A/N: Hello everyone! I'm sorry this took so long to get out. As I've said in my messages, I've been having some writers block and just general disinterest in writing. No idea why I've been in such a slump, but I'm over it now. Hope you enjoy the chapter! It's so long, I almost split it into two. Actually, let me know in the comments if I should stick to my one-shot rule or not, I'm seriously debating changing it. I've already had a few comments saying I should make more than one chapter for some. Anyway, enjoy!

"This Pokémon is fully covered by nonflammable fur. It can withstand any kind of fire attack." -FireRed PokeDex

"Today sucks, doesn't it Quilava?" I asked the sleeping lump on my stomach. I was too scared to move and accidentally jolt him awake, he looked like he was resting so peacefully. Plus, starling him would mean a blast of fire to the face. Downside, staying in a reclined position with my feet on my desk caused my butt to fall asleep. Yet, I still refused to move an inch.

To make matters worse, the day was sweltering and Quilava acted like the perfect furnace. I used to believe that fire types were more active when it was warmer out. My partner had proven me wrong on that account multiple times. In an effort to stay cool, I had stripped down to my undershirt and boy shorts, but I was still sweating profusely.

My suffering wouldn't last much longer though. I heard Kaipo conversing with someone via phone in the front room. "Sevii Island Rangers, how can we be of service?"

It was probably time to wake Quilava. Kaipo had started asking for location details which usually meant a job. I gently placed my feet on the ground and prodded Quilava, "Time to wake up buddy."

His mouth widened into a yawn, and he jumped off my lap and to the ground to stretch out more. He reclined into child's pose, then into Seel, then back again. While he did his wake up routine, I did mine. I drank the last few sips of what was once ice cold water and wiped the dripping sweat off of my body. I didn't have a towel nearby, so I improvised with my t-shirt.

Kaipo burst into the room with at least a dozen sticky notes in his hands. "Okay, someone just called from one of the lesser islands, Volcán, about an unexpected eruption. Some people got stuck by the lava and why are you half naked Kiana?" He trailed off mid thought when he noticed my lack of attire.

I finished putting my shirt on before responding. "It's hot outside and Quilava thought my stomach was the perfect bed."

He still stared at me dumbfounded. I figured that he would be used to this by now. It's not like I didn't prance around like this whenever it's impossibly hot outside. "Please pick up your jaw from the floor, remove your hand from your eyes, and keep talking."

He spread his fingers slightly to see where I was in the dressing process. I was fully clothed again except for all of my Ranger gear. My belt was still hanging on the edge of my desk with all of the equipment stowed away. He deemed my amount of clothing to be appropriate again and continued with his monologue.

"Right, Volcán. Uhhh," he flipped through his notepad to the page where he wrote down the contact information. "Two people on a tour of the island decided it would be fun to split off from their group to try to see the lava. They jumped down to a plateau closer to where some lava was and got stuck. To make things worse, Mother Nature decided to erupt the volcano moments after they got stuck. Lava started spewing from everywhere and trapped the wandering duo on a rock."

"You sure you didn't get this straight from a book?" I asked. The whole situation reminded me of something I would find in a book or a cartoon I used to enjoy as a kid.

Kaipo raised his hands in a dramatic shrug. "Hey, some people are just really stupid." "Obviously,"

"So, you taking the job or not? Because I gotta let some other Ranger station know if you aren't." He stepped halfway out the door and towards the phone.

I grabbed Quilava from the ground and bounced him in my arms like a baby. "Well, I didn't get dressed for nothing."

Kaipo kept mumbling along about more mission details as the three of us marched out the door together, grabbing what we thought might be useful equipment as we went. To keep my sanity in check, I blocked out most of what he said, noting only the important details: tourists, stuck, lava, HOT, and "go help them." Thankfully, I didn't block out everything from my surroundings, or else I wouldn't have noticed Quilava trying to steal all of the PokéTreats. If I wasn't watching him 24/7, who knew what he would eat in here.

When Kaipo and I decided we had the needed equipment, we headed outside. The sunlight blinded me as I stepped out into the open air. I looked out over the ocean trying to squint through the pain. It was too much, I decided that sunglasses would be needed. I was ready to go back and grab a pair, but I heard the lock click and Kaipo pocketed the keys.

"Hey Quilava, did you know it's probably a good idea to wear sunglasses if you live on a really freaking sunny island?" I asked him sarcastically. He twitched his nose in his usual response. I bent down to pat his head. "Yeah, I figured that's what you would say."

We both sat on the sand as Kaipo went up top on the roof to prepare the helicopter. It was the quickest way to get to and survey a problem. Most situations were solved by us before we even set foot on the ground. I had no idea how to work the thing, so I left everything up to him. In return, he let me deal with my specialty: Pokemon. Even though he was a Ranger like me, he just didn't have the natural ability to connect with Pokemon like I did.

As I thought through what we could possibly do for these tourists, I watched Quilava jump in and out of the ocean. Every time a wave washed up, he tried to jump over it like a hurdle. It usually ended up with him getting even more soaked and upset than the wave before. He decided he had had enough and ran over to me, flames up and blazing. I didn't even have to look at his face to notice how mad he was.

"Hey, don't blame me," I pointed to myself, "blame the ocean." I then swiveled my hands to point at the giant expanse of water in front of us.

The little guy took the meaning literally and began spitting fire balls at the advancing waves. I whipped out my phone and started taping him. "This is worth at least a million views on PokéTube."

As if I wasn't laughing hard enough in the moment, what came next was even better. A pair of Marills waddled out of the ocean as Quilava hurled fire balls. One of the Marill got a ball of fire straight in the face. Its partner, now extremely unhappy, started attacking Quilava with Water Gun. My laughing could probably be heard for miles up and down the beach.

A defeated Quilava crawled up to me and pouted. I tossed him some berries as compensation as I reached for my Capture Styler. I figured that since we were going to a volcano, a water type or two might be helpful.

I sent the device spiraling around the first Marill. It didn't protest as the beam of light surrounded its body. The first Marill was down, so I moved on to the second. It was more hesitant than its friend. It bit at the light, causing the trail to break and my Styler to fly back at me. I gritted my teeth and sent it out again. I made the circle a tad bigger this time in hopes that the Marill wouldn't feel as caged in. The capture completed, and the top flew back into its place on the Styler attached to my wrist.

I approached the Marills slowly, but with confidence. I had to show dominance to make sure these Marills knew who was in charge. A wild Pokemon was a wild Pokemon, even if it was under my influence. They sat and stared at me with wonder as I approached. I felt something nudge my leg, and I knew that Quilava was following me. Although, I didn't look down to confirm he was there. Instead, I didn't break eye contact with the Marills. I was the dominant one, and they had to know that.

I was directly over them now. They're beady eyes looked into mine, awaiting my orders. Instead of giving them any though, I gave them some berries instead. They both shrieked with delight and chowed down on the pile I had given them. Just because I was in charge now, didn't mean I had to be cruel to them.

I heard Kaipo call for me as I watched my two new friends finish their snacks. I turned to go up the steps to the helicopter as I barked orders, "Marill one and two, follow me. Quilava, you too." I felt something pounce onto my bag and then climb up my clothing. Quilava had slung himself over my shoulders. With his head on one side of my neck and his feet dangling off of the other, he acted as my living, fire breathing scarf.

"Thanks, because I really need a neck warmer today." I hissed at him. He snorted in response. It amazed me that he could pick up on my sarcasm after being with me for so long.

After I sat down in the passenger's seat of the helicopter, the twin Marills jumped onto my lap. "Okay," I said as I looked down at my two new friends, "I guess I count as, not just one, but three seats now." I gestured to all of the Pokemon residing on my body.

Kaipo snorted. "I bet you're not all that comfortable. You would probably be cold and prickly."

I stared at him with a scrunched up face for a few seconds, "Did you," I paused for another second, "Did you just insult me?" I couldn't help but smile at his weak attempt at a burn.

He visibly blushed, obviously embarrassed at what he had said. "I thought that's what people did." He stumbled over all of his words. "You know, insult each other and call it funny. It's just, that's what, I um..." he trailed off. "Uh, I'm sorry."

I collected myself before talking, he couldn't know I was laughing at him. "No, you did it right. I just didn't expect such humor from you. It sounded like something that would come from my mouth and not yours. You're just so kind and nice and quiet." I realized I was rambling, so I shut my mouth before I kept talking.

He smiled feebly at my compliments. "Thanks." We rode the rest of the way to Volcán in silence. I didn't mean to make things awkward, but he seemed so unconfident. I actually felt bad for him. At the same time though, I really hoped he hadn't taken that string of compliments as me expressing a like in him. He was a good friend and coworker, nothing more. A bit too awkward and antisocial for my tastes.

The ocean raced by us below. The waves danced in tune with the wind from the helicopter's blades. I turned my attention from the ocean and back to Kaipo again. "Aren't we flying a bit too low?"

Without taking his eyes off of the sky in front of him, he responded, "Yeah, I know we should be higher, but the reports from Volcán made it sound like there were things flying through the air around the volcano."

I shifted in my seat, unable to be comfortable all of a sudden. "Should we be taking a boat instead of a helicopter?"

He shook his head, "No, we don't have the time for that. Plus, the projectiles are not interfering with low flying vehicles."

I turned toward my window again. "I would hope not," I muttered.

As we approached the island, the sky looked darker and darker. The ash blotted out the sun, making the area almost as dark as night. The volcanoes we had here usually didn't put off this much ash. Projectiles weren't common at all either. Something was obviously wrong.

We landed on the helicopter pad that was next to the island's Ranger station. Where these Rangers were was a mystery to me. I tried to recall if Kaipo had said anything about it earlier during the time I blocked out his rambling. Nothing immediately came to mind, but I didn't bother to ask. I seriously did not want another one of his lectures. He was a genius, but he was still a few years younger than me and a recent Ranger school graduate. I just didn't have that much respect for him yet.

I barely heard him yell at me over the dying whirl of the helicopter blades, "Go find some information from the locals, tour guides, or someone. You're better at the whole social thing than I am."

At first, I only nodded in response, then I remembered he couldn't see me with the helicopter between us, "Yeah, alright." As I was walking away, I couldn't help but to berate myself, "Wow, smooth, so much for being the non-socially awkward one."

I heard the crowd before I saw them. The Ranger station was on top of a hill, away from where the tourist area of the island was. It made for a quiet work area, but it also made one heck of a

walk. As I marched towards the docks where tourists were packed in and waiting for boats, I noticed the tiny shops that dotted the road along the beach were closed. Usually, the sun shone making it the ideal spot for visitors to come, shop, and enjoy the island. Today, however, the ashy clouds blocked the sun from view and no locals were to be seen anywhere. Anyone, even a child, could tell something was wrong with the environment here.

People were anxious to get off of the island. Kids were crying to their parents, and parents were crying to their tour guides. Those poor tour guides, they were trying their hardest to keep these people under control. I knew their pain, I had been placed on crowd control many times during Ranger training while more experienced Rangers handled the big situations. Now, I was looked up to by others for dealing with tough spots like this. No more crowd control, thank Arceus.

I sighed so loudly before walking up to the crowd that I woke Quilava. He shook to life on my shoulders. I petted his head to let him know everything was alright. I just really didn't want to deal with this, and I think he knew that too.

The small huddle of tour guides looked knowledgable on the situation, so I started there with my investigations. "Hey there, I was wondering if you had any information on the situation here."

They all turned to look at me with smiling faces. The blond in the front spoke up first, "Hello there, as we have told you and your group already, we have the situation under control. There is no need to worry, please return to your group and wait for the boats."

I shook my head and held my hand up for her to stop her monologue. "Maybe you don't understand what this means," I pointed to the Ranger badge pinned on my chest. "I'm a Ranger from a nearby island. The station here is on duty on the other island they watch over so I was called in." I Tauros crapped the last part since I couldn't remember exactly what Kaipo had said.

The woman did a fake laugh and crouched down so her face was level with mine. She was probably only six inches taller than me, but I knew she was doing this to get on my nerves. "That's a good story. Maybe you should go tell it to your group. Are you friends with the other 'Rangers' that came on the tour here?" She pointed to a little boy and girl dressed in Ranger costumes. The outfits looked left over from Halloween, like something the parents just couldn't get their kids to take off.

I was done with this woman and her attitude, but before I could open my mouth to tell her off, she continued talking, "Seriously, you seem old enough to understand what I'm saying. We have everything under control, so could you maybe just go back to your group? We will let you all know when we have more information."

I really wanted to make an obscene gesture at her as I stormed off to question other people, but I also didn't really want to deal with the complaint paperwork that would come with it if anyone saw me. People slammed us with all kinds of regulations regarding public relations.

The tourists were even less helpful than the rude tour guide was. They all cried and complained about what was going on and asked if I could fix it. I told the same half lie that "I was working on it" and "everything would be fine soon." I was indeed working on it, but I didn't know if everything was actually going to be okay.

The only helpful tourist was an elderly lady. She told me that her daughter and her son-in-law were the ones stuck on the mountain. They had tried to go for their camera, which had fallen off the path the tour was on. He had leaped down for it and onto a slightly raised plateau. Some kind of seismic activity had caused him to drop it. The lava started bursting violently from the cracks around where the man had fallen seconds after he jumped down.

Before I left to rejoin Kaipo, I asked the woman what path they had been on. She produced a pamphlet from her purse that showed three different pathways up the mountain. She pointed at the purple one, then also was able to show me the look out point where the lava had started. I tried to give her the paper back, but she insisted I keep it for reference. I thanked her for the help and the paper, then sprinted back to the helicopter pad at top speed.

Breathlessly, I reported my findings to Kaipo. He nodded and hummed in response as he fixed some of the vents on the helicopter. The ash made breathing difficult, but he hoped that his improvements would be useful to us. When I finished my list of findings, Kaipo asked, "That's it? You couldn't get names, ages, or anything?"

Flustered, I rolled my eyes and retorted, "These people are in danger Kaipo. They're on a plateau surrounded by hot lava according to the lady's mom. I didn't have time for the small details. They don't have time for the small details either!" My voice's volume increased as I kept talking. I didn't have time for the official report details.

I jumped into the seat in the back of the helicopter. Kaipo grumbled as he threw the toolbox into the lockbox in front of me. He was probably wondering what my deal was at this point. It landed with a thud instead of a loud clang, I found that a bit odd, but let it go. There were more important things to worry about. While waiting for Kaipo to take his place as the pilot again, I made sure the ladder was hooked into its place. I figured it would be helpful to this particular mission. I had to reach the tourists somehow.

As I strapped into my seat, Quilava once again took his place as my scarf after a brief stretch break. Now all I had to figure out was how to get the two Marills down the ladder with me. They were a breed that wasn't widely renowned for their grip strength, so them latching onto me with their paws wasn't an option.

I noticed that Kaipo had left the lockbox open. I paused my thought process to fix the problem. It had to be kept closed and locked up during flight or else things would fly around. We were already in the air, but I took the risk of unbuckling my seatbelt to close it up correctly anyway. The reason why it sat ajar was because the toolbox sat awkwardly atop of a stack of rope. That would explain why it made a weird sound earlier. I took it out, placed the toolbox back in, and started to put the rope away when I came up with a better use for it. This was how I would keep the Marills on me.

I tied the rope around my body, knotting it to my belt in multiple places and to both of my sleeves. I probably looked ridiculous with my short sleeves rolled up into tank top sleeves and tied closed, but fashion wasn't important to me at that moment. With my new handy-dandy "harness" ready to go, I grabbed the first Marill and tied it to me using the rope. It thought the new invention was fun and let me know how delighted it was with a cooing sound. Now with one Pokemon attached, and I moved on to the second one. Same procedure, same delighted squeal, and both Marills were securely strapped to my chest with the impromptu baby harness.

Just in time too, because Kaipo turned his head to say something to me, "Is your headset on?"

"Yeah," I lied as I pulled it out of one of the many pouches on my belt. I shoved the earpiece in and wrapped the mic around my head. With a click of a button, my headset crackled to life in my ear.

"Good," I heard Kaipo's voice reply from in my right ear and from in front of me. "We're approaching the site. You have my permission to open your side door and prep the ladder.

I snorted, "Your permission? I thought I was the Senior Ranger here." I unlatched the velcro holding the ladder in place as we bantered.

"Yeah, but I'm the one flying the helicopter here, so I feel like I'm in charge." he snapped back. "Sure, for just this one time," I answered with a smile, "Don't get used to it."

He laughed softly from up front; he was just joking around like I was. No rude intent was meant with his words or with mine. I heard the door next to me unlock and Kaipo informed me, "The door on your side is unlocked." I was ready to thank him for his obvious comment, but he kept going, "Go ahead and open it. We still have another minute before we're above the site."

I put on my actual harness and attached it to the ceiling of the helicopter. I heaved the door back into its open position. "Wow, do they make these any lighter?" I asked no one in particular. Quilava squeaked some kind of sarcastic response. "Aw, shut it!" I ruffled the fur his head.

I felt the floor below me sway to a halt. I glanced down at the lava and thanked Arceus that I was holding on to the hand rail connected to the ceiling. That would not have been a fun fall, even with a safety harness attached.

I didn't have much time to be grateful, Kaipo's voice flooded my ear, "Go go go!"

My ears rang as I began my descent down the ladder. "Dude, no need to shout. We were in the same vicinity."

"Sorry, I just got a little excited." he justified sheepishly.

He continued talking as I climbed down. I blocked him out, it seemed like useless information that would just mess with my head and distract me from the mission. Sometimes, I would mumble a "Yeah, okay," in response just so he thought I was listening. My tone begged for relief from his incessant talking, and I guessed that he picked up on the warning. His advice grew gradually less and less.

In my non-Kaipo filled ear, I could hear lava bubbling below. It was flowing unusually slow. Besides the noise from the lava, I heard something that sounded like roaring in the distance. Never a good noise to hear, especially since I didn't know where it was coming from.

My feet hit the ground, and the man and woman rushed over to me. I mindlessly led the couple to the ladder and helped them begin their ascent. My mind was focused on the roaring. Through

the thick ash, I thought I could see something moving. I would have thought I was imagining things if the movements weren't erratic and harsh, like a bucking Rappidash.

The words of the tourists didn't help my unsettled feeling either. "The monster!" they kept shouting those same words. Sometimes they were paired with, "It's angry!" or "It wants to kill us."

Kaipo kept ordering me to return to the helicopter, but I couldn't let this feeling go that something, a Pokemon perhaps, was causing this uproar. They did have incredible powers over nature, so couldn't one be causing this volcanic mess?

"Quilava, Marill one, and Marill two, does something about this situation seem off to you? Like, there could be a Pokemon causing this?" I asked. They had a natural instinct to detect other Pokemon, something that they must have gained through millennia of evolution.

Without me giving it the authority, Marill one decided to attack the thin air with Bubble. Its attack floated gracefully off of the side of the cliff and into the lava below. Seconds passed before the tremors started. My Ranger training kicked in, and I knelt low to the ground for stability.

"Marill, both of you, do that again." I commanded. The Bubble attacks, again, floated gracefully into the abyss, waking another tremor. This time, a bonus roar came with the shaking ground. I waited another moment to make sure there were no other tremors before I inched to the edge. Even if it wasn't a far drop, it would be a deadly one. Kaipo shouted at me to step away from the edge and return to the ladder. I ignored him and my better judgement. This was a seriously dumb idea.

From my new vantage point, I could see what was causing the unusual volcanic activity, both the heavy lava flow and the ash. A Camerupt thrashed about in the lava it had created. Along with the lava spewing from its back, ash particles floated in hoards up to the sky. However, I noticed one hump wasn't spitting out lava.

"Why is it so angry?" I asked myself. Something always caused Pokemon anger, something that could usually be solved. Quilava spotted the problem way before I did, and leapt into action while I still sat by idly and thought. His quick bound down into the lava caught me off guard. I shrieked as I thought I watched my Pokemon commit suicide.

The ash picked up, so it was an agonizing half minute before I spotted him and Camerupt in the lava below. The two started wrestling over something that Quilava had in his mouth. It was black and hooked around the volcano on Camerupt's back that wasn't working. From the working volcano, Camerupt launched ash and lava at Quilava. My friend ignored the attacks, obviously unfazed by them. I had to leap back from the edge to avoid the lava spitting up from their fight.

I thought about having the Marills use Water Gun, but I reconsidered when I realized it could hurt Quilava. I decided it would be best to just return to the helicopter. Quilava could climb the ladder himself, assuming the lava sticking to him didn't burn it up. I was already a few rungs up when I heard something approach behind me. I turned to see a sizzling Quilava running towards me with the black thing from Camerup's back in his mouth.

I jumped down and had both Marill one and two hose him down with Water Gun. He was not allowed to jump back on my shoulders while he was still that hot. The lava and fire attacks might not have hurt him thanks to his nonflammable fur, but it would definitely hurt me. I cringed when I heard him crying as the water washed over his body.

When it seemed safe to pick him up, I grabbed him and slung him over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "You did good." I told him. He sighed a response, too tired to form any actual response.

The joy that had overtaken me in that moment was replaced by fear when I saw Camerupt climbing up and over the edge. I froze up as the intense heat flowing from him filled the air around me. I made sure both Marills were still attached to me and that Quilava was still sleeping on my shoulder. After confirming both things, I made a mad dash for the helicopter.

I was halfway up my mad dash when I heard Kaipo in my earpiece, "Hey, woah girl, chill! Everything is alright, he looks like he's going to sleep." I dared a glance at the titan below me to confirm what Kaipo was saying. He was right, Camerupt was curled up and ready to go to bed. No more angry ash or lava flowed from his back.

"Why would he cause this much destruction just to go to bed?" The situation just didn't add up in my head. I climbed the rest of the way up, closed the door behind me, and took my seat next to the now safely situated couple.

The man spoke up not a moment after my butt hit the cushion, "Thank you so much for saving us. I was so freaked out and didn't know what caused that Camerupt to freak out so badly." He was covered in black ash and smelled like burnt hair and cloth. I hated to imagine that I looked and smelled the same.

I rested my elbows on my knees and my chin in my hands. "I don't know either," I responded, "I've never seen a Pokemon act like that before without being provoked."

The woman spoke this time, "Me neither. I didn't realize a camera could do that to a Pokemon."

I bolted into an upright position again. "Wait, your camera?" That was probably what set Camerupt off. Peokemon didn't go off the deep end like that unless something, like a camera, would have provoked it. "Did the camera going off scare it?"

She shrugged, "Yeah. My husband thought it would make a fun photograph, a real live Camerupt in its natural habitat. You don't see them everyday in the city unless its a trainer's, and even that's rare. It really didn't like the flash from the camera, so it started stomping around. That's when we fell off the path and onto that plateau."

The story didn't match up with what I had heard earlier, so I probed, "I thought your husband went for his camera that he had dropped. Did you two actually fall?"

He answered this time, "Well, I did go for my camera which had landed on Camerupt. I was just going to gently pull it off of him, but he started the eruption you saw. He really did not like my camera, not the flash or any of it, really." The two laughed sheepishly.

I patted Quilava's back and talked directly to him now, "That's what you grabbed from off of Camerupt's back." I hadn't had time to examine the black thing still hanging from his mouth until now. Sure enough, the thing was actually a camera. It was heavily charred, but still sprang to life somehow when I accidentally pressed the power button. "I don't believe it, after all that, it still works."

The couple gawked at the machine in my hands. "Wow, it still works, I'm impressed. Do I pick 'em good or what?" He elbowed his wife as if to imply a second meaning to his later statement.

She looked into his eyes and said, "Yes, yes you do." The two leaned in to kiss, and then decided to kiss again. I placed the camera down beside me and looked away from them as they continued to kiss and hug.

"Gross," I looked away from the kiss hungry couple and out my side window. The lava flow and ash clouds were slowing down. Everything was returning to normal: fewer and fewer puffs of ash floated up to the clouds above, and less and less lava flowed. Another successful Ranger mission to put in my log.

The lava trudged along down the side of the mountain. A new thought popped into my mind, something that surprisingly hadn't occurred to me until that moment: Pokemon lava wasn't as hot as regular lava. That was how the camera survived on Camerupt's back, and the same with the couple that was stranded on top of a rock. It would also explain why the lava moved much slower that what was considered normal.

I decided to do a quick fact check with Kaipo. He responded back with an essay, "That is indeed true. Pokemon are not able to generate lava that comes anywhere close in temperature as the lava that nature creates." He continued the discussion with the information I had already come up with in my mind. The cooler lava was why the couple, Quilava, the camera, and I had all survived being so close to it.

My thoughts snapped from survival to someone snoring right up next to my ear. I glanced sideways at Quilava as he slept peacefully on my shoulder. His gentle snoring comforted me. It showed he wasn't too hurt after fighting Camerupt or getting two Water Gun attacks to the face.

"You know what," I whispered to him, "that's not such a bad idea." I settled deeper into my seat, closed my eyes, and drifted off into my well deserved nap. After all, I had some sleep time to make up for from earlier that day.