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Rhys couldn't help a fierce grin as Yumi reacted without wasting time to acknowledge, her Ninetales launching into an AURORA BEAM as she leapt toward the Guzzlord. His Comfey followed suit, another wave of sharp-edged petals cascading in a flurry toward the enormous creature.
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The attack might as well have been actual flower petals, for all the effect it had on the beast, and Rhys's satisfaction ebbed and then vanished entirely as the beast opened its maw wide to unleash a devastating attack. Waves of dark energy poured from the open maw, blasting Yukiko backwards and sending Maia smashing into the ground.
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"No, no, no," he chanted, jogging over to the position where she had fallen. His Comfey wasn't built to withstand an attack of that magnitude - he couldn't think of any pokemon that was, really. He recalled her into her pokeball with a lance of crimson light and rummaged in his satchel. Where was she, where was she?
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The Guzzlord's attack had been devastating, yes, but it seemed the effort had taken its toll on the behemoth creature as well; the plates forming its black armor sloughed off, impacting the ground with the resounding clang of metal against shattered concrete. Did he have a chance?
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Yumi's Mega Beedrill zipped forward, tearing into the weakened Guzzlord, and Rhys, at last finding the Heavy Ball he'd been searching for, threw it forward desperately. His Clefable materialized with a bright chirp, though her expression turned from welcoming to stoically determined in an instant as she sighted her foe.
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Shimmering energy coalesced in front of her before she launched it forward in a MOONBLAST, slamming into the Guzzlord with an impact that caused it to stagger even further. No, this was it - this was his opening, because they wouldn't be able to hold out if another attack like the previous was brought to bear.
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He ran. Clambering over rubble, skipping over twisted rebar, he ran toward the beast, and his arm felt like it was nearly twisting off from the force of his throw.
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The ball struck the Guzzlord against its underbelly, and like some insane miracle, the entire beast was subsumed in a wash of crimson light that was sucked into the capsule. It wobbled once.
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It wobbled twice, nearly leaping from the ground in its exertions.
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It lay still, and Rhys let out a loud exhale, swaying on his feet. "Holy cow."

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Well, that settled it. Rhys would simply have to squeeze in what little personal training time he could find before the big event - that is, if he didn't want to embarrass himself completely among the slew of other like-minded Grunts.
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A small cluster of brightly-colored flowers peeked out at him from the side of the path, and he paused to survey them idly. He supposed if there were a turning point in his career - well, another turning point, it might be something akin to this. Be a lab rat for the rest of his life, getting nowhere, and spinning in circles for his bosses' benefit.
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Or, get a little mettle under him and actually make a name for himself. Actions did, after all, speak louder than words, and nowhere was that more true than in the lower rungs of Rocket itself. He let out a long, low sigh, and one of the flowers turned to look at him curiously. He blinked at it, nonplussed, and it offered a low squeak. Wait, that wasn't a flower - it was a Lileep, peering at him from the thicket of greenery.
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With a little laugh, he tossed his final Safari ball at it; it would be a nice parting gift, nonetheless. Straightening, he snapped his fingers, beckoning to Gaius. "Come on. Time to go learn how to throw a punch."

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Actually being able to walk did wonders for Rhys's stiff muscles; he hadn't realized how sore he was until he got moving again. To be fair, he'd had an eventful several weeks, and with the S.P.E.C.T.R.A. Gauntlet on the horizon, he didn't have time to rest on his laurels. As far as pokemon-to-pokemon contests went, he had confidence in his ability to navigate the situation.
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Person-to-person battles, however, were another matter, and Rhys was not fool enough to assume that there was no one in his organization who would stoop to such tactics if it meant eking out a win. He'd read the books, of course, and watched a few videos on the subject, but in this instance studying was no match for practical applications, and while he had absolutely no interest in testing his abilities against a hostile opponent at this stage, he hadn't found a sparring partner, either.
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The low, grumbling sputter of a Varoom caught his attention as the pokemon hovered into view, though it moved notably more slowly than the others of its kind Rhys had encountered. Gaius moved to attack, but Rhys held up a hand, forestalling the Nidoking. Despite this grace, the Varoom seemed to show no sense of speed for its own survival, whether in the offensive or the defensive.
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Canting his head, Rhys dug into his satchel and tossed a Safari Ball at the pokemon. Perhaps that bore some investigating.

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A Terastallized Alakazam was a formidable threat, but even the power of the Tera Crystals couldn't offset the pokemon's widely acknowledged weakness to...well, most anything physical. The Farfetch'd swung his leek strong and true, and Perry hit the ground like a sack of particularly brilliant potatoes, his PSYCHIC assault cut short by an abruptly much more tenuous grip on consciousness.
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Rhys couldn't spare any attention for his fallen pokemon, though, as the object of his ire had completed his recovery of the pokeballs and was currently surging toward him with - yes, another knife. Great. The trick that had saved his neck in Sootopolis wouldn't serve him here - autoinjectors were expensive, and given his recent track of lab work, he didn't think he would find himself in a situation where one could have benefited him.
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Well, he wouldn't make that mistake again. If there was an 'again'.
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He turned to run, because at least the other man had a knife instead of a firearm, but the aftermath of the explosion had left him with fewer motor skills than he would have preferred. Thus, he made it only a slow three steps before Tavish collided with him, sending him crashing to the ground, the combat knife sliding neatly between his ribs with a shock of pain that tore a rough scream from him.
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"Fuck you," he gasped. Physically, he was in no state to win a brawl with this man, but he wouldn't die here, not today. He had too much left to accomplish. He had precious few options, but one shining opportunity currently glared at him from a dark, rugged face.
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Rhys fumbled to get his arm up, grabbing on to the side of Tavish's face and digging his thumb hard into Tavish's un-patched eye.

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Rhys could appreciate Yumi's decisive action in the face of such a ridiculous embodiment of danger; this was more reminiscent of his experience with her in the Mechanical Kingdom than their last foray into this city, so it appeared that as long as the horror show was kept at arms' length, she made for a valuable ally. "Oh, good, we know its name," he panted. "Looks like it fits, too."
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As Yukiko darted out to fire a CONFUSE RAY at the Guzzlord, Maia detached herself from around Rhys's neck and offered a HELPING HAND, giving the darting beam the distance and intensity required to slam into the Guzzlord in an array of flickering, distracting lights. The beast roared, flailing a further path of destruction as it slowly, inexorably ambled toward their position, crushing everything in its path.
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It opened its enormous mouth even wider - which Rhys hadn't realized possible - and the man moved to stand ahead of Yumi, wary of the attack that was surely coming from the strangely armored creature. Instead of a colossal blast of energy, however, a sinuous, pincer-tipped tongue shot out like a crazed, sentient grappling hook, zipping beneath the graceful Ninetales to latch directly on to Rhys's ankle.
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"Ow!" he exclaimed reflexively, trying to dislodge his leg, followed by: "Oh, fu-"
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With a cry, he was summarily yanked off his feet and dragged toward the Guzzlord, the force of the pull whipping him at speed inches above the jagged ground. "Do somethiiiiiing!" he yelped, his scrabbling hands finding no purchase on the loose stones and debris forming the basis of his passage.
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With a high-pitched coo, Maia flew forward, but despite her sudden surge of motion, she was slower than the Guzzlord's hunger. Her attack, however, was not, and a PETAL BLIZZARD spread outward in a breathtaking array of sharp color that lacerated the offending appendage, causing it to release its prey and snap back into the mouth from which it had come.
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Rhys groaned as he rolled to a landing - not a soft one, as several stones to his legs and ribs attested - but a landing nonetheless. Scraped and battered, he still had the wherewithal to bring himself to his feet, staring warily at the Guzzlord before turning back to call toward Yumi, "We gotta bring the firepower, you ready?"

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"I have no idea," Rhys murmured in response, nearly stumbling as he navigated his way across a field of enormous, boulder-like debris. His Comfey, who apparently considered having to float behind her trainer to be leagues beneath her, hung around his neck, her bright coloration a stark departure from his otherwise monochrome attire.
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The alleyways were few and sparse here, blocked as they were by piles of rubble and twisted metal framing. The long furrow he and Yumi found themselves navigating led through what had to at one point be a row of buildings, but now resembled nothing more than something akin to jagged trees cut too soon, their remains creating an arena instead of a skyline.
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Suddenly, the ground began to rumble threateningly, and Rhys did lose his balance this time, his foot sliding off of a piece of rubble as he landed hard on the unforgiving stone. At first he thought it was another low building collapsing, but the enormous shape coming into view was, in fact mobile, and not shaped like a building at all.
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Rounded in silhouette, the creature possessed glowing blue eyes, too many clawed appendages, and - terrifyingly - a gaping, fang-toothed maw nearly as big as its body. Nearly thirty feet tall, the thing systematically chewed through and destroyed the ground and structure around it, casting further debris in a wide radius that told Rhys exactly what had happened here.
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"I have an idea! I have an idea!" he yelped, dragging himself to his feet - dammit, his ankle was not going to like him in the morning - and hurriedly tried to move to the side of the valley toward the safety of what remained of the buildings - at least they wouldn't be in the wide open expanse of the street.
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The sudden flash of blue in his direction and the accompanying ground-shaking growl, however, told him the Ultra Beast had other plans.

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Rhys's next round of reading was interrupted by the ground shaking.
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Wait, that wasn't supposed to happen.
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He looked around in bewilderment, setting his eyes on Gaius, who had unleashed an EARTHQUAKE that sent a curious Mienfoo scampering in the opposite direction with a squeak. Sighing, he thumbed the power button on his tablet and folded the case closed, reaching down to stuff it into his satchel. It was just as well - the idea of taking a break in the Safari Zone had not been an unsound one, but it wasn't the best environment for quiet reading.
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"Alright, we'll keep moving," he assured his Nidoking, standing from the bench and slinging his satchel over his shoulder. Fortunately, his yogurt was finished, at least, but what to do with the cup? He didn't see a trash container in any direction, which was...well, inconvenient.
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Screw it. Was he a member of a feared and respected terrorist organization bent on world domination or not?
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He crumpled the cup and threw it over his shoulder, setting off down the path. He didn't even feel guilty for it.

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The third time may typically have been the charm, but despite his best efforts Rhys couldn't bring himself to find anything particularly charming about this place. The wormhole deposited him at yet another part of the city he hadn't explored on either of his previous expeditions, and as devastated as the last segment had been, this was even more so.
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The streets practically crumbled underfoot, and while the general outline of some buildings remained, great furrows in the earth and through the edifices were nearly circular in nature, as though some enormous worm had decided to make a meal of the surrounding infrastructure.
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A frisson of fear ran down his spine as he surveyed the damage; he'd never seen something capable of causing this level of destruction, but then again he'd only seen zombies in movies until discovering this strange place, so he supposed anything was possible. As Yumi stepped out behind him, his attention was drawn to the tall tower near the city center.
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A blinding light erupted from the summit, casting crazed shadows from the silhouette of the shattered skyline, and the distant sound of shuffling groans reached Rhys's ears as the insensate beings who populated this forgotten city shambled toward the display, just as they had been drawn to the fireworks created by the strange pokemon before.
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"Look," he murmured lowly to Yumi, indicating the tower. "That's got their attention somehow. If we keep to the outskirts, we may be able to avoid them entirely this time. We've got this, right?" Admittedly, his pep talks needed work, but he could think of worse.

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