22 NNPR
After a bit of chatter, Cindy and Lukas recalled their Pokemon before she released her Staraptor and put a special harness on it. At first glance, it might seem a bit improbable for a Staraptor to be carrying two grown humans. But considering that the Staraptor in question already reached the Gold-rank, it made sense.
After attaching the saddle to her Pokemon Cindy gave Lukas flying goggles and a small oxygen mask to deal with the high altitude and speed during flight.
*swish*
Without further ado, Staraptor took off into the sky and after being led by Cindy settled on a northwestern course. The NNPR is located north of Johto and Kanto, the nature reserve's eastern border lies at the shore closest to the Sinnoh region, which is located on a large island, just like the Hoenn region in the south.
In order to reach the NNPR from where they are currently, the pair would have to cross over the chain of mountain ranges separating Johto and Kanto.
Normally, with Staraptor's speed of about 590 mph (ca. 950 km/h), it should take them less than two hours until they reach the nearest ranger outpost belonging to the NNPR.
Yet just like most places in this world, the sky is not a territory humanity has been able to claim for their own. A certain altitude, approximately the height at which clouds form, is a domain claimed by many powerful Pokemon, Legendary's included.
Because of this the idea of space travel is basically nonexistent here with long range communication and GPS being made possible through other ways, mostly involving the help of psychic-types and other Pokemon.
So, the flight would take them a bit more than 2 1/2 hours, not that Cindy or Lukas minded, since neither of them were keen on dealing with a bunch of angry flying Pokemon.
During their journey they passed a decent amount of small villages and even a small city or two, but Lukas highlight had to have been when he saw the magnificent scenery of Pewter City.
Of course, even this major city couldn't compare to when they flew by Kanto's capital Indigo City, the biggest and most fortified city of the region. Initially developed as a military outpost sometime during the pre-Alliance era, it always stood at the forefront of the attacks coming from Johto.
Due to some considerations by the military leadership and general propaganda at the time, the focus was on turning the population's most popular entertainment towards high-level and brutal Pokemon battles, resulting in Indigo City having a total of 12 different Poke stadiums.
Later, the Kanto region's Alliance branch and government seat moved a bit outside the city and was named Indigo Plateau.
This is the city both of Kanto's championship leagues take place at.
Seeing the city, Lukas was reminded of the first time he saw a tournament live, it was the Orange islands challenger tournament that happened during a vacation with his mother, oldest aunt and 3 of his cousins. That tournament completely ignited his passion for Pokemon battles, even at a time when not all of his memories were back.
Eventually, as human settlements became rarer and rarer, Staraptor was able to spot a nearby outpost making a slight course adjustment and landed at a designated landing spot.
Looking at the ranger outpost, Lukas had to admit it looked, boring. Nothing special could be said about it, just a three-story building in the middle of nowhere with the Kanto rangers symbol on top of the entrance.
"Thank Staraptor."
"Star!"
Lukas and Cindy made their way inside the building after getting off of their ride.
What greeted them was an empty foyer, with not a single soul in sight.
"What now?"
Instead of answering his question, Cindy walks up to the empty reception desk on one end of the room and rings the bell lying on the counter.
*ring* *ring*
"Yes Yes, I'm coming, one moment, please."
Hearing this voice, Cindy and Lukas turn to one of the many side doors connected to the foyer.
Shortly after, a tall man wearing a Poke ranger jacked entered the room carrying a stack of papers.
"Sorry for the wait, what can I do for you?"
Putting the papers on the counter, the ranger turns towards the two.
"We're here for entry into the NNPR."
Cindy told the ranger their purpose immediately.
"Ah, no problem, I'll call someone to bring you in, it might take a few minutes until they're here tho."
He answered as if he weren't very surprised that this was their reason for coming here.
"No problem, we can wait, thank you."
As Cindy was turning in the direction of a large sofa in the corner of the room, the ranger seemed to have thought of something.
"Ah, wait, here take this brochure, all the NNPR's rules are mentioned there."
Lukas took them both before also making his way towards the sofa, handing one of them to Cindy after sitting down.
Opening the brochure, Lukas quickly finds the rule section, so he gives them a quick read.
There are only a handful of important rules listed, and they are,
1. No intentional violence against any Pokemon inhabiting the NNPR is allowed unless it is in self-defense or a Pokemon challenged a trainer to a battle.
2. A trainer is only allowed to catch Pokemon of the rank that their entry ticket allows.
3. A trainer may only catch a maximum of three Pokemon every 10 years, no matter how many entry tickets they have.
4. Pokemon at the baby-rank(below iron) may not be caught unless a trainer receives permission from the Pokemon's parents/leader(s).
5. Any entry into the NNPR last for 72 hours, after which you will be brought out.
Lukas quickly finished going through the rules. He didn't know about the catch limit of three until now, expecting to only be allowed to catch a single rare Pokemon.
Of course whether he manages to find three Pokemon that are to his liking is questionable, but he has already resolved himself to catch a member of his favorite species, a certain land shark-line, no matter what.
Aside from that, he will keep a lookout for either a water, grass or electric type to diversify his team.
Since none of the pseudo legendary's from the games have any of the mentioned typings, however, he will have a harder time making a decision.
"Hello, are you the ones waiting for entry?"
Lukas is pulled out of his thoughts by a female ranger that seemingly appeared out of nowhere, though he didn't even have to question how she made such a silent appearance after seeing the Gardevoir accompanying her.
"Yes that's us."
"Great, have you read and understood all the rules you'll have to follow and are you ready to set off immediately?"
Receiving two nods in return, the female ranger claps her hands and point to her Pokemon.
"Then, Gardevoir will teleport you in, note that she will leave a psychic mark on you so that she can get you back out once your time is up."
Now, one might wonder why a teleport is necessary in the first place? It's because of the most important reason why the NNPR is such a safe and thereby desirable place for older Pokemon to retire and build their families.
The entire NNPR is surrounded by a gigantic psychic shield that not even Pokemon of the esteemed Grandmaster-Rank can break.
This shield, according to records, was put there by a Legendary psychic-type Pokemon. Which Legendary it was, nobody is clear.
Well, except Lukas who, thanks to the ancient records in his head, knows that a group of Mew erected the shield to protect what was left of humanity after Groudon and Kyogre were done with their most recent conflict.
After that, the Mew gave the humans protected there the key to leave but not reenter, and so it took thousands of years and generation after generation of human psychics and their Pokemon until it was reclaimed.
The reclaiming of the NNPR was in fact one of the earliest achievements of a fledgling Alliance, and cemented Professor Oak's position as the highest authority at the time even further.
