At the Turffield bus station, the Galar League arranged a special bus for the rangers from Kalos and Paldea. Now, Summer and the other four rangers waited for their arrival.
"Oh, I see the bus! Uh-huh, Bavi, smile, smile! We need to leave a good impression on the rangers from other regions."
Under Annie's urging, Bavi forced a very twisted smile. Annie stared for a moment, then pulled up his scarf.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have forced you. You look better keeping your cool demeanor."
"Mm." He responded briefly as usual.
After a while, two buses slowly pulled up to the station. The doors opened, and about twenty rangers disembarked from the two buses, and Summer once again marveled at the diversity among rangers.
Gourmets, office workers, supernatural enthusiasts, ninjas, kimono-clad girls, graffiti artists, and all sorts of people; at first glance, one would never think they were rangers.
However, among this group of rangers, there were also those like Summer who wore their uniforms properly, otherwise, he would have really thought he was the odd one out.
"Welcome to Galar, fellow rangers."
Milo stepped forward to greet everyone. From each group, two people stepped forward, presumably the leaders of this event.
Summer recognized the blonde woman holding a camera as Viola, the Gym Leader from Santalune Gym in Kalos, who specialized in Bug-type Pokémon. The rangers behind her must be from the Kalos region.
The other man, dressed in a suit and carrying a briefcase, looked like an office worker with a slightly tired expression. So, the rangers behind him must be from Paldea? Summer was very puzzled; the others at least had some connection to forests, but office workers had none. An iron forest, perhaps?
"Long time no see, Milo~ Oh, new faces? Nice to meet you, I'm Viola~" She lifted her camera and said with a smile, "I love photography; beautiful moments should be captured, don't you think?"
"Hello, I'm Larry, the leader for the Paldea region in this event." He spoke weakly, habitually reaching for his business card before remembering the nature of this event and slowly putting his hand back by his side.
"Well, let's head to Turffield Stadium first. You all must be exhausted from the journey," Milo invited the rangers, planning to let everyone rest well today as the event would start tomorrow.
Everyone followed Milo to Turffield Stadium. Each Galar stadium was large, making it easy for the rangers to relax.
"Free time~ What do you think we should do, Summer?" During free activity time, Annie naturally sought out Summer. After learning about his experiences, she felt a desire to take care of him.
"Well, I want to see what other rangers are doing." Summer wanted to learn from the conversations of others about ranger experiences. This group of people were all his seniors and must have things he could learn from.
"Oh~ People-watching, that's a great idea! It must be interesting~ Let's go!" Annie was excited and first led Summer to the area with the most people: the storytelling session.
As the name suggests, this was a gathering of rangers sharing their stories. They ate snacks, drank beverages, and enjoyed the interaction.
The ranger profession is quite lonely, with only Pokémon for company in the wild. Forests near towns, like the one Summer worked in, were rare.
Summer and Annie quietly listened by their side, gaining many interesting stories.
A ninja-dressed ranger said he came from a ninja village, but thinking he had no talent, he left and came to the League seeking work. Familiarity with the forest environment and agility landed him a ranger job, and maintaining his appearance was due to homesickness.
The graffiti artist ranger picked up the topic, saying his forest was mostly occupied by powerful students, led by a ninja enthusiast. He wanted to learn ninja knowledge to build a good relationship with the leader and persuade him to return to the academy.
The ninja readily agreed, and as they chatted, another person shared his story. He originally wanted to become a Pokémon Ranger but ended up as a Forest Ranger, only then realizing the difference: one belonged to the Pokémon Ranger Union, the other to the Regional League.
However, he now loved the ranger job and no longer wanted to be a Pokémon Ranger.
The stories continued to be interesting until the supernatural enthusiast started telling ghost stories, making Annie suddenly uncomfortable and ready to leave. She gave the reason:
"Summer, we've heard a lot of stories. Let's go see what others are doing, okay?" Her voice trembled.
Summer nodded, and Annie visibly relaxed, quickly pulling Summer outside the stadium, where they ran into Viola returning from Turffield Forest.
"Hi, I remember you're Galar rangers. Could you help me find some good spots in Turffield to photograph?"
"Speaking of Turffield, it has to be the strange megaliths and the giant geoglyphs~" Annie answered.
"Really, could you take me there? My name is Viola, you know me, right?"
"Of course, beautiful moments should be captured, right?" Annie smiled.
Viola raised her camera and snapped a photo of Annie's smiling face, then tilted her head and said, "Exactly~"
"You took my photo! Let me see~" Annie leaned in next to Viola. "Oh, you got Summer in it too. By the way, my name is Annie~"
Viola and Annie chatted happily, quickly becoming friends.
Then, Annie grabbed Summer with one hand and her new friend with the other and headed to the western slope of Turffield, overlooking the giant geoglyph on the grass. Viola continuously pressed the shutter, capturing the remarkable scene.
"A giant presence, could it be related to Galar's Dynamax phenomenon?" Viola mumbled, lowering her camera.
"Mm-hmm, the giant Pokémon rampaging across the land was terrifying back then," Annie's tone unexpectedly low. "Uh, Viola, we need to find other interesting things, so bye for now~"
"Yes, I need to take more photos, so I won't see you off~" Viola waved lightly. Annie nodded, taking Summer to observe other rangers, and they soon found Mido.
He was with the gourmet ranger and the Paldea leader, Aoki. The first two were adding ingredients to a steaming pot, while Aoki patiently waited with a bowl and chopsticks for their work to be done.
"Mido, are you cooking again? Wow, what's going on! This color! But it smells so good," Annie said reluctantly.
Summer looked and saw the pot's contents were multicolored, entirely unappetizing, yet the aroma was indeed enticing.
"Haha, don't mind the details. Wilderness food doesn't have such high standards." Mido laughed heartily.
"Mido, we're missing one ingredient, something bitter with a hint of spice." The gourmet ranger looked troubled, just one step away from completion.
Summer thought for a moment and pulled out a Sitrus Berry, its taste matching the gourmet's description.
"Sitrus Berry! That's exactly what I needed!" The gourmet ranger rejoiced, taking the berry from Summer and starting to prepare it.
Annie was surprised: "Summer, where did you get that berry?"
"A special trick learned from a friend." Summer kept it mysterious.
"Amazing, teach me too~" Annie's eyes sparkled. The gourmet ranger had processed the berry, chopping it finely and sprinkling it into the pot. The multicolored broth turned milky white, glowing faintly.
"Wow, how did you do that? Amazing!"
Summer was as surprised as Annie. It was his first time seeing glowing food.
"Haha, secret recipe, can't share. But food is for sharing, here." Mido served two bowls of the thick soup to Summer and Annie. The five of them gathered around the pot, savoring the magical taste.
The moment Summer tasted it, he felt five flavors—sweet, sour, bitter, spicy, salty—explode in his mouth, blending into a harmonious melody. It was indescribable, except for one word: delicious.
"Oh, it's so good~" Annie was the first to exclaim, then asked a question that had puzzled everyone for a long time, "Larry, why are you wearing a suit? Aren't you a ranger?"
"Thanks for the treat," Larry praised the soup first, then slowly explained, "Because I'm not a ranger."
Everyone was shocked, so you really aren't a ranger. Larry continued, puzzled himself, after taking another sip of soup:
"Why so surprised? I'm just the Paldea region leader for this event. Leaders are league staff, which is normal. Rangers are managed by the league, after all."
"PS: Stay tuned for my future new Pokemon Fan Fiction.!~"
(End of Chapter)