Cassie rubbed her throat of sweat. She couldn’t deny that she was thirsty – even for a girl as strong as her, mending that fence had been hard work. And she knew how important it was to stay hydrated as a swimmer and a Water-type trainer. But was she thirsty enough to accept a drink from this guy?

…Apparently, yes. “Yeah, I could. Thanks,” she said, as she took the lemonade from Thomas.

As she guzzled down the lemonade in a rather crass fashion, Cassandra glanced over to Thomas. Hey, maybe he wasn’t so bad after all – she decided to give him some benefit of the doubt and treat him less curtly from then on. Besides, he was cute.

When she finished, she wiped her face of sweat and lemonade. “Hey, uh…sorry if I came off as kind of awkward earlier. I know I owe your family a favor, but uh…well.” Cassandra looked to her left, then to her right. “I’ve heard rumors about you that made me a bit concerned. Sorry about that.”

…She could also stand to be less blunt around him, come to think of it.


Thomas Benoit

When she saw the wild Roselia, Cassie bit her tongue. She could, if necessary, deal with it – but it looked like Josh was on it already, and she’d make much more of a mess with Gheedra. Instead, she rode over to Rose, then got down and heaved the fallen log off the young girl.

“Hey there, champ. Rose, right?” she said, beaming down at the aforementioned kid. Once Rose nodded, Cassie helped her up with ease. “You look like you were in a pickle, kid. Do you have any partner Pokémon with you?”



Josh Devlin

As she leaned against the wall, Cassie crossed her arms under her chest. She’d decided to repay an old favor she’d owed to the Benoit family when she’d been an up-and-coming Ranger. And she’d done this by mending their Audino ranch’s fence, a task she’d just finished. That being said, she did want to avoid the owner of this ranch – a former member of the Elite Four named Thomas Benoit – whenever possible. And for those that knew him and what he’d done, it wasn’t hard to see why.

She hadn’t the patience to view it herself, but Cassie had heard…reports about a livestream where he’d made such a long-winded, scathing critique of the League that it had ruined his reputation and cost him his spot on the Elite Four afterwards. Being around such a guy made her anxious, even if he did say that he was trying to make amends - she knew how hard the League worked. They’d only interacted briefly prior to this, and only when necessary. Mostly, it had been things like asking about the fence’s condition and other necessary details to her job.

Yet as she’d worked on the fence, she’d seen a man who had been wholly different than the rumors had said he was. She’d seen a kind-hearted, remorseful man who loved Pokémon and who genuinely seemed to be trying to be a better person. Still, she didn’t feel under any obligation to lower her guard around him in light of that information.

Struck by Thomas’s complexities, Cassie sighed, then looked away – and what she saw made her eyes go wide. Thomas was walking toward her? Cass gulped – this had better be about something important, and she’d better keep things brief with him. She’d mended his fence out of gratitude, and nothing more than that.

She didn’t want to get too involved in the inner workings of this man. He could fix himself on his own time.



Thomas Benoit

“Hi, Verte!” said Cassandra, as she waved to the Flygon. Flygons were cute, but she didn’t voice that either for fear of embarrassing the little bugger. Well, big bugger – as she realized once she hopped onto the Flygon.

Cassie would be the first to admit that her Gyarados wasn’t the most maneuverable one around. Gyarados had trouble fitting into enclosed spaces, but their strengths lay elsewhere. And anyway, the point wasn’t to show off or win an imaginary contest; it was to rescue a girl.

Fortunately, Cassandra had another personal asset that could help – her eagle eyes. She quickly spotted a young girl matching Rose’s description wandering around, looking completely lost. “I’ve got a clear visual of the girl!” she said, her heart starting to pound. “I think we can swoop in and take this. Ready?”



Josh Devlin

“Word got around. You know what they say about loose lips around here.” Cassie bit her tongue. “And I’ll note that down! I’m just a poor Alolan who doesn’t know any better about royals, so Your Highness it is. Now let’s hoof it, Your Highness!”

In no time, Cassandra had set out Gheedra to work – he pushed the Wailords into the ocean with an Aqua Tail, albeit one as reserved as the Gengar’s Shadow Ball. Cassie tried her best to help, largely as a little show of solidarity; strong as she was, she couldn’t heave a whole Wailord down by herself. Or get it to budge at all.

As she and Gheedra finished heaving one into the ocean, Cassie looked back and wiped sweat off her forehead. “Whew, that was some work, huh?”

Elise Calcifet

Cassandra really wished that she could say that she was no better when she was thirteen, but that would just be a lie – and an obvious one at that, even to a kid his age. So, her eyebrow twitching slightly, she just smiled. “Aw, come on, champ. Don’t be like that!” she said. “Everyone starts out a beginner.”

That also wasn’t exactly true – at least not for someone like her, who had been practically raised with the waves. But again, she was not flexing that fact on this sickly kid.

“Come on. Just give it a chance.” Her smile turned more sincere.



absalom steel

“Master of Faster, huh?” Cassie blinked and smiled. She sure hoped that he didn’t have trouble getting dates with that moniker of his, but she didn’t say that part out loud. At any rate, they had business to do – no time for corny and potentially insulting jokes.

“I don’t have any other Pokémon…so it’d probably be best if you took the lead, Josh. I don’t think Gheedra would be good for this precision operation anyway.” Cassie scratched the back of her head, then grinned. “Looks like I’ll just be following for now.”


Josh Devlin

“A Gym Leader, huh? Pretty impressive.” Cassie blinked. “You sure you just want to be called Josh? I’m not so sure if you should get so chummy with your subordinates.” Of course, she was keenly aware of the disparity in power between the two – in every sense of the word.

Then Cassie nodded. “Yeah, I’ve got a Gyarados that fits the description. You sure the environment’s stable enough for us not to encounter anything nasty?” She didn’t want to run into a horde of Mightyena or anything, that would be unpleasant.



Josh Devlin

“Alright, kiddo. Time to get your water wings,” said Cassie, as she gestured to the pool while kicking up some water. She’d donned a deep blue bathing suit for the outing; nothing too flashy. Cassie had been put in charge of teaching a few kids how to swim, which was alright by her.

Yet she couldn’t resist a smirk. “Come on, don’t be shy,” she said, narrowly stopping herself from patting the kid on the back. Thankfully, he didn’t seem to be checking her out, which was more than she could’ve said for her other young boy mentees.



absalom steel

It was a SAD sight to see a bunch of beached Wailords. Cassandra couldn’t help but look forlornly at them – she could only imagine how darned uncomfortable they were, stuck on the beach like that. Gheedra hovered next to her, looking similarly upset by what had happened.

“Well, nothing to do but help them. Right, Gheedra?” said Cassie, as she pumped her fist. Gheedra cried out to concur.

Once she reached the shoreline to the other agent, Cassie bowed. “Your Majesty – or should I just call you Elise? Heard all about you,” she said, with a wink. “I’m Cassie Mishra, but the briefing told you that already!”


Elise Calcifet

As she waited for Josh Devlin at the designated clearing near Petalburg Woods, Cassie tapped her foot and frowned. The report had said that a young girl named Rose had gone missing roughly three hours ago, which had prompted Cassie to drop everything she’d been doing and go to the rendezvous point immediately. Sure, she was a bit early, but a kid’s life was on the line here!

She was new to all this ranger stuff, but she already wanted to break with protocol and go searching herself. The impulse to go immediately was strong in her – only a few deep breaths were keeping her calm. Again, there was a kid at stake here.

With a twitch of her eyebrow, Cassie checked her phone. She wasn’t going to let any kid get hurt on her watch.

Josh Devlin