A Ranger's Mission: A Lost Soul (Pokémon, OC/SI)

veekie · Oct 30, 2024

Dragonite is a commonly known benchmark

Thewilliamspot1 · Nov 1, 2024

Chapter 9 - The Foreboding Forest

On a normal night, the moonlight above would be a pleasant backdrop to a beautiful stroll, reflecting on the surface of the water by the bridge as it broke through the treetops of Pinwheel Forest.

The sight of sleeping Sewaddle on the trees cuddled between Swadloon, the more recent addition of the Slakoth line asleep and hanging from a tree… Audino helping younger Pokémon be brought back to their parents after a long day of play... all would have been a backdrop for a perfect night stroll through the forest.

There was none of that tonight.

The Pokémon all around them either scattered at the sight of the humans, or watched them with careful eyes as they walked by… the atmosphere thick with uncertainty and… fear. There wasn't any other way to describe it, and Lena didn't need Arthur out to just feel it on the back of her neck.

…Despite that, some of the Trainers in front of them were still mingling in light conversation in front of them as Hillary and her Beartic guided them to the meeting point. Lena did her best to ignore them as she continued to work through her own plan, but one of the Trainers turned slightly back to her and William, his Houndoom walking next to him, his expression inscrutable from the darkness and angle.

"Hey, so… what other Pokémon do you even have, kid? An Oshawott ain't gonna cut it against a Beedrill if you encounter one."

Lena could tell the guy was fishing for information, and his tone, while on the surface seemed like it was out of worry… it had a hint of condescending under it. Before Lena could speak up first, William beat her to it with a surprisingly even tone. "A Fire Ghost Type, he knows Aerial Ace and Rock Slide, so Type coverage isn't a problem if we fight Beedrill."

The Trainer's expression shifted to something more akin to confusion. "A Fire Ghost Type…? I mean… Lampent is great with things like Flamethrower, but their physicality won't let them throw much… I mean, you do you kid if you even managed to teach them that moves, but there isn't anything your Oshawott can do to protect you if you get swarmed, how old is he anyways?"

Ronin seemed to glare at the man, and William's own tone was a bit more pressed, focusing on the Trainer now with a fixed stare. "Ronin needs a bit more experience battling and aiming Water Gun in environments he's not used to, such as low light environments, and it'll be nice to get Weedle or Kakuna out of trees without causing any permanent damage…" Pausing for a moment, it was clear William was considering adding something before shaking his head slightly and staring forward… clearly dismissing the man from further conversation, while Ronin was glaring at the Trainer and his Houndoom in defiance.

Said Trainer only scoffed slightly, shaking his head and muttering about 'stubborn kids these days' as he turned forward, his Houndoom doing something similar, even sneering at William for a moment before mirroring the Trainer. Lena waited a moment for the man's attention to be taken away before looking down at William, speaking in a hushed, but gentle tone. "Hey, are you okay? The other Trainers were talking about you earlier and that wasn't right…"

William seemed… too blasé about it, Lena would say it felt almost forced as he gave a slight wave of his arm. "It's… fine, they shouldn't, but I've heard worse working before. You haven't been insulted until someone called you a son of a protestant whore."

"Buhhh-wh-what?"

Before she could even attempt to parse what a 'protestant' was, she started to make notes of William's body posture. It was… too straight, rigid; his other hand was in his sweatshirt pocket making a left to right repetitive motion, and then she noticed that William's other hand had his Pokédex as he walked, and with one missing Poké Ball on his belt…

'He's been rubbing Charon's Poké Ball as some sort of grounding agent, or… anxiety stimming method.' Lena realized, her own hand moving down to Arthur's Great Ball unconsciously… feeling his Aura instinctively reach out for a brief connection that surrounded her with a brief comforting warmth, even Rina's Dive Ball shook slightly.

Lena moved her hand all the way, rubbing both Poké Balls on her belt, and shooting them an appreciative glance, but turned back to William quickly after. "You know you don't have to put on a brave face all the time you know… I know it's been a stressful couple of days for you, and that's putting it mildly."

William turned back to Lena with a fixed look filled with a cocktail of emotions, one of them being to her surprise, concern directed at her. "And what about you…? You're in the same boat as I am."

Before Lena could question what he meant, he continued. "You've just been promoted to a — ah… higher level —" He said carefully, glancing briefly at the Trainers in front of them to make sure no one was listening in on purpose before continuing. "— and this is sudden for you no doubt, and then you're given an assignment that requires you to trek all over the Region for your boss for an indefinite amount of time following a kid around… "

Glancing back at the Trainers in front, he waited a moment before continuing, his tone lower than before. "...And on top of that, you're attempting to keep doing your normal Ranger obligations of Missions and Quests… I don't… know you too well, but even to me that… I dunno, just… I know I haven't been helping, wanting to rush to Straiton, then not flying here causing us not to get a room… but…"

The worry in his tone wasn't uncharacteristic, but having it directed at Lena herself so pointedly did prompt a mix of emotions she wasn't sure she could work through right now… but it was clearly another deflection, or at least, to a degree.

…Even if Lena couldn't deny some of his concerns, given the last two years.

"I'll be fine… just… " She paused for a moment, knowing William could read people really well, Lena deciding to give a little for him. "...it has been a lot, but I'm good to keep going. It's the adults responsibility to do so. Just don't shoulder other's worries on yourself kid, that's an easy way for gray hairs early."

She could see that William was frowning slightly, hesitating again before he just nodded, but he clearly was not convinced…

There wasn't any time to investigate it further, as Hillary made a whistling noise, suddenly grabbing everyone's attention. Lena turned to observe the scene, seeing Hillary standing in front of a setup canopy with a table underneath. On the table, supplies were easily accessible for people to grab with boxes of Nest Balls, Antidotes, even Potions of various tiers. Hillary's eyes passed over everyone as the Trainers stopped their various discussions, flicking from Trainer, to Pokémon, back to Trainer.

To Lena's grateful surprise, she didn't linger on her or William, just simply nodding. "It seems that you've all started to organize yourself into groups. Good, makes this easier." Hillary said as she opened her Styler. "As Miguel most likely said, my name is Hillary, I'm one of the other Ranger's in charge of this Mission. I'm here to answer any questions, and provide other support as needed… yes?" She halted her speech, as one of the other Trainers had already raised their hand.

"Yeah, so… where are the Gym Leaders for this situation? Why isn't Burgh, or even former Leader Lenora assisting?" She said, her tone a bit pointed and maybe even accusatory. Said tone made Hillary sigh deeply, even her partner Beartic mirrored her with his breath visible in the air from how deep he sighed as well.

"Due to the fact that, as far as the League is concerned, this is an issue related to a foreign intruding a local Pokémon habitat. As a result, the Ranger Union is obligated to step in to assist with capturing, handling, and relocating as many of the species to a proper location for the safety of Pinwheel Forest's diversity, and for the safety of travelers and Trainers."

It was clear she was reading something from memory, Lena has had to give answers as such before… but she didn't expect Hillary to continue. "On top of that, the Pokémon League has specifically 'requested' that the Ranger Union handle the situation independently without involving any body of them, and the Nacrene Police only just gave us the approval to close Pinwheel Forest for a volunteer Mission."

'So… the League wants the Ranger Union to clean up their mess with how they handled the Diversity Act then, got it.' Lena thought to herself with a scoff she couldn't hide, some of the other Trainers echoing similar sentiments with mutters under their breath…

Another Trainer, next to the Darmanitan, spoke up with a more impatient tone over the voices. "So, what is the money going to look like? I don't wanna have to split my earnings with anyone else who doesn't pull their weight."

He didn't name anyone specifically, but Lena could feel the brief side eye some Trainers were giving her and William, thankfully, Hillary spoke up faster. "It will be based on how many Pokémon the individual has caught. When you return to this home point, the Nest Balls with Pokémon of the captured Weedle line will be tallied up, and logged with your Trainer ID." Taking a breath, she continued. "After the Mission has concluded, and the total amount of Weedle, Kakuna, and Beedrill you are registered to have caught are totalled up, a deposit will be made to the League Account tied to your Trainer ID. If you have a private bank account you'd prefer, please let us know during the conclusion of the Mission so we can get the details down."

That seemed to stem some of the people's concerns… Lena making a mental note to see if she could exclude herself… she's still getting her paycheck for being a Ranger so William could use a bit more spending money since the starting stipend wouldn't last forever…

'Maybe as an apology for dragging him into this… he doesn't seem inclined to do much battling, so wouldn't be getting money from that…' She thought to herself for a moment before Hillary continued, forcing herself to snap up.

"If there are no more questions… Please remember to stay in your groups while out in the forest, stay away from the outer boundaries, have the emergency line on hand, and please do not hesitate to take any Antidotes, Nest Balls, or Potions. Just let us document who took what so the finance team doesn't bite us with an audit." She joked, mirroring Miguel in the beginning.

After her comment, some of the Trainers started to disburse, Lena about to walk off as well, but William gently grabbed her jacket, making her turn to him. "Something wrong?"

"You got Nest Balls?"

"Uh… no… I uh…" William's eyebrows fell, a slightly unamused expression on his face as Lena could feel Rina's Dive Ball shake, probably with amusement at her expense. Sighing slightly, she turned and walked over to the table with a faint grumble as she started writing down her Trainer ID and noting down how many she was taking.

Apparently Hillary was also a tad amused, smirking to her as she started grabbing them, glancing around to make sure that no one else was nearby, she began speaking. "So, big leagues now, huh? Gotta say, I'm a bit surprised you weren't promoted earlier… "

At this Lena's hand hesitated, and her face shifted into something confused, her brain giving her buffering response automatically. "Huh?"

With a wave, she tried to dismiss whatever she was meaning to say. "Never mind, just wanna say congratulations, it's still a big leap still nevertheless and we're happy for you." Then, as if Lena wasn't still trying to process her last sentence, Hillary's eyes turned a bit more… intrigued. "Still though, surprised that you got put on essentially monitoring duty for the long term as your first 'big' Mission."

At Lena's still confused expression, Hillary clarified. "Miguel sent me a message while we were walking, he should be here soon… but, basically, just giving me a heads up what your plan was…" Shooting a glance to the side, Lena followed similarly, noting how William had grabbed four Antidotes and was writing down his name on a check-out sheet next to them… his Pokédex out as he copied down his Trainer ID as well for the items.

Hillary turned back to Lena with an amused expression, prompting her to sigh. "Yeah, it's… been a long couple of days… I uh… haven't been able to check the main Ranger communications if people are sending me messages." Lena said awkwardly, making Hillary shug in response.

"It happens, still a bit surprised you're here though… would have thought that you would have focused on your main Mission." Hillary said… her tone was still more curious than pointed, but Lena could tell she had her own thoughts.

"Well… heard what was happening, so I knew that the Ranger's in the area would be limited if they were calling for Trainer volunteers, no point in me not helping if I'm trying to be a 'Trainer' undercover." Lena said, maybe a tad defensively, but Hillary didn't seem to care, simply nodding.

"I suppose. Just don't get yourself or the kid hurt. The Beedrill are really nasty lately… actually…" Hillary trailed off, glancing at William before shaking her head. "Nevermind, keep in contact, stay safe." She finished, politely dismissing Lena as she had a perplexed expression on her face, but nodded in a goodbye before turning around to head into the forest with William close behind.

After a moment, and once they were far enough away, William spoke first. "So… what's the game plan?"

"Well — shoot, let's get everyone out first." Lena started, even as Rina and Arthur popped out of their Poké Balls at her voice, William fumbling for a moment from the bright light, but released Charon as well, who shook himself off and grunted slightly as he materialized next to William.

"Typh… Phloosion…" (What I wouldn't give for a hand crafted Poké Ball…)

"I'll look into that for you later…" William said with a roll of his eyes, though his tone didn't have sarcasm on it as he turned back to Lena, who was making sure her Fine Styler was fitted on her arm correctly. Arthur spoke first before she could, his expression clouded with concern as his tassels rose with a faint blue glow as he took in the aura of the forest.

"Lena… there's a presence of… fear surrounding the forest. The local Pokémon are nervous, afraid… confused." Arthur said, a tad quietly as he looked around, as if speaking too loud would disturb the balance even further just from his voice.

"Well… let's see if we can't alleviate that, but keep an eye out for any defensive Pokémon outside of the Weedle line." Lena responded, making Arthur nod in understanding. After that, she turned back to William and his team, and crossed her arms. "I'm going to be honest… I'd rather not have brought you here, a situation with aggressive Pokémon and this situation aren't things a seven year old shouldn't be close to…"

She noticed William's shift in posture at her start, but she continued. "However, given that I couldn't leave you alone anywhere safe either… We'll work down to the west part of the forest together, I didn't see anyone head in that direction so no one should see Charon at least. We'll focus on catching the stray Weedle and Kakuna. Leave any Beedrill to Rina and Arthur and I… don't want to start a forest fire with a Flamethrower, so try and stick to Ember if possible."

William winced at that mental image, but Charon seemed to huff. "Typph-Grrrr…" (I've been in Unova for decades. I know how to control and aim my flames…)

Lena nodded, but still raised her hand. "I know, but better safe than sorry… Rina know's Rain Dance, but we're not trying to disturb the other Pokémon here more than they already are."

Charon grumbled still, but conceded the point, William shifting his bag slightly as he glanced down at his Pokédex, a frown forming as he stared at it. "I'm not sure if we'll even see any Beedrills this way…"

"What do you mean?" Lena asked, only making William shake his head.

"I'm… probably overthinking it… just… sorry, nevermind… we're already behind, so let's get going…" He said, putting his Pokédex away as Lena frowned at the clear deflection… but just nodded and took the lead. The group fell into a silence as the noises of the forest surrounded them; the Mission officially started.

Three hours had passed, and Lena already made note of several things.

Firstly, Pokémon were staying away from the main areas, hiding, and shortly after they began, a Sawk who was staying with a group of younger Pokémon flinched at the sight of William, and looked nearly ready to fight… if not for the towering Hisuian Typhlosion glaring at him.

There was a brief conversation between the Fighting Type and Arthur, where it was revealed that William's yellow sweatshirt made them think he was a Beedrill.

It genuinely surprised Lena how quickly he swapped it out after that for a red one, which surprised her even more that he had more than one color of sweatshirt, Rina even commented that it almost made him look like a mini-Ranger.

Secondly, the air was wrong. The very aura of the place was wrong, and it only got worse the deeper they went in.

Lena could feel it against her skin with a faint tingle at the back of her neck, almost taste it on her tongue as time progressed, and even as Kakuna and Weedle were being caught more and more…

She wondered how the other Trainer's were fairing, or if it was being she was staying linked with Arthur during this to help find where more Weedle and Kakuna were located.

All of this hammered in how serious this was to the Pokémon of the forest as well, and how badly the Beedrill and its line have impacted the biosphere.

'Well, we're here to fix it.' Lena mused to herself, shaking off the thought and taking a deep breath to refocus as she positioned herself seeing a Kakuna hanging from a tree, blinking as it stared at Rina with beady eyes as she distracted it.

Her right arm braced her left, her Fine Styler primed and aimed at the Cocoon Pokémon, a moment of pause and silence broken by another breath. Then, with a subtle movement of her finger, the Capture Disc flew forward across the air past Kakuna, before she pulled her arm back causing it to curve back around.

Using the Fine Styler made Lena feel like a conductor at an orchestra, her left arm swiping across the air with a rhythm as she guided the Capture Disc around the Kakuna dangling from the tree. Blue after images were visible in the air, forming an almost complete circle. In a few quick cycles, the circle was complete and coalesced into a white light around Kakuna, who shook slightly and blinked.

"Capture complete…" Lena muttered with a faint smile under her breath, stretching for a moment with a pop in her back, before quickly documenting another captured Kakuna on her own private Mission log… she knew that Hillary and Miguel would have their own, but documenting everything was still a habit…

'Twelve Weedle, eleven Kakuna…' Lena mused with a hum… glancing at the time for a moment; it hadn't even been more then a hour and she had already caught that many. Arthur stood resolutely by her side, eyes already closed with the blue glow of aura around him as he observed the forest for the next group… and Rina was already walking up to gently pull Kakuna down from the tree, who chittered in response.

"Kk-KkKk-KKk." (Being moved. Held gently. No threat felt. Are you Queen?)

"Float-Zel, FFLoat!" (Yes, I am a queen, but not yours!)

Lena couldn't help but snicker under her breath from Rina's antics, her mood slightly rising as she closed her Styler and pulled out a Nest Ball from her pocket while expanding it. Kneeling down, she lightly tapped it against the Kakuna's head where it vanished in a flash. It shook only once before the button flashed, signifying a successful capture.

Lena couldn't help but take another breath, shifting her bag around for a moment and putting it in an empty pouch. Inside, the other Nest Balls of her captures lay, ready to be given to the other Rangers at the meeting point once she runs out.

"Be glad that William reminded you to grab some before we left." Arthur said with a low tone, one that seemed chiding, but she knew he was just poking fun at her as well. "It would have been awkward to explain to the other Trainers how you managed to wrangle so many Kakuna and Weedle without capturing them."

"I know, I know… just been a while since I've actually done real captures as a Ranger, can you blame me for being excited? Even if they're easy, it feels nice to use my Styler again regularly…" Lena defended herself, Rina humming slightly and agreeing with her, but than grimaced.

"Floatzel-Floaat… Zel-Float." (The Weedle are a little spicy… stupid stingers…) Rina grumbled with a cross of her arms, glaring at her hindpaw where a slightly red spot was visible from when a Weedle had headbutted her without her noticing. Thankfully, the Poison Sting wasn't strong, and didn't even poison her, but Lena still applied an Antidote to be safe.

'William still has a couple just in case… speaking of which…'

She turned around and squinted in the dark, he was actually a bit challenging to see, still wearing his red sweatshirt. William was crouching low to the grass with Charon next to him somehow even lower than he was with no flames from his vents emitting as they watched, almost akin to a predator, a Weedle slowly crawling up a tree.

William carefully wound his arm back and threw a Nest Ball at it; the aim was a tad off, but the tracking of the capsule kicked in and shifted it just enough to land a hit at the side of the Bug Poison Type who let out a noise of surprise. It disappeared in a green flash before it landed on the ground without even shaking, already confirming the capture as it fell.

William stood up and rolled his shoulders as he went to pick up the ball, while Charon lumbered up a bit slower and grumbled. Ronin poked his head up from the grass like a Furret, looking side to side… probably having not seen anything due to his height.

"Typh-Phlos. Flosion." (You missed the Sudowoodo, kid.)

"That's a tree, grandpa."

"Flosion. Phlo?" (Well you aimed at it, didn't you?)

William snorted, but kneeled and grabbed the Nest Ball. "I'm doing my best, not all of us can use souls to track Pokémon, some of us need that automatic tracking."

"Flosion. Phloooisn-Typh…" (Then just get better at throwing. Trainers these days have it too easy…) Charon complained with a roll of his eyes. William didn't say anything in rebuttal, simply shrinking the ball down (after visibly pausing to make sure he did it right) and walked over to Lena, his team close behind.

'Oh, shoot, I just realized…' With a sad smile at him, Lena's face shifted to something sympathetic. "I know that a Trainer's first 'real' capture is supposed to be special… I'm sorry that you didn't get that…"

William didn't seem bothered by it, just waving it off. "I didn't really intend to… capture a new team member anyways… anytime soon, I guess… so doesn't really bother me…" he trailed off, seeming to struggle with the words he wanted before he shook his head and dismissed the thought.

The young Trainer then handed Lena the recently caught Weedle, but also fifteen other Nest Balls from his pockets, making her whistle slightly.

"Man, you are catching a lot… I wonder how many the others have caught…"

William hummed, frowning slightly before he asked his own question, his tone sounding… worried, concerned. "Have you seen any Beedrill yet?"

Lena paused at this question, but shook her head. "None yet, I haven't seen any…"

William seemed more perturbed by that, but Lena quickly waved a hand. "They're probably all by their nest for the night… it might be deeper in, so the other Trainers probably got some."

William only hummed at her response before feeling his sweatshirt pocket again, frowning at the amount of Nest Balls he had left. "Maybe… I'm running low on Nest Balls, can we head back and grab some more?"

"Oh — Yeah, we'll probably catch a couple on the way back anyways…" Lena said, glancing at Rina and Arthur with a silent message through Aura to be more aware now since she wasn't gonna use her Styler so close to other Trainers.

As they started to walk back, William was silent, and had at some point got his Pokédex out and was scrolling across what looked like… a map? Ronin was sitting in his hoodie and looking at the device as well. William also had an empty Nest Ball in his hand as he walked, Lena watching him carefully to make sure he didn't trip over any roots as he was very focused on the device.

Before they reached the main camp, right around the corner, William did pause long enough to swap the Nest Ball in his hand for Charon's Poké Ball from his belt and hold it out. Charon rolled his eyes at his ward, tapping the center button and vanishing after a moment. William simply held the capsule as they started to walk into the group, Lena noticing that a good handful of other Trainers were sitting down under the outdoor canopy that had been setup.

Miguel was talking to Hillary in a hushed tone, a concerned look on her face that shifted one she noticed Lena and William emerging from the left side of the path. "Welcome back, everything okay?" She asked while flicking her eyes up and down at the two, her shoulders relaxing a little…

"Yeah, we're doing good. What happened here though?" Lena asked, noting how Miguel's shoulders slumped as he sighed and crossed his arms.

"We're struggling to keep contact with any Beedrill long enough to capture them, We've only gotten two Beedrill captured by Trainers, and only one from me on my way in." A frustrated sigh exited Miguel before he glanced over at the Trainers sitting down. "We are finding Weedle and Kakuna scattered about, which we've gotten some. Apparently the Beedrill that are sighted engage in hit-and-run tactics… scattering the Pokémon and Trainers, and just… leaving. They don't come back."

Lena paused putting the Nest Balls from the table, her hand frozen in midair as her mind processed the information. Should could similarly feel Arthur's confusion and concern at that comment through aura…

'That… so they aren't defending the nest? Or a queen Beedrill? Why not?'

Arthur grunted at her side and glanced at the darkness of the forest around them. "Is it possible they don't have a nest…?"

"No, with how long they've been here, and the amount of reports, they'd have to have a nest… but they aren't centralized right now for some reason." Lena replied aloud, even as Miguel and Hillary gave her a confused expression.

"Floatzel-FloatZEeel. Zel-Flo?" (It is a bit odd that we've been seeing so many Weedle and Kakuna here and there… but no hive of them… don't they usually work in groups?)

"Mind filling us in here…? We don't have whatever psychic magic you have." Hillary said with a cross of her arms, Lena feeling a faint blush raise to her cheeks, but quickly explained what her partners were saying. The two other Rangers nodded in agreement, but the confusion remained, a frustrated expression forming on Hillary's face.

"Doesn't help that the police haven't been giving us the exact location of the attacks when people call it in. All the reports just list 'Pinwheel Forest', Bouffalant shit." She said sharply, before Miguel elbowed her and tilted his head at William, who was staring deep in thought at his Pokédex but still heard the comment as a scowl formed on his face.

"Glad to know the fucking police in Nacrene City are just as dense as Accumula Town's." He said with a sarcastic, absentminded tone. Either he missed, or ignored Miguel and Hillary's choking sounding reactions, as he started to walk over to the Trainers sitting down, who looked up at him with various looks and he started to ask them a question while showing them the screen on his Pokédex, most of them though, just seemed to just be amusing his question.

Lena couldn't focus on that, instead having to focus on Miguel and Hillary, along with their partners shooting her incredulous, even slightly accusing looks, making her raise her hands in her defense. "He was swearing like a sailor before I came into the picture, don't look at me!"

Miguel's eyebrows rose a notch, snorting as he shook his head. "Yeah, well make sure he doesn't swear when in a Gym Battle if he wants to get on the Ace Trainer Program. They're starting to review those in finer detail."

"I haven't actually seen the Typhlosion you mentioned yet…" Hillary said, glancing at William and Ronin, or more specifically, the Poké Ball that he was holding and kept rubbing with his thumb as one of the Trainer's pointed somewhere on the screen of the Pokédex.

'Shit, I hope that lie spreading isn't an issue.' Lena cursed, already feeling Arthur's unimpressed stare at her back even without Aura.

She didn't have time to dwell on it, as William stood up suddenly and was walking back to the table, shifting his own bag around and opening it up to an empty pouch, with a firm expression on his face. "I'm taking thirty Nest Balls."

The three were surprised, but gave no protest as he grabbed them from the container, counted what was in his palm, before dropping them into his bag, and repeating it.

Lena blinked for a moment, before she realized she also hadn't given them all the Weedle and Kakuna they had caught. Fumbling for a moment, she started to place the Nest Balls containing them in a container on the side of the table, her mind scrambling to catch up as William zipped up his bag slightly, but open enough to easily get into it if need be.

William waited for her to finish giving the two Rangers their catches, and for her to write down how many they had caught… she wrote down her Trainer ID for the check in sheet and William's which she thankfully was able to recall. Then she grabbed some Nest Balls as well before William seemed to take the lead. "Come on, let's head to the northern part of the forest… Charon wants to check something." William said, his tone pointed in a way that gave Lena the hint that he didn't want to release Charon in front of the other two.

Without preamble, he started to walk down the pathway, Lena hesitating for a moment before following close behind, Rina already speaking to Ronin.

"Floatzel-Float-ZEeeel?" (What's going on, what's got your Trainer in a tizzy?)

"Sha-Wott. Oshaaaa." (William thinks there might be something else going on… Charon felt…) The Water Type paused, struggling to find the right words. "...Wott." (...Off.)

Lena's face scrunched up, but she refrained from commenting until they were far enough away. After about a minute, she could barely make out the figures in the light of the rest area, William glanced behind them before feeling comfortable enough to release Charon. The old Typhlosion shook his body slightly, muttering something under his breath that Lena couldn't discern, but he stood up and let his collar illuminate. "Ty. Phlos. Phlo." (You thinking what I'm thinking, kid?)

"Mostly… the Beedrill aren't doing this at random, that's for sure. It's not a mistake we haven't encountered them yet from where we went." William said, Lena suddenly raising her hand to pause them both.

"Wait, wait… backup a moment, what are you talking about?"

William froze, his thoughts clearly thrown off by the sudden question, but he responded quickly enough. "I was looking at the Pokémon found in Pinwheel Forest back at the Pokémon Center… just was curious to see what information the Pokédex could give for specific Pokémon…" Pausing for a moment, William motioned to Lena's left arm. "Sorry, can you pull out the map on your Styler first? It'll be easier to show and explain…"

"Sure... One second."

William flipped open his Pokédex again, as Lena was busy pulling up the area map. "Remember the software Professor Juniper mentioned she added, the Habitat Mode?"

Lena blinked and ran through her memories… the words faintly ringing a Chingling in her head. "Uhh… yes?"

Her tone must have not convinced William judging by his expression, but he didn't let it distract him. "Well, it's supposed to only show you all the Pokémon in a designated area from the most recent up to date information and sightings… but if you do this…" Using both hands, he pressed a few buttons at once, before finally pressing the center button a couple times. The entire screen went black, before suddenly some kind of old computer text thing appeared. BOS or something?

William then proceeded to type away at a speed that astonished Lena.

/usr/william/home# cd /dex/habitats/pinwheel_interior/
/dex/habitats/pinwheel_interior# tail logs.dat -1024 | grep Sewaddle
March 3, 20XX - 08:17 - Sewaddle sighted at (25.1678, -119.1796)
March 3, 20XX - 08:17 - Sewaddle sighted at (25.1861, -119.1814)
March 4, 20XX - 08:17 - Sewaddle sighted at (25.1009, -119.1004)
March 4, 20XX - 08:17 - Sewaddle sighted at (22.1009, -115.4272)
March 4, 20XX - 08:17 - Sewaddle sighted at (19.8374, -110.4107)
March 7, 20XX - 08:17 - Sewaddle sighted at (17.7834, -95.5687)
March 7, 20XX - 08:17 - Sewaddle sighted at (15.1009, -92.3547)

...And on and on it went.

Lena peered over incredulously. "Wait, is that location data for every Pokémon in the forest? How does that work?"

William looked thoughtful for a moment before his face fell into a frown. "I... don't actually know. I think it might just do an area scan whenever somebody with a Pokédex or other recording device walks by to record what Pokémon are around for research purposes.... I'll have to ask Professor Juniper later…?"

"...How in the name of the Twins did you figure this out?"

William suddenly looked very, very exhausted. "Every machine has to have some sort of control alt delete combo, your Fine Styler probably has—"

"No, I meant… how did you type all that? How did you know the commands? Aren't Pokédexes supposed to be… locked down?"

William went silent for a moment, looking just a hint embarrassed. "…Don't tell Ms. Clare but uh… I might've… uh… modified… the shared computer a bit to let me install some video games, and uh… miiight have disabled all the child safety crap for my account. Allegedly."

Lena did her best 'I'm disappointed in you' look.

He quickly cleared his throat after an awkward beat of silence and motioned back to the screen. "I decided to cross reference the dates with the other Pokémon in the forest… like… look at the coordinates for Sewaddle for example…"

With a nod, she opened her Styler and started to glance between the two devices, cross-referencing the coordinates on her Styler's map. Most of the locations were along the eastern edge of the forest, outside the normal boundaries for most travelers. "The coordinates are similar in the beginning, dunno why it seems to be in the middle of nowhere though..." William muttered, his tone a bit confused…

"That's… one of the main breeding locations for the Sewaddle, I think…. It's a bit farther north than it was last year when I read them but nothing too unusual..." Lena said, though with a bit of concern laced into her voice.

His frown grew more pronounced as Lena said that. "Well… I don't think it is anymore, because if we compare it with the Beedrill sightings…" William started navigating to the command showing the Beedrill coordinates by pressing up a couple times and entering it, prompting another wave of text to appear.

/dex/habitats/pinwheel_interior# clear
/dex/habitats/pinwheel_interior# tail logs.dat -1024 | grep Beedrill
March 3, 20XX - 08:17 - Beedrill sighted at (32.1861, -123.1654)
March 4, 20XX - 20:28 - Beedrill sighted at (31.9958, -121.7892)
March 7, 20XX - 09:22 - Beedrill sighted at (24.5168, -109.2357)
March 7, 20XX - 15:24 - Beedrill sighted at (23.1598, -110.1256)
March 8, 20XX - 12:21 - Beedrill sighted at (25.9871, -120.7535)
March 15, 20XX - 10:56 - Beedrill sighted at (24.5498, -120.7895)
March 16, 20XX - 09:44 - Beedrill sighted at (25.1562, -121.4782)
March 16, 20XX - 16:17 - Beedrill sighted at (25.1726, NaN)
ERROR: Coordinate invalid for Beedrill sighting at 3/16/XX 16:17, Stack trace:
March 18, 20XX - 11:59 - Beedrill sighted at (23.1781, -98.1588)

Lena's eyebrows furrowed as she focused on the timestamps between the Sewaddle and Beedrill. One Beedrill popup appeared, then two, then three started to appear closer and closer to the colony. Suddenly, there was that sudden wave, and the Sewaddle coordinates changed, and the Beedrill sightings overtook their original location.

Before she could interject, William started to speed through the commands again, where a similar picture was painted with the Slakoth line near the northern, outer reaches of the forest, their tribe suddenly getting scattered and pushed inward towards the main paths.

Then, sightings of Beedrill starting to appear more frequently closer around the main path, Lena's eyebrows furrowing and hissing as she started to realize what was happening from the pattern

'They're deterring Trainers and by extension, Rangers from seeing the true extent of their action by being so aggressive and pushing the native Pokémon inwards… shit, this is worse than I thought.'

"And going to the last two days…" William muttered as he sped through again, Lena noticing the Beedrill starting to appear more and more frequently in the north-eastern section… until he got to today's date, and pointed at a couple specific positions. "...and here is where the Trainer's were attacked by them tonight, literally trying to prevent them from going further…" He paused for a moment, his voice getting low, but not low enough for Lena to be unable to make out "...like guerilla warfare…?"

The comparison made Lena feel a bit confused, but she ignored it for now. "But… why? Why do all this?" Lena muttered rhetorically, frowning as William let out a frustrated sigh.

"No idea, but Charon's… sensing distress in that direction, most likely they're doing something to… cause it." William phrased weirdly, frowning and glancing at the old Typhlosion, who said nothing as he stared off into space with his ruby eyes with an indiscernible look in the direction the Beedrills were appearing.

Arthur frowned and closed his own eyes and focused, his tassels floating for a moment before nodding and crossing his arms as he stared in the same direction. "I sense it too now… the air is muddled with so much emotion it's… hard to track, but it's most potent in that direction."

Lena hummed… glancing up at Charon with a serious look. "Would you be able to guide us there?"

The Typhlosion said nothing, simply staring off in the distance for a moment before blinking once. Whatever daze he was in lifting off of him as he turned to Lena. "Phlo. Typhlosion." (Yes. Follow me.)

Without further preamble, Charon started to walk forward into the darkness, his collar like an almost mesmerizing beacon as William started to follow closely behind. Lena glanced at the darkness of the water as they started to walk over the bridge… the clouds veiling the moon above, making the water look like a deep, dark abyss of uncertainty, much like what they were walking into it felt like…

Twenty minutes later, the group was still following Charon deeper and deeper into the forest… the landmarks that Lena recognized getting fewer and farther between. William had picked up a piece of wood along the way and gave it to Ronin to whittle into a walking stick with his scalchop and water pressure manipulation. When asked, William said something along the lines of "talk soft and carry a big stick" which was probably just some young boy thing.

But maybe it was to distract himself, if the heavy, furrowed expression glued to his face for the past hour or so was anything to go off of….

"So… are Missions like this normal?"

Lena blinked out of her thoughts, glancing over to him. "What do you mean?"

"Like… is the sudden appearance of a new species of Pokémon on a Route or forest, or wherever enough to call for a Mission, I suppose Pokémon migrate but… agh." William shook his head, trying to find the right words. "I guess what I'm trying to ask is at what point does new Pokémon being introduced to an area, aside from harming other native Pokémon or travelers, would call for a mission. Like, at what point is it just nature doing its thing or is it a problem that needs to be fixed?"

Lena quickly reached back mentally to her old lessons from the Ranger School. "Well… for starters… let me use Sinnoh as an example, as it's the Region I know best next to Almia, and probably the best case of when a Mission isn't called." Lena started, clearing her throat for a moment to give another moment to gather her explanation.

"Let's take… Iron Island for example, do you know where that is in Sinnoh?"

"Yeah, you get there from… Canalave City." William said, seeming to take a moment to recall something before answering.

Lena rolled her eyes. "There's more than just one ferry there, but whatever. After a League season ended in Hoenn, the Rangers there started to get reports of Sableye and Mawile being found in the mines. You know what the diets of those two are, right?"

"Um, probably rocks and minerals? Mawile's a Steel and Fairy type, and Sableye has a thing for jewelry. Can't say I'm too familiar with either of them beyond trivia, though."

"Sableye don't actually eat the gemstones they find, but close enough. Anyway, Iron Island's ecosystem is surprisingly delicate as all the native Pokémon there have different nutritional needs. Almost all of the Pokémon who live there are lithotrophs, but their specific dietary needs vary. A Steelix needs more magnetite and limonite compared to a Graveler, for instance."

"Okay, so what's the catch?"

"Well, Mawiles are predators by nature, so their diet is to consume processed minerals by consuming other lithotrophs. And Sableyes are attracted to places of greed, valuables, and anything shiny — they feed off of the emotions of greedy individuals. So when a colony of Mawiles start picking fights with the native populations, the natives start digging for new food sources and hiding places, exposing new valuable minerals like sperrylite. That attracts the Sableyes and makes everything worse."

A frown found itself on William's face as he considered this. "And this was supposed to be a case where a Mission wasn't required?"

Lena couldn't help but smile at his reaction. "Well, among the materials exposed, were also highly concentrated pools of the same material that is used to make Metal Coat, which then allowed more Onix natively living there to evolve."

William started to nod, seeing where this was going… "Which… than in turn created more tunnels? Leading to more living space, which then also in turn caused more resources to be available to the Pokémon?"

"Got it in one! It's a delicate, but honestly fascinating microcosm of species being introduced, albeit, unintentionally, providing a huge boon for the already existing species. That's why whenever those suits say something like 'Introducing non-native species hurts out native Pokémon' or something, they're wrong, because they fail to realize that a little bit of competition helps make the whole ecosystem more stable long term."

The young Trainer hummed, nodding along before he moved onto the inevitable topic. "And when things like the Unova Diversity Act happen? Basically having humans force it?"

"Float-Zel." (Rangers get blamed for every small thing outside their control.)

William snorted at Rina's comment, but turned to Lena still for the serious answer, her expression shifting into something frustrated as she nodded. "As much as I hate to say it, Rina's right."

With a sigh, she continued on. "The Ranger Union's done multiple studies showing that increasing Pokémon biodiversity helps strengthen a region's already existing population of Pokémon… when the government doesn't half-a—half-bake the implementation and neuter all the funding."

'I think William's foul mouth is rubbing off on me...'

"Politics." William said with a flat, disdainful tone; a sigh left him as his expression started to become more thoughtful… "So, how do Legendary Pokémon fit into that then? I don't believe for a second that a Pokémon like Virizion would let a crisis in Pinwheel Forest go on as long as this one?"

Lena nearly tripped in her footsteps at the question, catching herself before stopping dead in her tracks like a Deerling in headlights, her eyes as wide as dinner plates. Arthur visibly recoiled and Rina whipped her head back so fast that a small part of Lena's brain still functioning after that bombshell was concerned she might've sprained her neck.

"H-How — who told you that?! H-How did you know that?!" Lena was fully turned towards William now, the frustration from thinking about the Unova Government and League evaporating from shock, as if a Poison Type attack had been dumped directly over it.

William stopped walking under her gaze, clearly surprised by her reaction. "What… do you mean?"

"What do I — How do you know that Lady Virizion's usual domain is in Pinwheel Forest?!"

William's face shifted just slightly a new expression that Lena hadn't seen before, anxiety, realization, and fear, his tone matching it. "It's not... common knowledge that Virizion was here…?"

Lena sputtered verbally before mustering up as much Top Ranger professionalism as she possibly could, even with the shocked incredulity staining her voice. "Common knowle— no, it most definitely isn't. I didn't know about Lady Virizion's presence in the forest until a couple years ago, and such information is supposed to be confidential and on a need-to-know basis."

William seemed frozen at that info, the light from Charon's collar enough for her to notice that he had gone pale. And Lena could still see the subtle hints of his anxiety such as how he was biting his lip, or how one of his hands retreated to his sweatshirt pocket and squeezing the fabric inside.

Unable to hold back a sigh with a mix of emotions about what this could mean, her own clear exasperation echoed with her tone. "Please tell me the truth… how did you know that?"

William was quick to respond, despite being nervous. "Uh, shit — w-well it's common knowledge at home… u-uh… and Charon has been here l-longer than I have, so he just confirmed that…" He was looking behind her, probably pleading with him to step in.

Lena took a minute to compose herself before quietly and slowly turning around to face Charon. "Is this true?" Silently, her Aura reached out to Arthur, telling him to look for signs of deception; his Aura flared in acknowledgement.

The Typhlosion snorted dismissively. "Typho... Lolo...Sioooon." (What, you think she wasn't going to notice a foreign Ghost invading her territory? Of course I know Virizion, and I've known her long before any of you were born.) He turned around and started walking down the path he was leading them on again. "Ty. Phlolo. Typho…" (You humans gotta' remember I've been here long before there were people living here. What you call Unova I still call Isshu, and I, and many other Pokémon don't care about what you think is 'confidential' or not.)

He turned around to look at the group who was still standing where they were. The group reluctantly started following behind.

"Lolo Tyyy." ("Now are you going to answer my Ward's question or not? I think it's a fair question, considering I don't feel Virizion's presence anywhere nearby, either.")

Lena left his question to stew in silence for a bit as she considered her words carefully. She may have been a Top Ranger now, but she wasn't sure of her limits of what she was allowed to disclose…

"I… don't think I'm allowed to say where she is at the moment, but you are right in that Lady Virizion is currently somewhere else. I'm sure if she were here, she would have taken care of this issue long before it would have gotten out of control." With a sigh, she leveled William with a stare… though it probably came off more like a pleading look. "With that said, please keep this information to yourself… "

An anxious chuckle left William's throat before he spoke. "I know, that's why I didn't ask around the other Trainers and Rangers earlier…"

Lena's stare faltered, and she could only take a deep breath and pinch the bridge of her nose. "...We will be having a conversation about this later." She grumbled to herself, saying no more even as her mind raced with possibilities.

The sounds of the forest were deafening as the group continued on in silence.

Beta Readers:

David "TheBlizWiz" R
Garmfild

Author's notes: So, originally this chapter was apart of the last chapter, but then we decided to shift it forward then I had to write more to smooth it out and then my co-writer, TheBlizWiz, had their work drop a bunch on them at the same time. Here's an excerpt from them during editing on Google Docs.

Twenty minutes later, ________. William had picked up a piece of wood, and had given it to Ronin to whittle into a walking stick with his scalchop and some water manipulation that kind of resembled a weak power washer. When asked, William said something along the lines of "talk soft and carry a big stick" which was probably just some young boy thing. Or maybe a guy thing. Every man needs a big stick to bonk people with, or something. I dunno. If you're reading this part, David has been doing 4 days of installs, is running on little sleep, and I've got 10 more in the next 2 weeks. Oh, and I'm behind on editing — we're written up to Chapter 14 or so already, and yet I'm currently editing this chapter Thursday night. 🥲 👍I'm tired, boss. Anyway, Lena supposed a walking stick and being quiet could help with hiking…

He's doing god's work and more editing these chapters and I can't thank him enough. He's amazing and deserves more then I can ever give back to him.

Editing and real life obligations aside, I'm really curious to hear everyone's thoughts on this chapter? There was a lot of world building here and character build up that I wanted to touch on, and I still feel like I didn't get everything I wanted too... so please, feel free to comment on what you liked, didn't like, or wish there was more insight into, or what you predict is gonna happen next chapter...

Thank you again for everything and all your support, your comments fuel the both of us, and I hope everyone has a great day!

veekie · Nov 1, 2024

Huh, Beedrill sieging down the original boss of the zone?

Zulaq · Nov 1, 2024

I suspect poaching is occurring hidden under the guise of ecosystem disruption. They've got the perfect excuse for why certain groups of wild Pokemon are going 'missing'

Appletank · Nov 4, 2024

It feels like either the Beedrill are hiding something they did, or protecting people from getting close to something.

@Thewilliamspot1
So I've been pondering the past few days, would something like this form of dialogue look fine to you?:
"Typh-(How about we check that mountain over there?)"

It keeps the aspect that the characters hear something different, but is then immediately translated via their respective energies, and reduces the amount of stuff you're effectively writing twice. If not, not a deal breaker, and I won't bring it up again.

Thewilliamspot1 · Nov 4, 2024

Appletank said:
So I've been pondering the past few days, would something like this form of dialogue look fine to you?:
"Typh-(How about we check that mountain over there?)"

It keeps the aspect that the characters hear something different, but is then immediately translated via their respective energies, and reduces the amount of stuff you're effectively writing twice. If not, not a deal breaker, and I won't bring it up again.

That looks a lot better then I was trying to workshop if I'm gonna be honest. I may have an idea to weave it in narratively as well, but I'll discuss and bring this up with TheBlizWiz since he's my co-writer in this to see how we both feel overall after this arc since there's a lot going on we're trying to focus on first. Thank you for this! I always love seeing other people's writing styles or formatting methods, just helps the wheels turns in my head.

Won't comment on the Beedrill since the next chapter touches on parts of this, but... there's a lot of moving parts in Unova right now, the League holding itself together with duck tape and bits of string... the Ranger Union being stretched more and more, while the International Police getting more influence in goverment over the Ranger Union... a lot can happen.

datdarkvoice · Nov 8, 2024

This is really interesting hope it continues

Thewilliamspot1 · Nov 8, 2024

Chapter 10 - The Scramble of Life

William knew about Virizion's location.

The silence permeated throughout the group, making every step feel like a second in eternity. Her body focused on following Charon to their destination, while her mind was traveling along her own loose, scattered thoughts. The landmarks she could point out as a Ranger who had patrolled the forest before blurring into background static and noise.

William knew about Virizion's location, not suspected, knew.

Her eyes darting to William for what felt like the nth time this hour, it was easy to see how he walked closer to Charon since the revelation of before. He had become silent as a sleeping Togepi, not a single word leaving him since.

Of course, there were always rumors moving about on forums, stories of sightings around their domain spoken at gatherings, but nothing actually confirmed for the public, even with Swords of Justice being more active in recent times… especially after Team Plasma. The Ranger Union had more contact with them than the League due to them being out in the field more, helping Pokémon and humans; but even then, it was only and strictly on a need-to-know basis.

Lena didn't even know about Virizion's location until the… after Route 10 and Victory Road collapsed.

'No. No. I will not think of that now… Not now. Not while I'm on a Mission.' She stopped herself, taking a deep enough breath for Arthur to glance in her direction, but she forced herself to ignore it. Recirculating her thoughts, she returned back to the main point she kept turning over in her head.

William didn't just know about Virizion's home domain from a rumor. The way he said and phrased his question, with such certainty… that was someone who knew. Yes, Charon said he told William, and… personally met her, but before that….

"...it's common knowledge at home…"

Lena couldn't help but feel her frown get even larger as she glanced at William's back, he purposely wasn't looking at Lena, instead looking around at the trees around them with Ronin doing similar. 'But that doesn't make any sense… you said that Pokémon weren't really around where you're from… right? How would it have been common knowledge?'

'...Was that a lie? Or was the common knowledge comment a lie… what about other things?'

The piercing thought nearly made her trip, but she smoothly caught herself from stumbling on a tree branch before continuing the line of thinking, trying to keep herself from jumping to conclusions. 'Of course he's not telling me the truth, he's a kid and… I'm an adult who technically uprooted him from what he's known. Of course he wouldn't trust me… I know it's only been a couple days since we've known each other but…'

Halting her conflicted emotions, she started to run back through the conversation again… noticing how panicked William had looked when he realized he messed up. He was scared, genuinely.

'What are you scared of though…? I… I hope it's not me, but is it… the knowledge that you know about Legendaries? Or…. is it what someone could do with that knowledge, or —'

"Typhlo-Phol." (William, Ronin, stay behind me.)

"Lena, the trees—!"

Like a Bubble Beam being popped by a Bullet Seed, Lena heard the air being cut and then the sound of impact in front of her that popped every line of thought. Her eyes started to catch specks of dirt rising from the ground followed by hissing and bubbling, rapidly approaching her. Her instincts took over and she jumped back just as the dirt started to rise up from where she once stood. Arthur surged forward and spun his aura staff around to defect the projectiles where she once stood.

Meanwhile, Charon took a short breath and shot his own projectile, soaring across the field like a fastball before colliding and exploding slightly. A pained buzzing noise was heard along with a thump in the clearing in front of them as the Ember scorched the body and illuminated the area long enough for the sight of yellow and black stripes to be visible.

Lena's body was already in motion, the Capture Disc flying between the trees and starting to curve around the fallen Bug Poison Type, but the anger was clear in its eyes. It aimed one of its stringers forward, a purple shine surrounded it for a brief moment before it shot out with an almost liquid glob towards the line of the Styler, forcing Lena to arc it upwards to avoid hitting it, but causing the toxic move to splatter on a tree with a sickening hiss.

This distraction was enough however, for Rina to jump in with an Ice Beam from her maw, hitting the ground until it reached the Beedrill's other stinger, freezing it in place from the weight of the ice as it built up. The Poison Bee buzzed angrily and looked to aim at the Floatzel, but Arthur had run forward with Extreme Speed and slammed his aura staff against the still-free stinger, pinning it into the ground.

The Beedrill let out another high-pitched buzzing noise, writhing and attempting to get out of its predicament, but the capture disc resumed its cycle around it, spinning faster and faster. Like before, the glow of the rings around it finally collapsed in and the Beedrill's body flashed, no longer attempting to struggle, but looking upset and angry, emotions overflowing still.

Lena breathed in and out for a moment, the adrenaline of the encounter still rushing through her as she glanced at William to make sure he was okay. He was frozen, his eyes going wide as he gulped and both of his hands squeezed the stick tight that Ronin had continued to strip down… it was just now that she noticed the end of the stick had been sharpened enough to a point that it looked like a makeshift spear, the Oshawott holding his scalchop similarly and looking a tad angry at the fallen bug.

Charon started to walk toward the Beedrill with William following close behind, Lena doing similarly as Arthur stood above it, still making sure it wouldn't use its other stinger even with it being 'captured'. It stared up defiantly at the group, a vibrating hiss directed at Charon and and Arthur, before locking eyes with Lena, its wings waving back and forth with a noise that made William shiver and wince beside her.

She had to ignore that for now, staring back down at the Beedrill and crossing her arms, trying to appear as stern as possible. "You know, it's not nice to attack people and Pokémon at random, this isn't even near your hive."

"BBBzZZZ-BBbbzzz-!" (I do my job! Hive will get new space, forest will become home that Queen wants!)

Lena mentally paused, but physically kept her stance and expression the same, already finding a point to press on. "Oh? And what home is that?"

An almost gurgling hissing noise echoed from it, beady red eyes staring up at the Top Ranger with disdain. "BZzZz! HHzZZZZBBbbzZ!" (A home for Beedrill and eggs! And no one else!)

Its eyes narrowed at Lena, a flutter of wings happening as it seemed to tremble in absolute fury. "HHzZ-BZzzzz. BBBZZR! BBZZZHHHssSS!" (Queen was given forest. Told to take what she needs! Hive needs to remove other hives for eggs!)

"And what of the other Pokémon in the forest? Do their lives, their family, not matter?" Arthur spoke evenly, but Lena could feel the restrained anger in his Aura, his paws burning blue as he held the aura staff motionless.

"BZZzZ-HHISSsss… BZZz-ZBZZz." (If they not strong to protect own hive… they do not deserve it, like purple bugs.)

At those words, there was a shift in the air, Lena barely noticing how Charon had turned away from the Beedrill towards a direction… the wisps of ghostly fire around his neck growing, making Lena take stock of her situation and look around as well.

It was then she realized that they had gone off the main path maintained by the League and Rangers, heavily. She hadn't noticed in her own thoughts… and as she looked around in the darkness, she couldn't identify if or how far they were from the 'open-to-the-public' area of Pinwheel Forest they were at this point.

Before she could question anyone, a sudden sharp gasp left William, followed by Charon's eyes seeming… horrified. "Typh…. Phlosion…!" (They're already… Almighty Sinnoh…!) With a start, Charon got on all fours and started to bolt in the direction he was staring in.

William said nothing, but fumbled with his backpack and threw a Nest Ball in the direction of the Beedrill before running after Charon. Ronin actually jumped out of William's hoodie and used Aqua Jet to get ahead of him to follow Charon. Lena and her partners stared in shock and confusion, surrounding a Nest Ball that barely had flashed to signify the capture was complete.

"W-Wait — Will —!" Lena lurched forward and grabbed the Nest Ball, her knuckles scraping against the ground for a moment before she kicked off and started running after him with Rina in tow. Arthur leapt into the trees and started to gain on them… Lena gritted her teeth slightly as she tried to reorient her mental compass, to see if they were heading even further away from the main path, 'off-route' as it were.

Her anxiety about that was cut short however, as a new noise entered the sound of the leaves and the breeze… the sound of echoed buzzing, wood from trees splintering, followed by a rumble of crashing leaves, and pained noises drowning it out.

She could still make out Charon's glowing collar in the distance, standing before a clearing immobile as William finally got to him and stared out… Lena ran up behind him and was about to speak up before her eyes bore witness to the scene in front of her.

An entire group — no, what looked like an entire hive of Beedrill were flying in and out of a clearing of what looked like a Venipede nest. Like javelins, Twineedle from a multitude of Beedrill pierced the air, some trying to hit any visible target. It didn't matter if one didn't hit, another three Beedrill aiming in the same general direction would have hit one of their targets.

Venipede scurried about in a panic and attempted to avoid the attacks. Some Whirlipede tried to protect their home, but were unable to properly hit the flying targets with Rollout, even as their hardshells protected them. Meanwhile, multiple Scolipede looked pained, while still attempting to defend Venipede behind them with Venoshock and Iron Defense, but Lena saw some collapsed on the ground, with Twinneedle embedded in their body…

If there was a word to describe time slowing down, yet simultaneously speeding up, Lena would describe the scene in front of her as that. And Lena knew this nightmare was only just beginning.

Her body started to feel like it was moving through Muk sludge, the panic and chaos of the scene in front of her paralyzing her body for a moment from shock, even as her mind screamed at her.

Finally, with her training and memories of past Missions rattling in her head, time resumed for her body to speak, Rina and Arthur already standing ready at her side at seeing the situation.

"Rina! Stay with me and help me focus on capturing, Arthur — " She froze, her mind racing to decide what to do as Arthur's aura flared intensely. A quick glance at William and Ronin let her see Charon standing protectively in front of them. He would be okay with Charon. "Arthur, go in and get as many you can to safety and heal the most critical with Heal Pulse! Don't hold back on defending them! All out!"

Arthur didn't even glance at her, jumping in with his aura staff glowing brightly in the night as he leapt forward towards a group of Venipede hiding behind a Whirlipede that was being targeted by multiple Beedrill. With that, Lena glanced at William and put on a firm expression. "Catch what you can, but defend yourself. Don't put yourself in the line of fire!"

Before she could hear William's response, she ran in with Rina next to her, her mind already organizing certain Beedrill into groups, on how to capture them and how aggressive they were acting.

'Two on the left, fast and nimble, four on the right, targeting a Scolipede —' Her thought halted as she glanced up above, seeing an absolutely massive Beedrill flying overhead, watching all this chaos unfold. Two smaller Beedrill were next to them for a moment, and the slightest movement of their head, along with pointing from their needle suggested to Lena who this was.

'The queen… alright, that's the eventual target.'

She was too high up in the air to capture her directly, so they'd need to bring her to them. Glancing at the four Beedrill to her right, her body started to move; her right arm braced her left as her fingers made the full releasing motion, feeling the Styler kick back against her slightly from the full force being applied.

The Capture Disc flew across the clearing, and she purposely arced her arm to make sure the Capture Line went across the line of vision of every single Beedrill, distracting them from their target and making some of them flinch from the bright light of the line.

It didn't last long, with all four of them now focusing on the Capture Line like Lena intended, her arm swinging to make the Capture Disc avoid a volley of Twinneedle at it. The dirt on the ground was getting displaced, clouds of dust forming from not only the attacks from the Beedrill, but from how fast the Capture Disc was spinning above it as Lena forced her arm to move in finer and more precise movements.

The line started to glow more, even as the Beedrill got more aggressive with some trying to physically stab the line with their stingers, but Lena's control was too fine. Although it didn't look much like a circle, the line connected with itself enough, glowing brightly before enclosing around the group, halting their attack mid-motion as they slumped to the ground and looked towards Lena.

She paused, but only for a moment when she noted how they still looked absolutely angry at her, but made no motion to attack. Sure, some Pokémon were still upset after being captured… but this felt… more.

Grabbing Nest Balls from her pocket, she quickly threw them at the captured Pokémon to completely remove them from the field. Her eyes were already scanning for the next target closest to her as she made sure the Capture Disc was loaded back in her Styler. She glanced at where Rina's Bubble Beam was going to try and focus on a slowed Beedrill, but her eyes did flick to Arthur for a moment when it caught the light from his staff, glowing bright with pure Aura.

Across the field, there were a group of three Beedrill twitching on the ground as Arthur corralled a group of Venipede and Whirlipede away. One Whirlipede was struggling to roll, with gashes on its front, enough to make Arthur pause and quickly use a Heal Pulse… Lena couldn't help but note that he was carrying what looked to be a hatchling Venipede in his arms as he did this.

This wasn't just a nest or hive for the Venipede, this was specifically where they laid their eggs.

Of all the places to attack, this was among the worst that the Beedrill could have hit. This was targeted, an invasion, not just an infestation.

With a revived urgency, she didn't even wait to identify another group, recalling the Capture Disc and swinging her arm to send it forward again. Her eyes flicked to the closest group, two Beedrill who were watching her from a distance away and started to move away as the Capture Disc got closer to them, but they had clearly seen what happened to their friends.

They bolted away in different directions, moving fast and rapidly changing their direction mid-flight. Lena mentally cursed, before she felt the ground tremble slightly as a sudden avalanche of rocks and dirt landed over one of the Beedrill. The attack caused it to try and go lower to avoid it, but instead it started to tumble against the ground, rolling end over end and letting out pained buzzing noises before it came into contact with a sudden flying Nest Ball and vanished.

Her eyes followed the trajectory, and her blood froze and her body went cold. William was in the open surrounded on both sides by Charon and Ronin, his head whipping back and forth between targets with a mix of emotions on his face that she couldn't read in the chaos.

'What in the name of the Twins are they doing…!?'

Her attention was snapped away from the sudden panic by an incoming yellow blur from the corner of her vision and a cry from Rina she couldn't discern, but she still got the meaning from the tone alone. Instincts took over and she shifted downwards suddenly as a Beedrill neared looking to attack her with a Fury Attack.

Rina in return, let out an angry noise and leapt at the Beedrill with her fangs still emitting frost before she bit down outright, the frost building up rapidly around the Beedrill as it screeched and buzzed in pain.

Rina then threw the Beedrill to the ground, where it bounced once, then twice, before it stilled after a moment of twitching. She was panting angrily, glaring up at all the flying Poison Bug Types before an almost feral growl left her throat before she spoke. "FLoooatZEL! Floatzel!!" (I'm the target here! Don't you dare touch her, you parasites!)

Lena cursed as her thoughts started to unweave, but her training took over. She ignored the Beedrill on the ground in favor of issuing a new order to Rina so she could focus. "Rina! Distraction!"

Though her earlier words weren't laced with Dark Type energy, it appeared it was still as effective as a Taunt as she separated from Lena to follow her command. Several Beedrill looked absolutely pissed and started to hone in on Rina, one shot a volley of Pin Missiles, another moving in to jab with Twineedle, and another seemed to almost glow red with anger, and charged in outright enraged.

Rina responded by shooting forward with Quick Attack, avoiding all the attacks before shifting and using Aqua Jet to slam one in the chest and into the ground. Other Beedrill started to notice the interlopers however, and shifted their focus away from the scattered Venipede families.

However, as a result of this, Lena could see her partner's body become peppered with stray shots, noises of pain leaving her as she shot a wide Bubble Beam at the offending foes, some clipped their wings, some hit dead on, but more just kept joining.

"Charon, Flamethrower! Ronin, Water Gun any that come near!"

William's voice made her whip her head back to see him looking in the direction of an incoming Beedrill as a sudden volley of flames consumed it from Charon, while the Water Type on the other end shot a torrent of water specifically at the wings of another Beedrill that dared to come near his Trainer. The water crippled their flight from the weight on the wings just long enough for Charon to shift his head and shoot a fine Flamethrower at Ronin's target that looked more akin to a blowtorch with how fast it exited his maw.

The young Trainer wasn't idle either, grabbing Nest Ball after Nest Ball to hit one Beedrill after another, ignoring them as the capsules stilled after a moment. His left hand gripped the stick tight enough that his knuckles were white, as if a sharpened stick would beat a Beedrill stinger.

His eyes flicked to Lena as she neared, but he refocused on Ronin and Charon even as she felt her words rise up from her lungs to scream over all the chaotic noises on the field. "William — what are you doing?!"

"Defending — ! Rock Slide — !" William cried out, forcing Charon to shift his posture as he sank his hands into the ground and let out a growl and ripped the ground up almost like a rug into the sky. The Rock Type energy crumbled in the air while falling on approaching Beedrill, but some saw the Move coming, darting outside its range while only one or two got clipped by the hailstorm, flinching just enough to disrupt their flight falling to the ground.

Grunting, Lena forced her Styler forward to the Beedrill, she didn't register the force of it launching the Capture Disc as she started to move her arm rapidly to capture them before they fully regained their bearings. Thankfully, the damage caused even by the slight hit from Rock Slide was enough to weaken them that the Styler was able to complete the capture quickly, their bodies glowing as they stayed slumped on the ground, angry still, but passive.

The entire situation had gone up in flames, Lena glancing around to try and find some avenue she could get William out of this. Everywhere she looked, the buzzing of the Beedrill, and the pained noises of Pokémon around her competed for her attention all at once.

In front of them, more Beedrill were now looking to focus on them, behind them, she could hear Rina's Bubble Beam popping against Beedrill, along with the noise of something hitting the ground, to her side, was Arthur defending another group with his staff spinning to deflect both Pin Missile and Twineedle.

'They're becoming more aggressive…'

The realization of a Fire Type nearby among the Beedrill most likely acted like a powder keg, and the sight of their members slowly dwindling, or becoming 'passive', only added fuel to the mess.

Glancing over at Rina and trying to salvage the situation, Lena aimed her Styler forward to assist, the disk flying across the forest as she tried to focus on a slower group of Beedrill, dripping wet most likely from her Bubble Beam. Although slowed, the buzzing Pokémon scattered once they saw the circle start to form as she moved her arm, the hoard hitting the Capture Disc with the tip of their body, causing the blue line to disappear into sparkles.

'Dammit! There's just too many of them…!'

Her building worry was stomped down to prevent it from overwhelming her, and she was about to call out for William to at least get out, but before she could she had to duck back as a lone Beedrill decided to try and take their chance at attacking her. She swiped her arm back, the motion triggering the automatic return of the Capture Disc back to her Styler, and letting her launch it again at full force. Attempting to distract the Beedrill, she started to swipe her arm around to form the Capture Circle.

Her attempt only seemed to anger them even more, before the circle could form fully, it flew to the side and looked to aim an attack at her… its stingers glistening with toxins dripping from it aimed squarely at her. Her mind already started to run through poison treatment procedures, and what items she had on her to treat it… until a Nest Ball hit the Beedrill square in the head coming from the opposite direction, practically clotheslining it from the force.

Before it could let out a noise of pain or surprise, it vanished into the capsule and started to shake, Lena froze at the sudden event, but William's voice snapped her out of it.

"Capture it when it breaks out — Ronin, keep going for the wings!" He cut himself off as another Beedrill attempted to get close to his team, Ronin responded by shooting his Water Gun forcefully once more, pushing the attacker back and making them flail in the air until they hit the ground in a soaked heap.

Lena turned back to the fallen Nest Ball, watching the light on the center flash red as it shuttered violently, making her start to spin the Capture Line wide ahead of time. By the time it was making its third circle, the Nest Ball burst into two halves as a dazed, but furious, Beedrill emerged.

It was too late though, and by the time it gained its bearings and looked around for the person who threw that Nest Ball at it, the Capture Line was glowing and finally closed around it. Beedrill's body glowed similarly for a moment, looking even more confused, but less agitated, letting Lena grab her own Nest Ball from her pocket. She fumbled with it briefly before she chucked it at it, removing it completely from the field as it vanished with a flash into the ball without it even shaking once on the ground.

Her mind started to turn, a new plan forming slowly… Rina was slowing them down with Bubble Beam, which did have the unintended side effect of knocking some of them clean out after the barrage was too much. However, she still had to deal with just the sheer volume of Beedrill…

'Okay, think, reassess… we're outnumbered, we have to play the long game, whittle them down.' She thought as she already was priming her Fine Styler to attempt to capture once again with a new plan. Lena took a breath for a moment, recentering herself before she cried out across the field. "Rina! Whirlpool! Gather them up!"

While different from how any of them were trained on the situation, the Floatzel didn't hesitate. Rina's cry was followed by the sound of a swirling torrential burst of water, a swirling mass of water forming around their mouth that shot forward and tripled — no, quadrupled in size as it left her mouth.

Like a tornado tearing across the field, Beedrill were swept inside, taken completely off guard from the sudden change in attack as they desperately tried to regain their orientation, impossible to do inside the swirling vortex.

Seeing exactly what she wanted, Lena swung her arm forward almost akin to a throw, the Capture Disc speeding across the forest as her eyes followed the trajectory of the Whirlpool. She swept her arm in an arc to make sure neither the line nor the Capture Disc would be in contact with the swirling mass, though due to its size the circles were wide, not closing in on themselves as fast…

Gritting her teeth, she moved her arms even faster, forcing the Styler to accelerate the process as she felt her arm burn from the movement. She could see the Beedrill start to at least surface the torrent, fighting back against it and causing it to lose energy. Thankfully, her extra force she put in allowed the Capture Line to fully glow and connect, finally closing around the Beedrill just as the Whirlpool collapsed. The Beedrill looked dizzy and disoriented as they collided with the ground in a heap, some even landing on top of each other, but they didn't make any motion to jump back into the fight.

The number of Beedrill actively attacking was noticeably lowering, Lena could at least see the sky without being completely overwhelmed from the scale of the Bug and Poison Type Pokémon. However, that didn't mean they were out of danger yet, as she could hear William's frustrated noise after another rumble of the ground, Lena glanced to notice that Charon had attempted another Rock Slide to hit a group of Beedrill, but only one out of the five were hit, completely overtaken by the falling rocks.

William looked slightly frustrated, glancing at Charon while he threw another Nest Ball at a fallen Beedrill, the ball going wide, but thankfully the fleeing Beedrill didn't interfere with the tracking as it hit the one that had fallen from the Super-Effective attack. "No Heat Wave?"

"Typh-Ghr…Pholosion!" (No, I don't know that, kid!)

"Dammit — what about a wide Ominous Wind?!"

"Typhlos-Plhos!" (Too narrow, it targets the soul of the — down!)

William reacted instantly, hitting the ground as Charon snarled with embers sparking from his mouth as he wound his fist forward engulfed in flames, meeting a Beedrill diving towards them head-on. The Fire Punch launched the Beedrill away into a tree, where they splat with a shuddering of their body before falling unconscious. William didn't even bother throwing a Nest Ball, but pointed in a direction for Ronin to shoot another Water Gun, which seemed to be getting less and less pressure as time went on… the young Oshawott starting to run dry.

Lena turned her attention away, she needed to find a solution to this, now. Before it got worse than it already was.

A quick glance at Arthur indicated he wasn't doing much better, more than seven Beedrill next to him lay completely knocked out, their arms and even wings crumpled, but Arthur was struggling with the sheer number of them as he continued to direct others to safety. Some Whirlpede were actually attempting to hit the Beedrill attacking him to assist their saviors, leaping into the air with Rollout. This didn't stop Arthur from having to rapidly use Quick Attack, or even Extreme Speed to just keep avoiding more Twinneedle attacks. Two Beedrill even looked to be closing in with sharp stingers…

Then a crackling frigid beam of ice overtook the incoming attackers, the temperature dropping enough that even Lena could feel a rush of cool air hit her as Rina nailed the two bugs in a solid encasement of ice from afar. Lena couldn't tell what she screamed at Arthur across the field, but the nod from the Lucario indicated he got what she said.

Although most of the Venipede had left the area, some Scolipede were still present, trying to protect their nest from the attackers… or protect their young. One in particular was surrounded by a group of three Beedrill shooting at it, behind it was a hollowed-out tree. The fully evolved bug's body wobbled, but did its best to hold firm, its eyes closed tight in pain…

"Rina! Back me up! Gather them again!" Lena cried out, sending the Capture Disc flying forward towards the three Beedrill without hesitation. Her mind was already putting together how to do this.

Her body shifted as she arched the line across the Beedrill, instantly drawing their attention to it as they buzzed angrily and diverted their attention to it instead of the Scolipede. Lena then arched it to the side, forcing the Capture Disc to make a sharp turn and the Beedrill to mirror it as they tried desperately to shoot it down. Lena's left middle and pointer finger curled and twitched together as she forced all her focus on where the attacks were coming from, deftly causing the Capture Disc to make the slightest adjustment to narrowly avoid another Poison Sting or Twinneedle. Slowly wearing out the group until another swirling mass of water collided with them from Rina, another Whirlpool consuming them as Lena didn't wait for all of them to be taken up to start circling the Capture Line around them.

However, the rapidness of the order, or Rina starting to tire out from the attacks she had taken must have not provided the Whirlpool with enough energy, as it broke up before Lena could complete the capture. The Beedrill shaking the water off themselves and looking ready to scatter once more…

Almost like a Flash attack however, the entire area was lit up by a fiery orange glow that burned Lena's eyes due to its proximity, but it was also enough to force the Beedrill to cover their eyes and shy away in place. Despite her eyes and body burning from the sudden heat that covered the field, Lena wound her arm back around and started to spin the Capture Line around the Beedrill rapidly as fast as possible.

Her arm burned as she conducted it, watching the circle around the group get more and more solid… glowing blue… and in a final crescendo, it closed around them, the Beedrill fluttering their wings to the ground but still covering their eyes from the scorching light and shying away from the super-effective attack in primal fear.

Lena forced herself to turn to the source, her eyes blinking before shifting to a squint to try and keep them from drying out from just the pure heat of the attack. Charon was using a monstrous Flamethrower while on all fours at a hoard of Beedrill in the air that were diving for them. His normally fiery purple collar glowed bright orange and roared above him almost like a normal Typhlosion, pure Fire Type energy being pulled into the attack.

Like Cutiefly falling from the sky, tens of Beedrill fell from the torrent of flames as it continued, flames surrounding their body for a moment as they hit the ground…. Most that landed didn't move, but the ones that did move did only for just a moment. Lena could see the tell-tale signs of them being burned as those ones collapsed as well.

The attack held longer than any Flamethrower Lena had seen, even when Charon's flaming collar started to shrink into itself more and more like a flickering candle, he kept it going until William spoke up. "Charon — stop!" He had a panicked look on his face as he turned to his guide, noticing how Charon panting slightly from the move he just used, pushing himself up with one paw before shaking himself off. The flames around his neck were still low as he regained himself after using such a move.

"Typh… Phlosion… Grrr… Phlo…" (Kid… don't worry… oh, it's been a while since I've held a Strong Style move that long…)

William cursed, glancing at Ronin and noting how he was getting exhausted as well… Lena couldn't help but glance at her own team now, noting how Arthur was using Heal Pulse on a group of Whirlpede, while also gritting his teeth as visible poisonous needles stuck out from his body. He may have been immune to Poison Type and being poisoned, but Twinneedle being a Bug Type had still whittled him down…

'Dammit Arthur, don't overextend yourself —'

"Shit, Lena there's one — God dammit — Ronin, get ready!" William said suddenly, disrupting her thought before bolting forward, Lena reached for him, but couldn't grab his sweatshirt in time to stop him. She stole a glance back at Charon, who managed to gather himself enough to start shooting rapid-fire Embers at approaching Beedrill the best he could. He paused for a brief moment and glanced back, his crimson eyes meeting Lena gaze with an unreadable message, before both of them turned back to their targets and moved.

William had run forward towards the fallen Scolipede who was in front of the tree, he kneeled down with his head jerking over injuries as he tried to shakily open his bag for healing supplies.

Lena felt her throat close as even from afar she could tell they were too much, the Scolipede didn't so much as move as William hesitantly placed a hand on its body… for just a moment before he glanced down to his side. That's when she noticed a Venipede was next to him, gently nudging the fallen Pokémon every couple of seconds, a desperate look in the eyes of the Bug Poison Type as they turned to look at William.

"Fuck — Lena, I don't — I-I don't know —" He halted, and that's when Lena heard it. A more… intense buzzing. The kind of buzzing that made all the hair on the back of her neck stand up on all ends, rattling inside her ears and head to the point where she swore it was physically inside her.

Turning to the source, she saw the queen was actively in the fight now, apparently the sight of the monstrous Flamethrower was finally enough to bring the queen into the fray despite the danger.

Moving from singular targets with an unnatural speed, its stingers had a dark miasma about them which clued Lena into thinking that it was using Pursuit against the fleeing Pokémon… until it saw Lena and William.

Hate born of malice, made it change focus as it shifted and dove across the field for them. Lena heard Ronin cry out defensively, the Oshawott grabbing something from the bottom of William's hoodie while having water surround him. Like a bullet, he shot through the air for the Beedrill with an Aqua Jet, water splashed around William and Lena due to the proximity, but she paid it no mind as her breath got stuck in her throat.

The young Water Type was in no way strong enough for such a Pokémon yet, and images of what was about to happen shot through her mind in a panic.

William looked to ignore Ronin bolting away, instead focusing only on the Venipede who was still staring at the fallen Scolipede, trying to say soft, but shaky words to them that Lena couldn't hear from the noise around her.

To his right, the queen did not expect a sudden rush of water to hit her before she reached the ire of her anger, and seemed to falter for a moment as Ronin charged right into her… before she turned red and seemed to vanish into the Aqua Jet.

Ronin's Aqua Jet finally ended with him in midair, but Lena could make out his flippers holding a Nest Ball, which made her realize that he had been holding that through the attack. He pitched it forward with an aggressive cry into the forest as it shook violently with the button blinking red in the air. Lena felt a thought of shock hit her at the plan, but she shoved that down to focus on what was in front of her.

The Venipede seemed to ignore all around them, before making a surprised noise as William did his best to scoop them up towards his chest with one arm, his other arm still holding the sharpened stick.

"I-It's alright — we're getting you out of here…" Lena barely heard him make out as he glanced over to Ronin and jerked his head in a direction, prompting the Water Type to rush back to his side. Before he could reach William, the flash of a broken Poké Ball appeared in the forest and the angry buzzing of a Beedrill echoed in the clearing. Its eyes glaring red hate towards everyone as it dove forward towards the group with stingers glowing for a Twineedle attack.

Lena's body reacted automatically, saying nothing as she pushed her body in front of William to protect him from any attack… before the Beedrill shimmered in midair, and then almost vanished in a blur.

She didn't have the physical time to react to what happened, but the noise of the Beedrill suddenly on the other side of her made her mind realize what just happened.

Aerial Ace.

She only had enough time to shift her head to see the queen stop the move and start to dive forward from the new position, two stingers dangerously close to the group… it looked to be moments away from touching them before a sharp stick suddenly halted its approach, jabbing right into its stomach.

Lena saw the stick that Ronin had sharpened for William stabbing into the midsection, not puncturing, but definitely surprising the insect as the momentum of its attack was suddenly stopped at a very fine point.

"Ronin — SLICE HER!"

He shoved the stick forward to push the attacker back, Lena heard something crack as he did so, but she couldn't tell if it was the stick William was holding, or something in the exoskeleton of the queen Beedrill. The motion must have been akin to another gut punch for the Beedrill as she faltered back away from them and moved a stinger to her stomach where William's stick had pushed into it.

Another rush of water sounded behind her and she felt some water hit her as Ronin flew above them, stopping mid-attack with his scalchop in hand before he dragged it against the queen's body. The speed that the Aqua Jet provided allowed his scalchop to drag against her body akin to a blade. It was no Razor Shell, but Lena could see a line of blood form on her body as Ronin flew past, a pained hissing buzz leaving the queen as it moved another stinger to the cut.

Wasting no time, and with time feeling like it was slowing for a moment as she reacted, Lena felt her body burn as she lifted William and the Venipede up in one go with one arm, and ran. William let out some sort of noise, or maybe said something, Lena couldn't tell as she focused on getting away from the queen before she recovered.

She could hear the rush of water behind them as Ronin caught up, but Lena didn't dare to glance back, instead doing her best to squeeze her link with Arthur through Aura as quickly as possible. 'Arthur! Backup! I need —'

She couldn't complete her thought, feeling a pull at her leg as they pushed forward and caused her to suddenly hit the ground, her grip on William being lost as she saw stars.

She forced herself to turn, her throat constricting as she saw one of her legs entirely encased in webbing. She glanced around, finally seeing some Beedrill overhead who had shot the one who had attacked their matriarchy, before they were suddenly hit by a frozen Ice Beam from Rina from afar.

She suddenly heard tearing, turning back to see William gripping the String Shot and ripping it away from Lena's trapped leg with a grunt, but doing the best he could to wipe it away "Come on — stupid sticky —"

The Venipede William was carrying suddenly made a noise, William freezing for a brief moment before hitting the ground as a sudden torrent of toxic Poison Stings flew across the air inches away. William made a noise and pulled the Venipede close to his chest. The attack only lasted a couple seconds, but it felt like hours as they waited for the noise of the attack cutting through the air to stop. Finally, after a moment he shifted up and went to pull the rest of the Sting Shot away, freezing as he noticed the shadow of the queen Beedrill just over them.

Her eyes were directed at William, its proboscis dripping with what looked like a mix of saliva and toxins as it panted and stared at the two… the cut Ronin had made dripped a flow of blood, and the spot William stabbed with the stick had a ghastly purple bruise already forming that covered its entire midsection.

But it continued to stand strong, looking at the two humans under her, ready to put an end to this. William reached for a Nest Ball to grab them some time, and Lena attempted to at least awkwardly shoot a Capture Disc as a distraction. Her voice was stuck as she tried to scream at William to run, time seeming to slow for her again as hundreds of images ran through her mind of what was about to happen once again…

Then, a flash of blue slammed into the queen, and an angry, feral growl followed. The force of Arthur's attack sent the queen a bit away from the momentum, but he followed up with his aura staff, staggering it once again with a quick strike downwards, sending it collapsing to the ground. Arthur then shifted, practically leaping on top of the queen with what looked to be Strength focused entirely in one of his closed paws, making her body sink into the ground and leave an indent as he panted. The queen struggled, buzzing once again and forcing another echoing slam sounding in the forest as Arthur let out a furious cry on impact as the queen finally stilled.

Lena looked shocked at her partner's brutality for a moment, but she was pulled away from it by William grunting at her side, ripping away the rest of the webbing around her leg… his face pale as he turned to her, panting heavily most likely as the adrenaline looked to be wearing off. "A-Are you okay? Shit — I… h-here…"

He moved his hand to help Lena stand up, the Ranger taking his hand, and then reflexively placed her other hand on his left shoulder as he shifted and stood up with her. He struggled a little, his legs wobbling probably due to overestimating his actual strength, reminding Lena to stand up herself on her own so as not to burden him.

The Ranger grunted and started to take stock of the area… the entire breeding area was ruined from the chaos. Dirt was ripped up from the attacks, poison needles sticking out of the ground like fallen javelins, areas either scorched or soaked from Water or Fire Type attacks… but the Beedrill were fleeing now, seeing that their queen had been taken out and were inclined to flee, lest they get targeted next. Scores of tens of fallen Beedrill surrounded them, either captured in Nest Balls, or completely unconscious from being beaten, frozen, or burned.

Lena couldn't help but let a bubbling laugh leave her as the reality hit her.

They did it.

William panted heavily next to her, no doubt exhausted as he shakily kneeled down and opened his bag, but she couldn't help but feel a rush of energy flow through herself as she stood up and took a deep breath….

There was still a lot to do, reporting on what the Beedrill had been doing, capturing all the fallen Beedrill from this, relocating them to a safe place… Helping the forest Pokémon rebuild the ecosystem and biosphere…

…Figuring out who released the Queen in the first place would be the main one… the League would have to get involved at this point…

But still. They did it. The crisis was over, for them at least.

As she wiped her forehead, Rina suddenly let out a choked, horrified noise. Snapping her head towards her, Lena nearly fell down as the Floatzel tackled her and started to look her over.

"Float-FloatZEL! Fl-Float? Zel?" (Lena! You're bleeding! Where were you cut — where did they hit you?)

…What?

Now with Rina suddenly on top of her, Lena looked down at her hands, seeing a bit of blood on the back of her palm. Reaching up to her forehead, she confirmed that the liquid running down her hair and forehead was, indeed, sweat. Quickly feeling around her body, she noticed overall she felt sore, but nothing hurt as if she was cut or seriously injured.

"Grk— Guh— Braaaaahhhg—"

William was kneeled over vomiting onto the ground.

Charon let out a panicked noise, kneeling down next to William while looking him over now. Ronin was looking equally worried, glancing frantically between Charon and his Trainer with his own noise that Lena couldn't tell if it was a cry of William's name, or of shock. Kneeling down quickly, Lena's mind was rushing through issues while her eyes darted over William, looking at his head, and gently moving her hand carefully so as to not directly touch it.

'Vomiting, oh, Twins, does he have a concussion? Or — is it stress? Did he cut himself? Or — or —'

Where his shoulder was soaked from Ronin's Aqua Jet, the water had made the fabric darker and damp, allowing it to hide a slowly building bloodstain. The fabric looked almost burnt, sizzled away, and identical to Poison Type attack's effect on clothes… and under it, Lena could see his skin turning purple around a raw cut.

Her eyes flicked to the ground, seeing bits of Pecha Berry where he vomited, his bag open at the side, and a half eaten berry in his hands, suggesting he had already attempted to eat one or two before the one he had. The reality of the situation hit her as William's face got even paler, his body shaking as Charon let out a panicked noise, saying something she couldn't discern all the noises started to blur.

With her thoughts falling around her, she ripped her own bag open and reached for an Antidote to try and stabilize William. Her vision closing around the edges as she barely was able to grab the item, her own throat dry as before she could rip William's sweatshirt off to apply it, he lurched again and vomited.

Lena shifted over to him, waiting for him to stop coughing before starting to lift the sweatshirt up off of William to get to the injury, but instead Charon took over and ripped it off outright, allowing them both to see the full extent of his shoulder.

"Thyh… Phlosion…!" (Oh, Sinnoh… William—!)

The entire upper left shoulder was a sickening purple, more so than what a bruise would look like, the poison already working its way through his body with speed that Lena hadn't seen before. She wiped away the light blood still pooling… seeing the full injury… horror running through her as she was, it wasn't deeper than a fingernail. He had been barely grazed and still was poisoned.

The blood leaving now wasn't red, it was changing colors as the toxins seeped in, Lena starting to apply the Antidote to try and stabilize him…

One second passed… the purple still spreading down his arm… even as she followed the entire path down with the medicine for his body to absorb it as soon as possible.

Then two seconds passed, nothing reacting still, Lena feeling her breathing stop as she realized the Antidote had no effect on him.

Lena's vision turned into desaturated, colorful TV static. Her arms turned to jelly. Her breaths became quick and light. Memories of that day began racing through her head.

Elle.
Ringing in her ears.
Leone.
Her palms drenched in clammy sweat.
Micah.
Her legs gave out and she fell forward.
Not again.
The TV static changed channels, now looking like the ground.
No.
Her head made contact with the ground.
Please.

"—ena…! Lena! We need to get William to a hospital! Call for a medical helicopter! We won't be able to Fly him there!"

Arthur's yanking Lena up by shoulder was finally enough to bring Lena back to reality. Her body movement was jerky as she opened up the Map on her Styler and saw her exact GPS coordinates before she navigated back to hit the first radio frequency on the screen. Practically screaming to anyone who could hear on the line, she desperately tried to keep her own panic out of her voice.

"T-This is Top Ranger Lena Winifred of the Unova Ranger Union! I need air evacuation to Castelia Children's Hospital immediately!" She screamed, just as William's face started to turn pasty white, his eyes unfocused with his body swaying to the side as he muttered something under his breath, unable to hold himself up anymore.

Charon caught him, panic written all over the Typhlosion's face as he held his limp ward, before letting out a horrified noise that Lena wasn't able to discern, but snapping her back into what she was doing. "I have a child in critical condition, suspected toxic poisoning from a Beedrill! I'm in the northeast side of Pinwheel Forest, coordinates 49, -135. Send a helicopter and a stretcher, I-I don't think he's stable enough for me to Fly him over there!"

Lena went to reach out to check William's vials, to see if she could do something, anything. Charon only pulled William closer to himself in response, clearly not about to let anyone else touch his ward right now as his presence almost seemed to shrink down, almost as if it was to protect William's entire being. His red eyes stared at his ward whose eyes were closed, but whose body shook slightly with labored breathing.

Her left hand nails dug into her own palm as she repeated her desperate cry. "I-I repeat, I need a helicopter evac to Castelia Children's Hospital to coordinate 49, -135 immediately! Over!"

Lena could only shakily pull her other hand away and stare as the reality of the situation seemed to almost come crashing down above her as a whisper left her lips. "Please… don't die on me William...."

Beta Editors/Readers:

David "TheBlizWiz" R
Garmfild

Post Release Edit:
Special Thanks:
Strictly Worse - For pointing out a misspelling of Arthur, fixed now across all sites.

veekie · Nov 8, 2024

So someone dumped an aggressive overleveled/alpha beedrill in to discredit?

stads · Nov 8, 2024

nice chapter thx for writing it
fun battle against the bugs
will be fun to find out who placed the queen there to make the rangers look bad

Thunder999 · Saturday at 9:38 PM

I wonder if the more effective poison is due to whatever strange thing was going on with William that made him look odd to aura vision and ties him to Charon.

veekie · Saturday at 10:40 PM

I think he just took a hit from an extraordinarily powerful Beedrill and kept going, aggravating the injury further.

A Slipspace Tree · Saturday at 10:56 PM

veekie said:
I think he just took a hit from an extraordinarily powerful Beedrill and kept going, aggravating the injury further.

Also if the Beedrill was trained it might have been specialized into poisons resistant to typical poison cures (resulting in the kinda of things that usually would require a dedicated pokemon center visit). Between that and Beedrill intending to kill rather then battle/spar, the lethality of it was also greatly probably enhanced compared to a regular poisoning.

Because given how it was causing his clothes to sizzle something was definitely not normal.

Thewilliamspot1 · 2024-11-15T10:02:40-0500

Writer/Editor Note: This originally started as just internal notes, so may be a bit more rough then normal, with that said, it should be considered more of a 'living' document. There will be notes on adjustments made as time goes on.

Aura definition: A form of spiritual energy described as the essence of every living thing.

The term was 'coined' by Professor Laventon for the general population, but Aura itself was known by old Aura Guardians even before Laventon put the name down on paper.

Aura follows the type chart, so Fire Energy cancels Ice Energy, and is itself canceled by Water Energy.

Aura affects both Pokemon and people, though obviously affects Pokemon more.

Aura energy is typed by default but the usual environment the majority of the population live in creates a mix of all the different types enough so that any pronounced Aura effect doesn't become noticeable. In contrast, if you stay in the same place for a very, very long period of time you might start to artificially obtain an Aura affinity. This is intentionally used in some medical procedures.

For example, someone exposed to high amounts of psychic energy can be placed into an environment of high Dark, Bug, or Ghost energy until enough cancels out.

Sometimes, a person can have an Aura 'bias', which can lead them to 'click' better with a specific Type of Pokémon, or have certain 'attributes' that along with that type of Aura. Have enough of it, and other Pokemon will recognize a person as being of that Type themselves. In the story, Chairperson Erma is seen by Pokemon as being a Fae because of how much Fairy Type Energy she is exposed to and her natural affinity towards Fairy Energy.

Having Aura in general at all is what allows native residents to the Pokémon World to not have to worry about their bones breaking when their overeager Growlithe Tackle's them when they get home, or from Poison causing their entire homeostasis system to shut down.

As stated before, the majority of the human population do not have any specific Aura Affinity or bias due to being surrounded by so many Pokémon and people, leading them to be considered the 'baseline'. It can be argued that their default Type could be considered 'Normal', due to how flexible the Type itself has been noted to be, but this doesn't explain why certain humans would still be instinctively afraid of Ghost Types, or why possession may still be a worry for some people.

People who are Type Specialists have been found more likely lean into specific traits or habits as their Aura impacts their body and mind when they reach the higher-levels. This level is around highly experienced Gym Leaders, or Trainers who have engrossed themselves deeply into specific groups of Pokémon for years, like Elite Four members or Champions.

However, it is important to note that these traits and habits are not a hard rule for someone with a specific Aura affinity and do not define people. These are more frequent observations and like with anything, there are always outliers for various reasons… but some features may be important to keep in mind.

Examples:

Fire Type - Naturally higher body temperature, and, paradoxically, prefer warmer environments. Body tends to recover quicker from burns, or have a higher threshold for what would burn them. Tend to have a fiery, passionate personality. Or, alternatively, a warm, inviting one that can flip on a dime to an enraged inferno. Don't like humid places.

Water Type - Generally found to be very chill people, unaffected by things. "Go with the flow." However, like a tsunami, if you anger them their fury can be overwhelming and swift. Good swimmers, and can hold their breath for generally longer periods of time. Likes beaches and lakes, dislike dry and arid places.

Electric Type - Can be highly energetic and active people, though some may be one-track mind going along a single current. A 'small' shock to them would be enough of a shock to send someone back a couple feet, and they can take it without blinking, or be paralyzed for a shorter amount of time. Prefer to be surrounded by devices powered by electricity, or during thunderstorm season, outside watching the storm roll by.

Grass Type - Likes sunshine, nature, forests, jungles, etc. Some can be rather... ditzy. Many top Grass Type Trainers are also known to dabble in questionable substances, or like to experiment with combining natural ingredients together for food. One of the least harmful affinities if overexposed. Things like Sleep Powder have little effect on them.

Ice Type - Naturally cooler body temperature. Like Fire Types, paradoxically prefer colder environments. Are outwardly cold towards people they don't know, but have a warmth and caring behind them.

Fighting Type - High physical aptitude and endurance, physical homeostasis of the body is easier to keep stable and healthy for them. Mentally, this also pushes them to keep moving towards some sort of goal or objective. No real preference as to where they prefer to be, but dislike areas of high spiritual energy.

Poison Type - Personality heavily affected by affinity / amount of energy. Those with weaker affinities might have more of a contrarian personality and might disagree with larger societal forces / trends and be more radical in their beliefs. Lots of punks of all different types are on the lower affinity spectrum. People exposed to high amounts or with strong affinities, however, are some of the most toxic and caustic people to be around. Very rude and terse, difficult and unpleasant to be around, and generally awful people. People who veer too far into Poison type energy often have to go through behavioral and Aura therapy because of how much it can affect their lives if not managed well, but there have been a handful of high-functioning heavy Poison affinities who have gone on to be successful in their own right.

Doctors have noted that people with high Poison affinity respond differently to medicines, can withstand hazardous environments well, and get sick less often. Many are also nose-blind and can kinda smell... but that may also be because many of them have a bad smoking habit...

Ground Type - Tends to be the most diverse in terms of personality, and has a lot of overlap with Rock Types a lot. Can be jolly hikers, or no-nonsense businessmen that are immovable in their goals. Have a high physical aptitude, but not as much as Fighting Types. Leans more for a slow and steady build up, rather than a burst of physical might. Love long strolls through nature, or rocky terrain, or hiking.

Flying Type - Happy, high-in-the-sky kind of energy is the most common, however some may be prideful. When using Fly, they have less issues with hypoxia, get less winded during physical activity so may be able to last 'longer', but can't do huge bursts of strength compared to people influenced by Fighting Type Aura. Love areas with high wind, like mountain ranges, or flying in the sky with their Pokémon.

Psychic - Those in academic fields sometimes lean more into this Aura. Overly logical to a fault, and can struggle with understanding emotions and empathy.

At the middle-end, they may be described as having light Psychic-Abilities, knowing when something is about to hit them and instinctively ducking, which can transition into those people becoming Psychic Class Trainers. At the very, very high-end is when you get Trainers like Sabrina, and Liza and Tate, who can levitate things, and get full precognition abilities. Despise areas of high spiritual energy, and prefer quiet places.

Bug - It was thought for the longest time that ADHD was simply a case of overexposure to Bug-Type Energy. Treatments often involved doses of large amounts of Rock energy, which led to unfortunate side effects and is now considered a barbaric practice that is illegal almost everywhere. In any case, people with Bug Type affinities have lower attention spans, but can also hyperfocus on tasks well. In addition, they care about family immensely, even more so than Dragons. Like and dislike many of the same places as Grass types.

Rock - Compared to Ground Types, it's noted that those with a Rock Aura lean more serious outwardly, can mask their reactions easier to others and seem immovable, but their kindness once you break through the outer layer can be almost as gentle (if a bit blunt) as one with a Grass Type affinity. Very, very comfortable in caves, and almost can be described as having a sixth-sense navigating through them, and can see better in low-light situations.

Ghost - The type itself by others tend to be viewed as esoteric and eccentric. Perceived as being associated with very religious people who value faith immensely. Are frequently associated with death, as areas of high spiritual energy tend to overlap with graveyards, morgues, mausoleums, past war battle locations, and even hospitals and churches.

In actuality, surprisingly, Ghost Type Trainers have the second biggest range of personality and quirks next to Normal Types. Those with very, very small, budding levels of a Ghost Aura are still very susceptible to being influenced by strong spirits. This is where the stereotype comes from, as the influence tends to make them take on a more devoted approach, who value faith in their beliefs immensely, but this is not exclusive to religion, and can be faith in anything.

However, on the opposite end, very experienced Ghost Type Trainers seem to be the most… put together people on the surface, almost akin to the general population. They are more intune with the nature of spirits and life as a whole, which can translate to them being more expressive in their personal life or appearing more… free spirited. Fantina doing contests, Shauntal writing novels, Ryme with her music, all are ways Ghost Specialists express their own spirit in different ways.

Other high level Ghost Trainers, like Phoebe or Acerola sometimes may be able to 'see' passing spirits, which as a result can make them make comments about someone that others cannot see, making them come off as creepy or playing a joke due to their specialty. This is because their Ghost Type Aura is so potent, and their soul more intune with the spiritual, the lines of ghosts and humans become a bit blurred for their normal senses.

Dragon Type - Overwhelming to everyone else not aligned to such an Aura, their emotions feel like they can choke the room depending on the situation. Others may also feel more inclined to follow their decisions or orders. Prideful, family oriented, known temper issues. No clear preference to where they prefer to be, physically at least. Tend to take leadership roles or positions 'above' people. The rarest Aura affinity.

Dark - Very emotional people, for better and for worse. Known to be rather manipulative of others, so people with high Dark Affinity are often seen as not nice people. (Lots of politicians have some Dark bias.) Still, someone in control of their Dark Affinity can also be very cool and suave people, so you can also see Rock stars and Actors have some Dark Affinity to them as well. Psychic Attuned people can't stand being anywhere close to them because of how they wear their heart on their sleeves. Seem comfortable in the same places Ghost Types are, but Ghosts can be averse to them. Some Ghosts and Darks get along quite well though.

Steel - Stalwart and unyielding. If they set their mind on something, you're not going to convince them otherwise. Sometimes they need a sudden burst of force to get them to make a realization on a situation if they are too set in their ways. Can prefer a wide range of locations, from mines and caves, to carefully maintained and expertly built locations made of heavily processed materials. Can shrug off most things easier, and very rarely get sick, but sudden periods of force, or heat can make them buckle.

Fairy - The least understood and most alien of all affinities. Fairy attuned people are known by others to be strange, unpredictable, unsettling, and even scary. Dream and reality are their domain simultaneously. Have strong senses of fairness that can be easily skewed. A very dangerous affinity if overexposed. Don't seem to have a general place of preference, but it is known that Mt. Moon is a particular hotspot for Fairies. Rumors that the original Fairies came from the Moon is... technically unfounded, but people find it very convincing. The one thing everyone knows about them though, is that if you cross a Fairy, you're going to regret it later.

Normal Type - Curiously, the lack of any defined Aura Energy allowed Normal Type specialists to also be the most diverse group… because their Aura has little influence on their personality or body, almost like clay, allowing them to just define themselves without any influence. No real defined personality or traits. Overexposure to other affinities can often be negated, but not cured, by exposure to Normal Energy. The most common Aura Affinity.

Aura and the general population:

General knowledge of Aura for most wouldn't go beyond a biology textbook, akin to 'the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell' level of knowledge, and forgotten. However, certain fields deal with it much more frequently than others.

General Education - Depends on the school, and is gone over briefly during biology more like a footnote in some, an entire day for others, or not at all in the schools that don't care.

Pokémon Ranger - During Ranger School, Aura is gone over in much, much more detail, as to explain why certain Pokémon may not click with other humans as partners, or why certain people may have different traits that can't be explained by just genetics.

Doctors and Nurses - Probably the field that knows about it the most, but due to how fluid it can be, it's only brought up when necessary, and sticking to basic human biology works nine times out of ten. Experimental Aura treatments have been made using Type energy, however they like to try and use that as a last resort, due to how volatile it can be sometimes if something conflicting is introduced.

Trainers - Weirdly, even though Trainers who don't go beyond half of the Gyms in a Region may never interact with Aura, and may not even know about its existence, it's the most commonly known field that interacts with it the most. Trainers who continue into the competitive scene at least know of Aura, and think about it from time to time and come to realize why they may prefer a certain Type, or kind of Pokémon.

Mega Evolutions, Z-Moves, Synergy Burst, all rely on the Trainer's Aura to initiate at varying levels, which is why Trainer's at higher levels can have a very strong Aura, or knowledge about it, and know how to 'use' it. Though, only through these avenues, as most Trainers can't manifest it physically or visibly.

The 'Terastal Phenomenon' seems to be the physical manifestation of Aura and Type Energy, but until the invention of the Tera Orb by Professor Sada and Turo, was limited to the inside of Area Zero, and its intricacies are still widely unknown. This does not depend on the Trainer to initiate, but the Tera Orb requires to be charged after one use if outside Area Zero.

Aura Guardians - Still exist in the modern types, but are extremely rare and thought to have died out. Have the ability to physically manipulate Aura similar to a Lucario. Riley is someone who is training to become an Aura Guardian, but is quiet on reasons why, or how, and only ever shares that with people he trusts.

Beta Editors/Readers:

David "TheBlizWiz" R
Garmfild
TopBat

Thewilliamspot1 · 2024-11-15T10:03:12-0500

Hello! Will here with a quick update

So, C11 and C12 were written originally as one chapter since it lays the groundwork... however, since both are being edited together due to how closely tied to one another they are (and as the word count for C12 alone is larger then any chapter yet), that means that C11 needs more time to cook, and I'm really sorry for this happening on such a cliffhanger. To make up for that, we decided to release internal notes that we have on some worldbuilding for now.

Again, I'm really sorry about needing a bit more time to make sure the next two chapter's releases are all good since they're so tied to one another. In the meantime though... I wonder if anyone is able to pick up what Aura affinity certain other character's have...

I apologize again for all the trouble, but I do hope everyone has a great day and takes care!

A Ranger's Mission: A Lost Soul (Pokémon, OC/SI)

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