Chapter One

The Beginning

Why did I agree to this?

That was the first thought in my head that passed as the man handed me the green Styler. My eyes narrowed at the Pikachu who blinked at me innocently.

"Capture the Pikachu to pass the entrance exam" the instructor told me and I studied the Styler carefully.

We don't have anything like this back home in Sinnoh I thought as the Pikachu let out a challenging cry. My head snapped up from the Styler and saw the Pikachu was running around.

I blinked and realised what I had to do. "Capture on!"

A small disk flew out of the Styler, shooting straight towards the Pikachu and I spun a circle in front of me, with the blue antenna. A white circle began to circle around the Pikachu as it moved before disappearing inside the electric mouse.

I grinned. "Capture complete"

The Pikachu returned to the man's side as he grinned wickedly at me, a mischievous look in his eye. "Hehehe…"

I frowned as he clapped his hands together.

"My name, it is Kaplan. You are now a member of our secret army, the inscrutable Team School" he declared.

I scratched the back of my head. "Uh…I thought this was the Ranger School?"

I could've sworn I signed up in the right place…I have a Styler in my hand to prove it I glanced at the Styler resting in my right hand.

Kaplan noticed I was looking at the Styler. "As proof of your membership, you are conferred the School Styler you just used"

He clenched his fist with a determined grin on his face. "Together, we shall rule the world…"

I took a step back as the door opened, followed by an annoyed sigh.

"Oh, please, Mr Kaplan!"

I spun around just as a woman with chocolate brown hair entered the room with a cross look shot towards Kaplan.

"Please don't tease my student with a silly performance like that" she said sharply, placing a hand on her hip and glaring at him.

Kaplan chuckled lightly. "Sorry, sorry. The timing was just too perfect to miss"

I sighed as I felt a sweat drop in relief.

Kaplan cleared his throat and smiled. "Congratulations! You have passed the Ranger's School's entrance exam with flying colours! That was quite an impressive capture"

I nodded. "Thank you" I smiled warmly and turned to the woman who stood next to me.

She was smiling brightly at me. "Congratulations! You've been accepted. Starting today, you are officially a student of the Ranger School"

It must be a lot different from Trainer's School in Jubilife City I thought, recalling all of my younger childhood memories.

"I'm Ms April" Ms April snapped me out of my thoughts. "I'm your class teacher. I'm pleased to meet you"

"Please to meet you" I shook her hand.

"Your classmates are waiting for you. I'll show you to our class" she said, leading me out of the building and towards the main school building.

I took note on how different it really was from Trainer's School. It was a lot bigger and more room, without the constant visits from passing Trainers.

As we entered the building, I could hear silence on the right side while the left side was filled with excited talk. Ms April paused before the door and smiled down at me.

"Wait here and I'll get the class settled down" she told me before walking in.

I leaned against the wall, my arms crossed over my chest and waited, listening to the talk going on in the room behind me.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, class. And good morning, everyone!" Ms April's voice could be heard.

"Good morning!" came the reply of students, male and female mixed in.

I looked at the time on my watch. It's only quarter past nine…

"As I mentioned yesterday, we have a new member for our class" Ms April reminded the class and there were excited gasps.

"Is it a guy? Or a girl? Which is it?" a male voice wondered out loud.

Girl I thought, answering his question in my mind.

"Is the new student cute? Cool? Or look like a celebrity?" a female voice asked and I raised an eyebrow.

Yes, yes and no…unfortunately. I thought, glancing at myself in the reflection of the window in front of me.

I lightly tugged on one of my pigtails and played with my green stud earring for a bit as Ms April continued speaking.

"Okay, that's enough. You can see for yourself" Ms April said. "Come on in!"

It's show time…

I opened the door and walked in, ignoring the stares I got and stood next to Ms April.

"Our new friend came alone to Almia, all the way from the Sinnoh region to become a Pokémon Ranger" Ms April explained and then smiled at me. "Oh, yes. You should introduce yourself to our class rather than me"

I nodded.

"Let's start with your name" she suggested and I swallowed.

"My name is Kate Rowan. I came from the Sinnoh region to become a Pokémon Ranger instead of a Pokémon Trainer. My hometown is Twinleaf Town" I introduced myself and bowed slightly. "Please take care of me"

Ms April smiled as I stood up straight again. "Okay, our new friend is named Kate. Let's make her feel welcome. I understand she scored quite well on our entrance exam"

Ms April paused as she glanced at a grinning red haired guy. My eyes wandered to him and saw his was grinning at me. I frowned and kept staring at him.

When someone stares at you, they are seeing whether or not you are a worthy rival. I remembered Grandpa Rowan telling me. Then again, I think that rule applied to Pokémon Trainers and Co-ordinators only…

"…What is it, Keith? Why the big grin?" Ms April questioned and Keith shook his head, his eyes never leaving mine.

I broke of the stare when Ms April turned to me. "Anyway, we had better get you seated somewhere, Kate" she hummed, looking around. "You can have the seat next to Keith"

Without another word, I walked over and sat in the empty seat next to Keith, ignoring the grin on his face.

Ms April clapped her hands together. "Okay, that will do. That's it for treating you like a new transfer student. From now on, you're all my students, people whom I can take pride in teaching"

She took a step forward.

"Let's do it, everyone…Let's not fail your dreams of becoming Rangers, Operators, and Mechanics!"

"Yeah!" everyone cheered, including myself with my fist in the air.

Ms April chuckled. "Okay, I'll change the class schedule specially for today. This will be a free-study class" she said and then turned to the blonde across from me. "Rhythmi, can I get you to show Kate around the School, please?"

Rhythmi nodded with a smile. "I sure will!"

"I'll be in the Staff Room. I'll leave you to it" Ms April said as she left the room and closing the door behind her. As soon the door closed, everyone got out of their seats and crowded around me, asking all kinds of questions.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and looked over to see Keith behind me, a wide grin on his face. "Hey, new kid, I forgot your name, but how long did it take you to capture Pikachu? Like an hour?" he snickered.

I glared and opened my mouth to reply when Rhythmi pulled me away from him.

"Keith's just a show-off. You're better off ignoring him" she told me and I nodded, glaring once more at Keith.

"You're probably right" I muttered as she smiled in agreement.

"Instead, you should be paying attention to me. I'm not here to become a Ranger. I want to become an Operator instead. So when Keith becomes a Ranger, I can order him around like my servant!"

I laughed along with her, only knowing Keith for five minutes and already having a funny image of Rhythmi sitting on Keith, barking orders.

"Alright" Rhythmi said after we stopped laughing. "Let me take you on a tour of the Ranger School. Let's begin with our own classroom"

I grabbed a water bottle from my bum bag and had a sip, still haven't changed into my uniform. I was still wearing the white long sleeved shirt with a Bunery in the middle and black cargo pants with some sneakers on.

"You've already met our teacher, Ms April. She's really nice, but if you make her mad…Look out" Rhythmi warned and I nodded, putting the water bottle back.

We left the room and started heading towards the second classroom.

"The teacher in there is Mr Kincaid. He's very uptight and strict. 'No running in the hallway!' is, like, his pet saying" she informed me as we entered the classroom.

There was a man standing up at the front, his blonde hair very high up, like a ramp.

I wonder how much hairspray goes into that? I mused at the thought.

"Sorry to disturb you" Rhythmi apologised. "I'm taking our new classmate on a tour of the School"

Mr Kincaid nodded and looked at me with interest. "You must be the new student in the other class. Rowan was it?"

I nodded. "Kate Rowan, sir" I corrected and he chuckled.

"I have heard of your grandfather. A genius" he complimented. "There's one rule that I would like you to honour and uphold while you're in School. Don't run in the hallways"

"Oh, and there is another rule: don't cast suspicion on others without proof. These two rules are truly important"

I nodded. "Will do, sir"

Rhythmi pulled me out of the classroom and towards the Library.

"That's why I've heard of your last name before" she slapped her forehead. "Your grandfather is a Pokémon Professor"

I didn't say anything as we entered the library.

"This is the Library. Also known as Keith's nap room" she told me and pointed to a boy with blonde hair with a mushroom like haircut in the back of the Library. "That boy in the back with a haircut like a mushroom is Isaac. He's awesomely smart. You can usually find him right here in the Library"

Rhythmi frowned to herself. "Sometimes, he goes off somewhere, though" she said as she walked towards him. I followed and she said something to him, an irritated look crossed his face.

"I was doing an eight-digit multiplication in my head Rhythmi. What is important that you saw to interrupt it?" he asked her, annoyed at being disturbed and Rhythmi pointed to me.

"I was just going to introduce you to the new student" she said defensively and Isaac sighed tiredly before giving me an apologetic smile.

"I'm Isaac. Both my IQ and my height, in centimetres, are 163. I'm studying to become a scientist" he introduced, his hand outstretched and I shook it.

"That's…impressive" I said. "I'm Kate…uh…my IQ is…134"

He seemed impressed.

"Why aren't you in class? If you don't mind me asking" I asked and he shrugged his shoulders.

"Mr Kincaid gave me permission to study on my own and not attend class" he answered and I mouthed 'oh' and nodded at Rhythmi who wanted to leave.

"Nice meeting you…Isaac" I said before leaving the Library.

"Let me show the Staff Room" Rhythmi suggested, leading me to the Staff Room where only a man with glasses was at.

"Usually, only our principal is here. Our principal is Mr Lamont. His eyes are always twinkling happily behind his glasses. I like him pretty well" she explained and we left quickly.

I glanced at my clothes. "Is there a place where I can change?" I asked and she nodded, pointing to the stairs.

"We'll head to the dorms" she answered, leading me up the stairs into the common room.

"Oh hello Rhythmi" a perky voice greeted as we reached the second floor. "I hope you're not skipping class"

Rhythmi shook her head. "I'm just showing the new student to the girl's dorm so she can change"

I noticed the woman with brown hair smiling at Rhythmi as we headed to the girl's room.

My purple luggage bag was there, ready on my bed and five pairs of the school uniform next to it.

I quickly undressed and changed into the uniform, slipping the green jacket on last.

The bell went as I came out and Rhythmi walked me back down the stairs.

"There goes the bell. We can go outside now" she said happily, running outside.

I blinked and followed her.

Rhythmi stretched her arms over her head, sighing happily and then turning to me.

"Isn't it great to be outside?" she asked and I nodded, stretching my tired muscles and breathing in deeply. "If you want, I can show you Ascension Square"

"I'd like that" I replied as she led me down some stairs and there was a small wooden dock, pointing to the ocean. Behind us there was a statue with a disk on top.

"It feels so weird" I commented. "I'm so used to Pokémon Trainers, Pokémon Co-ordinators, Pokeballs even…but Capture Stylers, Pokémon Rangers, Operators…Mechanics?"

Rhythmi looked at me. "Did you have a Pokémon?"

I nodded. "Chimchar"

We fell silent until we heard a scream coming from the courtyard. "Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! Help, someone! Anyone! Catch the Bidoof for me!"

"That sounds like Janice" Rhythmi said with a worried look on her face. I ran up the stairs and saw nine Bidoof running around in frenzy.

Rhythmi appeared beside me and squealed in fear at the sight of them.

"She's having trouble with the Bidoof!" Rhythmi looked at me. "Please, Kate! Capture the Bidoof and get them to settle down!"

I nodded and grabbed my Styler to start capturing when there was a familiar snicker.

"Heh, I was wondering what the ruckus was all about. Looks like a good time that's up for grabs" Keith grinned, near the main school building door.

Rhythmi glared. "Keith! Don't just stand there! You help with the captures, too!"

"It won't be much fun if I just help" Keith shrugged.

"Are you kidding me?" I shouted. "Forget it, I don't need your help!"

Keith grinned. "Don't need my help? Then I challenge you! We'll have a capture race, you and me! We'll see who can capture the most Bidoof, all right?"

I answered by pointing the antenna of the Styler like a sword.

Rhythmi growled in anger. "You can be so annoying, Keith! Go ahead and have your silly race or whatever, but hurry up!"

Both Keith and I glared at each other.

Three…

Two…

One…

….

Let the games begin!

I shot off after a Bidoof and captured it before nabbing another. On my third, I noticed Keith was one in front and grit my teeth together in anger.

I cannot let him win! I thought as I pointed my Styler at a Bidoof. "Capture on!"

The disk flew out and circled the Bidoof as I created a circle in front of me. The white circle disappeared inside the Bidoof and it stopped moving, looking at me instead.

I grinned. "Capture complete!"

"That's all the Bidoof!" Rhythmi called, standing next to Janice and I led my pack towards them as Keith did the same. I knew he had one more than me, and it pissed me off.

"I caught five! That means you caught…uh…four. That means victory is mine!" he declared and did his Ranger pose while I rolled my eyes.

Janice saw my annoyance and gave me a smile. "You and Keith looked good at it, too!" she reassured me and I sighed quietly, looking away from.

"I'd rate your capture around 65 out of 100" Keith grinned. "Hey, but you know… I'll be honest: I was pretty surprised by how you did. You might be decent for someone who just learned about this"

I rolled my eyes.