"Training"

Jazz and Amai beckon Hope to join them on a fun outing!

**"Training"** is the second episode of Interstellar Ranger Commence, preceded by "Commence" and followed by "Nothing Like You".

## Plot

The episode begins with a flashback. A younger Hope, Naomi, and Richie are playing ball when a Ranger ship catches Hope’s wide eyes. Back in the present, Hope reflects on Itsuki’s words during their confrontation, how she hasn’t been putting her all into the academy. Jazz looks on with concern and asks her if she’s alright. Hope once again masks her sadness, which and decides to call Richie and Naomi.

In the infirmary, Doctor Amber gets into an argument with Professor Strong as she tends to Alex’s busted lip. She strongly believes the students are put through way too much physical stress during their first week, but Strong contests and describes his students as “weapons”. Back at the dorm, Hope takes a peek at Jazz’s latest creation, a yellow robot named “Lemon”. She explains to Hope that she obtained mechanical parts to create her robot from academy credits as well as credits sent from home. Hope admits her mom doesn’t support her being at the academy, therefore does not receive any extra credits to spend. She then begins to reflect on her past, reminiscing her time with her late father. Through the flashback, it’s revealed that Hope became fascinated in Interstellar Rangers through her father, and even encouraged her father to keep pursuing his long gone dream of becoming one. Her father, however, had clearly laid his Ranger dream to rest long ago. He instead wanted to be a good father figure to Hope.

Over in Carmen’s dorm, Itsuki drops by for a visit with a box of chocolates, a reminder of their first date. Carmen kisses Itsuki on the cheek for his gesture of affection and excitedly asks him if he’s still going to vigorously train Hope, to which he confirms, albeit with subtle hints of displeasure at the prospect. Keeping his word, Itsuki arrives early at Hope’s dorm and takes her to the turf field. The episode picks up from where the previous one ended, with Itsuki demanding Hope punch him. After successfully riling her up by questioning her commitment and insinuating her poor performance would harm other students, she finally swings at the class rep, to which he doesn't flinch. The two officially begin their brutal training sessions, with their peers gradually taking notice of its negative effects on Hope's demeanor.

Having enough, Jazz goes to Professor Strong, who is surprisingly lax with the situation, as Hope is one of the poorest performing students in class and Itsuki is the only one keeping her focused and motivated. He affirms to Jazz that he will intervene if Itsuki’s training is disrupting Hope’s safety or academic performance. Back on the field, Itsuki begins to gradually interrogate Hope as they ruthlessly fight, with Itsuki repeatedly besting her. In her frustration, Hope finally breaks and loudly exclaims the sole reason she wants to be a Ranger; her father. Confused, astonished, and irritated, Itsuki reasonably explains to Hope that she cannot simply follow another person's dream, that she could die while on the job and have no one to blame but her father. Her eyes well up with tears, unable to retort, while a remorseful Itsuki suddenly clamps his hand over his mouth and immediately ends their training for the day.

Meanwhile, Jazz, Maria, Sebastian, and Amai plan on inviting Hope to go out and do something fun after all four have noticed Itsuki’s intense training regime affecting her wellbeing. All the while, Hope contemplates leaving the academy and returning to Earth despite Naomi and Richie's protest. Jazz and co. then interrupt her call to invite her to the boardwalk. While on the outing, Hope has one final call with Naomi and Richie, all three remembering their promise from when they were kids; that they’ll always be friends no matter what.

## Major Characters

* Hope Griffin
* Itsuki Reo
* Jazz Owens
* Carmen Avilas
* Professor Parth Strong
* Maria Long
* Amai Higashi
* Sebastian Rojas

## Minor Characters

* Hope Griffin's Father (debut)
* Doctor Dola Amber (debut)
* Naomi Amador
* Richie Webber
* Sebastian Rojas
* Kayleen Huo
* Alex Stepanov (no lines)
* Shi (image)

## Trivia

* While showing both Hope and Itsuki's touchscreen desks to show their notes before the two briefly send messages through their touchscreens, Hope's notes are depicted as being written with a stylus while Itsuki's are typed. Otherwise, their notes are relatively the same, with the exception of Itsuki's being slightly more formal and detailed compared to Hope.
* Itsuki's notes contain references to space pirate smuggling operations of both Earth-based items and that of a species called the Drey, namely the illegal importing and exporting of drugs, weapons and other products. The Drey are stated to enjoy Earth narcotics with Drey narcotics being a similarly large market on Earth and one of these operations are stated to occur at the "Collective", a station home to various races.
* During the same lecture, as Professor Strong included a picture of Shi, marking his unofficial first appearance in the series. With mentions reference to a seemingly defunct space pirate group called the Nomads and their old leader, Mal, being confirmed deceased, there is a possibility Shi now leads this group, potentially after usurping and killing their previous leader.