(I wanna ask something before we start this chapter. Do you guys not mind my inconsistent upload schedule? I might be motivated to write faster thanks to Nan the Keyblade Master, so shout-out to him doing his own Legends Arceus story, check it out if you haven't already!
The Reviews
LogBook: Key is definitely romantically involved in life believe it or not, yeah!
Jacob9594: Thank you, come again :D)
As the trio followed Palina to Iscan's dwelling, the rangers would notice a pair of Aipom carrying a pack full of goods, and a bespectacled man who was panting in exhaustion.
"Haaa...haaa...come back here!" He shouted.
"Wonder what that's all about?" Key wondered.
"Looks like that man was robbed by the Aipom," Palina observed.
"Yeah that's not at all surprising," Vanessa said with an eyeroll. "Even where we come from, Aipom tend to be notorious tricksters. I think some rangers spend a good portion of their careers picking up after Aipom shenanigans."
"Do you rangers speak from experience?" The warden inquired.
"Well in my case it's more I hear stories from other Rangers. What about you, Brey?" Vanessa informed.
"A few times, though every time I caught up to the little rascals, they don't do it out of malice," Aubrey added. "One time I tracked down a group of Aipom that hit a clothing store, but I found them trying to hold a fashion show."
Palina blinked, tilting her head in surprise. "I...see. A fashion show. Okay."
Key giggled. "I myself am no fan of thieves, but that's hilarious."
"Though we might as well help this guy get his stuff back," The older ranger told Vanessa. "It's on the way to Iscan's, we're in no real rush right now."
"Oh yeah, so hey, let's get these Aipom under control," Vanessa agreed.
"I'll leave it in your hands, rangers," Palina spoke. To the robbery victim, Palina called, "We'll get your pack back! They'll take care of it!"
"Thank you, Warden Palina!" The man called back.
"Well you heard the lady, rangers! Go get 'em!" Key encouraged.
"Yeah!" The Sinnoh native sent out Teddiursa and Petilil. "Should be some good experience for these two as well!"
As for Aubrey, she would grab Axel's ball and send him out. "Axel, help us out here!" Axel shook himself off as he was called out, ready for action. "Okay Axel, I...have only ever ridden on a Rapidash once before, but we need help chasing after some Aipom who stole some stuff. Think you can let me hitch a ride?"
"Pony? Ponnnnnnnn..." Axel seemed to be visibly thinking about it, before nodding and letting out a confident huff. "Ta!"
"Alright! ...Gonna be kinda weird without a saddle, but whatever," The older ranger would slowly get on Axel's back, the Ponyta doing his best to hold strong for them.
Vanessa cracked a warm smile at this display. "Okay. Let's go!" Vanessa and her Pokemon would be out front first, Axel taking his time to get accustomed to the feeling of a person riding on his back.
'I know we can have one of Arceus' chosen few help us out here, but I don't know how long their response time would be...' Aubrey thought to herself. "C'mon Axel, you can do this buddy..." She softly encouraged.
"Everything okay back there?" Vanessa would ask.
"Yeah, we're just getting used to this!" Aubrey called, nudging Axel along as he kept on trotting. The Aipoms would notice the duo, resuming running away from the rangers and their Pokemon.
"Oh, they are fast little scamps." Vanessa took note of this, seeing where they were headed and quickly got a plan in action. "Okay Teddiursa, head them off! Petilil, I'm counting on you to give me a good dose of Sleep Powder!"
Teddiursa and Petilil would go to execute their orders, Teddiursa running to cut off Aipom, only managing to block one of them as that one tossed the pack over to the other. The blocked Aipom would be lulled into a drowsy state by Petilil's Sleep Powder, making it easy pickings for Vanessa's Capture Disc.
"Good work, you two!" Vanessa praised her Pokemon now that one of the Aipom was tamed. Teddiursa was really happy to be of help, hopping up to give Vanessa a high paw, whereas Petilil merely had a smile on her face.
As for Axel and Aubrey, the Ponyta was starting to hit his stride. "Crap, he's getting away..." Aubrey muttered to herself. "C'mon Axel, we can do this! For your mama's sake!"
"Pony..." Axel kept on going, but Aubrey hit a chord with the Fire-type at the mention of his mother. No doubt if she saw him now, she would be incredibly proud of how far he's come, albeit weirded out that he was letting a human ride around with him. What this also did was remind him of what he was doing on this adventure, and if he could have the strength to do this? He'd have the strength to save his mother from this Alpha phenomenon in no time. It was enough to light a fire under Ponyta, quite literally. "Pony...TAAAAAAAAAAA!"
"Woah!" Aubrey nearly fell off of Axel at the sudden speed burst he picked up, the Aipom turning around both in surprise at the speeding bullet coming its way, and what was happening to Axel - a bright light!
"Ai!?" The Aipom's eyes went wide.
"Oh! Looks like that's going to be another Rapidash ride for Brey," Vanessa too was surprised, as were her Pokemon, but she was very happy for her partner's Fire-type teammate. When the light had faded away, Axel had evolved into a shiny, blue fired Rapidash, standing on his hind legs with a proud whinny.
"Rapiiiiiiiiiiiii!" He cried.
"Capture ON!" Aubrey flicked out her Capture Disc without missing a beat, the shock of their approach being just enough to get a loop on Aipom and quickly taming it.
"Good work, you two!" Vanessa repeated to her partner and Axel, having caught up with them.
Aubrey hopped off Axel's back, patting his head with a proud expression. "Atta boy, Axel! I knew you could do it."
"Rapiiiiiii," Axel returned the gesture, his mane flaring up for a moment.
"Aww…" Vanessa was enamored by this display, so much so that there was a bright light behind her that she only noticed by the pack carrying Aipom pointing it out to her. "Huh?" Turning around, Teddiursa wasn't there, but in his place was an Ursaring! "Oh hey! You evolved too!"
"Ursa!" Ursaring would take his turn to pat Vanessa's head, causing a fit of laughter from Aubrey.
"Looks like he's gonna return the favor from all those headpats, partner," The older ranger mused. "Alright, let's get this stuff back to its rightful owner. And bring the Aipoms with us, Van."
"Got it!" Vanessa responded. To the Aipoms she added, "Come on you two, you need to apologize for what you did to that nice merchant." The Aipoms would go along with the rangers, Aubrey riding on back to deliver the goods back.
"Ah! I see you got my goods back all safe!" The merchant thanked humbly. "Warden Palina told me about you two, how you and your friend here tamed the Lady of the Ridge."
"Yup, that was us. It's kinda what Pokemon Rangers do," The older ranger confirmed.
"Aiiii..." The Aipom looked down, both of them not too happy with themselves.
"Wh-What's gotten you both meek all of the sudden?" The man curiously asked. "Are you actually feeling remorseful?"
"That they are, sir," Vanessa responded casually.
"Pokemon can feel remorseful towards the common man like me?" The man then continued. "But you've heard the stories! Attacking people, settlements, and now thievery."
"Well, once we tracked them down, we told them that what they did was wrong and they felt bad, now they wanted to apologize," The younger ranger then remarked.
"Pokemon have feelings just like you do, dude," Aubrey added, folding her arms. "They can feel just like me, have passions like all of us, we're not exactly night and day when it comes to differences if you ask me."
"...Your ranger friend is weird, miss," The man then said to Vanessa.
"Oh no, she is perfectly normal," Vanessa pointedly replied.
"Oh, all right, all right. No need for the pouty face, Aipom, no hard feelings," The man relented, causing the Aipom to perk up. "I just hope you learned your lesson. No more pranks, please-" He'd then be cut off by the second Aipom reaching for the black sash around his waist and undoing it, causing his trousers to fall down. "Wha!? Oh come ON! You couldn't wait until I was done scolding you!?" His words fell on deaf ears as the Aipom duo scampered off.
Vanessa let out a chuckle at this while Aubrey and Key shared a laugh. "Yeah, that's about right." Vanessa mused.
"I suppose we're good to continue on, rangers?" Palina inquired as the man went to fixing his pants and sash.
"Yeah we're good," Vanessa confirmed.
"Then we're off! To Iscan's house!" Key cheered as the trio continued to follow along with Palina.
"From the way you responded to him about Aubrey, it gave me the impression that you've had to say that she's normal more than once before," Palina observed.
"It's more how some of the people around Jubilife Village react to Pokemon," Vanessa clarified. "I have found a need to speak up for her there more often."
"And I too am normal," Aubrey insisted. "Yeah sure, I do some stuff people would think of as weird, but it's all part of being a ranger. Understanding how a Pokemon is feeling or what drives them to do certain things goes a long way in the field."
"Interesting...yes, that would be in line with how our clans operate when Pokemon are concerned," Palina agreed. "It's how wardens are able to watch over almighty Sinnoh's champions as effectively as we are able to."
"Exactly. We're all part of the same world. We have to know how to live together," Vanessa concurred.
"Absolutely! We all make each others' lives easier," Key mused. "Though I'll never understand those who only care about how well Pokemon battle...not the professors, since that's their job of course, but you know who I'm talking about, rangers."
"Oooooh yeah." Aubrey would've continued further, but went silent upon seeing a familiar blonde out in the Coastlands. Volo. "Ah jeez, him again?"
"What's wrong with him?" The warden raised an eyebrow.
"She thinks he's creepy," Vanessa quickly informed, but then thought of something. Something that's been a pattern of Volo's. "He does have a tendency to show up where we are though."
Speaking of Volo, he'd take notice of the group and wave over. "Why hello there, rangers! Fancy meeting you here."
"Well if it isn't the president of our fan club in Hisui," Aubrey snarked. "Whatcha doing out here in the Coastlands? There aren't any ruins out here as far as I know."
"I'm actually on the hunt for some plates," Volo explained casually. "You know what I'm talking about, don't you?"
"Plates?" Vanessa opted to play dumb as a red flag went off in her head at that moment.
"These plates." Volo would hold a stone tablet that Vanessa would recognize on the spot - the Spooky Plate. "From my understanding, almighty Sinnoh's chosen champions each have one, and others are scattered around Hisui."
"Interesting." Vanessa would take a moment to read and memorize the engraving on the Spooky Plate, which read 'The other side of this world was given by the Original One to its raging third.' "I don't think I have seen any of these," She lied.
"At least now you know what they look like," Volo responded, putting the Spooky Plate away with a smile. "If you do happen to find any other plates, do let me know. I'm hoping to collect them all."
"If we do, maybe," Aubrey added, keeping her speech terse as she wasn't as good of a liar as Vanessa was. Key kept herself quiet, knowing what was going on but opted to leave herself out of the conversation.
"The way one collects those plates held by almighty Sinnoh's champions reminds me of the tale of the ancient hero," Volo added. "The one who was said to have battled against almighty Sinnoh Himself."
"Huh. That would be nice if it was true," Vanessa continued the lie, with Volo seemingly going along with it.
"I'm a believer in legends of old," Volo hummed innocently. "The ten Pokemon who are said to have followed the hero? Their power came from almighty Sinnoh. I wonder why they would want to bite the hand that fed them..."
"So there's eight plates just lying around Hisui, right?" Aubrey asked.
"Yes. That's how I found the one I had," Volo informed.
"Huh. Well if we see any we will let you know," The younger ranger promised.
"I have full confidence you can find them!" Volo waved the ladies off as he went on his merry way. But something puzzled him internally. The word among the Galaxy Corps was that Kleavor and Lilligant had been stirred into a frenzy, but their frenzies had been quelled. This told him that someone had curried their favor, but wasn't entirely sure who. He did have a hunch though...the Ginkgo Guild member opted to not say anything openly.
Once he was out of earshot, Palina folded her arms, having seen right through the lie immediately. "Okay, we all know you have at least four plates," She said. "What was that about?"
"How the heck did he know about those…" Vanessa took a moment to compose herself to explain to the others. "That. That was the Spooky Plate, the one that denotes what happened to Giratina. 'The other side of this world was given by the Original One to its raging third." She looked up to the sky as the sun was setting. "There is only one place he could have found that."
"And where would that be?" Key wondered.
"Turnback Cave," Vanessa answered. "It's close by...and it's where the wall between this world and the other side is at its thinnest."
"I see...but you do know that all this proves is that Volo has gone to the Turnback Cave, correct?" Palina pointed out, playing Devil's advocate. "The plate simply could have been there for all we know."
"Very true...though…" Vanessa put a hand to her chin in thought. "I have never heard about this ancient hero. That one is all new to me."
"It must've been something that you never learned about in our world," Aubrey mentioned. "Which kinda stinks..."
"Does that mean in your world...our culture was lost to time?" Palina asked with a frown.
"Possibly. Though with us here it means we can tell others about it," Vanessa responded.
"Then..." Palina paused, lowering her head with a sniffle. "I don't know if...anyone else has requested this of you. But promise me that when time comes to return to your own world, do not let history forget about Hisui. Irida and the others all deserve their stories to be told, from all the positives and negatives. Even Iscan too..."
"Lemme guess, are you on good terms with this Iscan?" Key wagered.
"I...I'll tell you when we get there. We're almost at his home," Palina responded.
"I was planning on doing that anyway. Do not worry about that," Vanessa promised the warden.
Once they approached Iscan's house, a quaint little abode with a tent like roof, Palina would compose herself and knock on the door. A timid voice would be heard.
"Do...do I have a visitor?" The voice asked.
"Yes. It's me, Palina," Palina answered. "I brought company. Don't worry, they're friendly."
"I-I'll be right out, Palina! Just gimme a moment," The voice responded. A moment later a man would step out of the home, dark blue hair shaved down and brown eyes that matched his skin tone, wearing Diamond Clan apparel with bandage like wrappings around his arms, though as Vanessa could tell, it wasn't due to injury.
"Are you Iscan?" Aubrey asked.
"Y-Yeah, that's me," The Diamond Clan warden confirmed. "Who are you three?"
"I'm Vanessa Parker," Vanessa introduced. "I'm a Pokemon Ranger."
"Aubrey Bradford. I'm also a Pokemon Ranger," Aubrey seconded. "Our other friend here is Kiara Dermott, a merchant. We know her as Key."
"I see..." Iscan responded, softly nodding. "So um, I'm Iscan of the Diamond Clan...rangers...with a Celestica Flute?"
"That's right," Palina confirmed. "They're hoping to help us out with the situation regarding Firespit Island."
"Ah...then, they know of your stance on the matter...r-right?" Iscan then asked.
"...Of course they are." Palina softly smiled, and what happened next surprised the three - Palina giving Iscan a peck on the cheek, the man having a soft smile on his face.
"Aww…how sweet," Vanessa's surprise was pleasant.
"You two are a thing?" Aubrey's surprise in contrast was more genuine.
"Yes...we are a 'thing'," Palina answered. "Iscan here is terrified of Ghost-type Pokemon except for Basculegion. When we were younger, he and Basculegion had saved me in the past, and...well, I guess you could say it was love at first sight. The clans wouldn't approve, and only Irida knows. She keeps it under wraps since we're best friends like that."
"How awful..." Key frowned. "Love like that shouldn't be divided by who belongs to what clan."
"Much as I'd l-love it to be that way..." Iscan sighed. "We've had these kinds of meetings in secret..."
"Mmm..." Aubrey closed her eyes in thought. "Speaking of Basculegion...we need to meet him. You know what we have to do?"
Iscan gulped. "S-sudden visits like this give me a shock, but...yes. I do know what to do, but, um..."
"Let me guess, it involves Ghost-types?" Vanessa wondered.
Iscan wordlessly nodded. "If you...want Basculegion to warm up to you, giving him his favorite snack would help. But in order to make it, I...it's more than a little difficult...more like impossibly so."
Palina would go ahead and continue for him. "It's okay Iscan, I'll tell them," She rubbed his back with a hug. To the ladies, she continued, "We have all the materials, the problem comes from the fact that you need to bring a certain Pokemon that only appears at night around here. Dusclops."
Vanessa had the most deadpan 'Bruh' look imaginable when the species was mentioned. "Oh joy…Dusclops…why is it always Dusclops?"
Iscan shuddered. "Oooooh...even hearing its name fills me with dread..."
"You understand the problem here, right rangers?" Palina followed-up.
"Oh we've had run-ins with Dusclops before," Aubrey answered. "Ghost-types are tricky to work with in and out of the field, yeah, but I've been able to give 'em the slip just fine. Soft soled boots will do that for you."
"Something tells me that Vanessa isn't as gifted in the art of stealth as you, Miss Ranger," Key mused.
"No she is. I just don't find myself using it all that much given how we work as a team," Aubrey corrected.
"T-That way being...what exactly?" Iscan curiously inquired.
"Oh, she takes charge front and center. I provide support. We win through teamwork!" Vanessa answered confidently.
"That's nice...I can see why," Iscan responded.
"I'll stay here with Iscan. Can you three go out and find a Dusclops so we can make Basculegion's favorite snack?" Palina requested.
"Well I ain't afraid of no Ghost-type, and that's not starting today," Aubrey mused. "You got it!"
"Right behind you, ladies!" Key seconded.
"Time to ghostbust," Vanessa mused.
"It is about to be nighttime," Palina noted. "So you should be able to find it."
"Y-Yeah. The one-eyed Pokemon is out at Deadwood Haunt. You'll know you're there when you find the...wrecked boats..." Iscan trailed off. "Before you go, um...I did have one question...Vanessa, right?"
"That's my name, yes." Vanessa stood at attention to listen to what Iscan had to ask.
"Are...are all rangers as brave as you two?" Iscan asked. "Your nerves aren't steel, they're...they're titanium...it's positively frightening..."
"I like to think we are." Vanessa would give him a reassuring smile, which seemed to calm his nerves a bit.
"What's your secret? Do you...have some sort of thing you do, or...what, exactly?" Now Basculegion's warden was curious.
"Hmm... I think it is that we can trust in our bonds with each other and our Partner Pokemon," Vanessa wagered.
"And...you, Aubrey?" Iscan continued.
"For me bravery is the will to face pain and danger to do what's right for the things that can't be replaced in life," The older ranger answered. "And I'm more than willing to do just that for the people, Pokemon, and environment." 'It's why I turned down being Alola's official champion,' She added to herself, happy to not regret that decision in the slightest thanks to Key's urging to follow her heart.
"Okay...I-I do hope you'll be okay out there," Iscan encouraged meekly. "I-I'll be here with Palina."
"Got it. We'll be heading out there. C'mon, you two!" Aubrey would be first to go off to Deadwood Haunt.
"Right behind you, Miss Ranger!" Key eagerly ran off after the Summerland native.
"Coming, Brey!" Vanessa called, hurrying off after the two.
It would take a bit of trekking and taming an Alpha Golduck along the way, but the trio had managed to reach Deadwood Haunt. Rain was falling as the night surrounded them, Key reaching through her bag.
"Man, I can hardly see past my own eyes..." Aubrey frowned, Otzawott following her around and dancing in the rain. "Can't really use torches here either."
"Worry not, Miss Ranger, because I came prepared." The merchant fished a headlamp out of her bag and put it on.
"Oh hey, nice thinking Key!" Vanessa complimented. Key sported a bright smile as she turned her headlamp on.
"I'll light the way for us, ladies!" She cheered.
"What else you got in that bag of yours?" Aubrey wondered.
"Oh, aside from stuff for cold weather that I've got back at our house, I've got the essentials - first aid kit, non-perishable rations, this headlamp, some rope...y'know. The important stuff," Key answered.
"Oh good." Vanessa was pretty happy that Key had brought first aid supplies, something for her to use. She then looked around and noticed something. "Uh, girls? That is a very large amount of Drifloon I'm seeing."
"Yeah, that is a lot of them...think they could try to take us on a journey through the skies somewhere tropical?" Aubrey wondered.
"Do you want to be?" Key then asked.
"...Not really," The older ranger sheepishly answered. "I'm just trying to be funny."
"Yeah." Vanessa was internally laughing though, seeing as they were already living in a tropical paradise back at home. "Let's keep an eye out just in case."
"Copy that, Van," Aubrey agreed, following alongside Key as she took the lead around the haunt.
The various shipwrecks showed combinations of nature and Pokemon causing the wrecks, only adding to the creepy atmosphere of the place. They could see Duskull floating around, but it was not the Dusclops they were looking for.
Vanessa would be rummaging through the crates in the area. "Well we have crates…" She then lit up. "We have supplies in these!"
"Oh shoot, really?" Aubrey perked up. "Show me what you got in there!" Vanessa would rummage around a bit more.
"Oh hey, materials to make Poke Balls! And…ooh…" She then paused to grab something, the Hisuian version of the Ultra Ball.
"Oh that's a good find right there," Key mused, shining her light on the crate so they could see what else was inside. "I think this is about it?"
"Yeah." Vanessa nodded in confirmation. "If we see any more crates we should see if anything is useful inside."
"Absolutely! We might end up needing that stuff," Aubrey agreed, but then paused hearing something from Otzawott.
"Dewott! Dew dew!" The Dewott called.
"Found something, Otzawott?" Aubrey's attention went to her Pokemon.
"Wott!" Dewott pointed a scalchop at a red light farther down, rushing off after it.
"H-Hey! Don't go running off without us!" Aubrey would throw caution to the wind and raced after Dewott.
"Miss Ranger! Wait up!" Key called.
"Where you going, Otzawott?" Vanessa also called, racing off with Key. It wouldn't take much to see where Otzawott was going, having spotted what looked to be a Dusclops farther down the beach, although one red light would turn into a few - there wasn't just one Dusclops there, but multiple.
"Oh...that's where he was going..." Key nervously chuckled, seeing the Dewott was more than ready to face them down.
"Okay, that is a decent sized group of Dusclops there," Vanessa remarked, her Arc Styler ready to launch.
"Dusclops..." One of them, seemingly the group leader, reared up with a Shadow Ball to launch, prompting Otzawott to get in a ready stance, slashing at the attack once it was launched. Though this would only get shut down and him to stumble back. "Dusssss..." The lead Dusclops made a motion with its right hand for all the others to go on the attack.
"Okay yeah, not happening!" Aubrey shouted, getting her Arc Styler in hand. "Capture...ON!"
"Kleavor!" Vanessa would call out her Kleavor. "Give Otzawott some help! Capture ON!" She'd then flick out her Capture Disc alongside Aubrey.
Otzawott would get to his feet after Kleavor would more successfully cut down another Shadow Ball meant for him, two of the Dusclops focused on them while the rest directed their attention to the rangers and Key.
"Dewwwww..." With scalchops in hand, Otzawott faced one Dusclops with Kleavor facing the other, standing in a very...impassioned stance.
Vanessa was working on a Dusclops, forced to sidestep a Shadow Ball thrown her way. "Man these guys are aggressive," She noted.
"Maybe so, but we still have our wits about us!" Key mused, taking on a more chipper approach as she used one of her mallets as a baseball bat, smacking a Shadow Ball off into the horizon, home run style. As for Aubrey, she had more than Dusclops attacks of Shadow Ball and Dark Pulse to deal with, but also attempted to use Leech Life on her.
"Nope! Mimikyu did that to me back in the Ghost Trial!" Aubrey shouted. "I'm not letting that happen again!"
"Yeah, I don't wanna have to treat that again either!" Vanessa agreed. Kleavor would meanwhile batter one of the Dusclops with a Stone Axe, followed up by Otzawott jumping over Kleavor, taking it down with a double cleaving scalchop attack.
"Dewwwww!" Otzawott cheered, getting taken off his feet by a Dark Pulse from the other Dusclops fighting them. "Wott!" Kleavor would turn around and get in front of Otzawott so he could get back on his feet on pure instinct, keeping the Water-type guarded.
With the Dewott getting to his feet, he looked around him to see how bad the situation was getting. Not only were the Drifloon getting in on the fun, but the trio were starting to get overwhelmed as they were trying to think of what Pokemon to send out.
"Dewww..." Otzawott hissed. No, not like this. He knew he could overcome this, that there was a fighting chance in there somewhere. And he'd be damned if he let not just himself down, but the rangers and the professor down. Such a dishonor wouldn't be allowed...but with the numbers the wild Pokemon were throwing at them, honor wouldn't be the answer here. There was a time for niceties, but this was not that time.
"Otzawott, you okay over there!?" Aubrey called, narrowly avoiding a Leech Life.
"Dew...DEWOTTTTTT!" Otzawott roared, bright light enveloping him.
Vanessa's mood improved upon seeing this light. "We've got an evolution incoming!"
"Ooh, let's see that Samurott!" Key cheered.
While they were right in expecting a Samurott, they were not expecting what Otzawott would look like fully evolved. The shell on his head would possess two extra spikes on the sides with a wavy protrusion on the front instead of the spear-like protrusion they knew. Said shell on his head and legs would also be black in color with red accents, and wavy whiskers longer than Unovan Samurott's. With one seamitar drawn, Otzawott stood on his hind legs with a fierce glare.
"Samurottttt..." He got out, ready to turn this fight around.
Vanessa and Aubrey's eyes went wide with surprise at this. "...Oh wow, a Hisuian form of Samurott!" With her Arc Styler she'd scan Otzawott and made a fortunate discovery. "...Oh dang, Brey! He's part Dark-type now!"
"Just what the doctor ordered!" Aubrey beamed. "Alright Otzawott! Let's show 'em who's boss around here!"
"Sammmmm!" Otzawott agreed, slashing at the Dusclops attacking her with his drawn seamitar, battering them away with supereffective damage and making taming them with the Arc Styler much easier.
"Mmm, we only need to catch one, right Vanessa?" Key then asked, seeing as the attention was now on Otzawott and Aubrey.
"Yeah, we only need one!" Vanessa confirmed.
"Then...perhaps I could catch one!" Key then suggested, sounding a bit crazy to Vanessa right now. "What? I simply think that it'd be a boon to me and our cause."
"Then go for it!" Vanessa encouraged. "Dusclops can take a lot of punishment. Even more so if we can evolve it."
"Absolutely!" Key smiled, taking the Ultra Ball that Vanessa had found earlier and went for a tamed Dusclops to catch instead. She exchanged some words with the Ghost-type, and it ended with said Dusclops willingly being caught.
"Okay, good," Vanessa had a more determined stance now. "Let's finish this up!"
"Right behind ya!" Aubrey agreed, Otzawott giving a courteous nod and familiar smile as he did so.
With a lot of effort on his and Kleavor's part, and quite a bit of looping from Aubrey and Vanessa, the situation would be finally under control, all the Ghost-types tamed and heading off from the hectic battle.
"Phew!" Vanessa had finished the last capture, Kleavor looking mighty proud of the battle's victory. "Good work, Kleavor." Otzawott had sheathed his seamitar, his dorky smile returning as he tried to do a little happy dance in his new form.
"Boy am I glad you were able to do that...though, how were you able to?" Aubrey wondered.
"I think he took one look at the situation we were in, and the resolve to win is what caused him to evolve," Key guessed. "That makes sense, no?"
"Samu." Otzawott confirmed.
"Man...you were awesome out there," Aubrey smiled, relieved that they got through okay. "Stay awesome for me on the rest of this mission here in Hisui, okay?" She'd get confirmation in the form of Otzawott's horn tapping her on the shoulders, almost as if she was being knighted.
"Pfft…" Vanessa stifled a laugh. "Look at that. That's adorkable."
"Yeah, that's one way to put it," Aubrey smirked. "Alright, should we get back to Iscan's? My hair's soaking wet right now..."
"Yeah. Mine as well…" Vanessa let out a yawn. "Plus feeling a bit tired."
"I'll help Iscan make Basculegion's treat while you two get ready for bed," Key offered. "Let's hurry back and get you two dried off and cozily asleep."
"Please tell me you brought the sleeping bags from our place in the village too," Aubrey added.
"You bet I did, Miss Ranger!" Key confirmed. "You're welcome in advance."
"Oh thank you..." Aubrey sighed with relief. "Now c'mon, before Van falls over..."
"Yeah," Vanessa chuckles, letting Aubrey wrap an arm around her for support. "I'm too tired to put up an argument against that."
With a trek back to Iscan's place, Key would stay outside with him to make Basculegion's treat, letting Aubrey and Vanessa get dried off with Axel and Quilava's heat, changing into their Survey Corps uniforms for pajamas.
"Man...today's been a day, huh partner?" Aubrey asked, getting tucked into her sleeping bag.
"That it has, Brey," The younger ranger agreed. "Was a good one though if you ask me."
"No kidding..." Aubrey tilted her head to the side to see the two Growlithe of Palina's sleeping next to each other. "Aww..."
"Irida came by earlier to drop them back off in my care," Palina told the rangers. "She amazed me with being able to take care of them as well as I can."
"Well that's good," Vanessa positively responded.
"Sleep tight. Tomorrow we'll head out to Ginkgo Landing to summon Basculegion," Palina told them, going to get ready for bed herself.
"Yes ma'am..." Aubrey was soon out like a light once her head was comfortably nestled on her pillow. "Zzz...zzz..."
"Niiight…" Vanessa herself would conk out asleep, having some peaceful sleep that night.
The next morning...
When Vanessa and Key were awake, Aubrey, once again, was still fast asleep.
"Well, it was definitely challenging, but we were able to make some food for Basculegion," Key told Vanessa, holding a green ball of food in hand.
"Good work!" Vanessa complimented. She would see Aubrey was still passed out asleep, but spotted one of the Growlithe, the smaller one, was awake and inside. She quickly got an idea on what to do. "Hey there little guy. Mind waking her up for me?"
"Grow?" Growlithe wagged his tail and looked up at Vanessa.
"Give her a good old lick to the face!" Vanessa instructed.
"Grow! Row!" Growlithe barked, walking over to Aubrey and licking her face, getting Aubrey to stir and giggle.
"Vatonage, I'm..." Aubrey's eyes opened to see Growlithe. "...up."
Vanessa chuckled, kneeling down and giving Growlithe headpats. "Thanks Growlithe!"
Aubrey sat up in her sleeping bag, wiping her face off. "Sorry about that, I was having a dream where we were back in Alola," She apologized.
"Still a little homesick?" Key asked.
"A bit...yeah," The older ranger admitted.
"I'm sure we will get home soon enough, Brey," Vanessa assured her partner.
"I hope so. Kinda miss Skarmory and Vatonage, and all my other teammates," Aubrey confided.
"Grow?" Growlithe looked puzzled again.
"Oh don't worry, little guy," Vanessa spoke kindly. "It's a problem we're dealing with." She went ahead and started giving Growlithe headpats. The smaller Growlithe would nuzzle up against Vanessa with a smile, Aubrey getting out of her sleeping bag.
"Iscan and Palina are waiting on us, just so you know," Key informed. "The other Growlithe is with them. The little one will guide us out to where they're at."
"Okay. Just gimme a moment to get dressed, and I'll be outside," Aubrey said.
"Okay then. We'll wait for you." Vanessa would go outside with Key and Growlithe, leaving Aubrey to get dressed and ready for the day.
Once Aubrey got herself dressed, she'd join her friends outside and do a few stretches, the morning sun rising up out of the horizon. Vanessa would join her as she looked out at the sea.
"Ah, love me a good ocean view," The younger ranger mused.
"You and me both, Van," Aubrey smiled. "Hey, uh...sorry about the homesickness thing. Truth be told I had that starting out at Ranger School."
"Don't be Brey," Vanessa responded. "I feel it too. Just gives me the motivation to get this done so we can go back home."
"Gotta think more like you, got it." Aubrey nodded. "Can't wait to hit up Izzy's dojo..." She chuckled. "What about you? Excited for that too?"
"Of course! It will definitely be a good vacation after this Mission," Vanessa agreed with a smile.
"I'd join you there, but I have my own vacation lined up after this excursion," Key informed. "Ever heard of Poketopia?"
"Oh yeah I heard of that place. Famous battle island," The younger ranger recalled.
"Yep! Plenty of colosseums, plenty of battle formats, and plenty of potential customers," Key giggled. "Though I'll try and enjoy myself first and foremost while out there."
"Don't get lost in your work out there, yeah," Aubrey mused. "Though what kind of battle formats are there?"
"Well, the most 'controversial' one would have to be the Fortune Battle," The merchant explained. "Where the Pokemon you used are selected by a spinning dart board between you and your opponent."
"...Wait...you mean to tell me there's battles where you use other trainers' Pokemon?" Aubrey blinked in astonishment. "...Whose bright idea was that?"
"Your guess is as good as mine, Miss Ranger." Key merely shrugged. "Though it would be funny to see two trainers bringing 'bad' Pokemon to try and mess up the other."
"Yeah it would!" Vanessa laughed.
Growlithe would bark to get their attention, leading the group on over to where Iscan and Palina were waiting. They could see that Iscan was much more sure of himself in doing this.
"Hey there, ladies," He greeted. "We were just waiting for you."
"What took you?" Palina wondered, the little Growlithe running over to his bigger sibling with the two playing around on the sand.
"Oh, Aubrey was sleeping in so the little guy woke her up," Vanessa answered.
"Grow!" The younger Growlithe barked in confirmation, staring up at Palina with a happy expression.
"I knew leaving you there to guide them was the right call," Palina smiled, giving the little Growlithe headpats.
"Okay, are we ready to call Basculegion?" Iscan asked the trio.
"I've got the snack right here, Iscan! Call away." Key was certainly ready.
"Okay! Let's see this Basculegion." Vanessa was also ready, mainly to see what this Basculin evolution looked like.
"Well in that case, let me summon Basculegion." Iscan would get out his own flute, playing a tune on it as the group faced the water. Through big splashes and ripples, they would see the Pokemon of the hour approaching - a large green fish-like Pokemon with a jagged mouth, a spine aligned with dark gray lines, and what gave off the impression of a red plume of smoke around its torso and tail. This was Basculegion, another of almighty Sinnoh's chosen few.
Vanessa was both surprised and impressed. "Dang that really does look like an evolved Basculin," She whistled.
"Only White-Striped Basculin can evolve into Basculegion..." Iscan explained. "Basically...Basculin needs to take a lot of recoil damage in order to evolve. The souls of those who didn't make it upstream are with it in spirit..." He shuddered a little, shaking it off.
"Well, go on." Key handed over the Basculegion food to the rangers, not bothered much by the story Iscan was telling. "Give him the treat."
"Very well then." Vanessa took the treat for herself, approaching Basculegion. "Here you go, big guy."
"Shraaa!" Basculegion cried, but detensed at seeing Vanessa approach him with the treat. He'd go ahead and chew on it, accepting the offer.
"Oh...oh my goodness..." Iscan seemed massively relieved. "I am so happy that we managed to make it perfectly."
"While it did take us a while, we certainly got it down pat!" Key beamed. "I'll have to take notes and share with my company when we get home."
"So uh...Vanessa...you might as well let Basculegion hear your playing," Iscan suggested.
"Yeah." With her own flute in hand, Vanessa would go ahead and repeat the song that Iscan had played just a moment prior. After becoming attuned to Vanessa's playing, Basculegion would toss something out of the water at her - the Splash Plate!
"Alright, another plate," Aubrey mused. "What's that one say?"
"'The rightful bearer of a Plate draws from the Plate it holds,'" Vanessa read, knowing exactly what it was alluding to. "Basically it powers up attacks that are the same type as the plate."
"Almighty Sinnoh's own power can do that for other Pokemon?" Palina sounded impressed. "Hmm. How fascinating."
Before Iscan and Palina could say any further, a familiar voice interrupted them, and a very familiar cheesy intro.
"I bring good luck to my sisters wherever I go - and ill luck to anyone who crosses our paths." It was Charm!
"Oh, not you three again!" Key huffed.
"Ugh, there goes our intro..." Coin groaned.
"Whatever!" Clover scoffed, the Miss Fortunes striking their poses.
"Now get ready to hand over that Growlithe!" Charm ordered.
Palina stood still for a moment, but they could tell anger was chief among those emotions. "You want to take...my partner? If your aim is to pester us with bad jokes, those ridiculous hairstyles are more than enough!"
"They are pretty ridiculous," Vanessa agreed, cracking her knuckles.
"Y-yes!" Iscan got out, hiding behind the ladies. "Exactly what they said!"
Charm, seeing as a direct fight wasn't going to cut it, cracked a smirk. "Now, Gengar!"
"Wha-?" Aubrey turned around to see Charm's Gengar, grabbing the bigger Growlithe and getting back to the Miss Fortunes within the blink of an eye.
"Thanks for the Growlithe, fools!" Clover stuck her tongue out at the group. "If we can't beat you head on, we'll go around! HA!"
"You!" Aubrey hissed, seeing the bigger Growlithe woozy from a Hypnosis.
"We three can't live the lives we want because of narrow-minded fools like the Diamond and Pearl Clans," Charm went on. "If we want to live freely in the great land of Hisui, we need powerful Pokemon on our side."
"If that's the case, and do forgive me for such unprofessional language, you need to simply get good!" Key sternly criticized.'
"What she said. Now give back the Growlithe!" Vanessa demanded.
"Like we'd listen to you!" Clover put her hands on her hips. "But don't worry, we'll make this pup all nice and strong. Heck, we'll even make him a lord for ya!"
"Let's take this mutt to our camp and get to work. No one will bother us there since it's so miserably hot," Coin suggested, seeing as any sudden movements now would get the rangers and Key to pounce.
"Gengar, if you'd please..." Charm requested, Gengar standing in between the group and the Miss Fortunes.
"Gengarrrr…" Without skipping a beat, Gengar would utilize Hypnosis on the group, permitting the Miss Fortunes enough time to escape with their newly purloined Growlithe.
"Uugh…" Vanessa held her head. "Gotta…stay…awake…" Basculegion would take initiative, splashing seawater on the others to snap them back awake.
"Wha! I'm up, I'm up, I swear!" Aubrey snapped awake, jumping a little from the sudden splashing.
"Mmm...that feels nice," Key giggled, but then snapped back into the dire situation with Palina realizing they were gone.
"What? No! Growlithe!" Palina cried.
"We are going to get him back, Palina. Where is this hot place they spoke of?" Vanessa asked quickly.
"There's only one place that fits the description. Firespit Island," Palina answered just as fast.
"I...I'm sorry everyone..." Iscan sighed. "The truth is I've...never really...battled with Basculegion before..."
"Don't be sorry, Iscan," Palina assured him. "Rangers, Key, please help us. That Growlithe is a Pokemon very, very dear to me and our other Growlithe here. Please save him..."
"Oh, saving Growlithe is my number one priority right now, ma'am," Aubrey's eyebrows furrowed with a steely grit. "Because these women are starting to tick me off. You bet we're gonna get him back!"
"You know it," Vanessa seconded.
"Just leave it all to us, lovers!" Key positively replied. "We'll be back with Growlithe!" With that all being said, the three would take one look at Basculegion, seeing he could only carry one of them. But that wouldn't stop them on their ride out to Firespit Island…
(Okay yeah, sorry this took so long, again. I have an infrequent schedule with everything I want to do, but I finally got this out, and hey, on spooky month too we did the spooky thing. Next time, another BOSS BATTLE awaits! See you all when I eventually upload again!)