Since the welcoming initiation had taken place, not much had changed, but the threesome had noticed that Mr. Kincaid had put up a crossing sign that lit up and a sign that said, 'DO NOT ENTER.'.

"Ok, who knows what today is?" Ms. April asked cheerfully.

"OUTDOOR CLASS!" Everyone yelled.

"Oh, c'mon, we wouldn't forget about Outdoor Class!" Keith commented. "U-um—excuse me, but what's Outdoor Class…?" Kate asked.

Everyone fell silent and stared at Kate, but leave it to Keith to break the silence. "You don't know what Outdoor Classis?" He asked hoarsely. "I—u-um—well—no." Kate answered meekly.

"AGH!" Keith yelled. He grabbed Kate's arm. "Then we have to be the first ones there!" He announced. "Come on, Rhythmi!" He marched Kate out of the room. Rhythmi stood up. "Excuse us," She bowed and ran out of the room after them, muttering something that sounded like,

"That idiot, dragging Kate out there when he knows how shy she is…"

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The three arrived at Ascension Square to see a man in a red uniform. The man was tall, gangly, and he had a long nose. His hair flew out in all directions, making a curly brown afro.

"Hey!" He shouted out when he saw Kate, Keith and Rhythmi. "My name's Crawford. Where's your teacher?"

"She'll be here soon with the rest of the class," Keith answered. "We came early because she doesn't know what Outdoor Class is, can you believe it?" Kate was feeling more like an idiot with every time Keith opened his mouth. He turned to her.

"Kate, this is a Pokemon Ranger." He announced. He took the time to process that, and then he yelled, "OH MY GOSH, YOU'RE A POKEMON RANGER!" Crawford rolled his eyes.

"What was your first clue, the red uniform, the official Styler, or the giant afro?" He joked, but Keith and Kate had stopped listening and were now staring at Crawford with sparkles in their eyes. Crawford sweatdropped and turned to Rhythmi.

"Any reason why you're not drooling over me?" He asked.

"Operator." Rhythmi answered simply, filing her nails. "Ah." Crawford nodded. Suddenly the other 3 students in Ms. April's class came rushing over, Ms. April herself behind them. Ms. April's face lit up in recognition.

"Crawford!" She said. "It's good to see you!" Crawford shook her hand. "Yeah, it's good to see you too!"

"Class, please sit down in a circle." Ms. April said. Kate took her place between Keith and Rhythmi.

"This is Crawford, a Pokemon Ranger," Ms. April introduced. "He will answer all of your questions about Rangers, Operators, and Mechanics!" Crawford waved. Ms. April turned to him again.

"But really, why the afro?" She sighed. "I liked your old hair better; it makes me nervous to see that kind of jumbled up outgrowth of anything!" Crawford sweatdropped.

"So, without further ado, let's begin the Question and Answer Session of Terror!" He said hastily. "I've been waiting for this; I've got 36 questions to ask!" Keith whispered to Kate. He raised a hand, but Crawford called on another boy.

"Why did you decide to become a Ranger?" He asked. "Well, it's because I love Pokemon," Crawford answered simply. "I wanted to become friends with them, to bond with them. Besides, it's a cool job!"

Keith tried to say something, but was quickly cut off by another student who asked, "What kinds of Pokemon are difficult to capture?" Crawford sighed. "Depends on the person, but for me it's Ghost and Psychic types, as they can just teleport outside of the Styler range during capture."

Kate nudged Keith excitedly. "That's like what happened to us!" She whispered. Keith nodded and tried again to speak, but was, once again, cut off, this time by Rhythmi.

"Me next sir!" She chirped. "My name is Rhythmi, and there isn't anything I wouldn't like to do besides become an Operator! Will I make it? You can tell, right?" Crawford looked around to see Rhythmi. "Well, I'm only seeing you for the first time, so I'm not sure, but… Yeah, sure! Why not? No problemo!"

Rhythmi looked satisfied, but Keith finally got his turn in, saying, "Rhythmi, aren't you confusing the Ranger with a fortune teller?" He turned to Crawford. "Excuse me, Ranger. What about me? Will I be a Ranger?"

Crawford sweatdropped. "Say, aren't you confusing me with a fortune teller too?" He said. "But I can tell this. Your strong will shines through loud and clear; I'm sure you'll do great!" Keith nodded. "Good!"

He turned to Kate, who suddenly looked uncertain. "Hey, what's up?" He whispered. Kate didn't meet his eyes. "What if I don't become one…? A Ranger, I mean?" She asked quietly. Keith looked at her a little longer, and then said,

"Hey, Ranger!" Crawford turned. "Yeah? What's up?" He said. "What about my friend Kate here?" Keith asked. "Won't she become a Ranger? She definitely will, right?"

Kate looked up, alarmed. Crawford stared, but then walked up to her and kneeled down. He looked at Keith and Rhythmi. "These two your friends?" He asked. Kate looked up and nodded fervently. "Yes, my best friends!" She said firmly. Crawford nodded.

"Well, with friends like that you'll definitely succeed!" He said. Ms. April gave a little implying cough. "And study hard, too." He added hastily.

Kate's eyes lit up, and the color flooded back to her features. "Right!" She squeaked. "U-um, I have a question…" Crawford stood up. "What?"

"What should I do if I make a mistake?" She asked. Crawford laughed. "Just keep moving on in life, that's what I did in the beginning! Like the time I spilled juice all over my Styler. That was nasty. Or the time I tried to capture a stuffed doll. Oh and then there was that time I put my Ranger Uniform on top of my pajamas…" He stopped short and saw Kate's confused look.

"Hold up, don't make me say these things!" He burst out nervously. Everyone burst out laughing, and Kate, Keith and Rhythmi were doubled over on top of each other.

"All right, all right, that's enough!" Said Ms. April shrilly. "Next question!"

One student asked, "What makes you glad you became a Ranger?" Crawford thought that over for a few minutes, and then said, "I would have to say it's the smiles I get to see when I help people or Pokemon in need, definitely!"

Everyone got excited then, and Crawford said, "That's the spirit! Keep that spirit burning and achieve your dreams! Y'know, I'm really looking forward to working with you people some—" He was cut off.

"Day…" His Capture Styler was ringing. He picked it up and pressed a button. "Talk to me, Crawford here."

"Voicemail, Voicemail!" The little device said. Then—"Crawford, it's Barlow!" A voice rang out from the device. "There's a Mantine hurt off the eastern shore of School Island. The Pokemon apparently ran into a cargo ship. Luana's coming to pick you up in a boat as we speak. Sorry to interrupt, but duty first!"

Crawford snickered. "What?" The man named Barlow asked. "You said 'doody'." Crawford said. "CRAWFORD!"

"Ok, ok, I got it…! No need for bad language." He pressed another button and the connection was lost. "Sorry about this, kids, but I've got to scoot!" Almost the minute he finished the sentence, a dark brown haired girl wearing the same red uniform Crawford was came up in a speedboat.

"Crawford! Let's ditch!" She called out. "Yeah!" Crawford called back. He did his Ranger Pose and then waved one last time. "I'll be sure to tell you how the Mission went! See you all soon!" He then jumped on the boat and left.

"Cool…" Everyone sighed. Ms. April just shook her head and said,

"Honestly."

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Everyone had left Ascension Square to wander the school, as after Outdoor Class it was free time for the rest of the day. Kate, Keith and Rhythmi, however, had stayed behind at Ascension Square to talk about the Ranger.

"Wasn't he cool?" Keith exclaimed. "And he did a Ranger Pose! A real, live, Ranger Pose!"

Rhythmi sighed. "I don't see what was so interesting about him," She remarked, "Operators have the real responsibilities."

"I don't see why you want to be an Operator so badly."

"That's because your brain is the size of a peanut."

"U-um."

The pair turned from their bickering to see Kate, who was blushing fervently. She suddenly bowed deeply. "Thank you!" She said.

Rhythmi was taken aback. "What for?" She asked. Kate stood back up. "Well, if I hadn't met you, I wouldn't have any other friends, I mean, I'm kind of shy, and I guess I didn't have many friends back in Fiore, and I have to say that I'm so, so happy that you guys have actually stayed with me this long so," She looked up. "Thank you!"

All was silent for a few seconds, but then Rhythmi asked, "What was that, about us just staying with you?" Kate started.

"W-well, I must not be very fun to hang out with me, I'm always so quiet and everything—" She was cut off.

"What the heck are you talking about?" Keith yelled suddenly. "I mean, how could you not be fun to hang out with? You're smart, strong, really good at capturing, and even if you are a little shy that doesn't stop you from being fun to hang out with, besides, we were the ones that asked to be your friends first and WHY THE HECK ARE YOU CRYING?"

And it was true; Kate's eyes were brimming with tears. She covered her face in her hands. "T-thank you." She cried. "N-no one's ever said that about me b-before." Keith gaped. "Never? Jeez, you really didn't have any friends if no one said that about you before!"

Rhythmi elbowed Keith. "Yeah, that really helps." She scoffed. She then held out her hand. "And we promised, remember?" She said. "To always stay together as friends?"

Keith put his hand on Rhythmi's and they both stared at Kate. Kate stared at the two hands before her. She finally wiped off her tears and put her hand on top.

"Yeah…" They all stayed like that for a minute, and then withdrew. Kate turned to Keith.

"Keith?" Keith looked at her. "What?" He asked.

"Do you really think that about me?"

Keith's face went beet red. He turned. "Let's go back to the school!" He said hastily. He made a beeline for the stairs, but Kate kept behind him like a mosquito. Rhythmi followed them happily.

"Answer me!"

"No!"

"Please?"

"No!"

"Come on!"

"Did you have to pick nowto be confident?"

"Yes, I did!"

"Jeez!"

"Go on, answer her, Keith!"

"RHYTHMI, I'M WARNING YOU, DON'T BUTT IN!"

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That night, Kate lay in her bed with her journal. For that day's entry, she wrote one sentence and one sentence only.

'I've got the two best friends in the world.'