To the left, to the left, to the left, to the left! To the right, to the right, to the right, to the right! Now kick, now kick, now kick!

Oy…song stuck inside my head! But now I've got it in your head! Welcome to another chapter!

Read review, read review, read review, read review! And enjoy, and enjoy, and enjoy, and enjoy!

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"Clutz!"

"Idiot!"

That happy, special moment from the early morning? Long gone.

"You took my pizza!" I snapped.

"Did not!" Keith argued.

"There's sauce on your chin!" I pointed out.

"Why don't you fix yourself another lunch?" Keith questioned.

"Cause I was saving that pizza slice for today!" I shouted. "I can't believe you took it!"

"Then you should label it!" Keith yelled.

"What part of 'Kate's lunch' did you not see on the bag?" I groaned.

Rhythmi entered the room but neither of us noticed her. Too busy fighting. Just as I was about to let that redhead have it, our blond friend picked up a glass of water and splashed it on our face.

"Rhythmi!" We turn to face her.

"You two fight over the dumbest things!" Rhythmi said. "Can't you settle this in a calm, ordinary fashion?"

"I suppose you're right." I sighed.

"Yeah…like a staraptor race to Boyleland?" Keith smirked.

"Oh you're on!" I accepted the challenge.

"Oh no you're not!" Rhythmi grabbed our collars. "I came to tell you two that we all have the day off tomorrow. I'm thinking us three plus Sven and Wendy can hang out together in Pueltown."

"Sounds good to me." Keith shrugged.

"I like the idea." I agreed.

"And I'm hoping neither of you will start competing again." Rhythmi's tone of voice meant serious business; a tone not to be reckoned with.

"We promise." Keith and I muttered.

"I can go a day without competition. Course crazy here can't stand it." Keith huffed.

"Crazy? You self-centered…" I was raring to go.

"GUYS." Rhythmi glared.

"….sorry Rhythmi." The two of us apologized.

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Keith was off handling a quest during our afternoon patrol. So I waited by, taking in the warm sunny air. What was taking him so long? I was itching to do more quests. And if I ever took this long, he'd impatiently tell me off.

"Ranger!"

I turned to find an old woman sitting on a park bench. She was trying to get my attention so I came right over.

"Can I help you?" I cheerfully asked.

"Oh you just seemed a little bored." The old woman replied. "Not many quests to be done?"

"Actually I'm just waiting for my partner. He's taking too long on a current quest." I replied.

"Ah so I see. Then how about I keep you company?" The elderly woman offered.

Mom always said to respect your elders. A rule I took to heart.

"Sure thing ma'am." I sat down on the bench next to her.

"You can call me Celia." She insisted. "Would you mind listening to an old lady's story?"

"Not at all." I replied, always up for a good story or two.

"It's one of Almia's older folktales that dates back centuries ago. Long ago, before Hia Valley even became frozen in ice, the region was prosperous and beautiful." Celia recounted. "It was an era of peace throughout the land. Almia was ruled by a king who believed firmly in the importance of knowledge and hoped his four sons would use their wisdom to take his place someday."

"I had no idea Almia was ruled with a king." I said.

"Three of the sons were indeed wise and would make excellent leaders for the kingdom." Celia went on. "But there was one prince who craved power. He broke apart from his duties and tried to take over throne himself. In the end, all the prince caused was ruin and despair. And thus Almia's kingdom collapsed and was lost in time."

"How'd you know this legend?" I asked.

"It was passed down to me by my own grandmother, such as all good legends are." Ceila answered. "Sadly, many become forgotten alongside history. It's such a shame too. Almia has a rich history and secretive past that could become lost forever if we don't continue to share these stories with the generations of tomorrow."

"Then I'll try my best to remember this story." I told her.

"That's all I ask." Ceila nodded.

"KATE!"

And there was Keith, raring to go. When did he get back?

"Hurry up! We've got more quests to do!" He called.

"I'm coming! Wait a sec!" I shouted back.

He groaned in response, impatient as ever.

"Good luck on your quests dear." Ceila said.

"Thank you!"

I ran to join up with Keith. He was going on about how he captured a lot of new pokemon for the styler but I wasn't paying attention. Took some time for him to notice.

"Hellooo? Anyone home?" Keith knocked on my head.

"Hey!" I shoved him a little.

"You seem lost in thought." Keith said.

"Just reflecting." I told him. "The old woman from before told me about an old Almian legend."

"Another fairy-tale?" Keith rolled his eyes. "Boring."

I didn't respond; not in the mood to start another argument.

"Can't believe you like those kinds of lame stories." Keith huffed, glancing over at me smugly.

No reply. I was checking the quests on my styler. It seemed to irritate him.

"You know the least you could do is humor me." He mumbled.

"Hm?" I pretended not to have heard him. "I'm sorry, did you say something?"

"Clutz." Keith smacked me in the head, grinning.

"Idiot." I giggled.

I couldn't help smiling. Sometimes, the guy was just too cute to ignore. Whenever he wasn't arguing with me, Keith would always make me laugh. Another reason that added to the burden of the crush.

"Oh hey. There's an ice cream stand over there." Keith pointed out. "Wanna grab some?"

"Sure." I accepted, in the mood for something sweet.

We walked over to the vendor who seemed delighted to see us.

"Rangers!" The vendor's Italian voice sang. "Hows about two cones on de house?"

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Of course! I love ze work you do on de city!" The vendor happily replied. "Pueltown has never been better! Now what can I get ya?"

"Two chocolates." Keith ordered before I could say it.

"How'd you know what flavor I like?" I asked him.

"What?" He smirked. "You don't think I notice these things?"

So the redhead did know me a bit. Surprise, surprise. The vendor scooped out ice cream onto two cones and handed them to us.

"Good luck with the girlfriend!" He said to Keith.

"GIRLFRIEND?" I choked on air.

"No way is she my girlfriend!" Keith rejected. "I'd choose someone way better than this space-headed clutz."

I shot him a glare and walked on ahead, chowing down on the ice cream. Stupid jerk. Every time I'd get sucked into those shiny eyes and adorable grin, reality crashed down all over again. You think I'd be used to it. But no. That was never the case.

Glancing back, I was stunned at the newest scene unfurling. Several girls were surrounding Keith and flirting with him. Tramps. And Keith seemed to be enjoying the attention. He flexed his muscles and charmed them over. He always loved being in the spotlight. With an eye roll, I stormed off.

"Hey Kate! Wait up!"

Didn't listen to him. Keith's flirts and affairs were none of my business. If he wanted to go after hot, naïve girls, then let him. I knew from the start he didn't think of me more as a frenemy. So why did it still sting me?

"Kate!" Keith managed to catch up to me. "What the hell? Why didn't you wait?"

"I thought you were spending time with your girlfriends." I answered, nonchalantly.

"What…? I was just talking to them. No big deal." Keith waved it off. "Are you upset with me?"

"For making me sound like some undesirable space-headed clutz? Not at all." I sarcastically replied.

Keith blinked, obviously lost.

"Forget it." I mumbled, crunching onto the ice cream cone.

Sometimes I wondered why emotions even existed. There was a legend that says a sinnoh pokemon, mesperit, created emotions. I had to ask why it did that; why give people and pokemon the negative emotions? All emotions did was cause trouble. Especially when it came to crushes.

From the corner of my eye, I could see Keith eating his ice cream. Chocolate was all over his face. It took a lot of struggle not to smile. Maybe emotions were like yin and yang. You'd just have to take the good with the bad. Sure there was sadness but with it came pain. In the end, after all was said and done, having emotions wasn't such a bad thing at all.

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So we've got more conflict and an old story! Not bad starting out, eh? But let's see what happens on the group's day off for next chapter! It shall arrive momentarily!

SOUND THE TRUMPETS!