The red facade loomed in front of me, rising up into the air like some squat, brooding monster. Paradoxically, the ranger station looked far more intimidating now than it had just a couple of weeks ago.

  With an interview, there were no expectations. Or, fewer, anyway. I’d do as well as I could, things would go as they’d go, and that would be that.

  Not so anymore. Now, I had something to live up to. Something to prove. Now, I was showing up to do a job.

  Or to learn how to do one, anyway.

  I fought hard to keep these anxieties free from my face as the sleepy dispatcher, whose name turned out to be Liken, directed me to Janine’s office. She, in turn, handed me off to a ranger corporal named Donna.

  My new guide looked to be in her early twenties and had a… style. I wasn’t sure exactly what message wearing a full flower crown on your head was, but the young ranger sure was sending it. It did look nice at least, perched atop her short-cropped green bob, while the accessory was distractingly whimsical, it did suit the woman’s cheerful personality.

  “And here’s the locker room,” she informed me with an outflung hand, gesturing towards a closed door labeled: ‘women.’ “And speaking of which, what size are you?”

  The non-equator caught me momentarily off-guard. “Um, like, my shoes?” I asked, my confusion coloring my tone..

  “Sure, we’re gonna need that too at some point, but first, your shirt and waist sizes. We need to get you fitted for your uniform!” The bubbly ranger gestured down at her own outfit for emphasis.

  I’d given some thought to the ranger uniform over the past couple of weeks, imagining what I might look like wearing it, but I’d found it hard to envision. My attempts at picturing it weren’t helped by the fact that the outfit came in a few different variations. From what I could tell, rangers varied them pretty freely? depending on need and preference, but maybe there was some unknown factor to it that I didn’t know about? I took the opportunity to look Donna up and down, getting her take on it and adding another data point to my considerations.

  All in all, the other woman’s mostly-crimson outfit was very practical, which definitely fit with my understanding of the corps in general, if not with my expectations for my whimsical guide. The red safety vest looked dense and protective, and was the sort of eye-searing shade that should be visible at any distance in an outdoor setting. Plus, it was covered in pockets, hooks, and latches, from which hung all variety of gear, as well as a front-brimmed crimson cap that looked like it would do a good job of keeping the sun off.

  Most of the other rangers I’d seen were wearing their hats, even indoors, but I guess it would mess with the wreath in Donna’s hair.

  Underneath that, she wore a form-fitting black mock neck top, the sort that wicks sweat well. Donna had the sleeves rolled up, probably to help fight against the oppressive summer heat, and at the end of her arms, she wore thick gloves. They had the tips of the thumb and index finger trimmed off, probably for Poké Ball operation.

  The green-haired ranger opted for shorts, but I couldn’t identify what they were made of, other than that it wasn’t denim. The pockets looked deep and usable though, so I was already a fan. Along with that she wore a belt with a full six magnetic clasps mounted on it, three of which had balls attached. There was also a length of rope dangling around her waist, seemingly hooked onto a green carabiner, and what I thought was a pretty tacky metal belt buckle printed to look like the ranger symbol.

  After a moment of reflection, I realized that even that was probably practical. The shiny metal was very visible, and likely close to indestructible, both of which were important in certain circumstances that I didn’t want to give a lot of thought to.

  A pair of almost knee-high boots rounded out the ensemble. They were the same crimson as the vest and hat, and I think they had steel-toes. The tread looked thick, durable, and I could already tell that breaking in a pair was going to be an exercise in suffering.

  “Like what you see?” Donna’s words broke me out of my analysis. The older woman had struck a pose, stance wide and arm straight across her chest and angled up like some sort of sentai character.

  “Sorry,” I shrugged. “Just… thinking about what size could work. I usually fit into a youth medium, but would you mind if I try a few different ones on, to make sure I get the right fit?”

  “Of course not,” the ranger giggled. “C’mon, let’s grab a few outfits from the supply room and see what fits.”

  -

  As it turns out, I could still cram into a youth medium. Maybe not for much longer though, which I was eagerly looking forward to.

  It’s not like I was a short twelve-year old, but it’s easy to forget how much taller adults are when you spend your time around a bunch of people in the same age group. I was definitely feeling that now, as I compared my knee outfit to Donna’s.

  I’d opted for a similar look to the older ranger, but I chose a full jacket instead of the vest, to pair with a lighter crew cut shirt versus the other woman’s mock-neck.

  She had the right idea with the shorts though. I couldn’t imagine trying to stuff a pair of cargo pants into the steel-toed boots.

  They chafed enough already.

  As for the skirts…

  Well, they were cute, at least. According to Donna, they were the most breathable option, but they lacked pockets. I guess they wouldn't be totally impractical out in the field, as long as you had a pair of spats with you, but I hadn’t thought to bring any. No skirt for me, thank you.

  A standard hat and belt rounded out the ensemble, and I felt good about the outfit. It fit better than I was expecting, felt more correct. I was having a bit of trouble adjusting to the rope constantly slapping the back of my thigh as I walked, but Donna’s never moved, so there must have been some trick to it that I was missing. I was determinedly observing her gait to figure out the secret to keeping it still when we arrived at our next destination.

  My guide pushed open the door, showing me into a small, characteristically crimson conference room. There was a whiteboard filling up one wall, and an ancient projector system mounted to the ceiling, pointed at it. A huge, oval table dominated the center of the floor, painted that iconic ranger red, and a pair of small bookshelves overflowing with files and paperwork flanked the entryway.

  “Welcome to conference two,” the older ranger proclaimed with good cheer. “Or as we like to call it, the Lecture Hall.”

  I could hear the capitalization.

  “Newbies get taught here, and it’s also where you’ll be able to study for your entrance exams for the academy, if you live that long. Plus, Janine runs performance reviews and the occasional one-on-one in here.” Donna gestured at the room, before pointing a thumb at the wall to the left of the entrance. “Briefs and debriefs happen next door, in conference one. Also the occasional meeting with the higher ups, though that’s only like once or twice a year. Why don’t you get settled in? Might take Janine a few more minutes to wrap up and get over here, but while you’re still mine, do you have any questions?”

  One thing she’d said stuck out to me. “Live that long?” I asked her as I picked a seat and planted myself in it.

  “Oh, sorry,” the ranger giggled again, “just an expression, didn’t mean to scare you.” She leaned over the table, planting her elbows on it and resting her chin in her hands. “I meant if you stay with the program that long. We get a good number of junior rangers, but not many seem to make it to exam season. Do you want to go all the way?”

  No sense lying to someone I was going to be working with for the foreseeable future. “Honestly, I’m not really sure yet. I don’t think I understand enough about that job yet to say whether or not I want to make a career out of it. Does that make sense?”

  “Perfectly,” Donna smiled, “that’s a more mature answer than I would have had at your age.”

  I felt more mature than the older ranger while she was at this age. I shuddered to think about what she was like when she was twelve. “How about you, Donna?” I asked her. “Did you do the junior program?”

  She nodded. “I did. I sprinted through my thousand hours too, so I could join the academy a year early.”

  “You did your full set in a year?”

  “A little less than that, actually. I made sure to grab extra hours whenever I could.” Work weeks for junior rangers were done in twenty hour segments, though there was some variability in that. The day-to-day timing changed as well, and was remarkably flexible. I suspected the malleable hours were to make the program more palatable for people doing their battle break at the same time, but it also allowed more eager folks to speed through the program, as apparently Donna had.

  “So you really knew you wanted to be a ranger,” I hazarded.

  The older woman offered a nod. “I really did. I really, really did.” Her expression grew wistful, and her eyes took on a faraway look. “My parents were in the corps, you see? And I really, really admired them growing up. Always wanted to be just like them. In the end, well, it just sort of seemed like a no-brainer.”

  A jealous part of me twinged at the conviction in her voice, but I stamped on it ruthlessly. “Well I’m glad it worked out for you, and I’m looking forward to working with you.”

  “Same!” The older woman smiled at me, her faraway loon sharpening instantly as she visibly returned to the conversation. “Also, before I forget, how well behaved is your partner?”

  “They can play nice,” I answered after a moment, a bit nonplussed by the swift change in topic.

  “Will they listen to someone who isn’t you?”

  That was a stickier question. I thought back to various times when my parents had tried to get my knights to do something. The amount of success they saw was— varied. “Maybe. If they respect that person,” I eventually said. “They can be a bit prideful. And mischievous.”

  “A dangerous combination,” Donna nodded sagely. “I ask because we don’t want your poor partner bored to tears while you’re doing the book learning, and there’s a lot they’ll need to learn themselves, so if they can behave, we can have someone help get them up to speed, usually the partner of whoever’s training you on a given day.”

  “And that’s Janine and Stella today?” I wanted to make sure.

  “Yep. Sarge always gets first crack at the newbies. She’ll help you hammer out your schedule for this month, and then run you through the basics.”

  “That should be fine then. My knights definitely aren’t messing with Stella after how bad she trounced them in the interview.”

  Donna winced. “Yeah, that little ball of pink nonsense is a menace. I’m one-hundred percent sure she never evolved because it makes people underestimate her.”

  “I’m guessing your first battle against them went about as well as mine did?” I inquired wryly.

  “And every battle since!” Donna complained, “I swear, there’s no surprising those two.”

  “Are you gossiping about Stella and I, Corporal?” A harsh voice came from outside the door. We both looked up, just in time to catch the woman in question pushing into the lecture hall, accompanied by her pink partner.

  “It’s not gossip if it’s something she should know, Sarge.” Donna replied with a wide grin, and a sloppy salute. “Mission accomplished, by the way. One newbie, dressed to the nines and safely delivered.”

  “Reporting for duty… Sergeant.” I tried, standing up at attention and copying what I thought would be a more proper version of the salute Donna offered.

  “At ease, both of you.” Janine said wryly. “It’s too early for you to be poisoning her with your nonsense, Donna.” To me, she said, “we don’t stand much on formality, out here in the outskirts, but you’ll need to be familiar with some basic stuff for when you meet with the higher-ups. I’ll make sure you’re up to speed.”

  “Thank you… Sarge?”

  She must have heard the question in her voice, because she nodded. “Or ma’am, in casual settings. Either works, now that you’re officially my subordinate. And speaking of insubordinate.” She rolled her eyes in Donna’s general direction. “Job done well enough Karkos. Now get out of here. You’re dismissed.”

  “Aye aye, Sarge!” Donna’s salute this time was twice as proper, and yet somehow also thrice as mocking. “Donna, out!”

  The bubbly woman breezed out of the room, offering a wave to Stella as she left. The pink, star-like Pokémon reciprocated, flapping her stubby pink arm back and forth in a goodbye.

  “Corporal Karkos must like you. She’s only a pain with people she’s taken a shine to.”

  “...Lucky me?” I wasn’t exactly sure how to take that.

  “Trust me, better than getting the other treatment. You’ll see what I mean, eventually. Now go ahead and sit back down, and feel free to let out your partners too.”

  She didn’t need to tell me twice. A quick beam of light, and my knights materialized next to the table. They tried to form up in a line, but the room proved too cramped to make it easy, and they scrambled to orient themselves into their standard formation, bumping chairs and the table in their haste.

  “Company halt!” I ordered. To my relief, they listened, all stopping in place. I waited a few moments, letting the disturbed furniture settle, before bellowing another command. “At ease, knights, irregular formation.”

  We were still working on irregular formation.

  Basically, it meant no danger present, stand wherever you want. Problem was, while the brass was perfectly content to pick a spot and stand there, the troops had a harder time making that sort of decision.

  A second passed, and then two, as my knights reoriented themselves, scoping out the environment. They still twitched and tried to huddle up, but Lance faithfully followed my orders, barking at the troops to spread out and figure things out for themselves.

  I had bribed him to be on his best behavior today by playing a few games of chess with him last night. He was a big fan of the game. All of my knights were, but Lance had a head for command, and took to it far more than any of the others. He still struggled at times with the rules when playing alone, but he was improving at a rate that made me nervous. Just under a week of practice, with only a few games a day, and he already took me by surprise sometimes. I would have to up my game to keep up.

  While they figured out their positioning, I turned to Janine. “Sorry for them, they have strong defensive instincts, especially in unfamiliar places.”

  “Understandable,” the older ranger was looking at me, her expression inscrutable. “Feel free to have them up on the table. The first part of this lesson will be for both of you.”

  I nodded, then turned down to my milling partners. “You heard her knights. Company, perch!” The command was new, but they followed it faithfully. It probably helped that they liked this one. Lance toddled over to the table, and flattened himself to the ground, compressing his legs up into his body like springs. Percy ran up and hopped on brass’ head, only for the latter to pop up like a spring. Normally, this was how a Falinks jumped, but with a troop weighing him down, Lance launched his subordinate up onto the table instead.

  One after another, Kay, Galad, Bers, and Tristan were launched. To finish things off, I picked up Lance myself, depositing him on the table next to his brothers. “Company Attention!” I drilled, getting all of their focus. “Sergeant Janine will be giving us a lesson. You remember her and Stella?”

  My knights looked over at the ranger sergeant, who waved helpfully. Stella did the same, from a conspicuously high chair that I hadn’t noticed earlier. Was that always there?

  Either way, the pink star was sitting in it gleefully, cheerily waving at my suddenly much more interested knights.

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  “Give her all of your focus. Treat this like training!”

  “Falinks!” They roared their agreement.

  I pulled a notebook and pen out of my pack as Janine looked on at us. I thought maybe she was bemused, but I still had a hard time reading the older woman.

  “Alright then, let’s start with the very basics.” She powered the projector on, and pressed a button on the table. A slide pulled up with the words: ‘What is the Ranger Corp, and what do we do?’ written on it. “And remember, this will all be on the test.”

  -

  The start of the lecture wasn’t anything new. Janine gave us a basic overview of the corp’s history, and duties. It was relieving to know that my research hadn’t misled me, but my familiarity with the topic actually ended up making things more challenging. I found my attention slipping, in spite of my best efforts.

  Janine might have noticed as well, because she stopped the lesson after about an hour. “Alright, I think that’s enough of that,” she powered down the projector. “We can come back to this later. For now, let’s get to something more interesting.”

  I nodded, while trying to reign in the relief in my expression. “Sounds good. What’s next?”

  The older ranger grinned, and I thought there might have been just a hint of malice in the expression.

  “The Fitness exam.”

  I’d been around enough PE teachers to know that I had not, in fact, just been seeing things. “Should I change into exercise clothes?” I’d brought some with me, in case a workout ended up being part of the schedule.

  “In the future, definitely,” Janine nodded, “but not today. Need to see what you can do in survival situations, so you’re exercising in full kit today.”

  The red, padded jacket I’d picked out suddenly felt way heavier.

  -

  The older ranger brought us to a familiar gymnasium, except unlike last time, the space was actually populated.

  Donna inhabited one side of the room, benching a bar with far more weight on it than I would have expected given her rather slight frame. A Ferrothorn was spotting her, two viny limbs affixing it to the ceiling and the third wrapped around the bar.

  I also recognized the older ranger who’d been tending to the Skiddos when I came for my interview. He was running around the track that surrounded the periphery of the room, accompanied by a herd of the goat Pokémon and a massive Gogoat. He wasn’t really keeping pace with his companions, but as they each passed him by they slowed so he could pat them reassuringly on the head.

  I didn’t know the final pair in the gym, a blonde man somewhere in his twenties, accompanied by a Pokémon I didn’t recognize. It was shaped like a Dragon, with the characteristic raptor posture and myriad of spines, but colored pale blue, like an ice or water type. They were working with free weights, taking turns lifting barbells and cooling down.

  “I see everyone decided to get some exercise today!” Janine called out laughingly as she led us deeper into the gym. “I’m lucky to have such dedicated subordinates.”

  Okay, that was definitely sarcasm. I hadn’t been sure at first because of the older woman’s accent, but there was no mistaking it at this point.

  Sure enough, while all of the presumed rangers were hard at work, their eyes had landed on us immediately as we entered the gym.

  It took me a moment, but their not-too-surreptitious stares finally gave it away. They were here to watch!

  I felt some indignation, but that wasn’t going to help me figure out what was going on, so I tried to quash it. What was so interesting about a new recruit that all of these rangers decided to get their exercise in right now so they could watch them take a fitness test?

  Was it me in particular? Janine didn’t seem surprised, or upset, really, so this was probably normal. Why did they all come out here?

  I wasn’t sure, but I was determined to find out.

  -

  I stared up at the gym’s ceiling, counting crossbeams to fight my nausea. The cool metal of the bench I was laying on was an incredible relief to my overheated body.

  Over the course of the last hour, I had come to two conclusions about the presence of my future coworkers. Either they were all sadists who enjoyed watching new trainees suffer, or they wanted to get an idea of the newbie’s mettle when pushed to the very end of their rope.

  Janine was very good at pushing.

  She was relentless, driving me to my limits, and then past them in each test. I knew I was currently in the best shape of my life, but that didn’t hold a candle to the brutal bevy of exercises that the older ranger was putting me through

  There was no recognition, no encouragement, just cold, clinical analysis of what I could do. She’d told me that these tests weren’t a competition, that they were just establishing a baseline of what I could do.

  Maybe the woman already had my number, because it just made me want to go harder. To beat her expectations. To impress the damn Wynaut gallery. Any time I thought I was done, one glance at her impassive face, one quiet “Are you finished?” impelled me to do just a little bit more.

  If she’d praised me, or told me just one more, or anything like that, I think I could have restrained myself a bit.

  Instead, there was no stopping point. Nothing to beat, nothing to overcome, just as much as I could possibly do, could possibly prove.

  I threw up.

  It wasn’t actually the first time I’d vomited while exercising, but it was the first time where the heat wasn’t a factor. Whatever that Ice-type was, it could cool off the entire room at-will.

  Janine had had a bucket. And then, after she was done patting my back, she had asked me if I was going to back out of the last two tests.

  I did them both.

  And threw up again.

  The second time wasn’t as bad, since there wasn’t anything in my stomach other than some bile, but my throat felt terribly raw.

  Now I was laid out on one of the gym’s benches, feeling like a particular kind of idiot. My knights had wandered over when Tristan noticed I was down, but I told them they could get back to it. They were clearly enjoying themselves working out to their hearts’ content, and I didn’t want to stop them from taking advantage of the facilities while they could.

  “Think you can focus on a lecture now?” I heard Janine ask from somewhere above me.

  So she had noticed. Of course. “Probably not,” I answered honestly. My voice was hoarser than I was expecting, and I still tasted vomit on my tongue. I drained the last of the water out of my bottle, trying to clear my mouth. “Maybe in a bit?”

  “You have a high estimation of yourself,” Janine noted dryly. I couldn’t tell if it was a complement or an indictment.

  “Thanks?” I tried.

  She snorted. “Sit up a bit, I’m going to call all these jokers over so they can introduce themselves.”

  Great. Time to meet the sadists.

  I forced myself upright, just in time to catch Janine calling over all the other rangers. Her voice wasn’t very loud, but it pierced the din in the gym effortlessly, calling the attention of everyone present.

  A few moments later, I had three humans, an ice monster, a hanging bundle of steel, and a horde of goats surrounding me. My partners came too, squeezing between the legs of the others present so they could stand around my bench in solidarity.

  Janine waited until everyone arrived, before speaking again. “Since you’ve all so generously taken the time to be here for our new junior ranger’s first fitness eval, you can do her the courtesy of introducing yourselves. Seniority order.”

  The oldest man stepped forward, accompanied by his herd of Skiddo. He looked older than Janine, but considering how badly I’d estimated her age based on the length of her career, I wasn’t willing to make any bets. He could certainly run like a man in his twenties, from what I’d seen. His head was covered in a layer of shaggy gray hair, and what I thought would be a rather impressive mustache, if it wasn’t currently weighed down by a layer of sweat.

  “Corporal Philip Poole. Nice to meet you.” His voice was just as smooth as I remembered. It stood out even more compared to Janine’s characteristic rasp. “I manage the ride Pokémon, and handle most missions up north, by the farms.” He gestured down at the herd of Skiddo, and the Gogoat pushed between them, coming to the front of the group. “This is Pauline. She’s my partner, and a Lumiosian purebred.” The man pronounced his partner's name with what I thought was a Paldean accent, but it could have been Kalosian for all I knew. “I only tell you because she’ll never let any of us forget it,” he finished.

  The goat bleated what sounded to me like a proud affirmation, but it was always hard to tell with unfamiliar Pokémon.

  Introduction finished, the pair stepped back, only for Donna and her Ferrothorn to take their place. “I already introduced myself, but it never hurts to go again,” the perky ranger said with a grin. “I’m Corporal Donna Karkos, and this is Grinder.” She gestured at her partner, who let out a churning rumble that very much reminded me of his namesake. “We cover Cesnine forest, and the foothills past it. Nice to meet you officially.”

  That just left the unknown man and his unknown Pokémon. Janine coughed, and the pair walked forward. He seemed to shrink under my attention, hiding his eyes beneath the long bangs of his Ralts-like bowl cut. The reaction was odder still, considering his size. The man was big, at least a half taller than my own one-and-a-half meters, and built like a bodybuilder.

  “Corporal Mark Lerity,” his voice was quiet, but deep, a combination that left him almost inaudible, “Icebox,” he nodded at his not-so-creatively named partner, “we work the south.”

  I waited a moment, and then another, but apparently, the taciturn man was finished.

  I took a moment to collect my breath. “I’m Fe Alvida, junior ranger.” I inhaled again, trying to control my tone. “And these are my partners, Kay, Lance, Percy, Tristan, Bers, and Galad.” I didn’t name them in any particular order, just pointing at them as they came into my sight. ‘It’s nice to meet you all.”

  “And you already know Stella, Bakiru, and I,” Janine spoke up. “Liken’s our dispatcher, he’s still manning the front desk, and you’ll meet Wilson soon enough. And with that, you know everyone, welcome to Ranger Outpost Seven.”

  I paused for a moment, blinking and counting. “Wait, there are only six of you. Plus Bakiru?” I asked, after finishing my mental math.

  “Seven now,” Donna said with a laugh, “welcome to the team.”

  “Don’t worry too much about it,” Philip reassured me. “This area’s pretty quiet, so we don’t need all that many rangers. It’s also a great place to train you juniors. We get most of the ones that come out of Techne.”

  “So no one else has signed up for the program this year?” If there was anyone else, it sounds like they’d also be working here.

  “You’re the only one so far,” Janine confirmed, “but summer’s not over yet. We might have a few late sign-ons, even into early autumn.

  I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. On the one hand, getting a bunch of one-on-one attention from all of the more senior rangers sounded invaluable. On the other, it sounded very intimidating.

  “Spend a bit longer getting your breath,” Janine told me, “and don’t let these jokers overwhelm you. When you’re ready, head over to my office so we can work out what your schedule is going to look like.”

  I nodded gratefully, and the older woman walked off, Stella clamoring up onto her shoulder with practiced ease.

  Without the bulwark of the sergeant’s presence repelling them, the other rangers and their Pokémon crowded even closer, if that was possible. Well, all of them except for Mark, who hovered at the rear of the group.

  The crowding got my knights’ hackles up, and I had to hold up a hand. “A bit of space, please. Still a bit nauseous.”

  The excuse was effective, mostly because it was true, and the crush relented a bit.

  “Sorry about that,” Philip said, “need some more water? Looks like you’re running on empty.”

  I nodded, grateful, and handed him my bottle, which was delegated in turn to a Skiddo, who ran off with it. “Kid will be back in a sec with a refill,” the corporal reassured me. “In the meantime, maybe you can tell us what put a Combee in your bonnet. You were really leaving it all out on the turf over there.”

  I shrugged. “Ja-” I caught myself. “Sergeant Egao told me to try my hardest so we could set a baseline for future tests.”

  Philip blinked, apparently nonplussed, and then guffawed. “Golems, you are an earnest one, aren’t you?”

  I thought the chortle sounded friendly, but getting laughed at is never pleasant. I felt myself puff up with indignance. “Well what else was I supposed to do? It’s my first day. Can you blame me for wanting to make a good impression?”

  The older ranger trailed off, maybe helped along by the punch Donna put in his arm.

  “Sorry about him Fe, ignore that old cynic. You did good out there. It’s just that…” the woman considered her words for a moment, “we’re not often people’s first choice. The corp, that is. Seeing that sort of effort on the first day is pretty rare.”

  “She’s right,” Philip actually looked a bit chagrined. “Sorry Private. Wasn’t trying to make fun of you, just that Donna was saying that you told her you weren’t sure whether or not you wanted to stick with it. Hell of an effort for someone still on the fence.”

  The apology was quick and easy. It mollified me a bit, but my ego was definitely still a bit sore. “Just because I haven’t made a solid choice is no excuse to give less than my best.”

  “True enough,” Philip shrugged. “Good attitude.” It felt like he might have something else to say, but whatever it was, he decided to keep it to himself.

  The ensuing awkward silence had barely a moment to breathe before Donna smashed in, strangling it mercilessly. “So Fe, tell us a bit about your partners. They’re a multi-mon?”

  I nodded, grabbing the conversation thread. “Yeah. The six of them count as one Pokémon, but they can all think and act independently, to a degree.”

  “Do you get in trouble if you try to separate them? Like a Magnemite?” Donna asked.

  “Nope.” I shook my head. “Technically, they can spread out as far as they want. They get really uncomfortable though. I brought Tristan alone with me on a shopping trip once, to experiment, and he basically refused to leave my arms. Had to carry him around the whole time. When I got back, the rest of them had basically trashed the living room, they were so anxious.”

  My knights puffed up, their turn to feel indignant, and I knelt down, fighting my screaming muscles to pick up the quietest of them, Tristan, like usual, and put him in my lap. I started rubbing his shield where it met the rest of his armor, pushing the separate plate in and out, articulating it in a way I knew he liked.

  The promise of rewards for future good behavior got the rest of my knights to settle, and I turned my attention back to the group surrounding us. “Plus, their ball takes a bit to get a read on them again when they’ve been separated for a while, so it’s really best to keep them together.”

  “I can imagine,” Donna nodded. “So what are they? I don’t think you mentioned the species.”

  “Sorry, slipped my mind,” I admitted. “They’re a Falinks, a Galarian Pokémon. They’re pretty rare outside of the region.”

  “Really? How did you end up with a Galarian Pokémon?” Philip asked, obviously curious.

  “They were a rescue,” I relayed the story my dad had told me. “Apparently, a dojo imported them without realizing they were a multi-mon, and they weren’t willing to foot the bill to send them back when they realized their mistake.”

  “Bastards,” Donna actually growled.

  I blinked, a bit taken aback. That was a lot more vitriol than I’d been expecting. “Right, they were awful about it.” I agreed. “Dad had heard about it through a colleague at work, and we’d just found out that I had synergy sickness, so it made sense. And here we are.”

  “And here we are,” Donna grinned, already past whatever anger had taken her. “However it happened, I’m glad it led you guys here. I have a feeling that this is going to work out great.”

  Before I could answer her, the errant Skiddo returned, my bottle in tow. How they had filled it without the assistance of thumbs I refused to think about, but the ice-cold water was a relief either way. “Okay,” I finished draining the bottle and forced myself to stand. “I think I’ve kept Janine waiting long enough. I’m sure I’ll see you all around?”

  “One-hundred percent.” Donna guaranteed. “You remember the way to her office?”

  “The building’s not that big,” I reassured her. “It was really nice to meet you all. Looking forward to working with you.”

  “Likewise.” “Same.” “Mmm.”

  I barely heard their responses over the chorus of Pokémon cheers. I still wasn’t sure how on board I was with the whole ranger thing, but my colleagues were enthusiastic about it, at least. I found that reassuring.

  -

  I took a moment to marshall myself, and to tell my knights to be on their best behavior for just a little longer, and then I knocked on the door.

  “Come in,” I heard from inside.

  Janine’s office was the same scene of carefully controlled chaos that I remembered. The sergeant herself was at her desk, writing something in a file. Bakiru was in the room as well, working persistently at his keyboard, typing lines of text I could barely see the edges of past his yellow head.

  “Feeling better Private Alvida?” The older ranger asked.

  “Yes Sergeant,” I nodded. “Sorry. I guess I don’t know my limits as well as I thought I did.”

  “Well at least now you’ve found them,” Janine noted wryly. “Take a seat. We need to go over your schedule going forward.”

  I pulled out a chair and settled into it, doing my best not to slump. It was a struggle, with my muscles feeling like jelly, but I managed to sit at attention. “I did what you said,” I told her. When she looked a bit confused, I hurried to clarify. ”About our training, I mean. We’ve been doing eight hour days, over the past couple of weeks. These guys love it,” I nodded down at my knights, who had filled the room, claiming various chairs and perches.

  “Ah. Well, I’m glad to hear you’re still determined to put in the time,” Janine nodded. “Do you have any other commitments beyond training on your schedule?”

  “No, Sergeant. I’m pretty free. We can work our training around the hours we’re working.”

  “I see,” Janine hummed, “are you comfortable doing the full twenty a week to start with?”

  I nodded. “yes ma’am. We can handle it.”

  “Alright then. Since you’re so flexible, we’ll play it by ear. That’s a good thing,” the ranger hurried to reassure me. “Means we should be able to get you more field time than usual. Oftentimes, that’s the harder requirement to meet for the exam.”

  “There’s a requirement for time spent in the field?” I hadn’t heard about that.

  Janine nodded. “Fifty hours, or participation in ten successful missions.”

  “Only five percent of the total training time we need? That doesn’t seem like much.”

  The sergeant snorted. “It might not sound like a lot, but Corporal Poole wasn’t joking when he said that we don’t see much action here. Full rangers see maybe one real dispatch a month, outside of routine stuff. Finding a time where a trainee can tag along with them can be tough, if you’re working around a schedule.”

  I could see that. I guess it was lucky that I didn’t have any restrictions then. I tried my best to think about it that way. “So what, you’ll call me in when something comes up?”

  The older ranger nodded. “Right. We’ll keep a standard four hours a day, and ring you when an opportunity for a tag along comes up. What days off do you prefer?”

  I thought about it for a moment. “Do Sunday and Wednesday work?”

  “Sure, I’ll pencil it in.” Janine made a note. “Do you mind if we call you in for missions on those days?”

  “If there’s the opportunity.” I nodded. Those were the days Chansey was most likely to come home, but she’d understand if I missed some because of missions.

  “Well alright then. Keeping it quick and easy.” Janine nodded. “I know we’ve been saying it all day, but welcome to the team, Private Alvida.” The older ranger extended a hand.

  After a moment, I reached out to shake it. Truth be told, I appreciated the repetition. Maybe if they told me enough times, it’d start to feel real.