Chapter 1
The 13th Top Ranger
"So when's the new guy arriving?" Keith asked Barlow.
"If he's on time, then he should be here in a minute or two." Replied Barlow.
"What's taking him so long!" exclaimed Keith, "We've been waiting here for five hours!"
"More like five minutes Keith." Cut in Kellyn with a smile. He and Keith had been sent to the Vein-town ranger base to wait for another top ranger to arrive from, well, nobody knew exactly where he was coming from. All they knew was that he was their age; 16, and he had been made a top ranger around the same time as they had.
"Look up!" cried Crawford.
"Well that's a rare treat." Remarked Barlow, "You don't often see a plane in these parts, let alone a jet!"
"That's not a plane." Said Kellyn, as he activated the scope lens over his right eye. It wasn't really high tech, just a simple red lens in front of his right eye with a metal curve on one side resting on his ear holding it up, but he had built it himself. He inserted a USB into a slot above his ear, which contained data on every single Pokémon in existence as he zoomed in on the 'jet'. "That's a Latios! And there's somebody riding it!" he exclaimed. Keith gaped in disbelief at the fact that anybody could have captured a Latios, much less convinced it to let them ride it.
The Latios came as low as the roof of the ranger base as the ranger jumped of it and it began a slow descent.
"Hi I'm Alfa Hyrax, nice to meet you." Said the Latios rider.
"Wait, Alfa is that you?" exclaimed Keith, "Remember us, Kellyn and Keith? From ranger school!"
"Wait, Kellyn, Keith, when did you two become top rangers?" inquired Alfa. "Around one and a half years ago, during the Dim Sun Crisis." Replied Kellyn.
"What's with the Latios?" cut in Keith.
"Well, do you guys remember the day I came to the ranger school?"
"Yeah," replied Kellyn, "We saw a Latios watching us before it flew off."
"Well, I used to know it before I came to the ranger school. I used to live in a small town on an island in Oblivia about half an hour by boat to Southern Island, which was where this Latios lived with his sister; Latias. One day, when I was about seven, it was passing by on its daily route home after hunting for food for the two of them when it crashed in my garden because of a wing injury. Neither of my parents were at home because it was the middle of the day, so I took it into my head to help it. I went around and collected some vines from the yard and some planks from my dad's toolshed and I made a sort of a splint like we're taught to in first grade." Said Alfa.
"It managed to fly home with the splint, and a few weeks later, it came back without it, flying as well as ever. Soon after that, it started to come to my garden every evening, occasionally with Latias, to play with me. By the time I was eight and a half, it trusted me enough to communicate to me using telepathy, and on my tenth birthday, it started letting me fly on its back. When I was eleven and I left for ranger school, I told Latios that I would be back soon, but he chose to follow me all the way to school." Continued Alfa.
"So then, this is the same Latios we saw at ranger school?" asked Keith.
"Yes, and after our graduation, when I was assigned to Oblivia, Latios followed me to the ranger base and said that we should be partners, and I said yes. I had known and trusted Latios since I was seven, so why not," Replied Alfa, "and now we're a duo. You can't separate us."
"So you have a Latios as your partner. Nice!" summed up Kellyn, "Oh, by the way, this is my partner, Cranidos."
"And this is my partner Buizel." Said Keith, "The trio is back together again!"
"Well, you had better report back to the union now that you three are together, shouldn't you." Said Barlow. "Oh Lord! I forgot to tell the professor we'd reached Vein-town!" Exclaimed Keith.
"Idiot!" chuckled Kellyn as he reported by voicemail to the union about Keith's mistake and that they had met up with Alfa. "Do you have any other partners?" asked Kellyn after he finished his report.
"As a matter of fact, I have three more at my house in Oblivia; A Sceptile, a Swampert and a Blaziken." Replied Alfa as they began the journey to the union by foot, Latios, Cranidos and Buizel trailing behind them. "What about you guys?"
"I only have Buizel here, but Kellyn has a whole herd of them!" replied Keith.
"Seven, to be exact; Cranidos, Shieldon, Piplup, Chimchar, Starly, Machop and Sneazel. Recently, the union built a housing section for all extra partners. You can house your partners there too." Finished Kellyn. "That reminds me, do you have anywhere to stay?"
"No, but the Union said they would assign me quarters inside their building if I didn't." replied Alfa.
"Don't worry about that. We have an extra room in the apartment Kellyn and I bought by Altru Park, and we were looking for somebody who could stay with us and we could split the cost of living three ways, so you can just stay with us." Offered Keith. "Altru Park is on the way to the union so you can dump your stuff there on the way to the union."
"That's great, Latios, can you tell Latias to pass the message about the living area in the union to my parents so they can see Sceptile Swampert and Blaziken off? Thanks." Alfa said to Keith and Latios respectively.
After walking for another quarter of an hour, the boys reached the apartment at Altru Park and led Alfa in, calling ahead to the union to say they had to drop something off and might be a while. The apartment was a spacious place with nice lighting. There were three bedrooms with bathrooms, a lounge, and a kitchen. On their way out, Alfa saw a man in a black leotard with a purple symbol on it and a kind of laptop trying to mug a woman. It hit him all of a sudden. This was a member of the disbanded team Dim Sun, who had held on to a miniremo unit and was using it to mug people! He raced forward, his styler ready as the man released a Houndoom onto the crowd.
"Stand down!" yelled Alfa, even as his capture disc raced towards the Houndoom. Within seconds the capture was complete, and the Houdoom, coming to its senses, left the area for the Chroma Highlands to the east. Alfa raised his styler and the capture disc flew into the air as the smirk disappeared from the Dim Sun Member's mouth. Alfa brought his styler down in a graceful arc as the disc smashed through the miniremo, rendering it useless. "If you ever find another miniremo and try to use it against people again, I will personally throw you into a prison cell." Alfa calmly stated, "Understood?"
The man was too frightened to speak and nodded before he ran in the other direction, only to crash into a tree and lose consciousness.
"Impressive. I can see why you were made a Top Ranger." Said Kellyn, "Now let's get to the union and explain ourselves before Professor Hastings blows a gasket." The trio laughed at this comment and raced down the union road and through the doors. Once they reached the operation center on the third floor, they took it in turns to tell parts of the dim sun encounter.
"Very well then. Now, Alfa, you said over voicemail that there was a matter of housing, did you…" said Professor Hastings.
"Excuse me Professor." Interrupted Keith, "Forgive me for the interruption, but that problem is no longer present. Kellyn and I had a third room in our apartment, and since Alfa has known us since ranger school, he decided to live with us."
"Well that's one problem out of the way, I Understand that three of your partner Pokémon are currently on the journey overseas here from…." Professor Hastings cut himself short as a Blaziken a Sceptile and a Swampert appeared from the escalator.
"How did they find their way here without your help?" sputtered the professor.
After communicating with Latios for a bit, Alfa replied, "From what Latios is saying, my mother gave them my wallet which I had forgotten at my house, so my younger sister went with them to the docks and got them onto a Ferry for Pueltown with a map with a route marked on it in marker. Apparently the ships was going to slow for the tastes of these three, so Swampert dived overboard and pushed the ferry from behind, adding about fifty miles in speed. Then they arrived in Pueltown and they followed my sister's map here and showed the receptionist my I.D. card."
"Well, then there's nothing left to sort out. You three take the day off to catch up with each other. You're on duty starting tomorrow as a team from now on, so you should save up for a car. Wendy's gone off on vacation so you'll need to get to places fast as a team. Now then, sign off for the day." Commanded Hastings.
"Sir Yes Sir!' replied the trio as they strolled out to go back to the apartment.