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TEEN: Pokemon Academy Year III: Childhood's Ripperoni

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So, after such a long time (like over a year) I finally was able to get off my ass and start working on the sequel to my last fic and the third (and hopefully final) installment of the Pokemon Academy series.

So it's been a while since my writing's been put up in the workshop and I guess I should give a bit of a rundown. This fic, as you guessed it's the third in a series but I've written it to the best I could so that new people could read it without having to read what came before. I'll even have Trivia Corners explaining any details from previous fics or other stuff that might need explaining.

Though for anyone that wishes to read the previous two stories (though you don't really have to and they haven't been cleaned up) I'll put the links here.

TEEN: - Pokemon Academy: Dragon's Roar (Ended)

TEEN: - Pokemon Academy Year II: Second Year Rhapsody

And now, without further ado, welcome to the story. Also, I'm putting up the prologue and chapter 1 together as a special gift.


Pokemon Academy Year Three: Childhood’s End​

Prologue: A New Dawn​

He felt the soft, slow rowing of the boat against his back over and over, his eyes looking up at the roof lazily as small sunrays shone through the glass window right above the bed he was laying on. He rested his head against the pillow before groaning and yawning, trying to get his body to fully awaken.

Or that was his plan before feeling the room spin around him, causing the teenager to gasp and sit up quickly, throwing the sheets that surrounded him away and jumping out of the bed. He sped off towards the bathroom, accidentally stepping on the furry white tail of his companion before he sprinted to the other room, ignoring the creature’s cry.

The boy coughed and groaned loudly, hoping and begging for his body to go back to normalcy as he leaned against the opened toilet in the bathroom, sitting back against the floor once he was done and breathing heavily. “I…hate….boats,” he whined, pushing himself up as best he could.

He heard another cry, followed by light steps as the creature walked into the bathroom, pouting at its master, its white furred snout leaning close to the floor and his big blue eyes staring at the Trainer with guilt.

“I’m sorry buddy, I just had to run,” he sighed, crawling over towards the creature and petting its head, his hand resting right above the triangle-shaped patch of red fur right on the center of his snout before traveling down his body and petting the small fairy-like wings on its back.

The Pokemon nodded its head in approval before rubbing its nose against its Trainer’s chest.

“All right Chigon, let’s get up now,” he laughed, trying to stand up, though not before his face was licked by the small Pokemon, staring at its trainer’s matching blue eyes as he brushed some of the messy brown locks on his forehead back and smiled brightly back at it. “Now, get out. I’ll be out there in a sec.”

The boy came out of the bathroom a few minutes later, having changed into a red track suit. The sight of him was enough to instantly make Chigon jump up in excitement, trodding over to the door and patting it gently. “All right all right, you can come run with me. It’s only one lap around the deck though,” he stated, raising his finger and waving it around in a circle. “And don’t get in front of me, oh and no flying either,” the Pokemon pouted at this but nodded its head in understanding either way as its trainer opened the door, allowing it to run out. “Hey wait we can’t run in the hall!” he called out, closing the door quickly before following after the Pokemon.

As they made their way out of the hallway, running past all the rooms on the floor, the pair moved out, running around and making their way to the deck as they built up a light pace. The boy looked out towards the vast blue sea unfolding to their left, the shine of the rising sun reflecting against the water, making the boy lose himself in the sight.

He hated boats but he loved looking at sunrise and sunsets, and the sea just made them even better for him.

He increased his pace a little bit more as they made their way down to the deck of the ship, curving around now so that they could make a full turn.

They were greeted by a strong gust of wind threatening to push them back; making the boy step back a bit in surprise, his legs feeling heavier as he ran against the wind, requiring him to put even more strength into his step. He glanced downwards, noticing that the Pokemon was having the same issue as him.

He covered his face a bit as he turned towards the front of the deck, deciding to push through the wind and began running against it, feeling himself being pushed back by the gusts of morning wind as he ran with Chigon by his side. He took in deep breaths as he jogged down the deck, making sure to keep his eyes focused in front of him.

As he ran his mind began to think back to his life and where he stood right now, remembering how he had been on this same ship only two years prior, completely scared out of his mind about what to expect of his life, it all felt so different to him with how much things had changed, before he wouldn’t have even bothered with going out for a morning jog.

As he continued to run around the deck he began to feel his mind wander even more, something that in turn caused him to lose focus on the wind or any fatigue he might be developing, it was as if he had suddenly gone into a completely different world even as sweat began to run down his face and body.

Eventually he came to a halt, stopping right where he had stared about 20 minutes later. He began to notice more people walking out of the rooms and onto the deck, making him look away nervously at the thought of being seen. “Well, let’s head back then, gotta get a shower before going for breakfast,” he told his Pokemon as he unzipped his track suit and let out a loud sigh.

However, just as he was about to head back into the hallway he saw Chigon run ahead of him, making the trainer groan at his Pokemon’s sudden eagerness before he followed behind. “Come on, we don’t have time to lose here!” he exclaimed, seeing the Pokemon climb onto the railing of the deck, its body perched like a statue. Reggie stopped as well, noticing the group of islands that began to make itself visible in the distance. “Almost there,” Reggie muttered, petting the dragon across its head. “Just one more year buddy.”

The small dragon nodded its head at its trainer, a smile on its face as it looked on towards the archipelago.

End of Prologue
Next time: Brand New Hustle


Chapter 1: Brand New Hustle​


“All arriving students and staff, please proceed towards the dining hall. We will be arriving at the Academy Archipelago shortly.”


The intercom’s message rang throughout the ship, reaching Reggie in his room as he finished changing into his uniform. A simple black shirt topped with a red blazer and a pair of red and black sneakers. The Academy’s uniform was designed in a rather unique fashion, making them seem more casual, even allowing their students to personalize them, though he didn’t know if that changed the fact that a part of the student body would be wearing the same colors as him.


After putting on his jacket he focused on fixing his hair slightly, groaning at not being able to comb it right. Eventually he settled on a simple straight fashion, with it covering his forehead right above his blue eyes. “Maybe I really should cut it,” he wondered to himself, staring at the mirror.


He heard Chigon whine from behind him, causing Reggie to turn around and frown. “Stop being so impatient,” he argued, grabbing his comb and putting it inside his bag. “All right, let’s go get some breakfast, Miko must be waiting already,” he said, causing Chigon to nod his head and walk towards the door eagerly.


Reggie’s mind went to his girlfriend, a smile crossing his face when he realized that the two would be able to see each other daily once more. Just that thought was enough to make him equally as eager as his Pokemon.


***


Reggie made his way down to the ship’s dining hall, Chigon resting on his shoulder lazily as they entered. A soft crimson carpet caked every inch of the room floor, with white clothed tables spread around.


His attention was instantly directed towards the row of tables displayed on the back of the room. The food was served in a buffet line, with people making a line in order to reach their preferred breakfast. At the same time there were scattered tables that allowed chefs to cook food right in front of the guests.


Reggie sniffed slightly, the smell of the food attracting him towards the tables as he grabbed a plate for himself.


A few minutes later he had gone through the buffet table, his plate now filled with three pancakes covered in maple syrup, blue berries and some whip cream at the top with two strips of grilled bacon on the side.


With his plate in hand Reggie walked over towards one of the show tables, noticing that a few omelets were being made. “Oh, maybe I’ll get Miko one, I think those are her favorite,” he said towards the small dragon, who simply looked at him quizzically before moving his head back down.


After getting the omelet Reggie made his way through the tables, looking around for any sign of his girlfriend. Shifting through the crowds of students dressed in blues, yellows, greens and black, all representing the different colors for the academy’s dorms.


A smile crossed his face when he saw the similarly red uniformed girl sitting by the left corner of the room, happily chowing down on some scrambled eggs with pieces of hotdog cut up inside of it. The chestnut haired, faired skin girl immediately turned towards him, her honey brown eyes staring at him for a moment before she waved at him.


Reggie immediately walked over towards the table, leaning down to give her a light kiss on the cheek that she replied to by flashing him a bright smile as he sat down. “Morning, did you sleep well?” he greeted her, lowering the dishes down on the table as he sat opposite to her.


“Fancy bed in a fancy ship? Of course I slept well,” Miko countered before taking a swig of her orange juice. “You woke up a lot later than I thought you would,” she commented, her eyes moving towards Chigon before she leaned forward against the table and stretched her arm out to pet the Pokemon.


“I did get up early actually,” Reggie replied, grabbing his fork and knife. “I jogged around the deck for a few minutes, I had a lot of trouble combing my hair though,” he groaned.


“Oh please, stop whining,” Miko shook her head, flicking her long brown hair back while frowning. “It’s your own fault it’s so long anyways.”


“You can be so mean sometimes,” Reggie sighed, only to smile back at her as he cut up a piece of the pancakes.


“Yeah, it’s fun,” Miko teased, her eyes falling on the omelet plate next to the pancakes. “By the way, are you that hungry?” she asked.


“Oh. I actually got this for you, I know it’s your favorite,” Reggie stated as he took a bite out of pancakes, sliding the dish over to her.


“No, these are,” Miko corrected, pointing down towards the scrambled eggs.


“Oh…sorry,” Reggie’s expression fell, eyes falling on his pancakes in embarrassment.


“Hey it’s okay!” Miko exclaimed, chuckling awkwardly. “Listen, omelet is still good, we can just share,” she reassured, quickly using her knife to cut the omelet in half. “Don’t forget next time though or I’ll punish you,” she said slyly, mostly to try and help Reggie feel better, who simply smiled back at her and shook his head. “Good, I don’t wanna have to have a mopey boyfriend on the first day back.”


“Yeah you’re right, we should probably get in contact with the others when we get there.”


“Wasn’t Fin on this ship too? Sevii Islands do count as Kanto,” Miko inquired, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.


“I tried looking for him yesterday but he wasn’t here, didn’t answer his phone either,” Reggie shook his head.


“Oh want to help me unpack tonight by the way? Once we catch up with the others I mean,” Miko said after a few second, thoroughly enjoying her eggs as she glanced at her boyfriend. “Since you’re spending the night and all.”


“I never said I was,” Reggie pointed out, a smirk on his face.


“It’s me please,” Miko retorted, shaking her head. ‘So will you? It’ll be great to have a strong man by my side…but I have you,” she said playfully.


“Well when you put it like that, suuuure.”


"God you guys are so cheesy," a loud whine came from under the table, causing both Reggie and Miko to stare at each other before raising the mantle.



The two were met by a male teenager with tanned skin sitting down on the carpeted floor, scratching his short and messy red hair. He was wearing a v-neck black shirt topped with an aqua blue jacket with ripped sleeves that allowed his toned biceps to come into view.



"Why are you under our table, Fin?" Miko asked, surprise and annoyance on her face.



"It was my table first, I slept under it," he groaned, letting out a loud yawn.



"I knew I felt my feet bump something when I sat down," Reggie added in realization. "...wait why we're you under it in the first place!"



"Oh right. See, I went to this huge party in Five Island the night before yesterday and it kind of left me out of commission," Fin explained, shrugging casually as a wide grin crossed his face. "Dude there were these high class chicks-"



"You know I'm just going to assume you're talking about Torchics when you say that," Miko interrupted, grinning when she saw Fin's annoyed expression.



"Anyways. I followed the trajectory of the ship and snuck aboard last night. I forgot my student ID though so when I was found out no one believed me," He sighed in frustration, walking out of the table. "So I ran and hid here."

"You know the worst that could've happened is you got put under supervision until we arrived right?" Miko asked, glancing a him with confusion and boredom, she never really understood how Fin's mind worked.



"Wait...really?"



"Yeah really? What you thought they were going to throw you off the ship or gun you down?" Reggie scolded, shaking his head at his best friend while he ate his pancakes.



"Yes," Fin replied, sounding hesitant as he grabbed a chair and sat down next to Reggie. "But enough about that, what matters is that I'm he-are you gonna eat that, I'm starving," he pointed at the omelet, with Reggie motioning for him to take it. "Awesome."



Fin continued as he cut and bit into his omelet. "So we're finally going to be third years, this year is going to be exciting!"



"I don't know about that," Miko said hesitantly, finishing what was left of her eggs.



"You sure sound excited."



"Remember she's going to be the Prefect for the Charizard Flame dorm this year," Reggie noted, biting out a piece of bacon.



"Oh right, I forgot Tyson picked you for that. That sucks," Fin stated as he chew.



"Being a Prefect is going to be really tough," Miko expression fell as she rested her head down on her hand.



"Hey, it'll be fine," Reggie stretched his hand out, smiling slightly at her as he grabbed the hand she had on the table. "I can help you with anything you need."


"Uh...yeah, I'd appreciate that," Miko nodded her head. Fin stared at her for a moment, noticing how monotonous her voice sounded. It didn't seem like Reggie had seen this so he chose to forget about it and continue eating. "Anyways!" She exclaimed, her voice sounding more excited now as she got up. "You two should finish eating, we'll be docking soon."


***


Reggie felt the morning winds of the Archipelago hit him as he walked out into the deck, the sun shining down and causing him to cover his eyes for them to adjust. Other students were already gathered around, looking out towards the surrounding islands.


Reggie’s eye fell first on the centermost island, Academy Island, where the students lived and attended their respective classes. The Central Castle stood at in the middle of the island, proudly looking over the area with its three towers. Connected to the castle were the Dining Wing and Hospital Wing, with the Science Wing and battling fields set up in front of each wing.


“It’s always interesting coming back here,” Fin pointed out, leaning against the railway of the deck and grinning towards the island. “Feels like we’re being taken to a whole new world.”


“Yeah, it does,” Reggie nodded his head in agreement. The academy was always a different place for him, but it wasn’t always a good place either. His mind went back to the years before, thinking of all the dangerous situations he and his friends had gone through during the year.


“Um, is it me or is that new?” Reggie and Fin both turned towards Miko who was instead looking towards one of the nearby islands.


A long tower of glass stood in the center of the island, at about one hundred and eighty meters and still in construction it casted a large shadow over the island and the water around it. Reggie stared at the tower for a moment, a bit intimidated by the sight. “What’s that?”


“Forget that, how did they make that in only three months!” Fin called out in disbelief. “You gotta be a freaking first class slave worker for that.”


“I have an idea,” Miko pointed out, scratching her chin in thought before pointing at the tower once more. “Look at that emblem,” upon instruction the two boys turned to the tower, noticing the golden glassing in the middle of the building, taking on the form of three spheres, which were lined up in a triangle formation. “It’s the symbol for Frontier Constructions.”


“Wow, those are some eyes you’ve got there,” Fin whistled in surprised. “How does that answer my question though?”


“This is a construction company that was able to create some of the most advanced facilities in the world in only a couple of years…15 years ago,” Miko stated bluntly, crossing her arms. “It’s not that surprising they’d be able to create one tower in only three months.”


“I’m not sure construction can be that easy but I’ll take it,” Fin said dismissively, scratching the back of his head in thought.


“What do you think it is for though?” Reggie inquired, still transfixed by the tower.


Miko smirked at this, turning towards her boyfriend with confidence. “Well of course it’ll be for us to fight in my dear, it is this academy we’re talking about. Maybe it has something to do with the Titans League.”


“Oh yeah…that,” Reggie replied, his expression falling before he pocketed his hands and turned away from the tower. “Well, right now I’ll just focus on getting back to the rhythm of things,” he added with a low tone.


He didn’t want to think about anything else, just getting back to the island and seeing his friends again, as long as he had that he would have no problem. Or at least, he hoped so.


End of Chapter 1

Next Time: Ceremonial Start

Trivia Corner #1​

So, I want to welcome you all, new and old readers, to Pokemon Academy Year III. This has been a year in the making (actually just a few months but I did take a year to plan out the fic…mostly) and well, I figured since it’s been so long I might as well do a sort of trivia corner about things that I should explain in the story but for one reason or another can’t properly figure out how to do it without cutting the flow of it, I mean I could do exposition but at this point in the series most of the characters already know all the general gist so it’s easier to explain things over here.


So this being the prologue and chapter 1 I think the best thing I can do is to explain the two glaringly obvious things about these fic. How does this academy work and just what the hell is Chigon, I mean he’s a fakemon and those…those usually don’t mean good things but I should at least get everyone an explanation before I get shanked for throwing poop on the whole idea of Pokemon and creating a dirty fakemon or something like that.


So first of all, Elemental Academy.


Elemental Academy is one of multiple private institutions founded under the guise of teaching young more about the world of Pokemon and to raise them into any field they might like to accomplish in the world. This mostly includes Pokemon related careers like gym leaders, professional battlers, coordinators, scientists and such, but a lot of people from different walks of life and goals do come to the academy as well, some don’t even have Pokemon of their own.


Elemental Academy itself was founded in the now known Academy Archipelago (it’s founder sucked at names) which used to be known as the Draconic Archipelago, where an ancient civilization once lived. These islands are located in a special area which keeps it at the center of multiple regions thus making it accessible to them and for its students to travel there without much trouble.


The academy’s biggest difference with others is how it divides its students into different dorms, five dorms for different types of students. There’s the Charizard Flame dorm for students aiming to better their fighting skills or who want to become strong battlers, there’s the Roselia Leaf dorm for aspiring Coordinators, or other entertainment related careers.


There’s Gyarados Aqua both for people aiming to pursue a scientific field as well as any other career not directly related to Pokemon, Jolteon Thunder for breeders and trainers who want to learn more about raising and training Pokemon.


Lastly there’s the Houndoom Dark which acts as a token dorm for people who want to be in either career but is defined by having people who have a deeper passion about it, unlike the other dorms which allow students who are only dabbling this one is solely for people who are set on what they want to accomplish.


There’s actually more information to cover but I think that’s the basics for now. Next time on this topic I’ll be explaining a bit more about how the dorm and the academy itself works.


Chigon itself is a different beast all together. It was originally a Pokemon native to the Draconic Archipelago where you could find them everywhere in the area, Reggie’s Chigon is a little special but that’ll be for later.


Chigon as a species is a Dragon/Normal type whose strength is influenced by Reggie’s own state and bond with it. The two originally met in Reggie’s first year after he crash landed on a meteorite of all things and Reggie spent most of his first year trying to learn more about Chigon and trying to stop him from falling in the wrong hands. As time has gone by the two have developed a really close bond with each other and in some instances are even linked.


And that’s all for now on these two topics. The Chigon information will be put on hold for now (unless you guys want me to explain more) and next time I’ll instead give some more info on the characters, just the basics.
 
All right!! Let's do this!! Right here!! RIGHT NOW!!! Chapter-by-chapter points as always.

- Odd subtitle for the fic. I guess we're working under different definitions of childhood, but I forget - how old is the cast, again?
- Why would Chigon cry out when its tail is only almost stepped on?
- “And don’t get in front of me, oh and no flying either,” the Pokemon pouted at this <- bit of a weird line with the capitalization and way it's arranged
- “Hey wait we can’t run in the hall!” <- Missing commas?
- You sure seem to use the pronoun 'the boy' a lot here.
- stopping right where he had stared about 20 minutes later <- Think you may have meant started, not stared.

Just a short prologue. Different. Nothing else to say that comes to mind on it, though.

- I thought, at least in Year 2, personalizing your uniform was strictly prohibited. Fin got beaten because of it. Literally!
- Dang, would've thought Reggie and Miko would've seen each other regularly when away.
- Reggie went through the buffet table?! Jeez. Such a violent school these days if actually so.
- blue berries and some whip cream <- Blueberries is spelled as such. And same for 'whipped cream'
- Reggie, Reggie, Reggie. Heh. Going from just being uncertain if it's her favorite eggs, to confidently claiming it's as such. Also, hard-over 4 lyfe.
- ...is it wrong that I can totally see Miko "punishing" Reggie?
- “It’s me please,” <- Kind of an odd line in the context
- It’ll be great to have a strong man by my side…but I have you, <- Also a bit of an awkward line.
- wait why we're you <- Typo!!
- glancing a him with confusion and boredom <- And another typo. And...why boredom? o,o
- Fin stated as he chew. <- And yet again!! @_@
- But why is the big glass tower being constructed?! I'm guessing given their name and creating advanced facilities, they may or may not be linked to the Battle Frontier?
- Also, the bit about them being able to create such stuff 15 years ago kind of reads awkwardly, considering they're still in-business today.

And two of the secondary characters are back. Woo!! Other than that, it's just a reintro chapter. A bit less eventful than Year 2's reintro.

IT'S BACK, BABY. Been waiting for like 10,000 years or something for this. But well, there's not much to say at this point, since it's literally just a reintroduction (complete with a neat feature for newcomers and people who were not crazy enough to read it all from the start), and introduction of a plot piece. Will my unstated guesses about this thing prove correct?! Guess we'll eventually find out!!

Looking forward to more. Do watch some of that typographical stuff, though. @_@
 
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*begins foaming at the mouth, passes out*

Good start, my friend. Not much to say just yet but it's so good to finally have this up.
 
“Don’t forget next time though or I’ll punish you,” she said slyly

#FiftyShadesOfFlazeReturns

For real though, I'm looking forward to this year. It was kind of cool to look at how far you've come as a writer in terms of quality of prose and word choice and all that.

A smile crossed his face when he saw the similarly red uniformed girl sitting by the left corner of the room, happily chowing down on some scrambled eggs with pieces of hotdog cut up inside of it. The chestnut haired, faired skin girl immediately turned towards him, her honey brown eyes staring at him for a moment before she waved at him.

The fact that the word "colored" is nowhere to be found here is a step forward ;) Although I think there was still a bit of an adjective overload. I suppose the dense description is to be expected at this point, but just a heads up.
 
Solid but like maybe if that Reggie dude and that Miko girl are dating. Like kind of make the convo more casual and intimate. It doesn't really sound like they are dating. You can afford to be more casual and slangish with kids because they are kids.
 
And we're back!

Seems like a fairly straightforward prologue/intro sort of chapter, reintroducing us to Reggie, Miko and Fin. Just enough foreshadowing with the new tower to keep things interested in the short span of writing in this chapter. Hopefully we'll see more of the plot/characters introduced and explored going forward.

One minor niggle about formatting: the line breaks seem a little far apart, but that's really about it for now. Can't wait to read more!
 
Well it's a bit later than I originally wanted it to be but here is Chapter 2. Thanks to everyone that posted a reply to the first couple of chapters by the way, I'll be sure to edit chapter 1 accordingly too. I hope you like this one :)

Chapter 2: A Ceremonial Start

A pair of women made their way through the halls of Elemental Academy’s main tower, the red carpeted floor sinking below them with each step they took through the long hallway leading towards the principal’s office. “I can’t believe you’re going to make me be late on my first day,” one of them pointed out in annoyance, fixing up the neck of her white dress shirt as she scanned her dark grey suit and equally colored skirt for any dust or wrinkles.

“Oh, don’t be such a stick in the mud Stacy,” the other one replied with a grin, her outlandish sky blue hair, which matched with her companion, was done in a short straight fashion, with a single extravagant ponytail sticking out in the air in a wavy fashion. Unlike the other woman she was wearing a simple aqua blue cheongsam dress that went down to her knees.

“I still wonder why the principal hired you so easily,” Stacy pointed out, giving a side glance to the woman. “You don’t have what it takes to be a teacher.”

“True, but when it comes to Coordinating I’m the best, shall I remind you I’m the one that taught him and you how to Coordinate,” the other woman replied with a wide grin, which caused Stacy to simply look away and sigh. “Don’t be so stressed out, you’ll do fine,” she reassured her, patting her back.

“You don’t get it,” Stacy frowned, crossing her arms. “Just last year I was arriving to be a Biology teacher, now I’m going to be a Vice-Principal, that jump just doesn’t make sense to me.”

“That just means you’re that perfect for the job, and I totally agree too,” Lisia replied with a bright smile. “Plus, little miss Erin said she agreed as well.”

“Erin is just being nice,” Stacy stated dismissively. “Though with you here now I understand how annoying I must’ve been to her back in high school.”

“I’m just going to pretend you didn’t say that,” the other woman frowned, puffing her cheeks slightly.

A large mahogany door stood in front of them, leading the way inside the principal’s office. “All right Stacy, do the honors,” the 30-something year old said as she pointed towards the door. Stacy nodded her head, gently resting her hand against the wooden door before pushing it open.

“No knock,” came the reply from inside the room. At the end of the large cube-shaped room were three glass windows, the sun’s rays shining down on the mahogany desk that stood in front of them as well as the two figures. A man with short black hair stood behind the desk, facing towards the window, his black eyes gleaming as he saw the women walk in. “Stacy, Lisia, it’s nice you two could make it,” he said politely, fixing up his black suit and red dress shirt slightly.

“I’m sorry for the delay sir, one of us couldn’t get up,” Stacy groaned, looking towards Lisia, who was simply lost inspecting all of the book shelves inside of the office.

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Lisia replied, only to gasp as she noticed the person sitting in front of the wooden desk. “Meimei!”

“It’s May,” groaned the woman before smiling at Lisia, her short brown hair and matching eyes gleaming with the light from the sun. “See, I told you they wouldn’t notice me.”

“Okay okay, you win this one,” Brendan shrugged, seeing Lisia walking over to May and giving her a tight hug.

“I didn’t think you’d be here, how are you feeling? How’s the baby?”

“It’s cause of that little subject that I’m here,” May replied with a slight chuckle. “Brendan didn’t want me to be alone in Littleroot while he worked anymore,” she pointed out, glancing at Brendan, who was looking away shyly.

“Maybe it’s not quite noticeable yet but it’ll be soon and I want to make sure there’s no problems when the time comes,” he replied with a slight huff.

“He’s a real worrywart, won’t even let me stand for too long,” May narrowed her eyes before standing up from the chair to hug Lisia back. “Anyways, shouldn’t we all hurry up, the welcoming ceremony will be soon.”

“Oh right,” Brendan stated in realization, pacing towards Stacy before patting her shoulder. “Are you ready Ms. Vice-Principal?”

Stacy took a couple of seconds to respond to this, simply staring at him as if trying to gather her thoughts. She didn’t seem too confident about what he was saying, but she knew there wasn’t anything she could do about the decision at this point. With that she simply let out a sigh before nodding her head. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

***

“Land!” Reggie whined as he, Miko and Fin finally touched Elemental Academy’s docks. He fell to his knees, gasping for breath as he tried to get over his sea sickness, which had combined with his own anxiety at finally arriving.

“Drama queen,” Fin called out in annoyance, slinging his bag over his back while Chigon and Reggie’s Eevee, Buttercup, landed on their trainer’s back and began to look around the docks.

“Seems like the other ships have arrived already,” Miko pointed out, there were five other ships stationed at the docks at the moment, with a mob of students walking around with their luggage or catching up with each other. “Let’s get going, I want to see the others already,” she said with a smile as she helped her boyfriend up and began to lead the way.

“Vui, vui!” Eevee called out, his head waving from side to side as he tried to get a good look at all the people and Pokemon gathering around the docks.

“Chigon chi!” Chigon scolded Buttercup from atop Reggie’s shoulder, glaring at the small pup, who simply scoffed and turned away.

“Those two still not getting along huh?” Fin commented with an award chuckle.

“Buttercup’s way too impulsive and Chigon’s got this leader complex to him,” Reggie sighed in frustration, putting his hands against his stomach. “It still hasn’t gone away by the way,” he called out weakly. “Though speaking of, why don’t you release Milli?” he asked towards Miko.

“Oh, Millie’s really shy around crowds, we’ll have more trouble with her out right now,” she replied simply, only to see Buttercup beginning to stride ahead of the group, causing the three of them to gasp in shock before they began to follow after him, with an upset Chigon flying off on his own to catch up to it.

Buttercup swiftly made his way through the crowd, jumping, passing underneath and sometimes brushing against people’s legs, intent on making it to his destination.

At least that was the case until Chigon landed in front of him, a stern glare on the dragon’s face which made the Eevee move back in fear. “Chi!” he called out loudly, hitting the pup’s forehead with his own paw.

“Aw it’s you guys!” a voice from behind was able to quickly lighten up Chigon’s mood, turning around with a big smile to look up at the girl that was now standing in front of them. Her long black hair waving around with the wind and against her blue jacket and skirt. “Hey there.”

“Blu!” a Swablu chirped loudly before descending in front of Chigon, its eyes glaring at the dragon, who simply frowned.

“Blu please don’t fly off on your own!” another girl yelled, her voice sounding ragged as she came to a halt and began panting, trying to make sure that her glasses didn’t fall off. She was also wearing a blue jacket, though this one made to fit her smaller frame compared to that of her friend’s. “Oh…it’s Chigon.”

“What a surprise right? And there comes the cavalry,” the other girl stated, smiling upon seeing Reggie, Fin and Miko walk towards them. Miko herself ran to hug her as soon as she saw her.

“Valerie!” Miko called out, gleefully hugging the girl, who proceeded to hug her back and laugh. “It’s great to finally see you again, you barely talked during the summer,” she pointed out, shaking her head as she moved back.

“Sorry, island vacations would do that to you,” Valerie chuckled before grinning and taking out a camera from inside of her pocket. “I’ll show you all the pics I took later okay? You wouldn’t believe how perfect the Alola Islands are.”

“Hey there Val,” Reggie waved at her, still not being over his sea-sickness.

“Cus…are you okay?” Valerie asked, her tone becoming worried once she was able to get a good look at Reggie. “You got sea-sick again didn’t you?” she groaned with irritation.

“Well it’s not like I can help it!” Reggie yelled out, irritated with his cousin’s tone.

“Hi Reggie,” the brown-haired girl greeted hesitantly, waving at her as he finally realized her presence. “How are you?” she asked, her tone becoming a bit shy as she glanced away.

“Oh, hi Claudia, you sea-sick too?” he asked, noticing she seemed a bit out of breath. The girl became a bit flustered at this before glancing down at her Swablu. “Did you have a nice summer?”


“No, Blu just made me run a marathon is all,” she chuckled nervously before returning the Swablu into it’s pokeball. “And my summer…let’s just say I had a summer, okay?”

“You guys do know I’m here right,” Fin frowned, finally gaining the attention of the rest of the group. “No ‘hello Fin, how was your summer?’ I see how it is.”

“Nobody cares Fin,” Valerie smirked, rolling her eyes at him. The two however, seemed to glance at each other for a moment, with Fin’s expression softening before he turned around and sighed.

“Let’s just get going before we’re late for the welcoming ceremony,” with that he began making his way towards the entrance to the docks.

“What’s with him?” Reggie asked with a raised eyebrow, though Claudia and Miko simply glanced at a hesitant Valerie.

Valerie changed her demeanor quickly though, letting out a laugh as she walked ahead of the others. “Just ignore him, let’s go!” she yelled, motioning for the others to follow.

Miko, who had caught up to Valerie whispered. “I thought you guys were okay?”

“We are…it’s just…don’t worry okay?” Valerie replied hesitantly. “Just don’t tell Rafael, or Reggie for that matter, this is in the past.”

***

Students began gathering inside of Elemental Academy’s theater hall, with new students being asked to pick up the uniforms for their respective dorms while returning ones quickly made their way to a seat.

Stacy was a complete wreck, at least on the inside. She glanced through the curtains at the room filled with students and moved back, taking in a deep breath. “Guess some things never change. You still get easily nervous,” a smile crossed her face upon hearing that voice, as a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her from behind. “Happy to see you,” a man with long black hair said softly, gently turning her around so her blue eyes could stare into his own brown ones.

“Not as happy as I am to see you,” Stacy replied with a grin before kissing the man gently on the lips, only for her to remember where they were and move back, noticing the rest of the teachers that were smirking at the two. “Damn it Freed, now look what you did,” she said in embarrassment.

“Let them laugh,” Freed replied with a soft chuckle. “At least you feel better now right?” he asked slyly.

“…Maybe a little,” Stacy replied, shrugging as she smiled at her boyfriend. “Maybe later you can make me feel happier,” she whispered in an almost sultry voice before beginning to move away from him.

“Deal,” Freed replied, simply staring at her back as she walked off. “Good luck Stace.”

***

He really hated the welcoming ceremonies. Just having to sit there and listen and then clap amongst the whole crowd, it was hard enough for him to stay awake as it is, much more with him having to sit through a whole ceremony.

He couldn’t complain though, not when he got to be with her. He glanced at her approaching figure, her violet hair waving around as she walked, matching perfectly with the green uniform of the Roselia Green dorm, her smile shining down on him and making him of all people feel flustered. “I guess we’ll try and find the others once the ceremony’s over huh?” she asked gently.

The teenager didn’t reply at first, instead he adjusted his glasses in an attempt to recover his composure, only to have to flick his black hair back as it hovered over the lens. “Yeah, I guess we shouldn’t be surprised those guys are going to be late,” he complained, though he really wasn’t affected by his friend’s un-attendance, a part of him didn’t want them to show up. He quickly adjusted his yellow jacket and turned towards her. “Want to find a seat Marie?”

“Always so serious,” Marie replied with a shake from her head as she walked over and kissed his cheek, causing him to lose his composure all over again. “You know you don’t have to try so hard in front of me Jack,” she teased, grabbing his hand quickly.

He just smiled at her, glad that they were having a chance to spend some time together after not being able to see each other much during the summer. Or so he thought…

“I finally found someone I know, sheesh!” he grimaced as he heard a voice not too far from them, prompting Marie to turn towards the girl that was quickly running to them. Her black jacket and black shorts being almost unnoticeable with the darkness of the hall, but her cheerful smile was hard not to notice. “Jack, Marie, how were your summers?”

“Allison right?” Marie asked cautiously before smiling back at the girl. “Really nice actually, it’s great to see you and you’re a second year now too.”

“Yep,” Allison smirked as she tugged on her jacket. “I’m so glad I found you guys, I was trying to see if I could find Valerie and the others but I haven’t seen them yet,” the girl pouted a bit.

“Do we have to?” Jack whispered to Marie in annoyance.

“Now don’t be rude,” Marie answered back, frowning before glancing towards Allison once more. “It’s no problem, how about you sit with us?” she suggested.

“Oh, I’ll be glad to,” Allison nodded her head, tugging onto her bag. “My summer was boring; I was just helping around in the farm, though I did get to train a lot.”

“Going to challenge Darren again?” Marie asked, though her question was able to actually lower Allison’s cheer, her face falling a bit before she nodded her head and quickly regained her smile.

“Sure, I’ll do my best,” she replied, though it was clear she wasn’t as into it now. Jack decided not to say anything about it though; in general he just wanted to get the whole thing over with after all.

“Let’s just go sit down, we can worry about the rest later,” he insisted.

“Someone’s being grumpy,” Allison teased, poking at Jack’s shoulder before he swatted her hand away.

“No I’m not!” he called out before letting himself fall into one of the seats, with a laughing Allison and Marie sitting next to him. His eyes stayed on the two girls for a moment, a faint smile crossing his face.

***

Students flowed out of the assembly hall, yawns and groans resounding through the walls alongside the cheerful laughter and voices of students finally reuniting.

A yawn escaped Reggie’s own lips as he and his friends walked out, his hand instantly going up to his mouth so as to not be heard by everyone else. He was never good with the welcoming ceremonies, aside from the shocking twists of who would join the staff or the things that were planned for the year there really wasn’t anything that interested him.

“I can’t believe we got Lisia as a teacher,” he heard Fin exclaim, he definitely sounded more excited than he thought he would be, though he figured why. “I honestly wonder how the principal gets all these famous people sometimes, I’m not complaining though.”

“I’m really happy Ms. Lewis became the vice-principal, though it’s also sad we won’t get to see her classes anymore,” Valerie added, a somber smile on her face as she shuffled with her camera. “Having Lisia take her place as our dorm head isn’t so bad though and I might consider signing up for Coordinating.”

“You’ve got no Pokemon,” Fin scoffed, only to feel Valerie’s elbow connect with his ribs shortly after, making him jump back and grasp his side desperately.

“I can still learn about it, I’ll never know when I’ll get a Pokemon so who knows,” Valerie shrugged, ignoring Fin’s glare. “How about it Claudia? Wanna take Coordinating with me?”

“Um…I think I’m good,” Claudia laughed nervously; she clearly hadn’t been paying much attention to what the others were talking about. “I might just go for a free period this year.”

“That’s no fun; we have to enjoy our last year till it’s over!” Valerie whined.

The sun’s rays shone down on the group once they made their way out of the building, with Reggie desperately covering his eyes as the morning winds dwindled and were replaced by the afternoon heat. He looked around at the people walking around campus, realizing that things were finally back to normal. “I’m shocked that they announced that new tournament though,” Miko said, pacing ahead of the others for a moment. “Makes me feel a little excited,” she grinned, turning back to them.

“There’s always a tournament we have to worry about here,” Reggie sighed with slight annoyance. He didn’t mind the competitions that the school held, but sometimes it just seemed like every day was a constant competition for him in one way or another. “That reminds me, I didn’t see Darren at the assembly hall.”

Hearing that caused the mood in the group to go down, with everyone of them suddenly going quiet, except for one. “So what if he wasn’t?” Fin called out, moaning in annoyance. “That guy just has his head too far up his ass to grace us with his presence. He can stay away for all I care.”

“Fin,” Valerie interjected.

“It’s the truth,” Fin frowned at her before looking to Reggie. “We all spent last year trying to make him feel like he was part of our group and what did he do? He went back to moping all on his own, so if you ask me I say we just forget about him this year. It’s just a waste of breath,” he put his hands behind his head and began walking ahead of the others. “I’m gonna go unpack, I’ll pass by your room later okay Reg?”

“You didn’t have to be a dick about it!” Valerie yelled, though she didn’t receive a reply. “What’s with him all of a sudden?”

“Fin hates how hung up Reggie is on Darren,” Miko whispered to her, making sure Claudia and Reggie weren’t listening to the two. “Seems like jealousy if you ask me.”

“He can be so immature sometimes, god,” Valerie groaned, walking off to catch up with Fin.

“So….” She turned back to Reggie and Claudia, who were both still shocked about what had just happened. “Shall we head to the dorms?” she asked awkwardly, trying to lighten the mood.

“Yeah, I should probably follow Valerie and Fin,” Claudia spoke up, glancing at the couple before she quickly scurried off to her dorm mates.

“Geez, this got heavy all of a sudden,” Miko quickly grabbed Reggie’s hand, her face falling on his as he looked away. “Don’t think about it too much okay sweetie? It’s a happy day.”

“…I know,” Reggie sighed, smiling at her before kissing her cheek. “Let’s go to the dorm.”

End of Chapter 2
Next Time: Roommate
 
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I really enjoyed the reunions in this chapter, and I like how Darren's absence sort of undercuts it at the end.

I wonder who Reggie's roommate will be... *crosses fingers*
 
@Flaze Solid but a nit pick for me is how wordy some of the dialogue is. Think you can cut down on some words to make it like more flowy or something. Also don't be afraid to use 'like' a lot. It sounds lame but it is more real if you get what I mean. All in all fun read. I've gotta used to the formatting. Not your fault just it's on me.
 
Still need to work on the nodding thing, I still can't help but think of them as bobble-heads sometimes.

Otherwise, I have enjoyed your stories and the character development that has come to the cast. Now for character growth, which I like to view as different to character development as I feel development is changing the character into something better, such as Reggie developing into someone who won't run from a fight, whereas growth would be him growing into the role, and we watch as he becomes more confident with his choice.

I look forward to seeing how the story progresses. Just think, this will be Reggie, Miko and the gang's final year.
 
Alright, I'm back from my long nap, and just in time for school apparently.

Okay, so I haven't read the first two installments in the series, so I do have a question or two. In chapter 1 you mention that Miko is a "Perfect"? Also, I'm unfamiliar with most of the characters, and other than the main characters Reggie, Miko, Fin and Valerie I don't find the dialogue interesting. Maybe if you put some footnotes on every character you introduce in a new chapter I would be able to follow the story better.

Other than that, it looks like a great start. The chapters aren't very long (which is better in my opinion) and the pacing is just right. Though you do get a little too descriptive when you could just cut to the chase, but it's not that bad.

Looking forward to the next chapter.
 
“I…hate….boats,” he whined, pushing himself up as best he could.

I really don't blame you, Reggie. XD I've not been on a boat myself, but I don't really want to... unless it's for a short vacation, maybe. Maybe.

“Almost there,” Reggie muttered, petting the dragon across its head. “Just one more year buddy.”

I like this prologue and the tone it set. I'd only recommend giving a brief explanation of what happened in the previous installments (not an infodump, just a brief reminder for readers coming back), and then I'd recommend putting Reggie's name in the prologue for first time readers.

"You know I'm just going to assume you're talking about Torchics when you say that," Miko interrupted, grinning when she saw Fin's annoyed expression.

I lol'd. Sure, Miko, you can pretend to be innocent and think that... :p

"Uh...yeah, I'd appreciate that," Miko nodded her head. Fin stared at her for a moment, noticing how monotonous her voice sounded.

I'm already wondering if these two are going to have some serious relationship issues down the road. A bit of time and distance can do that to a couple, and they seem distracted from each other before even arriving on their first day.

“It’s always interesting coming back here,” Fin pointed out, leaning against the railway of the deck and grinning towards the island. “Feels like we’re being taken to a whole new world.”

I like this bit of dialogue. I think I'd feel the same as Fin in a school setting like this.

“Forget that, how did they make that in only three months!” Fin called out in disbelief. “You gotta be a freaking first class slave worker for that.”

Or a pokemon could be part of the building process. XD At any rate, I'm sure we'll be hearing of this building again in the near future.

“Buttercup’s way too impulsive and Chigon’s got this leader complex to him,” Reggie sighed in frustration, putting his hands against his stomach.

Can I just say that Buttercup is a super cute name for an eevee?

“I’ll show you all the pics I took later okay? You wouldn’t believe how perfect the Alola Islands are.”

Nice reference to Sun and Moon already. :p

“Fin hates how hung up Reggie is on Darren,” Miko whispered to her, making sure Claudia and Reggie weren’t listening to the two. “Seems like jealousy if you ask me.”

Aww, but people like Darren need help the most usually... and if I remember right, Darren's aloofness was just a front in year two, so I'm hoping he'll be back for this fic as well.

Overall, I think the first two chapters could've been condensed into one. They weren't too particularly long or eventful, which is fine. We're back to meeting all the characters and I can already see some tension/plot building, which is what the first couple chapters should be all about. Looking forward to more.
 
Huh...what is this doing here, I totally didn't forget about this ha ha ha...

Okay I did. Life kind of caught up with me for a while there and I couldn't really get down to writing anything, even if I did have this pre-written already. But hey, if there's one thing I'm good at it's never giving up right!

So...since I suck at giving out speeches, I'll just post the chapter. There's now extra corner this time since I just wanted to get the chapter posted but I'll sure to write one for the next chapter.

Chapter 3: Roommate

The Charizard Flame dorm, not unlike all of the dorms in Elemental Academy, was a large complex situated on the bottom left corner of the island, overlooking the academy’s beach and the sea. It was around ten stories in height and stretched out for about three kilometers. The building was decorated in an almost glowing scarlet hue with the symbol of a Charizard’s head plastered at the entrance of the dorm building.

Reggie and Miko stood in the small plaza in front of the building where students could hang around with their Pokemon and enjoy the fresh air, and indeed there were already people and Pokemon running around the grassy fields or water types swimming in the small fountain that stood on the center of the plaza.

“I have to say, this place never seizes to amaze me,” Miko called out, a bright smile on her face as she turned towards a small field of red roses in the fields. “Look they planted roses over there!” she said with excitement as she pointed at them.

“They do go to great lengths to keep everything as pretty as possible don’t they,” Reggie replied, having just noticed the roses. He turned back towards the building, a slight smile on his face as he remembered when he had first stood in front of it only two years back.

Seeing how pensive her boyfriend seemed made Miko walk over, putting an arm around him and pulling him close to get him out of his trance. “What’s wrong? Having cold feet?” she teased.

“No, just it’s funny how I was when I first went through these doors,” Reggie stared at the glass doors for a moment, only to then glance towards Chigon, who was eagerly pawing at him so that they would go in. “When I got here on my first year I was really nervous, I didn’t know why I was put in this dorm or if I even had a chance of staying here. I didn’t know anyone and I was shaking in my boots.”

“And now?” Miko inquired.

“Now I have Chigon, and you and everyone else,” Reggie answered a sincere smile on his face as he put his arms around Miko and planted a tender kiss on her lips, which the girl returned eagerly. “I’m still nervous about what this year is going to bring, but I feel like as long as I have you guys I can stay on top of the world.”

“Ooooh, I like this side of you better,” Miko giggled, putting her hands against his chest, only for them to go up to his shoulders. “Awwww, you’re growing up, your shoulders got broader,” she laughed, moving away from a now blushing Reggie.

“Well what did you expect!?” he called out in embarrassment as he turned away from her.

Miko just laughed at his reaction, walking ahead of him. “But yeah, I concur,” she said as she wiped a tear from her eye. “Now let’s go get settled before the welcoming party begins.”

Reggie and Miko walked through the dorm’s Pokemon Center, with the nurse’s smiling face greeting them alongside all the other students that went in. Every dorm had a Pokemon Center stationed in the facility for when trainers needed to take care of their Pokemon, along with a Poke Mart, a normal market and a cafeteria for students to eat in.

The dorm rooms themselves were located above the Pokemon center with multiple rows of hallways on each side, one for the girls and one for the boys with each dorm room standing next to the last and going all the way to the end of the building. “Welp, should we meet in the backyard once we’re done setting up?” Miko asked curiously.

“All right, don’t take too long,” Reggie agreed before waving at her and beginning to make his ways towards one of the dorm’s elevators. He looked up at the rooms in thought, seeing students go in and out of the rooms in pairs; it was common practice for most students to have roommates after all.

Reggie himself had had a roommate back in his first year, Jordan and him had gotten off to a rough start but they got along in the end, though he ended up transferring after their first year. “I wonder what happened to him,” Reggie said to himself as he and Chigon made their way up inside of the elevator.

As Reggie made his way to his dorm room he couldn’t help but notice something strange, the door was open and there seemed to be some luggage left outside. This caused him to become anxious, was he getting a new roommate after a year of living on his own, he didn’t mind having one again, just that he wasn’t good at getting along with others from the get go and he worried about what kind of person it would be.

He felt Chigon’s paw atop his head, causing him to look up at the small dragon and smile. “Yeah, I shouldn’t get so panicky like this,” he said with a sigh. He clenched his hand around the straps of his bag and hand bag and began making his way to the room, his head peeking in curiously through the door way.

Elemental Academy’s dorm rooms were more than just simple dorm rooms, they were more like apartments in that each student had their own room and each dorm room came with its own small kitchen and living room, even complete with a TV set for students to enjoy and a terrace. It was just one of the bigger commodities that the academy gave to each of its students.

“Wow, the view from up here is amazing,” he heard someone call out from the terrace to the room, issuing Reggie to walk deeper inside. Once he got into the living room though the person began turning around, having noticed him. “Oh, you must be my roommate,” a young man stated as he faced Reggie.

He had dark skin and short black hair with a polite smile on his face that matched well with his brown eyes. He, like Reggie, was wearing the dorm’s red uniform though his jacket seemed to be more streamlined and had a chest pocket on either side of it. “Sorry I left the door open like that, I just couldn’t help myself in seeing the view,” he stretched as he walked back into the living room and closed the door leading into the terrace.

“Oh it’s okay, I know how it feels from when I got here myself,” Reggie replied with a nod, looking at Jared curiously. “I’m Reggie Damon, looks like you’re going to be my new roommate.”

“Nice to meet you man, I’m Jared,” Jared replied with a smile as he shook Reggie’s hand, his grip strong on his own. “Let me go pick up my luggage.”

“Did you just transfer here by the way?”

“Yeah, I know it must be weird for someone to transfer into their third year,” Jared admitted, walking back inside and closing the door behind him. “I hadn’t been able to try out for the scholarship due to personal reasons, I know there’s a lot of catch up I have to do though,” he crossed his arms, his eyes finally falling down on Chigon, who was staring back at him. “That…I don’t know that Pokemon, where is it from?” he quickly squatted down, staring at Chigon with curiosity, the dragon staring back at him in return.

“Oh, uh…that’s Chigon, he’s a special case,” Reggie chuckled, scratching the back of his head nervously. “I found him back in my first year, he’s one of a kind.”

“Now I remember, I did hear rumors of a new kind of Pokemon discovered in these islands,” Jared gently tapped on Chigon’s tail, which wavered with each touch. “I’m surprised you were able to keep him from getting whisked away by scientists or something,” he reached for his bag, taking out a notepad and a pen.
“Well, the principal helped us out on that end, we gave the league any information we had on him and they spread it out in exchange for leaving us alone…what are you doing?” he asked, noticing that Jared seemed lost in what he was noting down.

“It’s just a habit I have,” he quickly closed his notepad and stood up. “For a project of mine,” he smiled at Reggie before putting his notepad back into his bag. “Do you happen to have all that information in digital form by the way? I could really use it.”

“Sure…no problem, I’ll send it to you later,” Reggie replied hesitantly, staring at Jared for a moment. “Why?”

Jared glanced at Chigon and then back at Reggie before sighing. “Well, I guess since we’re going to be living together. See, I’m actually working on my own Pokedex app,” he declared, strapping on his bag and walking into the hallway that led towards the two rooms.

“Wait seriously!?” Reggie exclaimed in shock, following after the young man. “That’s really cool.”

“Not really, I’ve been working on it for about a year or so, it still needs a lot of work,” he replied, opening the door to one of the rooms. “Can I have this one?” he asked, to which Reggie quickly nodded.

“Thanks, anyways, me and a few buddies of mine had been working on it but they all graduated and went on to college or started working on their own project so I’ve been coding it solo, my biggest issue has been gathering the data I can on all the Pokemon,” he turned back to Reggie, pulling out the smartphone version of the Academy Dex. “I wanna create something like this, but that it can be accessible for everyone with the same information you can find on any normal Pokedex, a Pokedex for the public without having to actually own a Pokedex or to somehow get into this really prestigious school,” he then set the Academy Dex down on the bed and proceeded to open his bag.

“That sounds amazing though, I don’t think I could ever do something like that,” Reggie replied in amazement, standing right in front of the entrance to his room. “Well if there’s anything I can do to help just tell me.”

“Just having you as my roommate is enough help,” Jared laughed a bit, taking out his clothes slowly from the bag. “With the information you have on him plus anything I might find out while living here it should give me an extra edge.”

“Still wow.”

“Sure, anyways dude, I heard there was some kind of party or something going on,” Jared added, turning back around and walking to his roommate. “I’m not much for big gatherings but I could do with getting some food, want to show me around?” he gave him a casual smile and a pat on the shoulder before walking out.

“Yeah, no problem, I was going to meet my girlfriend there anyway,” Reggie replied, quickly following after him.

“Girlfriend? Nice, can’t wait to meet the lucky lady then,” Jared chuckled, pocketing his hands. “Don’t worry about me then.”

“What? no I mean, I don’t mind showing you around, I sure she won’t either,” Reggie replied quickly as he followed after him.

“Nah, I don’t wanna be a third wheel,” Jared shrugged, looking out into the hallway as they walked out.

“It’s okay, trust me,” Reggie reassured.

***

The back of the Charizard Flame dorm had been extensively decorated throughout the day, with lanterns hanging up above the area and long torches set up on the corners of it, lighting the way effortlessly for the students.

The smell of food produced by the barbecues was up in the air as well, grabbing the attention of everyone that walked past, plates in hand, this was particularly true for new students who were already beginning to eat as much as they could.

Reggie and Miko sat in one of the tables, with Reggie eating a burger happily as he and his girlfriend saw the other dorm students walk out into the party and beginning to talk amongst each other or dance to the music that had been set up by the staff. “I do hope you know,” Miko started, eyeing Reggie with a smirk. “I want a dance.”

Reggie coughed a bit at this, quickly grabbing the can of soda in front of him and chugging it down. “Wait seriously!?” he asked in shock, hesitation clear in his face.

“Oh come on!” Miko whined, grabbing Reggie’s hand from across the table. “You’re a good dancer, there was that time in our first year and back in April last year when we went to that festival in Goldenrod for Spring Break!” she pointed out, a stern expression on his face as Reggie glanced away.

“I just don’t feel that comfortable doing it, I mean in first year I was wearing a mask and that time in Goldenrod we weren’t here, we were just surrounded by strangers…it was different,” he pointed out, letting go of her hand and taking another bite from his burger as she huffed and leaned back on her chair.

“Fine whatever,” she crossed her arms in annoyance, noticing Jared walking towards them with a plate full of ribs. “Your new roommate is walking over here.”

“Hey, man this food is amazing,” Jared pointed out as he sat down next to Reggie, quickly taking a bite from the rib. “I honestly didn’t know how much I could grab,” he then turned towards Miko, smiling politely and stretching out his hand. “You must be Miko, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Jared.”

“Nice to meet you too,” Miko returned his smile as she shook his hand. “It’s nice to know Reggie will have someone to keep him entertained for when I have to deal with my Prefect work,” Miko pointed out, giving Reggie a teasing glance.

“Hey I can do just fine,” Reggie frowned, once more biting at his burger.

“Prefect huh? I did read about that while looking up this school,” Jared stared at Miko in amazement, considering Reggie hadn’t told him about her being a Prefect. “That’s amazing; I heard you can get a lot of credits just for saying you were a Prefect here.”

“Yeah, but I’m still not sure if I’ll be any good,” Miko chuckled nervously; she didn’t really like to bring up the whole subject of being a Prefect and what it entailed. “But we’ll see, I can certainly give it a shot after all.”

“You’ll do fine,” Reggie reassured, though once more Miko didn’t seem to feel any better with his words, and just like before she simply looked away with a slight smile.

Jared noticed this but chose not to say anything; instead his attention was led towards the back entrance to the building where a man wearing a long red jacket similar to the student’s uniform blazer walked out. The shoulders and sleeves of his jacket had gold lining going down them and the back of it had a Charizard sewn on it with gold string.

His bright red hair was also matching with that of his outfit and it brought out his fierce amber eyes and his confident smile as he stared at the students. One of the students walked up to him, handing him a microphone which he proceeded to tap with his hand, causing everyone in the area to wince and turn their attentions to him.

“Well now that I have your attention!” the man exclaimed with a laugh, bringing the microphone close to his mouth. “It’s nice to see you’re all enjoying yourselves, I certainly hope the new first years and transferring students aren’t getting in any trouble, I know hazing can be a good way to get to know people and whatnot but please don’t ruin the festivities,” he pointed out, walking deeper into the area and grabbing a plate. “But anyways, as you heard during the welcome speech I’m the head of this here Charizard Flame dorm, Kevin Blaze, I’m twenty eight years old and well I like fire types and…ugh I suck at these things.”

“But anyways, I just wanted to formally welcome you all to the dorm and I hope that you all enjoy this year, for some of you this will be the last year that we’ll get to have you with us,” he swiftly shot a glance towards the table Reggie and Miko were sitting in but quickly changed his sight to other students.

“Others are just now starting what will be their journey in this school, but either way I want you to remember that this place will be your second home and that both I and everyone here should support each other no matter what,” he announced, a kind smile on his face. “Regardless of your background or the things you do, we’re all still part of the same place.”

“I guess he can talk,” Miko whispered towards Reggie

“What do you mean?” Jared asked, having overheard what Miko had said.

“Oh…just some things, we’ll tell you later,” Reggie replied to him. The truth of the matter was that they had first met Kevin Blaze not as a teacher but as an intruder, back during their first year he had been part of a band of mercenaries out to steal Chigon and went by the name of Incendio, however he had reformed and was recruited by Brendan due to his skills and abilities, the principal had also taken care of dealing with the Pokemon League and InterPol who had accepted him in exchange for any information he might’ve had about potentially dangerous groups.

“And with that, you may all keep on eating,” Kevin advised, doing a courtesy bow before giving the microphone back and walking towards one of the barbecues.

Reggie was about to say something to his two friends, at least until he felt his stomach begin to grumble. At first he thought he was just still hungry but then he felt a searing pain run through him. He groaned and sucked in his lips, his eyes practically popping out as he felt his stomach twist around. “Fuck…” he muttered.

“What’s wrong?” Miko asked with worry.

“I think I ate too much,” Reggie quickly stood up from his seat. “I’ll be right back!” he yelled out hurriedly before running off into the building once more.

Miko sighed at this, simply glancing at Jared. “He had like five burgers, I told him not to overdo it,” she groaned in annoyance as she leaned in her chair as Jared let out a laugh.

“Well I can’t blame him to be honest,” he said, taking another bite from his rib, even if his eyes stayed on Miko. “So I can tell you’re not very happy about being a Prefect,” he called out. “Sorry, I normally would stay quiet, but it seemed like it really bothered you when we pointed it out, even if you brought it up yourself.”

Miko sighed once more, leaning her body against the table and stretching her arms out. “I know, I bring it up and then I get all nervous when people go along with it,” she said weakly. She stared at Jared for a moment, debating on whether she should say more. “It’s just, I got kind of picked for this by the last Prefect at the tail end of the year before, and I only got it cause I ‘beat’ him in a battle, I don’t see how that makes me Prefect material.”

“So you’re afraid you won’t be able to live up to the expectations?”

“That and so much more,” Miko nodded her head. “It doesn’t help that everyone is always acting like I should feel honored and not complain, or tells me that I shouldn’t worry and that they’re sure I can do it,” she explained, her voice taking on a mocking cheerful tone at the end. “Reggie tries to help me feel better but looking at that earnest smile of his just made me feel worse about failing…I don’t want to fail him.”

“Shouldn’t you tell him that though?” Jared raised an eyebrow, taking another bite from his food. He didn’t really side with anyone in the whole subject, but he knew that Miko’s feelings were something she should bring up to Reggie. “I mean if his attempts to make you feel better just make you feel worse it could eventually cause some problems.”

Miko didn’t reply, she just stared at him before letting out another groan and burying her face on the table. “I don’t know.”

“Well, again, not really my place, I’m just saying,” Jared shrugged, putting his plate down. “I’m going to be living with the guy, I’d rather not deal with any trouble that might extend to me and it’s not like I’ll be able to ignore if anything bad happens. But I’ll stop,” he then pushed his chair back and stood up, grabbing his plate in turn. “And I’ll go get more ribs!”

Jared’s place was taken by a couple of Charizard Flames students who walked up to Miko, one of them had short dyed violet hair and was wearing an earring just below his left eye while the other one was a girl with short green hair and a short sleeved version of the Charizard Flame female uniform. Their matching green eyes stared at Miko with a mocking green. “Hey there Ms. Prefect,” the girl said in a similarly mocking tone.

Miko stayed quiet at first, staring at the two before crossing her arms. “What do you guys want?”

“Wow there, no need to get uppity,” the violet haired guy replied with a shrug. “We just wanted to say hi, and well congratulate you on getting your place,” he added, pocketing his hand.

“Oh…well, thank you,” Miko replied, giving them a nod in acknowledgement.

“Though just between us,” the girl spoke in a quieter voice this time. “Be honest, did you sleep with Tyson or something so he’d give you the role, I mean I heard he was gay or something but I can’t be sure.”

“And does your boyfriend k-“

“Excuse me!” Miko exclaimed, slamming her fist on the table instinctively as she glared at the two, making them step back. “Where the fuck do you get the gall to say something like that to me!”

“Hey now, calm down Ms. Prefect,” the guy replied, holding his hands up in defense. “Everyone’s looking after all,” he smirked, finally making Miko notice all the students that were now paying attention to them due to her outburst. “Didn’t mean to touch a nerve, we were just curious.”

“Well, I can certainly tell you where you can shove your curiosity,” Miko spat back, standing up from her chair.

“We’re just saying. You’re not exactly the most well-known Charizard Flame student, I mean you’re cute and you and your little friends are like…’heroes’ or whatever but I don’t know, you don’t seem like Prefect material to me,” the girl replied with a shrug. “Let’s go sweetie, I think Ms. Prefect hates us, and we just wanted to get to know her better too.”

“I’m sorry, it seems like you’ve troubled my friend,” Jared said from behind the couple, his stern voice making them jump back, only to come face to face with his glare. “From my point of view it seems like you’re the ones causing trouble.”

“Now listen here buddy,” the violet hair guy tapped on Jared’s shoulder, only for Jared to smack his hand away and making him step back.

“Oh, you better don’t call me buddy or your hand won’t be the only thing I’ll smack away,” Jared threatened, gritting his teeth.

“Now now everyone,” they all turned around upon hearing Kevin from behind them, seeing him sigh in exasperation. “There’s no need for fighting. We are a battling dorm after all,” he added before pointing to the pokeballs attached on their belts. “You’re all Pokemon Trainers, so if there’s some beef you want to pick, do it through a battle.”

“Fine by me!” Miko declared, taking her stance as she pushed the couple aside and stood next to Jared. “Double battle, the two of you against the two of us. I’ll shut you up!”

“You can get pretty fiery when you want to,” Kevin stated with a chuckle, causing Miko to glance at him shyly. “I see why Tyson picked you. But yes, a double battle sounds like a fun way to kick off the year!”

***

A few minutes later both teams were fully set up and standing at opposite sides of the yard, with the students surrounding them and gossiping amongst themselves as they saw each of the pairs grab their own pokeballs. “All right, this will be a one round thing, meaning you all get to use only one Pokemon, however we’ll make it a little more fun,” Kevin smirked. “If one of your Pokemon is knocked down you lose instantly, regardless of whether there’s still one left.”

Both pairs gulped at this, particularly Miko and Jared, who glanced at each other. They had just met that same day but now they had to fight together and in a way that allowed both of them to survive. “We can do it,” Jared reassured her, letting his pokeball fall to the floor and summon forth a Salamance. The Pokemon garnered a lot of attention upon appearing as it roared out and spread out its wings. “This is Mance, my starter, he’ll help us out well.”

“I can see that,” Miko chuckled, actually feeling a bit better. However, she knew that Salamance’s were really great attackers but didn’t offer much in regards to support. As thus she decided to use something that could help with the defense. “Go Granite!” she called out as she sent out a Metang into the air.

The Pokemon stretched out both of its limbs and let out a ringing sound as it turned and smiled towards its trainer. “He’s a new catch,” she told Jared. “But he’s got a lot of potential, right Granite?” she asked, to which the Metang replied with a determined nod.

“Fine, we’ll play too then,” the violet haired guy snickered as he glanced at his girlfriend. With that the two proceeded to fire their own pokeball, letting out a Magcargo and a Heatmor respectively.

Miko frowned at this; clearly they had chosen Pokemon that would make them easier to take down Metang. “Perfect,” she heard Jared mutter, though she didn’t know why he said that.

“Now. Begin!”

“Go and use Inferno!” the green haired girl yelled out immediately as Heatmor leaned its head back and fired out a large blast of flames from its mouth and the holes in its arms. The fire coming out from its arms fired off in every direction while the bigger blast went straight for Granite.

“Lava Plume!” the violet haired guys ordered as his Magcargo sent out a ball of condensed magma flying at the steel type as well.

“Don’t worry, Mance do it!” Jared yelled out.

In one swift movement Mance flew up into the sky and did something that no one in the yard was expecting, he fired a large torrent of water down at the area between the fire attacks and Metang. The torrent hit down right in front of the Pokemon, acting as a wall to fend off the flames.

“What!?” the couple exclaimed in shock.

“Salamance can learn Hydro Pump as an egg move,” Jared snickered.

Miko stared at him for a moment, a smile going through her face as she nodded her head. “Go Granite Zen Headbutt!”

Granite quickly flew past the wall of water, its body surrounding itself in a blue hue as it collided with the distracted Magcargo and sent it flying back. Heatmor saw this though and proceeded to fire out a jet of flames towards it. However, just before the attack with Granite spun around, twisting its limbs and moving away from the attack, its left arm outstretched.

“Meteor Mash!” Miko yelled out as Granite’s fist slammed down on the fiery ant eater and smacked it away, causing it to hit the floor with a loud thud.

“Heatmor get up and u-“
“Psychic!” Miko ordered, not letting her opponents get a shot in as Granite quickly lifted the Heatmor up and slammed it against the still recovering Magcargo. “Jared, do it!”

“Hydro Pump again Mance!” Jared yelled as his Salamance fired an even bigger torrent of water that sent the two fire types flying through the crowd of students and sliding against the floor, no longer conscious.

The whole yard went quiet with the exception of Miko’s and Jared’s panting, large smiles on their face as they gave each other a thumbs up. Of course they knew that their successful partnership had been the result of their opponents underestimating them but the fact they had been able to clear the battle so effortlessly was still rewarding.

Finally everyone broke into a cheer, with clapping and yelling sounding all around the area.

Reggie walked out into the yard once more at this moment, letting out a sigh of relief as he patted his stomach, his eyes looking around in curiosity at what could keep everyone so excited, at least until he saw Jared and Miko waving at the crowd and laughing.

***

Valerie let out a sigh as she stood in the gardens of the Gyarados Aqua dorm, her eyes falling down on her phone before glancing at the sky.

“Problem?” she heard Fin ask as he walked up to her, his hands inside of his pocket. “That was a pretty heavy sigh,” he said as he sat next to his dorm-mate .

“Nah just…Rafael couldn’t make it today,” Valerie replied with a groan. “He said he’d arrive tomorrow, some super secret Special Agent business popped up,” she added in annoyance, putting her arms against her knees and then laying her chin down on them.

“Oh yeah, how are things going with Mr. Secret Agent and whatnot?” Fin asked jokingly, though he could tell Valerie was really sour about it. “Sorry. I’m sure he’ll get here tomorrow no problem,” he reassured her, patting her shoulder.

“Yeah, thanks,” Valerie replied simply, staring at him for a moment.

“What?” Fin asked with a chuckle. “Can’t I try to help a friend feel better?”

“Well last year we…we had that ‘thing’ and you know,” Valerie pointed out awkwardly, turning away.

“I know, you told me you didn’t like me that way and I understand,” Fin sighed, pocketing his hands once more and standing up. “Just know, we’re friends now, so I’ll be there to listen to any trouble,” he stated, smiling down at her as he turned around and began making his way back to the dorm.

End of Chapter 3
Next Time: The Last First Day

And that has been your monthly Pokemon Academy update, tune in to us next time!
 
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Liars and jerks and newbs, oh my.

Good chapter, Flaze. Your English has improved tremendously, though there were still a couple of errors. Plus, no nodding, thank goodness it was beginning to feel like Noddy in SYR.

Regardless, looking forward to the next chapter of this trilogy's end.
 
Don't worry! I haven't forgotten the vague promise I made about giving your story a look. It's only right considering how much time you spent reading and reviewing Storm Island.

Now, before I begin, there's a couple of things to note...
  • I'm not good at this reviewing business. It's why I generally don't do it, even for the stories I love. I'll try to be helpful where I can, but don't be surprised if I'm not. If I sound rude anywhere, I do apologize.
  • I may have mentioned this before, but the genre you're working with isn't particularly interesting to me. However, I'll put that prejudice aside, as I've been surprised numerous times in the past by music, art and literature that I thought I wouldn't like.

Anyways, let's get this going!

Technical, accuracy, and style
  • One thing I'm noticing a lot of is long, long, looooong sentences. I'm guilty of doing that myself, but it seems strange when I compare your prose to those of published works and it can be a little jarring at times. However, the story still gets through unhindered, and I can tell what's going on, what's important, etc.
  • The ever-shifting tense is a bit jarring. One thing I've noticed is that you start sentences in the past tense ("They were greeted by a strong gust of wind"), and then the rest of the sentence, if it describes action, shifts towards the present tense ("threatening to push them back; making the boy step back a bit in surprise, his legs feeling heavier as he ran against the wind, requiring him to put even more strength into his step."). It's a hard habit to break away from, but when you do the quality of your writing increases significantly.
  • Spelling, grammar and punctuation are on-point. I haven't noticed any glaring mistakes.
  • I do appreciate how you don't rely on dialogue to get through the story, something I tend to struggle with. While there's plenty of dialogue, it's broken up by what I feel is an appropriate amount of description, and the narration getting into the thoughts and minds of the characters.
  • For some reason, the spacing between lines is inconsistent. Sometimes it's just one line, other times it's two and even three. Wondering what happened there.
  • Very minor nitpick on my behalf, but it might be worth keeping the accented é within easy reach, so that all references to Pokémon are adequately accented. Or better yet, if your spellchecker supports it, add the accented version as a replacement for the unaccented one, so it'll happen automatically.

Setting
  • From what was explained in the trivia section of the first chapter, it's fairly generic: an archipelego of islands in the middle of everywhere. Yet the mention of it also being host to a long gone ancient civilization interests me, and I'll be curious to see what you'll do with it (or have you already covered it earlier?)
  • I can't help but imagine the houses of Harry Potter with the separate dorm rooms. Which one's Hufflepuff, and do ten points go to it?

Plot in general
Keeping in mind that I've only read tidbits of the two prequels (mostly to help me get a better understanding of what to expect):
  • Seems like a standard slice-of-life school story so far, or at least what I assume it to be. There's not really much for me to complain about or praise so far.
  • Since this is a sequel to two already-written stories, perhaps a little clarification of just what situations were meant with: "His mind went back to the years before, thinking of all the dangerous situations he and his friends had gone through during the year." It'd help new readers understand a bit better of what's being built upon.

Characters
  • As a first time reader, it wasn't the most clear to me as to whether Miko is Reggie's girlfriend when the name was first mentioned. This was quickly made evident, but I'd have done it right there.
  • Way to go, Reggie, can't even remember what your girlfriend likes for breakfast. You're doing a terrible job at this boyfriend thing!
  • Fin's incredulous story about why he's under the table leads me to believe he's a pervert with a penchant for lying. I'll be saddened if this isn't the case.
  • Having not read the others, how many 'main' characters should I expect? Chapter 2 kinda dumped an unexpected amount on me.
  • I could sense a slight amount (hint: a lot) of worry when you mentioned the idea of a fakemon in the trivia section of the first chapter. I wouldn't worry about it; I certainly did when I started to introduce my own in my story, but people generally react positively to them from what I've seen.

Other thoughts
I like what I see so far, considering my disdain in general for the genre. It's a bit overwhelming to try to figure everything out as a new reader, since it dives straight in, but I'm sure old references will continue to crop up to help people like me get an understanding of it all.
 
Hey, there. This is totally on time.

Prologue

The prologue was cute! It was a nice refresher to your style + the events at hand, we got to see Reggie again, and I kinda vaguely remembered why there's a boat + how everything fell to shit last time. All good things.

I, uh, hesitate if it's necessary, though. It's a fair amount of text describing a pretty mundame and utimately inconsequential event--had you started with Chapter One, I don't think I would've questioned you terribly much.

And, the absolute last time I'm pointing this out:
“Just one more year buddy.”
Whenever you're addressing someone, you need to have a comma lol.
“Just one more year, buddy.”
This is what I like to call the "let's eat grandma" comma, because it's a hell of a lot different from "let's eat, grandma." Please use it.

Chapter 1

This chapter is double-spaced for some reason.

“Oh please, stop whining,” Miko shook her head, flicking her long brown hair back while frowning.
Having had lots of long hair and having cut it all off, this is 100% a true sentiment. Overall, I like your dialogue here--it feels pretty realistic, and it makes things interesting. I'm a sucker for things happening, so this is also personal preference, but the first half of this chapter felt a little slow until the characters started talking. Or, if you're going to describe breakfast, it might be good to go full-out food-porn mode ala Pav.

"Why are you under our table, Fin?" Miko asked, surprise and annoyance on her face.
This situation is hilarious and all, but this is also not how I would react to finding someone under my table. Also, I feel like it would be prtty easy to see if someone was under my table well before this moment.

Okay, taking back what I said from prologue and just putting this out there: commas are tricky shit, but you're definitely missing a few. I don't want to spell them out unless you're going to go through and fix them + learn why, so lmk if you want that and we can walk through it at some point.

I like the trivia section! But it also feels a little exposition dump-y. Some of these things are well-suited for this section (Elemental Academy basics), but some of these things should or are explained in the previous stories already. Idk. It's not the most prudent idea to put important worldbuilding in a spoiler.

Chapter 2

I forgot the teachers. I remember commenting on how awesome it was that you bothered giving them personality in the last iteration, and I'll repeat that here. But, uh, in this case, they're kinda acting like your teenage characters in adult-clothing:
“I still wonder why the principal hired you so easily,” Stacy pointed out, giving a side glance to the woman. “You don’t have what it takes to be a teacher.”
Like literally no adult will openly say this to another adult. They'll think it, lol, but there are some things that people just don't say out loud.

It was good to see the gang all back, too. I forgot how many of them there were, but you introduced them pretty nicely here.

Overall, this was a quiet chapter. Whn your protagonist is noting how much he openly hates some things (like opening ceremonies) and yet we still sit through it... maybe the pacing is a little slow. Just a little. It overall works okay for slice of life, but at some point it would be nice for the plot to get rolling again.

Chapter 3

wtf who is this Jared thing

no but actually, maybe this is a cultural thing, but the idea of you still being randomly assigned to unknown roommates in your third year of study is totally whack to me. This is almost always just a thing that happens in your first year (when you don't know anyone to request rooming with), and even then, they still send you a form/some info about your roommate so you don't have to awkwardly do your first meeting in the room itself.

Jared is definitely working for something more nefarious.

Miko chuckled nervously; she didn’t really like to bring up the whole subject of being a Prefect and what it entailed. “But we’ll see, I can certainly give it a shot after all.”
But doesn't this undermine the point of being a Prefect? Usually Prefects are supposed to be class reps of some sort--so if people don't know that she's in charge, how is she supposed to represent anyone/how do people know to go to her for things? Not to mention it really doesn't make sense that she's given this role that everyone says is really important that she actively doesn't want. And it gets weirder with sentences like this:
“Everyone’s looking after all,” he smirked, finally making Miko notice all the students that were now paying attention to them due to her outburst. “Didn’t mean to touch a nerve, we were just curious.”
How did he not think that suggesting that she slept with someone to get a job wouldn't touch a nerve. And if being a Prefect is such a big deal, what does he stand to gain by making her hate him? Sometimes your dialogue is great for conveying the story/making plot drama, but it also doesn't sound remotely like anything anyone would say to another person's face.

The truth of the matter was that they had first met Kevin Blaze not as a teacher but as an intruder, back during their first year he had been part of a band of mercenaries out to steal Chigon and went by the name of Incendio, however he had reformed and was recruited by Brendan due to his skills and abilities, the principal had also taken care of dealing with the Pokemon League and InterPol who had accepted him in exchange for any information he might’ve had about potentially dangerous groups.
Okay. I know that you want to catch people up to the two novels you wrote before, but this is kinda of... lots of exposition at once. It feels really unsubtle and sudden to have your characters talking about such a heavy topic for a paragraph and then going back to BBQ in the next sentence.

Uh, don't hate me, but it's Salamence. With an e. Mance is a good nickname tho!

Okay. Overall, strong start! New characters, new drama, lots of things about to go down.
 
I some enjoyed this. I do not like that the school thing is like Harry Potter and not as much like Pokemon, but the writing is very good. Talented style writing and good describing.
 
The Charizard Flame dorm, not unlike all of the dorms in Elemental Academy, was a large complex situated on the bottom left corner of the island, overlooking the academy’s beach and the sea.

The image of a dorm dedicated to a fire-type looking out over the vast sea is an ironic one. :p

“When I got here on my first year I was really nervous, I didn’t know why I was put in this dorm or if I even had a chance of staying here. I didn’t know anyone and I was shaking in my boots.”

Yeah, I wouldn't exactly associate Reggie with a fierce charizard. He's had his heroic moments, though, of course.

“I wanna create something like this, but that it can be accessible for everyone with the same information you can find on any normal Pokedex, a Pokedex for the public without having to actually own a Pokedex or to somehow get into this really prestigious school,” he then set the Academy Dex down on the bed and proceeded to open his bag.

Huh. That's a neat little hobby to give Jared. I wonder if it'll come into play somehow later on, or if it'll bring trouble to Reggie regarding Chigon. I can't imagine the entire public reacting normally to hearing about a one of a kind pokemon, after all.

“Yeah, but I’m still not sure if I’ll be any good,” Miko chuckled nervously; she didn’t really like to bring up the whole subject of being a Prefect and what it entailed. “But we’ll see, I can certainly give it a shot after all.”

Sorry, Miko, but you're the one who brought the topic up to begin with. It seems she knows that's a flaw of hers, though, and it's an interesting, realistic flaw for her to have. I like it.

“I’m sorry, it seems like you’ve troubled my friend,” Jared said from behind the couple, his stern voice making them jump back, only to come face to face with his glare. “From my point of view it seems like you’re the ones causing trouble.”

Hmm... I'm wonder if there'll be some kind of love triangle between Miko, Reggie and Jared. Jared seems to be kind of good at everything Reggie's not, so... I could see some jealousy, at least, if nothing else.

Miko frowned at this; clearly they had chosen Pokemon that would make them easier to take down Metang. “Perfect,” she heard Jared mutter, though she didn’t know why he said that.

I'm surprised that Jared and Miko didn't talk first about what pokemon they could use, though it seems their picks worked out nicely anyway. And I'm glad it worked out, because Miko obviously needed the confidence booster about being a prefect.

“Salamance can learn Hydro Pump as an egg move,” Jared snickered.

I can just imagine a newly hatched bagon kicking ass with hydro pump... At any rate, Jared seems very knowledgeable and resourceful. I like him already. The chapter in general introduced a lot of potential character conflicts, and it was done well. Looking forward to more.
 
Post awards review here. It's hard to judge these kinds of early stories without taking into account the previous installments, so keep that in mind.

So far it's too early to really tell what the plot's going to be. I have an inkling of what it could be about due to reading the previous stories in the series, but there hasn’t really been any establishment of a larger plot in these first few chapters. Is it needed so far? Maybe, maybe not. The character drama helps keep things interesting for now. Regarding characters, you can’t critique a lack of development in a story this early on, but the seeds of it have definitely been planted. There’s something to be said for that. The characters pick up where they left off at the end of last story with consistency. some notes on Reggie in particular:

Judging entirely from this story, so far he's not particularly deep. We see some insecurities and a few defining character traits. It’s a solid basis for a character, but not one I’d be immediately drawn to if this were my first time seeing him. I like him. He feels real, simple, friendly, not jealous or overdramatic. But so far he's lacking in real substance.

I don't know if I've ever brought this up before, but I feel like Elemental Academy doesn't get as much worldbuilding as it deserves. There was some stuff about the archipelago in DR, but very little since then. It's a wholly original setting, which leaves a lot of room for creativity. There’s some cool tidbits here and there, but I’d like to see it more fully and elegantly fleshed out.

Overall, it's a solid start, but not one that really struck me as something particularly special right off the bat. Does it need to? I'm not sure. It depends on what you're going for. I read the last two of these bad boys so I'm in it for the long haul regardless of how engaging the plot is right off the bat.
 
Please note: The thread is from 7 years ago.
Please take the age of this thread into consideration in writing your reply. Depending on what exactly you wanted to say, you may want to consider if it would be better to post a new thread instead.
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