Ninjask, Accelgor, and Magcargo

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzt!

She winced. Normally, she could keep still for long periods of time. But that harsh buzzing would not stop and the Pokemon that was causing it kept approaching. It was enough to test the patience of a saint. Fortunately, the fog and rain here was thick enough that she didn't have to worry about being seen yet.

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzt!

"For crying out loud, get that thing to shut up!" a girl's voice rang through the area. "It's giving me a headache."

"You said we should have our Pokemon out with us," a boy replied, his words blurred by the incessant buzzing. "I can't get this Ninjask to keep quiet. I hardly even see it most of the time, especially in weather like this."

"It's a lousy Pokemon for a ninja, so you should get rid of it," another boy said.

"It's not that bad! And the other two members of its line are so awesome and sneaky. I don't know why it's so loud."

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzt!

Although she was listening as best she could, only the voices told her there was three kids walking close to her location. The unruly Ninjask masked the usual clues. There were probably another pair of Pokemon out with them, at least. Sometimes, the noise could be used. But silence was needed now.

A whirl of the water vapors brought her attention to a faint brown and yellow figure near her. Figuring that the kids were far enough that it was safe, she waved a finger in the air, reminding her Ninjask that he was to remain quiet even though there was this noisy one around. And he did. He knew better than to disobey her word.

As the kids continued walking on, she checked on her other Pokemon. As long as that other Ninjask stayed out, it made a good cover to mask any noise she had to make. On the ground, her Magcargo was munching on the melting dirt around it. There was a slight hiss around his molten body as the raindrops fell around him and vaporized into this steam. He was leaving behind evidence, but the grass and ground always recovered quick. Besides, torn and burnt up areas of ground were seen as normal due to the hazards of Pokemon battles going on everywhere.

At a movement of her hand, her Ninjask and Accelgor flew within her sight. The latter had agreed to use gray and white bindings around her red body. In these conditions, it was better cover than her preferred black and violet. As a Shelmet, she had been difficult to work with, being slow and noisy. As an Accelgor, she was as quiet and quick as a dream. They were also patiently enduring the noisy Ninjask, waiting until it was time to strike.

This was to her satisfaction, so she gave a hand signal to the Ninjask to use Baton Pass on the Magcargo. Once that was done, the magma snail would be fast enough to keep up with her. Not the other two, but that wasn't necessary. He was needed to keep up the fog cover.

"Does the fog seem worse around here?" the girl asked, her voice getting further away. "We should have taken that Defog HM."

"I am not putting worthless battle moves on one of my team," one of the boys said.

Which was good for her, because Defog would make the Magcargo's presence more obvious. With him sped up, she make a dash through the area of tall grass nearby. Her three Pokemon moved along with her, the Accelgor and Ninjask weaving at her sides and in front of her to quickly knock aside any wild Pokemon that got in their way. With the threat of random travelers interfering lowered but a change in work schedules coming up, this was the moment to move in.

They came to a log cabin, which served as an office for the local Pokemon Rangers. They had another in the city to handle citizen requests, but this was where a lot of their background work was actually done. At the entrance, one of the Rangers stood as a guard; a Growlithe sat beside him, sitting up watchful even though it would be relying on scent in this weather.

She waved at the two Bug Pokemon, sending them ahead. The Accelgor rushed ahead, using its mouth to take the pin out of a stench grenade as trained, then hurl it at the feet of the Growlithe. A second later, the Ninjask followed up with an attack on the Growlithe as the grenade released its overpowering and mixed scents into the air. That would prevent the Growlithe, or any other tracking Pokemon, from finding their scent in the sensory chaos.

The Growlithe yelped and the Ranger came to attention. "Who's out there?!" he shouted into the fog.

Wanting the Ranger to witness as little as possible, she threw a dart at his neck; its tip was coated in a sleep-inducing poison, enough to knock him out for several hours but not enough to kill him. Pokemon were reluctant to attack humans and while they could be trained to do so, she preferred not to do that to her team. They needed to see her as their superior and leader, with no potential to attack her in rebellion. Thus, she had to handle any human opponents.

He pulled the dart out, then released a Spearow. "Get those two..." he struggled to hold out, but stumbled back.

Trained to attack any unknown Flying types on sight on a mission, the Magcargo immediately hurled a rocky glob of earth at the Spearow. It was still dim red from his internal heat. The Ninjask slashed at it with his bladed claws, then the Accelgor attacked the Growlithe once more. Both of the Ranger's Pokemon went down before they could get ready for the battle, and he was now asleep. As it should be.

Nodding in approval, she entered the cabin office. No one would be working now, but in an hour, several high ranked Rangers would come here to take care of business. Still, she made a quick scan of the place in case of trouble. It was a typical office, with mobile room dividers, several desks and computers, file cabinets, and a water cooler. On one wall, there was a large cork-board with a map of the region covered in pins, plus many smaller notes in reference to the pins or other items. One of the notes said, 'upper Blue River Plains, #12, file RO-95713'.

This job was pretty simple: to keep the Pokemon Rangers from investigating that area and coming across what her clan protected. Initially, they made it too dangerous by laying traps and attacking them indirectly. It worked for several decades, but the recent head of the Rangers was rock-headed stubborn about getting all locations of this sprawling region mapped out and explored. At this point, she had to get them to delay starting their investigations and take what she needed to fake a Ranger report.

While she worked, her Pokemon kept alert to how things were going. The Magcargo crawled onto the rubber welcome mat; it started to stink, adding onto the stench bomb's mask. The Ninjask and Accelgor patrolled around outside, keeping their senses peeled for people coming up to the cabin; both were small and quick enough to avoid being noticed by whoever they spotted. Occasionally they got into fights with wild Pokemon. They all knew how to conduct themselves: end the battle quickly, get out if that wasn't possible. Or in the Magcargo's case, send up flares to get assistance from his teammates. Good Pokemon were a big help, but many things could only get done by a human.

When her task was complete, she then worked on covering her tracks. The Rangers should not suspect that it was her doing this, or anyone connected to her clan. So she took out a small can of blue spray paint and covered the door and one wall with particular tags; she had practiced this so it would be mistaken for a local criminal group. They usually didn't practice, but she had to get the style right. Then she had the Magcargo send up a fire flare to get the attention of the other two. Once they were inside the cabin, she gave hand signals for them to help her mess up the interior. It should look like a much sloppier job than it really was.

Paper ended up flying everywhere. She gave special attention to making a botched attempt to open the office safe. While she could successfully open it, that would betray the skill level of the intrusion. With the office in sufficient disorder, she kicked a chair out of the way and grabbed one of the papers that was settling down. She knelt down by her Magcargo and held it to his face. He nipped it as a taste test; a drip of his magma caused the paper to catch on fire. Shooing the Ninjask and Accelgor out, she used the paper to set the curtains on fire. Then she left the cabin, carrying several investigation forms, a collections of stamps with an ink book to mark false approvals, a book detailing proper formatting, and insurance and billing forms. This should allow them to control what went into the Rangers' files about their lands.

With that done, she found another observation point and waited, the fog filling out around them once again. The cabin fire was quickly noticed and attended to. People in the area remembered the boy's disobedient Ninjask, which would match the damage done by her's. When remains of the paint tags were found, the damage was attributed to the criminal group. A number of their members would be rash enough to set fire to a place if they failed their intended theft. She and her Pokemon waited for things to calm down, then headed off into the city

This deed had been successful, but it was only the first steps.

…

Sapphire entry: Magcargo's body temperature is approximately 18,000 degrees F. Water is vaporized on contact. If this Pokemon is caught in the rain, the raindrops instantly turn into steam, cloaking the area in a thick fog.

Sapphire entry: If Ninjask is not trained properly, it will refuse to obey the Trainer and cry loudly continuously. Because of this quality, this Pokemon is said to be one that puts the Trainer's abilities to the test.

Accelgor White entry: Having removed its heavy shell, it becomes very light and can fight with ninja-like movements.

An outfit, Pokemon, or weapons don't make a ninja; skills do.