MATURE: The Story of Fritz Westmyn: The Turning World (old, crusty, abandoned)

[Flaze]

Well I'm not one to use quotes since it's hard for me to go back and find the parts but I'll try to make


Chapter 1 was kind of slow for me a bit, but that's because it was an introduction chapter and probably the lenght scared me a little bit. I liked how it set up things though and it was interesting to see Fritz's encounter with the Gyarados or Aporon.

Speaking of Fritz, he's actually someone I've come to like more with every chapter, when I read chapter 1 I originally thought he was a little but suish but you quickly began to develop him in his own way, plus the POV you use allow for a lot of interesting comments and jokes, first person is usually used to describe something that's already happened to the character, but by using it in present tense we can now what he's feeling and how he's thinking at that specific moment rather than him just remembering.

I also liked the team you picked out for him, it seems pretty well balanced and they kind of match with him in a way though I still haven't been able to figure out what the water Pokemon is xD I'm not good at matching up parts in words so it's not your fault.

There are a lot of characters that I'm interested about, such as Reika and why she's how she is, actually she kind of explained it a bit, but I could see a lot of growth in only ten chapters for her, while she's temperamental and has a bit of a short fuse Reika really does care for her friends and her well being.

Another character that caught my interest was Aporon, reason is that he's neither a big brother sort of character but he's also not a bully character, he's like a cross between both and even though he likes to mess around with Fritz it seems as if he's more than just that, the thing that got me to think this was what he did in chapter 8 he could've had one of his crooks go after Fritz but he just let him off and do what he wanted at that moment.

I like the spin that you gave to this fic by implementing real world countries into it, as well as the hint of racism that people tend to have for those of other countries, though the interesting thing is that this actually happens in real life as well, though this will cause more problems for Fritz xD

Well grammar wise you're one of the best honestly xD you have a lot of potential and you beat in me in that a by a landslide xD you also have good description and flow for the story, to me it was a bit hard to catch at first but it was because I've spent a long time without reading but I can say that your story just made me recover a lot of my old reading speed so I thank you for that.

Once again I'll point out the fact that you adding actual academy stuff to an academy fic has actually set it apart cause as I mentioned before most people tend to use this for the sake of the setting, it's a simple basic setting that allows you to do a lot of plots so a lot of people just focus on the plot that they have planned but you've been adding things that actually happen at a school as a secondary theme while you develop the plot, so that's something I like a lot.

With that in mind I'll give you you're rating...give me a second here pls.

This only goes up to chapter ten so the score goes down a bit cause we don't have a full plot yet but it might go up x)

93.6/100

 

[Legacy]

You are very talented. The level of complexity to your prose is something I like and admire. I don't know how to explain it other than your writing is very elegant and flows well. The level of description is good as well without being over the top.

Chapter one started a bit slow, but that is to be expected since it is introductory in nature.

What I really like though is how complex and deep Fritz seems so far. He is far from the typical trainer type we see so often, and I really like his team as well.

Great!

 

[Sweet Veil]

Chapter 4

Something I've noticed is that your story is just getting more and more interesting as I go along. The chapter immediately starts off with Fritz transferring classes, that Hariyama trainer seems like she'll be an important factor later on in the story. She has a very stoic and somewhat violent battling style. Cronus and his croniesP) appearing out of the blue and them all being such of a different pallet of types is just very weird yet amusing. I mean a nerd and a jock? Preppy boy and a jock? Seems like a very awkward combination in Cronus' squad of underlings. I guess they're not important enough to the story to be addressed by name by Friz. The character interactions were good, I probably didn't appreciate them as much as I should have given I'm not particularly attached to any of the character except the main trio yet, but regardless they were nice. Seemed like an awfully ballsy thing to do, I'm talking about Fritz using his Mareep against a trained Primeape especially when said sheep can't even use its Electric-type moves properly. I also liked the small point-out that Fritz's Mareep most likely has Static and frontal attacks might not be the smartest move. Needless to say I was not surprised it was thrashed rather quickly. I might have already commented on this but Fritz's Nidorina seems awfully powerful for a first-stage Pokemon. I also have ask if you're breaking the four-move limit? I noticed Primeape used quite a few attacks. I also took notice to the fact it seems more like Cronus isn't that hugely bad a person, despite being glorified by most people at school he didn't come off as overly-antagonistic this chapter. I think from Fritz POV he simply has a predetermined outlook on Cronus, though we can clearly tell Edgar very much despises Fritz. I didn't get a super clear distinction regarding the other member's opinions so I can't comment on that.

"I ain't got a problem, you got a problem!" he retorted, nearly bursting a vein on his forehead trying to stare me down. "You don't mess with Cronus Aporon. Understand? There's comsequences for nessing with him. You. SHITHEAD."

Unless that's on purpose they should be spelled "consequences" and "messing."

"Moronsayswhat?"

"What?" The nerd was the only to laugh at this impulsive shot of mine, and quickly regretted it. "Lawrence, for the last time, SHUT THE FUCK UP. Now you! Show me what you got!"

That was a nice little exchange for example.

As usual the dialogue flowed fairly nicely. I see pretty much all of Cronus' squad as being annoying jerks, I'm assuming that's the image you're trying to convoy. The nerd and prep came off as bit too empty for my taste but that's nothing to look to deeply at given this is their debut chapter of all things so they have more time to make more of an impression when they get featured more. Cronus comes off more as a teasing older siblings than a straight-up jerk which goes back to me thinking Fritz already has it made up in his mind that Cronus = Asshole and won't bend anyway from that. A very very minuscule amount of grammatical errors, you're very careful in that regard. Chapter was pretty good and entertaining, the Mareep curbstomp was kinda embarrassing but the Nidorina battle managed fun to read. The pacing was also pitch-perfect and nothing felt rushed or overly-drawn out so cheers to you in that regard.

 

[AiedailEclipsed]

So, I know that we already dissect everything on Skype, but I gotta give you some public props/review.

I loved all of the new chapters (I think it was 8 to 10), as per the usual Reika was invoking a complex thread of emotions within me (from wanting to throttle her for being a bitch to making me genuinely empathize with her situation, although I'll reserve full judgement till I know her full situation). I'm curious to see how this new mysterious dude will come about more. That last bit by the VP caught me off guard as I didn't remember anything about Fritz being North American. As I mentioned, I do have to say that the whole "describe the Pokemon but never implicitly name them until a later time" grates on my nerves. ^^;;

The situation with Lawrence being caught in a compromising situation was HILARIOUS. I can't wait to find out who he was with! Hmmm. Thatcher. Oh, that poor darling. I just want to take him home with me and be a mother hen. Oh, and Elyna was simply wonderful (<3). I can't wait to see what you do with her, but you best take care of her or I'll lay a butt whoopin' on you. >:3 Also, the situation with Liane and her posse. That was interesting. Loved her reaction after she went in and found the missing statue though. It'll be quite interesting to see where that particular bit goes! In any case, eagerly awaiting the next installments to this story.

 

[System Error]

Responses:

Spoiler

Gotpika, Chapter 1-2

Spoiler

I suggest referring to the Pokémon as "his" or "her," makes them feel more like characters and "it" is mostly a Japanese exclusive thing I see in the Anime due to the Japanese language not having gender-specific pronouns.

Actually, there is a minor consistancy to that. Fritz does use his/her if he knows a Pokémon's gender, otherwise he falls back on it - in some cases using it anyway.

Anyway this was an okay chapter, it wasn't particularly super interesting to be completely honest. It centered mostly around Fritz's encounter with that Gyarados. I feel as though it's perfectly okay to tell in a lot of scenes, like drab or uninteresting moments that aren't relevant to the story at hand as a whole, but showing in scenes like that would be much better and make the battle more engrossing for the readers imo, the Gyarados scene is just a perfect example of that.

It does kind of get weird with first-person narration, since the line between showing and telling gets blurred. And actually, the main point of the chapter is related to your initial impression from the first. Remember how you thought it was going to be coming-of-age? Yeah. Chapter 1-2 erases the notion of beginnings completely and shows Fritz to already have a fair deal of experience. Leaving it who knows where.

Also remember there is such a thing as being overly descriptive, which I felt you were at the point where you were talking about the classroom. Specifically because as a whole the room didn't have a direct bearing on the plot of the chapter at hand. Just remember not to overdue it on the description,

Yeah. Occasionally I do get a bit carried away. Sometimes it is intentional though, again in regards to the first-person narration - since it is psuedo-present-tense, when Fritz is bored or particularly alert/perceptive, he does start to do things like that. (By the same token, he is occasionally underdescriptive if tired, moody, or apathetic - although this is comparatively uncommon)

I enjoyed the discussion between the Trio of Reika, Thatcher, and Fritz during the lunch scene, we got some nice insight on the character. Interesting that Thatcher holds Pokémon Contests and being a Coordinator in high prestige and refers to it as art.

Thorton's fawning over Pokémon Contest is pretty enticing, "magnificent duels." XD That's exactly what they are.

Yeah, I find the most fun things to write are the small conversations the characters have, even if their only purpose is to show off how the characters react/respond in a variety of scenarios.

Art is pretty much a catch-all subject for several things at the school. Sort of like how Math would be a general catch-all for algebra, calculus, trigonometry, etc. It doesn't necessarily represent what he considers it to be - although for the record, he does consider it art. Thatcher's fawning here is retrospectively a neat contrast to his typical, timid demeanor.

It's simply amazing, yet vomit-inducing how the student body seems to fall apart at Cronus' defeat. I guess they have a huge reliance and respect for him.

So, Fritz uses his Tangela and takes care of things, guess that shows he has skills that can take care of problems by his own merits. Eevee, Mareep, Nidorina, and Tangela, eh? Shame that his handwork went unappreciated since he got opposite results instead.

Actually, Aporon responded mostly positively, and he was sent to the principal before he had a chance to see what anyone else thought - although it's expanded upon in later chapters.

Gotpika, Chapter 1-3

Spoiler

The dean certainly was cryptic and had a very antagonistic and somewhat borderline supervillainy personality and demeanor. Pretty fun to see Fritz is somewhat public enemy number one now amongst the staff, I hope this actually effects him at some points in the story however.

Oh, you won't be disappointed there.

Thorton's intro and us learning about his shyness is just another example of how I feel character personality building is important and you did just that with that scene and used the moment to let us now about him. I wonder if this will conflict with his goal of wanting to be a Pokémon Coordinator, given the battles and appeals in those Contest are very much like actual performances.

Yup. There were a few warning signs beforehand, and I thought doing something like this would serve to cement that. Fritz himself even wonders as much later on in the chapter.

I enjoyed the group interactions between them and their Eevee, differentiate their personalities helps identify with the Eevee as different characters and we see them less as the same Pokémon.

More of less the point. They're not only different personality-wise, but also quite different physically as well.

For some reason I think "letting the cards fall where they will." means Umbreon or Espeon, since all the other evolutions of the Eevee species have to specifically be induced by some method of location or evolutionary stone to actually obtain.

FUN WORLDCRAFTING FACT: Evolution is a lot more versatile in the universe I made. The stones actually do work on Eevee for the non Gen-1 ones, and in a similar vein, environmental exposure works to get Flareon or something. Of course, happiness (or another surge of emotion) is still a catalyst, and Espeon/Umbreon are probably what he'll end up with if he uses it frequently and doesn't come to a decision.

Leafeon, not good for Contest from Reika's POV? XD Interesting, I always thought of those two as being more of the two elegant Eevees. Maybe I'm just reading too much into Zoey's Leafeon from the anime which was very stunning and beautiful for its Contest. I never have thought of any Eeveelutions as being specifically bad for Contest, then again I'm curious why she thinks that.

Fritz was asking Reika what she would evolve her Eevee into, not what would be good for a contest. Sorry if it wasn't clear. What she was actually implying there was that she already has a Water type and a Grass type, so it would make no sense for her to get another one.

Gotpika, Chapter 1-4

Spoiler

that Hariyama trainer seems like she'll be an important factor later on in the story. She has a very stoic and somewhat violent battling style.

You'd be right on both accounts.

Cronus and his croniesP) appearing out of the blue and them all being such of a different pallet of types is just very weird yet amusing. I mean a nerd and a jock? Preppy boy and a jock? Seems like a very awkward combination in Cronus' squad of underlings. I guess they're not important enough to the story to be addressed by name by Friz.

Actually, they are moderately notable. It's just that Fritz didn't know their names - note that he didn't say them until they were said, although he occasionally uses the pronoun anyway. There is one special instance, but that's later.

Seemed like an awfully ballsy thing to do, I'm talking about Fritz using his Mareep against a trained Primeape especially when said sheep can't even use its Electric-type moves properly. I also liked the small point-out that Fritz's Mareep most likely has Static and frontal attacks might not be the smartest move. Needless to say I was not surprised it was thrashed rather quickly.

More interesting is not mentioning that it could be a bad idea to physically strike a Nidorina as well. Make of that what you will. As for Mareep, it's like Fritz said - underestimated them. It did take a bit of nerve, though.

I might have already commented on this but Fritz's Nidorina seems awfully powerful for a first-stage Pokémon. I also have ask if you're breaking the four-move limit? I noticed Primeape used quite a few attacks.

Yeah. IMO, the four-move limit is an invention of the games (so that you can't have everything) occasionally followed by other media for whatever reason. But I do have something in-place. The gist of it is while there is no limit to the number of moves Pokémon can have, the more moves it knows, the less "perfected" they will be. It's not as debilitating as it sounds though, especially after experience/training. I really just have it for logicistics purposes so Pokes can't get strong right away. As for how many is the best, that's up to the individual trainer to decide.

And well, Fritz's Nidorina is actually par or just above power-wise. It's just the way it uses the power that helps it get as far as it does. Tangela on the other hand, that is legit. But...evolution isn't always a panacea. After all, a Nidoqueen isn't nearly as mobile as a Nidorina, and a Tangrowth is too heavy to pull off BS ninja acrobatics. Nothing is necessarily good or bad.

"I ain't got a problem, you got a problem!" he retorted, nearly bursting a vein on his forehead trying to stare me down. "You don't mess with Cronus Aporon. Understand? There's comsequences for nessing with him. You. SHITHEAD."

Unless that's on purpose they should be spelled "consequences" and "messing."

That is intentional. Edgar is dyslexic, and (as I looked into) a common trait of dyslexia is to mix up Ms and Ns. There's a few other weird mix-ups and instances of odd wording like that in his dialogue.

As usual the dialogue flowed fairly nicely. I see pretty much all of Cronus' squad as being annoying jerks, I'm assuming that's the image you're trying to convoy.

Bingo. And yeah, Edgar pretty much took the spotlight as far as this chapter is concerned.

The pacing was also pitch-perfect and nothing felt rushed or overly-drawn out so cheers to you in that regard.

That's my one worry TBH. Being a little too slow-burn, though it's reassuring to know I'm doing well thus far.

@Stellar Gale;

Spoiler

Chapter 1 was kind of slow for me a bit, but that's because it was an introduction chapter and probably the lenght scared me a little bit. I liked how it set up things though and it was interesting to see Fritz's encounter with the Gyarados or Aporon.

The average length of my chapters is around 26KB-30KB in Wordpad - 1-2 is thus far the biggest at 34.1KB, and 1-5 is the smallest at 25.3KB. Fun fact though: Chapter 1-1 originally wasn't that slow. It was to include the Gyarados scene, but it got too big, so I split them apart.

Speaking of Fritz, he's actually someone I've come to like more with every chapter, when I read chapter 1 I originally thought he was a little but suish but you quickly began to develop him in his own way, plus the POV you use allow for a lot of interesting comments and jokes, first person is usually used to describe something that's already happened to the character, but by using it in present tense we can now what he's feeling and how he's thinking at that specific moment rather than him just remembering.

You just discovered a major theme of the story. There's lots of contrasts running amok in my fic, and two of them are Action vs. Reaction, and Present mood vs. Reflection.

I also liked the team you picked out for him, it seems pretty well balanced and they kind of match with him in a way though I still haven't been able to figure out what the water Pokémon is xD I'm not good at matching up parts in words so it's not your fault.

I had a bit of fun designing his team. I find I generally have fun with team design. It's even more fun considering all the factors on the part of the character, from both an in and out-of-universe standpoint. Some pick and choose their Pokémon carefully, some catch whatever, some do a bit of both. Why they do so is also a factor. And of course, sometimes I design a team not necessarily based on the character at all. All things considered, I don't think I've designed any two rosters for the same reasons.

There are a lot of characters that I'm interested about, such as Reika and why she's how she is, actually she kind of explained it a bit, but I could see a lot of growth in only ten chapters for her, while she's temperamental and has a bit of a short fuse Reika really does care for her friends and her well being.

Another character that caught my interest was Aporon, reason is that he's neither a big brother sort of character but he's also not a bully character, he's like a cross between both and even though he likes to mess around with Fritz it seems as if he's more than just that, the thing that got me to think this was what he did in chapter 8 he could've had one of his crooks go after Fritz but he just let him off and do what he wanted at that moment.

Glad you're liking them. Reika and Aporon are the two most complex characters so far. Their personalities, actions/reactions, and opinions aren't really clear or straightforward - and that kind of mystery is another fun thing about first-person. The opposite would be Dean Howard Finkerton, who's pretty clear cut and concise.

I like the spin that you gave to this fic by implementing real world countries into it, as well as the hint of racism that people tend to have for those of other countries, though the interesting thing is that this actually happens in real life as well, though this will cause more problems for Fritz xD

Unfortunately for him, and as 1-5 and 1-10 established. I think looking at the global scale of the world isn't something a lot of fanfics do, and there's just so much room to have fun with it. And yeah, Japan is crazy xenophobic in real life. It's kind of where I got some of it from. Of course, I've put my own spin on it...

Well grammar wise you're one of the best honestly xD you have a lot of potential and you beat in me in that a by a landslide xD you also have good description and flow for the story, to me it was a bit hard to catch at first but it was because I've spent a long time without reading but I can say that your story just made me recover a lot of my old reading speed so I thank you for that.

You're quite welcome.

Once again I'll point out the fact that you adding actual academy stuff to an academy fic has actually set it apart cause as I mentioned before most people tend to use this for the sake of the setting, it's a simple basic setting that allows you to do a lot of plots so a lot of people just focus on the plot that they have planned but you've been adding things that actually happen at a school as a secondary theme while you develop the plot, so that's something I like a lot.

I'm surprised not more people do, TBH. In fact, I designed Rukh's to stand contrary to or in passive-aggressive mocking of many of their traits. One example, it's NOT in a remote location - which also allows me to add in the town it's in. I also factor in aspects like the money factor for attending, reputation of various schools, and the alternatives to an academy.

@Legacy;

Spoiler

You are very talented. The level of complexity to your prose is something I like and admire. I don't know how to explain it other than your writing is very elegant and flows well. The level of description is good as well without being over the top.

Thanks! Means a lot from you. Flow is something I try to be careful with; occasionally I've added or removed a few things in chapters just to make things flow better. A basic example - the tiny transitionary scene in 1-3. I literally only put it in just to make the flow a little better.

What I really like though is how complex and deep Fritz seems so far. He is far from the typical trainer type we see so often, and I really like his team as well.

Fritz is...really hard to define, indeed. He doesn't really fit into any category, let alone any that are used in main characters. I designed him to be a highly unique character, someone who even if this fic had the most generic plot possible, his personality alone could make it interesting. Same goes for his team, as mentioned.

@AiedailEclipsed;

Spoiler

I loved all of the new chapters (I think it was 8 to 10), as per the usual Reika was invoking a complex thread of emotions within me (from wanting to throttle her for being a bitch to making me genuinely empathize with her situation, although I'll reserve full judgement till I know her full situation).

Heh. I think you may have put it well when you said she seems bipolar. Her full situation...well, we will see whether that'll change things.

That last bit by the VP caught me off guard as I didn't remember anything about Fritz being North American.

Then the deception worked. It was supposed to be a twist that came out of left field. 1-5 set up the fact that North Americans are hated in Japan; but even if one to were to conclude that it was placed in because someone in the fic hails from there, Fritz didn't do/say anything to stand out as such.

The situation with Lawrence being caught in a compromising situation was HILARIOUS. I can't wait to find out who he was with! Hmmm.

Gives him a bit of character, doesn't it?

Thatcher. Oh, that poor darling. I just want to take him home with me and be a mother hen.

:3

Oh, and Elyna was simply wonderful (<3). I can't wait to see what you do with her, but you best take care of her or I'll lay a butt whoopin' on you. >:3

For the others reading this, Elyna is a cameo character by Aie. When I was writing 1-8, I got stuck up on the bit with the info about Muriel/Phoebe, so I came up with the concept of RPing with someone to make the scene. It worked way better than I expected, and she fit perfectly to boot.

And don't worry. She's in good hands.

Also, the situation with Liane and her posse. That was interesting. Loved her reaction after she went in and found the missing statue though. It'll be quite interesting to see where that particular bit goes!

Well...it already went somewhere. It takes some detective skills to figure out where it could've gone, but the info is there despite not being directly mentioned.

And with that mess out of the way, there's only one more thing: there's now an Atlas up. At present, it only contains Character Profiles. But it'll have more soon, including a collection of behind-the-scenes workings and all the little details you might not have noticed.

With that being said, we can finally move on to...

#########################

Part 2: Omnipresent Secrecy


Chapter 2-1: A Bigger Picture​

It's been a little over a week since the fire at the school. The situation is still absolute chaos. The good news is, there was minimal damage to the forest. I'd never seen firefighters in this country before, and I must say, it was pretty sweet seeing them in action. The bad news is, the Rangerism/Breeding stables were completely incinerated. None of the Pokémon inside survived. Classes were cancelled until further notice; this was not only because the building two of them were being held in had been destroyed, but also due to the ongoing investigation. Access to the grounds was also cut off, for most students and teachers.

There's another matter at hand though, and I suppose I should go over it a bit. What Aiden Kripps said is true. I'm not actually a native of Japan. I was born and grew up in Mexico. Since I came here, I've always had to be on my guard for people like him. People who know where I came from and aren't too happy about it. Like I said before though, I'm not ready to take a side on the matter. I can explain it a little more, though.

Without going into excessive specifics, here in Japan, they have a belief that humanity should live in complete and total harmony with Pokémon. Nearly every aspect of everyone's life in the country has a connection to these creatures in some way. Like, those firefighters for example. They attacked the blaze which was threatening to become a wildfire from the air with Pelippers and Mantines. The mutualism is boundless, and it's impressive how many ways they manage to walk hand-in-hand.

But where I come from, the relationship is more commensalistic. Meaning, it helps the people by providing them with entertainment, battles, pets, and ways to settle disputes, while not going out of the way to hurt or help Pokémon. Ownership can qualify as anything from a hobby to a career. It's not as much a given as it is in Japan and nations practicing their values, and in some cases is even a luxury.

The philosophical disagreement created a rift between the two schools of thought. Mostly initiated on Japan's end. That's part of the reason why all foreign species to the nation are outlawed. It's not that a big deal when you really look at it - even given quarreling in neutral ground, there's no open engagement to be had. Of course, there's extremists and dissenters in each case...and upsides and downsides to both mentalities.

And as for myself? What do I think? The same thing as I said before. I'm not ready to take a definitive stance on the matter. What I am sure of, and maybe the only thing I am sure of, is that neither nation is as bad as the other claims.

----------

Reika, Thatcher, and myself had been resting in the park for the better part of the week. None of us had the funds to rent a room long-term, and that's accounting for the discounted prices offered for students of the University enjoyed by the third and fourth year students. Nor did we have the luxury of knowing anyone in-town to provide shelter. We weren't the only ones left out in the cold like this, but knowledge of this place in addition to the local homeless touting it to us as a safe place to sleep justified it. Besides, it's more appealing than an alley or a religious home or especially a hostel. Damn cheap-ass hostels, letting anyone walk into any room.

The first signs of daylight had started making their appearance. This was way earlier than any of us wanted to get up, yet here we were. That was a trite issue compared to the true dilemma we faced, however. With each day, the ennui increased exponentially. To make my point clear, the morning after the first night here, the three of us had a conversation about how different an experience it was to sleep in the outdoors. This gave way to us going across the road to get a cheapy breakfast. After that, Thatcher and I did a little more training together. Not wanting to be left out, Reika decided to bring out her Marill, and they had some practice of their own.

As it stands at present, I was leaning against a tree looking east, watching and waiting for the sun to burst over the hill. It had to have been at least half an hour off from doing so, but the sheer boredom had led me to take such an action. My friends were vaguely more animate. Reika was lying restlessly on a towel, one of a number we had brought with us to sleep on. Thatcher sat on a bench, attempting to read a book or magazine of some kind with the teasing amount of light present between sky and lamp.


After the sun finally made its anticipated arrival? Well, after I nearly fell over shielding my face - I was a little too precise in where I was looking - I just paced impatiently. My friends had swapped positions; Thatcher was now lying back on a towel in peace, having given up on trying to do any reading and no longer in the mood, and Reika sat boredly on the bench, sighing periodically.


Mercifully, this monotony eventually met its end.


"Ahh, the three forlorn dreamers." boomed a voice. It belonged to a cheerful man, who happily sauntered up to us. He had on a ratty, yet neatly buttoned ochre jacket, and a pair of dusty old pants. Regardless of his Gatsby Cap covering his head, one could easily tell the origin of his moniker from his filthy brown beard, mustache, and bangs (for lack of a better phrase) that looked like steel wool.

"Mr. Gruff." I greeted with a small wave. "How are you this morning?" He was one of the hobos who pointed us to the park. And in fact, he's apparently second only to the most elder hobo in respect given by his fellows.

"On a luminous day such as this one," he chuckled, "I could not be better!" I had only known him for just under a week, yet Mr. Gruff stands as one of those people who you can get to fully know within such a period. He's blustery and eccentric, but kind-hearted and has a strong moral base. With a jaunty grin, he asked, "And what of you?"

I stretched out my back whilst massaging it. "A little antsy. Still haven't gotten used to sleeping out here, and I don't think I ever will."

"You think YOU have it bad?" Reika complained while standing to her feet.

"But of course," I conceded in how I was about to get to that, "You and Thatcher have it far worse." She tried to sleep on a bench in order to give her leg the proper support, using bags and even newspaper as cushioning. It didn't end well, so she had to join Thatcher and myself on the grass, which is far easier on the back than coarse wood. She was effectively pained no matter where she chose to sleep. And as for Thatcher, well. He wasn't complaining verbally, but his body language screamed louder than any words from Reika.

Mr. Gruff chuckled. "It is just something that you get used to in time. No no, no need to fret. I remember my first night on the streets like it was yesterday. The aches will subside after a while, don't you worry there!"

My ears only faintly picked up on Reika's remark over the gentle breeze, "It'd better not come to that crap."

"Anyhow!" Mr. Gruff declared, "Biggie, Gumbo, and myself shall be headed to Antony's for today's lunch in a moment. Would you three be interested in joining us for a meal?"

Gumbo is another hobo in town, who we've seen twice before. Some homeless people take up a habit, and for him, it's chewing gum. He said as much himself that unless he is eating or sleeping, he chews gum. And yes. He does continue to chew a bit while talking. It made Thatcher throw up a little. Biggie, on the other hand. Well, I haven't met him yet - a surprise given how often he's been mentioned to us - but he apparently lives up to his name. In Mr. Gruff's words, "He is the largest guy in the alleys! The biggest of the bunch! The tallest of titans! The hugest of homeless! He's a quiet one, yes, but his actions are loud, and when he speaks! Everyone listens!"

But about the matter at hand. "Would that be okay with the others? I mean, we aren't actually hobos."

"There is no concern to be had!" he reassured us, "I personally vouched for you, and the agreement was reached!"

Thatcher had apparently been following the conversation. He looked over to us. "S-sorry." he apologized, looking Reika and then myself in the eye. A veil of shame draped over my friend as he said, "I'm...I...I can't eat that sort of...I'm allergic to...at least, I think. I don't want to...you know..."

I shrugged my shoulders, but before I could say anything, Reika fired a glare my way. "No. It wouldn't be right to do it without Thatcher."

My thought and instinct was to reply that Thatcher might not mind and to ask him, but Mr. Gruff began to talk before I could do so. "Oh, not to worry. I understand your predicament well, for the Traveling Hobos are all about consolidarity!" He tipped his hat, synchronically expressing respect and saying farewell. "If you require assistance, you know where to find us. I shall be heading off now! Good day to you three!"

As the jovial one powerwalked across the road, mindless of traffic that was or wasn't there, I couldn't help but smile to myself. I don't know what it is about that man, but somehow, after every time he visits us, I find my attitude a lot more positive. It must be contagious. "So," I asked my friends with a bright smile, "What do you wanna do now?"

The answer was two astraddle stares.

I groaned. The only things I could think of were out of the picture for one reason or another. My mood was right back to where it initially stood.

==========

Another indeterminate amount of time passed by.

The repetition of nothing got to be so boring, Reika and I wordlessly started an impromptu game of Rock-Paper-Scissors. It took up...another indeterminate amount of time.

"This is retarded." Reika eventually said. We'd had more draws than we had wins put together. Even standing as a distraction, it was managing to frustrate us both. "Next one to get a win wins."

"You've been keeping track?" I queried. Going with scissors.

"I've won 17 times, I've lost 17 times, and 39-" She also went with scissors, "40 draws." Okay, those statistics were just a guess, but hey, got'em. "This is really retarded."

"Well, well, well!" came a male voice all of a sudden. "What do we have here?"

I whirled around on my guard to stare upon...someone who I've never seen before? This wasn't Edgar, although I should've guessed from the start considering my vulgar nickname was not spouted. But he's no less huge than Aporon's goon; in fact, he may have even been a few inches taller. Differing is how this fellow has a far healthier balance of fat and muscle, although an even worse fashion sense. Tattered black shorts and waistcoat, a violet undershirt, studded wristbands, and sneakers that had seen better days made up his apparel. Skin's slightly pale, his eyes are brown, and he has a reddish bowl-cut.

"Oh, I know!" he excitedly declared, hands pressed together. He grinned with the sleaze of a used car salesman. "If it isn't scrawny little Scratcher Pee!"

Thatcher was taken slightly aback. "Hey, my name's-"

"Scratcher Pee!"

"Yes." he sighed, before delving into frantic panic. "No, no, no! Wait, huhuzawhawhat?! You?" A look of horror and recognition was plastered onto Thatcher's face as he took a step backwards. Because...well, I have no idea. It wasn't the same kind of fear he expressed when he was faced with a draconic sea serpent or a cloud of chiropterans; this was something different. When he spoke, he spoke slowly and quietly. "What are you..."

"What am I? Only a humble success story, of course." replied the young man. Genuinely, too. It was like he was deep in some sort of thought. "And what are you?"

Thatcher's mouth didn't even get a chance to open a crack before this person raised his palm. "Don't answer that!" Overdramatically, he started thinking. The man perked up and snapped his fingers. "Got it! You're a kid who's finally getting out of the house after 17 years!"

He only gave Thatcher about three seconds to respond before going, "No? Darn, could've sworn that was it. Now let's see. Hm, hm." He again went into overdramatic thought, and again perked up after a few moments. "Oh, I know!"

He sleeked over to Thatcher and whispered something into his ear. Thatcher clenched his eyes shut as he took several steps back towards Reika and I. Whatever was said, he cried in reply, "But! But I'm trying my best!"

"That's your best? I never would've guessed!"

I had only vaguely noticed Reika. She had been scowling with her fists clenched over the duration of the incident, and had finally heard enough. She screamed at the young man, "Leave him alone, asshole!"

Another look of recognition came over his face. He smiled as wildly as before, and declared, "Oh and look! If it isn't his fat friend, Freak-Eye Easton!" She loudly grumbled. If this aggressor was within arm's length, she probably would've socked him on the button. His eyes stretched wide, and he tilted his head to a comical angle. He was gazing at her cast. "What's that crutch for?" he teased. "You get too heavy to stand up?"

Reika calmly explained, as if she would explode again at any moment, "I broke my leg."

"From being too heavy, right?" With a shit-eating grin, he struck a pose. At face value, it was one of arrogant showmanship, but he did it in an exaggerated way as if to mock the vain. "Or is it that your knees are just too weak right now?"

"Shut the fuck up!" Reika was beside herself with anger.

"Shut the you? That doesn't even begin to make sense."

"You son of a-"

I held my hand a few inches in front of Reika's mouth, hushing her before she could be goaded any further. A third time, the young man repeated his act, "Oh, and..." His face went blank. He scratched his head. "Who are you?"

"Fritz Westmyn. Who the hell are you?" was my quick response.

"Josef Northrop." There was a pause as he looked me over. My friends remained silent, Reika because she was observing what I would do, and Thatcher no doubt due to his terror. When the man looked up again, he was once again scratching his head. Baffled, he curiously asked, "Why are you hanging out with these nerds?"

He was being level with me, almost casual. It didn't change my discontent with him. I told him with annoyance, "They're my friends."

"Ha!" he sharply laughed, the dickishness returning. I remained stoic. "You must be pretty bad at making them if you have to fall back on these guys."

"Oh yeah?" I riposted. "Well where's your friends?"

That seemed to throw him off-guard. "I've made several over the years," he hastily explained, reverting to his initial attitude towards me, "But I travel alone. I'm just passing through on my way to challenge the Eterna City Gym." He almost seemed delighted as he said his next words (almost), "Never thought I'd run into those two here, though!"

"What's your deal?" I pressed. "Why'd you just suddenly come up to us like that?"

"Let's just say we go way back." he said with a shrug, turning to my friends and smirking. "Don't we? Scratcher and Freak-Eye?"

Reika only grumbled even louder in response to the continued pestering, while Thatcher visibly jittered with his mouth agape. Noticing this, Josef pranced right up to him. "So whatcha doin' here? Ya little pioneer?"

"I-I-I'm...I just...but..." I'd seen Thatcher get scared many times before. But nothing, not even that Gyarados, even compared to the consternation he was in now. He was waving and recoiling, as if he were trying to wave off this old acquaintance. "He-hey...sh-shouldn't you be...g-g-g-going, Josef?"

"What? You think the gym's gonna sprout legs and walk away?" Josef mocked. He stepped back again and stretched out his arms and legs. "I got plenty of time."

I figure the only way this guy will leave is if I drive him off. So I jumped right back in with a statement, making it clear that if he messes with them, he messes with me: "Lay off, pal."

"Hey, hey, relax man!" He threw up his arms in friendly protest. "No need to go all white knight on me. I never seen these two out and about like this before. I'm just playin' with 'em!"

Reika made a sarcastic remark, "Go play with yourself."

Once more, Josef appeared as though he wasn't expecting that. He mumbled, "Ouch." With what I witnessed so far, it wasn't clear if he was genuinely hurt or just not expecting to hear it from Reika. He inquired without a shred of irony, "You been teaching her how to talk, Fritz? Maybe you could teach Scratcher how to dress nice!"

"Pft, look who's talking." I flippantly said. "I've seen drunken bums with nicer clothes than you."

"Oh yeah? You could fit right in with those bums with that hair of yours."

"That so? The way you seem to be going, you won't even have hair in a few years."

"Oh yeah? In a few years, the way you seem to be going, you'll just be a chatty babysitter. You probably made a few people question why they have to live on the same planet as you."

"Oh yeah? Well you literally made Adolf Hitler get off his dick-throne in midst of the flames of Hell, walk into the bathroom, and sob quietly in the corner of a shower. He held a cheap bottle of whiskey in his shaking hand, no longer secure in his position of least likable human being."

...

Reika was the first to break the deafening silence. "Fritz," she started, "What the HELL?"

"Too much?"

"I'll say." she said with a roll of her eyes. "God, he was last person I wanted to see."

"Reiky! Hiiii!" A high-pitched female voice rang out, and Reika's head sank into her palm. She mouthed some profanities before taking a peek at who had made her presence known. It was a girly girl around her age and height, wearing a distinctively feminine polo, a sky-blue skirt that reached halfway down her thigh, and short black heels.

"Inara." Reika monotonously sighed.

"Hey, hey now!" she prattled while ruffling her strawberry blonde hair. "You don't have to be so formal! Just call me Ina!"

"What do you want and why are you here?" This was something new out of Reika. She had an eerie calm about her. Usually when she doesn't want to deal with something, she gets angry. It's creepy, to be honest.

Ina did a cute little curtsy before answering, "I go to Rukh's University now! I didn't know you went too, Reiky!"

Reika groaned. "Oh, god." She buried her forehead in both her palms. She sullenly waddled up to me and made a request, "Fritz, could you get rid of her like you got rid of that dick?"

"I never left." Josef said. In fact, when he heard that we were attending a school, he seemed to snicker to himself in surprise. "You need glasses like your friend over there?"

I ignored his comment. "Um, okay." It was a little unnerving trying to approach this. I only really feel comfortable fighting back against aggressors, of which this Inara...or Ina girl did not seem to be. With that uncertainty, I almost mumbled, "What's the deal?"

"Ohhh." she embarrassedly said, as if she had forgotten her manners or something. "Reiky and I used to be friends. I just thought I'd come say hi, that's all!"

"Used to be?" I thought aloud. I turned to my friend in surprise. "Wait, you knew she was here?"

"No! I had no idea!" she insisted.

"Sorry, I would've come say hi sooner, but you always looked so busy!" Ina's mood was slightly dampened by my question, but with each word that came out of her mouth, it gradually reverted to her ditzy demeanor. Until it became entirely chipper with, "It's so nice to see you again! Is this Thatcher?"

"I just called him Fritz!" Reika scolded. "He's Thatcher!"

Ina blinked. She turned to the young man standing beside her in confusion. "Him?"

"No, I'm Josef Northrop." he said, introducing himself with what appeared to be an attempt at a charming smile. "Just an old friend of theirs, like you." He shrugged and pointed to the correct individual, a devilish smirk on his face. "He is Scratcher Pee."

Ina was again confused. "I thought it was Thatcher Li?"

"He's an idiot, Ina." Reika was gritting her teeth. "Ignore him."

"Hey, hey, now! Don't be like that!" I can already tell why Reika might find her disagreeable, but the problem is, I can't see any way these two might've been friends at some point. Her squeaky voice, the way she closes her eyes half the time, and girly attitude just...just...I don't know. "Sometimes you just gotta turn the other cheek!" she giggled, acting it out by literally turning her cheek.

I again raised a hand to calm a seething Reika, turning to her this time. "Relax," I said, "Getting worked up over the past isn't going to change it."

"I know that!" she snapped. "It's just...one of those two is bad enough, but they both had to be here, didn't they? How the hell could this be any worse?"

"Hey."

Oh, god damn it. That's how. Cronus. Fucking. Aporon. Still dressed as school is in session. That's the other reason why I had wanted to sleep out here, rather than in a more practical locale. The last thing I needed this week was for him to show up. Least of all right now.

"I've been looking for you, Westmyn." he said, arms crossed. "Where the hell have you been?"

I rolled my eyes. Determined not to be in the same boat as Reika and Thatcher were placed into, I gave an indignant response, "Far away from you. Thanks for asking."

"Look." Aporon said, only faintly acknowledging my displeasure. "It's been over a week. Don't you think we should have another training session?"

"Classes have been cancelled, jackass."

"That's only temporary." he replied with a raised finger. I wished at that moment that it wasn't temporary, and Rukh's would be closed long-term. Maybe forever. Then I would be the one laughing on the inside, and I would never have to deal with him again. "Mr. Baiaz said that we're still expected to train for the tournament." Aporon cordially continued. "I only found your partner a couple days ago. The plan I have for today is to train you together."

That's it. I don't know about Phoebe, but I was not in the mood to deal with him. "If last time's borderline hazing was any indication," I called out with a glare and shake of my head, "Then I think there's going to be a change of plans."

Aporon shrugged, neither confirming or denying my accusation. "Just remember, you have to go through with it. Follow the four Ps."

Reika had once again seen enough, and stepped up beside me. "Are you HONESTLY taking it this far?" she defended.

"I wasn't talking to you, fatass," he snapped back. "Stay out of it."

Josef snorted to contain his laughter. "Classic."

Ina had been watching with sparkling retinas the entire time. Unable to resist any more, she squealed and ran before Aporon. "Ooo! Croneboy! It's so great to meet you in person!" Ina gushed while extending her hand, which Aporon accepted without a second thought. "Sorry if this is a bad time!"

"I don't believe we've met," he began with a polite tone, "But it's always nice meet a fan. Is something on your mind?"

She turned over to me with a cocked head. As if she were attempting to use Covet, she asked, "Can't you be a little nicer to Fritz? I mean, he did help you catch that Gyarados!"

"What the HELL?" an awestruck Reika yelled. "Fritz did all the work, and he just stole it!"

Ina just smiled. "Well, it was weakened quite a bit before he came in! Aporon was fighting it before, after all!"

Their argument continued on in much the same fashion as it did before. I couldn't even tell what was being said. Likewise, Josef began to taunt Thatcher once again. I could barely make out a request of Thatcher's for his harasser to go away, aside from a plea that it'd been enough already. Aporon was addressing me as well, words that I chose to blot out of my mind. Still, my own fuse was beginning to reach its limit.

"Look, look, look, look, LOOK!"

Everyone stopped and faced me as I yelled. I took a deep breath to regather my bearings. "I know how we can settle this." Their expressions were unwavering, but retained their initial interest. I smiled. "There's three of us, and three of you. We could have a triple battle."

"Ey?"

"Wh-wha...?"

"What's that?"

"The hell, man?"

"What are you spouting, Westmyn?"

Oh shit, they don't have those here, do they?

"Oh, sorry." I hastily backpedaled. I'm lucky they don't know about those here, either. I stumbled through a hastily concocted alternative, "What I meant was...well. Thatcher and Josef, you two have a battle. Reika and Ina, you two have a battle. And Aporon, you and me will have a battle." I paced back and forth as I explained, motioning to each person as I said their name. "Whichever side gets two out of three wins. Sound good?"

Reika smiled wickedly, rubbing her hands together. "Sure." she said, in a determined delight.

Ina was by contrast chipper. "That's a great idea, Frizzly!" Um, Frizzly? So what, I have a cutesy name now, too? And Frizzly? Am I having a bad hair day or something?

With a mighty stretch, Josef nodded. "Heh. This should be fun." he commented to no one in particular. Stretching his fingers as well to the point of cracking, he gave affirmation. "I could use a warm-up."

Thatcher's eyes went wide. He ran up and whispered, "Wh-what?! Y-y-you want me to battle HIM?"

I couldn't give a confidence boost, because Aporon began to address me. He prattled in a detached and sterile tone, almost as though he was offended by my proposition. "You really want to do this? A battle against me?"

"Yes or no." I replied, fruitlessly attempting to pierce his still gaze.

He was silent, all eyes on him to see what he would do. To see how he would react. Even Josef, the outlier, remained patiently quiet. A deep, reluctant sigh escaped his mouth. It was the kind of sigh that one gives when about to set about a task that they don't particularly want to do, but feel has to be done.

"If that's how you want it, then it'll be my pleasure."

 

[Legacy]

Another awesome chapter. The delicacy and intimacy with which your character interaction is really beautiful, for lack of a better term. For example, when Reika and Fritz are playing paper/rock/scissors. Just little details like that are part of what makes this such a great story.

 

[AiedailEclipsed]

As per the usual, we discussed (technically, still discussing) this on Skype in more detail, but I'll give the general outline.

First off, I have to make the note that the woman who Kripps went for last chapter... she intrigues me. It seems rather apparent that she has some sort of ability, but time will tell as to what that is. Now, for the current chapter. In a quote taken directly from Skype, as I feel it best embodies my feelings on the matter. "YOU BITCH." None of the Pokemon survived in the stable thing? :'( I mean, couldn't they have broken out or someone broken them out? *sniffle* Moving on. People calling Reika fat are starting to grate on my nerves. I know I'm not exactly Reika's biggest fan or cheerleader, but dammit. That just ain't cool. Next up... the Hitler comment. Oh. My. God. I spent like two minutes just laughing and saying this out loud. I mean, how did you come up with this? In yet another Skype reminiscent thought: the character relationships. Damn. I mean, just damn. I get confused half the time with just the ones I know (and I do know a few ahead of time since I'm the sounding board or something [side note: consider charging a premium or hourly fee for services]) which is quite an accomplishment. In that vein, yay for the Atlas! My life got a shred easier. Now, drumroll please... My "Character gets Strangled for Pissing Me Off Award" goes to... Cronus Aporon! HOLY FUCKING JESUS BABY WHAT IS THIS SORCERY!?!??! I know. It's a shock. Its not Reika. I'll just take my leave and let that sink in.

 

[Sweet Veil]

Wish I could review more but I'm currently in class right now, anyway, let's get to work!

Chapter 5

I got into an argument and Pokémon battle with one of the cohorts of my...I suppose you'd call him my rival, and one of the school's most popular and well-respected battlers.

He considers Aporon his rival? Interesting, some subtle development.

Anyway, this was an interesting chapter, it felt smaller than usual for some reason. So real-world North America exist alongside the regions of Pokemon? So I'm guessing since the USA is here Un(nited)ov(of)a(merica) doesn't exist? But that raises the question of more things and adds more to your story. The prejudice against North Americans seems like a trigger button for Reika and a few others in this story. The speech made me think of Team Plasma from the games in a way. It really does seem like a seed was planted in Reika and she's gained a new found hatred of North America and North Americans. I'm loved how NA is portrayed as a place that treats Pokemon like normal animals.(Animals exist in your universe too? Interesting.) The healing machine used in Pokemon Centers is hatred too and isn't 100% effective in treating a Pokemon's wounds, it makes sense and love that break from canon given more severe injuries probably can't be healed in a matter of an hour or so by being popped into the healing machine. It seems Reika and Fritz as well as Thatcher will be heading out late at night. What for? That is the question. What will it lead to?

There wasn't a huge amount to comment on in this chapter, it was fairly dialogue-heavy but I felt like the dialogue is a nice set-up for a surprise later. Good job and interesting chapter.

 

[Flaze]

Well the atlas will help me a lot regarding the name of the teachers xD and I honestly like the way you made it out to be.

Now first before I start up with my review: Josef GOT OWNED!!!!! that was awesome honestly xD

Okay on to the review.

Well plot wise there's not much to review but it's nice to get a break chapter now and again. I found the chapter to be really funny in all honesty but I did get a bit confused with all the back to back that occurred, this is mainly due to the fact that both Josef and Inara were kind of thrown in a bit too suddenly in my opinion; though I guess you can't exactly stop it from being sudden when it's done to surprise the audience as well, however I still think that having each one of the character's annoyances appear just like that was a little much.

This doesn't mean I didn't like the chapter though, and once again I liked Aporon in this chapter simply because he seemed calmer in a way, I actually think he looks at this event as more of a job than a way to torture Fritz, though he's still guilty for letting his goons take advantage of him so much.

Other than that it seems like the next chapter is going to be a battle one so I wish you good luck with that, though I know you can do a great job with it.

Also I'm jealous of you a bit cause of the way your dialogue flows, the POV you use makes it really easy for that to happen as opposed to when it's done in third or first person when it depends on what the character's say or do rather than what they think.

 

[System Error]

Responses:

Spoiler

Legacy

Spoiler

Another awesome chapter. The delicacy and intimacy with which your character interaction is really beautiful, for lack of a better term. For example, when Reika and Fritz are playing paper/rock/scissors. Just little details like that are part of what makes this such a great story.

You really think so? That was actually just a throwaway scene; since Fritz needed to be standing next to Reika in order to hush her during the arguments with Josef and Ina, I had to give them a reason to be standing next to each other. RPS was all that came to mind. I really didn't give it that much thought (the fact that it fits with their boredom was incidental), compared to say, Ina's confusion over who Thatcher is or the insult-duel between Fritz and Josef.

Although, I should say again that I do like writing those asinine little bits. And having a character relationship chart that probably requires three dimensions to convey (including shared opinions, differing opinions, mixes of both, and one-way streets) does help to make the interactions feels distinct.

AiedailEclipsed

Spoiler

First off, I have to make the note that the woman who Kripps went for last chapter... she intrigues me. It seems rather apparent that she has some sort of ability, but time will tell as to what that is.

You'd be...correct!

In a quote taken directly from Skype, as I feel it best embodies my feelings on the matter. "YOU BITCH." None of the Pokemon survived in the stable thing? :'( I mean, couldn't they have broken out or someone broken them out? *sniffle*

To explain what happened, remember how in 1-5 Thatcher mentioned that the Pokemon are kept in titanium cages? Well, titanium is a flammable metal. The cages were designed to keep them in, and unfortunately...that's exactly what happened. Presumably, anything that did make it out would've perished from its injuries.

Next up... the Hitler comment. Oh. My. God. I spent like two minutes just laughing and saying this out loud. I mean, how did you come up with this?

That's actually a reference. Points for anyone who knows!

Now, drumroll please... My "Character gets Strangled for Pissing Me Off Award" goes to... Cronus Aporon! HOLY FUCKING JESUS BABY WHAT IS THIS SORCERY!?!??! I know. It's a shock. Its not Reika. I'll just take my leave and let that sink in.

:O

Gotpika, Chapter 1-5

Spoiler

I got into an argument and Pokémon battle with one of the cohorts of my...I suppose you'd call him my rival, and one of the school's most popular and well-respected battlers.

He considers Aporon his rival? Interesting, some subtle development.

This's actually a very interesting line. Fritz doesn't consider Aporon his rival, at least not at that stage of the game. There's a veiled double purpose in it, but the main purpose is that he's using the term for the sake of convenience. Which is why he words it the way he does.

So real-world North America exist alongside the regions of Pokemon? So I'm guessing since the USA is here Un(nited)ov(of)a(merica) doesn't exist? But that raises the question of more things and adds more to your story.

Well, I wouldn't call it real-world North America precisely, but it's pretty much the case. There's other differences as well, like Russia being East/West Germany'd. And yeah, Unova isn't a thing. This fic's planning was actually started before BW1, so I had to factor that in and figure a clever way around it.

The prejudice against North Americans seems like a trigger button for Reika and a few others in this story. The speech made me think of Team Plasma from the games in a way. It really does seem like a seed was planted in Reika and she's gained a new found hatred of North America and North Americans.

I actually included the line "No. I've always known about them. And I've always felt that way. He just made me more sure of myself." just to make it clear that wasn't the case, although Theodore Louis' speech probably aggrivated her hatred further.

I'm loved how NA is portrayed as a place that treats Pokemon like normal animals.(Animals exist in your universe too? Interesting.)

Yup.

The healing machine used in Pokemon Centers is hatred too and isn't 100% effective in treating a Pokemon's wounds, it makes sense and love that break from canon given more severe injuries probably can't be healed in a matter of an hour or so by being popped into the healing machine.

I actually did a lot of worldcrafting/thinking as to how healing would logicistically work. To sum up the one case, a healing machine on a serious injury is roughly comparable to putting a bandage over a scrape without disinfecting it first.

Stellar Flazel:

Spoiler

Well the atlas will help me a lot regarding the name of the teachers xD and I honestly like the way you made it out to be.

I tried to go for a minimalist and sorted style. Though, I dunno how long I can keep it up.

Well plot wise there's not much to review but it's nice to get a break chapter now and again.

After shit getting real, I felt a slower-paced chapter was necessary, if only for the pacing to be stabilized.

I found the chapter to be really funny in all honesty but I did get a bit confused with all the back to back that occurred, this is mainly due to the fact that both Josef and Inara were kind of thrown in a bit too suddenly in my opinion; though I guess you can't exactly stop it from being sudden when it's done to surprise the audience as well, however I still think that having each one of the character's annoyances appear just like that was a little much.

Maybe. I figured it was a nice way to set up seeing Fritz, Reika, and Thatcher in battle. And Ina was supposed to appear earlier, but she didn't fit into any circumstances. Hence, "I would've come say hi sooner, but you always looked so busy!" One thing I do like about writing them though, is that they're fairly animate when they talk and such.

This doesn't mean I didn't like the chapter though, and once again I liked Aporon in this chapter simply because he seemed calmer in a way, I actually think he looks at this event as more of a job than a way to torture Fritz, though he's still guilty for letting his goons take advantage of him so much.

I really like to see differing opinions like that.

Other than that it seems like the next chapter is going to be a battle one so I wish you good luck with that, though I know you can do a great job with it.

I actually finished this chapter before I even started the previous one, and even some of the ones towards the end of Part 1! I find that battling chapters are generally fun as hell to put together, and this is the first major one.

Also, shoutouts to winning Best Alternative Story. Next chapter!

----------

Chapter 2-2: Enemies​

With the six of us in agreement for the plan, and already standing on opposite sides, the battlefield was effectually laid out before us. Passerbys had been slowing to see what the commotion was about; there was even a crowd of about 10-15 people watching a little ways from the sidewalk. They wouldn't have to wait long for the action.

"Me and Scratcher will fight first." Josef laughed as he retrieved a plain Poké Ball from his belt.

He sent out a dangerous-looking beast. A small fin ran down the length of its back, with citron bulbs bursting from either side. Its hands and feet had razor-sharp nails, curved thorns stuck out from its elbows, and even the tip of its fern-like tail was essentially a spike. While reptilian or even draconic in nature - particularly with the head in regards to the latter - its green skin was not slimy or scaly, but rather akin to foliage. Adding to that image, the aforementioned tail was a deeper emerald, and the colors of autumn came out in a brown stripe along its midsection and its lower jaw being tinted almost an orange.

Thatcher instantly turned to me in a panic. "I don't have anything that can beat THAT!" he rasped.

"Didn't I tell you a week ago?" I encouraged. "You have a Pokémon that might stand a chance."

"Fritz, it's a Sceptile!" he cried. "It's a Grass type! Sandshrew won't do so well!" Well, not necessarily. If it attacks with its blades, the mouse's armored hide should give it protection regardless of type. But if it has special moves, it could be a problem. I don't know.

"Then let's try to figure this out." I began to say, but found myself cut off.

"Hey!" Aporon yelled. "No coaching."

I glared at him, and shook my head. I turned to Thatcher and told him, "Just do what feels right, okay?"

He showed great reluctance for a moment, uncertain of what to do. His hand trembled as it moved to his pocket. He stared at the blue and white ball he retrieved. Holding it to his chest for a moment, he mouthed, "Please," before tossing it at his feet.

While the bird was not even close to the size of the reptilian creature, it was as recalcitrant as it was diffident. Its body was primarily a navy blue, although its face and throat were stamped with a red crest, and the bird's chest was a cream color. The sharpest part of its body was not its feet or its beak (which was actually somewhat dull and flat), but the dual set of rectrices that comprised its tail.

Josef wasn't too impressed. "Just a Taillow? Come on Scratcher, you can do better than that." He breathed a sigh of reluctance, almost as if he was a little disappointed. "May as well get this over with. Sceptile, Night Slash."

The nails of Josef's Pokémon summarily glowed with a sinister dark aura. It crouched down a little and...what? This thing is fast, there was barely enough time to think before it ran off and took a precise swipe at the little bird. The order was carried out in less than a second. Taillow managed to stay in-flight, but it had clearly taken a lot of damage from that one attack.

"Nice one. Now hit it with Leaf Blade!" Sceptile draped its arm back, to the point of where its claw was level with the opposite arm's shoulders. The thorn on the pointed elbow shined briefly, before it dashed off.

"Taillow, Quick Attack to escape!" Thatcher yelled, almost on impulse. Taillow spotted the approaching lizard out of the corner of its eye, but instantly rushed away, leaving Sceptile to just jab dirt.

Josef actually smiled a little at this. "Two can play at that game. You use Quick Attack too!" His Pokémon quickly pulled its blade from the ground and sped off in pursuit, far faster than Tallow. Thatcher hollered another impulsive command.

"Double Team and Peck!"

I must admit, Thatcher's went and impressed me again. Maybe it's inherent in the species, but Double Team isn't a move just anything can learn. Only certain psychics, illusion users, or very quick Pokémon with good lateral movement and/or turning skills can pull it off with any consistency and effectiveness. Lines aren't too bad, but encircling is pretty strict in agility's case. Yet Taillow pulled it off. Albeit without facing the target.

The circle began to tighten around Sceptile, and without warning, Taillow darted out and jammed its beak into the chest. Sceptile staggered back a step...but sadly, the bird was quickly swatted aside after this. Still, Josef was beginning to lose a bit of his bravado. Only a bit.

"Keep it together." advised Aporon. Josef glared unamusedly at him, but not as intensely as I.

"Hey, screw you!" I called out. "You said no coaching!"

He ignored me and whispered words barely audible from where I was standing, "Stay focused, and watch out if it knows Endeavor."

"Way to state the obvious, schoolboy." Josef mouthed, not particularly caring for the advice being given. "Sceptile, let's show'em how we do it."

The lizard leapt into action, agilely frontflipping over Taillow, handspringing, and grappling onto one of the trees in the area. It started performing all sorts of off-the-wall acrobatic maneuvers, swinging from branch to branch with no discernible pattern. It was more confounding than any Double Team could hope to be.

"What do I do?" asked Thatcher, again turning to me for answers. His Pokémon was fluttering about trying to find an opening of some sort, but Sceptile was just too quick.

I thought for a second. "Does your Taillow know any Wind moves?" I asked. That might be the equalizer. A nice, strong breeze might cause that thing to crash and burn.

But he shook his head. "No, it doesn't." Right after saying those words, it happened.

Sceptile dashed out at lightning speed, attempting to pounce on Taillow. Taillow's reaction was swift and it was able to evade, but right after its foe landed, it chased it down with a Quick Attack. The small bird was slammed into the ground. Before anyone could react, Sceptile was right back on it. It poised its elbow, and hacked Thatcher's Pokémon right across the chest with the blade.

"Taillow, no!" Thatcher cried.

Josef tiredly gave his final command, "Sceptile, Thunderpunch!"

Huh, a Grass with Thunderpunch? That's different. After the motion of the Leaf Blade, Sceptile's arm was wound all the way back. A crackle of electricity flew out from its clenched fist, sparking spectacularly as it drove it straight down into its adversary. Taillow was out like a light as soon the moment the attack hit.

Thatcher burst into tears, running to his fallen Pokémon's side. He cradled the small bird in his arms, apologizing to it for putting it in that predicament.

Josef had a satisfied expression on his face as he nodded to his Sceptile, before returning it to its ball. He took a preliminary step away, but thought better of it and turned back. "Eh, I'll stick around to see how Freak-Eye does." he laughed.

Reika growled and flipped off Josef before stepping up. "Come on, Inara!" she taunted as she sent out her Wigglytuff. Indeed, it showed some recognition towards the bubbly girl. It seemed ready to go, though.

The presence of this Pokémon was not lost on the ditzy one. "Hi, Wigglee!" she greeted, taking it slightly off-guard. The girl giggled as she retrieved a Pokémon from her holster, and let out a cuter giggle as she tossed it high into the air and onto the field.

'Strange' would be a good way to describe this one. Its body is covered in fine fur dyed a cold blue. A few thin patches are lighter colored; perhaps partially exposing ghostly skin beneath? Its four hooves and two rumps stand in contrast to one another - the former are blocks of smooth, dirty ice, the latter are chunks of crushed, clean ice. It's almost as though it wears a combat helmet, with two straps as sharp as icicles dangling on either side. Bulky ears, a ribbony tail, and an unwavering expression were the cherries on top of this frozen delight.

"What?" Reika's face went blank. She blinked. "H-hold on, when did you come to this school exactly?"

"This is my first year here," a joyous Ina declared, "Just like you!"

"Right," she said with feint sarcasm. She made a motion for Thatcher and I to huddle. "Could you excuse us?"

"Sure thing, Reiky!"

The three of us stood in a rough circle. Thatcher's eyes were halfway between the ground and us, clearly still disappointed about his loss. Reika threw up her arms and opened her mouth to speak, but no words emerged for about five seconds.

"What the hell?" she whispered in a stupor. "How does she have a Glaceon?"

"Did she evolve her Eevee already?"

"How?!"

So this is an evolution of Eevee? I must say...I don't like it. And yet I feel like it's not the worst out there, at least. "I guess so." I replied, not quite following their confused logic. It doesn't matter how it evolved anyway, because she did evolve it, and it doesn't change the one constant. "Remember," I told her, "It's still a low-level Pokémon. If she evolved it already, it won't know too many moves."

Reika seemed to want to protest this for a moment, but relented at my point. Unhuddling, she stepped back up to stare down Ina. She scoffed, "So why aren't you using your Gloom? It'd be better than that thing!"

"Hee hee," Ina chucked as if she knew something we did not, confirmed when she bragged, "Well, he's a Bellossom now!"

Reika crossed her arms and rolled her eyes at this. "Figures that you'd evolve it to that instead. I thought you said you wanted a Vileplume?"

These two must really have had a history together. Towards this comment, Ina showed a mixture of delight and thought. "Well, anyway," she meekly stated, cocking her head, "I didn't want it to fight its old friend. That would just be silly! Since you're using Wigglee, I'm using Snowy!"

"Nicknames are stupid and so are you!" Reika screamed. "Wigglytuff, Body Slam!"

Per its trainer's command, the fluffy Pokémon took a couple steps back before bounding forth. There's no doubt in my mind that they'll do better here, especially against a lone Pokémon on the ground.

Without missing a beat, Ina said, "Icy Wind!"

The Glaceon opened its mouth, breathing out a wide blast of frigid air. It was cold enough to freeze the water particles in the air, visibly appearing as a mixture of snow and steam. As soon as Wigglytuff ran into the mini storm, she stopped in place and shivered in discomfort. Icy Wind isn't the most damaging move, but it really saps a foe's stamina. Not to mention, it can open it up to another attack.

Ina wasted no time in issuing that follow-up, "Tackle, Snowy!"

"Pound!" Reika quickly retorted. Wigglytuff managed to shake off the shock of the attack, but was unable to deck her opponent as it slammed its entire body into her. Wigglytuff went stumbling back a few meters, comically fell over while attempting to stay upright, and a cheering Ina seemed pressed to finish this off.

"Goody goody gumdrops, Snowy! Now show them your Shadow Ball!"

Shadow Ball?! Snowy raised the two straps on its helmet-like head and shut its eyes. It struggled briefly as the opaque globe formed between them. It was slow to come out, but Wigglytuff was slow to get up as well. It was small, but the Glaceon flicked the attack away by throwing both of the straps to its side. When the ball simply whiffed against their opponent's plushy form, the eyes of the Pokémon and its trainer went wide.

"Ina, are you RETARDED?" Reika asked as Wigglytuff clamored to her feet and caught a stupefied Glaceon with her fist, "Don't you know Ghost-type moves have no effect on Normal-type Pokémon?"

Josef interjected himself. "Not exactly, Freak-Eye," he pointed out, "If a Pokémon uses a Shadow Punch or Astonish, it's still gonna hit." Technically true, although irrelevant to the current battle. Certain Ghost moves, especially those physical in nature, can impact a Normal. It also works the other way around; some people don't expect say, Tri Attack or Focus Blast to affect their ghost, and get taken back when it does. Josef flashed a shit-eating grin in Aporon's general direction.

"Whatever," Reika said, waving her hand at him, "Doubleslap!"

Her Pokémon walked up and repeatedly swatted at their foe's face, finishing with a stylish backhand seeing Wigglytuff turning 360 degrees and walking away, and Glaceon being sent about a meter back onto its side.

"Body Slam!"

Again, Wigglytuff ran in to smother the form of Snowy beneath her plushy form. Again, Ina was able to stop it with two words: "Icy Wind!" Snowy raised its head and performed the move. The blast was a little more focused, putting the pink Pokémon down on its hands and feet. It instinctively went into a Defense Curl, which seemed to work.

It didn't stop Reika from snapping, "Let's see how you like it! Mimic!" Wigglytuff stood to her feet, and her eyes briefly shined to acknowledge the technique's working. Reika smiled to herself, "Now let's give them a taste of their own medicine, Wigglytuff!"

This blast came out from Wigglytuff's hands and belly, as opposed to the mouth. The effects weren't nearly as pronounced due to Glaceon being adapted to such temperatures; in fact, the Pokémon was able to take some slow steps to the side and quickly hop back out of range. Reika appeared ready to command another Body Slam, but Ina had something else in mind.

"Ice Beam!" Wait, WHAT? Reika and I realized at the same moment that Ina must have been using technical machines on her Pokémon. That would explain why the Shadow Ball was as dinky as it was, and it would explain why the blue laser with a white core was only about four centimeters in diameter. Regardless, it was enough for the Glaceon to sweep the attack over its opponent's upper body.

"Damn it," Reika cursed, "If we don't beat it fast...Mega Kick!" But her Pokémon didn't respond. It wasn't an actual freeze, but the repeated Ice attacks had numbed Wigglytuff enough to make movement difficult. Ina leaped into the air with a cheer, we only noticing she'd commanded a Tackle at the same time when Snowy ran forth and slammed into Wigglytuff. It wasn't as forceful as the last one - no doubt due to that Ice Beam having taken a lot of effort to execute - but due to its foe's stunned state, it toppled all the way over.

With her Pokémon standing over a struggling Wigglytuff, Ina said, "Iron Tail!"

Another move that took effort to use. The main advantage of using TMs is that learning the move is instantaneous. The main disadvantage of using TMs is that it takes longer to effectively use the move. Still, Ina must have gotten some practice in, as Snowy's tail suddenly appeared a lot more rigid. With few theatrics, it merely stood above Wigglytuff, simultaneously sitting and flinging down its tail. This was enough. Wigglytuff fell face-down and stopped moving.

"FUCK!" screamed Reika with a stomp of her foot. She darted out her arm, clasping the ball tightly, and brought her fainted Pokémon back. She held it close to her chest for a moment with a half-groan, half-grumble, before placing it where it was.

"Sorry," sincerely apologized Ina, a little uneasy with the situation, "If I hurt Wigglytuff, I didn't mean to."

"Shut UP!" She was on the verge of a temper tantrum. "Just go away, already! Stop rubbing it in!"

"I wasn't-"

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!"

Reika just didn't want to hear what Ina had to say. Yeah. They really must've REALLY had quite the history together. Reika crossed her arms and turned away. Frowning, Ina lowered her head and sighed solemnly as she thanked and recalled her Glaceon.

"Well, that's two out of three." I quickly said. "I guess that means you guys win."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." God damn it. Aporon made his intents firm and clear. "You wanted this, so you're not getting out of our match, Westmyn."

I sighed. I really was hoping Reika and Thatcher would be good enough to take care of this matchup. I was expecting at least one of them to do well. I really didn't want to fight this guy right now. The only good part about this is that since they both lost, there's not as much pressure. "All right." I relented, expressing my minor frustration. "Double blind choice."

"Agreed." he nodded.

I only offered that since I know he's an experienced trainer. If he picked first, he might try to goad me into using a particular Pokémon. Whereas if I go first, he'd obviously be able to counter anyway. But I need to think about my choice, here. He's already seen Mareep, Nidorina, and maybe Tangela in action. He'll know what to expect from them. So I don't want to use those. Mareep and Eevee are out of the question. Tangela is my best Pokémon on-hand...but I can't be sure if Aporon knows what it's capable of. I mean, it's not that big a deal, but still...going in double blind, it would be what he would be expecting most of all. And that just leaves one option of what I currently have on me.

The Pokémon I caught in the lake.

I'm not too keen on using a Pokémon that's freshly caught, let alone something I know little to nothing about and out of its natural environment...but it looks like I have no other options at this point. The contents of this green ball with red patches may be my best shot.

We threw out our Pokémon in sync with one another, although my higher angle made Aporon's land first. A quadruped emerged, around three feet high and five feet across. It sports puffy cream-colored cheeks, a narrow black nose, feline-like ears, and three or four dark, thick whiskers on either side of its face. Its underbelly down to the tips of the toes (that it was standing on) are an off-white color. The rest of its body is textured in a dull color that's hard to describe. It's somewhere between plum and umber. I thought it was eyeless for a moment, before it flipped its head, revealing that what I thought was a wild, jagged styling of fur was in truth a wild, jagged tail.

Finally, I got to lay eyes upon the latest addition to my team. The first thing I noticed was its tail. Though three small spikes are on each cardinal side, the main attraction was the lustrous, protuberant lens in the center. Its backside is lined with numerous small bright-brown fins, with three larger ones in an inverted Y formation around its head. Its skin appears smooth, not slimy or scaly, and is royal blue with bright spots. And of course, there's its face. It may not be a Gyarados, but the teeth lining its mouth appear adequate and more numerous. It peered around excitedly, scanning everything around it with its ringed eyes.

Thatcher reacted with surprise. "Is that a Huntail?"

"Interesting choice." Aporon quipped, without a shred of impression. "Let's begin. Skuntank, LONG-RANGE NIGHT SLASH!"

The skunk began to wave its tail about, making sure to keep it in an arc shape as it did so. Aporon gave a glare to not only me, but also to Josef. I knew what was coming in a second, and gave the preemptive command.

"Huntail, slither away!"

Right as I said this, a dark wave of energy materialized in the air in front of Skuntank's tail. Far different from how Sceptile used the move. As quickly as it appeared, it fired off towards where Huntail was a second prior, slicing an indentation into the dirt. Huntail didn't even wait for my next command. I like it. From its maw emerged a burst of water. Skuntank wasn't expecting this, as demonstrated by how it nearly toppled over onto its side. It quickly regained its balance and leaped for Huntail, again poised for a Night Slash, this one a short-range. Huntail once again attempted to sneak away, only to get caught on the back end.

"Good, Skuntank." Aporon nodded. "Now follow up with Fury Swipes!"

The skunk pulled out some pretty nasty looking claws and bore down on its opponent. Its speed was incredible. Not just how fast it got into position, but how it was able to hack away without risk of tumbling over. Each time one claw took a swipe, the other was giving the Pokémon ground support.

It was around that time that Huntail pulled an unexpected shot. Skuntank was getting ready for one last, powerful Fury Swipe, when the eel violently swung its head. The skunk was absolutely floored by this brutal move, sent to its back with legs splayed out. Huntail laughed, delighted in its efforts.

Aporon clenched his fists determinedly. "Get up Skuntank, and use Poison Jab!"

Huntail was readying itself for another swing. The odds were good at it comfortably beating its foe out, but I had something else in mind. Something that might really shift this one into my favor.

"Fall flat!" I said, motioning downward. It instantly obeyed, lying as horizontally as it possibly could. The only thing stopping it from being completely level with the ground was its bulkish head.

Aporon seemed confounded by my choice of action. It was only when his Pokémon had reached its feet, and darted out its sickly-looking tail that the horror presented itself to him: Skuntank couldn't physically hit Huntail! "WHAT?!" he cursed, and from that, I say I'd taken a lot of his options from him. That was the good news. The bad news was, he still didn't seem too concerned, "Damn it. Skuntank, fall back! We're going to have to go on the defensive!"

The odd-colored mammal retreated backwards at a high velocity, evading a blast in the process. Huntail tried to follow, and though it was quick in its own right, Skuntank was much quicker. It was even agile enough to easily dodge sprays of water that were spat at it while it was running off. It was trying to keep at least 15 feet away from the eel at all times. Huntail stopped to try to line up its shot.

At that moment, Aporon pumped his fist. "Skuntank, Sludge Bomb!" A ball of goo as vile to look at as it was vile to smell began to form on the tip of its tail. When it was just larger than your average baseball, the skunk whipped its tail to fling the sphere away from itself.

And, it missed.

It missed by several meters, actually. Aporon was more than shocked at that development. Even like this, his Pokémon was still having difficulty hitting my low-lying Huntail. With a little less confidence he said, "Try it again. Sludge Bomb!" This time, his Pokémon had to dodge a blast of water. It did so easily enough before carrying out the attack.

But again, it was a miss.

Skuntank was beginning to get frustrated now. It haphazardly hurled a third without waiting for a command, which impacted violently, but WAY off course. Huntail began to laugh at it, raising itself high up and not even pretending to care. The fourth Sludge Bomb barely nicked the cocky Pokémon. Just enough to give Aporon his focus back.

"Okay Skuntank," he determinately said, "ACID SPRAY!"

Acid? I wonder. "Huntail, Water Gun!"

The skunk ran in a little closer and horked up a wave of putrid bile as Huntail spat out a stream of dihydrogen monoxide. Everyone watching went slackjawed as the two liquids made contact. Even Aporon was trying to figure out what in the hell just happened. To me, it was simple. When you add water to acid, the latter splashes back. And in this case, it would splash right back at the source! Or in this case, Skuntank! Science rules!

The effects of this ludicrous stunt were immediate - Skuntank, upon being soaked in the liquid intended for Huntail, began screeching in agony, rolling, scratching, trying ANYTHING to try to reduce the pain. None of it seemed to be working, and in the confusion we had a massive opening to exploit...through Clamp! I gave the order, but I'm not even sure if the others heard what I had said until Huntail sleeked in and chomped down, digging right into Skuntank's wounds.

"Whoa." Reika said. This is the first time I've managed to amaze her. I smiled a little on the inside.

"That was amazing!" Yet Thatcher was in complete awe. More than I'd ever seen him in. Even Ina and Josef seemed impressed, the latter being far more reluctant to show it than the former.

"Skuntank..." Aporon growled, his voice trailing off as he tried to figure out what he could do...if anything! But there's not much he can do! His Pokémon is pained, and has a deep sea serpent biting viciously into its flesh. He talked to himself as his Pokémon flailed, desperately trying to shake off its foe, before saying the coherent words, "Skuntank, Focus Energy!"

I wondered what he was up to in trying that. A Pokémon who uses Focus Energy tenses up, so that it can...wait, he's not going to try to get it off with that, is he? That could be trouble.

Luck was on my side, though. Even with the increased vigor, it still was unable to shake Huntail. The blue Pokémon kept its grip as Skuntank thrashed harder and harder. It rolled around on the ground, and it still held on. So Skuntank stopped. It irritably glared up at my Pokémon, shifting all its weight to the side. All at once, it shifted the other way, and then back, aiming to throw off its adversary in one powerful motion. This almost did it. Huntail squinted as it barely managed to keep its grip, being rewarded for its efforts by proceeding to whip into its smelly opponent. The skunk yelped as it was lashed across the side.

I know that it can't keep this up forever - sooner or later, Aporon or Skuntank is going to figure a counter to this. But I know something else too - a crazy idea just came to me.

"Water Gun! As hard as you can!"

Huntail struggled to carry out this command, but once it did, the results were even more spectacular than its previous use, if that can be believed. When the water managed to make its way out of Huntail's throat, two things happened. From being blasted at such a close range, Skuntank ended up completely drenched, looking akin to a drowned rat. It didn't take too well to this, and immediately began shaking wildly again, this time to dry itself. Better, but less observed is what happened to Huntail. The force of its own attack sent it spiralling off Skuntank, through the air and into the thicket.

Nobody could believe what was happening. I could hardly believe it. I can name only one, maybe two other instances where I was able to get a handle on a freshly caught Pokémon so soon after capture. And I was just taking it to this so-called expert trainer!

I saw where my Pokémon had landed. No one else did. Both Pokémon and trainer were looking out furiously for Huntail. On a whim, Aporon turned and pointed. "There!" he said, causing Skuntank to use another long-range Night Slash. It sliced apart the rustling grass...but it was only the wind.

I'd been keeping track of Huntail's position. It wanted to do something, but I raised my palm. "Wait for the signal." I whispered to it.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" inquired Aporon, clearly starting to become impatient. "Skuntank, flush it out with a Smog attack!" For a second, it looked like his Pokémon was going to take a leak right there, but instead, it let out a plume of foul gas. It fanned with its tail to spread the green and brown cloud over much of the tall grass, but nothing within started choking.

Aporon seemed to be thinking about this. He couldn't tell if Huntail had resisted the move or if it was somewhere else. I knew it was the latter myself, but he had that uncertainty. His Pokémon cautiously approached. Both seemed uncertain of how to handle it, until Aporon solemnly nodded.

"It'd be irresponsible to use Flamethrower," he quietly commented, in a way that said that even if he did, he would put it out afterwards. It's what I would've threatened, for the record. But he had a different plan in mind, "So let's hack that thicket to pieces with a Night Slash!"

I gave the signal at that moment, not giving him that chance. Huntail sprang out of the bush next to Skuntank. It slammed its head viciously into its adversary's side. This sent it reeling, and a swinging Headbutt sent it rolling several feet away. Huntail focused for a brief second, before spitting out a throbbing ring of fluid. Aporon's Pokémon saw this Water Pulse as it stood up, but it couldn't do a thing about it. The attack sent it back onto its side, again covered in water.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Aporon shouted, now permeating a disposition that caused Ina and Josef to take a step away from him. "I have had enough of your little charade! Do you honestly think you're doing anything? Do you seriously think you can beat me?!"

"I think I'm-" I began, bold to his unexpected change in disposition, but was cut off.

"No! You don't think!" This was a different side of him. It wasn't like the anger he had when I first met him. This was a deathly serious wrath. "I told you before, you are nothing compared to me. You are still way out of my league, Westmyn! It's time to end your delusions. This battle ends now!"

"Fine, we'll end it!" I fired back. "Huntail, WATER PULSE!"

"I don't think so. Skuntank, POX STRIKE!!!"

Oh shit.

"Huntail, get out of there!"

Skuntank's tail began to emanate a sickly aura. It wasn't quite like Smog, and it wasn't like when it used Poison Jab either...this was something else entirely. With this, it raced forward at a speed never seen once in the battle before. Huntail was moving to escape...but it was just moving too slowly. Skuntank thrust its tail forth like a dagger. A solid and clean hit just under the tail, and another on side of the head,. Huntail was sent spinning into the air, and unlike the last time, it was screeching in pain and on a much more dangerous course.

"It's over. VENOSHOCK!"

In a split second, little violet bolts of lightning materialized around the airborne Huntail. In a split second, they collapsed inwards. After that, Huntail crashed into a tree and flopped down.

What the hell?

I did everything right! How the hell did he do that? And I know Water isn't the most directly harmful attacking type, but how the hell is that skunk standing as if it were nothing? How? How? HOW? Did I do worse than I thought? What the HELL?

"Thank you, Skuntank. You did good." Aporon turned. "You made me do that, Westmyn. You forced my hand. That takes effort, I'll admit that much, but it got you nowhere in the end. Now, I think you'll agree with me when I said that's enough of a lesson for today. What I want you to do now is that you think about this defeat. Think about what happened in that battle and work to improve on your problems. Because if you don't, you'll stay where you stand forever. I expect better things from you by the end of the week or when school reopens, whichever comes first. But until then."

 

[Flaze]

Well I wasn't expecting the group to have a total beat down, honestly my prediction was that at least Reika would win but you surprised me. While Josef and Tatcher's battle went as expected I really liked what you did with Ina; you wouldn't expect her to be a competent enough battler, funny thing is that she isn't but rather she just uses a lot of TMs but that still gives her a boost. I'm kind of interested in knowing about her past with Reika now especially after the tantrum that the latter threw.

The battle between Fritz and Aporon was good but it got a little bit stale around the middle, that doesn't mean it got bad but rather the level of action kind of dropped around that part. It got better at the end though and I had honestly thought that Fritz would actually win but he ended up getting curb stomped by Aporon in the end.

You used a few words that I had to look up xD so that's good cause you're variating

 

[AiedailEclipsed]

I'm not gonna beat around the bush too much with this one. Battle scenes aren't really something I'm gonna comment on. But, I will say that they were nicely done.

Anywho. First, I'll mention that you need to update the Atlas with new information!!! I will also note that the battle scenes had wonderful imagery and description. Left nothing to the imagination -- in a good way. You could really visualize what you were going for. Also, Josef is a little his and Thatcher is getting an Aie-hug. Hm. Ina. Still not pissing me off. But her Glaceon was certainly interesting... Disgrace to the name Glaceon really. Perhaps... Nah. (*wink wink*) AND THE BIG REVEAL! HUNTAIL!!! My life has meaning now. I'm not floundering about trying to figure out what that thing was anymore! YAY! In any case, I wasn't expecting it. XD Last real comment: my thoughts at the very end, "Pox Strike? Da shit is this??" Oh, and someone was getting a little cranky there at the end. Finally, the "They managed to piss Aie off Award" goes to... Eh. We'll just let Cronus stay incumbent for the moment.

 

[System Error]

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Stellar Flaze:

Spoiler

Well I wasn't expecting the group to have a total beat down, honestly my prediction was that at least Reika would win but you surprised me. While Josef and Tatcher's battle went as expected I really liked what you did with Ina; you wouldn't expect her to be a competent enough battler, funny thing is that she isn't but rather she just uses a lot of TMs but that still gives her a boost. I'm kind of interested in knowing about her past with Reika now especially after the tantrum that the latter threw.

Essentially, what I was trying to convey in that chapter (besides all the differences in mechanics) is the factors and shades of gray that go into battling. You're pretty much right bang on about Reika vs. Ina.

The battle between Fritz and Aporon was good but it got a little bit stale around the middle, that doesn't mean it got bad but rather the level of action kind of dropped around that part. It got better at the end though and I had honestly thought that Fritz would actually win but he ended up getting curb stomped by Aporon in the end.

Writing a battle isn't all about action IMO, whether direct or indirect. Fritz vs. Aporon was intended to be that sort of psychological affair that you rarely see for whatever reason. It's one of the primary reasons I went with the narration style that I did - to allow to write that kind of battle. There's so many factors that I put into that battle. The fact that you thought Fritz was going to win pretty much means it turned out how I wanted to, though.

AiedailEclipsed

Spoiler

Hm. Ina. Still not pissing me off. But her Glaceon was certainly interesting... Disgrace to the name Glaceon really. Perhaps... Nah. (*wink wink*)

It's pretty much the first major liberty I took with a design. Ina's Glaceon, at least, sort of seems the opposite of graceful. Most of it is just texturization, other times it's basically using words to make it feel more like an embodiment of ice than some off-blue thing with a weird helmet.

AND THE BIG REVEAL! HUNTAIL!!! My life has meaning now. I'm not floundering about trying to figure out what that thing was anymore! YAY! In any case, I wasn't expecting it. XD

To be honest, I'm a little surprised no one put it together prior. As far as long, blue water-capable Pokemon are concerned, there's Dratini, Dragonair, Gyarados, Huntail, and Eelektrik. Only the latter three have fangs. Gyarados is too small, and Eelektrik is generally native to North America. Then again, Huntail is a pretty obscure Pokemon, let alone one to put in a fanfic.

Last real comment: my thoughts at the very end, "Pox Strike? Da shit is this??" Oh, and someone was getting a little cranky there at the end.

The latter is explained later. The former gets explained...in this chapter right now!

BONUS SCENE:

Spoiler

Bonus 2-3 - Controversial Decisionmaking​

The grounds of Rukh's University. A place that would ordinarily be bustling with life and activity around this time, but had been surrounded by a cloud of death and despair. Almost one week prior, an unknown individual had set fire to the stables used for Rangerism and Breeding. A building that had been located in a more remote section of the grounds, due to their use of Pokemon which could be disturbed by the noise on the ground. Pokemon that had been lost in the same fire.

Since the incident, very few people had been allowed onto the grounds. Access was limited to police, administration, select members of staff, and a few others. One of each of those groups stood just inside the property, close to the gate.

"I've been out of the loop for too long. No thanks to this liability." A man in a business suit leered and pointed at a young woman, clad in violet robes. She flinched at this motion. Dean Howard Finkerton, usually a stoic if mercilessly stern man, had been enraged by this incident. Someone had snuck onto his property and senselessly destroyed a part of it. Damages were estimated to be close to 30,000,000 yen. Clenching the finger into a fist, he crossed his arms and stared down the present target of his wrath, in lieu of having the one responsible before him. "I want an update," he demanded, slamming the fist into an open palm. "Have you caught the guy who did this, yet? Is he still in the area?"

The young woman shook her head. "I'm sorry."

"Some help you are," he replied, with enough venom to kill a rat. He turned to the chief-of-police. With more respect, the Dean inquired, "What about you? Have you had any luck?"

Burt Garfunkel, a chunky man clad in a navy blue uniform lined with stars down the side, gave a nod of confirmation. "I received the full report a couple hours ago." He reached down for his briefcase, entering in the combination and opening it up. He retrieved and looked over a clipboard within - refreshing his memory on the matter. He lowered it once done to address the others. "Origin and cause investigation matches the account the witness gave. The remains of a small object were discovered next to the stables. The internal fire appears to have been sparked in numerous places at once. Pieces of shrapnel from the boiler were discovered embedded in the trees." He sighed as he replaced the clipboard in the briefcase, closing the latter up. "To be honest with you all, the Fire Department says it's a miracle the flames didn't spread to the forest."

The girl in violet robes looked out at the forest, appraising them. It must have been the work of...

"Tell me something I don't know," Finkerton interrupted her thoughts.

Garfunkel continued, "No active criminals in the national database are known to use both a Numel and a Kadabra. The alibis of all other suspects check out." He looked out, in the general direction of the gates, despite being unable to see out them well from their position."To think, such a strange event could happen in our small town."

"I wish we could have done more..." The young woman sighed, shaking her head. This caused Burt Garfunkle to walk over to her and place an arm on her shoulder.

"Don't worry. We'll find who did this."

"I hope so. I plan to sue his ass for everything's he got." Dean Finkerton's words got a chuckle out of the chief-of-police and his employee. He placed a hand on his hip. "So is that all there is to report? I want to make preparations for the school's reopening soon."

"Not quite, sir," interjected the member of staff. A man in his late 40s, dressed in practical clothing. "There is a major issue at hand."

"Yes?" He tilted his head. "What is it, Zygon?"

"It's about my class. We've lost most of our specimens in the inferno, and have yet to be able to replace them. Perhaps you should consider holding off, so we can-"

"I don't care!" the Dean snapped. "We have kept the school closed for longer than practical. Students in town are beginning to become restless, and I've received around a dozen phone calls. Every day this place is not open, I'm losing money."

Mr. Zygon winced at the harsh response, but gathered his wits to boldly press on. "With all due respect sir, Wendell's class as well as my own class are out of commission. Perhaps you should-"

"For the last time, there is nothing any of us can do about Breeding class, Zygon! As for Rangerism, I have already allotted space in the fields for it to be held. Worus has already prepared an alternative, and I suggest you do the same. Spend less time worrying about my business, and more time worrying about your responsibilities." The Dean lowered his gaze, narrowing his eyes. "Otherwise, I'll have to let you go."

Mr. Zygon groaned. He looked to the other two for support. First, the robed girl, who said and did nothing. Then, to the chief, who simply shrugged. He groaned again.

"Well now, since our investigation here has concluded, you're free to run the place as you choose," confirmed Garfunkel, scratching his stubble. The way he saw it, so long as he is not doing anything illegal, Finkerton's business is his own. "Although, I am curious what you plan on doing. If you don't mind, that is."

Without missing a beat, he explained, "The immediate plan is to cancel all school-wide assemblies until further notice. Fortunately, those are few in number. I've been thinking on what to do with the old store. If there is enough area, I may demolish it and place the new auditorium there. If not, we'll use it as a temporary auditorium for the remainder of the year, and demolish the present one."

Garfunkel and even Mr. Zygon were impressed at this. The latter had to admit, though his boss could be unscrupulous, he gets the job done and keeps everything together. The fourth person, however, dissented with this opinion.

"Dean Finkerton," she respectfully spoke, causing all eyes to turn to her. "There is already a lot of construction at the University. I understand you have goals of expansion, but-"

"You're still not helping, you know," he quipped. "We've talked about your concerns numerous times before, and especially in the state we are in now, they are the least of my worries."

"Dean Finkerton..." The girl walked in closer to hold a private conversation. "Please reconsider-"

"Look," he said, stopping her words cold once more. "Now's not the time to talk about this matter." She lowered her head in shame. As much as she disliked admitting it, this was a valid point. He patted her on the shoulder. "Make yourself useful and go to the hotel where the staff is staying. Relay the message that school will be reopening on Tuesday, May 8th. Do that, and I'll hear you on that same day."

She stepped back to give a small bow. "Understood. I will go tell the faculty of your decision."

----------

Chapter 2-3: In Seek of Sanctum​

Despite it livening our day, and in fact, managing to get us into continuous motion, the mood of the three of us had fallen to its lowest point this week. None of us were expecting to be beaten as badly as we were. I mean, Reika's Wigglytuff - which she's had for a while - being beat by a Pokémon someone's owned for only two weeks? Thatcher may have been iffy to begin with, but Aporon...

...if it wasn't clear. Pox Strike is not a "common" move, and by that, I mean not in the vein of Zap Cannon, Octazooka, or Sacred Fire. There's many moves that are usually practiced and used by Pokémon naturally, there's generic attacks and actions like clawing or kicking, but a few true moves out there that were innovated by humanity. Some fall into frequent usage, others become effective signatures. It's pretty messed up. Most of those who manage to pull it off are creative and open-minded; the last thing I was expecting was for someone institutionalized to do so. I don't know how he did it...or whether it's the type of innovation where one combines two or more moves into something else or another thing altogether. What I can tell you is the effects: it left a nasty mark on the target, and injected venom into the wound. Speaking of which.

"And the poison is out." I declared. It'd taken me a while to do it, but my Huntail was looking better. It was thankfully nothing too serious. The eel still has a few battle scars, as well as some bandaging, but it had regained its hearty demeanor. I know full well its body would've purged it eventually, but that's not the point.

My announcement was the first even remotely upbeat action the three of us had made since the battles. It instantly garnered the attention of my friends. Reika and Thatcher had been holding sparse, listless conversation for the last 10-15 minutes, although I hadn't really been following any of it. Thatcher was bewildered, Reika was not impressed. Even on one leg, her posture was jaded. She made her feelings on the matter clear, "Why didn't you just go to the Pokémon Center?"

I defended my actions. "It's like twelve blocks from the park!" I pointed this out, gesturing to roughly where I believed it to be. "Hell if I'm walking all the way over there."

Reika just snorted. "It would've been quicker and easier than taking an hour trying to heal the poison yourself!"

"I did it, didn't I?" Really half-assed, shown especially in how it took me a few tries to get at the poison, and how Tangela acting like a makeshift pressure bandage probably helped more, but I did it. "Besides, I wouldn't have had to do either if you'd just let me take Ina's Antidote."

"We don't need her charity!"

"Well," Thatcher stuttered, in attempt to mediate, "You could've...gotten your own Antidote." Well, I wasn't expecting not being around the school for an extended period of time, so I didn't bother to bring any traditional trainer supplies with me. Between an available place for treatment on-campus, my own first-aid kit, and time/rest healing most wounds to an acceptable level, I didn't see the point. And despite a shop likely being closer than the Pokémon Center, there was still a problem.

"I would've," I replied in mock tone, "But Reika has a broken leg." She'd used the same excuse a couple of times in the past few days as to why we shouldn't go to any places further than a few blocks. In fact, the furthest we travelled - disregarding food - was to a little place across the street, and only because it was raining too hard. Truth be told, it was beginning to get on my nerves.

"Don't blame me for this!" was her vicious reply. "It's not my fault! I didn't ask for this!"

"You're the one who vetoed going anywhere."

"Because you weren't considering me at all!"

I paused, not wanting to turn this into another large argument between the two of us. Reika is being the selfish one here, but pointing that out won't help matters. "Look, it's okay. I don't mind limiting what I can do." I apologized. She simply miserably turned to the side. "I mean, it's not like there's anything better to do." Which is also the reason why I decided to attempt some highly underqualified medical practices.

"I disagree."

Reika and I turned to look at Thatcher, whose eyes were gleaming in excitement. A total 180 from his attitude all the past week, he has a peculiar air about him that just does not seem Thatcher-ish.

"Remember how I said there's a bunch of Pokémon Contests happening in-town?" He just can't contain his excitement. He bounced in glee. Reika and I both know where it was going, but he proceeded as if we did not. "We should go see one! The hall's not far from here, either!"

"Sorry, Thatcher. Not right now." Reika's words were apologetic, in contrast to the last time our friend had suggested this. Well, okay. It was apologetic that time too, but she didn't follow it up with scorn here.

"Yeah." I concurred. "I don't think it would help my mood any." I kept to myself the muse that with how dull things had been, I'd be tempted to actually join in on one out of impulse should we go. Which might stand contrary to what I claimed. It might well pick my mood up.

"If you say so," Thatcher said. "See ya in a while!" And with that, he skipped away?

Well. Reika and I exchanged awkward glances after Thatcher rounded a corner out of sight. Words weren't necessary to dictate that neither of us had expected him just to run off like that. I blinked. She whirled her ponytail. We were silent for a few moments.

"Well, I have to go too." Reika quickly said with a roll of her shoulder. "I have to check in with the doctors and see how my leg's doing."

Wait, that's right. Shortly after the announcement of the school's closure, Reika was approached by someone - presumably on the medical staff - who told her to visit a specific clinic in-town. I'd forgotten about that until now, and I'm guessing they booked an appointment for her there, just in case.

"Want me to come with you?" I offered.

"I don't want to burden you. Go do something YOU want to do." She was angrily adamant. Ignoring the fact that I wanted to come support my friend in time of her injury, and otherwise had nothing to do.

"Oh." I remembered just as she turned around. She span back with a befuddled expression. Something had been bugging me for a little while. "Can I ask you a question, real quick?"

"What?"

"Freak-Eye?"

"Ugh." Reika tilted her head up irritably and into the light of the sun, briefly shielding her face from the glare. In the rays, her eyes now looked more green than brown. Hazel coloration? She lowered her gaze to meet mine, losing the luster and returning to the tint I was used to. "You mean you didn't notice before?"

"Well, I never really looked at your eyes."

My response seemed to catch her off-guard. Her face had an expressionless surprise on it, and I swear she mouthed the word "what."

"Anyway, I'll be back in a while." she stated, hobbling off almost completely unburdened by her injury. It makes me wonder if she was just too lazy to go anywhere, but oh well.

~~~~~~~~~~

I sat on a bench by myself for around ten minutes after this, allowing Eevee and Mareep to get a little exercise. Ultimately, I got tired of the solitary wait. Well, I was tired of waiting in general, actually. Three-quarters of the past week consisted of us biding our time. And with time moving at a snail's pace, those ten minutes I thought could very well have only been two or three. Recalling both Pokémon, I resolved to go check out the school, in a bid to find out why it was taking so long to reopen. Not confident, but here's hoping.

Moldeau Town had been a different place over the past week. It wasn't necessarily due to the fact that a fire sparked by a still unknown culprit had occurred at the school, but more how the 2000+ students from said place were sharing the town as a consequence.

The third years and fourth years live in town, and even over the past week have been congregating around their lodges north and northeast of Rukh's. The townsfolk had been adjusting to the outpouring, but were still unused to the omnipresence and 1200 extra people. It was most apparent in the morning; during the evening, a semblance of normalcy - at least by contrast - drew over the municipality.

I traced the same path my friends and I had taken a week prior to find my way back to Rukh's. It wasn't too long until the unmistakable tall barricade that surrounded the University came into view. It stands about a meter higher than most of the buildings on Minami Street, with the corner decor towering a storey above. At least from the outside, it's quite clear that these walls belong to a school and not a prison.

Opposite the gate is a block with six stores facing the school. The most relevant of these is a small corner store; it doesn't have as big a selection for trainers as the dedicated shop a couple blocks north, but it's got a modest selection for Pokémon in addition to what it offers for humans. It's apparently a popular spot for students wishing to purchase food they can prepare themselves. The only other establishment of note serves the opposite purpose - a homely café that receives a respectable amount of business from school and citizens. A few other restaurants are in the area, but this is the nearest. Personally though, I would go with quality over convenience.

A dirt lot is stationed on the east corner of Rukh's boundary. The size leaves a lot to be desired, but this is the only place the school offers its faculty and student drivers a place to park. It is well-maintained, at least as far as makeshift parking lots go. It gives a decent view of the lake, the fence notwithstanding. Nothing similar is on the west side; the woods stretch all the way down, acting as a natural, if thin barrier, with another fence set up so people can't just wander in.

As I suspected it would be, the shiny steel gate is shut tight. What luck though! I can hear a conversation in-progress on the other side of the wall. It's what I was crossing my fingers on. I couldn't see who was present, so I walked up to the left wall to listen in better, mindless of any odd looks it might draw on.

"I don't care," came the unmistakable voice of Dean Howard Finkerton, "We have kept the school closed for longer than practical. Students in town are beginning to become restless, and I've received around a dozen phone calls. Every day this place is not open, I'm losing money."

Another voice, a middle-aged man that I did not recognize. "With all due respect sir, Wendell's class as well as my own class are out of commission. Perhaps you should-"

He was cut off. "For the last time, there is nothing any of us can do about Breeding class, Zygon. As for Rangerism, I have already allotted space in the fields for it to be held. Worus has already prepared an alternative, and I suggest you do the same. Spend less time worrying about my business, and more time worrying about your responsibilities. Otherwise, I'll have to let you go."

Mr. Zygon groaned. There was a break in the discussion that lasted about eight seconds, before he let out a more depressed groan.

"Well now, since our investigation here has concluded, you're free to run the place as you choose." The next person to speak was Moldeau Town's Chief of Police. I met with Burt Garfunkel about two days after the fire, to give my account as sole witness to the events. He seemed to be a decent enough guy. The archetype of a good cop, if you will. "Although, I am curious what you plan on doing. If you don't mind, that is."

The Dean was confident in his reply, "The immediate plan is to cancel all school-wide assemblies until further notice. Fortunately, those are few in number. I've been thinking on what to do with the old store. If there is enough area, I may demolish it and place the new auditorium there. If not, we'll use it as a temporary auditorium for the remainder of the year, and demolish the present one."

"Dean Finkerton." A fourth voice? This one belonging to a young woman. Her voice had little emotion, yet was becalmed. "There is already a lot of construction at the University. I understand you have goals of expansion, but-"

She was cut off. "You're still not helping, you know. We've talked about your concerns numerous times before, and especially in the state we are in now, they are the least of my worries."

"Dean Finkerton." she repeated. This was succeeded by whispers. I pressed my ear against the granite in attempt to hear better. It was to no avail. I think it would be faint even to Mr. Zygon and Chief Garfunkel.

"Understood." the girl replied as the conversation become audible again. "I will go tell the faculty of your decision."

The exchange between the three remaining individuals pressed onward at a low volume. I could hear their mumbles with as much clarity as the whispers. It was shortly thereafter drowned out by sound of the gate sliding open. I checked to the right to see who would emerge.

I was stunned momentarily at sight of this unusual person. Let's get the first thing out of the way: she's dyed her hair a forest green, which is adorned with a branch-like ornament. Her eyes are also green. And no, I'm not kidding. Her hair was somehow dyed green. She has a slim figure, shown off by her two-piece violet robe, and is about 5'5''-5'6''. Or wait...maybe she used indigo or something. But wait, that would make her hair blue. What the fuck? Why would she even do this?

As I regained my composure, I noticed the girl was expressionlessly staring at me. She closed her eyes. The sun was mercilessly beating down on the back of my head. Unable to think of cordial words to say, I tensely waited to see what she would do. Her mouth soon opened. The words lagged behind.

"You are the one who was in the forest a week ago."

"You're talking about the fire, aren't you?" My voice trailed off. It wasn't a distressing incident to discuss, but I didn't feel like speaking about it willy-nilly.

"Yes." She replied with a nod of her head. The strange girl was in contemplation, hands folded, as if she were carefully considering what to say. It felt like forever, but she eventually asked a question, "When you were standing before the stables that night, what were you holding in your heart?"

I have no idea what to make of that. "You mean, what I felt?" What kind of a question is that? It was by sheer forbearance that my reply, "I don't quite follow you," was inert and not querulous.

"I apologize for the suddenness." she responded, detecting my uneasiness regardless. "The school will be reopening in two days. When you have the time, could you come to the small building near the eastern side of the forest?"

"I...guess I could do that?"

"Thank you." she said with a smile. She subsequently crossed the road and began heading for parts unknown.

The eastern side of the forest. There's little directly to the east, so what I'm speculating she's referring to is a tiny, almost-insignificant shack near the offices. A wooden hut that's not quite a shed, yet not quite a cabin either. I wonder what she could want. But more importantly: hallelujah, we're going back to school! Six words no one should ever have to say!

I accomplished what I set out to do. May as well head over and tell Reika the good news.

~~~~~~~~~~

The specific clinic that Reika had been sent to was hardly special. It's only about two blocks east of the park, part of a group of facilities contained in one long building. About the norm for this part of town - a gaze in either direction saw only rows of the same along the narrow (at least for Moldeau) streets. One could easily walk by the Waribiki Walk-In, not noticing the modest facility squeezed between a laundromat and a butcher's shop.

I initially thought to enter, but resolved to wait on a bench outside instead. A small plaque dedicated to one Miles Yanguchishio is on the center of it. I think it says he was cut down in his youth. Kind of odd to see a bench dedicated to a person, though. And why a bench of all things?


After about 10-15 minutes of waiting, Reika came out of the clinic. Instead of the beige wrap around her right leg, she sported a sturdier shell of white plaster. She had her cutoffs on this morning, but had removed the lower section sometime between then and now. They were distinctly stuffed into her pockets. Her eyes immediately drew over to me.

"That looks way better." I greeted as I stood and stretched.

She fired a quizzical glare my way. "What are you talking about?"

"Your cast, I mean." Reika just sighed and shook her head, apathetic to or disinterested in this subject. I followed along as she began to head up the sidewalk. "Anyway, I went to the school while you were gone. I couldn't get in, but I heard that it'll be reopening in two days."

"Good to know." she said, turning back with a slightly more positive demeanor. "God, I am sick and tired of sleeping out in the STUPID outdoors. The town's doctors said it's not good for my leg, either."

"Definitely."

The two of us continued to walk a straight path, just taking in the span of midtown. Traffic density was light, a surprise given that lunch hour had to be nigh, but a welcome one. The clean streets are quite impressive. Given what I've seen on the grounds and the fact that the students of Rukh's are now in-town, it may even ordinarily be even tidier. More than likely, another attribute of this carefully planned community. Who could blame them, though? The only ones who could be upset about it are scavengers.

After we had gone a block and a half north, we stopped at a streetlight. "It's nice to have a change of scenery, isn't it?" I asked, attempting to make casual conversation as we waited for the crosswalk signal.

"It is!" she sighed exasperatedly. We'd been in a complete rut the past week, and she most of all was stressed about it. It was in-part due to her unwillingness to go anywhere, which is making me smile a little to myself over how she's handling this like it's nothing. "It's better here than in that park. I never want to go back to that place again!"

"Don't act like it's my fault." The way she was saying it and how she looked at me, that was the impression I was getting from her.

"You're the one who suggested we sleep there!"

"It was better than the alternatives!" I emphasized. "Even you agreed at the time!"

She grumbled in response.

"But, yeah." I conceded, again attempting to avoid conflict as the light changed to green and the digitalized beeping reverberated. "I really don't want to back there either."

I thought about Reika's invocation as we strolled between the cleanly paint lines. I tried to think of a way so that we would never have to sleep in that park another two days. Something came to me about a third up the next block, and I slowed my pace. "Well, what we could do," I began, causing Reika to halt as well. "We could go meet Thatcher at the stadium." I gestured to the rounded structure, just visible ahead and to the right. "Then if we pool together our money, we might be able to rent a room for a day or two, cheap."

My friend offered unveiled distaste towards my proposal. "And you think we'd be able to find a place like that in this kind of city? Are you retarded?"

"Hm. I guess you have a point." I sighed. It wouldn't be easy to find a place with passable short-term lodging at an affordable price in this town, especially by ourselves. "But still, it wouldn't hurt to try. I mean, who knows?"

In response, Reika turned away, and VERY sarcastically said to herself, "I'm glad you're optimistic."


Before long, the stadium came into full view. The gaudy locale where contests are held in the Moldeau Town has surroundings hyping it up closer to a battling or even a sporting stadium - although I don't know how popular the latter are in Japan. As part of the efforts to reduce skyglow, no doubt, there are no flashy neon lights to be seen on or around the open-air structure. They seemed to be compensating by making it as colorful as possible, painting the place in pinks, yellows, blues, and white. It's also possessing a rim that reminds me of an old bathtub..In fact, given four pillars jutting from the sides of this oval-shaped building, that may have been the look they were going for.

Reika and I would not have to wait even a minute before Thatcher came uncharacteristically skipping out of the front entrance. His joy shifted into overdrive when he spotted us. He came barreling in so fast, I involuntarily took a step to the side. My fears of being bowled over as he screamed, "YOU GUYS!!!" were for naught, thankfully. When he was about eight feet away, he made a twirling leap...landing a little awkwardly.

Even that couldn't kill his mood. He adjusted his glasses (which had to have been a millimeter from flying off his nose) and picked himself right back up, a big grin fixed onto his face.

"What is it, Thatcher?" Reika asked with honest concern. "I usually don't see you like this."

"Because I won!" Thatcher shouted whilst performing a jumping jack. A few people were staring at him, but he didn't notice or didn't care. "I won, you guys! I won! I won four tickets to the big contest!"

"Big contest?" I thought aloud. Again, I haven't the faintest idea about Pokémon coordinating, so...

"Maribel Capdevila is going to be competing! My idol is going to be competing!"

Reika groaned and shook her head sadly.

"Slow down, Thatcher! Slow down." I raised my palms and outstretched my arms. Thatcher stopped bounding and took a deep breath to compose himself, but still couldn't help but smile. I nodded. "All right. Start from the beginning."

"Well, okay." He took another deep breath. "I went to the contest hall today, because I knew they were having a giveaway for tickets today. And, well, I won. I won! We can go see this big contest!" He started off good, but his excitement was a beast that could not be tamed. He wore the purity of a young child as he asked, "You guys will come see it, right?"

Reika remained silent. I cocked my head. "Yeah," I agreed while nodding. "I'd be fine with that. But you said there's a bunch of them being held over two weeks. What's so special about this one?"

"Oh, those were just, you know, mini and unofficial ones." I had no time to tell him I had no clue what that meant before he jabbered, "I'm talking about is the first real contest being held here. It's an exclusive invitational contest by Ward Whalz, and Maribel Capdevila is one of the participants!"

I laughed a little. "You really want to see her perform, don't you?"

"Yup," he stated with mirth. "And I know she's going to win!"

"The true victor shall be Augustus Gabriel."

That voice. "Wait, is that-"

"What the hell are YOU doing here?" Reika clamored as someone approached us. Her eyes were crested like blades, but it failed to delay the speaker's advance. I swear, that red outfit with matching ribbon has to be a reference with something. But like I said before, I don't keep up with the latest Sinnoh fashion trends, so this could very well just be the norm.

"A question better asked by me to you, former roommate." Liane scrutinized. Reika was briefly surprised at the mention of the last two words, though quickly went back on-guard. We should have seen it coming, though. You don't just go back to the customary after failing to frame someone for theft, let alone when the allegedly stolen object really does end up being pilfered. "Not once did you express an interest in contests, unlike myself."

Reika grumbled loudly, but didn't retort. "Now then!" the trendy girl dictated, "What I approached you, or rather, this fellow for."

"M-me?!" So there is something that could spoil his mood.

"You were the winner of the door prize, didn't you?" Liane I think was trying to be casual, much like she did when she first approached me. The presence of Reika may have been making it difficult for her. Her head was pointed at Thatcher, but her eyes were constantly shifting to her. "Since you attended alone, I presume you have an excess of tickets."

"They're all taken." Reika's response was immediate. Liane took a step back, her body language full of ambiguity.

"What?"

"I'm going because my friend is going!"

"Hmph." Liane snorted at Reika's bold proclamation. She turned to address me, and unlike our last two conversations, I found venom flying into my face. "So what stake do you have in this? From what I heard, you are in the University's Tactics class. Why would you want to see this event?"

"You don't have to be an aspiring coordinator to enjoy contests, do you?" I calmly replied with a shrug. "Some people watch contests because they like to watch contests, not because they want to be in contests. Besides, Thatcher wants us to go with him."

She looked us over, and it almost seemed like a look of recognition washed over her - if only momentarily. Ultimately, Liane shook her head and narrowed her eyes. "I think you are lying. And even given that is the truth, there are three of you present, and four tickets." She turned back, and with more focus this time, made an appeal to Thatcher. "I only wanted to ask if you'd spare me the one. Not as charity, mind you. I'd be willing to-"

"We have a fourth!" Reika again made a bold proclamation.

"Oh, really?" Liane had been expressing skepticism prior, but the tone she took here showed complete nonbelief. Her question, "Who is this fourth person?" had to have been asked with some sadism in-mind.

And indeed, Reika couldn't give her an answer. I stepped in with an ambiguous, "If we told you, you wouldn't believe us."

"I have difficulty believing you even now."

"Piss off, already!" Reika flipped the bird and screamed loud enough to send one perched on a lamppost flying. "If you want to see that contest, find another way!"

Liane just shrugged and sighed, as if this just wasn't worth her time. She sauntered off without a further word or action directed at us.

"Th-thanks, you two." Thatcher stammered. Back to his usual timidness. Well, almost. He saw my expression and with concern asked, "Is...is something wrong?"

"Oh." I plainly stated. "Well, here's the thing." I went on to explain the plan to rent a room that I had discussed with Reika. He nodded as I did so.

"I-I understand."

"Fritz, you still haven't answered my question!" Reika stepped between us. Some of her frustrations from the unexpected appearance of Liane Weiks were still being let off. "Where are we going to find a place like that here?"

"Hm." I'm sure there's something, but I don't know what it could be. But maybe someone else would have an idea, "Maybe Mr. Gruff would know?"

"Th-that sounds...it might...you're right, Fritz. It could...he would know, if anyone."

I smiled and stretched. Reika contemplated this solution for a moment, but eventually fell on the same page as Thatcher and I. "Well, let's go find that guy, then."

 

[AiedailEclipsed]

So, as per the usual, my review!


Nice way to explain Pox Strike. Although, I do have to agree; "creative and open-minded" is definitely not what comes to mind when I think of Cronus. And Reika is back on my smack-silly list. Lord have mercy, we have such a tolerate-hate relationship. And oh Lord, I could just see Fritz participating in contest. Priceless. And on that note, I love how Thatcher is just like "I'm not even gonna deal with you bitches today. Peace." Too good. Reika's eye thing is... kinda a letdown. I was expecting them to like pop out of the socket and tap dance. Not being a different color in the right light. I mean, my hair does that. And no one is like "FREAK-HAIR!!!" Nice description of the town and the university though. And here with go with Mr. Finkerton, oh Lawd. Interesting interaction. I'm curious what the whispering was about. And MYSTERIOUS GIRL OHMAHGAWSH. I bet its the one from the fire the other nigth were she was all "'Twas not him." Anywho, that interaction will be interesting to say the least. And we're back to Reika complaining and general being bitchy. Happy, happy, joy, joy. Oh gosh. Thatcher is just so damn adorable. I wanna just pinch his cheeks. That cute little fart. Gosh. Overall, nice chapter.

 

[Flaze]

Let's do some Contests! or at least in the next chapter xD

The chapter was uneventful but I believe it worked as a set up fro the next one, plus we also got some foreshadowing regarding Rukh academy. I do wonder who the girl with green hair was though, it was really sudden for her to just appear like that but I assume she'll be important later on. One thing I would've liked though if is if we had gotten at least one scene focusing on Thatcher and the contest but I understand that you've wanted to find away to do things without dragging the plot too much.

 

[Sweet Veil]

One week late, derp. Well I finally managed to tear myself from my lethargy to finally review this mama. It was a really enjoyable chapter on the initial read through I gave it like a week or two ago. Mainly because I'm a fan of well-done battles and battle scenes. Did not expect Aporon, Ina, and Josef to manage a clean 3-0 sweep of them. I think it's good though since it builds up a little more animosity and turmoil within the group, Thatcher for example and his being bullied by Josef and Aporon's superiority complex over Fritz. The chapter once again did a nice job highlighting Thatcher's wimpy/meek demeanor. Ina and Reika's interactions are a special case, Ina came off as completely friendly and harmless while Reika came off as more of an antagonist so you got me curious on what type of past these two have. Glad to see the Eevee motif wasn't dropped but at the same time isn't "in your face" all the time, needless to say I wonder if the constant use of TMs and Ina's Eevee's speedy evolution say something about her character. Still don't see how Reika could hate someone so ditzy. Maybe she's wealthy or something? Dunno. Wigglytuff really came off as bumbling and klutzy in the battle, guess its balloon-like body gave off that effect with the constant jumping everywhere. Reika's temper tantrum at the end was golden. Really starting to wonder if Thatcher is an inexperienced trainer, compared to Reika and Fritz he has no evolved Pokemon and is going for Contest. Plus he seems to have a sense of up-and-coming about him with his flaws like his stage fright and softness. Interactions between Fritz and Aporon were funny with the "no coaching" stuff.

Moving on to the Aporon battle, it felt a bit dragged out near the end with the constant attack exchanging with no one falling. The thing I loved about this was, drum roll please, the mystery member of Fritz's team was revealed to be a Huntail. Your previous descriptions of it have been so cryptic and welly placed it was a genuine surprise to find out what it was. Knew it couldn't be a Gyarados, too small so I was thinking Dratini and then tried to remember if Dratini can learn any water-expelling attacks so didn't have a clue what it was. I really was surprised at the Pox Strike scenes, OC move perhaps? Apparently a very lethal one given the way Huntail was rocked. I also noticed how when threatened Aporon's calm and mature demeanor gradually began to chip away and he faltered into an arrogant, screaming wreck who wouldn't let Fritz get one word out. It was a really entertaining chapter, subtle character development, and a few twist.

Just some commentary I had during class.

Spoiler

He sent out a dangerous-looking beast. A small fin ran down the length of its back, with citron bulbs bursting from either side. Its hands and feet had razor-sharp nails, curved thorns stuck out from its elbows, and even the tip of its fern-like tail was essentially a spike. While reptilian or even draconic in nature - particularly with the head in regards to the latter - its green skin was not slimy or scaly, but rather akin to foliage. Adding to that image, the aforementioned tail was a deeper emerald, and the colors of autumn came out in a brown stripe along its midsection and its lower jaw being tinted almost an orange.

I personally think this can be delivered much better so it doesn't come off as text dump-y. Nothing wrong with text dumping at times, just remember it might be a bit more effective in some scenes to take a little description and intermix it with normal actions.

Reika growled and flipped off Josef before stepping up. "Come on, Inara!" she taunted as she sent out her Wigglytuff. Indeed, it showed some recognition towards the bubbly girl. It seemed ready to go, though.

For a second I thought Inara was her Wigglytuff's nickname before I realized it's Ina's full name, might wanna make it a little more clearer. Why would Reika suddenly call her Inara too when she's been calling her Ina all day?

'Strange' would be a good way to describe this one. Its body is covered in fine fur dyed a cold blue. A few thin patches are lighter colored; perhaps partially exposing ghostly skin beneath? Its four hooves and two rumps stand in contrast to one another - the former are blocks of smooth, dirty ice, the latter are chunks of crushed, clean ice. It's almost as though it wears a combat helmet, with two straps as sharp as icicles dangling on either side. Bulky ears, a ribbony tail, and an unwavering expression were the cherries on top of this frozen delight.

Another text dump, once in a while it's okay but with the description of every never-before-seen Pokemon it gets a bit reductive and to be a chore.

"Nicknames are stupid and so are you!" Reika screamed. "Wigglytuff, Body Slam!"

Just another example of how funny Reika's attitude can be at times.

"Goody goody gumdrops, Snowy! Now show them your Shadow Ball!"

Is this chick serious? "Goody goody gumdrops?" LOL.

Josef interjected himself. "Not exactly, Freak-Eye," he pointed out, "If a Pokémon uses a Shadow Punch or Astonish, it's still gonna hit." Technically true, although irrelevant to the current battle. Certain Ghost moves, especially those physical in nature, can impact a Normal. It also works the other way around; some people don't expect say, Tri Attack or Focus Blast to affect their ghost, and get taken back when it does. Josef flashed a shit-eating grin in Aporon's general direction.

Nice world-building.

Her Pokémon walked up and repeatedly swatted at their foe's face, finishing with a stylish backhand seeing Wigglytuff turning 360 degrees and walking away, and Glaceon being sent about a meter back onto its side.

That was fun to picture in my head during class.

Another move that took effort to use. The main advantage of using TMs is that learning the move is instantaneous. The main disadvantage of using TMs is that it takes longer to effectively use the move. Still, Ina must have gotten some practice in, as Snowy's tail suddenly appeared a lot more rigid. With few theatrics, it merely stood above Wigglytuff, simultaneously sitting and flinging down its tail. This was enough. Wigglytuff fell face-down and stopped moving.

More world-building, good WB at that.

The skunk ran in a little closer and horked up a wave of putrid bile as Huntail spat out a stream of dihydrogen monoxide. Everyone watching went slackjawed as the two liquids made contact. Even Aporon was trying to figure out what in the hell just happened. To me, it was simple. When you add water to acid, the latter splashes back. And in this case, it would splash right back at the source! Or in this case, Skuntank! Science rules!

A nice bit of analytic strategy and battling on Fritz's part.

"Whoa." Reika said. This is the first time I've managed to amaze her. I smiled a little on the inside.

Tsundere-ish scene?

 

[System Error]

Respones:

Spoiler

Stellar Flaze:

Spoiler

One thing I would've liked though if is if we had gotten at least one scene focusing on Thatcher and the contest but I understand that you've wanted to find away to do things without dragging the plot too much.

Actually, the big contest was originally set to be featured in 2-3, but I changed it. I originally decided to hold off on it until 2-9 or so, then I moved it to 2-5 once I remembered the bit about them taking place over the course of two weeks. It still works, though. Just in a different way.

AiedailEclipsed:

Spoiler

Reika's eye thing is... kinda a letdown. I was expecting them to like pop out of the socket and tap dance. Not being a different color in the right light. I mean, my hair does that. And no one is like "FREAK-HAIR!!!"

As does my hair. Actually, the eye thing is one of my meta-slights on writerdom. One of the traits commonly associated with Mary Sues is color changing eyes. However, hazel eyes do that in real life, and in this fic you have Josef dubbing it as something negative.

Nice description of the town and the university though. And here with go with Mr. Finkerton, oh Lawd. Interesting interaction. I'm curious what the whispering was about.

I actually never thought that part up. Here's a little bonus, though - I did write a bit of the dialogue before Fritz arrived, although it's incomplete. This also (sort of) shows the reason for the line "You're still not helping, you know."

Spoiler

Finkerton: "I've been out of the loop for too long. No thanks to this liability. I want an update. Have you caught the guy who did this, yet? Is he still in the area?"
Girl: "I'm sorry."
Finkerton: "Some help you are. What about you? Have you had any luck?"
Garfunkel: "I received the full report a couple hours ago. Origin and cause investigation matches the account the witness gave. The remains of a small object were discovered next to the stables. The internal fire appears to have been sparked in numerous places at once. Pieces of shrapnel from the boiler were discovered embeded in the trees. To be honest with you all, it's a miracle the flames didn't spread to the forest."
Finkerton: "Tell me something I don't know."
Garfunkel: "No active criminals in the national database are known to use both a Numel and a Kadabra. The alibis of all other suspects check out. To think, such a strange event could happen in our small town."

And MYSTERIOUS GIRL OHMAHGAWSH. I bet its the one from the fire the other nigth were she was all "'Twas not him." Anywho, that interaction will be interesting to say the least.

Indeedicus.

And we're back to Reika complaining and general being bitchy. Happy, happy, joy, joy.

Yeah, I wanted to make it clear that Reika didn't change her view TOO much.

Gotpika, Chapter 2-2

Spoiler

Did not expect Aporon, Ina, and Josef to manage a clean 3-0 sweep of them. I think it's good though since it builds up a little more animosity and turmoil within the group, Thatcher for example and his being bullied by Josef and Aporon's superiority complex over Fritz.

Surprised you didn't bring up the one-upsmanship that seemed to be going on between Josef and Aporon. It's in-passing, but it is there.

Ina and Reika's interactions are a special case, Ina came off as completely friendly and harmless while Reika came off as more of an antagonist so you got me curious on what type of past these two have.

IIRC, Legacy helped me with this one way way back. Since Reika is pretty much an antagonistic person herself, and we've already seen the likes of Liane and Irene who are worse (although they weren't originally in the plan), I decided to create the opposite character for a rival - someone ditzy, cheerful, likeable, better looking, and generally pleasant.

Really starting to wonder if Thatcher is an inexperienced trainer, compared to Reika and Fritz he has no evolved Pokemon and is going for Contest. Plus he seems to have a sense of up-and-coming about him with his flaws like his stage fright and softness.

Oh, it gets more interesting than that.

Moving on to the Aporon battle, it felt a bit dragged out near the end with the constant attack exchanging with no one falling.

I'm a little sad at two people thus far saying this, to be honest. I was trying to write something quite different from the norm there - a more suspenseful, slow-paced, and methodical battle. It makes sense in-context, too - Huntail would be no match for Skuntank in a head-on fight, so Fritz used careful, patient tactics. There will be more of those to come, though I do feel the need to mention they're generally the exception and not the rule. There'll also be fast-paced and suspenseful, as well as battles that are just longer in general.

Battle psychology is a factor even in "normal" fights. It helps to be able to really get into the moment, which is part of the reason why I went for present tense.

The thing I loved about this was, drum roll please, the mystery member of Fritz's team was revealed to be a Huntail. Your previous descriptions of it have been so cryptic and welly placed it was a genuine surprise to find out what it was. Knew it couldn't be a Gyarados, too small so I was thinking Dratini and then tried to remember if Dratini can learn any water-expelling attacks so didn't have a clue what it was.

It's like I said before - no one really expects Huntail, which kinda speaks volumes about it as a Pokemon. Also, Dratini and Dragonair don't have a toothy jaw, which is more of an issue than water-moves.

I also noticed how when threatened Aporon's calm and mature demeanor gradually began to chip away and he faltered into an arrogant, screaming wreck who wouldn't let Fritz get one word out. It was a really entertaining chapter, subtle character development, and a few twist.

Aporon's views on battles are like yours - he's most comfortable with them being faster-paced and more straight-up. Basically, what most would consider normal. This also reveals why Muriel Palmoni may be such a huge threat to him. From his perspective though, can you really blame him for lashing out like that? What Aporon thought was going to be a quick and simple reality check for his mentee got turned on its ear. It'll be touched on a little more in coming chapters, though.

For a second I thought Inara was her Wigglytuff's nickname before I realized it's Ina's full name, might wanna make it a little more clearer. Why would Reika suddenly call her Inara too when she's been calling her Ina all day?

Noted. Although, I dunno if you read/remember 2-1, but Reika actually first called her "Inara", though did use "Ina" later on. Same thing happens in 2-2.

I personally think this can be delivered much better so it doesn't come off as text dump-y. Nothing wrong with text dumping at times, just remember it might be a bit more effective in some scenes to take a little description and intermix it with normal actions.

Another text dump, once in a while it's okay but with the description of every never-before-seen Pokemon it gets a bit reductive and to be a chore.

I'll keep that in mind from now on, thanks.

"Nicknames are stupid and so are you!" Reika screamed. "Wigglytuff, Body Slam!"

Just another example of how funny Reika's attitude can be at times.

TBH, it's actually partially her acting as my voice. >_>

Nice world-building

I was looking for a way to exposition these sorts of things. I decided a battle Fritz was watching would be perfect for it.

"Whoa." Reika said. This is the first time I've managed to amaze her. I smiled a little on the inside.

Tsundere-ish scene?

Wait, from Fritz or Reika? Either way...wait, I'm not sure if there's a point where this reaction gets (can get) explained further later. But there probably is.

A note on this next chapter:

Spoiler

It's by far the biggest KB-wise so far at 47.7KB! I would've split it, but there was only one good place to do so - which was iffy and would've made the pieces 25.5KB and 22.4KB - the latter probably being just shy of the smallest (like the former) after a bit of expansion. Oddly enough...it fits the narrative better together rather than in pieces. So...yeah. We'll be back to normal after this, though!

----------

Chapter 2-4: Chaos Theorem​

As May moved into its second week, normalcy was able to return to Moldeau Town. Just hours removed from my hearing it, the relief washing over the citizens of the town and students of Rukh's University alike was palpable. It was set in stone. The school was set to reopen on the Tuesday. The day when the calendar would be turned to the next page.

The day that page turned started smoothly. My friends wanted to go check up on a few things at the dorms, so I went to class ahead of them. Dr. Spfogckdl was already in the room, despite it being about twenty minutes to 10AM. There was really nothing to do besides chat with a few people with the same idea as me in the meantime. Everyone was glad classes were back, even through erratic enthusiasm and frantic rush. One couple - and I only remember their names because they introduced themselves as Teiko and Teikō - said they went back home during the break, and were barely able to arrange a trip back in time. One guy mentioned that his friend would be outright late.

Reika and Thatcher arrived about three minutes before the bell. The former plunked down on her seat with an annoyed groan. "Why did it have to be Biology we come back to?"

"Well, it was going to be what we would've had on the Monday," I pointed out, "If the fire hadn't happened." Two days before, it was Art in the morning and Sciences in the afternoon. The former never occurred due of the assembly in the late stables - starring Theodore Louis, spokesman of the Heritage Delegates - but it didn't disrupt the order. The day after, it was Socials/a battle class. So then it would've been Sciences/Art. Like we have now.

"Why couldn't they have just kept to schedule?" Reika demanded to no one in particular. "Why couldn't we have what was going to be today, today?"

"Dunno." Actually, that's a damn good question. The teachers have these calendars with the block schedules on them. Printing the new ones would mean using printer ink, which costs money. So it's something Dean Finkerton would try to avoid if possible. Just thinking about it is making my brain hurt.

"Maybe...they wanted...you know, they wanted to keep..." Thatcher spoke as if he were trying to find the words to explain, but he paused halfway through. "No...never mind."

"Thatcher?" Reika leaned in with concern.

"Just...no, never mind."

The bell hummed, and the first class back was underway. "Welcome back to ze Univerzity, students." The doctor was totally composed, putting at least some of the tensions at ease. As he addressed us, he casually shuffled some papers in the meantime. "I tink ze feuer is now ein memory to most of you. Ze grief should have passed, ja?"

He briefly paused to clean his lens. "Let us get to eet." Dr. Spfogckdl stated after, getting right down to business. "To start zis day proper, we shall virst be reviewing what we were going over before ze termination of ze classes."

Thatcher turned to me. "Do you remember any of it?"

"No," I replied, "A refresher after that break is like, a given."

==========

After the class. we somehow ended up agreeing to eat indoors. Reika and Thatcher went to go get the food, whereas I chose to go up to the Art floor in advance.

To describe it a bit further than before. There's three hallways on the long side, all that lead into two on the short side. The first of these is along one of the building's walls, sporting large windows overlooking the outdoor battlegrounds and forest. It seems popular for the view, or at least the prospect of natural light without having to be outdoors. The opposing barricade is squarely concave, with several cafeteria (?) tables set up along the wide cranny.

As for the other two, they're the ones you end up after coming onto the floor from either set of stairs. The middle of the bunch is the one with the display case on one end and entrance to Art class on the other. The lower one has two classrooms on it - Entertainment being one, and the other marked for an elective - and leads to two additional hangout spots on the floor. The one on Art class' end is small and nothing spectacular. But the one where I was waiting for my friends in caught the eye immediately. It's sort of this really deformed U-shape around a stage - a larger and higher platform than that on the first floor - where students from the Contest class behind it were practicing their skills.

It was a little inane, but strangely engrossing. Particularly when an impromptu fight broke out. It was so much that I failed to notice the person approaching.

"Westmyn."

"What?!" I snapped.

"I'm just here to tell you that the tournament won't be affected." I repeated the word I said, in a confused tone. Aporon was here, and for once, he was being pleasant? He went on to clarify, "I went and asked Mr. Baiaz just now. He told me that the tournament schedule won't be affected by the situation. Come May 25th, it'll begin."

I raised an eyebrow. "And that's it? That's all you wanted?"

"That's it," he plainly said. Mild foreboding was spliced into his next two words, "For now." With this, he turned down the hall and went down the stairs.

==========

Lunch passed uneventfully, and then it was time for Art class. The students were silent as it officially began. Ms. Odell was silent as it officially began. She's got on incongruous attire and an apocryphal smile. Her face did not change as she rose. Something's up.

"Um! Um! Um!"

Um? Don't tell me, for the love of god.

"Hey, William!" she called out after a few moments of whirling her head back and forth. She sleeked over to him. The eyes of the two young men sitting with him stretched comically wide. And they weren't the ones being addressed. "William," she sucked up. Now she was beginning to get to him. He slid his chair back a little. "Would you mind teaching the class for me, please?"

"Erm."

That was all he said in response. Ms. Odell hastily moved on to another table. "How about you? Oji? Can you teach the class?"

I couldn't see this fellow's expression, but his body language spoke for itself. A priceless combination of coyness and pusillanimity. He meekly shook his head.

"Toby!!" This time, she entrancingly marched over in rhythm to each syllable, "Woncha be...the teacher for me?"

This time, the response was a plain and simple, "No."

"Why don't you have Fritz teach us?"

"Hey," I responded to the random male student putting a random suggestion forth, "I don't know enough about Art to do that."

"You're not asking Teikō?" Teiko inquired after. I still can't get over that, Teiko and Teikō. That's just hilarious. "You know he's good at it."

"I could do that!" he confirmed.

"Oh," Ms. Odell replied, ignoring what he said, "I couldn't ask him. Even if you're fine with it. But I could ask...Keiji!"

Reika leaned over to me as Ms. Odell made yet another attempt to get someone to do her job. With eye contact on the delirious woman, she whispered, "This is pathetic. Is she honestly so incompetent that she didn't prepare for this?" With a snort of derision, Reika said, "Is that why she's going around trying to charm all the boys into teaching for her?"

"You noticed too?" How she's only asking boys, I mean. That aside, this teacher clearly has no idea what to do, after having missed a week's lessons and not having taught this grouping a single proper one thanks to her day of introductions coupled with the assembly. I'm not sure what to think of this.


##########


Ultimately, not much happened in Art, even when someone finally volunteered herself to do so. The same could be said for the rest of Tuesday.

The mood of the second day back was like that of the first, only upped by a factor of three. As Aporon had proclaimed, Tactics class proceeded as nothing had happened. In fact, not once did Mr. Baiaz even bring up the forest fire; I only heard mention of it from conversations my classmates were having. I didn't see much of Aporon or the jackasses there, which was a plus. And to make sure I didn't see much of them after, I left with the crowd.

After a lunch in Thatcher's dorm, it was off to Socials class. The foreboding could instantly detected by even the densest individuals. The silence was deafening as the bell hummed out, and we waited for Mr. Yamaguchi to speak.

"The circumstances of the past week have been disruptive to all of us." He methodically started with folded hands. "We all are coping in our own ways. This includes we on the staff." Faint antipathy came out as he indirectly mentioned his colleagues. "It has proven damaging to our various schedules. But fact is, we all must move forward as it was written, regardless of the actions of others."

"Oh, god damn it..." were the words I rasped as soon as he said those words. I wasn't the only one who could tell right away where this was headed, but my friends were a little slower on the draw.

"What do you mean-" Reika started to ask, as our teacher began to elaborate.

"Today, on May 2nd, you will be learning of what I had planned for you to learn on May 2nd. The reading and work from the week missed will be for you to do this week on your own time."

"...oh, god DAMN it!" Reika cursed, and for once, her complaints are among the quieter. A week's worth of assignments PLUS the stuff being assigned. Not a popular concept. Pleas, logical debate, and even verbal abuse was being thrown at the teacher, but he was having none of it.

"Enough!" he sharply asserted with a raised palm. Mr. Yamaguchi was sticking to his carefully crafted plan, and there was nothing anyone could do to change his mind. "There is much to learn in my class." He calmly stood to his feet and unfurled a map, preemptively preparing as he continued to prattle. "Little is doable now. This could be avoided only by actions of Mr. Westmyn, which were not taken."

Oh, god damn it again. He's against me. The way he glared over his shoulder at me told the whole story. I don't know if he honestly believes that's the case or not, but what matters is he is casting a blame on me regardless. And from a few dirty looks I received...it may be working.

==========

"This is garbage."

The three of us had been loitering in the Student Square for about an hour after class. Reika had been doing enough venting for the three of us, this quote being the latest and briefest. We'd been trying to get at least started, but the stress was just too high. Even Thatcher was feeling it.

"Y-yeah. I...I don't know if I...if anyone can...is he really expecting. It is...garbage."

Reika shook her head. She stamped her good leg with such fervor, I momentarily feared she would break it too. "No. It's fucking bullshit is what it is!"

"Hey..." My friends turned to me. They hadn't noticed my uncharacteristic silence this time. I've been thinking. If one teacher took such an action, I'm certain that others did too. Whether they all stood united with me as a scapegoat, I don't know. But the air feels so different now than it did before, and I need to know one thing. "You guys don't blame me for this, do you?"

"Of course we don't!" Reika's snapping did little to comfort me, even though it should've.

"It's...yes," Thatched meekly agreed. "You did all you could. That's...that's what you said...that counts. Right?"

"Right. He may as well have blamed us for not helping! We did nothing wrong!"

"You did do something wrong, Ms. Easton."

"Oh-" Shit. My cursing forgetting all about that was enough to make me speak half a thought aloud.

Thatcher flipped at sight of who approached. She may not be the most intimidating person on the outside, the hair-bun notwithstanding. The issue is, she is on the inside, and that simply leaks out of her. My friend hid behind me from this stern presence, squeaking, "Who...you are..."

"Mrs. Shugiri, long-time faculty member, librarian, and disciplinarian." I should've seen this looming and warned them beforehand. But I forgot. "Students are not allowed to travel to Abet's Bluff, barring special circumstances." That incident? All three of us would really rather not think of it anymore. And here it is cropping up again. Ugh.

"What kind of a rule is that?" Reika protested.

"It exists for your own protection."

"No," she said, with a guise that danced on the boundary between wrathful and psychotic, "I mean, what the FUCK kind of rule is that?"

"There's no rule against cursing on grounds, Ms. Easton, and only implied expectancy to show respect." Mrs. Shugiri didn't so much as flinch. Which raises the question of what it does take. I want to know. "However, respecting the rules is expected."

"Mrs. Shugiri, why punish them more?" Maybe I couldn't give them advance notice, maybe I couldn't help them then, but I can try to help them now! "They've already suffered emotional and physical trauma from the incident. It seems redundant at this point."

A nod. "You raise a fair point, Fritz Westmyn. But I do things by the book. And the book says a punishment must be administrated to students in violation of code."

"So you're going to kick us all when we're down? Is that what you're doing?"

There was a pause.

"...all three of you went?"

Wait, they didn't know I was there? Well, thank you Aporon and friends for not ratting me out, but DAMN IT REIKA!!

"I..." Thatcher shuffled to my left. He didn't want to stand in front, but the marginal increase in bravery was apparent. "We...forced him to come along. He...he was tired, and we...forced him."

"Thatcher," Reika sharply said, before hesitating, "Is telling the truth."

"And you knew it was against the rules to go to the bluff?"

"Y...yes."

No mens rea. Am I in the clear? Mrs. Shugiri plainly went on to say, "With that being the case-"

KRAVROOM!!!!!


"What was that?" It came from the school.

The librarian/disciplinarian was unmoved even by...whatever that was. Not loud, but sharp and sudden. "If you'll excuse me. Ms. Easton. Mr. Li. You will report to the library every day after classes for two hours, and for three hours on weekends." With that, she coolly went off to investigate. She was the only one heading towards the building. Everyone else was heading out of or away from it.

"The building's being evacuated..." That might not be a big matter, but still. That aside, my friends both have downcast eyes, and are in a sort of thought. I asked, "Why'd you guys cover for me?"

"It's...is it true..."

"Ugh," That had been enough for Reika, who was now completely spent, "I can't believe this. Detention? What are we, nine again? A broken leg is bad enough, and now all this?!"

We stood in silence, trying to make sense out of what had happened in the school. At least, I was. I'm not so sure if Reika or Thatcher care about it right now. Among the people funneling out of the school were two semi-familiar to me. They're headed in our direction by incidence. Maybe they know? They've told me a little bit of another side before.

I approached to meet them and asked, "What's going on?"

"An explosion!" Teikō said, "In the Technology class!"

Reika and I were on the same page, but it was her that inquired, "Technology?"

"It's...that class, for...um, metalwork and..."

"It's for trades stuff."

Teikō gave affirmation. Almost excited about it, he explained, "Teiko and me were just in the inside square, then we hear a big BOOM, then we're told we need to get out right away!"

Well, that helps a little, but not by enough. They don't seem concerned, and Reika and Thatcher aren't either. Damn it. Am I the only one wondering why it happened? What's going on?


##########


Whatever it was, it wasn't enough to delay class further. I didn't even get to find out. Thursday passed much like Tuesday. The only difference was, Art class went better, and everyone was more on-edge. Friday started with Socials, where the hostility was at its practical maximum, and the week finally ended for me with Tactics. It was shortly after that class, when I was hanging around outside on my own due to my friends being held against their will, that the expected happened.

"Westmyn."

I just turned and gave a stare of death.

"What-"

"No. No. No. No. No. I'm not going to train right now. No! No! No!" I made no attempt whatsoever to conceal the fact that I am not in the mood. I do not have time for this. "No! And you wanna know why? Two reasons. Number one: up yours. Number two: I got a ton of homework from that ass of a Socials teacher. I'm not even a third done, and it's due next week."

"I'll take care of it."

"Oh, and did I mention the third reason? Wait." Wait. What's he saying? "You're saying...what?"

"I'll take care of the homework for you. For now, we need to do some training."

"You can..." He can get me out of it? Seriously? He wouldn't be saying it if he couldn't, let alone so nonchalant. I'm not even a quarter of a way through this, and I was hoping something could come along to stop it. My prayers answered. Do I want to, though? This could invoke a lot of jealousy from others. But on the other hand, I guess working with Aporon is the lesser of two demons. Because seriously, to hell with that homework and Mr. Yamaguchi. Even if getting out of it will make some people hate me. Okay, more people. God damn it. "Fine, let's go."

I don't like this. But with that being said, Aporon nodded affirmatively. He wore a smile on his face; it wasn't one of joy, but it wasn't smug either. Without a further word, he led us to our destination.

----------

...good lord, there are a lot of people here at the outdoor battlegrounds. Remember when I said that it could possibly be set up in a way so that - as opposed to six small ones, it was one large battlefield? I was right. That's how it's set up. People were sitting on the bleachers and standing on the sides for the presumable spectacle about to unfold.

"Frizzly! Hiiiii!"

Ina came skipping up to me with a huge arm wave and huge grin. She had on the same apparel as last time I saw her, the only difference being a different colored skirt (a navy blue instead of a sky blue). She hopped with excitement in front of me.

"All right, start talking." I said to Aporon. What in the world could he possibly have in mind this time, I mean, "What's this all about?"

"Simple," Aporon replied with a nod. "I want you to help her win a one-on-one battle. You'll be coaching her on what to do."

I opened my mouth to protest. But wait. I guess it could be worse than this. "Okay."

Ina let out a squeal and led the way into the fenced partition. With a shake of my head, I followed behind with not even a fraction of the enthusiasm. I gazed across the field at our opponent. Well, two people are there. Maybe Ina's opponent is getting coached too? Well, the first is a girl in somewhat revealing attire - namely short jean shorts and a grayish-white tank top - with light blonde hair cut short. Irene Faris. And the second is a girl in pure white clothing, with braided hair pulled over her shoulder. Even from this distance and only having seen it once before, the visage belonging to Elyna Dragomir was unmistakable.

"How did this-" I began to ask. Then I thought. Do I really want to know this? "Well, I guess that doesn't matter."

"So where's Reirei?" Ina asked curiously.

"She and Thatcher got detention for sneaking off to Abet's Bluff a week ago."

"Oh, that's terrible!" Ina ditzily said. "I hope she gets through it!" Well, I guess detention could be debated as a killer. She looked over, pointing to what I'm hoping is her opponent. "That Irene girl doesn't like her at all. Oh! I forgot to ask her. How'd she break her leg?"

"Because," I vaguely elaborated. "She snuck off to Abet's Bluff a week ago."

"Ey?"

"She fell."

"Huh?"

"From a cliff."

"From a cliff?!"

All right, lesson learned. Don't vaguely elaborate with this girl. "Let's just focus, okay?"

"Okay!!"

At least she's a good listener. Picks up my mood a bit. "What Pokémon do you have? We should figure out what we're going to use."

"Well, you already met Snowy! Hee hee!" Ina retrieved two plain - though marked - Poké Balls from her holster, and proudly showed them off to me. By which I mean shoved them right into my face, making me flinch a little. "It's just her and my longtime friend, Reedy!"

Reedy's a Bellossom, right? And if he's her longtime friend, as she has dubbed, he should be the more experienced one, and thus, the safer bet. "Yeah, go with that."

"Kays!"

After replacing the one, Ina tossed (and I mean hurled) the Poké Ball into the air. This girl has one hell of a throwing arm. Out came her Bellossom, nicknamed Reedy. It stands at a little over a meter tall, with skin like a pear in tone and texture. It has two stubby little arms lacking hands, but I think I see a few thorns on the ends. The lower half of its body has been overtaken by leaves upon leaves, yellows, greens, reds, browns, and even pinks among their hues. Two large red, five-petaled flowers lie on its head. Their stigma is wide, deep, and juts out a little further than expected. Hm.

Then there's our opponent, which was already out and I guess I somehow missed. Emphasis on somehow. The first thing about this bright-blue (and pale cream) tub they call Lapras to catch the eye would be the slate shell on its backside. Spikier than what I've seen, and believe me - I know about these friggin' things.

I'd better refresh my memory here. I'll try to be discreet...

Lapras
Water/Ice Type

A Pokémon with physiological traits identical to those of the ancient Sauropterygia. They strongly prefer colder waters, being native to the Arctic and Northern Pacific Oceans. However, they will migrate as far south as Taiwan during the winter months. They are among the few Pokémon to be classified as endangered by the IUCN due to poaching and oil drilling disrupting their habitat. Although a marine mammal, they have capabilities ordinarily seen in dragons.

The horn on a Lapras' forehead develops through age, eventually becoming sharp enough to bore through ice. A longer, sharper horn is a sign of status in the pod. The thick shells on their backside have a consistency of stone. They protect from assault, but Zooarchaeology has discovered the species did not always have these. Remains dating back 50000 years have been found showing that they once used large stones as a substitute. This behavior is occasionally seen in modern Lapras, who will use anything from ice to sunken ship hulls to cover themselves.

Lapras are peaceful, but hardy creatures. Adults are capable of going months without nourishment. They commune with smaller Pokémon, animals, and even humans to ferry them across treacherous waters. Occasionally, the biological interaction is mutualistic. Wolves in particular have been known to lash out at a Lapras' attacker, and occasionally bring scraps to younger members of the pod. Lapras themselves hunt for smaller fish and Cephalopods, but otherwise rarely engage in combat if it can be avoided.

"So it's good for us, right?" Ina said. I jumped a little, not realizing she'd been looking over my shoulder. I hastily put my device away, thankful for her being scatterbrained. "If it doesn't wanna fight-"

"That's in reference to wild Lapras." I pointed out. I was hoping this would have just a little more info, or more time to sift through the detailed sections, even though 'capabilities ordinarily seen in dragons' pretty much speaks for itself. "Trainer-owned ones won't show that sort of hesitation."

"So what to do? What to do?"

"First question. Does your Bellossom know Solarbeam?"

"Sorry! He doesn't!" She apologized with a half-bow, half-nod. "I've been meaning to get a TM for it, though!"

"Hm." So much for the direct route. Solarbeam is one of those attacks, if you weren't aware. You know what happens to ice in the sun, right? Well, yeah. It's a Grass move, but it's good both offensively on Ice types (highly effective), and defensely against them (as it can shield them from the cold). With that in mind, "We'll beat'em with speed. Lapras is big and really immobile on land. Bellossom is small and fast." Probably. "Er, right?"

"Mm-hm!"

Then we're set. "Just make sure Bellossom doesn't get hit. Bewilder it, and outpace it, and run circles around it, and stuff like that. It might take a while, they don't go down easy, but it should work."

"So gotta go fast?" Ina asked with a giggle. "Got it! Yay!"

I looked over, and saw that Elyna had just finished giving words to Irene. Aporon nodded. "So if you're both ready, we can begin."

Irene smiled confidently. "I'll follow your word to the letter, Elyna. And with your masterful advice," She flipped her hair back, summarily pointing as coldly as she declared, "This ditzy bitch is going down!"

Either for density or jauntiness, Ina wasn't affected. She struck a flashy pose. "We can do this, Reedy! The three of us are an unstoppable team!" With this, Ina did an eager leap, shouting "Woohoo!"

"Take it easy, you haven't won," I pointed out, with a positive, but not excessively so attitude. She cocked her head. A smile crept across my face as I whispered, "Yet." She giggled at this. We probably looked like a couple of schoolgirls gossiping. Which we actually sort of are, except for the part where I'm a guy.

Not having heard the final word of my sentence, Elyna's posture became hostile. It was a take no prisoners attitude. "And you never will against me, Fritz." My reaction was largely the same as Ina's; that is to say, it didn't dampen my spirits in the slightest. We'll just see about that.

Seeing the opening exchange out of the way, Aporon nodded. He gave the word, "All right, go."

Lapras wasted no time as the signal to start the battle came. A jagged Ice Beam came out of its mouth towards, no, over the field?

"Ina! Get them now!"

"Energy Ball!"

Reedy held his hands together, pulling them apart as a luminous emerald orb formed between. Like a baseball player, he drove it down the middle at a high velocity. Lapras let out a primal squeal, halting its own move as the Bellossom's made impact.

"Hey, now," Ina asked, having acted without question, "Why'd we have to do that?"

"They're trying to let Lapras slide around on a frozen field. If that happens, it'll be trouble."

"Oh, I see! So what now?"

Elyna and Irene were conversing, and the result was Lapras winding back for another Ice Beam. "You'll probably want to evade."

"Yup!" she agreed. She flashed a wink and thumbs up to Reedy, who went on the move. He was easily able to stay ahead of the Ice Beam that was chasing him to our right, although this was placing some (but not as much as before) ice on the field. Ina once again yelled, "Energy Ball!" Bellossom performed a diving toss for no particular reason.

Elyna said something, and Irene yelled, "Shoot it down, Lapras!" It was one thing to give the order. It was another to actually carry it out. Lapras couldn't adjust its aim in time to hit the already-in-motion attack, and took another impact.

"Another! Woo! Another Energy Ball, Reedy!" From where it stood, Bellossom again tossed out a sphere of photosynthetic power. This time, Lapras was able to blast the attack away. Third time unlucky. And as before, an Ice Beam was on Bellossom's tail, who began running the other direction to escape. "Acid!" Reedy tensed up, slowing down for just a moment. The pursing beam started to catch up as he thrashed out his head, sending a glob of corrosive liquid from his flowers.

"Avoid!" Irene shouted. Lapras, who had not moved an inch since the battle's start, was suddenly asked to go into motion. The subsequent bound forth with its flippers was very clumsy, but was performed in just enough time so the attack (coming in from its right) just sailed over its shell. "Now, Ice Shard!"

Ina giggled. "Energy Ball!" A fourth dose of the move did to its opponent's attack what its opponent's attack did to the third use, only both were destroyed. "Goodsies, Reedy! Magical Leaf next!"

Bellossom did a twirling leap, quickly spreading leaves shining in the colors of the rainbow. Lapras once again attempted to take evasive action, but found itself too slow and too large to escape the homing potshot. The move got repeated a second time, and then a third time - on this attempt, Irene shouted an order, and Lapras spewed Frost Breath at the leaves. This stopped most of them, but Reedy had been making his way around its target. On the next use, Lapras was physically unable to turn its head far enough to counter.

Irene looked to Liane. She mouthed, "Now?" Elyna gave a firm nod of approval. Preluded by a twitch of the curly tufts on its head, Lapras exhaled a blast of frigid air around itself, enveloping its entire body in the thick Mist. Reedy halted its attacks, uncertain how to approach this. Ina also didn't know what do to.

"Now, Lapras!"

Suddenly, numerous Ice Shards came rocketing out from the fog. All of them impacted Bellossom roughly. Luckily, Grass are a bit weird in their weakness to ice. It's more the cold that hurts them...which is precisely what got pulled when Irene gave the command, "Frost Breath!"

"Reedy, move in to avoid it!"

Interesting. Moving in, I mean. Let's see where it takes her.

"Cut, Reedy!"

"Rock Smash, now!"

The two attacks struck one after another. Reedy's leaf cloak rigidly came out, hacking into Lapras almost as well as a claw could. As it struck, Lapras raised its right front flipper. Despite being sliced on the chest, it went through the motion of bringing it down upon the frail form of Bellossom. A small crater was formed from the impact, which Ina's Pokémon is now stunned in.

Irene flipped her hair and smiled. "Let's end this with Body Slam."

Ina looked to me. Hm, "Cut again?"

"Try Cut again!"

Fingers crossed. Lapras bounded up as it did to dodge prior, though this time to crush its adversary. Reedy tensed up, but I managed to see him ready the attack just before he disappeared beneath the gargantuan beast. The effects were instantaneous. Lapras shrieked in pain, tipping over onto its side with a thunderous crash.

"Ewwwwwwwww!!" Ina winced at the sight of blood oozing from her foe's sensitive underside? Ow. I guess that's what happens when you fall onto a sharp object. "I didn't mean to do that, sorry!" Ina was begging forgiveness. It's uncommon to see a laceration go that deep in a battle, let alone by accident or by a non-violent Pokémon.

A moment after, Bellossom managed to crawl out. No doubt, that tiny crater was what kept it in this. Though woozy, he's still standing. Unfortunately, Lapras still has more left in it too. It managed to pull itself up, sort of. It's kinda hunched over right now, as if it's trying to catch its breath. Elyna and Irene huddled together to converse.

"So...what now? Healsies?" Ina was still feeling a little down over hurting it, afraid to make eye contact with me.

"A good start, yeah." If it can heal its wounds, that's definitely the place to begin. As to where to go from there, "It might be better to stay back at this point, even though you limit its options up close."

"Hey! Hey!" She lit up, becoming positive again. "Could we get up on the Lapras' back?!"

"Maybe." Holy shit that is so obvious and such a dick move and why didn't I think of that? "It's risky, though." For a Bellossom yes, but for more agile Pokémon...

"Okays!" squealed Ina. "Mega Drain, Reedy!"

The other trainer and her coach had to snap back to the action for the impulsive command. Elyna continued to speak as Bellossom went in near enough to perform the move. Several clear orbs got sent at Lapras. Glowing spheres returned along and around an invisible track into Reedy's body, and with each one that burst into light on contact, he stood up a little taller. His cloak even looked a little healthier at the end.

"If they're staying up close," Irene started as Elyna stopped talking, "Then Rock Smash again!" This time, Reedy was faster, fluidly dodging to the right of the hefty appendage.

"Stun Spore, Reedy!" Ina giggled, stressing the final syllable. A plume of orange dust shot out from his flowers. It spread over Lapras' lower body. Which had no effect. And everyone just stood there awkwardly.

Powder-based attacks need to be breathed in to be effective, or at least scattered onto an open wound. And Ina...I guess didn't know that.

"You're kidding me, right?" Irene said, stifling a laugh. "You said you've had this for how long now? And you-"

An idea flashed over Ina's face as she was being talked down. She kept motioning while whispering "go", prompting her Pokémon to subtly try to sneak around its foe. One of its arms began to glow a brownish hue, and it looked prepped to climb. They're going for it!

"Pay attention!" Elyna scolded, having noticed. Damn it. Irene was taken aback a bit.

"Oh. Rock Smash it away!"

Well, it was more of a bitchslap than what was seen before, but this knocked Reedy far back. Lapras got right back to creating more ice. On Ina's word and her Bellossom's decent recovery, the plant pitched another Energy Ball his foe's way. This time, though, Lapras was able to slide away on what it created. Once it hit a larger patch of ice, it breathed out some more Mist, that enveloped it entirely.

"Now, start attacking as planned, Lapras!"

And that's about the time crap started flying everywhere. Pale gas - both snow-like Frost Breath, and slightly yellow Dragonbreath were being spat out at random intervals and in random places. Bellossom was dodging in a panic, an emotion also seen in his trainer.

"How is it attacking so accurately?!" she cried. I couldn't open my mouth before she said, "I can't see it! How can it see us?! It shouldn't be able to see us!"

"W-"

"But maybe it can hear us! Yay!" She did a jumping jack. "Round, Reedy, Round!"

Well, I was going to say that it's still there and able to be hit, and judging by the erratic way it's attacking it probably couldn't see Reedy either, but that works too! Bellossom stood still in a prayer-like stance. An odd, yet pleasant sound flowed softly from his vocal chords. I'm supposing he's focusing it onto Lapras, but regardless, the exhales stopped coming. Lucky.

"That's a TM move, isn't it?" I remarked aloud. "It seems better at using it than how Glaceon used TMs."

"What do you mean?" Ina overheard, querying me with a goofy smile that only become goofier. "Hee hee! Reedy loves to sing and dance! He loved to dance, so he should love to sing! Sing and dance!" Lapras came crawling out of its shroud, visibly shaken. "And speaking of dance- hey, what was that?"

For a split second, Lapras' eyes flashed crimson. And it looked...I dunno how to describe it. Different, in a word?

"What'd it do just there just now?"

"Probably nothing." At least, I hope it was nothing. The spectators didn't seem to see it, though.

"Anyways, like I was saying. Speaking of dance, Teeter Dance!"

Reedy was moving awkwardly after the initial hit by Body Slam, but these exaggerated motions were like that to a factor of ten. With added spinning. And luminescence. Lapras' attention was drawn to the dazzling technique. Irene will probably want it to go back into its hiding spot, if she can get it to.

"Say," I asked slyly, "Is that the only dance move your Bellossom knows?" Ina simply giggled in confirmation. This'll be good. "Try telling it to use both at the same time!"

"All right, Frizzly! Reedy, use Teeter Dance and Petal Dance both at the same time!"

Reedy showed a bit of hesitance in his step for a moment, but within seconds managed to surround himself with a tornado-like barricade of blossoms. He then went on the move, taking a chaotic course towards his helplessly entranced foe.

"Water Pulse! Water Pulse! Water Pulse! Water Pulse! Water Pulse!" shouted Irene repeatedly, in a determined, desperate, and...damn it, a successful attempt to get through. The ringed orb freaking homed right in on Reedy, splashing harshly and halting his motion on the spot. It just had to be homing.

"Lapras, BLIZZARD!!!"

Well, that's that. The Bellossom was blasted by the snowstorm expelled from its foe's gaping maw. The final order that Irene proceeded to give, a Body Slam, was just insult to injury.

"Aww," Ina recalled her Pokémon disappointedly, "That sucked." Her mild response to her loss didn't stop Irene and Lapras from celebrating with bravado. But then there was her coach.

Elyna just stared at me in an odd way. She turned it onto Ina, and then did a sort of half turn. "You did okay," she admitted, any sort of positive notion fading when she continued, "But it's a insult that idiots like you should be allowed to use such majestic Ice-type Pokémon." With that, she walked away.

"Majestic Ice-type Pokémon?" Ina cocked her head. "Hee hee! That's a silly way of putting it!"

"Maybe she really likes them or something?" A thought occurs though. How did she know Ina had a Glaceon?

"Oh, you didn't know?" Irene bragged with a smug grin. It mutated into a wicked one as she gave the 411, "Elyna Dragomir was taught from a young age by the late, great Lorelei. Master Ice trainer and former member of the Kanto Elite Four. She is well along the path to following in the footsteps of her mentor!" Aporon gave affirmation that this was not made-up. "Even when she lived in her and my native Orange Islands, she had earned her nickname - The Ice Princess."

The Kanto Elite Four. That's not good. At least it's not one in the flesh I'm dealing with. But if she was trained by...one of them, then why is she here? Intriguing.

"Wow! That's so cool! No wonder you won!"

I take back anything good I said about Ina. I have some choice words, but Aporon is motioning for me again. This wasn't too bad at least, but it could very well just be the calm before the storm.


##########


Later on in the evening, I was brought back to the second-year dorms. Aporon politely knocked and waited. The door opened after a few seconds, and the prep greeted us. He nodded, and calmly returned to sit on a bed in the room. After Aporon went in, I followed behind. And a spectacle awaited me.

"What the hell is this?"

Lawrence and Edgar are towering over a girl. I'd say she's about an inch over five feet, that is to say, still taller than Lawrence. She has long, black hair wrapped by a laurel headband in tune with the rest of her apparal. They have her dressed like how a maid would be clothed. A French maid, anyway. Tears are streaming from her emerald eyes, running down her rose-tinted face and onto the cold floor. She's desperately scrubbing with a simple brush, the kind you'd use to wash your hands.

"If you are concerned about these circumstances, Fritz Westmyn," the prep addressed, as if he'd been expecting and preparing for this very question, "Do not be. They have not been doing anything illegal."

"Yeah, just fuckim' enbarrassing." Edgar snorted emotionlessly. He took a swig from the soda can he held in his hand. He peered down, a devilish smirk on his mug. Edgar belched loudly and splashed the remainder onto the floor and into the girl's face. "Clean it up, bitch."

"Yeah, heh heh. Clean it up. Clean yourself up. Dirty girl, heh heh."

"What. The hell. Is this." The prep tried to get words out, but I continued in utter awe, "No, I wanna know. What the hell does this have to do with...anything?" This is Phoebe Palmoni, my partner for the tournament, isn't it...? I thought I had it bad, but she has it worse. She helplessly peeked up at me as she cleaned, as if to plead for a savior.

"Yes," agreed Aporon. It feels so wrong to be on the same page as him, even if our motivations are different. "What's your angle for this training?"

"To experience humility is an inevitability of a battle. Such emotion would be expected to come forth from a crushing loss." The prep's confidence was simply overflowing. Aporon nodded in approval. "Ergo, we have placed her in a humiliating position, so that she may learn to cope sooner, rather than later." Those were his words, yet the well-dressed young man then provided full transparency. He leaned over to his two partners in crime, whispering loud enough to heard, "You two owe me for that."

"That's right. And now you, shithead." Edgar's eyes were like bullets, and his voice a dagger. "Time for you to clean, too."

"Oh, sure. Fine." I didn't think myself capable of sarcasm that dramatic. But that's the tone I used as I cracked my knuckles. I moved towards my aggressor. "I'll start by cleaning your clock."

"Relax, Westmyn." Aporon calmly interposed between us, sparing his associate from being served a knuckle sandwich. "You don't have to clean anything."

"So what do you want me to do? Huh?"

"Nothing, I think you've both had enough training for one day." He stroked his tiny beard in thought. "Help her turn it in."

"What?"

"That is to say," the prep said to me, apparently picking up on it, "Escort her back to her room."

"That's it?"

"That is it."

Really, what the hell is this? All eyes are on me. I haven't the faintest idea where they could be going with this, assuming it's not simply what it is at face value. Phoebe stood to her feet, about as uneasy as I am about this. We surveyed the four, and then one another. No one was saying anything, no one was doing anything.

With strained posture, Phoebe quietly gathered a few possessions, including a modest blue duffel bag. Lawrence stifled a giggle when she got near. He motioned for Edgar to trip her as she passed by, but Aporon shook his head. A good call. Phoebe didn't notice these proceedings, appearing lost in her own world. She paid me no heed, until she stood before the door. She stopped and lowered her head, twisting back as if to ask if I was coming.

With a look to the other four in the room, I accepted perforce. As I was about to exit, I turned and gave a final glare to them. Yet discretion is the better part of valor...so I decided to keep my mouth shut, lest I aggravate things.

The two of us shared an awkward silence as we left Lawrence's room. It's reasonably late, so some students are in their dorms. I hesitate to call it noisy, but it's clearly not quiet. A few loitered in the halls; as we passed them by, they gave stares that unnerved even myself. Only slightly.

When we had made it up two floors, Phoebe stopped. She ran back to the stairwell; checking if we were being followed? She seemed relieved, and with that began to talk. "They were making me do that for hours!" she cried. "And before that..."

Silence. I'm not sure what I could say to respond to that. Do I give false hope? Do I be brutally honest? Maybe I should try to help her relate. Yeah. "At least they didn't make you drink from the lake or force you to run laps."

She composed herself long enough to say, "They did make me run laps."

More silence. Again, I was uncertain of how to reply. I decided to share my experiences today. "Today, I first had to coach someone intolerable in a battle," I said with a sigh. It was a mild exaggeration, but I'm looking at the intents. Not necessarily how it turned out. "And if I talked about all the other little stuff after, I'd be going over it all night."

A third bout. This time, Phoebe didn't know how to proceed. I only noticed now our speed had slowed to a crawl. Eventually, she rasped, "Why are they doing this to us?"

"I don't know..." I honestly don't know. Maybe I was confident before, but at this point, I'm not. "Maybe they honestly believe what they're saying. But they may just as well just be seeking justification for this torture."

"Torture," she mused. "That's a good word to describe it."

"But why? Why are they doing this?" Phoebe's lament is beginning to rub off on me. I consider myself a positive person, yet at this point in time, I can't help but feel crestfallen about these circumstances myself. It was essentially with a weep that she beseeched, "I know my sister isn't the best person in the world...but why do they hate me too?"

"Some people just do, unfortunately..." I maintained my composure, for her sake. "It's not right."

The next flight of steps felt like scaling a mountain. My legs were simply did not want to obey my command, and on my forcing, were not going quietly. This situation bothered me before. But now, having seen another side of the picture...I just don't know what to do about it. I just don't see Phoebe as the type of person who could do anything to invoke their wrath. So that has to be the reason they're treating her as they are. It just has to be.

"Well, we're here." Phoebe said, the moment we stood before her room. Like me, she had chosen a dorm on the quiet top floor. She fumbled around her outfit, patting herself down to find her key. Accidentally dropping the chain after locating it made her turn red in embarrassment. She hastily picked it up, unlocked, and opened the door. Phoebe abruptly paused, holding it wide open, then turned to look at me.

"We'll probably see each other tomorrow...won't we?"

"Knowing them, more than likely."

She sighed. "I hope it's not as bad as today."

"We can only hope."

Being honest with myself, those are high hopes. That fact is not lost on Phoebe, either. She shut her eyes tight and shuddered. Dread was rightfully in her outlook. Those four could be planning anything. We've made it so far, though. I know we'll make it through this, too!

When my partner in this tournament noticed my poise, it seemed to put her at ease. "Well..." Phoebe said as her frown dissipated, "Good night."

"Night."

She waved meekly as I went on my way. This has been one hell of a week. Things are happening so fast and so erratically. Sometimes it's felt like it's been moving at a high velocity, at other moments things have slowed down. So much information to process all at once. And there's still Saturday left.

It's the weekend though. That has to be better. I hope.

 

[Flaze]

Well I'm done for one.

So like I said in VMs there were some parts where I felt a bit thrown off by the pace, but everyone has their own feelings about these things so it's not like I can assume. However, I do admit that the chapter in itself wasn't too bad, the lowest point was the battle though, it just felt kind of slow to me for some reason though maybe I'm just too picky with battles so don't pay too much attention.

Teiko and Teiko with the thing that I can't type in a laptop. Interesting joke if I do say so myself. Then there's the teachers, it was nice seeing them, but their classes felt a bit rushed to say the least, I can understand that you wanted to show the first day back again and it was good to see the characters back to class but there were some things that felt a little bit pointless even if they were pretty funny xD such as the art class, yes it brought a lot of humor to the chapter and showed how their teacher wasn't actually capable of being one but overall I felt that it was a part that could've been skipped or summarized in one paragraph.

It was nice to see Fritz and Ina get along with each other, which is why I felt bad when he went back to his usual attitude cause I acually like Ina a lot cause of how different she is from the rest of the characters, yes she's dumb as a brick but that's a nice change of pace. I do notice that a lot of your characters seem be...kind of bitter xD or maybe too serious but that's actually a funny thing cause most of my characters are quirky and light-hearted.

It was nice to finally see Phoebe and I have to admit her introduction was a good moment in the chapter, I honestly wanted Fritz to just punch the lights out of Aporon's lackeys for what they did even if it was just embarrassing her and that's really really bad in and on itself.

I can't wait for the next chapter especially that now I'm curious as to what's going to happen with the competition, though we're still far off from then xD

 

[Sweet Veil]

Chapter 2-3: In Seek of Sanctum​

I mean, Reika's Wigglytuff - which she's had for a while - being beat by a Pokémon someone's owned for only two weeks? Thatcher may have been iffy to begin with, but Aporon...

This isn't huge, but being less vague in moments like this would really help make a better impression. Saying that Reika had Wigglytuff for six months give more of an impression of Ina's Glaceon's power than saying she had it for six weeks for example.


Anyway, this was a nice little aftermath chapter. There's is a massive amount in general to comment on so I'll keep things short, Thatcher's Contest shenanigans and winning those ticket and something I'm wondering whether or not will have an impact on anything in the future and, of course, what of the fourth ticket? Also the scene with the Dean, I get the feeling this is all mounting up to something that's right under my nose that I'm not catching. It does seem to be foreshadowing something important though, well aside from the usual antagonist spiel. Liane reappears, well that was unexpected I wonder how things will continue to change from this point on...gotta a theory or two I think.

Onward to the next chapter, it was quite weird to see Ina and Fritz working together considering Reika despises the former for some reason. Aporon's "training" certainly is quite particular, it doesn't seem like Fritz's Pokemon themselves are training to become stronger and Aporon still doesn't come off as a massive jerk-face. He's a bit vain and overbearing at times but doesn't seem to do many fundamentally wrong things, his cronies however are pretty villain-ish and obnoxious. The ending with Phoebe was quite, quite dunno weird. Aporon literally had her as a maid and cleaning things up for them, his philosophy on why he did that seems warped. For a second I thought there might have been some perverted tendencies behind the maid thing but didn't expect to see her going through all that. The battle was entertaining as was seeing the results of Fritz's little vacation from school and the fire.

They protect from assault, but Zooarchaeology has discovered the species did not always have these.

Zoo archaeology

"So it's good for us, right?" Ina said. I jumped a little, not realizing she'd been looking over my shoulder. I hastily put my device away, thankful for her being scatterbrained. "If it doesn't wanna fight-"

Really cute moment for Ina.

"Yeah, just fuckim' enbarrassing." Edgar snorted emotionlessly.

Just some spelling errors, "embarrassing" and should just be "emotionless."

That's it for now, a pair of solid chapters.

 

[AiedailEclipsed]

Oooh, thank you for that tidbit. It's nice to get those! Anywho, onto the chappie! Starts off nice and slow, which is good, I think. You can't have them all going a mile a minute. And Thatcher is adorable as per the usual; though, I wonder what he was trying to say at that first bit of biology. Oh, hey it's the random question mark! Oh, you. Gotta love when those pop out of no where. And hey, it's Cronus being a creeper and popping out of holes in the wall! Gotta love it when he does that.

"She sleeked over to him." Sleeked over to him. Sleeked. Dear God. It's like innuendo incarnated into a word. And lol. She be trying to seduce dem single boys. Scandalous. And the whole "MISTER MEAN TEACHER MAAAAAN" is hilarious (I'm sorry, I'm just a bundle of jokes today). Well, it's hilarious for me, but not for Fritz and co. And it gets better! Gotta love Shugiri either way though. She's my bro. Yay random explosions.

Oh hey, Fritz has to tutor someone in ba- OH MY GOD. ITS ELYNA! Yay! And dear sweet Lord, bless that child. She is just so clueless (Ina, btw). "She fell." "Huh?" "From a cliff." [/deadpan]

ON TO THE BATTLE! Bellossom vs Lapras. I do love it when you customize Pokémons' appearances just slightly. It really gives a certain... charm? To your story. Enough of me being crazy! Not even gonna bother with recapping most of the battle (tl;dr much?) Although, the Stun Spore moment. Priceless. I literally couldn't stop laughing. And a Lapras bitchsmacking Bellossom is now forever imprinted into my mind. Thank you. My life is complete.

Hokay. So, I'm calling it. Ina is officially crazy. I can literally hear the hysterical, demented note in her voice when she talks to Fritz about Round. AND HEY LAPRAS BEING A CREEPER ALL RED EYED AND SHIT. Yay for awkward moments. And woo. Homing orbs of an aquatic nature. But yeah. Irene won, so by proxy Elyna won. Go girly! *waves pompoms* Anywho. I still definitely think this was not my best work. Although, if you do that thing that we talked about with her and him then it'll all come together in the end and I won't feel quite so incompetent. SO DO THE THING YOU WHORE.

Oooh, hey Elyna backstory tidbits. Moving on. I'm just gonna gloss over this last bit which just rings a bit too close to like rape, for my taste. I SENSE A ROMANTIC LOVE INTEREST THOUGH! *gleeful cackle*

Anywho. I loved this chapter. It was great. A nice(ish) battle. Lots of information, character appearances. I'm not sure if I caught any grammatical errors, but I wasn't going over it with a fine tooth comb. On that note, @Gotpika ; The "fuckim' enbarrassing" bit is intentional as it is a play on Edgar's dyslexia. I do look forward to the next chapter though. Isn't this one coming up where we get to see more of the mysterious girl (dear Lord, I need a name for this bitch)? SO TILL NEXT TIME MY DARLING! So probably till tonight, you say?