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This wasn't the first time that Beau had been dispatched to Sea Mauville; nor, coincidentally, was it the first time that he thought - privately - that the decrepit research facility was more trouble than it was worth, and wished someone somewhere would dig up the funding to get it properly cleaned up and neutralized.
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The deep rumbling that almost immediately followed couldn't even leave him with a sense of vindication at the thought, because the sharp smell of fuel had him running down the catwalk toward his companion. The Dragonair looping around the pipe was a decent enough stopgap, but hardly a permanent solution. Beau didn't have much in the way of permanent solutions coming to mind, but he could at least leave it to the point that they could walk away from the pipe for a bit until someone with...geez, what would they use, a welding kit? On fuel? Huh.
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Well, someone else's problem, anway. His Iron Bundle tottered forward, clanking metal on metal as it opened its steel beak to unleash a FREEZE-DRY on the ruptured pipe. Frost crackled across the surface of the metal as thicker ice crystals mounted up around and over the breach, slowing the deluge of fuel to a trickle, then to nothing, the scent hanging pungent in the air.
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He turned and glanced to Jack with as much humor as he could muster, given his exhaustion of late. "I got your back, teach," he snorted, amused. The other man was behaving differently for this mission, but Beau supposed it was the stress of the conflicts that had been mounting throughout the region. Stranger things had happened, he supposed.

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Already unnerved by the mere act of having to haul around Sea Mauville like it wasn't some enormous, rusting corpse begging for terrible things to happen in the middle of the ocean, Beau started as the platform lurched once more. Thankfully he didn't have time to react as another pipe burst open before Jack's Dragonair was siphoning the gas away from them and - hopefully - to somewhere it wouldn't cause harm.
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He glanced from his friend to the narrow catwalk that led toward the exit of the structure, and weighed his options. While he knew Jack was usually the one with the better ideas, he wasn't used to his friend being so...emotionless about it. He guessed that's what it took to be serious about saving people, though, and he couldn't really fault him; his last attempt had left a woman who would have been beaten to death had it not been for the intervention of his own pokemon.
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Desperate times, or something.
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"Stragglers? You think there are really stragglers while this place is literally trying to fall down around us? I bet we're the only ones stupid enough to still be here, brah."
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As though to prove him wrong, a crash of metal deeper in the facility preceded the sound of distant but distinctly human screaming. Beau cursed, jogging to the catwalk as the platform continued to groan ominously. His Iron Bundle tottered behind him with the rhythmic tapping of metal on metal firing a few more FREEZE-DRY blasts off to crackle the joints of the pipes into place. "Dammit, I should have brought a welder," Beau grumbled. "Come on, we can't stabilize this for long, and I'm not gonna let somebody being crunched up on this wreck stay on my hands if I can help it. What else do we need to get done here?"

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Beau's eyes met Jack's as he made his pronouncement, and for one split second, Beau wondered if he would be delving into the depths of Sea Mauville alone. The tight pull of Jack's frown was an unfamiliar expression to Beau, and he didn't know - wasn't sure - if his friend would help him with what wasn't necessarily a simple task, but among the most important for their reasons to be there.
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He exhaled a breath he hadn't known he was holding once Jack started moving, and was quick to fall in step as they progressed toward the sound of the scream. Although they reached their destination in what had to be relatively short order, the creaking and crumbling environs weren't doing them any favors, even with Jack's Dragonair swirling sinuously about to ward bending metal and his own Iron Bundle firing off blasts of frost with precision intensity to shore up the weaker points of the structure.
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How did the little guy generate all that cold, anyway? Did it run on freon? Would he have to go to an auto repair store to restock it? Beau squinted at the back of his waddling companion, assessing the blinking lights of its eyes. This would bear further research, if by 'research' he meant 'look for a gas cap'.
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The conservationist was trapped beneath a fallen cluster of debris, and Beau winced before he caught himself, ushering the Iron Bundle forward. "Careful, brah, don't make it worse." Beeping in assent, the small pokemon's beak began rotating with a whir as it assaulted the largest of the concrete slabs with a calculated DRILL PECK, sending hairline fractures through the fallen chunk of stone.

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Something like relief settled Beau's mind as he watched the Iron Bundle and Dragonair haul the fallen concrete off of the trapped man. Even though some days were harder than others, he was gratified to know that, with the right help, things could be alright - even for the conservationist.
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Then a gout of red began spreading across the walkway, and he flinched back reflexively. "Holy crap, holy crap," he babbled.
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If ever there had been a reason Beau hadn't gone to medical school - aside from the obvious - this would have been it. He absolutely lost his head when it came to injuries and blood, but while he wasn't in any state to react, Jack did it for him, rattling off an assessment so clinical Beau swore he could smell disinfectant in the air. Or maybe that was the freon.
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The man howled as Jack's belt tightened above the pouring wound, and Beau shook himself to recover, trying to soothe the man: "Hey, brah, it's gonna be fine, we got you. You're gonna get out of here, the EMS guys are right behind us."
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The noise startled him as he glanced upward further along the walkway, and he shook his head. "We can't keep this up, not two of us. Look for a way out and try to help anybody we come across?" Did that sound self-serving? He didn't think so, but then again he really didn't fancy meeting his end in a collapsing wreck of rust and steel.

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The work wasn't difficult, per se, as Beau watched his and Jack's pokemon get to work doing what they could to shore up the area and ensure that it would remain, well, as stable as they could manage for the time being. Every time the structure groaned, or another pipe burst, though, caused a minute flinch in the man's attention as he went about his duties.
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Were they really fighting a losing battle? Was anyone actually coming to help those who couldn't get out themselves? Hell, had the people who were supposed to come help fallen victim to the environmental hazards just like the others?
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Jack drew his attention to the Mega Pidgeot above, and as the bird dove down in the vicinity of the injured conservationist, Beau heaved a sigh of relief. He knew he could get stuck in his own head as well as the next person - arguably more so, for all people didn't think he had going on up there - but it was gratifying to have physical evidence to chase his nerves away.
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Emboldened, he grinned broadly, beckoning to Jack. "Alright, brah, let's hit it and get it. Last one out buys drinks!"
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It always helped to have a goal, and maybe a beer or two would get Jack to crack a smile, something he hadn't been doing much of lately. Beau, at least, would be smiling - finding his feet on solid ground tended to force that reaction these days.

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