Maybe she should've settled for a smaller handgun, but something about a big 'fuck you' revolver spoke to her. Even if the kick threatened to dislocate several unknown bones in her hands and wrist, it was all worth the feel of it.

BANG!

Miss.

BANG!

Glass exploded all over the short wood table as June's careful shot landed. It felt silly to wear safety glasses, as the one guy in that Gun Safety Class recommended, but she did appreciate the advice about ear plugs. Instead of rocking her brain tissue and giving her bad tinnitus, the sound muffled loudly against her ears.

She moved the barrel slowly to the next target. No need to rush things-- she'd be out here plenty often anyway. Off in the corner of the massive Mauville Ranger HQ lot, where the other rangers rarely frequented. Opposite end from all the Pokémon, though, so she didn't have to deal with complaints about that. To play it safe, she'd had her Garchomp dig up the earth behind the makeshift target range.

Now, instead of random trees and grass and brush, all her shots thudded into the dirt and created its own secondary explosion. Much more muffled and less exciting than the glass. But satisfying all the same. And it meant she didn't have to worry about hitting something she didn't want to.

BANG! Miss.

BANG! Hit.

Once more, the barrel shifted. BANG, BANG!

Hit. Unnecessary shot. Fuck. She pulled back her stiff, tv-static-filled hands and carefully pulled back on the cylinder release. It fell to the side, and six bullets clattered over the rickety old table she used. "Fifty-fifty ain't awful..."

Her vision flashed back to the Giant Chasm. Her side flared up as she recalled how the Rocket that tried to murder annalise henderson only needed the one. First try. Barely aimed. Her wallet cringed as she dug her fingers into the paper box next to her, for another handful of rounds. She grimaced. "Not good enough."

---

paxton concordas

When June heard Shalin start to return from her little solo ‘expedition’, she’d just gotten through the nails of her right hand. It’s all she could help but do, so far down into the earth. It didn’t help ease her anxiety, but it sure did keep it from getting worse. “Good job, I guess.”

“A-and I’m not worried about the Boldore,” she said as they went into the big room. As Shalin predicted, the crystalline-rock hybrids only had to get one good look at the Kommo-o before they fled with red crystals tucked between their legs. A few Roggenrola and even a massive Gigalith, the parent, kept their distance from the dragon.

And it did help to enter such a massive part of the cave. It felt like ten pounds of the five-hundred lifted from her shoulders. She recalled her Gible (didn’t want anymore accidents) and took a slightly more satisfying mouthful of hot, dry, rotten-egg air. She coughed it out immediately.

“Arceus, the smell– let’s just keep going,” June immediately bolted towards the right of the bigger cavern. “I assume you want to finish your set of rocks. And, y’know, if I were to keep a fragment of a rock somewhere…”

She gulped. “I’d put it in the lowest part, in a single-entrance cave. Since, y’know, the concept of safety is already thrown out the window.”

Seriously, how did the people who made this even get past a week without a single thought about alternative exit plans? If they all hadn't died out from the obvious cause, she would've strangled them dead herself.

The right opened up to another staircase, as said by the ancient, convoluted map. Thankfully, there weren’t any Pokémon around this entrance. “What sort of Mega-Stone you think that is? Think these dumb-fucks had one for a Pokémon that we’ve never seen before, or is it number seventeen-thousand-six-hundred-twenty-one Pidgeotite?”

---

Shalin Nariya

“You think I don’t know that?”

June’s eyes slowly came up, to meet Annalise’s own. Even if hers held guilt and regret, they were no less intense than the Head Ranger’s own. It was these emotions that kept her silent during Annalise’s own explosion, but they would not keep her silent forever. It wasn't in her system to do so.

“I fucked up, okay? Is that what you want?” She pushed herself out of the chair, careful to not twist too hard. For naught, as pain shot up her side. Her teeth gritted, but she kept on. “Not a day’s gone by where I haven’t thought about how fucking awful that was. How reckless I was.”

No matter how many times she tried to convince herself, the thought of ‘that one guy was going to try and kill you anyway’ was more of an excuse than a reason for her actions. Hindsight was twenty-twenty.

“I’m sorry.”

“But don’t think for a single damn second that I was going to let you die,” she stuck her finger into the Ranger’s chest, “because I’d rather die myself than let someone I care even remotely about die because of what I did.”

“Besides,” she limped past Annalise, to the edge of their safe zone. To the edge of the storm. Lightning crackled down from the sky, relentless. It raged against the poor, poor ground for daring to exist in the same realm as it. For all it's sins. But it takes the brunt of the force without a single hint of defiance. It knows its place.

Yet the rocky peaks reached for ever more.

“My promise…” a deep, heavy, tired, exhausted, depressed, sad sigh came out. She could do this. “My half of the promise died two years back.”

---

annalise henderson

“Oh. Then never mind,” June sipped on her drink and tossed the prospect from her mind. No point if there wasn’t any promised big payout. Sounded more like charity work– and good deeds did not pay the bills or debts. If they did, then she would’ve become a nun or something by now. Swear herself to a noble deity, run a soup kitchen, teach the blind kids how to read.

But they didn’t, so she didn’t.

“But I ain’t making it big,” June circled back around. “Just want to do my own thing and be left alone, y’know? Don’t need that many eyes.”

The prospect of her own shop, surrounded by oil and cars and seven big red toolboxes filled to the brim with as many sockets as hairs on her head. That sounded nice.

She left it at that mentally with a shake of her head. Any further, and she might break down at the bar top. Nobody wanted that, least of all herself. “Not made for it, anyway. You throw me behind the bar, and I’ll clock someone’s lights out within an hour.”

---

Camellia Lemaitre

june sleigh 's stupid dumbass Mincinno is going to Makoto Kurumi

And then the gacha Magnezone from Makoto Kurumi is going directly from June to Shred Zeppelin , so might as well cut out the middle man (me)

June flinched back as soon as Annalise raised her voice. The sudden movement rocked her water bottle, which tumbled off the small platform and rolled just out of reach. She tried to reach for it as Annalise dug into her, but the sudden flare of pain in her side stopped her in her tracks. Guess she had to settle for her rough, worn-down fingernails for any sense of comfort.

So it was about the Giant Chasm plus the third, more mysterious thing.

“Look, I’ll be the first to admit our first attempt was, well, not exactly good,” she kept her eyes firmly down on her notebook, with its scribbles and incoherent ramblings. “And, well the fight at that hole in the ground wasn’t our best either.”

That was putting it lightly. She still felt guilty of that particular mess (as much as she could for a surprise attack caused by Rocket, anyway). “But those were just… bad timing. Yea. As long as we prepare for the next fight, we’ll stand a chance.”

“See, look,” she turned her notebook around before Annalise could get another word out. There were some side-doodles, notably of a very fucked-up representation of a Mega-Garchomp and a big Regieleki with a frowny face where its dots should’ve been. She pointed to it with the chewed end of her pencil, “Ground is immune to Electric moves. So if we throw enough of those at it, and hit it hard enough, we should be fine. Plus, if we can inhibit its moves or power some other way, even better.”

She’d done her homework this time around. As much time as she could force herself to stare down into the book that made her yawn or staring at strategy wikis was put into this. And even if it wasn’t amazing, she had time to improve upon it. There wouldn't be a second monumental disaster. There couldn't be. 

“Besides, I made a promise to D–... someone very important to me,” her mouth dipped slightly, and her voice softer. “I-I-I have to do this. I need to."

---

annalise henderson

JUNE SLEIGH'S INFAMY FILE

PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE X PRIVATE KNOWLEDGE

INTRODUCTORY BLURB

THE DELIVERY-GIRL

Born and raised Hoennite, June Sleigh lived with her father Gabe for her entire life. No mother, but that was okay-ish. Just meant she got to hang out around the shop all the time. Gave her a head start on being a mechanic, after Dad. The years went by in a hurry, and before she knew it she had an Auto-Mechanics associates degree, a new apartment, and the support of the most important person in her life.

And then... then...

Now, she runs a small delivery business with a little bit of illegal stuff on the side. Workaholic, but no matter how much she grinds her sanity against the whetstone, that big red number doesn't seem to get any smaller. At her wits end, really. But it be like that sometimes.

PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE

WHAT CAN BE LOOKED UP

- Lives in New Mauville City.
- Owns a small delivery business called 'Sleigh-Fast Delivery'. Looks to be a stand in for the big names for around the same price, but claims same-day delivery as the standard. And all the reviews agree.
- Does some contract work for the Mauville Ranger branch, underneath annalise henderson .
- Has social media accounts, but all of them stopped being updated around January 2022. Her tag was 'Junebug'.
- Active on small dingy forums for auto-advice and the Hoenn-stand in for Reddit, but rarely comments on the latter.
- On the Top 100 Global Leaderboard for 'Runaway Riders'.
- Often seen on deliveries, in the library, or at fancy coffee cafés.
- Possesses an Associates Auto-Mechanical degree.

- Shows up in a short newspaper article describing the death of Gabriel Sleigh in December of 2021.

LEAGUE KNOWLEDGE

POINTS OF INTEREST FOR THE LEAGUE FACTION

- Did delivery/messenger work for the League during the events of RT.
- Discharged from said conflict after breaking her arm. Told not to return unless she officially enrolls in their military services.
- Allowed access into the Wilds rift with supervision.
- Currently 'enrolled' in the League Ranger program, but as a contracted worker. Present for the conflict in the Giant Chasm and Area Zero.
- Has several speeding tickets, one minor assault, and one Trespassing misdemeanor on her record. Minor assault was against a Game Corner official, and trespassing was on her former father's shop (reclaimed by the bank).
- Banned from the Game Corner for assault of one of its managers.

ROCKET KNOWLEDGE

POINTS OF INTEREST FOR TEAM ROCKET FACTION

- Unknowing causing problems for Grigori Sokolov 's management.
- Has been marked as an 'unviable candidate for recruitment' after refusing the offer several times.
- Shows up very infrequently in minor drug smuggling reports, whenever grunts responsible for it get lazy or paranoid. Has not been reported failing.
- Has been seen attacking Rocket personal during conflicts, but never killing them.

PRIVATE KNOWLEDGE

PERSONAL SECRETS

- Does not know a single thing about her mom, other than her name being 'May'.
- Unknowingly, her father had a gambling addiction. Racked up massive debt underneath his name, which included the lease to the house, the shop, and her own life savings.
- All the debt was transferred to her when he passed, and took out several massive loans to pay it back. Now is indebted to the Hoenn National Bank for (INSERT RIDICULOUSLY LARGE #).
- Hates the League for their perceived incompetence, especially during the investigation of her Father's death (or proper lack thereof).
- Dislikes Rocket, but is sympathetic towards the grunts and otherwise 'pawns' of the organization.
- Knows the identities of a few grunts, as well as Admin howard slayte . Wouldn't give them up.
- Currently hunting Regieleki because of a promise to her father.
- Has bad Claustrophobia and an irrational fear of Excadrill.
- Upset that she's the only one still grieving her father's death. Pushed a lot of people out of her life over it.

Well. That was comedically unhelpful. June sighed, “It does matter, though. If it flips the speed game, then we can be proactive in dealing with it.”

Was Annalise upset about… That? In the Giant Chasm? Or was it about her old boyfriend? June had those moments, with her own thing. Every once in a while the memory or pain of it was a little stronger than normal, and it sapped the life out of her bones like a Xurkitree (stupid name, honestly) the electricity of a power plant. Entirely understandable.

Or was it a third, more mysterious thing? Regardless, might be best to leave her alone about it.

“I’ll write it down as a ‘maybe’ and we can figure it out along the way,” June put a question mark next to the move in her notebook. “My gut’s telling me it’s at least worth a shot.”

She stretched her arms and leaned back. That way, she could take a peek outside, past the dusty blue tarp. In the distance, she saw the start of a strong storm. Lighting rained down like, well, rain. A distant Power Plant, roughly the size of her thumb, withstood the cascade excellently.

“Say, didn’t you tell me you fought it a while back? What did you guys use then, to deal with it?”

Long shot, because she also thought she remembered Annalise saying they ate shit, but anything was better than nothing. Just need to get a leg up, any leg at all, and they’d be in the clear. “Oh, I saw this one move, Soak, can change a Pokémon’s type to Water. Think there’s anything big enough to use that on it?”

---

annalise henderson

PURCHASING/REDEEMING

welcome to the poké mart!

2X Premium Gachas (One from Poison Patrol Reward Track, other from doing 4 Excursions, Both Steel)(0 PD)
3X TM/TR (All three from doing 4 excursions, Magearna gets Light Screen/Reflect/Trick Room)(0 PD)
2X Ability Capsules (1 from Mochi reward track, other from Dude just trust me (Probably RT)), Receiver and Blaze to Defiant and Libero on Passimian/Cinderace respectively (0 PD)
1X Level-Up (from Power Plant #3, putting Electroweb on Cathode the Galvantula) (0 PD)

TOTAL

do come again!

0 PD