The Legend of Yellow

By: hydro-serpent58

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Chapter 18: Strange Happenings

Near the Ringtown Ranger Base a man with bright red hair wearing a Ranger uniform was chasing after his Slowpoke. It was the Pokémon Ranger who'd worked there for 3 years, Murph.

"Oh slow down, slow down, slow down, Slowpoke! I know you've always been the faster of us two, but please! I can't run that fast!"

The slowpoke who was simply walking was about 60 meters ahead of the Ranger. Murph was jogging after the Pokémon but he utterly failed.

"Need some help Murph?" A voiced asked behind him.

The man jumped and whipped around to see a smirking teal-colored hair boy. The boy also wore a red colored Ranger uniform and had playful dark blue eyes. On his shoulder was his partner Minun. The older Ranger smiled.

"Yes, I would really appreciate it Lunick." The man said out of breath.

The boy just grinned. "Okay, Minun use Thunderwave!"

"Min min!" The Cheering Pokémon jumped off Lunick's shoulder and let out a wave of electricity directed at Slowpoke. The static waves caught up to the Pokémon in an instant and the Slowpoke was immediately paralyzed.

Lunick caught up in a moment while Murph took an entire 15 minutes. By the time he reached them he fell unto his back in exhaustion.

"Seriously Murph, you've got to exercise more! I can see now why they gave you a slow Pokémon as your partner. But still...all you did was run a few meters and you're already tired? On top pf that Slowpoke's faster than you!" Lunick said shaking her head.

"A heh, sorry Lunick." And with that the older Ranger passed out.

The boy called Lunick rolled his eyes and high-fived Minun. "Good job partner." Lunick smiled. The two then headed inside the building that was called the Ringtown Ranger Base. He had to check in with Spenser, their Leader to see if he had any new missions.

"Here you go. Your Capture Styler is now fully recharged." The Operator said as he handed the styler back.

"Thanks." Lunick grinned as he went off to find Spenser.

The boy searched around the building but he couldn't find the Leader!

"Urgh...just where is he?" Lunick groaned as he leaned against a nearby wall.

"Looking for someone?" His gaze snapped up as he was met with a familiar pair of scarlet eyes. There stood a girl his age also in a red Ranger uniform. She had cerulean-blue colored hair and on her shoulder was her partner Plusle.

"Oh hey Solana! Yeah, I'm looking for Spenser but I can't seem to find him." The girl stared at him for a moment before bursting out laughing.

The boy stared at her blankly. "Of course he's not here! Don't you know it's lunch time? He's in the cafeteria hall!"

"Oh." Was all he could say. He'd never felt so stupid in his life.

He turned to Minun. "And how come you didn't say anything?"

"Er...min min! (Um...sorry?)" Minun replied looking apologetic.

Lunick sighed "Whatever."

He turned to Solana. "Hey, do you know if Spenser has any new missions for me?"

The girl shook her head. "Sorry Lunick, but he said everything seems to be fine right now. He told me to tell you to patrol Ringtown when we could, until a new mission comes up. So right now consider it a vacation."

Lunick groaned. "But there's hardly anything to do anymore! We've explored this region hundredths of times and know it like the back of our heads. What is there to do?"

The scarlet-eyed girl smiled. "How about visiting Lyra Forest? We haven't been there in a while." Solana suggested.

"Sure, why not?" With that the two exited the building.

Outside the weather was mild and tranquility hung in the air. It was the same as always. When they reached the forest they were met with lush evergreen trees and lage bushes growing everywhere! Grass blanketed the forest and the trees swayed in the breeze. The forest was teeming with wild life.

As they entered memories flooded Solana's mind. Her first mission had taken place in this forest. When she had first became a Ranger, Lunick had helped her greatly. They were always being paired up together in a team. And she didn't mind it at all...except for the fact he was quite a lady's man. Other than that the two were best friends. Here a man named Larry had lost his Taillow. With Lunick guiding her she was able to use her capture styler on it and bring it back safely to Larry. That was a her first mission as a Rookie Ranger, but then somehow a wild fire had started making the trees catch on fire. She had befriended some of the wild Pokémon in the forest but hadn't met any water-type Pokémon. Lunick she he'd be right back and ran off leaving her by herself. Solana had been confused, but decided to do what she could. She told Zigzagoon to use Sand Attack to douse the flames while she waited for Lunick. In a flash the boy had come back with a Mudkip by his side. Using Water Gun the flames were all put out and the trees were saved.

"Where'd you find Mudkip?" She asked surprised back then.

He simply smiled and said: "I captured him by the river." It seemed like all that had just happened yesterday.

Solana closed her eyes and breathed in deeply as the air was fresh here.

"Sure brings back memories. Ne, Solana-chan?" Lunick asked grinning.

The girl smiled. "Yeah."

The two walked deeper into the forest. After traveling to the center they decided to rest. Plusle and Minun played together while their partners chatted idly. Suddenly a cold wind came by tugging at their sleeves.

Lunick blinked. "That's weird. Usually whenever the wind blows it's never that cold..."

The wind came back occasionally but it was always cold. At first the two thought nothing of it but it began bugging them.

"Why is it so cold? The season here is supposed to be Spring all year around...what's going on?" Solona asked suspiciously.

As if the answer her question the wind blew harder and became more violent. The Pokémon that were out enjoying the weather immediately ran to hide. The trees were tossed ruffly and many leaves fell off. The sky turned darker as suddenly black clouds came rolling in.

"It's a storm!" Lunick yelled over the biting winds.

He grabbed Solona's hand and made a mad dash towards Ringtown. As the two ran, Lunick ruffly pulled her along almost making her trip. In a few moments she quickly fell into sync with the other Pokémon Ranger. The girl stared at the back of his head for a moment before blushing. But nature didn't seem to care at the moment.

There was loud rumbling of thunder as the temperature plummeted.

"Shit." Solana heard Lunick curse as he quickly pulled her underneath the protection of a large tree.

In the middle of the tree trunk it split and opened up revealing enough space for the both of them. They both scrambled inside just in time. At that moment the rain came down. It wasn't the light drizzle they usually had, instead it was a hard down pour. It pounded hard against the trees, flooding the river on the west side of the forest. The thunder rumbled loudly as it shook the trees.

"I've never seen a storm this bad ever happen here." Lunick said as he stared out.

There was plain uneasiness in his voice. Solana gripped his hand harder.

"Do you think...something's going on?" She asked nervously.

The boy shook his head. "It's too early to tell for sure. Something more is gonna need to take place before we can be sure."

The two sat back and watched the rain with occasionally rumbles of thunder. But the climate soon became to cold for comfort. So they had no choice but to huddle together.

"I hope Plusle and Minun are okay." The girl said in a quiet voice.

"I'm sure they're fine. They probably found a nice cozy borrow or something to wait in until the rain stops." Lunick assured her.

At that moment suddenly lighting flashed in the sky. Followed by a sudden jolt of thunder. Both jumped in surprise.

"Was that..." Solana began.

"...blue lightning?" Lunick finished.

To see blue lightning was very rare indeed, but to see lightning just over Ringtown was ever rarer. Just what was going on?

Finally the rain had stopped. The two Pokémon Rangers got out and surveyed the forest. Usually after it rains it would be humid. But not now, instead it was freezing cold. Just as they walked around Minun and Plusle appeared.

"Hey guys. You okay?" They asked as the little Pokémon ran circles around them.

"We better get back to base and report this." Solana stated.

Lunick nodded in response. With that the two started back towards Ringtown. Just as they started back they heard crunching as they walked. They both froze and looked at the ground. It was totally hard, not soft like it was before. Lunick bent down and ran his finger through the soil. What he said next made Solana's heart leap.

"It's ice. The dew froze and now it's frozen the ground making it hard. After the storm it froze the ground in little ice particles." He said as he stood up.

"What does this mean?" Solana asked in a voice barely above a whisper.

He turned to her dead seriousness in his eyes. "If this keeps up, the forest will die. In other words, Ringtown's season is changing."

There are four major settlements in Fiore, each named after the season it constantly experiences — Ringtown (spring) to the west, Fall City (fall) to the east, Wintown (winter) at foot of mountains to the north and Summerland (summer) on an island to the south. The season that specific area experiences never changes. And that's a fact.

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~hydro-serpent58