The Mascot

Mike, pretty good job today, but make sure you work on your balance some more. You'll be able to perform much better if you can get yourself adjusted to your height. Gymnastics are going to be a bit more difficult for you since you're taller now, but I know you'll pull through. We're going jogging at six A.M. sharp, so be prepared. Bring Electabuzz and I'll have Vigoroth help him out. See ya then. - Elyse

Mike Snowe read over the message that his friend had sent to him on the pokégear and nearly collapsed on the grass in his backyard. Elyse's exercise routines were brutal, but she was the only one he knew who could help him. The fourteen year old boy had grown several inches over the past year, most noticeably over the course of the summer, and was having trouble performing most of his stunts that he carried out as the mascot for Saffron Trainers School.

He remembered how he had tried out to be on the school's battling team two years earlier at the age of twelve, but had been outclassed by all of his friends. It wasn't that he was a bad trainer by any means, it was just that all of his friends were much better. Still, the coach knew of his gymnastic background and that, combined with the fact that he was the only one who was small enough to fit inside the costume, resulted in Mike becoming Polly the Poliwhirl. The coach said that he was the only one with the 'charisma' to pull off such a 'prestigious' task, but Mike thought that he was full of hot air. The boy was reluctant to do the job at first, but overtime started to enjoy being the school's mascot. He still wanted to be the best trainer in Saffron, but there was no reason why he couldn't have fun while he worked towards that goal.

"Elek-I mean, Electabuzz," Mike said to the Pokémon fumbling around by the tree. "I think Elyse McKinley is trying to kill me."

Electabuzz attempted to walk towards his trainer, but almost immediately tripped and crashed into Mike, sending them both tumbling onto the grass. Mike dug the twigs and leaves out of his mop of light brown hair and helped Electabuzz to his feet. He had only recently evolved and Mike felt as if the two of them were basically experiencing the same thing in trying to get adjusted to their new sizes.

"Hey, Mike! You here?!"

"Yeah!" he called back to the voice. "Just let me open the-

"Kadabra, teleport!"

In a flash, Mike found himself staring face-to-face with his oldest friend, Ellie Morris, and her Kadabra. He stumbled back a bit from the shock of the teleportation, but managed to keep himself from tripping as Ellie let out a few snickers. She knew that he hated when she used Kadabra to teleport directly in front of him, so of course she did it as often as she could.

"You know, Ellie, you could have just wait for me to open the-"

"Mike!"

He heard the sound of someone beating on the gate, but before he could go to open it, the boy on the other side, decided to jump over the gate. While his Gabite landed on his feet, Drake did not fare so well and ended up falling on his face. Ellie went over to help him to his feet as he knocked the grass out of his tanned face.

"Well, Drake, it looks like I beat you racing to the arcade," Ellie started. "And then I beat you at the arcade, and then I beat you to Mike's house."

"But you can't beat me in battle, spiky-hair," Drake replied smoothly with a grin on his face. "Nothing else even matters."

"He does have a point," Mike added.

It had been the same since they were four years old. Drake couldn't beat Ellie in anything be it racing, grades, or even pie-eating competitions. Luckily for Drake, there was one exception, and that was battling. Drake was possibly the best battler in their year with others on the school's battling team like Ellie, Elyse, and Loki Del Grove close behind him. However, once Gible had evolved into Gabite, Drake had practically left the others in the dust. Despite the fact that some of their Pokémon eventually managed to evolve as well, it was still quite the challenge to go up against Drake Hicks.

"Coach put both of us on the upper school's intermediate team," Drake explained, removing the remaining dirt from his curly, dark hair. "Elyse and Loki made it on yesterday."

"Speaking of Elyse..." Ellie continued as she looked Mike over, her emerald green eyes narrowing as she noticed the state of her friend's condition. "It looks like she's been working you to the bone."

"Yeah, she's tough..." Mike replied, turning his attention to Electabuzz, who was now arm wrestling with Gabite while Kadabra refereed. "But she's the only one of our friends who really knows gymnastics."

"You just better make sure you're not spending too much time with her," Drake teased. "The last thing you want to do is piss Relena off. We all know from experience that she can scrap like an actual fighting type."

Mike let out a laugh at Drake's comparison. Relena Serene was the fourth member of their group, she and Mike having become a couple at the end of their first year at S.T.S. Relena was a skilled coordinator, but she was primarily known throughout the school for her terrible temper. For the most part, her default mood was relatively benign until someone managed to upset her. After that, all bets were off and she could easily cross the line into being completely irrational. It didn't help that she knew how to fight better than her Pokémon. Mike and Ellie could cool her down, but the only thing that could truly calm her was music. She was eventually required to see a psychiatrist or risk losing her trainer's license which Mike thought was a bit overboard.

"Relena should be out from coordinating team tryouts," Ellie told the boys. "She said she would meet us at Big Bidoof's. You guys ready to head off?"

"Sure," Drake said. "Mike, wanna tell your folks to lock the gate?"

Mike shook his head. "They won't know I'm gone. Mom's probably in there trying outfits on the baby while Dad takes pictures. The only member of my family who even knows I exist anymore is Julie and she's already left back for school. Whatever though, I don't care."

"Alright then..." Ellie stated, hoping to drop the topic. "Kadabra, let's go."

The Pokémon were too busy with their field games. Electabuzz and Gabite appeared to be sparring with one another and Mike could swear that they were actually trash talking each other. Kadabra was making his way inside the tree house and Mike could only imagine what he planned to do once he was in.

"Eh, they're having fun," Drake said. "Let's leave them here. We have other Pokémon if we get into anything."

Mike was reluctant to leave without Electabuzz. Crobat wasn't the issue as she was always well-behaved, but Wartortle had been acting extremely moody lately. It was easier to control an erratic Pokémon with another Pokémon that had a type advantage over it, but if push came to shove, Crobat could more than handle herself. Mike wondered if he was being paranoid. It was not as if Wartortle had actually done anything wrong, so there was not really any real issue to worry about.

"Alright, let's go then," he agreed. "Hey, Electabuzz, we'll be back soon!"

If there was one thing that could cheer Mike up after a long, backbreaking, day of training was seeing Relena smiling at him. He thought she was much prettier when she didn't have such a nasty scowl on her face. Although, Relena would be a beauty regardless. She had long, wavy blonde hair with a few streaks dyed brown, deep blue eyes, and slightly pale skin. Like Mike, she had gotten a bit taller, though not anywhere near the same effect as him. Most of Relena's growth had really taken place in other areas which Mike quickly took notice of, though he made a conscious effort not to ogle.

She had gotten their usual booth for them at Big Bidoof's Burgers, the local hangout for the students that attended S.T.S. Mike had good memories of the place, mostly the delicious fried foods that Elyse unsuccessfully tried to limit him from. There were also bad memories as Mike could not-so-fondly remember all the altercations he had inside the restaurant with the school bullies two years ago. He hadn't seen any of them around in a while, but knew that their paths would cross once again when he started attending the upper school. However, he quickly pushed that thought out of his mind as he, Ellie, and Drake took their seats.

"I paid for all your food," Relena remarked as they sat down. "You're welcome."

"Thanks, Rel," Drake said, his mouth already half full with his burger.

"Slow down, Drake, you're going to choke," Relena joked as she turned to face Mike. "Babe, are you okay? You look half-dead. I'd hate to have to go and introduce Elyse to the concrete."

"I'm fine," Mike answered. "How was coordinating tryouts."

"Good news and bad news," Relena said. "The good news is that Togetic was so amazing at tryouts that I was the first one to make the team. The bad news is-"

"Felicity?" Ellie finished and Relena nodded her head. "We can relate. Drake and I are going to have to deal with Johnny and Xander...and Nat..."

That last name Ellie spat with venom that Mike found even scarier than Relena's outbursts. Of course, he thought she was completely justified considering what had happened between Ellie and Nathaniel St. James last year. It seemed that old problems would rear their heads once more.

"Don't look now, Mike," Drake suddenly interjected and pointed at a small table across the restaurant. "But the 'Prince of Darkness' and his girl are sitting right over there. And he's giving you the murder eyes."

Mike sighed in irritation and turned to face the person that Drake was talking about. His hazel eyes met the dark eyes of Ace Torres. Their eyes were not the only difference between the two boys. Ace had curly, black hair whereas Mike had a mop of straight, light brown hair. Ace was fair where Mike was olive and until recently, Ace had been tall for his age while Mike had been short for his. The two boys could not be any more different in both appearance and personality, but while Mike couldn't care any less about Ace, the other boy outright hated Mike. Ace's Mightyena snarling at Mike from his trainer's feet did little to help the situation.

"What is his problem with me?" Mike asked, turning back to his friends. "I accidentally spilled his juice one time when we were seven and the guy hates me forever."

"Screw him," Drake told him. "He's a big crybaby who blows everything out of proportion and thinks that calling himself 'Ace' and wearing all those dark clothes make him look cool. I just want to know how he managed to get Amy Spade, but I'm still struggling with Nadine. He must have her under some sort of spell."

"Or maybe she genuinely likes him?" Ellie remarked, hoping to be a voice of reason for her more hot-tempered friends. "And don't you guys remember that Mike's Elekid actually evolved during a battle with Ace's Mightyena? Ace did have the battle won until that happened."

Ace's girlfriend, Amy, was trying to avert his attention from the group, but was failing. Drake responded by giving the other boy the middle finger while Ellie face-palmed and Mike could feel Relena beginning to tense up.

"What the hell are you staring at?!" she finally yelled across the restaurant.

"Nothing..." Amy replied in a gentle tone hoping to defuse the situation.

"Well, it looks like you're staring at us!" Relena yelled back, this time even louder.

"Like she said," Ace finally spoke. "Nothing..."

Relena immediately stepped over Mike, stomping on his toes in the process, and tried to rush across the restaurant. She was quickly restrained by Drake before she could get too far. Ace's Mightyena had risen to his feet and the other customers were beginning to focus their attention on the scene that was unfolding. Mike hopped up from the booth, clenching his left foot in pain.

"You should keep your girlfriend on a leash, clown," Ace remarked without any hint of emotion as he stood up from his table. "She's almost as ridiculous and childish as you are."

Mike could typically ignore Ace, but after an exhausting day, the other boy's mere presence irritated him and insulting Relena was the icing on the cake. Even Mightyena's threatening growls did not intimidate him at the moment.

"I'm a clown, huh?" Mike started as he approached Ace. "Well, this ridiculous, childish, clown kicked your ass in battle two months ago and you should probably watch your mouth before this clown kicks your ass for real."

"Alright, that's enough," Ellie said, stepping in between the two boys before things could escalate even further. "Mike, sit down. Ace, back off."

Amy grabbed onto Ace's hand. "Come on, walk me home..."

"Mightyena..." Ace said after a moment of hesitation. "We're leaving, let's go..."

Ellie let out a sigh of relief, obviously happy that she managed to keep everything under control. Once Ace and Amy were out of the restaurant, Drake released Relena from his grip and gave Mike a pat on the back.

"Look at you, trying to be all serious!" he remarked with a grin as they retook their seats in the booth. "You should have spin kicked him in the face or whatever you gymnasts do in fights."

"Not helping, Drake," Ellie told him. "Look, Mike-"

She was cut off by the sound of her phone ringing. She answered it, but after repeating 'hello' over and over, it was clear that the person on the other end of the phone had hung up.

"Okay, that's it," Ellie said aloud. "This has been going on all summer. Someone keeps calling me from a different phone number and hanging up when I answer. I'm going to find out who keeps trying to prank me."

"You think it's a prank?" Mike questioned. "Are you sure?"

"What else would it be?" Drake asked in a confused tone. "I think the prank is that whoever is doing this is forcing us to listen to your lame ringtone. That's scary enough."

"Wait, you guys think it could be something more serious?" Ellie said.

"Could be," Relena added. "I think you should at least tell your dad."

Ellie nodded her head. "Alright, you guys do have a point. Guess it wouldn't hurt for me to take this a bit more seriously, but I still think that it's probably someone playing a joke on me. Now-"

This time she was interrupted by a phone going off again. Ellie frowned when she thought it was hers, but relaxed when it turned out to be Relena's.

"Hello...Mom...Yeah, I'm fine...Huh?...Okay, okay, I'll meet you there!"

Relena hung up the phone and saw the confused looks on her friends' faces.

"Everything okay?" Mike asked.

"My mom and dad want me to meet them at the shrink's," she explained. "I think they're going to tell me that I'm finally done with anger management. I hope so. I've made a lot of progress if I do say so myself."

Drake was about to say something, but was quickly silenced by Ellie pinching his arm. Mike mouthed a thank you to her as Relena climbed over him so that she could leave. Giving Mike a quick kiss on the lips, she waved goodbye to her friends and headed out of the restaurant.

"We better get going too," Drake stated. "Mom's playing the lottery again and she wants the whole family there on the one-in-a-billion chance that she'll actually win this time. I need to hurry up and go pick up Gabite from your house before it gets too late. Come on, El."

"You coming, Mike?" Ellie asked.

"You guys go on," he told them. "I think I'm going to order some more curly fries before I head out..."

Mike looked at the empty plate in front of him. He remembered years ago when he and his Squirtle would compete against his older sister and her Pokémon to see who could eat all of their curly fries first. Julie and whichever Pokémon she chose to be her second always came up short against Mike and Squirtle. They were the kings of curly fries back then, but those days had long since past. Mike had gotten older, Squirtle had evolved, and both of them had more important things to worry about.

Making his way out of the restaurant, Mike started home. The neon lights of Saffron City shined brightly in the young night and the streets were as busy as they had been during the day. Mike felt a familiar sensation, but could not tell what is was exactly.

Some people found large cities like Saffron to be too loud, too bright, and have too much activity going on, preferring the peace and tranquility of smaller towns. Mike was different though. He loved the excitement and the quality of entertainment found in big cities. There was never a dull moment in cities like Saffron, Celadon, and Goldenrod. He saw himself eventually moving to other large cities much further away when he got older. Places like Nimbasa City in Unova or Lumiose City in Kalos were all possibilities for Mike. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his phone ringing.

"Hello?"

"Michael, where have you been?"

"I was out with my friends, Dad. I've been gone for hours, are you just now noticing?"

"...Of course not..."

"Real convincing..."

"Listen, son, since you're out, do you mind stopping by the store and bringing home some diapers for Tori? She's on her last one and she just ate, so you might want to hurry."

"Actually, Dad, I do mind."

"I'll pay you back when you get home. Thanks, love you."

"Wait, I-"

Mike groaned when he heard the dial tone. The baby herself was not the real problem. Tori didn't cry too much or really annoy Mike in anyway despite the fact that he had been hoping for a little brother. It was his parents who had become irritating. They paid him too much attention before the baby came and after she was born, they paid him too little attention. Mike thought that he should ease up on them especially after Julie mentioned that she experienced the same thing after he had been born. Still, with school starting again soon along with a host of other things, he thought it would be nice to have a little support.

"There's a store right up here..." Mike said to himself as he increased his pace. "If I go there, get the diapers and take the shortcut home, I should make it before the baby uses up her last one...hopefully."

It only took Mike a good five minutes to go into the store, buy the diapers, and leave. However, once he started home on the shortcut, he quickly noticed himself being followed by a large black truck. He thought he was being paranoid at first, but as he increased his pace, so did the truck. When he turned a corner, the truck followed him. He eventually took off running, the bag of diapers clenched tightly in his hand as he ran straight into a dead end. The truck blocked the only exit and Mike prepared himself for what he might face.

There were two of them, both older than him. The first one was a tall, well-built young man with shaggy, dark brown hair, broad shoulders and muscles that were clearly on display thanks to his sleeveless shirt. He was slightly pale and lifted his sunglasses to reveal a pair of bluish-gray eyes that Mike knew all too well. His smile cut the younger boy like a knife and it seemed as if he had started growing facial hair.

The second boy was about as tall as the first one with darker skin, light brown eyes, and dark hair hidden underneath his skullcap. He seemed to have developed more of a lean, athletic build than the last time Mike had seen him. He had his usual look of indifference, but he seemed slightly surprised to actually see Mike.

"No way..." the first boy said. "It's really you. Looks like Midget Mike is now...Medium Mike. I mean you're still not as tall as us."

"Craig Kelton and Johnny Hawkins," Mike greeted, trying his hardest to keep his wits. "It feels like it was just yesterday when you guys were throwing me in the garbage. Where does the time go?"

"I see you're still pretty funny," the first boy continued. "If I danced around in a sweaty Poliwhirl costume like an idiot, I guess I'd have a sense of humor too."

"You should try it some time, Craig," Mike told him. "Maybe it'll let off some of that aggression that you always seem to be carrying around."

Craig let out a laugh and Mike gulped. Craig and Johnny were definitely not like Ace. Ace annoyed him, but Craig terrified him. Johnny was the captain of the intermediate battling team at their school and was basically Drake if he were even more skilled, more of a show-off, and less caring. Craig, on the other hand, was a known juvenile delinquent and was probably the strongest trainer among the group of in-coming third and fourth year students at S.T.S. Unless he was angry, he almost always seemed to speak in a polite tone whether he was asking you for the time or getting ready to ruin your day.

"Come on, Craig," Johnny told him. "You wanted to scare him a bit and we did. Let's get out of here. Jen's been on my case about doing stuff like this."

"How about we do it like we did two years ago?" Craig said as he reached for a poké ball. "You beat me in a battle, you're free to go."

Mike frowned. "I'm not the same gullible twelve year old kid that you think you can just overpower, greaseball. Move your truck and let me get home. I have diapers to deliver. That's suffering enough, don't you think?"

"We heard you beat that freak, Ace, in a battle earlier this summer and that your Elekid evolved," Craig replied as he tossed the ball in the air. "I figured I'd let you know that you weren't the only one who had a Pokémon that evolved."

"Niiii..."

Mike's eyes widened as he heard a low growl and the white light in front of him materialized. Seeing a Nidoking from far away was scary enough, but seeing one so close up was frightening. Getting past Craig and Johnny was one thing, but it would be impossible to get past the hulking monster that was in front of him. Electabuzz was back at home and would not have an effect on Nidoking anyway and Crobat wouldn't be very effective either. There was only one choice that was available. However, before he could even reach for the poké ball, Wartortle emerged on his own, ready to fight.

"Um...okay," Mike said. "Wartortle, get ready for-"

Wartortle instantly went on the offensive, slamming into Nidoking repeatedly with an aqua tail. The intensity of the spirals of water spouting from Wartortle's tail had all three boys shielding their eyes. Even Nidoking was having a bit of trouble as he attempted to block the move,

"Focus energy," Craig commanded.

Mike could see the aura surrounding Nidoking and knew that Wartortle needed to get some distance before Craig enacted whatever he had planned. Nidoking did look a bit damaged, so at least Wartortle's impulsive super-effective attack was having some sort of result.

"Alright, Wartortle," Mike told him. "Move back a bit and let's try for a water pulse."

To Mike's surprise, Wartortle listened without any issue. He tucked his head and somersaulted towards his trainer, a trick that Mike had taught all of his Pokémon. Wartortle quickly formed an orb of water in his hands and sent it flying at Nidoking with enough force to actually send the large Pokémon to the ground.

"Not bad..." Johnny remarked.

"Whatever!" Craig shouted. "Nidoking, shake it off and get up!"

Nidoking rose to his feet and Mike wondered what it would take to get this behemoth down. Wartortle seemed to be getting angrier by the second and looked like he would do anything to keep Nidoking from winning the battle.

"Go for another-"

"Thunderbolt!" Craig interrupted quickly.

Wartortle was promptly zapped by a jolt of electricity, much to Mike's surprise. He knew that the focus energy from earlier increased the amount of damage that Wartortle had received and the Pokémon struggled to recover. Craig had definitely improved in battling. In the past, he just simply overpowered his opponents, but now he was actually using strategies which was going to make dealing with him even more of a pain.

"Wartortle, are you-"

Wartortle rushed towards Nidoking, once more blindingly hitting aqua tail after aqua tail on the larger Pokémon. Most of them were missing and Wartortle was getting more and more fatigued by the second.

"Thrash!" Craig ordered.

"Wartortle!" Mike called out. "Stand back, now!"

"Waaaar!"

Wartortle turned to face Mike, snapping at his trainer in defiance. The surprise of Wartortle's open disobedience sent Mike into a stunned silence. Nidoking, however, was not deterred. Grabbing the nearly physically exhausted Pokémon by his furry tail, Nidoking slammed Wartortle against the alley wall several times before finishing him off by tossing him to the ground in front of his trainer's feet. Mike simply recalled Wartortle without a word.

"Look like that's it," Craig stated, recalling Nidoking as well. "A bit more challenging than our last battle, but even though your Pokémon are stronger, they obviously don't see you as anyone worthy of respect. Kind of pathetic if you ask me."

"Wartortle's close to evolving," Johnny added. "If he's not listening to you now, you're in for hell once Blastoise comes along."

"Just let me leave..." Mike mumbled.

Craig laughed. "You lost because you're a garbage trainer. And, well, a garbage trainer belongs in the garbage, don't you think?"

"Oh, please," Mike groaned. "Not this again. Come on, guys."

Craig gave a look to Johnny, who simply shrugged his shoulders in apathy and stood back to watch the show. Grinning, the older boy hoisted Mike above his shoulders and slowly walked towards the dumpster that was in the alley. Using a free hand, Craig managed to get the lid open, but was having a bit of trouble keeping Mike within his grasp as the younger boy had gotten a lot bigger since last time. After a few more seconds of struggling, Mike succeeded in getting free and slid behind Craig. The moment the delinquent turned around, Mike drove his knee into the boy's crotch.

"Aaaaaah!" Craig howled in pain as he dropped to his knees.

Mike took off running, grabbing the bag of diapers and passing by Johnny before he could even react. Craig was shouting every curse word in the book at Mike as he managed to slide underneath the truck and roll until he was on the other side. Quickly, he got to his feet and sprinted away.

"You're dead, Mascot Boy!" he heard Craig yell from a distance.

Mike did not care though. Craig could throw him in a dumpster every day for the next year and it would not take away the satisfaction he had gained by getting the best of the bully. He knew that there was no way that he could have pulled off his stunt without Elyse's training and made a note to thank her when he saw her in the morning.

"Son!" his father greeted him warmly when he finally arrived home. Electabuzz was standing right beside him, happy to see that his trainer made it home safely. "What took you? What did you get into?"

"Nothing, Dad," Mike replied as he tried to catch his breath. "Just another day in my life..."

A/N: So, definitely much more than last time. Not too much has changed, but there are a few different things. I look forward to this revamp.

P.O.V. Characters: Mike Snowe

Main Characters that appeared: Ellie Morris, Drake Hicks, Relena Serene, Ace Torres, Amy Spade, Craig Kelton, Johnny Hawkins

As always, come to the forum if you want to chat about this revamp or anything else, really.

Until next time!