At the Ranger Union
"Ben for the fifth time can you stop that?" A rather irritated young woman wearing a ranger's uniform snapped to her partner who was pacing in front of her. The pair had been cooped up in a small office in the Union for almost a full day, working non-stop on a case their superiors said was a "pressing matter".
The man stopped in his tracks and rubbed his brown eyes which were swollen with lack of sleep. "Sorry Summer." He mumbled before taking a seat in front of the girl.
Summer just huffed and turned back to the large binder filled with paperwork in front of her. "Pacing in circles will not help us solve this damned case," she said idly, resuming her search for a certain document.
Ben sighed and nestled his head in his arms, tired and cranky from Summer's constant negative attitude. Deciding to try and rationalize with her, he said, "Neither will staying awake for twenty-five hours strait."
His partner narrowed her eyes at him but chose to ignore the bait for an argument. "We can sleep when we finally make some progress."
"You said that four hours ago!"
"The Union assigned us this mission because it's difficult, we should take this as an opportunity to prove to them that we are capable of harder missions instead of doing the same mundane patrols everyday." Summer said through pursed lips, obviously as exhausted as Ben was.
Ever since the Oblivian incident he and Summer were placed amongst the higher ranking rangers. Now along with their personal office, they received more difficult and confusing missions that required long hours and occasional all-nighters. It was certainly testing and putting a strain on their friendship.
"We need to get some sleep, you get grumpy when you're tired," he said looking up at her pleadingly. Ben had and always will respect the Union and the jobs they gave him but Summer's wellbeing would always come first.
"I'm not grumpy." She said crossing her arms.
"Summer." Ben said in a low whine that he knew would crack Summer's attitude.
"Fine," she said leaning back dramatically into her chair. She hated to give into Ben but she was just as tired as he was and Arceus knew she need sleep. "But I expect you to be back here no later than eight, understood?"
"Deal!" Ben stood up clumsily, bumping into the desk and nearly falling down. Rolling her eyes, Summer followed her partner out the tiny, cramped room they shared. Outside, the hallways were vastly more hot then inside the office, and Summer absent-mindedly pulled at the collar of her uniform in attempt to cool down.
"I wish they'd fix the air-conditioning, it's stifling here." She muttered while wondering after Ben.
"It's just an other thing they'll never get around to."
Summer snorted. "Incredibly optimistic aren't we?"
"I'm just being realistic," said Ben with a defensive shrug. "The water cooler in the lounge has be broken for months."
As much as he liked being a higher ranked Ranger here in the Union, something seemed to be missing. It wasn't adequate cooling systems or more sleep, it was something he only found once during his post in Oblivia.
"I miss Oblivia." Ben said quietly. His partner looked over her shoulder in surprise.
"Where's this coming from all of a sudden?"
He shrugged and looked out the window to they're left, it was dark and he could only see his reflection on the glass. "I miss being in the action, making an actual difference in people's life's. Instead of being cooped up in an office doing paperwork."
Summer sighed and rubbed her temples. "We don't get to choose where the Union needs us to be."
"I know I just miss it. Murph, Nema, Rand, Leanne... all of them."
Summer sighed and gave a small smile to her partner. "We'll see them again, I'm sure we will."
xXx
Keeping his promise to his partner, Ben arrived at their office exactly at eight the next morning with a package of pretzels that he had bought from the vending machine. Ukulele Pichu sat by his foot, strumming on his wooden instrument, making high pitched warblers that sounded faintly like singing. Summer was conveniently late. Popping a pretzel into his mouth, he watched the busy corridors of the Union.
A young apprentice ranger was running down the halls after a Pikachu that he assumed to be the boy's partner pokemon. Ben smiled, remembering his own days as a low-ranking ranger, feeling like the whole world was ahead of him. The only person he had really to rely on was Summer. Stubborn and grumpy Summer.
About a year ago, he walked through those very doors, fresh out of school. He was soon assigned to an older ranger to guide him around since he was sent to the Union instead of a smaller base due to extenuating circumstances. The older ranger was named Keith, weird and rash but helpful in his own way. It was Keith who introduced him to Summer, who at the time was a civilian Pokemon trainer with her Starley.
Suddenly out of his peripheral vision, Ben saw the familiar figure of Summer. Her brown hair was unbrushed and sticking out at odd ends and she had heavy bags under her eyes. In her right hand she was holding her customary red binder filled with the notes of their cases.
"Morning, you're late."
"Oh shut up, I slept through my alarm clock." Summer growled in her tradition morning mood. Balancing the binder she took out her keys and unlocked the door.
Bounding into the room behind his partner, Ben decided to poke the Ursaring. "You see this is why we shouldn't work until one in the morning."
"Shut. Up. Before I kick you."
Ben smiled wider, their relationship was slightly bipolar at the best of times but he found her grumpy demeanor amusing. He sat at his respected chair a crossed from Summer's, leaning into the back of the wooden chair.
"Any new leads?" He asked.
Summer nodded, sorting through the documents and pulling one out. "The local Pokemon Center's security camera caught the man who robbed the Pokemon trainer on tape." She handed him a grey-and-white photocopy of a tall man with rather long hair. "The lab says he's roughly six feet."
Studying the photo, Ben couldn't help but feel there's something familiar about the man, but he couldn't quite place it. He rubbed the left side of his temple, a habit he has picked up from his partner.
"Dang it, why didn't they had color cameras in the Center?
"Because the world is conspiring against us," Summer said with a shrug, her words dripping with sarcasm.
"Does this man look at all familiar to you?" Ben asked taping the photograph with the tip of his fingernail. His partner looked over and gave an other shrug of her shoulders.
"I don't know, everyone looks the same when they've been taken with a crappy video camera."
"I guess," said Ben unconvinced. "Hey Summer, do you mind if I go down to the lab and look through the archives for a match?"
She looked up briefly at him and made a guttural noise of approval. "Sure, if you want to fight that losing battle."
"And you say I'm the pessimist." He shot back with a with a teasing tone, his partner just smiled slightly and shook her head as he left.
