I do not own Pokémon.

I will be taking liberties with the Ranger game, changing things in the manga and game, and adding OCs.

"Speech"

Present Time

"Speech in a Flashback"

Flashback

Chapter 1

Return to Almia

Yellow laughed as she ran alongside ChuChu through the Viridian Forest. She sank down unto the ground and leaned against a tree as she giggled. ChuChu ran up to her and nuzzled her trainer. "Go to sleep ChuChu!" Yellow giggled. The Pikachu yawned in response and curled up on her trainer's lap. Yellow hummed an old tune as she absentmindedly stroked ChuChu's fur and tucked her hair behind her ears before fiddling with the topaz stud on her left earlobe. The earring, normally covered by hair, buzzed static for a moment before voices came out of the earring, now revealed to be a transmitter radio. Yellow closed her eyes and leaned back against the tree as she listened to the Ranger News like she did everyday. She sighed contently as she listened to a program about the opening of the Capture Arenas before it was interrupted.

"We interrupt this program to send out an emergency call. Almia is facing numerous disasters and criminal rates are skyrocketing. We are asking for all Rangers, even retired Rangers, to help if possible. Thank you for your cooperation." Yellow recognized the voice. It was Kellyn, one of her command trio and closest friends. Yellow smiled as she remembered the friends she had left in Almia. She could see Keith saying something inappropriate before Rhythmi twisted his ear and bought the cocky ranger to his knees as he begged for mercy. She saw Kate grinning widely and chatting away while holding Kellyn's arm as he nodded, paying rapt attention to her words with a slight smile on his face, before the words Kellyn had spoken sank in. She bolted upright and took no notice of ChuChu whining indignantly at being thrown to the floor unceremoniously. The Pokémon opened her eyes when her trainer didn't pick her up or apologize. She saw the blonde, pale, and immediately sat up and tugged on Yellow's tunic. That seemed to break the trance. Yellow hurriedly scooped up ChuChu and ran home faster than ChuChu had ever seen her run before. The Pikachu tugged on her trainer's tunic but Yellow merely looked down once before running even faster than before. ChuChu decided to resign herself to her fate and had just gotten comfortable when Yellow stopped to unlock the door to her house and after opening it, carefully placed ChuChu and the Pokeballs containing the rest of her Pokémon on a side table before rushing upstairs.

ChuChu and Ratty peeked around the corner to see Yellow rummaging through her drawers, throwing clothes out behind her. They exchanged a worried look before they watched their trainer in fear. They flinched as Yellow threw her Pokegear out behind her and didn't even look back as it broke from the rough treatment. Suddenly, Yellow stopped and looked back at the two Pokémon watching her in fear. Her expression softened. She picked them up gently and returned them to their Pokeballs and got all her Pokeballs from the side table. She cradled them in her hands before leaving them on the dining table. She looked out the window where the sun was starting to set before she picked all of them up and took them to her room where she took a carefully wrapped bundle into her closet to change.

The Pokémon watched in surprise as Yellow emerged wearing the oddest outfit they had ever seen her wear. It was a dress that barely reached mid-thigh and was puffed out. It was white in color and had a v-neck cut. A yellow-orange sash tightened the dress and the long sleeves were puffy and ended at the wrist. Underneath the dress, Yellow wore skin-colored tights and yellow orange gloves were pulled over her hands. Yellow twirled once to see the dress twirl around her before opening a locked drawer and clipping a capture stylus to her sash. She pulled her hair out of its usual ponytail and brushed it so the messy bangs were neatly placed to one side and placed a hair clip in the shape of a maple leaf in her waist-length wavy locks and looked in the mirror once before smiling and turning to her Pokémon. "Don't think I'm abandoning you because I'm not. Something urgent has come up and I need to go but I can't bring you with me." She paused and ignored their protests and scooped them up before running to the door. There, instead of her usual purple boots, she pulled out a pair of knee-high yellow-orange boots and slipped them on before running out into the night.

The Pokémon stayed quiet as Yellow ran from Viridian City to Pallet Town in five minutes instead of the usual fifteen without even breaking sweat. She stopped in front of Professor Oak's Lab and placed all the Pokeballs inside his mailbox. She took one last look at them before she closed the mailbox and took off to Vermilion City.

"I would like one ticket to Slateport City, please." Yellow said to the fat man sitting behind the ticket counter.
"The next one leaves in ten minutes." He said handing her the green ticket.
"Thank you."

"Chris, could you get the morning mail?" Professor Oak asked as he fiddled with a new version of the Pokedex.
"I'm on it, Professor!" Crystal answered as she stepped outside. There was silence for a few minutes. "Professor?"
"What is it, Chris?" Professor Oak asked.
"Are there supposed to be Pokeballs in your mailbox?"
"Kurt did say he wanted you to test some new prototypes. Bring them in."
"I don't think these are the prototypes, Professor."
"What makes you say that?"
"There are Pokémon in these Pokeballs."

Yellow wandered the deck, garnering odd looks from the other passengers because of her bright clothes before they shrugged and paid it no mind. She closed her eyes and breathed in the crisp, cold air. "Attention, passengers. We will be docking in ten minutes. Please take all your possessions with you. Thank you."

Professor Oak decided it would be best to release the Pokémon outside. He blinked in surprise as he recognized the Pokémon. Apparently, he wasn't the only one. "Aren't these Senior Yellow's Pokémon?" Crystal asked. ChuChu started to tug at Crystal's lab coat and whine. "I'm go see if something's wrong with Senior Yellow." Crystal called as Dody dumped her into the saddle Yellow often sat on before taking off with the rest of Yellow's Pokémon chattering and waving their arms frantically at the startled Professor.

Yellow walked around the busy market when she bumped into someone. "I'm really sorry." She apologized immediately. The boy wore a black shirt with red inscriptions in a Pokeball design near his collar and red stripes down the side of his sleeves. He wore black pants and a pair of red and black sneakers. A white hat with a black edge at the bottom with a Pokeball design covered his hair and he wore red gloves with black edges. The boy looked at her clothes.
"It's alright. Your clothes have really good color coordination by the way."
"Um…Thank you?" Yellow said unsure.
"You aren't from around here, are you?"
"No." Yellow admitted.
"Where are you headed?"
"Fortree."
"Why don't you come to Littleroot with me then? I have a friend that would love to travel to Fortree."
"Well…" Yellow stopped to consider the options. She had to be quick, but it would be nice to make new friends. "Alright. I'm Autumn. It's nice to meet you"
"Oh, sorry. I'm Ruby, if you ever see a contest, remember to vote for me!" Ruby said cheerfully.
"…Okay?"

Crystal knocked for the fifth time. Again, there was no answer. She tried the doorknob and was surprised when it actually opened. "Hello?" Silence greeted her words. "Senior Yellow? Are you here?" There was no answer. The house was silent.

"What took ya so long, Prissy Boy?" A girl asked swinging down from a vine. She wore blue clothes that were similar to Ruby's only blue instead of red and white instead of black. A matching bandanna was tied around her head and she wore black shorts. She had blue and black sneakers on and a pair of white gloves with black fingers covered her hands.
"I brought a friend along. Autumn, this is Sapphire. Sapphire, this is Autumn." Ruby said ignoring the insult and choosing to go inside to put his purchases away.
"Nice to meet you." Yellow said politely.
"Ya too!" Sapphire chirped. "Was Prissy Boy annoying ya?" She asked in concern.
"Well…Do you know what a contest is?" Yellow asked in confusion after making sure Ruby was gone.
"It's a sissy thing."
"Oh. Well, moving on, isn't it fun to swing down from trees?" Yellow asked excitedly.
"Yep! It's almost like I'm flying." When Ruby returned, he found, to his surprise, the two girls were happily chatting about Pokémon and physical activities that would get them dirty.
"And here I was hoping Autumn would help Sapph be less wild." He muttered sighing.

Crystal pushed open the door to Yellow's room getting increasingly nervous by the second. She was shocked at what she saw. The room had random clothes and objects thrown everywhere. She knew for a fact that her senior didn't keep her room like that. Taking out her Pokegear, she called the other Dexholders for help.

Ruby sighed as he flew through the forest in his running shoes. Sapphire was right next to him as always, and Yellow was keeping up with the two without even breaking sweat. They finally reached Oldale Town. "You're really fast." Sapphire complimented.
"Thank you." Yellow smiled trying to straighten out her clothes.
"Your clothes are spoiled!" Ruby wailed at Yellow and Sapphire's state of being.
"So?" Yellow and Sapphire asked simultaneously.
"I thought you cared about your clothes because you're so well dressed!" Ruby said pointing an accusing finger at Yellow.
"It's my uniform."
"I've never seen that uniform before. Where's it from?" Sapphire asked.
"I'm a Pokémon Ranger from Almia. This isn't the standard uniform, but I get exceptions to certain rules, clothing being one of them."
"Pokémon Ranger?" Ruby and Sapphire asked simultaneously.
"We protect people and Pokémon using this." Yellow said showing them her Capture Stylus. "It helps us contact emotionally with Pokémon."

"Hello?" Red asked picking up the call in the middle of his training.
"Senior Red?"
"Yeah?"
"Could you make it to Senior Yellow's house right now, unless she's with you?"
"She isn't, but why?"
"It's urgent."
"I'll be there as soon as I can."

"That's amazing!" Sapphire said with stars in her eyes and hands clasped together. The three were currently on their way to Mauville by riding on Pilo.
"Don't you get dirty?" Ruby asked, wrinkling his nose in disgust.
"Only occasionally. Most of the time, we just help people find runaway Pokémon and walk around making sure there's no trouble."

"Green speaking."
"Senior Green, would Senior Yellow be with you?"
"No."
"Could you come to her house?"
"Why?"
"It's urgent. There's something wrong."
"…I'll be there."

Professor Oak, after a failed attempt to understand what Yellow's Pokémon were saying, returned them to their Pokeballs when Dody returned motioning for him to get on. He sighed before complying.

"Hello!" Blue answered cheerfully.
"Senior Blue, do you know where Senior Yellow is?"
"Not a clue!"
"Could you come to her house?"
"What's wrong?"
"…I'm not really sure."
"See you soon!"

"Hey Wattson!" Sapphire yelled from atop Pilo
"Sapphire! Ruby, too! What brings you to Mauville?"
"We're passing to Fortree."
"Tell Winona I said "Hi!"
"Sure! Bye Wattson!" Sapphire and Ruby both waved as Pilo passed over Mauville.

"Yes?"
"Silver, do you know where Senior Yellow is?"
"No."
"Could you come to her house? It's urgent."
"…Fine."

"Dody, slow down!" The Professor cried hanging on as tightly as he could. The Pokémon ignored him and picked up even more speed as they passed bewildered trainers on Route 1, nearly running over one in the process. "Sorry!" The Professor yelled as they sped past.

"I knew you would fall for my charms eventually Super Serious Gal! So when do you-?"
"Not now, Gold! We're all meeting Senior Yellow's house. It's an emergency so I expect you to be here."
"Fine, fine. Now about that date-?"
"Beep. Beep. Beep."
"Dammit."

Dody skidded to a stop in front of Yellow's house where the door was open. After catching his breath, the Professor returned Dody to its Pokeball, certain the ride had knocked off ten years of his life, before going inside. He stuck his head in cautiously before entering.

"Coach!" Sapphire called, waving her arms widely. Winona looked up from staring at the ground and smiled as she saw her student.
"Sapphire! And Ruby! Nice to see you again. Who's your friend?" Winona asked as she commanded Altaria to fly closer to Pilo.
"Coach, this is Autumn! Autumn, this is my coach Winona, Gym Leader of Fortree!" Sapphire said happily.
"Nice to meet you." Yellow said bowing her head slightly.
"You too. Should we talk on the ground?" Winona asked. The others nodded and Ruby clutched his hat as Pilo followed Altaria into a dive.

"Chris?" Professor Oak called.
"I'm up here Professor." Crystal answered from Yellow's room. Professor Oak entered Yellow's room and gaped at the mess that greeted his eyes.

"Winona!" Wallace called as they all landed.
"Hello Master." Ruby greeted.
"Hello Ruby and Sapphire? Who's your friend?" Wallace asked surveying the blonde.
"This is Autumn, Master. Autumn, this is my master, Wallace, Champion of Hoenn." Ruby introduced waving his hands around dramatically.
"Nice to meet you." Yellow said bowing politely.
"You as well. Winona, did you receive the invitation to the wedding?" Wallace asked.
"Yes. Why don't you three go find Cameron the photographer?" Winona suggested as she noticed Sapphire fidgeting. "He's in town and he'll take pictures for free."

"Do ya know where Cameron is?" Sapphire asked.
"I'm right here." The man said as he removed his eyes from his camera. Cameron was a bald man with brown sideburns and a big forehead. He wore a white shirt and tan pants. His eyes seemed to be closed.
"Could we get a picture taken?" Yellow asked as Ruby straightened his shirt and hat.
"Sure, if you would just pose for a few moments..."

"What happened here?" Professor Oak asked as he looked around the room that looked like it had been hit by a mini tornado.
"I-I don't know."

Red released Aero. "To Viridian City!" He shouted; secretly glad to leave Mt. Silver and the cold behind him for Viridian although his worry for Yellow darkened the otherwise happy occasion.

Green finished his coffee and got up to walk to Yellow's house from his Gym, leisurely like always. His face failed to betray the worry he felt inside.

Blue flew on Jiggly as she lazily left Pallet Town for Viridian City. She did not notice the greetings the other citizens of Pallet Town sent her way as her mind was too occupied with worry for Yellow.

Silver commanded Murkrow to set out to Viridian from the Ilex Forest. He sighed as he thought of how Blue must be taking the call. He knew she considered Yellow a younger sister.

Gold waved goodbye to his mother before taking out Mantaro and taking off to Viridian with the help of twenty of Crystal's Remoraids. Only when no one was around did his smirk disappear as he worried about his Senior.

"There you go! Three pictures!" Cameron said handing one to each of the kids that had asked for photos.
"Thank you." They chorused.
"You're welcome."

"C'mon! Let's go check up on Coach and Wallace!" Sapphire yelled.
"Actually, could you help me see when I can catch a flight to Sinnoh?"
"Sure! Let's go Prissy Boy!"
"Sapphire, the airport is that way." Ruby said pointing in the opposite direction.
"I knew that."
"Sure."

"Chris?" Green asked looking around the kitchen. Blue came through the door.
"Hello Greenie!"
"Don't call me that."
"Whatever. Where's Chris?"
Green shrugged.
"Let's check upstairs." Blue suggested. Green nodded and the two walked to Yellow's room. They paused in front of the white wooden door before pushing it open to see chaos.

"You're leaving already?" Sapphire asked in disappointment.
"Sorry, but I got a call from Almia. They need me." Yellow said apologetically.
"We'll come visit you sometime." Ruby offered.
"That would nice. I could show you around." Yellow smiled.
"See ya soon!" Sapphire waved as Yellow boarded the plane that would take her to Sinnoh.

"Thanks Aero!" Red said as he landed in front of Yellow's house. He frowned. Yellow didn't leave her door open. He hurried inside after returning Aero with his worry increased sevenfold.

"What happened here?" Blue asked. Chris shrugged and Professor Oak merely assessed the damage done to the room. Green looked around the room and paused at seeing the Pokegear Yellow received last week.

Gold landed in front of the house. "Does Senior Yellow usually leave her door open?" He mumbled before shrugging and entering the usually cheery little cottage.

Yellow took out a small photo album and placed the picture she had had taken with Ruby and Sapphire on an empty page. She flipped to previous pages and smiled as she reminisced when each picture was taken with her friends before she closed it and placed the small album back into her pocket before nodding off to sleep, exhausted by the day's events.

Silver warily took in the state of the house before he entered to find Gold rummaging through the refrigerator. He stared at his best friend in silence for a few moments before dragging Gold up the stairs to where he heard voices while ignoring the other boy's protests.

"What the hell?" Gold asked as he looked around Yellow's room. Silver looked around the room. He took a step forward and bent to pick something up.
"Something's wrong." He said.
"Duh."
"Shut up Gold! What makes you say that Silver?" Crystal said coming over to smack Gold. Silver wordlessly handed her the framed photograph he had picked up. The frame was shattered but the picture was miraculously unharmed for the most part.
"No way." Blue breathed. The other three came over to take a look. It was the picture they had all taken together after the Mask of Ice Incident. It was in the sky blue frame with a white picket fence and a sunflower painted on the bottom that Yellow had made herself. It didn't seem like coincidence that Yellow had been cut out of the picture by the broken glass.

Hours after boarding the plane, the long awaited announcement came on. "Attention all passengers. We have arrived in Hearthome City. Please take all your belongings with you as you exit. Thank you for riding on Pokémon Airlines. We hope to see you again soon." Yellow was one of the first off the plane.

"What are we going to do?" Blue moaned; burying her face in her hands.
"Where do you think we could find her?" Red asked.
"The question would be can we find her?" Green corrected looking at the unmarked calendar.

"See ya Coach!" Sapphire waved as she boarded Pilo with Ruby.
"Bye Master!"
The two adults waved to their students as they headed back to Littleroot Town.

Yellow let out a sigh of relief as she arrived in Jubilife City two hours later. People gave her weird looks as she passed by but she ignored them when she bumped into someone yet again. "I'm sorry." She apologized.
"It's alright, I was at fault too." The blonde boy said sheepishly. He wore a white and orange short sleeved shirt, a green scarf, and black jeans. brown shoes and a Chatot flew next to him.
"Don't run like that Pearl." A dark haired boy complained as he caught up with his friend.
"Sorry Dia, but you're just slow." Pearl said getting up and dusting himself off. The new boy wore a white short sleeve shirt and a black vest. He had on blue jeans and red shoes with a red beret that had a blue Pokeball inscription on it
"Too slow!" Chatot squawked.
"Excuse me, could you direct me to Canalave City?" Yellow asked interrupting the two boys.
"It's just over there!" Pearl said helpfully pointing left. "Just go straight through and a boat will take you there."
"Thank you." Yellow said before running off.

Yellow waited in the Pokémon Center until dark. When she was positive no one was outside, she crept out. Using her Capture Stylus, she was able to procure a Mantine into giving her a ride south, to Almia. "Wait for me." She whispered before fiddling with her left earring. "Hello? Rhythmi? This is Autumn. I am currently on my way back to Almia. I should be there by morning." She said. There was silence before a voice crackled out from her right earring.
"It will be great to have you back, Leader Autumn."

Guide to Almia

Almia is a region south of Sinnoh that applies the use of rangers instead of trainers. These rangers go through years of training to gain the title of a ranger. Curiously, Almia is not a part of the Pokémon Nation like the other regions that are inhabited by Pokémon with the exception of Fiore. The two regions form the Ranger Union.