Me-Hello and welcome back to Pokémon Ranger: Shadows Of Alima! My Way!

Kate-Back so soon?

Me-Well, yeah! I need to get as much updates in as I can. Besides, winter vacay here is almost over.

Kate-Aw!

Me-I know, right?

Keith-What we doing today?

Me-Graduation ceremony and cutesy KxK moments!

Keith and Kate-Huh...? What does KxK mean?

Naomi-*laughs* You two are so dumb!

Keith and Kate-Eh...?

Rhythmi-NightcoreAddictXx does not own Pokémon!

Me-And read on!


Extended Experience-He surely is. Virtual Pachirisu! :)

Maximum Burst-No, he will never stop. Actually, I was planning for Jayla to come later and KxK will be together at the end (like how every story goes). Well, virtual Pachirisu! :)

Miss Fabulous-I am glad that you liked it. Virtual Pachirisu! :)

PKMN Trainer Crystal-Thank you! Virtual Pachirisu! :)

Max Saturday burns toasters-I know, I know. I know how I said that this will be my way, but I also want to follow the original storyline, as well. By splitting them, I kind of show how their feelings develop and then, when they meet again, they realize how much they missed each other. So, yeah. Virtual Pachirisu! :)

sk8boards4ever-Tangrowth? Okay, I'll be sure to remember that. Virtual Pachirisu! :)

lovelymania101-I am glad that you are really enjoying this story so far. You might as well hold on, because we're going on a very bumpy rollercoaster ride. Virtual Pachirisu!,:)

Rich and Smexy-Yes, he is. Virtual Pachirisu! :)


Kate's POV

To Big Sister,

You're going to be graduating soon! Did you get the news? We're very close to you now because we just moved to Chicole Village yesterday! We're unpacking now. Tomorrow, we'll come and get you after the ceremony. Text when it's done and we'll come get you!

From Little Sis

"Kate! Time for bed!"

I sighed as I folded the letter neatly and I put it back in its envelope.

"We have to sleep now?" I asked.

I had on a hot pink shirt with white pajama pants and red ankle socks.

Rhythmi nodded.

"Yes, it is time to sleep. We have a big day tomorrow, you know." Rhythmi said as she climbed up the stairs on the bunk bed towards the top and she got under the covers.

Rhythmi had on a lilac long sleeve shirt with white pajama pants that had black polka dots on it.

"But...I can't sleep when I know something big is going to happen the next day!" I complained.

"Try to." Naomi said simply before going to sleep.

Naomi had on a beige nightgown with a black stripe in the center.

I rolled my eyes as I turned off the lamp by the desk and I got into the bunk bed under Rhythmi.

"Thanks, Naomi." I said sarcastically.

"Good night!" Rhythmi declared before turning off the lights and everyone went to sleep.


Two hours later, I woke back up. It was just too hard to fall asleep! This always happens to me. Whenever a big event or something bad is going to happen, I just can't go to sleep because I'm very bothered by it.

I let out a sigh as I reached for my phone and I looked at the time. It was currently five minutes to midnight.

I groaned.

"Guh...I kept telling them, but no. They don't listen." I muttered as I quietly got out of bed and I crept out of the room.

I headed down the stairs and I walked out of the building quietly, hoping not to alert anyone.

I closed the door and I began to head to Ascension Square, where the Pledge Stone was so that I could relax and clear my head.

As I headed down the stairs, I noticed Keith looking out at the water on the wooden dock.

He had on a grey and green striped shirt with black boxers.

"Keith..." I whispered to the wind.

I walked over to him and I called out to him.

"Can't sleep, either?" I asked.

He jumped as he turned around to face me. A smirk appeared on his face.

"Hey, Katesie. What, wanted to have some more of this?" he asked, motioning to himself.

I shook my head.

"Nope." I sat down next to him. "In fact, I was coming out here to clear my head and that was when I saw you." I explained.

"I see..." he trailed off.

I looked out at the water, looking at how the moon and stars were reflecting on the water.

"You know, I can't believe that we're almost done here. Just one more day and we'll never get to see each other again. I had fun here. I will always treasure the memories that I made here. Why?" I glanced over at him. "It's because I became friends with people like you." I said before going back to looking at the water and how the ripples warped the reflection of the moon and stars.

Keith had a light blush on his face, but he shook it off.

That was when he leaned in and kissed me on the cheek.

My heart jumped as he pulled away, scratching the back of his head as he looked away.

"You know...you're a good girl, Kate." he admitted.

I smiled as I leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, as well. His face was beet red as I began to speak.

"You're not too bad either, Keith." I told him as we looked out at the water.


The next day, Miss April walked up to the classroom and looked at us.

"Well...class, this is it. This will be the last time I speak to you like this in our classroom. And yes, today is the Ranger School's..." Miss April continued to talk.

However, both me and Keith were asleep with me resting on his shoulder and him resting on my head. Even though we talked a lot about what we did to get up to this point, it still didn't do anything. We ended up falling asleep at around six in the morning and we only got one hour of sleep, since Rhythmi and Naomi woke us up and dragged us back into the building.

That was when I felt someone shaking me lightly.

"Kate...wake up..." Rhythmi trailed off.

I slowly opened my eyes and I found myself leaning over to one side, which scared me.

"Kya~!" I exclaimed as I suddenly shot up and looked at Rhythmi, making Keith fall to the ground.

"Ooooooooh~! You two fell asleep next to each other~!" Naomi teased.

I blushed, knowing what happened, but I wouldn't think that I would find myself leaning off to one side.

"Look, I couldn't go to sleep." I pointed out.

That was when Keith got up from the ground.

"Guh...I'm so tired..." he muttered as he looked around his surroundings.

"Figured that much." Drake said, which made everyone laugh.

"So! I guess that this is it..." Naomi trailed off.

I nodded.

"Yeah." I said.

"No more capturing battles..." Rhythmi trailed off.

"No more ghost stories with the group..." Drake trailed off.

"And no more boobies..." Keith trailed off.

I smacked him upside the head.

"You get to see that everyday, so stop complaining." I snapped just as the bell rang.

"Well," Drake ran his fingers through his hair. "We might as well get going. The ceremony is going to start." he said.

Rhythmi helped me out of the chair and we all shared one more smile before heading off to the ceremony.


Principal Lamont looked at us as we stood up from our seats.

"The Ranger School graduation ceremony will now begin." he said.

"First, our principal's congratulatory remarks." Mr. Kincaid looked over at Principal Lamont. "If you please." he said.

"Congratulations, graduates! I am truly delighted that I can be here to greet this day with all of you guys. Rangers, Operators, Mechanics. Though these paths may take you in different directions, what I hope for you guys is but the same thing." he chuckled, seeing the looks on our faces."Don't worry, I'm not going to say something impossibly difficult or challenging. 'Please don't forget to smile.' That is all that I ask of you. With these simple words, I wish all of you good luck in your endeavors and in everything that you do." he said.

We all clapped.

"Man, this is boring..." Keith trailed off.

I nudged him in the side.

"Chill." I said just as Mr. Kincaid began to speak.

"Thank you, Principal Lamont. Next, let me call upon this graduating class' valedictorian. That would be our best student, Issac." he said.

Everyone went wild and Rhythmi was cheering at the top of her lungs as Issac walked up to where Principal Lamont was and he turned to face us.

"Today, we leave the shelter of this place of learning and nurturing. It is a giant step for us in our pursuits of our long-held dreams. To the teachers who inspired us...To Janice, who was like a mother to us all...To all of the Pokémon that loved us...And to all of the books in the Library!" he exclaimed.

"What about Rhythmi?!" Ponte hollered, which made everyone stare at Rhythmi, who had a blush on her face.

Issac looked over at her.

"And to Rhythmi, who was always there for me, who always treated me kindly, and who always wished the best for me. And I love for you that, Rhythmi. I really do." he said.

Rhythmi's face had turned into a tomato at this point.

Everyone awwwwwed at what Issac said to her and Keith pretended to gag as Issac continued his speech.

"We will never forget. Thank you very, very, very much from all of us!" he declared.

Everyone clapped as he went back to stand in between me and Ponte.

"Issac, thank you for those most moving words..." Mr. Kincaid blew his nose into a tissue as he wiped his tears away. "Next, the conferring of the graduation certificates." he said, looking over at Miss April.

Miss April smiled.

"I would like to call upon one student as the representative of the graduating classes." she looked over at me. "Kate, please step forward." she said.

Everyone went completely nuts as Keith nudged me.

"That's you! Go up there." he said.

I nodded as I began to make my way up there. As I was about to walk up the stairs, the ground began to move under our feet.

Everyone stopped and they began to look around.

"Whoa!" Naomi exclaimed.

"What...What was that?" Issac asked.

Keith looked over at me.

"Kate, did you do that?" he asked.

I shook my head.

"No..." I trailed off.

"Everyone, keep calm!" Miss April exclaimed.

Mr. Kincaid's eyes widened.

"The basement..." he whispered to himself as he quickly walked over to Principal Lamont.

"I'll go see what's going on. The noise came from the basement." he said before heading down to the basement.

I arched up an eyebrow in confusion as Keith walked over to me.

"Why'd Mr. Kincaid go downstairs?" he asked.

I shrugged.

"Who knows..." I trailed off while sighing.

"WAAAAAGH! STOP! STOP THIS AT ONCE!"

We looked over at the entrance to the basement as Mr. Kincaid was thrown across the room and two Tangrowths came out of the basement.

Everyone gasped.

"RUN!" Kaplan hollered as we began to run away from the Tangrowths.

The Tangrowths began to stomp around and make noise.

Keith looked over at me.

"Kate, let's capture them!" he declared.

"Eh?! But why?! We're going to get hurt!" I exclaimed.

Keith pulled me towards him by the waist and he gave me a serious look.

"Kate, trust me." he whispered.

It took me a couple of minutes to finally agree as he let go of me. We pulled out our Stylers and we ran over to the Tangrowths.

"Take the one on the left! I'll take the one on the right!" he hollered.

I nodded as I got ready.

"Capture ON!" he both said as we began to draw circles around the Tangrowths.

The Tangrowths began to attack us and we tried our hardest to avoid the attacks.

"Damn, this is hard!" he exclaimed.

"We'll make it through!" I said as we continued to draw circles around the Tangrowths.

Sooner or later, we finally caught the Tangrowths.

We ran over to each other and he gave me a high-five.

"Yes!" we both said.

That was when he pulled me into a hug, which surprised me completely.

"We did it, Kate. We did it." he said.

I smiled as I wrapped my arms around his neck, hugging him back as everyone began to applaud.

Rhythmi ran up to us just as the Tangrowths left with Naomi and Drake following from behind.

"You guys did it! You two are an awesome team!" Rhythmi exclaimed as she pulled us into a hug.

"Group hug!" Drake hollered as we got pulled into a group hug.

We all laughed just as Principal Lamont began to speak.

"You guys are really awesome. Now, let's continue the ceremony." he said.


Principal Lamont shot Mr. Kincaid a look as Mr. Kincaid began to nurse his head with an ice pack Claire made for him.

"Mr. Kincaid! You're not hurt, are you?" he asked.

Mr. Kincaid shook his head.

"Besides the fact that I just got thrown across the room by a Tangrowth and that I have a huge migraine, I am totally fine." Mr. Kincaid said in a sarcastic voice.

"Okay." Principal Lamont looked at Miss April. "Continue on, Miss April." he said.

She nodded.

"Now, I would like to call up one student to be the representative of the graduating class. Kate, please step forward." Miss April said.

I nodded as I walked up the stairs and walked over to Principal Lamont.

He smiled.

"Kate and Keith. I would love to thank you for coming to the rescue when those Tangrowth attacked. It was impressive to see you two capture those things calmly and with such ease. You two have given a good example of taking charge in a crisis. Now, as representative of the graduating class, I may now present you with this certificate." he said, handing me the certificate.

Everyone applauded loudly and Keith, Rhythmi, Naomi, and Drake cheered as I accepted the certificate.

I walked down the stairs and I went back to my spot in between Keith and Issac.

"And finally..." he walked up to the edge of the stairs. "The time has come to set you all free and let you go off into the vast horizon that is now your future. And in this closing, I will say this once more: 'Please don't forget to smile.' Congratulations, grads!" he declared.

We all cheered, knowing that school is over and we're going out into the world to fulfill our dreams.


Mom, I'm done. Can you come pick me up?

-Kate


K. We'll be there in five.

-Mom


Alright.

-Kate


"Kate!"

I turned around and saw Rhythmi running out of the building and she made her way towards me along with Naomi and Drake.

"You're leaving so soon?" she asked.

I nodded.

"Sadly, yes." I told her.

Rhythmi sighed before hugging me tightly.

"We'll all miss you." she said as she pulled away from the hug.

I smiled.

"I will, too." I said.

"Nooooo! Kate, don't go!" Naomi exclaimed as she glomped me. Me and Drake exchanged high fives.

"I'll be seeing you around." that was when I noticed that Keith wasn't with them. "Guys, where's Keith?" I asked.

Rhythmi scoffed.

"Probably pigging out at the food stand..." she trailed off.

I arched up an eyebrow in confusion.

"What?" I questioned.

"Oh, it's nothing! So, we'll see you around!" she said before running back into the building with Naomi and Drake following from behind.

I sighed as I began to head to the stairs.

"Kate! We found you."

I smiled as I saw my mom, dad, and little sister waiting for me by the open gate.

"Coming!" I called out.

Before I could head down the stairs, someone called out to me.

"KATE!"

I turned around and saw Keith running over to me. I smiled softly as he stopped in front of me, trying to catch his breath.

"Hey, Keith." I said.

"I'm glad that I found you. I was afraid that you left." he said.

"You were looking for me?" I questioned.

He nodded.

"Yeah. You not coming to the dance?" he asked.

I arched up an eyebrow in confusion.

"A dance...?" I questioned.

"Yeah." he said.

I shook my head.

"No." I said.

"Aw...But! Let me just say this to you!" he exclaimed.

I sighed while rolling my eyes.

"What is it now, Keith?" I asked.

"I just wanted to say that the time that we spent in the Ranger School was the best. I have never had so much fun in my life." he said.

"The only kind of fun you got out of that was fondling with my breasts and trying your hardest to act like a perv around me." I stated, which made him sweat drop.

"Okay, okay, I get it. But, I'm serious. I'm glad that I met a person like you." he told me.

"Kate! Hurry up!" my dad called out.

I sighed while giving him one last smile.

"Bye, Keith." I said as I turned around.

Before I could go down the stairs again, I was stopped.

"Kate." Keith said suddenly.

I turned around slowly just as he grabbed ahold of my arm and he pulled me towards him, our lips connecting.

My eyes widened in shock. I was kissing Keith. But, why? Why did he do that?

He pulled away as a small smirk appeared on his face.

"That was so that you will miss me even more." he said, which made the shocked look on my face change as I glared at him.

"Keith...!" I whined as I pushed him roughly, but in a playful way.

He chuckled.

"Okay, okay. I get it." he said, which made me smile.

"I'll see you around, Keith." I told him before walking off towards my parents.

He smiled and waved before walking off.

"Ooooooooooh~! Big Sister just got kissed by a boy!" my sister exclaimed.

I blushed furiously.

"Araina...!" I complained.

Mom smiled.

"Come on. Let's go home." she said as we walked back to Chicole Village, where my new home is.


Me-And that's it!

Keith-Aw!

Me-Why you going like that for?!

Keith-I don't get to appear for a while!

Me-Exactly!

Keith-*pouts*

Rhythmi-*rolls eyes* Whatever, Keith...

Kate-R&R please! If you do, you get a virtual Tangrowth! :)