Six months later
It was the first day of college, after a summer break that the students hoped would never end.
"Alright Axew, are we ready to go?" Iris, the dragon type trainer asked her Pokemon. "Axew!!" He chimed back, excitedly.
Iris was back at Castelia college for her second year, and despite how awful the previous year had been for her, she had hope this year was going to be a lot better.
She had dropped her luggage off in her new dorm, that she'd be sharing with Dawn and Burgundy. They hadn't arrived yet, but fortunately that didn't bother her as she had other plans for the morning... she was heading into the city.
"Axew-Ax!!" The small dragon type chimed, as the pair had stopped walking down the streets of Castelia city, and were standing in front of a cafe. Iris smiled down at her partner before opening the door, letting the pair walk inside.
"We'd like a table for two please." Iris said to the man behind the register. He informed her she could sit wherever she liked, so with that being said, Axew excitedly raced off to choose a table.
The purple haired girl took a seat once Axew picked a table. Once sitting down, he climbed onto her lap, and rested his head on the table. Iris just giggled and pet him on the head.
The door to the cafe swung open, and in walked a tall green haired boy, causing Iris to smile brightly. "Axew!!" The tusk Pokemon chimed, climbing onto the table to cheer. "Cilan!" Iris stood up, racing over to hug the boy that was now walking towards her.
"Iris! It's so good to finally see you again~" He chimed, hugging his best friend back. The pair took a seat, once letting go of eachother, but the smile couldn't be wiped off of the girl's face.
"How was your holiday with Burgundy?" The girl asked, teasingly. "Amazing! Kalos is so beautiful." Cilan admitted, his eyes sparkling. This was the first time the best friends had seen eachother since the last day of college, before summer break. Burgundy planned to go home to her family in Kalos over the summer break and took Cilan along with her, and after spending some time with her family, they traveled around the region together.
"How was your summer?" Cilan asked, before petting Axew, who sat atop the table. "It was fun." She admitted, thinking of how she spent it mostly with May and Dawn. She felt like a bit of a third wheel at times, but the trio had a lot of fun.
"I'm a bit anxious for today." Iris admitted nervously, which lead the pair to why they were in the cafe at that moment. Whenever either one of them was feeling sad, anxious, nervous etc, they would hang out on their own and try to comfort one another.. and it had been like that since high school. It was a relief to know they always had eachothers backs.
"What are you anxious for?" Cilan asked, his tone of voice being soft. Iris bit her lip, "I guess I'm worried about.. seeing Trip." She admitted. Cilan shook his head, "He is gone, he won't be a problem anymore." He admitted, reassuringly, causing Iris to smile nervously. "This year is going to be great! It'll be so much better than last year, I promise you." Cilan assured her.
-
Flashback to six months ago
-
Iris held papers in her arms tightly, as she walked through the college at a fast pace. Dark clouds covered the school as it was soon to rain. Many students were passing the girl, to head back to their dorms before the rain came, Iris kept looking ahead, making eye contact with no one.
She got to the front gate, exiting the college, thinking over and over in her head what she was about to do. Iris was going to the police station, she'd written down everything she could remember from the party a couple nights prior.
Before May could call the police that night, the neighbours had...and when they arrived, they shut down the party. Dawn tried to explain to them the situation that had happened, but they weren't interested, assuming she was making it all up as she was drunk. Now that the night was long gone, and Iris had more of a clear mind, she was ready to go to the police.. hopefully being sober meant they'd take her issue seriously.
"Iris, hey!" She heard a voice that snapped her out of her trance. "What do you want?" She growled, turning around to see none other than Trip. "Where are you going in such a rush?" He asked. Iris groaned internally, "Somewhere." She bluntly answered, turning back around to leave.
"Iris, wait.. please!" He pleaded, quickly racing to her side. "You aren't going to the police, are you?" Trip asked. "I am, and you're not going to stop me." Iris spoke coldly, ignoring Trip as she walked.
"There's a better way to resolve this, hear me out..." He began. "No." Iris growled, "You're really going to go to the police about this? For what? I'm your friend." He spoke sternly, now mad as well. This hit a nerve with Iris, "For what? Are you serious? You spiked my drink and.." Iris paused for a moment, realising she was raising her voice. "You spiked my drink and then took advantage of me.. you are not my friend!" She added, before she continued to keep walking
"Iris you don't understand.. by doing this.. you're not only hurting me.." He quickly spoke up, catching her attention. "What do you mean by that?" She asked, stopping again. "If you go to the police about this, Cilan will automatically be involved.. and not in a good way."
Iris just gave him a puzzled look. "He could have killed me." Trip answered, referring to how Cilan had attacked him. "You deserved that.. and he didn't almost kill you." Iris admitted. "Look.. if you try and take me down, I'll take Cilan down with me.. and it won't end well for him at all." Trip spoke sternly. This caused Iris to bite her lip nervously.
"We could make a deal." Trip admitted, Iris just looked at him, not saying a word but expecting him to continue. "If you don't go to the police.. I'll leave the college." He decided, Iris raised an eyebrow, not convinced.
"You already know how hard it is to get into Castelia college.. I'll even leave the region." He insisted. "That way, we'll never have to see each other again, and your buddy Cilan will stay out of it... you just need to give until the end of the year to finish the semester, then I will leave."
Iris narrowed her eyes at Trip, already feeling like she couldn't trust him, but she also didn't want Cilan to get in a world of trouble for his actions.. and she knew Trip would willingly twist the story around for Cilan to get really hurt.
"How do I know I can trust you?" The girl asked, still unconvinced. "You have my word." Trip replied. "Your word means nothing to me." The dragon trainer as she looked at Trip, dead in the eye. "Iris, I don't want anymore trouble." He simply answered.
Iris just shook her head, "You mean, you don't want consequences for your actions?" She asked, disgusted. "Leaving the school let alone the region would be a consequence in itself.. I don't want to leave Castelia city." He admitted.
Iris bit her lip, thinking. She wanted to go to the police, Trip needed to get what he deserved.. but she didn't want Cilan to get dragged into this. She unfortunately knew Trip was capable of doing evil things, she worried by what lengths he would go to, to bring Cilan crashing down with him.
She grew anxious and paranoid, feeling like her only option was to trust him, as much as he was the last person she could trust. Iris clenched her eyes shut, hesitant to give Trip an answer. After a couple of moments she finally opened her eyes, "Fine." She replied.
"But if you are still here at the beginning of second year-" Iris began to snap, but Trip cut her off, trying to speak in a casual tone. "I won't be, I won't be! Don't worry."
Iris broke eye contact with Trip, walking back into the college. She had a bad feeling about trusting him, truthfully this deal made her feel like he won.. but she didn't want any of her friends to be in trouble with the law, for helping her.
-
Flashback end
-
Iris and Cilan eventually ordered coffee and made their way back to the college, and decided to enter the main building and wait for their friends, with Axew and Pansage by their sides.
They had wandered the halls, talking to people they hadn't seen since before summer break.. that was until the glass entrance doors were pushed open and two familiar figures walked inside, hand in hand.
Dawn Berlitz and May Maple, the two girls everyone thought would have a fling, that night of the party, actually started dating not long after and had been together ever since, proving a lot of people wrong. Iris and Cilan smiled, seeing their two friends begin to walk over to them.
Piplup was sitting on Dawn's shoulder, curiously looking around at all of the other Pokemon roaming the halls. Skitty was walking alongside May, singing as she walked. Beside Skitty was Buneary, wearing what appeared to be a new vest, and holding a bundle of daisies in her hand.
"Dawn, May!" Iris called, as they finally reached the duo. "Hey guys!" May greeted, as Skitty chimed, greeting them all too. "It's nice to see you girls again!" Cilan smiled happily. "It's great to see you again too Cilan, how was your holiday?" Dawn asked.
The group talked for a few minutes, catching up on their summer breaks, before Iris looked down at Buneary, who was handing a daisy to Axew and Pansage. "Axew!" The tusk Pokemon cheered, a huge smile on his face as he took the flower. "Pansage!!" The monkey Pokemon thanked her. "She wanted to give flowers to her friends today." Dawn laughed nervously, "That's adorable." Cilan admitted.
"Is that a new vest?" Iris asked, looking at the clothing the rabbit Pokemon wore. "Yeah, she wanted to wear it around college today, which is the only reason she's out of her Pokeball this morning." May added. The school had a rule of having one Pokemon per trainer, follow them around the corridor and classrooms, to avoid it turning into a wild zoo, but usually that rule wasn't strictly obeyed.
The four trainers continued to talk, wondering why Burgundy hadn't joined them. While they spoke, Buneary had stopped in her tracks, noticing a Pokemon that caught her attention. A yellow mouse Pokemon was dashing down the corridor, assumably going after its trainer. Buneary watched the Pokemon, her eyes turning into heart shapes, before she quickly looked down at her bundle of daisies and tried to make them look neat. She then raced off, deciding to go after the mouse Pokemon.
"Piplup?" Piplup questioned, getting off his trainer's shoulder and quickly going after his friend. "Skit-Skitty!!" The cat Pokemon followed after the pair, assuming they were playing a game. "Guys, where are you going?" Dawn asked, as her and her girlfriend's Pokemon were running away.
They ignored Dawn's question as they left. "Oh god, we better go and get them." May sweatdropped before she and Dawn turned back to Iris and Cilan, "We'll see you guys later." They said in unison, before leaving to go after their Pokemon.
Iris couldn't help but laugh over the events that had occurred in the past couple of minutes, before she linked her arm with Cilans and the pair continued walking down the corridor.
"Where is your girlfriend today?" She asked, teasingly. "She told me she would be here soon." Cilan sweatdropped, she was usually early to everything. "She could be at our dorm already." Iris suggested, as she had told Cilan she was sharing a dorm with Dawn and Burgundy.
"Maybe we should go and check." Cilan suggested, eager to see his girlfriend. Iris agreed, excited to see her friend. The pair began to walk towards the exit.
Iris froze, as a group of people walked through the doors, entering the corridor. Cilan stopped as well, looking at the individuals. There was Hilda, leading the group inside whilst talking to her best friend, Bianca. Beside Bianca was Cheren, who was talking on the phone as they walked, but it was the person beside Cheren that had made the pair stop; Trip.
"What the fuck is he doing here!?" Iris growled lowly, her nails digging into Cilan's arm unintentionally. "I.. I don't know.." Cilan stammered, as surprised as Iris was, but also flinching at the pain in his arm. Trip noticed the pair staring at him in surprise and gave them a smirk before he walked past them with his friend group.
"This year is going to be hell." Iris concluded.