Arthur knew he needed to get out of the forest as quickly as he could, yet the dark of night prevented any safe travel. With his Pokemon injured, and his only option for defense a Seviper that would instantly turn on him and attack, Arthur knew he had to move anyway. There was no telling if more of the snakes were around. Using the flashlight from his C-gear to see, the young trainer began to move in the direction he thought he was meant to go.
He started off by taking small steps, every moment ready to run in a random direction to avoid being attacked. As time passed, the young trainer's step quickened. He wasn't sure when it happened, but he ended up off-route. It was bound to happen, traveling at night. The trees blend in with each other and seem like they completely surrounded you instead of the natural border they normally formed.
As he moved, the sounds of Pokemon returned. Hoothoot sat high in the trees and watched him pass, Kricketot and Kricketune sang their nightly songs, filling the darkness with strange sounds coming from every direction. Some kind of Pokemon flew over the moon, leaving the young trainer in darkness for a moment. As the fear grew and grew, his steps became quicker and quicker. Soon he was running through the forest, branches snapping at his face and roots tripping his feet.
A rustle from a bush caused Arthur to change directions, the fear and adrenaline running through his system leaving him witless and senseless. Deeper and deeper into the forest he went, well and truly off route and getting further and further away from the safety of the well-traveled path. Running out into a clearing, Arthur found a pair of bug Pokemon locked in a fierce battle. A Pinsir and a Heracross with their horns locked together in a battle of pure strength and willpower.
For a moment, Arthur was locked into place as he watch the spectacle unfold before him. The Heracross was trying its best to get its single massive horn under the Pinsir, likely to flip it on its back, leaving it defenseless. Meanwhile, the Pinsir had the horn trapped between its two smaller, but no less intimidating, horns. It was trying to break the single horn, leaving the Heracross defenseless. It was a stalemate that would only be broken with one of the pair being defeated. Such was the brutality of the wilds.
The young trainer slowly moved away, each footfall carefully placed to not disturb the bugs. He didn't need them both turning on him as well. But despite the tenseness of the moment, somehow the sight of the battle had calmed him down. Perhaps it was the fact he was forced to stop and think for a moment, or that the bugs clearly felt safe enough to battle for territory. Either way, it gave the young man a moment to realize how foolish and dangerous his actions really were.
Slowly and much more quietly than before, Arthur began moving through the forest once more. This time he had picked a direction in relation to the moon. It was most of the way through the sky by now, and it would be getting brighter in a few hours as the sun rose. So he headed south, knowing that was the direction of civilization. He only hoped that he hadn't run too far off the path.
A few hours later and the sun began to peek out from behind the horizon, yet the canopy kept everything still in near darkness, other than the occasional small clearing letting light filter down. While traveling, Arthur did come across a bit of good luck. running into a patch of Oran Berry trees. The berries grew year-round and took roughly two weeks to grow to full maturity. It was how so many Pokemon lived in such small areas, the nutrient-dense berries fed all Pokemon equally. Arthur made sure to feed his Pokemon their fill, restoring some of their strength. While they wouldn't be able to fight off another Serviper boss, they could at least stay alert enough to warn of any danger. The two Pokemon took turns walking with Arthur, swapping when they grew tired.
As the sun slowly rose, the sounds of Pokemon began to rise as well. At first, it was just the bugs. The buzzing of Ninjask, the cries of Wurmple, and the low hum of Combee floating around the occasional patch of flowers. The darkness of night was truly gone and with it the fear of what lay in every shadow.
Soon, Arthur walked into another clearing. This one was different from the rest. It had a fence. It wasn't particularly large, just a tall white picket wooden fence. Enough to keep out the majority of Pokemon, but not so large that a determined Pokemon would get hurt trying to climb over. On the other side of the fence was a pair of buildings. One was made of glass, and a large garden could be seen inside. The other was a massive farmhouse. Two stories at the main entrance, with large single-story wings going off to either side. There was a satellite dish on one wing, and a weathervane on the other.
Following the fence, Arthur soon came across a gate and let himself through. It was rather rude to just walk into someone's property like this, but he considered it a bit of an emergency. A few small Pokemon roamed around the yard, but they scattered the moment they saw Arthur. Walking up to the front door, Arthur knocked twice and waited. A few moments later, the door opened and a large man with pure white hair appeared.
"What are you doing here?" The man asked, confusion clear both on his face and in his voice.
"Umm, I got attacked by a really strong Pokemon in the middle of the night. I kinda got lost and stumbled upon your property." Arthur answered. He was slightly intimidated by this man, as he towered over the young trainer. A single massive, callused hand came up. Arthur would never admit it, but he flinched at the movement. The man merely scratched at his snow-white stubble.
"Well, I suppose you couldn't have come to a better place. Welcome to Ranger Base Epsilon. Come on inside, we can get both you and your Pokemon checked out. You look horrid." The man said, stepping to the side and letting Arthur inside. "You can call me Snow. No, it's not my real name, but it's all anyone calls me these days." Snow said, a slight guttural growl of irritation in his voice at the last part.
"HEY, ANNABETH, WE GOT A LOST SOUL!" Snow roared out with seemingly little effort. The sound of bare feet could be heard pattering on the wooden floor as a woman rounded the corner. She was dressed similarly to Snow, both wearing a black shirt with matching black pants, yet where Snow wore a red jacket and red cap, the woman went without. She also had a dark shade of long green hair and a small pair of glasses resting on her nose.
"Shoes off!" She ordered the moment she saw Arthur. The young trainer could only blink in confusion and begin to ask what she meant. She interrupted him the moment he started to speak. "I said, shoes off. I already have to mop this floor once a week, I am not doing it daily. You are tracking dirt. Take them off, or else I'll have you mopping this entire building."
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"You are the one that chose general maintenance. You could have just picked dishes and washing, or cooking and field prep." Snow said, visibly rolling his eyes at the girl.
"Please, I'm not touching Jack's smelly socks, and you know I can't cook to save my life." The girl shot back with the practiced ease of having this same conversation multiple times. "So, kid. It's not every day that we have a trainer wander into our base, or at least not one so young and clearly inexperienced. What's your tale?"
And so, Arthur ended up explaining in as much detail as he could on how he met his Zangoose, fought off the Servipers attacking her, and then when going back through the forest getting attacked by their boss. Partway through the tale, Snow left and came back with a cold cola. The sugar managed to bring some life back into the trainer.
"Well, that's intense for a beginner. Got to say, you did well all things considered. I'd recruit you if I thought you would accept." Snow said, sipping on his own drink. Arthur noticed that he didn't get Annabeth one.
"So, what exactly are you guys?" Arthur asked, holding the drink in both hands. "I get you guys are Rangers, you already said as much, but what are you doing out here in the Petalburg Woods?"
"Monitoring the adaption of foreign Pokemon into the local ecosystem mostly. Occasionally saving lost trainers like yourself. To be honest, we are more of a training site for new Rangers to find their feet. Plenty of bugs to practice capturing, with the occasional stronger Pokemon about to really cut your teeth on. The rescue missions tend to be fairly safe too. We do our best not to throw kids in the deep end, unlike traditional trainers." Snow explained with practiced ease.
"Annabeth here is one such Cadet, as is Jack. We work on a rotating shift, so he is currently asleep. I myself was about to finish my shift when you knocked on the door. You have good timing kid. Another few days and this place would have been packed with freshies. Let's get you a room and get those Pokemon taken care of. Annabeth, see to his Pokemon."
Annabeth did as she was told, taking all three Pokeballs. Arthur made sure she knew that the Serviper wasn't to be released, as it would most likely attack her. She gave him a cheeky smile in return and told him not to worry. Dealing with dangerous Pokemon was literally her job.
Snow meanwhile lead Arthur through the building, past a few rooms converted into studies and to the bedrooms. "So, tell me, kid. What are you going to do with that Serviper. While no Alpha Pokemon, it is clearly is way too strong for you to handle. Not to mention you have its species' natural enemy on your team. Even Ace Trainers would have a hard time getting those two species to work together."
"I don't know. I wasn't really thinking when I caught it. It was just my only choice of action." Snow nodded sagely at Arthur's words. He seemed to think for a moment before speaking.
"I can take it off your hands. We are authorized to put out missions to local trainers. It can be hard finding a specific angry Pokemon when you lack manpower, so paying the local trainers to help us is a common way to fix that issue. The trainers catch it and hand it over to us. We give them the rewards and a matching Pokeball to the one they caught it in. I could 'put up' a mission for a local violent Serviper, then you 'hand in' the Pokemon and collect the reward."
"Isn't that abusing your powers a bit?" Arthur asked, a bit worried at getting caught in what sounded like a half-baked get-rich-quick scheme. Snow meanwhile just laughed and shook his head in the negative.
"Nah, this is a fairly common thing actually. Not your exact circumstances, but a trainer catching a strong Pokemon and has been rampaging about and not being able to get it under control is more common than you would think. We can then relocate it to an area better suited for it, or use it as a training aid if the Pokemon is cooperative." Snow explained. "The reward won't be a lot, since there will be no actual records of the Pokemon rampaging about and causing harm, but it's better than nothing. Plus Greatballs are three times as expensive as normal Pokeballs. I'd take the deal just for that."
Arthur nodded, accepting the deal. Snow told him that he would get his Pokemon, money and new Pokeball all back tomorrow once he had finished the paperwork. "Just take the rest of the day to relax, I'll send some food your way in an hour or so. You look like you are about to keel over any second." Snow said as they reached one of the bedrooms.
"Yes Sir, I'm looking forwards to sleeping in a bed after last night. With nice thick walls between me and the forest." Arthur replied, honesty thankful for the goodwill of the Rangers, even if it was technically just their job. They didn't need to be so nice and careful with him
The two separated, Snow going back down the hall to his job and Arthur into the bedroom. It was a little on the small side with a single bed, a small desk and chair, and a small drawer with a mirror resting on top. It would only take two and a half large steps to get from one side of the room to the other, but it made sense since the room was only designed as a sleeping area and not a proper bedroom.
Sitting on the bed, Arthur thought it was best he call May before resting. It was still very early in the morning, but surely as a trainer, she would already be up and ready to go. Their schedule was dependent on the rise and fall of the sun after all. The routes didn't have lights to guide the way.
One ring. Two rings. Three rings. Arthur waited patiently. Four. Five Six. He was getting a little worried. Seven. Eight. Nine. Paranoia was beginning to set in, mostly due to the night before. Ten. Elev- "Hello~?" A groggy but feminine voice answered the sounds of the device being dragged along a blanket could be heard.
"May! Are you ok?" Arthur asked, already forgetting while he was calling.
"Yeah~? Why wouldn't I be?" The answer came, the sounds of a blanket being thrown away and the slight groan of forcing yourself up out of bed in the morning came from the C-gear.
"You just took so long to pick up, I was worried," Arthur said, glad he was alone for this conversation and that May seemed to still be out of it.
"Well I'm fine, what's up with the early morning call anyway? My alarm doesn't even go off for another twenty minutes." May said, stifling a yawn.
"Right. Sorry. I just called you to tell you that I won't make it to our battle." Arthur confessed. That seemed to wake May up right away.
"What? Why not? Did something happen, are YOU ok?" May asked, the sounds of her now rushing to get up could now be heard. The sounds of a Pokeball being opened could be heard. And so, for the second time that day, Arthur recalled what had happened the previous night, adding the Rangers into the story this time.
"Wow. That's something alright. It's a good thing you had that Greatball. By the sounds of that monster of a Pokemon, a normal Pokeball would not have been able to hold it." The faint cries of Combusken could be heard. "And Combusken says he is glad you and Nuzleaf are ok too." Arthur could hear the amusement coming from May's voice as she added her Pokemon's comments.
"As far as excuses go, this is a good one," May said. "Well, I'm glad you are safe. I wish I could stick around and wait for you, or even come check up on you myself, but if I don't get this package delivered on time it will seriously affect my reputation as a competent trainer and person, not to mention how massive of a headache it would be for everyone involved. Thank you for letting me know though, I'd have been dying of worry if you hadn't shown up. I've got to head off and feed my Pokemon, but make sure to get plenty of rest, or else I'll come find you after this delivery is done."
Arthur chuckled lightly at her words, feeling his heart skip a beat at her worry over him. "I'll be fine May. I'm going to get some rest right now. Have a great day." With those words, the pair hung up their phones, one going to rest and the other to start their day.