pokémon have played a vital role for silverio, helping him through some of the toughest times of his young life to this point. it can be safe to assume that performing risky and potentially life-altering tasks as a ranger is his way giving back to them. to their livelihood. to ensure that they, and the people who have come to co-exist with them - such as the man himself and the captain - would go on to live long and healthy lives in spite of the region suffering in the midst of chaos.

but to be castigated for wanting to do just that, and all for seemingly lacking in self-care?

now that was something he had never anticipated, and thus, he was taken aback by the captain's words. he turns his eyes away from her, from everything, to reflect on possible repercussions. he would rather allow himself or his own pokémon to take the brunt of any incoming damage than to have anyone else get caught in the crosshairs. on the flip-side, one downed ranger would likely mean one less subordinate for her to command. and so, ultimately, he would think better of the situation. at least for the moment. eyes return to her...

"understood..."

his head props up as he could've sworn he'd heard a voice in the distance. just then, his frogadier returns to the group with arms flailing in a direction far off towards another corridor. "what's up? did you find something?" or maybe someone. the amphibian scoots off once more, turning a corner. feet erratically splashing as he follows suit of his froggy friend, he pokes his head in the direction of...yes, there were voices, and neither were his nor the captain's.

"hey, it sounds like someone's calling for help over here!" he waits for her and her partner to rejoin them before setting off, golisopod bringing up the rear after gently setting the broken-and-now-dampened sheetrock aside.

similarly to the speculations of the one-time paldean champion had spreading around the people of hoenn like a virus, the sounds of silverio's impending peril could be heard throughout the premises, or so it seems. running the risk of becoming poisoned himself, he was, until help had come crashing through a wall. and with that help in the form of robin and he employed anchor, the toxapex would come undone in mere seconds.

"thanks for the assist..."

sapphire irises scan the facility, seeking some form of a clue. until..."wait a minute, i think i see something in there." uncertain of how much time remained before this building would become completely submerged in the depths of the oceanic abyss, but a few minutes was all he would need right now. he rushes into a room, now clear to enter with the toxapex being knocked out of the picture.

on a desk in a far corner of the room, a folder stood. opening it, silverio quickly skims through its contents as he makes his back out. eyes wide as he examines said content. blueprints, building schematics perhaps. loud thoughts blooming. "what...? could someone have actually planned for this...?" eyes return to robin. "i guess this counts for something; let's head out."

and so, the search was on!

silverio and his partners advance forward, riding out on the hulking insect warrior en route to the sinking edifice, adhering as close to the surface as they possibly could. they find a means of entry via a broken window, giving way into one of many empty rooms appearing on the brink of a sudden collapse. quickly, the man commenced his inspections, gloved hands rummaging through every compartment that he could lay his eyes on.

departing from the initial point of entry and into a flooded hallway, slow steps forward, with subtle waves crashing upon his ankles. "nothing up top yet either." silv answers on the comm whilst treading around dark corners and into a space inhabiting..."well, that's something." he interjects away from the radio. a slew of toxapex lined in a row across a few other doors leading into what looked to be offices of some sort.

the golisopod dares to step towards them. "wait no, don't get to cl-crap!" as if they were expecting anyone to challenge them, one of them fires a rapid pin missile at the group, prompting them to retreat a few steps. the frogadier answers with a shot of his own in the form of a water pulse, only to be met with an acid spray in return, and a follow-up with a swift liquidation.

the bug samurai meets it with one of its massive metal claws, leaving it open for an emphatic hydro pump from the frog, ultimately washing all of the spiky pests away.

gaining information was vital to one's success, and the more one can obtain - especially within a small allotted time - the better. that was the objective for this endeavor, to gain any means of intelligence that the rangers deemed fit to acquire, with much of it already being subject to being dunked twenty-thousand leagues under the sea. or so it appears. how much of it can they manage to salvage? hopefully enough. those lingering thoughts were set aside as a hand struck silverio, prompting him back into the bitter taste of reality.

"hello again, robin, fancy seeing you here." at this point in time, perhaps it was safe to say that he may think of that girl as a mainstay in his directives. at the very least, he can say with utmost confidence that venturing with her has never been a bore. today's agenda, on the other hand? it would be anything but an act of leisure - nothing personal, strictly business, and this business may likely decide the fates of all those who'd been affected by this unnatural travesty.

he summons forth two partners of his own, a bubbly, bipedal frog, and a bulky, hard-scaled insectoid. "we'll take the top; that way we'll cover more ground more quickly. although if a high tide or a storm comes around, then chances are that we may end up meeting you at the bottom at some point." he responds before dispatching the frogadier, which casts a thick smokescreen behind the group to deter any would-be threats - whether they'd be people or pokémon - from approaching them.

"we're ready to go, let's see what we can find in there..."

"right, i'll have my comms open if anything."

there was more to being a water pokémon to than to simply have the ability to swim, or in rare cases, a lack thereof. the ability to withstand some of the hottest flames or the coldest steel also played a factor in their success. in the case of an aquatic venue on the verge of collapsing, they would need to endure the falling rubble and rising tides. for this job, silverio found no others in his lineup more capable than his bubbly frog friend and his hard-scaled insect warrior.

as instructed, silv and his crew would take a path down into the lower levels of this failing establishment. jumping ahead of the pack was his frogadier, inspecting corridors and corners to and fro to scan for any potential threats to either them or the affected. meanwhile, the bulky bug soldier would take it upon himself to cautiously maneuver some lingering debris away from the group, triggering some mild splashing into the deep blue abyss. then suddenly...

'hello!? is there anyone out there that can help us!? please!!'

silverio instinctively initiates a call to his partner. "this is silv, i hear someone calling out down here on the lower levels. it sounds like they may need help, i'm heading down there." still ahead of the paldean and the insectoid, the frogadier moves to secure every turn to ensure the team's safety en route to whoever it is that may be seeking aid.

"sure, no problem."

he would admit that he was terribly uncertain of what was going to happen once his hulking insectoid started tampering with the shattered structures. in fact, one wrong move from the golisopod or anyone else may spell disaster not only for them, but for the people and pokémon of which they'd be tasked with protecting. there was no telling what lies deeper in the depths of living hell, but for the sake of the unfortunate folks affected, and for all of hoenn for that matter, silverio would walk through this hell barefoot if need be.

the waters rise, with small waves rippling around at his shins as he and the captain dared to venture into the lower levels. the frogadier has yet to return from his directive, leaving an impression that there was much more to investigate within this failing edifice as the man had initially anticipated. the woman may be right about the place being far beyond the point of salvation, but any efforts to mount a rescue of afflicted civilians, workers, and pokémon would be well worth the sacrifice.

off to his side, audible cracks sparked nearby, then suddenly...a crash!

"watch out!" a wall comes tumbling down, and silverio instinctively ushers himself towards the captain and her vaporeon to cover them from the growing mess. meanwhile, his golisopod stands firm between the group and the falling debris to hold it back with his massive, hard-scaled arms. "thanks, big guy." the insect's self-made meat shield would allow ample time for the rest of the group to separte from the rubble.

"are you two alright? you're not hurt, are you?" he addresses the captain. surely, he would prioritize her safety, and her aquatic companion's, over his own at this point.

another shot at it. at this rate, silv was going to need to grab himself an oxygen tank or two. and perhaps an extra set of goggles too. down into the depths again!

the waves unforgiving, and yet the surfers unrelenting. only a matter of time before he'd finally stick the landing...? here goes something...

a total team effort, it was, in spite of the denials of praise. suppose that the man ought to not waste precious seconds in debating it; that time would be better invested in rescuing pokémon that were trapped within hordes of debris, and every second wasted was a second lost. after all, a ranger's equipment could be easily replaced but a pokémon's life could not.

he can understand the difficulties involving the comms, nodding along to the woman's explanation. "yeah, makes sense. the radio frequencies having exactly been the best here either, but luckily they were clear enough to catch you calling out to us. that's a win in my book." to ensure everyone's safety, they would surely a wide number of said 'wins'.

a small town girl, huh?

"home is where the heart is, isn't it? i'm originally from paldea, although i've come to like it here, in spite of everything going on, that is." she was right about one thing, and it was there was always something transpiring, even now when there were lives at stake.

he offers a smile in return while gearing up to take a dive. as he does so, images of recent events began to play in his mind like a slideshow. pokémon has become a vital part of his life, thus, it was safe to say that he'd be willing to risk that life in order to save theirs.

"ready when you are...partner!"

"just 'silv' is fine..."

it seemed that a certain trainer from paldea has a way of drawing attention unto himself. whether it was intentional or inadvertent, oftentimes it mattered little to him. but today on the other hand? having this many eyes on him was frankly unwanted, nor did he believe them to be warranted in any way. surely those eyes would be better off watching a smeargle sketch a mural of some kind. with word spreading like wildfire these days, it could be suffice to say that there may not have been many folk who hadn't already heard the speculations of a foreign champion coming to a city near them.

but silverio is not what he once was, that being one of the small few pokémon trainers who had gained the pleasure and privilege to call themselves a champion. or at the very least, that's what he had grown to be back in his tenaciously rigorous homeland of paldea. here in hoenn, however, he's a complete stranger to most - and dare we say, practically a nobody. so what was all the hustle-and-bustle going on all around him? or perhaps a better question would be this: how has he managed to come to this point in time?

suppose that his backstory as a competitive battler may be common knowledge to the rest of the league, not that it would affect his take on how other hoenn inhabitants may view the ranger or anything. still, there always seems to be at least one person out here in this region that sought to test his mettle. and today, that someone was the greatly-renowned sheriff of dewford. like many other oppositions here in this land of which there was still much to learn about, silv meets the challenge head-on.

"one of those, huh...?"

the one chosen to battle from the sheriff's corner was a being unbeknownst to many, and one possessing a striking resemblance to a popular psychic pokémon of the present. paldean tales have told of such creatures like this one. alas, silv would treat it as any other entity - an adversary, despite missing a limb. from behind the paldean, a knight of another variety entirely had emerged, one who bore malicoiusly dark armor, arms in the shapes of longswords, and a blistering cerulean flame atop his head.

"one on one...all good with me." silv turns to his pokémon, one who would aim to prove to be valiant in his own right. "whaddya think, buddy? you sure you're up for this?" the ceruledge crossed his own swords, as if to say he was ready for what may be his toughest challenge yet.

the sight of a pair of gleamy eyes stops the man and his goat in their tracks. from the depths of the tall grass, another four-legged critter other than silv's gogoat emerged, electricity in the air - almost literally. the two pokémon's eyes would meet, and they shared a silent yet menacing staredown. both creatures rushed forward towards one another and...

boom!

their heads collided, like rams engaged in a duel, headlocked in a struggled in attempts to establish their dominance. this conduct would continue for several moments, with each of them able to match the other's intensity, until they would eventually be brought down. both beasts slumped through fatigue.

a fearsome feline such as this may pay dividends in silv's efforts to help hoenn - and its people, as well as those around him - prosper. a ball was swiftly tossed in teh luxray's direction. if successful, it'd make a fine addition to his ever-growing family.

these days, downtime could be considered luxury. but today was one of those days where that luxury could somehow be afforded. suppose that a ride out in the open was what silverio would need to clear his head from the impending chaos looming over hoenn. several times over, he'd been asked 'what made you want to come out here to a land that shifts between peace and destruction with a nanosecond?' each time, his answers was the same: to learn.

about the world outside paldea's borders. his borders. what has he learned so far to this point? only that hoenn was on the brink of peril. with that in mind, he'd spend this time here reflecting on a whole mess of possibilities, all the while venturing through tall greens with his newly recruited grassy mount in tow.