Chapter 2: Pilot Part 2

A blast of chill air caught Paula in the face, she stumbled forward and hit the ground, hard. The snow beneath her was the only thing to cushion her fall. The teleportation had positioned her nary an inch or two off the ground but it had been enough to send her off balance. She swore and scrambled to her feet, the chill biting into her exposed knees and fingers. Whipping her head around, she spotted the Abra that had been assigned to monitor her. The creature raised its tiny-fingered hands to its lips and chuckled before vanishing from sight.

No prep time, again. She was going to have to start getting used to that, wasn’t she? A fresh blast of cold air ripped across her skin and she wrapped her arms tightly around her body, feeling a strap hanging from her shoulder. She blinked and looked down at the large courier bag that had appeared on her person. Confused, she flipped it open and was surprised to see at least thirty red-and-blue pokeballs with the pokemon center logo emblazoned on them. Along with the pokeballs were a few pouches of rations and a wide, flat tin that reminded her of the kind her grandmother would bring by filled with cookies.

She plucked it out, shivering, and read the side. It was a Pokemon Ranger Corps deployable campsite! Relief flooded through her and she glanced around, getting her bearings. She had no idea there was an entire portion of the reserve dedicated to cold weather, though she should have figured that certain pokemon preferred a certain kind of climate. Artificial snowfall from some unknown source made it difficult to see clearly, but she could make out a few rocky formations in one direction. Hopefully some kind of shelter at the very least. Setting up a camp in the middle of the open was just asking for trouble.

Her initial plan set, she reached into her coat pocket and pulled out her rotom phone. The device sprang to life, floating in front of her, and glancing around a bit confused. She frowned at it, “Hey, p-pull up my r-rotom storage, hurry up!” She gasped as another blast of wind hit her. “Wardrobe page, p-puh-please.”

The screen on the floating phone immediately changed to a screen showing a silhouette of her body and the clothes currently on her person. She shakily reached forward and began tapping the screen, flipping through and picking out heavier clothing. The thirty seconds it took felt like an hour. When she’d finished making her selections she hit the ‘confirm’ button beneath the silhouette and gasped as for a few seconds only the glow cast by the items swapping out protected her and her dignity from the cold. An instant later, warm heft made her sink a few millimeters into the snow.

Paula pulled the scarf that had appeared around her neck up to her face and took a deep breath, her body would warm on its own once she got moving. “T-thanks, g-go on back,” She ordered the rotom possessed phone. It tittered out a response before dashing into her heavy jacket pocket. From there all she could do was trudge on toward the rocks she saw in the distance. How big was this place anyway? She squinted up at the ceiling but the snowfall made it difficult to see the glass that she knew hung overhead.

A loud tone rang out in the air overhead followed by Jubilee’s voice: “Participant Connor has been disqualified. Proper preparation for variations in climate is crucial for survival in the wild.”

Paula’s eyes widened, already? Seriously? Did that guy not bring anything warm in his rotom storage? She shuddered and picked up her pace, she needed to make shelter and quickly. Her boots crunched through the snow as she dashed across the open field, her breath coming out in white clouds. Another gust of wind stung her eyes and nose, the bitter chill biting into her exposed skin. To her right, something moved and she slid to a stop, turning in that direction. 

Small, with brown fur and an almost gloomy look on its face, the swinub shuffled along in the same direction she was going. Next to it, two more of the little fuzzballs were trudging along. The first one she spotted paused and turned in her direction, its big nose snuffing the air. She squinted at them, searching for- there! Sticking out of the fur of the first one almost like a tag at a clothing store was a glowing piece of material. She reached for her messenger bag and froze when another shape made its way through the snow.

The humped-back piloswine loomed over the swinub, its short tusks turned in her direction. It huffed a few times and held its ground. Paula swallowed, it wasn’t attacking. Probably because of the light that the professor had talked about earlier. Her eyes shifted towards the tagged swinub and back to the piloswine. Would it become aggressive if she tried to catch it anyway? Was there a way to separate them? Not that she could see and she didn’t want to risk aggravating the larger creature which certainly did not have a tag on its body. She raised both hands and took a step back, “I’ll be on my way,” She said, taking caution over the possibility of being disqualified.

Another tone rang out, “Participant Leidra has been disqualified. Angering wild pokemon unnecessarily can put you in serious danger which can result in injuries not easily treatable on the field. Pick your battles.”

Paula’s lip twitched, case in point. She took two more steps back and that seemed like enough to satisfy the piloswine. It grunted and turned toward the path that the swinub had been making, marching along behind them protectively.

Paula turned back to the way she was headed which had a similar trajectory as the quartet she had just run into. She kept her distance but resumed her jog, working her muscles and trying to generate a little heat. She’d almost broken a sweat by the time the rocks were close enough to make out. They were a series of simulated caves! About six entryways had been worked into the jet-black rock that jutted out of the ground at various angles. The stone seemed to curl around to one side, blocking the wind that was blowing from her left. She went the opposite direction, hustling around to where the wind was being blocked from, and surveyed the area.

The crook of the rock formation was blessedly windless and flat, a perfect place to set up camp. She hustled towards the open spot and was greeted with a low growl from above. She slid to a stop and looked up, a sneasel was staring down at her from a perch atop the rocks, its red eyes narrowing a little. No tag either, this one was off-limits as well. She gestured at the ground and held up her hands, “Just wanna rest here, no trouble!” She tried, she wasn’t sure how many of these pokemon had enough experience with humans to understand human speech, but she’d have to take a chance.

It tilted its head and blinked, then snarled and got to its feet, it pointed at the rocks beneath its feet and then at itself. Paula felt a drop of sweat go down her neck, “No no!” She held up her hands again before waving at the rocks and then pointing at the ground, “I just want the ground,” She urged it, pointing at herself. “I don’t want your perch.”

The sneasel considered her for a moment before hopping off the rocks and striding toward her, its arms hanging loosely at its sides. She considered taking a step back but knew better than to show weakness in front of a dark-type pokemon. The sneasel sneered at her and held out one of its clawed hands with a jerky motion. It hissed out a quiet sound and made a grasping motion. Paula sighed, it wanted a tribute.

“Don’t you guys get fed by the professionals?” She grumbled, reaching into her messenger bag and opening up one of the bags of rations. She pulled out a protein stick, sniffed it once, nodded, and then as carefully as she could she placed it in the sneasel’s outstretched hand. The creature snatched it up and dashed back to its perch, biting down on the tasty morsel before glancing back at her and grunting once. It waved dismissively at her and returned to staring out into the snow. Paula let out a relieved breath and pulled out the camping tin.

She quickly read the instructions on the back. 

‘Set the tin down at the center of the intended campsite leaving ten feet open in all directions. Pull the arming pin and retreat to a safe distance.’

Seemed easy enough. She did some quick measuring in the open space and found a good spot. She flipped the tin over and found a wire attached to a small finger-handle taped to the bottom. She pulled it free and set it down, tugging the pin and dashing back about fifteen feet for good measure. The tin glowed for a moment before bouncing into the air and ripping apart with a loud crack of sound. Above, the Sneasel jumped and shook its claw in her direction only to pause when it saw what had appeared in the space below. A small, domed, hut-like structure had appeared in the space with a single door on the front. The smooth surface was stark white and blended in well with its surroundings.

The sneasel turned back to Paula and made a ‘not bad’ face before returning to its meal and brooding. Paula chuckled and hurried over to the shelter, opening the little door on the side and crawling inside and into immediate and refreshing warmth. She let out a gasp, not even bothering to throw herself onto the cushions that were set off to one side, and just plopped right down on the ground. “What the hell!” She groaned, falling onto her back, “I’m already tired and we just got started!”

The tone rang out again over the reserve, “Participant Garfield has been Disqualified and will be sent to receive medical treatment.”

Paula winced just as another tone rang out, “Participant Lukas has caught a pokemon! He is the first to complete that portion of the challenge. Forty-Seven hours remain.”

For a moment there was the instinct to panic, she clamped down on it, hard, before taking a deep breath and centering herself. There were forty-seven hours left. She had time. She pulled out her rotom phone and called up the map application. The map it provided of her immediate surroundings was basically a blob starting from her arrival point to the rock formation. She set the campsite as her home point and then flipped over to rotom storage. When she got there, she began to deposit all the items that were in her messenger bag, including the messenger bag itself, into the storage fields. After that she set the phone aside and held out her hand, “Rotom storage, Baumsat Pokeball,” She said aloud.

A faint swirl of light erupted into her palm before condensing into one of the special pokeballs. She nodded to herself, okay, she could do this.

A tone, “Particpant Gregory has caught a pokemon! Forty-Seven hours remain.”

She frowned, looks like he had her beat there, she turned around and hurried back out into the snow. The wind picked up just as she stepped out, most of it broken by the rocks behind her but a little carrying a wave of snow over her head. She spotted the swinub and the piloswine dip into one of the caves in the side of the rock formation. A cackling hiss drew her attention and she turned around to see the sneasel camping on top of her hut. It jerked its head up once in acknowledgment before turning away. Was it going to watch her place for her?

“Thanks?” She said only to get a dismissive wave from the sneasel.

She turned back to the snowy field ahead of her, she couldn’t make out an end to it but there had to be. She checked her phone again and noted that the direction she was facing was west. That was as good as it got she supposed. If she kept heading in that direction she’d have to run into something eventually. Given that there were numerous species of pokemon here according to the Professor there had to be other areas besides the snowy one. She started walking.

It took just under an hour for her to reach her destination. In that time she ran into a beartic, a glaceon, and a small swarm of snom. At no point did she see tags on any of them. How rare were the tags? Or was she just unlucky? She scratched at her chin as she crossed over a small rise in the terrain only to stop dead when she saw what was ahead of her. She hadn’t known what she was expecting but a thin line of rippling light, not unlike a barrier created by a psychic pokemon, separating snow and what looked like pavement was definitely not on her list of things to anticipate.

She knelt down on the snow drift and tried to get a feel for what she was getting herself into. It looked like there were buildings on the other side of the thin sheet of energy or whatever it was. Industrial structures and even some prefabricated houses. Occasionally a thin green tree broke up the urban landscape. They had an entire zone sectioned off for pokemon native to urban environments. That was crazy! She rubbed her eyes once to make sure she wasn’t hallucinating before she spotted movement out of the corner of her eye. She dropped face-first into the snow and squinted at the figure.

A trainer had just stepped out of the urban zone and was glancing around, peering into the snow and clouds. Paula considered calling out to them but decided against it, it was better to go it alone in a challenge like this. There was always the chance of them trying to sabotage her early on. Every single person here had been picked for this opportunity and every single one of them had heard the same spiel. They knew what was at stake, and eliminating a competitor early on was just good sense. She pressed herself against the snow, ignoring the tingling of the cold against her cheek and crawled across the ground, inching her way down the slope and around her competitor. They lingered for a while before a flash enveloped them and they changed into winter gear. A moment later, they were jogging east.

Paula pulled herself to her feet and darted for the field between the snowy section and the urban one. She stopped at the border, reaching out to run her finger over the surface. It rippled like water at her touch. She pushed her hand against it and passed through easily. Okay, simple enough. She stepped through and felt warmth wash over her in a rush. She squinted against a ray of sunlight reflecting off the windows on one of the taller buildings. She pulled out her rotom phone and swapped her outfit back to her traveling clothes before taking a closer look around.

She was standing in what looked like a concrete paved courtyard, surrounded by short buildings that were in turn framed by taller buildings the deeper one went into the zone. She didn’t spot any pokemon right away but figured that most probably wouldn’t be hanging out near the edges. She wondered where the crew of the Baumsat actually fed the local pokemon. Wherever that was, that would be where most would congregate. She pressed forward, passing a few of the buildings and peering into the windows. Empty, not even furniture.

A shriek drew her out of her moment of curiosity. She spun and searched for the source. Another shriek, it sounded pained. What the hell was going on? First instinct was to avoid it, but something didn’t seem right, the pokemon shouldn’t be aggressive with one another in this area. More importantly, the sound of a disqualification hadn’t chimed. So it wasn’t a trainer doing something stupid. Cursing herself she darted towards the source of the sound, dipping beneath an awning and pressing towards an alley alongside the adjoining building.

She crept around the side just as another shriek rang out and poked her head out. Her eyes widened. There were about five tagged timburr standing there, all of them wielding their deadly blocks of wood. One of them had their weapon raised over their head and was staring down at the strangest-looking pokemon she’d ever seen. Was that a black sableye? It had the body type, tiny, bipedal, with a bulbous head. It appeared to be clinging to something and not even trying to fight back. The timburr above it had a ruthless glint in its eye.

Bullies, she clicked her tongue. She called out a pokeball and it landed in her palm. They were all tagged, maybe if she caught one she could scare the others off? Then again there was also the possibility that they’d all come charging in her direction and she’d be beaten to a pulp. The lead timburr’s muscles tensed. Paula cursed under her breath, no time, she had to do something! She darted out into the alley and with an exertion of breath hurled the pokeball at the timburr that was about to turn the injured pokemon into paste. The other timburr turned in surprise just as the ball struck the side of the aggressor’s head, opening and drawing it in with a flash of glittering red light. The ball landed, flashed, and then dimmed.

A tone rang out overhead, “Participant Paula has captured a pokemon! Forty-Four hours remain.”

Paula ignored it and the tone that rang out on her rotom phone. Instead, she postured aggressively, trying to make herself look big in front of the timburr that remained. The four of them blinked at her and then looked at the pokeball on the ground behind them which lingered for a few seconds before vanishing in a pulse of light. “Back off!” She bellowed, “Back off now!” 

The Timburr looked at one another again before shaking their heads and turning tail. They ran down the alley and out of sight. Paula let out a relieved breath before darting towards the crumpled, dark figure laying on the ground. She slid to a stop and knelt down, looking over the creature. No tag. “Hey, are you alright? Hey!” She called. For a moment she feared the worst, but then after a heartbeat, it twitched and pushed itself into a kneeling position. It had a smooth black body with odd, dark-grey lines around its ankles, and wrists, and etched across every surface. It looked over its shoulder, a pair of big eyes with silver pupils scanning its surroundings. In its hands was what looked like a mask that was just big enough to fit over its face. The mask had an eerie, toothy design on it.

Finally, it turned and looked up at her. From the front, she could see its wide, floppy ears that drooped at the sight of her. Its mouth was wide with straight teeth and was turned down in a perpetual frown. What the hell was this thing? “Are you okay?” She asked, careful not to reach out for it.

It looked around again and then back up at her. She chuckled, “Yeah, they’re gone. You’re safe. But we gotta get you looked at, okay? Maybe the a-” The pokemon cut her off by waving its arms frantically. It reached for her and grabbed at her, tugging a few times.

“Woah woah! I’m sorry little buddy but you don’t have a tag, I can’t take you with me,” She said, holding up her hands. She swallowed nervously, hoping the abra heard that. It shook its head frantically and tugged at her again before pointing down the alley. She tilted her head, “Is there something over there?”

It released her and started to shamble in that direction, swaying a little on its feet. She got up and followed it, glancing around for any more hostiles. Finally, it stopped next to an empty dumpster and tried to pull it aside. It struggled once, then twice, before dropping to its knees. Not a sound came out of it save for a few grunts. She walked over to the dumpster and planted her boot on the wall, grabbing onto the edge and pulling hard. After a bit of effort, the dumpster rolled across the ground, just enough space opening up for her and the creature to pass behind it. There she spotted a small hole in the wall that the creature crawled into.

Groaning, Paula dropped to her knees and followed it inside. “Where are you leading me little-”

She froze. There was another one. All white instead of black. Its face was similar but instead of a built-in frown, it had a built-in smile. The black one hurried over and crouched next to its kin, waving frantically around it. Paula swallowed and drew close, kneeling down in a room that she now realized was some sort of closet. There were a few crates here and there and some rags. Most of the rags had been piled up as a cushion for the white one which lay on its back, breathing weakly. Its injuries were far worse than the one she’d met in the alley.

“You need me to help your friend too?” She asked the dark one.

It looked up at her with big eyes and nodded.

She let out a breath, she only hoped this didn’t get her into any trouble, “Hey Abra, I know you’re watching. We need to get these little guys some treatment, fast. Can you tell the professor?” She called out.

There was a pause, then the abra hanging in the air somewhere nearby let out a low rattling hiss of a cry. The dark one panicked for a moment but Paula remained still, forcing a smile onto her face. “It’s going to be okay. I just called for help,” she soothed. The creature stared at her, its eyes searching her face before it sat down next to its kin and stroked its head. They waited for several minutes before the sounds of boots rang out outside the hole. Paula held up a finger and then crawled back out into the light. She looked up into the eyes of a three-man crew of medics, carrying small bags at their sides.

She exhaled, “They’re inside,” She said.

One of them nodded, “Any way you can get them to come out?”

“I don’t think one of them can move very much and the other was beaten pretty badly by some of the local Timburr, the conscious one is pretty frazzled too, and might panic,” Paula explained.

The medics looked at each other, “That doesn’t make any sense.”

Paula nodded, “I remember what the Professor said, but I saw what I saw, and the injuries speak for themselves.”

The medics nodded, “If they’re letting you close, we need you to give the conscious one a sedative so we can teleport them out. Can you do that?”

Paula’s lips thinned, it felt wrong to betray the little thing’s trust like that, but it wasn’t going to calm down until its friend was treated. She sighed and held out a hand, “Give it to me.”

One of them reached into a pouch and drew out a small spray bottle that looked like a potion. They handed it to her and she slipped back into the closet through the wall. She turned around and spotted a pair of big grey-silver eyes staring at her from close up. It was so close. She swallowed and held up the spray bottle. It looked at it and then at her. Then stepped back and sat down before closing its eyes and jutting out its jaw.

“You heard us, didn’t you?” She asked.

It nodded.

“You can understand me pretty well too.”

It nodded again.

You are reading story Pokemon: Roelle at novel35.com

“Okay, this won’t hurt, just take a deep breath when I spray it,” She said and held out the sedative can. She pressed the trigger and the thin aerosol came out, filling the air in front of the creature’s face. It frowned, then shook its head, and finally began to sway. She hustled to its side and caught it as it fell, letting it rest its head in her lap. As it dozed, she watched the perpetual grimace on its face soften as much as it could, its eyes smiled up at her, and fell shut.

She let out a breath, “Okay Abra, get these little guys somewhere safe.”

There was a hiss followed by a flash of light. A moment later she could hear activity outside of the little hole, a quiet conversation followed by the hustling of boots. By the time she crawled back out, the medics were gone. Paula sighed and slumped against the wall, rubbing her face and tugging on one of her red strands. “Poor little guy,” She murmured. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her rotom phone to check the message she’d been sent earlier. It was a notification saying that the Timburr capture marked her as passing the capture portion of the test. She would still have to complete the forty-eight-hour survival trial.

A second message came in just as she was about to put her phone away. It was from Professor Maple.

‘The two of them are in intensive care right now, Professor Champa is looking them over. You did good, kid.’

Paula smiled and leaned her head back against the wall. Okay, it was time to get back into it. There had to be more wild pokemon around here and if she only could choose one pokemon from the number she caught, she wanted as many options as possible.

A tone sounded as she got to her feet, “Participant Toni has been Disqualified. Be cautious of environmental hazards.”

She turned to move down the alley when three more tones sounded. She blinked and looked up to the sky in confusion. “Participants Alyssa, Sai, and Belle, have been Disqualified. Assaulting another trainer is strictly prohibited.”

Paula blinked, woah. From the sounds of it, Toni got hurt and the other three were the reason for it. How many participants were left? She rubbed her shoulder and made her way down the alley, stepping out into a simulated city street. The dark road stretching to her left and right was framed by tall buildings. She spotted a grimer across the way, inching lazily across the ground. No tag, figures. She glanced around, spotting a few pidgey up a bit too far away to toss a ball. Damn, a pidgeot would be a good way to travel. That was when a tiny yellow shape darted past her to the left. 

She spun and spotted the elekid’s yellow-and-black form hustling across the street. The next thing she saw was the tag hanging off one of its plug-like horns. She called up a pokeball before it got too far away. “Hey!” She shouted.

It stumbled and turned, startled, just as a pokeball bounced against its head and opened, drawing it in with a flash of red light. It wobbled, then fell still. She wiped her brow as it vanished into the air. “Now we’re getting somewhere,” she muttered with a grin. She shoved her hands into her coat pockets and looked around before checking her watch. It had been nearly six hours since the test had started. Given that she’d been awake for several hours already it should be getting fairly close to sundown in Paldea. But they were far from there at this point. That meant that the sun was probably going to be up for a while yet. She had maybe an hour before she really wore herself out. Then there was the time it would take to get back to camp. She sighed, she’d hoped she could at least explore more of the reserve before going back, but it was better to be rested.

Paula pulled out her rotom phone and set it to the map feature, “Alright, lead the way back.”

The phone shifted its position and began directing her. She kept her pace steady, not wanting to draw attention by making a lot of noise while running. She passed a few empty buildings before spotting a flickering flame inside on of them. She squinted through the window, trying to make out what she was seeing. She spotted the shining tag floating somewhere near the flame and made up her mind, looking for the door a few paces down. She pressed her way in quietly, thankful that the door wasn’t used often and the hinges were quiet. She quietly called up another pokeball and pressed her shoulder against a small half-wall to her right before moving to round the corner.

The flame lingered there for a moment before slowly changing color. First reddish orange, then a deeper red, then purple, then blue. Then the body took shape. Litwick! She grit her teeth. It was just a pokemon. The litwick stared at her cautiously before slowly floating up off of the table it was resting on. The flame grew a bit and a rush of adrenaline ran through her fingers. She darted to the left with a quick roll just as a pepper of flames struck the ground where she’d been standing. She threw herself forward to dodge the next volley. She looked up and found that the creature was gone. She whipped her head around, it was floating in front of the door now. She called up a water bottle from her rotom storage.

“C’mon, try it,” She challenged, opening the bottle with a snap. The litwick narrowed it’s eyes and released another volley of embers. She whipped her arm, spraying the water in an arc in front of her, and stepped to the right, pokeball in hand. The embers struck the water, popping into tiny bursts of steam. The litwick, startled, didn’t look to her in time to see the pokeball hurtling toward it. Another pokemon caught. That was three so far.

Paula exhaled as the ball vanished and dragged herself to the door. She was pretty impressed with the Baumsat Pokeballs, were they designed to be a guaranteed catch on pokemon with a shining tag? She supposed that made sense. It wasn’t like they had access to partners of their own to weaken the target with. She hustled outside and got back on track. Making her way back to the eastern edge of the zone. She had to dodge a small swarm of magnemite and magneton as they rushed overhead. A few of them had tags but she was already starting to ache a little. It was time to call it and pick up after some sleep.

Finally, Paula made it to the barrier, switching over to her winter clothes and stepping through into the heavy snow. She marched up the snow drift and listened to the tone ring out again over her head. Another disqualification was followed by two more trainers catching their first. The success rate was looking at about twenty percent right now and they were barely eight hours in. She rubbed her arms and pulled her scarf up as the bitter wind picked up around her. She tucked her shoulders up and began to walk. It was only thirty minutes later when she spotted a pair of figures hustling in her direction from where she was going.

A pair of Galarian trainers wearing winter gear were running across the snow and looking back over their shoulders occasionally. She nearly had a moment to hide but they spotted her anyway. One of them waved to her and she sighed, waving back.

“Hey!” One of them called, “You heading west?”

“Yeah,” Paula said carefully, “Thinking about setting up camp soon.”

The second one huffed, “Might as well go back to the urban zone,” He said, “The only good spot in this warmth-forsaken place was taken already and now there’s this really peeved sneasel sitting on it. We almost got ripped to shreds by that mean thing.”

Paula kept her expression neutral, “I’m thinking about crossing to the other side, seeing what’s over there before setting up. Ran into a ghost type back in the urban zone. Not sleeping anywhere where something can pass through a wall,” She lied.

They looked at one another, “Fair point, we’ll take our chances, though. The mountain zone is pretty rough.”

So the area past the snowy zone was a mountainous area. She committed that to memory, “I’ll take my chances, I appreciate the heads up, though.”

They shrugged, “Suit yourself,” the first said and resumed his jog, the other hurrying past her as well. When the sound of their crunching feet faded into the background she let out a breath and made a direct run towards her camp, barely suppressing a grin. She owed that sneasel another snack if she could afford it. When she finally saw the black rock formation in the distance she practically laughed with relief, slowing down until she drew close enough to see the sneasel standing on top. It was staring off into the snow again, chewing slowly. Was it still eating the same morsel from earlier?

It turned, looked down at her, and sneered. She paused and spotted the figure leaning up against her hut, a blanket wrapped around his body and his face concealed by cloth. She tilted her head before finally recognizing the walking boots. “Gregory?”

The figure looked up and threw the blanket back from over his dark-haired head, “Yo! Paula! What’s cookin? This your place?”

Paula drew closer, “Yeah, looks like you bribed my friend.”

The sneasel wheezed out a laugh from above, she shot it a look and it shrugged, munching on its meal. Gregory laughed, “Yeah, I saw the wrapper next to it and figured it was worth a shot.”

Paula rubbed her eyes, “Well better you than someone else, I suppose. There’s not enough flat space for a second camp, might as well come on in,” She said with a wave of her hand.

His eyes brightened, “Seriously? Thanks!”

A few moments later the two of them were inside the hut, Gregory still bundled up in the warm blankets he’d been in earlier. He sat there for a while, just resting while Paula finally took the time to explore the features of the hut. It was small with a ceiling just high enough to fit a bunk bed on one side. A small table sat in the center with a tiny kitchenette on the opposite side of the bed. Tragically, it didn’t have a restroom but she figured that was asking a bit much. A waste of water, mostly, this thing came with a kitchenette which meant it had a water tank somewhere. She didn’t want to spend potable water on something she could do outside.

She rifled through the tiny pantry and found some noodles, dried vegetables, and meat-flavored protein slices. She started the stove and in a few minutes a fragrant smell was passing through the room. 

“How many have you caught?” She asked Gregory, not really wanting the answer but hated the awkward silence.

“Six, you?”

“Three, I started off here, not a lot of pickings in the snowy zone.”

He shrugged, “Dunno about that, found myself a vanillite.”

She glanced over her shoulder, “Really? I haven’t seen one yet.”

He nodded, “Had to lure it away from a vaniluxe though, didn’t realize how big those things got. Scary actually now that I’ve seen one for myself.”

She stirred the pot and turned his way, “That was pretty reckless.”

“I knew what I was doing,” He said confidently.

She raised a silent eyebrow and went back to cooking. “Where did you start off?”

He laughed, “In the water if you can believe it, just sploosh! There's a water zone at the center of the reserve, all the other areas surround it. I got a good look at where everything is while I was there but ended up making for the shore in the forest zone. Went south to the mountain zone then ended up here. You?”

“I started in the snow,” She said grimly, “Made shelter first thing and then set out towards the urban zone, stayed there a while before coming back.”

“Playing it safe,” Gregory nodded, “Sound’s like you.”

“We’ve known each other what, two hours collectively?” She pointed out.

“That’s long enough!” He blurted just as his stomach growled. His face darkened and he cleared his throat. “I uh… couldn’t figure a good place to set up camp is all.”

She looked back at him incredulously and then sighed, smirking a little, “I figured,” She said and set down a bowl of hot noodles in front of him. “Eat up and get some sleep. If we crash now we’ll wake up in the middle of the local night cycle. Different pokemon will be out and about.”

She sat down and started scarfing down the noodles, reminded her of dorm life. He looked down at the noodles and in an instant was doing the same. “You’re crazy reliable, know that?” He said with a mouth full of food. She huffed and shoveled another wad of noodles into her mouth and chewed. He continued, “Were you like, student council or somethin?”

She glanced up at him, this guy was irritatingly observant, “President.”

He blinked, “Woah, your majesty! Sorry I didn’t give a proper salute!” 

She tilted her head and blinked at him, “What the- you know that’s not-” She paused as she saw the grin on his face. “Ah, messing with me.”

“You gotta lighten up a little,” He laughed, “Look at where we are!”

She frowned and sipped at the broth, “I think I lightened up a lot already, thanks,” She paused and then glanced around the hut before turning her eyes toward the door, visualizing the wilderness outside. “But… yeah, it’s pretty amazing isn’t it?”

He slurped down the last of his food, “Darn right it is,” He chuckled, hopping to his feet and making his way to the sink to rinse out the bowl before waddling over to the bunk bed. “Top bunk is all yours.”

She glanced at it and made a face, “Take it, I like the ground.”

He looked back at her, “Heights?”

She frowned and looked away, “Don’t push it, Gregory.”

He shrugged and made his way up to the top bunk, flopping down and rolling himself in the blanket he’d brought with him until he looked like a burrito. She shook her head, downed the last of her own food and cleaned up. She crossed the room and slipped into the lower bunk. As she did she heard him clear his throat, “Thanks for the food, Paula. It was good.”

She scratched her neck and sighed, “Get some rest you dope, you need to figure out a campsite tomorrow. Got it?”

He didn’t respond, instead, she could hear his gentle snores from above. She rubbed her face and sighed, flopping back onto the bed. She hit the pillow and felt drowsiness overtake her. Her eyes grew heavy, and soon, she was asleep.

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