As Kate walked across the bridge dragging her suitcase behind her, she couldn't help but feel a little anxious about this whole ordeal. Who wouldn't be a little nervous on a day like this? All she had was one year of school to complete before being thrown directly into her dream job, which she would undoubtedly drown herself in for the rest of her life. Just like her passion for books, Kate figured that once she became a Pokemon Ranger, that would become her passion, and it would grow on her so much that she would have a hard time making herself want to do anything else.
Normal kids her age would be nervous about starting two weeks late into the year, making friends (if any), keeping good grades, and establishing whether they were popular or not. Kate, however, was not bothered by starting late, didn't care really to make any friends, knew she would effortlessly make good grades, and did not annoy herself with thoughts of popularity. Then again, Kate wasn't really what one would consider to be 'normal.' Instead of being nervous about all of those other things, Kate was a little nervous to finally fulfill her dream of becoming a Ranger, which she was now one step closer to by coming to this school.
She stopped when she found herself standing in front of a tall, wrought iron gate that barely concealed the school sitting behind it. Kate was about to fiddle with the lock and try to get it open when someone shouted to her from across the campus.
"Oh, wait!"
Kate looked up to see a middle-aged woman with bushy brown hair similar to her mother's running her way rather slowly, a little out of breath. She was dressed in a maroon-purple skirt and blouse combo, and she wore brown high heels to go with the outfit. A small, white waist-apron accented the woman's skirt.
The woman stopped at the gate and pulled out a key ring that Kate presumed held a key to every door inside and outside of the building, and the woman unlocked the gate and held it open for her.
"You must be the new student, correct?" The woman inquired, then simply let Kate inside when she merely nodded her head. "Right this way, then! My name is Janice, and I'm the caretaker for the students." The happy woman extended a hand for Kate to shake, which she did.
"Nice to meet you, Janice. I'm Kate." Kate gave her a gentle smile as they walked up the school's front steps.
"I've been instructed to take you to your entrance exam." Janice began, pointing Kate in the direction of what looked like a Training Gym, which was a small, separate building from the main school building. "Just head right on in there and I'll take your stuff to your room." Janice took Kate's heavy suitcase from her, and she was surprised at how heavy it was. What could this little girl have possibly packed to make it so heavy...?
"Thank you." Kate simply nodded her head, relieving herself from Janice's side to go inside the Training Gym.
"You will be sharing a room with Rhythmi Valentine." Janice called out to her one last time, then quietly chuckled at the look of panic on Kate's face. "Oh, don't worry. She's a really sweet girl. I'm sure you'll meet her later today!"
Kate anxiously smiled as Janice walked away, then pushed open the Gym's doors and sulked inside. She hadn't accounted for the possibility that she would have a roommate to stay with for the rest of the year. What if she turned out to be really obnoxious and rude? Kate quickly shook those negative thoughts from her head, trying to look on the bright side of things...which were definitely not in this room.
Kate raised an eyebrow at her surroundings, noticing that all but one of the ceiling lights had been turned off. The only lit one flickered occasionally, giving the room a very ominous atmosphere. All of a sudden, a small green object had been tossed to her, and if she didn't have quick reflexes, it would most likely have smacked her right in the face.
Kate recognized the object in her hands as a Styler, but she wondered who had been the one to throw it to her.
"Go ahead, put it on."
Oh, probably that guy.
Kate looked up to see a man begin to emerge from the shadows in front of her. She could tell he was dressed in gym clothes and was holding a clipboard, but his face was concealed by the shadow the brim of his hat was casting. Kate shrugged her shoulders and equipped the School Styler to her right wrist.
The man cleared his throat before speaking up. "You are the new student, correct?"
Kate nodded her head before speaking up quietly. "Yes, my name is Kate Hitomi." She introduced herself politely.
"Kate Hitomi..." The man murmured her name out loud as he scanned his clipboard for her name, then elicited a happy sound of recognition when he found her name on the list. "Ah! There you are!" The man took a Pokeball from his belt and threw it out into the space between himself and the new student, releasing a small Pikachu. "Now, are you ready to begin your exam?"
Kate simply nodded. "I just need to capture it, right?" She had seen the Summerland Rangers perform captures numerous times before, so she got the gist of the concept, but Kate had never actually attempted one herself before now.
"Yes." The man concluded. "Now. Get ready, get set...GO!"
Knowing that she was timed for this, Kate booted up her Styler quickly and released the blue capture disc right next to the Pikachu. She quickly encircled the electric-mouse Pokemon with her luminous blue-colored capture line, which shut off after a couple of seconds of looping, signaling that the capture was complete. She knew the Pokemon for the school's entrance exam wasn't going to be anything too terribly difficult, but she didn't think it would be that easy, either… Honestly, it was a bit of a relief.
The man simply clapped his hands, amused by her talents. "I see we have a natural here; you managed to capture the Pikachu in three seconds."
Kate smiled bashfully, not sure how to react properly to the compliment. She wasn't really used to being complimented by anyone outside her family; she was more accustomed to people making comments on her physical inadequacy rather than complimenting her skills.
The man tilted up the brim of his hat so that his facial features would no longer be swallowed up by the darkness, and he wore a sinister grin on his face. "Welcome to Ranger School, Kate. Your skills are quite impressive, and they have earned you a spot in our secret army... Together, we will take over the world!" He chuckled evilly, creeping Kate out just a little bit.
Kate simply blinked in confusion at the strange teacher. "You're joking, I trust...?"
"MR. KAPLAN!"
Someone's angry voice bounced off the walls of the Training Gym as all of the lights were abruptly turned on, causing Kate and the strange teacher to both wince from the harsh adjustment to the room's brightness. Kate turned to see a rather angry woman dressed in a lime-colored blouse and a white pencil skirt stomp over in their direction with her red heels; steam was practically shooting from her ears which were covered by her medium-length auburn hair.
"How many times do I have to tell you..." The woman sighed angrily, storming over to the man, who Kate figured would be Mr. Kaplan. "...not to mess with my students!" She quickly grabbed a hold of his ear and tugged on it hard, eliciting a high-pitch whimper from the male teacher.
"Ow ow OW! Ms. April, please! Show mercy! I'm sorry...!" Mr. Kaplan whimpered, cowering slightly in an attempt to get the angry woman, Ms. April, to release her firm grip on his ear.
"Hmph." Ms. April released Mr. Kaplan, turning to Kate as she completely ignored the man dramatically collapsing to the floor. "Ignore him; he's just an overgrown child." She rolled her eyes, placing her hands on her hips with attitude.
"Aww, don't ignore me!" Mr. Kaplan pleaded in a whiny voice, demonstrating the drastic change between the serious personality Kate had first witnessed when she came in here and what she assumed to be his real personality, which was that of a blubbering man-child who didn't like to be ignored.
Ms. April flashed him a steaming glare before landing her eyes on Kate once again. "I am Ms. April, your class's teacher. What's your name, sweetie?"
"Oh, I'm Kate. Kate Hitomi." Kate nearly forgot to introduce herself from the shock of seeing two teachers behave so informally in the presence of students, and she held her hand out to shake Ms. April's. Something told the brunette that this was only the beginning of the crazy train, and these two teachers weren't the only ones along for the ride.
"Nice to meet you." Ms. April smiled as she walked away from the crippled Mr. Kaplan sprawled out across the floor, and she began guiding Kate back to the front doors. "I'm sure that your classmates are excited to meet you. How about we go and introduce you now?"
Kate shrugged her shoulders, feeling a little more at ease now. "Sure." She paused before following Ms. April out the door and hesitantly turned to face Mr. Kaplan. "Oh yeah, Mr. Kaplan? Thanks for joking around with me earlier. I think it really helped me relax a little..."
Kate flashed him the purest form of an angelic smile in the whole world that could stop any human being right in their tracks, startling them with the amazement of their bright smile. Few people in this world could make such a smile, and Kate was one of them. That smile was Kate's secret weapon, even though she had no idea it was so infectious whatsoever and had such an effect on people. She thought it was completely normal for a person to have such a wonderful, mood-lifting smile.
Mr. Kaplan, who's mood was immediately brightened by the girl's cheerful smile, simply waved good-bye to the girl. "Enjoy your school life!"
Kate pressed her ear against the classroom door, eavesdropping on the conversations being exchanged behind it. She was waiting to hear Ms. April's signal for her to enter before just walking in by herself. Kate kept having to push the two strands of hair that framed her face out of her eyes as she leaned in to the door, which irritated her more than just a little bit.
Meanwhile, inside the classroom...
Rhythmi Valentine shot a dark glare at a red-haired boy sleeping soundly at his desk across the aisle from her, annoyed that he fell asleep in class again. "Keith, wake up before Ms. April sees you!"
The red-head remained sound asleep, and all that Rhythmi's attempt to save him accomplished was to alert the teacher of the loudly-snoring student.
Ms. April's eyes landed on Keith as she entered the classroom, and all she could do was roll them, clearly not surprised.
She picked up Rhythmi's Ranger Textbook off of her desk. "Mind if I borrow this for a moment?"
Rhythmi waved her off with a sinister grin. "Be my guest."
The whole class watched with anticipation as Ms. April held the textbook high above Keith's desk, then immediately dropped it onto the hard surface, triggering a loud cacophony that erupted through the classroom.
"WHAT THE HELL!?" Keith shot up from his desk and practically latched onto the ceiling like a Skitty, startled from his sleep.
"Keith! Swear jar!" Ms. April scolded with a scowl as the entire class erupted into a fit of laughter, returning Rhythmi's textbook to her while jabbing a finger angrily at a jar on her desk nearly filled to the top with coins.
Keith grumbled incoherent curses to himself as he stood and plopped yet another coin into the jar appropriately labeled 'Keith's Swear Jar.' He was the only one to ever have to put money in it in all of Ms. April's years of teaching, so after a while, she just named it after him in an attempt to prompt him to stop cursing in her classroom. It didn't really work, but regardless of that, the whole class still found it utterly hilarious.
"Now, class." Ms. April began her announcement as soon as everything settled down, stepping up to the front of the classroom. "We have a new student joining us today." She placed herself in front of her desk, pausing her announcement and waiting for chaos to unfold, knowing her senior class all too well.
Rhythmi was the only one not surprised, having remembered Ms. April mentioned it the first time last week. Keith, on the other hand, didn't really care all that much, although he groaned in annoyance when he realized the only empty desk in the classroom was the one next to his.
Everyone else in the classroom, however... Well, they had mixed reactions.
"Wait, really?" One student raised an eyebrow, staring at Ms. April quizzically.
"A new student? Two weeks into the last year?"
"Well, you can still graduate regardless of how many years you've been here, even if it's just one."
"I hope it's another guy! We could use more of them around here, being outnumbered by girls and all..."
"Hey! We don't outnumber you! What are you going to do if it's another girl!?"
"Are they cute, cool, or look like a celebrity?"
"Where are they from?"
"What's their name? Oh, oh, oh! What do they look like!?"
"Settle down, class. Settle down..." Ms. April chuckled, ushering the teenagers to sit back down in their seats and calm down with her hands. "Why don't you just see for yourself?"
Hesitantly, the door opened, and a girl stepped inside the classroom before gingerly shutting the door. All eyes were on her in an instant, which did make her feel a little uncomfortable.
Everyone seemed to be in awe at the new student and immediately turned their attention to her, while Keith didn't care enough to look at her right away. He turned his head eventually and landed his eyes on her petite form, staring at her features with a look of disinterest. She was pathetically short and scrawny, and she would probably only come up to his shoulders if they stood side-by-side. Fair skin, pigtails, blue eyes... She was adorned in the school's uniform of blue denim shorts, a blue blouse, a green jacket, a yellow tie, and brown boots. Honestly, to Keith, she looked like nothing special. She looked just like another one of Rhyth's species: way-too-cheery wannabe Operators.
"Class, this is Kate." Ms. April began her introduction, placing her hand on Kate's shoulder. Keith almost laughed out loud to see that Kate was shorter than Ms. April, who he had originally thought to be the shortest woman he had ever met. "She comes to us from Fiore to study to be a Pokemon Ranger."
Now that statement nearly had Keith choke on air and fall backwards right out of his chair. That tiny little thing wanted to be a Ranger? The same profession as him? Hah! There was no way she would last a day in this school. Being so tiny, how could she possibly handle such a rough, physically-active job? She would get squashed like a bug on her first day, no doubt. The job of a Pokemon Ranger should be left up to tall, strong guys like him.
Keith was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't even hear Ms. April assign the new girl to sit next to him, whatever her name was.
Kate took her seat quietly next to a strange red-haired guy that was completely spaced out and making a stupid face while lost in thought. What a weirdo. She pulled a book out of her bag and immediately began reading, tuning out the rest of Ms. April's chatter. It's not like she was saying anything important; she was basically just explaining that she would change the class schedule today to act as a study hall period for Kate's sake.
Ms. April leaned her hand on Rhythmi's desk as they both just looked at the quiet, socially-inept Kate. "She's a bit of a quiet one, isn't she?"
"That's what it sure looks like." Rhythmi watched Kate read her book, amazed at how she read four pages per minute. "It might be tough for me to befriend her, even if she is my roommate..." She began doubting her social skills with a sweatdrop, unsure if she'd be able to make this one come out of her comfort zone and socialize with the other kids.
"Oh, don't say that." Ms. April patted her on the head. "If you can't break her out of her shell, then no one can." The teacher reassured the blonde with a smile. "You won't mind touring her around the school later, will you?" She asked her student the rhetorical question before walking back to her desk to grab some papers.
Rhythmi sighed as she watched Ms. April walk away, then landed her eyes back on Kate again. "Something tells me this will be a challenge..."
Rhythmi was easily the most social and easy to get along with girl in the entire Ranger School. Since her freshman year in Ms. April's class, she had been assigned the task of touring any new students around the school and getting them adjusted to school life, and there wasn't a single time where her charm didn't work.
Although, looking at Kate had her doubting herself just a little.
She had been informed ahead of time that this new student would be her new roommate, since her roommate for the previous three years dropped out and decided to pursue a different career. Rhythmi didn't mind, and she was excited to maybe have a girl as a best friend for a change...but seeing this anti-social girl was a little disappointing. She didn't doubt that Kate was a nice person or anything, but she did seem...different. A bit small size-wise, quiet, and anti-social, which weren't the usual characteristics of a wannabe Ranger. Rhythmi definitely had her work cut out for her...
Ms. April walked across the classroom and opened the door, carrying a stack of papers to grade with her. "I'll be in the Teacher's Lounge if anyone needs me. Use your study period wisely!" She shut the door quietly behind her, and the students listened to the clicking of her heels walking down the hallway.
It only took three seconds for the unsupervised classroom to fall into complete chaos.
Every single student shot up from their chairs and formed a circle around Kate, berating her with questions of any kind. However, the brunette didn't even notice and just continued to read her book, completely ignoring them all. They were a bit discouraged by her silence, and some of them even went back and sat down at their desks. That is, until a certain red-head joined in.
"Yo, newbie." Keith stood up, fixing his eyes on the girl. "I forgot your name, and the reason why I care, but how long did it take you to capture that Pikachu? An hour?" He laughed at his own joke as the rest of the class laughed with him.
...
He raised an eyebrow when she didn't respond, and he leaned over her shoulder and tried to get her attention again. "Hey, did you hear me? I'm talking to you!"
...
Still nothing.
Keith hated being ignored just so she could read some book, so naturally he removed the source of her attention so it would be fixated on him.
Kate snapped her eyes wide open when someone jerked the book she was reading out of her hands, and she immediately shot up from her desk. The guy with flaming red hair who sat next to her was holding her book high above her head with a taunting smirk on his face, clearly amused.
"Hey! Give that back!" Kate bitterly glared at Keith, trying to snatch her book back.
Every time she tried to grab it, Keith just held it higher and higher. "Nope. Not until you answer my question!" He laughed, fully enjoying taunting her. He was six feet tall, so he could do this all day.
Kate crossed her arms in a huff and tapped her foot on the ground irritably. "It only took me three seconds. Now give me my book back!" Kate jumped to try and grab her book again, but Keith only jerked it from her grasp once more.
"Oh, so you did hear me, then?" Keith chuckled, leaning forwards and bursting Kate's personal space bubble. "I don't think it's very smart for a tiny girl like you to just ignore me."
Kate only rolled her eyes. "I'm sure nothing you consider a thought in that tiny brain of yours is considered smart." Her sarcasm rolled off her tongue with ease, causing the class to roar with laughter.
Keith's face reddened slightly with anger. "Oh hah hah. Very funny, Shorty." He smirked at her, watching a vein bulge from her forehead at the rude nickname.
"Leave her alone, Keith." The blonde girl named Rhythmi narrowed her grey eyes at him, stepping into the circle of students and placing herself at Kate's side.
Keith only rolled his red eyes. "Whatever. I was getting bored with her anyways."
Rhythmi just scoffed. "Yeah, right." She turned to Kate, instantly ignoring Keith. "You're better off ignoring him. He's just an arrogant idiot who thinks he's better than everyone else."
"I gathered that much." Kate commented, snatching her book back from Keith when he was caught off guard. She slipped her book back into her satchel, flashing the jerk who took it from her with a quick glare.
Keith scoffed, trying to ignore their snarky remarks about him.
"I'm Rhythmi, by the way." Rhythmi smiled at Kate, introducing herself. "I've been instructed to tour you around the school." She ushered Kate towards the door. "Follow me, if you will."
Kate simply nodded her head, not saying anything else. She followed behind Rhythmi, leaving the classroom with the perky blonde girl.
Keith carelessly sat on top of his desk, glaring at the door the two girls just left through. So what's-her-name was a feisty one, eh?
Maybe Shorty wouldn't be so boring after all.