reading, organizing, and categorizing. three things that sound so very boring to saskia. she had been a nearly straight-a student in school, but that had been so much work on her part. she'd always been envious of those who just kind of got school. it never clicked for her like that. 

and focusing on reading a textbook? well, she's just happy she's graduated and made it to being a ranger. 

"that's so cool that you just kinda know stuff though. and can recognize things like this." it would have been just another painting to saskia. heck, there's a chance she wouldn't have even noticed it. (but she could at least blame oleg for that.)

"well, you know a lot more than me and probably a lot more than other people." she shrugs and then points down the stairs. oleg beeps excitedly. "think there will be a mummy down there?"

memphis evren

☉

"eric? that's a funny name for a pokemon," she says with a chuckle, but her tone is teasing more than anything. the sylveon doesn't seem very affronted by the remark, but then again, sasky's not very good at reading pokemon. she's careful to avoid the ribbons as she pets. 

her crouch turns into a full-on sit when the glaceon steps around the girl's legs. "caspian...oh! aw, that's so cute! you're little princes, aren't you?" she scratches the underside of caspian's jaw. morena loves getting that spot pet. 

oleg somersaults in the sand and falls forward onto his front nubby hands. it looks like he's trying to mimic the sylveon and glaceon, but his head's too dang heavy. so really he just falls face-first in the sand and struggles to right himself. 

"this is oleg. he's...very special."

she blinks. "and i'm saskia! what's your name?"

marilee beaufort

☉

the two kittens tumble out of the doorway at sven's calling and saskia absolutely lights up. she'd told herself if she ever got the chance to grab a sprigatito of her own, she would, solely because of these two. as it turns out though, the leafy cats are hard to come by in the cold reaches of snowpoint. 

sativa's pleasant smell wafts under her nose as he rubs his chin against her arm. she scritches him behind his ears and coos at him. the stimulation makes his spine shiver so she wiggles her fingers above his head and lets him bat and nip harmlessly at her fingers. 

her smile dips though, and she looks exasperatedly at sven, when he brings up maugrim. 

"no. he almost attacked me the other day! papa won't say it, but i'm sure he'd be happier if i gave him up. i just...i don't know what i'm doing wroooong. Greyson Connors said he'd help me train him, but he's so busy..."

sativa plops onto his side, arms still up and batting playfully at her. if only grim would play like this. 

"do you have any troublesome pokemon? anyone i haven't met?"

sven korolev

☉

and then she's, quite literally, being manhandled by both boys as they try to escape their sudden ambush. kirin doesn't take kindly to saskia being jostled about, but she calms her with a few hurried yelps, insisting that they focus on the situation at hand. she scrambles alongside them, casting a look of disbelief at faelan as he gets a quip in at leyon. 

sasky comes to a stumbling halt. kirin's hooves kick up dirt as she stops too and then she canters in a circle, clearly distressed.

the good news is that the tendrils behind them withdraw. but the pokemon wait for them in the treeline, festering and hungry. so now they're stuck between a rock and a hard place. 

she looks down. her hands are shaking. she can't even step away to catch her breath, for fear that another geyser will erupt. what would papa do? or greyson? her shoulders tense, thoughts getting away from her.

why doesn't she know what to do? she's trained for this, right? these situations that get out of hand, where she's meant to be a professional. her breath quickens of its own volition and she stays rooted to the spot, face flushed. kirin bleats worriedly.

"i - um - what - do...we do?"

leyon cœur faelan foxgrove

 starting this: uncertainty over her own drive, ambition, and how much she has 'progressed' through life should be touched upon in some way.

catto

☉

"oh, what?" she says, suddenly worried she may have made the girl feel like she wasn't supposed to be here. maybe that's why her face is so red? 

so saskia is quick to wave her hands, which oleg mimics, and laugh. 

"no, no, you're fine! honestly we love it when folks come around. helps us keep some of the pests away, but i promise you're not in the way! at all!"

she grins down at the sylveon's ribbon and immediately crouches, holding her hand out with a pspspsps. "i've never met a sylveon in person! they're so pretty. what's your name, little one?"

marilee beaufort

☉

"oh, please, i suck. if i could beat you fair and square, i would," she says with a giggle, tickling him just a little bit more for good measure. she knocks him lightly in the shoulder and then pushes him away from her, tugging her legs up onto the couch to curl a bit more comfortably. the kick to her midsection had hurt, but hey, she asked for it. 

"literally no one in sinnoh played, i swear to gods. and deda definitely didn't have a switch. but maybe all my woodworking practice gave my thumbs super strength." she flexes her thumbs ecstatically. 

"are indica and sativa around? i've missed them. and silly putty, of course." but petting the leafy green cats sounds nicer than petting silly putty's gelatinous form. 

sven korolev

☉

a little imp starts following them from behind instead. this one has slightly more frustrating tricks up its sleeve and scurries up into the trees. kirin's ears flick. a light, protective sheen rolls over saskia's frame, unbeknownst to her.

it's why it takes her a moment to realize what the pinging sounds are, and where they're coming from. acorns bounce off of her every which way. she stops, looking up, and spies the little creature with its weird, crooked grin. 

"awww, it's so cute! kirin, can you get it down for me?" she snorts. 

her antlers begin to glow, swimming in an array of dizzying patterns. the imp reaches for another acorn, but misses the branch and freefalls with a squeal, right into kirin's waiting megahorn. 

FAIRY WILD

capturing impidimp

☉

the animosity between the two goes completely over saskia's head. well, maybe not completely, but it seems harmless enough that she would much rather ignorant it. these samples are super duper important to the success of the mission. two big-headed boys' egos? not so much. 

kirin's massive horns turn just before faelan reacts to something around them. his unsettled nickering makes saskia look up, but she's still carefully cutting around roots with a scalpel. her dex is on the ground, field instructions open, and the added pressure sure isn't helping. 

the clipping finally comes free right as faelan brushes her shoulder. saskia stands, fumbling with the vial. she loops it into her belt hook and yanks up her pack, tossing her dex inside. kirin's sudden bleat of warning helps her sidestep the vine that snakes out towards her. 

but in missing her, it aims to encircle faelan's instead. 

"oh, sweet arceus, watch out!"

leyon cœur faelan foxgrove

☉

gastrodon makes some appreciative slug noises as the poison is rendered ineffective. saskia shakes out the rest of the medicine and then drops the empty canister into her bag, holding it out for nikolaj to do the same. it wouldn't be very rangerly of them to leave their trash lying around. 

oleg is more than happy to follow those orders. he beeps excitedly and raises a stubby hand. the lights on his forehead blaze as he focuses hard and the balls at the bottom of the slope start to wobble. unfortunately for them, he'd already used much of his strength bouncing around with teleport, so the balls fall back down to the ground. 

"it's okay, o. we'll go get them together." saskia doesn't exactly take the slope at a run, but it's close enough. together, she and oleg manage to gather the balls and shove them in her backpack. before they go back up, sasky pauses. something dark purple, tinged with green, glitters on the ground.

hmmm. she picks it up and turns it over in her hands and, panting by the time she trudges back up the slope, holds it out to nikolaj with a frown. 

"i think it's a poison tera crystal. maybe that's why they were so strong? and acting so...weird?" but why is it here? and what does this mean for the outskirts of their town?

Nikolaj Volosenkov

☉