The days spent waiting for my arm to heal fully weren’t spent idly. Getting Bahamut used to his new body and power was a great deal of fun, though even Kofu agreed it should probably be done outside of the city limits (especially after I realized how much damage our battle had wrought). I also got him started on a bunch of Moves that he couldn’t use before. Despite his body shape remaining quite similar, several Moves like Earthquake were impossible or prohibitively difficult to learn in a Fraxure’s body. Some part of me itched to discover why and how that worked.

  However, I had more pressing questions on my mind, and seeing the two people flying down to Cascarrafa’s eastern entrance, I thought I just might get some answers for at least one of them.

  I waved them down, standing to the side, out of the way of the main traffic going into and out of the city. They landed down by the Cyclizar… (rack? Stall?) place. One of them, a young man with brown hair in a topknot and goatee, lounged within the pouch of a Bombirdier. He stood on the ground with a loud yawn and pulled the set of goggles he was wearing up, revealing very baggy eyes as he took me in.

  In contrast, the woman who flew in beside him was full of energy. She had been hanging off of a Flamigo and had been doing pull-ups until her Flying Type landed. Dropping off, she jumped down, landing in a squat before me. Rising up, she flipped her wild, long brown hair back behind her and offered a hand out to me.

  “Hi there! Nemona Glitterati? You were the one who called us, right?” The woman asked brightly. Both she and her companion were wearing black and red outfits, though they differed greatly in type. She had a red sports bra and matching red sweatband on her forehead, with black leggings. In contrast, I could see the man had a black t-shirt underneath a red poncho and wore black cargo pants.

  I took her grip and shook it firmly and tried not to stare at her well-defined abs too much. “Uh, yes, Nemona, that is me. I mean- I take it you’re the Rangers? I was surprised when I got a message back requesting to meet you here.”

  The man snorted. “After the trouble you dropped in our lap with that Alpha Tera Pokemon? Course we’re gonna investigate when you say there might be even more trouble.”

  Frowning, his counterpart said, “Zedd! We’re Rangers, and both of us are captains. You should be happy to help.” I guess that explains why they have so much leeway in their attire. Rank has some privileges, I guess.

  Zedd gave a long-suffering sigh in response. “I’m not saying I’m not willing to help-” The woman and I shared a glance at that, the man sounding anything but. “But I like conserving my energy for what matters most. Sadly, this definitely fits the bill,” he said.

  “Oh, and we might need a hand with this,” he informed me offhandedly. “That Palossand still won’t listen to any of the Rangers at HQ - relocation is a nightmare at the best of times. But if what you said was true and this is a sign that something even scarier drove it off? Oof.”

  The woman grimaced but nodded. “Yeah, sorry to say, we might need your help here. Oh, and I’m Captain Buffy, by the way.”

  Right, I’m a seven badge Trainer now. Even Trainers with fewer badges than me could be tapped to help Rangers depending on the situation. The badges came with respect and prestige for a Trainer, but they also carried some measure of responsibility to them too.

  “Ok. I have some basic wilderness training, and I’m not a bad battler - to toot my own horn - but I don’t have the skill of a Ranger Captain. Especially not out in the desert,” I said, glancing down at the fields of sand down below.

  Looking at their Flying Types I added, “My flier is going to be a lot slower than yours, unfortunately.” Mostly because Nightwing can be a bit testy about that. I’ve argued her down to carrying me in emergency situations, like with Raifort, but she really won’t count this as the same. Miles can’t generate enough lift to do anything other than slow a fall down, and Notch is barely better and much too slow, which leaves Dun. At least his improved strength and my greater Aura control make the process less strenuous on him.

  Releasing him in front of them caused them to blink before Buffy let out a sharp, joyous laugh. “Ha! A Dudunsparce that can fly, impressive. You must have trained a long time for that.” Dun preened a little at the praise. “He looks like he’s got a lot of endurance; that’ll be great for this kind of mission; gotta keep that cardio up!”

  Zedd moaned, as if the very talk of exercise was tiring to him. “We’ll take things nice and slow. There’s a whole lot of desert to search through.” He climbed back into his Bombridier’s pouch, and I mounted Dun while Buffy’s Flamigo hopped onto her shoulders, ready to pick her up.

  Before we could leave, I inquired, "So I thought Rangers didn't catch Pokemon..." I trailed off with a meaningful glance at their belts, which had four Pokeballs each.

  "We tend to limit it to one partner each, but for Ranger Captains - or Top Rangers - we get a bit more leeway," Zedd explained. "Just too many logistical difficulties in getting around where we need to be, with the power to tackle a problem that needs our immediate attention."

  Buffy held up her arm eagerly, showing off the spinning top device attached to her wrist. "Don't worry, we still use the classics. Our Fine Stylers should have that wild Pokemon calmed down in a jiffy." If it goes that smoothly then they won't need me. Though considering how tough that Palossand was, and that it got driven out by this thing, they might need my help in restraining it long enough to work their magic.

  With that settled, our Pokemon took off, soaring through the air. It’s something else to see all the Pokemon from up so high above. We’re far enough up that they aren’t paying too much attention to us, so you really get to see how they interact without a human presence to put them on guard. All but the most docile of Pokemon would get a little wary upon seeing someone else in their territory.

  Such thoughts kept me distracted, not focusing on the nearly unbearable heat beating down on us. While hardly the worst weather I’d endured on my journey, it still left me very sweaty and, worse, very frustrated. My Aura control had improved leaps and bounds over the years, but as much as I’d improved, the same baseline issues existed. Holding onto my center, that feeling of freedom and joy, was easier than ever, but I could still end up losing a hold on it. I knew if I did, that would be putting extra pressure on Dun, who was panting heavily after only an hour.

  I tried to keep myself from drifting off and passed the time chatting with the Ranger Captains while we scoured the desert. Buffy and I shouted back and forth to be heard over the wind, while Zedd just said his responses normally. Does he know I can hear him just fine, or does he just not care and doesn’t want to strain himself?

  In any case, the conversation mostly consisted of Buffy giving me some workout pointers, which I greatly appreciated. Like my Pokemon Training, while there were a plethora of online sources that I used to build up my routine, having personal advice (especially from someone as skilled as a Ranger Captain) was a huge boon. There were a few tidbits of wilderness advice and some details about what being a Ranger was like that I hadn't ever heard before. Most notable was Zedd’s advice, seemingly out of nowhere, to “Always keep your eyes up; you never know what might get the drop on you.”

  My eyes, which had been focused downward, snapped up just in time to see an ornery pack of Braviaries flying toward us. Only four of them, but that was still a decently large number of the usually solitary birds. More worrying than that, however, was my control slipping for just a moment in shock and Dun dipping down as my weight pressed more heavily into him.

  “Shit!” Making a snap decision, I released Notch and said, “We can’t fight and fly at the same time! We’ll land, and Notch will play backup.” I got a brief nod from Buffy and no response from Zedd as they moved into action immediately, combating the aggressive wild Pokemon.

  The sand was scorching hot where we landed, but both Dun and I gasped in relief. Okay, I overestimated how easy that would be. We’ve done short flights in the past, but a prolonged search is just too tiring, even for him. At least my assessment about Notch was spot-on.

  Glancing upward, I saw how the Rangers were handily combatting the Braviaries. Good tactics, Moves, and Notch providing defensive support in the form of barriers and telekinetically throwing the wild Pokemon off-balance meant they were slowly but surely winning. I was sure that in a few minutes, the Braviaries would be driven off. Though the question remains of why they were so aggressive in the first place?

  On the surface of it, the question appeared simple: almost all wild Pokemon had an area they ‘owned’ and would contest any intruders in their space. That was just as true for airspace with Flying Pokemon as it was with ground-bound ones, and Braviaries weren’t an unusual sight within the Aseado Desert. But this many of them grouped up like this is pretty weird.

  Braviaries were a Pokemon I found to be pretty cool, so I had done some research into their habitats and patterns. Generally, once a Rufflet evolved, they left the flock (or challenged the lead Braviary for leadership) to lead their own. To see so many working together like that - and working with at least decent teamwork, I noted - was worrying.

  Eventually, they’d had enough and dispersed, flying away. The Rangers took the moment to fly down to me, Notch trailing behind them. None of their Pokemon looked worse for wear from the encounter, thankfully.

  “You doing alright?” Zedd asked, and I gave a thin smile.

  “Feel like I should be asking you that. We’re doing fine, but I may have overestimated Dun’s capability to keep us in the air for the entire search.” My partner grumbled but didn’t argue the point. Sucks to admit that, but better to do so now than to try and push things.

  Buffy nodded. “No worries. Honestly amazed you kept up with us as long as you did, and your little pal here was no slouch in battling off those Braviaries!” Notch gave a small chime of appreciation. “Do you think they could carry you?”

  “Not while keeping up with your search rate.” Notch is tanky, but they’re less powerful than Dun and even slower. Trying to carry me wouldn’t work. Hmm, maybe if they used Psychic to hold me aloft? Or Barrier platforms I could run on in the air- No, as much as I trust their control, that’s all stuff we’ve never tried before. Attempting it for an extended duration when we’re hundreds of meters up in the air is just asking for problems.

  After a moment I said, “I can continue to search on the ground. It won’t be as fast as your method, but the desert is big, and we’ve got a lot of terrain to cover.”

  Buffy frowned, tossing a glance Zedd’s way, but he shook his head. “She’s sharp, and if the rest of her Pokemon are as strong as that Carbink…” He trailed off questioningly to me, and I nodded. “Then she can handle herself.”

  Turning to me directly, he tossed me a handheld radio and added, “I’m sure you’ll be smart enough to call us in if you see anything. Especially since you were smart enough to realize this was some mass migration we missed from the Great Crater.”

  “You’re sure?” I asked, and their faces were grim.

  “Yup, no two ways about it, those Braviaries were definitely from the Great Crater. We also ran into an unusually strong Venomoth on the steppes above Cascarrafa, which we suspect was from there too. At least, now we do,” Buffy admitted.

  “No offense, but aren’t you guys supposed to cover Pokemon coming out like that? No offense,” I hastily tacked on, to be met by an amused snort from Zedd.

  “Nah, I get it. We do try, but… There’s a lot of territory to cover there, and fliers are some of the trickiest ones to keep down.”

  “We don’t keep all of them down - just the ones that are too strong and aggressive to be integrated into non-Area Zero environs,” Buffy said. “Still, sometimes one can slip by, like here.”

  Frowning, I asked, “Could that Venomoth or those Braviaries have been the ones to drive the Palossand out?”

  Zedd shook his head, sighing. “If only we could wrap it up that easily, but nope. Those things could have annoyed the Palossand, but to drive off an Alpha Tera? We’re looking at something a lot scarier than that. Whatever is here likely drove off the Venomoth and Braviary in the first place, before leaving the Great Crater themselves.” A sinking feeling settled in my stomach as details clicked in my mind.

  Waving them off, the Rangers took to the skies once more while I trudged across the sand, keeping my eyes peeled. All sorts of fun Pokemon inhabited the desert, and I could see close up the Sandacondas baking in the sun, Bramblins tumbling about in the wind, and even Sandiles waddling in the shade provided by monolithic boulders and thin, ancient towers. None of that distracted me from my mission, not with the newfound urgency I felt.

  Didn’t the games have a Paradox Pokemon in this desert? Right, they did. Guess I should be on the lookout for a Donphan look-alike around here. I could hardly tell the Ranger Captains any of that, however, and just had to hope that I’d run into the Paradox Pokemon first. I don’t think Zedd or Buffy have teams as tough as mine, but they don’t seem like slouches either. I’m sure they’ll be fine if they come across Iron Treads first.

  The fact that a Paradox Pokemon might be here already was worrying for many reasons, but mostly for me was how far along the Professor’s experiments must be. I didn’t feel like I was ‘wasting time,’ but there are definitely elements on my journey I could have gone through faster, and I’ve got no clue how far along Turo is. The timeline is kinda vague on it, and my memories are even more so, but when he calls that second Miraidon… he’ll die.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  I stopped, frowning at myself. “Or will he?” I questioned aloud. “Have I changed things such that it might not equal his death? No, I can’t count on that. The Butterfly Effect says it’s just as possible that any Paradox Pokemon he called on now could be his death. Or anything else, but that isn’t very helpful. What do you think?”

  My question was directed to the Pokemon I had just caught waddling up to me and hadn’t fully focused on, and when I did, I had to withhold a gasp of delight. Silky white fur covered the small bug, ringed with five wavy red spikes sticking out of its back. Bright blue eyes looked up at me, a little confused and more than a little worried. A- a Larvesta! Oh. My. Arceus.

  Attempts to not spook it by remaining completely still failed after two seconds, when the radio suddenly blared out Zedd’s voice. “We got something, over.” The cute bug startled at the noise and immediately began burrowing under the sand.

  “Wait, no, come baaaaack,” I cried, but it was too late; they were well gone. Before they left, though, I hadn’t missed how their eyes gazed out across the desert; something far away had been bothering them. Damn, Volcarona is one of my favorite kinds of Pokemon, right after Haxorus.

  Grabbing the radio, I responded. “I hear you. What’s the sitch? Over.”

  Buffy responded. “You aren’t going to believe this, but a ton of sand is- wait, eyes on a potential suspect. Is that-? No, it doesn’t look right, but- It’s spotted us! Unidentified Flying Pokemon approaching, moving to engage, over.”

  “What- no! Wait for me to arrive!”

  “Don’t really have a choice in the matter, Nemona,” Zedd breathed out before cutting off. Distantly, I heard sounds of battle from the radio before those shut off completely too.

  “Looks like they found the problem. Let’s see if we can get there in time to lend a hand. Dun, if you would?”

  “Sparce,” he replied, flapping his wings hard, kicking up a heavy wind (and no small amount of sand around us). I’m going to have sand everywhere by the time this is done.

  Racing across the desert, even with the boost, took a while. As we did so, I tried to contact them for more directions a few times but got no response back. It was more than a little worrying, but I just focused on moving ahead, hoping that I was heading in the right direction.

  My first sign came within fifteen minutes, seeing something odd on the ground. Is that a heat mirage or… no, that’s glass. Getting closer proved it to be true. A vast pane of glass was covering a stretch of land with some weird shiny liquid coating the top. More pressingly, toward the center, I saw a pitched battle taking place, with the two Rangers looking singed in places but frantically giving orders to their remaining Pokemon.

  Remaining, because several of them were knocked out, scattered around the inferno at the center. Burning brightly, light gleamed off of its metallic insectoid body. It had no legs but instead six vents indented into the blue side armor around its abdomen and the white armor around its thorax. Its head was domed, the orange four-section target-like eyes darting around as it responded with lightning, fire, and waves of toxic sludge to the attacking Snorlax and Infernape Buffy and Zedd had out.

  Most telling of all were the six separate wing panes that hovered just off the creature’s back, like a vertical halo that somehow kept it aloft. I had no clue how the anatomy or biology of that worked, but I knew exactly what creature they were fighting. The other Paradox Pokemon with a past and future connection whose base unevolved form I had seen just minutes prior in the Asado Desert.

  “Iron Moth.”

  The Paradox Pokemon screeched as if in response to my distant words, the sound assaulting me from far away. The Pokemon fighting it took it worse, Buffy’s Infernape wincing at the noise. That was all the opening needed for the Iron Moth to unleash a wave of purple sludge down upon the Fighting Type.

  Racing ahead, I thought for a split second before recalling Dun, judging my starter to be too tired to throw into the fray against an aggressive wild Paradox Pokemon. Before I could decide who to send out to join Notch in taking the Iron Moth out, I was alerted to a hissing sound at my feet.

  The shiny liquid that oozed over the glass was clearly acidic in nature, as I saw the soles of my shoes disintegrating from contact with the potent poison. Yelping, I leapt into the air, drawing a survival knife from my bag and slicing through the laces of my hiking boots, flinging them off before the acid could eat away at my flesh, the sturdy boots sizzling as they hit the ground.

  “Rest, then Snore!” Zedd called out, no trace of his former laid-back attitude as he desperately commanded his Snorlax to keep on fighting. The sleeping Pokemon was the only one still ‘active’ on the battlefield, weathering the varied assaults from the Paradox Pokemon. But he can’t keep up like this, I realized as I floated closer, careful to not touch the toxic floor.

  A Slowbro and Komala lay defeated nearby, with a Medicham and Buffy’s Flamigo knocked out further past with twitches indicative of heavy shocks. The Ranger Captain recalled those two fallen Pokemon before returning her Infernape as well. A badly Burned but still conscious Toxicroak acting like it wanted to shield her but more accurately leaning against its Trainer.

  Zedd whipped his Capture Styler around the Iron Moth, the top spinning around in an arc around the Paradox Pokemon, taking advantage of the fact that they were attacking his Snorlax. The glowing line grew bright white- but then fizzled out as Iron Moth released a massive screech and shock wave, frying the device before it could return to Zedd, and resuming their assault on the sleeping giant. I was curious if the Styler couldn't work on Paradox Pokemon or if it had been something else that interfered with it, but I knew this wasn't the time to focus on that.

  Quickly drawing two Pokeballs, I released Phantasm and Nightwing from them. “Nightwing, get the Rangers out of here! Notch, defend us, Phantasm-” I didn’t have time to give her an order, and she howled in pain, the poisonous surface hurting her and spurring her into action. Faster than my eyes could track, she launched herself at the Iron Moth. The wild Pokemon reacted just as fast, however, turning its white-hot Fiery Dance away from the Snorlax and zipping around the assault Phantasm attempted to lay into them.

  “Wha- Nemona!” Zedd gasped out, his breathing harsh. Is he injured? Looking him over quickly, I couldn’t find any sign of an injury before realizing his shortness of breath was due to the flames raging around, sapping the oxygen from the area. I must have unconsciously corrected for it with my Aura. I hadn’t laxed in my practice during my journey, but I was calling on it hard and doing things I hadn’t known I was capable of right now, and I feared that if I thought about it too much, I might no longer be able to do so.

  So I didn’t, focusing on the problem at hand. “Get out of here!” I told him, watching as Buffy recalled her last Pokemon and Nightwing started flying her out of the way. Notch raised a barrier at the same time, cutting Iron Moth off from attacking Zedd or his Snorlax again, at least for the moment. “I’ve got this!”

  The man looked skeptical, raising an eyebrow as the barrier shook almost immediately after I said that, lightning sparking all around Iron Moth and lashing out, striking Phantasm and the barrier with immense power. Damn, I knew Paradox Pokemon were strong, but that’s something else. Though the Fiery Dances it used fighting the Rangers probably didn’t help matters.

  “Miles, shore up the barrier.” My Rotom shot out of their case, tiny lightning bolt ‘arms’ waving wildly as they glowed with Psychic Energy, adding another line of defense in the barrier. Trusting that Miles and Notch had that covered, I turned my attention to Phantasm.

  She wasn’t used to fighting a wild Pokemon as fast as she was; her fur burned from electricity and fire in places. “Clone tactics! Evasive maneuvers with mixed artillery.” My voice reached her, and even in pain and filled with rage, she responded automatically, conjuring illusory clones of herself all around the barrier. With a brief moment of clarity, the light returned to her eyes, and she clawed herself out of the instinctual rage and followed the second half of my command, launching Shadow Balls from every direction at the oversized moth.

  The Paradox Pokemon continued to dart around inside, attempting to dodge all the attacks headed their way like a demented Touhou player. Burning away illusory copies with spinning wingbeats that resembled nothing less than a flaming buzzsaw, Iron Moth wove Fiery Dances into the dodges. But as quick as they were, they literally could not dodge every attack - there were no gaps to escape in this pattern - and soon enough they were getting knocked about by some of the attacks.

  On the offensive front, Iron Moth was doing much better, even disregarding how much actually getting hit was hampering its ability to attack. For each illusion that fell, Phantasm conjured another one, the fakes not helping to boost the Paradox Pokemon’s power further.

  “Guess you really do have it handled,” Zedd breathed out as Nightwing flew back. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught him shaking his head, and I wasn’t sure if it was due to him leaving me to deal with this by myself or because of the immense power on display in that fight. Or a third option: both the power and how I’m handling it. In any case, he recalled his Snorlax and let my Gliscor pick him up (grumbling as she did so, to make it clear I owed her for this).

  “Psychic,” I said loudly as Iron Moth paused for a second to try and catch themselves after the battering they had taken. Instantly, a faint blue glow covered Iron Moth as the telekinetic field snapped into place, holding them tight and squeezing down.

  They screeched louder in pain, the super-effective attack stinging extra hard, but there was no place for them to break free. Failing at that, they launched another powerful Discharge everywhere around, but Phantasm was ready, dropping the Psychic to Detect the attack. All the clones were ripped apart, but somehow Phantasm managed to slip to the other edge of the barrier and find one of the few spots to avoid the attack from.

  I couldn’t be sure how old or how much experience Iron Moth had, but they were quick enough to try and move again after the attack, but Notch had ‘stepped in,’ so to speak, easily able to reach through their own barrier and use Psychic against the Paradox Pokemon.

  The barrier also diminished the impact of the sound outside the barrier, something I was very grateful for, as the following pained screech likely would have driven me to my knees otherwise. Thrashing within the limited confines of their movement, Iron Moth poured out a deluge of poison around the field, something that Phantasm dodged by cutting through temporarily to the Distortion World.

  Picture-perfect following of my orders to be evasive and a mistake. Its target crosshair eyes darted all around its head, scanning for any sign of Phantasm in a second, finding nothing. Then they locked on us outside the barrier and realized where the force currently holding it was coming from.

  Electricity gathered all around it, and I told Miles and Notch, “Brace!” The electricity poured out from Iron Moth… and straight into the ground, the field electrifying. The energy they had released came surging back into them as their Quark Drive activated, supercharging the Paradox Pokemon.

  At the same time, Phantasm reemerged from the Distortion World behind Iron Moth, landing a heavy Phantom Force strike into them. Before she touched the ground, her foe released their strongest Discharge yet, a blindingly bright light knocking Phantasm aside and ripping apart the glassy ground and straight through both barriers.

  “Aah!” I cried, the force of them breaking sending me flying back. Catching myself mid-tumble, I pushed myself back up, just in the nick of time to see a fiery tornado bearing down on me.

  With a yelp, I dodged to the side. “What is this, Crisis City?” No one had any time to answer my rhetorical question, as they were currently fighting a very strong Paradox Pokemon. Solar Beams were conjured in an instant, carving great gouges through the sand as the Moves bore towards Notch. Miles endured blasts of fire and Acid Sprays potent enough to melt through the torn-up glass they landed on. Hurricanes whipped up great gusts of wind and sand to batter everything in their path. All together it felt like multiple natural disasters joined together in an unholy party of destruction and chaos.

  Despite the power Iron Moth had, it was clear that my two genderless Pokemon had them beat working together, jagged stones accompanied by ghostly hexes scouring the air and driving at our enemy. Or they would have, were it not for the errant (or perhaps erratic) attacks Iron Moth launched towards me and the downed Phantasm, forcing one or the other to stop fighting back and defend us.

  Recalling Phantasm, I cut off one angle of attack while redoubling their focus on me. Do I need to call in Athena too? She’ll ignore the poison, but the fire- no, we got this. I sighed slightly in relief as I watched Nightwing rocket back, joining the fray and adding another element for Iron Moth to deal with.

  “Knock off, Psychic, Thunder Wave, Confuse Ray!” I called out rapidly, adding a few hand waves to help demonstrate what I was going for.

  Circling around Iron Moth, my Gliscor raised her tail, shrouded in Dark Type Energy. Iron Moth released another powerful wave of electrical energy all around. The Electric attack did nothing to deter Nightwing from striking down with her tail, hitting Iron Moth hard and putting them off-balance for a second.

  Miles barely flinched from the attack, their Typing enough to take the brunt of it, while Notch simply tanked it. Using that opening, they grabbed it with Psychic, tossing the moth down to the ground and holding it there. Then, for good measure, pelting it with a quick Ancient Power as well.

  The last two Moves had to be executed fast, but given Confuse Wisp, I figured Miles knew enough of the theory to give the status Moves a go. They did, better than I could have imagined, summoning up a ball of bewildering light in one plasmic limb and a thin but targeted electrical burst from the other. The Thunder Wave hit Iron Moth first, causing their wings to seize and spasm, but the Confuse Ray wasn’t far behind, disorienting them further.

  “Now, Earthquake!!!” Nightwing dived down gleefully, smashing into the ground with a tremendous impact. The waves rippled out instantly, tons of sand crashing into Iron Moth, earning distorted squeaks and electronic sounds as they were buffeted.

  The Move also broke up the remaining glass, sending shards and sand flying all about, and I raised my arms to shield my face. When I lowered them, I glanced around rapidly, searching for a sign of attack, but thankfully found none. Aside from the swirling sand, all was still, even Iron Moth-

  They twitched, then again from where they lay, half-buried in the sand. And clearly, it wasn’t just the last vestiges of consciousness but more hampered by the disorientation caused by the previously debilitating Moves.

  “Crabhammer, finish this,” I told Nightwing quickly, and she didn’t have to be asked twice. Both the fastest of my three Pokemon currently out and the closest to Iron Moth, she was on them in an instant. Water sheathing her massive pincer hands, she smashed them into Iron Moth once, twice, before rearing back for an even stronger blow-

  “STOP.” My voice was loud and firm, not angry but very attention-grabbing. Nightwing aborted her last attack, whipping around to look at me as if to ask, ‘What gives?’

  “You won; it's over.” Pointing at the Iron Moth, it clearly wasn’t fighting back anymore. The lights in its head and on its wings had dimmed, and I had no clue what that meant for its overall health. I doubt anyone other than Turo does.

  “Scor scor,” Nightwing hissed, snapping her fangs just above the Paradox Pokemon, but I shook my head.

  “Yes, we have to fight the Paradox Pokemon but that doesn’t make them evil. They didn’t have any choice in getting brought here either and are probably sc- confused.” Trying to say that Iron Moth was ‘scared’ might be a stretch; until we showed up, it was happily roasting the rangers. Still, I should try to get to know it better before…

  My thoughts ran into a brick wall and stopped as the battle high wore off, and a lot of things hit me at once. A small part of me was impressed by the power and speed they had and thought they’d be a good addition to the team, while the rest of me was freaking out/slowly coming to the conclusion of what needed to be done here.

  While I had that slight mental breakdown, Notch chimed at Nightwing, earning an irritated and annoyed sound as she blew the Rock Type off. Despite that, she was no longer frustrated or angry and stepped back, giving me room to throw a Pokeball at Iron Moth, which I did… only for it to barely cover half the distance between us before landing in the sand.

  Dead silence save for the slight breeze filled the air for a moment before Nightwing started snickering at my failure. Even Miles had to avert their eyes and pretend they hadn’t seen it. Grumbling, I muttered, “Stupid throwing balls being way more difficult than it is in the anime,” before walking over and grabbing the Pokeball, throwing it again, from far closer this time.

  The second attempt landed clean on the downed Pokemon, pulling it in with a flash of red light. The ball landed in the sand, making a small divot as it shook. Three times it wobbled back and forth, as if the Pokemon was still fighting despite everything, but eventually it stopped. With a click, the capture was announced, and I picked the innocuous-looking Pokeball up.

  For a long minute I just stared at it, mentally running over the possibilities and what actions I could take from here before sighing deeply, clipping it on my belt, and marching back through the desert.

  After an indeterminate amount of time, I reached the Ranger Captains, standing on the edge of the glass, who immediately began shouting… something. I strained myself to hear, calling on my Aura, only to find it empty. Barely a wisp left in the tank. Why is everything so blurry? I wondered for a second before the crash fully hit me, and I collapsed.

  that strong, unlike the Iron Treads/Great Tusks you run into in the game, which is actually kinda underleveled compared to the Pokemon in Area Zero.

  Discord. Thank you, and I hope you have a great day.

  - Tera Type: Normal

  - Held Item: Expert Belt

  - Abilities: Run Away, Serene Grace

  - Moves known:

  - 'Miles' (Rotom, Genderless, Electric/Form dependent Type)

  - Tera Type: Electric

  - Held Item: Life Orb

  - Ability: Levitate

  - Moves Known:

  - 'Nightwing' (Gliscor, Female, Flying/Ground Type)

  - Tera Type: Water

  - Held Item: Toxic Orb

  - Ability: Hyper Cutter, Poison Heal

  - Moves Known:

  - 'Notch' (Carbink, Genderless, Rock/Fairy Type)

  - Tera Type: Fighting

  - Held Item: Light Clay

  - Ability: Clear Body

  - Moves Known:

  - 'Phantasm' (Hisuian Zoroark, Female, Normal/Ghost)

  - Tera Type: Ghost

  - Held Item: Lax Incense

  - Ability: Illusion

  - Moves Known:

  - 'Athena' (Lucario, Mega-Evolveable, Female, Fighting/Steel)

  - Tera Type: Fighting

  - Held Item: Clear Amulet

  - Ability: Steadfast

  - Moves Known:

  -'Bahamut' (Haxorus, Male, Shiny, Dragon)

  - Tera Type: Dragon

  - Held Item: Dragon Fang

  - Ability: Mold Breaker

  - Moves Known: