Chapter 1

"Welcome," a voice spoke as a young girl stepped into the pitch-black room. "Please state your name."

"I-I'm Kate Yamaki," the young girl spoke nervously. This wasn't what she had expected when she signed up.

"Age?"

"F-fourteen."

"Take the Styler from the desk next to you."

Kate reached over, taking the small device in her hand. She noticed the device was round in the front while it then led back into a small handle from there. A small flap covered a set of buttons and graphs on the back of the device. "Now what?"

"Step forward and use the device to capture this," the voice spoke once more and in an instant a small yellow rodent jumped forward. It had long pointy ears that ended in black spots at the top, while its tail was long and shaped like a lightning bolt. It also had smell red circles on its cheeks where electricity seemed to spark from. "Simply pull the switch on the Styler and the Capture Disc will release from it. Guide the Disc around the Pikachu and capture it."

Kate nodded and held the Styler forward. "All right, here we go…" She pulled the trigger and a small silver disc, similar to a top, shot forward from the device, landing directly upon the ground in front of her. The device lit up and the words "Capture On!" showed on the device. The disc began to spin on its point, steadily faster until it had achieved its maximum speed. Kate moved the Styler to the side and noticed how the Disc followed her movements.

Quickly, Kate began to move the device in a circle, watching as the Disc followed along, leaving a long blue line behind it. She brought the Disc around the Pikachu and connected the disc to the line it left behind. As soon as she did, the line began to glow brightly before moving inward, striking the Pikachu, which made it glow for a moment as the line vanished. Again and again Kate swirled the Disc around the creature until finally the device registered "Capture Complete" and the Disc returned to her Styler. At once, the creature rushed to her side and began to nuzzle against her.

"Astounding, absolutely amazing," the voice from before spoke. "You have done well. You have passed your entrance exam. Welcome to the notorious Team School. With you at our side, we will be able to conquer the world in no time!"

Suddenly, the lights in the room flipped on, and Kate noticed the voice was coming from a rather scrawny man in front of her who was wearing a blue hat and blue shirt and shorts. His eyes went wide and he blinked for a moment before covering his eyes. "That's bright! Ms. April, don't do that!"

"Serves you right for teasing new students like that, Mr Kaplan," a voice spoke from behind Kate and she whirled around to see a young woman in her thirties step up to her. She had long brown hair that ended around her waist, and she wore a very formal green sleeveless shirt and white skirt that ended at her knees. "You look like you'll make a fine Ranger." April turned back to Kaplan. "And how did she do?"

"Passed with flying colors, Ms. April! I haven't seen a capture like that since Keith joined the school."

"As good as Keith, you say? She'll definitely be a great Ranger, then." April turned back to Kate. "Well, then, sounds like you're all ready to start here. How about we get you to class?"

Kate smiled. "I'd love that!" April nodded in response and the two left.

. . .

"Did you guys hear anything about the new student?" a young girl no older then fifteen asked as she looked to her classmates. She was wearing the standard school uniform for girls which consisted of a pair of blue shorts and a blue button-up short-sleeve shirt and yellow tie with a long-sleeved green jacket on top of that. She also had very curly blonde hair that ended at her shoulders.

"Should we have?" a young boy of about fifteen asked as he looked towards the girl. The boy had his brown hair spiked in all sorts of different ways, and his outfit was the standard school uniform for guys in the school, consisting of the same shirt, tie, and jacket the girls wore, but with a pair of long pants instead of shorts.

"Well, usually this place is flying with rumors about everything."

The boy shrugged. "Guess no one really cares."

"Well, I'm hoping it'll be a really handsome guy," the girl spoke, sticking her nose up.

"You just want a boyfriend, Rhythmi," the boy spoke folding his hands behind his head and sitting back in his chair.

"Hey, a girl can dream, can't she?"

"Sure, as long as it doesn't affect me."

"All right, class, settle down," April spoke as she stepped into the classroom. She stepped forward to the front of the classroom and turned to face her class. "Now then, as I said yesterday, we will be having a new student today. She came all by herself from the Fiore region to learn to become a Ranger."

"Aww," Rhythmi sighed. "I was hoping it would be a really cute guy."

"Is she cute?" a student sitting next to Rhythmi asked. "Maybe cool? Does she look like a celebrity maybe? What's she like?"

"Now, now, you'll all find out in just a moment," April spoke as she looked up to the door in the back of the room. "You can come in now."

The door to the classroom slid open and from the doorway stepped a girl with long brown hair that she had pulled up into small pigtails at the top of her head. She had beautiful ocean blue eyes and was dressed in the standard school uniform for the Ranger School. She stepped forward nervously, making her way to the front of the class before stopping and turning to face the class. "H-hello," she spoke, waving lightly.

"Wow!" three of the boys shouted at once. "She's so cute!" This made the girl blush heavily.

"Now, now, class, settle down," Ms. April spoke. "This is your new classmate. I'll let her introduce herself."

The girl looked up at Ms. April for a moment before nodding and looking down. "Umm…m-my name is Kate Yamaki. I'm fourteen years old and one-hundred and forty-three centimeters tall." She then noticed the guys around her were all starting heavily and it made her body begin to shake. She could feel their eyes looking down at her curiously, perhaps even longly. She closed her eyes, trying to ignore them, but she could still feel the presence of their eyes upon her. Her fists tightened as her body shook even more until she couldn't hold it. "Y-you boys can stop staring at me! I don't like boys!"

"What?" the class erupted in unison. Kate immediately buried her face in her hands in embarrasement.

"You're a lesbian?" one of the boys called out.

"That's totally cool!" one of the other boys shouted.

"Whatever," the boy Rhythmi had been talking to earlier spoke with a shrug.

"Keith…" Rhythmi spoke with a sigh. "You just don't care about anything do you?"

"I care about myself, isn't that enough?" Keith asked with a shrug.

"All right, class, settle down," Ms. April spoke up and the class settled down. She then turned to Kate. "You know, that was a pretty brave thing you just did."

"I…I couldn't help it…all the guys were staring at me…" Kate spoke, her face still beat red.

April smiled and pat Kate's head. "Well, no one here will judge you." She turned to her class. "Right class?"

"Right!" the class shouted in unison.

"See?" April asked as she turned back to Kate. "Anything else you want to say?"

"Umm…n-no. I'm fine," Kate spoke with a somewhat forced smile.

"Why don't you have a seat then? There's an empty desk next to Keith."

Kate nodded and walked over to the desk next to Keith and sat down. She then buried her face in her hands to cover how embarrassed she was. "Hey, new-girl-I-can't-remember-you're-name," Keith spoke. "Don't be so nervous, we're all good people here." He smiled, which Rhythmi would later tell Kate was very uncharacteristic of him.

"Th-thanks," Kate spoke nervously.

"Now, then, class," Ms. April spoke, "due to the fact we have a new student I'll change the class schedule around a bit today. We're going to have a free-study class today so that Kate can walk around and get an understanding of the school. Let's have…" she looked over the class for a moment. "Rhythmi, let's have you go ahead and show Kate around. If that's okay with Kate." April looked to Kate who nodded.

Rhythmi stepped over to Kate and smiled. "Hey, I'm Rhythmi," she spoke. "I'm actually not here to be a Ranger, I'm here to be an Operator."

"Operator?" Kate asked as she looked up at Rhythmi as Ms. April walked by.

"Operators are like…the most important part of Rangers. Operators receive intel and give out missions to the Rangers."

"Well, I wouldn't say most important," April spoke. "However, they are the helpers. Rangers tend to go down the roads that cannot normally be travelled, and it is up to those Operators to offer them aid. Of course, I'm not talking about things like holding a flashlight for them in a cave. I mean like recharging their Stylers, helping them by giving them pinpoint information about where possible exits are if they need to escape, that sort of thing. Think of them as the Lifeline of Rangers."

Kate nodded. "Sounds tough," she spoke. "Maybe tougher than being a Ranger."

Rhythmi rubbed the back of her neck. "Oh no, being a Ranger is way tougher. There's no way I'd be able to do that."

"Anyway, class," Ms. April spoke, "since this is free-study, I'll be in the Staff Hall planning our Outdoor Class for next month if you need me." She then headed out of the classroom. Immediately everyone grouped around Kate.

"So, kid-whose-name-I-don't-remember," Keith spoke, "how long did it take you to catch Pikachu? I bet it took like an hour, right?"

"N-no," Kate spoke. "Th-they actually said I did really good."

"Well, I'm the best here."

Rhythmi shook her head. "Keith is a show off, so don't worry about him. Now, then, let me give you a tour of the classroom and we'll head out." She smiled. "Of course, you've met Ms. April. She's a good person, just don't make her angry, otherwise…watch out!" She giggled. "Of course, you've got the desks and students. It wouldn't hurt to get to know them all a bit, even the guys."

Kate blushed at that comment. "I-I suppose it wouldn't hurt to."

Rhythmi smirked and got right into Kate's face which caused her to back away a bit. "So…about that outburst…" Kate turned beat red and buried her face in her hands again.

"I-I'm sorry," Kate spoke. "Everyone was staring, and I felt so nervous…I couldn't hold it in."

Rhythmi giggled. "It's fine, Kate." She took Kate's hand and pulled her up. "Come on, we have a school to explore." The two quickly stepped out, and the boys quickly began to whisper rumors amongst themselves. They had honestly never seen Rhythmi act that way towards anyone.

. . .

"And here we are, Mr. Kincaid's class," Rhythmi spoke as she and Kate stepped into the classroom that was across the hall from hers. She pointed towards the front of the class, where they could see Mr. Kincaid had been teaching, only to stop when the door had opened. Mr. Kincaid was a young man, likely no older than April. He had blonde hair that he had stick up into a twirl about a foot off his head. "He gets his hair to do that by using a ton of hair spray," Rhythmi commented. Kate then noticed his red vest and yellow long-sleeved, button-up shirt and black pants.

"What are you two doing out of class?" Mr. Kincaid snapped which made Kate cower back a little.

"Ms. April gave us free-study today so that I could show Kate around, Mr. Kincaid," Rhythmi immediately responded.

"I see." Mr. Kincaid nodded and went back to his class.

"He's a real stickler, that one," Rhythmi whispered. "He's very strict, and his number one rule is 'Don't run in the hallways'. So I'd be careful around him if I were you." Kate only nodded in response.

"Come, I'll show you the Staff Room."

. . .

"Oh…this was a lot easier last year…" Ms. April spoke as she sat back in her chair and sighed. When she did, the door to the Staff Room opened and Kate and Rhythmi stepped in.

"And this is the Staff Room," Rhythmi spoke. "Usually our principal is the only one in here." She turned and waved to Ms. April and the Principal. "That guy there is Principal Lamont Splendidocious," she spoke as she pointed towards the man in glasses. He had gray hair, showing he was older than anyone else in the school, and he wore a brown suit. "No one can pronounce his last name, though, so everyone just calls him 'Principal Lamont'." Kate nodded.

"Hello, Kate," Ms. April spoke with a smile. "Enjoying yourself so far, I hope?"

Kate gave a bow. "Yes, Ms. April," she spoke a little nervously and Ms. April giggled.

"Dear, there's no reason to be nervous around me."

"S-sorry, Ms. April, it's just a new place and all…"

Ms. April nodded. "I understand. You're a very shy girl, aren't you?"

"A-a little, yes."

Ms. April smiled. "Well, no worries, I'm sure you'll open up and get used to everyone soon enough, just do your best."

"Thank you, Ms. April." Kate gave another bow, then turned back to Rhythmi.

"Well, we'll be on our way," Rhythmi spoke and waved, to which Ms. April and Lamont wave back.

. . .

"Hey!" a student shouted.

"Quiet!" one of the other students whispered loudly. "This is a library! Don't shout!"

"Sorry, Isaac," the student spoke, rubbing the back of his neck.

"And this is the Library, also known as Keith's nap room," Rhythmi spoke as the door opened, to which Isaac turned quickly, looking somewhat irate.

"Why does everyone have to shout when they come in?" Isaac asked as he stepped up to Kate and Rhythmi.

"Oh, Isaac, I'm not shouting, I'm just showing Kate around," Rhythmi spoke and waved towards Kate.

"Kate, huh?" Isaac asked as he looked at her, which made her shirk back. "Most interesting."

"Kate, this mushroom-haired boy is Isaac." It was true, Isaac's blonde hair was combed in a shape that looked like the top of a mushroom. "He's a bit exotic, but he's very smart. You can usually find him here, but sometimes he vanishes."

Isaac smiled. "That's me. My IQ and height in centimeters are both one-hundred and sixty-three."

"Twenty more then me," Kate spoke quietly.

"I'm studying to be a scientist. Mr. Kincaid gave me special permission to study here on my own instead of in class."

Kate smiled. "Y-you seem nice," she spoke.

Isaac rubbed the back of his head. "Well, I try to be. I don't see any reason to be mean to anyone."

Kate nodded and gave a bow. "I'm Kate Yamaki, fourteen years old and one-hundred and forty-three centimeters tall."

Isaac blinked then rubbed the back of his neck. "You don't need to bow to me."

"S-sorry," Kate spoke, shirking back a bit.

Rhythmi giggled. "Well, you seem to have made a friend with Isaac. Almost everyone likes him, though. He's probably the nicest guy here, unless you're in the Library anyway. Then he'll scream at you if you're too loud."

"It's a Library, you're supposed to be quiet," Isaac defended.

Rhythmi shrugged. "Let's head upstairs next, I'll show you the dorms and you can pick out a bed." Kate nodded.

. . .

Janice hummed as she vacuumed the dorm room floor. "The dorms are here on the second floor," Rhythmi spoke as she stepped up the last step onto the second floor.

"Oh, hello, Rhythmi," Janice spoke and Rhythmi waved.

"Kate, this is Janice, the caretaker lady."

Kate looked Janice over once, noticing her shoulder-length brown hair was rather puffy in the back. She then noticed Janice's sienna-brown shirt and snow-white skirt. "H-hello," she spoke and gave a bow.

Janice rubbed the back of her neck. "You don't need to bow to me, dear," Janice spoke.

"Janice is like a mother to all of us here in the school. I'm sure you two will become nice and close, just like everyone else has with her."

It was at that moment that the door to the boy's dorm opened, and a boy stepped out. He was taller than Kate by quite a few inches. His brown hair was spiked, but only in the very back, the front was instead parted and smoothed out. He wore the standard school uniform and Kate noticed his eyes were the exact same color as hers. "Wh-whose that?" Kate asked nervously.

"Kellyn," Rhythmi asked. "Probably the most handsome and serious guy here. He doesn't mess around. He also doesn't know how to have fun."

Kate turned away from Rhythmi to look back at Kellyn. "H-hello," she spoke and gave him a bow.

Kellyn blinked for a moment. "Who are you?" he asked somewhat coldly and Kate shirked back a little.

"I-I'm Kate Yamaki, fourteen years old, one-hundred and forty-three centimeters tall."

"Kate, huh? Interesting. I'm Kellyn, Kellyn Tajiri. I'm sixteen years old, making me the oldest student here, and I'm one-hundred and eighty-three centimeters tall."

"W-wow…" Kate spoke as she looked up at Kellyn. "Fourty centimeters more…you're the tallest person I've met so far…"

Kellyn shrugged. "I'm the tallest person here. I always have been."

Kate bowed again and Kellyn looked to Rhythmi, who waved her arms. "She does that to everyone she meets it seems."

Kellyn turned to Kate. "You don't need to bow to everyone, you know?" he spoke somewhat coldly then walked off.

Kate practically fainted. "Are you okay?" Rhythmi asked as she caught Kate.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," Kate responded, but Rhythmi could feel her body was shaking horribly.

"Made you nervous?"

Kate nodded. "I've never met anyone like him before. He was…cold…"

Rhythmi shrugged. "That's Kellyn for you. He acts that way to everyone." She stood to her feet and helped Kate stand to her feet. "Let's go check out the dorms." The two walked to the eastern door, which was colored a light pink color. She pulled the door open and Kate and Rhythmi stepped inside. "This is the girl's dorm room."

"Th-this is where we sleep?" Kate asked and Rhythmi nodded. "It's…kind of small…"

"You're not claustrophobic, are you?"

Kate shook her head. "But…there's a lot of beds…which means a lot of girls, right?"

Rhythmi blinked for a second then smiled. "Hey, no worries, you'll be fine."

"B-but…will they be okay…being around me?"

Rhythmi laughed. "Nah, you're not the only girl here who likes girls."

Kate blushed heavily. "R-really?"

Rhythmi nodded. "I don't act like it, but I'm not the straightest person either. Truth is, I'm bisexual, though I do prefer guys a bit more."

"I-I see…"

Rhythmi smiled and poked Kate's nose. "Just don't go hitting on me now that you know, okay?"

Kate nodded. "I-I won't."

Rhythmi hugged Kate which made her blush a deep crimson. "You're a sweet girl. I hope we can get you out of your shell at least a little bit while you're here. I think you'd really enjoy the people here if you gave them a chance."

Kate nodded slowly. "I-I'll try."

"That's the spirit. Well, that concludes Rhythmi's Grand Tour of Wonderment and Excitement!" Rhythmi spoke with a cheer making Kate giggle. "What?"

"Just how you said that was all," Kate smiled, which made Rhythmi smile.

"Let's head back to class."

Kate nodded in response and the two headed back to their classroom.

. . .

"Are we all here?" Rhythmi asked as she looked around. It was dark in the Ranger School as night had come and it was passed their curfew.

"Yeah," Keith and a couple of other students spoke.

"Good. Everyone, you know Kate, the new student," Rhythmi spoke as she waved to Kate. "As per tradition, we will be giving Kate the standard Trial of Courage."

"T-Trial of Courage?" Kate asked, almost frightened by the very words.

"It's no big deal," Keith spoke as he put his arms behind his head. "I had to do it last time because I was the newest student. It's pretty simple, actually. All four of us hide our Stylers in the rooms below and you find them, then take them and put them in front of the door to Mr. Kincaid's office in the basement.

"B-but aren't we not allowed down there?" Kate asked.

"And we're also supposed to be in our rooms, but we're not," Rhythmi spoke. "So we're already breaking rules as it is, what's one more?"

"I-I guess so…" Kate spoke as she shirked back.

"Good, now that that is decided, let's go ahead and begin the Trial of Courage."

"Keep it down, but yay!" Keith spoke quietly.

"Of course, we can't forget that while this Trial is simple, it can be dangerous as there are Pokemon roaming the halls of the Ranger School. Sure, they're Bidoof, but still. As such, we have a rule: The student sitting directly next to the person taking the Trial has to go with them."

"Guk!" Keith blurted out and everyone turned, wondering what the heck kind of noise that was supposed to be. "Th-that's me…"

"Yeap, have fun!" Rhythmi pushed Kate towards Keith and she waved her arms.

"I-I don't really think-"

"Don't worry, Kate, we all know you don't like guys. Keith won't try to make any moves in the dark, will you, Keith?" Rhythmi glared at him.

"Of course not!" Keith spoke quickly. "I would never do that!"

"See? You'll be fine." Rhythmi smiled. "Now go, you're wasting time."

Kate nodded slowly, then turned to Keith who shrugged. She sighed and hung her head for a moment. "A-all right…" She then turned and headed down the stairs.

The two had just reached the bottom of the stairs when they heard a strange noise not far off. "Waaah!" Keith shouted and jumped back. "Wh-what was that?"

Kate's body locked up as she became to shake. Her eyes began to adjust more to the darkness here, and when they had, she noticed a a rather plump, mousy-like creature with brown fur and buck teeth was sitting in the middle of the hallway. "I-it's a Bidoof," Kate spoke and Keith stepped forward, looking hard.

"So it is," Keith spoke, rubbing the back of his neck. "I-it startled me. Y-you were scared, too, r-right?"

Kate nodded, then stepped forward. "I-I'll capture it in case we need it." She pulled out her Styler and held it up. She pushed the trigger, launching the Capture Disc once more. "Capture on!" she spoke quietly and began to move her hand in a circular motion, causing the Capture Disc to form loops around the Bidoof. Finally, as she drew the last loop, the Disc returned to her Styler and the Bidoof quickly rushed over to her, rubbing against her leg. "I-it's kind of cute."

Keith blinked. "I…don't think I've ever heard a girl say that before."

Kate blushed and rubbed the back of her neck. "Wh-where do we go now?"

"How about our classroom first?" Keith suggested and Kate nodded. The two quickly made their way down the hall and into their classroom. "Our classroom is creepy at night," he spoke as he looked around the room, noticing just how dark it really was, and how they could barely make out the shapes of the desks.

"S-so where am I supposed to be looking?" Kate asked nervously as she tried to keep her body from shaking horribly.

"Well, I'm allowed to give you one clue per room. The clue for this room is 'What is here that wasn't before?'"

"What kind of a clue is that?" Kate asked as she turned to Keith.

"Well, look around."

Kate did as she was told, and upon examination, she noticed the room was filled with small crates. "There's crates…The Styler is in one of them, isn't it?"

Keith nodded. "Sounds about right."

"B-Bidoof, crush the crate over there!" Kate spoke out and the Bidoof rushed forward, smashing through the crate in front of her. When it did, she noticed that inside of the crate was a small rodent with light yellow fur and pointed ears that led to little black dots on the tips. It's tail was like a lightning bolt, but unlike Pikachu's whose tail was partly brown, this one's tail was black all the way down. It also had little pink circles on its cheeks. "P-Pichu."

Keith nodded. "Only one of the crates is the real thing, the others have Pokemon in them."

"B-Bidoof!" Kate spoke up, but when she did the Bidoof turned and began to walk away. "B-Bidoof?"

"You can only use a Pokemon for a single Target Clear. If you want to use it again, you'll have to recapture it."

Kate nodded. "A-all right." She pulled out her Styler and quickly performed another capture before the Bidoof could get much further. "A-all right, Bidoof, smash that crate over there." Bidoof nodded and quickly rushed at a crate near Ms. April's desk. When it did, the crate smashed apart, but this time she didn't see any Pokemon appear out of it. She quickly rushed to the crate's remains and moved away some of the splintered wood. She found one of the Stylers there and she quickly picked it up with a smile. "I-I did it!"

"Awesome, that's one down and three to go."

"Th-three more?" Kate asked and sighed. "A-all right…where next?"

"Mr. Kincaid's classroom is the closest."

Kate nodded and quickly recaptured the Bidoof once again before they quickly rushed out of their classroom and down the hall to Mr. Kincaid's.

"Well, this is Mr. Kincaid's classroom. They said the Styler here is out in the open…"

Kate gripped her Styler. "Th-there's Pokemon here," she spoke, pointing out to the Bidoof and Pichu in the room. One Pokemon sat in the back left corner. It looked like a small blue bat. Kate noticed something was held in its feet. "Capture on!" she spoke and pulled the trigger once more. At once the bat flew forward at the Capture Disc. Kate quickly began to swirl her Disc around the bat until finally it returned to her Styler having successfully captured the Pokemon.

The bat flew to her and Kate pet it gently. "N-nice Zubat," she spoke, then gripped the object in its feet. She noticed the object was another Styler. "I-I've got two now."

"You're not bad for someone who just joined today. You're making as a good a time as me, which is really good according to the person that I had with me."

Kate rubbed the back of her neck. "I-I'm not that good." She then became serious. "Now where?"

"Either the Library or the Staff Room. There's one in both of them."

Kate nodded and the two rushed out of Mr. Kincaid's classroom and down the hall once more until they reached the library.

"Even the Library is scary at night," Keith spoke as he looked around. "It's almost as if someone is lurking nearby."

"D-don't say stuff like that!" Kate almost shouted and Keith quickly hushed her. "I-I'm sorry, this is scary. M-maybe we should just quit."

Keith shook his head. "If you want to be a Ranger, you can't be scared. You might end up with a spooky mission one day."

Kate nodded and gulped. She looked around the Library, noticing the few crates on the ground. She then noticed something small was sitting not too far away on one of the tables. She could see it because it was reflecting the moonlight from the window near it. "B-Bidoof, crush that crate!" she spoke up and the Bidoof rushed for the crate in front of them, smashing it apart and clearing a walk space. She then quickly recaptured it before it could run off.

Kate then walked forward, hopping onto the table and grabbing the small object. Once in her hands, she noticed it was the third Styler. "Th-three now!" she spoke up and waved to Keith. The table under her shifted and she screamed as she fell back.

"Careful," Keith spoke with a smile as Kate opened her eyes, noticing he had caught her. "This is why you use Pokemon to clear a path, so you don't stand dangerously on things like that."

Kate blushed and nodded. "Th-thank you." She bowed and Keith rubbed the back of his neck.

"No problem. Guess it's off to the Staff Room now."

Kate nodded and the two quickly made their way out of the Library and across the hall to the Staff Room.

"And here's the Staff Room, the clue for this room is that the Styler we hid doesn't stand still."

"D-doesn't stand still?" Kate asked as she turned from Keith to the Staff Room. She then saw it, a small Pichu not far away that was holding a small device in its hands. She guessed it was the fourth Styler. She rushed forward, but when she did, the Pichu squealed and began to run. "It's running from me…I-I think I get it now." She pulled out her Styler. "Let's try capturing from a distance."

Kate pulled the trigger, unleashing the Capture Disc once more. When she did, the Pichu quickly stood its ground and Kate began to perform loops around it. When the capture was complete, she stepped forward and pet the Pichu carefully, who smiled as she did. "Can I have that please?"

"Pichu," the Pichu spoke happily and handed the Styler to Kate.

"Th-that's all of them," Kate spoke as she turned to Keith.

"Amazing work. Let's head down to the basement then."

Kate nodded and the two quickly headed out of the Staff Room and down into the basement.

"Wh-what's this?" Keith asked as they finished climbing down the stairway. A small wooden fence had been put up to block their path. "I don't remember a target like this one…"

"B-Bidoof, crush it!" the Bidoof rushed forward, hitting the fence hard, but it did nothing.

"Crush isn't going to work on this one, Kate."

Kate bit her lip before turning to her Pokemon. "W-wait, Zubat can use Cut, can't it? Zubat, cut the fence!" The Zubat screeched and flew forward. It let its wing down and its wing began to glow. A moment later, it sailed straight through the fence, cutting it apart. "It worked!"

"Well, I'll be, she figured that one out." Keith spoke and folded his arms over his chest. "She's pretty good."

"L-let's go," Kate spoke, a bit more determined. They walked forward until Keith stopped her.

"Wait, listen." There was a strange sort of sound coming from somewhere nearby. "What the heck is that?"

Kate gripped her Styler tight. "I-I don't…" she spoke and stepped deeper down the hallway.

"There, that door is Mr. Kincaid's office." Keith pointed to a nearby door and Kate nodded. She stepped forward and carefully set the Stylers onto the ground. As soon as she did, the door flew wide open and from it a large gaseous substance flowed out from the room. Keith and Kate screamed and jumped back before the substance solidified into four small orbs with large eyes.

"G-G-G-G-G-G-Gastly!" Kate shouted.

"Run for it!" Keith shouted.

"N-no!" Kate pulled all of her courage together and held her Styler out. "Capture on!" she shouted unleashed the Disc on the Gastly. She quickly began to form a large loop the circled all four of them, and when she did, the Gastly shifted inward. With every loop she made, the Gastly moved closer together, making her loops smaller and smaller. Finally, the final loop was made, and the Styler registered the capture of all four of the Gastly. "D-did I do it?" she asked and the Gastly smiled happily. "I-I did it!"

"Unable to maintain link," Kate's Styler spoke and the four Gastly turned to each other before turning and fading into the walls.

"Wh-what…just happened?" Kate asked.

"Get out of here!" a voice shouted loudly and Kate and Keith shrieked again. It was then that Mr. Kincaid stepped out of his office. "No one is allowed down here in the basement except for me! Go on, get out of here!" he erupted and Kate and Keith quickly rushed away without arguing.

"Who was that?" a voice asked from inside the room.

"Nobody. Just a Bidoof causing trouble." Mr. Kincaid spoke before turning back to walk inside of his office.

. . .

"That was scary!" Keith spoke as he panted for breath. Him and Kate had made it all the way back up to the top floor.

"So, did you do it?" Rhythmi asked.

"Y-yeah, but then Mr. Kincaid appeared and screamed at us."

"Haha, that's Mr. Kincaid for you." Rhythmi smiled and stood proud. "Well, Kate, you got passed your shy exterior long enough to do the test, so for that, I have to say congratulations. You did a great job."

"Th-thank you, Rhythmi," Kate spoke with a smile. She then stepped over and hugged Rhythmi, which caught her a little off guard. She could feel how horribly Kate was shaking and she frowned.

"Oh…I didn't realize how much stress I put on you. You're shaking horribly. Come on, let's get you somewhere private where it can be just the two of us so you can calm down, okay?" Kate nodded, not letting go of Rhythmi. Rhythmi shook her head and smiled as she scooped Kate up in her arms, which made Kate turn beat red. "All right everyone, back to your dorms, nothing to see here. Move along." She then carried Kate back to their dorms.

The night was spent calming Kate down in a more private corner of the room. Finally, when her body was calm, Kate found herself drifting off to sleep and Rhythmi smiled as she gently pet Kate's hair. "You're so cute," she spoke. "I'll let you sleep with me, but just for tonight." And so Kate's first day came to a close. What other adventures awaited her and her new friends? She would only find out in time.

I hope you enjoyed this so far. Please don't forget to hit the review button! I'd love to know your thoughts on the story ^^