XD XD XD I am sooooo sorry for leaving you guys with that terrible cliffhanger. I'm the worst, aren't I?

Well, to make up for breaking the hearts of all of you FabricationOfLiesShippers (which is a freaking lot of people, given all the hate comments I received on the last chapter), I wrote this super shippy and significant-to-the-plot chapter that is also hella long. You're welcome.

This chapter explains what happened that night from Keith's POV, and I think you guys will be pleasantly surprised to find out what really happened!

WARNING: this chapter contains lots of foul language. Proceed at your own risk. (It's really not that bad, but I guess some would beg to differ)

Uh, read, comment, vote, and don't kill me?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Keith's POV)

"That's...weird." Rhythimi squared her eyebrows at me, sitting next to me in the Commons Room. "So she just, like...planted one on you?"

"...yeah." I cringed a little while recalling last night, shaking my head slightly. Buizel sat in my lap, and he just gave me the same look Rhyth was. "She totally caught me off guard."

______________________________

~The Previous Night~

I stared at the note in my hand left on my door for me tonight as I made my way down to Ascension Square, reading it over again in my mind. "Keith, please meet me down in Ascension Square at ten o'clock, after curfew. -Amanda."

"What the heck does she want?" I rose an eyebrow at the note again, super confused.

When I had reached the bottom step that was illuminated by the moonlight beaming down on the ground, I spotted a silhouette standing in front of the pier. As I got closer, the silhouette's features became more defined, and I soon could make out Amanda's short blonde hair and brown eyes.

"Amanda?" I quietly spoke her name out loud, and she immediately turned around and showed her face. "Hey, what's up?"

"Oh, Keith!" Amanda nearly jumped with surprise when she noticed I was here, and her voice grew shaky. "O-oh... I-it's just, I-I wanted to talk to you about something."

I just rose an eyebrow at her, a little confused. "Oh-kay...?"

"So, you see..." Amanda quickly began losing her confidence. "It's just that I, uh... Well, I---you... Keith, I just... I've felt this way for awhile, but I just---"

I quickly grew impatient with this girl, since she wasn't making any sense. "Amanda, what are you trying to say?"

As if she had no other way of explaining herself, Amanda placed her hands on my face and stood up on her tip-toes to match my height, crushing her lips into mine. I could faintly hear the sound of leaves rustling and some sort of Pokemon scampering away, but I didn't pay much attention to it.

My eyes grew wide with horror, and I quickly pushed her off of me. "Whoa, Amanda!"

Amanda looked crestfallen, but also apologetic. "I'm sorry, I was out of line..."

Ah. Now I get it...

"Look, Amanda..." I started to say, but she quickly beat me to it and cut me off.

"It's her, isn't it?" She smiled through her pain, asking me the question. "You like that girl Rena Deveraux, right?"

My cheeks reddened immediately, caught off guard by her question. Well, there was no point in lying to her. "Yeah, I... I do." I ran a hand through my hair, exhaling sharply with relief due to saying it out loud for the first time. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Amanda smiled sadly, then turned to leave. "I understand. It's just that I've always believed that it's better to regret something you've done rather than something you haven't done at all." She paused, turning to look at me one last time. "Heed that advice for me, okay?"

And with that, she left, and I watched her somberly walk away.

"What the hell just happened?" I ran a hand through my spiky red hair before returning to my dorm room.

______________________________

"That's just...weird." Rhythimi shook her head, sighing a little.

"I know." I agreed with her, trying to ignore the awkward silence wedged between us.

...

"I mean, it's you." Rhythimi half glared at me with confusion. "Who the heck would like you?" She bluntly stated her opinion, stabbing my ego with a knife.

I felt like I just got punched in the chest, but Buizel couldn't stop laughing. "Thanks...?" I sarcastically looked at her, unsure how to respond.

"It's gotta be because you're rich or something." She concluded, shrugging her shoulders.

Her words felt like someone smashed a sheet of glass over my head. "Ouch... That's cold." Buizel rolled out of my lap and onto the floor, cracking up.

"I mean, because, you're a huge jerk." Rhythimi added onto the insult unknowingly. "You're stubborn, have a crazy temper, you're super arrogant, conceited, selfish, reckless---"

I grew too impatient and angry to keep listening to her. "Okay, okay, I get it!" I quickly cut her off, slapping my hand over her mouth.

Rhythimi yanked my hand off of her mouth and regained her composure in a huff, dusting off her skirt. "Humph. Anyways, like I was about to say, the only girl I could ever see legitimately falling for you is Rena---"

"Wait what?" I didn't let her finish, immediately staring at Rhythimi intently, speaking way too fast and hyper for comprehension. "Rena? Why? Why do you say that? Has she said something to you? You just listed a whole lot of reasons why girls shouldn't like me, so what makes you say---"

"Whoa, whoa!" Rhythimi laughed, pushing me away from her slightly. "Calm down, would you? I don't see why you're so interested in Rena all of a---oh. My. GOD!" Rhythimi's eyes widened when the crushing realization dawned on her. "You like Re---MFFF!"

I quickly covered her mouth with my hands, smothering her speech mid sentence. "Say another word and I'll figure out a really embarrassing way to tell Isaac you've been crushing on him since we were ten."

I let go of Rhythimi when she nodded her head despite her groan of annoyance. Somehow, her Eevee, who had been sleeping in her lap that whole time, hadn't woken up from all of the commotion. "Fine, I won't tell my best friend that you like her." Rhythimi huffed and crossed her arms across her chest. "But only if you promise to tell her yourself. And soon."

"Fine, I promise." I rolled my eyes, crossing my arms across my chest bitterly. Buizel stared at me skeptically, not really buying that I was going to tell Rena the truth.

Suddenly, the intercom above us turned on, and Ms. April's voice came on with an announcements. "Students, your partners and locations for your internships today have been posted in the cafeteria. Departure time is in half an hour, so please make haste and get ready for this exciting day!"

Click!

Internships...? Oh crap---

"Don't tell me you forgot?" Rhythimi smirked knowingly in my direction, already off the couch and walking towards the stairs with a sleeping Eevee in her arms.

"It's not that I forgot---" I scampered up off the couch and grabbed Buizel, running to catch up and follow her down the stairs. "---it's just that I forgot."

Rhythimi laughed sarcastically. "That doesn't even make sense!"

We dissolved into the huge wave of students crowding around the Cafeteria doors with our respected Pokemon, pushing and shoving our way to the lists posted on the walls. Everyone was frantically skimming the list for their last names posted, trying to see who they were partnered up with and where they were going. Some cheered and were excited, while others weren't so lucky and groaned in annoyance. I, however, couldn't be happier with my assignment.

Keith Jeremy Dazzle: Vientown Ranger Base - Rena Arisa Deveraux.

I smirked triumphantly to myself, even more excited about how this day would inevitably turn out. Partnered up with Rena for an internship together? I have no complaints here.

Before I could even back out of the crowd with Buizel to try and find Rhythimi, the blonde found us first and jerked me out of the crowd by my shirt collar.

"YOWCH!"

BAM!

"Oww..."

Rhythimi stood over me on the floor and just raised an eyebrow, placing her hands on her hips. Buizel just mimicked her pose and did the same thing. "You're a real klutz, you know that?"

I quickly grew defensive and shot straight up from the ground. "I am not!"

"Uh huh, sure." She simply rolled her eyes at me with a hint of exhaustion hidden within them. "Anyways, I'm going to to go find Isaac so we can start heading out for the Ranger Union." She waved me off, starting to walk towards the science lab, still holding Eevee.

"Mushroom boy, huh?" I smirked in her general direction, purposely trying to piss her off. "Have fun with him, but of course no too much fun---"

SLAP!

"OW!"

"OH WOULD YOU JUST SHUT UP!?"

"STOP HITTING ME!"

I clutched my burning cheek and winced at Rhythimi. Yow... That hurt.

She angrily glared at me one last time before storming off; somehow her Eevee slept through all of the shouting.

Somehow.

"Learn to be respectful, Keith. Your brash nature could get you in trouble some day." Her eyes lingered on me for a moment, probably hoping that her advice had some sort of effect on me.

"Yeah, whatever..." I grumbled under my breath. Before I could say some sort of retort, a wave of dark brown hair and a blur of grey-black fur brushed past me, and I was immediately distracted, hoping it was Rena. "Rena!" I called out to her and held out my hand, then began chasing after the girl. "We have to go to Vientown together for our internship---"

Rena kept walking away from me with her shoulders squared. Mightyena was by her side, as always. "I know. Let's go get this over with already." She snapped, not even waiting for me to catch up.

...

Did I say something wrong?

I don't think so...

...

Why the hell is she in such a pissy mood? I didn't even do anything!

I chased after Rena and Mightyena and caught up to them by the school's front gate. "Hey! What's gotten into you?" I sighed, really annoyed by her brushing me off as if I was a piece of trash. "You don't have to be so bitchy. Don't think you can just take your anger out on me; I haven't even done anything to deserve your shitty attitude---"

SLAM!

Rena spun around with incredible speed and punched me so hard across the face that I nearly was knocked to the ground from the impact of her fist colliding with my cheek.

"You haven't done anything?!" Rena scoffed angrily, glaring at me with eyes filled with hurt and agonizing pain. "Oh, on the contrary. Don't lie to me! I know what you did!"

I stood up from the ground and struggled not to lose my temper. "What the hell was that for!? I have no idea what you're even talking about!"

Buizel and Mightyena both shot each other nervous glances, unsure of what to do. I could tell they wanted to intervene, but each Pokemon knew something the other didn't, which biased their reasoning. So basically they said "fuck it" since they don't know what the hell's going on and decided to just let us have it out with each other.

"Don't play dumb with me!" Rena screamed, punching me again. This time her fist hit my shoulder blade, and my eye only twitched angrily in response.

With every hit she delivered, I grew more and more angry. I felt my temper bubbling up, and boiling water was spilling over the top of the pot and sizzling as it seared at the metal burner. It wasn't long before all I saw was a flash of white anger before my eyes.

"WOULD YOU STOP HITTING ME AND JUST EXPLAIN WHAT THE HELL IT IS THAT YOU'RE SO PISSED ABOUT!?" I screamed at her, grabbing her arms with extreme force. I unconsciously dug my nails into her skin, bruising her flesh with my tight hold on her. Mightyena intuitively lunged to attack me, but Buizel held him off by shooting an Aqua Jet that sent him flying to the side.

Rena ripped my hands off of her and payed no attention to the small cuts and reddened bruises left on her arms. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU! I thought you were different, but you're exactly the same!" Tears visibly welled up in her eyes, but she dared not let them spill onto her cheeks.

Sure, I felt bad for hurting her, but I was just too damn angry with her insults to pay attention to my conscience for even a second. "Oh yeah!?" I scoffed, incredulously. "The same? The same as WHAT?"

Rena shook slightly with anger, taking a step closer to me so she was right in my face. "You're exactly the same as every spoiled, snotty, stuck-up rich kid out there!" She screamed at my face as loud as her lungs would allow her to. Buizel and Mightyena both flinched at every insulting word Rena uttered. "You're manipulative, self-centered, arrogant, conceited, cruel, and you do whatever it takes to get what you want without even regarding the other person's feelings!" The tears finally streamed down her face as she shook more violently with anger, turning red from how mad she was.

Every word that slipped off her tongue was a stab to the heart.

I felt as if someone had just smashed a glass vase over my head, leaving me temporarily dazed and out of it. I stood there completely stunned and quiet for a good minute before I converted it into uncontrollable anger. "Why, you---"

"FUCK OFF!" Rena slapped me across the face with impossible strength and turned around with Mightyena, storming out the front gate. "I WANT NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU, YOU INCONSIDERATE BASTARD!"

"HEY! GET BACK HERE!" I angrily chased after her with Buizel, beyond furious.

______________________________

(Third Person POV)

Keith, Rena, and their Pokemon trudged the rest of the way to Vientown in complete silence. Both teens were excruciatingly pissed off at the other, and they would stop walking occasionally to fight and throw punches at each other once again. Keith didn't understand why she was so mad, but he didn't care at this point. His temper had taken over for the moment, and he wasn't the same lovable Keith he always was. He was the dark, manipulative, sinister bastard that took over his mind whenever he got really pissed off. Combine that personality with Rena's, and you have a sure recipe for disaster.

It broke his heart to hear her say those things. It broke Keith's heart to hear Rena, both his best friend and the girl he liked, call him an arrogant bastard straight to his face. But what really pissed him off was her comparing him to the rest of his social class. He wasn't like the rest... Not at all. The rest of his social class were arrogant pricks who looked down on the middle class and only affiliated themselves with those equal to or greater than their own wealth. They were stuck up jerks, and Keith wasn't anything like them. He wasn't like his Father. Growing up, Keith HATED when people compared him to someone else, and he also hated a majority of the people in his social class, so being called the same as them was going too far. Rena had gone too far this time by unconsciously comparing him to his Father, and for no apparent reason. Unlike other rich guys his age, Keith actually had a conscience, and a heart. He actually cared how his actions impacted others, regardless of how much he doesn't ever show it to anyone. Despite his arrogant and conceited persona he puts out for the world to see, Keith was actually a pretty good guy deep down, and his arrogance was just his way of protecting himself from getting hurt. Although, he somehow managed to get hurt regardless of how he acted around people.

Rena was furious. She couldn't believe him! When she first saw him making out with Amanda late last night, she was completely heartbroken for whatever reason. Although, after sleeping on it, she just woke up completely pissed off. Keith had been leading her on, which shouldn't have bothered Rena in the first place, since, you know...she was the one supposed to seduce and con him...but it did bother her. He immediately jumped from pursuing one girl to the next, not even regarding each of their feelings. What about Amanda? How would she feel if she found out that she was being played? He was just like those other arrogant rich bastards Rena had met on her other jobs, and that broke her heart. Somewhere in her heart, in the back of her mind, she wanted Keith to be different than the selfish men of power she had been exposed to her whole life, but last night was the slap to the face Rena needed to see that she was being played, deceived even. She wanted more than anything to believe Keith was different, but...he wasn't. And she had to accept that.

She might stay in Ranger School and go through with the whole Ranger thing and leave her old life behind for Isaac and Rhythimi's sake, but now? She wasn't about to do it for Keith anymore.

She was going to leave him behind without looking back.

After a twenty minute silence, the two Rangers-in-Training and Pokemon arrived at the farm town known as Vientown. Green grass and pastures filled with Miltanks stretched across the small, widespread town filled with vegetation and little houses. Rena figured they must have a population of thirty at most. It was a quiet town with the Ranger Base smack dab in the middle, and a huge, bustling forest towered over the town from behind, which was known as the Vien Forest. The south end of the town led to an even smaller village called "Chicole Village," and the west end of town, right across from where they were currently standing on the east side, led to a small beach named "Nabiki Beach."

Rena had been here once before, back when Kincaid had escorted her to the Ranger School all those months ago. She had walked through the lush Vien Forest and strode though Vientown like she owned the place, unknowing of the future that had been set in place for her. The future filled with the heartbreak and betrayal that had come to pass.

The two teens were greeted by a few smiling faces belonging to the townspeople as they made their way towards the Ranger Base, although both were too filled with anger to properly form a response as simple as a hand wave. Keith and Rena stepped through the Ranger Base's automatic doors only to be greeted with complete silence.

...

"Where is everyone...?" Rena cautiously stepped forward, staring at her empty surroundings. What was going on? Was this an ambush? Was someone on to her con?

"Dunno." Keith bitterly shrugged, clenching his teeth. "Maybe they cleared out when they heard that a major bitch was coming here for her internship..." He dryly rolled his eyes to be fixed on her, resting a hand on his waist.

Rena shot Keith a hateful glare, hiding her overwhelming sadness within her stomach. She painfully tore her gaze from him and stormed over to the counter where the Operator was supposed to be sitting, and she found an envelope addressed "For you, kiddies."

Rena didn't even bother to wait for Keith to walk over before ripping open the envelope and fiercely reading the letter, crunching the edges of the paper slightly within her angry fingertips.

"Dear kiddies," the letter was addressed. "I'm sure by now you've noticed that we're currently not here at the moment," the letter read. "Now, here's your mission. On this desk is a brown package labeled 'FRAGILE' in bolded red letters. Right now, we are ALL out on a huge mission that is crucial to Almia's future safety, and we need you to deliver it IMMEDIATELY. We are waiting for you at Breeze Hill. Do not tip, turn, or drop the package. Please hurry. - Base Leader Barlow."

Rena stared at the letter, completely bored. "...I bet this is some sort of cheesy prank that's incredibly ridiculous and was put in place solely to mess with us." She balled up the letter and pelted it as hard as she could into the trash can across the Ranger Base, carelessly stomping towards the front doors. "I'm outta here."

"Where the fuck do you think you're going?" Keith turned on his heel, angrily shooting daggers at the girl with his fiery-red eyes.

She flashed him a malevolent glower, resting her eyes on him from over her shoulder. "Getting the hell away from you."

Rena then proceeded to storm through the automatic doors with Mightyena sulking behind her, who reluctantly followed his master after shooting Buizel an apologetic look. Buizel frowned slightly and nodded his head, understanding the unspoken apology.

"Damn that woman..." Keith cursed under his breath, turning around and slamming his fist on the counter to relieve some of his pent-up fury.

Buizel nearly jumped out of his skin at the sudden cacophony. Keith picked up the fragile package and tucked it under his arm, heading towards Nabiki Beach. The letter said Breeze Hill, which was just north of the beach. So, the enraged teen stormed out of the Ranger Base and gained more than just one judgmental eye focused on him. If Rena was just gonna abandon him now and storm off like that, he'd do the damn mission on his own, whatever the hell it was.

When Keith stepped just outside of Vientown, he paused, looking at his surroundings. He was up on a slightly-raised cliff that towered over the light-colored beach to his left, which was covered in grass and a dirt path that parted into two ways. This fork in the road went both left and right; left led to a small staircase connecting to the beach and Marine Cave, and right carried onwards to the more lush half of the terrain that steepened in elevation. Keith immediately knew that way was the way to go. So, following the trees that framed the right side of the path, Keith started to walk in that direction up the hill.

Buizel ran in front of Keith, and the red-head nearly stepped on him. He held out his little otter paws to block Keith's legs from going any further, shooting his partner a somber frown.

"What?" Keith bitterly snapped, holding his chin high and mighty. "You're not pissed about Rena, are you?" The glare his otter gave him quickly answered that question. "I did literally NOTHING and she blew up on me! Yeah, maybe I lost my temper, but the bitch deserved it for what she said." Keith grumbled, frustratingly clenching his fists and jaw. "Look, Buizel. I know you adore Rena and all, but you're either with me on this or not." Keith was shocked to see the otter-Pokemon stubbornly cross his arms over his chest, refusing to budge. "Fine." Keith side-stepped, brushing past Buizel. "Have it your way."

Buizel watched as Keith walked away from him, feeling both hurt and angry for being abandoned. Then again, he did sort of instigate it in the first place. His partner frustrated him now more than ever. The fight with Rena hurt Keith more than he was letting on, and it hurt Buizel to just stand there helplessly and watch the two lovebirds berate each other into an oblivion of pain and regrets they would inevitably acknowledge later.

Yes, lovebirds.

Buizel was well aware of his partner's feelings for the girl, and after hanging around those two so much and talking with Mightyena, the two had concluded that somewhere along the way, Rena had fallen for the hot-head as well, but was so far deep in denial that it didn't even register as a possibility in the brunette's head. Mightyena seemed only concerned about his partner deeply as if she was in grave danger because of that rather than be happy for her. He was hiding something from Buizel, but Buizel respected his friend's privacy and didn't ask. Eevee was worried about Mightyena too, but he also didn't ask what was going on with his sudden concern for Rena. Then again, that was probably because the narcoleptic was asleep most of the damn time anyways.

Buizel was about 99.9% sure that Keith didn't just like Rena, but he loved her. The extent of Rena's true feelings for the arrogant son of a bitch still remained a mystery to Buizel, however, he knew his partner better than he knew himself, so it wasn't hard to figure out that Keith was head over heels for the girl the moment she strutted in, acting as if she owned the place. Keith was immediately attracted to her, and he absolutely loved her confidence and snarky attitude. She was also one of the few people who could put up with his bullshit and his nasty temper. She hadn't fallen head over heels for him or develop a crush on him for his wealth like all of the other girls at the Ranger School had, and she was the first girl that actually saw Keith for himself. And actually, she resented him for his wealth. Hah! That was a first. She was the first girl who challenged him, poked his buttons despite his bad attitude and temper, and she actually had the guts the sock him right in the face whenever he was being the condescending prick they both knew he was at times. (At times...). Keith was pretty sure that if he had given her the chance earlier, she would've kicked his ass more than those few punches to the face. She was brave enough to stand up to him and flat-out tell him he was an arrogant bastard, and she never hesitated to call him out whenever he was wrong about something.

Only a few had ever seen Keith's true colors, aka his bad temper, which were Rhythimi, Isaac, and Rena. Well, those were the only ones who'd seen his temper and stayed by his side. Rhythimi and Isaac were merely just witnesses to his temper, but Rena was the only one of the three that had been an actual victim. He had injured her a countless number of times thanks to losing his temper, yet Rena never mentioned it once. She took the pain with a brave look on her face, and instead of running away and letting the abuse get to her like any of his temper's other victims, she stayed put and never broke eye contact until Keith came back down to earth. Buizel was sure without a doubt that the damage Keith did to her arms today would leave a nasty bruise. Rena wasn't afraid of Keith's red eyes that flashed with fire whenever he was angry. Buizel didn't know what made Rena so tough, but he knew that whatever it was, it must have been something horrible that the girl had lived with for a long time that inevitably made her stronger, so being a victim of Keith's temper was considered nothing compared to it.

Rena was a wonderful actress. Buizel knew it, Keith knew it... Both boys could watch her smiling face all day and not be fooled by it. Her facial expressions were all false; they weren't stupid. It was her eyes that gave her away. She was the most gorgeous girl Keith had ever laid eyes on and had the prettiest smile, but her dead eyes gave it away. They weren't bright and happy like her smile, they were dim and cloudy. Pain and sadness was hidden behind them, and Keith had recognized it the moment he'd met her. Keith figured she'd gone through some pretty bad shit in her past to make her so depressed, but he never dared ask about it, no matter how much he wanted her to tell him.

Keith wanted Rena more than anything. He wanted to hold her forever and never let go. He wanted to call her his own. He wanted to have the right to punch any bastard in the face that even looked at her funny. He wanted to take her sadness and pain away and carry the burden for her. He wanted to spend every waking moment with her.

And that was what made her words hurt the most.

Buizel watched as Keith depressingly trudged down the path further, internally sulking. He hated seeing his partner so heartbroken, but he couldn't help but wonder, what exactly had Rena been talking about earlier when she accused him of doing something despicable enough to make her want to punch him? Nothing really came to mind. Buizel didn't remember seeing Rena at all this morning before heading out for the internship, and the last time he saw her was before everyone went off to bed for the night, meaning that whatever had pissed her off had to have happened in the middle of---the...night...

...

...she couldn't possibly have seen, could she?

Buizel widened his eyes in horror as the crushing realization dawned on him. Oh no! No no no! Rena must have snuck out after curfew around the same time Keith did last night and saw Amanda kiss Keith, then completely misunderstood what had happened! Which means... Rena must have felt heartbroken and couldn't bear to watch, so she ran away before she could see Keith push Amanda off of him, which is why she was so pissed off at Keith! She had to have lashed out at him today out of a broken heart rather than out of spite!

...of course, this was all just hypothetical.

...

Oh, fuck it. This was the only possible explanation for what had happened, and Buizel knew it.

And that was when the little otter-Pokemon bolted straight for the red-head, trying to think of a way to tell his partner what really happened and mend the relationship between the two stubborn asses before it was too late.

And it may have already been just that: too late.

______________________________

"UGH! THAT INCONSIDERATE. SELFISH. ARROGANT. CONDESCENDING. ASSHOLE!" Rena violently kicked at the sand on the beach after screaming every word, drawing the attention of a couple lounging on the opposite side of Nabiki Beach who just stared at her as if she was a Ponyta with a Magikarp for a head.

Mightyena simply whined through his nose, helplessly staring up at Rena with the most pitiful look he could possibly make.

Rena huffed and stared down at her beloved companion, sticking out her lip in a pout. "Don't look at me like that."

Mightyena shot her a quizzical, judgmental look, tightening his gaze on her.

Rena's eye twitched involuntarily in response to being glared at, and she quickly went on the defensive. "Stop that."

Mightyena sat at her feet and stared straight up at her with a glare, narrowing his eyes at her.

"I said stop."

...

"Stop it."

...

"Would you cut that out already?!"

...

"UGH!" Rena frustratedly stomped further down the beach, unknowingly growing closer to a cave carved into the cliff side.

Mightyena would've laughed at her frustration if he didn't currently have a splitting headache. Yowch, did it hurt! It felt like this endless throbbing pain in the back of his mind that he couldn't get rid of!

Rena bit down hard on the inside of her cheek to control her anger, drawing a little blood. She didn't care. She was too pissed off at the world to give a shit. She was pissed off at her damn dog (let's just face it, Mightyena practically was her dog), her damn job, her damn self, her damn stubborn red-haired mark, the damn world, and even damn Ice, the arrogant bastard that probably saw all of this coming from the very start.

She knew she'd have to call in later to report what was going on with her and Keith, and she was already regretting it. She could just picture the damn bastard humming "I told you soooo~!" into the phone, proving her wrong.

To be completely honest with herself, she wasn't really even that pissed off that Keith kissed some random chick. What really pissed her off was that she didn't know why she cared. Why the hell should she care if he was sneaking around with a bunch of girls? It wasn't her business who the red-head dated, so why the hell did she care? Rena was just too pissed off to think straight, and when she saw a cave off to her right, she instinctively went inside in search of solitude.

Mightyena rose a questionable brow at Rena's choice of peace and quiet, but he followed her into the Marine Cave regardless. That headache of his was already starting to get worse, and he felt so dizzy all of a sudden. He cringed when the penetrating, distinct sound of someone blowing as hard as they could into a dog whistle entered his ears, unable to block out the painful noise. What the hell was that!? Rena continued exploring deeper into the cave, completely undisturbed. She must not have noticed the noise. But how could she not hear it!? It was so excruciating!

Rena rose an eyebrow when she heard a faint pulsing noise emanating from the back of the cave. "What the fuck is that?"

Mightyena sighed in relief. It wasn't just him! She heard it too!

Although unlike her canine partner, Rena seemed only slightly annoyed by the noise, rather than on the verge of doubling over in excruciating pain like Mightyena was seconds from doing. He just wanted to get out of here, but his loyalty to Rena out-shined his common sense, and he didn't dare leave her side.

If only he knew that would do more harm than good.

Rena caught sight of a small wooden fence blocking the way further into the cave, and she simply stared at it, completely dumbfounded. "Who would put such a weak barrier here and why?"

She glanced down at her green School Styler equipped to her right wrist, contemplating her options.

What would a Ranger do in this situation? Probably catch some sort of Pokemon that had the necessary field move to cut it down.

But, you see, that was the difference between Rena and Pokemon Rangers. Rena was a thief, not a Ranger, and she honestly couldn't give a flying fuck about protocol.

"Let's see, do I care enough to do the right thing here?" She mumbled out loud, stroking her chin as she stared at the tiny, insulting fence that dared to mock her with its simple existence. "Nope. I currently have zero fucks to give."

So naturally, she promptly just kicked in the fence with one strong blow to the center.

Mightyena's eyelids were starting to feel very heavy, and he felt like he was going to faint at any second now. The pain was just getting worse and worse, and he felt as if he couldn't hold out very much longer...

Not having acknowledged her partner's inner struggle just yet, Rena followed the noise to the very back of the Marine Cave, and she froze in place when she heard voices squabbling beyond the rocky walls. So, it would appear that she wasn't alone in here. Rena instinctively ducked behind one of the rocky walls before peering her head around the corner just far enough to see into the room.

Three men dressed in black and purple matching uniforms stood around a peculiar red machine with a spinning top, watching as the surrounding wild Shellos, Zubat, and Pichu circled it brainlessly as if they had no control over themselves.

Rena stared at the red machine, completely lost in thought. What the heck is that thing? A mailbox?

"Wow, it actually works!" One of the shady guys said in awe to another, slapping his hands onto his cheeks.

"Well of course it works, you dolt." The man standing next to him smacked him upside the head, rolling his eyes as the guy cried out pathetically in pain. "The boss hired the best of the best smarties to develop the Gigaremo in the first place."

"Oh. It's a Gigaremo." Rena thought to herself.

...whatever the heck that is.

The third guy motioned over to the Gigaremo, looking a little confused. "So, what? We just flip the switch and - KAPOW! - the Pokemon are rendered helpless as it controls their minds?"

The older guy that seemed to be in charge of the operation crossed his arms as he mulled it over, then shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, I guess you could put it that way."

Rena snapped her eyes open in shock, unable to comprehend this. Mind controlling...machine? For Pokemon?

...

Just because she was a thief who didn't abide by the law didn't mean she was okay with something as despicable as this.

"Hey, morons." Rena snapped, stepping out from her hiding place and approaching the three shady guys fearlessly. "Just what exactly do you think you're doing?"

The three guys spun around and paled at the sight of Rena.

"N-n-nothing m-ma'am!" The first guy stammered, trying to keep his knees from buckling together.

The other one on the other side of the leader sweatdropped, making an audible gulp. "We're not doing anything suspicious or illegal at all, promise! Scouts honor!" He saluted Rena timidly.

Rena just raised an eyebrow at the buffoons. Just who did they think they were fooling?

The leader of the group stared at Rena quizzically. "Brunette girl, Styler, Mightyena for a partner, School Uniform..." His eyebrows quickly shot up into his hairline. "Oh crap, it's her! Of all the people that had to catch us in the act of testing out the Gigaremo, it just had to be her!" He stupidly blurted out more than he should of said, and he slapped a hand over his mouth as soon as he realized that.

Rena took a dangerous step forwards, raising an eyebrow at the three of them. "Alright, spill. What's going on here?! Just who exactly ARE you freaks?" Rena's paranoia quickly swept over her thoughts, consuming control over her actions whole.

The first shady guy proudly puffed up his chest and pointed to the strange purple logo on his uniform. "Why, we're Team Dim Sun, a criminal syndicate determined to create a brighter future for Almia!" His face was quickly met by the fist of the leader.

"YOU BLUNDERING FOOL! DON'T GO TELLING HER THAT!" The leader shouted at his subordinate, fuming with anger. "The boss specifically instructed us all to keep her in the dark!"

The Dim Sun Minion whimpered helplessly as he rubbed his red cheek. "I'm sorry... I wasn't thinking straight. At least I didn't tell her that the---"

The leader slammed his fist down on the moron's head before he could get another word out. "YOU IDIOT! YOU WERE ABOUT TO DO IT AGAIN!"

"OW! I'M SORRY!"

Rena struggled not to laugh out loud at these freaks. They were so incredibly stupid that it was funny.

"Alright, girl." The leader narrowed his eyes at Rena. "I'll give you a choice: you can either leave right now and pretend none of this ever happened, or we're going to have to hurt you."

Rena actually did laugh, considering how ridiculous that was. "Hah! You honestly think you can take me on? You three weaklings don't stand a chance." She leaned forwards with a taunting smirk on her arrogant face. Her Father had trained her to be a better fighter than he ever was, so she was beyond ready for this.

The Dim Sun leader simply smirked, crossing his arms over his chest. "Well, then it's a good thing we won't be the ones attacking you."

Rena's smirk was slapped right off of her face when she tightened her focus on the jerk who dared to insult her. "Hey, what do you even mean by that---"

A vicious snarl from behind her interrupted Rena before she could finish her sentence, and she cautiously turned around. She was horrified to see Mightyena with his fangs bared at her, standing in position to attack her at any given moment.

"Might...yen...a...?" The syllables of her most trusted friend's name slipped off of her tongue as she stared at him in disbelief.

"HAHAHA!" The leader laughed cynically, unable to contain his delight. "Foolish girl. Don't you get it? Our invention, the Gigaremo, doesn't only control wild Pokemon." He smirked, staring at the back of the brunette's head. "It controls the mind of any Pokemon, captured or not."

Rena felt her heart throb painfully when Mightyena showed no recognition whatsoever of his master, his friend, his partner. He almost looked like an ordinary wild, vicious Mightyena with a violent nature.

"Mightyena, cut it out." Rena nervously laughed, then stopped laughing when she noticed Mightyena didn't even blink. "Seriously, stop it." A low rumble of his snarl found its way to her ears, and he took one step forwards. "Mightyena, snap out of it!" Rena started to panic, backing up and away from her trusted ally.

Mightyena's red eyes were clouded and foggy, and he showed no sign of recognition or the intent of showing mercy. He was hungry for blood, her blood. And somewhere deep down, Rena knew that.

It wasn't long before Rena found her back pressed up against the rocky wall at the back of the cave. "Stop this! This isn't you! SNAP OUT OF IT!" She desperately cried out to try and reach her partner's ears, but Mightyena seemed to not even hear her at all. "Mightyena..." A stray tear slipped down Rena's cheek.

The Dim Sun leader and his two cohorts strutted past Mightyena and began making their great escape, but the leader looked back over at Rena one last time before disappearing. "We'll just give you two some privacy. I'm sure you have a lot to...discuss." His evil smirk taunted Rena's sanity, and the three minions left Rena in the cave to survive the Gigaremo's play on Mightyena's mind.

When the three left, Rena faintly heard them squabbling again before the sound of a bunch of falling rocks crashing to the ground echoed and bounced off the walls. Rena guessed they were now blocking the exit to the Marine Cave. The sound of water rushing into Marine Cave reached her ears, and she felt panic when it dawned on her that it was high tide.

"Crap..." Rena cursed herself quietly, then snapped out of it when Mightyena viciously barked at her. She stared helplessly at the Pokemon she loved with all her heart, unable to force herself to harm him like her training and instincts told herself to do. "Hey, buddy, you've gotta wake up... Please, Mightyena! Wake up! Snap out of it!" She cried out desperately, but her attempts showed no avail. "Come on, don't you recognize me?"

Rena's imagination caused her to see Mightyena flash between his old Poochyena form and this one, nearly bringing her to tears.

"Come on, boy... You have to recognize me." She begged, feeling how hoarse her throat was currently. "Remember when I found you starving in that Castelia alley, and I shared half of my Casteliacone with you, despite how hungry I was?" Rena reflected over their past, trying to wake Mightyena from the Gigaremo's control. "And then Father found us and took the both of us in, and we all became a family... You were there for every second of it." She sniffled through her bitter smile. "I wrapped my arms around you tightly every night while we slept, I trained ruthlessly for days on end with you always by my side, and then there was the day we all went on our first job together..." Rena couldn't hold back the tears spilling over her cheeks as Mightyena crept even closer and closer and growled malevolently. "You were there! You always were! You were always by my side no matter what, because you were my partner! You are my partner!" Rena pressed her back firmly against the wall as the snarling wolf got even closer, silently praying for the wall to just swallow her up whole. "You and Father were always there for me, always there to love me, to take care of me, to watch my back, and we lived happily together as a family! You were there for every birthday, every job, and every single waking moment we spent with my Father! YOU WERE EVEN THERE FOR ME WHEN HE DIED!" Rena screamed and sobbed at the top of her lungs, collapsing to her knees and covering her eyes to hide her tears.

Mightyena didn't even flinch as he lunged at the unfamiliar woman, getting ready to clamp his fangs down on her throat and steal her last breath from her.

______________________________

Keith stormed up the steps to Breeze Hill with Buizel behind him, feeling more hurt than angry. How could she be so cruel to him when he had done nothing wrong? It wasn't like Rena to make up something random just to have an excuse to yell at him, so she must have seen him do something to be genuinely mad at him, but what? What could it possibly be? She seemed fine last night at dinner, and he hadn't seen her at all this morning before leaving for their internship, so it had to have happened in the middle of the night.

Keith stopped in his tracks, pressing his index finger to his lips as he thought hard on it.

...

"Nope. I've got nothing." Keith shrugged his shoulders and continued walking ahead.

Buizel scampered up the steps and ran in front of Keith, causing the red-haired idiot to stop dead in his tracks. The otter-Pokemon began frantically waving his arms up and down, trying to convey his discovery to Keith.

Keith shot him a weird look. "Trying to tell me something?"

Buizel vigorously nodded his head, then began the game of charades. Now, how to act out that Rena saw Keith kissing Amanda?

The orange otter struck a girly pose, simulating Rena's posture.

"Rhythimi?" Keith rose an eyebrow, then winced when Buizel smacked him for getting it wrong. "Oh, Rena!"

Buizel gave Keith a head nod, then proceeded with his next charade. He pointed to his eyes, then pointed at Keith.

Keith followed Buizel's movements slowly, carefully trying to figure it out. "Rena...saw...oh! Me! Rena saw me do something!" Keith snapped his fingers and pointed at Buizel, starting to figure it out.

Buizel grinned and nodded his head, and to the otter's embarrassment, he tried to act out making out with someone for the last part. Oh the things one does for their partner.

Keith paused, extremely confused. "...Rena saw me eating a taco?" He deadpanned, completely serious.

Buizel just fell over anime style. If that was how Keith ate a taco, he was a bit concerned.

Keith brushed off Buizel, side-stepping and entering Breeze Hill. "You don't make any sense. Thanks for trying, though!"

Buizel simply facepalmed and followed behind his dense partner. What a complete moron... He wasn't sure what Rena saw in him.

...then again, Buizel figured she didn't really know either.

"Ah, lookie here!" A burly black man with dark red hair and rippling muscles approached Keith, shaking his hand with a little too much force. "Nice to see you finally made it with our package!"

Keith tried to stop shaking from the man's unintentional brute force, then handed him the package. "Here you go." The red-head peered behind the Ranger and noticed a red and white checkered picnic blanket spread out on the grass. Four other people, a Budew, a Buneary, and a Makuhita were spread out around the blanket and smiling at him.

"My name is Barlow, and I---" Barlow began his introduction, but Keith was quick to cut him off.

"I know who you are." He grinned, glancing at all of the people here. "I know who all of you are. I read the Almia Times and Vien Tribune; I'm a really big fan of you guys!"

Keith wasn't stupid, he knew who each of these people were. He read Almia's newspapers featuring the Rangers and their staff, and he could list every one by name.

"Wow!" A dark-haired Ranger girl cheered, clapping her hands together. "Amazing! Well, I guess we'll let you do the introductions then!" Her smile was welcoming and charming, but she had a gleam of crazy in her eyes that Keith could easily compare to Rena's.

"You're Barlow, the Base Leader in Vientown." Keith pointed to Barlow, the black man who had just shaken his hand. He was renowned for his kindness and brute force, and he was a very talented Ranger. Although, he was particularly lacking in the sense of humor area. "That Makuhita right there is your Partner Pokemon," Keith said as he glanced down at the fighting Pokemon by Barlow's side.

"And you're Luana." Keith grinned, pointing to the pretty black-haired girl Ranger who was surprised he knew her name. She was famous for her perfect white teeth and smile, and she was the sunniest character in all of Vientown. She didn't go on many missions, but she was often on patrol through the area since she lacked skill. "That Buneary in your arms is your Partner Pokemon." Keith smirked, pointing to the Pokemon in question.

Keith's eyes landed on another girl with brown hair and maroon overalls stained with oil. She had a wrench in her left hand. "You're Vientown's mechanic: Elaine." Elaine was pretty good at her job, although she was well known for losing her cool a little when it came to dismantling a super cool gadget of some sort. She hated assembling, given that dismantling was her true passion.

"You're Audrey, the three-year-record-holder for the Styler Recharging contest and the best Area Base Operator." Keith introduced the Operator by Luana's side who had a short violet bob, and she grinned when the kid recognized her as well.

"And you---" Keith paused when he pointed to a very tall man with an exploded brunette Afro, puzzled when he saw his excited grin. "I actually don't remember you."

Luana nearly keeled over laughing her ass off at the look on the Crawford's face, and Barlow had to sit down from his intense booming laughter.

The Ranger in question that Keith didn't recognize, Crawford, dropped his jaw and held his Budew in his lap. "WHAT?! OH COME ON! EVERYBODY KNOWS ME!" Crawford whined, looking over at his partner Luana who still laughed hysterically. "I WAS EVEN AT YOUR OUTDOOR CLASS!" Crawford could barely handle this attack on his Afro-sized ego.

Keith took a good look at the Ranger again before shaking his head. "Nope. I don't think so."

Luana's laugh only roared louder at the sight of Crawford paling from that major stab to his ego.

"Hey, wait a minute..." Keith stared at the package by Barlow's feet. "What was even in that thing anyway? What's this super top secret 'mission' that you guys are on?"

Luana calmed down, hesitantly looking at Keith with a sheepish smile. "I'm sorry, but... It's a prank. If it makes you feel any better, I was the victim last year!"

Keith stepped towards the package and opened it, and his eyebrows shot up into his hairline when he saw a bunch of packed sandwiches and soda cans inside. "Seriously? You guys had me deliver your lunch?"

Barlow awkwardly cleared his throat. "Yes. And just for the record, it was all Crawford's idea." He deadpanned with a straight face, pointing at the prankster.

"HEY!"

Luana snorted at her partner's reaction, laughing a little. "Oh relax, Crawford. At least he doesn't seem that mad about it!"

Crawford timidly glanced at Keith, noticing the glare he was giving him. Crawford just sweatdropped. "I think you're very misinformed, Lu'."

"Wait a minute." Barlow stood up, addressing Keith seriously. "Weren't there supposed to be two of you?"

Keith exchanged a tense glance with Buizel, holding his breath. "Yeah, but she took off when we got in a fight earlier."

"What!?" Luana stopped laughing and was completely surprised. "You guys fought? Aww! That's not good!"

"We need to find her." Barlow replied without a moment to think about it. "I'm responsible if anything happens to her." He sternly turned to Keith, resting a calloused hand on his shoulder. "Any idea where she went?"

Keith still felt a little bitter towards Rena from their fight earlier, so he simply shrugged and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Dunno. She was heading towards the beach or something I think."

"What did you guys fight about?" Crawford worriedly shot Keith a nervous glance, approaching him and both his leader and partner.

"Nothing." Keith said quietly, staring down at his feet. "We just said some things we shouldn't have." Keith sighed, glancing at Barlow with a hint of boredom. "Do we really need to find her right now? I'm sure she's fine. And besides, I really don't want to start fighting with her again..." The Rangers easily picked up the hurt in his tone.

Before Barlow could even say anything, a man ran up the stairs in a panic. "RANGERS! HELP!"

Barlow immediately leapt into action, slapping the surprise off his face. "What's the problem?"

The man nervously began flailing his arms up and down. "My girlfriend and I were lounging on the beach earlier when we saw a really angry girl storm into the Marine Cave with some sort of wolf. A little while after, three guys dressed in black left the cave and knocked over some rocks to block the entrance, but the girl never came out! I think she's trapped in there, and now that the high tide is coming in, Marine Cave is going to be flooded with water!"

Keith completely forgot about his anger in the shock of it all, and his bad attitude shattered as he widened his eyes horrifically. "RENA!" Keith shouted, immediately running down the steps with Buizel without giving the Rangers the chance to react.

Barlow ordered Luana, Crawford, and Elaine to tag along while Audrey escorted the spooked guy back to his girlfriend on Nabiki Beach. The three Rangers and Ranger-in-training ran as fast as they could towards Marine Cave, and they almost overlooked the entrance blocked by rocks because the ocean water was already covering up half of it.

Recklessly, Keith jumped into the water and began treading towards the cave, ignoring the large waves crashing against him. "RENA! RENA! CAN YOU HEAR ME!?"

"KEITH, GET OUT OF THERE!" Barlow ordered, trying to grab Keith and pull him out, but he missed. Barlow clicked his tongue derisively and jumped in behind Keith, following the red-head's lead. "Come on, Crawford, Luana. You guys too!"

All four of them with Keith leading the way found themselves at the cave entrance, and Keith immediately began pulling at the rocks that refused to budge. Barlow and the other two soon joined in, pulling at the rocks as hard as they could. The water crashed against the blocked entrance with complete ferocity, drenching the Rangers head-to-toe. The rocks weren't budging, and Keith grew desperate with each passing minute.

"RENA!" He pounded his fists on the rocks, not caring that he was cutting and bruising himself in return. "RENA! CAN YOU HEAR ME, RENA!?"

Buizel watched in horror as the tide came in even more, and the rocks didn't budge. The little otter wanted to help, but the only thing he could do was fire water attacks at the rocks, but he figured that would just do more harm than good.

"Stand back!" Barlow brusquely grabbed Keith's shoulder, jerking him to the side. He backed up a little and rammed at the rocks with his shoulder at full force. "Taaaarget....CLEAR!"

BAM!

"Taaarget....CLEAR!"

BAM!"

Pretty soon, Keith and the others caught on, and they quickly joined in, trying to help save Rena.

"Taaarget....CLEAR!"

BAM!

"Taaarget....CLEAR!"

BAM!

"TARGET CLEAR!"

WHOOSH!

The rocks crumbled and tumbled to the ground, and the water on both sides leveled, only coming up to the Ranger's ankles now that the Marine Cave was acting as a drain.

Keith didn't waste any time in running into the Marine Cave, sprinting as fast as he could looking for Rena with Buizel. "RENA!"

"KEITH, WAIT!" Barlow called after him, quickly chasing after the reckless kid with the other Rangers. "Reckless idiot!"

Keith didn't care. He didn't care if he should've waited to scan the area to make sure it was safe to enter first before just running right in. For once, Keith didn't care about doing the proper Ranger thing here. Screw protocol; his girl was in danger.

When Keith dashed into the very back of the cave, he stared down at his feet in horror. The water in here was slightly...red.

He reluctantly followed the bloody water with his eyes over to the source: a bloodied body covered in gashes lying lifelessly on the ground. A knocked out Mightyena laid beside it, also unconscious.

"NO! RENA!" Keith screamed in horror, running over to the body of the girl he loved so much. He scooped her lifeless body up in his arms and clutched her close to him, holding back sobs. "No! No no no... I'm sorry, Rena... I'm so, so sorry..."

When Barlow, Luana, and Crawford entered the room with their respected partners, wondering what all the shouting was about, they turned ghostly pale.

Keith sobbed into Rena's shoulder, trying not to pay attention to all of the cuts that covered her pale skin and her pretty face. What the hell had happened to her?!

Crawford stepped forwards and found remnants of a broken red machine lying in the corner; it occasionally sparked and sputtered. "I don't know what happened, but something serious went down here..."

Luana ran up to Keith and Rena with Barlow, completely panicked. "Is she okay!?"

Keith listened carefully to see if he could hear her breathing, and she wasn't. His breath hitched when he heard absolutely nothing. "She's... She's not breathing..."

Luana slapped a hand over her mouth in horror as Barlow took action, taking her pulse. Keith waited for what felt like forever for Barlow to report her status.

Barlow gravely glanced up at Keith, slightly terrified and relieved at the same time. "Her heart's still beating. Barely."

And that was all the hope the red-head needed.

Keith pulled Rena away from him slightly, fiercely determined to find any trace of life on her face. "Rena, wake up! Come on!" Her shook her slightly, trying to wake her. "Come back to me, you stubborn ass! We're not finished here!" He grew more desperate and scared with every word. "I want you smiling again! I want you laughing, crying, and yelling at me again! I want you awake and pranking me again! Hell, I want you slapping me again! Whatever it takes to get you back, I'll do it!" A tear slipped down Keith's cheek as no change came from Rena. "Come on, Blue Eyes... I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry for what I said to you earlier... Please, just come ba---"

"BLEGH!"

Rena abruptly sat up in Keith's arms and bent over, unattractively regurgitating a lot of water. She coughed ferociously, trying to force the awful-tasting salt water out of her lungs.

"RENA!" Keith couldn't help but grin and hug her tightly. "Thank god... Never do that to me again, alright?!"

"It's not like I planned to drown..." Rena hoarsely choked out her reply sarcastically, rolling her eyes. Her gazed fixed on Crawford, and she raised an eyebrow. "Hey, aren't you that weirdo from the Outdoor Class?"

"FINALLY! SOMEONE RECOGNIZES ME!" Crawford was too happy to hear someone recognizing him to take offense to the 'weirdo' comment.

Everyone in the room just sweatdropped at that.

Keith awkwardly tore his gaze from Crawford and looked down at Rena. "Look, about earlier..." He started to apologize, but Rena slapped her hand over his mouth.

She simply just rose an eyebrow at him. "If you keep apologizing to me I'm going to be sick. Again." That earned a sheepish laugh from the red-head. Rena sighed, refusing to make eye contact. "Look, I'm sorry I got so pissed at you for kissing Amanda, but I---"

"Wait what?" Keith stared at her blankly, thrown off by that statement. "You saw that?"

Luana shared an awkward glance with Crawford, and she whispered to him, "looks like there was more to this argument than he let on..." She awkwardly coughed, then changed her mood completely as she had an epiphany. "Oh my gosh! This is just like one of Elaine's soap operas I've been watching!"

Crawford just sweatdropped. "Oh great, you've been watching the crazy lady's chick-flics again..."

Luana awkwardly laughed before turning her eyes back to the teenagers across the room.

Rena bit down on her lower lip, glaring at the red-head. "Yeah, I saw you two. I took off afterwards so I wouldn't interrupt you guys." Keith stared at her for a good moment before busting out laughing. "What!? What's so funny!?" Rena asked defensively, a little annoyed that he was just laughing at her.

Keith tried to quiet down his laughter a little bit, shaking his head. "Aw man, I can't believe we fought over something so stupid... Wait, yes I can." Keith sweatdropped, then made eye contact with the confused Rena. "Amanda kissed me when she was trying to explain that she liked me, and I pushed her off as soon as I registered what happened. I guess you took off before you saw that part, though." He awkwardly scratched the back of his head, flashing Rena a sheepish grin.

Rena had never felt so humiliated in her entire life as she hid her face with her hands and sunk down further in Keith's arms. "...oh." Keith only laughed at her reaction.

Mightyena stirred in his sleep, and his eyes snapped open. The Pokemon looked around the room, dazed and very confused about his whereabouts. The last thing he remembered was stepping into Marine Cave with Rena, then---oh god.

Mightyena leapt up from the ground despite his physical fatigue, and he ran over to Rena as soon as he spotted her. Mightyena whimpered, resting his head in her lap. He felt so guilty as he looked at her severe injuries.

Rena smiled and stroked his wet ears. "It's okay, boy. I know you didn't mean it." She glanced up from her Pokemon at Barlow, raising an eyebrow at him. "You know anything about a bunch of dipshits dressed in black calling themselves Team Dim Sun? Because if not, we've got a lot to talk about."

"But first," Keith interrupted her as soon as he got the chance, "we're taking you to get those injuries treated."

Rena rolled her eyes. "Yes, Mother. It's not like they hurt that bad---YOWCH! HOLY MOTHERFUCKING SHIT THAT'S PAINFUL!" She cried out in pain similarly to the way a sailor would have when Keith carefully tried to help her stand up, making everyone in the room sweatdrop at her foul language.

"So much for it not hurting that bad, huh?"

"Oh shut up."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*gasps in air* OH MY GOD THAT TOOK SO LONG YOU HAVE NO IDEA. I've been working on this bit by bit for TWO WEEKS!

Average chapter length: 1000-3000 words.
This chapter's length: 10765 words

Things to highlight and comment on to discuss in the comments section:
1) Keith's not actually a "cheating" player! Surprise!
2) Rena's father is actually dead... How many of you were able to figure that out already from all the hints I've been dropping?
3) TEAM DIM SUN APPEARS!

Well, I hope you're all satisfied. Read, comment, vote, and enjoy the story!