“Hey, I’m gonna go for a short hike down to the lake, you wanna come with?”

Zoey’s boyfriend Jake, a tall and tanned outdoorsy type, beamed at her. The young woman waved him away. “Nah, I’m still a bit sore from the hike this morning,” she said. She was a city girl, unused to the outdoors, and while she was more than happy to accompany her boyfriend on a multi-day camping trip to Petalburg Woods, she had nowhere near his stamina. “The lake’s what—a few miles away?”

“Won’t be too long,” he said defensively.

She laughed and kissed his cheek. “For you, maybe. Go and have fun. I’ll be waiting while you get back.” Jake waved goodbye and zipped the front flap of their tent half shut, wandering away. Zoey listened to his boots crunch against the dirt, growing softer and softer as he made his way. He had dreams of being a Pokemon Ranger someday, and she thought for sure he’d make it. She was excited on his behalf.

Zoey leaned back and just delighted in the sounds of the wilderness. The afternoon sun dappling through the leaves sent a shower of shamrock light against their tent, spotted with intermittent shadows as wind danced through the trees. The sounds of distant pokemon—the songs of Tailow and small barks of Poochyena—cascaded at her. This morning, they’d woken to find that a Silcoon had glued itself to their tent flap. Jake had laughed and carefully pried the pokemon free before taking it to a nearby tree to reattach itself to.

As the light deepened and minutes passed into an hour, then two, Zoey got her stamina back. Surely Jake would be coming back soon, right?

A devilish smile touched down on her lips. She had a particular activity in mind for the two of them tonight… after all, they had nothing but miles and miles of solitary wilderness to unleash their wildest desires on. A ranger like Jake was quite adept with ropes and knots… wouldn’t he be pleased to see her own progression in that regard?