Kate and Keith walked warily in the dark through Nabiki Cave. "Hey, Keith!" Kate said. "WHAT?" Keith responded in a startled voice. Kate's body jolted. "…Are you OK?" She asked.

Of course he wasn't OK. He was on his first real Ranger mission; there was something wrong with the Pokémon; and he was in a seriously dark cave with Kate, of all people? And she was asking if he was OK?

"I'm OK." Keith answered through gritted teeth. "What is it?" Kate gave him a weird look, but shrugged it off and pointed while kneeling toward the ground. "Look. There are scrape marks here. They're not normal, so something must have been dragged here." She stood up and pointed deeper into the cave. "The tracks go that way…"

Suddenly, she stopped. "Lyrical!"

They had found Lyrical, and she was emitting a growling sound from her throat. Her ears were cocked. "Chipa pachi." She growled.

"Lyrical, what's—Oh, Arceus." Kate murmured.

There was a strange red machine up ahead and there were at least five Pokémon dancing around it, including the Buizel that Keith had failed to catch earlier. Keith's eyebrows lowered.

"I say we blow it up." He said frankly. Kate's eyes widened. "I—Keith, no!" She exclaimed nervously. "There's got to be another way!"

Keith looked at her sideways. "And that would be…?" He challenged. Kate's protests fell silent. Keith called Rhythmi on his Styler. "Yo, Rhythmi." He said. "Kate and I found a big red thing that's controlling the Pokémon. I wanna blow it up. Any other ideas?"

On the other end, Rhythmi sweatdropped. "Why is it that every solution you think of involves destruction?" She asked wearily. "Let me check if there are any authorized experiments going on in Nabiki Cave at the moment…" She gave a quick flourish of her fingers over the keypad of her laptop. "None. Permission to blow up." Rhythmi confirmed.

Keith grinned. "Yippee! Now then… Kate?" Kate was a little disturbed by the fact that Keith had just said 'yippee', but she called Lyrical anyway. "Lyrical, use Shock Wave!"

"CHIPA!" Blue lightning streaked at the red machine. However, when it reached its target, it bounced off towards the group.

"Get down!" Keith yelled, pushing Kate to the ground. The lightning dissolved with a crack when it hit the wall behind them. "Ow…" Kate muttered. "That didn't work…"

Keith raised an eyebrow. "You think?" He then realized the… err… compromising position they were in, which was exactly like the one they had been in when Kate had taken her nighttime test back at Ranger School and he had been her partner. Just thinking about it made his face red enough to make a Tamato Berry jealous.

Keith scrambled to get off of her.

"Maybe we could scan it with the Styler…" Kate murmured thoughtfully, "Like Ms. Claire did back in school…" Keith nodded, face still rivaling a Tamato Berry, and then scanned the machine.

Strange Machine

Target Clear: Water X2

…Said the Styler.

"So we just have to find a Type 2 Water Pokémon." Kate deducted. "Well, this is a damp cave, so…" She went into a small passageway with Keith following.

They poked around for a bit, but then they heard a faint cry come from nearby. Kate grabbed Keith's arm. "What was that?" She asked frantically.

Keith blushed. "It's probably just a Pokémon. And, ow." He said. Kate was stronger than she looked. Kate, however, still hung on. Keith hid his embarrassment by looking at the blocked up cave where the cry had come from. "Probably a Gastrodon…" He muttered. Kate looked up confusedly. "How do you know that?" She asked.

Keith looked over at her. "I'm from Sinnoh; there are tons of Gastrodon there." He explained. Can you wait here a sec?"

Kate nodded. Keith tried to go, but Kate was still hanging on to his arm. "Kate… my arm." Keith sighed.

Kate blushed. "S-s—sorry!" She exclaimed, letting go. Keith simply smirked and walked on.

He hadn't gotten far when the Gastrodon cried out again. "Aaaah!" Kate exclaimed. She ran over to Keith and grabbed the back of his shirt, frightened.

Keith felt himself go red. "K-Kate, let go!" He stammered. "I'll only be a minute—"

Kate's grip on his shirt tightened.

"I'll go with you…" She murmured. Keith's eyes widened. His heart immediately beat faster. Kate said one more thing. "I'm scared… so…

"Please…"

.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

They walked on.

Kate hadn't yet let go of the back of Keith's shirt yet; although she was holding onto it with one outstretched hand right now.

Keith stopped, and Kate bumped into him on accident. "What is it?" She asked. Keith pointed wordlessly at a Nosepass that was standing motionless in an opening. It was facing a solid wall. "…Why isn't it moving…?" Kate asked, still hiding behind Keith. Keith sighed. "They can only face north," He said, taking out his Styler.

Three.

Two.

One.

Zero.

"CAPTURE ON!"

Keith captured the Nosepass with ease, seeing as it wasn't moving. Keith then moved away. "Come on, Nosepass. We need you." He said.

The Nosepass didn't move.

"…Keith." Kate said nervously. "What now?" She understood that they needed the Pokémon to break the rock that led to the Gastrodon. Keith sighed. "Guess we've got no choice, huh?"

He then proceeded to lift the Nosepass.

"Keith! That's got to be two hundred pounds, at least!" Kate cried, alarmed. "I'm—fine—" Keith muttered.

"You are not fine! Here, let me help—" Kate held onto the Nosepass too, and the burden became easier. They eventually moved it back to the rock.

"Ok, Nosepass! Break the rock!"

The Nosepass gathered up a lot of dirt, then it all became hard and it threw it at the rock, which shattered from the force.

"Alright!" Keith made to go into the cave where the Gastrodon was, but Kate ran after him.

"I'll do it!" She said, her bangs covering her eyes.

She emerged shortly with the Gastrodon behind. "…Let's go." She said, walking ahead. Keith raised an eyebrow questionably, but followed without saying anything.

When they got to the red machine, Kate spoke. "Gastrodon, WATER GUN!"

"Gastro~~~!" The water attack hit the red machine, which began to spark and shudder. Keith knew what would happen a second before it did, and pulled Kate to the ground as—

BOOM.

The machine exploded, leaving a singed and blackened area where it used to stand. Bits of machinery lay here and there.

"THAT WAS AWESOME!" Keith yelled happily, pulling Kate up to her feet. Kate was smiling a little, which Keith noticed.

"Ha! You say that wasn't a good idea, but even you enjoyed it!" He said as the Gastrodon slid away. Kate blushed prettily. Keith blushed seeing her blush prettily. He then remembered something.

"That Buizel…" He ran to see the Buizel from before acting normal now. He raised his Styler.

Three.

Two.

One.

Zero.

"CAPTURE ON!"

Keith tried to make the capture go exactly like the one that hadn't worked before. He even copied the slight bounce the Top had made as it emerged from the Styler. When he was finished, the Buizel trotted to his side. Keith cleared his throat.

"Ok, Buizel! Here's the deal." He announced, puffing out his chest proudly. "I think you're a good Pokémon. Wanna be my Partner?"

Kate blinked.

However, despite Keith's blunt and out-of-nowhere proposition, the Buizel copied his pose, puffing out its chest too. "Bui! Buizel bui bui!" It said. Keith grinned. "Well, that settles it!" He said. "Oh, you need a name…" He shot a quick glance at Kate and Lyrical, who were standing nearby. "…Tempo." Keith finally said. "You like that?"

The Buizel, now named Tempo, smiled. "Bui-zel!" It cried approvingly. Kate's eyes widened.

Keith walked over to Kate. "Well," He said, "That's Mission Clear, don't you agree?"

.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

As they walked toward the Base, it was still bright out; maybe only noon. They hadn't realized they'd been in there for around two hours, between the mysterious red machine and Kate's hanging on to Keith.

…And speaking of which…

"…I'm sorry…"

Keith turned to look at Kate. "For what?" He asked. Kate looked up at him. Keith was alarmed to see tears.

"I'm sorry… I got scared and I depended on you… I shouldn't…" She started crying. "I'm sorry…"

Leave it to Rhythmi to decide right then to make a call on Keith's Voicemail.

"Hey, Keith? Just checking in to see if you guys—" She stopped short. "Someone's crying. Who's crying? Is that Kate? Oh Arceus, it is! KEITH, I SWEAR, IF YOU MADE HER CRY I WILL KILL YOU!"

The Styler was now levitating ominously and Rhythmi was glaring at Keith.

The Styler then chased him around the beach.

It's Pokémon. Anything can happen.

Kate looked up and saw Keith being chased by his Styler with what looked like Rhythmi on the screen, screaming, "I'LL KILL YOU!"

A small laugh escaped.

Followed by some more.

Keith and the Rhythmi-possessed Styler stopped and stared at Kate. Keith immediately grabbed the Styler from midair and turned it off so Rhythmi couldn't call again.

BACK AT THE RANGER BASE

"I'll kill him."

BACK AT THE BEACH

"…I didn't mind, you know." Keith said.

Kate looked up. Keith didn't meet her gaze; his spiky red bangs covered his eyes.

"I didn't mind… You hanging on to me like that. Depending on me." Keith continued. "It's natural to depend on people when you're scared. So…" He looked up.

"When you're scared… when you're insecure… Just…come to me and Rhythmi. We're your friends, Kate. No matter how shy you are, no matter how dependent you are, that still remains. So… please…

"…Don't cry."

.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

KATE'S POV

When we get back to the Ranger base, I'm… happy.

Well, that's not completely true. I'm actually worried. Worried because Rhythmi's practically slaughtering Keith… Oh, wait, she noticed Tempo. Never mind… Now she's petting and hugging it. But now Keith's mad.

Once those two get started, there's no stopping them.

But when they wanted us to be friends… and when we all had a good time at the after party in my nighttime initiation at school… and when they were fighting just a few minutes ago about how I was crying… I realized that they really do care.

It's not fake.

It's not even pity.

It's friendship.

I wonder why Keith named his Buizel Tempo.

THE NEXT DAY

"Morning…" Luana yawned as she entered the main room. She looked around. "Where are Kate, Keith and Rhythmi?"

"Trying to wake up Kate." Elaine answered. "She was tuckered out after yesterday. Mostly because she had to pull Rhythmi off of Keith…" She snickered.

The door opened and Keith and Rhythmi came out. Keith was carrying a drowsy, yet just barely awake Kate in his arms. He had a bandage on his face from where Rhythmi had slapped him. Rhythmi was carrying Lyrical. Tempo was trotting behind the group.

"Why are you carrying Kate?" Barlow asked. Keith sighed. "She didn't want to get out of bed… Her bed's right by the AC." Everyone looked confused, but then Rhythmi clarified. "She gets sleepy in the cold."

Barlow sighed. "Well, get her awake, because she and Luana are on patrol today."

"…Sleep now… …Patrol later…" Kate murmured, shutting her eyes tighter and trying to go back to sleep. Everyone laughed. Until…

"OHMYGODOHMYGOD —hey, why's Flame holding Spiky?—butanywaysIwenttocheckandit'shorribleit'sterribleit'—"

"CRAWFORD!" Barlow yelled. Crawford had just ran into the Base and started running his words together much too quickly than possible. "Words, man, use words! What happened?"

Crawford took a deep breath and looked serious. Then,

"It's the forest, Boss. The Vien Forest's on fire."