.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.
"Keith."
"…"
"Keith?"
"…"
"Keith!"
"…"
"KEITH!"
"I'M HERE!" Keith gasped randomly in surprise out of Kate's sudden wake-up call from his thoughts. Kate raised an eyebrow in concern.
"…Are… are you OK?" She inquired softly. Keith felt his face burn up.
"I—I—I'm fine! Don't worry about it!" He stammered hastily. Kate cast one more odd look in his direction before finally letting the matter go. Their new companion and guide through the volcanoes, Pele, secretly watched Keith in pure satisfaction with her handiwork.
Keith, on the other hand, was feeling less comfortable than his two cohorts. He could hardly feel his heart pounding anymore for how fast it was beating after his sudden realization not moments earlier. Seriously, it had all happened so fast, and right before he had walked into a freaking volcano cave (which he was actually rather grateful for, as the crimson light from the lava made his red face indistinguishable from their surroundings) for Arceus' sake. He'd been somewhere between not recognizing the true extent of his feelings to just flat out rejecting them ever since he'd met his brown-haired, pale blue-eyed friend—no wait, scratch that, ever since he'd seen the girl.
Keith was in love with Kate.
He honestly had no idea how it'd come to be. After all, she was his complete opposite. Where he was hotheaded and easily angered, she was calm and understanding. Where she was quiet and unwilling to participate, he was loud, boisterous and happy to fling in his two cents with a certain flair. Where he was friendly and talkative to complete strangers, she was always hiding behind either him or Rhythmi (preferably him) and staying completely silent. So how the hell did he end up falling in love with her?
It's not as if the poor guy had meant for it to happen. It's just that when he'd seen her for the first time in Ranger School so many months ago, something in him had snapped. Literally. If his brain made audible sounds everyone would have heard a very loud SNAP. But, sadly, the human brain is (ironically) too stupid to make sounds on its own and thus you should all just take my word for it. Anyways, after the rather out of place snap, some sort of extreme tidal wave of relatively insane feeling had very nearly taken over his entire system. Specifically one feeling, to be exact.
Desire.
The minute, no, second she'd walked into that room he literally had to restrain himself from jumping out of his seat and declaring to all that she was his and no one else's. Why would that have happened to him? He didn't know. How could he have known? After all, he was still a stupid and dense kid back then.
…OK, then and now.
Either way, the feelings that he'd judged back then as "intuition that this girl would make a good rival" (as previously said, stupid and dense) started out as a tiny seed. Just a small, everyday teenage boy crush. Then they'd grown again and again after the time they'd gone on the test of courage, the time she and Rhythmi went off looking for him and the Stylers (he'd relived that day many times in his fantasies, usually omitting Rhythmi out of the whole ordeal), the time they'd had that huge fight over the perv job who'd hit on Kate, the time he'd had to carry her for most of the Peril Cliffs Mission, that one time with the paper flower—oh, Arceus, the paper flower. It'd literally taken all the strength of his mind and spirit (and a little bit of prayer) combined not to try and take things any farther than they'd gone that one time in the library—not that he'd really been aware of his sudden wanting. It was just some kind of instinct, an animalistic urge that'd made his heart feel as if it had been about to burst out of his chest.
It was almost getting out of hand how much he was growing to care for her.
"Keith."
Seriously, he was even swearing to himself that he could actually hear her voice in his head right now.
"Keith?"
Oh, wait…
"Keith!"
That was her voice.
"KEITH!"
"Ugh, what now?" Keith grumbled as he was once again rudely awakened by Kate's nagging. For a girl he'd just realized he was in love with, she could get pretty annoying sometimes.
The girl was glowering at him and tapping one foot impatiently. "I said that I need your help capturing some Drifloon so that we'll be able to cross this lava river. The rest of the path here is a dead end," She explained.
Keith nodded. "Alright, alright, I got it. Jeez." He sighed melodramatically as Kate scoffed and rolled her eyes at his behavior.
A few minutes later, the Drifloon had been located and captured, one by each of them. Keith was starting to walk back with his catch to where Pele was waiting, but Kate called out quickly, "Keith! Wait, we only have two, we need one for each person!"
"No worries, it'll be fine." Keith answered. "Come on!"
A few minutes later, they had reached the young headstrong girl who was leading them through the caves. Keith handed Pele his Drifloon. Pele nodded. "Thanks." She said, beginning to tie the Drifloon's two strings around her waist.
"No problem." Keith said. He then took hold of Kate's Drifloon's strings and pulled a bit, but it didn't move much.
"You seem sturdy…" He muttered. Then he grinned up at the balloon Pokémon. "You up for a bit of a challenge, little guy?"
"Drif! Drifloon!" The Pokémon answered readily.
"Alright then! Now, let's see…" Keith said, taking the two strings and inspecting them. "Kate, come over here."
"Yes?" Kate asked, taking a step forward. Keith leered evilly at her as he used his finger to beckon her towards him. "Closer…"
Kate gulped and took one more mini-step in his direction, which was more than enough for Keith to grab her wrist and pull her close. The Drifloon instantly tied them together and Kate yelped as Keith grinned at her reaction.
Hey, just because he liked her didn't mean he could stop messing with her.
"Pele, you ready?" He called to the red-brown eye-colored girl nearby. She nodded, still in slight shock from the trick he had just played.
"Then let's go!" Keith tugged on the Drifloon's strings a bit and it instantly lifted up into the air.
Once they were up, Kate seemed to calm down. How would floating over a river of burning lava calm her down? Keith didn't know. All he was aware of was that her body was pressed up tightly against his, her arms were around his neck as Lyrical nestled inside of the girl's jacket so as not to fall, and their position was almost exactly like the one they had been in on the boat when Kate had been getting Drifloon out of his hair except now they were floating and they were, well, closer.
Tempo, who was sitting on Keith's shoulder, muttered, "Buizel buizel bui buizel, bui bui buizel bui buizel." 'Not your best idea unless you want your head to explode from all the blood it's taking in, man.'
"Shut up, Tempo." Keith growled quietly in response. At this Kate looked up slightly from her intent gazing into the lava stream.
"Something wrong?" She inquired politely—which in her language was as casual as it could get.
Keith watched the flames below flicker in her pale irises before slowly touching his forehead to hers, knowing in the back of his head that Tempo was going to tease him endlessly about this when the ride was over.
"Nothing," He murmured. "Nothing at all."
.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.
'You know I know you're in love with her.'
"You don't know anything."
'Come on! You had the Drifloon take you both across at the same time and you even touched foreheads with her and said nothing was wrong! It's like something out of a romance fanatic's fanfiction!'
"'Romance fanatic's fanfiction'? Where the hell did you get that from?"
'Never mind. I'm just saying that the hetero-whatever girl's words made you realize you love Kate!'
"I'm not having this conversation anymore. Lalalala…"
"Keith, Tempo, what are you guys talking about?" Kate asked curiously, turning her head to see the two arguing quietly behind her, Tempo on Keith's shoulder and whispering in Keith's ear angrily whilst Keith retorted through the side of his mouth.
"Nothing!" Keith said hurriedly. "Just keep walking!"
"Bui bui!" Tempo laughed nervously, waving Kate off. Kate cast them one last weird look before finally sighing and leaving the matter be.
'We'll finish this later, I swear to Arceus,' Tempo hissed in Keith's ear.
"Like hell we will," Keith muttered irritably. Seriously, it was bad enough he'd realized his feelings for what they were, but now Tempo knew that he knew and now he would never get any peace. He was giving Keith almost as much trouble as Rhythmi… Aw, dammit, Rhythmi. She was going to have a field day when she found this out. Luckily no one could understand Tempo but other Pokémon and Keith, so maybe he'd be able to keep the matter quiet for a while longer… Oh, who was he kidding? He was screwed.
Keith shook the depressing thoughts out of his head for now and focused on the task at hand. They all were heading through a small trench between two small cliffs in the cave when a Dim Sun goon suddenly appeared before them.
"Wha—!" Keith yelped in surprise, but then put a cautious hand on his Styler. Kate did the same as Pele proceeded to glare at the man.
"Rangers?" The goon gasped in shock. "Oh, crap! You all must be here to save that Operator girl we kidnapped!"
"Rhythmi?" Kate asked in alarm. The goon simply shrugged.
"I dunno her name, but man, she won't stop complaining!" He moaned. "Always demanding why our food sucks, why she's being held in a supply closet, why our outfits are apparently a 'fashion disaster'… Jeez! If I wasn't so afraid of the boss man chewing me out I would be letting you guys take her back!"
'Yep, he's talking about Rhyth,' Kate and Keith thought simultaneously.
"Anyways, now that I've caught you, I won't let you pass!" The goon yelled. "Go, Growlithe!"
He whipped out a small laptop, the same one the two Rangers had been seeing everywhere lately, and typed in a few commands. A few seconds later, a Growlithe bounded up to the group, snarling horribly.
"Keahi!" Pele screamed. "Oh, Keahi!"
"That's Keahi, the Growlithe you said disappeared?" Kate inquired. Pele nodded, now at a loss for words.
"Alright then, guess we've got no choice in the matter," Keith grumbled. "CAPTURE ON!"
The top spun out as per usual, but the Growlithe was very similar to his Trainer: He didn't back down easy. Keith soon brought in Tempo, though, and Keahi was caught quickly.
"Keahi!" Pele cried, running up to the captured Growlithe, who barked happily and jumped into her arms, although he looked very tired.
"Sorry about that," Keith apologized as the Dim Sun goon hightailed it, "Tempo's Water attacks probably wore him down a little."
"No, it's OK," Pele protested, "But I should probably head back to heal Keahi a little since it looks like he's been through a lot."
The little Pokémon did look as if he'd seen better times as of late, as his orange fur was tangled and dirty, he had a few cuts and bruises, and he looked as if he could barely stand from all the fighting he'd been forced to do and Tempo's Water Assist on top of that.
Kate nodded in agreement. "That sounds like a plan," She confirmed. "We should be able to find our way from here on out, so you be careful finding the exit, OK?"
Pele smiled. "OK, and thank you again for everything you've been doing." Then she walked up to Keith and got on her tiptoes to whisper in his ear.
"Look, bub, I'm not only doing this for myself and Keahi, but also for you," She snarled. "You're going to be handling the rest of this with the girl you're totally head over heels in love with, so you'd better not screw this up. Or else."
Keith's hormones weren't sure whether to blush or to turn ghostly pale.
"Alright then, I'll see you guys later!" Pele giggled, her tone of speech doing a 180. Kate grinned.
"OK, see you soon… Keith? Are you alright?" She inquired, as Keith had gone rather stiff as he stared after Pele.
'Wait a minute,' He panicked in his mind, 'Pele knows. Tempo knows. Rhythmi probably knows since she never gives me any peace on the matter. And the rest of the guys back at the base don't hold back on teasing me either…
'…Does this mean they know? DOES EVERYBODY KNOW?' He yelled internally as his head went into a panicked frenzy as he questioned how the hell he might have managed to make everything so obvious.
"Keith?" Kate asked again. Keith looked up from the ground into her blissfully unaware eyes.
…
"Well, at least you're clueless," He sighed in relief as he walked ahead, drained of mental energy. Kate sweatdropped and blinked in confusion.
"C-clueless…? What do you mean by that?"
"Never mind, Kate. Never mind."
.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.
The two humans and Pokémon walked alone now, occasionally running into a few more Dim Sun goons and defeating them every time. Finally, they saw a door about twenty feet off through a small arch in another stone mini-cliff.
"Alright! I bet that's their secret hideout!" Keith cheered. Kate nodded.
"Yes, I believe so too… Let's go!" She said, and the two were just about to head through the stone arch when a voice suddenly rang out above them.
"WE'VE FOUND YOU, RANGERS! GWAHAHAHA!"
"—the hell?" Keith stammered as he looked up with Kate to see none other than their two favorite grunts, Goon One and Goon Two, standing above them on the arch.
"Aw, Arceus, not you idiots again!" Keith shouted in frustration.
"Thought you'd try and find our getaway boat, huh?" The angrier, more easily provoked goon (Goon Two) yelled. He proceeded to loudly explain how they'd managed to get themselves out of the river they'd jumped in after their last meeting and how now was the time they would exact their revenge whilst Goon One, the quieter of the two, stayed back and watched silently.
Kate, however, wasn't listening. 'Getaway boat?' She thought. 'What is he talking ab—'
"…AND NOW!" Goon Two interrupted, "WE AVENGE OUR SOAKED UNIFORMS!"
And with that, he pushed a button on the small laptop he'd brought with him and a large rock fell from the ceiling, crashing in front of the stone arch and blocking their path.
"SERIOUSLY?" Keith yelled angrily. "YOU HAD TO BLOCK THE ENTRANCE?"
"HA!" Goon Two yelled back, "NOW YOU WILL NEVER DISCOVER DIM SUN'S SECRET HIDEAWAY!"
"THINK ABOUT IT, IDIOT!" Keith retorted, "NOW YOU GUYS CAN'T GET BACK EITHER!"
"THAT'S—I'm sorry, what?" Goon Two said as he realized that he and his protégé hadn't been inside the arch when he'd sealed it.
"AHHH! WE'RE LOCKED OUT!" He screamed.
"THAT'S WHAT I SAID, IDIOT!" Keith roared back.
Kate and Goon One watched the two yell insults at each other for awhile longer until Kate finally sighed and decided to go off to find a Pokémon who could crush the rock.
She climbed the stone arch and walked past the Dim Sun goons, but Goon One realized this and followed her.
"You're going to find a Pokémon who can crush the rock, right?" He asked. "I'll help."
"Wha… Aren't we your enemy?" Kate inquired suspiciously. The goon laughed and sweatdropped.
"Yes, technically, but me and my friend are just simple grunts." He answered. "No one special who has any influence. Besides, we just joined because we had nowhere else to go."
Kate blinked. "Oh," she murmured. "I see."
The grunt laughed again. "Yeah, things have been tough for us lately. We're both orphans, so we didn't really have a choice in the matter." He explained. "Matilda's strong, though. She puts her heart in everything she does, even if it's something she hates. And Arceus, does she hate this job."
…
"…I'm sorry… did you just say 'she?'"
…
The grunt clapped a hand over his mouth. "Oh, no!" He cursed. "I blew it!"
Kate sweatdropped. "It's OK… But… your friend is female?"
The grunt sighed. "Yeah, she's my childhood friend… man, she's gonna kill me if she finds out I blabbed." He muttered. "Matilda dressed up as a boy when she entered because she was afraid no one would respect her if she was a girl."
Kate nodded slowly. "I… I see…" She murmured, and then stifled a laugh when she thought of how shocked Keith would be if he ever found out he'd been spitting insults at a girl.
"So, what's your name?" Kate inquired. The grunt smiled.
"It's Galileo," He answered. Kate stared, and he hastily added, "It was a family name, and my parents were cruel people. Everyone just calls me Gale, though… Ah! How about that Pokémon?"
Kate followed his gaze to see a Mawile walking aimlessly around. The fangs that made up its ponytail looked as if they could disintegrate steel, let alone a rock.
"Good eye!" She complimented. "CAPTURE ON!"
The Mawile was taken off guard, and thus capturing it was fairly easy. Soon, Kate and Gale were walking back to where Keith and Matilda were still spitting insults at one another.
Looking closer, Kate could see that the other goon really was indeed female. Her blonde hair was cut short to imitate a typical male hairdo, but her dark brown eyes had telltale long black lashes around them and if one looked closely(although Kate got the feeling Matilda would beat up anyone who dared do so), they could see the faint curve of a female's frame underneath her baggy uniform. Gale had the same blonde hair, but instead of brown eyes his were a shocking green color.
"Alright, Mawile, crush that rock!" Kate commanded, and the Mawile did as it was told and the rock was gone within seconds.
"Huh? Kate? When did you get that Mawile?" Keith asked curiously.
Matilda wasn't much different. "Gale? When'd you leave?" She demanded. Gale sweatdropped.
"Anyways, HAH!" Matilda laughed as she climbed the stone stairs down the arch and ran through the door. "Thanks for opening a path for us back, fools! Now we can tell everyone we've got intruders!"
She ran through the door, and Gale went off after her, but as he passed Kate he murmured, "I can't stop Matilda from telling everyone about you guys, but I'll try and stall her for the time being. Be quick, though. The boat leaves in about fifteen minutes."
He was gone before Kate got the chance to reply.
"Hm?" Keith looked after the two grunts, then at Kate. "Did the quiet goon say something to you?"
"Nothing," Kate said hurriedly. "It was nothing!"
Keith stared suspiciously for a few minutes, but then let it go and said, "Well, we'd better get going!"
The two ran through the door and saw that they were overlooking a giant underground river. Across a large section of water in front of the two Rangers, there was another piece of land where a huge cargo ship was docked. "I've read about this place," Kate murmured. "Apparently if you sail from here on out for about an hour, you'll be out to sea."
"Great, Rhythmi's on a boat," Keith grumbled. "Fan-fricking-tastic. But what're these guys planning?"
But just then, a Dim Sun goon came dancing over to the boat with a laptop in hand and at least ten Pokémon behind him. He clicked a few buttons and they all went willingly up into the boat. The goon turned to another grunt beside him.
"Man, this racket Boss got going up is great!" He crowed. "Leading all these Pokémon to the ship and then hightailing it out of here? Genius!" The other goon nodded in assent.
Kate paled as she looked over at Keith, who was grimacing angrily. "Keith—" She started.
"Yeah, I know," Keith interrupted. "Those guys are planning to smuggle all the Pokémon off Boyle Island—and they're taking Rhythmi with them!"
