The jovial atmosphere from seconds ago disappeared without a trace. Crispin's already sad expression worsened, with Amarys holding a similar downcast look. Susan and Alex appeared almost frightened, and Drayton's hands on the table balled up into fists.

Kieran took in the sight of the cutlery and containers of food, unimpressed.

"You guys are actually having a party?" He asked, with a scathing tone.

"Obviously." The Dragon Tamer, previous serenity having crumbled into hollow neutrality, spoke. It was almost comical how Kieran never failed to drop his mood.

"We're celebrating Alysa's climb up the ranking ladder."

"Tch." Kieran's brow wrinkled when he pointedly stared at Alex and Susan. The two flinched, and Drayton could feel a fire within spark to life.

"That's hardly worth celebrating when her competition is subpar."

"Kieran!" Lacey shouted, stepping forward and anger blitzing into her voice in a flash. It was so unlike how she usually sounded that Drayton did a double take, his own rising anger temporarily frozen. The Champion hardly reacted himself, save for his eyes growing an inch wider.

"Don't insult your own club members like that!" She took a breath. "Drayton-"

She turned towards him. "The new rule regards the Rank 6 slot. If someone obtains it, they have to issue a challenge towards the Elite Four and battle a member within three days, the fourth day being the limit. Then, they must battle the others over the course of a week at the maximum. Failure to abide or attain victory over all Elite Four members in the allotted time frame will be considered a violation...and result in resignation from the club altogether."

The white-haired boy made a noise of indignation. So, a time limit was put onto the rank? Beat the Elite Four in less than two weeks or kick rocks? What kind of regulation was that?

"And the big wigs let that stupid rule pass?"

"They mentioned that battling is what drives the League Club. While acknowledging it was strict, they didn't see the harm in allowing it."

Oh, of course they didn't. The adults had always been so out of touch with them, he himself could remember dealing with them when he was faced with the annoying president duties way back...

"Kieran-" She faced him once more, face twisted by displeasure. "Why did you push such a ridiculous idea forward to our advisors?!"

"It's simple, really." The Champion's cutting glare was aimed at Zeph next. The boy looked tired more than anything else.

"Anyone who lets their strength go to waste doesn't deserve it at all. Zeph refused to challenge you all, so I kicked him out."

Drayton could only stare, dumbfounded and growing more irritated by the second. Kieran had been getting on his last nerve for months now, but this is probably the worst thing he's done yet. It's one thing to be insufferable, but to abuse power like this?

"Refused...right." Scornfully, Zeph addressed Kieran. "You just wanted me out because I'm not doing what you want me to!"

"I asked you, plenty of times, to issue a challenge. You never did." Kieran countered, head tilting upwards at Zeph – as if he was looking down his nose. A very familiar sight, to the Top Elite.

"And why? Because you're a coward?" He spat. "Cowards have no place in MY club."

Zeph grimaced at this, and Drayton was about to stand up with some very choice words for their 'mighty' Champion, but...

"That's not fair."

He was stopped upon hearing a certain soft, angelic voice speak up. Stiffened, he watched as Alysa put the attention onto herself, though she appeared especially timid. Her nervousness didn't stop her from going on.

"It invalidates how hard Zeph worked to get Rank 6-"

Before she could say more, Kieran cut her off.

"Like I said, nobody deserves strength if they don't use it. Speaking of which..." He stared her down.

"YOU'RE the Rank 6 trainer now, so you better not disappoint me. Otherwise, you're getting put on the curb too."

Never had a switch been flipped so quickly before. Kieran's condescending, harsh tone directed at Alysa of all people, and the shocked look that spread over her had Drayton seeing red.

The fire smoldering inside had transformed into a furious beast clawing to be released. Everyone's eyes darted to him as he shoot up to his feet, fingers splayed against the table's surface. His eyes were like golden daggers, piercing the purple-haired boy.

"Watch your mouth, Kieran."

-x-

She never heard him sound like that before.

Drayton's voice was like a hiss, low but carrying a dense threatening impression. The look in his eyes corresponded, his pupils even thinned into vertical slits. His canines were bared. Alysa gaped at him, pink eyes wide as saucers. Not only because of the uncharacteristic anger coming from him, but because it was for her own sake.

It didn't give her much time then and there to digest how Kieran was right, she was the Rank 6 trainer, now that Zeph had been removed.

One of Alysa's hands unconsciously pressed itself against her chest. Kieran drew back from Drayton, absolutely put off by the other boy's sudden rage.

"You...You of all people have some nerve telling me what to do." The Champion regained most of his composure, but he was clearly rattled. He repeatedly looked between Drayton and Alysa.

"Whatever though. I have better things to do than to stay here and waste more of my time."

Kieran promptly took his leave after that, and a hurried leave it was. Following the closing doors was a spell of silence. Most of the people in the room gazed with perplexion at the Rank 2 trainer, who had closed his eyes like he was trying to calm himself. Alysa's heart kept beating at a faster pace, a combination of the situation's stress and how ferocious he was in those split seconds.

"It...is true. I haven't wanted to challenge you guys." Zeph, breaking the silence, looked towards the Elite Four. He rubbed his neck.

"Just the idea of it turned my stomach. Maybe it's stage fright. But I'll be honest, club stuff in general has been really stressing me out. Haven't been eating or sleeping well..."

"I feel you there, man." Susan shook her head, frowning deeply. "Just thinking about training my team, to grind out battles and try to rank up, makes me feel sick. The last few ladder tourneys are the most I've enjoyed being in the club in a long time."

"Same." Alex's head bowed, despondent. Hearing them air their grievances whilst so dejected caused Alysa's heart to pang. If the three of them were having a terrible time, there was bound to be more members feeling the same way. She wasn't the only one affected. Amarys's, Lacey's, and Crispin's faces all fell lower. Drayton was looking forward, staring into nothing with a blankness that frankly made her worry.

"...Hey. I'm sorry, Alysa." Zeph turned towards her.

"I came here to tell you about the situation. But I...basically ruined your party..."

She was quick to deflect that logic. "N-No, it's ok. You didn't do anything wrong. I don't know what's going through Kieran's head..."

"I'm sure lots of people in the club don't. But on the bright side, I view me getting booted as a blessing. Now, I don't have to worry about doing whatever for the club anymore. This'll be good for my health."

He smiled, and it did help her feel a little better.

"Thanks for sticking up for me earlier. I don't want you to feel bad over my situation. Really, it's uh...kind of ironic that the party was to celebrate you getting Rank 7, when you're actually Rank 6." He half-heartedly laughed.

"I have a good feeling that you're capable of getting up to the top and defeating Kieran."

Alex and Susan agreed, regaining a portion of their earlier energy. Yet, Zeph's words slam into her with great force. They bring a reminder that yes, since she is right below Crispin on the ladder now...she's at the mercy of the new rule.

"I..well..." She took a deep breath. "Maybe I can, maybe I can't. I don't have a choice now though."

Automatically, her eyes searched for Drayton's. He had already been staring at her, and their gazes briefly met. He was calmer, but she could easily identify the worry he felt. She managed a smile.

"All I can do is my best, right?"

"...Yeah. Yeah!" Crispin shouted, gripping his frying pan. "That's right! Give it your best shot against us, Alysa! I have been itching to battle you for a while."

"As have I. However," Amarys' gave Crispin a look, causing him to settle down. "It is best we do not put even more pressure onto her shoulders."

She did have the threat of club expulsion looming over her now, huh? It was either that, or to bite the bullet and potentially humiliate herself against her friends.

"Just to remind you Alysa: you're free to challenge us in any order." Lacey's smile was apologetic, but genuine. "But first, you have to pay 50 BP for and complete our Elite Trials. Do you know what they are?"

"Yes." She had done some spur-of-the-moment research on them, prior to the second tournament. While there could be deviations, their trials would always follow the same method.

"I do have...three days? I'm not going to challenge you all right away. I need to prepare, especially for Drayton's."

The boy, despite his downcast mien, managed a chuckle.

"True. My trial can be tricky, especially for you with how your team is now."

She lacked a single member caught from the Terarium. She needed to obtain at least two new pokemon, and train them on top of that. As it stood, she knew she was literally unable to take on his trial at all, which was definitely a problem. Dedicated time was required, time she couldn't afford to let slip by.

Thankfully, the girl already had some ideas. Their group BBQ session helped her out more than she expected.

"I should...get started now, in fact. I have a lot to do." She could feel the stress coming on fast, but she couldn't let it take root. Not yet at least.

"Thanks for the party everyone."

The others' voices all mixed with their farewells as she walked over to a wastebin to throw her empty cup away. Deep in thought, she turned to leave, knowing her first step could be to go to the Savanna Biome. She had one potential recruit to try to seek out...

Alysa went back to her dorm to grab her backpack and the rest of her team's pokeballs, then made her way down to the academy's nature park. During her descent in one of the elevators however, her phone ringed.

The Drayster: [ I'm sorry ]

Incredulous, she stared at the screen. The apology was unexpected, and to her, odd. She wondered if Drayton mistakenly sent this to her instead of someone else, and how she should respond, until she received another message seconds later.

The Drayster: [ I thought it'd be cool if you got rank 6 eventually, but not like this ]

So, he did intend the apology for her. With the second text, it all made sense. Anxiety sat in the back of her mind, aware that she didn't have the luxury of taking things easy if she didn't want all the work she put into ranking up to be for naught. She didn't want him to worry about her regardless, or feel as if this all was his fault somehow.

[ I'll make it work. You don't have to apologize ]

... ... ...

The Drayster: [ If I didn't lose to him, if I didn't keep losing, the club wouldn't be going to hell. None of this would be happening ]

'Him'? It took her a moment to realize, but he had to be referring to Kieran. Even through the digital text, Alysa could feel his regret like it emanated from her phone. She didn't know the full context of Drayton's time as Champion, but she did know that things got worse in the League Club after Kieran took the title for himself.

During Drayton's reign, there had been better times; times he himself personally witnessed. She's willing to bet that he loves the League Club more than he lets on. To know what things were like, and to know many members are miserable now...it had to have been appalling for him.

Alysa wondered if this guilt has been sitting on his mind ever since he lost, but he's been hiding it. Suppressing it. What else is Drayton potentially keeping harbored up? The mystery flares a rather strong sense of worry for him, but she knew she couldn't exactly act on it. He probably wouldn't want to talk about it anyway, it would drag the old pains back up. After all, Drayton lost because Kieran was just the better trainer with the stronger team in the end. What was there to sugarcoat?

She would still do her best to be there for him though.

[ For what it's worth, I don't blame you for anything. I'm sorry things have been bad for so long ]

As she hit the send icon, Alysa thought of a quick addition to make.

[ If you're ever open to it, you can vent to me anytime. I'm always willing to listen ]

Alysa worried if she was being too intrusive. Drayton was the aloof type, friendly to others but he perpetually carried a detached feeling to what happened around him – like he never really cared. He had that energy for a lot of things she's noticed...except for one specific thing.

Her. Looking back on how he's treated her, Alysa couldn't say in good conscious that Drayton didn't care about her. He's made the opposite so obvious, she grew warm at the fresh memory of what they talked about in her dorm earlier in the day...

The Drayster: [ Thanks. I'll keep that in mind ]

Would he? All she could do was assume he would. He's gotten into personal subjects with her already, perhaps unloading whatever negative emotions he bottling up wouldn't step too far over a line.

The Drayster: [ I should be telling u that tho. How're u feeling? ]

Alysa squinted at he spinning the topic back around to her, but it was a fair question to ask, and one she appreciated.

[ I am frazzled, but fine otherwise. Don't worry about me ]

... ... ...

The Drayster: [ That's a tall order lol. I'll try not to ]

The message came as the elevator reached the bottom floor, the tube leading out to the Savanna Biome. Still immensely flattered over the boy's care, Alysa went to put her phone away and stepped off into the tunnel. Halfway through the action, she thought to send one more text; this one especially making her face burn.

[ Thanks for defending me against Kieran ]

The imagery of him being furious and getting the Champion to back off was making her head feel weightless all over again.

The Drayster: [ I'll always have ur back, sweetheart ]

...Sweetheart?

SWEETHEART?

She being light-headed was nothing, Alysa thought the world itself was starting to spin. The term of endearment, something Drayton had yet to use for her until now, caught the girl completely off guard...but in the best way possible. Alysa stared at the text message with her eyelids fully drew back, mesmerized. She came back to reality shortly, and sent one more text: a single heart emoji.

She then silenced her phone, put it into her bag, and marched onwards. She had things to do! Standing around, internally gushing over Drayton's feelings for her wouldn't get the girl anywhere. Nor would...imagining she hearing the term in his own voice...

Alysa shook her head, welcoming the temperature increase of the Savanna to ground her. She selected her Galarian Rapidash's pokeball and sent the horned fairy out.

"Thea-" She addressed the pokemon, who's pale blue heavy-lidded eyes regarded her calmly. "Could you give me a lift? I need to go to a certain part of the biome."

Always willing to assist her trainer (and wondering why Alysa ever bothered asking like she'd say no), the Rapidash nodded and turned her body around. She bent her legs enough to lower her height and allow Alysa to climb up onto her back. Once she was situated, Thea stood up to full height and the girl gently grasped a portion of the fairy's multicolored mane. A vague, fuzzy feeling spread through her head then.

She believed it was thanks to the Rapidash's Psychic-typing, but Alysa discovered some years ago when first riding Ponyta Thea that she was able to communicate with the pokemon in a nonverbal, telepathic way if she grabbed some of her mane. It was like they established a psychic link of sorts. While bizarre at first, it proved to be very useful since it let Alysa guide Thea on where to go without having to use words.

She'd urge her to go in a direction, she'd follow it. It also enabled Alysa to directly sense the pokemon's emotions and what she may be thinking as well, though she hasn't yet cracked a possible barrier and discovered the ability to actually hear Thea 'speak'.

Directing Thea to travel in a northwest direction, the equine started in a canter, maneuvering around the nearby rest area and checking her surroundings closely. When the area looked to be clear enough, Thea was off in a gallop. Having ridden on the Rapidash dozens of times collectively, Alysa was unbothered by the speed change and balanced herself appropriately so she wouldn't slip off.

The earthen browns and greens of the biome streaked by in a blur. It sparked within her a certain thrill that she didn't get flying up in the skies on Sally's back, as the beat of Thea's hooves against the earth and the whizzing sound of foliage as they passed was a different experience entirely. One she in truth had missed; she had to go on rides with Thea more often again...the Savanna and maybe Coastal Biomes were the only suitable areas though, since the terrain was level enough for her pokemon to get the chance to truly spread her legs.

The appearance of her Rapidash over the horizon startled a flock of Doduo and Dodrio into scattering. Alysa laughed at the exhilaration of Thea running alongside the speedy bipedal pokemon, none of which thankfully tried to attack them. In the next minute, Alysa deemed the section they entered to be their destination, and the pokemon slowed to a stop.

"Thank you, Thea." Alysa rubbed the fairy's snout, after sliding down from her back. She surveyed the surrounding area, pinpointing it to be about where she had Sally battle that Venomoth. Alysa slowly walked around, Thea trailing behind, trying to see if she'd find what she was looking for.

Minutes passed, until she heard sudden rustling. Much to her surprise and joy, a familiar fox pokemon stuck its head out the underside of a bush. Its red eyes peered at her with an intensity that caught her off guard, especially when the pokemon hopped out of the undergrowth to approach her.

The Fennekin, the same one from before as it had the left ear nick, stopped yards away and got down into a defiant stance. However, Alysa could detect no animosity from it. Its burning gaze conveyed one thing and one thing only. A challenge.

Not taking her eyes off of the Fire-type, she waved a hand behind her, summoning Thea to stand in front of her and get ready for battle. The Fennekin put its attention onto the Rapidash, she snorting and lowering her head, pointing her long black horn at it.

The Fennekin leaped into action. Opening its maw with a cry, it launched an attack that Alysa assumed was Flamethrower. However, the actual strength of the flames were...strangely underwhelming. Thea sidestepped the stream elegantly with a mere side step, and the flames fizzled into the air.

Growling, the Fennekin unleashed a slightly more ferocious attack. Fire Blast it looked like, and Alysa chose to have Thea counter it to prevent a wildfire from breaking out on her watch.

"Psycho Cut."

The Rapidash whipped her head side-to-side as her horn glowed purple. The arc of light shot out towards the concentrated fire. Easily cutting through it, the flames dispersed in the air, and the Psycho Cut kept traveling towards the Fennekin at a high speed. It could only react with a shocked cry before the attack struck the ground inches before it, catapulting the little pokemon away in a roll.

It came to a stop, but while it rose to stand once more, the eagerness in it was gone. Instead it looked...dejected.

Believing she understood the wild pokemon's behavior now, Alysa's bearing became much softer. She carefully approached the Fennekin, Thea observing closely, and got down to her knees before it. The Fire-type looked at her. At their closer distance, the girl could see that the Fennekin was riddled with various scars around its body – further supporting her idea.

"Hey, little one. I tell that you really like fighting, hm?"

Blinking, it tilted its head.

"You saw me battling with my pokemon the other day, and that must've piqued your interest in us." She hummed. The Fennekin stood straighter, and chirped. She smiled.

"I'm sure you're plenty strong already, having survived in the wild up to this day. But...do you want to get even stronger?"

It hopped in place, and she could see that earlier energy returning. That was as good of a 'yes' more than anything. More confident herself, she went forward with her idea.

"How about you join my team, and I can train you? I'm more than happy to help you get stronger."

The Fennekin's previous dejection told her that it hated losing battles, and the amount of scarring it has hinted that it was probably the main one taking damage in battles versus dishing it out. Such was the life of many wild pokemon; the victors got to do whatever they wanted, while the losers could only lick their wounds. She admired the Fennekin's tenacity to keep trying, enough that it challenged her to a fight.

Then again, this is just what she's assuming its story is. Either way, the pokemon looked very intrigued by her question. It didn't move or make much sound for the next minute, surely thinking things over. Then, it merely sat down and gave her a very cute little smile.

Taking that as another 'yes', Alysa unzipped and reached into her backpack to remove an empty pokeball. She pressed it gently against the Fennekin's head, and it disappeared in a red beam of energy. Three shakes later, and the ball firmly clicked shut.

...She did it. She caught a Fennekin! A pokemon she's wanted since as far back as she could remember! Giddy, Alysa immediately put the ball up to her phone, activating the Pokedex app. She registered it into her records, and viewed more information about the pokemon as Thea walked up behind her.

The Fennekin was male, a roughly 3 year old adult specimen, had Blaze as his ability, and weighed around 18 pounds or 8 kilograms. The other data was average, but she did find the information about his age interesting. A pokemon being that old but still in their first evolution stage when it wasn't bound by any outside criteria was uncommon, she thinks. Maybe, it fed into the reason why his fire attacks felt underwhelming.

She was no Pokemon Researcher, but Alysa remembered learning in her Biology class that apparently a pokemon that has a delayed natural evolution will often end up developing health issues of varying sorts – be it physically weaker bodies or becoming more susceptible to illnesses. Fennekin into Braxien was a natural evolution, not dependent on any items or other influences, and he not being a Braxien yet – or even a Delphox – could signal some unpleasant news...

Alysa called the pokemon back out. He seemed to have even more energy, as he darted around in a circle. She laughed at the precious sight, but was relieved to see that it didn't look like there was anything seriously wrong with him on the surface. She was still going to take him to the academy's Pokemon Center later to be examined, just in case.

"Welcome to the team." She greeted the Fennekin. He chirped, trotting over to her to lean against her legs. As he curiously sniffed her, Alysa took a moment to think about nicknames. Everyone in her poke-family had one, and she thought it'd be cruel to not include the newest member in that. She meant it when she said she'd help him get stronger, and would gladly release him whenever he was satisfied with his power, but naming him was still important in her eyes. She studied him, a finger pressed against her chin in thought.

The striking contrast of his red fur was honestly pretty, and it got her rummaging through names based off of it. She came up with one that she liked the sound of, bias aside.

"I think...I'll call you 'Rubis'*. Do you like that name?"

He blinked, and wagged his bushy tail. She'd take that answer.

"Ok, Rubis! I'm really looking forward to working with you." Alysa clasped her hands, sincerely excited. Rubis placed his front paws against her, appearing amped himself. She naturally pet his head, lightly scratching behind his ears. He warbled in delight. Thea moved closer, snorting at a softer volume. He sniffed at her nose. Alysa wanted to send out her entire team to meet the Fennekin right then and there, but it would be best to introduce one or two of them at a time. She didn't want to overwhelm him.

She had one Terarium pokemon. She just needed one more, but unfortunately, she didn't have any more ideas. Alysa shifted to sit in a more comfortable cross-legged position on the grass, absent-mindedly observing Rubis step around to sniff at Thea's body. He was a Fire-type, not a part of her favorite typings in Fairy and Dragon, so he brought a lot of value to the table already for diversity's sake. Alysa felt it would be beneficial to find a pokemon who could compliment Rubis specifically, as they and they alone would be partners for Drayton's trial. Going off of that, Alysa combed through her knowledge of all of the Terarium's available pokemon.

Her gaze drifted towards icy peaks in the distance, the Polar Biome's white snow standing out harshly. An Ice-type...one would go ok with Fire. Out of the four types Ice was good against, two of them – Ground and Dragon – were troublesome for Fire to deal with. Fire at least threatened Steel for Ice. Assuming Rubis reached his final evolution stage, Delphox, Psychic would be thrown into that mix as well. Humoring this logic, Alysa went over the pokemon that can be found in the Polar Biome.

When her thoughts landed on Alolan Vulpix, a figurative lightbulb lit up. It would be cute to have a fox pokemon of the Ice-type to be like a complimentary opposite to Rubis, the other side of the coin. And, Alolan Vulpix evolved into Alolan Ninetales, which gained the Fairy-type. Her deep bias highlighted Vulpix in her head off of that alone. Fairy went well enough with Psychic, the two types proven to have synergy with how well Thea has performed in battles overall.

That settled it! There were probably other pokemon that offered better synergy with Rubis that she could pick, but her love for fairies will always win out. As an added bonus, she doesn't think any of her friends have a Fennekin or an Alolan Vulpix...if they do, last Alysa checked, they don't use them in their main teams. That could end up giving her an advantage against them all; one never knew.

Standing up and brushing the back of her shorts and leggings off, she got her two pokemon's attention.

"I'm gonna set out for the Polar Biome now." She nodded at Thea, recalling her back into her ball. Rubis watched, entranced as she took hold of her Salamence's capsule.

The large dragon appeared, and she immediately noticed Rubis standing near her legs. She looked at her trainer, with a certain energy that matched how one would quirk an eyebrow.

"This is our new team member, Rubis." She introduced the two of them. To her surprise, the Fennekin didn't look that frightened of Sally, unlike many pokemon unused to her appearance. He did still inch closer to partially hide behind her legs though. The dragon made a gruff greeting noise.

"I'll let you two get more acquainted later. Sally, could you give me a lift to the Polar Biome?"

Alysa asked, as she took out her jacket from her bag. The Dragon Pokemon nodded. Zipping up her protective wear in preparation for the freezing temperatures, she leaned down.

"I'm gonna pick you up, and we'll travel on Sally together. Ok?"

Rubis tilted his head, but didn't object when she reached down to take hold of him. His much higher body temperature would do well in keeping him warm, and she wanted the two of them to spend as much time together as possible to help him get fully used to her, so he reasonably staying outside of his pokeball as much as he could was ideal.

Nestling Rubis close to her chest, Alysa got into Sally's back, and the group was off. She saw the little fox peering out at the Terarium's surface, then up at the dome, wholly bewildered. It came as no surprise, she knows he's never been up at this altitude and probably has never stepped foot in any of the other biomes, but it was so adorable anyway. She stroked his head, helping him to remain calm.

She sure didn't miss the Polar Biome. Recalling Sally, Alysa told Rubis to stay close to her, and begun walking down one of the slopes. Picking out the white coat of Alolan Vulpix would be tricky, but with the current snowfall, it would've been nearly impossible if she were to comb the area up above on Sally.

Aware the shulks preferred higher elevations, Alysa scanned the mountain sides for a cluster of white tails. Other wild pokemon the pair came across either stared at a distance or fled, Rubis looked especially eager to combat them, but did begrudgingly settle down when Alysa requested it. She promised they would do a lot of battling soon, maybe as early as tomorrow.

After about 10 minutes of searching, Alysa's poorly protected fingertips and toes were hurting to the point that she was going to call it quits for now. However, just as she was reaching for Sally's pokeball, a movement happened in the corner of her eye. It came from a snow mound. She looked at it closely, and discerned white hind legs and a puffy mass of tails sticking out of it.

Gasping, she rushed forward. At hearing the sound of her footsteps crunching on the snow, the trapped Vulpix's legs flailed for a second or two before stopping. Wasting no time, she bundled her hands up in what loose space her jacket sleeves allowed and started shoveling away what snow she could.

"C-Could you help me, Rubis?" She asked. The Fennekin obeyed, mimicking her action of digging. The snow was thicker than she hoped and she knew she was risking frostbite, but together, she and Rubis managed to free the Vulpix. Its small body laid limp, and its eyes were barely opened. Alysa's stomach turned at how horribly thin its body was, many bones outlined under its skin. Memories came forth of discovering her Hydreigon as a Deino in the wild like this, and she moved on instinct.

Quickly pulling out a Sitrus Berry from her bag, she bit a piece of it off before dropping it the rest back and chewed, taste buds firing off at the assortment of flavors. She didn't swallow it, instead pushing it out onto her fingers. She kneeled down next to the Vulpix, holding the berry mash to its mouth. Driven by starvation, the Ice-type licked it up as soon as it smelled the scent. As she hoped, it imbued the pokemon with a little bit of energy. Its eyes opened wider, coming off as more alert.

Alysa reached into her bag to grab another empty pokeball. "I'm sorry, but catching you is the safest way to move you."

She touched the ball to the Vulpix's body, and in it went. It was caught with no resistance, as it was far too weak to put up any. Not bothering to check the Vulpix's details in the Pokedex, Alysa called Sally out.

"We need to get to the Pokemon Center right away!"

She gestured Rubis into her arms. Sally lifted into the sky with them in tow, hastily flying to the nearest Terarium exit.

-/-

*Rubis is French for "ruby"!