"Welcome rookies!"

Confetti flew everywhere as Ben, Summer, and Tori entered their new base. They looked around, surprised as the three rangers in the room clapped happily.

"Surprised?" A girl giggled. "I don't blame you. They did this for me two years ago too. We don't get new recruits here often. So when we do, it's a big deal." She gestured to the large amounts of confetti and balloons around the base.

"It's such a large city, though. Why are there so few rangers?" Ben asked, seeing it was just the three of them. "Well... Pueltown is such a quiet place, we don't really need the extra help." A tall skinny man replied. "So, wanna introduce yourselves?"

"I'm Summer, the staravia is Tori, and this is Ben." The brunette replied, giving a quick handshake to everyone in the room. "Nice to meet 'cha! I'm Belle, the tall one is Mike, and the short one who hasn't said anything is Q!" Ben looked at her, confused. "Q? What kind of name is Q?" Mike patted the boy in questions head. "He never talks, so we don't know his name. Q is the what Belle came up with, and he doesn't seem to mind so that's what we use."

"Okay... So wait, if Pueltown is so peaceful, what is it that you guys usually do?" Summer asked. "You know, go around and do quests for people. In fact, that can be your first mission. Go and solve people's problems!"

Ben, Tori and Summer left the base soon after, completely shocked by the attitude of the base leader Belle. "That was certainly...interesting..." Ben mumbled, looking around for anyone in need of assistance. Tori squawked in agreement. Summer laughed. "I don't know, I like them. They're funny."

"I just hope they're not like that all the time. Rangers need to be serious, no matter how peaceful an area is." Ben sighed. "Yeah, but I'm sure they're reliable when it comes down to it."

Most of the quests they did that day were relatively easy. They had to catch a few rattata in a woman's home and find a lost Eevee for a fighting couple. They were about to head back to base when a hysterical woman ran up to them. "Are you two rangers? Please, you have to help me!" She was crying and shaking.

"Whoa ma'am. Calm down. What's wrong?" Ben tried to console her. "M-my son went swimming in Puel Sea a few hours ago, and still hasn't come back... I asked local fishermen if they'd seen him, but nothing! W-what if he's hurt, or..."

The two rangers looked at each other with concern. "Hey, hey... It'll be fine. We'll find your kid, okay?" Summer said, grabbing the lady's hand. "Really? Oh thank you so much!" Summer and Ben smiled at her, and took off towards the harbor.

"Got your aqua lung?" Summer asked when they arrived. Ben simply nodded, gesturing Tori to wait for them there. "Okay then. Let's go." The two dived into the sea.

"See anything?" Ben asked after about ten minutes.

"No, actually. I'm kind of starting to worry. Is that kid really okay?" His partner asked. "I don't know... Hey, do you see that?" Summer turned her attention to where Ben was pointing. She saw a small shadow in the distance, which quickly swam away after she looked at it. Summer didn't know why, but she felt obligated to follow it.

She quickly took off in the direction she saw it flee, surprising her partner. "Hey! What're you doing?" He cried, swimming after her. Summer ignored him, focusing her attention on catching the fleeting silhouette. The shadow, which Summer assumed due to its size and shape was a pokemon, swam towards a collection of rocks. It stopped in front of them, and cried out before disappearing into the water.

Summer stopped in front of the rocks, allowing Ben to catch up with her. "Why'd you go off like that, Sum?" He asked, trying to catch his breath. "Oh... Sorry I just wanted to catch up to that thing. Anyway, we need to find that boy soon. There's no telling what could've happened to him by now."

They resurfaced to look around for any signs of the child. It didn't take long for Ben to notice the unconscious body of a young boy lying on top of one of the rocks. "Sum! I think I found him!" He called climbing on top of the rock. Summer followed behind. "Is he breathing? Does he need CPR?"

Ben shook his head. "He just looks tired to be honest. We should bring him back." Summer nodded, catching a nearby mantine to carry him.

When they arrived on shore, Ben picked up the child. "Thank you, mantine!" Summer called as she released the pokemon back into the sea. Tori snuggled against Ben as soon as he stepped on the dock. "Missed you too, girl." He said, petting her. The boy began to open his eyes, groaning as he did so.

"Hey, kiddo. You feeling alright?" Summer asked him when he was fully awake. "Yeah, kinda. Where am I?" He asked. "The dock in Pueltown. Your mom was worried, and asked us to go find you. What happened." Ben asked after setting him down.

"I remember I was swimming, when I cut my knee and a sharpedo attacked me. I swam away as fast as I could, and eventually it stopped. But I was so far away from land, and I was tired, so I found a rock and passed out. I think... I guess you found me after that?"

Summer nodded, pulling a bandage out of her first-aid kit for the cut he had. "There we go. How about we get you back home now?"

"John!" The boy's mother cried happily when they arrived back to her home. "Mom!" The two hugged, relieved to be back together. "Thank you so much, rangers." The woman said, still hugging her son. "No problem. It's our job after all."

A little while after that, they were finally headed back to base. "Do what do you think that shadow earlier was?" Ben asked suddenly. "I don't really know. But it led us straight to that kid, so that's all that matters." Summer replied casually. "Yeah, I guess so. Makes you wonder though, huh?"

Summer nodded as they arrived at the base. As the two walked inside, she couldn't help but wonder about that mystery in the sea.

Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon, nor do I own any of its characters.

A/N: Another chapter is done! Okay, I've decided to do another story. That won't stop me from doing the regular updates on this one though. I'll still post chapters on Thursdays and Sundays, so don't worry. I don't really have anything else to say so...review, I guess?