Gwen looked as the Cacnea currently burrowed into her coat would nod their heads and begin to start shedding some of their needles to act as a trail for them to take. A good way to show where they had been before. Kyle dropped to the floor and cradled his legs together before prodding her with a question.

She didn't want to admit the fact that was terrified of the circumstances that had befallen her. The ranger trainee gave a conflicted look at Noah, starting to pace around. She kept her head down and then winced as she'd sigh to herself. Robin was probably HOME ALONE, wondering where her friend was so that they could have a nice holiday dinner.

"Terrified." she quickly answered with a huff. "I don't want to die here. Not before I can actually make something of myself."

The works congregated around her as Gwendolyn continued to suffer from her breakdown. Something had finally hit her full about how vulnerable she was in Hoenn if something like that could just take her out completely.

From above, the councilwoman had dropped down from her flight training, clad in a sygna suit that the ranger trainee would have fawned over had she not been in hysterics for the past hour.

“I’m sorry. I’m *hic*” Gwen sulked as she felt the warm hug against her body and just went limp. The adrenaline poured out of her body from the sprint over here as she became aware of her injuries. Her legs and side ached from the fall down the stairs, along with the left side of her head throbbing.

Even her glasses had not been spared in the encounter. The right lens received a visible crack underneath her eye with the left being missing entirely, though some small shards had cut her cheek up. They hung ajar on her face in wake of the danger.

But nothing else mattered at the moment. She pushed Gishath to the workers, hoping they could help him. The Gabite was still in pain, though dulled thanks to the ice which numbed the pain. His eyes continued to lock onto her while she wept.

“I’m sorry, Ah-I’m so *hic* shawwy…”

After a few more minutes of collecting herself, the girl was able to control herself enough to calm down. Gwen wiped her eyes and kept her gaze down. Like a child having failed a test and being sent home to reap what he had sowed.

“We were sent to investigate a disturbance…in Lilycove. Something about a pokemon there crying in pain. I couldn’t wait for a superior to get there and went to investigate myself. We snuck inside of one of the derelict houses and saw…”

Even just remembering the figure clad in crystal was enough to get her to start the fit again. She hesitated, breathing ruggedly as the feeling of fear continued to resonate through her form. Gishath’s agonizing cries echoed in her mind. A noise she never wanted to hear ever again. It played over and over again without end.

The ranger covered her face and remained quiet for a moment before starting to cry again.

“This is all my fault…I didn’t want him to attack like he did…What kind of ranger lets a pokemon like that get so hurt?”

"FREYA!"

An orange blur tore through the pathway to the dragon sanctuary. Gwendolyn had been carrying a wounded Gabite in her arms.

His teeth had been shattered as a result of chomping into the crystal infused monster. Stuck and uncertain what to do, the Ranger trainee sprinting to a nearby Ranger outpost, got a cooling pack of ice and had him suckling it.

"Freya! Freyaaaaa!"

She neared the entrance through tear ridden eyes. Somehow the events of what happened hadn't bothered her until Gwen had time to reflect about what happened. Her eyes were red and stung from the tears dripping out of them, trying to ease Gishath's pain as the Gabite was in a dulled pain from his accident.

By the time she had entered the compound, Gwen had been reduced to a sobbing, hysterical mess. Even as people approached her, she'd be shouting, screaming for the one person she hoped could help.

"FREYA!"

Another day, another way to give back to the community! Today, Gwendolyn had decided to spend the rest of the day at a nearby volunteer kitchen to spread a little holiday cheer across Mauville. She showed up in a festive little Christmas sweater and the will to start helping people to bake some cookies! The trainee ran around in hopes of securing a baking space for herself but alas, was late!

Oh well, time to just help people with their stuff for now.

Her first step was visting another woman with her baking! Gwen stood beside her and leaned in to see how she was doing. "Hey, I'm going around as baking support right now. Need any help with anything?"

"Al-Alright. That sounds simple enough." Gwendolyn held onto the reins with anxious eyes, mentally and physically preparing herself for the sudden dash that she was getting ready to inflict upon herself. Shalin had given some pretty easy to follow instructions so far. Her hands gently took hold of the reins as her heart refused to calm down.

"You can do this, Gwen. It's just like riding a bike. Or programming a computer."

Her hands took hold of the Pyroar's reins and then with a sudden, but slightly harder then usual whip...

"WAAAAAAUGH!"

The trainee suddenly sped off in a blur. Gwen held onto Scar for dear life as the Pyroar began to ran at high speeds around the area surrounding Verdanturf.

The agonizing cries of Gishath breaking his teeth against the hardened foe. Gwendolyn screeched at seeing her friend in pain, her heart ached at seeing him in agony like this.

"Gishath!" she cried out.

With the monster standing before them staggered back by the sudden attack and lashing out by the Gabite, now was their chance! Gwen scooped up her Gabite with both arms and tried to charge past the horrid monster trying to kill them. If successful, she'd stumble down to the bottom of the stairs and lose her balance. Both Gwen and Gishath tumbled down until smashing against the ground floor. Dazed by the crash, she'd stumble back up to her feet and make a mad dash towards the entrance.

Well damn, now she just felt bad. Gwendolyn couldn't imagine losing a Pokemon that she had grown so incredibly close to. For somebody having gone through that, Shalin appeared to be doing better than Gwen would. She couldn't imagine functioning well if somebody like her Goomy or Magneton would have been killed in battle.

Scar seemed to be cautiously optimistic about racing Dusk, who was circling around the Pyroar with Shalin continuing to be back to her usual self again. Gwen jumped once the Pyroar stood on two legs and looked about the horizon.

"I, uh...still don't know how to ride pokemon though!" she said to the other woman. "Can you give me a crash course really quick before we head out?"

The monster in front of her didn't even try to speak against her as it drew closer. Gwen backed up further to prevent it from touching her and felt her back smack into the wall. She still refused to put Gishath in the way of this creep. "Get back! Don't touch us!" She raised her foot and prepared to smash it into this guy before she was interrupted.

The Gabite wiggled his way out of the ranger's grip and attacked it with a Dragon Claw. His blades raised as the being walked closer before the attack landed, raising its mouth and crunch down on whoever this way.

"Gishath, wait!"

"Yeah, I guess I did...I don't know why I did that. Just...seeing something in that state made me want to help."

The Aurorus disappeared into the ball and rocked side to side a few times before a click signaled the Pokemon had been caught. Gwen smiled appreciatively and kept the pokeball close to her chest. "We'll get you some help, I promise." She pocketed the pokeball into her bag while Lars would continue to give invaluable advice to her.

She was happy that he was here, if not to calm her nerves a bit but to also guide her along with what a proper Ranger would do in any situation. Gwendoyln thought more on Rangers being students of not just nature but the world around them.

"I'll think about all that. Thanks, Lars. Did you know this much you became a Ranger?"

She said and went to carefully check on her Goomy. The dragon type was still nice and comfortable on her shoulder, though looking at the Snorunt that he had just picked up and befriended. Gwen smirked and watched with a keen interest before they continued on their walk through the cave.

Just as they rounded a corner, a Sneasel stood before the group. It came barreling at the Magneton. Sharp claws scratched the surface while the steel types beeped in a pained but lively pattern.

"You alright?" she called out.

They chittered along and set their sights on the Sneasel. Their magnet hums rotated while emitting a soft hum. Their bodies flittered around and unleashed a Flash Cannon at the cocky wild Pokemon. The Sneasle was hit in full and skidded backwards with a pained huff. Gwen tossed out another ball in hopes of securing another catch.

The two continued to lay in their hiding spot while waiting to see if the person responsible for the steps would make themselves known to them. All was quiet in the room, perhaps too quiet. It was as if that the footsteps in the basement had been just a mirage. Gwendolyn began to doubt her senses at all. Maybe it was just her imagination.

Then, a blade suddenly carved through the bed's top part. Chestnut wood and foundation splintered off from the sudden piercing attack. Lucky Gwen had been covering her mouth or a shrill scream would have given her position away. Once the weapon had withdrawn, she realized her mistake her.

"Ah-I gotta contact the Rangers!" She thought to herself.

Unfortunately, reception was pretty piss poor in this house, perhaps unnaturally so. This left her with only one way out and it was back the way she came in. Thoroughly rattled in all, Gwen and Gishath moved from their hiding spot and ran back through the door and into the hallway.

Just where their predator was waiting for them.

"Wh-What?!" Gwen stumbled back at seeing the man clad in some kind of crystal. It was a nightmare inducing silhouette of a crystalline humanoid brought to life. Even the Gabite let out a sharp hiss at the man, sensing his malice. The trainee stood to position herself before Gishath and trembled before whoever this was.

"Wh-What-What kind of monster are you?"

Lars was just an encyclopedia of knowledge waiting to be prodded open. Gwendolyn looked at him during his brief all about Gastrodon and their rather unique typing versus their appearance. She never would have guessed that they would be a ground and water type together! She loved them all the same though!

Her thick glasses started at mid way of her nose when he began speaking. By the time he had finished, they were just about ready to fall off. A hand pushed them back up and Gwen smiled at him.

"Wow. You must be an expert on that type of stuff. And yeah, back home in Sinnoh, I used to see a bunch of these blue ones!"

Their journey into the caverns continued. Gwen soon looked about into the field of ice and stalactites (they were the ones on the ground, right?) before coming across a wounded Auroras lying down near some sheet ice that had been packed around it as cover from the rocks. "Hey, this one's wounded!"

She hurried over with an open hand until its wound begin to glow and spark with electricity. Gwen only recognized this a second before a wave of electricity blasted through the cave, sending her tumbling back. She was thankful for getting her wetsuit dried fully, as this likely would have really hurt if she was still wet from the dive.

"H-Hey, it's okay. We won't hurt you." Gwen slowly approached the wounded Aurorus and dipped into her bag. It growled at what she was doing until she revealed some berries she had picked for her Gabite a day or so ago. "Are you hungry?" She slowly approached the Pokemon and laid it by him.

The Aurorus kept his eyes on both of them and slowly lowered his head to eat. While doing this, she turned back to Lars. "Cap- Uh, Lars? How come it's all...not colored right? Shouldn't an Aruorus be blue with white crystals?"

After his meal, he at least was a bit more trusting towards the two. Gwen tried coming closer with her hands stretched out for him to see. "You're really hurt, huh? Did something happen?" The Auroras exhaled and allowed her to come up to him before letting out a tired, pained cry before lowering itself to her. Her eyes looked up to see the damage down to its head flaps. She couldn't recognize it, but maybe Lars could see.

It had fought for the right to sire with a female and had lost horribly.

"It's okay. I can bring you back to a Pokemon Center back home and they can get you back to normal. If you don't want to stay, I won't force you. I promise, but please let me help."

The Aurorus looked at them both with caution and seemed ready to attack both again as it slowly stood up. He staggered a huff and then turned to the younger of the Rangers and pushed his head against hers. She winced from the impact, but slowly went to pat his icy exterior. Gwen reached into her bag and pulled out another spare pokeball, then pressed it against the Aurorus's body in an attempt to catch it.

Noah's heavy hand was just the bit of inspiration that she had needed. His smile provided a foundation that Gwendoolyn grew envious of. How could he remained so brave and cheeky in the face of certain death? She absolutely hated her panicking, useless self! Robin would have been able to solve this in a heartbeat, why couldn't she?

She tried to collect herself by slowly breathing in and out which helped somewhat. Not enough to keep her from panicking but at least she wasn't freaking out. It wasn't until the Cacnea had bundled close to her that she had began to feel the panic die down. These little guys were depending on them to get them out!

"Ah-Agh-I trust you, Captain!" Gwen said, nodding her head with a sudden boost of confidence in her. "Just tell me what I can do to help."