(AN: Small note that I wanted to add here. Wattpad hasn't been sending out notifications for the past two chapter drops that I've done for my other stories, and I have no clue why. It may be because I'm scheduling them to be published instead of just outright publishing them, but other than that I'm really not sure. Either way, let me know if you all got this in your inbox. If not, I'd recommend following me because I'll start doing announcements again. Also, I've made a discord where chapters will get announced before they get released too, here's the link for anyone interested: https://discord.gg/KE3XJTtG)
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"Freeze! I'm being serious, you evil poachers! I won't let you hurt any more Pokémon around here! Under the authority of the Ranger's Union, I'm putting you both under arrest! You have one chance to comply, or I'll take you both out!" A young woman shouted at them, her teal hair and bright red-orange jacket completely standing out from the tree line. Her face was fierce, glaring at them, with one arm outstretched before her. And, in her hand was a strange red device with an antenna sticking out the top. It looked futuristic, like his Pokédex, or his Pokétch...
An angry squeak ran up her shoulder and from behind her back a small cream-coloured mouse appeared, with red ears and markings on its face. It attempted to look intimidating but its size and shape didn't really translate to scary or strong. A few sparks danced around the Pokémon, showing that it was ready for a fight. "Plus!" It cried, quietly.
[Y/N] snorted, barely able to hide his laughter, and he covered his mouth, carefully putting down the weakened Shinx and bowl of stew. An irritated red tick formed above the Ranger's head, not too happy about being made out to be some joke. "How dare you, criminal scum!" And, she reached for the three-insignia strapped to her shoulder, speaking into it. "Jack, I've come across two hunters, they've currently got six stolen Pokémon.--" However, as she tried to speak, the trainer sitting opposite her shouted back. "Hey! I'm no damn criminal! This is my team, creep!"
Sycamore leaned forward, speaking with a hushed voice. "Mon ami, do you not know what the outfit that young woman is wearing means?" [Y/N] angrily shook his head. "No clue, and I don't care, nobody calls me a criminal and gets away with it!" He stood up, but this caught the young woman's attention, and her brow furrowed. "I told you to stay put! Plusle, Quick Attack, then Nuzzle!" The small electric-type leapt from off her shoulder and dashed towards the supposed poachers...
[Y/N] groaned and shook his head. "Now, really? You're really gonna make me get up from dinner? Now that's actually evil!" He wasn't really in the mood for another battle today, not after training. He had been working on himself too! And he was just as exhausted as his team. He was very tempted to just sick his entire team on this stranger, but a small part of him told him no, and it made sense in terms of battle experience too. If his entire team was constantly jumping every opponent they came across then they wouldn't know how to fight in a solo battle, or at least, they wouldn't be as competent as they could be. Why had he been cursed with morals and a conscience dammit! "Fine, Turtwig, you're up, show time." He called out, and his grass-type raced over without hesitation, skidding to a halt before his trainer. "Turtwig turt!"
"Show this crazy woman and her stupid rat how hard you been training!" He encouraged Turtwig, who's eyes grew sharp and determined. This was what the last week of training had all culminated with, and now he had an opportunity to unveil his new strength. Sycamore sighed and shook his head, giving up on convincing his travelling partner. Once he was stuck on something there was no way of convincing him otherwise, it was a pointless endeavour.
The best thing for him to do was simply watch along from the side, and enjoy the show...
The small Plusle raced forward, eyes honed in on the small turtle, who glared back, standing stalwart. "Turtwig, Razor Leaf!" [Y/N] ordered and the grass-type hunkered down. A sudden barrage of razor sharp leaves fired out from the small stem that sat atop his head. The vicious green storm struck the small rat, but somehow it had managed to avoid the blow, jumping away at the last moment. It continued racing towards them, generating more and more electricity.
The Ranger standing on the opposite end of the clearing looked back, confused with why the Turtwig was ready and willing to aid the poacher, had he not been stolen? And the same went for the Piplup, Chimchar and Starly, none of them seemed to show any desire to run away while the hunter's back was turned. It didn't matter either way, there were tens of reasons to explain the strange behaviour, threats and cajoling, manipulation, some cruel technology, and so forth...
Thinking through the list of things that could've been done to those Pokémon lit a fire within her, and she wouldn't stop until they were returned to their rightful owners!
Plusle thundered across the distance, crashing its small body into Turtwig, who didn't seem to be all that badly hurt by the attack, standing still like a sturdy tank. [Y/N] smirked and let out a few haughty chuckles. "You're little rat can't put a dent in my wall!" And he folded his arms, confidence overflowing out, as if he had fought and won countless battles. Yet, in reality, this was the first real battle he had fought since he and Cynthia duelled upon the outset of their journey. He wasn't going to bring up that point though...
"D-Don't call my partner a rat, scum!" The Ranger's face was quickly growing a bright red, and steam was practically erupting out her ears. However, she would prove her Pokémon's superiority on the battlefield. Plusle jumped back, making some distance with Turtwig, the grass-type seemed to slow down, and small static sparks fired off his small body.
It was now her turn to grow cocky, and she clicked her tongue. "Your Pokémon's paralysed! I suggest you surrender now!" However, if anything, being told to surrender only made [Y/N] even more determined to win. He shook his head, his expression concealed beneath his hat. "That's it, you've done it now! I'm pissed! Turtwig, use Absorb!" The grass-type, even while being paralyzed, managed to break through the temporary stasis for a moment, his body coated with an emerald glow...
Plusle tried to evade the move but there was little it could do to protect from the intangible green energy that was sucked from its body, absorbed into the grass-type. "Plusle? You still good?" The Ranger cried, her partner nodded with a small squeak, it wasn't finished just yet even though it did look noticeably weaker.
"Hey, have you got any Cheri Berries? I need one." [Y/N] snapped his fingers impatiently. Sycamore grumbled. "I am not your personal manservant!" He shouted back, searching through his berry pouch. It didn't take him long to find the berry he was looking for, Cheri Berries had a distinct bright red colouring to them that glistened a ripe colour when exposed to light. "Here." He called out, tossing it over. "Appreciate it. Turtwig, this'll make you feel better!" [Y/N] shouted, throwing the small berry before the grass-type's feet.
Fighting through the paralysis, Turtwig's resilience gave him enough energy to chomp down upon the fruit, and as the juice hit his tongue, he could already feel a small bit better, and the electric hold over his body weakened. It went down smoothly. And, in only a few moments, the grass-type had returned to his usual self. "Turt!" It shouted at its opponent.
"What were you sayin' about my Pokémon bein' paralysed, missy?!" [Y/N] angrily shouted back. The battle wasn't really developing to her favour, as she would've hoped. Her expertise wasn't on battling in the first place, that wasn't a Ranger's main job. It was working alongside their partners to apprehend criminals...
If Plusle couldn't make a dent in the hunter's Turtwig, that just meant she needed to take a more proactive approach herself! In an unexpected move the Ranger bolted from where she stood opposite the small campsite, her eyes dead-set on taking down the enemy herself.
[Y/N] wasn't really sure what she was trying at first, and he squinted back. "Hey, that's not how battles work, dumbass! You stay on your side--" He shouted, only for a solid punch to hit him squarely in the stomach, forcing him to hunch over. His eyes went wide, totally unprepared for the surprise attack, but she wasn't done there. Her body dropped to the floor, and in one fluid motion she threw her legs around and swept his own out from under him, throwing him to the floor.
He blinked, not entirely able to keep up with everything that was going on, despite the fact that she was quite a bit shorter than he was, she didn't seem to show any struggle in downing him. Turtwig called out to his trainer but was suddenly dived upon by Plusle once his back was turned, and the two struggled on the floor for a few moments. "H-Hey, what the hell's wrong with you! T-This is assault! I-I'm friends with the Champion y'know, I'll get you put away for the rest of your stupid, miserable life!" [Y/N] threatened, desperately trying to come up with some excuse to weasel his way out of this situation, however, he wasn't out of back-up plans just yet...
The Ranger threw herself at him, straddling his side, and she held his free arm down against the floor. "I'd advise you keep quiet, anything you say can and will be used against you, shithead!" [Y/N] thrashed about on the floor unwilling to surrender just yet, but she pressed her weight down upon him, holding him in a lock. It wasn't like he was some trained martial artist or whatever, he didn't understand how to break out of such a predicament. Piplup quickly moved to cover Chimchar's eyes as the Ranger sat atop their trainer, like an older sibling would if an inappropriate movie scene where to start playing. He scrambled to see what was going on but she wouldn't budge.
[Y/N] growled and dug a palm-full of dirt from the ground, balling it into his hand. "F-Fine, you don't want to play fair, we won't play fair then!" He used all of his remaining energy and bucked her off of him, tossing the clump of earth into her face. "Chew on that, bitch!" The Ranger stumbled back, rubbing her eyes, which stung badly. Sycamore just sat watching, stirring his pot and shaking his head. "Enfants." He mumbled to himself. The rest of their Pokémon seemed content to watch along too, until they were given a command that was. "[Y/N], you know it isn't very gentlemanly of you to be hitting a lady!"
Now, had [Y/N] been any other person, he probably would've attempted to diffuse the situation at this point, granted they had broken apart and were no longer scuffling on the floor. It was clear that this young woman was a much better fighter than he was, but more importantly, neither actually knew the whole picture here. Perhaps this was the brief pause he needed to properly explain that he truly was no evil criminal like she suspected he was?
[Y/N] was not that person. "Screw that, I don't discriminate, everyone's catchin' an ass whupin'!" He leapt at her while she was still blinded, and the pair once again fell to the ground, scrambling back and forth, covered in grass stains and dirt, but neither seemed to care, solely focused on beating the other person. "Chimchar, change of plans, we're doin' spit roast tonight, get that fire burnin'!" He called out to his fire-type. However, as he split his attention away for only a moment the Ranger got the upper-hand once more, throwing him to the ground, holding him down once more. "You're going to regret that, bastard!" Her hair and clothes were a mess, [Y/N] wasn't all that much better...
"Alright, alright, enough of this, enough!" Sycamore stood up with a shout, trying to finally put an end to the madness. "Oh, come on! I was just winnin' too, traitor!" He called back, only to receive a mean punch to his shoulder, and a mean stare. "Now is that really necessary, mademoiselle!" She didn't take too kindly to being called just some young woman. "I'm a Ranger! Got that? I have the authority to detain people who I suspect to be harbouring stolen Pokémon!" There remained a fire behind her eyes, not yet ready to concede.
"Well, does it look like we are harbouring any stolen Pokémon?" He asked, gesturing towards Piplup, Chimchar, Starly and Skiddo, who were all simply sitting and watching, without a care in the world. They certainly didn't appear to be under any sort of threat, or concerned for their own safety. Turtwig and Plusle glared at one another, but they broke apart too, returning to their trainer and partner. "I wouldn't care if you were the big man upstairs himself! You bein' a Ranger means fuck all to me!" It was clear that his temper was bubbling over, and he picked up Turtwig in an attempt to calm himself down, petting his cute starter. "Turt..." He cooed, enjoying the attention. "[Y/N], come now, is there any need for that sort of language?" Sycamore asked, trying to find some compromise between them.
"You better fuckin' believe it, she tried to kill me, and you just sat there and watched it happen!" Sycamore shook his head, giving up on his travelling companion. He could be ever so stubborn sometimes. "Where are my manners, how about we exchange names first, non?" The Ranger folded her arms and huffed through a pout. He smiled. "I'm Sycamore, from the Kalos Region, I'm here on an independent research assignment, studying evolution. That's my partner, Skiddo." It was a first step towards a more diplomatic solution. The small goat called out its own name calmly.
"And this imbécile who you've already seem to have gotten quite close to..." Sycamore gestured to his trainer companion, who glared back at her. "His name is [Y/N]. He's a trainer, headed for Oreburgh City to challenge the Gym. He's a little rough around the edges but a nice person once you get to know him!" He chuckled, his mellow voice alone diffusing the tension. The young woman felt conflicted. Perhaps she had been somewhat hasty in her sudden accusation, but with Hunters and poachers all across the region who could blame her? Her temper could get the better of her at times, that was true, but that shouldn't have ever interfered with the duties as a Ranger. "My name's Solana, Ranger rank three. I'm stationed at the Ranger Union in Fiore, but we've been brought in to help with the Hunters in Sinnoh." Plusle raced over, quickly scaling up her back and sitting atop her shoulder, keeping a watchful eye out for any trouble.
Night had firmly set in all around them, and darkness crept in between the trees, held back by only their lone campfire. A subtle gust of wind passed through, sending a chill down the spine...
"We aren't too fond of criminals ourselves." Sycamore smiled sadly. "Not that long ago they took a friend of ours. You will find no love for any sort of Hunter here, Solana." It became increasingly obvious that both of them weren't criminals, especially with the way he spoke. "I-I'm sorry for my rash actions, I'm new to this stuff, this is my first official mission." Her cheeks flushed and she looked away, slightly bowing her head respectfully. [Y/N] shook his head and returned to his seat, he wasn't so quick to forgive, all he wanted to do now was finish his meal before it got too cold. "Stupid, good for nothin'..." He mumbled quietly.
It was then that a low growl echoed through the woods, and it caught both [Y/N] and Sycamore's attention. It was a menacing sound that filled them with fear and apprehension. They whipped their heads around to find the source of the awful noise. "What the hell was that?! That didn't sound like any Pokémon I've ever heard." It quickly became apparent where the noise was coming from, as Solana stood before them, her stomach growling angrily. There was a brief pause between the three of them, before the two men began quietly laughing amongst themselves. Solana's face grew enraged once more. "D-Don't make fun of me! I-I haven't eaten anything yet! L-Leave me alone!"
[Y/N] snorted. "Well, well, well, too bad you don't got a steaming pot of some of the best grub you've ever eaten, huh?" He mocked, reaching down for his own bowl, only to find it wasn't there anymore. Sycamore clicked his tongue. "No, now that just won't do. I don't think we can simply let her leave hungry. Solana, come, we've got enough for one more, come get something to eat." Solana waved her hands out, somewhat embarrassed. "N-No, that's alright, I don't want to take advantage of you, not after what happened already." Her stomach didn't seem to agree and roared even louder than before...
"Come on, would you really turn up a delicacy from my childhood? You will insult my pride as a Kalosian!" He gave her another warm smile. It went against her professionalism as a Ranger but her stomach didn't seem like it could go on for very much longer without sustenance. The small Plusle atop her shoulder didn't look all that much better, a river of drool flooding from its mouth. She groaned and shook her head. "F-Fine, alright, but just one bowl!"
Solana walked over and parked herself in between the two, but kept a larger distance between [Y/N]. It made sense considering they were brawling only a few minutes earlier. Sycamore pulled out another bowl and drowned it with his stew, and he passed it over towards the Ranger. She picked at her meal at first, but once the taste hit her tongue her tempo increased drastically, wolfing down the food in seconds. In her urgency she almost forgot to breathe, temporarily losing her breath. Upon throwing a glance about the campfire she was met with two stares, the researcher humoured, the trainer more just disgusted...
"Savour the taste, mademoiselle, there is more to food then simple sustenance, enjoy the flavour." Sycamore had a fancy way to his speech that made everything he said sound all the more dramatic and uniquely intricate. Solana held up the bowl for her partner to drink from, sharing the food between the two of them, but she was quickly stopped. "Don't worry, we have some Pokémon food here, made it myself, that will be more adequate for your Plusle." And he reached into his rucksack and procured a small can, handing it over. "T-Thanks--"
Yet, before she could even thank him, a mighty roar escaped from [Y/N], who collapsed to the floor on both knees, pounding the grass, his face buried low making it hard to figure out what had happened. "GOD DAMN IT!" He shouted, driving his fist into the dirt, over and over again. Sycamore leaned forward with concern. "[Y/N], what could be the problem?" Had his food done something to the poor boy? His Pokémon seemed worried too, racing from their positions to check on their trainer, and they each called out their names in quick succession. Solana wasn't entirely sure what to make of it, but could her attack have left some permanent damage internally maybe? "IT'S NOT FAIR! IT SHOULD'VE BEEN ME! NOT HIM!"
Sycamore and Solana shared a confused glance. "[Y/N], what has gotten you so worked up?" A violent stream of tears ran down the trainer's face, and they refused to let up. He wiped his nose and crunched his fingers together, grinding his teeth. It was the same look he had taken when facing Tyson in Jubilife. If he was so serious then whatever the problem was had to be urgent!
"That shitty Pokémon stole my stew! It was the greatest thing I've eaten since waking up in this place!" [Y/N] shouted back, standing up. He stared towards the treeline where the small Shinx that had once stealthily crept up on their camp stood with a mocking smile and a wagging tail, holding his bowl in between its teeth. "Shinx!" It called back, taking off into the forest.
[Y/N] could deal with a great many things, but having the best meal he'd eaten up until that point being stolen away was something he couldn't simply let go! "Team..." He mumbled, getting his Pokémon's attention. Never had he shown so much anger as he did in this moment. They each tilted their heads and awaited his next command. "We weren't hunters when we entered this forest, but it looks we've gotta' do a bit of hunting in the end!" Sycamore and Solana struck a deadpan expression. "[Y-[Y/N], we have more food, let that Shinx have it, didn't it look malnourished anyway? I say it went to a good cause--"
"Sycamore! You don't understand! It's not about the stew, it's bigger than that!" [Y/N] shook his head. "Bigger than a stupid stew?" Solana asked, raising one brow. "Quiet you!" He grumbled. "Neither of you'd get it. You just don't mess with a man's food! And if I need to go chase down some Pokemon to get that point across then I'm doin' it!" And, before either of them could stop the headstrong trainer, he dashed into the forest, flanked on either side by his squad of four.
"[Y/N]?! [Y/N]!" Sycamore shouted after him, but it was no use, he wasn't coming back. "Stupid boy..." He mumbled. "Does he do this often?" Solana asked. He shrugged. "It's not the first stupid thing he's done, but he usually gets out of problems." And yet, with the all-consuming darkness of night all around them, this was a different sort of problem. It would've been very easy for veteran travellers to get lost in the wide stretch of forest, never mind someone who had never stepped foot within its bounds before. He had Chimchar to light his way, but would that be enough?
Sycamore sighed. [Y/N] was a grown boy, he could look out for himself. Why would he need to worry? "I'm sure he'll be fine--" He had in fact spoken far too soon. Sycamore and Solana were startled when an enormous explosion rocked the mass of trees, and an enormous blinding light erupted from somewhere deep within the woods. Yet, the oddities didn't end there, as a strange lethargy suddenly overcame them both, making them slow and sluggish...
"[Y-[Y/N] what have you done?"