Pokémon is copyright of Game Freaks and Nintendo, all characters mentioned here are not used with their consent, hence a fanfic.

Life as a Pokémon - Chapter 4 - Dash of Flavors, Elemental Colors.

Ark walked through the streets of Lerus, making his way home. He bent though several corners before Rose Plaza came into sight. He was only a few blocks away, and he could feel there was someone trailing him now. He was positive that whoever it was, it didn't followed him to Cleo's place.

After another corner he stopped in the middle of the street. He glanced sideways to a crystal on the other side and saw the reflection of a Sneasel hiding behind a corner. "Alright, you can come out now," he said turning around. The Sneasel came into sight. "What do you want?"

She readied one of the blades in her forearms. "Payback," she hissed, looming closer to him. Thankfully for both of them, the street was empty.

"For what? You were the one who took on my friend. If anything, you had that small fireball I threw at you well deserved," he said, making the Sneasel snarl.

"Within our type, we take one on one our own problems, without the interference of others."

"You said it, between YOUR," Ark pointed a finger at her, "type. I'm fire, I live by my courage and my own rules."

"Enough, get ready!" Ayla shouted before dashing at full speed before swinging down her arm, creating a wind rift that should Ark not have moved away, it would have caused quite some damage. His shirt was cut in the sleeve, but he remained intact. He took a jump backwards to create some distance between him and the Sneasel.

"I'm sorry, but I don't fight with females, please leave."

"Why? Feel you might lose?" She mocked him as a sly smile spread across her muzzle.

"No, I just don't like it. Moreover," he sighed, "I simply don't like fighting anyway."

"Doesn't matters. Either you do something, or you'll go down!" Ayla shouted as she brought both paws to her front, making a circle with them. She started to create a dark ball out of nowhere. She closed her eyes, and after a second, she snapped them open, throwing the ball at Ark. He brought his paw to his mouth, making a circle with his thumb and index and breathed a volley of fire in the direction of Ayla, taking out the ball.

Ayla snarled to herself. She dashed at him and started to send several swipes of her claws in various directions while Ark simply moved at an amazing speed, avoiding each attack. After a moment, Ayla realized it was futile and moved away, panting a little. "Stay put, damn it!" She mimicked Ark's motion with her paw but instead sent out a ray of ice in his direction. He lit up a flame in his paw, and bounced the beam away to the sky, almost freezing his paw in the motion.

"You have a trick to everything, don't you?" Ayla was becoming more and more furious with each passing second, seeing how nothing she did had any noticeable effect at all.

"I try to, but there are many things I can't fight against though."

Ayla closed her eyes for a second before an icy dust started to gather around her right claw, which was now a fist. She charged forward and hit the air at the same time she gasped for air as Ark spun to his right, or to Ayla's left and slammed his elbow in her chest, but not with too much strength. Ayla backed away, with her left paw over the bruised area. "I thought you didn't liked to fight."

"No, I don't," he retorted casually, "But it seems that's the only way you'll understand."

"Heh," was all she said before creating more icy dust, but this time on both fists before charging again. She sent a fist flying, quickly followed by the other.

Ark ducked under the first one and couldn't move completely out of the way from the second as it got him on the left shoulder, freezing the nearby area. He spun around and made a thrust of his open paw at her back, scorching her clothing a little, and making her jump away.

He stood up and using his right paw, he melted the ice on his shoulder. She looked at him with stern eyes. Then with curious eyes as he started to make a figure with his paws in the air. Her eyes opened up in surprise as she recognized the pattern. It was the symbol of fire, and that coming from a Fire Pokémon could only mean the most destructive of their attacks. "I'll let you go for now, but be careful," she said before taking a step backwards, turned around, and dashed away.

Ark opened his eyes. Hah, can't believe she fell for it. I can't still get that move right... Most times I just end up scorching myself. He laughed to himself before starting to walk away. He stopped dead in his tracks, Wait, maybe she did followed me to Cleo's house... I was somewhat distracted on the way... I better rush to her place just to be sure.

----------

Ark rushed back through the route he had taken on his way home. When he reached the complex he wasn't completely surprised to find that Ayla was standing in front of it. She was about to step up the stairs. He threw a small fireball at the handrail of the stairs with took her by surprise.

"Back away," Ark commanded.

"My, you don't desist," she said, turning around.

"Me? What about you?"

Ayla chuckled, "Yes, we are very determined on what we do."

"Even so, back away from the stairs and leave Cleo alone."

"Or else?" She hissed.

"Or else this!" Now he didn't cared, he just wanted to make sure Cleo was safe. He placed his paw by his mouth, again, with the circle and sent a volley of fire in her direction. She easily avoided it however before rushing at him, icy dust gathered on her claws.

Ark did the same, creating a small flame on both paws as they clasped with Ayla's. "Think you can handle the cold?"

"Think YOU can handle the fire?" He retorted as both jumped away at the same time, leaving a pool of water where they previously where.

"This place is more open, it should serve better for a fighting ground."

"Indeed."

Ayla rushed at him, this time without any extras and started to send a swift flurry of blows and kicks. Ark blocked each and one of them, but did nothing to return her attacks. "Come on! Fight back!"

"I told you already, I don't like fighting."

"You sicken me," she lunged forward. Ark took a step back but collided against a wall, he cursed to his own breath as his moving ground was reduced only to his sides. Ayla slammed a fist against the wall and quickly sent her knee up. He was able to avoid both moving to the left, but never saw the swipe that went to his face, leaving 3 scratches on his right cheek.

He grunted as he took a step backwards, placing a paw on the bruised area. Ayla just laughed.

"That does it..." Ark mumbled to himself before getting ready to send another fire blast. Ayla saw his movements and sent out an ice beam of her own. Both collided in mid air and exploded into a curtain of steam, leaving both blind to their surroundings. But not so much for Ark, as he had his nose to move around.

He ran through the steam before a fist of him found its place in Ayla's abdomen, knocking her out cold. "I'm sorry," Ark muttered as Ayla slumped forward, her body going limp. He carried her to a nearby bench on the street around the complex and placed her down. He then walked back, went two sets of stairs upwards and walked right to Cleo's apartment.

He knocked on the door and after that placed a paw on his right cheek. And after a few seconds, Cleo showed up. "Oh, hey again."

"Hey, mind going out for a walk if you aren't too busy?" He offered.

Cleo was taken by surprise. She flushed just lightly under her white fur, but not enough for it to be noticeable. She smiled at him, "But I'm still wearing my uniform," she said.

"So am I."

"True. Oh well, I'll be happy to go with you," she said as she left the frame of the door and locked it behind her before making her way down alongside Ark. "Why the sudden invitation though?"

"Mainly, just because," he smiled. "And secondly, because it seems that someone did follow us, the Sneasel to be precise."

"And..."

Ark tilted his head sideways and brought his paw down, revealing three cuts in his cheek, Cleo gasped. "She did this to you?!"

Ark nodded, "Yeah, two small fights. She ran on the first one and in the second one I had to knock her out," he sighed. Cleo could see that Ark was the peaceful type. They hadn't known for long, but his carefree attitude and softness said so.

"Wait, let's go back to my place. We need to treat that wound," Cleo said, pulling Ark by his left arm back to her place.

Ark reluctantly followed, "But it's a small scratch..." He pseudo-whined.

"Nonsense, it can still get infected." Ark sighed in defeat to her. They hadn't gone far at all, just down the stairs so it didn't took them long to get back to her apartment. She opened the door and to Ark's gesture of his hands, she got in first, followed by him who close the door. "Sit down please, I'll be right back," she said as she left for somewhere Ark didn't knew.

He looked around. The whole place was painted in a light blue, just a shade darker than sky blue. To his right was a small kitchen, just enough to have about the necessary appliances and a table. There was another hallway further right, but he couldn't see it completely well. The rest of the room consisted on a giant living room. In the middle were three couches with a coffee table in the middle. Opposite to the southern couch- and closest to Ark- was a TV on the far wall atop a piece of furniture with several other things, pictures, books, etc. There was a room on each side of that particular piece of furniture.

The Arcanine walked forward and to his right and sat down in one the chairs of the table, waiting for the Ninetales to show up. After a few seconds she appeared from the left room. "Sorry for the wait," she smiled as she walked closer to Ark, placing a small bottle of alcohol on the table.

"Ah, alcohol... The worst enemy of a fire type..." Ark rolled his eyes. In a sense it was true, since that thing burned quite well.

"I thought that was water," Cleo declared casually as she soaked up a side of a cotton ball.

"Yeah, that too," he smirked for a second before he grimaced as the alcohol that was placed in his cut stung him.

"Oh come on, it can't be that bad."

"It's been a while since the last time I had to treat a wound," he retorted. "I try to stay out of trouble as much as possible." He grimaced a second time.

"There, all done," Cleo smiled as she tossed the cotton ball in the garbage.

"Thanks. Then," Ark stood up, "Shall we go?"

"Gladly."

----------

Both kept walking through the streets of Lerus making small talk. Ark looked up at the sky and noticed that the clouds were threatening the citizens with rain as he looked at the dark gray color they had.

"Looks like it's going to--" he was cut abruptly as a thunder roared by, seconds before water started to pour down. "And I spoke too fast... My place is close, lets go there and I'll take you back home then."

Cleo nods as they quicken up their pace. Bending a corner, Rose Plaza comes into their sight and several silhouettes are leaving the place, creating several splashing sounds as they run through the water. Both the Ninetales and the Arcanine follow their example as they go into a sprint, before running through the streets, until they finally reach Fieram and start heading up the apartment complex.

Just as they were going up the third floor, Sophia left her apartment and ran into them. She was not wearing a pair of blue baggy jeans, a white shirt and gray sneakers. "Haven't they taught that running under the rain isn't good for you?" She smirked seeing both Pokémons dripping wet.

"Yeah, real funny," Ark laughed. "Rain caught us by surprise and my place was closer. I was just going up there to get an umbrella and walk Cleo back to her place."

"I don't think that's a good idea," she said. "Just look around," she gestured a paw to the handrail and the sight. The rain had gotten so strong in such few moments that you could barely see a meter ahead.

"But where were you going?" Cleo asked as she tried drying her tails.

"Oh, just here. The breeze is lovely if you ask me," she replied with a smile as a wind blew by, making her hair and tail sway softly.

Cleo was finishing drying up her fur: One of the perks of being a fire type, though it wasn't a good idea to try with your clothing. "Well, you are true about that," she said stepping forward to the handrail, but with some distance for the water not to fall on her. Her fur also started to sway softly.

Sophia turned around to look at both. "You are going to catch a cold if you stay on those clothes. Ark, well, your place is here, so you might as well change. I might have something that fits you, Cleo."

Cleo shook her head, "Oh, I don't want to bother you."

Sophia shook her head as well, "It's no problem at all, come on. Ark, why don't you drop by in a few minutes?"

The Arcanine nodded, "Sure, be back in a few." He said before heading up the stairs while Cleo followed Sophia to her apartment.

----------

Ark made his way down the stairs to reach the 3rd floor of the complex. He was now wearing a pair of black jeans and a red shirt. He walked to the door of Sophia's apartment and knocked lightly on it.

"Eh, hold on a minute please!" A shout came from inside, Ark recognized that as Sophia's voice.

"'kay," he said as he rested against the wall next to the door.

"I told you this wasn't going to work... Why do you think we Ninetales have a special brand of clothing? Because of the tails!"

"Hey, I thought it was going to work... Oh wait, silly me, why didn't I thought of this instead..."

Ark frowned for a second. He stood outside for at least two more minutes before the door opened and Sophia showed up.

"Sorry for the wait, we had some... issues," she smirked.

"It's not funny... It takes me hours to just find one single piece of clothing that fits with my nine tails..." Cleo sighed as Ark entered the place. The Ninetales was now wearing a knee-length dark-pink skirt and a white blouse.

"Ever thought about switching to skirts full time?" Sophia asked as she closed the door.

"You try going around with a skirt with these tails, it's not easy, trust me," she said.

"Trust her," Ark added from the side with a smirk as Cleo looked at him with stern eyes.

"Lets not start this again," she said.

"I told you it was a honest accident!" Both stayed in silence for a few moments before laughing out lightly.

"Why do I feel like I'm missing something...?" Sophia asked as she walked forward and sat in a couch in the living room. The place was pretty much a copy of Ark's apartment, but flipped horizontally.

Ark followed her and sat on another couch, with Cleo in the one in front of him. "Oh, just how we meet. We both were going late for school the first day and bumped into each other..."

"...I fell to the floor and I told you how skirts aren't my best friends, and well..."

"Long story short, here we are," Ark finished.

"Hmm, right..." Sophia frowned.

The rest of the day for them went rather simple. The rain didn't seemed to ease up at all, and it still rained as hard as when it had started, and it was getting somewhat late already.

Cleo got up and walked to the window in the right side of the room. "At this rate I won't be able to head back," she sighed.

Sophia looked at the clock that was above the TV in the wall directly in front of her. It read 9.07 PM. "Well, it's not overly late yet, but if you can't head back at all you can stay in here," she offered.

Cleo turned around in surprise, "It was good enough from your part to let me borrow some of your clothes, but I would just be pushing the line," she waved her paw as if saying no.

"Cleo, you really want to walk back in that weather?" Ark asked, "I don't think even holding an umbrella would be a good idea with so many lightning."

The Ninetales turned around to look outside, or what was barely visible. If you extended your paw while being outside, you would barely see your fingers. "You do have a point, but..."

"Then it's settled," Sophia decided for her. It's not like she had any other choice. "Though there's one detail..." She flushed slightly.

"Thanks," Cleo walked back to the place where she was sitting and looked at the Cyndaquil but dismissed her barely noticeable blush. They just continued to kill time.

"Say Ark," Sophia said, making the Arcanine look at her, "You did Math homework already?"

This made his face go into a shocked expression at the same time Cleo gasped. "Damn, I had forgotten about it, what with that Sneasel chasing me..."

"Sneasel? You mean the one from school?" Sophia frowned at him.

"Yup, two fights. She left me a small gift," he said tilting his head to reveal the 3 scars. Barely noticeable by now actually, since they blended with his fur color.

"I told you about them," she sighed. "They are very determined in what they do."

"No kidding," he shook his head. "Nonetheless, I better head to my own place. I haven't even started Math yet," he said as he got up.

"Oh, it wasn't that hard. Took me about ten minutes to finish."

Ark took his seat again, "Hmm, I guess I'll do it at homeroom tomorrow then."

"Likewise," Cleo heaved a sigh, "It's not like I can get my things anyway since I left them at my locker."

"Heh, now that you mention it, I did the same," Ark sheepishly smiled, scratching the back of his neck. They kept talking for some more time before the clock hit 10.28 PM.

Ark got up from his seat, "Well, I guess I'll leave you two for now. Besides, I'm kind of a light sleeper, so I get drowsy early," he smirked.

Sophia got up as well and walked him to the door, "Alright. It was nice talking all day long. See you tomorrow morning," she said as Ark was leaving the door frame.

"Bye bye," Cleo said, waving her paw at him.

"See you two tomorrow," Ark said waving goodbye before leaving the apartment. The rain was as heavy as before. If it weren't for the lights on the stairs, he wouldn't be able to see well at all. He took a few steps to the right and started to up the stairs. Two floors above, he made a right turn and after unlocking his door, he entered his room, getting ready for another night.

----------

"It's going to be a long night..." Cleo sighed as she got up from her seat.

"What makes you say so?"

"Well, I don't have any clothes to sleep on, I don't have a problem with this outfit at all, but I don't think it's the best to sleep in."

"Sorry," Sophia said as she picked up a glass from one of the cabinets in the kitchen, "But that I can't help with. All I have are ankle-length night gowns and seeing how much you like skirts, I doubt you'll find them comfortable." She brought a carton of milk from the fridge and poured herself a glass. "You want anything before going to sleep?" She offered.

"Hmm, just a glass of water," she said as Sophia pointed to the cabinet with the glasses. The Ninetales stepped forward to grab one and poured herself some tap water. "Don't worry about it though. I don't want to impose anymore on you anyway. It's nice enough from you to let me stay here," she gulped the last of her glass and poured some more water, she vaulted it a little and poured it on the sink, then placed the glass to dry.

"Hey, I can't let you go out in that weather," she gestured at the window as she gulped the last of her glass. She got up and placed back the carton on the fridge. She then filled up the glass with water and left it in the sink.

"Erm, remember the detail I spoke about earlier?"

"Yeah," Cleo nodded, "What was it anyway?"

"Well, I don't know how to say this, but," she blushed. Cleo frowned at her, "Well, the only bed in the place is mine, and..."

Cleo blinked a few times, she shrugged. "So? I'll just take a couch."

Sophia looked up at her, slightly more relieved by now, "You sure about that? It's queen size so there's enough space in reality."

"Hey, what did I said about pushing the line? I don't want to be anymore of a burden."

Sophia shrugged, "Ok, but don't come complaining to me when your back is all screwed up in the morning."

"I just need something to cover with and I'm more than fine," Cleo said with a smile.

"Right, hold on," Sophia walked past her and took a right turn after leaving the kitchen. She opened a door there and standing on her tiptoes, she pulled out a white blanket from the room. She walked back and handed it to Cleo, "There you go."

"Alright, thanks."

"Sure thing. Good night," Sophia started to walk towards her room. She slightly closed her door. Cleo simply sat on the couch she was previously sitting on. She laid there taking a few relaxed breaths before Sophia came out in an ankle-length, cyan colored this time.

"Well, if you need something in the night... Hope you can find it," she smirked. "If not, well, wake me up I guess," she shrugged.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. See you tomorrow," Cleo said as she tried to lay down in the couch, extending the blanket over her. Sophia left the door open as she entered her room.

----------

Night came and went, just like every other day. Throughout Lerus city several lights were starting to go on as many had to wake up, be it for school, work, or any other reason. Others were just barely waking up.

Ark, as usual, had ended up on the floor yet once again. "Must... Never mind..." he mumbled as he reluctantly got up, turned off his alarm and entered the bathroom.

Way off in Shakhray a Jolteon was sleeping quite peacefully. The next thing he knew, was that his spikes were in battle position, piercing part of his clothing, the mattress, and the blanket as the alarm shot up. He had been listening to some music the previous night at quite a high volume and forgot to tone it down a notch. "Aww, damn it..." He said as he made his spikes relax. He sighed heavily before standing up, turning off the alarm and lower the volume. He then reluctantly entered the bathroom.

Not far from there was Buriel Street. Siria, the shy Suicune had her hair sprayed all over bed. Covering almost half of the whole mattress. The alarm went off and she did so much as just move one of her tails to hit the button of the alarm. Her sigh was stifled by the mass of hair as she drew the covers around her, sat on the edge of the bed and then walked to the bathroom.

Now, back in Fieram Street and two floors below Ark's apartment it was a whole different story. The alarm in Sophia's room went off. She moved a paw in random directions trying to find her drawer and the alarm. When she succeeded she groaned, "Five more minutes..." She said to no one in particular as she turned around in bed and found her nose buried in white colored fur.

"Wha?!" She said as she jumped out of bed in a quick motion, almost tripping down. "Cleo! What are you doing here?!" She asked in surprise.

The Ninetales stirred in her place, "You were right about the couch. Not only three hours into the night and my back was killing me," she yawned.

"You could have woken me up to say you were going to crash in my bed at least," she started to recover from the shock as Cleo sat in the edge of the bed.

"Sorry, but I didn't wanted to wake you up."

"Oh well, don't worry about it anyway. Your uniform should be dry by now, there's another bathroom near the closet," Sophia said as she opened the curtains of her room, letting the light go in, which wasn't much as the sky was totally cloudy. Cleo flinched slightly.

"Ok, thanks," she stood up and yawned, stretching a little.

Sophia shrugged before she entered the bathroom in her room. Cleo left the room and entered the other bathroom.

----------

A few minutes later, Ark was going down the steps of the complex. He walked to Sophia's apartment and supported himself on the handrail, looking away at the city. The rain had cleared up considerably through the night. The pavement was still wet and there were several puddles here and there, but it wasn't raining anymore, though the clouds could feel so otherwise at any moment as they were still very gray.

The wind breeze was just wonderful however. Ark's shoulder-length hair swayed softly as the wind blew by, refreshing, and actually waking him up. After a few minutes of enjoying the breeze, he heard the lock on the door behind him go off.

"Come on, we are going to be-- Oh, hi Ark," Sophia greeted as she left her apartment, waiting for Cleo to come.

Ark turned around and smiled, "Morning."

"Now who's overly happy?" Sophia teased with her paws on her hip looking at him.

"Heh, I guess this breeze has some side effects on one," he said before turning around again, letting the breeze hit the front of his head.

"Sorry for that, some things happened," said Cleo as she left the apartment. "Oh, morning Ark," she greeted.

The Arcanine took a deep breath of the air before turning around and smiling at her, "Morning," he said for the second time. Sophia closed the door and locked it. "Come on, we better get going," he said as the trio started to walk down the stairs, away from the building, and towards Mew Street.

After a few minutes of walking the Institute came into sight. And just as the previous day, Jaren and Siria were already by the entrance talking.

"Morning," the all said almost in unison before entering the main building.

"So, had an interesting day?" Jaren asked as they left the building for the general plaza.

"Quite," Ark responded with a hint of sarcasm as he tilted his sideways, revealing the three cuts, which were even less noticeable by now.

"Love problems, eh?" Jaren smirked, making the rest laugh.

"I wish," Ark laughed as well. "That Sneasel from yesterday was tailing me. In the end she started to attack me," he said.

"What happened?" Siria asked. Though she could be shy from time to time, she often was pretty direct (Author's Note: I still say that having a hair that long, in that color, and such condition would be the envy of the rest...).

"Ah, long story short, we ended up fighting because I supposedly got in their way after the incident she and Cleo had yesterday... Oh yeah, you two don't know, but after you all left, I was going to ask Cleo something but when I found her those 4 Dark Pokémons were in front of her and the Sneasel looked like wanting a fight..." He took in a moment to take some air as the five of them sat in a bench. They still had 15 more minutes before having to go to homeroom. "After that I decided to walk Cleo to her home and after I left and heading back to my own place, I found out that Ayla," and to the query eyes of the rest, he added, "The Sneasel," which made them mouth an 'Oh'. "Well, the first fight was uneventful, she ran away at the end."

"Eh, first fight?" Jaren asked, placing emphasis on 'first'.

"Yeah, I decided to go back to Cleo's place just in case and I found her there as well. I never liked fighting, but I had no other choice at that moment and I knocked her out," he sighed. Yes, he really hated fighting.

"Hmm, tough luck," Jaren said.

"At least nothing worse happened," Siria added.

"Still," Sophia spoke, "I don't think she has given up quite yet."

"Likewise," Ark nodded. "But enough about that, what about your day you two?" He asked looking at the Suicune and the Jolteon.

"Well," Siria spoke in a soft, almost melodic tone, "After the rain settled in I didn't felt like going out, so I just stayed in reading a book."

"Really? What's the name?" Cleo asked.

"The Fox and the Vixen," she answered, "I just started it yesterday actually."

"Hmm," Cleo nodded, "Well, seems we only have about ten minutes to get to homeroom," she said looking at the digital clock in the walls of the main building. "We better get going," she got up from her seat just like everyone else before they started to walk.

----------

Homeroom was rather uneventful. Both Ark and Cleo used the time to do their Math homework which indeed, only took them about 10 minutes in reality. Their schedule was slightly different this day, as they didn't had Civics this day at all, but in it's place they had a class called Art History, which to many seemed mostly like a 'filler' class, but it was imparted in hopes to give the students a more profound vision of pretty much everything. They still had to run to the first class building up to the third floor though.

The teacher was a Smeargle. His name was Ledah Ecthel, which was a rather unusual name around this part. He was wearing a pair of ocean blue pants, looking more like formal wear and a button shirt in sky blue. All topped off by the strange beret all Smeargles had . All in all, the class wasn't boring, yet it wasn't a blast for that matter. It was more around the middle point, and so it went rather uneventful.

Then, like the previous day as well, History was next, in the same place as yesterday, making them trek through the campus. Rose Katt, charismatic as ever had every student charmed under her voice, listening to every word she said. Many teachers wished to have such natural skill to teach, but alas.

In a swift movement of schedule, Language was next with Tabitha Wilde, the Roselia. As usual, doing rather different activities was the way for her to teach classes, and the method proved successful through previous generations. You just needed time to get used to it.

Science was next with the young Celebi, Athena Lain. She was a nice teacher all in all, but what many liked the most is how carried away she could get with some stories or what not, often losing a lot of class time. The class on this day was taking place on one of the laboratories found in the fourth building, and while some preferred to go on with what they had to do, others just listened to her.

"Hey, watch," a Kadabra on the back row whispered to another three Pokémons as he extended one of his arms and lifted a finger in the direction of Jaren, who was currently giving the physic Pokémon his back. Due to layout of the tables, which were made to actually sit groups of 4 or 5, whereas the teacher often stood in the middle of the room, one would often had to give its back to the table, such was the case of now. The Kadabra started to lift a pen that was behind Jaren but before the Jolteon's paw appeared out of nowhere and snatched the object in mid air.

He gave the Kadabra a stern look and muttered something at him, which shocked the Kadabra. Jaren turned his eyes back to the teacher but quickly looked back at the Kadabra with yet another stern look. And stay out of my mind as well, he thought, adding another word at the end before the Kadraba huffed at him. "Physics..." Jaren muttered under his own breath.

They didn't had gym class today at all, and even if the would, they probably wouldn't have been able to since it was raining weakly and the gym was already occupied. They instead spent the hour in the cafeteria of the school, taking an opportunity to eat something and just talk before it was Math time. Which was just like the previous days. Chris was an ok teacher, but just as Ms. Kawitz, the Azumarril, only if you don't get on his bad side.

After that, the day of classes was pretty much done.

----------

Rain had subsided for now, and since none of the 5 had anything worthwhile to do, they just stayed in the plaza, sitting in one of the various benches. At one point Ark got up for a moment, "Ah, hold on a minute, I think I left something back at Math," he said as he rushed back to the second building.

Not long after had left however, Jaren noticed a Carvanha in the distance looking at them. He paid no mind to her for now, that is, until it started to get closer to them. She was standing virtually behind Cleo, but quite a few meters away before she tilted her head backwards.

Jaren noticed the movement and knew what was going to happen next. "Cleo, get down!" He yelled as he moved it an amazing speed, standing between the Carvanha and Cleo as the metallic pseudo-fish shot a giant projectile of water from her mouth. Cleo, slightly surprised, just saw as Jaren took the blast heads on. I didn't do much to him, but the strength was good enough to knock the wind out of him.

"Well, the Sneasel is down, now comes the Carvanha," he smirked as he recovered from the blow. "This should be easy. Get back please," he said as the three girls behind him took a few steps backwards, knowing what was coming next. As Jaren lifted a paw and several sparks started to fly out of it, Siria stepped forward.

"Wait! You'll get in trouble if you fight here!"

"I know but," he stopped for a second as a lightning crossed the sky, not long before water started to pour down again. He cursed softly, "Damn..." He sighed before lowering the sparks from his paw for a moment, "I'm only defending my friends, I have no reason to get in trouble," he spoke, lifting his paw once again.

"Fool!" Sophia said, taking out an umbrella from her bag, "If you fight here you'll end up hurt as well!"

"It's a small price to pay, don't worry," Jaren retorted as he snapped his fingers, creating a rift of electricity from his paw to in front of the Carvanha, which made a jump backwards. She lost no time as she dashed forward, not overly rapid, but more than to cover the distance in matter of seconds.

She lunged forward with a bite which found only water as Jolteon moved aside quickly and delivered a swift double kick at her before taking a few leaps backwards to create some distance. After recovering from the slight flinch, the Carvanha closed her eyes for the second before she darted forward at Jaren at a higher speed than before. Jaren mimicked her actions and moved even faster as well, avoiding a tackle from the metallic pseudo-fish.

The Jolteon placed his paws on her shoulders and with the sound of the rain, he whispered into her ear, "You know I have no issues with sending an electric discharge here, do you? The damage I suffer will be nothing compared to yours," as he finished that, he had to leap backwards as she tried to trust her elbow on his chest.

"Oh yeah, I'd like to see you try!" She scram back.

Jaren shrugged, lowering his head and sight for a second, knowing that the Carvanha would certainly try another move at that. And he was correct. But it wasn't what he had planned actually, as she sent another blast of water at him, but he didn't even move at all, taking the impact heads on.

The Carvanha smiled at the sight, but she soon frowned when she saw nothing in the place where the Jolteon had been, nothing save for a curtain of smoke. She cursed under her breath as she felt his paws latch on her shoulders again and his head just besides her.

"But an open discharge wouldn't be good, so I'll do this instead," he said with a sly smile as he licked her on the neck at the same time he focused his energy on his tongue, creating a rather strong discharge in the middle of the plaza which surprised everyone in the vicinity as sparks flew everywhere.

A stifled scream surrounded the area before the sparks subsided and both bodies fell to the floor. The last thing the Jolteon heard was a loud "Jaren!" from what he thought was the Suicune.

----------

Jaren opened his eyes, if only so barely. His body felt a little disoriented. He might be an electric type, and so he can take several discharges, but not when coupled up with water. He groaned as he got up, trying to figure out where he was. He blinked a few times to recover his sight.

"Glad to see you are up," a female, almost melodic voice sounded in his ears before he could actually associate it to anyone he knew. He looked to his left and saw Siria sitting on a chair besides the bed he was resting on.

"Ugh, Siria, where am I?" He pressed a paw to his temple trying to recover his focus.

"The infirmary," she closed the book she had in her hands. "We had to carry you after the fight with the Carvanha, the nurse says you should be alright since you are an electric type, but you better not push your luck next time..."

"Why I do I feel that isn't all?"

"The Principal also wanted to speak with both you and the Carvanha later on," she said.

"Thought as much," he let himself fall down on the bed. He blinked a few times again in confusion before standing upright in bed again, "But, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, I decided to stay behind," she smiled at him. "In case you wonder about what happened to the Carvanha, well, she is on the room besides us."

Jaren nodded, "Right, what time is it anyway?"

"Hmm, last time I checked, it was four twenty-three," she said.

The electric Pokémon heaved a sigh, "Good thing I had nothing to do today." He started to get up, with some help from Siria in case his disorientation was still present. At that time, a female Blissey entered the room. She was, well, contrary to a normal Blissey, she was rather slim, and had the typical nurse uniform. The white blouse had an egg painted by the middle.

"Oh," she spoke looking at the standing Jolteon, "Glad to see you are good now." She took a few steps closer to the Jolteon, "Feeling anything strange at all?"

Jaren shook his head, which only served to daze him a little more than what he was, "Just a little dizzy, but it'll clear in a few moments I guess. It usually happens from a strong electric charge," he said.

"Right," the Blissey said. "The principal, Mr. White would like to have a word with you two once the other Pokémon recovers," she announced before leaving the room.

"You might want to consider..." Siria paused with a hmm, trying to pick the correct word, "Invest in a new shirt for your uniform by the way."

"Eh? Wha?" Jaren asked confused and turned his head around, trying to get a look of his back, only to find that his shirt had been ripped open in several places due to his spikes. "Aww, man..." He groaned, making Siria giggle.

The Blissey entered the room again, "Just to let you know, the other Pokémon is up, so you should head with the Principal," she smiled cordially before closing the door again.

"Oh well..." The electric dog sighed, "See you later?" He hinted.

"Mind if I walk with you to the office?" She offered.

A smile spread across his muzzle, "Not at all," he answered as he grabbed his backpack resting besides the bed before they both left the room and headed back to the main building of the campus. The trek itself took only slightly more than a minute, but waiting for Mr. White to be able to receive them, not to mention, for the Carvanha to get there took about five minutes.

Noa (Yes, the Carvanha) simply looked to a side, avoiding eye contact with the Jolteon as they sat outside the Principal's office. Not that Jaren minded though, as he was more distracted talking with Siria than with his former opponent. The door suddenly, and mysteriously opened, as no one was there to turn the knob of the door.

A voice loomed in the hallway, "Please come," it spoke in a neutral tone. Not too creepy, but not too comforting either.

"Good luck. I'll be waiting here," Siria smiled, just as the Jolteon did in return, leaving his backpack in the chair before entering the office with the Carvanha.

As soon as they had stepped in, the door closed. There was no light, and the room had been previously illuminated only by the light of the hallway. "Ah, my apologies," the voice loomed around again as the lights suddenly turned on, revealing a Mewtwo clad in a brown suit sitting behind a desk. It hit Jaren at that moment why the sound of the voice was slightly distorted. He wasn't speaking, as the voice he heard was actually echoing in his mind, not to mention the irony of his last name... He did found the sound slightly... Creepy to say the least.

Please seat, the voice resounded as the two chairs in front of the desk spun around, waiting for the two to sit on them...

----------

A few minutes later, both Pokémons left the room. The Jolteon was still in a neutral mood, if only slightly hinting to a happier side, contrary to the Carvanha, which looked rather upset. She just stomped out of the place paying no mind to the Suicune at all.

"How did it go?" Siria asked as Jaren grabbed his backpack, prior to the pair starting to leave the building.

"Good, in a manner of speech," Jaren answered. "I guess that the principal being a Physic can be for good and for bad, depending on your position."

"I would suppose, but what do you mean?"

"Well, since he could easily detect if we were really speaking the truth, and since I was only defending Cleo, things went well for me in the end," he smirked. "I have nothing to worry about, though I can't say as much for Noa."

"Noa...?" Siria hummed, "Oh," she snapped her fingers, "The Carvanha. What about her?"

"Not sure," Jaren shrugged as they left the whole campus. "Whatever he said to her, he did so through her mind, so I couldn't even hope to listen," he skidded to a halt after reaching the bottom of the stairs.

"Say, have you eaten at all since school ended?"

The Suicune shook her head, making her hair sway softly, "Not really, and now that you mention, I do feel slightly famished," she replied with a coy smile, scratching the back of her neck nervously.

"Come on, let's go somewhere," he said with a smile. "My treat," he added, "The least I can do in return for you staying behind."

Siria blushed, and quite noticeably in contrast to the white fur of her cheeks. "Th-thanks," she whispered as they started walking away.

----------

And so, another day passed by...

Well, I had this project down for a while... I already had chapters 1 through 3 done for a while, but I had dropped the project. But recent 'nagging' (read: moral support) from a couple of friends kind of helped me revive this story. It was quite fun to write this chapter.

So, down to the final words, hope you like this story. Any typos or things seriously odd (like how I oddly called a Ninetales as Ninetails back in chapter 1... Though it's been corrected now), then please let me know. Constructive (read people, read: constructive) criticism is always accepted, you know we writers always want to get better at this. If by any reason you feel compelled to flame this, then do so at my mail please. So yeah...

Until next time!

Signed as usual,
Alan "Gray Fox" Quirino - grayfox2510 (at) hotmail (dot) com
Until next time!

Wait for next chapter for an actual title.