《Green Ranger Pie》 Chapter 1 Nothing Happens Arceus, the creator and caretaker of all pokemon, made a mistake. Somewhere down the line, throughout multiple different possibilities and never ending branching outcomes something got through. It was understandable that even one so powerful could miss a small, almost insignificant moment. But that one moment was all it took. In an undiscovered region on Pokerra, a small wormhole opened and out scorched a piece of liquid metal, flying many times the speed of sound. The crazed master of antimatter, Giratina, spread her lips wider and wider until black and red teeth split her face open. A mad joker smile, all teeth. Families and travellers came to see the legendary pokemon statue. Old stories described it pulling continents together, creating all the regions of pokemon. The massive ¡®to-scale¡¯ statue of Regigigas cracked, drawing surprised shouts from young and old tourists alike. Mewtwo, even through his slow and foggy mind, felt reality shudder. All he could feel was the armor. No touch, no taste, no smell, only his powerful mind could peer out into the world. His life was about orders, and follow orders he would. The controller of the vacuum, Palkia, bolted up from its resting place, surrounded by twisting ribbons of dimensions being borne and destroyed. Its eyes bulged and said the pokemon equivalent of ¡°Oh shit.¡±, then vanished. Dialga watched, powerless to intervene as the time streams collided and fused into a singular. Straining with the last of its controllable power, pulled something that could help Pokerra. According to the scientists'' machines monitoring it, A dinner plate sized red orb stopped absorbing particles for precisely 3.141599 seconds. One of these scientists suddenly craved a good steak and cheese pie. ¡ª---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Terra 2029 3 years post ¡°MACH XXX¡± 2142 hours Last Bastion ¡®Immovable Object¡¯ CCMD Subject: Final Terraforce CMD Audio Recording¡± START OF AUDIO RECORDING-¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ¨C 6 minutes 32 seconds till end of recording ¨C Recon unit 168 ¨C ¡°TerraCMD this is Recon 168 over. CMD this is Recon. All units incoming, terminators on route T-minus 5 minutes. SOS I say again SOS. Relay msg over.¡± Major General of the tenth star Wollad Comgetsom ¨C ¡°Roger Recon, keep us posted. Conrad, get those guns firing NOW, I want the 30¡¯s to know pain. PEOPLE if we don''t stop them here, no one else can or will. This is do or die.¡± All Command Staff ¨C ¡°Yes SIR!¡± Captain of the Steel Cannon 121st Conrad Conner ¨C ¡°Sir, they are coming hot and fast. Somehow they found our fortress. HEATAN shells loaded, Cannons are locked¡­. FIRING NOW. 5 seconds till impact. All twenty Cannons firing.¡± Major General of the tenth star Wollad Comgetsom ¨C ¡°Good, keep ''em firing at all costs. I want every last man and woman to give these bastards hell. Get all platoons to update every minute. This is our Helms deep people, do not let it fall.¡± Recon unit 168 ¨C ¡°TerraCMD this is Recon 168 over. CMD this is Recon, one in the chamber. We have eyeballs. Fuck fuck ¡­..uck, new siege models incoming. ¡­¡­¡­¡­. Assigned new name: Scorpion¡­¡­¡­¡­ Class. Cannon fire effective. Way, way too many. Millions of Raptor Class and Cyanara Class¡­¡­¡­¡­.. Two Whale Class assigning high prio, laser pointer on target. ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­..Oh no, Reap¡­¡­¡­. Class I say again ¡­¡­¡­.eaper Class right on us. It''s been a pleasure CMD. Ram them a new one for usaaaarrrrhrhrhghghghh¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­.¡± ¨C Silence in the command room follows for 5.48 seconds ¨C Lieutenant of the First Wing Roger Doug Vuxten ¨C ¡°Sir, 30¡¯s groups six, nine and twenty are breaching the first line. Fighters on intercept. Defenses will hold, Warfather give us courage. Whale Class producing more as we speak. Target Lock¡­. HEATAN Missles away.¡± Captain of the Steel Cannon 121st Conrad Conner ¨C ¡°Sir, AOEAN shells loaded in Cannons one through five. Firing for effect. Anti-LGHT flares away for the damn reapers, we will smash them.¡± ¨C 3 minutes 6 seconds till end of recording ¨C Lieutenant of the First Wing Roger Doug Vuxten ¨C ¡°SIR, Missiles effective, both Whale Class destroyed. SITUATION CHANGE! Destroyer Class inbound, they must have picked up the death scream through our stealth field. Sir missiles are at full effect, but there are too many.¡± Unknown Command staff ¨C ¡°Sir they are coming through defense point 32 ¡°killjoy¡±. Defenses have failed. They will be right on top of us.¡± Captain of the Steel Cannon 121st Conrad Conner ¨C ¡°Sir, Cannons eight through 19 are down, they have breached the main forcefield. We cannot fire on friendlies. Re-assigning targets out into the swarm. *sharp intake of breath* There are thousands, I can see the red lights from here.¡± Major General of the tenth star Wollad Comgetsom ¨C ¡°I hear you all, give it everything. Give them pain, show them humanity cornered is not yet defeated. Make them bleed metal for every piece of ground they take.¡± ¨C 1 minute 1 second till end of recording ¨C If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Captain of the Steel Cannon 121st Conrad Conner ¨C ¡°Sir, last Cannon just went silent, it has been an honor serving under you. Warfather give us strength for what is to come.¡± Major General of the tenth star Wollad Comgetsom ¨C ¡°To you as well Conrad, to all of you in fact. I could not be more proud to meet the end with all of you. However they will also meet the end. Roger, show them hell. I will record a final message for the troops.¡± Lieutenant of the First Wing Roger Doug Vuxten ¨C ¡°Sir, to honor all who have fallen in the face of this threat. *pressing sound* It was a pleasure everyone, SPEED away.¡± END OF AUDIO RECORDING¨C¡ª--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ¡ª---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Terra 2029 3 year post ¡°MACH XXX¡± 1936 hours Last Bastion ''Immovable Object¡¯ FOB 2A Private of the Iron Hammer 1st Battalion Ron Roach Ron was sitting in camp having a smoke, looking out into the sky as the sun pitched below the horizon. Big green trucks rolled by, flanked and manned by people in uniform. He ignored the high pitched whine of drones as they launched into the sky, controllers hungry for targets. A radio in the tent behind him crackled a steady stream of updates and movements to the war plan. ¡°Update and move on, check those bodies for canisters and clusters.¡± ¡°That nanovirus got the world sideways and fucked.¡± He mused. Ron had lost people to the virus. Mom, bro, Dad, everyone. All taken by what the boys called ¡°MACH XXX¡±. An experiment gone wrong of course. It Started after a nanobot built plane going MACH 30 in atmosphere suddenly lost control and crashed into the Panama canal. Tensions around the world had already been high and this led to the perfect excuse. ¡°Accidental¡± targeted crashes of automated planes drastically increased in number, effectively kicking off World War 3. But that was the entree. No one knew at the time but something funky happens to automated machinery when it goes that fast. Scientists later claimed friction and vibration blah blah disrupted signal blah corrupted code. This was the MACH XXX and that crash site was named 0 point. The start of good ol¡¯ ¡°grey goo¡±. The smoking man was driven out of his musings by one of his brothers. ¡°Oi Roach, get some sleep. Next shift in 10 minutes and I''ll cover the handover¡±. ¡°Cheers mate, next one''s on me.¡± So saying, Ron got up, gave the dap and went to bed. He awoke to gunfire, screaming and the ground shaking to the thud of artillery shells. Scrambling for his gun and pack, opened the tent flap to pure chaos. But what stuck out the most were the red lights. Sinister in all but name, the 30¡¯s would only turn them on when they found people to hunt. Ron loaded the mag and breached a round in while hopping up onto the barricade. Thousands of small liquid metal, raptor-like chassis sprinted from the tree line, jaws open and red eyes flashing. People from all walks of life fired away, trapped with nowhere else to retreat. He saw a young man, barely out of his twenties firing a heavy Anti-Nanite machine gun. An old woman tossing grenades like they were fruit from a fruit basket. Even one of the last surviving canines, mounted a gatling gun harness. All peoples of all races, colours, ethnicities and cultures made one final stand here on the Last Bastion. People were already firing into the red lights, unleashing everything they had. Ron mowed down tens, hundreds, thousands as his weapon hummed away. But they just kept on coming, a never ending tide of red eyes and liquid metal crashing against the walls. He knew they would never stop, couldn¡¯t stop until the last of biological life was eradicated from Earth. Screaming war cries spread out into the night, but sound wouldn''t hold back metal for long. An explosion of corrosive metal erupted to his right and the wall was breached, showering everyone near it in an acidic like substance that ate away anything it touched. Ron¡¯s weapon stopped barking, the substance not hitting him but getting all over his weapon. Slinging it and drawing his AN vibro-knife, he shouted ¡°George, Samantha, we need to hold that breach NOW or everyone dies.¡± Both the young man and the fruit woman nodded while he rushed the breach. Whistling for attention, ¡°Here pup, come help out your buddies.¡± As the dog joined him, the minigun, already steaming from heat. He slammed the knife into the head of one raptor as it raced through the breach, dropping as the knife fried and disabled its functions. The minigun tore through others and grenades went off stemming the tide to a trickle. But thousands more were coming, he knew it, the others knew it and they were fucked. Bigger ones started stomping out of the treeline, shaped similar to scorpions but the size of a bus and all metal. They fired projectiles of angry nanites that slammed through people and defences alike. Ron saw one impact George and melted as the nanites ate him and the gun alive. Just before all hope was lost, the huge camp speakers blasted out a message. ¡°To all those that still fight, thank you for your service. MACH 30 has now overrun the last bastion ¡®Immovable Object¡¯ and central command with it. For your own sake save one in the chamber. This is TerraCMD releasing all SPEED nukes. Victory or Death, Either is fine. Over and Out.¡± Ron grinned through his teeth facing down the scorpion. ¡°At least the ¡®terminators¡¯ are coming with us.¡± He said, stroking the dog behind the ears. The man watched, equipped with his dead service rifle, a knife and his pack as the world went white, grinning all the while. ¡°Come get some, scum.¡± Ron felt a weight settle around his soul, then he was weightless, almost as if every cell in his body was dragged through something. Nausea overtook him as a sucking feeling pulled and pulled. Something eventually broke and with the sound of shattering glass, Ron was dragged into darkness. He tried to look around while free falling but only the darkness and wind said hello. He stopped screaming after the first hour of falling into nothing and actually had time to think. ¡°I wonder if anyone survived SPEED. No, no way, the Earth would now be a molten hellscape, hot enough to boil the atmosphere.¡± The lack of anything actually put his mind somewhat at ease. But the hours passed and he finally gave into fate. ¡°At least I went down fighting for what I believe in, more than I could have asked for.¡± He slipped consciousness as the darkness whistled by. ¡ª---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ron woke to a face full of sand and wet lapping against his boots. The Sun baked down on the area, merciless without nearby shade. He eyed the area, wiping and coughing out water and sand in the process. He was lying down on a black sand beach, sprawled out in full green camo, still with his rifle slung and pack attached to his back. ¡°Where the actual fuck am I?¡± hysteria spiking as more of his brain came online and arrived at similar conclusions. ¡°Where is the lava? Why is there atmosphere? Where is the devastation?¡± A chill crawled up his spine. ¡°Did the nukes fail?¡± SPEED wasn''t just a nuke, he knew. They were cutting edge technology to help humans crawl back from the brink of defeat. An ace in the sleeve. A final gambit. The sublight propulsion extreme edge drive, like the name suggested, was the newest generation rocket engine turned weapon. It was basically a planet cracker and moved much faster than any observed MACH 30 model.¡±How could it have been intercepted? Hundreds had been made in preparation.¡± Ron sighed, questions to be answered later he supposed, now it was time to get moving. Groaning and slowly standing he made his way further down the beach. ¡°I need to find a river as soon as possible, without water I¡¯ll dehydrate before I can even worry about existential questions.¡± After a good two or three hours of walking under the massive fireball, he eventually came upon a large estuary and decided to follow it inland. He walked an extra hour inland to search for a clearing or trees to set up his tent or hammock. Sure enough a spot was found reasonably close to the river with a small clearing snugly fitting his one-man tent. Strangely, he hadn''t seen any wildlife since arriving at this place, only a few odd looking fish in the river. ¡°At least food won''t be a serious issue, I thought I wouldn''t ever fish again when the 30¡¯s devoured the oceans.¡± The sun was dipping low and so Ron settled down for bed, having automatically laid out his mat and sleeping bag with the pack blocking one flap of the entrance. ¡°This subtropical forest must be full of all sorts of creepy crawlies, glad I have the mossie net.¡± Oh how both right and wrong Ron would be. As he lay down and removed the sun-dried uniform, something in a pocket drew his attention. It wasn''t his knife, that was already under the pillow and his phone was already fried from the white flash. No, this was sphere shaped and bulbous comparatively. Digging and removing it, his eyes narrowed from a mix of suspicion and confusion. ¡°A pokeball?¡± he said out loud, almost disbelieving. It was unlike any model he''d ever seen in any game or media. It was pure jett black, perfectly smooth metal with red light pulsing from the seams. Then a thought hit him like a lightning bolt, throwing the ball away in panic and surprise. He knew what that metal was. Ron had been fighting it for years. Same texture, same color and the same light. ¡°The 30¡¯s made it through with me?¡± However, before horror could even spread across Ron''s face, a blinding red flash took up the tent as a pure white basketball was revealed. White Gas lazily streamed off it like opening a freezer during a hot day. ¡°G-g-ggg-gg¡± the ball began. ¡°The floating ball talked?!?¡± He hissed, already forgetting about the previous issue. And two glowing blue eyes opened and locked straight onto him. A wicked, ghastly looking grin spread across its face almost looking playful. After an already long day of staggering loss and exhausting revelations Ron despondently accepted the Gastly for what it was. ¡°What a way to start my journey.¡± he muttered, now addressing the pokemon in question, asked ¡°Are you my starter?¡± END OF CHAPTER ONE Chapter 2 Babayaga Multi-Region Ranger recruitment ad ¡°Have you wanted to explore even after your journey? Are you willing to help pokemon in the wild? Can you track down poachers and thieves? Got a few Gym badges? If your answer is yes, sign up to the Rangers today and prove us right! For more information, inquire at the nearest recruitment center, ranger post or our brand new website!¡± ¡ª--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ???? ???? ???? ???? ???? Private of the Iron Hammer 1st Battalion Ron Roach ¡°Are you my starter?¡± Ron asked. In reply, the icy white basketball nodded its whole body up and down. ¡°Do you want a name?¡± It again replied with a bobble nod, curiosity flashing in its eyes. The name came to his lips ¡°Gastly, you are the Babayaga, the boogeyman. Where I''m from it is the thing that goes bump in the night.¡± Also, he''s a badass movie character. But Ron didn''t say the last part out loud. Its eyes widened in shock, then a great big cheshire grin spread across its face. ¡°G-G-G-G-b¡± The ghost bubbled in what could only be happy acceptance and nudged him. It then floated to the ground and was consumed in a wave of red light, sucked back up into the dangerous ball. The pokeball had stopped pulsing with red light and sat on the ground shutting with a click. Refusing to think about anything else until tomorrow, Ron turned in. It was an uneasy sleep and took quite a while to overcome him. The deep bass growls and far away roars did nothing for comfort inside a canvas tent. But not having a choice and some suspicions about where he was, allowed the brain to shut down. Ron woke up groggy and confused, automatically tying his boots while grabbing his rifle and knife. Then got up and cooked a minor meal from a ration pack and camp cooker. The morning coffee got gears turning and he thought ¡°Maybe Gast¡­ Babayaga eats? I''ll give him? Her? It? Some chocolate might help. All my old friends loved chocolate.¡± He released the gaseous basketball and offered it the treat. ¡°This is for you,¡± he said, reaching the bar up to its face. ¡°To the start of a long friendship I hope.¡± The Gastly, without hands to use, took a bite out of the held up bar and squealed in joy. ¡°G-G-GGG-b¡± it mumbled after chewing. He had no idea what that meant but hoped it was positive. Ron took the morning to carefully inventory everything in his pack and make a plan. I first need to look for some form of civilization, I suspect SOMEHOW, something or someone transported me here. Yaga existing leads me to believe this is the pokemon world, whatever its called. I need to find humans and warn them about MACH 30. If this ball is the only bit that came through then maybe I can manage, but if more came through this world will be devoured, pokemon or not. He spent the rest of the morning writing down everything that his child-self remembered about this world and its characters. The sun was high and hot but that didn''t deter Ron in the slightest. He packed camp and continued further around the coast, looking for any sign of civilization. ¡ª---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pokerra 1 After Indigo formation 10:12am Fiore Ranger Outpost Ringtown Fiore Ranger Lieutenant Johnn Bushwell A fit, brunette man sat at his desk, working through the day''s paperwork. It had been a day like any other, pokemon migration projections, construction site progress reports and many other small fires he had to manage. But Fiore was developing well. Three new settlements had been created in the past week which had put his teams on a tight schedule, working double shifts for the safety of the colonists. This was still an untamed wilderness and had to be treated as such. The wild pokemon, unused to ranger activity, were still very suspicious and aggressive. They had not yet had enough time to build trust with the local ¡®Alpha¡¯s¡¯. Putting down a pen, he reviewed his first orders of reassignment. League Ranger Training Corps HQ Lieutenant Johnn Bushwell, You have been reassigned from the Sinnoh ranger training to GRI. GRI, the Global Ranger initiative, will set up outposts and infrastructure in the newly discovered Fiore region. This will in future become the global ranger HQ, where people from all known regions will come to be trained as a ranger. We have had a warning from Psycore that more rangers will be greatly needed in the future. You are in command of all rangers at this station and will set up training facilities to meet our goals of recruitment. Protect and Serve, Major Solana Everbring LRTC Johnn heard footsteps approaching his office, preemptively calling ¡°Come in¡± before they could knock. One of his team leaders glided into the office, hunched shoulders in a pretend sulk. ¡°You could have at least pretended not to hear me¡± Sarah pouted. She was a small but fit blonde woman that had years of prior experience and was a trusted friend. ¡°Na, you ain''t as quiet as you think¡± He winked. A pause and then ¡°Now tell me, what¡¯s the issue?¡± She snapped to attention. ¡°We have had disturbing reports of loud roaring and increased pokemon activity near Lyra forest. The other side of the river was observed during a grave shift. Something has got those boys all spooked. Also herds of curious Girafarig have been encroaching on our colonists, stealing berries from the storage sheds during the night.¡± He sighed, already exhausted from the busy month. ¡°We will need an early warning system and cameras set up to monitor the river, that area is unexplored and only lightly scouted out by patrols. Regarding the Girafarig herd, you will have to get a psychic specialist out to talk to their Alpha. We can¡¯t have wild pokemon relying on us for food.¡± ¡°Sir.¡± She said, relaxing her posture, then proceeded to turn and smoothly walk out of his office. Before Sarah passed the doors, he called out with an innocent smile. ¡°Nice try, but you¡¯ll never catch me lacking.¡± The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. She didn''t reply, only cackled and hid a smirk. Johnn looked out his office window and muttered. ¡°This ain¡¯t getting easier is it?¡± ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ron looked up from the animal track he was following, Babayaga silently bobbing alongside him. ¡°Is it just me or have the birds stopped singing?¡± He asked the Gastly. It drew up gas in a shrug as he looked around. He had been traveling for just under a week but this hasn''t happened before. Everything had gone silent, no normal forest background noise, no distant roaring or the buzzing of insects. It was like the forest was holding its breath for something. A low hum built up slow enough he almost didn''t notice. It sounded like an old TV that only dogs and kids could hear. The pitch went higher and higher, invading his mind, making him drop to one knee. Sweat dripped off his forehead and his breathing hard, in an effort to stay conscious, but a loud panicked shout cut through the squealing hum. ¡°OH FUCK, RUN GUYS RUN!¡± Ron noticed Yaga had moved in front of him, a protective snarl on its¡­ his face. That shout sounded human to him and he refused to let anyone else die on his watch. Ron acted on pure instinct, bolting off the track and into the bush, dropping his pack and heading straight towards the shout. After a minute of scrambling across roots and around trunks he laid eyes on what looked like a slightly smaller giraffe. Its neck was not as tall and the back half of its fur was black instead of the normal orangey yellow. It also had a mean looking bulbous tail with a face and sharp teeth. What he now realised was a Girafarig, was tearing into humans in a strange green uniform, dissimilar to his own. ¡°GIRA, FARIG¡± the pokemon raged, as a strange pink energy coalesced into its two antlers. Ron had seen many things, but nothing prepared him for what the animals of this world could do. Twin beams of energy shot out and ripped apart one of the humans. Blood and bits scattered the forest floor while the other three humans shouted, grit their teeth in rage and palmed something on their belts. A familiar red flash, then pokemon were released. Before anything else could happen, the giraffe stopped charging another attack and locked eyes with Ron. ¡°Another human to prevent our growth? Fine, more food for the herd.¡± It snarled into his mind. He Reeled, surprised with the realization that it could talk. The three others, noticed from the corner of his eye, were tensing in preparation for another charge build up. Their pokemon stock-still, waiting for an opening. However, while this happened, a pure white gaseous ball hovered Infront of him. ¡°G-G-BBB-GG¡± Yaga screamed. The Girafarig glanced Yaga¡¯s way then couldn¡¯t look away. Yaga''s lips curled down in a sneer, the gas surrounding him vibrating. A tense pause rang out, as the humans waited for something to happen. A reaction from the Girafarig spiked the tension as its whole body shuddered, then bleated out a mournful cry. It turned without looking back, and ran away, further into the forest. In Ron''s mind the Girafarig sobbed. "Battered one, I am sorry. Sorry, SORRY, SORRY, SORRY. Sorry, so sorry...." He watched it retreat, dread dawning on his face. It knows something. Was it Babayaga? What happened between them? One of the humans, still looking tense and on guard, slowly approached Ron. ¡°Thank you stranger. Your Gastly? He might have just saved our lives.¡± He clenched a fist at that. Ron turned to face the redhead. ¡°I just heard the hum and shout, and wanted to help how I could. What was that by the way?¡± ¡°That was an Alpha, I¡¯m surprised your Gastly managed to scare it off.¡± The man''s eyes fell. ¡°Our team''s psychic specialist tried to negotiate with the Girafrig herd leader, who was pissed about being asked not to take our food. Like you saw, it did not go well at all. We weren''t expecting it to become so aggressive.¡± ¡°I see¡­¡± Ron replied, trying to think. ¡°I can help bury your friend, and I¡¯m sorry for your loss.¡± He said sincerely. All three of them gazed at the ground, along with their pokemon, all visibly shaking in anger and grief. Then they looked between each other, an unspoken conversation being had. The redhead turned to him again, sticking out a hand. ¡°The names Warden, and these two are Marty and Calir.¡± They each nodded in turn. ¡°Poor circumstances to be meeting a fellow ranger. Ranger¡­?¡± ¡°Roach,¡± Ron replied. Grasping the man¡¯s hand. ¡°Just¡­ Roach.¡± Calir, the tall raven haired woman, raised an eyebrow but didn''t comment. I think it''s time to start fresh here. But revealing that I''m not a ranger might be a bad idea at present. I don''t really want to be lost in this forest much longer and now that I''ve found people, I want to warn and help them. From what little I''ve seen so far it might be as dangerous as Earth, but who knows, maybe I can at least make a difference. The next goal is to find out if MACH 30 ever made it here. These rangers might be able to help, or at least get the pokemon league to take action. Relief and exhaustion flashed across Warden''s face as he replied. ¡°Well Roach, I think that yes, we would appreciate your help.¡± He then glanced at his pokemon team, who were still staring at the ground. ¡°You guys, don''t help. I want to do it with my own hands.¡± Their postures dropped from tense readiness to slow sadness. The next few hours were silent as the group spent the time digging, one member always scanning the surroundings. Once they finished up he noticed Yaga, wearing a solemn frown, float near the memorial. He patted Yaga gently on the head then left the ghost type to its thoughts. They had started the trek back through the forest, Warden offered to guide Roach back to the ranger outpost called Ringtown, to which Roach readily agreed. One of Marty¡¯s Pidgey, a small sparrow-like bird pokemon took off, carrying a quick paper report of what had happened. Roach noticed that not one of them had a radio. He guessed if they had magical beasts that could fly, maybe it wasn''t essential. But it sure would have helped in the last encounter. He should look into it at a later time, maybe that technology could help this world greatly. ¡ª---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pokerra 1 AIF 7:55pm Mossdeep City Mossdeep Space Center Professor Oak The former champion of Hoenn and now Professor in all things pokemon, had travelled a long way from his lab and ranch on the mainland of Hoenn. He sat in a chair, hand supporting his chin. An astronaut was giving a brief about what he had seen and all significant players had been warned about it. He glanced around, marveling at the number of people that showed up. Even Steven Stone and Lance are here, let alone their elite four, this is an extremely unusual gathering. Oh, but I should be paying attention. Oak refocused on the current lecture. ¡°--e were doing maintenance on the satellite. Its purpose is to detect and analyze incoming asteroids so we can choose to intercept if threatening Pokerra as a whole. Normally the smaller ones burn up upon entry to the atmosphere, but this one doesn''t look likely to. Our tools could not recognise its material nor find a reason for its appearance. According to the readouts, assigned name: Object 42 had not existed until it appeared one light minute from our planet. The projected speed calculations say that impact will occur within six months. Variable to change, exactly five months and twenty four days.¡± The astronaut, Bruce, paused. Letting the gathered individuals absorb this information. Agatha, Elite four member of Indigo and ancient master of ghosts spoke up. ¡°Young one, to what risks does this ¡®Object 42¡¯ represent? I see no reason for panic. And as you previously mentioned, the impact will occur on a landmass we know only the name of. Why make my old bones travel so far from Lavender town?¡± A slight spine tingling chill swept the room. Bruce, Oak knew, had done lectures for countless people in powerful positions and knew how to handle himself in their presence. But Agatha¡¯s cold and questioning glare was something else entirely. It also didn''t help that countless red eyes stared out from her shadow. He replied, stuttering slightly. ¡°T-the r-reason is because Tandor, the impact region, is very close to Fiore. And Fiore, like you all know, is the home to a significant number of rangers-in-training.¡± Bruce paused, gathering himself. ¡°But the main reason, and why you are all gathered here is because of Dialga.¡± Almost everyone in the meeting room sat up in surprise, including Oak himself. He noticed both Lance and Steven to be deep in thought. ¡°Our resident psychic Gym leaders, Tate and Liza¡± Bruce continued. ¡°Have projected an extreme outcome. Dialga has lost almost all of its power doing something we haven''t a clue about. However, they detected a massive psychic force that gathered and vanished within Fiore itself. The only information they could detect through such a mass of power was one clue. The energy was similar to a move called teleport, one huge teleport.¡± The Gym leaders themselves, also at this meeting, shrunk back from the wide eyes and slack jaws of most present. Both Oak and Agatha sighed out loud. END OF CHAPTER 2 Chapter 3 Lieutenant Dan Roach''s notes on the enemy 2028 March 7th Today was not a good day, for one, the 30¡¯s pushed our line back further. They had breached the defense screens in Europe, forcing through a beachhead. This essentially meant that Europe was lost. No one said it but everyone knew it. No matter how many bullets or bombs were thrown at them, they would keep coming. A never ending wave that absorbed everything and replicated. Default global strategy was to never allow MACH to gain a beachhead, but things rarely go to plan which meant we had to fight regardless. That was a bloodbath like no other. Later in the day CMD transmitted a message, describing a recent discovery that could affect TerraCMD global strategy in a huge way. One of the lead researchers described that the MACH 30 rely on different types of metal for survival and the reason for their rapid evolution. This manifested as the ''Classes''. A different ''Class'' for every unique problem humanity could throw at them. However a plan was devised: If we can limit or cut off access to certain metals, we could theoretically railroad MACH 30 into certain predictable ''Classes'' that the world could fight much more easily. I doubt it will be so easy, but time will tell. 2029 4 months till projected end of humanity Reflection on past notes It did not work. They started digging. Seismic readings even say they have breached the crust. We are fucked. Only ¡®immovable Object¡¯ has not yet been discovered. How long till they find us. I don¡¯t even want to think about it. ¡ª---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Real Ranger Stats Brought to you by Devon Corporation 100% accuracy guarantee* Ranger casualty rate: 0.001% (Almost no rangers fall in the line of duty) Ranger approval rating: 100% (Everyone loves rangers) Pokemon harmed during relocation or negotiation: 0.02% (rangers go out of their way to help pokemon in need) Ranger profession danger rating: 0.3% (rangers are trained professionals and almost never are in true danger) Visit Our stats page for more highly accurate and interesting statistics! *In no way, shape or form are we responsible for true, accurate information as this survey is covered by legislation section 2 of our company policy. Please reference your local league legal book for more information. Company eyes only. ¡ª---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A fist slammed into a desk and paperwork flew everywhere. Pens and staplers bounced off to hit the floor. Sergeant Sarah stood at attention in front of the desk, eyes locked straight forward and stock still. ¡°Excuse me Sarah, this is just very bad news.¡± She had known the Lieutenant a very long time and had never seen him this agitated before. But she could relate. She was pissed as well. They had lost a ranger. That was bad enough, but a psychic ranger she had trained? That was bad news when bad news went to the farm up north. We need t-- Johnn interrupted her thoughts. ¡°They should be coming in the next two hours. Make sure to retrieve Renault¡¯s tags from Warden when you bring them here.¡± All banter between the two had gone once they had read the report. A ranger had died and they had found another that turned up out of nowhere, saving the team? Sarah was immediately suspicious and had prepared countermeasures if this ¡®green man¡¯ turned out to be a spy. Terrorist teams had had a sharp increase in activity in recent months and she wouldn¡¯t be surprised if this ''Roach'' was a scout. The Rangers as a whole had not been of great interest for these teams, but maybe they had readjusted their plans. ¡°Yes Sir, I have also prepared measures in case this ¡®Roach¡¯ is what we think he is.¡± ¡°Good, we will need Golduck. Make sure she is prepared.¡± ¡°Will do.¡± so saying, she marched out. Plans already on her mind. ¡ª---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pokerra 1 AIF 8:45am ???? Ringtown Roach The three rangers and Roach crossed a small bridge over a wide, fast flowing river that skirted around the sides of what Warden mentioned was Ringtown. The town to Roach¡¯s eyes was more like a large village. Small log cabins dotted around, surrounding much larger wooden buildings. Placed along a strip of gravel road that the group was walking down. He had been told that they would go and report formally to the man in charge, Lieutenant John Bushwell, and he was to attend, to add more accuracy to the report. Hopefully they aren''t super suspicious. I have no idea where this is in regards to the region, but all I''ve seen so far are rangers. Maybe rural Hoenn? I remember in the games it was somewhat more wild and untamed than both Johto or Kanto. Sinnoh is another possibility. regardless, I¡¯m here for multiple reasons and hopefully they let me stay. The four humans made their way through town, different ranger teams acknowledging Warden with a strange gesture as they passed by. A very familiar building stuck out to Roach. It wasn¡¯t made from the same wooden materials as everything else seemed to be, it was a modern looking, metal and concrete structure with a bright red ceramic roof. A Pokecenter he realised. A building essential for pokemon recovery and healing. He hadn''t spotted the blue roofed equivalent however. Roach wondered out loud. ¡°Hey Warden, is there a pokemart or equivalent here? I should probably get supplies for Babayaga.¡± Gesturing to the ghost somehow stuck to his shoulder. Yaga had never been in direct contact with him before, and felt comfortably cold, like a personal air conditioner. What a weird ass thought. Warden looked back at Roach. ¡°Yeah sure, I''ll give you a small tour after this debrief with the Lieutenant.¡± He sighed. ¡°I¡¯ll probably be assigned to escort you anyway.¡± Roach only nodded in reply. I also must try to get my weapon fixed. If Yaga cant scare off other aggressive pokemon or people I need an option other than the knife. The group soon found themselves outside an unassuming, wooden longhouse. As Warden knocked, Yaga grinned at Roach, body language saying. "Watch this." The door was answered by a small but professional looking blonde woman, who proceeded to take in the group with a soft look. That look turned steel when her eyes landed on Roach himself, then transformed into well hidden terror when her eyes flicked to his shoulder. The ghost grinned a fanged smile in return but stayed unmoving on his perch. Roach caught the flash of emotion but the others didn¡¯t seem to notice. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. She coughed into her hand, hiding the emotion and addressed the rangers. ¡°Good to see you three made it out of that terrible situation, don''t blame yourselves for Renault¡¯s loss, we will celebrate his actions in life at the pub with some of the others. A final farewell to a fellow ranger.¡± She paused before the other three nodded firmly to her. The woman addressed Roach. ¡°Now¡­ Roach I assume?¡± He nodded. ¡°You may call me Sergeant Sarah. I want to personally thank you for helping out in an emergency, not many would, and even fewer would survive.¡± Previously confused at her reaction to him and his partner, brightened considerably at the compliment. ¡°However before we go on, the lieutenant wants a debrief.¡± And snapped a turn, gesturing for them to follow inside. She led them through a cosy looking house, to a set of doors which Roach assumed to be the office. Not knocking, she pushed the doors open and his eyes were greeted to a large study. A comically large amount of papers were piled neatly on an overly large desk. The ¡®Lieutenant¡¯ sat in a comfortable looking animal fur chair, and almost impatiently, without looking up from a report, addressed them. ¡°Good morning to all of you. We lost a good man, a good ranger yesterday, but your report was unclear as to how and why this happened. Please enlighten me.¡± The rangers were all at attention while Roach stood easily at parade rest. Warden marched forward to report. He then ran through the events about their team tracking down this Alpha Girafarig, Renault contacting it for peaceful talk, and then finally the meeting that led to his death. Throughout the retelling, the Lieutenant nodded at certain points but then held a hand up when the giraffe ran away. He looked up for the first time, eyes flicking over Roach and Yaga but didn¡¯t physically react. Yaga frowned in disappointment. The lieutenant locked eyes with him. ¡°Roach¡­ No other name, I am Lieutenant Johnn Bushwell. Now tell me why you did the unbelievably stupid act of jumping into a deadly situation which you had no knowledge nor control over?¡± Roach, standing easy, held his fiery gaze. ¡°I moved on instinct Lieutenant, I heard the scream and psychic build up when travelling along the coastline. That was the only course of action.¡± He paused, and with heat added. ¡°I was not going to leave someone to die. Their group were the first humans I had encountered in a week. Being lost in an unknown forest alone... ahem, only with Yaga, led me to some desperate measures.¡± A confused expression flashed across the Lieutenant¡¯s face. ¡°Wait what? Then how did you end up in the forest randomly wandering? How did you get here to Fiore? Because that isn¡¯t any issued ranger uniform I know of.¡± Roach sucked in a deep breath. I can¡¯t hide this otherwise they won''t take me seriously about the MACH 30. ¡°I bring a message from a planet far, far from here, however I know for a fact that you would never accept it without something to detect the truth from lies.¡± ¡°Sergeant¡± The lieutenant replied stone-faced, nodding to her. She didn¡¯t move from attention but in the next second a pokemon opened the doors, and waddled into the room. It was a blue feathered, humanoid looking duck with a red gem set between the eyes. The Golduck, without any spoken direction, moved over to Roach. Yaga suddenly twitched and hissed when the Golduck reached to place a webbed hand against his head. The blue duck squawked and flinched back in shock but Roach reached a hand to settle the floating basketball. ¡°It''s ok Yaga,¡± he consoled. ¡±I know, they need to see it to believe it.¡± Johnn and Calir both arched an eyebrow at that while Warden and Sarah eyed him curiously. Marty looked like he had one puff to many from a weezing. The ugly duckling then put its hand up to his forehead and closed its eyes, red gem glowing while it concentrated. Roach felt certain recent memories get guided to the surface of his mind. Helping Warden and his team. Trekking through the forest not quite alone, following the coast. Meeting Yaga and terrified of the pokeball at his waist. Darkness and wind. Yawning out at him, welcoming him in embrace. Madness, a blinding white flash. An encouraging cry to fight till the end. Unbeknownst to Him, the others watched as Roach¡¯s eyes glazed over and tears slowly dripped onto the floor. They observed his oddly coloured Gastly get progressively more agitated, a low howl growing from its throat. The Duck strained in effort as more memories surfaced. And a wall overrun, melted bodies everywhere. Machines, alien, almost animal in design, devouring everything. Unstoppable, Unending, Waves. Friends, allies, brothers, sisters consumed. One thought rose like a whale breaking the surface for air. Red lights, RED LIGHTS, RED LIGHTS, RED LIGHTS, RED LIGHTS. They might be coming, no they are co¨C The blue duck shrieked, piercing the silent observation while Sarah gasped and clutched her head, falling to the ground. Roach came to, still tense and standing at rest with the others staring in shock at Sarah on the ground. Johnn was the first to move, he released an already growling Weavile. The purple weasel pokemon flexed jagged white claws which it pointed immediately at Roach and snarled, to which he interpreted as ¡®Don¡¯t move a muscle bastard.¡¯ The room seemed to sharply drop in temperature as Johnn nursed Sarah, dropping all decor. He shouted to the others present. ¡°Get nurse Joy here ASAP. Tell her that both a ranger and a pokemon are injured.¡± Managing to glare at Roach in process, while Calir charged out the door. Johnn practically barked. ¡°You better have a bloody good reason for that Roach, cutting off a memory reading can severely damage all connected psychers.¡± Roach, still slightly dazed, sharpened and a cold rage simmered at the accusation. ¡°You try to relive the memories of your world dying Lieutenant. The MACH 30 devoured our entire world and wiped out all of us. And yet I can''t die when the last of my brothers fall?¡± He seethed, pointing towards Sarah, who was still unconscious. ¡°She saw the result, the last moments. What do you think would happen? Sunshine and rainbows? No shit Sherlock, try again.¡± The Lieutenant looked surprised that someone would talk to him that way. Roach paused, taking a breath to calm down. ¡°For what It¡¯s worth, I had no idea that could happen to psychers, and for that I am sorry. No one should have to witness that disaster.¡± Warden helped Johnn put Sarah into a safe position while Marty gave his full attention to Roach, eyes wide and mouth open from a world ending bombshell. Minutes went by in awkward silence as they waited on Joy to arrive. Soon enough a pink haired, middle aged woman rushed into the room, running straight for Sarah and Golduck. The pokemon was conscious, but according to its deep grimace, obviously in pain. The nurse checked both patients and after four or five minutes of examination announced that they would be fine, getting a sigh of relief from Warden and Johnn. ¡°Golduck will feel the psychic backlash for a few days, but Sarah will need more time to recover.¡± Joy¡¯s voice was stern but kind. ¡°At least a week for her Johnn, and don''t let her do something so dangerous again without healing pokemon on standby. And you, young man.¡± Holding up a finger at Roach. ¡°Will come to get your loyal pokemon a check up as soon as you have finished here. I wondered why the room was so chilly.¡± She left just as quickly as she came, rushing out the door. Johnn waved Roach away. ¡°This will be dealt with soon enough. Go get out of my sight and explore town or get acquainted with the locals. Do not leave town, there are much more dangerous things in the surroundings than what you have seen. I will have another meeting with you and Sarah when she is well enough to back up or refute your claims. Until then try not to fuck anything up and take a shower.¡± Marty looked at Johnn with a question in his eyes. Johnn let out an exhausted sigh. ¡°Yes, you can escort him. Make sure he doesn''t leave, we have unfinished business.¡± The lieutenant said, dismissing them. ¡°Sure Dan.¡± Roach snarked as he left. Once Roach had got back under the bright morning sun, Marty asked. ¡°Who¡¯s Dan?¡± ¡ª---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A man in a dark room strode up to a specially designed storage tank. He observed the tool inside. Even during sleep, it never moved unnecessarily. The perfect tool. A blindside to the entire League. No one would see this coming, not even Lance. That bastard champion had helped unite two regions at war. Even Samuel Oak, in all his power, could only force a treaty. A small smile came over the man. He would tear Johto and Kanto apart. Kanto was his home and had sacrificed mountains of blood for it. He would spill mountains more. To make things even more interesting, his ''friends'' had mentioned strange activity in Fiore. He would have to tread lightly with this opportunity. The man prepared carefully, patiently, oh so patiently, waiting for a moment of weakness. He would get what he fought for long ago. END OF CHAPTER 3 Chapter 4 Old Bones Jones A taster on Ghost types Written by Morty - Johto ghost specialist and Gym leader These tips might help out any burgeoning ghost enthusiast and people that are just curious about the, in my opinion, best type. They certainly have an earned reputation for haunting long abandoned houses or staying in the shadows. But what isn¡¯t well known is that they are as loyal and loving as any other pokemon. TLDR 1 golden rule: Never assume they act maliciously because they rarely do. These pokemon are extremely hard to analyze and comprehend. I would only advise you to join in on their fun. Don''t always indulge them, but never trap them. And finally, if you feel something watching you when the temperature drops, fight, NEVER run. Never make hunting you the game because they will always win. ¡ª--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The next day Roach sat on a bench in the middle of town, drinking a refreshing fruit juice. Marty had been called to help relay messages for another ranger group. He meanwhile, thought back on some stories Calir told him on the walk to town. Fiore was planned to become the world ranger HQ and the region''s situation sounded like a hornet''s nest. The region was apparently held in a delicate balance by the many different species of Alpha pokemon that lived here. Roach was warned that seeking these powerful pokemon out was a death sentence and a job only for specially trained rangers. He had agreed, having no plans of ever getting into a fist fight with bigger superpowered intelligent animals. Being able to relax and think was strange to Roach. The last four years of his life were either running from the enemy, or barely holding them off. It wasn''t unwelcome to just be able to do nothing for a change. Now that he had passed on the message, he wanted to explore and enjoy a new life how he could. What about your brothers? What about your sisters? You survived, YOU survived, ONLY you survived. The MACH 30 is coming. You know it. Roach forced those thoughts out of his mind and got up, having finally decided to get Yaga a proper health check. Ringtown was basically one main street so it was only a short walk. He entered the modern building, not noticing anyone but a pink haired woman in a white nurse uniform. The place looked almost identical to a hospital reception if it wasn¡¯t strangely blended with a general store. Nurse Joy sat at the reception chair, who looked up from a magazine when he entered. ¡°Hi honey, have you come to give your cute Gastly a checkup?¡± He glanced around, noticing pokeballs on shelves along with spray-on potions and other useful items. ¡°Yes, Thank you Joy, I haven¡¯t registered him yet nor do I have an ID.¡± She looked at him curiously. ¡°Yes you do hun, our system says it was re-registered earlier this morning by Lieutenant Ranger Johnn Bushwell himself.¡± Roach coughed in surprise. ¡°Oh? Ok well sure.¡± Maybe my first impression was skewed. He might actually be competent. That''s good to know. Keeping it under wraps too? Must be scared of moles or the terrorist teams finding out. Roach¡¯s respect for the man significantly increased when he figured that out. ¡°This will be the first time Babayaga here has gotten a medical exam.¡± He mentioned, patting the ghost, who was then returned to the ball. Roach reluctantly handed it over to her. Joy nodded in understanding, not mentioning how unusual it was that a man in his twenties had never done this before. Instead she marveled at the dangerous ball. ¡°Wow, is this a custom apricorn ball? I have never seen anything like it.¡± He stayed silent at that. An unrecognised loneliness crept in while he waited for the nurse to finish doing her job. His hands slightly shook in worry about his pokemon. Roach had not realised how much he had relied on Yaga throughout their ¡®adventure¡¯ in the forest. Damn I¡¯m glad he was here with me. He has saved my ass so much already and without him I would never have survived that giraffe situation. Ghost type reputation or not he is the best I could have asked for. Nurse Joy called him over after ten worried minutes. ¡°Roach, here is your ranger-in-training ID card,¡± handing over a plain white laminated card. She looked a little distracted but gestured for him to follow. ¡°Let us talk in private hon, there are some specifics we need to discuss.¡± He blinked in surprise at the mention of ID, but decided to go with whatever ¡®Dan¡¯ was cooking. Roach nodded and followed her through the double doors behind the reception desk. She led him down a white tiled hallway and into a compact, tiled office. A very familiar healing machine sat in one corner, while the rest of the room was absolutely stuffed with screens. These displayed data of many different medical readouts. Pity he had no idea what the data meant. Joy cut to the chase. ¡°Roach, your pokemon is perfectly healthy, however something is very different with this Gastly.¡± She paused, a more serious expression settling on her face. ¡°He is much larger than the average young gastly and his colouring is extremely rare. It was said to be very common back when Kanto and Johto were at war, but not the reason behind it. ¡± He agreed with that assessment, his basketball was indeed a large Basketball. Then straightened at the last bombshell. Yaga has been with me since I arrived, right? How did he get that colour then? I thought he was just a rare shiny. Does it work differently to the games? And how did he just appear within the ball? I need to research and ask around about ghosts. Joy continued her impromptu lecture, unaware of his inner thoughts. ¡°Also Gastly are poison types as well as ghost, who consist of up to 95% poisonous gas. Yours has not a single toxic particle in his body. Which, according to our records, is unheard of in the Gengar line. What makes up the other 5% you might ask? We have no idea, no machine can record it or analyze It to an accurate degree. We just know that it is some esoteric spooky particle. And Yaga is fully comprised of it.¡± After thanking the good nurse for her advice and buying a couple pokeballs with his new ID, which surprisingly had a bit of money loaded, Roach left the pokecenter to explore. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. When he had asked Marty about travel to other regions, he was informed that Fiore had a travel lockdown and that no one could leave due to information leaks. People had come to settle but were not nearly ready for inter-region trade. Poachers and terrorist teams would spell disaster for the current situation and could potentially kick off a massive conflict with the wild pokemon. Essentially people could arrive but not leave until the region was ready. ¡ª--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Almost a week passed as Roach explored the small town and got to know some of the locals. Renault¡¯s farewell came, to which he decided not to attend as he barely knew the man and felt awkward intruding. He did however get some tidbits about fiore from the locals. Apparently recently small fires had been spotted a ways into the forest surrounding the town. Only visible from obvious smoke trails. Also according to an old man with insomnia, loud snarling and sounds of combat could be heard in the dead of night. Roach wasn¡¯t worried so much about these presumed pokemon intruding in town as they knew it was ranger territory. Rangers also frequently patrolled and helped de-escalate territory fights before they became disastrous. He shivered at the thought of massive nocturnal hunters fighting, imagining what they would do to humans if caught alone and without proper preparations. Roach needed some time to build his pokemon team in preparation for confrontation with these pokemon, let alone the inevitable discovery of the MACH 30. If some had come through with him, it was reasonable to assume that more would have made it through. He pulled out his new ID card. If ¡®Dan¡¯ is trying to recruit me, depending on the reason, might be a good idea. Becoming a ranger could be my way to understand pokemon and this world a whole lot better. Now that I really consider it, that''s probably his best option for investigating my claims without the wrong people knowing or potential world panic. Roach knew that he needed a bigger pokemon team to confront what was coming. A whole lot bigger. He understood that the six team member limit in the games made sense, but here? No such limitation would apply to him. An army would be needed and powerful allies gathered. He had read some fan theories long ago about aura and how that made people more powerful trainers but had no idea if that was true here or not. He would just have to find out the hard way. The ¡®wait period¡¯ was not a waste of time as Yaga had wanted to battle some pokemon to test his strength. The pair had discovered through practice that moves were not like the games at all. It was more about how Yaga harnessed the energy that all pokemon naturally emitted. Roach noted that moves were more an intent of something rather than a binary on or off switch. If he wanted Yaga to use hypnosis the ¡®move¡¯, instead of just activating, it would require the will of the pokemon and the energy it created to be able to achieve it. It was more of an instinct on how to move the pokemon''s energy in a certain way. This gave Roach a few interesting ideas and theories that he had written down in a newly bought notebook. He had also managed to find a few of the locals willing to battle, but most weren¡¯t interested, only retired rangers or younger couples. Roach approached an old timer who was lingering on the roadside, watching the world go by. The man instantly recognised the look in his eye and smiled. ¡°Lad, the name¡¯s Jones, I''ll give you a fight but take it easy on my old bones. My pokemon don''t normally like battles.¡± ¡°This will be Yaga¡¯s first proper battle, Jones. I won''t ever underestimate you.¡± Roach didn¡¯t buy his act for a second, the people that lived here had to be tough as nails. Old man Jones¡¯ smile turned from warm and welcoming, to one found on a shark. ¡°Good lad, got a brain at least. Can''t have a baby ranger give up too easily.¡± The pair moved to a small dirt area, about the size of a basketball court and sent out their pokemon. Roach saw an older lady from across the street notice what was happening and walked over, snapping at Jones. ¡°Jones you old goat, stop bullying the youngins¡¯.¡± ¡°Roach the lad here, just wanted a light battle, to get his skills up to scratch. Why don''t you referee for us then Juli?¡± He replied innocently. ¡°Fine but only if you don''t use Bolbose.¡± ¡°But Juli, she has been itchi¨C.¡± He was interrupted by a death glare. ¡°No, he looks very new to battling. Don''t be so cruel to the younger generation.¡± Her gaze softened when she looked at Roach. ¡°You need the rules read out sweetheart?¡± He nodded in reply, psyching himself up. ¡°Yes please ma¡¯am, it''s Yaga¡¯s first battle.¡± ¡°Oh and so polite too. You better behave, Jones.¡± Shooting him a warning glare. Juli listed out the standard rules of battling. ¡°Roach has one pokemon so this will be a one on one fight. No held items and no switching allowed. Are you both ready?¡± They both nodded. ¡°Good¡­. Begin!¡± Jones threw out his ball faster than Roach could react and so his pokemon hit the field first. A Tyrunt hit the field in a flash of red light. To Roach¡¯s widened eyes it looked almost like a small raptor but with a large toothy maw, bigger than the rest of its body. It chomped its jaws in anticipation when Yaga hit the field. Jones frowned, then muttered. ¡°Damn, this¡¯ll be annoying, Tyrunt. Bite that Gastly, don''t let it relax.¡± Not wanting his basketball to be caught in that little monster¡¯s jaws, Roach shouted. ¡°Yaga float above the chompers'' reach, then try to confuse it.¡± The ghost moved to follow his directions, floating up out of reach of the small dinosaur. He watched as the maw on legs raced across the field and tensed its powerful leg muscles. It locked onto Yaga¡¯s trajectory and lept, jaws opened wide. To Roach¡¯s shock, dark energy coalesced around its jaws that came together in a loud snap, ripping out a chunk of Yaga¡¯s form. The ghost grimaced in pain but a retaliatory grin split his face immediately after. A shadow of misty purple energy slammed into the falling Tyrunt, who looked around confused before not sticking the landing. It impacted the ground with its face, plowing a line into the court. Yaga took advantage of that moment, floating close to the Tyrunts face with glowing blue eyes and a sneer. ¡°Oh no, Tyrunt, don''t look into those eyes! You don¡¯t need another nap you lazy dino.¡± Jones shouted. However the raptor didn¡¯t realise someone was speaking as it gazed into shiny blue eyes. Yaga let out a soft purr as the opposing pokemon started snoring. ¡°Yaga don''t let it rest easy, give it some.¡± Roach commanded. Yaga began to frown in focus as darkness swirled around, thinking of getting some payback for that bite. While this happened Jones shouted again. ¡°Tyrunt, you have wanted a fight for ages. Now you fall asleep after only one bite, is this how it ends?¡± This time it did hear him. Its small eyes snapped open, boiling with anger. Tyrunt tracked on to Yaga immediately and charged. The ghost released the darkness he was holding, right onto the jaw of the charging Tyrunt. They both collided before the coiled darkness exploded outwards like a grenade and shot the hardy little dino flying across the ground. Yaga didn¡¯t come out unscathed either, having had another bite taken out of him. He looked a lot more transparent and had almost no gas floating around him. However he still hovered with a slight wince, while the Tyrunt lay motionless on the ground. ¡°Tyrunt is unable to battle further. The winner is Yaga and Roach!¡± Juli called out. Roach immediately breathed out a held breath, that last moment had worried him and immediately returned Yaga to his pokeball. He held the ball up to his face. ¡°Amazing job mate, you did great for your first battle.¡± Both Juli and Jones approached Roach and congratulated him. ¡°Good job lad, your ghost has surprising determination. Rare for them to be that focused.¡± They shook hands. ¡°If you need more practice I¡¯m sure my other lovely pokemon would gladly help.¡± ¡°Appreciate that you old sneak, I owe that pokemon a lot.¡± Roach replied. He grew thoughtful. ¡°How did you get a Tyrunt? I thought they were long extinct.¡± Juli had walked off after congratulating him but Jones got a look in his eye. ¡°Well lad, things in Fiore might be a little more ancient than you might think.¡± He cracked a grin. ¡°Who knows baby ranger. Maybe you go brave the wild yourself, plenty of interesting things to discover in an untouched region. Bring me a fossil and I might do you a favor.¡± Roach matched his grin. ¡°You old bastard, maybe you aren''t as senile as I thought.¡± They both laughed, and Roach left, happy about Yaga''s first battle. A good test, but we have a long way to go. I do eventually want to get a legendary on my side. Maybe registeel could manipulate the MACH 30? Even a porygon has potential if they exist yet. Surely it cant be that hard to catch one right? The sun had set during their battle so he decided to call it a day. Roach went to Joy to get Yaga healed and then headed off to bed in one of the spare rooms in the pokecenter. END OF CHAPTER 4 Chapter 5 Into Fiore The Ranger uniform Ranger code book 3 - chapter 42 - Notation 3141 Ranger dress code must be strictly adhered to at all reasonable times. This includes the following: Out on patrol, out on job specific tasks, while eating, while sleeping*, during meetings, while on the toilet, while doing laundry, while consuming beverages* and while representing the organisation in any other fashion. The uniform includes the following items: Clearly visible Ranger badge, pin or identifier. Ranger branded compheetm socks. (Generously donated by Sylph Co & Devon Corporation) Ranger all purpose boots. All other clothing must not take the absolute piss and be fit for purpose. (At the discretion of the commanding officer) ¡ª--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pokerra 1 AIF Ringtown Five days after the Roach report Lieutenant Johnn Bushwell Johnn sat next to a bedridden Sarah, looking at the floor with a conflicted frown on his face. He waited for her to look at him before speaking. ¡°Still kicking sarge? He didn¡¯t fry your brain too much I hope.¡± She sat up with a grimace, eyes dull with exhaustion. ¡°He showed me literal hell on earth Johnn, nothing will ever compare.¡± ¡°Are you well enough to talk about it now? I would love to give you more time but the league knows something happened here, and I can only give them the middle finger for so long.¡± Sarah cracked a dry laugh at that, only to wince at another pounding headache. ¡°Yeah, sure sir. So first, don''t think I¡¯m craz¨C¡± ¡ª--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After a unique breakfast of berries and cereal in the pokecenter cafe, Roach had been notified by an unfamiliar ranger that ¡®Dan¡¯ finally wanted a chat. He was escorted back to the man¡¯s office, not quite sure about how it would turn out. The lieutenant stood ramrod straight, looking at a painting of his family on the wall, when Roach was ushered into his office. The man turned to him, ranger lieutenant pin adorning his chest. Roach didn¡¯t immediately speak, willing to let the man say what he needed to say. He was, however, curious about ¡®Dan¡¯s¡¯ plan for him. Worst case, I run. They won¡¯t be able to keep constant eyes on me. I need to get moving and soon, with or without the help of the rangers. ¡°Look Roach, I talked to Sarah last night and what she confirmed was worrying. Very worrying. However, we can''t have you spreading this around to everyone you meet. He paused, gauging Roach¡¯s reaction. Roach nodded to continue. ¡°But considering the scale of what is to come, frankly, is way above my paygrade. I wanted you to know that Sarah briefed the leaders of Sinnoh, Hoenn, Johto and Kanto. These regions are allied to varying degrees and all contribute towards multiple agencies, including the Global Ranger Initiative, who I work for. And now so do you.¡± A relieved sigh escaped Roach, then he smiled. ¡°Good, thank you Dan, the world needs time to prepare. I will accept becoming a ranger on two conditions. One, I won¡¯t have a team limit on the number of pokemon I carry, and two, you put me in contact with the people most likely to locate the MACH 30.¡± Johnn rolled his eyes at the nickname, knowing it was banter, but had no context so ignored it. He then put a hand to his chin in thought, eyes moving to lock with Roach¡¯s own. ¡°Done. Don¡¯t fuck this chance up.¡± ¡°Actions will speak louder than words. You gonna give me orders, lieutenant?¡± Roach said, drawing the last word out on purpose, while holding his gaze. A small smile traveled up Johnn¡¯s face. ¡°Well, green ranger, the others and I all appreciated what you did for Warden and his team. As such, you are now part of their squad. Learn everything you can while training under them and above all, survive.¡± ¡ª--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The next day Roach woke up to a knock on his door. As he opened it, a red haired man dressed in khaki shorts and a grey shirt stood outside stock still. Warden smiled like a bear stealing honey. ¡°Good morning greeny, we heard we got a new ranger to train. Ready to start your day in paradise?¡± Before he could even answer, Warden moved, whipping a punch right towards Roach¡¯s stomach. But Roach saw the tell, as old Terra military close combat training dusted off its webs. He scraped to the side, then backed up into his room. Warden calmly entered in after him, while the other two stood at the door watching. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. What the fuck is he doing? Ah hell, this feels like newbie training. Again Warden lunged, faked another body blow to then commit to a leg sweep. Even with the training, Roach hadn''t had it on priority upkeep at the end of the world, and so misread the fake. He was swept to the floor and raised his arms on instinct to block. Warden then jumped and saddled him, pinning him against the ground. The man rained down blows on his guard, none getting through until he instead targeted Roach¡¯s body. A fist landed in his ribs, forcing out air and a painful grunt. Roach dropped a hand and threw a return to Warden¡¯s ribs, getting a slight sharp exhale for his trouble. ¡°Good, you reacted well enough. Could be better but nothing training won¡¯t help.¡± Warden said, getting off him in the process. ¡°That, my new squadmate, is called the ¡®wild pokemon drill¡¯. You will become very familiar with it over the coming days.¡± He helped pull an annoyed and confused Roach to his feet. Glad I didn¡¯t stab him with the vibro-knife then. That would have been messy. ¡°If you ever let an angry wild pokemon get close they won''t just give you a minor bruise, it¡¯ll be chest excavation. This drill helps you to react faster when in a situation that your pokemon team can¡¯t help you. It may be the difference between survival and death, one that we can¡¯t afford again.¡± His calm demeanor slightly cracking at the last part. Roach frowned, letting a touch of annoyance seep through. ¡°Did you really have to come beat the piss out of me so early though? Revenge will be very sweet.¡± Warden¡¯s smile returned in force, making him instantly regret what he just said. ¡°You got the fight, I see, that''s great news!¡± He said way too happily. Calir then took the pause to interrupt. ¡°Roach, don''t take what just happened too personally. It¡¯s basically tradition at this point. One old fart ranger said. ¡®If you can¡¯t take the pan, how could you take the fire?¡¯¡± She huffed slightly at Roach¡¯s incredulous expression. ¡°Yes it is still a shit saying.¡± After Calir finished, Warden''s face hardened. ¡°I have been briefed on your background as a trained soldier already. So the training will mostly consist of wild pokemon handling, patrols and squad teamwork. This is the backbone of becoming a proper ranger.¡± ¡°Roger that, Warden. I have complete faith nothing will go wrong at all.¡± ¡°Oh I¡¯m sure, let''s get to it.¡± Time to put a little game knowledge to use. ¡ª--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The days went by as Roach got used to his new squadmates. He woke up early to run with them, Yaga always floating by his side. As the day progressed, they would practice battling each other, the pokemon sparring and the rangers getting into close combat fighting. The rest of the day for Roach was spent reading the ranger code book. He had expected it to be the most boring read of his life, but the author managed to sneak crass words randomly throughout, giving him a chuckle every time he noticed one. ¡ª--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- He checked his gear and pack, doing a once over before the planned patrol coming the next day. Since he did not have a flying mount, Warden had wanted the group to go on foot. The only problem Roach had with that plan was if shit hit the fan. He was the only one without a flight capable pokemon and he wouldn¡¯t be able to get away from a powerful angry pokemon without it. The knife will be my last resort, as testing it on Yaga warranted a check up with Joy, hopefully it affects the other types just as much. I also still need to find a place that could repair my rifle but Ringtown ain''t that place. The squad met up at a terribly early hour, ready for the trip ahead. The patrol would be full of long, sleepless nights in the wild but Roach was ecstatic. He could finally leave town and actually experience what the pokemon world had to offer. The squad left town before the sun rose as Roach thought back on his journey so far. Now is the time to set myself a goal. Find the MACH 30 and destroy it. But what about something else as well, something less impossible sounding. Maybe, Maybe¡­. to become the best ranger there ever was. To help people and pokemon wherever able. To defend both habitat and home. To be open in a time of great need. To never fold to lies or greed, a ranger¡¯s creed. Protect and serve. ¡ª--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My mind scorched. My soul burned. My insides melted. Everything was fire. And then nothing. A bliss. Forever until the hands of reality dragged me kicking and screaming back. They couldn¡¯t take more from me. But the steel stayed, ever present, ever loyal. But soft, almost breaking. But not, instead bending. Bend but never break bend but never break BEND BUT NEVER BREAK BEND BUT NEVER BREAKBREAKBREAK¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡­¡­¡­¡­ A deep breath, fiery hot instead of stone cold. They would not change me. They did. Physically. My inner strength warped. Trees flickered by in my vision, vanishing before I could notice. So the leaves and bark and roots and knots and GRASS AND DIRT AND BUGS AND AIR AND WATER AND EVERYTHING¡­ caught alight under my power. A fire? No A flame? No Molten rock? Maybe¡­ no, closer A forge? A forge? ¡­ Yes, YES For who? For myself? Maybe¡­ maybe Yes and No No? Why? For worthy I forge. I forge for worthy. Run, RUN, RUNRUNRUN Escape. Evade. Outmen ou vi er? Steam, so much steam, so long. More trees, so many, never ending. Burn them too. New, different, alone¡­ Alone¡­ Family back? Back there¡­ where? Who? But steel brought me back. My steel. It bent, but did not break. My steel¡­ Forge Who? For worthy. All steam all rock all flame all trees, roots, branches, leaves. Will burn. For worthy. Me. END OF CHAPTER 5 END OF ARC 0 [3.1419 = PIE]