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"WhooOA!" Man, if Julia weren't in danger, the way her voice warbled from Queen Zing's vibrations would have been hilarious!

[break][break]Despite the painful buzzing, Julia leaned forward and held on even tighter when she felt the Tailwind blow behind her, driven by the instincts she'd developed in racing practice. She saw the shape of the Volcarona in their way and the Fire Blast it was charging up. "LOok oUT!" she shouted. How did she steer this Beedrill?! But Queen Zing had a different plan: She rushed right at the opposing Bug-type with her foreleg stingers extended and cleaved through it with a Drill Run, the impact making Julia shake even more.

[break][break]Well, that took care of that threat. But wow, it was boiling in here! Was this how food felt in the oven? Julia suddenly felt the need to apologize to all of the oven-baked goods she'd ever eaten for making them go through this.

[break][break]Finally, though it was probably only a few seconds, Julia gasped in a breath of non-superheated air. Queen Zing landed on the floor, and Julia tumbled out of her saddle, body tingling and ears ringing. Her head tilted toward the fallen Beedrill, whose red eyes flickered in exhaustion. Gotta help. Like she helped me, Julia thought, but it was a struggle just to raise one arm, let alone do anything that could assist Shalin's Pokémon.

[break][break]Poké Balls flashed opened in Julia's peripheral, and she turned her head to see Shalin sending out Kiara and a Milotic. She couldn't hear Shalin's request, but she could see the familiar gathering of Water-type energy into a Life Dew. Julia managed to click open Momo's Poké Ball before the healing energy washed over the group, allowing him to take advantage of the refreshing technique. Immediately after, he knelt by his trainer's side, chittering in concern. Shalin, too, called out to her, but Julia still couldn't hear what she was saying. She could guess, though.

[break][break]"I'm okay!" Julia's voice was way too loud on account of not being able to hear herself. "Just gimme a minute!"

[break][break]She took a moment to rest and let the Life Dew do its thing. The strength returned to her limbs, allowing her to sit up, though she still felt a bit buzz-y, and her ears were still ringing. She flexed her fingers and the toes on her right foot, then checked her prosthesis to make sure nothing had melted or anything. She had to make a small adjustment to the socket, but things otherwise seemed fine, thank goodness. She wasn't sure how she'd explain that one to her prosthetist.

[break][break]Eventually, the ringing in her ears subsided just enough to let other sounds through. She reached out to give Queen Zing an appreciative stroke on the head. "Thanks, Queen Zing," she said, probably still too loud. Momo got pets, too, to quell his worries.

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The "Chu!" that Sunny heard was Sparkie calling out worriedly to Josh. She didn't even notice the way the Crobat was looking at her at first, focused instead on floating over to the fallen trainer. He didn't seem seriously injured, thank goodness, especially with the Life Dew to invigorate him. Still, she squeaked out a concerned query.

[break][break]The sounds of laughter finally drew her attention to what was above her. Sunny, now a Crobat, was covering his face bashfully. Sparkie's eyes widened when she saw the bright yellow swirls that shone on his body, and she let out a soft sound of wonder. Those were so pretty...

[break][break]And then Blackjack spoke in a voice that wasn't his yet was still familiar. Sparkie tilted her head, not quite understanding what this meant yet. Josh, however, understood immediately. Confusion and concern intermingled on Sparkie's face as she watched tears fall from the Gym Leader's eyes.

[break][break]Julia, meanwhile, eagerly followed Watson's point to find her friend. But... Where was he? All Julia saw were Josh and...

[break][break]Psh, there was no way. Julia turned back to Watson to see the Totodile with his jaw dropped a bit. He dramatically scratched his chin in thought before shaking his head and giving an adorable shrug with his little arms. Julia laughed, though the sound was void of her usual energy and enthusiasm. Silly Watson. Silly, Silly Watson. That wasn't Isaac; that was Blackjack! Those were two totally different people!

[break][break]Yeah. Yeah, there was no way they weren't. Isaac must have vanished with the rest of the protesters. Julia would ask him about it later.

[break][break]The officer asked if the protesters had been knocked out by the Spore, too. "A few of them, yeah," Julia said. "You weren't out that long, but..." She didn't know what the "but" was supposed to be. She could barely make room for the protesters' disappearance in her clogged-up thoughts, let alone anything else. She should have been relieved that, one way or another, it was over without anyone else getting hurt, but she just couldn't shake this strange feeling... at least not without a slimy hand on her shoulder snapping her out of it. She smiled back at Snaily and scratched the Goodra's head before recalling her into her Ball.

[break][break]"I'd better make sure Josh is okay," Julia said quickly. "Can you wake up the rest of the officers? Thanks!" Without even waiting for a response, she jogged back toward the stage. Sparkie hadn't called out or come rushing back to Julia, so Josh was probably okay. But she'd be a bad friend if she didn't check for herself, right?

[break][break]The sound of Julia's approaching footsteps made Sparkie's ears perk up, and she floated over to her trainer, still looking worried. Julia scooped Sparkie up in her arms, a feat made easier by the Raichu's telekinesis, and absently scratched behind her ear. Then she realized that Josh was talking. She moved closer and heard the name that felt more like a dagger in her ear in that moment: Isaac.

[break][break]"That... That can't be right," Julia said, a desperate smile crawling on her face. "Isaac's our friend. He's around here somewhere. Watson and Buffaloman are here, so he's gotta be!" She looked around, her grip tightening on Sparkie until the Raichu squeaked painfully. "Oh! Hehe, sorry, Sparkie."

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Julia thought for a moment about how to describe Umbreon. "Have you ever seen an Eevee? It evolves from that at night, so it's nocturnal—meaning it's active at nighttime instead of daytime. I'm pretty sure it's a predator, so it might be our culprit, but... Hmm, they said it's like a pack of predators, right?" She pulled out her phone and opened up the Pokédex app. Maybe it could shed some light on her questions...

[break][break]Spot tensed as the hostile auras grew closer. So they were smart enough to spread out before closing in instead of staying together as a pack... This might be tougher than he expected. He, too, bristled at the sounds of snarling and growling, joining Anne's pack in rumbling at the intruders. Something was off. He'd only seen a handful of auras, but the sounds and gleaming eyes in the growing darkness indicated that there were far more enemies than he'd originally sensed.

[break][break]He didn't get a chance to focus his aura sense before a Liepard leapt from the darkness, claws flashing in the fading light. It clapped its front paws together right in front of Spot's face, creating a shockwave that had him digging his hind paws into the dirt to keep from sliding back too far. Yet the Liepard had made a crucial mistake: Spot's Inner Focus kept him from flinching. Further emboldened by the Howls of his comrades, he launched an Aura Sphere at his opponent.

[break][break]Julia, too, snapped to attention at the sound of the distant Howls. She may not have had Ettie's innate understanding of what the call meant, but it wasn't hard to figure out. "Yeah, let's go!" Julia stuffed her phone back into its holder and grabbed a flashlight before running after Ettie. It was time to get her answer from the source.

[break][break]Oh, wow, that was a lot more Pokémon than she'd been expecting. Spot was already fighting a Liepard, and Anne had two Pokémon—a second Liepard and, yep, an Umbreon—closing in on her. Time to even the odds a bit.

[break][break]"Ribbon, stop that Umbreon!" she shouted, tossing the Cutiefly's Poké Ball into the fray. Ribbon may have been small, but she was an excellent choice for this battle because she, too, could sense auras. Her aura sight wasn't as honed as Spot's, but it'd still be hard for enemies to hide from her. The Cutiefly let out a squeaky buzz and darted toward the Umbreon, already vibrating in preparation for a Struggle Bug.

And then, Julia realized something. She'd been expecting a pack of the same Pokémon, not a big mix like this. Her eyebrows pinched together in momentary confusion. What was going on here?

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"Yeah, like those statues we saw at the entrance. Or the Pokémon that attacked us." There'd only been three of the latter, though. Given the triple themes of fire, ice, and illusions, there were a lot of possibilities.

[break][break]"They probably do, yeah." Julia knew that Lavaridge at least warmed its hot springs with the volcano, making it a prime relaxation destination. The mention of fossil fuels had Julia thinking about a few of her own Pokémon. "Thank goodness for fossil restoration, otherwise they might have been lost forever." Of course, bringing back extinct Pokémon had its own consequences on the environment, but at least they were relatively rare in the wild.

[break][break]With the pipes funneling lava to the west, Julia and Shalin decided it'd be best to head east for now unless they wanted to come out extra-crispy. The next room was a maze with two levels separated by a grate. If not for the Fire-type Pokémon already staring them down, including a few Larvesta and a Volcarona clinging to the ceiling, they could have easily gone over it. Instead, they had to solve it the old-fashioned way. It was a good thing that Julia had learned the trick of sticking to the left wall when in a maze!

[break][break]"Oh, perfect!" Julia exclaimed upon seeing the valve. She helped Shalin turn it until it was too hot to touch, making her also jerk her hands away. "Ow, jeez! At least we know it's working."

[break][break]Oh, it was working, all right. Chester was the first to notice that something was off, his left head letting out a worried little wark as it followed the pipes with its eyes. The grating separating the two levels of the maze receded. Then, the temperature rose. Rapidly. Shalin called for them to get the heck out—not that Julia needed to be told that—and sent out her two flying Pokémon. Julia tapped Chester with his Poké Ball to recall him and prepared to mount Sandy again, but the Flygon grabbed Shalin instead, leaving Julia to take Queen Zing. Julia didn't even have time to think about how rough of a ride it was going to be; she just scrambled onto the Beedrill's back and shouted, "Let's go!"

[break][break]And what a rough ride it was. The massive Beedrill's droning had been near-deafening just from a distance, but this close, Julia could feel it buzzing through her entire body. Flying on Sandy with earplugs had given her a tickle in her tummy. Flying on Queen Zing without them made her feel like her skin was going to vibrate off. It took everything she had just to hold on and not cover her ears.

[break][break]On top of all that, the flying Pokémon had caught the ire of the Fire-types guarding the room. The Larvesta shot a volley of Embers toward the two adventurers. Julia could barely see them, she was vibrating so hard, but she still tried to shout directions to dodge them even though she couldn't hear herself think, let alone speak. The Volcarona, meanwhile, fanned out its wings and charged up a Fire Blast. More Fire attacks came from other parts of the room, making this wild flight even more treacherous. At one point, Julia swore she felt the heat of one of them burn off a patch of arm hair.

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Awesome and maybe a bit scary, Julia thought. "That's true," she said. "I bet he'd still let you ride on his back even if you weren't his Avatar or something. Either way, you'd get to meet him." Someone as dedicated as Josh deserved that much, at least.

[break][break]Julia heard the game being unmuted as she looked out the window. Nice, Blackthorn got a touchdown! Outside, the sun was already sitting on the horizon, dyeing the city's skyline orange. The bright lights were from a fleet of emergency vehicles. "Huh," Julia said out loud. What the heck was going on?

[break][break]Josh's excited cheer broke her out of that thought. "Looks like something big just happened outside; those were emergency vehicle lights. I'll stick around, yeah! Traffic might be a bit crazy right now, anyway." She pulled up a chair next to Josh's bed to watch the end of the game with her friend. Whatever had happened would definitely show up on the news soon, and Julia could worry about it then.

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At the door, Julia and Kaida were joined by a third... then a fourth, fifth, and sixth in rapid succession. "Hi, Sacha," Julia said. "I got it, thanks!" Passing off the jug probably would have been the smart thing to do, but Julia did not always do the smart thing. At least it was smarter than giving it to the three-year-old, a thought that Julia also giggled at.

[break][break]"What are your names?" Julia asked the three kids. She assumed the youngest was Victoire.

[break][break]From inside, she heard excited baa-ing before Captain Memo opened the door. "Hello!" Julia greeted before she was relieved of her cider. "Thanks for having us. I think this is just what we need after everything." And that was the most that Julia wanted to say about it; today was about celebrating and spending time with her Ranger family, not about dwelling on the events of the month before and their lingering aftermath. That was why she didn't say anything about the way Sacha looked at her bad leg or the flash of a frown on the Captain's face. Today was all about happy, merry thoughts.

[break][break]"Ooh, is that ginger?" Julia asked about the smell that dominated the flat. Then, Kaida announced that she'd brought ice cream. "Ice cream in winter? Oh, man, I haven't done that in years." Her dad had tried to talk her out of it at the time, but the brain freeze had been so worth it.

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Spot wasn't as worried about the encroaching nighttime. Their enemies were definitely adapted to working at night, but Spot had his aura vision to track anyone who tried to use the darkness as cover. He'd have to be careful of the terrain since it didn't have its own aura to track, but between him and Ettie's pack, he was confident they'd be able to fend off whatever threatened the sweet little Wooloo.

[break][break]Speaking of aura, something—or, rather, somethings—had been bothering him for a while now. They were separate, not like a pack would be, but Spot could sense some ill-intentioned auras in the distance. Spot barked this information to Anne, but he wasn't sure if these were their culprits or something else entirely. Either way, he didn't like it. If not for their current mission, he'd be tempted to go investigate.

[break][break]It seemed the Snubbull called Princess had found something, too. Spot, not sensing any auras in that direction, left the investigating to Anne while he kept his eyes on the horizon.

[break][break]Julia was really glad that Ettie liked the Wooloo so much. Most people did, so that shouldn't have been surprising, but Ettie wasn't most people: she'd been raised in the wild by a pack of scavengers and hunters. As a Ranger, Julia was no stranger to the circle of life. Some Pokémon ate other Pokémon, no matter how cute they were, to survive. But it seemed that even a wild child like Ettie wasn't immune to the charms of the round ovine Pokémon. Heck, she was so charmed that she was determined to protect the herd from other predators!

[break][break]"Yeah, we'll drive off whatever's trying to hurt these little guys," Julia said, beaming.

[break][break]Muffled barks drew Julia's attention and startled Ettie's Wooloo friend away. Duchess the Electrike handed a branch to Ettie, who held it out to Julia for inspection. Julia took it for a closer look at the tufts of fur tangled in the twigs. Much like Anne, Julia immediately thought of Pokémon like Mightyena and Houndoom when she saw the black fur, but the strands of yellow called to mind something else.

[break][break]"It looks like Umbreon fur?" Julia couldn't think of another quadruped predator Pokémon that had these colors. "Do they travel in packs, though...? Either way, great find!" she said in praise to Duchess.

[break][break]The gears in her head started turning. She didn't know whether Umbreon were solitary creatures or not, but she knew they were somewhat rare in the wild. Eevee tended to be domestic Pokémon as it was, and most Umbreon evolved after forming a bond with a trainer. Wild Umbreon weren't totally unheard of, but... hmm. Was there another Pokémon that fit the description that Julia wasn't thinking of? Or was something else at play here...?

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Despite the ear-piercing sound from the loudspeakers, Julia didn't feel the impact she expected from the echoes of the Z-Move. She gasped in awe when she opened her eyes and saw the Emperor's Royal Roar colliding with a wall of shields: King's Shield, Spiky Shield, Defend Order, No Retreat, even more unconventional shields made of Aqua Ring and Anchor Shot. Z-Power flowed into the newly evolved Aegislash's King Shield, which expanded in a beautiful burst of rainbow light. Blackjack raised his arm, guiding the shimmering shield upward until it shattered, sending Josh's defiant rage to the sky, where it couldn't hurt anyone.

[break][break]He could have just as easily redirected it to Josh himself and made him pay the price for his recklessness, but he didn't. The only thing he retaliated with was familiar snark. For a moment, it looked like he was going to charge at Josh, but he pulled up at the last moment and flew away from the Gym Leader and the protesters.

[break][break]As Julia ran toward the line of officers, she heard a snort, then a bellow, and finally hoofbeats pounding the pavement. A familiar shiny Tauros raced out of the crowd, an equally familiar Totodile holding onto his horns for dear life. "Buffaloman?" Julia asked. "Watson? What are you—Wait, is Isaac here? Where is he?" What would Isaac be doing here? Was he okay? Either way, Julia understood Buffaloman's clear message and hopped on his back, letting the Silph Cup Champion ferry her to the officers in style. She smiled gratefully at the protesters who cleared the way for her and helped Chester before he was recalled into his Poké Ball as she passed. Behind her, Snaily squeaked in alarm and waddled a few steps after her trainer, not nearly as fast as the Tauros. She hung around the edge of the crowd, looking back and forth anxiously between it and Julia. So much for being a powerful symbol.

[break][break]"It's okay," Julia said to the officer she'd awoken. "You all got Spored, and I was worried you were gonna get caught in the crossfire, but it looks like that's—" She did a double-take toward the stage when she saw Josh lying on his side. "Josh!" What had happened? As much as she wanted to run over there and find out, she still had work to do down here. She tossed out another Poké Ball. "Sparkie, can you go check on Josh?" The shiny Alolan Raichu looked a bit nervous about the crowd but nodded at Julia's request. She summoned Electric Terrain beneath her and used it to Surge Surf her way to the stage.

[break][break]With that taken care of, Julia turned her focus back to the officer. "I don't want anyone else to get hurt today," she said. "Two people have already died, one on each side. Is there any way we can break this up peacefully?"

[break][break]Huh... Was it just Julia, or were there way fewer protesters than there had been a few minutes ago?

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The way that Josh said that people and Pokémon needed each other to reach their full potential made Julia realize something: "I guess that's why even Legendary Pokémon pick Avatars." It was so obvious in hindsight, but Legendary Pokémon were so often treated like untouchable deities that it was easy to forget that they were still Pokémon.

[break][break]"Man, I can't even imagine going that fast. It'd be like riding a lightning bolt or something." She'd learned a bit more about Raikou after hearing about Josh's mission to befriend the Beast: Apparently, it, Entei, and Suicune raced across the land, supposedly unable to contain the extreme power bestowed upon them by Ho-Oh. Raikou was the fastest of all, embodying the speed of lightning itself. No wonder Josh liked it so much... or did he like Raikou first and develop a love for speed from that?

[break][break]Julia kind of wanted to ask, but a multicolored light shining through the window distracted them both. Aurora Borealis? At this time of year, in this part of the region? "I think we are, yeah. Isn't it too early in the day, too?" She stood up and moved to look out the window.

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"Hey, the Splashfest was more than just 'asspats'. It's a way to bring joy and hope to people. And I'm pretty sure the treasure was already just kinda down there; we just got to fish it up." Quieter, she added, "Dunno why it was Mega Stones for the swimsuit contest, though..." At least Blackjack agreed that the event had been fun. Wait, he'd been there? Probably not in his mask—that would have been way too obvious. Julia wondered if she'd run into him while she was there...

[break][break](She definitely had. She just didn't know it yet.)

[break][break]In an act of upstanding maturity befitting a Ranger, Julia stuck her tongue out at Blackjack's sarcastic remarks on the VALOR Initiative. "We've been off our butts forever! It's not our fault we keep having to deal with aliens and dangerous Pokémon and Rockets."

[break][break]Julia's train of thought ran opposite of Isaac's: The desperate people of the region wouldn't have as many problems and wouldn't have to turn to Rocket if it, you know, didn't exist.

[break][break]Her indignation slowly morphed into surprise at Blackjack's next words. She, too, relaxed now that the stink of faction rivalry was cleared from the air. "Huh. You know, I actually agree with you. It'd be better if people helped people just for the sake of helping people, but help's still help." Wow, that was a lot of "people" and "help" in one sentence. At first, she was surprised that Blackjack was glad to see that hope, but he really wasn't your standard Rocket, was he? At least, he wasn't the standard Rocket that Julia had long pictured in her head. She really had to wonder just how he'd ended up with the group in the first place. It... probably wasn't a happy story.

[break][break]The bow that Sanford added to his algae rope was a cute touch. Lazuli stopped so the trio of troublemakers could be deposited on her back. Behind them, Inky poked her head out of the water and stared at the poachers with a silent warning: Try anything, and you're getting blasted. She may not have been big on fighting, but she was even less big on letting Julia get hurt.

[break][break]"It's not how I expected meeting with a Rocket out here to go, but that's definitely a good thing." Julia grinned. "Oh, you'll see just how the initiatives go. We're gonna keep making Hoenn better and better." And then Rocket wouldn't have nearly as much of a chance to prey on people to bolster their ranks.

[break][break]Julia was checking the knot in the algae rope when Blackjack made his parting remark. When she looked up, he was already gone, leaving behind ripples in the sea that seemed to echo his unheard laughter. "Heeeeeey!" she called, though she likely wouldn't get a response. Dang it, she'd thought she was done being upset about the pie thing. She still couldn't believe that had broken out in an official Ranger meeting...

[break][break]... Wait a sec. How could Blackjack have known about that?

[break][break]She watched the water where he'd been a moment ago, as if he'd pop back out to answer her question. Of course, no such thing would happen. Even if he'd just meant it as a funny little jab at the opposing faction, his words were concerning. Had word seriously reached Rocket about that fiasco? If they knew about the pies, then what else did they know about the meeting?

[break][break]One of the poachers coughed awkwardly, snapping Julia out of it. Right, she had to get these guys back on land so they could face justice. She'd have to worry about the rest of that stuff later.

[break][break]"All right!" Julia said to perk herself up. "Next stop: Ranger jail!"

[break][break]Groans, sighs, and eye rolls came from the bundle of Scumbag Maki.

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If Julia had a nickel for every time she'd been asked to defend Wooloo on a farm, she'd have two nickels. Which wasn't a lot, but... actually, it wasn't all that weird that it'd happened twice. Wooloo weren't just beloved across Hoenn for their cute looks and tough, soft wool; they were commodities for people and, unfortunately, predators alike. It made sense that they needed protection from heinous crooks and hungry canines. Today, it was the latter. And today, she again found herself with an interesting partner on a Wooloo mission.

[break][break]"Mehhhhh~.." "Mehhhhhh!"

[break][break]A partner who was currently entranced by a conversation entirely in Wooloo and Wooloo-imitating bleats. It was way too cute.

[break][break]Although Ettie wasn't officially a Ranger, she was a great partner for this particular mission. Her pack would be great at sniffing out and routing any potential predators. Plus, Ettie herself was clearly smitten by the Wooloo. That was a bonus in Julia's book, even if the farmhands looked a bit more skeptical.

[break][break]Julia's own canine partner for the day, Spot the Lucario, joined Ettie's pack in patrolling outside the pens, though his method of searching was much different. Instead of putting his nose to the ground—which would have been awkward, given that he was bipedal—he scanned the horizon with eyes that glowed light blue with his aura sight. He would immediately alert the pack of any hostile auras coming their way so they could pinpoint its source and chase it off.

[break][break]Things were quiet for now, but when the sun dipped lower in the sky, the hunters would likely grow bolder. It'd probably be a good idea to snap Ettie out of her bleating contest before that happened.

[break][break]"Looks like you two are getting along," Julia said. She meant it 100%, but it also served as a way of getting Ettie's attention.