Pokemon Ranger Crossover Collection

by Riley Sky

Laughter, tears and surprises around every corner with crossovers & original one-shots galore! Each chapter brings something different! Will you recognize a show you love? Maybe enjoy a new story unseen before? Read and find out!

21. Magical Girls

Sky: Zzzzzzzzz…

Chia: *Sweatdrop* Sorry for the long wait! And the fact my author's asleep! It's been a crazy time for her. She posted the last chapter around her birthday so she had to celebrate. Then she had another sick episode that set her back. Plus she sprained her ankle the same week she had final exams.

Sky: *snoring*

Chia: ….lovely. *sigh* Anyways, she got some good reviews last chapter but there were a lot of dislikes too. And most of these people were messaging her directly to tell her how bad it was. Mostly due to lack of romance and more about saving animals.

Sky: Zzz….my…pudding….zzzzz….

Chia: So Sky, feeling guilty, worked hard since her exam completion to write this! In fact, to make it up, she incorporated several things fans have been asking! Someone wanted magical girls. A few people wanted the guys to get turned into girls. And then one of the most popular requests; fanservice. Sky wrote several versions of this story, which took FOREVER, and then posted the one she felt confident in.

Sky: Zzzzzzz…. *loud snore* Shiny…eevee…mine….zzzzz….

Chia: So everyone! Read, review and enjoy!

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Just a little warning, I will be referencing SEVERAL anime's in here. I do not own any of them and I will not tell you what I referenced till the end of the chapter! Ha! Guess what I reference and when!

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Another wonderful day in Vientown. It was never known to be full of action and today was no different. Questing was quite slow. While Barlow patrolled, everyone else attended to whatever it was they wanted. Kate took the opportunity to catch up on her reading. She found a chair in the main room to settle into; ready to get immersed. However, she forgot she wasn't alone.

"Pffft. LAME."

Kate sighed. She tried to ignore her partner's muttering and continued to read her manga. But seconds later, the book was snatched right from her hands.

"HEY!" Kate yelped in surprise.

Keith was flipping through the pages. "You seriously LIKE this stuff?"

"Give it back!" Kate demanded, reaching for it.

The redhead used one hand to keep her at bay and the other to hold the book high as he looked through it.

"Comic books are WAY better than this!" Keith scoffed. "Plus you could've picked something better than this…thing. It's so stupid!"

"Magical girl genre is not stupid!" Kate argued.

"I mean the only good thing about it is the hot girls in cute outfits." Keith said.

"It's more than that!" Kate protested. "There's magic and imagination in complex plots with lessons to be learned! Where else can you find friendship overcoming dark obstacles?"

"Yeah!" Luana piped up as she and Crawford entered the room. "Magical girl genre is so awesome! And…hey is that the latest issue?"

"Yep. I'll let you borrow it after I'm done if you let me read your manga news magazine." Kate offered.

"Deal!" Luana agreed.

"Eh." Crawford shrugged. "I never really got magical girl themes. If I read manga, I prefer comedy and a lot of action."

"A gigantic mechanical robot could kick a magical girl's ass any day." Keith snickered.

"No kidding." Crawford chuckled.

Keith strolled right over to Elaine's work station. He grabbed the blowtorch and lit it up as he dangled the book right over. Kate turned pale.

"K-Keith…don't you dare…" The pigtailed ranger whispered.

"Admit that magical girls are lame and I'll let the book live." Keith smugly told her.

"Give. Me. THE BOOK." Kate growled, furious but still nervous.

"After you admit how lame magical girls are!" Keith sang all too gleefully.

RING RING RING RING!

All of a sudden, Keith's cellphone went off in his pocket. The loud, obnoxious ringtone made everyone jump. As he was startled, the redhead dropped the book right into the flames.

Kate screamed a bit. Her book fell to the ground and had already caught fire quickly. Keith reacted quickly, stamping it out. But it was too late. Almost all of the pages were burnt black and turned to ashes.

"Oh my gosh…" Luana gasped.

"Uh oh." Crawford muttered.

Keith looked at the ashes. Then at Kate. He gulped as he saw her previously pale face flicker to anger. Kate slowly walked forward, right up to him. Her eyes glared straight back at Keith's. With one motion, her hand struck across his cheek.

"YOU IDIOT!" Kate yelled. "That was my favorite book series and I was looking forward to this edition for months!"

"It was an accident!" Keith responded, surprised by the outrage.

"You held a book over a blowtorch! How on earth was THAT an accident?!" Kate argued.

"It's not a big deal! Just go get another one!" Keith reasoned.

"IT'S SOLD OUT!" Kate snapped. "I was barely even able to pre-order this one! Just because I like something you don't doesn't mean you have to go destroy it!"

Kate ran out of the room, cursing. Luana sprang to action and ran behind her, ready to comfort. Keith looked at the ruined manga on the floor.

"Geez. It's just a stupid book." Keith muttered.

His cellphone rang again. With a sigh, Keith answered it.

"Hello?" Keith said.

"Yo Keith! Why didn't you pick up the first time?"

It was Kellyn. Keith almost forgot that he and his partner Seren (OC property of hitachiintwinsfan) were visiting from Fiore today.

"Sorry. Long story." Keith responded. "Are you almost here?"

"Yeah. We had to get boat tickets since the bird migration or something is taking place." Kellyn answered. "Seren and I will be at the docks in an hour."

"We'll meet you there after we get Issac and Rhythmi back from their meeting at the Union." Keith told him.

"What was that meeting again? Something about technology, right?" Kellyn asked.

"No clue, dude." Keith said. "Anyway, see you later."

Keith hung up and put the phone back in his pocket. Crawford came over, assessing the mess.

"You do know Elaine will kill you if she sees this mess in her workspace AND learns you used her blowtorch." Crawford reminded.

"Riiiight…" Keith sweatdropped. "Any idea where the mop is?"

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Flash forward an hour. Everyone was at the docks, waiting for the Fiore boat to arrive. Kate, Rhythmi and Luana were talking over this and that. Meanwhile the guys stood in their own little group a few feet away.

"Maybe I'm missing something but it seems to me that Kate's giving you the cold shoulder." Issac said to Keith.

"She is." Keith mumbled, irritated. "All because I accidentally burned her stupid book."

"You BURNED a BOOK?!" Issac exclaimed, appalled.

"Just a manga book! And about stupid magical girls!" Keith added.

"Still!" Issac responded, still shocked.

"Come on. Even you got to admit that magical girl series are dumb." Keith said.

"I've never read them so I wouldn't know." Issac told him. "But Rhythmi likes them and I respect her opinions."

"Yeah. Cause of your mega-crush on her." Keith rolled his eyes.

Issac turned red for a moment before glaring at Keith.

"Magical series seem to be popular among the girls." Crawford said. "I still don't get them though."

"Girls like stupid stuff." Keith said as he glanced over the water. "Hey isn't that the boat?"

Issac squinted his eyes. "It appears so."

The girls saw it too, looking happy. Kate glanced over to the guys for a moment but then noticed Keith. At the sight of him, she turned away. Looks like she was still upset. Keith groaned. Surely she couldn't stay mad at him much longer.

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Or maybe she could.

"Sheesh. All this drama over a stupid book?"

The girls and guys parted ways. Luana already told Rhythmi about Kate's book and the blonde was ticked off too. They were probably telling Seren as they went out doing whatever it was girls did. Meanwhile the guys were snacking and walking around town.

"Yeah. A magical girl one at that." Keith muttered. "L-A-M-E. Lame."

"I never understood why Seren would like those baby books." Kellyn said. "Heck, I'm tempted to burn those things too."

"Yeah but she'd kick your butt to the next galaxy if you did." Crawford half-joked as Issac chuckled.

"No kidding…" Kellyn shuddered.

Seren did pack a punch. Keith could remember clearly from the ranger school days. Anyone could mistake the raven-haired blue-eyed girl for being delicate. But mess with her? You get a black eye. At best.

Keith tossed a cheese puff into his mouth. "Whatever. They can't be mad forever."

"Hey, that poster looks like the cover of the book Kate was reading." Crawford pointed out.

The guys turned to look. As the afro-ranger said, there was a poster on the side of a bookstore building. It was of several girls wearing fancy, colorful, magical uniforms and striking battle poses. There was a shiny jirachi accompanying them.

"So girly…" Kellyn gagged.

"What does Kate even see in these things?" Keith huffed.

"Would you like to find out?"

A voice echoed. The guys looked around but it didn't seem like anyone was talking to them. People were walking along, minding their business.

"Did you hear something?" Issac asked, confused.

"I thought I did…" Kellyn replied.

"Me too." Crawford blinked, just as puzzled.

"Oh you did."

There it was again. Who was that? As the guys wondered, something floated down in front of them. A jirachi. Actually, a shiny jirachi. Just like the one in the poster! The guys were in disbelief.

"So you don't understand why your female companions are interested in literature regarding magical girls?" Jirachi spoke using telepathy.

The guys were too surprised to respond properly. All they could do was stare.

"I am prepared to show you exactly why it is that the idea of magical girls is appealing to you." Jirachi said. "All you need to do is agree to my contract."

Jirachi pulled one of its shiny red tags off its head. Keith took it and looked it over. There were small letters in gold on one side that took up the entire tag. On the other side, there was a single question. 'Do you accept?'

"What do you guys think?" Keith asked the others.

"Go for it!" Kellyn replied. "Whatever reason girls like this stuff has got to be stupid. We can all have a good laugh about it later."

"Why not?" Crawford shrugged.

"I suppose I'm curious as well." Issac agreed.

Keith faced jirachi confidently. "Then we're in. We accept."

"Very well then." Jirachi clapped its paws together. "Time to get going!"

"Going? Where are we…?" Keith was about to question.

He was stopped by a strong wind blowing from behind. As it did, the poster changed. It turned into a solid white rectangle light. Almost bright enough to blind them all. The wind only grew stronger and more fierce.

"Waaahhh!"

Keith felt his feet suddenly walking on air. He realized he and the others were being lifted up by the wind! And with a snap of the fingers, they were hurled through the white portal.

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"Nnnnggggg…."

Keith moaned as sunlight hit his face. Morning already? Felt way too soon. He wanted more sleep. The bed was super comfy. But it was best to get ready for patrolling. Better to get up on his own terms than have the other Vientown rangers dump cold water on him again.

"What a weird dream." Keith yawned, rubbing his eyes.

The girls getting mad and then ending with a weird pokemon sucking them into a portal. At least Kate wasn't ticked off for real. It did seem pretty realistic though. Maybe it was trying to tell him not to accidentally burn her books or something.

Keith opened his eyes. Wait…this wasn't his Vientown room. This was one of the dorms back in ranger school!

"What am I doing here?" Keith looked around in confusion. "I KNOW I graduated."

He looked at his arm. There was a burn from when he helped save Vien Forest from a fire. That was proof he had graduated. So how'd he end up here again? Keith shook his head. He need to get a drink of water before thinking anymore.

Being careful not to wake up whoever was sleeping in the other bed, the redhead snuck to the bathroom. He found a plastic cup and filled it up. His eyes took a quick look at the mirror but did a double take.

"Wait a sec." Keith paused. "T-that's not me…"

Instead of his face, there was a face of a girl. One that looked very similar to him but with a cuter face and bigger eyes. His red hair was a little spiky and messy but now it went down to his shoulders. Keith looked down at the rest of him. Skinny arms and legs?! Wide hips?! Gigantic boobs?!

"WAAAHHHHHHH!" Keith screamed. "WHAT HAPPENED TO ME?!"

This wasn't his body at all! I-it was a woman's body! Somehow, Keith transformed into a girl!

"Wha…? Keith? Dude it's too early, what's the commotion?"

Keith recognize the tired mutter as Kellyn. Kellyn got up and went to the bathroom to see what the fuss was about but Keith was greeted with another startling piece of news.

"OH MY G-…" Keith froze mid-sentence, frozen with shock.

That did not look like Kellyn at all! There was a girl who looked like him instead! The buizel style was there but there was some wave to the hair and it extended to his chin. His body was skinny and curvy too. And while his bobs weren't as large as Keith's, they were there.

"K-K-K-Kell? T-that you?" Keith stammered.

"What the heck are you talking about?" Kellyn muttered, still sleepy. "Course its me. Now move over. I need to take a good look at this gorgeous face before I get ready."

Keith, still shaking, got out of the way. He was quiet as Kellyn washed his face and then looked into the mirror. His eyes grew wide as they spotted his feminine face. Even more so when they scanned his newly formed girl's body. Add the extra astonishment at seeing Keith. And then came the scream.

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO US?!" Kellyn yelled.

"I HAVE NO IDEA!" Keith shouted. "Aw man….aw MAN this is bad!"

The door to the room burst open. Two girls ran inside. One had straight blonde hair that went down to her waist along with a huge chest, a ton of curves and glasses. The other was super tall and skinny was smaller boobs and extremely curly hair. It wasn't hard to tell who these two were.

"Not you guys too!" Keith and Kellyn exclaimed.

"Afraid so…." Issac sighed.

"How could this happen?!" Kellyn questioned.

"I thought that was clear."

That voice…

The group turned to the windowsill where the jirachi sat.

"You wanted to see why your female comrades took a liking to shojo manga of the magical girl variety." Jirachi spoke. "So I've granted your wish."

"By transforming us into girls?!" Keith growled.

"What gives you the right?!" Kellyn objected.

"Why, your contract does." Jirachi simply answered. "You all gave your verbal consent."

Contract? Keith vaguely recalled seeing the red wish-tag. A gold question on one side with many small printed latters on the back.

"You didn't tell us we'd end up like this!" Crawford pointed out.

"You never asked." Jirachi reasoned. "The contract did stipulate that you could've asked what was going to happen. And you didn't have to agree. You four accepted the contract and this is what happened."

"Unbelievable…" Kellyn muttered, ticked off.

"So why transform us into girls? And why did you take us back to ranger school?" Issac asked.

"This is an alternate timeline of sorts. You're still in ranger school here. Your friends Kate, Rhythmi, Luana and Seren are here too. Their memories are temporarily changed so they think they're still students here. And in this timeline, you're girls. More than that actually. You're magical girls." Jirachi informed. "Take a look at your hands under those uniform gloves."

The guys did just that. They each had a gemstone imbedded into their hands. Keith had a ruby heart, Issac's was a topaz crescent moon, Kellyn had a sapphire star and Crawford had an emerald diamond.

"Those gems are woven into your hands and gives you power. When the time comes, you'll be able to transform into magical girls." Jirachi went on.

"When the time comes?" Crawford echoed, unsure.

"Your mission is to battle shadows that take the form of pokemon called Dim Suns. Keep everyone here in this school safe from the darkness." Jirachi explained. "Each swarm of Dim Suns will get harder and harder until you face the master of all the Dim Suns."

"We have to battle shadow creatures?! AS GIRLS?!" Keith snapped.

"Magical girls." Jirachi corrected.

"Do we return to our timeline and become ourselves again when he defeat them all?" Issac asked.

"That's only part of it." Jirachi replied. "You also have to experience what typical magical girls go through. You learn what they learn."

"Great…" Keith groaned.

"Good luck with this! I'll be around, watching to see what happens." Jirachi then disappeared.

The now-girls guy group was left in the room. They looked at each other. Then down at themselves.

"I suppose we'll be stuck like this for awhile." Issac said. "We'll have to adjust the best we can."

"Adjust?! ARE YOU FREAKING NUTS?!" Keith exploded.

"I don't think we have a choice." Crawford agreed with the blonde.

A knock came at the door.

"Kiki? Kelly? Are you guys up?"

Sounded like Kate. Wait…Kiki? Kelly? Who were they? Before Keith could even ask, the door opened. Yep it was Kate. Luana, Rhythmi and Seren were with her.

"Kate? How'd you get here?" Keith asked.

Kate stared at him with a strange look. "…by walking? Come on, we're going to be late to Ms. April's class if we don't hurry, Kiki."

"Kiki?" Keith blinked.

"Yeah. That IS your name, silly." Kate said. "Wow you must be tired."

"Don't worry about her, Kate. She'll just sleep in the library again later." Rhythmi giggled. "We have to go! Class is in a minute!"

"Run down the halls!" Luana cheered, dashing out the door.

"Wait!" Seren chased after her. "Kincaid's out there again! Hold u-…"

"NO RUNNING IN THE HALLWAYS!"

The remaining group sweatdropped. They started to walk on their way through the familiar school to class.

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One day in class was just like ranger school had been. Except now the guys were girls, they had new names (Kiki, Kelly, Carly & Isa) and they were supposedly magical girls. To the normal girls, nothing seemed amiss. They acted as though everything was perfectly normal. But the guys felt nothing but strangeness everywhere they went. They couldn't look at themselves in a mirror without feeling awkward about it.

"WOO! Fresh air and sunshine!"

Kate seemed to be having a good time outside. She managed to drag Keith outdoors after class was over since it was nice out. Everyone else in the group followed suit. Sun was shining, wind was cool, and everything was peaceful. Keith might've enjoyed it with a nap had he not felt uncomfortable in his new girl body.

"Feels good to stretch after being stuck in a desk all day." Seren said as she stretched her limbs.

"Oooh! Idea! Great idea!" Luana perked up, raising her hand.

"You're not in class anymore Luana!" Kate laughed.

"How about a picnic by the Pledge Stone?" Luana suggested. "It's a perfect day for it!"

"That DOES sound good." Rhythmi agreed.

"I'm kinda hungry…" Seren sweatdropped as her stomach growled.

"Me too." Kate turned to the guys. "Everyone ok with a picnic?"

"S-sure…"

"Cool."

"S-sounds great!"

"Uh yeah."

Rhythmi clapped her hands. "Then it's settled! Seren, Kate and I can go cook. Luana will go get some plates, plastic silverwear and a blanket. How about the rest of us goes secure a spot down by the Pledge Stone?"

"Yeah!" The other three girls seemed to be all for it.

Before they knew what was happening, the guys were left behind.

"Ok…?" Crawford blinked. "I suppose we just secure that spot down by the Pledge Stone?"

"That is what the girls wanted." Issac nodded.

WHOOSH!

A blast of wind struck the group. They looked around to see the place went dark. Dark clouds covered the sky in mere seconds and the wind was picking up as though a storm would approach.

"It was sunny a moment ago…" Issac noted.

"Yikes it got cold!" Kellyn shivered.

Grrrrrrr….

From all around the school yard, strange black blobs seeped up from the grass. They were twisting and turning, morphing into strange shapes. Keith could barely make them out until they were done. It looked like a bunch of gengars with one mega gengar as the head honcho.

"I think these might be the Dim Suns that jirachi was telling us about." Keith assumed.

"I'd say you'd be right." Issac agreed.

The Dim Suns spotted the group and slowly advanced on them. All four guys were back to back as they were closed in on.

"So how do we do this magical girl thing?" Crawford asked.

"I have no idea." Keith gulped.

"Don't tell me we're screwed!" Kellyn groaned.

Closer and closer, the gengar came. They were growling and eye'ing them with their lightless eyes. Keith wouldn't admit it…but he was getting nervous. Would this be his end? Was he doomed to die as a girl?!

Shimmer. Shimmer. Shimmer.

A light caught the redhead's eye. He looked down at the ruby in his hand, which began to flicker. Same went for the others as well. The light shined brighter with every passing second. It soon began to spread into their hands, up the arms and into their girl bodies.

Keith swore he heard cheerful music as his whole being became lighter than air. There were pink swirls surrounding him and stars bursting into fireworks. He changed as the light overpowered him. His school attire changed into a short, strapless hot-pink dress with matching boots and gloves. Suddenly, meowth ears appeared on top of his head. A meowth tailed popped out from his behind with a pink ribbon and bell too. The light soon faded, setting Keith back on the ground and making him perform a kitty-cat pose.

The redhead paused, wondering "Did I just do a magical girl transformation?"

His new outfit and meowth parts certainly told him so. And it seemed the guys went through something similar. Crawford was wearing a short green dress with a black stripe among the ruffled bottom. It sort of looked like something a cheerleader might wear. Over the dress was a lighter green, short jacket plus there were matching fingerless gloves and shoes. The final accessory was a white belt with a green orb.

Kellyn's hair remained the same style but changed its color to blue. His outfit was a strapless white top with a blue breast armor. There was a blue ruffled skirt under. White and blue striped knee socks with shoes of blue. To finish it all off, a dark blue cape.

Then was Issac's outfit. His long blonde hair went into two very long pigtals held up by red orbs. He wore a v-shaped gold tiara and matching lunar earrings & choker. His dress resembled much of a sailor girl of sorts with a ribbon on the back. White gloves, a ribbon brooch and red boots accented the ensemble.

"We look so…so sissy…" Kellyn groaned.

"We might want to save the complaints till later!" Crawford sweatdropped. "Kind of in a situation here!"

"He's got a point." Keith sighed. "Let's get this over with. TEAM! ATTACK!"

…..

"How do we attack again?" Crawford asked.

"No idea." Keith gulped. "This is kind of new to me."

Issac sweatdropped. "Me too."

"Dammit!" Kellyn facepalmed.

"Just try a bunch of stuff and see if it works, I guess." Keith suggested.

The Dim Suns were getting even closer. Crawford had an idea and pressed the green circle on his belt. A green light sparkled and flickered. Just like that, a giant hammer appeared in his hands. That took care of his weapon. Issac figured out his ribbon brooch seemed to contain some power. Meanwhile Kellyn and Keith just had to will their weapons. Keith was envious that the blue magical girl of the troupe got a cool sword. Him? He just had a super girly pink heart-shaped object with a green ribbon and bell attached.

Still…it'd have to do.

Keith held on and instantly was flooded with knowledge about the mysterious item. Three words instantly popped into his mind.

"Ribbon Strawberry Check!"

A beam of pink light blasted from the heart and right at the gengars, destroying them. Girly but it did the trick. Keith leapt into action to keep on shooting light beams. He found he could jump and be as quick as a real meowth. Did he inherit cat powers too?

Crawford didn't take much time to learn his weapon. All he did was swung the hammer and play whack-a-gengar. Kellyn was slicing and dicing away. Issac's brooch gave him good agility, speed and martial art skills. He was using some attack called 'Moon Kick' and throwing his tiara like a boomerang. Each guy had their own set abilities that could take down the gengars.

"They just keep coming!" Kellyn shouted as he took down two more genars.

"The mega-gengar keeps creating more of them!" Issac pointed out. "We have to destroy the leader of the group in order to wipe out the rest!"

The mega-gengar was quite a bit away. He had a ton of his minions protecting him from danger.

"Kellyn! Can you get me closer to the mega-gengar?" Keith requested.

"Can do!" Kellyn gave a thumbs up.

"We'll take care of these guys!" Crawford offered as he whacked another gengar.

Both groups went off. Kellyn led the way through the crowd, slicing a path for Keith to follow behind. Keith was focusing his energy and powering up the bell weapon. Mega-gengar started to fire some dark type attacks which Kellyn did his best to deflect.

"Yo Keith! Go for it!" He yelled.

"Ribbon Strawberry Surprise!"

It took a ton of energy but sparks danced along the edges of the bell, indicating it was working. Within moments, a beam of rainbow light shot out and struck mega-gengar directly. The leader screeched at the light that was disintegrating it. The entire area was blinded by white light before everything settled.

The Dim Suns were gone. The guys reverted back to human form. All was peaceful.

"We did it!" Crawford cheered. "Dim Suns zero, good guys one!"

"Glad that ordeal's over." Kellyn sighed. "I hated wearing a skirt."

"I was wearing a dress! How do you think I felt?!" Keith argued.

Issac sweatdropped. "We're going to have to get used to this. Jirachi said we'll be fighting these guys who get more and more powerful. Eventually, we'll have to fight the boss."

"Which means we'll be here awhile." Kellyn and Keith sulked.

"We're baaaaaack!"

The four turned to see the girls running over. They've gotten the picnic supplies and came running over.

"Sorry we took so long." Rhythmi apologized. "We weren't sure what sandwiches to make…"

"So we made ALL OF THEM!" Luana cheered.

"We as in…?" Crawford gulped.

"Everyone but Luana." Seren clarified. "But what are we waiting around here for? I'm hungry!"

"It's picnic time!" Kate said.

Everyone began making their way across the schoolyard and over to the stairs leading to the Pledge Stone. Keith was still uncomfortable being a girl. And being a magical girl was worse. But fighting bad guys was somewhat cool. Plus he got to hang out with his friends in a familiar setting. Surely, this couldn't last too much longer. Right?

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"Hellloooo? Earth to Kiki? Kiki?"

Keith barely registered the voice calling out his girl-name. He moaned a little and tried to fall back into dreamland.

"KIKI!"

SMACK!

"OW!" Keith jolted awake, rubbing his head. "What the heck?!"

His mind took a moment to reboot. Keith remembered that he had been in the library. He managed to trace the source of the voice to Kate, holding a book.

"You said you were going to help me on our research project!" Kate told him.

"I was?" Keith groggily responded.

"Yes!" Kate groaned. "I can't do this by myself!"

"Alright, alright. I'll get to it." Keith gave in, looking at the paper assignment sheet Kate left on the table.

"You're like a cat the way you sleep all the time." Kate sighed.

"If only she knew." Keith thought.

Keith was starting to adjust to the situation somewhat over the last few days. While he was trying to get used to being a girl, the problem was his powers. Apparently being a cat-girl meant getting some of the cat characteristics. Keith was taking naps more in the library than he had before and could doze off in class. His mind was distracted way too easily. Plus he seemed to love whenever Janice cooked fish.

The redhead started to grab one of the books from a nearby pile and started to skim through it. The research topic was something he'd already learned the first time around in ranger school. That plus experience made it a breeze. Still, he'd have to use sources. No way would anyone believe this was his second time in school.

Read. Write down a note or two. Read. Write another note. The cycle went on. Keith sighed. So boring. That and the quiet atmosphere made him feel sleepy again.

"No!" Keith shook his head. "Stay awake!"

No doubt Kate would hit him again. Keith glanced up from his book to look at his partner. She wasn't much different from the Kate in his own timeline. All that really changed was her memories. Everything else was practically the same. Same hopeful nature, same love for pokemon, same bright blue eyes, same stubbornness, same….

Wait. What was that about the eyes? Keith took a look at Kate's eyes. Huh. They were blue and they had this brightness for them. Clear like a blue, sunny sky. They made her look so sweet and innocent.

"Why am I thinking this?!" Keith thought, confused. "Weird weird weird!"

Why think that about his own partner? Besides…HE WAS A GIRL! That was double the weirdness! Kate was nothing more to him than a friend and a partner. That's it! Still…why did heart pound really hard all of a sudden?

WHOOSH!

A cold wind was blowing through the library. Odd. There shouldn't be any wind in the library. Neither the door nor windows were open. And it wasn't hot enough for the school to crank the air conditioning. Keith felt as though something bad was about to happen.

WHOOSH! CRASH!

All of a sudden, the windows shattered. Kate screamed as the force sent her flying back and she collided into the bookshelves. Her head was hit hard, knocking her out. Keith managed to stand his ground, looking at what caused the windows to break.

Scythers. But not normal scythers. They were black and looked a little blob-ish. As if made of some strange dark goop.

"Dim Suns…" Keith muttered.

Looks like it was time for another battle. Keith's ruby glowed and transformed him into magical girl form. He jumped to the table and out the window; ready to face the army of shadow scythers that awaited him.

"Ribbon Strawberry Check!"

There were a lot of those guys around. It would be tricky handling them one on one.

"Moon Tiara Magic!"

A tiara boomerang knocked several out in a row before turning to its thrower. Keith looked to see Issac had already transformed, joining him.

"Hope you weren't battling alone for too long." Issac greeted.

"Nope! You're right on time!" Keith responded. "Where's Crawford and Kellyn?"

"Kellyn's in detention for running in the halls. He wasn't able to escape. Crawford's going to look for the leader to these guys." Issac told him.

It might take Crawford a bit. Unlike the last bunch, this leader was hiding somewhere. Keith and Issac would have to eliminate the minions. If they got past them, they could cause some seriously damage to the library and school. Or worse, Kate. No way could she defend herself while unconscious. Keith knew he had to protect her.

Suddenly fired up, Keith threw out more pink light attacks to wipe off the baddies. Issac was right there with him, throwing out kicks and tiaras. It seemed harder this time to get all of them. Their sharp claws could slash the team with ease, causing some damage. One managed to get the redhead right on his shoulder. With a burst of energy, he knocked the shadow scythe off him and sent it crashing into the library wall, destroying it.

However, the scyther's landing against the wall had done more damage than thought. The walls shook and bookshelves were wobbling. One of the bigger ones was starting to fall over. And Kate was right under it.

"KATE!" Keith exclaimed.

He leapt back through the window and tumbled over to Kate's side. Swiftly, he pushed Kate away from the crash zone. Instead, Keith took the brutal hit. He cried out in pain as the bookshelf fell on top of him.

"Dammit…" The redhead moaned.

His lower body was trapped under the shelf. Impossible to get out from under there on his own. Keith's eyes found Kate lying several feet away. She was unconscious still but safe. That brought him relief. Thank goodness she wasn't harmed in any of this.

Sounds outside indicated Issac wasn't doing so well out there. It was just him against the army now. Crawford was flying in the air, having found the shadow mega-scizor. His end of the battle wasn't any better. That mega-scizor was tough; a two person job. Issac was too busy to help and Keith was stuck. Now some of the shadow scythers were crawling through the window.

Was this it? Would their journey in this magical girl world be done already? Were they not going to return to their own world ever again?

"HIIIYAAAAHHHH!"

A piercing battle cry filled the air followed by quick slashes. Keith felt the bookshelf turn into piles of splintered wood.

"Miss me?"

Offering his hand to Keith was none other than Kellyn; dressed up for battle and ready to go.

Keith grinned and got up. "Out of detention already?"

"Kincaid fell asleep at the desk." Kellyn said. "And good thing too. I can see you guys need a little help."

"No kidding." Keith sweatdropped.

Together, the two guys blasted their way through the army and back outside to join Issac. The blonde was happy to see his comrades had returned.

"Need backup?" Kellyn chuckled.

"Big time." Issac kicked off a shadow scyther. "Crawford's holding up but he's only managed to weaken the scizor. We need a final attack strong enough to wipe it out. The hammer won't cut it. Something sharp's got to cut through the heavy steel on it."

"Leave it to me." Kellyn smirked, raising his sword. "I got this one."

"I'll help you up." Keith offered.

He grabbed Kellyn's wrist. The redhead wound his legs like a spring and catapulted himself into a high-cat jump. At the peak height, Keith swung Kellyn and threw him even further up. Kellyn used the momentum to fly straight at the scizor. Crawford knocked the leader off balanced while Kellyn sliced up the pokemon good.

The mega-scizor shattered into tiny dark pieces that soon evaporated. All of the army vanished as well. Everything was back to normal.

"Whew…another round done." Keith wiped the sweat off his forehead as everyone transformed back to normal.

"I better head back to detention before Kincaid wakes up." Kellyn said. "I don't want a week's worth of them!"

"Yeah we don't want any more close calls dude." Crawford snickered.

Keith left the guys and hopped back through the window, avoiding the broken glass. Yeesh the place was a mess. Books all over the place, fallen bookshelves, papers everywhere…Janice had her work cut out for her. Hopefully, everyone would believe that the wind caused all this. What other explanation would there be?

Off to the side was Kate. She moaned but was still out of it. Keith rushed over to check on her. No injuries. Just a few bruises. Keith sighed, happy to find she was ok. Still, it wouldn't hurt to have Janice check up on her. Just in case. The redhead picked Kate up and started carrying her to the nurse's office.

(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)

Crawford was sure he'd gotten enough. Several stacks of wood, a few bricks….yep. That looked right. Now to carry it off to a part of the school where no one would look for him.

Issac had proposed that everyone should do some extra training. It could help train them for future attacks and find their own special abilities. Crawford agreed, seeing as how he didn't have too many powers. Just strength to wield a giant hammer and the power to fly. Maybe once he trained his current powers, he'd get more? Luckily the library wreckage from days ago would provide good hammer smashing material.

"Whatcha doing, Carly?"

Crawford jumped a little at the sudden voice. He was sure he was completely alone. He turned around to find it was Luana, as preppy as ever.

"I…uh…" Crawford struggled to think of an excuse. "I'm…practicing karate?"

"You do karate?!" Luana's eyes went big and sparkly. "That's so cool!"

"Uh yeah! I'm not that shabby at it!" Crawford lied.

"So you're going to break all that stuff?" Luana asked.

"Why yes! Yes I am!" Crawford confidently answered.

"Ooooh! Show me! Show me!" Luana excitedly requested.

Oh boy. Crawford gulped, looking at the debris. He wasn't good at karate. Or any form of martial arts. All he knew came from movies. But no time to back out on this now. Luana was counting on him. He could never say no to her.

"Ummm ok then!" Crawford put a wooden plank into Luana's hands. "Watch me split this wood in half!"

With a battle cry, he swiped his hand down and crashed it through the wood. Wow. Clean cut and split in half perfectly. Just as he said. Luana, in awe, dropped the wood and clapped.

"That was so cool!" Luana cheered.

"Well…" Crawford sheepishly laughed. "I guess I am a karate master of sorts."

"Can you break a brick?" Luana asked.

Wait what?

"If you can do that, then it'll be amazing to see what you do to that brick!" Luana said, picking up a brick.

Crawford trembled, panicking. That wood was a huge risk itself! It'd be impossible to break a brick in half! Heck, Crawford might break his hand before he'd make a dent in the thing.

Still…Luana was counting on him. She wanted to see him do it. Crawford hated to disappoint her. With a deep breath, Crawford raised his hand.

The following scene is way too graphic for the writer to write.

Chia: AWWWWWWWWW! No fair! I wanted to see blood!

Please cut ahead a bit and enjoy the rest of the fanfic.

"CARLY! Why didn't you just SAY you couldn't do it?!"

Crawford found himself in the infirmary not too long after. His hand wasn't broken, thank arceus. But it was still hurt badly from trying to chop a brick. According to Janice and some x-ray scans, Crawford only bruised the bones and there was some bleeding from cutting the skin against the sharp corner of the brick. Damage could've been worse.

The hand was wrapped up tight in bandages and Crawford was told to rest in the infirmary bed for a little while.

"Sorry Lu." Crawford sweatdropped. "I-I didn't want to disappoint ya."

"I would've understood. Better you're not hurt than trying to impress me." Luana sighed. "Are you sure you're not too badly hurt?"

It hurt like crazy! Super sore!

"Not really." Crawford lied. "I've had much worse."

"Good." Luana sighed, smiling. She relaxed and sat down in a chair nearby. "I envy you."

"Envy me?" Crawford blinked, lost at those words.

"You're so strong! I mean you chopped that piece of wood in half! And the other day, I saw you wrestling Kelly like she was nothing!" Luana said. "I'm really weak. I mean I love pokemon and I'm always eager to help…but I'm not strong or tough. Sometimes I wonder if I'll even be a good ranger…"

Luana's eyes held a faraway gaze. She looked so depressed. Crawford hated seeing her that way. He never wanted to see his partner upset or hurt. It always made him feel just as bad.

"You're strong! There's not just physical strength you know." Crawford spoke. "You're strong on the inside too."

"The inside?" Luana was baffled.

"Yeah. You don't give up so easily. And you're always in high spirits. No matter what, I've seen you stand up to anything. Against any odds. I always liked that about you, Luana." Crawford explained.

Luana gave him a blank stare for a moment. Then it appeared. That smile. Crawford was smiling as well. He always loved to see Luana's cute smile. It made him feel warm inside. And a little on his cheeks too.

"Thanks for being such a great friend, Carly." Luana said. "Oooh! I'll go get an ice pack from the cafeteria kitchen. Be right back!"

The dark haired girl hopped out of her chair and dashed out the door. Crawford chuckled. Hopefully Luana was ok at ice packs and didn't screw it up like cooking. Still…he'd like her anyways. How could he not?

"Course I can't exactly tell her that." Crawford thought, looking at his body. "Especially when I'm like this."

"Crawford!"

Running right into the infirmary was Issac. He looked a bit frazzled. Something had to be up.

"What's up?" Crawford asked.

"Dim Suns are at it again. In the basement this time." Issac told him. "…wait what happened to your hand?"

"Slight injury but it's cool." Crawford assured. "I can still battle."

"Alright. Just don't hurt yourself further." Issac warned.

With a nod, Crawford jumped out of bed. He and Issac ran out of the room, out to the hallway. They dashed down the stairs to the dark, creepy school basement. As they reached the bottom, sounds of battle were heard. It was far down that the guys had to follow the noises. All the way to Kincaid's lab. Keith and Kellyn were having trouble from the looks of it.

This time, the shadows had taken the forms of banettes. They were launching several attacks before teleporting to different spots in the darkness. It was impossible to tell where they'd go or to track them properly when it was this dark. And the Dim Suns already knocked out the lights, making it that much harder. Kellyn and Keith managed to get some but not all.

"Where's the boss?" Crawford asked as he and Issac transformed. "Is it here?"

"Yeah we've seen it. Briefly." Keith replied.

Kellyn sliced another Dim Sun. "It's super fast and takes cover under the darkness. We can't get to it."

Issac began using his tiara attack to boomerang a good portion of the ghosts. Still, whichever ones didn't get hit were teleporting out of the way. Fast way to get rid of the banettes but they needed to eliminate the one creating them all.

"Why'd the pokemon knock out the lights?" Crawford asked, bashing the hammer into a ghost.

"Now is NOT the time for jokes!" Kellyn groaned.

"No, no! I mean why?" Crawford clarified.

"Ghost and dark pokemon tend to prefer dark places to hide." Issac informed.

"What if we had a lot of light? They're surely hate that!" Crawford suggested. "Keith! You think you can whip up a huge light attack from your bell?"

Keith gave a nod. "Strawberry Ribbon Surprise!"

Pink light blasted from Keith's bell weapon. It brightened up the entire room and the Dim Suns were shrieking in horror. They were all frozen in place from the light. Crawford quickly scanned the room to find a mega-banette, aka the the leader of the group.

"Gotcha." Crawford smirked.

He leapt right into action, readying the hammer.

"Take this! Hammer throw!"

Crawford chucked the hammer straight at the mega-banette. The mega-banette was barely able to react before getting smashed. The impact made it burst into thousands of tiny little black blobs which soon turned to dust. Mega-banette, defeated. The other Dim Suns faded away into the shadows.

"Job complete!" Crawford announced.

"Brutal…" Keith sighed.

"Eh that wasn't so hard." Crawford said.

"Hey you weren't battling these guys from the start!" Kellyn pointed out. "I got my handsome face whacked several times!"

Crawford sweatdropped. "Won't happen again! Sorry! Anyways, I gotta get back to the nurse's office before Luana sees I'm gone."

"Nurse's office? And why's your hand…?" Keith began to ask.

Too late. Crawford was already running out of the basement and back up the stairs, shifting back to human girl guise. He made it back to the 1st level of the school. Now to the…..dang! Luana already beat him. She was carrying an ice pack and a glass of water, looking confused at the empty bed. From the corner of her eye, she spotted Crawford.

"Carly!" Luana said. "Why'd you get out of bed?"

Crawford gulped. "I um…I-I needed to…use the bathroom?"

"Oh ok." Luana smiled. "I brought you back an ice pack and something to drink. Have to keep your strength up!"

"Thanks so much!" Crawford grinned.

"I can't believe my best friend was injured because of me. I feel so guilty." Luana said.

"Don't be." Crawford reassured. "I'll be fi-…"

"Well until you get better, I'll help you out. Ok?" Luana offered.

….a little extra time with Luana was never a bad thing. Crawford wouldn't object to that.

"Ok then." Crawford accepted. "Shall we get started on homework?"

"Great! I'll go get the textbooks!"

(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)

Whew. Long day. Issac wiped the sweat from his forehead as he climbed the stairs to the dorm floor of the school. The last week or so had been insane. A cluster of mega-pokemon attacked from mega-lucario to mega-abomanasnow to even mega-garchomp. Now he and the others just took down a mega-houndoom. Not to mention people almost finding out the four's great secret. Issac didn't want to be found out. He was embarrassed enough to be a woman. No need for the extra attention.

What Issac really needed was to relax. Read a good book or taking a nap would be nice. Though he felt like wanted company. Maybe Rhythmi was free. It was always nice to see her. Whether they had a short conversation or went out for a walk, Issac always enjoyed spending time with her.

Issac knocked before entering the room. "Rhythmi are you…?"

He froze at the sight. Rhythmi was there. But she was wrapped up in a towel. That and steam coming from the bathroom indicated she just had a shower. However, Issac barely focused on that. His brain was malfunction and the face overheated.

"I-I-I AM SO SORRY!" Issac yelped as he quickly looked away. "I-I didn't know y-you'd be…I…er…

Rhythmi chuckled. "It's ok, Isa. We're both girls. Nothing to be embarrassed about."

If she only knew the truth. Issac's throat tightened from nervousness. This was way too awkward and embarrassing for him.

"Close the door please?" Rhythmi requested. "And could you stick around? I was getting a little lonely."

"Sure…" Issac mumbled.

He shut the door and locked it, making sure no one else would walk in. Issac then sat on one of the beds, trying hard not to look at Rhythmi.

"Isa? Are you bashful?" Rhythmi asked. "That's so cute! But like I said, you don't have to be embarrassed."

That only made Issac turn even redder.

"In fact, I should be the bashful one. You've got a much better body than I do. You're so pretty!" Rhythmi said.

"You're more beautiful than I am!" Issac blurted out.

"Awwww that's so sweet!" Rhythmi smiled, touched.

Rhythmi got out one of her school uniforms. Issac made sure not to look while she got changed. Though he was an intelligent scientist, he did feel the temptation. Rhythmi was a gorgeous young lady. Issac wouldn't deny that he had feelings for her. But Rhythmi wouldn't go for his type; whether he was a guy or girl.

"Shoot!"

Issac snapped to attention but still kept his gaze off to the side.

"I can't reach my back so well. Isa? Could you help me hook my bra?" Rhythmi requested.

The genius felt blood rushing through his face as his heart slammed against his chest.

"I-I-I-I…..I d-dunno…you're…I um…." Issac stammered.

"Pleeeease?" Rhythmi begged. "My arms are so stiff from gym class today. I can't reach my back completely."

Issac gulped. It was hard to say no to Rhythmi. Even in this situation. With a sigh, Issac got up and went over to Rhythmi. He was trying hard not to stare at her back. Rhythmi's soft skinned, delicate….

"No!" Issac thought, shaking his head. "Just help and be done with it! A gentleman never looks!"

His hands were shaking uncontrollably. Fingers managed to grab the ends of Rhythmi's bra. Almost done hooking it together…

BOOOOOOOOM!

The window blasted from the wall. Rhythmi screamed. Issac's embarrassment turned to shock as he stared at the hole. Shadowy pinsirs buzzing angrily and ready to strike.

"Dim Suns…" He whispered.

Looks like that's be two battles today. But Issac was up for it if it meant defending Rhythmi.

"Rhyth. Get in the bathroom. Hide." Issac instructed to her.

"Issac…" Rhythmi was still surprised.

"Go!" Issac stood in front of her. "Now!"

Rhythmi did as told. She grabbed her clothes and ran into the bathroom. Now that she was safe, it was time to face the enemies. Issac did a magical girl transformation. He flew out the window and into the air, into the swarm of pinsir Dim Suns.

"Moon Tiara Magic!"

A tiara boomerang throw did some damage to the enemies. But it'd be nice if he had some backup.

"Yo Issac!"

Right on time. Crawford was flying up in the air with him while Keith and Kellyn leapt from trees. They were ready for action as always.

"Time for round two today!" Kellyn called out. "Let's go!"

Everyone was battling it out with the pinsirs. Even with another battle that day, they still had some pep in them. But these pinsirs? Rough. They were extremely hazardous to deal with. Those bug pokemon had very sharp teeth and pinchers with barbs. The claws were also tricky to avoid.

The other guys had good weapons for dealing with the Dim Suns. Keith had light attacks to launch from a distance. Meanwhile Kellyn's swords and Crawford's hammer held up well too. Issac had to put in a little effort. The tiara attack wasn't as effective and his kicks could hurt him if not effective enough. But he still wanted to defeat the bad guys. It was his duty to defeat them. And he had to protect…

"HELP!"

Rhythmi! That was her cry! Issac flew back into her room to see if she was ok. The bathroom door had been ripped away by a mega-pinsir, the leader of the group. Rhythmi was on the bathroom floor, frozen in fear. Issac didn't hesitate to fly back through the window and launch a moon kick at the pokemon. The mega-pinsir hissed, facing Issac.

"I-Isa…?" Rhythmi stared with wide eyes.

"Rhythmi, stay back." Issac ordered.

So Rhythmi knew it was him. He'd have to deal with that later. Now was the time to take this creature down. Issac tries another moon kick. The mega-pinsir was ready and swiped him, knocking the blonde magical girl into the wall. Ok so a little wind was knocked out of him. No biggie. Issac got up again. Mega-pinsir tossed out pin needed. Issac threw a tiara attack to deflect them.

Mega-pinsir would deflect the kick if he knew it was coming. And the tiara would only do minimal damage to the body armor. Issac needed something more powerful to take this one down. He took a quick glance outside.

Keith had used one of his more powerful attacks, Ribbon Strawberry Surprise. That attack took a lot of energy and had been concentrated beforehand. Issac hadn't tries that. Perhaps if he stored energy, he could unleash a new attack.

BOOM!

"ACK!"

Issac was knocked around by the mega-pinsir. He was losing strength. But if Issac could dodge long enough and evade the attacks, he might stand a chance. Still, no telling if the plan would work. It was risky idea. Yet he had to take it.

Mega-pinsir tried using its pinchers to grab Issac. Issac rolled off to the side to avoid it. Half of him went towards focusing his energy. At the same time, he had to use his tiara to fend off the pin missiles and avoid contact by using his agility. Not easy. Issac got scratched several times and was banged up from the constant attacks. But he could slowly feel energy rise within him. Something was building up.

Then, a phrase magically popped into his head.

"Moon Scepter Elimination!"

In Issac's hand, a weapon appeared. A light pink rod with golden angel wings and a golden crescent moon with a red jewel on top. Power was flowing through Issac into it. Another attack came to him instantly.

"Rainbow Moon Heart Attack!"

From the rod, rainbow hearts shout out and struck the mega-pinsir. The power was too much for the mega-pinsir to handle. It screeched as it burst into dark particles, destroyed. The other pinsirs outside soon followed. It was over. Once again, another Dim Sun attack was handled.

"I-Isa?"

Issac looked to the bathroom. Rhythmi was there (now fully clothed, to Issac's relief) and looking confused. She stared at Issac in his magical girl form.

"Are you…?" Rhythmi began to ask.

"A magical girl? Yes." Issac admitted with a sigh. "It's my duty to eliminate these dark creatures."

Rhythmi was silent.

"Just…don't tell anyone, ok?" Issac quietly asked.

Silence. A few moments passed.

"I promise. You're my best friend no matter what, Isa. I'll be there for you." Rhythmi finally spoke. "And thank you for saving me."

Issac smiled, relieved.

"How about we go talk to Janice about getting my bedroom wall replaced? I think I'll need a good story to cover this one up." Rhythmi said.

Issac sweatdropped as he looked over the ruins of the bedroom. Yikes. He did more damage than expected.

"Sure thing, Rhythmi." Issac responded as he transformed back.

The two blondes left the room to go search for an adult. Issac was in high spirits knowing Rhythmi was supportive. She had been even before this chaos began. But it was nice to know in even strange situations, she'd be there. Issac was thankful to have someone like her at his side.

(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)

"Kelly! Give it back!"

"Catch me first!"

Kellyn walked around the schoolyard in a daze. He was too distracted to do anything else but think. His mind was reeling over the incident that happened earlier. It kept replaying over and over again.

"KELLY!"

"Come on! Keep up if you want your notebook back!"

He could feel his face burn from the sheer humiliation of it. It made him nervous and edgy. That was NEVER him. Kellyn would never get caught up in a past moment. But…

"Kelly I…EEP!"

"Seren watch out!"

It happened all too fast. The fall. The collision. Their heads banging together. Both of their lips…

Kellyn shook his head. He wished he could forget it. And while he was wishing, he wanted Seren to forget too. Was she mad? Hard to tell. She looked shocked when it happened. Then she turned away and left without a word. Neither had seen each other all day since then.

"Would she still be mad?" Kellyn wondered. "Will she even come near me after what happened?"

Back in the real world, if Kellyn was a guy, it might've been less awkward. Now he was a girl. Seren was a girl. And that? That was just weird. Yet either way, it sort of felt right. Kellyn might've been tempted to do it in the past but….well…

A scream brought Kellyn back to earth. It was a scream from someone he knew all too well.

"Seren!" Kellyn gasped.

He ran through the yard over to the steps leading to the Pledge Stone. From the top, he spotted the scene. The pier had been destroyed by a gigantic mega-gyrados. In its jaws was an unconscious Seren. Kellyn was pale from fright but soon switched to fury and determination. In a blink of the eye, he switched to his magical girl form and brought out his blade. As he leapt from the stairs to the grass below, he noticed the others coming outside. Good. Backup was arriving in the nick of time.

Kellyn charged forth with a battle cry, jumped up and tried to slash the mega-gyrados with his sword. The Dim Sun used its tail to whack him away, sending Kellyn crashing into the cliffs. Ouch. Heavy damage. Kellyn's head hurt from the impact.

"Hey Kell!" Keith was heard some feet away. "We'll take care of this one! You rescue Seren!"

"Right!" Kellyn agreed.

Saving Seren was a pretty big priority. Kellyn pried himself from the cliffs to go for another jump in. Mega-gyrados spotted him. One of the whiskers caught up and flung him to the ground. The others were beginning their attacks. Light from Keith's attacks did a little damage but barely. Like it was just chipping away. Meanwhile neither Crawford nor Issac's normal attacks seemed to do anything. Issac did have that new attack from some time back though it'd take a while to charge. Time was of the essence. Mega-gyrados was thrashing in the water and would use hyper-beam soon enough.

Kellyn struggled to stand and waited for an opportunity to arrive. He watched Crawford go in for another attempt to attack. Timing it right, Kellyn waited to rise up just before Crawford attacked. Crawford swung his hammer which resulted in little damage. Mega-gyrados cried out and tried to smack him. While the Dim Sun was focused on someone else, Kellyn was able to sword strike the shadow pokemon's fangs.

Mega-gyrados yelled in pain as the fangs vanished and blood poured from its mouth. Seren slipped from its grasp, falling into the choppy waves below. Kellyn dove into the rough waters after her. His partner already slipped below the surface. With the gyrados thrashing and sending the ocean into chaos, she'd sink to the bottom the sea quicker. And with Seren knocked out, no telling how fast her lungs would fill up with water.

Kellyn dove down into the depths of the water, swimming after Seren. Something seemed odd. He forgot to take a breath before coming down….but he was doing ok? Had he been able to breathe underwater all this time? Kellyn, not having to focus on air, pushed himself to get to Seren. His hand stretched out to grab hers.

Taking Seren into his arms, he made his way back up to the surface, careful to avoid the currents. Then, from under the water, Kellyn noticed something. Mega-gyrados had a very hard skin all over him which made the attacks do little, if any, damage. But the underbelly was completely exposed. It was as soft as any water pokemons skin.

Kellyn whipped out his sword again. With fast motions, Kellyn slashed the mega-gyrados clean across the belly. He could hear the screeching as black blood emptied from the wound. As Kellyn started swimming up, the Dim Sun pokemon was sinking under the water and disappearing among the black blood it spilled out.

Exhausted, Kellyn dragged himself and Seren to land. The others came over immediately, seeing them in trouble. Kellyn was wheezing, worn out from swimming so much. Issac inspected Seren for any injuries.

"There's some deep wounds from the gyrados fangs. And she's not breathing. Seren's barely alive." The genius informed.

Kellyn panicked. "Damn it….SEREN!"

She was in horrible shape. Seren was pale and, as Issac said, wasn't breathing. Blood was all over her clothes. Her skin was cold. Kellyn couldn't stand to see her this way. Her life would be over soon if he didn't do something. But what? What could he possibly do?

"Uh Kellyn?"

Kellyn looked up at the guys. They were staring right at him with baffled looks on their faces. Kellyn inspected himself to see what was going on. His arms were glowing! There was a light blue, sparkling aura surrounding his arms and hands. It was a gentle, calming light.

"Did you know you could do that?" Keith asked.

"I had no idea…" Kellyn sweatdropped.

"What does it do?" Crawford questioned.

Not a clue. But Kellyn wondered….would it work? His glowing hands held onto Seren's. The blue glow transferred to Seren. First into her hand and then spread throughout her entire body. The wounds sparkled, sealing back up. Blood disappeared. Seren's skin held a lighter color. And was she…?

"She's breathing!" Kellyn realized happily.

"You have the power of regeneration!" Issac said.

The glow died down. Kellyn automatically transformed back to normal as did the other guys. Seren was looking better already. She looked like she was sleeping off the insanity from before. Good. With any luck, she might think the whole mega-gyrados thing was a bad dream. Kellyn hoped he was lucky enough to have her forget that other thing too.

Even if she did….Kellyn would still remember.

(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)

"AND ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST!"

Keith was dancing around as another Dim Sun pokemon leader was taken down. The guys shifted back to their normal (or what they considered normal that point) outfits. They were leaving the gym building and walking around the courtyard.

"Can't believe you still have energy after all that…" Issac sighed, wiped out.

"Hey, this one HAS to be the last one!" Keith said.

"You said that three times." Kellyn reminded as Crawford chuckled. "WHEN WILL IT END?!"

"Actually, he's right this time."

From out of nowhere, Jirachi appeared.

"We're done? YES!" Keith whoop'd. "We can stop being magical girls!"

"Nope! Not quite yet!" Jirachi corrected.

"WHAT?!" The guys exclaimed.

"But we defeated the last Dim Sun leader, right?" Kellyn asked.

"Yes but you haven't defeated the ultimate boss. As in the one who is controlling those pokemon that were sent after you." Jirachi explained. "This is a boss that wants to shroud your world in darkness and suck the life out of everything."

"So we defeat who or whatever it is, then we're done?" Keith questioned.

"Yep." Jirachi nodded. "Just don't get killed in the process. Or lose. If you lose, you'll never be able to leave. You'll be stuck as girls in a darkened universe."

"No pressure…" Crawford sarcastically responded, sweatdropping.

"When will this ultimate boss appear?" Issac asked.

"Soon enough. I'd start training and preparing for the worst, if I were you. Cause this won't be easy like the others had been." Jirachi warned.

With that, the little star pokemon disappeared. The guys were quiet for a moment. They looked at each other.

"So we do another training session? Maybe right now?" Crawford suggested.

"Uh yeah."

"Sounds good to me."

"S-sure?"

(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)

"Isa? You seem tense. Is everything ok?"

Issac had been out by the Pledge Stone late at night. Though he trained with the guys hours ago, he couldn't sleep. He needed to train more. Something about the ultimate boss just made him on edge. Maybe it was the pressure or the uncertainty of things. He was focused on perfecting his moves and trying to find out what else he might have. That was when Rhythmi came along.

"Oh! H-hey Rhythmi!" Issac greeted, startled.

"Training? I guess you can't sleep?" Rhythmi assumed.

"Yeah." Issac answered.

"Me neither." Rhythmi sat down on the Pledge Stone. "So why all the training? You said you were training with the others before."

After the discovery, Issac was open with Rhythmi about his powers. He didn't mind her watching him train. In fact, he liked the company. Plus she inspired him to find out a few extra moves he had. Of course not all the info was divulged. No way would Issac tell her he was actually a guy.

"Well…I-I found out that all the Dim Sun enemies have an ultimate boss and it's coming soon. At any time, it'll strike. I need to train to take it down before it does massive damage to Almia." Issac told her. "I'm not sure if I could defeat it. I should train for whenever it comes."

"You don't need to worry so much, Isa. I've seen you. You're really strong with so much power. With the others, you'll do fine. I believe in you." Rhythmi said with a smile. "Believe in yourself and you can do anything!"

Issac grinned, blushing ever so slightly. "T-thank you."

"We should probably get some sleep. There's a gym test tomorrow. And if that boss is coming at any time, you need to be ready. You can't fight when you don't have enough rest." Rhythmi advised.

"You're right. I'll go to bed." Issac agreed, turning back to human girl form.

The two blondes went up the stairs together, walking through the courtyard. Issac was still nervous how things might go with the ultimate boss. But he did feel better as he strolled alongside his close friend. In fact, he might be a little more confident.

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The next day was bright and warm. Gym class met outside that day for the athletics test. It was the big test of the year to measure each student's health and athletic ability. Even the non-ranger students had to partake. Kaplan and Claire had marked a path that went around the entire school, through the courtyard, on the path to Vientown and then back to the Pledge Stone where the finish point was.

"On your mark…."

Crawford was with the other girls in the school. Girls were allowed to go first and get a head start before guys intervened. Claire would track girls while Kaplan had the guys. Janice was getting snacks and drinks ready for when the students completed the course.

"Get set…GO!"

The girls took off running. Crawford found he was doing very well along with the other guys. All of the training and Dim Sun fighting paid off. He could easily complete the course in record time. Maybe even make first (second if Keith kept the lead). Still, he didn't want to stray too far from Luana. She was following some a few feet away.

The first half of the course was good. After a while, Crawford finished crossing the bridge outside the school. He took a look behind him. Luana was falling way behind. She was at the start of the bridge. Crawford stopped to wait for her.

Luana, after a few minutes, came and was panting. "C….Carly? *pant* What're you *pant* doing? You're behind…"

"Wanted some company." Crawford answered, running next to her at her speed. "And I had to make sure my buddy didn't fall too far behind."

"T…thanks…" Luana coughed.

She didn't seem to well. Jirachi had reverted to another timeline and changed a lot. Meaning Luana didn't have the same hyper stamina she did back in their own world. All those experiences and training? Gone. Back to her old self in ranger school. And Crawford remembered sneaking a look at her report card. She barely passed gym class back then.

"You…got it so easy…" Luana said inbetween breaths.

"How so?" Crawford asked.

"You have *wheeze* tiny breasts! They don't slow you down….*cough*o-or hurt your…lungs!" Luana told him.

Crawford turned bright red as he caught a look at Luana's chest. He quickly looked away, trying to cool down. Luana's fit of coughing snapped him out of it. She didn't look too well. As if she'd collapse at any moment. Poor girl.

"Lu? Are you ok?" Crawford cautiously asked.

"F….fine…" Luana gasped.

They were at the turning point. Turn around and run back through the woods, back to the school.

"Maybe you should rest for a little while." Crawford suggested.

"N-No way!" Luana refused. "I…I can make it!"

"Your lungs might give out if you keep it up. I don't want you to get sick." Crawford said.

"I….I'll ke-keep…going…" Luana insisted.

"Don't you feel tired?" Crawford asked.

"Yeah." Luana puffed. "B-but I won't give up!"

She had a slight coughing fit for a moment. Then she turned to Crawford with a determined face.

"M-my grade in gym is low…I-I need…*wheeze* to get a good time….or…or I fail gym *cough*" Luana continued. "So I w-won't…give up! I know I can do…anything I set my mind….to, if I try! If I keep g-going…I'll succeed! Especially *cough cough cough* Especially if I've got you *wheeze* by my side."

Crawford was touched. Luana was really trying. She was as persistent and optimistic as she always. Here she was; about to pass out and barely able to breathe. Yet she was confident to get to the end. Plus Luana wanted him by her side.

Crawford beamed. "Well then. Let's keep going! We're going to make it to the end!"

Luana seemed encouraged. She pushed herself a little harder to run the last portion of the course. Crawford was right beside her, cheering her on. He kept watch to make sure Luana could still breathe and not pass out. Crawford almost forgot how a dainty-looking girl like her could be also be so strong. He admired that about her.

"Almost…there!" Luana said.

She was right. They were at the gates. Not too much farther. Crawford took a look at his surroundings. Quite a few kids were in front. But there also some lagging behind. Surely their time wasn't too bad. Maybe they'd still make it. Crawford urged Luana to use a last burst of energy to make the final stretch of the race. Luana pushed herself just a little more…

"Carly! Luana! You have both passed the stamina test!"

Yes! Success! They both made it under the time limit!

"Luana! You hear that!" Crawford cheered. "We made it!"

Plop!

Something was leaning against his shoulder. It turned out to be Luana. She had passed out after all. Her forehead seemed to be hot from an over-worked fever and dripping with sweat. Skin looked a bit pale. Her lungs seemed to be taking in as much air as they could. But Luana had made it. She would pass gym and in no time, she'd be back to her preppy self.

Crawford shifted her into his arms and carried her to Janice for medic attention. He felt so proud of his partner. And inspired by her persistence.

(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)

Late at night. Keith was exhausted from the athletics tests. Sure he aced the running but he forgot there were so many dang things to do. Even if he did pass, it was still tiring. At least he didn't pass out like Luana did. And Kellyn collapsed onto his bed as soon he came into the room. A lot of the other students were probably the same way. Keith wanted to sleep. But first, a shower.

The hot water felt good. He could feel the steam wash away the sweat and dirt he gathered over the course of the day. Nice and relaxing. It'd be much easier to get to sleep now. Keith got his pajamas, dried off his hair and exited back into the room.

Knock! Knock!

Hm? Who could that be? Kind of late for anyone else to be up.

"Kiki? Are you awake?"

It was Kate. Keith put the towel around his shoulders and went to answer the door. Kate was there in her light blue pajamas and with her hair down. Though Keith had seen it many times before, this time she looked…cute. Really cute.

"NO NO NO!" Keith's mind yelled. "She's your friend! And you're both girls! No thinking weird things!"

"So uh what's up?" Keith asked, trying to cool off his overheated brain.

"I'm not able to sleep. I wanted to have some company but Rhythmi's asleep and…" Kate noticed Kellyn asleep on one of the beds, snoring away. "Oh. I guess you're about to turn in too…"

"I can stay up for a few minutes." Keith said. "No big deal."

He left the room, shutting the door. The partners walked from the dorm halls to the common. They went to their usual group table and cushions. Keith got some water from the water cooler for himself and Kate. They were silent for a bit, sipping their drink.

"…did you hear the news?"

Keith paused. "What news?"

"About the disappearances?" Kate clarified.

"No." Keith frowned. "Doesn't ring a bell. What's up?"

"I'm surprised you don't know. Everyone in school's talking about it." Kate said. "During the run, some of the students didn't come back."

"Really?" Keith blinked, surprised.

"Yeah. Six of them, I think." Kate told him. "They were out running but they never returned. No sign of them at all, really."

"Maybe they ditched?" Keith suggested.

"Maybe. But if they did, they'd have to come back to the school. And they really don't seem like the kind of people who would just leave for no reason." Kate responded.

"Who are they?" Keith asked.

"The others are from Kincaid's class so I don't know them. But I know Ponte's gone." Kate answered.

Ponte? Keith remembered him. The green mohawk'd kid people called 'conflicted marshmallow boy'. Not very athletic but always willing to try new things. If Keith remembered anything from their real athletics test from awhile back, Ponte had been one of the last ones at the finish line. He, like Luana, had to sit out on the other test and go take the rest on make-up day. Keith recalled that after this race, he hadn't seen Ponte at all. Nowhere to be found.

"Is there anyone looking for them?" Keith asked.

Kate shook her head. "Not yet. But the Vientown rangers agreed to search first thing tomorrow morning if they haven't shown up."

"Weird." Keith sipped his drink. "I didn't think Ponte was the type to skip out on class."

"He isn't. That's why I'm worried." Kate sighed.

"About Ponte?" Keith responded.

"Not just him. About everyone else at this school. And our friends." Kate said. "I…I just have this bad feeling. Like something horrible is about to happen. That Ponte and the others disappearing is just the first sign…"

Keith noticed the brunette was trembling. She was…anxious. That was rare. Keith knew Kate was strong and full of personality. He almost never saw her like this. It made Keith feel uncomfortable. He silently prayed she wouldn't cry. Crying girls was something he couldn't handle. More so if that person was Kate.

"I-I don't want anything to happen to any of our friends…" Kate whispered. "And I really don't want something bad happening to you, Kiki."

"Er…really? Um, wh-why me?" Keith stammered.

"You're my best friend. It feels like….like we're partners. I feel as though we've been together a long time and have been through so much. I'd hate to be left alone." Kate mumbled, choked up.

"Hey…" Keith slid a hand over hers. "It's ok. I'll be there. Nothing's going to happen to me."

"Promise?" Kate said.

"I swear it." Keith gave her a small, confident grin.

That seemed to help Kate out a little. She smiled slightly. That gave Keith some major relief. It was good to see his partner feeling better. He hated it when she was sad. Keith felt as if he had to do anything to make her feel better.

And now Keith was feeling heavy guilt. It was thanks to his idiotic actions that got him in this mess in the first place. He torched Kate's book and made her upset. Looking back, he acted like a mega-jerk. Keith hurt her feelings, not just the book. He had to make up for it. Somehow, someway. But first was to defeat the ultimate boss of Dim Sun and get the heck out of this place.

Kate yawned. She looked like she'd be asleep at any second. Time for bed. Both of them got up and started walking back towards the dorm halls. Keith glanced at his partner, making sure she didn't fall over from weariness. He couldn't help but chuckle. It was a little funny. And….cute? Kind of?

"Get it together, man…" Keith muttered, face pink. "You can't be in l-…l…."

"You say something Keith?" Kate asked, very sleepy by that point.

"NOTHING!" Keith blurted out. "Cause I'm totally not in love with you if that's what you're thinking! I'm a girl and you're a girl and we're friends and um…damn why am I rambling? What I mean is…er…"

Kate seemed to be paying half-attention. She was getting sleepier by the second. Good thing they were close to their respective rooms.

"You love me? Like platonic? As in best friends?" Kate blinked, lost.

"Uh sure?" Keith sweatdropped.

"Ok." Kate yawned again.

Yikes that was close. Good thing Kate was barely awake. Otherwise it'd be way too embarrassing to deal with. Still, his face wasn't cooling off. His own hands were shaking by the time they made it to Kate's room.

"S-see ya." Keith said.

"Mhm" Kate nodded. "Night Kiki."

Kate went inside and shut the door, locking it behind her. A little ways away was Keith's room. Kellyn was still snoozing away in his own bed. It didn't bother him. Keith had been used to the snoring before. And besides, his mind was going to keep him up with other thoughts.

Keith fell back into his bed, sinking into the covers. "Is that what it is? Platonic love? I care for Kate but in a friend way? Yeah. That's probably it."

Somehow, it didn't feel like it at all. And Keith knew what he was feeling was definitely not platonic in the slightest.

(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)

"Did you hear?"

"That several more students are gone? Totally."

"Really? I was referring to Kincaid!"

"No way!"

"Any idea where they are?"

"No but even the rangers are getting involved in the search. It must be serious."

Kellyn heard all the whispering across school throughout the day. He regarded it as a rumor the day of the athletics tests. But now it was real. And he could see it. Some of the people in his class were gone. Many more were gone from Kincaid's class. Even some of the pokemon around the school weren't anywhere to be seen. Now Kincaid up and vanished too. Where could everyone go?

And if that wasn't bad enough, the ultimate boss was supposed to show up too. At any freaking moment. Kellyn had to be prepared for anything at any moment. He needed to transform at a moment's notice, risk his life and defeat a crazy powerful boss. No pressure? Yeah right.

"EARTH TO KELLY!"

Snapping out of his thoughts, Kellyn whirled around to see Seren.

"Wow you're spacey today." Seren said. "Something on your mind?"

"Nope." Kellyn lied. "Nothing much."

Seren raised an eyebrow. She crossed her arms and tapped her foot, waiting. Damn. That girl knew him way too well.

Kellyn sighed. "Fine. I guess I've got a lot to think about."

"Such as?" Seren questioned.

"The missing students is one. I mean, what is going on with that? Who or what is responsible? And why? Why is this happening?" Kellyn told her. "Something just…it doesn't feel right. Like there's something really off about all this."

"I hear ya. I've been thinking the same thing." Seren agreed. "I can't help but think there's real danger around here. Hate to be a downer here but I feel like something bad is going to happen really soon."

She had no idea she was right. The ultimate boss was going to come very soon. Everything was at risk. Kellyn's chance to go home as a boy and even his own life. His friends fighting with him too. And Seren was involved, though she didn't have a clue. Any chance of restoring everything to normal depended on that final battle.

Seren noticed Kellyn staring off into space as he thought about it all. "Anything else?"

Kellyn wouldn't dare tell her about the Dim Sun attacks and the magical girl thing. Embarrassing enough having to still deal with it. Would Seren even understand?

"Ummm…I-I guess?" Kellyn sighed. "I-I can't say too much about it. Not right now. But there's something I need to do. It's important and whatever happens next all depends on me. I feel so much pressure. I-it's just nerve-wracking."

He paused. Had to catch his breath.

"What if I fail? If I do, then so much would be lost." Kellyn continued. "I have to stand up against what's coming but…it's hard. I can't do this alone."

A hand was on his shoulder.

"You're not alone."

Kellyn stared at his raven haired partner.

"You have me. And you have friends who care about you. We all want to help." Seren told him. "I know you don't seem ready to talk about it but when you want to, I'll be there. Everyone will be. Cause we're a team. As long as we stick together, nothing can hurt us. Everything will turn out ok."

Kellyn smiled. "Thanks Sere."

"Of course." Seren said. "Hey how about we grab some lunch? I'm starved!"

"Same here!" Kellyn agreed as his stomach grumbled. "Race you to the main room upstairs?"

"You're on!"

(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)

Over the next two days, many others went missing. Kaplan and Claire were gone. So was Principal Lamont. Other kids vanished. Even the pokemon were going away one by one. And there were no traces as to where they went. Things just kept getting weirder and weirder. It made the group of friends very nervous.

On the third day, Keith woke up. He looked out the window to see dark skies and high winds. Must be a stormy day. When he tried to flip on the lights, nothing.

"No electricity?" Kellyn mumbled as he was just starting to wake up.

"Nope." Keith answered.

Was there a storm overnight? The power cables could've been knocked down. Class could be cancelled. Still, Keith was hungry for breakfast. He might as well get up and head towards the main room to see what was there. The redhead quickly changed into uniform and went down the halls, to the main room.

"Huh?"

Nothing. It was a dark room with no one there. Not one single person or pokemon around.

"Hey? Where is everyone?" Crawford asked as he came next to Keith.

"No idea." Keith replied.

"You don't suppose…" Crawford's voice trailed off.

Was it possible?

"I'll go find Ms. April. You go check on the girls." Keith said, about to run off.

"NO!" Crawford grabbed Keith's arm. "Have you NOT seen the horror movies? We do NOT split up! People split up and then they get attacked one by one! And the comedians almost always go down first!"

"Right. Good point." Keith gulped. "Let's go check on everyone else first."

They raced back to the other rooms. Issac and Kellyn were just waking up but snapped to attention at the news. Keith and Issac went to Kate and Rhythmi's room while Crawdord and Kellyn took Luana and Seren's door. Doors were both locked which might be a good sign. Might.

"Hey! Open up!" Keith and Issac pounded on the door. "KATE! RHYTHMI!"

Took a moment before anything was heard.

"MMmpth…wha?"

"Isn't that Kiki and Isa?"

"You get it. I'm so tired…"

Footsteps. The door clicked, unlocking itself. And then the door flung open to reveal a groggy Kate.

"Kate! Is Rhythmi there too?" Issac urgently asked.

"Yeah. What's going on?" Kate questioned.

"Something's really wrong." Keith told her. "Everyone else in the school is gone."

"EVERYONE?! GONE?!" Kate exclaimed with wide eyes.

"Who's gone?" Rhythmi yawned, coming to the door.

"Everyone else in the school. The main room's abandoned and it doesn't seem like there's anyone else here." Issac explained. "Craw-…Carly and Kelly are going to check if Luana and Seren are still here."

"Don't worry! We're still here!"

That was Luana. She and the others were coming to meet them. Good. They didn't up and disappear like the rest of the school.

"Are we really the last ones left?" Rhythmi asked.

"The other doors were unlocked and no one was inside. And we haven't run into anyone else on our way to meet you." Seren answered. "I think we're all alone."

"Did any of you check the first floor?" Kate asked.

"Not yet." Keith replied. "Maybe we should. Just in case there's someone else out there."

"We'll split up." Issac said. "Rhythmi, Kate, Seren and Luana should stay on the second floor to look for anyone else as well as clues. There might be something that could give us answers. The rest of us will be downstairs."

"No one separates from the group!" Crawford ordered. "We are NOT going to let anyone die!"

"DIE?!" Luana squeaked, suddenly terrified.

"Ok that's it. No more horror movies for you." Keith shook his head. "Let's move out."

"Be back safe." Rhythmi told the guys, though looking mostly at Issac.

"We'll be fine." Issac reassured.

"Just yell if you ever need help." Kellyn told them.

The guys descended the stairs. They were slightly edgy but it had to be done. There could be something that would tell them what's going on. Plus the magical girl thing was a good defense. And at least the girls would be safe upstairs.

At night, the ranger school would be a scary place. But during the day? During an incoming dark storm with howling winds, chilly air and the fact everyone else has gone missing? Bone-chillingly horrifying. Keith wouldn't admit it but he had a thing against the dark. Still, couldn't let anyone catch on. He had to stay brave. For Kate. Do it for Kate.

A typical school styler had a flashlight feature. That made it handy for the four guys as they looked around. There didn't seem to be anything strange in the library. All the books in their original places, everything neat & tidy. Utterly normal. There wasn't anyone in the staff room. All the papers and files were neat too. It was strange. Keith had been to the office several times and remembered there being messes all over the place. It was never clean.

"Any papers explaining anything?" Kellyn asked.

"None that I can see." Issac answered. "I was hoping we'd find something here that might help us."

"Dang." Keith grumbled.

"We've still got two more rooms to check." Crawford said, then muttering. "And the basement…"

The word basement brought a shudder to the boys. It was already creepy enough before. Now? Ugh.

"Heh…maybe we could skip that? For now?" Keith suggested with a nervous laugh.

"I'm with you on that." Kellyn agreed.

"We should search the rooms on this floor and then report to the girls. We haven't found anything, I say we head to Vientown for help." Issac decided.

"Wait…you know what's weird? That no one else has come to check up on this place or anyone here." Keith mentioned.

Pause.

"He has a point." Crawford said.

"We haven't seen the Vientown rangers…and Crawford and Luana are two of them! That leaves only Barlow! We haven't seen him or anyone else." Kellyn told the group. "If students and teachers started going missing, wouldn't that cause some alarms in the region?"

"It should. At the very least, there'd be people investigating around here. We haven't seen anyone come in or go out of this school. Something's not right about this." Issac deduced. "Hmmmmmm….Kellyn? Crawford? Could you to go outside and try to go to Vientown?"

"You mean to go for hep?" Crawford assumed.

"If you can reach Vientown, get help." Issac instructed.

"We're on it." Kellyn gave a nod before he and Crawford dashed off.

That left Keith and Issac to search the classrooms. What Crawford said nailed into their heads so they stuck together. First, Ms. April's classroom. No teacher. No other students. Nothing. The desks were in their neat rows, the chalkboard was clean and everything was put away. It was as if this classroom had never been touched. The same went for Kincaid's room. No one there. Nothing out of place. And not a single clue as to what happened.

"This is way too weird…" Keith mumbled.

"GUYS!"

Kellyn and Crawford came running back; both out of breath.

"What's wrong?" Issac asked.

"We can't leave." Kellyn answered.

"What? What do you mean we can't leave?" Keith questioned.

"There's nothing out there! Literally!" Crawford answered. "When you get to the boundary between the forest and Vientown, there was nothing. Just this heavy fog. We went through it but we didn't go anywhere. There's no way to get to Vientown!"

"We have to call or help!" Kellyn said.

"The power's out." Issac reminded. "Looks like we're stuck here."

"Damn…" Keith cursed under his breath.

CRASH! RUMBLE RUMBLE BOOOOOOOOM!

There was the sound of a window breaking, then a bigger sound like a wall being demolished. The entire school was shaking as though it was hit by explosions. But what really alarmed the guys were the sounds of their girls screaming.

"KATE!"

"RHYTHMI!"

"SEREN!"

"LUANA!"

All four of them dashed through the hallway and bounded up the stairs. But it was too late. The girls weren't there. Instead, there was an entire wall missing. Like it was ripped right off. Glass and debris were all over the place. The girls were nowhere to be seen.

"No…" Issac whispered. "Are they….?"

"They couldn't have disappeared…" Kellyn mumbled, clenching his fists tight. "They can't…"

Keith felt just as lost and distressed as the others. He felt he had to protect his partner. And he failed. The redhead went over to the missing wall, looking over the school yard. Something seemed off about the sky. It was getting darker, thunder echoed and the winds were very high. And there was a swirling mass of them right above the front gates to the school.

Without skipping a beat, Keith transformed into magical girl form. Using his meowth skills, he jumped off the school building and landed gracefully on the grass. The others followed his lead. Issac and Crawford flew down, helping the flightless Kellyn. They ran across the school yard to the front gate. The sight made them freeze.

The area was very dark and the air almost felt frozen with the winds howling about. Thunder echoed as lightning danced among the stormy clouds. A few feet in the air were four black spheres. Suspended inside, the girls. All of them unconscious and looking like they were in pain.

"KATE!"

Keith started to run forward but was suddenly knocked backwards by a powerful force. From under the spheres, something emerged from the ground within a puddle of murky shadows. A dark pokemon with glowing red eyes and an eerie aura surrounding it.

"Is that…?" Kellyn began to ask.

"A dakrai." Issac finished. "A pokemon known to bring nightmares and darkness. It kidnapped the girls, no doubt. And it might have something to do with what's going on."

"I'm guessing that's the ultimate boss of Dim Sun." Keith said. "Well I'm ready to battle! Let's go!"

"Right!" The other three nodded, just as determined.

Everyone charged forth. Darkrai sent out a dark pulse to knock them back. It didn't faze Keith. Instead, he leapt right back up and readied his weapon.

"Strawberry Ribbon Check!" Keith called out, using his weapon.

A beam of light shot out of the heart-shaped weapon. Darkrai sunk into the ground, making himself no more than a mere shadow. The light attack missed completely. Keith's eyes were barely able to track the shadow before it struck him. Knocked the wind right out of him. Kellyn and Crawford quickly ran into the scene, using their weapons. Darkrai was hit with a few strikes but it barely did any damage. The shadow pokemon used shadow claw to give the guys severe damage.

While of three of the group had been battling Darkrai, Issac had snuck around the battle. He flew up to the dark voids that trapped the girls; right up to Rhythmi.

"Rhyth…" Issac murmured. "I'll get you out of there. Hang on."

He tried using his tiara to cut through the void. Nothing. And his kicks weren't doing anything either. This thing was tough. This called for something more powerful. The blonde warrior began storing up his power…

BAM!

"Waaahhhhhhh!"

Issac was knocked clear out of the sky. He crashed right into the hard ground, harmed severely. And the others weren't holding up well either. They had been battered around and their energy was seemed to be getting weaker. Meanwhile Darkrai hardly had any damage done to him.

Kellyn coughed up a little blood. "Damn…this is rough…"

"We can't give up yet." Crawford flinched at his sore, bleeding leg. "The girls need us."

"Well…I'm not down yet." Keith muttered.

With a battle cry, he made a giant cat-leap forward and summoned all his energy. Issac was right at his side doing the same.

"Strawberry Ribbon Surprise!"

"Rainbow Moon Heart Attack!"

A beam of pink and a rainbow beam appeared from the respective weapons. They were rapidly firing at Darkrai. Darkrai summoned a dark beam of his own to counterattack. The three breams struggled. One side pushing one way only to be forced back by the other. Keith and Issac struggled, trying to make their attacks hit. In the end, Darkrai was the stronger one. He pushed his dark beam, forcing the others back. The explosion sent the guys flying. They crashed into Crawford and Kellyn before hitting the ground.

All of the guys tried to breathe in as much air as they could. Thunder boomed above them. Keith was aching all over. He tried to get back up but his muscles only twitched, unable to move. The redhead was stuck. And it looks like the others were the exact same way.

"I can't move…" Kellyn's body jerked.

"Me either." Crawford spoke up, weakly. "

Darkrai was a few feet away. It's arms were raised and surrounded by a dark, creepy purple glow. The glow the surrounded the guys.

"W-what's…this…?" Keith coughed.

The glow seemed to be sapping whatever energy he had left. It made Keith even more exhausted and his body grew numb. His head was pounding. He had to get up and fight the darkrai off. But he couldn't. Keith was stuck. All of the group was.

From the corner of Keith's eye, something caught his attention. A quick flash of something red. His eyes moved, trying to trace it. Something was up in the nearby tree. Almost like it was watching. Was that…?

"Jirachi?" Keith recognized.

It was. Jirachi, now having been seen, flew over to the guys. It looked relatively calm.

"Jirachi…do something…" Kellyn weakly requested.

"Nope." Jirachi replied.

"What? Wh-….why not?" Issac questioned before moaning in pain.

"Cause it'd interrupt my whole plan." Jirachisimply answered.

"What…plan?" Keith asked, starting to get dizzy.

"My plan to take your energy." Jirachi replied.

"Wait…you're stealing…our energy?" Crawford responded.

"Yep. That's what this whole thing was about." Jirachi said casually.

"W-why? Why would you…?" Kellyn couldn't finish his own question out of nausea.

"Jirachis need energy. Lots of it. We could sleep for a thousand years but it would take too long. So several jirachis, including me, tried to find alternative energy sources. And we did; in humans. Especially teenagers, when they're gaining strength and going through biological changes." Jirachi explained. "If a jirachi gives a human a little power, the power in the human increases. Even more so when used often. So eventually, when the power is near maximum capacity, it's the right time to drain the energy."

Jirachi paused. It hovered over the guys, who were feeling horribly sick from the darkrai energy drain.

"So some of us jirachi's create an alternate timeline world based on the human memories. When the power is given to the selected humans, then we summon fake creatures to battle so the power grows. Then, during the ultimate boss battle with darkrai, he plucks the life force from you and gives it to me." Jirachi went on.

"Y-you're going…to…kill us…?" Keith managed to gasp.

"A small price to pay for energy." Jirachi shrugged.

"You….you would kill us? For…power?" Issac coughed violently.

"There's millions of you humans on this planet. What does it matter that only a small handful perish?" Jirachi reasoned.

"You bastard…" Kellyn growled.

"I did give you the right to refuse." Jirachi reminded. "I gave you a contract and you all gave verbal consent."

"And the girls…?" Keith questioned, his voice weak.

"Darkrai's reward. He wants to eat the dreams and inflict nightmares on people. So I always keep a few extra humans around for him. Once you're gone, they'll join you soon enough."

No! They couldn't be…! Keith panicked at the thought of Kate suffering. He had to save her! Once more, the redhead tried to move. Nothing. It felt like his body was made of lead. And an icy feeling was spreading throughout him. His eyes could barely stay open. Whatever he did see seemed to be spinning. He was getting very lightheaded from the lack of oxygen. Keith could feel the energy leaving his body, drained.

Was Keith really dying? Could this really be the end? He wanted to be a ranger for years to come. He wanted to hang out with his friends and go on exciting adventures. What about helping other people and pokeon? There was still so much to do!

"Kate…" Keith's eyes got watery as the image of her burned in his mind. "I didn't even tell her I was sorry."

Vision was blurry. He barely made out the dark voids in the air. Though it was hard to see, he knew which one Kate was in. He could feel her suffering alongside him. Something in his heart ached.

"…no."

Jirachi glanced down at Keith. "Hm?"

"I…won't go down like this…" Keith spoke. "I…I have to protect Kate…"

The pain in his heart seemed to be strengthening him. His heart regained warmth which spread to every point in Keith's body. The heavy weight lightened. Lungs weren't constricted, making it impossible to breathe. It seemed like the warmth from within was healing his injuries as well. Keith sat up, glaring at Jirachi.

"I'm not giving up." Kate told it, resolute. "I love Kae. And I'll do whatever it takes to defend her."

"And I'm right with you."

Kellyn sat up as well, regaining his own strength as well.

"Seren reminded me about teamwork. I won't let my partner perish and I'm not going to let you save the girls alone." He told Keith.

Crawford and Issac were coming around. Darkrai stopped his attack, glaring with its scarlet eyes.

"We believe in ourselves and we'll win for sure." Issac said.

"We'll keep trying!" Crawford added. "Never give up!"

"Huh. You seem to be tougher than most humans. Your energy will serve me well." Jirachi said, not too fazed. "But you won't be able to defeat darkrai."

All of the guys stood back up, facing darkrai. They were as ready as they'd ever be. This was it. Their final battle. It all came down to this.

Kellyn, using his healing abilities, charged the group to full health. "Anyone have a plan?"

"I feel like I have a lot more power in me than before…" Keith mumbled, staring at his hands and weapon.

"I do too. Keith and I might have something beyond our usual abilities." Issac deduced. "We'll need to charge our energy. Crawford and Kellyn? Could you hold off the Darkrai and weaken it a bit?"

"You kidding? I feel great!" Crawford whoop'd.

"Me too! Leave it to us!" Kellyn agreed.

The two blasted off into the battle once more. Kellyn whipped out his sword and tried to dice up Darkrai. His new agility and speed made it much easier to dodge and land some attacks. Crawford's power in his hammer went up, causing some more damage on Darkrai. Plus it was used as a shield to block off any attacks. While they did get hit a few times, they weren't as affected as before. Darkrai seemed to be doing worse this time.

Meanwhile, Keith and Issac were using every bit of their energy to prepare for an attack. There was something deep inside Keith resonating with his emotions, causing a hidden power to be revealed. Something bright and pure was awakening. It was so strong but so…so calming too. When it hit full power, Keith knew it was time. A look at Issac said he thought the same thing.

"BERRY ROD!"

"KALIED MOON SCOPE!"

New weapons appeared in the guys hands. A pink rod with angelic wings attacked was Keith's weapon that replaced the bell. Issac got a similar pink rod but his had a silver & red tiara on the end of it. Charged up, it was time to unleash their ultimate attacks.

"STRAWBELL BELL VERSION UP!"

"MOON MEDITATION!"

Keith's rod emitted a gigantic pink & white light beam while Issac's had a silver and blue beam. The two light beams crossed together to create the ultimate light attack. One that hit directly onto Darkrai.

Darkrai screeched, slowly melting away in the light. Within mere seconds, it turned into mere particles that blew away in the wind. The dark voids slowly lowered, dropping the girls safely on the grass before vanishing into thin air. The guys went over to make sure they were alright. No damage….whew, everything was ok.

"VICTORY!" The group cheered.

Before they even had the chance to celebrate, the ground below them was a bright white. It swallowed them up and they blacked out.

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"My head….."

Keith rubbed his head as his consciousness came back. He groaned, opening his eyes to the intense sunlight. The redhead was surprised to find himself sitting on the sidewalk in Pueltown, just outside the bookstore. Slowly but surely, the other guys were waking up and looking around.

"We're back?" Issac said, surprised.

"YES! WE MADE IT BACK!" Crawford cheered.

"AND WE'RE NOT GIRLS!" Kellyn added. "Aw man! I missed my perfect, handsome body! Not that I wasn't hot as a girl, you know."

Keith checked his cellphone. "It's only been a few hours since we left."

"Time flow must be different in…er…wherever we were." Issac assumed. "But nothing of consequence has happened. Everything as it should be."

"Wait, where's the girls?" Crawford asked.

As if on cue, Issac's cellphone dinged. He got a text. The slight grin told Keith it had to be from Rhythmi.

"They're at the ice cream store in the west side of town. They want to meet us there." Issac told them.

"Do they not remember the whole thing or something?" Kellyn asked.

"Most likely." Issac answered. "But considering we gender-swapped and turned into magical girls, it might be best if they did forget."

"Agreed." The other three guys sweatdropped.

"Well then! I'd rather be eating ice cream than remember us wearing skirts. Let's go!" Crawford said.

Keith glanced at the bookstore. "You guys go ahead. There's something I have to take care of first."

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Flash forward to late night in the Vientown Ranger base. Keith was relaxing on his bed. He found Kate's manga stash and found the first book of the series she had been reading. The main character's power was very similar to Keith's power in the other world. It did draw him in but now he read out of interest. This wasn't half bad.

Kate exited the bathroom, just finishing her shower. She sighed, relaxed. Her eyes glanced at Keith but then did a double take. The girl was incredibly surprised to see Keith reading a magical girl book.

"Keith? Are you…?" She began to question.

"Yeah. Sorry I borrowed your book without telling you." Keith apologized, setting the book aside.

"No, no! It's fine! I'm just….shocked. You said you hated magical girls." Kate said.

"I did. But after what happened this morning, I decided to give it a try. It's a little weird but not all bad. Kind of interesting." Keith told her. "There's superheroes, magic, plot twists plus there's real life stuff too. Like teamwork or never giving up. I can see why you like it."

"Um…yeah." Kate was still surprised.

Keith took something from under the bed. He tossed a wrapped present to Kate, who caught it. Kate looked at him, then the present. She carefully opened it up.

She gasped. "Keith…"

"I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to burn the book. And I feel bad about making fun of something you love. I should respect you and your interests. So to make up for it, I got you a replacement book. Same as the one you lost." Keith said.

"Where…? Keith, these are sold out!" Kate told him, stunned.

"I have some sources." Keith scratched the back of his neck. "Are you still ma-…."

Kate jumped right at Keith and gave him a big hug. Keith's face was as red as his hair. His body trembled from the close contact and the suddenness of it.

"Thank you so much!" Kate excitedly said. "You have no idea how much this means to me! Of course I forgive you!"

Keith grinned, happy he made things right. Kate let go. She went right back to her bed and began reading. Keith watched her for a little bit. That girl was so cute when she was happy. And it made Keith over the moon to know that he was the one to make her happy.

Still, he was embarrassed. Keith had been on dozens of missions, faced dangerous pokemon and nearly got himself killed. Yet he couldn't confess to Kate his own feelings.

The redhead looked at the book he had been reading before. He remembered the main character was also in love and having a hassle trying to admit it. Manga related more to his life than he thought.

"Hmmmm…" Keith thought. "Maybe this might give me some advice…"

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Ok time for the references! Keith's powers & outfit were inspired by Ichigo in Tokyo Mew Mew. Issac got Usagi from Sailor Moon. Crawford has Buttercup from Power Puff Girls Z (tried Shugo Chara but couldn't make it work). Jirachi was inspired by Kyubey and Kellyn's powers/outfit was inspired by Sayaka; both from Puella Madoka Magica. I own none of these! Wish I did. They are extremely epic shows. You have GOT to try them!

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Chia: And thus, the end of another chapter. Sky would thank you if she were awake! No clue when I'll see you again but you never know when genius strikes!

Sky: Zzzzz…

Chia: Genius might be too strong a word. *grabs the markers* I am going to go jigglypuff on this writer.