"Violet, did...did he just speak to his Pokémon?" said Roy.
"Yeah," answered Violet. "It's almost like...he's having an actual conversation with them."
"Hey guys," a voice called.
The pair turned their heads to see Suzuki approaching.
"Oh, hey Suzuki," greeted Roy.
Roy and Violet"s expressions betrayed their greeting. Suzuki saw shock upon his friends' usually cheerful faces.
"What's wrong with you two?" the newcomer asked.
"Uh..." paused Roy.
"Well..." hesitated Violet.
"Come on, spit it out," demanded Suzuki. "What's the matter?"
"We just saw the new kid in conversation," answered Roy.
– "Oh...you mean Louis?"
"Yeah, he was speaking..." Violet paused and pointed to Louis' team.
"...to them."
Suzuki grew confused at Violet's explanation.
"What? His Pokémon?" he said.
"Duh. It's like he...can understand them," explained Roy.
"No way," replied Suzuki.
"You callin' me a liar?"
"I ain't calling you a fact-er."
Violet stepped between the two boys, de-escalating the situation before it got, supposedly, worse.
"Should we ask him?" suggested Violet.
At this, the bell sounded again, signifying the end of the lunch break.
"Later...we'll ask him later," replied Suzuki.
After lunch, the day went by quickly for most of the students. Louis studied and furiously penned notes, as he shifted from lesson to lesson. Eventually, the final bell tolled. Although lessons had finished for the day, Louis had no idea where he was meant to go now. He travelled to the field, placed himself down on the soft grass and watched as the sun began to set over the horizon.
'Such a beautiful sight,' he thought.
The boy remained focused on the ever-setting sun when suddenly, a Scorbunny popped up in front of the boy.
"Shouldn't you be in the dorms?" it said.
"AHH!" shrieked Louis.
The boy quickly regained his composure before answering the bunny-like creature.
"Uh...of course I should," he continued. "I-uh...I was waiting for you."
"Oh, I see," the Scorbunny grinned. "You want a rematch?"
– "Uh-huh."
The boy and the contender set their heels at the ready.
"Ready..." Louis began. "...SET-GO!"
Again the Scorbunny left its mark early, but this time, Louis didn't care, just happy to follow a direction to the dormitories.
The race between the Scorbunny and Louis appeared to be one-sided. But then, Scorbunny ended up treading on a jagged pebble, sending the pain up through its leg.
"Ow!" it shrieked.
Louis got closer to the Pokémon as it hopped on one foot.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"No!" it groaned. "I stepped on a pebble!"
"Oh..." replied Louis, compassionately.
Both Pokémon and human stopped racing. Then, Louis had a look at Scorbunny's foot and saw the pebble in question sticking to it. Louis then plucked the stone from the Pokémon's foot and tossed it away.
"Ah, much better," said Scorbunny. "Thanks."
"Don't mention it," smiled Louis.
"...by the way, are you hungry?"
"What?" responded Scorbunny.
"Because...you're about to eat my dust!" the boy proclaimed before sprinting off.
"Hey!" shouted the rabbit Pokémon.
The Pokémon quickly followed suit. Finally, both racers arrived at the front entrance to the dorms. Both combatants touched the walls at the same time.
"I win!" they both proclaimed.
"That was a tie!" someone called.
Both racers turned to see Suzuki, Roy and Violet watching from through a nearby window.
"Oh...hey guys," waved Louis.
Before Louis could congratulate the Scorbunny, it proceeded to run away from the dormitories, gesturing a 'thumbs-up' as it ran away in a sprint.
The Dormitory itself was a vast, modern construction of comfort. Designed specifically to enhance the relaxation of the students, its soft floors and solid doors offered safety in an unfamiliar place.
As Louis stepped through the doors, he gazed at the architecture of the dorms. The blue-painted walls were the first details that the boy spotted.
Immediately after was the large set of numbers painted on each of the doors lining the corridors.
'Hmmm... Which one is mine…?' he thought.
Then, one of the hallway doors opened up. The trio of Suzuki, Violet and Roy emerged through the portal. They approached Louis, with eagerness.
"That was some race," complimented Violet.
"I've never seen anyone tie with that Scorbunny in a race," said Roy.
Louis looked quite surprised.
'That's what it's called? Scorbunny?' he thought.
The boy snapped out of his train of thought and addressed the party.
"Uh...well, there's a first for everything," he said.
"Hey...uh, Louis...we wanted to ask you something," said Suzuki, shifting nervously.
"But let's find your room first," he finished.
Eventually, through multiple corridors, the trio saw a door that had a sealed envelope taped up to it.
It had Louis' name written on the front.
"This must be it," said Suzuki.
Louis reached over and grabbed the envelope from the door. He tore open the sealing, and inside, was a set of keys for the room door.
"Yep, this is mine," confirmed Louis.
Louis turned the key and unlocked the door. Inside was a cosy, modern bed, a desk and a view of the port, dimly lit in the early evening's sky. Louis switched on a nearby lamp.
The boy dropped his belongings and threw himself at the bed.
"Wow, the bed's here are really comfortable," said Louis. "I don't think I can get up."
"Give it a month," snickered Violet.
As the boy from Johto got himself comfy, Suzuki's curiosity got the better of him.
"Hey Louis," Suzuki probed. "Were you talking to your Pokémon?"
Louis froze.
His skin paled, and his eyes turned to wide pools of uncertainty.
"...what did you say?" inquired Louis, sitting up on the bed.
"I said...were you talking to your Pokémon at lunchtime?" clarified Suzuki.
Louis blinked twice.
"Oh, you saw me?" he questioned.
"We did," answered Roy, pointing at Violet and himself.
"It was almost like you could...understand them," added Violet. "Is it true?"
There was no point trying to hide it, at least not from these three.
Nervousness swept over the boy, with sweat dripping down his forehead. He looked out the window, ran to the door and peeked outside before closing it again.
"Promise not to tell anyone?" said Louis, worryingly.
The trio nodded.
Louis sighed.
"...I can!" he explained. "I can talk to Pokémon."
All three of them displayed visages of surprise amongst their faces.
"Seriously?" inquired Suzuki.
"Yep," answered Louis.
Roy turned to Suzuki with a smirk on his face.
"I told you!" he said.
Violet put her hand up, getting Louis' attention.
"Um...how long have you had it?" she asked.
"Not long..." paused Louis. "Only about...two weeks."
"That long?!" shrieked Roy.
The boy nodded. He began to explain how this whole experience began for him.
"It all started like this..." Louis began. "I met my friend, Taki, and her Totodile in a misty forest. I saved her Pokémon from members of Team Rocket. In turn, she invited me back to her home and-"
"Sounds like someone has a girlfriend," interrupted Suzuki, jokingly.
Violet elbowed him.
"Don't be silly," she grumbled.
"As I was saying, her home happened to be a large temple," continued Louis.
"I found out that she was a part of an ancient tribe in the region. I met the chief, and in return for saving Taki's Pokémon, I was given a bowl of tea...that had a feather in it."
Suzuki, Roy and Violet looked at each other in confusion.
"A feather?" said Suzuki. "Why was there a feather in it?"
"I'll tell you why in a minute. By the way, is there any chance you guys have heard of Ho-Oh?"
"Of course we've heard of Ho-Oh," replied Roy.
"Well...that feather belonged to it," Louis mentioned.
"So...after I drank it, I passed out. I woke up at night time and heard voices coming from outside. When I travelled to the outdoors, I saw that those voices were coming from a group of Pokémon."
Louis went on to explain the story of how he, Taki, and her Totodile before it evolved, travelled across the region in search of shards of crystal that make up the 'Grand Crystal'.
He mentioned all the various places and people that he met in their travels, including Tracey Sketchit.
"Boy, that sounds exhausting," said Suzuki.
"Believe me, it was," replied Louis.
"It wasn't just them. I met a lot of Pokémon too. I met a Gastly, Haunter and Gengar, a horde of Charizards, a Pichu and Raichu, Meowth, Magikarp and...and..."
Louis froze again.
The trio watched on, unsure as to why Louis suddenly stopped.
"Uh, dude?" said Roy "You ok?
"Y-...yeah," Louis fibbed.
"Um...where was I? Oh! We managed to get all of the shards, but shortly after...the sky turned to darkness."
"Wait! Darkness?" Violet interrupted.
"Guys, that sounds just like the reports everyone got not long ago," she explained to Suzuki and Roy.
The tension in the room thickened, almost dimming the light around them.
"Um...can I finish?" Louis hesitated.
"Yeah, continue," replied Violet.
– "However, there was only one place that wasn't engulfed in darkness. It was the peak of a mountain we had previously climbed. With help from Liza and her Pokémon, we got there with minimal trouble. And so, I made it to the top of the mountain, put the crystal into the light and..."
The three veterans looked on, getting impatient and curious.
"...Ho-Oh appeared," finished Louis.
Now, their faces dropped.
"It then flew into the sky and extinguished the darkness from the region."
The trio stood there, stunned by all of the information presented to them.
"That...is...AWESOME!" cheered Suzuki.
"Whoa!" exclaimed Violet.
"Unbelievable!" cried Roy.
Louis smiled, happy that these three people didn't think he was crazy.
"But not only that...I got to know my Dad more," added Louis.
The party stopped themselves before turning to the boy from Johto.
"What do you mean?" inquired Violet.
"The reason I have this ability is thanks to him," Louis explained. "I found out that he was actually a part of the tribe as a child, but lost his memory after a bad accident. He managed to regain his memories after I mentioned it all to him."
"Wow, talk about one big coincidence," said Suzuki.
"I don't believe in those" quipped Violet.
All the people inside the room chuckled.
Then, Louis had to make sure that these three wouldn't make a huge deal about it.
"Oh, guys..." called Louis. "Promise me you won't tell anyone about this."
The group once again nodded in unison.
"We won't tell anyone," said Suzuki. "Not even Simon."
"Definitely not him!" voiced Roy.
– "Guys..." Louis interjected. "...definitely not anyone."
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