Nikki Allaire considered herself to be a social creature. She had spent most of her life interacting with a wide range of people in Kalos. Nikki tried to befriend anyone that she came across. Sure she had a feeling that the guys were only interested in her because she was attractive. That was fine with Nikki as she had used this countless times to manipulate the males and even some females to give her what she wanted. It had worked out for her numerous times so she had expected that she would do the same at the Institute. Nikki had never considered joining the Institute until she had received an invitation in the mail one day. Of course Nikki wanted to hone her skills as a trainer plus this would allow her to meet new people. That was the primary reason why Nikki Allaire had decided to attend the famous university. Not just to raise Pokémon, but because she wanted to meet and interact with new people.
Which was why the pink haired seventeen year old had decided to approach two fellow first years that intrigued her as they waited outside to be called into the hall. One was a rather tall female, probably over 6 foot Nikki figured, with honey brown hair and a blue bag of some sort. Nikki was 5'9 so she was tall for a female, but this other girl dwarfed her. The female also wore overall's amd a red shirt which was odd to Nikki. It was as if she was going to a farm. Next to to the tall female was a pale male student with black hair. These people looked like they could be Nikki's new friends. The boisterous pink haired female trainer skipped over to the others with a big smile on her face. "Excuse me, I don't mean to interrupt anything, but I just wanted to introduce myself. My name is Nikki Allaire and who are you two?", just walking about to strangers would have seemed weird to anyone else, but this was something Nikki did all the time. She saw nothing wrong with it.
The two first years looked at one another and back at the strange pink haired female that had just approached them. Nikki continued to flash her large, and not creepy at all, smile at the both of them. "I'm Jessica Walkmen, but you can call me JJ.", the tall and rather attractive female offered. JJ pointed her thumb at the black haired male student, "this here is Andy." The black haired student nodded, but did not give a smile. Both JJ and Andy seemed to be quite confused as to why this strange pink haired female had just decided to walk up to them. They continued to glance at one another another then back at the pink haired girl awkwardly. Nikki, meanwhile, just blinked at both of them with her hazel eyes. Those same hazel eyes would then fall on the blue bag that JJ had.
"What's in the bag?", Nikki asked without any sense of decorum or politeness. She stood on her tip toes to see what was in the bag as she again forgot the proper way to act around strangers. JJ and Andy both looked horrified at the forwardness of Nikki. JJ tried to pull the bag away from Nikki's view, but this had caused the item in the bag to shift a bit. Nikki managed to get a view of the oblong shape, her hazel eyes widened as she let out a gasp. "Is that a Pokémon egg? Where did you get that?", Nikki had raised all her Pokémon from eggs so she was really shocked to see that someone else appeared to be an egg enthusiast. She batted her hazel eyes at both JJ and Andy. Nikki's usual attempt at pity eyes usually worked on both men and women. She figured it would work on these two as well. Of course JJ and Andy just gave Nikki a skeptical look. They had just met her and she was already acting like she was their best friend. Plus this egg was special to JJ.
"Are you always this nosy? You don't even know us.", Andy voice was curt. He of course had some trust issues given what had happened to Danny. Now this rando had walked up to him and JJ. It had sent off red flags in both JJ as Andy's heads. Something with this Nikki girl was amiss. No one was naturally this friendly. JJ held the egg up to her chest, this was a gift from her father and she wasn't just going to hand it over. Andy and JJ had been traveling companions for a while until they had split up, but now were back together. So of course Andy knew all the little secret of JJ's and vice versa. That was why Andy had been so protective of JJ and her egg. His green eyes peered at Nikki, "What are you going to try and steal it?" Andy mood in front of JJ in order to protect her and the egg. If this Nikki person was going to try and fight over the egg then Andy would step in.
Nikki turned flush and waved her hands in front of her, "no no it's not that." Her voice gave off a sense of nervousness and fear. "It's just I have raised all my Pokémon from eggs. It's a passion of mine. I'm sorry if I came across as if I was trying to steal it, I just saw that familiar shape and got excited. I'm an absolute idiot.", Nikki frowned. She actually felt really bad it had never been her intention to try and scare the other two. This was just who Nikki was and when she saw that the tall girl had an egg, Nikki had gotten excited. This was one of her biggest faults and why she had struggled so much in Pokémon battles. She had been too eager in the past and people had taken advantage of it. Now her Wagner was bad rubbed people the wrong way. "I will leave you two alone now. I am so very sorry to have bothered both of you.", Nikki lowered her head and started to walk away this was not how she had wanted to start out her career at the Institute. She trudged away in utter defeat and blamed herself, "you're a dumbass Nikki. You'll never learn."
JJ looked at Andy then at the figure walking away. Her heart sank, "Nikki wait!", she called. JJ made sure to easily move aside the other first years that had been waiting in line to enter the hall. The tall girl caught up to the eager trainer, "sorry about Andy he is just over protective. Things happened before we came here so we're very skeptical about trusting others. It's not because of you so don't take it personally." As a sign of being apologetic, JJ set the blue bag that housed her egg down on the ground. JJ was careful to pull the egg it was the usual whiteish color, but with purple spots. This had been a gift from JJ's father before she left for the Institute. He did not tell her what was inside of it, just that it was special. "Here, you want to take a look at it?", this would be the peace offering JJ would make to Nikki. JJ passed the egg over to the eager girl, Nikki's eyes had gone wide.
"Really?", Nikki asked as JJ smiled and nodded. Nikki would carefully take the egg of out JJ's hands. The egg gave off a warmth to it. Nikki put it up t8 her cheek and nuzzled against the egg. This caused JJ to raise her eyebrows in confusing. She had never seen someone do this with an egg before. But this was what Nikki had been doing ever since she was little. In fact she did this with all of the Pokémon she worked with. This was just something she did for as long as she could remember. The pink haired female student looked at JJ as she returned the egg to JJ, the tall honey brown haired female smiled as she took back the egg. Nikki tilted her head to the side, "is this the first time that you have had an egg?" Nikki would help her if this was the first time the tall female had a Pokémon egg.
JJ shook her head, "no. Actually my parents worked in a nursery so I have been around eggs and baby pokemon my whole life. In fact all my Pokémon that I have in my party are Pokémon that I raised from eggs." A sense of pride erupted from JJ's chest. She was so proud that she had hatched those two Pokémon in fact JJ figured she had a gift when it came to hatching Pokémon from eggs. She could tell what gender the Pokémon was before it would even hatch. It was just a gift that JJ had used to help with her parents nursery and her uncle. It was something that she was very proud of. The only problem was that this egg was different. JJ had been given the egg a while ago, but it had not hatched yet. That was why JJ hoped that someone at the Institute that could help her hatch it. Perhaps it would be this Nikki person. "Andy, the person I was talking to earlier, also is into raising Pokémon from eggs. In fact he helped me hatch a Pokémon from an egg." Nikki took all of this information in. The pink haired female was going to comment that she had raised all her Pokémon from eggs too until...
"First years, attention!", a shrill voice that had come over the speakers. This brought everyone's attention to wherever the noise was coming from. Andy, who still had been suspicious of Nikki, had been hanging out with other first years. He had finally decided to meet up with JJ and the pink haired nosy other freshman. All three decided to listen to the announcement as it was going to be very important they figured. "You will enter into the Great Hall and gather your food before finding a table. Seats are limited so you will probably not be seated with your friends. Do not complain. You will then listen to a presentation from the professors and our president Dr. Babic. You will then be given your class schedule and room assignments. Now please prepare to enter the hall.", there was an audible excitement from the first years as they would soon be officially students in the institute.
Nikki, JJ, and even Andy smiled at one another. Nikki grabbed JJ's hand and squeezed it in excitement. Yes, she had just met JJ, but Nikki already enjoyed the girls company. "Hope we get to be roommates this year.", Nikki said with excitement in her voice. Sure she had just met JJ, but Nikki could already tell that they would be close friends. JJ gave a cheerful smile as well as she was excited at the prospect of having a nice roommate. While Nikki seemed over eager at times, she did give off good vibes and a good attitude. JJ didn't want to be stuck with a grump or a bitch for a roommate. Nikki, from what little JJ had seen from her, was not a bitch. She was just overly friendly, something JJ had been accused of being by Andy, so if that was Nikki's biggest flaws then that was fine with JJ. Finally the first years started to shuffle into the Dvorac and the great hall.
"And that was when Ribes and I decided to fly to the magical land of candy canes and sparkles.", Bunny knew that Ava was not paying attention to her. The junior had her focus solely trained on watching the first years for some reason. Bunny had known Ava only for a year, but she had never seen this girl so eager or intense outside of the battlefield. Yet here Ava was practically standing up as she stared at the first years entering into the hall. Of course everyone stared at the freshmen that had entered, but Ava appeared to be actively looking for someone in the group. Bunny didn't know Ava's personal history so she wondered if the junior had a relative in the group of incoming first years. "Ava, do you have a relative or something coming to the Institute. You are acting quite odd.", Ava rarely was this excited from little Bunny knew about her. Yet here the older student was not even paying attention to Bunny. Bunny found this actually really odd, but if Avaline had a sister or brother in the incoming class then that would explain some of her strange reactions. Bunny would sit back and see what Ava would say.
Ava knew that she couldn't just blurt out the deal she made with Dr. Babic. That would probably undercut the deal if the rumors started to spread. That was why Ava pulp not tell Bunny what was going on. "I'll tell you later Bunny.", Ava managed to mumble out. Her blue and red eyes were focused on the pink haired female that had just walked in. Ava spotted Nicole Allaire standing next to a tall female and a rather pale gothic esque male first year. Ava could see the beaming smile on Nicole's face and how she appeared to be extremely chatty. A cold shiver went through Ava's spine, yes this Nikki appeared to be just as perky and annoying as the profile had made her out to be. This would be a big test of Ava's patience dealing with someone like this. "Champion of Galar", Ava told herself. That was why she would have to deal with someone like this Nikki.
Ava continued to track Nikki as the first years went through the traditional bullshit of meeting the professors and hearing Dr. Babic's usual "you are the future speech." Ava was waiting for the perfect moment to approach the pink haired student this was just like a Pokémon battle, Ava just had to pick the right moment. Finally the junior noticed the freshmen make a move for the food. This was where Ava would make her approach to introduce herself to Nikki. "I'll be back Bunny.", Ava abruptly said as she left the table. Bunny just sat here absolutely confused and shocked. Ava was acting quite odd and not her usual self. The appearance of the first years had seemingly brought out a new side to Avaline. Between her and Alex's earlier antics, Bunny wondered if she needed to reevaluate her friend group. Clearly they were going to be a pain in Bunny's ass all year long.
JJ, Andy, and Nikki had never seen a feast like this in their lives. The amount of food there was ridiculous. While Andy took a more cautious approach to gathering his food, JJ and Nikki did not. They gorged themselves on filling up their plate with meats and vegetables. The two new roommates, they had gotten their wish of pairing up, were going to feast like queens. That was until a sudden tap on the shoulder got Nikki's attention. There a black haired girl in a white and blue jacket and choker stared at all three of them. Nikki noticed that this female had different colored eyes: one blue and one red. In her own right she was quite attractive as Nikki preferred the punk/edgy types. So Nikki did not mind that this female had approached her. Nikki flashed a big toothy smile at the female. "Hi! ", Nikki said in her usual perky voice that sent a large shiver down Ava's spine. Yes, this girl was just as bad as she thought she would be.
Still Ava faked a smile as she looked at Nikki and her two friends, "hello. Welcome to the Insitute. My name is Avaline Bloodsworth. I saw that you guys needed a table so I would offer mine. My friend Bunny is the only other person at the table. You guys can come and join us." Ava wasn't usually THIS social. In fact she hated it, but she would do anything to become champion of Galar. That would man even mean acting like someone she was not. This was probably how Alex felt when he tried to hide his insecurities about being a fake tough guy. That little insult of her rival made her smile a bit. "I am a junior here and we are supposed to make you guys feel welcome. So this is me extending you a welcome. So come on.", a little bit of the real Ava had made an appearance in her gruff statement. Nikki and Andy nodded in agreement as JJ paused for a second as her eyes widened in realization about who this was standing in front of them.
Being from the Galar region, JJ had heard rumors about the Bloodsworth family. How the gym leader in Balloonlea was extremely tough. JJ had even battled against him and barely managed to scrape a win. She was lucky to get a win thanks to her Pokémon's ability to cause status effects. Of it had not been for that then she probably would not have been able to escape that gym with a win. For as tough as the older Bloodsworth was, it was said that his daughter was even tougher. There was even a rumor that she would draw with her father in battle. So if the rumors were to be believed Ava was just as good as her father if not better. JJ had also heard that Ava was an ice cold bitch so she was naturally suspicious about this friendly act that this Avaline had put on. It didn't match to what JJ had heard. JJ nudged Andy in the ribs and bent down, "careful of her Andy. Be very careful." Andy nodded in agreement. He too had a suspicion of both Nikki and Ava.
JJ and Andy weren't the only ones with suspicions. Bunny was stunned as Avaline had returned with three first years. This came as a shock as Ava rarely interacted with anyone that wasn't in her inner circle and clearly these three were not in that circle. Bunny shot Ava a suspicious glance as Ava mouthed, "long story." Unlike Ava, Bunny though liked to meet new people even if she was shy. This came from her insecurities about her height and the fear of being bullied. Bunny had been bullied a bit last year before meeting Alex so she was naturally a bit suspicious of others. Still she wanted to give off a friendly temperament. "Hello, I guess you are friends of Ava's?", the pink haired female have an emphatic nod while the tall girl, who made Bunny feel even shorter, and the pale male student shook their heads no. This confused Bunny even more, but she would go with it. "Well I am Bunny. I guess you can say that I am friends with Ava. I'm a sophomore. Come on and sit down please.", Bunny smiled.
Bunny and Ava would tell the first year students all about what they had experienced at the Institute. "You have to take Professor Walkmen's class. He's great. It's fantastic and he is really engaging.", even Ava nodded at that comment. The Pokémon research class was by far the best class at the Institute. If Alex had not been throwing a fit he would have agreed too. JJ wasn't normally embarrassed, but at the mention of her uncle she turned bright red and flush. Andy and Nikki both looked at JJ even Nikki knew that was not a common last name especially for this region. With JJ's reaction, she could tell that this professor Walkmen was somehow connected to JJ. The tall honey brown haired girl let out a long sigh, "Professor Walkmen is my uncle." That was partly why JJ had come to the Institute not just to hatch the mystery egg, but because she wanted to be closer to her beloved uncle. Both Bunny and Ava's eyes widened at the revelation.
"You're Professor Walkmen's niece? That's awesome. He's the most universally loved professor at the university. Shit many of us think he should be the president", Bunny gasped and covered her mouth. She didn't like to curse yet had just let one out. This got everyone around the tale to laugh and smile at Bunny's embarrassment. Bunny and Ava would continue to heap praise and plaudits onto JJ's uncle which just made the girl smile from the embarrassment. Andy gave her a smile and whispered, "see it's not so bad. Everyone loves your uncle." JJ nodded, she just hoped that people wouldn't accuse her or Davis of favoritism. They had discussed this before JJ had left for the Institute. Davis had worked too hard on his reputation to ruin it by favoring his niece. She should be prepared to work the hardest out of anyone in the class. JJ was prepared for this and was looking forward to it. She liked a challenge and knew that Davis would give it to her.
The conversation would be interrupted by the sound of a Pokédex buzzing. Ava and Bunny checked theirs. Bunny would let out a sigh as she showed the message to Ava. "Traitor, meet me by your school garden in ten minutes. We are going to have a Pokémon battle and I will show you that I am a better trainer than that cheater. I will be expecting you to turn up.", Bunny could only pinch the bridge of her nose and let out a sigh. 'Why is he like this??', Alex had just challenged Bunny to a battle just because she had put A,ex in his place. She knew that her best friend was quite arrogant and quick to anger. This, however, was ridiculous. Ava looked at the text and just patted Bunny on the shoulder. She had pity for the younger girl that had to deal with someone like Alex on a reoccurring basis. Bunny looked at the others who sat confused at what was happening. "Sorry, but I was just challenged to a battle and I have to go kick this dude's ass. So pardon me.", the 4'5 female excused herself as she trudged away. She was beyond annoyed.
Ava had decided to shift the conversation away from whatever Alex had up his sleeve. Rather she wanted to get back to the topic at hand. She wanted to continue to put up the front that she was just this friendly punk rock female. This was what Ava wanted Nikki to think because it would allow her to grow closer to Nikki. Just get close to the first year and find out why Nikki was considered 'special' by Dr. Babic. Ava also wanted to see how Nikki battled as well. She had thought about challenging the girl immediately to a Pokémon battle, but that could have backfired in Ava. Instead she had decided that the best course of action was to woo the first year. To get on her good side and find out all the secrets that made Nikki Allaire tick. Then Ava would report back to Dr. Babic that she had completed her task and would be the newest champion of Galar. So Ava had to keep up this fake friendly persona that she had used to manipulate the first years.
"You guys should join the dueling club", Ava suggested. Obviously this drew the attention of all three of the first years. Hey were confused. Ava leaned back and smiled, "it's an organization that I am a part of. We get together every week and practice battling. We spare against one another and give suggestions about techniques. It's helped me become a stronger battler.", it wasn't a total lie. Ava had joined the organization her first year at the Institute and had practiced there. But she had soon learned that she was the best battler in the club so she had not been back since then. But she wanted to see how Nikki and her friends would react to this suggestion. If Nikki truly was the genius of battling that she had read about then Ava had figured that she would be overly excited and eager to join something like the dueling club. It was a test from Ava.
But Nikki did not seem interested and neither did the tall female. The one who did seem interested was Andy, the pale male student. He had sat up in his seat and his green eyes seemed to flash an eagerness. "Where can I sign up?", Ava pointed to the table where the organization had its sign ups. Andy got up and walked over to go sign up. JJ stared at Andy as she did not seem interested in the dueling club. Now if there was a club for hatching eggs then JJ would be interested, but not practicing Pokémon battles. Nikki meanwhile seemed bored by the suggestion of a dueling club. She gave a big huff at Ava's suggestion of the club and shrugged. Ava could not tell if this was because Nikki was so arrogant or if she really wasn't into battling. Either way this was a weird reaction. Ava made a mental note of this.
"Ava, how about exploring the city? I have heard that Zlato is the most beautiful city in Avantura. Can we go explore the city?", Nikki stared at her new friend. She made sure to widen her eyes to give off a sense of innocence. Nikki had spent the plane trip reading about Zlato and was excited to explore it. The nightlife was supposed to be fun something Nikki wanted to see for herself. Even JJ seemed to be excited by this suggestion. Nikki grabbed Ava's arm and shook it, "please Ava can you take us into Zlato. I know other first years said they were going. It's our first night here. Take us out and we promise we won't bother you about this ever again." JJ and Nikki were practically clawing at Ava's clothes to take them into the city. Ava didn't see what the big deal was about Zlato. She had been into the city numerous times and had found it boring. It was just a regular big city with a better view. It was overrated.
Yet she knew that to get closer to Nikki she would have to take Nikki and her friends into the city. Ava closed her eyes and huffed, "ok fine. Be ready in an hour." The two fits year girls let out a big cheer and hugged Ava. Avaline Bloodsworth had a feeling this would be a disaster.
Ooc: Again thank you all for reviewing and looking at the story. I never thought it would be as big as it's gotten. I am amazed and grateful. Please continue to read and enjoy. I am open to suggestions. Now back to the story so some interesting things have happened this chapter. We finally met the "special" Nikki Allaire. She's going to be interesting as the story goes on. We met other new characters. Alex challenged Bunny to a battle which we be the next chapter. Oh and now we are going to see the city of Zlato. Big things are happening in the next few chapters coming up.