It was a beautiful day in the Kanto safari zone. Spearow were singing, the hot sun beat down on the plains, and a troop of kangaskhan was passing through the area. While not unusual to see these pokemon in large groups, they usually spent their time raising their young in the deeper parts of the safari. It was only during the breeding season that they emerged from the jungle and entered the open plains. It was quite the sight too, something many people took special visits to the safari zone just to see. Still, with all this traffic, that also brought great danger.
Park Ranger Madelief Schorel coaxed her partner, Kas the dodrio, forward as they followed the troop of kangaskhan from a distance. She was one of several rangers that had been selected to ensure that the kangaskhan made it across the plains safely today. She, along with three other rangers, were riding within quick dashing distance of the troop, just in case trouble should arise. In the past two years that Madelief had done this, she had never experienced any issues, but that was then, and this was now. Anything could happen.
’Rangers Schorel, Larsen, and Jennings! Come in!’ Madelief unclipped her walkie talkie from her hip. That was Ranger Soldati! He was running point for the troop. Had something happened?
“Ranger Schorel reporting in. What is the situation, Ranger Soldati?”
’This is bad! We’ve got a pack of houndoom exiting the jungle up ahead! I think they’re planning to attack the troop of kangaskhan!’ This was bad. This was very bad. Yes, it wasn’t entirely uncommon for pokemon like houndoom and mightyena to hunt kangaskhan, but never during kangaskhan breeding season. The breeding grounds that the kangaskhan usually used was technically in houndoom territory, but the packs that guarded those areas generally moved to a different part of the safari zone due to the lack of hunting possibilities in the area. Houndoom generally preyed upon small pokemon, like rattata, nidoran, and pidgey. They are notorious over hunters, and when they run low on prey, they migrate for a while. Thus the kangaskhan come in and the smaller pokemon return until the kangaskhan leave and the houndoom return. That had been the cycle for years! What was different now?
“There’s got to be a reason why they haven’t moved! These packs have been doing this routine for years. Is it possible they’ve got a new alpha?”
’No!’ Ranger Jennings’s voice crackled over the walkie talkie. ’I’ve been watching them all year. The only pack with a recent alpha change was the Druid Mightyena Pack. This is the Snake River Houndoom Pack. They’ve had the same pack leader for nearly seven years now, Razor. Unless something has happened within the last twenty-four hours I would know about it.’
Razor was an old houndoom and one of the longest surviving houndoom alphas in the park. Generally the alphas lasted three to five years, if that long. Razor, however, had proved himself time and time again that he was an alpha that was only going to be overthrown by death itself. Was it possible something had happened to him?
“We should go check on the pack,” Madelief said into the walkie talkie. “Ranger Jennings, you’re with me on checking on the pack. Everyone else, protect the kangaskhan and evacuate the observers. We don’t want any casualties if we can help it.” A chorus of yes ma’am’s answered Madelief. Snapping Kas’s reins, the dodrio sprinted forward past the kangaskhan troop. Ranger Florence Jennings rode up to her on her arcanine before the two broke off into the jungle. Dismounting as they approached the edge of the Snake River pack’s territory, Madelief and Florence returned their mounts to their pokeballs and sent out a manectric and houndoom instead. One thing Madelief had learned since becoming a park ranger was to always keep a pokemon on hand that was at least similar to many of the pokemon you would be dealing with. Manectric were rarely sighted in the safari zone, but it was a canine that could bargain with the packs of the zone. Of course, in a case like Florence, you keep one of every type of pokemon you specialize in with you, in this case any canine pokemon that had a pack in the safari zone was fair game.
The four ducked through the underbrush as they pressed forward. It didn’t take long before they were surrounded by several houndoom, fangs bared and ready to attack. Florence’s houndoom, Tasma, stepped forward and began to converse with the largest houndoom. After a moment, Sanjeev the Manectric joined in as well. Low growls and barks passed between the three before the large houndoom howled. The surrounding houndoom dispersed, returning to their positions along the border of their territory. Something was definitely up. Madelief was no expert but she was pretty sure houndooms generally did not take defensive positions like this on their territory. The large houndoom jerked its head, signaling for Madelief and Florence to follow. It led them quickly to the heart of Snake River territory and it became immediately clear what the problem is.
“Ranger Soldati! Ranger Larsen! We’ve discovered the problem,” Florence relayed into the walkie talkie. “It’s the pup, Elissa.” This explained everything. This past mating season, the Snake River pack had run into some trouble. The Oxbow Houndoom pack had made a bold move this past mating season. The two packs had gone to war over territory. The Oxbow pack was not near as large as the Snake River pack, and eventually lost, but not without forcing some heavy casualties on the Snake River pack. This included a fatal wounding to the alpha female. Generally, female houndooms have around four pups per litter, but such was not the case for the female alpha, Luce, this breeding season. Luce gave birth to a single pup, a shiny houndour that was nicknamed Elissa. She passed shortly after the delivery. Several other female houndooms in the pack took turns carrying for the child, and the rangers even aided some as well. Elissa was very small and much frailer than the average houndour pup. The rangers had given her many shots and vaccines, just to ensure the pup made it. While park rangers generally did not intervene with the lives of the packs, the Snake River was a huge powerhouse of a pack, and the loss of the alpha female was a huge blow. Elissa needed to survive at least a year if the survival of the pack was to be ensured.
’What’s the issue?’ Ranger Soldati radioed back. Florence and Madelief approached Razor and Elissa slowly. The alpha male looked up and growled at their approached, causing Tasma and Sanjeev to bark and snarl in return. Razor stood up, his body looking very weak, as if he was suffering from malnutrition. Of course, there was no food to hunt in this area. All the houndoom were slowly starving the longer they remained here. So why not move on? Razor looked as if he were about to attack when his eyes landed on Florence. He paused, as if recognizing Florence as the person who had tended to Elissa in the past. Florence moved closer and smiled.
“It’s okay, Razor, we’re not to hurt you,” she said calmly before replying into the walkie talkie. “Razor and the other houndoom appear to be malnourished. Razor won’t let us too close to Elissa though so I can’t check her yet. Will keep you posted.” Clipping her walkie talkie back on her belt, Florence got down on her knees and crawled closer to Razor cautiously. Razor watched her with narrowed eyes before stepping aside, revealing Elissa. The shiny houndour was shivering and coughing, her breathing shaky at best. Florence drew up beside her and began to inspect the small pup. She checked inside the pup’s ears, mouth, and eyes. After a few minutes of inspection, Florence looked back at Madelief. “I think she’s got some sort of respiratory infection. Her breathing is very irregular, and it sounds like she’s having a lot of trouble breathing. She’s also got chills and definitely has a fever. We’re going to have to take her back to base for further inspection and treatment.”
“That all sounds great to me, but I don’t know if Razor or the pack will allow that. And how do we tell the pack to move while also abducting their future alpha female?” Florence put a hand on her chin before looking at Tasma.
“Can you try to convey to Razor that we need to take Elissa away for some time? She’s dying and we need to treat her immediately if we want her to live. But also, we need his pack to move away from this territory. There isn’t any food for them here, and they’re blocking a troop of kangaskhan from reaching their breeding grounds.” Tasma gave a sharp nod before turning to Razor. She repeated the message through a series of growls and barks. Razor did not appear pleased at the information and snarled in return before looking at Elissa. After a series of barks back and forth, Razor shot a hard look at Florence before howling. The entire Snake River pack circled up. Razor barked a series of commands to the pack before leading them off into the direction of their usual hunting grounds of the season, leaving Elissa, Madelief, and Florence behind.
“Let’s go, before he changes his mind,” Madelief said. Sending out their mounts again, Florence relayed the whole situation to the other park rangers. The two rangers rushed out of the jungle, past the troop of kangaskhan, back to their base. As soon as they reached the base, Elissa immediately went into treatment. Florence remained at the base to help the medics, but Madelief was ordered to return to the kangaskhan troop. As she rode back out, Madelief couldn’t help but worry for the small pup. Even though the kangaskhan were now safely able to reach their breeding grounds, it was not a happy day for the Snake River pack. The ranger could only hope that Elissa pulled through her treatments so that she could return one day.
The Queen of Shaymin
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