I hate when I have something typed up and I KNOW I saved it but my computer acts like a butt and decides it doesn't want to save anything and I can't find anything when I get back because that is exactly what I'm dealing with right now. It's really discouraging, ya know? Like I put a lot of work into what I had and now I'm gonna have to go by a vague memory to get the ideas retyped up. I'll just have to wait and see if the end result of the second attempt is better than the first…still annoying and discouraging though…
~Rolyn~
Chapter Nine: Courses
May had been laying there for a good ten minutes. She stared up at her high ceiling and listened to the ticking of her wall clock that cut through the heavy silence that came over the house early that morning. Well, it wasn't really that early, but in comparison to the schedules of others, the brunette was up at an ungodly hour. It was almost seven thirty now – her alarm had shocked her awake at seven before she abused the snooze button for an extra twenty minutes of sleep – and she knew she had to get up sooner rather than later unless she would like to be late for her first day of classes…
She almost forgot that school was the reason she was up this early. A sigh passed her lips as she pulled back her covers and swung her feet over the side of her bed. Being late for the first day wasn't really an option. Despite her many explanations of which building was which and the offers for a guide on her first day, May just knew it would take a quite a bit of time to locate each of her classes on that vast campus. She couldn't waste any time she had now with her first class being at eight forty five.
She moved slowly through the house, practically dragging herself to the bathroom closest to Rolyn's room. It was the second to largest and May would have opted to going for the bathroom with the large shower, but Dawn had already monopolized that bathroom. The navy haired girl was the only other Dragonite girl with a morning class on Monday. Everyone else had classes later in the day. The latest seemed to be Alex's class that commenced a little after one. May began to slowly wonder why she had opted for any morning classes…
Monday was also May's busiest day when it came to classes. She had three classes on Mondays while the rest of the week she had maybe one or two a day. It was a simple schedule; not over strenuous. She liked that about college so far…she could live with a schedule that didn't repeat the same classes every day, one after the other. The idea that her schedule was so scattered and open made High School look so platitudinous.
A warm shower was all May really needed to actually wake her up. She had stepped out of the shower a little more invigorated then usual and she presumed the excitement mixed in with the nervousness of college was finally settling in. Taking a glance at the clock and seeing she had a good half hour, she took her time drying and styling her hair. When she finally did leave the bathroom she had ten minutes to get dressed before her ride arrived.
Aden, Drew, Ian and Paul also had early classes so they would be her and Dawn's transport…well that and Jason and Drew were the only ones with cars available. Of course a few of the Dragonite girls did own cars, Alex had bought her first car with the money she had saved up from her job at her grandparents store and Rolyn had received a car on her seventeenth birthday that she rarely used for her enjoyment of walking…and the fact that she was deathly afraid of killing herself behind the wheel.
Neither girls brought their cars but Jocelyn said she'd leave the truck with them…after she received permission from her father. The Escalade was his after all…
May was just pulling on a navy and red plaid shirt over a white tank top when Dawn appeared in her doorway and knocked on the brunette's threshold. May had gone with a simple look, pairing the top with a pair of black skinny jeans and some red TOMS. Dawn on the other hand looked as girly and eye catching as she always did. Her beige colored, bell sleeved shirt was long and dotted with a mature flower design. A pair of black shorts peeked out from under the long shirt and her legs were hidden under the sheer texture of pink tights. She was even sporting pale yellow, heeled ankle boots.
With all the walking around campus May knew they would have to do, she wished the navy haired girl good luck in those shoes. "Is it time to go?" May asked
Dawn nodded. "I just got a text from Paul saying they're up the street." Dawn explained as she waved her new Dex around. "You ready?" Her voice shot up an octave with her excitement. May bit into her bottom lip and nodded.
May certainly wasn't scared. She loved new experiences…save for the time she moved to LaRousse but she had come to love that new experience. College titillated her and wracked her nerves. She knew it would take time to adjust and she knew what she did in the next four years influenced her future so she didn't want to be afraid of that. This was her next step to becoming an amazing coordinator…
Not many people had the option of going to college and some were too good to even be there. Ash went on his first journey in his Junior year of High School and look how popular he was. Misty only had two years of college before she became a gym leader…the only one who really pursued further study was Brock and he was the smartest guy May knew when it came to breeding and being a gym leader…May wanted that. She wanted to know more.
"I've been ready." May said with her classic cheerful smile. She'd make this experience the best she could. "The real question is if Arceus University is ready for me." She laughed. Dawn giggled along with her.
"Ready for us, you mean." The other blue eyed girl giggled just as her Dex went off, signaling she had a new message. She didn't even have to look at the message to know what it probably said. She locked eyes with the brunette and May nodded as she reached for her red backpack. Dawn smiled brightly as she ran off to retrieve her own.
By the time May had made it to the front door and was reaching to open it, Dawn had reappeared and nudged the brunette out of the way in favor of swinging the door open and running outside towards the white Escalade that so obviously belonged to Jason's father. The man had a thing for the expensive trucks and they were useful when it came to fitting over five people in one vehicle.
May could only laugh lightly as Dawn whipped the door to the car open and began chatting away about how excited she was. As May approached the car she could see Jason slumping over the wheel while Paul looked a little too fascinated with a pen.
"Good Morning," May chimed sweetly as she climbed into the car. Dawn had already sat herself in the back row with Aden so May was more than happy to wedge herself between Drew and Ian…well mainly because she wanted to sit next to Drew, as childish as that sounded in her head.
"Morning May," Aden was the only one to respond without sounding like it was a chore. Paul simply grunted, Ian waved at her and Drew nodded at her. Jason said nothing…it almost appeared as though her were sleeping on the wheel,
"Ya wanna start driving there speed demon?" Ian snapped leaning over May to reach and flick Jason in the side of the head. The green eyed boy slowly cracked his eyes open, shook his head and yawned. A few seconds of silence passed before Jason reached into the back seat and flipped Ian the bird just as he was pulling away from the curb.
"I didn't know you had an early class too Jason," May said breaking the silence that came over everyone.
"I don't…" He growled from the driver's seat as he made a too sharp U turn that pushed May and Drew into Ian. The golden eyed boy stared blankly ahead as May pushed Drew off of her and muttered an apology to him.
"He just has to drive us to school due to our lack of cars…plus it saves gas." Drew explained with a shrug. May made an O with her mouth before nodding in understanding. That made sense.
"But Jason is acting all pissy because he went to bed late and he's not exactly a morning person." Ian drawled with a lopsided smile. "I don't think he's ever taken a morning class if it wasn't absolutely necessary."
"He loves sleep just as much as his girlfriend…" Dawn giggled from the back row of seats. Aden nodded in agreement and Paul rolled his eyes.
"You guys could have told me ahead of time that I would be driving instead of busting into my room this morning and jumping on me…" Jason muttered more to himself than anyone else as he gave Ian a pointed look through the rearview mirror. Once again, Paul rolled his eyes.
"So, are you adjusting to Jewel well?" Drew asked as he looked towards May. The brunette shrugged. Her first night sleeping in the new house had been a difficult task…between still exploring what the house had to offer and having to sleep in what was still an unfamiliar place, she had little sleep. As the second day and third day passed, things began to fall into a pattern…what would soon be normal. Her room became more and more hers than anything else. She was getting used to things.
"A little warmer and more tropical than what I'm used to but if you can live here for a good year than I think I can last." May joked. Drew laughed behind closed lips.
"May, you can't exactly do everything I can." He said a little haughtily. May perked a brow at him, put off by the comment. He smirked at her and she scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I can do anything you can do and better!"
"Can you pee while standing up without taking off your pants fully?"
May snapped her mouth shut.
"Well she could if she was wearing a skirt and going commando…" Jason mused from the driver's seat. Dawn and Aden cried out in disgust from the back row and May made an expression that could only be classified as pure horror. Drew sighed and shook his head.
"Tell me Jason, does your mind lack a filter or do you simply choose to spew whatever nonsense comes to mind?" Ian questioned with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders. Jason simply smirked.
"You would like to know what goes in my mind…" Jason countered with a lecherous tone. Ian rolled his eyes and slumped in his seat. "Besides, Drew was the one that brought up going to the bathroom."
"True…" Drew sighed. "I did kind of set him up for that one." Drew smirked and May groaned in disgust before slapping a hand to her forehead. She was beginning to believe that Drew threw these ideas for Jason to run with on purpose. They were best friends…Maybe they had this planned from the get-go. That would have been quite clever, if not completely devious of them.
"Alright, we're here. Get out my car." Jason said flatly. May glanced out the window and was surprised that they were in the huge parking lot that was by the residence buildings on Arceus' campus…May could only remember one place by connecting it to the other…like she knew the Student Center was across from the residence buildings and then from the Student Center, you'd find most of the Academic buildings.
"It's not your car; it's your father's." Drew said in a matter of fact tone as he opened his door and climbed out before offering his hand to May and helping her out as well like the covert gentleman he was.
"Potato, Patato…" Jason grumbled. Everyone was out of the car by now, stretching or adjusting whatever bags they had on their shoulders. "See ya later." Jason stuck out his tongue at the lot of them before taking off, likely to go back to sleep…or annoy the hell out of Jimmy.
"Alright, Paul Aden and I have Tech right now so we'll catch up with you guys later!" Dawn said as she snatched up Paul's hand and began to drag him along, all the while ordering Aden to follow. May sighed. It must be a good feeling to share your first class with people you knew. She was pretty sure no one else was taking Psychology, especially this early…
May had an inkling she was going to be late for her second class. She wasn't sure what Freshman Seminar was, but she knew she wouldn't make a good impression striding in about twenty minutes late. The class started at one-fifteen and it was almost one thirty. Funny thing about her Psychology class that she paid little attention to…it was a little over four hours long and was a high level course. That didn't turn her off of the class though…
Her teacher was young and a graduate of Arceus as well. He spoke in a way that was laid back but also quite authoritative. He made those four hours as interesting as he could for the class, even on the first day. May would even be happy enough to stay for another hour or so. The Pros of the class easily outweighed the cons. The class was even in the same building as the brunette's Freshman Seminar…this gave her the false idea that she had time to kill between her first and second class.
How wrong she was…
She had strolled around the campus a bit, trying to locate the arena for her third and final course. In doing so she completely lost track of time and ended up sprinting back to Cresselia Hall. Since she found her Psychology class so easily, even after Drew had offered to help thinking she would get lost, she thought finding room seven for her Freshman Seminar would have been a piece of cake. The single digit classes were in the basement...There was also three room sevens.
May ran in circles, looking at each room with confusion and frustration. Why was there three room sevens? Last time she checked, there was only one seven on a scale of one to ten. After grumbling and scurrying around like a lost puppy, she went to the first classroom marked seven and asked what class it was…sadly it was not Freshman Seminar. This was the also the case for the second class and she finally made it to classroom she knew had to be hers only to find a bunch of other students huddled around the door.
She waited a few seconds for the crowd to disperse and finally approached the door to see what had attracted all that attention. A note was taped to that door explaining how the first three classes of this Freshman Seminar would be held on a discussion board on the school website. May had the urge to rip that note off the door and rip it to shreds, but she was sure that any other students who hadn't seen it yet wouldn't be too happy about that.
Instead of taking her unbridled rage out on the defenseless paper, she opted for groaning loudly while stomping around. If she stomped or groaned any louder, she could easily be mistaken for an Aggron. A few strange looks and heated huffs later, the brunette found herself leaning against the wall next to the door of what was supposed to be her classroom. She felt like she should be glad that she had one less class to actually deal with for the next two weeks but at the same time she just felt drained and annoyed. Maybe it was the walk across campus that had taken almost a good half hour, but now she suddenly felt tired and she still had one more class to go…
Coordinating 1077. She smiled faintly…finally something less academic…well she hoped. The first class was going to be held in Manaphy arena.
"Sugar Plumb,"
May beamed and pushed off the wall at the two familiar faces that approached her. "Hey guys," She greeted. All her annoyance and frustration quickly ebbed away. The last time she had seen a familiar face was hours ago when Drew had walked her to the building her first class would be held in. Right now Alex and Patou were like a breath of fresh air. "What are you guys doing here?"
"We go ta school here, duh." Alex said smartly. May's expression went blank and Alex chuckled. She loved teasing the brunette. It was just as amusing as teasing Aden.
"We have Freshman Seminar…." Patou explained.
"In room seven?" May questioned. Patou nodded. "Cancelled…well not technically cancelled. We have to do these discussion questions on the school website for the first three classes." She explained with a shrug of her shoulders. She couldn't wait to get home and totally screw up this assignment. She could barely log into the school website without problems, better yet navigate it to answer the right questions in the right place.
"Oh, you have that class too?" Patou questioned with a smile. May nodded with a smile of her own.
"This blows big time! Freshman Seminar is mah only class on Mondays!" Alex huffed, flipping royal purple hair over her shoulder and pursing full lips into a pout. "Did I really come out here for nothing instead of sleeping all the way into tomorrow?"
"Lazy ass…" Patou murmured.
"Damn straight." Alex retorted almost automatically. "Good thing I drove to school today. I'll just head home and you girls can call me when ya need ta be picked up. Who has the latest class on Monday?" May guessed that Alex had been made the Dragonite girl designated driver…since she was the best at it or the most willing to do it.
"I think Rolyn does…she has Business with Drew so I think she'll probably just get a ride back with him." May explained. Days ago, May thought she would be sharing coordinating with the ebony haired Hayden along with Drew, but Rolyn was still on the fence about her choice between trainer and coordinator and Drew had already taken the coordinating course May was in his Freshman year.
"I have Coordinating in like twenty minutes," May said as she glanced down at her watch. "I should start heading towards Manaphy arena before I'm late since it's like a fifteen minute walk." She laughed even though she was pretty sure all this walking, mixed in with the rolling hills this campus was built around, was going to be the death of her.
"Oh, I have coordinating too with…" Patou hesitated as she reached into her pocket of her jeans shorts and pulled up a folded piece of paper that was undoubtedly her schedule. May had hers tucked away in her back pocket as well. "I have it with Professor Oak…"
"I've heard that name before…" May muttered. Patou and Alex exchanged a look.
"Do you remember where?" Patou asked.
May's brow furrowed in confusion. "Yea…Professor Oak is a scientist who lives in Kanto. He gave Ash his first pokemon. He's not a coordinator, nor does he study it though."
"Maybe he's teaching on the Scientifics of coordinating." Alex offered with a shrug.
"But Professor Oak doesn't live in Jewel! I don't even think he travels by what Ash told me."
"It says Professor Oak." Patou sighed. "I guess we'll just have to go to the arena and see." She added with a hint of finality to her tone.
"I guess…" May muttered adjusting her backpack on her shoulder.
"And I guess I'll see the two of ya later. Send me a text ten minutes before the end of coordinating and I'll be here ta pick ya'll up." Alex turned on her heel and went well on her way, humming as she walked. Patou and Alex watched her leave before heading in the opposite direction where they knew an exit would be that would take them on the right path to Manaphy arena.
"Hello everybody," The woman that addressed the crowd of about ten-plus students smiled sweetly, her green eyes flickering with kindness. "I am Professor Oak, or Professor Daisy – whichever you prefer. Welcome to Coordinating Course 1077."
May blinked in surprise. When she thought of the title Professor Oak, her mind had instantly flittered over to the image of and elderly, yet still active man that always adorned a lab coat and had a kind, almost knowing smile…this girl had the smile but she wasn't elderly, or a man. She looked to be in her late twenties with flowing light chestnut hair and fair skin with no wrinkles or laugh lines in sight.
"See? I guess this woman just has the same last name as that scientist you were talking about. I mean we have to address all our teachers as Professor so I don't blame you for the confusion." Patou whispered over to May.
"A little background about myself," Professor Oak or Daisy began tapping her chin thoughtfully. "I am from Pallet Town in Kanto, but I moved out here recently once I finally managed to settle down. I've been coordinating since I was eighteen so I didn't really stop to take in further knowledge like the rest of you." She laughed lightly. "Now I wish I did…"
There was some murmurs among the group of coordinating students.
"Now don't get me wrong, I was still able to win quite a few contests in my day and I have even been graced with the privilege of claiming the title of a top coordinator." Professor Daisy said with a fond look coming to her face. "While this is a coordinating course it is more of an introduction to what is to come in you college career. It's nothing like High School so please, do not take the course lightly."
A syllabus was distributed among the students as Professor Daisy continued to explain what this beginning coordinating course would entail and teach. May was beginning to believe that Professor Daisy definitely did have a connection to the Professor Oak she mistook her for. She was from Pallet town and this course would be diving into the Scientifics of coordinating as Alex had guessed. Everything Professor Daisy described sounded interesting enough. So far all of her classes were looking promising…whether it be the curriculum or the fact that she would participate in said class from a computer.
"Alright, would anyone like to give a brief display with their pokemon?"
A hand immediately shot up as though his person was waiting for this very moment. Professor Daisy pointed the person out and a girl stood to her feet, a bright smile on her face. There was something to her smile and May was pretty sure it wasn't her generously glossed thin lips that pulled back over perfectly straight whiter than white teeth.
Her hair was a bright fluorescent pink; some of it done up in an impossible style that resembled a bow while the rest cascaded down to mid-back in perfectly tousled curls. Her skin was fair and she had a lithe body swimming in an oversized vintage jeans shirt that was coupled with a black pencil skirt that barely peeked out from under the top. May's brow shot up as the nameless girl made her way down the bleachers of the arena in impossibly high pink ankle boots. Her walk around campus must have been painful, May deduced.
"Alright, and your name is?" Professor Daisy asked as the girl approached her.
"Lana Every," The girl said while flicking pink locks over her shoulder.
"Alright Lana," Daisy addressed with a nod. "You can head down onto the arena floor and get right to it." Lana nodded as well as she went on her way. It was a few silent minutes later, Lana reappeared on the dirt terrain of the arena with a pokeball ready in hand.
Murmurs broke out among the crowd of students as Lana enlarged her pokeball before giving it a toss. The white light that exploded from the ball quickly took a medium sized form before revealing a flying pokemon that May had never seen before. Discreetly, the brunette pulled out her pokedex just as Lana called out her first move.
"Shadow ball!" Lana called out.
"Mandibuzz – the flying/ dark pokemon. Mandibuzz watch from the sky for weakened prey before swooping down and taking them in their large talons. Mandibuzz are usually found high up on the mountains and make their nests from bones."
"Mandibuzz, shadow ball again!" Lana must have called out shadow ball quickly and repetitively because Mandibuzz was shooting the attack out again to join four other identical attacks. "Quick, use whirlwind."
Mandibuzz flapped its wings rapidly causing a cyclone that went under the five shadow balls before spinning them around rapidly in a circle. Mandibuzz continued its flapping, speeding up the whirlwind and spinning the attacks faster. Soon enough the shadow balls were only darkened blurs, spinning. A beat passed before one shadow ball exploded and caused a chain reaction. Sparks and dark energy was released, but still remained caught in the cyclone.
Lana raised a hand and Mandibuzz immediately stopped flapping its wings. The cyclone dispersed, leaving behind a dazzling display from the remains from the shadow balls. Claps erupted from the crowd and Lana turned towards her classmates to bow with a bright smile on her face.
"That was really good…" Patou whispered. May nodded in agreement. "Well," Patou sighed crossing one leg over the other. "This class is sure to be interesting."
"Would anybody else like to show what they've got?" Daisy offered just as Lana came back to the bleachers and retook her seat. May pursed her lips and it took her mind a second to catch up with her actions when Professor Daisy pointed her out. Turns out, the brunette actually raised her hand.
May swallowed before making her way down the stands and approaching her instructor.
"You're name?" Professor Daisy questioned with a smile and slight tilting of her head.
"May Maple," May offered.
"Ah, yes…the frontier brain's daughter – very nice…" Daisy's smile broadened and May's cheeks flushed as she smiled bashfully. Some people began to comment on that bit of information and for a fleeting hundredth of a second, May had a little taste of the kind of significance her family connections made for her. "Go ahead down and show us what ya got."
May nodded before she made her way towards the stands exits. Maneuvering to the lowest floor to get to the arena floor was easy enough. May worried she'd get lost but the brightly colored arrows painted on the walls were excellent guides to reentering the arena on the ground level. Stepping into the view of her peers, May pulled out a pokeball and enlarged it, a familiar, exciting feeling coming over her.
"Aireon! Take the stage!"
"A catch phrase; I love it!" Professor Daisy giggled with a clap.
Aireon emerged from it's pokeball with a nice long downward-facing-dog stretch and a yawn. A majority of May's female classmates cooed at the sight of the rare Eevee evolution. The small dog-like pokemon glanced up at May and called it's name out a few times excitedly before jumping into May's arms.
"Aireon," May laughed lightly. The air pokemon nuzzled her and she sighed before setting the pokemon down, her cheeks flushed in embarrassment due to the snickers that came from the stands. "Care for a little display?" Aireon nodded once with a smile.
"Alright," May said as her brow furrowed in determination she couldn't fight back. "Bubble beam!" She called out. Aireon did a quick front flip before streams of bubble flew from its mouth and into the air. "Now Tail wind!"
Aireon turned around and whipped its tail from side to side, releasing strong gusts of wind that carried the bubbles high up in the air. Once the bubbles were at a sufficient height, or what Aireon believed to be sufficient, it turned back around and waited on further instruction.
"Cloud skimmer!" May finally called out. It wasn't an actual documented move, but May had practiced with Aireon enough to feel confident that the pokemon was capable. Aireon hopped back on its hind legs before rearing its head back and blowing below it. The gust of air that came from that blow was enough to send the small pokemon flying into the air with a couple of flips. Aireon began popping the bubbles, letting sparkles rain down. Every now and then it had to pause to regain altitude, but the pokemon didn't stop until it was done.
Once all the bubbles were popped, Aireon fell to the ground, doing one last flip and landing nimbly on its feet. May smiled brightly at her pokemon and nodded in approval as her peers began to cheer them both for the performance. In the excitement, Aireon called its name out frantically before jumping into the May's arms once again and nuzzling her.
"Very good May," Professor Daisy congratulated with a nod. "Keep that kind of performance up and you'll ace this course in no time." May smiled brightly, reassured by her Professor's words.
"Hmmm…" Lana mused crossing on leg over the other. She smiled faintly before nodding in what looked like approval.
Done at three in the morning. My sickness was keeping me up so I thought I should finish this chapter before the next New Years. I should head to sleep now…maybe sleep off some of this feeling. I'll probably feel better in the morning. I hope you all liked this chapter…I'm using all my college experiences for May so things should get interesting…trust me. By the way I felt like using Professor Oak's granddaughter who was in fact a coordinator would be cute. I know little on the matter though besides what I looked up…Thank you all for reading…
If you Like this story, Like me on Facebook. Just look up Rolyn
Please drop me a review!
~Rolyn~
