Erin

  —

  The next morning the rain had stopped, and despite the humidity and the wet ground mom would have to run on, we were ready to go. The three of us, Emily, Anya… and Duncan.

  I expected Duncan to leave after we got done hanging out last night, but he was still there when we woke up the next morning. He even followed us to breakfast to eat a huge plate of pancakes Alex bought him, and as we stood outside Pewter City's southern gate I turned from unpacking the Ride Basket to find him deep in conversation with Hope, Stabby, and Leaf. I had a feeling I knew what this was about, too…

  "Is, uhh, Duncan coming along?" Anya and her sister both looked a little nervous…

  I shrugged at Anya's question.

  "I mean, maybe? I get the feeling he's just really bored up there in Mt. Moon, what with nobody allowed in. Duncan's not the kind of fae to just take from random people, or even to fight them unless it's in self defense… Honestly, he's nicer than Stabby and I, so yeah, probably just bored…" I didn't miss the way Emily stiffened slightly at my admission.

  I really wasn't what most people would call nice. Good? Hopefully, and it's what I was aiming for, sure, but nice? Well… I had my moments, I guess? I tried? I did nice things when I could, but… I wouldn't call myself mean, at least on purpose, but with my mind tinted with a vicious Alpha Tyrantrum's aura like it was? Being mean came so easily… I'd still rather be nice, though, same as Leto usually was…

  Leaf opened her eyes with an uncertain smile. An uncertain smile that found Alex.

  "So, Alex… How do you feel about fae, and Clefable? Pretty neat Pokemon, right?" I knew it…

  Alex looked uncertain for a bit, before the confusion really set in.

  "Uhh, they're cool, I guess? Not sure how I feel about most wild fae, but I don't dislike them, and I certainly don't dislike them to the extent the rest of my Clan does. Why?" She didn't get it! I began chuckling even as Duncan looked at Alex with wide eyes.

  Leaf cleared her throat a little, hiding the impish smile growing on her face with a raised hand.

  "Well, I happen to know a fae who's bored, wants to explore, is our friend, and who could use a trainer…" Alex went slightly pale as she finally got it, eyes swinging to a nervous Duncan. Her voice was uncertain as she finally replied.

  "Well… uhh, I mean, I was trying to stick to dragons and draconic species…" Duncan's shoulders slumped, but Alex spoke up quickly.

  "I mean, Yanmega isn't a dragon or draconic, though…" Duncan perked back up, but now Alex was deep in thought, and I could see why she was hesitating.

  Leaf and I could just talk with our Clefable, and neither of us would ever be in anything but physical danger from any fae… Alex didn't have the kind of bond that Leaf had with Hope, and her mind wasn't tinted with aura like mine. Not that it was a requirement, of course, but…

  Alex shook herself a little and smiled at Duncan.

  "I guess if you want to be my Pokemon, then sure? I might not use you in battle very often, though, we'll have to see…" Duncan didn't seem to care about that, and he launched himself at Alex for a hug. She returned it, and she didn't look nervous, but she did look very uncertain.

  "Seriously, I'm aiming to be a Dragon Master, so you'd be getting the least amount of my attention, really. Are you sure you don't want to ask Emily or Anya?" Duncan released her and shook his head, to the visible relief of the two fairy contractors. Yeah, that made sense. Duncan may be nice, but he was a wild fae, and even after an afternoon of interacting with him, Fairies were considered one of the most dangerous types for very, very good reasons, even the more benevolent lines like the Clefairy line…

  "Okay, well… Does anyone have a problem with Duncan being on the team?" She looked at her belt, but none of her Pokeballs rattled. I guarantee that at least Dignity would have minded when we first met, but by this point they had all become kind of numb to the vague sense of wrongness every fae gave off, and used to Leaf's team and Stabby.

  "Uhh, one second, let me find a Luxury Ball…" Duncan's whole face lit up as he bounced from foot to foot, and Leaf and I laughed a little at his sheer enthusiasm. Leaf's voice was light and happy when she spoke up, too.

  "He says he doesn't mind basically just hanging out, but he will fight if he needs to. He's really glad to get away from that cav- the mountain, too…" Her face screwed up a little, and so did mine.

  Duncan was nice, and that thing in that cavern wasn't nice. Not in the least… Well, it was 'benevolently indifferent' to its children there, I would say, but not all the time, and not every Cleffa was its child, either… It would have kept Hope, who was its child, trapped there the rest of her life if I hadn't accepted the bargain, chosen how I had…

  Alex straightened from her pack with an awkward smile, holding a Luxury Ball, and Duncan happily bounced over.

  "Okay, well, promise me you'll be nice like Hope and Stabby, okay?" Duncan nodded before touching the ball, and with a flash of light, Alex became the trainer of a named Clefable. Damn, now all three of us had named Clefable's, didn't we? They were rare Pokemon, too…

  "Wait, what about his contract?!" Oh yeah…

  We all turned to Emily, who now looked very uncertain. It was one thing to be around a wild uncontracted fae, another thing entirely for someone like Alex, one who couldn't interact with them safely even by conventional standards, to have an uncontracted fae as their Pokemon. Leaf just smiled at them, though.

  "Well, I don't use contracts, and neither does Erin, and I guess neither does Alex! If you trust them, and get a few promises, it's fine!" Emily looked more than a little freaked out now, though.

  "What do you mean, fine? You don't use contracts?! You have a Morgrem!" Leaf just laughed.

  "He's made me promises, though? Contracts are… probably what most people should use, sure, but I trust my Pokemon, Stabby, and Duncan. Erin isn't afraid of fae, and Alex…" She trailed off and looked at Alex, who shrugged.

  "I trust Duncan not to hurt or take from me or anyone friendly, so yeah, why would I go through the hassle of a contract? If he ever did hurt me for some reason, I don't think that Hope or Stabby would let him get away with it. Honestly, I kinda feel bad for him and his situation, too…" Duncan's new Luxury Ball shook in her hand, and she smiled.

  "I feel bad, but he's nice, and he promised to be nice like Hope and Stabby, so no, I'm not worried. I'm more worried he'll be bored without much battling to do, because fae on my team or not, I'm going to be a Dragon Master."

  Emily and Anya seemed stunned at Alex's words, but meh. They'll get over it… probably. I walked over to the Ride Basket and smiled widely as mom released herself. The two contractors were still nervous around her, but they eventually got in the basket at my urgings.

  Also my insistent stare.

  —

  —

  The ride to Celadon wasn't a bad one. For us… We had actually kind of shoved Emily and Anya into the back of the basket, simply because they couldn't stay on their feet, and I didn't feel like getting my skull rocked by theirs… again. It was at least padded down there in our new one…

  Mom had previously run straight over the large hills here between Pewter and Cerulean, but this time she went with the slightly longer, but more 'sedate' path around them. I had barely noticed on our initial ride, considering I was deep in talks with my Pokemon at the time, but this time mom decided to be nice to Emily and Anya.

  Not that her speed was 'nice' for them, but lightly bouncing from her long strides was still easier to deal with than her lunging up and down slopes… I vaguely remembered there being a 'mountain' here in the games, or at least where Diglett's Tunnel popped out, so it wasn't all that surprising to me. It also made a little more sense that there wasn't a major Route through here.

  Hecate's psychic wail was a bit more surprising.

  The second she unleashed her wail, mom began to slow, even as Emily and Anya groaned from the pain of her broadcasted wail. I felt bad, but not bad enough to stop my questions.

  "What is it, Hecate?" She was always in my mind while inside her Pokeball, and I could feel the anger in her voice.

  ""Pokemon in pain! Bad pain! They all scared of humans!""

  "Is it Team Rocket, do you think?" I could feel her mentally shake her head.

  ""No, not them. Not mean enough."" Uhh…

  "They don't feel like they're mean enough to be Team Rocket, but there's a bunch of Pokemon in pain, and terrified?" I ignored the worried gazes around me as I felt Hecate concentrate, her mind retreating for a few moments.

  ""They… focused? Not enjoying it…"" Well, now I was kind of confused…

  "Can you point them out to me?" I felt her grab hold of my attention, literally, and felt my eyes turn towards the woods to our right. I frowned for a few moments, then sighed.

  "Mom, put us down, please? I'm going to go check out what's going on, if I need help I'll have Hecate call for you." I saw her frown above me, but she complied, and a moment later I was jumping out of the Ride Basket.

  Of course, not everyone was happy about that.

  "What are you doing? Why are you goi-" I cut Anya off with a light glare.

  "I don't know what's going on, I want to know what's going on, and I'm the only one here who can sneak effectively." Emily was shaking her head, though.

  "Why are you going, Erin? You're a kid! Call the Rangers or something!" I shook my head and caught Alex and Leaf's eyes before starting to walk off.

  "I'm going because I've killed dozens and am not afraid to kill more, have training to do this, and most importantly, I want to. If it's poachers I'll call the Rangers, but what if it's a legitimate hunting team? I need more information before I call, so I'm getting that information." I turned back briefly, catching mom's piercing eyes.

  "I'll be fine, but keep them safe, okay? Emily, Anya? Do not follow me, you'll just give me away." I didn't wait for their confirmation before I was moving, Stabby already out and on my shoulders, ready to pull a Protect up if needed, Dexter latched onto the front of my jacket. Well, magnetically held on by the piece of metal I kept inside my jacket pocket just for him, actually.

  I'd found out that I could use aura to help me sneak. It couldn't stop the sounds of my boots snapping twigs, or cover my scent, or make me invisible. Aura wasn't physical. It could, however, make me… hard to focus on. I'd actually picked it up from Stabby, even if I did it in a far different way. If I moved slowly he could actually bend reality slightly so that I just wasn't there from a Pokemon's perspective, like that first night we hunted a Persian, but this? This was more like being so bland, so unremarkable, that someone's perception would just slide off of me.

  It wouldn't work well at all in a wide open field or anything, but with trees all around? It was much easier to just be a weirdly-swaying tree branch in someone's mind.

  I started rushing in the direction Hecate directed me. I wasn't sprinting, but I was doing slightly more than a jog. There were no trails, and the undergrowth was pretty thick, so it ended up being a lot more like a series of loping leaps, but it was fast, decently quiet, and I should still be very hard to perceive.

  In the meantime I sent a message to the rest of my team.

  'There may be a fight, but we need to be sure first. If it turns into a fight the moment we get there, we go defensive until we actually know what's going on. Got it?'

  I received a wave of positive acknowledgement and grinned a little. This wasn't me rushing directly into danger… or at least not just that. This was me being more of a ninja than an assassin right now, considering I was just going to look.

  To start with…

  Eventually Hecate told me we were getting close, and I slowed down, actually sneaking the rest of the way through the woods. I could see our destination ahead, actually. Not details, but there was a wide open area, and as I leaned my head around a tree trunk I found the source of the fear in the large grassland.

  It was a large flock of Doduo, more than a dozen Dodrio noticeable among their shorter flock mates. They were panicked, but not running, and it was easy enough to see why. There was an Alpha Dodrio in the middle of the flock, but it was unconscious. They were probably trying to defend it…

  The attackers, though, were about what I had expected to see. They weren't Team Rocket, but judging from their mismatched clothing and lack of vests, they weren't Rangers, either. They all had Pokemon out, mostly electric types, but at least I didn't see any guns from here.

  Shit.

  I poked Dexter and he nodded, eyes closing briefly as he called the Rangers. If this was a hunting party, a legitimate one known to the Rangers, I had nothing to do here. I certainly caused plenty of terror when I hunted, at least for Pokemon that came in packs like those Ponyta, but I didn't feel bad for that. Hunting food was natural, a part of the cycle. I didn't see any cages, but if they were poachers, chances were high they had Storage Balls for those. Their huge truck certainly had the space for plenty of cages in its bed…

  The area was obviously a bit of an in-between, transitional spot as far as habitats went. Behind me were forests and forested hills, in front of me grasslands, and far off in the distance, almost out of sight, I could see another forest, one with much larger trees… Probably Viridian Forest, actually. I could even see a road in the far distance, a smaller, non-Route path that cut through the grasslands…

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Dexter lifted up next to my ear and whispered, and I momentarily regretted that I hadn't put my headset on. It was a lot stealthier for him to just talk into my headset than whispering… Not that the Doduo were quiet, but still…

  "They aren't registered, but the Rangers told me to tell you, verbatim, 'Don't try anything on your own, you insane kid'... So they're poachers, but not kill on sight ones like Kangaskhan poachers…" I frowned, because fuck.

  There were very good reasons that all hunters registered with the Rangers. These Doduo weren't exactly endangered, sure, but if they managed to break out of the loose encirclement, they would have a reasonable dislike of humans. A city would be fine, but if a small town got hit by over a hundred Doduo there could and probably would be casualties. In fact…

  'Isn't there a town around here? One off of Route Sixteen?' He nodded at me, eyes serious for a change.

  "There is, and there's also a newer town being established a bit further north along that road in the distance. Neither of them have walls yet, either…" Damnit…

  'The Rangers say how long they'll be?'

  "An hour." Fuck! I wasn't about to ignore the Rangers, I was enjoying having no marks on my record in this life… Although…

  'Technically I'm not on my own, right? I have my team, and…you?' Dexter frowned at me, but eventually nodded.

  I grinned tightly. This wasn't exactly a huge moral issue like Team Rocket, but still, poachers? Fuck them… Moral issues aside, they couldn't capture the entire flock, and I doubted the rest of the flock would be inclined to avoid or ignore humans after this, like they generally did… Towns aside, there would be a flock of fast birds inclined to harm humans, and most trainers couldn't stop or even deter this many Pokemon…

  'You can hold the weight of my bandoleer, and humans briefly, so I don't suppose you could also hold a few Pokeballs with magnetism?' He nodded at me, still frowning.

  He grinned a moment later when I laid my plan out, though.

  —

  —

  I had worked my way over to the main clump of poachers, near their truck, after a couple minutes of sneaking. I wasn't super close, a hundred yards or so, but I could cover that distance easily enough if I needed to. Which I would…

  It was harder to sneak across grasslands, and I couldn't exactly see where I was going clearly, crouched below the grass as I was. I frowned as I began to hear the panicked cries of Doduo increase, but I just sped up. The poachers were finally starting to pile unconscious bodies into cages, and I knew that they would be long gone by the time the Rangers arrived. This wasn't exactly a frequently-used Route, or close to a Ranger Station. I doubted the Rangers would send out flying teams just to find a single truck, either… It was a pretty standard truck from what I'd seen, too, not exactly distinctive…

  I'd have just popped the tires, but you couldn't do that stealthily, not for huge tires like those…

  I heard a huge Roar and broke into a full-tilt run, and as my head cleared the grass I saw the first part of my plan already in motion.

  Hecate and Artemis were on the opposite side of the flock, and I knew that Hecate had already knocked out the poachers on that side. I was certain of it after a moment when I saw their unconscious forms float into the air, into one neat pile that Artemis could guard. I was sympathetic to the Doduo's rage, but I'd prefer not to cause the death of a human not in an Evil Team. I mean, if you wear those uniforms? You are literally asking for it, considering they were known to the entire world as kill on sight indicators. Poachers, though? Most poachers got jail time if they weren't going after something critically endangered…

  After a moment Kallen burst into existence on another point of the encirclement, and I winced a little from his piercing keen. He was struck by what looked like a Thunder, but Kallen didn't have a water typing anymore, and it didn't do that much damage. I don't think he even used a Move for his attack on a Pokemon I couldn't see, just slammed his tail into it, but after a moment he keened again, towering over a presumably-unconscious poacher.

  Hecate was practically yelling that we were there to help, and the others as well through aura, but the Doduo were still more than a little agitated, and it would only get worse as-

  Ahab came out on another point of the encirclement, kelp already extending dozens of feet as he battled some Pokemon, and after a long moment I saw two humans lifted into the air. I really hope he followed my orders and didn't drain them… He probably would follow my orders, though, in all honesty…

  Even if he really, really wanted to drain them dry like a juice box…

  Then I was close enough that even with my aura, even being as stealthy as possible while running, I was spotted. There were three people here at the truck, and I saw a woman turn and notice me. Her eyes widened, even as she was yelling.

  "Behind us!"

  I started sprinting, and while I trusted Stabby and his Protect, I really hoped these idiots didn't have guns… The two men began to turn as well, but I was already there.

  So was Cerberus as I, for once, threw a Pokeball.

  He came out with dual Roars of fury right next to their truck, and I felt vicious satisfaction as their faces paled. I felt more when the idiots tried to send out their Pokemon. A Raichu, Golem, and Persian popped out, saw my big happy guy, and froze momentarily.

  Then I was there.

  I couldn't just kill these poachers, so I didn't actually have many options for putting them down, considering my size and continued lack of super strength… I did have my aura, though, and I slammed it into Pokemon and humans alike. The Pokemon all froze, even as I yelled, slightly out of breath.

  "Surrender!" I didn't really have anything planned to yell, honestly… I wasn't going to kill them, so I didn't have a good 'or else' to add…

  The Pokemon returned themselves as I kept sprinting, but only one poacher was frozen in terror. Damnit, that kind of made sense, I guess. If your 'job' involved capturing Pokemon, including the knocked-out Alpha, you were probably a bit experienced, and resistant to aura…

  Luckily for me it was the woman who was frozen.

  Seraphina came out with a huge hiss, but her markings weren't glowing with heat. This wasn't exactly the driest grass after the rain, but I'd still rather not deal with a wildfire…

  She did practically erupt with a sweet smell, however, and with a swing of her tail, sent at least some of it wafting to the men. The men who had… drawn pistols. Fuck.

  The first shot went far wide, but I didn't flinch as the next couple impacted Stabby's Protect. It wasn't even cracked yet, but if they kept it up, it would…

  Thankfully their eyes unfocused after a moment, shoulders slumping as Sera's Sweet Scent took effect. I'd heard about its effects on that poor Center employee, but now I saw it for myself. They were still in control of themselves, it didn't exactly… hypnotize them, but they certainly loosened up and focused on Seraphina, arms and pistols falling to their sides, jaws going slack.

  I took a moment to look around and found the fighting over. Hecate and Artemis were working their way around the flock of Doduo to meet up with Kallen, a pile of humans and Pokemon held above Hecate's head, and Ahab held a few bodies as he slowly made his way around as well. I could tell he wanted to drain them, and probably the flock as well, but so far he hadn't disobeyed a direct order…

  I walked over to the frozen woman and pulled my aura back in a little, letting her breath. It also let her talk, unfortunately…

  "You little brat, I don't know who you are, but you're ruining it! We need this money!" I frowned, because she felt desperate, and not for herself… She didn't feel greedy…

  "So what if you need money? Universal income isn't enough for you? Ever heard of a job?" She glared at me, some courage coming back to her as I reeled my aura in even more.

  "We all do! Our town's going to be wiped out if we don't get enough!" Now I was really frowning.

  "Your town? Like the ones the rest of these Doduo would probably Stampede towards?" She growled a little, but stopped her furious stomp towards me as Sera's tail lashed out in front of her.

  "No, those are official towns!" Ah, now I understood it a bit more…

  Most towns were 'official', as in they were either planned by the government, or approved by it at the very least, connected to their services. There weren't many reasons not to have an official town, and while unofficial ones weren't exactly illegal unless they were in a bad location, like the plains with its Tauros and Kangaskhan herds, they were just highly discouraged. If a person in one of those towns needed emergency medical treatment, they couldn't just call an emergency number for a Teleporter to pop in and get them to a Center. Those Teleporters had to visit each town first… The same went for any number of social services.

  They were still visited by inspectors to make sure that the basics were being maintained, like education, sanitation, and not trying to farm something like Tauros or even Miltank without proper planning, but that was basically it… There had been more than a few towns that had been wiped out when a previously docile Miltank herd kept for meat wised up and ended the threat to themselves… Miltank kept for their milk were generally some of the happiest Pokemon in their towns, actually, considering they liked providing milk… Pidgey were fine, though, if a bit of a hassle for most unofficial towns due to the amount of people needed to keep them… contained.

  I scowled at the woman, letting a little anger leech into my voice.

  "Who do you owe money to, then? If you're from one of those unofficial towns, there's no way it's anyone good…" Her glare never faded, but her shoulders slumped a little bit.

  "They arent… evil, but unless we can pay our debt back within the week the Freemont's will send people to tear down our walls, and then it's just a matter of time…" Where had I heard that name before? I know I had heard it, but… where?

  I shook my head in frustration, though. I mean, I kind of got it, but still…

  "Listen, I of all people understand not trusting a government, believe me, but isn't being threatened the kind of thing you get help for? I know the Indigo Council would probably-" She cut me off with a snarl.

  "Those fuckers? They would help, sure! Then they would swoop in and claim our town, tax us! We worked hard to clear out that land, to establish our town! We're not going to let a little setback, a little blackmail, turn us into the government's bitches!"

  I shook my head again as Hecate and Ahab finally made it here, dumping their loads of unconscious humans on the ground near the two stunned men still just standing there, blankly staring at Seraphina. The various Raichu, Pikachu, Electabuzz, Magnemite, Golem, and one thankfully un-Exploded Electrode made a smaller pile next to them. I assume the rest went back into their balls when faced with my team…

  "Hecate, could you knock these three out, too? Ahab, make sure they don't get killed by the Doduo, or run off if they wake up." I ignored the angry yell from the woman as Ahab nodded his kelp at me and the last three humans slumped over, but I could feel the overwhelming disappointment radiating off him. I patted his huge anchor and smiled up at his eye.

  "Listen, there's hunting, and we'll do some soon, but then there's this. Just wait. Have I failed to provide a fun source of food so far?" His kelp waved in a shake of his 'head', and I grinned.

  "Cerberus, stay here and don't kill anyone, but make sure any Pokemon that decides to pop out regrets it." He snarled at me, but both of his heads were grinning.

  Hecate followed me as I walked up to the flock, Stabby riding my shoulders. The flock was… not happy right now, but they were certainly calmer than they had been a minute before. I started to stretch my aura out, but before I even could they parted for me, and I glanced at Hecate. She raised one of her arms, and while she didn't have digits, I knew she was giving me a thumbs up.

  ""They scared and mad, but try to trust since we helped."" I gave her a wide smile.

  "Good job, sweetie. I'll see if I can do anything for their leader…"

  The Doduo parted for me, sure, but they still glared at me as I moved closer to their huge, unconscious leader. Half a dozen Dodrio stood guard around the Alpha Dodrio, and I stepped very carefully as two flanked me. Then I got a good look at the Alpha and sighed.

  It was alive, for sure. It wasn't even that bloodied, but there were a lot of feathers missing, probably from electric attacks, and one of its legs was cleanly snapped in half, bent at almost a right angle below its left knee… That had probably been the Golem, actually…

  Dexter flew up in front of me and frowned.

  "The Rangers say they'll be here as soon as possible, but… There's not a whole lot they can do for an injured Alpha, or will do. Most want to kill humans, which considering the situation here, I can sympathize with…" I growled a little, causing my Dodrio 'guards' to recoil momentarily.

  "Hecate, could you call mom and have them come here? Grace might be able to help me make a splint or something…" She nodded, eyes closing, and I began to relax.

  Then the Alpha woke up.

  One moment I was standing, and the next Stabby's Protect was badly cracked, even as I flew back through the air. I unleashed my aura as I rolled to my feet, and it thankfully flinched, before all three heads glared at me.

  'Killer! Enemy! Die!' A reasonable assumption usually, but if it had looked…

  "Whoa, whoa, stop! Look around, dumbass! I saved you!"

  Luckily it paused, craning its huge heads around to stare at its beaten flock, then all three heads snapped over to glare murder at the humans.

  "They won't hurt you again, or any of your flock! The Rangers are on their way to get them, and they won't hurt you, either! Just calm down! You're going to make your leg worse than it already is!" Its heads dropped back down, staring at its very broken leg, and I could feel the distress before it even spoke.

  'Broke. No run. Dead…' I shook my head, trying to make my words as gentle as possible.

  "It's not a nice break, no, but I might be able to help you. If we can get a splint on your leg and heal the bone, chances are good you'll be running again in a week, and probably walking slowly in a few days…" Its three heads, and their angry, scared, and sad eyes focused on me, and I could feel the confusion radiating from it.

  'Why? Hunter. Kill. Devour.' I shrugged.

  "You're not exactly wrong. I am a hunter, and I do kill and eat Pokemon, and so does most of my team. If I'd run into your flock without poachers attacking you, I might have tried to pick a few off, honestly. I've never eaten Doduo…" Its glares grew furious, but I just smiled.

  "That is hunting, though. That is just… life. This? This is… wrong. They would have caged your flock, separated them, and shipped them off who knows where. If they had been hunting you, though? I'd have ignored the situation. I know Doduo eat stuff like Weedle and Caterpie when you get the chance, and you probably eat much larger Pokemon! Hunting to provide food for yourself and others isn't wrong, but caging you all and separating you? That is." It never stopped glaring at me, but its heads dropped again, resting on the ground.

  I looked around, noticing the angry, confused, and frightened looks on the flock as I did.

  This was going to be a whole thing, wasn't it…

  —

  —

  It was a whole thing. The Rangers were not happy when they arrived almost an hour later, a sleek-looking truck-like vehicle barely bouncing on the uneven ground as it came to a stop near the poachers' truck. They quickly cuffed the humans, thoroughly searched them and placed them in the back of their vehicle, but then they got mad…

  I held firm under their furious words, though. I hadn't disobeyed any commands from them, technically. I hadn't been alone when I stopped this operation…

  They still bitched me out for over an hour, though. Honestly, fair enough, I had deliberately 'misunderstood' what they meant by 'alone', and put myself in some danger… Not a lot, but enough. I didn't get any marks on my trainer card, thankfully… It took them another hour to sort everything out before they left. They had basically ignored the Alpha, too, telling me that I was free to help, but recommended I just abandon it…

  The Rangers hadn't been very happy with me, despite my success, and neither was my family. Alex and Leaf were very irritated with me at the moment, even as they helped set up camp near the edge of this grassland area.

  "Erin, I thought you were going to try to be more responsible now?" Leaf was glaring at me as she got a fire going, and Alex was right there with her.

  "I was fine, though? This wasn't Team Rocket, and you know what I do to them! I didn't kill anyone today!" Their glares only got worse, so I turned my eyes to mom.

  She wasn't all that mad, of course. She knew how strong my team was, and me, but she was still kind of irritated that she hadn't been here while I was in danger, the same as Saffron. She was proud of me for stopping poachers, sure, but she also thought the Doduo looked tasty… They probably were, actually…

  Emily and Anya were a bit more… incredulous, actually. I don't think they had enough bandwidth available to be mad at me, and they were barely more than acquaintances to me, so they were more freaked out than anything.

  Not of me, although probably a little bit of that as well. It was mostly the large flock of Doduo that surrounded us.

  Mom had made a large flowing platform of stone to move the Alpha closer to our campsite, even as Hecate, Hope, and Grace worked on healing its leg. Honor and Hazard had helped me craft some splints, or at least the start of them, by chopping some thick tree limbs down. Grace would be directing us on how to actually make them later, but for now she needed long planks of dried wood. Sera was actually helping with that part, moisture visibly wafting out of the ends of the branches as she heated them up.

  We were going to help the Alpha heal, and would probably be here for at least two days… Which kind of sucked? Well, not for us, not really. We were going to be camping out for at least a few days before Saffron either way for training, and Performance practice for Artemis and I, but Emily and Anya? They hadn't exactly signed up for camping, even if they were always prepared to as trainers… Ehh, they would still get to Celadon faster this way than walking…

  Duncan bounced over to me, a wide smile on his face.

  "Day! Danger! Help! Fun!" "Only a day, help Pokemon, already fun!"

  I groaned at his huge smile and rolled my eyes, but I was smiling a little, too.

  I could probably use a little stockpile of 'good deeds' under my belt, honestly, and this had been easy. My team was kind of overpowered, considering they were almost all Alpha's, and each one was, quite frankly, overtrained. I wouldn't have been comfortable doing it without Stabby on my back and shoulders, though. Guns aside, the Alpha would have skewered me if not for his Protect…

  Dexter dropped into my field of view as I pulled the meat spit out, a wide, mischievous grin on his face. I knew that look. Damnit…

  "Your mom would like to talk to you, Erin… Also Lance, but he's busy, so you just got a text from him. Would you like me to read it out loud for everyone to hear?" I glared at him and his grin. It was a glare… that certainly had no percentage of pout in it.

  None!

  "No, that's fine, Dexter… Mom is going to have enough to say for now…"

  I don't regret my actions, but dangit! Mom was going to do her whole 'I'm confident in your abilities but still worried as a parent' thing, and I didn't blame her for her emotions, her worry… This was still going to suck…

  Duncan started giggling as he sat down, looking at me like I was a damn TV or something…

  At least he was already having fun?