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alina smiles meekly at the gym leader as he tends to his pride, biting her lip out of habit as she tries to temper her nerves. the young ranger had been so ecstatic to carry out her first mission in field, finally practicing what she learned in the classroom. she had assumed it would be a low-stakes task of rescuing the common injured hiker, as it didn't seem likely that HQ would start off a rookie with anything hard-core. upon reaching her destination, however, she was greeted with four majestic felines that each towered over her a little more than the next. suddenly, things didn't seem so low-stakes anymore. [break][break]

she leans over to catch josh's words amidst the rumbling purrs of the pyroar, making sure to not invade into its personal space. despite the anxiety that threatened to chip her away, alina knew how important today was - it wasn't everyday that rookies like herself had an opportunity to watch and learn from one of the most experienced rangers on the grid. it was vital she made the most out of it. [break][break]

"sounds good." alina says as she steps back to analyze the pride. each of the three pokemon looked overwhelming in their own respective ways, but after taking a few moments to herself, she steps closer to the second pyroar: kion. he seemed the least intimidating out of the bunch, but little did she know what he was capable of. [break][break]

taking a deep breath, the ranger braces herself and swings her leg over the feline. okay, that was easy enough, she reassures herself, the tension loosening its grip on her chest. alina redirects her attention back towards josh. "thank you for accompanying me out here today. i've heard a lot about you and am sure i have a lot to learn."

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by the time he speaks again, alina had a good idea what his response was going to be. once she shifted her attention from her phone to her surroundings, the casual and free-flowing attire did not escape her. she assumes they were tourists dressing their part at first - she's seen a handful of them herself every summer. the longer she waits for the scattered crowd to pass, however, the more she realizes that they were not the outliers here. [break][break]

despite this, his next words still manage to catch her off-guard. "oh. i'm so sorry for your loss." alina says, her posture visibly softening. the last funeral she had been to was over a decade ago, yet the grief that engulfed her then still quietly haunts her to this day. she could only imagine how the stranger was feeling after such a fresh loss, and wished she had something more meaningful to say even though they've only talked for a few minutes. [break][break]

upon being called a tourist, she says nothing. the young woman was actually moving permanently to hoenn, and while there was a stronger sense of camaraderie after the stranger revealed his own purposes here, she wasn't going to start spilling unnecessary details about herself. not yet, at least.[break][break]

"good guess - i'm from johto. olivine city, to be exact." alina says instead as she watches the two pokemon. nova was sniffing the prehistoric pokemon back in reciprocation and her tail began to wag slowly, red orb blurring against the azure blue backdrop. the ampharos was lonely, alina knew, and she hoped that there would be more opportunities in this new region to meet other pokemon. "we're mostly known for our port and lighthouse. have you heard of it?"

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by now, alina's probably checked off more firsts in the last couple of weeks than she has in the last couple of years. while all of the new challenges has forced her in a constant state of fight or flight, she can't deny the tinkling feeling of accomplishment that came along with it. although she was proud of how well she ran the lighthouse, it was a different type of pride knowing that she was capable of succeeding in things outside of it. she supposed the scarcity of accomplishment was always the inevitable collateral damage of comfort and safety.[break][break]

while this may be her first night mission, alina was no stranger to night shifts. as a lightkeeper, she's had to pull the occasional night watch - nature didn't exactly accommodate to human time. in fact, tonight would probably breeze by more quickly than her previous shifts, if the task on hand indicated otherwise.[break][break]

mightyenas was not a species that the young ranger was familiar with. the closest canine Pokemon that alina had contact with back in johto was arcanine, and the scarlet hound was a much more relaxed species compared to it's grey counterpart. unfortunately, alina was not much of a fighter - she has always been taught to roll with the punches, rather than confronting conflict head-on. this tactic has worked sometimes in this new line of work, but other times like tonight, it's required her to lean into more aggressive approaches. [break][break]

alina slows down as the large oak trees begin to part, revealing a small town in its grasp. she could only imagine how easily the pokemon terrorized the townsfolk - the size of the pack could easily be half of the town's population, from the looks of it. as she closes her distance to the main clearing, a head of vibrant pink hair catches her attention. judging the way he swiftly responds to her footsteps, alina was nearly certain that this was her partner-to-be for the night. [break][break]

"hello, i'm alina." she says once she reaches talking distance, offering a soft smile. "i assume you're the other ranger that was sent to protect the townsfolk?"

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The gentle lull of ocean waves are a soothing lullaby to Alina’s ears as she makes her way to Slateport beach. The sea-salt tinged air grows stronger on the edge of her tongue as she moves closer to shore, and it was a dearly missed sensation. The ranger takes in a deep breath, a soft smile blooming across her features. It smells like home.[break][break]

Where sea meets land has always been her comfort zone, but since arriving at Hoenn, she hasn’t had a chance to seek out a similar haven. Ranger life hasn’t been easy to adjust to, often pushing her to the extreme with the long training hours, and sometimes she just wished that she had the luxury to spend an entire evening watching the sun tenderly kiss the sky goodnight.[break][break]

Needless to say, it felt like the universe was finally aligning with her when she was asked to escort the recent clutch of baby tirtougas home safely. Not only was she killing two wingulls with one stone, but maybe for the first time in a while, she’d feel less like a failure. After all, this was what she did best - guiding others back to where they belonged. Not scaling cliffs that threatened to collapse from erosion, or riding pokemon that could break her neck if they so pleased.[break][break]

At least, she assumed it would be smooth-sailing. Just as she recognized the hints of home, the youngest member of her team recognized them as well. The young totodile had abruptly bolted towards the shore, leaving a flustered Alina behind. Despite getting acquainted with the pokemon over the last couple of months, he was still one of the many wild cards lately that Alina couldn’t quite grasp. She hoped this trip to the ocean would relieve some of his overabundant energy, but considering that everything was either food or foe to the adolescent, this was starting to seem like a poor idea.[break][break]

“Ronan!” She called out, picking up her pace to chase after him. So much for relaxing! A million scenarios buzzed in her head as she frantically searched for the blue reptile. When her feet finally reaches sand, she makes out two blurry figures, only one of them the one she was hunting for.[break][break]

Alina makes out an older man as she reaches the pair, and her heart drops as she swiftly puts two and two together. “Oh my goodness. I’m so sorry,” Alina said, clearly flustered. Although she hasn’t previously crossed paths with her assigned partner, she was given his basic description before she left. And of course, she (or her totodile) hit jackpot.[break][break]

“I hope he didn’t bother you - or the Tirtougas, for that matter.” She says as the Totodile started dive bombing into the sand, snout eagerly sniffing out his next meal as he sprays thick sand in his vicinity. Alina lightly nudges him away with her foot, scrambling to appear more collected in front of the older ranger. “I’m Alina - you must be Nicholas? I’m, um, the other ranger that was assigned to escort the Tirtougas back to sea.” [break][break]

Yup. There goes her first impression. [break][break]

Ronan, stumbling from his spot and landing on his bottom, glares at his trainer, venom burning in his gaze. What did she think she was doing?! He wouldn’t stop her from indulging in a seafood buffet![break]

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A blanket of volcanic ash sits heavy in the atmosphere, casting a speckled grey hue across the rocky landscape. Despite the uncomfortable sting in her eyes and lungs, Alina absorbs the murky world in with wonder. Every new location she’s traveled to so far in Hoenn had not ceased to amaze her, with every town being vastly different from the next, but this one felt particularly intriguing. Hailing from Olivine City, where the ocean was the star of the show; it was rare for the ranger to have the opportunity to immerse herself in the serene beauty of the mountains, let alone than a volcano. It’s moments like these where Alina is grateful that she made the unexpected leap to uproot her life to move across the globe - some spontaneity can bring good, after all.[break][break]

The hazy beauty distracts her briefly from the mission on hand, but Alina is not one to live with her head in the clouds - she lives resolutely, with two feet planted on the ground. She knows she has an important mission ahead of her: resolving the increasingly violent conflict between the Primapes and Passimons. She discreetly twiddles her fingers as she marches ahead with her Dragonair and fellow ranger, hoping he didn’t catch her anxious tick.[break][break]

Rangers, she knows, needed to be able to have complete faith that their partner would have their back. Although it was no secret that she was the newbie out of the two, there was still a burning desire to appear capable, despite her crippling fear that the mission ahead could explode beyond her current capabilities. She had never confronted violence of this sort head-to-head, and so far, she sees more ways of this mission going wrong than of it going well.[break][break]

Alina didn’t know much - or anything at all, really, - about her partner, Silverio. She’s seen him in passing as she hops from station to station, but she was never the type to casually chat up her coworkers for the sake of it. This restraint has kept her safe in her cocoon, but perhaps the cocoon was starting to suffocate her. She hopes that no one finds her rude. She also hopes that this wouldn’t be her last day on the field.[break][break]

“Have you dealt with a similar issue like this before?” The woman asks at last, head swiveling to glance at the male ranger. “I’ve heard other rangers mention that this was a semi-common problem around these parts.” [break]

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Crunch, crunch, crunch. [break][break]
Crisp, cool air caresses Alina’s face as she navigates the jagged terrain in front of her. Autumn was officially at its peak, and so far, Alina was enjoying her first fall season at Hoenn. As she cautiously makes her way along the narrow path, she takes in the warm hues around her. Cliffs dotted in vibrant marigolds and coppers loom protectively over her, and even the steep ridges feel less threatening when cushioned by the vibrant colors. [break][break]
It’s been a couple of weeks since Alina settled at Hoenn, and she was starting to plant some new roots as she began her career as a rookie ranger. It hasn’t been an easy start- the job was both more physically demanding and mentally taxing than anticipated, from resolving violent conflicts to navigating dangerous environments. It seems naive, now, to have assumed that her background in both marine biology and lighthouse keeping would’ve been sufficient for her to easily step into the role. [break][break]
Alina peers nervously to the cliffside, taking in a deep breath as a feeble attempt to calm her nerves. Mt.Pyre was known for tumultuous landscape - one foot in the wrong direction, and she may just make the evening news as the hundredth person to lose their life to the mountain’s looming claws. She had been tossing and turning for the last couple of nights, ruminating over the various worst-case scenarios, despite knowing that one could never be fully prepared in the face of nature. She, out of all people, should know that. [break][break]
Her Ampharos reached forward to reassuringly touch her paw against Alina’s back, and the ranger smiles softly in return before gazing at the purple-haired woman beyond her Pokemon’s shoulder. Truthfully, if Elise hadn’t been here, Alina would have probably chickened out and claimed that she was going to “tackle this next time”. It was simultaneously stressful and soothing that the head ranger was accompanying her today - while she knew Elise would have her back if anything went wrong, she also couldn’t help but feel silly and inexperienced. Who, at the age of 25, needed emotional support to climb a silly little mountain? [break][break]
“I can’t thank you enough for joining me out here today,” Alina says, puffs of condensed smoke escaping her lips. “It’s a honor to be accompanied by someone like yourself. I’m sure you have much more important things to do than accompany a new ranger out here.”

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Alina wonders if this is the universe’s sign for her to turn around and get the hell out of Hoenn before she was in too deep. [break]
It’s been an exhausting week, and it was just her luck to encounter ferry closures when her final destination was right at her fingertips. Honestly, she didn’t even feel like she had the right to feel frustrated - not exactly smart of her to uproot her life right after it was nearly swallowed up by a legendary. [break]
The thing is, she is usually a woman with a plan. And then a back-up plan, and another plan, and - you guessed it - a backup-plan for all of those back-up plans. Alina is nothing short of prepared, and without these meticulously crafted plans, she was basically a boat without a captain, a lighthouse without a keeper [break]
Needless to say, this spontaneous decision to sail off to the unknown was completely unlike her. If Alina had it her way, she would’ve spent another month doing her due research, musing over logistics and planning her next couple hundred steps. But cutting off one’s anchors was no easy task, and more often than not it required a sudden burst of impulse that she was a stranger to. She feared that if she ruminated on this for any longer, this rare flicker of bravery would dim away before she could even attempt to nurture it. [break]
So that’s how she found herself - stranded in the middle of no where, with nothing but big dreams in her back pocket. [break]
Alina fiddles with her phone as she heads further into town, the faintest frown creasing across her eyebrows as she frantically tries to figure out her next step. The ferry seemed to be the only mode of public transportation to Slateport, leaving her with the mere option of finding accommodations for the rest of the week. She bites her lip, glancing up as she crunches the numbers in her head. Thank Arceus she was never the spendthrift type. At least she some cushioning to fall back on. [break]
The young woman turns to her Ampharos, ready to share her thoughts when a second voice cuts into the air. Alina glances at him, taking him and his Pokemon slowly. Huh. Well, this pair wasn’t something you saw everyday. She wasn’t sure why he was speaking to her at all, but he didn’t seem to be a threat so far. And if she were to be honest, they’ve piqued her curiosity with their matching singular eyes. She supposed she could humor him with a little small talk. [break]
She drops her phone. “I heard,” she responds softly, raising her hands again to smoothen her shirt. “Although I’m hoping that luck would be on my side. Maybe the water levels would take mercy on us and the ferry could reopen earlier than expected.” Luck. Ha, that’s funny of her, casually bringing up luck as if it was something she believed in and relied on. [break]
“Yeah, not the smartest timing on my part.” She said, shuffling her feet as she glanced back at her Pokemon. The yellow mammal seemed to be intrigued by the Aerodactyl, although it had no intentions on making the first move to approach it. What was that saying - like trainer, like Pokemon? Alina glances back up. “I assume you’re a resident of this town, then?” [break]

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pokémon storage system

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items in possession

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garden pokémon info

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pkmn name

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   ♁/♂︎/⚬ ability[break]
   move, move, move,[break] move, move, move

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pokémon for trade

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