Special thanks to Reddest Crimson, and probably Eeveeleah, for taking notice of this story!
This chapter is centered around the Mission "Support Sven at the Ruins!", and features Kellyn's other dear friend Kirlia.
Chapter three: Kirlia: The Depths' Gentle Heart
Briefly after Keith, Kellyn, and Kate had received their much stronger Fine Stylers, they were assigned to provide backup for Top Ranger Sven at the Chroma Ruins.
The journey was ludicrous.
It first began with the long trek through the Chroma Highlands, in which Kellyn and Kate searched forcefully for a few Skarmory to blast away dark mist that was hammering at their Stylers. Later, when that was over with, Kellyn was credited the task to capture a Bastiodon. With only a little experience using the Fine Styler, Kellyn nearly risked losing his Capture Disc had Kate and Keith not reminded him that he could recall it. The capture was completed within the next minute.
The trio went to the high ground where a descent into the ancient (well, not really ancient, but at the very least old) Chroma Ruins.
The worst was yet to come when the trio, led by Kate, went deeper into the blackened hard-to-maneuver ruins. In short, the ruins could generally be summed up as an irritable maze and puzzle. Keith and Kellyn quickly collaborated to detect any incoming obstacles, such as Kellyn's capture of an elusive Electabuzz to light up a pitch-black cave while Keith at the same time captured a couple of Sandshrew to smash the rocks blocking their path.
Kate, meanwhile, searched for a Sandslash in which could be used to dig through a hole in the ground.
The journey into the ruins involved dodging a group of Koffing emitting their poisonous gases. Fortunately, the Rangers were safeguarded by their Stylers, but the gases still made the air much more difficult to breathe.
Adding on to the lunacy was the fact that Kate had to capture a Skuntank on her own. Like Kellyn, Kate had little experience using the Fine Styler and could have smashed her Capture Disc to bits. She was even more disheartened that she had to be the one to have the smelly Skuntank follow her around. Kellyn, Keith, Grotle, and Pachirisu of course kept their distance.
In the midst of all this, Kellyn's Grotle still hadn't parted from him. Even when Kellyn asked if Grotle wanted to head back to Vien Forest because of all the hazards surrounding them, Grotle still refused to leave.
"Kellyn, man, now that's loyalty," Keith remarked.
Kellyn grinned. "I don't understand why he won't leave, but anyway I'm bound to release him at some point. You know, regulations."
But as they continued down the newly-cleared path (the one with more destructible rocks cleared by a Pupitar), right before they were about to drop into one of the two nearby holes in the ground, they came across a teleporting Pokémon on the left side of this cavern!
"Who goes there?!" Kate shouted, alert.
"I'm detecting a Pokémon!" Keith reported, checking his Styler.
"Capture… on!" Kellyn shouted.
This brought Kate's attention (and Keith's) directly to Kellyn, as he swiftly used his first two right-hand fingers to quickly maneuver the Capture Disc to surround the Pokémon who happened to be hiding around a nearing corner, and the Pokémon was captured with next-to-no effort, as the Fine Styler classed it as an 'S' rank.
"Alright, you can come out now," Kellyn called to the corner, in which he couldn't see around.
Slowly, solid green hair crept past the corner, with the head of a Kirlia peeking at who was standing before her. The Kirlia then teleported in front of Kellyn. She was only roughly half the height of Kellyn, so Kellyn had to kneel down on one knee to talk to her.
"I'm… Kellyn, it's nice to meet you, Kirlia," he introduced. "This is my friend Pachirisu, and this is Grotle… and those are my co-workers Kate and Keith. You know, you really startled me there!"
As Kellyn finished, Kirlia spun around once and hugged Kellyn very tightly. Since Kate and Kellyn had enough experience as Rangers, they had no problem depicting what Kirlia was getting at.
"She's frightened," Kate said.
"I don't blame her," Kellyn agreed. "Being down in these caves for so long without any hope of seeing the light of day… I would have felt the same as well. Speaking of which, Kirlia, would you like to come with me for the time being? I might need you to teleport all of us out of here if we need to evacuate while we're here."
Kirlia nodded, and like a scared child took Kellyn's hand as they went further into the cave.
Further into the maze with a Skuntank following Kate, there was a massive boulder in the way. Grotle had earlier attempted to push the boulder aside, but he simply couldn't push a boulder of that kind of size. Bastiodon soon relieved Grotle and pushed the boulder far away, and afterwards was released back into the wild. The trio of Rangers rushed into the next room, but –
"Shh! Quiet!" said a voice in the other room.
Kellyn, Kate, and Keith stayed silent.
A Ranger sporting a cowboy hat and a Fine Styler motioned them to quietly come closer to the wall he had his back to, and then he motioned at what was behind the corner of that wall.
"I'll explain later," he whispered. "In the meantime, 'glad to see you made it here safe. I'm Sven, should you guys know, and this is my most trusted Partner: Luxray. Long story short, I'm glad my backup has arrived at last, because I need your assistance."
He risked a peek behind the corner beside him. "I'd like to hear what those Dim Sun goons are up to by eavesdropping, but unfortunately there're way too many of 'em for my liking."
Curious, Kellyn went first to take a quick glance, and then he retreated as quickly as he could once he saw them. Keith followed, and then Grotle and Kirlia, and finally Kate, in which they all understood why they had to fall back so quickly.
There were at least a dozen members from Team Dim Sun in the area directly in front of them. As much as Keith would have liked to rush in, Kate and Kellyn rebuked him saying that they were outnumbered by a four-to-one margin, minus the Pokémon.
The eavesdropping soon confirmed the Rangers' suspicions that the Gigaremo machines were indeed powered by Dark Shards (as in the same Dark Stones found in earlier-investigated Gigaremos) in the cave. However, as the four Rangers continued to listen, the Dim Sun goons couldn't find any more at this point, and suggested to dig up whatever remaining useless shards left and sell them for a rip-off profit.
"So what do we do now?" Sven asked. "We have to give those guys a run out of the Ruins, but how do we do that?"
Kellyn and Kate looked at each other, and then to Keith who shrugged (knowing that he would be shut down by a reminder they were outnumbered four-to-one).
"Hey… is that a Skuntank I see with you?" Sven asked, his eyes suddenly filled with optimism.
"Uh, yeah," Kate said as if it were obvious. "What, do you want to point out its fatal stench? It's been a 'real' honour to be the one hauling it around. What's the point?"
Grotle and the Pachirisu's each gave themselves a mental slap, as Kellyn and Keith literally slapped their foreheads. Even Kirlia, as a newcomer to the team, could fully understand what Kate needed to do.
"Really, Kate?" Kellyn raised his eyebrows. "You can't figure it out, eh? What about you, Keith? Did you figure it out?"
"Way ahead of you, Kellyn," Keith answered, and he walked toward the Skuntank. "Shall I do it?"
Kirlia went in front of Kate and furiously tried to communicate the obvious message Kate was missing out on. Kate was slow, and Kirlia shook her head.
"Oh, wait, I figured it out!" Kate finally realised what to do, but it was too late.
"Yep, you can do it, Keith," Kellyn approved.
Soon enough, Keith ended up following Kate. They marched closer to the choke point leading to the clearing with the dozen Dim Sun goons. Sven quietly pinched his nose while Kellyn and Keith did the same. If no one else, the Pachirisu's and Grotle had to hide away to take cover. Kirlia, also, teleported a safer distance away where the imminent disaster was about take place.
By the time the Dim Sun members had caught wind that there were a duo of Rangers in their midst, they were a tad too late.
"Okay, Skuntank," Kate whispered. "Fire away!"
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
An enormous stench, rapidly diffused throughout the entire cavern, blasted a wave of into everyone's face.
An uproar from the Dim Sun members ensued, and it only worsened when widespread panic followed.
"AHHHH! THAT STINKS!"
"IT'S HORRID! GYAAAAH!"
"I AGREE! AHHHH!"
"AIYAH! MY EYES ARE ON FAIYAH!"
"DON'T LOOK AT ME!"
And sooner than soon, the twelve Dim Sun members ran out of the cave just narrowly missing Kellyn and Grotle as they passed by them. Kate couldn't be any happier when she finally released the Skuntank from her presence at last.
Keith ended up complaining for the remainder of the trip.
Progress continued as the Rangers, this time led by Kellyn, dropped into the nearby hole and flawlessly captured a few Drifblim to evacuate the place should the need arise.
On the way, however, they were met by a very unwelcome Pokémon…
Kirlia gasped and hid behind Kellyn's leg (knowing what was coming ahead). Neither Kellyn nor the rest of the Rangers could understand what Kirlia was so frightened about, but the answer lay when they looked at the other Pokémon right in front of them. There were five Odd Keystones laid out, and in the center one was a particular Pokémon.
"Isn't that a Spiritomb?" Keith asked, racking his brain for background knowledge. "Isn't it guarding something valuable?"
"Well, it has to be valuable," Kellyn replied on his own account. "Otherwise, why would it be here in the first place, anyway?"
"It seems like it's guarding something," Kate said.
"But I doubt it'll let us pass without a challenge," Sven added. "It's going to be tricky, but together we might be able to manage it after all. So… you three ready?"
Nervous nods were the answer.
"GO! GO! GO!" Sven ordered.
With a rallying rush, the capture started as the four Rangers all fired their Capture Discs at once against the Spiritomb. Knowing it wouldn't be that easy, let alone hazardous, they all had their Partner Pokémon at the ready.
"CAPTURE ON!" they shouted unanimously.
Ideally, the five Odd Keystones were arranged in an 'X' shape. Sven, the most experienced of the four, took the duty of handling one corner and the center, whereas Kellyn, Kate, and Keith each took a corner for themselves to watch.
With the amount of manpower the Rangers had, the capture should have been relatively easy. That is, except when Spiritomb emitted Dark Pulses frequently and damaged the Capture Line. Although strengthening components were purposely built into the Fine Styler to survive harsh conditions and absorbing shock from Styler damage, it still wasn't smart to take any damage at all.
Also, Kellyn, Kate, and Keith were the only backup Sven could have.
"Watch out!" Sven warned.
The Spirtomb fired away some sort of wave. Was it a Psywave? No… Spiritomb was a ghost-type, so that cancelled the possibility.
"It's an Ominous Wind, from the looks of it," Kate said. "Be careful!"
That wasn't the end of surprises. As Kellyn did his part to capture Spiritomb, the latter fired an electire-like orb into the ground, forcing Kellyn to carefully watch where he was pointing his fingers.
"Keep it going!" Kellyn rallied.
He considered getting Kirlia to help him, but realised that Kirlia had little effectiveness against a powerhouse like Spiritomb. Besides, Kellyn didn't bother when Kirlia pleaded Kellyn not to use her (just by using her emotions alone). Kellyn was spoken for.
The capture of Spiritomb was seeing great progress, but it only got harder when it fired a Will-O-Wisp that kept hopping all over the place. Whether it was around the Odd Keystones or directly at the Rangers, it was still a hazard nonetheless.
"OW!" Kate screamed, just barely getting scorched by the orb of fire.
"Stay strong, Kate! We can't help you!" Sven cautioned. "And if we did, we'd all be in danger!"
"Grotle! Kirlia! Go help her!" Kellyn shouted to his Friend Pokémon. "That's an order! Go!"
Spiritomb reappeared in the Odd Keystone where Keith was keeping watch. As Keith desperately performed his capture, the Spiritomb fired Shadow Balls in haywire-style, and it was a scattershot throughout the entire room!
"Take cover!" Sven dived to the ground, but still retaining his Capture Disc in mid-air, Keith and Kellyn did the same.
Kate…
She saw the unpromising orbs of darkened energy sail toward her. Already slightly burnt, she couldn't manage to fall down…
But somehow, she did. She fell on her back.
And when she did, just one-and-a-half seconds later, the Shadow Balls flew above and past her head. Kate knew that she got pushed by someone, but whom? And what did she trip on? Kate glanced down at her feet.
She tripped over Kellyn's Grotle, and it apparently appeared that her own Pachirisu (Kate's) and Kellyn's Kirlia had forced her down.
"Uh… thanks, guys," Kate said, her voice embarrassed.
Kirlia extended her arm in Kate's direction, offering to help her up. Kate graciously took up on the offer and Kirlia pulled the latter upward. As Kirlia did, Kate realised that her Capture Disc was never recalled, and went to look for it. Kirlia, being a Psychic Pokémon, interpreted Kate's thoughts and pointed at where it was.
Meanwhile, Sven, Kellyn, and Keith were becoming heavily reliant on the assistance of their Partner Pokémon, Luxray, Pachirisu, and Buizel respectively. With Kate on a short-term recovery, Kellyn and Keith shared a double-duty to watch over Kate's keystone as they were the two closest to it. Whenever the Spiritomb reappeared in that keystone, Kellyn and Keith would focus full attention on that one and circle the Capture Line around it in record speed.
Sadly, even record speed could not keep up with Spiritomb's version of record speed.
Spiritomb rapidly appeared from keystone to keystone. From obvious sight, Sven could tell that the former was switching to being tactical now. For every keystone Spiritomb appeared in, it would fire several rounds of Dark Pulses before it switch to another keystone, and then reappearing in another keystone… ad infinitum.
Kirlia alone wanted to contribute, but she found the Spiritomb's presence was very disturbing to her. It was one of two reasons why she wanted to leave the ruins but couldn't. She was still frightened, and frightened to the point where she was frozen still.
"Relax your mind, Kirlia," Kellyn said, breaking Kirlia's thoughts. "I'm going to be standing right beside you, there's nothing to worry about!"
Kirlia took a deep breath and watched the capture unfold again.
"Pachirisu! Go help Kate!" Kellyn ordered, throwing his Partner Pokémon over to her.
Kate took advantage of the two Pachirisu's and went straight for her next move.
"Poké Assist Electric!" Kate barked. "Let's do this!"
With Sven, Kellyn, and Keith still on guard, they readied themselves for a straight-on capture of Spiritomb once the shock had taken effect. The Pachirisu's fired two electric bolts at Kate's Fine Styler and charged it up. The four Rangers prepared to take full advantage of double electric shocking power that Kate was about to provide. That is, if Kate was successful in the hit at all.
The assist succeeded.
And with that, Sven, Kellyn, and Keith brought their Capture Discs to complete the capture at last, with the letters 'OK!' popping up on their monitors.
"Capture complete!" the Rangers cheered.
Kirlia, from behind, watched in wonder at the kind of career the Rangers had to face, as she somehow felt now that the Spiritomb had become considerably less harmful. She marvelled at the sight that the once-aggressive Spiritomb had been calmed down and was quietly released by the Rangers, never to appear again.
"Okay, so all we need to do is to see what's at the end of these caves," Kate said.
But as they walked deeper in, Kirlia pulled on Kellyn's hand.
"What is it, Kirlia?" Kellyn asked, but Kirlia just hugged Kellyn's side and buried her head in his hip. Apparently, Kirlia couldn't stand to see the presence of all the Dark Shards in the cavern.
Lest Kirlia couldn't keep moving anymore, Kellyn lifted Kirlia into his arms and carried her past the ominous hoards of Dark Shards and small crystals buried in the ground and the walls. Kate understood Kirlia's feelings as she kept her eyes on the Pokémon.
"It's not only the Spiritomb she was afraid of," Kate said. "She's afraid of the dark aura given off by these shards and crystals. Poor Kirlia! She has to be trapped in here her whole life, and maybe that Spiritomb just won't let her get out!"
"Whereas there are Pokémon who didn't mind," Kellyn added. "I suppose Kirlia might be one of very few who really wanted to get out of here."
And when the four Rangers got to the end of the path, they soon discovered that the cavern ahead had a stone staircase leading to a supposed, and suspected, massive Dark Shard. But by the time they got there, Sven deduced that someone had already hauled the gargantuan away.
"We're too late!" he exclaimed. "I've been on the track for this thing for a long time. It seems that someone's already come and towed the thing away. See the size of the thing?"
The two Pachirisu's climbed to the top of the staircase, and the four Rangers (and their respective partners and Friend Pokémon) looked at the impressive hole in the wall.
"It's way too big for any regular Dark Shard," Sven said.
"So you reckon it might be a Crystal?" Kellyn said, and Kirlia hugged Kellyn's neck even tighter. "Er… if Kirlia is that scared, don't you think –"
"Yeah, I definitely think it's a Crystal," Sven approved. "I think it might have been what the goons have taken. Worse, it must be the colour of pure darkness, with no hint of light whatsoever."
Keith's eyes were very round. "So even the Spiritomb guarding the entrance couldn't protect it? Some guard."
Sven shook his head. "I think a Darkrai would be the more probable guardian, since it's known to have a preference for the darkness. But I don't understand, why couldn't Darkrai protect the Shadow Crystal? It's a tough Pokémon to defeat, so… why?"
Silence. Only to be broken by Keith the loudmouth.
"What would they want to do with a Shadow Crystal?" he asked.
Everyone, even all the Pokémon and Grotle and Kirlia, forced a "Really?" kind of look directly at Keith. Sven sighed and did the explaining, since Keith was too oblivious to think of why. Sometimes, Kellyn and Kate wondered how Keith ever became a Top Ranger.
"Do you have any idea what the size of this hole here means?" Sven asked rhetorically. "Imagine breaking up a crystal this size, you know how many Miniremo and Gigaremo units they could make?"
Kellyn, Kate, and Keith bowed their heads down. Kirlia shuddered, and Grotle looked down.
"Just imagining it makes me ill," Sven added. "Team Dim Sun's boss must be laughing, and laughing real hard. I'd say he'd be happy to get a hold of that monstrosity of a Shadow Crystal."
"Kincaid?!" Keith said, hopefully. Kellyn and Kate shot Keith ill looks.
"Could be, could be not," Sven said. "For the time being, there must be a way out from this place. If they could get the Shadow Crystal from the back, then they'd have to haul it out somewhere."
Kellyn still had Kirlia in his arms, and the Pokémon he held was frightened solid.
"Well, Kirlia," he said soothingly. "It looks like you might not need to teleport us out of here after all. We're going to get out!"
Indeed, Kirlia's face brightened.
The team jumped off a ledge, and in the distance they could see a beam of light on the ground, where there was a ladder beside it. Therefore, it only made sense that the light came from the surface above.
Kirlia allowed Kellyn to let her go on the ground, and she twirled to where the light was. She stared at it as if she had never seen anything like it, and then looked upward to see where the light was originating from.
"That's actually kind of sweet," Kate whispered to Keith.
"Come on, Kirlia," Kellyn said, as he put an arm on Kirlia's shoulder. "Have you ever been outside of these ruins? I trust it'll be worth your while."
To get out, all the Rangers had to do was climb the metal ladder. The Pachirisu's could travel on the Rangers' shoulders, while Buizel and Kirlia could climb as well. For Luxray and Grotle, they needed an airlift with the earlier-captured Drifblim.
Kirlia climbed slowly, as she never had to exert this much force before. Looking up, she could see… light, and it was getting brighter and brighter the closer she reached the top…
"Thanks, Keith," Kellyn quietly appreciated, as he took the former's hand to help him up onto the surface. Kellyn then kneeled across from Keith to help any other arms from below. First it was Kate, then Sven, then Buizel, and finally Kirlia –
When Kirlia reached the top, the light was too bright for her (no surprise, since she had lived most of her time isolated in those ruins and was never used to seeing light at a massive scale with respect to the darkness) and she shut her eyes tightly. In doing so, one of her arms lost its hold on the ladder a slipped. Kirlia fell backward to the cave below…
"Kirlia!" Kellyn shouted, horrified.
In an instant, Keith and Kellyn reached their arms downward to just narrowly grab Kirlia's hands, but there was only so much grip they could have.
"Don't let go, Kirlia!" Kellyn pleaded.
But fortunately, there was a reason why the Drifblim were captured in the first place. The Drifblim that had been airlifting Luxray and Grotle were still on their way up. Kirlia just so happened to gently land on the Drifblim carrying Luxray as it was progressing through the manhole.
"There we go," Keith said, bringing and laying Kirlia on the ground.
Kellyn, though, collapsed on the ground in shock.
Keith, Kate, and Sven all looked at Kellyn with worried expressions.
I guess he must really care for Kirlia that much, Keith thought.
Kirlia, knowing exactly what was going on in Kellyn's mind, sat beside Kellyn (alongside Grotle and Pachirisu) and tried to help Kellyn up. At first, there was some refusal since he was still in some state of shock, but slowly the Pokémon Ranger relaxed.
"Pachirisu, Grotle, Kirlia," Kellyn said one by one. "We – we made it."
Grotle placed himself behind Kellyn's head while Kirlia stood in front to try to get Kellyn up, but unfortunately Kirlia couldn't manage the strength to pull Kellyn up completely, so Kate had to help her. Keith and Sven, meanwhile, went to investigate the adjacent building.
"It's ancient, this shack… eh?!" Sven ran to the sign posted in front of the cabin. "Something's written here… Al-ru O-l… this must be place where Altru Inc. started!"
Sven walked quickly into the shack, followed closely by Keith. Soon, Kate and Kellyn entered with the Pachirisu's and Grotle following them in. Kirlia was the last among them to leave, as she looked at the world around her in wonder. She had never seen such beauty, and so much light at once! Normally, the only light she would have seen would go only as far as the light-coloured shards in the ruins, and that was pretty much it.
Kirlia afterwards walked into the shack.
Inside the building, the Rangers were each individually conducting search investigations of the building. While Sven was examining old documents on a desk, and Keith looking at some papers on the table, Kellyn and Kate came across an old diary.
The diary would soon prove to be of impossibly good use later, as it revealed some key clues of what Altru Inc. would be further up to. Sven insisted that it be brought back to the Ranger Union for further analysis, and at the same time Keith, Kellyn, and Kate ran into their old classmate Ponte!
Although Ponte appeared to be wearing an outfit belonging to Team Dim Sun, he quickly renounced the Team upon seeing the Shadow Crystal… and as much as it hurt for the Rangers to hear (or at least Kellyn and Kirlia), Ponte would continue to live in this shack.
When the time had come to leave, Sven gave his concluding remarks.
"I'm going to chase a few leads," he said. "You three better go back to the Union. Kellyn? You better take more care for that Kirlia of yours, even though you might have to release her later."
"Of course," Kellyn replied, but held back a bit of bitterness.
"Glad to hear it," Sven smiled, and then it slightly faltered. "Whoa… almost forgot. I had this to say… that's a Mission Clear!"
The quartet of Rangers did a stylish pose with their Fine Stylers, much to Grotle and Kirlia's appeal and amusement.
After instructing Keith, Kellyn, and Kate to deliver the diary to Professor Hastings, Sven quickly marched down the Chroma Highlands. Keith was already on his way to the Union right after Sven had given the instruction to do so (as if Keith was following Sven). This left Kellyn and Kate with some downtime, though there wasn't a lot of it.
"Let's go capture the Staraptor at the ruin entrance," Kellyn suggested, and Kate nodded.
When the captures of the bird Pokémon were over with, Kellyn allowed one Staraptor to carry Grotle alone, while Kirlia would sit with Kellyn. Kate of course would have an individual Staraptor for her private use.
"Ready? Let's go!" Kellyn said, as he, Pachirisu, and Kirlia took to the air.
High above the clouds, Kirlia had no idea what sunlight looked like, and she was even more pleased to see it right above her head. Below her was the Almia region in all its splendor and beauty, ranging from forests to oceans to glaciers to deserts. Truly this was the first time Kirlia had seen anything of the sort.
"You see, Kirlia?" Kellyn guided. "This is what the world looks like!"
Looking down, Kirlia had never been so excited to see so much. She was free from seeing the pitch-black walls and unwelcome rocky surroundings of the Chroma Ruins. Now, all she could see was a free and beautiful region with many things she would never have dreamt of seeing.
In her heart, she was wholeheartedly glad that Kellyn had brought her out of a place she didn't belong. With Kellyn's help, she overcame her greatest fears of living in the ruins, and was happily rewarded with the only chance to travel with Kellyn in a world new to her in every possible way.
From plain perspective, the Staraptors were heading west to where the ice capped region was, or at least it certainly looked like it. They were flying in the direction of the massive building that was home to the Ranger Union.
The Staraptors landed in front of the Union and each rider disembarked, with the Rangers releasing the Staraptor to where they had been previously captured.
Kirlia had never seen a forest, let alone trees, this close. In fact, she could hear the sounds of rustling leaves and running rivers. Is this what the world looked like up close? It was nothing like the Chroma Ruins, where such radiant colours never existed.
The pavement she was standing on… the grass in the distance… the world of Almia, just right outside her doorstep, and Kirlia had never seen it. The duo, Grotle and the Pachirisu's were going to walk into the Union, but they were held back, wondering what Kirlia was doing.
"You go on ahead," Kellyn told Kate, and she complied.
Standing near the door, Kellyn, Grotle, and Pachirisu could only watch the heartwarming sight of Kirlia still trying to get used to the colourful world around her. As it appeared, she was a dancer, and she happily danced and spun right on the spot (Kirlia hadn't seen this much free space to dance on her own). When that was over with, she took Kellyn's hand with her own and followed him into the Ranger Union.
In spite of the Spiritomb and the Shadow Crystal absent, Kirlia hoped that she would never have to go back to the ruins, not when there was an unknown world she had yet to explore.
And that, my readers, is how Kellyn met Kirlia.
Next chapter: the hostage crisis in the Haruba Desert, if you remember the Mission...
