Author's Note: Thank you so much pikachu0311 for reviewing! I saw the e-mail in my inbox and I had to excuse myself from class so I didn't disrupt everyone with my cackling...
Also, longer chapter warning. I'm splitting this between two chapters and this one is still pretty long.
"Today's the day we go on our One-Day Internships, isn't it." I said aloud, mostly to myself. Rhythmi heard me, and cheerily responded.
"Yep! I'm off as soon as Ms. April will let me leave. Not only is the walk long, but I want to make a good impression!" Rhythmi exclaimed. She sounded excited, and I myself was excited too. Keith and I were the only two at the school training to become Rangers, so we'd only have to make the short trip to the Vientown Ranger Base rather than go all the way to the Ranger Union.
It didn't take long before Ms. April and Mr. Kincaid sent us off, Rhythmi leaving immediately and Keith and I waiting momentarily to gather our things, along with all the other students. Slowly, they trickled out, and Keith and I left while most were still in the room.
"I'm really excited!" Keith exclaimed as soon as we were outside of the gate. "I mean, this is it! We're almost completely finished with Ranger School, and for a day we'll get to be actual Rangers in an actual Ranger Base!" I agreed with him completely, but his words began going into one ear and out the other, and before we were even across the bridge, a small blonde girl stopped us, asking if we'd seen her brother.
"... Well, sweetie, who is your brother?" Having a little sister myself, it was easy to get on her level and try to make her feel comfortable. She didn't answer me right away, and within seconds we heard Isaac's surprised noises and "Melody, what are you doing?"
"I wanted to come see you!" The little girl, Melody, exclaimed happily. Isaac looked concerned.
"Melody, you aren't supposed to leave Pueltown by yourself! You could get hurt, or worse!" She looked guilty for a moment.
"I'm sorry, Isaac. I just wanted to see you..." She looked down, absolutely dejected. I looked up to Keith, who raised his eyebrow at me. Isaac sighed.
"It's alright, Melody. At least you made it here safely." He turned to Keith and I. "Plus, I can introduce you to my friends! That's Kate," he said, pointing to me. I smiled at Melody, "and this is Keith!" Keith smiled some as well. "They're here to become Rangers!"
"It's nice to meet you!" She said, seemingly gleaming. Isaac smiled at us, and we responded to her remarks kindly.
"Well, it'll be a bit of a walk. We should probably get going, Melody." He grabbed her hand, and the two set off, but not before saying goodbye to Keith and I. I smiled at their backs, and watched Isaac's... doting manner.
"You know," I said to Keith, quietly, "if Isaac dotes on her this much..." I looked up at him, "why haven't I heard anything about Melody?" He sighed.
"She's all he'll talk about when he's in the dorm." I nodded slightly, nudging him to begin our walk again. We made our way to Vientown with minimal conversation, aside from my seeking words of comfort as we approached the Ranger Base.
"... Keith." I said.
"Hmm?"
"... I'm shaking." He looked at me, grabbing my wrist as I held it out to him. He looked surprised. I didn't understand how he could seem so calm and cool when I was nervous to the point I wanted to faint.
"You'll be alright, I'm sure! Everything's going to be fine!" His cheer didn't help me at all, but only because his voice shook slightly as well. I took a deep breath, and mustered up my courage, and walked through the door. Keith and I looked around, but the Base was empty. We weren't expecting this at all.
"H-Hello? Is anyone here?" I asked, looking to Keith.
"We're from the Ranger School, for one-day internships!" A friendly-looking Operator appeared behind the desk in the corner, quickly apologizing for not noticing us walking through the door.
"Everyone had to go out on a really important mission, and they've left me with this parcel!" She grabbed something off of the floor and handed it to Keith. From the look on his face, I'm guessing it was somewhat heavy. "And they've left me a note, saying to never tip it upside down and to not shake it hard!" Her disposition was also cheery. "Also, they've said to meet them up on Breeze Hill, which is just past Nabiki Beach!" We thanked the Operator, and left the Base with haste.
"… How much do you want to bet this is lunch?" I snorted unattractively.
"It probably is their lunch, but maybe we'll get to eat some of it if we're snappy about getting there…"
"Did you really just say snappy?"
The walk to Breeze Hill was short, but as Keith and I walked up the steps to see the Rangers, my heartbeat ran faster and faster. Keith looked back at me, and I got from the look on his face that the state he was in wasn't much better than my own. I gulped.
We took our steps in front of a red-checkered tablecloth that was neatly unfolded on the ground. No one seemed to notice us, which was surprising considering my heart was thumping very loudly.
"H-Hellomeetcha!" Keith exclaimed. It took me a second to process that what he had said wasn't a real word, and with all of the real Rangers, that second was taken to turn in surprise and look at us. I could feel the heat coming to my face already.
"Did you just say 'Hellomeetcha?'?" I asked him quietly.
"Mention this to anyone and I will push you off of this cliff." He answered.
"Well, I can see you're nervous. It's alright, just relax." I recognized this heavyset muscular man's voice immediately – it was the one who had told Crawford to set out to sea to rescue a Mantine. Keith and I both laughed nervously. Crawford saw our faces and grinned at us.
"Oh! It's me, Crawford! Remember, from Outdoor Class? Again, I apologize for cutting that short!" I waved to him.
"Oh, are we introducing ourselves now? Well, in that case, I'm Luana!" A shorter, dark-haired girl next to Crawford smiled. "I graduated only last year, so I remember this feeling fairly well!" A Buneary slept beside her.
"I'm Barlow, and this is my partner. Makuhita." The heavyset man smiled at us as well.
"Lastly, I'm Elaine. I'm not a Ranger, but instead, Vientown's local Mechanic! It's nice to meet you!"
"You as well!" Keith responded. Barlow eyed the parcel suspiciously.
"Well, it looks like lunch is here!" Keith turned to me, mouthing 'called it' as he gingerly set the parcel down on the tablecloth. Crawford moved to unfold it, and Keith nudged me. There was a huge amount of food! The Rangers (and Elaine) paused to laugh at the expressions on our faces, but only for a moment before Barlow announced to the group to eat up. Keith and I both grabbed for sandwiches, and after exchanging a glance, we laughed too.
:lll:
Keith had quickly struck up a conversation with Elaine about the functionality of a school Styler, leaving me to wander around our temporary lunch sight for the while we were there. I'd decided to saunter over to Crawford and sit next to him. In the time since Outdoor Class, I had noticed that he didn't seem nearly as gangly and dirty as I had previously thought. The possibility lingered that I'd also gotten taller since then.
"Ah! Kate! What brings you over to my side of the hill, trainee?" I looked at him semi-awkwardly. I had mainly walked over there to sit next to him in hopes that he would talk to me.
"Well… um…" I paused, trying to think of a good excuse, "I've uh… heard your jokes are pretty stellar and was wondering if you could tell me some of them?" Truthfully, I knew nothing about Crawford that Ms. April hadn't already told us. Nevertheless, my ploy worked. He beamed.
"Really? Wow, had I known, I would've prepared a really good one. This one's kind of lame, but uh… What's red and invisible?" I stopped and thought for a moment, sitting down. Red and invisible? Red… invisible…
"A camouflaged towel…?"
"No tomatoes!" I stopped to think about it for a moment, before laughing at the simplicity of it. Crawford appeared happy with my reaction. "I'm sorry it's kind of lame, but I vested all of my joking power into yesterday's edition of the Vien Tribune! Had you come a day earlier, I'd've told you my best jokes for hours!" His laugh was concise and hearty. I smiled at him. "Say, where are you from, Kate?"
"I moved here from Fiore not too long ago. Heh, Almia's Ranger School is known for producing really good Rangers, so…" I reached out to stretch my arms, "I decided that if I wanted to be the best, I should train with the best. Plus, my parents are moving out here, and they should be out here by the time I graduate anyways!" Crawford nodded, appearing somewhat impressed.
"Gee, Kate, you're a real chatterbox. What are you talking about over here?" Crawford beckoned Keith with his head, and I jumped about five feet. I hadn't heard him approaching or anything.
"Kate here was just telling me how she ended up in Almia!" Crawford cheerfully replied. Keith would have responded, though before he could get a word in edgeways, a frantic boy rushed right up to Luana, saying that Pokémon have surrounded his girlfriend.
The entire lunch party rushed down to the beach to find five Pokémon encircling a girl. Quickly, Barlow took the lead, and told the other two Rangers to focus on the capture of the Pokémon.
"Kate, Keith, now's your time to shine! Catch one of the Pokémon! Crawford and I will take care of the Shellos…" Now, I actually took a good look at the Pokémon – there were two Shellos, a Munchlax, a Starly, and a Pachirisu.
"Katie, weren't those the Pokémon we saw on the way up?" Keith asked quietly. I nodded – we had seen them on the way up to the hill. They were with a gentle old man who was quietly talking to them. Keith and I had paid no attention, and now they were circling some random girl…
I ran into the three, choosing to capture the Pachirisu. Keith went after the Starly, and Luana went after the Munchlax. It didn't take much to capture the little thing, and it was surely a shame to see it have to go.
Once I'd released the Pachirisu, I looked to Keith, Luana, and the others. Everyone was staring at me as though I'd forgotten something. Everyone had been successful in their captures.
"Uh, Kate… You learned how to release Pokémon, right?"
"Yes, I did… I released the Pachirisu already though-." I looked at my feet to see the Pachirisu looking expectantly up at my face. It nuzzled my legs.
I was incredibly surprised.
"I think it likes you…" someone commented. I didn't care to know who, but I was a mix of embarrassed and confused.
"Alright, now that this strange event is over… We'll clean up lunch. You two head on back to the Base, and we'll see you off when the time comes!" Barlow said. "Also, don't forget to tell that Pachirisu goodbye before you go back to the school, Kate." I nodded.
:lll:
We'd received hugs, handshakes and milk pudding from everyone before we had to leave the Ranger Base. The Pachirisu had stuck by me the entire time, and everyone in the Base shared at least one story of when they had first become a Ranger.
Then, that time came: the dreadful time where we had to leave. It was awful, but at the same time, it was almost a relief to know I'd be going back to my temporary home and all of its accoutrements.
"Well, you two, stay safe. No detours, and be sure to release that Pachirisu, Kate!" Barlow teased.
"We'll meet again! And hopefully, soon!" Crawford added.
"Have fun! Tell your friends all about it!" Elaine said.
"Bye! I'm looking forward to working with you both!" Luana exclaimed. We said our final goodbyes and headed on the short trek home.
"… I think we're probably going to be the last ones to get back." Keith said, remarking on the color of the sky. Considering how dark it was out, I wouldn't have been surprised at all if that were the case.
"At least we'll probably have the most stories to tell. Even though Rhythmi got to watch those Top Operators…" I giggled.
We spent most of the time in comfortable silence, until we reached the halfway point on the bridge. I turned to the Pachirisu – it seemed to understand me, and I didn't need to say a word.
"It's a shame to see the little guy go. Though, we'll see him again. I'm sure of it." Keith said as the Pachirisu began the walk down the bridge. I stood still until I couldn't see it, and then I lingered a little longer. Keith tried to get me to walk, but to no avail. "Katie, we've got to get to everyone. We have to shove it in Rhythmi's face that we've captured Pokémon in front of real-life Rangers!"
"You know, I've been trying to avoid thinking about graduation. Today's the first day that it's been the only thing on my mind." I said.
"Where did that come from…?"Keith mumbled to himself. We stood there in silence for a few minutes before he tugged at my arm. "Katie, we've really got to go."
This time, I decided to walk with him. It didn't take long to reach the gate, but it was bothering me. I couldn't stop thinking about what it would be like when I became a real Pokémon Ranger.