AN: Made it in the nick of time xD
Training with Chihiro was demanding but fun. On top of that, it was also very educational. The girl was born and raised in Oreburgh and after her accident the she had recovered at home, spending most of her free time in the gym as an audience to the battles. The insights she shared of the young gym leader's strategies and behavior felt a lot like cheating but Yun wasn't going to complain. She needed all the help she could get.
Her Pokémon, however, had all the natural talent she lacked and there was no denying how good they both were at battling. The speed at which Reign had learned and mastered iron tail baffled even the ranger. He had intellect, agility and defense going for him. Then there was Tenno who, despite his tendency to be blinded by his own competitiveness, was no halfwit himself. He didn't have the advantage of an armored shell to protect him and he would be out cold before he took half the hits Reign could handle, but that wasn't a problem if he never got hit in the first place. Ever since learning ember, Tenno didn't even need to get close to grounded opponents and opted to spit fire at them from above. It was as simple as it was effective.
On the fifth day of training, they took an afternoon break at the lake. Yun had taken off her hiker boots and rolled up her pants so she could rest her legs in the cool water. Her friend had done the same but only with her real leg. Desmond hovered nearby, keeping an eye on everything that moved beneath the surface.
Which wasn't much, to Yun's disappointment. A few Magikarp and the occasional Barboach passed them by but she had been hoping on a water Pokémon that could accompany her on land. The group of Wingull resting on the lake were also not an appealing option since she didn't need nor want a second flying terror.
The peace was interrupted by a loud ringtone. With an annoyed huff Chihiro checked her phone only for her face to fully darken when she recognized the number. Slowly she struggled upright, almost too late to pick up. When she did it was with a hard tone.
"This better be good, captain, I'm not on duty."
Intrigued now she watched and saw the girls frown turn into wide eyed surprise, and not the good kind.
"I can drop by." She looked over her shoulder to Yun and she waved her off, telling her to go.
"Be there in a second."
Ending the call, she beckoned Desmond. "We need to go to HQ." Then she turned to Yun and hesitated for a second, wanting to say something before she visibly changed her mind and settled for releasing Sentinel before throwing Yun the empty Pokéball.
"Don't lose that. I'll be back soon." The frenzied tone in her voice kept Yun from asking questions so she nodded.
Desmond waved at her before teleporting out of sight, his trainer along for the ride. Yun turned to her own starter and muttered. "I do wonder what that was all about." Her starter raised his claws in what almost looked like a shrug.
And just because the silence suddenly felt a bit loud she called out to the Rampardos. "What do you think, Nell?"
However Nell wasn't exactly focused on her, instead she stood pushed against the dirt wall on the opposite side of the lake, eyeing the water warily. The rock type was terrified of drowning, Chihiro had explained, especially after her accident when she almost did. The natural platform they had been resting on was rather narrow and the edge of the water was too close for the beast to feel comfortable.
"Oh, sorry Nell, let's get out of here." Taking pity on her, Yun got her legs out of the water and pushed her feet in her shoes without bothering to dry them. She'd regret that later but now she smiled as the fearsome Pokémon scampered up the trail. The blue beast looked back guiltily as she noticed the large distance between her and the trainer but Yun didn't mind.
"Go, Reign and I'll catch up to you above."
Rampardos were a slow breed but could still easily outpace Yun's small steps and soon enough, she was out of sight. Yun didn't mind, the most aggressive Pokémon present was her own flying type, now safely in his ball, and aside from the occasional challenger the local wildlife mostly left them alone. In fact, unused to human company, most Pokémon tended to be wary of her and preferred to hide when she came close.
Keeping a leisure pace with Reign at her side, she turned her face to the sun. The trip was doing her good. Away from the city and the constant stress competing with the other trainers provided, she found she was finally able to unwind. She hadn't felt this carefree since... well, since she started training really. And things had only gotten worse after the attack.
"Aa-roo."
A soft plea reached her ears and it had her looking around for the source. However there was nothing to see, it was just her and Reign on the open path. Turning to her starter, she figured that between the two of them he had the better senses.
"You heard that too right?"
The bug type gave her a firm nod and then scuttled further upwards to a mine entrance. There were several lining the path down the crater. Some of them, especially the ones further down, were caved in, but a few were still open. Though, Yun thought as she eyed the rotting wood with trepidation, she wouldn't trust their stability.
Reign pointed his stinger towards the dark tunnel.
"Oh no, nope, I'm not even curious." Shaking her head, she took a step backwards. Dark, old and unused, the rangers guarded these tunnels not because they feared people would disturb the wildlife but because more than one fortune seeker had disappeared in the depths of these mines. Never to be found again...
"Rooo." A whine called from the darkness.
With hunched shoulders and great reluctance, she activated the flashlight of her phone to peer deeper into the cave. The light immediately reflected on something metal-like and when she squinted her eyes she noticed the metal was moving. It took her a few seconds to she register what she was seeing.
An Aron was struggling to get upright, the metal spike on it's back stuck in the ground. It's little feet were wiggling frantically but couldn't dislodge it. It was a pitiful sight. Yun wondered how terrible of a person she would be if she just turned around and ignored the little Pokémon but remained rooted on the spot. There was a good chance the creature would die like that if no one came along to help it.
Why, oh why did she even feel the need to look inside the tunnel. She hung her head in defeat. "Stay, Reign."
Yun shrugged off her backpack and reached for a proper flashlight to help illuminate the tunnel better. Sliding it in her belt loop, she now had her hands free as she carefully walked over to the wild Pokémon. It wasn't that far in the cave, she told herself, it would be fine.
When it noticed her, the small creature began struggling more. "It's okay," she said breathlessly while slowing down, "I'm here to help."
With no humans regularly visiting this place, Yun wondered if the local Pokémon would be able to understand her at all. However the Aron did stop it's struggles when she talked, and switched to eyeing her wearily.
To test the waters, Yun reached out with her gloved hand, hoping the thick material would protect her somewhat if the wild creature decided to lash out. Before her hand even came nearby, the steel type snapped at it.
"Easy, easy." She mumbled while trying to think of a solution.
It had a rather small neck so it wasn't able to reach very far when it tried to bite. Steeling her resolve, she slipped her hands underneath its hindlegs. The Aron was a lot heavier than she had guessed and her first attempt ended in her lifting it for less than an inch before having to drop it again. Trying again, she started becoming red in the face with the effort it required to pull it loose from the ground. She had even less success than before.
The support beams creaked ominously above her. "I don't want to be here." She whined.
Dropping onto her knees, she decided to change tactics so instead of flipping the small creature over, as she had planned, she pushed it into an awkward backwards head roll. The spike on it's back left a deep gash in the earth but this way the Pokémon's weight actually helped dislodge it further.
The creature landed on it's belly looking rather dazed by it's sudden rescue. Not being able to leave the tunnel fast enough, Yun gave it a quick once over to make sure it would be alright for now, before rushing out of the mine.
"Crisis averted." She proudly exclaimed to Reign who looked very relieved to see her. And who could blame him, with her luck he had probably expected the tunnel to cave the exact moment she decided to enter it.
Bending down, she let Reign climb to her shoulder before continuing her trek out of the crater. At the top, Nelly awaited her with an agitated twitch to her tail.
"Sorry I took so long." Yun said sheepishly.
"Grrr!" The Rampardos lowered her head and started scraping one claw through the earth in a clearly aggressive motion.
Taken aback, Yun held out her hands between them. "N-nell?"
She had been under the impression that Chihiro's Pokémon liked her somewhat, except for Desmond- him she found unreadable-, but now she started to rethink that idea. The Pokémon before her was anything but friendly. Perhaps with her trainer gone she-
The Rampardos charged and Yun ducked to the ground, holding her head. The sky darkened then and Yun peeked upwards. The blue beast stood over her protectively, not unlike when they first met.
Confused she craned her neck to look behind her and was surprised to see the tiny Aron standing there. Head held forward in a defensive but challenging stance. Nell growled again, longer and louder than before.
"Oh!" She exclaimed as she connected the dots. "Oh Nelly, it's okay." She crawled from under the Pokémon. "No need to get angry, it's just a baby Pokémon."
With a snort the great dinosaur charged the ten times smaller creature anyway. Luckily, the Aron was wise enough to run back down the path immediately.
Seemingly satisfied, Nelly huffed and turned back to Yun with her familiar slow and friendly gate.
Pouting, Yun couldn't resist commenting. "That was unnecessary."
That pout quickly turned into a laugh when the Pokémon knocked her head into Yun's chest. Stumbling, she recalled how Rampardos' head smash was sometimes used to demolish old buildings and was grateful for the gentle nudge.
"Alright you big bully, let's get back to camp."
Chihiro didn't return for diner which left Yun no choice but the rummage through the older girls stuff to find Nell dinner. It felt more than a bit sacrilegious but she could hardly give the giant rock type her own Pokémons' pellets. They were much too small and Nell would probably eat all of her provisions in one go.
It took her some time, as Chihiro's bag had more storage capacity than her own and the older girl had not organized her inventory, but in the end everyone was fed and happy.
When night fell, Yun was facing another dilemma. Nelly didn't fit in neither her nor Chihiro's tent and the ranger usually recalled her at night, switching her out for Storm who -oddly enough- glowed in the dark.
Asking the Rampardos whether or not she preferred to be recalled yielded nothing more than a few nondescript grunts. But leaving the Pokémon out at night all alone, felt wrong. On top of that Yun wondered if Chihiro's starter was not missing her trainer by now. She knew she did.
After much internal debate Yun decided to release Tenno and ask him to keep the larger Pokémon company. He was not nocturnal and tended to settle down fast after sun down, so she didn't have to worry about him flying off to terrorize the neighborhood. With already sleepy eyes, he complied and swiftly settled on top of the Rampardos' head. Nelly didn't try to shake him off so Yun took that as a good sign.
"Goodnight guys. You know where to find me if you need anything."
Tenno chirped his reply softly and Nelly answered with another grunt.
She slept rather restlessly that night and was even awoken once by Nell's growling. Thinking Tenno was probably bugging her, Yun crawled out of her tiny tent with her flashlight out. Ready to reprimand her second Pokémon.
Her mouth closed when her light lit up a silver armor not far off from their camp, having another stare down with Nell.
"Really?" Yun muttered. The little Aron wasn't very bright, she concluded, picking fights with a much more formidable opponent like that. Illuminated by the moonlight, the Rampardos managed to look even more impressive. When she squinted she could see Tenno still sleeping soundly on her head. Perhaps that was why Nell hadn't taken action yet.
Reluctantly, she got up and moved to stand beside the blue dinosaur barefooted. "Shoo." She called while waving her flashlight, "Go away."
The steel type's eyes widened as she stared at Yun, only to turn away and run off a few seconds later. Staring in the darkness for a few more seconds after it was gone, Yun tiredly patted Nell's shoulders.
"Aaand I'm back to bed." She sighed while hoping to fall sleep again. It took awhile but after a lot of tossing and turning, she managed to tire herself out enough to doze off.
By the time she woke up the summer sun was heating up her tent to the point it became stifling. She opened the zip and breathed a sigh of relief when fresh air greeted her. The morning air, while not cold, was still a bit crisp and it was a very welcome thing to Yun.
She popped her head out of her tent to see how Tenno and Nell were doing and she frowned when she didn't immediately see them.
Craning her neck, she tried to see past her tent and saw a blue shape in the edge of her vision. Together with-
"Chihiro-san!"
Once again barefooted, she got up and ran to her friend. Nelly had laid her head in her trainers lap and her tail thumped the ground contently as the ranger looked over her shoulder to greet Yun.
"Good morning, kiddo." She was smiling but her eyes were red rimmed. Her hands were stroking her starters neck in a reassuring way. "Sorry, I ran off on you like that."
Curious but reluctant to pry, she sat down next to the older girl. It didn't escape her that Chihiro was wearing her uniform again. "That's okay. We did fine- oh and we even made a little friend."
The story of the little Aron, especially Nelly reaction to it's visits, made the ranger laugh and earned her a lighthearted reprimand for going in the mine.
"I knew it!" The girl placed a hand over her heart and continued dramatically, "The moment I turn my back, you run off to break all the rules."
Then she quieted and the good humor disappeared out of her eyes. Feeling the change in the ranger's mood, Yun found herself unable to break the oppressive silence. So she sat still, waiting for the other girl to gather her thoughts.
After awhile Chihiro straightened her back. "I'm being called back on duty early. I'm sorry... I was really hoping to see you beat Roark."
"Oh." Yun simply commented. Then she caved and asked a burning question. "Why?"
Chihiro looked away and Yun was just about ready to tell her she didn't need to know when the older girl took a deep breath.
"A bunch of rangers got hurt yesterday. L-like really hurt." Clenching her fingers, she continued. "One of my good friends is fighting for his life right now."
When she turned back to Yun there was a wet sheen in her eyes. "So me and a few other's are taking over their rosters."
Nearly paralyzed with dread, Yun asked. "Was it... that Pokémon?"
"No, worse." There was a bitterness in the ranger's voice that made Yun jump. "They were attacked by people."
"People? Who would do such a thing?"
"Criminals, they stumbled upon-" The ranger visible stopped herself. "Actually, I can't tell you, the police is investigating the whole thing. But Yun?"
Leaning closer, Yun held her breath as the other girl lowered her voice. "Always keep your Pokémon close. Really close, okay?"
The ominous message left her stumbling for a reply. "I-I, yes... Where's Tenno?"
"Tenno?!" Her voice was shrill enough to make Nell look up.
Luckily the tell tale sound of fluttering wings announced her birds presence as he landed on Yun's shoulder. Feeling safe again, she picked him up and held him to her chest. His body temperature had always been warm but lately he had become almost uncomfortably hot to hold. However for now, she didn't care and Tenno greeted her with an upbeat chirp.
Chihiro chuckled. "I didn't mean for you to get all panicky." Resolutely, she got up. "I start again tomorrow, so let's make the most of today."
Not liking the desolate look the the ranger's eyes, Yun feigned a bravery she did not feel.
"Or how about I challenge Roark today?"
AN: Aaand I hate this chapter. Fun fact, Aron weights around 60 kilo's (130lbs) according to it's Pokédex entry. That would be pretty impossible to lift for a 12 year old.