[attr="class","juliaw"]

The tears that fell down Josh's cheeks made Julia's heart hurt. As a child, she'd looked up to Gym Leaders as examples of what being a great trainer was like. Heck, she still did, to some degree. They were strong leaders of their communities, so it was hard to imagine something bad happening to them. Julia had never even considered how much danger they could potentially be in just for their positions. Apparently, neither had Josh.

[break][break]He struggled to speak for a moment, but when he did, his conviction was firm: He wanted to keep chasing Raikou. No, he had to keep chasing Raikou. He'd found a reason close to home to fight for, and that had bolstered his resolve, even after what he'd endured. Julia was still worried, especially with the reminder of the assassination attempts of years past. But she was proud, too.

[break][break]"Okay," she said. Her face was steely with her determination, but her smile was soft and supportive. "Then I've got your back. Besides, I wanna protect Hoenn, too. I might not be chasing a Legendary Pokémon like you are, but I'm fighting in my own ways. So remember you're not in this alone, okay?"

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"Oh, your dad's an artist?" Julia asked. "That's so cool! I bet those paintings are really pretty."

[break][break]She joined Pluto in patting Soot's head. "Good. I like riding Pokémon, but that might be too wild of a ride for me." Shalin Nariya, on the other hand...

[break][break]"There's gotta be. I mean, space is huge, and it's always getting bigger, isn't it? There's no way there's not at least one other planet with life on it. Whether it's people or Pokémon or maybe something totally different!" Hopefully they weren't like those alien invaders in the movies, though...

[break][break]The buzzing of wings and a high-pitched chitter turned her attention from the night sky. Then the sound was somewhere, and she had to turn her head again. "Oh!" Julia laughed when she saw a Cutiefly flying around her head, as if looking for something. It decided to land on her head and start sniffing around in her hair. "Hey, I'm not a flower!"

[break][break]The Cutiefly let out a confused little chitter and fluttered down to land on Julia's shoulder. Carefully, Julia reached out a finger to stroke under the little gal's proboscis. It closed its eyes and let out a content chitter. "Aww, I think she likes me." With zero hesitation, Julia took an empty Poké Ball and booped her new friend with it.

[attr="class","juliaw"]

With the way Josh had snapped at Matt earlier, Julia was a bit worried about the Gym Leader's reaction to this impromptu race. His encouragement was a welcoming sight.

[break][break]Julia was very tempted to take Isaac up on his little taunt. So was Chester, if his right head's competitive look was anything to go by. But Julia reined him in, keeping his pace brisk to stay in step with Josh and Saber. Their conversation wasn't quite done yet, and Julia didn't want to just bail. Not yet, at least.

[break][break]"Looks like you've got it covered!" she shouted back to Isaac. Chester's right head warked his displeasure. "Easy there, buddy. We'll get our chance."

[break][break]Josh oh-so-helpfully reminded her that, as a Ranger, there was no such thing as being too prepared. "Hey, who's the senior Ranger here?" Julia asked mostly lightheartedly. "Trust me, I know the importance of being prepared." Josh may have noticed just a bit of bite behind her question... yet it was gone in an instant: "Sounds good! It'll be good for Ranger work to learn to ride that fast on the water, too." After all, Josh had proven that during their oceanic mission.

[attr="class","juliaw"]

The teasing smirk caught Julia off guard just long enough for her shoulders to shake with an aborted giggle. But she remembered that this was Blackjack the Rocket talking, and that had her worried that he was being completely serious despite his levity. But... maybe that wouldn't be so bad?

[break][break]"As long as none of your Pokémon try to run me over or something," Julia said with just as much frivolity. It was weird how comfortable she was with saying that. Not that she was complaining.

[break][break]She snickered at the sight of the overstuffed Wishiwashi cage. Those little guys must have been real strong together if they could hold all three of them like that! The poachers themselves looked indignant, completing the picture of comical comeuppance.

[break][break]"I told you we should have split up," one of them said.

[break][break]Blackjack grabbed one of the Wishiwashi, stuck her in the fish jail's keyhole, and mimed locking it. The Wishiwashi turned to face the two humans with a cheeky smile. Okay, what the heck, that was way too cute. And then he and Toto dusted off their hands in sync and shared a fist bump! Julia couldn't stop the smile from spreading across her own face.

[break][break]From the water, Inky let out an imploring little trumpet. She turned around so her back fin was facing Julia and did a little wiggle. When Julia didn't get it, the Kingdra pushed herself back a bit to thrust the fin forward. "Oh!" The lightbulb went off in Julia's head; she wanted a fist bump, too! "Great job out there, Inky." Julia brought her fist forward so it and Inky's back fin could meet. Lazuli instead got some good strokes and scratches on her long neck. "You, too, Lazuli." Both of Julia's Pokémon seemed pleased with the praise.

[break][break]"Yeah, guess that's that," Julia echoed. "Wait, what are you gonna do with these guys when you leave?" Would he just drop them in the ocean, leaving Julia to fish them up for arrest? Or would he go back on his promise and take them to Rocket? No, that wouldn't make any sense. He wouldn't follow her away from Rocket's stronghold if he wanted to do that, would he?

[break][break]Inky swam by Lazuli's side as the ragtag group made their way toward clear waters. At some point, Blackjack whipped his jacket off to bask in the sun on Toto's back. He still had the mask on, though. Of course he did; it'd be silly of him to reveal his identity, even after working together with Julia. He was still a Rocket at the end of the day.

[break][break]Once again, Julia tried to play it cool with his question: "I've gotta admit, you had some good moves out there. Even if I didn't see all of them," she added lightheartedly.

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Julia caught the eye of one of the protesters as their face fell in what they saw as betrayal. The word "liar" flew over the crowd and jabbed itself in Julia's ear. What other choice do we have? she asked herself as she watched the crowd prepare for another violent bout. Two people have already died. Isn't that enough? Why can't they just stop? But of course, it wasn't that simple. Julia knew that, but she didn't fully comprehend the depths of it. She wasn't sure if she ever could.

[break][break]She wasn't sure if she ever wanted to.

[break][break]Josh's confession that the cops might have shot first was like a knife through her heart. His next words came in muffled, like Julia had been dragged underwater and Josh was just calmly talking from above the surface instead of reaching down to help. "That... That can't be right," Julia said, voice so quiet that she wouldn't be surprised if the chanting drowned her out completely.

[break][break]Suddenly, the microphone looked more like a weapon aimed at its speaker. One wrong word and it'd fire. Only it wouldn't be a bullet; it'd be an overflow of tension that spurred further violence and mayhem. Julia wouldn't have told them to start fighting again, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she'd still feel at least partially responsible if she said the wrong thing.

[break][break]Julia took a deep breath. This wasn't the time to develop stage fright. She had to do something if she wanted to stop this. She walked toward the mic, that name swirling in her head again: Jack Pile. What had been the name of the private who'd been trampled? Julia wished she knew; they both deserved to have respects paid to them. But for now, she only had one name to work with: Jack Pile. That would have to do.

[break][break]A sonic boom echoed across the city before Julia could even say one word. The mic picked up her surprised gasp as she looked up to see a wind blowing from above, spores dancing in its currents. They were diffused by the force of the gale, but they were still enough to cause officers and frontline protesters alike to sink into slumber. Julia stepped back and covered her mouth with one hand to hide the yawn that was forcibly sucked into her lungs.

[break][break]"What the heck...?" she asked mid-yawn. She looked to Josh to see if he had an answer.

[break][break]"Now's our chance!" one of the protesters shouted, grabbing a lead pipe off the ground and running forward.

[break][break]"No!" Julia cried, snapped to full awakeness. "Chester—!"

[break][break]A blood-red sword—no, a Pokémon—stabbed into the ground in front of the protester with enough force to crack the pavement before Julia could get a command out. The protester nearly tripped over himself as he skidded to a halt. A shadow descended over the Sword Pokémon, and a Crobat covered in luminescent patterns lowered itself into view. And atop that Crobat...

[break][break]"You!" Julia shouted. Blackjack, the skull-masked Rocket Julia had had a few run-ins with before. A criminal and an enigma, a foe one moment and an ally the next. Julia realized that many of the Pokémon in the crowd of protestors looked familiar: the Rhyhorn that had aided in Blackjack's escape, the Bisharp that had nearly run her over with a motorcycle, the Blastoise Blackjack had ridden to chase after the maritime poachers... Was that trenchcoated protester actually a school of Wishiwashi?

[break][break]Josh lost it. Julia watched him, confused, as he shouted at the masked Rocket. "Josh, what are you talking about?" she asked. The man he'd described trying to kill him was supposed to be about six feet tall with a large, muscular build. She looked back at Blackjack. Blackjack the Rocket, not the DRK Triad member. The only thing the two had in common was the skull mask. There... There was no way this was the same guy who'd tried to kill Josh... right?

[attr="class","juliaw"]

Spot's head appendages rose in alarm as he sensed Cade Atreides's approach. He turned, growling, toward the man who was supposed to be their enemy, but the sound died, confused, in his throat when he got a better look at the man's aura. Julia stared at the Rocket, gaze as hardened as she could possibly make it in her current state. But when he tossed a first-aid baggie toward her, her expression broke into disbelief.



[break]Had he said that...? She couldn't remember. No, wait, that wasn't the important part. He didn't want to see her die? This was all just a chore to him? Even if her head were clear, Julia would have struggled to understand any of this. Cade turned back toward the chained Dialga and had his Sableye attack. Right. Dialga was still in trouble.

[break][break]"Spot," Julia said. "The Unown. Hurry."

[break][break]Spot hesitated, still side-eyeing the man who had attacked them earlier. But all of the Rocket's aggression was going toward the DRK Triad member and his Unown. Very well, then. With the Unown-R slowed, Spot aimed his Shadow Ball at the chain binding the Lord of Time. It was joined by another attack from Thomas Benoit's Hydreigon, though Julia couldn't see the source of the attack from where she lay. When the smoke from the onslaught cleared, all that remained was a liberated Dialga. Quanto and his Unown-R were gone.

[break][break]Julia gasped when Dialga let out a pained roar and rose its front hooves. Spot growled and held his paws together to prepare another attack, willing to protect his trainer from even a god. But rather than attack, it gave the town a grateful look. It opened its mouth to let loose another Roar of Time. This time, neither Julia nor Spot was afraid of the oncoming noise.

[break][break][break]


[break][break]The softer, more calculated roar rebuilt buildings and pavement, putting Littleroot back in its original place in time. There was a soft glow from Chester's Poké Ball, and she could tell without even releasing him that Chester was back to being a Dodrio. Dialga's hooves landed softly on the earth, and the deity stood tall and proud, unhindered by its cruel former master.

[break][break]"Thank you." Julia didn't have the energy to shout out with her usual enthusiasm, so she'd just have to hope her feelings would get across before Dialga vanished.

[break][break]She felt the pulse of energy coming from the theater before she saw it. Some kind of rift had opened beneath the town in the struggle. What on Earth...?

[break][break]Spot let out a soft "ruff" to get Julia's attention. He was holding the first-aid pouch in his paws, unsure of what to do with it but knowing it was supposed to help. Julia smiled and raised a trembling hand to take it.

[break][break]"Thanks, buddy."

[break][break]Wait, there was someone else she needed to thank, too. She looked around to see if Cade Atreides was still nearby. If he was, she'd flash him a small, grateful smile. At the end of the day, they were still enemies, but he'd spared her and even helped her, so that deserved a little something. She just hoped he wouldn't come looking for a favor or anything.

[break][break]There was a Salamence coming toward her, but Spot seemed calm about it, so Julia knew it was a friend. It touched down next to them and motioned for her to get on. With a grunt, Julia started to sit up, aided by Spot's paws at her back. Then she saw her leg. Specifically, she saw that her prosthesis had been bent out of shape by the explosion. She was surprised it was still attached to her; she definitely wouldn't be walking home on it.

[break][break]"Oh, jeez," Julia muttered. That was probably an understatement, but shock did weird things to your brain.

[break][break]Luckily, Spot was on the case. He picked Julia up in a bunched-up bridal style and hopped onto the Salamence's back. Julia gratefully stroked the dragon's neck before they took off to find Kaida Adachi and get the heck home. As they flew over the mostly repaired battleground of Littleroot, Julia applying salves and bandages to her injuries, Julia's comms buzzed to life with the news that the region was safe from the meteoroid.

[break][break]"We did it, guys," she said, voice still quiet with exhaustion.

[break][break]Yet much still remained unresolved. As she watched the sky, Julia could see sparkling fragments still falling to Earth. They weren't big enough to be region destroyers, but they still raised questions and concerns. Quanto had escaped. There was a pulsing rift beneath Littleroot. And the Megalopolans were back—no, had been back, hiding amongst the people of Hoenn. Too many threats still remained, even after all the hard work they had put into stopping the meteoroid. It seemed the League would be busy in the coming... weeks? Months? Year? Julia didn't know. She just knew that she, too, would have work to do if she wanted to keep her beloved home and its people safe.

[break][break]But for now? For now, Julia needed to rest.

[attr="class","juliaw"]

Julia beamed with pride at being remembered. "Oh, that's so cool!" she exclaimed when she saw Elga's new coat. No star-shaped sunglasses, though. Maybe that was a summer thing. "Oh, right, Spot has his, too!" She popped open the Lucario's Poké Ball, revealing that he was wearing a similar fur-lined coat in red. "His is red. I wanted to wear mine, but it's cold this year! At least that means more snow." She shrugged away the thoughts of a near-apocalyptic winter. Hoenn was okay, and that's what mattered.

[break][break]Snuffles was already sniffing and digging at the ground, pulling up a variety of rocks and lost trinkets that might be good for decorating the snowboy with. She was also inadvertently making snow piles, though none of them were round enough to add to the snowboy itself. Julia would have to fix that later.

[break][break]While Julia watched, she heard the telltale splat! of a snowball hitting someone. She looked over to see that poor Hideo had been beaned right in the side of the face by a young girl on a warpath. No one, regardless of age or rank, was spared her adorable wrath.

[break][break]"I'll catch up in a bit," Julia said. "I've gotta make sure Snuffles doesn't eat all the stalls first." Snuffles didn't even bother to look offended at such an accusation. Maybe Julia would pick up something there, too. She wondered if they had fruitcake...

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[attr="class","juliaw"]

Julia wasn't exactly small, but the native Hoennian wasn't used to such cold temperatures, especially in her summer getup. She practically bounced in place trying to keep warm, even with Momo at her side to provide some much-needed heat.

[break][break]She sighed out her relief when Prance used her Psyshield to soften the blow to the wall. Once the group was back downstairs, Julia recalled Momo for some rest and joined Shalin in basking in the warmer parts of the dungeon. She looked at Shalin's phone and the parts of the map that had been marked. "So it looks like that's what we're aiming for," she said, pointing at the spot with the medallion. "Maybe that room with the giant ice block will get us there, but how do we get to that...?"

[break][break]Just sitting here thinking wouldn't solve anything, though. Once Shalin had sent the map over a local connection and the girls were warmed and rested, they continued on their way. "You got it!" Julia said to Shalin's request that she be thorough. Though if she was going to be leading the way and looking through the lens for clues, she might as well get a few extra pairs of eyes on her side. She sent out Chester, hopped on his back, and petted all three of his heads.

[break][break]"I'm gonna be looking through this for clues," she said, showing him the Lazuli Lens, "so I'll need your help getting around." Chester's middle head let out a short squawk of understanding and determination to do well.

[break][break]Julia remembered the dining hall with its creepy, wavering atmosphere and figured that'd be a good place to start. Her intuition turned out to be right: the whole room was shrouded in illusion! The seemingly pristine curtains and rugs had holes eaten in them, the table looked like it would crumble around the long cracks in the wood, and some of the chairs even had broken backs. "Oh, wow," Julia said. "This whole place is—"

[break][break]She stopped when she noticed that some of the still-intact chairs were occupied. She took the Lens away from her eye, then held it back up. Still there. Okay, she wasn't gonna lie, that was kinda creepy. "Uh... Hi?" Julia tried. Chester looked at her like she was the one who'd grown an extra head.

[attr="class","juliaw"]

Julia grinned at the promise of a hug once Josh had been discharged, and that expression softened with gratitude toward Josh for trusting her. She nodded a few times as Josh gave his description of his assailant. The skull mask reminded her of the Rocket she'd had a few runs-in with, but nothing else matched the side of Isaac Merlo known as Blackjack. Not to mention, Josh claimed it was one of the DRK Triad rather than a Rocket.

[break][break]"Yeah," Julia said after Josh had described the League's Avatars. "It's a good thing they're on our side." She smiled a bit nervously.

[break][break]She'd heard whispers of the DRK Triad since they first appeared in Hoenn, and they'd even been discussed during the Rangers' summit in August, but having them directly affect someone she knew and cared about tied her stomach into knots. On the day of the meeting where Josh had told the entirety of the Rangers that he was chasing after Raikou, Julia had supported him wholeheartedly, even when others chastised him for his foolishness. Was it a reckless ambition? Possibly. But if anyone was going to go after a Legendary, then Julia was glad it was someone with a good heart like Josh.

[break][break]Yet Julia hadn't expected danger to come for him so quickly. She'd thought the danger would come from the Legendary Beast itself or wait until Josh had bonded with it to show itself. Having someone try to kill him this early—and get so close that Josh was in the hospital with visible wounds... Julia was having second thoughts. But she didn't want to be a bad friend. She didn't want Josh to think she didn't support him, especially at a vulnerable time like this.

[break][break]"Do you... still want to chase Raikou after this?" Julia asked hesitantly.

[attr="class","juliaw"]

How awesome was it to have a winter wonderland right outside your hometown? Falling snow, stalls selling all kinds of edible and non-edible goods, and even an ice rink were basically right in Julia's own backyard! And all the proceeds were going to the Rangers! Of course, she couldn't forget the pièce de résistance: the snowboy competition.

[break][break]With Hoenn being Hoenn, it usually didn't get cold enough to have this much snow, at least not near Fortree. Yet the region had again proven its resilience by turning the instability caused by Meteno into a celebration and a way to help out the Rangers, who, in turn, would continue helping the region. Everything leading up to this had been rough, to say the least, but the sight before put a bright smile on Julia's face. They really could overcome anything, couldn't they?

[break][break]Snuffles the Piloswine walked at her side, both so she could enjoy the festivities and so she could help Julia with any potential balance issues. Julia was glad that Snuffles wasn't as gung-ho about running for food as she had been as a Swinub, or else the food stalls might be in trouble right about now. Her snout did twitch as she sniffed the air and gave some interested snorts, though.

[break][break]"We'll grab you a treat once we find a place to set up," Julia said, petting Snuffles's shaggy side. It had been tough figuring out a "costume" for the Swine Pokémon, so Julia had settled on a Santa hat balanced on her head and hand-knit tusk covers and booties with holiday patterns on them. Her mom was totally awesome for making those. Julia, of course, was also bundled up for the weather, complete with a holiday bobble hat.

[break][break]There were already plenty of familiar faces, including some of her fellow Rangers, but there was one in particular that stuck out to her: Hideo Kino. He seemed to be alone, sans his snowy Vulpix. Julia totally needed to fix that.

[break][break]"Hey!" she called as she approached, waving before she realized he wouldn't see it. Force of habit! "Hideo, right? It's me, Julia. We caught a Wooloo thief together this summer." She wasn't trying to be patronizing, honest! She just wasn't sure if he'd remember her from that one encounter.

[break][break]

[attr="class","juliaw"]

Chester's middle head twittered happily at the praise from both his trainer and the Captain.

[break][break]At Lance's scolding, many of the Passimian drew inward, clearly embarrassed. One, however, stepped forward, carrying her own child on her back. Seeing another parent seemed to calm the Rillaboom a bit.

[break][break]"It could have been the Primeape, too," Julia said. "Though that miiiiiight not have been playing." She gave what remained of the Primeape a side glance. They started to hoot and raise their fists, but twin glares from Chester and Spot had them backing down, still looking angry. Julia didn't see any children among them, but she could only assume they'd be angry, too.

[break][break]Julia perked to attention at the feeling of something bumping into her good leg. She looked down to see that one of the little Grookey had stumbled over to her and was now peering up at her wide adorably wide eyes. And then it hugged her leg, and she felt like melting.

[break][break]"Oh my gosh, you are so cute," Julia nearly squeaked. She looked up to make sure the Rillaboom wasn't going to charge her or something. It still looked wary, but it didn't look like it was about to rush at Julia and try to bash her head in or something, so Julia slowly bent down to pet the sweet little Grookey. "Aww, I wish I could just take you home with me."

[break][break]Seeing its child being treated so gently softened the Rillaboom's gaze and posture even further.

[break][break]"I guess that's mystery solved, then," Julia said to Lance. "I just hope these guys can start getting along a bit better so we don't have another incident like this."

[attr="class","juliaw"]

There were races within the race now. Julia, Kaida Adachi, and MATIAS SILPH raced nearly side by side on their Pokémon as they navigated through the collapsed section of the track. At one point, she had to steer Chester out of the way of Kaida's Onix, but Chester was quick to recover his momentum. Once they were clear of the track's newfound obstacles, all that was left was the home stretch. Nothing complicated aside from the fact that it was downhill, and even that wouldn't really be a problem.

[break][break]"Let's build up some speed and Lunge for the finish line, Chester!" Julia called. It'd be difficult on this much gentler downward slope, but maybe they could build up enough speed to pull it off.

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