I still don't own Pokemon, which is probably a good thing. Will and Kaylee are all mine, but Ars is the property of a close friend (Thanks for letting me use him, Persona-Memories!).
Will and Kaylee had just gotten finished with their shopping, and had stored everything away in their bags when something barreled into the blind Ranger. With a small yelp, he fell, feeling a familiar weight land on top of him and an oddly stretchy arm cushion his head as they hit the pavement. By her obscene shout of surprise, Will guessed that Kaylee hadn't seen it coming either, but since Serrath wasn't freaking out Will only had one guess as to who it was.
"Ars! Come get Xera off of me!" He exclaimed, laughing as the Breloom affectionately nuzzled his cheek. He lightly rubbed the Pokemon's mushroom-like head as a hand grasped his and hauled him to his feet.
"Sorry 'bout that, she saw you and just took off before I could even blink. She didn't hurt you, did she?" Will could almost see the look of concern on his friend's face, and it honestly bothered him. Ars worried too much as it was, he didn't need to add to that list.
Will shook his head, laughing. "Come on, I don't look that breakable, do I?"
Ars chuckled, apparently deciding to ignore that question, before clapping a hand on his shoulder. "Looks like we're partners again, huh?"
"Yep." Will focused on gently prying the ever-cuddly Xera off of him while Ars and Kaylee said hello to each other. Well, at least it seemed that the initial shock of seeing her partner get tackled was starting to wear off; she didn't sound surprised anymore. "So did they tell you what the mission was, or were you left in the dark?"
"They told me; yeah, I was surprised too." Ars added as a look of surprise crossed Will's face. "So you guys have everything? And who's your pretty friend there Will?"
Will felt a sharp elbow nudge his side, Ars being as gentle with him as ever. "Yeah, we're good. This is Kaylee. She's our partner on this too, so play nice." He returned the teasing grin that he knew was planted solidly on Ars' face. He knew that to many, Ars looked rather rough or gloomy, even intimidating to some. He was tall, lanky, his hair was always doing whatever it pleased or falling in his eyes, and sometimes Will just couldn't help teasing him a bit.
Will could hear Xera and Serrath chattering nearby, and even heard Fedor joining in every now and then; at least they seemed to be hitting it off, if the occasional outbursts of laughter were anything to go by. They were following their Ranger partners, completely lost in their own conversation. "Come on, let's get going. I'd rather get this mission done a few days early than be late and flunk; you know how the higher-ups are about their schedules."
"Very true, plus I'd rather not face the chewing-out we'd get; you know how endangered Chimecho and Surskit are as it is." Kaylee chimed in, falling in to Will's right as they started walking. "Wait, we do know how to get to Mt. Eles…right?" He heard her ask a few moments later, uncertainty becoming visible in her voice. "I'm pretty sure that getting lost in the forest is definitely not good for staying on schedule."
Will nodded and reached into the side pocket of his bag, quickly fishing out a folded, laminated rectangle. "I've got us covered; the storekeeper said that this is the best map of the area available. He said it even had all the pathways marked down on it."
Long fingers brushed against Will's as the map was taken, and he heard Ars laugh after it was unfolded. "Wow, he wasn't lying, this thing looks like a bowl of green and grey spaghetti! At least we can read it though, unlike when we were sent to Mt. Silver last year."
"You guys were sent there?" Kaylee asked in alarm; everyone knew that Mt. Silver was dangerous, even if one didn't believe that a legend lived at the peak. The Pokemon were practically feral, the inside was a labyrinth, and hypothermia was a constant threat. It definitely wasn't a nighttime stroll through Kanto's Mt. Moon, by any means. "I thought that place was absolutely off-limits to Academy students!"
Will spoke up, grinning sheepishly at her. "Well…it wasn't like that until last year. I can't say that we didn't play a part in that rule getting thrown in, but those three Steelix definitely started it. I mean, all we did was accidentally splash it when we went down a waterfall on our way back down. How were we supposed to know that it would go berserk and call its buddies for help?" He thought for a moment, before continuing with a nudge to Ars' elbow and a playful grin. "Although, maybe if you hadn't yelled at them Ars, they wouldn't have been so rough with us."
"Hey, they broke your leg with one of those Rock Throws! I couldn't just stand there and let 'em do that…" He could almost hear the pout in Ars' voice, a vast change in how he had sounded that day.
"I know, though I've gotta say, for a few moments during that battle I was actually a bit more afraid of you than I was the rampaging Steelix; I'd never heard you get so angry. I can only imagine how the Instructors looked when we came back all dirty, bloody, me on your back, and with the news that there were three fewer Steelix to worry about in the area."
Will heard Kaylee sigh and could almost imagine her shaking her head with a look that read 'What have I gotten myself into?'. "At least there's not supposed to be any Steelix on this island, or I'd be nervous about traveling with you two. I prefer my bones intact, after all- Ah, here's the path we want, shall we be off?" She asked as they approached the edge of town, where the noise began to fade to a more natural sort of quiet.
"Absolutely, ladies first!" Ars chirped, polite as always.
Kaylee laughed and continued forward before being followed by Will and Ars; Ars had probably done some sort of silly bow or something, like he often did when he started to feel comfortable around someone. "Hey guys, just promise me one thing, okay?" Will looked up, though a flash of amusement from Serrath told him that it likely wasn't too serious of a promise. "Let's try to not get ourselves killed, okay? I don't want this place to become off-limits too." The smirk in Kaylee's voice made Will counter by shouldering his cane and winking in her direction.
"No promises, but we'll try. If those poachers have any Steelix though, all bets are off!"
