'Toge?' Togepi reached out his hand to tap Thomas's. 'Pi!'

Togepi looked up at Thomas with large, innocent eyes. The egg waggled his fingers thoughtfully as a Metronome began to blossom. After a few moments, a Rain Dance filled several halls in Sea Mauville with water, stifling distant fires and soaking Rex and Thomas from head to toe.

Togepi was, in fact, a cutie.

"Togepi, no! I can't afford dry cleaning!" Rex moaned as his hair began to drip water everywhere. It did not take long for the Rain Dance to abate. "Togepi!"

'Toge toge!' The egg raised its small, stubby arms, demanding uppies from Thomas Benoit. Togepi's eyes grew wide and innocent as it attempted to melt the soldier's heart and turn Thomas to his cause.

---

Thomas Benoit
31. Use a pokemon to suppress fires.

Holy shit. A cute girl with a Pikachu was rescuing him.

This was the best day of his life.

With the door blasted open and Meltan feasting upon it like a king dining at a banquet, Rex and his rescuer get to turn and dance with the crabs that desire feasting on bone and marrow. They're ugly buggers, but that's fine.

It just means that it's better practice.

"Eh? I didn't need the help, y'know! I can take them with my hands tied behind my back." Rex mimed throwing hands at the Crawdaunts, before grinning at the ranger. "But I appreciate the help! I'll try to leave you with some glory!"

Kirlia rolled his eyes to the heavens, as if wondering how Rex could be so shameless and arrogant. They had been together for years, and the young trainer was all talk. Whenever there was a yapping contest, Althus Rex came second to none. Still, the Littleroot survivor was his trainer.

That meant he had to try.

Another Disarming Voice erupted from the Kirlia's mouth with a screech, causing the Crawdaunts to cringe and collapse under Keanu's Thunder Wave. They did not rise, and Rex turned to face the ranger on the other side of the melting door.

"See? Easy!" Rex beamed at Genny with a grin. "I didn't-"

A Crawdaunt loomed over him, swinging its claw down in a Crabhammer.

---

Genevieve Cromwell
02. Locate and free any trapped individuals.

"That's my man! Nice!" Rex cheered as the engineers and Sea Mauville staff were ushered out of the room and up the stairs. Sea Mauville continued to creak and groan, but they had managed to save a small handful of people today. "We rock!"

As far as Rex was concerned, that was more than enough.

All that they had to do now was ascend with the freed people and report in. It had been a remarkably simple mission due to Razz's competence. Rex hadn't helped much, but he had learned a lot.

"Yeah, we're basically the best people in the history of ever, if you ask me." Rex nodded to himself and beamed at the ranger. "Mind putting in a good word for me when this is over?"

---

Raziel Beckett

He puffed up pridefully at the princess's compliment. She could almost see the compliment going to his head.

"Yeah, I lift and never skip day. It's really important to keep after it!" Rex beamed at her and scratched his cheek bashfully. "Probably helps that I walk everywhere. Bus tickets are expensive."

It didn't explain how he had made it to Sea Mauville of all places. Had he swam all the way here?

Within the room was a group of huddled engineers, shuddering and trembling. They let out moans of relief and cheers of liberation as the princess and her royal procession entered the room.

"Yes, we've come to save you! Come along, now. Chop chop!"

---

Elise Calcifet

FATE/GRAND ORDER COSMOS IN THE LOSTBELT IS ENDING BEFORE HOENN DOES

He went into the room.

"Don't worry, Tsuru! It's just a bunch of Litwick! What's the worse they can do? Burn me?" Rex laughed and waved off her concerns as he poked around the room. Candles flickered in the wind, and an odd circle was scribbled on the floor with a hundred and seven markings made. "What sort of cult were these guys up to?"

Much to Tsuru's chagrin and in spite of her shouts and cries, Rex nudged the Odd Keystone with his foot. A foreboding presence emanated from the stone in waves as it began to rattle.


1̶͙̼͉͓̯̗͖͇̫̪͑0̶̲͙̝͉͎̘͇̘̘̱͓̻̐̃̆̅̌̽̽̐̕͠͠͝8̴̨̞̲̜̹̜̉̎̉̉̊̈́ ̸̨̖̪̹̬͉̆͜͝ͅş̷̞͈͉̲̙̙̗̩̼̜́͑̇̍͜o̴̡̝̣͍͈̞̰̤̬̓̂͊̽̎͑̎͂̽̚̚͠͠u̶̢̳͈̣̤̹̦̮̠̯̼̿́̈̈͊̉͆͊̍͐̕ḷ̴̢͖̖̫̝̬͚̜͕̳͇̲͖̐́͊̄̾̌s̵͍͚̞͆̔̿͂͂̒̓̈́́̓͝ͅ


Uh oh.

The crevice in the stone glowed with a malignant aura as violet energy erupted from the crack. Dozens of glowing orbs emerged in a flash, before coalescing together into an evil grin.

"WHAT THE FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!?!?" Rex stumbled back as the spirit cackled in delight. "TSURU? TSURU! WHAT DID I DO?"

---

Mitsuru Kagami
02. Locate and free any trapped individuals.

Mint caught the files. A prudent decision, too. The water would have ruined them, and Rex and Airi would have to do a walk of shame back to their superior and explain that they lost sensitive information to a wet floor.

That'd be embarrassing. It might've even caused Rex to consider swan diving off the tallest point in Sea Mauville.

"That was good thinking. Nice work!" Rex waggled his finger in a way similar to his Togepi's Metronome. Togepi mirrored the action, and the two finished waggling their fingers in asynchronous harmony. He beamed at Airi as he pilfered his way through the files. If they brought back someone's secret diary instead of the desired intel, they'd be in trouble. "You're the real MVP. You'll be as good as me, one day!"

His eyes scanned the files. Lots of ledgers. Lots of numbers. Lots of abandoned scripts. This looked like something that someone had hidden in a hurry, and within the wall of a random restroom had been the best available place.

Strange. It made the young trainer shift uneasily as he put the files back into the basket. It was either that or her intense gaze. It was like the nurse was drilling into the back of his head.

"Yeah, we can go back, I guess." Rex shifted awkwardly, before looking at his colleague. "But I have a request! No, a question!"

His gaze grew intense.

"Can I..." His eyes began to sparkle. "...battle you, sometime? You're strong, and I want all the practice I can get to become Hoenn's champion!"

---

AIRI WATANABE

"Woah..."

For the past hour that Thomas had been descending into Sea Mauville, Rex had been staring at him. It wasn't an antagonistic stare, meaning the young trainer likely wasn't a Megalopolan in disguise or anything like that. His eye sparkled with the inner light that made it clear the younger man had yet to be forged in the crucible of battle.

Yet he knew of the warriors who had fought at the region's behalf.

Even before the operation, when Rex was stacking bags of sand, his eye had been sparkling as he giggled in anticipation of partnering with Thomas fucking Benoit.

"Mr. Benoit, I'm a huge fan of your work! Your Elite Four matches always wowed me. I can't believe I've met two, no, three members of the Elite Four on this ship. I'm so lucky!" Even if he had left the group, strength recognized strength, and Thomas was strong. "You were always like 'wham' and 'pow' in your matches!"

Near Thomas's foot, a Togepi followed closely behind.

'Toge toge?'

---

Thomas Benoit
12. Ensure sufficientnt supplies are available for the operation.

After much contemplation, Rex had come to the conclusion that Metronome was a sham, his luck was terrible, and that all this time, Togepi was the lucky one. No, it wasn't just any luck. It was Super Luck.

Somehow, that made the young trainer feel worse. He was going to get throttled because in a cosmological throw of the dice, his Togepi had teleported him into the bowels of Sea Mauville. The nature preserve was already sinking, but to get teleported into the den of a raging, Terastallized Crawdaunt?

Forgetting rolling ones on the dice, he was rolling zeroes.

"You wanna go? I'll kick your ass! C'mere! Come at me!" The door behind him was locked. It meant that Rex and the only Pokémon that Togepi hadn't spared from teleportation was his Kirlia, bless his heart. "Go, Kirlia! Disarming Voice!"

With a weary glance and a sigh, Kirlia took a deep breath. He hated using this move. It was unbecoming of warrior, yet if Rex demanded it...

Another deep breath.

"AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

---

Genevieve Cromwell
09. Use signaling methods to call for additional support.

REDEEMING:
IRON TREADS (MOVES TBA) FROM WATER OPS
USING WATER OPS FREEVO TO KIRLIA -> GALLADE

BUYING:
MEGA RING (GALLADITE AS FREEBIE)
TOTAL: 500 PD

MAIN TEAM:
TOGEPI (MALE) - HUSTLE - Metronome/Baby Doll Eyes/Charm/Double Edge/Life Few/Charm
MUNCHLAX (MALE) - THICK FAT - Metronome/Swallow/Stockpile/Body Slam/Bite/Last Resort
ZIGZAGOON (MALE) - PICKUP - Pin Missile/Headbutt/Covet/Flail/Sand Attack/Double Edge
TRAPINCH (FEMALE) - ARENA TRAP - Earthquake/Superpower/Crunch/Sandstorm/Dig/Sand Attack
GALLADE (MALE) - SHARPNESS - Psycho Cut/Sacred Sword/Aqua Cutter/Protect/Future Sight/False Swipe - TERA: Psychic

OTHER 'MONS:
AZUMARILL (FEMALE) - HUGE POWER - Superpower/Play Rough/Rollout/Helping Hand/Bounce/Aqua Ring
JUMPLUFF (MALE) - LEAF GUARD - Acrobatics/Cotton Spore/Giga Drain/U-Turn/Stun Spore/Poison Powder


KEY ITEMS:
MEGA RING
LOTADPAIL

MEGA STONES:
GALLADITE

ITEMS:
FIVE POKEBALLS
TWO TMS
ONE PREMIUM GACHA
ONE TERA SHARD


ITEM CHANGELOG
OBTAINED TERA SHARD FROM WATER OPS
OBTAINED TWO TMS FROM WATER OPS
OBTAINED PREMIUM GACHA FROM WATER OPS
OBTAINED FREE EVOLUTION FROM WATER OPS, USED
OBTAINED IRON TREADS FROM WATER OPS

Rex wasn't stressed. He was simply wary of breaking the rules! They existed for a reason, and if he and Airi broke them on a whim, they were no better than criminals. Rules were meant to be followed. If they weren't, then...

Don't think about it.

Instead, he puffs up with pride at the praise. It's childish and, deep down, he suspected that Airi was naturally loose with her praise of others. Still, there was little need to look that deeply. It was praise, and what sort of child didn't like praise? Or, as the ranger nurse would call him, a 'kid adult'.

"Gotcha. No worries, shouldn't take me more than a minute..." Rex felt the wall again. Hard, but crumbling. It was plaster designed to be broken later to claim whatever was within. He kicked it once, and it refused to crumble. He did it again, and it refused to crack. His face quickly flushed in shame, which quickly paled as the Crawdaunt wandered in. "Shoot."

He look at Airi innocently. "Think that one's female?"

The ranger nurse leapt into action, leaving the young trainer behind. He grumbled as she did so. He wanted to fight. He hadn't gotten to throw hands since he and keiko mori had beaten that Blaziken. Still, he was riding the high of giving out his autograph and number.

Airi could have this one.

"Alright, Togepi." Rex held the egg in front of him, their heads touching. "Here's what you're gonna do."

"Toge toge!"

"You're gonna do your Metronome thing..."

"Toge."

"Waggle your finger..."

"Toge."

"And you're gonna punch through that wall."

"Toge?"

"I dunno, use like, Brick Break or something! It's brick, right? Break it!"

"Toge." Togepi nodded in affirmation, before waggling his finger to cast another Metronome. Rex's Metronome luck was pretty good, but he had still almost blown up half the ship with an attempted Explosion. This time, though, the Metronome converted into the Brick Break that they both desired. "Pi!"

The wall shattered. Files and folders came falling out.

"Nice." Rex rubbed cheeks with the Togepi in delight. "This is why you're the best!"

---

AIRI WATANABE

The bends were an obnoxious thing. They were fortunate that the water was relatively shallow, though it was still a dangerous thing. Luckily, the safe rose at a moderately slow rate, and the Binacles below weren't willing to swim up and chase after their home.

A fortunate thing, Silverio and Rex getting jumped by a bunch of barnacles sounded like a horrid end to Rex's great tale. The future champion losing to a bunch of barnacles? Absurd. Deranged. A mockery.

He would not allow it to happen. Especially with Silverio to witness such a folly.

The light shimmered above as the safe breached the surface. Rex pulled the apparatus from his mouth and groaned. His voice was wet and ragged, and he fell onto his back, breathing heavily.

"Fuuuuuuuuuck. Silvestre, that sandwich better be incredible. Hell, it better pay my taxes." The safe landed against the floor with a thud, and rangers began to swarm it and their two brave volunteers. "Never doing that again. I'm scared of that shit."

---

silverio delfino