5:25 P.M June 26, Friday, 106 PH (Post Hoopa Event)

Events: The Preliminaries for the Joint Kanto and Johto Indigo Summer League have concluded; 105 Trainers and their Pokemon have advanced from Bronze to Silver. The celebrations finish tomorrow when the Summer Round Robin Cup will begin, to crown the best of each Tier among those that advanced. Rhea started her journey on the 9th of June—she’s been a Trainer for 18 Days (17 Officially;18 since getting Maya and Nova).

Rhea watched the Ranger leave on the back of his Pidgeot with a frown; they hadn't even gotten his name. It was nice that he seemed concerned about the Cloyster, but she did take a bit of issue with his attitude. From what she’d seen so far and heard, this Cloyster had a monopoly in this area, killing any Pokemon that tried to move in, which was extremely harmful to both humans and Pokemon.

Tightening her hands on her pack, she glanced down at Nova when the Eevee nudged her bare ankle; Alice was asking her questions that she didn’t have the answer to.

Rhea released a sad sigh. Hmm? Oh, I’m just a little taken aback; he seemed more worried about the Cloyster having moved areas than the fact we’re in a Platinum-tier area—don’t get me wrong, I’m happy he didn’t kick us out, but it’s just weird; I don’t know…

Looking back up at the sky, Rhea folded her arms. I try to be open-minded … It’s hard sometimes understanding Rangers, though. Maybe it’s because I didn’t grow up in the culture. I’m just … Know what, never mind.

Rhea chuckled, plucking the back of her bottoms out before bending down to a perplexed Alice and Nova. I’ll just do my thinking; you two don’t worry about it … Wait, what do you want to do?

Nova hopped up on her hind legs and bit down on her pack strap, pulling on it a bit. Now, as baffled as her two Pokemon were a second ago, she slowly slid it off.

Okay? Are you telling me to … Oh! Teh … Really, you two wanna try doing it yourself?

Alice waved her off with sparkling pink eyes, wiggling under the bag to hoist it onto Nova’s back, and the two slowly moved to the campsite where Mallory was happily getting her tent set up.

You want to put up our stuff tonight … Do you know how to do that, Nova?

She returned a happy chirp, moving slowly while trying to balance the bulky pack on her back with Alice’s help. Rhea watched in amusement for a moment as Gables and Roxie rushed over to help them with the Eevee’s call.

Okay … Just ask me if you need any help.

Her focus shifted to the redhead; Amira’s attention was taken by the Pidgey that the Ranger sent to watch them. She could practically see the girl’s mind spinning a web of plans to develop a way to accomplish her goals for coming here—a Ranger wasn’t going to stop her.

Pulling in the corner of her lip, Rhea made her way to the edge of the cliff to look out at the shimmering pond; she couldn’t see the Pokemon, but many were strong enough for her to sense their auras, which wasn’t something she experienced often.

Her training in aura was primarily directed at sensing negative emotions in Pokemon; it was much easier for her to accurately identify more powerful life signatures. The issue was compounded by the fact all of the Pokemon below released waves of animosity—not everything could be sensed at once, but as she focused on the individual auras, a clearer picture was coming to mind.

So many Shellder … That Cloyster is definitely Upper Platinum-tier, too … Such a cold and aggressive force, as well, and he’s passed that on to his children. Without Franky here…

A shiver ran down her frame and she rubbed her arms as the cool breeze lifted off the water to press against her skin. She couldn’t shake the uncomfortable edge she felt on the Ranger; maybe it was his rather abrupt entry and exit or that he remained nameless.

They’d seen a Ranger with Pidgeot on their way here, yet this wasn’t the same guy. Rangers were generally very caring people—too caring, which showed in the very high injury and mortality rate of the profession in the more dangerous areas. There was a new breed of Ranger, or so she’d heard; then again, it wasn’t like she’d met any in her life—why would she when Masters surrounded her from birth?

Rhea had to remind herself that her home was far from the norm, too, but that didn’t reduce the danger wild Pokemon could pose in this age.

Glancing back, she saw Amira walking toward the small dense section of the flat island; most of it was fairly rocky, but a portion of it had what seemed to be deep and fertile soil that must have been dropped there by a strong Trainer at some point in the past.

The Pidgey watched her go and soon took flight to hover above Amira, speaking to Amber, who seemed to be luring the Pokemon into the trees.

Rhea’s lips pulled in. We’re in a Platinum-tier zone … Seriously, why leave a Pidgey with us? He knows the Cloyster can teleport … teleport alone bumps it up to a potential Master-tier threat. It just seems so off…

She couldn’t get the feelings out of her chest; it went against everything her family told her about Rangers, and this one was undoubtedly at least Upper Gold to Low Platinum, given the strength of the Pidgeot—it equaled Snee-Kee, her brother’s Klefki, which was the weakest of his main team, but that was saying something.

Overall, she’d heard it dozens of times; Master Trainers and Top Rangers worked with one another due to things balancing out by having both cultures, but that didn’t mean they agreed on everything. Kanto was heavily steeped in Trainer ideology.

Studying the pond below them, Rhea passively unbound her hair, shaking it out a bit before pulling it out of her face in the cool breeze. She trusted that Amira knew what she was doing here; she’d proven it by getting them past the Cloyster—the Ranger on the other hand was running circles in her mind.

Puffing out a long breath, Rhea yawned and rubbed her eyes; she didn’t feel tired, but it came out anyway. She blinked to adjust her vision and scanned the water as it swept around their island on both sides; it seemed to be perfectly still in some places while a more aggressive tide washed over others in an unnatural current.

The waves brushed against the sides of the sheer rock face of the gorge across from them, rising a bit above their current position; it was a bit unusual to see so many fish swimming near the surface of the pond, but considering only a single evolutionary predator occupied the space it allowed them to flourish where an abundance of Pokemon in the rivers kept the population down.

Glancing back, Rhea discovered Amira talking to the Pidgey while gathering dead sticks for the fire. Mallory was still setting up her inflatable mattress with a tiny hand pump, chuckling at her Pokemon trying to help Nova and Alice with her tent.

Thanks, guys … Trying to give me a break is sweet.

Alice sent a distracted grunt, listening to Lori’s basic instructions with Nova as they tried to learn the process.

Rhea’s eyes returned to the surface of the glittering wonder below, passively fidgeting with her bikini to better situate it before lowering herself to the edge to dangle her feet over the edge.

She was forced to wrap her thigh-length blonde locks around her throat to keep it out of the dust, but it also acted as a windbreaker, which helped.

The strange scent of jade permeated the air as she sat, kicking her heels against the side of the cliff. Her skin heated under the strong summer sun, but the chill lifting off the pond helped to cool her; she was sure there had to be ice underneath the blinding water.

Putting her unsettling feelings behind her, she let the magical moment wash over her; it felt like she was dreaming. All of the worries and chaos that she had been feeling had been stripped away by the dazzling spring's enchanting presence with the sun's reflecting rays.

After a minute, Rhea groaned, mind returning to the Clefairy. "Why did Mom make me worry about her?"

“Yo!” Mallory's low moan caused Rhea to lean back and watch the purple-haired girl approach her. "Mmh! Does it really bother you that much?"

The girl pulled out her own hairpins and shook out her locks before wrapping them around her throat in the same manner as Rhea to keep them tamed. "My mom would have done it to tease me—no doubt."

"Well, your mom would have—eh, I guess she would joke about that stuff ... My mom, though..." Rhea trailed off, looking down into the cool water. "My mom's too busy to think of stuff like that."

Mallory carefully dropped to her butt and scooted to the edge with her, reaching out to snatch her hand for support. "Umm ... Yo, what's up with you and all this ... stuff ... Aren't you scared?" she mumbled, tentatively looking over the side of the cliff.

Rhea snickered, seeing Lori's forehead crease with worry, free hand pressing tightly against her inner thigh. "I guess we come from different worlds; my dad and I would go hiking and do stuff like this all the time."

Lori pressed her lips together, "but..."

"But what?"

"But ... you're like ... I don't know ... You look so natural doing this stuff." She forced a chuckle, purple eyes focusing on her. "It's kind of cool, ya know?"

"Me?" Rhea grinned. "Look at you! This is your first time on the river, and you're all gas, no breaks! I think that's super brave—you're super brave," she encouraged.

"Geez," Lori blushed, playing with her hair; her feet hadn't left the rock once, "all I hear out of your mouth is positive Muk—tell me I suck every once and a while, girl! I gotta hear it sometimes..."

Rhea offered a soft chuckle and slowly pulled Lori to her feet and away from the precipice, playfully taking a swing at the girl's arm. "That's the stuff you'll have to teach me! So, should we go get the fishing rods and start getting some dinner? Amira's getting the fire started..."

"Not that it'll take that long," Amira mumbled, returning with a bundle of sticks in her arms; she was careful not to poke her exposed skin. "The fish here are big, so we should only need one."

She dropped them by the campfire, lifting an eyebrow at Alice, Gables, Nova, and Roxie, coordinating with one another to feed the rods through the tent straps. "Not bad, guys."

Gables gave her a thumbs up, practically saying, why, thank you!

Mallory held her arm behind her back, pushing out her chest with a low hiss while looking away. "Eh ... yeah, about that—I've never fished before, and ... I don't have a rod."

"Really?" Amira quirked an eyebrow, and Alice mirrored the look for nothing else but to try it out.

Lori shrugged, thumbnail playing with the back of her elbow. "Didn't think I'd ... Well, yeah," Mallory laughed. "Can you teach me on Rhea's rod? I mean, I'd kind of like to learn—oh, but maybe on yours..."

Rhea was amused seeing this more exposed side of Lori since her nervousness of getting on the river; perhaps they needed to get her out more often.

"I suppose I can teach you," Amira hummed, glancing at Rhea, "but only if I can fish, too. We don't really have all day—not to be mean, it's just..."

"No, I get it," Mallory sucked on the roof of her mouth. "I just thought—I'm not good at this outdoors stuff, okay? I'm more of a city girl."

"Oh, yeah, and I'm totally a country bumpkin!" Rhea laughed. “You were showing me all sorts of stuff in Apple City, so it's cool we can teach each other different things ... I'll just take a look around more—here, let me get my rod," she muttered, getting down to extract her fishing pole from the scattered contents of her bag; Nova and Alice had made quite a mess of things.

Amira threw a quick wave in Gables' direction as he gave them a thankful smile; Mallory must be working through a lot of deeper emotions that they didn't understand.

Lori took the pole Rhea offered with a low shriek, looking at the barbed hooks at the end of the string as Rhea pulled off the plastic safety pieces to stick in the small kit. "Augh! I ... I don't know if I can do this."

Her shaking purple eyes met Rhea's as she gave her a tender expression. "I can stay too if it'll help. It's actually pretty relaxing once you get the hang of it."

Mallory took a few deep breaths, exhaling the stress and thoughts that were quickly sinking her. "Muk ... How can you two be so cool with all this ... this water surrounding us? We're literally trapped..."

Rhea smirked, taking Amira's pole as the redhead positioned herself next to Lori to get her line ready with the artificial bait; she became so involved and caring when it came to teaching people.

"Here, let me help ... We'll take it slow; my mom's crazy at fishing ... basically she's good at everything; sometimes I'm so jealous."

"Of your mom?" Lori asked, and even Rhea was surprised at the admission.

Amira’s nose twisted with agitation, but her tone was gentle while guiding Lori's hands to the proper areas and checking to see if everything was in order. "She's a natural at everything ... I know, she's a High Champion Trainer, and I bet your aunt's the same way, Rhea. It doesn't matter what they do; they just power their way through it with insane positivity and pep ... I swear if I could turn my mom's energy into a drink..."

"My Aunt Cynthia?" Rhea forced herself to ask; she didn't even want to imagine her aunt's energy. "Yeah ... it's less 'pep' and more like the coming of an apocalypse that everyone just jumps out of the way of and lets her do her thing..."

"Mmh, makes sense," Amira mumbled, turning back to Lori. "So, you don't need a death grip ... Loosen up a bit ... there we go."

"N-No, but—but what if it jerks the pole out of my hand," Lori fearfully protested. "I've seen those shows where they use line to pull fish in, and—and sometimes they're so big they just take you right over the edge of the boat!"

"Ocean fish," Rhea chuckled. "These are big, but my rod's built for bigger fish; it should be fine," she added, checking Amira's line for her.

"I-I can do it!" Mallory shakily declared, trying to pump herself up.

"That's the spirit!" Rhea cheered.

Amira cleared her throat, sliding closer to Lori to guide her through the motions. "We're pretty high up, so you'll need to throw it wide. Ready?"

"Okay..."

Rhea had fun being Amira's cheerleader and her two Pokemon soon rushed over to aid their Trainer. It didn't take more than five test casts for the girl to start getting it and do it by herself for the first time.

"I did it!" she squealed, pumping the rod a bit into the air with glee. "Woah! Okay ... Okay..."

"That's awesome!" Rhea clapped. "See, it's not so bad!"

A soft smile brightened Amira's cheeks as she took the pole that Rhea offered. "It's ... nice doing this with other people ... with a team."

Rhea could feel her chest welling with emotion as she hopped forward to hug the redhead from behind.

"H-Hey..."

"I feel the same way! It's been the best traveling with you two."

"Umm, yeah, like, totally," Mallory breathed, "but umm, now what?"

"We wait," Amira replied, adjusting her glasses while glancing back at Rhea with a thankful look. "You know ... It means a lot that you guys haven't brought up my family ... this entire time."

"Not like we can talk..." Lori grumbled. "My mom just shows up out of the blue and paints a target on our backs. Am I right?"

Amira gave Lori a hesitant look as a lump dropped down her throat. "What's wrong, Mallory?"

"Nothing ... I'm just nervous," the girl admitted with a chuckle. "I've never caught a fish before—what if one actually b-bites. I just wanted to have a good time, you know..."

The way she slid by their parents’ random and eccentric behavior made Rhea even happier. I really gotta wonder if the Oak Starter Award random selector is random at all … It doesn’t seem like it.

"Oh, one sec, let me get you guys seats!" Rhea jogged back to grab one of the small stumps around the fire but it was pretty stuck in the ground; Alice noticed and did a quick jump kick with Nova to pop it out. "Oof ... there we go!" she grinned, falling over a bit.

Hoisting it up, she brought it back to Mallory, noticing the girl's slight discoloration on her back again; it was easy to notice when she only wore a bikini. "Hey, are you doing okay?" Rhea asked, setting the log down behind her.

"Eh, heh, I don't know about sitting, to be honest," Lori laughed. "I'm nervous enough standing!"

Amira glanced back at the Pidgey; he'd returned to sit near the fire, watching Alice and Nova still struggling to do their little project—they wanted to do it totally on their own to prove to themselves they could.

"By the way," the redhead whispered, "did either of you pick up on that strange behavior that Ranger showed us? I didn't really pick up on it at first, but the more I thought about it, the more strange his actions looked."

Mallory gingerly sat her backside down as if the log would bite her or a fish would take advantage of her action to drag her off the small cliff. "Eh ... not really? I mean, he was just one of those dudes that's all up in arms about dangerous Pokemon being picked on or whatever ... Unova deals with that Muk all the time."

"Yeah, but his actions weren’t in line with standard protocol," Amira murmured. "It was really out of character for a Ranger ... Leaving us here in a dangerous area with just a Pidgey. At first, I thought it would be easy to trick the little bird into letting us do our thing, but Amber says he's acting funny, too—mainly, he rejected her."

The shiny Fennekin next to her gave a short sniff before puffing out a hot stream of flames in the indignation.

Rhea kneeled down beside them. Hey, Alice, Nova, keep that guy distracted for us … Amira thinks there’s something up with this whole thing and I’m with her.

Her two Pokemon accepted the mission with fervor, trying to rope in the bird in helping them to which he flatly refused, angering Alice a bit, and they seemed to get into an argument; Nova tried to keep the bunny calm.

“I agree,” Rhea nodded to the girl, who shot a quick look of realization at her. “I think he's telling Alice that she's not trustworthy as a Trainer Pokemon."

Amira hissed, glaring at the pool; Serenity floated out of the lake to look up at them—Rhea didn't think she was still in there. "Does that sound like a Ranger partner Pokemon? No ... I've got a bad feeling about this."

Rhea hummed, fingers tightening against her thighs. "Do you think we should contact the Ranger Union?"

Mallory's fear had diminished substantially as they pulled her mind away from the possibility of being dragged into the pond. "I don't think so; a Ranger partner Pokemon should have been on watch, right? If he showed up, then something else is up."

"My thoughts exactly," Amira agreed. "He didn't give us identification, a name, or even inquire further about why we were here. Why create this ruse of being a Ranger unless we'd get suspicious if one didn't show up to stop us, and when he noticed we weren't killed by the Cloyster, he had to make an appearance? It's just a theory, but it's a bit too suspicious."

Rhea's coral blue eyes shifted between her two teammates. "So ... We shouldn't contact the Rangers through the App and report it? I did that a few days ago when I felt some super ominous aura in the forest."

Mallory shook her head, staring up at the nearby cliffs, peering into the dense undergrowth of various areas. "I'm thinking that's not a good idea—we don't know why he's here, but the Ranger communications network isn't all that tough to crack, and if he did do something to the Ranger, then he may even have his device. Either way, he wouldn't be a fan of us drawing more attention ... If we're going the Kyurem option here."

Amira's lips tightened, and she pushed her sunglasses up a little on the bridge of her nose. "I'll have Serenity ask Cloyster what he knows about the guy ... He's more friendly when fed."

Bringing her toes together, Rhea rubbed her chest, feeling her heartbeat rise a little. "Umm ... my brother might still be in the area—he can get here pretty fast, I think."

"Maybe," Mallory mumbled, still scanning the tree line. "It's better safe than sorry when dealing with sketchy things like this when all alone, and no one knows where we are—depending on what tech he has, he might even be able to block our GPS."

"Good point," Amira gestured for Rhea to go back and check her bag.

Hoisting herself up, Rhea jogged back to the campsite; Alice was now trading snarky insults with the Pidgey, Nova now a bit upset with how the bird was talking to them.

Keep it up, girls. We’re trying to figure out what’s…

Rhea activated her phone, eyes fixating on her service—none available. It felt like ice had been dumped into her stomach.

She looked up at Alice, her two Pokemon feeling the gut-wrenching feeling gripping her chest. We should be close enough to the relay points to have at least two bars … We’re right next to a major route.

Her gaze drifted to the Pidgey, eyeing her with a blank expression.

No … No, I gotta play it cool.

“Eh … Can you be just a bit nicer to Alice and Nova … They just want to be friends.”

The Pidgey sniffed, looking away with a few more comments that sent Alice insulting him again; she really wanted to fight the infuriating bird but held back because of Rhea’s internal dread.

We’re isolated in a dangerous place with some guy pretending to be a ranger—without any way to contact help? What do we do? Is he after Amira or Mallory? Did someone find out my identity and want to make a move against Mom or Dad?

Eyes spinning, Rhea tentatively jogged back to her team, the device held close to her breast, face blank but concern spreading across her features as she turned away from the bird. “Umm … yeah, heh, you were right, Lori!”

The girl’s hands tightened against her rod, but her tone was light as she called out. “Too bad! Muk, I was hoping to get some online stuff set up. We’ll have to wait a bit and try again.”

Kneeling beside her two companions, Rhea noticed how dry her lips were and hissed, “What do we do; get back in our kayaks and leave?”

Mallory’s sunglasses were now rolling down on her nose while staring down at the water. “Uh, I don't see that going well—he's going to be suspicious if we've committed to coming all the way here and then just decide we got cold feet—we've even started setting up camp.”

"Not wrong," Amira sighed, scratching her head and eyes with her pointer finger. "I suppose we should finish catching a fish and settling in, but what's to stop him from killing us and saying it was Cloyster ... I think ... If this is as bad as it looks and it's not just a terrible line-up of coincidences, then ... he might be our only option out of this."

"That super aggressive Cloyster?" Mallory scoffed, running a free hand through her hair before returning it to the rod. "Muk ... Do you really know him that well?"

Rhea shot a hopeful gaze to the redhead, but her expression wasn't convincing.

"Not ... really. He knows me enough that he'll tolerate us if we follow his rules, but ... I think I have to send Serenity to ask for help—that Pidgeot will know for sure if she leaves the area—its eyes are just too sharp."

Rhea felt the pressure hit her chest. Is this what Dad and Sabin deal with all the time? My heart feels like it's going to explode!

"O-Okay," Rhea puffed out a long stream of air, "My mind's a total blank—I've had top-tier Pokemon protecting me all my life, so ... I don't know what to do. Silver-tier is one thing, but Platinum? There's no chance—at all."

Amira sucked her bottom lip under, and a tear fell down the side of her cheek, drawing Mallory and Rhea's attention. "Sorry," she cleared her throat, "I'm just ... I feel like this is my fault. If either of you is hurt because of my family, then..."

"You kidding me?" Lori grunted, reaching over to slug her in the arm.

Amira coughed, leaning back. "Mmh! Lori ... I'm sitting on the edge..."

"I-I'm sorry," Lori groaned, "but that just pissed me off ... You're not the only person people wanna get rid of, so stop throwin' everything on yourself ... Muk, my family's ripped off who knows how many gambling rings and pissed off how many people? Rhea?"

"Y-Yeah!" Rhea shot back, regaining her bearings. "You know who my family is! My Mom and Aunt have enemies a mile long! Eh ... I'd just be more surprised they'd want to get on their bad side, to be honest," she forced a laugh, trying to find some silver lining.

"True..." Amira mumbled, rubbing her shoulder. "That hurt, by the way..."

"It was supposed to," Lori returned. "Quit harping on yourself; geez, you kill everything—yeah, seriously! You make me feel bad because you're just too amazing..."

"Cut it out..."

"I agree!" Rhea jumped in, carefully wrapping her arms around Amira's side while leaning over and back to take them closer to the ground. "Let's stick together and not see who's family got who mad ... Deal?"

Amira breathed out a heavy sigh, letting Rhea carry her to her back, their feet dangling over the edge. "I'm just—you two are impossible," she grumbled, pushing her glasses back up after they'd fallen crooked. "Fine ... We're in it together ... And I'm sorry for bringing us down ... ack..."

Rhea tightened her grip as hard as she could, forcing the air out of the redhead's lungs. "Together! We all agreed to come here together!"

"F-Fine," she coughed, "Arceus, fine!"

"Good," Mallory grinned, reeling in her line a bit. "So ... you still on that strat—oh, Muk ... I've got a bite! Eek! Help! Help!"

Rhea scrambled off of Amira, dropping her phone on the ground to stop Mallory from dancing herself right off the cliff; Amira soon came to help as all of their Pokemon gathered with the silently observing Pidgey, and after seven minutes of work hauling a 6lb fish up the side of the cliff and for Amber to deliver a killing blow.

Rhea laughed as Mallory threw up a few feet away, gasping for air. "Well, at least we have dinner now!"

"D-Dinner!? How can you crazy girls even have an appetite ... I don't like this..." she cried, dropping to her knees and clutching her stomach. She took in another breath as Gables and Roxie tried to comfort her.

"Good work, girls," Amira laughed, holding up the monster. "This will be more than enough for us! Rhea, you're the cook..."

"Right! Now, let's empty our bags to see what we have to use ... I'll do my best!"

We just need to act normal until Serenity can get that Cloyster on our side ... If she can...