Rocket was a dark cloud that would always threaten to suffocate the ghost enthusiast; she could never get enough distance, enough time, to separate her from the event at the ocean routes. And yet, despite the heaviness of it, the sheer blind animal panic that had filled her, she looked up to see her childhood best friend and found herself still in the past, but in one filled with light and softness.

Gwen was nerdy, quiet, and stuck to Robin's side, uncaring of Robin's lack of gifted future sight like her family members. No, Gwen had always made Robin feel special despite every indicator of the opposite. And in that moment, in looking at Gwen's eyes, she felt like that savored, precious girl again.

And she was -- the almost-abduction, like the black sheep status she bore in her family, was rendered irrelevant in the caring eyes of her friend. How stupid she was being with her insecurity and her fear. "Yeah," she said softly, wiping at her eyes, "I'm okay." She got back to her feet steadily, watching as Snorlax and Gisath kicked Rocket butt. "I'm okay, since I have you here. Finish them off. Let me see your real Ranger debut, yeah?"

"I'm not missing out on anything by not seeing my own parents," she offered to be comforting, though her own tone was a little too bitter to be truly helpful. She fought the urge the roll her eyes as Gwen pulled the dragon book out. "Do you always have that thing?"

She really did want Gwen to be a successful and confident ranger, but she was still torn about the dragon focus. Gwen was changing so quickly. She almost didn't recognize the other. As it was, Gwen and her dragon handled the strange looking fella with relative ease. Robin clapped at the end, amused, but her good turn in mood changed immediately as psychic types surrounded them. "Get rid of 'em," she said quickly. Snorlax jumped into action, using blizzard to freeze the psychic pokemon.

"Yuck. They're attracted to me like magnets," she complained, moving close to Gwen and knocking shoulders with the other. "I thought you were good luck in repelling them."

Gwen's tank and shorts were an interesting choice for the evening, but it wasn't supposed to rain, so they'd only have to survive cold winds underneath the peeking stars. "That's a good reason to skip out," Robin countered. It was good to enjoy the holidays, though she would never return home for them. Every time she neared Dewford, she did her best to turn the other way, expeditiously. There was little there for her.

She shook her head clear of the thought. Then, she pointed at the odd-looking pokemon ahead. "Look at that one! I've never seen it before. It's head looks all, like, crazy." She pulled out her dex for information, but she had forgotten she'd busted it during an underwater excursion the other day. She'd had the wrong case on it, and the water'd taken it out. "Gah. I guess I won't know its name."

From nowhere, an ice beam shot out like a bullet and nailed Snorlax right in the chest, forcing a pained huff out of him. The giant wasn't easily moved, but he had keeled over a bit with the attack. He straightened slowly. He didn't look to Robin for permission, knowing he had it; he charged forward with his trusty hammer arm, which the Lapras took well. Lapras started up with life dew, but Snorlax immediately followed his own attack with crunch, chomping down on the sea pokemon's fin.

Robin took her opportunity and tossed a ball.

The sun had just finished setting behind them, revealing a sky full of stars overhead. Robin kept her eyes planted above rather than in front of herself. Something about the starry sky was perpetually awe-inspiring. She could never tire of looking at it. And having Gwen by her side made it all the better. There were supposed to be dragons in this area, and Robin was trying to encourage Gwen's new pursuit and focus on them instead of being a bad friend. Still, she couldn't help but wish she'd see some ghosts, too.

"Feeling ok? It's a bit of a hike to the top."

It was good that she was off of Snorlax already, as a Cetoddle attacked him with icicle crash. Snorlax tanked the hit, then turned and dove at the ice type to crunch her. The duo traded a few more blows, but Snorlax had fought too many hard battles to be overcome by a wild Cetoddle. Snorlax used hammer arm. While the ice type flew into the air from the impact, Robin tossed a pokeball to capture her. She would need her dex to learn about her capabilities, as she had little experience with ice pokemon.

In their path was a sleeping pokemon she'd never seen before. "What the heck is that?" She leaned forward to look at the small circular pokemon. It had colorful markings, but she couldn't determine what its typing was from looking at it. Still, she didn't have a sense of dread overwhelming her senses, so she could tell it wasn't a psychic type. Small victories.

"Get in close," she urged Snorlax. Then, she crawled down his arm and onto the ground with some of his help and crept towards it. She palmed a pokeball and gently tossed it.

"We gotta stop by here again," she mused. She kicked her feet a little against Snorlax's chest as she rested on his shoulders, waiting for his harrumph of approval. He gave it. Even with future plans, their current excursion was far from over. Robin pocketed her new delibird and finally dedicated herself to looking properly through the safari, though she missed the appearance of the burmy.

Nice! Robin was excited to have the delibird among her collection now. She was eager to examine its qualities and coloring against a dex entry. She was so consumed with her new capture that she was unaware of the Staryu that crossed her path. Snorlax, ever vigilant, guided them away from it, well aware of her condition of avoiding psychics at all costs. The duo carried onward with Robin chittering about the potential of their new teammate.

"Woah." The delibird that walked in front of her looked nothing like the Iron Bundle's crimson coloring, but she knew they were related. This delibird had to be quite special, or perhaps Robin's eyes were failing her. "Get closer," she urged Snorlax. The delibird was looking through her sack. Robin had seen enough trouble come out of an Iron Bundle's that she didn't want to risk a similar disaster here. She had learned that ice types were far more feisty than she'd initially believed.

With the bird distracted, Robin readied a ball. Snorlax tiptoed ever closer until she was confident enough for the shot. Then, when the moment was perfect, she launched the ball.

Gwen's dismissal and flattery of Snorlax weren't easing Robin's nerves, but the clear confidence she had, the steely disposition she demonstrated as she evaluated the fight and ordered Gisath to keep the pressure on did ease her nerves. It was an epiphany of sorts. Gwen wasn't in her element -- wasn't in front of a computer, wasn't being dragged somewhere by Robin -- and yet, this moment betrayed that understanding. It looked like Gwen was in her element. Like she was not just a seasoned Ranger but experienced trainer and tactician.

Gisath gave it good to Tropius, but Robin was thrown off her rhythm. Her jaw moved without sound as she thought about what to order Snorlax to do, but like he always had when she was clueless, he took the battle into his own hands. Rising to his feet, he charged the Klefki, slamming at the key pokemon with hammer arm, a neat little revenge for the psychic abuse. Robin was reeling, still, like a rug was pulled out from under her. She was playing catch-up.

"No, no this isn't-" Her breath was caught in her chest, air was barely being pushed in her mouth as she tried to get back on track. She could no longer sit on an ice throne at an extreme distance from what was happening, could no longer disconnect herself from the fight to ensure victory instead of an emotional failure; Gwen was an emergency off-switch to that forced impersonal approach, and Robin was defenseless against the panic that rose in her chest. The reality (the Rockets aren't too intimidating, Gwen can protect herself and more) and the perception (the Rockets will scorch the earth if they're unimpeded, Gwen needs Robin to be safe) weren't coming together.

Robin fell to her knees, clutching at her chest as Snorlax clobbered the Klefki and left the other two in Gwen's capable hands.