Pokemon Ranger May and the Shadows of Almia

Chapter One: Capture On!

Hai there! I'm Not So Artsy Fartsy (feel free to call me Mahrley) and yes, I am Pikachaaaa revamping this story. The story line is a bit altered compared to the "original version". So yeah, other than that it's rather similar so if you enjoyed that then you will most certainly like this!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.

This story is dedicated to Contestshipper16

"Capture... ON!" I activated the styler the Ranger School gave me and began my capture. This was it, the entrance exam, the opportunity that I have been waiting for.

The Pikachu charged, but it didn't phase me. I quickly formed more loops and successfully captured the Pokemon before it had a chance to use Thunderbolt.

Is there going to be another Pokemon? Am I done?

A slow clap broke the silence. "Okay, good going, that was pretty impressive," the blonde instructor congratulated me as he entered the room. I smiled at the compliment.

"My name, it is Kaplan. That's Commander Kaplan to you. As you successfully completed that capture, you are now a member of our secret army, the indestructible Team School. In order to prove your membership, you have been conferred the School Styler you just used."

I looked down at the blue and green device in my hand. My very own Styler. Even though I would have to give it back after I graduated, I still felt pride blossoming in my chest. I'm going to become a ranger...

The adult continued his speech by saying, "Together, we shall rule the world -"

"Oh, Mr. Kaplan! Please don't tease my students with a silly performance like that," a lady chastised as she walked in the door. She crossed her arms, frowned, and gave Mr. Kaplan an expectant look.

Mr. Kaplan broke his act and smiled nervously. "Ahaha, sorry, sorry, but the timing was too perfect to miss," he apologized. Mr. Kaplan recomposed himself and cleared his throat. "Ahem, congratulations! You have passed the Ranger School's entry test with flying colors! That was really an impressive capture."

He walked over to the lady who previously interrupted his performance and grinned. "This is Mia April, your teacher."

Ms. April rolled her eyes at Mr. Kaplan with an amused smile playing on her lips. She then stepped forward and held out her hand. "As Mr. Kaplan said, my name is Mia April, but call me Ms. April. I will be your teacher for the year."

I shook her hand and beamed. "I'm May Hawthorne. Thank you so much for accepting me into this school. I'm really looking forward to joining the class!"

My teacher's smile widened and she turned to exit the room. "I think you'll be a great addition to the class, seeing as your capture was very impressive. Come on, let's head to the classroom."

I looked back at Mr. Kaplan and waved goodbye before I followed Ms. April out of the building.

"Enjoy your school life!" the man shouted after us.

This is it.

- Ms. April's Classroom -

Ms. April paused before pushing open the wood door to the classroom. She looked back at me and instructed, "Wait here while I introduce you to the class." I nodded in understanding.

She pushed the door open and apologized. "Sorry to keep you waiting, class. I hope I can still say good morning."

The students laughed and all greeted, "Good morning Ms. April!"

Ms. April stood at the front of the classroom and said, "As I mentioned yesterday, we have a new member in our classroom." As soon as she reminded the class, chatter broke out amongst the students.

"Really? Is it a boy or a girl?"

"Is the new kid cool or cute?"

"What?"

"Is she hot?"

"Oh goodness Gary, you don't know if it's a girl or a boy and can't you be more mature?"

"How long did it take the new kid to capture that Pikachu?"

"Longer than me, definitely."

"Totally!"

I rolled my eyes but was still amused at the comments and walked into the room as the students continued to think out loud.

Ms. April sighed and said, "Okay! That's enough, you all can see for yourself. Here's the new student."

I awkwardly stood at the front of the classroom. Thoughts raced through my head. Will they like me? Will I be able to do good at this school? What's the year going to be like? Oh goodness, this attention is uncomfortable. Should I be doing something?

The teacher sympathetically looked at me and whispered, "Calm down, just be yourself."

She turned to the class and announced, "Everyone listen to the new student. Her name is May and she's going to tell us about herself." With these words, the students quieted down and looked at me expectantly.

Nervously, I smiled and said, "So as Ms. April said, my name is May Hawthorne. I'm originally from Fiore but I've been living in Hoenn for my dad's job."

A chartreuse-haired boy in the first row smirked. Ms. April looked at him and asked, "Why the smirk, Drew?" She shook her head and continued. "Anyways, May, I will need you to sit in the available seat next to Drew and Leaf. Can you two raise your hands?"

The smirking boy and a long haired brunette raised their hands. I quickly sat in the empty seat between them.

"As we have a new student, this will be a free period. Leaf, can you please take May around the school?" Leaf nodded. "Alright, good, I'll be in staff room if anyone needs me." Ms. April walked out of the room, leaving all of the students to do their own thing.

Leaf looked over at me and smiled. "Hi, so May right? Again, I'm Leaf Rosalind, and this annoying boy sitting behind me is Gary Oak. Ignore him for your sake," she jokingly warned me and grinned.

Gary rolled his eyes and humorously said, "So you're not as hot as I thought you would be but you're pretty cute."

I laughed lightheartedly as Leaf snorted. "I told you he was annoying. And Gary? Grow up." Leaf turned around and looked at the boy.

Smiling, Gary raised his hands up as if he was surrendering and said, "Fine, fine. Be that way Leaf."

"I will be," she beamed. I giggled a bit at their bantering. Leaf and Gary seemed to be very nice people. I secretly hoped everyone in the class was like that.

But no.

"Hey, new kid!" Drew called from across the classroom. I directed my attention to the boy who sat next to me and was surrounded by a lot of people. "How long did it take for you to capture that Pikachu? Fifteen minutes? Ten? You look like a capable girl, maybe five?"

A girl around Drew said, "Oh May, you definitely did not capture the Pikachu as fast as Drew! He's the best ranger in our grade."

"Even I have to say that. He's definitely the most cooperative when it comes to working with an operator," one of the boys voiced.

Dreamy sighs came from a few of the girls around the seemingly popular chartreuse-haired boy.

I shrugged and answered his question. "Maybe one, two minutes? I'm not sure, I wasn't exactly staring at the clock."

Drew's eyes widened at my answer. He narrowed his eyes as if he was unsure of my answer, but did not say anything. I frowned at the boy. Does he really think that he's that much better than everyone else?

"No way! Not possible!" another girl pouted. I sighed.

Just as I was about to lose faith in my new classmates, Leaf tapped my shoulder. "Come on, let's get started with your tour of the school." She ushered me away from the crowd of people around Drew and led me out of the door.

"Who was that?" I asked out of curiosity as Leaf and I walked down the corridor.

She stopped walking and groaned. "Well, his full name is Andrew Thorten. He's probably the best ranger in the school but has the biggest ego. Yet, a lot of people are friends with him." Leaf turned and looked me in the eye. "In order to impress him, or subdue his ego at the very least, you have to show him. He's a hypocrite in that regard," she said with a grin playing on her lips.

I shrugged and brushed the topic aside as Leaf and I walked around the school. "Come on, let's check out the dorm rooms," she said and pointed out the direction.

"Wait, so Leaf, how did you meet Gary?" I asked in an attempt to start a conversation.

She turned around and raised her eyebrows. "You mean the brunet?" I nodded. "Oh, we're from the same hometown. Grew up together, I guess," she answered and continued walking.

I smiled to myself. Gary and Leaf seemed like a dynamic duo. Lost in thought, I kept on walking and accidentally bumped into Leaf. "Sorry!" I apologized.

"It's fine," she said and pointed at a staircase going down. "That's the basement, which is off limits to students. Mr. Kincaid, the other teacher, does all of his work down there. Although I don't know what he actually works on, I know that the last time a student was caught there, they had to serve detention for a month."

I cringed and blatantly stated, "Oh, let's not go down there then..." Leaf laughed and walked upstairs.

- The Dorms -

"Here are the dorms! Welcome to your new home for the school year, May."

The staircase opened up to a room with comfortable sofas and tables. To the left of the staircase there was a door with a pink sign above it, and to the right of the staircase, there was a blue sign above the door. There was also a pink machine.

"Girls," I said as I pointed to the pink sign, "and boys." I pointed to the blue sign.

"Yep, please don't go into the boys room," Leaf pleaded jokingly.

I winked playfully, which caused the brunette to groan and myself to snicker.

The sound of a door opening interrupted our banter. I glanced at the girls' room and saw a lady come out.

She looked at me and smiled. "You must be May. I'm Janice, the housekeeper," she introduced herself.

Leaf rolled her eyes and said, "Please, Janice, you're more like a mother to us all. Always keeping us out of trouble..."

Janice giggled and headed back into the girls' room. "I'll see you around May, enjoy the school!"

"Thanks!" I called out.

With a grin, Leaf pointed to the pink machine. "That machine is what we use to recharge our stylers. If you check out the map on your styler, there should be a 'P' sign. That 'P' sign indicates that a charging machine is there," she explained. "Make sure your styler doesn't run out of energy, it's extremely important."

I walked over to the machine and said, "Wow Leaf, you already sound like an operator."

She blushed at the complement and thanked me. "Well, shall we go? Let's visit the library next." I followed Leaf downstairs.

- The Library -

Leaf pushed the door to the library open and gestured for me to come into the supposedly quiet space. Unlike most libraries, this one was vibrant and filled with people conversing.

An annoyed girl, who was previously reading, scowled and attempted to tell a few students to be quiet. The students rolled their eyes and walked out of the room.

"While we're here, let me introduce you to a few of my friends. The boy over there with the spiky blue hair is called 'The Conflicted Marshmallow Boy' but his real name is Ponte. And the blond with the mushroom haircut is Isaac. He's really nice and a genius. The school doesn't even make him go to class anymore."

My eyes widened. Wow, I didn't know someone could be that smart...

Leaf looked at me with a knowing expression. "Well, I'm going to go read a bit. Why don't you talk to Ponte and Isaac? They're both really friendly." I nodded and she walked over to a bookshelf to pick out a book.

I walked over to Isaac first. "Hi, are you Issac?" I asked the blonde boy. He turned around and I saw that he was previously concentrating on something. Oops…

"Eighteen thousand four hundred ninety-one times one hundred forty-five is… Hm? Gah! I was just interrupted. No matter. You're new right?" Isaac inquired, all rather quickly.

"Whoa! You can multiply that in your head!" I exclaimed, ignoring his questions while gawking.

He grinned and corrected, "I can actually do eight digit multiplication in my head." I sighed dramatically, which caused him to laugh.

"Anyways, I'm Isaac. Did Leaf already tell you that?" He pointed to the brunette who was reading a book on the other side of the library.

I nodded and introduced myself. "I'm May, it's nice to meet you."

Isaac shook my hand. "Well, I'm sorry to have to break the conversation, but I must be completing research. Although Mr. Kincaid does not make me attend class, I still have to work on this other project for a grade. It was nice chatting with you."

Laughing, I shrugged it off. "Alright, it was an interesting conversation."

He grinned and pointed out the blue haired boy. "You should go talk to Ponte. He's pretty nice and funny. I think you'll like him."

I smiled and nodded. "See you around!"

Isaac waved back and turned to the shelf. Meanwhile, I walked over to 'The Conflicted Marshmallow Boy'.

"Hey, you're Ponte right?"

Ponte nodded. "You must be new," he stated.

I deadpanned. "Thanks for stating the obvious." The boy let out a hearty laugh and grinned.

"Welcome to the Ranger School and to the library. Your go to nap spot during study hall," he announced in a jubilant voice.

Amused, I asked, "But isn't it too loud to sleep?"

He shook his head. "Not during study hall. It gets really noisy during free periods, though." He pointed to a corner of the library and said, "That's the pillow corner, for your napping needs."

A smile played on my lips as he said that. "I should probably get going, See you around Ponte!"

- Hallway -

Leaf pointed to a room next to the staircase to the dorms. "That's the staff's office. If you ever need anything from the teachers during a break or from Principal Lamont."

I nodded and followed Leaf further down the hallway and into a classroom next to ours.

- Mr. Kincaid's Classroom -

"And here is the other half of the Ranger School. Welcome to Mr. Kincaid's room," Leaf told me as we both walked into the room.

A few kids turned around and waved. "You're May right?" I smiled and nodded. Leaf grinned at this.

"Our classes don't really mix, but the students here are all really nice and friendly. Anyways, let's get you acquainted with Mr. Kincaid. He's the man with the poofy blonde hair. How he gets that hairstyle? An insane amount of hairspray," she deadpanned. I laughed and Leaf and I walked up to the poofy haired adult.

"Hi, Mr. Kincaid. This is Ms. April's new student, May. Do you have any pieces of advice for her?" Leaf asked.

Mr. Kincaid nodded. "Two to be exact. Do not accuse others of a bad deed without proof. Also, do not run in the hallways."

Leaf and I both laughed slightly nervously. Why does Mr. Kincaid give me an odd feeling?

- Ms. April's Classroom -

Gary and Drew were talking in the front of the classroom as Leaf and I walked in. "Newbie! Leafy!" Gary called while he and Drew headed over.

Leaf rolled her eyes and corrected him, "The so-called 'Newbie' is a girl named May, who is standing right next to me and the so called 'Leafy' is me. Except my name is Leaf Rosalind, not 'Leafy' Rosalind."

Similar to Leaf, Drew also rolled his eyes at Gary.

I took a deep breath and smiled at Drew. He has one more chance to prove that he's not an arrogant twit. "Hi, I don't think we properly met yet. I'm May," I formally introduced myself and held out my hand.

He smirked and shook my hand. "And I am Drew," the chartreuse boy replied. He then flipped his hair and asked, "So June, how long did it take you to capture that Pikachu?"

I glowered. Well, there goes that one chance. "Number one, I just told you my name is May, not June. Does that not register in that dyed head of yours? Also, I already told you and your fangirls how long it took me," I emphasized my point by raising my arms up and down in front of him.

"Whatever, it's not like I was paying attention, August."

That's. IT.

"It's May!"

"June."

"Grasshead!"

"Airhead!"

"Arrogant jerk!"

"Stupid!"

DING DING

Leaf and Gary sighed in relief as our argument was interrupted by the bell. She called, "May, let's go outside. I really want you to meet Ms. Claire, and you've already met Mr. Kaplan. They'll teach you how to use target clear and also give you a review on capturing if you need it." Leaf half dragged me out of the classroom.

But before we could completely exit the room, Drew and I glared at each other one more time. Emeralds clashed with sapphires as the door shut.

- Capture Hall -

Mr. Kaplan greeted us with an eerie smile. "Welcome to the base of 'Team School'."

Another teacher with light brown hair and blue eyes let out a huff of air. "Oh please Mr. Kaplan." She turned to us and said, "Sorry about that, just ignore him." Leaf giggled.

"No! Don't ignore me!" Mr. Kaplan jokingly cried out despair. Ms. Claire grinned as he finally acted normally and introduced himself. "Hehe, sorry. I don't suppose you remember me from your entrance exam. I was your instructor, Mr. Kaplan."

I smiled politely and said, "How could I have forgotten? It was this morning."

Mr. Kaplan laughed nervously. "Right, well why don't you let Ms. Claire show you how to Target Clear?"

I nodded and Ms. Claire began stating the instructions. "Okay, so do you see that crate over there? If you scan it with your styler, it should tell you what you need in order to destroy, or clear it."

I scanned the crate with my styler. "An empty crate that is shattered by little force," it read. On the top right corner of the screen, it said "Crush 1."

"The 'Crush 1' means that you need a Pokemon with the field move 'Crush 1' in order to destroy the crate. If you scan Pokemon that have already been registered in your Browser, you can tell what that Pokemon's field move is," Ms. Claire explained. "For example, scan that Bidoof."

I followed Ms. Claire's instructions. "Bidoof. Poké Assist - Normal. Field move: Crush 1. Browser entry: It occasionally pretends to attack," my styler read.

Ms. Claire nodded and gestured for me to start the Target Clear.

"Okay, Bidoof, use headbutt on that crate!" I ordered. The Bidoof cried and followed my instructions.

"Bi-Bidoof!" it cried before leaving.

"Nicely done May! I forgot to mention, once a Pokemon has been used for Target Clear, it will leave and return to the wild. And that's about it with Target Clears." Ms. Claire happily clasped her hands.

Mr. Kaplan nodded and said, "I don't think you need any help with captures, but if you do feel free to come back. For now, you look like you're in great shape!"

I beamed. "Thank you, Ms. Claire and Mr. Kaplan."

Leaf also thanked the pair and we walked out of the Capture Hall.

"Good luck with school!" Mr. Kaplan and Ms. Claire shouted in unison.

- School Courtyard -

"WAHHH!" I heard someone yell as Leaf and I exited the Capture Hall. A Bidoof then suddenly charged past me, almost knocking Leaf over in the process.

I looked around. In the center of the courtyard, Janice was panicking and mumbling, "Oh what do I do, what do I do…"

Quickly, Leaf and I ran over to her. "Janice! What's going on?" Leaf shouted as we approached her.

"I… I tread on the leader Bidoof's tail and now they're on a rampage," she explained in a worried manner.

I nodded. "It's alright Janice, we'll help you take care of this," I assured her.

"And so will we," I heard an arrogant voice remark. Drew…

A chartreuse-haired boy and an auburn haired boy both ran over to us. Although I hated seeing Drew, all of us were glad for the extra help.

"Before we start, the person who catches the most Bidoof is the winner," Drew stated and pulled out his styler as we all got ready.

"Alright, three, two, one!" we all yelled.

"CAPTURE ON!"

Finally, Gary, Drew, Leaf and I managed to calm all of the Bidoof down after we found the leader running inside of the school.

With a sigh of relief, Janice came up to us. "Thank you all so much. You guys really saved me there."

We all laughed. "No problem Janice. It's nothing compared to what you help us with every day."

She smiled and herded the Bidoof away from the courtyard.

"Well, I captured three," Leaf said sheepishly. Drew looked at her expectantly and she defended herself with, "Hey! They were the ones chasing me the whole time!"

Laughing, we moved on.

"Gary?" Drew asked, looking at the brunet.

"Four. While you guys were looking around the courtyard, I was catching the Bidoof behind the school building and Capture Hall," he explained. We all nodded.

"May?"

I pursed my lips. I knew Drew had beat me from when we returned the Bidoof to Janice. "Five."

Drew smirked and flipped his hair. "Looks like I won with six." We all rolled our eyes and chuckled.

"But, our MVP was May because she did capture the leader Bidoof in the school building of all places," Leaf acknowledged. Gary looked at me and gave me a standing 'golf clap', causing another fit of laughter.

"Fair enough. You're not so bad after all," Drew said and looked at me, "April."

I sighed exasperatedly. "It's - you know what? I'm not going to even bother anymore." Leaf grinned at this.

Gary looked around the courtyard. "Hey, while we still have time, why don't we show May the Pledge Stone," he suggested and pointed to a staircase.

I shrugged and said, "Why not. It's always good to find new places."

We all smiled and walked to the stone.

- Pledge Stone -

"Wow, it's so big," I stated as I started at the large stone. "Can a Pokemon even push that monstrosity?"

Drew gave me a look of utter shock. "Airhead, I think you, uh…"

I sheepishly grinned. "Okay, maybe I'm over exaggerating…"

With a laugh, Leaf said, "Whatever Drew. Let's make a pledge while we're here. To all accomplish our dreams." The rest of us nodded together and we had a short moment of silence.

DING DING DING

The school bell rang, interrupting us once again.

"Shoot class starts in one minute!" Gary exclaimed and we all began to sprint back to the school building.

Well, that was the first chapter! I really hope you enjoyed it. :) Response to reviews (if any :P) will be done via PM but if the reviewer is a guest it will be done at the end of the chapter! I will be continuing the "Letters to Max" gimmick from the original story. If you don't know what it is, basically the beginning of the chapter will be a letter from May to Max (recap from last time) and at the end of the chapter, there will be a letter from Max to May (whatever Max is doing).

- Mahrley (aka Not So Artsy Fartsy)

Feedback and reviews are always appreciated! :)