Hey all! Funngurl here for chapter 4! So, just as a recap (spoiler alert, if you haven't read chapter 3, go do that now :P) Keith just left for Johto, Isaac is immersed in his studies on the unidentifiable black sludge sample from the cavern, and Kate is off to Marine Cave in Puel Sea due to the Dim Sun sighting! (I forgot that there is also a Marine Cave on Nabiki Beach… Just to clarify, not the same place xD) So I hope you guys enjoy this Chapter of "Revenge on Pokémon Rangers: Return of Team Dim Sun", if you do, please R&R! (I feel like a YouTuber reminding my viewers to subscribe at the end of every video XD)

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon Rangers, any of its characters, or any part of the Pokémon Franchise. All Pokémon Ranger games and other Pokémon games are the rightful property of Nintendo.

It was a cool evening out on the Puel Sea; the sun was just out on the horizon. On my way to Pueltown, I'd captured a Staraptor (as usual), a Growlithe, and my Misdreavus joined me from the partner farm. Since it was getting dark, I'd still be able to see, since she seemed to glow with a ghostly light.

I wished I could say that I knew what Team Dim Sun was planning, like I used to be able to, but I couldn't. This time, I had no idea what they were trying to do. The sea breeze whipped through my hair as the small speed boat whipped through the waves. As we reached the cave, I tipped the boat driver as thanks, and told him not to wait for me, since Staraptor would fly me back.

In the cave I could hear faint murmurs deeper in the cave. "Okay everyone," I said to the Pokémon, "You all need to be quiet, got it? If they hear us, it could mean big trouble, okay?"

The Pokémon nodded, understanding my command. "Misdreavus, we gotta find the Dim Sun Doofus' so lead the way," I whispered, and Misdreavus floated ahead of me. I followed her silently as I possibly could, my Pokémon following close behind me.

The murmurs got louder as we progressed, until we came to a ridge, which overlooked a lower area of the cave. Misdreavus led me right to the edge, and vanished from sight. I laid down on my stomach, and watched discreetly.

There were several Team Dim Sun Grunts below. There was a giant glass orb that was strung with a long rope that had numerous spell tags attached to it every couple of centimeters. The orb itself was filled with the black fog I'd seen before, and it was sitting on a platform with wheels. Many of Grunts were just sitting by it, like they were waiting for something, or maybe someone.

Suddenly, another grunt came running up. "Hey boss, we got one!" he yelled, dragging a struggling Golbat bound by ropes behind him.

"Geez took you long enough!" one of the Grunts complained. Wait, maybe he wasn't a Grunt. The other Grunt addressed him as boss and his uniform did look slightly different. Maybe he was an admin of some kind. The Admin took the Golbat who still struggled, and when a Grunt pressed a button, the top of the orb opened up, and the Admin shoved the Golbat inside.

What I saw next made me feel my heart stop. The fog slowly faded and I saw the Golbat with another Pokemon inside! It looked like an… unusually large Haunter. I recalled the legend Isaac mentioned in his e-mail, about the greedy, cruel sorcerer-turned-Haunter. But that was just a legend, wasn't it?

The Haunter smiled maliciously, and neared the Golbat, suddenly it began emitting fog again, so I couldn't see anything, and when the fog cleared, the Golbat was gone, and all that remained was a tiny black orb. The Admin laughed. "Excellent!" he cried, pressing a button. The black orb was dispensed out of Haunter's glass bubble, like a gumball from a gumball machine, as the glass orb filled with that vile fog once again. The Admin tossed it into a tiny brown pouch, closed by a drawstring. "By the end of the night, we'll have so many soul orbs, our Leaders will be impressed, and promote me for sure, for all my hard work!" The Admin exclaimed.

"Hard work? Boss, we're the ones doing all the work, you're just sitting there…" the Grunt who had captured the Golbat said sheepishly.

"What did you say to me?" the Admin roared.

"Ah- nothing! Nothing!" The Grunt added quickly.

I had to get down there! If my hunch was correct, they had just killed an innocent Pokémon, to get one of those orbs! "Stop!" I cried, as I jumped down from the ledge, my Pokémon following me down. "How dare you sacrifice innocent Pokemon! You'll pay for this!"

"Hey! It's one of those Rangers!" One of the Grunts exclaimed.

"Damn! How'd she find us?" Another asked.

The Admin just laughed. "Oh, we'll 'pay', will we? Cause I respectfully disagree, silly Ranger," he said, turning a knob on a tank connected to the back of the orb. Black fog spewed out, and I covered my nose. I reached into my bag quickly and grabbed the oxygen mask I used for underwater excursions. It had enough oxygen to last me while I beat these creeps, but they were already making their exit. "Sorry to cut our visit short, Ranger! We're very busy!" cried the Admin, laughing as they ran.

I began to chase them, but was suddenly pushed to the ground. I cried out as I felt a stabbing pain in my arm. It was my Staraptor attacking me! I looked up at it, and saw its eyes were completely black… All my Pokémon had black eyes… They had breathed in the fog! They were all growling at me, and each other. Growlithe was trying to attack Misdreavus who taunted him, vanishing and reappearing. I wriggled away from Staraptor and grabbed my Stylus. I'd have to fight them all, and capture them again.

I began circling them all as quickly as I could, feeling just slightly betrayed, but knowing they were not at fault. I captured Growlithe first, then Staraptor, and finally, my elusive Misdreavus. As soon as I had captured them, they all snapped back, looking at each other, then at me, guilt in their eyes.

"Glad to have you back guys," I said, and as I turned around to try to catch those Dim Sun Creeps again, I came face-to-face with a cave full of black-eyed, angry and aggressive Pokémon, ready to attack me. My Pokémon immediately came to my defense, taking their place protectively in front of me, ready to help me.

"Let's do this," I said confidently. As if on cue, all the Pokémon began attacking, and I began circling. The capture took hours, whenever I captured a group of Pokémon, more came charging at me. My Pokémon helped with their Poké Assists, but my Styler still took a beating: A Confuse Ray from a Golbat, a Rock Throw from a Geodude, an Acid from a Croagunk etc.

As I fought, I noticed that the fog was beginning to fade away, leaving more black sludge behind, like the stuff we had from the lab. Once I had finally released all the Pokémon from the control of the black fog, it was early morning. On my way out of the cave however, I found a small brown pouch, like the one the admin put the soul orb into. Sure enough, I opened the bag, and found it filled with the small black orbs; I finally got a sample for Isaac. I trudged out of the cave, exhausted and weak, and I flew back to the Union on my Staraptor.

"Kate!" Rhythmi called out, as I got up the stairs, "Are you okay? You were gone all night! We were worried about you!"

"I'm okay… They got away… I'm sorry…" Was all I could get out, as I felt myself swaying a bit.

"Kate, you look absolutely exhausted! Come, sit down, we'll get Erma to come down here this time," she said, sitting me down, which admittedly felt great.

I waited as Rhythmi scampered up the stairs. While waiting, Isaac came in, and smiled at me. "Hey Kate, way to stay strong last night. You were after Team Dim Sun all night, right? You're a trooper," Isaac complimented.

"Not exactly… Team Dim Sun was gone pretty fast, but their minions weren't…" I admitted, still feeling guilty that they escaped me again. "But, I saw a lot of information for you. The black fog was what turned into that black sludge, like Keith and I originally thought. But what's even weirder was… They had a Haunter that was kept in a glass orb, protected by a ton of spell tags! It was emitting the black fog, and when they put a Golbat in there… within seconds, the Golbat was gone," I said, as I reached into the pouch, and delicately pulled out one of the soul orbs, holding it between my thumb and pointer finger. "And all that was left in it's place, was one of these," I finished, looking at the ground.

"Kate… You're not implying what I think you are… Are you?" He asked, with a look of disbelief.

"Isaac, it's the only thing that makes any sense right now! It all seems to add up to this legend! Besides, they called these 'soul orbs', what else could that be implying?" I asked, too drained to stand and argue my point.

"They could be trying to make us believe in the legend to hide their true plan! There must be a logical explanation; maybe you just can't see it. I mean, you must be tired-"

"Oh, yeah? Then what is it Mr. Know-It-All, what's your superior explanation to all of this?" I asked, in an agitated voice.

"Uh… Well I don't have one as of yet, I mean-" he began, seeming a little nervous.

"Oh, don't you? Then don't criticise my logic until you have a reasonable explanation of your own," I snapped, glaring, and Isaac backed off. I loved Isaac like a brother, but when I was tired and irritable, he really knew how to push my buttons. I wasn't sure how Rhythmi could stand him all the time. "Here," I said, handing him the brown pouch, "You can study these." He took them without question.

Just then, Rhythmi came back down with Erma. "Hey Sweetie!" She chirped to Isaac, giving him a quick kiss. He seemed to relax from that, and the 2 of them chatted while I told Erma what happened in the Marine Cave.

"I'm sorry I let them get away," I finished, looking down at my hands, still feeling guilty about it. If I had just dropped down sooner, before they killed that Golbat, I'd have saved it's life, and possibly kept them from escaping.

"Don't apologize, child. It's not your fault; there were many of them, and one of you. Unfortunately, they got away, but we still have a Ranger at Mt. Silver gathering inside information for us, and we're conducting our own research here," Erma assured me. "Now, get some sleep in one of our chambers. You're in no shape to go home, we won't wake you unless absolutely necessary. Oh, and give me your Styler," she said.

I handed her the beaten up Styler, and went to the chamber, as Erma went to have my Styler recharged and fixed up a little from the beating it took. Before going to bed, I quickly logged on to one of the computers in the chamber. There was an e-mail from Keith, recived only an hour ago. I opened it quickly and read the short message.

Dear Kate,

I'm here in Johto now. I got here safely, and I'm starting my mission soon. I love you, and miss you already.

All my love,

Keith

There was an attachment to the photo, so I clicked it. It was a picture of Keith, with that goofy smile of his, wearing a Team Dim Sun uniform. "Damn," I muttered to myself, "That boy does make evil look good…"

I signed off, and collapsed into the bed. It wasn't long before I was asleep.


I woke up later in the afternoon, and went to the research room. Isaac seemed to tense up when I walked into the room.

"Hey Kate… So… You feeling better?" Isaac asked, still looking slightly nervous due to my outburst earlier. I couldn't help but laugh.

"I'm fine, don't worry. So did you find anything about the black sludge or the soul orbs?" I asked him.

"Nothing on the orbs yet. But the sludge seems to have toxicity to it, which is strange, since the Flareon who ingested it had no internal issues, which it should have. Also, I have not discovered any chemical properties that would allow this sludge to become of any kind of vapour, like the fog you described," he explained, shuffling through pages upon pages of notes and research.

"Isaac, it's definitely the fog. I saw it change while battling! Which reminds me, we'll need someone to clean up that Marine Cave," I thought that last part aloud.

Isaac held his hands up defensively, "I'm not saying I don't believe you or anything! It just… doesn't make sense yet. And I'm pretty sure Erma had the cave evacuated and cleaned once you got back, by Pueltown Rangers, and Boyeland Rangers."

"Okay. Any word from Keith yet? He e-mailed me this morning saying he was about to begin his mission," I mentioned, looking through Isaac's complex study notes.

"Not yet, but give the man a break. He just got there this morning, he still needs to fit in with the others," Isaac scolded. "Besides, any communication will go through our operators first," he added, and I just nodded in reply.

By the end of the day, Isaac and I had figured out more about the properties of the sludge that made it even more unbelievable. One thing was that it had similar properties to the Pokémon, Gengar, greatly amplified, as if Gengar had evolved, even though Gengar can't evolve. The legend Isaac sent me did say the sorcerer was an embittered Haunter that was thousands of years old. It would likely be pretty strong by now, so it does kind of make sense. Isaac wouldn't believe anyone who didn't have solid evidence though.

That didn't matter to me, I'd do my own research, see if I could find any more about that haunting legend that lined up surprisingly well with what was going on. It sounds crazy, but it seemed very possible that the legend was actually true. But I wouldn't jump to conclusions just yet; I had a lot of work to do!

And thus ends Chapter 4! Hope you guys enjoyed it; let me know what you thought! Your feedback really does mean the world to me! :) Thanks to all of you who reviewed already, I really enjoyed reading them, it's great motivation for me ^_^ Anyways, I'll have Chapter 5 out as soon as I can, so enjoy!