Eight years ago...
"Voicemail! Voicemail!" I hear the Ringtown operator Mary attempt to get in contact with me.
"Spenser here. What's wrong, Mary?" I answer quickly. I'm in a capture contest with Joel, and I'm fighting to keep up my lead.
"Th-the hospital just called. The Summers family has just been in a car crash, and...and...Marcus and Ashley...oh Arceus! Marcus and Ashley died on impact! L-little Kate is in a...in a...in a coma," Mary stutters out.
I drop my styler in shock. The Summers family has been a type of surrogate family since I became a ranger six years ago at the age of thirteen. They basically adopted me in when they found out my family lives in Johto, and when Kate was born five years ago, I got my very own little sister.
Without a second thought, I climb onto Fearow's back and take off. I need to get to the hospital as soon as humanly possible. Kate needs me.
"Spenser! What's going on?" Joel shouts when he catches sight of me leaving.
I ignore him; he isn't my top priority right now. I can always tell him what's going on later. The moment the hospital is in sight, I command Fearow to get ready to land. We touch down easily right at the front entrance, and I immediately bolt inside.
"Excuse me, miss, can you tell me what room Kate Summers is in?" I hurriedly ask the receptionist.
She looks up with obvious boredom until she realizes that she is talking to a ranger, "Oh um... Right now she is in room 351 on the third floor."
I leave without so much as a thank you. It may seem rude, but I don't care about that right now. There's a five year old that needs my help right now.
When I get into the room, I see little Kate hooked up to a dozen machines and banged up. It was nearly enough to make me faint. Instead, I sit in the chair next to her and hold her hand because there is nothing else I can do to make this any better. She is an orphan in a coma; the only thing I can do is be here for emotional support when she wakes up.
Not much time passes before a man in a suit comes into the room. His eyes land on Kate and me, and he looks almost a tad sorrowful. He walks up to me.
"Hello," he says stiffly. "I'm here on the account of Mr. and Mrs. Summers's wills. Specifically, I'm here to speak about custody of their daughter Kate. Would you happen to be Mr. Spenser Johnson?"
"That would be me, yes," I answer tersely. "Why do you want to talk to me?"
"Mr. and Mrs. Summers put you down as the sole guardian for Kate."
And just like that, I took on the challenge of caring for my younger sister Kate. I never regretted it.
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"Kate! The boat leaves Fall City in forty five minutes! You're going to be cutting it close!" I call impatiently from downstairs.
"Five minutes, Spenser! I just need to find-Ahah! I found it! I'll be down in a sec!" Kate yells back.
I sigh. Kate can be so scatterbrained sometimes. I hope to Arceus that her time in the Ranger Academy helps her with organization and being on time; I haven't been able to do anything about it in the ten years that I've known her.
"She might not make it," Elita remarks from the kitchen where she's having her morning coffee.
"She better make it. I came to see her off not watch her run after the boat," Joel sighs.
"It only takes half an hour to get to Fall City at most on foot. Why would she be late?" Cameron asks.
The three of us look at Cameron in disbelief.
"We do have to say goodbye to her Cameron," Joel tells our friend.
"It'll take more than a few minutes," I add.
"Especially with how close she and Spenser are. I'd be surprised if their goodbyes took less than five minutes!" Elita exclaims.
"Oh... Right. It's easy to forget that she won't be coming home until Christmas..." Cameron trails off sadly.
"I know. We've been with her most of her life, and this is the first time we won't be with her for any real amount of time. Even with us being leaders in different parts if the region, we always saw her at least once a week," Elita speaks lowly.
"She'll be fine though," I reassure them. "We always knew she would leave, so we all prepared her."
"Well," Joel smirks, "I think I prepared her better than you did, Spenser."
"Oh really? That's kind of hard to believe when I taught her how to capture pokemon!" I retort.
"I taught her pokeassists!"
"Well, I taught her about target clears!"
"Come on guys! Weren't you the ones rushing me?" Kate interrupts us in an amused tone.
"She's right, you two. We should be getting her to Fall City instead of watching you two argue over who raised her better," Elita agrees.
Joel and I just look at each other before sighing. There's no use arguing anymore with the time limit we have. Besides, we both know that I'm right.
The trip to Fall City is full of chatter. We opt to walk there because of how much luggage Kate has. Then again, the school has uniforms, so why does she need so much stuff? If I asked her, she'd probably say something along the lines of, "You never know if there's and emergency and I'll need some of this stuff," or "Better safe than sorry."
Finally, we arrive at Fall City, specifically the docks. Sure enough, we're fifteen minutes early, but Elita should be starting the goodbyes right...
"Oh Kate..." Elita starts.
...now.
"I'm going to miss you so much! Promise me you'll write every once in a while." She smirks. "And don't forget to tell my about your first boyfriend."
"She's not allowed to have a boyfriend until she is thirty," I intervene harshly.
Elita snickers, "Yeah, because that's when you got your first girlfriend, right?"
I quickly shut up. Elita giggles softly and hugs Kate. She whispers something to her that I don't quite hear, but Kate's red face tells me that I'm probably glad that I didn't.
Cameron is up next, "Kate, getting good grades is important, but don't forget to relax too. We don't want you to come home all high-strung; even though Summerland will fix that, it's bad for your health to be stressed." He ends this statement with a pat on the back. "You'll be fine though."
Next, Joel comes up and claps her on the shoulder, "Remember what I told you about rivals. You have to kick their asses at every opportunity or else they won't respect you as a rival. Plus, it feels really good to best your rival at everything."
"Are you trying to say something, Joel?" I growl out.
Joel smirks, "Maybe I am; maybe I'm not. You should be smart enough to figure it out; you are my rival after all."
"Now, now, you two. Play nice; this is the last time we're seeing Kate for a while," Elita chastises us.
"Fine," we both grumble.
Finally, I step up to Kate and just hug her. "I'm going to miss you so much, kid," I whisper.
"Me too, Spenser. Me too," she chokes out.
"I'm so proud of you though. Don't forget that I'm damn proud of you, and I will love you no matter what, sis. Make us Fiore rangers look good out there, okay?"
"Okay. I love you to, Spenser," Kate sniffles. Then, she starts crying, "I don't think I can leave you guys!"
I hug her tightly as I whisper, "No. You are going to go and fulfill your dream of becoming a ranger because you won't forgive yourself if you don't. I promise you that your time in school will pass in a blink of an eye, and you will be home before you know it. Now, be strong and get on that boat for me."
Kate hiccups as she nods, "Okay, Spenser." She gives me a small smile. "I'll make you all proud of me. I promise!"
With that, she goes onto her ship with only seconds to spare. I wave to her when I see her on the deck. Tears are streaming down both of our faces as we shout out our last goodbyes. Finally, the boat starts moving out to sea.
I stare at the boat until it's finally out of sight. For a few moments, I stare at the horizon where the boat disappeared in a bit of disbelief. She...really is gone until December. My heart twists as I fully realize that my baby sister is gone. Elita puts a comforting hand on my shoulder, and I start shuddering as I try to repress my sobs. Tears stream freely down my face, blurring my vision.
My friends take me to Fall City's ranger base where we all start getting used to the idea that our little Kate isn't going to be around for a while.