gaining information was vital to one's success, and the more one can obtain - especially within a small allotted time - the better. that was the objective for this endeavor, to gain any means of intelligence that the rangers deemed fit to acquire, with much of it already being subject to being dunked twenty-thousand leagues under the sea. or so it appears. how much of it can they manage to salvage? hopefully enough. those lingering thoughts were set aside as a hand struck silverio, prompting him back into the bitter taste of reality.

"hello again, robin, fancy seeing you here." at this point in time, perhaps it was safe to say that he may think of that girl as a mainstay in his directives. at the very least, he can say with utmost confidence that venturing with her has never been a bore. today's agenda, on the other hand? it would be anything but an act of leisure - nothing personal, strictly business, and this business may likely decide the fates of all those who'd been affected by this unnatural travesty.

he summons forth two partners of his own, a bubbly, bipedal frog, and a bulky, hard-scaled insectoid. "we'll take the top; that way we'll cover more ground more quickly. although if a high tide or a storm comes around, then chances are that we may end up meeting you at the bottom at some point." he responds before dispatching the frogadier, which casts a thick smokescreen behind the group to deter any would-be threats - whether they'd be people or pokémon - from approaching them.

"we're ready to go, let's see what we can find in there..."

Good, he was on board with the plan. She urged Dhelmise to hurry by squeezing him. They descended faster into the sea, and it was a quick thing to board the structure through a blasted-open hole in the wall. She surged upwards, finding air pockets inside many of the rooms as she scoured them. "Nothing at the bottom," she reported on the radio.

Dhelmise and her checked another room, checking each corner. They found poison sludge leaking from one, and there was a mark trailing out of it, perhaps like a tentacle? Or something thicker?

"Be careful. There are definitely poison pokemon in the area. Maybe Tentacool or, erm, Dragalge?" She couldn't be totally sure. She and Dhelmise continued to enter each room with careful eyes.

and so, the search was on!

silverio and his partners advance forward, riding out on the hulking insect warrior en route to the sinking edifice, adhering as close to the surface as they possibly could. they find a means of entry via a broken window, giving way into one of many empty rooms appearing on the brink of a sudden collapse. quickly, the man commenced his inspections, gloved hands rummaging through every compartment that he could lay his eyes on.

departing from the initial point of entry and into a flooded hallway, slow steps forward, with subtle waves crashing upon his ankles. "nothing up top yet either." silv answers on the comm whilst treading around dark corners and into a space inhabiting..."well, that's something." he interjects away from the radio. a slew of toxapex lined in a row across a few other doors leading into what looked to be offices of some sort.

the golisopod dares to step towards them. "wait no, don't get to cl-crap!" as if they were expecting anyone to challenge them, one of them fires a rapid pin missile at the group, prompting them to retreat a few steps. the frogadier answers with a shot of his own in the form of a water pulse, only to be met with an acid spray in return, and a follow-up with a swift liquidation.

the bug samurai meets it with one of its massive metal claws, leaving it open for an emphatic hydro pump from the frog, ultimately washing all of the spiky pests away.

Sound travels, like, stupid well underwater.

It's easy to hear the scuffle the second it starts. She knows they're the only Rangers in the structure right now, so she needs to haul ass to get by his side. He's probably met some poisonous fiends.

"Clear the way," she orders as she comes across a walled-off hallway. Dhelmise launches anchor shot, shooting the chain through the wall and pull himself through -- and Robin along with him. The duo navigate through the twisting halls until they secure the source of pin missiles. "Backup's here!" She announces it cheerfully even as she locks in on the task at hand. "Knock 'em around." Dhelmise obeys, slamming into a Toxapex and knocking it dizzy.

The rest are washed away with the help of Silverio's pokemon. She's impressed at how quickly he can solve a problem. "Is there anything we need to take on our way out? I can tell the structure's only gonna collapse further... so we might not want to dillydally."

similarly to the speculations of the one-time paldean champion had spreading around the people of hoenn like a virus, the sounds of silverio's impending peril could be heard throughout the premises, or so it seems. running the risk of becoming poisoned himself, he was, until help had come crashing through a wall. and with that help in the form of robin and he employed anchor, the toxapex would come undone in mere seconds.

"thanks for the assist..."

sapphire irises scan the facility, seeking some form of a clue. until..."wait a minute, i think i see something in there." uncertain of how much time remained before this building would become completely submerged in the depths of the oceanic abyss, but a few minutes was all he would need right now. he rushes into a room, now clear to enter with the toxapex being knocked out of the picture.

on a desk in a far corner of the room, a folder stood. opening it, silverio quickly skims through its contents as he makes his back out. eyes wide as he examines said content. blueprints, building schematics perhaps. loud thoughts blooming. "what...? could someone have actually planned for this...?" eyes return to robin. "i guess this counts for something; let's head out."

She didn't know what to look for as far as intel went. The closest she ever got to it was Ranger directives, and those tended to not be top-secret by the very nature of the tasks she tended to take on. Who would care if Rockets knew she was assigned to put out a wildfire? This left her out of her depths, but she trusted Silverio's judgement as far as finding intel went.

And it was a good thing, too. He found a dossier and his reaction alone clued her to its possible importance. "Great, let's head out." There was likely a best path out of there, but she found herself meandering as she made choices on the fly as to which hallway to turn down and which obstacle to avoid.

But a hiss alerted her that they were not truly alone, not yet. She ducked down low as a Weezing made itself known, its toxic gas hissing out of its body as it came closer. "Let's try a different path outta here," she suggested, covering her mouth with her sleeve.

suppose that these schematics would be as close to retrieving any vital information as either he or robin would get in spite of the unexpected mayhem that was the threat of becoming hindered by poison. then again, perhaps those blueprints could be presenting a clue all on their own. suspicions began to brew in the cauldron at the back of silverio's mind, but it seems that any questions that may arise would have to wait until both rangers and their pokémon have managed to escape from this sinking edifice.

she was quick to agree on leaving now, good.

"ah dammit all..." but before he could have a chance to analyze the vicinity to determine a safe path out of the place, he and robin would be met with a toxifying, unwelcoming, gassy pokémon. shielding his mouth and nose with one hand whilst holding onto the clues he found with the other, silv swiftly turns about face, adhering to robin's quick take on the situation to flee in another direction. "use your smokescreen to cover us!" he directs the frogadier.

a cloud of smoke meets the weezing's gas in a clash equally hazardous air, as he darts ahead and away from the poisonous creature, hopefully with his partners in tow.

Her scramble away from the smokescreened Weezing was anything but dignified. Still, she had little interest in inhaling noxious gas and, even worse, needing to be rescued during their mission. With all the injured civilians in the area, it would have been extra humiliating to be a professional Ranger who also needed medical attention.

"There's the exit," she said hurriedly. At the end of the hall was a busted-open door. The door only hung on by a single hinge, and it bore claw marks from some pokemon she had yet to see. It would be a problem for the next pair of explorers.

the smokescreen would buy the group some time to make their escape, or at least, silverio would hope so. in any case, there's no way he would risk sticking around a sinking building for far too long. otherwise, he'll end up going down right along with it - a fate he would not wish upon anyone, perhaps not even his adversaries.

"right, let's move it!" a door seemingly forced ajar by either someone or something, and naturally, silv and his companions make a beeline for it. as they do so, the door comes undone, plunking the bulky bug warrior on its back. the man can only hope that's the worst of the damage that anyone would be taking today.