In Their Shadow

Prologue

A powerful shudder ripped through the youngster's thin body and he hissed at it, smoothing out the wrinkles in the sheets of his new bed. He was not supposed to be nervous or fearful; he was Blair Kirkland after all, the son of the Waterville gym leader and nephew of the regional champion, and this was just another school: Getryl Academy to be exact. He deserved to be here just as much if not more than anyone else. He had always studied to be the top of his class, and was the top of the entire school where he last attended. However, he could not help but be intimidated. This was the regional Pokémon academy that only the best of the best attended, bloodline alone could not guarantee a position. Nevertheless, here he was so he had to deserve it, even if he already knew many of the other attending students due his position as a gym leader's son and that they deserved it just as much as he. In all honesty, if that was all he was facing he would not feel anxious in the least, but everything is more complicated than it should be. What truly worried him more than anything was the existence and attendance of the heir of the Hero of Azel.

The Azel region was quite a distance from his own Getryl region, and much larger, in comparison. It was also significantly younger, despite being one of the most powerful. What little he knew about its hero was that it was an uncle of his, which was not really saying much considering his extended family, which made the heir his cousin. He had no name or face for either of his relatives, but he did know that the heir was going to be attending the academy with him—just great. Now he had to show up an unidentified, mysterious relative that happened to be the child of the most admired man in Azel to be valedictorian; this really was just perfect.

Blair finally sighed, snapping himself at least halfway from his thoughts as he run his thin fingers through his bright blond hair. Ten-year-olds really should not have to worry about this kind of thing, even if they were legally allowed to leave home at this age! His father had always opposed that law anyway and fought against it whenever he could. He would always say that children should be kept children and that they could be adults when both their minds and bodies caught up, until then they should stay home with their families. Blair could not honestly say he agreed with everything his father said; after all he had to fight the man to have a Pokémon at his age. Still, he had to believe that his father had his reasons. Just like how he had his reasons for having to be the valedictorian and being nervous about meeting the hero's heir. Suddenly the noise of a door opening and slamming broke the silence of the room, and with it, Blair's thoughts.

"Kirill!" he cried, turning fast enough to give him whiplash to glare at the tall preteen.

Said preteen scoffed at this and snorted, "I cannot help it if you are day dreaming! This is my dorm, too, as much as I hate it. No matter what I say they won't reassign us."

At this Blair smacked his forehead with a groan. What exactly did he ever do to deserve this again? Kirill Braginski and Estelle Bonnefey were the only two people in the world that he could not tolerate and the only reason he probably was not paired with Estelle was because she was a girl.

"Do we really have to brawl in the floor for them to fix this mess?" he muttered in exasperation.

Now Kirill sighed, "Probably."

And with that the two went silent, both wishing they were anywhere but in the little room with two simple twin beds and two wooden desks with matching chairs. It was far too plain, small, and reminiscent of a jail cell. In fact, it was really beginning to feel like one since they were all contained in this building and not allowed to leave except for classes. Meals and everything were served in the separate male and female dormitories. If students were truly itching to go outside their only option was a tiny, fenced in area that was attached to each dorm, completely forget about anything beyond school grounds until the school year was over. The thought actually made Blair feel a little exhausted. He would never get away from these idiots, would he? Most of his close friends were actually in the female dorm, being his cousins of course. Speaking of cousins, he had some in this dorm as well.

"August even volunteered to switch with you…" Blair grumbled, silently thanking his cousin for his kindness.

"Yeah, and Bruno liked the idea, too. For some odd reason he really likes me." Kirill added, having plopped on his bed by now and staring up at the white ceiling.

There was a sudden urge that told Blair to slam his head into the wall. It was a mix between his frustration and boredom, and he knew if he did not do something about it soon he would follow through with it.

"I believe it. Those two are too kind for their own good sometimes." He stated, hoping to start a conversation.

By this point he really did not care where it ended up. If it evolved into an argument and the expected brawl on the floor happened on their first night in the dorms, all the better! However, the rowdy Kirill seemed to be a little tired today.

"Cannot argue there, though he probably has to be like that." Kirill replied, beyond disinterested, but the words brought Blair out of his apathy.

"What do you mean? Bruno I can kind of understand, but not August. August is one of our main rivals after all; he does not have to worry about anybody."

Kirill paused a moment, before locking his violet orbs onto Blair's emerald ones, a flash realization in his eyes, "My dad mentioned that your father did not talk much about him, but this is a little extreme."

Blair raised an eyebrow at this, intrigued and a tad insulted at the same time, "Yes, well, August's father lives half of the year in another region and my dad does not really like that. He wants the family to all be together again, like when he was little. After all, the Waterville and Cirrus City gyms are pretty close so it is not asking much."

Kirill seemed a little taken aback by this and cleared his throat before speaking, "Do you know which region he lives in the other half of the year?"

Blair shook his head and Kirill blinked, dumbfounded, before he found his voice, "Then I need to go back to the beginning. For one, I was not talking August's dad earlier. Secondly, it is the Azel region. Can you put the pieces together or do I need to continue?"

It took a second for it to hit Blair like a pile of bricks, "The Hero of Azel!?"

"Bingo!" responded Kirill with a mocking clap, "August is best friends with his kid. Me, too, actually."

Now it was Blair's turn to be taken aback, "You, admitting a bond with someone? Who is this person?"

"Someone I cannot believe is related to you, half cousins or not. Her name is Nikkita by the way, and she has even more talent than August. Plus she has had her Pokémon longer, too, and August and I got ours pretty young."

"She is a girl? Not to be sexist or anything, but that makes it all the stranger that you are admitting a friendship with her."

Kirill rolled his eyes at this, "I do not deny things I feel strongly about. I really like her and consider her a worthy rival."

"Hm… I was a little anxious to meet this person, but now I am more curious than anything…"

Quickly something dangerous flashed in Kirill's darkening eyes, "I know you are cousins and all, but do not think that means I will stay quiet. Keep your distance and this will be as painless as possible."

Blair's eyes narrowed at this sudden outburst, "And what, pray tell, are you yammering on about now?"

"Nikki is mine. Do not make me repeat myself. I already have to put up with August, but I refuse to let you get away with it."

With that Kirill turned on his side, away from Blair and shattering the once peaceful atmosphere at the drop of a hat. It reminded Blair of why he referred to Kirill as a barbarian among other things. He sighed, remembering all the questions he still wanted to ask. Most of them were about Nikkita, but the others were about her father, and why his father never talked about them specifically. Now that Blair really thought about it, there were people that he father just avoided speaking about. August's father, Nikkita's father, and even Kirill's were only a select few. What on Earth could have happened in the past to make his dad not want to talk about his brothers when he was so adamant at the same time that he wanted them to all be together again? It just did not make sense. Of course, that was a worry for another time, seeing as Kirill was already snoring. Begrudgingly, Blair got ready for bed, changing into his pajamas and muttering something under his breath about not having a window before cutting the light off. It was going to be a long day tomorrow, now that he was finally moved in to the dorms and classes were beginning, and all he could think about as he drifted asleep was his desire to meet the curious hero's heir.