Pokemon High School

Chapter 2 – Making Friends

A soft nudge at the side of my head made me wake up from my, for once, peaceful slumber. I blinked a couple of times in sleepy confusion, before turning my face towards the source of the nudging. I should have seen it coming, but of course it was Grotle that tried to nudge me awake. What else would it be anyway?

I moaned softly from irritation and sat up in my bed as I patted Grotle softly on his head. He responded with a happy smile and a few wafts of his tail. I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and yawned as I stretched, looking around at my room´s walls, which was adorned by several drawings and paintings of me and Grotle together on several adventures from our past.

But, one also sat in the middle of all that. One I was embarrassed to show to anyone, let alone even speak of. When I had woken up in the middle of the night last night, I hadn´t been able to sleep. My mind had begun drifting back to school… Back to her. Mayu. She was, interesting, to say the least.

With short brown hair that reached her shoulders, glimmering slightly in the sunlight, her school uniform fitting her body perfectly, sitting right in all the right places. Her eyes, her blue eyes, which almost felt like they could fell entire armies with just a single glare when she was pissed, but heal any wound with a simple gaze when caring, had been one of the things I had noticed most about her.

Her school uniform had fit her so perfectly as well. The short skirt and her open shirt made it daring, without leaving too little to imagination. Which a tank top underneath, her clothing really fit her well.

How was I supposed not taking an interest in her?

In the middle of the night, since I couldn´t sleep, and was only able to think about her, I had decided to draw her, as I remembered her from memory. My lead black pencil had run across the paper gracefully, perfectly drawing the soft curves of Mayu and her traits.

Ever since I was little, I had had an interest in drawing. Whenever I had come home from an adventure with Grotle, or whenever I would come home from ground school, I would grab a pencil and draw away. My friends and my Pokémon at the time was always happy topics I always picked up on. But yesterday had been a night where a new topic had come into play.

"Mayu~" I said with a soft smile "I wonder what we´re going to talk about today, huh Grotle?"

I asked this to my trustworthy partner as I softly rubbed his head, receiving a smile and a soft cry of happiness in return. I yawned again and put a hand over my mouth as I stood onto my feet, and grabbed my newly washed school uniform and a white t-shirt underneath, before walking to the bathroom to wash myself down.

I stood in front of the mirror for a few moments, examining my face and hair.

"Maybe Mayu would like it if I colored my hair," I mumbled silently as I took a glance at Grotle "What do you say buddy?"

Grotle looked up at me with a half suspicious rise of an eyebrow as he smirked at me, almost as if to say "You´re trying to impress her aren´t you?"

"Oh don´t look at me like that!" I mumbled with a huff and a small blush "It´s not like that. I just want to look good for my first new friend"

Grotle rolled his eyes and went back to the kitchen, waiting patiently for his breakfast. I smiled a little as I brushed my hair and teeth and sighed happily as I went into the kitchen, and poured some pokemon food into Grotle´s bowl. I got myself some breakfast and grabbed some money from my piggy bank, before heading out with Grotle, towards my second school day.

I smiled a bit as I looked up at the school building. Today I would have art, which was one of the reasons I had chosen this school. Besides pokemon trainer classes, this school also had proper educational classes, to those people who wished to only be trainers in their young days.

Now that I thought about it, I didn´t remember seeing my parents ever picking up a pokeball.

I smiled a little as I stepped into the halls, looking around in wonder. My new-kid nerves yesterday had made me jumpy, nervous. Only now I really took in the marvel of the school. It was big, to say the least. Giant and wide hallways with hundreds of students passing in and out between each other, hurrying towards their next class.

You could reflect your own face in the floor tiles, and the lockers on each side of the hall between the oak doors of the classrooms, was shining a pretty light blue.

I smiled a little as I stepped up to my own locker, and entered my code. The loud buzzing of hurrying students sounded in my ear, reminding me I had to hurry as well if I didn´t want to be late. I grabbed my books from my locker and slammed it shut, turning around and heading into the mass of students.

I pouted a bit as I finally reached the right classroom.

"Jesus Christ" I panted as I leaned against the oak door "How many students in is this school?"

"About a few hundred, to be realistic"

Suddenly I heard a voice from right beside me, and I looked up from my lounged down crouch, to see who was suddenly talking to me. For a split second I thought it was Mayu, the voice I had just heard resembling hers, but I was slightly disappointed when I realized it was not her.

It was another girl actually. She looked like she was about 16 or 17 of age. She had long blue hair, which was put up in a neat ponytail. Her emerald green eyes was covered with a red pair of glasses, making her seem more sophisticated, almost like a teacher. Her school uniform said otherwise though. Her honest and bright smile was accompanied by a couple of tiny freckles on each cheek.

"Oh, uh hi!" I said, with my best attempt at a smile, trying not to seem too surprised "uh, thanks for answering my question I guess"

"Yeah, it was the best way to get your attention" She said with a small smile "Not to be rude, but you´re kind of in the way"

"Oh damn, sorry!" I said in surprise.

Only now I realized that, since I was leaning against the classroom door, I was standing in the way for the other students to enter. Behind the girl, a line of irritated male and female students stood, glaring at me.

I blushed dark red and immediately removed myself away from the door, letting the student mass enter.

"U-Uh I'm sorry guys!" I said with an embarrassed smile.

A few glares and curses was sent my way, and I sweat-dropped a little as I watched the students cram inside.

"So much for leaving a good impression" I said with a sigh, about to enter the classroom. I was slightly, but surely pleasantly, surprised when I saw the blue haired girl standing by the door, waiting for me.

"Come on, what are you waiting for?" She asked with a wide smile "Get inside, Slowpoke!"

"Did you seriously just nickname me with a Pokémon name?" I asked with a smile as I followed her inside.

"Yup, don´t like it?" She said with a teaseful smirk "Maybe I should just call you by your name then."

"Good idea." I said with a smile as I reached out my hand "I´m Tomoya"

The girl smiled softly and took my hand with a surprising firm grip.

"I´m Claire," She said with a smile and a gleeful jump in her place "hope we´ll become great friends"

"That sounds good to be honest." I said with a smile "A friend who knows this place would be good"

"Yeah, I know how you feel." She said with a smile "There´s a free space beside me, so be free to sit down if you´d like"

"U-Uhm sure." I said with a small blush at her invitation.

Her gleeful attitude had kind of surprised me to be honest. I liked her way of approaching people though. A joke was always a good way to break the ice, and she had definitely hit the home run, and made a good introduction.

I smiled softly and placed my books onto the free desk, smiling softly at Claire as I placed myself in the seat. I pulled out a notebook from my backpack as well, and some pencils, some of lead, and some with color.

"You into drawing?" Claire asked, my equipment apparently peaking her interest.

I nodded a bit and smiled softly as I looked over at her, happy that she was pulling up a subject so I didn´t have to think about it.

"Yeah, I am." I said with a smile as I opened my notebook, showing her some of my drawings "Ever since I was little"

"Oh wow…" She stared at my drawings in awe, her eyes widening from amazement "Those drawings are amazing!"

"N-Nah, they´re not all that good." I said with an embarrassed smile, a blush creeping onto my cheeks.

"No, seriously!" She said with an amazed expression "I´m not sure even our teacher can draw that well! She´s mostly into paintings, and coal drawings!"

"O-Oh come on," I said with a smile "s-stop kidding with me! It´s not that big of a deal."

"You´re delusional." Claire said with a smirk "You should try showing her some of those drawings. I´m sure you´ll receive a lot of praise."

Those words struck me a bit. Those were the same words one of my old friends had used when…

~Flashback~

"Come on man, you´re delusional! I´m sure she´ll be really impressed if you just show her those drawings!"

"Are you crazy!? I barely have the balls to talk to her!"

"Come on, you know she´s into drawing! You´re amazing at drawing, so just pull that up as a topic!"

"You´re the delusional one here if you ever thought I could man up to even approach her!"

~End of flashback~

"Tomoya! Tomoya!"

I was ripped out of my discomforting flashback by Claire, who was looking at me with a concerned, but slightly irritated expression.

"Are you listening at all!?"

"Oh, sorry Claire, I uh.." I mumbled as I looked down at my drawings with a sigh "I wasn´t paying attention. Could you say that again?"

"I was just saying," She said with a pout "that I might be introducing you to my friends this lunch break."

"Oh, really?" I asked with a smile "Are they all Pokémon trainers?"

"Some." She said with a smile "But we´re all beginners. We mostly focus on our normal academics."

"I guess that´s somewhat of a good thing." I said with a smile "You can´t stay a Pokémon trainer forever."

"That´s very true." She said with a smile, which then turned into another smirk "But, I´m pretty sure you can live by selling those drawings."

"Again with those drawings." I said with a sigh "I told you, they´re not that good. And the teacher is coming, so keep quiet already!"

"Fine, but this conversation is not over!" Claire said with a giggle as she turned her head to listen to the teacher.

"Hello, and welcome dear students!" The teacher said with a smile "Today, I would like to introduce you to a new student!"

I blushed a little and pouted a bit as I hid my face the best I could.

´Again with this?´ I asked myself internally ´I thought we had been through this already´

I sighed softly and smiled a little as I stood up in my seat. I wasn´t used to this kind of attention, even with my popularity at home. I smiled the best I could without letting my embarrassment getting the best of me, and waved a little at the other students.

"H-Hey guys" I mumbled shyly, earning approving nods from some of the other students, some only smiling politely.

The greeting in this class felt so much better than the one yesterday. The students in this class felt so much more welcoming and friendly. I hoped I would get many more friends here, and not repeat what had happened in the past. All I needed to do, was hiding my past from whoever might take any kind of interest in me. And I wouldn´t be hated out of town like I was before.

"U-Uhm, I´m Tomoya" I said with a polite bow "I-I hope we get to spend a lot more time together"

Another couple of nods and smiles, and I smiled back, as I sat down, and blushed a little as I heard excited whispering in the corners of the classroom.

"Tomoya? Is he Japanese?"

"He seems pretty shy. You think he´s a bookworm?"

"Never mind that, he´s cute."

I blushed dark red and hid my face in my notebook, giggling and chuckling soon to follow.

"Ok class, settle down please." The teacher said with a smile, looking down at me "I´m miss Peterson Tomoya. I hope we all get along."

"Y-yes miss." I said with a blush, barely able to contain my embarrassment.

I blushed an even darker shade of red as excited giggling rushed through the classroom, and as miss Peterson turned to the drawing board, Claire dug an elbow into my side.

"Nice one Tomoya!" She said with a sarcastic tone "Keep going like that, and you´ll soon be the most popular guy in school!"

"Shut up." I mumbled as I glared at her irritated "It´s not funny."

"Then why do I have such a bad time, trying not to laugh?" She said as she tried stifling another giggle.

"Because you´re being an ass." I said with a chuckle as I elbowed her back.

"Come on guys, pay attention!" Ms. Peterson said with a dangerously happy smile.

I flinched a little as Ms. Peterson had put the classes attention to me and Claire, and in the corner of my eye I saw how red Claire´s face was before we both turned our faces and our attention to the lecture.

"S-Sorry!" We said in perfect unison.

Another giggle railed through the classroom, as the lecture and Ms. Peterson continued.

~After Class~

I sighed and smiled softly as class was dismissed, laying my books back into my bag.

"It sucks we can´t take our Pokémon out in this class," I mumbled with a sigh "Grotle would have loved to be a model for the class."

"Oh, so your partner is a Grotle huh?" Claire said with a smile "How long have you had him?"

"Ever since I was little." I said with a smile "He evolved from a Turtwig not long ago. About 2 months prior to this."

"Really?" She asked with a smile as we exited the classroom together. "That´s cute. Almost like it was taken out of a story."

"Huh? What do you mean?" I asked, her talking piquing at my interest.

"You know," She said as she stuck her tongue at me teasefully "a young hero, and his trustful partner Pokémon by his side, going on a journey, destined to save the world."

With her story she threw her arms out in a motion that would make it look like she was part of a Shakespeare act. She talked loudly and melancholy, making it seem like she was a narrator of some sort.

"You´re such a dork." I said with a chuckle "Though the idea sounds nice. We´ve had all kinds of adventures back in my hometown."

"That sounds nice." Claire said with a smile "Let´s hope you guys´ stay at this school will become another adventure."

"Right." I said with a smile as I walked up to my locker.

To my surprise Claire didn´t turn in her tracks to wait for me, or just walked down the hall, like I had predicted, but turned when she walked a bit in front of me and began entering a code on a nearby locker, actually right next to my own locker. Somehow I had made friends with my locker neighbor.

Trying to pick up from the conversation earlier, and rid myself of my surprise, I cleared my throat harshly.

"S-So, do you have any Pokémon partners?" I asked, having a feeling that I should show some interest in her by now.

Claire´s expression suddenly changed from a happy smile to something that looked like a mix between slight surprise and depression. She lowered her gaze a little and her smile faded a bit as she pondered over her answer.

"Well, I do, but…" She mumbled with a weak voice "He isn´t really listening to me lately."

"Oh…"

I feared that I had stepped all over her feelings without thinking. With the thought that I might have stepped onto the territory of a painful topic, I quickly pulled myself out of the same territory with a quick apology.

"I-I´m sorry if it´s a bad topic." I said quickly "I didn´t know that uhm…"

"No, it´s ok" Claire said as she looked at me with what seemed like a smile, though I wasn´t sure.

She seemed like she was trying to hide her sadness, to make me not worry, though the tears that was currently forming in the corners of her eyes only made me worry even more.

"I-If you say so." I mumbled, deciding to leave it alone.

As we put away our books for art and took the books for our next class, and headed off down the hall.