Chapter 1: Welcome to Almia!

Dear Theo,

Good luck on your first day at the ranger school in Almia. We're all cheering you on back home in Johto! Make sure you stay on top of your laundry, and don't let your catastrophic thinking run away with you. You are full of courage, and destined to do great things as a Ranger! Your father and I couldn't be prouder of you, son.

Aipom and the Mareep are a little confused by your absence, but nobody misses you more than Maggy. Expect a letter from her soon, you know how she adores you. All is well here at home, your sister is looking forward to learning how to care for the lighthouse in your stead this season…We all are manifesting great things for you!

With all my love,

Mom

Theo stared at the paper in his hands, and then up at the large iron gates of the Almia Ranger School. He slowly walked through the gates, taking a deep breath before making his way across the front yard to the school's entrance. His acceptance letter had instructed him to go straight to the teachers lounge upon arrival so he carefully hunted the room down and knocked before entering. "Hello? My name is Theo, I'm a new student."

"Yes, Theo! Hello! I'm the principal of the Ranger school, wonderful to meet you." A man with gray hair and a warm smile came to shake the boy's hand vigorously, "Let me show you to your classroom, so you can meet your classmates and teacher." The older man led Theo to a classroom at the front left of the school, " ? I have your new student here." A kind looking woman stood at the front of the classroom, smiling kindly to the young man. "Oh, wonderful! Please come to the front - We'd love to meet you." Theo carefully walked to the front of the class, met with kind smiles from most of the class, save for the one shit-eating grin in the front row. "Go ahead and introduce yourself to the class." Theo adjusted his grip on his duffel bag that held his few belongings. "Right, I'm Theo…I moved here from the Johto region, on my own, my family is still back in Olivine city because my father and his Ampharos take care of the lighthouse. I know I'm starting a little later than you all, but I'm excited to be here. I hope together we can all bring great protection to Almia…!" There was a little bit of an awkward silence, before a stifled laugh escaped the same punk on the front row. "Oh boy, are you always this theatric?"

"Keith, now is not the time for your sarcastic comments. Welcome Theo, we're glad to have you join us. Why don't I have…Rhythmi-" she motioned to a girl with blonde curls, and a pristine uniform "-show you around and take you to get settled in? We can catch you up on the material you've missed later. Welcome to Almia, Theo, and welcome to the Ranger school!" Rhythmi came forward and bowed politely, "It's nice to meet you Theo, follow me…!" They left the classroom and Theo followed closely behind his new classmate. "Don't pay any attention to Keith, he can be a real bonehead at times…He doesn't mean any of it though, he's just arrogant." Rhythmi explained, leading him to the staircase. "Here are the dorms…Boys to the left, girls to the right….We can't go into each other's dorms, so don't even think about it. But we've got this common area out here. I'll wait here while you drop off your stuff, there should be at least one empty bed in there. Each bed that's claimed has a name plate on it so you can easily tell." She took a seat at a table to wait while Theo awkwardly let himself into the boys room. It was really just a bunch of bunk beds…He looked around at them, looking for an empty one. 'Isaac', 'Samuel', 'Lunick'…Oh! Here was an empty one, right beneath this Lunick fellow and beside…He looked to the other nameplate and sighed. 'Keith'. Of course. He set his bag down and took a deep breath. This was that catastrophic thinking his mother was always warning him about. Keith made one, sarcastic comment - it didn't mean he was going to be some bully. Rhythmi even said he didn't mean any real harm! He set his duffel bag down, and hurried back out to meet his new classmate to finish their tour. She showed him the teachers lounge, though he already knew that one, and on the other side of that hall was the library. And across from their room was 's class, which they briefly stepped into - much to the teachers' chagrin. "Sorry, , I'm just giving our new student a tour of the school! We didn't mean to interrupt."

"And yet, here you are." Rhythmi laughed awkwardly before she pulled Theo back out of the classroom. " is a real stick in the mud, I like to think I'm a stickler for rules but even I know how to loosen up a little...The staircase leading down to the basement also leads to his office and laboratory...None of us students are allowed down there, except Isaac, he's real nice and a total genius - Kincaid adores him." The girl was explaining all this as she opened the doors leading outside, "Out here we have a few different things...That building over there is where we practice things like befriending pokemon with our stylers, and target clears...And then to the east of campus we have Ascension Square...They say if you make a promise in front of the Pledge Stone there that it's guaranteed to come true. That's also where we'll have our outdoor class later in the year." The two students paused their tour as the end of the school day bell rang, and Rhythmi smiled. "Let's go, we can be the first ones in line for dinner - that'll really put a crease in Keith's brow." She didn't seem like the mischievous type, but nonetheless she seemed to enjoy her bit of fun. Rhythmi ran off and Theo followed after her to the cafeteria.

She was right, Keith didn't look pleased to see the two of them at the front of the line for dinner when he and their other classmates arrived but once he got his food he was quick to join them at their table. "So, newbie, why'd you decide to come to little Almia and become a ranger? Wouldn't you wanna stay in Johto? It seems like it'd be way more exciting than all this." Theo paused the bite of food that was on its way to his mouth and looked up from his plate to the other boy. Keith had red hair that he styled upwards...It reminded Theo of the Cyndaquil his class had as a pet in elementary school. It was just as distracting, and seemed to give off the same warning vibes as the flames on the pokemons back did. "I've always wanted to be a ranger." He answered simply, "My Grandpa actually moved my family to Johto from Oblivia when he met my Grandmother...He told me stories about the rangers there and I dunno...It sorta stuck." He felt his jaw tense up as the other stared at him blankly. "So you're on some heritage discovery quest? Laaame, don't you have any goals?! Like, I wanna become a top ranger alongside the likes of Wendy and Sven-" He pulled out a pair of trading cards as if he had been waiting to show them off. "See? They're the best of the best, and I plan to enter their ranks as the third top ranger!" Theo stared at the cards, he hadn't even heard of "top" rangers before. "Sven is such a stud…" Rhythmi sighed, "I'd love it if I could become an operator at the ranger union, just to catch a glimpse of him!" Theo looked at the ranger on the card, he was tall, strong and lean...long, dark hair, sunkissed skin, the western take on the ranger uniform - he even had a cowboy hat! He bit his lip, he had to agree. Sven was a stud. "Everyone loves Sven, Rhythmi - but Wendy is the real idol! They call her the flying ranger because her partner pokemon is her Staraptor...Once you reach a certain rank you can usually get Staraptors to give you rides to far off places...She's so cool!" Theo looked at the other card, Wendy did look cool...With her teal hair, and confident pose. She wasn't his type, but he could admire her tenacity. "So? What's your dream, Theo?" He looked back to the other boy and thought for a moment before shrugging. "I just want to be the best ranger I can be, really. I just want to be someone that people know they can trust." Keith's lips spread into a thin line of irritation as Rhythmi swooned. "Oh Theo! If you weren't going to be a ranger I'd suggest going into politics...You are such a charmer." She gushed, causing the teen to blush. "I don't try to be-"

"That only makes it better! Keith wishes he had your charisma-" She gave the redhead a smug look, and he stuck his tongue out at the two of them. "Oh please, I've got more chareezma in my pinkie than he's got in his whole body-"

"Considering you just mispronounced the word, I highly doubt that." Both Rhythmi and Keith were caught off guard by Theo's quip, but it landed well and the other boy ended up laughing. "So you aren't all bark huh? I wanna see more of that bite, buddy...Then maybe you can be worthy of being my esteemed rival." He shoveled a spoonful of food into his mouth quickly and wiped his face with the back of his sleeve. "I'm gonna go practice my looping before lights out...See you dorks around." And with that the redhead was ditching their table and running out of the cafeteria. "I told you Keith didn't mean any harm...He's just got a big ego, is all. I think your goals are commendable though, Theo. I really do." She finished her own meal and stood, "I'm going to go study as well before lights out, I'll see you later though alright? I hope your first day wasn't too overwhelming." She said her goodbye and exited quietly, leaving Theo to finish his dinner in silence. Although, he had a lot to think about now. He finished up his meal fast, figuring he would benefit from making his bed before he was meant to be asleep in it. He cleared his plate and went to the boy's dorm, unfolding his sheets and comforter and setting to work making his bed and personalizing what little space he had to make his own. Keith had all these posters plastered on the wall by his bed, he clearly thought it through when he chose the bunk next to the wall. Theo didn't need much room though, he had a little space above his head on the wall, and a nightstand that he and Keith would share. He hung up a small shadow box at the top of his bed, it had his Dad's old collection of Gym badges before he retired from training. He had never been too competitive though, he only had four. Besides that he had a box on his nightstand where he kept the letter his mother wrote him, and where he'd keep any future mail or keepsakes he received. With that, he went to shower and change into his pajamas for the night, exhausted from the day he'd had. He missed his family, but he was sure they'd write soon. Although he did add writing to them to his chore list for his first weekend here at school...

(Omg and that's wrap on the first installment of The Vatonage Chronicles I hope to fill in this niche corner of the pokemon fandom, and I hope you all enjoy this fic...It's my first one in years, lol)