Lunick grimaced slightly as he stretched his arms above his head, feeling his vertebrae pop in rapid succession as his back muscles loosened to their limits. A smile of satisfaction materialized on his face at the pleasurable sensation that spread across his spine as he dropped his arms down, like warm honey coating his skin. Nothing like a good stretch before a patrol to get the blood flowing! he thought jubilantly. He placed his hands on his hips and breathed in the fresh, aromatic Ringtown air; the quaint settlement's crisp breeze always smelled of nectar and petals. He couldn't have asked for a better Ranger Base assignment.
"Lunick!" The dark-haired boy craned his head as a girl's voice joined the harmonic rustling of the tree leaves on the wind. Solana came trotting over, pausing to coax a sobbing little girl alongside her gently. Lunick cocked an eyebrow, but then a grin spread across his face as he smelled a mission on the horizon as well. The girl cried petulantly as Solana tenderly guided her over by the hand. "Lunick, this little girl says her Skitty ran into Lyra Woods," his fellow Ranger explained, sweeping her teal-hued hair out of her face before crouching down in front of the child. "Hey, shush, now, sweetie. We'll find your Skitty."
"Yeah!" Lunick breamed, flexing his elbow and patting his bicep as a show of confidence. "That's what Rangers do! We'll find your Pokémon, no problem!" At the reassurance of the two older teens, the girl managed to quiet her tears and look up at Lunick with watery, wide green eyes.
"I-I know you can… It's just… She must be so scared right now. It just makes me s-s-sad that she's a-a-alone…" As she began to dissolve into pitiful sobs again, Solana tutted soothingly and hugged her to her chest.
"Now, now. Let's go inside to talk to Spenser so we can get everything officialized. Wanna hear a secret?" Momentarily distracted by the possibility of being privy to confidential information, the child ceased crying once more and gave Solana a meek nod. Solana grinned and leaned forward to whisper in her ear, "Our styler technician makes the best lemonade. If you ask her, I'm sure she'll give you some." The girl giggled delightedly. Pleased with her successful efforts to cheer the child, Solana stood. Lunick stepped aside so his partner could corral their client into the base. As the two Rangers ushered her through the sleek sliding glass doors, Spenser and the other Rangers greeted them jovially. Spotting the tear-streaked face of the girl tucked against Solana's legs, Spenser clicked his tongue and strolled over with a friendly smile.
"Hey, now. What do we have here? Do you have a problem we can help you with, Little Missy?" The girl blushed slightly and turned to hug Solana's legs, peeking shyly at Spenser as she smooshed the rest of her face into Solana's shorts.
"Lost my Skitty…"
"How unfortunate. Well, these two Rangers here will be more than happy to help you out. In the meantime, I think I hear our tech fixing lemonade…" The girl timidly peeled herself away from Solana to scurry to the counter, where their technician was smiling charmingly and gesturing for her to approach. As the girl trotted off, Spenser's expression turned serious. "Lunick, Solana, I'm officially assigning you to find the young lady's Skitty and return here post-haste. Should be a straightforward case, but radio the base if any funny business occurs, ya hear?" The two young Rangers soluted their leader before whipping around to stroll out of their command center. As they marched toward Lyra Forest, Lunick rested his hands behind his head.
"Did she tell you anything else?" Solana put her hand thoughtfully on her chin, eyes narrowed.
"She said that she was talking to her mother, who is ill with a cold, about Pecha berry jam. The store has been out of it for some time, and her mother misses it. After that, the Skitty bolted out of the door when went to water the plants on the porch." Lunick clicked his tongue against his teeth, dropping his arms to pinch the end of his chin.
"Pretty odd behavior for a Skitty. They're not exactly known to dart off unexpectedly like that…" Solana hummed in agreement. The shadows of the forest then swallowed them, blocking out the bright sun to drape them in cool air tinted with the aroma of soil and decay. The twittering of Taillows and Pidgeys echoed in the canopy, and distantly, Lunick heard the bay of a Poochyena echo through the gloomy wood. "Ready?" he asked Solana, who nodded with a small smile.
"Yeah. Let's make a little girl smile again." Smirking in agreement, Lunick rolled his shoulders, inhaled deeply, and then plunged into the wood.
The Rangers worked to keep the labyrinth of pathways snaking through Lyra Forest clear of underbrush, but only just; dead leaves littered the earth, crunching under their feet as they walked, and low-lying branches plucked at their hair with nimble spindly fingers. The wind fluttered through the leaves, making them sing in excitement. Lunick spotted a Caterpie munching on some of them; it paused to gaze at them with glassy, black eyes before returning to his lunch, unfazed. A few Beautifly fluttered by, sparkling mist falling from their paper-thin, colorful wings. Nothing seemed amiss in the forest upon first glance, but nothing was ever as it appeared in the world of Pokémon.
Lunick spotted a patch of disturbed leaves in the path and whistled to Solana before crouching, carefully moving some of the leaves to inspect the mud patch. "See something?"
"Looks like Skitty tracks," Lunick reported with a nod of his chin. A few small pawprints pressed into the soft brown mud, slightly diagonal and pointing down a northeast path towards Krokka Tunnel. Hopefully, the Skitty didn't wander too far to venture into the cavern; many large and rough Pokémon dwelled within its catacombs, which would be a dangerous place for a small, dainty creature. Then again, a family of Weepinbell and Victreebel called Lyra Forest home. They didn't take well to trespassers, so the Skitty wasn't exactly safe into that region, either. "We need to find her quickly," he frowned as he stood. "She's heading for trouble." Solana nodded resolutely. They hurried down the path, scanning the trail for any more disturbances.
The Skitty's path was erratic; she zigged and zagged across the uneven way, pausing to examine the underbrush intently as evidenced by the tufts of pink fur caught in the brambles. Lunick had to wonder what the Skitty's motives were for venturing so far into the woods; a Skitty's first instinct would be to climb a tree and yowl for aid, not scurry around the forest like it was searching for something. The thought made Lunick's steps falter, an idea suddenly dawning on him. As he slowly tottered to a halt, Solana also stopped to look at him nonplussed.
"Lunick?"
"Hey, Solana… What did you say about Pecha berry jam?"
Before she could answer, a pitiful wail split the tranquil forest air. As both their heads snapped around in the direction the screech had come from, several warbling snarls joined the high-pitched noise. "Looks like our Skitty found the locals," Lunick groaned, snatching his Styler from his waistband as he took off down the path, Solana following close behind. He followed the angry hisses and cracking twigs around a bend. The canopy above thickened considerably, dousing the forest in shadows and causing the air to be rank with decay and must. The trail sloped down into a small clearing, where several Weepinbell and a large Victreebel pranced around a tall oak angrily lashing the bark with their vines. A little pink form huddled within the large green leaves, mewing fearfully as she clung to the quivering branch for dear life.
"Hey!" Lunick shouted. The Pokémon turned at his loud cry, with its white eyes narrowed in hostility. Lunick planted his feet and held out on hand in a "halt" gesture, while the other brandished his Styler. "Hey, now. Let's all calm down, all right?" The Victreebel responded by whipping at him with its long vines, scouring the ground a foot or so in front of him.
"You have never been good at the soothing thing," Solana chuckled, making him grimace.
"Yeah, well, thankfully, I've always been good at this thing!" He flung the capture disc out into the clearing with a grunt, a shimmering blue line connecting it to his styler. "I'll get the big guy; you focus on the others!" he told Solana, who griped about him stealing the show before dashing a few feet forward to subdue the Weepinbell. The Victreebel keened and lashed at him with its vines again. Lunick ducked to avoid being smacked savagely in the head, frowning as the green stalks struck the tree behind him with enough force to make a few acorns rain down into his midnight-blue hair. Carefully avoiding the thrashing of the Pokémon's large, yellow, pitcher-plant body, Lunick manipulated the capture disc around, conveying calm and reassuring emotions. After successive loops, the Victreebel ceased attacking and shrieked sharply, drawing its vines back near its body. Holding up his hand again so that the Pokémon faced the flat of his palm, Lunick slowly approached the massive creature.
"There, now," he coaxed gently. The leaf-like appendages decorating its yellow body quivered as he cautiously drew close. "That's right. Let's just all take a breather." When he gingerly extended his hand to pat its smooth front placatingly, the Pokémon gave an appreciative rumble. Lunick chuckled and rubbed the Pokémon's strange, rubbery skin a little as he continued to utter soothing words. "It's all right. No one's come to infringe on your territory. That Skitty's just a little lost. We're gonna take her on home, so you and your friends can rest easy, all right?" The Victreebel snuck a suspicious glance up to the Skitty, who mewled quietly. With another rumbling drone, the large Pokémon reached up with one of its tentacle-like vines to prod Lunick's cheek a few times. Then, it turned to shamble off into the underbrush, with the Weepinbell Solana quelled bouncing along behind it. Lunick flashed Solana a cheesy grin and a thumbs-up. "Great work, partner!"
"Thanks," she laughed, approaching the broad trunk of the tree. She grimaced at its surface, broad trenches in the bark leaking sticky sap everywhere. "This will be a pain to climb."
"Hey, up there!" Lunick shouted up at the Skitty. She peeked over the edge of the branch and responded with a tentative cry reminiscent of a meow. "It's all right now! Why don't you go ahead and jump down?" The pink Pokémon mewed frightenedly and curled into a ball on the limb. "Don't worry!" he reassured while extending his arms. "I'll catch you! Promise!" The Skitty glanced around tentatively, weighing her options, before cautiously approaching the edge of the branch. She took a moment to judge her distance, wiggling her raised haunches and adjusting her paws, before springing powerfully from the stem. Lunick shuffled side-to-side, tongue sticking out and eyes narrowed as he tracked her fall. He positioned himself under the plummeting Pokémon so that she plopped safely right into his arms. He gave her an appreciative pat to the head. "Atta girl!"
"We're going to take you home, okay?" Solana added. At her comment, the Skitty meowed angrily and squirmed to force herself out of Lunick's grasp. She ignored his surprised cries. She steadfastly dashed to the edge of the clearing. She turned in a circle before pawing at the bushes with loud and insistent mewls. Lunick trotted over, crouching down and pulling away a few of the spiky-leaved branches to see what she was so fussy about.
"Oh!" he laughed. When Solana inquired what was so funny, he angled himself so she could see into the small cleft in the bushes. In the shade sprouted a handful of Pecha berries. "Pecha berry jam." Holding the branches aside, he plunged his arm into the small hole, groping around to careful pluck as many berries as he could from the cluster growing in the shady little grove. The Skitty cheered delightedly as he did so, running semi-circles around his form. Once he had a sizable pile held in his Ranger uniform's upturned fabric, he stood, watching as the Skitty scampered off down the path. She paused at the entrance and mewed insistently, all but demanding they hurry up so she could go home.
"She wanted to find some Pecha berries to make the girl's mom happy," Solana mused with a small smile.
"Yup. Never made jam, but there's always time for a first, right?" Lunick laughed as he strolled after the Skitty. The Pokémon flitted around their feet as the two Rangers walked side-by-side on the trail, the sun filtering more and more through the trees as they neared the forest edge. They spotted Spenser and the little girl waiting patiently in the entrance; as soon as she spotted her Skitty prancing up the path, she split away from the man's side to dash up to her beloved friend.
"Skitty! I was so worried!" she wailed as she fell on her knees, arms outstretched. The Skitty yowled and thundered forward to leap into the child's arms, burying her head into the girl's neck. The Skitty's purr vibrated the air from the intensity of its elation. "Why did you run away?" she pouted. Lunick smirked as he approached, bundling the crop of Pecha berries in his shirt.
"I think we have a pretty good idea about that." The girl, clutching her loudly-purring Skitty, trotted over to inspect his find.
"Pecha berries! Aw, Skitty, did you hear Mom talking this morning? You went to find some berries so we could make some homemade jam..." A sad expression appeared on the girl's face. In the next moment, unbridled affection replaced it. "You're the sweetest Pokémon ever! Mom will be so glad when we surprise her with her favorite!" The girl giggled excitedly before looking up at Lunick and Solana with bright, admiring eyes. "Thank you very much, Mister and Miss Ranger!"
"All in a day's work!" Lunick crowed and flashed her a toothy grin.
"I'd say this is mission success. Great job, you two!" Spenser praised as he walked over, hands in pockets. "Let's deliver this young lady, her Skitty, and her Pecha berries home, yeah?" As they began walking back towards Ringtown, the girl looked between them excitedly.
"Do you all want to stay and make jam with me?" she chirped.
"That sounds like a vital mission to me," Solana joked.
"Seconded!" Lunick agreed. Spenser laughed mirthfully, shaking his head at the frivolity of his two youngest Rangers.
"Well, if it will make the young lady happy…" the green-haired man reasoned with a light chuckle. The girl squealed and jumped up, then took off in a run as they passed under the arch of tree limbs marking the transition between Ringtown and Lyra Forest, bleating at them to hurry. Lunick ignored her request for a moment and paused, taking his one free arm and stretching his arm above his head to once more relax his muscles.
I really couldn't have asked for a better Ranger Base assignment! He thought happily as he rested his hand on his hip, smiling up at the bright blue cloudless sky. If every day was like this, it was a life well-lived indeed.
"Lunick!"
"Wha-? Oh! Coming!"
I've still got a full day of work ahead of me! Better get jammin'!