Shadows of Almia

Mini – Just a Professional Working Relationship

Chapter 21 – With Exploding Passion

Keith sprung up from the floor, massaging his head. His face was wet, and a mischievous orange otter was grinning up at him. Keith chuckled and then petted his Partner. He bounded for the corridor of the apartment where he knocked on a door. No one answered, and with a sigh to himself, he pushed open the door to see that Kate was still asleep, blankets sprawled all over the bed. She must have tossed an turned all night. He wondered what in the world kept her up all day.

He walked across the room to her bedside, and shook her awake. The image of what happened when he tried to wake her up was still etched in his memory. The first time he did it, which was a few weeks ago, she sprung out of bed and tackling him to the floor, in the most discomforting positions he's ever been in, aside from falling plat on Kate when he thought that the stove was going to explode. That aside, he hoped she wouldn't kill him if he shook her.

Her eyes snapped open, and she looked at him with an offended expression. Keith laughed, and tried to play it safe.

"Hey, it's the morning," He said. Kate then got up without saying a word and headed for the bathroom to brush her teeth. Keith merely laughed at how quick she was to adjust to being awakened a bit rudely, or the fact that she wasn't at all troubled that he was in her home. It was becoming a weekly habit for him to crash at Kate's flat every Friday. It didn't matter if he was on break or not, he managed to come to her door promptly at seven in the afternoon. Luckily, Buizel would always tag along with him and would never have to miss Friday dinner again. The redhead's partner made sure of that.

Breakfast was just as normal, with Keith taking hole of the kitchen and making something decent to cook. So far, the only thing Kate could cook properly was that vegetable soup, and nothing else, much to their dismay. Both of them were already dressed in uniform already. Kate was checking things on her Styler while Keith was gulping down his glass of milk. Buizel and Starly were busy eating their respective breakfasts.

"We're only on patrol again," Kate said, shutting the Styler closed and slapping it over her wrist. "I've got a few quests a bit farther away than Union Pass."

"Really?" Keith asked. "Where?"

"Hia Valley," She answered flatly, and she went back to her room to get something. She came back dressed in a jacket and long pants. They were all in Ranger colors, so Keith assumed that she was given them before the mission to get the Blue Gem.

"Do I get one of those?" He pointed at the jacket, and Kate raised an eyebrow at him.

"You want to come with me to go to Hia Valley?" She asked, and Keith nodded. She then tossed him a windbreaker and snowboarding pants. "Get dressed then. Those are my cousin's old clothes, so don't do anything to them."

"Gotcha," Keith nodded, and then looked at them in confusion. "Is your cousin a girl?"

"No, he's a guy," Kate answered. "We don't talk very much."

"Then why do you have guy clothes in your closet?" Keith put on the windbreaker. As for the pants, he'll have to go to the bathroom and change.

"My cousin wanted to give them to Basil," Kate said bitterly. "But because none of these fits my brother, he just pushed the entire load to me, and told me to keep it for Basil when he got older."

"Well," Keith laughed. "Does this mean I get a stash of clothes to use whenever I crash at your place?"

"No, they're Basil's," Kate said, and she looked at him, seeing he was not even ready to go. "Hurry up and get those pants on. I'm leaving in five minutes."

"Oh, right!" Keith nodded before dashing to the bathroom. As soon as he closed the door on himself, he couldn't help but feel ashamed at himself. Kate didn't seem to take anything against him for the loss of her little brother, besides looking all angry whenever she mentioned his name, but the Top Ranger was rather more eager to know more about the kidnapping cases when he first told her about them. He wasn't sure if she fully forgave him or not for his failure. If she didn't, then he had a few doubts about how much faith she was willing to put in him to make sure he didn't fail again.

To shorten the trip to Hia Valley, Kate and Keith decided to take a flight on a Staraptor. Naturally, Keith demanded to just capture one and have her riding with him, but Kate refused and captured another Staraptor for herself. They landed in the empty clearing in the snow at Shiver Camp, catching all the researchers' attentions. They welcomed Kate's arrival, and she waved back kindly at them as she made her way to Pamur's dome hut. Meanwhile, Keith was too busy gasping in awe at all the homes.

"This is cool!" Keith grinned. "Now I wish I got to do that Blue Gem Mission!"

Kate then whacked him up the head for his stupidity, and Keith then gave a flurry of apologies. He remembered that he wasn't supposed to say much about the Blue Gem, since Hastings wanted to make sure that Dim Sun had little clue about their counterattack. But then, judging from the fact that they sent their most powerful executives after the Gem, keeping it secret was not really a big issue, but Hastings wanted people to stay hushed about it anyway.

Kate knocked lightly on the door of a massive hut, and Pamur opened the door to them. He welcomed both of them into the room and they took a seat in the sofa up front. The head researcher presented them with a morning cup of cocoa, and had one himself. Their Partner Pokemon were given something to eat, and they were enjoying themselves beside the sofa. It was then when Pamur launched into a conversation entirely isolated to him and Kate. Keith merely sat there without saying anything, and he only smiled at how animated Kate could look.

"Ah, and who is this young man?" Pamur looked at Keith. From what Keith could see, he probably didn't know that he was a Top Ranger, and he wasn't wearing the snow uniform for Rangers, so identification would be impossible. Let's just hope he didn't say anything weird about him…

"Is he your boyfriend?" Pamur asked, directing his attention to Kate, and the girl turned red at the last word. Keith was already wearing an expression that could be easily mistaken for a tomato.

"O-of course not!" Kate sputtered. "He's j-just a coworker of mine. He came to Hia Valley with me today."

"I may not look like it at the moment," Keith laughed nervously. "But I'm a Top Ranger, just like Kate."

"Oh, sorry!" Pamur laughed heartily. "I didn't know you were a Ranger, too. I guess it's because of the clothing you're wearing."

"I didn't get time to change into uniform," Keith tried to sound a bit humble. "I'm on break today, so I didn't think I'd need to wear it."

"You are certainly polite for a young man your age," Pamur said. "Considering that at this time, teens like you would be rebelling against your parents."

"We already had," Kate laughed. "Otherwise, why are we Rangers?"

"That's true," Pamur nodded. "I'm so sorry I couldn't recognize you, but I was so sure that you two had some sort of connection to each other."

"It's just a professional work relationship, sir," Keith ignored the reddening of his face. "Just a professional work relationship."

Pamur took their empty coffee mugs away and moved them to a sink. When he returned, Kate began to ask.

"Pamur, was there something you need me to do for you today?"

"Ah, yes, there is," the researcher nodded. "There's something I'd like to ask of you as a Ranger. You know how Crystal Cave leads to the Union Road?"

"Yes," Kate nodded. She hadn't visited Crystal Cave lately ever since that Blue Gem mission.

"Well, giant hunks of ice often fall down from the ceiling there," Pamur continued.

"That's dangerous," Keith added, and Pamur shook his head.

"It's not only dangerous, either. The blocks of ice block corridors sometimes take over half the space. Also, we were planning to put a better bridge to replace that old one. I've got a team of people working on that, but they can't seem to get enough Fire Pokemon to extinguish the ice. That's why we'd like to ask you to help clear them away."

"Consider that done, Pamur," Kate stood up from her seat, and she turned on her heel. Keith was startled and he went scrambling after her. Pamur laughed at how the two acted with each other. He could have mistaken them for teacher and student, but he decided that a couple was a better idea.

"Thank you, Ranger!" One of the researchers shook Kate's hand furiously. "You've done a good job for us. Thank you!"

"Oh, it's nothing," Kate laughed, and the team of researchers who were gathered around Crystal Cave bade farewell and walked back to Shiver Camp. Keith and Kate stood in front of the cave, still staring at how empty the place looked without Pokemon or hunks of ice roaming inside it. They had just spent the whole day clearing the entire cave of hazards, let alone build a bridge across that wide chasm.

"Man…" Keith sighed, trying to flex his sore arms. "You got all the attention."

"That's because you weren't in uniform, idiot," Kate muttered before heading back to camp. "Come on, Keith. We'll catch a Staraptor at Shiver Camp, and we'll fly back to my place."

She turned on her heel, and left Keith by himself. He was still a bit haunted by the assumption Pamur made of him.

"Is he your boyfriend?"

As much as he was one of the best graduates of Ranger Academy, his teenage mind couldn't help by be unraveled by the thoughts of relationships. The Union didn't mind interpersonal relationships, as long as the members did their job. It was already an accomplishment that he managed to be working so well with Kate in two weeks. But he wasn't sure if Kate could really notice what he said or did whenever it came to her, or maybe she did. Some reason, he always vied for her attention, enough to stop by her place on Fridays, and helping her with most things. It was that same question over and over again.

Does she notice him?

But then he felt ashamed. He failed once, and he wasn't sure if he would fail again. He was still disappointed in himself, and he always said to himself he wasn't worthy to have someone like Kate. The farthest he could go was a professional working relationship. Just that, and nothing else.

"Sheesh," He shook off the idea. "Stupid teenage angst."

Buizel then climbed onto his shoulder and licked his face, wondering if his partner had turned to stone. Keith jumped, but then turned around and chased after Kate.

Kate arrived at the Union with a groggy mind. She managed not to sleep well for the twentieth time this week, and she was called in for a Mission or something… her mind could not remember whatever Rhythmi was barking over the Styler for. As long as she made it here, she'd be fine. That way, she could pick up a cup of coffee before the conference.

She then arrived at the entrance and was thoroughly surprised by the long line of people, mostly women. They were babbling amongst themselves in hushed whispers, but Kate could easily pick up what they were saying as she trudged right past them. These people had been lining up at the Union almost every day since the time they tested the Blue Gem.

"Did they say they're Team Dim Sun? What do they want to do?"

"The Pokemon are suffering the most from all this. The children are suffering, too!"

"I've decided: I'm going to finally speak my mind today."

"We demand to know what the Union is doing about our concerns. We have a right to have our complaints heard."

"Altru's president Blake Hall is supposedly upset over the Pokemon incidents, too."

"These awful incidents make it too unsafe to be going outside."

Kate couldn't blame them for their ignorance. The Union didn't release any information to the case about Dim Sun, and everyone was panicking. It felt bad, knowing she had the full knowledge of most of Dim Sun's plans while these civilians stood here, demanding to know, but not getting their answer. She continued to walk past more people complaining, and she finally reached the small cafeteria they had. She managed to stay awake to the counter, and she placed down a bit of money.

"One cup of coffee," She mumbled. "Keep the change."

She took her cup and began sipping on it on her way to the conference room. The doors slid open automatically, and she immediately saw Keith and Hastings in the room already going over some parts of the Mission. She made her way to the desk and took a seat next to the redhead. He noticed the coffee mug and then looked at her face.

"No sleep?" He asked, and Kate shook her head. Keith didn't look any better, and he had taken to morning coffee, too. Hastings continued to go over small details about equipment and other things before actually getting to the main idea.

"I've decided on the next Missions for you two," Hastings grinned, and Kate and Keith felt chilled as he pulled up a few more presentation slides in the conference room. "According to Brighton's diary, the Tears of Princes can be obtained elsewhere. Old documents also hinted that the stones could be found away from Hia Valley."

The presentation slid to an old parchment with sketches of a red gem resembling an animated flame, and a yellow gem in the shape of a moon.

"The colored stones are also found in the Haruba Desert and Boyleland, but rarely," Hastings continued. "The pendants that Linda and Rhythmi had are probably made from the Tears of Princes."

He turned to the eleventh Top Ranger, "Kate, I want you to head for Boyleland. Search for the red crystal from which the red Tears of Princes presumably came."

The professor then looked at the redhead, "Keith, you are to go to the Haruba Desert and investigate the yellow Tears of Princes. Determine if there is, indeed, a yellow crystal from which the colored stone came. If either of you find the red or yellow crystal, secure it immediately. These Missions are far more important than anything you've been assigned!"

"Yes, professor!" Kate and Keith nodded and they headed out of the conference in a very fast dash to the front door of the Union. As they ran, Keith tried to say something to Kate.

"I'm off to Haruba Desert," He grinned. "Kate, you're going to Boyleland. Let's wish each other safe and success!"

"Right!" Kate nodded, and they were gone, leaving the Operators wondering how well the Rangers sprinted clear of the bustling reception room, so fast to the point that it was difficult to see them rushing past the people in the first place. Murph stared dumbfounded at them.

"If they didn't become Rangers," Murph laughed. "They could have been good running backs for a football team."

Kate undocked The Resilience from its place on the dock and pushed away. Starly perched itself on the handrails on the side of the boat, chirping that it was ready to go. The Ranger then turned on the motor, and the boat began speeding away in the direction of Boyeland. She said nothing as she continued to steer in a straight path across the way, her mind set on other things. Where did Tobias run off to? Come to think of it, she hadn't seen him for a while, and her teacher barely came to see her and bug her. He probably must be busy with something.

She arrived and in an autonomous manner, she docked the boat, and was ready to take off to the rest of the Mission before realizing something. Kate turned back, and went back into the cabin. She found one of the compartments and opened it. There she saw the suitcase, and she opened it, finding her sword and sticks. Guess Tobias did come back here to leave something. She swung the sheath over her shoulder and exited the boat, with Starly flying after her.

Boyleland was as busy as ever, and Kate walked past the playing children and to the Elder's house, where she saw the Elder on his rare outdoor walks. He was calmly staring at his Mime Jr. dashing around a Bidoof and making everyone who saw it go dizzy.

"Our Mime Jr. can be a handful," the Elder chuckled. "Seeing that makes my head spin."

The Elder then noticed Kate, and he began to rant and rave about another criminal scoundrel coming back to kidnap Pokemon and little children before rushing back into his house-hut. Kate knocked politely on the door, and after an entire explanation, the Elder laughed in utter embarrassment.

"Why, yes, indeed you are!" He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Anyone wearing a uniform looks like a Dim Sun to me these days. But, oh, yes, on closer inspection, I see you are most definitely a Ranger of Pokemon."

"Oh… uh…" Kate laughed nervously. "I guess… Well, I have to be-"

"By the way," The old man grinned. "Would you like to see the right side of the cave?"

"What?" Kate sputtered. "B-but… I have to go on a mission, and I have questions about-"

"I can unlock the padlock to the door on the right."

"Well, thanks, but-"

"Think nothing of it!" The Elder cut her off again, laughing as he twirled a ring of keys, and Kate was pushed out of the hut and dragged to the side of the volcano, where she saw a set of doors that was old and easy to break down. The Elder began struggling with the keys, until Kate decided that she didn't have time for this. She drew out her sword and with a quick slice, the doors crumbled and the keys were deemed useless.

"Here, the side of the cave," Kate sighed in utter frustration. "I'll be leaving now."

"Whoa?" The Elder gasped at the glinting blade. "Are you an ancient samurai?"

"No… not really…" Kate sighed. "It's just something I use on big missions…"

Starly swooped down and chirped at Kate to look at something it found. It caught her eye immediately. It was a piece of black cloth that was stuck under a cluster of stones that was bordering the walls of the active cave. Kate picked it up and recognized the purple emblem. Her face turned into one of disgust.

"Dim Sun…" She muttered and she looked at the extent of the cave. "They probably headed down that way…"

She turned to the Elder and gave him a quick smile.

"Thanks for the tipoff," She turned around and continued through. "I'll be back, so make sure no one else comes into this place."

"Sure can do, Ranger of Pokemon!" The Elder waved to her and she continued into the rest of the cave.

The Ranger emerged from the cave, and she was gasping for air. It was already difficult, having to ride on a Torkoal to get across rivers of magma, and putting hot boulders with two Pokemon. Seriously, how much more dangerous could it get?

"It's so hot in there…" She groaned. "Back at training, we didn't even go over temperature stuff…"

A small gasp came from her right, and she turned to see an appalled Dim Sun grunt.

"Why did a Ranger come around when I'm waiting for Lavana?" The grunt asked. "Was there a communication mix-up?"

"Lavana?" Kate remembered hearing the Admins discuss about the Sinis Trio back at Almia Castle, her lips curved into a small grin. This would be very useful.

"No," Kate said as she approached the Dim Sun grunt. "It was not a mix-up. I managed to call you here."

She felt a bit stupid having to say this, but it was a complete bluff, and surely that woman knew it. Otherwise, she wouldn't have had a Miniremo set up. A flock of Chatot came streaming from all directions, chirping a really uneven melody, and Kate couldn't help but palm her face. Why did it have to be Chatot?

"Starly?" She called her Partner, and the bird chirped, launching a mighty gust of wind at the parrot Pokemon. Kate then made a very fast capture, leaving the Dim Sun grunt with an impression of utter shock.

"You didn't need to humiliate me!" The woman cried. "Lavana's going to hear about this!"

A blade was then pointed at her throat.

"So, can I hitch on for a ride to see your leader?" She asked. "I'd like to meet her."

"Eh?" The hostage grunt gasped. "This wall of fire's impossible to put out!"

"You have a solution?" Kate asked the grunt, and she shrugged. Apparently, the woman gave up without a fight, so the need for restraining was unnecessary.

"Well, only if you call the fire brigade," The grunt joked. "Or catch the right Pokemon!"

"Well, then," Kate sighed, and she called a Pellipper to put out the fire. The grunt gasped at how well she dealt with it. The Ranger was not impressed.

"Aren't you a Dim Sun grunt?" She asked. "I thought you guys get trained to deal with this stuff."

"Well," The grunt remarked. "You broke my Miniremo, and I'm part of the Crimson Unit, so all we do is do paperwork. It's my first time actually going through this stuff. Lavana's the only one on the unit who's actually done this stuff."

"Oh, really?" Kate proceeded through the treacherous territory. "Nice to know you're opening up quite a bit. It's hard to believe you are a Dim Sun goon."

"Well, it's complicated," The grunt muttered darkly. It felt uncomfortable, talking so casually with the Ranger here, her enemy. It wasn't that she was approachable this way, but did this Ranger even see her as an actual enemy?

"You got a name?" Kate asked blandly, snapping the grunt out of her thoughts.

"Oh, um… it's… Alex…?"

"Oh, okay, then. Alex,"Kate motioned to the fork in the tunnel. "Where do we go from here? You have a map, don't you?"

"I lost it," Alex groaned. "It was in the same suitcase as the Miniremo."

Kate slapped her forehead and gave a deep sigh. Yep. Amateur.

"Never mind," Kate hid her scowl. "I'll just have to make sure you don't fall into a pit of lava."

They continued their way through the tunnels, until they heard a loud conversation between two woman. Kate gagged her hostage and looked around the corner. Apparently, these ladies seem to be Team Dim Sun Crimson Unit people, and they were panting and huffing, struggling to stay cool.

"My makeup's ruined," One of them moaned. "Let's just scoot back and fix our faces."

"Yeah," The other said. "Let's keep it a secret from Lavana."

"I concur with that!" The former said. "Lavana would forgive us if it's for a reason that good!"

She then looked at the corner to see someone hiding. "What's a stranger doing here?"

Kate then kicked Alex into view, and she laughed nervously.

"Hey," She said, a bead of cold sweat going down her face. "Just me, you know…"

"Alex?" One of the women looked at her with a puzzled expression. "You're away from your post to fix your makeup, too?"

"Um…well…" Alex sputtered before falling to the floor out cold. Kate was holding the sheath of her sword out, with a sincere expression on her face.

"Sorry about that," She muttered, and Starly chirped sympathetically. The Crimson Unit stared at her in shock.

"What's a Ranger doing here?" One of them gasped.

"You shouldn't have seen me with my makeup ruined," One of them growled at her. "You're not getting away with this!"

They sent a Bagon and a Sheldon after her, but she managed to capture them easily, and they left quickly. The woman shivered in fright as Kate began walking towards them.

"Both my makeup and pride are in tatters…"

Another was still determined. She grabbed her comm. link and shouted at the microphone.

"Lavana! A Ranger's messing with us!"

Kate walked past them, huffing in annoyance. More dodging boulders and putting out fires was involved, and Kate managed to get to a rather heated place. There was a narrow rout to the end of the cave, and Kate hoped that it would lead to the Red Gem. Just hopefully…

"What's going on here?" A snobbish voice came from behind, and she saw a woman with pink hair, and a thin pink outfit. She was followed by two Admins. Kate noted how differently she was dressed.

"You with them?" Kate asked.

"Oh, now what's this?" The woman sneered at Kate. "How did a lowly Ranger manage to get this far?"

"I think the Ranger had someone open the door as an exception," The Admins suggested. "This Ranger's considered a hero in Boyleland for saving the Pokemon from our main cargo ship."

"I see," Lavana nodded. "So that's why the door was open, or should I say, broken up. It's okay, though. I replaced the door with metal ones and a secretly copied key. In other words, we have this Ranger in the bay."

"Um…" Kate tried to point out. "Doesn't metal heat up in places like these?"

"Then how come that little knife of yours isn't a hot rod yet?" Lavana laughed. "You're something special, aren't you, getting your hands on a blade like that!"

The woman was rather angry in the eyes at the moment, and Kate had the bitter feeling that it wouldn't be a good idea to say anything that would get her angrier. The heat of the volcano was killing her, and it would be nice to go take a nice cool bath once this is all done. Then again, at least Lavana was smarter than the grunts that were under her.

"You seem to know this stuff," Kate was amused. "Care to share some more? How about a nice hello?"

"Well, Ranger," Lavana scoffed. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm one of the Sinis Trio, the Boss's favorites. My name is Lavana! I'm a woman of fiery passion, like this very volcano!"

Out of nowhere, the woman began striking poses as if she were modeling for a photo shoot. Kate wondered if that was a secondary job.

"And flanking her are Lavana's personal henchpersons!" The Admins spoke in unison. "The Dim Sun Crimson Unit!"

Lavana pushed them out of the way and stepped forward. "You two stay out of the spotlight!"

Kate laughed nervously. How self-centered could this girl get?

"Incidentally," Lavana looked at Kate in all seriousness. "Are you looking for the Red Gem as well?"

"Yeah," Kate glared at them. "You looking for it, too?"

"Of course," Lavana struck a pose. "It would be too bad if you were. There is only one Red Gem. So give it up already, and get out of here!"

Kate gawked. How could she get out of a volcano if she was already locked in? Was she supposed to jump into the lava? By now, the Ranger had to take back the assumption that Lavana was smart. She was definitely not smart at all.

"Lavana, let us!" The Admins stepped forward. "We'll handle this!"

Lavana nodded in approval. "That's true… I'm not needed for a job this small. You two do it!"

"Thank you for the endorsement!" One of them smiled. "Prepare for a stomping, Ranger!"

"Do I look like I care about you?" Kate charged forward, and swooped down on them, punching their faces. The grunts fell to the ground, their Miniremos barely opened. Lavana looked at Kate as she stood up and drew out her sticks instead.

"I don't feel like cutting anything today," She said. "So it's just a light bruise for you."

"Hm?" Lavana's anger began to rise. "This is the thanks you're getting for firing me up so emotionally!"

"What?" Kate stopped and then jumped back to dodge a fireball that was about to hit her. A tall monkey jumped down to the floor, and stared at her. Immediately, the Pokemon lunged at her and nearly grabbed her hand. Luckily, she managed to get away fast enough to just have one of the sticks she was holding get ripped from her hands. The weapon was discarded after it went flying off the edge. Kate released her Capture Disc and began to run with it.

She wasn't the only one moving either. Infernape continued to take huge leaps at her head, and she could only narrowly dodge them, just enough to not get crushed or burned. For once, she was really on edge, and she had just missed a punch that could have knocked her out. The monkey's fist then landed on the second stick she had, and that too fell somewhere she couldn't reach. Kate then saw the shining opportunity.

"Gotcha!" she shouted, and she swung her arm down. The Styler was beeping with a completed capture bar, and the Disc returned to its rightful place. Lavana was panting, from the heat or just plain exhaustion, Kate wasn't entirely sure.

"T-There… All that looping and bashing must have left you exhausted," The pink haired woman panted. Kate said nothing as she turned on her heel and began to walk to the long narrow path to the end of the large cave.

"And Ranger…" Lavana called her back. "Beating me doesn't solve your problem. You're sadly mistaken if you think you can just take the Red Gem now. There's a brutally tough Pokemon standing guard over it!"

Kate then turned around, "Thanks for telling me."

Lavana had the urge to just fume and she stomped her foot.

"I'm going to leave for now so I can put my makeup back on." She shouted at the Ranger, even though Kate couldn't hear her at this point. "It's not because I lost! My makeup is quite runny! And don't you forget it!"

"Forget it?" Kate muttered as she continued walking. "Okay, then…"

A large amount of sand pelted away at the reinforced window at the rate of what one could have sworn was an awful blizzard, but with sand. A Ranger sighed in wait as he drummed his fingers on the windowsill, his mind drifting to far too many things to count. Most enough, he was worried about everyone back at the Union, Kate, and the missing children, but not himself.

"Goodness…" Keith muttered to himself. "The sandstorm is really bad today."

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience, young man," one of the Operators bowed their heads, and the redhead shook his head. "We have no lodging available, and the wireless connection is low."

"It's nothing," He sighed. "I can still contact the Union. I plan to file a report today before the tower goes out."

He stood up and draped a large canvas cloak over himself, and Buizel crawled under it with him. The Ranger bowed politely to the two Operators who waved back as he left the Depot to trudge over to the nearby inn. Frankly, it wasn't any better than the Depot, but it was the only place that had vacancy. Recently, a large amount of tourists were "sanded" in from the sudden sandstorm that had appeared the past week. No one could tell what was causing it, or they were saying it was the Hippowdon God or something close to that.

So, with all the tourists nearly taking all the space in the inns, he had walked in on a large drinking party, and a man shouting about his new espresso machine. Nothing was getting rowdy, at least, and no one was throwing their glasses at each other, shouting for a match. Either they were joking with each other, or gazing at a Pokemon League Conference that was airing live. He didn't seem to check which region it was from, but it didn't look interesting, so he ignored whatever people were saying for the most part.

He approached a plump innkeeper who was serving drinks to the tired tourists. It took a few moments before the man finally noticed the Ranger's presence. Well, with the cloak Keith was wearing, he blended easily with the rest of the others, so it was explanatory.

"Room 5580," He asked the innkeeper firmly, who nodded and handed him a key. He hid it under his cloak and he traveled up the stairs, his Buizel slinking between his shoulders. He arrived at his room, and unlocked it and closed the door behind him.

The room was plain, with unappealing blue walls and a single painting of a Hippowdon towering above the ancient people. It was merely a ridiculous set of ruins all over the painting, but one thing caught Keith's eye as he looked closely.

A single tile was etched in with an image of a three objects: a teardrop, a flame, and a moon. It was then encircling a rather jagged looking object colored deep purple. The Ranger mulled over the idea of how it meant anything, other than the fact that it was talking about the Tears of Princes. Keith wondered if there were any locals who knew anything. It didn't hurt to try. He took off his cloak, and went downstairs, hoping that he'd hear a wonderful story about a king and his three sons.

A/N: I feel horrible that I'm writing solely about the Rangers and people, and forgetting the Pokemon! I know, for a moment, I gawked when I realized that Starly wasn't even mentioned for most of the last chapter! OTZ

the bit at the beginning would be considered a mini because it has no tie to the rest of the chapter whatsoever.

This time's it's really short because I'm extremely lazy, and decided to do nothing at all today other than study ahead for stuff. As much as it would have been a good idea to add the scene with heatran as boss, I'm pretty sure it would have been to boring, considering that in the game itself, Heatran wasn't that bad of a boss for me to remember.

Happy 4th of July, for everyone! Apparently, there aren't that many fireworks where I am right now, but a neighbor is having one heck of a karaoke party next door (sounds interesting with the bass booming pretty well).