Annie had half her face buried into her latest victim’s fur when both of them felt a gust of wind threaten to force them back. The girl stood up straight, a firm hand on the fluffball dissuading it from fleeing. Widened eyes quickly found the source of their troubles – the man’s bird had descended on a Pokemon she didn’t recognise, and his other had found more where that came from. Predators. Her smile fled the scene about as quickly as the Wooloo had. “Shi- Alright, we’re working now! That’s fine, that’s fine…”

From her pockets, she retrieved a pair of Pokeballs to unleash half of her team. “It’s showtime, team Annie! Bolt, you’re a friendly face. Help us coral- corral? One of them. Get all of these Wooloo together!” The Shinx nodded, always happy to oblige. Off he went, to bark and nudge a flock of Pokemon half his size into order. He wasn’t the best suited for the job, but he was the best that she had.

“And you, Fortuna… You’re on Happiness Patrol!” The Chansey’s arms sprang upwards, as much as the stubs could. She needed no further explanation and hurried off to start. They both knew that Fortuna enjoyed nothing more than making sure everybody nearby had their spirits lifted. Whether it was through natural talent or experience, she’d become very good at soothing people and Pokemon alike. Gentle gestures and calming calls helped to tame their wards before they could make themselves bigger targets.

That left Annie to act as watchdog. She took careful steps backwards, watching the flock as she approached Samuel. “Hey, er… What the heck are those?” Her hand hovered over another Pokeball – if two of them had arrived, a third could be close behind, and she was the only free hand on the field to react to it! “I mean, obviously they’re no good, but I’ve never seen them before. I guess that we just knock them out and move them somewhere else, right?”

❤ wizz

She’d been thinking that the next words out of his mouth would be a demand for her valuables, so anything away from those lines was a small blessing. The man sounded polite. Friendly. Not eager to stab her. He said that he meant well, but -“That’s exactly what somebody trying to lower my guard would say!” Her perception changed – he was less of a Super Thug, and more like the devil’s trickster, with an all-too-perfect contract hidden behind his back.

She really needed to watch less cartoons and meet more people.

Torn between being polite to the man and running to… Well, there weren’t many places she could run, especially with everything she owned weighing her down, the girl settled for playing his game. Sort of. Her suspicions shone through on her face, and her back foot was ready to distance her if he pulled any funny business. His Pokemon was cute too – if he’d stop looking so creepy, she could’ve fawned over the little prince(‘ss? How did people even tell the difference?’) all day. Instead, she could only make doe eyes at the Vaporeon while his back was turned, and then go back to squinting her eyes when he looked back. Her partner, once he felt confident that the coast was clear, watched Evan as well, albeit with much more curiosity than hostility.

“My name’s Annie.” She found herself wishing she had some sort of title, something to puff up her chest with. “Annie Mei, up-and-coming trainer extraordinaire! So I’d be real careful trying to mess wi-” Her declaration was cut off by the Shinx... flashing?. Great, because she hadn’t thought up the other half of that sentence yet. Not so great, because his fur only gleamed when trouble was nearby. The little beast growled in the direction of a new pair of wild Pokemon, somehow more menacing than the last. “Would you, ah, give me a second?” Annie held up a finger to excuse herself, then pointed it at the threats. “Bolt, go ahead and strike!” He seemed happy to oblige, rushing forward to pounce on the snake. Fangs cackling with electricity sunk themselves into his prey, giving it all the persuasion that it needed to flee the scene.

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Careful eyes wait for an answer, and to see what his might show. Not much hesitation – at least, not much more than the man had shown thus far. He wasn’t fumbling with his words, or stalling while he thought of some. He’d given her no reason to think that he was being dishonest, and yet…

The girl closed her eyes. Nodded. Put on a small smile. “It was nothing,” she said, but quieter than before. She found her voice soon enough, meeting his gaze soon enough. “Sorry, Oreo. That sounded pretty bad. It’s just… not every day that a guy that you just met invites you home, just to eat their food. But it’s nice! Really nice, don’t get me wrong. Just different.” Her smile grew, back into a toothy grin. “That just means that you’re special! Oreo, the first man to invite me into his home!” She giggled, taking a half-step towards the pancakes. She knew it was polite to at least wait for her host, but as her growling stomach was eager to remind her, it’d been a while since she’d eaten.

“A fire’s terrible when it’s out of control. You say I didn’t have to do that, but what else could I have done? Leave? Would you have left?” She wasn’t looking at them, but her hand was hovering over the stack. “Not when people could’ve gotten hurt. Heck, if you hadn’t said your friends were coming to help, me and Fortuna could’ve stayed to see if everybody was okay. She’s not the best fighter, but she’s one of the best healers I’ve ever met! Not that I’ve met a lot of healers, but still, she’s great!” Just like that, she was back in her swing. A brief look of surprise, and she reached to relieve herself of her backpack. Better late than never. “But enough about my guys! Tell me about your Ranger business! I’ve never had a chance to sit down with a real officer guy.” She’d run from a few, but those were stories he didn’t need to hear.

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Annie stared in disbelief, returning all but one of her Pokemon to their capsules. All that was left before her was a fallen tree and one extremely smug Weavile. The two watched each other for several seconds before the trainer broke the silence. “…Do that again,” she muttered, the disbelief carrying even in her quiet voice. Blitz was all too happy to oblige. He strolled a few feet over to yet another tree, soaking in the girl’s stunned silence before he repeated his signature move.

The little beast pointed a claw at the tree, bellowing a rallying cry for all to hear. Somehow, someway, his words reached the hearts of his captured allies, causing each of Annie’s Pokeballs to open simultaneously. The beams of energy shot forth towards the targeted tree, revealing a quartet of Pokemon mid-leap to it. The Shinx and Zorua moved one after the other, leaving their marks on its bark as they swiped past. A Lapras was next; a physical fighter it was not, but its horn dug a decent hole into the tree anyway. The Chansey’s attempt to follow up was… cute. She slapped the tree as she landed, but judging by her yelp, she’d damaged herself more than it. Fortunately, their makeshift leader was there to finish the job. Living up to his namesake, the Weavile sped past the poor tree, driving a trio of claw marks into its side as he rushed. He slid to a halt and turned to face Annie, looking no less superior. The rest of her team had less impressive glances, but waited for her input all the same.

“…That. Was. Awesome! I have no idea how you did that, and you probably shouldn’t be able to do that, but it was so cool that I don’t care! We’re going to work on that super move, Blitz, and try not to let Fortuna hurt herself trying to help.” The Chansey frowned, even as her and the rest of the team were recalled, leaving Annie and Blitz alone again. Or so they thought. They’d made a fair bit of noise with their coordinated strike, so who knew who it would draw in…?

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A devilish grin found its way onto her face as he fell for her trap! One moment, he was merely touching the Wooloo, and the next, he was feeding them! Nobody could resist the allure of the cotton balls for long, even the questionable patronising old man in front of her.

Imagine, she did. Though it was a bittersweet thought. “Oh, I bet it is! That’s gonna be my Christmas gift to myself – a warm jumper! If I can get one in time… Maybe even get my name on it! It’s Annie, by the way. If my name’s on my clothes, nobody’ll mind that I keep forgetting to say it!” Annie’s near-inability to sit still and the region’s warmer climate made up for the fact that her wardrobe was near-exclusively oversized t-shirts and trousers. She couldn’t get away with that forever - the temperature was steadily dropping, and she was already starting to look out of place. Too poor to pass as a tourist and too young to pass as ‘making a fashion statement’. Not that it seemed to bother her.

The man’s fun fact had completely sold her on the Pokemon. Her head whipped back and forth between Samuel and the nearest Wooloo – her soon-to-be next victim. It seemed to know it. “Oh. My. Geez-you-guys-are-just-the-most-adorable-how-could-they-keep-you-from-us-for-this-long!” She charged. It made it all of two steps away before she collapsed on its wool, dreamy sigh and all. “They’re just so big and fluffy and huggable and absolutely adorable! I want to sleep on a bed of them, and pull over a blanket that's also made of them! Not their wool, just living Wooloos!” Needless to say, she’d forgotten about their little guarding job.

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Annie, on the other hand was only partially successful at playing it cool. Her eyes barely left the stack once it was off the pain, but who could blame her? The smell and the sight were an attack of multiple fronts, and when she’d gone weeks without a hot breakfast… She was vulnerable. And vibrating? Just a little.

They even had toppings! She’d completely forgotten about those, and would have eaten them dry without a second thought, but this was the icing on the cake. “Thank you, thank you!” She’d walking up and down the kitchen, if only to do something with the energy. Even then, the spring in her step made it hard to miss her joy. “You know, this almost makes up for almost getting burned to death! It might even balance it out! Getting to meet a whole Ranger, and his treehouse in Treehouse Town and there’s syrup and hon-“

She paused. Gift, he’d said. As in it was special. She quickly shook her head, and her smile fled the scene. “Wait, no. That’s a gift. I can’t take that, that’s for you.” Her brow furrowed. When she stopped to think about it, the whole situation was weird. Almost as weird as her sudden shift. Her gaze flickered between the food and the Ranger. “Why are you doing this, anyway? You didn’t have to offer anything, but… you did.” People didn’t just do that – not in her world. Half the time, kindness came with strings attached.

❤ wizz