Chapter 1

Keida

Beep beep, beep beep, beep beep. Keida shut off her alarm and leaped out of her bed. "YES! The day has finally come!" She declared, getting dressed.

"Easy for you to say." Janet moaned, slowly crawling out of bed like a demented Slowpoke.

"Oh, right." Keida sighed, remembering that her sister didn't pass the application for Pokemon Academy. "Well, at least you got into A school." Keida said, smiling at Janet.

"Yeah, but it's not as good of a school as yours." Janet groaned. Keida shook her head, and went into her closet to pick out her clothes.

It has to be something nice, but casual. I don't want to look like the queen of the school on my first day. Keida thought. She eventually settled for a sweater and some faded jeans. She exited her closet after getting dressed and looked at Janet. Her short, red hair was still messy and unbrushed, plus she wasn't even dressed. Keida looked at her neat, wavy black hair and fresh clothes in comparison. "Good old Janet, same as always." Keida murmured humoredly. Then she grabbed her backpack and her other things and headed downstairs to make herself breakfast.

As Keida ate her cereal, she thought about how so many of her friends always had their parents make them breakfast. She scowled into her milk, her parents would never do anything like that. Her dad ran off 7 years ago, and their mom always came home late, drunk, and with a different man every night, who usually took a couple dollars from her and ran off. How does she provide for us if she spends so much at the bar every night? Keida thought, finishing off her food. She put her bowl in the sink and went out the door, with Janet soon following.

"You remember where the academy is, right?" Keida asked her sister.

"I'm pretty sure it's just a couple blocks down from Gakuen." Janet replied.

"Oh, ok." Keida replied. They headed down the block towards Janet's school. Keida couldn't help but notice how many other kids were walking to school, and shook her head. Of course there's gonna be other kids. It's the first day of school you doofus. Keida thought.

"Doing OK?" Janet asked, sounding worried.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Keida said, looking at Janet. She made sure to look directly into her eyes, so that Janet knew she wasn't lying.

"OK, just making sure." Janet said, sounding unconvinced. Keida looked down and smiled to herself. Ever since things got the way they were with their parents, Janet always made sure to pay plenty of attention to her, but sometimes it got out of hand.

It's still worth it. Keida thought. Soon they arrived at Gakuen. Janet and Keida stopped in front of the school. It had a couple of overgrown bushes by the doors, and a sign above the door said, "Chiben Gakuen Middle School," in faded letters. The walls were made of cinderblock, and the doors looked like they needed a new paint job. I kinda feel sorry for her. Keida thought, frowning.

"Well, don't get lost." Janet said, heading up the stairs.

"Pfft. Pah-lease, I know this city like the back of my hand. I'm not gonna get LOST." Keida said, heading down the sidewalk towards the Pokemon Academy. Her brand new school.

Keida looked around her homeroom nervously, trying to find a seat before the bell rang. She eventually settled for a seat next to a guy with curly, blonde hair that went down to the bottom of his head. She glanced at him, and thought, His eyes look just like a Deerling's.. Then the bell rang, and a old looking woman with gray hair walked into the room.

"Hello everyone, welcome back. For most of you this won't be your first year here. But, a couple of you happen to be new. I'm your homeroom teacher, Ms Daynard." She said, writing her name on top of the chalkboard. "In this class, since we have such a short amount of time in here, we'll mainly be talking about future events in the school year, and getting to know each-other." Ms Daynard said, smiling at the class. Keida was shocked at how gray her hair was, and she sounded so… Young. Youthful.

"It's crazy, ain't it?" A girl behind Keida whispered in a country accent, making her jump.

"What?" Keida whispered back.

"I saw ya lookin at her all surprised. It's crazy how old she looks, yet she sounds so young."

"I know, right?" Keida replied.

"Girls?" Ms Daynard said skeptically. "I'm pretty sure it's common sense not to start little conversations while someone is talking." She said, putting her hands on her hips and giving Keida and the country girl the stink-eye.

Whoops. Keida thought, looking down at her lap. As everyone walked out of class, she thought about that kid with the Deerling eyes. So weird..

Keida sat down at lunch with the country girl she saw from homeroom. "Hey." Keida said, sitting across from the other girl. "Oh, what's up?" She said in that rich, country accent. "I never got your name, by the way." Keida said, looking down and thrumming her fingers on the table. "Oh, it's. Cass." She said, grinning. Keida looked at Cass' happy grin and laughed. "I'm Keida." Keida said, trying to imitate Cass' grin. Cass laughed so hard she snorted. "Oh my God, I'm sorry. You just looked so.." Cass started laughing again. "Stupid?" Keida said, wiggling her eyebrows. Cass roared with laughter, to the point where a teacher had to come over and tell her to stop. Both of them still continued to giggle, making dopey faces at each-other.

Keida exited her Social Studies class, and took her schedule out of her pocket. Pokemon Class. Room 105. Mr Andersen and Ms. Clarke. Keida dug in her bag, trying to find the map of the school.

"What class do you have next?" Cass asked, coming up from behind Keida.

"Pokemon class." Keida replied, looking up from her backpack.

"Me too! Lets walk there." Cass said, starting down the hall. "Comin'?" Cass said, looking down the hall at Keida.

"Yep." Keida replied, picking up her backpack and heading towards Cass. Once Keida caught up, they walked to class, matching each-other step for step. "So, how do you know where all the classes are?" Keida asked.

"In the last year of elementary, in march, we got to tour the middle school floor. And we got to meet the teachers." Cass answered. "So now I know the elementary AND middle school floor like the back of my hand. I've only been to the high school floor once, though. I snuck off in 3rd grade, when they weren't lookin'." Cass said, looking pretty proud of herself.

"Did you get caught?" Keida said, curious.

"Technically, no. This nice 10th grader found me and took me back downstairs, and swore not to tell anyone that I was on the top floor." Cass said, smiling. "I'm good friends with her to this day, but she's going to college soon." Cass sighed, frowning.

"Well, that's kinda nice I guess." Keida remarked. "Looks like we're here." Keida said, opening the door to the classroom. As she entered the room, she almost tripped over a Sewaddle, and then some boys ran into her.

"Sorry." One of them murmured, so quiet Keida could barely hear them.

"Don't mind them. They're just acting stupid because they can." Cass stated, coming in from behind Keida.

"You know them?" Keida inquired, looking behind her so she could see Cass.

"Unfortunately I do." Cass sighed. "They may look grown-up, but they're basically kindergarteners in 12 year old bodies." Cass smirked as she said this, glancing over at the boys messing with the poor Sewaddle.

"Alright, ladies and gents. Its time." A young looking woman with long, shiny, dark brown hair said, heading to the front of the room and clapping. As if by command, the rest of the class went to sit down in a group in front of the teacher. Even Keida and Cass found themselves following.

Go to front of room, and sit.. Said a sweet, soothing voice ringing in Keida's mind. Then the strange voice went away. Keida shook her head in confusion.

"Wha.." Keida mumbled, confused.

"Welcome, everyone. I'm your teacher, Ms Clarke. Mr Andersen is sadly absent today, but he should be here tomorrow." Ms Clarke said, her voice as smooth as silk. Keida felt really relaxed. "In this class, we will be learning about Pokemon. Things such as battling, the different kinds of Pokemon in the world, et cetera." Ms Clarke said, writing those things on the chalkboard. Then one of the boys from the group earlier raised their hand. "Yes, Peter?" Ms Clarke responded, looking down at him.

"When do we get our Pokemon?" Peter asked.

"Later this week." Ms Clarke stood up and looked at the class. "As some of you may know, in this class each of you gets your own Pokemon. HOWEVER, we only use them for class activities. This means you can't go outside of school and mess with them." Ms Clarke snapped her fingers, and the Sewaddle from earlier scuttled to her side. "Of course, you will be able to initiate a bond with these Pokemon that you'll never be able to forget." Ms Clarke smiled as she said this, picking up Sewaddle and lightly cuddling it. Then she put it down, and it scuttled away as fast as it came. "Now, can you all tell me about the history. of Pokemon studies?"

The class groaned.