Sage held his styler up away from his ear as Joel went on a pestering rant about him. The rest of the base held back giggles as he waited for silence from his rival. He wasn't entirely out of comebacks, he just was using his ace card. It used to be the other way around, Sage was the one pestering Joel, Joel was the one complaining. Now you see where that went.

"Are you even listening to me?" Sage smiled as he returned the styler to his ear.

"Sorry, I was trying to silence the medic you brided and listening to a ranger. What were you saying?"

And then he restarted. Sage put the styler on a table as he took the Plusle that he had saved. While it had greatly recovered, it had been weakened immensely. He ignored Joel's rants and the medic's phone call as he lightly played with the electric type.

"Sage, I know you're not listening." Sage let out a loose giggle as he picked up his styler.

"I am listening. I'm just trying to do several things at once. Not only that, but I have better things to do than listen to you rant and rave about my life. Unlike you, who lived with a healthy family and had a healthy life, I lived mine at the fullest with such an anchor holding me down. My life before this is ten times better than yours. So shut up and go do your job." Joel growled.

"Are you scared to show how weak you really are?" Sage didn't reply as he eyed the ranger holding a letter. A male ranger had slipped out and came back with a panicked look on his face. Act or not, Sage took it.

"I have to go, Joel. I have a base to maintain. See you... uh... never!" He hung up before he could hear whatever followed. The male ranger gulped.

"A group of people pissed off some Rhyhorn and now they are keeping the tunnel closed off." Sage gulped.

"I'll go investigate. Are the people ok?" The male frowned.

"I came back to get help getting them here to recover. I left my Sneasel to keep them calm, but they've already gone into shock." Cedar paused as Sage gulped.

"Um... ok... let's do this... gather some rangers to get the people here for recovery. I'll check the situation. If..." He paused.

If it was Rhyhorn, those things were difficult when they were raging. He had already gotten hurt by a small group of them and they weren't raging. Raging just meant more damage. That could mean a life threatening attempt. He didn't want to say an hour in case he was hurt to the extreme before 15 minutes were up. Cedar finally spoke up.

"Captain... let me come with you. If worse comes to, I can get help just in case."

Sage paused at his determination. While he didn't want Cedar to get hurt, he also didn't want anything worse than death to happen to him. Not only that, but he missed having a partner with him. He smiled.

"Alright. Just watch your back. Let's go!" He gave the Plusle to the ranger with the letter. "I'll take these back when I get back, ok?" She nodded as the groups went out.

~!_!~

Sage was actually glad he had brought Cedar. The Rhyhorn immediately struck him before he could even do anything. His vision blurred as Cedar got in front.

"CAPTURE ON!"

The styler flashed as the disc raced out and quickly captured the raging pokemon, calming them down. Cedar then got to Sage's side and pulled something out as Sage passed out.

~!_!~

"Captain!"

Sage blinked as he grabbed his head. Alive was for sure. Awake was another check. Ok? He sat up, ready for the rush of pain. Nothing. He blinked before seeing that he was healed up. He paused.

"What..." Cedar gulped.

"I was able to get you to a position where you could slowly start getting up. Are you ok?" He nodded as he stood up.

"Yes... thank you..." Cedar nodded as he looked around.

"That seemed to be the only group. I already sent them home." Sage smiled.

"Good job, Cedar. Let's go back."

~!_!~

The medic grabbed him almost immediately after he entered the base. Sage cried out in pain as Cedar winced.

"Hey!"

Sage sat down, hoping the pain would pass as Cedar tried to reason with the medic about something. Yeah... there was the rush of pain he was waiting for. It slowly faded as a soft light touched him. Cedar slowly helped him up and over to the table.

"Ow..." He put his head down as his stomach growled. Oh great. His ears landed on a conversation that made him pause.

Medic: "Are you sure you can handle him?"

Cedar: "I was sent here for that reason. I have already healed him. It'll take some time for it to fully transfer, but I bet I can handle him. This is the letter I got that was for you saying that you're going back and I'm taking over."

Medic: "Alright... thank you. Take care of him."

Cedar: "I will."

The sound door came and left as a hand touched his shoulder. Sage couldn't believe it. The medic was finally gone and now he could relax from that.

"Captain?" He huffed.

"Yeah...?" Something was put down in front of him. He looked up to see a sandwich, the letter and Plusle.

"Relax. The rest of us are going onto patrol. We'll hold the line against Joel." He nodded as he took the Plusle and placed it on his shoulder. He grabbed the sandwich as Cedar helped him with the letter. He spotted the signature and smiled.

"Dear Sage.

Of course I want to! I want to be a ranger! I'm not going to let anyone stop me from being able to help people and Pokemon live in harmony together.

Thank you for giving me this opportunity! I accept it! I'll be awaiting your reply with the things to get started.

I'm not surprised you don't remember me because I wasn't one you interacted with often. But I swear I can prove that we know each other.

Remember when you caught Elita and someone having a heated argument about her part in 'This is Me'? I was the opposing side of the argument.

Again... Thanks for the opportunity to join!

~Lapis."

Sage paused as his mind drifted. He did remember that fight. He still couldn't get a face. He'd have to mention that, but the argument was all there.

~!_!~

"I'm not singing it!" Sage had jerked at the volume of Elita's voice as she yelled at someone.

"Elita, you're the only one that has a strong enough voice for it! Arctic can't get up there in volume to pull it off. Tiffany and my other sisters aren't able to hit your range. The other ladies are busy backing you up! You're the only one!"

"Am not! Why doesn't Crepe do it?"

"He's already doing his solo before! He can't do a warm up in the middle to prepare for the role he needs to be in! And before you even say it, no one can hit your amazing range, Elita! The director will argue the same points! Just work with me!"

"Urgh! Only if it gets you to shut up!"

~!_!~

Sage had remembered that. Maybe Elita could help him piece together the missing identity. He smiled as he grasped his styler.

"I guess it's time to get that ready." Cedar paused.

"Who is it?" Sage hummed.

"A kid named Lapis in the Kithicor Sector. We've been planning on getting him into the rangers under his father's nose." Cedar spotted the sly smile that joined the captain's face.

"Naughty captain if you ask me." Sage smiled as his styler made a noise. He glanced at it and groaned.

"But I don't wanna clash with Joel!" The operator lost it as she tried to keep her composure, which was a fail.

"Suck it up, Sage! You can't get out of this one!" He hissed at her.

"Stop siding with him!" Cedar gulped.

"Who's Joel...?" Sage growled.

"You'll meet him when he brings his smug face into the base."