It's been about a week since Hitasu was rescued, his arm was still sore, even so it wasn't broken. As normal, he prided himself to do his best in class daily, although people kept spreading rumors about Articuno and Hitasu, some think that they were siblings while others thought that Articuno was his mother. Erica and Keith stayed quiet about it too.
"C'mon, can you tell us about Articuno?"
"I have no relations to it"
"You liar, we saw you land in the plaza on it"
"Did you?"
"Well, no, but my friend did, and caught it on video"
"It was a Ditto, Articuno was the only Bird Pokémon that could fit three kids on its back"
"Oh, well how'd it know how to transform into it!"
"Professor Oak used the Pokédex to show what it looked like"
"Oh, man It'd be so cool of you actually rode Articuno..."
"It's a legendary Pokémon, what would it be doing here" Keith continued to deny any things about Articuno, knowing full well, he would have already cracked from the pressure of others. By now Articuno is all everyone would talk about making it difficult to leave Hitasu on his own.
It was then that the Teacher came in holding small booklets in a cardboard box, with that it was easy to tell that she had something to say.
"Good morning class, please get to your seats"Everyone did as told with the students returning to their seats." Now, I'm sure you all will be excited to know that we'll be having our annual Camping Trip again next week, I want you all to think about whether or not you want to go, and what you need to bring with you"
A loud cheer was heard from the entire class as well as some from the classroom down the hall with an adult shouting back
"Quiet! Use your inside voices!" Unfortunately, this was a case of not using their advice as he was heard clearly from Mrs. April's class
"Who was that?"Hitasu asked
" That's Mr. Kinclad...He's...The strict teacher here, I feel bad for all the students who have him"
"Yeah, I heard that he seems to pay a lot of attention to Issac though"Keith admitted
"Issac?"
"Yeah, the smartest kid in this school, he would have already graduated if this school was about the experience, not knowledge."
"Wow"
"And yes, Mr. Kinclad will be with us tomorrow, he will be chaperoning us as well as his class will be joining us, but teams will be randomized"
"That ain't good" Erica whispered to Keith"If we don't go with him, he'll crack under pressure"
"All we can do is hope"
Later that day, both classes grouped together outside with several rangers out together as the two teachers held out a clipboard.
"Is everyone here? Good"
"Now, We'll be putting three students with a ranger, please stay quiet and listen for your name"
There was a total of twelve teams, however, all of the team Blue were split into their own team. A new ranger was with Hitasu's temporary team wielding a calm smile and gentle presence.
"Alola, I'm Crystal and I'm from the Johto Region. What are your names?"
"I'm Hitasu Aquamari"
"I'm Valor Shirona"
"And you?" Crystal began to ask the last one being a tomboy wearing a dark purple hoodie that covered her face and body.
"Oh, this is my sister Acuity! She doesn't talk much, but she's really smart!"
She just seemed to look up, giving the others a glance at her face.
"Wait, you're Hitasu!?" Valor said with stars in her eyes
"Yes?"
"I've heard the rumors, is it true that you know Articuno!?"Without a word he quickly shook his head, doing his best to deny.
"Well, with that out of the way, what do you say about camping!"Both Hitasu and Valor cheered with Acuity just staring at him. It was obvious that he was lying.
Once in the forest, the group began to set up four identical green tents with light yawns coming from the others.
" It's getting late, let's go on and eat, you guys go wash up by the lake, I'll start up some soup" The three nodded looking out towards the lake, beginning to wash their hands and face until Valor attempted to splash Acuity, with Hitasu being hit instead.
Instead of apologizing, she just began to laugh as water dripped off his face and evaporated. It seemed funny to Valor, even Acuity giggled a bit, wasn't long until Hitasu laughed too, splashing her back.
"Wow, You've just met and it's almost like you're best friends!"
"You think so?"
"Of course, you've just met, and you're already laughing," She said then looking to the pot of soup on a campfire that had yet to be started"Oh, I forgot that it still has to cook"
"Don't worry, I've got this" Hitasu went to it, "Can you hold this?" He gave her his hat as she grabbed it, and dropping it shortly after
"Why is it so cold!?"
"Oh, sorry I guess only I can handle the cold" he smiled a bit until he felt that his body heat was at the right amount, placing his hand onto the pot with steam erupting from the pot.
"How are you doing that?"Crystal asked seeing bubbles begin to form and pop in it
" I'll explain later, but I need you to stir so it doesn't burn"
"Right, sorry!" She seemed easily flustered, and quite clumsy as well with rushed actions and forgettable thoughts.
"But, how exactly are you doing this, it's almost like you're Moltres itself," She said causing Hitasu to freeze and tremble.
"You okay? Hitasu?"
"Huh? Oh, y-yeah I'm fine! Just got a chill is all"
"Oh good, you just froze up when I mentioned Moltres"
"Alright, you should just keep stirring, I think It's nearly cooked, Any more heat and I'll burn it" Hitasu sat up, dusting off his clothes and hat
"Right, thank you," She said then looking at him while stirring"So how'd you do that, and why is your hat so cold!"
"Oh right, I have an abnormally hot body temperature so I need a nevermelt ice in my hat to keep my body level"
"That's terrible!"
"Not always, I can use the heat for various purposes, Cooking, self-defense, helping others in the cold"
"Well, That makes sense, I think. But the soup is done, come eat!" Crystal called out with several logs and bowls ready.
After eating, almost everyone was wiped out, all except Hitasu and Piplup as they quietly sat by the lake, fishing under the calm moon overskies. With its shining body, it shone onto the still lake. At least it was still, until a mechanical, oily smell entered the area, with a vacuum draining the lake and the Pokémon with it.
"Hey! What are you doing!?" Hitasu cried rushing to the machine and pounding it loudly.
"What do you want kid...Wait you're that Ranger, how are you still alive!?"A female grunt said backing away and dropping a crate that held hundreds, maybe thousands of Pokéballs.
"That doesn't matter, now you're going to leave this lake alone!"
"Please, dead or not you're still weakened" She saw bandages wrapped around his left arm as he backed away, ready to take off his hat for a heated boost, boiling some water with his hand would probably scare her.
"Piplup, it isn't safe for you, Take my hat and get it to the others," He said with Piplup jumping off of his head with the hat to send a signal that he needed help"
"What's with that, you calling for help?"
"Somewhat" He jumped into the sea with several boiling bubbles bursting on the surface. He had to stay down a second longer, then jumping up with a large splash, scalding the grunt with hot water.
"Gah! That's boiling, what are you!?" She screamed, on the verge of tears too.
"I-I'm sorry, I didn't think it would hurt that much, I only wanted to scare you off!"He saw tears pricking at the sides of her eyes" W-wait don't cry! Don't Cry It's okay!"Her crying brought unwelcome attention.
"Oh, don't tell me she's crying again...Wait you're alive!? I saw you drop into the sea!"
"I was, but those Sharpedo were too busy fighting each other over my blood, I swam away"
"Well, I'm glad you aren't dead, that would have left a serious dent in my conscience"
"But torturing a kid is okay!?"
"We're criminals, a little torture is okay every once in a while"
"Hitasu!" A shout was heard a while back "We're coming!"
"How many of you are there!?"
"Right here, three more, about a mile out, two classes worth" He had been winning, and with his hat off there was no way anyone could even touch him without being burnt.
As expected, the grunt reached to grab him but flinching from the heat as Hitasu used his bare arms to block it.
"What are you, with that heat you might as well be dead"
"No, you'd have to wait at least ten more minutes until the heat takes full effect on me"
"First the Ice of Articuno, and now the fire of Moltres, you're not some normal kid, that's for sure" He opened up a computer of some sort sending several ice and water type Pokémon from the lake, freezing Hitasu in a small glacier which allowed for them to escape before Crystal came.
"H-hitasu!? I was too late!" Crystal looked defeated as the boy laid dormant in the ice. Piplup hadn't known the extent of his heat and began hacking away at the ice to break him free, small cracks appeared in it, minutes of cracking the ice, the rest was able to melt and he fell out onto the ground covered in frost and water.
"Hitasu, are you alright?"
"Yeah I'm fine, Just a little wet is all" He looked down at the nearly drained pond, only a few Pokémon remained inside. Despite protecting some, he still felt like he lost, he felt like it was solely his fault.
"Hitasu? You don't have to feel ashamed, you may not have been able to save them all, but you're still young, and not many people can say that they stood up to protect others"Crystal said about to place her hand on his shoulder but decided against it due to his heat."
Even Piplup tried to help him feel better, with determined eyes it dunked his hat on Hitasu's head, steam appearing from the surface and began to speak, almost like it was talking in English.
"You've been the bravest human I've met! We all make mistakes, but our will to grow is what makes it okay!" Parts of that might have been his imagination, but it helped anyway.
"Hitasu, Why don't we head back to bed, in the morning I'll contact the other Rangers about tonight, try to get some rest"
"Thanks, but I'll stay out here, I want to make sure the lake stays safe."
"You're a good kid, don't stay up too late, alright?"
"I understand, good night"
"Good Night"