Chương 60: Interlude - Ranger

Wilson saw outpost seven's sullen protege off with a wry smile. The girl wasn't nearly so good at hiding her dissatisfaction as she thought she was, and the older ranger didn't have the impression that she possessed all that much confidence in that particular skillset in the first place. Fione, or Fe as she preferred, certainly wasn't the most problematic junior ranger they'd ever tutored, but she wasn't anywhere close to the easiest either. Part of it was the girl's personality.

Huge chip on her shoulder, which was understandable considering her disability, and a nasty tendency towards unearned confidence. The other part of it was just sheer dumb bad luck. It wasn't every mission she'd gone on had faced unexpected complications, but even just one such case was an anomaly, and poor Fe had experienced several. And to the girl's credit, she'd mostly handled herself well. Not all of her self-confidence was misplaced. She was a quick study with most things, and generally a hard worker.

A few more years to come into her own, some time spent at the academy, and he was certain that she'd make an excellent ranger. Now if only they could keep her out of trouble long enough for her to get there. The older ranger let out a chuckle that was equal parts amusement and exasperation, before mounting up on Hemmer, his own Skiddo. The affectionate Grass-type let out a snorting neigh, before bounding off into the forest, while her rider considered the upcoming confrontation.

They'd designated a rally point half-a-kilometer south of the Bewear's den, where he and his colleagues would meet up and plan their approach. Wilson hadn't been exaggerating when he'd explained to Fe how dangerous this could be. Well, he hadn't been exaggerating much. There was a small chance that this could all be resolved with words and reassurances, but the odds weren't something he'd want to bet on. Most times, this confrontation would devolve into a fight.

And fighting a Bewear is unsafe at the best of times, let alone two of them, enraged by the theft of their cub. It wasn't quite the worst-case scenario, but it was certainly up there. Luckily, they had quite a bit of fire-power to call on. His own partners, Swallot, Xatu, and Merlowe (his Marowak) were no slouches, and both Janine's and Donna's teams were full of powerhouses.

Mark's Arctibax, Icebox, was a strong supporting force, and Philip's garden of Grass-types could slot nicely into both roles, depending on the needs. He'd worked with all of them for years, and he was confident in everyone's skill, and especially in their sergeant's leadership. If things went well, they might even make it back to the station before Fe did. Golems know, they could use a lucky break for once. - Mark wiped his hands on his crimson pants, trying to pat the claminess of his nerves away.

He always hated confrontation, and that was just with other people, let alone dangerous wild Pokémon. At least there was plenty of backup, he tried to reassure himself, as Wilson arrived in the clearing they'd all agreed to meet at. Donna was already here, as was the sergeant, which meant they were just waiting on Philip, which made sense since the older ranger had agreed to patrol the most northern range of the forest.

Considering just how much faster Pauline could go compared to the rest of her family, the delegation seemed natural. Not only was she evolved, she was also well-trained and well-conditioned, and all of that together meant that she could go further, faster, than any of Outpost Seven's other ride Pokémon.

"Bax, bax-ar-bax." Icebox piped up from his perch on Mark's back.

"Yeah -b-b-bud, we're really pulling out all the stops on this one." And Mark was glad for it. Better safe than sorry was an ethos Mark could always get behind.

"Not all the stops." Mark heard someone sigh. He turned to find Donna, green hair tied back in a tight Ponyta-tail. The combat-specialist was running a polishing cloth over her Ferrothorn's steel shell, giving Grinder a well-deserved detailing before the upcoming confrontation.

"Would have been nice to have Fe with us. She and her partners would have been really helpful." Mark felt a frown overtake his face. He had a lot of respect for Donna's capabilities as a fighter, substantially less for her judgement in general.

"She's j-j-j-j-just a kid, Donna. You k-k-k-now how strong Bewear are, especially when they're upset."

"And that's exactly why I think the sarge should have let her come along. All of you really underestimate Fe. And even if you didn't want her and her team on the front line, they know some really strong supporting moves. Coaching, Helping Hand, Tearful Look, that's a lot of force-multiplication that we're leaving off the table."

"She could be a champion level trainer, that wouldn't change the fact that she's just thirteen." A third voice interrupted the conversation, this one choked by years of smoke inhalation. Sergeant Egao's normally grim-countenance was even more thunderous than usual, as she stalked over to the group, and Mark had to work to suppress a gulp.

"If we have to rely on a teenager to do our jobs for us, we might as well disband Ferrum's entire corps."

"Hey, old enough for the ghouls at FSBC to make money off of them, old enough to make her own decisions about what she wants to do." Donna replied flippantly, but her only reward was a harsh look from the sergeant and a flare of the woman's frankly terrifying syn. The green-haired ranger rolled her eyes, but let the matter drop, just in time for Philip to arrive, looking impressively gallant atop Pauline. The man might have been graying, but he hopped off his mount with the same dexterity as the other rangers.

Maybe more.

"Sorry we're late, something's got the forest riled up, we had to avoid a few ornery Pokémon."

"Presumably it's the pissed off Bewear pair." Donna replied dryly, clearly unable to keep herself from snarking.

"You know, if I had to guess."

"Alright, that's enough Donna. I know this is stressful, but try to keep a lid on it." Janine chastened the younger ranger. The reprimand earned Janine a few grumbles, but the green-haired ranger subsided. She clearly wasn't the only one who was nervous. Mark could feel his own anxiety peaking quite clearly, and Wilson was fiddling with his gear in a way that made his concerns obvious.

Philip and the sergeant both looked cool, but Pauline had a reassuring vine wrapped around her partner's waste, and the sergeant was snappier than usual.

"Alright, now that we're all here, let's make sure we're all clear on the plan. Wilson, you're up first, try to talk them down and convince them that the cub's okay. If we can pacify them with words, we might be able to end this without a fight. Donna, you and your team are on bodyguard duty. Make sure Wilson stays safe while he's negotiating."

"Yes sergeant."

"Sure sarge." Both rangers acknowledged eyes focused.

"If things go sideways, we're splitting into two teams. Donna, Wilson, you and your partners will take one of them while Philip and I will handle the other. Standard alpha procedures. Try to make sure we only have two active fighters contesting each Bewear at the same time, otherwise the risk of friendly fire's going to be too high." A chorus of acknowledgements came from the group. It wasn't anything they hadn't heard before, but there was a certain comfort in going over the routine.

"Mark, you're on radio duty. Keep us in contact with base, and make sure to reinforce whichever pair needs the help more, if it comes to that."

"Got it." Mark nodded, suppressing his stutter as best he could while grabbing his radio and making sure the wrist strap was securely fastened to his wrist.

"This might be a tough one everybody, but you're all tough customers. Let's get this done, and get home safe, alright?" Another round of acknowledgements, and they were off, ride Pokémon trotting through the forest towards the den where the Bewear were known to nest. Mark could feel his nerves roiling, threatening to overtake him, but the cool, comforting scales of his partner, hanging off his back, helped center him. Whatever they were going to find, they weren't going to be facing it alone.

- The forest flashed by in a rush of muted greens and browns as Donna idly toyed with the ball in her hand. Grinder would be the first one onto the field, he was best-suited to bodyguard duty in case things took a turn, and he was her most reliable partner. She should probably keep Saber out of his ball too, so the Skarmory could intervene as he saw necessary. Mitt was going to have to sit this one out, at least at first.

A forest clearing wasn't exactly the best place for the hefty Copperajah, and he might end up doing more harm than good to their efforts. Her eyes tracked languidly over the rest of the party as they made their way towards the Bewear's den. Mark would likely be more hindrance than help, at least Janine had given him a job that stuck him well out of the way. Wilson was a little better. He wasn't quite dead-weight, but he wasn't going to be super useful if things came down to a fight.

Janine and Philip would be fine, the former was a force of nature and the latter had more experience than most of their party combined. It was possible that they'd get through this without a battle. Preferable of course. Donna didn't think it was likely. Bewear weren't known for their good tempers at the best of times. Damn but it'd be nice to have Fe along. Donna wasn't sure why the rest of the group was so blind to her capabilities.

She understood that dead kids were a touchy subject for the sarge and all, but frankly, Donna liked the teen's chances in this encounter better than either Wilson's, or Mark's. Whatever, they'd make do. The time for ruminating and plotting was over, because they'd arrived at their destination. Donna wasn't Wilson, she hadn't visited every burrow and den in this whole damned wood, but she had enough experience to know what she was looking at.

A ton of trees, torn down and pulled together to form a crude shelter, the gaps stuffed with all manner of plants, leaves, and dirt. It had all the hallmarks of Pokémon den, and a couple of Bewear would be more than capable of felling and moving the trees required for its construction. Unfortunately, any finer details were lost in the absolute maelstrom of violence that had clearly taken place here. Ruddy brown splotches, evidence of dried blood, coated huge swathes of the shelter, and the ground around it.

Pink and black fur dusted the ground, along with suspiciously squishy-looking mounds that Donna chose not to pay too much attention to. The clearing had been expanded recently, felled trees and broken branches speaking to a destructive fight, and the shelter itself was halfway destroyed. One of its walls was torn to shreds, and the opening revealed the shadowed form of something barely identifiable, splayed out inside. Something in multiple pieces.

Donna felt her metaphorical hackles rise, and their whole group stopped on the edge of the clearing, everyone momentarily unwilling to step further into the tableau of violence. A few moments passed, and then Janine's voice rung out, smoke-addled tone clipped and short.

"Pokémon out. Philip, Mark, Wilson, cover the Skiddo. Donna, you're with me." The sergeant hopped down off her mount, and released her Ampharos into the clearing. The normally gentle giant had a look of intense concentration on his face, and his fur crackled with barely-restrained thunder. Hayate came out a second later, the Pidgeot ascending into the air to scout from the skies. Donna dismounted as well, releasing Grinder at her side.

The protective Ferrothorn wrapped a tendril around her arm, while his other two 'feet' dug into the ground, letting him drag his metallic shell across the loamy earth. For good measure, she sent Saber out as well, the silver-armored Skarmory flying up to join Hayate in circling the clearing, just a few dozen feet off the ground. Lookouts established, the four of them slowly crossed the clearing, heads swiveling and ears open for threats.

The Ampharos, Akaruko, Donna remembered, was the first to notice something, letting out a low moan of warning that drew their attention to a mouldering pile of cracked stones. Except, the shattered, stained objects weren't stones at all. Janine got close enough to kneel down and inspect them closer, before confirming what they'd all been worried about.

"Bones. Human."

"I didn't think Bewear ate people." Donna said softly, considering the grisly, half-chewed remains. All that was left of their missing-persons, presumably.

"They wouldn't, usually." Janine replied, her voice similarly low.

"Not unless they were starving, and I saw plenty of nuts and berries on our way here." With that grim realisation, there wasn't much else to do right now other than continue on. They'd have to recover the remains later. They pushed forwards, moving to the shelter.

"Grinder, ears to the ground, anything moving in there?" Donna asked her partner quietly, causing the Steel-type to still for a few moments.

"Ferrothorn." One clipped word. No.

"Should be all clear sarge, but let's let Grinder go first, yeah?" Donna told the sergeant, trying to keep her voice level. The hard-bitten woman nodded, gesturing for the steel-type to go ahead, and Grinder reluctantly released his hold on Donna's arm so he could plod carefully towards the opening in the shelter's walls. With a groan of steel, he hauled himself up off the dirt, peering in through the shattered facade to take in the shoddy den's interior.

"Ferrothorn. Thorn." No movement. One body. Donna closed in, letting Janine cover the flanks while she pulled a flashlight from her belt and shined it inside. She wasn't able to keep herself from sucking in a reflexive breath through her teeth. The sight of the den's interior wasn't pretty.

"We've got one of the Bewear here. In multiple pieces." There was something macabrely funny about the two-toned Pokémon being split in two ways, pink head and black body. The effect was rather ruined by all of the crimson.

"Holy fucking shit sarge, whatever did this wasn't fucking around." Donna marveled, as her skin reflexively hardened and her stomach roiled.

"Tell the boys to watch out for themselves. We've got a killer on the loose."

"Same as in the city?" The sergeant asked, after she'd stepped forwards to peer over Donna's shoulder.

"Doubt it. Pokémon aren't serial killers, and whatever did this, definitely wasn't human." She gestured for the sergeant to take a look, and after a few moments, the older woman agreed with a grim nod.

"I'll bet. Tell the othe—" whatever else the sergeant was going to say was cut off by a cry of alarm from the perimeter, followed by the distinctive, horrifying sound a Normal-Type energy being projected at blistering speed. Calls of alarm and shouts to "watch out!" were cut off by the Hyper Beam scything through the clearing, and the entire field devolved into chaos. - Mark's shout gave Philip just enough time to direct Pauline out of the way of the incoming blast.

It made sense that he and his partner had been the focal point of the attack. She was taller than any of the Skiddo by a half-meter at least, making them by far the biggest targets. The Hyper Beam tore past them, its distinctive violet beam painting the snow with indigo and purple. Trees came crashing down as the attack whirled, trying vainly to track them, but the pair knew better than to stop before the distinctive sound of the devastating assault ceased.

Eventually, after what felt like hours but was probably just a few seconds, the beam petered out. The destruction wrought in the treeline gave them a clear view of the attack's progenitor, a hulking shape covered in pink and black fur, the lighter half of which was dyed an off shade by large splashes of dried crimson. Bewear's weren't exactly known for their cleanliness, but Philip had never known one to let blood dry on their fur, let alone so much of it, and he'd been working this forest for a long time.

And that wasn't the only thing wrong about their assailant. The Fighting-type was completely motionless. Too-still, even for a Bewear on the prowl. Obvious wounds stood out on its skin, pits and scores from devastating attacks, hair missing over recently-healed scars, and strange, glowing fragments buried in its torso and arms. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. And to cap all of that off, the Pokémon carried with it an aura of malaise.

Sickness and malady broiled off the troubled Bewear, obvious even to Philip's age-addled sense for syn.

"Bewear," Wilson's stumbling voice came from Philip's right, but the man's placating tones, usually so effective on people and Pokémon alike, did nothing but draw the behemoth's attention to him.

"Please, what's wrong? We want to help you." His coworker's entreaty was met only by beady eyes, and by lumbering steps, as with deceptive speed, the hulking Fighting-type began tearing its way through whatever stumps of trees remained between it and its newest target. Hemmer, Golems bless her, didn't hesitate, scrambling in the opposite direction, into the clearing and towards their heavy hitters. Grinder surged forwards to defend the pair, though Philip couldn't see if Donna had directed him to do so.

Akaruko let loose a barrage of electricity that momentarily blinded Philip, and didn't even cause the Bewear to stumble, before it slammed into the oncoming Steel-type.

"Lets get some Leech Seeds out, okay old girl?" His partner let out a snort of agreement, before a barrage of seeds went tumbling out of her grassy tresses, flying towards the brawling titans. Somehow, the battle had taken a bad turn in the moments he'd looked away. Grinder was down two arms, the grassy limbs ripped free from his seed-like body, and Akaruko was panting from the effort of another Thunder that the hulking Fighting-type had simply shrugged off. That was a big part of the danger of fighting a Bewear.

They were so damned strong and persistent, they'd pull bits right off of you through your syn while ignoring whatever you did back to them. The Steel-type was making an admirable showing of himself, his remaining limb lashing out in a series of Power Whips that Philip's eyes couldn't even track, but the Bewear continued to ignore the arboreal assault, finally catching the final vine and tearing it off Grinder's body.

Pauline's Leech Seeds landed all around the struggling pair, rearing up out of the earth and tying them together with strangling vines. And yet, already the Bewear was tearing itself free from the enclosure, its struggles eerily quiet, other than the tearing and ripping of plant matter. The roar of another Thunder deafened Philip for a moment, so he missed the order, but he could plainly see the result. Time seemed to extend as Grinder began glowing a brilliant, combustive orange.

The Explosion left a crater in the ground and melted the entire glade clear of snow. The Bewear had taken the full brunt of the attack, choosing instead to continue smashing Grinder while the Steel-type was charging up his Swanna song. The distinctive red light of a Poké Ball's recall beam flashed, leaving the Bewear temporarily alone in the center of the clearing.

The big Fighting-type was standing, slumped over, and for a few seconds, Philip wasn't sure if he was still deafened, or if the clearing was really just that silent. And then, without warning, power exploded off the pink and black-furred bear, washing over the clearing in waves of energy. Akaruko and Janine were sent flying, while Donna barely kept her footing, skin glowing silver.

Distantly, Philip could hear Mark shouting something into his radio, while Wilson released his Swalot onto the battlefield to replace Grinder on the frontline.

"More Leech Seeds old girl, Grinder blew up all your old ones. This fight's not over yet." Pauline let out an affirmative snort, and fired off another barrage into the melee. - Something was wrong. Haruka had to fight to keep herself from worrying at her lip while the Bewear shrugged off another barrage of attacks.

Archibald had ordered his Swalot back so a Hayate and Saber could whip up a hurricane, but their foe broke through the attack with another roaring Hyper Beam that sent her brave companion spiraling towards the ground. Half their air support was down, and an almost dismissive, back-handed Thrash from the Bewear knocked out their second front-liner. Both Pokémon were recalled, giving space for Pauline's Leech Seeds and Icebox's Icy Winds, but the attacks went almost wholly ignored.

Janine tried to sit up, and found her shoulder protesting. She'd pulled something in it when that last, strange eruption of energy had sent her sprawling. Bewear were strong, that was for sure, and absurdly dangerous, but this one was on a level beyond. She'd fought alpha Pokémon that had taken less punishment. They were battering it five-on-one and they'd yet to do any appreciable damage.

"Stella, you can't get hit." Haruka told her trickiest partner, throwing the Clefairy out onto the battlefield to confront the Bewear.

"Everyone, stay evasive and watch out for collateral. Mark, where's our backup!?"

"On the way!" Mark shouted, his normally quiet voice raised both in volume and octave as he screamed from the treeline. Akaruko let out a groan of effort as he tried to stand from the crater he'd left in the impromptu shelter's walls. Her oldest partner was starting to get up in years, and he didn't have the stamina he once had, but the repeated Thunder attacks should have been doing something.

"Lower output Akaruko. Pace yourself, this is looking like a marathon, not a sprint." The Electric-type confirmed her orders with action over words, spraying the Bewear with a series of precise Charge Beams while Stella danced around the larger Pokémon's bludgeoning blows. Haruka knew that, contrary to what it might seem like, fighting Stella at close range was a nightmarish prospect.

The twitchy little fairy's ability to freely manipulate gravity while also adjusting her size meant that she could be an absolute nightmare to hit if you couldn't use wide-area attacks. The pink blob danced and bobbed around the larger Pokémon, interspersing her dodges with the occasional Meteor Mash or Follow Me to keep the hulking brute's attention. One of Stella's blows took the Fighting-type in the gut, and the large bear slumped over again, catching itself on one arm as it fell forwards.

The feeling of wrongness pervading the clearing intensified, and Haruka screamed another command through her perpetually-scratchy throat as she threw up an arm to recall Stella.

"Here it comes again! Brace yourselves!" Akaruko threw up a Protect that she sheltered behind while Donna crossed her arms in front of herself, glowing with a silvery sheen. Philip, Mark, and Archibald dove behind whatever stumps and trees were still standing on the edge of the clearing, and Saber took off high into the air, out of range. With a crash of noise, another wave of energy erupted from the eerily-silent Bewear, washing over their various protections.

Everyone cringed back from the outpouring of power, and by the time they'd recovered, the Bewear was up and moving again, charging towards Donna with flailing arms. The pink-furred behemoth closed the distance in barely a second, giving the green-haired ranger just enough time to desperately dive to the side. The raging Pokémon clipped her as she flew by, and Haruka heard the sickly-crisp noise of bones snapping as the younger woman was sent flying by that small impact.

Haruka felt her heart up in her throat, but now wasn't the time to lose control.

"Stella, full stall. Just focus on dodging." She threw her Clefairy back out on the field.

"Akaruko," she turned to the Ampharos, but found the Electric-type heaving and sparking, seemingly unable to muster more energy. That last Protect must have exhausted him.

"Rest up, this isn't over yet." She recalled him in spite of his protests, and took off across the clearing while his ball rocked faintly. Saber dove down again, savaging the Bewear from above with silver-tipped wings whenever Stella provided an opening. The barrage from the edge of the trees had redoubled, Archibald's Marowak and Philip's Exeggutor adding to the attacks flying at the Bewear. Her second-in-command met her at Donna's prone form, both of them finding the woman conscious, but groaning.

"Bastard got me good sarge," the green-haired ranger complained, teeth grit in pain. The source of her agony was obvious, blood and bone erupting from her shoulder in a mangled mess.

"Should have known better than to get hit, right?" She tried to laugh, but it came out as a pained cough.

"I think she's got some broken ribs too." Archibald said critically, as he looked over her injuries with a practiced eye.

"She's yellow, her syn should keep her stable for a little while, but we need to get her off the battlefield." Archibald released his Xatu, the green bird staring up at the sun with almost reckless inattention.

"Xatu, get her to the hospital, right now! She needs medical attention." For some reason, the Psychic-type ignored Archibald's orders, continuing to stare up at the sky.

"Xatu!" her second-in-command snapped with uncharacteristic urgency.

"Move!" Whatever the bird was staring at, Archibald's orders snapped him out of it. One red-tipped wing reached down, touching Donna gingerly on the head. The green-haired ranger looked up at them, face twisted in pain.

"Watch out for Saber for me, yeah? Don't let him go crazy worrying about me," she begged, using her good arm to hand her partner's Poké Ball to Haruka. Before either of them could reply, there was a snap-hiss of displaced air, and the pair disappeared. Haruka made to stand, only to have Archibald tackle her to the ground.

Before she could ask what was going on, another Hyper Beam rang out, passing overheard right where they'd been kneeling, and then scything across the clearing, felling trees like wheat and sending everyone scrambling to avoid the assault. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Mark react too late. His Skiddo and Arctibax threw up a pair of hasty Protects that shattered almost instantly, barely cushioning the devastating beam as it tore into man, mount, and Dragon.

The three went down in a heap, and Haruka could only hope that they were okay, because the Bewear had abandoned Stella for some reason, in spite of repeated Follow Mes from the latter, and was charging their way.

Archibald's Marowak sprinted out of the tree-line, meeting the raging Fighting-type halfway through the clearing and laying into it with his bone club, giving the rangers time to scramble to their feet and regroup, but the assault was costly, and after just a few seconds of combat, a Hammer Arm saw the Ground-type hurtling away, skull cracked and leaking red. Archibald recalled his injured partner, just in time as the Bewear slammed into the earth where he'd landed, insensate.

Psychic power wrapped around the Fighting-type as Bangalla the Exeggutor stomped forwards to confront the hulking bear. For a few moments, the type advantage let them stall the stronger Pokémon in place, shimmering energy encasing the struggling wild Pokémon and causing its old wounds to erupt anew. Into that opening crashed Saber, the irate Steel-type slamming into the Bewear's back with a cacophony of shrieking metal and tearing flesh.

His steel-tipped claws and wings dug deep into the larger Pokémon's back, and her beak howled with the twisting of steel as she slammed a Drill Peck into the top of the Fighting-type head. Blood erupted from the devastating injuries Saber was wreaking, staining the pink and black bear's pelt anew. For a few moments, it looked like the pair's assault might take the behemoth down. And then, the Fighting-type reached up with one tree-trunk arm, wrapping its paw around Saber's head.

The Bewear began squeezing, and Saber let out a squawk of dismay as his beak began drilling a hole through the bear's grasping paw. With a tremendous effort, the Bewear tore Saber free from its body, ripping the Steel-types talons and wings out of its fur with a terrible squelch. At the same time, the psychic hold surrounding the Fighting-type shattered, and Bangalla slumped.

Freed from the attack, it took only a moment for the Bewear to turn Saber from a fighter into a projectile, Flinging the Steel-type at Bangalla and knocking them both into unconsciousness with the impact. A pair of red-highlighted beams flashed out, recalling the downed Pokémon, leaving just Pauline and Stella on the field. At some point, Philip had dismounted, and Janine could make him out tending to Mark and his downed Pokémon, the herd of Skiddo surrounding them in a protective line.

The grouping proved too appealing a target, and the Bewear took off again, sprinting through the clearing towards the herd of ride Pokémon. Stella tried desperately to recapture the rogue Pokémon's attention with Follow Me and Pauline lashed her vines around it, all to little avail, while Haruka desperately wracked her brain for options.

The wild Pokémon slammed into the four Skiddo (and one Smoliv, now that Haruka was looking closer), but the garden of Grass-types didn't break, summoning layers of Protects that just barely stalled the Bewear's charge. Philip shouted something Haruka couldn't make out, and the Pokémon around him and Mark lashed out, a forest's worth of Razor Leaves erupting from the herd, tearing into the Bewear.

The wild Pokémon staggered under the assault, faltering for a moment, before erupting with energy once more, sending the ride Pokémon scattering. Their foe stalked forwards, bringing one blood-stained arm up over the heads of the downed rangers, and Haruka felt herself screaming a warning that she knew would go unheeded. Just before the attack could land, however, the Bewear went flying. Haruka whipped her head, tracking the wild Pokémon's flight as it hurtled into the center of the clearing.

A corona of Psychic-energy blazed around its form, as did silken bonds made stronger than steel. There to meet the incoming behemoth, one fist chambered tightly at his side, was Bakiru, his yellow fur blazing with barely-contained energy. On his left stood Liken, hand on his partnered Spidops' shoulder, the Bug-type hauling back on the web she'd projected with all six limbs.

The meeting of bear and yellow fist was practically cataclysmic, the two-toned behemoth folding almost in half around Bakiru's outstretched Focus Punch. Outpost Seven's strongest fighters had arrived. - Liken had seen his share of messes the past few years while working as a dispatcher, but this one took the cake. Something was deeply wrong with this Bewear, and he was pretty sure he had a pretty good idea what it was.

Years spent doing Ferrum Battles meant he knew what a synergy burst looked like when he saw it, unlike his colleagues, most of whom had far less experience with them. This Bewear was constantly in a synergy burst state, shedding energy at a clip that would cripple a Chroma league competitor in minutes. He tapped K3's shoulder, warning the Spidops of the upcoming Burst Declaration, and sure enough, omnidirectional energy erupted from the Fighting-type.

His partner held up her limbs, almost instantly using Silk Trap to weave a shell of nigh-indestructible webbing that absorbed the blow. Assault weathered, he tapped K3 again, telling her to stall. The Bug-type surged forwards, dodging and weaving under the Bewear's attacks like the professional fighter she'd once been, occasionally deflecting one of the hammer blows off a sheet of silk and retaliating with brutal Counters that sent the bigger Pokémon staggering.

The dispatcher grabbed Bakiru's hand, thinking hard about checking on their colleagues, and with a flash of light, they teleported next to Philip and his herd of Skiddo. The older man was crouched down, doing chest compressions on a very singed looking Mark. Liken only had a moment to look before Bakriu reached out with a yellow-furred palm, and the pair were gone, the powerful Hypno doubtlessly teleporting them both to the hospital. Whatever happened next was out of his hands.

"The hell happened Philip?" Liken asked as he took cover behind a nearby overturned tree, peering over it occasionally to make sure that K3 was holding her own.

"That fucking monster laid out almost all our Pokémon, dammit. Every time it seems like it's about to go down, it explodes again and gets all its strength back," the older ranger explained, his hands a flurry of motion as he tried to comfort the herd Skiddo, who seemed only moments from fleeing.

"We've pumped enough power into it to knock out an alpha three times over, and it just keeps getting back up."

"Well… fuck." Liken replied intelligently, trying hard not to think about the burns covering Mark's body.

"Uh, Tell Pauline to back off, I guess. We don't want to provoke another Burst Declaration if we can help it." He broke cover, moving closer to K3 while Philip instructed his partner to stand down. He reached the crater where Wilson and Janine were sheltering, sliding down it to join them.

"Hey, so uh, what's the plan? K3 can stall for a bit, but it doesn't sound like just beating this thing into the ground is a real solution." The two older rangers looked to him, then at each other.

"I've thought of something," Wilson admitted, "but it's not pretty."

"Better than dying," Janine argued, "out with it Archibald."

"Look at the wounds Saber inflicted. They're not healing." Wilson explained. The trio peered up and over their cover, to where K3 was deftly dodging around the Bewear's blows, with the occasional assist from Stella to distract the brute. Sure enough, long bloody furrows were dug into the wild Pokémon's back and shoulder, leaking more crimson into its already-stained fur.

"Whatever that thing is where it explodes, it seems to regenerate the Bewear's syn, but it doesn't recover its injuries. So…" The conclusion was clear, in spite of Wilson's unwillingness to lay it out plainly.

"Mark wasn't breathing." Liken informed the pair darkly, the declaration met with a pair of indrawn breaths.

"Bakiru took him to the hospital, but I'm not sure how much they'll be able to do. I don't think we have much room to hesitate here." And really, what more was there to say than that. - The plan, as it turned out, was rather simple to execute, once they'd laid it out plainly. Pauline and Stella wore the Bewear down, slowly draining its energy, while K3 began wrapping subtle strands of silk around the big Pokémon's neck, worrying them, accumulating small bits of damage through the Pokémon's protective syn.

They'd only have a bare moment, a tiny chance to execute their plot. The opportunity came suddenly, almost without warning. One of Pauline's Seed Bombs knocked the huge Fighting-type sprawling, and the battlefield quieted for a moment, an in-drawn breath as the Bewear charged its power once again. In a half-second, the wild Pokémon would Burst Declare, and the fight would resume once more. K3 never gave it the chance.

One hard, pulling wrench, through an impromptu pulley, all six limbs leveraging together to exert a truly tremendous amount of force. The silken garrote carefully built around the Bewear's neck pulled taut, its poofy fur and loose skin constricted into a tight cluster that almost made the Pokémon's upper half look like a macabre balloon. And, with a sickening crunch, the rampaging monster went still, before slumping to the shredded earth, eyes glassy, body unmoving.

The energy that had been about to flood the wild Pokémon had nowhere to go, and for a few moments, all was still. And then, the prone body began swelling up, unrestrained power running rampant through empty biology.

"It's going to blow!" Wilson screamed while diving to the earth. All the other humans followed suit a moment later, while their partner Pokémon erected protective barriers and shimmering screens. An eruption of light and noise tore through the clearing, accompanied by an explosion of energy and ruptured flesh. The end result had most of the remaining rangers nauseously heaving, covered in varying amounts of gore.

K3 was shaking, and Liken went to comfort his partner while Haruka and Wilson took stock, trying to figure out some sort of next step. With a start, Haruka realized her radio was trying to alert her to something, the device's call light flashing. She snagged the device off her waist, holding it up to her head.

"This is Sergeant Egao, what's going on, over?" A chorus of squeak, chirps, and clicks tore over the line, and next to her, Archibald paled.

"What happened to Fe?" He demanded into the device, snatching it out of his superior's hands with alarming urgency. Haruka felt her blood run cold. - She wasn't sure what she'd been expecting when she hopped off Hayate's back. Her stalwart companion was recovered enough to fly, but not much more than that, which meant if there was a fight, it'd just be her and an exhausted Stella and Akaruko against whatever was attacking her youngest subordinate. And yet, the thought of not going hadn't once crossed her mind.

The most important thing, the only thing that mattered, was making sure that Fe was safe. A bit of flying from her Pidgeot in the direction of the Honchkrow's nest brought them to a clearing that seemed similarly devastated to the one they'd been battling in just minutes before, and whatever she'd been expecting, it wouldn't have aligned with what she found.

An aquarium's worth of fish, silently swimming through the air, swarming around one another in a ball of water and energy, spiraling in fractal patterns that tore the eye and nauseated the mind. The sphere of water writhed and roiled, hovering some two meters off the ground. Slowly, uncertainly, Janine approached the anomaly, her eyes catching flickers of crimson cocooned inside the shell of blue bodies.

With a squelching sigh, something dropped out of the bottom of the school of fish, a limp, insectile body crashing to the forest floor. A moment later, the entire shoal collapsed, the blue facsimiles vanishing into thin air, leaving a falling, human form tumbling to the earth. Haruka reached her arms out, catching the descending body out of the air with a grunt of effort.

For the first time in not long-enough she found herself holding a blood-covered teenanger, a Pokémon clutched protectively in the injured child's arms. The girl looked up at her with unsteady eyes, recognition flashing in them, before they started to flutter shut.

"Fe?!" Haruka tried, hoping to keep the girl awake, but it was to no avail, and unconsciousness took the junior ranger. A few moments later, a light flashed in the clearing, as Bakiru honed in on her through the psychic bond they still shared, even after all this time. He looked up at the unconscious child in her arms, and thought not a word. A quick snap hiss of Poké Balls as one fish, six little balls, and one giant hawk were recalled, and with a flash, the devastated meadow disappeared around them.