Kaida and her Yanmega fell over him like a thunderstorm, and he knew immediately that what little time had passed between their return to the physical world and this meeting had not done much to soothe the hurts between them. That was fine, he thought, as he skittered back out of the way so Kaida’s dragonfly could land, he wasn’t looking to be forgiven. He knew he’d fucked up, regardless of the personality warping that had occurred outside of his control.

The animosity she felt for him was not the important bit here. Protecting Fortree-- the sanctuary, and Alex as an extension ofit-- was.

“Hi!” he said, cheery despite the nerves and dire feeling, “it’s good to see you.” And despite the ghost of a throb in his nose (she’d broken it when she’d punched him on the beach) the warmth in his voice was genuine.

Her eyes narrowed at him and he held up his hands in surrender. “It’s okay, we’re going to split up. You take the buildings on the north side, and I’ll do the ones on the south. I just needed someone I could trust.” Which was true, to a point-- Memo didn’t figure there were many Rangers he couldn’t trust-- but Alex had vouched for Kaida and the two of them obviously had a friendship, so he figured that was helpful motivation for protecting the Sanctuary. “We’re just looking for anything out of the ordinary: broken locks, jimmied windows. I don’t think anyone’s gonna spraypaint a big red R to mark their trail, but hey, we might get lucky.”

Kaida Adachi
dawn of a new day: defend!

☉

The supernatural embargo enforced upon Hoenn by the placement of the barrier was making everything difficult, from simple stuff like brushing your teeth, to more complex and important things like taking care of the sick and injured at hospitals. If the chaos at the grocery store two months ago was any indication, things were only going to get worse.

Add to it that a large portion of Fortree was dedicated to a Pokemon sanctuary, throw in a huge helping of migratory Pokemon whose seasonal exoduses had been completely halted, and add one overworked, overworried Sanctuary head, and you have yourself a recipe for disaster.

It was with Alex in mind that Memo directed Sibella down towards the ground; the bat couched her wings and dropped like an arrow, her rider pressed close between her ears, before catching the wind at the very last second and landing gracefully and gently on the ground.

The Sanctuary’s storage was spread across big covered barns, like the one just behind him as he slid from his Noivern’s back. They contained everything from food and water to medical supplies. The numbers from the last few inventories had come back off, and Memo had caught a beleaguered and stressed-out Claire on her way to inform Alex of the unbalanced equivalency in the numbers. He’d assured her he’d take care of it-- and he would, because that was his job, but it was also personal.

So he came around the corner of the large metal barn, heading for the smaller entry to check the lock and make sure it was secure. He was also waiting for Kaida Adachi to arrive-- he’d requested help from her personally, both as a way to make amends and also because he knew she was more than capable of assisting.

Kaida Adachi
dawn of a new day: defend!

☉

Chaos.

That’s what Guillermo was ‘up to’. Pure, unadulterated chaos.

The invite, originally, had been an innocent chance for Alex to meet the newest member of his team (whom he was hoping would help win over some of the deeper-stuck muddy sticks that Alex was carting around) and, oh, yeah, the promotion. He was going to tell Alex about the promotion

But theeeeeen Sibella and Freya, who were already best friends (much to the pitiable luck of everyone else), had taken it upon themselves to set up a challenge to see who was fastest, and, well, that was how he ended up shooting through the treetops at dangerous speeds, pressed flat to the back of his Noivern, as his Lucario, keeping up their breakneck pace, jumped and leaped around them.

And breakneck it was-- any wrong move, any stray tree branch, would most likely take his head off.

But it was fun! And he felt more like himself than he had in weeks.

Alexei Ivanov
grass/bug/flying
<3 <3

☉