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Nikolaj was so used to Saskia scampering around him in the kitchen that he didn't even react at the rattling of condiment bottles. He tasted the concoction and added a pinch more dill.[break][break]

His daughter's recommendations about his wood carvings and Ranger work made sense. Nikolaj found himself nodding along the more she spoke — until her last suggestion. He looked up from the soup, frowning.[break][break]

"I'm not lonely," he corrected, somewhat defensively. "And I don't need a lot of swipes. Just a few would be fine. Remember, dochka, quality over quantity."[break][break]

He handed her a clean teaspoon.[break][break]

"Here, taste the soup. Tell me if it needs anything." It was a test, of course, to make sure her palate was as good as her Internet skills.

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The SANDSTORM made it impossible for Nikolaj to see the battle raging within the forest. However, the accumulation of sand did help to smother the flames. With his Lapras and other Rangers' Water-types' contributions, the inferno seemed to lessen — if by a fraction.[break][break]

Great rumbling of the earth, like tectonic plates crashing and breaking, preceded more falling trees within the woods. Roars like bursts of fire punctuated the noise. Nikolaj waited, patient but vigilant lest the Magmortar overcome his Garchomp.[break][break]

But eventually, the SANDSTORM died down. The Mach Pokémon stood over the collapsed bodies of her foes, dripping blood from her wounds but victorious.[break][break]

Nikolaj gave the dragon a grim nod as she returned to his side. "Good work," he said to her in a gruff voice before recalling her into a Pokéball.[break][break]

Chatter of the radio heralded the arrival of the backup from Petalburg City. Soon, the area swarmed with enough Rangers and Water Pokémon to contain the fire with swiftness and ease. Nikolaj remained until the job was complete, then departed for home without a word of farewell.[break][break]

But that was his way, and everyone who knew him was used to it.

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Nikolaj pressed the MIC ON button of his radio. "Copy. Get your Pokémon out of there. We're going all in." Releasing the button, he turned to his own Pokémon. "Garchomp, you're up."[break][break]

While Lapras stayed back with her trainer to keep the fires at bay, the Mach Pokémon waded into the conflagration. As she did, the dirt and debris around her rose into the air, spinning on a cyclone of wind. The SANDSTORM encased the Magmortar as she marched toward them.[break][break]

Then, when she was near enough, she stomped a clawed foot into the ground. The earth rippled outward from her, great pillars of BULLDOZE smashing into the Magmortar. One of the Blast Pokémon collapsed onto the ground, already unconscious.

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Nikolaj saw the red-clad Ranger fall from her injury. Thankfully, Josh swooped down to aid her, so Nikolaj turned away to observe the firefighting progress. He tilted his head toward Josh when the other man approached and addressed him.[break][break]

"I agree," Nikolaj said, voice gruff and tense with apprehension. His single eye scanned between the burning trees, seeking a hint as to what caused the conflagration.[break][break]

Then he saw it: shapes moving between the trees. A group of Magmortar trudged in rank and file through the burning woods, too coordinated to be wild Pokémon. But Nikolaj saw no humans giving them commands — at least, not yet.[break][break]

"We have company. Lapras, cast RAIN DANCE here too."[break][break]

The Water-type responded at once, summoning dark clouds in their immediate area. A torrential storm whipped up, fighting the flames.

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Nikolaj was rooting through the spice cabinet, pulling out the usual parsley, dill, salt, and pepper. One-by-one, he poured portions of them into the simmering soup pot, measuring them by eye alone.[break][break]

"I did say what I like. The outdoors."[break][break]

He eyed his daughter when she mentioned needing more friends. It was true Nikolaj barely spent time around other people, his interactions limited to the people in Oldale with whom he had business. The neighbor's visit earlier that day had been rare, an exception.[break][break]

Nikolaj's problem was that he distrusted himself around other people. One wrong word, and he risked letting slip the truth about his past: that he'd been a formidable member of Team Rocket back in Sinnoh.[break][break]

That he'd committed heinous crimes. That he'd killed people.[break][break]

"What would you write on my profile, then, smartypants?" he asked Saskia.

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"My profile isn't terrible," Nikolaj insisted as he stirred the pot and lowered the heat so the soup could simmer. "It's just fine."[break][break]

When Saskia mentioned a photograph, however, he turned and narrowed his single eye at her phone. The picture wasn't one he remembered her taking, as he'd never seen it before. Admittedly, he looked quite handsome, a soft smile on his face as he gazed at someone or something out of frame.[break][break]

Only Camila Volosenkova teased that kind of smile out of him. What had they been doing? Why had Saskia been so sneaky?[break][break]

"When'd you take that?" he asked, his blue gaze raised to scrutinize his daughter.

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Nikolaj was scooping more of his snack into his mouth when Camila crawled into his lap. He quickly placed an arm around her to hold her steady.[break][break]

Her explanation made sense, at least from his ignorant perspective. This merger was good in the long run, but at present, all he could see was how busy it made his wife. But when she cupped his face, he could feel the tension draining from his body a little.[break][break]

"All right," he said, his gruff tone suggesting he still didn't like it, even if he had to accept it. "How much longer is it going to take? A few more weeks, or what?"

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East it was, then. Nikolaj headed in that direction, trudging through tall grass while his Lapras' bulk protected him from the heat of the flames. The Water-type fired off a WATER PULSE into the inferno.[break][break]

Josh was too high in the air for Nikolaj to speak with him, so the older man spoke to his Lapras instead. "This fire is too large to be a camping accident," he mused aloud. If anything, it screamed foul play.[break][break]

A sharp crack filled the air as a burning tree careened toward a couple of newer Rangers. In a flash, Nikolaj summoned his Garchomp.[break][break]

"Help them out!" he ordered. Garchomp slammed into the trunk with TAKE DOWN, shoving it back into the forest from whence it came.

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Nikolaj raised his eyes when the Dragonite landed nearby, Josh Devlin astride it. He recognized the younger man from past Ranger meetings, though they had never spoken before. Nikolaj nodded in greeting.[break][break]

Josh had not pronounced his first name correctly, but after more than twenty years of people butchering it, the old man was used to it. "Just call me Kolya. Everyone does," he said.[break][break]

He cast a single, blue eye at Josh's Samurott and Dragonair, assessing them and finding them satisfactory. Nikolaj's own Lapras was already out on the field, awaiting orders. He gestured to the Transport Pokémon, who turned toward the blaze and cast RAIN DANCE.[break][break]

Immediately, storm clouds gathered overhead and burst with a torrential downpour.[break][break]

"We just have to keep the fire from spreading any farther. Should be doable."

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Saskia's reassurances had the intended effect on Nikolaj. Though he still frowned, he admitted with great reluctance that his daughter had thought through everything. And she was right about another thing: the supernatural phenomenon plaguing Hoenn was way more dangerous than some random creep on the Internet.[break][break]

She'd survived several years by herself in Sinnoh, too — arguably just as dangerous as Hoenn, though in different ways.[break][break]

Nikolaj sighed and turned back to his cooking. A heavy hand swept the chopped vegetables into a pot of boiling water. "Okay, dochka," he said. "As long as Maugrim is there whenever you meet someone."[break][break]

That Lycanroc could rip out a man's throat without a single thought toward his life.

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"Because you put too much information on your account. Too many photos of you," Nikolaj said, as if it were obvious. He put his hands on his hips, assuming a stance of authority. "There are a lot of predators on the Internet, dochka. Old men preying on young women like you by pretending to be young and friendly. Maybe even girls your age."[break][break]

This was not the first time he'd warned his daughter about the dangers of the Internet. All throughout her childhood, Nikolaj had monitored her usage, setting up child-safe blocks on their various accounts over the years.[break][break]

Of course, Saskia was a grown woman who could make her own decisions. But he was still her father; he hated the thought of her falling into a trap set by someone else and getting hurt — or worse — as a result.[break][break]

But besides that, Nikolaj was simply a private man. It was why he'd raised his family in the countryside, away from big cities where everyone lived on top of each other. He hadn't even built his house in Oldale proper, opting for the nearby woods instead.

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The ground erupted with EARTHQUAKE. Pokémon attacks slammed into the exposed core, igniting it. Nikolaj's Garchomp swooped low, close enough that he could recall her into a Pokéball.[break][break]

The Vikavolt shrieked in frustration as it dislodged its pincers from the rock and soil. It swiveled its head and looked directly at the three humans riding astride the Salamence.[break][break]

In the same moment, something deep beneath them buckled, then surged. The blast was seconds away.[break][break]

"Freya! Get us out of here!" Nikolaj roared.[break][break]

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