Author's Note: I like to think the boat description at the end of chapter 2 was a nice little easter egg reference to Shadows of Almia and Guardian Signs, as we can safely assume the Ranger association wouldn't skimp on designing or outfitting their boat. The pace ahead will be slowing down significantly, this chapter is only the boat ride *to Almia* for orientation at the academy. I expect the week timespan of "orientation" to cover the next 5-10 chapters or so to begin fleshing out the actual motivation of the primary pair of characters, and establish who the rest of their class actually is, why they joined, what they want to achieve, etc. I know the pacing has been a bit awkward so far, and Keith coming out of seemingly nowhere in the conversation would leave questions. I plan to address all of that in this chapter, I am writing this primarily from the perspective and mindset of Danny and using his age as a guiding principle of how I write this and explain the story. I would however like to apologize for the chapters being so short, I am writing this from my phone and didn't realize they were so short because on my phone it feels much longer. I will work to fix that going forward.
I intended this chapter to be much longer and the beginning of a self-imposed minimum word count, but that just isn't going to happen in this chapter. I have no intention of stretching dialogue and descriptions into something I can get across in under half the words, and this chapter is admittedly nothing but exposition intended equally for those who have played side games/read the associated manga as it is for those who have not. If I didn't feel this was important to the story from a narrative standpoint as well as for the benefit of the reader to learn what is going on while the characters do, this chapter wouldn't even exist. This also took a lot longer than planned while not being as long as I'd hoped, but regardless here is the next chapter.
Side Note; if I actually have anyone reading this story, please don't hesitate to leave reviews or send a message. It would greatly help with improving my writing and getting motivation to keep this story going for the length of the plot I currently have planned. I have no intention of letting this drop off the map before I give it a proper ending, but knowing someone actually likes it and that I have readers would help me stay focused on that goal.
Riley
I woke up sometime after the boat had left port, I could feel the sway of the boat and the gentle vibrations of the hull being propelled. Danny was still asleep at my side, I gently lifted his arm and slid off the bed to go look around the boat. The trip was going to be a while and I wanted to explore to pass the time, learning who else was on the boat couldn't hurt either. Quietly I looked around the room to inspect it. Ocean blue carpeting, mahogany paneling, thick round windows held in place by large bolts with a steel frame and a metal lattice. The table and other furniture was a dark stained wood almost black in color with forest green fabric and dull but clean brass for metalwork. The bed had a tidal themed bedspread that seemed deliberately chosen for Danny and I, oddly the entire room seemed designed for us now that I thought about it. Didn't even notice Danny was above the sheets, wearing his muted blue cargo shorts, grey shirt, moss green vest, barefoot as usual when indoors, yet wearing his climbing gloves as always. His hair was still a mess, the long dirty blonde hair was all over the pillow rather than in a braided ponyta tail as usual, but he looked peaceful and calm sleeping on that bed. Judging from the smell I just noticed in the room we both needed a bath, we hadn't had the chance to take one since before we went out for training. My fur was matted and covered in dirt, I'll need to fix that asap. Dewotts love being clean and I am certainly no exception, though I'll wait to do that with Danny so I can have him brush out my fur.
I quietly covered Danny with a blanket and opened the door to go explore the boat. Gently closing it I began walking down the dimly lit hall towards a staircase leading to the upper deck. Curiously nobody else seemed to be in sight, nor could I hear anyone talking. As I reached the upper deck I saw a couple saddled staraptor perched on the rails with an empty space for another, unusual choice for pokémon on a boat. I looked around a bit and noticed an open door that voices were coming from. Being the curious pokémon I am I just had to check it out, upon reaching the door I found a group of adults in red, yellow, and grey uniforms, except for one with a yellow scarf around his neck and blue shorts. Three were rangers but not the same kind, one had a little round watch, one had a bracer styler like Keith's, and the other had a red one that resembled an old phone. They were all talking to some man in a suit.
"The Union hasn't been this busy since Dim Sun was running around Almia, exactly what was in that report?" "Yeah, why are we suddenly being brought in to teach a new class of ranger cadets, this isn't anywhere in our job description." "Because the young son of Master Coordinator Brendan Albrecht and former Kalos champion Calem was attacked by a wild shadow pokémon near their house while out training their pokémon partner. The new stylers the class is to be trained on weren't supposed to be revealed for another few months to allow for fine tuning, but this disaster sped up the timetable. It can't wait any longer, the rumors coming out of F...I'll continue this later, it appears the injured half of the pair is awake." The man in the suit explained, guess I'm not as sneaky as I thought. "I can only sleep for so long dude. I got curious, sue me." I remarked, which seemed to get a chuckle out of the ranger with the yellow scarf. "Heh, maybe we will. I'm Ben and you must be Riley, nice to meet you. The two other rangers are Kellyn and Lunick." "We're supposed to believe he fended off a shadow pokémon? No way in hell did that actually happen."
Danny
I awoke hours after I'd fallen asleep, and the first thing I noticed was that Riley wasn't in the room. Panicking I quickly reached for my Battle AR, threw on my shoes and went running down the hallway until I found stairs leading to the main deck. Shortly after reaching the maim deck I heard voices coming a room, and walked closer to see what was going on. "We're supposed to believe he fended off a shadow pokémon? No way in hell did that actually happen." a ranger with an older design of styler stated, clearly referring to Riley. Hearing this I entered the room and interrupted the conversation. "That's because he didn't, my fathers lucario defeated it." "That's much more likely, your fathers aren't pushovers like you." "Lunick, that's enough!" "You're not my boss Kellyn! You may be a Top Ranger but I'm still your senior." "Quiet both of you, you're representing the Union as some of the best rangers in the world and this how you act in front of your future students?" The man in the suit cut in. "No, he's right. I am a pushover. How was I ever going to have a chance in the Iron League if I couldn't beat a single shiftry."
"Danny...that was no ordinary shiftry. Even Riri had difficulty with it, you expect too much of yourself." "No Riley, if I was a better trainer you wouldn't have been hurt. That's on me, I need to be better." "We both do, I couldn't protect either of us. That's why your parents are sending us to Ranger School. Let's make the best of it and train for the Iron League. I'm not giving up on that goal of ours, and I won't let you give up on it either." "All right buddy, let's do it. We'll be the champions no matter what. First we need to graduate here and prove we have what it takes."
"None of that sad self-deprecation in my presence, I won't allow it. I'm Ben, I'll be teaching your class athletic skills so you can avoid hazards and safely navigate environments you find yourself in during your ranger duties.. Lunick's job is teaching you guys about how different pokémon types and their abilities can be helpful at resolving problems in the field. Kellyn over there will be your styler instructor. We should be arriving at the Academy's harbor in a couple days. Sit back and relax until then. You both need to rest and recover, orientation won't be as laid back as you expect it to be." The man with a scarf explained. "Lunick isn't the friendliest ranger, at least not with people. Though we're not your only teachers, two more will be meeting us in Unova, an expert trainer to teach your class about battle strategy and type match-ups. Though I'm sure your fathers taught you plenty of both already." Kellyn said "The other is some whack job that claims he can teach you how to speak with pokémon as clearly as you and I are talking right now." Lunick added with a biting undertone of distrust and skepticism. "But the Battle AR already does that, at least mine does." I stated with an inquisitive tone. "A standard Battle AR doesn't have that functionality, Keith gave you a custom model developed by the Ranger Union that is intended for paired use with the new type of styler your class will be given." The man in the suit began explaining. "He was instructed to deliver it your father, so Brendan could help with testing. Keith decided giving it to you was a better option as you already desired to go to Ferrum. Your bond with Riley from meeting each other at a young age also made for a perfect candidate to gather data on new partnerships, so HQ approved it." "How is it different from a standard model?" I asked. "A normal model does help establish an empathic bond with a caught pokémon that helps sync instincts and movements between the trainer and pokémon, so does that model. The model you have also translates caught or tamed pokémon speech so you can talk with them more easily." He answered. "What about thoughts? Does it transmit those too?" I inquired. "What kind of a question is that? Of course it can't, we've never had that kind of technological capability" He replied. Upon hearing that answer Riley and I looked right at each other and made eye contact. We then nodded at the same time. "It doesn't? I always thought the Battle AR was the reason Riley and I could communicate telepathically." I stated, not even realizing what his answer meant for Riley and I. "You can do what?!" All three rangers asked at the same time. "Ever since I got the headset, Riley and I have been able to speak to each other telepathically. I always figured it was the headset doing it. I never even questioned it until now." "It certainly wasn't designed for that but it may have helped establish the link, you'd need to speak with Prof Hastings about that. I don't believe I've introduced myself yet. My name is Murph, I'm the PR Chief of the Ranger Union." "Daniel Albrecht, though you probably already knew that. Just call me Danny. The matted furball here is Riley." I answered, Riley didn't seem to like that I pointed out he needed grooming because he shot me a glare as soon as I said it."Don't call me out like that dude. We both need a bath, your hair doesn't look any better than my fur." My face likely went bright red with embarrassment hearing that and I turned around to face the door hoping nobody saw it. "Where are the showers on this tub? Riley and I haven't cleaned up in a couple days." I asked, hoping it would have one. "Opposite end of the hall from the engine room." Ben answered with a smile as I looked back and waved before leaving the room. "Thanks, we'll get to that then go relax in our cabin. You said it'll be another two days before we make port in Almia right?." I figured it was a good idea to confirm our arrival time to know how long we'd have to relax before we got there. "That's right, we'll be arriving in about two days. Don't worry about water usage, take as long you need." He said while giving a knowing look. My eyes went wide and my face felt like it was on fire. He definitely knew, but who told him? Brendan likely would've let me tell them in my own time but Calem might have been concerned others would find out and informed the instructors in advance just in case. Either way I bolted out of the room in embarrassment and ran to the showers with Riley close behind me.
Riley
As we approached the shower room I slowed down and let Danny go in first, as usual I intended to stand watch outside until he was done then join him for my own once he at least had his swimsuit on. "Want me to watch the door as usual?" "No, come in with me. Cleaning you will take the longest." "Are you sure? It sounded like they knew about..." "Yes I'm sure, if my fathers trusted them enough to tell them then I trust them to keep the secret." "Very well let's get to it then. Lead the way." He opened the door and I followed him inside, turning the immediate corner to the male side. Inside was one of the cleanest shower rooms I'd ever seen. I could almost see my reflection in the light grey tiles on the wall. Danny continued walking to the lockers on the far side of the room and began undressing, I followed him and placed my scalchops inside with his clothes. We wouldn't need them for this, and they'd get in the way of brushing out my fur. I went into the stall first and Danny followed when he was done getting undressed.
He reached for the handles that controlled the water flow and temperature, turning on the shower and bringing it to a relaxingly warm spray. He picked up my bottle of soap, a sage and cedarwood scented 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner. He filled his palm before closing the cap and putting it down. I inched closer so he could reach me easier and he began massaging the shampoo into my dirt covered fur starting with my head. I always love these moments, being cleaned up and brushed out helps me relax and and always puts me in a happy mood. Not to mention how my fur feels absolutely amazing when I finish drying off. While I was distracted with my thoughts of how great it will feel when I'm dried off, Danny had already finished with my body and moved onto soaping up my tail. After that it would be time to rinse me off then I would be leaving the room so he could do his part of the shower. I planned on watching the door for him if he wanted me to or not. "All right dude, time to rinse you off. Get under the shower head." "yeah yeah, just be sure to get all the soap off this time. I don't want it drying in my fur again, I was itching for a week after the last one." "You know I can't understand you without the headset. Just hold still so I can get it all this time." I don't really like staying still, especially when water is involved. Though I need him to get all the soap out so I don't have a choice right now. Fortunately he's pretty good at it by now. Having been partners for a little under five years, he knows how much I like being clean and neatly groomed. As he finished rinsing me off I left the shower and shook the excess water off. Just a little longer and he could brush my fur in our room while I fall asleep in his lap.
Danny
After I finished my shower I got dressed and left to go back to our room, it was time to finish up Riley's grooming. By far his favorite part of getting a bath is being brushed afterwards. "Took you long enough, I'm already dry dude" "I told you not to watch the door, you should have gone back to the room." "You should know by now that I'm still gonna watch the door if you want me to or not." "Let's just get you brushed out. You'll probably fall asleep in my lap again, though I could use another nap anyway." "Fine but only because you're so good at it...and you make a comfy pillow." "Whatever you say dude. Come on up, I'll carry you." I picked up Riley and we went down the hall back to our room. I set him on the bed and went to my bag to grab his brush before sitting next to him. As always I started brushing his head first, beginning right above his forehead and going down to the back of his neck. By the time I got to brushing his back Riley was already asleep, but that didn't bother me. He's quite adorable when he's sleeping and it makes it much easier to brush his fur. His back was matted the worst, so much clumped fur from the fight the other day. I carefully brushed his arms and legs before going to his tail, then I moved to brushing his stomach and the underside of his neck. I checked over his paws for damage to the paw pads but thankfully didn't find anything. With the grooming done, I laid down and gently moved Riley to my side without waking him. Then i got comfortable and fell asleep with his head on my chest.