A/N: I've been deciding if I should do a Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia fic and I wanted to get your opinions. Of course, I wouldn't be abandoning this fic and this isn't my way of saying "Bye, Oblivia! Peace!"

I just want to know if I should do a Pokemon: Shadows of Almia so that you can see Kate the way I see Kate. No, it's probably not going to be the mainstream version where I just right down what the characters say word-for-word, but it's not going to be like "Kate is a princess from a far away region and Keith was fated to be her soulmate since they were four, when there parents arranged their marriage." No. Not gonna happen.

And if you guys like this idea and like this fic, I'll even consider doing a fic for the first Ranger game, considering that I haven't seen any fics for that game. I'm guessing it wasn't bonzer at the box office, either. (That's my friend's favorite saying.) But, yeah. Sorry, this is a long Author's Note. I guess you could say that this is me making up for never really putting Author's Notes in my chapters.

So, yeah! Message me or comment whether you want a Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia fic or not. I will
do whatever you suggest. (Just try not to make it too insanely difficult to do, okay?)

Oh, and MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYBODY!!

Okay, now to the story.

I looked around the little island, admiring the red-roofed huts that adorned the side of the mountain.

"Summer!" Someone shouted.

I whipped around at the familiar voice. "Murph? That's impossible!"

But there was no way to deny it; Murph was here in Oblivia, green suit and all.

"Found you!" He said. "It's me, Murph from the Ranger Union." Then his face fell. "You do remember me, don't you?"

I laughed and hugged his neck. "Of course I remember you, Murph! You're not the easiest person to forget!" Then I released him from my grip. "What are you doing in the Oblivia region?"

"I just got here moments ago." Murph said, scratching at the back of his head. "Remember how I said that I never had anything to do at the base?"

I nodded. I was pretty sure that I knew where he was going with this.

"Well, Professor Hastings sent me to the Oblivia region, even though there's no point in it." Murph continued. "Oh, that's right! I have an important message for you from the professor!" He reached into his jacket pocket and took out a letter.

I curiously opened it, unrolling it to reveal neat handwriting that was perfect in every way. It looked as though it had been typed, if it hadn't been for the occasional loopy 'y'.

Dear Summer and Ben,

The elite Ranger Kate has obtained some information. Extremely suspicious characters have been spotted at libraries throughout various regions. Apparently, they want to know something about Oblivia's ancient legends. I suspect that these are the Pinchers.

A book about Oblivia's legends that the group may be interested in is actually not in a library, but on Mitonga Island in Oblivia. The Pinchers shouldn't be aware of this. They could notice at any moment, however, so hurry and get the book. The title of the book is "Legends of Oblivia" by a man named Amun.

- Professor Hastings.

After I had finished reading it, a note fell from the envelope. The note was in Keith's unmistakeable handwriting, which was a strange mix of cursive and regular lettering.

Lady Summer,

What's going on, Jolteon? Kate has been really concerned about the Oblivia region, but she knows that you're more than capable of stopping the Pinchers. As for me, I knew that you're more than able to stop them, and it's not just because greatness runs in your family! Well, maybe that's some of it.

I laughed at that, even though I mostly wanted to fly back to the Almia region and pull at the short hairs on the back of his head. Kate always did this when he got too annoying and he always whined about her exploiting his 'one true weakness' when we all knew that my sister was that weakness. I continued to read.

Kate really misses you and we might head out to that region. Kate said your grandmother lives on Sophian Island and wanted to visit her, plus I have something really special planned for her and I want you to be there.

But I don't think we're going to be allowed to leave just yet. We've been running around Almia trying to hunt down the small groups of Pinchers left in our region. I tried calling your Styler, but my Styler said that calls couldn't be made to the Oblivia region right now. What's up with that? I guess we'll have to chat the old fashioned way.

I suggest you write to your sister, though. It would break her heart if you started writing to me and not her. Although... I wouldn't mind if you replied. I miss hearing your snippy little comments. How's Ben doing? I hope you haven't barked at him too much.

Peace out, Bellsprout!

- Keith Dazzle

P.S. Could you not tell Kate about this? I'm planning on suprising her and I don't want the suprise to be ruined.

P.S.S. If you have no idea what the suprise is and are wondering what the Distortion World I'm talking about, ignore the statement above.

I suddenly felt the need to reply. But I couldn't because I didn't have the heart to tell Murph to send my message back to my sister, and I could tell by the way that Murph's knees slightly wobbled from standing back on solid land that he didn't have the stomach to go back and forth.

"-And I accidently spilled juice on my Styler, so I can't contact the Ranger Union. Can I borrow your Styler to tell the professor that I got here safely?" Murph asked.

"Um, I'm afraid that you're not going to be able to communicate between the Ranger Base and Oblivia until further notice." I informed him.

He gave me a look. "Why are you being so vague all of a sudden?"

I quietly informed him of our predicament, ashamed of knowing that I could've prevented the destruction of the Wireless Tower. I went into detail about how Raikou destroyed the Tower and how Blue Eyes left Raikou for us to handle.

"Are you serious?!" Murph yelled.

I winced at his loud voice.

Murph grabbed my arms, looking over my burns. "Are you okay?" He asked, fretting over every little scratch.

"Murph..." I started out, still slightly dazed from my arm being jerked nearly out of its socket.

"I mean, seriously, you could've been fried by Raikou!"

"Murph," I said a little more uncomfortable. He started to check the bruises on my face.

"Look at this mark on your face! It's such a deep purple!"

"Murph," I said, getting agitated. Good intentions or not, he was getting too close for comfort.

"And there's this gash on your wrist! You're going to need a doctor to look at this!"

"MURPH!" I yelled a little too loudly.

"What?" He asked, innocently.

"I'm fine!" I assured him. "I can handle myself!"

"Hmph... I wonder who else said that when they nearly froze to death, riding through a freezing river on the back of an Empoleon..." He said, pretending like he was trying to figure something out. "Oh, yeah. Kate. Ben was right, obstinance does run in the family!"

I cringed at the mention of my friend. He couldn't have possibly known, so he didn't purposely throw the fact that I couldn't protect my partner in my face...

"Speaking of which, where is Ben?" He asked. "Did he go off adventuring?"

I bit my lip. Arceus, I hate telling this story... Even so, I explained to Murph that Ben had been kidnapped by the Pokemon Pinchers.

Murph stared at me in silence, watching as I tried to not to break down in Murph's presence.. "No, I know he's okay." He softly said. He pulled me into a hug, knowing how hard this must be for me, since he was my partner and best friend; my cohort and partner-in-crime. "A strong-willed guy like him will definetly be fine. Even if he's imprisoned, he's probably finding out a lot of information for us. He is a Pokemon Ranger, after all!"

He released me and I nodded, giving him a thankful smile. But why did it just feel like he was telling me what I wanted to hear?

"We should probably look around the village to see if we can find any information about Amun's mansion. We might even find some information about Ben's whereabouts!" Murph said, clearly trying to cheer me up.

I nodded, looking down at Jet and Yuka, who were giving me reassuring looks. I bent down and picked Yuka up, rubbing her head over and over. I started up the steep hill and saw a group of people clumped together.

"What's going on up there?" I asked Yuka, who gave me a confused 'Chu?'

Murph agreed that we should check it out.

There was a man dressed up in a tuxedo with a wand that had a big yellow jewel on it. He seemed delighted at our appearance. "Nothing up my sleeve but a hello!" He greeted, waving his wand. The wand turned into a bouquet of flowers, which he held out to me. "For you, young lady."

Delighted and startled, I accepted the flowers and set Yuka down. Upon closer inspection, the magician seemed to be a lot older than he let on with the wrinkles he kept hidden beneath a white mask. "Thank you." I said, beaming at the gift.

"Welcome to my magic show. I'll be your guide to a mysterious world."

The kids that surrounded the man of mystery giggled. "Show us! Show us!" They chanted.

Smiling, I joined in. I could use a little fun.

"Well, since we have new guests, let's ask one of them to volunteer." The man said to the children. "How about..." He looked Yuka and Murph over before pointing his jeweled wand at me. "You?"

I pointed a finger at me, as if I was stupid. "Me?"

"Yes, you!" He said, not bothering to hide his giddy smile. "Come, come!"

I handed Murph my bouquet of flowers. I walked up and stood by him.

"Aw... I wanted to be called..." Murph muttered under his breath.

Ignoring him, the magician gave me an excited look. "Are you ready?"

I nodded.

"Three."

I balled my hands into fists, suddenly recieving a violent headache.

"Two."

I shut my eyes. I felt so lightheaded that I could've sworn that my feet left the ground.

"One!"

Then, everything went silent. Then everyone erupted into applause, but it sounded distant. I cautiously opened my eyes. I was surrounded by the sky. Where was the village?

"Summer, you're flying!" Murph shouted from below me. I looked down and I saw the village beneath me.

I waved my arms wildly, trying to swim my way through the air.

I recieved shouts from the kids below.

"Do a flip!"

"Twirl like a ballerina!"

"Fly backwards!"

Well, I was up here, I might as well entertain. As soon as I figured out how to keep my balance and move through the air, I took a wobbly step out and forced myself to cartwheel, sending me into a sequence of cartwheels until I changed my course and started backflipping. It was actually very fun!

I found myself laughing and enjoying myself. I flipped, flew, and even chased down a Swablu! Upon further instructions from the crowd, I captured the Swablu and we danced through the sky. It was almost as if I was free!

"Alright, I think that's enough." The magician said, obviously amused by the spectacle. I felt myself float lower to the ground. When my feet were back on solid land, me and the Swablu bowed and curtsied as applause rained down upon us. Murph handed me my bouquet of flowers as if he was crowning me Miss Oblivia.

"Miss Summer, is that you?" A deep, formal voice asked.

I looked up to see a familiar graying old man in a doctor suit with friendly brown eyes. "Dr. Edward?" I asked back.

He gave me a small hug, making sure that he didn't crush the flowers. "It is you!" He released me with a fatherly smile that made me feel at ease. I want a grandfather like him; prim and proper, but kind and friendly. "I see that you've met my friend Hocus!"

Hocus tipped his top hat to me. "I didn't know that you were a friend of Edward's, Miss. Any friend of Edward's is a friend of mine!"

Edward smiled at Hocus, but turned his attention to me. "How are you, Summer? Have you gotten yourself into anymore trouble?" He asked before gently taking my hand to look over my aching wrist.

"Well..." I started.

His brows knit in concern. "Your wrist is really swollen. Have you disinfected it and rewrapped it since I last saw you?"

"Well..." I started again, more sheepishly than last time.

"Summer, you have to take better care of yourself!" He sternly said. Then he noticed the burns and bruises on my other hand. "And where, pray tell, did you get these bruises?"

Avoiding the question, I breezily said, "Risk. It's in my job decription."

Edward tsked. "Summer, you can't get so careless! I'm going to have to disinfect this wrist before it gets too bad." He lead me into a small hut that was decorated in pastel green.

An old man and woman looked at Dr. Edward. "Hello, Dr. Edward. What brings you here?" The man asked.

"Hello Gertrude, hello Simon. I hope you don't mind my intrusion. I need a place for this young lady to sit down while I clean her wounds." Dr. Edward explained.

Jet, who had followed me into the old couple's house, curled up on the small green couch in the middle of the room and seemed to instruct me to sit beside him. Rolling my eyes at his protective nature, I sat beside him. Dr. Edward came over and set his big black medical bag on the ground and took out alcohol, gauze, and a kind of cream. He unwrapped the bloody gauze from around my wrist.

"So what brings you to Tilt Village?" Edward asked, trying to strike up a conversation while he doused a strip of gauze in alcohol.

"I could ask you the same thing." I teased.

"Well, I'm a travelling doctor, making sure that people all over Oblivia are in good health." He explained. "This might sting."

"I'm here looking for a book written by a man named Amun, who apparently wrote a book about Oblivia's legends." I told him.

He rubbed my infected wrist with the alcohol and I nearly screamed. Arceusdammitwhydidithurtsomuch?! Jet noticed this and curled up closer to me, as if he shared my pain.

"Amun..." Edward said with a thoughtful look on his face. "He researched legends of the Oblivia region, you say? I haven't heard of him before."

Gertrude's face lit up. "Oh, Amun! Wasn't he the man that owned the mansion just north of the village, dear?" She asked Simon.

Simon thought for a second before nodding. "It might be. The person who lived in that mansion was a recluse that never gave his name. So, it could possibly be what you're looking for, young lady."

Dr. Edward disposed of the alcohol wipe and put a cream on the scab that he said was supposed to speed up the healing process. He wrapped my wrist in gauze. "Well, I'd love to stay and catch up with you, Gertrude, but I'm afraid that I have to continue on my way." He looked to me. "I'll see you again soon, Summer. After all, it is a small world."

Then he picked up his bag and left. I looked to Gertrude and Simon.

"He's such a thoughtful man." Gertrude muttered.

I stood up and curtsied to Gertrude and Simon. "I'm sorry for intruding. Thank you for allowing me to sit here for a few moments." I said before walking out.

The first thing that I noticed was that Hocus was gone. Murph was playing with the Swablu. I tapped him on the shoulder. "I know where we can possibly find Amun's book."