"Hey, rookies!"

Kate, Keith and Rhythmi had no sooner stepped into Vientown than Luana had run up to them, her Buneary hopping after her. "I got impatient, so I decided to bring you guys to the Base!" She panted.

"This way!" She ran off, Kate, Keith and Rhythmi behind. When they arrived, Barlow turned. "Oh, you're here! He boomed. He pushed some clothes into each of their arms. "Go into the back and put these on! Don't slack!" He shooed them off into the changing rooms.

When they all emerged, Keith and Kate were wearing matching uniforms, consisting of red jackets, black shorts, and red shoes. Rhythmi wore the same attire, only her color was blue. (A/N: You all know what the uniforms look like…) "YOU ALL LOOK SO CUUUUUUUUUTE!" Luana screamed excitedly.

Kate looked her uniform over self-consciously. "Hey, does this look good on me?" She turned to Keith, who blushed profusely at the question. "Um, I, why would I—I mean—"

"You look great!" Rhythmi assured Kate, who beamed. Keith sweatdropped.

Barlow cleared his throat. "So!" He bellowed. "I should tell you about your new Stylers' functions!" Kate and Keith looked up. "Eh… Oh!" Kate realized that there was a red Styler hooked onto her belt.

She picked it up, intrigued. Keith did the same. "When you capture a Pokemon, you can use it to power up your Styler to catch other Pokemon." Barlow explained. "It's really simple; just click the PokeAssist and you can choose a Pokemon that you've captured to use."

Kate's mind flashed back to when Lyrical had jumped inside the capture disk. "Can Pokemon go into PokeAssists by themselves?" She asked. Barlow thought it over for a minute. "Only if it's a Partner Pokemon, and if its feelings are strong enough." He decided. Keith's face seemed to fall a little, but Kate's lit up in understanding.

"Oh, so that's why Lyrical…" She suddenly looked around. "Oh, Arceus, where's Lyrical?"

"Um, Kate?" Rhythmi called from behind the Operator desk, where Yumiko, the chief Operator, was showing her how to work the machine. "She's over here."

And, sure enough, Lyrical was sitting contentedly on the machine, electricity flowing into its tail. "Lyrical! Bad girl! Don't do that!" Kate cried and reached out to pick up Lyrical. Rhythmi was frantic. "Um, I wouldn't do that if I were you—"

Too late. The electricity stormed into Kate's veins as well, and she was electrocuted.

Kate stumbled around with swirly eyes and singed hair. Luckily, the uniform seemed alright. The Styler had gotten a good energy boost too.

"Kate!" Keith shook Kate hard. Her eyes snapped back from swirly symbols to her normal brown retinas. "Keith?" She said. "What?" Keith said, looking relieved. Kate raised an eyebrow.

"Let go of me."

Keith was holding Kate by the shoulders.

As per usual, his face flamed up, and he let go quickly. Barlow cleared his throat. "Well, let's go over intros again." He announced. The four other people in the room lined up.

"That there is Crawford." Barlow said, gesturing to the tall, lanky man. "And his explosion of an afro. There's Luana…" He sighed, gesturing towards the beetle black eyed girl who was looking around the room dreamily. Barlow sweatdropped. "She's a bit scatterbrained. Just this morning, she incinerated toast. And there's our Operator, Yumiko." He pointed towards the stern yet gentle looking Operator with purple hair. He continued. "And last is—" Kate cut him off.

"Elaine!" She said excitedly. Elaine, in case you forgot, was the messy-looking yet amazingly beautiful Mechanic. Her sapphire-blue eyes sparkled mischievously. "Finally, I am noticed!" She laughed. "Good to see you, kid!" Kate smiled back enthusiastically.

"Ahem!" Barlow cleared his throat. "And my name is Barlow, I'm the Leader here. So!" He gave a hefty grin. "Now you know us, and so it's time for your first orders!"

Kate, Keith and Rhythmi's eyes lit up. "Rhythmi, you're to stay here and have Yumiko and Elaine show you all the controls." Barlow instructed. "Keith and Kate, you are to go around delivering the Vien Tribune! Crawford, you go with them!"

"Huh? Oh, yeah." Crawford said. The threesome left the building, Rhythmi waving after them and wishing them luck. Suddenly Kate remembered something. "Oh, Arceus, I never got Lyrical off the machine!" She cried. All of a sudden…

"AGGGGGGHHHHHH!"

A few seconds later, Barlow walked out of the Base, his mustache singed and spiky, and his skin burnt. In his hands was a content Lyrical.

"Here." He growled. Kate took Lyrical from him nervously.

"Um… Thanks…?"


They went around, delivering the Tribune to various residents. They came across a large barn. Kate nearly passed it, but was brought back by Keith and Crawford. "Hey, wait!" Crawford called. "We have to stop here!" Keith yelled.

"What? Someone lives here?" Kate asked. Keith nodded. "Yeah. Little Tim and his Wife, Big Bertha." He explained. Kate sweatdropped at the names. "Oh, and their four kids." Kate jumped. "Four?" She exclaimed. Keith shrugged. "Well, actually six, but two moved out awhile back."

He then walked into the barn with Crawford. Kate stared after them for a split second, but then ran after them.

When they entered, four small children looked up. The two youngest hopped up and down. The youngest, looking to be about three, was a small boy in a red cap. The second youngest was a little girl who seemed to be six, with short blond hair and marine blue eyes. The other two looked to be about eight, and they appeared to be twins. They both had black hair and red eyes.

"Mama, mama," The kids all called. "The Tribune is here!" A very large, stout woman with buttery blond hair tied up at the top of her head opened a door and walked in the room—or rather, barn, as it was a large play area with platforms put up and toys spread out around the room.

"Ah, th' Vien Tribune is 'ere!" The woman bellowed. A small, bony man followed after the woman. His features lifted in recognition. "Oh, it's Keith and 'is girlfriend." He said in mild surprise. Keith blushed.

"YOU'RE WRONG!" He shouted. Kate was a little preoccupied giving the paper to the large woman, who was Big Bertha. "Thank you." Bertha said happily. She had a strong Southern accent. Kate shook her head. "It was no trouble!" She assured.

Suddenly, the small six year-old girl with marine eyes walked up to Kate. "Um… Are you Gracidea's big sister…?" She asked. Kate was surprised. "Yes, I am!" She confirmed. "Do you know her?"

The girl smiled. "My name is Mirimu." She said happily. "Gracidea sometimes comes here to play, but she forgot something… Could you give it to her?" Mirimu held out a long pink ribbon that must have stretched a yard at most. Kate smiled. That ribbon was one that her little sister used when she tied up her long curly hair into two curly pigtails. She tended to use many ornaments in the pigtails, and that ribbon was one of them.

"Yeah, I'll take it to her," Kate said, "She'll be happy to have it back!" Mirimu smiled. "Well!" Bertha clapped her meaty hands together. "Next time please come for some milk puddin'! We'd be glad to 'ave you!"

"Yeah!" Keith said. "Bye!" They then left to deliver to Chicole Village, which was easy. When they finally came to the last house, Kate's family's, Gracidea and Monique, Kate's mother, pounced on Kate eagerly whilst Alistair sweatdropped.

"Gracidea." Kate said. "Your friend Mirimu wanted me to give this to you." She handed Gracidea the long ribbon, and Gracidea's eyes lit up. "Thank you, big sister!" She chirruped. Kate, Keith and Crawford left.

When they got back, Barlow and Rhythmi greeted them enthusiastically. "Welcome back!" Barlow boomed. "Looks like that's Mission Clear for you!"

Kate and Keith did their Ranger Poses.

"Well, that's it for today. Tomorrow you two can go on patrol." Crawford sighed. Barlow twitched. "Crawford, it's your turn tomorrow." Crawford grinned. "Hey, they need to learn!" Barlow grinned. "Fine, but tomorrow you help Luana cook breakfast!" He announced. Crawford winced.

"Fine, but I'm not going anywhere near the toaster!"


That evening, After dinner had finished, Barlow stood.

"Ok then, Kate, Keith, Rhythmi," He said, "Your room is the second right down the corridor. There's one bedroom, two bathrooms, and three beds. Off you go now!" Kate and Rhythmi stood, but Keith sat still. "Wait…" He said.

"YOU MEAN I HAVE TO SHARE A BEDROOM WITH TWO GIRLS?"