Hey guys before I dive into the intro I would just like to tell you a little bit more about this story. It takes place in a college known as North Star which is for dungeon explorers in training. It is heavily inspired by various video games and youtube series, but also has my own adaptations. There will be much randomness in this story and maybe some time jumps. Anyway, instead of talking about the story any longer why don't just start it, eh? Please leave comments and reviews to let me know how I'm doing and any story or grammatical errors.

…

BEEP BEEP BEEP

I growled a minute before rolling over to turn off the alarm. I sat up on my hind paws and stretched letting out a big yawn. I turned over to see Connor doing the same. He had tan skin with a lighter colored underbelly. He swung his feet over the bead and picked up his tail swung behind him as he stood up and whacked against the bed. He rubbed his eyes behind his skull-mask before turning to me. "Why's the alarm going off so early Zori?" he groaned.

"First...day of school." I said with a yawn in between first and day. I got out of bed and looked out the window. It was pitch black out and you could see other students waking up and heading out.

"But I thought it was saturday…"

"Sadly no. It's monday." I turned and trotted down the hall.

"Uhhh. Whatever… Dibs on the shower!" he ran into the bathroom. I went down stairs careful on all fours. I switched the TV on and changed it to channel 7 news. I simply used it as backup noise as I made a bowl of pokefood. I sat down on the couch and was eating when Connor came in, in a much better mood. He stared at the Tv for a second. "Murder down in Charlottesville. That's terrible…"

I smiled. "Don't worry, they'll never catch me."

We giggled for a second before he sat down on the couch with me, his own bowl in hand. We ate in silence for a few minutes before getting up to leave. We had to stop by the small shop to buy lunch for today. "Okay dude, c'mon we have to get going! Do you your bag?" I asked.

"Yeah. Bag has phone, money, and schedule." he swung his backpack over his shoulder and I lifted mine around my neck and across my back. "The Pokecube wile be here today right?"

The pokecube was a new game console we had ordered about a month ago. "Yeah it'll be here when we get home. Now let's go or we're going to be late. We have to go to the Kingler's Shack anyway."

I opened the door and the cool, early morning air rushed to meet me. It barely affected me with my thick black fur, but Connor hated the cold. We lived in the middle of the city. The houses were big and had walls made of glass. The concrete had no potholes and there were no cracks in the sidewalk. Everything was spotless as stepped out of our house and began walking down the street. The only pokemon awake were other students walking along the sidewalk. "Hey guys." I chirped.

"Hello!" called the Jolteon. He had on thick glasses and was wearing an expensive green backpack. He said his name was Jay. Next to him was his friend Sin. Sin was a Scyther that was originally a wild. A wild is a pokemon who lives outside of the city and all civilization. They do not have the communications aspects of our world and usually have trouble speaking. They are also known for being violent when met with a civilized pokemon, but some,after realizing the strength of the civilized pokemon, wish to become civilized. "What year are you all in?"

Someone pushed passed them and continued down the sidewalk. "Hey look at that guy-er-girl." Connor said blushing. She was a big, white, furry, muscular creature with red markings on her fur and head. She had razor like claws and pink bloodshot eyes. She turned her head sideways to look at him before continuing on. "Yeah we're sophomores as well." he said changing subjects. "So I'm Connor and this is my good friend Zori. Since we're in the same grade we'll probably have class-"

"Wait for me!" someone yelled. Jay turned around and was knocked over by a girl who was running blindly towards the school. She was a light blue color with a dark blue skirt-thing. She had a beaver like tail and two shells on her skirt-thing. "Sorry! Gotta go!"

"Jeez, that was rude." he said as he dusted himself off and straightened his glasses. "Well anyways, I'm going to the shop outside of school if you want to come with. I gotta pick up my lunch."

"Sure." I said. "We're heading there too."

The four of us continued on silently in our little posse. It took me a minute to realize that a small yellow bug was following us. He realized I was watching him he stopped and looked down. I shrugged and ignored him. When we reached the shop a group of girls walked were walking out. Among them was the Zangoose we saw earlier, a Pidove, an Eevee, and the Dewott from earlier as well.

Ignoring them (for now), we turned and went into the store. Being later than the rest of the students, we didn't have but so much to choose from. I picked up a couple of berries and put them in the basket I bought and Connor picked up the same. We went over to the cashier. He was a rather big, red crab with a crown like top. His left claw was considerably bigger than the right. "Welcome to Kingler's Snack Shack! How can I help you?"

"Just these berries please." I said as Connor reached up and put our baskets on the counter. Mr. Kingler priced them and we handed him the correct amount of money from our bags. We exited the shop and and went to the front of the school.

We reached the outside stairs of the school. Almost everyone was out here, including the girls from earlier. I looked over at the Eevee as I walked up the stairs to the school. I've had a crush on her since last year, but have never gotten the chance to tell her. She had on a new black bow in her hair. I wonder if she wants to become an Umbreon. I continued to watch her until she caught my eye. I tripped over last step and landed, face first, in my basket of berries. My face went red as the entire school stared at me giggling.

I ran down the hallway, leaving my basket, and went into the boy's bathroom. I stood up on the stool and rinsed my face in warm water, desperately trying to get the sticky berry juice off my face. I was almost in tears as Connor came in. "Are you okay dude? That was a pretty tough fall."

"Y-yeah I'm fine." I said as I tried to stop crying.

"...You were looking at her again weren't you…" he asked awkwardly. He had never been really good around girls or new how to talk about them.

"I can't help it man….There's something about her."

"Whatever man. Just wash up and let's go." I dried my face off on my paws and went back outside. He was waiting for me. We turned and went down the first floor hallway. "I wonder where are classes are."

"Dude, it's in our schedule." I said as he walked in room 12. There was no one in there- not even a teacher. The classrooms had a lot more desks than they would ever need. And the school had a lot more classrooms and lockers than it would ever need as most people didn't take dungeoneering as a profession. We really only ever used one or two classrooms. Connor went up and stood behind the teacher's desk and poked around. "Dude, get away from there before we get in trouble."

"Relax Zori. You know there's like nobody in the whole school, especially on the first floor."

"Whatever let's just go!" I said slightly angry.

"Dark type anger." he mumbled. I didn't take it personal, but us dark types often do have such stereotypes put against us. We walked back toward the lockers, which I ignored earlier, to see Jay beating on his locker with his paw and mumbling something about it being stuck.

"Go on without me guys!" he said reassuringly. "It's almost open!"

I shrugged and continued on my way. My paws were still slightly sticky and I smelled like berries. We continued up the stairs and Jay met us on the second floor. "Alright I'm good. Now let's hurry before we're late!" he said as he checked his black watch.

We hurried down the hall and Connor checked the schedule to see which room we were supposed to be in. He sighed and told me it was at the other end, so the three of us hurried the other way past all the other empty classrooms to the one classroom with pokemon in it. Jay took his seat up front next to Sin and me and Connor continued all the way to the back next to the window. From the window you could see all across town and all the pokemon now waking up. All the students we saw on the way up here were all in this classroom.

We sat our bags down and Connor went and talked to some of the students. I simply waited for the teacher, but it wasn't long before he came in. He was purple and had a big, rocky body with red marks all over it and he wore a black suit. "Hello class, my name is Mr. Machoke." he said in a low growly voice. "Please take your seats."

We sat down quietly and Connor leaned over and whispered to me. "Dude, this sucks. I'm already about to fall asleep."

I giggled and turned my head back to the front of the classroom. "My real name is Michael and I will be your general knowledge teacher for the year. Now if you will please be quiet as I do role call." he said as he shuffled his papers. "Jay Jolteon?"

"Yes."

"Zori Zorua?"

"Here!" I said and waved my hand.

"JT Joltik?"

"Present, sir!" I looked at JT and realized that he was the guy who was following us earlier.

"Sam Sandshrew?" he waited a minute, but there was no response. "Hmm… absent on the first day…" he said as he marked something on his paper. "Connor Cubone?"

I looked over at Connor for a second and nudged him quickly. He later explained to me that he had literally fallen asleep. "Here!"

Mr. Machoke glared at him and wrote something down. "Sin Scyther."

"Greetings!"

"Riley Riolu?"

"Yep!"

"Penny Pidove?"

"Present!"

"Zoey Zangoose."

"Yessir."

I turned and smacked Connor in the back of the head to wake him up. "Dude!"

"Hey man, I don't want you getting in trouble so I-"

"No fighting in my class!" Mr. Machoke snapped. We both went red and sunk back in our chairs and a Scraggy in the corner laughed at us

"Elayna Eevee?"

"Present.." she said shyly.

"Delly Dewott"

"Here."

"Finally, Seth Scraggy?"

"Sup."

"Alright, well it looks like almost everyone is here." he said as he put his papers away in the draw on his desk. "So, in this class you will learn about all types of things you will encounter while Dungeoneering." as he talked he seems to become more and more sad. "We'll start by learning about Pokemon types and different items that you will find while exploring.

"Does anyone know what time we get out of here?" Conner asked.

….

About an hour later we were out of class and me and Connor were the last two left. Sin had asked various questions in which took us fifteen minutes each just to figure out what he was asking. Finally Mr. Machoke asked him to please see him after class if he has anymore questions.

But class didn't end before we were handed out our assignments. We each had to give a presentation about us and our fighting tactics. Connor was picked to go first, probably because of his comment about Mr. Machoke's wife earlier.

"Ummm… Hi my name is Connor."

"Hi Connor!" we said in unision.

"I live with my friend Zori over there." he said and waved at me. The whole class looked at me and I tried to hide in my chair. He was about to continue when the bell rang and he let out a sigh of relief. And that brought us to where we are now.

"Dude, I hate public speaking." he said as we walked down the hall. We went to our lockers and dropped our stuff off. Jay was still struggling to get his open. I moved out of the way of the Cubone so he could get to his higher locker. "That project tomorrow is gonna suck."

Mr. Machoke told us that tomorrow we must bring an item that represents ourselves and present it. "What are you gonna bring?" I asked.

"I don't know… I guess I'll just bring in my club collection…"

"Cool. I think I'll bring in my neckerchief collection. Dude! Let's bring in the Pokecube!"

"Yeah! But, only one of us can take it…"

"You can bring it."

"Sweet! Thanks man!" he pumped his fist and slammed his locker. We walked alone to the cafeteria, the one thing in the school that was about the right size. "By the way, without your berries what are you going to eat?"

"Umm. I might just leave the school and go back up to Kingler's Shack. You go ahead and get us some seats."

"Alright. See you in a few."

I turned and went out the school building. Some of my classmates pushed past me as I went down the stairs, snickering as they went. I ignored them and went across the street to the Snack Shack. "Hello Mr. Kingler!"

He smiled at me as I put my front legs on the counter. "How are you lad?"

"Not too well. See, I had an accident with my berries and was wondering if you had any more I could buy."

"Sorry lad, but some of your classmates just came and bought all but this one berry." he dropped a single oran berry on the counter. "Here, since I have no others, it's free of charge and I'll have more tomorrow."

"Thanks Mr. Kingler." I said as I picked up the lonesome berry. "Sorry to bother you I."

I crossed back over to the school with my berry in my bag. When I entered the cafeteria Connor was sitting with Jay. I sat down and set my berry on the table. Connor shared some of his with me and we ate in peace. I looked around and saw Sin sitting by himself. "Hey Commer" I said as I swallowed a berry. "Do you think we should invite him to sit with us?"

"Already tried." said Jay. "He seems kinda embarrassed after class."

"Eh hm." we turned around to see Mr. Machoke with an oran berry in his hand. "Mr. Cubone, Mr. Jolteon, and Mr. Zorua, please do not gossip about other students." he said. He took one final glare at Connor and went away down the hall.

"Dude, Mr. Machoke hates me." said Connor. I turned back around to face him. "I just know."

"Why would he hate you?"

"I don't know.. Maybe because I fell asleep?"

"I guess." said Jay. I stopped and looked past him. Elayna and Riley were looking right at me and giggling. I blushed and looked away trying not to think about what happened earlier.

"Hey guys. I think I'm going to go outside for a minute." I said as I got up. Neither of them said anything before I was out of the room. I went and sat by the lockers and put my covered my head with my paws. I just sat there and cried for a minute before someone nudged me from on the side. I looked up to see Elayna. I quickly wiped my eyes and turned to look at her. She had my fruit basket in her mouth. She set it down and turned back to me. "You forgot this earlier Zori… I figured you might want it back…" she said. We stared at each other for a moment before she turned and walked away awkwardly.

"Thank you!" I finally called. She turned to look at me with a small smile before she went back into the cafeteria. I picked myself back up and wiped my eyes when the bell rang. Connor came out with Jay, who was carrying my bag in his mouth. He dropped it over my neck and we headed to gym. I tried to pick up my basket, but the handle was broken so I threw it away.

The bell rang and we hurried inside. "ALL RIGHT! LINE UP!" I turned to see a rather large, purple, spiky creature with a white, scaly underbelly yell at us. He had a clipboard in his hand and a whistle around his neck. I hurried into a line across the center of the gym as the NIdoking gave his beginning-of-the-year speech. "YOU ARE ALL FLABBY POKEBABIES! IT IS MY JOB TO TRAIN YOU TO BE THE BEST OF MY ABILITIES! SOME OF YOU WILL BREAK AND SOME OF YOU WILL GET STRONGER! NOW GET TO THE LOCKER ROOMS AND GET YOUR TEAM NECKERCHIEF!"

Last year each of us were drafted into one of ten leagues: Nest, Moon, Legend, Aqua, Safari, Savannah, Arctic, City, World, and Hollow. These leagues would decide later on where we would be most useful. For now they were are teams to play with in gym. Connot was in the Savannah league and I was in the Moon league. My neckerchief was black and his was orange.

We passed the showers and exited the locker rooms without our bags and with our neckerchiefs tied around our necks. The girls had on similar neckerchiefs and lined up beside us. "ALRIGHT POKEBABIES! TAKE A LAP!" a whistle sounded and we all took off to take a lap around the gym. Jay took the lead and was the first back in line. "ANOTHER! I WANT TO SEE YOU SPRINTING!"

We kept running for about half an hour before we were taken to an obstacle course. It was full of several different obstacles like bushes and vines. "ALRIGHT! SPLIT INTO YOUR TEAMS!"

"Sir do you always have to yell?" asked Riley?

"YES! YELLING IS FUN! NOW GO!"

We split up into our various teams, which weren't really teams since there was only one or two of us on each, but still. "ALRIGHT! FIND A PARTNER!" I began walking over to Connor, but he was paired with Riley instead, leaving me paired with Jay. "ALRIGHT! GO TO SEPARATE COURTS AND FIGHT! STANDARD RULES! NO KNOCKING PEOPLE OUT, BUT WHEN I CALL YOU OUT, GET OUT! NO EXCEPTIONS!"

We walked to opposite ends of the court in the middle. I looked at him and gave him a small nod. He had on a golden neckerchief to represent the Legends who specialized in advanced tracking and pushing through dungeons. Moon specialized in dark, cramped areas and night searches. He nodded back and it was understood that the battle had started. On a battlecourt, it doesn't matter if you are friends or. You are representing a team that is much bigger than you are and you must defend that team's name.