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"Kate… Kate. Kate!"
…
"…WAKE UP, DAMMIT!"
"Wah!" Kate exclaimed as she shot forward in bed. Keith was standing in front of her, already dressed and tapping his foot impatiently.
"Breakfast's in ten," he informed, "so hurry up and get ready before Chairperson Erma tells us off for being late."
"What?" Kate said in surprise as she grabbed the clock and inspected it. Then she looked up in disbelief. "Why didn't you wake me up earlier?"
Keith's eye twitched. "I did," he growled, "and you threw a pillow at me. I'll see you at breakfast."
Kate watched her spiky-headed partner leave the room, and then she peeked at the clock again.
'…I can spare five minutes,' she thought, lying back down in bed.
"Today's breakfast is chocolate chip pancakes!" Keith called down. "If you're too tired to eat yours, I'll be happy to take them off your hands!"
Kate immediately lunged out of bed and started to get changed.
Five minutes later, she and Falsetto arrived in the cafeteria. It was a very large room, with all the tables sorted by rank: simple citizen visitors to the Union at one table, then regular staff, important scientists seated at another, Top Rangers, Operators and Mechanics at the next, and finally the Chairman, Head Scientist (in other words, Professor Hastings), and visiting Base Leaders at the head table.
Kate hadn't really known how ranking for Rangers worked until Sven had explained it to her and Keith. The lowest status was rookie Rangers, obviously, then average, where you were entrusted with slightly more dangerous Missions (for example, Luana), and then veteran Rangers who had been on the job for several years (Crawford was at this rank). After that, things got a little complicated. If you exceeded the Union's expectations and were taking on high-risk Missions as a veteran or lower, the Union would promote you to Top Ranger. This only happened every few years, though, since Top Ranger was an important job, being as it was you were working directly under Chairperson Erma's orders. There were only twelve Top Rangers in the world, including Kate and Keith, and some weren't even currently stationed in Almia. The only thing higher than Top Ranger, excluding Chairman of the Union and other professional adult jobs, was Base Leader, which was only handed down to worthy Top Rangers when a current Base Leader retired or, well, died. Apparently you had to be an adult to command a Base, though.
Kate quickly found Keith and sat down next to him, looking around. "Where's Rhyth?" she asked.
"Where do you think? Doing her hair, obviously," Keith answered dryly as he poured syrup on his pancakes. Kate nodded a little.
"Rhythmi's hair really is important to her, huh?" Kate mused, taking the syrup from Keith's hand ("Hey! I wasn't finished!") and starting in on her pancakes. "It kinda makes me wonder if I should do something different with mine sometimes."
Keith snorted. "Don't let Rhyth catch you saying that, or you'll be locked in that hair salon she calls a room for three hours or more."
Kate looked at him and blinked. "Sounds like you're talking from experience."
"Ranger School," Keith sighed wistfully. "Three weeks before you came. I made a comment about how I once tried to get my hair to stay flat and Rhythmi overheard. I've had a phobia of hair gel ever since."
"Your hair would look creepy if it was flat."
"Just eat your pancakes."
The brunette shrugged and turned back to her food. "Still, maybe I should do something different with my hairstyle. I've been wearing it in pigtails since I was eight, after all."
Keith blinked. 'Since she was eight?' he thought to himself as a tiny bell went off in his head. Then he blinked again when he remembered.
"When I was eight years old, I was attacked by a Sharpedo. And needless to say, it tore me up pretty bad."
That was it. Kate had been attacked by a Sharpedo when she was eight years old, too. Keith turned his head to see Kate gather both her and Keith's plates in her thin arms and walk to the kitchen to put them away. He watched her from behind as she left, also recalling that down the entire length of her back from the top of her right shoulder to the bottom left of her torso was the mark that the Sharpedo had left on her. She hadn't bared any of her pain for anyone to see, but simply hidden the scar behind her clothes and the happy demeanor she put on.
At that moment, Kate returned from putting away the dishes. She saw Keith's thoughtful expression (an expression that didn't appear on his face that often) and looked at him curiously. "Something wrong?" she asked.
Keith jumped a little in surprise as it hit him that Kate was right in front of him now. "No," he covered up hastily, "it's nothing."
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"The Chroma Ruins?" Kate blinked as she looked at Chairperson Erma in confusion. "I—I'm sorry, ma'am, but where is that exactly?"
"If you go east from Altru Park, you'll eventually reach a long, mountainous range," Erma explained. "That's the Chroma Ruins."
"And why are we going there?" Keith inquired.
"I sent Sven there the day before yesterday to investigate some Dim Sun nonsense up there," the Chairperson went on, "but apparently the situation is larger than we expected and he needs backup. That's where you come in. Now, shoo."
"Yes, Chairperson Erma!" the two said together as they were (rather informally) dismissed, and they turned to leave the Union.
A few minutes later, the two were walking through Altru Park towards their destination. Kate was looking fairly nervous. Keith kept an eye on her as she wrung her hands and kept recalibrating her Fine Styler. This continued on until they had gotten out of the crowded square and into the secluded forest path to Chroma Ruins, at which point the boy finally sighed.
"OK, what's up?" he demanded, stopping in his tracks. Kate stopped with him and looked at him with wide eyes.
"W-what do you mean?" she asked with what was apparently deemed as innocence to her.
Keith's amber orbs narrowed. "You've been fidgeting and being on edge this entire time. What's up?" he repeated. Kate blinked at him, looked away briefly with pale, uneasy blue eyes, then looked back up at him as she smiled and opened her mouth to answer. Before she could talk, though, Keith put a finger over her lips to stop her.
"If you lie to me, I swear to Arceus that I won't buy you any cookies for an entire month," he threatened bluntly.
Kate's face fell.
Keith, however, looked fairly satisfied. "So?" he said.
Kate's cheeks flushed light pink as she looked down and twisted the ends of her jacket tensely. "I… I'm just nervous about seeing Sven again," she confessed. "I mean… the last time we spoke…"
Keith nodded in understanding. After all, she had run straight out of his sight and into her room after the older Top Ranger had practically rejected her. Despite all this, there was still more she didn't know. Sven was also aware that she had cried into Keith's chest for over a half hour due to the door that had most likely been scarred for life due to Keith's violence.
"You shouldn't worry too much about that," he sighed. "I don't think Sven's the kind of guy to worry about stuff like that."
Kate looked slightly affronted. "I know that!" she protested. "It's just, I'm embarrassed, from the way I ran away from him and how bad I was at covering things up and if he'll think I'm weird, and, and…"
She looked down stubbornly, her face burning red now. "…And…" she mumbled uneasily, "the way I cried like that…"
A short silence passed.
Then, "AHHHHHH!"
"Wha—?" Kate exclaimed as her head flipped up to see Keith stumbling, finally catching himself with one arm against a tree while the other touched his forehead in a theatrical fashion. Treble and even Falsetto also watched this scene in interest.
"Too cute!" Keith moaned through his act. "Too, too cute! Hark, is it even possible for a human being to be this cute?"
"Hark; are you even using that word right?" Treble muttered irritably. Keith ignored her.
"Alas, I cannot go on! No normal person's eyes could ever stand that much cute!" he continued in mock sorrow. "Can't… stand…!"
He sunk to the ground, leaning against the tree.
"To be, or not to be?" he murmured dramatically. "That is the question."
And then he played dead.
Kate rushed up to her partner, kneeling next to him. "K-Keith, are you OK?" she asked. "I mean, like, mentally? Should I take you back to the Union? O-or maybe straight to the doctor, just in case—"
Keith looked up, his usual insane grin gracing his features.
"See?" he laughed. "You're so cute I burst out into Shakespeare. Your shyness, your stubbornness, your worrying over stupid things like that Sven."
Kate gaped at him in shock. "Wha… buh… that… I am not cute!" she stammered in protest. Keith kept on grinning.
"Sven's an old friend of yours, right?" he reminded. "He won't think you're weird over one little incident. So don't worry too much about it, OK?"
Kate's eyes widened as she looked at the spiky-headed boy, wondering if maybe she should have taken him to the hospital.
"Now then," he smiled, "are you still worried about that stupid incident?"
A long silence passed between them, but then Kate blinked. She realized that the pain and worry in her chest had eased from that scene. Granted, it wasn't gone, but it was… much more bearable. Slowly, it dawned upon her that Keith had put on that entire performance to distract her and lighten the mood.
"No," she answered quietly. "In fact… I can barely feel it now."
"See?" Keith grinned at the girl. "Bad acting makes everyone feel better!"
"Hark!" Treble cried in full agreement.
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A few minutes later, the two Top Rangers and their Pokémon had made it to the Chroma Ruins. Something was slightly off, however…
"What… what is that?" Kate asked as she and her companion looked upon the rocky fields. "Is that natural?"
"Last time I checked this place's brochure, there was no mention of a dark creepy fog hanging over it," Keith amended, "so no, I don't think it's natural."
Over the Chroma Ruins was a thick, smoky black mist that draped eerily over the plains. Kate seemed uneasy. "Do you think it's safe?" she worried. "Could it be poisonous?"
"Well, only one way to find out!" Keith said brightly as he stepped into the murkiness.
Kate was alarmed. "KEITH!" she screamed, but her partner seemed to be unharmed.
He looked around himself. "No spontaneous combusting, no terrifying heart attacks, no deadly bleeding occurring…" he muttered. Then he grinned. "Everything's a-ok!"
Kate gaped at him in shock, but then she strode past him into the smog, muttering something like, "Idiot, you could have been seriously hurt…!"
The two proceeded to make their way through the shadowy gloom. After a few moments of this, though, Kate suddenly blinked. "Huh…?" she murmured, looking down at her Fine Styler in confusion. She was startled to see that it had been damaged slightly.
"Keith, look at your Styler!" she commanded. Keith inspected his and jumped.
"What the hell?" he complained. "I just freaking charged this thing!"
"It's the mist," Kate deducted. "There's something about it that's messing with our Stylers."
"Well, then, let's get rid of the damn stuff," Keith groaned. "We'll probably need a bird Pokémon or something to blow it away."
"Yeah…" Kate nodded. "But in the first place, what's even causing this weird fog?"
As if on cue, a Pokémon's call pierced the air. "Murk! Murkrow!" it cried.
"That way!" Kate said, running with Keith towards the sound. Soon, they saw the figure of a Dim Sun holding a Miniremo (the two Top Rangers had decided that that was the name of the devices after Kincaid's words). Upon closer inspection, Kate realized that it was Matilda, the gender-bent grunt she and Keith had met several times.
The blonde girl hadn't seemed to notice Kate and Keith yet, as she was too busy with her Miniremo. Finally, she sighed as she hit the enter key. "There," she muttered, "that should be enough Dark Mist to keep anyone busy."
Of course, Keith was the one to give them away. "HEY!" he yelled. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING OVER THERE?"
Matilda jumped as she whirled around to face them. Her features hardened. "I COULD SAY THE SAME FOR YOU!" she shouted back. "Why didn't all the Dark Mist I pumped out keep you little brats away?"
"Because we're smart!"
"Ugh… Well, I guess one of you looks pretty bright."
"Thank you!"
"NOT YOU! I was talking about your cute friend there—"
"CAPTURE ON!" Kate cut in, proceeding to capture the Murkrow.
Keith was aghast. "Kaaaate!" he whined. "I wasn't finished smack talking!"
"Don't care," was Kate's gently put reply.
When the Murkrow had been captured, Kate supposed it had been too much to ask for the Dark Mist to dissipate as they flew off, as the bothersome stuff still remained. "HA!" Keith mocked loudly when the job was done. "What're you going to do now, huh?"
Matilda was in shock. Finally, she turned on the spot and ran off, screaming, "GAAAAAALE!"
"…Hmph. He ran off." Keith muttered. Kate blinked.
"Keith," she said slowly, "did you forget that that grunt was the female one we saw back on the ship?"
…
"Dammit!" Keith groaned. "I forgot!"
Kate laughed slightly as she captured a Pikachu to recharge their Stylers. "Actually, I met her partner back in Boyle Volcano," she mused. "His name's Galileo, but people just call him Gale. He's really nice, he helped me find that Mawile to crush the rocks back then. Apparently he and Matilda—that's the other grunt's name—didn't even want to be in Dim Sun, but they had no choice… Keith? Are you OK?"
Keith was staring at her suspiciously. After a few moments of studying her expression, though, he shrugged and turned away, walking ahead of her. "Whatever," he said. Kate looked after him in confusion, but then she let the matter go and promptly followed. She looked around in wonder at the Dark Mist surrounding them.
"…This kinda reminds me of nighttime in Summerland," she laughed nervously. Keith blinked.
"Oh, yeah, you said something about the whole 'no-moon-or-stars' thing." He recalled. "It was something about the legend of Darkrai…"
"The blessing/curse of Summerland that Darkrai lays upon us," Kate nodded. "Yes, I've told you and Rhythmi about it. It was quite awhile ago, though. Darkrai's a really big thing in Fiore, especially Summerland because of that whole myth. I grew up truly believing that the Pokémon of darkness existed somewhere out there."
"Yeah, I see where you're coming from," Keith laughed. "Growing up in Sinnoh, I was always being told these old legends about time and space, which were controlled by these two Pokémon called Dialga and Palkia. I think there was some kind of dimensional Pokémon too I heard of a few times… Uh… Girafifi? No, no, wait… Giratina! Yeah, that was it."
Suddenly, though, he looked puzzled. "…Come to think of it, you said there was a second reason you believed in Darkrai." He said slowly.
Kate sweatdropped. "I did, didn't I…?" she smiled in puzzlement as she remembered. "I kept on forgetting to tell you guys. Then again, if I did tell you, you'd think I was crazy."
Keith scoffed. "You? Crazy? Please. You're probably the sanest person at the Union, and that's saying something. Go on, say it."
"You probably won't believe what I'll tell you," the brunette warned.
"Try me," the redhead challenged.
Finally, Kate sighed and looked straight ahead of them. "…Promise not to laugh?" she murmured. Keith nodded fervently, and Kate could see that she had his curiosity wholly piqued now as he prepared himself for what he was about to hear.
"Alright," Kate said. "Well… You know the whole Sharpedo thing that happened to me?"
Keith stared. "…Yeah," he answered slowly. "But I don't see what this has to do with—"
"Let me finish," Kate cut off. "I was an eight-year-old girl, slashed in the back, about fifteen feet away from shore. Rescue boats would take at least five minutes to get there and save me, and by then I would have bled out. How do you suppose I lived?"
Keith was surprised by her apparent change of subject, but he was interrupted by a Pokémon's cry above before he could reply.
"Skar! Skarmory!" it crowed, and the two looked up to see a Skarmory gliding above them.
Kate was excited. "Oh, a Skarmory could blow away all this mist!"
"Hey, wait, you still haven't told me about—" Keith tried frantically, but was cut off by Kate's 'CAPTURE ON' and more of the Skarmory's cries.
A few painful minutes later, Kate had captured the steel bird, and commanded it to blow away the Dark Mist. Slowly, as the Pokémon blew giant gusts of wind, the Mist disappeared, leaving the warm sun to shine down on the ruins. Keith waited for Kate to finish her story, but by the time they were nearly at their destination it looked as if he had to remind her.
The two were standing in front of a huge hole in the ground that led to the underground caves. A large boulder was pushed off to the side, most likely by Sven, who had arrived before them.
Kate was getting ready to jump in, but Keith cut her off. "Kate," he pressed, "you didn't finish your story!"
Kate blinked. "Oh, sorry," she laughed sheepishly. She sat down on the edge of the crater, and Keith copied her actions, seating himself next to her.
"So?" he inquired. Kate looked down into the pitch black darkness below and started again.
"So, um… Oh, yeah, I was out in the ocean, eight years old, bleeding, and by the time any rescue boats got to me I'd most likely be dead," she continued bluntly. "But… at that moment, this weird black blob of… darkness, I suppose, surrounded me. I felt myself moving really, really, fast towards the beach, and when I arrived, the darkness just vanished and flew off into the shadows of the ocean. I'm not quite sure what happened afterwards, as I probably passed out, but I woke up in a hospital bed with my injuries sealed up and only the scar as a final injury."
Keith looked at her in surprise. "Darkness…" he murmured, and then he said, "Wait, you don't mean—"
Kate just kept looking into the darkness below them with an expression that seemed sad, serious, and yet somehow thankful at the same time. "I… I know it sounds crazy," she said slowly. "And I know it's hard to take in. But I believe more than anything that the reason I can sit here by your side today is because Darkrai saved my life. I honestly don't have a better explanation."
Keith just stared at the girl beside him in shock, as for once he was at a loss for words.
Kate smiled gently up at him. "Well, let's get going," she said cheerfully.
