Post by Winter on May 6, 2012 15:37:52 GMT -6
Story :3
---
“Hey, good lookin',” someone drawled out.
Ivy had felt the presence approach before he spoke, so she finished the sentence she was writing on her paperwork before looking up. She meant to ask what he wanted in a polite question, but when she saw who it was, what she said was, “Oh, it's just you. What do you want?”
The man in question pulled a fist to his heart as if pained, but there was laughter in his eyes. The grin never left his face. “Ouch. Like a knife,” he said, flicking his head to get some of his red-brown hair out of his eyes.
Leo, one of her fellow Elite Rangers, was known for his smooth tongue and luck with the ladies. If she wasn't mistaken, some of the other guys had a competition going on with him. The challenge was to woo as many of the secretaries as possible. Leo was winning.
“You bet,” Ivy responded as she set her pen down. She thought it was fun to counter his suggestive comments. It made work more fun.
The man got closer and half sat on the edge of the desk, folding his arms across his chest. She was lucky this was in the main work area. If there had been anything else on the surface, he probably wouldn't have moved it. She didn't work out in this area often, since each Ranger had their own personal office, but sometimes she liked to hear everyone else moving around.
“What, is it a crime to want to talk to a beautiful woman?” he asked, trying to put an innocent look on.
She rolled her eyes as she sat up straighter, pulling at the collar of her black turtleneck. She knew she wasn't Leo's type. He preferred more feminine women, usually of the blonde variety. Madison was a good example of this with her barely-acceptable low-cut shirts. He was currently sneaking glances at the secretary over his shoulder. Ivy just shook her head.
With Ivy's long red hair and sarcastic tone, they were a bit at odds against each other. That was just fine for her, though, since she was busy enough with Park-related work. She didn't need to worry about Leo too.
“Right. So what's up?”
“Well,” he started, turning his attention back to her, “Argent reported from the Woods that there was some rock damage. He couldn't stay to check it out, since he's with a Trainer, but he thought it looked like the Dwebble's work.” He shrugged. “Normally that wouldn't be a problem, since they make shelter like that, but if they're doing that much damage, something must be up. Go check it out for me?” he added sweetly, smiling brilliantly at her.
Ivy sighed. “And you can't go because...?”
“I have some... other things going on,” he said, looking over his shoulder again at the honey-colored woman behind the main counter.
“Uh... huh.”
She was used to this really, so it didn't bother her very much. Occasionally they had to check out areas of the Park that were reported in. It was against policy to do so while guiding a Trainer, since that wasted the Trainer's time, so one of the free Rangers was called out to do it. Paperwork wasn't the most interesting thing in the world, so with a sigh she relented.
“I guess I can cover for you just this once. You owe me, though,” she added.
Leo turned and gave her that charming smile again. “Thanks, Ivy. You're the best.” Then, he shoved off the desk and stalked toward the counter. At least Madison had proved she could handle herself.
Ivy got up and stretched, hearing that pop in her spine. She had been sitting a little too long. Being a Ranger was great outdoors work, but the paper trail part of it wasn't nearly as fun.
She weaved around the desks in the center of the room and passed the long counter on her way to the hallway. She smiled to herself at hearing Madison's giggles and the low hum of conversation from other Ranger's working. The scanner clicked and gave off static sounds every once in a while when a Ranger in the field chimed in. There was something comforting about familiar things. Work provided that stability for her.
She pushed open the wooden door to her office, intent on getting her equipment. Everything was in the place she left it, which meant nobody had been snooping. Sometimes things would be missing, and then she had to go hunt down the culprits. The long wooden table against the wall to the right was still neatly organized, however, and all of the drawers on the filing cabinets in the back were shut.
Due to the number of Rangers and the size of the outpost, a lot of the offices were small, like hers. Some of them used to be broom closets. Still, her steel desk fit in the center nicely, with enough room to walk around it without bumping into anything. She reached toward the desk to grab her phone and clip it to her belt when she saw the creature curled up in her rolling chair.
Haji, her Espeon, was sleeping on and off. She was picking that much up from his brainwaves. Thanks to their mental connection, they could communicate mind-to-mind. It let her know a lot of things about him, and vice versa.
The purple cat was parked in his favorite spot. He was seemingly motionless, but apart from the signature in his mind, she knew he was awake as his forked tail flicked up and down once. Darker violet eyes looked up at her as she reached for her long vest on the back of the chair. The red canvas was just a shade darker than the gem in the center of the Psychic Pokemon's forehead.
She swung the coat over her shoulders as Haji's voice brushed against her mind. “The Woods have been quiet,” he said. He already knew where she was going thanks to their mental connection. Sometimes she didn't know what to make of his advice. He was often subtle.
“Yeah, I wonder what's got the Dwebble worked up, if that's what's going on. You wanna come?” she asked. Haji often went with her on expeditions. She thought it was mostly to watch out for her. He was funny like that.
In response, the cat closed his eyes. “I will stay,” he answered, content to nap.
“Sure,” she said to her office as she checked the pockets of her vest. “Maybe Vergil will come with.” She felt the sarcastic vibe roll across her mind even as she said it, and she knew that that cat was probably right. Vergil, her Gallade, didn't really like her too much. She had been trying to connect with him for weeks, but nothing was working. Helping him evolve from his Kirlia state hadn't changed anything between them.
She padded the contents of her black pants, making sure she had everything she needed. While they weren't supposed to interfere with the wildlife, she sometimes made exceptions. As a Park enforcer, she took it as her responsibility to make sure all the Pokemon here were safe. If one of them was injured she wasn't going to let it suffer. It was just like the check she was going to do. If the Dwebble really were damaging things, the Rangers were going to have to stop it. It would disrupt the other wildlife.
She said farewell to Haji as she left, going back down the hallway and into the main area again. Both Madison and Leo were gone, not so surprisingly, but she paid little attention to it as she headed for the door. Once outside, she was blasted with rays of sunlight, and she had to cover her eyes as she looked around.
At least it was a nice day. There were hardly any clouds covering up the blue sky, and it was a moderate enough temperature for her turtleneck not to be roasting. She would wear something a little more airy, but from all the traipsing around she did, she got too many scratches and cuts if she didn't cover up.
Normally, her Crobat came out to greet her, but today the air was empty. Instead, her attention was drawn to a tree on the edge of the dusty lot. She headed over here, calling out a greeting as she approached. The Woods were just a little beyond the main outpost.
“Hey, Vergil,” she said, smiling at the Gallade leaning up against the foliage.
The human-like Pokemon had his green arms folded across his chest, and he was glaring at her. Ivy forced herself to keep that smile plastered on her face despite his attitude as she stopped in front of him. He was slightly under her average five foot seven height, with white legs and body. There was also a pink horn in the center of his body that some said centered his power.
She wasn't sure how developed his mental capabilities were, though. She assumed that he didn't make that mental connection with her because he didn't want to, but it crossed her mind that maybe he couldn't. Vergil could talk to Haji, however, and she wasn't sure if Pokemon and humans varied with communication. She wasn't sure if he could read her mind like Haji could either.
“I'm going out to the Woods to look at something. Do you wanna come with?” she asked. She was desperate to do anything to try and bond with him. So far giving him his space hadn't worked, but she was sure if she ordered something, it would just backfire too.
In answer to her question, he turned way from her deliberately, putting his back to her. Ivy sighed softly. She tried.
As she headed to the Woods, she tried not to let Vergil's actions sting. It mostly worked. He was like Dual, Chainy's Gallade, in so many ways, but they differed in personality greatly. She got along very well with the other Gallade, but Vergil refused to have any sort of connection to her. It wouldn't normally bother her so much, since plenty of people didn't like her, except her Pokemon were all the family she had. Maybe one day she'd figure out the answer to their problem.
She came to the entrance to the forest and checked her radio speaker clipped to her vest collar. They were a semi-new piece of equipment for all the Rangers, since receptions with phones was shaky in some spots. Using the radio system worked much better, since they could report right to the main outpost. It was handy if there was a problem.
Apparently whatever Argent had found was a problem. She unclipped her phone from her belt and pulled up the stats page to see where in the Woods she was going. All the routes were numbered, but since they reset in each area, the paths had names too. It looked like she was going to Black Brush path.
She put her phone back as she ducked into the darkened woods. It was sunny, but the overlapping canopy blotted out the light. She remembered a couple of Trainers she took here had been frightened by the darkness and the eerie snapping of the twigs underfoot, but she was used to it by now. She and her Crobat often trained here, since it helped develop the bat's senses.
The Woods were quiet as she turned from the neatly-rowed trees to a wilder part of the forest. There was plenty of underbrush here, and the trees were larger in circumference and scattered around. It was a good place for a battleground, and she had taken Trainers in this direction several times.
It was where she found Argent's marker too. The area was quiet, and there was no company but the fallen trees and bushes. She found the pile of rocks that had been reported, and Ivy was amazed at the size. There had to be over twenty various-sized rocks all pulled together into a pile.
It was strange, and Ivy's brows furrowed as she neared. The scorpion-like Dwebble made their rock homes by spraying a corrosive acid from their mouths that melted sections of the stone away until they could fit inside. However, it was strange for so many rocks to be in one place. Some Dwebble did stay together in groups, but she hadn't seen a pack this large. Something like that would've been noticed by one of the Rangers.
She crouched down by one of the large rocks that was easily up to her knees while standing. There were sections of the rock melted away, but there were no Dwebble that would choose a rock so big. They wouldn't be able to carry it around. The other rocks were all similar too, with wide holes dug into them.
“You know,” she said to nobody in particular, “these edges aren't as smooth as they should be.” She ran her hand over one of the edges, feeling the bumps and cracks in the stone. A Dwebble's acidic liquid also repaired rocks, making them useable. “Could they be man made?” There were a few chemicals on the market, as well as a few that weren't, that could've done this, she supposed.
She was just speculating, but if that were true, that meant someone else was in the Park. She was very sure a Ranger wouldn't have done this, and if it was some sort of experiment, there would've been some record of it.
---
“Hey, good lookin',” someone drawled out.
Ivy had felt the presence approach before he spoke, so she finished the sentence she was writing on her paperwork before looking up. She meant to ask what he wanted in a polite question, but when she saw who it was, what she said was, “Oh, it's just you. What do you want?”
The man in question pulled a fist to his heart as if pained, but there was laughter in his eyes. The grin never left his face. “Ouch. Like a knife,” he said, flicking his head to get some of his red-brown hair out of his eyes.
Leo, one of her fellow Elite Rangers, was known for his smooth tongue and luck with the ladies. If she wasn't mistaken, some of the other guys had a competition going on with him. The challenge was to woo as many of the secretaries as possible. Leo was winning.
“You bet,” Ivy responded as she set her pen down. She thought it was fun to counter his suggestive comments. It made work more fun.
The man got closer and half sat on the edge of the desk, folding his arms across his chest. She was lucky this was in the main work area. If there had been anything else on the surface, he probably wouldn't have moved it. She didn't work out in this area often, since each Ranger had their own personal office, but sometimes she liked to hear everyone else moving around.
“What, is it a crime to want to talk to a beautiful woman?” he asked, trying to put an innocent look on.
She rolled her eyes as she sat up straighter, pulling at the collar of her black turtleneck. She knew she wasn't Leo's type. He preferred more feminine women, usually of the blonde variety. Madison was a good example of this with her barely-acceptable low-cut shirts. He was currently sneaking glances at the secretary over his shoulder. Ivy just shook her head.
With Ivy's long red hair and sarcastic tone, they were a bit at odds against each other. That was just fine for her, though, since she was busy enough with Park-related work. She didn't need to worry about Leo too.
“Right. So what's up?”
“Well,” he started, turning his attention back to her, “Argent reported from the Woods that there was some rock damage. He couldn't stay to check it out, since he's with a Trainer, but he thought it looked like the Dwebble's work.” He shrugged. “Normally that wouldn't be a problem, since they make shelter like that, but if they're doing that much damage, something must be up. Go check it out for me?” he added sweetly, smiling brilliantly at her.
Ivy sighed. “And you can't go because...?”
“I have some... other things going on,” he said, looking over his shoulder again at the honey-colored woman behind the main counter.
“Uh... huh.”
She was used to this really, so it didn't bother her very much. Occasionally they had to check out areas of the Park that were reported in. It was against policy to do so while guiding a Trainer, since that wasted the Trainer's time, so one of the free Rangers was called out to do it. Paperwork wasn't the most interesting thing in the world, so with a sigh she relented.
“I guess I can cover for you just this once. You owe me, though,” she added.
Leo turned and gave her that charming smile again. “Thanks, Ivy. You're the best.” Then, he shoved off the desk and stalked toward the counter. At least Madison had proved she could handle herself.
Ivy got up and stretched, hearing that pop in her spine. She had been sitting a little too long. Being a Ranger was great outdoors work, but the paper trail part of it wasn't nearly as fun.
She weaved around the desks in the center of the room and passed the long counter on her way to the hallway. She smiled to herself at hearing Madison's giggles and the low hum of conversation from other Ranger's working. The scanner clicked and gave off static sounds every once in a while when a Ranger in the field chimed in. There was something comforting about familiar things. Work provided that stability for her.
She pushed open the wooden door to her office, intent on getting her equipment. Everything was in the place she left it, which meant nobody had been snooping. Sometimes things would be missing, and then she had to go hunt down the culprits. The long wooden table against the wall to the right was still neatly organized, however, and all of the drawers on the filing cabinets in the back were shut.
Due to the number of Rangers and the size of the outpost, a lot of the offices were small, like hers. Some of them used to be broom closets. Still, her steel desk fit in the center nicely, with enough room to walk around it without bumping into anything. She reached toward the desk to grab her phone and clip it to her belt when she saw the creature curled up in her rolling chair.
Haji, her Espeon, was sleeping on and off. She was picking that much up from his brainwaves. Thanks to their mental connection, they could communicate mind-to-mind. It let her know a lot of things about him, and vice versa.
The purple cat was parked in his favorite spot. He was seemingly motionless, but apart from the signature in his mind, she knew he was awake as his forked tail flicked up and down once. Darker violet eyes looked up at her as she reached for her long vest on the back of the chair. The red canvas was just a shade darker than the gem in the center of the Psychic Pokemon's forehead.
She swung the coat over her shoulders as Haji's voice brushed against her mind. “The Woods have been quiet,” he said. He already knew where she was going thanks to their mental connection. Sometimes she didn't know what to make of his advice. He was often subtle.
“Yeah, I wonder what's got the Dwebble worked up, if that's what's going on. You wanna come?” she asked. Haji often went with her on expeditions. She thought it was mostly to watch out for her. He was funny like that.
In response, the cat closed his eyes. “I will stay,” he answered, content to nap.
“Sure,” she said to her office as she checked the pockets of her vest. “Maybe Vergil will come with.” She felt the sarcastic vibe roll across her mind even as she said it, and she knew that that cat was probably right. Vergil, her Gallade, didn't really like her too much. She had been trying to connect with him for weeks, but nothing was working. Helping him evolve from his Kirlia state hadn't changed anything between them.
She padded the contents of her black pants, making sure she had everything she needed. While they weren't supposed to interfere with the wildlife, she sometimes made exceptions. As a Park enforcer, she took it as her responsibility to make sure all the Pokemon here were safe. If one of them was injured she wasn't going to let it suffer. It was just like the check she was going to do. If the Dwebble really were damaging things, the Rangers were going to have to stop it. It would disrupt the other wildlife.
She said farewell to Haji as she left, going back down the hallway and into the main area again. Both Madison and Leo were gone, not so surprisingly, but she paid little attention to it as she headed for the door. Once outside, she was blasted with rays of sunlight, and she had to cover her eyes as she looked around.
At least it was a nice day. There were hardly any clouds covering up the blue sky, and it was a moderate enough temperature for her turtleneck not to be roasting. She would wear something a little more airy, but from all the traipsing around she did, she got too many scratches and cuts if she didn't cover up.
Normally, her Crobat came out to greet her, but today the air was empty. Instead, her attention was drawn to a tree on the edge of the dusty lot. She headed over here, calling out a greeting as she approached. The Woods were just a little beyond the main outpost.
“Hey, Vergil,” she said, smiling at the Gallade leaning up against the foliage.
The human-like Pokemon had his green arms folded across his chest, and he was glaring at her. Ivy forced herself to keep that smile plastered on her face despite his attitude as she stopped in front of him. He was slightly under her average five foot seven height, with white legs and body. There was also a pink horn in the center of his body that some said centered his power.
She wasn't sure how developed his mental capabilities were, though. She assumed that he didn't make that mental connection with her because he didn't want to, but it crossed her mind that maybe he couldn't. Vergil could talk to Haji, however, and she wasn't sure if Pokemon and humans varied with communication. She wasn't sure if he could read her mind like Haji could either.
“I'm going out to the Woods to look at something. Do you wanna come with?” she asked. She was desperate to do anything to try and bond with him. So far giving him his space hadn't worked, but she was sure if she ordered something, it would just backfire too.
In answer to her question, he turned way from her deliberately, putting his back to her. Ivy sighed softly. She tried.
As she headed to the Woods, she tried not to let Vergil's actions sting. It mostly worked. He was like Dual, Chainy's Gallade, in so many ways, but they differed in personality greatly. She got along very well with the other Gallade, but Vergil refused to have any sort of connection to her. It wouldn't normally bother her so much, since plenty of people didn't like her, except her Pokemon were all the family she had. Maybe one day she'd figure out the answer to their problem.
She came to the entrance to the forest and checked her radio speaker clipped to her vest collar. They were a semi-new piece of equipment for all the Rangers, since receptions with phones was shaky in some spots. Using the radio system worked much better, since they could report right to the main outpost. It was handy if there was a problem.
Apparently whatever Argent had found was a problem. She unclipped her phone from her belt and pulled up the stats page to see where in the Woods she was going. All the routes were numbered, but since they reset in each area, the paths had names too. It looked like she was going to Black Brush path.
She put her phone back as she ducked into the darkened woods. It was sunny, but the overlapping canopy blotted out the light. She remembered a couple of Trainers she took here had been frightened by the darkness and the eerie snapping of the twigs underfoot, but she was used to it by now. She and her Crobat often trained here, since it helped develop the bat's senses.
The Woods were quiet as she turned from the neatly-rowed trees to a wilder part of the forest. There was plenty of underbrush here, and the trees were larger in circumference and scattered around. It was a good place for a battleground, and she had taken Trainers in this direction several times.
It was where she found Argent's marker too. The area was quiet, and there was no company but the fallen trees and bushes. She found the pile of rocks that had been reported, and Ivy was amazed at the size. There had to be over twenty various-sized rocks all pulled together into a pile.
It was strange, and Ivy's brows furrowed as she neared. The scorpion-like Dwebble made their rock homes by spraying a corrosive acid from their mouths that melted sections of the stone away until they could fit inside. However, it was strange for so many rocks to be in one place. Some Dwebble did stay together in groups, but she hadn't seen a pack this large. Something like that would've been noticed by one of the Rangers.
She crouched down by one of the large rocks that was easily up to her knees while standing. There were sections of the rock melted away, but there were no Dwebble that would choose a rock so big. They wouldn't be able to carry it around. The other rocks were all similar too, with wide holes dug into them.
“You know,” she said to nobody in particular, “these edges aren't as smooth as they should be.” She ran her hand over one of the edges, feeling the bumps and cracks in the stone. A Dwebble's acidic liquid also repaired rocks, making them useable. “Could they be man made?” There were a few chemicals on the market, as well as a few that weren't, that could've done this, she supposed.
She was just speculating, but if that were true, that meant someone else was in the Park. She was very sure a Ranger wouldn't have done this, and if it was some sort of experiment, there would've been some record of it.