"You don't have to look so pleased." Even in her serene grace, he could tell that the courier was proud of herself. Rex saw how her eyes gleamed when she drew something good, before quickly tamping it down to avoid giving her position away. The way her lips twitched upward before she hid them behind her cards, challenging him to beat her.

Rex wanted to beat her. He wanted the challenge, and he wanted to see her serenity melt away into competitive spirit. How would she react? How would she look then?

He was staring. She was staring. Shock was etched into her face. It quickly turned into rage.

Uh oh.

"Keiko, I'm sorry. You just-" Rex looked down at his cards, only to notice that many were gone. In their place were several chewed up wads of card stock and a very innocent Gogoat, munching happily on his new meal. "Oh."

As she rose, Rex rose with her. If she didn't compose herself, Mr. Gogoat would be lost. Their staunchest ally on this deserted island would abandon them, and he was also their best lookout. Rex was even concerned for the poor Pokemon. If Keiko got her hands on him, Rex wasn't sure that the Gogoat would actually survive the encounter.

"Keiko, stop! He's innocent! Gogoat'll do what Gogoat needs to do! We can still play, even if there's a few cards missing."

He blocked the way between the courier and her new mortal enemy, arms spread wide.

---

keiko mori

His kneejerk reaction was that Keiko Mori was an utter nerd. There must have been a hundred different cards available to them both, but she rattled off their effects and interactions with remarkable ease. Years of thrashing kids around Celestic Town had turned her into a remarkable threat.

If Rex could figure out how to play the game, at least. He was still trying to figure out what the fuck a 'Special Summon' was. She had explained it a few times, but it still made him frown.

It didn't help that a handful of her explanations simply boiled down to 'trust me, I played this game way back when'.

"I... see. Keiko..." He muttered, distracted by her shuffling through his hand. Proximity, which hadn't seemed strange when he had fallen asleep beside her in the tent, now seemed strange as her head fit perfectly on his shoulder to coach him. "But if I do that, I'll risk losing a lot of life. Lemme think."

It was strange, hearing her so close to his ear. He tried to keep himself from flushing, hoping that the courier's commitment to the game would distract Keiko from looking at him.

Yet two turns had quickly become five.

"How're you doing that?" He grumbled as she destroyed his Wooloo tokens, leaving only his Dynamaxed Dubwool card on the field. "You know every move I even make it!"

Her gaze was sly and clever, yet the key to victory was in his hand. As long as he lasted through her turn, the win would be his. Behind Rex, Gogoat eyed the game with interest.

---

keiko mori

A voice rang out as the Head Ranger and Togepi reached a boiler room with a pile of unconscious engineers in the corner, unceremoniously piled together. In front of them, a young man and his Gallade danced with three Empoleon.

"Keep going! Gallade, if you give an inch, you'll shame everyone you've ever fought!" Rex shouted in delight as he wiped a bloody scratch on his cheek. Laughter leaked out as the young man clenched a fist. "Press the advantage!"

Despite his words, it was more of a disadvantage. Three against one, with innocent bystanders to protect, though Rex hardly seemed concerned with them.

Clang. Clang. Steel fins struck the Leaf Blade, though Gallade parried and slashed through one of the Empoleons. Rex grinned in malignant glee, not bothering to notice Ollie and Togepi as the duo arrived.

'toge?'

"Huh?" Rex turned to the duo, distracted. "Togep-"

An Empoleon swung a Steel Wing towards Rex's neck.

---

ollie morales
07. Defend important locations or resources from harm.

Gallade doesn't know why his arm strengthens, why his blade is lighter, why his reflexes are quicker. They simply are. Maybe it's the spur of the moment, the heat of battle, the energy dripping off of his trainer as his fervor reaches its zenith. He simply demands all that Gallade has to offer.

His absolute best in every battle, every clash, every war. Until victory is reached, until a point to the slaughter is found, the duo fight.

Which is why the Gengar is cut in half with a scream, before dissipating into dark mist. Any other ghosts are swiftly dispatched, thanks to Melody's influence.

"Thanks, Top Champ!" Rex grinned from ear to ear as he turned to face Melody. His clothes were splattered with dark ichor and shadows as a reminder of the Gengar's existence. He didn't seem disgusted, though. Moreso excited. "How're the people? They good? Anything else for me to fight?"

---

Melody Miro

They had been on the island for about a day and they had already littered and left a human presence on the island. Whether this was a triumph for mankind or the greatest criticism on the human urge to corrupt and poison was up in the air. For Rex, it was simply another thing for Keiko to throttle him over, as if there weren't enough of those already.

He could feel it coming. Togepi could sense it, too. Yet Keiko's gaze had turned from furious to excited as she found something in the pile. Taking advantage of the moment, Togepi was placed in his Pokeball to save him from the courier's wrath.

"What's this?" Rex peered at the box set in her hands. He brushed a few stands of hair behind his ear so he could read the title.

"Yun-gi-oh?" A stylized Yungoos appeared on the corner of the box, and the expansion seemed to revolve around Sinnoh. Rex raised an eyebrow at it, but he shrugged. "I haven't seen these since I was a kid. We could never afford them."

He wanted to refuse, but Keiko actually seemed excited. Who would've thought that she was a card game fan?

"Sure, but I don't really know how to play." He locked eyes with her. "You fine with teaching me?"

---

keiko mori

"Togepi?" Rex gaped at her desperate gambit for a strategy. "He's a baby!"

A baby that had leveled a forest, blown up a Blaziken, destroyed much of Sea Mauville, and was capable of dictating the whims of fate. Okay, it was admittedly a pretty special Togepi, but that didn't mean that he was some sea-splitting god, born from the loins of Kyogre!

Still, Keiko looked desperate, and he felt a smidge bad for sleeping next to her.

"Fine. We'll try." Rex sighed and tapped at his belt. Togepi appeared in a flash, before being scooped up Rex as he regarded the courier. If anything, at least her clipboard would be safe regardless of what happened. Keiko seemingly put more weight on the survival of mail than her own life.

Sinnoh's guilds must be as tough as nails.

After a quick wander back to the beach, Rex's eyes followed the sun, quickly dictating east from west. After nudging the surf with his foot, Rex put Togepi down.

"Alright, Togepi. Go!" Rex snapped his fingers as Togepi waggled his hands in a Metronome. Instead of splitting the ocean in two, various knickknacks appeared on the beach nearby. A groan escaped his lips as he turned to face the pile of merchandise. "What...?"

Card games. Banana peels. Rope. Empty cans of Charjacola.

Rex turned to Togepi. "Seriously?"

'toge?'

---

keiko mori

'Toge!'

Togepi turned, dodging Ollie's grasping hand with remarkable Agility, before turning and running down the hall, his small feet pitter pattering against the floor as he led the Head Ranger through the sinking nature preserve. Water dripped against the floor and congealed around blocked drains.

'Togepi!'

The duo eventually passed piles of defeated Crawdaunts, Clawitzers, and the odd Binacle, each defeated by Togepi's mighty hand.

Eventually, the clashing of blades rang through distant halls, the distinct sound of a Leaf Blade striking against steel and armor.

---

ollie morales
10. Use tracking skills to locate victims or threats.

"Mr. Gogoat is our savior. I'd never disrespect his personal space." A smile flickered to his face as he pulled his knees tighter. Gogoat ranking higher than Keiko was hardly a surprisingly feat. He was quiet cuddly. "But..."

Rex wrinkled his nose slightly.

"He smells, don't you think?"

Another small laugh escaped his lips, but it quickly died as Keiko began to panic. It was not the manic rambling of someone who was known for hysterics. Even when she panicked, Keiko tried to solve the problem at hand. She grasped at any solution and shook at it.

Why did she need a plan? Wasn't faith enough?

That need for control, that need to have a plan to control her own destiny... Rex's eyebrow raised. Even if her plans were foolish, like a raft into the unknown, the young man couldn't deride her.

"Keiko." Rex's voice rang out as he scooted towards her. Her faith annoyed him, but if she started to slip... "Shhh."

He'd slip too.

"Have faith in Pelipper." As meandering as the bird was, it would return to Keiko because Rex's Pokémon would return to him. That was simply the foundation of the bond between trainers and Pokémon. "We're gonna make it. There are worse places to get stranded."

---

keiko mori

"Kyle?" Rex blinked slowly, lips pursing. That name did sound familiar, in a cosmic sort of way. For a guy with cool white hair, Kyle was a fairly normal name. His parents must have really hated their son to name him something like that. "Alright."

Without much question, Rex followed the mysterious stranger past the disheveled heaps of wild Pokémon that Togepi had stacked to the heavens in his fit of rage.

Truly, the egg Pokémon was a ferocious threat indeed that would grow to defeat many Mightyena.

"I'd appreciate it, thanks." A moment of silence. "My name's Rex. I'm gonna be Hoenn's champion, one day."

Another pause. The words almost sounded ridiculous as they left the young man's lips, but he didn't particularly care. If the man wanted to laugh, he could.

"What're you gonna do when we get out of here? Help the rangers out?"

---

kyle lopez

The Fairy Wind buffeting the Spiritomb was like blowing on a wildfire, but it would have to suffice. As the expression emerging from the Odd Keystone grew wider as it attempted to incorporate Keizo into its whirlwind of souls, Gallade slashed at the incorporeal body, doing little but slashing at mist.

Loud laughing emerged from the stone, the sound of a vacuum cleaner being smashed with a sledgehammer ringing out.

"What the fuck..."

The spirit mocked the knight, and the Gallade raised an eyebrow. It regarded the keystone at the base of the body, before striking at it with a Low Kick, sending the spirit reeling back.

"IS A SCORE!?"

Gallade quickly got one, sending it flying down the hall towards a metaphorical goalpost.

"Why is it even here!? Rex shouted as Spiritomb sent out a barrage of Shadow Balls. "What does it want?"

---

Mitsuru Kagami
27. Handle encounters with hostile individuals or pokemon.

As soon as the door comes flying off, Rex lunged to the ground with remarkable efficiency. Togepi blasted through several walls with a Hyper Beam, causing the young man's hair to singe slightly as he hit the floor. As he rose, he stuffed Togepi into a Pokeball.

"Thanks, stranger." Rex panted, taking the Pokeball and clipping it to his belt. There were other Pokémon at the young man's belt, but he sheepishly scratched his head. "They're all kind of... fainted?"

Looking after the (former) Top Champion, Rex peered at the piles upon piles of Crawdaunt. His nose wrinkled in response to Kyle's request, as if the man had asked him to jump into a trash pit.

"No." He looked the Top Champion up and down, before pursing his lips in confusion. This guy seemed familiar, and yet...

No. Something was amiss.

"Do I know you?"

---

kyle lopez

A splash of red colored Rex's cheeks as Keiko laughed and looked away. He patted down his hair self-consciously, though it did little to flatten and only served to embarrass him further.

Gogoat is their staunch ally, their middle ground that they both approve on. He kept watch in Keiko's stead, and they both woke well-rested as a result.

Extra berries were warranted, if Rex could find them.

"I'm sorry." He muttered in a sheepish apology, akin to a child being told they had misbehaved. It felt humiliating, getting a stern talking down from someone whose Pelipper had yet to return, and yet he admittedly deserved it. "I should've woken you, it's just..."

He pulled his knees close as he sat down near the Gogat.

"...it was cold." He refused to make eye contact as he rubbed the Gogoat. "You weren't."

---

keiko mori

In other circumstances, having Tsuru drag Rex off would've been vastly preferable. In this case, it's more of a desperate death march to avoid being consumed by dozens of souls sealed away for crimes untold.

"Tsuru! TSURU!" The Fairy Lock on the door began to rattle as souls gnawed on the mystic's hastily built defense. Under better circumstances, the lock would be far more secure. Unfortunately, Rex and Tsuru were being underpaid, understaffed, and underprepared to fight a demon sealed away in a random rock.

Click.

"TSURU!"

The door exploded off its hinges. Its path was guided with malice and a devilish Psychic, sending precious Sea Mauville property flying towards Rex and Tsuru's heads. Seeing it in the corner of his eye, Rex tackled them both to the floor. As they fell, a Pokeball flew from Rex's belt.

Gallade appeared with a flash. He turned to face the Spiritomb, which slid across the walls with vindictive rage.

"How do we seal it? You're a mystic, right? Rex glanced at Tsuru as Gallade met the attacker with a Leaf Blade. "Tsuru. I am not dying to this thing. I don't care how much the rangers are paying!"

Despite that, he seemed perfectly willing to face the spirit down, his eyes burning with desire at the prospective battle before them.

---

Mitsuru Kagami