IMN: Hi everyone! Welcome to chapter 22!
Keith: *Holding an armload of papers* WHAT THE HECK IS THIS?!
IMN: Keith, those are the reviews. It's when people write to me about the story-
Keith: I know that! I'm talking about THESE REVIEWS!
Rhythmi: *Picks up some of the reviews and reads them* 'How about Bianca? She was the subject of a song in a spin-off musical "Kiss Me, Kate"? Perfect for Keith?' 'Que tal Katie o aqua?' 'Nice chapter, how about Keith names the baby Lugia... Kate?' 'Great chap! Hmmmmmm how bout Kate for the name? Since Keith wanted to name it after him but it didn't work and Keith loves-'
Keith: *Takes all the reviews back and blushes a hundred shades of red* Okay, that's enough! Notice anything?
Rhythmi: You're right... I can't believe you have lots of followers IMN!
IMN: I know! Even I'm shocked! This is awesome and-
Keith: NO! I meant why do all the reviews involve Kate?!
IMN: Is it because you love a certain pig tailed-
Keith: *Blushing a thousand shades of red* Don't you have a story to start!
IMN: Oh yeah. Rhythmi, would you do the honours?
Rhythmi: Sure. *Turns to the audience* Infusion Masters Nightmare doesn't own Pokémon or it's characters. She only owns the idea of Mewmans. Enjoy this chapter!
IMN: ON WITH THE SHOW!
Chapter 22: Under the Sea!
Keith's Pov
It was morning and everyone was in a good mood. Barlow and my Grandpa left last night to get ready for the meeting held in the Union today. So far everyone in the base were sitting at the breakfast table, talking about something in today's newspaper but I wasn't listening. I couldn't stop thinking about what happened last night with the stone. Whats with those images flashing in my head and what did they mean? What's going on with me?
"Keith? Keeeeeeiiiiiiiiith? EARTH TO KEITH!" yelled Rhythmi while she flicked my nose. I shouted in surprise and fell out of my chair. Oooooowwwwwwww. That hurts!
"Keith, are you okay?" Kate asked with worry as she and Jet helped me get back on my feet.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just caught by surprise by Rhyth," I replied. Everyone looked at me like I was some complicated equation on a black board.
"I've been calling your name for ten minutes. We thought you wanted to see your cousin Wendy in the newspaper. You've been acting weird all morning," Rhythmi said. I just laughed it off and looked at everyone with a smile.
"Weird? What are you guys talking about? I've haven't been weird," I laughed but that didn't convince the others.
"Yes, you have been odd. For example, you made a toast, beer and pickle smoothie and would have drank it if Kate hadn't switched it with orange juice. You're eating 'Munchlax's Nom Nom Buds' cereal, which you hate. Finally you're ranger uniform is on backwards," Elaine explained. I looked down and realised that my uniform was on backwards and there was a half full bowl of 'Munchlax's Nom Nom Buds' cereal in front of me. Okay, maybe I was acting weird today.
"Is anything wrong with you, Keith? Did something happen?" Luana asked. I would have told them what happened to me last night with the stone but something tells me that I should keep quite about it for now. I was about to come up with an excuse on the spot when Crawford walked into the room (I didn't know he left in the first place).
"Kate and Keith, Barlow voicemailed me. He and the Professor needs both of you in Pueltown. Something about the bridge not working," Crawford announced. YES! Thank you Barlow! Now I can get out of this conversation.
"Well, we have to get going. See you guys later!" I said while dragging Kate out the door with Jet and Fro following us. As Kate and I jogged to Pueltown we were both silent until Kate started talking.
"Are you sure you're okay, Keith? You know if there's something wrong, you can tell me, right?" Kate questioned as we got near to the entrance of Pueltown. I swear hearing Kate say that makes me want to tell her what happened with the stone but just when I looked at Kate, my head started to hurt as random images flashed in front of me for a split second. That is until I felt something holding my hand. The images stopped and I saw Kate staring into my eyes with concern.
"Keith, are you sick or something? You were holding your head there. Maybe you should go back to the base, I'll explain to Barlow-"
"No! I-I mean I'm fine, just a little headache. Don't worry about it," I said with a smile on my face but Kate didn't look convinced. She was about to say something but then we heard a familiar voice.
"HEEEEEEEEEY! Wait for me!" Rhythmi shouted as she ran towards us with a laptop bag which contains her Operator Portable Station Laptop or OPS Laptop for short.
"Rhyth? What are you doing here?" I asked and mentally thanking Arceus for giving us a distraction from the topic. Rhythmi put her hands on her knees and was trying to catch her breath from all the running she did.
"Barlow voicemailed Crawford saying that he also needs my help because the Ranger Depot in town has a broken Styler Recharge Station and Prof. Hastings wants me to deliver some documents he forgot," Rhythmi explained as she caught her second wind. As we got to the entrance of Pueltown, Barlow was standing there waiting for us.
"Hey there, Rookies! Nice of you three to show up. ...Keith, why is your ranger uniform on backwards?" Barlow greeted us as he looked at me in confusion. Oh boy, got to change the subject quick!
"Anyway what's going on with the bridge?" I asked.
"Well you see, there two ways to get to the Union from Vientown; one is going over Norward Bridge and turn left at Altru Park and the other is flying. Since Prof. Hastings hates flying, we had to go over the bridge. However the bridge is stuck open so no one from Pueltown or Altru Park can cross. The bridge's operator, Brook, said that he needs the key to close the bridge and he knows where it is," Barlow explained as we head for the harbour.
"That's good. Where's the key?" Rhythmi questioned.
"Weeeeeeeellllllllllllllll about that... it's out there..." Barlow said as he pointed out to sea. Wait, what?
"Out there? In the sea? Somewhere on the seafloor?" asked Rhythmi slowly as Barlow nodded yes at all of her questions.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" we all exclaimed while Barlow looks around, probably for my Grandpa.
"No. When Brook was chasing Team Dim Sun, the key slipped out of his pocket. Kate and Keith, your mission is to find the key. Meanwhile I'll stay on land to protect Rhythmi and Prof. Hastings for any sudden ambushes," Barlow ordered while he nervously looked at the sea. Something tells me there's a reason he doesn't want to dive down to get the key.
"Prof. Hastings is looking around to see if there's a boat that could take you guys. Meanwhile Kate and Keith can use some swimsuits from my friend's shop. Let's get going," Barlow said as he guided us to where we're getting our swimsuits.
"What's taking Kate so long?! It's been half an hour!" I whined as we waited at the docks for Kate. Grandpa found a guy who would drive the boat to where Brook dropped the key. I was waiting on the boat wearing a pair of blue swim trunks with a Buizel on the sides (Jet's choice) and holding an Aqua Lung, Grandpa's latest invention to help rangers breathe underwater. Of course Rhythmi needs to come with us because her OPS Laptop has this feature that helps map out different areas by a ranger styler's sonar but she needs to be close to us for a good connection.
"Patience, young Scyther. She'll be here soon. Just so you know Kate won't have her 'icy touch' since you guys will be underwater, especially since there's warm currents flowing in the area where the key is," Rhythmi explained while glancing at the boat driver. Barlow told us that the driver was a plain human since he doesn't have a Blessed mark so we had to make sure that we don't reveal Kate's identity.
"Also, don't get any ideas, Keith," Rhythmi warned while glaring at me.
"Huh? What ideas?" I asked in confusion.
"Don't play dumb. I've grown up with you so I know what you're thinking. Just because Kate's wearing a swimsuit and you two are going down together, doesn't give you permission to do something stupid," Rhythmi warned me while typing something on her laptop. Now that I think about it I've never seen Kate wearing a swimsuit. "Would she wear a one piece or a bikini? Well, with all the exercise we do as rangers, it won't be surprising if she is fit- NO! Snap out of it, Keith! You can't have such thoughts! Then again she is pretty... RAAAAH! STOP THINKING THAT WAY!" I thought as I had a inner war with my thoughts. Do I want to see Kate in a swimsuit? ...Well yes but- STOP IT! I bet Rhythmi is enjoying seeing me suffer by that evil smile on her face.
"Hey guys, sorry about the delay. I was having some problems finding the right one," called out Kate. I turned my head towards her direction so fast that I almost had whip-lash. What I saw on Kate was not a one piece or a bikini. It was a wet-suit. A black, chunky neoprene wet-suit... NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
"I wanted to wear a wet-suit to protect me from the warm currents. The shop owner has sold out of all the ones in my size since it's the popular size for girls my age. I had to get one in a larger size. Keith, you okay? You look a little pale," Kate said while staring at me. I could hear Rhythmi laughing next to me when she saw my sad expression.
"It's fine. Let's just find that key..." I mumbled while looking down. The driver then started the boat and we headed for the area. When we got to the location Kate and I put on our Aqua Lungs and dived into the sea. When we dived in we saw that there was an amazing coral reef that had every colour of the rainbow and sea pokémon. I was so amazed by the sight that I almost forgot about the mission.
"Keith, there's the key!" Kate exclaimed as she pointed to something shiny on the sea bed. As we swam closer we could definitely tell it was the key. We were about to grab it but then something black shot out of nowhere and grabbed the key. I looked at the black blob as it swam away and I saw that it was a Sharpedo.
"That was a Sharpedo. Why did it take the key?" Kate said out loud. Just then Kate's styler signalled a voicemail is coming in so she pressed a button and then I heard Rhythmi's voice.
"Voicemail, voicemail. This is Rhythmi. Guys, have you found the key yet? Fro and Jet are getting a bit on edge up here. Is everything alright?" Rhythmi said.
Suddenly I saw a flash of silver out of the corner of my eye. I was a bit curious so I went towards it while Kate was distracted. I felt a bit guilty but I had to know what it was. As I got closer, I heard crying. I was worried so I swam fast and what was behind a form of coral was something I never thought I would see in my life. It was a baby Lugia crying and on it's wing was a bite wound made out of ice. It looks like the little guy was hit by an 'Ice Fang' attack. Of course as a Ranger it's my job to help all pokémon when they are in trouble.
"Hi little guy. It's alright. I'm here to help you. My name is Keith and I'm a Pokémon Ranger. I want to help you so please stay calm," I soothed the baby Lugia as I slowly swam towards it. It growled at me until I showed it my right palm, which showed my Blessed mark. It calmed down and looked at me in wonder. I knew that I'm still new at the whole Blessed thing but if it's something ice related then I could do my best to help it. I just let my instincts guide me at this point. I slowly inhaled a bit of air and exhaled into the aqualung before raising my hand to the wound. I focused on the ice and willed it to get off the Lugia's wing. I felt a tingling sensation traveling down my arm and into my hand and slowly the ice was absorbed into my Blessed mark until it was all gone. It worked? ...IT ACTUALLY WORKED! Alright, focus on the Lugia. I got a special water proof suave and water proof bandage out of my swim trunk's pocket (and Rhythmi said I wouldn't need them on this mission. HA!). I quickly treated the bite wound and petted the Lugia's head.
"There we go. All fixed up. Try not to pick any fights for a while, okay little guy?" I said to the Lugia. The baby legendary stared at it's wing in awe and let out a cry of happiness, which sounded like a girl.
"So you're a girl Lugia? I got to remember that next time we meet. So should I call you Lugia the next time we see each other?" I asked as the Lugia nudged her head against my hand. The baby legendary shook her head for 'no'. Looks like I need to come up with a nickname for her.
"Keith, where are you? We have to find that Sharpedo. Rhythmi told me that the direction it went leads to a dead end so we could catch up with it," Kate announced from nearby. GAH! The mission! I completely forgot about it!
"Coming Kate!" I replied and just then the Lugia cried happily and nodded her head excitedly when I said Kate.
"You like the name Kate?" I asked and the Lugia did a back-flip in the water and cried happily.
"Okay, Mini Kate it is but I'll have to call you Mini K when I'm around my friend because it might confuse her since you both have the same name. Is that okay?" I said as the Lugia nodded her head in agreement. I smiled at the Lugia and swam towards Kate.
After Kate said to me that it's now a full on mission to get the key back. We swam as fast as we could to where the Sharpedo is at and had to capture a Mantine or two until we finally found that dead end Rhythmi was talking about with Kate.
"One thing! I ordered you to do one thing, you stupid Sharpedo, and you messed it up!" yelled a man's voice. Kate and I swam to a nearby rock and hid behind it. We looked over the rock to see the Sharpedo from before with a man in a black wet suit that has a familiar silver cross on his back that represents the Hunters.
"So the Sharpedo belongs to one of the Hunters. Why are they here?" I asked Kate.
"He's probably a solo Hunter trying to make some extra money for himself. It happens sometimes when they find something rare they want all the money for themselves. Question is what's so rare here that he separated from the other Hunters just so he could have money to himself?" Kate questioned. I felt my blood grow cold from hearing it that way. It all started to make sense now; Why the Hunter was here, why Mini Kate the Lugia got hit by an 'Ice Fang' attack and why the Sharpedo took the bridge key.
"How did you mistake a dumb old key for that Lugia's Silver Wings?! It couldn't have gotten far since that 'Ice Fang' attack of yours damaged it's wing but you still screwed up! Does this key LOOK like a Silver Wing? Is it worth thousands of Poké-dollars? NO! Get back out there and find that pokémon!" shouted the Hunter to the Sharpedo.
"A Lugia? In this part of the ocean? How can we miss something so big on our way here?" Kate asked to herself.
"Weeeellllllllll because she's not very big at all," I nervously admit. Kate froze for a second and looked at me in shock.
"You saw the Lugia? Wait, what do you mean 'she's not very big'?" Kate asked me. I nervously scratched my head and looked at Kate.
"Yeah and also she's a baby Lugia. I helped treat her wound while you were talking to Rhyth," I explained.
"Keith, we have to find that Lugia and protect it before that Hunter finds out," Kate whispered.
"Too late~!" sang the Hunter from behind us as his Sharpedo cornered us to the rock we were hiding behind. Damn it, we're trapped!
"I never expected to find two rangers under the sea, let alone a baby Lugia. Now then, you better tell me where that Lugia is or my Sharpedo here is going to have you and your girlfriend for lunch, Mr. Ranger," the Hunter said as he patted his Sharpedo's fin. Kate and I were silent and glared at the Hunter. There was no way I would let him hurt Mini Kate or Big Kate.
"No answer? Fine, any last words, you- AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" said the Hunter before Mini Kate the Lugia bit his head and she didn't seem to be letting go anytime soon.
"Way to go, Mini K! Nice timing!" I encouraged the Lugia while making sure to use her nickname so Kate doesn't get any ideas. The Sharpedo looked around, not knowing what to do. That was when Kate took out her styler and aimed it at the Sharpedo.
"CAPTURE ON!" Kate exclaimed as she released the capture disc and circled it around the Sharpedo. In a flash the pokémon was captured and Mini Kate sat on the Hunter with a content look on her face.
"Great job, Mini K. That's a good girl," I cooed the baby Lugia. The Hunter struggled to get up but Mini Kate was too heavy for him.
"Sharpedo, help me! I'm your master!" the Hunter wailed. The Sharpedo looked at the Hunter and smirked.
"Serves you right. I'm a free pokémon now! I would have helped if you were nice to me. Who's stupid now?" the Sharpedo said before blowing a raspberry at his ex-master.
"I take it that you took the key on purpose because you wanted to get revenge?" I asked the Sharpedo while picking up said key from the seafloor.
"Yep! Thanks for the help. I heard you were looking for that key, so I saw a chance and took it. Do you have any idea how painful it was taking orders from this guy? It was torture! Make sure that creep is locked up when you get back to the surface," the Sharpedo replied before it swam to the Hunter and used an 'Ice Fang' attack on his ex-mater's head. Now I see why people nickname Sharpedo the 'Brutal Pokemon'...
"We better get back to the surface. Our oxygen supply is low," Kate announced as got a hold of the Hunter's wrists and used all the power she could muster under the sea to make ice handcuffs. When we got back to the boat, I gave Mini Kate one last pet on the head and got on the boat.
"So how are our two favourite love-birds?" Rhythmi teased the second we got on the boat. I instantly felt my face heat up at that statement. Stupid Rhythmi.
"We got the key and a new friend," Kate said as she plopped the Hunter on the boat. Rhythmi and the boatman screamed in fright at the sight of the unconscious Hunter (blame the Sharpedo) on the boat.
"Isn't that one of those guys that tried to kidnap Rosie and Kellyn when we were at Ranger School?!" Rhythmi exclaimed while curling into a ball so she could get as much distance as possible from the Hunter.
"Yep," Kate and I replied as we sat down.
"And you let him on the boat?!"
"Pretty much."
"ARE YOU BOTH INSANE?!"
"Seems like it."
"Uuuuuggggggggghhhhhhhh! Idiots! The both of you!" groaned Rhythmi after she finished asking her questions. If Rhythmi is like that then we have a lot of explaining to do for Grandpa and Barlow. This going to be a loooooooooooong day.
IMN: *Nervously steps away from the angry fans* I know it's been a while since I've updated but I'm SORRY! I just got back to school and I had a very busy summer! PLEASE FORGIVE ME!
Kate: At least you got the chapter done.
Keith: Also Mini K seems happy about her guest appearance.
Mini Kate the Lugia: Luuuuuuuuuu!
Rhythmi: Sooooooooooo, you decided on Mini K? Does the 'K' stand for Ka-*Got her mouth covered by Keith's hand* HMHHHHPPPPPPPP!
Kate: What did she say?
Keith: Nothing! Absolutely nothing!
Kate: Huh?
IMN: I'll update as soon as I can folks. I hoped you enjoyed this chapter and stay tuned for the next chapter! See you later! BYE!