"I promised to never harm the world again. The earth has not given us the same courtesy." - Isaac Wight after the Great Letchworth Flood.

It was just a couple days later. Spring was fully here and all the town was active. With this came increased needs. There was a lot we could get from nature alone, but sometimes we needed a little human ingenuity. In that case, we looked to the ruins of our past. Everything was salvageable. It just took actual effort to recycle it something not reasonable in the commercially driven society before us. The forge could take anything and reuse it. It was a Ranger's job to get them those resources.

The morning was perfectly normal to me. I headed to work ready for another day, but not ready for who greeted me. When I arrived at the meeting room I was shocked to see Isaac, an ex-Ranger and good friend, there with his Electabuzz, Turbine. We shook hands and hugged like old friends do.

"Been a long while. Haven't gotten to see you since February!" I exclaimed, "Man, how have you been? Turbine looks tough as always."

The Electabuzz beat his chest while smiling at the compliment.

"Been doing pretty decent. Forge keeps me busy, and I'm happy with the work." He replied thinking about the last three months.

"So why are you here?" I asked.

"We need something a little special for a project at the forge, and you'll be coming with me to go get it," Isaac said a big grin on his face.

"Just remember I outrank you know, so you're coming with me." I joked.

"Yeah yeah. I just wasn't cut out for all the political drama. I like to solve my problem with different methods." Isaac retorted.

"Uh huh so is that why when you get ticked you smash whatever you are working on?." said Alice who had just arrived in full formal uniform to boot.

I let out a whistle shocked to see her in any other than field gear or at least jeans. She rolled her eyes and stood next to me.

"Can you not make a big deal out of this? Tyler has me speaking with Rushing about hydrodynamics and water treatment. Literally, the last thing I want to do today." Alice explained leaning on me, "they won't even see my feet why do I have to wear heels today?"

"Because even two hundred years in the future professional attire still has to be uncomfortable. Have we not evolved? How can we save ourselves from the plight of heels and ties?" I joked with great ham as I played up the sorrow, "Besides you wear heels when we go out. Why are these evil?"

"There's a big difference between going to the lounge and spending all day at work." She shoved me gently and instead leaned on the wall.

My mind had already gone to my memories of some of the better nights at the lounge. Sure we were simpler more natural people, but we still liked alcohol and entertainment. The lounge was a kind of club bar thing for people to unwind and enjoy life at. Sometimes we'd get the whole gang together there, though Mike always refused. Usually, it was just Alice and I. it was a place to get out of the house mostly. Food, beer, music, dancing, and every Friday was a movie. Alice wasn't typically a vain girl, but even she got done up now and then when we'd go alone together.

A hard flick to my forehead brought me back. I glared at Alice not amused. She approved that my mood now matched hers. The meeting got underway when Tyler arrived with the others and assignments were handed out. As Isaac had said we were going to be headed for the ruins to search for resources.

The ruins were far different than the wilderness. It was a hostile toxic place with no room for the weak. Pokemon that lived there were desperate and even more dangerous. Many had become entirely hostile and would attack anything that drew too close. This wasn't a relocation or a patrol. This was us or them.

Before we even left town our first stop was the armory where we got equipped in field gear. body armor, heavy packs, and finally I grabbed a swat style Remington-8700 shotgun from the cabinet. It was relatively similar to its old world counterpart the 870, but it had a little more kick.

I had done firearms training for a couple years, but hadn't actually used one in quite a while. I even owned a revolver, but it wasn't something I carried on a regular basis. It was a strange feeling being behind a gun. So much power, and much more responsibility. Pokemon were certainly durable, but hardly invulnerable. During battles, Pokemon would beat each other into submission with elemental bases moves, but a shotgun or pistol wasn't quite the same. They bypassed the elemental auras and went right for the flesh and blood. Some Pokemon were durable enough to still take bullets others fast enough to dodge, but that just meant we had to be even better. Isaac walked over with a standard issue USP .45.

"Damn didn't think I'd get to use one of these again anytime soon. Was being a Ranger always so bloody?" Isaac grimaced looking at the sidearm.

"It's the ruins, Isaac. It's a bloodbath with or without us." I said solemnly, "Come on. We've got a job to do."

I left all my younger Pokemon at the ranch and built a team with Yanso, Rath, Lucas, Tex, and Pierce. Pierce may have been in his first stage, but he was the second Pokemon I ever trained, and I trusted him to hold his own.

Isaac had fewer Pokemon than I did. He only brought Turbine, his Electabuzz, Jett, his skarmory, Vent, his Torkoal, and Liam, his Makuhita. They were dependable experienced Pokemon. Turbine and Jett had been with him as a Ranger, and though the other two were newer, he trained them just the same. He didn't have a badge anymore, but he still had the spirit of a Ranger.

We decided to skip the hike and both flew to the edge of the ruins. Between the forest and the ruins was an open plain where only lichens and sparse grasses grew. This was the front line. As much as nature was creeping into the ruins the toxicity that had been there seeping into the soil persisted for centuries. What little did grow was often hardy weeds and other invasive species. They'd crop up in the cracked roads and in the decomposed debris of wooden structures. The Rangers did what they could to speed up the process and get better native plants growing, but even after two centuries, we had only made a few dents here and there. The chemical issue persisted longer the denser the area's construction was, so only certain places were cleared as suitable for reclamation. Castellia is still an entirely uninhabitable toxic waste dump.

We let our birds rest up, and sent out a Pokemon each. He had Turbine assist him, and I chose Rath. Rath was actually from the ruins. I caught him as a pup. He was powerful but prone to ferocity. It took a steady hand to raise him. He was loyal to me but still retained his feral nature to some degree.

Two hundred years of decay stood before us. Concrete and steel towering into the sky with rubble and wastes strewed around from the force of weather and degradation. Rath took the lead, his nose adapted to finding others in the hostile environment, prey and predators alike. We walked through the ruins the last memories of humanity. Sure they had escaped, but often we leave the tragedies behind. The years leading up to the arks were filled with famine and drought. Desperate people made drastic choices turning on each other in the panic. There's a reason the arks fit most of the population. We culled ourselves going from billions to a few million in a handful of years. Nature's final defense was the feral instincts in us all.

The winds howled through the open avenues, and the buildings creaked and cracked all teetering on the edge of stability. Rath kept his nose low and eyes high as he stalked along ahead of us. Isaac, Turbine, and I kept close together but gave Rath room in case he did spot something, or something spotted him. I fought the urge to strike up conversation with Isaac. Out in the open, we had to be vigilant.

By the sun it was about 1 maybe 1:30. We were in good shape, but hiking through the rubble made the last hour feel like three. Finally, we had to give in and take a rest. Isaac saw a good spot where a building had fallen across the street and made a large overhang. It was closed off on the opposite side by a wall of rubble. Rath sniffed it out and gave us the all clear. We sent out all our Pokemon to take watch. I sat down on a concrete boulder with a huff.

"So what even are we getting? You never said during the briefing." I asked after taking a drink from my canteen.

"Yeah, Tyler didn't want me mentioning it," Isaac said a bit of regret coming through.

"Why? What would need to be kept secret from the others?" I demanded now very concerned.

"He trusts everyone, but the less people who know the better. A while back Paul brought in some records from a police station that described a device some organization had developed. It was designed to force Pokemon to evolve." Isaac explained looking furious and disgusted.

"That's horrific," I growled.

"Exactly, the police reports say the device was taken and hauled off to a storage facility. After pouring over records we think we found the right one. Our job is to destroy that machine." Isaac said with fervor.

"Before Roamers find it," I muttered.

That name was highly outdated, and misleading. There used to be nomadic groups around especially in the years just after the arks. We called them roamers. Though some were harmless simply people who didn't want to settle there were others that were barbaric groups simply seeking to gain from settlements hard work. In the early years they were a major threat but now didn't stand a chance against the Rangers. Every major settlement was a member of the NARU, North Avance Ranger Union. We didn't get to communicate with too many others there were at least twelve other settlements throughout what used to be North Avance. Every couple years we'd send reps to a conference in the central most town Noric. Paul had gone to most since I joined the Rangers, but Tyler had gone before he became Ranger head.

Roamers weren't nearly as prevalent these days, but there were still a few bands that moved around. As far as we knew the only prevalent ones were at peace with the NARU. They could be as brutal as ever and the thought of roamers getting their hands on a device like this was horrifying. It could easily give them an advantage enough to take on a settlement. It's inhuman nature only added to the problem.

Evolution was a mysterious metamorphosis almost all Pokemon were capable of. It's caused by varied reasons, but always requires all the base needs of the Pokemon to be met and then to provide the drive for it to evolve. A strong bond between trainer and Pokemon can be one of the best driving forces. This, of course, makes it hard for Roamers who treat Pokemon as property and tools to get stronger evolved Pokemon. If anything the Pokemon would evolve to fight back and free itself.

Isaac pulled a portfolio from his backpack and let me inspect its contents. The device had been made by a shadowy organization called Team Rocket. The group was using it to force Magikarp to evolve into Gyarados. It was shut down by two Pokemon champions. The device was shipped over to Avance for study well outside of Rocket's area of operation. Now we just needed to finish the job.

We got up and started walking away from the alcove. Only thirty feet or so later Rath stopped and turned around. His teeth were bared and his muscles ready to launch him at a target. He looked towards me and growled. I dropped to the ground and he fired a blast of flames over me. I watched the blast fly by crashing into an angry Granbull making it fall backward. A pack of canine Pokemon were standing on the rubble that we camped beneath. At least fourteen Pokemon of seven species: The Granbull, two Mightyena, three Poochyena, two Electrike, two Houndour, and a Houndoom with a broken horn. They jumped down slowly stalking towards us.

"Old friends of yours?" I asked Rath.

He snarled and barked fearless even to the numbers. We didn't have as many, our chance was based on skill. Yanso, Tex, Rath, Jett, Turbine, and Liam made up our front line keeping the feral Pokemon from getting to the rest of us. The ferals began to howl in a monstrous chorus trying to intimidate us. There was a rowdy response from our Pokemon refusing to back down.

"Light 'em up!" I shouted over the roars of my team.

There was a barrage of attacks: Yanso threw bladed leaves, Rath continued blowing fire, and Turbine launched arcs of electricity from his arms as they spun up. The ferals scattered to dodge the attacks weaving around the broken terrain. I saw one of the Poochyena go down after being struck by turbine's lightning. It went rigid and dropped only twitching its front leg. The small fry weren't a big threat, but the big dogs were almost on top of us.

The Mightyena barreled into the front line. They both went for Liam knocking him down and drawing the attention of Turbine and Jett. One locked its jaws on Liam's shoulder while the other tried to hold off Mike's other Pokemon. Turbine wasn't having any of it and slammed down both arms on the Mightyena's head when it tried to tackle him. With two more heavy punches, the hyena was out cold. Jett jumped at the one attacking Liam bashing it with her steel beak. It was knocked sideways, but its fangs ripped at Liam's skin making him groan in pain and grab his shoulder. The Mightyena began to laugh, but Jett silenced it clamping her metal talons around its neck and squeezing until the Mightyena couldn't breathe.

My team meanwhile was working to deal with the Granbull and Houndoom. The pack leader spewed fire as he neared forcing Tex and Yanso to back up. Rath stood in the flames and howled invigorated by the fire.

Yanso taunted the Houndoom despite the type advantage it had over him. When the Houndoom leaped its jaws filled with fire it was knocked back by Rath. My houndour growled telling Yanso to find his own fight, this was his. Yanso and Tex were left to handle the Granbull who had run in on four legs but now stood on two. The Granbull and Yanso were fairly even at first. The two were trading punches, but both were quick enough to dodge most of them. Tex began charging towards the Granbull. He started slow but eventually was barreling towards him like one of the land trains.

"Rawwwwwwn rawwwwwwn!" He bellowed warning Yanso to clear out.

Yanso jumped back, but the Granbull didn't realize what was happening fast enough. Tex rammed into the bulldog's legs knocking them out from under it. It fell to the ground writhing until Yanso added insult to injury kicking the Granbull in the face to knock it out.

Rath and the pack leader Houndoom were rather close in size with Rath a bit smaller as he hadn't evolved yet. The wild one was more scarred and there was a fury burning in his eyes that went beyond Rath's. It wanted to kill, and not just to eat, but for the thrill of two hounds bashed skulls and bared their canines trying to prove their strength before the real fight. The two kept trying to prove superiority, but nothing was certain until one wasn't getting back up. The pack leader lashed out his front paws surrounded in a dark aura making a long slash along Rath's maw. With the real fight started Rath took only a moment to retaliate. His fangs sparked with electricity as he bit into the pack leader's front left leg. The wild Houndoom tried to slash away at Rath, but he refused to let go. The pack leader was slashing and biting, but nothing deterred Rath as he bit deeper and harder until he felt the bones snap in his jaw. He smashed his plated skull into the jaw of the wild Houndoom and threw it back. Crippled and bleeding the pack leader couldn't run and he couldn't fight. Rath wasn't unscathed, but he endured all the pain and the wounds standing over the wounded Pokemon howling in triumph. We had taken care of the rest of the pack and I looked up to my Pokemon. I could see blood in his fangs, but there was no fire in his eyes. He trotted up to me exhausted and looking almost sad. I knelt down to his height and scratched behind his ears. For the most ferocious of my Pokemon, he was still no monster. It wasn't an easy job to be a Ranger or a partner to one. Fighting your own kind could hardly be easy. I trained him well and given another few months he might just evolve. I looked to see the wild Houndoom writhing trying to limp away. It was unlikely it'd be able to survive, and I didn't feel like wasting ammo.

We checked over the other Pokemon, and found them to be mostly ok. None of the conscious Pokemon seemed remotely keen on sticking around us, so there was no point in trying to get them to come along. Sometimes you could convince Pokemon in the wilderness, but fully evolved Pokemon from the ruins would be a ridiculous challenge. Just like people Pokemon aren't quick to change their whole lives. I'm sure an exception would be possible just difficult.

Isaac and I tended to our Pokemon. Plasum, Rath, and Liam were not in any condition to keep fighting. They'd all rest up in their pokeballs for the rest of the trip. I actually had to bandage up Rath some. While the others just had their energy exhausted Rath had gone beyond that. He was a loyal dog, maybe even too loyal for his own good. With everyone accounted for Isaac had two Pokemon and I had four. We'd have to be very careful from here on. The warehouse was still ways away and of course, we had to make it back after.

We hiked along staying as silent as we could. I carried my shotgun with the safety off ready to fire. It was a good thing I wasn't typically jumpy. Everything was eerily still. We weren't the only ones getting by through stealth. Even a hard step could echo here. I imagine the fight earlier had been noticed by plenty. Carrying on even as the sun started to descend we reached the warehouse, or at least its remnants.

It was a squat but wide building. One floor with tons of square footage. I sent out Yanso as backup. The dilapidated building could be a perfect den, or at the very least provide another great place to ambush prey like us. Isaac followed suit with Turbine. Without any more info on where the machine was, we had the fantastic task of rifling through century-old trash. Though it wasn't really all trash I suppose. There was a seriously fascinating chance to look at how people used to live. I had my fair share of souvenirs back home. With the sun already low we might just have a chance to stick around and look through everything.

We moved silent and focused. Here we were soldiers. Rangers on a mission and nothing would stop us now. Piles upon piles of crates in various states of disrepair wound a maze through the building. We clung to the shadows, but there was little light in the first place. Only tiny shafts of the setting sunlight were able to reach inside through various holes. My hand was gripped tight on the handle of my shotgun. Something felt very off. I swore someone was breathing down my neck adding an extra weight of despair to the area. A hand on my shoulder nearly made me fire. I definitely jumped but Isaac kept me quiet. After I glared at him he pointed to a crate labeled with the code that was also in the dossier. We began to pry away at it, and eventually had Turbine just rip open the box. Along with a lot of packaging was a strange machine with dials and many cables. I started to pull it out but found the cables went much farther. Pulling out more packaging revealed that the cables continued out the other side of the crate into an open area with packaging and trash were strewn around. It was a nest. The cables went into the middle of the pile where I could see a bent metal antenna.

"I'm going to pull it free. Keep an eye out." I said.

"Jaklo we can just break the cables and box," Isaac said trying to stop me.

"I know but I've been thinking. This could teach us so much about Pokemon evolution. We should bring it back. Slate could advance his studies by years with this." I whispered back annoyed he was stalling me.

I also couldn't deny the possibility that this was just the power boost my team needed. This device could get us on par with Mike's team, or even above.

"It's too dangerous to keep around. Some tech should stay in the past. That thing can only teach us where humanity went wrong." Isaac grabbed my shoulder to reinforce his thoughts.

"But I ne-."

An echoing caw cut me off. I whipped around raising my shotgun.

Now perched on the roof of the warehouse was a giant Fearow. The razor beak Pokemon was normally about the size of a man, but this one was at least twenty feet tall covered in tumorous growths and scars.

It jumped down into its nest and swept its wings downward. The gust threw me back. I crashed into a pile of boxes a few meters away. I just grimaced and lied there trying to keep from blacking out. Even through the daze, I could hear the Fearow's battle cry. I felt a hand grab my shirt. I was dragged back further into the warehouse's maze of crates.

When I finally could open my eyes I saw Yanso kneeling next to me. We were hidden in the rubble for now. The Fearow was mostly restricted to where the roof had given way. I got to my feet and peered out into the cleared area. The Fearow was still there, but Isaac and turbine were missing. There was no way we were leaving here alive if that Fearow still was. I opened the breach on my shotgun. I pulled out the buckshot and put in a slug.

"Ready?" I looked to Yanso who nodded.

We both came out of our cover. I fired first drawing attention while Yanso raced across the room.

The Fearow sent another hurricane like gale my way, but I was ready for it and managed to stay upright, kneeling to keep my aim better. Yanso didn't want to be ignored. He dragged his claws through the concrete floor throwing massive stones at the Fearow. It bared the hit despite the stones slashing at its skin. It responded snapping its beak like a guillotine and scratching with huge talons. The two wrestled like furious monsters knowing only one would live. I fired again, but it completely ignored me. It pinned Yanso aiming its beak at his chest.

"Yanso!" I screamed

"Grovyle!" He replied

"Thunder!" A third voice joined in.

A huge bolt of lightning fell from the sky, through the hole in the roof, directly hitting the Fearow. I looked over to see Isaac and Turbine having made their way through the rubble just in time. Turbine charged in delivering a fury of punches, electricity arcing off his arms, each echoing with thunder as they hit. The Fearow cried in agony.

Isaac pulled out a steel pokeball and threw it at the massive Pokemon. It absorbed the Fearow and spun on the ground as it restrained the monster. Yanso slowly stood up resting on one knee before returning to me.

"Ya did good," I told him before offering his pokeball.

He shook his head stubborn as always.

"You aren't staying out in this condition."

"Grovyle." He groaned refusing to thin our group anymore.

"It's an order. We'll put him down. Don't worry." I told him doing my best to be confident at our odds.

Yanso begrudgingly entered his pokeball to rest.

"How long do we have?" I asked knowing that ball was just a temporary capture capsule.

"Maybe a couple minutes. We can't let it live it's feral and exceedingly powerful." Isaac said grimly.

"Yeah. I know." I nodded a solemn look on my face.

I sent out pierce and Tex while Isaac added Jett. It was six against one and I still felt terrified. We had never seen an abomination like this before. Not that I was surprised that the old world would make something like this. I gave Isaac the shotgun and had Pierce latch onto my left arm. I had practiced with him to act as a backup weapon if I ever ran out of ammo. His water blasts hurt just as much as bullets and I could give him much more mobility.

The capture capsule began to shake as it was close to breaking.

"Semper Vigilis! Stand and fight." I shouted

The capsule broke and the giant Fearow was released. Isaac had Jett ready instantly. The skarmory flew like a bullet into the much larger bird. Her steel beak stabbed into the Fearows side making it reel if only from the force. With it off center Tex had an opening to get close. He trashed his head against the ground spraying up jagged stones that cut at the Fearow's underside.

"Alright great start. Pierce lock and load." I ordered my Kabuto.

A sphere of water began to form in front of him as I took aim. The huge sphere shot off at surprising speed hitting the Fearow so hard it would have felt solid. Isaac took advantage and ordered Turbine to launch another thunder attack at the soaked Fearow. A huge bolt of lightning fell from the sky but crashed just outside of the building by the sound of it. The Fearow instantly took its opening and thrashed around injuring Tex and Jett despite their metal plates. The power was astounding, but it couldn't deter us.

I raised Pierce and ordered him to use another water pulse. Just as the orb was forming the Fearow lunged at me its lance-like beak aimed at my chest. Pierce fired the water pulse sideways throwing my arm across my body. The Fearow's beak crashed right into Pierce's rocky shell. We were thrown back, but I was uninjured from the hit Turbine came up behind using thunderpunch again to draw it off me.

"Pierce!" I shouted seeing how terribly injured my Pokemon was.

His shell had a serious crack in it and blood was pouring out of it.

"Don't you dare! I was supposed to take that hit, not you." I yelled at him furious at how sad I was.

"Buto…" He coughed looking at me with his little eyes.

He knew very well what he did. He saved my life. Another second and my heart was a kebab. Even while Turbine and the Fearow brawled I couldn't look away from my Pierce. He was one of my oldest Pokemon. He was one of my dearest friends. I had trained him for years. We had trained so hard, but it wasn't enough. I wasn't enough. It was the dragon all over again.

"I let you down… I'm sorry Pierce."

"Ka. Ka bu." He groaned, but there was a slight laugh to his voice

A brilliant light surrounded Pierce blinding everyone nearby. When all was clear again my little Kabuto had evolved into Kabutops. The evolution had largely healed him, but a gnarly scar remained across his armored head. It looked something akin to an eye patch as there was a large amount of discoloration around his left eye.

"Ka Bu Tops!' He hissed displaying his huge scythe-like blades.

"Pierce! You have the worst and best timing ever." I shouted astounded by the turn of events

The Fearow seeing its new foe raised its wings attempted to sweep him away. Pierce easily dodged the Fearow and got in close. He tore at the Fearow's chest causing heavy bleeding. His razor sharp claws super effective as he slashed the giant bird. As though purely to get revenge on the bird He lined up his right scythe and drove it deep into the bird's chest right where it would have hit me. The Fearow succumbed to its injuries and fell dead.

"That was... terrifying. This is why I retired." Isaac panted his body shaking from adrenaline, "We won by dumb fucking luck! No offense Pierce, but that's still dumb fucking luck!"

The Kabutops shrugged knowing damn well how close we came to losing. There was no way we were hiking home tonight, so we fortified the warehouse. We repositioned boxes and rubbish to block most of the gaps in the wall and used broken boards as spikes to keep things from climbing up them. With a camp set, we tended to our Pokemon. Rath was still the only one with long-term injuries. A couple hours rest and medicine would take care of the others' wounds. Since that was the case we left everyone out, save for Rath, so we could set up a guard schedule. Vent was instead given cooking duty as we used him as our campfire.

"I remember when we used to do this for fun. Nothing like cooking marshmallows over lava." Isaac joked.

"Yeah. Used to be just fun and games. To think way back when everyone got to be a trainer. Everyone got to have Pokemon and explore the world, and it wasn't because everything was on the verge of going sideways." I replied wistfully.

"Hey, you're a Ranger, Isn't it your job to be peppy and optimistic about saving nature?" Isaac once again tried to lighten the mood.

"Issac, let's be honest, I'm gold rank. I'm supposed to be above average and here we are, two people, with strong Pokemon and we struggled with one slightly stronger Fearow. A Fearow, I normally pick one up for Thanksgiving dinner. I don't know if I'm getting slow, or if the world just got a hell of a lot crueler recently, but I'm just not sure I'm ready for my rank sometimes. I love being a Ranger, do not get me wrong, but do I deserve to be?" I stared my friend in the eyes.

There was a pause. I could feel all my Pokemon looking at me, but I wasn't sure what they thought. I think they were more shocked than Isaac at what I had said.

"Do you deserve to be a Ranger? Jaklo, look at where you are. You are out in the middle of the ruins with a team of amazing Pokemon. We just took down a huge monster of a Fearow something we're likely to never see again in our lives. And you did all of this just because you want to help others. Just because you care about everyone back home. Jaklo, I'm not sure we deserve you sometimes." Isaac said happily confused by my feelings, "I don't get how you can feel so concerned when you are one of the best around. This wasn't a normal situation. You can't act like this is the norm. Yeah everyone can improve; If you give up you end up like me a terrified engineer who hides away unbending metal all day."

I sat silently taking it in.

"Yeah, you're probably right. I just can't wrap my head around it all sometimes and feel like I'm not doing enough. Like I need to be better. I need to be ready that I could treat this is normal. There's only Alice, Maria, Paul, Tyler, and I now. If something came up I have to be the best possible."

"Yeah, that's a thing called motivation. Drives you to be better. It's a good thing."

"Alright alright. I want to get some shut-eye it's a long way home tomorrow."

I lied down on my bedroll and nodded off totally exhausted. Maybe I was too hard on myself, but one thing was for certain. There were going to be far greater challenges ahead and dumb luck wasn't gonna cut it anymore.