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"Letters? What le- oh," Rhys cuts himself off. The Unown, yeah, those seemed to be Nomi's thing. Creeped him out, a little bit, sometimes, but he'd worked in all manner of places with security cameras all over, so on some level having Nomi on the other end of them was a step up from his previous employment.
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"Oh, damn it," he sighs, shoulders slumping as they reached the research station to find it empty. He'd been hoping for another scientist down here to get things rolling, and clearly Parker had been looking for the same - or one scientist in particular, anyway, so at least they were both disappointed. Misery did love company.
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"Ev, go check the drill, make sure nothing's been chewing on it while it's been unsupervised, I've already seen two of these get almost totaled, and I'm not taking my chances at this point." He unshoulders his satchel and begins rummaging through it. "Yeah, this oughtta do," he replies, glancing at Parker over his shoulder.
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"Hang out if you like, and thanks for the company. Fucking robots," he grunts, coming out of his satchel with a small data pad that he begins poking at. "I'd say I'm glad you think so, but I know what you mean. Some of these guys...yeesh," he trails off, partly because he doesn't want to go into it and partly because he doesn't want anything to get around if he did say something.
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He moves into the station proper, head in his data pad. No rest for the weary or the wicked, it seemed.
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Kidding? Rhys thought the minute he no longer had feet on solid earth. I hope you bruise.
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The sensation of being buoyed by PSYCHIC energy was an unfamiliar and unwelcome one, but he supposed it was better than the alternative of breaking something at the end of his fall. Despite the precaution - or perhaps because of it - he was surprised and a little gratified that his impact on the other man was less than graceful and sent them both down in an ungainly fashion.
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Serves you right, he grimaced, pushing against the other man in an attempt to get off the floor, or at least directly off the person who was currently at the top of his frustrations.
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"Oh, yeah, you sure did. My hero," he quipped, rolling his eyes. "This part's going in the story."
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As his Audino's LIFE DEW finished its work, Rhys let his head hang, just for a moment. This had been far more excitement than he'd bargained for, but at least he'd made it this far. If it had been six months ago, Rhys was unerringly certain that he'd be bleeding out on the ground where he and Marianne encountered the first Megalopolan - and her beside him, as likely.
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Still, he'd come here as an independent researcher, and she the same, so he shouldn't feel conflicted. He knew he was putting on a show, the smiling mask he wore when he encountered...well, anyone, really. The submarine - no, that first mission with Zev Harcourt - had been the first time he'd really been himself. Not a psychopath, not a megalomaniac, no, just...tired. Frustrated. Bitter. Vengeful.
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Growling, snapping, and sulking wouldn't help the woman - girl, really - who'd entered the space with him, and if he were honest it wouldn't help him, either, so the polite, reserved, encouraging mask did all the talking.
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He did raise an eyebrow at Marianne's Klefki setting to work at the door, and it was as honest a reaction as he'd ever given. It seemed that she was in fact capable, in the right circumstances. "Nice job," he ground out, coming slowly to his feet.
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At her inquiry, he shook his head. "Barricading isn't going to help, I think, not if these things really want to get in. Still, between the illusion and you setting things right, it's bought us more time than if we'd just been sitting here with the door wide open. We need a way out."
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He moved slowly, but he moved, at least, which was a positive. Heading to the stairs, he beckoned Marianne. "If there's one entrance, there might be more than one exit. Maybe, if we're lucky, we can come back here in the future, when we're more prepared. Save us the time of having to dodge those...things right off the bat, yeah?"

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The silence between Rhys's offer and Caden's response was deafening, and for a moment all Rhys could hear was the blood pounding in his ears.
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The response that came was as infuriating as it was welcome. Fucking self-righteous piece of-
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His mental tirade was cut short by the appearance of the Magneton and the subsequent appearance of its TRI-ATTACK, neatly taking out his aggressors. Having narrowly avoided one of the beams itself, his Crobat took the welcome opportunity to immediately drop to the ground, unmoving.
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Rhys squinted over to the thing. It at least appeared to be breathing.
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"You've got to be kidding me," he hissed under his breath at the man's next comment. Still, it wasn't like he had any face to save at this point, not here.
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He jumped.
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Absurdly pleased with his capt- er, rescue of the small Toxel, Rhys was lighthearted and light-footed on the way back to the entrance of the Safari Zone, Alakazam floating behind with his arms crossed petulantly.
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"Here, now," Rhys encouraged, "You did wonderfully, but not everything is an excuse to push combat. Know your strategies, see?"
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A small Froakie hopped out of the water from a nearby pond, and Alakazam looked at Rhys expectantly, raising an eyebrow.
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"...fine," Rhys allowed, "But hold back again. Careful."
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The psychic pokemon hummed an assent, closing his eyes and concentrating. A single spark of pink energy from what had to be the worlds tiniest PSYCHIC winked into existence and tapped against the Froakie's head, sending it flopping backward, eyes spinning.
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Rhys grinned, throwing his final Safari ball at the fallen amphibian. "Well done, very well done. Focus is key, I've told you."
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Patting the Alakazam absently on the shoulder, he continued on toward the entrance, whistling softly.

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"Oh, sure," Rhys replies faintly. "The brass knuckles make the difference." He dug a finger into his ear, but no, he didn't appear to be hearing things. Who in the hell was this woman? Is having a screw loose part and parcel of operating 'extracurriculars' in the region, and he'd missed the memo?
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Well, he had his own screws loose, but none that had him running headfirst at a wild Paradox pokemon to punch it. He briefly thought that his erstwhile companion had a lot in common with that asshole (tavish rose) from Sootopolis, and idly wondered what it would look like for them to meet.
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Shaking his head, he snapped out of that thought immediately. There were some apocalyptic scenarios that did not need consideration.
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Her subsequent comment has Rhys immediately digging into his ear again, but no, still no obstruction or ringing. He immediately colors and raises his eyebrows nervously, unsure how to respond, but is saved from having to do so by Parker darting off ahead.
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"Yeah, no, we're almost there. Is she supposed to be out on one of these digs?"

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Rhys scowls at nothing in particular - these snap decisions are coming more and more frequently, these days, and he's tired of the pressure of making the wrong choice.
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The wrong choice, though, would be to try and pick the herd of Paradox pokemon off, he feels. An unknown number, only two Grunts defending, and that's not to say what else might happen if more pokemon decided to join the fracas.
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Digging into his satchel, he recalls his Goodra and replaces it with his ghostly Zoroark, growling instructions to it.
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Between one moment and the next, the pokemon is replaced with an identical - albeit smirking - copy of Rhys himself, down to the stain on the collar of his coat from lunch.
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With a nod, the fake Rhys takes off at a sprint out of the sandstorm, buzzing past a Scream Tail that wails loudly, whirling to pursue him.

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Ah, Arceus, one of those guys, Rhys cursed silently. He should have expected more of this sort of thing, in hindsight, than what he'd really experienced so far.
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His Crobat had taken out the Iron Valiant, at last, but the Bundle waddling toward Rhys was looking like more than the bat could handle - and it was already looking worse for the wear after prolonged fighting. He could call out another pokemon, but would that be quick enough to beat either side of the Paradox beasts rushing him during the lapse?
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He hated taking chances.
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"Hell if I know!" he called down to the other man. "I don't have money!"
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An arc of electricity snapped into the wall too close to him for comfort.
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"I'll tell everybody I come across for the next month how you saved my neck, how's that? But it's predicated on you actually saving my neck!"
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The only thing saving Rhys's neck right now - and that of the woman he was currently attempting to cover (him, a bona fide nerd, holding off a gaggle of pokemon, ha) - is the fact that the group of Brute Bonnets is sizeable enough to be a problem but not sizeable enough to be overwhelming.
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With the Haze working in their favor, Rhys is able to direct his Crobat in cutting down any of the walking fungi that get too close to their position - though some calls are closer than others, he has a system going. He just hopes that they'll have a way out before more pokemon are drawn to the scuffle, or he really doesn't know what he'll be doing then.
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Glancing over to see what progress Nenet has made, he finds his shoulders sagging in relief as she pulls the machine from the ground. That's their professional lives given leave to continue, now they just need to see about their biological ones.
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Her next move has his jaw dropping. "Holy shit," he articulates as the Celesteela manifests. Scrambling forward - he's not going to stop and ask twice - he clambers onto the free arm, leaning over to shout at Nenet, "You've gotta be kidding me!"
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Apparently she wasn't, as the thing launched into the air of its own propulsion. It's like we're blasting off, he thought giddily to himself as the brawling pokemon grew smaller and smaller. He only hoped he wouldn't ever find himself in a future situation where he'd have to blast off again, at least. This was murder on the arms.
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He hadn't come in through the tunnels, he'd come in around the back of the trailhead, so Rhys had somehow found himself now dealing with the holy trinity of wrenches being thrown into his mission: unfamiliar terrain, a herd of angry pokemon pursuing him, and a one-eyed crazy person accusing him of crimes that he didn't even have proof of!
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Although, Rhys supposed that if the other guy did know some of what Rhys had done over the past few years, he'd be throwing something bigger than rocks.
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He almost did a double take as he saw the first stone hit the ground in front of him, then another. "You've got to be kidding me," he panted lowly, rounding a corner in the tunnel and coming face to face with a half-formed stalagmite directly in front of him. Unable to slow down, he vaulted over it, landing with a thud that he was sure he'd be feeling in his legs and back for the next week.
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"Better watch that arm!" He yelled, though the din of the pursuing pokemon was loud enough, now, that he had no idea whether he'd be heard or not. Screw it, it felt good anyway. "I can fix a torn rotator cuff, I can't fix stupid!"
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He'd undergone more physical training in the almost-year he'd been part of Rocket than he had in the past five put together, but at his core Rhys had to admit he was not built for strength or stamina. If he started flagging, he'd be far more closely acquainted with these creatures than he'd gambled on.
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Another zig-zag of the tunnel, and then - light? Was that the other side? This was too claustrophobic for him to hide, evade, fight back, or anything other than flee, but if he could make it into the open space, he might solve both of his problems at once with a little time.
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Wheeling back from one of the Brute Bonnets that had ventured too close to him, Rhys can't offer much more than a grateful grunt at Nenet's response, his Crobat barely saving his neck with an AIR SLASH that tore the offending fungus in two.
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The haze seemed to be working, at least enough for Solrock and Crobat to be picking off one of the Paradox pokemon here and there, but a low series of noises from deeper along the trail has Rhys's heart lurching into his throat. He nods to Nenet - "Go, I've got your back." and calls to his Crobat, "Finish the poisoned ones, time's up!"
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The Crobat screeches in response and proceeds to vomit a stream of viscous liquid that splatters onto a Brute Bonnet, already ill from poison, and promptly melts it into a smelly slough against the ground. Even fighting for his life, Rhys did enjoy a good VENOSHOCK.
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