Ranger's Oath - Part One

Chapter 1: Hello, My Name is Failure

Hi. My name is Lunick Kazuki, and I'm a professional failure.

Well, no, I'm not professional, but I might as well be. Everyone else seems to think so, at least. Every time I go out on a mission with my leader, Spenser, I can see it in his eyes-I'm not good enough. I don't spin the styler the right way. I'm not making the right connection with the target pokémon. But that was a long time ago. He hasn't taken me out on a field mission in months. He's given up on me.

At least I have Murph. We grew up together, joined the rangers together, and failed spectacularly together. He at least got a partner pokémon. He spent so much time playing the capture game just outside of town that he befriended a rare slowpoke. I've tried, but no Pokémon really sees eye-to-eye with me. Still, Murph is hardly an avid ranger. He's incredibly sluggish, much like his partner. We always joke that slowpoke is the faster of the two, but to be honest that is a sharp little Pokémon. Next to Murph, I seem at least adequate.

It had been three years since I joined the rangers when the letters began to arrive. A girl from a faraway land dreamed of becoming a ranger, and she expressed her love of pokémon through seven letters. Spenser let me read them-he probably thought I might get some ideas from them-and let me tell you, she seemed like the perfect prospect for a ranger. Her letters painted her as a flawless, Pokémon-loving angel. That's why I was so worried the day she was set to arrive. With her in the picture I would fade out of Spenser's view for good.

When I saw Spenser's fearow descending outside the ranger base with the new girl onboard I knew I was about to be replaced. Still, I rushed outside with Murph to meet her. I knew she was from some faraway place, but I never expected anything like her. She was tall, and filled out the ranger uniform well. She pulled her silvery-blue hair back in a high ponytail with wisps of it sticking out here and there. But most striking about her was her eyes. They were a bright, burning red that made me think she already knew everything about me. I was so stunned by her eyes that I barely noticed a plusle dash off into the woods.

"Oh, Lunick! You scared it off!" Spenser scolded.

"W-what?" I stuttered, still stunned by the girl's eyes and confused about why there was a plusle way out in the hicksville that is Ringtown.

"Ah, nevermind. It's probably just scared of the new environment. It'll come back later and we can return it to its natural habitat," Spenser sighed. "Solana, this is Murph and Lunick. They're rookie rangers too."

Rookie rangers. I'd been there, training, for three years! Most rangers are considered competent after a few months. This girl just got there, and I'm on her level. He thinks that little of me. This can't possibly get worse.

"Sorry we're late. There was a bit of a situation in Fall City. I gave Solana her styler and she pulled off her first capture impressively. I got to see her potential as a ranger first-hand. She's off to great start."

And she's already on his good side. She hasn't been here a day, and she's 'off to a great start'. Now it can't get any worse.

"In fact I thought she did so well that I canceled her certification test and certified her as a ranger on the spot!"

Smack! Rock bottom. And the whole time Spenser was talking, he had a smile on his face. He was so proud of this new ranger that nothing else mattered. Especially not me.

As Spenser led us back inside the ranger base, Murph showed Solana the applications on the styler and I trudged in behind them. Murph and Solana seemed to be really hitting it off, leaving me behind again. In retrospect, it was nice that Murph was being his regular cheerful self and Solana was feeling comfortable in her new home-I was just feeling particularly down. We all stood at attention and Spenser welcomed Solana as a member of the Ringtown base. He made several quips about how she had a mountain of tasks to overcome and how she looked determined to do it. He said that skill level aside, she's a real ranger in spirit-right in front of Murph and me. This kind of behavior happened so frequently that we both just accepted it as a fact of life. He never seemed to mind hearing others praised in front of him, but I did. Spenser never said anything so grandiose to me-not even when I was first starting and he didn't hate me.