(Rena's POV)

"Well?" Keith asked me again with a quick roll of his eyes, a little more impatient than the last time. He wanted to know how long it took me to capture the Pikachu for the entrance exam.

I just smirked arrogantly from ear to ear, putting on a show for the whole class who had chosen to surround us in a circle. "Three seconds flat." I bragged about my great score, radiating pride and pure joy.

Keith seemed a little shocked at first, then grinned. He appeared to be pleased with my answer. "Looks like I have some competition, rival." He challenged me, leaning in and nearly closing the distance between us.

"AHEM!" Rhythimi rudely cleared her throat, stepping in-between us. "Keith, stop flirting with Rena! You've literally known her all of five minutes!" Rhythimi scolded, whacking him upside the head.

While I caught a glimpse of Rhythimi pummeling Keith for being a flirty pervert, I started to pay more attention to my surroundings. Keith, Rhythimi, and I were all in the center of a circle of classmates, who were very much enjoying the eccentric and violent display going on between the blonde and red-head. The file wasn't kidding about Keith being a flirty pervert... This should be interesting. And I have to flirt back...ew.

Keith's face contorted into a pained look from all of the hits he was taking. "Okay, okay! I'll tone it down a notch!" Keith grabbed Rhythimi's wrists, preventing her from punching him again.

Rhythimi jerked her wrists out of his strong grasp. "Humph! Fine! I'll hold you to that promise, idiot!" She huffed, then walked over to me. "Come on, Rena. I'll give you that tour now." She smiled as if nothing crazy just happened, looping her arm around mine.

"I may as well come too, since I have nothing better to do." Keith scoffed, trying to come up with some excuse to stick close to me.

Hah, I've already got him wrapped around my finger. This is going to be the easiest one billion earned yet. And once I get my payment, then maybe... I'll be able to keep that promise after all. With or without him.

"Urrgh, fine... But I wanted to spend some time with my new roommate!" Rhythimi whined, making her dramatic exit out of the classroom.

"You're Rhyth's new roommate?" Keith raised an eyebrow at me, and I nodded my head. Keith just scoffed. "Hah! Good luck. You'll need it..."

I just rolled my eyes. "You don't know me all that well yet, but believe me when I say this." I leaned in closer to his ear and whispered my next sentence. "I'm far more crazier than Rhythimi will ever be."

Keith laughed. "Somehow I don't doubt that." I punched him in the arm, and he mumbled "well I'm certainly looking forward to seeing that crazy side of you," under his breath, but I heard it.

I just smiled for a split second, walking out of the classroom with Keith following close behind.

Don't let him charm you. He's the mark, and you're the grifting thief. You're not permitted to think of him as anything else. That's like a universal rule.

All of a sudden, I felt someone roughly grab a hold of my arm. No words can describe how shocked I was to see Keith's face only mere inches away from mine as he pinned me up against the wall.

"Oh yeah, and one more thing." Keith traced his eyes from the floor and up to my face. He stared longingly into my crystal-blue eyes as if he was searching for something. "Try not to fall for me, okay? I know it's pretty hard for girls not to." His cocky smirk burned into the back of my eyes, brimming with overwhelming arrogance.

I just rolled my eyes and effortlessly shoved Keith off of me. "Oh, I think I can resist myself." My words were dripping with sarcasm like venom from a snakes mouth, and I quickly spun around on my heel and started walking after Rhythimi. My hair brushed against Keith's face as I strutted past him, and I could hear his amused laugh from behind me as I walked away.

Mightyena and Buizel trotted behind us, and I almost forgot about them for a second. The four of us walked down the hall until we spotted Rhythimi. She was standing in front of what looked like another classroom door, waving us over. We quickly caught up, and Mightyena rubbed up against my leg. I just rolled my eyes. What an attention hog...

I listened to Rhythimi's speech as I crouched down and affectionately pet my partner. "Welcome to Ranger School, Rena! And now we shall begin Rhythimi's tour of wonder and excitement!" She cheered and clapped her hands together, spinning around in a circle. Keith and I just groaned, slapping our foreheads. "This is Mr. Kincaid's room." She pointed at the classroom door.

"Oh yes, we've met." I rolled my eyes, being sarcastic. Or is it ironic? Eh, who cares. I was being a smart ass either way.

They both just laughed, and Rhythimi brushed off my comment. "Well, all you really need to know is that he's a strict enforcer of the rules, hates it when we run in the hallways, uses the off-limits basement as his lab, and puts on way too much hairspray for our liking." Rhythimi stepped back from the door, able to smell it from here. "It's hard to tell what's worse: the hairspray, or a Skuntank's gas."

With a laugh at her joke, we walked further down the hallway, approaching what I had assumed to be the Staff Room. Rhythimi opened the door, leading us inside. We entered what looked like a combination of a conference room and a teacher's lounge. Our principal, Principal Lamont, was at the far end of the room doing something on his laptop. Ms. April was off to the side grading papers.

"This is the Staff Room." Keith started to explain. "It's not exactly off limits, but we're not really supposed to come in here."

"Noted." I nodded my head, and we quickly exited the room.

We walked past a staircase that lead down a floor and up a floor. Rhythimi explained how we couldn't go downstairs into Mr. Kincaid's basement, for it was off limits. Keith bragged about how he always breaks the rules and takes girls down there, but something tells me he's just trying to be a show off. We kept walking straight ahead until Rhythimi froze in front of another door, stopping completely in her tracks.

"Rhythimi, are you okay...?" I asked her, raising an eyebrow. What in the world is going on with her?

Keith, unlike me, was completely casual about it. "Oh, she's fine." Keith rolled his eyes. He grabbed Rhythimi's shoulder and kept walking. "She's just nervous about seeing her boyfriend who practically lives in the Library." Keith teased, dragging Rhythimi inside of the Library.

"KEITH! ISAAC IS NOT MY BOYFRIEND!" Rhythimi shrieked, jerking around in attempt to get Keith to let go of her.

I just raised an eyebrow at the sight of these two. They're supposed to be friends...? That's...interesting...

All of a sudden, Keith stuck his arm out of the door from the inside of the Library and abruptly jerked me inside, earning a rather surprised "eep!" from me. I spotted a blonde-haired boy with a peculiar mushroom haircut in the back of the Library; we seemed to be heading over in his direction, and Rhythimi appeared to be growing more pale by the second.

What's up with her all of a sudden?

"Hey, Isaac!" Keith called out, immediately dropping Rhythimi to the floor. He jogged over to the mushroom-haired kid, and Isaac looked up just in time to see Keith carelessly let Rhythimi fall to the floor.

"OW!" Rhythimi cried out, rubbing her now sore back. "KEITH, YOU FREAKING IDIOT!" She shrieked, and Isaac winced at her deafening scream.

Aren't we supposed to be quiet in libraries...!?

"Keith..." Isaac glared at Keith, only slightly ticked off. He just rolled his eyes and walked over to Rhythimi, helping her up. "Are you alright, Rhythimi?" He asked, and his face was slightly flushed from the moment her hand grabbed onto his.

Rhythimi was blushing an impossibly dark shade of red, and she awkwardly nodded her head to Isaac's question. "Yeah, I'm...fine." She stumbled over her words, and I couldn't help but smirk at her embarrassment. Scratch that, both of their embarrassment.

"Umm...hi there." I wore a sheepish grin, waving to the two blondes. I successfully broke the awkwardness between the two, and they seemed relieved at that.

Keith wrapped his arm around my neck, pulling me into his side and obnoxiously ruffling my long dark brown hair.

Wha---what the heck is this asshole doing!?

"This is our new classmate, Rena. She just started today." Keith introduced me, refusing to release me from his headlock.

I kept protesting and tried to get out of his grip, but he was too strong. Isaac and Rhythimi stifled a laugh, and I continued to thrash about. Despite my complete and utter annoyance with the mark, I glanced over at Isaac.

So this is Isaac: Keith's second friend. If I make friends with these two, I should have no trouble befriending the mark, if I haven't already.

"Hi Rena, I'm Isaac." He smiled, waving to me. "I'd shake your hand, but you seem a little...preoccupied." Isaac joked, referring to Keith's grip on me.

I just rolled my eyes, then abruptly went 'boneless' as I like to call it. I basically just gave up the struggle and melted out of Keith's grip, resulting in everyone laughing at me being sprawled out on the floor. Mightyena and Buizel seemed amused, just watching this little encounter. I quickly sprang up from the floor like a ninja, dusting off my skirt. I flashed Keith a quick glare, then relaxed a little and turned to Isaac.

Isaac and I shook hands, and I plastered on a fake smile. "It's nice to meet you, Isaac. I'm Rena, Rena Deveraux."

"Deveraux?" Isaac's interest was piqued, more than a little intrigued. "That's an interesting name, and probably spelled a little out of the ordinary. I bet people mispronounce it quite often."

"Oh yes they do." I groaned, slapping my forehead. "I keep telling them that it's pronounced Dehv-errr-oh, but they still manage to mispronounce it anyways." I rolled my eyes.

"It sounds foreign..." Isaac pressed his index finger to his lips, musing out loud. "Where are you from?" Isaac inquired, wondering about my uncommon last name.

I tensed up a little, then quickly covered it up. "Oh, you know. Here, there, everywhere." I brushed off his question and completely avoided it, making everyone a little suspicious.

What? It's not like I was going to just tell him up front that I'm from Castelia City in Unova. Better to nip this conversation topic in the bud before he asks too many questions.

"Okay then..." Rhythimi sweatdropped, then quickly recovered from my obvious dodging of the question. "Well, we should probably finish the tour outside now!" Rhythimi suggested, grabbing the guys and I by our arms.

She dragged us all the way outside, and that's when pure and utter chaos unfolded. When we stepped outside of the school building, the first thing I noticed was an unfamiliar woman standing in the middle of the campus, trying to avoid several Bidoof that were rampaging. The Pokemon seemed unusually agitated, making me think that something out of the ordinary must have happened to make them act like this. How odd... If someone didn't do something about this quick, somebody might get hurt...

"AH! Someone, please! HELP ME!" The lady screamed, running away from the agitated Bidoof.

"Guys! Go help Janice!" Rhythimi panicked, and Isaac seemed just as worried. The perky blonde quickly turned to Keith and I, staring into our eyes intensely with a look of desperation and worry. "Rena, Keith! Go capture those Bidoof!" Rhythimi yelled, trying to convince us to go help.

I felt a little tense and anxious. Help? Me? Capture the Pokemon? But I...I've only captured one Pokemon before! This can't end well.....

"Rhythimi, I don't know if I---" I tried to back out of her request, but my plea was cut off by the stupid red-head interrupting me.

"Well, I can't just help. That would be boring!" Keith scoffed, arrogantly flipping his spiky red hair. He completely ignored Rhythimi's agitated facial expression and turned to face me. "Hey, Rena? What do you say to a Bidoof capture challenge? You and me, right here and right now." Keith smirked, challenging me.

I quickly wiped away my nervousness. If I want this guy to like me and be my friend, I need to go back to my strong and confident personality. Even if I have to fake my confidence and throw myself into a field that I'm not familiar with...

Ahah...hah...hah...dear Arceus help me.

I readied my Styler, smirking arrogantly and faking one hundred percent of my confidence. "You're on, Prince Charming." I laughed, getting ready for the capture contest.

Keith just scoffed at the new nickname. "Is that supposed to be my new nickname courtesy of you?" He inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"Only if you want it to be, Prince Charming." I teased with a flirty smirk, dashing off and making my way towards the Bidoof. "READYSETGO!"

"HEY! YOU GOT A HEAD START!" Keith laughed-yelled, chasing after some Bidoof near me.

Rhythimi and Isaac laughed, standing back on the sidelines. I saw Rhythimi shake her head and whisper something to Isaac. It must have been something funny, since it caused him to laugh. Oh whatever. It's probably nothing.

I had already captured one Bidoof at this point, and I noticed Keith had two. Shoot... I'm already behind. I spotted a group of three, and I didn't waste any time going after them. My ears were filled with laughter and Rhythimi's cheering, boosting my confidence. I swiftly captured the three Bidoof and spotted only one left. Keith saw it at the same time, and we both dashed for it. Fortunately for me, I run faster.

Thank you Castelia City Police, you guys really helped train me on evasive maneuvers and running like hell~!

I stifled a laugh at the memory, quickly capturing my fifth Bidoof. I didn't see any more Bidoof running about, so I headed towards the center of the School Yard. Keith met me there and wore a completely stunned look as soon as he noticed the number of Bidoof we had captured.

I had five, and he had four. Hah! Take that, moron!

"RENA IS THE WINNER!" Rhythimi announced, comically grabbing my arm and holding it up in the air. Isaac and I laughed while Rhythimi comforted the moping Keith.

Rhythimi glared at Keith, as if she was telling him to do something without even having to say it. "Oh fine..." Keith grumbled, giving in to her stare. He then turned to me, crossing his arms. "Rena, I'd rate your captures 65 out of 100."

I just smirked, scoffing ever so slightly. "If my captures suck and I beat you, then how skilled does that make you?" I retorted with pure sass and confidence.

Keith dropped his jaw, and both the blondes busted out laughing. Rhythimi walked over to me, placing her hand on my shoulder. She stifled her laughter, managing to somewhat regain her composure. "Come on, guys. I need to show Rena one more place."

"Ascension Square?" Both Isaac and Keith asked in unison, causing Rhythimi and I to giggle at their synchronized response.

"Yep!" She laughed, then began dragging us over to the east side of the School Yard.

We walked down a large flight of stairs, entering a grassy area of some sort. The grass was short and a vibrant green, freshly cut. The square was lined with tall, shady trees, perfect for climbing or taking refuge in their shade. A giant pledge stone rested next to the staircase, seemingly at the front of Ascension Square. There was a small wooden pier that overlooked the ocean, and it was a truly beautiful sight.

"Wow..." I gasped in a hushed tone, looking over the beauty of this place.

Buizel jumped up on Keith's head, ticking him off a little. He just brushed it off and spoke up anyways. "Welcome to Ranger School, Rena." Keith smiled down at me, and I can't help but admit his cute smile was contagious.

I looked down at Mightyena, and he was looking up at me with a smirk. We were so in, and we knew it.

Day one is complete. Mission clear.

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Okay, I lied. I couldn't help but post another chapter.... But that's it for the night! I swear! Now I'm going to go read some books and work on this later~ Bye for now!

Fan cover brought to you by @Meme_Knightwalker! Thanks so much!

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