Author's Note: This feels like a filler chapter to me. I'm working on a big paper right now in school, so there may be a delay.

"Guess what! Katie! Katie, guess what!" I growled in annoyance at Keith's upbeat manner. His smile was very wide, and the happiness gushing off of him was enough to pound Rhythmi's normal cheer and optimism into the ground.

"What is it, Keith? I'm just dying to know." Apparently, my sarcasm wasn't enough to dampen Keith's mood any.

"How could you forget? It's Outdoor Class!" He whipped out a piece of paper decorated in his messy scrawl. "I even wrote 38 questions to ask to the Ranger!"

"Is 38 really a necessary number…?"

"Absolutely!" With that, Rhythmi and some others walked into the class, along with Ms. April. She had gone up to the blackboard, and Keith proceeded to tell Rhythmi of his endeavor. I was more tired than usual, and while it would be nice to see a real Ranger do their Ranger-y things, I would have rather slept. Keith seemed so excited about it though, so I didn't think to miss it.

:lll:

As an entire school, we made our way down to Ascension Square to find a hot a what Ranger. Sure, he was a little dirty, he was kind of gangly, and his hair was in complete disarray, but my heart began racing pretty fast. Rhythmi must have noticed I was breathing a little harder than normal, and she gave me a look. I simply smiled at her, but whatever question I had for that Ranger I forgot right then and there.

"This is Crawford. He's a graduate of this Ranger School, and now he's a Pokémon Ranger in Vientown." Principal Lamont introduced. The Ranger – Crawford – flashed a smile at us.

"I'm Crawford! It's nice to meet you, everyone!" a response of "Thank you for coming!" was given to him in unison as a little Budew appeared out of almost nowhere. "This is my Partner Pokémon, Budew." The Budew jumped happily, and a Cherubi, Bellossom, Combee and Swellow appeared alongside it. He gestured to each of them. "These are all of my Friend Pokémon!"

"This is so neat…" I could hear Keith mumbling to himself beside me. I giggled.

"Crawford! It's been a long time!" The class turned to face Ms. April. "But that giant explosion of an afro…" She made an indecisive face, "I think I liked your hairstyle the way it was before." She laughed lightly, "It makes me nervous to see that kind of jumbled-up outgrowth of anything." Crawford simply smiled at her and patted his head. Ms. April went on to introduce the Question-and-Answer Session of Terror to the students.

The first to speak was a male student from Mr. Kincaid's class. If my memory served me right, his name was Alexander and he wanted to be an Operator.

"Crawford, why did you decide to become a Ranger?" he asked.

"Well, it's because I love Pokémon. I wanted to become friends with them. You know, to bond with them." Along with words, he was speaking with his hands. "Besides, it's a cool job!" Alexander smiled.

"Thank you!" Another few students asked questions before Rhythmi made a brave move and jumped in.

"Oh! I have a question! There isn't anything I'd rather do than become an Operator. Do you think I can become one? You can tell, right?" Crawford had a look of confusion on his face.

"Well, I'm only seeing you for the first time ever, so it's not like I know, but…" He assumed a more confident pose. "Sure thing! No problemo! You'll be an Operator all right!" Rhythmi took a moment to revel in Crawford's conclusion, saying "Those were the words I wanted to hear!" and similar things to herself. I giggled at her silliness.

"Rhythmi… Don't you think you're mistaking our Ranger for a fortune-teller or something?" Keith's voice spoke out. I turned to him, and he moved to face Crawford. "Excuse me, Ranger. What about me? Do you think I'll become a Ranger?"

"Say, aren't you confusing me with a fortune-teller now, too?" The entire class laughed at the question, though Keith didn't appear embarrassed at all. "Well… I can say this – your strong will shines through loud and proud. I'm sure youll make it." He paused a moment. "Why, you might even have the fixings to be a better Ranger than me! But only if you can, ah… avoid spinning your wheels, so to speak."

"Uh… is that right…?!" Keith appeared dumbfounded for only a moment. "I'll do the best I can!" Before he could butt in with a second question, another girl called him out, saying it were only fair to have one question each. Her name was Natalie, and she, also in Kincaid's class, wanted to become an Operator as well. Keith rolled his eyes at her.

"Have you made any mistakes?"

"Mistakes? That's all it was when I started! Like the time I dumped juice all over my Styler, that was nasty. Or the time I tried to capture a stuffed toy, or when I put my Ranger Uniform on over my pajamas…" It took him a few moments to flush with embarrassment, and he quickly put up his hands in defense. "Hey now, don't make me say these kinds of things!" The class laughed at his expense.

"Has Ms. April ever been angry with you?" A girl from your class, Jordan, asked this.

"Oh, all the time! She'd blow up with me at least once a day." Ms. April laughed a little.

"Now, you know that isn't true." She took a few steps forward, smiling only slightly. "It was at least three times a day, not once." Her smile widened. "But that isn't the full story, he was a wonderful student, and his humor kept the class going and everyone's spirits high!" I'd only begun to remember my question when quickly his Capture Styler began ringing out, a deep voice saying "Voicemail, Voicemail!" Crawford's face went from relaxed to serious in a flash, and his Styler proceeded to tell him there was a Mantine that had been hit by a cargo ship near the school harbor. He was to meet with a certain Luana to go rescue this Mantine.

Most of the boys uttered "So cool…" While the most I could say was "Please save the Mantine!"

And it seemed that just as fast as he had come, he was gone off to rescue a Mantine. After he'd left, Keith looked at Rhythmi and I.

"I had 37 more questions, but I think I'm going to find out the answers to them myself. And Kate, you'll be able to help me!" He grinned. "Even if we are rivals. Some of my questions involved multiple people." I giggled. Rhythmi was still basking in her glory.

"A real Ranger guaranteed I would become an Operator!" Keith shook his head.

"There aren't any guarantees anywhere, you've got to grab a hold of your dreams and take them where you want to go!"

"Don't you think I know that?" She responded, slightly irate. "I'm going to do it. I'm going to make my dream come true!" Keith looked to the Pledge Stone, then to Rhythmi and I.

"Let's do it, right here, right now. Make a pledge by the Pledge Stone, to never give up on our dreams and make them come true!"

"Yeah! Let's do it! And you, Kate?"

"Of course! There's nothing I'd rather do than prove to everyone that I have what it takes to become a Pokémon Ranger!" I surprised myself with how strong and clear my words were. It's almost like I'd been inspired by the short show Ranger Crawford had put on for us.'

That night, I couldn't sleep. The only thing on my mind now was the day we would be assigned to a Ranger Base. The day we'd all really make our dreams come true. It was so close to us, yet so far away.