Chapter Three - Bunfrontation (It's Like a Confrontation, but Fuzzier)

"Hey!" Broccoli shouted.

Buneary, currently cradled in the insane human's arms, shivered. Not so much at the noise, but at the implication of that noise. Broccoli had swept him up in her arms and started towards the nearest source of light. That light came from those little moving human homes in the middle of the ruins.

The problem wasn't just that shouting would attract humans, it was that she was specifically shouting at two people in red coats.

Both of them turned their way, one raising a light over their head to light the area some more. "Hello?" he called back.

"Is that a trainer?" the other red-coat said.

Broccoli hopped over, coming closer to the two humans and stopping once she was within the circle of light around them. She smiled, big and disarming. "Hi!" she said. "Sorry, to bother you, but we could use a bit of help."

The two red-coated people looked at each other, then the older shrugged. "How can we help, miss? Are you looking for directions? It's a little late to be out, honestly."

"Directions would be nice," Broccoli said. "But before that, I have a bit of a problem with you."

"You do?" he asked, a finger pointing back to himself.

Broccoli nodded, then grabbed Buneary from under his arms and thrust him forwards. "Buneary here says that you kidnapped his family," she said. "We'd like them back, please."

One of them gasped, pointing right at Buneary. "That's the one that got away!" he said.

"So you were chasing after him?" Broccoli asked. She still sounded friendly, but there was a bit of an edge there. "Why would you do that?"

"Because it's our job?" the smaller of the two said.

"It's your job to kidnap poor innocent bunnies?" Broccoli asked. Now the friendliness was almost entirely gone, replaced by plain reproach. Buneary heard the same tone his mom used when he'd accidentally eaten one of his siblings' entire stash of berries and was made to feel guilty about it for a week.

The larger of the two chuckled. "Ma'am, do you know who we are?"

"Kidnappers?" Broccoli tried.

He blinked, then shook his head. "My name is Charles, this is Olivier. We're Pokemon Rangers for the Johto region." He tugged on his coat. "You don't recognize the uniform?"

"Ah, sorry, I don't. I'm kind of... very lost," Broccoli said. "What's a Pokemon Ranger?"

"Really?" the smaller Olivier said. "Pokemon Rangers go around ensuring that the environment is safe and clean. We're the first line of defence in case of natural disasters, and we hunt down poachers and help rehabilitate and release pokemon."

"Oh," Broccoli said. "I think I'm getting it. So, why did you kidnap Buneary's family, then? That doesn't seem very nice."

The taller of the two, Charles, shook his head. "Buneary aren't a pokemon that are naturally occurring in this region. And they breed very rapidly. The population was starting to reach the point where it might spill over into other areas. We were capturing the locals to relocate them to Sinnoh, where there are natural herds of wild buneary and lopunny. This area's ecology has a few whismur, that fill the same ecological niche. Having buneary here could endanger them."

"Oh," Broccoli said as she pulled Buneary back to her chest. "Well, that took the wind out of my sails. I thought you were bad guys."

Olivier laughed.

"I was ready to beat the stuffing out of you, too."

His laugh cut short.

"If you want, we can take that buneary, he'll be relocated, along with his family," Charles said.

Buneary felt Broccoli's grip on him tighten. "Un, bun," he said. I don't want to go with them.

"He doesn't want that," Broccoli said firmly.

The pokemon rangers looked between each other, then the older of the two shrugged. "That's fine, miss. If you register him as your pokemon, then there shouldn't be any problems. Do you have a pokeball?"

"I don't. Actually, what's a pokeball? And what's a pokemon?" Broccoli asked.

Buneary twisted his head around to look up to Broccoli. How could she not know that? Everyone knew what a pokemon was! Then again... she did come out of an exploding wall...

The pokemon rangers laughed, and Charles reached into a small bag by his hip. He tossed a small red and white ball over to Broccoli who swiped it out of the air... and promptly disappeared within.

Buneary, who had been held in her grip, squeaked in panic as he suddenly found the girl who had been holding him up gone in a swirl of twisting red light.

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The pokeball the ranger had underhanded flopped to the ground behind him. He, and the rangers, stared at it in mute shock.

It shook.

It shook again.

Then the pokeball exploded apart and Broccoli flopped onto the ground. It was only for a moment before she rolled around and came to her feet with surprising speed. "What was that?" she asked.

"Uh," the ranger said.

Olivier leaned to the side. "Is that... even possible?"

"It's not supposed to be," Charles said.

"Can someone please explain," Broccoli said. "Because I'm feeling a teeny bit threatened right now."

"I'm so sorry," Charles said with a quick, demure bow. "I just wanted to give you a pokeball, to hold your buneary in. I... pokeballs aren't supposed to capture humans at all."

Broccoli brushed her skirt free of dirt, not that there was any there to begin with. "You still haven't explained what a pokeball is!" she said.

"Hey, hey," Olivier said. "This is getting to be a bit much, and it's well past late, after a long day. Miss, how about we show you to the nearest pokecenter? Do you have a trainer ID?"

"No?" she said.

"Right, uh, here," Olivier pulled out a small card from a wallet and handed it over. It had some logos on it, and human text that buneary couldn't decipher. "That should let you spend the night. The nearest centre isn't far. I can escort you over."

Broccoli took a small step back and away from the man.

"Or... or I can send one of my pokemon with you? Or just give you directions once we're out of these old ruins. The road should be pretty safe as long as you stay out of the tall grass. This area doesn't have any strong pokemon, not so close to Violet City. That's maybe an hour's walk from here."

Charles nodded. "If you still have questions, there's a fantastic pokeschool in Violet, for young trainers. I'm sure they can help. Again, I'm sorry about that. If you don't want to brave the trip, we could set up a tent for you right out here?"

Broccoli seemed a little nervous still, and buneary couldn't blame her. He was a little scared too. "No, I think... you called it Violet City? I think I'll walk over to there, if that's okay." she took the card from the pokemon ranger, then tucked it away. "Thank you. Um. Be safe?"

Olivier escorted Broccoli and Buneary to the edge of the ruins, where a human road leading away was. He then reached onto the belt of tools around his hips and pulled out a small metal stick. "Here, a flashlight. Should be good for a while. Crank it if it starts to dim. It's pokemon ranger gear, so you know it's the good stuff. And, uh, good luck?"

Broccoli smiled and nodded, then took off into the night at a fast walk.

Buneary caught one final snippet of conversation from the two pokemon rangers as they walked away. "Hey... those ears on her head," Olivier said.

"Probably just a toy. You know how kids are," Charles dismissed.

Buneary hung onto the arm holding him pressed into Broccoli's front. "Bun, bun?" he asked. Are you okay?

"I'm okay," Broccoli said. "There was a button in the... pokeball? Yeah, I just had to tap it to break free. It was weird in there, though. I'm not sure I liked it. Um... this place doesn't feel like Dirt. I think I might be some ways away from my friends too, Buneary."

"Buuun," he whined. It's okay.

"Of course it is," Broccoli said with a laugh. "We're just going to have to make new friends, won't we? And then with their help, I'm sure I'll be able to make it back home in time!" She frowned, raising the flashlight and looking hard at it.

"Bun?" Is something wrong?

"Hmm? No, it's just... this flashlight looks very modern. So did those ranger's clothes. It's a bit weird. But I don't think it's anything we need to worry about!"

"Bun," he agreed, mostly because he didn't really care all that much... and it was warm. Broccoli's arms were still wrapped around his tummy and his back was pressed into her armoured chest. It was surprisingly comfy.

Soon, Buneary was fighting to keep his eyes and ears open. What if some pokemon came out of the bushes and attacked? But Broccoli was walking, and that meant that he was slowly being bounced up and down and up and down.

Eventually, without really realising it, Buneary gave up on the fight to stay awake. His eyes closed, and he slipped into a deep sleep.

***