Rise of a Ranger

Rise of a Ranger is the fifteenth episode of Power Rangers Dino Charge. It marks the full appearance of the Dino Charge Graphite Ranger as well as the debut of his main zord, the Pachy Zord.

Synopsis
Prince Richard discovers money can't buy the respect of an Energem when he embarks on his own quest to become a Power Ranger.

Plot
A facility discovers a dinosaur fossil which contains an energem. It is brought to Prince Richard III, training with a robot. After receiving the Energem, he tries to bond with it by saying the Rangers' Morphing Calls, but it doesn't work.

In Sledge's ship, Fury is seen to be cleaning around the Ship, per orders from Poisandra. The vile criminal attempts to kill her, and Fury decides to save her to redeem himself. His plan works, and Sledge gives him another chance to destroy the Rangers. In his excitement, Fury leaves the cleaning to Poisandra and leaves to go to Earth for another chance.

In Crescent Bay, Logan's younger sister, Ava and a group from New Zealand perform a dance for the Museum. Heather enters the museum late from her dance class which she says took forever. Ava wants to go skateboarding with Logan, but when Ian spots Fury, he is forced to leave her with Heather to take care of the problem. Heather and Ava immediately bond as they started hanging out together.

The Rangers come to Ian's aid, and Fury summons Vivix to fight the Rangers. In the midst of the battle, G-BO arrives and tries to help the Rangers, but is more of a distraction than a help. The Rangers outnumber and outmatch Fury, so he retreats to come up with a plan. It is revealed that Prince Richard has sent that robot because he wanted to help the rangers as he himself couldn't, and he would like to speak with Luka and Heather for an important matter. While the rangers and Richard are talking among themselves about the help of the robot, Fury has the Vivix steal the robot and reprogram it for killing the rangers.

Meanwhile, Richard discovers that Luka is a caveman and Heather is half-human and half-alien, on a quest to find her biological parents. After signing an autograph for a fan, he asks why the blue energem chose him and what qualities are necessary to become a ranger. He replies that one should have a kind heart and be able for becoming a ranger, but also says that the Energem works in strange ways.

Richard decides to do good deeds to prove himself to the Energem. First, he donates new fossils to the Museum, much to the surprise of the Rangers and Lindsay. Then, he donates large amounts of money and other means to organizations which help humans. He even opens a park for the Crescent Bay children. But still the energem doesn't bond with him.

Logan is at the skate park with Ava and Heather and was about to teach Ava how to skateboard, but he is caught up by work again and he again leaves Heather with her. As he leaves, Ava takes out a present she tells Heather that wants to give it to Logan and they both go after him.

Richard decides to give it to the rangers. The rangers realize that it is the graphite energem and thanks him for returning it, with Richard believing they will find someone more worthy. Soon Fury arrives the reprogrammed evil robot and attacks the rangers which results in the falling of the graphite energem into a fountain. The rangers try to defeat them but the robot seems to overpower them. At that time Logan's sister, Ava and Heather arrives there accidentally but can't escape from the fierce fight. Heather tries to shield Ava from the attack and is hit by the Vivix's blast and knocked to the ground out cold. Richard, who is watching all this from a distance in the custody of his bodyguards, runs there to save them not because for the energem but for humanity. Ava is taken to the Dino Museum for safety and Heather is taken to the hospital after being injured by the Vivix. This causes the energem to bond with him and grant him the powers of the Graphite Ranger. Then the seven rangers morph together and with their effort and the new Pachy Zord, defeat the monsters and the robot.

Fury arrives back on the Ship, and is chewed out by Sledge by surprise. He yells at Fury for failing to destroy the Rangers and getting the Energem, but Fury says that he is now driven by something both he and Sledge, and everyone else wants at the Rangers: Revenge. Sledge decides to give Fury another chance.

At the same time, Logan finally spends time with Ava and Heather arrives to see them before Ava's departure. Heather received an sling on her right shoulder and an bandage on her forehead. Before she leaves, she gives him a ticket to New Zealand so he can visit there during Christmas. Logan promises he surely will do that.

At the base, Richard talks about how his money wasn't worth it to become the Graphite Ranger. Keeper says it was only his bravery at the time of trouble which caused the Graphite Energem to choose him. Richard states that because of his royal responsibilities he couldn't stay with the rangers but at the time of any trouble he can be called. Before leaving with the energem, Richard charged three Pachy Chargers in case the rangers needed his zord. He complimented on Heather that even though she is injured, she is still "Beautiful", which Heather smiles on.

Cast

 * Brennan Mejia - Jesse Martinez
 * Camille Hyde - Kaitlin Skinner
 * Yoshi Sudarso - Luka
 * Michael Taber - Kyle Sanders
 * James Davies - Logan Mueller
 * Davi Santos - Sir Ian of Zandar
 * Claire Blackwelder - Lindsay Cartwright
 * Alexia Fast - Heather Merrill
 * Jarred Blakiston - Prince Richard III
 * Richard Simpson - Keeper
 * Adam Gardiner - Sledge
 * Jackie Clarke - Poisandra
 * Paul Harrop - Fury
 * Estevez Gillespie - Wrench
 * Campbell Cooley - Mecha Voice
 * Mila Simmons - Ava Mueller
 * Carolyn Dando - Margaret
 * Ruby Love - Anxious Girl

Trivia

 * This episode was originally called "Royal Sacrifice", but was changed to "Rise of a Ranger" for the US airing instead. It is still "Royal Sacrifice" or translations thereof in other territories.
 * First instance of a team morphing sequence showing 7 Rangers.
 * Fury makes his first appearance since Knight After Knights.
 * Fury must have also regained his bravery after Bones' defeat, considering he is no longer cowering from Knight After Knights.
 * This is the first episode not to have a prisoner released for fighting the Rangers. *Instead, G-BO is used by Fury, and the Vivizords are the only ones to grow.
 * This episode also is the second time the Zord battle ends with just one Zord alone defeating the Vivizords since episode 2.
 * Lindsay only makes brief appearances in this episode.
 * Richard's attempts to bond with the Energem by doing good deeds is similar to the episode Code Busters of Mystic Force in which Chip and Vida try to get new spells by doing good deeds.
 * As Fury leaves the prison cells, an alien with the head of Crazar can be seen in the background.