Note: this is purely focused on the friendships Kate and Kellyn have between their friends and Pokemon. There will be no romance in this story, to be fair. In particular, the Kellyn I play in the game really does have a Pachirisu, Grotle, and Kirlia following him, and I sort of got attached to them a while later.
Operation Brighton will come in due time! In a few chapters or so, because the first few chapters are about several Missions in the game.
Indeed, in this fanfic, I will write what a writer will never think of doing, and it's already been written: Operation Brighton. I promise I will upload 11 chapters of the story if you're interested!
This chapter will focus on the Rookie Mission "Soothe Pokemon on the Beach!"
Chapter one: Pachirisu: Friends from the Start
The sunny and clear skies in Vientown simply beamed down on the delicate beach west of the community. Under normal circumstances, it would have been a time to relax on the beach and maybe go for a swim. But that was not the case for most of the members of the Vientown Ranger Base, who happened to be stationed at the edge of the outlook above (quite simply, a cliff top).
Ranger Leader Barlow, along with Luana, Crawford, and Elaine, sat on a picnic mat lying on the grass, and watched the wide ocean below…
"Hey, Barlow, when's lunch?" Crawford asked. "We have the essentials of a picnic: a nice view and a mat. But where's the food?"
"Oh, it'll come," Barlow replied, smiling. "Just wait a little longer and enjoy the view."
"Barlow!"
Truth be told, a considerable distance away, at the bottom of the high ground, three students of the Ranger Academy were breathlessly trudging an impossibly heavy package near the ground. On the two sides, Kellyn and Kate were using two hands each to keep the basket moving, and Keith held the basket very tightly from the back to keep it from falling.
"Nooooooooooooo!" Kate screamed. "Now we have to bring the thing up at least a thousand steps! I won't have this!"
"I approve this message," Keith said.
"So do I," Kellyn added.
Kate, hearing their approvals, was just about to release her fingers from the basket when both voices of Kellyn and Keith screamed for her to not do so.
"Gosh, what's wrong?" she asked innocently. "I just wanted a little break."
At the top, with the Vientown Ranger crew patiently waiting for their lunch, their patience was finally rewarded with the sight of three exhausted students hauling a massive basket. The girl who held the basket on one side collapsed on the ground, tired. This, in turn, made the basket fall on its side.
Or at least it nearly did.
The other two boys who were also holding the basket were immediately alarmed at the sight of their collapsed friend and quickly brought the basket to level.
Finally, to finish everything, the two boys pushed the basket toward the picnic mat. The redhead, exhausted just like the former, collapsed on the ground. This left the remaining boy to hand the basket over to the group on his own.
"Ugh…" he groaned.
"So… the extremely important parcel. I fully expect it to be safe," Barlow said.
The boy wanted to say something, but was completely exhausted.
"Hand it over, but be gentle," Barlow warned. "One careless shake and it's ka-plow."
So the student did, and within moments Barlow shouted, "All right, people! Gather 'round! Lunch's here!"
The three students Keith, Kellyn, and Kate held expressions of nothing but shock as the Vientown Ranger crew saw Barlow place the basket on the mat, opened it, and brought out the edible contents, along with a smaller basket of drinks.
But before everyone could start eating, they went through some quick self-introductions (Barlow the leader, Crawford and Luana the local Area Rangers, and Elaine the Mechanic). Unfortunately for Kellyn and Kate, Keith the loudmouth did the introductions for them.
As the meal was underway, Kellyn and Kate went around engaging in friendly conversations with the newly met Vientown Ranger crew while grabbing some wraps to enjoy: from Luana's experience with the same 'prank' of hauling a heavy picnic basket by herself, to Barlow's and Elaine's opinions about Vientown.
But what really stood out in particular was a conversation with Crawford…
"You went through Nabiki Beach, you two?" he asked. "Passed by it, maybe?"
"You got it. Why?" Kellyn and Kate said simultaneously.
"Well, back in the day –" Crawford started, but was cut off by a few giggles from Kate.
"That makes you sound so old–" Kate started, but a hand quickly clamped over her mouth by Kellyn. Fortunately, the damage was NOT done.
Kellyn glanced apologetically at Crawford, who took it only lightheartedly and went on with his conversation like nothing happened.
"I first met my Partner Pokémon there," he said. "Maybe you could yours there too."
Basically, the entire crew had barely started on their second course of food when, out of the corners of their eyes, they noticed a boy hustle up the stairs with an anxious face.
"Help! Rangers!" he cried. "Pokémon have gone wild!"
"Calm down, man!" Crawford shouted. "Relax! You're talking nonsense!"
Barlow abandoned his food, got up, and rushed over to see the boy. Everyone else merely followed the Ranger Leader with their eyes, but they had their full attention with them.
"What seems to be the matter?" Barlow asked calmly. "Take it slow."
The boy nodded. "We were all innocently playing at the beach like normal. But then, just five minutes ago, they started to act strange… and then they appeared agitated. These Pokémon have surrounded my girlfriend as we speak!"
Eyebrows rose from all directions.
Oh… so this is a love matter, eh? Kate thought. Go figure.
"Alright, men!" Barlow shouted, but the looks of Kate, Luana, and Elaine made him hastily add, "And women! Let's head down to the beach!"
Dashing down tens of steps was all in a work's day for a Pokémon Ranger. Everyone, that is, except for the three already-exhausted Student Rangers who winced and whined at the thought of hurrying down more steps when they had their fill of going up the same steps.
Upon arrival at the beach, all the Rangers (Students included) could tell at an instant what was wrong: a crowd of Pokémon had encircled a particular girl on the beach! Two Pachirisu, a Starly, a Munchlax, and a couple of Shellos were running around in circles!
"We have to clear this mess up! ASAP!" Barlow barked.
"What happened to them?" Crawford questioned.
"Look at them, they could be dancing for all we know," Elaine added.
Everyone glanced at Elaine.
"What?" she said.
Mr. Woodward, the Vientown woodcrafter, shook his head in disagreement. "They're friendly and quiet usually! They're not like themselves!"
The crowd looked over to the beach girl once more, who was crying and pleading for help.
Barlow immediately turned around and prepared to give the assignment. "Okay, Crawford and I will capture the Shellos. Luana, Keith, Kate, and Kellyn will capture the others. Are we clear?"
"YES, SIR!" they cheered.
Indeed, it was an emergency and a one-day internship, but this was ridiculous! Ideally, the mission they were assigned was "Soothe Pokémon on the Beach!"
As everyone hurried down to the beach, they went for their respective targets. Everyone that is, except for Kate and Kellyn, who stayed behind to listen to Mr. Woodward.
"They're really good Pokémon, really. I have no idea what's going on in their heads," he said. "Pachirisu, Munchlax, and Starly. They're all adorable and reliable too. Why, if I were a Ranger, I'd be honoured to be having them by my side as a Partner. Please, calm them down."
Kate nodded to Kellyn, who assured, "We will."
As the twosome went to support Keith and Luana, they found that they hadn't started capturing their targets at all. On top of it all, Kate and Kellyn noticed that Keith and Luana were sweating very badly.
Bothered by this, Kellyn said, "What's going on?!"
"I can't pick who to capture!" Keith nervously said.
"You go ahead, you two!" Luana quickly ordered. "I'll pick who to capture later!"
Kate looked around at the four Pokémon on the shore. On her left was the Munchlax, and on her right was the Starly. The two Pachirisu stood in the middle running back and forth.
"OKAY," Kate flashed her School Styler directly at the Pachirisu. "Capture on!"
The Capture Disc from Kate's Styler burst toward both Pachirisu and began to encircle them.
"Hey, KATE, NOT FAIR!" Kellyn roared and fired his own Capture Disc in the direction of the Pachirisu as well. No way was he going to let Kate take ALL the glory and pleasure in capturing the Pokémon. Unfortunately, Kate was near halfway done in capturing her targets.
At least it was until the Pachirisu attacked Kate's ring, and so Kellyn chose the time to act.
Mainly, in plain sight, the twosome was drawing circles with their Stylers. But in reality it was a be-all end-all competition between them. Never had Almia seen, lest to forget the world, two Student Rangers perform such aggressive captures.
"This Pachirisu is MINE!" Kate roared.
"This Pachirisu is mine!" Kellyn shouted back, but was overpowered by Kate's.
On their monitors, the gauges showed that the Pokémon were very close to being captured. Kellyn was just about to finish his capture when Kate finished hers first, capturing the first Pachirisu.
"Score!" she cheered, and only right after she said that did Kellyn complete his capture.
"Same here…" he muttered.
"Not as good as mine," Kate added, and Kellyn was left speechless.
I don't know about you, Kate, Kellyn thought. But that was totally uncalled for.
Barlow turned around to look at his fellow friends. "How's it going, people? Your captures successful?"
"You bet, Leader," Crawford called back. "How about you, Luana?"
"I got hung up a little at the start, just in the slightest," Luana replied, patting the Munchlax beside her. "How about the students?"
Keith the loudmouth, not even allowing Kate and Kellyn to even utter a sound, shouted, "We students were successful with our captures too!"
He proudly looked at the Starly by his side.
Kate and Kellyn looked at their newly-captured Pachirisu, who in turn looked up at them with some sense of affection, but Kate and Kellyn couldn't return the same emotion, as the atmosphere was broken by Elaine (on the high ground).
"There have been no Pokémon or human injuries from this perspective," she reported.
Barlow, relieved, gave his remaining orders. "The Pokémon seemed to have calmed down too at last. Come on people, let's release them."
The Pokémon were released beginning with the two Shellos, and then the Starly and Munchlax followed. Kate and Kellyn wanted to release their Pachirisu, but somehow there was no effect. Faces of confusion filled Kate and Kellyn.
"You're free to go now…" Kate coaxed, but the two Pachirisu stayed put.
Kellyn became aware that he and Kate had become the center of attention, with every eye turned to them. In an instant, he felt embarrassed.
"What's the matter?" Barlow said, confused. "Someone must have, or at least should have, taught you how to release Pokémon by now!"
"Oh, don't tell me," Crawford slowly put on a grin. "You've grown attached to those Pokémon?"
But the commotion was broken by the sound of approaching footsteps, with the beach boy and the beach girl approaching them.
"Thank you Rangers for saving my girlfriend!" he happily waved to them.
The beach girl had other matters to say, "We heard strange noises from the sea, and when we looked we saw a massive cargo ship pull away and disappear over the horizon… and then, suddenly, I was surrounded by all those Pokémon. They must have been startled by the ship!"
The beach fell silent, only to be broken by the sound of shuffling by the Pachirisu's feet.
"Well," Barlow cleared his throat. "Whatever happened, I'm glad the situation's over. Crawford, Luana, sweep the beach for any more abnormalities to be safe, okay?"
'Roger' and 'Understood' were the automatic responses by Crawford and Luana respectively. Afterwards, Barlow turned to the Student Rangers once more.
"Well done on your captures, you three," he complimented. "This is no small part, as we managed to calm down all the Pokémon. In short, as we Rangers call it, it's a Mission Clear!"
Posing, the three students performed their trademark actions.
Barlow was nonetheless impressed. "Well, I'll be! You've even got Ranger poses now? Alright, people, let's head back to the base!"
Everyone just started to take a few steps when Barlow suddenly halted, his expression alert.
"Oh, hold on a sec, we need to finish our lunch!"
An hour or two later, with the three Student Rangers undergoing debriefing, and with the remainder of the lunch sandwiches 'cleared', it was time to leave the Ranger Base.
"Don't forget those captures you did today," Barlow said.
"It'd be neat if the three of you could be assigned to our Base," Crawford simply approved. "We'll sure to be keeping you busy delivering our lunches."
Luana winked at them. "Crawford was really looking forward to seeing you guys from the Outdoor Class again. It was pretty much all he talked about."
"Your Ranger poses were really cute," Elaine added.
Kate and Kellyn beamed at them (in which they were enthusiastically returned), but Keith the loudmouth (again!) tried to take all the credit.
"Everyone, thank you so much!" he declared. "We'll never forget what we experienced today, I'm sure of it! Thanks again, and good-bye!"
Keith ran out of the Base just like that. Kate and Kellyn were about to when Professor Hastings walked in.
"Ah, so what's this? A gathering?" he quickly looked around the Base. When his eyes settled on Kellyn and Kate, he said, "Ah, so these are the Ranger School's students, eh? On the 1-day internship at this Ranger Base, eh?"
"Yes," Kate said.
"Come to think of it," Hastings said. "We did have a girl drop by the Ranger Union for a 1-day internship as well. She had the intent of being an Operator, the girl. Her name was… uh… Misery? Or something like that."
Rhythmi! Kate and Kellyn gritted in their heads, thinking of their other classmate.
"Well, I sure hope I'll have the chance to work alongside you in the near future," Hastings said.
Kate and Kellyn said their good-byes and went out of the Base.
Outside, Kate and Kellyn walked out –
"Watch out!" Kellyn shouted, holding Kate's arms and grinding her to a halt.
"WHAT?!" Kate shouted back.
But her voice was silenced at the thought of what Kellyn just did. Looking down at her feet, she saw two Pachirisu curled up on the ground.
"What's all the commotion about?" the familiar voice of Barlow came from behind, who was accompanied by Crawford. "Oh… I see, a couple of Pokémon from the beach."
"I'm betting whatever I have that they came to see Kellyn and Kate once more. I suppose that they must have been really happy to have been captured," Crawford said, sharing his input. As he said this, the two Pachirisu jumped up and down and leapt into the arms of Kellyn and Kate. Kate smiled and cradled Pachirisu in her arms, while Kellyn's Pachirisu scurried up onto his shoulder.
Barlow spoke in a bittersweet voice, "It's perfectly possible, but I'm afraid that Kate and Kellyn aren't officially certified Rangers, not yet anyway. We at the Ranger Base can't permit you to have Partner Pokémon yet."
Kate was just close to tears. Kellyn on the other hand had to shed one.
"I know how disappointing this may be, but now is not the time. Not yet," Barlow spoke slowly, and even slightly sorry, judging by the look on Kate's face. "Tell you what: you can spend the rest of the day together. Just make sure you release them when you get back to school."
"That's fine," Kellyn quickly replied, before Kate could intervene.
The journey felt like it lasted only a few minutes, let alone seconds, as Kate and Kellyn found themselves bypassing the School Road and were halfway through the bridge.
"I'm really sorry I have to leave you right now," Kellyn said to his Pachirisu. "I – I don't know… but we might meet again sometime. It would have been nice to stick with you, but…"
Kate didn't want to let her Pachirisu go, and literally was crying enough tears to fill up a river, pond, and (for good measure) an ocean. In the same way, her Pachirisu appeared to be really, really, sad. If only there was some way to compromise…
There was.
Kellyn got down on one knee and opened one of his side pockets. "How about this, Pachirisu? I'll give you this little bag here, so you'll know that wherever you go, you'll remember me, and that capture we had earlier today."
It was a small white pouch with a blue logo of the Ranger Union and a shoulder strap. Kellyn put the pouch around Pachirisu in an affectionate way. Kate, looking at Kellyn's example, pulled an identical pouch with a pink logo instead of a blue one and put it around her Pachirisu.
The two Pachirisu walked away from them, and turning around one last time to look at Kate and Kellyn, they scampered past the bridge and onto the School Road.
"See you soon," Kate said through tears.
A years later, graduation came (in the manga, all students really did need a year of training to graduate). A time passed when Kellyn's family, and Kate's family, ended up moving into Chicole Village. As next-door neighbours.
Eventually, Kellyn and Kate had their student uniforms exchanged for official Ranger uniforms, and they were put immediately to work with Crawford to go on a foot patrol for all of Vientown delivering the local paper. When they got to Nabiki Beach…
"Kellyn, check it out…" Kate said quietly.
Indeed, there were two Pachirisu quietly sitting near the shore. When they turned around to look at the approaching newcomers, they quickly got up to see them.
It felt like an eternity since they had seen them, because Kellyn and Kate could just barely remember the two white bags worn on the two Pachirisu. When they recognised them, they were quickly overcome with joy.
"Pachirisu!" Kellyn shouted, allowing the electric squirrel to jump into his arms.
"You're here…!" Kate shouted also, hugging her Pokémon friend very warmly.
Mr. Woodward, on the beach once again, went to talk with Crawford, in which Kate and Kellyn overheard (but not eavesdropping…).
"Those two Pachirisu have been waiting on the beach ever since… those two left them on that day," he said to Crawford.
"There's that old saying if you meet on this beach, you become good friends," Crawford approved Mr. Woodward's message. "Well, here's an example!"
Finally, Crawford turned to face Kate and Kellyn with a massive smile. "Well, since you're an official Pokémon Ranger now, not bound by the strict regulations of the Ranger School, you're now free to make your Pachirisu your official Partner Pokémon!"
The two new Rangers looked at their Pachirisu.
"Well, Pachirisu? Want to join me as my first Partner Pokémon?" Kellyn asked.
"Pachirisu, want to journey together at last?" Kate pleaded.
With an approved nod from each Pachirisu, Kellyn and Kate officially took their Pachirisu in as their first official Partner Pokémon.
"It seems that your patience has been rewarded at last, Pachirisu," Mr. Woodward concluded.
And there, Kate and Kellyn would journey on with their to-be most trusted Pokémon. Before the group left Nabiki Beach though, Crawford stopped to deliver a copy of the Vien Tribune (the local paper), not that it's worth mentioning…
