File 1: Red
A camera flicks on to reveal a teenage boy sitting in a chair. He has light brown hair very similar in style to Red's, but a bit longer, mostly hidden under a white cap. He wears a white shirt under a red jacket and blue jeans. At his waist hangs a belt of Pokéballs.
"Hello, everyone." he greets. "I'm Ryan Freeman, current Champion of Kanto. About a month and a half ago, me and several of my friends were recruited to be Poké Rangers, fighting against Team Rocket to protect the region and the world. We've decided to make these recordings so that on the off-chance that the worst happens, there'll be some record of who we were and some advice on what to do."
"I was made the leader of the team as the Red Ranger." he goes on. As he does, footage plays of him transforming into his Ranger suit. "It hasn't been an easy job, made only worse by the events that've happened recently."
"To understand, you have to know who I am." As he speaks, a panel comes up listing some basic information about him.
Ryan Freeman
Age: 17
Height: 5'9"
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Brown
Hometown: Pallet Town, Kanto
Birthday: July 17? (Don't actually know when it is. This is when I've always celebrated it.)
Ranger Color: Red
Pokémon Team: Charizard, Hitmonchan, Gyarados, Snorlax, Jolteon, Kabutops
"My mother was a scientist for Team Rocket many years ago, much like the guy who recruited us." Ryan explains as pictures of Emilia and Fuji briefly pop up. "Her name was Dr. Emilia Freeman. I don't know the full story, but when I was 2 years old, she abandoned Team Rocket for good, and left me on a doorstep in Pallet Town. I was taken in by Mrs. Simon with nothing but my name written on a small tag attached to the basket I lay in."
"Mrs. Simon, she never made any attempt to hide where I came from." he goes on. "She felt it wasn't right to pretend I was her physical son, but she made sure I knew that she cared about me as if I was. But even still, when you live with that knowledge, you can't help but wonder, why?"
"I spent years of my childhood wondering why exactly my mom had left me there and where she was now, if she was even alive. I had very little memory of her, and it wasn't until I decided to become a Pokémon Trainer and left on my journey that I learned what the uniform she wore in my head was. I had a few minor run-ins with Team Rocket on my journey, back before they became monsters, but I mostly avoided them. I think I was afraid I would run into my mom with them if I got involved. I didn't know for sure she left them at that point."
"See, by the time I had left on my journey I had come to terms with her abandonment, or at least I thought I had. I didn't want to reopen those old wounds. Once I joined the Rangers, it wasn't an option anymore."
"In my time with them, I've discovered that I have a sister who had been kept at Team Rocket after she left, and that my mom did in fact care about me, something I was really uncertain about. I get the impression she left me only because she thought it would be safer for me. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to keep her safe. After Team Rocket captured her, they mutated her into a monster like them, and I had no choice but to destroy her."
"It's been a lot on my shoulders." he says tiredly. "Sometimes I wonder why exactly I of all people am the leader of the team. Because I'm Champion? Surely not; that doesn't mean I would be great as a leader of people."
"Fuji says its because I was the first to step up and volunteer to defend the innocent, but really, I think I just happened to be in the right place at the right time to do it. I think any of the others would've done so just as fast. But whatever the case, I'm trying my hardest to live up to the position."
"I'm trying to keep the others safe. After what happened to my mom, I don't know if I can take losing any of them. But it's been brought to my attention that I do need their help. I can't take on Team Rocket by myself. It's comforting to know they've got my back even when I don't want them there."
"There have been good time too. I helped my friend Rick start the R&R Café after he was forced to leave his old job, and we've been really successful with it so far. Getting to know my sister has been incredible. And there's this girl, Allison...well, you'll see her file. It's been great to get to know her too."
"I don't want to take up too much time, but I do have some advice for whoever's watching this. Should the other Rangers and I fall, do not assume all is lost. It doesn't take Ranger powers to be a hero. Each and every one of you can try to stand up to Team Rocket in your own way. The only way you're not a hero is if you stand by and let them take over."
"And if you do need a bit more power, look into the Morphing Grid. It's this energy field that we draw our powers from. If you can salvage any of our technology, it should give you an in to learn more about it, and perhaps from there a new team of Rangers will be born to take up the fight."
"That's about all the time I have. I'm gonna go ahead and let their others take their turns recording." he says, rising from his seat. "Goodbye, everyone. I hope you never have to actually see this."
File 2: Blue
The camera returns on with a new boy in the same seat that Ryan had occupied. He has longer, shaggier hair black in color and piercing green eyes. He wears a blue t-shirt and jeans. Like Ryan, he has a full belt of Pokéballs on his waist. His arms are folded in front of him.
"Hey. I'm Brent Simon, the Blue Ranger." He greets. His information pops up alongside a shot of him morphing.
Brent Simon
Age: 17
Height: 5'9"
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Green
Hometown: Pallet Town, Kanto
Birthday: October 16
Ranger Color: Blue
Pokémon Team: Blastoise, Raichu, Machamp, Ditto, Rapidash, Rhydon
"I didn't really want to record this." he admits. "But Ryan insists. He says that we don't want to just mysteriously disappear one day if something happens to us. I suppose that makes sense. He usually is right about these kinds of things."
"Me and him grew up together, you know, after he was left on my mom's doorstep. We're practically brothers. It's always been a bit of a, shall we say, competitive relationship between us. Ryan was the best at everything, and I mean everything. No matter what I did, he was always just one step ahead." A slight bit of bitterness creeps into his voice as he says that, but quickly vanishes.
"But that hasn't stopped us from being best friends." he goes on. "If anything, it's made us closer. We're always talking and bragging up whatever we accomplished recently, and when you do that, you learn to really know a person. Both of us recognize that there's no ill intentions behind our rivalry."
"One thing about Ryan, he's not just interested in what you feel good about. He always wants to know what's got you down, what he can do to help." He shakes his head. "It used to drive me crazy how he was always looking for some way to dive in and help me, just like he dove in to join the Rangers."
"Back when we were on our Pokémon journies, he used to give me Revives and Potions every time he beat me. That's just the kind of guy he is. If you ask me, that's why he's perfect as our leader." Narrowing his eyes, he looks past the camera. "Don't ever tell him I admitted that."
"Anyway, I don't have much more to say. Heck, I've spent more time talking about Ryan than I have myself, but I'm a pretty unremarkable guy overall. I made a run at the championship in the same tournament Ryan won, would've faced him in the finals if I'd made it that far, but I lost before reaching it. But I'm coming back next year." He grins. "Get ready, Kanto; you're gonna have a new Champion soon!"
He starts to get up, but pauses as he remembers something and sits back down.
"Oh, right. If we all die." he says. "Whoever's watching this, please, take it to my mom Maria Simon in Pallet Town, so she can at least know what happened to me and Ryan. Mom, if you're watching this, I love you. I'm sorry we weren't strong enough to stop Team Rocket. I hope you make it through this; the world needs people like you. As for everyone else, don't give up. Even if it turns out we can't beat Team Rocket, that doesn't mean they're unstoppable. Fight in any way you can find. Make new Rangers, make something better than Rangers, use you're Pokémon if you have too. Just don't let our loss be the end." After a moment of thought, he nods. "Guess that's it. Bye everyone."
File 3: Green
"...ey everyone! I'm..." A girl with curly bright red hair, green eyes, and a splash of freckles sits in the chair now, leaning forward and looking past the camera. She's wearing a green tank top and black shorts with green stripes. "Is it on? Okay, hey!" Sitting back, she grins. "I'm Tiffany Starr, the Green Ranger. You can call me Ginger." Her information and a shot of her morphing pop up
Tiffany "Ginger" Starr
Age: 16
Height: 5'4"
Hair Color: Red
Eye Color: Green
Hometown: Pallet Town, Kanto
Birthday: February 18
Ranger Color: Green
Pokémon Team: None
"I'm probably about the last person you'd expect to be a Ranger." she says as the image returns. "I haven't done anything else really. I don't train Pokémon and I'm still living at home with my mom and dad, trying to figure out what I'll do. I did win a music contest in Cerulean though; you might know me from there. Well, me and Allison did. I'd like to continue with that I think, but I don't know if she'd be up for forming an official duet. I should probably ask her sometime."
"Getting off track. I work at the R&R Café my friends Ryan and Rick opened. Really, it's because of them that I'm here. Ryan kinda volunteered Brent and I for the position."
"I grew up right next door to the two of them. The three of us were basically inseperable. You could say I was a sort of mediator between them. And then they both went off on a Pokémon journey and left me behind."
"I don't mean to say that like they abandoned me or anything. Both of them called and visited whenever they could. But it's definitely after they left that I started becoming restless and unsure of my life. Both of them wanted me to come along for the trip, but Pokémon battling has never appealed to me. I don't know why. Maybe I'm just too unsure of myself."
"I've never been the most confident person in the world. That's probably where a lot of my struggles have come from." As she speaks, Ginger's face loses its grin and becomes more serious. "I've bounced from hobby to hobby, hoping to find something I can dedicate my life to. For a while I thought I would write, be an author. At a different point it was game design, maybe work for Silph in their entertainment division. Lately it's music, and it's the one that's lasted the longest. The one I have the most passion for. I think being a Ranger has helped me a lot."
"Allison's dad, Kuai, he's an actual ninja!" The grin returns to her face. "How cool is that!? He's been training all of us in whatever he thinks will help, and I've picked up some crazy skills from it. It's really helped me to be more...I guess you would say assured of myself? I don't think that's the best way to say, because the uncertainty is still there, but I can control it better. I can recognize it."
"And on top of that, it's been nice to help. It feels good to be out there, protecting people and doing the whole hero thing. Hopefully we'll be able to get rid of Team Rocket for good someday, but I don't think our job really ends there. The world will always need people to protect it, and if Fuji will let me keep my Morpher, I know I'll always be ready to do it."
"And I've met some great new friends in Allison and Jessica. I've always been hanging around with Ryan and Brent, so it's nice to have some other girls to talk to. Honestly, becoming a Ranger was the best thing to ever happen to me."
"It is dangerous though." Her face returns to its more serious look. "I do realize that the chance is there that I might not make it through. So, if I don't...uh, mom and dad, I'm sorry for the times I was a bit of a troublemaker. I hope you guys are alive and well, and I hope you find safety in whatever state the region is in without us."
"What to do without Rangers...get more help." she suggests. "All you guys running this region, you need to reach out to the rest of the world for assistance if anything happens to us. Because Mewtwovanni, I'd bet he won't stop with Kanto. If the world wants to stand any chance without Rangers, it needs to unite. What's the saying? United we stand, divided we fall? Get together, for the sake of everyone."
"Anyway, I better get back to training." She stands up and stretches. "Hopefully, I'll see you all in a better time without Team Rocket." Waving, she walks off camera.
File 4: Yellow
The image returns with a different girl in the seat. She had long blonde hair and light blue eyes, and is wearing a yellow t-shirt and a black skirt. "Hello." she greets. "I'm Allison Farrow, the Yellow Ranger." Her information and morphing shot appears.
Allison Farrow
Age: 17
Height: 5'6"
Hair Color: Blonde
Eye Color: Blue
Hometown: Fuschia City, Kanto
Birthday: July 9
Ranger Color: Yellow
Pokémon Team: Pikachu, Tentacruel, Dragonair
"I never thought I'd be fighting to save the world." she says. "In fact, I spent a lot of my life trying to avoid fighting."
"See, I hail from Fuschia City, specifically from the clan of ninja that reside there, the Crobat Clan. My uncle, Koga, he leads the clan, and my mom and dad are both high-ranking members. Well, my mom was until she disappeared. Just went on clan business one day and never came back. I don't know what happened to her. That was three years ago. I think her disappearance started me down the path that would lead me away from the clan."
"I was born with an ability last possessed by my grandmother on my mother's side. My blonde hair..." She rubs a strand of it. "It's not regular blondeness; it's a symbol of my powers." Holding up her hand, a soft golden glow emitted from it. "I can heal Pokémon from injuries both physical and mental. And no, it doesn't work on people."
"I discovered this power when I was ten. By that point, I had already been training in the ninja ways of my family for several years. I never liked it. I thought I did okay at it, but it was never good enough. Especially for Koga. My mom explained what my abilities were. I found out later that Koga had actually told her not to do that. He was worried they would distract me from my training. Well, he was right about that."
"After I found out I had those abilities, I became even less interested in my ninja training than before. I was more curious about what else I could do. Pokémon Healers aren't exactly an unheard of occurance; I've met a couple of other people with the same abilities. I wanted to see where that path could lead me. Koga had other plans."
"He started throwing more and more challenges at me, training me harder and harder in an attempt to distract me from them. Combat was Koga's speciality. We used to dual for hours on end, and I could never even come close to defeating him. I'd be lucky if I could land a hit. I'd stumble back to my room, bruised and battered, usually crying. Mom would always sing to me, and it would help me feel a lot better."
"The thing is, it worked, at least somewhat. Maybe it was just determination to suceed and throw that in Koga's face for all the times he admonished me, but I started to get more into my training. And when I did, I noticed something that horrified me. My healing powers were getting weaker."
"At the time, I thought it was just combat that caused it. I'm not so sure anymore; I think it might not be so simple. But I had to make the choice. After my mom vanished, it was clear. Koga would never let me stop and my dad accepted whatever Koga decided; she had been the only one I could try to appeal to. So I left."
"My dad caught me as I was sneaking out. I was sure he was going to make me stay, but he actually decided to allow me to leave, so long as I promised to stay in touch with him. I always questioned whether he cared, but I think I started to realize that he really does. He's just torn between that and his duty and loyalty to the clan and its leader."
"I have kept in touch with him, and he's even come to help us Rangers train." She smiled brightly. "And he never told Koga where I am. That's something I always appreciate."
"I think I've talked enough about my past." she decides. "I'm supposed to be telling you what to do if something happens to us. We draw our powers an energy field called the Morphing Grid. Fuji doesn't know exactly where it came from, but he believes that there are other Rangers out there, somewhere, also tapping into it. If you can find a way to get in contact with them, do that. We haven't been able to yet, no matter how much we want to, but it has to be possible. Get whatever help you can and do your best to fight back until that help arrives. You may not want to fight, but that doesn't mean you can't. You don't have to be combat-obsessed to fight for what's right."
"I'm gonna be going now." she stands up. "We've got a couple more of these to record and it's starting to get late. Goodbye." With a final wave, she walks offscreen."
File 5: Black
When the camera turns back on, a boy is occupying the seat. He has short, spiky black hair, hazel eyes, and a deep tan. He's wearing black jeans and a black t-shirt with a brown vest under it. "Hey. I'm Rick Henderson, former Pewter Gym Leader and now Black Ranger." His information and morphing sequence pop up as he introduces himself.
Rick Henderson
Age: 17
Height: 6'
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Brown
Hometown: Pewter City, Kanto
Birthday: June 4
Ranger Color: Black
Pokémon Team: Graveler, Omastar, Onix, Kabutops, Corsola, Rhyhorn
"I don't know how many of you will remember me as Gym Leader." he continues. "I only held the position for a short time. I didn't want to leave it, I fought hard to get there, after all, but I couldn't perform my Ranger duties to their full while still holding it."
"I was born in Pewter, but my family moved to Cerulean City when I was 9. There, I met a young girl named Misty, and it was from her that my dream started. Misty's older sister was the Gym Leader of Cerulean back then, and Misty was determined to follow in her footsteps."
"It was an ambitious dream, because that's not an easy position to obtain. If you don't realize, there are only 8 Gym Leaders in the region, each personally selected by the Elite Four. You pretty much have to wait until one of them decides to leave their position and then you have a shot. They can do that whenever they want; some only stay for a few years before moving on to other things, while others stay their whole life."
"Misty's dreams inspired my own. Before I had wanted to be a sailor, but the idea of a Gym Leader, this person who is one of a select few, takes care of the region, and serves as a challenge for aspiring Pokémon Trainers, had a glamorous appeal to it that I couldn't resist."
"Misty and I became best friends, and eventually, we both managed to achieve our dreams. Misty was the first to do so. When we were 16, her sister left her position to become a model, and left a recommendation with the Elite Four that Misty take her place. We practiced Pokémon battling for hours on end leading up to her test, and she passed with flying colors. A year later, my chance came, but I didn't have such an easy in."
"I had no connection to old man Winston, the Flying-type specialist who served as Pewter Gym Leader before me, and he didn't leave the position. He passed away, leaving no recommendations for a replacement. So, it was an open trial. Loads of people applied, but I was determined to win it. Misty helped me hone my skills as much as possible just as I had done for her. Competition was fierce, and sometimes underhanded. There was this one guy, Roland, who tried to spread rumors about me. That I was an underage alcoholic, that I used illegal substances to boost my Pokémon; all kinds of stuff. Misty helped me with that too. We tailed in him turn for days until we got recorded evidence proving that he was just making it up."
"When it was all done and the Elite Four announced my name as their pick, that was the proudest moment of my life. But, then the Rangers came into the picture and everything changed."
"I haven't talked to Misty since joining the Rangers. I don't...I just worry about how she'll react to me leaving my Gym Leader position so soon, after all it took to get me there. I should probably call her up sometime, but then again, how will I explain it? I can't exactly just tell her I'm a Ranger; that's supposed to be secret."
"My cousin Brock is currently the Gym Leader of Pewter; I left a recommendation of him before leaving. Maybe someday I'll return." he says thoughtfully. "When all this wraps up and Team Rocket is no more, maybe I can apply for a new Gym Leader position if one opens up. I would like to. I enjoyed what I did for that short time. I've never heard of a Gym Leader leaving and coming back later, but there's no rule against it. Who knows what could happen?"
"But on the other hand, maybe I won't get that chance. Maybe Team Rocket will take me out before we can do the same to them. If that happens, I want to say, stay safe. Don't let Team Rocket take over by any means, but don't just run in swinging and throwing Pokéballs at them. Do some research, find a weapon or force that can stand up to them. Don't ever give up hope; I would never tell you that. But be smart about what you do, please. Don't risk your life in a reckless fool's errand. And mom, dad, Misty, Brock, I hope you all are safe, and I hope even more that you are all working to find a better way that we were."
"Goodbye, everyone, and don't worry." he said. "No matter what happens, we're going to show Team Rocket that the world isn't so easy to conquer."
File 6: Violet
The camera returns one final time to show a girl slightly older than the others sitting in the chair. She has brown eyes and black hair with purple ends. She wears a lavender shirt with a black jacket over it and a black miniskirt.
"Guess I'm last. I'm Jessica Freeman, the Violet Ranger. If you remember the Rocket Ranger, that was also me. You see, I used to work for Team Rocket." As she speaks, her information and a shot of her morphing appears.
Jessica Freeman
Age: 19
Height: 6'1"
Hair Color: Black w/ Purple Ends
Eye Color: Brown
Hometown: Celadon City, Kanto
Birthday: February 21
Ranger Color: Violet
Pokémon Team: Arbok, Umbreon, Golbat, Sandslash, Lapras, Pinsir
"Ryan's probably already told you about our mother, so I won't waste time rehashing that. I'll give you my side of the story. When I was four, Giovanni, the leader of Team Rocket, took me out on a mission to Mt. Silver. He said something about an experiment and retrieving a rare Pokémon. All fairly standard stuff, but I was four. I didn't know anything about it."
"While we were out there, we ran into a Pokémon Giovanni had been hoping to avoid. It was...ferocious. We tried to flee for our lives, but my memory gets blurry at that point. I don't know how we got off the mountain alive, but apparently it has something to do with me."
"I woke up a few days later back at Team Rocket's base, where Giovanni told me a lot of stuff. Firstly he told me that my mother had taken my little brother and abandoned the team. I didn't have many memories of him; I didn't even realize it was Ryan until I heard him mention our mom's name. But Giovanni assured me he would always take care of me. He said I had saved his life out on that mountain. I didn't know what to think."
"From there, he raised me like his own kid, for a while. At least until I got old enough to really think and judge for myself. From there, things got rougher."
"There came a point where I started to question whether Team Rocket was the place for me. Some of the stuff they did, a lot of the stuff they did, didn't sit well with me. They performed experiments like you would not believe; I lost count of how many Pokémon I saw die from them. I saw people die too, people who got in their way or knew too much about them. Giovanni didn't seem to have much of a concept of mercy."
"But I stuck with them. Maybe it was out of some misguided sense of loyalty for taking care of me all those years, or maybe I just didn't think I had anywhere else to go, but whatever the case, no matter how often I considered leaving, I always stayed."
"Then, a lab accident transformed Giovanni into Mewtwovanni. By that point I had been raised to the position of Admin, meaning my authority in the team was only surpassed by Giovanni himself. There were two others, Ralph and Patricia, and he immediately had them mutated into creatures like himself. For some reason, he didn't do so to me. I never figured out exactly why, but I have to assume it's because he didn't trust me, what with how often I talked about leaving him."
"It was about a year after that point that the Rangers were formed and our battle with them began. I started making my own plans behind his back against them, such as going undercover at the café Ryan and Rick opened to spy on them up close. It was a mistake. Giovanni was a control freak, he hated anybody doing anything without his permission, and when he transformed, that got taken up to eleven. But I was in such a habit of doing so; back when he was human, he had always looked the other way when it was me doing it."
"When I discovered the Rangers were going to add a sixth member, I immediately moved to have the Morpher stolen. That was when Mewtwovanni turned on me and let his anger at me going behind his back fly. He used this mind control device in the back of my head to ensure my loyalty and after he modified the technology, I became the Rocket Ranger."
"With my new powers, I helped fight the Rangers for some time until the device controlling me was destroyed in battle. But even after that, I still went back. I was confused and unsure of what to do, so I went to the only place I could think of as home."
"When I returned, they tried to mind control me again and I fled. Persia, Patricia's mutated form, pursued me. We had never gotten along, even back when she was human, and she took my fleeing as an opportunity for vengeance. If it wasn't for the Rangers, I would've died at her hands."
"After they saved me, I stayed with them for several days. And despite them now realizing I had spied on them and tried to kill them repeatedly, they accepted me. They seemed to still think of me as a friend even after the truth came out. Maybe it was because i was injured; it's easier to love a wounded animal than one that's snapping at you. But whatever the case, it was my turning point."
"When Persia returned and had the Rangers on the ropes, Fuji offered me an altered version of my old Morpher and I accepted, joining the team as the Violet Ranger."
"So yeah, that's my story." She frowns. "Hopefully, we can stop my old team from taking over, but if we can't, if we fall, I more than anything want to apologize to everyone out there. More than anyone, I feel like it's my fault it's come to this. The others have just not been strong enough; I actually helped Team Rocket get here. I wish I could take it back, but now all I can do is tell you to survive as best you can. Maybe flee to another region, find safety, and from there come up with a plan to strike back."
"The lab where we're based out of is right near Pallet Town. It's like a 20 minute walk to the west, out in the woods. if you can find it, do so and take anything you can. Whether its data or weapons, it will help you stand a better chance in some way."
"We're going to seal these recordings in a special capsule Fuji designed and hide them somewhere safe in Kanto. In the event that all six of our Morphers' signals are lost for more than 24 hours, the capsule will open and make its presence known. I hope they sit there gathering dust, but if you're hearing this...well, then I guess what I wish doesn't matter anymore."
"Goodbye everyone. Apologies once again, and good luck."
(A/N: Well, it's not exactly the Q&A, but I think I covered the questions asked. It also let me share some more detail and information about the Rangers and their stories, so that's cool. Anyway, on with the next chapter!)