And hello to all you readers out there! Welcome to "Pokemon Shadows of Almia: Bravery"! If you haven't known/guessed already, this is a crossover between SoA and the animated movie 'Brave'. Had this idea for a little while and tried writing out a few scenes. I thought it would be interesting to go where the writing takes me, see if this fanfic could work!

Even if you've never seen the movie, I'm making sure you'd still be able to understand & enjoy the story!

Same characters (possibly few changes here and there) as to be expected but I'll be changing & inserting the movie into the ranger game! I promise to make things awesome and epic for you all! Any readers who read my last fanfic know all too well that I can bring one heck of a story to life! By the way, thank you regular readers!

Disclaimers and claimers will be posted every so often but you guys know the jist.
Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon or Brave.

Claimer: I own changes in character and sub-plots.

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That day had been years ago but I remember it clearly. I saw something that day; something I'll never forget. It stands 8 feet tall…with razor sharp claws and fangs. He's stained with blood from fallen warriors. His body scarred, with a face that carries gleaming red eyes. Just as I turned around….

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"ROAAAAARRR!" I shouted. "Sven was slashed; clean across the face and chest!"

"Awww that's my favorite part!" Sven laughed.

Me and the other top rangers of the Union gathered in the break room. Sven was the cowboy, experienced Top Ranger who was rumored to have captured more than 10,000 pokemon in his career. He just turned twenty years old with suave looks, getting him a lot of attention from the ladies. With his trusty partner Zap the Luxray, they made one hell of a team. We were neighbors in Fiore and, as kids, hung out a lot.

"I can't believe that happened to you!"

Wendy, the girl with long green hair, is another talented ranger who specialized in flying and bird-pokemon. The nineteen year old and her staraptor, Flight, were partnered up into the same team as Sven. Hate to admit it…but I kinda looked up to her.

"Hold it! I thought Mar'du was supposed to be in Almia."

And the redhead over there is Keith. He's always getting on my nerves, challenging me at every turn. This arrogant, hot-headed, pushy idiot is my biggest rival….and also my best friend since ranger school. I guess our many competitions helped us a little towards our ranger dreams and brought us closer together. And….maybe I missed him a bit when he was assigned a far-off base after graduation. But there were days here at the Union that make me wish we were regions apart again.

"It's Mer'du and didn't you listen earlier?" I groaned. "We were vacationing in Almia at the time."

"How do you know Sven was torn up by Mer'du and not some other salamence?" Keith questioned, petting his buizel, Wave.

"What you don't believe us?" I fired back.

"Don't start arguing again!"

The blond girl entering the break room is Rhythmi. No, she's not a ranger. She's an operator whose assigned to me and Keith. Like red, we've been best friends since ranger school. But Rhythmi and I almost never fight. Usually she's the referee for my competitions with my idiot partner.

"He didn't believe me or Sven about the story of Mer'du!" I said.

"Mer'du?" Rhythmi blinked. "What the heck is a Mer'du?"

"You haven't heard? It's a salamence that's twice its normal height and is the most violent, heartless pokemon in the world!" I retold. "No human or pokemon has battled Mer'du and escaped alive. He's somewhere in Almia, rumored to be centuries old!"

"No way!" Rhythmi gasped. "Sven, you believe this story too?"

"How do you think I got this scar on my face?" Sven tipped his hat up, revealing the scar that stretched across his face. "It's on my rockhard abs too. Course I can't show them due to girls fainting at my devastating physique."

"Don't be so modest." Wendy joked.

"Mer'du did that to you?" Rhythmi looked shocked. "Oh my gosh!"

"Pfft. I'm not afraid of this Mer'du pokemon." Keith rolled his eyes. "If I came across him, I'd capture the dragon no problem! Never know what hit him!"

"You really think you can capture a killer pokemon like Mer'du?" I rose an eyebrow. "You have no idea what you're up against."

"Yeah right! I'd capture him in the blink of an eye!" Keith scoffed. "As opposed to you…"

"Are you challenging me, redhead?" I growled. "Cause this is one fight you'd lose in an instant you idiot!"

"You'll be the one to lose, clutz!" Keith shouted, glaring.

"QUIET!" Rhythmi broke up the fight. "When will you two stop bickering like this?"

"Probably never." Sven mumbled, with Wendy giggling.

"I'm going for a walk." I started leaving, irritated.

"Careful not to run into Mer'du!" Keith taunted.

"SHUT UP!" I slammed the door behind me.

That jerk….blasted idiot….he always managed to tick me off. Keith easily tormented me as much as I tormented him. We'd always get ourselves into some sort of competition; be it a simple capture challenge or a race up the Peril cliffs (for the record, neither of us won due near-death in a mudslide). This ruby haired dork was the most annoying guy I've ever met!

And I, Top Ranger Kate, have a crush on him.

Yeah it's true. Didn't realize it for awhile but when it happened, it just….dawned on me. Certainly explained why I competed against him harder than any other person or the effort I put into impressing him. But I like Keith. Once you got past that big mouth that never clams shut, he was sort of cute. And when he wanted to be, Keith was a great guy. Funny, determined, energetic, impossible to be bored around…that and a lot of other things describe him well. Of course, usually I'd see the stubborn, rivaling, audacious side.

Thankfully, no one else knows. Maybe Chia, my partner pachirisu, has an idea but she's been busy trying to get Zap's attention. None of the other rangers or friends of mine found out the truth. And I'd be ruined if any of them found out. News spreads fast in Almia, especially when your friends are rangers and operators. Keith would find out and never let me hear the end of it. That pompous guy would tease like everyone else. Or worse. It'd ruin our friendship and competitive spirit permanently. No chance Keith would even think I was even cute or liked any aspect of me.

So I go on like we do as best friends and rivals. I laugh at the jokes, hang out and get fired up over something which would plunge us into competing against each other. It's perfectly fine! I enjoy it, actually! Being a ranger and staying together with all my old and new friends is all I ask.

It's a dream come alive for me.

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Authors notes: (1) The story, yes, is written in first person by Kate's view. There will be some future scenes by Keith but that, dear readers, won't be quite yet.

(2) I kept the names of the partner pokemon for some sentimental reasons. But for this particular story, I'm making them unable to talk to humans.

(3) Dim Sun won't be mentioned in the story. Just saying it now. Why? I'll go into that at a later date.

(4) Mor'du was the bear in the movie. See how I spun the name a little? SalamEnce, MEr'du?

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Anyways, thank you for reading the first chapter! Updates will be frequent (as much as I can!) and next one's coming soon!