After about two days' worth of waiting patiently and living with mom and dad in Chicole Village, I happened to get the message from my current roommate that it was time for us to go to our Ranger duties for real. And who was my roommate as of current?
"It's time to get ready, Hush! It's our first real day of duty and I've gotta work just as hard as you, considering that I'm competing with Humba Wumba as an Operator," Willow smirked, me nodding at her. We'd since learned that Rhythmi had been stationed at Unova and that Keith had been sent to Johto, which I was worried if anything would happen there, since it was actually the closest region to Almia in terms of distance, even if it were to the southwest as opposed to the southeast, which was where it would lead to the desert island nation of Haruba.
"Okay, let's get going," I smirked, us then doing that after getting dressed, and as for Flabebe? She was still napping in my shirt pocket from my school uniform, which she also placed her flower inside of, as I barely did anything involving physical work.
"uaaaah... good morning, Hushies," she smiled at me with a tiredness, me smiling at her.
"Sounds like someone wants a Chesto Berry for breakfast," I smiled, me then giving her said berry. And after a single bite she then perked right up.
"GOOD MORNING!" she said with a chipper mood, me smirking at how instantaneous it was. And after getting some much-needed breakfast in the form of a cheese and pepperoni sandwich, I gave a hug to both mom and dad, which was great, as it was the few times I was able to hover in the air.
"Stay safe, Hush, okay? We've heard that a lot of scary things have been happening lately, and we don't want to lose you," mom said, me smiling at her and nodding.
"I'll try to be as safe as possible, mum... and dad? Keep mum safe in case stuff gets too freaky," I spoke with my mouth.
"I will. Go out there and be the best," dad smirked, me nodding at him as I then went out of the place alongside Willow and we went towards the northern road. We no longer had our capture stylers from the school, so we had to avoid the Pokemon on our way to the town ahead. And once in Vientown, we were surprised to see that there were two people greeting us alongside their partners! And who were they? The first was Luana and Tyrunt, but the other was a shock to me.
"GRACE?! What are YOU doing here?!" I asked with my mouth, her smirking at me afterwards.
"I got called here to assist with some kind of issue involving some black rocks that have monsters in them. It's all over the news about what happened at the Ranger School during graduation, after all. I just came by to give you something before you get started with ranger work," she smiled, me then seeing that she gave me some weird-looking gloves. "Those gloves happen to have been given to me by Sabrina, psychic human supreme. They'll not only assist in destroying those damn rocks, but they can also amplify your psychic strengths! But it's set to increase in power with your Ranger Rank, so you'll need to prove your worth to get stronger with your mind. And, even better, once you reach Rank 2, you'll be able to hover in the air!" Grace smirked at me, which made my eyes twinkle in excitement.
"THANKS SO MUCH, GRACE!" I smiled happily as I hugged my Shaymin sister, and, afterwards, I then placed the gloves on my hands as we then went to the Ranger Base and, afterwards, the group was surprised to see Grace in the mix.
"Oh? You must be Grace Woods, ranger supreme of Hoenn, right?" Barlow asked, which Grace nodded at.
"I was summoned here to Vientown so I could get a detailed description from my sister, Hush, about what happened a couple days ago at the Ranger School. We need to know what kind of beasties we're dealing with and, if possible, stop them in their tracks in the future," Grace spoke.
"Ah, that would be good to note," Crawford smirked as I then gave as best a description as possible.
"What happened is that Leah, the assistant teacher at the school since Kincaid got fired, found these black stones that were in the school, them happening to contain monsters known as demons. The stones happen to be shards of a MUCH bigger stone called the Black Soulstone, which contains the souls of innumerable demons and can sow darkness into the hearts of any who directly touch it. After Leah showed me how to destroy it, which is wearing gloves and smashing the stones to bits - they are very fragile -, the ceremony happened as normal until we felt the ground beneath us shaking. I saw what was happening with my mind, that being that the strongest demon in the one stone shard had possessed a Tangrowth from the basement. We had to act fast in order to protect everyone, as the monster in question was able to devour a man whole and never feel full. I attacked with my psychic powers demolishing the big brute's brain cells, but it was Flabebe and Greavard's actions that finished the palooka. He tried to ram us and devour us with an open stomach mouth, but they combined their moves of Fairy Wind and Ominous Wind to blow him back and into the floorboards he destroyed, which ended up skewering him in the brain," I said, Grace nodding as she jotted all of what I said on a piece of notebook paper and then spoke after.
"Thanks for the description. Anything else to note?" she asked.
"The smell was so rancid, it took almost 5 hours to clean up and it was enough to make even the Bidoof run for the hills. You know something smells bad when Bidoof hate it," I said, which Luana gagged at.
"Oh god... was it that horrible odor I smelled a few days ago? I was patrolling the bridge to the school and I smelled something that made me puke! And Tyrunt puked too, which he never does!" she said, looking sick at the thought.
"If it weren't for my fast-thinking, then all of us in the school would've been killed... and I have reason to believe that someone is using these stones in order to do some misdeeds, but of what I don't know. It's dangerous to mess with demons, so if anyone hopes to use them for evil, it'll lead to WAY worse situations for sure," I said with a shudder.
"I see... I also came here for another reason besides all this... Humba Wumba has been asked to be transported from here to the Ranger Union, as she's been selected to assist with an experiment. We managed to find a single stone that was out in the open in Pueltown, almost as if someone had dropped it. We need her to assist in a test to see what kind of dangers it may have, considering she has magic in her," Grace smirked.
"Only if Humba safe as bumblebee. No helping if it result in bad things," she frowned.
"The only thing we're going to ask you to do is see if you can use your magic to sense for the amount of demons within the stone and, if possible, speak to them to see if we can find anything out," Grace said.
"Ah, that Humba do without effort!" Humba-Wumba smiled as Willow then proceeded to go to the Operator's station in Humba's stead, which I smiled at. And once Grace and Humba left to fly towards the Ranger Union, it was time to get to brass tacks.
"Okay, now that that's handled, it's time to assign you your first mission," Barlow said, me wondering what it was going to be... but then, Mister Woodward came into our base and looked quite worried.
"Blokes! I have something to report!" he said, which we looked at him in confusion.
"What's the matter, Mr. Woodward?" Barlow asked him.
"There's something creepy goin' on in the marine cave! There's bizarre noises coming from inside, I tell ya! Munchlax, Pachirisu, and Starly went in to investigate for me, but they didn't come out after. I tried to go in after 'em, but the noise that came from around me was frightening, I tell ya! And not only that, a flock of Zubat looked to be spinning in circles and then they attacked me as if I were a danger!" he said in concern.
"Hmm... it seems that Vientown is getting to be much less safe as of late. Hush, consider this your first mission! Go to the Marine Cave and investigate what's going on alongside Crawford. Remember to give us any updates via Voicemail if you can," he said, me nodding at him.
"On my way!... Oh, but before that, I need to change," I smirked, him nodding as I then went to the changing room and got into my brand new Ranger uniform, complete with badge and Capture Styler! And once I got that, I then finally had Flabebe registered as my first ever Partner Pokemon!
"Whoohoo! First mission! I can't wait!" Flabebe smiled as we then went to the place in question, us going towards the beast... and we also saw that there were Shellos on the beach and that they were leaving behind large puddles of slime.
"Just a head's up, but some Pokemon can leave behind some little surprises that can hurt you. Don't step in that slime, because it's actually poisonous," Crawford warned, me nodding as I then dodged the slime and caught the Shellos to assist before going to the cave, where I could actually hear the stuff going on the inside.
"Oogh... that stuff sounds nasty..." Flabebe groaned.
"If possible, cover your ears, it may be loud," I said, her nodding as she retreated her tiny body and flower into my shirt pocket and, after going into the cave, we gawked at how the noise that came was a mixture of the sounds of the Gigaremo machines... and demonic chanting!
"Augh! What kind of horror show is going on in here?!" Crawford asked in shock as a Zubat then attacked us, me responding by capturing it... and just like in the game, the Zubat was automatically released upon capture and then, after, he was back to being mind-controlled.
"What's up with this horrid noise? It's almost like it's controlling the Pokemon! But... why not me, Flabebe, or Budew?" Shellos asked, me then frowning and thinking before hearing the voices try to speak to me, but I beat them back after they tried to do so.
"Nice try, demons, but I'm not ALL Pokemon!" I growled at them as we then pressed on further into the cave until we ended up next to the loudest part, which was where we saw the large machine.
"What the heck is this thing?" Crawford asked in concern.
"This is definitely the source of those noises that are controlling the Pokemon around here! Why else would it cause these Pokemon to run around in circles?" I asked, Crawford nodding at that.
"Good point. But how do we destroy that machine?" he asked, me looking at it and then sensing it... and after enough sensing with my mind, I found a weakness on my own, without counting on the color.
"This specific machine seems to be powered by heat and electricity. If we hit it with a strong enough blast of water, it should fry in no time!" I smirked, us then going further into the depths of the cave until we ended up not hearing the noises anymore.
"Okay, the noises have died down, it seems... and it seems the Pokemon in this part of the cave are more docile than the rest. So how do we proceed?" Crawford asked.
"Ooh! We need to find Momma Gastrodon! She'll be able to get rid of the machine no sweat!" Shellos said happily, her then leading us to the location that she led us to, it being where the Nosepass happened to be at. And after a quick capture of the Gastrodon, I then had it and us go to the machine and had Gastrodon perform a Target Clear to destroy the machine! And once the machine was hit with a giant gob of water, the machine blew up and, afterwards, the noise finally died down... and I also heard the demons inside of the stone in question, me going to it and actually finding it right in the open, which I frowned at.
"Aha, this is the cause of it," I said with a frown at showing the stone to Crawford.
"That small stone is the cause of all that noise? How?" he asked, me frowning at it.
"It's very simple. I found a stone exactly like this one at the school along with Miss Leah. And it managed to have demons in it, that could possess your thoughts and make you do bad things... so, in order to get rid of this, we need to destroy it, since the Ranger Union happens to have a stone on standby... but this specific machine should definitely be taken back to base, so we can study it up, down, and all around," I said, me then trying to lift it with telekinesis, even trying to use the gloves to help it out... and I barely got it off the ground! And I felt woozy right after!
"Oogh... that thing is HEAV-VY! I can barely budge it with my mind!" I groaned in pain. And it was then that I heard a voice from the Soulstone.
"Maybe if you had MY help, you could do it easier!" the voice in the stone said, me growling at who spoke in it.
"What. The Hell. Are you doing in here, Adria?" I growled at her. Crawford definitely noticed the voice from the stone as well as me speaking to it, but didn't say anything, as he was busy reporting the situation to Barlow.
"And how do you know my name? Let me guess, my daughter?" she asked, me frowning angrily at her.
"I have half a mind to smash this stone to bits right now, just from hearing your voice, considering that you only had a child so she could get killed," I growled angrily at her. "So tell me why I shouldn't smash you right this instant."
"Because if you do, you'll never be able to get anywhere with your usual psychic powers on their own. And, with me by your side, we can time travel even further and longer than before," she growled.
"HAH! You think I'm dense?! You do realize I don't trust you as far as I can throw you, right? And that I can throw you very far? How do I know that you won't take control of my body the moment I let you into it? Because you sure as hell did just that to Leah after torturing the poor girl for NO reason!" I snarled angrily.
"Um... what's going on?" Crawford asked, me frowning at that.
"I don't expect you to believe me but know this. If I don't go into your mind, I'll just stick around as a spirit like your little ghost friend. So it's either I haunt you, or I help you. Choices are slim," she frowned, me looking at Crawford with a frown.
"If you do anything, and I mean ANYTHING to hurt me or my friends, including your own damn daughter, then I'm going to find a way to get you out of my body, you got that witch bitch?" I growled at her.
"As well you should," she frowned, me then allowing her single entity into my body before shattering the stone in my grasp... and after feeling her soul go inside of me, I felt her take control of one part of me, that being something I was surprised by, it being the part of my mind that controlled my wings. She then had us try to flutter them, but found we could only go a scant couple inches off the ground before she got tired.
"Ugh, your body is too heavy for these wings. I'll need to train them as we go... but until then, try out your psychic strength," Adria frowned, me then trying it out on the machine... and gawking at how I could now do it without any effort! I then carried it the whole way out of the cave, all the pieces of it, which Crawford looked at in surprise as I had it go the whole way to the ranger base, where I placed it on the ground in the base itself, which made the group surprised at it.
"Whoa! What is this thing?" Barlow asked in confusion.
"This is the machine that was making the Pokemon go crazy. It had the same kind of dark stone in it that Grace was talking about earlier... as well as the spirit of a witch that I THOUGHT was dead, according to Leah, but she's not dead," I frowned angrily.
"Keep it on the down-low, got it? I don't want to risk the other monsters knowing I escaped that soulstone," Adria spoke from my mind... though I saw that nobody else heard her. "And no, I can't even speak telepathically unless you allow me to do so. Your brain got much harder to break from my arrival, it seems."
"A witch, you say? What's her name?" Luana asked.
"I'd rather only tell Leah about it in private when I see her next, since the witch in question is someone she knew personally from her world. And she's also a prime target for the monsters in those stones," I sighed.
"Okay, then that's that, then. We'll go ahead and start dismanteling this confounded contraption for any further details, but we'll need to wait until Professor Hastings arrives. He should be coming from the forest shortly," Barlow smiled.
"AAWW! I wanted to take it apart! Dangit!" Elaine complained immediately.
"I'll go ahead and scout ahead for the professor, then," I smiled widely as I then exited the base and started towards the north, finding the professor as he was coming out from the woods.
"Confound that silly Top Ranger, suggesting I ride on that rickety ride she calls a Staraptor! I do say, a good walk through the woods does a body good, no need for... oh, hello there, miss Hush! What's the occasion?" he asked, me smiling at him and explaining it in thought.
"We found out something screwy is going on. The same dark stones that were found to contain monsters at the Ranger School? One of them was hooked up to a strange, super heavy contraption in the Marine Cave and it was making the Pokemon within it go crazy. We need your expertise to assist in trying to find out the intricacies of this device and, if possible, tell everyone about the dangers of the stones within," I said, which Professor Hastings nodded at grimly and in deep thought as we then went back to the Base and... just in time for Little Tim to come in with a request. That we help calm his Miltank, who was in a bad mood.
"Listen, Ah don't care if it's a mission er a quest, but Ah need 'elp controllin' 'er. She's surely gonna trample me if I go in there, way she is now!" Tim said, me sighing at him.
"You're scared of your own Miltank?" I asked, him sighing.
"Not when she's calm, no siree. But it's been awhile since she's been in this kind of fuss, an Ah have no finkin' clue as to why! Can ya please 'elp me, Hush?" he asked, me nodding at that.
"Of course I can, just lead me to where the Miltank stall is and I'll calm her down," I smiled at him.
