Chương 26: Chapter 23

"Now," I say, taking my place at the large table, "I want all of you to tell me exactly what happened here today, as I need to report it all to the Union." The assembled head rangers and academy staff quiet, shuffling slightly, and sharing various looks with each other.

"Thank you, Ranger Holt," Callin Reylind, head of the south base, says, nodding slightly at me, "It was rather loud." After that, everyone remains silent for a few moments. Finally, just as I'm getting ready to 'ask' again, someone speaks up, "We were slow to respond to the emergency mission," Marissa Lane, head of Vien Forest East, admits.

"A combination of unpreparedness and our people all being in the field." I wave Mr. Reylind off as he opens his mouth. We've already spoken, and three of his personnel arrived in the expected time frame, "Let's start from the beginning, shall we?" I ask, looking over to the academy staff.

"We'd been readying for taking some of the new prospects through disillusioning," Mr. Kaplan says.

"You know the drill, bring in some local wilds and tamed animals from the conservatories," He waves a hand vaguely, "All that. You know what I mean." The beginning of ranger selection, yes. Weeding out those who can't accept basic facts.

"Anyway, that's when the alarm went off. Anri?" We look to Ms. April, who breathes in to steady herself, "One of the senior students had interrupted my class, claiming they'd heard crashing and screaming, along with a pokemon cry. Once a first-year turned up and confirmed it, I sounded the alarm and sent the emergency broadcast. A few minutes after that, Ms. Kaplan came running and told us to barricade the room."

"Ms. Kaplan?" I prompt. The woman sits up, resting her elbows on the table, "I'd been taking care of my team after my last field tactics lesson, and was starting to have issues with them spacing out." She sighs, "Should've known something was wrong at that point, but when the alarm started going off I did my best to snap Lucky, my manectric, out of it." She shakes her head, "Took a bit of doing, but once I did he was on the ball and following me.

When I saw all the destruction I headed right for the broadcast room since I knew there had to be a few people in there who hadn't gotten out."

"Right. Now to our first on-site," I say looking across the table. A deep sigh comes from the man there, and Karlos Monte, the head of Vien Forest West, steeples his hands in preparation to speak, "We reacted immediately, and arrived seemingly before anyone else." And that was quite impressive, implying a time-to-readiness of seconds.

"Onaga– that is, Onaga Ryuko, entered the building just as I made it on-scene. I'm not sure of the exact events that happened inside."

"She did her job, that's what," Ms. Kaplan, the lead tactics and behavior instructor, takes over.

"Less than two minutes between her seeing what was happening and it being resolved." At that, I make a gesture for the woman to continue. She glances around, then huffs slightly, "Ms. Onaga? I think I remember that," The woman queries, getting a nod from the burly man, "Ms. Onaga came in, assessed the situation, and ordered her Weavile–""Not her Weavile," Karlos, as he insists on being called, interjects, "As of four days ago, Weaver has been recognized as a full citizen."

I raise a hand, forestalling any more interruptions, "Continue, Mrs. Kaplan."

"Uh, Right. Ms. Onaga ordered Weaver to be ready to intervene against the tangrowth, which the weavile did. Then Ms. Onaga started messing with her resonance-thing. After that she had her– Sorry, she had Weaver start subduing the one closer to where Anri was holed up with some students. Then Ms. Onaga was attacked by the other pokemon," Mrs. Kaplan pauses, "Actually, she took some pretty hard hits there, is she okay?"

"She was perfectly capable of standing without issue," I inform her, "If anything, I believe any meaningful harm she suffered will have been backlash from overusing her RED." Unlikely though, as the woman's history shows a marked resilience.

"Continue." The teacher raises her eyebrows, but does so, "Well, I was splitting my attention the whole time, but she climbed the one going after her, then just held on while the tangrowth kept trying to buck her off, then it– they, yeah I know," The woman sighs at some of the looks she's receiving, "I was a trainer for decades, sue me. Anyway, Tangrowth started settling down, and Ms. Onaga fell off them, unconscious.

And since one of the pokemon was barely conscious and the other had calmed down, I started first-aid for Lucky."

"Not ranger Onaga?" I ask.

"That weavile was being protective," the woman responds.

"Made it pretty clear no one would get close."

"Okay then. And by that point," I say, "The situation was under control and more backup was arriving." I get nods all around.

"Now, how about some of the other things many of you noticed? I'll start by saying that on arrival, my partner Blake was having issues focusing."

"As were all of our partners," Mrs. Lane confirms, "Many of them also became frightened after the confusion passed as well, clinging to their rangers."

"Gabite too," Karlos adds.

"And Dodrio, though they kept each other on task." Hmm, a benefit of having multiple selves. Mr. Reylind simply nods.

"Yep, most of mine couldn't focus, but they at least weren't violent," Mrs. Kaplan nods, confirming we're thinking the same thing.

"Like I mentioned, Lucky needed some jostling, but he managed to help protect the students." Hmm, and Ms. Onaga's partner knew something was going on but was unaffected.

"And the REDs? Ms. Onaga said both she and Mr. Kaplan were having issues, and I confirmed there was nothing wrong with her device," I say, looking at the teacher in question.

"Yeah, there was something strange happening," He confirms.

"I've never felt that much feedback from one of the things. I'll say the same thing I said to Onaga, it felt like trying to push through quicksand." Overall, the situation could have been much worse, and it's fortunate that Onaga was one of the first to arrive. The woman's family history may have a large hole and a mystery in it, but her ranger record is excellent.

"Does anyone here have more to add?" I query.

"One of my students was asking after Ms. Onaga, but that's not particularly relevant," Ms. April, the lead of operations, says, shaking her head.

"The pokeball remnants imply this was planned," The principal, one Lamont Splendidocious, speaks up. I nod, holding in a sigh. He's correct, and while the timing could have been worse, it's not by much.

"Our lack of regional staff will be a problem…" My words settle into the group, many expressions turning cloudy at my implication.

"I'll bring it up with the Union, but a situation like this makes me feel we'll be seeing more at some point." ▲▲▲ ▼▼▼ Charlie doesn't waste any time after Miss Ryuko says we can go. And since I've been picking up their boredom and impatience, I follow them. I haven't had a chance to really look at this city, for… various reasons. But since Charlie seems to be taking their time, I can too, even if I'm a bit confused about where Charlie's been leading me. Not that they want me following them, but they're letting me.

I just feel so much better with them pulling everything the humans are feeling away before it becomes overwhelming. It's a very short walk before the trees fall away and the dirt path becomes stone, the human city looming ahead of us. This doesn't look like any place my team and I saw in Johto, it's more… modern. Or advanced, I guess. The buildings aren't all wood either, some of them look like they're made entirely from stone or metal. And that one has so much glass! And the park we're headed for looks so pretty.

Wait, are they going into the glass building? Oh, and they're opening the door for me, too. Walking into the building, it's much easier to make out all the plants inside, it's like an indoor farm. It's also quite a bit warmer and very, very humid. The pokemon operating it– Oh, I've never seen a pokemon doing that before, that's so cool! And he's so big, too! He and Charlie are talking about someone named Marshal. But I'm not paying that much attention. There are a lot of ripe berries on some of these plants.

The big pokemon seems happy about something being accepted as he turns his attention on me and I look away from the berry bushes, "Are you hungry?" He asks. I shake my head, it's not a big deal.

"Mmm," He rumbles, concern condensing around him even as Charlie pulls it away.

"No, that's not right. Here." He snakes a vine out to an oran bush, plucking the juiciest looking berry I can see before setting it in front of me, "You need to eat if you want to get better." Better? …Oh, he's looking at my fur. But I'm already better… However, Miss Ryuko and Charlie keep telling me to eat more. And that berry smells good… Glancing between the two watching pokemon and the berry, I slowly bend down to take a bite.

It's sometimes a bit hard to follow Charlie as we wander through this place. They'll move through things in that way nothing else can, and I end up needing to track around whatever it was myself. They always wait for me, though, and they stop at the big roads with tracks. It isn't until we're on the west edge of the city that I start becoming worried. And the ghost-type stops, turning to look at me, "Is something wrong?"

That's one of the nice things about Charlie, they're almost like another psychic, picking up on how I'm feeling without needing to be told. … I do still need to talk to get complex things across though, I don't like that part.

"The f – forest," I say, waiting for the misdreavus to put it together. I can't tell what they're feeling right now, they're too far away for me to see or feel inside the maelstrom, but their expression is mostly curious.

"…Are you worried we're going to get in trouble?" They ask after considering for a moment. Of course I am. Humans hate it when you stray into the wild, and Miss Ryuko only said we could do what we want, not that we could wander off.

"W– We shouldn't go so far…" I tell Charlie, trailing off at the strange look they give me." We went farther than this in the city," They say, tone not quite understanding.

"And I lived out here, it's not a big deal."" But th– the… Miss Ryuko–" I stop. Maybe they don't understand because they used to be human? Except that doesn't make any sense, they should understand better that way. I can feel Charlie's eyes boring into me, and I glance up to see confusion plain on their face, "Being asked to be back before midnight implies she expects us to wander off," they start slowly.

"Next, is the fact that, in all those warnings and explanations, she never told us not to head out if we felt like it. That's too big of an oversight if they didn't want us doing it. And finally," They spin around, conspicuously running their eyes over everything, "How would they know?" They ask, looking back at me. How are they not getting it?

"They a– always follow…" I trail off. Nobody's followed us. Not a human, not an older member of the team, nothing.

"Wh– What if we get lost?"

"I… think we're being trusted not to?" They giggle, "It's pretty easy for me to find my way around, in any case." They give me an assessing look, "Are you not used to…" They trail off, freezing in place as the maelstrom picks up speed. What? Why do they always stop like that? Why is their face– What's with that look? I don't like this, why do they have to be so high up right now? Why do they look so troubled?" Oh …" What? What 'Oh'?

"Uh, a nyway, if you don't want to follow me then you don't need to," They say, moving into the trees.

"I'm just going to be… considering things." They pause, "It might be better if you stay away from me for that part." I– I– They're already deep enough that I'm having to look through trees to see them. Should I go back home? But I want to follow them, Charlie's so interesting and– And steady-seeming. Even last night, even when they were all doubt and worry and shame, they weren't afraid or… or panicking like I keep doing. I follow the ghost.

They glance at me as I catch up, slowing slightly as they continue forward. They don't say anything, simply making a straight line to wherever we're going. I need to go around the occasional tree, or sometimes jump over rocks or a gully, but they just pass through and over everything. Only stopping at a few clearings to look around for a bit. It's so quiet, it's not like being in a city or at home.

There are other pokemon around, but it's not the overwhelming noise of humans pouring all their emotions out all at once all the time. Maybe… Maybe that's why Charlie's coming out here. I don't know how long it takes us, but we end up at another clearing, this one with what looks like a broken building at one end. Didn't Weaver say something about Charlie's home collapsing? Charlie sighs, the shrill noise the first sound they've made since entering the forest.

They float closer to the wreckage, eyes roaming over the splintered remains, a complicated expression on their face. They keep doing that, drifting back and forth, twitching and freezing.

"Are y– you okay?" I ask after I realize they aren't going to stop on their own.

"I don't know," Charlie admits, wincing and glancing at me.

"I… had plans. I'd thought I had things worked out, at least in the short term, and this place was part of that. And then it all just…" They sigh again, "And then Weaver up and offers me something workable. Something I've needed. But I'd still grown attached, it was mine. My new home." The sound they make is closer to a rumble of thunder than anything else, "And then those– Those humans had to come try and… No, not try, they did ruin it." Charlie stills, then continues more softly, "Or I did.

I could have done something else. I should've just flown off, told Marshal about it." They blink, "Or even Weaver…" They cast a glance over the ruins one last time, "But now I… I just needed to see it, to think about it." Psychic force blooms into being, wrapping itself around some of the wreckage and slowly moving it aside, revealing what looks like a discolored wooden rectangle. I can see a few reflective bits on its surface. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent.

Report any sightings. Charlie stares at the thing for several seconds, then turns and starts floating off. Not in the direction of the city. I… What… How do they just – They're starting to leave me behind again. Sprinting to catch up, I start feeling lightheaded, but Charlie stops, looking back at me.

"I'm… okay…" I tell the ghost, panting.

"Uh-huh," They say, not hiding their disbelief.

"Let's keep things slow for now."" Where… are w– we going… now?" I ask, managing to catch my breath.

"I want to see somebody," They unhelpfully inform me.

"She lives pretty close by."" She?"

"Yep," Charlie confirms, moving out and then back into corporality, "And she's home, too." I don't know how they can tell that, I certainly can't sense many pokemon nearby– Oh, I can't sense much of anything nearby. That means others are avoiding something near here." Ch– Charlie, are y– you sure we should be h– here?" I ask. I really, really don't like this." It's fine, trust me," Charlie says, reassuringly.

"Marshal helped me get myself in order," The ghost, the already very much dead ghost, continues, their tone warm. They don't stop moving, though. It takes a few minutes before I feel something new, and I stop. We should turn around. I can feel a weight to the mind ahead, of certainty and age. And power, so much strength that there isn't a way any pokemon could contain it, but this one is. And it just noticed us, oh Tower! I try to get my paws to move, to turn around! Anything!

But I can feel that presence focusing on us. Charlie moves in that strange way again and then changes course slightly, heading toward the thing radiating frustration and… Joy?

"Looks like she's In her garden," Charlie muses.

"I wonder if–" They suddenly stop, glancing to the side for an instant before tracing back to look at me, "Espeon?" It's hard to breathe, I can't even say anything. Why is it looking at us?! Charlie stares at me for a long moment before whipping away much faster than I've seen them move before. They call out, and I feel that intense focus leave me, it feels much easier to breathe after that. I watch, unable to stop myself as Charlie reaches that presence, and the hues shift to concern. What… What is that?

Charlie said a name, Marshal. Do they not feel the sheer power behind– Her, Charlie said her. It's fine, right? It's just the most powerful pokemon I've ever felt, it's fine. I can't even tell what species she is, just that she's big. IT'S FINE! Breathe. I don't know what the two are doing, but, after a long minute, Charlie flies back.

"Sorry, let's… let's move away from here," They say, getting close enough for me to start feeling them again. They're being genuine, and they're also a bit upset at themself, along with many more minor emotions. They lead us away from that– Her, whatever she is, and north into a more dense part of the forest. Once I'm starting to calm down, Charlie sighs, "I was a bit distracted, so again, sorry about leading you along like that."

They unwind one of their tendrils, showing two small, red and yellow berries, leppas, Mitsuaki always had a few for after training, "Marshal said these should help you keep your energy up."

"What… What is sh– she?" I ask them, not quite sure if I want the answer." A floatzel…?" Charlie's tone is light, but they know that's not what I meant.

"…Honestly, all I know is that she's old, she likes helping, she's a very… genuine person, and that Onaga and Weaver like her. Which, for the moment, is enough for me."

"But–"" She also said that most psychics avoid her," Charlie interrupts, shoving the berries at me, "I don't know much about her, really. Well, aside from some implications people have made…" They're uncomfortable about something. I don't want to feel uncomfortable like that either, so I eat the berries in silence, the prevailing emotion shifting to relief. Leppas are always tasty, and I start feeling better soon after, "What n– now?"

"I'm not sure," The ghost admits.

"I'd thought you'd like meeting Marshal, and I was mostly planning on spending a few hours at her lake… I might still do that later." They take a moment to think on it before I feel guilt wrap around us, "Shit, Leaf," They say.

"He ran off last night, scared."

"Who…" And I think I'm done talking for the moment, I just– Too much. Charlie notices, which is nice of them. The misdreavus drifts away from me, that's less nice of them." He's a leafeon," They tell me.

"And he might be better or worse for you to meet right now depending on how he's feeling." Oh? why would that be?" He's a bit… very anxious." Charlie pauses, thinking, "Other than that he's usually fairly content, if a bit prickly." There's an empty moment before they start laughing, "Jesus, he's a rosebush." I don't understand why that's funny, but Charlie seems to think it's hilarious. The ghost shakes their head, sighing as the laughter peters out, "It's nothing, just something I've been doing."

They pan their gaze around for a bit, frowning, "It might take a bit to find him though. Or maybe," They orient themself, seeming to find a direction somehow, "He might be waiting there." Charlie… Oh, Charlie just knows the pokemon around here. That shouldn't be surprising, but I hadn't thought about it. They must think I'm weird with how I'm reacting. After all, they're just wandering around like it's normal—because it apparently is. Why can't I do anything–"Hey, no!

None of that," The misdreavus says, prodding me with psychic force.

"I don't know what you're thinking of, but whatever it is, you're fine." They sigh, "Are you okay to start walking again?" And I am, something they understand without a nod, "Okay, we're going to find one of the trails and follow it for a bit. After that…" They glance back across my body, "I think we should head back so you can rest." I don't mind that, and after a few seconds of silence, the ghost nods, moving off in a seemingly arbitrary direction.

We pass by several other pokemon, like earlier, but I'm only now noticing that they hardly give us any thought. I remember how people and pokemon acted when they saw me in Johto, and it wasn't with cursory dismissal. Soon enough we're back on a trail, heading North, and Charlie's scanning the forest around us, occasionally losing corporality as they do so, "You might know where he is before I do," They say, frowning.

"He's not as big as Marshal, not as… Saying bright sounds wrong," The ghost mutters.

"Saturated?" I'm not sure what they mean, but there are quite a few pokemon around us. So I start looking for concentrations of anxiety, as Charlie did say the pokemon was anxious. Surprisingly, I can see one heading towards us. From behind. I stop, Charlie doing so an instant later as I turn and point a paw. The leafeon bounding after us is… big. And anxious, and relieved. … And surprised as he looks at me, "You, uh, already replacing me?" Leafeon asks jokingly.

He doesn't feel like he's joking, there's so much– I'm glad when Charlie sweeps between us, cutting most of the emotions off. That was a lot.

"Nah, he just followed me out here. I was trying to check in with you and Marshal after…" The wave of negativity that rolls off the leafeon crashes into Charlie, and I flinch, expecting it to hit me. It doesn't.

"Oh. Um, are you… Would you like to talk about something else?"

"Please," The grass-type says.

"I'm glad you're still here, though."

"Where else would I be?" The misdreavus asks, moving to the side slightly. Leafeon shifts uncomfortably, and I see his uncertainty manifest before Charlie… eats it, "I– I don't know! After I stopped last night– And then it really hit me– But I couldn't find you anywhere! I was getting worried…" The deciduous pokemon haltingly says. Charlie's face takes a slightly guilty cast, "I wasn't doing great after that," They say, sighing, "And I kind of got swept along by Weaver. I've mentioned her."

The ghost didn't phrase it as a question, but the leafeon nods a nyway, and Charlie continues, "She, uh, took me back to the rangers and… offered me a job?"

"Oh," Leafeon blinks, a mix of emotions washing out from him.

"That's… good? Or not bad?" He breathes, calming down slightly. I'm glad Charlie was taking most of it.

"So, um, good for you." Then his eyes track to me, and he realizes something, "You're the Espeon Maya's been talking about." I nod, trying to connect to him. Surprisingly, Leafeon seems to know how to handle his end of it. A query, and I get an image of another espeon, significantly older than me. His mother. Charlie's looking between us, tilting their body slightly. I guess they are pulling the weak connection in, even if they aren't part of it. That would explain the dead emotional channel, I …

think I'd need to make it a bond to prevent that." I'd… rather not leave Charlie out," Leafeon says.

"Even with as … eerie as they are."" Yeah, that… tasted weird," The misdreavus says, eyeing me before tuning a flat look on Leaf, "Anyway, I wanted to make sure you were alright." ▲▲▲ ▼▼▼ Espeon and Leaf seem to be getting along, there's the occasional spike in flavor, but even with Leaf being Leaf it feels like he's a stabilizing presence for Espeon. At some point, Leaf and I ran out of things to say, and now the two of them are doing something psychic while Leaf grooms Espeon.

I don't exactly know why he's doing it, but it does seem like Espeon's enjoying the process. … It's a bit odd watching the large definitely-a-canine tend to the small feline like that, but I suppose I shouldn't judge. It's easy to tell the difference in their emotions—not by what they're feeling, but by how much richer Espeon's are—so I'm glad the psychic cat is starting to run through a wider spectrum. He's not crying, but he's definitely releasing some things.

I can put some of a picture together by how they're both feeling as they 'talk,' and it's making me feel sorry for the kid. I'm tempted to leave them here and go talk to Marshal for real, but it feels awkward to leave like that. Not that it isn't also awkward to keep floating here, but they both want my presence as well. Actually, I'm getting the odd feeling that Leaf is somehow withholding something, but I can't tell what or how. Hmm, I wonder how they'd take it if I said I was going to go visit Marshal?

Leaf would probably be nervous, but accept it. Espeon… I still don't know why he had that reaction, only what Marshal said about how psychics avoid her. The only thing I can think of is how massive her presence is in unreality, which I guess could be unnerving when every person I've seen is so small by comparison. Or maybe it's how saturated the world around her is? As I've only seen one other person be anywhere near as colorful. It might even be both, who knows?

I still don't understand what any of it is, let alone what it can mean. What was I thinking about? Oh, Espeon following me to Marshal again, right. Would he? My read on him says yes, obviously he would. Although that's only if he knows I'm leaving… But that would then mean I'm leaving a child I should be watching alone with someone else. Admittedly, I trust Leaf to keep an eye on him—for a little bit at least—but it feels wrong to do that.

I sigh as another thought hits me, we've been out for a little over two-and-a-half hours at this point. Even though Onaga said ' midnight' it's probably best to be back before then, and it's starting to get on in the day. … Now that I think about it, can I still fly around at night? Something to ask Weaver, later. And maybe some other clarifications about being a 'partner.' Honestly, I know Onaga explained it already, yet I still don't get exactly what helping the Rangers means.

Granted, it's been less than a day and they're probably going to introduce me to things one at a time, but… I've got a familiar feeling. A mix of nervousness, excitement, and uncertainty that I remember from the first few times I landed a job. Although, I'm pretty sure this won't be like any job I've had before. A now familiar poking breaks me from my thoughts, and I rotate to see Weaver… She's not smirking at me. She looks blank, nothing showing on her face or in her stance.

"Weaver? Are you okay?"" I'm fine, Smokey," Even her tone is flat, "Just a defensive measure, and a little overexert ion." She glances at Leaf and Espeon, the larger of whom is looking back warily, "Ryu wanted me to make sure you were alright."" Okay…?" I ask, leadingly. And' defensive measure'?

"Something happened right after you left," She explains.

"It's been resolved, but once she was out of the hospital and back at base she wanted to know where you both were." Hospital?

"H– Hospital?" Espeon asks, speaking for the first time in a while.

"She's fine," Weaver 'reassures' Espeon, her tone still way too blank, "Only bruising and enervation. I think we'd both like it if you could come help with cleaning though." … You know what? Sure. It's something to do, I'll probably get the story of whatever happened, and I was slightly worried that my new job had no 'job' to it.

"Espeon," I query the cat. He stands, shaking himself to fluff his short fur slightly, and flicks his ears a few times. I taste readiness and acceptance before his ears go down, "Oh… Y− Yes…" I think he forgot about Weaver again. Weaver remains still as I focus on Leaf, "I'm glad you're feeling better now," I tell him, and see his face gain that yellow tint again.

"Sorry a bout leaving so suddenly."" It's fine," He says with a flick of his tail, "I get it, you've got those things you were complaining about not having now. I'm…" His anxiety increases, but now there's something else mixed in. It's so faint– "Anyway!" He says, backing off, the taste of panic and realization overtaking everything else, "I'll… We'll see each other later, yeah? Yeah." And he bolts off. Well, that was… something. I wonder why he started panicking?

A small snort of amusement has me turning to look at Weaver. She's a little less of a blank now, with just a small hint of a smirk on her face.

"What?" I ask. She stares at me, her smirk growing by the second, "It's nothing you need to worry about, Smokey. Let's get moving." With that said, she glances at Espeon and starts a slow trek back East. ▲▲▲ ▼▼▼ Trudging down a trail like this isn't how I expected our escape to go, especially since Hiro and I are still partially deaf even after all the Heal Pulses. Say what you will about this place, they must have good healthcare if they were using it for prisoners.

Keita's with us now, though Yu had Nao head to his place. Something about needing another man for a job, it doesn't matter. We're headed for the evac team, and as soon as they can radio out we're leaving." S__ns, wh_t'_ h__pen_d to _ t_l?" Keita asks, shielding his eyes while he looks ahead. I squint past him to see what he's looking at and end up rubbing the bridge of my nose as I feel a headache coming on.

There's a bunch of damned-tall trees fallen in the way, so we'll either need to climb over or manage through the thick growth that's everywhere but the path. Climbing is probably the better option since the Rangers took our pokemon.

"What do you think?!" Hiro asks, still being a bit too loud.

"We go over," I growl back. Seriously, Hiro, I get it, but keep it down.

"Sounds good!" He responds, slightly quieter. As we start making our way to the bridge between us and the fallen trees, I feel the ground shake slightly, Keita's head whipping to look behind our group. I turn to follow, hoping it's just some wild pokemon so we can– A flash of blue, a dull thud that I feel more than hear, and Hiro explodes. Red chunks and a pink mist washing over me with a foul, metallic smell. What? What just…? Hiro? Where did…? I look at what happened behind us again, and I see it.

Those burning, baleful eyes from last night, only now on a truly giant pokemon that's rising out of a crater. Oh, I remember being told about this one. The boss' orders had been 'Don't get near it.' It stares right through me, almost casually tossing a small, slo w ball of light behind me. Part of me says that it's going to hit Keita, but I can't make myself look away to confirm. I can still taste Hiro's blood, pieces of him sliding down my face and arms. Oh, this is it, then. The…

The whatever it's called is walking toward me, not taking its eyes off mine. A strange light passes over me, and it isn't until I feel something cold dripping onto me that I look up, away from its glare. The river is hanging there, unmoving as it bends to the poke– No, the monster's will. I don't have time to react as it descends on me. ▲▲▲ ▼▼▼ Well now, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that these humans lacked the smarts to just accept that the rangers caught them. And I have an example now, too.

A shame, though. Ryuko won't be happy about it, she always complains when one of us does this. She understands why, however. I let the river fall back into its bed, sighing as I consider where to put my example. On one of the human paths is a given, but which one? This one do wn here hasn't had many humans use it this year, and Luxray hasn't seen any yet either… The one leading to the East side of my lake has been more popular than ever thanks to the kid.

Hmm, but if the kid's not there anymore, will the humans keep using it? Well, they won't after they see my example.