Rhythmi POV

"Rhythmi!" I turned around to see Wendy walking towards me. We had become pretty good friends during my time at the Union, and she came up here to see me a lot.

"Rhythmi, I have to tell you that one, Kate is going out on a mission, and two, I have a question to ask..."

"Continue." I said, tapping in a few things on my computer keyboard.

"Does Keith like Kate?"

"Why do you ask?"

"He did not, I repeat, did not, want Kate to go alone to Hia Valley, and also he acts really differently, like weird differently, around her." Wendy said.

"Oh really?... We, as in Georgia, Kellyn, Isaac and I, all had a feeling he likes her." I said, smirking.

"Who's Isaac?" Wendy asked, sitting on my table.

"He went to the Ranger School with us, and he's working at Altru inc at the moment, as a scientist."

"Wow... Apparently they get a really good pay there..."

"Yeah... Hey, I'll talk to you later, I've gotta look after Kate." I told Wendy.

"Yeah, I better go on patrol soon. C'ya!" Wendy ran out of the room, her Staraptor following her.

Kate POV

"Uhh... Rhythmi? How do you get to Hia Valley?"

I was outside the Union, wondering which way it was to Hia Valley.

"Let me check... Go down to the Union River, catch a Pokemon that you can float down the river on, and then follow the river." I heard her say through the Styler.

"Thanks."

I jogged down to a nearby river, where there was a Floatzel. I caught it, and floated down the river on it.

"Hey, Kate, are you in the cave yet?" Rhythmi asked.

"No, should I be?" There hadn't been any other way I could've gone.

"Nah, your little dot on the map just went a bit weird, and I thought it could've just been you went into the cave."

"That's weird..."

I continued down the river until I got into a cave. I jumped off the Floatzel onto where the solid ground started, and let the Floatzel go. I continued through the cave, until I heard a voice.

"Hmmmm... That should keep anyone getting through. By the time the Rangers find out about what we're doing, and get past this, we'll be long gone..."

"Hey... I was thinking... How the hell do we get past?" They we're quiet for a few seconds.

"Shit."

"No wonder we're still grunts... We've trapped ourselves again..."

I walked out of my hiding spot, and recognised the grunts as the two from in the volcano.

"Hey! Your that Ranger from in the volcano!" One said.

"You guys are really, really dumb..." I sighed. I looked at the block of ice that was blocking the way through to where I had to go.

"Well, you still have to get past." Two said.

"That's easy. All I need is a fire type Pokemon or to just climb over." I said.

"...I didn't think of that."

I started walking back down the path where I had seen a few fire types. I caught one and went back to the block of ice. One and Two had sat down.

"Hey, Ranger, look. If you get rid of this block of ice for us, we won't try and fight you, and we won't tell boss about you being here." Two said.

"Hey, why are we making a deal with her? She's a Ranger!"

"And shes the only way we're gonna get through!" I let them bicker while I melted the block of ice with the Pokemon and continued on the path. When I got out of the cave, I started shivering. Rhythmi rang me.

"Your out of the cave, do you want directions to Shiver Camp?"

"I'd rather have a really warm jacket." I said.

"Or would you rather have Keith?" Rhythmi teased.

"Shut up. Just give me the directions."

"Fine, I'm loading it onto your styler now." When it finished loading I said thanks and hung up. I followed the directions to the camp.

"Hey, you're a Ranger! By any chance, do you know my son Murph? He said we should be expecting a Ranger sometime today." A man who was walking past the entrance to the camp saw me.

"Yeah, I got sent by the Union. About a blue stone."

"Ok, follow me. We'll talk about it inside. By the way, I'm Pamur."

"Thanks, its freezing out here... I'm Kate."

I followed Pamur into a small hut.

"Please, sit down." He said, pointing to a seat. He got two cups out of a cupboard and turned on the jug. After the jug had boiled he made us a cup of tea each.

"So," He said, sitting down. "I heard you were here to talk about Murph's necklace."

"Yeah, I am. We've been studying a dark stone at the Union, and Murph went near it. His necklace started glowing blue. He told us to come here and ask you about it, since you have it to him." I sound very official... Maybe that's what Kellyn was talking about back at the Chroma Highlands...

"Well, I got it from an old lady, Mrs Winter, who lives nearby. She made it from a stone she found and gave it to me to give to Murph. She can probably tell you a heap more about it than I can. I can take you there tomorrow, if you like."

"Sure! Thanks!" I said, drinking the tea.

"I can set up a place for you to stay at the Ranger depot, if you want."

I nodded and kept talking with him. After we finished the tea, which had really turned to ice tea by the time we had finished, we walked to the depot and Pamur got the operator to take me to a room. I got some dinner and went back to my room. I was about to go get changed into some pajamas the operater got for me, when my phone rang. I saw it was Keith.

"What?" I said.

"Man, sorry... I was just calling you. you didn't have to go 'what?'" Kellyn said in the same tone as I had.

"Sorry... And why are you calling from Keith's phone?"

"I don't have any credit. Well, how cold is it?"

"You could voicemail me. And it's very cold, even with the heater on..."

"Well, it's nice and warm here. Keith wants to talk as well, so I'll say bye now."

"C'ya. Oh, by the way, I'll probably be back in a few days."

Keith POV

"A few days! Keith'll go crazy!" Kellyn laughed.

"Shut up." I said, taking a break from eating chips.

"I dare you to say that to Rhythmi's face!" Kellyn was almost rolling on the floor laughing after hearing whatever Kate just said.

"Give it here before you break it..." I said, getting my phone off him.

"What did you say about Rhythmi?" I asked.

"About how she missed Isaac... It's probably best to ask Kellyn when he stops laughing."

"Oh well... So..."

"Soooooo..."

"When are you coming back?"

"In a couple of days. I've gotta go see this old lady, then I'll probably have to go find some more of the blue stone. Look, I better go to bed. Night!" Kate said.

"Ok then, night." I said before hanging up.

Kate POV

I woke up the next morning and grabbed some breakfast before going to find Pamur.

"Kate! Over here!" I saw him wave. I walked over to him.

"I'll take you to go see Mrs Winter." We walked over to her house, which was an old log cabin.

"Oh, hello, Pamur dear. And who's this you have here with you? A Ranger?" She asked when we walked in.

"Hello Mrs Winter! Yes, this is Kate, a Top Ranger." Pamur said louder than normal. I assumed she had a hearing problem.

"Hello Mrs Winter!" I smiled.

"Hello dear. What's the problem? I haven't had a Ranger around here for a while!"

"Well, do you remember making a necklace with a blue stone on it for Murph, Pamurs son?" I asked.

"Yes, I do... I remember finding that blue stone as well. That's what you came about, wasn't it? The blue stone?" She asked.

"Yeah, it was. We've been looking at a dark stone that we call the Shadow Crystal at the Union, and Murph's necklace reacted by glowing blue." I explained.

"Oh my... I have a feeling that you haven't heard the tale of the Princes of Almia?"

I shook my head.

"I'll explain then. The tale, it's fading from my memory. Hardly anyone knows of it anymore... Legend has it that long ago, even before it was filled with snow, Almia Castle, which is just north of here, was ruled by a king with three sons. The king wanted peace for Almia but his vigorous sons changed all this. He banished all three of his sons. One in red went to a volcano. One in yellow went to a desert. The youngest prince, one in blue, was allowed to stay. Over the years, the king felt guilty over his decision. Eventually, this caused darkness to consume him, forming the Shadow Crystal, which is what I think you were talking about before... And each of the princes formed a crystal. The blue one is called Tears of Princes... What were the other ones called? Sorry Kate, that's all I can remember..."

"No, this is great, Mrs Winter! Thank you!"

"No, thank you dear, for coming to visit me. The only visitor I get is Pamur nowadays..."

"Can you remember where you got the blue stone?"

"Yes, I got it in the Almia Castle, I mentioned it in the tale."

"May I get directions there?" I asked.

"Yes, all you do is go north and cross the lake between here and the castle. Apparently it's a lot more dangerous now though... So be careful!"

"Ok, thank you Mrs Winter!" I said.

"I'll come visit you later. Bye!" Pamur said, opening the door.

"Goodbye, and remember to be careful, Kate!" Pamur and I walked out the door.

"I think I'll go check out the castle. Whats the quickest way to get there?" I asked.

"I think it would be best just to fly over. Theres some Staraptor back at the camp." Pamur answered.

"Thanks!" We walked back to the camp.

"Don't you want to rest before going to the castle?" Pamur asked.

"No, I'd rather get it over and done with today."

"Ok, stay safe. The castle is very old." Pamur warned me.

I couldn't remember the tale about the king of Almia and the princes... And I had just really skipped over that part in the game while I was playing it... Oops 😅 So sorry about it not being the same as in the game 😊

I've been listening to Three Days Grace while writing this, and I had so many ideas for feels filled fanfics, mainly about how the end of the game turns out. (Don't worry, people who haven't played the game. I'm not gonna spoil anything 😊) But seriously... If I end up writing those... Idk what I would do... There would be way to many feels...

I wonder what would of happened to my music taste if Dad hadn't raised me on Green Day, The Offspring, Linkin Park, and other bands like that... I'd probably have a really shitty taste in music, just sayin...