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being a ranger meant that there was always some task that needed completion out there in the world. whether it was a big natural disaster or a small-time incident in a local city, rangers had to be ready to answer the call. tonight, mika was assigned to investigate the supposedly "haunted outpost" near fortree city. there were always rumors of places being haunted, but she was surprised that fortree took that kind of rumor seriously. the community was built in the trees, so there were always loud noises or unexpected things happening in the night. yet it wasn't her place to question orders. [break][break]

as she entered the outpost, duffel bag swung over her shoulder, she was greeted by another fellow ranger. "it's nice to meet you, oliver. my name is mika nakayama, but just mika is fine." she glanced around the outpost, already looking for signs of danger. nothing yet. "i'll go and put my things away, first." they headed upstairs, and took the first room on the right-hand side as their own. then, they set down their stuff down on their bed, and returned downstairs to where oliver was. [break][break]

"do you have any idea what the source of the haunting could be?" mika was no good at small talk, so she figured that they could at least talk about the mission together. "it sounds like a classic case of a ghost-type pokemon to me."

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"you've got a point. we should be prepared for anything." she nodded along as oliver listed possible causes of the "haunting." if it was some immature kids behind it all, at least they could straighten them out before they made it a bigger problem for other people. but if it was team rocket, somehow, then that posed a bigger problem. at least mika was battle-ready, with two of her stronger pokemon on her team, and one of her most eager learners (her vulpix) as a third member, as well. [break][break]

perhaps it was too hopeful to think that the outpost had been fully stocked before their arrival. even though mika had some snacks in her overnight bag, it surely wouldn't suffice for two humans and their various pokemon. "no allergies here. as for preferences, i'll eat most anything, so please feel free to choose what you'd like, instead." and she wasn't just being nice, she really didn't have any preferences for food — if anything she had a taste for certain teas and coffees, but stuff like that wasn't important during missions like these. [break][break]

"i appreciate you going out on our behalf. i'll make sure to hold the fort while you're gone." she nodded at oliver as he left. when oliver's boltund and day-form lycanroc went outside to patrol, mika brought out her current pokemon, as well: hydreigon, musharna, and her vulpix. she kept the vulpix near her, but told musharna and hydreigon to keep an eye out. hopefully oliver's pokemon wouldn't find anything too concerning, but mika made sure her and her pokemon stayed inside to watch over everything just in case.

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two hours later, and everything seemed just as peaceful as oliver had left it. no strange noises, no signs of movement, no signals from his patrolling pokemon that anything was wrong. were the rumors just rumors, after all? or were they just lucky that nothing had happened yet? [break][break]

"nothing yet," mika said. "let me help you put some of these things away." he came back well-stocked for their venture. mika was good at preparing food, but her cooking was only a little bit above-average. perhaps that lent itself to the reason why she wasn't picky with food: she had no right to complain when her own cooking was just okay! [break][break]

she threw in a couple of frozen pizzas into the oven. mika also handed out the pokemon food to everyone, saying hello to oliver's boltund and lycanroc. she made sure her own pokemon were well-fed, and was about to ask oliver a question, when—[break][break]

smash! the sound of broken glass echoed from the second floor. mika glanced in the direction of the stairs, then back to oliver. "you don't think that could be...?" thunk! the sound of something heavy, like a pokemon or burglar, resonated above them. [break][break]

looks like those rumors weren't just rumors, after all! [break][break]

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oliver's quiet suggestion didn't go unnoticed by mika. she nodded in agreement that in closed quarters, smaller pokemon were more beneficial to have. besides, if he was going to let dragonite stay on the first floor and send his canine pokemon into action, mika felt like she couldn't slack off, either. "hydreigon, you stay down here and make sure nothing comes in, okay? musharna and vulpix, this way." [break][break]

she followed closely behind oliver, but not too close since she didn't want to bump into him and vice versa. they had to admit that they were impressed with oliver's baton, and how he seemed just as ready for a fight as his pokemon were. it was something that mika hadn't yet gotten used to doing herself, as she had a habit of relying solely on her pokemon for self-defense. perhaps this was a sign from the universe to train her own self, too, and not just keep up the regular exercise on an almost-daily basis like she'd been doing all her life. [break][break]

as they crept up the stairs, mika could hear the distant shouts of oliver's canine pokemon. it sounded like they were engaged in a battle with wild pokemon on the outside of the outpost. perhaps one of the wild pokemon got inside, too? "there's something up ahead," mika whispered. she turned to her musharna beside her and nodded, then reached down to gently pat her vulpix, and told her to be prepared, as well. [break][break]

then at the end of the hall, where the lights had mysteriously flickered off, three distinct shapes could be seen in the shadows. when the moonlight entered through a gaping wide-open window, it was obvious what the shapes were. a sneasel, a banette, and a haunter. so those were the pokemon causing trouble for everyone else! [break][break]

mika wanted to say something, but the wild pokemon attacked first. the three of them focused three different shadow ball attacks into one big one, and sent it spiraling down the hallway, looking to hurt mika and oliver... [break][break]

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there was a benefit to the rumors being sourced to pokemon, and that was the fact that pokemon, unlike human spirits, could be dealt with. mika was about to spring into action herself, until she felt oliver's strong grip drag her into one of the rooms in the hallway, the giant shadow ball passing in the space they had been occupying before. once the miasma had passed, oliver and mika returned to the hallway, and faced the mischievous pokemon head-on. [break][break]

in oliver's case, he was very literal and hands-on — a fighting type if mika had ever seen one. he held his own against the wild sneasel, who seemed surprised that a human would fight with their own skill rather than rely on pokemon. their fight escalated, and before mika knew it, her fellow ranger was tossed to the ground and the unruly sneasel with him, him straining to tell her to ward off the other two while she still could. [break][break]

"alright. musharna, use psychic on the haunter! and vulpix, attack banette with confuse ray!" on her command, mika's pokemon attacked the wild ones. her musharna wiggled in the air, a powerful psychic aura enveloping the laughing haunter at once, the ghost-type pokemon's grin falling as it realized what was happening. then musharna squeezed the haunter with psychic energy, knocking it out instantly. as for vulpix, she confused the banette, and soon the rag doll pokemon started hitting its own head with its hands, groaning out of bewilderment. [break][break]

feeling bad for the banette, mika told both her musharna and vulpix to hit it with psychic energy. "psychic and extrasensory, now!" and their dual attack would overwhelm the banette, and send the confused pokemon down the end of the hallway, dizzy and exhausted. mika breathed a sigh of relief: finally. [break][break]

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it was a little relieving to see that the wild pokemon and the rangers' pokemon all got along well once the battle was out of the way. hydreigon proved too intimidating for some of the baby pokemon, but thankfully musharna and vulpix were friendly enough, instead. after a few hours, the wild pokemon were all asleep, and mika was left with oliver as the two decided where they'd relocate the wild pokemon. it was true that the ghost-type pokemon would prefer somewhere isolated, like mt. pyre, but the ice-type sneasels would probably thrive in a colder climate. [break][break]

after a moment of consideration, mika pointed at a particular spot on the map. "we could also go for sky pillar. it's isolated enough that the ghosts would do well, and sometimes it's cold there, too." it was a shame that sootopolis city was harder to get into as league members, because the route outside of the city was a perfect location, too. "otherwise i think shoal cave should be fine. ghosts thrive pretty much anywhere, don't they?" [break][break]

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