Hey guys... how you been? School sucks, that's all I have to say
May winced as the impact shook the whole stadium. The other students around her cringed and one girl involuntarily whimpered. She looked behind her, towards the veteran students. The moment she walked inside of the purple stadium, she had been singled out as a new student and forced to sit on the bench normally reserved for family and friends of battlers, among the other new students. The rest had been allowed sit on the spectator bleachers. And now, most weren't even paying attention and had indifferent, and even bored, masks on their faces. She noticed a boy sitting in the farthest row from the battlefield with half-closed eyes. He was battling against sleep even as the stadium shook again.
A roar snapped May's attention back to the battle. A Dragonite slammed her fist into Golduck's beak, sending the Water Pokemon into the air. He crashed to the ground and skid backwards against the dirt until his head smashed against the wall. The Golduck struggled to his feet and, with trembling limbs, he forced himself to stand.
But the Dragonite didn't even give him time for that. Flying forward, without any command from her Trainer, she grabbed the Golduck by the throat and threw it back to the center of the battlefield, as though he were no more than a sack of flour.
"Quit playing around Daniels!" Coach Reddens barked. A vein bulged from his thick neck. "You got thirty seconds."
"Yes sir," the girl named Daniels sighed. "Dragonite, you heard Coach." She really was pretty. With long dark hair and wide brown eyes, May never would have suspected that she was such a fearsome battler. If she hadn't seen the battle with her own two eyes, she never would have believed it.
The Dragonite straightened and faced her trainer. She nodded. With her wings flapping slowly, Dragonite slowly approached the crumpled form of Golduck. He was breathing very slowly and it looked as if every breath caused him great pain. His wide eyes were filled with humiliation and pain as the Pokemon stared imploringly at his Trainer. But he didn't move or open his mouth. He stood stiffly. He was too shocked to give an order. Dragonite's fist started to shimmer and an aura of bright blue encased it. Her blue eyes were devoid of any emotion as she suddenly rushed forward towards her victim. Her mouth was twisted into a ferocious snarl and she pulled back her fist to deliver the final blow. May shut her eyes and turned away.
"And time! C'mon you pathetic wimp, get up."
May's eyes flew open. Golduck's trainer had fallen to the floor. Coach Reddens grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and hoisted him to his feet.
"Your arrogant and overconfident attitude cost you the match," Coach said, poking him harshly in the chest. The boy nearly fell again and a grimace appeared on his face. "And because of that your Pokemon got beaten up badly. Now go see Nurse Joy and pray that this match hasn't scarred your Pokemon too horribly."
The boy nodded frantically, still at a loss for words, and recalled his Pokemon. He fled the battlefield with Reddens glaring after him.
"Good work Daniels," he said. "I'll pair you up with someone more decent next time."
Daniels and her Dragonite bowed. She returned her Pokemon back to her Pokeball before rejoining her friends in the bleachers.
"Hey, nice job Cathy! You really showed that sexist bastard..."
"I know, he was such a jerk."
"Let's hope that's the last we'll see of him."
"Alright, who's next?" Coach Reddens asked as he scanned the crowd of returning students. "Hayden, get down here!"
The group of students, who were originally uninterested in the battles, suddenly grew quiet. Several heads turned to watch the boy climb down the metal bleachers. The newly arrived students watched with some curiosity. May's heart stuttered as she recognized this boy.
No way...
Her head started to pound and May rubbed it absentmindedly. She was having a lot of headaches lately...
"I feel sorry for the newbie that has to go up against him."
"What, Hayden? He's not all that tough. He lost in last year's championship tournaments early on."
"That's because he was with Ketchum. Remember, it was such an intense battle... Point is, he's gonna wipe the floor with the poor sap pitted against him."
"Alright there boy?" Reddens asked as he clapped Hayden on the shoulder. "What's your old man been up to nowadays?"
"Same as always," he said with a small smirk. "You know how he is."
Coach grunted. "I swear to Mew he hasn't changed since the day he graduated from this school... anyways, anyone wanna volunteer? No, not you Turner, I want some fresh meat."
The kids surrounding May took a sudden interest in their shoes or the dirt in general. They all looked very nervous, but May would be lying if she said that she wasn't. This entire Academy... it was filled with the best of the best. She had just seen a battle where there hadn't been any contest at all. Golduck had been completely clobbered and beaten senseless. There was no mercy shown here. How was she going to survive in this school?
May looked up and felt a chill run down her spine. The boy, Hayden, was staring at her. Or maybe he was looking at someone? She looked around her nervously, but no one else had dared to raise their head. She looked back at the boy. She was surprised to see him smirking at her. He raised an eyebrow at her and the smirk grew. Anger bubbled inside of May as she realized what he was doing. He was mocking her. He was goading her to volunteer. He wanted her to battle him. But...why?
"Fine, if no one wants to volunteer then you pick Hayden. Choose your victim."
"I volunteer." Rayquaza, what was wrong with her? If it were possible to take back words, May would have done so in a heartbeat. Already she could hear the taunts and giggles.
"This is new."
"Did that girl actually just volunteer... to go up against Hayden?"
"Ho-oh, she's toast"
"She has no idea what she got herself into"
A faint tint of pink streaked across May's cheeks. They didn't even know her and already they decided she had lost? Well, she would show them. Her battling wasn't terrible. Her father was a gym leader! That had to count for something.
"Well c'mon then, get up here," Reddens said as he impatiently stole a glance at the large electronic clock on the scoreboard. "We haven't got all day."
May sighed and reluctantly rose to her feet. She approached Reddens while staring at her opponent. But there wasn't anything new she could point out with him. He had dropped his playful demeanor. He had such intense eyes... She had seen him before, she even knew him but why? How could she? Before today, he was nobody important in her life. May grit her teeth in frustration. Rayquaza help her. She never knew someone so frustrating could exist, especially someone she knew nothing about.
"Name, sweetheart," Coach Reddens grunted as he picked up his clipboard of the class roster.
"May Maple." She never intended for her voice to crack. A torrent of giggles and sighs escaped from the bleachers. Across from her, Hayden's serious eyes relaxed as he chuckled in amusement.
"Maple... good. As in gym leader Norman Maple, am I right?" May nodded slowly. Had he forgotten they had this discussion before in orientation? Coach Reddens shrugged. "So you're his spawn. Alright, maybe this'll be a decent match after all. Ready Hayden?"
"Yes sir. Heads."
Coach Reddens dug a large gold coin out of his pocket. It was about the size of a sand dollar. One side was etched with an engraving of an Aerodactyl while the other had a simple Pokeball. He flipped it in the air and let it hit the ground. The side with the Pokeball came out on top.
"Tails: Maple gets first move. Shake hands and yada yada yada, blah blah blah. Just no cheating or dirty plays. Those are my only rules; break them and I'll break you. Got it?"
It was the afternoon and the sun was at its peak. It was dead hot outside. After all, it was still summer. So when May reached forward to shake Hayden's hand, it surprised her at how cold his hands were.
What the hell was going on? There was always something off with this boy, May knew. But now she was certain that there was something unusually creepy about him.
His Flygon had the advantages. He was Ground and Flying Type, not to mention he could fly. But then again Blaziken never had problems with Flying-type Pokemon because of his strong legs... But that's beside the point.
The battle itself would only last three minutes. May had only been battling with Hayden for two minutes and already she saw that his battling style was almost exactly as hers. Blaziken and his Flygon were exactly on par with one another. The moves he chose, why he chose them, even how Flygon executed them... they matched what she would have chosen or done with near perfection. Was he still trying to make fun of her? Why? That wouldn't make any sense. What would he have to gain from that?
"Use Steel Wing!" And already, May could see how Flygon would circle back into the air to power up the move, the angle he would nosedive towards Blaziken, and where the Pokemon would be aiming to hit.
She watched as her prediction came true, even down to the forty-seven degree angle when Flygon began to launch his attack.
It was as though this boy were her shadow. She knew all about him, and yet... nothing at all.
"Dodge it, then use Fire Spin!" Now May was more interested in testing her theory than actually winning the fight. If they really did have the same battling style and technique, then neither one would gain the upper hand anyways. She watched as Flygon swooped and streaked past Blaziken as the Fire and Fighting-type Pokemon leaped out of the way. She watched as the fiery column of flames encased Flygon, but he merely brushed the fire aside with several large flaps of his wings.
"Sky Uppercut!" If I were in the same situation, I'd have Flygon use that Flamethrower to knock Blaziken off his momentum. Let's see what Hayden will have him do.
"Use Steel Wing once more!"
May's eyes widened in surprise as Flygon's wings was encased with the familiar silver sheen once more. He dived towards Blaziken, whose fist began to turn blue.
"Spin, now."
Spin..? Flygon slowly began to turn, gaining power and momentum. He soon disappeared as he turned into a silver tornado that continued to gain size and strength.
They're too close to each other, May realized. Blaziken won't be able to get out in time.
The Sky Uppercut barely scratched the tornado attack as Blaziken was immediately thrown to the side. He flipped and harshly landed among the bleachers close to where the veteran students were gathered with a thunderous clatter. The boy who was half-asleep snorted but his eyes were still closed. Blaziken rose slowly from the heap of bent and dented metal bleachers before jumping back to the battlefield.
"Great," Reddens muttered. "Those were new installs too. You guys got fifteen seconds!"
"Sky Uppercut!"
Using the Fighting-type move was the only chance she had to a quick knockout. Blaziken had already suffered serious damage from the steel tornado and other attacks.
Flygon's tail twitched impatiently. Drew smiled wryly but otherwise didn't budge to give his Pokemon any orders.
Blaziken launched himself towards Flygon. He pulled back his glowing blue fist as he streaked towards his motionless opponent.
What's he up to now? May wondered.
"Ten seconds."
Blaziken swung his fist. With an outstretched claw, Flygon blocked the attack, only skidding backwards by several inches from the impact. Blaziken uttered a cry of surprise and used his free fist to aim a punch at Flygon's head. The Mystic Pokemon, anticipating this, blocked the attack with his other claw. The two Pokemon growled in frustration as they engaged in a struggle of power.
"Six seconds."
So what, a draw?
"DragonBreath."
Flygon grinned mischievously before opening his maw and spewing out the massive column of light blue air. Blaziken grunted and cringed as he was forced to his knees. Yellow sparks danced around him. Flygon suddenly released the weakened Pokemon and sharply swung around. His tail slammed against Blaziken, sending him flying across the battlefield.
"And time!" Blaziken, with some difficulty, pushed himself upright into a standing position. The flames from his wrists burned weakly. May ran up to him and patted him on his arm.
"That was a great battle, you tried so hard." May fished out his Pokeball and returned Blaziken. "Take a long rest."
"Maple!" Coach roared. "If that were a real battle, you would have been stomped flat, even with Hayden going easy on you."
"Easy?" May muttered to herself. Coach Reddens didn't seem to hear.
"Regardless, you didn't do as terribly as I'd expected," he grunted as he scribbled something on his clipboard. "I can see some of Norman's battling style in you. You'll manage."
Coach Reddens blew his whistle, which May hadn't even noticed hanging around his neck until now. Her ears rang as Coach Reddens angrily shouted at the class. The vein popped out of his neck again. "Quiet down! We still got time for more matches. Turner, since you're always such an eager Bidoof for a fight, why don't you get your ass down here?"
When Leaf started her first day back at the Academy, she prayed to Mew that she wouldn't have a class with any of them. She begged for a peaceful school year where she wouldn't ever have to come across either of those two ever.
But when she walked into her Pokemon History class, Leaf wanted nothing more than to strangle someone. Either Mew wasn't listening that night, or he was a bigger prankster than the legends and myths made him out to be.
One of them, sure she could handle. They'd be a real pain the ass though. But both of them... Mew, what did she ever do to receive such a terrible punishment? Alright, maybe she was exaggerating, but the rest of the school year really was going to suck dealing with these two.
Leaf kept her eyes glued to a desk in the front of the class, away from the two people she did not want to deal with at the moment. But nevertheless, a loud and surprised voice echoed in the half empty classroom.
"Leafy! Is that you?"
And the torment begins, Leaf thought as she reluctantly faced the obnoxious, rude, selfish, arrogant snob he would have to put up with for a whole school year.
"Go away Gary."
Gary grinned cheekily and his arm fell off the shoulders of his girlfriend. Her nostrils flared in anger as Gary hopped off the desk the two were sitting on together. He darted up to where Leaf was sitting and took the seat in front of her. He spun around to face her.
"It's been a long time. How've you been?" He flashed her a reassuring half-smile and Leaf felt her heart flutter. She hated that feeling.
"It was great actually," Leaf said crossing her arms. "I didn't see your face for two whole years. Then I walked into here this afternoon and was disappointed to see a fat disgusting Snorlax and an insolent little Grumpig."
A low chuckle escaped from Gary. "You haven't changed a bit," he muttered, his eyes darting to his girlfriend. "I've always liked that about you."
Leaf took a moment to compose an irritated expression. "What are you saying?" She hissed. "You have a girlfriend! You can't just go around saying that to other girls."
"Why not?" He asked as he reached forward and gently plucked Leaf's pencil from behind her ear. He began to study it. "It's true."
"Because she, and the girls you're flirting with, will get the wrong ideas!" Leaf hissed.
"Your face is red," Gary said as he straightened in his seat. He twirled the pencil between his fingers. He grinned cheekily. "I can tell that you're getting the wrong ideas right now.."
"Shut up you arrogant bastard," Leaf muttered as she looked away. Mew, she hated him.
Gary laughed and set Leaf's pencil on her desk. He rose from his seat and walked past Leaf without another glance. Leaf hadn't noticed that the class had been filled with all her peers. Before she knew it, Leaf had twisted around in her seat. She watched as Gary take the desk and chair beside his girlfriend. He whipped out a sheet of paper from his book bag, along with a black pen, and scribbled something down on it.
He folded it once, twice, and one last time before sliding the sheet of paper onto her desk. Amy Ryder unfolded the message and an eager grin grew on her face. Then her gray eyes shot up to meet Leaf. Joy and triumph glittered in them. Ryder then turned her attention towards Gary and whispered something with those perfect lips. Not wanting to catch Gary's reaction, Leaf turned back to the front of the class. She swallowed thickly as her stomach felt slightly queasy. She looked up to the teacher. There was sound coming out of Professor Colby's mouth but, to Leaf, it sounded like gibberish.
As nice as Professor Colby was and how easy this class would be, Leaf was going to dread coming to class every day.
It was the last class of the day and Misty was already exhausted. She had a Biology packet to complete, an English report to do, a stupid History paper due... it was going to be a long night.
So when Misty plopped into the first seat in the first row of her Pokemon Habitats class, dumped her stuff on the desk, and stared at the board in front, she didn't notice a certain individual approach her.
"Misty? You're here too?"
Misty flinched. She recognized that familiar friendly warm voice. She whirled around in her seat and nearly knocked her books off her desk.
Her eyes widened in surprise before a large grin spread across her face. The smile was returned by the boy standing behind her. "Ash! You're here! Wait... why are you here? Don't tell me you got a scholarship too!"
Ash laughed and he settled in the seat besides her. "Only a small one. Some talent scout saw me battle at the Kanto Pokemon League a couple of months ago. Mom told me she was going to send me here anyways."
"That's great!" Misty exclaimed. "I can't believe you're taking Advanced Pokemon Habitats though. I heard it's pretty tough. You know Leaf is here too?"
"Yeah, I think her parents told my mom," Ash said. "I haven't seen her at all though. We should totally meet up and hangout one day."
"It'd be like old times..." Misty said wistfully. "Is your mom still traveling around?"
"Yeah," Ash said as he leaned back against the seat. He straightened the Pokemon cap on his head. "I miss her cooking."
Misty laughed. "I would too. Your mom is an worldwide famous cook. That's how we all met. At that stupid party. I remember you wearing that hilarious pink and yellow bowtie."
"Hey," Ash protested as he straightened in his seat. "I was only nine."
"And you still needed your mom to dress you..."
"It was... it was only for that occasion..." Ash explained as he scratched his head in embarrassment.
Misty giggled as Ash went to the back of the class to drag all of his books and backpack to his new seat.
"How's Pikachu doing?" Misty asked when he came back.
"I let him roam around campus. Now that Team Rocket is being monitored as a terrorist group by the government, they can't get to him anymore. And... he missed you, a lot," Ash said. He flashed a slightly embarrassed smile at Misty. "I did too."
Misty blinked and a smile slowly spread across her face. "Yeah, I missed you too."
"Woah, Misty!" Ash exclaimed. His brown eyes widened in shock. He shot up and grabbed one of her textbooks. He nearly staggered from the weight. "What kind of classes are you taking?"
"Harder than yours I imagine," Misty said as she wrestled the book back from him. "I have to take certain classes to keep the scholarship they gave me."
Ash opened his mouth to say something, but the teacher, Professor Foster, clapped her hands and barked at everyone to shush. Class was about to begin.
"Hey."
May turned around to see the boy with the green hair, Hayden, standing on one of the bleachers with his book bag in one hand.
"Hi..?"
Class was over, and most of the students, including Coach Reddens, had already left the battle stadium. May's next class was fairly close by and she wasn't in any particular rush. A small part of her wondered whether she would enjoy taking English here.
Hayden smiled in amusement. He climbed down the bleachers and stairs and approached her. May raised an eyebrow in confusion. The two stood there in long awkward silence.
"Do you need something?" May asked in confusion. "I have a class to get to..."
"Well okay. Let's walk and talk," Drew said as he slung his book bag on his shoulder. He stuffed his fists into his pockets.
They walked in silence as the other expected them to say something.
What does this guy want? May wondered anxiously. He's so weird...
"Is... is there something you wanted to talk about then?" May asked.
Hayden suddenly stopped just as they were about to enter the Academy. May looked back at him. His emerald eyes suddenly dulled and his mouth was pressed into a hard line.
"You don't remember." It was neither a statement nor question. It was an accusation.
"What are you talking about? I remember." May was starting to grow angry. "I saw you at the Saffron Mall, so what?"
"That's not what I was referring to," Hayden said angrily and he started to walk past her. But May stepped in front of him and pushed him back. His eyes relaxed for a second in surprise as he took a step back before hardening again. A headache began to cause May to grit her teeth in frustration. It felt as though needles were pushing and stabbing into her head. The sharp spikes of pain made it difficult to think. May balled her hands into fists. She really did not need this now
"What's your problem?" She asked, throwing her hands into the air. "I don't know you, alright? Maybe you're confusing me with somebody else or maybe your head is just screwed up but stop accusing me of things that you think I did!"
Hayden started to breathe heavily through his nose. May could tell that he was trying to control his temper. Hayden closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Okay fine," he finally said as his eyes snapped open. "If you don't remember, then you don't remember. It's cool."
Hayden grabbed the strap of his book bag as he walked past May. The angered expression on his face was still there. This time May didn't try to stop him. She was a little surprised by what he said.
Not very persistent is he?
Hayden pulled open the door to reenter the building. He paused for a minute as May drew closer to him.
What's wrong now?
"When you get tired of all those headaches," Hayden said slowly. "Come see me. I know how to get rid of them."
May watched him as he disappeared within the Academy before slowly following after him. Even now the headache she just felt was subsiding into a dull throb.
Weird... too weird. And she was not just talking about Hayden anymore.
Talking to an old friend makes you realize how much your life has changed ~Unknown