Chapter 184: Chapter 184
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[Alliance Calendar Year 1, March 14] [This is my third day as an Alliance Ranger, and my tasks continue.]
Swish, swish, swish.
A girl named Ain leaned against a tree trunk, holding her notebook, ready to record today's observations.
Completing the ranger's log was a daily task for every ranger.
Snap.
Ain closed her small notebook. The rest of the content would have to be written after seeing things firsthand.
She had thought that after leaving the Navy's new recruit training camp, she would become an honorable marine. Instead, she was assigned to be an Alliance Ranger.
This wasn't common in the current Navy.
With the sharp decline in pirates, the Navy's demand wasn't as pressing as before, so many marines were transferred to work with the Pokémon Alliance.
For them, it was just a change of workplace and department.
Recently, the forest on the outskirts of Alliance City had suddenly expanded. The forest grew so large that the Pokémon originally living there felt uneasy and were hesitant to venture into unfamiliar areas.
Especially since the forest now housed various fierce beasts.
While not extremely powerful, these beasts were deadly enough for ordinary people and young Pokémon, causing the once peaceful life of the Pokémon to become fraught with danger.
The rangers' job was to ensure the forest's natural order wasn't disrupted by human activities and to rescue Pokémon in emergencies.
"Leavanny, let's go. Today, we need to venture deeper."
As a ranger, Ain had her own Pokémon, one adept at navigating the forest.
This was a prerequisite for becoming a ranger.
If one's partner was a Steel-type or Fire-type Pokémon, those trainers would likely not qualify for the ranger position.
The ranger's job was arduous, but the daily routine of observing the forest with one's partner fascinated some people.
Moreover, rangers were well compensated.
Due to the inherent dangers, their salary was five times that of Pokémon Center medical staff, and they had eight days off each month.
The only downside for Ain was the shift rotation—working day shifts one month and night shifts the next.
The two of them hopped from tree branch to tree branch through the forest.
Even though Ain was just a very strong ordinary person, she could still move between trees, a basic skill for rangers.
In the forest, if you couldn't jump from tree to tree, you might as well go home. There's always someone ready to take your place!
Pokémon Island was never short of people and Pokémon!
"Lev!"
During their progress, Leavanny's head leaf suddenly stood upright, and it halted.
"Crawl forward."
As Leavanny's caretaker, Ain understood her partner well.
Leavanny meant there was a strong presence ahead.
Ain knew there must be a powerful wild Pokémon claiming that territory.
Ordinary beasts in the forest were no match for Leavanny. For Leavanny to call something strong, it had to be a Pokémon.
Ain and Leavanny landed on the ground and crawled forward, using bushes for cover.
Ain's ranger uniform, developed by Monet using combat suit technology provided by Reiju, featured cat-like pads on the feet, allowing her to move silently.
Soon, Ain saw the Pokémon Leavanny had sensed.
It was a green Scyther!
This Scyther's arms were blood-red, with traces of dried blood, and its eyes were bloodshot, likely from recent combat.
At Scyther's feet lay five hyena-like creatures, obviously wild animals from the One Piece world.
These hyenas must have either fought Scyther for territory or seen it as prey, not realizing the formidable opponent they were challenging.
Pokémon living on Pokémon Island were well aware of their surroundings and rarely attacked other creatures unless provoked, especially not lethally.
Without deep grudges, Pokémon typically drove other creatures out of their territory rather than killing them.
Ain watched silently, not intervening.
She pulled out her ranger's log and began recording everything she saw.
[A powerful Scyther resides in the northeast area of the Western Alliance Forest, high-level and hostile. Not suitable for novice trainers.]
[Danger Level: ☆☆☆☆]
Currently, trainers in the Pokémon Alliance had official public rankings.
Novice → Advanced → Expert → Professional → Gym Leader → (Elite) → Elite Four → (Champion) → Champion → Master
Each level had different criteria, considering both the number of Pokémon and their levels.
These rankings were recorded in trainers' ID information, based on the most recent data.
This helped trainers understand their own strength and also regulated who could participate in various activities.
For example, Dragon of the Revolutionary Army often had other responsibilities, leaving little time to manage his gym.
Thus, only expert trainers (with six Pokémon at level 30 or above) could challenge Dragon, the Dragon-type gym leader of Baltigo.
Participating in the Pokémon Island Battle Tournament required meeting professional trainer standards.
Without these rules, gym leaders could be overwhelmed by thousands of novice trainers daily.
"Lev."
Leavanny patiently waited for Ain to finish recording before they moved deeper into the forest.
As Alliance Rangers, they had to identify the 'bosses' of the forest, mapping their territories to plan their patrols.
For example, Flying-type rangers would be assigned around Grass-type bosses, Electric-type rangers around Flying-type bosses, etc.
The goal was to have countermeasures in place.
In the following days, Ain's tasks continued.
[Alliance Calendar Year 1, March 15]
[A major conflict occurred between Pinsir and Heracross groups near the southeastern lake, which was calmed by the lake's boss, Swampert.]
[Sudowoodo fell into the lake.]
[Alliance Calendar Year 1, March 16]
[Found a Pokémon egg, waited a day without seeing its parents, had to take the egg for care.]
[Sudowoodo fell into the lake again.]
[Alliance Calendar Year 1, March 17]
[A Bonsly and Sudowoodo fell into the lake.]
Days passed.
Late at night, Ain lay in the rangers' cabin.
Moonlight filtered through the window, illuminating the bed where the girl lay, staring at the moon outside.
Ain had heard that the Pokémon Alliance was preparing to build a breeding base in the suburbs, providing a place for staff to find Pokémon.
She also heard that there would soon be a vote to choose the 'Starter Nine' Pokémon for the breeding base. These nine would be the Alliance's focus for future breeding.
In the future, the descendants of distinguished Alliance staff could choose a Pokémon from the Starter Nine when they were ready to travel.
"Leavanny, let's take a vacation to visit the breeding base."
"Lev?"
Leavanny tilted its head, unsure what was so interesting.
"We should see what the legendary Starter Nine Pokémon are like!"
Ain seemed very interested in the final decision for the Starter Nine.
"Lev."
Leavanny wasn't curious, but it was willing to accompany Ain.
"Hehe, let's get some sleep. We have to get up early. The Primeape in the south have been restless and might attack the Shroomish territory."
Ain smiled, snuggled into her bed, and pulled Leavanny in for a hug.
Having a partner to sleep with was a new joy for Ain, and she deeply appreciated Leavanny's presence, loving the Pokémon from her heart.
She had already decided to protect the Pokémon in this forest.
"Lev."
"Good night."
Meanwhile.
In the Breeding House.
Dak sat at his desk, a map of Alliance City laid out before him.
He was considering where to build the breeding base.
The base had to be large enough—not as vast as the Safari Zone, but ample for nine Pokémon species to live without fighting for territory.
"Darkrai, where do you think is best?"
"Dark..."
Darkrai pointed to a spot on the map.
It was Vegapunk's research facility.
(End of Chapter)
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