AN: Believe it or not, I was actually originally aiming to make the last chapter the last one before we jumped to the start of classes. Then there was this. I'm going to work on longer chapters.

So, when I got my first guest review, I decided I would always approve them unless they swore every other word or something. Mostly because I, like many other authors, believe that flames can be just as useful as constructive criticism.

But this is an entirely new level of…well, I'm not sure. Weirdness? It's not a flame, which is nice, but what's the point of telling me asking for reviews is the worst thing ever? They sent that on Chapter 1, but haven't told me anything else D:

I realize asking might annoy people, but that's why it's part of the author's note. You're completely entitled to skipping my lame-ass excuses for why this didn't get done sooner. I haven't gotten any more reviews by not asking than by asking. Right now, all I'm going to ask for is, IF you decide to review, please tell me what it is you like or dislike. Please add details. If you are annoyed by something, tell me what it is, not just that it annoys you.

ANY way, I do not own Pokémon.

EDIT 2/25/14: I don't know what happened, but my AN didn't bold like it was supposed to.

EDIT 3/24/14: Espeon learns Swift, not umbreon...however, there is still a guaranteed-hit move...

oO000Oo

Last time…

For a minute, Jack thought Lou would back down. Rowen had expressed his displeasure at Lou going after Jack—and Jack was still trying to figure out why—and Lou had been after Lyssa, not Artemis. He also seemed to be familiar with Adrian, which meant he should have met Rowen before at some point, since they were going out.

But then Lou's eyes narrowed and lips were pressed together so tightly they almost disappeared, and he said, "Fine, let's battle."

And now…

On the field, Rowen and Artemis stood in the blue box, while Lou stood in the red. All eyes were on the school, though, waiting for the signal that would distract the teachers long enough for the battle to kick off.

Jack and Adrian stood at the front of the crowd; apparently, no one would begrudge them the opportunity to see it up close when Rowen was doing it for them. Or more accurately, for Jack, though he still couldn't figure out why. It was slightly frustrating.

CRASH!

Something that sounded like it was made of glass and wood hit a window, causing the glass to shatter. Jack assumed it was a cabinet, because it blocked the window completely.

Rowen and Lou turned to each other; Artemis leapt onto the field, landing in a battle stance. Lou freed his partner, a…

…lillipup?

He could hear the snickers rippling through the small crowd. Lou's cheeks reddened, but Bailey didn't seem to care.

"Wait, who's refereeing?" someone called.

"I got it!" someone else called, pushing his way through the crowd. He stood between the two opponents and raised his hands. "Begin!" he shouted, bringing his hands down.

"Artemis, Feint Attack!"

"Bailey, dodge!"

Adrian snorted as Bailey attempted to run out of the way, all in vain. "He should have counter-attacked," he muttered as Jack glanced over. "Feint Attack never misses, but most Pokémon have to stand still to perform it."

"So attacking would have actually gotten some sort of damage in," Jack whispered.

Adrian nodded, sighing. "Lou should never have agreed to this battle," he whispered sadly. "He doesn't know enough about battle technique to contend with a second year student."

"Rowen has a pretty big advantage, doesn't he?" They watched Artemis unleash a shadow ball, running behind it to immediately follow with iron tail.

Adrian nodded. "Rowen is a battle specialist," he explained. "Some of our students go on to be doctors or nurses, some go on to breed, some travel, and others will become professional coordinators, but Rowen's always liked to battle. And he's developed a technique that ensures a quick win." He nodded at the battling Pokémon, watching Bailey cower at Artemis's onslaught. "Once he starts landing hits, he presses in so his opponent doesn't have an opportunity to strike back."

"But what would happen if he faced a Pokémon with more endurance?" Jack asked, furrowing his brow. "Artemis would run out of energy before he could win!"

"You would think so, wouldn't you?"

"What the hell's going on out here?"

The students jumped, looking around to see no less than three teachers running their way, but none of them moved. Not even Liam, whom Jack expected to dive into a bush to avoid being caught. Jack tensed, wondering if he could get inside the tree line before he was identified, but a quick glance around revealed that the students were too tightly packed and the trees were too far away.

Jack stiffened as he felt Adrian's fingers entwine with his. "Stand together," Adrian murmured, squeezing his hand before letting go. "We'll all be in less trouble that way."

Jack nodded slightly, his fingers curling around the fabric of his pants. Did Liam know that? Is that why he didn't run, even if he looked like he wanted to? This must be one of those things you learned from interacting with other people.

Taking a deep breath, he copied everyone else's example and turned back to the battle. When the teachers arrived, they paused to stare at what had their students so enraptured.

Artemis had not relented, even when his trainer was startled by the approaching teachers. He seemed to be using tail whip repeatedly to keep Bailey from getting up and fighting back.

"Finish it!"

Rowen stiffened at the teacher's command, but nodded sharply. "Artemis, bite!"

The umbreon grabbed the lillipup roughly by the back of the neck and shook her until she cried out. He then released her. The little puppy limped back to her trainer, tail tucked between her legs.

Lou snatched her up, crying. Jack watched as the teachers split apart, one—Johnston—running up to Lou, one grabbing Rowen roughly by the arm, and another rounding on the crowd. They waited with baited breath for Johnston's verdict.

"She's fine," he called. "Nothing too serious, she's just a little roughed up."

They collectively sighed in relief. Though the battle was an excellent showcase of Rowen's abilities, none of them had wanted Bailey to suffer what looked like a horrific beat down.

The other two nodded, and Rowen and Lou were hauled away. The remaining teacher turned to them, scowling.

"All of you just read the rules!" she shouted at them. "You all know you can't battle without a teacher present, and this is exactly why! That lillipup could have been seriously hurt, and all you care about is how entertaining it was! We're all just lucky the headmaster saw what was happening from his window! You will all be given five demerits for this…travesty! All of you, get back inside!"

oO000Oo

Jack stared at his ceiling a few hours later, after lights out, with his hands folded behind his head. He left his window open, letting a breeze flow through the room. He inhaled deeply, breathing in the scent of sap with a faint trace of salt, marveling at the luxury. He didn't move, just reflecting on the day, even when one of the teachers poked their head in the door, watching him suspiciously before leaving again. Bed checks, how wonderful; he wondered if it was a policy he simply hadn't noticed in the booklet or if it was because of the battle.

Sometime later, when he had lost track of the hourly chimes and was halfway to dreamland, someone knocked softly on the door that connected his room to the bathroom. Taking a deep breath, he stretched and swung his legs over the edge of the bed, only stumbling once on the way over.

Adrian was on the other side. Jack reddened slightly when he realized his new friend was shirtless, but was reasonably sure—and very grateful—that Adrian couldn't see that because of the dim lighting. He swallowed and stepped back.

"Adrian? What's up?" He cringed internally; he sounded so awkward, but he wasn't sure what else to say.

Adrian ran a hand through his hair. "Look, I'm sorry about Lou," he sighed. "I've known him for a long time, and he's the last person I would have expected to act like that. For Arceus' sake, he comes from a merchant family! He's lucky he gets to be here at all."

"It's okay," Jack mumbled, looking down. "I expected someone to say something sooner than dinner, actually." He tried to smile, but couldn't quite. "I'm just happy I got through the day without that."

"It's not okay, though," Adrian said exasperatedly. "None of that conversation was, and neither was the battle after. Accusing you of stealing Lyssa and Spear? Forcing Bailey to battle when he knows Rowen's in his second year? The whole thing was disgusting!" he fumed.

Jack wasn't sure how to respond, but he nodded uncertainly anyway. "Is Rowen okay?" he asked hesitantly.

Adrian's shoulders slumped. "I'm not sure. I haven't seen him. They probably escorted him straight to his room."

"That's in the other tower, right?"

"Yeah, but with this many teachers floating around, it'll be impossible to get over there to check on him." Adrian frowned. "I don't remember Rowen saying anything about patrols."

Well, that confirmed in his mind that it was because of the battle.

Adrian shrugged. "I guess it could have been worse. Artemis always had an amazing sense of what Rowen actually wants out of a battle." Jack's eyes widened. "What, you thought Bailey was naturally that tough? She's just a puppy."

"But how would Artemis know?" Jack asked incredulously. Artemis was a dark type, not psychic!

"You know how you get an umbreon, right?"

Jack hesitated. "I heard once that you can get an umbreon or an espeon by having a strong friendship with an eevee, but I thought that was a myth." Why would friendship influence a biological change in a creature? He just didn't see how it could work.

"It isn't, though," Adrian said softly. "Rowen said there's a special class on how friendship influence's certain species, but essentially, that's how eevee achieves those forms. Anyway, umbreon and espeon have always been able to predict what their trainers want, there's just been a lot of debate about how."

"So if I had an espeon, it would be able to tell how much power to put behind its moves?" Jack asked skeptically.

Adrian nodded. "Might not be as gentle as Artemis," he added, "but appearances are more important in Rowen's family than any other. Artemis has to be able to sit through meetings and put up with little kids pulling on his ears and tail. Artie spends more time outside his PokéBall than any of his teammates combined." He sat on the edge of the bed, and Jack sat next to him, mulling over the implications of that.

Artemis was always in the public eye, had to have the patience for kids and adults—childish adults by the sound of it, so the meetings had to be political. Not surprising, because most of the students that went here were from noble families, judging by Adrian's comment about Lou's family. Rowen's was a family that supported the royal house, then, or they wouldn't be at the meetings.

Come to think of it, Richards almost never went to those meetings…

But then, even if he loved his son, Jack doubted Richards would be willing to leave Liam at the estate alone. Liam wouldn't be able to go for at least another year, and the Lady Richards had mysteriously disappeared years ago.

Adrian sighed. "I'm going to try to sleep. Sorry about waking you up for this."

Jack shook his head. "It's okay, I wasn't asleep." He looked down, embarrassed. "This is the first time I've slept in a different room from mine. I didn't realize it would be this difficult to fall asleep."

For a minute, Jack couldn't tell what the look on Adrian's face was, but then his new friend laughed softly and stood up to leave.

And if it sounded slightly off, Jack told himself it didn't matter.

oO000Oo

The next morning, Jack walked down with Adrian, who looked like he hadn't slept very much, judging by the dark circles under his eyes. Despite the few dark looks he got on the way down, mostly from Liam and his circle of friends, no one said anything.

In the dining hall, the atmosphere was tense. Unlike last night, about five teachers were eating with them, glaring at them from a table near the line.

Rowen was with them.

Adrian and Jack sat at their own table, watching their friend picking at his food from across the hall. Artemis was nowhere to be seen.

Adrian cursed softly. "Do you see Artemis anywhere?" he hissed. Jack shook his head mutely, stroking Spear's head, his lips pursed.

Artemis would have to eat at some point, right? So where was he? They wouldn't force him to skip meals, would they?

"Hopefully he's in his PokéBall somewhere, then," Adrian muttered darkly.

"Where else would he be?" Jack asked lowly.

"There are holding cages on the grounds."

"For what?" Jack asked, looking at him sharply.

"Rogues that need retraining," was the solemn reply.

They watched Rowen stand with one of the teachers and leave, his face carefully blank. He didn't even react when his escort placed a hand in between his shoulders, except that they both sped up.

Adrian sighed. "Ignore my pessimism," he said tiredly. "They're probably just keeping him confined until his father can get here."

"Then what about Artemis?" Jack bit his lip.

"Pokémon can remain in a PokéBall indefinitely." Adrian shrugged. "He'll be okay."

Jack shifted uncomfortably. "This just seems so over the top," he confessed. "Is this the normal response to an unsanctioned battle?"

"No, I don't think so," Adrian admitted, looking away. "Did you want to go back to the library?" he asked abruptly.

Jack narrowed his eyes, but let it go. "Yeah, I'd like to look for training tips again," he murmured. Really, he would just like to read through the entire place, but he didn't think Adrian would stay with him all day if they didn't have a specific goal.

"Let's go, then. I don't see any reason for them to keep us out of there." The called back their Pokémon and stood to clear their trays.

They didn't anticipate there being a professor just outside the door, demanding that he know where they were going, but Adrian was right; they wouldn't stop a student from studying, especially since the original punishment of five demerits had already been applied.

They waved at the librarian as they passed and headed straight to the back of the library, pulling down books. This time, they were a little better prepared; they had each brought a notebook.

After a few minutes, Adrian broke the silence. "Classes start tomorrow," he said casually. "You nervous?"

Jack looked up. "A little," he admitted shyly. "I feel like I'm behind everyone." He stared at his book.

"I don't think you're as far behind as you think," Adrian said dryly. He frowned at Jack's book. "Bored?"

Jack frowned. "No. Why?"

"We've been here almost twenty minutes and you've turned the page, like, twice."

He flushed. "I-I'm just trying not to miss anything."

"Okay." He glanced at Jack's notes, written in green ink. "Nice pen," he smirked. Jack ducked his head, his cheeks red. "Shouldn't that be 17?" Adrian asked, frowning.

"What?" Jack asked absently.

"Here, you wrote '71.' Shouldn't that be 17? The answer doesn't make sense using 71." He tapped the answer.

Jack froze, reading the equation again. He hurriedly scribbled out the equation and rewrote it—and promptly turned his original "53" into a "35." Blush deepening, he tried to rewrite it again, failing when his "17" once more turned into a "71."

He looked at his paper with a muted horror, glancing at Adrian—who appeared slightly amused by everything. He flipped his notebook closed and pushed away. "I, um…I have to go."

Adrian's face grew alarmed. "Jack—"

"I'll talk to you later." He practically ran out of the library.