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Ranger: Shadows of Almia C2

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Chapter 2

Kate yawned as she awoke from her sleep, stretching as she did. "Another day at the Ranger School," she spoke with a smile as she turned to get out of bed.

"You've got mail!" Rhythmi spoke as she suddenly popped up in front of Kate, making her jump back.

"M-mail? For me?"

Rhythmi nodded. "You know, you haven't gotten any mail since you started here a month ago, it's kind of a surprise."

"W-well, I don't really have anyone to send me mail." Kate rubbed the back of her neck.

"What about friends from your old home? Or your family?"

Kate looked away. "I…I never made friends at home."

Rhythmi frowned. "That's sad…" She then smiled. "Well, you have Keith and I!"

"Y-yeah," Kate spoke with a nod as she blushed a little.

"And don't worry, I still won't tell anyone about our little secret." Kate blushed even harder when Rhythmi mentioned that and she quickly buried her face in her hands. "Oh come on, it was just a kiss! Not like we did it or anything!" This made Kate's face turn an even darker crimson color and Rhythmi shrugged. "Anyway, here's your mail." She held out a letter to Kate who took the letter. She then sat down next to her. "So, whose it from?"

Kate looked the envelope over for a moment. "My family," she spoke after a moment, then opened the envelope. She pulled the letter out and began to read it. "'Dear Onee-sama, I hope you are feeling well. I got your letter the other day. The Ranger School sounds so exciting! What you said about that one creepy guy gave me the creeps, but when you mentioned it was an act, I thought it was funny.'"

"You told them about Mr. Kaplan?" Rhythmi asked and Kate nodded.

"I told them everything about my first day."

"Even your eruption?"

Kate blushed at those words before continuing to read. "'Mama and Papa say not to worry about your eruption, and they hope that they are treating you well even though they know. Papa says to never worry, he loves you no matter who you love. I don't quite understand what that means.'"

"So you did tell them."

Kate nodded. "'Mama says the Keith boy sounds cute, and Papa asks if the Kellyn guy is treating you okay. Papa says he sounds kind of creepy. Mama and Papa also want you to know that we're looking into moving to the Almia region. Papa thinks he knows of a place we can move to there. He says he just has to work out everything. I hope that means we'll be able to see each other again soon. I miss you, Onee-sama! Love, your little sister, Mary.'"

"Aww," Rhythmi spoke with a smile. "A Papa, a Mama, and a little sister. I wish I had that."

Kate looked up at Rhythmi. "What do you mean?"

Rhythmi sighed. "I have four siblings. I'm the youngest of them all. They all pick on me a lot." She sighed again. "I've also always wanted to have a little sister, but Papa says that after I was born, he and Mama decided to have no more kids."

"Aww, I'm sorry."

Rhythmi shrugged. "Eh, I've lived that way my whole life, so I don't care."

Kate nodded, then looked down at her letter. "Well, at least I know my family is okay."

"And it's good to hear they support your sexual orientation. Not everyone does…like my Mama."

"You're family doesn't like that your bisexual?" Kate asked as she looked up at Rhythmi and Rhythmi nodded.

"It's true, Mama hates it."

"I'm sorry…" Kate looked down.

"Eh, what does it matter? I don't care. I'm my own person, screw what anyone else thinks." Rhythmi folded her arms and leaned back against the wall behind Kate's bed.

"Family should always love you, though, no matter what."

"Hey, Rhythmi and Kate!" one of the girl students shouted as she flung the door open to the girl's dorm. "You're going to be late for class if you don't hurry."

"Outdoor Class!" Rhythmi and Kate shouted in unison and Rhythmi quickly jumped to her feet. Kate quickly tossed off her pajamas and threw on her school uniform. The two then raced out, down the hall, and down the stairs as they rushed to their classroom.

"No running in the halls!" Mr. Kincaid shouted as Kate and Rhythmi ran past him.

"Sorry, Mr. Kincaid!" Rhythmi shouted before sliding to a stop in front of their classroom door. "We made it just in time." She quickly slid the door open and Kate and Rhythmi rushed in and sat at their desks. No sooner did they sit, then did the bell ring, signaling the beginning of class, and Ms. April stepped into the classroom.

"Good morning, class," Ms. April spoke as she stepped up to the front of the classroom.

"Good morning, Ms. April!" everyone in class shouted in unison. Ms. April then took the roll call, marking only one student as absent that day, which Kate found surprising. It wasn't normal for anyone to be absent, let alone this particular student.

"Well, since everyone except for Mr. Takahashi is here, we'll go ahead and begin. Today we will be having Outdoor Class, as you all know. This means that in a minute we will be walking single-file out the classroom door and into Ascension Square. Everyone knows where that is, right?"

"Yes, Ms. April," everyone responded in unison.

"Good. Now, keep in mind, there will be only one question per person. Pokemon Rangers are very busy, and we can't keep him all day."

"But I had thirty-eight questions I wanted to ask him!" Keith spoke up at once.

Ms. April giggled. "That's why we're limiting it to one question a person, Keith, because I'm sure you all have several questions you want to ask."

"I-I do," Kate spoke up, which made everyone turn. She rarely ever spoke up, and when she did, it was only to answer a question that Ms. April had asked her directly.

Ms. April smiled. "Well, maybe someone else will have the same questions you have. After all, there are a good majority of us here. In fact, it wouldn't hurt for you all to huddle together for a few minutes to go over each other's questions, that way you can all be sure you each have a different question picked, so that nobody asks the question you were going to ask, and then making it so you can't ask."

The classroom nodded in agreement. "All right then, we'll do that. Class, I give you the next five minutes to converse. After that time, I'll call everyone and we'll start heading out."

"Ms. April, will we be joining with Mr. Kincaid's class as well?" one of the female students asked.

"No, dear, we won't. Mr. Kincaid's class has their Outdoor Class scheduled for next week with a different Pokemon Ranger."

"And who is our Ranger?" another student asked.

"You'll find that out when we get out there. Now, you're wasting your time to settle out your questions by asking me questions."

"Right!" the classroom spoke up at once and the class huddled together.

. . .

"Hello, Crawford," Ms. April spoke as she stepped into Ascension Square. Ascension Square was a small section of the ground where a large statue with the symbol of the Pokemon Ranger stood. Next to the statue was a man who was wearing the standard Ranger uniform which consisted of a red short-sleeved vest, a black sleeveless shirt that had a white front to it, and a pair of black shorts. The black fingerless gloves and big red shoes he wore were also part of the uniform. The part that was not was his explosion of an afro. This was Crawford.

"Hello, Ms. April, it's been a while," Crawford spoke.

"Yes, it is, and last time I saw you, you didn't have that explosion of an afro."

Crawford laughed. "Well, I wanted to be unique."

"I see that."

"You're Crawford!" Rhythmi spoke up. "You're the guy who used to give Ms. April trouble every day! You currently hold the record for making Ms. April mad the most in a single day, every day."

"Haha," Crawford spoke, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, you know, I only made her mad once every day."

"Try three times," Ms. April spoke with her arms folded over her chest.

"O-oh yeah, heh."

Rhythmi leant close to Kate. "He's kind of cute, except for that afro," she whispered. Kate blinked at Rhythmi, then looked back at Crawford. "Guess you don't see it since you're not into guys."

"Well, anyway, let's get this Outdoor Class started, shall we?" Ms. April spoke up.

"Gladly," Crawford spoke before turning to the students who had assembled in a circle around him. "Welcome everyone to Outdoor Class. I am Pokemon Ranger Crawford of Vientown. I graduated from this Ranger School some time ago, and now I'm back for your Outdoor Class." A small plant-like creature hopped off of Crawford's shoulder. "This is my Partner Pokemon, Budew."

"Awesome! A Ranger with a Partner Pokemon!" one of the students spoke up.

"Don't all Rangers have Partner Pokemon?" another student asked, causing the first student to look nervous.

"Haha, yes, we do," Crawford spoke. "Well, then, all right. Let's go ahead and get to the main event. There's quite a few of you, and I know you all have questions. So, let's go ahead and start up the Question and Answers Section of Terror!" Crawford laughed at his own joke while everyone else just mumbled. "All right, whose first?"

"Oh! Me me!" one of the students shouted. "Why did you become a Pokemon Ranger, Mr. Crawford?"

"Well, I wanted to be close with Pokemon, to form bonds with them. That aside, it's a cool job."

"That's totally the same reason I do as well!" the student spoke up.

"Question!" one of the female students asked. "What kinds of Pokemon are difficult to capture?"

Crawford turned to the girl. "Well, I can really only speak for myself on this, but I've found that Ghost and Psychic types are the hardest. They have a tendency to teleport all over the place, makes them darn near impossible to capture."

"Ghost and Psychics huh?" the girl asked and nodded.

"Me next!" Rhythmi spoke up. "Hello, Crawford, my name is Rhythmi."

"Hello, Rhythmi," Crawford spoke with a nod.

"Tell me, just by looking at me, I'll bet you can tell I'll become a great Operator someday, can't you?"

Crawford blinked. "Err…well, I've never met you before now…so I can't really say…" Crawford rubbed the back of his neck. He then noticed how Rhythmi hung her head. "B-but, yeah. If you keep working your hardest, you'll definitely be a great Operator!"

"Really?" Rhythmi nearly shouted as she looked back up at him.

"Hey, Rhythmi, don't you think you're confusing our Ranger for a fortune-teller?" Keith asked and the class laughed, which made Rhythmi growl. "What about me?" he asked Crawford. "Do you think I'll be a great Ranger?"

"Haha, don't you think you're confusing me for a fortune-teller now?" Crawford asked, which made the class laugh again.

"Guk! Th-that wasn't what I meant to ask…Can I have a redo?"

Ms. April shook her head. "Sorry, Keith, one question per person."

"Aww nuts!"

"I'll tell you this much, your strong will shines through loud and proud. I'm sure you'll make it. Why, you might even have the fixings to make a better Ranger then me! But that's if you can avoid spinning your wheels, so to speak."

"Uh…is that right?" Keith asked as he put his hand to his chin to think about what Crawford said.

"Me next!" a female student spoke up quickly. "Have you ever made any mistakes?"

Crawford stepped back a bit, then rubbed the back of his neck. "A-actually, yeah, several times," he spoke nervously. "Like the time I dumped juice all over my Styler. Oh boy was that ever a mess. Or the time I tried to capture a stuffed doll. That was embarrassing." He rubbed the back of his neck more. "Oh, there was also the time I put my Ranger uniform on over my pajamas. That's another embarrassing one." The class laughed. "Hey, wait a minute, don't make me say things like this!" he whined which only made the class laugh even harder.

After the laughter died down, Kate stepped forward to speak, but just as she did, someone else barged in. "What would you say is your favorite part about being a Ranger?" the student asked and Kate shirked back.

"I'd have to say it's definitely the smiles you get from people and Pokemon alike that brightens your day. Any day I'm feeling down, I go to work and I see all the smiles from the people I help, it just makes it all better."

"Awesome! I hope I get to see smiles like that one day, too!"

"That's the spirit! Work hard and you'll definitely get to. In fact, I'm looking forward to the chance to work with all of you. I hope at least one of you will get stationed in Vientown when you graduate. All right, whose next?" He turned, seeing Kate looking somewhat upset. "How about you, young lady? You look like you've been wanting to ask something."

"W-well, I do have a question," Kate spoke nervously now that she had been singled out by the Ranger himself. "R-Ranger…umm…"

"You can call me Crawford."

"R-right, sorry. Umm…Mr. Crawford…sir…" Kate bit her lip. "I-I wanted to ask…umm…"

Suddenly, there was a strange beeping noise and Crawford quickly pulled out his Styler. "Voicemail! Voicemail!" a voice shouted over the Styler. "Ranger Crawford, can you hear me?"

"Ranger Crawford here, go ahead Barlow."

"Crawford, there's an injured Mantine off the shore of School Island. Seems it ran into a rather large cargo ship. Luana's headed to the school by boat for you. Join up with her and get to the site immediately. We're going to need your help for this one."

"Roger, Leader!" Crawford spoke before shutting his Styler.

"Awesome!" a couple of the students shouted.

"Go save that Mantine!" a couple of the other students shouted.

"No problems," Crawford pushed the hair out of his eyes, spun around, and threw his fist into the air. "I'm coming, Mantine!"

"Awesome! A real Ranger pose!" a couple of the other students shouted.

Crawford turned to Ms. April. "Sorry I have to cut this so short, but I'll definitely report to you on the status of the Mantine, since I can tell everyone is so worried."

Ms. April smiled and nodded. "Don't worry about it; just go do your job." At that moment there was the sound of a boat's horn. "There's your boat."

"Everyone, let's meet up again sometime." With that, Crawford rushed off to the boat and it sailed off quickly.

"Wow," the class spoke as they watched. "We got to see a real Ranger go off on a real mission. How awesome is that?"

Kate looked down. "It…was cool…"

Rhythmi knew at once that Kate wasn't happy. She had been working for some time to build the courage to ask her question, and then Crawford has singled her out, but even still, she had not gotten a chance to ask her question. "Hey, cheer up," she spoke as she put her hand on Kate's shoulder. "You know? I'll bet the Rangers are just like our school, non-judgmental."

"H-how did you know I was going to ask that?" Kate asked as she looked up at her friend.

"Because I know you. You've been mumbling in your sleep about it for the last week, going over the same question over and over, hoping to determine what Crawford was going to say before he said it, hoping you'd be right that they weren't judgmental." Rhythmi grew close and kissed Kate on the cheek. "Don't worry, I'll bet you'll be just fine there."

Kate turned red, but though she was blushing from the kiss, she still looked sad. "I-I hope so…" She wrapped her arms around Rhythmi and she noticed Kate was shaking again.

"You know, if it's too much stress, you don't have to do it. I know how nervous you are about everything."

"B-but I want to. I want to be a Ranger. It's been my dream for a long time…"

"Well, if that's what you really want, then go for it. Push away your fears and step out. Once we graduate, I may not be here to help you anymore. I'm going to be an Operator, but I can't guarantee I'll be stationed where you are."

Kate nodded. "I-I know…and that scares me a little…I don't want to be away from you and Keith."

Rhythmi smiled. "Hey, even if we get sent apart, it doesn't matter. What matters isn't how much we see each other, but how much we think about each other, and I'll be thinking of you every day."

Kate pulled away for a moment to look Rhythmi in the eyes. "Thank you, Rhythmi," she spoke before returning to the embrace.

Rhythmi smiled and the two stayed that way for a few moments. "What?" Rhythmi shouted to her class as they had turned their attention to the two of them. "Oh, I get it, you all think something is going on because we're both girls and you all know we both like girls, is that it? We're close friends, and Kate needs me, okay? There's nothing to see here, so just move along."

Ms. April cleared her throat. "Yes, well, anyway, that was probably the shortest Outdoor Class we've ever had," she spoke. "Everyone, you're all dismissed for today. Feel free to relax for the rest of the day and I'll see you all back in class tomorrow."

"Right!" the class spoke and they dispersed.

Ms. April then walked up to Kate and Rhythmi. "Hey, are you okay?" she asked as she put her hand on Kate's back.

"M-Ms. April…" Kate spoke, then pulled away from Rhythmi. "I'm scared…All my life, everyone has always judged me. This school is the first time I've ever been able to go without being judged unless I was home with my family. I-I'm scared that, I'm going to become a Ranger, and then go to work with them, and then they all hate me because I'm…you know…not straight…"

Ms. April reached her arms out and wrapped them around Kate. "I'm sorry, hun. Was that going to be your question for Crawford?"

"Y-yes."

"I'm sorry. I really wish you could have asked it, but I'll bet you anything that the Ranger Union won't judge you. I've schooled most of the Rangers in Vientown, and they're all sweethearts. I'm sure that everything will be okay, all right?"

Kate nodded. "Th-thank you, Ms. April."

Ms. April smiled and looked to Rhythmi. "You've got great friends, Kate." She then turned, noticing Keith had stuck around. "You know, there's an old legend about this place."

"Th-there is?"

Ms. April nodded. "They say that if you make a promise with your friends here that it is sure to come true."

Kate pulled away from Ms. April and turned to the statue. "R-really?"

"That's what they say anyway. Last year, Crawford made a promise to me to become a great Ranger right here at this spot. He's one of the best in Vientown from what I hear, so maybe there is some truth to it."

"What do you say? Should we make a promise?" Rhythmi asked.

Kate nodded. "Yeah. L-let's promise, to become the best we can be."

Keith nodded. "I can agree to that one."

"All right then, it's settled. We all promise to be the best we can be and to never forget each other."

Kate smiled as she looked at Rhythmi. "Yeah, let's never forget each other." She then turned to Keith who nodded. "Keith, Rhythmi…" Tears appeared in her eyes and she wiped them with her hand. "You're the greatest friends I could ever have." She wrapped her arms around both of them and pulled them together into a group hug.

Ms. April smiled. "How about that?" she spoke to herself. "These kids might just have what it takes to become Top Rangers." She turned, heading back for the Ranger School.

. . .

"I don't understand, where is he?" Rhythmi asked as she stared at Keith's desk. He was strangely absent, and he was generally there before either her or Kate got there.

"I don't know," Kate spoke with a frown. "I hope he's not getting himself in trouble."

"Good morning, class," Ms. April spoke as she stepped into the classroom.

"Good morning, Ms. April!" the class spoke up at once.

"Today's lesson is going to be on the relationship between Operators and Rangers." April turned to the class. "But first, you all remember Crawford from Outdoor Class a few days ago?" Everyone nodded in response. "They rescued the Mantine and took it to the Ranger Union. They managed to nurse it back to health and this morning they were going to re-release it back into the ocean."

"Awesome!" everyone shouted.

"Now then, as you all know, Rangers communicate to other Rangers and their Operators through a special transmission, can anyone tell me what it's called?"

"Voicemail!" Rhythmi shouted out at once.

"Very good, Rhythmi. Now, normally you would be able to communicate easily from Styler to Styler, but your School Stylers do not have this feature installed. However, Principal Lamont was able to obtain two Ranger Stylers from the Ranger Union when he was there the other day. We will be using these two show off how the Voicemail system works." She grabbed two red Stylers out of a small bag and held them up. "Let's have…Rhythmi, you be the Operator." She handed one of the Stylers to Rhythmi.

"Awesome! An official Ranger Styler!" Rhythmi spoke with a big grin.

"And, Keith, we'll have you- Where's Keith?" April asked as she noticed Keith was absent.

"I don't know, Ms. April. He never showed up today."

"That's rather strange. Something must be wrong. Well, then, let's have Kate be the Ranger." April handed on of the Stylers to Kate, who immediately shirked back a little. She slowly reached forward and took the Styler into her hand.

"Awesome!" Rhythmi smiled. "Come in, Ranger, can you hear me, Ranger?" she called into the Styler.

"U-umm…Rhythmi…" Kate spoke sheepishly, "I can hear you without the Styler…"

Rhythmi blushed a little. "Err…umm…that's cause we're too close. How about you go out of the classroom and we'll talk from there?"

Kate looked up at Ms. April who nodded. "Okay," Kate spoke and stood to her feet. She made her way to the door of the classroom and just as she reached for it, the door slid open rather quickly which made Kate squeak and fall back.

"No running in the classrooms either," Mr. Kincaid spoke as he stepped into the classroom.

"How can I help you, Mr. Kincaid?" Ms. April asked.

"I need to speak with Keith about something."

"Well, I'm sorry, Mr. Kincaid, but Keith is uncharacteristically absent today."

"Absent, you say? Then my suspicions may just be right."

"Excuse me?"

"Ms. April, last night there were seven Stylers in the Staff Room. This morning, there were none."

"Are you saying someone stole them all?"

"I'm saying that exactly!" Mr. Kincaid spoke very stoutly. "I have a hunch it may be Keith. After all, he's always running in the hallways, always causing mischief, and is, as you stated, uncharacteristically absent today. My guess is he pilfered the Stylers and is absent because he is still looking for a place to store them."

"Mr. Kincaid!" Ms. April shouted rather loudly. "Isn't it you who always says not to cast suspicion on others without proof? I have no doubts that Keith is not the thief!"

"That's right!" Rhythmi shouted. "Keith may be a prankster, but he's no thief!"

"Th-that's right!" Kate shouted as she stepped up to him as well. This shocked Mr. Kincaid so much that he put his hand to his chin.

"Well, then, it seems you're all defending him, even the shy one," Mr. Kincaid spoke as he looked to Kate. Kate made no motions to this, trying to maintain the look of defense on her face. "Very well, then. I would like you all to prove me wrong. If I am wrong, I will certainly give my apologies to him."

"All right then, class, we'll be dismissing long enough to find Keith and the stolen Stylers. If anyone finds anything, please report it immediately."

"Right!" the class shouted and dispersed as they began their hunt for the stolen Stylers.

"Let's keep in touch via Voicemail," Rhythmi spoke to Kate who nodded. "All right, you check upstairs, I'll check outside."

Kate nodded again and quickly rushed out the doors of the classroom and up the hallway to the stairs. At the top of the stairs, she quickly threw the door to the boys' dorm open. "This is the boys' dorm," Kellyn spoke as he looked up from his bed. He was currently sitting on his bed with a book in his hands.

"I-I'm sorry," Kate spoke quickly. "I-I was looking for Keith!"

"Keith? He hasn't been here since this morning. He wandered out earlier than normal, but that was the last I saw of him."

Kate bit her lip. "That doesn't help his case any…"

"Why? What's wrong?"

"H-he's being accused of stealing the school's supply of Stylers."

Kellyn chuckled. "Really? And they actually believe he could of done it?" He shook his head. "That boy wouldn't be capable of anything of the sort."

"I-I know, which is why I am trying to find him."

"I recommend checking outside. If Stylers were stolen, he probably tried to find the culprit who stole them, and by now, the culprit would have gotten outside by now."

Kate's Styler began to beep and she looked down at it. "Voicemail! Voicemail! This is Rhythmi. Come in, Kate!"

"I-I'm here, Rhythmi!" Kate responded quickly.

"Come outside quickly! We need you!"

Kate nodded and quickly rushed out. Kellyn simply shrugged and went back to his book. "I-I'm here!" Kate spoke quickly as she threw the doors to the Ranger School open and rushed out. She nearly ran into Rhythmi in her rush.

"Whoa there, calm down a bit, Kate," Rhythmi spoke. "You don't need to be in that much of a rush."

"B-but you said to come quickly."

Rhythmi rubbed the back of her neck. "Eh…hehe…yeah, sorry about that." Rhythmi then pointed forward. "Look, see that?"

"It's a School Styler!" Kate rushed forward and snatched up the Styler that was lying on the ground.

"There's another one over there. They seem to lead out to the school gates."

"Then let's go." Kate rushed forward, gripping her own Styler firmly as they rushed. They made their way forward and down the stairs that led to the school gates. It was there they found Keith standing there, staring at a man who was up against a tree. "Keith! There you are!"

Keith turned to Kate. "Kate, this guy stole some of the School Stylers!"

Kate turned to the man, noticing he was in his twenties. He had brown hair and wore a rather simple outfit consisting of a white t-shirt and brown pants. "You're the thief?"

The man looked them over for a moment before stepping back. "H-hey now, three-on-one isn't fair. I'm out of here!" He turned and rushed forward, only to run straight into the tree in front of him. When he did, a small brown creature fell from the tree, knocking him over, knocking the remaining stolen Stylers out of his hand and onto the ground next to him. "Sl-Slakoth!" he shouted. "Augh! Get it off of me!"

"Serves you right!" Keith spoke with a nod before stepping forward and snatching up the Stylers. "I'll take these, thank you."

"What's going on here?" Rhythmi asked.

"This guy stole some of the School Stylers then tried to sneak out of the Staff Room. I called out to him and BAM! He starts running! So, I took off after him till I chased him here. The school gates were closed and locked, so he couldn't get out, and after I caught up to him, you two came running."

"Help!" the man shouted as he continued to squirm under the lazy Pokemon.

"We should help him," Rhythmi spoke.

"Why? He's getting what he deserves."

"A Pokemon Ranger helps anyone in need!" Kate spoke up rather uncharacteristically. She then blushed and quickly held up her Styler.

"An official Ranger Styler?" Keith asked.

"While you were busy chasing thieves, Ms. April was busy teaching us about Voicemail," Rhythmi responded. "She gave Kate and I a Ranger Styler so we could demonstrate it."

"Cool!"

Kate gripped the Styler firmly and pulled the trigger. "Capture on!" she shouted, unleashing the Capture Disc. At once the Slakoth began to shift. As the Disc neared it, it swung its arm out, striking the Disc and sending it flying back at Kate.

"Watch out, Kate!" Rhythmi shouted. "This thing is different from the calm Bidoof we usually deal with. This one is aggressive because it was knocked out of its tree!"

Kate nodded and brought the Capture Disc back around towards the Slakoth. It watched the Disc carefully as she made a rather large loop, keeping the Disc out of its reach. With each loop, she shrunk the loop's size little by little. Finally, the final loop captured the lazy Pokemon, and the Disc returned to the Styler. "Slakoth, please get off of that guy now."

"Sla," the Slakoth spoke with a yawn before climbing back up into its tree.

"You did it, Kate!" Rhythmi spoke and rushed over to Kate, hugging her tight.

Kate smiled, then turned back to the man at her feet. "D-don't ever d-do something like this a-again, g-got it?" she shouted, trying to sound fierce.

"I promise!" the man shouted before bursting out into tears.

"Arceus' sake, what's going on here?" Ms. April asked as she stepped down the stairs.

"Th-this man stole the Stylers. Keith, Rhythmi, and I got them back," Kate spoke up.

"Did you, now? Amazing." Ms. April then turned to the man. "Why did you do this?"

"I-I wanted to be a Pokemon Ranger when I was young, b-but I never did anything about it. S-so I thought, I would steal a Styler. Then I could be close to Pokemon."

"You idiot!" Ms. April shouted and the man shirked back. "Don't you understand? The Ranger School accepts people of any age! You don't have to be a child to join!"

"I-I'm sorry, Miss Teacher Lady!" the man burst into tears once again.

Ms. April folded her arms over her chest. "Why did you steal all of them if you just wanted one?"

"W-well, I got to the Staff Room, and I saw them all lying there. I grabbed one at first, but then, I just couldn't help it."

"So you're greedy?" Ms. April shook her head. "Go home."

"Wh-what?"

"Go home and think about what you did. If you come to your senses, then you can come back and try learning at the Ranger School to become a proper Ranger."

"Th-thank you, Miss Teacher Lady!" the man spoke up and Ms. April unlocked the gate for the man to run out.

"All right, here's what's going on," Ms. April spoke. "We'll explain the situation, but we're going to pretend he just got away."

"But why?" Keith asked. "Why didn't we hold him? He was a thief!"

"And have you ever stolen anything in your life?"

"Well…yes…once…"

"And did you go to jail for it?"

"N-no…"

Ms. April nodded. "I'm giving him another chance. If he fails, then he will be dealt with accordingly."

"I see." Keith nodded. "It still makes no sense."

Ms. April shook her head. "Come on."

. . .

"And so, thanks to the bravery of Keith, Rhythmi, and Kate, the Stylers were returned," Ms. April spoke to her class. "Let this be a lesson to us all. Shadows lurk in all of our hearts, we must not let it control us. Vatonage: it means to reawaken light that has been submerged in darkness. Today, everyone shines with light like gems. May you never lose that shine. I'll see you all tomorrow for our next class. Dismissed."

Everyone stood, gave a bow, and then headed out. Kate and Rhythmi returned their Ranger Stylers back to Ms. April, who thanked them. The two of them returned to their dorms where they relaxed. Kate wrote a response to her sister's letter, explaining the occurrences of the day like always. As the day came to a close, they lied down in their beds and went to sleep. The adventure for this day was over, while another adventure in their lives would begin soon.
And so, Chapter 2 of Shadows of Almia begins. It's the day of Outdoor Class, and Kate meets Pokemon Ranger, Crawford. Another day, the School Stylers are stolen, and it's up to Kate to find out who did it. Enjoy the chapter.
© 2011 - 2024 SureenInk
Comments4
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RenegadeSpirit's avatar
I remember Crawford. Bit of a nutcase there.