Lianna,

Your Outdoor Class experience sure sounds more exciting than mine! And yes, I remember Crawford. He was always making jokes, but he kept the class entertained. By the way, Mom, Dad, and Reyna are going to move out there. They're looking for a house now.

Elita

"Everyone, your attention, please. Do you remember that Mantine that Crawford went to rescue during our Outdoor Class? The Ranger Union took it in and nursed it back to health. This morning, the Mantine was safely returned to the sea! Now that we're all feeling good about that news, let's get our lesson started. Today, as scheduled, the topic is the teamwork between Rangers and Operators. If there is no trust between a Ranger and the Operator, it's disastrous. Even a simple mission could become impossible to manage. Rangers go where there are no roads to guide them. It's the job of the Operators to light the way for Ranges where no roads exist. Of course, that doesn't literally mean holding a flashlight for Rangers in the field. Operators support Rangers in other ways, like recharging their Stylers. Not only that, Operators provides Rangers with information and advice. The Operators reach out to Rangers all over from the Union's Operation Room. Does anyone know what they call that communication system?"

"Yes! It's called voicemail!" Rhythmi called out.

"Correct! However, your School Styler is not fitted with the voicemail feature. But look here! I have two Stylers with the voicemail feature turned on. We were able to borrow them specially from the Ranger Union. Principal Lamont, who was there on business, had to ask for them himself. We'll use them today to demonstrate the field operations of Rangers. Let's start with Rhythmi as the Operator and Keith doing the Ranger part."

"Ms. April, Keith isn't here yet."

"Oh, you're right… Did Keith sleep in? That's not like him, though. Well, fine, we'll get Lianna to do the Ranger part."

Ms. April grabbed the Stylers from her desk and handed one to Rhythmi and one to Lianna.

"Oh, wow! I can communicate using this! Hello? Can you hear me? This is Rhythmi. Come in, Ranger!"

"Rhyth, we're too close together. I can hear you just fine without the Styler."

"Well, then, we should get farther apart and try again."

Lianna nodded and stood up to leave the room. Mr. Kincaid busted in, making Lianna jump in shock.

"Ms. April, I'm awfully sorry to disrupt your class. There is a small matter about which I would like to speak with Keith."

"Oh, well… Keith is running late today. It's not like him, but…"

"Late, you say… You see, we have a problem on our hands. We had a number of Stylers stored in the staff room. Had, I say. Now the entire lot of them has disappeared. I've already confirmed the innocence of all my students regarding this. But that Keith boy is uncharacteristically absent from class, you say… Perhaps it's taking him time to find a place to 'stash' all those stolen Stylers?"

Rhythmi jumped from her seat and dashed over to Mr. Kincaid.

"Mr. Kincaid! Keith is a prankster, but he's no thief!"

"Oh, do be still! He runs in the hallways, he sneaks into the basement where he's not permitted…"

Mr. Kincaid shot Lianna a look when he said that.

"It's only natural that he should be viewed with suspicion!"

"Mr. Kincaid. Isn't this what you always preach? It's wrong to cast suspicion on others without proof? May I have a little time? I will go look for Keith and your missing Stylers."

The other students stood from their chairs and went over to Ms. April.

"Ms. April, I'll help, too!"

"I'll go look upstairs!"

"I'll look, too!"

Mr. Kincaid looked around at all the students ready to help their friend. Everyone left the room except for Rhythmi and Lianna.

"Lianna! Let's scour the schoolhouse from top to bottom. We have to prove Keith's innocent. If anything comes up: voicemail. Okay?"

Lianna nodded and Rhythmi ran from the room. Lianna followed after her and ran up the stairs. She looked everywhere but didn't see any sign of the Stylers or Keith. The Styler in her pocket beeped and she quickly pulled it out.

"Voicemail! Voicemail! This is Rhythmi on the ground floor. Please come down to the front door! And hurry!"

"I'm coming, Rhyth!"

Lianna ran down the stairs and over to the front door. She saw Rhythmi standing there with Janice. She stood by Rhythmi and waited for Janice to start speaking.

"I was getting set to feed the Bidoof in the school yard when I found a Styler. Did either of you drop yours by any chance? Nope, you've got yours on."

Rhythmi turned to Lianna with her eyes sparkling.

"Lianna, we should go look in the school yard. Thanks for that clue, Janice!"

The two girls left the building and began their search outside. While Lianna was searching, she heard Rhythmi call her name.

"Lianna! Over here!"

Lianna ran over and saw Rhythmi standing by a Styler.

"Isn't this one of the Stylers that went missing from the staff room?"

Lianna nodded and picked up the Styler.

"There could be more on the ground. Let's keep looking."

Rhythmi nodded and ran off to keep looking. Lianna walked around and felt her foot hit something. She looked down and saw another Styler.

"Rhythmi! I found another Styler!"

Rhythmi rushed over to Lianna and picked up the Styler. She was about to say something and then stopped. Her head tilted a tiny bit and she held up a hand to keep Lianna from talking.

"I hear voices… Let's go check!"

Lianna and Rhythmi went toward the voices and saw Keith standing by a man in a white coat.

"Keith! What are you doing out here? And who is that man?" Rhythmi said.

"The guy's a stinking thief! He came creeping out of the staff room, so I called out to him. Then, bam! He was off and running!"

The man backed away from Keith and held up his hands.

"Three on one's not fair! I'm scramming! Adios!"

The man turned to run, but he smacked into a tree. A Slakoth fell out and landed on his head.

"I can't see! It's heavy! It hurts! It stinks! Heeeeeeeeeelp!"

Keith started laughing and pointed at the man.

"A Slakoth fell out of the tree! It serves you right! That's what you get for being a thief!"

"Please! I won't do it again! Heeeeeeeeelp!"

Keith turned to Lianna and Rhythmi.

"Let's go. Who cares about a guy like that?"

"What are you saying? It's the Ranger's job to help people in trouble! Lianna! Please! Capture that Slakoth!"

Lianna nodded and stepped forward. Her posture straightened so that it resembled her sister's and she pulled out her Styler. She quickly captured the Slakoth and released it right after.

"Whew… Aah… Fweh… Saved at last… Thank you for saving me, Ranger Girl."

Ms. April stepped forward and stood next to Rhythmi.

"What's going on here? You disappeared as well, so we were looking for you. Oh, and here's Keith! And the Stylers, too!"

"Ms. April, this man is the thief who took the Stylers." Rhythmi said.

"Yeah, why'd you steal our Stylers? Do you know how important they are to us?" Keith asked.

"I…I'm sorry… I've always had this dream of becoming a Ranger. But I grew up without doing anything about it… I had so many other dreams that I wanted to follow, but… I could never decide what I really wanted to do with my life… But the one dream I could never give up was to be a Ranger… I thought, maybe, if I had a Styler, then I could do something about it, but…"

"What are you saying? Please don't make me angry here in front of my students! It doesn't matter how old you are. Even an adult can join our Ranger School. With enough effort, even you can become a Ranger. If you have a dream you can't let go of, it's up to you to make it real."

The man ran over to Ms. April, grabbing her hands.

"T…teacher lady… I also got bewitched when I saw all those Stylers just sitting there… I was only hoping to get one, but I ended up scooping up the whole lot of them…"

Ms. April took her hands from his and stepped back.

"Just like the way it is with you and your dreams… You're greedy, aren't you? You should go home and really think about what you want to do. Why not think about how you could become a Ranger properly?"

The man sighed and looked down.

"I'll do that."

His head shot up with his eyes wide.

"W-W-Wait a second! G-Go home? You'll just let me go home? Without any punishment or anything? T-Teacher lady… I can't believe it…"

~Later That Same Day~

"…And so, Keith was trying to catch the thief who made off with the Stylers."

Principal Lamont looked very surprised with Ms. April's story.

"Ah, so that took place in my absence? Well, though the thief got away, I'm quite relieved no one was hurt. Recovering the Stylers is a bonus."

"Keith gets blamed because his everyday conduct is so deplorable..." Mr. Kincaid grumbled.

"I must say, I was impressed by Rhythmi's belief in her friend. That could be the most essential quality in an Operator."

Rhythmi blushed and giggled.

"Lianna, your teamwork with Rhythmi and your capture were outstanding. I could tell right away from the big smile on the Slakoth's face."

Lianna smiled and thanked Ms. April.

"Keith. You're much too reckless. You must rely on your colleagues more. There is only so much a Ranger can do all alone. I think one day, you will be faced with a situation that makes you accept that. That said… There's no denying you did a good deed. Are you paying attention?"

"That thief didn't get away… We actually let him go…" Keith muttered.

He sighed and turned to Rhythmi.

"Rhythmi, listen up. You understand, don't you? The rotten way I feel about this. But, hey, Rhythmi… You believed in me and stood up for me. That really made me happy."

Lianna noticed that he said nothing to her, which made her frown a bit. Principal Lamont stepped forward with a smile on his face.

"Like the thief today, perhaps there are shadows always lurking in all of our hearts. What's important is to never give in to that darkness in our hearts. It is written in the books of our library… In the Almia region, there is an ancient word: 'vatonage.' It means 'to reawaken light that has been submerged in darkness.' Vatonage… Today, you all shine with the brilliance of gems. May you never lose that shine. Oh, my, I have rambled on. I believe it's time people returned to their classes."

That night, Lianna sat down at the table in the dorm and began writing to Elita.

Elita,

Today was so crazy. Someone stole the Stylers that were in the staff room. Mr. Kincaid had the crazy idea that Keith did it, even though Keith would never do something like that. He's too nice. Rhythmi and I got to use real Stylers to communicate with that voicemail thing. It was pretty cool. Well, we found the thief. It was some guy who wanted to be a Ranger. We got the Stylers back and Ms. April sent the thief home. Keith wasn't too happy about that. I guess I'm not either. It doesn't feel like he got what he deserved. However, you always talk about karma, so I guess I shouldn't care so much about it, huh? Well, the year is slowly coming to a close, and I can't wait to become a real Ranger! Tell Reyna I love her!

Lianna