The Delibirds were at it once more.

And they were being stubborn old codgers as usual! What the hell was wrong with that?!

Lars sighed—remembering that this was one of the very first missions he had undertaken as a rookie Ranger years ago, and one that still called to him with each passing year. The attempt the previous year involved having to sic a Doublade on the stubborn old bird that he had to escort, and only at sword point did the stubborn Pokémon finally yield to the humans helping the codger down the side of Mount Chimney.

It was the same place, however it was… wait…

“You again?” Lars said, unimpressed, as he recognized the barmy old Delibird that he’d encountered last year. He knew it was this particular one because this oyaji of a bird had a certain bunch of feathers that were always stuck up in the completely wrong direction atop its head, like a hair fringe.

“Why don’t you retire and let another Delibird deliver this?!” he continued, resisting the urge to eye roll the damned thing, because holy fucking shit, were they going to be yelling at each other again before the damned Pokémon finally gave in to the cry of help and let the human move the sack for him?!

Seriously, this is getting to be so damn stupid, he thought crossly, looking around. The HQ said they were going to be sending someone along to assist, but who the hell were they deploying?

Little did he know it was going to be someone he would… rather forget.

Whoops.