alia's head snaps to the sound of the newcomer's voice, greeted by a blonde woman with a goomy on her shoulder. she skims the woman up and down, quickly taking note of the latter's open body language. marine blue orbs stay on sierra for a few moments longer before they lose their intensity, and alia's shoulders also drop with the loss of tension.  [break][break]

"yes, i'm alia - it's nice to meet you." alia extends a hand towards the blonde, offering a friendly handshake. the woman appeared harmless enough, alia thinks, and her sense of judgment was usually pretty good. at the sight of their trainer's amiable demeanor, the two pokemon step down as well, their original hostility fading away. the marshtomp even lifts a fin to say hello, waving at the newcomers eagerly.[break][break]

the ranger tilts her head down to watch the amphibian affectionately before she turns back towards sierra. "cute goomy you have there. are you a ranger or officer?" she asks with a smile in return, the edges of her eyes crinkling like the tousled folds of a soft blanket. while it wasn't unheard of for civilians to roam around these areas, alia didn't think the higher ranks would send a regular citizen to a mission that had the potential to be as dangerous as this one. 
[break][break]

+ Sierra Benoit [break]

+ +10 MP for IC post (70 MP total)

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

a news reporter, huh? alia considers the woman in front of her, noting the self-deprecation edge in the woman's voice. "hey, that's pretty cool! i've never met a reporter before. you should tell me more about it as we deliver our messages." she says, voice coated in honey-rich warmth. whether sierra believed her or not, alia's casual request dripped with sincerity - it was always delightful for her to hear about other people's lifework. she wished that she was two feet deep into her passions as well, because contrary to what most people expect, she wasn't sure if ranger work was anything more than a crutch. [break][break]

"that's good to hear. between the two of us, i'm sure we'll be able to fight off anything that comes at us." alia chuckles, amused by the goomy's act of bravado. "shall we?" she tilts her head before she begins trekking forward, the beginning of a long journey. [break][break]

"so, what's it like being a reporter? do you have any crazy stories?" she asks, deep brown pools flickering over to the blonde. her fletchinder swoops forward to take the lead, ready to alert the group at the first sign of danger. [break][break]

+ Sierra Benoit [break]

+ +10 MP for IC post (70 MP total)

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

for a brief moment in time, alia gets to explore the world through sierra’s eyes, the spectacle flashing by her like a rough montage. while beautiful and peculiar occurrences were no stranger in her field of work, happening to encounter the events was tremendously different from chasing after them, and alia has never played the role of the chaser. she’s never allowed herself to take that leap of faith and reach for the stars, instead rooting herself in the safety net of the ground, allowing the tides of life to shape her however they pleased. alia thinks that maybe it will always be this way. [break][break]

until she meets people like sierra, that is, who seems to burn big and bright and unapologetic and confidently controls the reins of their own life. they crash into alia’s undisturbed landscapes like a meteorite, shaking her to the core and threatening to unleash the fiery plumes that alia suppresses, scared that the flames would ultimately leave her burned.[break][break]

“well, between team rocket and all the other crazy phenomena out here, i'm sure you won’t run out of opportunities to share an interesting story.” she says with a soft laugh. despite being a newcomer to hoenn, she had been there long enough to know about the strange occurrences throughout the region, such as mega evolution. “do you have a dream story that you would want to cover?” [break][break]

alia grins when sierra returns the question back to her, rummaging her brain for her wildest tales. “oh, you really do see some of the craziest things as a ranger, even when you’re a rookie like me.” she says, eyes laughing as she reminisces on the last couple of months. “some are downright silly, like when an illegal arbok breeder accidentally lost control of his ekans swarm and we spent hours just trying to get hundreds of baby snakes in control. I’m not the biggest snake fan, mind you, so those were a couple traumatizing hours.”[break][break]

besides her, the marshtomp cries in agreement, mild disgust filling his own features. alia pats the amphibian sympathetically. “others were definitely much more terrifying - dragon rampages are always tough to deal with, but usually they’re triggered by insensitive human activity. it’s upsetting to see, really, how a lot of the cases we see are a result from the human hand.” as she spoke, a slight frown creases against her temples. although human carelessness with nature was an all-too-common occurrence, it didn’t make it any less upsetting for alia to witness.[break][break][break]

+ Sierra Benoit [break]

+ +10 MP for IC post (80 MP total)[break]
+ mentioned mega evolution for brewing potions [break]

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

it was refreshing talking to someone that wasn't a fellow ranger, reminding alia that the world was full of people with all sorts of aspirations. life never felt more hopeful than moments like these, when the human experience seemed like it was brimming with endless possibilities. "you're so right," she says, uplifted by the reporter's words. despite their short time together, alia thinks she quite enjoys sierra's company. "we're all doing the best with the cards that we're dealt with, and that should count for something." [break][break]

the feel-good ambience doesn't last long, however, as it gets shattered by the fletchinder's piercing cry. at the warning, two strangers step out of the thicket, their galarian weezing and ariados a few steps behind. alia feels the hair on her neck rise at the sight of the menacing men, tensing up as she prepares for what's about to come next. [break][break]

"well, look what we have here." one of the grunts drawls. he lifts his chin and holds his chest high, an unconscious attempt to appear more intimidating. "if you girls want to leave here alive, give us whatever intel you have. and i know you guys have your hands on something valuable - you wouldn't be here otherwise." he cuts in as alia parts her lips to object. his eyes narrow suspiciously at the two women in front of him. [break][break]

"oh, that's funny. we were expecting you to hand over your intel." alia says instead, scoffing. she surprises herself when the words leave her lips without a second thought, unsure by the sudden surge of bravery. she usually ran much more avoidant and non-confrontational, but she was grateful for her unusual audacity. fake it til you make it, right? [break][break]

the young ranger shifts her gaze towards sierra, deep honey brown meeting sky blue. "looks like we won't be leaving here without a fight." she says. the marshtomp and fletchinder slip into their respective battle stances, ready to lunge at alia's command. "you ready for this?" 

+ Sierra Benoit [break]

+ +10 MP for IC post (90 MP total)[break]

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

the grunts glance at each other as the tyranitar roars ferociously, attempting to overpower the field in both sound and physique. if they were intimidated, however, they didn't show it and instead leap right into battle. almost immediately, thick plumes of smoke pour out of the galarian weezing's tubes, the smokescreen swiftly permeating the field to conceal themselves from alia and sierra. [break][break]

alia gets to work quickly herself. "fletchinder, razor wind!" she calls out amidst coughs, the smoldering fog stinging both eyes and lungs alike. the bird responds at once, large amber wings cutting through smog to whip up hostile winds. it only did them some good, however, the gusts only managing to clear out a small section in front of them. only time was going to help dissipate the rest of the smog.[break][break]

as the fletchinder continues its fight against the smoke, the opposing pokemon launched the second part to their strategy. hiding behind the smokey safety net, the galarian weezing fires out a large venomous blob of goop towards its foes, hoping to distract the trainers as the ariados sneaks up from behind to land a poison jab. distracted by the sludge bomb, alia and her pokemon fail to notice the incoming spider as they counter the acid with a streamlined hydro pump, preventing the group from being poisoned. [break][break]

+ Sierra Benoit [break]

+ +10 MP for IC post (100 MP total)[break]

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

the combination of rain, wind, and general commotion cleared the smog further, revealing hints of the weezing and grunts' whereabouts. "good catch!" alia says breathlessly as sierra and her pokemon intercept the ariados. she was feeling more grateful than ever that her supervisors had assigned her a partner today - while the battle was currently in their favor, it could have easily not been the case if she had been fighting off the men on her own. and how embarrassing would that be, to fail her second league-assigned mission?[break][break] 

confident that sierra would handle the spider, alia continues to concentrate her efforts in defeating the weezing. it felt like such a stereotypical pokemon for rocket grunts to own, alia muses, with it's sickly polluting appearance like a physical manifestation of the evils of the organization. "okay, ino - let's get them with a surf." the ranger commands, stepping back as soon as the words leave her lips. [break][break]

the amphibian summons a tidal wave over his head, the small tide bubbling as it increased in ferocity. as soon as the tide reached its full capacity, the marshtomp swings it with a heavy hand. the tidal wave surges over the grunts and weezing, brutally washing over them and swallowing them whole within mere seconds. the men come out of the attack sputtering and hacking, hair clinging uncomfortably against their temples and pools of salty water spilling out of their lungs. "that was a dirty move." one of them growls out loud, squinting at alia through the fog.[break][break]

as the weezing and fletchinder proceed to fight tooth and nail through aggressive gusts of air, pink shimmery fairy wind against transparent razor wind, the grunt subtly adds a banette into the equation. the ghost silently vanishes into thin air, prepared to ambush the girls with a phantom force once the time was right...[break][break]

+ Sierra Benoit [break]

+ +10 MP for IC post (110 MP total)[break]

[attr="class","pokeclass"]