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POSTED ON Aug 11, 2024 3:47:38 GMT

The ebb and flow of the tides licked at Rex's face. The sun beat down on his head in waves as he roused himself to wakefulness.

"What the fuck...?" Everything hurt, or at least ached. It was like Kyogre itself had chewed him up and spat him out, leaving him far worse for wear. He groaned and shuffled in irritation as he rose to his feet, his eyes scanning the surroundings. "What happened?"

Beach, as far as the eye could see. Beach and surf, with a small layer of trees clustered in the center to create something comparable to a tropical paradise. Rex didn't feel very tropical, nor did this feel like a paradise. He felt like shit. Instinctively, he grabbed at his belt and sighed. He still had his Pokémon.

Good. That was good. Now, what happened? The young trainer closed his eyes in thought.

He had been on a ship back from Sea Mauville, one of the last to leave. He had stayed longer than most in his fervor, and as a result had found himself on a mostly vacant ship back to Dewford. There had been another person on the ship. Who had it been?

"Fuck, my memory's a buzz. Did our ship crash or something?" Rex puffed up his cheeks and exhaled. As he scanned the distance, he saw another person on the beach as well. Unmoving.

"Shit."

He ran towards them.

keiko mori

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POSTED ON Aug 12, 2024 14:50:58 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","keiko11base"]

[attr="class","rpost"]

[attr="class","rose"]

[attr="class","rosepost"]She came to to the sound of muffled footsteps. She opened her eyes with a jolt of alarm, but she quickly made out the person beside her to be the one and only Althus Rex. His signature sat in her office where she kept all stationery.[break][break]
"Rex? Where are we?"[break][break]
She brought herself up to sit on her elbows, head spinning. Memories of her mission trickled in slowly. She narrated aloud as they came to her: she had been trying to deliver mail to a fisherman on a long-term assignment. It'd been a private commission to her directly, a rush order. And she had done so successfully, but the storm at sea must have taken her and Pelipper out.[break][break]
Pelipper! She released him from his pokeball. He looked weary, but in good spirits. "If neither of us have the means to fly out of here, Pelipper can deliver an SOS." [break][break]Althus Rex [break]

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[newclass=.rouxcredit1]align:right; color:#AB4646; font-size:10px; text-align:right; padding:10px; [/newclass]

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POSTED ON Aug 12, 2024 20:34:20 GMT

Keiko was fine. Rex took a deep sigh of relief as she rose, her Pelipper appearing in a flash of red light. The poor thing looked rattled and on the verge of collapse. If it could make the journey back to Dewford or Slateport, Rex would eat his shoe.

"Togepi can't teleport us that far. Sorry. You'll have to call for help." Togepi was only a baby, and Rex suspected that relying exclusively on Metronome wasn't particularly wise. Yet still, he tapped his belt and the egg appeared, waddling over to Keiko and Pelipper with surprising swagger. "But I can do this."

Togepi waggled a finger, before tapping Keiko's Pokémon with a Life Dew. The young trainer smiled in satisfaction as he turned to face Keiko.

After that, he turned to Keiko and poked her.

"I think we're somewhere between Slateport and Dewford. You hurt?"

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POSTED ON Aug 12, 2024 21:22:37 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","keiko11base"]

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[attr="class","rose"]

[attr="class","rosepost"]The life dew was a comforting sight. Pelipper would be able to travel at full speed if he was full health, which would bring him back to land in... well, she wasn't sure how long because their location was unknown to her, but Pelipper could traverse pretty fast with his tailwind.[break][break]
"That's fine," she insisted. "It wouldn't be smart to try and teleport in these conditions." She batted at his hand after he poked and offered him a chastising look. Then, she pulled aside her pack to find her storage clipboard. There were two sets of stationery inside: that with a letterhead denoting federal mail business, and heart mail for her personal use. "An SOS will have to suffice."[break][break]
She pulled the latter out and put it on the clipboard to write a quick SOS message, leaning over it protectively so Rex couldn't get a good look at the admittedly unprofessional parchment. She wrote quickly in cursive, folded the document, and sealed it in an envelope for Pelipper. [break][break]
"Pelipper's got this, so we'll just have to keep ourselves entertained while we wait." Pelipper flapped into the air gracelessly. "Are you hurt?"[break][break]Althus Rex [break]

[attr="class","rosepoke"]

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POSTED ON Aug 12, 2024 21:45:00 GMT

She had a storage clipboard? Damn.

They were going to die.

Even as the courier hid her letter from the young man's prying eyes, it didn't stop him from attempting to sneak a peek at Keiko's stationary selections. Even as she tried to hide it from him, he still managed to get a glimpse of bright pink parchment as she squirreled it away in an envelope for Pelipper to deliver.

She had pink parchment? Damn.

They were really going to die.

"Still gonna take the poor bird a hot minute to reach civilization. It'll take another to come back." Rex crossed his arms, as if protecting himself. His expression was tight, slightly pained. "I'm fine. We'll be on our own."

The prospect didn't amuse him. Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki 's gym awaited him in Dewford, and he had planned to challenge it for his first badge.

"I'm good." Rex scooped up Togepi and gave Keiko a look. "Let's find a place nearby to set up shop."

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POSTED ON Aug 12, 2024 22:47:26 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","keiko11base"]

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[attr="class","rosepost"]He was more level-headed about this than she had pegged him for. [break][break]

"He could be back by noon tomorrow, if we're lucky. That tailwind is a mean move." She followed him from the shore and further inland where there was plenty of tall grass and trees. "Pelipper is all I had on me, so I have no pokemon." The thought normally wouldn't concern her, but the tall grass presented too many opportunities for wild attacks.[break][break]

She had little knowledge of shelter building. Thankfully, she could recognize Gogoat tracks on the trail they walked, which meant if they couldn't find fresh water, they could minimally have Gogoat milk. With some negotiation, she was sure. But there were countless unknowns about the island.[break][break]

Anxious, she rambled helplessly. "Gogoat are more common in Western Hoenn. These tracks should be theirs. I don't think there are a lot of bovine-esque species that care for island weather, but Gogoats can tolerate just about any extreme. Though, it's not like they're big shelter-builders, so I suspect we'll have to make our own from scratch if there's nothing we can borrow for the night. And I think we're not far from Dewford if I didn't get blown away a hundred miles from the address I was delivering to." [break][break]

Althus Rex [break]

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POSTED ON Aug 13, 2024 9:01:10 GMT

Wilderness was an x factor in modern life, and it was one that Rex had slowly accustomed to after setting off from Littleroot. Weeks of wandering in Petalburg Woods looking for strong Pokemon had sharped his instincts. That, plus a crippling lack of money meant that he wasn't unfamiliar with sleeping in ditches, at bus stops, or in the bushes.

"Keiko." He cut through her rambling with a word. Anxiety would soon blossom into fear, and fear would become panic. How many people had he watched lose their minds in hysteria while hiding in the cellar under his house?

How many had he heard slip away into madness before Dialga snapped them away? It didn't matter. He knew how many had returned from the temporal ether.

Zero.

"Listen to me." He gave her a cheery smile. The small, cold core in the center of his pupils sparkled slightly as he pointed at Togepi. "We're gonna be fine. You're gonna be fine. I've slept on a dozen bus benches. I'm basically a survivalist pro!"

A small chuckle escaped his lips before he grew serious again.

"You know a lot of survival facts, though. Do they teach that at courier school?"

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POSTED ON Aug 13, 2024 15:12:52 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","keiko11base"]

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[attr="class","rosepost"]A dozen bus benches. He really knew how to inspire confidence.[break][break]

But the downward spiral was gone. "Sinnoh doesn't have a lot of dicey areas, but my family's guild promised fast delivery no matter the weather. We would deliver in hurricanes and during wildfires. A little training was necessary to keep that promise."[break][break]

It didn't make the mentality of being trapped on an island any easier. She didn't have additional pokemon to fight something in the sea and use it to surf back home. The strategy could also be worthless. Who knew how populated the sea was right beside their island? "Okay, shelter first, then. I can make a fire anywhere, so we just need a dry spot."[break][break]

Althus Rex [break]

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POSTED ON Aug 13, 2024 17:28:43 GMT

"Guilds, huh?" He only knew about those from those online games that all his neighbors had played together. World of Wobbucraft or something? His parents hadn't paid for a subscription, so he had never gotten a chance to play. Instead, he had been stuck with Varoom Kart 64.

Galar had guilds, didn't they? Old-timey rich people stuff where people pretended they had a profession?

"I never knew." Rex admitted. "Not all too familiar with Sinnoh, if I'm being honest. Old place. Lot of ruins. Why'd you come here? This region sucks."

Eventually, they came across a group of trees that had been curved in on themselves, likely due to wind and time warping what was once a straight-backed set of palms. Everything crumbled eventually, but they could use this to their advantage.

If they found some grass and sticks, it would make an adequate abode to pass the night. Assuming they didn't burn it down with Keiko's legendary fire skills.

"This place looks pretty good." Rex peered towards the sky, where the sun threatened to wane as it descended over the horizon. "Wanna board up here?"

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POSTED ON Aug 13, 2024 19:54:17 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","keiko11base"]

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[attr="class","rose"]

[attr="class","rosepost"]Old place. Lots of ruins. An understatement, she'd argue. But she loved it. Time was precious. Praise the Almighty Sinnoh for her protection of it. [break][break]

"I left because Hoenn's facing a war." All the markers were there. Her parents were both scholars of history before becoming couriers. History was sacred, and her parents kept a close eye on it even as they looked to the future. They had told her months ago that Hoenn was showing signs of facing the same trouble Kanto succumbed to. "I have the discipline and the know-how to deliver parcels in the worst conditions. When supply lines and communications fail, it will be up to individual couriers to support the resistance."[break][break]

Maybe she was giving herself too much credit. Only time would tell, praise be.[break][break]

"This is a good starting place. We can both gather sticks and dry brush and stash it here, then worry about the structure after we have supplies. This area's dry enough to make a fire, but we'll want some stones to give the fire some circumference to safely burn without taking the island with it. Then, we can talk about food and keeping watch tonight in case there are more aggressive wild pokemon." She was one of those people incapable of taking a vacation - the need to go, go, go fueled her. So long as she had structure and objectives, she could survive anything. [break][break]

Althus Rex [break]

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Littleroot Town

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POSTED ON Aug 13, 2024 21:57:43 GMT

Hoenn was in a war, it was true. Constant back and forth battles between Team Rocket and the League and whatever insane shit descended from the heavens was commonplace. It was a place where anyone with enough strength could make their mark, as long as they reached out and took it.

And it was ~~glorious~~ a tragedy. Hoenn had exceeded the warning signs that Kanto had offered years ago. When the meteor descended and the dome fell, that was when it had become ~~paradise~~ hell.

"You're gonna need to practice, then. There's a lot of dangerous people in the region. Can't let an island get you down." Rex nodded to himself. "We both need to be at our best. If I ever see Dialga over Littleroot again..."

He looked up at the sky.

"...it's done." He made a quick approximation of how much time they had left. A handful of hours. Not an ideal amount of time, but enough. "I'm gonna go gather sticks and whatnot. Stay safe."

The brush rustled as Rex disappeared into it.

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POSTED ON Aug 13, 2024 22:14:42 GMT

[nospaces]

[attr="class","keiko11base"]

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[attr="class","rose"]

[attr="class","rosepost"]Her eyebrows shot up at his comment, and then he was gone.[break][break]

She stood there for several moments before kicking herself into action to gather the same supplies. The Almighty Sinnoh over Littleroot? What could her deity need with such a town? [break][break]

A million questions plagued her as she grabbed supplies. She made several trips back to their encampment, watching the pile grow. Before long, dusk threatened the island, and it was time to settle in.[break][break]

She had placed stones to make her fire pit and was in the middle of starting her fire when she heard Rex. "Tell me about Littleroot."[break][break]

Althus Rex [break]

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Littleroot Town

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POSTED ON Aug 15, 2024 0:02:14 GMT

The question was an ambush, done before the young man could prepare himself for what was to come. He had barely returned with brush, firewood, and long strips of grass to masquerade as rope. Enough to tie their makeshift camp together when night truly fell and things got cold.

"..." He pretended not to hear her, though the courier's gaze didn't leave his back. After trembling and meeting her glare, he shivered. "It's not important."

Roar of Time rang in his mind as friends and family snapped from existence.

He tossed a few sticks onto the fire and stared at it as he tied long strips of grass together into makeshift rope. Several dozen were remarkably sturdy, Rex realized. It was almost like camping, if not for the hunger gnawing in his gut. He suspected that Keiko was hungry too.

"I can try fishing if the Gogoat plan falls through. I've never tried, but there's a first time for everything, right?"

He laughed, though he didn't meet Keiko's eyes again.

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POSTED ON Aug 15, 2024 16:24:32 GMT

Althus Rex likes this

[nospaces]

[attr="class","keiko11base"]

[attr="class","rpost"]

[attr="class","rose"]

[attr="class","rosepost"]She couldn't parse the refusal to share. She knew her faith was largely restricted to Sinnoh, but even still, everyone regarded Her as a god. Prayer was reserved for Her followers, but she had never heard anyone seem so reserved about discussing the divine. And after allegedly seeing a god in person? Who wouldn't talk about it endlessly?[break][break]

"Are you lying to me?" She didn't intend to sound so hurt about it. But if he was lying about the Almighty Sinnoh to, what, earn some kudos? She couldn't abide by it. [break][break]

Immediately after the question, she heard the telltale cry of a Gogoat. Her judgement of Rex had to come second to their survival, but she couldn't bring herself to break away from the campfire to pursue it just yet. Had she gotten him all wrong? His bravado was obvious, but this seemed to be a particularly offensive lie.[break][break]

Althus Rex [break]

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March 13

Littleroot Town

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