[attr="class","olivertop"]

[attr="class","oliver"] half of him still can't believe it. but there's no avoiding it, because the memories that flood back at him confirm it. the startled look in willow atkins's face as she pulls away from him, the bitterly tense rejection of boruta maher as he turns away from the stove.

[break][break] memories piece together in his mind, and ollie swallows the lump in his throat like it's glass.

[break][break] "it was - " his voice is cut off, blinking as he watches willow stand up from him. look anywhere but at him. it cuts him in a way that he can't expect. she didn't even act like that when he'd kissed her.

[break][break] "wils? ... willow?"

[break][break] he stands up too. the redness in his face gives away to confusion, gives away to guilt.

[break][break] you were with vollans.

[break][break] the deep voice of the other is a sharp reminder that plunges him back into reality.

[break][break] "it didn't mean anything!" he blurts, then his eyes flick back towards the dark-haired man in a flushed panic. "i mean, no, not nothing - it was a good kiss, i think, even though i don't really remember - "

[break][break] oh god. this is going terribly.

[break][break] "i was drunk, okay?"

[break][break] he sits back down when willow does, tearing his gaze away from bo's back and then back to wils. he reaches for her hand again, an attempt to console.

[break][break] "i'm sorry. i shouldn't - i didn't - i'm sorry, wils."

[break]

[attr="class","ooc"] willow atkins boruta maher

☉

[attr="class","littleollie"] "Distortions are bound to be scary," he reminds Melody Miro. He flashes her what he hopes is a warm, encouraging smile. "Don't worry, we'll take care of it."

[break][break] It isn't anything they hadn't dealt with before.

[break][break] It isn't.

[break][break] Right?

[break][break] They have no way of knowing unless they go to investigate, and so Ollie leads the way into the forest alongside the League's Elite Four, only to screech to a stop at the sight of something unfamiliar.

[break][break] Uh oh.

[break][break] "We're fine!" he calls over to Yuina Higashi when she flies in, and her words confirm his suspicions. A BLOODMOON URSALUNA... he'd heard of it in the reports submitted by the other Rangers, but this was the first time that he'd seen one up close.

[break][break] Light erupts in the swirling darkness as his Tyrantrum storms just beside Yuina Higashi's Samurott. A mighty roar fills the forest as River attempts to close in on the strange pokemon with a ROCK SLIDE attack.

[break]

[attr="class","ooc"] Yuina Higashi Melody Miro

☉

[attr="class","littleollie"] "I... guess you could say that. But honestly, I didn't see much."

[break][break] Technically, Ollie had been part of the AQUA party that had trampled up the mountain in a feeble attempt to save one of Kanto's heroes, but it has been so chaotic back then that even when kyle lopez had risen from the sky like a phoenix meant to save MATIAS SILPH, it had barely been a glimpse.

[break][break] Like a shooting star that they weren't meant to save.

[break][break] "MATIAS SILPH lost control of Groudon. He - " Almost died, and took the region down with it. "Groudon became Primal Groudon, and we almost lost him as a result of it."

[break][break] For once, Ollie's expression was unreadable, making it difficult to tell if he was embittered by such a ending or relieved by it.

[break][break] On the joke that Josh Devlin breached, Ollie found himself letting out an equally empathetic chuckle. He smiled, embracing the other man on the shoulder with a heavy hand.

[break][break] "And we have you to thank for that. You, as well as all the other civilians who helped me mitigate the disasters made to Fallarbor and Lavaridge."

[break][break] Where Melody Miro, paxton concordas and lam logan had been left to deal with the eruption up high, it had only been fitting that region's head ranger would rush to the needs of it's people.

[break][break] As Josh Devlin speaks of his theory, though, Ollie draws pause. Normally, he's the first to believe in optimism and hope — even as illogical as it can sometimes be. It's his plight as a Morales, the same plight that his sister once faced prior to receiving Rayquaza's blessing.

[break][break] "I don't know Josh," he said after a long pause. "I want to believe that as much as you. But you didn't see it - you didn't see him." The sight of MATIAS SILPH rising out of the black magma rushes through him, making him shudder with the memory of it. It had been terrifying.

[break][break] He shook his head.

[break][break] "But we can go look. I'll take 'Stache," he said, smirking at the end of it. "He'll get jealous if I give some other pokemon attention."

[break][break] The Dragonite harrumped in reply, either in disbelief at Ollie's words or Josh Devlin's audacious offer.

[break][break] "Let's go."

[break]

[attr="class","ooc"] Josh Devlin

☉

[attr="class","littleollie"] As Thomas Benoit spoke about that moonless night, he recalled past conversation that he'd had with howard slayte and Yuina Higashi. Both accounts that had been confirmed in the various Ranger reports that had reached his desk.

[break][break] Still, Ollie crossed his arms and tilted his head as more names were mentioned. The Head Ranger had his suspicions when PENELOPE LIVY and Eva Morales hadn't responded to his texts, but he'd been veering on the side of hopefulness. But now...

[break][break] "Penny and Eva haven't responded to me either," he said, shaking his head. He'd heard from willow atkins that morning, though, as well as boruta maher when he'd texted them a picture of Tofu shoving his face into a bowl full of cereal. GIDEON GRAVES had responded too, when he'd sent him a cursory good morning text. Strangely, Caleb Harcourt hadn't responded but... things were complicated between them.

[break][break] "I'll send an alert to dahlia goode, if you haven't already. But we shouldn't freak out yet. This is just a suspicion — I'll send out search patrols to see if anyone has heard anything around Evergrande."

[break][break] Stranger things had happened, after all, like when they'd all been sucked into that strange alternate Galar.

[attr="class","ooc"] Thomas Benoit

☉

[attr="class","littleollie"] Childhood is forever and friendships never end. That's something that Ollie had always fervently believed — as a kid. It was what he'd wanted to believe. He'd never wanted to grow up, never wanted to face the things that seemed difficult or hard or impossible to surpass.

[break][break] Running away from Kanto had been part of that. Diving into the Rangers had been secondary nature to it.

[break][break] It was what made him different from the likes of Eva Morales, who's everlasting hope had once been enough to save this region.

[break][break] 'But would it be enough now?'

[break][break] When annalise henderson approaches his office, she would find things in normal disarray. However, for once, the Head Ranger himself would actually be behind his desk, not running alongside some cliff or diving into the ocean to fix someone else's problem. He was right here. At his desk. Where he was supposed to be.

[break][break] Hearing the familiar voice of his friend (or once friend), he looks up. His expression is a bit frazzled, his hair unkempt like he hasn't slept in a fortnight or two, though the smile he flashes her is genuine.

[break][break] "Anna! Hi."

[break][break] Bandages wrap around his hand from where he was still recovering from mint frost's recent attack at Lilycove.

[break][break] "I thought you might," he said, offering his good hand out for her to either sit or step closer. "Come. Sit. Let's talk."

[break][break] His voice was brisk, risking no room for pause — as much as Ollie wanted to avoid things, he knew - now - that this wasn't the time for it.

[break]

[attr="class","ooc"] annalise henderson

☉

[attr="class","littleollie"] Did Kyle know he was going to die?

[break][break] Or had he just been so devoted to saving MATIAS SILPH, to his cause, to let his life waste away?

[break][break] Ollie didn't know.

[break][break] In fact, Ollie didn't know what he would've done if he'd been put in that position. Sure, he'd been part of the group to rush after MATIAS SILPH — to save him — but would he have been willing to do that at the cost of his life?

[break][break] 'Would you have been willing to do it if it were PENELOPE LIVY instead?'

[break][break] "No," he said instead, with a shake of his head. "I get it."

[break][break] There was a lot going on. There was too much going on. Ollie hadn't even had the chance to digest it himself. But he still pushed all of it away, deciding in that moment to put the other first. Because it was what Josh needed.

[break][break] His head tilted.

[break][break] "No - I don't think you did. I'm not surprised though. Kyle led the Minor League for a while."

[break][break] He'd been the one to open with it, before dahlia goode had taken over.

[break]

[attr="class","ooc"] Josh Devlin

☉

[attr="class","littleollie"] kyle lopez was dead.

[break][break] The Champion's death had rocked the nation in more ways than one and although it was a fresh grief that Ollie himself was still learning to deal with, he also knew that there were many others who struggled with it more. To Ollie, Kyle had been a friend. But to others, he had been more than just that.

[break][break] He had been a champion, an idol, a beacon of light in a dying world.

[break][break] Ollie glanced sideways at Josh Devlin when he spoke, expression bordering on somewhere between pity and sympathy.

[break][break] "How are you doing, Josh?"

[break][break] For a minute, his eyes grazed the sight of the intimidating form of the Ash Raikou and it's alternate form. But there would be time to marvel at such legendary feats later.

[break][break] Right now, his friend needed him.

[attr="class","ooc"] Josh Devlin

☉