They made contact. As soon as they did, Rex knew they were outmatched. Two against two, but Keiko needed to plan out her moves in advance in order to be of any help. The only consolation that Rex took was that they were both masked. If he or Keiko saw their faces, then they'd have to kill them both.

As is, they would give up if they struggled too much to make it a worthwhile fight.

"We've got places to be. Not our fault that this happens to be a warzone. If people want their things delivered, who're we to stop them? Besides, they paid extra for shipping." Rex crossed his arms, staring defiantly at the duo. "And trust me, she-"

He jerked his head towards Keiko and Ribombee.

"-charges a lot for shipping." Before he could blab further, Ribombee tossed a dusting of Stun Spore towards the duo. Quick as a whip, Rex produced a Pokeball from a sleeve, the device opening before it even reached his hand. "Hitmontop!"

Dusknoir was a ghost, which made physical attacks obnoxious. Rather than go for the spectral threat, Rex's Hitmontop lunged forward, straight for Grigori. The older man would get the dubious honor of being Faked Out with the intention to stun.

"Go!" He nodded and sprinted off.

---

keiko mori Grigori Sokolov Alba Evovae
BINGO: CONTACT
+20 (posts)
+50 (thread flashback)
+50 (show throwing style)

"I see." It was a noble sentiment. "So we've gotta find his heart so it stops hurting then, huh?"

He rubbed his hand against his chin, thoughtful. His eyes lingered on Eris's Magearna for a few moments. It looked pretty tough, and if Volcanion was producing dozens upon dozens of them with its own life, then it was definitely worth fighting if he could get the opportunity. Yet if it wasn't at full power, what was the point?

Thus, he made a decision.

"I'll help! Easy-peasy. Isn't there a way to check which Magearna is the genuine article? It's like finding a needle in a haystack. Can't we open each one up to see what makes it tick?" He said, looking at Eris's Magearna with a ominous gleam in his eyes. "I think I've got a screwdriver or two in my bag."

He started rummaging around in his pockets, evidently looking for a screwdriver or two.

"What makes the princess special? What makes it distinct?"

---

Eris Halla

He fell to the ground, mercilessly beaten. Yet all he did was laugh. Laughter was a balm for the soul, a gauze to hide defection and rot that brimmed beneath the surface. It was just so remarkably funny, and each strike felt immensely satisfying.

The rock slipped from his hand and fell to the ground below. A mediocre weapon that would not put down a Rocket Beast, but it had still been a weapon. Perhaps it was for the best that he had dropped it, lest Hitoshi deem it just to produce a blade and stab him here and now.

It would've ended his story. Rex wouldn't have complained.

"Where would I even look? Where does Dialga send people it deems unworthy to exist?" Rex laughed loudly, before groaning at a kick to the gut. "Hell? Heaven? How do I even get there? There's only one way, asshole!"

A wheezing laugh.

"I gotta get as close to their final moments as possible." Gallade's Leaf Blade clashed with Lancelot's own. Every leaf in the vicinity is blasted away or sucked into the vortex by their clash. Age versus youthful vigor, wisdom versus recklessness. It was a tale as old as time. A Hattrem is sucked away.

"It's either that, or I reach the top! I'm gonna be Champion." At some point, the laughter is accompanied with tears. Their source was irrelevant. Their purpose was redundant. "You ask where my mom's at? I'll tell you.

"She's at Ever Grande. At the Hall of Fame."

---

Hitoshi Inoue
Catching Hattrem

"Never got the chance!" Rex let out a breathy laugh. "They just fuckin'..."

He splayed his hands, miming an explosion. His eyes were bright and shiny, wide and sightless. He was a million miles away, in a world that hadn't existed for years. Yet even now, the raid on Littleroot rang in his ears and filled his mind with memories of a cellar and a shotgun and a cowering Kirlia.

"...vanished! I didn't even get to say goodbye! Mom's gone! Didn't die, but she disappeared and never came back when that blue dragon snapped her away. Dad died, fighting you assholes! Never found his body, either!"

Lancelot cleaves at Gallade, drawing blood and sending the younger knight to his knees. Yet it's a common stance, and Gallade slept kneeling, dreaming of serving loyally. Rex's knight swipes with a Psycho Cut to the knees, aiming to take the older knight off guard. It was a knight's pride to serve.

"It just makes me want to laugh. I'm excited!" He thought of keiko mori and the camera he was promised. "I just want to see which one I follow. Mom..."

The punch sent him reeling into the dirt. He threw a nearby rock at the man's face, fast as a bullet.

"...or dad."

---

Hitoshi Inoue
CATCHA GIRAF
BINGO: PRIDE

Rex missed the Carbinks. They were pretty nice. Apparently one of them belonged to this bozo archaeologist who had struggled with student debt and had sold himself into slavery? Pretty stupid move if Rex's opinion mattered. All he had to do was win a bunch of fights, collect the prize money, and move on with his day.

Just win a few battles? How hard could it have been for that guy? It was a bad meme that kept getting worse.

"Depends. Is he strong?" Rex puffed, his arms weary for dragging that many gears across the Mechanical Kingdom. An entourage of Carbinks followed them hiding behind gears as if afraid that their accursed foreman would return and force them to return to labor. "Knights are pretty strong, I've heard."

They were sworn to defend their kingdom. If Littleroot had a knight like that, then Hideo Kino wouldn't have to work so hard.

"Why's he sad?"

---

Eris Halla
BINGO: MEME

Keiko had a Gogoat. Rex had a Pelipper. They had both come out of this exchange poorer as a whole. Hopefully Pelipper eventually returned to the courier, lest she struggle to deliver mail in the future. He didn't particularly mind Pelipper vibing with him, though.

Because of the bird's slowness, he had gotten to spend time on this island with a very interesting woman. That, at least, had lasted far longer than a moment.

"Wow, Pelipper actually did something. I'm kind of impressed." Rex's eyes flicked up to the bird nesting in his bedhead. "Nice work, big guy. I almost forgive you for eating our breakfast."

The bird squawked in approval. Rex watched the boat grow closer through the sapphire sea as it cut through the waves like a knife through butter. Odd. Its color reminded him a lot of that dragon, though he didn't seem to mind that much. Curious. What a weird feeling.

"Hey." Rex squeezed Keiko's hand. "Next time, let's just skip the shipwreck. Let's just find an island on our own terms. Plan it out, y'know?"

---

keiko mori

Gallade looked at Rex. Rex looked at Gallade. They stared at each other for several moments, before blinking and turning to Keiko. He was lucky that she hadn't choked him out for his fuckups.

"Huh." He watched as she suffocated Pelipper with the wrath of a thousand suns. "Uh..."

On second thought, maybe he was unlucky. Rex wished he was that bird, before dragging that thought out back and leaving it to die. There, he shot it good and dead. Best to leave that memory for the crows to feast on.

"Keiko," he said carefully, as if speaking to a walking time bomb. "If Gallade does that, Pelipper will die."

As Keiko choked the Pelipper, it let out a hacking burp. Something shot past Rex's head and donked Gogoat on the head. As Rex turned to look at the goat, he saw it disappear into a small red ball. He immediately recognized it as a Pokeball. It twitched once.

"Keiko..."

---

keiko mori

All it took was one island adventure with Keiko for Rex to be roped into delivery services. This time, though? She hadn't even needed to ask. With Oldale and Littleroot under siege, she would've had to tie him up to stop him from going with her.

"Dunno if that's wise, Keiko. We're on the battlefield. We should try to push out of the warzone before making camp. Doesn't matter how well we hide our camp. It's not gonna save us if some Dynamaxed Pokémon blows up the route." He followed her gaze and looked up at the sun, before taking a deep breath. "You may be right, though. Route 102 is still miles out."

The Ribombee guided the way remarkably well, though there was still a final stretch.

Naturally, that was where everything would have to go wrong. That was just how life was. Sometimes you were meandering down a wartorn route, sometimes you were getting shipwrecked, sometimes you were fighting a Rocket Beast.

That was life.

"I smell something. Blood." Rex raised an eyebrow. "What is that?"

---

keiko mori
+10 (post)
+50 (link the thread)