I just wanted to again thank you guys for the submissions and reviews. I am still keeping things open. Today I wanted to do a small chapter as a thank you for all the comments and reviews. Thank you guys so much. The feedback and support has been amazing and I appreciate it. As for those that question Nikki being undefeated well you'll find out about that soon enough. This chapter is smallish, but you'll see why it's important later on. Again thank you and keep submissions coming.
The Welcome Ceremony would be held in the main building known as "the dvorac." This had been the first building that Luka Babic had bought when he first started the Institute. Dvorac meant castle in Avanturan so it was an appropriate name for the old building. Luka had restored it to its glory by completely rebuilding the whole structure of the building. The building itself was all white with spires and long gothic windows throughout the building. It was said that every view in the dvorac was a good one. Whereas the exterior was old, the interior was modern. This had been Franz's doing as he had replaced the small rooms with larger ones. He had updated the technology and had brought in the latest materials to make these trainers better. Most of the old dorms had been transformed into rooms where the trainers could practice. Plus he had added one of the largest Pokémon centers into the Dvorac. But the prize was the meeting hall. It was long and eloquent with marble floors and walls. The long gothic windows allowed people to peer out at the body of water. It was gorgeous.
Alex and Bunny had managed to catch up the rest of their group of friends. This was part of the opening ceremony where the students would enter by grade level. This was an old tradition that Luka had established and Franz kept. Most of the 2Nd, 3rd, and 4th year students hated it. To them it was a pointless exercise. It wasn't like they were at Hogwarts or something. They didn't know why the Institute continued this needless exercise. Alex especially hated this as it took away from his time for training. He would continuously look to see if they were moving forward and would let out a big sigh when he discovered that they were not. "This is ridiculous, Bunny. I don't understand why we have to wait in this damn line to enter. I hate this.", Bunny simply rolled her eyes. There were two thins that she knew about Alex: he was arrogant and he was impatient. Both had cost him in battle before and he hadn't learned apparently.
"Well it goes back to when the school was first established. Luka Babic wanted to allow the grade levels to all be celebrated and honored. Which is why we enter in. It's a way for each grade level to have their own special moment.", Bunny had spent time reading about the history of the Institute over the summer. She had wanted to have a better understanding of the school. Bunny had figured that if she had a better understanding of the school then she could get a better understanding of past strategies that had been successful at the university. Alex however was not being guided by logic or reason, there was something else that was causing him to pace around. Alex's stomach made a loud grumbling noise that caused other second year students to turn around. Bunny blushed in embarrassment for her friend, "Alex!"
The arrogant 18 year old shrugged, "What? Fighting that Sawsbuck made me hungry." Alex peered at Bunny as she seemed to be even more embarrassed by her friend. She put her fingers on the bridge of her nose as Alex just gave a shrug. "Listen, you know they have the best roast and meats here. I can smell the food and it's making me even hungrier.", he rubbed his stomach. Besides Pokémon battles, Alex loved his food. He still remembered last year when even the scraps of food at the welcoming ceremony had been delicious. He had been looking forward to this meal ever since he had gotten back to the university. That was why he was so absolutely eager to get into the hall for the ceremony. His right foot had been moving a mile a minute as he felt like he was going to starve to death. "Bunny, if I die of starvation can you please take care of my Pokémon for me? Thanks", he wasn't joking either.
Bunny didn't know if she was embarrassed being associated with Alex or embarrassed FOR Alex. Whatever the case, she was embarrassed. "Stop being so overdramatic. You aren't going to die of starvation, Alex. It's going to be-", before Bunny could finish there was an announcement that came from over the loudspeaker system. "All second years, attention second years, you will be entering into the Hall right now. Get your food and return to your tables: after you enter. Thank you.", being smaller than everyone else, Bunny had been pushed aside as the wave of second years. She was getting swept aside, this was her worst nightmare. "Alex!", she called out as she didn't see her best friend in the sea of second years. Bunny started to panic as she felt her heart racing from the fear of being trampled. Finally a arm reached and grabbed Bunny by her sweater collar.
"No one likes a squashed Bunny.", Alex chuckles as he had pulled up the small girl. Her eyes had been wet from the fear of being trampled. Alex, in a rare moment of unselfishness gave Bunny a pat on her shoulder. "It's ok Bunny, things like this happen. Next time you just got to stand closer to the back. That way you won't get swept up.", Alex continued to comfort her. For all his teasing and brash fullness, he didn't want to see Bunny get hurt. The small girl continued to be a tad traumatized by the rush of second years. They had acted like charging Tauros and had nearly killed her, but it wasn't their fault. Bunny hated her height especially in situations like this. She was only 4'5 which was amplified by the fact that everyone else in her family was tall. She hated this fact.
"I just wish I wasn't so short. It's so terrible.", tears again began to well up in her eyes again. "It's just so terrible. Everyone thinks I am made of glass because I am so small. I am just so sick of being so small.", she took from a mixture of anger and sadness. She leaned into Alex for a hug and wiped some of her tears on his shirt. Alex at least didn't make fun of her height. Bunny looked as she discovered that the mass rush of second years had started to disappear. This meant that they could stroll into the hall at their own pace. "Hey Alex I think we can go in now-", Bunny didn't have to say anything else as Alex had pulled her towards the entrance of fee hall so that they could partake in the feast.
The great hall inside the Dvorac was decorated with banners that welcomed the students. The univeristy's colors of blue and silver were used in the balloons and other decorations. There were banners with pictures of all the great champions of the Institute. Some of the fourth year students at the Institute had set up booths to help answer questions from the younger students. Professors roamed around the hall introducing themselves to the incoming students. Of course this had been used as a way for the professors on campus to size up the students. Each one had their own "special" students that they took under their wings. Some professors could even tell just from their first encounter at the welcoming ceremony who they would want to mentor. Of course that was not where Alex and Bunny's attention was directed. No, Alex immediately dragged her to the long row of tables where the feast was set up. There were luscious meats and roasts scattered throughout the table. There was even a carving station for the meats. There was only one problem
"Alex, you do remember that I am a vegetarian, right?", being a lover of nature Bunny could not bring herself to eat a creature. She preferred to eat her plants. Plus it made her feel healthier than eating meat. Bunny grabbed two plates to fill up. One plate she was going to save for herself and the other was for Ribes her beloved Torterra. Bunny had kept Ribes out near the school garden she was working on so he deserved some sort of treat for doing his job. Bunny filled her plate with vegetables and other goodies. For Ribes she filled his plate with spinach and micro greens which was the Torterra's favorite food. Bunny would not have trusted any other Pokémon besides Ribes. After fixing her plates, Bunny looked at her friend. "Alex, are you ready to go to our table?", what Bunny saw next sent a shiver down her spine.
Alex took the term "feast" literally. He had stacked meat upon meat on his plate. There had to be at least 4 or 5 slabs of beef on his plate. "Alex aren't you going to add a vegetable or something? You're going to die of a heart attack f you don't eat something green or something besides meat.", Bunny knew that she sounded like his mother, but she was concerned. Alex huffed and grabbed a fork. He put a little bit of salad and tossed it on his plate. He shot Bunny a look as if to say, "happy now?" Bunny sighed. Alex would never ever learn. She would have lectured him, but she had learned not to interfere in her friends' personal choices. She had gotten involved in a matter with a friend last year and would not make the same mistake again.
Bunny and Alex would quickly realize that there were only a few tables left. The others had been reserved for the first years. This limited their selection. Alex meanwhile was growing impatient as the food he was carrying was starting to hurt his arms. "Come on Bunny, we have to find a table. Arms are getting tired.", the 4'5 female stood on her tiptoes as she scanned the hall to find a table. That was when she spotted a table that had only one person there. Of course Bunny instantly recognized the person at the table. Bunny didn't have a problem with this person, but Alex sure did. Still this was the only table that was available and Alex would just have to suck it up. "Alex, I found a table.", Bunny said as she was prepared for the little war that was about to occur. She just hoped that it wouldn't be too bad.
She was not interested in this ceremony even before Dr. Babic had given her the assignment. Avaline Bloodsworth had more important things to do than sit through another welcome ceremony. She could have been working and training with her Pokémon. This was supposed to be the year that she won the school wide tournament afterall she had come in third her sophomore year. Of course she would be the favorite to make the final this year. This was why Ava wanted to spend her precious time training. But now Dr. Babic had thrown a gigantic wrench in her plans. He had offered haptics fulfill her dreams and now all Ava had to do was try to find this perky, pink headed freshman and take this Nikki under her wing. It didn't seem so hard on paper, in fact it was simple. Yet something continued to unsettle her. "Why her? Of all the freshman why this Nikki?" there was a part of Ava that was very curious what made this student stand out from the rest besides the record. Ava also had her doubts about Nikki's record.
The junior had fund the perfect table to sit at and look for the freshman. It was away from everyone else, which is what she preferred anyways, and had a view of where the freshman could come in. Ava would do her best to grab this Nikki character and have a chat. That was the plan at least, but then there was a hitch in the plan. "Hey Ava", the black haired junior was brought out of her thoughts by a familiar voice. Ava looked and saw that the small yet kind sophomore, Bunny, had approached. Ava didn't like to socialize too much, but with Bunny was different. Bunny was quiet and preferred to be around Pokémon rather than humans, just like Ava. Avaline just gave a nod of her head to acknowledge Bunny. The shy second year started to be a little nervous with her next question, "do you mind if we sit with you. There's no other tables available."
The junior titled her head at the question as the second year was the only one that stood before her. "We? What do you mean we?", Ava asked her voice was cool. Bunny again shifted uncomfortably as she knew that if Ava found out that Alex was going to be joining them. Ava squinted her eyes at Bunny, the second year was naturally nervous, but this was ridiculous. "Bunny, why are you so-", Ava would have her question answered. Alex Baldwin stood before her which caused Ava to grind her teeth. She shot Bunny a deadly look that made the small second year wince. Ava shook her head and continued to stare at Bunny. "Absolutely not. No fucking way! This git can fuck right off.", Ava could not believe that Bunny would do something like this. Even Alex seemed to be angry at Bunny as the girl seemed to shrink under their gaze.
They had met in the third round of the Institute Cup last year. Both Ava and Alex had made tidy work of their first two opponents before they had been drawn into a fight against each other. The fight had been extremely intense and brutal. Both considered themselves to be great strategists so it was as if they were playing chess, but with Pokémon. Ava had taken control early on knocking out 4 of Alex's Pokémon to him knocking out only 3 of hers. But then Alex went on a streak where he knocked out 2 straight of her Pokémon leaving Ava with one. The stress of the battle had caused Ava to pull out her trump card: her special connection to her Galarian Rapidash known as Grace. Grace would then quite easily knock out Alex's last two Pokémon. That should of been the end of the story, but Alex was not a good loser. He had gone around and accused Ava of cheating. That it was an unfair advantage and Alex should have won. Needless to say, Alex and Ava hated each other. So the fact that this was the only table available was not a good sign.
Alex wanted to poke at Ava a bit, he turned from Bunny to the junior. An arrogant smirk crossed his face, "hows it going Ava? You decide to cheat in any more battles recently? You still going to play that I can't control it' card like last time?" Alex laughed at his own joke. It was a bitter jab at the female. Bunny pinched her nose in frustration. She wanted to tell Alex that the reason he would never be the next great champion was because of his arrogance. That would be his downfall if he did not change, but that was a private conversation. She just shook her head as she looked at Ava expecting the older girl to react poorly to this comment. Instead Ava chuckled and smiled which caught both Bunny and Alex off guard.
"Oh Alexander, still can't get over the fact that I beat you? I am sorry that you were so inferior to me. I hope that you have gotten a better team than last time. And as I recall you didn't win the freshman tournament either. What did someone else cheat there too?", there was a twinkle in Ava's eyes. She had known trainers just like Alex who always had an excuse and could not accept reality that they had lost fair and square. People like Alex disgusted her, they were glorified bullies. But Ava knew how to take care of them be it in battle or outside of battle. That was to remind them of their inferiority. Given how Alex had started to turn red and the veins in his neck had become more pronounced, she knew that she had hit him where it really hurt. Now she wanted to see what he would do about it.
Alex raged at that comment. Oh he could have said something else about her. How she was a freak and an outcast. How there were rumors about her spread about the Institute. Oh Alex wanted to say all of those things, but instead he had another idea. The sophomore put the plates of food he had been carrying down on the table, He reached to the back of his belt and unclipped a ball from it. He had been keeping this hidden even from Bunny. This was his ace in the hole and something he knew that not even Ava had. It was not an ordinary pokeball, but rather a master ball. Both Bunny and Ava's eyes widened as they stared at the infamous ball. A master ball typically contained a extremely strong Pokémon and now Alex had one. He tossed the ball between his left and right hands. A smirk had replaced his anger, "I spent some time in Kanto looking for this specific Pokémon just so I could take you down. So why don't we go outside and handle this."
Ava was never one to back down from a fight especially with an arrogant prick she had already beaten once before. The junior stood up as her hand hovered over her belt. There was a fire in her eyes as she was ready to take Alex down again. This time she hoped that it would finally shut him up. "Well I don't need to go out to beat you, I don't even need Grace. I'll just use Vee and humiliate you some more.", she cracked her neck as she plucked her Eevee's pokeball from her belt. Some others had started to gather at the sight of an upperclassman battle a sophomore. This would be a very good fight between the two. It had been all summer since some of them had seen a real Pokémon battle so there was an eagerness to see who would win. Ava and Alex just stared at one another ready to see who would make the first move. However they were distracted by the sound of someone slamming their hands against the table.
"BOTH OF YOU STOP!", Bunny shouted. This caused everyone to direct their attention to the 4'5 sophomore. This was one of those rare times where Bunny didn't feel so small. She puffed and huffed. Bunny really didn't like conflict especially when it was between two people she actually enjoyed being around. Her almond colored eyes shifted from both Ava back to Alex. Both were taken aback by Bunny's passionate plea, but the sophomore was not finished. "LOOK AT THE STATE OF BOTH OF YOU! YOU ARE MAKING EACH OTHER LOOK LIKE GIGANTIC IDIOTS.", there was a brief laughter from the crowd that had gathered, but they quickly scattered once Bunny had given them a death stare. "NOW SIT!", Ava quickly sat. There were few times where someone could direct Avaline to do something, but this was an exception. Alex was a little more bold and was not going to listen to his friend. That was until Bunny grabbed a part of his polo and pulled him into sit at the table.
Both Ava and Alex shot each other an evil gaze then ducked their heads as Bunny had grit her teeth in annoyance. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself down before she began to speak. She had wanted to say this for about 6-7 months now. "Both of you are very similar to one another. You just go about it in different ways.", Alex and Ava both looked disgusted at Bunny. Each were going to dispute those words, but were cut off by Bunny's glare. Again they hung their heads in shame. "You both are great Pokémon trainers and strong in battle. You both have the same battling style which is what made your battle last year so interesting. And now speaking of that battle...", she turned her body towards Alex. He glared up at her as she just stared at him with those almond eyes.
"Alex, Ava won fair and square. Don't be mad at her just because she has a better connection with her Pokémon. You say that you needed to rebuild your team, but how can you do that when you keep switching some of your Pokémon out? Stick with one team and then maybe you can get on Ava's level.", the words hurt. The male sophomore stared at his friend with a mixture of confusion and disgust. Now Bunny of all people was taking Ava's side? Alex was disgusted. This was a betrayal that he had not been expecting. At least not from Bunny. First she compared him to Ava and now said he didn't have a good connection with his Pokémon. Alex did not say a single word, he just grabbed his plate with the slabs of beef and walked away in a huff. In fact he decided to completely walk out of the hall.
Ava let out a little smirk as she watched Alex walk away. Now she didn't have to deal with the prick. But Bunny was not done giving comeuppance to people and Ava would get hers. Almond eyes and a scowl would greet Ava, "as for you, you need to explain whatever you used in that match to him. People, not just Alex, think that you have cheated in battle.", Bunny shook her head to show that she was not amongst those that questioned Ava's abilities as a trainer. In fact Bunny felt she too had a special connection to her Pokémon especially Ribes. But she had heard the rumors and talk about Ava being a cheater so Bunny wanted to just give the girl she was friendly with a heads up. "Look Ava, most of us know you didn't cheat and Alex was just bitter, but you have to explain it to them. Explain whatever you used to beat him in that tournament last year.", Bunny patted the junior on the shoulder.
Avaline Bloodsworth rarely showed emotion. There were few things that could get her to show emotion. Talking about what this was difficult for her. Some never really understood it and she wasn't sure if she understood it fully. She looked at the floor and refused to look at Bunny. "I can't Bunny. It's too difficult to explain it. People don't understand it. All I know is that it comes on when I am super stressed in battle it comes out. It's not like a light switch when I can flip it on and off. It comes and goes.", her voice cracked a bit. Whatever this was had caused Ava to shy away from people because they didn't understand. She never talked about it to people, but there was something about Bunny that gave Ava a sense of comfort. The young girl just stared and listened. She did not judge Ava like the others would have. "It's not cheating though. If I could I would get rid of it, but I can't. It's just this connection I have with the pokemon helps them. But there are some severe side effects", Ava's voice trailed off which signaled to Bunny that the older girl didn't want to talk about it anymore. All Bunny could do was put a comforting arm around Ava.
There was some tension and silence that filled the air. Bunny didn't touch her greens. Instead she just waited for Ava to speak again. But that would not be what would break the tension. "Attention everyone, please report to your tables. It is time for the first years to come in so that the opening ceremony can officially begin. Professors please report to the designated areas.", this would cause some chaos. The professors that had been wandering around trying to meet the students had to return to the professors table as the students all got in their seats. Dr. Babic had not appeared yet, but that was part of the ceremony. He had always liked to make a grand entrance. It was performative for sure, but it had become tradition like many things at the Institute.
Ava shot up as she had completely forgotten her task at hand. She had to find this Nikki character. Ava wanted to size her up to see what all the fuss was about. This startled Bunny who had nearly fallen out of her chair. "Ava what are you doing?", Bunny asked confused. Ava though did not respond. Rather her eyes were firmly trained on the entrance to the Great Hall. Ava dismisses Bunny. Her red and blue eyes just stared at the entrance. She wanted to meet this Nikki right now. Avaline Bloodsworth had a plan and she needed it to go flawlessly.
So question: what do you think Alex caught in Kanto? What would he use a master ball on?