Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Do you blame yourself?"

Kay gasped as he sat up, looking around. He didn't recognized this place, but he recognized the voice of his Alter. That meant he was technically asleep, and supposedly in his bedroom, at home, with Mom and Dad downstairs. But he was still very confused, what did Alter mean...?

"What?"

Alter rolled his eyes, sitting in the air. "It's very common for people in this situation to feel a kind of ...guilt."

Kay blinked slowly, trying to think of what the words could mean. His memory seemed foggy right now, as if his brain was trying to keep something hidden.

"What situation?"

Suddenly, he was in the Xenoverse. It was cold, and the air was so heavy it was suffocating. Alter was gone, but there was a different person next to him. It was Trey. He was happy to see him, but it was quickly replaced with the feeling of dread as Dragalisk appeared. He was going to say something, but Trey pushed him back. Everything was happening so fast, he was falling backwards as Trey gave him a small, sad smile as he spoke two words.

"The accident."

Chapter Text

"Be home before it's dark, okay?!"

"Okay Mom!"

Aster rolled his eyes as he headed out the door, his Chikorita playfully headbutting his shin as they followed him out. The preteen never understood why his mom made a point to tell him to be careful and to be back before dark, it wasn't like Hardwarf City, or any of the surrounding areas, were unsafe or something. All the Pokemon were easy enough to beat, aside from the occasional Sparkowl, and he already cleared the gym here. So no reason for mom to worry, in his mind.

"Got any ideas for things to do today, Chiko?"

The Chikorita shook their head, which made Aster laugh a bit as the two continued walking. Versil wouldn't be in town until later, so he couldn't just go to the lab, and there wasn't much to do outside of that. Maybe he could find a quiet spot and just play with his partner for a while...

After walking for a bit, he felt a change in the air, which made him pause. He didn't think it was a Xenoverse Pokemon, it felt different from that, but still very powerful. He glanced down at Chikorita, who while was a bit tense, but didn't seem to be scared.

"Want to keep going?"

After seeing the Pokemon nod, the two kept going down the path, sticking close to each other. Aster thought about calling someone, like Versil or maybe the gym leader, but his gut feeling told him not to. The air kept changing, to the point it felt oddly comforting. Chikorita could feel it as well, and while still ready for a battle, they seemed less worried about it.

The two got to a clearing that a peninsula, and standing on it was the legendary Pokemon Suicune, and it was looking right at them.

Aster felt his breath leave him. He had heard stories, and seen pictures of this Legendary Beast, but those didn't give him nearly as much feeling as seeing it in person, having them look at him.

He swallowed a bit, reminding himself to breathe. "Hello, Suicune."

Suicune bowed their head in greeting, before getting into a battle stance.

Aster put the pieces together, his eyes lighting up as he got excited. "You want to battle?! How about it, Chikorita?"

Chikorita matched their trainers excitement, also getting into a battle stance.

Aster grinned at Suicune, who seemed to also be grinning. "Alright Suicune, we except your challenge! Use Leech Seed!"

The battle lasted a while, and Aster and Chikorita were exhausted, but Suicune looked like it could keep going for hours longer as it healed them up. Aster let out a breathless laugh, looking at Suicune.

"That was...you are.....can we battle again?! I've never felt like that during a battle! Right, Chikorita?!"

Chikorita let out a joyful cry, matching their trainer's energy. That was a very good battle, and Aster enjoying himself only added to it.

Suicune let out a muffled chuckle, nodding. These two brought energy to the area, and the human seemed special. It'll be nice to watch them grow, and get stronger.

"Alright!"

Chapter Text

"What do you mean you don't know how to talk to Kay?"

"I mean I never had a conversation with anyone outside of my family until I started my journey, and that while I could talk to him then, it was mostly about our Pokemon or the Team Dimension robots we were fighting. Now that that whole thing is finished, it's hard to just talk to him."

Ginger raised a eyebrow at Alice, thinking about what she was saying. He had noticed that she had a bit of a hard time talking to the other students on campus, but had brushed that up to her being shy because she was new to being a trainer, and being from one of the more secluded areas in the Eldiw region. He didn't think that it would stick to her after her journey, after beating all eight gyms, saving the world, and then carry over to her day to day life.

"Alright, so when you say "our Pokemon", do you mean as in battles and stuff, or something else?"

Alice shrugged her shoulders, looking off to the side. "I mostly talked about battles, Kay talked about Pokemon he encountered."

Ginger nodded as he listened, trying to come up with something clever to say. "Maybe instead of talking about battles, since you don't get around to do those anymore, you can talk about what your Pokemon do instead. It'll be funny, and since you have a lot of X-Pokemon, it could even help him out with his research."

Alice thought about it. It seemed like that would work, and it could be something different each talk.

"That...that would work!"

Ginger grinned as Alice became peppy again. "That's good. And just so you know, the school typically has a "pop culture" exchange every week, it's mostly for the exchange students, but anyone is welcome to join. It might do you some good, and help you work with other conversations."

"Alright!"

Chapter Text

"Good morning Alice!"

"Good morning Mom!"

"Morning Alice!"

Alice didn't respond to her dad's morning call, reaching up to grab a granola bar from the cupboard, and one for Shyleon as well.

"We're going to Aster's lab today, and should be back in time for dinner unless something comes up."

Clover nodded, a small smile on her face. "Alright, be safe, we love you."

"I love you to, Mom."

Clover couldn't help but wince at Alice specifically saying "mom" and not just leaving it off, or saying "love you both", especially after seeing a look of pain on Versil's face.

"Guess she still hasn't forgiven me, huh?"

It was more of a statement than a question as Versil put his head in his hands, sighing. It had been a little over four months since he came back, and the only time his kid would talk to him was if she needed to know something about one of her x-Pokemon, or asking where Clover was. The only exception to those times was when she brought a Sabolt home. He had gotten excited and approached her, but stopped when she held up her hand.

"Their name is Trey, and you aren't allowed anywhere near them. Understand?"

And as much as hearing her say that hurt, he respected it. Whenever she was holding the Sabolt- Trey , he had to remind himself that she called them Trey- he would stay away from the two.

"She's working towards it, dear. I know that it isn't easy for either of you, but she has been improving."

Versil knew that his wife was right, and that Alice was doing her best as well. It had been a lot worse when he first came back, she had refused to even be in the same house as him, often staying with Aster or one of the people she met while on her journey. It slowly kept getting better, as long as Versil respected her boundaries.

"I know, I just...I didn't want it to be like this. I knew it was going to happen, and that it would take a while, but this...it feels like torture. I feel like I just turned out like my dad, and while I know I am trying to do better, I just have a nagging voice in the back of my head that says that I'm doing the exact same thing he did."

Clover frowned a bit as she wrapped her arms around Versil. "You are not doing the exact same thing as him, you are doing so much better than he ever could. It just takes time, and a lot of effort."

Versil nodded as he relaxed against Clover. "Yeah, time and effort."

Chapter Text

"Alice is gonna to play with me and Pika today!"

"No, she's gonna play with me an' Sabolt!"

The two boys glared at each other, neither letting up. It was Friday, which meant there would be more time to play today, and most of the activities would be open to play as well. Although that wasn't the main focus of their argument currently, the main focus was who would get to play with Alice, who was best friends with both of the boys.

"You got to play with her yesterday!"

"So did you, remember?!"

Trey huffed and crossed his arms, pouting. Alice was his best friend, they had become friends the first day of school because they had special Pokemon. All Kay had was the weird looking Pikachu. Besides, Kay also had other friends to play with, friends that sometimes was mean to Alice, so it would be better for her to only play with Trey.

Kay dug in his heels, huffing and puffing. Him and Alice had been friends since they were babies, and he lived next door to her. They always celebrated things together, like birthdays and holidays, and just recently Kay had given her a pink Pikachu that had followed him home. And Trey was weird. Nobody knew where he lived, or who his parents were, and the only person that talked to him was Alice.

The two boys stayed like that, neither moving a inch until a familiar voice called out to them.

"Good morning Trey and Kay!"

Both boys looked over at Alice, who was happy and obvious to the tension. Her Pokemon, a Shyleon and a pink Pikachu, were wearing matching blue dresses and orange scarves, the same as Alice, and went over to their Pokemon as she trotted over, smiling at her two best friends.

Trey decided to break the silence, slightly kicking the ground with his foot. "Who you gonna play with today, Alice?"

Alice cocked her head to the side, blinking. "Both of you, duh!"

The boys blinked, Trey looking shocked and Kay looking confused. Both of them?

"How are you going to do that?"

Alice giggled, grabbing both of their hands. "It's easy! I just have to hold your hands so neither of you can wander off, and you two can be nice to each other!"

The two boys looked at each other, as if weighing the idea, before a slight huff came from Trey as he returned the hand hold. "I'll be nice, I promise."

Kay, not wanting to be outdone, also returned the hand hold as his eyes lit up. "Okay! And I won't wander off!"

Chapter Text

"Wait, so your telling me that even though it was your first mission as a Top Ranger, they didn't send anyone to check on you after not hearing from you guys?"

"They sent Murph, but aside from him no one was sent. It was us three rangers having to handle everything."

Kay looked amazed as he listened, kinda star struck. It had been a coincident that a Pokemon Ranger had been in the area when a X-Elekid attacked, and managed to capture it with her capture styler.

"Can you tell me more? Please?"

Summer laughed at the kids eagerness to hear about her work. "Well, we do have time until your professor gets here. So what do you want to hear more about?"

Kay grinned ear to ear as he was given the okay. "Why is the Elekid so friendly now? Is it true you can only have one Pokemon? What was the hardest thing about Oblivia-?"

"Easy easy, I can answer all of your questions, so ask one at a time, otherwise you might bite your tongue."

Summer giggled as she watched Kay try to contain himself, picking up the small bomb of a Pokemon and placing it in her lap. "To answer the question, I think it's because the Elekid has calmed down. You see, when a ranger is capturing a Pokemon, the feeling of friendship isn't the only feeling we can convey. There's a lot of times we capture a Pokemon because a situation isn't safe, and they're lashing out. In those situations, we capture a Pokemon to help them understand that we're here to help, but need them to work with us, not against us. You mention that this Elekid is from another world, right? It was probably really scared, or maybe overstimulated."

"The second question is a lot simpler. It's not true, mostly. In a region without a league, we're allowed one partner Pokemon at a time. We can have more, but they can't be with us. In a league based region, we're allowed to have multiple partners around due to the fact that there's trainers, and more problems that can involve battling can occur."

Kay nodded, hanging on every word. "And the last one?"

Summer hesitated, which Kay noticed. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"No, it's fine, just gotta think about the wording....okay. Do you know those situations where there's really no good answer? The final mission was like that. You see, I was up in something called the Sky Fortress, It looks exactly as your probably imagining it. The bad guys were controlling it, and were planning to use it to take over the world. As I stopped them, it became more obvious that there was no safe way to bring it down, and it had already wiped a island clean off the map. I had to make the choice between letting it stay somehow, with the Golden Armor inside and easily in reach to someone with bad intentions, or I had to bring it down."

Summer let out a shaky breath. "The choice was made for me after the last battle, the Golden armor got scattered into all different directions, and there was no way I could gather them all in time, because Sky Fortress was falling. There was no way that everyone could get to a high enough point to even have the hope of surviving, and I remember thinking "this is it, everyone is going to die and it's all my fault.""

Summer inhaled and exhaled. "But...I got lucky, I managed to summon Ho-Oh in the nick of time, and he kept the Fortress from crashing."

Kay watched for Summer's face to come back to smile, but when it didn't, he asked another question.

"Does it get easier?'

Summer blinked at the question, than ruffled Kay's hair. "You're a good kid. It took a few years for me, but it does. Talking about it helps."

Kay grinned at the hair ruffle, then turned when he heard Aster call his name. "Oh! Aster is here! You should probably join us since your the one that pulled off the capture."

Summer laughed a bit. "Alright, let me grab my partner and I'll catch up."

Chapter Text

"This place is huge, Kay!"

"Huh, didn't expect you to live in a place like this. Right Sabolt?"

Kay watched as Alice and Trey took off their jackets and shoes, looking around. His house became the chosen place after Alice suggested a movie night, since while Aster wouldn't of minded the other two staying over, Trey felt like that he would be imposing, and neither Alice or Trey liked the idea of having it at Alice's house with her parents there, so Kay volunteered his house.

"My parents have really high paying jobs, so they can afford this place even though most of the time it's only me and Pika. Anyway, make yourself at home! Living room is straight down the hall, bathroom is the first door in the hallway after. I'll get the food."

Trey looked around as he went to the living room, holding Sabolt to him. Despite the area being decorated like out of a magazine, it felt...empty. Like nobody was ever in it, even when other people were home.

"Hey Alice, do you think Kay actually uses this room? It seems....empty."

Alice shrugged as she plopped on the couch, her Shyleon and the "Pinkachu" plopping down with her. "Beats me, Kay never talked about where he lived whenever we were hanging out, so I never asked."

Trey was about to ask something else when Kay came over, holding several food things, including food for the Pokemon which made them cheer, and sat on the couch with a grin on his face. "Foods here!"

Alice clapped her hands in a excited way, immediately grabbing one of sour candy bags. "So what movie should we watch?"

Trey decided to tease her a little. "I figured that you had a movie in mind since you were the one to suggest a movie night."

Alice didn't have a good come back for that, so she just stuck out her sour candy covered tongue as Kay laughed.

"How about a action movie?"

Alice shook her head, huffing. "No, they're all the same and the trailer always makes the movie seem a lot cooler and story telling than it actually is."

Kay nodded, thinking. "How about a musical?"

Trey and Alice had the same reaction, which was to cringe. "Don't you remember the incident with Vanilla? We don't need another musical."

Kay laughed a bit, rubbing the back of his head. "Right, forgot that was a thing. Alice, you have any ideas?"

Alice hummed as she thought. "How about...hm...Treasure Planet?"

Kay immediately got excited. "Yeah! How about it Trey?"

Trey looked somewhat confused. "What's Treasure Planet?"

Alice and Kay gasped, but Kay recovered first. "It's one of the best movies ever! We have to watch it now."

Alice nodded in agreement, hugging Shyleon close. "It really is! You will really like this movie Trey, trust us!"

Trey sighed, He knew better than to try to argue with the two when they get like this. "Alright, let's watch the movie."

"Alright!"

Chapter Text

"So...are you seeing anyone?

Aster choked on his soda, quickly recovering and sending a glare towards Ginger. "Ginger, in the politest way possible, what the actual fuck do you mean by that?"

Ginger held up his hands in faux innocence, trying to keep himself from laughing. "I'm just saying, everything's been calm for a while now, you've settled into the new job, and you are one of the best people I know. It's more surprising that you aren't seeing anyone."

Aster rolled his eyes, flicking a piece of paper at Ginger. "Just because I'm settled in doesn't mean that the job isn't busy. Just last week we learned that X-Pokemon can be captured by a Pokemon Ranger's Capture Styler, which opens up a whole bunch of other questions, like should we have a official Ranger Base in the Eldiw region, is it possible to keep X-Pokemon from being so disruptive, possibly even integrating them in more suitable areas in the Eldiw region, can we study them in a somewhat trainer free setting, stuff like that. What's your excuse, Mr. I'm the gym leader of the most popular university in Eldiw."

Ginger laughed, flicking the paper back. "Hey, grades and Gym Leader duties come first. Not everyone can start helping out at a lab when they're ten, and then become a professor by circumstances. Anyway, Pokemon Ranger, what's there name?"

"Do not set me up with the ranger, do not get with the ranger."

"I won't! Now come on, what's the name?" Ginger grinned.

Aster rolled his eyes in a playful manner. "Her name is Summer. She was actually vacationing when the X-Elekid showed up and was causing trouble. Weirdly enough once she caught him he became super friendly, which supports her theory that X-Pokemon are simply overwhelmed and scared-"

Ginger cut in, smirking. "Trading theories already, huh?"

"Oh shush. We're just working together because of common interests and goals. Which is more than you're doing with a person, right?"

Ginger laughed. "That's true, but it's easy to make fun of you. Anyway, I gotta head back to the Gym. See ya Aster."

Aster let out a playful huff, bumping his fist against Ginger's. "See ya."

Chapter Text

"Good morning, Trey."

"Morning, Aster..."

Aster watched as the cyborg yawned and stretched, still holding his Sabolt close like a plush doll. It had been rather entertaining to watch him start acting more and more human as he got used to life, slowly letting go of the "emotionless cyborg" persona that he had adapted at a young age. There were definitely challenges as well, like reminding Trey that he has to eat, and that he's encouraged to, nightmares and night terrors, and encouraging Trey to express his feelings.

"Breakfast is ready, I made yours and Sabolt's favorite."

The two perked up at that, Trey walking to the kitchen table and sitting down, putting Sabolt on the chair next to his before grabbing the syrup bottle to drench his powder sugar covered, filled with very sweet berries french toast with syrup while Sabolt started eating his own stack of sour berry filled french toast.

Aster watched the two for a bit, still finding the fact that their tastes are on the opposite side of each other hilarious, before sitting down across from them with his regular french toast. "So, have any plans for today?"

Trey shrugged a little, very focused on his food. "Kay mentioned something about clothes shopping, and Alice wanted to see the Sunshine Circus since they're in Hypelion city currently. Can I go with them?"

Aster kept a sigh to himself, deciding that now was as good of a time as any to bring it up. "Trey, you know that you don't have to ask if you can do something, right? You are allowed to go and do things without mine, or anyone else's, permission."

Trey shrugged a little, slowing down on his eating. "I know that, but it feels like...like..." He frowned, trying to figure out the words. "Kinda like how I had to have Sabolt wake you up in the middle of the night? When I threw up. It feels like that. Like, I know that I won't be in trouble, but something keeps telling me I would be."

Aster listened , nodding along. "Well, just try to keep in mind that you won't be. If you want to hang out with Alice and Kay you are allowed to do that without telling anyone, or asking me if you can. Same with if you want to stay the night with one of them, a heads up would be nice but you aren't required to tell me. You have freedom, Trey."

Trey nodded, wiping his mouth. "I'll try to keep that in mind."

Chapter Text

"Hey, get up!"

Alice stirred a bit, slowly opening her eyes. She didn't recognize this place, but the voice sounded very familiar.

Alter scowled, running a hand through her hair. This was really bad, she had to make the other at least stand up or something, make sure that everything was still intact.

"What's the last thing you remember? And try to stand up, will you?"

Alice made a small noise, trying to sit up but everything felt heavy, like her entire body had stuff piled on top of it. "I was...in the route after Istar city. I was battling with someone."

Alter inhaled and exhaled, pacing a bit. "Do you remember who was on your side? Or who you were battling against?"

Alice looked confused, trying to think. "A and B, and someone was with me...? What's going on?"

"Trey was- is - with us. There was a accident while battling. The Pokemon are fine, before you ask, but you need to get up, we're in danger."

------

"Shit!"

Trey wasn't expecting for there to be a rock slide, or for it to happen in a near instant with Alice right in the way. Her Pokemon were already out of there Pokeballs for the battle, so they avoided it, but now they were panicking, and Trey felt like he was about to as well.

"Hey, don't forget about us! We're still-!"

Before A could finish that remark, Trey saw "Trishy", Alice's Trishout, send out a large jet of fire towards the two robots, instantly KO-ing their Pokemon, and knocking them away and out of the gorge with it's tail. He was slightly grateful for the Pokemons intervention, and then started thinking. First he had to send someone to get help.

Trey looked around, his eyes landing on Alice's Harrowk, he was sure she named it Sparky. "Go get help. There should be a village nearby, try that first and if it doesn't work then go to Istar."

Sparky nodded and quickly took off, leaving Trey to figure out what to do next.

Get the rocks off. Start from the top and work your way down. Have the Pokemon help you.

"Okay. Need to get rid of the rocks. Sabolt, give me your ring. Trishy, can you-"

Trey watched as the Pokemon seemingly read his mind, taking off the Xenoring that hung around it's neck with practiced ease and put it in Trey's hand with a surprising amount of gentleness.

The two Pokemon became their base form again, looking at Trey for the next step.

"We need to get the rocks off. If you're small enough then I want you on the pile and work the way down. The rest of you can help by making sure no more rocks fall, start reaching for rocks once they get to your level, and make sure wild Pokemon stay away."

With that, the Pokemon began working, Sabolt and Trishy making quick work on the first part of the pile so the others could help sooner rather than later and with Trey looking up each time he heard a bird Pokemon pass.

------

Peyote was sitting outside near a lake when a very frantic looking Harrowk called out and landed next to him, grabbing his jacket sleeve and starting to pull. Whoever this bird was, it needed him to follow it now.

"I'll be back later!"

With that vague yell, he let out his Braviary and got on it, following the Harrowk.

------

"What do you mean you can't feel your arm?"

"I mean that I don't feel it. Like it's not there, or anywhere."

Alter inhaled and exhaled quickly, trying to think of any other conclusion that would be better than just telling her other self oh that means that the arm is gone.

"Okay, don't focus on that, just try to get up again."

------

Trey's head snapped over as his Sabolt let out a cry. They had been digging for a while now, most of the rocks were gone and Alice's face was visible, didn't seem to have any significant injuries to it and she seemed to be breathing. Trey walked over to where Sabolt was, and his lost whatever color his face still had when he saw what made Sabolt cry out.

There's no saving it.

"Just keep digging. I'll try to stop the bleeding. Help will be here soon."

------

Had this been a normal day, Peyote would've been impressed with how fast the Harrowk in front of him was flying. But something was wrong, and as they got closer and closer to the Steelix Gorge, Peyote felt like whatever he was about to see would impact the rest of the region, and that's never a good feeling.

As the two bird Pokemon finally landed, Peyote jumped off and surveyed the area, quickly spotting a group of out of place Pokemon surrounding something.

"Hey! Everything okay?!"

------

A week had passed since that day. Time had blurred together for Trey after the cardinal, something he learned after the fact, got them out of the area and brought them to Hypelion City because that's where the closest hospital was. He had given all the information he could before Alice was rushed off, leaving him with all the anxious Pokemon. The cardinal- Peyote- had called the professor for him, along with someone else. When the professor got there, he had demanded to know what happened, but stopped when Trishy growled at him. Trey was thankful for that, he didn't feel like talking much. The other person, he thinks it's Alice's mom, simply sat next to him and thanked him for being there for her daughter.

A red head with a X-Pikachu showed up the next day, and got filled in by the professor. Alice was sleeping at the time, and her mom was keeping her company along with her Pokemon. Some of them had taken to also keeping Trey and everyone else company, which he didn't understand but everyone else seemed grateful for it. He hadn't seen or heard from Team Dimension in that time, so he took it as a blessing since he really didn't want to leave Alice alone.

------

"Mm....that's Aster's voice, and Trey's as well. Everyone's really worried about us, huh?"

Alter rolled her eyes, messing with her hair. "More worried about you I think. I'm just a reflection after all."

Alice shook her head. "Nope, you're apart of me, remember? Like a shadow. So by definition, they care about you as well."

"That's some really weird logic. Anyway, ready to wake up?"

Alice nodded as she stood up, still wobbly. "I'm ready."

------

"Alice?"

Chapter Text

"They're so cute!"

Aster looked over at the ranger, who was currently sitting on the labs floor with several starter Pokemon playing on or around her. It had been a few weeks since she had caught the X-Elekid, and after getting permission from the Union she had been stationed in Eldiw to help with research, along with helping Kay handle any problems that involve X-Pokemon. Although most of the time she was at the lab, keeping the starters out of Aster's hair.

"You say that about all Pokemon. Speaking of all Pokemon, where are your partners?"

Summer grinned in response to Aster's comment. "They're with Alice today. Cherry Bomb needs to learn to listen to other people for commands as part of partner training, and Ukulele Pichu is there to help and get more familiar with the Eldiw region."

Aster nodded as he listened. "Alright. Anyway, we need to weigh the Pokemon today, want to help?"

"I'd love to!"

With that, Summer carefully picked up a Inflant that had been in her lap with one arm, using the other arm to gently shoo away a Croakling that had been clinging to her back before standing up, and making her way to the weigh station.

Aster watched with amusement as the rest of the Pokemon followed without even being instructed, before leaving the room after they all cleared out. It had been a point of conversation when they first met to figure out why Pokemon so willingly obeyed Summer despite the lack of badges, or even battle experience. The current theory is that it's because she can summon several legendaries.

"Ready, Professor?"

"Ready, Ranger."

Summer laughed in response, placing the Inflant she was holding on the scale as Aster began writing down the weight of each Pokemon, some being more patient than others.

After weighing all of them, and sending them on their way, Aster was logging the weights into the computer as Summer disinfected the scale.

"That Inflant you were holding has been getting heavier, I think it's about time to see if a trainer would want her."

Summer smiled. "She'll be a good Pokemon. Listens well and is very strong."

Aster returned the smile, turning the computer off as he walked over to where Summer was. "You know, with how helpful you are around a lab, I'm surprised that you didn't choose to become a research assistant, or even a professor yourself.

"I actually did consider it before I decided on becoming a ranger. Having to wait until I turn 14 to join the Ranger Academy in region where most people get a Pokemon well before the age of 10 made me question a lot of things. I even helped out around the lab where trainers could get the starter Pokemon. And while I liked it, it just didn't feel like that was my calling."

Aster nodded as he listened. "I get that feeling. Anyway, we should head back before anyone misses us."

Summer nodded in agreement, but as she was walking out she tripped over seemingly nothing, and Aster underestimated just how hard Summer falls, going down with her when he tried to help.

Aster winced when the back of his hand hit the floor, his palm pressed against the back of Summer's head to keep her from seriously injuring herself. His other arm was being used to keep the bulk of his body weight off her.

"Hey, you good?"

Summer opened her eyes, taking a calming breath before looking up at Aster. "Y-yeah, I'm good, just give me a moment."

Aster was about to say something else when the door opened, causing him to look up.

Ginger had came by to ask Aster about something, but completely forgot what it was when he saw the position the two were in as a grin split his face.

"Did I interrupt something?"

Aster felt the back of Summer's head heat up as she stuttered out a her name and title.

I am never hearing the end of this incident...