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The cabin was unexpected.[break][break]
Mid-afternoon sunlight filtered in from a canopy of thick trees, dappling the snowy thatched roof with a thousand pinpricks of light. Caleb stood just outside the perimeter of what, during the Summer, was likely a well-cared-for garden, staring at the house with a dumbfounded expression. Was there supposed to be a house here? In the middle of the woods off Route 123? They were actually pretty far from the road now...hours away, in fact.[break][break]
Caleb pulled out his phone, tried to open the Maps app. No signal. He sighed, returning the device to his pocket. Beside him, a Lokix suddenly manifested, melting stealthily out of the shadows. The nimble bug Pokémon cocked his head, as if waiting for some kind of instruction.[break][break]
But Caleb did not give any, instead continuing to observe the cabin. There was smoke coming from the chimney; someone was actively living here - on land that, according to the League government's region cartographers, didn't actually belong to anyone. Curiosity gnawed at the Ranger. How had someone so masterfully avoided government scrutiny?[break][break]
The idea of living off grid had always fascinated Caleb. It was the sort of thing that excited him and made him feel like a coward at the same time.[break][break]
He hadn't ventured into Mt. Pyre's surrounding wildlife to bother some homesteader, however. He ought to move on.[break][break]
"Let's go," he murmured to Nox, somewhat half-heartedly. "We'll just go around, then continue on our way."

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