Last edited on: 2021/12/26


"Lucas!"

"Huh?" Lucas looked to where that voice came from. He stopped playing with his pencil and saw that his teacher was staring at him.

"Just what are you doing there, young man?"

And right there, he felt like all of his classmates — no, the entire world, was looking at him. They really were, and he didn't like that especially when he didn't wanna be embarrassed in front of two of his closest friends.

Scratching his head, he answered, "I was thinking about my life, sir."

Aw, boy. He could hear his classmates laughing, even more from his airhead friend right next to him. The teacher grumbled and moved closer to him. Lucas was starting to think that that didn't make the teacher happy.

"You think you're funny, Lucas?" the teacher asked him with a smile. Lucas didn't like the way his teacher spoke to him. In fact, it scared him. "Stand up, and face the board." Dangit, it's the first time in a long time he got called out, and this was the first day of classes too. This sucked real hard for him.

He did as he's told, and the board had some writings on it: words and some arrows. Lucas was getting more and more scared. Some of his classmates were even 'ooh'-ing at him. They really should shut the heck up when someone's getting grilled by the teacher.

"Quiet down, now," the teacher ordered. "Since you've been contemplating about your wonderful life while your friend behind you was reciting, I suppose you have an example as to what she was discussing?"

Wait-wait-wait. What the heck's going on?

Lucas gulped, and doing what he usually did at times like these, he answered with a 'yes'. He looked at what was on the board.

Ah, yeah. Type match-ups! We were reviewing this for our Intermediate Battling subject last year. This is gonna be way too easy. He felt confident now, remembering that they were just reviewing last year's third term topics.

"So?" the teacher asked. "Can you give an example?"

"Go, Lucas!" someone whispered behind him. The voice made Lucas smile a bit.

"Sir, psychic-type pokémon won't do well when battling ghost-types, dark-types, and bug-type pokémon."

The teacher nodded in approval. "Okay, how about psychic-type moves? What are they strong against?"

"Sir, they're strong against poison-types and fighting-types."

"Good, good. Now, name an example of a psychic-type pokémon and a sample battle that includes what you've just said."

Lucas smiled. Way too easy.

"Alright, sir. Me — eck!" Lucas suddenly burst into coughing.

"Hm? Are you alright, Lucas?" the teacher asked while raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, I'm fine sir. Just got something stuck in my throat."

What the heck? My throat just squeezed itself, and it just started when I was gonna say Mes'… oh.

Lucas immediately found out what was wrong, and he just rubbed his throat. He looked down for a moment, with an upset face, knowing that he nearly broke their promise. He wondered what Mes would think of him for that.

The teacher nodded once. "I see. You were saying, Lucas?"

Boy, that was close. Lucas continued his explanation, but instead saying 'mesprit', he said 'mister mime'. He continued by saying if a mr. mime battled a zubat, the mr. mime could win if it kept using Psychic. Another one was when a mr. mime battled a mismagius. The mr. mime couldn't win if the mismagius was faster and used a strong ghost-type move, like Shadow Ball.

The teacher clapped his hands twice. "Very good, Lucas. Next time, try not to make bad jokes or look out the window and think about your life in front of a teacher, understand?"

"Yes, sir. I'm sorry about that," Lucas apologised and bowed slightly.

"Take your seat, Lucas, and now—" Just when the teacher was gonna write on the board, the school's bell rang. Looking at the clock, it's already 12 noon. "—you may take your lunch. Don't forget about your homework, students. Good-bye."

After greeting the teacher good-bye,his teacher and some of Lucas' classmates left the classroom. Dang, that teacher just gave the class homework on the first day. Lucas then remembered that one teacher who'd give homework every time the class met with her.

Saved by the bell, the best thing that could ever happen. He hated stuff like being put on the spot 'cause it kinda made his chest like a bag of watermelons. Lucas smiled, glad that it's done, and took out his own lunch. Soon, his best friend noisily moved his armchair closer to him and slapped his shoulder. He started chuckling when he leaned closer.

"Nice one, Lucas! Didn't know you wanna be like me in the future!"

"Shut up, Barry," Lucas said when he opened his lunch bag, "it's just that I had to come up with some excuse there. Also, I don't wanna be like you at all!"

The heck is with this guy…

"Sheesh, don't deny it, Lucas! I know you better than anyone else here in this sad, cruel world."

And that's where he's wrong. Lucas rolled his eyes.

Stupid know-it-all.

"C'mon, Barry, knock it off, would 'ya?" the voice behind Lucas said. "You're not the only one who knows Lucas like an open book here, too." A long-haired girl then quietly moved her armchair closer to Barry and Lucas. It was Dawn: Lucas and Barry's other closest friend, and Lucas kinda turned red when she got near him.

"Oh, fine. Then answer me this, Dawn: Lucas wants to be like The Great and Powerful Barry, true or true?" Barry asked.

"False," Lucas answered immediately while turning his armchair around to face his two friends.

"What kind of a choice is that, Barry?" Dawn asked while sighing and rubbing her head.

"Wrong, you're both wrong! It's 'true', since Lucas only wants to be someone as strong and powerful as me! Right, Lucas?"

Ignoring Barry, Lucas turned to Dawn. "So, what's your lunch, Dawn?"

"Ah, it's just rice, some fried fish, and some sweets, Lucas," Dawn answered while getting her lunch.

"Hey, don't just ignore me!" Barry angrily told both of his friends.

"It's lunchtime, Barry. Even great and powerful people need to eat," Lucas replied calmly. Barry only grumbled and took his own lunch out as a reply. Dawn giggled at Barry's regular weird act.

Turning to Lucas, Dawn asked "What about you, Lucas? What'd you cook for your first day?"

"Almost the same thing as yours, Dawn. Just some fried magikarp fish and berries with rice. Mom said that I should avoid other pokémon meat when she's away for the week, imitation or not."

Dawn frowned. "Oh, I remember. Your mother's new work. What was it again?"

Lucas knew he had to keep his mom's work a secret, even to his two friends, 'cause she told him not to share any family secrets. Actually, she was hired as a hostess in Hearthome City for random events last week, so she had to be away during weekdays. His mom would return every Saturday, then leave again Monday afternoon or early evening. That was her new schedule, and Lucas hated the fact his mom was gonna be away. At least he had Munch with him.

"Some coordinator work, I guess. I'm not really sure, Dawn."

"You know what, Lucas? Barry and I could always keep you company when we're at school. You can bet on it!" Dawn smiled and thumbs-upped. "Um, maybe starting tomorrow since I gotta fix some of my stuff first."

"Mhm," Barry said with a stuffed mouth and lips covered with some rice. Dawn and Lucas didn't like that and looked away. Barry hmph-ed and continued eating. Anyway, Lucas felt very happy, and it felt even better that Dawn was here.

Two of his closest friends were there for him, but two were missing.

Tyson, Mes…

Tyson just passed away last week 'cause of something bad that happened in Canalave City. He's kinda like a big brother to him and Barry, teaching them stuff, helping out with homework, hanging out at the lake sometimes, and a lot more. They were schoolmates too, so they'd go to school together sometimes. He was about to graduate from the highschool department, too. Then, it all ended when a bad thing happened in Canalave.

And then there's Mes. Their last talk was also about actually seeing the future of that bad thing that happened at Canalave. Good thing nothing bad happened to Twinleaf, but it was really different without her. Even he couldn't call her out from their secret spot in the lake. Also, he got his memories back, and being without her felt so… weird. He just hoped that she was alright when she was gone.

But it was even a bigger, bigger bummer of being somehow when his mom told him about her new work some time later. At least he got Munch and Barry throughout the summer. Scratch that, Barry had to go to Snowpoint City the day after he last met Mes.

"Um, Lucas? Hello?" Dawn called him, raising his back.

"Ah, Dawn. What's up?"

"You've been staring at your lunch for a minute now. What's on your mind?"

"Nothing. It's nothing important or anything. Just thinking about the next subjects," Lucas lied when he opened his lunchbox.

Weird. When he looked at what's inside, there were sitrus berries there besides the oran berries he placed. He's sure he just put oran berries there, or was it just those? He decided not to think too much and just began eating.

"Hey, Lucas, Barry," Dawn called them out, "I've been meaning to ask: how're your vacations?"

Barry and Lucas immediately looked at each other. Lucas felt like he knew what Barry was gonna say, so he nodded once to Barry to tell the story of that day.

"Yeah, yeah. It was fun and all, but get this: we got ourselves new pokémon!" Barry said while smiling. "I could show you right now, but we aren't allowed by the school to let out our pokémon indoors, so maybe later."

"Wow~" Dawn suddenly turned excited. "And how'd you get them?"

"I—" Lucas glared and raised a brow at Barry. Lucas didn't like how he'd go the usual selfish Barry. Nope, not one bit. "Uh, I mean, we got our new pokémon with a rocky road, if you get what I mean."

Barry went on and explained how the two tried to steal a baby starly up until the part when he went off to find his lost poké ball. Lucas filled in his nasty experiences while Barry chickened out for most of the time. Of course, Lucas made sure not to say anything about Mes.

"Barry, you meanie!" Dawn suddenly hit Barry with her ballpen. "How could you leave Lucas out like that? He could've gotten really hurt!" Lucas put up a smug smile at Barry. Finally, someone with a smart and cute brain could feel him. Barry's getting what he deserved, ha!

"I get it, I get it! I said I'm sorry, Dawn! It won't happen again, promise!"

It took awhile before Dawn cooled down. "But still, I can't really believe you got attacked by the Lake Guardian Mesprit just like that. It's like you're making this—"

"It's true!"

Some of Lucas' classmates looked at Barry after he screamed. Dangit, Barry!

"Oopsie. Sorry, guys." Barry laughed a bit and scratched his head.

Serves you right, dimwit. Lucas rubbed his eyebrows with an annoyed face.

"Barry, chill. It's only the first day of classes," Dawn said, really quietly.

Now that she said it, Lucas remembered ever since he was classmates with Barry from pre-elementary, there wasn't a single first day of classes where Barry never screamed or shouted. It must be a curse, or something.

"I know, I know. Sorry again, guys, but I swear to God, it's true!" Barry immediately looked at Lucas. "Look, Lucas here can tell you. Right, Lucas?"

Dawn looked at Lucas with a face he didn't like. She looked like she didn't wanna buy that cheap and unbelievable story, but it was the truth. Plus, Barry was Lucas' best friend. He didn't wanna let him down like that at this moment. It's just so wrong.

I mean, Barry was there, and Mes was technically invisible at that time. So… I guess it's alright.

Lucas nodded. "Yeah, it's true, Dawn. Mesprit, or I guess something like that, attacked us with a Swift move."

"This is unbelievable, but now that you mention it," Dawn began to twirl a part of her hair, "I do remember hearing stories that if you anger the Lake Guardian, you're gonna get a bad time later on. Also, my father said that some people got attacked just out of nowhere. In Lake Verity, too."

Oh, yeah. Lucas also remembered that some dudes ran out of Lake Verity a long time ago saying something like 'Cursed!' or something. Maybe they got Swift-ed by Mes or got the scary treatment like he did?

"You believe us, right, Dawn?" Barry asked.

Lucas could tell that Dawn still didn't wanna believe, but then, said this, "Y'know what, I actually do, but I still kinda think it's… well, made-up. I do want to get to know the legendary pokémon in Lake Verity, though."

Lucas smiled sheepishly. You really don't wanna meet someone nearly as hyper as Barry, Dawn. Trust me.

"Oh, yeah! I got something really awesome to tell you while I was in Snowpoint, too!" Barry added.

Snowpoint? Thinking about it, Lucas now remembered that Barry and his mom went to that city way up north for a reunion the day after he got Chat. If he got it right, Barry's dad would sometimes invite them over to Snowpoint with his relatives since his dad worked at an island somewhere.

"While I was with my cousins'n all, I saw something cool!"

"And what's that, Barry?" Lucas and Dawn said altogether. Dawn giggled, while Lucas blushed.

"Alright, so there's this forest there right before you enter Snowpoint, right?"

Like I'd know! Lucas hadn't been to Snowpoint before, so he didn't have any clue about what the heck it looked like. Meanwhile, Dawn nodded. Dang, did Dawn go there before?

"So, I snuck out late at night, and I got into that forest. Then…!"

Suddenly, Barry stopped talking.

"Yeah? And you…?" Lucas asked.

"I… uh…"

"C'mon, Barry. Don't just stop there," Dawn said.

"I-I'm not! I just… y'know."

Barry scratched his head, like he's trying to remember what happened down in that forest he was yapping about, and… he's rubbing his throat?

"Y-you know what, guys? J-just forget about it, ha ha! I think I forgot what the heck happened there."

Lucas rolled his eyes. "Great, you wasted nearly a minute, Barry."

"Oh, come on, Lucas. Don't be like that. He's just forgotten his mini-adventure out there." Turning to Barry, Dawn continued, "It's alright, Barry."

"Jeez, Lucas. You could learn a thing or two from Dawn!"

And that's coming from you, genius!

The three continued their talks while eating their lunch, each sharing their own experiences during the summer. Right before the bell rang, Lucas' classmates started piling up in the classroom. Barry and Dawn returned their chairs back to their original position, and the bell rang just then. The next class for their first day was… Asian History, and their subject teacher was none other than their favourite section advisor.

"Good afternoon, class," the teacher with white hair greeted.

"Good afternoon, Sir Darian."

Sir Darian. Amazingly, he's been Lucas' advisory teacher for five years straight. It was his sixth year, right now. Two things that really stood out from Sir Darian was his unusual white hair — Lucas remembered very clearly his teacher saying years ago that it was the 'Marie Antoinette syndrome' — and his favourite colour, black. Even on the first day, he's wearing his black long-sleeves, pants, and shoes. There's one time Barry and some other classmates said that Sir Darian had a thing for goth outfits. Then again, Sir Darian's probably the best teacher Lucas and his classmates ever had since elementary day one.

"Well, it's the first day so…" Sir started.

"Free time?" one classmate said.

"Announcement, actually, Hilbert," Sir replied, with a slightly annoyed tone. "I have some announcements for you, children."

Announcements? Well, it's the first day, and the section advisor's here. There's gotta be some news that'd probably interest Lucas. Also, it's Sir's thing to call his students 'children'. It has a fatherly tone there, and Lucas kinda liked it.

"First, I want to start off by saying 'welcome back to school', especially to those who were late in coming here."

The class suddenly started laughing softly, and those who were late were scratching their head or smiling sheepishly. Apparently, all of Lucas' classmates were former students, some advisory students before as well, under Sir Darian, so everyone was warmed up to him.

"Heh. Next time, try not to be late after homeroom. Otherwise, you might be seeing the principal after three strikes, but I think you all know that." Sir even laughed a bit before continuing. "Second, you all will be having a new classmate, starting tomorrow."

Lucas' classmates were murmuring to each other. A new classmate, huh. Lucas didn't have one in his section since two years ago, and that was Hilbert, who flew here from the States. It'd be cool to have a new classmate, though. Maybe he or she could be Lucas' new friend.

"Sir, Sir," another classmate called out, "is our new classmate gonna be a boy or girl?"

Sir Darian sighed. He probably knew what's on that guy's mind. "If I told you, what would you do, Ruby?"

"I'm just curious, Sir," Ruby replied and grinned.

"Well, I'll let that curiousity keep you in the dark, Ruby. You'll find out tomorrow. Anyway, children," Sir turned to his students, "don't worry yourselves too much about that. They're a nice person, and I know most of you would get along just well with them. Lastly, there are specific areas where you can release certain kinds of pokémon. I know most of you already are already familiar with this, but am I understood, children?"

"Yes, Sir," they all replied.

"Very good, now onto our activity for today." Sir began writing on the board. "And yes, Hilbert, you all can get your free time once you've answered everything on the board."

Hilbert and some others, including Barry, looked pretty happy for a sec there.

Once Sir was done writing, he asked his students to get their notebooks and answer the following questions in the first page of their notebooks. The questions were pretty simple to answer, something that anyone would expect in their first day of classes.

After Asian History was through after one period, Sir Darian left, and Maths was up next for the last two periods. Lucas didn't really hate or like the subject, but strangely enough, Barry seemed to like it. Heck, he'd always get the highest scores in Maths, or anything that had Maths. He'd always wondered where he got that skill, but Barry'd always say 'it's just so easy to get it'. Kinda annoying, but Lucas got used to it.

Their teacher in Maths was a woman: Miss Cassandra. If Lucas compared Sir Darian to her, then Miss Cassandra was definitely Sir's opposite. She's strict, she always required homework every day, she always told them to copy stuff from the board, she'd take their papers exactly once the time's up, and many, many more. Sir Darian was a bit more fun to be with. He'd always give a little extra time to work out the last few questions, he always cracked jokes when he wanted to, and stuff like that. Point was that those two teachers were kinda like the sun and the moon. Heck, even her clothes were bright coloured, usually sea blue or yellow with a bit of pink.

Dang, I'm really sorry for the section who got her as section advisor. She's also been in the school for nearly as long as Sir Darian, maybe just off by a year or something.

Huh, now that he thought of it, Lucas always imagined if the two teachers had a thing for each other. Well, he's a sucker for those opposites-attract stuff on TV. Then again, he'd usually see those two teachers talk to each other.

"Alright, class," Miss Cassandra said, "for the first day, as my usual protocol, I'll be diagnosing each of your capabilities for this term's lessons. You have 30 minutes to finish the test papers I've given you. Any questions?"

No one dared to ask Miss any 'useless' questions. One time, she forced Hilbert to stand outside for one period just 'cause he asked if she ever wanted to give free time. They even had a heated fight with words before he got sent out. Like, what the heck, Hilbert? It's not that the class hated her. It's just that she's overboard sometimes.

"Miss, can we use calculators?" a female classmate asked.

"No, Sapphire. I'm sorry, but this is to test yourselves. I need to know each of your limits, so I could adjust my lessons for you all. Anyone else?"

It's been quiet for a moment now. Usually, Miss would say—

"Silence means no more questions. Submit only when you've answered everything. Now, 30 minutes. You may begin. No talking."

Once Lucas turned the page over, he quickly scanned the questions. A lot of them were lines, shapes, and circles. Huh, looks kinda okay. This was discussed last year… huh?

Wait, why the heck were there partially shaded diamonds in a circle in a triangle? Why's there a ball in a water container? And what the heck are these weird letter O's and little squares inside triangles?! Dangit, this is way too hard, and we're just in sixth grade! This felt like advanced Maths, and Lucas could feel that some of his classmates were just as confused. Geometry and shapes were their last topic last year, but this wasn't as hard back then! Lucas knew that he couldn't complain. Miss Cassandra was too scary when her rules got violated.

15 minutes in, and Lucas wasn't even halfway through with the exam. It was dead silent, too. One could only hear pencils and erasers, but only those and nothing else. Crud, with these kinds of questions, I don't even think Barry could—

"Thank you, Barry. You may return, but do not make any noise," Miss said quietly.

What the heck?! How the fricking frick is he done?!

Shoot, that Barry was probably out of Lucas' league in Math. Sadly, he just decided to mind his own business and answer the rest of the questions — the ones he could, that is.

Dang, 2 minutes left, and only Lucas and probably a few guys left. He thought that he should just pass his work with his cruddy answers. He filled in the blanks with somehow good-looking solutions and answers. He passed his work, with his other classmates. Seems like everyone's passed their tests.

Miss stacked the last papers and put it in her pink envelope. "Alright, thank you, class. I'll first head back to the teachers' room to return these papers. Do not make any noise while I'm gone. If the bell rings and I'm not here, you may take your break."

"Yes, Miss." And with that, she left the room.

All of Lucas' classmates just went on doing whatever they wanted to do, but some of them — including Lucas — quickly dashed to Barry for the earlier test.

"Really, guys. That was way too weird to be put in the exam. Don't you think so too, guys?" Hilbert asked.

"I know, right? It's too damn hard!" Sapph said.

"You know what else's hard, Sapph?" Ruby asked while raising one of his eyebrows.

Sapph rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I do: your stinky, perverted brain, Ruby. Piss off!"

"Oh, my bleeding heart!" Ruby joked and put a hand on his chest. Sapph's face looked like she ate a bitter fruit, and the two were quite funny for Lucas.

"But still, Barry," Lucas asked, "I think Hilbert's right; the test was way too hard, even for our grade, I guess."

"Hey, Barry," Dawn asked, "did you know how to solve that triangle with a weird letter O and a square?"

"In fact, I do!" Barry said. "Ever heard of the SOHCAHTOA?"

"Saw-cat-owa? Is that a new sawing tool thing?" Dawn asked.

"Not a sawing tool; it's a hunting tool," Sapphire answered.

"I bet it's a new car brand, right?" Hilbert asked.

"Or a European perfume!" Ruby added.

Barry shook his head and made a buzzer sound. "Wrong. You're all, Dawn, Hilbert, Ruby, Sapph!"

"Oh, okay, Lord Genius. We don't know what that saw-cat-whatchamacallit is unlike your god-like brain. Can you now tell us?" Lucas asked impatiently. Geez, this airhead's pride levels were off the charts.

"Alright, alright, Lucas! I was getting there." Barry held his hands up and laughed nervously. "This SOHCAHTOA is actually for the tri—"

"Alright, class. Pardon my tardiness," Miss Cassandra said, as she suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

Lucas' classmates quickly returned to their seats, and the quietness returned once again.

Miss returned to her desk with a thick book and some chalk. She didn't sit down as the bell already rang.

The blonde-haired teacher sighed before saying, "Five-minute break, class."

Some of Lucas' classmates went out of the classroom while some stayed and did their thing.

"Barry," Miss called Barry out, "a word with you, please."

Lucas and those who were with him earlier eyeballed each other quickly and stared at Barry, who was bug-eyed and looked a bit scared.

"Y-yes, Miss. Coming." Lucas swore he heard Barry muttering something when he passed by Lucas. There, Miss and Barry began talking by the doorway.

The last period for the day passed with Miss explaining the questions of the diagnostic test. There were three papers. Each paper's kinda like levels of difficulty. Lucas finished the first one and some parts of the second one. Heck, the last paper was impossible to answer!

Miss explained that the second page was gonna be what we're gonna discuss for the rest of this school year. The third one's actually for high school's first years, and guess who's the lucky boy who managed to finish the last one. Miss didn't drop any hints or call out anyone's name, though. She's not into biases, she'd say, and even the class knew Sir Darian hated biases, too. Some time ago, though, when Miss called out Barry, he explained to the group who were curious about the hard questions later on. Sapph wasn't too happy to hear that they're kinda given the low jab, but Ruby and Dawn seemed to calm her down.

Class ended at around three, and surprisingly, Miss Cassandra didn't give the class any homework, unlike that teacher who put him on the spot. Weird.

Mom would usually pick him up at school, but this time was different. She now told Lucas to go with Barry on the way back home and to school. He wasn't against it, but without his Mom, it felt so different. Maybe he'll get used to it. He wondered if it'll keep on going like this till he graduated from elementary. It's only this school year left before he'd graduate, anyways, but he still hated that his mom was gonna be away for most of the week. He really hated it, but he couldn't say it to his mom; it's their living, that's why.

After saying 'see you again' to his friends that passed by him a moment ago, all he had to do now was to find Barry and ask him if he could join him going home. When Lucas was about to exit the school some two boys from the other section bumped passed him. Ah, it's those two rowdy boys again…

"Woah, sorry, Lucas! Ha ha!" the taller one of them, Fred, said.

"Yeah, Lucas!" the shorter one, Derrick, said. The two of them were now standing in front of him.

Dang, when'll they get expelled from the school, Lucas always asked himself. Those two were very infamous for bullying some younger students and those that weren't really fighting back.

"Excuse me, please, guys," Lucas said, looking away.

"Of course, Mr Lucas. Please, make your way," Fred said while showing him the way.

As Lucas was about to continue walking, the two of them double-teamed and made Lucas trip and hit the dirt, literally. All Lucas could hear were there stupid and annoying laughter.

"Hey, hey! Watch your step, Sir!" Derrick said while laughing.

Oh, he wasn't gonna cry over something like this. That was a sign of weakness, and big boys don't cry. His dad wouldn't want to see him crying from up there. He just wanted to crush them to bits when the time was right. Lucas swore on that, but then, he knew that that sorta thing would probably bring out something bad. He just had to keep it in.

"What's going on here?" someone from behind said.

"Oh shoot. It's Sir!"

Fred and Derrick quickly ran away from the area, leaving Lucas trying to get up from the ground. Dang it, he hated it when those two bullies showed up.

"Kids these days. Lucas, c'mere. I'll help you up." This voice sounded familiar.

Lucas got a hold of the teacher's hand, and it was Sir Darian who helped him up. He even dusted off Lucas' shirt, pants, and sling bag. Yup, best teacher ever.

"Does it hurt anywhere, Lucas?" Sir asked.

"N-no, Sir. I'm fine."

"Are you sure? I'll just give you some of my bandages at the teachers' room."

"No, Sir. It's alright. Thank you very much for helping me up, but I'm trying to find Barry, now."

"Ah, so you're going home already. I don't think he's still lolly-gagging around here, Lucas. Wait here, I'll accompany you home."

Wait, wait, wait. Did he hear Sir Darian right? Is his all-time fave section advisor really gonna go with him home?

"S-Sir? Are you serious?" Lucas asked with an O-shaped mouth. Sir laughed at it softly.

"Your mother specifically asked me to accompany you home for this week until further notice from her. Didn't she tell you that?"

Crud. The cell phone! Mom said that she'll be texting Lucas from time to time. He quickly got the cell phone from his bag and flipped it open. Whaddaya know, there's a message from his mom, and Sir's right! Plus, Mom's gonna be staying home for dinner… but then gonna leave after.

Lucas sighed. I wonder when Mom'll change her work… Munch'll keep me company, at least.

"You should check for any messages from your mother every after class. Not during my lessons, though." Sir laughed a bit at the last part. "Alright, Lucas. Sit on the benches and wait for me. I'll just get my stuff and be right back shortly."

Doing as he's told, Sir quickly went back to the school. Man, was he blessed or what? His favourite teacher was gonna go with him back home, for a week, too! Sir really did feel like a father to Lucas, and that's one of the reasons why he's the best teacher in the world.

"Lucas?" someone called out to him. It's Miss Cassandra, and she's carrying her pink handbag and a brown paper bag with her.

"Oh, good afternoon, Miss Cassandra. How are you?"

"Thank you. I'm fine, but why are you still here? And have you seen Sir Darian anywhere?"

"I'm actually waiting for him, and he's in the school getting something. He said that he'll be getting some stuff in the teachers' lounge before going with me to my home."

"Really? He didn't?" Miss stopped talking for a sec, "Alright, I'll wait for him with you."

Weird. Lucas didn't see Miss Cassandra act like this, ever. I guess they were gonna do some important teacher stuff later, and Miss didn't have any idea at all. She sat down beside Lucas, and when she did, Sir suddenly popped out. He looked surprised to see Miss beside Lucas.

"Oh, Miss Cassandra." Sir turned to Lucas. "Lucas, we'll just have a little teacher talk for a sec. Miss?"

The two opposite teachers — that's what Lucas and some of his classmates called them both — started chit chatting away from Lucas. He saw that Miss handed him the brown paper bag, just before Sir kept it in his black backpack. They continued talking, and Miss looked shocked. Lucas even noticed she looked at Lucas for a sec. He thought that Sir was explaining to Miss about what his mom told Sir.

Once they finished, both of them came to Lucas.

"Lucas," Miss started, "Sir Darian and I just decided that we'll both accompany you back home for the week. Are you okay with that?"

Miss Cassandra? Well, Lucas was 100% okay with Sir Darian alone, but with her? It was alright, but she's kinda… y'know…

Miss then sighed and looked away. "I understand. I'll just—"

"No, wait, Miss! It's alright, really!"

Miss got surprised real quick. "Oh, uh. Thank you, I guess? But I won't force—"

"It's alright, Miss! I was just thinking about… uh… dinner, yeah!"

What kinda lame excuse was that, Lucas?! This a teacher right in front of you, and she's offering help!

Sir smiled and looked away. Lucas knew that this was a funny scene for him, and Miss looked like… she pouted?

"V-very well, Lucas. Just don't be fickle again. Am I clear?"

Uh oh. The anger was kinda obvious now. "Y-yes, Miss!"

Shoot, that was close! Lucas bet she'd get mad and give me homework like tomorrow won't ever come, and she's really, really scary when she got mad!

"Heh. Anyway, shall we get going? I'm curious to see how Twinleaf looks in a while," Sir said.

Lucas nodded. "Y-yes, Sir. The sun's still up, and it's just about to be four. I think we can still make it while there's still some sunlight."

And right there, the two teachers and their student started going home. Lucas kinda felt happy that some parent-like people were with him in going home.

On their way back to Lucas' home, they passed by some people hanging around with their pokémon by Route 202. Once they reached Sandgem Town, they stopped by a convenience store for a snack. Miss Cassandra offered to pay for their snacks, like, woah. Sir Darian took out the brown bag he kept in his backpack and took out a sandwich inside. Miss came back with three sodas and two smaller sandwiches. The two teachers sat in front of Lucas, and the three wiped their hands with the wet wipes given on the table. This has got to be the best first day of classes ever.

"Thank you for the food, Miss," Lucas said with a smile. "Oh boy, tuna sandwich!"

Miss smiled back. "You're welcome, Lucas."

Lucas began eating his sandwich. Ah, tuna sandwich. He's been wanting to eat this for quite a while already. It's like she read his mind, too!

"So, Lucas," Sir Darian started. "How was your first day of classes?"

"Sir, it's just alright. Same old faces, and I was kinda shocked to hear that there's gonna be a new classmate coming in."

"Oh, right. Your section is going to have a single addition," Miss said while sipping her soda. "More students, huh…" Miss looked away for a moment.

"Here's a hint for you, Lucas: I bet you're going to be good friends with your new classmate," Sir stated. "Call it a teacher's intuition."

Lucas didn't really quite get that, but he just nodded anyway. "Also Sir, I'm kinda surprised that we have homework for Intermediate Battling 2, even more surprised that Miss Cassandra didn't give any homework for the first day of classes, for the first time! She sure seems more relaxed than her usual high-blood self before!"

The Maths teacher raised an eyebrow while the History and English teacher laughed. Whoops, Lucas shouldn't have said that in a happy tone.

Miss smiled, scarily. "You really want to test my patience, do you, Lucas?"

Oh, crud.

"Relax, Miss. Lucas was just joking," Sir spoke for Lucas. "Just take it easy, Miss, and you really should relax more to prevent getting high blood." Dang, nice one, Sir!

Miss turned to the teacher beside her. "One more from both of you, and we'll see who has the last laugh." Sir was just laughing quietly beside Miss. Lucas swore he heard Miss say a bad word quietly.

Lucas was laughing a bit, but he turned quiet and looked like he's thinking about something while he ate and drank. Even though it's been a week and the first day of classes started already, he still couldn't stop thinking about Mes, Tyson, and his mom's work.

"You seem troubled, Lucas. Is it about those bullies from an hour ago?" Sir asked.

Miss suddenly turned serious. "Bullies? Tsk, those two rascals. I swear one more from those two…"

"Well, kinda, Sir. I'm thinking about something else other than those bullies, though."

"Do you want to open up about it?" Sir asked.

He can't share anything related to his mom's new work, so he decided to go for how Mes stopped meeting him just like that. Lucas began to choose his words carefully. He wanted to let someone like Sir know, but he should know what to say now since something like last noon might happen again. Also, Miss was here. He should keep the secret between Mes and him.

"Sir, I have this one childhood friend from before."

Yeah, I think that's good.

After finishing his food and drink, Lucas continued to tell the story of how his childhood friend, Mes, just suddenly stopped talking to him a week ago. He continued by saying that it was bugging him a lot 'cause that person was a very good friend. A bit hyper, but that friend was someone as close as to him like how Barry was to Lucas. Also, the death of his neighbour and senior kinda bugged him too. Sir Darian and Miss Cassandra were listening very closely.

"Hmm. Lucas, let's hurry along back to your home now. We might be arriving later than expected," Sir said.

"I agree with Sir Darian, Lucas. Let's pick up the pace and just talk while we're on the way," Miss added.

Saying yes, the three threw their trash away and left for Twinleaf. On their way back home, Sir started speaking to Lucas.

"It appears that this friend of yours had something important to do that caused them to be absent for a week, as you said. Just between you and me, people usually don't disappear without a reason. Also, if they stopped talking to you just suddenly and without warning, then something bad might've happened to them. Frankly, they might've run into trouble."

Something bad happened to Mes? W-what could have happened…

No.

No. Lucas had to suck up his old self, now. Mes was a legendary pokémon. She could handle whatever the heck was going on around her!

"Sir, don't make Lucas any more worried!" Miss suddenly jumped in.

"Lucas ought to know, Miss. I know Lucas could handle it. Besides," Sir turned to Lucas "it's only the worst case scenario. I'm not yet done explaining."

"Y-yeah, Miss. I'm a big boy, now."

Miss grumbled and looked away.

"Although, I'm quite confident that this friend of yours is just off somewhere important, most likely whisked away by their parents or something. Maybe they got scolded and had to be somewhere to be disciplined since they did something wrong. I'm just making situations up, so don't rely on me for your friend's welfare or basically what's going with them."

Lucas thought about it. Disciplined? Scolded? Just who'd punish a legendary pokémon like that? Those were weird answers from Sir Darian. Lucas just decided not to make his head any more dizzy than it was. He didn't really understand everything Sir was saying, but he somehow got the idea.

"They'll come back. I'm sure of it. As for the upperclassman of yours, I'm sure that he's in a better place now, so I wouldn't worry too much for both cases if I were you."

Sir's right. Lucas was a worrywart, and he needed to practice to stop worrying about a lot of stuff. He's about to be in middle school

"I've been meaning to ask; how old is your friend, anyway?"

"She — I mean, he, uh, oh no, argh, dang it!"

Oh no, I spilled the beans! Crud-crud-crud!

"Oh, so that's why you're concerned, Lucas," Sir commented with a smile. "Heard that, Miss?"

Miss started laughing softly. "Loud and clear."

"H-hey! She's probably as old as me, but I don't have a crush on her!" Lucas replied while blushing. Dang it!

"Woah now, Lucas. We never asked if she was your crush. You just happened to tell us that out of the blue," Sir said, and Lucas felt that Sir was trying to shove his mistake at his face.

"Aww. Sir…"

"Don't worry, Lucas," Miss said. "We'll keep this conversation a secret if you don't tell anyone, maybe except Barry and Dawn, that Sir Darian and I are accompanying you home just for this week."

"Yes, Miss…" Lucas really sounded like he lost the battle there.

This sucked really hard for Lucas. Well, on the bright side, they didn't know that his friend was a legendary pokémon. Lucas was still safe, but he decided not to talk anymore about Mes, or anything that had something to do with Mes. And whaddaya know, they're near Twinleaf already! Finally, home sweet home.

"Perfect timing. We're near your place Lucas, and the sun's still up. Ah, Before I forget, though," Sir Darian took out a few bandages from his pocket and gave it to Lucas, "here are some bandages for your wounds."

Lucas smiled warmly at Sir's kindness. "Thank you very much, Sir."

Miss had a suspicious face, though. "What wounds, Sir?" she asked.

Sir sighed. "From those two rascals, Miss."

Miss looked like she could break the straps of her handbag just by gripping them, 'cause she looked like she could flip any moment. "Those…! Hmph!"

"Miss Cassandra and I will do something about those two bullies, Lucas. Don't worry about anything. Just rest well and wash yourself to prevent any infection from occurring," Sir said.

Whenever Sir Darian said 'don't worry', it always made Lucas feel like he could kick back and relax with zero worries. Really, there was never a time when he didn't make Lucas or his classmates feel unsafe. Miss Cassandra, too, but she's just too strict for Lucas and his classmates.

Once they reached the flower fields near Twinleaf, the three stopped for a moment.

"Thank you, thank you so much again, Sir Darian and Miss Cassandra. It means so much to me to be accompanied by—"

"LUCAS!"

Crud, the blond-haired genius came running to Lucas again, and what great timing, too. "There you are! Where the heck were you?! Your mo—"

Barry suddenly stopped when he saw that two of his teachers were literally in front of him. One was smiling while the other was looking pretty mad that they got interrupted.

"Oh, uh. See ya, Lucas!" With that, Barry disappeared into the town.

"Sometimes," Miss Cassandra started, "I wonder how you keep up with that eccentric genius, Lucas."

"I think you know he's my best friend, Miss, and believe me, it's tough keeping up with him," Lucas replied. "Uh, as I was saying, thank you very much for accompanying me, Sir Darian and Miss Cassandra. Would you like to pay a visit to my home for just a moment?"

Sir Darian placed his right hand on his chest and nodded. "Thank you for your hospitality, Lucas, but we have to get going now. We still have some important work to do later on. One of these days, we'll do a home visitation to each of our students, so you may look forward to it."

"We'll also inform your mother on our part via text that we have successfully accompanied you back here," Miss added.

"Thank you once more, Sir and Miss. Please take care on your way back, too."

"We will. Good-bye, Lucas, and please send our regards to your mother," Miss replied when the two teachers left for where they're going.

Lucas immediately started running for home, but suddenly felt something stinging on his knee. It must've been from earlier. Those danged bullies really were getting on Lucas' nerves. He quickly put on a bandage before running back to his home. Barry must've gone back home already 'cause Lucas' didn't see him outside.

"Whew!" Lucas puffed out a breath of air once he reached his door.

This day just keeps getting weirder, but better! Mom's gonna flip when she finds out about what happened today…

Opening the door, he greeted his mom, "Mom, I'm home. You're not gonna be—"

"Oh, Lu! Great timing, there's someone important who wants to meet you!"

Huh, weirder and weirder. Anyway, Lucas just decided to go with the flow. He placed his bag on the nearby sofa and hid his bandages in his pocket. He kinda hoped his mom won't notice he tripped and fell 'cause of some two stupid bullies.

Once they reached the kitchen, there were two people who he didn't know in front of him. One looked like a foreigner, and the other one looked like his age.

Lucas grew a bit afraid and took a small step back. Mom… Just who are these people?

"Good afternoon, Dearie. You must be Lucas," a woman with brown skin said. "It's alright. I'm a friend of your mother, and this is my daughter, Mary." The woman turned to her daughter. "Dear, please greet our new neighbour."

"Hi! I'm Mary, and we're gonna be your new neighbours!" The girl with a skin colour the same as Lucas, a little fairer though, waved at him. She came closer to Lucas. "You're Lu… cas, right?"

The girl reached out her hand for a handshake, saying something that nearly broke his mind,

"Nice to meet 'cha!"

Lucas' eyes grew big. Something was wrong. Something was really wrong! This doesn't make any sense!

No way.

"Lu, do you want to introduce yourself?"

That girl… There's no way!

"Um, Lucas?"

That girl's voice! It's impossible!


UknownHero: Glad you realised the reference xD. It's one of my all-time favourite games.

Guest: No. I don't think I will. Hehe

Greninjaten99: Nice description, and you have a good eye as well, sir. Thank you, and take care as well amidst the situation.

Anon Omega: That's alright, and thanks for your appreciation. :D

The Crystal Brick: They're powerful, yup, and they'll come up with various, weird ways to prevent it, and sometimes with over-the-top consequences.

Well, I guess I'll be more active now. Thanks to those who've still stuck by in the end, keep safe out there amidst the situation right now. Keep a healthy lifestyle, and please follow the protocols established by your governments.