August 2nd, First Year

"Are you sure about this, dude?"

"Absolutely. I wouldn't have sent you a message if I didn't think it were serious enough."

"What about the professor? Isn't he going to be worried sick about you, what with that plague going on in the mirelands?"

"He knows what I'm up to. I've got my pokémon. I'm not scared."

Rei knew it was just a flimsy lie to keep himself going. He carefully made his way down the grassy slope, one arm held at a distance to keep his balance. Behind him, Yuki slid down the slope on his butt. Only recently had the two of them been cleared to go out into the field but only with a partner. The two boys surveyed the Obsidian Fieldlands before them, shielding their eyes as the sun emerged from a hole in the clouds.

"Good point," Yuki muttered. "Can't say I'm looking forward to running into an alpha. Not after last time."

Both of them flinched. Rei could scarcely forget the incident with the alpha Luxray. Yuki throwing himself onto the battlefield. His leg in the beast's mouth. The horrible noise of the appendage snapping like a dry twig. He remembered visiting Yuki- watching the nurse attempt to muffle Yuki's screams of pain as they reset his femur- pieced it back together, even. Rei only remembered drowning himself in his work concerning the pokédex. Finishing the artwork. Fixing his handwriting. Rei furiously shook his head and gave his best friend a good-natured push, attempting to dislodge the troubling memories from his mind. "Hey! Knock it off, man! That's the last thing I'm trying to think about right now."

"Just saying. Now that I'm up and about, it would be pretty cool to have a giant pokémon on my team."

"Of course, you'd find a titan of a pokémon fun. You'd think riding a rampaging Gyarados over Obsidian Falls would be fun if Captain Zisu asked."

Yuki grinned. "Heck yeah, it'd be cool! Flying on the back of a huge, scary pokémon like Gyarados?" Yuki let out an excited huff, his eyes fixed on the waterfalls to the south. "To think! Months ago, we didn't even have more than one pokémon on either of our teams."

"I guess that is true." Rei let his hands bump against his pokéball belt, feeling Tot's pokéball heat up at his touch. One finger tapped Otto's ball. The two pokémon emerged from their containers, gleefully climbing up his shoulders. He gave his partners scratches under their chins, making sure to give Tot extra headpats. He had rethought his feelings toward the electric-rat, trying his best to see his starter in a good light despite the creature's faults. "I would've never thought that pokémon would be nice to buddy up with in the past." Rei then turned to Yuki. "How's Buizel and Shinx, by the way?"

Yuki's pokémon had also broken free, running circles around their trainer as they volleyed weak attacks at one another. "They're good! They're as cool as always! Ain't that right, guys?" The two pokémon immediately stopped, yowled their agreements, and then went back to play-fighting.

It was a nice conversation to keep their minds off what their task at hand was. The farther they progressed down the mountain side, the more and more the pit of worry in Rei's gut weighed like a jagged stone. Ever since he'd found that bloody scrap of Emmet's coat in the river, he'd been tracking it to see where it led to. Adaman hadn't lent out any resources; the man was too focused on keeping his clan afloat. Warden Ingo hadn't been entirely concerned with the man, hanging around his fellow warden in shoring up the camp walls. Akari was… Rei inwardly grimaced, his eyes narrowing. Akari was Akari.

Rei had instead sent a Starly-Message asking if Yuki would be okay with helping him out on his little project. Secretly, Rei had been looking for something else to do that wasn't pokédex work. Sure, filling out pages for the professor was enlightening but only when the professor had finished the page so that Rei could read it in its entirety. Getting all the information that went into a page? Not so much fun. Was it morbid, following a trail of sparse blood spots and torn-up coat pieces? Absolutely. Would it make him feel useful for once? Maybe.

The two boys stepped under the shade of an oran tree, Rei marking their positions with a splash of ink on the parchment. They stood atop the Obsidian Falls, one thin dirt trail leading into The Heartwood where months prior, the noble, Lord Kleavor, had been working itself and the surrounding bug-type pokémon to near death.

The Heartwood was now more vibrant than ever. The late summer heat sank into Rei's uniform, making him sweaty and tired. The sound of chirping Kricketunes settled into the air. The plush grass was springy and damp beneath his shoes. If he looked hard at where the river dipped toward Tidewater Dam, he could still see the ravaged remains of sticky tree stumps and bare earth. He cast his eyes away.

"I thought I heard somethin' runnin' around in the hills."

Rei turned as a small shape ambled toward them. Warden Lian trudged through the dirt, his Goomy slithering after him as Warden Mai and her Munchlax followed not a pace behind. The two were laden with small, canvas pouches similar to the ones containing Lord Kleavor's balms. Rei suddenly felt three sizes too small.

"What're you two scouts doin' all the way out here?" Warden Lian demanded. He eyed the both of them, his bushy hair falling into his face. His small but loud voice held confusion and annoyance. "I ain't heard o' no extra outgoin's recently." He turned to Warden Mai. "Did you?"

"I'm afraid I didn't." The older warden gave them both a stern look before it softened to one of mild concern. "Young Rei," she dipped her head toward him. She then turned to Yuki. "And company. Are you two lost?"

Rei withered like a flower under the hot sun at the warden's inquisitive gaze. "Uh… I-uh-"

"What he means to say-" Yuki butted in, covering Rei with his lithe frame- "is that we're not on an official expedition." After a moment, Yuki scrunched up his face. "Please don't tell Commander Kamado. It's important! We've been tracking a missing person all the way from the Crimson Mirelands. They're too busy to do it, so we're just… tying up loose ends. Yeah! That's what we're doing!"

Warden Mai blinked, crossing her arms as she nodded. "What a coincidence. We are also tracking a missing pokémon."

"She means Lord Wyrdeer," Lian finished up. "Won't come when called for. Last I saw, the lord was walkin' around under The Heartwood with Lord Kleavor. The next day, he just up an' disappeared."

"Warden Lian, I thought the Pearl Clan didn't work with the Diamond Clan," Rei questioned innocently. "How come you're helping?"

Warden Lian opened his mouth but then immediately closed it, covering a good half of his face with his massive hat. "…That- that ain't none of your business, scout. I'm just- I'm helpin'. That's all. It's what a good person would do."

Warden Mai gave her fellow warden a peculiar look, smiled, and then took a step onto the dirt path that arched higher into the forest. "Don't worry about it too much, boys. I requested Warden Lian's assistance as he is quite skillful at noticing the subtlest of changes in the forest. " After a moment, Mai asked, "Who went missing from The Diamond Heath for Adaman not to send a scouting party?"

"Emmet. Warden Ingo's twin brother," Rei supplied.

Lian stilled, coming only a few paces short of him with his calm demeanor all but gone. "Grandpa ain't got no twin." His beady eyes gleamed with fury. "You ain't talkin' 'bout that Zoroark that keeps followin' him around impersonatin' him, are ya'?"

"No, no, no! I mean, I guess? Warden Ingo seems to be okay with him,.. whatever he is." Rei fiddled with his hands. "They're friendly! Emmet's friendly! I'll admit, I don't really know Emmet, but he was just sort of… taken from The Diamond Heath while the new camp was being attacked by wild pokémon. I just want to find out what happened."

Yuki immediately covered for him. "Rei found scraps of the man's bloody coat in the river. Ingo is fine," he added upon Lian swelling with anger like a balloon. "Rei thinks it's suspicious that no body has been found yet, so we're investigating with permission. The trail goes further down into the woods."

Warden Lian huffed. He wore an expression as though a guest had tracked mud into his tent on a humid day. "…I guess that's as good an explanation as any. You Galaxy folks jus' love stickin' your necks out, don't ya? Fine. I'll accept it." He then glared upward at the two boys, crossing his arms in an exaggerated fashion. "But! You two are venturin' into my neck o' the woods so I'll have ta' accompany ya'll- just to make sure ya don't get lost or nothin'."

"This does sound rather interesting." Warden Mai ventured for the two boys to take the lead. "I do believe it would be in our best interest to make sure the visiting Galaxy scouts don't come into harm's way. You two may lead the way. Warden Lian and I shall watch your backs. And if either of you see a flash of white fur, let us know. Does that sound fair?"

Rei bowed gratefully. "Of course. Thank you, wardens."

It wasn't long before Lian had discovered a set of cloven footprints winding around a pamtre berry tree some distance into the woods. Warden Mai also bent to inspect the prints, making concerned commentary under her breath as she began to lead the group deeper into The Heartwood. They had only just arrived at the darker southern woods when Warden Mai threw out her arm to halt them. She made a gesture to be still, angling her head toward an open clearing in the trees. Rei's eyes widened.

The great noble's antlers came first, glittering gold in the weaning sunlight as it nosed its way between thin tree trunks. It stomped one hoof into the dirt and then another, having to hop forward to clear the underbrush. Atop it, her hands sunken into the noble's thick fur, was a figure clad in filthy, hole-riddled Diamond Clan robes. The garish orange cloth tied firmly around their waist immediately clued Rei in.

"This does not bode well."

Rei's gaze shot to Warden Mai who looked both disturbed, curious, and awed.

Under her breath, the warden muttered, "Lord Wyrdeer rarely lets anyone sit astride its back." She took a deep breath, and then entered the clearing. "My Lord. Scout Jaku."

Both the noble and its filthy jockey jumped. Jaku stared expressionless, their eyes hidden in the shadows of their headscarf as they released their hold on Wyrdeer's neck. The scout then gave a nervous wave.

"Warden Mai. Warden Lian." She then squinted at Rei and Yuki as Wyrdeer padded ever closer. "Boys?"

"Scout Jaku." Mai's voice was low and oddly toned. "How strange to see you here in The Heartwood. And with Lord Wyrdeer. What are you doing out here if you don't mind my asking?"

Jaku blinked. "Uh…" She turned to Lord Wyrdeer and in a lower voice, uttered, "Can I tell them?" The great noble shook its head. Jaku cleared her throat. "Lord Wyrdeer says no. I can't tell you what I'm doing out here." The ranger hastily dismounted the pokémon, careful not to jostle a canvas bag strapped across their chest. "It's to do with Almighty Sinnoh. That's all I can say about the matter."

That seemed to be the wrong thing to say. Warden Mai's curious expression wore into thinly concealed anger. "Lord Wyrdeer shouldn't be ridden like a common Ponyta. As his warden, I've been searching for him. How long has this been going on for?"

"About a week or so last time I checked," came Jaku's nonchalant response.

Rei felt his ears burning. How dare she talk so casually to Warden Mai like that! She's bound to be punished for sure!

"And I haven't been told about this, why?"

"Because Adaman doesn't know. I can't tell him either. All he knows is that I'm being directed by Almighty Sinnoh. Lord Wyrdeer is in on it. That's why he's letting me ride him around like-" she shot a cheeky glance at the big deer- "a common Ponyta."

With an angry huff, Wyrdeer nudged her hard only to come and stand beside Warden Mai. Lord Wyrdeer raised its head and stared pointedly at its warden, a strange scarlet aura washing over both of them. After a few moments, Warden Mai nodded. "I… see. Noble Wyrdeer has given me a sense of what you're doing."

Jaku stopped in her ministrations, a thin smile starting to form. "Really now?"

"Yeah," Lian piped up. "What'd he say?"

Warden Mai's expression was calm and collected. "You're here looking for an artifact and you need peace and quiet to locate it. Does that sound right?"

Jaku visibly relaxed and nodded. "Yup. That sounds about right. If you must know, Lord Wyrdeer was just helping me get back faster. I had to collect some supplies from Jubilife that'll be helpful for finding the damn thing."

"Language," Mai chided, her eyes shooting to Lian.

"Aw, don't even be like that!" Lian argued.

Warden Mai looked first to her noble and then to Jaku. "I also wish to ask- how did you manage to call upon Lord Wyrdeer for assistance? Was it through the Mind Plate?"

"… The what?"

Mai's eyebrow quirked up. "The Mind Plate? Lord Wyrdeer wished for me to send it to you on behalf of quelling its frenzy. I was under the impression that Young Akari and the merchant, Volo, had sworn to hand it to you the next you all met."

Jaku clapped her hands together. "That would explain it: I haven't seen Akari nor Volo in ages. I'll be sure to ask her about it when I see her next. She's still asleep back in the mirelands last I checked."

"No, she's not," Rei cut in. He flinched when everybody in the group turned to him. "Uh, I mean- she's awake now. She got the medicine to cure her paralysis. Volo was the one who brought the cure."

"Did he now?" It was now Warden Mai's turn to share a look with Lord Wyrdeer. Without another word, Mai had mounted the noble, her hands wrapped around the pokémon's antlers like a vice. "You are carrying out a task from Almighty Sinnoh," Mai spoke decisively, her steely gaze meeting Jaku's own. "I'll see to fetch it for you in the meantime." The woman muttered something angrily under her breath and with a half-hearted wave, both warden and noble were off into the trees.

Warden Lian was first to speak. "Well, I guess that's the end o' that! My work here is done!"

"But you didn't do anything," Yuki countered.

Warden Lian tipped his hat up smugly before also turning around and disappearing into the woods. His Goomy copied his expression, slowly slithering away after its partner.

"Well, that was weird," Rei commented.

"You're telling me," Yuki joked tersely.

"… So are you two just gonna sit around in the dark woods or something or are you gonna go home?"

Rei turned, almost forgetting that the older Diamond Clan ranger was still watching them. He felt the hairs along the back of his neck rise.

The ranger was leaning against a tree with her arms crossed and while her pose made her seem smaller than she looked, the way she looked at them- stared at them- was akin to a Luxray sighting and stalking its prey through a solid wall of stone. "Well?" Jaku drawled. "Are you gonna answer me or are you gonna sit there like a sleepy Bidoof?"

"He's just tired is all," Yuki responded in Rei's mental absence. Yuki didn't even seem to notice the woman's off putting disposition, instead growing closer, his eyes gleaming at the numerous pokéballs that hung at the woman's waist. "Hey! You've got more pokémon! Can I see?"

"Not all of them, no. A few of them are busy." Jaku pushed herself off the tree. "What are you two really doing out here? Aren't you two too young to just be wandering around in the woods at this time of day?"

"It's hardly evening," Rei argued.

"Says the minor with what? Three pokémon?" Jaku smirked. "Don't you scouts have a bedtime? A curfew or something like that?"

"How old do you think we are?" Yuki bristled.

Jaku sneered. "I dunno," she drawled. "You look a little on the younger side. I'm thinking maybe fourteen."

Yuki scowled. "What? How could you- we're not- we don't look young!"

"Practically children," Jaku teased. The woman then crossed her arms again. "But for real. What are you guys doing out here? Asking as a slightly concerned older friend."

"Ugh! Fine! It's a funny story," Yuki began. "Well, not actually funny. Kind of creepy, actually. See, Rei sent me a message about Warden Ingo's brother going missing during an attack on the Diamond Clan camp a few days ago. Something about him getting kidnapped"

Rei did not miss the way the ranger's eyes pinpointed him in particular, a sinister gleam kindling in their shadowed eyes despite their vacant expression, nor did he miss the way in which Jaku began to tap their fingers against their forearm in a fast, rhythmic pace.

"…And?"

"Well, Rei found a scrap of Mr. Emmet's coat in the river," Yuki continued, his voice quieting. "He said it had blood on it. He was worried and so he tracked in through the mirelands. The trail has taken him- us- all the way here: into the woods. We wanna see what happened to him and if we can recover him. Adaman couldn't send any people to help look, so it's just us two."

Too much information, Yuki. You shouldn't have told her that. Rei paused. Why had that been his first thought? He found himself looking directly into Jaku's gaze, surprised when the older woman eventually looked away. I trust her… right?

Jaku sighed and scratched at the back of her head. "Well, you're both idiots," she grumbled. "But I'm not your parent so do what you want I guess. Do you two at least have some pokémon with you? More than two?"

"I've still got Otto." Rei let his Sneasel out, the gangly weasel seeming excited to see the woman as it ran up to the woman and rubbed its dark flank against her leg. "I've also found another pokémon- he's special but he's resting up as we speak."

"I see. Congratulations anyhow."

"Thank you." Rei swallowed. "Um… Did you… have you happened to see Emmet anywhere around here? You two were constantly together from what Warden Mai and Warden Melli mentioned before we got here." That was a lie; a partial lie. Rei had been at camp when Warden Ingo and his brother had first arrived. He'd overheard the two highland wardens talking. Melli had mentioned something about Emmet absolutely hating Jaku. Despising her, almost. But Rei couldn't figure out why.

"You're not gonna like it, but yeah, I've seen him," Jaku admitted. "He's… he's okay." Jaku stared out into the dark woods, tapping one nail errantly against a pokéball at her side. "Turns out, Emmet was in fact a Zoroark; a damn good one, too. Nearly had me fooled until he slipped up back in the mirelands. Got angry and completely lost his disguise. Right next to Ingo, too."

Rei started forward. "Seriously?" He felt his fingers twitch and the weight in his stomach lift. It had been a fruitless task all along. Emmet had been a Zoroark all along, the suspicion that the Diamond Clan had been harboring ever since the white-clad man had arrived in their homelands. Nonetheless, Rei was curious. "Why did Ingo let him come in with him? Wouldn't he have known? Wouldn't his pokémon have been able to tell?"

"Clever," Jaku smiled. "You'll make a fine scout yet, Rei. But sadly, no. Zoroarks can deceive even pokémon. Emmet got past me, the speedy little bastard. Managed to coral Ingo back to camp after the three of us… Well, after we had a misunderstanding." If there was an undertone in the way Jaku suddenly hunched over and the way the ranger flexed her fingers, Rei couldn't tell. Jaku continued. "I was chasing them back to camp but somehow, the little bastard found a way to capture other pokémon beforehand. I didn't want to battle in the camp- the clans are already shaky about capturing and training pokémon, so I had to wait to act."

"You?" Rei thundered. "Emmet was kidnapped! How- you just yoinked him from the camp?"

Jaku shrugged. "Nice word choice, but yes. I absolutely chose to steal him. I made a new friend that could fly- an alpha Yanmega. Wasn't too hard bribing them to swoop in, pick him up, and bring him back somewhere far from Ingo. I wasn't there when Hydra- my Yanmega- stole him, but I'm guessing he put up some kind of fight. He was bleeding a little when Hydra brought him to me. It was a spur-of-the-moment plan." She then gave Rei a warm smile. "You needn't worry about him anymore. I've got the situation under control for the time being."

"So where's the Zoroark now?" Yuki asked. "Oh, hey. What are you gonna do with it?"

"He's tied up at the moment. He's a bit too strong for his own good- keeps thrashing about and scratching himself- so I have my own pokémon keeping an eye on him while I go out and do things. I can't tell whether he genuinely means Ingo harm. I plan on capturing him later, thus the supplies from Jubilife."

Rei found himself thoroughly impressed with the older ranger. Not only had Jaku figured out the sly fox's illusion, but she had also managed to successfully detain the threat without Ingo even noticing! And she was going to catch it! Rei felt his chest quiver with awe. Someday, he wanted to be as fearless as the older ranger was. He wanted to be just as clever and quick and bold as Jaku was!

"How did you manage to catch a pokémon as vicious as a Zoroark?" Rei asked innocently, his hand moving to his satchel. "What type of moves did it use? Did it try to use an illusion on you?"

Jaku blinked. "Uh, my pokémon did a lot of the detaining. Lilith did a lot of the legwork, though. It didn't use any moves on me, strangely enough and we captured the bastard with rope. Lots and lots of rope. Took me a good few tries before he stopped ripping through them."

"But can't pokémon use moves to fend off captures?" Yuki protested. "Ooh! Can you show us the Zoroark? I've never seen one up close!" Yuki then reached over and grabbed Rei by the shoulders, pulling him in close. "Do you think you could show us! This here nerd-"

"Hey!"

"- is filling out pages for Professor Laventon. Zoroarks are pretty difficult to document. You'd be doing him a massive favor if you do!"

Jaku squinted. "You're just using logic to get me to agree with you, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Not a chance, boys. It's too dangerous for you. Maybe once I successfully capture him and make sure he's not dangerous, I'll bring him by Jubilife so that you can properly take notes without the chance of getting mauled in the process."

"Aw, what? No fair!"

At that very moment, a loud yell ripped outward from the woods behind them. Jaku stilled. Her head whipped around, her eyes glittering and her mouth twisting into a scowl. Instead of going for her pokémon, Rei noticed immediately that Jaku's hand instead went for the saber at her hip instead. When nothing came of the yell, Jaku shook her head. "Great. He's awake." She drew the saber from its sheath on her hip, Rei both fascinated and horrified at the old blood etched into the metal. "You two head back to the Deertrack Heights camp," Jaku ordered. "I'll take care of Emmet."

"We'll come with you!" Rei wanted to prove himself. To do something that wasn't sitting around and doing paperwork all day. He was a scout- he could at least act the part. "Let us come!" he pleaded, shaking from the effort. "We've got pokémon too! We can help! We can fight!"

Jaku immediately shot him down. "Absolutely not. You two really shouldn't be out here in the first place. Wait until you can defeat me in a pokémon battle." As if emphasizing her point, she gestured toward the six pokéballs at her side, all of which were covered in dents and scratches. "Once you can prove that you can handle yourself, you can come with me."

"As if!" Yuki protested. "I don't have to prove anything to you! There's a dangerous pokémon in the forest and if we all work together, we can actually detain it and make things safe!"

"It's already detained," Jaku retorted. "If anything, it's even more wary now since he's tied up. Really, I don't think you kids-"

"We're not kids!" Yuki spat. Rei hadn't even noticed how bothered Yuki had been throughout the entire conversation but he could clearly see it then in the way his friend's hands were curled into fists. The way Yuki's amber eyes glittered with fury. The way Yuki stood, his teeth bared in a snarl with one hand resting on a pokéball at his side. "We're scouts! We can handle ourselves! Stop talking down to us and treat us with some respect, would you? I'm going and there's nothing you can do about it!" Yuki hobbled off into the undergrowth, Rei quickly overpassing him in Jaku's befuddlement. Finally! He was gonna have a chance to prove himself capable. He and Yuki were going to prove how much they had grown.

He hopped over numerous fallen logs and torn-up ferns, ignoring Jaku's desperate shouts to stop and wait. Rei followed the yells of the Zoroark, recognizing them as the imitated desperate cries of an adult man. Rei scrambled over the edge to a stone hollow and dropped nearly into the clearing, ducking under a large, mushroom-covered log and into a dark cave.

"Hello?" he called, sliding Tot's pokéball into his hand. "Is anybody in- "

"You. Young trainer. Help me escape."

Rei quickly scrambled deeper into the cave only to stop. There, just barely illuminated by a dwindling fire concealed by a large beast-like pokémon was Emmet. Or at least, what the creature thinks will make me drop my guard. Rei took a cautious step back.

The pokémon-in-disguise was filthy and disheveled, his silver hair hanging around his dirt-streaked face. His clothes were torn apart and stained with blood, mud, and bits of leaf mold as though he'd been drug back-and-forth through the marshes by his feet. Emmet wore no shoes. His wrists, knees, and ankles were tightly bound with sections of thick, clean rope. Before Emmet was a wad of his torn-up jacket, wet with saliva that dripped from his mouth. The man's silver eyes were sunken into his face but despite his outward appearance, annoyance and desperation shone clear though the man's body language.

"Help me," Emmet murmured, his silver eyes lingering on the entrance to the cave. "Help me out of these ropes before Burr arrives." Emmet held up his bound wrists, a familiar fury echoing in the way the man trembled. "I am not a Zoroark. She's lying. Burr's lying. Whatever she might have told you, she lied. She's verrry good at lying."

Rei withered away, especially when the large beast-pokémon got up onto its paws and snarled at him with beady black eyes and cruel, savage teeth. "I… I don't believe you. Jaku said you were just trying to escape. That you slipped up in your disguise." Feeling a bit braver, Rei took a step closer. The Zoroark didn't so much as flinch. "She said she was going to capture you and make sure you don't hurt anyone."

Emmet only stared at him. "I haven't hurt Ingo. I haven't hurt the Diamond Clan. My tracks led me here to save my brother- to bring him home. Not tear him into scraps and decommission him permanently." Sensing Rei's own hesitation, Emmet moved closer, pausing when the large dog-like pokémon reached out one paw and swept the Zoroark back under its belly like a mother Luxray protecting its cubs. "Please-"

Something heavy dropped into the clearing outside, a furious muttering picking up as the presence stormed into the cave. Rei felt Jaku's wrathful gaze on him like a fire burning into his flesh. "There you are," she hissed. "I should've known you couldn't just follow orders."

Rei immediately turned his back on the Zoroark, more afraid of the older woman's wrath than the possible chance of being mauled by the Zoroark. "Jaku! Please! I was only trying to help-"

"And I told you to wait." Jaku's fury was calm. Cold. She grabbed Rei by the shoulders and forced him back so that she stood between him and the Zoroark. "Clearly, you can't follow even the simplest of instructions." One of the pokéballs at her waist popped open revealing a large, ragged-furred Luxray. "Ghost, get him out of here."

The large feline gently approached him, a calming purr ebbing from its throat as it nosed him patiently toward the cavern entrance, winding its tail around Rei's wrist.

"But- "

"Go." The ranger's voice was ice-cold. "You've done enough today. The least you can do is wait for me to fix things." Jaku lurched toward Emmet, Rei feeling his gut tighten at the gleam of fear that shone in Emmet's eyes. The two met gazes once more.

"Get help," Emmet asked of him, sneering despite the obvious discomfort he was in. "Get Ingo- Get Chandelure. She's with him-"

"That's enough out of you," Jaku snarled.

Rei was pulled out of the cave by the small Luxray who was doing its best to placate him with its soft purrs and wet nose. It dragged him over to a patch of thick grass and forced him to the ground, showering him with rough licks. Rei carefully let his hands rest in the pokémon's thick mane.

No sooner had he relaxed had Jaku stole out of the cave. She spotted him immediately. "There you are, you little rat."

Rei flinched back. The ranger had never so much as been mean or rude to him. To have Jaku blatantly show dislike toward him was jarring. "I'm sorry," he began, quickly getting to his feet. "I'm so sorry, Jaku." But am I really sorry? I don't think I am. "I should have listened," he lied.

It seemed to do the trick. Jaku regarded him coldly before dropping her guarded stance, echoing a loud, low sigh. "He's a Zoroark, Rei. He was just yelling because he heard us talking. Thanks for completely disregarding my directions and nearly being fooled into releasing him. You do realize that Zoroarks can control your body if they gain access to your mind, right?"

"I… I didn't know that." Rei couldn't tell whether Jaku was lying.

"See, this is exactly why I didn't want you two butting in. Not that I don't think you two are capable- you clearly are- but Adaman would have my ass if he found out either of you got injured under my care." And as if Jaku could sense that Rei didn't believe her, she added, "Take it however you want. But I've got a job to do here. I can't have you two getting hurt under my watch."

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. We should've listened to you in the first place." Rei glanced around, searching for Yuki but failing to find him. "Where's Yuki? He should've gotten here before me."

"I caught him before he even got halfway, what with that bad leg of his. He really shouldn't even by running on that thing. I told him to wait by the clearing." The ranger pinched the bridge of her nose. "I've half a mind to personally escort you both back to Jubilife, but I really can't afford to do so."

"Why was he- why was Emmet bound like that? In ropes?"

"He's frantically trying to get back to Ingo, so I have to keep him locked up until he decides to cooperate." She leveled with him, her grip on his shoulder softer. "I don't like it, but it's necessary. Zoroarks are tricky things and I'd rather not leave that thing alone with Ingo anymore."

Rei looked past her, not wanting to make eye contact, instead sighting a cluster of dirty blond hair tucked under a leafy bush. A familiar outcrop of blond hair. Yuki. The boy was slumped over a tree root at the top of the stone hollow, limp and unconscious.

Jaku followed his line of sight, grimacing. "Clever little bastard. Alright. I've let this go on for too long. This is exactly why I don't like kids."

"Let what go on? What did you do to Yuki?" He backed up, hands outstretched, forgetting about the pokéballs on his belt. Jaku made no attempt to pursue him, her posture stiff and for once, her hands still at her sides. That lack of aggression alone terrified him.

Rei was alone with a pokémon wielder and clearly outmatched. It would be a six-to-three match considering the number of pokéballs on the woman's belt. No means of summoning Otto, Tot, or his new pokémon would get him out of this situation unscathed without either abandoning Yuki or directly jeopardizing his own safety. A grown woman capable of kidnapping and tying up a grown man and beating his friend unconscious stood before him. It was only then that Rei noticed the fresh spots of blood on the ranger's hands. She had lied to him.

"…You're not gonna hurt me, are you?" Rei croaked pathetically, huddling against the stone walls of the hollow.

Jaku looked at him tiredly, the bags under her eyes showing. "I'm not going to hurt you Rei," Jaku murmured. "But I can't have you looking too deeply into this. I'm sorry." She reached for something under the fold of her tunic and before Rei could even contemplate what she was doing, his mind went completely and utterly blank.

June 30th, First Year

Rei picked his way along the riverbank, careful to keep away from the spray as Otto followed him. His argument with Akari had left him with the sensation of bugs crawling beneath his skin. He could hear her calling after him, focusing instead on something shiny and red in the river. Upon closer inspection, it was just a pretty white and red speckled rock.