Hello! BlueRaptor629 here, bringing you another update to the story. Due to circumstances, I decided to release not one, but two chapter today. Initially, this is a 17k words chapter but I decided not do that and release two separate chapters instead. So be sure to read this one first before going into the next one.
Enjoy!
Chapter 2: First Day Troubles
(With Ren)
"Hey, wake up!" Sojiro shouted in order to wake Ren up. His outfit was like the ones he wore for work except he now wears a white suit over the pink shirt and was wearing a white hat. Due to the shout, Ren woke up before he rubbed his eyes.
"What the...? What is...?" The accused teen looked around and realized that he had returned to the attic he was sleeping in. Ren could wish it was real, but he could tell that was all too real. Especially the words of Igor. 'Ruin… Rehabilitation… What does it mean?"
"Good. It's about time you wake up." Ren then turned to Sojiro. "Now, get change. Once you're done, we will be introducing to the staff about your transfer. The school you will be attending is in the Aoyama district. It'll take a while to get there by train. The transfers are a real hassle too. I'll drive you there, but just for today. Understand?"
"Okay." Ren nodded.
"Okay then." Sojiro then turned around and left the room, but not before he muttered about a certain topic. "Sheesh… Men aren't usually allowed on my passenger seat."
"I should get ready…" The frizzy haired teen said as he proceeded to change into the school uniform he wore yesterday before meeting up with Sojiro.
Several hours later, they proceeded to park somewhere before deciding to walk their way through the district. It didn't take them long for them to arrive in front of the school.
"So this is Shujin Academy…" Ren commented as he looked at the gray building pass behind its gate. He could see the sign that says, "Shujin Academy".
"Do me a favor and behave yourself, all right?" He then turned to his guardian. "Don't get me wrong-I don't care what happens to you. Just don't cause me any trouble."
Ren nodded as he went through the gate with Sojiro and proceeded to enter the school building.
(With Ace)
"Where the hell did I get myself into?" Ace muttered as he looked around the environment he woke up to, which is in a hall of a castle. Except... something felt different. At the same, he also felt that.. he was in some kind of a school. "It looks like I'm in a castle but at the same time... it's not. This is weird'' He said before looking at the portrait with disgust, again. It was a portrait of a man, posing. And... the Galar Champion found it repulsive. "The more I look at it, the more I find it disgusting. Whoever posted that was probably a total narcissist."
"(Sweet Arceus! Those monsters are still chasing us!)"
"(Keep running!)"
Then he heard a couple of sounds that were quite familiar to him. It sounded like...
"Pokémon? Here?" Ace inquired.
"Catch those pests, men!"
And next was a voice of someone that he didn't know of. Ace could tell that the third voice was distorted a little. And he also could tell from the cries of what he assumed as Pokémon that they were running away from something... or rather a couple of someone.
"Looks like they're getting closer... I need to hide!" Ace said as he proceeded to climb up to the stairs beside him. "I hope I'm right about this...!" He muttered while hiding in the staircase as he felt something was coming to his view.
As he expected, it was a small group of Pokémon that came from the left passageway. One Pokémon looked like a gray squirrel, the second was a black and white raccoon Pokémon with star shaped membranes around its eyes, a dark purple cat like Pokémon, and a gray rabbit Pokémon with long, brown tipped ears.
"So there were Pokémon here! And it looks like they were a Skwovet, a Galarian Zigzagoon, a Purrloin, and a Bunnelby." Ace muttered quietly as four of those Pokémon were running straight to the other passageway. He then proceeded to pull out his Rotom Phone, which was red, to access the Pokédex function of the phone. Surprisingly, it worked as it began to show a picture of one Pokemon to another.
"Skwovet, the Cheeky Pokémon. A Normal type. Using its special cheeks, Skwovet keeps Berries in its cheeks, but if its stomach is already full, it can temporarily store food in the tufts of fur on its tail. Zigzagoon, the Tiny Raccoon Pokémon. A Dark and Normal type. The Zigzagoon in Galar is considered to be the oldest form compared to the ones found in other regions. Its restlessness has it constantly running around. If it sees another Pokémon, it will purposely run into them in order to start a fight. Purrloin, the Devious Pokémon. A Dark type. Purrloin fools people into letting their guard down so it can steal their possessions. When angered, it uses its claws to fight back. Bunnelby, the Digging Pokémon. A Normal type. It excels at digging holes. Using its ears, it can dig a nest 33 feet deep in one night."
"Well that's confirmed it. Both on how the Pokédex function works and those four being actual Pokemon." Ace stated.
"Look! Those vermins are going to be cornered now!"
"Good. We can catch them that way!"
Ace turned to see a group of knights with masks on their faces coming from the same passageway. The Galarian Champion could tell that there was something… off about those guards. He knew that they weren't human, but at the same time, he also knew they were not Pokémon at all. They stopped in front of the path, which the young man could tell that those Pokémon have hit a dead end.
"Finally, something to do." Ace then proceeded to come out of his hiding spot, ready to help out.
Just as Ace claimed, the four Pokémon have indeed ran into a dead end.
"(Oh no! We're trapped!)" Skwovet exclaimed.
"(Oh great! Just what we needed!)" Zigzagoon said.
"There is no place to run now, you pests!" The Pokémon turned to see the masked knights, with a golden armored one approaching them. Unbeknownst to them, a certain Trainer was watching from behind.
"(Can't believe those monsters caught up to us!)" Bunnelby whined.
"Now make yourselves easy and surrender."
"Rejoice as you four are to become new additions forKing Kamoshida's collections."
'King Kamoshida...? I guess that guy's the one's in charge of this freaky castle.' Ace pondered as he looked back to the portrait behind him. 'I wouldn't be surprised if that guy's the king here."
"(Well I'm not gonna let you losers stand by and catch us!)" Zigzaggoon went in front of the other three and proceeded to do a protective stance.
"(Didn't I told you to NOT try anything stupid!)" Purrloin told the Tiny Raccoon Pokémon, who used Tackle on one of the guards, specifically the leader.
"Hmph! Such feeble attempts!" The golden armored guard scoffed before he countered the assault with his sword, sending the Dark and Normal type Pokémon flying into the wall behind.
"(Zigzagoon!)" The three other Pokémon rushed to its side to see if their friend was okay, after being swatted harshly.
"(I'm okay... that was nothing...!)"
"Such ferocity!" The Pokémon turned to the golden armored knight, shocked that the attack didn't do anything on the guard leader. "If nothing else, you all can serve our lord well, as his personal attack animals that is."
"(Bugger off, you freak!)" Zigzagoon scoffed. "(I ain't interested! None of us will!)" The three other Pokémon proceeded to glare defiantly at the guards.
"I see… So you all chose death, then? Very well…" The golden armored one proceeded to raise his sword high. "Then allow me to be the one to deliver that request!"
"Not If I have a say about that!" Every single one of them turned to see Ace, who was standing with his arms folded.
"What the!? An intruder!?"
"How did he infiltrate here?"
"How I got here is none of your business." Ace glared. "I ask all of you goons to back away from them or else."
In response to that, all of the knights laughed at the empty threat said by the intruder.
"Such empty words, coming from a peasant such as yourself!" The leader scoffed.
"Indeed. Your effort shall be futile!"
Seeing that these guards didn't heed to his threat, Ace pulled out a Poké Ball before he enlarged it.
"Don't say I didn't warn ya! Come on out, Cinderace!" He threw it in the air as the ball opened up, which was followed by a blue colored energy that shotted into the ground.
Once the blue energy dissipated, a Pokémon stood in its place. Said Pokémon resembles a bipedal, white rabbit. It has long white ears, the insides of which are yellow. Its eyes, which have red-orange pupils and white irises, have a deep navy pattern below them and yellow eyebrows above them. These eyebrows connect at the nose, which is red-orange, and form a "crown", which connects to the red-orange tuft of hair sticking out from its forehead. It has two whisker-like tufts of white fur on each side of its face. Over each shoulder is a navy patch of fur, which continues down the torso and connects at the middle of the chest, creating what resembles a sports tank top. This navy-colored fur is also seen on its lower torso, creating what resembles a belt. The fur on its lower body is colored red-orange and resembles a pair of pants, with yellow pockets and ending in yellow tufts at the knees, with little tufts of fur on the backside of its thighs. Its ankles and feet are colored navy-blue and tipped red-orange at the toes.
"(Guess you idiots need to be taught a lesson about picking somebody your own size!)" The white rabbit-like Pokémon said as it stretched its arms out, ready to do battle.
Seeing this made the four other Pokemon smile, relieved that they were being saved by a Pokémon Trainer.
"Another one!?" One of the guards exclaimed.
"So… you have one on your own, then?" The leader asked, before he chuckled. "This is preferable. Because we can take that rabbit along with the others and then present them to our king."
"Yes. King Kamoshida will be pleased with five new additions of his new collection."
All of the guards, including the golden one, dissolved into a black ooze before rising up into something else.
"What the hell!?" Ace exclaimed as he saw some odds creature appearing before him.
Four of which were a floating pumpkin like creature with a face. They wore a wizard hat and the lower portion was covered in a dark blue cloak, save for a hand that was holding a lantern. Ace could see a resemblance of them to a Pumpkaboo. The odd one out was a cyan demon in a golden jar.
"Those stand in the way of the great King Kamoshida shall be punished severely!"
"I know I've seen this coming, but… this is just too surprising." Ace flabbergasted before he shrugged it off. "But they won't stop us! Let's do this, Cinderace!"
"(Right behind you, man!)" Cinderace said as both him and his Trainer glared towards their opponents.
"Let's start by using Pyro Ball!"
Cinderace began juggling a pebble with his feet, while revealing three yellow dots underneath on both feet as the pebble ignited into a fiery sphere. "(Have a taste of this!)" The Striker Pokémon proceeded to kick the sphere towards one of the Pumpkaboo like creatures.
"What a fool!" One of the creature, in a child's voice, scoffed as the Pyro Ball was absorbed by its lantern, shocking both Ace and Cinderace.
"Whoa. Didn't think they could do that!" Ace said. "Do they have Flash Fire or something?"
"Why don't YOU eat this!" One of the pumpkin creatures lighted up their lantern, causing Cinderace to be engulfed in flames.
Fortunately, it didn't do much since Cinderace is a Fire type.
"(You're hot, alright. But not hot enough!)" The white rabbit like Pokémon smirked.
"Use Bounce on those four monsters!" Ace swiped his hand.
"(It's time for a hopping spree by yours truly!)" Cinderace then jumped up high into the air before he front flips when he started to fall. He then planted his feet above one pumpkin monster's head before he hopped into another one, until he hit all four of them.
"Ow!" Four of them shouted as they were all dazed by the previous attack, which Ace took note of.
"Much like Pokémon, you are actually weak towards something."Ace commented. "Now, use Quick Attack to finish them off!"
A light blue outline surrounds Cinderace before he ran and defeated all of the downed enemies with a fast kick on each of them. The Pumpkaboo-like monsters didn't see the attack coming as they all disappeared in a black ooze from it.
"How dare you humiliate us like that…!" The jar demon growled. "I shall see through your extermination myself, you pest!"
"We'll see who exterminates who!" Ace then turned to his Pokemon. "Won't we, Cinderace?"
"(You said it, bud!)" Cinderace agreed as they readied themselves against the last opponent.
(Meanwhile...)
Currently, Ren and Sojiro were in the Principal's office, with said principal and a member of the school's staff.
"Just so we're clear, you will immediately be expelled if you cause any problems." The principal warned his new transfer student. The man was bald as he was overweight. He wore a beige suit with white undershirt and a red bowtie. "In my opinion, you're nothing but a liability, but we had our circumstances to reconsider…Whatever you might've gone away with in your hometown… those days are over." The unpleasant man continued. "If you are thrown out from our school, there will be no place for you to go. Keep that in mind." He then turned to the woman besides him. "This is the teacher in charge of your classroom."
"I'm Sadayo Kawakami." She introduced herself, with a tired tone of voice. She was a youthful looking woman with dark brown, unkempt hair, medium height and slender figure, and dark brown eyes. Her attire consisted of a yellow long-sleeved shirt striped with white and red horizontal lines, a blue denim skirt and white kitten heel shoes. "Here's your student ID." Kawakami proceeded to show said ID onto the desk while also unwittingly putting what appears to be a folded flyer. She noticed her mistake as she grabbed the folded paper before Ren could see what it was as he picked up the ID card. "Be sure to read the school rules. Any violations will send you straight to the guidance office. And, if by chance you cause any problems, I won't be able to protect you at all." She then turned to the principal. "That IS your promise, yes, Principal Kobayakawa?"
"Mmhm. He is responsible for all his actions." Kobayakawa replied.
"But really though, why me?" She complained. "There should've been better candidates like Miss Mizuhara."
"It was a sudden transfer, and your class was the only one that had an opening." He replied. "And Mizuhara-san is relatively still new in the faculty. I don't think she could handle a transfer student with a criminal record such as him."
"If you're done explaining things, mind if we get going?" Sojiro asked the principal. "I got a store to go back to."
"Sakura-san, please keep a close eye on him. Don't let him cause any trouble outside…"
"Well, I'll be sure to have a serious talk about the situation he's in."
Kawakami sighed before she began to talk. "Come to the faculty office when you arrive at school tomorrow. I'll show you to your classroom."
After that, Ren and Sojiro left the room as they walked their way home. In the middle of the walk, Sojiro stopped.
"Everyone's giving you the cold shoulder." Sojiro scratched the back of his head. "I guess that's what happens when you have a criminal record." He then turned towards Ren. "Turns out your past follows you wherever you go. That being said, if you get expelled now, I won't hesitate to kick you out. Got it?"
"I'll be sure to keep my head down, just like you said." Ren said.
"It's good to see that you understand your place." His guardian sighed. "School never changes, huh?" He muttered before glancing towards the teen. "Come on, we're going home."
They then proceeded to exit the school building.
As Kawakami walked, she didn't realize that a man was coming towards her way.
"What a troublesome situation." She turned to the man. Surprisingly, he was just like the man on the portrait Ace saw in the castle, except his eyes weren't gold yellow, and his attire was more something a PE teacher would wear, being a white sport T-shirt and black sport trousers with double white stripes. He also has a stopwatch and pen that were hanged around his neck like a necklace.
"I can't believe they pushed someone with a record on me? A male teacher would be better suited for this…" Kawakami whined.
"Why in the world was someone like that admitted here?"
"Who knows? That's the principal's decision. I was told it's for the school's reputation."
"I would've thought that my volleyball team has contributed more than enough to cover that." The man commented.
"That's certainly true."
"Be careful, okay?" The man stretched his arms. "Then again, If anything were to happen, I'd kick out a student like that right away."
"I keep wishing that he'd just end up not coming to school." Kawakami muttered. "Still, that isn't something I should be saying as a teacher."
"Well, I should be returning to practice."
"Oh right, the tournament's coming up, isn't it?"
"He he, having such high expectations placed on you by others is quite a problem in itself. We'll have to work hard to make up for the track team too." The man smiled.
"Yes… that's true." The female teacher agreed as the man walked away. She couldn't help but to sigh once more. "Why'd it have to be my class?"
As the man walked, he suddenly felt something. It's as if… there was someone who knew something they shouldn't have.
"Probably nothing." He shrugged before he kept walking.
Unbeknownst to him, there was someone who was watching both him and Kawakami. But her gaze fixated on that man.
"What a pedophile…" She muttered before she took her leave.
(With Ace)
"(See you never!)" Cinderace shouted before kicking the Pyro Ball at the monster, successfully hitting it in the center of the jar.
"You shall rue the day of defying the will of our great king!" The monster said as he exploded into nothing.
"Now that's what I call a grand finish!" Ace shouted.
"(You've said it, buddy!)" The Striker Pokémon agreed as he did a pose.
"(Thank you!)" Both of them turned to see the four other Pokémon that he saved.
"(Yeah! You saved us from those monsters!)" Bunnelby expressed its thanks.
"Don't sweat it, little guys." Ace smirked. While he couldn't understand what those Pokémon were saying, the young Champion could sense what they were trying to say. When one spent a lot of time with their own Pokémon, he or she could tell that too.
"(Yeah. It's what we do, really.)" Cinderace added.
"But more importantly, what did you all do to make them chase you like that?"
"(Nothing. They saw us and then they suddenly decided to chase us around!)" Skwovet explained.
"(Before that, we were playing around in the plains until we came across a scary red pillar rising from the ground.)" Bunnelby added.
"(And one of our friends just went and touched it, we found ourselves in this strange castle.)" Purrloin finished.
"I see. So it was like that with me…" Ace muttered as he folded his arms. "At the very least, now I know where those Pokémon in the Wild Area disappeared to."
"Search for that intruder!" Another distorted voice could be heard as they were all alarmed by it.
"Crap! More of those guys!" Ace shouted as he turned to his Pokémon. "Come on! Let's find a place to hide.)"
"(Got it, bud.)" Cinderace turned towards the four Pokémon. "(Until we figure something out, you'll be stuck with us)"
"(We wouldn't have it any other way.)" Bunnelby said as it and the other three nodded.
"Follow my lead." Ace said as he went through a door to his right.
(Back in Tokyo)
Unfortunately for Ren and Sojiro, they both got themselves stuck in a big traffic jam.
"Uuugh. Traffic's not moving at all… You're taking the train starting tomorrow." Sojiro then turned to Ren. "... So how was it? The school, I mean. Think you can manage?"
"I'll see what I can do." The glasses teen replied.
His guardian hummed before he spoke again. "Still, you were expelled once already. Tch! To think you'd re-enroll at another one. It's not like anyone will be sympathetic with you." Sojiro sighed. "If that's what it was like at school, people might say some stuff about me in the future too… What a troublesome kid I've taken in…"
"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask about that." Sojiro irked up before he turned around. "If I'm troubling you so much, then why did you take me in?"
"I was just asked to do it. and I just… happened to agree to it." The older man answered. "I've already been paid for it too, after all."
"... And now back to today's top stories." The newscaster on the car's radio began. "A subway train has derailed, severely affecting the timetable across all off-"
"Ugh. Another accident?" Sojiro muttered as he looked ahead. "So that's why it's so crowded. There's been a lot of those lately. As a matter of fact, there was a really sad one just last month… It happened before you came here." He looked down in sorrow. "If I remember right, the girl that passed away was only fifteen. Her parents have gotta be just…"
"All traffic around Shibuya Station is being redirected due to the accident, so drivers should expect jam packed streets." The radio interrupted him.
"Oh, come on!" The glasses man groaned.
Once arriving at Leblanc, Ren immediately returned to his living quarters in the shop's attic. Unfortunately for Sojiro, he saw no reason to open his store due to the fact that the day was already over by the time they got back from Shujin. But before he left, the man went into the attic and gave the teen a diary for him to write to keep track of his activity during the probation period. After getting a call from someone, he proceeded to take his leave.
Ren then proceeded to take a shower downstairs before he wore his sleepwear again. But just as he was about to turn in for the day, he heard the sound of a phone ringing
"Who could that be?" Ren wondered as he went downstairs before he made his way to the shop's phone. He then proceeded to pick up the call
"Hey, it's me." The voice on the phone said.
"Is this… Sakura-san?" The young man asked.
"Who else but me, kid?" Sojiro replied. "Anyway… when I closed up shop and left, I forgot to flip the sign to "Closed". Since it's too much trouble for me to come back just for that, can I ask you to do that for me?"
"And you decided to call me on a public phone?"
"For one thing, I don't have your phone number yet." The man replied. "Anyway, I'll leave the shop sign to you."
Once the call was done, Ren immediately went outside in order to flip the sign to "Closed" before going back inside and went upstairs so he could catch some sleep.
When he lied down, Ren checked some of the timetables of the train as well as the train routes from Yongen to Aoyama, in which he had to take a train to Shibuya before making a transfer from there. The teen also took a note when he read more news about the subway accident, to which he deduced that timetables should be expected to change.
"Hmm…?" Ren noticed the strange app on his phone, which he thought was already deleted.
"Time to delete it again." He proceeded to swipe the app into the trash bin once again, deleting it once again. "I should reboot my phone, just in case…"
Once that was done, he immediately fell asleep.
(In the castle)
"GAAAGH!" A humanoid plant with a flower on top of its head shrieked as it was disintegrated, courtesy of Cinderace.
"Damn. This place was really crawling with these bastards." Ace muttered with a frustrated look on his face. When he was looking for a place to hide, he kept running to guards after guards, which he successfully defeated all of them with the help of his Pokémon.
The only good thing was that those battles made Ace gain knowledge on some of the enemies' weaknesses and he also found some money lying on the floor with each monster they defeated. While he couldn't recognize the currency these cash from, Ace knew that they'll come in handy in some way. As he traversed through the castle, he finally stumbled across a door to another room. A semi-transparent and rippling door, to be exact.
"This looks like a spot to hide." He stated as he entered a room, which Cinderace and the other four Pokémon followed suit. As soon as he came in, he realized that it was a small room with simple furniture like a big table with four chairs beneath it and a bookshelf.
"(Yeah, I think we're safe in here.)" Cinderace commented as he and the four wild Pokémon felt… a relaxing atmosphere throughout the room that made them feel calm.
Seeing the Pokemon, including his own, feel safe inside it, Ace sensed that this was a good hiding place.
"Well if you all think we're in the clear, then I guess I could lighten up to." The young champion said as he took a seat. He began to recap everything that has happened to him today to himself and Cinderace as the Pokémon they rescued proceeded to lie down and rest. From him ending up in this freaky castle through a blood red light pillar emanated from a Power Spot to finding out that some of the missing Pokemon turned up here, but for some reason, those knights that could transform into monsters were aftering Pokémon as well. The biggest question was that after all the time they spent traversing through the castle, he and Cinderace didn't encounter any more Pokémon besides those four.
"Don't know what to make of this but… From the way I see it, We're gonna get involved in something we shouldn't have." Ace muttered.
"(Do you think this Kamoshida guy is the one behind all of this?)" Cinderace asked.
"Who knows?" He replied, sensing what his Pokemon was trying to say. "I doubt this could be done by one person. For now, we should focus on finding out and see if there were any more lost Pokemon in this stupid castle."
"(I hear ya. This castle is messing me up the more I spent my time in it.)" The Striker Pokémon remarked.
"Ain't that the truth." Just as he was about to sleep, he noticed a glow from one of his wrists. "What the frick is happening now?" Ace looked at both of his wrists, but stopped at one with his Dynamax Band on it. "My Dynamax Band…"
"(What's wrong with it, Ace?)"
"I dunno." The young champion replied as he tried to figure out what's wrong with it. "I feel like it's busted or-" He was interrupted when a purple light shot off from the wristband and hit the wall, which formed into a door made of light.
"That… was something." Ace flabbergasted. "It looks like a light door."
"(Where do you think it leads to?)" Cinderace asked.
"Only one way to find out." The young man approached the door before he stuck his head through the door.
"(Hey! Are you crazy!? That's dangerous!)" Because of how loud he is, the other woke up from their rest.
"(What's all the ruckus about?)" Zigzagoon inquired.
"(And I was really enjoying my cat nap too...)" Purrloin added.
"(Look there, guys!)" Skwovet pointed its friends towards the light door, to which Ace still stuck his head through.
"(I wonder what he's doing now?)" Bunnelby wondered aloud.
They then saw their rescuer pull back his head away from the door, which they noticed that he had a smile on his face.
"I think I figured something out." Ace stated. "Turns out that door made of light leads to one of the sections in the Wild Area."
"(Are you sure about this, Ace?)" Cinderace was surprised, and so were the four wild Pokémon.
"I'm sure." The young Champion then turned his attention towards them. "All right, you four can go back home by going through this door."
"(So we can finally go back? Yippee!)" The Cheeky Pokémon cheered.
"(But wait! What about Nickit and Yamper? We couldn't just leave them behind!)" The Devious Pokemon worried.
"(Wait, there's more of you?)" Cinderace asked, surprising Ace.
"(Yeah. We got separated from them when those knights started to chase us around.)" The Digging Pokémon explained.
"If it makes you feel better…" They then turned towards the young Galar Champion. "We'll look for those two once we have done a little RR."
"(You'll do that?)" Skwovet asked.
"(Of course we'll do that. We're just that awesome to NOT to ignore a call for help.)" The Fire type Pokémon stated in his Trainer's stead.
Four of them looked at each other before they nodded, having reached a decision.
"(Okay, we'll leave them to you.)" Purrloin stated.
"(As much as I wanted to rescue them myself, even I know when I'm outmatched.)" Zigzagoon added.
"(Looks like they agreed to leave the matter to us.)" Cinderace told his Trainer.
"I guess it's settled." Ace smirked as the four Pokémon headed towards the door.
But before they went through it, they proceeded to look at the human one last time.
"(We can't thank you enough for everything you did for us.)" Bunnelby said.
"(So here's our parting gift.)" Skwovet proceeded to shake its tail in front of Ace, which caused some Berries to fall to the floor.
"Hold up. You sure you want to give up your stock of Berries to us?" The young Galar Champion inquired.
"(It's not a problem. I can always get more anyway.)" The Cheeky Pokémon assured.
"(We're leaving now. See you later, Ace, Cinderace!)" After that, they proceeded to walk through the light door, which immediately disappeared as soon as the four of them had gone through the other side of the door.
"All right. Let's rest up a bit before we walked to the other side of the castle from that other passageway." Ace told his Starter Pokémon before he picked up the Berries and put them in his bag. "There may be some Pokémon or clues that we missed."
"(That sounds like a plan, bud.)" Cinderace fist pumped, agreeing to the plan.
(The next day)
Today marks the first day Ren finally goes to the new school, Shujin Academy. Once he's in his uniform, the teen goes downstairs before he makes his way towards the exit.
"So, you're actually going to school, huh?" Sojiro asked rhetorically as Ren stopped to look at him. In front of the man was a plate of curry rice and a glass of water. "Here, I'll feed you. Just make sure you finish it before the customers start coming in."
"Curry as a breakfast…?" The bespectacled teen said.
"Stop asking questions and just eat." The older man replied as Ren took a seat before he started eating the curry.
Needless to say, the young man took a liking at the curry as he was fascinated by the complex flavor within said meal. It didn't take him long for him to finish the curry.
"It's time for you to go." Sojiro told him as he took the empty plate and glass away.
"Thanks for the meal." Ren thanked him.
"Huh, turns out you do have manners after all." The man smiled. "... Hurry over to school. You'll end up late if you get lost on the way."
After nodding, the young man proceeded to continue his way towards the exit.
"Oh yeah, and flip the sign outside to "Open" for me." He reminded the teen.
"Okay, got it."
"Don't forget to do that for me, all right?" Sojiro told him. "Now, you better hurry on out. You're gonna be late if you get lost, country boy."
After that, Ren immediately opened the door and went outside. He flipped the sign first before he departed to school. The young man managed to make his way towards the subway station with ease. Remembering the train route he looked up on the internet, he took a stop at Shibuya before hopping onto the Ginza line to Aoyama-Itchome, which was the subway station nearest to Shujin. So he had to do a little walking towards the school.
Once he arrived at Aoyama-Itchome, Ren proceeded to let out a sigh of relief, glad that he managed to escape from the crowded train car. As he went outside, the young man was greeted by the sudden downpour of the sky, catching him off guard.
"Should've brought my umbrella with me..." He muttered as he saw a couple of students in the same uniform running through the rain.
Once he stopped under an awning, he proceeded to observe the rain.
"Can't catch a break, can I?" He muttered before he pulled out his phone to find out where to go next. Unfortunately, that same app popped up again on the phone. It also enlarged on its owning, preventing him to see any directions. "This is getting old…"
Just as he was about to do something about it, a hooded girl came under the awning, with the same intent as him. The girl didn't seem to take notice of him at all; she reached up, pulled her hood down, revealing her platinum blonde hair which was tied in twin tails on each side of her head. Ren could tell that she's Japanese, but he saw a bit of a foreigner side of her when he saw those blue eyes. She wore the Shujin blazer like him, but she also wore a white sports hoodie underneath it with a red and blue vertical stripe going down the center. Aside from the school's standard plaid skirt, her leggings were bright red and instead of a pair of black loafers, a pair of brown, high heeled boots were in its place.
As she wiped herself from the rain, she immediately took notice of Ren, who were glancing towards her.
"Um… You've got…" She proceeded to reach out her hand towards Ren's head… and proceeded to pluck a single cherry blossom petal out of his hair. "Ugh. I hate the rain. All the blossoms are so pretty right now and this just makes them go away."
Their moments were interrupted by the sound of car honking. They looked ahead and saw a car in front of them. One of the windows opened up, revealing to be the same man who talked with Kawakami.
"Morning! Aren't you going to be late?" The coach asked her. "Takamaki, want me to drive you?"
"Sure. I appreciate it." The blonde haired girl said as she went towards the car.
The man then noticed Ren. "Hey, want to get in on this too?"
"Nah. Thanks." He politely refused the offer as he put away his phone.
"You sure? All right." The man proceeded to roll up the window, but not before Ren noticed the sorrow in her eyes right before it closed.
'Why did she accept it when she clearly doesn't want to ride with him?' The teen pondered before the car drove off.
Just as he was about to ponder about any further, he heard someone else rushing past him. He glanced to see another teen by his age slowly skidded against the pavement.
"Damn it! Screw that pervy teacher!" He cursed.
"Pervy teacher?" Ren repeated. Unbeknownst to him, a small tone sounded from his phone the moment he spoke.
"Huh?" The Vulgar Boy turned to see Ren and noticed him. He then proceeded to approach the glasses teen with hostility.
The other blonde boy was, more or less, in the same height as Ren. He had short, spiky, blonde hair that obviously was the result of him dying his hair. In the same style as Takamaki, he wore his Shujin blazer over a yellow t-shirt with a purple star design at the center rather than the standard white turtleneck he expected.
"What do you want?" He asked Ren. "Planning on rattin' me out to Kamoshida. are you?"
"Who?" Ren asked as the Vulgar Boy was perplexed by his response.
"In that car just now. It was Kamoshida."
"So that's him." The frizzy haired teen stated after he realized what the other boy was talking about.
"Wait, you don't know him?" The bottled blonde young man asked. "You DID go to Shujin Academy, didn't you?"
"It's… complicated." Ren answered as another ping could be heard from the phone.
"Are you for real?" He proceeded to look at him, and noticed the pin on the school's blazer. "I don't think I've seen you before, despite you bein' a second year. What class are you in?"
"I don't know yet."
"You don't know?" He then blinked before he put things together. "Hang on sec. Are you the student that just transferred in?"
"Mmhm." Ren nodded.
"Then no wonder you don't know him." He concluded. "A little weird to transfer now, don'tcha think?"
"Not to pry, but you seem to have a history with him." He pointed out.
"You could say that… but I'm sure you'll get to know him real soon." Vulgar Boy replied before he growled again. "That asshole! Just because he's the "star" of the school for gettin' the volleyball team to the nationals, doesn't mean he can act all superior and shit. Sonuvabitch prolly thinks he's some sorta king of a shitty castle…"
Ren, once again, ignored another sound from his phone.
The young man pulled out his phone, which made him surprised as he looked at the time.
"Crap! We've been yappin' too much and now we're gonna be late!" Vulgar Boy exclaimed.
"Yeah. We should go." Ren nodded.
"Come on, follow me!" He told his fellow second year. "I know a shortcut through the back alley. The rain eased up, so it shouldn't be too bad."
"Okay." The frizzy haired teen proceeded to follow him.
But the moment they moved, they were suddenly hit by a wave of migraines, which were slammed into their heads out of the blue.
'I feel light headed for some reason…' Ren pondered while he was holding his head.
"Uuugh, my head hurts…" Ryuji groaned. "Should've stayed at home, dammit…" The bottled blonde proceeded power through the headache as he and Ren proceeded to walk towards the nearby alleyway.
The two boys were walking through the narrow back alley as they were on their way towards Shujin, without paying the changes in their surroundings. When they walked through the puddle, both of them didn't notice how the water briefly levitated in the air. Though Ren was alerted by the splashing sound as he glanced back.
'Was I hearing things?' He pondered before he shrugged the feeling. But then…
"Wha-!?" He heard the blonde young man exclaim something before he walked forward. It didn't take long for Ren to catch up to him, who was staring something in front of him.
Soon enough, he saw what Vulgar Boy was seeing. In front of them was a medieval styled castle that one would see in history books, instead of the school they were supposed to go to.
"Um… did we make a wrong turn back then?" Ren asked him.
"No, man. I was absolutely sure that we're goin' to the right way." He replied as he looked at the sign that says "Shujin Academy". "Look! The sign said this is the school, but… why a castle though?"
"Should we go back?" Ren asked.
"Nah, that'll take way too much time. I guess we should come in and ask." The bottled blonde teen proceeded to walk through the drawbridge that leads to the main entrance of the castle.
Once they went in, they were immediately found themselves inside a grand hall, the very same hall where a certain Pokémon Trainer found himself. Ren couldn't possibly believe that this castle is the school, due to the fact that he was here yesterday. The decorations and the furniture here seemed to be too genuine for them to belong to the school's drama club.
"That's weird… Where's the school?" Vulgar Boy asked. "This can't be it, can it…?"
"I think we should leave." The frizzy haired teen suggested, feeling that they were now in a place where they shouldn't have.
The other teen agreed to the suggestion as he pulled out his phone and saw if he could get some directions from the internet. But to his surprise, he got no connection.
""No Service"... Where in the hell did we end up?" He then proceeded to put his phone away.
Their thoughts were interrupted when they saw a bulking knight approaching them. While Ren was alerted and he already knew something was off with the knight, the other teen mistook it as something else.
"Geez, you freaked me out…" He said, oblivious to the fact the knight was not he appears to be. "Who're you? You a student?"
"I don't think we should talk to him…" Ren warned him.
"Lighten up, man. What could possibly go wrong?"
Just as he said that, another knight appeared besides the first one, which freaked him out.
"... H-Hey, what's goin on?" He asked.
"I warned you, didn't I?" The frizzy haired teen told the other young man.
One of the knights then approached him., which made the ignorant teen realize what was really happening.
"... The shit's real." Then, the second knight moved a step closer to him too. "C-Calm down! Time out, man!" He then turned Ren. "We gotta run!"
"That was what I was suggesting not too long ago." Ren replied.
"Look, I'll apologize to you as soon we get outta here!" But just as they ran towards the main entrance, another pair of knights appeared, blocking their escape route. "Ugh! What's with these guys!?"
With no warning, the knight to his left proceeded to strike him with his shield.
"Gah!" Vulgar Boy grunted in pain. "Oww… Y-You're gonna break my bones, dammit! The hell you think you're— Aagh!"
What shortly followed after that the knights cornered them and managed to knock them unconscious.
"Take them away!" A voice of one of the knights could be heard as the two intruders were carried off towards somewhere…
"Hey! Wake up! I know you can hear me. Wake up!"
Ren began to regain his consciousness before finally waking up. Once he was finally around, he realized that he was in what appeared to be a cell with multiple chained cuffs hanging by the walls as well as the barred door in front of him.
"You all right?" He turned to the blonde young man, who was in the cell with him.
"I'm fine." Ren answered. "But what about you?"
"Yeah, more or less." He replied before he started looking around. "Looks like this ain't a dream…" The teen scratched his hair before he went on. "Ugh, what's goin' on!?" He then proceeded to run into the bars, before starting to bang on it. "Hey, let us outta here! I know there's someone out there!"
"I don't think they'll just let us out if you do something like that." The frizzy haired young man pointed out
"Dammit, where are we? Is this some kinda movie set!?"
They then heard a loud scream of pain in the distance.
"T-The hell was that just now?" He and Ren proceeded to run towards the bars, trying to spot the person that made the scream, but they didn't see anything. And the person who made the scream just kept on screaming. "Is this for real…? You're shittin' me, right?"
But then, the knights suddenly appeared as they approached towards the cell, which prompted the two to back off.
"Be glad that your punishment has been decided upon." One of the knights told them. "Your charge is "illegal entry". Thus, you will be sentenced to death."
"Say what!?" The vulgar young man exclaimed as both him and Ren widened their eyes in shock.
"No one's allowed to do as they please in my castle." A familiar, yet distorted voice could be heard as one of the knights made way for the figure, who was none other than Kamoshida as he was approaching the cell.
"Huh? Wait… Is that you, Kamoshida?" The blonde young man asked.
This Kamoshida perfectly matched the man in the portrait that Ace saw, including the gold yellow eyes. Other than the fact he wore a gold crown on top of his head, most of his body was covered by his royal red cape, which had hearts on it.
"I thought it was some pretty thief, or that troublemaker that I kept hearing about, but to think it was you, Sakamoto…" The man then donned a smug grin. "Are you trying to disobey me again? It seems you already forgot your lesson already, huh?" He then turned towards Ren. "And you brought a friend this time… because you can't do anything for yourself."
"This ain't funny, you asshole!" Sakamoto retorted.
"It's how you speak to me? It seems you didn't know your place, after all." Kamoshida retorted back. "Not only did you and your friend sneak into my castle, but you have committed a crime of insulting me, the king. The punishment for that is death." He then proceeded to swipe his away to the right. "It's time for an execution! Take him out!"
After that, the knights opened up the cell before they cornered Sakamoto, separating him from Ren.
"Tch… Goddammit!" The blonde young man proceeded to tackle one of the knights so hard, he fell on his back side. "I ain't down for this shit! C'mon, we're outta here!"
Just before they could do that, the other guard proceeded to strike him with the sword handle, right at the stomach. Sakamoto grunted in pain while clutching his gut. Ren attempted to aid him, but the guards won't let him.
"Just go! Get outta here! These guys are serious!"
"I'm not leaving you behind like this!" Ren retorted.
"You gotta, or these bastards will get you too!"
"Running away, are we? What a heartless friend you are." Kamoshida mocked. "It makes no difference to me if you run or not. Pathetic scum such as you is not worth my time." He then turned towards Sakamoto. "I'll focus on this one's execution."
One of the guards proceeded to hold the blonde young man down so Kamoshida could beat him down with his bare hands.
"Take this!" He started with a right hook across his face, before he pummeled the poor teen some more. "Lowly scum! Useless pest!" That last one made Sakamoto fall down. The naked man proceeded to spit in front of him. "Where'd your energy earlier ago?"
The guard proceeded to lift him before he threw him against the wall.
"A peasant like you isn't worth beating." He taunted him. "I'll have you killed right now."
"I won't let you do that!" Ren shouted, earning the man's attention.
"Hmm. What? Don't pretend you don't know who I am?" Kamoshida taunted before the frizzy haired teen glared. "That look on your eyes irritates me!" He proceeded to plant his foot on Ren, causing him to fall down. "Hold him there. After the peasant, it's his turn to die."
"Why you!?" Ren attempted to charge towards the king, but he was held down by the guards.
"No, I don't wanna die!" Sakamoto muttered as Kamoshida laughed at his futile attempt.
Just as things were utterly hopeless, Ren saw a blue butterfly fluttering in front of him before a voice appeared inside his head.
"This is truly an unjust game…" A voice belonging to a girl echoed in his mind. "Your chances of winning are almost none… But if you're able to hear my voice, there may yet be a possibility open to you..."
"A possibility…?" Ren muttered as the butterfly vanished.
"What's wrong? Are you going to idle and watch?" A different voice whispered in his head. He could sense some familiarity to it, but he was sweating right now. "Are you forsaking him just to save yourself? Death awaits him if you do nothing… Was your previous decision—" He then flashed back to the time where he saved that woman from being forced on to him getting arrested for the false accusation."A mistake then?"
'No, it wasn't!' Ren shouted in his mind. As much as he wants to have that ended differently, he didn't regret the choices he made. Sakamoto was pinned to the wall, as the knight was about to land a killing bow.
He then began to struggle, trying to free himself from the guard's grip on him.
"Very well. I have heeded your resolve. Now… Vow to me!" All of sudden, Ren felt something stabbed his mind as he felt something was trying to possess him. "I am thou, thou art I… Thou who art willing to perform sacrilegious acts for thine own justice! Call upon my name, and release thy rage!" He kept screaming as the pain inside him was getting worse. "Show the strength of thy will to ascertain all on thine own, though thou be chained to Hell itself!" The headache began to soften as he glared towards Kamoshida.
"Execute him!" He commanded.
"That's enough!" Ren shouted, much to the surprise of the Twisted King.
"What was that…?"
The guard proceeded to let go of Sakamoto as he fell to the floor.
"Hmph! You want to be killed that much? Fine!" He then signaled the guard to hit him, making Ren lose his glasses.
After that, it was his turn to be pinned down as Sakamoto is forced to watch. Just as Kamoshida was about to give the signal to one of his guards, Ren suddenly opened his eyes as a powerful gust of wind blew around him, causing the man to shield his eyes.
Once that was over, Ren looked up as he realized that he found himself wearing a mask, which covered the upper half of his face. The white mask was shaped like a birdlike as it was white and black around the two holes for the eyes.
When he tried to take it off, he couldn't as if it was glued to his face. But when he did take it off, the results were… bloody as Ren screamed in pain as blood gushed out from his head. What's followed after that was him donning a grin.
"Hahahaha…" A laughter could be heard as Ren's entire body was enveloped in blue flames.
While that was happening, a face was formed as a figure rose from the teenager and proceeded to take form. Standing beneath him was a tall, horned figure in a red jacket and a white cravat, long top hat, black sharp claws, and a pair of long sharp stilettos. Another notable feature was that several chains could be seen around it.
When Ren extended his arms, the figure followed suit by spreading his wings, which caused another gust of wind that blew the guards away into the wall. Kamoshida proceeded to crawl away from him as Sakamoto looked at him with awe. In fact, he noticed that his new friend's outfit has changed. HIs current outfit is now a black ankle-length tailcoat, a high-necked waistcoat with gold accents, black pants, brown-black winklepickers and a pair of red gloves.
"Whoa." The other young man muttered as Ren stood on the ground with a smirk.
(In another part of the castle)
"(Hmm? What was that?)" Cinderace twitched as he sensed something in the air. The Striker Pokémon couldn't put into words, but… there was someone else besides them here who was releasing a bizarre energy.
"Give me two minutes, Aunt Stella..." Ace muttered in his sleep, which irritated his Starter Pokémon.
"(Wake up, ya Snorlax!)" The Fire type proceeded to kick him in the butt, which not only woke him up but also sent him flying into the air before falling into the floor face first.
"Ow…" Ace groaned as his sleep was abruptly interrupted. He got up before glaring Cinderace. "What was that for!?"
"(I sensed something not normal inside the castle.)" The Fire type Pokémon then pointed his finger towards the outside of the room.
"You sure about that?" He asked with curiosity.
"(Come on. I'll show you the way.)"
"By all means, Cinderace." Ace proceeded to pack up all of his things before he and Cinderace left the room.
(Inside a cell of the dungeon below)
"I am the pillager of Twilight- ''Arsene" !'' The figure announced himself as he extended his wings.
"What the…" Sakamoto stared at the sight he was witnessing.
"Is this… me?" Ren muttered as he was looking at the outfit that he suddenly changed into.
"I am the rebel's soul that resides within you." Arsene continued. "If you so desire, I shall consider granting you the power to break through this crisis."
"Yes… Lend me your power! Arsene!" The young man replied with determination and a confident look.
"Hmph, very well…"
"Don't think you've won just because you got a new gimmick! Guards!" As Kamoshida ordered, two of the guards rose up from the ground. "Kill that annoying pest!" On cue, the knights dissolved into a black puddle before emerging as the same monsters that fought Cinderace. "I'll show you the strength of my most loyal men!"
"Let's see if you can!" Ren boasted as a wisp of blue flames appeared in front of it as he pulled a dagger from it.
"Now, use my powers! Channel the energy within you and unleash it!" Arsene instructed him before he uttered a word that would eventually get used by him.
"Eiha!" With the snap of Arsene's finger, a black, red, and white energy struck one of the monsters from the floor, hurting the monster in the process. The other one proceeded flew forward with the intent of hitting him with the lantern.
"Now swing your blade!"
With no hesitation, he dodged the strike swiftly from the other monster before he spun and retaliated with a blade in hand, taking a chunk of damage to it.
"This power of mine is now yours to command!" The being told him. "Kill them however you want. Run wild to your heart's content!" He boomed once again, pointing at the two weakened monsters. Normally, Ren would hesitate to take a life from other living beings, especially humans. But since these two were unnatural and were trying to kill him, he felt no reason to repay the favor in kind.
"Ravage them! Arsene!" By snapping two of his fingers at the same time, the same dark energy struck both of them, destroying the monsters as they dissipated midair. The young man sighed in relief as it was now over. Arsene then disappeared before the mask materialized on his face.
"Holy shit... " Sakamoto finally spoke as Ren turned towards him."What was that just now?"
Just before he could answer that, Ren saw Kamoshida approaching with the intent of hitting him himself.
"Why you little—" He cursed before Kamoshida was tackled by Ryuji, as payback for his treatment earlier.
"Ha! You like that, asshole?" The young man boasted.
"Hurry! Get the keys!" Ren ordered, pointed out to the keys on the floor.
"You mean this?" Sakamoto snatched the keys before he and the masked teen ran outside and then culminated in Sakamoto locked the cells, with Kamoshida still in it. "Okay, it's locked."
Kamoshida groaned as he picked himself from the ground while holding his head.
"Hey, what was that just now? And what's with the sudden wardrobe change?" As the blonde haired teen asked that, Ren's current clothes dissolved in a flash of blue fire as his school uniform had returned. "Whoa! It turns back to normal!"
Their moment was interrupted as a certain king beat his fists against the bars, surprising the two of them.
"You bastards!" Kamoshida shouted.
"God, this's effin' nuts!" Sakamoto scratched his head. "Anyway, let's scram while we still can!"
"Right." Ren nodded as he went ahead while the other teen threw the keys into the stream in front of him.
"Goddamn thieves…" The king growled. "After them, don't let any of them escape!"
Next: Chapter 3: Welcome to Shujin Academy
Chapter 2's done so stay tuned for the next because it will appeared real soon.