egg raised its arms and let out a happy cheer as the nurse doted on him.

'toge toge!' Fingers waggled, a Metronome was cast, which turned into a Safeguard that covered Airi, Mint, Rex, and his Togepi.

Yet that was the disposition of youth. Ideals over truth. Hope over realism. Ambition over judiciousness. The ranger nurse was right. They were a perfect fit, but only because the shared bond of childishness had yet to be fully strained before threatening to snap. When it did, Rex and Togepi would be adults.

That was a harsh truth. Yet it did not need to come today. Instead, they could worry about breaking arbitrary rules in a bathroom that did not matter.

"Hey, I've been kissed! Loads of times!" Rex reddened and looked away, annoyed. "I have game! I'll have you know that I gave a girl my number after saving her from a Blaziken. You're asking a lotta weird questions. It's embarrassing..."

Togepi had done that, his Metronome converting into a Hyper Beam which had left a large chunk of Sea Mauville ablaze. Airi didn't need to know that, though. It was neither here not there. Instead, the younger trainer focused in on an odd section of the wall. He peered at it, before knocking on it.

A hollow thud rang out as knuckle rapped against plaster.

"Hey, Airi. Use that item finder gizmo, would ya?"

---

AIRI WATANABE
14. Ensure the area is safe from remaining threats.

Rex wasn't stressed. He was simply wary of breaking the rules! They existed for a reason, and if he and Airi broke them on a whim, they were no better than criminals. Rules were meant to be followed. If they weren't, then...

Don't think about it.

Instead, he puffs up with pride at the praise. It's childish and, deep down, he suspected that Airi was naturally loose with her praise of others. Still, there was little need to look that deeply. It was praise, and what sort of child didn't like praise? Or, as the ranger nurse would call him, a 'kid adult'.

"Gotcha. No worries, shouldn't take me more than a minute..." Rex felt the wall again. Hard, but crumbling. It was plaster designed to be broken later to claim whatever was within. He kicked it once, and it refused to crumble. He did it again, and it refused to crack. His face quickly flushed in shame, which quickly paled as the Crawdaunt wandered in. "Shoot."

He look at Airi innocently. "Think that one's female?"

The ranger nurse leapt into action, leaving the young trainer behind. He grumbled as she did so. He wanted to fight. He hadn't gotten to throw hands since he and keiko mori had beaten that Blaziken. Still, he was riding the high of giving out his autograph and number.

Airi could have this one.

"Alright, Togepi." Rex held the egg in front of him, their heads touching. "Here's what you're gonna do."

"Toge toge!"

"You're gonna do your Metronome thing..."

"Toge."

"Waggle your finger..."

"Toge."

"And you're gonna punch through that wall."

"Toge?"

"I dunno, use like, Brick Break or something! It's brick, right? Break it!"

"Toge." Togepi nodded in affirmation, before waggling his finger to cast another Metronome. Rex's Metronome luck was pretty good, but he had still almost blown up half the ship with an attempted Explosion. This time, though, the Metronome converted into the Brick Break that they both desired. "Pi!"

The wall shattered. Files and folders came falling out.

"Nice." Rex rubbed cheeks with the Togepi in delight. "This is why you're the best!"

---

AIRI WATANABE

Mint caught the files. A prudent decision, too. The water would have ruined them, and Rex and Airi would have to do a walk of shame back to their superior and explain that they lost sensitive information to a wet floor.

That'd be embarrassing. It might've even caused Rex to consider swan diving off the tallest point in Sea Mauville.

"That was good thinking. Nice work!" Rex waggled his finger in a way similar to his Togepi's Metronome. Togepi mirrored the action, and the two finished waggling their fingers in asynchronous harmony. He beamed at Airi as he pilfered his way through the files. If they brought back someone's secret diary instead of the desired intel, they'd be in trouble. "You're the real MVP. You'll be as good as me, one day!"

His eyes scanned the files. Lots of ledgers. Lots of numbers. Lots of abandoned scripts. This looked like something that someone had hidden in a hurry, and within the wall of a random restroom had been the best available place.

Strange. It made the young trainer shift uneasily as he put the files back into the basket. It was either that or her intense gaze. It was like the nurse was drilling into the back of his head.

"Yeah, we can go back, I guess." Rex shifted awkwardly, before looking at his colleague. "But I have a request! No, a question!"

His gaze grew intense.

"Can I..." His eyes began to sparkle. "...battle you, sometime? You're strong, and I want all the practice I can get to become Hoenn's champion!"

---

AIRI WATANABE