Chapter 6: Poke-Freak

Flashback: Grade 4

"Class, I would like to introduce you to our new student who will be joining us this year," The male teacher announced. Everyone glance at the young black colored boy who walks at the front of the class.

"H-Hello, my name is Shermar Jones," He introduced.

A young Curtis whispered to a young looking Ericha, "That's a weird name."

"Yeah, sound like his parents were trying to find the right name for his ugly face," She whispered back.

"You can sit beside the third row beside Ericha," The teacher said kindly. Shermar walked over and sat down ignored the glares coming from Ericha, Curtis, and Anya. "Now class get out your books for reading hour."

All the students took out a book from their desk and started reading while the teacher head out. Ericha took out her novel known as 'The Clique' from her desk and turned to find Shermar reading a book called 'The Official Pokemon Handbook.'

She quickly turned to Anya and whispered something to her causing the black hair girl to giggle. Curtis noticed what Shermar was reading and laughed.

"Hey everyone! This kid still like Pokemon!" He announced. Soon a whole classroom was erupted in laughter, pointing at Shermar who looked up from his book.

"Did I miss something?" He asked looking innocent.

"Yeah, you miss a growth spurt you Poke freak!" Ericha answered cruelly. "I don't want you to talk to me or look at me for the rest of the day, got it?"

"Okay," He answered blankly as he returns to reading his book. Ericha was surprised by his calm answer and continued to read her book.

In Math class, Ericha found herself beside Shermar again. She asked the teacher if she can sit with Anya or Curtis, but the teacher replied that she has to be a good role model.

"This stinks," Ericha grumbled as her head was on the desk facing the window. She ignored the math sheet that was giving out and continued to sulk. Ericha looked at Shermar who was able to answer some of the questions but was struggling with one of them.

Ericha took a quick peek his sheet and then giggled. "You're struggling on a division question?"

"Yeah," He answered without looking at Ericha.

"That's sad, I've learned division when I was in Grade 2," Ericha gloated. She quickly did her sheet with a blur and set it on the desk. "See it not that hard."

Shermar ignored her and continued to work on the sheet. Ericha was now started to get annoyed by how calm he was.

When recess came, Ericha, Anya, Ashley, and Curtis decided to have some little fun with the new student. Curtis distracted the teachers so that they couldn't stop them.

"Hey everyone!" Curtis called out from the playground getting everybody's attention, "I'll give you free ice cream if you all hit the new kid with a water balloon."

Soon, almost every kid in the yard went over to the play structure and grab a water balloon. Ericha, Anya, and Ashely grab one as they wait at the entrance for Shermar. They waiting for a minute until the door opened to reveal Shermar holding a basketball.

"FIRE!"

With Curtis command, everybody threw a water balloon at the poor boy. While some of the young ones couldn't reach him the older ones were able to hit him. Once they were all out of balloons, they all pointed and laughed at him.

"Poke-Freak! Poke-Freak!" Ericha and Anya chanted. Soon everyone else joined in as they laughed and point until Shermar went back in.

"That was so fun," Ashely giggled.

"I can't believe he likes Pokemon. Even Grade 1 student think it babyish," Anya said."What a freak."

Curtis noticed a red water balloon on the ground. He offered it to Ericha, "Will you do the honor of throwing the last balloon?"

"Why thank you," Ericha answered polity as she grabs it and ran into the building.

She hides behind the boy's bathroom ready to throw the last balloon at him. Ericha didn't want to go inside because boys tend to throw wet clumps of toilet paper on the ceiling and she didn't want one of them to touch her.

Ericha continued to wait until she noticed Shermar walking into the Principal's office down the hall.

"That little snitch!" Ericha whispered angrily as she quickly tiptoed to the office door. "Oh wait till I get my hands on him. He'll be sorry for snitching on us."

"Shermar what happened to you?" A male voice asked in shock. Ericha quiet down as she eavesdropped into the conversation.

"I got sprayed by the water fountain," Ericha felt a jolt of shock and guilt mix in her head.

"You don't have to be scared Shermar," The Principal said calmly. "I know that this was Curtis's doing. I can't believe he and his friends would go this far to a new student."

"Well I do have autism," Shermar replied. "Isn't it normal for autistic people to get bullied?"

"No, it not," He answered sternly. "These pranks have gone far enough! I'll have a little talk with Curtis and his parents after school. Until then I'll have to pair you up with someone who'll be your voice. That way you won't have to worry about telling on them."

"Okay," Shermar answered. Ericha just stood still gripping the water balloon tight like she was going to pop it.

'Why did he try to lie about it?' She asked herself. It didn't make any sense as to why, but she realized that her guilt in her head getting bigger and bigger like a virus flooding in a computer.

"Hey, Ericha,"

"AH!" She jumped when she noticed Shermar in front of her standing with a white towel over his head.

"Oh sorry for startling you," He apologized. "What are you doing here?"

"Me? Well, I was just by to make sure that you won't tattle tail on us or else we will- make your schol- I mean school day wro-uh," Ericha tried to act threatening, but was stuttering her words.

"You were about to throw that water balloon," Shermar stated as he noticed she was holding the balloon tight.

"Well, I was until I overheard what you said to the teacher," Ericha replied and then asked. "I want to know why you lied to the Principal?"

"No reason," He answered. "I'm used to people treating like this. You guys weren't the first students to call me Poke-Freak."

"So why do you like Pokemon then?" Ericha asked with her arms folded. "Pokemon are for little kids."

"I don't let that bother me," Shermar replied calmly. "And Pokemon not the only show I like. I also like SpongeBob, Garfield, and Friends, and even that Futari Wa Precure airing on YTV today."

The black guilt began to grow deeper and deeper inside Ericha stomach. She felt like she was turning into Curtis who would just make fun of someone by their interest or how they look.

"I'm sorry for how I treated towards you," Ericha apologized. "I guess I judged you by how you look and by your interest, and the fact that I'm acting more like Curtis."

"Is Curtis your boyfriend?" He asked.

Ericha's was taken back from that question, "Heck no! I would rather go out with the Grinch than him!"

"Then why do you hang out with him?"

Ericha opened her mouth to answer, but nothing came out. She didn't have a good enough reason why she became friends with Curtis.

Maybe because of Anya who told her that he only wanted to become friends with her, but during the school years, Ericha noticed that Curtis has been making fun of almost every single student in this school and sometimes she Anya and Ashely join into his pranks.

"I don't really know why," Ericha replied. She realized that she along with Ashley and Anya had joined in a school bully gang like the ones she seen in movies.

"I mean he tricked me into being involved with one of his pranks during kindergarten." Ericha continued. The two found themselves sitting on a bench. Ericha was fiddling with the water balloon.

"I was angry back then when he blamed me for planning the prank, but Anya told me that it was a sign that Curtis wants to my friend and I feel like that how I ended up being part of a bully gang."

"So being tricked or blamed earns someone's friendship?" Shermar rephrased her explanation looking confused.

"Yeah," Ericha answered. "Now that I look back from that incident, I feel like a total idiot into thinking that how friends are made."

"Well, we've all done something stupid when we were kids," Shermar stated. "When I was in Grade 2, I brought in an electric fly swatter to gym class thinking it was a badminton racket."

"Wow really?" Ericha said looking shocked.

"Yeah, I gave to a person who didn't have one and, let just say that he had to be in the nurse's office," He explained

"Ouch!" Ericha winced. She imagines a small boy taken out of the building on a stretcher with a big swelled up hand.

"Luckily, I didn't get in trouble when I explained it that my dad gave it to me," Shermar continued. "They gave him a stern talking to."

Ericha remembers one time when her dad put a bunch of police items in her school bag by mistake and ended up listening to the Principal's lecture when the teacher found a gun in the bag.

"Anyway, recess is about to end soon so I'm going to change into something dry," Shermar replied as he stood up.

"Wait, you have extra clothes?" Ericha asked.

"Yeah," Shermar answered. "My father forgot to pack in a lunch and instead got my extra clothes. Talk about an ironic situation."

Ericha giggled as she stood up and then frowned, "Again I'm sorry for acting like a total jerk to you."

"You don't have to worry about it," Shermar replied. Ericha smiled warmly feeling less guilty than before.

BRIING!

The ringing of the bell echoed the hallways. Ericha noticed the students lining up at the entrance outside. Luckily she didn't see Anya, Ashley or Curtis at the front of the line.

"So what are you gonna do with the water balloon?" Shermar asked. Ericha stared at him and then at the water balloon. Without warning, she lifted it above her head and crushed the balloon letting all the water soak her hair and clothes, and she did all this with a smile on her face.

When school ended, Ericha, Curtis, Anya, and Ashley were sent to the Principal's office with their parents and told them about the water balloon incident at recess. Ericha earned a week detention and two weeks grounding while Curtis had only two weeks detention.

Ashely and Anya somehow got away scot-free from detention when they lied to the principal that they were in the bathroom when it happened. Ericha was really angry that she out the four of them, was the one who was grounded, but at the same time, it signals her that she needed to stop picking on people and focus more on making friends and doing her school work.

The next day in class, Ericha noticed that Curtis was angry at Shermar for telling the Principal on him. He even grabs his homework he finished and rip it apart before the teacher entered the room. He was hoping to get him in trouble, but Shermar said that he forgot it and the teacher was okay with it.

During the school years, Curtis, Anya, and Ashley have been bullying Shermar almost every day. One time during a field trip to the Parliament Building, Ericha noticed Curtis putting a valuable vase inside his backpack and luckily sneaked it back to its rightful place before someone noticed it was missing.

Ericha also secretly spend more time with Shermar than her friends which surprisingly didn't feel suspicious about it. She tried countless times to stop the pranks from happening, but they got more and more brutal every month.

After recapping her previous years at Connaught, Ericha stood up from her spot and head back home. She knows that Curtis has gone too far and has to warn Shermar about whatever Curtis and her friend are up too.

"Where the heck are we?"

"How should I know? I'd never been in space!"

"I wasn't talking to you, idiot!"

"But you ask a question!"

"TO MYSELF!"

"Okay okay jeez you need to take a chill pill,"

Mizella and his companion Remoraid have been flying through space for about two days searching for the entrance to the '3D world' her mother mentioned.

Now Mizella has heard numerous rumors about the 3D world. Rumors like giant naked people roaming the planet destroying the wildlife or a giant man controlling where the planets go. Mizella though those rumors were far-fetch even though she hadn't seen the world for herself.

"So what are you looking for exactly?" Remoraid asked breaking the awkward silence.

"An entrance to the 3D world," Mizella answered.

"T-The 3D world?" Remoraid gasped. "You mean the pl-"

"Yeah the place where my father went to," She interrupted.

"W-why are we looking there?" Remoraid asked looking scared.

"Because that where my brother has gone to," Mizella answered.

"How do you know?" Remoraid questioned. "He could've gone through the deleted hole! Or to the Pokemon world! That where my partner went."

"Okay first of all that deleted hole doesn't actually delete anyone out of existences," Mizella explained. "It just spits out black bars all over the place."

"Then why did they called it the delete hole?"

"Not a clue," Mizella answered. "And secondly, I can't smell his scent anywhere in space. So he must be in the 3D world."

The spaceship suddenly finds themselves being reeled in by a powerful force. Mizella tries to reverse the ship by pulling the lever back.

"What the heck is going on!?" Remoraid shouted. Before she could answer, the two noticed a green vortex forming in front of the two. Mizella and Remoraid's eyes widen when the vortex grew bigger turning into a wormhole. It was so big that the shadow was covering the whole ship.

"Whoa!" Was the only thing the two could say by how big it was compared to the ship Mizella imagine how the wormhole could easily swallow their planet.

Remoraid shook out of his trance and turned to Mizella, "You have to get us out of here!"

"What do you think I'm trying to do!?" Mizella asked just getting back to reality. She pulled the stick far behind to reverse the ship, but the force was continued to push the ship in.

CRACK!

Mizella and Remoraid stared silently at the stick which broke off. They then stared at each other for a minute.

…

…

…

...

"AHH!" Mizella hugs Remoraid's bowl as the two screamed. However, the scream was silent as the ship enters into the portal.

The space ship began to swirl around violently inside the wormhole while Mizella and Remoraid continued to scream for their life. The two didn't notice that there were getting closer to bright light at the end of the wormhole.

The spaceship came out of the other end of the wormhole which immediately disappeared without a trace. The space ship continued to fly through space with the two Pokemon still screaming until it reaches through earth's atmosphere.

Mizella slowly woke up to find herself hanging upside down by her seat belt. She unbuckled herself only to fall face first on the ground.

"Ow!" She grumbled as she stood up to find herself trapped in the spaceship. She looked to find the jar somehow still in one piece with Remoraid inside.

"Mommy I don't wanna share my milk with my brother," He complained dizzily.

"Wake up you stupid fish!" Mizella yells as she shook the jar violently.

"Ugh! Okay okay, I'm up already!" The woken Pokemon groaned. He looked around confused. "What happened?"

"I have no clue," Mizella answered staring at the ground. It looked odd compared to the ground at their home.

…!

Realizing something, Mizella grabs the bottom of the ship and lifted it up over her head. Her eyes widen shocked by the scenery. "Whoa!"

"What? What is it?" Remoraid asked as he tried to see, but Mizella was in the way.

"It nothing I'd never seen before in my life," Mizella said in awe. With great strength, she lifted the space ship until it flipped over so Remoraid could see in shock and amazed.

"Whoa!" He said with sparkles for eyes.

The two were staring at the colorful lights glittering in the night. Multiple vehicles zipped across the road like a laser through a tunnel.

"Are we in heaven?" Remoraid asked in awed.

"I hope not," Mizella answered. She noticed a couple of people staring at them oddly and shocked. "What? You haven't seen a talking dog with his talking fish before?"

One man walked towards them looking pissed, "So that's your ship?"

"Yes," Mizella answered looking annoyed.

"If that's your ship, then you're responsible for parking 'your' ship on my garden!" The man shouted.

"Jeez you're loud," She groaned while rubbing her left ear. "Anyway, I don't have time to deal with your flower bed old man. Get someone else to help you."

Mizella grabbed the fishbowl and walked past the man who was fuming in rage. "Hey come back here, you little runt!"

The man was about to grab Mizella, but she captures his wrist without turning towards him. The man tried to break free, but Mizella grip was strong.

"If you touch me ever again," Mizella slowly turn her head and gave the man an evil grin. "Then I'll kill you."

She then let go of the man's wrist causing him to stumble back with fear in his face. Bystanders who saw what happened just watch as the animated dog disappeared at the corner of the street.

Blaze observed how Sheila was cutting the carrots in the kitchen. Since Jesselyn and Tristan were cleaning their rooms and Ericha and Geoff weren't home yet, he decided to talk with Sheila.

"So you use those sharp things to cut food up?" Blaze asked.

"Yes," Sheila answered without looking at him, "You have to be careful around sharp objects like knives. They can cut your finger if you don't pay attention."

"Oh sorry," Blaze said feeling that he bothering her. Sheila noticed the frown on his face and set the knife down.

"Don't you have knives back home?" She asked curiously.

"No," He answered. "My mother usually give us our food whole. I get disgusted when I see a dead Girafarig's face so I barely ate any meat."

"Well meat is good for you," Sheila said. "It has a good source of protein."

"I know, but I tried Pokemon meat and it tasted awful," Blaze gagged. "There has to be a better way to eat meat without killing Pokemon."

"I think I have something that you Mizella like," Sheila said as she walked towards her bag on the kitchen counter. Blaze oddly looked over her shoulder to see what she was taking out which was Subway sandwich.

"Subway?" Blaze asked looking confused. Sheila unwrapped it to reveal something that caused the Houndour's mouth to ooze out saliva. His pupils stare dreamily at the footlong sandwich. It had lettuce cut into small pieces and five big meatballs with BBQ sauce on top of the lettuce and meatball.

"W-what is that?" Blaze asked while licking the drool before it could touch the ground.

"Its called a meatball sub," Sheila answered as she pushes it towards Blaze. "I thought you Mizella like it since you don't like to hunt."

Blaze took a minute to pleasure the moment of the mouth-watering scent and then without warning he took a bite out of the meatball sub.

"Whoa!" Blaze shouted in delight while chewing. "This is the greatest sandwich I ever taste! What do you call it again?"

"Meatball sub," Sheila answered while Blaze took another bite of the sub with a pleasant look on his face.

"Sub huh?" He repeated after swallowing. "What a weird name for a sandwich, but I don't really care."

While Blaze was enjoying the sub, Tristan and Jesselyn ran into the kitchen, "Mom! Tristan and I finish cleaning our rooms. Can we take Blaze for a walk?"

Sheila thought for a minute before answering, "Okay, but make sure that no one sees him and be back home before supper."

"Okay, Mom!" Tristan answered. He then turned to Blaze. "Come on Blaze, we're going to show you what a fire hydrant is."

"Fire hydrant?" Blaze turned in confused, "Is it another type of food?"

"No!" Jesselyn giggled. "We'll show you," The two ran out the door with Blaze catching up to them. Sheila looked at the clock and frowned. She said that she was going

"Where is Ericha?" Sheila mumbled to herself. A minute had gone past and suddenly the door opened and inside came the tired teen.

"I'm home!" She shouted. She walked towards Sheila who looked crossed

"Where were you, Ericha?" Sheila questioned. "You were supposed to be home half an hour ago!"

"Sorry I'm late mom," She said trying to catch her breath. "I fell asleep at the libr-"

"Didn't I specifically tell to come home at 4:30?" Sheila angrily questioned. "It's almost 5:30 now!"

"I said I was sorry!" Ericha snapped, looking annoyed. "Look I want to talk to you about the dance coming next we-."

"You're not going,"

"What?"

"You heard me. You're not going to the Graduation dance." Sheila replied.

"So just because I'm late, I can't go?!" Ericha asked, raising her voice. "Or is it the fact that Curtis and the others are going to attend as well!"

"This has nothing to do with that!" Sheila snapped. "You've disobeyed my orders. So as punishment, you're not going to that dance!"

"Listen to me, mom! I have to go!"

"YOU ARE NOT GOING AND THAT'S FINAL!"

"I HATE YOU MOM!" Erich roared. Before Sheila could stop her daughter, she was already out the door. Sheila just stood there as she hears her daughter's footstep getting fainted. She then leaned on the counter, putting her free arm on her forehead.

"I'm sorry," She sobbed. She couldn't hold in the tears which were rolling down her cheeks. "I've been too hard on you...I know that you've changed."

Next Chapter: Extinction.