Chapter Two
The Pichu was clearly aggravated, and was putting up one heck of a fight. It shot sparks of electricity at her at every opportunity -so Summer waited for an opening and sensing one, she prepared to capture the Pokémon. The next few seconds were a blur, the glowing energy from the Styler looping around the Pichu. The words "Capture Complete!" sounded from the Styler and with a smirk of satisfaction, Summer pulled away.
"Looks like falling into the ocean wasn't enough to make me lose my touch." Summer muttered.
Her Styler spoke again. "The capture conveyed your feelings of friendship to Pichu. Pichu is no longer dangerous."
Summer crouched down, holding her hand out to the Pichu. It looked at her warily, then stepped forward and sniffed uncertainly. It cocked its head to the side, and then seemed to smile. It suddenly jumped backwards and in a single, swift motion, grabbed the ukulele from its back and strummed.
Summer watched it, fascinated, until a voice shouted, "Pichu! Thank Arceus, you're alright!"
Summer stood as an old man wearing a striped shirt, brown shorts and sandals approached, looking like he was about to cry tears of joy. The Pichu ran over to the man, crying out with glee. "Pichu! Pichu!"
"Oh?" The old man frowned at the Pokémon. "Where are the others? Nick was cryin' about an apocalypse, cause he saw the folks on hovering machines chasing round the Pokémon. And then I came out and I saw-"
The old man looked up, seeing Summer. "Well, I'll be! You're a Pokémon Ranger! You got a name, lass?" Summer told him. "Ah, Summer. I see. The name's Booker, I live across the water on Renbow Island. I'm a master shipbuilder."
"A master shipbuilder?" Summer frowned.
"Aye, lass. It's a job I take a lotta pride in. I build a lotta small boats, which the Pokémon can use as life rafts if there's a big wave or somethin'."
"I see…" Summer said, though she didn't really. The Pichu took the lull in the conversation as a cue to jump up, strumming its ukulele. It wandered over to Summer, plucking the strings.
Booker gave a toothy grin. "My, my. Looks like Ukulele Pichu likes you, lass."
"Er, Ukulele Pichu?"
"Yes, that's what I decided to call it. The ukulele looks great, doesn't it? You know, this Pichu always finds a way to cheer me up after a long day. To show that I was grateful, I made it this here ukulele. Obviously, it's not able to actually play, but the ukulele always makes a little twang noise when the electricity runs through it."
"Wow, that's cool." Summer said, looking at the Pichu, who saw her looking and gave a little twirl.
"Hey, Ranger lass. Have ya ever seen… a UFO?" Summer frowned and Booker elaborated. "My apprentice says he saw some, and when I came out to 'ave a little look-see, there were some strange things flying above this island. It made me worry 'bout the Pokémon, so I rushed on over. And I saw these people on hovering machines chasing the Pokémon around, but they flew off before I even got close enough to call out to 'em. D' ya reckon they coulda been aliens? O' course, this Pichu seems to be alright, but I haven't seen hide nor hair of its friends."
The Pichu looked sad and when Booker saw this, he said, "…but I reckon they're just hidin, ain't they?"
Summer looked puzzled. The part about hovering machines sounded like it was related to the people from earlier... Before she could say anything, though, Booker spoke up with a proposal.
"Anyhoo, Summer, Dolce Island sure is a nice place, but it's no place to stay. I'll take ya to Renbow if ya want, on one of my boats."
Summer nodded. "Thank you."
"Alright. If you follow this path, it should lead to a beach. I got my boat at the pier there. But, ah, just one sec, lass." He turned to Ukulele Pichu. "You go on and let your friends know it's safe to come out, now, okay?" The Pichu strummed it's ukulele in affirmation and jumped into the bushes.
Following the path, Summer and Booker headed to the pier. Summer noticed that there really weren't any Pokémon around, which caused her to wonder what exactly had those 'UFOs' done?
She turned and continued on the path, which led out onto a cliff overlooking the sea. Not far away, Summer could see an island, which she assumed to be Renbow Island.
Booker stopped next to her. "I bet you've guessed this, Ranger lass, but that right there is Renbow Island. I live in a place called Cocona Village, which is where we'll be goin'. Renbow's got lots o' beautiful Pokémon and places, and the folk there are as pleasant as is possible. If you look there," Booker pointed to a tall tower on a mountain. "you can see Wireless Tower."
Summer shielded her eyes from the bright overhead sun and saw the Tower, seemingly glinting in the distance. Summer looked around her and noted that there was a small, black object with four holes in it to her right. It was probably just some sort of marker, she thought, and moved on, Booker following behind her.
Mere seconds later, she came across a set of steps leading to the beach. She moved towards them, but then Booker cried out an incredulous, "What?!" and Summer spun round, Styler raised.
"My boat, it's gone! How can we get to Renbow Island now?!" Summer moved forward, lowering her Styler, and saw that the old man was right, the only thing next to the pier was the sea, which was lazily flowing against the shore. She marvelled at how clear it was, and how pretty the sparkles created by the sun were.
She heard Booker say "Damn!" behind her, and she turned to face him. He was shaking his head. "I was in such a hurry, I forgot to tie the boat down!"
Ah. How clever, Summer thought. But then the man's eyes lit up at something he had seen behind her. "Ah! My spare boat!" Booker rushed past her, to a plain wooden boat with a paddle inside.
Booker put one hand on the boat, smiled, and looked at Summer. "I've jus' started building her, but it should be perfect for takin' us to Renbow."
Summer grimaced. If he'd just started building it, it's not going to be safe, she thought.
"No need for apprehension, Ranger lass. Whether it's finished or not, my boats are the safest in all Oblivia. All that needs to be done it to get this baby into the ocean. Normally I'd get some folks to help me move it, but, as you can see, all I got is you, lass. I'm sure a smart Pokémon Ranger like you will be able to figure something out."
Summer looked around. Without Pokémon, she wasn't sure how much help she'd be. "But, ah, Booker. There aren't any Pokémon around."
Booker just smiled. "D'you remember what I asked Pichu to do before we set off, lass?"
Summer nodded as she realised what he was implying. If Pichu had gone to tell the other Pokémon it was safe to come out, then…
"I'll be right back." She told Booker, and dashed back into the forest.
Sure enough, Pokémon were now milling about the forest, albeit looking a bit anxious. Summer could now see Sunkern, Sentret, Mareep, a Teddirusa and an Ursaring. Hang on, Summer thought. An Ursaring? She smiled. Perfect.
While relatively stronger than the Pichu, the Ursaring was still an easy capture. All Summer had to do was look out for its claws. With the satisfaction of a successful capture, she made her way back to Booker, who looked quite impressed as he saw the Ursaring amicably following behind her.
Summer held up her right arm, the Styler registering the boat as a 'target'. Pressing a button on her Styler, Summer changed 'Capture Mode' to 'Target Mode'- this changes the feelings conveyed in the energy that the Styler shoots. Because the subject Pokémon has already been befriended, the energy does not convey feelings of friendship. In this mode, the energy directs the Pokémon to a target- all the Ranger has to do is to draw a line of energy from the Pokémon to the target.
Summer aimed her Styler at the Ursaring, and shot. Making sure to keep the Styler steady, Summer drew a line of energy to the boat, which was absorbed in a blue glow. Once she stopped shooting the energy, the Ursaring moved towards the boat.
"Wha-What is it going to do?" Booker exclaimed, looking panicked. Summer chose not to answer.
With a low, rumbling growl, the Ursaring pulled back its right arm, tensed, and then punched the boat with all the energy it could muster. The boat slid down the cliff and into the water with a 'splash'. Summer turned to the Ursaring and thanked it for the help. It paused, looking at her, and then ran into the trees.
Summer heard Booker laugh behind her. "Now, that's a Pokémon Ranger for ya! Thank you, Summer. Now, how about we head to Renbow Island?" Booker rushed down the steps and onto the beach.
Summer nodded. Finally, she was getting somewhere. She followed Booker to the boat and was about to step on, when a familiar cry sounded. The Ukulele Pichu rushed towards the pair, crying out excitedly.
"Pichu, pichuu!" Summer watched in curiosity as it jumped onto the boat, dancing around.
"S'matter, Pichu? Something wrong?" Booker asked the Pokémon, who gave a series of worried "Pichu!"'s in response. Booker turned to the Ranger beside him, frowning. "Pichu here's sayin' that it can't find it's Pichu friends. I reckon it wants to look for 'em on Renbow Island, so-"
"Pichuuuu!"
"-we're just gonna have to have an extra passenger, it looks like."
Summer smiled. "Fine by me."
Booker nodded, jumped into the boat and said, "Come on now, lass. Renbow's a waitin'."
Summer looked back at the forest, out to the sea and up at the sky. It was a nice day. She stepped into the boat. "Let us be off, then, captain."
Booker picked up the paddle, and Summer was on her way to Renbow Island. The Ukulele Pichu danced beside her, twirling and jumping.
Minutes later, they were close to Renbow Island. Summer could see the people, the houses and the Pokémon more clearly now. It was by no means the beginning of her adventure- oh no, that had started with an endless blue sky, Latias and some obnoxious idiots on hovering machines- but Summer still could not explain the mounting excitement she felt as the tiny boat drew nearer and nearer to the island.
And that ends the second chapter! AGGGGHHH it's not longer than the other one, is it? D: I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I just didn't know what else to right after that point because it seemed like a good place to stop. The next one will be extra long though because of all the stuff that's going to happen! Yay! Things! Scenes! People! Excitement! To make up for the shortness, I'll upload the next (longer) chapter up sooner than the usual end-of-month date! But honestly, you have no idea how many times I spelt the word ukulele wrong…
Uploaded on: Sunday 1st February 2015
As of 17:29 and however long this takes to take effect on 21/02/15, I'm changing the title of this story to 'Signs of a Guardian'.