for whatever reason, it seems quiet here right now. the silence is kind of unnerving as they progress. they wonder, briefly, if something was here before them and scared the wildlife away.

their answer comes in the form of a lone charjabug, wandering weakly out into view. it's exhausted and injured, all its movements feeble. though it doesn't seem in any significant danger, sterling still approaches carefully, hands out. "hey," they say softly. the charjabug jolts back, not at the sight of sterling but at the sight of their charcadet. realizing why a fire type might not be the best in this situation, they withdraw kay for now, and slowly come closer to the charjabug. it's got some minor scratches and bruising on its body, likely remnants of an earlier battle.

sterling takes their bag off their back and pulls out a first aid kit. they clean up the charjabug's injuries quietly, and with a gentle hand. when they're done, they take a pokeball out and offer it. "i can take you to a pokemon center if you come with me," they say. the charjabug hesitates, but senses that sterling is telling the truth. it reaches out and touches the pokeball, and is caught without a fuss.

sterling stands back up and leaves, heading for a pokemon center.

catching charjabug!

alright, well... if sterling's going to take this ranger thing seriously, they should probably look to add more pokemon to their team. that, and they should train for battle, too... though they've played any number of video games where battling is the focus, and have even been on the leaderboards once or twice, that doesn't help with a real battle. much, anyway. at least their encyclopedic knowledge of type advantages and weaknesses, as well as move effects and abilities, will come in handy.

they're still going to try and take it easy. being outside is unnerving. kay, their charcadet, walks with them. the little fire type isn't much comfort, honestly, given how little experience it has... but it's better than nothing. sterling's got their phone ready to shoot out an SOS if needed. until then, they'll just keep going.

PURCHASING/REDEEMING

welcome to the poké mart!

1X squirtle pail (200 PD)

1X tamato berry (10 PD)

1X grepa berry (2 PD)

1X rabuta berry (5 PD)

TOTAL

do come again!

217 PD

sterling doesn't know how people do it. party, they mean. everyone here is laughing, dancing, drinking, having a good time... meanwhile sterling and ever are over here, stiff as boards, watching the partygoers for any sign of serious trouble. the closest they've gotten now is two girls having an argument over exactly how bad team rocket is... sterling's noticed a few people watching the two at the refreshments' table, and they wonder if it's that obvious they're here on official business and not to have fun.

“my grandparents were quite happy work made it so i had to attend, though.” at that, sterling nods. "...my dad doesn't like that i'm here. he thinks it's dangerous." their dad thinks everything is dangerous, and they can't really blame him. both of his older children have set off on their own, and his wife vanished out of the blue one day... he always seems afraid that's going to happen to sterling too, if they continue to work as a ranger. "it's a little hard to believe... anyone would try anything with all these people, though..."

their hand snakes over and grabs a cookie off the table. when in rome, right? they can't bring themself to dance or talk to anyone else, but they can snack.

[ ever blackwell ]

REDEEMING

welcome to the poké mart!

1X type 2 evo (00 PD) (honedge to doublade)

TOTAL

do come again!

00 PD

sterling is... definitely not a party person. they've never been to a real 'party' in their life, so this is the first for them. they've come dressed as the ever-popular plumber from a certain game series, complete with bushy fake moustache that they thought would be funny. but nobody's commented on it so far, which has resulted in sterling wilting away and hiding near the food table with the other ranger who came with them for this 'mission'.

there were rumors about illegal activity being planned here, which is why ever and sterling are here in the first place. they're to keep an eye on things and make sure there's no trouble, from team rocket or otherwise. the hope is that having two rangers here will dissuade people from trying anything funny... but compared to ever, sterling is pretty sure they're not intimidating in the slightest.

they fidget with their fake moustache. "s-so, uh..." their galarian accent comes out when they speak. "you ever, uh... been to a... halloween party before...?"

[ ever blackwell ]

a little party never hurt anybody... MISSION START!

taking with sterling and ever blackwell !

even just inhaling a few spores of sleep powder was enough to knock sterling out for a solid few seconds. they're recovering from it, but clearly drowsy and unsettled, wobbling as they stand. their honedge is still holding onto them, helping them to stay upright, and their kirlia watches to make sure they don't start to fall asleep again. for all of sterling's hesitations, their pokemon certainly seem to care for them just as much as sterling does them.

"hwuh? i, uh..." if they weren't so damn out of it, they might have refused, making an excuse to avoid further human contact. but half their mind is elsewhere, wondering if they can use lancelot's hypnosis to help them sleep at night when they need to fix their sleep schedule. dumbly, sterling just agrees to whatever shalin says right now. "y-yeah, sure, i guess." they won't realize what they've said until they're already at the sandwich shop. at least the food will be good... even if they're embarrassed about their usual order being so sparse, given that they're quite the picky eater.

mission accomplished! and with only a little collateral damage.

[ Shalin Nariya ]

the swellow is heading straight for sterling's kirlia; thankfully, shalin intervenes with a timely sleep powder. the particles coat the bird, and its eyes begin to flutter closed before it can begin its assault. slowly, it flutters to the ground and then falls asleep, its wings still partially outstretched.

the flapping of the swellow's wings, sadly, send some of the dust over to sterling. they can't help but inhale some of it, and their eyes start to grow heavy as well. first their grip on the ladder tightens as they realize what's happening... and then it loosens. they can't fight the drowsiness, and slowly start to fall backwards.

seeing this, lancelot the kirlia startles, and his eyes start to glow red. his psychic catches sterling before they can fall, and holds them in place, hovering by the ladder. the kirlia breathes a sigh of relief now that he knows everyone is safe.

[ Shalin Nariya ]

the taillow and swellow have no idea what's coming. the swellow eyes them warily but doesn't put up a fight just yet; a massive venusaur isn't exactly the most subtle thing in the world. though they're aware of the rangers' presence, the birds aren't going anywhere. if it was that easy to scare them off, it probably wouldn't have been necessary to call rangers in to do this job in the first place.

lancelot stands at the ready. sterling waits a moment, hanging onto the ladder for dear life. just let the swellow get distracted... there! the bird's focus changes to one of its babies. "use hypnosis," sterling mumbles quietly. the kirlia balancing on the vine turns his gaze toward the nest, and shoots off a hypnosis, eyes glowing... but at the last moment, the swellow looks up and sees the attack coming. it narrowly dodges it, and takes off into the air with a beating of its wings. the taillow in the nest squawk urgently, realizing something is going on. the hypnosis manages to hit one of them, but only one.

the swellow has its eyes fixated on sterling's kirlia. "uh oh--"

[ Shalin Nariya ]

sterling clings harder to the ladder at the thought of riding her venusaur's vine. she says it won't drop them, but... oof. they feel a lot more secure having something to hold onto. "i-i'm alright up here," they call out nervously. using one hand, they fumble with their bag until they've got ahold of lancelot's pokeball. they release him onto the vine, where he balances perfectly. the kirlia peers curiously around him.

sterling seems a bit more comfortable talking to him than to shalin. "hey, lancelot," they say quietly. "we're just gonna be putting these guys to sleep and moving their nests, alright? can you use your hypnosis?" they point at the birds nestled away, oblivious to what's coming. sterling's kirlia nods.

"...al... alright. we're ready... i think." with two of their pokemon at their side, sterling waits for permission to begin.

[ Shalin Nariya ]

they fix their gaze on the secured ladder. their ascent is slow, clumsy, and careful, because they've never really used a ladder before. sure, step-ladders, but real ladders...? their honedge is a comforting presence. most people might find it a little creepy, but it's a pokemon sterling's had since they were much younger. they only recently made it official before moving to hoenn-- their honedge had lived near them in galar, and they'd frequently interacted, but it had been wild for quite some time.

they stop climbing when shalin releases her massive venusaur. if she could see her eyes behind their hair, they'd be popping ouit of their skull right now. in shock, their grip on the ladder loosens. feeling this, their honedge tightens its own grip on their arm, reminding them of where they are.

sterling shakes themself out of it. "i don't have... uh, experience, with... sleep powder, but i know how it works," they say. "my kirlia... knows hypnosis, though." the problem is that lancelot wouldn't be able to reach the nests by himself... but shalin seems to have a plan, and sleep powder should work pretty well for their purposes. if necessary, their kirlia's hypnosis can be a backup plan.

once they reach the top, sterling gazes at the bird pokemon guarding their nests. they wish they could just talk to them, tell them that they're in a dangerous location, but... sadly, that's impossible.

[ Shalin Nariya ]

they cast their gaze skyward. it's a good thing that, out of all the things that frighten them, heights isn't one of them. they're not nervous around the big persian; in fact, they have to hold back from trying to pet it. somehow they feel she wouldn't mind, but it still feels... improper. like they need to introduce themself first. they're just not sure how to do that. they don't have much experience with unfamiliar pokemon.

"r-right..." they need to be prepared for a little bit of a fight. swellow can get a little territorial during nesting season, they've heard. "maybe... a ladder would be okay to start with..." they'll feel a little more secure that way. maybe later they can try riding a pokemon for the first time.

they release their honedge from its ball. it can levitate, so it can stay with them as they climb. it hovers near them, what seems to be a single eye peering at shalin before it wraps its long, blue cloth around sterling's upper arm. "...i think i'm ready."

[ Shalin Nariya ]