she laughs animatedly and then frowns when she realizes he means it. oh, boy, he must not've studied too hard at academy. i mean, she did, but she still struggled to pass. something about written tests and her brain just don't mess...

for some reason.

"well! we'll take 'em in, give 'em the environment they need, and then when we find a suitable habitat to place 'em in, we'll release 'em! standard procedure. 'cause leaving 'em means they're definitely toast."

overhead, irina trills. the blimp pokemon spies with her little eyes the affected pokemon and sasky hops around the rocky environment, warming her muscles for the swim ahead. 

"you know how to catch pokemon, right?" she teases.

KING WAYLAND

10. Use tracking skills to locate victims or threats.

☉

there's merit to her words for sure and sasky knows she really shouldn't do as much wishful thinking as she often does, but she's ever the optimist. unfortunately, she's proven the glass really is half empty when yuina's braivery picks up a feisty jellyfish and hurls it some distance away.

dmitry plops into the water. there's a surprising amount of strength behind his every move and a few slams from his tail sends another couple of tentacool away. 

which helps the wishiwashi calm down enough for frogger and daikenki to shift things around without threatening to hurt the fish. the haphazard bed of debris groans and a pathway splits. the fish race out, silver streaks under the waves, and sasky grins as she watches them go. 

"whoo! we did it! now let's go see if there are any other fish caught like them too."

Yuina Higashi

objectives complete

☉

frogger almost gets eaten by the big scary water otter-dog, which would suck, except sasky is not really paying attention. she's looking at yuina with a mix of awe and adoration, mind abuzz with a million and one other questions around her field of study.

saskia maneuvers their skiff a little closer, turning her gaze over the stern to make sure no stray pieces of debris end up in their motor. dmitry helps keep the space clear behind them to ensure they don't get stuck.

when they're close enough, frogger pats the side of daikenki's side and then barfs out a jetstream of water, knocking aside a heavy metal container. 

"they make a good team," sasky says. "but i hope the only thing that's got the fish riled up is being stuck...i don't see anything else around."

Yuina Higashi

objectives complete

☉

head ranger morales, she scolds herself. she still gets nervous around high-ranking authority. too much being told to snap to attention, to listen please, to get a handle on her pokemon, makes her extra tip-toey around the literal highest ranking ranger in charge.

and then he asks to see her shadow puppets and both oleg and saskia's eyes gleam like stars. 

oleg tucks his little hands out and pink energy wraps around the discarded robot arm. most of the slime has already slunk out of it (much to his dismay and saskia's joy) so manipulating the fingers and the turning of its wrist doesn't make it splatter.

he makes little buneary, a lycanroc, even the shape of a swoobat, and saskia claps after each presentation.

ollie morales

21. Use technology to assist in the operation.

☉

"oh, okay," she says, relieved. formality isn't really her strong suit, but she's trying to be better at it. "i'm saskia! but you can call me sasky."

she is as distracted, immediately, when yuina releases the coolest looking samurott she's ever seen in her life. her eyes sparkle, taken by the sight and the display of effortless control of the water. frogger, settled in her lap now, has a similar look on his own face, mouth slightly agape. 

"that's a hisuian samurott, isn't it! so cool. i've never seen one up close." then her sight slides past the samurott and she sees, a few clicks away, some frothing water. 

"i think...i think that's a school of wishiwashi." and by the looks of it, they're trapped on all sides by more debris. 

frogger leaps nimbly out of her hands before she can protest, sticky pads clinging to the samurott's back. he looks a little green around the gills, surprised by his own bravery, and sasky chides, "we ask first, frogger!" turning to yuina, she huffs and says, "sorry about him."

Yuina Higashi

38. Manage and guide hordes of pokemon to safety.

☉

irina still flutters anxiously over the waves, unburdened but frustrated all the same. saskia gratefully loops an arm around the dhelmise to buoy herself, reaching with her free hand to grab irina's ball. rest, friend, she thinks as she pulls her into the beam of red light.

"man," she murmurs, "sometimes i wish i could sleep in a pokeball."

her own self-reflection makes her completely miss porter's reply to her question. when he peers around to look at her, she blinks, heart squeezing painfully, every inch of exhaustion threatening to catch up to her at once. 

no, don't look at it! keep going! there's still so much to do!

his palafin's shiny blue head breaks through the surf. frogger and dmitry, floating comfortably by her side, immediately spur into action and dive under the depths. saskia's eyes harden and she tucks her mouth into her breathing apparatus, yanks her goggles down over her eyes. 

then she nods to porter, untangles from the dhelmise's gnarled wooden flank, and pats her ranger partner on the soldier once before diving down to follow.

porter holmes

25. Perform thorough searches of the area to locate missing individuals or threats.

☉

and this is what it means when she says teamwork makes the dream work. without him, she'd be sleeping with the fishes. literally! the gyarados zooms past her, intent on going after the real threat and she swirls in its wake, heart thumping like a jackrabbit in her chest. 

frogger is shaking in the water, floating upside down, and dmitry is busy inflating his tail to zoom back up to the surface. 

this is what a real ranger is supposed to be. she stares, awestruck, as he anticipates the gyarados' next move, trapping it in a whirling vortex at the behest of his own dragon. 

frogger finally rights himself and swims over to her hip, waiting for orders. overhead, rolling over the white-capped waves, is a rocket vessel. if she weren't already submerged in the deep and cold her face would've gone white as a sheet. 

"roy, look up!" she says. "let it go!"

Roy Aker

YIPPEE

☉

it's hard to see a nod in the water, roy. some might say impossible. and when no reply comes, she goes to ask if he's on earth with her, but then he shouts and the gyarados turns and she's left scrambling. 

frogger and dmitry dive deeper beneath her and she tries to line up the shot around the thrashing gyarados. 

"okay. teamwork makes the dream work, buddies," she says and frogger swims into saskia's waiting arms, braces all his flippers against her, and waits for dmitry to get in position. 

"a little to your left. a little to yourrrr - perfect. super soaker mega tumble, go!" dmitry tucks his tail and spins in the water in a rollout and after a couple of seconds, frogger sucks in a breath and lets loose a powerful hydro pump. 

saskia "oofs," and somersaults backwards in the water, but on the opposite end is dmitry, racing forward with a trail of bubbles in his wake, slamming with full force against one of the boulders. 

the gyarados snarls, fangs coming down near roy and his kingdra. it thrashes in pain when the rock shifts, but then, with enough wiggling, it manages to free itself. 

saskia squeals with joy, but that abruptly turns into a shriek when she realizes the gyarados' anger and frustration have not, in fact, magically disappeared. 

Roy Aker

whichever one is to handle non-violently smile

☉

"oh, wow. he's beautiful," she marvels, hazels following after the bird as it flies off to scout under yuina's orders. she drops her gaze, reading her fellow ranger's name embroidered on her gear and then putters off in the same direction as the braviary. 

"nice to meetcha, ranger higashi. i think i've seen you around a bit in hq. you're elite, right?

while she follows dutifully along, she keeps an eye out around them. this close to one of the ranger checkpoints, it's unlikely any civilians are stranded, but hey, she got stuck on a sandbar a few kilometers from here. 

Yuina Higashi

25. Perform thorough searches of the area to locate missing individuals or threats.

☉

"i don't really keep track," she answers honestly. "just kinda see stuff on insta and amigo and stuff." 

kirin nickers and saskia wipes some soot from her snout, looking in dismay at how dirtied her white coat is getting. bathing her is a whole production just because of how dang big she is, but sasky knows if she complains enough, kolya will help her. 

"so i guess you never met him," she goes on. "i think maybe only one person i know ever met him. i hear he loves - loved - dogs. do you like dogs?"

porter holmes

☉

from his vantage point, she probably does look like a half-drowned rat, shoulders hunched against the cold. irina flits her wings to keep them just above the rolling ocean, but saskia knows it's taking a toll on her. so she pats her fluffy head and pinches her nose, slipping off of her with a squeal.

she hits the water, splashing porter in the process, but resurfaces a second later. the initial shock of the water wears off pretty quickly, even if her lips are a tinge blue. 

"long day," she says, but that smile doesn't leave. "it's...this is a whole mess, isn't it?" she looks past him. 

there's an oil-slick glittering on the water some yards off. broken window panes, bits of electronic scraps, stray cloths - so much destruction. so much pollution. 

"what are you doing out here alone? we're supposed to buddy up in the water."

porter holmes

☉