Helloooooo! 'Tis me! I read back my last chapter before writing this one, and realised that it was very dialogue-heavy, so I'll try not to do that as much this time. Also, I'm leaving Celebi and the past of Cocona Village out of this story, because I don't need it. Sorry, those who were hoping for an element of time travel. Aaaaaaaand, Chapter Six! :)

Chapter Six

Summer exited Booker's house, intent on leaving Nick and the old man to the task of making the ukulele. She smiled as a cool summer breeze tickled her face, and the now-sort-of-familiar scent of the sea drifted to her nostrils. Walking forwards and jumping off the steps, Summer landed in the soft sand. This place is so pretty…, she thought, hands in pockets and beach at her feet. Waves crashed softly against the shore. Summer sighed, …but I have to look for Rand, I guess.

The Ranger headed into Cocona Village, wanting to ask for directions to where Rand lived… only to be immediately surrounded by people. It was the villagers, and they were all desperate for her help.

"Summer! Summer! …You're called Summer, right?" a woman called out, only to be pushed away by a man.

"Ranger! You've got to help! I was in Teakwood Forest, and-" the man was elbowed to the side as a younger man stepped forward, grinning slyly.

He looked around at the people clamouring for Summer's help, chuckling. Then, he shouted, "Shut it!", so loud that it startled everyone in the vicinity. "Now, let's all calm down so this pretty Ranger girl can help me with my problem, and then… I don't care what you people do." The crowd began shouting again in response to the young man's comments.

"Hey! I asked first!"

"But my problem is more serious!"

"No, it isn't! You were dumb enough to let some Pokémon steal your lunch right out of your hands, but I need some Pokémon to help my son get out of Rasp Cavern!"

"Oh no, you don't! He can climb out of there by himself!"

"There was a rockslide, idiot!"

"There are two exits, stupid!"

Summer sighed. It looked like finding Rand would have to wait. But a few extra Ranger Points might come in handy, she supposed. After some effort and a lot of shouting (which Summer did her fair share of), Summer managed to calm down the villagers, and 'clear' their Quests. One involved chasing a Tailow around the forest to recover a man's bread, but it had already been eaten- her efforts weren't completely in vain, however, as she was still awarded some Points. Another required her to capture several Pokémon in order to move a number of large rocks that had trapped a young boy in Rasp Cavern. It was quite hard to find the right Pokémon, but at least the reunion between mother and son was touching. Somewhat.

After several other Quests were completed, Summer decided to head back to Booker's house. Wary of being mobbed by villagers again, she carefully sneaked out of the Cocona Village, glancing around for anyone in need of help… and avoiding them.

Opening the door of the shipbuilder's house again (whilst wondering how many times she'd done that today), the Ranger was greeted warmly.

"Summer!" Ralph cried, raising his arms joyfully.

"Hey." Nick said, leaning against the worktop and smiling at her.

"Excellent timin', lass. We just finished up." Booker held out the new ukulele for the girl to see. Summer felt as if something was different about the instrument, although it looked really similar to the old one. Crouching down, Booker presented Pichu with it.

The mouse Pokémon looked at it excitedly, and in the Ranger girl's opinion, it looked like a child on Christmas morning. Reaching out, Pichu grabbed the ukulele and slung it over his back, practically grinning and becoming Ukulele Pichu once again.

"Piiiiiiiiiiiiiiccccchhhhhhhhuuuuuuuuu!" The Pokémon squealed, hopping around the room. Flipping the instrument over its head, Pichu held one paw over the strings, as if pausing for dramatic effect. The next second, he began to play. The music was just as joyful as it had been the last time Summer had heard it, and the mere sound caused a smile to creep onto everyone's face as they listened.

Guardian Signs

Some twenty minutes later, Ukulele Pichu bowed from where he stood next to a sink, and had just finished a very overly-theatrical performance. The audience clapped politely, although they exchanged several looks.

"Okaaaaaaaaaaaay," Ralph said through a yawn, stretching. "I think I'm gonna go, before I'm subjected to- I mean, ah, whatever. Seeya, people!" the boy made his slightly hasty exit, waving to the general are behind him.

Nick stood up from his seat on the workbench with Booker, who turned to a droopy-eyed Summer.

"Alright, Summer? Did you find Rand while you were out?" He asked.

"Um, well, no. I went into the village and got swamped by people asking for my help with random stuff." Summer frowned. "It's getting a bit late, though." A quick glance at her Styler told her that it was almost six o' clock.

"Ah, relax. It's not that late. I'm sure you could even get in some more Quests…" Seeing Summer's look of intense disapproval, Booker stopped while he was ahead. "…But if you're dead set on finding the Area Ranger, I've heard his daughter is around today."

"Right. Anything else I should know?"

"Ah, yes. Rand's daughter will be a massive help, if you can find her. She loves to tinker with machines and that."

"Excellent." Summer stood. "I'll have a look around, see if I can find her." And with that, Summer left.

Nick turned to his boss. "Shouldn't you have mentioned that she's a bit… well, you know?"

Booker frowned. "What?"

"Well, she's a bit… ah, what's the word… eccentric, isn't she?"

"Oh. I see. Yeah, maybe I should have."

"Mmm."

"Summer'll be a bit far away by now, though."

"Just a bit."

"Oh, well."

"Yup."

"…..."

"Hey!" a voice called out from outside, and Summer's head appeared around the door. Both men jumped. "I forgot to ask. What does this girl even look like?"

"Uh, well, she, um, you know, girlish?" Nick supplied with a weak grin. The older man nodded.

Summer raised a quizzical eyebrow. "Girlish? This girl looks… girlish?"

"Heck yeah. Like, really… uh, girlish. And her hair is, like, you know." Nick waved his hands about around his head. "And she's easily recognisable because of… Okay, I don't actually know what she looks like."

"Well, I never would have guessed." Summer muttered, voice layered with sarcasm. "Okay, well, I'll try to find her anyway. I'm sure it won't be too hard, especially as she's got... you know." She copied Nick's silly gestures and walked off, laughing.

"Well, that went well." Booker said with a chuckle.

"Piiii…" Ukulele Pichu bounced forward, staring after the girl. "Pi!" He looked back at Booker, a question in his eyes.

"What is it?" Nick frowned, looking at the small Pokémon.

Booker walked forward. "I think Pichu would like to go with Summer…"

Guardian Signs

Summer laughed and walked away from Booker's house, across the sand to an area she had yet to explore. It was probably just more beach but hopefully, Rand's daughter would be somewhere nearby. Looking toward the sea, Summer noticed the sky rather than the waves- the horizon was dyed a fabulous array of oranges and reds, as the sun was setting.

"Piiiichu!" Hearing the Pokémon cry, she spun around and looked down to see Ukulele Pichu dancing around her feet.

"Summer! Hold on a minute!" Booker called out to her, rushing down the steps to where she stood. "I know that I can't really talk to Pokémon, but I reckon' that lil' Pichu here wants to go with you."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes." Booker paused, looking down to where Pichu was running in circles on the sand and lowered his voice. "I think he wants to find his friends."

Summer nodded, face solemn- after all, this was serious business, a Pichu looking for other Pichus. Right? "Well, it's fine with me!" she smiled. "Hey, you know what? Pichu can be my Partner Pokémon!"

Booker looked very happy to hear that, and his smile showed it. "Excellent. You take good care of him for me." He crouched down to where Pichu had sat down with a soft 'whump' after becoming extremely dizzy. Patting him on the head, the old man said, "And you take care of Summer, okay?" Their goodbyes said, the two (or three, if you include the electric-type) parted ways.

Summer turned away with a sad smile. She really felt like she had gotten on well with the man in the few hours she spent with him. With a shrug, Summer told herself that she'd probably see him and Nick around Oblivia anyway. So with a new partner at her side, albeit a smaller one than she was used to, Summer set off down the beach again.

Guardian Signs

"Because it's in the interest of science, is why!" an annoyed female voice cried, further down the shore. "Please just get Lapras to pull it up!"

"You know Lapras doesn't dive, right?" Another replied, gesturing to the creature, who was watching the two with an amused expression.

Hearing the raised voices, Summer jogged down to two girls who were beginning to look quite angry with each other "Hey." She tentatively said, interrupting them.

With twin huffs, the two girls spun around to look at Summer, hands on hips and scowls on faces. One, whose argument was for 'the interest of science', wore glasses and a long lab coat that looked a little big for her. She had red shoes and shockingly light blue hair, but it seemed to suit her. The other wore a pink tank top, denim jeans, sandals and her hair pulled back into a messy bun.

"What?" the second snapped, waiting for Summer to say something.

"Don't be rude, Nixie," the one with the lab coat said, looking at Summer with an excited grin.

Folding her arms and keeping up the impatient manner, 'Nixie' rolled her eyes. "Says the one who's been badgering me for ages. And it's Nicola to you." She added, with vehemence.

"I've never seen another Ranger before besides my dad." Holding out her hand, the girl added, "I'm Nema."

"Summer." The Ranger replied, shaking the outstretched hand. "Wait. You say your dad is-"

"Yeah, he's the Area Ranger for Oblivia. But, anyhoo, not important." Suddenly, Nema moved closer, grabbing Summer's shoulders with a wild look. "Hey, can you swim? You can right? Oh wow, are those goggles? So you can totally open your eyes underwater, right? That's awesome, you see, I need you to dive into the ocean, I don't know how far, but this UFO from wherever fell into the ocean and I neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed to examine it- for science, obviously- and then yeah, so if you could just get it for me that would be just AMAZING." Smiling, Nema stepped back.

Summer blinked. "Hang on. You want me to dive goodness knows how far into the ocean, retrieve this 'UFO' and come back?"

"Exactly." Nema said, nodding. To her, the plan was almost flawless.

"I guess I could. You're lucky I'm able to breathe underwater." There was a pause, and Summer realised too late that she should have mentioned the Micro Aqualung.

"What?! Were you born that way? Does it run in your family? How come it's not been on the news?" The little scientist stepped forward, reaching out and touching the Ranger, as if to make sure she was real. "Are you an alien?" she whispered.

Summer's mouth almost dropped open, but she caught herself. "Ummmm, no. Not an alien. I just meant, I have something that lets me breathe underwater."

"Yeah, I got that. What is it? A special gene or something?"

Nixie rolled her eyes, watching the exchange with disdain. Then the girl realised that while Nema was preoccupied, she could just leave. That stupid Nema won't even notice me she thought, inwardly grinning and beginning to sneak away. But she was wrong.

"Oi! You!" a voice shouted. Nixie looked around, wondering who it could possibly be, before realising who it really was. "You ain't going anywhere." The speaker turned to a bewildered Summer. "So. Special gene, is it?"

"What? No, no. I meant- it's this." Reaching a hand towards her goggles (and backing away from the… peculiar girl at the same time), Summer pressed a button, and the Micro Aqualung began to form around her face. "It's special equipment issued from the Ranger Union."

"Oh, I see. So, no special powers or anything?"

"No. Not at all."

"Oh, man. I was kind of hoping you might be this awesome, super mutant Ranger or something, you know?"

The non-mutant Ranger sighed and replied shortly, "No. I don't. I really don't."

Summer frowned. If this experience had proven anything, it was going to be a long evening. A loooong evening.

Guardian Signs

Summer gasped as her head broke the surface of the water, drawing in a lungful of oxygen. Breathing with the Aqualung for an extended period of time tended to make one miss the luxury of fresh air.

Kicking her tired legs, the Ranger made her way over to where Nixie's- or rather, Nicola's- Lapras was waiting expectantly. She would have been quicker, but swimming was quite an effort as she was dragging the 'U.F.O. thing' (which was clearly a Z.Z. Flyer, but Nema was obviously not privy to this information) along. It wasn't that it was heavy, per se, just that Summer would go faster with the use of her arms.

"How did I agree to this?" The girl asked the waiting Pokémon with a grunt, heaving herself onto its back. She was sure that if the creature could have shrugged, it would have. "Let's go, then." And with a pat from its rider, Lapras headed back to the shore.

Guardian Signs

"For goodness sake, I knocked her off her damn Staraptor, Blue Eyes." Red Eyes leant against a table, glaring at a wall.

"She'll survive," his blue clad, female counterpart said. "She is a Ranger."

Red Eyes through his hands up, turning his scowl on the woman. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? Oh, she's a Ranger, so she'll survive falling from the sky into the sea. Oh, yeah, that makes sense!" He was standing now, the pitch of his voice climbing higher with his anxiety.

Blue Eyes flicked her blonde hair out of her face and chose her words carefully, in an attempt to calm her partner. "All I'm saying is, she should have an Aqualung on her. It's standard Ranger equipment. You might have forgotten that, but luckily I haven't."

Red Eyes' eyes widened, and he dropped his angry stance with a sigh. "Sorry. You're right, I completely forgot." He gave a chuckle. "You always remember everything, huh."

The woman grinned and put on a smug expression. "Well, I am the smart one."

"What the heck? Says who?" Despite his words, Red Eyes laughed. After a moment and a sigh, his face turned serious. "How long do we have to keep this up?"

Blue Eyes frowned at the floor. "…As long as they haven't made their move."

"And when they do? What then?"

"Oh, pish posh, you know what." She grinned and shot her arm out, pointing her forefinger at the ceiling. "Interception!" With a laugh, Blue Eyes turned to leave. "I better go. It'd probably look weird if we stay together for too long." The last words were directed over her shoulder, and then she was gone.

"Interception, huh." The red-clothed man muttered. "Can't come soon enough, can it?"

Guardian Signs

"Here." Unceremoniously dumping the Z.Z. Flyer on the sand, Summer let out a world-weary sigh and stepped back.

"Woah, woah, careful!" Nema cried out, rushing forward and crouching to examine the machine. "This is it? All of it?"

"Yes." Summer muttered. In her less than happy state, she was forced to refrain herself from adding a snarky, 'problem?'.

"Hmm." Nema sat back onto the sand, placing her chin in her hand, face wearing a frown. "Looked more exciting while it was falling into the water, you know?"

Summer chose to say nothing. Out loud.

The budding scientist stood, delicately brushing off the sand that stuck to her lab coat. "Unfortunately, it's not from some alien race."

"No kidding! What makes you say that?" the question came from a less than pleased Nixie, who didn't appear to be similarly troubled about voicing her less than polite thoughts.

"Well, for one thing," (the sarcasm appeared to have sailed over Nema's head) "it looks like it's been made from materials found on Earth, and for another… it has the words, 'Z.Z. Flyer 08' on it."

Summer chose to provide her knowledge on the matter. "It's used by a group called by the Pokémon Pinchers to fly around."

"To fly? Really?" The excitement that had dissipated a few seconds ago returned to the girl's face. She let out a whistle. "Cool."

"Mmm." Summer smiled slightly as Pichu rubbed against her foot, attempting to cheer her up.

Nema grinned. "So, this is a Mission Clear, I think!"

"Huh?"

"Well, you got the thing… Z.Z. Flyer for me, so it's time for a pose!"

A pose...? Oh, right. Summer performed her Ranger pose as the words, 'Mission Clear' flashed on her Styler's screen. Said machine also told her that she had 'obtained 50 Ranger Points' and again reminded her that she was currently unable to use said points.

"Hey, is that broken?" Nema asked, stepping over the Z.Z. Flyer and grabbing Summer's arm to examine her Styler.

"Um, yeah."

"Well, do you want it fixing or what?" Pushing her glasses back up her nose (as they had fallen while she was peering at the Styler) and stepping back, the blue-haired girl smiled.

Summer blinked. "Really? You'd do that?"

"Of course! Why wouldn't I? You'd have to come to my house, though. All my tinkering stuff is there."

"Wow. Thanks!" Summer smiled. "And, if it's not too much to ask, I'd like to speak with your dad…"

"Sure thing! Except he and mum are out right now, but you're totally welcome to stay over!"

"Oh…" Summer had hoped to talk to Rand as soon as possible, so that some sort of plan to find Ben could be formed. But then again, Nema was offering to let her spend the night, and who was she to turn down such a kind offer? "Well, thank you!"

"No problem. It's this way." Nema jerked a thumb over her shoulder. "I'll carry this. It's only fair, 'cause I made you get it and carry it back." The Ranger girl was about to protest when the other reached down and picked up the Z.Z. Flyer with ease. "'Sides, I'm carting stuff like this around all the time."

And, trading genuine smiles, the two set off.

…

…

…

"Well, you're so welcome, guys!" Nixie cried, angrily stomping her foot and kicking up sand. The two that her angry shout was aimed at did not turn around, however. Instead, they just grinned.

Uploaded on: Wednesday 15th April 2015

3/10/15 Hi, it's me! After forever. Profuse apologies to those following this fic- please bear with me, as I will do my best to write a lot more frequently from now on.