i'll chase the light of that distant star

"Yes!" Talia called back into the darkness, hope audibly lifting her voice by decibels. "We're coming, don't worry!"

The chink in the cavern opened out wider, revealing a tight fissure beneath them -- small enough that they could see who was below, but not that they could feasibly all soar through with ease. Not without shifting the earth and stone, at least. Talia motioned for Freya to join here her, answering the stranger that had beckoned from below.

Sypha's light shone down, revealing that there were three trapped cave divers, all told: a middle-aged man and woman, as well as a younger boy of perhaps nineteen.

The woman tended to the man as he laid prone on the ground, a gash in his chest and arm indicating that he was the one who had worn the scrap of clothing that had signified their descent into this dark and desolate place. Beside him, an Onix that had clearly fainted rested in a tangle of coiled stone.

Of the survivors, it was the boy who called up to them, desperate to be heard.

"We fell down here!" he shouted. "My dad's hurt. I don't know how we can get him to stand."

"He can't put pressure on his leg," the woman echoed, her brow furrowed as she looked down at the man in her arms. "And he's barely conscious."

The faintest tremor of fear quivered in her words.

freya morningstar ● Search and Rescue ●

i'll chase the light of that distant star

"That is one small mercy, no? That the dome has helped the wildlife, at least, in some way. It is so easy to focus on the bad, when there is good to be had always, too."

The silver lining brought a glimmer of a smile to Talia's lips as she watched the Castform move ahead of them both. There was something comforting in the sight of the spherical Pokémon looking over the eggs, guarding the beach at a distance.

Overhead, her own Dragonair wound through the inky nightscape as her luminous eyes scoured the beach, starlight flashing off her scales to wink with white light.

Her own topaz eyes dimmed somewhat with thought, considering the sight of the nest in front of them. "I wonder how everything will change when the barrier lifts, though."

If anything perhaps wanted to enter, that had been denied entry for some time.

Or if anything wanted to escape, that had been trapped inside for too long. People included, she supposed.

Tam Fawley ● Heroes on a Half-Shell ●

i'll chase the light of that distant star

The slithering movements rippling under the desert burst forth in a flash of gold-and-ruby grains of sand, revealing an Arbok spitting venom from her fangs.

Wild as she was, the snake didn't seem intent on attacking either Talia or Julia Davis, at least not yet.

Fanning out the frills of her neck, the Arbok hissed loudly, and several small Ekans peeked out from the ground behind her. One by one, they fell into place behind the mother Arbok, their beady eyes all focused on the two women that had invaded their territory.

"It looks like we stumbled on a nest of them," Talia whispered, turning to her companion.

On the one hand, this was a good thing. It meant they could keep an eye on more of the snakes at once.

On the other hand, a mother Arbok was unlikely to enjoy having two strange trainers on her doorstep.

"This isn't quite how I imagined this going."

Julia Davis ● Charm the Skin Off a Snake ●

i'll chase the light of that distant star

Talia was not at all familiar with the upper echelons of the League, its scientific research facilities, or really anything other than the basic outline of the Ranger offices. Some Gym Leaders, here and there, and maybe a politician's name could be recalled from the news, like dahlia goode.

There was nothing in her though that knew Eva Morales for the celebrated mind of Hoenn that she was.

Without knowing any of this, however, Talia still trusted her implicitly. It was hard not to, given the gentle way that the blonde treated the fallen Rookidees and the authoritative way that she outlined what to do next. The blue-haired Ranger knelt beside the doctor, Potion in hand, and exhaled as she attempted to shake herself of her nerves.

"Hold still," Talia whispered to the tiny bird, her own hands fighting to follow the same advice as she sprayed the bottle. One, two, three spritzes later, the wing began to stabilize and heal before her very eyes. "Ah! It works so quickly!" she exclaimed to the other woman, her surprise almost childlike in its wonder.

Eva Morales ● Heal Bell ●

i'll chase the light of that distant star

Her topaz eyes widened slightly at the admission; something in the way that Orion Lykos carried himself had spoken to someone with far more experience than her own. Perhaps he'd transferred in from the military? Don't pry, Talia. Resolved to not let the moment settle into something awkward, she met the man with a bright smile and nodded. "Orion, then. I'm new to Slateport's branch, so I'm sure I'll be getting familiar with you and the others very soon."

She knelt down as the Absol approached, listening while her partner rattled off the list of calamities that had riddled Hoenn ever since her arrival. Something in her expression darkened as he did so. "It seems no matter where one chooses to live, trouble follows," she murmured. "At least, that's how it feels, sometimes."

This sigh of resignation didn't reflect in the way she reached out to the vested Absol, however, as she lifted a hand in shy, half-hearted greeting.

"Hello, Altair," she trilled, while her own Pokemon soared overhead -- a majestic Dragonair, winding through the sky as she pursued the boat across the sea. "That's Lyra above us," she said, glancing up as the draconic shadow fell over the boat. "She'll be helping keep watch of anything that might lay ahead. We mostly do search and rescue missions off the coastline, really."

Orion Lykos ● A Deadly Job ●

i'll chase the light of that distant star

Talia watched the doctor work with open fascination, her own topaz eyes glittering with interest. "You know a lot about Pokémon, don't you?" she murmured without thinking, her admiration for the gentle way that the doctor assessed the bird unmistakable.

She responded swiftly to the request, darting away to the indicated stump and rifling politely through Eva Morales's things for the requested potion. She didn't like to snoop, and was afraid if she took too long, it might seem like she had.

With great relief, Talia retrieved the bottle quickly and ran back over to hand it off, her smile bright. "We're lucky you came prepared."

Her own bag had less useful things: snacks, band aids, a water bottle... She'd not exactly considered bringing a proper first aid kit.

Eva Morales ● Heal Bell ●

i'll chase the light of that distant star

The heaviness of Razz Kingsman's assessment caused Talia to lean back in her seat, turning over the notion. "That makes sense, I think. Hoenn is a place where it feels like anything can happen. And so much of what we have to do as Rangers is facing the consequences of things we don't fully understand."

She'd relaxed when the man reassured her the Swablu had done no harm with her cottony puffs of feather and down, allowing herself to enjoy her new company without self-consciousness to impede her.

That shifted, however, when LANCE VOLLANS approached.

Talia had no context for the tension that lingered between Kingsman and the new arrival, but she could sense it all the same, and it spurred her to speak up in the silence.

"Oh, hello," the blue-haired woman said suddenly, lifting her head up to view him with a disarming smile. "I don't believe we've met. I'm Talia, Talia Celes. Was that honey you were sharing?"

With any luck, it would steer the conversation away from whatever had made Razz so uncomfortable.

---

• Chatting with Razz Kingsman.
• Introduced herself to LANCE VOLLANS.
• Vibrating with the desire for everyone to get along.

Razz Kingsman ● ringers rising ●

i'll chase the light of that distant star

War erased the awkwardness that many interactions would otherwise inspire in day-to-day life. As a refugee fleeing to Hoenn, Talia had seen her share of displaced people, and the various ways that violence had wronged them.

So when she met Orion Lykos, her topaz eyes caught his with a sincere warmth, never lingering on where the light revealed the scars that life had handed him. "Talia Celes," she said, taking the hand he offered as she boarded the vessel. "Cadet Celes. A pleasure, sir."

Her brief time in Hoenn had not been politically-minded; the man's name and its history were unknown to her. In this moment, he was one Ranger guiding another, and that was enough for Talia.

She leaned against the railing of the boat as it skipped over the waves, her topaz eyes narrowing in thought as she listened. It sounded bleak and grim, and she quietly appreciated that Orion had not chosen to suggest otherwise.

It was better to be prepared for whatever you were facing. Expect the worst, while hoping for the best.

"Unnatural weather?" Talia echoed, turning to face him. "In what way?"

'A distortion?' she wondered quietly. They'd caused such chaos elsewhere.

Orion Lykos ● A Deadly Job ●

i'll chase the light of that distant star

The two women became mirrors of one another as Talia released another Pokémon in kind from a Pokeball latched to her belt; her own Flygon, Navi, uncurled from a ball of light to join the fliers with the click of a lizard-like tongue.

The matching set of dragons hovered in wait as Sypha began her sinuous descent, shimmering with the prismatic LIGHT SCREEN that freya morningstar had called upon moments prior.

"Ready," Talia agreed, and swooped down into the foreboding, narrow passage in a shadow of scales and wings.

What dim pockets of light the Dragonair afforded underground were enough to eke out a faint path forward. Sharp, jagged turns proved a prevalent danger, one that Navi's BULLDOZE barreled through when the way appeared too small, or too treacherous, for their band of adventurers to venture through.

The sound of dripping water distracted her, although Lyra's winged ears remained attentive, even as the rocks shifted and moved at the Flygon's beck and call.

As the Dragonair reared her head suddenly, a croon of warning alerted Talia seconds before a flock of ZUBAT swarmed the cavern, darkening their surroundings so that Sypha's light vanished in the artificial darkness.

The blue-haired woman's startled cry echoed in the cave, only to swiftly direct Lyra to surge forward with a DRAGON RUSH -- one that cut a swathe through her portion of the bat-like Pokémon, enough to catch a glimpse of Sypha's light once more.

"Are you all right?" Talia called, more wrongfooted by the suddenness of the ambush in such a treacherous place than by the danger of the Pokémon themselves.

freya morningstar ● Search and Rescue ●

i'll chase the light of that distant star

The presence of the blonde woman behind her steadied Talia; it made her feel like someone else had answers, even if she didn't.

"Um, I don't think so?" Talia managed, making room so that Eva Morales could join her if she wanted a close look. "They just seem hungry, I think." She paused. "And a little scared."

Her Swablu fluttered in close to calm them with a sweet, crooning song. It was then that one of the Rookidees let out a plaintive sound in reply, and Talia's eyes widened.

"Ah! That one, the tiny one in the back... I think its wing is hurt?"

Eva Morales ● Heal Bell ●

i'll chase the light of that distant star

Something in how delighted the Meowstic was with his treat caused a smile to blossom unbidden on Talia's lips, which she directed to Razz Kingsman as she listened.

"Two years as a Ranger," she repeated, thinking. "That's about four times as long as I have been enlisted, and I still feel very new. I guess it's all relative, how impressive things are?"

She wondered if at two years she might still feel like this: a newcomer, untested, never ready for the conflicts she'd have to face ahead.

Future potlucks, for example.

"Do you not like to cook?" she asked as he expressed his dislike, tilting her head curiously. "I wasn't sure what to bring, so I just made something we used to enjoy a lot in Johto. I don't know if it's to Hoenn tastes, really."

She leaned forward to flash a grin at Salem for a moment, adding with a wink, "I'm glad it's to yours, though!"

Meanwhile, her own Pokémon was not so well behaved as the Swablu preened idly; to Talia's horror, the motion sent soft downy feathers onto her immaculate white Ranger's uniform, and a handful of others onto the man's impeccably tailored suit.

"...Phoebe! By the three Legendary wings, can't you behave yourself?"

Mortified, Talia swept the feathers away from herself with a self-conscious laugh, though she had no such boldness in doing the same for a complete stranger next to her. Red-faced, she instead reached for one of the napkins she had taken with her from the buffet table and handed it to him in apology.

"I'm so sorry. This is embarrassing."

---

• Chatting with Razz Kingsman.
• Her Swablu decided to molt on him. RIP.

Razz Kingsman ● ringers rising ●

i'll chase the light of that distant star

The distortions had caused their own havoc on the region, tearing apart the environment with an inexplicable chaos that put even nature itself to shame.

The Rangers had their work more than cut out for them.

Branches were strewn all over the route's paths, some causing a blockage in the nearby rivers, while others sat at the base of trees stripped naked well before the winter months. Talia gingerly approached one such tree, kneeling, as her Swablu hovered at eye-level.

"Oh," she said with a soft gasp, pity audible in that single syllable. "You poor little things."

A hand gingerly pulled aside a twig to reveal an abandoned nest of Rookidees, chirping in a low warble for a mother that seemed unable or unwilling to hear their cries. Whatever had served as the nest's foundation had more than cracked and broken, resulting in nothing more than a thicket of loosely tangled leaves and moss.

"There's an abandoned nest here," Talia called, looking up. A helplessness overtook her at the unexpected nature of the discovery, which carried into her voice as she sought a more experienced face to guide her. "I... That is, what should we do?"

Eva Morales ● Heal Bell ●

i'll chase the light of that distant star

Where he had prepared offense, Talia's initial support came in the form of defense.

Her Dragonair's large eyes flashed brightly as she slithered forward, and amidst the water droplets, a curtain of white light descended on her Pokémon and his in a pale SAFEGUARD.

Johto had taught her painful lessons, too: that enemies could come silently and unseen, and that the unprepared fell to them first.

Just as she had fallen, unprepared, to Cillian Quinn on a rainy day much like this one.

Now, that hard-won knowledge was mirrored back in practise as she followed another, more experienced soldier's lead, and embarked on the offensive.

As FERNANDO SILPH whispered into her earpiece, she responded immediately and without question; hers were the agile motions of a dancer, but they found use in maneuvering swiftly and efficiently towards where the Kecleon had the Rockets in their clutches.

The revealing cries of the intruders attracted her Noibat's attention, yellow eyes darting wildly towards the enemy Pokémon with the howl of a HURRICANE. Ensnared by the TAUNT of the Mimikyu, there was no reprieve to be had from the searing accuracy of the squalls and tempests: each beat of the bat-like Pokémon's wings resulted in a devastating blow of spiralling winds and rainwater.

Water soaked the interior of the warehouse, the collateral damage of her actions the first thing she saw before her eyes focused in on those present from the doorway before she cautiously slipped inside.

"Ready," she murmured into the earpiece, her knuckles white as she gripped another Pokeball in preparation.

---

• Dragonair uses SAFEGUARD.
• Noibat uses HURRICANE.
• It is RAINING.

FERNANDO SILPH ● Defend ●