They circle each other like predators toeing the line for territory to see how far they can push it.

Yet as the strange man with the stench of death on him offers a way back from the underworld, a chance to be ferried by Charon from this purgatory back into the world of the living, all Rex can do is smile.

The man is honest.

How commendable.

It's a rarity in this world. It's something that Keiko said that Rex lacked, and she was correct. It was where he was at his most defective. In part, it's why Pokeballs are flung in spite of the danger. Additional weapons are not to be abandoned.

"You think I'd run from this? Hell no, man." Gallade silently groaned. He was a warrior. He could sense the strength in this man, even as they circled each other in this masquerade of equality. "I need this. Haven't had a good fight in ages. Been bored."

There's a wildness to his smile as his Gallade lunged forward with a Psycho Cut intent on sending Hitoshi's head flying into the air.

"And I gotta kill you first."

---

Hitoshi Inoue
CATCHA DA LINOONE

The fire scalded his cheek. In another life, that would be the end of Rex's story. Fire would melt his flesh like candlewax and he'd collapse to the ground a husk of cooked meat. Yet that life is not this one. This life is meant to continue.

For to continue is to deny the outrage of nonexistence that this barking dog plans to put him under. There are plenty of men like him, soldiers fighting for a cause that nobody particularly cared for. There were plenty of people like Rex, nameless men wandering the region in an attempt to survive war.

That normally includes bleating and begging. Instead...

"Nice! That was pretty good, actually. Good form!" A Pokémon is saved from the flames, and the fox is stuffed into Rex's belt. "I felt that!"

He tapped his cuff to beat out a stray flame. His grin is a cocky one in the face of death.

"I'm living my life, and you're out here starting shit?" Rex snorted as he and the man circled each other on this empty road. "You Rocket?"

There was a smell to this man. He could smell the stench of death on him that accompanied war.

---

Hitoshi Inoue
CATCHING EEVEE

keiko mori owed too many packages. Petalburg was gone and mail needed to be sent, so who was Rex to deny her when she threw a stack of packages at him and demanded that he actually be productive and deliver them?

Ignoring that he was meant to be training to fight Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki and finally claim her badge, at least. Dewford's Gym Leader was a surprisingly tough cookie, Rex had decided after seeing the sparks of Dynamax in the sky during one of her challenges.

With that in mind, he trekked down the road. The packages were delivered, which meant it was time to cross the region again to get back home.

His Gallade walks alongside him, a knight dedicated to the defense of his lord regardless of what happened. There was hardly a more loyal Pokémon, Rex decided.

There was hardly one of a keener sense, either. Gallade's eyes narrowed as he regarded the treeline.

And it's with that precognition that Rex was pushed aside as the cleave of a sword cut through the air, narrowly missing the young trainer by inches.

---

Hitoshi Inoue

Rex turned to face Eris. Already, his skin was covered in soot from the abhorrent working conditions of this great industrial engine. If the children yearned for the mines, then the adolescents yearned to lose their arm in a clockwork monstrosity.

"The fuck's a Gemsly?" Rex seemed appalled that anyone would name their Pokémon Gemsly of all things. It was probably for the best. If Rex had the choice between between naming his Pokémon Gemsly and giving up on his dreams, he would probably kill himself right then and there.

"These are Carbink!"

"CARBINK CARBINK CARBINK CARBINK-"

He isn't blessed with the divine knowledge to translate Carbink-speak. That's a power reserved only for the mentally unwell and for special protagonists.

"What're they even doing here?"

---

Eris Halla

Noah and Cian were both Gym Leaders, which meant that Rex would have to kick their asses eventually if he wanted to become the champion of Hoenn.

"I can't beat them yet. That's why I'm practicing." He mimed throwing a few mock punches through the air, making whishing sounds with his mouth as he did so. It was remarkably good form, in spite of the sound effects. Noah would've given it a 10000/10 if Rex had to guess. "And Cian was the Vital City champion! He's gotta be super strong!"

And definitely not jumping people on benches to strangle a few vitals out of them. CIAN MAHER would never do such a thing.

"But you got it, Ollie. I've got another... twenty assignments lined up. Gotta do my part, yeah? Hoenn patriotism and all that." He could send a letter, and keiko mori was a courier. Maybe he could ask her. "I'll make sure to tone it down. Especially now that Togepi is back."

The Togepi was scooped into Rex's arms.

"Again, thanks for your help. Next time, though..." He winked. "I've got 'em."

---

ollie morales

They hadn't met personally. Rex was not some Ollie Morales superfan that went to all of his speeches and public appearances. Ever Grande was too far away, and Rex hadn't gotten all of the badges yet to challenge the Pokémon League.

Emphasis on 'yet'.

"No, you're the guy who gave the speech with the white-haired council chick!" Rex scratched his chin thoughtfully. It was certainly one way to describe freya morningstar. "Can you tell her to repeal the Pokémon licensing thing? It's really inconvenient!"

An understatement, but besides the point.

"Rex. It's short for Rex." The young man pouted as he regarded the dozing Empoleons. "Pity. I was having a blast. Guess I'll have to find something else to throw hands with to pass the time."

---

ollie morales

Eventually, the moment ended.

Eventually.

She curled against him, her face buried in his chest as he twirled her silky locks in an open hand. His eyes met hers, the embers of a fervid gaze flickering and burning within pupils that shifted colors as he looked at them. Were Keiko's eyes that dark purple? He could've sworn that they were a lighter shade of azure a few minutes before.

Ah, there was that shade again.

How curious.

Her halfhearted attempt at a neat pile of clothes had quickly fell apart when his had been haplessly thrown over them, the Togepi boxes having caused an eye roll and a scoff before Keiko had silenced herself in other ways. What a woman.

"I lost track." Rex confessed as his hand followed her face, caressing her neck and lingering at her recently acquired bite marks. His fingers explored each indent left by him, before down towards her back and lower still. "But I confess."

His lips twitched upwards for a moment.

"I wish this moment could last forever."

---

keiko mori

"Time never felt special to me. It's just time. A clock ticks, an alarm goes off, or the sun shines in my face. Either way, I'm up." He kept Littleroot silent. Time had not been on his side then. "And life goes on. There's still things that people like us have to do, regardless of if we plan or not."

No matter how Keiko had planned this trip, she would not have anticipated the shipwreck that left them here, nor the time Pelipper spent traveling to Dewford or Slateport or even making it there at all. She could minimize risk, but things would still go amiss.

That was the way of the world.

"It feels like if I plan every step, every scenario, I'll lose out on moments like this. This wouldn't have happened if every scenario had been mapped out." He watched as her hair fell down, long and loose. He imagined braiding it between his fingers, like he had used to do for his sister when they were younger. "I'm already stuck in the past, I don't want to be stuck in the future too."

Was Rex weird? His brain said definitely, especially since Keiko was stripping as he did so. Time and fate and the meaning of life were too vast of topics for him. The courier definitely thought he was deranged.

"I want to live in the present, where what I do matters immediately. It's-"

She turned to him. He blinked once, before reddening.

Fuck.

"-comforting."

---

keiko mori

What happened after was for tomorrow. They would not get off of this island today, but rescue would come or they would claw their way from this small, forested strip of land with nothing but their hands and sheer will. Even if their water supplies dwindled and their few allies abandoned them, they would survive.

They both had that obligation. To each other and to themselves. They would see the sun rise. They'd see the sun fall. They'd see it rise again.

They were going to live.

Even if he should be dead.

No matter what happened after they left this island behind, that fact would not change. Nor would it change the fact that in this moment, they needed one another.

As they left the water, trails of saltwater trickled from his wounds and into the sand below. Not just the wounds, but them. It fell from them in small trails, and Rex shook his head like a Growlithe, sending drops of water everywhere.

"How do you do it?" He asked curiously. "Plan so far ahead, I mean? You always know what to do next, no matter what happens."

---

keiko mori

Selfishness was just another form of faith. Belief in one's self. Belief in the fact that they deserved something that others did not. It was not the belief in a higher power, but something else entirely. It was a fervent need that allowed for continued functioning and continued life.

Time would not heal all wounds. Some scars would never fade.

"I need you more." He leaned in to taste the salt on the air, on her face, on her lips. He squeezed and did not let go. "Please don't leave. Please stay. Please..."

Please...

"...stay with me. Even when we get off this island." His voice trembled at the selfishness of the request, at the mockery of the demand, at the absurdity of this development. It had been a day, almost two. This was absurd, like a bad romance novel that his neighbor had loved to read. "No matter what."

Funny, then, that it didn't feel terrible to live through.

---

keiko mori

Togepi. It was such an innocent Pokémon. In a sense, it was similar to Rex. Yet Gallade fit him better, and it was a stronger Pokémon than the egg. It acted as an anomaly that tied him to Littleroot. For her to ask about it was utterly random, yet it made perfect sense.

It was a strange Pokémon.

"It was my neighbor's Pokemon. When she disappeared, she left behind Togepi's egg. It hatched when I went through her house, trying to see if she had survived Dialga's attack. She was like a little sister to me." He missed her so much. Yet she was not the only fallen friend that had curdled before raw divinity. "Togepi's a little part of her, even if he's just a baby."

His vision blurred with tears. Rex couldn't tell if it was from the pain of salt on skin or from the memories of yesterday. He could barely see the courier in the water next to him.

"It should have been me."

---

keiko mori

It was that big of an ask.

The Spiritomb was wily, it was violent, and it also had enough souls to play a small pachinko tournament. Between them all, there was definitely a brain cell or three to rub together. The sealed evil was remarkably clever, and as a result, tricking it would be impossible.

"Over here! Idiot! Dipshit! Stupid ghost!" Rex taunted and sneered as he danced from side to side, his Gallade doing much of the work while the Forbidden Pokemon waged its war of attrition with Rex's loyal knight. "Hey! HEY!"

Spiritomb pointedly ignored him, and Gallade struck at the spirit in retaliation for that heinous crime. As Tsuru hid, Rex danced with the spirit for several more moments.

"HELLOOOOOOOOOOOO~"

Gallade, finally annoyed at Rex's incessant bleating, simply kicked the Odd Keystone past the door in question. That was one way to handle it. "Got it!"

---

Mitsuru Kagami
42. Use a pokemon to clear the air of smoke or other noxious gases.

If they got infected, they got infected. Rex suspected it wouldn't matter. Before he grew too weak to travel, they would find a way off this island.

By his own hand, if need be.

"No. Don't be sorry." He insisted, feeling hurt. This was his error. His crime. His sin. It was Keiko's job that had gotten them stranded here, but he had followed and had arguably made it worse at every step of the way. She had done much of the work while he had bled for meaningless goals.

It was all he knew.

"I need you to ask your question." He insisted, his gaze boring a hole through her concern. "Ask it, and I'll do anything you want. I won't complain. I won't betray you. I won't hide anything from you."

The waves lapped at their waists, but Rex did not flinch. He squeezed her shoulders, fervent.

"Ask it."

---

keiko mori