Chapter 1: the new kid
The battlefield was clear, and all eyes were on me and my opponent. I knew that this would be the battle that counted, the one that decided my destiny.
"Metagross, use Meteor Mash to finish it off!" I cried, ordering my giant Steel-Psychic Pokémon.
As the Pokémon crashed into my opponent's, the audience cried in anticipation and excitement. A huge plume of smoke erupted from the impact, shielding the two Pokémon and obscuring the crowd's vision.
The smoke cleared, and the two Pokémon were seen to be still standing. A few tense seconds passed, and the opposing Meganium collapsed, finally knocked out.
"Meganium is unable to battle! The victor of this battle is Atticus Stone!" the announcer cried. The crowd cheered, and I felt on top of the world. The victory bell sounded, but it sounded… strange. Almost like some sort of alarm…
BRING BRING! BRING BRING!
My eyes shot open from the monotonous blaring of the alarm clock to my right. I rolled my eyes at the fantastical dream I had, and shook my covers off and stumbled out of bed, annoyed at my unceremonious awakening. Glaring ruefully at my screeching alarm clock with bleary eyes, I slammed the palm of my hand down on the clock, turning it off until next morning. Stretching, I looked more closely at the clock. It read 8:00am. I shrugged. Nothing unusual with that, I thought. Then I stopped, replying to a nagging feeling that I was missing something.
My consciousness cleared. "Ah crap, I've got school!" I cried. I cursed myself as I quickly changed. I thanked Arceus that Dad has already set out an outfit for me, as the school had no uniform.
I rushed downstairs with all of my family staring at my sudden arrival.
"Good morning Atti," my father spoke first. My mum and little sister echoed the greeting, both intent on their breakfasts. I mumbled a return greeting as I buttered some toast that, again, my father had prepared for me.
"Thanks for the toast, Dad" I thanked through a mouthful of jam toast. My dad nodded, appreciating the sentiment. I quickly finished the toast and gulped down a glass of apple juice. Now refreshed and alert, I shrugged my backpack on and rushed out of the house.
"Bye guys! See you tonight!" I farewelled behind me.
As the door shut, my mother shook her head. "That kid never stops moving, does he?" she asked wryly.
As I approached the vast building that was my new school, I forgot to breathe for a moment. It was a beautiful old building at the front, with banners decorating the mossy brick walls. Behind the older section, I could see the new buildings that my parents had told me about, each section having a different main colour in their colour scheme. It truly was a magnificent sight. I could just imagine roaming through these halls, making new friends and experiences…
My daydreaming was interrupted by a push in the back. I quickly turned around to face my assailant. My attacked had blond hair that stuck up like bull horns, and wore something that looked it was straight out of Hot Topic. I raised my eyebrow at him, as even though he was a bit bulkier than me, he wasn't very tall.
"Oi, punk, are you the new kid around here?" he spoke. By the sound of it, his sentences were usually shorter, but I humoured him.
"Yeah, that's me" I replied, slightly taken aback at the pure hostility from this kid.
"My name's Terence. Don't forget the name, okay? I'm the one who keeps order around here, so you might wanna get in my good books, or else" he growled, trying (and failing) to be intimidating.
"Yeah… okay, sure. See you around, Terence" I said as I walked off on him. Great, the first person I meet from this school and he's a jerk.
I finally managed to reach my locker after having to ask some students for directions. As I dumped my bag in it and locked it, I heard rapid footsteps rushing down the hallway. I looked, and a lanky blond was chasing a redhead girl about the same age. She saw me looking out, and, when the boy lost sight of her, she ducked between my locker and the next. I raised my eyebrow at her, and she shrugged in reply, like this was an everyday occurrence.
"He wanted to ask me on a date" she sighed. I examined her a bit closely. She had bright blue eyes, and freckles over her nose. I returned the earlier shrug.
"Hey, stay here as long as you need," I replied, indifferent. I scanned the crowd on the balls of my feet, trying to see if the kid was still there. I couldn't see him, and reported back to the girl.
"I think he gave up" I told her. She exhaled deeply, clearly glad to be rid of the guy.
"Thanks for that. My name's Abigail, by the way. Abigial Suzanna" she introduced herself with an outstretched hand.
I took her hand and shook it. "Nice to meet you, Abigail. My name's Atticus Stone" I returned the greeting.
Abigail raised her eyebrow. "Atticus Stone, the son of Steven Stone?" she asked, clearly more interested than she was before.
"Yeah, but… I like being my own man. I don't really tell people that" I blushed slightly, not supe comfortable with the recognition.
Abigail's face turned from interest to worry. "Oh, no! I didn't offend you, did I? I promise I won't tell anyone!" she exclaimed, trying to recover from her blunder.
I chuckled and shook my head. "It's fine, don't worry" I replied, brushing off her apology. I looked at my watch, remembering I had to go to the gym as a new student. "Hey, I'll catch you around, okay?" I said, wanting to keep in contact with a potential friend.
She nodded. "I'll make sure. See you around!" Abigail smiled as she left to go to her form.
I took out my small map one of the students gave me, and traced a finger from where I was to the gym.
"Well, may as well start walking now" I murmured.