POKEMON RANGER, OUT OF THE DARKNESS - Chapter One: Nightmares


Nightmarish images crossed her field of vision, all too familiar, all too strange. She remembered seeing these before, yet they weren't memories. She never experienced these things… had she?

Darkness tugged at her field of vision, wrapping inky tendrils of terror around her wrists and ankles and climbing around her waist. She screamed as the darkness pulled her hair ties out, letting her long brown hair fall onto her shoulders from its pigtails for the first time since she had put them in. Her blue eyes darted around, searching for something she couldn't see, someone she didn't know, somewhere she'd never been. She was terrified.

She wrenched her arms away from the tendrils of blackness, raising them above her head and grasping at the light as her eyes were covered by the darkness. She heard many people screaming, two of them all to familiar.

"Mr. Hall… me… help Wheeler… wretched Wheeler…"

"Can't… what's up… down… all black… someone… help!"

"Someone… help Wheeler… help wretched Wheeler…"

She opened her mouth in agony, screaming once more as a thousand nightmares flashed in her mind in mere seconds. The sound echoed around the darkness that surrounded her, fueling the horror she felt as she grabbed at the small, tiny dot of light that was quickly fading.

Something grasped around her wrists and she heard another familiar voice, "I've got you Kate, don't worry!" The darkness retreated and her vision turned light again, and she was dropped clear of the darkness.

"Kate, are you alright?" Keith asked her, perched on a Staraptor and staring at her in worry. The Yellow Gem flashed from beneath the jacket in which it hid, and she tugged it out. She handed it to Keith, pushing a long strand of hair out of her eyes before turning to look at the enraged Darkrai.

"This ends now." She whispered, moving toward Keith with the unsaid command to join Wendy and Sven. She hugged him tightly before whispering, "I might not make it… but this ends now."

Keith went to argue with her about her decision, but her eyes stopped him. She had a haunted look about her… a determined look. Her eyes were dark now.

"I'm going to finish this." She murmured, releasing him and running toward the Darkrai, ready to face the final nightmare once and for all.

---

She jerked into a sitting position with a small shriek, in a cold sweat, and tumbled out of bed; her covers were tangled around her legs. She pushed long strands of dark brown hair out of her light blue eyes, shivering in terror as she stumbled over to the mirror on the bureau and grasped the cold polished wood. A bright red Styler tumbled to the ground as she collapsed against the mirror, after seeing the same haunted gaze as every morning when she woke up in very much the same way.

She pulled the long brown hair into its usual ponytail and let out a shuddering sigh, before cursing softly.

"That was a year ago, damnit!" she whispered, "Why can't I forget it?! I'm not that person anymore! KATE IS GONE!" She steamed silently for a moment, "And she's NEVER coming back!" She looked around at her Partner Pokemon before sighing and pointing at Chimchar, Munchlax, Kricketot, Cranidos, Starly, and Machop. They climbed from their cushiony beds that she had made them and stood next to the door, watching her get ready for her usual morning walk.

Pachirisu, her first partner of all, climbed up onto the bureau and then up her arm, resting itself comfortably on her shoulder and wrapping its tail around her neck. She scratched its cheek absently, still muttering angry words as she pulled the red Styler onto her forearm before storming out the door into the cool morning breeze.

The wind blew the few small strands of her hair that were free of the ponytail as she walked around Pueltown aimlessly, sighing slightly as she tugged the jacket around herself tighter. "Kate is gone. Teya's taken her place."

---That Afternoon---

"TEYA!" the young girl ran up to the teenager who was directing, in no particular order, a Chimchar, a Munchlax, a Starly, a Kricketot, a Machop, and a Cranidos while a Pachirisu sat on her shoulder with it's tail curled around her neck. Teya, the teenager, smiled very slightly and looked over to the small girl, "Hello, Melody. And how is your brother today?" Her dark brown hair was pulled up into a ponytail and her eyes, a light bluish color, were hiding behind thin frame glasses. Her build was limber, and she looked like she could run for a long time.

"Isaac is doing good!" the little blond said happily, "We went riding Doduos in the woods off of Altru Park yesterday."

Teya smiled and nodded, her eyes moving from Melody to the many Pokemon around her, "I heard about Altru Park, that's the green expanse beneath the Altru building?" she glanced back at the bouncing Melody, who was nodding furiously. Teya smiled ever so slightly again, "Sounds like a fun place to play."

Melody laughed musically, and Teya smiled sadly. She remembered days laughing with her own younger sister, running through the woods in Fiore region and playing with some of the familiar Pokemon there. Melody had seemed to instinctively take on the role of 'honorary Little Sis' to Teya, and she had fallen into this role happily.

Teya could never really see her as a sister when she knew her own sister was really just to the south. She appreciated Melody's attempts to cheer her up though, and even as the silent persona wandered around Pueltown, light blue eyes floating over the crowds and a small frown on the pale face, Teya couldn't exactly say she was entirely sad.

It had been about a year since Operation Brighton and though the first few weeks were hard on the young girl, she had managed to blend herself in with the people of Pueltown. The only one she really had problems with was Isaac, who had almost recognized her.

The salty sea air was refreshing to most of the people's faces as they enjoyed the breeze. Melody sat poised on the edge of the docks and Teya sat a few yards away, silently staring out over the ocean. Melody was laughing at the water Pokemon swimming up to play with her feet, and nearby there were three other children tossing a ball back and forth. The pier was almost deserted.

A desperate cry of "Bibibibibibarrel!" was the only warning of what was coming before Melody let out a terrified scream and went flying into the water, slammed off the pier by the Bibarrel that was running around in pain. Her head bobbed above the surface and she waved her arms in a panic for a few seconds.

"I CAN'T SWIM!" she shrieked, causing everyone to look and see her disappear under the water. For a second, no one knew what had happened, but one look at the crying Bibarrel showed more information than was necessary; there was blood streaming down its foreleg, and it's eyes were wide with fear and pain. Teya only needed to look once to realize that in it's panicked running, it had slammed into Melody and thrown her off the pier.

There was a terror, someone yelled to get the rangers from the pub, and Teya stood staring at where Melody had disappeared under the water. Her eyes jammed closed for half a second, her face pained, then she ran and jumped from the pier into a dive… right as the rangers appeared to see her diving underwater. The blue enveloped her as she pushed herself downward after the retreating form of Melody, who was squirming in the tentacles of… a Tentacruel? She saw blood making the water turn a reddish color and her eyes widened in recognition of the familiar looking cut on the Tentacruel. It looked just like the one that was on the Bibarrel… but how?

She pulled something out of her pocket and placed it over her mouth and nose, taking in a deep breath and delving further. Melody and the Tentacruel had come to a rest on the sandy bottom of the shore and they weren't that far away anymore. Teya pushed her sleeve up to reveal a glowing red Styler, which she pointed toward the Tentacruel and the now still Melody. Small, miniscule bubbles were floating from Melody's mouth. She wasn't going to last much longer.

'Hold on, Melody!' she thought desperately, releasing the Capture Disk on the Styler and sending it at the Tentacruel, which released Melody long enough to let her limp form fall to the sandy bottom beneath it. Expertly, Teya directed the Styler to circle the Tentacruel. A Quilfish swam over to her and she directed to it with her hand, making it attack the Tentacruel on her account. The Styler blubbed an "OK!" sound and the Tentacruel moved away after she pressed the "Release" button.

Swimming down further towards the small, vulnerable form on the ocean floor, Teya looked at the Styler. 'Maybe I should call for help.' She thought, before once again looking at Melody, 'No, they wouldn't get here fast enough.' She hooked her arms under the small form and kicked off the sand, swimming upward.

A Mantine swam by her and she gestured upward, pulling off the mask and replacing it in her pocket after pulling down her sleeve over the Styler. The Mantine swam beneath her feet and pushed her up far enough to almost come into view of the surface, and she started swimming the rest of the way. Her lungs burned, but she didn't dare to take another breath with the mask that she had discarded.

'Just… a little… more!' she kicked and broke the surface, gasping for air and already swimming for the dock. Melody was too still. She was too cold. Her eyes were closed. Pushing the little blond onto the dock, she hoisted herself up and checked her heartbeat and breathing.

Gasping and panting, she started pushing rhythmically on the little chest, matching her own heartbeat for ten pumps before bending down and breathing steadily into the mouth with the nose clamped shut. 'For god's sake, Melody, be okay…' She continued the process. Pump, pump, pump, pump, pump, pump, pump, pump, pump, pump, breath, breath, breath, breath, breath.

Melody gasped as water sputtered out of her mouth and she sat up in a panic, only lying back when Teya pushed her back down gently.

"Are you alright?" she asked hurriedly, worry etched on her face. Melody looked up at her in confusion, and then looked around.

An anguished voice called out, "MELODY!" and another blond, this one with a bowl cut and a research outfit on, ran past the two rangers who had restrained the Bibarrel and were now looking on at Teya's efforts. Teya scooted away to make room for the boy, who ran up and hugged Melody tightly.

"Isaac…" Melody whispered, "It was so scary, I was flying and then I was in the water and I couldn't breathe… but she saved me…"

Isaac looked up to stare at Teya, who shrugged uncomfortably, murmuring, "She needed help… the Rangers wouldn't have been able to restrain the Bibarrel and dive for her fast enough… someone had to act…" Isaac smiled slightly before getting a good look at the haunted blue eyes.

"Wait a second… Kate?" Isaac asked quietly. Teya looked around in confusion, before looking back at Isaac, "Umm, are you talking to me? My name's Teya, not Kate." She shrugged slightly, looking back down at Melody and grasping the chance to change the subject, "Is she alright?"

Isaac, reluctantly, returned his gaze to his sister, who was lying shaking in his arms, scared but very much so alive. "She'll be fine." He muttered, before standing up and supporting his sister before walking away, calling back, "Thank you… Teya."

Teya left the pier after that, trying to field the many questions from the Rangers who, thankfully, had not heard Isaac suspecting she was Kate.

She sighed, 'Maybe hiding out in Pueltown was a bad idea.'

That encounter had been one of the few she had with Isaac, those she generally avoided, but she had run into Melody more often than once. She had gotten glasses since her run in with Isaac, and they proved efficient in hiding what she needed to hide. The little blond had grown over the last year as well, and was now really quite determined to go to Ranger School. Teya urged her on as they continued speaking about their days. She had spent most of the morning playing around with her Pokemon after her morning walk, inviting some of the other kids in Pueltown to mess around with them.

Chimchar in particular was having quite a bit of fun, as it was chasing a ball that the other kids were tossing around. Munchlax stood chewing on a PokeBlock that she had tossed to it. Starly and Kricketot were messing around with a few of the girls in the town, Machop was wrestling in the grass with one of the boys while the others cheered the boy on, and Cranidos stood dutifully by her side while Pachirisu chattered happily on her shoulder.

Melody looked around happily at all the kids playing with the Pokemon before returning her gaze to Teya. "It's a lot more fun here since you came." She smiled, "How did you get all these Pokemon?"

"A lot of time and patience." Teya answered evasively, smiling faintly. She picked up one of the newspapers and looked over the headlines, seeing more familiar faces and more of the same information she had been seeing over the past year. Keith was doing well, it seemed, taking on harder and harder opponents, but she noticed that whenever the pictures were of his face, he wasn't smiling.

Ever.

She wondered what had made him so harsh, sometimes, then pushed the thoughts away as small tears would well up in her eyes. She never knew why she started crying when she thought of him, but she did. It was disconcerting.

What possibly could make her regret making the decision to leave? Keith's disappointment, she realized, was plenty of reason.

'No.' she thought sharply, 'I'm not Kate anymore. I'm Teya now. Nothing is going to make me forget that. Not now, not ever. Kate is gone.' She sighed, 'Kate never existed.'

---

Keith hopped off the Staraptor nearby the commotion and looked around, catching sight of all the kids in Pueltown tousling with Pokemon that were… all too familiar. He saw Melody talking to a teenaged girl with a Pachirisu on her shoulder and smiled, walking over to the one familiar face.

"Hey, Melody." He called, making the blond girl turn around, and he caught her in a headlock before rubbing her hair, "How you been since I last came here?"

"You must be Keith." The girl Melody had been speaking to spoke up, garnering his attention. Melody pushed his arm from her neck and backed away from him, behind the girl. "I'm Teya," she said, smiling very slightly. A sad twinkle was visible in her eyes.

"How do you know me?" Keith asked, a small frown on his face.

"Kind of hard not to." Teya held up the newspaper she had in her hand, on which was a picture of him. Her small, sad smile interested him in a way he didn't understand. He looked toward Melody, who grinned slightly, as if to say, "can't get me now!"

Keith chuckled slightly, darkly, "The newspaper always makes everything out to be more dramatic than it actually is. I'm not the best Ranger the Union's got, never have been and never will be. That position will always belong to one person…" he trailed off, "…and that person isn't me."

Teya raised one eyebrow slightly before looking around at all the other people tousling with her Pokemon. "So you're stationed here?" she asked offhandedly, narrowing her eyes slightly at Starly and Kricketot. "Star, Tot, leave those girls alone!" she called, making the two Pokemon chatter and coo in their form of laughter.

Keith looked around at all the Pokemon, "A lot of Pokemon you have here." He muttered, "Some of them all too familiar."

The Cranidos besides Teya crooned slightly, standing loyally by her side as it stared at Keith. The black eyes held a spark of recognition. 'She must show it the newspapers.' Keith thought, grinning falsely at the Cranidos before returning his attention to Teya. Both had the same thought.

'Maybe, just maybe… this won't be so bad after all.'


A/N: Haha! Here's Chapter one, Longer as promised. Lot of Dramatic Irony here, because we know something Keith doesn't know! Remember that while we are knowledgeable to both sides of the story, they only know what happens to them. It leads to quite a few "Whyareyoubeingsostupid?!" situations later on.

Keith: -glares at me-

Kate: -glares at me as well-

Me: -grins widely- I'ma have some fun on this story.