I must say, I wasn't thrilled to wake up in a hospital bed with a bunch of tubes in my arms. I mean, who likes needles? I had to force myself to stay calm and not disturb the tubes. Still, it was pretty nice to not be in pain, and also not dead.

I looked around. I was in a small room with other empty medical cots around. Gray walls, tile floor—it looked like the interior of a ranger base clinic. I sighed in relief. It looked like we had made it to Wintown after all.

It wasn't too long before a woman in a lab coat walked in. She seemed more preoccupied with reading whatever was on her clipboard than with me, but I only had to quietly mutter 'um' to get her attention.

"Aha! You're awake!" she exclaimed happily. She came over to stand next to my bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Butter, uh, better," I stuttered. "Um, what happened?"

"Venonat venom," she replied. "Nasty stuff. It won't kill you, but you'll wish you were dead, am I right?" I nodded. I had never been in so much pain. I shifted a little bit, just to make sure it was all gone. My muscles were still a bit sore, my throat hurt from the salt water, and my wounds had been bandaged up, but overall it was tolerable.

"How long have I been out?" I asked.

"Only a few hours," she replied. "The antidote clears everything up pretty quickly."

"And my friends? They're-"

"Yeah, they're outside. If you're feeling up to it, I can send them in now."

"That would be great," I replied. "Also, um, I'm a bit thirsty?"

"No problem," the doctor said with a smile. "I'll send them in with a glass of water." She closed the door behind her when she left. I spent the few minutes I had to myself going over my blurred memories. The poison made it hard to tell what exactly had happened, but I pretty distinctly remembered Murph being very upset. I knew it was kind of dumb, but I hoped they were both okay too.

I grinned as they both walked through the door. Percy was smiling too, but Murph was just overflowing with emotion. He ran to my cot and hugged me around the neck- right on my injury.

"Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Murph. Ow. Murph, I can't breathe, ow, ow, let go," I said, despite being half-strangled by him. I limply clawed at his back to try and make him let go.

"Don't… do that, man!" he choked out. "I thought I was going to lose my best friend." He finally loosened his embrace.

"Well, you scared me too when I had to resuscitate you," I replied. "Although, I was the one that threw you off the cliff in the first place," I laughed.

"Yeah, Murph got me all caught up on what you guys did today," Percy chimed in. "Like, damn. You did some pretty crazy stuff- what rank even are you?"

"Uh, still rank one," I replied with a shrug.

"Wait, really?"

"Yeaaaah, Spencer kind of hates us for no reason," Murph put in.

"I wouldn't doubt it, coming from him," another voice said from the doorway. It was Elita, the leader of Wintown, and she had brought me my cup of water. She had seemed cold over the video phone, but she felt much warmer in person. "Spencer is an arrogant bastard, and he has been since we left the academy. He's been on a power trip ever since he was made the leader of Ringtown. You have a lot of potential, Lunick. He must be too blind to see that." I smiled. It was a rare day that I got a compliment on being a ranger.

"Thank you," I replied, blushing.

"You can all sleep in this room tonight, if you'd like," she continued. "You should all rest up. We've got international aid coming tomorrow to help with our situation, and I've got an important job for you all. Sleep well."

"Goodnight."

The doctor was right when she said the antidote cleared everything up quickly—I was able to stand on my own almost immediately. We all showered, and the Wintown rangers got us hot meals and new uniforms. We didn't go to sleep right away. Murph and I chatted with Percy to learn more about him. He had apparently left his partner pokémon in Summerland to defend the town just as slowpoke had. Talking was nice and relaxing, sleepover-esq.

But after we turned off the lights, I was kept awake with my worries. Sure, we had dry beds and warm meals, but how were the other rangers faring in captivity? I wondered if they were being kept in cells or cages, or if any were hurt, or if they had been fed, or worst of all, if they were still alive. I had experienced first-hand the murderous tendencies of those four kids—would they even bother keeping the other rangers alive? I thought that my worries would keep me up, but I was thoroughly exhausted and fell asleep with ease.

In the morning we all suited up and met with Elita and the doctor downstairs in the main room. Other Wintown rangers were busy, so she directly addressed the three of us.

"As I told you last night, I have an important mission for the three of you," she began. "I'm worried for the well-being of the rangers in captivity, so I have devised a plan to get them help."

"Without Lunick, we never would have known that the poison used in the super styler built-in poké assist was venonat venom," the doctor chimed in. "But since Wintown has a medical supply depot, we were able to get loads of the stuff. The venom won't technically kill you, but if left to its devices long enough it can wreak havoc on the victim's nervous system. They'll probably be okay, but it would be best to get them medication as soon as possible to ease their suffering."

Elita continued. "This is where you come in. We need some way to smuggle the antidote to those injured inside. This is your mission: you are to carry the antidote secretly to those held prisoner, by being captured yourselves."

I suddenly felt like I was going to throw up. I couldn't hold attention and put my hands on my knees, bending over to breathe. Murph put his arm on my back and gave me a comforting rub.

"I know this isn't what you wanted to hear after working so hard to evade them yesterday. But after hearing of your exploits, I believe you are more than capable of taking on this mission," she continued. "And we're not just sending you out into the dark- we've narrowed down their location to the Sekra mountain range, near the Fiore Temple. You'll be wearing tracking devices as well to better guide our actions. International aid is coming today, and we're hoping to mount a rescue mission by the end of the day. Odds are you won't even be stuck in there for 24 hours."

My breathing was ragged as I tried to calm myself down. Murph continued to comfort me, but I'm sure he could feel me shaking. Percy was still at attention, but with his jaw clenched—he wasn't any more excited about this mission than we were.

"I should also mention that if you accept this mission you will all be immediately promoted to ranger rank 10," she added, sensing our worry.

"Are- are you even allowed to do that?" Murph stuttered.

"I am damn well allowed to do that!" she responded. "Plus, after your performance yesterday, you are all more than worthy. But my main reasoning is that ranger rank 10 unlocks all of the capabilities the styler has—all of the assists, longer capture line, maximum partner pokémon- and you'll need those abilities for this mission."

"I accept," Percy said clearly and forcefully. He was obviously not thrilled with the concept of the mission, but could see its necessity.

"Thank you," Elita said softly. "And Murph? How about you?"

"I'll go if Lunick does."

"I see. Lunick?"

I still felt sick. Last night I was finally relieved to be out of danger, and now I wasn't so much being thrown back into it as being asked to walk into the arms of the enemy- willingly! I was certainly not in any shape to give her an answer yet.

"Lunick," she repeated. I looked up, and she was kneeling down as to be eye level with me. I could see the mother in her expression. "You don't have to do this if you don't want to. I chose the three of you for this mission because your comrades are the ones in there, and I assumed you would want to at least see how they're doing. And, um," she stuttered, looking away nervously, "please don't see this as me trying to manipulate you, but if you accept this mission, I give you permission to rub it in Spencer's stupid face."

Murph laughed loudly at this. I smiled a little bit and chuckled nervously. I knew she was waiting for my answer, so I took a strained breath and replied.

"I'll do it."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." No. Arceus, no. But I knew that part of being a ranger was doing things you really didn't want to do, even if you were scared. And she had made several good arguments. Sure, this mission wasn't a million percent necessary, but narrowing down the location of the prisoners and smuggling in first aid was an important need. The way Murph had responded made my yes two yesses, and they needed all the help they could get. I was also probably thinking that the three of us wouldn't be of much use anyway sitting at the ranger base doing nothing. All of these reasons led to me saying yes, but if I had said no, it would have prevented so much trouble in the future.

The other rangers helped outfit the three of us for the mission. The antidotes and first aid supplies were strapped into a black vest to be worn under the clothes. The antidote was to be delivered with several syringes—not the preferred method of treatment, but the best we could do under the circumstances. The tracking devices were tiny chips that we each wore on the insides of our socks. And just as Elita had promised, we were all promoted to ranger rank 10—the highest rank there is, other than leader. She gave us another motivating speech (I spaced out and missed it) and sent us on our way.

The mountain path was drier and warmer than the icy cave we used to get to Wintown, but the air was still brisk. The foliage along the way up the mountain was gorgeous- laurel bushes and coniferous trees lines the way, and when the forest fell away in the thin air, it exposed a view of all of Fiore—we could see all the way to Summerland from there! A winding creek, clear as crystal, traced the trail. The pokémon along the way were peaceful and lax; there wasn't a lot of trouble on the way up the mountain, not even a trace of the villains.

Despite the beautiful surroundings and constant reassurance from my friends, I couldn't calm down. The climb was already difficult, despite my reluctance. My healing injuries crippled my movement, and I still ached from the trek the day before. As we climbed higher the air grew thinner, and we had to take more frequent breaks. We made sure to get up the mountain in good condition—we drank plenty of water, took breaks, Murph even managed to bring some snacks. And even though my weaknesses weren't intentionally slowing us down, I was glad we didn't rush. I was certainly in no hurry to get there.

The terrain became dangerous near the peak. The road ended, and the only way we could proceed was a series of rickety rope bridges and with the help of pokémon. When we reached a waterfall, it became apparent that there were two ways to go forward—one near the top, on the ridge, and another further down near the tops of the trees below. Our group split up here- Percy took the lower path, and Murph and I took the upper.

As we climbed, we rapidly ran out of places we could search for the hideout. But the thing that most worried me was the lack of patrols. I just figured we would get captured on the way there—we wouldn't have to actually find the place. The path was dotted with ancient ruins, but no signs of any recent human activity. We finally came to a ridge. It was covered with thick vines and therefore climbable, and the path didn't seem to lead anywhere else. Murph and I looked at each other, shrugged, and climbed all the way up to the top.

When we reached the top of the plateau, we knew we had found the place. The area was flat, and there were several helicopter-like carrying vehicles parked there, similar to the one I had seen just outside of Fall City. Otherwise, the area was deserted. And a giant boulder stood in the middle of the airfield. Murph laughed as we walked across towards it.

"It's almost like they wanted to hide the entrance," he giggled, "but they parked all these things around like its normal. And even if those weren't here, why on earth would anyone suspect the giant freaking boulder on an otherwise flat surface?" We walked up to the boulder, and when Murph saw a shiny red button on the side of it, he lost it. We had to rest a minute so he could get all laughed out. I managed to smile for him. Yeah, their ineptitude at hiding their 'secret' base was laughable, but I still felt nauseous. This was it—we were handing ourselves over to these terrible people. For the greater good, of course, but still.

"Well, are you ready?" Murph asked. I couldn't help but shake my head no and hug myself tightly. Visions of being captured were filling my head: I could feel them grabbing my wrists and forcing them behind my back, and being pushed against a wall, and being dragged off to who-knows-where, and maybe being tortured with those super stylers, and Arceus forbid they just kill us and get it over with. I crumpled and knelt on the ground, but Murph was immediately at my side.

"Hey, bud, it's alright," he said, trying to comfort me. He grabbed under my arm and helped me stand again. "Come on, come on, you gotta be brave now," he said, softly slapping the side of my face to try and snap me out of it. I tried to push the visions down and looked him in the eye. "Elita's going to come rescue us, remember? We're not even going to be in there that long." I tried to say something in return, but all that came out sounded like a strangled sob. "They won't be too rough with us if we're just handing ourselves over, right? Come on, we have to go."

Murph reached out and pressed the button on the side of the boulder. The thing made a mighty whirring noise as what looked like a metal tube rose out of the ground. The tube opened into an elevator. Murph started to walk forward, but I struggled against him. It felt just like walking into a cage, and I was having none of it.

"It's okay, Lunick, I'm right here," Murph continued. He was gentle, but still continued to pull me towards the elevator. I like to imagine I would have fought harder to get away had it not been for Murph's comforting words. But he was persistent, and before I knew, the elevator doors had shut behind me like the jaws of some great animal.

With another whirr, the elevator began its descent into the villains' base. I had finally reached to point of terror where I could take a deep breath and force myself to stop shaking so hard. There wasn't a doubt in my mind that those elevator doors would open and we would immediately be set upon by these terrible people. I funneled my anxieties into anger—I was going to be captured, but I wasn't going down without a fight. I clenched my teeth and fists in anticipation as the elevator doors slid open once again.