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His musing was interrupted by a nearby thatch of rustling grass. Rhys paused on his route to survey the potential threat, and was rewarded with the sight of a Drapion dragging itself from the underbrush, eyes fixed in a glare as they oriented on the man. He frowned and took a step back, allowing his Nidoking to trundle forward and meet the other Poison-type head-on.
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"We've got to train you up, pal," he murmured to the Nidoking, who merely growled in reply. "Go for a SUPERSONIC and see if that fixes him," he stated appraisingly. The Nidoking nodded, opening his mouth and releasing a concentrated series of high-pitched frequencies that caused the Drapion to lash about in confusion, one of his claws narrowly missing the Nidoking before the insectoid-looking creature tumbled back into the underbrush from whence he'd emerged.
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With a satisfied nod, Rhys approached the Nidoking to clap him on the shoulder, hand slapping against hard, chitinous armor. "Good job," he enthused. "Let's keep at it, and maybe you'll learn a trick or two, mm?" The Nidoking's features stretched into something approximating a vicious grin, and he growled approvingly, beginning his trek back up the path.

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Rhys had to confess that he enjoyed his occasional foray near Mount Pyre. Sometimes duty took him nearby, and at other times - like today - he finagled his schedule just enough to allow for some quiet walking and ruminating. His recent experience with the RKS System had shaken him at the time, and he was grateful for the respite this allowed him to think it over and catalogue some of the rogue thoughts that remained unchecked as a result of the experiment.
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He knew it was a simulation, that much had been made clear - first in the briefing, then by Zev Harcourt himself as he guided Rhys through the program. What he couldn't yet rationalize was the notion of whether the entire thing was on rails - Zev, for instance, had noted that different choices yielded different results from one dive to the next - or if it was somehow reactive to the people experiencing it.
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The butcher in the Slowpoke kitchens, and even Walsh himself had seemed fairly scripted, almost like one might expect when playing a video game or watching a movie, but what had Rhys scratching his head both metaphorically and physically was the encounter on the Alolan cliffside with Xatu. How did the program know he was a doctor? Had someone entered the information from the back end without telling him? What the hell was that vision about?
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He had no answers, and as he glanced to his Nidoking as they lazily walked along the path toward Mount Pyre, he reasoned that he might not have many forthcoming. Zev might have been able to provide some, but Rhys had the sense that the taciturn man didn't appreciate questions that wasted his time, and Rhys wasn't about to get frivolous with his superiors if he wanted to continue the trend of showing himself both capable and resourceful. He'd have to find another way to get the answers he sought.

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Rhys couldn't help but echo Aurelie, pumping his fist in the air as the Great Tusk reacted to the attacks from their pokemon and letting out a loud whoop. He grinned broadly, looking over to the woman with a gleam of excitement in his eye. "It's all I could think of - it looks pretty well resistant to physical attacks, but it's susceptible to the aphysical!"
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When it roared in consternation and began to retreat, he couldn't even muster the attention to answer Aurelie's query, though the beast moving away from them seemed answer enough for the both of them. When it had gone far enough that it could reasonably assumed the brute wasn't, in fact, faking them out, he joined in her celebration with a raucous "HA!", kicking his feet in a little victory dance as the WONDER ROOM splintered into brightly-colored particles around them.
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At her next words, it became evident that Rhys either was not used to experiencing compliments or didn't take them especially well, as a light flush came to his cheeks. "No, that was nothing, just had to try something different, you know? I'm nothing special," he mumbled, running a hand through his hair nervously.
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The allure of a breather was music to Rhys's ears, and he found himself nodding emphatically before she'd even launched into her collection of provisions. Impressed, he offered a surprised laugh. "Snacks, eh? Sounds like food for a full expedition! Not complaining," he added hastily.
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He rubbed his hands together in anticipation as Aurelie rummaged through her pack. Yeah, he figured, managing to not die was hungry work.

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It felt like falling asleep, a bit, though instead of sliding somnolently to the ground, Rhys's vision clouded and swam, as though he was having a dream he couldn't quite control.
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He was standing in a dark examination room - a clinic? Could he not afford the power bill? A lone hanging bulb allowed a narrow shaft of light to fall on a haggard man chained - chained? - to the exam table. Rhys stood over him, wiping blood from his scalpel clinically as he surveyed the man's flayed skin.
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"Tell me where the encryption key is, and I'll be happy to end this. I'm certain we would both rather be doing other things." Rhys spoke, but it seemed he wasn't in control. He couldn't move, couldn't tear his gaze away from this man - was that a liver missing? - who appeared to be in so much visceral pain that he was vibrating.
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The man hissed through chattering teeth, twitching as he fought to turn his head away from Rhys, who tutted. "Mm. Pity, then." He glanced into the darkness behind him. "Be a darling, would you, dear?"
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Althea emerged from behind him, a smile fixed on her face that was positively eerie in this circumstance, and directed a HEAL PULSE on the bound captive that knitted his flesh together and lifted the film of pain from his eyes, flowing across his unclothed body until not a single wound remained. More aware, he struggled against his restraints, snarling up at Rhys.
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Rhys, for his part, offered a bland smile, placing the scalpel down and selecting a power drill from the low wooden table, pulling the trigger to give it a test whirr. "You misunderstand me, friend. I can do this for weeks if I have to. You'll keep getting better until you tell me what I need to know."
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As the vision subsided and Rhys took in the coastline and Zev approaching him brusquely, the man's terrified screams rang in his ears.
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"Nothing," he responded too quickly, gaze dropping to the floor. He'd never heard a scream quite like that.

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Owain's attack against the Stunfisk diverted Rhys's attention from his own opponent, and despite the stinging pain of his wounds and the increasing dampness of his shirt against his chest - sweat or blood, it was anyone's guess, and he wasn't about to look - he allowed himself a satisfied grin as the smaller pokemon went sailing into the air and was shortly thereafter recalled.
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This lapse in attention cost him awareness of what exactly Tavish's next move was, and when he did turn his focus back to the other man, it was to see him holding some kind of...pot.
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"W-" was all he managed to get out before Tavish smashed the thing and Rhys's vision was obscured by a white cloud. Fear lanced down his spine at the thought that his own tactic had been turned against him - he KNEW he should have worn his filtration mask - and he hurriedly raised one arm to his face, shoving his nose and mouth into the crook of his elbow to minimize exposure to the substance. Owain punched and kicked futilely through the cloud, whiffing through the space where Tavish had been standing upon impact, but the man had already moved.
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A faintly chalky scent paused Rhys's immediate panic attack, and he tentatively brought his arm away from his face, reaching out and grabbing a thin film of the powder to rub between his fingers. "Talc? What kind of bullshit low-tech...NO!"
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As the haze began to thin, Rhys only just caught sight of Tavish haring off to the Dyna Tree, and - too late, far too late - dove after him, Owain hot on his heels, but the man already had his hand on a fruit...

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Rhys cursed under his breath as his Meowscarada whiffed yet another Night Slash, the Alakazam simply blinking out of space like some mustachioed Houdini, only to reappear a handful of feet away, hovering - taunting and unbothered - behind the panting cat.
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He pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing, and gestured to his Meowscarada, who turned and pressed the attack once more, offering a FLOWER TRICK that struck and burst into a spray of pollen around the offending Alakazam, who fell to the ground, wheezing.
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Rhys grinned viciously, tossing a pokeball at the downed Psychic-type. Finally, something worth the delay on his return to Mauville. Time was, after all, precious, and he'd be quite cross indeed if he didn't have anything to show for this waste of his own.
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Rhys couldn't offer more of a response than a silent nod as he surveyed the destruction of Fuchsia City - this display of the past implied that Rocket's methods had only grown more effective over time. A part of him wanted nothing to do with this brand of wholesale devastation, no matter the intent - to demonstrate the futility of standing against Rocket.
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Another part of him wanted to ensure, no matter what, that he was part of the next operation that resulted in this. The idea of that level of power was alluring, and its siren song mingled with ambition and frustration at the base of his brain near-constantly.
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Catching himself, he bit his lip to forestall further comments as the surroundings shifted smoothly once again, and he found himself on an entirely foreign coast, the beaming sun and salt air utterly at odds with the environment that they had just been thrust into moments prior.
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"A Xatu?" he inquired, glancing from the bird to Zev and back. What struggle could a Xatu possibly pose?
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Rhys nodded distractedly, flinching backward as his Reuniclus narrowly darted in to intercept a strike from the Nidoking, crying out in pain as it rebounded off of a nearby wall. "Ew," he offered in response to the discussion of Megalopolan diets, then turning to make his way around the invisible obstacles to the doors, attempting to follow in Zev's footsteps physically if not metaphorically.
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"Let's do that, I don't think we're going to make it far if we stay in the Gym," he huffed, stumbling forward as Zev threw the doors open to reveal the state of the rest of Fuchsia City. He paused in his retreat, gaping, as he took in the destruction taking place around them.
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"I knew that Kanto was Rocket's, but seeing it in person...this is incredible," he marveled. "Nobody in their right mind could stand up to us after going through this. Is that what happened to Sootopolis?" he inquired, jogging to catch up to Zev as the surroundings began to shift once again.
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Rhys had to appreciate Aurelie's quick thinking; being paralyzed with indecision - or overdecision, in this case - was nothing incredibly new to him, but if he'd been left to his own devices, he'd likely be a not-especially-fetching ornament for one of those enormously oversized tusks at this particular moment. He would have to thank her properly after this mission - maybe a cup of 'thanks for not letting me get gored' coffee or something - if they in fact could take this beast down before either of them or their pokemon ran out of steam.
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He spared a glance for Aurelie's direction of her Iron Crown, noting that the larger pokemon seemed oddly reticent to engage. In fairness, he had to admit he'd probably be reticent to engage too, had he not almost been pulped by the Great Tusk. As it stood, his Reuniclus continued its assault on the larger beast, who turned to and fro violently, attempting to fruitlessly score a blow on the cellular creature that hovered just out of reach.
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As the Iron Crown joined in the attack, Rhys frowned - the combined Psyshocks were not so much as fazing the Great Tusk, who still seemed more disoriented from its impact with the cliffside than the attacks being leveled against it. Unless...
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"Oz!" Rhys bellowed. Use WONDER ROOM and keep it up!"
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The Reuniclus spun in place with a trill, preceding the strange sight of sparkling, multicolored energy expanding from it in a grid that shimmered strangely against the surroundings, surging upward to form an enormous cube that encompassed the Great Tusk, Rhys, Aurelie, and their pokemon in its environs.
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The Great Tusk shuddered strangely, and abruptly staggered, the PSYSHOCKS now seeming to score actual wounds upon its back and flanks instead of proving to be little more effective than sparklers. Rhys whooped in excitement, pumping his fist in the air and turning to grin madly at Aurelie. "He changed its defense, get it while it's vulnerable in this space!"

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