(Andrew's POV)
I can't believe I was actually about to eat here.
I was just about to eat in the best place to eat in the entire school. The balcony. It has everything. A lot of room to move around, a little play area, a beautiful view of the school, a vending machine in case you got a sucky meal, FREE WI-FI that you can hook up too. It had everything for a perfect free time.
I couldn't go until I was in 7th grade or older. Any other attempt to get here this year often ended just due to one of those bullies with Missy. But today, everything changed.
I got good B's and A-'s throughout today, sat at attention and didn't go on my Gameboy like I usually did, and didn't prank anyone, eliminating any chances of getting detention. Time ticked to 12:35. It was almost there. 5…4…3…2…1…
Ring!
I bolted from my seat and headed straight to the door, not even caring for what the teacher had to say. I saw the balcony on the top floor. I ran up the millions of stairs, and the long corridors. And yes, it is as tiring as it sounds. But it was getting me there. The max of the people there is 15, and I saw 14 already (Our class is on the 3rd floor and the balcony is on the top.) I almost reached it, but…
"Help."
I looked behind him, and two of the bullies was trying to take a 5th graders lunch money.
"You know what to do." One of the bullies said. "Put the money into the bag."
I was near the balcony but I couldn't leave him there. I quickly tried to think how to find a way to stop him, without, you know, getting mauled to shreds. I thought but then I remembered the one thing the bullies love, money.
I looked down and saw the floor below. I then knew what I had to do. I hid near the Boy's Bathroom and tied a dime to a really thin piece of string. This only had a 10% chance of working, but I was willing to take my chances for that kid.
I threw the coin down and let it hit the ground once, which got the bullies attention. It then rolled all the way down to the floor. The bullies tried to grab it, but they were too late, the money falling off into the bottom floor.
"Quick, if we go to the bottom floor, we should be able to grab it before anyone else." One of them said.
They quickly ran, while I chuckled in the distance. I pulled up the dime quickly, and put it in my pocket.
"They are so easy to outwit." I said.
I quickly went to the kid to see if he was all right. He looked fine, and they thankfully looked like they didn't shake him upside-down to get it. Trust me, I broke a lot of Gameboys thanks to that.
"You better get out of here, before those bullies try and get your money again." I advised him.
He nodded in agreement and ran downstairs, possibly to find somewhere else to eat.
I then went to get my spot in the balcony, but then, I saw someone else in that spot. Someone with posy hair and way too recognisable face. The school principal's daughter, Missy.
"Oh hey Andrew, sorry you lost your spot here, but uh… I want it. And whatever I want, I take." She taunted.
I then put it together. She ordered those bullies to bully that kid so that when I saw them, I would be distracted, and while I was distracted, she would take the last spot of the balcony.
"Ah, having this much power is lucky. Sorry, better luck next time." She said.
I wanted to do something. Punch her, sic a dog at her, threaten her, transform into a pokèmon and kill her (oh yeah, did I not mention, me and 5 of my friends can transform into pokèmon), but I knew that would put me straight to the principal's office, and the last one would definitely put me in the hot seat. I went to find another place to eat, defeated.
I spent a long time being upset during school, and during home, to the point where my brother didn't come up and bother me.
"It's just not fair" I thought to myself. "Why can't I get what I want for once? Why does Missy always gets what she wants? What, because she is that powerful? I can beat her as a Pikachu, if that."
Suddenly, the doorbell rang.
"I'll get it." I said.
I went to the door, and opened it. I saw Ken and Wendy at the front door, with a Nintendo Switch Pro Controller in their hands and some drinks.
"What are you guys doing here?" I asked.
"We saw you moping a lot at school." Wendy said. "Like a lot."
That was true. I may have actually not went to our regular talk after school today, which we agreed to usually to catch up with each other. Me and Ken are in the same class, while Scott, Wendy, Hope, and Jade are in different classes so we made up this agreement to help catch up.
"So we came to cheer you up." Ken said.
"Why is it only you two?" I asked.
"Scott and Hope are still grounded for 2 days ago." Ken said.
"Oh right," I remembered. "They really need to fix that."
"And Jade is in her karate club, so she's busy." Wendy said.
"Ok." I said. "Just wait for a bit."
I walked to the kitchen to ask my Mom. Yeah, It's just my Mum, since she and Dad broke up since Dad had to move with his family.
"Mum, my friends are here." I said. "Can they stay over tonight?"
"Sure they can." she said. "Just make sure your brother stays out of your friends business."
"Ok." I said.
"I ran back and told them she agreed. We went up and played Smash bros against each other. We drank pop for some of it, and even had fun at dinner (My mum cooks the best pizza ever).
But later, I was asked the question.
"Why were you so upset?" Ken asked.
I sighed.
"Missy," I said.
Wendy and Ken looked at each other.
"What did she do?" Wendy asked.
"She took my spot." I said. "I tried to get a spot on the balcony, but she distracted me to get that spot."
"That's the reason?" Ken said.
"I swear, Missy is just so… mean." I said. "I would love to give her a taste of her own medicine."
"What do you imply?" Wendy asked.
"Maybe, just maybe using… you know." I stuttered.
I was really shy when we moved in at 4th grade, but when I met my friends, they soon caught on to what I was saying.
"Oh no." Ken said. "Andrew, we'd said we'd keep that a secret."
"Oh, it's not fair." I said. "We get these powers that allow us to transform into all sorts of pokèmon, and we virtually can't use them."
"Look, we don't even know why we have these powers, and if anyone knows, we will be hunted down." Wendy said. "They probably want the power for themselves."
"Especially those scientists." Ken added.
"So don't go getting ideas of using our powers for Missy problem." Wendy said.
I groaned. "Fine."
"Promise." Ken asked.
I thought for a minute, then sighed, "Yes."
That night, after dinner, we fell asleep, or so they thought. I was actually wide awake. I waited till they were fast asleep. After that, I packed a lunch downstairs and packed stuff like my MacOS, and a flashlight. And then I started thinking about which pokèmon to transform into. Look, this may seem like betraying my friends' trust, but they said to go out and deal with Missy, they didn't say to sneak into the balcony and try to eat there. There is usually a night guard there, but for some reason, there is no cam on the balcony, nor does he turn off the wi-fi since he still needs to work there, so as long as I stay out of sight, I should be fine.
I decided to try out Ninjask, the Ninja pokèmon. I started to transform.
Trust me, transforming was always tough, but this was my first time turning into a bug, and according to Scott, it felt weird. And it sure as hell felt that way.
My skin was becoming scaly, hard and hollow, as I started to shrink. My legs started to shrink as I felt a bug like thorax grow in my bottom.
My skin colour turned grey, but my back turned yellow, feeling like a plate of armour. I soon saw my feet take off the ground as a shredding noise. I looked behind and saw two see through wings on my back, with some weird patterns.
My arms soon became silver and thicker. My fingers became fused and my nails became claws. My head then crunched as it became scaly, my eyes turned red, my hair disappeared, and my mouth disappeared. I was filled with knowledge on Ninjask as my transformation was complete.
I'll admit, this was my first time transforming into a flying pokèmon. It doesn't help that my legs are puny and walking there won't work, so I had to practise flying. It was pretty awkward flying at first, but I got used to it eventually. I grabbed the items in a backpack, and flew off into the night.
Flying felt so good. It felt weird at first for my legs to be off the ground, but after a while, I was feeling like a mini aeroplane. The cold, night wind blowing on my face, as I flew faster than ever ran, even in another pokèmon form. Usually, a bus ride from my neighbourhood (Jac Gon Street)to school usually takes 25 minutes. But the flight to Ninjask, it only took 10 minutes.
I ended up right above the school in a matter of seconds. I tried to swoop down low, land on the balcony quietly, but then… I was grabbed.
"What's going on?" I asked.
I looked up and saw a big buzzard, with black and grey feathers, and a bone in its feathers like a bow. It was a Mandibuzz.
"Found you." It said,
"Um, why are you looking for me?" I asked.
"Because, you're the only one who knows where the boulder is. That way, I can get a less feminime person." It answered.
So this girl was after the boulder too. I heard Scott, Hope, and Wendy fight a Mismagius because it was after the meteor too.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not gonna reveal where we hid the boulder to anyone, especially you." I said.
I then swiped it's claws with a U-turn attack, and fled.
I flew as fast as I could, but it wasn't enough. A Mandibuzz just flew way faster than a Ninjask could ever. It almost grabbed me but then, something attacked the Mandibuzz from above. I looked closely and saw a black crow, but not any normal crow. It had feathers in the shape of a witch's hat. It was a Murkrow.
"Come on." It said in a familiar voice.
"Wendy?" I asked.
"Just follow me." She said in a serious monotone.
Ok, I was worried when the Mandibuzz attacked me, but now that Wendy talked in that tone, I knew I was in trouble.
I flew with Wendy, but the Mandibuzz was behind our tails, literally, (Sorry, I make bad jokes in stressful situations).
"He's gaining on us." I said.
But Wendy didn't answer back. She just flew on into a part of the building. I realised that if we don't slow down, we will crash, which is good for the Mandibuzz behind us, but not with us in the crossfire. I braced for impact, but then, I completely flew through the wall. I looked around and saw the window in the place was broken, but the Mandibuzz stopped. He then looked at the window.
"Don't say a word." Wendy said sternly.
The Mandibuzz looked at the window for a minute, but then flew away.
"Gurgh, guess those pokèmon got away." It said, and it flew off.
"What was that?" I asked.
"That would be me?" A voice behind me said.
I looked behind and saw a dark black wolf/fox hybrid. I noticed it, it was a Zoroark. And I noticed the voice to be Ken.
"Hey buddy." I said. "Hey thanks for the help you two, but how did you know I was in danger of that Mandibuzz?"
"We didn't." Wendy said coldly. "What we did know is that you snuck out, as a pokèmon, just to go to a place that you could go to at any other point."
"What if someone had seen you?" Ken asked.
"Well, only that Mandibuzz did." I protested. "And trust me, I was going to be in and out."
"Still, it was incredibly dangerous." Ken said.
"Look, is it too much to ask for things to go my way for once." I shouted. "Look, we were given these powers, and what can we even do with them? We might as well use them to help ourselves."
But then, the security guard came into the room.
"All right creatures, you better get out of here." He said.
He then saw us, and there was no way we could hide.
"Um, meow?" I said, referencing a joke that had become a meme.
"WHAT THE!" He shouted, but then the Mandibuzz burst through the illusion. He then grabbed the security guard.
"Hey, let him go!" Ken said. The Mandibuzz then looked at us.
"Hmm, No." The Mandibuzz said outside to us. "Tell me where the meteorite is, and I will let him go. You have 5 seconds or else." The Mandibuzz then pointed to the ground.
I looked at Wendy, who started to look a bit angry. She seems very angry, and after the outburst I had, and she (don't tell her), she has severe anger issues.
She then shot out the window to attack the Mandibuzz, but in doing so, it let go of the security guard. Without a second though, I flew in to save him. I zoomed faster and faster, but the ground floor was getting closer and closer. Just when it looked like he was about to hit the floor, I managed to grab him at the last second. Though I was barely holding on.
"Urgh, you're really heavy." I said, though obviously, he didn't understand what I had said, in his head, I just said Ninjask.
Luckily, we were near the ground, so we were OK, I dropped him off, and headed to try and help Wendy.
That's the key word. Try.
Wendy often has these small moments where she is a bit too blinded by rage to listen to anyone, which is trouble. I came in to try and use the Air Cutter, but then it was blocked by her, as she was scratching the Mandibuzzes face.
"Nice move, now it's my turn." The mandibuzz said.
But then, Wendy came in and use Scratch on the Mandibuzz, which wasn't too effective, but it created a scratch on one of its eyes.
"Urgh, great, now I can't see." It said.
Now was our chance for an attack, but as I went in for a Skull Bash attack, Wendy then attacked me and the Mandibuzz with her own Skull Bash. It knocked both of us into the other side of the building.
I was wobbly, but when I grabbed myself with my claws, I saw that my scales were dissolving. I realised I was turning back. But how? I had no time. If the Mandibuzz found out, he could easily come into my house and threaten me where the meteor was. I went and hid underneath the desk as my legs grew back to normal. Eventually, my body turned back, except for my wings and my antennas. But by that moment, the Mandibuzz regained consciousness.
I stayed in my hiding spot, but for some reason, the last pieces of my Ninjask things still stayed for a bit. I heard footsteps come closer, flapping noises getting near my place, and just then, I saw a black figure come. But it wasn't the Mandibuzz.
It was Wendy. Though, I wasn't decent at the time, so she did the logical thing.
She screamed.
"AAAAAHHHHHHH!" She screamed over my current… situation (I am really uncomfortable here). She then pushed a desk (don't question it) and made me hide behind it. "Dude, why did you revert back?"
"I don't know. It just happened after you hit me." I said.
"Yeah, sorry not sorry." She replied.
Ken also came.
"Maybe it's because you lost all your health." He said.
Me and Wendy looked at him.
"I feel healthy, aside from a few bruises." I said.
"Yeah, but you know each pokèmon comes with a health bar telling you how long you can battle." Ken said.
"Yeah, I know that." I said.
"Well maybe when you run out of health here, you revert back to human self." He continued.
"Well then, all I need to do is change back." I said.
I thought of the Ninjask form, but nothing happening. I also just keep hearing in my head a voice saying, "Ninjask has fainted."
"What's wrong?" Ken asked.
"I can't change back, and I keep hearing a voice saying "Ninjask had fainted." I said.
"I guess that means that you can't change back." Ken said.
"Though can you…" then I heard some screaming, as well as some slashes and grabbing.
"WENDY?! KEN?!" I asked.
But then everything went silent. I pushed it slightly to see Wendy being knocked unconscious. I pushed out of my hiding place and saw her feathers starting to melt away as her body was changing back. I looked around for clothes and saw some uniforms in the closet. I got dressed quickly and gave Wendy clothes just as the last of her transformation wore off.
At that point Wendy woke up.
"Ugh, what happened?" She asked.
"You got transformed back into a human after something happened." I said. "Put on these quickly."
Wendy quickly got dressed and then told me the things I missed.
"That Mandibuzz took Ken out to interrogate him." Wendy said. "He wasn't in battle as much as we had been so he should be fine."
Ok, I was worried before, but now I am really worried.
"Where did he take him?!" I asked frantically.
"Oh, jeez, now you care about something other than yourself." she said sarcastically.
"Are we seriously doing this now?" I asked.
"Yes." Wendy said.
Sometimes, Wendy is sometimes a bit unforgiving. But Ken could turn back at any moment, so there wasn't enough time to argue.
We headed to where he was at, which was the greenhouse, in the room with a bunch of cacti. We hid underneath the table. We saw the Mandibuzz holding Ken on his neck, near a cactus.
"Now, tell me where the meteor is." It said,
He tried to say no, but he seemed like he was struggling just to breathe.
"All right, so what do we do?" I asked.
But Wendy didn't answer.
"Look Wendy, I'm sorry…" I started.
"Sorry for what!" She shouted quietly (trust me, it was one of the quietest shouts ever). "You always break your promises, and you say sorry for them, but you keep."
"Name one time I…"
"Oh, I don't know, maybe the time when you said you would save some of the sweets from Scott's birthday, but ended up sneaking all of them, or when you didn't came to Ken's brothers birthday party, or when you…"
"Ok, I get it." I said.
"Sometimes, I wonder why we even bother with you." She exclaimed.
I realised how hurt Wendy was. But I couldn't focus on that right now.
"Look, we can talk about this later, right now, my best friend needs help." I said.
I snuck around, and decided to change into a Cacturne, you know, because of the amount of cactus.
My body changes into a sickly green, as my hand and feet fused together, with spikes growing on them. My hair shrank back, as my head reshaped. I got a bunch of knowledge on how to move, and use moves.
I was using my body as camouflage as a cactus, with the bunch of cactus in the room. With this, I got a closer look at the Mandibuzz with a knocked out Ken.
"Fine, if your not gonna answer, maybe I can lure your friends out as bait." He said.
He then grabbed him and flew to the balcony.
"Alright fools, if you want to save your friend, tell me where the meteor is, or this Zoroark will have a bad wake up call." It said.
I wanted to go out, but I knew Cacturne can't fly ,so I changed back quickly, and started to change into a bird-like pokèmon. I was too panicked, so I changed into a random bird, and became a Pigdeot.
Feathers grew all over my body, as my arms changed to wings. My feet became scaly, as they turned into claws. My body shifted into a bird-like stature, as tail feathers grew from my but, and my beak grew, finishing my transformation.
After that, I flew straight to the Mandibuzz and attacked him with a Wing attack. However, he accidentally dropped Ken after he let him go.
"Ken!" I shouted.
It was no use to try and grab him. He was falling too fast for me to follow. But then two vines grabbed him and pulled him up.
I looked to the origin of the vines, and saw a cactus with no legs, to ponytail like parts with flowers on them, and a freaky puppet face. I admediatly knew who that was. It was Wendy, as a Maractus.
"Wendy?!" I asked.
"Just defeat that Mandibuzz, and then we'll talk." She said,
"Ok." I said.
I then got hit by a Sky Attack.
"OY! Don't turn your back on me!" It said.
We then went into a full on brawl. I started with an Air Cutter, but only for it to dodge. I decided to attack it with a Peck attack, but then, it attacked with Night Slash. I knew I would have the upper hand if I gained the high ground, and if I do, I can one-shot it with a critical Brave Bird attack.I flew up, but then, the Mandibuzz did a Bullet Seed move.
"Hey, come down here and fight you coward." It said.
"Sorry, but as a Flying-type, I want to take to the skies." I hollered back.
But now that I know it knows Bullet Seed, things had just gotten harder to land a Brave Bird attack to knock it down for a finish move. All I could do right now was evade, evading Bullet Seed after Bullet Seed.
"Soon, these will hit you, and then, I'll finish you off myself." It said.
He is right. I was getting tired, and if I don't make my move now, I don't think I'll have a second chance. But as he was about to shoot one final attack, his got wrapped around. I looked and saw Wendy grab it by a Vine Whip.
Then, the beak blew up, as it got stunned. Now was my chance. I came in at full force, and then, completely pummelling the Mandibuzz down, defeating it.
But in doing so I was starting to lose my stamina. I felt incredibly tired. But just as I was about to give in, Wendy grabbed me with her vines and pulled me up.
"Thanks Wendy." I said.
I then looked at Ken, who was in his human form.
"Is he…" I asked, but then got interrupted.
"He's fine, but he has pretty serious injuries. If we tried to explain this to his parents, well, our cover will be more than blown." She said.
I thought hard, but then came up with something.
"Do you know Aromatherapy?" I asked.
"Aroma-what?" She asked.
"Aromatherapy is a move that allows the user to heal a fellow allied pokèmon." I said. "Do you know it?"
"Hold on." She said, I waited for a bit, but then she said, "Yes, I do."
"Good, use it on Ken, it should help with his condition." I said.
"Ok." she said.
She closed her eye (or at least, I think she did), and focused. Then, green energy spewed from her hands, and Ken's scars was disappearing and after that, he opened his eyes.
"Ugh, what happened?" He asked.
"Long story short, I completely decimated that Mandibuzz." I said.
"With my help." Wendy added in.
But then, we heard police sirens.
"Quick, change into a Flying-type pokèmon." I said. "Both of you."
Ken started to change into a Talonflame while Wendy changed into a Noctowl, as we all flew off before the police could spot us.
(The next day)
Due to the damage at school from last nights fight, we were pardoned from school. After breakfast, me and Wendy decided to talk.
"So, why did you help me?" I asked.
"Because Ken is my friend as well." She said.
"Look, I'm sorry for betraying your trust, but I just feel like we can use our powers for something other than using it to train." I said.
"And that gave you a reason to trespass school, why?" She asked.
"I…" I started, but then gathered my thoughts. I always feel like nothing goes my way. I was bullied in my old school for being a geek and a nerd, and Missy just up those feelings. I wanted to use her as an excuse, but that isn't right. But to be truthful, I just want to do something for myself. I decided to tell her that.
"I just wanted to do something I wanted with the power I have, but I know that isn't right." I admitted. "I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry too." Wendy said. "I shouldn't have snapped at you, no matter how wrong you were."
"You were just angry at me." I understood.
"But it still wasn't right." Wendy said. " I just have this thing."
"Don't worry, I won't judge." I said.
"How about we just promise we won't go behind each other's back." She asked, "Ok?"
"Ok." I agreed.
We shook hands, but I couldn't shake this feeling that Wendy isn't telling me everything. Oh well, what's the worst that can happen?