Numerous students poured out from the halls, some finding seats and producing food from their packs, as others made their way...somewhere.
Louis found his feet and stood.
"I wonder where they're going," the boy wondered.
Louis turned to face his new Pokémon team. However, they were nowhere to be seen.
"Huh?" blurted Louis. "Where'd they go?
"They're in their Pokéballs," Ms. Flora voiced.
She walked toward the boy with his six Pokéballs, each containing a member of Louis' team.
"You'll need to take these with you," added Ms. Flora. "You wouldn't want your Pokémon to miss you, would ya'?"
The lunch siren came as a relief to the boy, whose stomach now growled in protest at the lack of sustenance given.
"Yes!" cheered Louis.
The cafeteria was large. Many tables began to fill with students, each unpacking what looked to be a delicious lunch.
Some lined up at small, busy and colourful stalls that offered different forms of snacks and lunches, picked specifically for the vast myriad of the student's origins and tastes.
Then the food's odours hit him, sending his stomach into a frenzy of anticipation.
'Can my stomach just get a grip?!' thought Louis.
Louis gazed upon the large menu embedded to the cafeteria walls. The wide variety of different cuisines made it hard for the boy to make a selection.
He tried looking to see if curry was on the menu.
It wasn't.
Something close to panic found the boy. He'd assumed curry was a staple meal here.
Then he saw the sentence;
'THURSDAY SPECIAL: SPICY CURRY'
It was Wednesday.
His eyes flicked further until he saw something else on the menu.
A food called "Malasada" drew the boy's attention. Next to it was an image of what appeared to be a dish made from fried balls of yeast dough and coated in granulated sugar.
"That looks pretty good," said Louis.
Louis found the appropriate queue and lined up.
"Darn it, Simon!" a voice shouted.
Louis spun around to the source of the sound. It was Simon, pushing another student from the queue. The bully ran a hand through his dark-red hair and scoffed at the victim. Louis felt something akin to anger building within him, but a bag of hot, doughnut-looking, sugary foods presented to the boy, eased his current thoughts.
Before he left the queue, an important thought crossed the boy's mind.
"Oh, excuse me," called Louis. "Do you have any food I can give to my Pokémon?"
"Of course," the worker answered.
She produced a large bag of Pokémon food and handed it to the boy.
"Thanks," said Louis.
"And also, do you have any Jasmine tea?" he added. "It's my favourite."
As the cafeteria filled further, the outdoors seemed to beckon him again, to fresh air and fields, and soon, Louis found a quiet, soft spot in the grass.
While the boy sat down, he brought out his six Pokéballs. He then threw them into the air and each member of the boy's Pokémon emerged from the objects.
"Hey guys," greeted Louis.
"Good news. I got us some food for lunch."
"Sweet!" cheered Riolu.
Louis opened his backpack and brought out the bag of Pokémon food, placing them next to his bag full of Malasadas.
Torracat, hungry as it was, dashed toward the bag of food. Before it could make a lunge for the edible treats, Louis put a hand in front of the fiery cat Pokémon.
"Whoa whoa, I haven't even gotten it ready for you yet," he said. "Wait your turn."
The Torracat froze on the spot, obeying Louis.
Each, in turn, was presented with their allocated amount, as the boy sat and took a much-needed bite of food. Louis' taste buds sent waves of satisfaction to the boy's brain.
"Mmm-mmm," hummed Louis.
Louis turned his attention to the Pokémon. They appeared to be enjoying the food. Froakie stared at the food with marvellous intent and ate every bit of its Pokémon food in one mouthful. Louis looked on, amazed.
"That was fast," he said to himself.
The boy from Johto picked up his cup of Jasmine tea and took a sip. As the beverage was consumed and absorbed, Riolu shifted on the spot, sensing the child's aura easing.
Sunlight glinted from an object hanging from the boy's neck.
The fox Pokémon, Fennekin, spoke.
"What's that on your neck?" it questioned.
"Huh?" replied Louis.
He gazed down and spotted the accessory in question.
"Oh, that's just my pendant," he answered. "I got this after I gained this ability to talk to Pokémon."
The Pokémon, who had finished their lunch, turned to the human.
"So...you weren't born with it?" asked Staravia.
"Nope," responded Louis.
The boy took another sip of his tea before speaking again.
"I've only had it for about two weeks," he explained.
"Only two weeks?!" the Pokémon exclaimed.
Louis nodded.
"Do you guys know what happened around then?" he added.
"We've only heard from word of mouth," Cubone answered.
– "Oh yeah? Like what?"
"The sky darkened in Johto," said Froakie.
"And apparently, some of the students started panicking," added Staravia.
The boy smiled slightly.
"Do you know who stopped it?" he asked, wryly.
Riolu's mouth dropped before it spoke.
"Did...you have something to do with that?" it inquired.
– "Maybe," the boy's grin became a smile.
"But, I had some help," he added.
"Like my friend, Taki. I first met her after I saved her Pokémon from Team Rocket."
"Team Rocket?" blurted Cubone. "Oh yeah, I've heard of them."
"Luckily, the two members we encountered multiple times were really incompetent," added Louis.
Riolu sensed something off, something...dark.
"I met loads of people and Pokémon," said Louis, before his train of thought inevitably turned to Venusaur.
There it was. The boy's aura darkened.
The boy shook his head of thought and smiled at his team.
"After that, I was invited to come to the academy and I picked you guys to be on my team," the boy finished.
For a while, they discussed each other's abilities, as Louis tried to learn more about his team.
And yet, across the field, two sets of confused eyes watched the exchange between boy and Pokémon.
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