"Rex it is, then."

The man rambles on about his other nicknames, but Gavin pays it little mind. His eyes are on the murky depths, imagining they could penetrate the waters and glimpse what lay beneath. Hell, a Wailord could have swallowed the entire colony by accident, knowing their size.

"Could be anything. That's the beauty of the ocean." A smirk rests light upon his lips. "So much of it unexplored. Maybe we'll be eaten by a legendary Pokemon, never to return."

Wouldn't be the worst way to go. It beats rotting in a league prison, or outliving his usefulness to Rocket and getting assassinated.

The boat comes to a halt, waves crushing against her hull, and Gavin slips on his diving mask.

"Let's find out, shall we?"

He dives.

---

~
Rex Drago

Gavin's Greninja slips gracefully into the water after him, lithe body slicing through the current. The second pokeball Gavin had brought for the occasion illuminates the surrounding water in a muted flash of red, his Omastar sinking several feet before steadying itself in place.

Gavin finds himself grateful for the shallow, tropical waters: the sun cuts easily through warm waters, illuminating schools of Goldeen and Finneon that drift lazily along the current. Farther below lie the Corsola colonies where Luvdisc make their homes, pink coral spotted with the white of a dying reef. The misfortune that had been wrought upon Galar's seas seemed to be spreading to Hoenn as well, however slowly. A lonely Cursola dominates the crowd of its fellows.

Gavin finds himself skimming along reef, hazel eyes scoring the gaps for fossils and other intrigues. Throughout the search, there is a promised absence of the Luvdisc they'd been sent to find.

"Surprise, they're not here," he remarks to his diving companion. "Let's go further out."

Without waiting for confirmation, he kicks his fins to propel himself further into the depths. It grows darker as he exits the warm shallows, brightly-coloured schools of fish giving way to more dangerous predators: a Huntail that darts past his vision, a Sharpedo amidst a pack of ravenous Carvahna. The threatening presence of their Pokemon is enough to keep the wilds at bay... at least, that's what he hopes.

---

feel free to mod request or invent a threat!
Rex Drago

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THE RELAXED EMBARGO accidentally introduces new threats to the hoennian ecosystem. the luvdisc have been attacked by this frankenstein-monstrosity. the water around it freezes. chunks of ice float toward the surface as it swims.[break][break]seemingly, the luvdisc have been able to escape the creature's appetite due to its mouth being on top of its head.[break][break]

Though the waters had grown steadily chillier as they ventured away from the warm shallows, the icy chill that penetrates Gavin's diving suit is unnatural enough to spark his attention. A chunk of ice bumps against his arm, and he spins around to see—

"Holy shit."

See, Gavin's not exactly up-to-date on the majority of the new Galarian species that have been introduced to Hoenn. But this one? This one he knew. An abomination that should never have existed, bits of different fossils jammed together to form the unfortunate specimen that floated on the current toward them. Arctovish, he knows it to be called, and he'd be surprised if it were not the reason for the colony's disappearance.

Thing is, Gavin's totally forgotten about the Luvdisc: his attention has focused, razor-sharp, upon the living fossil.

"I don't care whether we're allowed to take it." Gavin's voice is muffled through the diving mask, undercut by steady breaths. "I'm taking it."

Of course, Rex might have the same idea, in which case they might need to squabble over the thing — but for now, it was time to fight!

Gavin's Omastar is a swift swimmer, able to maneuver easily underwater and avoid the crunching jaws atop the abomination's head. It retaliates with a rock slide, raining down not from above but instead pulling rocks from the seafloor to crash into its foe from below.

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Gavin allows himself a better look at the horrific amalgamation of fins as it reels back from the pain of the rock slide. Galarian fossils had always been of a particular interest to him. They were abominations, but the fact that they still managed to somewhat function (though he found they often did not survive in the wild for long) amazed him.[break][break]

He prepares himself to intervene as Two begins to crush the creature; there was no way he was letting this thing die![break][break]

She stops short of killing it, however, and the Arctovish frees itself enough to target his Omastar, inconvenient mouth crunching down on his Pokemon. Omastar merely withdraws into its hardened shell, however, and Gavin signals his Greninja.[break][break]

Not wanting to get close to the Arctovish, she delivers the final blow with an extrasensory blast; Arctovish reels, and Gavin kicks his fins to swim in close and tap the weakened creature with a pokeball.

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