A Ranger's Mission: A Lost Soul

Chapter 8 - The Crowd of Noise

If Lena was biting into her energy bar with a bit more aggression than normal and was pouting, she'd refute those claims, and call it an implanted memory from a Psychic Type.

‘Then again, Arthur would probably be the first one to call me out.’ She thought with a light mental grumble, glancing over at William who was eating a Chesto Berry and watching the windows at the passing subway tunnel.

As he watched the tunnels go by, she typed into her Fine Styler with her free hand, the photos she and William took for the Quest attached in a message to the original requester. She read it over one last time before pressing send… thankful that Stylers used both radio, satellite, and network communications as the upload speed was consistent.

‘Quest Complete…’ She thought to herself, somewhat grateful that she had the time to sit down and do this, since by the time they arrived in Nacrene City, it’ll be close to the start time of the Mission…. Which, they would have arrived way before if William didn’t insist on taking the subway.

“We could have just landed outside Nacrene City.” She found herself saying without realizing it.

William glanced away from the window, raising an eyebrow. “Lena… we went over this, remember? You’re technically ‘supposed’ to be a Trainer guiding me…” He took another bite of his Chesto Berry before continuing. “...Rangers are allowed to carry an additional person on a Flying Type in any circumstances. However, Trainers cannot use Fly for transportation of a second person unless it is an emergency, and I can’t fly myself because I don’t have any license to do so.”

‘Dammit, William, you’re too smart for your own good...’ Lena quasi-grumbled to herself in her head, knowing that William had a point, a really valid point… but she really wanted to fly, it was near sunset too... “I could have just said I was a Ranger to anyone watching us… I have my Fine Styler to prove it… I mean, I am heading to a Mission anyways…”

“...but you’re not going there as a Ranger.”

“...I’m going as a Trainer on paper technically, yes. I will let the other Rangers know though so they aren’t caught off guard if they see me use my Fine Styler.” Lena added, making William frown and look a bit thoughtful.

“How many others are there gonna be actually…? I know Ace Trainers are a part of Missions sometimes from the reports on TV, but how many people outside of Ranger’s will be at the Mission?”

William’s question prompted Lena to lean back and run through her own memory… “Public volunteers aren’t called on usually unless the scale is larger than the available Rangers are able to handle… usually, something like three, or four Rangers would be able to handle an outbreak of Pokémon no problem. It’s usually just catch the target Pokémon species with Styler, and remove the Pokémon from the area to a designated meeting point, and then the Ranger there will help with relocating.”

Frowning, Lena couldn’t help but wince as she started to think back to the message once again. “...The fact that they’re asking for any able-bodied Trainers is… concerning, but shouldn’t be too bad for Pinwheel Forest…” Pausing, Lena frowned as she started to think about all the policies and rules that Trainers would need to know and go over during the Mission briefing. “Maybe I should go in as a Ranger… might help keep the chain of command with Trainers who are on their own…”

William tilted his head, as if conceding the point, but looked uncertain. “Maybe, but this is safer overall if we’re trying to keep a lower profile… arriving there at least, instead of flying in dramatically.” William grimaced at the thought, but Charon’s Poké Ball rattled on his belt, distracting him enough from his thought and making him glare for a brief moment before resuming his makeshift dinner.

Lena couldn’t help but cross her arms as she finished off the energy bar. “Looks like Charon agrees with me.”

“The only Flying Type that flew people in Charon’s time was also a Psychic Type, and let kids jump off her with reckless abandon apparently… that wouldn’t pass clearance today I bet.” William shot back, rolling his eyes as Charon’s ball shook again, as if offended.

Lena started to run through her mental list of Flying Types that were also Psychic, but was cut short as the train lurched side to side, the distant sound of what was rumbling echoing through the cars. The other passengers seemed unconcerned and undisturbed, and the sleeping Minccino and their Trainer didn’t even wake up. William meanwhile, gripped onto his seat tightly, his eyes wide as he looked around. “Holy fucking — What was that?!”

Lena shot him a glance at his sudden swear, but paused for a moment, humming with a frown as she thought about it… they were on the Orange Line… which was the Multi Line… “Probably one of the Subway Masters using Earthquake ahead on the Battle Cars, they must have been running this line tonight.”

William froze and turned to her, his eyes wide in a way Lena had not seen before, which she quickly tried to calm. “The Battle Subway has the same safety standards as a normal subway, and even tighter standards than most official battle facilities, it’s safer than street battling actually.”

The young Trainer’s expression didn’t change, shifting to incredulous as he let out a shaking breath before rubbing his face and resuming to eat the Chesto Berry in silence… Lena rolled her eyes as she started to smirk. “Regretting not flying now, are you?”

Without missing a beat, William countered back quickly. “I’d still take an Earthquake-ridden train over flying without a harness or other safety procedures any day.”

Lena stared at him, before her voice was a touch softer as she realized what it might be. “Do… you have a fear of heights?”

William didn’t freeze, but shook his head before he paused, hesitating. He was clearly fighting with himself as he worked out his response, as if uncertain. “More of an anxiety with flying… there’s just a lot of outside factors…”

The Ranger hummed in response, but couldn’t help but frown at William’s phrasing. There was a lot to unpack in that sentence, but a chime sounding throughout the car’s PA System took her attention…

“This is the Nimbasa bound Orange Line. The next stop is 14 St-Percy Square in Nacrene City, estimated arrival time - five minutes. ” Came the automated voice through the PA, the sound awakening the sleeping passenger in the corner and her Minccino. The sight of that was enough to prompt Lena to run through her plan in her head again, nodding once.

“Alright, so here’s what we’ll do once we get off.” She said, bringing William’s attention to her again before continuing. “We’ll head to the Pokémon Center, and get a room for tonight. I already canceled our rooms from Straiton’s Pokémon Center, so there shouldn’t be any booking issues related to that.”

“...Are we sure we’ll have room in Nacrene’s Pokémon Center?”

Lena was starting to notice that William was a bit too paranoid. “We will, even if it’s a double room. It’s too early in the season for it to be booked entirely, so you might be able to get a good night of rest while I go to the Mission… probably be back past midnight.”

William started to frown, prompting Lena to raise her hands in mock-defense. “What? Growing kids need their sleep, I did warn you that Chesto Berry might keep you up…”

That must have been the wrong thing to say, as William flinched slightly and winced. “I-I — that’s not what I was… I mean that —” He grunted, shaking his head before sighing and focusing forward instead, his shoulder’s slumping slightly. “...nevermind… ”

Lena looked at him, her eyebrows pinching slightly in worry and confusion… William’s mood doing an entire one-eighty from when they were at the Dreamyard. ‘Did I say something patronizing? I mean, I know you’re more mature than most kids, but… you do need your rest just the same as others, right? Do you think you can’t rest?’

Taking a breath herself, Lena finished her own energy bar. Some day she’ll puzzle him out, but for now… she’d have to refocus for tonight, and completely get back into the game of a Ranger once they got to the Pokémon Center and got a room.

“I apologize, but yes, every Trainer room is booked. Even the Ranger Rooms given the situation. You might have some luck with a hotel, but I’m getting calls saying they’re overbooked as well…”

‘Dammit William, you Jynxed it...’

The Pokémon Center was packed like a can of Wishiwashi; by Lena’s estimates, there must’ve been at least 60 people all milling around trying to make space in the lobby, and the cafeteria had to be well over the occupancy limit.

“I just hope I can get my Lillipup looked at before the aftermath, who knows how long the wait is gonna be after all the Trainers and Ranger’s come back…”

“What’s happening with Pinwheel Forest? I saw a Ranger and a Police Officer placing barricades on the front —”

“Johnny, you’re being too paranoid again. Not everything is a conspiracy; sometimes shit just happens.”

“Arceus Almighty, Val, you’re being so fuckin’ naïve. First they start bringing in new Pokémon, and now they’re blocking off the entirety of Pinwheel Forest to cover up what’s happening with the Venipede and Sewaddle! It’s all part of that damn diversity law led by that Fae bitch!”

Lena couldn’t help but rub her head slightly, feeling the sickening, caustic aura of the guy from across the room just from his words and attitude. Definitely a heavily Poison attuned trainer.

Among all the chaotic conversations, Lena tried her best to refocus… though, the words and noise kept yanking her attention every which way.

“Where are you camping out then, since the main section is blocked for tonight?”

“Eh, might just trek to Route 3, I know it’s gonna be crowded by the gate, but might as well, be somewhere close still.”

“They should’ve let us in the damn museum, what, does the League not consider it a ‘support’ area just because Lenora saddled her job with the only other golden boy they had the last League season?”

“Remember last time there was an emergency in the forest and they opened the museum to the public?”

“Think there will be an Antidote shortage for a bit? I remember them talking about Weedle in the news…”

“I’m betting it’s gonna be Full Heals, they always requisition the best stock for their own needs…”

“Oh boo fuckin’ hoo, Lenora lost her precious little skull, let’s all throw us folks in the Pokémon Center while the League Patrats are off snorting aeruginascin.”

“Ayy-roo-gin-a-what-now?”

“That’s the shit they put in X Special. Gets you trippin balls deep like Daddy in his one night affair with—”

“Fuck’s sake Johnny, there’s kids around! And how the fuck do you know this?”

“What can I say? I’m a sommelier of hard drugs.”

“Ma’am? Are you okay?”

Shaking herself out of her thoughts, Lena refocused on the one manning the front desk, who wasn’t the usual Nurse, but instead one of the lab technicians who was usually in the back. Looking entirely exhausted.

She forced herself to clear her throat. “Yeah, sorry, got distracted by, uh, those two,” pointing at Johnny and his friend ‘Val’, who similarly looked about done with him as everyone else around him.

The technician groaned. “Oh, yeah. That man has been going off for the past hour. I’m considering kicking him out, but he technically hasn’t done anything wrong yet.”

‘I really need to make sure that William can be somewhere safe… I uh, don’t think I want him around that Johnny guy...’

With a sudden curse in her head, Lena maintained a smile and waved it off. “It’s fine… I was just trying to figure something out, sorry, I saw everyone but I just wanted to make sure there weren't any rooms… I’ll get out of your hair now… good luck.” She said, giving the tech a nod who smiled back with a hint of an exhausted, grateful expression.

With a quick turn, she awkwardly navigated through the crowd once again, making her way to the rightmost wall, where William was leaning against it while sitting on the floor with his bag in his lap. Lena shifted to move her bag to her right side, then similarly leaned her back against the wall before sliding down to sit next to William. A sputter started to leave her lips as Lena rubbed her arm slightly as she tried to formulate a plan to make sure William would be able to rest, but also not be out in the open…

William, in turn, was looking at his Pokédex which displayed a map of the area with pixelated representations of Pokémon spread out, his attention focused as he seemed to be pressing certain button combinations... While she was curious, she ignored that for now… “So… there wasn’t anything available…”

Nodding slightly, William stopped whatever he was doing with his Pokédex to look out at the crowd once again, his eyes scanning across and flicking from person to person. “I think they… evacuated the entire forest. Look at some of the gear on some of them.”

Lena looked over them all once again, picking up on what William saw. Hastily stuffed away tents, or sleeping bags either poking out of bags, or in people’s arms…. Some even wore comfortable sleeping pants or shirts, hammering in the fact that indeed, they had pulled out everyone from the forest that they probably could.

Lena hissed her through teeth as she looked around… ‘That… says a lot more than I was expecting… shit, I stop being an Area Ranger for less than a week and I’m that out of the loop?’

She could berate herself for her slip up later, for now, she still had to figure out how to get William somewhere away from all the chaos. Biting her lip, she tried to work through her plan once again, feeling like invisible walls kept blocking her own thoughts as they tried to gather, forcing them to slip away from her own focus.

And then, like the Twins were purposely making it so she couldn’t think, William started speaking again.“...I’m sorry that I insisted we take the subway, I know it took longer and… probably might have made it otherwise…” William said, almost too low for her to hear, but just loud enough to make her be able to detect the hint of underlying guilt and shame in his tone.

Waving her hand at him and turning to him, she tried to quickly assuage such feelings. “Please, no, it’s fine William. It’s my fault for not thinking this through, don’t worry… I shouldn’t have tried to press someone who had a fear of flying to fly on a bird Pokémon they didn’t know. I’ll make a plan for us.”

William frowned, visibly his face shifted into a grimace, seeming to want to come up with a rebuttal, before he just shook his head and sighed, slumping a bit more into himself as he turned back to the Pokédex again.

His mood had shifted drastically since the Dreamyard, almost like all the work Lena had done earlier to help him relax had come undone… a pit of guilt and shame building in her stomach. Arthur must have sensed it, because his Great Ball wobbled on her belt. She passed her finger over it, feeling concern pass through from Arthur’s aura, even Rina’s Dive Ball shook for a moment.

“I’ll be fine… don’t worry, just gotta think this through… a lot is happening here…” Lena murmured, attempting to soothe her partners as she gently ran her finger over the capsules… the shaking stopped, but she still felt the lingering emotions and hesitation from Arthur. She tried to ignore it as she started to run through her remaining options…

Even if she pulled her rank for the Pokémon Center staff just to keep an eye on him, they were already swamped with work and she didn’t want to give them more headache during this whole mess… plus the ‘X-Special’ man was…

‘Yeah, no, Pokémon Center is a no go, I’m not leaving William in the same room with a… druggie with anger issues… how the name of the Twins did he even get… nevermind.’ She was going to need a Psychic Type to force those memories away, even as she physically shook her head to move onto her next point.

They technically could set up a campsite a bit away from town to keep William away from people… but leaving a seven year old alone — even if he had a fully evolved Pokémon — left a taste in Lena’s mouth that rivaled a Yago Berry. If a couple Trainers, or Arceus forbid, anyone newsworthy caught wind of William having a young Starter, and a fully evolved Pokémon thought to be lost…

Well, that means the entire purpose of trying to keep him under the radar until the first Gym was broken within the first couple days of her own Mission.

…Which meant the only real option was to keep an eye on William herself. During the Mission.

‘Dammit… I don’t want him near this, but…’ Lena sighed and turned to him with a look that she could feel wasn’t fully confident. “I… I hate to ask this, but would you feel comfortable coming with…?”

William’s eyebrows raised, and he was clearly surprised by the change in her plan, but he nodded all the same, maybe even too eagerly. “U-Uh, yeah, I can help out if… if that’s what you mean.”

‘I mean… not exactly what I meant, but that works.’ Lena thought, sighing and glancing at the crowd. “I know it’s… sudden, but… I can’t really find a better solution to get you somewhere safe, and where people won’t try and poke into your business if they get curious…”

William shook his head, seemingly not bothered. “It’s fine, don’t worry… Charon can help if we can get away from other Trainers. And if not… worst case scenario, I just try my best to stay out of your way.”

Lena grimaced at his phrasing, unsure if it was coming from a place of realistic thinking, or some weird low self-esteem thing. ‘Now’s not the time to think about that…’

Instead, she pivoted the conversation, sighing and leaning back against the wall as a faint resigned feeling took root in her chest. “I’m sorry still, about not being able to get you a room, I mean...”

William shook his head, waving her off with his other hand. “It’s fine, I’ve had long nights before.”

“Sneaking out to visit Charon?”

He tilted his head, nodding slightly in agreement. “That’s one, but not the worst I’ve had.”

“Not the worst? What, did you stay up past —”

“Attention everyone!” A voice from a megaphone rattled Lena from her musing enough to blink and turn to the source with a jerky movement, where a Ranger had stood up on top of the front desk, and was scanning the hoard of Pokémon and people.

The crowd went silent, and all eyes locked onto him before he spoke, “I’m the Pokémon Ranger designated for this incident, and I’m calling on volunteer Trainers who are willing to assist with this matter so that Pinwheel Forest can be reopened for travel as soon as possible.”

At this, some of the murmuring started again, but the Ranger continued. “Will everyone who is willing to assist, and who has any Pokémon with a type advantage over Bug and Poison Types come with me? Everyone else, please follow the directive of any fellow Pokémon Rangers, Pokémon Center Staff, and Law Enforcement at this time, thank you.”

‘Shoot, what’s his name again? I know he’s usually assigned to Pinwheel Forest…. M-something right? Matthew? Mitchell? Michael?’

Lena stopped her musing as she realized some Trainers started to follow ‘M-something’ down the hall, and she went to take a step forward before glancing back at William for a brief moment to speak with him…. Only, she quickly realized he was not behind her, but now in front of her, stopped a couple feet away as he realized she had not followed them.

“We’re… going with them, right?”

Lena blinked, opening her mouth for a moment, before nodding and holding back an internal sigh. “Yeah, we are. Just… stay close. This isn’t ideal, I know, but I’ll explain more about this later.”

Taking the lead, and walking a bit faster they were fast enough to merge with the group following the Ranger. Lena felt her instincts kick from when she last did a Mission like this… during the siege.

Despite the memories, she still glanced around at the other Trainers as they were led into the Center’s private conference room, already gaging their strength. Her eyes flicked from the type of Poké Balls on their belts, to how they held themselves as they walked, and sorting where they might best be able to assist out of sheer reflex. She had to catch herself from saying anything aloud though, but still mentally sorted them.

William stayed close to her side, his face impressively serious as he focused on the Ranger in front without flicking to anywhere else in the room. She noted though, that he was playing with Charon’s Poké Ball in his hand, rubbing his thumb around the ridge of the capsule as he focused without glancing around at any of the other Trainers. Almost as if trying to ignore the slight glances some of them were giving him.

Before she could subtly ask if he was alright, the Ranger in charge stood at the head of the table, a Simisear handing him a remote which finally sparked the name she had been trying to remember. ‘Miguel! That’s his name!’

“Alright, so it looks like we have all our volunteers… here…” Miguel trailed off as his eyes locked with William, the almost invisible furrow of his eyebrows giving enough away for Lena to know exactly what he was thinking. His eyes then flicked to Lena, the furrowing intensifying as he took in her ‘uniform’. It was enough to prompt her to shift her left arm just enough to clearly show her Fine Styler, her own eyes staring back at him to send a silent message.

Whether or not he received it, Miguel continued smoothly along. “Ahem, anyways. Thank you so much for agreeing to assist us on this mission, I’m Miguel, one of the regular Rangers who patrols Pinwheel Forest. As such, I’m going to run through everything related to this…”

Pressing a button on the remote he was given, the screen behind him shifted to what looked like an aerial view of the forest, one that Lena herself had seen a couple times. “So, as you’ve probably heard, Pinwheel Forest has had a budding infestation of the Weedle line, even though they’ve only been approved to be on Route 12 as a stable habitat.”

‘So, most likely migrated? Those have been happening more often… ’ Lena started to think to herself… her body naturally shifted back to not be obvious as her mind started to wander, tuning out the standard speech Miguel was giving that she had given others before on previous volunteer Missions she had run…

‘I suppose that would make sense… from what I heard on the TV, they’ve been really aggressive too, most likely trying to establish their own hive? Were they kicked out of their previous hive…?’ Before Lena could continue to go down that line of thought, she glanced back up at Miguel, just to check where they were…

On screen, was the standard instructions for properly treating poison, one that Lena knew all too well. Wash the wound with clean water, spray an Antidote over the wound… wrap it… all the standard stuff for low-level poison from Beedrill, and backups in a worst case scenario.

All things she reviewed in Ranger School over and over again. Along with various other poison treatments for more advanced Poison Types… learning how to treat poison for a Steel Type was… interesting, even if those cases were highly limited. Despite that, she made sure to review them just in case for Arthur’s sake.

‘Corrosion is such a weird ability… only… the Salandit line has the ability? Wait — no, the Glimmet line also rarely does…’ Lena mused with a hum, before shaking her head, her thoughts were still too scattered from the day… she had to focus.

Her mind glanced around the room again, starting to take in the other Trainers to gauge who may need to be paid up with who… but her thoughts were shattered again by a passing comment she heard.

“What the heck is a kid doing here?”

Lena had to hold a wince back physically, the comment… was fair. ‘I don’t want William here either for his own safety… but the optics for every option aren’t the best…’

After that comment though, that’s when more started to fill the air, just barely under people’s breath, hushed, disconnected whispers… or maybe she just started to notice them now that she was focusing… or trying too.

“He’s not seriously going to be on this? Youngsters can’t join Missions…”

‘Well, he’s not a Youngster you know, which is fair, he is young bu— ’

“Probably hasn’t even had a battle, look at him trying to be all serious…”

‘Well, yeah he needs more experience with Ronin, but Charo—’

“Hey, she looks a bit young to be his parent… think she’s his babysitter?”

‘I mean, it’s more like he’s—’

“I bet he doesn’t even have any Badges, bet you he’s gonna be crying before half-a-hour. Stupid wannabe Trainer kids…”

“I hope we don’t get paired up with him, bet you he has only a house Lillipup, probably all he could handle…”

“Twins above, he’s past his bedtime… they’re making anyone Trainer these days… his Pokémon probably barely listens to him…”

Lena felt something burn inside her at the comments at William, her teeth gritting slightly as she forced herself from turning directly at the speakers. She could also tell that Arthur and Rina similarly felt angry, with how Arthur’s Aura felt tight, restraint and holding itself back from lashing out even though the Great Ball. Meanwhile, Rina’s Dive Ball got colder, condensation forming around it at the comments…

She didn’t let her own emotions show on her face, instead shifting her posture a bit taller, straighter… taking a deep breath similar to when Arthur showed her how he meditated… and cleared his thoughts. She wasn’t nearly as experienced with Aura, or as in touch as the Lucario was, but she could feel her mind wash away the distractions, her very presence almost seeming to challenge the rest of the Trainers to continue.

Some comments trailed off mid-sentence, one even making a muffled choking noise. The attention started to shift instead to Miguel speaking now, instead of Lena or William.

‘I know it’s a stressful situation but that does not give people the right to make comments about a kid, make comments about me if you’re going too…'

Taking another deep breath to prevent herself from saying anything aloud she didn’t intend to, and with as much of a subtle glance as she could, her eyes darted to William to check on his reaction. She knew that he would be getting comments about his age eventually… but from Trainers in a volunteer Mission?

William’s expression gave nothing away, she could only see the same impassive expression staring dead on at Miguel. His thumb continued the repetitive motion of before however, slowly dragging around the ridge Charon’s Poké Ball in his hand and paying no mind to any of the other Trainers.

‘...I’ll speak to him later, make sure he’s okay…’ Lena mused, adding it to her ever growing checklist of things she needs to do, and keep straight…

“...with that said, please put this number on your communication device of choice.” Miguel said with enough force to direct her attention to him again as he pressed a button on a remote. The screen behind him shifted slides, showing the emergency frequency number for this mission. There were a series of beeps, and clicks around the room as Xtransceivers, some PokéNavs, and even one decade old Pokégear were turned on to add that number. Lena subtly opened her Fine Styler at an angle to add it in at the top of her communication list.

“This number will be active for the remainder of tonight, if you, or your partners need to report something you see, need to retire for the night, get into trouble, anything at all… please use this line to reach a Ranger to assist.” With a serious look, Miguel leaned a little over the table, leveling everyone with a firm gaze. “Do not hesitate to use this. We would rather have a false alarm and a resource be overused, than someone not using it and getting them, their Pokémon, or other hurt… or worse.”

With a sigh, Miguel stood back up and nodded, gazing across the group before making a motion to another Ranger, who leaned down and grabbed a box from under the table before placing it on top. Inside, were hundreds of Nest Balls, all in their shrunken form which was impressive enough that Lena almost was about to comment, before another box of Nest Balls was placed next to it.

“Take as many Nest Balls as you can carry, however, please tell us how many you are grabbing… we sadly do have to document that.” He said with a joking tone, some understanding laughter echoing from some Trainers, and others grumbling… “Once you grab what you feel you can carry, please exit the Pokémon Center and meet up with Ranger Hillary to set up groups and other procedural work, she will have her Beartic out so you can easily spot her.”

At this, the room slowly started to shrink as people started to move… more and more people grabbed Nest Balls before heading out… Lena was glad that they were in the back of the group for the inevitable conversation…

Sure enough, as soon as the two of them reached the front and once the last Trainer had left the room, Miguel’s posture changed. He flicked his eyes to William, who was shoveling Nest Balls carefully into the pocket of his hoodie before pausing and seeming content… before he frowned and grabbed one more, quickly moving his hand across his hoodie and tapping as he re-counted before looking up at Miguel. “Twenty Nest Balls.”

Miguel blinked, then blinked again before staring at Lena. Lena glanced at William to direct him outside, but William already put the pieces together, looking just a tad guilty. “I’ll… head out by Ranger Hillary, let you two speak, I’ll wait for you outside…”

Holding back a thankful look on her face with Miguel staring, Lena watched as he retreated outside the room, making sure the door closed softly. The room was now silent, with only two Rangers, and a Simisear who mirrored his partner’s expression towards Lena.

“So… mind telling me what’s going on with…” Miguel started, making a motion up and down at Lena, making her raise her eyebrows.

“An emergency Mission goes out at nine-o-clock at night and you’re surprised I’m in my civvies?” Lena shook her head and crossed her arms. “Orders from Chairperson Erma herself. I have a… long term Mission, and I can’t really wear a standard Ranger Uniform.”

Miguel’s eyebrows shot up at the mention of Erma, whatever he was going to say in rebuttal dying on his tongue, even Semisear was shocked. “Well… alright, but how does that relate to the kid?” Regaining a serious expression, he frowned and shook his head. “He doesn’t even look like he has any Badges, Lena. A Mission like this isn’t a place for a greenhorn Trainer, what Pokémon does he even have that’s good against the Weedle line?”

“A Typhlosion, for one.”

Miguel raised his eyebrows, clearly intrigued. “Parents were professionals then, eh? Old family Pokémon?”

‘Shoot, I need something quick.’ Lena forced her expression to not shift as she ran through possible excuses…. She said she was a guide to that one kid William fought earlier that day, but Miguel would sniff out that lie in an instant… something to not prompt further questions, but let her stay with William… and then, like a bolt of lightning, William’s words came back to her forefront.

‘I know Ace Trainers are a part of Missions sometimes from the reports on TV…’

Doing her best, Lena started to speak a bit fast, as if she hadn’t clearly come up with this on the spot. “Y-Yeah, kid’s a prodigy or something. Apart of some early Ace Trainer program. They uh… didn’t want to send him out alone though due to his age, so they’re having me go with him… he was apparently taking college classes, or something with discrete math for his age, so that helped with the support to let him go on a Journey early.”

Miguel, to her relief, nodded at the explanation, but couldn’t hold back a growing frown. “I… can get the reasoning, but I don’t like the idea of any kid being in a situation like this. Sure he can’t stay at the Pokémon Center? Wait for a… smaller scale Mission for his first time?”

Even while she was giving herself a mental high-five at her lie, Lena let a sardonic laugh leave her as she shook her head, her smile having no happiness in it. “With what room? The Ranger designated rooms are taken up as well for tonight… and I dunno if you heard about the uh… ‘Johnny’ guy in the lobby…?”

“...Alright, fair point… hotels are booked up too?”

With a sigh, Lena nodded. “Completely booked according to the Pokémon Center staff… and he's seven years old so I don’t want him camping out alone. He is a Trainer, yes, but seven still. I’d prefer to keep him out of this too but…”

A silence filled the room, a heavy sigh leaving Miguel before he spoke again. “This is a bad idea, I’m just stating that, and I think you know as well.” Lena schooled her expression, but couldn’t help but nod in agreement. Miguel didn’t stop though, taking a deep breath before finishing his thought. “However… even though I’m one of the Ranger’s assigned to this Mission, you technically outrank me now so I can’t tell you what to do.”

Lena’s brain short circuited for a moment, before she remembered she was a Top Ranger now… which did allow her more flexibility than she expected herself to have.

“Right… I know. I don’t like the idea either, but I’m going to keep an eye on him, we just need to catch as much of the Weedle line, which shouldn’t be an issue for him.” Lena declared, Miguel staring at her for a moment before shaking his head and laughing.

“Yeah, well with how young he is, he might drag you into trouble… just, radio in if you need anything, alright?”

With a nod, and a mutual dismissal, Lena turned and started to walk out the door. Nudging it open with her shoulder, she shifted her gloves before making sure her Fine Styler was secure around her left arm as she walked down the hallway.

Her mind was already starting to run through scenario after scenario, a plan formulating from all the information she knew about the situation… capturing the Weedles with her Styler would be fine, but she couldn’t do it with the group itself, so she’ll need to pull away and go her own route with William.

‘Benefit of that is that he’ll be able to release Charon as well.’ Lena thought with a slightly relieved note, before shaking her head. She should meet up with William outside before thinking over anything specific.

After navigating through the crowd once again, it was easy to spot William, with him wearing his yellow sweatshirt; and how he clearly sat apart from the rest of the volunteer Trainers who were mingling among themselves. Though, the group did seem a bit larger now, with some of their own Pokémon out now. There was a Darmanitan, a Houndoom, a Gothorita, and even a Grumpig, all mingling close to their Trainers, but also conversing lightly with the other Pokémon.

And William and Ronin clearly kept to themselves, clearly separate; though some other Trainers did shoot him the occasional glance at William as he tapped through the Pokédex silently and with Ronin chewing on his own Chesto Berry in his lap.

William glanced up, noticing Lena and nodding before speaking to Ronin too soft for her to discern as she walked over. The Water Type nodded before William picked him up and put him in his hoodie; shifting slightly due to the weight, he stood up and walked over to Lena with a look of concern. “Everything okay…?”

‘Jeez kid, you really are anxious…’ With a light nod and wave, Lena tried to push his concerns aside. “Yeah, it’s all good. I’ll explain later.”

With that, a very deliberate clearing of the throat brought everyone’s attention to the Ranger next to the Beartic, Hillary’s eyes glancing across the crowd for a moment. It was similar to Miguel, but this time she was sizing up everyone, identical to how Lena had done so once she had entered the room. “Alright, now that I have everyone’s attention, follow me. We’re going to the entrance of Pinwheel Forest where our rendezvous point and station will be. We’ll also go over any questions, or minor details so don’t run off.”

She paused, making sure her words sunk in before turning and walking, her Beartic standing closely behind her and letting out a huff as she also huffed and mirrored her partner. The group slowly started to head in the direction of the forest, William and Lena slowly merging close with them, but still staying in the back.

After a minute of pause, William glanced up at Lena with a questioning expression. “Not gonna release Arthur or Rina yet?”

At the mention of her partners, her hand instinctively went to her belt before she caught herself and shook her head slightly. “No, once we’re in the forest, then I’ll release them…we’re gonna go on our own after Hillary finishes, I’ll take care of that though so there’s no questions, don’t worry.”

William hummed with a nod, glancing at the night sky and taking a deep breath, rolling his neck slightly as they headed away from Nacrene City… falling silent and seeming lost in thought.

Lena decided to do the same, letting herself have a moment to think to herself before the long night, the forest seeming almost to stretch far above the group as they walked deeper into the darkness…

Beta Readers:

David “TheBlizWiz” R

Garmfild