Fiore Region
The crackling of gravel underneath footsteps broke the rhythmic sounds of nature. The
pokemon flying overhead could be heard making their squawks as they flew off into the unknown.
The region was very peaceful, very green. The stamp of man had not truly been put on the Fiore
region. It was very close to as it had been found, very serene and natural. There was not much
foreign movement except for two lone travelers walking down the long and open road.
"...With my first badge in hand I set my sights to my next challenge. It wasn't going to be
easy, but the things in life that are most valuable, never are..." A calm slightly raspy voice said
as its owner closed a small book in her hands, "And that's the end of chapter one."
"Huh...so after all that trouble, he just accepted his victory and moved on?" A second voice
asked. This one was a boy, a teenager that is. His voice had a slight highness to it, an almost
energetic quality.
"Well, that's what you do. No matter how hard the struggle, when you've accomplished part of
your goal you don't say that it's 'good enough', you keep on going." The female replied, her boots
slowly walking onwards. Her boots reached past her ankle, yet not far up her leg. Her skin was
white with a slight bronze color tinted into it, as though she spent much time in the sun. She
wore a black skirt which clung tightly to her legs, reaching several inches above her knees. From
her waist dangled a loose brown belt which held several pokeballs on it, beside them being a
coiled rope as well as a small pouch.
With each step she took, the object on her back would shift. It was a very peculiar looking
object, hard to describe by all means. It was shaped much like a vibrant red rock or shell, with
pits of yellow along several spots. Most peculiar was the two slimy looking yellow noodle like
straps that wrapped around the womans shoulders, tugging at her open red vest. The woman
took in a deep breath of the heavy scent of wood and dirt as she adjusted her long volumesse
wavy brown hair from her face.
"This region is really strange you know?" The boy broke the silence. The boy looked much
more plain than the woman. He was a teenager, around fifteen years old, his face held a sleek
yet maturing look about it. He had very short hair, which seemed to exagerate his slightly
protruding ears. He had on his back a large backpack, stuffed to the brim with supplies. His dark
grey shorts were held up by a belt which had several pokeballs attacked, each one clanking
slightly with each of his steps. He gave his black t shirt a tug as he adjusted his red short
sleeved jacket, the heat of the sun getting to him.
"It's a land unlike many others" The woman said with a smile glancing at the trees which lined
the gravel walkway, "It's very...minimalist...The Rangers try to keep it as close to nature as
possible. Here everything is more centered on the well being of all of nature than anything else."
"Uh huh, well...it's certainly peaceful" The boy replied with a shrug of his head
"It's home" The woman added on as she continued forth down the empty peaceful road
"...so..uhh...Hillary...what exactly do we do here again?" The boy asked picking up his pace to
catch up with his comrade
"That's up to you Josue." Hillary replied simply as she grabbed ahold of her vest, resting her
arms for a moment, "Because, if you still really want to be a Ranger...this is where you start."
Josue let forth a smirk as he and Hillary began passing through a small grove of trees, luckily
blocking the sun for at least the moment.
"Well, I officially want to be a Ranger, so...what do we do?" Josue affirmed yet again
"There's quite a bit you need to learn, and Ben is where you can really learn." Hillary
responded crushing a small twig underneath her boot, the snap reverberating in the trees
"Ah of course...who's Ben?" Josue asked confused whie watching a small smooth squishy
looking head poke out of the shell on Hillary's back
"Well, if you're going to be a ranger, this is where you need to start" Hillary retorted with as her
boot crushed a twig underneath it, "There's quite a bit you need to know, and here, when you
meet Ben is where you'll really learn it."
"Alright, cool. Cool...who's Ben?" Josue asked confused as out of the shell on Hillary's back,
Shuckles smooth squishy looking head slithered out, looking around
"Okay, so, lesson one of forty two. The Ranger Hierarchy" Hillary replied, "First, understand
that there are seven classes of rangers. There are Area, Field, Park, Mantyne, Knights, Reserve,
and Spec. Area rangers are a very special kind of ranger. They're mainly active in Ranger
controllled regions such as here in Fiore, and they're best known for their Area Capture devices."
"Oh, I know some of this, my dad and mom are part of the Ranger Reserve" Josue replied
with his usual tone of upbeat cluelessness
"Huh? You never told me that" Hillary retorted with a bit of surprise, "That's something I would
have liked to know..."
"Never came up before" Josue replied seeming to shrug the question off without a care in the
world
"...anyway...most rangers start as Area rangers, I did" Hillary carried on, ignoring the new bit
of information, "Shuckle was my partner, that's how come I can't bare to be without 'em by my
side."
At the saying of this, Shuckle dropped its head down as though to give aknowledgement. Its
eyes were happily shut, showing signs of appreciation. Josue found the creature very odd, yet he
liked it, it reminded him of the wonderful way of nature.
"After being an Area Ranger for a long time, I was allowed to switch to what I am now, a field
Ranger" Hillary spoke lifting her hand to pat Shuckles smooth flesh, "Field Rangers usually do a
lot of the field work, roaming around making sure things are in order, doing whatever our
superiors tell us to. I'm lucky enough to be allowed to continue my pokemon journey with an
occasional task being tossed my way."
"That sounds like a pretty good deal" Josue replied squinting as a ray of sunshine broke
through the grove, piercing directly into his eyes for a moment.
"I had to talk to Sven myself, he's the leader of the Field Rangers, and thankefully he was
understanding." Hillary replied with just a brief smile thinking back to the fateful meeting, "Let's
see, then there are Park rangers. They're led by Kate, and they tend to all reserves and parks,
they just kind of take care of them and the wildlife."
"Bor ing" Joue blurted out in sarcastic response
"Yeah, their jobs can be a bit tedious" Hillary acknowledged, "But i'm also not a fan of the
Reserve. The Ranger Reserve, as you should know, is comprised of the police force and
emergency services. They're led by Ranger Jenny."
"Yeah, I knew that one" Josue replied
"Now...these last three classes are really different, and take much much more training, skill,
and drive than any of the others..." Hillary began staring off down the road with a serious grimace
on her face, "The Mantyne Rangers. Led by Drake. They're mainly staioned in the seas, but they
are well known for having a lot of training and being prepared for different types of threats should
they arrive, but even they aren't anything compared to the Ranger Knights."
"Ranger Knights?" Josue said with an upward inflextion, "I think my dad's mentioned them
before, don't they deal with legendary pokemon?"
"Yes and No" Hillary replied simply, "Led by Keith. They are highly, highly trained rangers.
They go through years upon years of training, preperation, and all manors of tests to become
Knights. They are the hardest of the hard. They aren't taught to be robots, they're taught to solve
problems through the best means. They have to deal with the greatest of threats. They have to
deal with legendaries as well. Extremely rare and extremely powerful pokemon are what they
deal with. They don't use traditional means of battling either, they also don't use savage means.
If there is a legendary in the picture, they are the ones that solve the problem."
"Wow..." Josue said awe struken
"And last of all are the Ranger Spec ops" Hillary continued, her tone a little less critical than
before, "Unlike the Knights, I really can't say much...really...Not only do I not know much, no one
really does. All that's allowed to be known is that some woman named Karen is in charge of the
Spec Op Rangers. Other than that, its all theories and conspiracies."
"...I'm just a bit curious" Josue broke a momentary pause, "Who leads all of these leaders?"
"Hehe...that would be..." Hillary began
Not Much Longer
His boots gave a slight thud as he slowly passed through the room. The room was
completely wooden, the floor had small grains of sand and dirt on it which wore it down slightly.
Hillary sat in her firm wooden chair with her legs tightly clamped and her back straight as a pole.
Josue, on the other hand, slouched seated backwards in his chair beside Hillary. His bag
haphazardly tossed on the floor.
"Hoe...Sway..." The man said in a very gruff voice as he looked through a thick yellow folder in
his hands. Peering over the folder was his hat, the sides of it folded up leaving a longer front and
back, on the very front being a silver pin with the words ' Artibus vita, Artibus resecandaque'
engraved into it. His brown leather boots made another solid thud with another one of his steps.
"Yes sir, Josue" Josue replied looking at the mans blue jeans which looked somewhat sun
bleached
"And Miss Hillary, I understand you are reccomending Hoe Sway to be a ranger" The man
asked in his gruff voice as he slowly peered over the folder at Hillary
"Yes Sir, I believe he's a natural..." Hillary replied extremly nervously
"Excuse me..." Josue interupted abruptly, "...Who are you?"
"The name's Deegan. Walter Deegan" The gruff voice replied dropping the folder down onto
the desk, revealing a rather well kept yet rugged mustache connecting to a goatee. His face
looked elder yet tough, he indeed looked like a seasoned Ranger, his ragged ranger jacket only
affirming it.
"Wait...as in the..." Josue began
"Yes as in the!" Deegan replied in a great hearty voice, still retaining its gruff nature
"Sir, please! I know he has some...problems...but he has more than eno..." Hillary began to
plead before Walter threw his hand up, the woman stopping immedietly
"Oh..I know about this boy." Deegan began, "Thinks because Mommy and Daddy are
rangers, he's one too. Thinks because he made it to the first round of the Unova league he's a
great trainer..."
"How does he...?" Josue muttered, darting his eyes to the folder
"Now then. Normally Ben and his stupid Raichu would be here to deal with you, but he's not. I
am" Deegan continued, his voice sounding unintentionally harsh, "Believe it or not boy, I saw that
match. And yes, you did indeed show some promise. Believe it or not, I actually have worked
with both your father and mother, and I know how skilled they are. Let me explain this to you, I
know your skill level and what you are capable of ten times better than you ever will. Ben may be
in charge of this region, and he may deal with the rookies more than me, but I am more than
qualified to deal with you."
Josue tried to open his mouth to speak, but for the first time in a long time he found he
couldn't. Josue found he was at a loss for words. It was such a foreign feeling that he had half a
mind to open a bag of chips to give him an excuse for not talking.
"Miss Hillary, to my understanding you are still permitted to continue your little 'journey',
correct?" Deegan asked turning to the nervous young woman
"Sir, Yes sir" Hillary spouted her programmed response, to which Deegan held up his hand to
silence the woman.
"Well then...turns out you're in luck Joshy Boy" Deegan began as he pulled forth a small
stack of papers and outstretched them to Josue. Josue quickly began looking at them to see
several pictures of a strange set of locations, "See those? Those are the Mirage Locations in
Hoenn. Heard of 'em?"
"Umm..." Josue hummed in confusion, the staggering lack of words creating an
uncomfortable knot in his stomach
"The Mirage Locations are very peculiar locations rather distinct from the external world
around them" Deegan replied simply, "They are best known for their mirage like status in that
they are only visible at extremely rare times. In fact, we've come up with the little number 65535.
You have about a one in 65,535 chance of ever seeing the loactions. We believe that it's due to a
special magnetic field around the loactions that attracts certain elements which reflect and repel
light in odd ways, making it difficult to actually pinpoint where the locations are. As such, Ben and
I came up with a little plan...If you can visit both the Mirage Tower and Mirage Island and bring us
back some proof and some data, we'll accept you into the Rangers program..."
"Wait...so two loactions with a 1:65535 chance of being seen...doesn't that roughly mean I
have a one in 4,294,836,225 chance off hand of ever seeing both these locations and thus
become a trainer?" Josue blurted out with a quick calculation in his head
"Take it or leave it." Deegan replied simply taking a large step forth, "Miss Hillary, Josue, I beg
your pardon, but I must leave now. Contemplate the offer."
Like a shadow when the lights are thrown on, Deegan dissapeared without a trace. The
experienced ranger was like a spectre, gruff yet mysterious, old and wise, intimidating and
respectable, Walter Deegan fit all of it.
"...Josue I understand if..." Hillary began before being quickly cut off
"Alright, well we don't have a lot of time, we better get going if we want the best chances of
seeing those islands." Josue said proudly as he sprung up and hoisted his bag over his
shoulder.
The boy casually strolled forth for the exit, not a care in his mind as he readied for the journey.
Hillary couldn't help but allow a smile to spread across her face, the boy's optimism was
contagious.
As the front door could be heard closing, Josue on his way, Hillary began yet was suddenly
stopped by a voice.
"Miss Hillary?" A voice familiar yet soft came forth. As Hillary turned around she could see
Deegan standing mostly hidden by the shadows, his hat in his hands allowing his short grey
peppered hair to show.
"Yes sir?" Hillary asked straightening up, a bit confused
"Am I correct in saying you will be with Josue every step of his journey in the Hoenn region?"
Deegan asked, his voice far less critical than it had been. In fact, what had been very firm and
intimidating, had suddenly turned oddly comforting. His voice sounded like an older and wise
man, a grandfather's voice.
"I plan to" Hillary replied nodding her head, unsure of wheter to be casual or formal in her
answer
"Please, do me a favor" Deegan spoke in his calming voice, Hillary leaning in close to hear his
words, "Make sure he succeeds in his mission. I know it isn't easy, but i'm positive it can be
done."
"I don't fully understand..." Hillary said confused at Deegans change of heart
"I apologize for any confusion, but I need your help in assuring Josue will complete his
mission." Deegan replied, "I believe in you..."
Many Years Ago
"Ah, so this is what you've been up to?" A young man wearing a hat with its sides folded up
said as he sat down on the thick metal girder
"A Job is a job" The man he sat next to replied, his hand over his brow casting a shadow over
his face, "What I do here sets the foundation for the future, for my children, so that they can
make the best of their world."
"I guess so, but isn't this just a bit of a step down from your old job?" The hat wearer asked in
his gruff voice as he patted down his small chin beard and mustache, "As a Ranger you were
doing just the same, you were protecting this land and its pokemon for the future generations.
Your brother in law and I miss you."
"Everyone has a different role to fill to protect our future." The seated man responded leaning
back, overlooking the vast landscape, "And my role is here, to build this Frontier. Your role is as a
Ranger, to protect the pokemon."
"But that was your role too. And you were a damn good Ranger, why are you so content to be
a mere worker now? Because you have a family?" The gruff voice questioned
"Deegan." The second voice began running his hand over the cold metal of the steel he sat
on, "I know no one is ever supposed to say it, but I feel as though something bad is on its way.
To be perfectly honest, I feel as though my time on this planet is limited. But...that's true for
everyone. We're all mere specs of dust in the wind. But, there's nothing wrong with that. As long
as in the end you can look back and say, 'Yes...I did something worthwhile in my life'. And you
know what? I did. I wouldn't give up a single second of my life. But now I just want to do one
more thing. Even if my feeling is just paranoa, I don't really care. My Family is my future, being a
Ranger was my past, and now being a worker is my present. I like it. And I will continue to do it.
Not for me, for my children, for my wife, for my brother in law, for you, for everyone."
Present Day
"...For everyone" Deegan muttered to himself as he sat at a large wooden desk, holding a
small framed picture in his hand, "Heh...you old b stard, you did it. And I see your future now.
Your nephew huh? It seems to run in the family."
"Oh lord, you aren't going to cry are you?" A feminine voice asked as Deegans door slowly
creapt open revealing a petite female figure standing before him
"What are you doing here?" Deegan asked in his gruff voice as he tossed the picture into a
drawer quickly
"We have business to go over." The woman replied
"Tough sh!t, I have Ranger business to deal with. You can take it up with Bob." Deegan
responded aggrivated
"I don't think you heard me..." The woman began as she threw a folder foth onto Deegans
desk, out of its corner a piece of paper protruded ever so slightly revealing a name. Josue. "We
have business to discuss."