Dinner was pretty standard. There had been a roasted Grumpig over a spit, with several Rangers in charge of separate portions of cooking.
With some radishes and carrots, as well as other vegetables, the meal consisted of a very warm and tasty stew.
The Head Ranger, apparently called Captain Siba, could be heard from anywhere in the camp. His booming laughter shook my eardrums. He was a cheerful guy, and liked talking to everyone.
Now we were watching the campfire in the middle of the camp.
The Rangers were exchanging stories to the rookies, whether they be cautionary tales or embarrassing stories of their comrades.
Ranger Barlan had just talked about how Jeffords had once found himself dropped into a river with all his electric Pokemon. Despite the wetness, his hair had continued to stand on end for a week.
It was interesting to hear how unsurprising it was to everyone that Jeffords had survived, let alone gone unharmed. Aura truly was a magnificent thing.
Ranger Morrison was currently telling a story of what had happened a couple months ago. The night that had lasted weeks.
Morrison was a chaos trainer. A ghost trainer. I'm still very interested in why they call ghosts chaos. There seems to be some sort of Chaos realm that they're supposedly from. I wonder if that's the distortion realm? Wherever Giratina was from. Or if that's the Void that people reference for dark types. I wonder if they were even different to begin with. I assume it had to, otherwise people wouldn't call them different things. People of this Universe, despite their dumb type classification system, were pretty smart. I still was pretty happy with their practical danger classifications.
There were two wraiths that circled around Mortison. There was a Chandelure floating through the air, its violet flames flickering in and out of existence. An Alolan Marowak circled his legs, twirling its club. The two emerald flames at each end spun around leaving trails of flame in the air.
"And there he was, all alone, standing among a sea of wraiths."
The Chandelure conjured up an army of purple flames, a couple dozen different violet specters slowly lurking forward.
And alone, right above the fire, was a lone floating emerald flame, shaped like a human. The Alolan Marowak had enough fine control that you could make out the Ranger uniform, with the shoulder jutting out a small bit and the combat boots. But there was something that stood out specifically for this ranger. On his back were two swords with their handles sticking out over his shoulders.
The green flame slowly reached up and unsheathed both swords.
The violet flames on the other side of the campfire slowly floated forward in the air. Each one looked a little different. One looked like a Mamoswine. Another looked like an Ursaring. There were more. An Abomasnow. An Aggron. A Skarmory.
Morrison walked closer to the campfire, getting closer to the floating flames. "Oh, but these were no ordinary pokemon. No, these were slaves. Their souls had been possessed. Their minds were no longer their own. The night had gone on long enough. With the moon out for weeks, they had awoken from their slumber."
Morrison crept around the campfire, passing the rookies who sat on logs. Some had eyes filled with fear. Others were filled with awe, still looking at the emerald figure in the flames. The shadows seemed to stretch. The darkness around the camp became an inky black. The campfire itself dimmed. Soon the biggest sources of light were the puppeted violet and emerald flames.
"And so, the Froslass began their hunt."
Each of the violet flames whooshed as they were surrounded by an azure halo. The campfire didn't feel warm anymore. A cold wind rushed through the camp.
"With backup hours away, and likely useless anyway, Lieutenant Tristan faced the wraiths alone."
Morrison had explained earlier that few pokemon could actually hurt ghosts. Sure you could hit it with enough attacks that it was momentarily dispelled, but it would always come back. And it would be filled with vengeance. There were only two types of pokemon that could kill it. Chaos and Void.
So only another ghost, or a dark type, could kill the damn things. One of the most vengeful and aggressive types of pokemon wouldn't be able to be killed with regular means. In other words, I needed to get a dark type on my team as fast as possible. Or maybe a ghost, since having a basically immortal pokemon would be a huge boon. I'm not sure if it would be healthy though. Tristan had already shaken me up about how influencing aura can be. And two dragons and a ghost didn't seem like a great way to keep my sanity. At least the fuckers were incredibly rare, and usually couldn't exist without something tying them to this world.
The violet army continued forward. Their blue halos leaked out into their claws. Into their tusks. The chilling wind around the camp got colder and colder, and the campfire continued to dim.
But the emerald flame stood strong. The possessed army struck first, but the Ranger blocked the slash with its swords. The ranger continued forward, slashing the wraith into oblivion. One by one, the army fell.
"All alone, he faced the wraiths for hours. No food. No breaks. Just a Ranger with nothing but his swords."
As Morrison spoke, the emerald flame continued to sweep through the ranks of the violet army. Each strike from the green swords would dissipate the violet flames into smoke. Constant barrages of azure attacks, ice beams, icicle crashes, all were dodged by the bright green flame. The battle wore on. The Ranger couldn't dodge every icy wind. Every blizzard. They were too big.
"His Arcanine gave him strength from within. The Lieutenant knew that if he simply had his Arcanine burn them, they would return in the coming days. In the coming months. In the coming years. However long it took for them to return to this world. They would remember him, and his uniform. And they would never stop in their pursuit. So to make sure he could sleep easy at night, to make sure he would never have to worry of finding an icy ghost in his closet, the Lieutenant fought on alone."
The fire from Arcanine probably would have messed with his night vision anyway. Speaking of, I feel like exceptional night vision still wouldn't be enough to let you compete with ghosts in the dark for hours.
The green flame continued to whittle down the ranks. As it got hit with more attacks, its attacks slowed. It would sometimes get hit with bigger attacks. But it didn't stop. It never stopped.
Morrison's shadow stretched out far beyond the light of the campfire. "And after hours of struggle, with dozens of injuries, he vanquished his final enemy."
The last violet flame was destroyed, erupting into a pillar of violet flame that shot out above us. The emerald flame collapsed, falling into the campfire below.
The shadow behind Morrison had continued to grow. Wisps of purple and cerulean smoke appeared around his shoulders. They slowly formed into claws.
"But don't think that's the end of the Froslass in the mountains. They aren't all dead. And soon, when the moon stays up far past its due, more will awake."
Morrison began getting coated in a blue halo. The spectral claws on his shoulders rose into a full white hood behind him. The wraith's eyes glowed a bright blue.
"Don't go around snooping in the dark. You don't know what you'll find. Or what might find you."
Morrison laughed as Froslass rose all the way into the air behind him, its arms extended in a dangerous blue aura. The campfire dimmed completely, only the eerie cerulean orbs that sat behind the sunken mask Froslass wore shining above us.
But just like that, the moment was gone. The campfire rose back to its usual warmth. The cold air washed away. The shadows shrank back to normal.
A lot of the rookies let out a collective breath. I saw Barry across the campfire, his hands white and rigid against the stick he was gripping in his hands.
Head Ranger Siba clapped his hands together, standing up. The thunderclap that ensued made a couple rookies nearly fall over.
"Well, that was cheery. More beer!"
Since this was only a couple day excursion, the Rangers had brought lots of their own supplies.
I decided to step away from the campfire. It was Jeffords turn to tell a story. While the stories were quite interesting, I'd wanted to explore the camp the entire time. I'd use the distraction Ranger Siba made to slip away.
The firelight faded behind me. I walked between the tents. Some were set up as small sleeping areas, whereas others were large command tents nearly ten feet tall, with tables and maps laid out inside.
I carefully made sure not to go to the outskirts of the camp. Wouldn't want a random wild pokemon to see and attack me.
I saw a pink light coming from the middle of the camp, and decided to head towards it.
Eventually I got close enough to see a Ranger meditating with an Alakazam, as well as a Zoroark next to them.
I started walking back but the Ranger's eyes shot open. He stopped me with his voice.
"Red, right? Come here."
Oh man. Was I going to get in trouble for leaving the group? It wasn't like I'd gone into the wild or anything.
"What's up?" I asked. I noticed that the Ranger was Norton. Considering the Alakazam, I should have put that together sooner.
"Well I can tell you're curious, and Tristan seems to like you. He said you've got a curious mind. I figured you'd want to ask questions."
Damn right.
"So, what is your job? Like what are you doing right now?" I motioned towards Alakazam and Zoroark.
"Well Alakazam and I are constantly monitoring the nearby pokemon, making sure nothing is out of the ordinary. Zoroark isn't mine, but his job is to maintain an illusion over the camp." He gestured to each Pokemon.
"Wait… so is the only thing keeping wild pokemon out just a couple of illusions?" I asked, perplexed.
Norton laughed. "No of course not! What do you think my job is? We've got sentries constantly shifting among the Rangers, patrolling the area in case any Void and Chaos types are nearby. Alakazam and my senses aren't infallible. Plus, whenever anything does get too close, I let them know so they can knock it out."
Huh. Cool.
"So who's patrolling right now?" I asked.
I tried to think of good patrolling pokemon. Likely something fast and mobile. Maybe good movement options, like teleporting?
"Ranger Layton is out there right now. His Sceptile and Kleavor can deal with anything in this forest easily. Honestly, he might be the best fighter here besides the Lieutenant and Captain. He's specialized in speed. His Weavile and Zoroark give Alakazam nightmares. Especially when they work together." Norton visibly shivered as if remembering something particularly unpleasant.
I imagined a Sceptile jumping through the trees, slicing through wild pokemon. I could see a Weavile next to it, quickly flitting across the branches. And wait… what was that last pokemon?
"Kleavor, is that a Starfall specific pokemon?" By its name, I'm guessing it had something to do with blades. Ranger Layton's pokemon also gave that kind of vibe.
Norton raised his eyebrow. "No, they're pretty common in the mainland. Scyther can evolve into either Kleavor or Scizor. Basically it just depends on how you feed it and train it. Sometimes they never evolve. But a lot of trainers do prefer Scyther to either of its evolutions. It's far lighter and faster in that stage. Ranger Layton has every single kind of Scyther, so you can ask him about it later if you want. But for now, look right there."
Norton's eyes lit up, and a second later a seed bomb exploded above us. In the light, I saw the shadow of something with its arm, which had an ax instead of a hand, lodged into the tree. It was hanging from the side, with its feet pressed against the trunk, looking back and forth.
Okay that was really cool. Did Norton just tell Ranger Layton to have his Sceptile reveal Kleavor's location for a second, and he had him use a seed bomb that would illuminate him? And they got their commands relayed to each other and their pokemon that fast? These Rangers were professionals.
Ranger Layton had a hell of a team. Scyther, Scizor, Kleavor, Weavile, Zoroark and Sceptile. I could imagine those pokemon blitzing through a battlefield, shredding through anything. And he had a bigger team than Tristan too. I had to admit, I was surprised Tristan only had 3 pokemon when he was so revered by his comrades. I guess specifically training just a few pokemon as much as you could had a lot of benefits. Besides, I feel like Layton could cut his team down a bit and it wouldn't change anything he could do.
But that was worrying. Apparently Kleavor was common in the world. As an evolution for Scyther, it probably exists everywhere where Scyther are common. Yet I had absolutely no recollection of it.
What changed?
Could I still trust my information? How many pokemon did I not know? Would this be a problem?
I took a deep breath.
Okay. Calm down. This isn't actually too bad. I already had to deal with the fact Starfall had pokemon I didn't know. Or at least unknown variants. There might very well be new pokemon here that I don't know about too. And ultimately, so long as I stuck to my rules, I'd be okay. New pokemon means keep my distance, and slowly test the waters. But it was still worrying that there were things outside of Starfall that were unknown.
Whatever.
Using my knowledge as a crutch would be a bad idea anyway. I could use it to help me, but I wouldn't rely on it. Seeing the Rangers work today had proved that. This wasn't a game. This was real life. I needed to treat it as such. There weren't rules. I could exploit that. But I wouldn't have the safety of rules either. A wild pokemon very well could try and eat me, and I couldn't press pause. There were no save states here. And life or death situations were common in the wild.
Norton seemed to look at me weird as I mentally came to resolutions.
I noticed I'd been oddly silent for a while, so I nodded to him. "Thanks Ranger, I'll leave you to it."
He smiled. "Sure thing kid. Come up and talk to me anytime. Sentry duty gets boring, and Alakazam can always take over for a couple minutes."
I moved along, heading back to the campfire.
My head was abuzz with questions. The Rangers were competent. Scarily so. But I suppose that was to be expected. You throw people in shitty environments, they adapt. They improve. They find out how to get around problems in efficient ways. It was as beautiful as it was terrifying. These were good people who used their intelligence to help pokemon.
What could bad people do with superpowered animals? How much devastation could a creative mind bring with these creatures?