Disclaimer 1: I don't own Pokemon, but I own the characters and settings in this fanfic, so please don't use them without my permission.
Disclaimer 2: Rated PG for mild innuendo amongst other things.

It was early morning and the grey mist of dawn which covered the sky like a veil of silver was slowly giving way to the light blue of a more civilized time. The silent ambience of a teenager's bedroom was suddenly broken by the loud ringing of an exuberant alarm clock which seemed to possess a pitch loud enough to wake the dead.

"Ah!" came a yelp of surprise from under the covers of a large, red-coloured blanket.

After an initial burst of shock the creature underneath it fell silent, almost as if it were contemplating its next action. The alarm clock, however, was less reserved in its level of noise and continued to mercilessly drone the same, continuous tone of agony into the room.

"Okay, okay!" the boy groaned, sitting up in his bed and kicking away the covers, trying not to strain his eyes from the sudden amount of light they had been exposed to. "I'm up, I'm up!"

Slowly the boy deactivated the alarm before leaping out of bed and pumping his fists in the air in an attempt to psych himself up. It was his first day of Pokemon High today, and he was filled with a mixture of both anxiety and excitement, but most of all, his stomach reminded him of what he was feeling at the forefront of all of this...

Hunger.

"Blaziken!" he could hear the voice of his mother calling to him from the kitchen downstairs. "Come and get your breakfast or you'll be late for school!"

Blaziken quickly checked his reflection in the mirror, brushing his fiery hair and feathers and polishing his beak to give himself a slightly less 'wild' look.

As soon as he was certain he looked the part Blaziken grabbed his black backpack which was sitting idly beside his bed before slinging it over his shoulder and rushing downstairs, where he found his mother, a proud Blaziken with long, flowing red hair and a matching mane placing a bowl of cereal on the breakfast bar where his father was sitting, reading a copy of the Daily Wobbuffet, arguably his favourite newspaper.

Blaziken took a seat and picked up his spoon, eying the cereal in front of him suspiciously.

"Cornflakes again?" he sighed, stabbing the yellow flakes with the curved edge of his spoon.

"Now now Blaziken," his mother insisted as she began to fill the kitchen sink with water, "everybody knows that cornflakes are a staple diet of Blazikens everywhere."

"And they're high in fibre, too." his father added from behind his newspaper.

"Still..." Blaziken mumbled, grudgingly lifting the spoon up into his mouth to take a bite of his breakfast. "It doesn't mean I like them..."

As Blaziken began to crunch his way through the surprisingly refreshing and deceptively low-in-fat cereal the sound of footsteps could be heard walking down the narrow path which ran along the side of the family home. Of course everyone in Blaziken's family knew what this meant and they were never in the least bit surprised when the kitchen door opened up and the familiar face of Blaziken's best friend Sceptile appeared from the back garden.

"Morning Blaziken!" Sceptile greeted the boy, who nodded back with a polite smile. "Mr. Psywave; Mrs. Psywave."

"Good morning, Sceptile, how are you?" Mrs. Psywave replied, refusing to look away from the sink as she continued to wash the dishes that were floating inside of it. "Are you ready for your first day of high school?"

Sceptile was slightly shorter than Blaziken and had an attractive, apple-green hue to his skin. His hair was dark green and flowed out like a mass of leaves from the back of his head, whilst on his arms were vicious-looking blades which could intimidate even the most battle-hardened school bully. He helped himself to a seat at the breakfast bar opposite Blaziken and grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl in the centre of the table, taking an eager bite out of it before speaking.

"Sure am, Mrs. P." he answered eagerly. "Me and Blaziken are gonna be first in line to try out for the football team." Blaziken proceeded to spit out some of his breakfast upon hearing this news. "Dang, I've been looking through the yearbooks and all the cheerleaders at Pokemon High have been total hotties!"

"I never knew you were a football player, Sceptile." Blaziken's father, an impressive-looking Alakazam with a long, flowing yellow mustache and a pair of reading glasses commented as he lowered his newspaper and eyed the Grass-type curiously. "What about your contest club? Is that still going?"

"Oh of course, Mr. P!" Sceptile explained. "The club's still going as strong as ever."

"Ah, that's good." Mr. Psywave responded before shifting the newspaper back in front of his face. "It's good for the kids to know that there's another way to win aside from pumping vitamins and intensely EV-training."

"Oh dear, please," Mrs. Psywave commented from the kitchen sink, refusing to turn her head from the task at hand, "you sound so bitter. Are you still harbouring that grudge from when I beat you in the Pokenational Finals?"

"I'm just saying that there's another way to win, that's all!" Mr. Psywave insisted, lowering his newspaper in protest. "And I'd like to remind you just who has the type advantage, dear!"

"Then shouldn't you have won that match?" Mrs. Psywave chuckled, turning and giving the Psychic-type Pokemon a sly wink.

"Uh, yeah, anyways!" Blaziken coughed, quickly jumping down from the breakfast bar and slinging his backpack over his shoulder. "Thanks for breakfast, see ya!" He quickly grabbed Sceptile's shoulder and dragged him from his chair out into the garden. "C'mon, Sceptile!"

"Uh..." Sceptile managed as he felt Blaziken's powerful arms pulling him through the back door of the Psywave's home. "Bye Mr. and Mrs. P! Nice seeing you!"

Morning had not quite arrived and the walk from home to school was a quiet and peaceful one. The birds could be heard singing gently from the tops of trees and telephone cables as the Fire-type and his companion made their way across the sidewalk under the gentle caress of the slowly-rising sun.

"Sorry about that." Blaziken sighed as his eyes trailed the passing sidewalk underneath his feet. "I didn't wanna subject you to another of my parent's flirting matches."

"Ah, it's all good." Sceptile replied, stretching his arms up and behind his head lazily. "I didn't wanna be late for my first day of high school anyway."

There was a brief pause as the two continued to walk towards their destination, a single car passing them by from the distant road before Sceptile spoke up again.

"So, you nervous?"

"Heh, me?" Blaziken chuckled. "Why would I be nervous? It's just a new school."

"Yeah, I guess you're right..." Sceptile added, before stopping outside a small cul-de-sac. "You think he's still asleep?"

"Hey, this is Swampert we're talking about." Blaziken laughed, taking a step towards one of the houses at the farthest end of the cul-de-sac. "He'll probably be mad that we interrupted one of his favourite dreams or something."

It was a quaint house in a quiet neighbourhood, though the railway station was only a short distance across the hill from them and its tracks encroached on the nearby main road. Of course Swampert didn't mind this at all, as he loved public transportation and used it frequently to travel downtown where the local comic book store awaited his perusal every Saturday. Blaziken and Sceptile, however, were always less than thrilled by the prospect of a train ride when they could easily walk instead.

Sceptile quickly and stealthily hopped from the main sidewalk into the side garden of his friend's house with a silence and a cautiousness which would traditionally be reserved for a military operation. Blaziken simply watched him from the sidelines, yawning absent-mindedly as the engines of a passenger plane could be heard rumbling far above them in the distant sky.

"Yo, Swampert!" Sceptile called as gently as he could towards the upper balcony where Swampert's room was. "C'mon, you don't wanna be late for school, do you?"

There was a reply in the form of a groan from the other side of the darkened curtains as a bed's springs could be heard creaking uneasily.

"Aww, can't I just wait for the bus you guys...?" came a gravelly voice which sounded so sleepy Blaziken could've sworn its owner had been heavily tranquilized by Safari-grade stun-gun darts.

"The bus is for losers, Swampert!" Sceptile snapped, his voice considerably louder now. "Losers and wannabe shinies!"

"I'm not a wannabe shiny..." Swampert yawned in reply, his blue head suddenly peeping through the curtains over the balcony and staring blankly at Sceptile, who grinned back in response. "Okay okay, gimme a minute you guys..."

"Well that was surprisingly easy..." Blaziken mused as he watched Sceptile leap back elegantly onto the sidewalk, scanning the area as if fearing that they were being spied on.

This was not unusual behaviour for Sceptile, as he had always aspired to be a ninja ever since he was a little Treecko. Blaziken had often explained to him that ninjas were not in high demand during this day and age and even if he could find a job for the position he would likely be extremely underpaid for such a high-risk occupation. But Sceptile would have none of it and would simply respond by tightening his fake metal headband with a bizarre picture of a curly leaf embossed on the front and yelling "I'm a ninja, ninja, ninja! Believe it!!".

Soon enough Swampert ran out of the house, a candy bar in his left hand and a Venomoth-eaten black backpack slung over his right shoulder. Lazily he walked over to the sidewalk where Blaziken and Sceptile were waiting and waved goodbye to his Mom, who was standing on the front porch smiling proudly.

"Morning Blaziken." Swampert yawned in greeting to his friend.

"Sup, Swampert." Blaziken replied as the three of them turned and exited the cul-de-sac, their next destination firmly in mind - Pokemon High.

The trio of friends continued their walk towards their new school - the streets had become somewhat busier now and several school students were sharing the sidewalk in their attempts to get inside the gates and avoid being tardy. Blaziken, Sceptile and Swampert were not in the least bit worried about such a predicament, however - Blaziken and Sceptile didn't care about the consequences, and Swampert was still too tired to consider them.

"So are you guys ready for our first day of high school?" Swampert spoke up, idly throwing away his candy wrapper into an open trash can at the side of the road.

"Ready and waiting!" Sceptile laughed, punching the air as if preparing for a boxing match. "I can't wait for my first battling practice!"

"What about you, Blaziken?" Swampert continued, prompting Blaziken to abandon his silent stance and speak up.

"Me?" he replied, thinking to himself as they continued to walk, the gates of the school now visible at the end of the hill. "I don't really know what all the big fuss is about. I mean... It's just school, right?"

"Not just any school, Blaziken!" Sceptile argued, assuming the role of a professor who was about to lecture his student on something completely pointless and irrelevant. "HIGH school! Just think... Cheerleaders, football teams, nerds getting shoved in lockers, prom night, hot teachers... The list is endless!"

"I..." Blaziken stammered, raising an eyebrow at his friend's aspirations of high school. "I think you've been watching too many high school movies, Sceptile."

Swampert laughed at this comment and Blaziken could tell that he had finally woken up and was ready to face the day.

"What about you, Swampert?" Blaziken questioned. "Are you nervous or anything like that?"

"Nah..." Swampert answered plainly. "I just wanna get home tonight and play on my DS. I'm on the fourth case in Phoenix Wright!"

"Phoenix Wright?" Sceptile repeated. "Man, good game. I need to get the second one."

"Yeah and the third one just came out, too!" Swampert continued, suddenly filled with excitement from all this discussion about video games. "I can't wait 'til I beat the first two so I can play that one next!"

"Heh..." Blaziken chuckled to himself as they finally reached the gates of Pokemon High. "Let's just hope we all survive today so we can finally get that 'not guilty' verdict..."

School had started in the usual way - the freshmen had all been rounded up into one large group of Pokemon and sent into the auditorium, where they were to hear a welcome speech by the principal. The room was crowded with numerous Pokemon and Blaziken was in no position to count them all. Some of them he had never even seen before, though a few others he recognised from his days in middle school. Despite feeling a sense of familiarity with some of the Pokemon he and his two friends had no time to talk, since the wave of students continued to push them all further and further inside the auditorium until everyone had been accommodated.

An awkward silence fell upon the huddled crowd of freshmen as they nervously awaited something to happen. Swampert felt his stomach growling lightly and he flashed a glare at Sceptile in response.

"I knew I needed more than a candy bar for breakfast..." he groaned, causing Sceptile to shrug uneasily.

Suddenly the unmistakable sound of psychic waves could be heard coming from the main, raised platform where a microphone stand stood waiting idly for somebody to use it. Most of the students had by now heard the noise and began to turn their heads, looking for its source. Blaziken was entirely familiar with such sounds - his father was a powerful Alakazam, after all - and could immediately tell that somebody was entering the stage directly from the left-hand side.

Sure enough the pale-white figure of a tall, slender humanoid was levitating its way across the stage and towards the microphone where it eventually stopped, turning to face the audience as it slowly opened its glittering, purple eyes and took in the sight of the crowd, a warm smile slowly creeping across its face.

"Welcome, new students of Pokemon High!" the Pokemon greeted, extending its white arms far apart to its side as if to embrace the entire collection of Pokemon in one big hug. "I am your principal - Principal Mewtwo - and I am thrilled to begin another exciting school year with such energetic and intelligent young Pokemon!"

Blaziken watched the Pokemon carefully - Principal Mewtwo was a highly respected figure of Pokemon City's community, and he was often found taking walks in the city's large park and recreation area where he would fund such local community service operations including litter removal and sheltering of the homeless. He was traditionally seen in his favourite black suit which had become a symbolic icon in the city, as he was the owner of several large companies spread across the entire region. Though everyone was aware of the existence of these companies, nobody was entirely sure what they did.

Nobody ever questioned Principal Mewtwo, though. Why would they? He was a pillar of the community and everybody respected him. Whatever his businesses were for, there was no question that they were for the good of society.

"I'm pleased to announce that this year's freshmen test results were the best yet!" Principal Mewtwo continued his speech in an incredibly charismatic way which had even sleepy Pokemon like Swampert captivated by every syllable. "You young folks haven't even attended a single day of classes yet and already you're setting new records here at Pokemon High! Let's continue to do our best and make this a record-setting year in every respect! And if you ever need help or feel you need to talk to somebody I want to reassure you that I am always in my office and happy to hear your concerns! Don't be afraid - I may be Principal Mewtwo, but I'll always just be Mewtwo to my fellow students!"

Blaziken smiled as he watched the principal gracefully bow before hovering to the stage's exit on his right, only to be replaced by a line of teachers who began to recite names alphabetically from a list, presumably in order to organize their homeroom classes. Principal Mewtwo really did seem like a nice guy and already, after only a few minutes into his first day, Blaziken felt at home in his new school.

He wasn't sure that it was going to be as exciting as Sceptile was hoping it would be, but he had a feeling that he was going to make a few memories during his time here...