The next few chapters I am writing are my absolute favorites! And we finally get to see Keith! I think this is a pretty good debut for him and I really tried to bring out his awesomeness. We're gonna get some Kate/Keith soon, so all you Vatonage shippers will hopefully be happy with that. Enjoy!

Keith

The mission I was currently on was not fun. I would honestly rather be back at the Ranger Union watching Joel hide from Sven and Jackie just avoid being Barlow Target-Cleared. I would rather be back at the Ranger Union with, you know, Kate. Cause I missed her. Even shivering in this Areceus-forsaken wasteland, I still thought about her. A lot. Maybe it was better being here alone. If Kate was here, I would be complaining about the cold and she'd be telling me to be quiet and probably would whack me over the head a few times.

I pushed through the freezing wind, wondering why my chase had led me this far with absolutely zero results. When I actually found these guys, there was going to be hell to pay. Seriously. The cold was making me grumpy.

I turned around to see my Buizel looking ridiculous with its fur fluffed up. I grinned at it and it actually stuck its tongue out at me.

"Buiz, buiz," it muttered darkly, saying something along the lines of "why, oh, why did I pick a Ranger like you?"

I couldn't help but keep a positive attitude. "Cause you love me," I answered with a grin. Buizel just shot me a dark look. We came over the next snowy ridge to see the imposing build of Almia Castle. Finally. We were there. I had followed these ridiculous-looking people this far and I was going to wrestle this secret they were keeping for Team Dim Sun any way I could. Believe me, Buizel had a pretty powerful Aqua Jet and these goons were going to feel the full force of it before this was over.

I didn't bother knocking, just barged right in. The first thing that flung itself at me was a Camerupt, followed by a Slaking, Scizor, and Tyranitar. They surrounded me and I groaned. Really? A Tyranitar? That one seemed the most angry. Any one of these Pokemon was hard to capture on its own, never mind altogether.

"Even if you're in a hurry, stop in your tracks," one of the people I had been looking so hard for was strumming away on his base. I frowned, staying focused on the Pokemon, but unfortunately unable to block out their theme song.

"Open your ears to our melodic attacks," now the girl with the violin was playing like crazy. I sighed. Still two more to go and the grand finale.

"The rhythm of rage pounds the ground," the third one said, pounding on his drum. Why did I have to be chasing a bunch of musicians? Honestly, a Ranger had no time for a concert in the middle of his mission.

"Let the melody of ambition rise to the skies," the last, and oldest one, slammed on his guitar. Honestly, those last two lines didn't even rhyme.

"If you don't know us, we'll cure your ignorance! Billy! Garret! Clyde! Tiffany! The Go-Rock Squad's hot prospect band of key-shaker-and-taker celebrities! A name once heard and never forgotten! The Go-Rock Quads!"

I rolled my eyes as the four siblings finished their song off with their grand finale. "Yeah, okay, get on with it."

"I can't believe he doesn't appreciate our music," the girl, who I'd learned to be Tiffany, frowned.

"It's okay," the one with the drum, Clyde, grinned, "He'll certainly appreciate our Pokemon."

"Listen, I don't want to fight with you, but I will," I said calmly, suddenly realizing that I'd gotten a lot less headstrong in the last couple of years, "I just want to know about the deal Team Dim Sun made with you and any information they may have given you. We're all, well, mostly grown-ups, so let's work this out in a civilized way."

"Yeah, right," the eldest one, Billy, laughed, "You'll be getting nothing from us."

I thought about continuing the diplomatic approach. There were several things the Union had told me I could barter with- chiefly, letting the Go-Rock Quad be able to travel freely through Fiore once again, where they had been banned from for the past five years. But if they were seriously working with Dim Sun, there was no way I was letting that happen. "Hm, okay, we can do this the hard way," I nodded, unable to keep the cocky grin off my face. Cause let's face it, I haven't changed that much.

Billy smiled, strumming on his guitar, "Okay, guys, attack!"

After that, I was too busy drawing circles to say anything more.

Billy

"Guys, is this Dim Sun group really worth dodging Top Rangers for?" Clyde complained and I could tell that the complaint was directed toward me more than anyone else. I was the head honcho of the family and what I said went. Besides, Clyde was the one who complained. If Clyde didn't complain, something was seriously wrong.

"Little bro, I told you what they promised us," I explained, voice easy, "And it's not like we can turn that down. Besides, we already agreed. And it would be ungentlemanly for us to go against that. Unladylike for you, Tiff."

Tiffany frowned, seeming to be on Clyde's side. "Yeah, but they never said anything about the Rangers. They only said to keep Cresselia safe. We didn't know from what."

"Well, we agreed to whatever that meant when we said we'd do it," I reminded her.

"But, bro, the Rangers?" Garrett butted in and I was about to pull my hair out. So now they were all against me? When did this little revolution happen? "We all know what happened the last time we messed with the Rangers. They messed with us. I mean, look," he gestured at our Ranger guest, who'd already managed to capture Tiffany's Camerupt. I always knew that thing was worthless.

"If we don't make a deal with the Rangers fast, we'll be in no position to make a deal," Clyde continued, "I mean, once we get beat, that's it." He glanced back at the Top Ranger, who was honestly somehow capturing the crap out of our Pokemon.

"So what are you guys proposing?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. They seemed to have really worked this out. Had there been a mutiny at some point while we were on the run?

"Most of it was Garrett's idea," Tiffany put in and Garrett gave her a freaked-out look as if to say 'don't pin this on me'.

"It was all our idea," he hastily said.

"Look, we don't even know if Dim Sun will give up the Vatonage styler to us, even when they've used it for whatever they need it for," Clyde explained, "I mean, they don't even have one yet. But the Ranger Union has two. So, we show them where we're hiding Cresselia and lead them on a wild goose chase. We tell them that they needed a Vatonage styler to capture this one because Dim Sun has messed with it. Once the Vatonage styler is within our grasp, we snag it and run. It's foolproof."

"I wouldn't say that much," I snorted. You would be surprised what my family could mess up.

"But let's just call off the Pokemon and take whatever deal they give us," Garrett urged me, "Then we use our position to our advantage."

I made myself look like I was thinking about it, but I had already made up my mind. Seriously, why didn't I think of this whole plan? "I guess if everyone's going to be against me," I sighed, playing it off reluctantly, "I think you guys are just scared of facing off with the Rangers."

They all looked around at each other. "Uh, yeah, that's kind of what we're saying," Tiffany finally said, giggling.

I rolled my eyes. I swear sometimes these guys had no spine. I called off the Pokemon with a strum of my guitar. The Pokemon Ranger stood there, looking at us, panting and disheveled. I noticed with a certain feeling of satisfaction a cut right above his eyebrow that was bleeding. He wasn't going to get away unscathed.

"What? Are you guys giving up already?" He grinned cockily and I seethed with anger.

"Let's just say that you've managed to persuade us out of fighting," I said carefully through gritted teeth, "We're willing to hear what you have to say."

"Only because I'm beating your butt," he smirked smugly.

"Stupid ranger," I heard Garrett mutter.

"Yeah, whatever," I waved a hand at him, as if all of that didn't matter, "Now what's the deal you wanted to make with us?"

The ranger looked like he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "No way are you gonna get anything out of this!" he said incredulously.

"Uh, yeah, we are," I replied in annoyance. Who did this ranger think he was?

"No, you are not!"

"Yes, we are!"

"No way!"

"This is ridiculous," I would've done a face-palm, but decided it was below my dignity, "If you really are going to refuse peaceful measures, I'll just call your Chairperson and talk to someone who will."

The ranger hesitated. I knew we had him. He must have promised the Union he would exhaust all peaceful resolutions before he resorted to violence. My siblings and I had been on good standings for the five years after the Go-Rock Squad broke up until the Union intercepted a message between us and Dim Sun. The Union wasn't about to totally alienate us. If we could give them something as a conciliatory gesture, they would give us something in return.

"We'll let you back into Fiore," he finally said.

I grinned slowly. "I suppose that will have to do."

"But I'll be watching you," he threatened, which almost made me laugh. Sure, he was going to be keeping an eye on my siblings and me. He was going to have no idea what was going on once we stole the Vatonage styler right out from underneath his nose.

"Just make the call and we'll tell you everything we know," I gestured toward his styler. He looked at us hesitantly, then reached down for it.

"Ranger Union, this is Top Ranger Keith," he called into it, waiting for the response. A girl's voice sounded on the other end.

"Keith, this is Ranger Union. We hear ya, loud and clear."

"Hey, Rhythmi, I'm going to need the Fiore ban on the Go-Rock Quad to be lifted. Let Erma know as well."

"Sure thing, Keith," the girl replied, "Anything else?"

"Nope, I'll call you back after I get the information," he ended the call and looked at us expectantly. "Okay, now it's done. Hold up your side of the bargain. Where's Cresselia and what kind of safety measures do you have set up around it?"

"We can't tell you," I answered, holding up a hand to stop him when he tried to protest, "but we can show you. The safety measures we put around it require us to help you. If you really want this Cresselia, you're going to need our help."

The red-headed ranger rolled his eyes, but stayed silent to listen to the rest of what I said.

"Also, we also were told that Dim Sun did something to Cresselia that altered its temperament, somehow," I made up, wondering if he would even buy this, "They made it harder to befriend. It needs a... what did they say again? Garrett, help me out."

"Vatonage styler? Yeah, that was it," Garrett put in and I thanked Arceus that at least one of my siblings could catch on.

The so-called ranger Keith looked at me for a moment, as if gauging whether or not to trust me. I guess in the end he had no choice because he nodded. "Is that all?"

"Pretty much," I replied. Keith reached back for his styler, making his second call.

"This is the Ranger Union," the same girl answered and Keith hesitated for a moment.

"I'm gonna need to talk to Erma," he said, then started to back away until he was out of earshot, but still watching us carefully. I grinned. We weren't going anywhere, at least not until we got what we wanted. The Vatonage styler was the best styler out there. If we got one, we could maybe send it to our dad and see what he could do. Next stop after that was a comeback for the Go-Rock Squad, and Tiff, Clyde, Garrett, and I were back in business.

The ranger came back a few minutes later, watching us carefully. "You'd better not be leaving anything out because I can easily get this ban back on."

"C'mon, do you really think we would lie to you after all this?" I asked smoothly.

He just glared at me. "I wouldn't put anything past you."

"Oooh," I sucked in my breath, "That was harsh. Do you honestly think I know what's going on here? Dim Sun didn't tell us anything."

"I think that you have your own agenda separate from Dim Sun," he said, squinting at us suspiciously.

"And what could we possibly want from the Rangers?" I asked, not the smallest bit worried that he could see right through us.

"I don't know," he replied carefully, "but there's something. And someone's coming now to help out, someone that matters a lot to me, and I want you to know this. If you've got a quarrel to pick with the Ranger Union, you take it to me. Leave her out of this."

"So who's coming?" Tiffany asked from behind me curiously.

"My friend Kate. She's a Top Ranger that has the styler we need," Keith explained.

"I'd say she's more than a friend," I put my own two cents in, amused. Keith shot me an annoyed look, but turned a bright red. He turned away from us, looking out the window of Almia Castle toward the horizon.

"Just leave her alone," he growled and I grinned behind his back. We didn't have anything against her. We just wanted her styler.