Chapter 2~
My eyes widened. "What? WHAT?" I yelled, unable to believe that going to school would be the biggest day of my life.
"I've been training my entire life… just so I can go party with the weak at some random school?" I snapped, furious.
Giovanni stared sternly at me. "Zaria, this is no joke. You are going to ranger school for numerous reasons." I glared in response.
"What do I need to learn? I'm stronger than Proton, smarter than Petrel, and a better battler than Ariana! What more do you want from me?"
He nodded. "Why do you think I chose you to do this instead of one of them?" He asked coolly.
I bit my lip, trying to think of something snarky to say without success. "What do you need me to do at school?" I asked.
"Learn to be a ranger of course, but also learn to pretend to be one of the weak. Do NOT become weak, just try to 'befriend' them. Try to blend in as best you can. I will tell you more after you graduate from Ranger school." Giovanni explained, patting his Pokémon on the head.
Knowing better than to argue, I nodded and silently left the room.
XXXXX
For the past few days, I had worked out, trained Luxray, and watched some TV to learn how the weak behave. I guess I wasn't allowed to watch TV when I was younger in case the shows influenced me in some negative manor.
He didn't want my mind to become infatuated with the idea of treating Pokémon as equals. As they were obviously put on this earth to serve people.
They win our wars for us, in the past they hunted for us, they settle arguments for us, the do heavy lifting for us. All that gibberish on the TV that Arceus created us and all Pokémon to be equal is a big pile of BS. Luxray and I weren't equal. He doesn't order me around, and he obeys my command.
It's clear that my genes are superior to his, making him automatically submissive to me. The Pokémon allows itself to be caged in a small plastic ball. Luxray was born to serve me. It's just that simple.
I am truly grateful for my father shielding me from all that nonsense, now sending me off to ranger school? Not so much.
XXXX
I was nearly finished packing. The ranger school allows each student to bring two bags. My first one was all the way packed, being just clothes.
The other suit case contained a few of my basic thirty-pound weights, Luxray's poke ball, a few empty pokeballs in case I have a chance to capture any for myself, and… and… alright, this is a little embarrassing but truth is, I still sleep with the same Umbreon plush that I've had since I was born.
I can't go without it, (weak I know) so It's coming with. The only reason I haven't beaten myself for still sleeping with my childhood doll was because it was an Umbreon, a dark type with cold, desolate, blood-red eyes that gives the average child nightmares. But yes, it is horribly embarrassing and no one, not even the grunts that usually cater towards me don't know that I still find comfort in this thing.
The plush is the last thing that I packed. I then began to pick at my nails, impatiently waiting for my escorts to take me to the airport so I could go to… I think it's called… Almia? It's right around a nine hour flight from Kanto, where I am now.
Ms. April, my teacher, is going to pick me up from the air port. If I could, I'd have Luxray's ball where I usually keep it: around my waist on my poke ball belt, but apparently, you aren't allowed to have any Pokémon while you're in school. Especially if you're in ranger school.
All this, 'rangers protect and befriend Pokémon' BS sickened me.
Like I said before, Luxray was born to serve ME. Not to live out in the wild and do absolutely nothing.
I'm just hoping that after I do whatever it is that my father wants that I'll become an official member of Team Rocket. And not just a grunt, I want an Admiral position, you know, to be next in line after Giovanni. Just with winning arm wrestling with all the other admirals, and beating them in Pokémon battles and scoring higher than them in advanced mathematical tests and stuff makes me better.
I want to be an admiral as soon as possible.
XXXX
The plane ride wasn't too bad. It was at night so I basically slept the whole time, trying to keep as far away as I could from the guy sitting next to me.
I had awoken when the lights got turned on, my face was pressed against the plane window. I stretched my arms, accidently punching the man next to me in the face.
I didn't apologize to him and just got out of the plane with my stuff and began to look for Ms. April.
XXXX
Ms. April tried to make conversation with me in the car during the drive to the school, but I made my answers curt and made no attempt to deepen the conversation. So, much to my relief, most of the car ride was driven in utter silence.
I looked out the car windows. Almia looks much different than Kanto. Almia didn't have very many residents, whilst Kanto had a booming population, with at least forty people per town. Almia seemed to have at the most forty people in each city, aside from Pueltown of course. Vientown seemed like an ok town as we drove through it.
"That building with the grass roof is the ranger base." Ms. April smiled, seeing if that would get me talking.
I only nodded slowly. "Not too shabby. " I forced the words out of my mouth, trying to make them not sound distasteful.
"The ranger school is just up this road." She continued speaking, her voice quickly irritating me, as I was used to little speaking each day (and her voice sounded like she was talking to a bunch of two year olds).
"I bet you're going to love living with the other girls, they're all so great and-" I just tuned her out after that.
XXX
The school was much larger than I'd originally thought. Nearly as large as Team Rocket's HQ.
"Oh no, don't go in there yet. You have to pass the ranger initiation to prove that you are capable of using a styler." Ms. April explained.
I rose an eyebrow and gave a nervous laugh. "But I don't know how to work a styler. That's why I'm going to school here, you know, to LEARN HOW." I glared, unable to play nicely anymore.
Ms. April didn't seem to notice my frustration, and pointed me towards a what looked like an oversized garden shed that was around fifty feet away from the school.
"Can I drop my stuff off before I go?" I asked, wanting this lady to just leave me alone.
Ms. April shook her head, looking a little annoyed that I was being this rude towards her. "Sorry." I muttered.
Ms. April sighed. "It's fine, I'd be like this too if I was on a plane for nine hours. But no, you have to capture the Pikachu inside the building before you can get settled in; it's tradition." Ms. April said patiently, gesturing once more to the building.
"Alright, well I'll see you in class ok? Remember, you don't have to come until five 'O clock." She reminded me, strolling back inside of the classroom.
I waited until she was inside before digging through one of my suit cases for Luxray's poke ball. "Never know when I might need his services." I muttered, plucking the red and white ball from the case.
I pushed the small button in the center of the ball, minimizing it so the ball would fit inconspicuously in my hand.
I sighed, walking into the oversized garden shed.
XXXX
"Hehe… you are now about to complete the initiation to be accepted into Team School… and then, together we shall rule the world!" Mr. Kaplan laughed, only to get smacked in the stomach by Ms. Claire.
"Will you quit telling the new students that?" She snapped.
"Alright, Maria is it? Our Pikachu is taking a break from being the capture test Pokémon, so while he rests, you will be capturing Charmander instead." She smiled, gesturing to the electric type who slept soundly atop a wood crate. She then gestured to the fire type in the center of the room.
"Um… my name's not Maria-"
"Here's your school styler." Mr. Kaplan interrupted me, tossing me a small capture styler.
I sighed. "Alright." My fingers instinctively went to Luxray's poke ball button to release him, but then I remembered that I couldn't use Luxray.
"Damn it." I muttered quiet enough so the teachers wouldn't hear me.
I flicked the styler on, nearly jumping when the capture disk shot itself onto the ground, twirling around in a circle like a spinning top. I moved the actual styler up, the disk quickly followed the movement, sharply shooting further up the floor, still spinning in a circle.
"You getting the hang of it, Maria?" Ms. Claire asked. I couldn't help but glare at her.
"It's Zaria!" I snapped, spooking the Charmander, who shot embers at a collection of wood crates in the corner of the room.
The fire rapidly spread from crate to crate, making the terrified Pikachu leap off the crate he was sleeping on, frantically running around the room, sparking at the flames which only made them grow in size. Soon flames lit the walls of the capture building, smoke filling my lungs.
"Maria! Follow us!" Ms. Claire yelled, following Mr. Kaplan out of the burning classroom.
Smoke stung at my eyes. If father was here he'd tell me to rescue the Pikachu… Become the hero of the school to gain their trust. I thought, looking around for the electric type.
Embers and flames lapped at my legs, but did no damage.
I was blinded by the smoke, but I still quickly began looking for the Pokémon, my silver gaze scanning through the flames and billows of smoke.
I released Luxray from his poke ball, ignoring the fact that he could get hurt.
"Lux!" Luxray cried, fear filling his gaze. "Luxray, use your X-ray vision to find Pikachu." I commanded, awaiting the Pokémon's response. Luxray hastily looked through the flames. "Ray!" He growled, flicking his tail towards the back of the room.
I nodded, returning Luxray before he collapsed from the smoke. I fearlessly walked through the flames, looking calmly for the Pikachu.
"Chu…" Pikachu nervously squeaked, eyeing me from afar. A faint grin crossed my face when I saw him. My pace quickened until I reached him, scooping the small Pokémon up.
I turned to exit the building when my eyesight failed me. The smoke had blinded me, rendering me useless. And to make matters worse, only my skin was fire-proof, not my insides.
My lungs where still screaming in pain from the fire. I gasped when I felt something fluffy wrap around my right leg. My first reaction was to kick the fluffy thing, but then whatever had my leg seemed to be guiding me out to safety.
Suddenly, I froze. My legs locked up and I couldn't move. I collapsed onto the ground, writhing around the flaming floor in pain almost as if I was having a seizure of some sort.
XXXX
White and fluffy clouds painted a light blue sky as 'I' zoomed through the sky faster than any jet. 'My' face looked behind 'me' for a brief moment, one of 'my' golden wings visible as 'I' checked my surroundings.
I tried to humanize Zaria a little with the plush and how she felt kinda helpless without Luxray's assistance. Hope I did this right. ^_^