Interlude 2

…

Gunshots cracked the air and bird pokémon filled the sky as they fled in fright.

'Kips', the new (and quickly irrelevant) name she would call her ever-faithful mudkip starter by, who had evolved a while ago into 'marshtomp', shivered next to her at the loudness of the rounds. May didn't blame him, for her heart smashed her ears, and her throat struggled to swallow from the terror the sound invoked.

She gripped her radio, hesitant to even ask, but she dared. "T-this is Watcher-1 to Seeker-2, I heard shots, w-what's the situation? Over."

The radio hissed as she awaited a response in desperation.

Only silence for a few moments—

—"Seeker-2 to Watcher-1—Agh, damn it!—"

Shots resounded from the still active channel of her instructor, echoing the real ones that thundered through the forest of Rusturf Valley which May oversaw from an outcropping a few hundred meters away from the targets below.

She almost dropped the radio from the abrupt death of the silence that her instructor's voice and the shots provoked.

His static voice continued, —"I'm pinned down by enemy gunfire, Rico's got a fearow which my pidgeotto is dealing with, and—Hah—he's armed with an FN P90, which he used to kill Seeker-1 and shoot me in the arm—Hah—I'm being pursued, over."

More shots echoed in the valley, but they were deafened by her ringing ears and the sheer horror gripping her heart. Two winged figures, one a cream color and the other brown and larger, flitted through the air across the trees below, colliding against each other multiple times and producing multiple gusts of wind before diving into the trees once more. That must've been Sebastian's pidgeotto fighting the fearow he spoke of.

What!? Sophia, the instructor is…dead? And Sebastian, being the other, got shot? What the hell…

May managed to control the twitching of her hand and pressed the comm button. "W-what do I do, Sebastian!?" She cried out in her nervousness.

His voice came back. "—Stay to radio protocol, Watcher-1—Huagh—And as for your question, you'll do nothing. Report back to HQ, I've already sent out a request for backup, over."

"What!? Do nothing!? But you're in danger! And what about Watcher-2!?"

A few moments passed.

Sebastion's voice became raspy on the radio frequency, as though he were whispering. —"—Hah—I've lost Rico for now, I should be okay if I keep myself hidden. Watcher-2 hasn't been responding ever since we got near the cages, at first, we assumed there was a radio malfunction…But now, I'm afraid he might have been killed from the start, considering the direction from which Rico came, over."

No…No way!

This was just supposed to be a simple exam. A rescue mission that involved removing some pokémon from a trap, but at the flip of a hat…

Everything had gone wrong.

At first, it was concluded by previous distanced scouting from yesterday that the two cages filled with Koffing and Ekans respectively, were abandoned. The group of four had camped out a good distance from the site with her and her exam teammate taking turns to keep watch of the area from afar with their binoculars, while their two more experienced and official instructors rested. The poacher responsible for the cages had never come back for the caught pokémon to identify them and catch them in the act. So today, she and her co-examinee were tasked with keeping watch from afar on the valley hills from opposing directions, just in case, while the exam instructors would go down and survey the area for traps before they joined them.

But who'd have known that the poacher would come back for his cages today of all days!? May certainly didn't know how ruthless they could be, until now.

No one told her that becoming a 'Pokémon Ranger' would be this dangerous…

…After the last time she had spoken to Grey back at Oldale town and her rigorous training with her elder brother, Ruby, at his gym in Lilycove city, along with his encouraging words, May had decided to become a pokémon trainer and a 'Pokémon Ranger'. The latter was especially for Kips' sake as he was passionate about it, and she supposed she shared the same passion, especially after having been made aware of it after Grey helped her out, with 'Twelia', a pokémon gifted to her by Ruby, practically confirming it.

For the last two and so weeks, May had been contemplating her choices in life. For the first part of that period, she took the opportunity to undergo the three-day training campaign offered by her elder brother, Ruby. He had a literal decade's worth of knowledge to share with her. Though not all of it, a good chunk of his knowledge was, with the help of his hatterene, psionically passed down to her, and with Ruby explaining as much of it as possible to her through a theoretical crash course and solidifying the information through physical training to put it all into practice.

Needless to say, in those three days…she had learned a lot.

After that, May had then rejoined Ash and met his friend, Brock, at Rustboro, as well the new pokémon on their rosters.

May and Ash each defeated Roxanne, earning their first league badge. After his victory, Ash (much to her pleasure) had been astounded at her performance, even forcing Roxanne to use 'nosepass' due to the ridiculous ease Kips had in dealing with her geodude and lileep. During the final round, Kips had evolved into a near-meter tall bipedal amphibian with long arms and tridactyl hands, orange eyes, a dark blue fin on his head, orange pointed gills on the sides of his face as well as an orange underbelly, with his twin-finned tail becoming wider and the same dark blue as the fin on his head. He was quite big for the genus of the mudkip line's second form, and his sudden evolution was definitely unexpected, perhaps because he was retained for so long at Birch's lab; an unexpected boon from such circumstances.

Kips basically sweeped Roxanne's middling team 3-0 and in large part thanks to his typing and lucky-arsed evolution during his bout against nosepass, adding the 'ground' type to his water-type, which meant that 'Zap-cannon' had no effect due to the prior's immunity to electric attacks.

Ash had asked Roxanne as to her reason for not using Probopass, the nosepass evolution. The Rustboro gym leader refused to answer, much to the Kantonian's suspicion.

But thanks to her Father, and now Ruby to confirm it doubly so, May knew exactly why this was the case, and she didn't have the heart to tell Ash. Maybe because he already knew this from his previous league experience in the other regions and didn't need to be reminded of it…But on the off chance that he didn't know, she preferred to stay tight-lipped.

Though understandable, given that Kips was just a mudkip, May couldn't deny she too was disappointed that Roxanne didn't consider her to be worthy enough to face neither graveller nor probopass, as Grey had…And Ash had no room to complain as Roxanne decided he was at least worthy of facing her Lairon, a powerful steel-rock type that his treecko barely won against. The only reason she had an easier time was because of Kips' typing…It only made the difference between them and her all the more evident.

Despite her clean sweep victory, it still stung…That was the final nail in the coffin for her decision to become a 'Pokémon Ranger'. Not only would it grant her the possibility to learn even more about pokémon in practice, but she would also have a more solid grasp on how to command them with more efficiency thanks to the famous 'capture styler' she would earn later on, as well as become stronger as a trainer from the job experience.

Luckily, Rustboro Academy had a 'Pokémon Ranger' branch, recognized by the PA and sponsored heavily by the 'Mystic Guild', though also in minor part by the 'Instinct' and 'Valor' leader guilds. At the time, they were offering a two-week-long course that would see willing participants quickly become Rangers.

May suspected the program was aggressively marketed due to the reported massive increase in pokémon smuggling and poaching in Hoenn, theorized to be a bi-product of the newly declared national threat of teams Magma and Aqua, as well as Team Rocket. The fact that some Magma operatives had been caught out and busted by the Mystic Guild enforcers at one of Rustboro's pier warehouses for keeping stolen and smuggled pokémon there, made the Rustboro academy's Ranger branch narrow down the program's curriculum timeframe into a single-week program.

Clearly, they needed new blood, and fast.

Also, the fact that Grey, according to his profile which May kept a close eye on, had coincidentally become a 'Mystic guild enforcer', made her decision even more adamant. If someone like him decided that was a good path to take as a trainer, then she too would follow suit. He would keep society safe and maybe even improve it, while she would cover and protect the pokémon's natural ambient. Although walking slightly different paths, she romanticized that together they could make the world a better place for both pokémon and people…

May believed the timing of her arrival at Rustboro was absolutely impeccable and fortunate…

…Now, though?

'Bang!'

Another gunshot ripped her back to reality…and she wasn't so sure anymore.

Might Grey have been involved in the Magma Warehouse takedown? According to the date he joined Mystic, it sounded like a possibility and it certainly matched his resumé from his actions back at Oldale…But if so…

How on Earth did he cope and stay calm in dire circumstances like this!?

May couldn't even keep her heart steady much less keep her breathing level.

The perspiration in her polyester black ranger uniform top and shorts steamed out of her high collar and mid-riff, while the sweat of her brow dampened the inside of her orange ranger cap, with her knee-high boots of the same color becoming increasingly soggy on the inside. The sleeveless vest of the same orange and the sudden weight of the mountain climbing equipment strapped to her utility belt didn't help with her heated fluster at the situation.

Her black finger-cut gloves creaked with the radio groaning as she gripped it hard. "Watcher-1 to Seeker-2, is there nothing I can do to improve your situation? Over."

—"Negative, Watcher-1, the exam conditions have been compromised and you're not a full-fledged ranger yet to be dealing with this situation. Hell, the program's curriculum has been condensed far too much as it is to a point where practical experience is heavily required, and you don't have a 'capture styler' yet, which means not only would you have to deal with the regionally wanted poacher that is Rico, but also with potentially stressed out wild pokémon. No, Watcher-1, your life is a priority and I won't have you risk it on my watch. You are to go back and report to HQ, that's an order…Seeker-2, out."

And the fact that she was expected to do nothing and just leave a wounded Sebastian waiting for backup made it worse.

What if it was too late and Rico got to him before reinforcements arrived? And as a result, what if the pokémon were taken away and had terrible things done to them? How could she live with herself knowing that she could have done something and instead stood by and did nothing?

May thought of the crisis at Oldale…

What would Grey do?

'The first step is to realize that only you can decide whether you're good enough or not to make a difference.'

She straightened herself and gazed down at Kips, her marshtomp companion, who gazed right back with determination in his tiger eyes.

'And you have to realize as well, that Mudkip has his own agenda as an individual being, right? will you help him fight against his pain? Will you help him become stronger so he can one day break the vicious circle of 'poaching'?'

She inhaled, placed the radio on her holster, and gazed at the pokéball in her hand containing the pokémon Ruby had gifted her with.

'Remember, Sis, try to refrain from using her too soon unless truly necessary until you're stronger, also since it's a fairly new discovery, your opponents won't know what to expect. The later you use it, the better…'

Since she sweeped Roxanne with Kips, she never had to use 'Twelia', and she never told the gang, who were still waiting for her at Rustboro, about the new addition…There was always the possibility that she would face Ash at the Ever Grande Conference…But soon enough word would break out anyway.

May's lips twinged.

Sorry, brother, but this calls for an emergency…

"Twelia, come on out!"

She tossed the ball onto the mossed ground and the energy whirled about before coalescing into a quadruped figure close to her own height of five-foot-four.

A pony, coated in brilliant white, stood proudly before her. Her mane, tail, and fetlocks were wide, vaporous, and cloudy, as well as an ever-shifting iridescent blue and purple that would occasionally glow a moon-yellow. She had a dark horn on her forehead that split her purple hair fringe just short of her brow.

Eyes of purple sclera and silver irises pierced May with a profoundness that defined the pokémon's wisdom and caution while at the same time almost putting her into a dream-like trance.

While Hecate, Ruby's hatterene, and Twelia were comparably beautiful and nebulous in their mysterious makeup, where the former was eerily intimidating, Twelia was simply…Majestic.

—"Ponyta, Galarian regional variant, AKA Galarian Ponyta. Psychic-type. This pokémon will look into your eyes and read the nature and potential of your personality. If it finds ill-intent or malice, it will withdraw and hide. It possesses significant healing power, able to heal most superficial and psychological wounds."— Said the pokédex for a good reminder of her abilities. Ruby had kindly sent her the file to update her dex with.

"You could always ask me, you know," said an acute yet firm feminine voice within May's mind.

May scratched her cheek in sheepiness.

H-hi again. Yeah, I guess that was rude of me just to bring you out and point a device at you. Sorry.

"Don't worry. But I feel from your distress that this is hardly the time for idle chit-chat."

May nodded, becoming severe and responding orally. "Yeah, that's right. I need your help getting down there on time and in the coming battle…So…" She couldn't help twiddle with her fingers in embarrassment at her request. "Can I…"

"Ride me? Of course." Twelia tapped her front hooves on the ground and snorted in pride. "What kind of a steed would I be if I couldn't take my master into battle? Though Kips will have to follow on foot, he's kind of fat for his kind." Said the Galarian ponyta, smirking at the marshtomp.

"Omp'!?" chastised Kips with an angry wave of his fist. Apparently, the jest was broadcasted to him as well.

"That's fine. I'll have him follow and cover our backs, he can easily slide down the slope with his 'Mud shot', it's his specialty after all." May hopped onto Twelia's back and held her soft mane as reigns.

"Let's go!"

And like that, gravity sent her down to hug Twelia's neck instead as a psychic glow surrounded them and the forest trees became a blur on the way down the slope.

Whoa! Shit she's fast!

Amusement tingled through their mental connection. "This is nothing."

Wha—

May regretted not putting on her provided goggles because her eyes watered from the sheer agility Twelia demonstrated, and the wind rushed past her ears.

Within minutes, the ground leveled and there was no more downward pull. The ponyta slowed down to a quiet trot, veering her neck slightly from right to left, as though she scanned through the densely packed trees of the rainforest.

Kips joined them not too long after, with wet gleaming mud on his front and looking miffed at getting outrun but keeping silent.

They came past an area with marked trees, ripped of their bark in some places with a metal stud embedded into them and a piece of wire-mesh netting dangling from each.

May's head jerked forward as Twelia stopped, and a translucent wave pulsated from her horn a few times. Instead of questioning her, she allowed the ponyta to concentrate with a good idea of why she had stopped.

"Kips, stay close to me and do not veer off my path, there are numerous traps laid about, including still armed bear traps and rope snares. It seems May's instructors missed some."

The marshtomp only gulped audibly and stuck close to her haunches.

Some of the traps had been set off, with rusted maroon stains on their clamped teeth. Others were branches with dangling shredded ropes marred in red; signs of successful catches for the poacher.

It was until they reached a path littered with disarmed traps near a large oak tree of which its girthy roots jutted and curled out of the ground. Behind one of the root limbs was a thin yet athletically built brunette man in the same uniform, crouched and panting with a severely bloodied right arm and a crudely placed gauze on it, as well as stained rips on his left black pant legging. His almond eyes widened at the sight of them as they approached. It was Sebastian.

"Wha—May!? What the hell are you doing here!? I ordered you to go back!"

She shook her head, and she was glad beyond relief that she made it on time.

"I'm sorry, expel or fail me if you want, but I couldn't stand back and do nothing while leaving you and those pokémon defenseless."

May hopped off Twelia and immediately took out her mobile first aid kit to re-apply the gauze on his injury proper. He winced as she wiped away the blood and disinfected the wound with an antiseptic spray. They had potions specifically designed for humans, but one would be asking for permanent muscle injury if they sealed the wound with the bullet still inside, so a patch up would have to do for now.

As she tied the knot on the gauze, she gazed through the forest and spotted signs of a clearing further ahead.

Sebastian searched her gaze and narrowed his brow as though he read her thoughts. "Don't even think about it, May. Rico is extremely dangerous…Just our luck to run into him of all the poachers. I knew those traps were way too well placed for an amateur.

"Yeah, Twelia saw the ones you missed."

He grunted. "Damn. I had a feeling we overlooked some—"

'Bang! Bang!'

More gunshots resounded through the forest, but it seemed like they were directed in the opposite direction. Either a wild pokémon threatened Rico, or in the less likely scenario, someone else was around and the poacher decided they were a risk.

"Where's your pidgeotto?"

"I'm not sure, I think he's still fighting the fearow at a distance, they haven't reappeared since."

"I see." May regathered her wits from the gunshots and stood up. "I'm going."

"No! May!"

"If I don't go, he'll definitely come back to find and finish you off. But with someone else now distracting him, along with myself, you'll be safe for reinforcements to arrive."

She got on Twelia.

Go.

"May! Stop!"

"Don't follow me and stay put, reinforcements should be here soon anyway," she said as Twelia once more galloped through the rainforest toward the opening, with Kips running in tow.

I hope I'm not too late…

…"Weezing! Smokescreen!"

"Arbok, poison sting!"

Smoke rolled across the ground toward their target with surprising speed, and a barrage of flashing needles rained down on the area.

In retaliation, Rico growled and shot through the smoke, with the bullets zooming past, while some landed with a muffled thump and ripped up the silt of the patchy ground.

Jessie hid behind the poacher's jeep that was stationed in between them and the two cages. "Meowth! Hurry up! We can't hold this guy any longer!" She yelled in desperation while James whimpered next to her, with his lilac hair and white Rocket uniform covered in soot.

"Gaaah! I'm tryin' here, but it ain't easy with all dis' here electricity runnin' its course through me! Nyaaa!" Yelled back the bipedal feline from afar.

"That's it! I'm done playing around you stupid Rocket fucks!" Yelled Rico, with the smoke flashing a brilliant light after the familiar pop of a pokéball opening. "Go, Tyrant! Use sandstorm and clear out this smoke, now!"

A spine-jittering roar reverberated through the entire clearing and Jessie's blood froze before she took a peek through the vehicle's window from the other side.

A twister of dust whirled about and the smokescreen was promptly sucked up by the attack, along with the sandstorm dissipating, having done its job.

In its place stood a massive draconian beast easily towering over 6 feet in height and half as wide. It was covered in a teal-green armored hide from head to toe, except for steel-like scales covering a rhombus-shaped patch of its belly, and two triangular gaps on either side of its outer thighs and neck. It had two pairs of razor-sharp fangs on the bottom and top of its gaping maw with spikes all along the back of its head, spine, shoulders, and tail which looked more like a deadly spiked club ready to demolish anything in its path.

A tyranitar.

The beast roared once more, heralding doom and devastation with a wave of its strong arms and three gleaming claws at the end of each limb.

"How the hell are we supposed to get past that!?" Howled James in fright and shivering from the sight.

Jessie cursed their luck. So much for that 'Ekans army' plan and an easy snag for themselves. This ruthless prick had to come back now of all times.

"We don't," she declared, formulating a desperate plan as one cage creaked open. Meowth must've done it.

"Hey! Tyrant, get them!"

But before the beast could move, a barrage of small green projectiles peppered the monster pokémon. They were seeds that embedded themselves into its armor and rapidly budded into small weeds. The tyranitar growled as it set its eyes on the perpetrator.

Jessie and James followed its line of sight and were surprised to see…

"Nea'!" Yelled out a determined little green ball-like pokémon. It had dark green thorns around its body, with its thorned arms comically larger than its stubby pointed feet, round partitioned gaps along its face as a mouth, and two black-pupiled eyes. A little yellow flower crown adorned its head.

"Cacnea!?" James cried in surprise as they had met earlier on when the little thing shooed away a hoard of beedrill for them. He had rewarded the friendly creature with a bag of treats. Evidently, it had followed them, only to assist them once again.

The blossoming seeds that punctured Tyranitar's armor glowed. The dinosaurian pokémon winced as small orbs of energy were siphoned away from it, with cacnea absorbing them from a distance.

Jessie took advantage of this immediately by throwing an artificial smoke bomb at Rico and Tyranitar and whirled to James' side. "Hey! Order your Weezing to assist the koffing in their escape."

"What?"

"Just do it! Arbok! Take the ekans to safety!"

The large cobra mon' turned its hood to face her in surprise. "Chasss!?" It hissed, the sound an odd parody of her name.

James stood up and gazed at his pokémon. "You too, Weezing! Help the koffing to freedom!"

The sapient floating gas-filled tumor gazed at him with both its faces. "Wee?"

"There's no time to hesitate! Just do it! We'll catch up! And if we don't…Then keep going, it means you're free."

Shots were fired and they briefly took cover.

The two poison types pleaded with their hisses and their wheezes, teary-eyed. But their masters shook their heads. "It's been an honor fighting by your side. You've made us proud."

"Sandstorm!"

"Go, now!" Yelled James and Jessie in sync with every fiber of their willpower transmitted to their all-time partners in crime.

The cobra and the gas-mon' cried and sobbed as they turned to lead their respective groups into the forest.

Meowth, with his beige fur all scrambled and singed from the electric cages, managed to make it back to the group before the sandstorm once more sucked away at the smoke to reveal Rico, a stocky well-built light-skinned man with moss-green hair looking to be in his thirties, wearing a red cargo shirt and grey pants…and he was furious, with his tyranitar equally livid.

The poacher coughed and dusted himself from the smog-soot. "Do that again…And instead of outright killing you…I'll make it my life's mission to fucking skin the lot of you alive!"

The Rocket trio became squeamish but the cacnea in front of them growled something in retaliation with a wave of its club-like arm.

Rico clicked his tongue in annoyance as he observed the empty cages, before returning his gaze. "Course', I don't have time for that, so,"—He cocked his FN P90 and aimed at them—"I'll just fill you guys with holes instead."

Jessie pleaded. "Wait! You'll be shooting your vehicle!"

He grinned savagely. "Oh that's fine, it's unlicensed and I've got a quad-bike back in the forest with plenty of horsepower to lug these cages back to my hideout."

"Oh no!" Cried James.

Rico laughed and aimed his gun. "Say your prayers."

"I guess dis' is it you guys. It was nice knowin' yas'." Sobbed Meowth as he hugged James who sobbed back.

Jessie just rolled her blue eyes.

Why do I have to die with these two morons…

She clamped her eyes shut awaiting the pain.

Bullets pierced the air with a bang.

But there were no impacts.

…Huh?

She opened her eyes.

The bullets floated in place, and a yellow barrier shimmered in the air.

Rico was dumbfounded. "Huh? What the hell—"

A large object came flying from above and crashed into the tyranitar's head, blowing up and scattering flaming metallic parts everywhere. A small tire flew past the Rocket trio.

The tyranitar wobbled for a moment but then shook itself out of its daze, sporting several grazes and burns on its face. It snarled in the direction the thing came from.

"I found a misplaced quad-bike in the middle of the forest, I assumed it's yours and decided to hand it over." Came a snide remark from a familiar voice.

Rico jerked his gaze over to the intruder. "Who has the balls?" He growled.

"It's against the law to leave litter in a natural environment." Chastised a familiar girl wearing a pokémon ranger's uniform and sitting atop a pony pokémon Jessie had never seen before.

"Oi', it's one of da' twerps!" announced meowth, recognizing her.

"The twerpette, to be precise." Confirmed James.

"And she's come alone with a rare pokémon and dressed up for the occasion. What's with the uniform? May Haruka?"

The teen-brunette gazed at them, now surprised herself. "Wha—Team Rocket!? What are you doing here?"

"Dat's our line!" Retorted Meowth.

"Are you working with Rico!?"

Bang!

A smoking bullet head saw itself stopped by another barrier right in front of May, with the pony mon' smirking at the poacher.

Rico's face reddened in his fury. "Rrr—I won't be ignored! You're all dead! Tyrant! Hyper beam!" He roared thrusting an arm forth.

"Guess there's my answer." Said May.

Tyranitar snarled as it craned its neck back and charged a large amount of yellow energy—

"You guys! Run!"

Team rocket cried in fear.

A thick beam whirred into existence, slicing through the jeep and cutting across the landscape like a laser would butter, leaving a huge sizzling and scorching scar on the clearing ground.

The jeep exploded into flames and a thin plume of smoke rose into the air from its burning skeleton.

Rico furrowed his brow and tried to fire his gun, but it only clicked as he ran out of ammo. He dumped the weapon. "Damn it. Missed. Recharge!"

Meanwhile, the entire group was all bundled up in psychic energy, having avoided the enormous attack and were let down a good distance from the aggressive duo.

May got up and patted Twelia. "Good job, girl."

"Yeah! You sure saved us." Thanked the cat mon'.

May turned to them in seriousness. "For the record, I still consider you three enemies…eh, four with the cacnea?"

James gazed at the little grass-type who still gazed angrily in the poacher's direction. "Hmm? Oh, that little guy is just a friend that came to our rescue."

Jessie got up huffing. "Forget that! We've got an angry poacher and his raging monster to deal with!"

Sure enough, Rico and his tyranitar were closing in from the distance, with the latter crushing stones and sinking the soil with every footstep as a showcase of its armored weight.

May looked worried. "Yeah, no kidding. That quadbike Twelia chucked must've weighed at least two hundred-plus kilos and even exploded on that thing's head, yet it's still standing and raring for more."

The brunette pulled out a pokédex, aimed, and scanned the beast from afar.

—"Tyranitar, the armor pokémon. Dark/rock-type. The third and final evolutionary stage of the Larvitar line. Tyranitar's armor is so dense and hard that it cannot be harmed by conventional means. Not even psionic attacks affect it due to its dark essence. This pokémon is so powerful that it is known to devastate entire landscapes if sent on a warpath. On its own as a genus and statistically, it is the cause of over a thousand human fatalities on average annually, both trained and in the wild, due to the ferocious temperament they have. If encountered in the wild, it is heavily recommended to flee."

"Oh great. How the hell are we supposed to beat that?"

"I'd hate to ask this of you, brat…But we'll have to team up, otherwise, none of us are getting out of here alive," said Jessie.

"Yeah, I gathered. So where's your pokémon?" Asked May.

The bitter taste of loss soured her mouth at the question. "Me and James had to let our pokémon go so they could lead their respective pre-evolutions to safety…All we have is Meowth and…I guess cacnea."

"Oh, doubly great." May sighed. "Well, at least you did the right thing."

Jessie wasn't sure, and James' expression suggested he wasn't either, but what's done is done. They still had two pokémon to command with the twerpette's pokémon on the side.

"You lot finished with your yapping?" Called out Rico as he and tyranitar were almost within range. "Cause' I've got some pokémon to recapture,"—He licked his lips and fixed them with a maniacal stare—"and some meddling kids to slaughter."

The brunette turned to them with a nervous gulp and the sheen of her sweat reflecting the fire of the burning vehicle a few yards away. "Ok, here's the plan guys…"

…"Tyrant, hyper beam!"

Twelia! 'Light screen' in his face!

"Now!"

The tyranitar was about to thrust his maw forward to launch the attack, and several layers of translucent purple barriers phased into reality right in front of him.

He released the attack—

'Booom!'

The explosion of the beam backfired and consumed the armor mon's face and sent Rico tumbling back from the force.

"Now, Kips! Flank him with a full power Water pulse!"

From the side of the forest, a mass of mud unfurled itself out onto the open battlefield, with the marshtomp sliding along as though it were a slippery slope. He was a blurry missile homing in on tyranitar while he charged the large spherical ball of water at his front and blasted it forth.

His forward momentum gave the sphere even more striking power, and before the draconian pokémon could recover, the attack burst, releasing a concussive force of energy and a torrent of water that sent the huge two hundred kilo mon' careening into the empty high-voltage cages, and as a result, electrocuting it.

"Rawwagh!" It bellowed out in pain as it spasmed from the electricity, with smoke rising from his armored hide.

Rico couldn't retaliate either as he got swamped with mud and water.

"Cacnea! Absorb!" Commanded James.

More energy was siphoned from the rock-dark type and sucked into cacnea, doubly so due to its earlier 'Leech seed' attack.

"Kips! Another water pulse! One more time!"

The marshtomp prepared the energy once more—

"Arrow!" roared out Rico.

Huh?

A dark blur swooshed down from above like a literal diving arrow and snapped Kips up into its long beak, swooping up back into the sky. It was the fearow, with a brown feathered body of over a meter in height, and a wingspan of three meters.

"Tooomp'!" Yelled the mudfish pokémon as he became more distant.

"Kips! Fight your way out!"

"I've got it!" Called out Twelia as psionic energy laced the large bird's body, surprising and pulling it back down with the water-type pummeling its stiff beak to get loose.

Rico, noticing the ponyta's distraction, got up, pulled out a magnum revolver, and aimed at May. "Ha! Didn't think I had more ammo did ya', you little bitch! Die!"

May gasped with her heart dropping and for a moment swore she saw her life flash by her eyes—

"No!"

A flash and a sharp burst almost ruptured her eardrums.

Her heart stopped…And continued beating.

"Huh?"

A white uniform stood before her, with a bleeding side and long hair curling down past their back almost as red as the blood that stained their white thigh skirt. Jessie's azure eyes glared over her shoulder. "Why…didn't you move…Stupid twerp…Agh!"

She collapsed.

"Jessie, no!" shrieked James as he clambered over to his friend's side.

Rico took aim again—

"No ya' don't, bustah'!"

A scratch split the skin of the poacher's hand, eliciting a yelp of pain while Meowth grabbed the revolver and dashed away back to the group.

Shock rendered May petrified and unable to register what happened in those moments. She was supposed to die. She gazed down at the pain-wracked visage of Jessie. The bullet had struck the woman just above the edge of her hip; she would live.

Jessie, a Team Rocket lackey…risked her own life for her…Why?

"Oh thank Arceus, it just barely got her side," said James breathlessly.

"Ow! Don't touch it, moron, it hurts!" Jessie whined.

Twelia galloped to May's side.

"May! Oh Arceus! I'm so sorry, I was distracted by the fearow. Are you ok!?"

She gave her an empty gaze.

Yes…I'm fine. Let Kips fight it.

May unstrapped her utility belt and handed it to James. "There's a first aid kit in there, despite your criminal affiliation, I'm sure Rocket members are trained in that much at least."

"Y-yeah, sure, but where are you going?" asked the seemingly gentle-hearted man with teary green eyes.

May's heart became cold, and instead of answering, she waltzed up to Meowth who still held the weapon. "Give me the gun." She ordered.

"Hah? Why? A lil' girl like you sure don't need it—"

She snatched it away from his paws and pointed it right at Rico with so much fury running in her veins that the gun visibly trembled, and tears blurred her vision.

Rico was surprised at first…but then his lips twisted into a sick grin, and with a motion of his hand beckoned the challenge. "Haha…I like that look on your face, girlie."

"Shut up! Just shut up! You killed one of my instructors, that I know…But did you kill my classmate too? He was up on the other hill."

"Oh? You' mean the kid whose throat I slashed on my way here? I guess the uniforms do match."

May growled in frustration and maddening anger. "Why…He was just a kid…Why do this!? Why partake in the harm and violation of human and pokémon rights!? Is it for money!?"

Now Rico flashed his teeth as his face contorted to that of a smiling demon and laughed. "Money? Yeah, sure, it's a motivator…But if it was just for that, I could make that with any petty crime, and I wouldn't be risking my life out in the wilderness." He shook his head, still keeping the smile like it were a mask. "No…I also do it for power, and the thrill of the 'hunt'."

"Thrill?"

"Yeah. I do it for the sweet orgasmic thrill I feel every time my blade runs through the throat of my prey and feel their warm thick blood cascade down my hands and arms, just like that kid's, bonus points if they make that funny little gurgle sound…they don't all do that. Oh, the spasmodic rush I get in my spine whenever I watch Tyrant devour his live prey and rip it to bloody shreds, the shrieking of the victim's pain is like music to my ears. Or whenever Arrow swoops down and swallows a fleeing rodent whole. It gives me goosebumps and makes my blood run cold, yet sets it on fire. Honestly, it's a downer when I get a brief that needs em' alive, but the money's good on the side, I suppose. Every job has its perks and dislikes…But the thrill it can bring me is undeniable…"

"You sick fuck!" May screeched as she put a finger on the trigger.

"Hahahaa! Yes…Get angry, threaten me with death! You're giving me what I want! The closer I see your finger get to that trigger, the greater the thrill. Tell me, girlie…Right now…How much power do you feel over me as you point that gun? Hmm?" He asked as he craned his neck to the side like a curious animal.

She didn't answer.

"You feel it, don't you? The epinephrine rushing through your veins, and the pumping of your heart in your ears. It's maddening, yet it's so addicting. It's empowering to know that you get to choose whether I die or not, isn't it?" He motioned her forth once more, daring her. "C'mon, what're you waiting for? Let's see if you've got it in you."

May breathed hard in her adrenaline, the events of the entire day were wearing down on her sanity and really straining her mind. She wasn't used to any of this. It was sickening and heart-wrenching. It made her want to keel again, and just drop dead on the floor.

On her way to the scene, she had galloped past the dead body of Sophia…The sight of the bullet holes in her chest, and the punctured eye socket that had most likely been the end of the woman's life was enough to make May lose her lunch to the ground.

This man and his manic disposition…It seemed familiar for some reason…

'Don't you wanna' just get em' back? Don't you feel the anger writhing in your veins!? I know deep down you just want to tell all your personal tormentors to fuck off and leave you be! But their phantoms lurk in the recesses of your very mind, twisting and turning you over on your back at every corner, and raping your ears with their voice of disappointment in self-righteous justification for indoctrinating you into something you didn't want!'

"C'mon, shoot me."

'Don't you wanna' just say 'Screw you!' and stab them in the fucking eye!?'

"I knew it, you don't have the guts…You're weak."

'Such emotional weakness. I can't believe you're my daughter.'

Her finger trembled under the trigger of the gun.

'Relentless, I like that,' echoed Norman's voice in her head.

"C'mon, you know you want to."

She gritted her teeth.

'You feel the weight of his disappointment crush you every day, don't you.'

"No one has been so close to taking me down like you are now! So just do it!"

'Everyone has their time. We're not all the same, May. Some people are gifted and take full advantage of that, whether they're aware of it or not. Others aren't, and they work much harder to get where they're at, without the aid of such a gift.

"Because if you don't…I'll come back one day, and I'll rip the throats of your pokémon, family, and friends…Just like I did to the ranger brat, and then I'll go on to kill hundreds more."

'Then there are those who...aren't strong enough to endure those hardships, and quit somewhere between the start and the middle.'

"Shoot me, bitch!"

'Which one are you, May?'

Her heart slowed at Grey's echoing words.…And she finally swallowed her rage. May lowered the gun and tossed it to the ground.

Rico frowned. "You're a fool. For a long while now, no one has had me so close to death...All it took was one squeeze of the trigger and you could've ended a nice chunk of poaching. But I guess you're just a little girl trying to play with the big boys…"

That last statement hit a little too close to home much to her perturbance…But May wiped the tears from her face and furrowed her brow. "Oh, I'll end it alright. But don't flatter yourself. It won't end with you, not even a 'chunk of it' as you just said. You're just another piece of shit amongst the many that are running around, no class and all barbarism. People like me are all over Hoenn stopping people like you. You're just another demented low-life; so low that even the ease of death is too good a fate for you."

Rico only blinked a few times, before he bellowed in laughter. "You might be a coward, girlie, but you've certainly got a tongue on you…" He narrowed his eyes which gave a dangerous glint. "And I think I'm going to strip you of it and wear it like a necklace, as a memento of the foolish young girl who had me right in the palm of her hand…And decided to let go because all she could do was 'talk' of ideal justice and not follow through."

"Caww'!" Shrieked the fearow as Kips took it down with a huge 'Rock throw'. The little bastard was a freak, alright.

Rico's frown deepened at the sight and aimed his pokéball at the bird pokémon, condensing it to energy and returning it to the device. "Seems like your mon' beat my fearow. No matter." Heavy footsteps shook the ground as his monster made a return. "While you lot have been distracted, Tyrant was able to recover, and is raring for more."

May thrust a hand forward, sick of the man's voice. "Then you'll have it! Kips! Water pulse!"

"Earthquake."

Before the marshtomp could gather the water from all the humidity around them, the tyranitar glowed with intense sand-colored energy, launched itself into the air with a thrust of his tail, and stomped into the ground with so much force that it split the earth with a cataclysmic boom like that of a collapsing mountainside.

Parts of the ground sunk and others rose above from the pressure exerted on the crust beneath. May tumbled over, but Twelia grabbed her by the collar of her shirt with her mouth and bounded off each rising rock form while she levitated everyone else to safety.

"Got you!"

The pony mon' took everyone to a safe zone where there was less rumbling. The psychic type seemed exhausted though and even bled from her nose. May turned around immediately as she was let go.

"Twelia! Are you okay?"

The psychic ponyta heaved for air through her nose with a small whinny escaping her sweaty trembling lips.

"Yeah. But I can't do that again, or else I'll collapse and I won't be able to fight. You'll need to expect the attack from here on out." She broadcasted her warning to everyone.

"Right." May looked back to the Rocket trio. "Guys, you should get out of here while you can. Reinforcements should arrive soon, and you're a national target."

James, sitting by Jessie on the ground, looked at May in placation. "But, Missy, we can't just leave you here alone, and Jessie can't run in her state."

"That won't be a problem in a moment. Twelia, can you heal her?"

"A simple matter. She's lucky the bullet was able to be removed; it's safe to seal the wound."

The ponyta trotted over and craned her neck lower, nearing her horn tip to the Rockette's wound. A small brilliant green glow emanated from it, and like magic, Jessie's wound sealed up without even a scar left. Jessie groaned from the momentary pain before she sat up and patted the area in disbelief.

"Before you go, I need to know…Why did you save me? Jessie?" Asked May with the raising of a brow.

Jessie's conflicted blue eyes fell on hers for a moment before she dismissed her and looked away in apparent disgust. "It…Just felt right. Don't question it. This changes nothing!"

May couldn't help but smile. "Right. Just this once, I'll let you three off the hook because of your help. Get going."

"Right, thanks." Jessie and James saluted her and made off with Meowth and the cacnea into the forest, but before the redhead entered, she shouted over her shoulder with a smirk. "Don't die here, cause' if you do, taking that rare pokémon of yours for Team Rocket won't feel as rewarding!" At that, she disappeared, and Team Rocket got away once more.

May chortled at that. Despite working for a criminal organization, it seemed that there was more to the trio personally than she previously thought. Unlike some people.

Rico's tyranitar stomped its way toward her, knocking away erected slabs of earth in its path like they were mere chunks of beach sand.

Speaking of which…Twelia! Get ready.

The Galarian ponyta chuffed as she stomped the ground, pumped up for another bout, along with Kips who stood beside her, thumping his chest as though challenging the approaching duo.

"So, think' you can handle me by yourself, do ya', girlie?"

The dark-rock type monstrosity looked badly damaged and exhausted, though his stance didn't show it, his burned and bruised hide betrayed the extent of the damage he had taken, on top of the 'Leech seeds' cacnea left on it, still doing its work and feeding off its energy. It seemed that if the user was absent, the seeds would simply sustain themselves and bloom into flora or vines.

"Your tyranitar looks like it's about to drop. Not even a potion will be enough to recover his stamina. You might as well give up."

"Ha! Like hell. Tyrant! 'Dark pulse' at the ponyta!"

"Kips! Mud slap its face!"

Twelia, run to your right and use 'Fairy wind'!

Tyrant launched the pulsating dark sphere while Kips flung mud and splattered it across the titan's face, effectively blinding him and eliciting a howl in annoyance. The dark pulse dissipated harmlessly and Twelia summoned up a whirlwind of sparkles and glittery luminescence, unleashing the otherworldly airstream and buffeting the colossal creature.

The tyranitar bellowed in pain as he was hit with the two consecutive super-effective moves, especially from the pixieish attack. It was like Ruby said, fairy types were lethal against dark types. Tyrant wobbled for a moment in lethargy, almost ready to pass out.

"We're almost there guys!" Hope rose in her heart. They could do this—

"Rrr! Your luck ends here, bitch! Use 'Stomping tantrum'!" He thundered.

What's that!?

The tank of a mon' glowed with a strange mix of red and beige energy, with his eyes glowing crimson, and began crushing the ground beneath by slamming his thick feet down like a furious oversized jackhammer, sending literal waves of earth crust curling over and ripping out of the ground with each stomp.

"Watch out!"

May found herself scrambling to get out of the way of the concentrated tectonic force that could've killed her. Her heart ran a hundred miles a second in shock at how powerful the attack was.

Another wave came and she barely dodged it, though Kips screamed as he was flung into the air, with a painful thwack echoing out and followed by a pained whinny from Twelia.

May whirled about trying to get a visual and barely saw the ponyta crash into the ground with a large swelling bruise marring the side of her immaculate white coat.

"No! Kips! Twelia!"

In her distraction, a strip of the ground crumbled and loomed over her, casting her in shadow, flinging dust and grassroots all around.

She wouldn't avoid it on time, but her vision swerved as an invisible force yanked her away just barely on time, tossing her across the ground.

"May…We should…Ngh…retreat, for now. I sense approaching frequencies comprising of good intent."

The reinforcements…But if we run away, surely he'll pick up on them and try to escape.

"It's no use risking our lives, and yours is my priority."

May grunted as she got up, and thankfully, the armor mon' was on its knees in exhaustion from the attack it unleashed.

"Get up you idiot, or they'll finish you off!" Berated Rico.

At that moment, May spotted Kips a few yards to her left. He was hurt and bruised, but still standing.

"Kips! 'Supersonic' at the both of them!"

"Maash'!" Confirmed the bipedal mudfish, as he opened his maw with his gills vibrating at blurring speeds and let out a sonorous frequency, engulfing the poacher duo within it. They grunted and cringed at the noise, but Rico removed a small green object with a pin on its top from his utility belt.

He pulled the metallic ring off the device. May's gut clenched as she recognized the sound from the movies and realized what it was.

Oh no!

"Take this!"

The poacher raised his arm to throw, but a beige and pink blur dove down and snatched the explosive from his hand, swooping upward. It was a pidgeotto, who promptly chucked the thing away into the air right before it released a deafening explosion, briefly painting the sky in a mix of bright flames and smoke while sending a shockwave that flattened the grass and lifted a ring of dust clouds around the blast zone.

A small amount of debris clattered to the ground, and before anyone could make sense of what happened, a flock of flying pokémon including pidgeotto's, taillows, and some flying insect mon' she didn't fully recognize had surrounded the area from the air, while on the ground some rodent pokémon like raticate's, furrets, and linoone's with some vigoroths encircled the entire scene.

Rico whirled about searching for an exit but growled at the failure. "Shit! Tyrant! Use Hyper beam!"

"Mascara! Use Stun spore!" Called out a woman.

A beautiful moth-like pokémon with impressive eye-spotted antennae swooped and sailed over the offenders, showering them with a golden shimmering powder that was released from its ventral sacs.

Rico tried swatting away the dusty film but to no avail. He fell to his knees and once more faced May, reaching out.

"No…You…Bitch…I'll get you…for this." His eyes rolled back and he fell face-first to the ground. His tyranitar groaned and followed suit with a heavy thud, fainting.

It was over.

May panted and tried to breathe. Every muscle in her body burned and screamed in languid agony. She fell to her knees, tears filling her vision as her shock settled while she tried not to pass out from the sudden drop in adrenaline.

A bit of energy returned to her as a sweet fragrance filled her nose and a soft yet firm object nuzzled her cheek, filling her with more vitality and relaxing her spasming body.

"You did well, May. I'm so glad you're okay."

"Tomp'!" Kips trudged up to her as well, bruised, bleeding, and swollen but still grinning and showing off his biceps like a little macho dumbass.

May allowed herself a weak chuckle and caressed the both of them much to their pleasure.

Then a shadow loomed over them and the trio gazed upward.

It was Sebastian, with his arm in a sling and his leg gauzed up.

…And he was fucking fuming.

"May." He said in a manner that suggested he was trying to restrain the verbal storm he so clearly wanted to unleash.

"O-oh Sebastion! H-hey, I'm glad you're okay—"

"That was beyond stupid. Idiotic and irresponsible. No protocol exists that demands an undertrained Ranger to keep any poacher, much less a notoriously dangerous one at that, at bay while reinforcements arrive." He breathed in still trying to restrain his voice, and instead creased his brows. "You risked not only your own life against my order but also the lives of your own pokémon as well. That's absolutely unacceptable, and is borderline insane considering you went alone!"

"I-I can explain!"

He stopped her with a raised left hand. "No need. I've seen enough. If you're able, head over to the medics and get yourself checked up. I trust you'll at least heed that order."

"Umm…Sir." She began in a sheepish and nervous tone. "W-What will happen with me? Did I…" She thought of her intense moment where she was a centimeter away from pressing the trigger of the gun and shooting Rico, wandering if Sebastian or his pidgeotto may have seen any of it.

"Yes?"

"...Did I break the law?"

His gaze softened at her question, and instead, he rose a brow in confusion before shaking it off and returning to normalcy. "We'll figure that out later. Although stupid…I can't deny your bravery either." He finished with a sigh as he walked off toward the scene to meet his colleagues.

She inhaled to calm herself down. It seemed Sebastion didn't see any of it. But that didn't mean she was out of the murky waters of reprimand yet.

Her stomach rumbled and her pokémon gazed at her with lethargy in their eyes. Perhaps a checkup and some sustenance would help ease her nerves, and her partners deserved it too, along with a good rest…

…Two days later, back at Rustboro academy, Ranger branch, May, wearing a renewed uniform tailored for her, stood at the curtain side of an exterior mobile stage set-up with an orange backdrop. She watched the administrator of the Pokémon Ranger education board speak to the crowd through a microphone at the pedestal. He was a man of middling years with some notable scar lines on his aging face. He wore a dark vest and tie over a white dress shirt and suit pants.

To his left standing by him was the representative of the Interior department bureau, a plump woman in a standard business suit only there to serve as a legal government witness.

On his right, stood the Head Pokémon Ranger of the Hoenn branch Ranger Union who was also one of the world's thirteen 'Top Rangers'. He was a tall man of a lithe build and around his mid-thirties. He wore the same male Ranger uniform, but where there would have been orange, instead it was white. On his chest was a large patch of differing service ribbon bars that displayed all of his achievements, and instead of a cap, he wore a white beret with a medal pinned to it. His tenure almost suggested a military background, rather than that of a ranger.

A gentle round of applause echoed around the campus, as the administrator presented a graduation certificate to a girl close to her age who walked off stage after receiving the award and giving a handshake to the three authorities.

The administrator turned to the crowd once more. His smile held the charm of an expert salesman at a car dealership. "And now, last but certainly not least, I wish to present this certificate of graduation, and not only that but,"—the administrator held up a frame with a purple ribbon tied to a silver medal—"I am proud to present the final graduate in particular, with the 'medal of valiance', for the intrepidity and resolve behind her heroic acts at Rusturf Valley in the face of an unexpected and dangerous turn of events during what was supposed to be a simple exam. Despite being a simple trainee and knowing it wasn't her place to act, not only did she go back and provide first aid to her injured instructor, but also courageously came face to face with a notorious poacher, demonstrated her skills as a trainer by defeating him, ultimately ending his long-lasting poaching spree, and released the pokémon he imprisoned, returning them to the wilderness."

May's mouth became bitter at the last part, as during her interview with the higher police authorities and the deputy rangers, she had no choice but to keep her promise and lie about Team Rocket's involvement. In her recounting of events, she narratively replaced them with aggressive wild pokémon that were known to be of the area, noting it was a stroke of luck that they had weakened Rico's party before she got involved…Not only would it be detrimental to the Rocket Trio if the authorities found out they were nearby the area, but it could cause serious suspicion of her having connections with regional-level threat criminals, and really screw things over for her life.

Twelia was wise to have suggested that she extract the memories from hers and Kips' minds, hypnotize them and implant the fake memories while she hid the real memories far within her subconscious to fool the Police department's psychic pokémon's scanning.

It was only after the interview that Twelia returned the copied memories to their minds and fixed them…But May wished she wasn't so self-righteous and proud like her father, because if that weren't the case, she would have just preferred to not hold the truth within her mind…But her inherited pride wouldn't allow that.

'May, it's imperative that you utilize this gift to the maximum. It's the one sort of thing in the world that can save you from all the dirty, double-standard bureaucracies and corruption it holds. It's a wonder why they haven't banned the public use of 'psychic-type' pokémon yet. But I guess by doing that, it would mean a monopoly of power and information, and the people wouldn't stand for it."

Now May understood Ruby's words, and why he had given her such a rare gift.

Sometimes, it really didn't pay to be honest, like the education system would have her believe otherwise…But the fact that she would hold and bury the truth of Team Rocket's unexpected noble actions within herself forever, while about to receive all the credit in front of hundreds of live people, including her friends who were amongst the cheering crowd, and her family who would be watching the footage that would eventually be broadcasted on live-TV…brought about an unspeakable weight in her heart…And it would sit there, for the rest of her fucking life.

The administrator's stunt at awarding a medal that was usually given to experienced veterans with notable feats to an undertrained graduate with barely a hair's worth of experience on the field was a clear marketing attempt to bolster the reputation of his Ranger Branch while at the same time earning the Rustboro Academy owner's and head administrator's favor. It meant more money and prestige for the man.

Now she truly regretted not following Sebastion's orders.

The one career that she wanted to excel at cleanly with all the dignity and justice it represented by her merits alone, she already started with dishonesty and credit theft… not to mention as a stepping stone for someone else's extra pocket money and aims at academia grandeur.

This wasn't the start May wanted.

She just wanted to do the right thing, that's all!

…But not one step through the door, and she was already stained in blood money.

"I present to you, this year's Ranger School's greatest graduate yet, the heroine of Rusturf Valley, May Haruka!"

The round of applause was deafening.

Tears of frustration flowed down, but as she walked onto the stage, she disguised them with a mask of joy and embarrassment, spotting Ash with his Pikachu jumping on his head, and Brock next to him with a happy Kips on his shoulder in the front crowd, jumping for joy and cheering her on.

May waved at them. At least she had the beginnings of friendship through them.

But by the rest of her ranger peers? She didn't doubt she would be called a fraud and be the object of venomous envy, scorned as a fake and an attention seeker…The first two qualities would be close enough to the truth that it hurt, while the latter so far from it that it didn't matter.

'I know a pointless endeavor when I see one. The truth is, May,'—Grey lowered his amber eyes into a serious glare—'people are fucked in the head and do things without even knowing why. Worse is when they convince others to follow them, despite being in such a mental conundrum themselves.'

It was either this…or the brand of a criminal co-conspirator.

'No one chooses to be born under a fundamentally flawed system.'

It was always going to be the lesser of two evils.

She walked and received the awards from the elder man's cold raspy fingers, but then he held her shoulder and faced her to the crowd. "And, as an additional reward for her massive contribution to the safety of the forests by aiding enormously in the Ranger's long-sought capture of the wanted criminal, I present to her,"—The man pulled out a box from the pedestal shelf, and gave it to her—"A 'capture styler'."

May's eyelids stretched at the sight of the specialized product, and the crowd 'oo-ed' in surprise, with some murmuring in question.

"Now I know this is unusual for a ceremony and after the course had been condensed further, but worry not, the students have indeed been trained to use these. We usually don't hand them out until they've received extra-curricular classes to fully be prepared for the responsibilities such a device imposes. But, in Haruka's case, she has demonstrated more selflessness than most could ever boast about, as well as the skills and potential to handle intense situations. So why make our society and the pokémon environment wait any longer for such an exemplary graduate to begin her duties? When every day, there is trouble on the horizon, where a pokémon may need help. I, as the administrative head of the Pokémon Ranger education board and with the permission of the Bureau of the internal department, present May Haruka with the capture stylus to begin her mission, as an official Pokémon Ranger!"

He released her shoulder and applauded her, flashing his polished pearlescent teeth. The audience joined in unison and in agreement with his choice. May was in disbelief as she stared at the box, then at the speaker, and back at the audience, wondering if this was a dream.

She shook the head admin's hand, then she moved to do the same for the government lackey, and finally went over to shake the Head Ranger's hand.

The Top-level Ranger held her gloved hand firmly and glowered at her with drilling eyes iron in color from the shadow of his brow. She tried to pull back but he held tight and leaned in to whisper.

The air around the man thickened, and his gaze darkened in a manner that suggested he could kill her right now in front of all these people and not think twice about it should she cross him.

"While I do commend bravery, young lady, I also condemn foolishness." He said with a deep grating voice, like that of stone grinding against asphalt. "The look on your face suggests you've just figured out that brash heroism comes at a terrible price…And I'm inclined to agree. Now there's no going back. Don't rush it, or you might just 'trip' and break something."

May could only mechanically nod with a jittery movement before the pressure on her hand vanished, yet the gravity on her shoulders became heavier.

Great start, May…Great start…

May could feel the man's eyes piercing her back as she walked away. She tried her damnest not to just run off the stage screaming 'fuck'…

Ash, Pikachu, and Brock met her at the steps, still applauding happily.

She had met Ash's newly caught pokémon since her training with Ruby. Treecko, the grass-type wood gecko; and taillow, the normal/flying-type tiny swallow. Brock had also caught his own new pokémon in Hoenn, a Lotad, the lotus leaf-weed water/grass-type; while bringing his other one from his adventure with Ash in Johto: Forretress, the iron bagworm bug/steel-type.

Brock was a five-foot-six-tall, nine-teen-year-old tan-skinned Kantonian man with narrow eyes and black spiky hair. He seemed like a good guy…If you could get past his constant need to flirt with other attractive women on sight (and failing miserably most of the time). He was a great cook though, and a skilled pokémon groomer to top it off with some knowledge of medicine and first-aid.

During her three-day training with Ruby, Ash had indeed returned to Petalburg with his taillow and treecko, along with his all-time companion, Pikachu, to challenge her father.

Predictably, he lost, and according to the Kanto-born trainer…badly.

But Norman had already warned Ash that he was one of the toughest gym leaders in Hoenn, not accounting for his personal 'strongest' team. He did, however, encourage Ash to continue and start with Roxanne, who was considered the newest and weakest of the Hoenn gym leaders. Along with the advice and despite the younger trainer's loss, her father rewarded Ash for his effort with a badge case to get started and passed him another identical badge case for him to pass on to her when they next met, which was at Rustboro City.

"Wow, May, you're really somethin'," said the younger of the two Kantonians in his jolly tone.

"Yeah, you should be proud, not everyone earns such recognition right at the start," agreed the elder Kantonian.

Gee, thanks.

She put on the best smile she could, trying to distract herself with the fact that at least she got an exclusive gadget for her troubles.

"Thanks a lot, guys, but more importantly, thanks for waiting here in Rustboro and delaying your trip. You really didn't have to, I'd have eventually caught up."

She meant that in earnest; they seemed like real loyal friends.

Ash waved it off. "Nah, it's cool. Rustboro's actually a really cool place to hang out, plus it meant me and Brock could take our time in finding some sweet stuff."

"And provisions, like this 'Lairon shell-plated ceramic pot', shipped from Dewford to Rustboro and only available in those places!" Added Brock as he proudly picked out the silvery-white cooking tool from his backpack and knuckled it. "Super tough and durable, and 100% anti-stain and anti-corrosive. Plus it's smooth and easy to wash too, I figured you two might appreciate that part since I'm our cook." He grinned.

Ash let out an awkward chuckle from his obvious dislike of washing dishes, and May just laughed. "Haha. You're such a Mom, Brock."

The tanned man scratched his head and flushed. "Yeah, well, you kind of get that from years of feeding a platoon of siblings."

It took a few moments for her to analyze that statement before it made sense to her. It seemed his mother wasn't around much, if at all in his life, while the father either worked or provided support through a pension. Either way, it suggested he had a fractured family with kids younger than him to pay the price.

Suddenly her family seemed golden in contrast, though even that was hyperbole, considering she had just learned about her elder brother a fortnight ago.

It seemed her family was covered in secrets too…and she inherited their tendency to end up keeping the most difficult of lies.

"You okay there, May?" asked Ash, breaking her out of her thoughts.

"Chuu'?" Pikachu reflected his worry, being instinctually adept at sensing dissonant frequencies.

The cacophony of people got louder as their conversations were a mess of hums and shrill octaves.

"Yeah. Let's get out of here."

The group agreed and headed toward the cobblestoned campus entry, passing some grassy hedges and a fountain featuring a legendary whale-like pokémon, with the fountain water shooting out of its back.

The renowned teacher herself, Roxanne, stood at the plaza entry holding some folders to her front while she conversed with a man who was closer to Grey's height.

He was of fair tone with blonde hair spiking up toward one side. He wore an open black leather jacket gilded with metallic gold on its pockets and collar over a saffron hoodie-vest that fitted to his swimmer's body, with black leather pants and runners to complete his attire. He looked to be in his mid-twenties.

After a chuckle from their topic, the man blinked and turned, immediately laying his oceanic eyes on May and flashing a truly bewitching grin.

It was obvious to May who this was.

The two parties met, with Roxanne bidding the man adeú and congratulating May once more on her victory in their match and newly so for her Ranger graduation before leaving the blonde alone with them (and after Brock zealously complimented and ogled her up and down like a love-struck puppy while Ash held him back by the ear, much to Roxanne's hearty amusement).

The leather-wrapped man clapped his hands and wiggled his fingers excitedly.

"G'day mates and lass! How's it goin'? He greeted.

"Uhh, hey there, mister," saluted Ash.

May jabbed the boy in his ribs. "Ash! Don't you know who that is?"

"Ow. Umm…"

Brock interjected with his excitement bubbling through. "Forgive my young friend here, he doesn't watch the news much." The rock-type specialist grinned. "But 'I' know who you are, you're Spark Lighton, leader of one of the three most important guilds in Hoenn; the leader guild 'Instinct', which, asides from having a dedicated policing taskforce, specializes in advanced pokémon breeding, caretaking, and grooming programs,"—Brock held out a hand—"it's an honor to meet a legend like you, sir!"

Spark gave his own megawatt grin and shook Brock's hand with alacrity. "Nah, mate, pleasure's mine for meeting Kanto's Rock-specialist Ex-Gym leader."

"Ah, so you've heard of me too, huh?"

"Totally." He gazed at Ash. "And you must be Ash Ketchum, winner of the Orange island's league, am I right?"

"Whoa! You heard of me too!?"

Spark shook the boy's hand. "Righty'o I have, kiddo'. I'm a fan of sports entertainment me'self, plus being a guild leader does have its perks and connections, so I'm pretty ears on' with the happenins' of Leagues in most regions."

"Oh, wow, that's so cool, I kinda' feel bad about not knowing you at first. Heh."

"Don't sweat it, mate." Spark shrugged. "I'm just a figurehead for a leader guild sall', a lad like you shouldn't get lost in TV anyway, besides, not all of it is true, so rock on. And my, if that ain't a cute lil' fella' you got on your shouldah'."

He rubbed Pikachu's red cheeks, much to the electric rodent's pleasure. "Chaaa."

Ash widened his eyes in alarm, "Ah—wait, he's sensitive there! He might accidentally zap yo—"

Little sizzling bolts of electricity jolted out of Pikachu's red cheeks and traveled along Spark's arm in a rush and through his body. But the man kept caressing the yellow mouse without batting a lid.

May and everyone else was, ironically, shocked at the man's unnatural tolerance of such voltage. A normal person would at least twitch their arm at the tiniest hint of a static charge. But for Spark (again, the irony of his name wasn't lost on May), it might as well have been a gentle breeze passing through.

Maybe it's the leather? But his hands are bare, so how…

He turned to May and visibly brightened, briefly scanning her from head to toe. "But the bright star of the hour is you, lassie, or should I say, May Haruka, official Pokémon Ranger, and already a medal winner with a styler tah' boot." He gave a long impressed whistle. "I reckon your folks at home are gonna' flip their underdaks when they hear about it all." Said Spark with a sharp gleam in his eye that almost betrayed a hint of curiosity, like a cat analyzing whether something was prey or unworthy of its attention.

May attempted to hold back a nervous wince with a smile of her own, trying to avoid diving into those two windowed oceans of his, and failing miserably. "Y-yeah I guess."

"And you've got yourself a mighty beefy Marshtomp there. Turning' out to be quite a gym-crusher, ay'?"

"Tomp'." the water-ground type gave a fist pump of his chest with a sloshing chuckle.

Spark licked his teeth under his lips and shifted his gaze to the boys, Brock in particular. "Say, fellas, I don't mean to be bullish or anything, but you don't mind if I borrow May for a little while, do yah'? I've got a bit o' 'business' with her, regarding recent events and all."

Brock just shrugged. "It's all good, though isn't it up to May?"

Spark blinked. "Yeah, well, if she agrees, I'd have to get your consent first, since you're the eldest and above eighteen, as well being an experienced caretaker for your nine siblings. I kinda' assumed Norman would've left May in your charge for her journey. Asides from being her father, the man is fairly pragmatic if nothing else. I don't want people gettin' funny ideas."

Brock was speechless for a moment, not because of the overly gentleman request to speak to May privately, but because of the fact that the man purposely revealed he knew way too much about the Kantonian and his family…

'Being a guild leader does have its perks and connections, so I'm pretty ears on with the happenins of Leagues in most regions.'

Just how much did Spark know of their group? About their lives?

May would bet money that extra-regional League events weren't the only thing the 'Instinct' guild leader had an interest in. She'd bet even more money that whatever the man wanted to talk about had nothing to do with her new ranger status. But how could she deny an audience to someone who was, in essence, the head of one-third of Hoenn's internal executive branch of government?

Also, she just realized that by asking consent from Brock to speak with her as an adult to a minor (she hated thinking of herself as a minor, she was only a few months away from being eighteen and an official adult, but in this case, it was handy, just in case), any legal repercussions against Spark would be lessened should something happen to her, as Brock stated 'it's all good', maybe unknowingly declaring himself as her temporary guardian.

All she ever heard from her love-struck peers about Spark Lighton was that he was the 'coolest and chillest leader' by default for being a 'surfer and a total hunk of a swimmer athlete'. The way they had described him was entirely superficial, and May was led to almost believe it…

Until now…Ostensibly, Spark was far more cunning than he let on.

"What'dya say, May?" He asked. "Take a lil' walk around the block with me?" He winked with an incredibly convincing friendly smile. The Administrator of the Ranger school's plastic bureaucratic charm didn't even hold a candle to Spark's sunny magnetism.

"S-sure." She turned to the boys. "Could you take Kips with you and feed him? I'll meet you guys back at the pokécenter later, kay'?"

For a moment, Ash didn't seem sure as he eyed her with his dark browns. Was her discomfort that obvious? "Okay, see ya' later then." The duo waved before leaving with Pikachu and Kips in tow, the latter eyeing her, but with a nod in confirmation, he turned and followed the group in earnest.

"Awrighty' then, lassie, can I get'cha anything before we start up? Soda? Coffee?" Offered Spark.

May shook her head. "No, thank you. I'm good."

"All good." He jabbed a thumb to the side. "Then let's head to the central park, it's not too far from here."

Right as he said that, a trio of her graduate peers walked by and stopped dead to gawk at them, particularly at Spark, and gasped in a manner that suggested they saw a god in the flesh and shrieked in excitement. "O.M.A, It's Spark! Ahh!"

"It's totally him!" Said the other.

"Hey, Spaaark!" Waved the last frantically.

He waved back with his usual charming smile. "Hey girls! How's it goin'?"

"Oh my Arceus! He saw us! And…" Then the girl saw May's proximity to him, and her smile died a little. "Haruka's with him…" She whispered 'inconspicuously'.

"Oh shit, I just noticed."

"No way, that's Tauroshit. Gosh, what a little attention whore." Whispered the last with vitriol as they gave one last wave at Spark before they left, probably concocting all sorts of scornful gossip about her to feed the grapevine with malignant intent.

May could picture her face replaced by a 'tamato berry' with how her very skin pores seemed to burst at the absolute sweltering of her cheeks.

At this rate, someone's gonna' fucking murder me out of envy-induced detestation! Shit!

May power walked the hell out of there in the direction Spark pointed her at.

"Crikey! Wait for me, May!"

…She had adjusted her ranger cap to shade the top of her face, hoping that no one would recognize her sitting on a bench in the middle of a freakin' park under a freakin' tree with freakin' Spark Lighton sitting next to her!

Thankfully, they were in a specific corner of the plaza away from the main footpath, where some rose bushes and orchids partially hid them from sight. Though the fact that thousands of couples had probably made out on this bench, amongst potentially other things due to how withdrawn it was from the paved walkway, didn't make things easier for her.

May had gotten enough attention for the rest of the damned year and she didn't need any more shit…But something about Spark's gaze told her she was going to get more of one or the other.

He sat there with both arms resting on the bench back, as cool as tentacruel can be, gazing at the greenery of the park and the different birds chirping and flying about from tree to tree and bush, both the avian animals and the pokémon.

"So…What did you want to talk about, Mr. Lighton?"

"Just 'Spark's awright', darl, I'm still not in me' thirties yah' know," he said, keeping his suave smile.

"Right. Sorry."

He hummed a chuckle. "Nah, sall' good. So tell me, May, how's Norman doin' nowadays?"

May gazed at her lap idly. "He's still…'Norman', I guess. Ruby's appearance had an effect though."

"Ah, yeah, that's right. So how'd he take it?"

"Not sure."

Spark chuckled and gave her his attention. "Ha! You're lying, he was pissed wasn't he?"

How does he…Never mind. If Dad never mentioned him to me and practically swore Mum into secrecy, it's obvious he never mentioned it to anyone else out of shame, so his vehemence wouldn't surprise anybody.

The subject was enough to irritate her, now she just wanted to get this over with.

She frowned at him. "What did you want to talk about, Spark?"

Though her sudden serious demeanor seemed to have amused the blonde even more. "Straight to business and no bushcrawlin', huh? You really are Norman's kid."

"Meaning?"

"Ya' don't weave around with flowery diplomacy and you prefer a direct path to the truth…Right?"

May rose a brow at that. "Maybe, but I'm sure you didn't bring me here of all places to talk about my dad, or invite me to join Instinct…'Right'?"

"Would you join if I asked?"

"I doubt I'd have the time. If I were assigned to any of your pokémon research programs, my duties as a Pokémon Ranger would keep interrupting any workflow I could gather, and my ranger priorities would certainly clash with the priorities I'd have as an enforcer, not to mention I still plan on continuing the League circuit."

"Oh? You're gonna' go all the way like your colleague, Grey Wilson? Interesting...The heroine of Rusturf Valley and the hero of Oldale aiming for the Ever Grande Conference crown…"

She blinked at the mention of her Birch lab's colleague, and just remembered that he too was popularly considered a 'hero'...The idea of her being a heroine suddenly wasn't as unwelcoming—

She shook her head. No, it undoubtedly was a mistake on her part. She was less experienced and took too much of a risk. Grey on the other hand had already hidden his ability to speak with pokémon, so what other secret qualifications over her did he have?

"Don't most people do so?"

"Nope! They earn a badge to join one of the leader guilds, and maybe earn another or two if their personal skillset or positive win-loss battle ratio isn't enough to warrant more advanced guild quests and missions. The only other reason they earn more badges beyond the first is to heighten their prestige and improve their privileges within the guild. Truth' is, the league circuit is bloody difficult, even more so if the gym leaders decide their weaker team isn't enough of a challenge for ya', and spoiler alert…" Spark magnified his scrutinizing gaze on her and spread his arms for effect. "...There's a real whoppah' of a difference between both of their rotating teams. There's no middle ground."

That was…concerning. But not unexpected.

His eyes twinkled. "And just so ya' know…Grey Wilson just baaarely won against Brawly's strongest at Dewford."

May exhaled at that. "What!?"

Spark's grin for a moment twisted into a smirk. "Ya' heard me right."

"Shit…Wait, how do you know that? His victory was two days ago, but it never aired on the news like the match with Roxanne did. Only the most intense and impressive battles make it to the weekly live showcase…So…How—"

Spark pulled out his phone and scooched closer to May, loading a video uploaded on the most controversial and popular video-sharing service site, 'Pokétube'.

"Apparently, the match wasn't live but was recorded from the inside. Someone must've gotten a scoop and snuck into the cave, recorded what they could, and then uploaded it. People are sayin' it's fake and all fan-made visual effects using Grey's face and voice…Others, however, are totally convinced it's real."

May ignored the fact that freakin' Spark was this close to her right now and concentrated on the video.

"Cave?"

"I'll skip to the final round which is definitely worth a watch, and it's also the main reason people consider it to be 'fake'."

…May couldn't believe it either…A shiny Kirlia? Beating a Mega-evolution? She only heard tell-tales about mega-evolution, since it was still a fairly new concept to Hoenn. The only person she knew of that could do such a thing was the current League champion, Steven Stone, with his Metagross. Mega-evolution is said to practically increase a pokémon's power immensely, as much as double, as some speculations of other occurrences suggested.

But that was indeed Grey, and his voice announcing unique attacks he had never used in his match against Roxanne. And his opponent was definitely Brawly of Dewford gym.

Quite frankly, if it was a fake…Then it was really well made. But why would anyone even bother faking a whole pokémon battle? Just to get ratings and views? Well, props to them for the quality if that were the case…

But there was one problem which was the very same reason that others considered it to be real authentic footage…

May had a habit of keeping a close eye on multiple pokémon battle profiles, with Grey's being one of them…He won Dewford's 'Knuckle badge' two days ago…And the video was uploaded only one day ago…

How could anyone possibly fake something like 'that' on such short notice? And even if it were true, doesn't Grey know about the OPUS-TD 'Shiny' prohibition law? Or did being an enforcer grant certain qualifications?

"I know what's goin' on in your noggin'…This couldn't be real, but at the same time, the upload date is fairly consistent. But, why would Grey go against the 'Shiny' prohibition?" Said Spark in her ear, his breath hot on her face.

May did a double-take at his spot-on guess and squirmed at his proximity. "T-That's not…inaccurate."

Spark leaned away. "Thought so."

He put a hand on his chin in contemplation as he stared into the screen. "Hmm…Maybe I uploaded it a bit too soon. Perhaps I should delete it and put it back up a few days from now. Or maybe I should just hand it to the press before Grey get's a victory at Mauville City, that way it's no longer stale news."

May froze.

"What'dya think, darl'?"

She slowly turned her gaze.

Spark's smile turned into a toothy grin that would fit snugly on a gengar's face, and the sea in his eyes turned darker with a turbulent cloudy gleam.

"W-wait…'You' recorded that?"

The man put a hand on his mouth and made a playful 'oops' expression. "Uh-oh, I probably' shouldn'a said that…But well, at least I can truthfully take credit for it." He shrugged.

Nooo…

He put his phone back in his jacket pocket and leered at her with his eyes transforming into the sea abyss. "Now can you guess what I want to talk about?"

May gulped in trepidation now, wondering what would come next. How did he know when to travel to Dewford for Grey's match? Did he follow Grey to record the match? Or did he have an associate? She had so many questions.

"...You want to talk about Grey."

"Right'o…Specifically, I want to exchange information about him with you…You do wanna' know more about the bloke, right?"

She blinked several times at that. "N-no, not in partic—"

He wagged an index finger. "Ah ah ahh. No lying."

"I…I'm not sure."

"Well, I suppose I'll take that as a yes, then." He shrugged. "So…First question's first: Where did you meet him?"

May didn't know what to do here. Did Grey do something wrong? Why was she being interrogated? Did she have a right to refuse?

"What if I don't want to answer?"

He narrowed his eyes while creepily keeping the same grin. "Oh, trust me, lassie, you do want to answer honestly. I'll know if you're lying, and right now? I'm here as the leading enforcer of team Instinct, so legally, you can't obstruct the law by denying or lying." He held up his phone and played a recording:

—"It's all good, though isn't it up to May?"—Said Brock's voice in the recording.

Spark put the phone away again. "And no, you can't back out of this just because you're a minor or just because you have a birthday in three months that will make you into a legal adult. I can easily use Brock's recorded agreement as legal backup against the children's rights committee for his consent to interview you."

May gripped her hand and retorted. "My father—"

"Can't do shit all, because he's already suspected of child abuse and domestic violence, also, by allowing you to receive a starter pokémon at a regional lab for some good ol' Hoenn bushwalkin', your parents fully acknowledge your independence as an individual, regardless of adult status. So no, neither of them can do jack'."

The brunette growled in frustration.

"Last chance, lassie, you gonna' cooperate? If you do, I'll even reward ya' with a bit of me' own info about him. It's a win-win here."

She breathed in to calm her rising temper. "I met him precisely at Birch Labs a month ago."

"What were the circumstances of your first encounter?"

"We both went to obtain our starter pokémon—"

"Ehhh! Wrong answer. Impossible and a lie. While you and two others had taken exams and came out top of your class to be eligible for a starter pokémon and a Birch Labs plus PA joint trainer sponsorship, Wilson didn't, and he's a lil' old for high school, don'cha think?"

"Grey was a special case."

"How so?"

"Professor Birch owed him a favor."

"What favor did Wilson do for the researcher to earn himself their extra starter on the same day as the handout? It's rare for the labs to provide more than three starters, especially since the PA only sponsors three per lab."

"But nothing says Birch Labs can't sponsor their own trainer, that's why Grey's actually a lab assistant as well."

"Thanks for the lil' extra there. I suppose we can chalk it up to that, for now."

Phew. Dodged that one. Can't have him knowing Ginger's wild or by extension Kips.

"Next question: What exactly happened between you two the day after the Oldale Ruins incident. Joy Joy of the pokémon center there reports having seen you lot having breakfast together. I wanna' know any important details."

"Nothing much was said, just small talk."

"Sure, but it was reported that you left together, and then split up between routes 102 and 103…However…" Spark rose a golden eyebrow and once more narrowed his blue eyes. "The passerby eyewitness reported that you and Grey had stepped off the path together into the woods and 'alone', leaving Ash Ketchum and his pikachu to wait."

Her heart rate bolted at that, and she flushed at the potential implications of such a scenario from an outside perspective… "So?"

"'So'…What happened there?"

May hissed at her own stupidity. Of course, Spark Lighton came as the head enforcer to ask questions, she just had no idea in the world that it had nothing to do with the events between Rico and her or suspicions about Team Rocket, and instead about Grey.

'...Let's just say, it might paint a target on my back. You know, corporate and human blackmail and all that…'

Now she was going to need to give a rather embarrassing answer to keep her promise to Grey…Shit.

"...That's private, I can't answer that." She denied.

His brow rose higher and a sly smile formed on his face.

Again, her face burned at the insinuating stare.

"You do realize, little lassie, that if I take that the wrong way, Grey could go to jail…Right?"

Aaagh! This is so fucking humiliating!

Images began forming in her head of what that bystander and Spark must've been imagining themselves.

Her body burned in awkward fluster.

But if it's for his sake…

"Y-You don't need to know those details. For all you know, anything could've happened. He could've been teaching me how to catch pokémon."

He chortled. "Right, a supposed starter trainer was going to teach you, another starter trainer, to catch pokémon. I mean it's not like you two had an 'Orange islands League winner' with you or anything like that to watch and give ya' tips, right?"

"Shut up!" She snapped, annoyed at her own stupid comment.

"Now now, settle down, just doin' me' job and catchin' your blatant lies sall'. That embarrassment you're feeling? It's on you for letting me put the wrong pieces together…Something must've happened, a conversation of sorts about something sensitive that Ashy boy shouldn't hear about, maybe?"

Dammit…

"No. Nothing like that happened."

"You're lying again."

Nnn…Freakin'—

"W-we made out! Alright!? But it didn't go any further than that! And it's just kissing, there's nothing wrong with that!" She screeched out, dying of embarrassment on the inside from the stupid lie.

Spark didn't bat a lid at her outburst, instead, he just frowned for the first time since he appeared.

He breathed in, and sighed, staring at the ground sadly. "Please don't make me do this, May."

"Do what?"

He pulled out his phone once more, tapped the screen several times, but held it there without revealing anything. He stared at her. "I don't think Grey's the kind of guy that would fall head over heels for a little lassie several years his minor in just two or three days. Brock, maybe, if his behavior with Roxanne was anythin' to go by, but not Grey."

For some reason, she felt offended by that. "Wha—Are you saying I'm not good enough!?"

He gave a gentle laugh at that. "Nah, no way. Hell, with them' beautiful blue eyes of yours? If I were seventeen, I'd easily ask you out Brock style, heh…But it's got nothin' to do with that, and I'll give you a solid idea of why if you're honest with me."

"I have be—"

"No, you haven't." He lift the phone up but still didn't reveal the screen. "I have certain photos here, that could flip your life upside down right now, and another spoiler alert…It has nothing to do with Grey."

No…Impossible.

"Are you threatening me?"

"Yes. With the truth."

And he showed her the photo on the screen.

…You son of a bitch.

Now it made sense as to what Spark was doing in Rustboro. He came the moment he had fool-proof leverage…May's breath quivered and her heart dropped then and there. She shook her head and tears of frustration formed.

"How?"

"Truth' is, May, I had a specialized camo-rotom drone oversee your exam, ya' see…As soon as I compared Oldale Joy's and Petalburg's Joy's recount of your relationship with your, back then, mudkip, his 'physical development' and 'biosignature', I found a whopper of a difference between the two health reports. I can see that some relationships are a bit bouncy and others are sudden, the same goes for growth…But a bond like that takes time to forge with pokémon, and so does their biological development…Unless you're a psychic who understands them and their needs with precision. According to Birch lab's data, they held the same mudkip starter in custody for two whole league seasons. Apparently, it had attitude problems."

"What!? But the professor would've told me!"

"Well he didn't, did he? He probably wanted to get rid of it, since it kept leaving him with the job of getting another regional starter of the same kind every time the lil' fella rejected the trainers."

That couldn't be true…could it? But if that were the case…Then…

The head Instinct enforcer craned his neck to her level and continued. "This led me to ask: how does a young lassie like you come around and suddenly cause such a change within the lil' blue fella? Then we have Grey's unique and interesting sudden rising out of nowhere, with the skillset that should see him far higher in the rankings; an individual who seems to have migrated from Carmonte Island. But the problem with that story is that it's just too bloody convenient. And that's what ultimately led me to this connection between the two of you. I can't question Grey because he's protected by the Mystic guild…But I can question you. I decided out of simple interest to spectate your exam, and it brought me unexpected boons."

May saw what was coming, and she couldn't bear it anymore. She threw herself to the ground on her knees to beg. "Please…Please don't make me do it." She cried.

"I just need you to tell me the truth about Grey. What…ability might the bloke possess that helped your relationship with your pokémon. I mean I know he's a water-type but shiiit, the lil' thing essentially sweeped Roxanne's lower team on his own and even evolved. You can't tell me that's all you, little lassie."

May could only sniff and cry, she didn't want to talk anymore. She thought of faking out a faint scene to get him off her back, but then he'd just return and she'd have to go through this again…It was obvious the man would stop at nothing to find out more about Grey…But why? He was already part of Mystic, so it couldn't be that…

"Little lassie." Came his voice very close to her. His runners were in her vision and he squatted in front of her now. "I'd truly hate to do this, and I know you think he's your friend, but at the end of this? I'm gonna' convince you that he ain't."

"Just…Stop.'' She managed through hicks and sobs.

"A truth for a truth, May. But I suppose,"—the phone screen came into her view again and her tears dripped onto the image that held the Rocket trio and herself standing up against Rico and the tyranitar together in what was a clear alliance—"In your case, it'd be for a truth and your reputation."

She gazed at Jessie's face in the photo.

'Why…didn't you move…Stupid twerp, agh!'

Spark flicked the image to the next photo, and for a moment she didn't recognize the girl holding a gun until she looked past the wrath carved on the girl's face and the uniform.

'C'mon, shoot me. You know you want to.'

Is…is that what I looked like when I almost decided to…

She wanted to keel, but the bile never came. May almost refused to believe that was her, but the immortalized expression on her face perfectly captured the raw inner turmoil she went through at that moment…Worse yet, she saw her father within that cold murderous expression.

"Not only a possible criminal co-conspirator, but also wielding illegal firearms without a license, and threatening another human life with it."

"You know he would've deserved it."

"I'm inclined to agree, but you showed to be the better of the two, and stayed your hand, May. That takes huge willpower…And now I'm gonna' have to ask you to use that same willpower again to make a choice…"

She lifted her neck and glared at him through tears. "—Sniff—that's funny, coming from the man who's blackmailing me."

His eyes saddened at that. "You can choose to see it that way if ya' want. I'm obligated by law to actually turn this information in regardless. But only because you're just a young lil' lass starting out, I'm willing to overlook it, and even destroy the information if ya' want, so you can secure your future…I just want one thing."

She was close to hyperventilating. She just couldn't decide…

"May, darl…I promise you that if you make the right choice, I'll show you a truth that'll set you free from your illusion about Wilson…Or are you really going to prioritize a secret you keep for a man you've literally only known for three days tops, over your own life's reputation? The entire reputation of your family name?"

She gripped the grassy soil in her fist and gnashed her teeth.

"Look at me."

She sniffed hard and slowly lifted her gaze.

Spark looked at her from above, with the light of the sun filtering through the tree's leaves overhead and bathing him in a corona of rays that outlined his golden hair, all the while plunging his face into darkness. The air suddenly wavered, she thought she imagined it, but for a moment his hair billowed despite the lack of any air draft, and some of his strands glowed and let out a subtle buzz like loose sparking electric wires.

He really did look like a god…Or more aptly…An angel of ill tidings.

"I'm telling you now if you choose wrongly…getting stripped of your Ranger assets would be the least of your worries. Tell me...What would your father say?"

She couldn't take this anymore, it was too cruel. His words and his presence plunged her heart and soul into despair. The ultimatum was impossible to avoid and he held all the cards in his hands.

It wasn't fair.

He let out a sigh. "Awright', I'm gonna' make it even easier for ya', but you won't like it."

"Please…stop." She let out with a pitiful waver in her voice.

He ignored her and scrolled through his phone, before wiping the screen and showing her another photo.

It was a completely different area, like that of a warehouse.

And the focus of the photo was a strange object on the floor she didn't understand until she saw the skin tone beneath all the blood. The corpse was armless, and the legs were contorted and articulated in a way that saw them forcefully pulled, crossed over and around the naked man's back, with his torso hunched over and his head pulled down directly on his…"

May looked away, now really almost ready to hurl.

"What the fuck is that?"

"Your little crush's artwork."

"What? No way."

"Ya' see, Grey's a newly appointed Mystic enforcer who Blanche quickly deemed competent enough to get involved in the 'Magma warehouse' case. According to the official records, he did a great job like everyone else…But according to a little birdie of mine I had there, he disobeyed his lieutenant's command and went solo. Of course for the most part he was tactfully correct and ended up saving the platoon…But even though the mission brief suggests he technically did nothing illegal, he took things a little too far. The dead bloke in that photo was a magma grunt at the scene, who was previously a petty criminal on the run by the name of Rand Jeremy, a man charged with several crimes including assault, theft, murder…and rape, the last of which both women…and female pokémon, in particular, were his preferred targets."

That last one had especially made her stomach turn.

"So? That corpse could've been anyone or anything."

"Yeah, forensics couldn't get a print, and nor could the extensive limbic damage be possible for a single human alone, so there's that…but investigators deemed the symbolism behind the act that of a more human psychological profile, though they admit they haven't quite seen something like this in a while. The official autopsy reports the man's arms suffered several broken joints at the wrist, elbow, and shoulder, as well as having been brutally and completely ripped off. The joints in his legs suffered equally—"

"Shut up!"

"—except instead of getting ripped off, they were twisted and folded around the man's torso, which was then bent over, with his spine shattered, and his head placed on his—"

"I said shut up!" She screeched.

"—The mouth was opened, forced onto his genitalia, with his jaws getting smashed shut, practically severing them—"

May got up and swung her arm—

'Slap!'

The sound echoed out in the park.

Spark's gaze was directed away, before he returned it, sporting a big red imprint of her hand on his left cheek, though not looking the least bit inconvenienced. "—According to the medical examiners, the tensity of his muscles and nerves post-death suggested the man was still alive during the entire process, and his 'machoke' was forced to watch the entire thing. Now the fighting mon' is in a specialized mental rehabilitation center, with his chances of recovery mild at best." He finished.

May's chest heaved in her angst and disgust. "I've heard enough. Did you forget I'm still a minor?"

The instinct leader's eyes swayed for a moment, before focusing back on her. "I'm sorry. You're right. I just had to show you—"

"There's no way the man who saved my life and inspired Kips and me with his gift would've done something like that! I won't believe it!" She hollered out.

The edge of the man's lips twitched upward. "His 'gift'?"

She gasped and placed a hand on her mouth.

"You're halfway there, May…But I need you to define this 'gift'."

She shook her head. "I meant his gift at speeches!"

"No you didn't, not in the context of your pokémon's sudden development."

"I…"

"Maybe he didn't do it…But maybe he did. Are you really going to keep defending a twenty-four-year-old bloke who seems lost at this stage of his life? Don't you find his fast development for a starter trainer a little odd? Are you truly going to risk your future for a bloke with an ambiguous history like him?"

"Please don't make me betray him." She begged and wept. "Please—"

"The man's a natural-born killer, May. While I understand that enforcers are legally allowed to use lethal force if the mission brief permits it, it's still an offense if it's discovered that there was no need for it. The fact is, unofficially, almost a dozen Magma operatives and several pokémon, were brutally slaughtered by possibly the same person…or thing. And if you ya' still don't believe me, then use your brain for this one, and think real carefully…"

She gulped.

"Grey always walks around with his pokémon out, yet this particular rare Kirlia was never seen in his roster until his tussle with Brawly. The other new addition, his starmie, I can understand, though rarely seen in the wild, it lives in deep coral reefs and Dewford has plenty of them. But that Kirlia? The island is small, and you'd think such a rare shiny pokémon would've been discovered by now…and before having gone to Dewford, Grey was last seen at Rustboro, having left only a day after the Mystic warehouse crackdown, on the very same SS. Julianne cruise boat that got sunk literally the next day by team Aqua, who made off with cargo containing caged pokémon that were smuggled on board at some point in time…Grey was never seen on the lifeboats that escaped the sinking boat. In fact, he was reported missing for a solid five days before he reappeared at Dewford…Are you following?"

Oh my Arceus…I remember hearing about that. The SS. Julianne 'accident' went completely viral…And to think Grey was on that boat…But…

"Wait, but the news said it was an accident that was the product of an engine room failure. Nothing about Aqua was mentioned."

"Not everythin' on TV's true, darl. And I think it was a good choice to have it covered up. Think of the mass panic if people knew of another attack straight after the first from another criminal organization. It'll also just paint a bad picture of public security too, and no agency will have that affecting business. No siry'. Too bad cruise ship owners will have to take a bit of a profit plunge, but they'll recover soon enough with some mishmash of statistical propaganda encouraging people to ride again."

"But what does this have to do with Grey?"

Spark's expression darkened. "Think back to the Oldale incident. Grey came out of that wildfire at Oldale forest after having allegedly run into team 'Aqua', as he stated to Officer Jenny, only to interfere with team 'Magma', their apparent opposition, at the pokémon center and save you in the process, with 'Aqua' nowhere to be seen and runnin' off. As a side note, keep in mind that the magma's Grey personally dealt with at that time, didn't have pokéballs on them, according to local police, versus how he suddenly shows up at Rustboro with an 'Alolan native pokémon', salandit. Now consider the events at Rustboro. Grey interfered with Magma once again, while 'Aqua' gets away, yet again." Spark gave a small smirk. "And let's not forget about Aqua's theft at Devon Corp. on that same day."

"What? Devon was robbed?"

"Yep, and no official news about it. Like I said, another attack. My team was called upon, but it was too late. It was clued in that the individual was also of Team Aqua, having stolen some machine parts, the exact tech info of which Mr. Stone had been ambiguous about…One attack was probably a distraction for the other…Multiple criminal organizations smuggling and stealing all sorts of expensive and rare things, what a world…"

"What's your point!?" May growled with her inner turmoil eating her insides.

"Don'cha think it's a bit of an odd coincidence that Grey has been at the center of these conflicts?"

Now that she thought of it…It did seem odd that Grey was more than just competent as a trainer while passing himself off as someone with less experience than 'Ash'...Yet he was involved in major conflicts that should've been beyond a starter trainer's capability…But it could just literally be a coincidence…

"Are you saying that Grey is an Aqua member?"

He shrugged. "Who knows? All the events could be interpreted in different ways, but the consistencies keep poppin' up."

She shook her head and wiped her tears. "That's absurd. Why then, would he bother exposing himself in the League circuit? That would seem stupid for a criminal."

"Exactly. It would seem a tad bit daft, wouldn't it? Daft enough that it absolves him of suspicion. But if you think that's all just coincidence, despite having an Alolan native on his team…Then answer me this question, May…"

"What?"

The Instinct guild master leaned in and narrowed his gaze.

"...Where do you think Grey boy' got his hands on a shiny Kirlia? And a bloody strong one at that?"

Her heart skipped a beat at that question. Spark claimed he recorded the battle…If that were true, then…Grey really did possess such a unique pokémon.

Spark continued. "Chances of running into a shiny are 1 in 8192…Rounded down, that's around 0.01%, lass…You're a Ranger, right? So you should know that the quickest way to obtain such a rarity at a more reasonable probability, is by either buyin' it, stealin' it, or huntin' it…but because public ownership of shinies is illegal without some special privilege…the 'black market' is a good start. Who else might be able to procure a shiny at the right price and sell it in said black market or via a direct channel to the client?"

"...Poachers."

"And when did the rate of poaching and smuggling crimes increase dramatically? Surely this must've come up in the ranger course."

May's clenched fists became slippery from the sweat of her nervousness. "With the first appearance of teams Magma and Aqua…"

"Ahh…So tell me…If someone were to have a unique ability, something that could label them as…'special', for lack of a better word…Don't you think that would make such activities a lot easier?"

May gasped at the possibility and again her breath quivered as she creased her brow in frustration, glaring at Spark. "No! It can't be!"

"Then explain why Blanche, the leader of the Mystic guild, quickly allowed Grey, despite his budding new membership, to partake in the warehouse mission? And then overlook his 'solo' act? That doesn't seem to add up."

"I'm sure you've overlooked some questionable acts for your own members, Spark. Don't take me for a stupid little girl, having a position like yours also grants you some exclusive privilege, no?"

He chortled at that. "Sure, maybe…" He became serious again. "But not when it involves killing people, May. Look what happened at the warehouse. Look what happened with the cruise. And with regards to Rusturf valley, what was Team Rocket doing fighting with Rico in the first place? They're also part of a dangerous criminal organization that involves themselves in the same sort of terrorism. Kanto and Johto have a lot to say about that particular group. Now they're in Hoenn…And yet you lied about them, May…You let them go."

"No, I…One of them saved my life!"

"And Grey saved your life too. That doesn't absolve him of suspicion either."

"What do you fucking want from me!?" She shrieked, tears renewing and flowing, so utterly lost and boggled by everything thrown at her.

Firm hands grabbed her shoulder and gave her a gentle shake. The storm in his eyes now became a calm, welcoming, and forgiving oasis reflecting her image.

"What I want from you, May, is to start taking your new role as a Pokémon ranger seriously and help me help you, by telling me everything you know about Grey…And in exchange, not only will I destroy all the evidence I have of you associating with Team Rocket and lying about em'…But…"

"But what?" She mustered through her tears and keening.

"I'll even tell you his real name…"

What?

"That's right. 'Grey', even lied to you about his name. He's lied to all of us…And if you don't believe me? Then when you next meet him, call him by this same name…and see how he reacts."

May breathed in, with a maddening desire to relieve her itching curiosity and the wounds she earned from the terrible burden of keeping the secrets of others.

The tears kept rolling as her lips trembled…

…Spark watched the girl run out of the park still crying her eyes out as though she had just endured the cruelest breakup of her life.

It made him want to punch himself…But he had to do it. It was for her own good.

Who would have thought that interrogating a sensitive yet stubborn little girl and deconstructing her for information to the point that it made her cry, could be so much harder than it was to physically torture a tough raggedy criminal for information of equal importance.

With a long-drawn-out exhalation from the intense session, he dialed a number and put his mobile to his ear.

"Yeah, boss man? I've just confirmed it…It's positively worth keeping him alive…Yeah, I suppose that would be better for us both...Right'o, looks like I'll have to keep at it. Actually, I've got a good idea that'll make him come round', but it's risky and I'd need to iron out the kinks and make some calls first…Righty'o, I'll let ya' know."

He hung up and gazed at the afternoon sky, wondering…

Why's 'he' so bloody obsessed with the man? He acts like the world will end or something if he doesn't get what he needs from him…But after what May just told me, look's like I get to reap some benefits too.

Everybody wins…

Well, except for Blanche…and that's for the best…

...May met the boys at the pokémon center, and after they confirmed they had a center lodge, she snatched the key from Brock's hand declaring she needed to be alone for a while, barely restraining her weeping while ignoring their concerned protest and Kips' squalling in worry, dashed across the halls toward the room, barged in, and slammed the door.

She sucked in the air, dropped her backpack, and slowly let it all out, mourning and blubbering while sliding down the door and hitting the carpet; limp as a ragdoll.

For a solid couple of minutes, she cried, thankful that no one had followed her and just left her alone.

"Why…Why did this have to happen?"

Yes, the man she thought she knew to be 'Grey' had lied to her about his name…But his good acts weren't fake…They just couldn't be…Right?

Or was it all an act to get her off his back? Was that why he decided to go alone to Rustboro and not join up with them on their journey? Might he have changed his mind about being too old if Brock were part of their group from the start?

She shook her head.

No. He wouldn't want other people finding out about Ginger, his combusken…Or 'the' combusken as he didn't claim ownership of pokémon with any pokéballs.

Was Spark just trying to villanize him in an attempt to shut down the Mystic guild for political gain? Or was it really for her own good?

Either way…Lie or no lie…She betrayed the man who had gone out of his way to not only rescue her at Oldale but also helped her with Kips and inspire her with his advice…All because she wanted to keep her future intact.

Would he have agreed with her decision?

'...Let's just say, it might paint a target on my back. You know, corporate and human blackmail and all that…'

Either way, he was in more danger than ever now, and it was all her fault…He could be innocent. Though the mad demeanor he had displayed back at the crossroads planted a few seeds of doubt in her mind…His skills, and his gifts with all of his decisions…

There was only one way to be sure…

And that would be to speak with him again. Not by phone, and she didn't have his number anyway though she could get it off Professor Birch…But it wouldn't be nearly as satisfying.

She sniffed and wiped her face with her sleeve, before pulling out her pokédex, but as she did so, something flat and pointy fell out of her pocket. The dimness of the room didn't allow her to see it, so she turned on the light on her phone and illuminated the object.

It was a black business card with golden borders:

'Instinct Leader Guild. 'Pokémon and Humanity as one'.

'Spark Lighton, Instinct Guild Master.'

May flipped the card and there was a triangular logo consisting of the profile of a yellow bird with jagged wings and plumage. On top of it all was a note scribbled in white ink:

PS: Don't throw away!

You might need it, coz' I might need you again.

Let's help each other, darl.

The sentence ended with a crudely drawn smiley face…

May growled at the fact that Spark had already anticipated everything…but against her better judgment, she decided to keep the card.

Ignoring it for now, she focused on her pokédex and sifted through the photo gallery, flicking through some pictures she took with Ruby back at Lilycove, Ash and Pikachu on their ventures, and some new ones with Brock in the group while in Rustboro.

Then she landed on the picture she wanted.

It was a screenshot of the man whose life she saved once, and who saved hers once in return. He stood there in the arena where she had recently stood, in his immaculate new outfit, stretching his arm out and commanding his pokémon partners with the authority of a general at the front lines, and the stance of a commander focused on the battle with a fierceness in his amber eyes like that of an arcanine's during a hunt…

No. She needed to meet him again, and call him by the 'phony name' that Spark provided so that she could see an expression of confusion and confirm that the man truly was who he said he was…

And then tell Grey how she betrayed him…

…