It Won't Hurt For Too Long

It was a rainy night at the Ranger Union. At the window of one of the higher floors could be seen the shapes of two female working at the Union. One was a Top Ranger and the other was an Operator.

“They should’ve been back a long while ago. What’s keeping them?” One said.

“Rhythmi, you worry too much. I’m sure they’re fine. They’ve been through alot worse than this.” The other said, although doubt could be heard in her voice.

“But Kate, what if something did happen to them? I haven’t been able to reach either Keith or Kellyn for hours.” Rhythmi said.

Lightning struck loudly while the rain fell harder, as both girls stayed quiet and simply watched, both hoping to see the shape of a Staraptor appear in the distance, or two figures walking towards the Union tower.

Several minutes passed, and then Kate spoke. “You’re right. Something’s not right here. I’m going to look for them; can you tell me where they were last seen?”

She nodded, motionning her towards the Operations Room.

They walked back towards the Operations Room, where the other Operators were. Rhythmi sat at one of the computers, pressing several buttons and writing several commands, before two red dots appeared on the large map of Almia.

“There. That’s where they were last seen.” She spins on her chair to look at Kate. “If you’re going out there to find them, be careful. If something happened to them, it might happen to you.”

Kate nodded at her friend, turning to walk out of the room. “I will, don’t worry about me.”

When she left the room, Rhythmi turned back towards the screen, looking at the two dots with a worried look. “Keith...”
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It had all happened so fast. After responding to what seemed like a normal call for help, Keith and Kellyn soon found out that they had been set up, and it had all been an ambush. A group of former Dim Sun members, furious that their plan failed, had planned their revenge: Eliminate the Rangers who caused the fall. They didn’t follow Kincaid and his Team Debonairs in his plans to retake Altru Tower, thinking it worthless to do while those who caused their downfall were still out in the open.

Led by a former admin, they planned their revenge from the depths of the Chroma Highlands. The call, a lure to bring the two unsuspecting Rangers out in the open, rendering them vulnerable, was about a rogue Skarmory causing havoc around and endangering other Pokémon, with a small suspicious air of a “mailbox” seen near the site. Fearing the return of Dim Sun once more, the Union played right into their cards, sending Keith and Kellyn to the scene.
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A few hours earlier...

Keith and Kellyn had arrived at the Highlands by Staraptor, and they walked down towards where they were supposed to meet whoever called them. The rain was starting to fall at this time.

“Keith, I don’t like this. Team Dim Sun reappearing just like that, and they decide to set up their stuff in the Chroma Highlands?” Kellyn told his friend his suspicions.

“Well, this is where they found the Shadow Crystals. They might be able to repower their whatever-they call-them-remos they’re using again.” Walking down the Highlands, he stopped for a moment, before turning back to Kellyn. “But now that I think about it, I can’t hear the sounds those machines did. Kellyn, do you think-“

“Watch out!” Kellyn yelled, pointing behind Keith. An Onix had jumped over, it’s tail smashing in the area where Keith was standing moments ago.

“What the- Capture on!” Keith’s capture disk flew through the air, circling around the Onix several times. Strangely, it didn’t react to the disk, lunging at Keith again and ramming into him, sending him flying away screaming in pain. As he got up and dodged another attack, Kellyn activated his own styler, distracting the Onix long enough for Keith to get his styler, finishing the capture. Strangely enough, the Onix simply left the scene, as if the feelings of friendship never went through.

“Kellyn, I don’t like this one bit. What the hell is going on here?”

“I don’t know, Keith. I’m contacting the Union to see if- Hey, that’s wierd.”

“What?”

“My styler’s voicemail won’t work.”

“Hang on, let me try mine. Hey, mine isn’t working either.” Keith said after trying his own styler’s communications.

There was  a short moment of realization where they put two and two together.

“We’ve gotta get out of here.” Kellyn said urgently.

“You got that right.” Both Rangers started to run back towards the Chroma Road, only to notice some shady-looking people blocking the road.

“Well, well, well... If it isn’t the Rangers who took down the tower...” the front most one said, walking out of the shadows. He had light yellow hair and was wearing the ragged and worn uniform of a former Team Dim Sun admin. “If you haven’t noticed by now, your styler’s communication functions aren’t working anymore. You can thank our man at the Pueltown radio tower for that.” He said, a noticeable smirk on his face.

“I don’t know who you are, but if you’re part of Team Dim Sun I don’t see what to be afraid of here.” Kellyn said, stepping forwards to meet him head to head.

“Oh, really? You think that because you’ve defeated Kincaid and his brainless minions you can defeat me? You see, I no longer work to control the Pokemon of Almia. I’ve put that behind me, for now it would be nearly impossible.” His face turned to an expression of rage. “Because of you.” He said, pointing a finger at them.
The rain started to fall much harder now, both sides completely soaked.
The Dim Sun admin snapped his fingers. “Now!” And before they could say “Team Dim Sun”, Keith and Kellyn were surrounded by the goons. Their partner Pokémon, Buizel and Starly, rushed over to them for what would be their last stand...
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Current time...

Lightning struck in the Chroma Highlands. The two Rangers weren’t dead yet, barely clinging on to life. Their partners expired long ago from their numerous wounds, but they still had time left.

It was too painful to move. But amidst the rain and thunder, Kellyn heard the soft sound of tears. He tilted his head to the side to look at Keith.

“...You... You crying?” he coughed out.

“...Guess... Guess I can’t help... what comes next... There’s so many things... I’m not ready... I’m not ready to let go yet...” he sobbed.

Kellyn smiled sadly at his friend. “Just let it come, man. Let it come.”

Keith’s sobbing reduced, his breathing getting shallow. He looks at Kellyn one last time. “It’s been... It’s been good to know you...” Keith stopped moving shortly afterwards, his tears still slowly dripping to the ground.

Kellyn turned away, looking out in the sky. His sight was getting darker, but he thought he saw a shape move – And it wasn’t a cloud. Cold numbness reached him, darkness falling, and as the shape got closer, Kellyn’s head lied on the ground, his breathing getting slower, before stopping.
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Kate landed her Staraptor in the plains of the Highlands, and she started searching for Keith and Kellyn. Her search didn’t last long, and she came upon the sight of both Rangers lying in their blood, next to their partners. Dead. She let out a horrified gasp at the sight, rushing over to them, checking for a pulse over and over again. She couldn’t, she wouldn’t believe it. She was holding back her tears the whole time.

After shutting their eyes respectfully, she turned over Kellyn’s body, cringing at the sight: His stomach was sliced open; his arm seemed as if it was barely holding on and he seemed to have many cracked and broken bones. Keith seemed to have been killed in a similar manner.

How long she stayed there, she doesn’t know. But after a while, her styler beeped, and slowly, she answered the voicemail, Rhythmi’s voice sprang from the styler.

“Rhythmi here, did you find them yet? You’ve been gone a while already.”

Kate stayed silent for a few second before answering, still shocked.

“Rhythmi... They’re gone.”

From the other side of the voicemail, Rhythmi’s voice seemed a bit shaky.

“You... you mean they’re...”

“Yeah.”

Neither of them wanted to say the word “dead”.  They stayed silent for a few minutes, and Kate thought she heard a bit of sobbing on the other side.

“I’ll... I’ll get someone to go over there to bring them back.”

The voicemail ended, and Kate stood there, unmoving, unable to look away. Rangers arrived some time later, bringing back the bodies.

And as they were being brought away, Kate looked away, and then she noticed the rain was stopping. The clouds were moving, and the sun started to shine.

The pain will pass. It’ll hurt, but it won’t hurt for too long.