"Help!" the cry carried through the town as a young boy with a sideways cap came running out of the thick, lush green forest to the North. "My Pikachu! My Pikachu!"
"What happened to your Pikachu?" a teenage girl with short purple hair came running to meet him with a Sneasel in tow.
"He's gone!" the boy cried. "I lost him in the Ivory Forest!"
"Search and rescue," the girl said, "no problem."
"Um…" the boy stammered, "shouldn't we get a Ranger?"
"Pttttttt," the girl brushed aside the thought with her hand making a raspberries sound. "I'm way better than a Ranger!"
"But-"
"Now, where'd you last see the little guy?" the girl interrupted.
"Uhh….in there," the boy pointed into the forest. "I don't know where. But I still think this is a job for a Ra-"
"Alright, not much to go on," the girl said. "C'mon, Snowflake."
"Snea!" Sneasel replied as it ran after the girl into the forest.
"Snowflake, scout the area," the girl said. "Find Pikachu. He can't be too far."
"Sneasel!" Snowflake saluted then darted off with intense speed.
The girl slowed to a stop and stood still. She closed her eyes and listened to the sounds of the forest. Ranger, ha! she thought. I wouldn't trust those losers with my pokémon!
"Sneasel!" Snowflake's cry reached her and she ran off in the direction of it.
She soon arrived in a clearing where Pikachu and Snowflake stood. Pikachu was trying to make a break for it, but Snowflake continued to dash back and forth to block its path. Upon the girl's arrival, Pikachu went into panic and tried even harder to flee.
"Capture on!" came a male voice from the undergrowth just to the girl's right. From there shot what looked like a top trailing a blue glow. The top encircled Pikachu and the blue glow stayed in a ring around it.
"Snowflake! Ranger!" the girl cried.
"Snea!" Snowflake dashed at Pikachu and slashed the ring with her claws causing it to turn orange and shatter.
"Hey, what gives?" a boy, no older than the girl, came out of the trees where the top had come from. "I had him!"
"Don't you touch that poor Pikachu!" the girl snapped. "I've got this covered, so get lost!"
"I'm a Ranger," the boy turned to show her a badge on his shirt sleeve.
"I'm well aware!" the girl spat. "Only one of you could ever think to use those cursed machines!"
"Snea! Sneasel!" Snowflake cried, pointing to where Pikachu had once stood.
"Now see what you did?!" The girl snapped.
"Me?!" The boy repeated, "you were the one who foiled my capture!"
"And I'll do it again if you get in my way!" the girl snapped back. "Snowflake knows how to deal with your kind."
"Sneasel!" Snowflake cried, flailing her arms to get their attention.
The girl looked down at her and nodded. "Pursuit."
Snowflake saluted again and ran off. The two humans followed at as fast a pace as they could manage.
"What's you're problem?!" the boy demanded.
"Leave that Pikachu alone!" the girl snapped. "You're just making everything worse!"
"Oh you should talk!" the boy retorted. "You're hunting down the poor thing. He belongs to someone, you know."
"Uh duh!" the girl spat. "I'm getting him back for the kid."
"No, that's my mission!" the boy said, "straight from the Ranger Union."
"The Ranger Union can kiss my-"
"Pikaaaaaa!" the cry cut through the air, loud and afraid. Bird pokémon of all types scattered from the trees.
"Sounds like he's hurt," the two said in unison.
"Like you care!" the boy snapped, "your Sneasel probably caused it!"
"Can it, Ranger retard!" the girl snapped, increasing speed until she arrived at the spot where Pikachu was attempting, fatally, to lick the bleeding cut on its foot.
"Looks like he stepped on a rock," the Ranger said, arriving on scene as well.
"Figured that out all by yourself, did ya?" the girl snapped, crouching beside the injured pokémon. "Ouch, it's bleeding. I've never seen a pokémon bleed before. I mean, yea, I'm sure they can, but they go up against much worse than a sharp pebble and walk away relatively fine."
"They have a supernatural ability to withstand way more than physically possible," the Ranger explained.
"Yea, well this guy obviously doesn't!" the girl retorted, her hostility returning at the thought of this Ranger knowing something she didn't. "Snowflake, ice!"
"Snea!" Snowflake formed a block of ice in her outstretched claws with a super-chilled breath. Then, with lightning-fast claw swipes, she cut it down to the size of a` small ice cube in the shape of a lightning bolt.
"No time to be showing off," the girl said, taking the ice. She gently placed it on Pikachu's wound, making it wince and try to pull away. "I know it hurts, but I have to clean it." She stroked Pikachu with her free hand to calm it.
The Ranger just watched, not sure what to do. I never would've thought of that, he thought. Actually, I would have just captured it and gave it back for that kid to handle.
The girl took a pack of tissues out of her pocket and tossed the now bloody ice cube away. She took out a tissue and wiped the cut dry, then put three more together for strength and tied it around Pikachu's foot. "There, all better."
"Pika," Pikachu replied weakly, forcing a smile as it winced.
"Now," the girl stood up holding Pikachu in her arms, "let's get you home."
The boy watched, dumbfounded, as the girl left with Snowflake following close behind. He quickly snapped out of it and headed back the way he'd come, which just happened to be the same way the girl was going.
They headed towards the path that led back into the town from which they had come. Waiting in the entrance was a man with about shoulder-length black hair wearing a Ranger uniform with black pants instead of the normal shorts.
"Leader Hiro-san," the Ranger bowed respectfully.
"Bradford," the Ranger Leader said, "I see your mission was a success. And who's the young lady?"
"Bradford," the girl snickered.
Bradford blushed. "P…please call me Brad."
The leader laughed. "Alright, Brad. So please, introduce us."
"Who, her?" Brad pointed at the girl. "I don't even know her! She just showed up and ruined my mission!"
"I showed up?!" the girl snapped. "I was there first, then you showed up with your dumb capture thing!"
"It's a Capture Styler," Brad said, "and it's not dumb!"
"Excuse me," Hiro interrupted rather politely considering the children's bickering. "What exactly happened? Brad, you're the Ranger, give me the report."
"Well," Brad stepped forward with a stomp, "I was going to return the Pikachu like you said, when suddenly she ordered her Sneasel to attack my Styler!"
Hiro turned to the girl as if expecting a defense, but received none.
"So then Pikachu gets away and she sends her Sneasel after it," Brad continued. "Then we heard Pikachu cry in pain."
"He stepped on something sharp," the girl interrupted to avoid misunderstandings.
"And the bandage?" Hiro asked, looking at Pikachu's foot.
"It's just a few tissues," the girl replied. "The pack in my pocket was all I had. But I washed it out with ice Snowflake made."
"Snowflake, I take it, is your Sneasel," Hiro asked. "So how did you come to find Pikachu?"
"Well, I got to the boy first when he came outta here," the girl replied. "So Snowflake and I went after him. I sent her ahead to find him, since she's a lot faster and can cover more ground in less time. She also kept him in once place, using her speed, until I could catch up."
"Impressive," the Ranger Leader said. "You've performed far better than most of our rookie Rangers, Brad included, and without a Styler. You-
"Dude, I know where this is going," the girl interrupted, "and I say not on your life!"
"What?!" Hiro was taken aback by the answer. "You mean you-
"Don't want to be a Ranger?" the girl finished for him, "you better believe it! You couldn't pay me enough to be one of your brain-washing wannabe police!"
"What do you mean?" Hiro asked.
"Oh sure all of your missions and helping is all well and good and even noble," the girl spat, "but snatching up Pokémon and forcing them to do your bidding is practically evil! Did you ever once stop to think about how the Pokémon feel?! And what the heck are you smiling about?!"
"Well," the leader said, with a slight chuckle in his voice, "aren't you passionate? I never thought of it like that. I suppose to someone on the outside, it may look like that. Why don't we go back to the base and I'll explain."
"Why can't we do it here?" she asked skeptically.
"I have to get back," Hiro explained. "That place just won't run long without me there."
The girl eyed him skeptically then looked at Brad and then at the Pikachu she held in her arms.
"Oh, of course," Hiro said, "you should return that Pikachu miss…"
"Kita," the girl replied.
"Kita," Hiro repeated, "alright then. I'll be waiting at the base. You know where that is, right?"
"Of course," Kita said. You have to know your enemy, she thought to herself.
"Wait a minute," said Brad, "returning Pikachu was my mission!"
"Your mission was to capture and return Pikachu," Hiro corrected him. "And in that you failed, so your first mission is, then, a failure."
Brad's jaw dropped so low it nearly touched the ground. Kita simply laughed tauntingly.
"Now then, we need to get back," Hiro turned to leave with Brad trudging behind him. "See you there."
"See you," Kita called.