CHAPTER 10: FIRST MISSION

Kate and Keith walked down the path towards altru Park,"I saw Isaac a few months back,"Kate was saying,"And before that I had a mission to help his sister, Melody. You remember her right?" Keith nodded,"I remember on 1-day internship when we were leaving and found her on the bridge. Isaac and Ponte came along and Isaac introduced ua all." Kate nodded,"I remember that to!" she smiled,"So... tell me," keith murmered,"What all happened in the last year?" Kate sighed,"I worked with Luana, Elaine, Barlow and Crawford. Oh, and Ollie. He helped Elaine a lot," she got a cheeky grin on her face,"Ollie?" Keith asked, and kate nodded,"My first mission with both Luana and Crawford was a forest fir in Vien Forest. We found out Ollie had accidently started it later on after being hired and used by some Dim Sun creep. He works at the Base now." Keith nodded,"So everyone is okay?" Kate smiled,"My last mission with them was to go rescue Barlow after being captured by Team Dim Sun. I tracked them all over the Boyle Volcano when one cornered me and got out a kangaskan... he got it to try to crush me, and pachi here pushed me out of the way and took thye blow," she rubbed her partner's head and sighed,"Pachi was determined we kept going so I held it the entire way in my styler-pouch. I went farther and boarded the Cargo Ship. I went farther until a Machoke attacked us. It aimed a punch at me and pachi came from no-where, taking yet another hit. I sheilded it before the Machoke punched again, and damn it hit me hard!" she smiled and sighed,"I found Barlow not to long after that and freed him. We were going to take control of the ship when the captain confronted us... it waws Mr. Kincaid. He had this Drapion with him... and ordered it to kill me." Kate felt Keith stiffen at her side, knowing what he was thinking,"You'll get your chance just wait,' she murmered grimely and continued,"anyway, Barlow fought him and lost so I was up next. The drapion was horribly strong but I caught it. Then Kincaid decided to leave, by sinking the ship along with Barlow and I and all the pokemon. To get away Kincaid got out... his Gliscor. It got me with it's tail before leaving," she sighed and placed her hand on her arm,"But Barlow and I docked the ship, and you'll never guess where," she started smiling again,"The Ranger School's pier in Ascension Square!" Keith grinned,"No way!" Kate laughed,"Mr. Lamont's and Ms. April's faces were priceless!" Keith sighed, the grin on his face fading,"I miss it all." Kate looked at him, confused,"Don't tell me you don't miss it Kate. Back in Ranger School... nothing bad like this happened. We were all safe, free to do what we wanted. We had no worries." Kate nodded slowly,"Yeah..." she whispered, and came to a halt behind Kaith. They had entered the Chroma Highlands, and could see nothing. Nothing but blank, black smog. Kate felt Keith stiffen in front of me as a voice rang out,"Hey! Who's there? Are you one of our guys?" They both remained quiet, and the stranger gasped,"intruders!" he called, and ran off. Keith looked around,"Kate, I can't see a thing. Can you?" Kate shook her head,"No. We'll have to stay close..." She trailed off as Keith took her hand. She felt him get hot and he cleared his throat,"Erm, well.... we don't want to get seperated in this fog..." kate smiled,"Let's go." The two Rangers continued deeper into the smog, stopping when there was a scuffling heard,"Hm? Hey did those pokemon go into the cave? You sealed it up right? The pokemon that know demist?" Kate smiled,"Keith," she whispered,"Keep him busy. I'll be back..." she trailed off and turned, seeing a Carnivine and capturing it. Keith and the Dim Sun goon were already fighting in the dark. She found the gate on the rock side when a voicemail rang through," Voicemail! Hastings here. Keith and Kate both, your Stylers are acting up!" Kate sighed,"Its this Dark Mist. With any luck it'll be gone in a sec..." "Well, be quick! Your styler energy is draining.... fast!" The transmission ended and kate sighed again,"Carnivine! Cut that gate!" The grass pokemon cut the wood like rice paper, and ran off as three huge Skarmory flew out, one aiming at her. Kate ducked as it swooped low, barely missing her back with it's razor sharp claws and wings,"Skar!" it called furiously, aiming again when a styler disk flew from her side, capturing the steel-clad pokemon,"Well, that was close," Keith said, coming up behind Kate. She stood, embarrased at Keith seeing her afraid,"I could have done that myself!" Keith flintched back with a reproachful look in his eyes,"Sorry I'm sure!" he snapped and turned away,"Skarmory! Demist!"

The sky cleared and Keith walked ahead without a glance back at Kate. She frowned but followed. They ran up the stairs coming to a deep black hole that opened up, leading into the ruins,"They say it's like a maze down there..." Keith murmered absently. Kate gulped and, without thinking, stepped down into the black.

The two rangers entered the black, and walked deeper on, the tension between them choking Kate. She nearly gaged as they entered a room with a foul stentch,"Grah! Ack! What is that smell?!" Keith gasped. Kate held her nose as a Skuntank looked up at them. She threw out the disk, capturing the pokemon,"Let's go!" she gasped, Keith trailing behind her. She ran through the hall, noticing the alls were filled with crystals. black and clear. There was a hiss from ahead,"Hey! Glad you made it!" She looked up to see a tall Top Ranger with a red cowboy hat and spikey black hair,"I'm Sven by the way." he said, and Keith nodded,"I'm Keith and this is Kate." Sven nodded," But anyway, look." He looked over the side of the rock wall. Kate followed his gaze to a group of Dim Suns, about twenty of them. Kate recoiled instantly, but silently. She felt Keith's surprise but he remained quiet,"Now... how do you two think we could get rid of them?" Kaith and Kate exchanged a look,"Maybe... we ciuld take 'em all on?" Keith asked. kate shook her head,"There's too many of them..." Sven nodded,"Any other ideas?" Kate nodded and pulled the Skuntank forward. A smile formed on her lips,"I have a thought..." Sven took a look at the pokemon and grinned,"Do it." Kate took a step and stopped. She looked at Keith,"You wanna help?" she asked, smiling. Keith looked surprised but nodded,"Yeah!" he followed her out into the open where the minions were talking,"These black shards are all gone. We outta scram." they turned to see the Rangers and jumped,"AH! W-we're not doing anything illegal!" Kate grinned and nodded to skuntank. The pokemon let out a blast of smelly fog, causing all the dum suns to run away, crying. Keith gagged,"Ach!!" Sven whistled,"Whoo! Let's get to some fresh air..." he went ahead as the two new Rangers followed,"Hey.... sorry I snapped,"Kate murmered awkwardly. Keith shrugged,"It's cool." Kate continued onward beside Keith when they entered a large cave. In the back was a huge hole,"Uh-oh.... this is bad.... we're to late..." Sven muttered. Keith raised an eyebrow,"What? What was back there?" "Those goons were scrounging around for those dark shards. I think that a pretty big one was back here, the Shadow Crystal. Just thinking of how many Gigaremo they could make with that thing.... it makes me sick." Kate gulped,"So they just came and hauled it away?" Sven shook his head," I bet it was guarded by a Darkrai, a pokemon made of darkness." All three Top Rangers went on, silent. They came up through a tall, rusted ladder, coming to an old oil-feild,"Hey!" Sven gasped,"This is the original Altru Oil Feild!" without another word he ran inside the old shack. Keith and Kate followed. Kate walked to the back of the old shack to where a desk sat. On it was a burned diary. She flipped through it, seeing only a few legible words such as dark, shard, crystal, Altru, oil, and Energy. Kate gulped at what it might mean when she heard Keith,"Hey Kate! Found anything?" Kate turned to see him and Sven run over. Keith picked up the diary when there was a sound from the door in the back. Click! The three Rangers turned their heads to see the door open. They walked over, cornering the boy, who looked about 15 years old. "Huh? Who are you?" Keith's eyes widened,"No way! Ponte! The Ranger School's marshmellow boy!" Ponte started,"Keith! Kate! No way!" Keith surprise turned into anger. He lashed at Ponte, holding him against the wall with a hand on his neck,"And when did you become a Dim Sun?" he growled,"Huh? Oh yeah. This is a Dim Sun uniform all right," he said, not fazed by Keith's attack,"well, I joined for some extra money but man are they a bad joke. I had my doubts when they hauled away this here dark pokemon towards the sea so I quit the same day I joined." Keith was hesitant, so Kate spoke,"Keith," she said quietly,"Let him go." Keith, after a moment, released his former friend,"I thought I'd stay here. There's a good stock of food thankfuly." Sven nodded,"Well I supose you've told us all you know. Thank's marshmellow boy. Kate, Keith! We'd better go." Sven ran ahead. Kaith and Kate said their good-byes to the boy and followed. Sven was waiting,"Oh! Mission clear you two!" he called, and ran off. Kate and Keith high-fived. Without thinking, Kate did her Ranger Pose, while Keith smiled and watch,"Man Kate.... you haven't changed your Ranger Pose either!" Kate laughed. She and Keith had made their Ranger Poses when they only had been in Ranger School. Keith sighed,"Well, I'll get back to the Union on my own. I wanna catch up with you later, but if we went everywhere together I'd look bad." With that comment he took off in the other direction. Kate just snorted and shook her head, following her old friend.

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Kate was awakened by Wendy the next day,"Erma has called you and Keith to see her in the operation room," she whispered and walked out. Kate sighed and got up, pulling on her Ranger uniform and placing her styler on her wrist. She slipped out of the sleep chamber and went into the operation room where Nage, Murph and Professor Hastings were. Keith was also there. "Ah, Kate. Glad you could join us. The diary is being deciphered, and a bigger matter ensues." the professor sighed and looked to the case beside him. In it was a dark shard,"This is a dark shard. Apparently, this is what hypnotises pokemon. We are all working on unfolding this stone's secrets..." Murph walked closer,"This little thing is what is so evil?" Suddenly, Murph's chest lit up with a brilliant blue light,"Ah! What...!?" "Ca-Pachi!" Professor hastings noticed as well,"Murph! What are you hiding?" "N-nothing professor! Oh! it's my pendant my Pa gave me! Made out of the tears pf princes!" The dark shard seemed to lighten up as Murph's pendant continued to shine. Kate and Keith exchanged curious glances while Professor Hasting paced. He suddenly turned,"Kate! You must go to Hia Valley and learn more information of this stone! It's a mission! A mission!" Kate nodded and turned to leave when Murph stopped hert,"Kate! To get to Hia Valey you must go through Crysta Cave north of the union. You can ride a flotzel through the cave. But be careful! It's.... cold!" Keith nodded, his eyes glittering with a strange expression,"Yeah. Be careful Kate. I won't be there to help you this time," he smiled. Kate grinned back,"I'll be okay!" she called, and ran out of the union.