A lot had happened in the wake of the battle at Sootopolis. Resheph and Aslan had been taken from Josh forever. Petalburg's Ranger Captain was missing, presumably behind enemy lines. Even after almost two months, searches for her had come up empty-handed. No calls or texts reached her phone. As far as the League was concerned, she was completely off grid.

Josh reined Regole, his Shiny Dragonair, toward Lutgarde Dijkstra when asked, riding alongside the Primarina. His own Primarina, Staccato, swam on their other side, chatting away with Noh. "Could be better, could be worse," he sighed, keeping the Dragonair to a steady pace that the Badge holder could keep up with easily. While the feel was much the same, Regole lacked the pep that made riding Resheph fun. "It's hard losing two Pokémon that are really special to you, you know?"

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Lutgarde agrees with a hum, looking out towards the ocean as they let their thoughts wander places for a moment. "I'm not sure what would happen if I ever lost," they speak quietly, petting Sylv's soft fur instead of replying. But also Noh, Oreo and Garnet, Epi have become close companions ... they do not surround themself with many pokémon, but a few. And their loss would probably be even more devastating, should this ever come to pass ...

"If there's anything I can help with, let me know," they add, smiling weakly as they consider the war. There's also, to their knowledge, no news on Shalin's whereabouts ... the whole region is a mess that they can only try to fix, and fix and fix until the next big thing arrives. "I think we're also closing in on the mission location," they add - they're faster than they usually travel with Josh, even at a casual speed, and especially for missions marked as urgent. Just moments to breathe before the storm hits again.

"Let's see how we can help there," they add as they pull up the mission information again. "Think it's a mix of clean-up and relocating."

Josh Devlin

Josh had been somewhat desensitized to loss. Counting Pokémon that had come back from the dead, thanks to kyle lopez and the Great One Ho-oh's mercy, he had watched one of his Pokémon die ten times. "Resheph in particular hurt a lot," the Gym Leader answered. "Before the war started, I would travel from Goldenrod to Celadon City once a week and play Voltorb Flip. It was the only game I was allowed to play there because I was under 21 at the time. I played every week for months on end until I won enough coins to buy Resheph from the prize counter." If Lutgarde knew the general demeanor of Pokémon from Game Corner facilities, particularly Rocket-run ones, they would know how challenging they were to raise.

Regole's coo was deeper than Resheph's. She was not a hyperactive schoolgirl; she was a caring and protective mother, more adept on the field of battle than on the race course. "I've already come to grips with it; as you remember, we had a funeral for Aslan at my Gym. Like I said, it doesn't make it hurt any less, but she's gone. And kyle lopez is gone, too. Without the Great One's presence, death is... much more final than it was before."

The duo did have a job to do; with Sootopolis in shambles and control of the island contested, Josh and Lutgarde were to use their water and flying Pokémon to ferry League resources from Sootopolis' outer archipelago back to Ever Grande's main island, as well as assist with smaller jobs as needed. "Might need to call my secretary once we get to the islands," he noted aloud. "I don't think Regole and Staccato alone will be able to handle this."

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"Voltorb Flip ... I don't think we had that game in Kalos, but I heard of it," Lutgarde replies with a faint grin that definitely seems more humble than they usually carry themself - the reason becoming evident with their next words, "Some friends let me play a simulation and oh man, I was so bad at that. I'm impressed you could gather enough coins - that had to be crazy expensive." And ... while never been to Johto, they assume that such establishments are run fairly the same all around the world. They've got experience with them in Kalos, as Lumiose City wasn't devoid of them either.

And then ... death. It truly seems to only continue further on, with the war being as merciless as it is. Devastating with its result, and the survivors ... could only continue on. "It is," Lutgarde nods in agreement - quiet as they do not know what further to add. They never lost so far - but when would that first time come around? It's a thought that silences them in both mind and word, before they shake their head to focus at the task ahead.

"Yeah, that's ... that's definitely more supplies than I expected," they agree, looking at the mass of things to move. They aren't prepared for such operations pokémon-wise, though Sylph could also help with simply flying over the water and dragging some behind her, too. "Let's get cracking on some while we're waiting for backup to arrive?"

Josh Devlin

"Like I said, it took weeks and weeks to win enough of a bankroll to buy Resheph," Josh reiterated as Regole swished about in the mostly calm waters. The Shiny Dragonair felt easier to control, but didn't have the kick that Resheph had. That pop from the first few tail swishes that really gets the adrenaline pumping. "You have to ramp the difficulty pretty high up to make the game profitable. It takes about the same amount of skill to count cards in Blackjack that it does to make Voltorb Flip positive value. But she was worth it. I cherished that Dragonair with every fiber of my heart."

Once the two had reached the Sootopolis archipelago, Josh gasped at the task he had to go. "There's so much here..." he trailed off as he dismounted from the Shiny Dragonair. "I'm gonna need to get some Rangers involved, too. I need to place some phone calls. Want to load up Staccato and Regole while I try to get us some additional help?" Regardless of whether they did or not, the Gym Leader would get ahold of his secretary to send some more water Pokémon into the Storage System, then to Mossdeep and Ever Grande's Rangers. Any extra muscle power the duo could get would help a lot!

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Lutgarde looks quite impressed upon the comparison with the much more known game, nodding. "That's ... very impressive. And ... She definitely sounds like someone worth every mile," they agree with a wistful smile that they let fade into silence - as they don't find anything to add, no further words to add to console such a devastating happening. It's rueful that they haven't had chance to interact with her more before ... but that's all regrets of the past that Lutgarde desperately tries not to hold onto.

There's the present, after all, a grace extended to them.

The task looks Herculean for the duo, but with more help ... "Sounds good! Let's try not to make it into overtime," Lutgarde tries a light joke as they gesture for Noh to swim around and help out as well. "Alright, let's do our best!" Focusing on work is definitely easier, and they slide into the water as well to leave Noh with more room to work, loading up himself and others. After a moment of consideration, they also whistled to get Sylph, their Togekiss, on board, since maneuvring via air would also be a great help.

"Oh, that piece might be able to hold ... Oreo, is it alright there?" The Galarian Rapidash doesn't exactly seem thrilled about balancing on a fiece of floatsam, but she neighs affirmatively. "Use Psychic to arrange some pieces of the debris, too!"

Josh Devlin

While Lutgarde was helping direct Josh's Pokémon as well as their own, the Elite Ranger and Gym Leader was busy placing phone calls to Ever Grande Ranger HQ as well as those of other nearby cities. While he wasn't able to get too much help, every Ranger they could get onboard helped. He also placed a phone call to his Gym back in Mauville to get several more of his water Pokémon on site to help the two out; much of the help he got were newer Rangers that did not have a reliable water Pokémon yet.

Once he was off the phone, Josh turned back to Lutgarde Dijkstra , watching Oreo impressively balance on a huge piece of flotsam. "You sure they're comfortable with that?" he pointed toward the psychic-type, doubt coming over him. "More power to them if so. I've got half a dozen Rangers on the way. They're wet behind the ears, so they'll be working with some of my other water Pokémon. Keep an eye out for a Ranger skiff, okay?"

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Lutgarde grins slightly lopsided at Oreo's clearly not thrilled to be here but here anyway expression, but it hasn't turned to become entirely bad - they know that look by chance, and they would rather not see their horse going haywire again. "She'd return to her ball if it becomes really unbearable, but I think she'd like to help else." While delegating many pieces of debris, the Galarian Rapidash also draws several more near her to make a bigger raft. Lutgarde's never quite warmed up to the idea of having a lot of pokémon, so everyone on their team tends to need to pull double their weight, including the ranger themself as they swim to help with organising the debris.

"Okay, very nice! Every additional hand should be help, and your pokémons're good to help out, too, so we shouldn't run into major problems." They hope. However, they see some movement underneath some of the debris that has been partially uncovered.

"Noh, come here- Josh, I think something's been trapped over there!" they call out as their Primarina swims them over quickly.

Josh Devlin

Lutgarde's Rapidash was certainly inventive, making her platform more buoyant by increasing its size. "Okay, but I'd be sure to keep an eye on her in case something goes awry," Josh responded. Both of his Pokémon perked up at the fellow Ranger's alert that there was a Pokémon, or even a person trapped nearby. "Staccato, join Noh!" he pointed, the saddled Primarina joining the bareback one to search for a potential victim.

There was still no sign of the Ranger skiff Josh had called for, either. What was taking so long? As Josh watched Noh and Staccato move loose pieces to one side, he received a RangerNet message. Regole briefly took to the air to get his device out of the way of any splashing water from the other Pokémon working. He rolled his eyes when he read the message. "They've had engine trouble in Ever Grande," the Elite Ranger reported. "They're arranging for another vessel and will be out as soon as they can. No ETA."

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Lutgarde nods, "Will do!" There's Noh, Garnet and Sylph around, too, so they aren't too worried - but with a Galarian Rapidash out on sea, one definitely should keep an eye out. Gladly, they aren't a fire trainer out on high sea, though they wouldn't dare try that stunt with a Kantonian Rapidash either.

Trouble does find them in different ways, however - and in two, at that. First, there's movement underneath the debris which can't mean any good news, and then, as Lutgarde's assisting the Primarinas with getting the debris out of the way, another news from Josh.

"Oh dear," they murmur, "Are your pokémon coming with them? Maybe they can take those instead of that raft." There's also the thought that they're possibly even faster than the raft could be, if the logistics of it all would work out ... but now, their attention is already claimed by what's in front of them.

They only see the eyes briefly, before the pokémon is already lashing out, attacking as soon as it saw an opening. Surprised, Noh and thus Lutgarde are sent backwards, with the aggressive and struggling Starmie frees itself more. The gem seems to regard them with open hostility, and even as it does its best to only show its good side ... "I'm pretty sure the Starmie's injured," they call out as Noh sets up an Aqua Ring.

Josh Devlin

Seeing the injured Starmie reminded Josh of the Petalburg Captain, still missing. He had seen many trainers towed by Starmie via cable. She was the only one who had the courage, and perhaps foolhardiness, to mount a Starmie directly. He could not imagine how dizzying it would be, given how they moved... and holding onto their arms in the wrong spot could result in a rider's fingers being cut off.

The condition of this Starmie also reminded Josh of hers. "Given the cracks in its core, that would be the case," he pointed as Staccato performed a SPARKLING ARIA to try to calm the psychic-type. "It's also way bigger than you see Starmie usually get. It couldn't be... could it?"

Had Shalin Nariya 's Starmie fled this far? Little did Josh know that was impossible, for Monroe's troops had captured that Starmie along with her that fateful day in Petalburg...

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Lutgarde nods at Josh's words, sneaking in a low whistle during Staccato's Sparkling Aria to call for Sylph to come over. "Yes ... I just hope it's not too aggressive because of its injuries," the ranger adds, seeing as the Aria has calmed it down a little bit. It still appears weary of them upon Sylph's arrival, who is also eyed with distrust.

"What do you mean?" they ask then as they motion gently for Sylph to try approach - and she'd be able to take it from here. With Noh also keeping a close eye on the situation, the Togekiss approaches carefully, offering Life Dew to the injured Starmie so it could recover from its wounds.

Lutgarde hasn't had the chance yet to meet Shalin with Starmie, so they don't see what Josh might be putting down here. Still, the unusual sizing does remind them of the ranger captain, given that one of her mostly used pokémon that Lutgarde's seen is a very large Venusaur.

Josh Devlin