It had been a while since she'd visited the safari zone. She had heard there were yamask here, and she had yet to catch one herself. She walked beside Sinistea as the two traveled through the area. She never knew quite what to expect, though she had one pokemon to look out for this time. It was fun to see the odd combinations of pokemon that would populate the zone each month. She was eager to catalog the ones for April.

Sinistea sits on the flat door handle to open the door, though at first, it does look like it opens on it's own, as if possessed...

Then, Sinistea floats around the opening door and chimes a welcome. Robin steps out from the kitchen with a hot pot in her oven-mitted hand. "Hey! Just in time!" She grins ear to ear as she carefully pours the hot chocolate into each mug sitting on the blanket-laden hardwood. The aroma of hot chocolate filled the room instantly. "I hope neither of you are allergic to chocolate." She finished the last of the pour and looked to both of her guests as an epiphany came.

"Oh! My bad -- you two might not know each other. Sasky, this is Mimi; Mimi, this is Sasky." Robin took note of their companions, glad that the Saskia's beepy floaty one wasn't around. "Please, get comfy. I gotta wash this pot out real quick, and I'll be right back." The mugs of hot chocolate sat on the peripheral of a circle of marshmallow bags, candy canes, and a pomeq berry.

She took a deep breath as she walked to where she was instructed. It was totally okay to lose the battle because she was here to learn, not necessarily to win. She had to take being a Ranger more seriously in order to protect her home and her loved ones. "Congrats," she said earnestly to hearing about his Champion status. "I hope to follow in your footsteps." She didn't want to focus on gyms, but they were good learning opportunities. It would take her years to challenge all of them, but she did think she was capable of standing as Josh's equal some day.

His teasing only made her more excited for the match. She liked a bit of trash talk, at least when it wasn't coming from Greyson Connors . "I guess I better make the first move a good one, huh?" Toxtricity and Sinistea appeared before her. She knew Sinistea was solid for strategic approaches, but Toxtricity wasn't one she battled with often. She chose him because he was her fastest pokemon, and it might very well be necessary to fight fire with fire.

"Set us up," she instructed. Sinistea created aromatic mist to improve Toxtricity's defense while Toxtricity used shift gear to prepare himself for the speed and strength necessary for this battle. She had learned a lot about not just relying on damage-dealing moves; here, her opening gambit was likely her only chance to improve her pokemons' performance before they were fighting to keep up with Josh's team.

Robin's eyebrows shot up as someone spoke - and it wasn't the boy in front of her. She searched the tree branches above until she saw the young woman. "I gotcha!" Robin left Toxtricity and Sinistea to help the unconscious man. Then, she released Snorlax and climbed onto his shoulders to get the height she needed.

"Gah, the poison type outbreaks have been so disastrous. Do you have any bites?" She climbed onto the tree and then a few branches higher to get to her place on the tree. "I have some dissolving fluid for the webs... then we can work on your pokemon." The fluid had been mandatory to carry into forested areas because of the Ariados outbreaks in particular.

She poured some on the webbing, slowly, and watched closely to ensure the other trainer wasn't going to fall and plummet. "You should find some range of movement soon; we're weakening the web, but it shouldn't break on you immediately. You'll want to grab the branch and climb topside of it when you have the ability." She focused on her task, forgetting to introduce herself as she often did on a rescue.

The bubble beam was a great idea.

She grinned at him at his request, though it didn't translate well given her headgear for scuba diving. She nodded a confirmation and dove under to examine the trapped luvdisc. She began to work at nudging the collapse alcove off of the fish. Phione came in close to help, using aqua ring to gently push and erode the rock. "We're almost there!" Robin gave a status update without looking back at her partner, trusting him to keep any offended pokemon off her back.

Robin started handing eggs over to the daycare workers as Josh spoke. "Really? I love the heat." The hot nights with ledyba in the sky and the sun barely going down hours after dinner were peaceful. "I got to hang out later at cemeteries growing up in the summertime. Lots of ghosts to see in the warm months, especially Phantump." She had good memories because of warm season. Her family preferred things icy cold, so she often got to enjoy the outdoors alone.

"Maybe a Glalie in the gym would help out. A small blizzard," she said with amusement. "I'm sure an Alolan Ninetails or something wouldn't be too distracting during a race if it's helping cool off. But I suppose water races are easier, then. Don't want pokemon to overheat." She could tell Josh's pokemon ran hard, but she didn't know how much that exertion wore them down. She shook her head at his offer; extreme speed was more like extreme sickness. She saw how fast his Dragonite was. Nuh-uh. She would content herself with watching extreme speed.

She didn't answer immediately. She was used to the spiel; he and Navy had walked her through the dangers of the real world more than once. She wanted to brush it off as mounting paranoia given Greyson's state last time, but he also had access to information she couldn't imagine. Pressure was rising in the region. She did have to prepare more to be ready for it. These things were objectively true.

So, the best course of action was to relent. "Yes, I get what's at stake. It's everything." Losing territory to Rocket would only snowball to worse fates, not to mention the destruction and loss of life that such a takeover meant for the civilians there. "What do you want to do about it right now? Are we running a drill? Or did you want to walk me through what to expect if they do it? The details of Rocket's last assault on any territory isn't public knowledge."

Whether they tried to take a property down from the inside and outside simultaneously, if they tried for total air control before an assault, whether their attacks were coordinated on multiple fronts or if it was just utter chaos... the Rocket playbook was not known to her. She was in the dark about how Rocket liked to lay siege.

She smirked. She would do more than figure it out; Sinsitea would harness the odd power and use it against Greyson! She would totally pwn him. That'd teach him to be such a doubter.

Of course, she sobered as he brought up grim circumstances. But she was also confused. Rocket could attack anyone at anytime, which is why Rangers had to be on alert constantly. Mossdeep was always a potential target. For him to mention it now and with urgency left her with two possible explanations: he was suffering from paranoia (which didn't seem unlikely based on his behavior with the DRK triad base) or there were whispers of Rocket preparing for a large attack and he knew it, but wasn't sharing the details.

"Greyson," she said carefully, "what's going on?" She was game to build defenses for the city or to try and set up some system for discreet and quick information, particularly if everyone was thinking an attack might be imminent and that quick information could be the difference between thousands of lives being saved or not.

Hydreigon's flight pattern was more subtle and one-note than the Beedrill. The flight had to be steady for the sake of the eggs. Still, she could appreciate the fun Josh was clearly having on his bug. She worried about the stress of his gym and Ranger commitments, so it was nice to see him let loose.

The flight was worthless if the landing was so haphazard as to damage the eggs, so Robin held on tight as Hydreigon lowered himself to the ground. She manifested a safe landing, and Hydreigon delivered without snapping at her for the tighter grip. "Good work, Hyd!" She slipped off his neck with Sinistea chiming behind her. She got to work unpacking the eggs on his back for the daycare workings coming out to greet them. "I'm glad the weather was so nice today. I bet the eggs appreciate the gentle warmth, too." Spring was such a kind season for new things like baby pokemon. "Probably not as exciting as your usual flights, huh, Josh?"

She wasn't a pro in pokemon behaviorism, so she'd have to take Josh's word that Xia wouldn't consume the eggs on the way. She hoisted herself onto Hydreigon and followed Josh into the sky. Sinistea sat in front of her on the middle head's neck, the two of them leaning this way and that to see around the head and get a good glimpse at the world below.

It could be dizzying, but Hydreigon was one of her largest mounts, so she felt the safest leaning as it wouldn't disrupt his balance whatsoever. She didn't trust herself to yell loud enough to get through ear protection and the sound of raring wind, but her expression and body language were pleased enough that it was clear she was enjoying the trip. She loved the potential within eggs. She wondered what all the pokemon were behind her, just waiting to pop out.

Fortree appeared in front of them before long.