“You did pretty well researching about the Beedrill line,” Nera genuinely meant that compliment towards the young girl.

She handed back the girl's notes and Virah took it with a placid expression like she what she was holding wasn't a self-written notebook with research about the Beedrill line that's equal to Nera's own observations at nine years old.

Well, ten, as the girl said that she'd had her birthday pass her by two weeks back.

“Thank you,” Virah pocketed her notebook and smiled- which Nera knew was faked. The Ranger didn't get why the girl felt to act so reserved around her but she let her be. Virah met Nera's eyes, “do you have your own notes?”

“Hm?” The ranger made a show of waving the girl off, “yeah- yeah, I do,” Nera nodded proudly, “I left it at home though since I didn't I'd need it today,”

She didn't actually leave it anywhere seeing as the notebook is hanging next to her capture stylus on her hip but Nera didn't feel like letting the girl read her admittedly lackluster notes on her own Beedrill brood- which, to be fair, and Nera isn't saying this because she was making up reasons for why her notes are lacking, - aren't that good because she just leaves her Beedrills alone most of the time and just goes to them if she wants to swap out team members.

If Nera wanted to, she could obviously write good notes about her Beedrills. It's not that hard.

“So kid,” back to the young student she was escorting though, Virah is… reserved right now seeing as they just met and since Nera can't exactly take her to a bar somewhere to loosen her up, she decided to just go with small talk to get the girl to lower her guard and answer a few questions, “you look like you took care of your brood pretty well,”

And starting it all with what the kid wants is always a good idea- and this still applies even if the people she was talking to aren't kids.

Virah, as Nera expected, subconsciously relaxed and answered the ranger with a nod but she otherwise kept her silence.

Nera looked around, “you look like you knew what you were doing too,” the ranger added another compliment in preparation for the actual question- “can I ask why you took care of an entire brood?”

“I wanted to breed them,” Virah quickly gave Nera an honest answer, “my starter is from their fourth generation,”

Nera blinked- four generations of Beedrills already passed this girl by?

The Bug Specialist eyed Virah silently, “are you okay? Losing that many bugs…” she made a show of moving her hands around to get the girl to finish her own sentence, Nera personally didn't feel like talking about losing her own Pokemon right now.

She laughed when Virah didn't say anything, “ehehe~ you know?”

“None of them died,” Virah looked at her as if she had gone insane and Nera did the same.

The ranger's shocked expression turned skeptical, “none of them?” Virah shook her head, “how long have you been taking care of your brood?”

“For over a year now,” the girl replied

“Over a year…” Nera jogged her memory for the typical lifespan of a Beedrill and frowned, “at least your first generation should have died already,” she eyed Virah's expression and found that it didn't change, “since I'm assuming that you caught those when they were still Weedles in the wild?”

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Virah hummed, “I didn't think of that,” she said thoughtfully, “I also didn't consider how old my first generation of Weedles was when I first caught them,”

“At least over a year,” Nera answered the standard age of Weedles who wandered on the outside of Ilex Forest, “did you catch them in Route 34?”

“And Route 35,” Virah supplied.

“Then yeah, they should have been over a year old,” Nera nodded in affirmation, “and the Beedrill line only live for two so…”

“You're saying that I made them live longer,” the girl's words got Nera to sputter but nevertheless, the ranger nodded.

“Something like that,” Nera turned her reply vague mostly because she wasn't willing to admit that someone so young can extend a Pokemon's lifespan like that.

Honestly though… it should be possible, especially if she had an affinity for the Weedle's second Typing which when empowered, can take over the Bug Typing of the Pokemon but that's a far cry and those kinds of prodigies are rarer than a living Goldee in the center of a Tentacool swarm.

“Hm.” The girl looked happy and Nera decided to reluctantly pursue the topic.

“Maybe you have some kind of affinity for the Weedle's second typing?” Nera got all the answers she needed when the girl's expression perked up and shifted into realization.

“I do,” Virah admitted.

“Then there you have it,” Nera grunted, lucky her, “if you took care of your Beedrills, they would have been able to live longer than natural, maybe even an extra two years if you're lucky,”

Nera watched the girl turn to the Pokeball on her hip in hope- something that the ranger very much sympathized with.

Nera didn't dare to tell her that her Weedle would most likely die in a few short years since she knew that Virah needed to personally experience that kind of loss to understand just the kind of emotional risk Bug Type trainers need to take if they want to take care of Weedles and Caterpies.

The pain that she'll go through is something that Nera and several Bug Specialists know well.

The two of them silently walked until Nera led the girl to the Beedrill brood that had recently popped up in the depths of Ilex Forest.

It was way too close to a Nidoking's territory for comfort and Nera honestly hoped that they- the rangers, - could talk both groups down before anything bad happens to the school kids currently taking their exams.

But that's for later, for now, the ranger watched as Virah stepped forward and called out to the Beedrills, who responded by popping out of the leaves and staring at her impassively, none of the wild Pokemon charged forward aggressively or even started to pump their wings to produce that very annoying vibration that Beedrills do if they want to warn their enemies.

“Hey guys,” Virah waved awkwardly, an action that Nera felt was way too close to home- she does a lot of that oddly enough, “I know that I said before that I'd visit when I become champion but I think this one works too right?”

A Beedrill of unusual size- even to Nera it looked big, - flew out of the tree and tilted its head at the student, “Beedrill.” The Pokemon's voice was deep and reminded Nera of a few of her squadmates who liked to smoke, “Beedrill.”

“I know, I know,” Virah sighed, seemingly understanding the Pokemon… Nera narrowed her eyes- she could actually understand the Beedrill couldn't she? Not just get vague impressions from the creature's voice and gestures, “- but Nitro evolved!”

Virah clapped, only to stop when the brood stared at her in concern, “he's fine,” she started, “and is actually doing well- uh, it's a trick that I found- I mean one of the gym leaders- remember those guys? I told you about them?” The Beedrills nodded, “yeah, those guys, well Bugsy specializes in Bug Types, and apparently, Weedles and Caterpies can evolve by shooting themselves with String Shot! How cool is that?!”

Nera turned to the brood, wild Beedrill most likely knew of such methods but the ranger knew that they only do mass evolutions for their Weedles when the brood has an abundance of food.

Virah grinned, “well, uh, anyway… I didn't come here to really talk to you guys and uh, well, like you said-” Nera eyed the large Beedrill, “- I only came here to visit but also, I have a friend here, you might have noticed her,”

“Beedrill.” A deep voice echoed out.

“Yeah… well she wants to talk to you and I'll go away during this time so… you know,” Virah shrugged in unconfidence, “see you?”

“Beedrill.” The leader of the swarm nodded at his caretaker and Virah soon left, when it was just him and Nera, the Beedrill faced her, “Beedrill.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Nera said, knowing full well what the Bug Type was conveying when it raised both of its drills and pointed them at her, “I'm not going to hurt her, but there's going to be people who will,” the Pokemon stayed silent, “Team Rocket- a criminal group, has been spotted in Ilex Forest several times and well, she can be a possible target,”

Or even the Beedrill in front of her really, as its size can be quite appealing to capture and sell. The Beedrill raised one drill, gesturing for Nera to continue, she did, “and I want your brood to help us protect her and her schoolmates,”

“Beedrill.”

Nera laughed, “oh no- I'm not going to make you guard them 24/7,” now the ranger knew where Virah got that particular concern from, “we just want your brood to patrol the outskirts and if you find anyone suspicious, you don't need to fight, just call a nearby ranger and they'll take care of it,”

Silence, and then a nod, “Beedrill,”

Nera smiled and returned the Pokemon's gesture, “good~" she turned away from the brood, “well, I'll take your owner back to her friends now, you can spy on her if you want, they're all south from here,”

No answer came and Nera walked back to an anxious Virah and reassured her by patting her back, “your brood is going to be fine,”

She'll make sure of it- since she never expected her plan to use a trained Beedrill swarm for protection to happen only a year after she suggested it but happy accidents and all that.