After a terrifying hour in Mrs. Crabb's math class, it was finally lunch time. And therefore, time to see what Miss Melody had posted on the bulletin board.
Everybody poured into the cafeteria, chatting excitedly amongst themselves. I spotted the bulletin board next to the trashcans, and the several new pieces of pink paper posted on it. As I headed over there, I spotted several of the "Pokemon nerds" talking excitedly and pointing at one of the pieces of paper.
Curious, I went over to see what it was. Simon followed along as well. Once I got close enough to read it, I was surprised by what it read.
"You're invited to stay at Camp Pokemon! Two weeks out in the woods, where we'll camp out and do everything Pokemon-related possible! No payment or permission forms necessary!"
It continued to discuss more of the finer details, but I was already sold. When I spotted the words "pet-friendly", I grinned at Simon.
"This looks pretty darn awesome!", I declared, "It looks like they'd even let you bring Kipper! I'm signing up, what about you?"
Simon shrugged. "I'll have to talk to my parents about it, but sure, why not?"
I slipped out one of the many pens I carried on my person and signed my name amidst the many other signatures already present. I spotted seven other Vivi's on the sheet. How was it that my siblings always got to things before me?
Once I signed my name, I passed the pen over to Simon, who signed on it as well. After he did so, he asked, "Do you think they'll care that I've only played the first four generations?"
I shook my head. "Nah, I don't think any of them will mind. But there's going to be lots of talk about the other four generations as well, for certain."
Simon replied, "Well, I suppose I'll get to learn a bit more about them then. Shall we find a seat?"
I nodded, and we swiftly made our way to a nearby open table, which by coincidence seemed to be where most of the kids who'd signed up for Camp Pokemon were. I found a seat near my siblings, and Simon sat down besides me. Like everyone else, we had brought a lunch from home. The cafeteria food was extremely questionable in origin. For example, most of the vegetables seemed to have come from a secret import service run by aliens. It was a much smarter idea to bring your own food, because at least you knew some of the ingredients in it.
As I opened my lunch bag, I tuned in to the ongoing conversation, which was all about Camp Pokemon.
"I can hardly believe that this is happening!", declared a boy named Barry Jun. He was tall, with wild red hair and a strange scar above his left eye. He was a very interesting personality and easily ended up being the center of conversation. I did not know him very well, but we'd hung out a few times before.
Another boy, this one named Matthew Kazan, replied, "Yeah, this is super cool! I heard they'll be having a Pokedex memory contest of some sort - I'll be sure to practice for it!"
It was common knowledge that Matthew was extremely obsessed with Pokemon. He was the shortest kid at the table, with even shorter black hair and wide blue eyes. He was currently fiddling with a USB drive, which I'd heard contained a list of every single Pokemon he'd ever used and all their precise data, even their height and weight.
"That shouldn't be necessary; everyone here already knows you've memorized half of them, heh heh!", retorted a boy named Steven. He was one of the most valuable players on the sports team, as well as a remarkable daredevil. He was almost as notorious as Eddie when it came to some of the things he'd done. He had messy blond hair and impressive muscles, as well as a Perrington Elementary Pigeons jersey on.
Barry remarked, "There's all sorts of other things too. Apparently, there's going to be a lake, and an obstacle course, and even a collection of rare Pokemon collectibles. Not to mention the ultimate Pokemon battle tournament, which will apparently challenge you to use a team from each generation!"
I had been eating a sandwich as he spoke, but when he mentioned the tournament's challenge, I froze. "Wait.", I remarked, "How is that supposed to work?"
"I don't know, that's just what it said on the form.", he replied, "I bet they'll elaborate once we actually go there."
The school prankster, a small girl named Zoe Shade, said, "I managed to find out a few extra things...not that I'll tell you about them yet." She was one of the youngest students here, but she already had a reputation to rival Eddie's. No one had ever found out how she managed to get Mr. Billy Joe Bob Smith's car stuck on the roof of the school, and that was just one of the pranks she'd pulled off.
Steven replied, "Why not?! Now you've made me curious!"
Zoe smiled mischievously. "Well...I might give you a hint, if you boop the Janitor's nose."
"Challenge accepted!", Steven declared, and left the table. As soon as he was gone, an African American boy named Anthony declared, "Welp! He's dead. A toast to our beloved champion?"
Everybody raised their can of soda, and simultaneously shouted, "To Steven, brave enough to boop the Janitor on the nose!" Then we all took a big gulp of our soda, which I swiftly regretted when it tried to go down the wrong pipe.
As I broke down into a coughing fit, Simon patted me on the back while everyone else laughed. I felt my cheeks turn red with embarrassment.
But everyone was then distracted when a girl shrieked, "Steven booped the Janitor's nose!"
"Holy sh**, he actually did it?!", cried Anthony.
Everyone stood to try to get a good look.
We could see the Janitor and Steven standing across from each other, in a ring cleared of tables. Steven looked pumped and ready to battle, much like Hop in the earlier half of Pokemon Sword and Shield. As for the Janitor...no one could actually tell, since his face was hidden under all his hair.
"Murrrruuup?", he groaned quizzically. He was holding his mop like a sword, and seemed to be waiting for Steven to move first.
Brianna said, "Well, that certainly escalated quickly. Who wants to make a bet?"
No one spoke up. She sighed. "Oh well. I'm voting that our poor champion is going to get his butt whipped. Sara, I hope you're ready to take on the burden of best player."
Sara was my younger sister, and one of the best sports players on our team. She flipped her blond hair out of her face, saying dramatically, "I was not prepared to gain this role so soon, but believe me, I will not let you down."
I started hearing some foot-tapping. Behind me, I noticed three students: my slightly younger brother, Erik; an African American guy named Zeke Drakus with black hair, black clothes, and a black guitar; and a boy dressed like a fancy singer named Wendell Adams. Erik was doing the foot-tapping, while Zeke started strumming some notes on his guitar and Wendell pulled out his purple microphone.
"Bum, ba-bum, bum BUMP, ba-bum...", started Erik, preparing a background to their impromptu performance.
Wendell took a deep breath, and began to sing, "I once knew a kid whose name was Steven..."
The whole scene was made even stranger when Eddie somersaulted in and lit up his disco shoes, and started his breakdance routine.
Zoe made a shocked face I was certain was fake. She exclaimed, "I didn't expect things to go like that! If Steven survives this, I'll be sure to tell him one of the secrets I unearthed!"
Fiona, my littlest sister and Sara's twin, readied her fists. "I'll bail him out if things get too rough. I've been practicing some techniques that will take down even the Janitor."
I cringed. I'd been on the receiving end of her various self-taught combat techniques several times before, and they were indeed quite brutal.
Barry jumped up onto the table and started pumping his fist. "Go, go, Steven! You can take him on! Show us your stuff!"
Steven grinned as several other students started cheering him on. He prepared to run at the Janitor...
Only to find the Janitor standing right in front of him. No one had seen him move. The Janitor raised his hand, causing everyone to grimace and prepare for something awful to happen.
But then the Janitor simply patted Steven on the head, making an affectionate "Murp" sound. Then he started mopping the floors again.
The three musicians and Eddie stopped in confusion. Brianna chuckled, saying, "Well, that was certainly anticlimactic."
Everyone sat back down at their seats, and soon lunch was going back on as usual.
Steven swiftly made his entrance, and sat down at his spot. "That was cool! I wonder what would have happened if we'd actually fought."
An African American girl named Zola replied, "Believe me, I don't think that would have gone down well for you at all." Her long black hair was styled into dreadlocks, interspersed with golden beads. She wore posh clothes and was on the richer side of things, but thankfully was nothing like Janet.
Anthony nodded in agreement. "Yeah, she's right about that."
Steven shrugged. "Eh, I've done worse. Remember that one time I strapped a jet engine to my bike?"
"I still don't know how you even got a jet engine.", Anthony muttered.
Looking directly at Zoe, Steven said, "So! I completed your dare; what secrets about this camp shall you tell us?"
Zoe replied conspiratorily, "You'll never believe this, but it seems that the teachers are going to be the only chaperones! Plus, I heard Miss Melody talking to Coach Vernon about the Pokemon things they'll be doing. Something about him doing well at his Victini impersonation, although it sounded somewhat sarcastic."
Steven made a victory sign. "Well, we all know that Coach likes Pokemon. Plus, Vernon is for victory! So of course he'll do a Victini impersonation!"
Barry looked a little confused. "Wait, are the teachers cosplaying Pokemon?"
I was equally confused. "That makes no sense. I doubt most of them would even be caught dead in a Pokemon costume."
Matthew said, "Well, the new teacher is already cosplaying Mew."
"Sort of.", corrected Eddie, "Although she's rocking that hairstyle."
"Besides the new teacher.", I added.
Zoe said, "I dunno about all of that. None of them actually said they were cosplaying, and Miss Melody sounded sarcastic. If she was complimenting his cosplay, she wouldn't have that tone. And Coach would easily cosplay Victini, so that's probably not what this."
Brianna replied, "Well, what is it then?"
Zoe grinned sinisterly. "That, my friends, is a mystery for this weekend."
"Oh, come on!", cried Steven, "You already know what it is, don't you? You can't just hint at some juicy info and then withhold it from us!"
Zoe smirked. "Correction: I can."
Then the school bell rang.
"Welp, time for English.", said Brianna, "We can try wheedling info out of Zoe another time."
All of us got up and made our way to class. (-o-)
AN: Sorry if this chapter seemed a bit clunky, but I've been trying to get the majority of the characters introduced. Next chapter, we're going to skip to the weekend and get the plot snowball rolling. It's going to be awesome.