”D-Don't worry, I'll be fine. I've got a balanced team. If you need help just call me. I, uh, if something happens to either of us I just wanted to say…”

Gwen hesitated, seizing up as the words she desperately wanted to say were on the cusp of her tongue, yet nothing came out. She gave a troubled look at Robin, but gave an exasperated sigh.

”N-No. We're going to make it through this. I'll make sure of it! Nobody's dying on my watch!”

Robin at least knew what they were in for. Gwen cast her head to the other failed psychic with a knowing glance.

Could she really go to war like this? Gwen couldn't help but feel her mental state reach its worst point yet. She didn't want to die, to be blown to smithereens or drown in the raging waters below. Her grip on her belt tightened, knuckles turning white.

I-I can't do this! I don't belong here! I should be b-back home, apologizing to Mom for being a leech on them, or hanging up shingles with Dad and complaining about the heat. I wanna go home. I don't want to die, I don't want to die, I don't want to-

The mantra was repeated endlessly in her head, broken up only by Roy quickly being the group's opening gambit. He called out a Charizard and opted to be the air support for the group. Gwen had always wanted a Charizard, growing envious of the man. She had never really been lucky enough to stumble across a Charmander or its related evolutions while out in the wild. They were rare enough already and although she had wanted the Draciary to carry them-

Fuck, what about all of those in their care? Were they going to be released? Put in Pokeballs? What kind of fate awaited them.

No, she had to focus. No panicking. Be like Freya, be the freya morningstar that everyone knew you could be. She'd know exactly what to do here planning every last detail.

”Be careful up there, please.” Gwen said, almost in a begging tone. ”You're our best shot at doing significant damage. If its dangerous, come back and we'll work it out.”

He was off while leaving behind the Haxorus, just in time for Gwen and Robin to start their initial entry into the camp. The Rocket forces were put on high alert because of Roy flying above, lending perfect time for the both of them to infiltrate the front entrance.

Gweb threw out of Magneton, the able bodied electric-type beeping away while charging head first into the camp. ”Clear the way, Thunder Wave!” With a sudden discharge of electricity, the few Rockets and their Pokémon would be struck, paralyzed onto the ground while Gwen motioned for Robin and the Haxorus to follow.

”C'mon!” She said in a more serious tone.

Not a few minutes into the operation and Roy was in trouble. Her eyes went up to the sky just in time to see explosions lighting the sky up, one after the other. The blurred shape of Roy and his Charizard were seen doing their best to avoid them, though they were swiftly downed a short while after. Her heart sank into her chest, unsure of their status as they touched down on the shores away from their position.

”Roy, come in! Roy?!”

Gwen said into her radio, voice frantic while she gazed up at the machines and devices scattered around the camp. The loud hum of the Genesects could be heard, alongside the sound of Rockets running around to deal with the intruders. Above, several charges wires spiraled around the camp, likely to where the Gebesect batteries could be located.

Her eyes flickered to a large central hub machine away from their position, currently unmanned with a side panel visible and ready to be manned. An idea flickered in Gwen's mind,

”If you're there Roy, give us some time. Those Genesects are hooked up to some kind of generator that's giving them power. I can try to disconnect it or reverse the charge, but i can't promise anything. It's just across the camp.”

She turned to Robin, pointing to what she had talked about.

”I need you to protect me while I try and figure out how to disable this thing. Think you can do it?”

"Necrozma?"

Gwen repeated, tilting her head to the side while she watched the mural depicting the legendary closely. Such immaculate work, but it was hard to discern whether just how long it had been since this was painted. She thought back to her encounter with the crystal man once more. The crystals of the Megaopolans and the ones surrounding him couldn't have been a coincidence!

"So that was Necrozma that night then? Or some type of thing related to it?" Gwen pursed her lips in thought. "It kind of makes sense, but I feel like I'm missing something..."

She turned back to Ameena, pushing back the thoughts of her touch, and then gave a stern nod of approval. Nothing was known about the crystals as of late, and she doubted now would be the time to go and pick one up. For all she knew, it was a one way ticket into becoming a crystal statue of some kind.

"Let's try and get as close as we can considering the mob of angry Megaopolans. We should at least keep safe not in the streets, but be careful of what's in here."

Gwen led them both forward again, keeping her Magneton's light on the darkened alleyway before them. The tower was growing ever closer, alongside the frantic noises of the growing crowd clawing against the building to get in.

---

Gwendolyn walks alongside the small force of people sent to clear the part of one of the larger land masses en route to Sootopolis. She's quiet and wearing a grim, anxious frown across her normally pleasant face. Beside her, she's quite literally hovering next to Robin, the one other person she's sure she can protect in case things immediately go wrong here. Everyone ushered them good luck and reassurance before they left, but Gwen's chest tightened.

Can't lose her on this mission. Not while I'm still around.

All is well, but the air remains still. There's a tension in the air that everyone can feel as the sound of their marching brings about the only real soundtrack to this entire ordeal. But it's not until the ships below begin to show any signs of movement that remind Gwen of the seriousness of the situation at hand.

With a map in hand, Gwen looks up at the path in front of them.

"We should be arriving at the camp in a few minutes." her tone beset with worry. "Just make sure to prepare, guys."

South of them, the sound of a fierce Pokemon battle causes her to wince. She knows what's about to happen, against all of her wishes and prayers above that it wouldn't. What would be waiting for them in this camp? Whatever it was going to be, their job there was simple enough. Just securing and destroying the repurposed Genesects.

She wondered if she could keep a part of one, just to study how it all worked.

Gwen walked to the entrance of the Power Spot where she and Robin had agreed to meet just in time for the mission. She had been a bit busier than usual, mostly in part to her new duties on top of her Ranger ones. Some had notice that she was scheduled less frequently than usual, although a few in the know were understandable as to why that was.

But when she heard Robin's playful voice calling to her, she couldn't help but laugh. It was the first time in what was maybe a week of nonstop work that she could do so freely. It reminded her of the old times, before they went all the way to Hoenn and became Rangers. How more carefree those days used to be.

Gwen certainly didn't miss those old glasses of hers, now fully wearing contacts since her last pair was destroyed by nesting birds a month ago.

"O-Oh. Hey, Robin."

Gishath grunted in greeting, now familiar with Robin's scent that he waddled over and bumped his head against his leg, in some hopes of collecting spare scraps of food. His grumpy expression was still present, though he wasn't hissing, so it was progress!

Gwen, however, was still reeling from that sudden awakening she had when ameena abadi that she was reeling from how utterly perfect Robin was to her. The cute twintails of hair that bounced around, or that cute face she had when things weren't falling down around them both. The ginger haired youth couldn't help but stare for a moment, look away at some shiny rock out of the corner of her eyes, and look back at her afterwards.

It would be a good time to try and recall some of the advice noah faber had given her back during their arctic rescue operation with the Cacnea. She just had to be herself, no need to try and flaunt herself as somebody she wasn't!

"A lot." Gwen smiled fondly, closing her eyes for a moment. "Where to start? So I got a job as Freya's assistant, so I'm working less Ranger shifts while I get acqainted with everything. And I've also been studying and doing Ultra Space trips with another woman, Ameena Abadi. It's waaaay more dangerous than anything in Hoenn, but it's been a wild ride! I even caught an Ultra Beast of my own~"

She grinned and stood before the entrance, opting to be the one to go in first.

"What about you? Keeping out of trouble?"

"Guess we don't really have a choice."

Gwen added on, watching as the frenzied megaopolans scurried on by them, rats drawn to the scent of cheese awaiting them at the tower. The way they moved just lacked every definition of what one may think of when they could refer to somebody as "humanoid." They hunched into a more feral running stance and seemed to move so freely without any imbalance.

Just how long had life been like this for them.

She had been so preoccupied with observing the stream of zombie-like megaopolans that she hadn't noticed some coming from behind. Luckily Ameena had been there to pull her out of the way and-

Oh.

Her hands were wrapped around Ameena's side, feeling how warm her body was. Gwen's entire face turned red at where she was, broken up only by the sight of that metallic humanoid who blasted right by her while the two were left unharmed. For a moment, her thoughts circled in her head about being so close to a gorgeous woman, but she slowly had managed to pull her mind out of such places when the glimmer of something familiar whizzed by.

Gishath hissed at the sight of it, retreating behind Gwen as his owner let out a horrid gasp.

"I-It's that crystal!" she said to herself, having never forgotten the blackened crystal that had nearly ended her in the remains of that house so long ago. Just seeing it made her heart race, spooked with fear of what could have happened all those months ago.

"We were patrolling around one night and heard cries of a Pokemon in another house. Then we got attacked by some man made up of that stuff. So did it come from Ultra Space?"

Once the flood of people had slowed into a trickle, the two were afford some semblance of peace. Gwen's hold on Ameena lingered before she pulled away after realizing what she had been doing. One sheepish, mumbled apology later, the redhead led the way across the streets and a bit away from the front entrance of the tower.

Their journey did take them behind a collapsed building of some kind. A factory, or maybe a hospital of some kind? But something was painted there, a grand mural consisting of faded colors and shadows. One that seemed pretty familiar from the skyline of the city. A grand figure posed atop it, wings sprayed out.

Gwen looked at it for a while, unable to recognize the Pokemon.

"Dr. Abadi, do you know what that thing over the city is? It's not any Pokemon I've seen before."

---

24. witness frenzied drawings etched into walls of an ULTRA NECROZMA DESCENDING UPON THIS CITY; your characters will not know what ULTRA NECROZMA is (until they do)—but may find it similar to one of the tapestry found in GOODBYE GALAR'S ALTERNATE 'REALITY' HAMMERLOCKE and make logical deductions.

It wasn't too much longer until Gishath had found his first playmate inside of the beachside area. A lone Dewott had been busy scouring the beach for food before him and Gishath had began to bicker with one another. The dragon-type let out a fearsome hiss, bearing his claws while waddling around as intimidating as a Gabite could be. Gwen scouted their little problem ahead and ran over to try and give him a command.

Instead, Gishath reared his head back and gathered an azure colored flame in his mouth before unleashing a fierce DRAGON BREATH onto the poor Dewott. She flinched from the attack and gave ample opportunity for Gwen to follow up.

"Atta boy, Gishath! My turn!" Gwen cheered on her companion, throwing an empty pokeball at the Dewott.

[Attempting catch on Dewott]

Gwen's face lit up at the mention of pay at the Draciary. The Ranger pay was pretty stagnant due to the ongoing war efforts, but the mention of a livable wage seemed like quite the little bonus in tandem with the job. She didn't just take it solely because of the bump in pay. This entire thing had been to pay back Freya for her singular chance she had given her. A nameless, aimless girl in the crowd she had given her time to.

She did have to wonder about the previous part Freya had mentioned. No doubt being in such a high position brought with it an entire boatload of responsibility and stress.

Like any public office, every little interaction could be tens or hundreds of people would want your head on a pike. It wasn't entirely all firm handshakes and a love for a cozy office job as Gwen had expected.

"I know, I can prepare for this for as long as you've been in office and still be blindsided by the stress. But I promise you, I'll work through it with you."

She believed in her abilities that had taken her to places that she could have dreamed long while stuck inside of her room back home. All the nights of yearning for more out of life than the hum of a computer and the window of a chat room.

It was so hard to believe it was so long ago since those days.

Her excitement was visible in those eyes of hers. The heartbeat racing of a job that one had been dreaming of so long! It was all within her hands! She wanted to scream, shout, happily accept the job...

"I trust you, Freya."

Gwen extended her hand to Freya with a curt nod.

"But I don't want this to be one sided. We both trust each other, and we both help one another."

"I'm just some naive kid who got lucky by meeting you. At least, that's what every other Ranger says about me. But I keep my promises and want to help. I figure that's worth something in Hoenn."

She smiled at the councilwoman.

"If you ever need anything, call on me. Food, coffee, blankets, a place to sleep, anything at all."

"And if you show up like this again, I'm going to have to make Gishath drag you to a bed. Deal?"

"H-Hi, Mew."

Gwendolyn let out a soft, excitable noise at seeing the drowsy Mew waving at her. Those paws, those cute, teeny tiny little paws! Even that cool tail! Oh, Gwen had so many questions she wanted to ask, all centered around the bubble gum colored Pokemon! Greyson went to speak up before she paid attention and invited her to sit down beside him.

In a bundle of energy, Gwen sat down beside Greyson.

"Wow, i-it's such an honor to meet a member of the Elite Four!"

Gishath accepted the chin tickling, the Gabite closing his eyes with such pleasured snorts and noises coming from his small body. The offer of comfort was well received and as she guided him along, he found residence in the after-mentioned bed. His nose sniffed at the faint trace of another dragon-type inside and huffed. One rotation around and down Gishath went, coiled up tight and decided to take a little nap.

It did make sense. Her Ranger work would no doubt have to be railed in if she was going to take the job as her assistant. It was also less time out in the field, as expected. All of it wasn't a dealbreaker yet, although Gwen might have wanted to treasure more of her time out in the field now.

"I understand. All of it seems straightforward enough. I've been through a couple of remote desk jobs back home, anyway. This all sounds similar so far."

Gwendolyn nodded, then paused at the mention of a certain somebody that she had recalled seeing on the news about a recent promotion.

"Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki? That new gym leader that was just appointed replacing... Navy? I didn't know she used to be your assistant before. But I think she could teach me a lot and get me up to speed...assuming I get the position."

Gwen smiled faintly. Maybe still worried about the health of the councilwoman.

"Is there anything that you're worried about the job that I won't be able to do?"

On the second outing to Megaopolis, Gwendolyn had come fully prepared this time. Now with a team of three that could handle a little bit more variety in terms of what she might find out here, the girl stood alongside his Gabite while gazing out into the distance. Was it darker somehow? Or merely just her eyes slowly growing accustom to the environment here?

"Back again! I think we should focus on that tower in the distance this time, Ms. Abadi. I bet there's something in there that could be useful."

Across the skyline of the accursed city, one tower stood out among the others. Whose tip nearly pierced the heavens. It looked just like any other back in Hoenn, though towered above what was left surviving after whatever cataclysmic event that had happened here. Gwen threw out her Magneton as per usual, his eyes acting as their flickering source of light.

The journey towards the spire began as the two made their way across the ruined city streets. There was the usual Megaopolan activity here, maybe some occasionally rummaging through the alleyways. But a strong metallic groaning had birthed itself in the air. The sound was ear piercing and coming from the buildings ahead of them.

From a top the tallest tower, a bright light had began to flicker on and off again, akin to an erratic heartbeat. It was bright enough on the streets, but to imagine it from up must have been blinding.

But as it was born, numerous Megaopolans poured out of houses, alleys, almost being born from nothing to rush towards the tower, like moths drawn to a flame. They seemed to forget about their presence entirely, rushing past them without looking back towards the invaders.

"Wh-What was that?" Gwen asked, Gishath hissing out in annoyance. "That came from that tower!"

---

20. the city's tallest tower, lesser megalo tower, may occasionally flicker with a blinding light. every time the light turns on, the crazed megalopolans will attempt to flock toward it.