saskia is here on important ranger business and she is taking it very, very seriously. oleg, on the other hand, is not, and she has had to pick him up and wrestle him away from the baby tirtouga six times now. worse is she thinks the tirtouga actually kind of enjoy being puttered (slowly and safely, so at least there's that) through the sand. 

but the rangers had been strict! the tirtouga are supposed to make it down the beach and into the water on their own. it's like a rite of passage or something. (saskia had not paid very much attention.)

she is in the middle of wrangling oleg once again when a glaceon hops past her. "morena?" she says, dumbfounded, but realizes morena is still safely tucked in the ball at saskia's side and there is a such thing as other glaceons. 

"oh, hi there! yeah, these little guys just hatched. the rangers are out here making sure the wingull and pelipper don't get at 'em," she says. 

oleg beeps to emphasize saskia's proud claim.

marilee beaufort

☉

she feels so small. it's hard not to, when she comes home to find it's not really home anymore. the green pastures outside oldale have turned into a frozen wasteland. the very earth is sick and its pokemon are suffering, and it's so, so hard for her to see this.

but she puts on that brave smile because at the end of the day, she's lucky. she has her mama and papa and they love her so very much, and it's more than what either of them had growing up. mama's careful about her words, sasky knows, and she takes the offered tissues because she knows she's not going to be able to stop crying now that the water works have started. 

"you're so strong, mama. it's a lot to live up to, but i'm so glad i get to do that. and me and kirin will keep training." she blinks. "maybe my first baby step is getting maugrim to listen to me."

she takes a moment to put some of the apps on her plate and chows down. her grumbling tummy appreciates the sudden sustenance, but she's always had trouble eating too quickly. so she chews fast, swallows, and then tries to get more words out. 

"aw and i want you to meet oleg too. he's so cute. his dex entry says he's a little alien guy. he helped me clean some graves the other day on mt. pyre and i met this nice boy there too."

Camila Volosenkova

☉

"yes, yes, and yes puh-lease."

at the idea of a sleepover, she brightens considerably. the rest of her piece is unceremoniously shoved into her mouth so she can fish around for her phone. she shoots off a quick text to the family group chat to let them know not to expect her home tonight. with that done, she tucks her cell back away and helps herself to his cupboards so she can grab some water. 

"oh, duh. you remember Greyson Connors, right? he's super duper busy and we accidentally ran into each other in the first place, but i saw him!"

and it's here and now she decides she's going to work extra hard to bring sven into her circle. it's not like it's been easy to meet people these days anyway. 

"i really wanna get to know some of the other rangers, but there's not many of us at oldale and everyone else is busy with all this rift stuff, which is way above my station. but i'm sure it'll come naturally, y'know!"

she pretends to think about his offer and then grins just as wickedly: "i'll have you know i've been practicing. let me kick your ass."

sven korolev
telling dad and mom in gc she's staying over at sven's teehee Nikolaj Volosenkov Camila Volosenkova

☉

okay, so that's fair. it's not like sven shares the same enthusiasm for adventure that she does. she's glad he hadn't wanted to go do something crazy like investigate the rifts or dive headfirst into battle. some of the stories sasky's heard around ranger hq have been...not so pretty.

but that's not very fun to think about. 

"aw, they're good. they missed me like crazy. i'm staying with 'em for now. even though oldale's kinda sleepy, i like it. with everything that's been going on, there's still plenty for me to do."

she brightens. "i saw one of those tera crystals the other day!" she leaves out the fact that she broke it in all of five minutes. 

the oven beeps and she goes rummaging around for a sheet pan to put them on, making herself quite at home. when she finally finds one, she meticulously places the bagel bites on it and pops it into the oven. she gets so distracted by his compliment she forgets to set a timer. 

"aw, yeah? deda makes them better for sure, but i wanted to try my hand at them." she takes one for herself and mmmms as it crumbles in her mouth. they become mirror images of each other, with their hands out to hold the crumbs.

"i freed up my night if you wanna do something, but that's super okay if you're busy. i did kinda spring this on you."

sven korolev

☉

well, he's right about one thing. she is absolutely not going to listen. when it's good and snug, she pops back up and goes over to kirin to pat her side. with an excited, "okay, try it," kirin bites down hard on the rope and digs her hooves into the earth.

the rope goes taut, but the crystal doesn't budge. so saskia steps in front of the wyrdeer and starts pulling too. her face reddens with the exertion, but then she feels the teensiest amount of give. 

and then, all at once, a lot of give. the crystal pops out of the earth, arcs upward, and then comes down hard. right on top of a rock. it splinters into hundreds of shards, expelling a ripple of pink light around it.

"oops."

Greyson Connors

☉

"don't apologize," she says with a giggle and a shake of her head. it's funny to see him all out of sorts, although RIP to the energy drink spilled all over the floor. she steps neatly over it when he gestures for her to come in and she goes about setting down her things. 

before she can offer to help clean up the mess, he's already done it. so, instead, she lets her curiosity lead her around his place. it's very sven; she looks greedily at the vinyls on the couch.

"find any gold?" she asks. Nikolaj Volosenkov and Camila Volosenkova have a collection of music themselves. the former insists it's the best way to listen to music. saskia wouldn't call herself a snob by proxy, but...

"you've changed so much," she says dramatically. "learning paldean?" surely he hasn't. "forgetting to eat?" not surprising.

"and are you kidding? i'm sure whatever i was doing is nothing compared to what was happening in here! it drove me crazyyy being away. not being able to talk to family or you." 

sven korolev

☉

she just keeps knocking. and knocking and knocking. even though in between her raps, she can hear him scurrying about and calling that he's coming. she rocks back and forth on her heels and the balls of her feet, shifting because she really put so much on this plate and it's getting kind of heavy holding it with one arm. 

when the door opens, there's sven. well, a version of sven. his face is slimmer and he's definitely taller than she remembers. as clumsy as she remembers though, maybe, and she laments over the energy drink as he stumbles forward towards her. 

she barely has enough time to jerk her arm to the side so he doesn't squish her gift between them. her other arm comes around him and she squeezes him tight, smile so wide it hurts her cheeks. 

"sven, are you crying? sheesh. i haven't even shown you the best part." she wriggles away from him and pulls back so she can peel the tinfoil away. "i made kartoshka!"

making that dish for the ranger meeting had been such a blast, sasky had demanded she and Nikolaj Volosenkov spend more time in the kitchen together. these are a byproduct of that. they're not exactly like her grandfather makes them, but they're close.

"and a bunch of snacks in my backpack. and bagel bites. those are frozen though so maybe you could let me in before they thaw?"

sven korolev

☉

mauville isn't too far from oldale, thankfully, and she's made the trip so many times, it's almost second nature. granted, she and kirin do take the long way around because the icelands give her the heebie jeebies. kirin too. but once they're past and headed up rt. 110, everything is easy breezy. 

she sways in her saddle as kirin clops along the road, fussing with the plate in her hands. she fiddles with the tinfoil and in doing so, nearly loses her grip on it. after overcorrecting and righting herself to the point where she nearly falls off kirin's other side, the wyrdeer snorts and prances forward.

but eventually, they make it to sven's house. 

she withdraws kirin and bounces up the steps, as she's want to do, and doesn't waste time knocking with such a fury it's a wonder the door doesn't fall down.

"sven, sven, sven, are you home?"

sven korolev

☉

"aw, you call her tink. that's so cute." the tinkaton looks between greyson and the crystal. saskia can't make heads or tails of its expression so she just giggles again. she stands up, dusts herself off, and then walks back over to kirin to root around in his small saddlebags. 

when she finds what she's looking for - rope - she squats back down by the crystal and starts trying to loop it around the weird curvy edges she'd managed to dig up. 

kirin takes the other end of the rope in her mouth and waits patient, looking with baleful doe eyes at greyson.

"i don't think," saskia says, "this is going to work. but we can try?"

Greyson Connors

☉

her eyes go wide as saucers. she snatches her hand back and wiggles her fingers to make sure she's not begun to morph into some crazy abomination. when all is well, though, she beams up at him. 

"i've been reading about stuff like that! tera crystals, right?" she pointedly doesn't touch the crystal, but she does start digging around it. dirt grits under her fingernails and after a couple of handfuls of unearthing, it's clear this thing isn't going to just budge on its own. 

"your tinkaton looks like she wants to smash it," she comments with a laugh.

Greyson Connors

☉

she frowns at that. honestly, she wouldn't put it past maugrim to be doing exactly that. sometimes she swears the dog is laughing at her. but that's silly. dogs can't laugh. 

kirin's nostrils flare as they near the site. she stamps her front foot down and glowers down at the shard jutting out from the ground. but she quiets when sasky puts a hand up to her cheek. she thumbs circles on her ear and she settles, though she still looks uneasy. 

saskia coos softly and, ever curious, lopes right up to it and squats down. she pokes it with a finger. "it's kinda warm. these are the things that are causing so much trouble?"

Greyson Connors

☉

she realizes, maybe a little too late, that this is more than just a friendly potluck. she doesn't miss the look that one cute guy (Caleb Harcourt ) gives her, but for his sake she opts to ignore the stare and leaves her father to carry on the rest of the conversation. 

you need practice, papachka.

she shadows a few different conversations, never quite settling down, but with half a meat pie in her mouth, someone mentions legendaries and big special projects and her eyes glitter. she licks her fingers beside a pretty blonde woman (francie myrtle ) and then listens to a few other big timers monologue. 

paxton concordas lays out the sort of exciting venture she would love to be part of, and which Nikolaj Volosenkov would surely rather she wouldn't. 

RANGERS RISING
just listening uwu

☉