Wow, I got a lot of reviews just by threatening to stop. Now I have more than the other story. Review!
Infinity-darkmage-Zarfeeeer: Yeah, I know, I like sheep girls!
Guywhodoesn'twantyoutolosemoti: Alright, I will.
HidingFromTheCold: He's always like that.
Electrify: Yes. Yes he is.
Poggs38: Good imagination. Accurate too.
Shadowslayer54: If by love you mean hate, then yes.
Abbe: I'll do a lemon soon.
Moemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia
Chapter 33
"Alright, enough of your babble!" Erma declared, tapping the tip of her cane on the ground loudly. "This isn't a social call, you know!"
"Erma, please, be a little more considerate about the view screen…" Hastings said worriedly. "This took a long time to build, you know!"
"I don't care." Erma declared. "Hastings, you might be a genius, but you need to get out into the world more! As you are now, you're nothing but a weak old man!"
"Yes, Erma…" Hastings said, tears falling down his face. You know, I feel for this guy for some reason.
"Erma, why did you call us here?" I asked, frowning. "I heard something about us being promoted to top rangers…"
"You got it!" Keith said, smirking. "Of course I got promoted! The rangers in Almia must have recognized my talent, all the way out in Fiore!"
"Keith, you're annoying, so shut up." Petal said, frowning.
"Ah, yes, about your promotion to top rangers…" Hastings said, clearing his throat. "Due to the increase in Team Dim Sun members around Almia, we've found ourselves rather short-handed. We can't possible spare any top rangers from their assignments around the world, so we decided that we needed exactly three new rangers to the rank of top ranger!"
"Okay, but why us?" I asked, frowning. "Why not experienced rangers like Barlow, or Luana?"
"Because we're just that awesome!" Keith said, smirking.
"Well, they are skilled, yes." Hastings said, nodding. "However, you have something else going for you."
"What's that?" Petal asked, frowning.
"Your blood." Hastings answered.
"Our… blood?" I asked, frowning.
"Yes." Hastings said, nodding. "Petal, you are the younger sister of Leaf, the ex-Viridian City gym leader in the Kanto region. And not only that, you have incredible abilities as a ranger, far exceeding those of rangers far more experienced than you."
"…" Petal said, frowning, a strange expression flashing over her face for a second.
"And Kellyn, you are even more spectacular." Hastings said, frowning. "You are related to two of the greatest trainers in the world, Aoshi and Red. And even ignoring this spectacular connection, you have the unbelievable ability to form bonds with anyone you meet, human or moemon, and using this power, you've already managed to get three partner moemon, a feat far more impressive than that of anything we've seen in years."
That's true… Petal thought, frowning. He has an uncanny ability… the power to make anyone he meets, even for just a few minutes, want to help him. A power like that could possibly be more amazing than anything else…
"Why are you staring at me?" I asked, frowning.
"Oh, nothing!" Petal said, smiling.
"And as for you, Keith…" Hastings said, clearing his throat.
"Yeah, yeah?" Keith asked excitedly.
"Well, there's really nothing special about you, but I needed three, and I think that those two would work best with an old friend from their ranger school, so…"
"Ugh!" Keith said, hitting the ground in pain.
"Alright, now back to the task on hand." Erma said, frowning.
"Yes, we decided that we need you to do everything you can to stop Team Dim Sun." Hastings said, frowning. "We've bet everything on you, and if things don't work out, it will solely be our responsibility-"
"Your responsibility." Erma interrupted.
"…My responsibility to bear." Hastings said, clearing his throat. "Anyways, I have something for the three of you."
"What is it?" Petal asked excitedly.
"Well, to start off, I need your stylers." Hastings said, holding his hand out, Petal and I both handing him our stylers.
"Vui, am I really that pathetic?" Keith sobbed, laying on the ground, Vui kneeling next to him.
"Yes." Vui answered coldly.
"Um, Keith, give me your styler." Hastings said, taking the styler from Keith's belt. "I'll be making some modifications to them."
"Now, you're free to rest around the union while I make the modifications." Hastings said. "I'm sure they shall be ready by tomorrow."
"Alright, Keith, Petal, Kellyn, come with me." Erma said, walking to the door. "We're headed to the Operation Room."
"Alright…" I said, nodding, following after. Petal continued after me, while Keith, still crying, followed after us. Our moemon followed along with us, and we walked back into the union halls, exposure to the bright lights giving us a while to adjust.
"And here we are." Erma said, walking up the staircase, reaching a large observatory room. There were three people sitting at large view screens, watching over Almia.
"These people are top operators, the best three." Erma said, frowning. "But just like you three, they talk too much for my tastes. Anyways, you three introduce yourselves, we don't want to be rude to our guests!"
The one in the center chair walked up to us, smiling. She wore the standard turquoise operator outfit, and had blue hair tied back in two ponytails.
"Hi, I'm Linda!" The girl said, smiling. "You two are kind of cute, you know that? Wanna go on a date sometime?"
"HE'S NOT INTERESTED." Petal said coldly, glaring at the girl until she backed away.
"G-got it…" Linda said, sweating bullets, nodding.
"Hi, I'm Marcus." The only guy said, getting out of his chair, walking up to us. "I'm only here because they needed three people."
"Oh, yeah, we got a guy like that." Petal said, pointing towards Keith, causing Vui to snicker.
"Hi, I'm Rythmi!" The third girl said, walking up to us, smiling. "I just got promoted a few days ago, so I'm not that experienced and…"
"It's that dawning moment of comprehension I live for…" Erma said, chuckling.
"Petal! Kellyn!" Rythmi said, hugging us. "I haven't seen you guys in months! What have you been up to?"
"What the hell?" Petal exclaimed, staring at Rythmi's chest. "Where'd you get a rack like that?"
"Kufufu, in the past year, I've grown a lot, haven't I?" Rythmi said, chuckling. Hey, that laugh is copyrighted, damn it!
"Well, your boobs aren't as big as mine, so you shouldn't be bragging." Linda said, smirking. "You're still just a child, Rythmi."
"Why do I feel like such a loser?" Petal asked, frowning, holding her hands over her super-flat chest.
"Don't worry Petal, you're still cute!" I said, hugging her from behind.
"You mean that, Kelly?" Petal asked, turning to me, her eyes shining. "Oh, you're so sweet!"
"And so we end with another social conversation…" Erma said, sighing. "I can't wait until retirement…"
Somehow, I think a lot of old people still working feel that way.