"No shit?" He laughed, surprised at the revelation. "Good on you, small lady! Who has it? If it's the first one, then it's probably pretty strong. I bet it's the strongest Type: Null in the land. Not as strong as mine, though."

Sure, they were far more common now than they had been at the start of the Three Days War, but Asterios was special! He wasn't some Ultra Space salvage operation. He was Littleroot's hero and protector, helping Hideo Kino fight for truth, justice, cheese snacks, and freedom.

A small, childish part of him was bummed that Type: Null were plentiful now, but an even larger part of him reasoned that they were great in a fight, so why wouldn't he be excited for more threats on the battlefield?

"So, what you're saying is..." Rex gummed the tip of the screwdriver he had found in his back pocket. They descended down the staircase, before stopping at a door with a few bones in front of it. "...three years? Small lady, that's like, a regular nine to five job at that point. Poor guy's got tenure."

He looked atthe door.

"Where does this go, by the way?"

---

Eris Halla
BINGO: SPACE

Keiko would always be her parents' little girl, but her parents were still around to utter that title. There was no more neighbor to call his own and to spend time with. There were no parents waiting for him back in Littleroot, just extended family. There was nobody else to enforce that bond.

There was only Althus Rex. His parents' surnames had been Rex, thus he used that name now. 'Althus' was his name, but Rex? That was his mother's name and his father's name. It was the only way to remain connected to ghosts buried in the past.

"I'd like to meet your parents someday. I gotta figure out what two people can make a Keiko. Unless you're secretly a homunculus. That'd be pretty cool, actually." He flushed slightly as she ruffled his hair. It had taken him forever to actually style it properly, but he didn't complain. "That would get you another ten points on the scale."

Time. Even after their chat about time, it felt like such a defective thing. He felt defective for not indulging in Dialga's domain, but he had no choice but to swim along with the current. Keiko tried to predict the stream of the current, but there was only so much that one could do.

"Are you as you should be, then?" He raised an eyebrow. "Do you feel like you've reached your zenith?"

---

keiko mori
BINGO: PAST

He butted her shoulder like an over-friendly cat.

"Don't be so blue. I'm sure you can catch up if you really try. I've seen what you can do when you go all in on Yun-gi-oh. You're unstoppable when you want to be." Rex frowned, thoughtful. When that happened, it was clear that he was a million miles away in a place nobody else could reach. "It's scary, actually. I don't think anything can stop you when you decide to do something."

It was funny. He wondered if she'd describe him in the same way. Things that were impossible were just things that nobody had done yet. Impossible things didn't exist. People just hadn't tried hard enough to make them possible.

Then, she brought up Togepi. The small Pokémon looked up at Rex and cocked his head. Rex absentmindedly dangled his finger in front of the egg, letting him play with his trainer's hand.

"Of course. It'll be different, and I think it'll take Togepi a moment to adjust, but I want him to be happy. It's just... this was my neighbor's Pokémon. If Togepi evolves, he'll stop being hers and start being mine."

---

keiko mori

As the minute clown led the way, Rex mused on her question for a bit.

"Depends. Occasionally you're a one. When you kicked my ass at that card game you like, for instance. More often, you're a ten. That's you normally, right. Sometimes you're an eleven when you take the hair pins out." He nodded in approval, clearly deep in thought. Keiko without the hair pins was best Keiko. "When you delivered that package to that poor fisherman and gave him a big smile..."

He winked, his face reflecting a million colors in the kaleidoscopes that Tera Crystals were formed from. Infinite alternate versions of Rex appeared in their facets, before disappearing into ephemeral mist.

"There, I'd say you were about a thousand." He looked away to inspect the cave, thoughtful. "If it's any consolation, Togepi is about ten thousand, so you have a loooooooong way to go. But I think one day, if you try really hard, you'll be able to beat Togepi."

'toge toge!'

---

keiko mori

With Togepi and Mime Jr teaming up to save the day, their fatal fall is reduced to nothing more than an inconvenience. Of course, they still have to find a way out of the cave at some point, but it could be far worse. It could be another deserted island, after all.

"They're certainly dangerous, but they're also pretty useful. They let you change your Pokémon's type, so maybe they're not all bad." They spread like disease, spawned in messed up Pokémon for no other reason than to cause people misery, and they were obnoxious to work around. "They're like, a six on the Rex Approval Meter."

Anything that created more enemies for Rex to fight was a good thing.

As if acting on his intrusive thoughts, Rex cracked a piece off with his thumb and forefinger and let it sparkle in the night. A Fighting-type Tera Crystal? He made a silent note to give it to Gallade when the opportunity arose.

"Plus you can spice up your wardrobe with them." Rex compared a pink crystal to Keiko's hair. "Tera Crystal hairpins, maybe?"

---

keiko mori

It was never truly dark as he fell after Keiko into the bowels of the earth. The constant glow of Tera Crystals lit the way like miniscule beacons. The way their shine reflected off the courier's pink hair made it practically impossible to lose her as they slowly fell to their deaths.

It also meant that, if anything happened to her, he'd get a front row seat. Such a thing inspired him to act more than a thousand prospective battles.

"I'm coming! Don't worry!" Rex clicked a Pokeball on his belt, and Togepi appeared in a red flash. Rex quickly grabbed the egg as they fell. He could see the floor rapidly approaching. "Alright, Togepi. Don't fail me now!"

'toge toge!' Togepi waggled his fingers, manifesting a Metronome. Slowly, their fall slowed to a crawl as dimensions shifted into a Trick Room.

"Nice!" Rex kissed Togepi on the forehead as they fell. "Knew you could do it!"

---

keiko mori

Shaking the cave had been a bad idea. It had stalled the Iron Boulder, but it might've just stalled their capacity to get out of this alive. The cave was shaking and crumbling, and Tera Crystals were shining in a fantastical spectrum. They were beautiful, but he wouldn't let them be the last thing they saw.

If he was going to die, it was going to be during a battle, not after. Keiko didn't deserve it either. She, more than anyone, deserved to live a long and happy life. Which was why her falling made the trainer shout her name.

"KEIKO!" She disappeared into the blackness. Another cave system. Another journey. Another surprise. Another fight. "Shit."

Another chance. He had made her a promise, back on that island. Even if she was in control, even if she knew what to do... He was going to leave her alone in the darkness.

So he jumped, following her into the abyss.

---

keiko mori
BINGO: SURPRISE

He watched her go. She was slightly faster than him. Courier legs, he assumed.

Stalactites began to fall from the ceiling as Rex ran. He dodged one, hissed as one just barely missed his leg, and slid under the third as his Azumarill lunged forward to take advantage of Miltank's attack. As the High Horsepower struck, the Iron Boulder fell under its own weight, crashing to the floor.

More stalactites fell. Rex dodged them all. He couldn't afford to bleed yet. That would ruin the fight. It'd change it from a fight to a game of defensive chess.

"Good hit! Alright, Azumarill..." His eyes gleamed with intent as the Paradox Pokémon fell. "Lift it."

Using the combination of her Huge Power and Superpower, the large iron creature began to lift into the air on remarkably small yet muscular arms. Azumarill's cheeks puffed up in exertion as the Iron Boulder was raised over her head.

"Throw it." She did, and it crashed into a nearby cave wall. Rubble collapsed over it, and the ceiling shook.

---

keiko mori
BINGO: CHANGE

Truthfully, he didn't want to run. When Keiko's Miltank decided that it wanted to tussle with the futuristic Pokémon, Rex wasn't going to complain. This thing looked like a tough cookie, and Rex wanted to test his mettle against it. Besides, his Azumarill trained by lifting boulders, so this was hardly a challenge for her.

What was an ordinary boulder compared to an Iron Boulder, after all?

"Hop to it, Azumarill! Test its durability, and then break it." His eyes widened and his breathing grew deep as Rex locked in. Everything became a pristine picture in his mind. He knew how to defeat this Iron Boulder. He knew where Keiko was, her rate of breathing, and he was especially aware of the stalactites and stalagmites that surrounded them.

A Zubat fluttered away, its wings creating the faintest whisper. He took note of that, as well. On the battlefield, he could have his cake and eat it too.

"Guess we're fighting. Sorry, Keiko." He didn't sound too apologetic as Azumarill snapped off a stalagmite with minimal effort, before throwing it straight at the Iron Boulder in a horrible approximation of catch. The big blue Pokemon loved to play rough, after all.

The Body Slam sent the Iron Boulder stumbling back slightly, and the stalagmite spear shattered against its iron carapace, denting it.

"I go left, you go right. We surround it, and we'll dome it."

---

keiko mori
BINGO: CAKE

When she spoke, Rex stopped. The world was silence, save for their breathing and the dripping of water through the cave. When Rex took a deep breath, it frosted in the air. Cold. Freezing. Yet it was a chill beyond the absence of heat. It was the chill of being seen through.

He hadn't felt that since the island.

"Damn. I hate when you're right." Rex rubbed his neck and raised an eyebrow, voice casual as he scanned the cave for nooks and crannies. "Either I'm soft or you're better at this than I am. Yeah, I feel it."

Unbeknownst to both of them, there was a man on this island who was keeping Terrakion warm. Eduardo Hisakawa , one of the sheriff's friends. Terrakion typically roamed the wooded areas of the island, but its presence was known to the land. Where a creature of myth walked, the earth heralded its coming.

Those memories could sink into the earth and coalesce. When combined with the outbreak of Tera Crystals, it produced a wildcard.

"...!" Rex's eyes widened. He turned to Keiko and tackled her. "RUN!"

The cave wall exploded, and a mechanical bull rushed out. Its eyes lit up like headlights, blinding the duo. Then, deep from its iron chassis, it let out a bellow.

---

keiko mori
BINGO: WILDCARD

Damn. That didn't make sense. If it was a machine that was different from all of its mass-produced comrades, then the only thing that could separate it was the distinction of its make and model. There had to be something that physically separated it. Otherwise, Rex would have to accept that these machines actually had hearts.

Did his toaster have a heart? What a ridiculous notion. Then he thought about Asterios, and began to sulk.

"My Type Null from the Three Days War. I found him deactivated in the woods, nudged him with my foot, and he woke up. Everyone in Littleroot hates him, though. Nobody likes reminders of the war." Rex scratched his chin, frowning in remembrance of the deactivated chimera surrounded in a sea of trees. "I remember that the first one was found by some kids. That must've been a crazy experience. Wonder what happened to it."

Huh. Eris was a kid. Surely that was just a coincidence. He followed her through the staircase with their army of Carbinks.

"How long? Liiiiiike a year?"

---

Eris Halla

Ice-friction was certainly responsible for much of the cave's creation. It was also responsible for much of the cave's destruction. Large swaths had disappeared when Regice had Dynamaxed within the cave, causing massive collapses. Yet small fringes remained, untouched by armageddon.

"It's good training!" His confidence was infectious for someone who had yet to obtain a single Gym Badge. He couldn't even get an audience with Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki . To pass the time, Rex did what Rex did best: grind. "And you need practice, too."

War didn't particularly bother him much. He was at his best when he was fighting, when the blood was rushing through his body and little else mattered but the incoming sensation of defeat and victory.

Even now, the moment triumphed over all. They would be wise to capture it.

"We've gotta keep practicing our technique. Eh, Azumarill?" The blue hydro rabbit's ears waggled in agreement, and Rex laughed. "See? She's amped!"

---

keiko mori
BINGO: CAPTURE