Okami: ELLO PEOPLES!

Kate: 'Ello'?

Okami: Yeah. You gotta problem with that?

Kate: Err...No?

Okami: Yayz!

Kate: *Cough cough Idiot Cough cough*

Okami: Grrr. What was that?

Kate: Nothing!

Kellyn: Will I be in this chapter?

Okami: No! You're a minor character for now!

Kellyn: *Hurt* But why?

Okami: Because I said so.

Keith: Uggh, I'm surrounded by idiots.

Okami, Kellyn, & Kate: *Fighting*

Keith: *Sighs* I suppose it's my turn to do the Disclaimer.

Keith: Ahem. Okami does not own Pokemon.

Kellyn: *Stops fighting* THANK GOD!

Kate: *Stops fighting too* You said that last time.

Kellyn: Well, have you seen her plans for this story? There's a lot of scary stuff in there.

Kate: Uh-oh.

Later that night…

Kate sat quietly in her bunk, reading over the letter she was about to send back home:

Dear Little Sister,

I got accepted into Ranger School! At first, I thought maybe I had come to the wrong place since Mr. Kaplan put on a funny act. But, thank Arceus Ms. April interrupted his little charade.

Anyway, the people here at this school sure are interesting. I met this girl named Rhythmi who took me on a tour of the school and introduced me to the other students. She has really poofy blond hair, and when I asked her, she said she spent hours trying to get it like that. I still don't get why, but whatever.

I also have officially declared war on this boy named Keith. He keeps calling me Kat, Kathy, or any other name that starts with 'K' besides Kate! It's annoying, but I'll get him back.

Then there's this other guy with an IQ of 163! Talk about a genius. I think he said his name was Isaac.

And then there's the Conflicted Marshmallow Boy, Ponte. Don't ask me why, agreed?

Well, tell Mom and Dad I said hi.

Peace out. Rock on. Love,

Kate.

"Whatcha doin?" Rhythmi asked, skipping over to Kate's bunk. Kate smiled.

"Writing a letter to my little sister." she responded.

"You have a little sister?" Rhythmi asked.

Kate nodded. "Yep."

Rhythmi sighed. "I wish I had a sister. But I'm stuck being an only child!"

Kate snickered and jumped out of bed, landing lightly on her feet. "It's not always sunshine and rainbows. My sister and I can really get on each others' nerves."

Rhythmi grinned. "Wow, I'd like to see that!"

Kate snickered. "I'm sure you would."

Rhythmi thought for a moment. "Say, let's sneak out for a while."

Grinning, Kate nodded. "Sounds like fun."

Kate shot for the door and stepped outside of the room, Rhythmi close behind her. She was startled to see a group of kids waiting. Keith looked up.

"Oh, you're finally here!" he said impatiently. "Can we get on with this already?"

Rhythmi sighed. "Well, sorry Mr. Impatient."

Kate blinked uncertainly. "Err, what's going on?" she asked.

Keith strolled over. "Nothing major." he said casually. "Just discussing your initiation."

That sparked Kate's interest. "Initiation. Interesting..."

Rhythmi spoke up. "Four of us have hidden our stylers in the school. They're in the library, the staff room, Ms. April's room, and Mr. Kincaid's room." she looked at Kate. "You have to find all four of them."

"And then put them in front of that room in the basement." Keith finished.

Kate shrugged. "Okay, then. Sounds easy enough." As she headed for the stairs Rhythmi blocked her way.

"We've always had one rule, though." she stated. "The person seated to the right of the initiate has to go with them."

Kate snorted. "And why is that?"

"'Cause it's not safe on your own, genius." Keith said, joining them.

"Not safe?" Kate scoffed. "What, is there some 'Ranger School Serial Killer' on the loose or something?"

When Keith opened his mouth to speak, Kate cut him off.

"Please. I'm not scared of anything!" And with that, she turned and stalked down the stairs.

Rhythmi stared after her. "Uh-oh."

Keith shrugged. "If she wants to put herself in danger, let her." he headed for the boys' dorm. Rhythmi grabbed his shoulder and whirled him around.

"Idiot!" she hissed. "She might get hurt! Go find her!"

Sighing, Keith went after Kate.

Downstairs, Kate wandered into the library, only to find a bunch of boxes blocking her way.

Cute. she thought. They thought this would slow me down.

Kate walked over to inspect one of the boxes. Looks like I'll need a Bidoof...

Kate returned to the hallway and almost immedietly spotted a Bidoof. Huh. Well, that's convenient!

Silently whipping her styler out, she quickly captured the little Pokemon. When she returned to the library, she called out in a loud whisper, "All right, Bidoof, smash those boxes!"

Grinning, she watched the Bidoof smash a box. This is easier than I thought!

Once Kate had retrieved the styler, she returned to the main hall. Something about the eerie silence made her uneasy. You're being such a five year old! She scolded herself. There is nothing here!

But even so, as she continued on, she couldn't help but feel as though she was being watched. Shaking the dread off, Kate walked to the staff room. Stepping inside, her heart skipped a beat.

A large shadow hovered around the far side of the room. Kate's heart had commenced pounding so hard, she was sure it could be heard anywhere.

After what seemed an eternity, the shadow just vanished.

Shaking, Kate tried to slow her breathing down. Get a grip, Kate! Your eyes are playing tricks on you. Just stay calm, and you'll get through this!

At that moment, a little Pichu emerged from under the table. Around it's neck was a styler on a string. Kate almost groaned when it caught sight of her and bolted away.

Well, this should be fun. She thought sarcastically.

After chasing the Pichu for eight straight minutes at full speed, Kate finally cornered and captured it. Quickly, she untied the string and grasped the styler. Only two left...

Kate whirled around and headed at a brisk pace for the door, but collided with someone running at full speed and was knocked to the floor.

"Keith?" she shrieked.

"Kate?" Keith asked, alarmed.

Kate got to her feet and immedietly calmed herself down. "What are you doing here?" she asked, irritably.

Keith glared at her. "I could ask you the same thing.

"Well, I'm doing my initiation. Your turn!" Kate snapped.

Keith grumbled something.

"What was that?"

Sighing, Keith said, "They were worried about you, so they sent me to find you."

Kate snorted. "What about you?"

Keith shrugged. "I couldn't have cared less."

Kate pushed her way past him. "Yeah, I'm really feeling the love now." she said sarcastically.

Keith's face turned a shade of red. "I didn't mean that!" he protested.

Kate shrugged it off. "Whatever you say, dude."

"Kate!" Keith ran to catch up with her. "I-"

Kate whirled on him. "Ah-hah! I knew it! You did know my name!"

Keith shrugged. "Of course I knew your name. I'm not an idiot." Dammit. Blew my cover.

Kate raised her eyebrows. "So you were just trying to be obnoxious?"

Keith chuckled. "Maybe..."

Kate ignored him and headed for Ms. April's room. "Well, I've already got two stylers. You can go back and tell the others I'll be done shortly."

Keith followed closely behind her. "I'm just doing what the others told me to do."

Kate kept looking forward. "Suit yourself." she muttered.

They walked the rest of the way in silence. Once they had arrived in Ms. April's classroom, Keith finally spoke up.

"I'll give you a hint: What wasn't here during the day?"

Kate looked around. There were desks, chairs, crates...

"Ah-hah!" Kate exclaimed suddenly, causing Keith to jump. "It's hidden in a crate!"

Keith rolled his eyes. "Nice one, Agent Obvious."

"Shut up, Agent Idiot." Kate retorted, stepping into the hallway to look for another Bidoof.

"Good one." Keith called to her.

Kate returned with a Bidoof. "Whatever." She looked around the room. I should try the one beside Ms. April's desk...

Keith watched silently.

"All right, Bidoof." Kate hissed. "Smash the crate open."

The Bidoof quickly got to work in smashing the crate. In the midst of the wooden mess, a styler lay, coated in a small sheen of dust. Kate quickly picked it up and returned to Keith. "Onward!" she exclaimed in a loud whisper.

Keith snickered and followed her into the hallway and over to Mr. Kincaid's class.

Kate surveyed the room. In the very back, on a bookshelf, a styler was in plain sight. However, it was guarded by a Zubat. And some boxes blocked the aisle. This is taking to long! She took a few steps back. Keith watched with interest.

"What are you doing?" he hissed.

Kate didn't reply. She took a running start and jumped over the row of desks, landing without a sound on the other side. Keith's eyes widened in shock.

Silently, she whipped her styler out and captured the Zubat before grabbing the styler. She jumped back over the desks and rejoined Keith. "So, we put them in the basement, right?" she asked.

Keith nodded, unable to speak.

The two students made their way to the basement. Keith shot a side glance at Kate. She's not scared at all! Keith thought, irritably. And here I am shaking.

Once downstairs, they shuffled nervously to a door.

"All right, just put them down here, and then we can go back to our dorms." Keith told Kate.

Kate nodded and placed the stylers gently outside of the door. But at that moment, she heard a strange noise. "Did you hear that?"

Keith nodded. "Yeah..." he murmured.

Kate backed slowly away. Moments, minutes, possibly hours passed, when out of no where, a group of four Gastly appeared. Keith cied out and stumbled backwards, pulling Kate with him. She stared at the Pokemon, stunned for a moment, then whipped her styler out.

"Capture on!"

She whipped the capture styler around, watching the capture disk carefully. She had almost captured a Gastly, when it disappeared. That's a ghost type for you. She thought grimly. They just have to be difficult.

After a few minutes, she had finally calmed down all four Gastly. Then they vanished into the night.

Kate sighed. "Glad that's over.."

Keith nodded.

Mr. Kincaid burst out of the room. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING DOWN HERE? THE BASEMENT IS OFF LIMITS TO EVERYONE BUT MYSELF!"

Keith jumped back. "This is bad; let's get outta here!" He grabbed Kate's hand and raced for the stairs.

Rhythmi looked up in shock as Kate and Keith burst into the lounge, panting.

"What happened down there?" she asked suspiciously, staring at Keith, who was still holding Kate's hand.

Keith's face turned bright red, perfectly matching his hair. But Kate, clearly oblivious as to what her friend meant, exclaimed: "Mr. Kincaid yelled at us when we were putting the stylers in the basement!"

Rhythmi's eyes widened. "Uh-oh."

Kate nodded. "I suppose this has 'Detention' written all over it, huh?" she mused.

Rhythmi smiled sheepishly. "Probably." she paused. "But let's all get to bed before we find out the hard way!"

The next day...

Ms. April stood at the front of the room. "Good morning, class."

"Good morning, Ms. April." Everyone except Kate and Keith responded. They were both in a pretty foul mood since they had, indeed, gotten detention.

Stupid Kincaid with his stupid clothes and his stupid hair. Kate thought, angrily. This means war!

She looked down as Keith passed her a note. She opened it.

Upset about the detention, huh?

Kate looked up to make sure no one was watching, then wrote:

Little bit. You know what this means, right?

She passed the note back to Keith. He read it, wrote something down, and passed it back to Kate.

What?

Kate smirked as she wrote:

This means war. I'm going to get back at Kincaid, and I know just how to do it!

As Keith read it, he grinned.

Count me in!

Kate smiled.

"Kate!" Ms. April called.

"Huh?" Kate asked, confused.

"The answer." Ms. April was getting impatient.

"Oh, uh..." she looked at the board. Communication with stylers. "Voicemail?"

Ms. April nodded, all traces of frusteration gone. "Yes." I guess she was paying attention.

Ms. April turned back to the board, still lecturing. That was a close one!

Keith wrote something down and passed it back to Kate.

Nice save.

Kate quickly hid the paper when Ms. April looked back at the class. She waited a moment until the teacher had looked away before writing:

I'm just grateful she had it written on the board.

The note passing continued until the bell rang.

"Class dismissed." Ms. April said, before turning to Kate and Keith. "Except for you two."

Damn it. Kate groaned inwardly. She caught us.

"You two were very well behaved during class." she continued. "So you don't have to go to detention."

Yes!

"But, if you are caught in the basement again, you will. Do you understand?"

"Yes ma'am." Keith and Kate said at the same time.

"Dismissed." Ms. April said, turning back to the board. Keith grinned at Kate before bolting to the door. Smiling, Kate ran after him.

Rhythmi looked shocked to see them outside. "What about detention?" she asked.

"We're off the hook. Good behavior." Kate explained.

"Ahh." Rhythmi said.

"Sooo..." Keith started.

Rhythmi smacked her forehead with her hand. "Of course! Kate, time to see Ascension Square!"

"Whaa-" Kate cried out as Rhythmi grabbed her wrist and started dragging her in the direction of some stairs. "I can walk y'know!"

"Sorry!" Rhythmi let her friend go.

"Jeez." Kate muttered. "You're stronger than you look!"

Rhythmi giggled. "Well, let's get going already!"

Keith rolled his eyes as the girls took off running. "Wait up!"

As they reached what Kate assumed was Ascension Square, her eyes widened. A huge stone was mounted in a small clearing, and off to the eastern side, the ocean was a crystal clear blue. "Epic."

Rhythmi smiled and gestured to the large stone. "That's the Pledge Stone. Mr. Lamont said that if you made a firm pledge here, then it would come true!"

Kate walked over to inspect it. "Cool." she murmured quietly, then added louder, "Then that's what we'll do!"

"What?" Rhythmi asked.

"We should make a pledge to make our dreams come true!" Kate insisted.

Rhythmi's face lit up. "Okay!" she stuck her hand out. "I pledge to become the best Operator I can be!"

Kate put her hand on top of Rhythmi's. "I pledge to become the best Ranger ever, no matter how hard it is, or how long it takes!"

Keith put his hand on top of Kate's. "Ditto."

Rhythmi smiled. "So, does that mean you'll be our friend?"

"I thought I already was!" Keith exclaimed, pretending to be hurt.

Rhythmi rolled her eyes.

Kate punched him in the shoulder.

"Owww." he complained, rubbing his shoulder. "What was that for?"

Kate shrugged. "If you're gonna be around me, get used to it!"

Rhythmi snickered.

Kate punched her too.

"Oww." the blond complained.

"You too, Blondie." Kate stated.

The trio looked at one another before they burst out laughing.

Ms. April looked on, smiling.

Okami: Aww, friendship is a beautiful thing!

Kellyn: *Still pouting about being a minor character*

Okami: Anyways, thanks for reading, please review!