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Julia thought for a moment. "Mm, it's a different kind of fun. When I'm on Chester, it's a lot smoother, almost like I'm flying along the ground." Or at least it was now that Julia had more practice and technique on her side. "Yours are more like being on a rollercoaster or something."

[break][break]"I wonder if Sparkie would wanna ride Kiara again," Julia wondered aloud. "Hehe, maybe not as fast as you would, though. She's still pretty shy."

[break][break]Once the girls were in the next room, slabs of ice came crashing down to block the doorways. The sound made Julia suck in a ragged gasp, the air feeling hollow in her lungs. Heart pounding, she spun around and stumbled away from the slab that could very well have crushed her... or Shalin. When she turned to check on her companion (who, thankfully, had been spared such pain), she caught sight of the Mr. Rime that had warped into the room. With a yell, Momo pulled Julia down with him so the Psybeams flew over them. Julia grunted and winced as she landed awkwardly, her arms taking the brunt of the impact, but it was better than getting blasted.

[break][break]"Thanks, Momo," she said, voice slightly strained. Momo didn't even have time to give her a worried look before Shalin was shouting at them to get in a corner and cover their ears. "Okay!" Still holding Momo's hand, she pulled herself up with a sore arm and ran to the room's northwest corner. She crouched down next to Momo and covered her ears, then watched as Sandy emerged and flapped her wings so fast that they seemed to vanish. Even with her ears covered, Julia could still hear the screeching, feel it dispersing her anxiety and replacing it with the determination to push through. Next to her, Momo squeezed his eyes shut and cringed; it seemed his larger, more sensitive ears were picking up enough sound to cause him some damage.

[break][break]When the sound faded to a lingering ringing in Julia's head, the Mr. Rime had collapsed. Julia let out a relieved sigh and uncovered her ears. She could still feel her blood rushing through her veins, but that panicked hollowness in her bones had been filled in. "You okay, Momo?" she asked. The Simisear chittered tiredly, but nodded. Julia scratched him below the chin and stood up, taking his hand again. His flames were getting a bit weaker with his fatigue, so he wouldn't be quite as effective as a space heater, but he was still warm to the touch. Julia focused on that touch for a little while. She was okay. Shalin was okay. From now on, Julia would keep a better eye out for any other traps like that. It was one thing to be trapped in a room, but... She took a deep breath, the freezing air stinging her lungs, grounding her in reality. No, she wouldn't think about that. She had to focus on what was ahead. Everything would be okay.

[break][break]A panel in the northeast part of the room slid open to reveal what looked like a map of the palace. There weren't any identifying features like doors or stairs, but she could still see how many rooms there were. "Wow, this place is huge," she said. "We've maybe seen, like, a quarter of it."

[break][break]In the next room, the wall's thinness meant they could see to the upper floor's east wing, but there was no obvious way of getting there. "Whoa, that is huge," Julia said about the ice block. "Wonder what it's for..."

[break][break]She looked around for a little longer. "Looks like there's another room over that way," she said, pointing to the west. "Maybe something over there will give us a clue." This whole place was starting to feel more and more like a puzzle.

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Julia nodded at Pluto's explanation of how Minior's shell burned up. "Putting them in a Poké Ball is supposed to help, right?"

[break][break]She could feel the indignation rising from the Tyrantrum below her at being called Pluto's "little Soot baby." On the one hand, that was adorable. On the other hand, Julia wasn't too keen on the idea of being atop an angry Tyrantrum.

[break][break]"More like your big Soot baby," she said, scratching the crown of spikes above Soot's eyes. With a grin, she added, "And he's probably a horror to anyone who tries to hurt you. What a good boy."

[break][break]With the Tyrunt safely in one of Julia's Poké Balls, the trainer declared, "In that case, I'm gonna call this girl Ash."

[break][break]As Julia continued watching the stars, so, too, did Chester below. His middle and left heads were turned toward the sky while the right kept its eyes closer to the earth. Something colorful caught his attention, and he turned his right head to see an Archeops running into view. The First Bird Pokémon came to a stop and stared at Chester, who also turned his middle head toward the newcomer. His left head kept its eyes on the sky, but it did spare the Archeops a few interested glances.

[break][break]With excited high-pitched chirruping, the Archeops raised its winged arms and hopped back and forth, flapping its wings without any lift. Chester's center head squawked in greeting. Soon, spurred on by the promise of a new friend and a desire to compete with a fellow bird Pokémon who was better at running than flying, the two Pokémon were running back and forth across the crater-marked mountain.

[break][break]Julia looked down at the commotion and smiled... then giggled when she noticed that Chester's left head was still looking at the stars, bobbing along while the other two heads focused on piloting the body. That silliness aside, it was a really sweet scene, and it looked like Chester was having a lot of fun! There was no way she wasn't going to try to catch that Archeops now.

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With Team Julia starting all the way back in fourteenth place, they'd have to work even harder to get past the chaos at the starting line. Julia leaned forward in Chester's saddle, and when the signal to go was given, she gave his sides a tight squeeze, cueing him to go full speed ahead. The sudden acceleration pushed Julia back a bit, but she quickly righted herself, and then it was smooth sailing from there. She'd gotten used to these faster sustained speeds lately, and that was going to help a lot in this race.

[break][break]With four sets of eyes keeping an eye on the rest of the competition, Julia and Chester were able to quickly weave their way through the crowd. This gave them a good head start on the rest of the competition, allowing them to take the hilly stretch of the track and the following sharp turns without too much rush. Once they'd cleared it, Julia looked behind her to see Gwyar Wledig right on their tail, his Rapidash's horn glowing. As much as Julia wanted to know just what he was doing, a reminder squawk from Chester's left head reminded her to keep an eye on the track itself.

[break][break]Ahead was a slope down to a jump to a lower section of the track. Under her helmet, Julia beamed. This was one of Chester's specialties, though the descent was greater than usual. But that just made it a challenge!

[break][break]"Hyah!" Julia shouted, urging Chester to make the jump.

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"Nice move!" Julia cheered as the Safeguard protected Moony from the poison. "Moony, hit 'em with Confusion!"

[break][break]Moony's eerie red eyes flashed, and the sand-filled air in front of them began to waver like a desert mirage. Colorful lights popped into existence in front of the Toxicroak and then flew at it, knocking it back with telekinetic force. Between that and the sandstorm pelting it, it went down quickly.

[break][break]The Rocket grunt recalled his Pokémon. "Don't just stand there, you idiot!" he snapped at his partner. "Help me out here!"

[break][break]The other Rocket fumbled with his Poké Balls in a panic before managing to toss out a Krokorok. The first one sent out a Weavile.

[break][break]"Ice Shard that Dragonair!"

[break][break]"Krokorok, use Crunch!"

[break][break]Three chunks of ice flew at Talia's Dragonair, and the Krokorok ran at Moony, baring its fangs. Yet in a flash of light, its target vanished, and its teeth instead sank into a Lucario's blue fur. Spot glared at his opponent and growled, barely fazed by the attack.

[break][break]"Uh-oh."

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Julia looked up at the starting arch before she and Chester crossed under it. Whoa, she was almost a whole second ahead of Blinky! Which didn't sound like a lot, but in a world of photo-finish races, it kind of was! She glanced behind her to see just what her comfortable lead looked like. Clyde and Pinky were still pretty far back, but Blinky's raw speed meant he had an easier time keeping up.

[break][break]Julia had to think fast. With Chester's Agility now available to her, she could try to boost their speed and jump one of the corners, giving them an even better lead. But it would be a long jump, longer than the one they'd made earlier, and missing it would put them way behind. If Julia weren't in first place, she would definitely be more willing to risk it. For now, she just took the turns normally. Cornering may not have been Chester's strong suit, but they'd have ample opportunity to show off their strengths later on.

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It took a lot to make Julia legitimately angry. She'd sworn years ago to hold onto her optimism and hope, no matter what, and that included not letting rage overcome her. But attacking Littleroot Town while the League was trying to protect the region from a meteoroid, putting innocent people in danger in the name of "expansion"... that made her angry. Furious, even. She'd never forgive them for this.

[break][break]Julia had planned to protect her hometown of Fortree City, but with an active Rocket attack on the horizon, she and several other Fortree Rangers, including their captain, had come here. Julia, dressed in her Ranger uniform, was toward the southern side of town, away from the fighting that had already broken out at the entrance. Part of her itched to join the fray, to listen to Commissioner Goode's declaration that Rocket would pay for what they were doing, but someone had to stay back to protect both the Primal Point and the town itself. Besides, getting too close to the action would mess with Spot's aura vision.

[break][break]The Lucario stood at her side, his eyes glowing blue as he tried to Detect any unusual auras. He let out the occasional growl when he felt the darkness radiating from the invaders.

[break][break]"I know, buddy," Julia said in a low voice. "They're horrible for doing this. But that's why we're gonna protect everyone and stop them."

[break][break]She heard Councilwoman Elinor Anderson over the comms installed in her holo-glasses, reminding everyone that Rocket wouldn't show any mercy. Julia clenched her fist. "No matter what, we're not letting them take an inch," she said in return. "Let's do this, everyone."

[break][break]She recognized John Sullivan nearby, also guarding the Primal Point. She'd never talked to him before, but he had been directing civilians to safety during the space-time distortion that had appeared over Fortree some months back. With Spot watching their backs for any sneak attacks, she moved closer to both him and the Point itself.

[break][break]"How are things looking here?" she asked. Most of the fighting seemed to be happening farther north, but she had to be prepared for anything, especially since the Primal Point was such a big, obvious target. Rocket may not have been here for it directly, but who knew what they'd try to do to achieve their evil goals.

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Julia's smile fell as Matt retreated to the back of the pack, seemingly not even hearing Josh's apology. She looked back to see if maybe, just maybe, he'd heard Josh's explanation, but all she saw was his hand to his face. She grimaced. Yeah, okay, that wasn't a great reaction... It was obvious that Josh cared about his fellow Ranger, and Julia hated seeing them upset like this.

[break][break]"Well, it sounds to me like this whole thing was just a misunderstanding that got out of hand," Julia said loud enough for, hopefully, both Josh and Matt to hear. She'd been hoping that Matt would chime in to say he was just kidding with his teasing, but his silence wasn't giving her much to work with.

[break][break]Suddenly, Isaac, still astride Blinky, flew by like an electric bullet. Josh swore under his breath and hurried after him. She looked back at Matt, flashing him a jokingly exasperated smile, before spurring Chester after them, though not nearly as fast. As much as she didn't want to just let the subject just drop, she didn't want to let it drag things down for too long, either. Maybe keeping up these friendly conversations would help lift the mood?

[break][break]"Oh, I own a leg cover! I even wore it when we went after those poachers on the boat. I just didn't bring it with me today. Lazuli usually keeps me pretty dry, but you can't be too careful with these things." She pondered Isaac's offer. "I don't think it's something they sell at many stores; I got mine from a specialty medical shop." She looked at her prosthesis. The one she was wearing today was for everyday use, but she had a much sturdier one for athletics and field work. "Maybe I should look into getting an upgrade... I'll have to see what the League will cover. Most of my work is inland, but hey, you know what they say about Hoenn having too much water." She grinned playfully. Honestly, the bit was overused and a bit dumb, but who could resist laughing at reviews from tourists who apparently didn't know how to read a map?

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"Oh, cool, he's a shiny!" Julia exclaimed. She wasn't exactly trying to show off Chester, herself; she just figured it'd be good for him to get his legs stretched before the big race. "Good luck!" Julia called back as he left.

[break][break]... Did the Champion just tell Matias Silph to die? It sounded like it was part of their competitive bantering, but man, what an escalation! A gentle wark from Chester's left head pulled Julia's attention back to the pre-race. Once her name was called, she stood next to Chester at her designated spot, then pulled her helmet over her head, her usual ponytail tied lower so it stuck out the bottom. She hopped on Chester's back and gave each head an encouraging scratch.

[break][break]"Let's do this," she said. All three heads nodded. They watched the familiar countdown on the stadium's screen, and on "GO!", Julia squeezed Chester's sides with her legs to signal him to take off.

[break][break]Immediately, Julia could see just how different this was from the course she'd raced on for her Gym challenge. The crests and troughs of the hills would test each pair's balance as they accelerated, and the easy-to-navigate shallow turns quickly sharpened. It was time for all four of the duo's heads to come together!

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Even though saying "Me" in response to "You?" was totally something Julia would do (albeit with a lot more pep and playful smiling), seeing this masked man do it with a smirk just made Julia grumpy.

[break][break]It took way too long for her brain to catch up with what was happening. Blackjack, a Rocket, was saying the seas needed to be cleaned up. And he wasn't even talking about ejecting someone like Julia from the outskirts of Rocket territory but, rather, someone putting some kind of Pokémon-fainting pollutant in the water. And now, he was interrogating the poacher while his Blastoise (at least, Julia hoped it was his and not some kind of backup's) held the would-be runaway by the back of his shirt. She reflexively felt offended at Blackjack's use of "trash" until she remembered, oh yeah, this guy literally poisoned the water, so he kinda sucked!

[break][break]"There's no good cop or bad cop here!" Julia said when she mostly had the situation sorted in her brain. "And not just 'cause you're basically the opposite of a cop! Heck, I'm surprised you're not helping this guy with his gross poison cloud." She crossed her arms and gave the poacher an unamused look. "Lemme guess, you're doing some 'fishing' for rare Pokémon?" If she was trying to be the good cop, she wasn't doing a very good job of it.

[break][break]"I don't gotta tell you nothin'," the poacher said. "'Sides, looks like you've got beef with this guy. I don't wanna get between you two."

[break][break]"Hey, I can totally have beef with you and this guy!" It was a bit of a relief that Blackjack wasn't working together with this man, because then Julia would be in a 2-on-1. At least with a battle royale situation, she had more of a fighting chance if things got ugly. But why weren't they on the same side? Poisoning the water totally seemed like a Rocket thing to do.

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The first jump was a cakewalk. The second was a breeze. On the third, Julia felt bold. She steered Chester so that when he made his fantastic third leap, one that almost seemed like he was Flying through the air, he'd cut a corner and land back on the track. "Woo-hoo!" Julia hollered. Chester squawked proudly at the move, though the left head seemed more relieved than anything. If he hadn't made that jump, they could have gotten disqualified! But he had made the jump, his more optimistic side reminded him, and now they were in the lead!

[break][break]The crowd's following gasp had Julia glancing behind her to see Inky no longer on the track. Ouch, poor thing. She hoped he got pets after this.

[break][break]The last stretch of the course had three short jumps. Julia was confident that Chester could make those with his eyes closed. However, she quickly realized that the track was sloping downward, meaning that while the jumps themselves would be easy, the landings would not. "Hold steady, Chester," Julia said. All six of the Dodrio's eyes narrowed in concentration as they approached the first jump.

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