School of Pokémon

The coach rolled slowly into the sunny forecourt, and with a screech of its worn brakes, it pulled to a stop. The doors opened and hundreds of students filed out, all in clashing clothes and many were talking in loud voices.

I was one of the people being shoved around in that crowd.

Hi, my name's Dan Davis – and I'm a rookie Pokémon trainer. I got my first Pokémon at the age of 7, and it was a Purloin, given to me as a surprise by my mum and dad. I remember that it didn't do that much, just sort of hung around the house and disappeared occasionally.

But we loved it for what it was, it battled with my younger brother many times, and their connection subsequently grew until a solid relationship; they seemed to be on the same wavelength and understood each other.

I won't lie, I was jealous of him. He was the smarter one, the cooler one, and lots of my own friends looked up to him. 'I wanna turn out like Edward!' was the classic line I was used to hearing every day.

So that's why I'm here, queuing up outside the vast doors to the Pokémon School in Kanto. My parents decided I should be sent away for a bit, so that one day I could become like Ed.

I begrudgingly accepted, so I hurriedly packed my bags and caught the earliest bus possible from Pallet Town to the Indigo Plateau, where the school was situated.

And so here I am. All 5'11 of me. I wouldn't consider myself attractive; I've never had a proper girlfriend before, so I just didn't think that I'd end up with anybody.

But still, things can change, and where better than here? The world famous Pokémon School.

I made my way slowly up the marble steps, still in line with the seemingly endless amount of students all doing the same thing that I was: waiting to be accepted, and then assigned a dormitory.

Finally, after what seemed like a long hour of waiting, I found myself at the check-in desk, where a kind woman was sat. Her legs were crossed, and her brow was deeply furrowed in thought – her mind was obviously elsewhere.

"Hello, would you like to sign the form so I can check you in?" she asked, her mouth turned upwards into a sweet smile.

"Sure thing." I murmured, taken aback by the smoothness that everything was running like. Students were being churned through the system within a matter of seconds and directed to their dormitories.

I hurriedly scribbled down my signature, signed the date and looked back up at the woman.

"Do you currently have any Pokémon, sir?" she asked me.

I felt my heart drop just a bit.

"No, not at the moment." I replied, clearly downcast. I just hoped that my disappointment didn't show too much to the kind receptionist.

Unfortunately, it seemed she did.

"Not to worry, sir." She replied, her smile lifting a bit more; which encouraged me just a little bit. "The Pokémon Professor will be asking for consultations with each student, so I'm sure he can help you out when it's your turn."

I smiled, now feeling happier.

"Thanks very much."

She nodded.

"Not to worry."

And with that, I ambled off towards a large crowd of people, hoping to find some sort of direction to get to my dormitory.

But instead, I found something entirely different.

I heard lots of bangs and squeals emanating from inside a large circle of people, so using my shoulder, I forced my way through and saw two teenagers, looking a tiny bit older than me, embroiled in a fierce Pokémon battle, judging by the look of anguish on one of them, and the smug grin plastered over the face of the other.

"Come on Ash!" someone shouted from the back of the crowd, directing his encouragement to the teenager who was smiling to himself. He had a red cap pulled sharply so that it cast a menacing shadow over his eyes, leaving erratic spikes of hair protruding from the back.

Standing at Ash's feet was a small yellow Pokémon, immediately recognisable as Pikachu. Its lightning shaped tail seemed to crackling with pure energy and its small black eyes were fixated on its opponent.

The other teenager was sweating heavily; thick globules seemed to cascade down his face. I immediately felt sorry for him, he was stood there, being jeered at by the large crowd as he slowly mulled over his options, eyes darting nervously from side to side.

Stood resolutely at his feet, looking like it was going to topple over at any moment was a Pidgey. A small, defenceless and exhausted Pidgey. It was evident that he had plunged into the deep end and was now struggling to retain his dignity while trying not to lose his Pokémon.

"Okay…" he mumbled, looking upwards. "Let's do this, Pidgey."

The bird Pokémon struggled to pull itself to its full height, and its feathers were ruffled all over the place.

"Pidgey, use tackle!" he shouted.

The Pidgey swooped forward, but as soon as it left the ground in a feeble swoop, I knew instantaneously what was about to happen.

"Pikachu, counter with Thunderbolt!"

"Pika!" the electric type shouted, as it flicked its tail nonchalantly. The bolt struck the Pidgey square in its midriff, and the bird Pokémon toppled to its feet, panting heavily.

And that's when I had decided.

I stepped forward into the battle ring, and nudged the poor trainer out of the way. His Pidgey turned around to look curiously at me, and it pulled itself up and tottered over to me.

"Okay…this is the game plan…"

After a few moments of conferring, the Pidgey turned back around to face the Pikachu.

Ash just pulled his cap down further over his eyes, but not enough to mask the intolerable grin that had formed on his young, typical teenage face.

"You know you don't have a chance…" he drawled.

I just scoffed. "Bring it."

I looked down at the Pidgey. It didn't even belong to me, but I felt like I had to prove myself to people so early on. It was an impulse thing, and something I still don't regret to this day.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" Ash shouted, the grin never faltering as he spat the words out.

"Pidgey, get close!" I shouted.

The bird Pokemon bravely sprang forward, and positioned itself over the head of the unsuspecting Pikachu. And that was when Ash realised.

"No!" he shouted, but the exclamation had barely left his mouth before the bolt seemed to shatter the sky, and came crashing down.

But not onto Pidgey.

Like I had told it, it had swooped swiftly out of the way, and the attack had slammed into the Pikachu, catapulting it across the hall, and charring its bright yellow skin.

"Shit…" Ash murmured to himself, throwing a dirty glance at me before heading off in the direction his defeated electric-type had fallen. The crowd eventually started to break up, some of the people clapping me on the back as they walked past.

I felt happier than I had done in a long time. But I knew that what I had done wouldn't go unpunished. Ash seemed to be one of the most popular guys in school, and he had only just joined!

It seemed like I had just got myself until trouble which could've been avoided by simply staying away and leaving the hall. But the temptation had been too great…

But I was brought back out of my stupor by a person nudging me with their elbow.

Stood in front of me, dozens of workbooks crammed against their chest, was the prettiest girl I had ever seen. She had flowing blonde hair that fell a long way past her shoulders, and a face which was the embodiment of heaven. Thin, dark eyebrows formed a concerned line above two sparkling blue eyes, which led to a small, rounded nose. Below that was a small, but equally perfect mouth, which was curled into a surprise smile.

"You were really good just then." She announced.

I smiled, but could feel myself getting redder by the second.

"Thanks, but, it really was nothing. I didn't mean to cause any trouble or anything…"

She laughed, a cute giggle that seemed to emanate from the very top of her throat, a noise that seemed to make my insides squirm in delight.

"You definitely didn't!" she exclaimed, still smiling. Please, God, don't let her see how embarrassed I am… "In fact, I reckon you probably gained yourself a few friends already."

I smiled again, thinking of words to say – but nothing came out; I found it almost physically impossible to get anything out.

"Including me…" she added, her smile now turning slightly mischievous. "Anyway, I'd better go now, so I guess I'll see you around then?"

I nodded.

"Sure!" I stuttered, my heart pounding so hard against my ribs it felt like they would give way at any moment. "See you around."

She gave a final smile, before biting her lip, almost nervously, and leaving the hall, leaving me seeing nothing but the seductive swing of her hips under her pleated skirt.

Well…to sum up my first day…I had already made myself enemies with the school's most popular trainer, but had won a battle which was seemingly the biggest mismatch of all time.

Oh, and I may have just fallen in love.

Perhaps things weren't too bad after all…