It was one of those buildings that were larger on the inside than they appeared on the outside; at least half of it was dug out of the mountain rock. After hassling the receptionist using her name, Elaine wrangled an emergency meeting with a higher-up in the ranger’s hierarchy. We followed a set of directions down winding, stone corridors (thank goodness Elaine had a better head for them than me), until we stood outside a squat office door. She knocked and we were invited in.

  The man behind the desk, as with many I’d seen in Bagatelle, was large and muscular and looked like he would be far more comfortable in the field than facing the stack of papers or the screen and keyboard before him. He was tired and overworked, apparent from the bags under his eyes and somewhat frazzled hair. He looked at us with the right mixture of surprise and weariness that necessitates a coffee.

  “Well, I’ll be, it really is the champion,” he said. “As much of an honour as it is, miss, I hope your here to help. I don’t have much time for pleasantries.”

  “Ranger Trent, I presume?” asked Elaine.

  “Ah, pardon me. Yes, that’s me. Please take a seat.”

  He gestured towards the back wall where a stack of plastic chairs was piled up on one another. I almost toppled as another tremor hit as I was lifting mine, but Elaine steadied me. We made ourselves as comfortable as the cheap furniture allowed and Elaine switched back to business.

  “Good evening. You could say I’ve come to help, but I’m going to need help to help, if you understand what I mean. For that, I need someone I can trust and you come with Ducky’s recommendation.”

  “Ducky, yes, a bright girl, if a bit reckless. Go on.”

  “We know what’s causing this disaster and we have a way of stopping it. Meloetta, it’s okay, you can pull the hood down.”

  Meloetta did as she said and the ranger took a swig from his flask muttering by Arceus.

  “I’ll avoid the details for now, but long story short, Meloetta here was recently put into a bit of a tight spot and as a result, a trio of extremely powerful Pokémon came to help her. However, they were unable to find her, and so, have been rampaging in their old haunting grounds.”

  “You’re talking about Tornadus, Thundurus, and Landorus. I know the legends.”

  “I am. And the solution is fairly straightforward. Meloetta just has to meet with Landorus and convince him she’s safe and he should calm down. The tricky part is finding Landorus, and getting him to listen long enough for him to see Meloetta.”

  “I see. So, you want help with searching for Landorus.”

  “I do.”

  “What’s the other complication?”

  “The person originally after Meloetta is still after her.”

  “It’s Killian, isn’t it? Always knew he’d do something stupid eventually. Too ambitious in all the wrong ways.”

  “That’s right.”

  “So what you’re actually asking me is to have my rangers look for a legend while running from the strongest champion Silín has ever had. No offence, miss.”

  “None taken. I haven’t come out great in the last few scraps I’ve had with him, as you can see.”

  “So it seems. Alright, my rangers are already overworked maintaining the Wall, but I might be able to form a few search teams at the cost of defence. I can’t promise too many people, though.”

  “Whatever you can manage. Will they be ready by tomorrow morning?”

  “If needs be.”

  “Thank you. And I appreciate your trust in us.”

  “If you can get us out of this pickle, it’ll be well worth it. Aside, people know Landorus used to dwell around these parts, and more than half the city is already convinced he’s the cause of the disaster. The other day I had to stop a group of nutjobs trying to sacrifice a Hippowdon to him. Guess this isn’t that much crazier, and Meloetta lends more credence to your story.”

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  His eyes strayed back to his computer screen, and Elaine took that to mean the conversation must be over. She got up, said bye and thanks again, I muttered bye, and he said bye, we shuffled out and just before the door closed, he said “nine o’clock” as if just remembering we’d never said a time to meet the next day. The door shut and Elaine covered her face with her hands.

  “I was so awkward,” she groaned.

  “Really, I thought you did great,” I said. She looked at me and one of her hands went up to her forehead.

  “I forgot to introduce you!”

  “Oh, I mean, it doesn’t matter.”

  “And he never asked.”

  “He was tired, and the champion suddenly showed up at his door.”

  “I guess,” she said.

  Sufficiently mollified, we made our way out of the building and back outside. It had been a long day. The sun was setting. We set off to find a Pokémon Centre to stay at.

  “I’m surprised he knew it was Killian,” I said. She shrugged.

  “Killian might have crafted a glamorous image for the general public, but he’s a much more divisive figure than it seems. He used his position and wealth to push for a number of policies that directly crippled the ranger’s ability to work, so he’s especially disliked among them. Especially among the older ones who remember what it was like before. At least, that’s what Dad says.”

  The Pokémon Centre in Bagatelle, after the last few ones I’d been in, seemed completely empty. It was natural, the tournament wouldn’t be on till February. It still felt alien, not at all helped by the moving ground. I said goodnight to Elaine and Meloetta and secluded myself in my room. Palming Ampharos’ and Junior’s pokeballs, I released them into the room. Junior was back to her usual pumped self, and she’d barely landed when she jumped at Ampharos who was quick and ready with Protect.

  “Enough, Comfey, would you please calm them?”

  Fortunately, Comfey was in the mood to listen to me for once and didn’t add to my troubles. I walked to Ampharos and gave her a strong hug. I didn’t feel like we’d properly had time to celebrate her evolution, but that would have to do.

  “Okay, tomorrow, we’re going into dangerous territory. I need everyone to be focused and ready. Junior, you’ll have plenty of fights in the Rustdust Mountains, so please refrain from attacking us or our allies. Comfey you’re on healing duty as always. Let’s see if we can put your newer skills to the test in a real life situation. Ampharos, congrats on your evolution. You’ll do fine, though remember, we’re going to be going into an area dense with ground-types. I think it’s best if you focus on defence and slowing any opponents we face and letting Junior get up close to them. Understood?”

  I was getting a better read on my Pokémon lately. Most of my words washed over them, but I could see Ampharos’ ears perking up at keywords like her name, ‘ground-types’, and ‘defence’. The other two had other tells, but I was assured each knew what they would be doing.

  “Good. Now let’s review our last battle. We haven’t done that yet.”

  I spent a good hour going over my match with Isa, pointing out where we could improve. To be honest, I was quite proud of the battle, and aside from getting stronger in a general sense, there wasn’t an awful lot I felt we had to fix in terms of strategy or communication. Except for Comfey; she got grumpy again when her ignoble defeat was brought up.

  The bright and early morning found us outside the ranger’s office along with eleven others dressed in orange uniforms. Arriving in the last minute, Ducky swooped down on her Pidgeot and jumped down beside us. To my displeasure, Joey jumped down next to her. Of course he was still with her.

  “Elaine, Calla, good to see you again,” said Ducky.

  “Same,” I said, and equally returned Joey’s scowl.

  “Any developments?” asked Elaine.

  “None,” said Ducky. “I’d bet he’s somewhere on Mount Anvil, but I’m not even able to confirm that much. He could be anywhere in the mountain range.”

  “Let’s hope not,” said Elaine.

  “All we can do. The other thing is that I’m surer than ever that he’s underground.”

  “I’d rather avoid another battle beneath the earth after the Greenforest,” said Elaine with a grimace.

  “Agreed. Never been a fan of caves. No room to fly,” said Ducky.

  Ranger Trent came out of the building and a hush swept over the gathering.

  “Everyone’s here? Good. The plan is simple. We are to scour Mount Anvil in search of Landorus. We’ll split into four teams of four. Three will go above ground, and the last, headed by myself, will go into the mines. If anyone finds any trace of our target you are to inform Champion Elaine immediately. Do not engage with Landorus. Understood? Check that your radios are working and you have backup flares. Finally, I want to remind you that this is an official ranger operation, and any external interference is a crime. You are to detain anyone who does so no matter who they are, understood?”

  “Yes, sir,” chorused the rangers.

  They split into their groups and Trent turned to us.

  “Are you sure you’ll be okay without a guide?” he asked.

  “We’ll be fine,” said Ducky. “I grew up around mountains. Different ones, sure, but I’ve been surveying these all last week. I figure I’ve got a handle on things.”

  “If you say so. You know what part of the mountain you’re going to?”

  “I have the map here,” responded Elaine.

  Trent nodded, then left shaking his head and saying something about it not being right leaving so much to a bunch of kids. The rangers dispersed, and we weren’t far behind. Elaine and I climbed onto Volcorona, while Ducky and Joey got back on Pidgeot. We were flying to the other side of the mountain.

  If there was anything to be thankful for it was the clarity of the air. Down south, it was cloudy more often than not. In Bagatelle, the sky was a pristine blue, even in midwinter. And even if it was cold, it was the brisk kind of cold, made better by moving and the constant sun. I say it was a blessing because I couldn’t imagine a search if there was mist and snow on the mountains. We’d have never survived.