Hello everyone! I am here with chapter four! Enjoy reading!

I do not own Pokémon in any way!

Chapter 4: Parent-Teacher Reunion

"Did you show your dad the letter yet?" asked Stem over the phone.

"Yeah." I sighed. "I don't what the letter said, but when he opened the envelope from Cynthia, he got all happy and started saying something about a reunion."

"You too?" exclaimed Stem. "That's exactly what happened with my mom! I mean, isn't she supposed to get angry that I got in trouble? I guess not."

I shook my head in disbelief. "Weird," I murmured. "I wonder what this is all about."

"Yeah," said Stem. "I also talked with Watergem and she said that her mom gave a small smile to herself, then started yelling at her for getting in trouble on just the third day of school. I'm planning on calling Tom Ato next."

"Wait!" I cried suddenly. "I think I remember where I heard the name Paul!"

"You mean from me?"

"No, before that. When you said Paul at first, it sounded so familiar. Now I remember that my dad asked me if Mr. Shinji's first name was Paul on the first day. You don't think this has anything to do with Mr. Shinji, do you?"

"Could be. But I still don't get why you guys got in trouble. You didn't do anything wrong, did you?"

"Well I was going to, except then that annoying Angelica girl tried to stop me and we got into a white-out mess. And the white-out took forever to get out of my ha—"

"Gary Junior, come here please," I heard my father call out from downstairs.

"Okay, gotta go now," I said to Stem. "Bye."

I turned off the phone and headed downstairs. My father was waiting on the sofa.

"You seem rather confused about all this letter stuff," he said. "So I have decided to enlighten your little brain a bit."

He handed me the letter. "Read it."

And so I did.

Dear Parent or Guardian, it read. Due to the school's policy, whenever a child misbehaves, the parent or guardian has a meeting with the teacher with whom the child has misbehaved, and the principal. Please meet—there was a dash on which in handwriting was written, Teacher: Mr. Paul Shinji, Principal: Mrs. Cynthia Shirona—at the office at—and then there was another dash on which in handwriting was written, Thursday, September 8th. 8:30 am—Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

Cynthia, principal.

I finished reading and looked up to see my father smiling.

Well that was a short letter.

"Now you listen to this, kid," he said. "Back when I was in high school, I used to spend my time with three boys. One of them was, you know Tom Ato's father?"

"You mean Ashy-Boy?"

"Don't call him that! You're just a kid!" my father scolded. "Only I get to call him that!"

I'm not sure whether or not that was meant to be a joke.

"Well, anyways. Where was I? Oh yeah." My father continued speaking. "So one of them was Tom's father, Ash. The other, you probably will never know, but one—an antisocial, fun to make fun of guy named Paul—he may be that Mr. Shinji of yours. I mean, Shinji is not a very common name here, is it? And his first name is Paul. So if we have a parent-teacher meeting, we would basically be having a reunion! You get what I mean?"

"Okay," I said slowly.

I didn't like where this was going.

"And that," said my father in a final sort of way, "is why I am so happy. Understand now?"

I stood there.

This is bad.

"I'm going upstairs now," I said, and, before he could reply, I dashed back to my room. I knew he was not expecting that.

"At least give me back the letter!" he protested from downstairs.

I sat down on my bed and re-read the letter a few times. If they had a reunion, that may lead to rather… It cannot be explained with words.

I had to call Stem. Now.

I looked around for the phone.

It was just here a minute ago. Where did it go?

I walked out of my room and groaned. There sat Daisalyn in her room, talking on the phone with one of her friends.

"Daisalyn! I need the phone!" I exclaimed frustratedly. "Now."

My sister made a shooing gesture with her hand and continued talking. With an annoyed sigh, I headed back to my room and made a paper airplane with the letter. I aimed it at the window, but the window was closed. With a crumpled front, the thing fell to the ground. I left it there.

Guess I have to wait until tomorrow….

I walked with my hands shoved into my jeans pockets. My backpack was slung upon my back, matching my black t-shirt. When I reached the school building, I was not really expecting Stem to be waiting for me beside the entrance door, but he was.

"Meet me here at this exact spot as soon as break time begins. Got it?" Stem said seriously. "I will say no more."

I blinked.

"Uh, okay?" I said passing him.

I entered my homeroom classroom. Angelica was sitting at her usual spot, but this time, she didn't say anything. She simply turned her head away when I sat at my seat beside her. I guess she kept her word about not talking to me. Classes went by normally, nothing out of the usual. Then finally, break time approached.

I walked outside to where Stem had told me to meet him. I stopped.

There stood a group of people all waiting for me. Actually, they were all people I knew. Stem, Watergem, Tom Ato, Angelica, Rosie and Shu.

"What took you so long? We've been waiting for, like, five minutes already!" complained Watergem. She took a bite of the cookie in her hand.

It took me a moment to realize that Stem and Tom were also holding cookies.

"Hey, where did you get those cookies from?" I asked.

"Mrs. K can be really nice, y'know," Stem replied with a shrug. "She baked them at home for our class since we were so good the last few days."

And I got stuck with Mr. Shinji.

"She even has a restaurant," added Tom. "And not only is she good at baking cookies, she can also cook!"

"Since when have you tried her foods?" Watergem asked, giving Tom a curious look.

"Uh—"

"Never mind that. Let's get to the point!" interrupted Stem. "The reason I told you all to be here is because, well, it has to do with the letter that each of us got sent home."

"My mom said that it's good that I tried to stop him from doing bad," interrupted Angelica. "She said that I did the right thing and that it's not my fault that I got in trouble for nothing."

"Why did you invite her?" I hissed to Stem.

"Everyone who got the letter has the right to be part of this discussion," replied Stem. "Whether you get along with each other or not."

He cast a glance at me and Angelica. All seven of us got into a huddle.

"Okay, so I have a question for you guys, Angelica, Shu, and Rosie," continued Stem. "Did any of your parents also get all happy or act strange when they read the letter?"

"Yeah!" exclaimed Rosie in surprise. "My mom. You mean that I'm not the only one?"

"Well my mom got a big smile on her face," said Angelica hesitantly. "But I think it was probably because I told her how I did the right thing. Though she was reading the letter at the same time. I don't know what the letter said, though. My mom just said that she just had to have a parent-teacher meeting or something. But—"

"Shu?" Stem interrupted, casting a glance at Shu.

Shu gave a nod in reply.

"Alright!" said Stem. "The same thing goes for Watergem, Tom, Gary Junior, and me. And there's a possibility that it had something to do with the fact that Mr. Shinji is involved."

"Yeah," I added. "My dad let me read the letter and he also told me that he used to be friends with who could possibly be Mr. Shinji. He said the parent-teacher meeting would be like a reunion."

"You talking 'bout Mr. Shinji?"

All of us turned our heads. Some random guy had just popped his head in between our huddle and moved his eyes from one person to another. He looked like he was in the eighth grade.

"Are you related to Mr. Shinji?" Angelica asked suspiciously, noting his purple hair.

"Me? Related to Mr. Shinji?" the random guy exclaimed as it were the craziest thing he had ever heard. "Pfffft, of course not! I'm not related to him!" The guy laughed. "Oh, I forgot how little sixth graders are," he said. "I just like to hear stuff about him. Y'know, 'cause Mr. Shinji is so funny."

He laughed at his own joke. We all just stared at him.

"Call me Sal, by the way," he added.

"That's your name?" asked Rosie.

"No," 'Sal' replied. "But it goes with the word hello. Y'know, like when you say 'hello Sal', it sounds kinda casual. And I'm kinda a casual guy. So anyways, what were you saying about Mr. Shinji?"

He turned his head back to me.

"Uh, what was I saying?" I turned to look at Stem.

"So it all most likely has something to do with him," said Stem, ignoring my question. "Hey, do you guys think all our parents were childhood friends? I mean, I know it sounds crazy, but I somehow get the feeling that Cynthia sent the letter to all of our parents on purpose. What if Cynthia knew our parents when they were young and found this a good opportunity to get them to re-meet?"

"Stop thinking ahead of yourself," said Watergem. "That would be ridiculous."

"Yeah," I grumbled, making a face, casting Angelica a glance. She glared at me in return.

"Ooh. This is starting to get interesting," said Sal, his black eyes shining with interest. "Did you know that Mr. Shinji knew principal Cynthia ever since he was ten?"

"Really?"

We all turned to look at the boy. I couldn't even imagine a ten year old Mr. Shinji. Sal nodded.

"How do you know?" asked Watergem.

"Oh I know this stuff," the boy replied. "By grade eight, you know pretty much everything you need to know about teachers in middle school."

Made sense.

"What else do you know about Mr. Shinji?" I asked. Excitement spread across my face.

"Lots," replied Sal. "I even know where he lives."

We broke our huddle and all stared at him in disbelief.

"No way," said Rosie.

"It's true," he said. "And I know which car he owns and I even know his kid. Oh, his kid is the coolest."

"Does your family know him as a family friend or something?" asked Tom with his eyebrows raised.

"Not exactly," said Sal with a small smile. "You know what else?" He looked around at us dramatically. Then he whispered, "Mr. Shinji loves orange juice!"

Angelica gasped and placed her hand on mouth. Shu shook his head in disbelief. Rosie and Watergem stared with their mouths dropped open while Stem, Tom, and I just stared.

"Always the same reactions," Sal said, laughing.

We stood silently for a moment, and then the bell rang, signalling the end of break.

"Well," said Sal. "Nice meeting you all! Bye!"

He turned and walked away, probably to enter the school building from another door.

The seven of us looked at one another.

"Well, bye," said Watergem. She and Tom headed back into the building, followed by Stem.

The rest of us went back into the building too, heading to our own classes.

Thursday had arrived, and I sat stiffly on my seat in my math class. I couldn't pay attention. Today was the day. The day of the parent-teacher meeting. I glanced at the clock, which read seven-thirty. Just one hour left until the meeting.

Time. Passed. By. So. So. So. Slowly... And then the bell rang.

Eight o'clock. Another thirty minutes to wait.

It was art class now, and the art teacher was explaining something about blending pastels. It took my mind off of the meeting for a while, until another person entered the room. I recognized her as the school secretary. She walked up to my teacher and said something quietly to her. When my teacher nodded in response, the secretary walked up to me and told me to follow her. Then she looked at someone at the back of the room and beckoned him to come too. Shu got up and walked up to her.

What the— How come I never knew he was in this class too?!

We both followed her out of the classroom. At first, I was confused, but then I remembered the meeting. So then we were invited to the meeting too?

We stopped at a few classes and pretty soon, all seven of us who had gotten the letter were following the lady to the office.

I glanced up at the clock and found that the time was 8:38.

The lady led us to a room somewhere in the office, and when we walked in, she left, closing the door on her way out.

I looked around. The room was filled with adults, sitting on the sofas and chairs. Our parents, to be specific, and Principal Cynthia. Mr. Shinji was there too.

"We've been expecting you," a woman's voice said (somewhat creepily, might I add). I recognized her as Stem's mom.

My dad turned and raised his eyebrows at her.

"What? I've always wanted to say that," she said with a laugh.

"Why don't you kids take a seat?" Principal Cynthia said to us, gesturing to a row of empty chairs. We did as we were told. I sat at the end nearest to the door, Stem sat beside me, then sat Angelica, Rosie, Shu, Tom Ato, and finally, Watergem.

The entire room was silent.

I noticed Watergem poke Tom on the shoulder and whisper something to him, and in response, he pulled out his notebook and pen and handed it to her. She flipped to an empty page, wrote down something, and handed it back to Tom. After reading whatever she had written, Tom nodded and handed the book to Shu beside him. Shu took a small pencil out of his pocket and added something to the paper. After a flip of his hair, he passed the book to Rosie. Rosie read whatever it was on it and passed it to Angelica. Angelica gestured to Shu for his pencil, and once he gave it to her, she started adding something to the paper. After about ten seconds, Stem glanced at the paper, and just snatched it out of Angelica's hand.

"Hey!" cried Angelica angrily. "I was not done yet!"

"Stem. That's not nice. Give it back to her," Stem's mom said sternly. Turned out the adults were watching the scene.

"But—" Stem pointed at Angelica. I got a glance at the notebook.

This is awkward. It said in pen in Watergem's writing. Yup. Was added underneath in pencil. I figured Shu probably wrote that. Then in pencil, there were a bunch of hearts and flowers drawn around the page. Probably made by Angelica.

"No buts," his mom said.

"Aww, it's okay," another woman interrupted. "They're just kids."

I noticed that the woman had long midnight blue hair. Maybe Angelica's mother?

"But Dawn," Stem's mom said, looking a bit exasperated. "They need to learn how to behave!"

"Hey, now isn't this supposed to be a formal meeting?" a green-haired man added. He flipped his hair.

"Oh come on, Drew," a brown-haired woman said. "After so many years, you still flip your hair?"

"I bet it would wipe that incredulous look off your face when you hear that I have my own famous company," said the guy called Drew. "Hear that, May?"

"Really?" asked Tom's father. "Wow, Drew, I never knew. That's actually pretty cool!"

Mr. Shinji smirked unexpectedly.

"What's so funny?" demanded Tom's father (I'll just call him Ashy-boy), looking annoyed at Mr. Shinji.

"You still act like a kid," my teacher simply replied.

"Same old Paul," Ashy-boy grumbled, shaking his head.

I glanced over at Principal Cynthia. She just sat there looking amused.

"Hey, maybe you were right about the principal," I whispered to Stem. "Just look at her."

"Gary Junior. Why don't you tell us what you're whispering about," my dad said suddenly, turning to me.

"I still can't believe you named him after yourself," said Watergem's mom.

"Got a problem with that?" my dad replied, raising an eyebrow.

"Hey, Drew," said Stem's mom. "Which, exactly, is the company that you own?"

"Oh just a famous company," replied the guy called Drew.

"He owns a company called 'Drew's Roses' and it sells shampoos," Shu said suddenly, smirking.

"You talked!" exclaimed Rosie.

"You have a soft voice," I pointed out. Either he didn't hear me, or Shu just ignored me.

My dad and Ashy-boy snickered. Mr. Shinji rolled his eyes.

"Typical," the brown-haired woman said to herself. I figured that maybe she was Rosie's mom.

The Drew guy scowled.

It went silent for a while.

Just then, we all heard a thud, and when I turned around, I saw the door wide open and Sal on the floor. He quickly got up.

"Shuichi, what are you doing?" Mr. Shinji sighed exasperatedly.

"Oh hey, Dad!" Sal cried as if he had just noticed him.

Wait. Did he just say Dad?

"I was just passing so I thought I'd drop by." He laughed nervously. "Haha. Pun intended."

My teacher scowled.

"Oh! So you're Paul's kid?" Angelica's mom exclaimed. "You look just like him!"

"He actually does," my dad agreed.

"His name is Shuichi?" asked Rosie's mom. "What a cute name! Come here, Shuichi!"

Sal—Shuichi— looked uncomfortable.

"No, don't come. Get out," said Mr. Shinji. He stood up and guided the kid out the door. "Now."

They walked out the door and closed it. Since I was the nearest to the door I could hear a bit of what they were saying.

"Why are you not in your class?" Mr. Shinji said in a low voice. He sounded something between annoyed, exasperated and angry.

"It was so boring. I wanted to know what you guys were talking about."

"Shuichi, you are not—"

"But Dad! Why did you have to call me Shuichi in public? Now they all know my name!"

Knowing Mr. Shinji, he probably didn't care.

"And also," continued Shuichi. "It sounds so babyish. You heard her, she said it sounded cute. Can't I just change my name to Sal—"

"No," he interrupted. He started to sound a bit warning. "We've talked about this."

"Hmph," I couldn't see what Shuichi was doing, but whatever he did, Mr. Shinji responded by saying (more to himself than to the kid), "And your name means disciplined."

I missed out what they said next because Stem started talking.

"What are they saying?" Stem asked me.

"Stem!" I exclaimed. "You made me miss it!"

"Huh?"

Before Stem could say any more, the door opened again and Mr. Shinji re-entered. Shuichi was now gone.

The adults talked some more and finally, the meeting was over. We kids went back to our classes.

Well that was an interesting (what was supposed to be, at least) meeting.

Chapter four, complete! I was planning to add more stuff but I'll save that for the next chapter. By the way, my school is starting again soon so don't get mad if I don't post for weeks or something. Just saying. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Good bye and have a great day!