Pain; all she knew was pain. Each and every night was a memory, no, a nightmare that never happened. Images that burned her mind and split her consciousness asunder. They're much more than nightmares; it felt like her soul was being violated. Sometimes she'd wake up with no strength; almost as if she had given birth to pure evil, and it singed her flesh as it came out. A cold sweat ran down her face as she tossed and turned relentlessly. And as the symbolic evil clawed its way forth from her body, she jumped up. Terrified, trembling, hoarse at those horrific, atrocious images ingraining themselves in her mind. As usual, the room was dark, the scent of sweat filled the air, and the alarm blaring "eenk-eenk-eenk!"
"Rose, are you up yet? It's your turn for the shower." Her roommate called through the door. Her name was Rose. "I finished mine a few minutes ago and I'm all ready to go. Get up or you're going to be late." Rose's roommate's footsteps could be heard walking away.
"That dream again." Rose flung herself back to her pillow, but instantly shot back up. Her pink hair moist from night sweat. "Ew, cold wet spots, ew." She had sat up long enough for the sweat to cool. "This is already shaping up to be a great day." Rose threw herself out of bed and drug her feet to the window, not preparing herself for the immediate blinding light that was imminent at that point. She pulled back the curtain to see that- "CRAP! What is wrong with me today?!" Rose jumped back pushing the curtain back closed as a natural reaction to the light. They fluttered back open as Rose turned with her eyes closed, only to stub her right "crying piggy" on the bed railing. She just stood there for a moment, trying to convince her mind that it didn't happen, then finally accepting it. Her first instinct was to let out a string of obscenities, but she censored herself by shouting "GRG DRNGRT!"
"Get a move on girl, it's graduation day! You can't be late, you're Valedictorian." Rose's roommate shouted, walking the door.
A full ten minutes has passed since Rose woke up and already, she's having a bad day. She was almost scared to leave her room, but knew that she had to; the sweat was beginning to dry and stink. So Rose managed to get to the bathroom without causing damage to herself, her roommate or their dorm room. She got in the shower, and got dressed. Rose thought her day was looking up.
"So, where's your graduation robe?" The roommate asked, reclining on the sofa.
"Eff-em-ell." Rose turned around to go to her room and get her robe. As she got in the room, she noticed her cell phone and keys on the dresser. "This day can't get any better." She said to herself hoping it wouldn't get any worse. Unfortunately for her, I'm a jerk and I think her misery is amusing.
So Rose and her roommate made sure they had everything. Usually, her roommate was the dinky one, so she was just having a field day teasing her. "Look, I'm just having an off day. I'm just nervous about graduation or something. Watch your head Lime." Rose usually has to tell her roommate, Lime, to watch her head or she'll hit it on the campus cart roof. And as soon as Lime sits down in the passenger seat, Rose hits her head on the side.
"Are you alright?" Lime was beginning to be worried about this bad luck streak. Rose sits down in the driver seat.
"Yeah, I just refuse to accept this crap, so it's bound to stop." She fought frantically to hold back the slurry of obscenities she just knew were bound to come out at some point during the day. Alas, I'm a douche bag. Rose placed the key in the ignition and turned it. Suffice to say that the cart didn't start at first. So here's what happened. Rose almost hit thre- four people, a fire hydrant, and for some reason, they wound up having to push the cart up a street while getting chased by an angry Ratata before it started working again, but through it all, Rose kept her head up and they found their way to their graduation class. Rose's feeling of hopelessness was muted for a bit when she saw everyone in their blue robes. Suddenly, she knew she was going to have a good day. Mozeltov.
Something you should know about Rose. When she first arrived to Pokemon Tech, she was one of the dumbest students. She couldn't tell a Metapod from a Miltank; literally. She got the two confused once. But after being sponsored by the world famous Professor Oak, she became the top of her class. She was able to tell what Pokemon was what by the egg. By pure determination and hard work, Rose was able to become the top of her class, stirring mixed feelings in some. Heck, she can even see where a Pokemon's hidden strength lies by its personality. As a result, she became a largely consulted student in the training room.
Rose is seventeen, and turning eighteen soon enough. Her dream is to become a pokemon professor like her mentor, Oak. He has, on several occasions, consulted her on cases involving pokemon mysteries, and has even offered her a job to work under him. Rose has night terrors. Professor Oak has tried to talk to her many a time and has even offered her the private line of Sabrina, the Psychic expert. Rose always declines as she's uncomfortable with an former member of Team Rocket probing her mind. Anyway, the night terrors are steadily getting worse, as if something is affecting them directly.
Rose is one of the sweetest people you'll ever meet. Not too many people on campus don't know who she is. She's sought after by the "nerds and geeks" of the school and wanted in many clubs. Once, she met DJ Mary and was offered to replace Professor Oak on "Pokemon Talk" due to his old age. She declined as well to finish school. But out of her stunning popularity, not everyone feels that she is as deserving as they. They, or more specifically, he is another upperclassman to graduate on the same day as Rose. His name is Ceil and he was the former valedictorian candidate. You see, he- Ceil wasn't always a jerk to Rose. He was actually one of the nicer ones to her back when people made fun of her and called her names. This was when they were freshmen.
Rose actually kind of had a crush on him until he turned against her. When Rose actually began showing signs of competence, he began to get jealous that people weren't coming to him like they were to her. The iceberg that sank the ship came when he became overconfident and boisterous in a competition. He misjudged Rose's abilities and lost to no fault but his own. That was sophomore year 1. When she went to him to congratulate him on second, he pushed her and stormed away. She tried reasoning with him multiple times and even waited for him in the rain. She got tired of him treating her like crap after she caught a cold and stopped talking to him. Ever since, she's made a habit of tormenting him because of his self proclaimed superiority. Secretly, she still harbors the same crush, but tries to hide it.
Rose, in a selfish attempt to upstage Ceil once again, parked in the spot he usually likes to park in. It's pretty good for going to the gym where the post graduation party is, the gym gives good cafeteria access as well as the chem. lab. Though campus was big, each place is connected to another; a whole web of interconnecting labs, classrooms, and mezzanines. Pokemon Tech is a huge campus as opposed to the four floor, single building it was in the past. Rose went around the gym to the cafeteria which gives access to everything, if not access points to other things. Her robe's hanger caught in a bush and pulled it up. She felt that it was a sign of her luck turning. She turned past the "Potion" energy drink machine to enter the cafeteria where she and Lime bumped into Ceil.
"Ceil, I was just thinking about you." Rose started already. "I saw a pile of Buneary droppings in the parking lot and thought that you might need it for the Pecha Berry residue. You need all the cuteness you can get." She smiled a sweet, but devious smile and tried to walk past, but got stopped.
"Ah, I didn't realize you were such a psycho this early in the morning. Please, no, forgive me. I confused your wit with your intelligence, which are both about as sharp as a Bibarrel's. It's my fault really." Ceil brushed his shoulder on hers as he walked past.
"Are you really that stupid as to where you can't come up with a better insult than that?" Rose felt the intended sting from his insult a bit as he was referring to her earlier days where she wasn't as good with her studies. Even if it wasn't a good burn.
Ceil kept going and wagged his index finger. "Stupid is as Miltank does." he turned the corner and exited the cafeteria.
"You two need to make up and stop this. It's obvious you're still harboring your crush on him. And everyone knows that he really wants to make it up to you. I think that you should kiss him and AAH!" Lime's reputation as the ditzy klutz was beginning to return. Because she slipped on a few drops of Potion left over from earlier that morning mid taunt. Told you.
"For me to kiss him, he'd have to be an actual person. You know, a human being. Instead, he's the worst kind of trash and I don't kiss trash." Rose helped Lime up and they both walked towards the line for breakfast.
Something you should know about Ceil. He's a douche bag. He's a self proclaimed genius, though the IQ test (as well as the Alakazam administering) say otherwise, hence the self proclaimed part. Boisterous and proud, Ceil is irritating and unkind. And yet, Lime was right. He did still have feelings for Rose. Anyone who wasn't wrapped up in drama or their studies knows it. It as simple as a Slowpoke, Ceil wants Rose. In fact, anytime they're in Battle Drills together, a Chansey evolves from what it feels between the two. Okay, so it only happened three times, but my point is no less valid.
But this is the wall Ceil puts up. He goes day to day miserable, not letting himself think about it. Or rather this time, already seeming to be. "Bibarrel? What's wrong with me?" He was still walking through the courtyard of campus. "I'll admit, the Miltank one was ruthless, but I gotta step it up. This is someone whose wit is almost as good as mine. I should have called her fat. At least I'd hit a nerve." He thought about liking her to a Snorlax. I mean sure, it'll sting. What girl in her teens doesn't care about their weight? But Rose is slender. Not even an ounce overweight. "I should pretend to go back for something and catch her eating. Then I can be all like, 'easy there Snorlax. Put down the fatty cakes. Save some for the malnourished.' That'd be perfect." So Ceil deviously decides to head back to the cafeteria blissfully unaware that he was being watched.
Across the courtyard a stranger with a hood covering his head watched Ceil from a cart. He tries imitating Ceil's walking movements and moves over to where Rose's cart is. He looks at it strange and then back at the cafeteria door.
"Are you really going to eat all of that? I mean, it is a lot. We girls have got to watch our figures." Lime and Rose sat down with Rose holding three trays worth of food, five water bottles and four cups of OJ. Ceil's timing could not have been perfect for what he came to do.
"Yeah, easy on the fatty cakes Snorlax. We don't want the Aerodactly to go extinct again." Ceil walked past their table and Rose, processing what he said, was lost for a reaction. Her eyes bawled up in incontrollable rage while holding back tears. She however said nothing, choosing to let the moment pass and try to have a good day. Lime wasn't so optimistic that could be done as Rose was shaking. Ceil's left hand vanished near his back pocket.
"So what is it you want Ceil? Haven't you bothered us enough for the day? Do you go around thinking up insults and come around when you finally gather the courage to say something? Because that's just sad." Lime in an attempt to stop Rose from doing anything drastic took over her friend's usual role of trash talking.
"Quite but no. I came back because I forgot my key." It was in his hand hidden before. He put the card key back into his wallet that he removed moments earlier. "But now that you mention it, I do want something." He picked up one of Rose's cups of orange juice and sat next to her. Lime mouths "Don't do anything stupid" because Rose was clinging on to the edges of her tray.
"Actually, I come with an olive branch. We can stop this back and forth crap. In exchange, I'll let you be my girlfriend." Ceil chuckled at his own wit, thinking his offer was known to be a joke. He took a sip of the juice with his eyes closed. That two seconds was all Rose needed to get up and pull her tray back.
"NO! NO! NO! NO!" Lime tried stopping her. When Ceil opened his eyes, the narrow, outside, metal edge of the plastic tray was an inch from his face his upper lip.
"Oh"
FWAP! A loud smacking sound was heard through the cafeteria despite its huge size followed by a second crashing sound.
"Your girlfriend?" Rose's voice was breaking. "When we were freshmen I wanted you to call me that so bad. And even when I call you names and talk bad about you, I secretly wanted that title. But you know what? I'd rather impale my body on a bed of eternally healing spikes and suffer for eternity than to take any of your crap any longer. I don't -." Tears streamed down Rose's face. She attempted to finish her sentence, but couldn't fight through the pain. Instead, she flung the tray in a random direction and ran towards the exit.
"Rose wait!" Lime jumped up and started to run after her friend. After a few steps, she turned back. "For someone to be so smart, you really are stupid. You know that?"
"Yeah." Ceil replied to no one in particular as Lime had already run off. He felt his nose where she hit him and felt blood trickle down.
Rose? Rose, where are you?" Lime ran down the hallway leading from the cafeteria to the classroom annex. She heard sobbing in the distance, but couldn't pinpoint its location. "Rose, where are you? He was wrong. You're not fat. You're beautiful. Ceil's just a jerk. You know that."
"Go away." Rose replied.
Lime heard the broken, empty cries and made a right. There was Rose, behind a crate full of capsule sticker material. "I'm not going to go away. You need to forget about what he said. Ceil is an idiot. Any guy would love to be with you." She tried cheering up her friend.
"It's not that. Over the years, I stopped letting whatever Ceil says bother me. But this was just mean. He's never even said anything like this to me. Even when I was fat in freshmen year." This wasn't a true statement. "People used to call me Mini Munchlax. And Ceil would stand up for me. And when he started being a jerk, I got used to it. He's always been a sore loser, but this… this hurt." Rose took a second to sniff so she could begin sobbing once more.
"I never got what happened between you two. I came here two years ago from another college." Lime sat down next to her when her phone vibrated.
"Every challenge along the way; with courage I will face. I will battle every day to claim my rightful place." It went off while vibrating again. "Come with me, the time is right. There's no better team, yeah. All in all, we'll win the fight. It's always been our dream. (It's always been our dream!)" Lime had every intention to ignore it, but Rose made her pick it up.
"Hello? Yes daddy. Yes daddy. No daddy. That wasn't me. I was here all weekend. Yes daddy. Oh God. Here." Lime hands the phone Rose.
"Where is she?" The hooded stranger approached Ceil as he was walking out of the cafeteria.
"What?" He was too dazed from being hit in the face to care what was going on outside his own little world.
"The one my master seeks. Where is she? You saw her. I can see it on you. Where is she?" The stranger was twitching a bit. It was obvious that it wasn't human by its shadowed face. The chin showed a bit of blue hair about the same shade as Ceil's hair.
"I don't know. She's gone. So leave me alone." Ceil attempted to walk past but the stranger grabbed him. For a quick second, Ceil thought it was a pokemon he had never seen before, but that looked human enough to not be a pokemon. Ceil kneed the stranger and bolted. The stranger dropped to the ground. As he was running, he pulled out his cell phone. He turned to snap a photo of the- whatever that just threatened him but it was gone. Instead, he opened it up and made a call. "Todd. Where are you at?" There was inaudible mumbling over the line. "You're always camping! Look, some weird stuff is happening. Get out here. I need you to do a stake out for me." More mumbling. "Fine. Just be here in a week. But don't expect campus to fund you as I GRADUATE TODAY!" With that, Ceil hung up the phone.
No, today was not going to be a good day.
"Yes sir. No sir. No sir. Yes sir. Bye sir." Rose hung up the phone. "Your day says that he'll be here in a couple of hours. He has to finish up at work and your mom sends her best."
"That's like them. So are we ready to go now? My dad always ruins a perfectly good sad moment." Lime smiled, hoping that would cheer up her friend. It did as Rose giggled at the corny joke. "You know we have to go shopping now." The two began to walk down the hallway towards the classrooms.
This is the end. My only friend…the end.
Welp, that was chapter 1. I changed a lot of stuff from the original version like Luca's character. You could say that he….evolved. Lol pokemon pun. The obvious character reference was changed to remove obvious pokemon reference. The main character's name was changed to Rose and I made Lime Rose's roommate instead of being just a kid she meets later on. Yeah, I kind of rushed into the original version. The roommate from the original version was named Kyuki and after graduation, she wasn't seen again. I wonder what would have happened to her. Stripper maybe?
I thought about giving Lime her own "Something you should know about Lime" but I found that it would be spoilerific if I did that. I do however find it hilarious that Ceil got one because I didn't plan on that. It sort of happened. Kinda like an in-story reference to itself. I did however plan that scene where Ceil calls Rose fat differently. Had she not had such a bad morning, she would only have slapped him. I R BAD. I did notice something though, no one was in the cafeteria when Rose assaulted Ceil. In my mind, there were a few people scattered, but no one still did anything. Only two people looked. Campus security wasn't called.
In case it isn't clear, Rose has Pink hair, Ceil has Blue Hair and Lime has Green hair. Since the main character in the games are colors…or gems, I thought it would be cool to name important people by colors. So if anyone doesn't know, Ceil is a shade of Blue. Don't think of it as any kind of reference or anything. In the original version, his name was Naran. I didn't like that.
You may or may not have noticed my switching from future tense to present and present perfect. I kind of felt that the narrator needed to be more omnipresent, so I gave myself more of a "Ron Howard in Arrested Development" type role as the narrator. That, or the ever evolving, unclear narrator of "Trapped in the Closet."
Anyway, did anyone catch those references?
Mad props for anyone who catches the seven references in this chapter. I'll give you a hint to the sixth:
Billy Crawford