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The platform descended, and with it came three Pokemon Nomi had never seen before. She barely had a chance to memorize their forms - a bipedal canine, a monkey, and a bird - before one - the canine - stepped forward carrying a stack of crates and the others disappeared below. Greyson Connors's whispered revelation echoed in her ear, confirming her earlier assumption that they were imprisoned in some sort of tower.[break][break]
"We're at the top," she softly surmised. "You're right: there's likely at least one level above us, where our captor - captors? - resides."[break][break]
Was it the three Pokemon that had appeared or were they working for someone - or something? - else...[break][break]
A flash caught Nomi's attention as the platform - now empty - ascended past them once more, returning to its origin point. Tera crystals? she thought, recognizing the shards glittering around the hole in the ceiling. Was this place somehow connected to Area Zero or the Great Chasm?[break][break]
She didn't have time to voice this new theory to Greyson, for one of the Megalopolian guards had begun to speak. Nomi listened with rapt attention, drinking in every word, analyzing all possible meanings. So, her assumption had been correct: they were being kept alive because they were needed for something. Specifically, their labor was needed. And because the Megalopolians want us to suffer as they once did, she thought grimly.[break][break]
As the too-vibrant mochi, unnaturally violet, was delivered to their cell, Nomi watched as a prisoner across the way began to throw a rebellious fit, channeling the energy they all felt - fear, frustration, defiance - into action. Greyson swore, and Nomi did not look away as the humanoid dog, muscular and intimidating, pulled the prisoner through the bars of their cell - bones crunching in an act of unrelenting violence. The aftermath was an equally horrific bloodbath, a gruesome pummeling, and still - she did not look away.[break][break]
Numbly, she forced herself to observe every detail of the Pokemon's brutal attacks - what it might be capable of. If they were going to survive, they needed to understand what they would be going up against. Fighting type, she guessed. Maybe also...poison? Everything about this place was toxic, though: it was not lost on her that the creature wore a TOXIC CHAIN, too.[break][break]
Stomach churning, she ate the mochi - clinical bite after clinical bite. She was confident it would not kill them - they would be dead by now if that was the intention. It tasted surprisingly decadent, like a peach cobbler, which she supposed was meant to lure them into some sort of false sense of security...or perhaps encourage the consumption of more mochi in the future. Immediately, the effect of the treat became clear: she and Greyson were now able to leave their cell via the TOXIC CHAINS around their necks.[break][break]
She moved forward immediately, hoping to get a glimpse of any of the other prisoners still consuming their mochi: for when they were eating, their masks were open enough to make out facial features. A flash of blond, a recognizable jawline - was that Cillian Quinn? Another Avatar, chained and diminished. Her heart ached for him, but if there was anyone who would be able to put up a fight when the time was right, it was the Rocket underboss.[break][break]
Greyson won't like it, she knew, with a surprising pang of guilt. Working with more Rockets.[break][break]
They began their painstaking work, and Nomi did her best to smash the rocks in an efficient manner. She'd never been the physically strong one, though: that had always been parker jones's role. I suppose that's why I'm here, she realized. In the Weak Ward.[break][break]
It was a logical conclusion, but the truth of it stung all the same.[break][break]
As a figure (Noel Parker) - a young man? - endured a punch to the gut, Nomi crawled back over to Greyson, rock in hand. Focusing on his voice through the din of stones hitting cement and the sickening sounds of the cruel canine Pokemon's torture, she tried to clear her mind and make sense of his question.[break][break]
"It's not familiar," she hissed back, with a measure of irritation - at her own lack of knowledge. "But rot makes me think of ruination..."[break][break]
It did not bode well.[break][break]

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