Val stoked the small fire at his camp. It was going out, but it didn't matter. Daylight would be here in a few hours. Val called out Braixen and Lucario. They look at him sleepily.
"Braaaii?" Braixen yawned and stretched. Lucario charged up a bit of an Aura Sphere and shot it at Braixen. Braixen retaliated by Psychicing an ember out of the fire and throwing it at Lucario.
"Hey you two, calm down." Val pushed Braixen's stick down and glanced at the both of them. The two pokemon shuffled their feet and looked down. Val called out his last partner. Zoroark was in the middle of practicing, and didn't stop when called out.
"Zor. Ark. Zoro." He Fury Swiped the piece of wood repeatedly, keeping it in the air. Finally, Zoroark split the piece in half. He stopped, taking a deep breath.
"Zoroark?" He glanced over at me.
"I got a call saying that Darren is passing through here. This might be one of our only shots at doing this, and I don't want to leave it up to luck next time." Val picked up his pack from where it was lying on the ground and put it on.
"He'll be passing through the route soon, so we need to be ready."
"Brai."
"Car."
Zoroark frowned.
"Zoro, ark zor?" He shook his head at Val.
"I don't think he knows we're waiting for him. It'd be hard to set up a trap for us." Val put on his signature bracelets and started moving into the trees. Lucario put out the fire, then all three pokemon hurried after their trainer.
Nyx's breath clouded in front of her. She watched her former associate walk down the path leading out of the forest onto the road.
"Why'd you make me have to go and do this?" She whispered, the words disappearing with her breath. She motioned her rifle into position. While it may not have been deadly, the tranq shots from it would knock out anyone for a day flat. Val wasn't anyone though. As one of the forefront Rangers in the region, he was required to be immune to certain types of poison, among other things. The blend she was using wouldn't knock him out for particularly long, but it would do the job.
Val felt something enter his neck, and watched his pokemon drop one by one as his vision faded to black.
...
Val felt someone pounding his skull. Wait, no, that was just a headache. He opened his eyes slowly and found himself next to a fire.
"You finally awake?" A melodic voice chimed out from somewhere to his left.
He didn't react immediately, instead mentally checking for any injuries he might have had.
Finally, he raised himself up on one arm. A girl was feeding a Talonflame on her shoulder some berries.
"I'm sorry, but who are you?" Val sat up, stretching to make sure he was ready for a fight with this girl.
"Your new partner." The girl held out her hand with a slight smile.
"No." Val stood all the way up and continued stretching.
"Mmm hmm. Well, technically, you're my mentor, but I'm sure I'll end up better than you." She casually remarked.
If there was one thing Val couldn't stand, it was unnecessary chatter.
"Oh, VERY skilled." The girl sang, as Val finished off his routine with some acrobatics. Finally, he snapped.
Rushing straight at the girl, he grabbed her wrist. She tried to chop at it, but he caught her other wrist also. Flipping her over his shoulder, he suspended her a centimeter away from the fire.
"Yes, I am. Thank you for noticing." Val said, watching her hair singe.
"Alright, alright, alright. Lemme go!" The girl tried to squirm out of his grasp, but there was nowhere to squirm to in such close proximity to the fire.
Val let go and turned away, but was floored by a kick from the girl. He sprang up with a flip, ending up facing her. She was in an offensive stance, so he assumed a somewhat defensive one. All of his fighting methods were unorthodox, so she hesitated a second before attacking. That was all he needed.
As the girl gave out a small battle cry and rushed forward, Val swayed to the left. The girl tripped over his foot, crashing to the ground. Val smiled. Sometimes the simplest tricks were the most effective. He fell on her, driving his knee into her back.
"Owowowow, stooooop." She whined. Val waited a second before giving up. The girl brushed herself off, then extended a hand to Val.
"Lily." Val frowned.
"I feel like I've heard that before" He asked, shaking her hand.
"Huh? Well, that's my name!" She gave out a small giggle.
"Oh. Well, I suppose you can know mine now. It's Valentine." Val sat down next to the fire.
"I'm just gonna call you Val!" She smiled, sitting down next to him. He took the pokeball that Lily handed to him.
"Zooorrrr." Zoroark glanced between his trainer and the unfamiliar girl sitting beside him. He nudged Val.
"Push off." Val smiled and shook his head.
"What?" Lily asked, as her Talonflame landed on her shoulder.
"Oh, nothing." Val recalled Zoroark, and kicked out the fire.
"HEY! I worked hard on that!" Lily frowned and crossed her arms.
"I don't believe you or care." Val picked up his bag and walked towards the edge of the clearing.
"Why?" Lily got up and followed him.
"I don't care because we're heading back to base. I don't believe you because you have a fire pokemon on your shoulder."
"Well aren't you a pleasant one." Lily remarked, scratching her Talonflame under the chin.
"I missed an opportunity to nab the most dangerous Pokemon smuggler in the region. I don't know how they were expecting me, or how they managed to tranq me, but they did. I'm not happy about it either." Val closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I find it extremely frustrating, and your demeanor and voice aren't helping. I'm hungry, have what feels like a hangover, and have been out here for almost three weeks. Now, on top of all that, I have to take care of you."
"You don't need to take care of me! I'm only a year under you!" Lily shoved Val to the side, into a tree.
"And yet, you have the personality and mindset of a ten year old." Val brushed himself off and continued walking.
"I was admitted a year early." Lily skipped ahead. "And you're just eighteen, so we've been in the same time."
"I was tested at thirteen, admitted at fourteen, and became head at sixteen."
"They didn't tell me that…" Lily got quiet.
"Next time, try thinking the things you say through." Val pushed through the underbrush towards the route, preparing himself mentally for the week-long trek to the ranger headquarters.
