The ebb and flow of the tides licked at Rex's face. The sun beat down on his head in waves as he roused himself to wakefulness.

"What the fuck...?" Everything hurt, or at least ached. It was like Kyogre itself had chewed him up and spat him out, leaving him far worse for wear. He groaned and shuffled in irritation as he rose to his feet, his eyes scanning the surroundings. "What happened?"

Beach, as far as the eye could see. Beach and surf, with a small layer of trees clustered in the center to create something comparable to a tropical paradise. Rex didn't feel very tropical, nor did this feel like a paradise. He felt like shit. Instinctively, he grabbed at his belt and sighed. He still had his Pokémon.

Good. That was good. Now, what happened? The young trainer closed his eyes in thought.

He had been on a ship back from Sea Mauville, one of the last to leave. He had stayed longer than most in his fervor, and as a result had found himself on a mostly vacant ship back to Dewford. There had been another person on the ship. Who had it been?

"Fuck, my memory's a buzz. Did our ship crash or something?" Rex puffed up his cheeks and exhaled. As he scanned the distance, he saw another person on the beach as well. Unmoving.

"Shit."

He ran towards them.

---

keiko mori

"Hey, fuck off, evildoers!" A voice rang out over a rock towards the swarm of poachers attempting to steal a group of Woopers. Without Eris Halla here to protect her people, the Wooper population was at risk of being plundered by poachers. "Stop trying to steal wild Pokémon from Sea Mauvile..."

Rex hopped down towards the surf and pointed at the swarm of poachers, their army of Pokemon including such threats as Tyranitars, Pupitars, and Golurks. Plenty of big threats for Rex to bring down.

"Instead..."

Rex grinned as his Gallade appeared in a flash of light, a great knight designated to the defense of his lord. A Leaf Blade emerged from the Gallade's sword-arms.

"Try to take mine instead."

Rex and Gallade lunged forward.

---

Montgomery James
07. Defend important locations or resources from harm.

The camera zooms in on a smear. Realization dawns quickly as the smear condenses into a figure dangling from a clock hand.

"HEEEEEEEEEELP MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" A distant scream rang out over the winds of the Mechanical Kingdom towards Small Lady. The man is immediately recognizable from Sea Mauville, though he has somehow found a way across dimensions. It's a terrifying thought, knowing that dinguses could cross between worlds.

It was like learning that Woopers could operate rockets.

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!"

Near Eris, a gust of wind almost pushes her from her feet as a Gallade runs quickly, holding a Togepi under one arm as he rushes through the kingdom. Machines are severed and cut in two as the duo march towards the massive clock tower in an attempt to save their leal lord.

---

Eris Halla

Former Top Champion, dog fan, and coffee extraordinaire Kyle Lopez shined a light on a figure. A person at first glance, if a person was half a foot tall and shaped like an egg.

'toge?'

A Togepi looked up at Kyle and waddled up to him, before spreading its arms wide to protect the room in question from harm. Through a deeper understanding or emotional bridge, the egg quickly realized that Kyle Lopez was not the same as the intruders that haunted these deep halls.

A slacker, a degenerate, and a gamer, yes. Evil? No.

The Togepi tapped Kyle's foot and waddled off, leading him past piles of defeated Crawdaunts and other antagonistic Pokemon, each slain or toppled by Togepi's mighty hand.

Instead, he led the dog fan to a large locker wrapped in chains and cuffed with a padlock. Several Magikarp flopped around in the water, which Togepi punted away. The locker quickly began to rattle.

"IS ANYONE THERE? HELP MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

---

kyle lopez
07. Defend important locations or resources from harm.

Free shit from Thomas-fucking-Benoit?

"Hell yeah! I'd kill for another pair of clothes!" Pants, mostly. Every pair he got ended up ripped and torn and mauled by wild Pokémon. It didn't help that Togepi had singled the cuffs off of one of his shirts when practicing Flamethrower. "You're a pretty swell guy!"

Being a Pokémon trainer was pretty expensive, all things considered.

As Thomas's Pangoro kicked the door down with a frightening crash, Rex poked his head in. Stacks of files surrounded an old manager's desk, and a dead computer sat unused in the corner, ruined by the leaking ceiling.

"Hopefully most of this isn't ruined. I'll get the hard drive off the computer while you check the files." Rex offered as he sauntered towards the computer and leaned down to mess with its tower. "Any chance there's anything cool in here? Secret government conspiracy or anything like that?"

---

Thomas Benoit
45. Retrieve important hard drives from Sea Mauville computers.

The familiar sensation of armor wraps around Kirlia's form. It's a comforting feeling, garbing one's self in armor in an attempt to slay a dragon. Crabs do not compare, but it is a small step for a small Pokémon. Eventually, the dragons will fall.

It's not about tournaments. It's not about the Gym Challenge, though the distraction is momentary. It's about the thrill of waging war. The need to stand at the pinnacle.

Thus Kirlia rushes forward, plated from head to toe in ephemeral light.

The basement in Littleroot trembled under the weight of the war waged outside. There's a small crawl space hidden between the floorboards where other survivors had huddled with their Pokémon.

There were only two left, now. The rest had disappeared when the blue dragon outside had roared, lost to time forevermore.

"It's fine, I've got you. You're fine. We're fine. We're fine."

The young man wrapped his hands around his Kirlia and trembled, his eyes wide and alert. Even then, his Pokémon was clothed in armor. It just happened to be the body of another instead of screens made of light.

How long had they been down there? Hours? Days? Weeks?

"This is fine. When we get out, this'll never happen again. I'll make sure of it." Even then, the young man was defective. Lacking. Something important was vacant, and it was buried under cheerful smiles and bright eyes. "I'll make sure of it. Trust me."

The basement door creaked open as light shined in. Althus Rex looked down at his Kirlia, his eyes brimming with manic light.

"So help me out and be my knight, okay? That way we can live as we want."

"Do it! WIN!" Win. Spare them if needed, but win. "GO!"

The Light Screen melded with the Kirlia's body as limbs lengthened and elongated. As the Crawdaunt blinked, the fight ended as a Leaf Blade descended.

---

Genevieve Cromwell
FLASHBACK TO PAAA: LITTLEROOT
LIGHT SCREEN FUSES AND KIRLIA EVOLVES
LEAF BLADE POG
PLAY FATE/GRAND ORDER

They disappeared in a flash.

There were numerous scenarios that potentially could have happened. Togepi could have exploded, killing them all instantly. It could have used Hyper Beam, killing most of them instantly. It could have used Teatime, allowing Rex, Caleb, and the survivors to feast like kings on Galarian cuisine.

None of those things happened.

Instead, the light slowly faded, and they would find themselves on the top of Sea Mauville where rangers ran too and fro. Many rangers stopped and pointed at Rex and Caleb, gawking. Togepi fell asleep, his Teleport complete.

"Wow! That was easy! We did it, Caleb!" Rex looked at Caleb. "We make a pretty good team, huh?"

---

Caleb Harcourt

A low cackle left Rex's lips. His breath fogged as his eyes narrowed into slits.

"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah..." Rex took another deep breath as the Marowak continued to dance among the souls of the dead. Departed souls were incinerated and turned to cinders, yet they still persisted in this world as imprints left behind. "Haaaaaaaaaaah..."

Battle. Conflict. Littleroot burning flashed in the young trainer's mind. Dialga overhead. Rocket's boots shook the earth. Melody was strong. She was strong. He wanted to be as good as her. He wanted to be her.

He wanted to best her.

"Go! Dance!" Gallade's eyes narrowed into slits as he danced between spirits. Marowak's fire jumped to Gallade's blades as the duo slashed through the spirits through Psycho Cut. "We'll save them! Champ, find the rangers! I'll hold them off!"

Keep fighting.

---

Melody Miro

'toge toge!' Togepi waggled his fingers in annoyance as Caleb denied the small egg uppies. Such villainy from the other Harcourt was expected, but from this one? Shocking. Abhorrent. Vile. 'pi!'

Togepi waddled over to Rex and demanded uppies, which the young trainer gracefully obliged.

"Y'all are gonna be fine. Don't worry!" Rex beamed at them with remarkable warmth and compassion. No, not compassion, fervor. "Caleb and I will keep you all safe!"

Togepi began to waggle his hands, which to Caleb's chagrin, began to turn into a Metronome. A bright light filled the room as the Metronome manifested.

"Check this, Caleb!"

---

Caleb Harcourt

Magikarp Splashes were as thrilling as battle, some would say. Rex would do a super cool triple kickflip and everyone would take a photo of it. Maybe he could ride the momentary fame into something genuine. Kickstart his Gym Challenge properly.

As if he needed the help.

Still, it was time to surf.

---

MAGIKARP SPLASH
tloODAgW

DELVE DEEP INTO THE OCEAN. FIND YOUR TRUTH AND GRIP IT TIGHTLY. REACH FOR POWER.

IT BECKONS YOU.

EMBRACE THAT BECKONING AS IT COVERS YOU IN A WARM BLANKET. BECOME SOMETHING GRAND AND GLORIOUS.

DELVE INTO THE SEA. FIND YOUR PEARL.

---

8/8 - move tutor
rKe64jUg

A boat beat swimming, he supposed. Especially from a hundred feet below sea level.

"Yeah, yeah. I've got it here." Rex dug into his pocket and pulled out a slightly damp hard drive. It was wet, admittedly, but Sea Mauville was a ship turned into a preserve. If its tech wasn't waterproof, that was between them and Arceus as far as he was concerned. "Catch."

Rex prepared to throw the drive in a high arc, before blinking in realization.

"Bad idea. I'll just hold onto it for a minute." Rex patted himself down. A few bumps and bruises, but nothing particularly life threatening. He could keep going. He was happier that the drive was secure, otherwise the rangers would likely put him on standby and not take him off until the heat death of the universe.

A fate best avoided.

"I think we did pretty well, all things considered."

---

Roy Aker