Green couldn’t believe the horror that awaited them at Cinnabar Island. On their way to Cinnabar Mountain, Florian told them that before they could start their accent they’d have to register their hike at a processing centre. The processing centre was a wide, rectangular building that sat at the base of the mountain, cast in its shadow. The crowd of people and pokémon huddled around it, filling the surrounding courtyards, and even spilling out onto the streets.

Hundreds and hundreds of people. Squished together like canned food. Their jostling rippled back and forth across the human mass, like waves. Green wasn’t even in the crowd, and already she could hardly breathe.

Green and the others gawked at it from the mouth of an alleyway a few blocks down the road. She craned her neck for a look at the entrance. It was a measly little thing. A single glass door, for well over five hundred people. And no one was going through it.

Rangers blocked the way. A group of five stood on the steps leading up to the door, facing the crowd. Their red coats stood out like blood on a handkerchief. The one on the very top step was shouting with a puffed chest. But their voice was lost to an impenetrable wall of idle chatter, shouting, laughter, and the cries of Pokémon.

“I don’t believe it…” Florian said. “Now? During the festival?”

“What? What’s going on?” Green asked.

“Every few months or so they shut down the mountain. You know, for like inspections and stuff. But never during the day, and especially not during the Festival of Fire. ”

Abby huffed. “They’re gonna get eaten alive.”

The people crowded around the steps were shouting and waving their arms. They inched ever so closer as the crowd’s ripples collided with them. The Rangers on the bottom steps touched the pokéball holsters on their arms as they backed away.

“We should get out of here before things get nasty,” Abby added. “They’ll probably find some way to blame us.”

“Something must be wrong,” Nurse Joy said. “They wouldn’t do this for no reason.”

Abby laughed. “You mustn’t know many Rangers.”

“Forget them,” Green said. “There’s gotta be another way to the peak, right?”

They all looked at Florian.

“Well…” Florian looked side to side. “They’re not for rookies. This place exists for a reason, you know.”

“We’re not rookies.” Green tapped her belt – her new belt, not the empty gesture tucked away in her backpack.

“Right, no offence, but unless you climbed a mountain to get each of those badges, you’re a rookie hiker.”

“Fine, sure. But that’s why you’re here.”

“Y- Yeah, but-”

“It doesn’t matter how hard it is. I’ll do it. With or without you.”

Florian raised his hands. “Okay okay. I wasn’t saying no. Just warning you, that’s all.”

“Warning noted. Now, where do we have to go?”

“There’s a couple options. The best one for summiting would probably be-”

“Florian!”

An old man decked out in hiking gear broke out of the crowd and jogged across the street. A bird pokémon Green had never seen before was perched on his shoulder. Small, with an orange head and grey wings, it bobbed along happily with every step the man took.

The interruption made them all start, but none more so than Florian. He stiffened, stood tall, and flushed as red as his hair. If the man hadn’t thought they were up to anything before, he surely would now.

“D- Dad! What are you doing here?”

“Singing songs. What do you think I’m doing here, son? What are you doing here?”

“W- Well, you see, I-”

“Alex said he could do his first tour, Jack,” Joy said.

“Fletch! Fletchling!” The little bird Pokémon cried.

It hopped onto Joy’s head, landing on spindly little talons. Joy giggled like a tinkling bell. The sort of giggle that made you want to ravage the person. Green had to take a deep breath to settle herself.

Jack stroked a neat and orderly, white goatee. “Ah. Did she now?”

“I’m an adult now, dad. I’m ready.”

“Now now, cool your jets kiddo. I happen to agree. Should have had you out years ago, I reckon.” Jack shrugged. “But what can you do? Shame it had to be today of all days.”

Joy held out her finger, and Fletchling perched on it. “Any idea what’s going on?”

“They said something about scheduled maintenance. Sounds like a load of rubbish to me, but what do I know?” Jack stretched his arms and yawned. “Damn heat. Come on, Fletchling! Let’s get home.”

Reluctantly, Fletchling left Joy’s finger. It fluttered through the air and settled on Jack’s shoulder.

“Home?” Florian asked. “Dad, you can’t.”

“Why? Did it get up and run away?”

“No! Look around, Dad. When’s the last time you’ve ever seen so many customers?”

“All I see is a bunch of people who haven’t accepted that their plans have been cancelled.”

“Exactly! We should be taking groups up the unmarked trails, not napping. Think of all the money.”

Jack shrugged, to Fletchling’s annoyance. “Eh. Sounds like more trouble than it’s worth. I’m sure whatever this is, it’ll be cleared up in a couple of days.”

“But, Dad-”

“Learn to relax, kiddo. We’re hardly scraping by these days. A couple days rest won’t kill you.” Jack patted him on the shoulder. “Make sure to get these nice folks their refunds. I’ll see you back home, okay?” Without waiting for a reply, he headed off down the alley, whistling a bouncy tune with Fletchling.

“I’m not taking a refund,” Green said once Jack was out of ear shout.

Florian set his jaw. “Good, you’re not getting one. We’re going up that mountain.”

***

Abby felt like such an idiot. There she was, walking alongside a guy who was clearly into her, and she couldn’t bring herself to say a damn word. When had she ever had trouble talking to people? She wasn’t a shy person. Shy people froze up around strangers. They looked at their feet and gave one-worded, non-committal answers to every conversation starter.

The fact Green and Joy were openly flirting a few paces behind them on the trail wasn’t helping matters. If Abby and Florian weren’t there, they probably would have snuck off into the huge, bulbous bushes to fuck. Honestly, it was surprising they hadn’t anyway, knowing Green. The ease with which Green did all… that , made Abby feel like she’d forgotten how to read, or walk, or something simple like that.

Was it because Florian was hot? The summer sun glistened in the waves of his messy, fiery-red hair. As he explained the ecosystem to Abby – the fireproof plants, the rock-bark trees, the bushes that sprayed themselves when caught on fire, the super fertile soil that resulted from the unusually large roots of the plant life and the volcanic ash – when he talked about nature his gorgeous blue eyes flared. His pink face flushed whenever they made eye contact; a perfect, round face with adorable cheek dimples… and… and… Arceus above, he was perfect . When he smiled it all gleamed. Radiant.

But Abby had met plenty of hot people: Misty, The Joy sisters, Darcy, Surge… Green. None of them made her act like this. Maybe it was because of Dragonair. Yes. Yes, that must be it.

Dragonair – the little bastard – vied for attention while staying a pointedly far distance away. He danced amongst the clouds. They swirled into whispy patterns like white smoke. I’m sure the people who live around a recently erupted volcano just love the sight of that . He fired off Dragon Rages that exploded like thunder. Just the thing they needed while trying to sneak around Rangers. She should have returned him to his pokéball, but that felt like letting him win. Every time I think I’ve come to understand that pokémon, he’ll do something like this .

Try as she might, however, Abby couldn’t stay mad at him. Whenever she’d stay mad at him for too long, she’d remember the day they met, the time when he saved her from Flint’s Aggron, or when he’d comforted her on Route 15, or any of the other countless happy memories they’d shared; grand and mundane. The shithead was her best friend, like it or not.

Further along Florian backwater trail, a large group of people rounded a bend. A man Abby’s age led them. His black ponytail snapped in the wind. He had six pokéballs and eight badges on his belt. All of his hiking gear was as black as his hair. It absorbed the sunlight, snuffing out any glow. An Incineroar walked beside him; a red and black, feline, humanoid Pokémon with a muscular build. Flames formed a belt around its waist. Its bright, green-yellow eyes glared at Dragonair. It bared jaws of dangerous fangs.

The trainer all in black waved to them. “Yo! Florian!”

All the light drained from Florian. “Zeke.”

“Huh? Gotta speak up man, can’t hear you!”

Florian said nothing.

Green appeared at Florian’s side. “Who’s that?”

Of course, she can talk to him like it’s nothing.

“Eldest Son of the Ken family. They run Everything Nature.”

“The number one guide in Cinnabar,” Joy added.

Florian shot her a glare.

“What? It’s true.”

“They aren’t the best guides. Just the most popular.”

“Oh, whatever, you knew what I meant.”

Florian set his jaw, and Zeke’s group arrived.

Zeke stopped to address them, putting his back to Florian. “Sorry folks! If you go on back to Everything Nature, my father will happily issue you all full refunds! Don’t forget to sign up to our loyalty program. That way, if the mountain opens back up, you’ll be the first to hear about it! Guaranteed!”

The group carried on down the trail. Some muttered thanks to Zeke. Most grumbled amongst themselves and shot him dirty looks. Incineroar met those looks with his fierce eyes until Zeke swatted his arm, which made the huge pokémon huff and go back to glaring at Dragonair. Dragonair let off a Dragon Rage as if he could tell he was being challenged.

Zeke whistled and turned around, grinning. “When’s the last time we had a dragon ‘round here, Florian? Ten years? They sure are somethin’, damn.”

“Why are you coming back? What’s wrong with the trail?”

“Rangers got it covered.” Zeke patted a walkie on his belt. “Same with the other backways. Even little skid marks like Slugma’s Trail and Rapidash Way. Shoot, they even got the track the Charmanders use for summer migration covered. They don’t want nobody goin’ up there. No way. No how.”

Florian clicked his tongue. “The hell’s the problem? They never do this for routine maintenance.”

“Maybe they caught on to our tricks?”

“There’s gotta be someway up.”

“Nope. There ain’t.” Zeke touched his walkie again. “Unless you plan on trekkin’ through the underbrush like mainlander.”

“You couldn’t have checked all of them.”

Zeke touched his walkie. “Sure I can. Got a hundred other guys out there doin’ just that. They’ve all been turned around. Not even the good old high-vis jacket could get us past. Those red coats don’t want nobody goin’ up there.”

“They say why?” Green asked.

Zeke looked at Green as if noticing her for the first time. His eyes slithered up and down her body, lingering on her breasts. “Somethin’ ‘bout upset pokémon.”

“And you bought that lie?”

Zeke laughed. “Whoa now, pretty woman! No need to get all feisty! I ain’t one to go ‘bout stickin’ my nose in places it don’t belong. They say go away. I go away. No point gettin’ arrested over nothin’… now… Well, holy shit. You’re her aren’t ya?” Zeke looked at Abby. “And so are you! No wonder y’all want a pick a fight with them redcoats. Best you get outta here before they catch sight of you, or y’all might end up, ‘disrespectin’ a ranger on duty’. You too, Florian. Wouldn’t want your first day of guidin’ to end in handcuffs. It’s already been enough of a disappointment.”

“Shut your mouth,” Florian snapped.

Zeke started. “S- Sorry, man. I didn’t… damn, come on, you know I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant-”

Florian shouldered past him. Incineroar bellowed. Abby felt it deep in her chest. He took a step forward, but Zeke stopped him with a hand to the chest.

“Man, come back! Don’t waste your time!” Zeke said as Florian stalked down the path.

“Come on guys!” Florian waved to them. “We’re going up that mountain.”

Joy shrugged and followed him, and Abby hurried after her.

“We keep botherin’ ‘em and they’re bound to get pissed off! They’ll do worse than just turn you away!”

“We can handle ourselves, ugly boy,” Green said.

LunaGB

Thanks for reading! Feedback is appreciated <3 This is the final daily upload. I can't promise when the next chapter will come out, as I want to finish another project first. My best guess is 2-3 months

Next chapter, Abby tries to con a pair of rangers

Also, here are the main trio's trainer cards (trainer sprites are approximations)