Rainer leaned against the rail. He stared out at the horizon as the bump on the water out in the distance slowly grew larger. There were one or two Wingull gliding on the breeze off in the distance. He knew their number would only increase as they grew closer to the preserve. He leaned farther forward, now facing downward into the water below. He absentmindedly traced lines in the air as he watched a group of Mantyke that had been following the yacht for a while now. They often got close to breaking the surface but never quite did. Rainer wondered if that would change when they reached the shore. 

He was reminded of the day just a few months back when he'd first decided to try and join the Rangers. He'd been travelling with his brother in the Unova region. He'd lost miserably at the gym in Humilau City and the two had gone to in Undella Town for a long-needed break. Panic had broken out when a pod of normally calm and elusive Wailord had begun rampaging in the bay, three times getting close enough to the Marine Tube to potentially damage it. When the leader of Humilau Gym had failed to be able to do more than keep them away from the tunnel, a team of rangers had come in and swiftly resolved the situation. 

He could hear the distant cries of Wingull getting louder. He looked up once more, pleased to see that the they were approaching the preserve rather quickly. "I should probably go down and get all packed up," he thought. He stepped back from the railing and stretched a bit, bare arms enjoying the sun and breeze. He'd put away his jacket only a few minutes into the voyage, the blank tank he wore far better suited for this climate. As he did so, he caught sight of two of the other new rangers, girls going below deck. With a hint of a smirk, he quickened his pace to catch up to them.

Fifteen minutes later he was back on the deck, pack hanging from his shoulders and a pretty girl by his side. "So it turns out that only one of the Wailords was really rampaging, the other were trying to calm it down I guess. I figured it out when I noticed the spear stuck on its underside. I told the Rangers and they got to work. They were really lucky I had gone out there with my brother's Buizel. Do they have Buizel in Hoenn? Well my brother's is the cutest thing, really tough too. Anyway, they were so impressed with me they said I just had to come join." Rainer leaned against the railing with a self-satisfied grin as the Hoenn girl oohed and aahed over his story. 

He lost track of her as the crowd descended the bridge to the port. No matter, he could find her later later if necessary. He maneuvered his way through the group, trying to make sure he got to the front. Last thing he wanted was to get stuck behind some giant and not be able to see. There were four rangers, none from the group he had met in Undella Town. After a quick review of stuff everyone already knew, they made sure everyone had everything and they were off into the rainforest. Rainer had quickly put away all his equipment as he didn't want it to spaz out on him already. After breaking their second Holocaster, Rainer's brother hadn't even allowed him to touch it anymore. 

As he put everything away he caught a flash of green reflecting of some of the metal accents of the World Map. He looked up and caught sight of a Flygon flying around. Was it... circling the group? It seemed a little odd, but then again this was a Nature Preserve, he had no way of knowing what Pokemon he'd find here. Maybe he'd get a chance to get to it with the Capture Styler later. He looked up noticing he was falling behind the group again. He ran forward, only to find it wouldn't be hard to get back to the front of the group. It seemed quite a few people in the group had neglected to wear shoes appropriate for hiking. He reached the front of the group once more. He took off his hat, running his hands through his hair and wiping off some of the sweat with a hint of a smirk on his face. If the rest of the group was this unprepared, he'd be moving up in rank in no time.