A New And Good Day To Make Friends
By: Alpha29King
Summary: Sequel to 'Moving Day'. Kenta goes to his first day of school, a few weeks after he and his mother arrived to town. His mother had acquired herself a job. What is it? Will they and their Pokemon survive the day?
Kenta and his mother, Fumio, sat on the third story balcony of their chateau, which happened to be the size of two tennis courts, and had breakfast while they enjoyed the view of their now perfect massive backyard. Fumio bit into her buttered toast as she noticed Annabel, Warrior, and her female Vaporeon, Aqua, swimming in the gigantic pool. Ace was flying high with her flyers, Tornado the Pidgeot, Spring the Beautifly, Cyclone the Staraptor, and Wildfire the Volcarona. Her SHINY female Shuckle, Patty, was on the table nibbling on her piece of buttered toast, while her Purrloin, Kikki, was curled up on her lap. Being predictable as always, Asami and Kimiko were at Kenta's side. She could see the rest of their Pokemon enjoying themselves.
"These past two weeks were hell," Fumio groan. "That backyard was in worst condition than what I imagined it would be."
Kenta and his Pokemon shivered as they remember the torture they went through to clean it up.
"The pool and the fountains were like swamps." Kenta plopped a piece of sausage into mouth. "It took me a whole week to scrub all that muck and slime that was sticking to the pool. The fountains were easy though."
He was telling the truth. It took another week to cut down the overgrown grass, pull the weeds from the flower beds and bring them back to life, trim the hedgerows, and polish the statues. The easy part was putting some new nets on the basketball baskets and the tennis court. His mother threw out all the old comforters, sheets and pillows of every bed in the estate, then went shopping for new ones. She had her Pokemon, Lady Lilac the Miltank, Kyoru the Ursaring, Peter the Sawk, and Violet the Gothitelle, dust out the mattresses. Kenta and Fumio took the bedrooms closest to the stairs.
"Don't forget, Kenta. You start school on Monday," she reminded him.
"Argh…" Kenta groaned, completely forgetting about. "Thankfully today's Thursday. I just hope nobody gets freaked out because of my eyes."
"Don't worry about it now." She got up, picking the dirty dishes and placing them on a polished silver tray she had found in a kitchen cabinet, and headed inside. "We still need to make this place more homely. I found this thrift store yesterday that had a beautiful mahogany china cabinet full of high-quality chinaware and crystal ware for really cheap."
"Mom…" Kenta called after his mother after following her inside. "Does the school require uniforms?"
"Yes it does," she replied. "But don't worry though, I've already got yours when I enrolled you."
"Ahh, come on! I thought I was through with uniforms," he muttered with a grimace as he made it to the first floor.
"No use complaining about it now," she advised, grabbing her purse and heading for the door. "Now let's go."
"Alright…" Kenta grumbled as he grabbed cap from the hat rack. "I just hope that no more annoying trainers challenge me to battles."
Asami followed close behind and Kimiko climbed onto Kenta's shoulder. Kyoru and Peter were right behind his mother. Locking the gate behind him, Kenta followed his mother into the streets of Moon Shore. Kenta racked his brain as he tried remembering where every business was located in the city.
The two and a half weeks they have been living there, they found out that Moon Shore wasn't a normal city. It was huge, but there were no skyscrapers or any building over six stories high, unless it was a grand hotel. And Moon shore had four of them, and they were all six to eight stories high. There were three schools. A high school, a middle school, and an elementary school, which also contained the kindergarten and the preschool. There was even a college/university. The beach did have some adequate surfing and there were no piers, wharves, or docks. Kenta was able to locate the gym. It was next to a small hill that had a house built at the top. The park was also the plaza. Open areas for battling were spread all over the park and plaza. Luckily for them, a grocery store was only two blocks from their house.
On their ventures into the city, Fumio and Kenta have met a lot of people. They have even come across Karin again. She had even showed them all the best places to eat. The Officer Jenny here was a bit weird, but Nurse Joy was as kind as the rest. The mayor was cool. He reminded Kenta of Drayden, the Opelucid City gym leader back in Unova. Kenta wasn't just tired of the Pokemon battles because punk trainers wanted to see how strong the strange (Unova) Pokemon were and gone home crying foul when they have lost. The female trainers in town kept asking if he was willing trade Asami for one of their Pokemon. Nevertheless, of course, Kenta refused all their offers. Though, he has yet to meet the gym leader.
After twenty minutes of walking, Kenta and Fumio made it to the thrift store she had mentioned. Fumio went inside and he sighed before entering as well. They were greeted by the cheerful business owner.
"Welcome to my little shop," the owner smiled. "And good morning to you."
"Thank you," Fumio accepted the greeting. "My son and I will be taking that china cabinet and set. Ain't that right Kenta? …Kenta?"
Fumio turned around and saw her son browsing through the clothing racks full of shirts, picking out what he liked. Then he moved onto the shelves of pants. Kenta ended up picking fifteen graphic t-shirts, six pairs of pants, two trainer caps, a black leather trainer's belt, and three pairs of fingerless gloves of different colors.
"I'll take these," Kenta said, putting his choices on the counter. "And how much for those red wagons?"
The owner and Fumio looked at where Kenta was pointing and spotted the two wagons that he had mentioned. The lady told him the price and he went to get them.
"Why do you need both of them, Kenta?" Fumio wondered.
"Kyoru and Peter are going to be carrying the cabinet, so why not put its contents into the wagons so that they don't break," Kenta reasoned.
Fumio knew he had a point, so with a little help from the shop's owner, the cabinet was emptied and the wagons filled. With everything paid for, the Ursaring and Sawk carried the large piece of furniture out of the store, while Kenta and Fumio each pulled a wagon, heading for home. Once it was home and placed in the dining room, Fumio arranged the chinaware and crystal ware inside with help from her Gothitelle, as Kenta ran upstairs to his room to put his purchases away, then took the wagons to the backyard. After she was done, she and her son headed out again.
"Now where're we going?" Kenta asked, locking the gate again.
"Grocery shopping," she replied. "With that walk-in fridge and pantry, we need to fill them up."
"Alright," he sighed. "C'mon Asami."
"Li Lilli Lilligant," Asami squeaked as she ran after her master.
It took them three minutes to reach the grocery store, an hour to get everything they needed, another three minutes walked back home, and an hour and a half to put all the food away. Even after countless shopping trips, Kenta still had a LOT of money left. At lunchtime, Kenta studied the school's rules as he ate his sandwich. He did not like the rule about no Pokemon allowed on campus, but somehow he knew that some of the other students snuck their Pokemon in. He still had a way to keep Asami and Kimiko with him.
That night, Kenta filled the backpack he used on his journey through the Unova Region with the things he would need for school. It was black-and-red with blue straps and covered with patches that looked like the ten badges of the Unova League. Once everything was ready, he went to sleep with his two primary Pokemon snuggling close to him.
Monday morning, Kenta woke up and stretched, Asami mimicking him perfectly. People did say that after a while, Pokemon will start acting like their trainers, and boy were they right. After a quick shower, he changed into his school uniform, which was made up of a pair of black slacks, a white button-up and a black jacket with a red trim around the collar. Luckily, the jacket reached low enough to perfectly hide his trainer belt. Grabbing his freshly washed cap that he had worn on his journey and his backpack, Kenta walked out of the room with his Lilligant and Zorua in tow, and headed downstairs for breakfast.
"Morning, Mom," groaned as he stumbled into the kitchen, tying to remove the remaining drowsiness. "What's for breakfast?"
"Waffles," she replied, turning from the counter where a waffle iron she had bought the day before sat, carrying a two plates stacked high and placed them on the table. "Now eat up so you could get going for your first day of school, and I can head for work."
"You still haven't told me what your job is." He shoved a forkful of waffle into his mouth.
"I'm the bait maker for the Safari Zone, but since the entire park is being remodeled, I'm to be cooking for the construction workers and their Pokemon until the job's finished. And it's only a twenty-minute train ride west," Fumio said before taking a sip from her coffee. "Oh, I almost forgot. I scheduled some driving lessons for me."
"Just be careful," Kenta warned, sipping from his milk. "You've been harassed in three of your four jobs back in Unova. The first two you quit and the third one was shut down after you complained to the police."
"Don't worry, Kenta," the boy's mother smiled. "I'll be fine. Besides, I'm gonna have some of my Pokemon with me anyway. And I'll be home about an hour after you get back from school"
"Okay," the boy sighed.
They finished their breakfast a few minutes later with little conversation. Fumio grabbed five Pokeballs and put them in her purse. Her chosen Pokemon to go with her were Kyoru, Peter, Wildfire, Electro the Electivire, and Harley the Bisharp. Kenta returned Asami and Kimiko to their Pokeballs, attached them and the other original four to his belt, and slipped the other six into his pants pockets. Three in each pocket. Then he buttoned up his jacket. They walked out of the house and Kenta locked the door and the gate as Fumio headed for the train station. When he finished locking the gate, Kenta sighed and walked off to get to school.
On the way to the elementary school, Kenta saw many other kids heading there too. Many of them noticed Kenta and were giving him weird looks, but he was not bothered by it at all, since he got plenty of that back in Striaton City. He took notice that all of them had Pokemon with them. Reaching under the jacket, he plucked Asami's Love Ball from his belt and unleashed the Lilligant. The Flowering Pokemon was happy to be out and she sang a tuneless melody as she walked beside her master, not noticing the looks from the other kids. Ten minutes later, Kenta saw the school as he neared it and coaxed his starter back into the pink sphere.
Upon reaching his destination, the glaring orangette asked for directions to the principal's office. Once there, he waited for his teacher to show up. When she did finally appear, she introduced herself as Mrs. Shirai. After the quick introduction, she escorted Kenta to her class, which was on the fourth floor, just as the bell rang. She ushered him into the room full of awaiting students and she headed directly for her desk.
"Alright everybody, settle down!" the teacher ordered and they all did. "We have a new student joining us today! Give a warm welcome to Kenta Usui!"
"Good morning, Kenta Usui!" the students greeted.
"Why not say a few things about yourself, Mr. Usui?" Shirai asked.
"Like what?" Kenta asked facing the teacher.
"Like… Where did you come from? What is your favorite color, food, or TV show? Stuff like that."
Kenta turned back to his new classmates and sighed. "I moved to Moon Shore from Striaton City in the Unova Region with my mom. I competed in the Unova League and came in second place with my best friend and rival taking first. I started with a common Pokemon and not a starter from that region. I only have twelve Pokemon. My favorite color is green. I have no favorite food. I don't have a favorite show since I spend most of my time either reading, training or playing with my Pokemon. And I also have no favorite type or species of Pokemon."
"Where's the Unova Region?" a girl asked after raising her hand.
"Far," Kenta said.
"What's the Unova Region like?" a boy wondered.
"Different," Kenta answered. "Very different."
"Why'd you move into the haunted manor?" another boy asked.
Kenta growled lowly in irritation since kept getting asked that, then he replied. "It wasn't haunted. There was only a bunch ghost-type Pokemon living in there. My mom and I managed to kick them all out in a few hours after entering it."
The question continued for about five more minutes before the teacher finally spoke. "You can sit in that empty desk by the window and behind Karin."
"Huh?!" Karin almost leapt out of her chair when she heard the teacher.
"And Mr. Usui," Mrs Shirai said before Kenta started walking. "Feel free to unleash a Pokemon as long as it's well trained and it's small. I'm more lax about that 'No Pokemon' rule."
Confused, Kenta looked at the other students and noticed that they all released one Pokemon each. There were all different species of monsters. Looking back at the teacher, he saw that she also had a Pokemon out, which was a Purugly, if he remembered correctly from what his mother told him.
With a sigh, Kenta walked to his assigned desk and sat down, then noticed the stares from his classmates. They wanted to see what pokemon he was going bring out. He thought about it for a while, before deciding to stay simple. He plucked the pink Pokeball with the heart from his belt and unleashed his first Pokemon, Asami the Lilligant. Then more question popped up when the other kids saw the grass-type.
"What is it?"
"What's its type?"
"What's its name?"
"Where'd you get it?"
"Can I battle it?"
With another sigh, Kenta answered them. "This is a Lilligant, a grass-type. It's an all-female species and her name is Asami. She is also my first Pokemon, and I caught her when I was six. And no, you can't battle her."
"Aw, man," the boy that wanted to battle, whined.
"Settle down, everybody," the teacher ordered. "Now take out you math books and go to page 20 and solve all the problems. And you must show your work, don't just write the answers."
Kenta pulled the required textbook, a notebook, and a pencil from his backpack. When he opened the book to the requested page and noticed that there were fifty problems, a mix of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, Asami stood there patiently as she waited for her trainer to be finished. With curiosity starting to get the best of her, while still staying by Kenta's side, she slowly spun around to see the room. Many of the new unknown Pokemon were small enough to be on the heads, shoulders, and laps of their individual trainers. Some of the Pokemon curled up underneath the desks' seats and napped. Knowing that it would take a while before her master was finished, Asami sat down with her back resting against Kenta's calf, and fell asleep. Kenta was halfway through his work when he finally noticed that his starter was napping.
Only one thing crossed his mind when he remembered what Asami's face looked like when she slept. 'Cute…'
Fumio followed her new boss, the warden, as he showed around the Safari Zone's main building.
His name was Walter Whitefur. He was a young man in his mid-twenties with blue eyes and medium white hair in a ponytail that reached just between his shoulder blades. The suit he wore did not a single wrinkle and was smooth. The man surprised Fumio when she noticed that he was not wearing leather shoes, but instead was sporting a pair of blue-and-white sneakers. His tie was not plain, but was covered with pictures of Pokeballs, Great Balls, and Ultra Balls. A gold wedding ring rode his finger. One of his Pokemon, an Umbreon, was out and followed close behind.
"…and this is the kitchen," the boss said as they walked through some swinging doors. "You'll be making the bait cubes for the customers to use when they come. But since the park is being completely remodeled, as well as adding a new separate area, you be making lunch for the workers and kibble bits for the feeders that are scattered all over the Safari Zone."
"Alright," she nodded understanding the job.
"Here." He handed her a piece of paper.
"What's this?" Fumio asked as she took the paper.
"The schedule," Walter replied. "It shows the hours at which we open and closed. Which days we're closed. And all the special events held here in Safari Central. We'll be holding a very special event only for my employees, the workers and their families. Since you're one of my employees now, you and your son can come."
"Thanks," she said as she slipped the paper into her purse.
"No problem. Now…" he looked around the kitchen for somebody. "Ah, Alice, come here a second. I need your assistance."
A young woman with green eyes and long black hair pulled back in a ponytail, and sporting oval glasses and a white uniform approached them. A patch with the region's logo rode on her left sleeve. She was in her mid-twenties and rather serious-looking. She wore no make-up and was… well… well-endowed.
"What do you need, sir?" Alice asked upon reaching them.
"I need you to show Miss Usui the ropes around here," Walter said. "Can you do that?"
"Yes sir," the green-eyed woman nodded.
"Excellent," he smiled and turned to leave. "See ya later, ladies."
Leaving the two women in the kitchen, Warden Walter disappeared behind the swinging doors.
"Well, Miss Usui, would you please follow me," Alice said facing Fumio. "We need to get you started."
After getting Fumio her own uniform and locker, the dark-haired woman showed her, her workstation. Today's lunch was simple sandwiches made of ham, cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes. While Fumio and Alice made them and placed them onto trays, another member from the kitchen staff would come and picked them up. Then that person would cover the sandwiches in plastic wrap and put them into coolers. In the end, they made almost a thousand sandwiches. Afterward, they started making the kibble bits that would go into the park feeders.
"How many feeders are in the Safari Zone?" Fumio asked as she set a freshly baked batch of kibble to cool.
"A little under five-hundred," Alice said filling a sack with a batch of already cooled Poke-chow. "The new area is going to have a hundred-and-fifty feeders. And each feeder holds about a hundred-and-twenty pounds of chow."
"We have to make a lot of chow, huh?" Kenta's mother wondered.
"We don't do it alone," the bespectacled woman said looking at the digital clock on the wall behind Fumio. "We only have to make a certain amount. The other cooks must make another amount. When we're done, the patrol will take it to the feeders. Now c'mon, let's go, it's almost lunchtime."
After putting their last cooled batches for the moment into the sacks, they walked out of the kitchen and out of the building, pulling a cooler full of sandwiches each. Once outside, they set the big plastic boxes with wheels in a picnic area and opened them. Somebody else brought chips and soda and started handing them out to the construction workers as they went to get sandwiches. Fumio grabbed two sandwiches for herself and grabbed a bag of BBQ potato chips and a can of soda. After sitting at one of the picnic tables, Alice joined her.
"Are they renovating only the Safari Zone or all of Safari Central?" Fumio as when she noticed many different projects going on.
"Safari Central is being renovated and updated," Alice explained as she unwrapped a sandwich. "With the professor and a few gym leaders going into retirement, the league decided to start working on the projects its been putting aside."
"Oh," Fumio understood, and then she remembered something. "It's time for lunch, guys."
She unleashed her five Pokemon and started feeding them. Peter, Harley, and Wildfire started getting weird looked from everybody, but did not care. As they ate their food, their trainer bit into her own sandwich.
"You've been to Unova?" Alice asked suddenly.
Fumio nodded before swallowing. "I just moved from Striaton City with my son, Kenta, and now live in Moon Shore. Why'd you ask?"
"Those three Pokemon are from Unova," the slightly younger woman pointed at the Sawk, Bisharp, and Volcarona.
"Yeah, so?" the Usui said before taking another bite from her sandwich.
"The Safari Zone just shipped in a bunch of Unova Pokemon and placed them in the new area of the park," Alice explained. "It's not just the Highland Region doing this. Star, Zodiac, Copper, Soul, and Teak are also renovating their own Safari Zones. Plus I hear that the Star Region's Safari Zone is running into a few problems."
"What kind of problems?" Fumio wondered.
"I have no idea," Alice shook her head.
"Hmmm…" Fumio thought for a moment. 'I wonder what kind of problem it is.'
Kenta sat under a tree as he rested during lunch. He had already eaten his lunch, which was spaghetti, two breadsticks, a ladleful of salad with ranch, and a carton of milk. Sure, the line in the cafeteria was long, but it went through quickly. He only had to wait for about two minutes. Of course, like every other student in the school, he had to return his Pokemon to its Pokeball. After getting his tray with food, Kenta ate by himself. Once the food was gone, he left the tray near the trashcan and exited the building.
'I wish I'd brought my MP3 with me,' Kenta groaned at the thought. 'I'm so bored.'
"Hey!" someone called out to him.
"Hmmm?" he turned to face the person.
It was a boy with short blonde hair. He was a student in his class. Kenta never got a good look at his face to what color his eyes were. He was also the top student in the class and a bit of a flirt.
"What do you want?" Kenta asked him.
"My name is Winner Sinclair," the boy introduced himself. "And I challenge you to a Pokemon battle."
"No," the orangette bluntly replied.
"Why not?" Winner whined.
"I don't feel like it," Kenta relaxed back once more. "Besides, you don't stand a chance, and I don't want you saying that I cheated when I beat you fair and square. Plus, Pokemon are forbidden in school."
"No I won't!" the blonde boy stomped his foot.
"Just give him the battle," Karin suggested upon appearing out of nowhere. "He won't stop asking until you do."
"Fine," Kenta sighed in frustration as he rubbed the back of his head. "But don't say I didn't warn you."
"Excellent," Winner was almost giddy. "Let's to go to the soccer field and battle there."
It was a short walk to field at the rear of the school. They each took a side of the giant center circle. Karin and a few of her friends gathered. It seemed like Ms. Shirai had caught wind and volunteered to referee the match. All they hoped for now was that the principal does not figure out what was going on.
"This is a one-on-one battle," the teacher explained the rules. "Got it?"
"Hn," Kenta nodded.
"Understood," Winner answered with an overdramatic bow.
"Alright! Choose your Pokemon!"
"Kerosene! Let's go!" Winner released a large monkey with fire on its head.
After quickly using his Pokedex to identify it as an Infernape, Kenta unleashed his choice. "Kimiko! It's show time!"
"What is that?" Karin asked from where she was.
"Kimiko is a Zorua," Kenta said. "She's a dark-type."
He noticed how the girls stiffened up at mention of the black fox's type.
"Enough chitchat! Mach Punch!" Winner ordered.
The Infernape's fist glowed and it rushed the Zorua at high speed.
"Grass Knot," Kenta instructed.
Kimiko's eyes glow green and tied some grass and tripped the incoming monkey.
"Argh!" the blonde trainer groaned. "Get up Kerosene and use Flamethrower!"
"Dodge and use Attract," Kenta suggested.
Right as the stream of fire reached Kimiko, she jumped. While in mid air, she winked, sending a line of little pink hearts. The hearts surrounded Kerosene before closing in and making contact with his body. Now, the Infernape was in love with the Zorua.
"Snap out of it!" Winner told his Pokemon.
"It ends here," Kenta declared and the Tricky Fox laughed. "Kimiko, let's finish this with Return."
The Zorua rushed in and started pummeling the incapacitated monkey. Return was powerful if the bond between Pokemon and trainer was high enough. And since Kimiko has been with Kenta for almost three years, the attack was devastating. When assault was over, Kerosene laid there, unconscious.
"Kenta takes the match," Ms. Shirai declared. "Now let's get out of here before the principal gets here."
Kenta returned Kimiko the Luxury Ball and walked back to the tree where he was sitting under earlier. There, he waited for the bell.
'What a pain in the ass this day has turned out to be…'
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