[indent]Rain pitter-pattered against her oiled cloak as she strode at a determined pace towards the Ranger Headquarters. Her face was pulled into a hard scowl that told the Rangers milling around the entrance not to mess with her as she passed by. The sword at her waist managed to drive the point home further. Behind her, Aragorn was hurrying to keep up as he wrapped his wings around his body to stave off the brunt of the cold. The double-doors of the lobby slid open at their approach.


Eloise shrugged off the wet and cold that would normally set people to shivering. She shook her cloak out in the lobby of the re-purposed hotel. Since the Rangers had come to take over, the place had begun acquire a more modern look but it still held its stately elegance underneath the newer bells and whistles. She thought it was shameful to ruin the old hotel so, but she had no say in the matter. Once her cloak was properly free of most of the droplets of rain, she swung it back over her shoulders and continued to the large semi-circle desk that occupied the wall opposite of the entrance. 


As she approached, one of the clerks behind it addressed Eloise without looking up at her. His eyes were fixated on the stacks of papers he was shuffling through. “State your Divison, name, and business.” His voice was nasal and his tone humdrum, as if nothing mattered to him. Eloise wanted to punch him instantly.


[b]“Gale, Eloise Fenmar, and I'm here to attend a meeting with Grand Warden Zachary Moreau.”[/b] She said in a harsh voice, her one eye boring into the clerk. He looked up at her as she spoke and recoiled slightly at the sight of her. “It's important, so hurry it up!” She growled, slamming her fist onto the desk. As if to punctuate her statement, Aragorn flapped his wings. The droplets of water clinging to his webbed appendages showered everything in the near vicinity, causing anyone else nearby to take an extra step back to avoid being splashed. Eloise wasn't bothered, but the now-drenched clerk behind the desk stood gaping at them with his mouth open in a large “O” as if he couldn't believe what had just happened. 


The clerk's face quickly went from surprise to livid with anger, but he kept whatever he wanted to say behind pursed lips. “The Grand Warden is down the hall to your left. He'll be in the conference room F.” His tone was filled with spite this time and he bit off each word. Eloise wanted to punch him less, now. 


Without a reply, Eloise turned on the heels of her boots and strode that way immediately. Aragorn followed dutifully, but before he turned down the hall to follow Eloise, he stuck out his tongue and cackled at the clerk's misfortune. The clerk's face went red and he hurled a cup of pens at Aragorn's retreating back, missing the Pokemon and shattering the glass on the wall next to him. The Noivern's cackles carried down the hall as he followed Eloise. 


She passed many doors on her march down the long hall, and noted that nearly all of the rooms were in use, which was odd. Some of the doors stood ajar as if meetings had just adjourned, and the stragglers spoke together in urgent, hushed tones. Other than those glimpses into open rooms, she didn't run into anyone else in the halls, which suited her just fine. She was not in the mood for pleasantries.


She turned left at an intersection, following the sign that pointed that way for conference room F. When she looked down the hall, clear as day, a Charizard that she recognized to be the Grand Warden's stood in front of a closed door marked with the letter F. It watched them approach with its intelligent looking eyes. When they got closer, it turned and pushed open the door, allowing them entrance to the room. Inside, the imposing figure that was the Grand Warden, was hunched over the circular table that claimed the center of the room. He seemed preoccupied with studying what was on it. On the table itself was a holographic map of Hoenn. 


Eloise felt her insides sink. Her suspicions became more justified, but she kept her decorum. [b]“Grand Warden Moreau, sir.”[/b] She said with a salute, standing at attention while the weathered man continued to study the map. The brief silence that followed was filled with her mind screaming at her. [i]They captured Erik, didn't they? He's dead, isn't he?[/i]


“I'll cut to the chase. You and Keeper Falston were good friends, were you not?” He stood to his full height of 6-foot-something and walked around the table to stand nearer to her. His blue eyes seemed to pierce right through her.   


[b]“Yes, sir. He [i]is[/i] my best friend.”[/b] She replied, stressing that she wasn't going to refer to Erik in the past-tense. Her one eye shone with intensity when she met his eyes. She realized she was being disrespectful, but she wouldn't lower her gaze. Not today. Not about this. 


He studied her for a moment then nodded. “Good, you have hope. That's what you'll need when you go to Hoenn with the rest of the task force.” He gestured to the map suspended in mid air over the metal surface.


Without missing a beat, Eloise stepped forward to examine it. [b]“Keeper Falston. He went there to gather intelligence about Team Zodiac. He hasn't been heard from for a month and a half.”[/b] The idea of exploring that foreign land didn't excite her nearly as much as it would have under different circumstances.


He gave her an affirmative nod. “Grand Watcher Argenta Lambert personally asked me to assign you to find him. However, you have more important duties while you're out there so keep in mind that finding Keeper Falston is a side mission. Let me fill you in on your true mission...”


Two hours later, Eloise was in a worse mood than before. She sat in the conference room with only Aragorn for company. She cradled her head between her hands as she propped her elbows on the table and mulled over the briefing that the Grand Warden had given her. She couldn't even imagine the gall it took for [i]Rangers[/i], highly trained and disciplined, to betray their own and join the likes of a [i]Team[/i]. Her face seemed to be fixed in a permanent scowl, the more she dwelt on that thought. 


“Unforgivable!” She spat out finally, causing Aragorn to jump slightly at the sudden sound. She stood, glared at the map of Hoenn like it was the one to blame for her current mood, and stomped out of the room. As always, Aragorn followed, but gave her a much wider berth than before.


[h3]Three days later...[/h3]


Eloise and her fellow Kalosian Rangers had arrived at a small private dock located on Route 104N earlier in the morning. They were all weary from their journey across the ocean. The trip had been anything but pleasant. It awarded Eloise with more time to dwell on her anger, which set her on edge. Unfortunately, there was no way to vent her frustration on the tiny vessel. She and Ensign Hughes Campbell nearly had fisticuffs on the boat due to a small disagreement. They had situated themselves apart from each other since, to avoid any repeats. 


They were in the lobby of the Ranger Headquarters in Rustboro City now. They had made the two-hour long walk from the small dock while morning dew still blanketed the ground. They were here to report to the ranking officers, as was customary for any foreign Ranger to do upon arriving in a new region. Eloise had taken a chair to sit in, and Aragorn napped peacefully next to her. Mornings weren't his thing.


One of the other Rangers, Lieutenant Holly Bright, still looked green around the gills from her time on the ocean. Eloise had to help the younger Ranger to the ladies' room on more than one occasion during their journey. Currently, Holly was slumped against her Metagross, in an effort to make herself less likely to hurl the contents of her stomach up.


Holly noticed Eloise staring at her and returned Eloise’s stare with an apologetic smile. Something about Holly made Eloise want to hug the girl and tell her that it was no problem. Eloise fought that urge and quickly looked the other way. 


Between her and Hughes sat Keeper Virgil Moon. He was such a stark contrast to her friend, Keeper Erik Falston, that Eloise couldn't help but judge Virgil based off of that fact.


On the far side of Hughes stood the final Ranger of their party, Captain Lain Ickeringill. He was a lithe man with a swimmer's body and a tan. He was leaning against the wall with his arms folded. “How do they do things in this backwards country?” He muttered loud enough for only them to hear. “We've been waiting for nearly [i]four[/i] hours. I want to get a good swim in before I grow old and die.”


“Don't be a fuckin' twat.” Hughes smacked Lain lightly across the back of the head. “I wouldn't mind a bloody smoke, though.” His hand twitched toward the pocket of his pants where he kept his cigarettes. 


It was just then that the double doors to their left burst open and a swollen stream of Rangers marched out of the large hall. The din of conversation rose to uncomfortable levels, but Eloise could pick out some of what the passersby were saying. 


All of it had to do with Team Zodiac in one fashion or another. Sicknesses caused by the lack of modern medical care. The death count was racking up and citizens were pointing the blame towards the Rangers, instead of where it truly belonged. Rangers seceding. Chaos. Eloise blamed the Hoenn Rangers too. They hadn't been vigilant enough to stop Team Zodiac from sinking its roots into this region and taking hold.


When the throng of people died down, she leaned down to pat Aragorn on his head. The tired Noivern looked at her pleadingly to let him sleep, but she shook her head curtly in response. Defeated, he stood up and so did she. [b]“Sorry. There's just no time for that.”[/b] Eloise murmured to him and gave his ears a good scratch, to try to cheer him up. It wasn't very effective in raising his spirit. 


Hughes and the others were already heading in to the large hall that had just emptied. She bade Aragorn to follow and walked several paces behind the rest of her party. On the far side of the room, a group of people congregated with their Pokemon on the stage. Eloise could only assume that they were the ranking officers who had just held the sizable meeting.


One of them noticed their party walking in and waved them over. When Eloise got closer, she noted that the one who waved them over was a buxom woman with inky black hair pulled tight into a pony tail, and a smattering of freckles decorated her cheekbones. Her eyes were bright green above those freckles. The woman's attire screamed gym-goer. At the her side was a shiny Arcanine who seized the Kalos party up. After a moment, it let out a “harrumph!” and wagged its tail.


“You darlings look like the Kalos party we've been expecting.” The woman said, hopping down from the upraised platform. The other Rangers on the platform dispersed, leaving them alone with the voluptuous lady. 


Just as Eloise was going to introduce herself and the others, Hughes took the lead. “I'm Ensign Hughes Campbell, and these are my fellow Rangers. This is-” Before he could introduce anyone else, however, the woman spoke over him.


“I don't give a flyin' shit what your names are, or what your ranks are, sweetie.” She said, waving her hand as if to brush his words aside. “You foreigners come into my region, you're gonna follow my rules – oh, take a seat.” She gestured to the fold-out chairs placed in neat rows through out the large hall. 


Eloise narrowed her eyes and took a seat as instructed. Two of their members refused to take seats, however. Hughes and Lain. Eloise groaned internally. The two men had belligerent looks on their faces in response to the woman's words. 

“Oh, you two darlings are gonna be just a bucket of swill.” The woman folded her arms under her ample bosom and gave them a cold stare. The Arcanine beside her began to growl low in its throat. Lain caved quickly and took a seat, but Hughes folded his own arms in front of him and stared the woman down.


Eloise was surprised that Hughes had made it as far as he had in the Rangers with the attitude he sported. She couldn't see any redeeming qualities about him, but maybe, [i]just maybe[/i], if she looked hard enough she'd find some. She doubted it, though.


With a snap of the woman's fingers, Arcanine lunged forward and shoved Hughes into the chair behind him with its large paws. It pulled its lips back to reveal sharp fangs as it growled at him. Hughes' Swanna swooped down to help its master. But, before his Pokemon could reach them, the woman had already snapped her fingers again and Arcanine trotted easily back to her side. Its tail began to wag again when it sat back down. Swanna landed on a chair next to Hughes hovered over her master protectively. 

“Now, darlin', [i]I'm[/i] going to introduce myself.” She plopped down on the edge of the stage. “I'm Grand General Vivian Lacrosse. You're all insignificant and a nuisance. I [i]don't[/i] like you, but you're here.” She stopped to pat her Arcanine on its head. In the moment of silence, Eloise heard Hughes cussing underneath his breath.


“So, here's the deal. You're in my territory. You're intruders. But Team Zodiac is a [i]whole lot fucking worse[/i], so I can handle you. For now. You get in the way of any of my Rangers, I will deal with you personally. Wherever you happen to be.” Vivian pointedly looked at Hughes, singling him out as the trouble maker. “If I hear about you doing anything to the citizens of Hoenn, I will send my Rangers after you to fuck you up. You have no jurisdiction here, you might as well think of yourselves as Area Rangers again. You will comply with the rules and conditions set forth by any ranking Ranger of Hoenn.” 


Eloise actually found herself liking the Grand General as the woman continued her spiel. If all of the Rangers in Hoenn were more like Vivian, then Team Zodiac would have found the region extremely inhospitable. At least, that was what Eloise thought.


“If you have any questions, thoughts, or concerns, I don't care. You have your mission to hunt down your renegade worthless pieces of Kalosian refuse who are infecting my region like a blight. Do it quickly, because if me or my Rangers get our hands on them, they're dead meat, darlings.” Vivian smiled, showing too much teeth. “Understood?”


Eloise had no problem with the Grand General's proclamation. Honestly, she wished that the Hoenn Rangers would find those betraying scumbags so that they would get the punishment they deserved for helping a group of villains. She already knew that in Kalos all that would happen for the renegades would be jail time. It was too cushy of a punishment for what they were doing. 


Next to her, Eloise heard Holly gasp in horror as if the Grand General had already slaughtered all of the renegade Kalos Rangers. Eloise felt a pang of sympathy for the younger woman. Eloise didn't think Holly was prepared for this kind of job, but the higher ups had insisted that she was a necessary asset during the mission. Holly hugged her Metagross for comfort.


The men, Lain and Hughes especially, looked pissed off at the insults aimed at them. Virgil wore a mildly irritated expression in comparison. It seemed it was up to Eloise to be the rational member of their party. [b]“Understood, ma'am.”[/b] Eloise replied simply. 


“I hate ass-kissers, sweetie.” Vivian gaze swept to her. “Get the fuck out of here and make your visit in Hoenn a short one. For your sakes.” The Grand General stood and walked from the room, the Arcanine prancing by her side. 


Silence filled the space while each of the members of the team digested the meeting they had waited nearly four hours for. For once, it wasn't Hughes who broke the silence. 


“That woman is a bitch. Nice rack though.” Virgil stated simply. The other men agreed with laughter. Eloise heard Holly snort derisively. 


After their laughing broke the tension, Hughes regained his usual demeanor. “Let's listen to the broad and get out of here then. I need a bloody smoke.”


The five of them exited the Ranger HQ and discussed what their plan of action should be. Being in the city was an unwise choice with the sicknesses getting worse and worse in close quarters. They started their journey to the outskirts of town.


Eloise wondered if Erik had met Vivian Lacrosse on his trip here just two months ago. She could see him trying to hit on the Grand General, and failing. Hard. The thought made her smile.[/indent]