Author's Note: This crazy idea for a oneshot came to me when I played through Shadows of Almia as Kellyn, and some of the lines from Keith felt like they could only be appreciated as Kate… or… well, you get the idea. Enjoy your daily dose of crack fic!
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I sprinted down the hall of the Ranger Union, my Buizel at my heels, then turned sharply when I almost passed the meeting room. I threw the door open and skidded to a halt beside the cool, collected, and on-time Kellyn and the Sneasel at his side.
"I hope I'm not too late, Gramps," I gasped, hands on my knees. I had come running all the way from the Ranger School, and as my luck often was, there hadn't been a Doduo in sight. Professor Hastings chuckled.
"You okay, Keith?" Kellyn said, a touch of concern in his voice. My rapid breathing slowed to normal, and I stood up straight.
"Yeah, I'm good," I said, flashing a grin before looking over to Professor Hastings.
"Well, obviously I have a mission to give you two, otherwise I would have told you to take your time coming over here. You two are aware that there is currently no sea route between Summerland in Fiore and our own Haruba Village, correct? They are relatively close, only a two day trip at most, so we'd like to send you two to travel this route yourselves and scout for hazards that could prevent regular travel through the area. Do you have any questions or objections?" Professor Hastings said, glancing between us.
"This sounds like fun, but if we get into trouble, it would be impossible to get help in a reasonable amount of time, am I right?" Kellyn asked, raising his hand in the air like he always did when he asked a question.
"Yes, and that's why we're sending you. You, Kellyn, have the most experience with Water Pokémon out of all the Rangers in Almia. Keith is going because it's far too risky to go alone, and you two work very well as a team," the Professor said. Satisfied, Kellyn nodded and lowered his hand.
"When do we start?" I asked with a grin. Professor Hastings chuckled again, and this time, Kellyn's quiet, clear laugh accompanied it.
"Take the rest of the day to prepare, and you should leave tomorrow morning," came the Professor's answer.
"Okay! Keith, I'll handle the boring stuff like food, water, and survival supplies, and you get a map and draw out a course for us," Kellyn said, taking my hand and leading me out of the meeting room. He ran off, his Sneasel following just behind him.
"Come on, Buizel, let's go get maps," I said.
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That night, in my small, cramped room at the Union building, I sat up awake for most of the night. Although I hid it well, my feelings for Kellyn were well beyond friendship. The prospect of spending a couple of days alone with Kellyn was both exciting and worrying. On the one hand, I would be happy for every second of being with him, my best friend who was even more to me. But if he found out, he might never even talk to me again. Guys like me were supposed to like girls, not other guys, and I was sure that Kellyn would not take the news well. Buizel, watching me stay up absorbed in my thoughts, finally decided to take action and force me to sleep with a sharp smack to the side of my head.
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"Keith, wake up! Come on, wake up, sleepyhead…"
I opened my eyes, head still aching, to see Kellyn standing over me.
"Finally! Get ready and meet me in Haruba Village, okay?" Kellyn said. He walked out. I shot Buizel a glare and got out of bed, throwing on my Ranger uniform and quickly brushing my teeth. We walked downstairs, where I took the time to get myself a protein bar from one of the vending machines that had recently been set up. Within an hour, I arrived in Haruba Village to find Kellyn there with two ice-cream cones. Seeing me approach, he held out the intact ice-cream.
"Want a snack?" he offered. "I know you're not a big fan of sugar in the morning, so if you don't want it, I'll eat it." I took the ice-cream, smiling. It was just like him to get two ice-creams and offer to eat the second one if I didn't want it. He led me to the dock, where a small boat waited.
"I figured we should take a boat, so I rented one out," he explained, hopping into the boat. I followed, and he started the craft up. His Sneasel watched the waters ahead, while my Buizel jumped overboard and swam alongside. I watched him drive the boat. He was calm, easily steering the boat out into open water. Haruba Village receded into the distance, and only the expanse of glittering blue was visible around us. A cry off the back of the boat caught my attention.
"Keith, can you go check that out?" Kellyn asked without talking his eyes from the boat's controls.
"Sure," I said, walking the short distance to the back. A white birdlike Pokémon with red fins on its back looked up at me from the water. Buizel climbed back up onto the boat, and the white bird tried to follow him.
"Aww, hi there. You want up? Sure, I'll give you a hand," I said, helping the cute Pokémon climb onto the boat. It gave a friendly chirp, and hopped around, looking at everything. It came up beside Kellyn, and he took a moment from his control of the boat to look at it and gently pat it on the head.
"Is that what made the noise? I don't know what kind of Pokémon it is, but it sure is friendly," he said with a smile. It chirped again, hopped over to me, and snuggled up against me. I stroked its soft feathers.
"I'll make a drawing of it so we can ask Professor Hastings when we get back," I said. Leaving the bird for a minute, I took a notepad and pencil out of my backpack that I always carried with me. I sketched the Pokémon on the paper, then showed the drawing to Kellyn.
"Do you think this is close enough?" I asked. Kellyn nodded, and returned to keeping the boat on course. Buizel got the bird's attention, then took out a rubber ball. Its eyes lit up, and in minutes, the two were happily playing together. Looking back the way we had come from, I saw dark clouds beginning to gather on the horizon. I thought nothing of it, and instead watched the Pokémon play.
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A few hours had passed since the bird had come on board, and it didn't have any intention of leaving. It had curled up on the back of the boat to nap, its new best friend Buizel beside it. The dark clouds were approaching fast, and the waters had become rough. Kellyn was struggling to keep the boat on course, and I was pacing nervously. A loud cry came from under the boat, startling the bird and Buizel awake. I ran to the back of the boat just as a huge bird Pokémon like the one that had joined us, only with blue fins instead of red, burst from the water. Kellyn ran to my side, having given up on steering the boat through the rough water.
"Whoa, what is that?!" he yelled to make himself heard over the sound of thunder. The huge bird gave an earsplitting angry cry and spat an intense beam of energy straight at me. Then several things happened at once. I was shoved aside, the smaller bird Pokémon flew up to the huge one with a cry of protest, Kellyn slammed against the boat's steering wheel and fell to the floor motionless. Forgetting the birds, I was at Kellyn's side in seconds. He was completely still, and the front of his shirt where the beam had hit him was gone, exposing scorched skin. After a few chirps and cries had been exchanged, the huge bird left, the small one staying behind.
"Kellyn?" I said, putting a hand on his shoulder to shake him. He didn't respond to the touch. Pressing my ear to his chest assured me that his heart was beating steadily and he was breathing, but there was no other sign of life from him. "Kellyn, wake up… come on, Kellyn, this is serious! Wake up!" I started to yell at the motionless boy, shaking his limp body by the shoulders while tears started to form in my eyes. Sneasel, who had hidden in the storage while the huge bird was there, approached. Seeing Kellyn, the black Pokémon stood beside me, silent. I set Kellyn down and went to my Styler to call the Union. It was Rhythmi who answered.
"Keith? Is that you? What are you calling for?" she asked.
"Rhythmi! Rhythmi, this huge white bird Pokémon with blue fins hit Kellyn with a beam attack, he hit the steering wheel hard, and he won't wake up," I said, my voice transformed into panicked sobs with words in between. "He's breathing, and his heart is working fine, but he's out cold and I can't steer a boat. We're stuck out here, Rhythmi, what should I do?"
"Keith, calm down! You're going to be fine! You've got two options, wake Kellyn up or steer the boat yourself. And with the way you described his injuries, Kellyn will be out of it for a couple hours. Alright, I'm going to give you directions, so don't panic. First, get Kellyn out of the way. Put him somewhere away from the steering wheel and get the Pokémon to watch him. Got that?" she said. I carried Kellyn a few feet away and set him down.
"I've got that, Rhythmi. Buizel, Sneasel, you two watch Kellyn," I said, the second part directed at the Pokémon. I walked back to the steering wheel.
"Okay. Now, since the boat is already moving, just turn it in the direction I tell you to…"
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With Rhythmi's help, I was able to get the boat back on course. Once it was heading in a straight line for Summerland, I waited near the unconscious Kellyn. Seeing him lying still, I was hit by a sudden impulse to kiss him. He would never know, and I would be satisfied. I quickly shook my head to clear my mind of the thought. If he happened to wake up right then, I would never be able to face him again. I returned to check that the boat was still going the right way, then returned to sit by Kellyn's side again. This continued for an hour. I was starting to lose hope, think that Kellyn would never return to consciousness, when I heard a soft whimper.
"Oww… my whole body hurts," Kellyn groaned, slowly sitting up. He looked up, and gave a relieved sigh at seeing me. "I'm so glad you're okay, Keith." He winced in pain, but tried his best to grin. Tears of joy started to roll down my face.
"You idiot, I'm the one who should be glad you're okay," I said, throwing my arms around him. He gave a sharp gasp of pain, and I pulled back a bit to avoid hurting him. "Kellyn, you have no idea how much I've been worrying about you this past hour, I-"
I was cut off by Kellyn sliding closer and pressing his lips to my cheek. I froze, stunned.
"Wh-What…" I spluttered, in total shock. I had been so sure that Kellyn didn't think of me the same way I thought of him, and yet he just kissed me on the cheek? Kellyn wriggled out of my arms with a sigh.
"I knew it, you didn't think that way after all," he said, barely louder than a whisper. Those words snapped me out of my trance, and I pulled him close to me and pressed my lips against his. It was his turn to freeze up from surprise, and when I moved back, he started to laugh.
"Keith… you're the best."
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It turned out that he had shared my feelings the entire time. When we arrived in Summerland, he got his injury treated at the hospital, while I went on ahead to the Ranger Union without him. The red-and-white Pokémon turned out to be a baby Lugia, and a shiny one at that. Professor Hastings was so pleased with us that when the Lugia stuck by me and refused to leave, he allowed me to become the first Ranger with a legendary partner Pokémon. When Kellyn returned, we started dating almost immediately. So far, things have been going well for us. Maybe there is something to happy endings after all.
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And that's it. IT HAD TO BE DONE -is shot in head-