#lunick x solana | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

lemonjelloarts · 2 years

Text

And I'll Bring My Home to You

[4k+ Winter Holiday one-shot.]

Lunick and Solana both had very different holiday traditions growing up, and have decided to share them with each other this year in Fiore.

[Follows my hc that Solana grew up in Sootopolis, and Lunick is from Goldenrod. Lunick/Solana domestic fluff shipfic, but technically pre-relationship!]

“Thank Arceus I made it back in time. That line was so long, I really thought I might miss it.” Solana appeared back into Lunick’s sight for the first time in half an hour, with two hot drink to-go cups occupying her hands and a jubilant grin on her lips. At least, what he could see of her lips; she hid most of the bottom half of her face behind a scarf for warmth.

Her darker haired companion reached his arm up and took one of the cups off of her hands, her Plusle taking the opportunity to scamper down his arm like a bridge from where he’d been sitting atop her shoulder. Lunick was sitting on the ground, and had been holding enough space beside him for Solana to rejoin him there after she’d offered to get them holiday drinks to enjoy during the event. It was the Fall City Tree’s lighting day, after all: one of the biggest winter social turnouts of the whole region. It was even televised, with live music courtesy of the Quads and bustling citizens from all four settlements merry and huddled together to all watch the large tree in the city’s Central Square glow alight for the first time of the season.

“Thanks again for getting these,” Lunick spoke, the visible hot air from his own breath intermixing with the steam puffing out of the small drinking hole from the lid of his cup. “You didn’t have to. I would have survived without hot chocolate.”

“Well I wouldn’t have.” His best friend spoke so plainly and matter-of-fact about the ordeal, plopping against him unceremoniously and nearly sloshing the drink she’d waited so long for right out of his hand by wasting no time to get cozy. “It’s peppppppppp-ermint, too.” The word was broken by a shudder at the cold air- even though Fall City hardly ever got snow, its temperate could still offer quite the chilly stiff wind, which seemed to be blowing stronger than usual today. Paired with the fact it was coming off of the water, and therefore bitingly wet, Solana’s body reacted involuntarily.

And Lunick’s practically did too, as he immediately wrapped his arm around her back to share the blanket they’d brought to sit under together, draping it over her far shoulder and enveloping her into his personal pocket of body heat that he and Minun had been working on the whole time she had been in line. “Oh good,” he mused, taking a sip of the drink and nearly burning the tip of his tongue in doing so. At least it had stayed hot. “Pepppppppp-ermint is one of my favorites.” He mocked her shudder with a coy smirk on his face, and it earned him a small glare and a nose scrunch that he couldn’t help but love from the girl beside him.

Not having a good enough quip back, Solana just grabbed the blanket’s edge and pulled it tighter around herself, wrapping it over her already-discolored fingertips and just relishing in whatever warmth she could bring back to them by holding the hot cup. “I used to drink hot chocolate nearly religiously when I was little,” she confessed, a half-breathy laugh in amusement at the memory following. “I swear, during the winter shipments, at least one of the cocoa pallets was literally just for me.”

Lunick pressed his lips together in a fond smile, his eyes glued to her as she spoke. The tree could light up any moment and he could miss it and be none-the-wiser, because honestly, he’d much rather hear stories Solana told about her childhood. It wasn’t often that the topics were breached between the two, so he relished every new aspect he could get, trying to picture it in his mind to know what formed the person who’d become his best friend today. And he didn’t know it, but she held that same interest for him, too.

“Oh, yeah, I’m not surprised, based on how quickly you’ve drained the base’s free hot chocolate for walk-in patrons in years past.” That earned him an elbow in his ribs, and he laughed, beginning to prod to see if he could get any more out of her. “I never thought about the fact you guys had whole food shipments. I mean, makes sense, given how Sootopolis is, but just never crossed my mind.”

“Perks of living in a caldera, baby.” Solana smiled a toothy grin up at him, the pet name merely a joke to fit with her tone. “Nothing much gets in or out, unless it’s by air or sub. Unpackaging day was on Wednesdays, that’s when I would grab my dad by the wrist and make him ravage the mart with me to get first dibs on the specialty cocoas.” She took a sip of the peppermint one, and Lunick could’ve sworn he heard a quiet mmm… that followed it.

“And now you’re ravaging Fall City vendors all by yourself! What a big girl you’ve become.” Solana laughed at his joke, some of her hair falling into her face as she looked up at the tree again. He couldn’t force himself to do the same.

“I’m excited we both had off tonight to get to come and see this,” she reiterated, looking childlike in awe at the magnificent display and hugging her Pokémon close. “I mean, I’ve always known it like, happened, and have certainly seen it lit before, but this is our first year getting to actually come see the lighting together.”

The way she seemingly emphasized his inclusion made Lunick’s face burn even more than the wind already had, and he just readjusted beside her, keeping his arm around her back and squeezing her in thanks for the sentiment. “Did you have a tree? I mean, back when you were a kid, did you do the whole tree decorating thing?”

Solana snickered, placing one of her hands on his knees. “I lived on an island, not under a rock.” She found great enjoyment at his defensive huff, and took another sip of her drink. “We did, yes. Did you?”

Lunick nodded, leaning back on his palms even though they stung from being flush against the cold ground. “It was decked in a ton of silver bells, too. Way more than I ever see here.”

“Bells…?” She tilted her head in curiosity, and he looked over at her with a shrug.

“Big deal in Johto,” he began, taking another sip from his drink before looking up at the tree, imagining it. “Lots of bells, sacred all times of year, but it seemed especially so in the holidays.” Lunick huffed out a breath, reminiscing now. “Given the whole sleigh bells thing and all, it was a huge part of the holidays. A lot of music with bells in it, lyrical and instrumental too. You know the stereotypical like caroling you see in movies? That’s a real thing in Johto, except instead of singing, it’s these groups with different tones of bells, playing music for the whole hallway to hear.”

Solana perked up at the word choice, recalling now. “Right. I forget sometimes that you lived in the city.”

“Aw yeah. Apartment buildings- Perks of living in a city, baby.” He parroted her tone exactly from earlier, a snicker falling from his mouth right after. “Speaking of, though, that reminds me! The Magnet Train Station had a whole ARCH of bells adorning the entryway for the holiday season. Arceus, and you don’t even want to know what Ecruteak was like.” Sitting upright more, he got more animated into it as the conversation veered to one of his most beloved things: food. “And the cookies! Solana, the cookies.”

She giggled at his excitement in remembering these for the first time in years, and he began to try and explain them to her. “They were these sugar cookie-like treats called Namahiko, and there was a little candy inside, so you could bake them and glue them together with icing to make it jingle- well, more rattle than anything else, but delicious nonetheless.” Before she could make any sort of remark about how he found all cookies delicious, he shifted back to the topic of her again, ever curious to know more. “I’m sure there’s gotta be things too that you thought were super normal, only to find out when moving here, it’s not everywhere that does it. Was there anything unique for the holidays you did, growing up? Besides harassing poor air-delivery men for chocolate?”

The teal haired girl squinted her eyes in an unreadable expression- somewhere between amusement and indignant at the suggestion. But she answered nonetheless, letting out a long sigh that had just a twinge of melancholy longing in it. “We used to make these, these things,” she began, awash with nostalgia and putting the cup down to talk with her hands as she explained. “They were these little… These crafts, I guess. Mauentgoch, they’re called.” When she said the name of the craft, some of her native accent returned, and Lunick realized then how heavily she used to always have it, a few years ago. It had worn off a lot since moving to Fiore.

“They’re decorative, made of recycled paper. A little folded… Thing, and you decorate it yourself with like stickers or crayons or whatever, really. Really big part of the holidays, every year.” She practically glowed even just talking about it, and Lunick was listening intently. “Once folded properly, usually you give them away. Like a gift, you give it to someone you love. But not like, necessarily in a valentines sort of way or anything, like you can give yours to family, or friends, or really anyone you want to let know you’re thinking of them. I remember one year, when I had my short wannabe trainer stint, I even gave one to the gym leader just to let him know I looked up to him.” She smiled down at the Plusle in her lap, thinking off-handedly about how he really wasn’t cut out for battling, anyways, even if she still had any interest in it. But she didn’t. And she was perfectly fine with life staying the way it was right now, with the company right here, for a very, very long time.

“And then, after getting one, you don’t keep it. We decorated the Cave of Origin entrance with them, as a tribute to the Legendaries that once shaped the world around us as we know it. Because, as catastrophic as they were, I think we all deep down loved them a little, too. It’s a huge part of our people's history.”

The look on her face was reserved, and she wouldn’t look at him directly, lest he know that a part of her missed Hoenn sometimes. Not in a way where she regretted coming to Fiore, not at all- but it was only natural that she’d miss something she still was so fond of, even if she would never trade the life she has now in order to go back. But he could tell. He could always tell.

“Why don’t we do that tonight, then?” He spoke more somberly than the teasing and joking they had been doing, and reached the hand that had been behind her up. With it he gently brushed the hairs that had fallen into her face as she talked behind her ear, bringing her attention back to him. “We’re not busy after the lighting. Why don’t we go home, and we can listen to Johtoian bell hymns while we make the mauentgoch,” he totally butchered the pronunciation, but she smiled warmly nonetheless, because it meant a million times more that way, just because he said it. “And maybe some cookies, if we’re feeling so inclined,” Lunick half-joked, ever the foodie.

Solana let herself indulge in the way his hand lingered behind her ear, closing her eyes for a second longer than a normal blink just to take a deep breath and take in his suggestion. Her voice was soft when it came out, just barely loud enough so he could hear, but he was the only one who had to hear it, anyways: “I’d like that.”

Interrupting the moment, from behind them, they heard the crowd that had amassed begin to count down from 10, and knew it was time for the tree lighting after all. Both leaned in a little closer as they watched the spectacle come to life before their very eyes, cheering quietly as the colorful lights came on along with nearly half the region watching.

The event was over after the lighting itself; the crowds began to dissipate at an impressive rate, and Lunick and Solana were happy to spend the walk home through Krokka Tunnel in solitude, both excited for the night to come. When they arrived back at the Ringtown Base, they first raided the Operator’s room for paper scraps, dropped off Plusle and Minun in Solana’s room to play and keep out of the human food, then promptly made a beeline for the Base Commissary. It was outside of mealtimes now, which meant the place was empty, devoid for the night of any straggling Rangers that usually help operate and cook the meals for Base on their days off.

Thankfully, because of this aspect of the job, both Lunick and Solana at least knew their way around the kitchen here, even if neither were particularly good at it. Lunick had dragged in two stools back into the kitchen area for them to sit at a prep table to do their paper crafting, and while he set them up, Solana put on a mewtube playlist of Johtoian holiday bell songs for them to listen to as they worked.

“Oh, right off the bat, this one’s a good one!” Lunick chimed in, a grin already on his lips as the music played. Solana shook her head in adoration, leaving the device on the countertop as she crossed over to the cabinet to bring out the mixer down from its shelf.

“Do you want to look up your cookie recipes?” She asked him over her shoulder, already having forgotten the name of them from having only heard it the once. “You’d know better about what’s authentic than I would.”

“Butter and sugar to start, I know that much,” he offered, hopping up onto the prep surface to sit on as he scrolled sligoogle for an actual recipe to follow.

“See,” she crossed over to him, standing right in front of where he sat, leering in to tap him on the nose patronizingly with the mixer paddle. To start with butter and sugar, I need to know how much of it.”

“

“Since you’re so smart, go with your gut,” he taunted right back, his eyes half lidded in tease as he leaned forward too, unintimidated by the proximity, and even sticking his tongue out.

Solana just huffed, rolling her eyes with a smile as she released him from the close quarters and crossed back over to where the flour and sugar were stored, since she was sure they would most likely need both. “Two and a half cups for the sugar, Sunshine!” She heard Lunick call out from behind her, and pushed her sleeves up her arms and measured out as told. Granted, she spilled a little, but what was a kitchen without a little mess.

… Which would soon, become a lot of mess. Lunick read out the rest of the recipe, then hopped down from the countertop to help her. He just reached the containers at the exact moment she spun around holding the flour measuring cup gingerly, and their chests collided, sending a cup’s worth of flour into the air between them and settling gently onto their hair and shirts like freshly fallen snow.

Neither said a word for half of a moment, both too caught up in the shock of what happened to speak. But when the silence was broken, it was by Lunick, because well- he knew he was dead anyways.

“Jeez, Solana! You’re making such a mess!!” His white grin practically blended in with the rest of his powdery face, and while the words were blatantly taunting, they were paired with his thumbs gently brushing some flour off her cheeks and forehead for her, before he ran.

And it was smart, too, because she gasped, and reached out to snag ahold of his shirt, but he was already out of reach. “THESE COOKIES ARE FOR YOU MAY I REMIND-!” But her scolding was drowned by his laughter, and she chased him around the kitchen until they were both puffing and heaving, out of breath.

“Lets… Call a truce,” Lunick offered, gripping the edge of the prep table between them as his safety net from his best friend’s wrath.

She huffed, the twinkle of mischief still alight in her eyes. “Spoken like a person who knows they’re going to lose,” she reminded him, but eventually nodded. “Truce… For now. But I will get you back for that, mark my words.”

Choosing to take his chances that she may instead forget, he held his hands up in surrender, crossing the kitchen to be with her again as they both dusted whatever else of the flour they could get off of themselves, and Lunick even offered to go measure it out this time so he would be the recipient of any disaster on its way over to the mixing bowl. He set the oven to preheat as she whisked in the wet ingredients carefully, doing her best to keep at least the rest of it contained before switching to a spatula to scrape it down.

Which left a wet spatula in the hands of a vengeful Solana.

“Oh, hey Lunick?” Her words were oh-so-casual, and she waited for him to be in range before whipping around and holding the utensil out like a weapon. “Time to pay.”

He tried to flee a second time, but wasn’t so lucky twice in a row. She caught him from behind with relative ease, wrapping her arms around him like a Komala and doubling over with him as he tried to croon his head away from her punishment.

“No!! Nonono, Solana, WAIT!” He pleaded, but it was far too late, and he was in far too compromising of a position to barter. She smeared the wet batter down the side of his cheek with a satisfied grin, and he cried out dramatically as she did, which was quickly chased by laughter all around.

As the giggles petered out, Lunick twisted in her arms, and found himself cupping either side of her face- but not with any revenge nor teasing intent. He just simply found himself holding her. It was like second nature. Even if the batter smearing had been at his demise, he couldn’t help but be beyond pleased at the way it made her snicker. And he beamed down at her wickedly pleased face, their noses touching in the happy moment of enjoying each other’s company.

For a second, something almost happened then. It was a moment that sliced into both of their chests, that stole the wind right out of them, a very real moment. Without any words spoken, the atmosphere changed, and they both melted into brightly blushing, forcing themselves to tear away and get back to making the rest of the Namahiko cookies.

Once the first batch went into the oven for ten minutes, Solana washed her hands to rid herself of residual batter and put her hands on her hips as she faced him. “Ready to make some Mauentgoch?” She asked, and Lunick didn’t know how to break it to her that he would be ready a thousand times over if it meant getting to hear her speak a little in her native accent again. Instead, he simply sat on one of the stools obediently like a Yamper puppy, already having a piece of paper in his hands.

“It’s like origami, right?” He asked, and she joined him, pulling the stool up right next to him so he could follow all her movements up close.

“Kinda.” Solana took a piece of paper and deftly began to fold and flip and tuck, her muscle memory overtaking her as she created one of the crafts within 30 seconds right in front of Lunick’s eyes. She was good at it, too- and there was no way he could follow her movements from the one she’d already produced.

Looking at her with wild eyes, the young man gaped, tilting his weight back a little. “... What?!?” Was all he could stammer out, amazed and taken aback at her skill.

“I was making that one for you to look at as reference,” Solana replied calmly, a little amusement at his reaction leaking out from any attempt she’d been making at hiding it. “Don’t worry. I promise I’ll teach you much slower.”

And she did. She walked through every step with him carefully, making sure he was correcting his folds when he messed up and shaping the craft out to be the way it was supposed to be. “Perfect! Now try and make one on your own.” It was the words he was dreading- he wasn’t quite sure he remembered all the steps. But before he could protest, she hopped to her feet, changing the cookie batches and saying she was running to grab markers for them to decorate with.

Lunick did his best to focus, and stared at the three Mauentgoch that had already been made. Solana’s two were so neat and nice-looking, but his was scraggly and had uneven folds that jutted out to the sides in his lack of experience. He tried, he really did while she was gone, but he was barely even two steps in and already making a detrimental mistake.

When she returned, Solana stepped into the room and immediately felt herself awash in fondness for the scene she was witnessing: Lunick, hunched over in focus, making her hometown holiday craft, and absentmindedly humming along to the bell hymns as he did so. It was so endearing to her; if mental photos lasted, she would treasure this one for years and years to come.

Gently placing down the markers, she reached over his arms, sliding her fingers over his to guide him. “Tuck your pointer finger in here, so the paper bends at the right angle…” Her face heated up at the intimacy of the moment, but it felt right. Lunick was much the same; his skin seared everywhere hers touched, yet he almost was tempted to play dumb and mess it up just to keep her there longer. “Then flip and let this point here come to the edge, and…” Solana skimmed her fingers off of his by pulling them up his forearms, bringing her hands to rest on either of his shoulders as she peered over it. “See? There you go.”

He admired his handiwork, because heavens knows he couldn’t look at her right now, or else he’d lose his composure altogether. “Thanks, Sol.” He spoke genuinely, then let out a lengthy exhale and grabbed the marker set she’d just set down, doing his best to ensure his hands didn’t shake from all the things he was feeling as he did so. “Now we decorate?”

Solana saddled herself back into the chair next to him, one hand lingering on his back before dropping altogether. “Now we decorate,” she confirmed, and took a marker, too. “It doesn’t have to be ornate. Just something.” Smiling, she began to doodle on one of the flaps of hers. “Spoiler, I’m making mine for you.”

Lunick’s heart leapt into his throat even though it was obvious that that would have been the case: but something about the implication of hearing it aloud choked him up all over again. “And I’m making mine for you,” he made sure to confirm, decorating it in a way that reminded himself of her. Once they were done, Solana stood up, holding hers hidden behind her back even though he’d been just beside her the whole time she made it.

“Hey, Lunick,” she played into the bit, talking as if they’d just seen each other in passing, and not spent the last multiple hours together. “I wanted to give you something.”

He stood too, mirroring her posture since he wasn’t familiar with the practice the way she was, and therefore was just following her lead. “That’s funny, Solana! I actually wanted to give you something, too!”

She smiled brighter than the sun, and handed out her craft in offering, which he was sure to accept and dote over like he was seeing it for the very first time. “Happy holidays, Lunick! Thank you… for everything you do for me.” The words were beyond the act, they were real, they were serious, they had emotion behind them. And Lunick took one of her hands in his, flipping it over so her palm was facing upward, able to receive his in exchange.

“Happy Holidays, Solana,” he spoke back, his voice soft, and nearly lost in the chiming of bells. It was such a strange mix of traditions, and yet it was theirs. “Thank you for letting me spend it with you. I know it’s not the same as being home with family, but there’s no one I’d rather be with for the holidays than you.”

She accepted the gift, and held it close to her chest for a moment, before gently placing it back onto the tablespace they’d made them on. Stepping forward, she wrapped her arms around his waist in a tight hug, and he made sure to return it just as adoringly.

“You are,” she said, and Lunick pulled back just enough to get a look down at her face to express his confusion at the curt statement. She huffed, just a little, and reached up to brush the long, dark (and still flour-ridden) hair out of his eyes. “Just as good as being home with family. I’d love to see them, but…” She broke into a smile, breaking the eye contact to rest her head on his chest, which was thumping loudly. “Well. You’re certainly a good consolation prize.”

He held her there, a hand moving up to cradle the nape of her neck as he pressed his nose atop her head. It was sweet, this moment between them. And it meant everything to him to get to bring a little of their old homes here to their new one.

The last cookie batch’s timer went off, which forced the both of them to disentangle from one another in order to take it out to cool and turn the oven off. Once able to do so, they packaged up all the cookies into containers to take back to their rooms, making quick work of the dishes by working together, and each taking their gifted Mauentgoch back with them to the dorms for the night.

Lunick spoke up first, mentally doubling back to recall what she’d said earlier and offering a solution to keep the authenticity of the tradition. “Since we don’t have the Origin Cave here, I was thinking, maybe we can mail these to your parents tomorrow morning while out on our rounds. I’m sure your mom would be happy to place them there for us.”

The suggestion was so sweet, she didn’t bother to correct him on the semantics of the name of the shrine. She unlocked the door to her dorm room and let the two Pokémon out, who both scampered to the feet of their humans, respectively. “I think I’d really like that, Lunick,” she agreed, placing one of the containers of cookies down before turning back to him to say goodnight for the evening. “You know,” she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, crossing her arms over her chest as she looked up at him. “All night we’ve been focused on traditions we’ve done in the past, but I think we’d be remiss to not include the one of present.” Solana covered her mouth to hide the wide smile that was forming on it, shaking her head in mirth. “The one that seemingly the whole region can’t seem to get off our backs about.”

In the time it had taken Lunick to process she was hinting at the teasing they got whenever they were so much as in the same room as a sprig of mistletoe, Solana had stepped forward and stretched up to press a soft, ginger kiss to the bottommost part of his cheek, her hand cupping the other side to hold him there as she delivered it. “Happy Holidays again, Lunick.” Her words were so quiet, and practically right into his ear. “Goodnight, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

And just like that, she was gone, having retreated into her bedroom and left him to wallow in her wake. On the other side of the door, he had no clue she was experiencing the very same mental combustion he was feeling in response. All he could do was swallow thickly and look up, staring into the mistletoe leaves to regain his composure the way he always did when they were caught beneath it.

But, to his surprise, there was nothing there.

#sprinkled in some lore and backstory for yall as a bit of SPICE #the intimacy of sharing your holiday traditions with your love.....#rangershipping #lemonmade fics #pokemon ranger #pokemon #solana pokemon ranger #solana pokemon #lunick pokemon ranger #lunick pokemon #solana x lunick #lunick x solana #fluff #fluff fic

7 notes · View notes

lemonjelloarts · 3 years

Text

Vacation(’s all they ever wanted)

[8k+ one shot. (or two shot-now with a 7k+ sequel!)

This is just a rewrite I did of the post-game ‘Ringtown Rescue Duo’ mission from the first Ranger game! I stuck relatively close to canon all things considered- just elaborated on it a lot more to make the emotions much more realistic instead of the stagnant curt game dialogue!

Takes place from the POV of Solana being in the role of the game’s protagonist, IE, wrote the letters to Spenser.

Lunick/Solana implied, but just from the heartwarming fluff kind of way (for this part)!]

Part 1 [You are here!] | Part 2

“Aren’t you tired?” The words seemed to conflict with Spenser’s dynamic stance as he delivered them; the arms over his chest and broad, powerful footing did not match the caring question whatsoever. In fact, when Lunick first reported down here to the base’s lobby, he was positive his Leader had a ripe new mission ready for him.

Spenser’s typical dark circles under his eyes stretched thin as he squinted down at the younger Ranger; beyond just caring for his team as humans and having the decency of wanting them to take breaks, it was also part of his actual job to make sure they didn’t burn out, so to speak. A unique part, one that seemingly fell square on the shoulders of his own responsibility as a manager of his own base. All work and no play tended to make Rangers want their contracts to go away. And he couldn’t dare afford to lose either of his top two right now.

“You’ve been ping-ponging around all of Fiore for weeks now, between the whole Super Styler recovery and putting a stop to Gordor up north, to helping Elita with all the recovery Sekra Range needed. Hell, you and Solana only got back a few days ago, and Hastings has already whisked her off to Fall City for help in development of the Ranger Record thing he’s trying to implement in our next wave of stylers. You two have GOTTA be exhausted.”

And it was true- as much as Lunick loved this line of work, it was by no means a conventional 9-5. Being on contract with the Union was an internationally based employment, so the typical mandated days off a week for Fiore’s labor laws simply didn’t apply to them. And it’s not to imply that they got no time off, but… Certainly holidays were much fewer and far between. Even on days without active duty, there was always something to be done around the base custodially or otherwise to help keep the space a livable facility for all the Rangers stationed there. So with all the commotion of the past few weeks, and how crazy busy everyone had been, himself at the epicenter of it… Yeah. He was tired.

Lunick closed his mouth again, letting the words sink in as he just gave his superior a small nod. He didn’t even realize how exhausted he was until Spenser had brought it up, but now that he did, it was crushingly obvious.

The Base Leader just gave a knowing smile, breaking out of the formal stance to step forward and put a hand on Lunick’s shoulder. “I bet you are,” his words dripped with empathy, and Lunick’s muscles all dropped to a sluggish posture, thankful for his understanding. “Anyone would be tired after going through what you went through.” The green-haired man reached over and scratched under his Minun’s chin from where she sat atop his shoulder, smiling at the partner Pokémon. “You too, little one.”

Still not following what Spenser had called him down here for, Lunick rubbed the back of his neck, sheepish to be seen as lazy. It was a particular insecurity of his, especially since there had definitely been a handful of times he’d had to have been reprimanded for accidentally sleeping in past pre-shift briefing. “Uh, thank you, Leader,” he said formally out of habit, hoping that it goaded Spenser into going on about what this was really all about, because he could tell the senior Ranger was not done.

“Cameron’s prepared the perfect gift for you, Kazuki,” Spenser began, and guiltily relished in amusement at the way it made Lunick’s eyes widen nearly in panic with the knowledge of how the Summerland Leader was NOTORIOUS for gifting horrible gifts. The truth was, Spenser had actually planted the idea in his old friend’s head and asked for it as a favor, but… well, he couldn’t let his top Rangers know he had some favoritism toward them.

Laughing at the response, Spenser shook his head. “A real one, this time, I swear!! He’s arranged a vacation for you and Solana, to stay in Summerland. To take some well-deserved time off from being on-duty all the time. And while I know it’s for private, personal use, this time…” He crossed back over to the operator desk, quickly signing a paper and filing it with the current operator-on-duty. “I’ve authorized usage for the both of you to get there via the Dragonite Bus.”

Lunick breathed out a sigh of relief, a warm smile beginning to spread on his lips as the reality of the situation began to settle in. “Thank you, Leader,” he repeated, and it was much more earnest this time, as he quickly headed back to the elevator and swiped his Union ID for access back to the dormitories so he could pack up for the week and be off.

The flight across the region was not a long one: about 45 minutes to an hour of flight time until he was on the island that Summerland residents called home. The entire time, he couldn’t help but start to get more and more excited… An entire week! A whole week of relaxing on the beach, spending time with his best friend and their two Pokémon, sleeping in for once.... Nothing but sunburns to worry about, only sandcastles and playing in the surf on their itinerary. He was also excited by the fact that this would actually force Solana to take a freaking break for once in her life; after all, her case of WorkaholicTM was so bad that being ordered by the Leader to go on vacation was probably the only way she would ever actually do it.

“Hellloooo, Summerl-EYYYEH!” The drop-off from the Dragonite Bus had always been less than stellar, but this time in particular it really… burned. The planks of boardwalk out front of the Summerland Base were scorching, nearly melting the sunglasses right off his face. He scrambled to his feet to dart inside, if nothing more than for the air conditioning. And even still, that hardly seemed to break a dent.

“Arceus, it’s hot!” Lunick proclaimed as soon as he stepped through the sliding glass doors, dropping the duffel bag off his shoulder. “Is the forecast like this all week?? How do you guys do it??”

“Lunick!” Cameron wiped his brow, an apologetic look already on his face. It was then that the Ringtown Ranger began to read more of the subtleties of the room; even the Summerland Rangers looked on the brink of dehydration and hustling to provide pallets of water out to the citizens. “We… Just entered a Shelter in Place.” The Leader broke the news to him but couldn’t bear to make eye contact, feeling already horrible for getting the kid’s hopes up only to (quite literally) drop him into a disaster zone. “This heat wave’s kicking us like no other. It’s come on so suddenly that-”

Cameron’s words were interrupted as a tremor shook the grounds on which they stood, snapping everyone’s heads to attention. A few of the Rangers swore under their breath in worry, and while Lunick had been regretting not changing into something of less layers to wear when he first landed, he was grateful now that he was still in-uniform, because it was becoming increasingly apparent they needed all hands on deck. “Any leads?”

The Base Leader had hurried behind the operator desk, working a screen to gather data on the quake. “Uh, epicenter read at site of the Jungle Relic, yup…!”

Lunick clapped his hands together, his face lit up. “That’s good!” There was a silence, and he realized no one shared his excitement, and cleared his throat. “Uh, sorry, right. Bad that there’s natural disasters happening. But what’s good is I know that place…! I can help scout it out. I was there when it erupted, I have firsthand knowledge on it.” He carefully left out reminding them all that he was the reason it erupted. “And, I have an existing repertoire with Entei, after all! That has to be what’s causing all this! I can calm it down. I know I can. I’ve done it before…!”

Grabbing his styler out of its holster, he leaned over the desk with pleading eyes. “Please, Leader. I can be a great help. It’s really, really important to me that this gets resolved before Solana gets here, if possible. She… She really needs the break, sir, and I just know that she won’t be able to rest knowing there’s something she could be doing to help.”

Cameron wiped his forehead again, and gave a curt nod. “Lunick Kazuki, I am hereby assigning you this official mission: Investigate the Jungle Relic and see what you can do to figure out what’s causing this weather!” He turned to his own Rangers, on a roll with leadership, and began to instruct them all their commands, too. “We are to ensure that all inhabitants, people and Pokémon alike, are safe. Please, check on our residents and make sure all have water and appropriate shelter, and that all infrastructure is still sound!”

Already pushing his way out in a newfound hurry, Lunick saluted over the shoulder that Minun wasn’t occupying. “Thank you, Leader! I’ll be back before Hinata even gets here, just you watch!!” (His choice in wording was… Ironic, at best.)

Heading into Olive Jungle only made the severity of the situation that much worse; with coming closer to the source, also came brutal heat. Stepping into the Relic itself? It was like a furnace. If he didn’t know any better, Lunick might’ve thought his blood was actually bubbling.

Flipping open his styler, he made sure to report back once again- he’d promised that since he was going ahead on his own, that he would update the base regularly of his status. “It’s all from one Pokémon…” Sure enough, the readings on his styler denoted his findings to be true. He quickly typed a text of that update and sent it back to the operator, too, more confident than ever now that he’d been correct in his original assessment and could sufficiently handle this so Solana didn’t even have to.

The small handheld machine that was his lifeline beeped weakly, and the messages were starting to bounce back. The earthquakes must have put at least one of the save machines within the relic out of commission- thankfully it wasn’t something that would impair its capture ability, but signal for message sending was getting wimpier and wimpier.

It was clear, just by stepping into the atrium of the challenge site, that this had to be where the quakes were all stemming from. Stalactites were falling and crashing left and right, with rubble accumulating nearly everywhere he stepped. Not that, of course, he worried much anymore about destroying the Relic. I mean, kinda been there, done that. Moreso was his focus on not falling into the areas of fragile geothermal ground, because that was a recipe for a third degree burn just waiting to happen.

Thankfully, like he had told Cameron, he knew his way around in here. He knew where all the Pokémon tended to like to hide out, and while they were all (understandably) a bit more rampaged and distressed than usual, he knew just the spot he had to stop to snag a poké-assist from. While the challenge chambers were all shut, keeping him from entering the challenge of water den and receiving aid from either the Kingdra or the Gyarados that had at least once called it home, he knew of another oasis, still active in the volcano. Or, at least, he hoped hadn’t up and evaporated quite yet in this excruciating heat.

Much to his surprise and dumb luck, the cavern he’s thinking of is still there, and honestly quite a bit cooler inside than the rest of the Relic. He was sure he had this geological feat to thank for the fact there were still two Poliwrath stomping about inside, a small stream behind them that they were protecting. Now THEY would be useful for assisting with Entei. Both ran straight at him as soon as he entered the hideaway, something he was ready to handle and able to side swipe out a dodge for, whipping out his styler again to initiate capture. They provided more of a challenge than he realized they would be, if not just because there were two of them going for his capture line at the same time, in opposite directions. He ultimately had to have Minun’s help, with using her poké-assist to startle them steady in place long enough for him to loop around them enough to complete the capture.

...Unfortunately for him, however, perhaps the worst of the quakes yet struck right in the middle of his attempt, causing him to stumble and break his line. This one… This one was no joke. He fell to his knees, and was completely surrounded by the loud cracking of what could only be from the Relic around him. Looking around frantically, he recognized the newly-forming spiderweb cracks that were widening right above the cavern entrance and… Without thinking, he grabbed ahold of Minun and absolutely chucked her out to safety, much to her devastation after hitting the ground. The both of them scrambled to their feet at the same time, but it wasn’t enough; the opening to the oasis cavern caved in at that very moment, solidifying the only entryway and separating Ranger from Partner Pokémon.

Potentially worst of all, while the dust was still settling from the initial crash, Lunick could hear her crying out on the other side. The crackling of desperate electric bolts let him know it wasn’t that she was injured, it was that she was scared about him. But her efforts were fruitless; he had just drained her energy all out for a poké-assist, after all. She whimpered endlessly, upset at being apart. And that tugged at his chest horribly and twisted his heart into a million knots.

“Minun…!! Minun, hey, I’m okay, I’m okay!!” He was screaming as loudly as he could in any form of hope she could hear him through the giant rubble, and at least, the crying subsided a bit. Having her on the other side hurt him, too, but he at least could this way hope she had the decency of mind to know when it was time to get out of there and leave him behind to save herself if things were to come to that.

Lunick flipped open his styler desperately, and was completely and utterly crushed at the NO SIGNAL symbol at the upper right of the screen. He tried once, twice, thrice to send out SOS messages back to Summerland base to update them of his dire situation and to send backup, but it didn’t matter. None of them went through, and he knew it was pointless to keep trying. No, he could figure this out by himself. He had to. He’d been in precarious situations before, and gotten out just fine. This was merely more of the same, he was sure of it.

“Okay, Lunick,” He talked to himself to try and work this through, pushing up on his palms so he could stand once again. The Poliwrath had hopped back into the river to hide when the tremor hit, so he was no longer being charged as he paced back and forth, so long as he didn’t get too close to their territory. “This is a puzzle. How do you solve it?” He pulled his headband off and let out a huff, readjusting it back on his head in the same exact place out of nervous habit. “No visible exits. No Minun. Two Poliwrath. A river, which is at least a potential water source… Being guarded by the two Poliwrath. Rocks covering the entrance.” He gave the boulders an earnest shove with all his body weight, letting out a loud grunt as he tried to displace them, but as he suspected- they didn’t budge.

Desperately (though deep down he knew was not the case), he crossed over close enough to scan the Poliwrath with his styler: Level 3 water assist, confirmed. A level 3 crush field-assist instead could definitely solve all his issues right now, but he simply didn’t have one. And didn’t have a way to text his colleagues to get one and come let him out, either.

His heart still descending towards his stomach, the dark haired man still went ahead and instigated them anyways, initiating an encounter in which he could try again to capture them. He made sure to only encounter one at a time to make it much less of a burden on himself, and between the new tactic and the extreme focus being in a dangerous situation channeled within him, the captures themselves were easy enough.

“Poliwhirl, hydro pump on that pile of rocks!” He pointed and instructed the both of them, which did as he asked. It was all he could do to hope the water stream from them combined was powerful enough to move the impediment.

But, with his gut’s assessment, it didn’t work. He was truly starting to feel like he was running out of options here. Running at the wall of rocks, he let out a frustrated scream, crashing into them and only doing damage to himself, not the obstacle at hand. Crying out in pain and anger at himself for even thinking that might work, he collapsed down to sit on the ground, defeated.

What was he supposed to do? What tactical error had he made that went wrong?? How was he supposed to know this would happen?? He pulled out his styler one last time in a bleak, waning hope of the signal issue having changed, but it was just as useless to him as everything else he had tried. He dropped it, too, to the ground, and rested his head on his knees. It was time to face the reality of the situation. The tremors were getting worse, and basically to rub salt in his wounds, the entire place ripped open a new one once again, crashing even more rubble in with a loud plunk! into the river.

After everything he’d been through… After all the things he’d faced in his career of being a Ranger… It was rocks. Rocks were the damned thing that could be the end of him.

This was supposed to have been his vacation, a celebration of all the things he’d accomplished. Just time for he and Solana to enjoy themselves, and-

Solana.

Arceus, he couldn’t even imagine what she would do if she knew. If this were her, and he had to find out she was gone, and know she had gone stupidly, specifically so he didn’t have to worry…

He felt nauseous even thinking about it. He couldn’t imagine her having to live it.

Maybe she didn’t have to. Maybe backup was on the way. Maybe Cameron changed his mind and ordered some of the Summerland Rangers out to the Relic, too. Maybe they’d get here before the whole damn thing caved in on itself.

… He didn’t know. Idiotically enough, his mind was still berating himself for having ruined Solana’s vacation by putting himself in this situation. He knew that was a stupid priority to have, but it was one that was keeping him from opening the pandoras box of dwelling on the fact he might never even see her again, might never see any of them again. Not even Minun.

Uncontrollably, he felt himself start to choke on his hopeless emotions. He was sure the involuntary tears weren’t helping his already-rapidly-dehyrating state, either.

The Poliwrath were no longer indebted to him by any stretch, but still felt the goodness of Lunick’s heart from the capture, and quietly made their way over to the broken Ranger for some sympathy. It wasn’t much, but if he wasn’t getting out, it meant they probably couldn’t either. And they might as well be some company.

One sat on either side of him, nudging their way under either of his arms to snuggle up for companionship. The gesture was nice, but only made him choke harder, as a perfect example of just why he loved this job so much. Of why he wasn’t ready to stop helping.

But, unfortunately, all he could do at this point was hope. And it was a resource he was very much starting to run out of.

***

Breathing out a long sigh of relief, Solana was just happy to finally be going home. Spending time with the professor was always an honor, and Aria was… Mostly tolerable, during their mission together out on the Safra Sea, but seeing (and capturing) actual, physical Kyogre was just the sort of crazy enough thing she needed on top of all the chaos she’d been through to make her desperately want nothing more than an easy, relaxed, patrol of Lyra Forest for the next multiple weeks.

The short flight back to Ringtown was one where she tried to merely process what just happened. Before Spenser had accepted her many begging letters to join the Union, she’d lived all her life in Sootopolis City, Hoenn; all her life she’d heard nothing but stories and legends of the three of them: Kyogre, Groudon, and Rayquaza. And now she’d just faced one.

Upon being dropped in front of the Ringtown Base, she all but ran inside, nearly out of breath in excitement to share with Spenser and Lunick. “Leader!” She called out from across the room as she hurried up to him, but he beat her to the punch.

“Solana! I just got off the phone with Joel! You captured a Kyogre?! That’s mind blowing!”

Despite having been more excited to share the story with Lunick, being beaten to her own huge news by her Leader deflated her immediately, stripping the wind right out of her sails. It was enough of a shock to where you could physically see the energy high that she’d been running on peter right out of her, leaving behind only the shell-shocked, exasperated state of being that she’d learned to inhabit. “Yeah,” she puffed out, her arms feeling like lead. “It’s been insane, Leader.”

“Which is exactly what I want to speak to you about,” Spenser segwayed with a small smile, pitching her the same thing he had to Lunick only an hour and a half prior. “Take the Dragonite Bus,” he punctuated the explanation of her vacation with, a small smile on his face. “And enjoy the break. That’s an order.”

Solana heaved out a long sigh in relief, and nodded her head in knowing amusement. It was no coincidence that those were his choice of words; he knew she would only truly relax on direct order to do so. “Yes, Leader,” She gave him a small, half-hearted salute, then hurried upstairs to catch her flight to the easternmost settlement of the region.

Solana’s timing, however, could simply not have been any worse. The period when Lunick’s state was deteriorating overlapped exactly with her Dragonite Bus trip to Summerland, meaning she hadn’t had a clue about any of it. Word of the heat wave had not yet been spread beyond Summerland when she was sent off, as it had only barely begun when she had first been reporting back the Kyogre mission. Spenser would go on to discover the news of it right after she left, but by that point it had been too late to stop her.

When she landed, coincidentally, her initial reaction was nearly identical to that of which her partner’s had been. “Yeesh!” The girl shook out her palms, feeling like they had charred over just upon catching herself during landing. When she stepped into the Summerland base, her headband was already off and being wrung out, cutting through the tense air unknowingly like a knife. “Wow, is it hot out tod-”

Her words were cut short in confusion of watching Percy and Leilani gear up in Search & Rescue tactical gear, something that Summerland Rangers nearly never even touched since most of their S&R missions were done by boat, anyways. Rarely did tourists venture far enough into Olive Jungle to warrant it, and most of the area wasn’t even legal for the public to enter, anyways. “What’re y-?”

Solana’s head whipped around as Cameron interrupted her, looking more serious and stressed than she had ever seen him in her entire life. “What a rotten time to invite you here on vacation…” He wiped his head, but it was not only the heat that was making him sweat. It was nerves, too. “With this abnormal heat and earthquakes… So much for getting rest and relaxation…”

He was beating around the bush of something. She could tell. Solana looked around, her eyes narrowing, and she quickly noticed that someone who was supposed to be here was notably not in the room. Just before she could speak, the ground rumbled again, and the overwhelming feeling of dread consumed her as she tried to parse out what little information had been given to her. “Cameron, what’s going on?” Her tone had a sharp edge to it, and her posture was suddenly straight as an arrow.

“That’s… What’s got me worried even more, yup. It’s Lunick, he’s gone to the underground volcano to investigate. But we’ve lost contact with him. He’d been looking forward to meeting up with you right back here, he’d said he’d have to get done with this mission and get back to the Ranger Base before you’d even got here, so you could take the time off, but…”

“I’m going.” The very second Cameron had said the words ‘it’s Lunick’, she had already ripped a set of the S&R tactical gear off the walls and begun fitting herself within it.

“I’m worried you might be too close to this,” he interjected, shaking his head a little. “Percy and Leilani are already on the mission, they can handle-”

“I am going.” She insisted, her jaw clenched. It was extremely unlike her to talk back to or second guess any superior, much less a Base Leader themself. She hooked up one of the older-fashioned walkie talkies to the local communication channel and fastened it on her vest, steely in her regard.

“You’d be breaking rank.” Cameron reminded her, crossing his arms over his chest. His silly personality may make him seem to be the type to be a pushover, but make no mistake; there is a reason he is a Leader. “This is unlike you, Hinata. This is not your mission.”

“Then assign it to me!” Her voice was raised, and she threw her arms out in indignation, only proving his point about her proximity to the situation potentially making her make emotional decisions instead of rational ones. “I can help. Let me help. I’m the best asset you have for this situation. I know exactly how he thinks. Assign me the mission.”

This kind of behavior would absolutely not fly with any of the other three Base Leaders, but there was the added layer of complexity to Cameron: his heart. If Solana had to ever pick a Leader to turn to if she had to spill out all her emotions, it would easily be him. He understood that side of people so much more than the others, who could completely remove it from themselves when in the field. His stare turned from one of sternness to one of sympathy, and... despite his better judgement, he relented.

With a defeated sigh, he stood up straighter to deliver the official assignment. “Solana Hinata, I hereby cancel your vacation leave, and assign you onto the mission of uncovering what’s causing all the trouble here in Summerland.”

“Thank you, Leader!!” She was like a whirlwind strapping on the tactical boots, already grabbing things she would need and shoving her styler into the holster haphazardly and smacking the SEARCH AND RESCUE identifier tab onto her vest.

“Woah, woah, Solana, wait for us!” Percy and Leilani were trying to keep up with her pace, but she was already on her way out the door, more determined than she’d ever been. “You can’t go out alone for S&R missions!!”

“On the record it’ll just show I left with Lunick, since we’re partners.” She spoke with confidence, more instructing than offering. She flashed a small smile, hoping Cameron would forgive her for it. “Right, Leader?

“You’re pushing your luck, Hinata!” He warned, but she was already through the doors, Plusle in tow.

“I know!! But thank you again!!”

Unable to have patience when her best friend was in danger, Solana absolutely took off through Olive Jungle, never so much as dropping to a jog as she tore through the familiar paths back deeper into the island where the Jungle Relic stood. The weather abnormalities had started to get the better of the jungle wildlife as well, she’d noticed- various Pokémon looked incredibly distressed as she passed them, and some of the quakes had seemed to cause some weird geological incidents and trees to have fallen. But she didn’t have time right now to handle any of that- she called it in over comms so the Summerland Rangers knew what they were running into, but as for her own mission at hand... the jungle would have to wait, and she’d have to double back for it later.

The Ringtown Ranger didn’t even hesitate to plunge herself down the staircase and into the active volcano, nearly tumbling down multiple flights as another earthquake rippled the ground. It was much more intense here than out in Summerland proper. She flipped open her styler and found much of the same information Lunick had discovered himself earlier; it was all coming from… one Pokémon. Whatever it was, it was seriously powerful.

“If you see anything that could be a hint of them, please, let me know.” Solana was soft spoken to her partner Pokémon, and he let out a small cry in agreement to let her know he heard her instructions loud and clear. The two of them descended into the main atrium where the home of the four challenges once stood; the place it had all begun for Entei only a few months prior. Returning and being awash with all the heat emanating off of the chamber instinctively made her flush in guilt all over again for having completed the fourth challenge with the very guy she was hopelessly looking for, but it was by no means the time nor the place to be dwelling on that again now.

Wild Pokémon were practically running in circles in a panic all over the pathways, some rushing to charge at her, some hurrying to flee away when she’d approach. She nearly got absolutely bodied by an aggravated Rhydon horn-attacking right in her direction, and had to dive out of the way just in time to stay wholly intact.

And then there was the most wonderful sight she could have ever seen.

“Minun!!” There she was, the little yellow and blue rat, jumping wildly on a ledge right above the entrance to the old fire challenge. Solana scooped up her own partner Pokémon and nearly tripped up the steps, what with how fast she was scaling them to get to her. “You don’t even know how happy I am to see you safe.” It was true- seeing Minun was at least a sign, but it was an incredibly terrifying and worrying one that she was alone. Solana was shaking now, her panic getting the best of her, but she swallowed her fear and did her best to push on. “What… Where is he…?” She asked with a wobbly voice, scared of the answer.

The little electric type jumped frantically onto the giant pile of rubble- so large, that Solana hadn’t even noticed at first that it wasn’t just part of the structure, and was actually where the small oasis cavern had once been. Her stomach twisted multiple times over, and she shook her head, trying to remember to breathe. No. Certainly Minun would not be this excited if all they were recovering was a body. He had to be okay.

“...Give me a second.” Solana’s voice cracked as she ran back down the stairs, dealing the ultimate uno reverse card on the Rhydon and charging at it this time, styler already equipped in hand and at the ready. She captured it in complete record time, using all her emotions to channel an extreme focus to not make a single mistake in the process. “Rhydon, crush those boulders to clear out that opening!”

Lunick trembled in fear of being squashed like a bug type every time one of the quakes ruptured through the ground, but this one… This one felt like it was practically bullying him with how close it was. Everything was shaking, and he scrambled back from the boulders that had been blocking his exit, until… the dust settled. And it wasn’t a quake at all. “Solana?!” He jumped to his feet, rushing forward, and the two of them all but collapsed into each other, arms wrapped around one another so tightly and secure that this was real.

“Lunick…” She heaved, the flood of relief all catching in her throat at once as she buried her face against his neck and held him close. “You’re alive…!”

“Thanks to you,” he stood still, letting her pull back and examine him for any major wounds that would need immediate attending to. Thankfully, he only had the caked-on dirt and multiple open surface scrapes from his escape attempts: something that would have to be cleaned as to avoid infections, but not inhibiting his mobility.

“I have him!” She called into the walkie-talkie strapped to her shoulder, reporting back on the local frequency, which wasn’t jammed by the save machines having been destroyed. “He’s alive, and conscious. Will need first aid, but nothing critical. Over.”

“You… came to rescue me.” He took in the specialized uniform she was wearing, and shook his head in disbelief. “Arceus, Solana, are you a sight for sore eyes...”

She laughed, but it was breathy and hollow, and more out of shock and relief than actual amusement. Without missing a beat, she gestured to his dirtied and torn up skin, and followed up with: “And you’re a sight that makes my eyes sore.” She tucked some of the stray hair back out of her face, looking up at him expectantly. “Look at you! What happened?!”

It was out of a place of the utmost care, and the tone of her delivery showed it. He couldn’t help but smile at her snarky choice of delivery, and looked behind his shoulder at the Poliwrath, which were cautiously distant from the new person they didn’t know, but intrigued by their new friend. “There was... a tremor that caused a rockfall,” he explained, feeling her hand on his cheek and letting her pull it back so he was looking at her again. He swallowed thickly, resting a hand on her wrist, and she could see the fear still in his expression. “I was trapped down here, and the stylers’ signal is out. I tried everything I could to get out on my own, but… It was scary, Solana. I… started thinking about what might happen to me if no one came. I felt so lost and discouraged.”

She didn’t say anything, just pulled him back into another tight hug, and he appreciated the comfort more than he could verbalize.

“I’m sorry I ruined your vacation,” he whispered after a moment, and she laughed at him right in his ear.

“I know you did not just even think about saying that as if that’s the priority right now.” Before he had the chance to defend himself, the ground rumbled once again, and they got ripped apart from one another from the sheer force of it. “Man. These quakes are just getting worse and worse…!” She looked over her shoulder to check on Plusle and Minun, and then jolted upright suddenly, looking like a kid in a candy store. “Quakes… QUAKES!!” Lunick could tell her mind was running a mile a minute; whatever realization she’d stumbled on was a big one. “Earthquakes and severe droughts…!!! Yes!! Lunick, I know what’s going on here!!”

“My money was on Entei going on a rampage again, is that what you mean?” He didn’t know what was so crazy about the idea, but with the way Solana was shaking her head so vehemently, he felt silly for having even suggested it.

“It’s Groudon! I’m sure of it!!” She huffed, all worked up in her explanation. “I spent my whole childhood hearing all about this. I know this tale!! Kyogre brings a relentless flood and unfathomable tides and whirlpools, the creator of the seas long ago. Groudon? The relentless sun, so strong it can dry up whole oceans, and earthquakes so mighty it can crack continents into two!!” Solana looked away, sheepishly, realizing she’d gotten overexcited about such a thing, before adding on. “Or so the legends say, of course. They’re forever locked in a war with one another, and that MUST explain why Kyogre had vicious rake marks on its back!”

“On its back…?!” Lunick’s face was twisted in confusion, running a hand through his hair to push it back. “Solana, did you see Kyogre or something?!”

“Oh,” she said, entirely too casually. “Yeah. I captured it. Yesterday, in the Safra Sea.”

“WHAT?!” Lunick screeched, and his voice alone caused a few more loose pebbles to fall from the ceiling of the large challenge atrium. “You what?! And this is when you tell me?!?!”

“You were a little bit busy wasting away in an active volcano for me to be able to tell you, you know!!” She smiled, though, because this was much more the reaction she was looking for when she’d tried to break the news to Spenser earlier. She reveled in Lunick staring at her in dumbstricken awe for just a second, then continued on. “So if Kyogre is real, that means Groudon is real, and it must be what’s causing this! Both of them must have come to Fiore to recover after their fight!” She put her head in her hands, muttering under her breath. “Arceus, I need to call my parents after all this is settled.”

“It must have come here since this is a newly active volcanic site,” Lunick agreed, and Solana nodded insistently, reactivating the open channel on the walkie-talkie.

“Percy, Leilani, you here yet?” Solana turned up the volume knob so Lunick could hear, and Leilani was the first to report back.

“We’re just outside, heading in now.”

“Don’t!” Solana’s exclamation was so quick it nearly cut the blonde girl’s sentence off, and she was quick to explain herself. “Sorry, I mean…! We have plausible reason to think Groudon is what’s causing all of this. All of the symptoms Summerland is experiencing are one for one with what it’s known for in legends…” She looked up at Lunick and asked him a silent question, and he agreed. “We think it might be best to go in with a smaller team. If we overwhelm it by having too many people approach at once, it might rampage even worse, and who knows what kind of irreparable damage that could do to Summerland as a whole. Leader?”

Cameron chipped in over comms, having been surveying them the whole time from the Base. “... Our highest priority right now needs to be minimizing the damage from this event, both people and wildlife alike.” He agreed, “but Hinata, Kazuki, are you sure you’re within the capacity to handle such a thing? Lunick, you especially? Neither of you were even supposed to be on active duty today...”

She passed it to him and he spoke for himself. “Thank you for the concern, Leader.” Even though they couldn’t see their colleagues, they could both tell that hearing his voice firsthand was a breath of relief for all of them. “But I’ll be okay. We are already in here. We might as well finish the job.”

His partner took the device, following up with support. “Olive Jungle really looked worse for wear,” she reminded them. “I really think the assistance would be much better allocated there. That way too, if we do need backup, they’re not too far away for dispatch.”

Cameron grunted over the comms in agreement, taking their advice to reallocate the Summerland Rangers to help with jungle rehabilitation and prevention of any further sustained damage. Solana and Lunick were both quick to capture one of the Poliwrath apiece, knowing very well that if their assumptions were correct, the poké-assists would prove invaluably helpful for them later on. Once both were settled, Solana climbed up over some rubble in the way, holding out her hand to help him scale it too since she was sure he was probably far more overexerted than she was. But when he was back on flat ground again, she didn’t let go of him, still shaken up from the thought of having lost him earlier. It had been a sobering moment that sometimes she took getting to work with her best friend for granted, and by the apologetic way she looked at him as she knitted their fingers together, he could tell she needed the comfort.

“Just to keep you on a tight leash so you don’t wander off and get trapped again,” she mused, and Lunick rolled his eyes affectionately at her jab.

They traversed deeper into the volcano, the increasingly suffocating heat letting them know they were headed in the right direction. Much to their surprise, however, they were not alone.

“Hey, hey, sweethearts! Having a little date alongside this scenic magma pond?” Both of the Ringtown Rangers nearly jumped out of their skin, neither having expected to come across anyone else in here. Much less… Someone from the Go-Rock Squad, based on the uniform?! They let go of one another to both whip out their stylers at the ready, sharing a nervous look between themselves. If the catastrophes were actually all being caused by a Go-Rock resurgence rather than a hurt Pokémon, it would be a lot more trouble for them.

All of those fears subsided, however, once the ex-grunt opened their mouth again. “While you’ve been fraternizing, I’ve been here, dreaming about my return up to big capers…! Don’t you know who I am??”

Lunick and Solana both dropped their guard a little, more confused than threatened. “...Uh, no?”

“I am the Solo Go-Rock Squad! My glory will be greater than theirs has ever been, and I-” The Rangers weren’t intentionally being rude when they laughed but… After everything they’d faced the last few months, they couldn’t help it. “... You snickered?! You’ll pay for that!!”

They did not, in fact, pay for it. Actually, the poor ex-grunt was such a feeble match for the two of them that the ‘battle’ didn’t last more than 30 seconds.

“Tch. I guess ‘Solo Go-Rock Squad’ is a silly name after all… I mean, you’d need more than one to make a squad. I guess it’d work for you two. Look at you- all connected and in sync with one another. It makes me jealous…!”

“Do yourself a favor and evacuate, immediately.” Lunick cut through the waffling, shaking his head. “We cannot be held responsible for your safety should you choose to ignore that warning.”

They left with haste as advised, which allowed Lunick and Solana to continue deeper down. It was at this point that they first began to hear Groudon’s roars through the infrastructure, and… It became increasingly obvious that it was coming up through the ground. Through holes in the ground that they would have to jump down through, more specifically.

“Ladies first,” Lunick joked the same way he always does when they’re faced with something like this, and Solana gasped, shaking her head and refusing to have it just like usual.

“Oh nonono. You’re coming down with me, whether you like it or not.” And with that, she tugged on their conjoined hands, sliding down into what they recognized to be the chamber that had been under the Challenge of Wind.

Groudon roared and shook the ground more violently than ever, and the two of them could now see the opening to the cavern it was hiding in. “...You ready?” She asked him, letting go so they could both have full mobility in case they had to split up and flank it on either side.

“As I’ll ever be,” he promised back, and both charged headfirst into the chamber.

It was exactly as they’d inferred; the Groudon was rampaging primarily from pain of the notable, large gashes striped across its otherwise armored exterior. Between the two of them, they were able to bait out the hyper beam attacks into safe(r. No hyper beams in a small concealed cavern of magma can ever be considered safe) directions and away from themselves and their Pokémon, and with all the immobilizing assists, were finally able to manage to calm it down. Lunick was ultimately the one to complete the capture, and after conveying his feelings to it, he walked up to the large legendary completely fearless, holding a hand out to it.

“It’s okay, now, big guy.” He gently touched a gloved hand up to the beast’s neck, and it originally flinched, which made both Rangers stiffen, but ultimately relaxed into Lunick’s soothing. “I know you’re in a lot of pain. I know this isn’t who you are.”

Solana beamed, always enamored wholeheartedly with her partner’s caring-beyond-belief bedside manner, whether it was when dealing with distressed humans or Pokémon. He always knew just what to say to make everything alright. Together, they burned through the full extent of both of their healing items on hand, and seemed to patch up the legendary well enough for it to cease its destructive temper tantrum, receding into the hottest pits of the volcano where they couldn’t follow.

Lunick put his arm around Solana’s shoulders, and she crashed into him for support, opening the comms again. “All’s good,” she breathed out, the exhaustion she’d been feeling after coming home from Kyogre washing over her all over again. “It was Groudon, and it’s stopped now. Lunick captured it, but we can give full report when we get back to Base.”

“The heat’s already letting up out here!” Percy chimed in, ecstatic. “You guys did great!! I’m so thankful to hear it went well enough! Go back to Base, Leilani and I can deal with the aftermath!!”

“He’s right.” Cameron’s voice cut in, and instinctively both Lunick and Solana stood up a little straighter. “Come straight back to Base, yup. My Rangers can handle the rest, yeah.”

“Yes, Leader,” both of the Ringtown Rangers heeded the order, and made their way out of the Relic and through Olive Jungle at a tired, meandering pace. They’d both been through a lot, just today even. Certainly they were allowed to enjoy the trip back, just together as the two of them.

As promised, as soon as they returned from the impromptu mission, both saluted and gave report in full detail of what they’d witnessed so it could go on record.

“You know, now that I know you’re okay, I envy you two for having gotten to see Groudon up close like that.” Cameron huffed, wiping his head and shuffling some papers around. “But actually, after having overlooked how today panned out, I had to pull rank and have made some decisions, as I feel some reparations are due.” First, he turned to Lunick, reading off the official document he’d submitted for him: “Lunick Kazuki, after today’s events, you are hereby out for one week on medical, effective immediately. Both mental and physical. No missions whatsoever until you are cleared for return after your days of rest.” The Leader then turned, and Solana cowered shyly, knowing whatever was coming to her was fair, even if she did get the job done. “Solana Hinata, due to your outright insubordination and egregious lack of following standard S&R operating procedures, you are relieved of your duties for 7 days of administrative leave as punishment.”

“Yes, Leader,” she accepted, dropping her head down apologetically. “I’m sorry for my tone, earlier.”

“Water under the boardwalk,” Cameron reassured her, all whilst Lunick was staring at his best friend wildly. Insubordination?! Scary Solana was out, and he MISSED it?!

“And by the way… Since you both happen to be on leaves of your contracts for the next week… Cabana 34 is rented out for you to stay in, as it just so happens. What a shame you missed your vacation…”

Picking up what he was saying, both Ringtown Rangers lit up in wide smiles, more grateful than they could ever express. “Yes, Leader. What a shame indeed.”

The Summerland Leader passed the keys to the hut over to Lunick with his own jubilant and knowing grin, giving them both a curt nod. “Consider it a thank you. Because of you two, Summerland’s back to normal. I’m very grateful for it.”

His expression quickly shifted right after, before they could escape it. “You know, I just said Summerland’s back to normal… But what’s going on? It’s still abnormally hot… What’s causing this heat wave?” The operator behind the desk snickered, already knowing where this was going, and Cameron continued. “... Oh, I get it now! This heat… It’s coming from this smiling couple right here! Ooh-la-la~!”

Lunick and Solana were both so red and huffy, you really would think the heat wave was back, but just for the two of them. Grabbing Solana by the arm, Lunick began to book it out of there, their two electric type Pokémon scampering behind them. “AnywaysWe’reOnLeaveSoGottaGo,SeeYouAllBye!!”

Once they were out front of the Base, both nearly the same color crimson of the Groudon they’d just faced, Solana snatched the keys right out of her best friend’s palm, a toothy smile on her lips. “Betcha I can sleep longer than even you can right now,” she taunted, running down the boardwalk towards the vacation huts to beat him there.

“Literally only you could make napping a COMPETITION!!” Used to her antics, he ran after her, shaking his head in complete awe of how things that had looked so bleak ultimately ended up so perfectly. The next week was going to be exactly the time off together that the both of them needed. He just knew it.

#PERSONALLY I JUST THINK THAT: THEY #LITERALLY SMACKS MY SOLANA FROM SOOTOPOLIS HC RIGHT IN ALL YALLS FACES #FINALLY A TIME I GET TO WORK THAT BAD BOY IN #rangershipping #lemonmade fics #Pokemon Ranger #canon rewrite #solana pokemon ranger #lunick pokemon ranger #solana x lunick #lunick x solana #solana pokemon #lunick pokemon #pokemon ranger fic #angst #angst with fluff #mutual pining #happy ending

12 notes · View notes

lemonjelloarts · 2 years

Text

. asexual artist moment 😮‍💨

#plus a sneakie peekie for anyone else who Loves Them u know?#wip #rangershipping #lemonmade art #pokemon ranger #solana x lunick #lunick x solana #asexual #asexuality #solana pokemon ranger #pokemon #solana pokemon #lunick pokemon ranger #lunick pokemon #ace joke #ace #digital art

7 notes · View notes

lemonjelloarts · 2 years

Text

Cold Fingers

[1.7k oneshot.

Canon-compliant Pokémon Ranger fic. Lunick/Solana shipping, but not established relationship yet!

Behind closed doors, when they are alone, the lines between being friends and something more had started to blur. And when Lunick comes home from a mission out in the cold, Solana's begrudgingly there to keep him warm.]

Contrary to belief of seemingly the entire region, there were times Lunick and Solana went on mission assignments without one another. Despite being official designated work partners by the Ranger Union, they were only guaranteed to be together on any team missions/patrols/deployments. Many times, certain assignments only called for one person’s worth of aide or assistance.

Tonight had been one such case. While the two of them had been able to catch each other for a shared bite to eat in the Base’s commissary after their weekly training upkeep day, Spenser had interrupted by calling in for someone to handle a quick solo mission. And Lunick had simply beaten Solana to the punch.

She nearly scowled at him for having the faster arm up to volunteer, and he only smiled cheekily back at her, well aware of what he was doing. “Sorry, Sol. You’ll have ‘ta be faster than that next time~!”

Sliding back in the booth seat to avoid the playful smack that was undoubtedly swiped at his arm in payback for his taunt, Lunick headed back out into the frigid night air to deal with the local disturbance. But, as consolation before he’d left, he did promise he would come over to her dorm room as soon as he was home to tell her nosy little self all about it.

That was about an hour ago now.

In the meantime, Solana had taken it upon herself to shower and change out of her uniform, slipping into cozy sleep clothes for the night since she was off duty.

…Which had been her first mistake.

Her second had been in allowing herself to lay down on her bed as she waited in agony to know what she was missing. And really, you’d think that spite alone would be enough to keep her mind buzzing- but it wasn’t. Against all her best intentions, whenever Solana’s head hit the pillow at night (no matter how early that may be)… It was sleepy time.

And tonight was no exception. She had been so consumed in anticipation for Lunick’s personal report back that she’d forgotten to keep her mind preoccupied with anything else keeping her sentient, and had begun to doze off. Just a little.

Upon his return, the navy-haired man rapped the backs of his knuckles on his best friend’s dormitory door, wincing at the way the cold night still ate away at his bones with every hit. He knocked in the same unmistakable rhythm he always used: she knew it was him. He knew she knew it was him. Which meant the long, complaining groan of a welcome coming from the other side of the door was alllll his.

The quiet unlatching of the door clicked in Lunick’s ears, and he very gently pushed the door open, pretty well aware of just what it was he was walking into. He smiled and stared down at his greeter who’d let him in- her tiny Plusle, the only Pokémon in the world he adored even remotely close to as much as his own. The little mouse’s body weight had been just barely enough to jump on the door’s handle to unlatch it; it was a move he had most definitely learned from Minun after the many, many mornings where this exact scenario played out, only with the roles reversed.

“Oh, we’ve got an 8:30 bedtime now, huh?” Lunick didn't even try to fight the grin of amusement off his face as he shut the door again behind himself, huffing out a shallow and caught breath at how nice and warm it was in here compared to where he had been. His taunt was merely met with an even whinier groan from his partner in (stopping) crime, who downright pathetically reached her arm out toward him and made a grasping gesture for him to shut up and come closer.

This vulnerable, almost childlike and innocently endearing behavior from her was one he knew he was the only recipient of, and the fact made him press his lips together in a small, flushed smile. She would never, ever let anyone else see her like this- her pride was simply too strong to even so much as think about doing so. It was only for Lunick which she let those walls down.

“… C’mere,” Solana finally actually spoke, and peeked her crimson eyes open and up at him from where she lay.

Lunick immediately kicked off his shoes at the door and began slipping off his gloves in obedience, tossing them haphazardly onto her desk. “Be careful what you wish for,” he warned, stealing a mischievous glance over at her temptingly warm blankets. He shed off his jacket in one fluid motion and let it just fall to the floor, already feeling better without all of the outerwear on. “I’m practically an ice type right now, what with how cold it was out there.”

Solana waved his threats off, her nose scrunched in disdain. The impatient noise she made in response sounded downright adorably helpless, and well, Lunick wasn’t one to tell her twice.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn ya,” he parried with a cheeky smile, crossing the room and gingerly accepting the offer to wedge himself under the blankets with her. The bed wasn’t really intended to hold two people in it, but hey: it hadn’t stopped them from watching movies in it together before, and Lunick certainly wasn’t passing up on the shared body heat now.

Things got cuddly quick in the close quarters, and Solana recoiled with a loud scoff right in his face. “You’re cold!” She informed him with indignance, as if he hadn’t been trying to convey that very fact to her for the past few minutes now.

He couldn’t resist from snickering at the dramatics, devilishly feeling it ignite a flame of mischief within him. He always did love to rile her up, and whenever he saw an opportunity to get a big reaction, he simply couldn’t pass it up.

“Yes, Sol. And if you think my arm’s cold, wait until you feel my hands-” Trapping her in an embrace, Lunick slipped his hands just under the bottom hemline of the sleep shirt she was wearing, pressing his fingertips to the delectably warm skin on the small of her back.

And she nearly screamed.

Solana’s back arched further curved than she’d ever done before, in attempt to recoil away from the practically burning cold. But the retreat only pressed herself further into Lunick’s arms, successfully falling victim to his snare. “…Lunick!!” She practically gasped the name moreso than saying it, and even though their faces were too close for its full effect, the glare she was shooting at him seared his soul all the same. Needless to say, she’d woken up quick. “NOO!”

The teal-haired girl squirmed in his grip, a fit of giggles she most certainly didn’t mean to let on falling out from her lips, followed contagiously by one from his. “Oh, but you’re so warm, Solana!” He goaded on, keeping his firm hold and pulling her flush and close for him to cuddle into.

Surrendering to her fate, Solana pulled out her last resort: pouting. He may have won this round, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t be a sore loser about it. Letting out a loud huff, she scooted to get more comfortable in his arms and buried her face in the crook between his jaw and his collarbone, whining all the while. He was honored with the same treatment he’d been giving her, too- her deft, calloused fingers pried under the Ringtown Uniform undershirt he wore, creeping up his spine until she pressed her palms flat against him. And whereas his had been placement of stinging taunts, hers were clearly instead a means to keep herself clung close to him, a much more affectionate manner. And it was more than welcome; her skin felt warm, gentle, and electric all at the same time as it pressed against his.

Removing one of his hands from her back, Lunick moved it up to hold the back of her head endearingly instead, a quite-pleased-with-himself grin on his face. “One of the ladies in the northernmost houses’ Skitty had run off into Lyra Forest,” he spoke softly, figuring that after making her suffer through the whole ordeal of his entrapment, the least he owed her was satiating her curiosity. “Two wild Hoothoot weren’t very fond of it when I finally found the little thing. But it was nothing exciting you missed.” Running his thumb over the nape of her neck affectionately, he continued, “it ended up being a good thing Spense deployed me when he did, though. They were aboutta start scratchin’.”

He pressed the side of his nose against her head, taking her quiet “hmph” into his chest as satisfaction in his report back. It was a dangerous game to play- at any moment, Solana could drop fast asleep all entangled up in him. But for some reason, that wasn’t really motivation for him to move.

More and more lately, they’d found themselves stealing away moments like this. Their partnership was one thing entirely when on duty or around others, but behind closed doors, or by themselves… boundaries had sometimes begun to blur. The line between what was friends and what was something more than friends was as thin as a tightrope, and in times like this, times when they were all alone… sometimes they tended to topple over that other edge.

Taking one last good squeeze, Lunick let himself relax, his body all but collapsing down against her pillow as he exhaled and allowed his eyes to fall shut, too. He wouldn’t spend the night- lest all the colleagues they lived with see and judge- but a quiet little rest before heading back to his own bed surely wouldn’t hurt. “Thanks for helping warm me back up, Sunshine,” he whispered, not even sure if she was awake to hear it, but it was genuine nonetheless. He cherished their closeness like this; he would never feel so comfortable to be like this with anyone else. It was something entirely unique to her, and it was wonderful.

Evidently, she did hear, because she shuffled a little in his arms and dug her nose deeper into the side of his neck in response.

“…You’re gonna get me up extra early tomorrow as payback for that, aren’t you?”

And he could feel the way her lips curled in a deviant smile against his chest. That was all the confirmation he needed.

#yes i am a sucker for this kind of trope #yes i just needed the serotonin of a soft and intimate moment between them #look at them.#i love them so much #lemonmade fics #rangershipping #pokemon ranger #pokemon #solana pokemon ranger #lunick pokemon ranger #solana pokemon #lunick pokemon #lunick x solana #solana x lunick

7 notes · View notes

lemonjelloarts · 3 years

Text

[BARTOP] [PT.2]

Solana couldn’t read when someone is flirting with her if her life depended on it, and has found herself in a silent agreement with Lunick on how to get out of those sticky situations.

A two part Lunick/Solana drabble because i am DESPERATE for content and want anyone else who may be starving for the good good rangershipping in ol 2021,, it may not be very polished but it is SomethingTM

Part 1 | Part 2 [You are here!]

“Yeah right. As if.” Solana giggled, giving her new friend a shove to the arm. “You really shouldn’t be that nervous. I’m sure you’ll do great making a move, alright???” She leaned on her hand over the table, a smug smile on her face as he swatted at her in teasing reprimand.

“Oh, please. You make it sound so much easier than it is, and I don’t see you out here actually doing anything about it for yourself, either!”

Solana gasped in playful shock, and instinctively glanced over in Lunick’s direction at his words. He caught her eye, and she couldn’t help but smile at him, before turning back to her current company. “You have it all mistaken, Marcus. Let’s get back to talking about you…!!”

“Mmhm. Suuure.” He reached forward, placing a hand on her arm. “And why is that, exactly, that you want to change the subject? Is it by chance because I’ve-”

“Babe!!” Lunick had… ‘unfortunately’ gotten the wrong idea from the eye contact, and was now at her side, tucking a piece of teal hair behind her ear to make room for a tender kiss to be pressed to her temple. His hands draped around her waist in a protective way, before smiling at the other man. “Oh, hi! I’m Lunick, Solana’s boyfriend! And you are?”

What… perfect timing, too. She was absolutely flaming up on the spot, steam nearly coming off her face with how red it was. Her company couldn’t look possibly any more thrilled with the interjection, but kept it all to hidden knowing grins in her direction and harsh recoil to make it clear for Lunick’s sake he understood perfectly clear she was not up for grabs. “Actually, just about to get up!” His words were with glee, tongue in cheek as he made eye contact with a very harshly glaring Solana and hopped up from his chair, gesturing for Lunick to have it instead. “I wouldn’t want to interrupt your date night out anymore than I already have~! I’m so sorry for not having realized sooner, Solana. Let me get out of your hair~!”

She scowled at him, but terribly quietly and in a way where it was out of Lunick’s sight for her to do so. Despite the teasing, and despite the way this little unspoken affair of theirs had horribly miscommunicated in a manner that could only drive Marcus’s original teasing point six feet into the ground, she still found herself leaning into Lunick’s embrace. Found herself resting her head on his shoulder. Found herself putting her hand on his chest, playing along even though there was no real need to. Guilty pleasures, after all.

Once he had sufficiently left the both of them, Lunick let go of her waist and held out a hand to help her down from the high top barstool. “You ready to head home soon, Sunshine? We probably shouldn’t be out too late on a work night, anyways. Wouldn’t want grandma Solana to miss her 6pm bedtime.”

“I go to bed at ten, sometimes even eleven…!” She corrected, shaking her head with an amused huff at just… all of it. The more she thought about it (and she couldn’t stop thinking about it), the more funny and heartwarming it was the way he misconstrued the situation and wanted to step in to be protective over her.

It also made her chest tighten, as usual.

“But you’re right. C’mon, let’s go through Krokka tunnel. It’s too nice of a night to just take the Dragonite Bus back.”

The two Ringtown Rangers sufficiently settled their tabs and left the restaurant together, walking past the Fall City Ranger Base to exit the city to the west. The walk was relatively quiet, all things considered, but in being so it gave Solana more time to process what had just happened. And the more she did, the more amusing it got.

She cracked a few snide giggles to herself on the walk back, but it wasn’t until they were passing through the tunnel itself that he finally cracked and let the curiosity kill the cat.

“What is so funny?!” He huffed, wanting to be in on the joke, not knowing it was at his own expense. “You’ve been snickering the whole way home, at this point I’m just dying to know. Did I miss something?”

At this point, she couldn’t contain her laughter any longer, and skipped a half a beat ahead of him so she could turn on the balls of her feet and face him, walking backwards with a smug grin on her face. “Ironically, It’s actually more like you did see something that wasn’t even there!”

Appropriately confused, Lunick stopped in his tracks, not any closer to an answer than he had been. “Huh??” He shook his head, trying to retrace his steps and figure out what in the world she could mean by that. “On the walk just here?? Or earlier?”

“At the restaurant,” Solana clarified, a toothy smile widening. He crossed his arms indignantly, leaning forward a little as he jut his chin out at her.

“You mean the-?” He bit his tongue, not able to bring himself to quite say ‘fake’ or ‘pretend’. “I thought that was our thing. Someone flirts with you, and when you don’t reciprocate, I’m just there as added backup. Your fangirls are honestly more intense than mine, you know.”

That only made her laugh again, and she reached forward to push him on the shoulder for the remark. “Marcus is gay, Lunick.” She shook her head in complete amusement, taking great joy in how the wind was ripped right out of Lunick’s sails at the reveal. “He has a huge crush on Murph. To the point of thinking of trying to learn telepathy just to communicate with his Slowpoke.”

Suffice to say, her best friend could only manage to stammer out an incoherent mess in his attempt to re-process the whole wrong way he had read the interaction. “B… I..!”

She cackled at his fumbling, reaching forward and tugging his collar of his shirt to straighten it patronizingly. “Don’t worry. It was cute~!” Her tone denoted she meant it in a way of ‘oh you are NOT living this down,’ which was somewhere between a dream come true and a rendition of his own personal hell. “I get it! You just couldn't resist the idea of getting to be my knight in shining armor!” Solana returned to skipping ahead of him, very pleased with herself once more as he had no choice but to follow.

“That’s not…!! You know I know you can handle your own, I-!”

But she was merciless. Spinning back and walking backwards like a tour guide, she pressed a forefinger into the square of his chest, teasing. “Ooooooh, you think I’m gorgeous, hm?” He never had a chance, because she broke out into a sing-song tease, battering it down on him hard. “You think I’m gorrrrgeous! You think I’m preeeettyy! You want to daaaaate me! You want to looooove me, hold me and-!”

Her words were interrupted by a healthy dose of karma, as she tripped backwards over a craggy, broken rubble pile in the walkway she hadn’t seen coming since she was too busy making Lunick turn the color of a Corphish in embarrassment. She garbled on her words as she went down, unable to keep her balance.

...Until, that is, Lunick lunged forward and caught her, one arm around her back and one behind her head to shield it from impact, but instead of falling, it put them in the position of a dancing couple who just performed a dip in their routine.

Solana had already had the breath knocked out of her chest from the shock of the fall, and realized now while frozen for a moment that she was grabbing fistfuls of Lunick’s shirt out of instinct to try and catch herself. She smoothed them out, watching her hands do so and refusing to make eye contact as she tried to catch her breath. Something was… Different. It wasn’t uncommon for one to save the other’s sorry behind from hitting the ground, but something about the conversation prior and the way he was holding her now, the way her face had grown crimson, the way their noses were nearly touching, it was… Paralyzing, for her. It almost felt like he could see right through her taunts and recognize them for the actual wishful thinking they were.

Both were silent for a moment, just standing there, tangled up in one another. When Solana finally did look up at him again, his eyes were glancing a little lower on her face, and just… Just for a moment, she almost thought…

“You know, you should really watch where you’re going,” Lunick whispered, an almost cocky smile growing on his lips as he righted her on her own two feet again, releasing the intimate embrace and continuing to walk down the length of the tunnel as if it were nothing. As if his own heart wasn’t thumping right out of his chest now, too.

Solana was left standing in his wake, speechless, and falling behind as she suddenly leapt into action to catch up with him. “I-I was! You…! YOU-!”

“Yes, me. Whatever comeback you’re trying to think of, you win.” He laughed, putting his hands behind his head, knowing very well that in such a short time the tides of their power dynamic had shifted so drastically. “C’mon, now, Sunshine. Let’s get home, before you trip over anything else, and get yourself a few days of being trapped with desk duty.”

She huffed, but quietly succumbed to his suggestion, balling her fists by her sides as they continued on back through Lyra Forest to Ringtown. Whatever… that was, she at least knew firsthand what it would feel like, now.

… And one day, she just had hope she might get to feel it for real.

#WOOOOO BOY #self indulgent #ripped that scene from miss congeniality right out and yoinked it onto them because its my house i make the rules #and its perfect for them imo #drabble #two shot #rangershipping #Pokemon Ranger #solana x lunick #lunick x solana #lunick pokemon #solana pokemon #lunick pokemon ranger #solana pokemon ranger #lunick #lemonmade fics

6 notes · View notes