Chapter Seven - New Faces! New Places! (Pt 1)
The next day…
Alexa and Ryder entered the main reception and found the other Rangers gathered around. They also found Big Bertha in the area as well. Barlow faced the confused pair.
"Ah, morning you two," he greeted. "Just in time; Big Bertha's here with some of her famous Milk Pudding." Ryder folded his arms and tilted his head while he bore a suspicious look on his face.
Pudding at this time of the morning? Isn't that a bit unhealthy? He questioned. Like drinking beer with breakfast?
"Don't let the term pudding fool you, Ryder," Alexa began, having noticed Ryder's confusion. "A yoghurt is something of a pudding, but I don't mind having a pot in the morning if I fancy one. I don't see why this should be any different."
"Here, eat up! There's plenty to go around," Big Bertha stated, handing out small plates out to everyone around her; the plates all had a stump shaped food item sitting on top and a spoon poking into the desert. Even Alexa and Ryder got one each. Ryder looked at his plate with curiosity.
What kind of milk went into this? He asked.
"It wouldn't surprise me if the milk used for this is Miltank's," Alexa said to him. "Remember, they have a Miltank in their farmyard."
"That's right, made with fresh Miltank milk," Big Bertha confirmed. "I see you know quality dairy foods when you see 'em!"
"There's a Miltank Dairy farm in Johto," Alexa began, taking her spoon out of the desert. "That's how I know about Miltank milk." She put the spoon in her mouth. She soon took the spoon out of her mouth and sighed contentedly. "Oh, my God, that is so good! Now I know why these things are famous!"
"Eat up, there's plenty more left," Big Bertha laughed. Ryder took the spoon out of his desert and ate the portion on the spoon. After swallowing, his eyes lit up and smiled happily.
Oh, my Arceus, this stuff is delicious! He exclaimed joyfully.
"I know, they're fantastic!" Alexa agreed. She and Ryder continued to consume their respective deserts.
"What's wrong, fella? You not hungry?" Big Bertha asked, towards the oil-stained man. Alexa and Ryder faced them in confusion. Alexa still had her spoon in her mouth, but she still held onto it.
"That's Ollie," Barlow began. "He's a suspect until he talks," he explained bluntly. Alexa took the spoon out of her mouth and swallowed the desert portion the spoon once held.
"I keep telling you, he is not a suspect," she sighed. "If he was, he would've managed to escape; he didn't try to flee, he probably just wanted to hide or something, that's all. By the way, where did the name Ollie come from?"
"The fact that he's stained with oil," Crawford answered. "Other options were 'Oil-reeking-guy' or-"
"Yeah, we kinda get the point now, Crawford," Alexa laughed.
"I…it was my fault!" Ollie suddenly cried. This took Alexa and Ryder by surprise, but they weren't eating, luckily. "All I was told to do was to set up the Gigaremo unit in the forest! I thought it was a simple job that had high pay, but…the unit released a spark, and then the oil caught fire! Then the forest caught fire! I'm sorry!" he cried. Alexa and Ryder faced each other with suspicion.
"Team Dim Sun again?" she whispered to him. Ryder nodded to confirm his suspicion.
So I guess we can say that he's not a suspect anymore then, he assumed quietly.
"No, I don't think Ollie's a bad guy," Alexa whispered in response. "He doesn't look like the criminal type."
"Thank you, Ollie. At least we now know Team Dim Sun were behind the Gigaremo units in Marine Cave and Vien Forest," Barlow said politely. "You're free to go now."
"I'm glad that's all over," Alexa began quietly. "And we're somewhat closer to finding out what Dim Sun are planning." She and Ryder, having finished their deserts, put their empty plates and spoons on the nearby table.
"Alexa, can you and Ryder go patrol around in Chicole Village?" Barlow asked. "I don't want any Dim Sun guys poking their noses where they don't belong."
"No problem, now that we're finished eating," Alexa complied. She and Ryder faced Big Bertha. "Thanks for the Milk Puddings, ma'am; better than any other Miltank milk food product I've ever had."
"Always a pleasure, Alexa," Big Bertha began. "It's also my way of apologising for what happened the other day."
"It's nothing, really," Alexa began modestly. "I've had worse in my time." She faced Ryder. "Let's get patrolling, shall we?" Ryder nodded as they left the base.
Alexa and Ryder exited the base and stretched; it was still rather early in the morning. Ollie exited the base as well.
"Alexa, wait! Please?" he asked nervously. Alexa and Ryder faced him in confusion.
"What's up, Ollie?" Alex asked politely.
"My mo- friend lives in Chicole Village," Ollie began timidly. "Could you take me with you to Chicole Village please?"
"Of course," Alexa replied. "Just stick with us, you'll be fine. By the way, it's nice to meet you."
"N-nice to meet you too, Alexa," Ollie said nervously. The three of them walked southwards, down towards Chicole Village.
"So, um…where did you meet your partner Pokémon?" Ollie asked; although he was still a tad nervous, he was more curious than anything.
"What, first time ever? Celestic Town," Alexa replied. "It's a nice and quiet little town in the Sinnoh region; that's where Ryder's egg hatched."
"So, he's your Pokémon then?" Ollie asked.
"If you want to get technical about it, I'm his Original Trainer," Alexa explained. "Or just OT for short. He evolved from Riolu at an early age, which makes him stronger than he looks today."
"Elaine told me you found him on Nabiki Beach," Ollie began. "How did he get there?"
"I don't know," Alexa sighed. "Ryder? Is anything coming back to you? About how you wound up on Nabiki Beach?" she asked him.
Sadly, nothing springs to mind, he sighed.
"I think it's short term memory loss, because of the fact that he was at sea and washed up on Nabiki Beach. I hope we find out soon," Alexa sighed.
"You may not want to know," Ollie assumed. "Because it might turn out that Ryder wasn't supposed to be here in Almia to begin with."
"Maybe…but we won't know that until we find out," Alexa countered. "In the meantime, we're here." She, Ryder and Ollie entered a small village, which consisted of a mere four houses. They approached the southeastern house and Ollie entered the house, closely followed by Alexa and Ryder. Inside, they saw an older-looking brunette haired woman standing at the sink.
"Mom? I-I'm home," Ollie said feebly. "I-I'm sorry about everything. It's just that I can't get anything right and I always mess things up, and…I'm sorry…" The woman turned around to face Ollie, smiling warmly.
"All I wanted to hear was 'I'm home'," she began kindly. "Not how you say you mess everything up. None of that matters to me. Welcome home, my son." Ollie faced Alexa, sighing.
"I'm sorry, Alexa," he apologised. "It's my mom I wanted to see. Sorry I lied to you."
"To be fair, Ollie, I kind of guessed that the friend you were referring to was your mother," Alexa replied. "So don't apologise; no harm done. Anyway, we'll leave you two to catch up then. See you soon, Ollie," she said, leaving the house with Ryder.
"She's a nice young lady," Ollie's mother began. "But I've never seen her before; is she new?"
"Elaine told me she's a recent graduate from the Ranger School," Ollie replied. "And, yeah; she's very nice."
Alexa and Ryder returned to the Vientown Ranger base. They found that Professor Hastings had arrived, and investigating the Gigaremo debris.
"Oh! Professor Hastings, this is a surprise," Alexa stated. "What brings you here?"
"Oh, I've been asked to take a look at this Gigaremo unit," Hastings replied. Elaine picked up a black rock from the debris.
"What's this thing?" she pondered. "Maybe I should drill into it. Or maybe whack it with my hammer?"
"Oh, no, no, no, no, don't do that," Hastings said hastily. "It may be very important!" Ryder snarled at the stone Elaine was holding.
"Ryder, what's wrong?" Alexa asked.
"Oh, is it this stone?" Elaine asked. She went over to Ryder and held out the stone in front of him.
"Um, Elaine, I don't think holding it out to him is a good idea," Alexa said doubtfully.
"Relax, it's just a stone," Crawford stated. "What harm can it do to Ryder?" Ryder cautiously moved his right paw to touch the stone. However, a powerful electric shock was released from the stone and pushed Ryder back. Elaine was taken aback and jumped with fright.
"Ryder! Are you okay?" Alexa asked worriedly, helping the injured Lucario back onto his feet.
Ow…how stupid was that? Ryder complained.
"This is disturbing," Hastings commented. "If that is merely a stone, it should not give off such a reaction. I'll take it back to the union for analysis. Barlow, I want you to come with me."
"Yes, sir. Crawford, you'll be in charge while I'm gone," Barlow said towards Crawford. He and Hastings exited the base.
"No problem, leader. Alex, you can take the rest of today off if you want to," Crawford said to Alexa.
"I think Ryder needs the rest more than I do, but thanks, Crawford," Alexa said gratefully.
"By the way," Luana began, walking towards Alexa with a newspaper. "Your friend Keith's making a name for himself. See?" Alexa and Ryder looked at the front page of the newspaper; it depicted a headline featuring Keith, his Buizel partner and a Pikachu friend Pokémon attempting to calm down a raging Gyarados. Alexa smiled.
"Yeah, that's Keith alright," she laughed. "I'm really happy for him."
"Oh, yeah, one more thing," Luana said abruptly, running over to the Operator desk. She picked up and ordinary sized envelope and ran back to Alexa. "This letter came for you. I think there's something in this one." She gave the envelope to Alexa, who found it to be rather lumpy in one corner.
"I'll look into that. Thanks, Luana."
Later…
Alexa was in her violet pyjamas, sitting on her bed with the duvet pulled over her legs. She had a bedside lamp on so she could read the letter. Ryder sat next to her on her bed, so he could read the letter alongside her; he was holding the envelope, including whatever the lump was. Alexa unfolded a piece of paper and she and Ryder started reading.
Alex,
It's great to hear from you. We should write to one another more often until we can talk face to face. So, Ryder's your partner Pokémon, huh? I should've figured as much; did it have something to do with what I told him? If so, thanks for looking after her, Ryder!
I guess you liked my photo then? I've got yours. At this point, I'm kind of nervous, so forgive me if what I write here makes no sense at all. You wanted my honest opinion on how you look in the photo – and this is why I'm nervous – so, um, here goes something… In all honesty, Alex, you're beautiful. The uniform suits you perfectly, and you look absolutely stunning. Oh, crap, I'm blushing now! Why do you have to be so pretty, Alex? Hahaha, just kidding with you!
Anyway, I've seen your Pueltown investigation in the paper this afternoon. Glad to see you've coped well, but I'm worried about you at the same time; if any one of those Dim Sun guys even looks at you the wrong way, I'll smack them right across the face. That is, unless Ryder beats me to the punch. Ha, I made a pun! I never even noticed! Anyway, Alex, I decided to send you a souvenir, which is enclosed in the envelope. It's from Summerland, where I completed my Gyarados heroics. Hope you like it.
Take care, Alex. See you soon.
Keith
Ryder took out the lumpy thing from the envelope; it was a holographic Milotic keychain. He handed it over to Alexa and she looked at it admiringly. She made her bedside light shine on it spontaneously. She and Ryder looked up on the ceiling; they saw the keychain reflecting a rainbow-like lighting onto the ceiling.
Pretty! Y'know, Keith's not like anybody we've met before, he said happily. Alexa gave off a small laugh.
"Yeah…Keith's great," Alexa began, admiring her souvenir. She suddenly frowned. "He…he actually cares enough to stay in touch…" Ryder rested his right paw on Alex's left as he smiled kindly towards her.
He's a special friend, isn't he? He asked softly.
"You're right…I thought I had my friends during my travels, but…I guess I'm just learning what friendship really is…"
The next day…
Alexa and Ryder sleepily entered the main reception area of the base. Ryder yawned, politely holding his paw over his mouth. Alexa had her Milotic keychain attached to her shorts. Her styler suddenly picked up a transmission. She picked it up.
"Voicemail, voicemail, Alexa, it's me, Barlow," Barlow began. "Sorry to buzz you so early in the morning, but we want you to come over to the Ranger Union. See you." The transmission ended, leaving Alexa in shock.
"Hey, wait a minute, you didn't tell me the directions!" she panicked.
"That's easy," Crawford began. "Simply go to Pueltown like normal, and then go across the drawbridge. You'll end up in Altru Park. Once there, take the western exit and keep going until you find yourself in front of the Ranger union."
"Thanks, Crawford," Alexa sighed happily.
Later …
Alexa and Ryder arrived at a tranquil-looking park. A large building – still partially under construction – stood before them at the other end of the park.
"This must be Altru Park," Alexa assumed. "Crawford said the western exit, so that means we turn left."
"Alex? Is that you?" asked a familiar-sounding voice. Isaac – now in laboratory attire – approached Alexa and Ryder. "Hey, it is you! It's me, Isaac!"
"Isaac, hey! It's been a while, how're you doing?" Alexa asked happily.
"Great! I've found my dream job with Altru Inc!" Isaac responded, rather proudly.
"Altru Inc? I guess that's the big building behind you," Alexa guessed. Isaac turned around to face the tall building.
"Yep, that's Altru Inc alright," he confirmed. "Come on; I'll give you a little tour." He, Alexa and Ryder headed towards the Altru building.
Inside…
"On the ground floor, we have exhibits on display for the tourists," Isaac began. "See, the ground floor is open to everyone, but everywhere else is prohibited to everyone apart from the staff."
"That makes sense," Alexa began. "We don't want people poking their noses in where they don't belong."
"Exactly," Isaac agreed, leading Alexa and Ryder to a wall, next to an elevator. There were 3 portraits hanging on the wall, each of them featured different-looking men. "These portraits feature Altru Inc's three presidents," Isaac continued. "The first is the founder, Doyle M. Hall. Next to it is of our second president, Brighton Hall. And the third is of out current president, Blake-"
"Welcome back, Mr Hall," several voices greeted. Isaac, Alexa and Ryder faced the entrance and found a black haired man – dressed in black – and a green haired man dressed in a blue suit approaching the elevator.
"Thank you. Now let's get back to work," the green haired man began, in a whiny sort of voice. "We don't want to displease our customers." The employees lined up by the elevator returned to their original posts. The black haired man noticed Isaac, Alexa and Ryder.
"Hello, Professor Isaac," he greeted; his voice was somewhat deep in tone. "And who is your lovely young lady friend?" he asked. Ryder growled under his breath angrily.
"Hello, Mr Hall," Isaac began. "This is my friend, Alexa, from the Pokémon Ranger School," he continued. "We graduated together, and I was just giving her a tour."
"Ah, so you're the fabled Alexa," Blake commented towards Alexa.
"Fabled?"
"Professor Isaac has told me a lot about you," Blake explained, moving closer to Alexa. "He told me you and a friend of yours put up a remarkable display at graduation." Ryder continued to growl under his breath in anger.
"Oh, h-he told you that? W-well, uh…someone had to deal with the situation," Alexa said quietly. Blake gently took her right hand. Ryder's growling intensified, but quietened, for some reason.
"I do admire Pokémon Rangers," he began. "In a certain way, both the Ranger union and I myself at Altru Inc want peace for the people of Almia."
"Uh…" Alexa appeared to be feeling somewhat uncomfortable about Blake holding onto her right hand.
"Well, Professor Isaac, shall we get back to work?" Blake asked towards Isaac.
"Yes sir," Isaac complied eagerly. Blake faced Alexa again.
"Well, my dear Alexa, it has been a real pleasure meeting you," he said gratifyingly. He gently kissed Alexa's hand, which somewhat astonished Isaac, made Alexa feel even more uncomfortable – despite her blushing – and silently enraged Ryder even more. "I shall look forward to the day we will meet again." He and his associate made their way into the elevator.
"See you around, Alex," Isaac said, heading into the elevator himself. Ryder's growling got louder.
What nerve! I can't believe anyone would do that to you! He fumed.
"R-right…we still need to meet up with Barlow," Alexa said nervously. "Oh, God, I wonder what he'll think if I tell him about this…!" Her styler picked up a transmission, which she reluctantly answered.
"Voicemail, Alexa, it's just me, Barlow," Barlow began. "Can you bring a Pokémon that can destroy a red Gizareno unit?"
"Gigaremo," Alexa corrected nervously.
"You know what I mean," Barlow laughed. "See you when you get here." He ended the transmission. In a panic, Alexa raced out of the building. Ryder chased after her, with his rage now subsided.
Later on…
Alexa, Ryder and a Bibarel raced into a different building. Alexa and Ryder were the only ones of the trio to be breathing heavily out of exhaustion.
"You must be Alexa, right?" asked a dark purple haired male. "I'm Murph, nice to meet you."
"Hi. Um, we're here because Barlow-" Alexa began.
"Say no more, just follow me," Murph interrupted, leading Alexa, Ryder and the Bibarel up the escalator.
Murph led Alexa, Ryder and the Bibarel to meet up with Barlow and Professor Hastings. The room was large and empty, with what appeared to be a computer monitor in the floor. A green-haired female ranger stood in the background. There was a red Gigaremo unit in operation, but it was silent.
"Hey, Alexa! What kept you?" Barlow asked out of curiosity. Alexa suddenly blushed and became nervous.
"Um, uh…a-a friend of mine showed me around Altru Inc," she stuttered. "A-and I m-met the president, Blake Hall."
Upon hearing the name, Blake Hall, Ryder instantly became angry and growled fiercely.
"Whoa-ho, doesn't seem like your buddy likes the guy," Murph commented. Alexa faced Ryder.
"Calm down, pal, no need to be so upset," she said calmly.
"What's the matter?" Hastings asked.
That president guy had the nerve to kiss the back of Alex's hand! Ryder fumed.
"Ryder…!" Alexa exclaimed with embarrassment.
"I don't blame him," Barlow began. "You do look beautiful in that uniform." Alexa groaned.
"Why are you rubbing it in…?!" she asked. "Bibarel, can you destroy that red thing?"
"Bi…BAREL!" Bibarel shot out a ball of water from its mouth and it instantly destroyed the Gigaremo. Bibarel then left the room.
"Right, as you've all just seen," Hastings began. "The Gigaremo units can be destroyed as demonstrated just a few seconds ago. Incidentally, has anyone noticed that the Gigaremo failed to hypnotise any Pokémon in the vicinity? May I draw your attention to underfoot." A blueprint of the Gigaremo unit was displayed underfoot. A picture of what appeared to be the black stone that shocked Ryder on three occasions. "As you can see, this stone was inside the machine when it was disassembled," Hastings continued. "What the stones are, I do not know. But, in the meantime, all we can do is destroy as many Gigaremo units as possible."
"We Area Rangers will do everything we can to help out," Barlow stated willingly.
"I'd like to ask the rookie a few questions, if that's alright," the green-haired ranger requested. Alexa and Ryder approached her.
"Sure, what is it you want from me?" Alexa asked politely.
"Just a few straight answers is all," the Ranger replied. "First question. The guys with the Gigaremo units. They call themselves Team Dim Sun?"
"Yes."
"And when they escaped, they left by boat?"
"Yes."
"And when the Gigaremo's are operational, the Pokémon affected couldn't be befriended?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Last question, Alexa. The newest Gigaremo unit; was it a yellow one?"
"Yes."
"That's all the questions I have. Thank you, Alexa."
"You're welcome."
The next day…
"It was nice of the union to set us up for the night," Alex said to Ryder, as they travelled down the escalator, into the main reception area.
"Morning, Alexa," Barlow greeted.
"Morning, Barlow," Alexa greeted in return. Her holographic keychain shone in the sunlight. Barlow noticed it.
"Nice little add-on you've got there," he complimented. "Where did you get that?" Alexa looked at her keychain; it was still attached to her shorts.
"Oh, it's a souvenir from Keith," she replied. "All the way from Summerland in Fiore. Anyway, what's on the agenda today?"
"We're heading back to Vientown," Barlow answered.
"Okay. Shall we hustle?" Alexa asked playfully.
"Let's hustle indeed."
Later…
Alexa, Barlow and Ryder were casually walking along the union road. The three seemed to be enjoying a friendly chat.
RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE!
"Whoa! What was that?!" Alexa exclaimed in shock.
"I'm not sure," Barlow answered. "It was just a tremor. We'll see if there's another one, then we'll investigate it."
"Sounds fair," Alexa agreed.
Not long afterwards…
Alexa, Ryder and Barlow continued to walk along casually. This time, they were keeping an eye out for suspicious activity.
RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE!
"Yaaargh! There it is again!" Alexa panicked. Barlow looked over to his left; he was facing a rather mountainous area.
"They came from the Peril Cliffs," he confirmed. A man and a woman exited the nearby log cabin and approached the Rangers. Barlow noticed them. "You folks okay?"
"There's something going on in those cliffs," the man began. "We've seen someone in a black leotard go into the cliffs."
"Next thing you know, all of this happens," the woman continued. "What is going on over there?"
"Don't worry, we'll investigate," Barlow reassured.
"And we'll get to the bottom of it as well," Alexa added eagerly.
"Please be careful," the man warned. "I have a bad feeling that the tremors will cause the cliff edges to become unstable."
"We'll do our best, won't we, Alexa?" Barlow asked rhetorically.
"Yep, we'll give it our best shot," she agreed.
In the Peril Cliffs…
Alexa, Barlow and Ryder – having climbed up a fair way up – walked along the mountain path and found the said leotard man; he had two Rampardos under hypnosis and a small box on a four-legged stand.
"What's that thing in front of him?" Alexa asked.
"Dunno, but it can't be good," Barlow stated. "Let's see if we can get to him."
"Right," Alexa agreed. The two Rampardos – alternating – rammed into the wall in front of them with their hard skulls. The vibrations from the ramming caused Alex, Ryder and Barlow to almost lose their balances. They managed to find their footings, though. They all sighed with relief.
"We need to get down there, fast," Barlow stated, starting to climb up the wall. Ryder and Alexa followed him.
Barlow, Alexa and Ryder managed to climb up to the next level up the cliffs. They continued walking along the mountain.
RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE!
The vibrations seemed to be more intensified this time. Alexa, Barlow and Ryder had more difficulty maintaining their balance, but a fragment of the path broke off from underneath Alexa's feet.
"Aaaagh!" she came close to falling down the cliff, but she managed to grab the ledge she stood on.
RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLE!
The segment of the ledge Alexa held onto broke off as a result of the vibrations.
"Whaaaaaaaaaaah!" she screamed as she fell down the cliff.
To be continued…