‘Volunteer’ was probably a bit far-fetched. Shizu was just about the opposite of a ranger by being a Rocket scientist, often cooped up in labs. However, she had been randomly given a Snom, so she was trying to see what this would do and figured earning some extra money would help with that. Plus, she was not the kind of Rocket that needed to always go for the evil option or anything like that. Sure, she was just as likely to help someone than poison them. But that also meant that sometimes she would simply help, too.

It helped that all of this seemed rather easy. Having put on her white coat, red hat and black scarf, she looked like she had prepared somewhat for this, too. There was a brief period of trying to figure out where to go, but that did not last for too long. After all, it was easy to spot a group of pokemon with adjacent ranger waiting for her. Hence, she made her way towards that person in the snow.
“Good day…..to you,” she started, a light smile on her face. “I am here to….help, yes. That was….it.”

A young lady approached the group, also dressed for the unusual weather. His first impression was...was she really a volunteer? The stutter and nervousness was not a good sign. Still, he wasn't going to suspect her of anything yet. Her oddities notwithstanding, he returned the smile. "Good morning! I'm Oliver Shrakes." He put his hand out for a handshake before getting into business. And a plan that changed slightly, but hopefully won't be too bad. "Nice to meet you. So, we're to escort these guys to a shelter to weather out this odd weather. It's not terribly far, but the road there is treacherous, I've heard. I'll have you and my Dragonite take point, if you don't mind. He can act as a guide and bulldoze through most obstacles. Try to keep an eye on the mountain, I've heard there's been a fair amount of avalanches and mudslides lately. We'll take things slow, and just keep your eyes and ears about you. I'll pull up the rear and make sure everyone is keeping up. Don't worry too much, Dragonite is extremely reliable. With any luck, we'll get to the shelter well before dinner. Any questions or concerns?"

Normally, he'd rather be up front. But with that weird introduction, just to be safe, he'd let her take point. With his back turned, she could easily capture/snag a bunch of pokemon with his back turned. Leaving Dragonite with her also made sure that she was protected if it really was just her being nervous.

Shizue Murasaki

Oh, right, a handshake. She gave him her own gloved one in return with little hesitation beyond the surprise. As far as she was concerned, Shizue wasn’t really nervous or anything. In fact, her gaze was steady and a bit contemplative. But she did not like talking too fast or anything like that, always taking her time, always seeming on the very verge of being distracted.

Just like she was now distracted from the boy by his pokemon, which seemed infinitely more interesting. It was a Dragonite, if she got the species correctly, one of the most iconic dragon types. While she was not too much into the type, she had to admit that it was impressive in bulk and projected strength. Though she did partially remember that she was talking to someone. “Shizue,” she plainly stated, simply assuming that he would know that it was a name to begin with.
Then, she patted the Snom riding on her shoulder. “It seems…..fine so far, really. I have other pokemon….too, though they don’t like the cold very much. I will only bring them out if need be….if that is alright.” Granted, that was not really much of a question. She’d already decided on such.

But since he was all but giving her his Pokemon, she figured that it would be fine. And fortunately, she was not in full on Rocket mode, so she’d not even steal it if she got a chance. Instead, she patted the big thing and started moving, figuring they could at least get going and talk while walking instead.

She did give a handshake, with less hesitation than he expected. And introduced herself after giving his buddy an appraising glance. Pretty name for a pretty lady. Even though he wasn't into them. Shizue patted her cute Snom riding on her shoulder while speaking to him. Nodding, he wasn't going to object. "To be fair, Dragonite doesn't either. But he's tough, and can handle it if need be. So long as it's the right Pokemon for the job, I don't mind. If you don't have any questions, let's get started." It seemed that she didn't have any. She even patted Dragonite, who gave her a cheesy grin.

After a little encouragement, he got the group to follow the blonde lady. Dragonite stayed on the ground for this one. With the high speed flying he tended to do, it would likely cause an avalanche. Reckless attacks did as well. The path was jagged, and glazed over with snow. Oliver did had to quickly jump in to catch a falling Machop after it slipped on some ice. "Watch out for ice!" Hopefully the other Pokemon, and Shizue, would keep an eye on where they were stepping. After saving the Machop from a forty foot drop, they moved on. Though odd noises could also be heard. Dragonite put up a fist for them to stop, and looked towards the mountain, to see if an avalanche or a mudslide was coming...

Shizue Murasaki

The Dragonite best be sure of what it did. Shizue knew enough about Pokemon types to tell that Ice was pretty much its biggest weakness, after all. That just meant they would have to make sure that ti did not get into too many fights with wild ones. No matter how strong it was, those of the wild certainly could overcome it in sufficient numbers.

Best not to test that theory, though. Shizu walked alongside it, keeping a close watch over the nearby Pokemon. Almost she moved when she saw a Machop sliding – but the other already moved and in a volatile situation like that, she definitely did not want to add to the chaos. Instead, she kept to herself, guiding one of the other small ones that almost fell, but was stabilized with the guiding touch of a hand.
However, she did not get to move along, for the Dragonite stopped her. She heard the noises, too. “What do you think….Snom?” She asked the little frozen bug and it mewled in response, seemingly worried for a moment but ultimately calming down. Whatever this was, it at least didn’t seem like mortal danger to this one.

While Dragonite didn't detect anything, attention went to the cutie that was the Snom on Shizue's shoulder. When the noises stopped, and the little Pokemon seemingly gave their approval, they moved on. The two Torkoal on Onix's back were doing fine, as was the rock snake they were riding on. Turning a corner, on the far end of their path, was snow and who knows what blocking it. Maybe it was an avalanche. Dragonite went ahead and kept going. "There might be other debris in there, beyond just the snow. If we're going to remove it, we need to do so carefully. No carelessly applying heat or digging..."

Dragonite nodded, and with a raised fist, activated his Fire Punch. He experimentally moved it close to the snow, and just slowly melted it. He soon stopped though, and glared at the ground. Shaking his head, Dragonite looked back at the trainers. If they melted the snow, it would only make the path unstable, and create a mudslide that would also destroy the path. Looking at the Pokemon, Ollie thought for a moment. His dragon was hardly his only flyer...he also had a Bravairy. They could simply go around the blocked path. But that would then leave the Onix behind. Digging through the mountain was risky, too.

But it might be their only shot. "Any ideas, Shizue?"

Shizue Murasaki

Another obstacle. Made sense. If those didn’t exist, they would not be needed here aside from maybe chaperoning a few possibly unruly pokemon. However, when something like this turned up, human intellect and ingenuity would be necessary. Not that Pokemon were stupid by nature. Far from it. A lot of them could intuit solutions that even the smartest woman could not come up with in the same timeframe. It just was what it was.
However, when it came to more complex issues, then a few humans controlling Pokemon could certainly do better than a band of them with differing approaches and such. They could act reasonably well in such a situation.

And she put a hand to her chin, thinking briefly, when her partner with the big and useful Pokemon called for input. It was obvious that he was considering using the Dragonite express. That was suitable, though a quite bothersome approach. Plus, it would create issues with looking after the Pokemon too, since they’d have to split up. “Well…..we can always fly them over anyway….so there is no harm trying…..melt it, have it slide and hope it fills up reasonably…..then we can freeze everything over again with Snom….hope for a more even distribution.”

Brynnhildr Erling

Looking over the path, then back down...that was his worry. Letting it fall, then refreezing it with Snom wasn't bad...but long term was the issue. But he had a few ideas on how to fix it more permanently, if it was within their means later. "All right then. I just hate to cause more work for others..." He released his Bravairy. "Brave, try to follow the path if a mudslide might occur, then go down and warn anyone and anything of the impending potential danger. I'm sure they know by now, but it doesn't hurt to be safe. Then let us know when it's good to start melting." The big birb screeched in confirmation, and set about his task.

First, Bravairy flew over to where the mound of ice and snow was, then headed down, following it's likely course. It took about twenty minutes of just warning Pokemon that were in the area of the potential, and to leave for a bit. No one was around at the base of the mountain, thankfully. Coming up, Brave nodded at Dragonite. The dragon powered up his fire punch, and began again, keeping a close eye on his footing. And how deep he was melting at once. The ground was definitely getting squishy and soggy. Watching carefully, Ollie looked at the collection of Pokemon. Luckily, none of them had such high body temperatures that they would melt the ice naturally. Still, he would have to be on guard, as would Brave.

It took a while longer, but Dragonite melted a soggy mess. There was a couple of small boulders, but nothing else in there. Looking at Shizue, he nodded at her to do her part. Hopefully the final stretch would be smoother...

Shizue Murasaki

“Way I see it…..the work was already caused by someone else….” She replied, trailing off towards the end. She could never understand people like this, really. To feel bad about not completely satisfactorily resolving an issue they had not caused. Were they sorry for the days in this season ending so early, too? Of course not. Yet, when it came to a less abstract issue like this where a solution at least seems possible, but in the moment only a second-best one is available, they suddenly get antsy.

It was the same though, as far as she was concerned. Hence, she did not seem perturbed at all, simply observing proceedings with her hands clasped behind her back. Not like she had that much to do. Lacking both a flier and a fire, she had not much to do other than quietly preparing the little Snom for its task. That Ice Type was not exactly the strongest, only having recently come into her care to begin with. But she could tell that it was trying and that it would continue to try. That was good enough for the time being.
“Now now, you can do this,” she encouraged it once more, slowly, before getting up from her squatting position and nodding back towards the young man. Snom would then proceed to fire multiple Powder Snows in an attempt to ensure that everything was sufficiently frozen over for anyone to walk on it.

There wasn’t really a telling as to whether or not it had worked, but Shizue was quite certain of it. Hence, she swiftly took a few steps onto the ice, carefully yet determined. If she left it to the boy, he would probably hesitate and ponder the matter, when the only choice they had was obviously to try. Hence, she did so anyway. “Seems to….hold.”

The Snom used powder snow to freeze the sopping mess. After Shizue went over it, and said her piece, Oliver also moved over and tried it out. It did indeed hold. Nodding, he started to move the Pokemon again, but only one at a time. With Onix last, since it was easily the heaviest one of the bunch. Thankfully, it held even then, though it was cracked. Still, mission successful. Moving on forward, it seemed that they didn't have any more issues. And the trade off to the new, temporary habitat for the Pokemon went smoothly. Most others didn't have any issues, but there were a few that did, luckily fairly minor like theirs. The volunteers were given a hot meal as thanks for their work.

Shizue Murasaki