On the sixth day after they arrived at the Blanc Kingdom, Aizen, Anira, Leaf, and May left the Palace and flew to the Western Point of the Crescent Island to start their journey from there.
And to the surprise of the Silver Conference Champion, there was a lone mountain on the Western Point, and the temperature there was quite cold.
She and May trembled when they landed at the foot of the mountain, at an elevated land. There was a rocky road going down, meeting the lush green forest, where Pokémon were waking up from their nightly sleep. Behind them were several caves, and they could hear some strange voices coming from every single one of them.
It was as if someone was working in those caves, but at this hour?
"From here, the First Ranger Tower is 45 kilometres away," Anira said as she pointed her hand in the direction of their destination. "We will reach the First Tower by evening and stay the night. The goal is to cover 40 to 50 kilometres every day. Only then will we reach the Eastern Point by travelling through the Island in three months and still have enough time to get back to Kanto to support Sabrina at the Indigo Conference."
Leaf's mouth dropped open in shock when she heard her friend's words.
"How long is that..." she started calculating.
"In a perfect C through the Crescent Island, it's 5,287 kilometres to reach the Eastern Peak from here. And we will always be in the forest. 70% of the island is forested, but there are lots of beautiful lakes and the coloured Hill Range. We will explore them too!" Anira excitedly informed her, and the distance they were supposed to cover started making the girl from Pallet Town feel dizzy.
"Yes, you will only be exploring the Crescent Island, and I will only accompany you through half the journey." Aizen smiled at his Lover, guessing her thoughts, and she nodded her head, not sure what to say.
She knew he wanted to spend time Ilene and his child before leaving for Kalos, and it was something she could not even request him not to do.
"Don't worry. It will be fun." The Princess assured her. "You will meet lots of Pokémon and see lots of beautiful places. We will also camp at some scenic spots, and if we want to stay at some places for a day or two, we will take bicycles from the next Ranger Tower and cover the distance quickly for the next day. And we have Archie and Mala with us..."
Anira had planned everything, and listening to her, Leaf soon smiled in excitement.
"So, when will we be exploring the Cephalon Island?" She asked, hopefully looking at the Prince.
"Just called it the Dragon Island. We will make some time to explore it together, some year."
Leaf pouted at his words, and both May and Anira giggled at her reaction.
Since Aizen planned to leave for Kalos a week after the Final of the Indigo Conference, she knew she would not get the opportunity to explore it in the next two or three years...
Just when she was getting lost in her musings, Leaf noticed something walking out of one of the caves behind her, and her eyes immediately widened in surprise.
"That's an Aron!"
"Yes. The voices you are hearing are all Aron and Lairon. Any Aggron that appear here are transferred by the Rangers to the Cephalon Island..."
Leaf listened to the Princess' words and then sat down to pet the head of the Pokémon, who had stopped to look at them.
She was finding it cute until she heard its metallic cry, and she was reminded of what it evolved into.
Still, she did pet it and was pleasantly surprised at the cold touch of its head.
Aron then walked away from them and entered another cave, ready to search for some minerals there.
Watching it leave, Leaf stood up and called out her Arcanine, Riolu, and Sylveon.
The two little Pokémon immediately climbed the back of the Orange Pup, nuzzling in its soft mane, and Aizen too decided to call out Archie, Lux, and Rinko. The other little ones were on the Blanc Island.
Anira called out her Chimchar, Vulpix, and Togepi, and May called our Ralts, her only Pokémon, whom Aizen had found for her in the Tree of Beginning the day after they came to the Kingdom.
Her Ralts was the kindest soul, and May had a secret that only Aizen and Anira knew about. Her Ralts could use Telepathy and speak human language, and the two could chat with each other without anyone even knowing about it.
The Pokémon wanted to play around once they saw each other and greeted each other, but after Aizen told them that they were heading into the forest, all of them obediently climbed up on Archie or Mala's back and followed their Trainers.
The two Riolu, however, decided to walk together.
"We are in Sector 1 right now, and after crossing the First Ranger Tower, we will enter Sector 2..." Anira showed her friend a detailed map of the Crescent Island on her PokéNav+.
As they continued walking down the road, heading towards the forest, Leaf and the Pokémon gasped and came to a stop when they saw a beautiful sight.
Hundreds of Beautifly suddenly flew up from the trees, and their beautiful wings sparkled under the rays of the rising sun.
They all left sparkling dust in their wake as they greeted each other, letting out sweet voices, and even flew over to their group to greet them.
Anira laughed when one Beautifly perched on her head and slowly flapped its wings, but then it flew up again and joined the rest of its kind as they spread out to search for their morning meals.
When the group entered the forest, they found Wurmple everywhere and even came across some Pikachu and Pichu, who were on a hunt for Berries.
In just an hour that they travelled through the forest, Leaf had seen Shroomish, Breloom, Seedot, Nuzleaf, Shiftry, Oddish, Gloom, and even Plusle and Minun in the trees.
It was truly a Pokémon Paradise, and the forest had a sweet and refreshing smell to it that made her day even brighter.
They stopped a few times to take a good look and observe some Pokémon whom she had never seen in person before.
At noon, when they decided to take a break at a beautiful lake with crystal clear water, she even saw the Azurill line, and also a few Roselia.
Their Pokémon happily played around with the wild Pokémon as the group started preparing their lunch, and Leaf helped Aizen whilst Anira and May ran into the woods where they saw some Silcoon.
Since the girl from Littleroot Town wanted to participate in the Johto Grand Festival, she needed aesthetically appealing Pokémon on her Team, and Beautifly were a nice choice.
An hour later, when the two girls returned, May showed them the Silcoon and the Ledyba she caught, and then Anria and she both grinned at Leaf and called out their pair of Budew.
Leaf knew that Roserade was not just a good Pokémon for the shows, but also for battles. And most importantly, it was a Grass-Type Pokémon she had always wanted!
Seeing her grow excited, the two girls pulled her with them and took her to find a Budew for her.
Aizen, after finishing preparing the meal, started playing Tag with his Pokémon, and when the girls returned, they even found some wild Pikachu trying to tag him, but failing as he kept teleporting.
In the end, Anira grinned and teleported right where he appeared and locked her arms around him, and then all the Pokémon tackled him to the ground and started teasing him as he had teased them.
The girls laughed at his expense and washed their hands to sit down and eat, and Aizen joined them after the Pokémon let go of him.
"Hehe..." his little sister grinned at him, and he grinned back at her, letting her know that he would set the record straight between them.
The group finished their meal, and their Pokémon had their fill of wild berries as well.
It was quite an adorable sight as they all nestled on top of the two Arcanine and took their nap whilst the group continued on their journey.
Only Rinko and Lux were still energetic, and they were playing around, but staying mindfully close to everyone.
Leaf did not see any new Pokémon species for the rest of the afternoon.
They reached the First Ranger Tower just before 7 p.m., and it was bigger than she had expected. It was situated in a clearing, which was fenced, and there were also sheds for Manectric, Mightyena, and Stoutland. The yellow lampposts made the place appear even prettier, and the five Rangers, who were in charge of this Tower and responsible for Sector 1, were waiting for them.
All five knelt to Aizen and Anira and only stood up when the Prince asked them to.
The meal had already been prepared, and it was simplistic but delicious and sumptuous. And the group did not forget to give their regards to the two chefs, who were Mr. Mime.
Leaf was visiting a Ranger Tower for the first time, so Anria and May gave her a tour around it.
She was surprised when she met the Pokémon Doctor of the Tower and her team of Chansey and Blissey.
And in her mind, she quickly started calculating the cost of running this single Ranger Tower.
There were 110 such Towers on the Crescent Island alone. 555 Rangers, and 110 Pokémon Doctors.
Just thinking about their salaries and the cost of operations made her feel dizzy.
However, she was also very impressed by how serious the Orayens were about keeping the Island secure and safe for the Pokémon.
Anira also showed her the Control Room, which was filled with the best technology in the world. And there, on the screens, radars kept an eye out for any intruders and accidents in Sector 1.
Even though the Rangers of the First Tower were not responsible for Sector 2, which bordered them, they worked together with the Second Tower in times of need.
One of the Rangers, a middle-aged lady who looked like a soldier and was built like one as well, informed Leaf about exactly what their duties were and how they operated on the Island.
She learned that day, and felt ever more grateful to the Rangers for keeping their Regions secure. They were the silent heroes people usually never paid attention to. They were the ones keeping Pokémon and People safe...