"Alright, try not to hurt them too bad."

Gwendolyn knelt down to her Gabite and began to praise him a little bit. Her specially worn gloves were able to gently scratch at his scales while not tearing her hands up in the process. His rough skin made it pretty hard to consistently reward him this way, but he did perform better after a little bit of fluffing up.

True to his spirit, the toothless Gabite stomped in place, ready to go. He let out a truly terrifying hiss at the person manning the booth as Gwen redeemed the ticket. Had he been fully grown as Garchomp, it would have certainly come off as threatening. But for now, he waddled beside her as they were granted entry into the safari zone.

One the doors were opened, she gave his head a single pat.

"Alright, go get 'em, Gishath~"

(Safari time!)

Her half blind eyes shot over to the dark haired sheriff wannabe. She wasn't exactly in the best mood to be joking around, especially now that she was effectively impaired unless there was some way to fix these things. Her unimpressed eye glare aside, she knelt down to scoop down and collected the broken glasses with two hands.

"We haven't exactly had the best relationship." she explained. "I had to buy a slingshot back home because they kept on attacking the cables to the internet back home. So we're eternal rivals, I guess."

Gwen took the nests in hand and went back to her partner for this outing, flashing a knowing nod. Gishath stationed himself by his trainer, keeping an eye on the birds flying away. He was of the mind that more would come and was eager to clash steel against them properly! Not that Gwen would ever let him, but it was worth it in this state.

"Don't walk to fast. I can barely make you out like this."

”Uh, yeah?” Gwendolyn sat behind Ana, her expression raised into a questionable glance. ”I don't think it's too unusual for somebody like me to work here.”

The Gabite by the ginger haired woman followed Ana as she moved into the freezer. His snout inched closer and closer to some of the slices of meat, pushing to see how close he could get before he was caught.

”Gishath!”

He let out a frustrated hiss, growling at Gwen before falling back in line with her. She gave him a critical eye before turning back with the blonde in front of her.

”I met Freya when I came to her office on how to catch a Garchomp. I have a friend in the rangers and she had just gotten hurt by Rocket. Of course, she knew I was out of my League and showed me out, but I begged her and she took me here. Gave me a chance to learn the ropes with dragon-types. So every couple of days, I come by and help out.”

She stuck her hand out to the other woman.

”I'm Gwen, by the way.”

It was Gwen's usual biweekly visit to the Dragon Sanctuary, run by the most dragon friendly person she could meet, freya morningstar! The ranger was looking like her usual self, minus the large glasses that had been broken off due to being attacked by birds not but a week ago. It was her first time wearing contacts, and it was a process to get used to...

She made her way to the entrance and opened the door to see the backside of another woman with blonde hair, and who was busy cutting the steaks for some of the dragon-types here. The exact ones, mainly the aggressive types. A few of the Salamance were one of the more ravenous eaters around here, followed by the Garchomp.

Even the Gabite by her side was staring at the cut meat in front of them.

"I figured." Gwendolyn said while standing behind Ana. She walked to her side while her eyes went to the work at hand. "need a hand? I was just about to get to work on my duties here."

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The bump by Robin made Gwen laugh to herself, cracking a grin across her face once more. Something about the small gesture was like raising the anchor of her mood and bring her back into the fun times with her best friend by her side. It was those little things that really seemed to improve her mood.

"Not if I eat yours and mine before you do it." Gwen joked while her mouth began to water about how good the dish would taste. "Or I can have them make it super spicy and see if you'll want it then."

The two girls stepped out of the building a short while later as Gwen began to lead the way to the ramen restaurant. If she did have even a small chance of dying in this, maybe it was time for a few risks? Just to step out of her comfort zone like Shalin said to. It sounded like a good idea anyway.

"I might even get the super spicy version this time~"

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"Yep, things have been going well. Just Ranger work and the occasional bump here and there."

Gwen said while making a few final tweaks to her own Ranger issued radar. It was yet another expedition into the unknown lands of the Ultra Plant. The last visit had weighed down in her mind as she wanted to get a good view of that giant ultra beast that had interrupted their previous expedition here.

Ameena looked as ready to go as ever, so the two had to set off shortly after. Gwen followed behind with her device on, making sure that no real surprises would be in store for them nearby. And to think, all it took was disassembling the break room coffee machine to get that connector she needed!

"I'm not picking anything up just yet. Other than smaller energy sources."

Gwen reported as they began to pass under one of the large wires connecting parts of the environment to those freaky metal towers. Every step brought them closer to a faint cry in the distance. "Do you hear that?" she asked as they walked closer. It wasn't until they were a decent half mile away before it struck Gwen of what it was.

Crying. An amalgamation of human and Pokemon cries. It was unnerving, to say the absolute least. But were they just some sort of weird side effect of the power growing all over the place? Or were the spirits and souls of people and pokemon trapped inside? She frowned at the noise but continued on.

"What's the plan this time, Ms. Abadi?"

---

30. Hear haunting human-like or pokemon-like screams within the electrical currents of this world.

They had been in here for a while, haven't they? Gwendolyn was at least a little worried about the incoming future and what it may hold. But she had to really hold herself together for the other person's sake. They both stepped out while Robin let her worries flow out of her. The taller ginger couldn't blame her. Something was definitely coming for all of them. But Gwen had to say something.

Her arms pulled Robin into a close hug, their warm bodies pressed against one another while Gwen brought her close. Her face was close to Robin as she pushed through the blushing.

"I know. I put on a brave face, but I'm scared too. Everyone I know might get hurt or worse in this. I don't want to lose you either."

Gwen feared that one of them would be among the bodies counted that were tragically lost during the conflict. A future that she'd pay anything to prevent from happening. Gwen frowned, still clutching onto Robin as she mulled something over in her head.

Should she confess here? Just in case either of them wouldn't make it? Or would it be a burden to carry? It wasn't a weight she wanted to put onto the girl, but if it was better than keeping it before it was too late...

Her heart raced while Gwen leaned her head closer. The anxiety she had created for herself made her unable to form a complete thought in her head. For a moment that old Gwen that Robin knew so well had become visible again. So unable to function with the thoughts and fears spinning around in it that she froze on the spot.

"R-Robin, I..." Her throat felt clamped by a vice. She just had to push 3 more words through! C'mon! What would Robin think of it? Did she feel the same way? Was this a mistake to do this here? IN a vulnerable state like this? She didn't know, but damn it! "I'll be careful and run if it gets dangerous. I promise."

She followed Robin out for ramen, hoping that it would help get her mind off of things, at least for a while.

She wanted her to be careful? Talk about the roles being reversed. Gwen had gotten so used to being the worrywort when it came to Robin, and now, the shoe was on the other foot. Was this what Robin felt like when she was being talked to this way? It was pretty weird in a way.

”Hey, I'm careful…Kinda.” She protested. ”The crystal guy was just a one time thing. Gishath and I have-”

Oh shit. Fuck, holy shit!

Gwen's face turned red as she felt Robin's hands cupping her chin. The distance between them was far less than what it was before. She could almost feel the heat from their bodies interweave with one another. Her entire being shook as her mouth just babbled on about something.

She had to say something to her, even like this! Gwen racked her noggin to think of what could calm her down like this. What would noah faber do in a time like this? Her lips quivered at Robin's request to run away at any danger.

”I promise. Besides…” Gwen put on a grave face and gave her best noah faber impression. A dashing, handsome smile with a face that was heroic as hell! ”A smile as cute as yours is worth protecting.”

”That would explain a lot. It feels like all the birds near the park we go to are skittish now. Maybe they can feel that something's coming.”

Gwen nodded in agreement. There was a lot happening around Hoenn for the time being, so narrowing it down to just one singular thing was something that was going to be near impossible. Still, she was doing her best to put on a brave face between the two of them, even if deep down she was just as terrified.

Robin looked worse for wear. It was visible. Seeing her friend like this was the last thing that either of them would have wanted to see the other go through. But besides coaxing her that they would be alright, Gwen wasn't sure how to help her.

Silence rang between the two of them while she sat in the hot springs. Her mind was tangling itself attempting to think of something to say that may put the fears aside.

”I know it's scary, I know it looks like things are the worst they are right now, but we can pull through this. I'm not about to let Rocket lay a finger on you as long as I'm still here.” She said, leaning over to try and bolster her friends’ spirits. Gwen's hand had inched closer to Robin while the nerd continued on.

”What's scaring you most about it? Is it because of all the people stealing supplies?”

Gwen sat red in the face alongside Robin inside of the hot springs. Just seeing her in a bathing suit like this was a little embarrassing, but she didn't want to be caught staring. She would have been happy to really spend some personal time with her bestie, though her body language was off. Maybe it was all the time she spent around Pokémon and more now, but the girl was slowly getting used to getting a read on the many creatures of the world. There wasn't much layover when it came to humans, but she could tell something was eating at her.

"Yeah, I've noticed some of it.” Gwen said as she got comfortable inside of the springs. The warm waters felt nice against her tired and slightly tanned skin. "Some of the Pokémon are acting weird lately. It's like something has them on edge."

Robin did seem to be concerned while Gwendolyn could only try and be the more upbeat one. She swallowed back whatever worries were present before offering a smile to Robin.

"Hey, whatever it is, we'll find our way around it. As long as all of us stick together, we can manage through it!" She said, finally looking towards Robin again. "I promise. Do you have any idea what might be causing it?"