Chapter 5: Return

"Why won't you stay in there?!" I muttered crossly, trying to make Pikachu go back to her poke ball.

"Pika!" Pikachu pouted, dodging the red beam of light.

I sighed. "Fine… you can stay out." I grumbled.

Bulbasaur laughed at me as I struggled to control my Pokémon.

"Oh you stay out of this! Wow, being a trainer's a lot harder than it looks." I sweat dropped, inviting the unruly Pikachu onto my shoulder.

"Chu!" Pikachu cried happily, jumping onto my shoulder.

"Come on guys! We have to find Gary so I can challenge the gym!" I cried, sprinting past the checkpoint gate. Bulbasaur sighed before running after me.

I barged through the Pokémon center's doors, out of breath.

I blushed in embarrassment when I saw that all eyes were on us.

I pushed away their looks and walked up to nurse joy.

"Nurse Joy? Has a teenager around my age called Gary been here lately?" I asked hopefully.

"Gary Oak? Yes, he has room thirteen booked. He's challenging Brock's gym right now." Nurse Joy smiled.

I sighed in annoyance and rushed over to Brock's gym.

Bulbasaur rolled his eyes before following me, clearly not a fan of running.

I wasn't really one either, but I was used to running due to all my experiences as a Ranger.

I skidded to a stop as I felt my styler buzz. I picked it up and looked at the caller ID.

My eyes widened. "Rhythmi?!" I gasped, not thinking that my old friend still remembered me.

I gritted my teeth before answering it.

"Ranger Kate in." I whispered, sneaking into the bushes.

"Kate?! You're alive!" Rhythmi cried happily.

"Where are you?! Keith's worried sick!" Rhythmi asked, her voice relieved.

I'm going to have to lie here aren't I? I thought before responding.

"I can't tell you…" I whispered.

"Does Red Eyes have you?" Rhythmi asked, her voice concerned.

I bit my lip. "No. Rhythmi I really can't tell you where I am… All I can say is that I'm never coming back. I resigned. I am not a ranger anymore." I said coldly, hanging up.

I wiped my tears away, knowing that I couldn't look weak in front of Brock.

And I think Gary's seen enough of me being weak.

"Pika?" Pikachu tilted her head.

I face palmed myself. "Oh right. I never told you did I?" I whispered through my tears, feeling stupid. I felt my styler buzz again.

I looked down and saw Rhythmi's number trying to call me again. My eyes widened.

"Oh no oh no oh no! They can track me! Oh my Arceus I have to turn this thing off!" I shrieked, shutting my styler down. I sighed.

"I'm screwed."

"Kanto? Kate's in Kanto?!" Keith shouted in disbelief.

"What's she doing there? Did someone take her there against her will?" Keith asked, hoping that Rhythmi knew more about Kate's disappearance.

"I don't know Keith. All I know is that she's alive, in Kanto." She said simply.

"But I can tell you what area's she's most likely in. I hacked into her styler from here and saw that it was rebooted recently at the Viridian City Pokemart." Rhythmi confirmed, trying to pick up Kate's signal again.

"It's been shut down. I can't do anything until she turns her styler back on." Rhythmi said, frustrated.

"Well, it couldn't have been Kate that answered her styler. I've known Kate for four years now and I know she's not a quitter. She's still a ranger, I'm sure she's still in Almia. Someone probably stole her styler and did this just to throw us off!" Keith snapped, not able to believe what Rhythmi just told him.

Rhythmi sighed. "Well, you and the police are in charge of Almia's fate. So at least you don't have to fight with Kate's opinion." Rhythmi said, trying to be positive.

"Dude! You and I both know that Kate's the thinker, I'm the doer. My brain is always on empty until Kate puts an idea in my head!" Keith said, making Rhythmi laugh.

"Kate's a doer too, you're more like her sidekick." Rhythmi chuckled.

"Yeah but I do all the heavy lifting! Besides, who saved her from Darkrai? This guy!" Keith boasted, pointing at himself.

"And that's who I really am." I revealed to a shocked Pikachu.

"Pi!?" Pikachu cried out in disbelief.

I nodded. "It's true, now come on. We're getting this badge with or without Gary at this point. Rhythmi could easily have hacked my styler and found out where we are." I explained, walking into Brock's gym.

I looked around. "Brock? Gary? Anyone here?" I asked, my voice echoing off the walls of the gym.

A little boy approached me. "You're looking for my big bro?" He asked. I nodded.

"He's on his lunch break with this dude called Scary or something?" The boy shrugged, leading me into the lounge.

Gary looked up from his sandwich. "Kate? You're out of the forest!" He exclaimed.

I glared at him. "Wow you're an awesome traveling partner for not only leaving me out in that huge forest at night, in a FOG!" I snapped.

"If it weren't for Pikachu I'd still be lost!" I glared at Gary, petting Pikachu.

Bulbasaur glared at Gary too, having tripped in that fog like fifty times.

Pikachu just smiled though. I sighed. "Geez Pikachu! Don't you know how to be angry!?" I yelled.

Pikachu nodded.

I sighed. "Just… whatever." I turned my attention to Brock.

"Brock? Would you mind battling me after you're done? I seriously need to get as far away from Pewter as possible!" I said urgently.

Brock gave me a weird look. "Sure. Onix and Geodude are all rested up and rearing to go!" Brock said enthusiastically, taking the last bite out of his sandwich.

Battling scenes bore me, I don't know why so I'm just skipping past that…

"I'm impressed, you defeated my Pokémon quite easily. Here, take my badge." Brock handed me a brand new Boulder Badge.

I smiled and took the badge, pinning it inside of my jacket.

"Thank you Brock, but I've really got to run…" I said, dragging Gary out of the gym.

"Why are you in such a rush?" Gary asked. I rolled my eyes.

"I'll tell you later!" I yelled. "And why are all of your Pokémon out of their balls?" He asked.

"I'll tell you later!" I snapped, running at my full speed.

"You picked up your styler?! But why? If you don't want to have to be a ranger again then why'd you pick up?" Gary asked, shocked.

I bit my lip. "Because it was Rhythmi! I couldn't help it! They think I'm dead and I hate lying!" I snapped.

"Well now they know you're in Kanto so what are you going to do? Flee to another new region? Face it Kate! You're going to have to go back eventually!" Gary yelled.

I glared at him. "I can't do this. I can't handle you harping on me to go back to stinking Almia every four days! You're on your own pal!" I snapped, my face cold as I left.

"I can't believe I even thought I could travel with such a rude person like Gary!" I mumbled angrily as me, Pikachu, and Bulbasaur walked to Cerulean City.

"Pika?" "Bulb?" My Pokémon looked at me. I tilted my head.

"I-I'm sorry I don't know what you're saying…" I said, looking at the ground.

Bulbasaur looked at me, a look in his eyes that said, "What are you doing here? You're no trainer. You are a Ranger. That's what you are. Don't abandon your calling."

I bit my lip and looked away. "Never." I said, walking into the Checkpoint right before Cerulean.

I sat down on the bench and looked at the TV.

I sighed.

"The news. AGAIN." I muttered, my voice lined with annoyance.

I froze as the reporter said the words that I never wanted to hear: "The pinchers are back again! And with only one Ranger left and most of the police force down Almia is facing its end. Ranger Keith is showing us live footage of the destruction." The reporter said, gesturing to their screens.

"No… NO!" I screamed, not caring who heard me. Keith's battered face filled the screen.

"Kate… please… come back. I need you! I can't do this by myself!" My partner prayed.

I bit my lip and got to my feet. I returned my Pokémon to their poke balls before they could protest.

I pulled out my styler and ran outside. I drew Altaria's sign on the ground with my styler.

Right on cue, an Altaria flew down to assist me. I climbed onto her back.

"To Almia!" I cried.