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In retrospect, Kate’s ambitions began, as so many things do, with a crush.
With icy blue eyes, luscious purple hair, and a tall, confident stature, Wintown’s Ranger leader Elita was unattainably beautiful, and, perhaps more importantly, rather terrifyingly competent. By the tender age of 14, Kate had spent many hours in her room fantasising about being smiled at by the woman she idolised, of walking with her through the chilly Panula caves, and of flying high above the Sekra Range with her on the older woman’s partner Skarmory, cuddled together for warmth as they gazed out over the frozen peaks of the mountains and crystalline waters of Fiore Grand Falls…
Elita may have been almost thrice her age, but Kate was sure that there was no harm in imagining. After all, what teenager didn’t have some sort of infatuation with someone completely and utterly out of their league at some point in their lives? The fact that Elita was loyally protective of all of Wintown’s residents, and unexpectedly kind to boot, certainly didn’t hurt Kate’s yearning. And if she sometimes dreamt of defending Wintown at Elita’s side as a Ranger in her own right? Well that was really no-one’s business but her own.
Kate’s feelings for Elita had by no means manifested out of the blue, and were in fact founded in one of her most core memories from her earlier years. Being a bold and audacious child, as her parents so kindly and frequently reminded her, it hadn’t taken much for the other children of Wintown to goad her into attempting to scale the trail above the town to reach the ‘Shiftree’, a tall evergreen tree that was rumoured, among her social group at least, to grant great wisdom to any who touched it. It was also home to a very large, and very strong Shiftry which every single child in the town had been warned against approaching the territory of, which was why no one had yet tested the tree’s mythical powers. Kate had been more than willing to be the pioneer of her group in that adventure, a foolish mistake which led to the righteous fury of a threatened mother Shiftry, and a heroic rescue performed by the newly promoted Ranger Leader Elita.
In Kate’s own memory of the event, her daring protector had stood valiantly over the terrified child, the glow from her Styler illuminating her determined face and focused posture, the curves and angles of her face shadowed and highlighted dramatically and fiercely in contrast with the dark backdrop of the trees and night sky, and… yeah Kate was long gone by that point, the hero-worshipful mindset of a child swiftly giving way to the longing gaze of a teenager as she grew. Once her parents had moved past their anger and fear at Kate’s reckless actions, they were more than amused to hear her waxing rhapsodically about Elita’s bravery and beauty, and her vows to be as much like the woman as she grew up as possible, becoming a Ranger and all.
~*~
It may have been her feelings for her hometown’s Ranger Leader that sparked Kate’s interest in being a Ranger herself, but it was the woman from Fall City who made her truly think about what that would involve.
The Charizard that had been rampaging through the woods not far from Wintown had been a source of stress for all of the residents all week; there was nothing stopping it from turning its attention to their houses next, after all, and their close proximity meant that its actions were very much audible from the town. Kate was not the only one to have spent at least one night lying wide awake, listening to its roars and cries, its wingbeats carrying almost as easily over the wind as the heavy smell of smoke, which had left the younger children of the village with nasty coughs thanks to its intensity and constant presence. She herself had rather persistent discomfort in her throat, and many of the adults had taken to wrapping layers of material over their faces before leaving the house to complete their errands - the children, Kate included, were being heavily encouraged to stay inside at all times in an attempt to keep them away from the worst of the ashes and dust that were being blown over the town.
Freddie, one of the Rangers of Wintown, went door to door each day answering questions and reassuring residents of the Rangers’ efforts to resolve the situation, and it was on the sixth day of the rampage that he delivered the news that a Ranger from Fall City, who had a reputation as a highly successful and dedicated woman, had arrived to help calm the distressed pokemon. Elita had been called away frequently to monitor the activities of a prolific group of criminals called the Go Rock Squad (“Villains” her father called them. “Malcontents” was the word her mother used. Kate thought they were a bunch of weirdos dressed in weird costumes, but everyone else seemed to think they were a much bigger deal than that), so she didn’t have the time needed to deal with the issue closer to home, and had contacted her colleagues in Fall City to request backup.
For the rest of that day, the entire population of Wintown had sat inside, listening to the sounds of combat and capture coming from what had once been the woods above their town. It wasn’t until early evening that they finally quietened down, and for the first time in a week, Wintown was silent.
Aria, as it turned out the woman from Fall City was called, stayed for a few days following her triumphant victory, and was surprisingly willing to entertain the young children of Wintown in their Ranger base with the story, though she admitted - to everyone’s deep and utter shock - that it wasn’t her who had won in the end, as her colleague from Ringtown had needed to support her in the attempt at calming the Charizard when it’s rage and pain proved too much for her. Kate, who had been ecstatic that a Ranger (and a woman at that! Kate was a big fan of her female role models, and felt that she had just gained another) had swooped in and saved the day, found herself astonishingly disappointed and confused that Aria hadn’t been able to succeed on her own, a fact which clearly did not go unnoticed by the woman in question. As the younger children were collected by their parents to be taken to bed that evening, Aria had pulled Kate aside and explained, in an impressively understanding tone, that the point of a Ranger was not to be a superhero and to overcome every obstacle on their own, but to protect people and pokemon by doing whatever was needed in that moment, oftentimes with the help of their colleagues. It was a lesson that she had only truly begun to understand herself that day in the fight with the Charizard, but it was one that she would work to understand in her day to day life, by overcoming her pride and accepting help from others.
The sparks of Kate’s ambition grew to embers that night, as she lay in bed thinking on what she had been told. It took true strength to admit your own shortcomings, she knew, and she wondered what faults of her own she would find if she became a Ranger. Whatever they were, she would make a marked effort to overcome them, whether that would be on her own, or with the help of those around her.
~*~
If Elita’s awe-inspiring personality was the spark of Kate’s ambition, and Aria’s soul-baring vulnerability fanned the embers of her determination, then it was Solana’s legendary heroism that fed the flames of her passion to become a Pokemon Ranger.
Since Solana and her partner had travelled up into the temples of the Sekra Range to confront the Go-Rock Squad for once and for all, Elita had been keeping the people of Wintown well informed of their successes and progress, since the conflict was happening so close to their home. It wasn’t much of a surprise, therefore, when following the announcement that they had defeated the Go-Rock Squad and saved the region, that the entirety of the town travelled up mountain in the hopes of catching the pair outside of the Temple and congratulating them.
Flowers were thrown, voices made hoarse by cheering, banners held above heads as people did their utmost best to show support for those brave Rangers who had saved their lives, and maintained the peace of Fiore through their selfless and valiant actions. Kate herself had pushed her way to the front of the throng of people in the hopes of seeing the duo, and her heart swelled with renewed awe at the heroism of Pokemon Rangers, and determination to become one herself.
That evening had been filled with celebration, not just in Wintown, but across the entire region of Fiore, and toasts raised in honour of Solana and Lunick. More laughter was shared that night, both in public and within the privacy of homes, than had been heard for a month or more, the oppressive silence of fear giving way to the raucous cacophony of relief.
The sheer joy of celebrating the actions of the region-wide heroes, Solana in particular who by Lunick’s own admission had done most of the work, was second only to the expression of sheer relief that Kate saw overcome her mother’s face when she found out that she no longer had to worry about the corrupt group that had set up base so close to home. It was the wish to bring that kind of relief to more people across the world that solidified Kate’s future - she would become a Pokemon Ranger; one of the best the world had ever seen.
And so she did.