Small lady fixing something up has the same ring as Rex not sleeping in a tent. It sounds off. Wrong. Like Arceus himself has descended from the heavens with the sole purpose of judging the sins of his creations.

"I walked past seventy broken mechs on my way here." Rex inclined his head in his confusion in an attempt to deduce Eris's actions. He struggled to ponder how one little kid was going to fix this giant, dead world full of nothing but lifeless steel and broken machines.

This world's only purpose was to let him practice his blade without lamenting destroying anything of note. Steel could not weep.

"Well, guess I'll have to help! You're gonna need a bodyguard. Come on!"

---

Eris Halla

The fact that this little girl knew that much about mechanics made Rex's head spin. He pursed his lips thoughtfully.

"Let's go scavenging, then. I can't wait to run into the prince!" Rex whistled, his walking to his side. His knight was eternally loyal, profound, and extremely stiff. He wouldn't have looked out of place engulfed in steel, as depressing a realization as that was. "Someone's gotta protect you."

His eyes lingered on Reiner for several moments. He had never seen such a powerful Luxray. He longed to clash with it, but such a fight was meaningless so deep in an unknown world.

The city awaited them, and thus Rex would answer its call. As the younger girl led the way, Rex cocked his head in confusion. "So you know what we need to fix this doodad, right?"

---

Eris Halla

The locker froze for a moment as Rex contemplated this revelation.

"You gotta let me out, even if Togepi wants it! The ship is sinking and there's no way in hell I'm going down with it!" The man in the locker peers through small vents, seeing only the obscured face of the former Top Champion and part-time dog trainer. "Please don't make me beg!"

As if on command, the Togepi began to waggle his fingers with fervor, producing a bright light that threatened to erupt into a Hyper Beam if not properly maintained.

"It's my Togepi, I swear!"

The light grew in intensity, blinding Rex through the small slits in the locker. He let out a shriek of fear and pain as Togepi prepared to fire a mighty strike.

"PLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASE...!"

---

kyle lopez

The locker's shaking ceased for a moment, granting Kyle a rare moment of peace and quiet not felt since he had been atomized and sent to the Hoennian equivalent of hell. Inside, the prisoner was clearly shocked at Kyle's abrasiveness.

What a cruel and heartless man, he was.

"I'm not with the mob! Do I look like a member of Team Rocket?" The locker continued to shake and shift as the man within attempted to escape. The man within began to hyperventilate. "I got teleported into here!"

"toge toge?" Togepi waggled a finger, before nudging Kyle's foot and pointing at the locker, which began to shake even more intensely. Togepi's eyes grew wide as he pleaded with Kyle. "toge!"

"Is that Togepi!? That little bastard!" The locker was practically hopping up and down. "He teleported me in here! Don't trust him, stranger!"

---

kyle lopez
11. Set up temporary shelters for those in need.

The question was an ambush, done before the young man could prepare himself for what was to come. He had barely returned with brush, firewood, and long strips of grass to masquerade as rope. Enough to tie their makeshift camp together when night truly fell and things got cold.

"..." He pretended not to hear her, though the courier's gaze didn't leave his back. After trembling and meeting her glare, he shivered. "It's not important."

Roar of Time rang in his mind as friends and family snapped from existence.

He tossed a few sticks onto the fire and stared at it as he tied long strips of grass together into makeshift rope. Several dozen were remarkably sturdy, Rex realized. It was almost like camping, if not for the hunger gnawing in his gut. He suspected that Keiko was hungry too.

"I can try fishing if the Gogoat plan falls through. I've never tried, but there's a first time for everything, right?"

He laughed, though he didn't meet Keiko's eyes again.

---

keiko mori

He stared at the defeated Pokémon on the ground. It was not dead, merely unconscious. But there was nothing stopping him from finishing the deed. It had attacked him. It had hurt him.

It had pushed him and Gallade to greater heights.

The ultimate display of gratitude would be to offer it a warrior's death, unlike those that had disappeared from existence in the cellar he had hid in, waiting for the apocolypse to end.

Yet it is the sunny Genevieve that rouses him from his stupor. Her faith and her pride and her good spirit are what turned the young trainer to the die. As he did so, the impassive, apathetic face turned bright and smiling.

"Thank you, Cromwell! It was a hard fight, thanks for giving me the chance. Kir- Gallade thanks you too." The Gallade bowed to Genny in a mirror of a certain sheriff's Iron Valiant. Rex grinned, his eyes sparkling. He followed the ranger from the room. ""I could've taken them, though."

He was silent for a spell.

"It would've been too easy for you though, huh?"

---

Genevieve Cromwell

Hoenn was in a war, it was true. Constant back and forth battles between Team Rocket and the League and whatever insane shit descended from the heavens was commonplace. It was a place where anyone with enough strength could make their mark, as long as they reached out and took it.

And it was glorious a tragedy. Hoenn had exceeded the warning signs that Kanto had offered years ago. When the meteor descended and the dome fell, that was when it had become paradise hell.

"You're gonna need to practice, then. There's a lot of dangerous people in the region. Can't let an island get you down." Rex nodded to himself. "We both need to be at our best. If I ever see Dialga over Littleroot again..."

He looked up at the sky.

"...it's done." He made a quick approximation of how much time they had left. A handful of hours. Not an ideal amount of time, but enough. "I'm gonna go gather sticks and whatnot. Stay safe."

The brush rustled as Rex disappeared into it.

---

keiko mori

"Good to see you too, small lady." Rex gave her a look, before whistling at the mechanical marvels that surrounded them. A dozen sci-fi movies couldn't have prepped him for this. It was a mix of fantasy, fiction, and science merged into one. "Well met. Didn't think I'd see you here on a training exercise."

Togepi waggled his fingers before Rex quickly stopped the incoming Metronome. While Togepi's Metronomes were typically lucky, Rex wasn't risking them here.

"I'm training so I can fight the prince! I live in Littleroot, it's not exactly a hard trip." Only in this clownfest of a region was traversing worlds 'not a hard trip', but there was truth to his words. "Why are you here?"

---

Eris Halla

"Guilds, huh?" He only knew about those from those online games that all his neighbors had played together. World of Wobbucraft or something? His parents hadn't paid for a subscription, so he had never gotten a chance to play. Instead, he had been stuck with Varoom Kart 64.

Galar had guilds, didn't they? Old-timey rich people stuff where people pretended they had a profession?

"I never knew." Rex admitted. "Not all too familiar with Sinnoh, if I'm being honest. Old place. Lot of ruins. Why'd you come here? This region sucks."

Eventually, they came across a group of trees that had been curved in on themselves, likely due to wind and time warping what was once a straight-backed set of palms. Everything crumbled eventually, but they could use this to their advantage.

If they found some grass and sticks, it would make an adequate abode to pass the night. Assuming they didn't burn it down with Keiko's legendary fire skills.

"This place looks pretty good." Rex peered towards the sky, where the sun threatened to wane as it descended over the horizon. "Wanna board up here?"

---

keiko mori

Wilderness was an x factor in modern life, and it was one that Rex had slowly accustomed to after setting off from Littleroot. Weeks of wandering in Petalburg Woods looking for strong Pokemon had sharped his instincts. That, plus a crippling lack of money meant that he wasn't unfamiliar with sleeping in ditches, at bus stops, or in the bushes.

"Keiko." He cut through her rambling with a word. Anxiety would soon blossom into fear, and fear would become panic. How many people had he watched lose their minds in hysteria while hiding in the cellar under his house?

How many had he heard slip away into madness before Dialga snapped them away? It didn't matter. He knew how many had returned from the temporal ether.

Zero.

"Listen to me." He gave her a cheery smile. The small, cold core in the center of his pupils sparkled slightly as he pointed at Togepi. "We're gonna be fine. You're gonna be fine. I've slept on a dozen bus benches. I'm basically a survivalist pro!"

A small chuckle escaped his lips before he grew serious again.

"You know a lot of survival facts, though. Do they teach that at courier school?"

---

keiko mori

She had a storage clipboard? Damn.

They were going to die.

Even as the courier hid her letter from the young man's prying eyes, it didn't stop him from attempting to sneak a peek at Keiko's stationary selections. Even as she tried to hide it from him, he still managed to get a glimpse of bright pink parchment as she squirreled it away in an envelope for Pelipper to deliver.

She had pink parchment? Damn.

They were really going to die.

"Still gonna take the poor bird a hot minute to reach civilization. It'll take another to come back." Rex crossed his arms, as if protecting himself. His expression was tight, slightly pained. "I'm fine. We'll be on our own."

The prospect didn't amuse him. Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki 's gym awaited him in Dewford, and he had planned to challenge it for his first badge.

"I'm good." Rex scooped up Togepi and gave Keiko a look. "Let's find a place nearby to set up shop."

---

keiko mori

"Do I look like a ranger? I ain't no boy scout! I just respect the rules!" Rex grumbled as he poked around the tower, his Gallade standing vigil over him like a loyal knight. Every kingdom needed a knight, and while his Gallade was no machine, his loyalty was ironclad.

They had been together through thick and thin, after all.

"I guess I like the Deliboys. Oh, or Pink Florges. Or Melody Miro and her newest album!" Rex beamed in pride. Meeting the Top Champ had been an interesting experience, but it was one he was still working through. "What're you doing with this tower?"

The chance of finding music that fit the average Hoennian youth's taste in this day and age was likely impossible. The Mechanical Kingdom produced music, not noise. Come to think of it, it made plenty of that too.

"Is it broken or something?"

---

Eris Halla

Keiko was fine. Rex took a deep sigh of relief as she rose, her Pelipper appearing in a flash of red light. The poor thing looked rattled and on the verge of collapse. If it could make the journey back to Dewford or Slateport, Rex would eat his shoe.

"Togepi can't teleport us that far. Sorry. You'll have to call for help." Togepi was only a baby, and Rex suspected that relying exclusively on Metronome wasn't particularly wise. Yet still, he tapped his belt and the egg appeared, waddling over to Keiko and Pelipper with surprising swagger. "But I can do this."

Togepi waggled a finger, before tapping Keiko's Pokémon with a Life Dew. The young trainer smiled in satisfaction as he turned to face Keiko.

After that, he turned to Keiko and poked her.

"I think we're somewhere between Slateport and Dewford. You hurt?"

---

keiko mori