AN: Well damn, I actually managed to keep this one at a reasonable length! This will be a more light-hearted chapter, dealing with the aftermath of the events on Helojak Island and wrapping up Chapter 6 with the Gym Battle against Crawli. Expect some fluff and some less-than-stellar acrobatic performances in Crawli's gym.

...

Chapter 6: Nimpossible Predicament

Infested Badge

~~~~~~~(I)~~~~~~~

The cockpit of the Ranger boat was a beehive of activity as Rorim B and Rorim B alone darted around, fussing about the group of wiped-out teenagers on his boat. "Look how they massacred my boy! Honestly, what a bitchy move to strike a trainer in the midst of their battle!"

"She'd already wiped me out, dad," Crawli said tiredly . He lay splayed out on the couch in the cockpit, to the right of the steering wheel. "I should have seen that coming."

"It is Team Xen's style," Aelita said, splayed out on the couch in the cockpit on the left side of the steering wheel. "Why kick someone's ass if you can just murder them? They're assholes."

"Big assholes," Adam said from the seat at the back of the cockpit.

"The biggest assholes," Saki agreed, leaning down against the wall next to him.

Valarie's voice came from outside of the boat. "Never seen such big assholes before."

Adam, Saki and Aelita cast an expecting gaze at Melia.

Melia, sitting in the far corner on a bunch of pillows, merely sighed. "Yeah, what they said…"

So Braixen took over for her. "Never again will we see assholes like them."

"Darlings, please, language!" Rorim said, wagging a chastising finger at them. "You will have to learn more elegant ways to smacktalk your enemies!"

"...never seen such punk-ass bitches before," Saki angrily muttered.

"Now that is the spirit honey!"

Will eased himself into the corner next to Melia, closed his eyes and released a pent-up breath he'd been holding for what felt like weeks. "How are you holding up?" He asked.

Melia pulled her shoulder up in a tired little half-shrug. "I"m tired. I'm hurt. I feel like crying. I just wanna go home and sleep."

"Yeah…" he said. He should have figured that. "Look…I wanna apologize."

Her brow knitted together in confusion. "For what?"

"Ren was your friend for years. Mine for just a couple of months. Yet you kept your cool. I lost mine.. That shouldn't have happened."

Melia looked at him tiredly. "Oh Will…you shouldn't quantify friendships by time…I knew Ren for years and apparently, I didn't know him at all. You shouldn't apologize for feeling the way you do. I guess you and Ren built up something special while I was…absent." She rested her head on her knees again. "I can't believe he'd betray us…for them."

He couldn't believe it either. A part of him still couldn't believe it. He'd run through every possible justification when he trekked across the Helojak facility. Everything from Team Xen blackmailing Ren with his mother's life to some sort of elaborate hypnosis.

But it hadn't been like that, had it? Ren had gone far above and beyond what would be expected of him through blackmail. Nastasia's words had been very clear; had they gotten their wish on that rooftop, they'd have Melia in their clutches and left three corpses to rot in the marshes.

Ren would have let that happen. He'd actively worked to make that happen.

God, he still felt so pissed. A part of him wanted to make plans for getting Ren back to their side and another part of him just wanted to beat him senseless.

"We'll find out," Will promised her. "We'll take the fight to Team Xen. And we'll get Ren back."

Melia's face twisted into anger and disgust. "I don't want him back. What he did, he can't ever take back. He stood there with them as they tried their best to break us down, again. These are the people who nearly killed me. The people who keep trying to kill you!" She shook her head in silent disbelief. "Even if he left them willingly today…it wouldn't ever be the same again. Every time I'd look at him, I would think back to tonight…how can you build a friendship up again like that? Who could do that?"

Will stared at the deck. Someone really desperate, he supposed. Someone who just wanted things to be normal. - who just wanted to pick up the scattered pieces where they lay.

In other words, an idiot.

A heavy silence fell, only occasionally broken by Rorim B checking up on them and fussing over little things. Was Braixen warm enough? Did Aelita need another pillow? Was Adam hungry? Had Val spotted any pursuers out on the deck?

Where had Melia bought her boots?

Those sort of things.

A few minutes went by like that before Aelita stirred. "Hey, Will, can I just say, holy shit?"

Befuddled, Will looked her way. "Eh, sure?"

"While Madelis and Zetta and Nastasia were pounding us into the ground, you were holding them all off. With only four Pokemon."

"Hang on," Saki said, getting into a more comfortable position on the floor. "Say wha?"

"No way," Braixen said. "Really?"

"No, it's true," Melia said. "Will defeated Ren while Zetta and Madelis attacked him."

Will snorted in disgust. They thought he'd been winning against overwhelming odds - but all he'd done was nearly get his Pokemon killed fighting a losing battle. One that he would have eventually lost, anyway. "My Pokemon did all the work. Besides; if Crescent hadn't shown up - "

Adam threw a pillow at him. "Dude, stop selling yourself short. That's not a habit you want to pick up."

Will's head neatly bounced off of the hull behind him when the pillow smacked into his face. He peeled it off and shot Adam a cranky look. He started to argue, but then Adam loaded up another pillow and the argument died somewhere in his throat.

"Who gives a crap if you won or lost?" Adam continued. "Fight like hell. Get back up. That's what makes all the difference in the world."

"Didn't you say it yourself, Will?" Aelita said. "When at the end of the day, everybody's lying on the ground, we're the ones who'll get back up. We'll outlast them."

"I daresay Will outlasted them alright," Melia agreed. "He outlasted us all."

Saki chuckled. "That's what she said."

The next second, Aelita, Adam and Melia all flung a pillow at her and Saki disappeared from the radar.

Will rested his head against the bulkhead. Was that how they looked at things? He'd given it his all…and everybody was safe. Ren hadn't bested him. Their Admins hadn't won either. But to actually hear them just say that to his face like that…to hear them confirm how much his efforts meant to them…it made him feel warmer. Cared for.

It felt like he closed his eyes for a second before the ship suddenly came to a stop at the Terajuma Shipyards. Rorim got the boat as close to the pier as possible and Adam and Val both leapt off, tying her down with a couple of sturdy ropes.

From there, it was a short, three kilometer walk back to the Ranger HQ to take care of their wounded Pokemon.

"Exciting night, huh?" Melia said as they made their way through the jungle. This late at night, lanterns lit up the path, making it easier to see where they were going.

"That's one word to describe it," Valarie replied. "I just wish we could've helped out more."

"And that Giratina is a problem," Adam chimed in. "It'll keep disrupting our flow like that every time."

"Super not cool," Braixen sighed. "I"m not strong enough to deal with a beast like that!"

Saki placed a contemplative hand to her chin. "Hmmmm…wonder if I could do anything 'bout that? That's a project for another day…"

If Saki could come up with a machine that could help them fight a Legendary Pokemon, Will would be the first in line to try it out.

"I'm sure whatever you'll come up with will be helpful!" Aelita said.

They passed through the little grove that separated Kakori Village from the jungle. "Well, even if it wasn't exactly by our work, we did end up with that Sky Relic at the end of the day," Valarie continued. "We should take this as a win and sleep well tonight."

"Yeah…let's take a rest day tomorrow as well," Melia suggested. "We've more than earned it."

"Day off?" Saki said. "Cool. I'm with it."

"We're heading to the HQ now, get some healing done," Aelita said. "Team Xen really did a number on our teams."

'Cool. We'll wait for you guys to come back, just in case," Valarie said.

"Yeah, no more funny business from Team Xen," Adam added

It was fortunate that the rangers were used to getting tossed around in their daily routine. The nurse at the Pokemon Center there had been informed that she'd be having some guests who needed urgent healing for their Pokemon, and she was very good at her job to boot. Within seconds after the three of them barged inside, trailing mud and smelling like swamp, the nurse had her machines running at full speed.

Will, Aelita and Melia sank down on a couch there and just…stopped doing anything for a little while. They didn't move, they didn't speak, they didn't even think - at least that was Will thought - as they allowed the day's events to sink in.

Within the first ten minutes, Aelita dozed off. She slowly sank in on herself in her corner.

Five minutes after that, Melia was gone too. Her blond head slumped against his shoulder and stayed there.

Will allowed himself a little moment of rest as well. He closed his eyes and allowed his head to ease back on the soft couch, taking care not to move too much, as he'd be waking his friends if he did…

"Sir? Madams? We are all done."

Will jerked upright with a start. Melia gave a little cry of surprise and looked around wildly, while Aelita began stretching and tried to turn on her other side, before nearly falling off the sofa entirely.

"Been a long day huh?" The nurse said kindly. "Your Pokemon should be all healed up now."

Taking a look at the clock, Will saw that it was just a little bit past midnight.

"Thank you so much for your time," Melia said as the nurse took their Poke Balls from the healing unit and placed them on the counter one by one.

"No problem ma'am, whatever you can do to help keep our island safe."

Despite walking out of what was ostensibly the most well-defended building in the village, Will couldn't help but be relieved when he finally had his team at his side again. Madelis had made it abundantly clear that Team Xen was constantly watching them. The enemy could literally anywhere at any time.

They made their way back to the house, where true to their word, the others had waited for them before getting into bed.

"Welcome back," Val said. "Everything in order?"

"It is now!" Aelita replied cheerfully. "Thanks for waiting for us."

"No prob."

Everybody was so tired that they barely even bothered to undress before they hopped into their beds. Saki just kicked off her shoes, flopped down and closed her eyes. Braixen simply disappeared under her covers as if her bed had swallowed her up completely and for a moment, it seemed that only Adam bothered to take off his shirt and his pants before lying down.

After that, Aelita dropped like a rock and Val took a moment to take off her bandana and apply some basic skincare products, leaving Melia free to enter the bathroom to refresh herself.

Will plopped down on his bed as well. He took the basic first aid kit from the table and began poking at the little wound with some disinfectant. Next, he slapped down a couple of bandaids and wrapped the whole thing up with some bandages.

There. As good as new.

"By the way, I brought you a little something," Val said without taking her eyes off her reflection in the mirror.

"Will it make my skin soft and smooth?"

Val rolled with her eyes. "You'll need more than some simple creams for that. No, remember what we talked about a while back? About you uh, you know, struggling to keep your thoughts together at times?"

He nodded.

"Well, when I got to talking with Captain Augustus about the specifics of Team Xen's battleship designs, he happened to show me some notes in a notebook of his. I happened to notice that he had a couple of spare. So…I asked him if he could miss one."

Where was Val going with this? "Okay?"

She shot him a look through the mirror. "And he could. So I brought it with me!" She gestured at the table in the corner. "It's right there, if you're interested."

"I…appreciate the thought, but how is that going to help?" Will asked.

Having finished her routine, Val put her products back into a little ziplock bag and stuffed that into one of her pouches. "It's a journal, for documenting…whatever you want, really. You can try writing down your thoughts, use it to plan your next mind boggling strategies or…I dunno, write some knock-knock jokes. Go nuts."

Will got to his feet and approached the table. The journal looked worn, with a dark, leatherbound cover. It felt smooth to the touch,

He flicked it open. The pages were all blank. A pen and a pencil were tucked away between the last two pages.

"Thank you," Will said. "It's worth a shot."

"That's the spirit!" Val replied with a warm smile. "Now if you'll excuse me, I gotta pass out on my bunk."

Val headed to her bed, leaving Will alone with his thoughts and for the first time, a way to actually scribble them down.

He picked up the pen and decided he might as well start with some practical stuff.

Day 2 / 28 days remaining / Kakori Village

Madelis didn't lie. That key opened a decrepit storage room. Only two Poke Balls were left. Can't open them yet; more than 6 balls in the vicinity. Gonna split the team tomorrow. Take Axew, Blaziken, Froslass and Pidgeot and the two "rejects". See how bad the damage is.

Rejects. Like they're material, Like they're just consumables to Team Xen. Maybe that's what we all are to them. All expendable material for their grand plan. Can't let them get their hands on Melia.

Will put the pen down again. That would have to do for the moment. Maybe tomorrow he'd write down the specific Pokemon each Xen Admin used; start planning the most optimal methods to take them down. Then he'd -

The door to the bathroom opened and Melia walked out, clad in nothing more than a pair of towels wrapped around her chest and waist, and a pair of slippers.

For a single jarring second, the two just stared at each other. Will tried very, very hard not to notice her long, shapely legs and her toned -

Melia gasped and quickly sprang back. "Oh, I'm sorry! I thought everybody was already sleeping!"

Feeling his cheeks growing uncomfortably warm, Will quickly turned his gaze back down at his journal again. "I had some things to do," he muttered. Freaking Saki and her stupid comments…somehow, this was her fault. "I'm not looking, do your thing."

"Yeah, gimme a moment."

Melia walked briskly to her bed, scooped up a handful of clothes and quickly hopped back into the bathroom.

Will very specifically did not think about what she was doing in there and focused on the blank little pages where he would be penning down how best to demolish Team Xen's admins. Somehow, when it came to the threat they posed, he had severely underestimated Nasatisa's strength. The way she'd just walked all over Crawli…that made his mother's victory over her that much more impressive.

And Madame X's decisive win, that much more painful.

After a minute, Melia emerged from the bathroom again, looking a whole lot less flustered this time. She'd ditched the towels for a white nightgown. "So watcha doing?" She asked

"Stapling some thoughts together," Will replied. "Val gave me this journal to help me organize…some things."

"How nice of her," she commented, making her way to her bed. "Any luck so far?"

"I'm figuring out some teambuilding." Now that he had more Pokemon than he could take with him and a dependable place for his idle Pokemon to hang out with the Rangers, it might pay off in future fights to specifically design a team for fighting certain opponents.

Then again, that might risk leaving him too overspecialized against an unexpected threat. He would have to be careful when it came to tailoring his team to certain individuals; Team Xen might just throw him a curveball and send Zetta instead of Madelis, or Neved instead of Geara.

But some specialization was better than a jack-of-all-trades team.

"Okay, I'll let you get to it, then. Don't stay up too late! You need to sleep just as much as the rest of us."

"Mhm."

Melia pulled her blankets over herself, took a moment to tie her long hair back into a ponytail and then let her head fall back on her pillow. "Oh, and thanks again."

"What for?" He asked without thinking.

"For being so dependable, no matter what happens. You always pull through. See you tomorrow."

"Yeah…" Will muttered back. He thought back to what Crescent had told him. Referring to his friends as "these people" as if he ought to have had other people. Like he was acting in a way Crescent didn't understand because he ought to be acting in a different way, one she would have expected of him. "Good night…"

He remembered nor remembering Crescent even before Indriad Theolia had…well. How did she know him? Why did she care about him?

Frustrated, he scribbled a little note underneath his previous text.

Start playing twenty questions with Crescent.

There. Problem solved.

Time to confront his bed again.

The next morning, after much useless reflections and a thousand and one theories regarding Ren's sudden change of heart, Will opened his eyes to see that the sun was already shining. Light shone through the windows even though they'd closed all the curtains, bathing the room in a gentle, reddish light.

Much to his surprise, Melia and Aelita were still fast asleep. Melia looked completely conked out, her mouth hanging partially open as she drooled on her pillow. Well, she certainly knew how to sleep. She looked peaceful though, which was all that mattered.

Meanwhile, Aelita had somehow worked her way above and on top of her covers, clutching a pillow tightly between her arms as she mumbled to herself -

Will frowned. In all the nights he'd slept next to Aelita, he'd never heard her talk in her sleep. Manic, restless behavior at night had become his thing.

He leaned in closer and listened.

"I know what I heard…I know…what I heard…I know…" she mumbled softly to herself.

It looked like she was dreaming?

Will thought about waking her - he would have really appreciated it if someone had woken him up from his nightmares before they turned visceral - but he wasn't sure if Aelita actually had a nightmare. She looked serene enough to him. Maybe she was just having a really good dream?

He decided to let sleeping Aelita's lie and headed back downstairs. There, he started boiling water for some much-needed coffee, roasted some bread and started baking some eggs and bacon. He wouldn't be fighting Team Xen on an empty stomach again, that was for damn sure.

A couple of minutes passed before Saki threw the door open. "That bacon I smells?"

"Yup."

She planted herself on one of the chairs. "Hit me up, bro."

He took a swig of coffee, slapped some eggs and bacon on a plate for Saki and continued cooking.

A minute later, Adam filed inside as well. "Yo, Will. Morning. Did Saki tell you about her idea?"

Will shook his head. "Coffee?"

"Uh…" Adam hesitated. "No, I'm good, I had some already. Saki's been thinking about what we said about Giratina yesterday."

Saki swallowed an enormous mouthful of eggs, bonked the table with her knife and then said, "Yeah, that stupid thing's been an issue and I'm so tired of issues that I ran out of tissues."

As far as bad puns went, that one was about a six out of ten.

"You thought that was clever, didn't you?" Adam said.

"I say clever things until I don't," Saki replied.

"You don't say?"

"Anyway! So I decided, if I could hit up my favorite Pokemon prodigy guy with some cool equipment, we could hunt down and bust that freaking thing without having it ruin our day."

"Sure. I'm game."

"Nice!"

WIll sat down with his own breakfast and began scarfing it down. Adam, meanwhile, briefly explained what he'd been up to.

"Crawli's been up all night coordinating with his rangers. Rorim and Holly have been helping where they can. Team Xen's been freely using Terajuma's airspace and the rangers haven't been able to do a thing about it. But that doesn't mean they can't trace them whenever they fly around."

"Anything new?" WIll asked.

"No. Just the usual; an insane amount of traffic around Mount Valor and Route Six. We've been calling their tubs battleships this entire time, but they're like troop transports and aircraft carriers."

That explained the seeming unchallenged air superiority Team Xen enjoyed…

"What's Crawli up to now?" Will asked.

"That's actually why I came to get you; Crawli's outside right now. Said he's got a message for you, and some kind of test."

A test? Now that sounded promising.

Will finished his breakfast, put his dishes into the sink and then nodded at Adam and Saki. "Let's see what's up."

Just like Adam'd said, Crawli had taken a seat on one of the tree stumps just outside the house. He looked up from his phone when he heard the door and smiled. "Hey guys. Will, got a minute?"

As a matter of fact, Will had the entire day. Aelita was still asleep, which meant that she'd taken Melia's suggestion of a rest day very seriously. "Trouble?"

"Hah, no, not at all! I actually came here to officially challenge you to a Gym battle!"

Will stared at the man. In all of the frenzied chaos the past few days, he had completely forgotten that Crawli was an actual Gym leader. "You're on."

"I like your fire!" Crawli replied. "My Bug Pokemon probably wouldn't. Some of 'em, anyway."

"Oh hell yeah!" Saki said. "This is waaay more interesting than what I had to do! I want to join!"

"Hm. Val and Braixen are both being them, so I kind of want to join as well," Adam said.

Crawli seemed to enjoy that. "Everyone and anyone is welcome to come watch our battle …if you're up for my Gym challenge, that is. I won't get into details. You'll just have to see it for yourself! To get there, just take the lift that's right next to my office… if you can handle it. See you there!"

His message delivered, Crawli bade them farewell and then walked off.

Saki crossed her arms and huffed. "If we can handle it…of course we can handle it. I'm going ahead right frickin' now. Come on guys!"

She briskly walked away, leaving the two guys to exchange a bemused look.

"Well, let's not keep them waiting, shall we?" Adam said. "Before Saki starts breaking things again…"

Will took a minute to gather his things, stashed the Pokemon he'd taken from the Helojak facility somewhere secure, and then followed Adam to the ranger HQ.

Unlike the previous time, where Aelita and him had taken a little detour to the outside obstacle course, Adam and him made their way all the way down the hall to the left, where they found the elevator Crawli mentioned.

It looked a lot like those leading up to Terajuma Falls, but large enough for a whole group of people and much more modern.

Saki waited for them there, impatiently tapping her foot against the ground as the two guys approached her. "There they are! Took ya long enough. Come on, let's rock!"

Adam and Will got on the elevator with her and with a sudden mechanical rattle, descended into the depths below the HQ.

Will watched with amazement as the elevator came to a halt atop what seemed to be a hill in a whole underground base! The walls were made of the same reddish bricks as the rest of the HQ, but the interior looked like the rangers had just scooped up a square kilometer of jungle and shoved it underground.

Looking around, Saki nodded to herself in silent approval. "So this is Crawli's Gym? Kinda cool. I dig it, I dig it."

Adam crossed his arms and put on his pokerface. "More or less what I expected."

Will was so occupied with looking at how cool this whole underground jungle was that, when the voice erupted above and behind him, he nearly had a heart attack.

"So you three Wurmple are the new recruits Crawli was talking about?"

"Eh?" Saki went. The three of them turned around to find a steely-eyed, black-haired woman in a dark gray ranger's uniform standing on a catwalk above them. She glared down at the three of them with the kind of expression Nidoking usually reserved for his food.

"Who are you?" Adam asked.

The woman, standing ramrod straight, crossed her arms and yelled, "You WILL refer to me as Holly. Head Recruitment Captain of the Pokemon Rangers. Rank Silver and Crawli's Second in Command."

Hooo boy. So this was Holly?

Will could see why Alex was so scared of her.

"My job is to weed out the weak and refine the strong!" Holly continued. her voice reverberating throughout the underground area.

"So this is where all the new Ranger recruits come to prove their worth?" Adam said, looking remarkably calm considering the situation.

"Exactly," Holly snapped. "Those who are able to undergo my special training regimen become new Pokemon Rangers."

Saki…didn't seem impressed. Why wasn't she impressed? "So you're a Gym Teacher, got it," she said.

Holly's eyes seemed to burn as they snapped towards Saki. "You will learn to hold your tongue, Miss Blakeory."

"Hey, you know who I am!" Saki said with a big smile. "Cool!"

"It's not hard to know the heiress to the Blakeory Corporation," Holly said with some disdain. "It's your grandfather that supplies Terajuma with its ships. But don't think that'll get any special treatment for you!"

"Darn, I was just about to ask if I got special treatment," Saki replied with a goofy chuckle. "Not that we need it anyway!"

"Listen up!" Holly roared, and Will stiffened at the sheer authority she poured into her voice. "Your task is to complete three obstacle courses designed by yours truly! Once all three courses are completed, the lift to Crawli shall appear in the center of the room! it is only then that the final trial shall begin! Is that clear?"

"Crystal," Adam said.

"Yes ma'am," Will muttered. It didn't look like Holly even heard him.

"Very good! We shall see if you three stupid Wurmples are competent enough to make it to the end! Terajuma is counting on your success!"

With that, Holly walked off, and Will could finally take a moment to calm his thundering heart. It was no wonder even Alex feared this woman.

Saki scoffed. "Someone needs to eat sand for once, amirite?"

"Why would anyone need to eat sand?" Adam demanded.

"Crunchy."

Adam shook his head in quiet disbelief, shot a look at Will, who shrugged, and then Adam just turned away. "Anyway, let's see what's going on around here."

A couple of other recruits had gathered near the center of the room, around a warded-off elevator shaft. They were nervously talking amongst each other, casting wary glances around the chamber.

"So these are the recruits?" Adam said.

Saki uttered a sadistic little laugh. "We're gonna breeze past these losers and make them eat sand."

Adam whirled on her. "Can you cool it with the sand eating?"

But Saki wasn't at all impressed. She immediately ran off towards the rightmost hallway, yelling, "I'm gonna check out the obstacle course on the right~!"

She disappeared down the hallway.

"Guess I'll check out the opposite one then," Adam said. "Good luck, Will."

Will reasoned that, if he got the physically-demanding trials out of the way first, he'd have more energy to tackle whatever else the ranger course could throw at him. With that in mind, he ran after Saki towards the rightmost hallway.

It opened out in front of a freaking underground obstacle course, a true, honest obstacle course like the one above ground, but it looked different. Instead of cables and climbing things, it looked like the world's most harcore version of hopscotch. The rangers had laid a path of stone plates, each one just large enough for one person to stand on, across a twenty meter route. A myriad of Grass-type Pokemon were scattered throughout the area, placed in optimal positions to screw with the contestants.

Will saw a pair of Leavanny spinning thick strands of silk at ankle-level on various stones, a trio of suspicious Sunflora placed at elevations and a massive Torterra just chilling in the center.

"Oh! A jumping course!" Saki called out. "Cool! I bet this one is ez pz. Just gotta keep your balance and make sure you don't fall off."

As Saki and Will got ready to throw themselves across the course, Holly appeared on the catwalk that ran parallel to the course, albeit several meters higher. "Welcome to the easiest of the courses here in my facility!" She said. "All you must do is balance your way on the rocks to the end and activate the green sigil. Falling bears no real consequences, but I'm sure that's no concern to you. If you can't complete this one, I think I'd just run home if I were you." She snorted. "Stupid Wurmples."

"You're a stupid Wurmple," Saki angrily murmured when Holly took her leave again.

Will carefully looked over the course over again, plotting a good route that wouldn't see him falling face-first into the dirt below. Every tile was about a meter apart. He thought he saw a good route, as far away from the Leavanny as possible, but that put him on a course directly across that Torterra.

Back in Sheridan, Keta and Aelita had each leapt across two meters of water from standstill. Surely he wouldn't screw up a single meter, right?

Will took a couple steps back, took a running start and jumped. He landed firmly on the first rock and allowed his momentum to carry him onwards. Across the second, onto the third, and suddenly one of the Sunflora pivoted and began spraying Bullet Seeds in his direction.

He ducked low, pressing himself down against the platform and felt the bullets sip over his head. There was a sudden break in the fire, and he immediately shoved himself back to his feet and jumped for the next one.

The rock wobbled dangerously underneath his feet and he nearly fell forwards. He flailed with his arms, bent through his knees and somehow managed to keep his balance. A second Sunflora began shooting at him however, so he flung himself at a platform to his left. Again, he used his momentum to keep going on -

- narrowly catching himself before he could trip over a String Shot that had been positioned at ankle-height. He pulled his feet up just in time to keep himself from getting tangled up and landed safely on the platform. Just a few more platforms to go.

Then, Torterra yawned and began happily stomping the ground with his massive, trunk-like legs, and it was then that Will found out that the platforms weren't actually as steady as he'd believed. They began shaking wildly, wobbling in every direction, making it nearly impossible to keep his balance.

"Run little Wurmple!" Holly's voice boomed through the obstacle course. "Don't just stand there! Run!"

Almost instinctively, Will obeyed and he jumped for it. He nearly bounced off another stone platform when it suddenly flipped and fell to face his way, and he had to cling to its upper edge to keep from slipping off.

Then, the third Sunflora opened fire and nailed him in the back.

"Aah!" Will cried out when the rock-hard pellets shattered against his body, each one feeling like a jab thrown by a particularly pissed-off Aelita. "Shit, agh!" His fingers nearly slipped free and he scrambled to get his foot in-between himself and the platform, giving him that little extra bit of distance to renew his grip.

"Ignore the pain Wurmple!" Holly yelled. "If your body works, then move!"

With a groan of pained exertion, Will pulled himself up to the edge of the platform and pushed off, smacking onto the final stepping stone before finally making it to solid ground on the other side.

He turned around, resisting the urge to rub at sore spots next to his spine, and then gave Saki a thumb's up.

"Hey Will!" She yelled from the other side. "You made that look real easy! It's my turn now"!

Saki took a running start, landed on the first platform without trouble and leapt for the second -

- only to suddenly trip forwards and plummet on the ground in-between the two platforms.

Will winced.

"DAMN." Saki shouted.

"You okay?"

"SLIPPED ON A PEBBLE."

Holly put her elbows on the railing and leaned forwards. "Why am I not surprised that it was you who fell off the course? I've seen grannies more capable than you Miss Blakeory!"

Slowly, it dawned on Will why Holly was being the way she was. Aside from weeding out those people who couldn't handle yelling or pressure - not exactly unheard of events when out in the field - it was a form of reverse psychology. Her constant bullying should only serve to infuriate people, anger them into wanting to prove her wrong. Had she compared him to someone's granny, he would have been eager to make her eat those words.

It…didn't exactly work like that with Saki.

"Shut up!" She yelled back. "I made a mistake! How come you guys aren't checking for pebbles?!"

"Pebbles are part of the course you stupid Wurmple!"

"Come on Saki, climb up, try again," Will encouraged her.

Saki didn't even hear him. "Call me a stupid Wurmple one more time you silver dumbass! I bet they call you rank silver cause it's the same color as the hair on your ass!"

…yeah, sure, that was one way to respond to adversity.

Will took several steps back, as close to the wall behind him as possible. He took notice of a crawlspace filled up by a hollowed-out tree, which seemed to be the way forwards. Should he…?

"That's it, you're out of here Miss Blakeory!" Holly called out. "You fail!"

"THIS IS BULLSHIT!" Saki roared. She climbed back on top of the stone platform then hopped back to the start again. "Fine, I didn't care about this stupid course anyway! I'm leaving!"

Oh, Saki…

It looked like Saki wasn't Ranger material. It wasn't a nice thing to conclude, but it was the painful reality. These people had to put their lives on the line every single day. Cracking under the pressure was not an option, and there was no better way to test a person's merits than by seeing how they performed under adversity.

Will wasn't sure if he could do something like that. He'd only been dealing with conditions like these for a month or two and already he felt like was starting to crack.

"Leave then!" Holly ordered.

Saki sat down on the platform. "Actually, I'm gonna stay just to spite you! Stupid Caterpiss woman!"

Perhaps it was better if he just kept going.

Eager to put some distance between himself and that brewing conflict, Will crawled through a hollow tree stump and pushed deeper into the course.

When he rounded the corner, he saw that the next chamber was somehow even bigger than the previous one. It was like a forest made out of spiderwebs, except the webbing consisted of rope cargo nets and bridges, improvised slide poles and knotted climbing ropes. He saw springs and suspended platforms, everything connected by an interconnecting web of looped ropes and nets. The entire creation began suspended five meters above the ground and then went up for another ten.

Way underneath that whole circus hung a closely-knitted web that looked like it served as a safety net of sorts. Of course, this being designed by Holly, a large pool of greenish-looking water lay half a meter underneath that net.

Will didn't need to guess as to what would happen if he fell.

A ranger waited for him atop one of the platforms. When he saw that Will'd spotted him, the man waved at him.

A bit nervous, Will waved back.

"Another trainee?" The man yelled. "Just gotta make your way to the other side!"

Will could see that, yes. "What's the catch?"

The man sent out his Ninjask. "You are! Can you fight and climb at the same time? Let's find out!"

You had to open your mouth…

Will sent Froslass out and started running.

Almost instantly, that Ninjask zipped towards him. Froslass blew an Icy Wind his way, but the Ninjask suddenly shot to the right and then sharply to the left. Just as Will started scrambling up a cargo net, the Ninjask shot towards him.

Thinking quickly, Will hooked his arms through the little squares and pressed his body tightly against the net. Ninjask buzzed past him, narrowly missing him.

Froslass tried to reacquire her target, but the Ninjask suddenly began multiplying. Two, four, then eight Ninjask suddenly buzzed around the air like someone had kicked its nest or something. Will recognized a Double Team when he saw one. Only one of those Ninjask would be real…but which one?

Houndoom could find out, but Houndoom couldn't climb a rope maze.

"Keep them off me!" Will said, hauling himself over the edge of the cargo net and landing on top of a platform of sorts. He quickly looked around, then paid for that distraction when a pair of Ninjask suddenly darted his way. He threw caution to the wind and leapt for the closest thing he could get his hands on - a knotted rope connected by a second, much thinner rope - and then felt his stomach drop away when the entire rope seemed to come loose.

The rope swung wildly across an open section and Will was forced to leap off for the nearest object to avoid getting stuck when it inevitably swung back again.

Froslass fluttered after him, her eyes gliding across the various Ninjask as if she was having trouble picking a target.

Will rolled across a horizontal cargo net, allowed gravity to guide him down several meters and then landed on top of a bridge.

Another trio of Ninjask came soaring at him. Froslass blew two of them out of the sky with Icy Wind - but the third one just so happened to be the real one and it very nearly knocked Will off the bridge by ramming into his legs.

Will managed to catch the rope keeping the bridge suspended just in time, but the rest of his buddy slid over the edge and suddenly, the only thing keeping him from falling ten meters into the nastiest swimming pool he'd ever seen were two sweaty fists clutching an aging rope.

Should have practiced those pullups, he thought.

This was going nowhere real fast. Ninjask needed just one lucky break to knock him off his ass and into the pool and then he'd have to start all over again. Would he even have the strength or the grip to make another attempt?

"Plan B," Will grunted as he tightened his core, scrunched himself halfway up and managed to swing one knee around the rope. "Get up there, use Ominous Wind to find the real one."

Froslass surged up into the sky, where the swarming Ninjask were gathering for another attack. There, Froslass surrounded herself with a ghostly aura before releasing a cyclone of purple wind that swept through the Double Team clones like…well, like an ominous wind. One by one, the Ninjask clones went up in little puffs of smoke, until one one remained.

One that just so happened to come straight at Will again.

Will quickly scrambled his way onto the bridge again. The other end of the rope maze was in sight; he just had to hurry it up.

Froslass, far slower than Ninjask, wasn't able to catch up in time. So, she didn't bother. Instead she blew a thick cone of Icy Wind at her trainer instead, perpendicular to Ninjask' angle of approach.

Will made a beeline for the end of the bridge and managed to escape the freezing radius of his Pokemon's attack just in time. Ninjask veered off again, deterred by the frigid winds gushing through his attacking vector.

"Froslass, on me," Will ordered.

Froslass darted back towards him as Ninjask came around for another attack. That was when Will spotted his way out; a vertical cargo net about five meters away and half a dozen meters below him. He'd have to jump, bank on gravity not working for about two whole seconds, grab that net without it pulling both of his arms out of their sockets and then heave his way over the edge all without Ninjask knocking his daylights out. He'd be an enormous target moving along a single trajectory from A to B.

What could go wrong?

"Okay Froslass, get ready," Will murmured. "You'll have to stop him before he stops me."

Froslass spun a lazy circle above his head.

"If you could focus. There's a lot of water here to freeze. Air's incredibly humid. I need you to blow that Ninjask out of the air before it does that to me."

She gave him an odd, echo-y little cry.

Good enough.

Will took a breath, remembered not to look down and then took his running start. He sailed over the edge and the sickening lurch of free fall was a thousand times worse than getting hit by that stray Bullet Seed.

Right above his head, Froslass shot upwards and everything exploded into a sphere of icy shrapnel, subzero temperatures and droplets of freezing water. Will felt his body pass through a cloud of frigid, foul-smelling chilling air and then the cargo net was all up in his face. It was all he could do to grab at it for dear life.

His body came to a bone-jarring halt and for a split-second, Will hung there, clinging on to the cargo net for dear life as snowflakes and bits of hail rained down on him.

Far behind and above him, the Ranger recalled Ninjask.

Froslass swept down through the cargo net and hung upside down in front of him for a moment. She spat a mouthful of jungle water in his face.

Will sighed and wiped his eyes. He'd hoped that Froslass had just made use of the large amount of water in the air to create an impromptu hail-bomb, but apparently that had been too simple for her tastes.

Well, he wouldn't argue with the result.

"Well, at least you've got guts," he heard Holly's voice echo across the hall.

Will climbed the rest of the way up and then hurried towards the sigil. It was a green button about a foot wide. When he stomped on it, the entire thing sank into the floor.

Grass sigil activated!

With that taken care of, one of the rangers opened up the hatch to a secret backdoor route that led back to the initial area, for which Will was very grateful.

His second trial would have taken him far longer than the first one. It was a large hedge maze leading to a central area in the chamber. Will saw the sign hanging in front of the entrance, realized what was expected of him, and promptly sent Pidgeot out in order to bypass the entire thing.

He respected the rangers greatly. They were hard-working people who put the wellbeing of their civilians over their own, individual needs, and that made them all heroes in his eyes.

That being said, he wouldn't ever set foot in a hedge maze again. It was bad enough than he had revisit the damned thing at night.

The room was massive enough for Pidgeot to circle around the maze until Will found the central area. It looked large enough to serve as a Gym Arena on its own. He didn't see any soul-stealing monsters there, but he did see an unknown figure standing in front of the sigil.

Pidgeot dropped him off in the center and Will recalled him again. Someone stood in front of the Sigil alright, and it wasn't one of the rangers.

The Gothitelle turned to face him. She cupped her hand in front of her mouth and started giggling. It looked awfully haughty…but the sound was almost sadistic.

Will recognized her in a flash. This was Crescent's Pokemon!

He wasn't about to embark on another little teleporting adventure - no way.

"If that thing so much as thinks about teleporting," Will said as he sent out Houndoom, "Nail it with a Dark Pulse."

The Gothitelle stopped giggling and slowly walked backwards until it stood right in front of the sigil. Looked like it was blocking him from advancing, then.

Then, Gothitelle began calling power to herself. She surrounded her arms with a sickly purple aura and then thrust her right arm out.

Houndoom gave an alarmed bark as he suddenly began levitating in the air.

Which should have been impossible; the Dark-type had a well-documented immunity to Psychic-type attacks. Not the scientific or nature-based advantage Ground-types had over electricity or Fire-types being weak against water, but an actual, conceptual defense that was governed by something deeper than the laws of nature as humans understood them. Houndoom should have had the edge over Gothitelle because, for reasons people still argued over to this very day, it was simply meant to be that way.

Crescent had obviously never told her Gothitelle about that. No, apparently Crescent believed that the natural and mystical order were both for pansies and that she was above that.

Goddamn Will wished he had her confidence.

Fortunately, though he lacked confidence, he could make up for that with an abundance of the next-best thing.

Firepower.

Houndoom pulled his head back as he inhaled sharply, then blasted Gothitelle with a thick gust of purple flames.

Looking more annoyed than anything, Gothitelle brought her free hand up and casually deflected the flames into an upwards direction. The immense heat of the fire instantly set off the water sprinklers and it began pouring.

Gothitelle giggled to herself and then sent Houndoom flying off with a contemptuous flick of her arm.

Houndoom was flung through the air as if thrown by an invisible hand. He managed to right himself in mid-air, craned his head around and unleashed a blast of dark energy at Gothitelle.

Crescent's Pokemon brought her arm up and the Dark Pulse splashed across an invisible shield, a dome of sorts that protected Gothitelle's entire front.

Seeing that, Will swiftly recalled Houndoom and sent out Froslass next. "Froslass, freeze the water. Turn this entire place into a fridge."

Froslass obliged and spread her arms, before projecting will and energy into an aura around her that rapidly expanded, flash-freezing the rain as it fell and glazing over the ground, the walls and the ceiling. The sprinklers froze over and soon, a heavy, freezing mist began spreading through the area.

Gothitelle raised an arm and launched a thin stream of bubbling dark energy at Froslass, but the Ice-type blurred to the side and disappeared amidst the hail.

"Good! Now keep moving, hit her in the back with Ice Shard!"

Gothitelle's eyes narrowed as she seemed to trace Froslass's movement through the hazy fog, but then she shook her head and began looking all around, searching for any sign of Froslass' presence.

"Keep moving, don't let her pin you down!"

A shard of ice arced through the air and struck her in the back of her neck. Startled, Gothitelle spun around and threw a massive blast of dark energy through the empty air the attack just came from, but Froslass had obeyed his orders perfectly and Gothitelle struck nought but empty air.

A second spear of ice shattered into pieces against her back and Gothitelle spun around again. Psychic power tore through the air like a cloud of explosions, visibly ripping into reality across a wide front and shattering the ice on the floor into a thousand pieces.

Then, as if realizing her mistake, Gothitelle brought her arms to her chest and sent a massive pulse of dark energy everywhere. It blasted outwards in a bubble, rapidly expanding outwards and sending waves of overpressure throughout the chamber.

The force of it sent him stumbling back. The sphere of destructive energy caught Froslass in mid-air just as she'd been gathering energy for another attack. it knocked her out of the sky and she plummeted to the ground like a discarded piece of clothing. She caught herself at the last moment and rapidly fluttered out of the way before Gothitelle could snipe her with another Dark Pulse.

Shards of ice began flaking off the ceiling and fell to the ground.

"Froslass, use Shadow Ball, attack from above!" Will ordered.

Froslass immediately put together a sphere of ghostly destructive energy and lobbed it at Gothitelle .

Again, Gothitelle put up a shield to protect herself against the attack. The Shadow Ball splashed harmlessly across her shield and its black energies dissipated into nothingness…

…but the flakes of ice passed through Gothitelle's shield and fluttered to the ground around her dress, one of them even landing on her shoulder.

Quickly, Will recalled Froslass before Gothitelle could do something worse to her and sent Houndoom out again.

Once more, with feeling.

Gothitelle began calling immense Psychic power to herself again. Will ordered Houndoom to quickly interrupt her before she could start rearranging the entire Gym.

Houndoom's Incinerate, again, slammed into Gothitelle's shield.

"Keep pouring it on!" Will ordered.

Houndoom slowly began advancing, increasing the volume and intensity of his flames. Slowly, the fire began surrounding Gothitelle's protective dome. It erupted into a geyser of flames around her, wrapping around the Gothitelle like a storm and concealing her from view.

Knowing the way Crescent operated, a hundred Incinerate attacks wouldn't have cracked that shield. They didn't need to. If it functioned the way he believed it did…

Houndoom sprinted forwards, leapt through the corona of flames and tackled Gothitelle to the ground. His elongated canines found her throat -

Suddenly Gothitelle wasn't there anymore. She'd teleported her way to the far right side of the room, far out of reach of Houndoom teeth and claws. A single mark just below where her collarbones should have been, marred her body.

She didn't seem too insulted by the blow. If anything, she struck him more bemused than anything else.

Then, something in her attitude changed, and Will got the distinct feeling that she was disappointed in him as well. It wasn't anything he could specifically pin down; he just felt the sudden impression that she had been looking for something and hadn't found it.

Well, what'd he care? That thing didn't seem to be particularly fond of him, and he feeling was mutual.

"Well done, Houndoom," Will said. "Come on. Let's go."

Back in the main area, Will decided to take the entrance to the left part of the course next, where Adam would be hanging around.

"Kakori Rescue Simulation," the sign read.

He made his way through the entrance and a hangar of sorts, dominated by several platforms that towered a good three stories above the ground. Up ahead, Will saw a craggy hill made up entirely of stone, with a river separating the hill from the rest of the ground.

Adam was already there; he stood next to a life-size plush of a Dartrix, gazing out over the hangar.

"Hey," he said as Will joined him. "How'd it go?"

"A lot more fun than I expected," Will said. "Basically one big playground."

"Hmm. Saki?"

"Didn't play nice."

The corners of Adam's mouth rose into a smirk. "Sounds like her."

But the next second, Holly the Head Recruiter stepped onto the metal catwalk and put the show on the road. "Welcome you stupid Wurmples! This is a rescue mission! Alas! The poor son of Dartreaux is lost and stranded on a deserted island! Bring back Dartreaux's ALIVE and activate the Water Sigil! This one should be simple enough, yes? WRONG! The enemy has taken up hidden firing positions! If you get too close, they WILL riddle your worthless carcass with holes and blast you back to the stone age! Think on your feet. Think fast!'

With her motivational speech done, Holly promptly pulled back again, no doubt to find a better vantage point to observe her guests from.

Adam was not impressed. "So, the trial here is that we need to find a way across?" He said, gesturing at the chasm that separated the platform they stood on from the others. He wordlessly sent out his Gigalith and simply said, "Arenite Wall."

Gigalith stomped its massive feet on the platform and the ground between the two platforms exploded upwards, forming a smooth wall that easily bridged the gap.

"We win."

"Nice job," Will said.

"Thanks. All I did was use my signature move. Creates a sand wall. See? Anyway, let's cross."

Will hopped onto the Arenite Wall. To his amazement, it didn't at all feel like sand. It was as smooth as marble and yet, as solid as any brick wall.

Neat.

On the catwalk, Holly hurried back to her previous position. "Hey! What in the world was that!" She demanded.

Adam gave her a look. "We got across."

"You completed that part of the course in an…interesting way. You were supposed to fill the pit with water and then cross over the logs."

Adam glanced back at the sand wall. "Well, we didn't do that."

Something weird happened. Holly shot Adam the kind of look that could have stopped a raging Taurus in its tracks. Adam, for his part, glared back at Holly with total impartiality and a complete lack of emotions.

For reasons Will didn't understand, Adam's pokerface won out over Holly's murder-face and she promptly walked off.

"Right, let's get this done," Adam said.

They headed down a ladder and emerged in front of the rocky hill, on the other end of the river. Will saw that a little Rowlet had been propped up at the very top of that hill,

That was all he got to see before at least five holes opened up in the side of the hill and a firing squad Grovyle began laying into them with a heavy Bullet Seed barrage.

Will and Adam both leapt for cover and hunkered down behind a couple of rocks on their side of the river. Dozens upon dozens of solid seeds slammed into the rocks and the sheer noise of their impacts was almost deafening.

"Great," Adam said. "She wasn't kidding."

A couple of seeds blew right over Will's head and he hunkered down more. "We need to save that Rowlet!"

"We need to not get a concussion by getting shot."

"...I have a plan."

"Let's hear it."

As the enemy fire slowly lessened, Will brought Adam up to speed.

Adam stared at him flatly. " That's your idea?"

"Can you do it?"

"Of course. I can also just put another Arenite Wall in their way. I reiterate; is that your idea?"

It was. It might have been a long shot, but it was their only chance of getting Rowlet out alive.

"Alright," Adam sighed. "Good luck..."

They sent out their Pokemon. Adam's Gigalith pounded the ground and the crystals on its body began glowing a bright orange. Then, be unleashed a withering suppressive Rock Blast fire down on the Grovyle fortress. The enemy fire almost stopped entirely and Will rolled out of his cover. Blaziken dropped down to one knee and put her claws on top of the other. Will jumped, putting one foot on top of Blaziken's claws and she flicked him upwards.

Will sailed through the air and came to a tumultuous stop on the other side of the river. He rolled with the fall just like Aelita had shown him and wasted no time in sprinting up the hill. Blaziken joined Gigalith and blasted the defending Grass-types with a barrage of Ember.

Bullet Seeds impacted all around Will's feet, but he didn't slow down. He dropped into a slide, came to a standstill next to Rowlet - it was a plush doll just like his "father" was - and tenderly scooped the little thing up in his arms.

"I have the hostage!" He yelled.

"Well, more suppressive fire, I guess," Adam said. Gigalith laid down another withering storm of Rock Blast and the Grovyles weren't able to get a bead on Will. He sprinted down the hill again and made it to the river's edge.

There, Gigalith made the sand beneath his feet erupt into another Arenite Wall. Again, Will sailed through the air. He aimed for Adam -

- and came up short by a mile, landing straight into the river.

The water was cold, far colder than he anticipated, and it threatened to pull him along. He kicked hard with his feet, holding tightly onto Rowlet as he swam back to the surface.

His head broke the surface of the water and he gasped for air. "Take him!" He yelled, offering Rowlet towards Adam.

Instead, Blaziken's clawed hand seized Will by his neck and hauled him out of the water with a bored expression on her face. What little Bullet Seeds the enemy forces squeezed off harmlessly bounced off of her thick coat of feathers and superdense Pokemon muscles.

Blaziken shoved him back towards Adam, who looked at him with the kind of look that suggested he'd expected nothing and still ended up disappointed. "Do you enjoy doing things the hard way?"

"It gives me great fulfillment," Will admitted.

Adam rolled with his eyes. "I feel for Melia and Aelita."

With Rowlet in hand, Adam and Will made their way back to the initial platform. A soaked Will placed Dartreaux's fake son back next to his fake father.

"Okay, we solved that problem," Adam said.

Dartreaux suddenly reached out and petted his son's head, and little Rowlet leaned lovingly against his father's embrace.

"Wait, what?"

Huh. It turned out the two fake Pokemon had been real this entire time. Will had to give it to them; they were both really good actors.

"Would you look at that…you had me fooled," Adam said.

Dartreaux gave a sharp chirp of appreciation and walked off with his son.

Adam watched them go. "Well. That happened. What about the sigil, though?"

The next second, a pleasant, mechanical voice droned, " The Water Sigil has been activated!"

Adam and Will exchanged looks.

"Guess we don't need to worry about that," Adam said. "Anyway, I'm heading back to the main room. Come on."

Back in the main room, Will realized that it had actually worked; the three sigils had been activated and the elevator leading down to Crawli's Gym had actually opened up for him.

Saki sat on one of the steps at the main hill, pouting furiously.

He felt Adam's large hand clasp his shoulder. "Well done. Since Saki and I didn't technically clear all the rooms, we're not allowed to go down with you."

"Not even as Gym Leaders?" Will asked. He'd come to cherish what little fights he could participate in that wouldn't end in his gruesome death if he slipped up even once. His fights against Venam, Keta, Narcissa and Val, with his friends cheering him on without ever having to worry about the consequences of losing, were some of the best memories he had.

"It's a bit of an unspoken rule that Leaders shouldn't expect special treatment from each other. Besides; this is your trial, Will."

That seemed fair enough to him.

"Yeah!" Saki yelled, still looking like someone had broken her heart. "Good luck Will!"

"We'll wait for you here. Good luck."

"Thanks guys," Will replied. He got onto the elevator and waved back at Saki. Slowly, the lift took him into the depths of the ranger HQ.

And he didn't give Crescent's Gothitelle another thought.

~~~~~~~(II)~~~~~~~

The elevator came down with a heavy clunk and the young challenger walked off. His eyes slowly moved back and forth across the grove, taking in every detail that might have been relevant to him.

In turn, Holly watched him with trained and experienced eyes. She saw a young man, not even out of his adolescence, soaked to the bone by an unnecessary plunge in a freezing river. He didn't look skinny, but he couldn't have weighed more than a hundred and forty pounds. Compared to herself, he wasn't very tall either. Holly was sure she had an inch or two on him. Judging by appearances alone, he wasn't much to write home about.

But Holly knew not to judge a book by its cover. Years of hardship and combat had taught her how to take a person's measure in a way that mattered.

When Will walked off that elevator, he did so in a calm and composed manner, as if the biting cold of his soaked clothes simply wasn't a factor. He spotted her, no doubt about that, but his eyes continued their little sweep of the area.

The guy always seems on edge. Took me a while to figure that out. I can't say I've seen him look relaxed even once.

Something in him was tensed up, just like Crawli had said. So, when he crossed the first bridge in the grove and Holly made it a point to still greet him as the Head Recruitment Captain, Crawli's Second "Well well…congratulations, Will," She said, staring at him without compromise. "You made it to the depths of Kakori Village. Maybe you are not a stupid Wurmple. Perhaps more of a stupid Silcoon, or Cascoon?"

She saw something like stress in his eyes now. It wasn't anything overt, but to someone who'd gone through more than a thousand possible recruits in her long career, there wasn't much Will could do to hide himself. Gone was the enthusiasm he'd shown when confronted with a massive, potentially dangerous climbing ground. Gone was the glee with which he'd thrown himself into the fray with naught but a half-assed plan and a single man to back him up.

He looked at her like many of the others had. Uncertain. On guard.

Scared, even.

Although Will did hide it a bit better than most people had.

"Now then, are you ready for your final trial?" She asked.

"Let's do it," he simply said.

"I am partial to your enthusiasm. Very well then. Before you get to Crawli, you must defeat…his father."

Holly stepped aside and Rorim took his cue. He calmly walked down from Crawli's arena towards the bridge. "Darling! How good to see you!" He spun around in a little pirouette and something in Will seemed to ease up somewhat. "It seems as though I shall be your opponent! But this isn't our first time at the rodeo. Is it now darling? Then let us begin right away! Don't go easy on me now!"

And Will didn't.

I wasn't sure how to feel about having Will on our side there. There's obviously some history between him and this enemy, but when Team Xen made their ultimatum, and I asked Melia to speak with me in private…he had this look in his eye. It was like, at that moment, he stopped regarding me as a friend, and started looking at me like…something else.

The fight wasn't meant to be hard. It wasn't even meant as another obstacle to overcome. It was about Crawli, Rorim and her wanting to see his conviction in a different setting.

It became obvious to Holly that dear Rorim and young Will had a history together as well, what with the way Rorim regarded him.

She didn't see that history come across in Will's demeanor. Throughout the fight, he never smiled. He never showed excitement whenever one of his Pokemon beat one of Rorim's, although she saw every subtle cue that betrayed his concern and worry whenever Rorim managed to land a good hit on one of his Pokemon.

Ultimately, it was a short, if intense battle. Rorim had come with just four Pokemon of his own, and he himself wasn't a talented battler like his son.

One by one, Will knocked out Rorim's Pokemon, until only his Pidgeot and Rorim's Ludicolo remained.

On that beach, when that Pidgeot plummeted out of the sky it scared the living daylights out of me, just because it was so sudden. It came out of nowhere. At first, I thought Will somehow knew about Giratina showing up, but the same thing happened later again on the factory. That Ren guy…I can't begin to guess at the kind of relation he, Melia and Will had. But when Pidgeot came down I could have sworn it killed that Scyther then and there. This time, I knew it was coming. And it still scared the living daylights out of me.

Holly watched as Pidgeot rolled out of the way of Ludicolo's Water Pulse and brought his wings together, hard. A sudden gust of wind caught Ludicolo by surprise. It was powerful enough to pull the dancing Pokemon off its feet and throw him across the palm trees that Crawli had grown down there.

Slowly, Rorim's words and demeanor seemed to pull Will out of that stressed, apprehensive shell. The battle seemed to wash that stress away, leaving only focus and a mutual, if very subtle, air of joy.

It helped that Rorim kept laughing and dancing. An indestructible optimist, that one.

Pidgeot soared after Ludicolo before it could recover. Rorim ordered another Water Pulse, but it went wide when Pidgeot snatched the Ludicolo up by the lily pad that grew out of its head. Pidgeot heaved and threw Ludicolo against the trees again, and this time Ludicolo landed a lot less gracefully.

"Darling, wow!" Rorim called out. He'd seen enough, realized that Ludicolo wasn't meant to take on a foe like this. Unlike Holly, Rorim was a graceful loser, and he did not hesitate to call his final Pokemon back. "That was a battle with purpose! I could feel your conviction! No doubt the Gods of Valor Mountain feel it too."

"You beat even this oldie?" Holly barked on autopilot, and Will's ease melted away like snow before the sun again. "That's even greater of a feat than - "

"Oh Holly you silly woman," Rorim told her, his voice soft and gentle. "You can cut the act now. Will's a friend! He's here to help."

Holly sighed wearily. The Head Recruitment Captain fell away, the harsh, theatrical demeanor, she discared like a robe. "I know," she admitted, and suddenly she felt ten years older. "That's precisely why I'm being so tough with him."

Then, Holly took off her cap, and greeted Will as herself. Not as Head Recruitment Captain, but as Holly. "These are trying times…and it's Crawli's job to settle all of this. I am Crawli's surrogate mother. I detached myself from him when he was young, but…there is a part of me that cannot help but worry for his health."

Something in Will's hard eyes dimmed, and it seemed like his entire body grew slack. "You're Crawli's mom?" He asked her, speaking so softly that she barely even heard him over the ambience.

"Oh, Holly, always the drama queen!" Rorim chimed in. "I already said you could call him your son! he has no problem seeing you as his mother, so what's the big deal?"

Holly looked away. She didn't answer. Of course Crawli saw it that way. She knew that just as well as everybody else. But if she began calling herself Crawli's mother now, she would only be tarnishing the memory of his birth mother. Nobody wanted that. "If we fall, it's going to be up to you, Crawli, and your friends," she told Will. "In that case…please…"

"Holly…" Rorim started.

But I gotta say, scary at times or not, it was damn good to have Will by our side. I'm not sure what would have happened if he'd actually gone through with it, but was committed to dragging my butt to safety, no matter what. Isn't that what we're looking for in our own people?

Holly couldn't meet his gaze. "This place is our home, and if Team Xen destroys it…" She put her Ranger Cap on again. "I plan on going down with it."

"No one is going to "go down with it"!" Rorim insisted."You love to be such a pessimist! Besides; Crawli has his friends to look after him. Like you said, darling."

"Sheesh Holly, that won't be necessary," Will said with visible discomfort. "We're…we're on it. We're planning."

Holly frowned at him. "You don't know that. How can you? Nothing is ever certain. When it comes to our home, we can't take half measures Will."

Will looked away and something like frustration bled into his expression. "Look…when…if it comes down it, Crawli's…Crawli's gonna need a mother more than a home."

Holly shot Will a confused look. Yes, Rorim always made it a point to repeat that, but hearing someone else's boy say it like that was…

"Darling exactly! That's what I keep saying!" Rorim said happily. "Holly, you're cutting yourself short! No man can go through life without his mother!"

"Very well…like you said, Rorim," Holly said with another deep sigh. "We shall see how it goes."

"You should continue forward Will!" Rorim urged him on. "I know you can do this!"

"Indeed. Crawli is up ahead. Please do not keep him waiting."

Will took a breath, straightened his back and proceeded upwards, up the hill towards the arena.

There, her boy was already waiting for him. "I'm not surprised that you made it this far Will," he said, greeting his friend with a welcoming smile. "Going so far as to defeat my dad and ace Holly's course? Now that's somethin' else!"

Will took his position opposite Crawli. "It's been the most fun I've ever had in a Gym."

"Hah! I'll take that compliment. "You know, when I first met you at Goldenwood Forest, I sensed something…I sensed that there was untapped potential just waiting to be realized! But never did I expect it to come all the way down to this! With the everlooming threat of Team Xen,. I'm sad that we aren't battling in peaceful times. Nevertheless, I will fight to the best of my ability, and so should you!"

Crawli, as the Gym Leader, opened the battle by sending out his first two Pokemon.

"Let's go, my buggy little friends! Let's show Will just what we can do!"

His standard opening move: sending out Ariados and Orbeetle. Will answered with a Nidoking and a Houndoom. Of course there would be a Fire type; it should have been an excellent type-ups against Crawli, but the wet grass and swampy ground meant that the fire hazard itself wasn't actually that great. That would allow Crawli the advantage, while also keeping the fight as safe as possible.

The two young men clashed, and Holly and Rorim watched with pride as they both gave it their all.

Holly had expected Will to immediately go for a scorched-earth approach, but he didn't. He had his close-ranged Nidoking circle around the forest while keeping his distance, while ordering Houndoom to get in close and personal.

The canine Dark-type dashed through towards Orbeetle as Nidoking circled around, moving in a wide circle around the forested area and sticking to the trees.

Crawli couldn't allow it to attack his exposed flank, so he had Ariados begin laying down Sticky Web traps in the forest to slow Houndoom down, while Orbeetle turned to face Nidoking and began firing Psybeams at it.

Houndoom retaliated with its flames as it advanced, incinerating the webs as Ariados put them down. Recognizing the risk the psychic Orbeetle closed, Nidoking did not actually try to get closer to leverage its superior close quarters ability. Instead, he remained in the relative safety of the trees and shrubbery, keeping a low profile as he moved through the bushes.

Houndoom was too tempting a target for Crawli to let go, which meant he wasn't able to keep all of his effort on fending off Nidoking, who was far too dangerous to have on his flanks. But because Ariados did have a disadvantage against Houndoom, he wasn't able to defeat it either.

It was a perfect example of spreading one's troops too thin while trying to commit to several fronts at once. He would have been better off immediately knocking Houndoom out, then repositioning to strengthen his defense against Nidoking, but he hadn't.

Overstretching himself had always been one of his flaws as the Head Ranger; too many things to do, too little resources to use.

Will must have picked up on that somewhere, somehow.

Clever.

Houndoom's steady approach paid off; his constant barrage of flames had caused the soaked grass in the clearing to start smoking and steaming. Ariados was unable to keep up its ranged attacks though that smokescreen, and it would have to either back away to let Houndoom get closer, or advance himself.

A loud snapping sound tore through the forest and suddenly, a whole tree trunk sailed from the tree line like a throwing spear, and Orbeetle and Ariados scattered to avoid it.

Seizing the opportunity, Will had Houndoom spring forwards. The canine Pokemon came bursting from the impromptu smokescreen and engaged Ariados in close quarters. It was a fight it couldn't win, which was why Crawli ordered Orbeetle to shift his focus and help him.

Of course, that meant nobody was around to keep Nidoking at bay. The massive, armored Pokemon exploded from the tree line -

- Orbeetle immediately shifted his focus back to the Poison-type -

- and Houndoom took a Poison Jab from Ariados to the side to get off a Dark Pulse that the Orbeetle wasn't able to avoid at that range.

Houndoom staggered backwards when Ariados struck a hard blow, which Will had obviously not expected, but his ploy had worked out. Nidoking was in the thick of it now, engaging Ariados in a pitched melee battle as Houndoom recovered before Orbeetle could. He blasted the psychic Bug-type with another Dark Pulse, even as Nidoking slammed his great bulk into Ariados and sent it tumbling through the grass.

The initiative seized, Will had his Pokemon switch targets. Houndoom began dousing the dazed Ariados with flames while Nidoking spewed a thick, foul-smelling Sludge Bomb at Orbeetle.

Crawli's Orbeetle was a fine scout and a quick thinker, but it was vulnerable to concentrated attacks. Many of his Pokemon were, in fact. The combined effort of those Dark-type attacks and Nidoking's own ranged attack took their toll. Crawli was forced to recall Orbeetle and immediately sent out his ace; his Araquanid.

In the pitched battle that followed, Holly saw things that she'd expected, but many more moves and tactics that shocked her. Araquanid, strong and hard-hitting, but not [particular;ly agile or fast, managed to knock out Houndoom with a powerful Liquidation.

In return, Will sent out Froslass, exchanged Nidoking for Pidgeot, and began taking the field back for himself. Froslass began turning the humid and damp air against Crawli by slowly freezing it. Pidgeot stayed close to Froslass and used his powerful muscles to whip up violent gales that forced Crawli's Pokemon back into the forest that circled the arena.

Then, Froslass began freezing the swampy ground as well, which made it much harder for Crawli's Bug-types to stay hidden.

Together, Froslass and Pidgeot began sending violent, stormy winds through the area. Together, they managed to knock out Ariados as well. His Galvantula was one of his few Pokemon other than Orbeetle with ranged capabilities, and the threat it posed made Will recall Pidgeot and sent out Blaziken next.

A fully-evolved Fire Starter, Blaziken soon proved to be too much for Crawli to handle. At least, with that strange Froslass backing it up. Only semi-visible on the misty, freezing air, it began tearing the landscape apart with one exploding Shadow Ball after another.

It was a curious thing; Will exhibited the same tactic he had employed earlier when he succeeded in "rescuing" the hostage Rowlet. In turn, those tactics were much like the ones the rangers used when having to move past hostile Pokemon; one side laid down a heavy field of fire, the other moved up.

Froslass was the fire support, and Blaziken was the maneuvering party.

And that Blaziken…Holly was loath to admit it, but it outclassed even Crawli's powerful ace. Its internal fire burned hot enough to melt the ice around it simply by moving, and it moved fast. it took out Galvantula with a single Blaze Kick, then rolled out of the way when Araquanid began throwing Water-type attacks its way. A single evasive roll sent it five meters into a different direction in the blink of an eye, which forced Araquanid to constantly reacquire its target while trying to keep the ever-repositioning Froslass from striking it with a Shadow Ball.

So Crawli sent out Golisopod next, hoping to meet force with force and put a stop to Blaziken's advance.

With most of the water already freezing or frozen solid, Will met Crawli's shift in tactics with another shift of his own. Out went Froslass, in went Nidoking.

It was a hard-fought battle that meant Crawli would have to redesign his whole Gym Arena afterwards, but…Will kept upping the pressure, kept seizing the initiative. Araquanid fell to Nidoking, Golisopod fell to Blaziken…

…and then Crawli no Pokemon left to continue fighting.

Holly stared in disbelief. Had…had Crawli just lost?

…despite all of their training?!

"Wow…I can't believe I actually lost," Crawli said. Far from being disappointed, he actually looked perfectly fine with the outcome. He had, after all, given it his all. "Hey, Will, did you know that you're eligible to become a Pokemon Ranger if you defeat at least two of my Pokemon? And even further than that, if you defeat me completely…you become the next Head Ranger!"

"I will serve well," Will simply replied.

That got a laugh out of her boy. "Sorry, sorry! That was a joke! So eager to take my spot, I see? Anyway, you rightfully won this!"

Crawli handed Will the Infested Badge. Will took it gratefully, then took a moment to place it in a silver, metal casing.

"I have a little something for you as well tonight. It's usually reserved for the veteran Rangers, but…well, yesterday's events showed me that you might sorely need it in the coming weeks."

And that banter was all that Holly could stomach. She stormed towards her boy, saying, "Wait, you just lost?"

"Sorry Holly! I did! Will just performed better than me."

"This is unacceptable!" Holly exclaimed. "You cannot lose like this! You're going back on your training regimen! And this time it's going to be more strict!"

Crawi smiled. "Well, if that's what I need to improve myself, then bring it on!"

"Aiyah!" Rorim exclaimed, jumping for joy. "I raised such a wonderful son~!"

Crawli's ex[pression turned serious again, and Holly knew better than to overstep the boundaries. She took a step away, letting Crawli address Will by himself. "I must admit, this was a bit of a test. Originally I was apprehensive about you guys taking the Terajuma Trial. But yesterday and especially after this battle, I actually think you may be able to pull it off. So, give me a couple of days to do some research and I'll send you guys on your next task."

"Yes sir," Will said.

"You heard the Head Ranger!" Holly bellowed. "Go on and get out of here! And don't let me catch you sleeping - I'll whip Crawli into shape and make him an even bigger threat! Go on, move!"

"Yes ma'am!" Will moved as if he'd been jolted. He turned and ran.

Rorim smiled as he watched him go.

"So…" Crawli asked once Will was out of earshot. "Be honest. What do you think?"

Holly thought about it for a moment. Then…"I think your assessment might be right on the money. Will seems like a decent young man."

"Of course he is!" Rorim said cheerfully.

"That thing you're going to give him…" Holly then said, casting Crawli a concerned look. "Is that what I think it is? Because if it is, I'm not sure I approve. Spare gear and equipment, sure, no problem. But that stuff…"

"I understand your feelings Holly, but Team Xen is an enemy unlike we have ever faced before," Crawli said. "Had we not been saved by the intervention of an unknown third party, we would have all gotten killed in the worst case scenario. Even in the best-case scenario, we would all have been heavily wounded, perhaps even too much to make the return trip."

"There is a reason I prohibited you from ever using it yourself," Holly urged him.

Crawli smiled sadly. "That's because of medical reasons. I know your concern; but I doubt we have the time to worry about psychiatric evaluations or mental evaluations. Melia said these people are not above maiming and killing their opposition. If we ever come into another scenario like Helojak Island…I think the short-term benefits will outweigh the possible long-term dangers."

Holy crossed her arms. She did not like this, not one bit, but Crawli was, essentially, her superior. He would never make a decision she didn't like without giving it serious thought, but in the end, it was his decision.

"It's just another tool in the arsenal, one which they might never have to use," Crawli reassured her. "Will might even decline it."

Somehow, Holly doubted that.

But she kept that to herself.

"Come on darlings, let's go!" Rorim then said, changing the subject rather abruptly. "We've got a big party to prepare!"

~~~~~~~(II)~~~~~~~

AN: With that, we're officially done with Chapter 6 and ready to head into what is probably my favorite story chapter of the game. Next update, we'll be delving into Chapter 7 - A Teila Fire and Ice.

And man, do I have some spicy things planned for that chapter!

Anyway, we are 300,000 words and 5,000 views deep into this story. Thank you guys so much for your continued support! Don't forget to leave a review - it's the best way to support this story - and I will see you all with the next update!