Nina watched in awe as sheets of glacial ice tipped past the waterfall and came crashing down into the lake below, plopping a splatter of freezing droplets towards the shore which Espy was kind enough to block for them.

The seasons now lay between the transitional months of January and February — a time where the weather warmed, calling forth spring showers to wash away ice and snow, thawing the earth to nurture buds of new life.

Nina and Kerry were currently making a little stop in Blue Moon Falls, on their way to Cherrygrove City, one of the area’s more iconic sights. Yet despite that, there was a distinct lack of tourists due to the fact that the natural landmark was located a fair distance away off Route 29. Which was perfect, because Blue Moon Falls was also the center of a nature preserve — a nature preserve dedicated to a vast population of the Quagsire line that lived in the area.

“Clod!”

“Quag~”

Clood!!”

“Quag~~”

“CLOOODD!!!”

Nina laughed as she approached her belligerent Clodsire, who had his chest puffed up and was currently facing off against an oblivious Quagsire. 

This was actually the perfect time to be engaging with the derpy blue blobs, since the temperature was just right for their liking. Not too hot that they would need to bury themselves in mud during the day to escape the sun. But not too cold like the apex of winter where the Quagsires would prefer to huddle in their hovels instead.

“Clody… Cut it out. You’re being rude to our host.”

“Cloood!!” Sir Clodington turned to protest against Nina’s admonishment. But right as he did, the derpy looking Quagsire that he was engaging with reached out with its lanky hands to grab at the Damp Rock that Sir Clodington was wearing around the base of his bulbous tail. 

Since Clodsires didn’t exactly have a neck and Nina didn’t want the cumbersome item to affect his movement, she had a special collar made that attached the Held Item on his tail joint instead.

“Clood!!!” Sir Clodington cried out in rage and swung his bulbous tail against the Quagsire to fight off the thieving Pokemon, causing the Quagsire to fall lamely on the ground.

Nina sighed. “Clody, I know Quagsire’s being rude but there’s no need to be violent.” It was a good thing that Sir Clodington wasn’t using his full strength, otherwise Quagsire would have been sent blasting off into the skies like a baseball.

“Sorry about that.” Nina knelt down to help the Quagsire up, with some Berries in hand. “Clody has a bit of a temper but you really shouldn’t go around taking other people’s things you know? Here, you can have these instead.”

“Quag!” Quagsire’s beady eyes lit up at the colorful treats in front of him before picking up a Pinap Berry and repeatedly lifting it up towards the air like he was just given a grand prize.

“What happened, Nina?” Kerry asked, while approaching with a gaggle of Woopers waddling by her feet.

“Nah, it’s nothing. I see you made some new friends.” Nina bent down to scoop up one of the jiggly little blobs and nuzzled her cheeks against them. 

The regular blue variant Woopers had a coat of Poison on their bodies as well, but after getting used to the painful touch of the Poison Type Sir Clodington, the slick gelatinous exterior of the little Water Type Wooper just had the mild effect of numbing Nina’s skin.

“Yeah, they’re super cute. I see now why you like them so much.” Kerry cooed. “By the way, how long do you want to stay here for?” The nurse girl asked as she looked up at the grey clouds above them. “Pretty sure we can’t camp here, so we’ll need to go somewhere else before the rain starts.”

“Well… there’s a Ranger outpost nearby.” Nina replied, Blue Moon Falls was a nature preserve dedicated to the local Quagsire population that was highly valued by the locals as a symbol of good fortune. And the Rangers were in charge of managing it.  “But if you don’t mind sticking around for two nights, there’ll be a full moon tomorrow.” 

“What’s up with the full moon?”

Nina hummed. “Blue Moon Falls gets its name from the blue tint the moon takes on when viewed from the base of the waterfall — though we won’t see that during this season, unfortunately. Instead, these adorkable little cuties here have a little ceremony they perform during the full moon where they gather around the waterfall to sing and pray. The Woopers and the Quagsires here worship the moon you see.”

“Come to think of it, is that just a thing with the species?” Between Sir Clodington’s old tribe and the Quagsires here, it seemed to Nina like the derpy blobs have a penchant for seeking out symbols of religious worship.

Kerry’s eyes sparkled at the prospect. “Ohhh… I’d love to see that.”

“Yeah, me too. I wanna record a video and send it to Charlotte.” The pretty Safari Ranger who guided her back when she first caught Sir Clodington had taken Nina’s advice and managed to get her dream job in the Cerulean Gym. Aided by a direct referral from Aquarium Girl of course. Nothing beats good old networking. Though the last time they spoke, Charlotte had expressed some disillusionment about the crass nature of some of her former idols.

***

“So just the two of you for tonight? Do you need to rent any equipment?”

“Nope, we’re all set. Thanks, Mister Ranger.”

“No worries,” said the Ranger in question as he went about registering Nina and Kerry for the campground. “Given that the two of you are Pokedex holders, I probably don’t need to explain the rules to you. But if you have any questions, just come by and give us a shout. I won’t be around tonight, but there should be someone on the night shift.”

Nina nodded and grabbed hold of the Pokedex that was handed back to her with another thanks. “Must be tough to be so removed from civilization here.”

“Eh, it’s not too bad. None of us are stationed here permanently — we mostly rotate in and out on a monthly basis. Besides, Cherrygrove is just a short Fly away if we need anything from town.” The Ranger replied. “Are you girls looking to catch the full moon tomorrow?”

“Yup! Any advice?”

“Not much, really. But if you want to be courteous then you can bring over something round and shiny for the Pokemon. Pokeballs will do just fine, but the Quagsires have plenty of those so maybe something more distinctive if you want to go the extra mile.”

“Round and shiny?” Kerry asked, full of confusion.

The Ranger laughed. “During the Blue Moon, which is during summer by the way, the Quagsires like to compete and see who could shoot a round object furthest up the waterfall — it’s part of their mating ritual. And the months preceding that, they have a tendency to hoard round and shiny objects for use during the event — the shinier the object, the easier it is to track as it shoots into the air and the flashier the performance to impress potential mates with.”

Both girls awed at the strange ritual as Nina started scribbling in her notebook.

“And if you come to Cherrygrove during the Blue Moon, the folks in town also have a little festival where they try to fish up the discarded treasures that float down from the river. No guarantees that you’ll be able to find anything of value of course, but there have been some years where people managed to pick up Ultra Balls and Gold Nuggets. Either way, it’s an effective way to clean up the river while having some fun at the same time.”

The two girls thanked the Ranger for the impromptu lesson as they headed out to the campground; a spacious open field with stones and sticks marking each little lot to ensure that everyone got a fair amount of space. All surrounding a little communal square of gravel and stone where campers could gather together to socialize over one big bonfire. 

To the side was the outhouse, water taps, a little hut housing all the firewood, and the communal shower, which both Nina and Kerry opted not to partake in due to the chilly weather. It was often said that the showers in the Ranger outposts were slow to heat up and often ran out of hot water — not exactly a risk they were willing to take under current circumstances.

The outpost during this time of the year was fairly empty since the Gym circuit hadn’t officially started yet. Besides Nina and Kerry, there was just another family present — a father with his cute little daughter who immediately ran over to engage them with a Wooper shaped Pokedoll in hand the moment that she caught sight of Sir Clodington.

“Come to think of it. I wonder how far Justin went in the Conference?” Nina made a mental note to check on her friend later.

***

“Careful, the Wooper line, no matter the variant, all have a Poisonous membrane coating their skin. So you shouldn’t touch them without any protection.”

The little girl wilted at Nina’s warning as she looked towards her nurse friend for some disposable gloves. “Here, wear these if you want to touch Sir Clodington. Clodsires in particular are Ground and Poison Type, so I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Listen to the big sis, Megumi. Make sure not to touch the nice Clodsire with your bare skin.” The man said to his daughter.

“Okay…” The girl responded, somewhat dejectedly. But her face immediately brightened the moment that she got a feel of Sir Clodington’s jelly-like bounciness. “Hehe…”

“Sorry about this child,” said the apologetic man. “She’s always had a deep love of Woopers.”

Nina dismissed the man’s concern with a casual wave. “No worries, it’s always nice to meet someone who’s so passionate about Pokemon. Are you two here for the full moon as well? Bit of an odd season, don’t you think?”

The man laughed. “Yeah… I would have liked to bring Megumi here during the Blue Moon, but it’s hard to get any time off and Megumi doesn’t do well with crowds. So I figured, it’s now or never.”

Nina chuckled. “Well if the point of the trip is to play with Woopers then I think you came at the right time. They’re only active during the day in this particular season. Any other time and Megumi would have to stay up really late, which might be difficult for someone her age.”

The girl then asked if the pair of parent and child would like to share a bonfire with them, a tradition among campers in Rangers outposts. The two of them agreed readily and the man even insisted on paying for the firewood, happy to just have some company to keep her hyperactive daughter distracted for a time.

“You see, Megumi. The most efficient way to start a fire is to first cut the firewood into thin sticks like this.” Nina said, as she applied her Tomb Raider axe on the piece of wood in front of her. “Then you shave little strands from the side until it starts to look like a spider lily. If any shavings fall off, don’t worry about it, just add it to the pile as tinder.”

The girl then proceeded to light the wood on fire and gently stoke the flames to life with more wood and a mild breeze from Brucey. It was approaching evening and there was now a light drizzle from the skies, but with Espy’s help in shielding them, the rain did not pose a problem to the fire.

Once the fire was lit, Nina and her companions all set about preparing dinner. Even Megumi clammored to help, not wanting to be left out. So Nina set her the task of washing the rice and Berries for the curry. The kid and her dad didn’t mind the lack of meat so Nina and Kerry offered to cook.

“Kerry, do you mind taking over while I summon Nitey for dinner.” Not wanting to bog her partner down with their slow pace, Nina had asked the Dragonite to venture off on his own, but stay within earshot of her whistle, which she blew into to recall him.

“NIIITEE!!!” A roar of affirmation echoed back in return as Nina continued to help with the cooking.

“Are you a noble Blackthorn by chance?” Megumi’s father asked, once he caught sight of the majestic orange Dragonite that landed in their midst, much to his daughter’s excitement as she immediately ran up to Nitey to indulge in his tubby belly.

Johtons, unlike Kantonians, were much more relaxed around the presence of Dragons, thanks to the prominence of the Blackthorn clan. Though owning one, especially one of the Dragonite line, did automatically mark someone as aristocracy, as evident by the man’s shift to a more cordial tone.

Nina laughed. “No, not at all. Kerry and I are both from Kanto. I found Nitey by chance as a Dratini back during my childhood. He’s my lifelong partner, practically my soulmate at this point.”

“Do you think I can catch a cute little Dratini too?” Megumi exclaimed, in between uppies from Nitey. The girl’s exuberance elicited a genial smile from Nina and her usual canned response of “work hard and you’re sure to achieve your dreams some day.”

***

Author's note:

It was only when I was scheduling this chapter that I realized that the original draft only had 4 pages. One short of the minimum that I always set for myself.

Unbelievable, Zebra. This chapter has been released twice at this point and only now you notice?

Anyways, the point is, the last section was frankensteined from CH 189 and I haven't had the time to make adjustments yet, so the flow might be a bit weird. Sorry for the scuff.