(Rena's POV)
Seven years ago...
"Why do I have to do this again...?" I stared blankly up into my father's blue eyes, tilting my head to the side in confusion.
"Little Rena..." My father chuckled, ruffling the hair that was atop of my head. "A true thief knows to how protect themselves at all times. You never know when you might need to defend yourself."
I stared down at the little boxing gloves father had placed over my fists. "But why...?"
My father just stared directly into my eyes with a look of concern. "Well, what happens if we're out on a job and the guards corner you? You need to learn how to knock out enemies that are bigger than you and knock them out quickly and decisively." He then took his position in front of me, standing his ground. "Now, take a swing at me."
I hesitated, not sure if I really wanted to punch my father. However, the fiery determination that glowed in his eyes suggested that this is what he wanted me to do.
"Okay..." I reluctantly stepped closer to him, readying my fists. "Here we go!"
I slammed my fist into his chest as hard as I possibly could...but he completely blocked it without even hesitating.
Father just sighed and shook his head. "Is that all you've got?"
I bit down on my lower lip, a little peeved at what he had said. "N-no!"
"Then try to hit me harder!" Father insisted, getting ready to block my punch again.
I grunted as I slammed my fist into his gut, but he blocked me again. I threw punch after punch after punch, only to be blocked over and over again by father's quick reflexes. I even tried that roundhouse kick thing he showed me last week a few times, but it was like no matter what move I used, I would just never be good enough to surpass him.
I sighed heavily and flopped onto the ground, pouting at my crushing defeat. "I'm just not cut out for this, Sensei!"
Father just sighed, then crouched down onto the floor in front of me. "Now that's just crazy talk. You're only ten, Rena. It'll take you years of practice to get this down. I've been training to be a thief since I was your age, and I was taught by my Sensei, who was a lot tougher than me. You're lucky that I'm going so easy on you." Father stood up and offered his hand out to me. "Now...are you ready to try again?"
Feeling a little more determined, I grasped his hand and let him pull me up. "...Yes! I'm ready!"
"That's my girl." Father obnoxiously ruffled my hair, then brought me over to a giant punching bag hanging from our gym's ceiling. "Now, here are the spots you want to hit." Father went ahead and pointed to the spots on the punching bag and explained where these places were on the human body. "There are several pressure points you want to hit, like here." My father pointed to a spot that would be around the stomach area. "You have to do a really strong uppercut right here if you want this guy to be knocked down and STAY down." He turned to me with a warm smile on his face. "Also, if you're in a pinch, go for throat punches. If you hit a man hard enough, it'll kill him, so you have to be careful. But, if you're in danger and you have no other choice, don't hesitate to defend yourself."
"Okay, father..." I nodded, paying attention to his lecture one hundred percent. I shyly looked up at his face, then wrapped my arms tightly around his legs since I was too short to reach his torso. "Thanks, father!"
My father just chuckled. "Anything for my Princess!"
________________________________
~End of Flashback Sequence~
"Are you ready?" Mr. Kaplan got out his stop watch, standing right beside me and the punching bag.
I readied my fists and spread my feet apart, glaring intensely at the punching bag with fiery determination. "Ready."
Mr. Kaplan just smirked. "Your challenge this time is to deliver as much damage to this punching bag as you possibly can within thirty seconds." Mr. Kaplan placed his finger on the button, preparing himself. "Get ready... Get set---"
I slowly closed my eyes at the sound of the Training Gym's door opening, taking in a deep breath. I focused completely at the task at hand, and reached back into the corner of my mind where my fighting technique and knowledge was stored. Father's instructions were flowing through my mind as I faintly heard the sound of someone walking into the Gym and standing off to the side to watch.
"GO!"
I immediately slammed my fist into the dead center of the punching bag at Kaplan's shrill voice. I stepped forward with my left foot and brought my right leg forward for a roundhouse kick, slamming the punching bag right in the center. With my right fist, I delivered an intense uppercut to the punching bag, making it jump up and down on its chain. With fifteen seconds left on the clock, I continued to hit the punching bag as hard as I could in as many places as possible, delivering several quick and decisively calculated blows.
RIIIIIIIP!
BAM!
I watched as the punching bag detached itself from the chain, which had once left it suspended from the ceiling, and it slid roughly across the polished wood floor. It collided with the wall with a deafening sound, making it echo throughout the entire Training Gym.
Mr. Kaplan clicked a tiny button on his stop watch, making a tiny beeping sound come from it. His jaw dragged across the floor as he uttered not even half a sentence. "...time."
Feeling proud of my accomplishment, I slipped my black boxing gloves off of my fists. I was only dressed in a simple black cami, white gym shorts, and my typical tennis shoes.
Suddenly, a round of applause that wasn't coming from Mr. Kaplan echoed through the Training Gym. My eyes were immediately directed to the doorway, and they widened at the sight of the person standing there. "Keith?!" I dropped my jaw in shock. What was he doing here?!
"I must say---" Keith began walking towards me with one hand behind his back. "---I'm impressed, Blue Eyes." Keith smirked, only two feet away from me at this point. "Who knew you were so capable of fighting with such skill?" He seemed so casual about it, not even acknowledging my reddened face and obvious embarrassment.
"Wha---" I completely froze up, unsure how to respond to being completely caught off guard. "Keith! W-what are you doing here?!"
"You're late, so I came to get you." Keith smirked, as if the answer was obvious and I was just too stupid to see it. "The Outdoor class is about to start." Keith pulled out my jacket from behind his back and handed it to me. "Here, put this on. Don't mind the fact that you're not in full uniform."
Oh shoot! Is it that time already?!
"Crap!" I cursed to myself, then threw on my jacket. "Sorry Mr. Kaplan, but I have to go!" I turned to wave good-bye to him, wearing a rushed smile.
"It's fine!" Kaplan waved me off. "Hurry up and go! You don't want to miss this!"
I can't believe that I completely forgot about the Outdoor Class. It's not like I was preparing for this for weeks or anything...
I ran past Keith and left him in the dust, dashing towards the door.
Keith let out a lighthearted laugh, then gave chase to me. "Hey, Blue Eyes! Wait for me!"
I bolted across the School Yard from the left side with the Training Gym I was just in, and I started to head towards the right side where the descending staircase that led down to Ascension Square was. Keith was starting to catch up, but I was faster. It wasn't that much of a run, maybe like a two minute jog. However, when I found myself standing at the top of the stairs and about to run down them, I rummaged through my jacket pocket.
"Where is my list of questions?" I asked myself, digging through both my jacket pockets. When my fingers touched nothing but fabric, a sinking feeling found its way into the pit of my stomach, and a fearsome shock ran through my body. "Oh no... Don't tell me I---"
"Lost it?" Keith's mocking voice was right behind me, and I turned around to face the red-head with a heavy sigh. "No, you didn't lose it, because I have it right here." Keith held my list of questions right above my head with a taunting smirk written across his lips.
"Hey!" I glared at him, furrowing my brow. "Give that back!" I tried to grab it, but Keith only held it higher above my head in response.
"Nope!" Keith's carefree and arrogant laugh rang through my ears.
My face reddened with anger, and I balled up my fists. I kept trying to jump and grab it, but the dolt kept holding it up higher each time. My attempts soon proved to be futile, considering the fact that I'm 5'6 and Keith is 6'2 inches tall.
"Oops." Keith purposely let go of my paper, letting the wind carry it away.
"NO!" I tried to reach out and grab it, but the breeze blew it out of my reach and over towards the edge of the cliff.
This is one of the few times I really hated the fact that our school was built right atop of a cliff bordering the ocean.
I ran to the edge to grab my list of questions, but it was carried down into the ocean by the wind. I watched helplessly as the ocean swallowed my two weeks of hard work whole.
"You're too high-strung about this, you know." Keith shook his head at me. "You don't need to research questions to ask." Keith's red eyes pierced my cold gaze I was currently giving him. "You're allowed to ask one single question, so just ask a question that you have on your mind and you actually put thought into. No textbook is going to show you what questions to ask." He shoved his hands into his pants pockets, relaxing his shoulders in a casual manner.
I tried not to strangle him from how angry I was. "Y-you... UGH!" I slammed my fist into the square of his chest. "I worked so hard on those questions goddammit!"
"OOF!" Keith caught my fist as soon as my punch landed. "Oww... Yeesh, Blue Eyes. Calm down, will you?" He raised an eyebrow at me, staring into my eyes. It seemed like he was searching for something in them. What? What is he looking at?
Just now noticing he was still holding my fist within his hand, I quickly jerked it back and started to walk down the stairs. "...whatever."
Keith's heavy sigh grew more distant as I walked away from him. "You never do say what's really on your mind, do you?"
I bit down hard on the inside of my cheek to hold in what I was feeling and not let it show on my face. Completely ignoring Keith, I walked the rest of the way down the stairs. A little to my left and directly in my line of sight was a huge half-circle of students sitting on the ground, and their family Pokemon accompanied them. It didn't take me long to spot Rhythimi, Isaac, and our three Pokemon all sitting in the dead center of the arc. Mightyena and Buizel were saving Keith and I two spots to sit. I walked over and sat down, and Keith soon joined me. In front of me stood the pledge stone that towered over us all, and three teachers stood around it: Ms. April, Mr. Kincaid, and Principal Lamont. There was an unfamiliar man dressed in what I assumed to be a Ranger Uniform sitting atop of the Pledge Stone, staring down at the crowd of students before him. I immediately noticed that he had a brunette Afro that he could definitely not pull off.
"Crawford, get down from there!" A vein bulged from Ms. April's forehead as she scolded the Pokemon Ranger.
"Alright, alright!" The Pokemon Ranger, Crawford, chuckled. He leapt down from the Pledge Stone and stood in front of Ms. April, towering over the shorter woman. "Happy now?"
"It's not like you make it easy for me." Ms. April narrowed her eyes at Crawford, then relaxed and breathed out a deep sigh. "You never change, do you, Crawford?" She stared up at the Pokemon Ranger. "Well, except for that ridiculous Afro you've got going on there. Back when you were my student, your hair didn't look that...well, horrible."
"Hey!" Crawford laughed off the insult, sweatdropping a little. "If you're going to make fun of something, make it my jokes! Don't make fun of the hair!" Crawford affectionately pet his Afro. "I'm really proud of this thing!"
A small Grass-type Pokemon that resembled a flower bud stood by Crawford's feet, timidly looking at the crowd of students in front of him. I immediately recognized this Pokemon as a Budew.
Ms. April just sighed at Crawford's ridiculousness. "Fine, fine..." She spun around to face the crowd of students, clapping her hands together. "Alright, everyone! Let us begin our annual Outdoor Class!"
"YEAAAAAH!" The crowd of students cheered happily, applauding vigorously.
"Students, I would like to introduce you to a former student of mine---" She turned to face Pokemon Ranger Crawford. "This is Crawford."
"HI CRAWFORD!" The two combined classes of Ms. April and Mr. Kincaid greeted the Pokemon Ranger in unison.
"Hi guys!" Crawford waved to us all with a bright grin on his face.
"This should be interesting." Rhythimi stretched her arms, then started to pet her sleeping Eevee that was currently sitting in her lap.
"Last year's Outdoor Class was pretty outstanding, so I look forward to seeing how this one will go." Isaac mused out loud, adjusting his sitting position on the grass to get comfortable already.
"Yeah, yeah." Keith impatiently cut in. "Let's just get on with it already. I want to ask my question!" Keith's Buizel leapt up onto his shoulder to get a better view of Crawford, since he was a shorter Pokemon.
I simply just rolled my eyes at Keith, remaining silent. Mightyena curled up on the grass in front of Rhythimi and I. Eevee, waking up to the presence of Mightyena, crawled out of Rhythimi's lap and made himself comfortable on Mightyena's back. Within seconds the two Pokemon were dozing off together.
"Aww..." Rhythimi cooed. "I swear, they're the cutest napping buddies EVER!"
"Hello everyone!" Crawford demanded all attention with his sudden greeting. "My name is Crawford, and this is my third year of being a Pokemon Ranger." He bent down to pick up the green flower-bud Pokemon off of the ground and set him atop of his shoulder. "And this is my Partner Pokemon, Budew!"
"Crawford was my student about three years ago." Ms. April chimed in, stepping up to stand next to Crawford.
"Yeah, and I made her mad at least once a day!" Crawford sweatdropped and awkwardly scratched the back of his head, making us all laugh.
"Oh, Crawford. Don't bother lying to the students." Ms. April rolled her eyes. "You and I both know you made me mad at least three times a day."
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA!"
Crawford just shrugged his shoulders. "Ah... Well, what can I say? Eh... Eheh..." He sheepishly stared at the crowd of students before him.
"Despite that..." Ms. April interrupted. "Crawford was a brilliant student who cheered everyone up with his...er, eccentric jokes." Ms. April cringed, seeming to have a flashback.
Crawford just scowled at her. "Hey... My jokes are totally funny!" A light bulb practically lit up above his head. "Oh! I'll tell one now! What did the pineapple say to the orange when---"
"Crawford." Ms. April bitterly cut him off, just giving him a look.
Crawford shrunk back into his skin a little. "...okay, so maybe I won't tell a joke."
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Ms. April rubbed at her temples. "Yeesh..." She sighed, then looked over at all of us. "Okay, students. How about we start the question and answer session?"
"YEAH!"
"Okay!" Crawford agreed, then began scanning the crowd of students raising their hands. "Hmm... How about---you!" He pointed to one of the girls from Mr. Kincaid's class.
She cleared her throat, speaking up. "...is it hard being a Ranger?"
Crawford seemed to mull this over for a minute. "Well... It has its ups and downs, just like any other job." He shrugged his shoulders. "It's tough to say, really. It depends on the person. For me, it's not a particularly hard job, but it might be more difficult for others."
"Oh, okay..." She put her hand back down, then smiled at Crawford. "Thanks!"
"No problem!" Crawford gave her a thumbs up, then turned his head to face Isaac. "Kid with the mushroom hair! Proceed with your question!"
Isaac just groaned at the comment about his unusually cut hair, then continued to ask his question. "What's the hardest type of Pokemon to capture?"
Crawford exhaled sharply. "Definitely Psychic and Ghost-types." He ran a hand through his hair. "Those things have a nasty habit of teleporting out of your capture line."
"Oh... I never even thought of that." Isaac pressed his index finger to his lips. "...Thanks!"
"Don't mention it!" Crawford flashed him a goofy grin. "How about...you next!" He pointed over at Ponte, one of the kids from my class at last.
"Do you have a Ranger Partner?" Ponte asked, putting his hand down after Crawford called on him.
The slightest, barely noticeable blush crept up on Crawford's cheeks. "Um...yes. Her name is Luana, aka the Vientown Base's resident 'Toaster Killer.'" Crawford chuckled. "She's not exactly the best cook...at all." He sweatdropped, wearing a sheepish look.
After all of the students calmed down and stopped laughing, a blonde girl from Mr. Kincaid's class asked her question next. "How did you meet your Budew?"
"Budew?" Crawford raised an eyebrow, then glanced a his partner on his shoulder. "Well... Funny story, actually---"
I just yawned and tuned out the rest of this conversation. Was this supposed to be entertaining and educational...? Yeesh... It's so boring.
I was about to turn to look at Keith and make a snarky comment of some sort, but I noticed that the red-head was...actually paying attention.
...
What? No way...
I did a double-take, and noticed that Keith was, in fact, paying close attention to every word Crawford said. He leaned forward with his head in his hands, paying close attention to every question asked and Crawford's corresponding answer.
There was a fire in Keith's eyes that I just couldn't place.
Was it...passion?
"This stuff really interests you, doesn't it?" I whispered to Keith, bumping his arm with my elbow.
"Huh?" Keith picked his head up from his hands, then looked over at me. "Well, yeah. Of course. I do want to be a Ranger, after all---wait. Doesn't this interest you, too?" Keith raised an eyebrow at me, getting suspicious.
Oh crap. I forgot that I'm pretending to be a wannabee Ranger. "Uh, well yeah...duh." I quickly covered up my mistake. "I was just shocked that you were actually capable of paying attention to something."
Keith just scoffed, turning his head back to the Outdoor Class. "Wow. Thanks, Blue Eyes." He rolled his eyes at me sarcastically.
I just smiled, tuning back into the question and answer session. "Anytime, Prince Charming."
"Are you that guy who writes the Vientown Newspaper, the Vien Tribune?" A dark-haired boy from my class piped up, asking Crawford his question.
"Yeah! That's me!" Crawford pointed to himself, feeling pretty proud. "My favorite part of that is writing the jokes column!"
"Have you ever made any mistakes?" Keith abruptly asked his question, confidently leaning back and smirking a little.
Crawford just scoffed. "Why, of course I have! When I first started, that's all there was." Crawford began sharing his story. "This one time, I dumped juice on my Styler. And then this one time I accidentally mistook a Skitty Plushie for a real one and tried to capture it." Crawford started counting his mistakes off on his fingers. "And then there was that time I put my Ranger Uniform on over my pajamas---" Crawford's eyes widened in shock, and he immediately froze. "Wait.... DON'T MAKE ME SAY THESE THINGS!" Crawford shouted in embarrassment, and his hands quickly flew up to his face.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Crawford, eager to get everyone to stop laughing at him, quickly scanned the crowd for another student to call on. He pointed a finger immediately at Rhythimi when he spotted her raised hand. "You! What's your question?"
Rhythimi nervously glanced down at the floor. "...do you think I have what it takes to be an Operator?"
...
"Umm..." Crawford paused, unsure how to respond to that. "Well, it's not like I'm just meeting you for the first time or anything, but---yeah! Sure! You'll make a great Operator!"
"That's great!" Rhythimi's face lit up with excitement. "That's exactly what I wanted to hear!"
Keith just rolled his eyes. "Aren't you mistaking the Ranger here for a fortune teller, Rhythimi?"
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Rhythimi shot Keith an annoyed glance, then dragged her finger across her throat as if to signal Keith she was going to slit his throat later. Keith just sweatdropped and slowly scooted away from Rhythimi and closer to me.
"Rena?" Ms. April looked over at me, tilting her head to the side. "You're the only one who hasn't asked a question yet. For participation points, everyone has to ask a question..." Ms. April trailed off, crossing her arms.
I just made an audible gulp. "D-do I have to...?"
I don't remember any of the questions I had written down previously! There was a reason that I had to write them down!
"Oh, I'm sure you must have SOMETHING to ask me!" Crawford flashed me a reassuring grin, probably trying to calm my nerves and make me feel more comfortable.
"Oh, uh..." I trailed off, at a loss for words.
"Remember what I said." Keith leaned in to whisper into my ear. "Ask a question that you have on your mind and you actually put thought into."
Ask a question that's on my mind...?
I immediately began combing through every corner of my mind as fast as I could, short on time to form a reply. I kept trying to think of something to ask, drawing blanks. Honestly, the only thing I can think of is why we even have the job of Pokemon Rangers in the first place. I don't really know much about law enforcement, since I've just always lived the life of a thief, so I don't even understand why someone would even consider---
Wait.
I... I've got it!
"Why did you become a Pokemon Ranger?"
Everyone stared at me in shock as I uttered those words. Their eyes darted back and forth between Crawford and I.
"I think that's the best question I've been asked all day." Crawford chuckled. "Well... Let's see." He mulled it over for a moment, but didn't take too long to think of how to respond. "Well, that's an easy one. There are people I want to protect in this world, and I don't want to just sit on the sidelines and let someone else do it. I want to be the one out there in the field doing everything I can to keep everyone I hold dear to me safe." Crawford smiled at me brightly, almost blinding me with how cheerful it was. "I became a Pokemon Ranger to protect everyone who can't afford to stand up for themselves, and I became a Pokemon Ranger to protect the Almia Region."
"YEAH!" All of the students cheered, punching their fists into the air.
I sat there with the most shocked look on my face ever. I... I never even thought of that.
I glanced over at Keith, noticing he was smiling at me. You know, I think I had him all wrong. When I first came here, I just assumed Keith wanted to be a Pokemon Ranger just to be a show off and so he could get a piece of the action. But, maybe... Maybe I was wrong? Maybe Keith wants to be a Pokemon Ranger for similar reasons to Crawford?
"Is that all?" Crawford looked around at the crowd of students. "No one has anymore questions?"
Before Crawford could even say one more thing, an abrupt ringing noise echoed throughout the square. I jumped at the sudden noise, only to have Keith laugh at me.
-Voicemail! Voicemail!-
Crawford pushed a button on his Styler that I had never seen before. This button wasn't equipped on my Styler. "Crawford here. What's up, Leader?" He spoke into the speaker, staring at the image on the screen.
Whoa. This must be the Ranger's way of communication...what was it called again? Voicemail?
"Crawford, it's Barlow." An unfamiliar, monotone voice poured out of the speaker on Crawford's Styler. "Look, I hate to cut the Outdoor Class short, but we've got an emergency here and I need everyone I can get on this mission."
Crawford's eyes widened with surprise. "Oh wow. Jheeze, what happened...?"
"There's been a massive oil spill near Altru's Oil rig. You know, the one out way past the Puel Sea?" Barlow, the supposed Ranger Base Leader of Vientown, asked him. "Well, hundreds of Pokemon covered in oil are washing up on Almia's shores. They're coughing up oil, and I need everyone I can get to help with damage control. We've got to clean up these Pokemon and get all of the oil out of their systems while Hastings and the Top Rangers help with the situation at the Oil Rig." Barlow finished his explanation.
"Arceus..." Crawford slapped his forehead. "Alright, I've got it. I'll be on my way now---"
"There's no need." Barlow interrupted. "Luana and I are on our way to pick you up in a boat. We'll be there in a minute."
All of the blood drained from Crawford's face, and he was as white as a sheet. "Please tell me you're the one driving the boat, Barlow..."
"Of course I am!" Barlow gave a hearty laugh. "You seriously think I'd let Toaster Killer drive this thing---" A sudden shuffling noise cut off Barlow's words from his end of the line, and a sound of a struggle could be heard.
"CRAWFORD YOU IDIOT!" A shrill, woman's voice screeched out of Crawford's Styler. "I HEARD THAT!"
"OWW! LUANA! STOP HITTING ME!" Barlow cried out from his end of the Styler.
Crawford and all of us Ranger students just sweatdropped.
BEEP BEEP!
Suddenly, a speed boat pulled up to the pier in Ascension Square and honked its horn. A black-haired Ranger girl ran out onto the deck and immediately started screaming at Crawford.
"CRAWFORD!" Luana, Crawford's Partner, shrieked. She had a Buneary sitting on her shoulder. "GET OVER HERE RIGHT NOW!"
Crawford cringed at her bellowing voice, drawing back into his skin a little. "...sorry guys, but it looks like I'll have to cut this class a little short."
Ms. April just waved him off. "Oh, it's fine. Don't worry. Duty calls." She pointed over at the boat. "And besides, your girlfriend is calling you." Ms. April smirked as Crawford's face reddened.
Crawford immediately started to defend himself. "She's not my---"
"CRAWFORD!"
Crawford immediately started running for the boat. "OK! OK! I'M COMING!"
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Almost everyone out here doubled over laughing at the hysterical display, and we all waved good-bye to the Rangers as they disappeared over the horizon. They left to take care of the Pokemon affected by the oil spill, and I was most likely to never see any of them ever again.
"Well, that was the shortest class ever." Ms. April sighed. "But, I think it was definitely the most entertaining!" She turned to face all of us. "Come on, students. Let's all file back inside now."
We all stood up from the ground with a groan, knowing fully well we'd probably have to do book work for the rest of the day. The Pokemon led the way back up the stairs, and us students and the teachers all followed.
I walked into this Outdoor Class not giving a damn about Rangers and what they stood for.
And I left with just a little bit of respect for them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Why am I updating on a Tuesday night, you ask?
Because my EVIL author competitor/bestie @Dragons_Rose updated her Pokemon Watty Award entry book "the Hacker" and I AM LOSING THE UPDATE RACE!!! I seriously need to catch up!!! Gah!!!
Oh yeah. Plus I had inspiration to write this chapter and all that stuff.
Fan art by @mahimahi2602. Thanks so much girlie!!
Anyways, that's it.
Read, comment, vote, and enjoy!