Winona almost regretted taking up the job in Fortree but she had owed pretty much all her skills back then to her teacher. Winona had been Stratus’ best student and one day she had decided Winona was ready to take over from her. Not taking the position after Stratus was ready to retire had just seemed rude at that point, even if Winona really had wanted to go out travelling on her own.

  But that was the same for all of them.

  She hadn’t realised it at the time, but Stratus had clearly had the same lust to leave that Winona now had to deal with these days. One day Winona would have an apprentice with the skills to take her place and she would pass the gym on to them and go out and explore the world in much the same way.

  Kylee was showing promise, although maybe Winona was just a bit biased because she favoured the same starter as Winona had once had. Until Kylee was ready though, Winona had to sit tight and be the responsible one and that would probably take a few years at minimum.

  It wasn’t much of an imposition really. Winona theoretically had the whole of Hoenn to explore when the opportunity to do so came about. Her work in the surrounding area also came with the necessity to go out flying.

  Like right now.

  There were always problems with the weather around Fortree. Torrential rain and storms were common but it was this time of year that things were the worst. Intensely strong winds, thunderstorms and the river flooding its banks in some parts was particularly common around the start of summer. It was why there was a dedicated Pokemon Ranger presence in the region.

  This year things were starting just a bit sooner. It was Winona’s job to make sure no unlucky traveller had gotten themselves hurt or killed for whatever reason.

  Pelliper was enjoying himself at least. The part Water type loved the rain. If only he was the right shape to easily ride. Then Winona wouldn’t have to be relying on Tropius, who was far less comfortable to ride than Altaria.

  Altaria felt like she was sitting on a cloud when Winona rode on her back. Unfortunately Altaria was also a bit of a diva about getting cleaned and dry after getting her wings messed up and Winona just didn’t want to have to deal with it once the storm had passed. So pulling out her starter was a last resort.

  By contrast to Altaria,Tropius was all waxy leaves or coarse bark and you had to learn to ride him properly to avoid unpleasant chafing on particularly long journeys. Sadly Tropius was also just better suited as a mount when the weather turned really bad like this. His bulk made it harder for the wind to buffet him about and his Grass typing meant that the rain and lightning didn’t bother him too much either.

  She’d been out for an hour now, exploring Route 120 first before heading over to Route 119. Thus far she’d only encountered a ridiculous woman who fancied herself as a Parasol Lady of all things and who had discovered today that a parasol wasn’t a substitute for a brain. She was safely tucked away now and would have to ride out the weather like everyone else.

  Winona hadn’t seen anything else yet. At least no signs of trainers on the usual paths. What she expected to find was someone trying to hole up in a tent and wait the storm out. It worked, as long as you secured the tent properly and didn’t stay in a particularly windy area. But people were dumb, especially in dangerous situations. She’d learnt that from experience running these routes.

  There!

  They’d been hard to spot initially but the red tie had stood out enough to let her spot them. It was someone dressed in the national camper association’s uniform and the tie was bright red specifically to make it easier to spot them for situations just like this. Winona hadn’t been around back when that had been decided but it was a good choice by them to do that.

  The camper was struggling alongside a pair of Marill and a miserable looking Linoone to set up a tent under some trees. On closer inspection it looked to be a boy, and as they flew closer, Winona saw that some of the rustling wasn’t just a result of the wind. There was a girl there too, who’d found herself under the tent somehow.

  It would be funny if the situation weren’t potentially so perilous.

  “Keep looking, Pelliper! Tropius, set down next to them and get ready to act as a wind shield!”

  Pelliper wouldn’t have any trouble out here. He’d find her if anything else needed her attention and Winona trusted him to find his way back to the gym on his own if need be. He let out a cry to let her know he understood before flying off to the side to explore elsewhere.

  They descended quickly, Tropius’ bulk meant that he landed on the ground with a firm thump that immediately caught the attention of the campers.

  “W-wha’!?” shouted the boy as he spun around and beheld Winona’s impressively large Tropius. He was big for his species, almost three metres tall, the strongest of his kind Winona had ever encountered.

  The boy was in his mid teens by the looks of it and recovered quickly. “L-Linoone, we’ve got company!” he shouted over the wind and rain.

  Winona would’ve applauded his quick reactions if he hadn’t also probably put himself in this situation. She leapt off the side of her Pokemon and upon landing found the Linoone now bravely standing in front of it’s trainer. Both the Pokemon and trainer were equally as surprised to see the Fortree Gym Leader seeming to appear in front of them out of thin air, but also incredibly relieved that they wouldn’t have to fight such a strong looking Pokemon in this storm.

  The two Marill were probably the girl’s and she was revealed when the partially set up tent finally gave up and was carried off in the wind. It collided with a tree not too far away but was then carried off by the wind.

  “Leave the tent! you need to get to proper cover!” Winona shouted. She spotted some dense brush not too far away. They ought to work for her purposes. “Come with me!”

  She hadn’t given the kids the opportunity to argue, which was the best way to handle these sorts of things. Tropius’ immense bulk served to block some of the wind and he brought up his palm leaf-like wings to further protect them. But that would be a losing battle if there ever was one.

  Winona reached for her belt and pulled out another ball.

  “Skarmory!” The Armoured Bird Pokemon appeared, calling her name with pride as was her usual attitude.

  She was a steel type but she wasn’t exactly heavy. The Pokemon immediately ducked back down, closing her wings and giving herself a small profile.

  “I need you to use Secret Power on this brush!” Winona shouted to her Pokemon.

  The avian nodded immediately and approached the area Winona had directed. The ability didn’t work everywhere, but Winona was experienced enough by now to know when it would.

  Secret Power worked on dense areas with gaps in them. More specifically it required tight enclosed spaces and only one real entrance in a naturally occurring spot which had been there for a long time. Heavy bits of brush, small fissures in rocks, that sort of thing were what usually worked in Winona’s experience.

  Skarmory placed her glowing beak against the brush and a surge of energy went off and onto the flora. The brush shuddered as the move seeped into it and then it parted, creating a small entrance.

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  “Inside!” Winona shouted, bracing herself on the doorway as a particularly strong gust of wind threatened to topple her.

  The two kids didn’t need any encouragement and they darted past Winona and into safety. The Linoone and the Marill followed quickly behind them.

  Winona returned her Pokemon for the moment and then followed after them.

  Inside the two campers were sighing in relief.

  “Thanks for saving us, Winona,” the girl said. She looked a bit mousey, with a bob of brown hair.

  “I’d rather not have had to save you at all,” Winona told them firmly. Hopefully this would serve as a lesson to them both.

  “W-we were just camping, ma’am,” the boy replied. “The storm, it snuck up on us.”

  “Are you both local, from Fortree?”

  “Yes,” they both replied nervously, because they knew what she was going to say next.

  “Then you should’ve known to check the forecast before coming out here,” Winona told them. There was no excuse when you’d grown up in Fortree to not know the weather could turn out this bad.

  She would be having words with the local Camper Chief about this. Lorenzo would at least be happy for another opportunity to harp on about proper safety in the wild regions.

  The boy was about to reply but Winona fixed him with a stern look. She wasn’t old or anything and she certainly wasn’t old enough to have forgotten what stupid, horny teenagers would do for an opportunity to canoodle.

  Two teenagers, out camping alone? Winona looked between them both. The boy’s next words died in his throat and averted his eyes. The girl looked suitably contrite too. Winona shook her head.

  “I really don’t care what you get up to, it’s not my business. But you should’ve checked the forecasts before deciding to go and get some time to yourselves,” Winona told them again. “You can both stay here tonight. Shakrmory won’t dismiss the Secret Base until the day after the storm. So you’d both better be ready to leave by then.”

  A Pokemon could only make one Secret Base at a time. Nobody had any idea why that was and frankly, Winona wasn’t interested. What she did know was that it was a rule that actually applied per Pokemon, not per trainer. The rest of her team had been trained to use it too so she could set up six of them if need be around the Route 119 area for other lost or struggling travellers. Tropius’ Secret Base was currently housing the Parasol Lady she’d saved earlier.

  “Wait, our bags!” the girl shouted suddenly. Winona looked behind her back to the torrential rain outside. They would need their supplies.

  “Come on, I’ll help you grab them.”

  The three of them braved the storm once more and fortunately for the campers neither bag had blown away or been lost in the wind.

  “I need to get back out there and look for anyone else in trouble,” Winona said once they were back in the shelter. She withdrew tropius’ Pokeball.

  “Remember what I said. The Secret Base will stay up until the storm has passed so don’t try getting back out there before then.”

  The kids both nodded and replied that they understood, offering their thanks which she gratefully accepted. Winona called her Tropius back out, making sure to summon him outside the Secret Base.

  The Pokemon still wasn’t bothered at all by the rain or wind. His long neck let him poke his head inside the base and he took in the sight of the two still soaked campers.

  “Troooh,” he said sagely.

  Winona patted the side of his face and neck, squeezing past him.

  “Let’s go!” She shouted.

  She leapt up onto her Pokemon’s back and with a burst of power the Tropius took flight again.

  ***

  It was horrible outside.

  The rain had started at heavy and then turned to torrential and with the wind picking up it was basically coming at us sideways with the wind picking up too.

  The mountains either side of us didn’t do much help with the wind coming at us from the front. It was like the path forward was actively trying to stop us from taking a step forwards. Then I saw the fields of very tall grass in front of us and I knew it would be nigh impossible to know which way we were going if we decided to brave it.

  So I’d decided we would do the smart thing and simply not travel any further today. The wind was harsh, but we set up the tent partially inside the ocean of green grass and it acted as an improvised windbreak.

  The rain poured down outside and the tall grass waved and batted at the tent but inside it was dry. I stripped down to my underwear, leaving my clothes to get properly dry. I might have brought out some other members of the team but it was probably going to be more comfortable for them to stay in their balls rather than have another five rambunctious Pokemon bouncing around in here with nothing to do.

  Leah knelt comfortably on her own in one corner of the tent. She seemed like she was sleeping although I knew it was actually some kind of meditation she was doing. Meanwhile I had promised myself to spend an hour reading up for Roxanne’s test before doing something a bit more enjoyable like actually sitting down and doing some writing.

  And for a while everything was peaceful.

  Then I heard shouting.

  “Help! Somebody help!”

  I looked up from Roxanne’s folder, seeing Leah’s eyes opening too. Neither of us managed to do anything else before we saw a shadow outside the tent.

  “Hello!?” came the anxious voice of a boy. “Is anyone in there? We need help!”

  I jumped up to my feet and opened the tent. There was a boy with red hair sticking out beneath his woven hat. He had a blue top on and shorts. A Bug Catcher.

  When he saw me the boy’s expression quickly turned to one of relief.

  “Mr I need help!” The Bug Catcher said. “M-”

  “Come inside,” I interrupted. I pulled the soaking boy into the tent and zipped it back up to stop anymore rain from getting in. “Okay, take a deep breath. What’s your name?”

  “There’s no time!” The boy shouted hysterically. “My friend Doug, he’s been poisoned by a Nincada!”

  It was then that the boy actually stopped to take in his new surroundings.

  First he looked at me, currently in just my briefs. Then his gaze turned to Leah and his mouth dropped open. He visibly had to regain control of himself, cheeks reddening.

  “Sorry I wasn’t exactly expecting anyone,” I told the red-faced boy, who began to stutter out some sort of an apology.

  I ignored whatever he was saying to reach for my only partially dried clothes and get dressed. It wasn’t just him, I felt a bit embarrassed myself at being seen undressed by a kid like this, even if it ultimately wasn’t important right now. There was no point in putting on something fresh and dry if I was going to go back out there.

  Leah was helpfully packing away the other things. We would be out of here in no time.

  “Your friend got bit by something?” I asked as I buttoned up my shirt. The boy nodded frantically. “Will you be able to show me where?”

  “Y-yes!” The boy said. “I remember the way back.”

  “Good,” I told him.

  I finished dressing quickly, not bothering to tuck my shirt in or anything. I’d always dressed like this and it’d never really been a problem for me before because I was always travelling at my own pace. I figured I really ought to get something more suitable for the wilderness.

  “My name’s Harry. What’s yours?” I asked again.

  “I-it’s Kent, sir,” the boy replied. He looked towards the exit of the tent with desperation.

  “Okay Kent, you’ve done a good job coming to find me. Do you think you can show me where your friend is?”

  “Yes I think so,” the boy replied.

  “Okay then,” I said. “We’re going to go out and pack up my tent quickly. Then you’re going to bring me to him, okay?”

  The boy looked relieved more than anything else.

  I shared a glance with Leah. Pokemon healing abilities weren’t as effective on people as they were Pokemon but her Heal Pulse might be needed here. I had some stuff to treat poisons too, somewhere in my storage. Hopefully that would be enough. I’d been poisoned once or twice and it was never a pleasant experience.

  “Okay, let’s go,” I said and I quickly unzipped the tent. I held it open for the boy and he and Leah hurried out. The Gardevoir handed me my bag and I slung it over my shoulder. Reaching into the bag I pulled out the tent’s capsule container and in a flash of red light the tent disappeared inside.

  “Wow,” the boy said, eyes wide and clearly taken aback by the show of technology.

  “Okay, where’s your friend at?!” I shouted over the rain. I pulled out a small torch. It wouldn’t be enough to break through the rain however and I quickly put it back.

  Kent seemed distracted for several seconds, looking at my bag where the capsule container for the tent had gone.

  “Err, yeah,” he said. “Come on it’s this way!”

  I followed after the boy through the rain.