Chapter 3: Welcome to Shujin Academy
Disturbing was one of the few words the young Galar Champion could find. Why? He noticed that every single cell contained high schoolers, who were all males. Not that he found this sexist or nothing, but it was downright weird. And some of them were in their school's PE uniforms.
"I'm starting to think this castle is more than what it seems. Because most of the prisoners here are students from some school." Ace commented while looking at all of the cells around him. "And no signs of other Pokémon either."
(We'll think about that later, 'cause I just found something up ahead.)" Cinderace pointed forward before he ran towards it.
"Hey! Wait up!" Ace proceeded to follow after him, which he proceeded to take the downstairs. When he stopped, he saw what appeared to be a drawbridge that was raised up. "It looks like a drawbridge or something." The young man proceeded to look for any mechanism he could find to lower said drawbridge, but he didn't find any.
"There must be something on the other side." Ace then pulled out a Net Ball. "Help out, Butterfree!" The Poke Ball opened up as another Pokémon emerged from it.
This time, it was a purple Pokémon that vaguely resembles a butterfly. Unlike the insect it was based on, it only has two body segments and four light blue legs. The upper pair of legs resemble small, three-fingered hands, while the lower pair resembles long, digit-less feet. It has two black antennae, a light blue snout with two fangs underneath, and large, red compound eyes. Its two pairs of wings are white with black venation and the two oval scales on the lower part of its wings were also black. In its species, this would classify it as a female Pokémon.
"(You called… Ace?)" Butterfree asked him timidly.
"I want you to go to the other side of the bridge and see if you can find something to lower this bridge." Ace told her.
"(I-I can do that… If you want me to, that is.)" Butterfree then proceeded to fly through the stream that separated two sides. Once she flew on the other side of the bridge, she began to look for something that could help her Trainer. "(Now let's see what I can find.)" She proceeded to look around her before she spotted a statue of Kamoshida, which she could sense something from. "(This could be the ugliest statue that I've ever seen.)" The Butterfly Pokémon proceeded to look for the hidden mechanism on the statue. "(Where is it?)"
"Try pulling the mouth down." An unknown voice told her.
"(Oh! Right…)" Without caring whose voice belonged to, Butterfree proceeded to use her foot to pull the mouth, causing the eyes to glow yellow before the bridge began to lower itself. "(Thank you—Hmm?)" When she turned around and thanked whoever helped her out, Butterfree noticed that there wasn't anyone around her.
"(Who was that just now?)" She tried to look for the one who spoke to her, but Butterfree got nothing.
"Thanks for the help there, Butterfree!" She turned to her Trainer, who was crossing the bridge with Cinderace. "I guess I can rely on you to look for a secret mechanism."
"(Thank you, but…)" The Bug and Flying type Pokémon began. "(That wasn't entirely me.)"
"(What do you mean?)" Cinderace asked.
"Hey, you over there!" The same voice could be heard, but this time it was directed towards Ace.
"Who's there?" Ace asked, putting his guard up.
"(The voice came from that cell.)" Cinderace stated, pointing at the farthest cell to their right.
"Let's see who it is." The young Galar Champion proceeded to head towards said cell. Once he arrived in front of the cell, he widened and saw the prisoner inside it. "What in the world…"
The prisoner in question was an anthropomorphic and bipedal tuxedo cat-like creature with a large spheroidal head. Its fur is predominantly black, except for the limbs and tail which appears to be white as well as the bottom front half of its face. It wore a mask that covered the upper half of its face with elliptic eyes consisting of white sclerae, blue irises and black pupils Its outer ears are black with white inner ears. It also has a yellow scarf around his neck and a black utility belt around his hips, with two golden buttons and two bags attached. Ace could see the pink paw pads on its paw.
"Holy crap… Who are you?" Ace mouthed. Upon first glance, he thought the creature is another cat Pokémon like Meowth, but he could tell that this one is… different . Ace hoped he knew what it was.
"You're not a soldier of this castle, are you? Get me out of here!" The creature said, surprising Ace.
"Whoa! You can talk!?"
"Of course, I can! Why wouldn't I be?" It retorted. "Those knights left the key in front you, so you should be able to get me out of here."
"And why should I trust you?" Ace stated. "For all I know, you're gonna backstab me the first chance you got."
"I'm not with them, okay? If I was, I wouldn't be in this cell. " The Pokémon-like creature told him. "If it makes you feel better, I can tell you something that you want to know. That includes something about this castle."
That offer intrigued Ace's curiosity. As much as he would just forget about him and leave, he couldn't. Not just finding the missing Pokémon, but he was rather curious about this castle the moment he first woke up in it. Especially when he found several students, particularly males, locked up in the castle's dungeon. But this creature seemed to be quite knowledgeable about what was going on. It could also lead him in finding some other Pokémon that may have ended up in the castle.
"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to team up with you." Ace proceeded to pick up the key before he began to unlock the cell.
"I'm glad that you're reasonable." The creature remarked. "What's your name, anyway?"
But just as he was about to answer, Ace was interrupted by the arrival of a certain pair.
"Look! There's someone up ahead!" Ace and his Pokémon turned to see a pair of male high schoolers, who were running towards them. One of them had glasses and frizzy hair while the other was spiky blonde.
"Those guys…" Ace could tell that those uniforms they were wearing were the same as some of the prisoners he saw earlier. Though, the blonde teen was wearing a yellow tee instead of the white turtlenecks that most students and his friend wore.
"(Can't say I remember seeing those two in Galar before.)" Cinderace stated.
"(Yeah.)" Butterfree nodded.
"Phew. Glad to know we're not the only ones out here." The blonde teen sighed in relief.
"Did you get captured here too?" The frizzy haired one asked him.
"Nope. But don't tell me you were." Ace asked.
"We were caught off by surprise, that's all." The glasses teen said.
"Dude! Check those two that were with him!" The blonde young man pointed his friend towards Cinderace and Butterfree. "What kinda animals are they?"
"A white rabbit and a purple bodied butterfly?" His friend muttered as he observed them. He saw plenty of rabbits and butterflies in his life, but none were exactly like the two in front of him. And they were also different from the monsters that fought him.
"What's wrong? You two sounded like you never seen a Pokémon in your life before." Ace joked.
"Pokémon?" Both of them sounded dumbfoundedly, shocking Ace.
"You two are joking, right? You never heard of Pokémon at all? Not even a little bit?" He asked.
"Sorry, man. We don't know what a Pokémon is." The blonde young man said.
"I think that's what that white rabbit and butterfly is." The other teen told him.
"You for real, man?" The blonde young man flabbergasted.
"Here. I'll show you." Ace proceeded to show them the entry of his two Pokémon to them via the Pokédex feature in his Rotom Phone.
"Cinderace, the Striker Pokémon. A Fire type. It juggles a pebble with its feet, turning it into a burning soccer ball. Its shots strike opponents hard and leave them scorched. Butterfree, the Butterfly Pokémon. A Bug and Flying type. In battle, it flaps its wings at great speed to release highly toxic dust into the air. It also helps them repel water when they gather honey during the rain."
"Whoa." Both of the two were in awe as they heard the entry from Ace's Pokédex. Never have they imagined that an animal could do that. Heck, one of the creatures they saw could attack an enemy with a flaming soccer ball, which was surprising.
"Hey! I thought you were trying to get me out!" This made Ace remember what he was trying to do.
"Oh right. Sorry about that." The young Galar Champion proceeded to head to the cell and unlocked it, allowing the cat-like creature to step foot out of its captivity.
"Finally! Freedom tastes so good~!" The creature said as it stretched it paws upward.
"Whoa! Is that cat a Pokémon too? But why can it talk?" The blonde haired teen asked, offending the creature with his cat remark.
"I'm NOT a cat! Or this Pokémon you mentioned! I am Morgana!" The creature named Morgana corrected.
'Morgana, huh? Catchy name though…' Ace pondered.
"I think we should get going." The frizzy haired teen told them. "Those guards are going to catch up to us soon."
"Yeah. No sense of lingering here any further." Ace agreed. "Oh, I'm Ace M. Wilbert by the way."
"Ren Amamiya." The glasses teen introduced himself.
"And I'm Ryuji Sakamoto." The other teen added.
"Now that you all properly introduced yourselves, why don't I show you the way out of this castle? Come on!" Morgana said as the three boys followed it through the bridge.
As they sprinted forward, they were interrupted by a pair of guards who just happened to have just turned from a corner.
"Oh shit! It's them!" Ryuji exclaimed as Ace saw a flash of blue fire in his new friend before he was revealed to have donned a new attire.
"Whoa! How did you do that?" Ace questioned in astonishment.
"I'm not sure yet." Ren answered.
"You amateur! Stay still!" Morgana told Ryuji before he turned to Ren. "Hey, you. You can fight, right? Let's do this."
"I can help out too, you know." Ace said as Cinderace and Butterfree ready to battle.
"Come… Zorro!" Morgana shouted as a pillar of blue flames rose behind it.
Emerging from the fire was a muscular being with black leather shirt that had a cape fluttering on his back, a cowboy hat that merged to his skull, a pair of Z-shaped mustaches, and a rapier which he held like a toothpick because of his large hands. He proceeded to do a Z-shaped slash motion.
"Okay, that's not something you see everyday." Ace commented as his Pokémon agreed with him.
"You got that power too?" Ryuji asked as the guards in front of them dissolved into a black puddle before transforming again.
"We'll promptly shut them up!" Morgana boasted as the guards turned into two Jack O' Lantern-like monsters and two small, red imps that a long spike projected from their crotch. To which the boys cringed at the sight.
"Damn Shadows! They have taken intercept positions. Meaning they hold nothing back and are seriously trying to kill us!" The cat-like creature then pulled out a sword that was almost as long as it's body.
'Shadows? So that's what these monsters are called? That'll make things easier.' Ace took a mental note as he turned to one of his Pokémon. "You're up, Butterfree!"
"(I guess I don't have a choice.)" She muttered before flying towards the front of her Trainer.
"Let's go, Arsene! Eiha!" Ren's mask disappeared as Arsene appeared from behind.
"Whoa! That looks cool, really!" Ace complimented as Arsene used a dark-type spell to damage one of the red demons, but it's not as much as hurting one of the pumpkin Shadows. "I guess that Impidimp-looking Shadow has quite the resilience in him."
"I see you're still green in this sort of thing." Morgana told the frizzy haired teen. "This is how you fight! Zorro! Garu!"
The muscular swordsman do a Z-slash motion, causing a gust of wind to attack one of the pumpkin Shadows, which hurt it greatly as it fell to the ground, dazed.
"That attack is like a Flying type move!" Ace commented.
"Strike at the enemy's weakness to take them down! Use that opening to strike again!" Morgana instructed Ren. "That's the most basic of basics, so I hope you remember it well."
"I guess that explains why those Shadows fell down when some type of move hits them really hard." Ace muttered, recounting how the Shadows were defeated easily because they were by their weakness. "Use Air Slash on one of those Pumpkaboo Shadows!"
"(R-Right!)" Butterfree's wings glowed light blue. She then flapped her wings, firing multiple light-blue glowing blades of energy from them at one of the targeted Shadows, defeating it instantly.
"Whoa! You took them out in one hit!" Ryuji exclaimed. "And with that frail lookin' butterfly too."
"(That's our bud, for you.)" Cinderace smiled. "(He could make the impossible possible.)"
"I see you have acquainted yourself in battling here." Morgana complimented, impressed by his feat.
"I am a Pokémon Trainer for a reason, you know." Ace told him. "And besides, this isn't my first time battling these creeps."
Ren proceeded to endure a hit from one of the remaining pumpkin Shadows, to which he skidded backwards slightly.
"My turn!" The young man proceeded to lunge towards the pumpkin Shadow and then swung his knife at him, killing it due to being weakened by Zorro.
"Butterfree, use Quiver Dance! and then Pollen Puff!"
Without any hesitation, Butterfree's body begins to glow white. It then starts dancing around one of the flying imps before a rising red aura briefly engulfed her.
"Take this!" One of the imps proceeded to take a swing at Butterfree before she gracefully dodged it. "What!?"
"Whoa! That butterfly just dodged that attack like it was no big deal."
"That's Quiver Dance." Ace replied. "It's a status move that increases the user's Speed, Special Attack, and Special Defense."
"I don't really get about that shit, but I think I got it." Ryuji stated.
"(Time to take your medicine!)" The Butterfly Pokemon then created a purple ball of pollen before she threw it at the opponent, causing it to explode upon contact which defeated the Shadow.
"Got one!" Ace cheered.
"No way!" The last remaining Shadow exclaimed, couldn't believe that a couple of intruders managed to defeat his comrades.
"Let's finish this one up, Ace." Ren told the young champion.
"You got it, Ren." Ace then turned to Cinderace. "You're up, Cinderace!"
"(All right! I'm all fired up now!)" The Striker Pokemon tagged out with Butterfree as he was ready to deliver the final blow.
"Go down! Eiha!"
"Wrap this up with Pyro Ball!"
Both Arsene and Cinderace proceeded to unleash their attacks on the hapless Shadow, hitting it with the dark spell and the Pyro Ball at the same time, defeating for good as it dissolved in midair.
"Looks like we're done!" Ace proceeded to high five Ren, with the latter return in kind. "Good job there, man."
"You too." Ren smiled.
"Not bad." They then turned towards Morgana and Ryuji.
"You two were great out there. Especially you, Ren." The cat-like creature turned towards him. "Your Persona is pretty powerful."
"Persona?" The boys repeated.
"I take it you were referring to those humanoid giants that came out of you and Ren?" Ace folded his arms.
"Yes. You both saw how Ren here ripped off his mask when he summoned it, right?" The two of them nodded. "Well, everybody wears a mask deep within their heart. By removing that…"
Its explanations were interrupted as a flash of blue flame appeared on Ren as his outfit had reverted back to his school uniform.
"Huh? He turned back to normal…" Ryuji pointed out.
"Hm, it looks like you don't have full control over your power yet." Morgana stated. "The transformation shouldn't normally dissolve like that. After all-"
"Rgrh, that's enough! This crap doesn't make any sense." The blonde teen interrupted it.
"Can't you just sit still and listen for once, Blondie!?" Morgana scolded him.
"My name's Ryuji, you stupid cat!" Ryuji retorted.
"And don't call me a cat, either!"
"All right, that's enough you two." Ace proceeded to try and calmed them down. "For now, we should find a way to escape."
"Yeah. Let's go!" Ren said before they proceeded to run with Morgana leading them.
Just as they were about to cross the second bridge, Ryuji saw someone in the cell that
"Hold on a sec!" He stopped them before he went near to a cell to his left.
"I feel like I've seen what this dude's wearin' before…" Ryuji stated before he tried to remember where he had seen the outfit. "Ahh, dammit! I'm too flustered! I can't remember anything right now!"
"Come on, let's go!" Morgana urged him.
"Hold on, dammit!"
"What is it? We need to go, fast!" That cat-like creature told him.
"But… who are these guys?" Ryuji questioned.
"Look. I know you're worried about them, but you really should worry about yourself for now!" Ace told him.
"And besides, they're-"
"There!" Morgana was interrupted as they turned to see a guard standing near them.
"You should've listened to me... !" Morgana stated.
"Looks like we'll have to fight our way through it." Ren stated as his outfit changed again.
"(We've beat these losers before, and we'll be more than happy to do it again.)" Cinderace stated as he stood in front of Ace.
"I'm glad you two stick to your guns." The cat-like creature complimented them as the guards transformed into a pair of female fairies with a blue bodysuit and boots.
"Looks like they're raring to go too." Morgana said as the others sans Ryuji prepared to take a stand.
(In the faculty office of Shujin Academy)
Kawakami started to get weary as she was still waiting for Ren to arrive at school, but the aforementioned transfer student had yet to arrive.
"It's the fourth period already." Kawakami sighed as she was getting tired waiting for Ren. "Sakura-san said that Amamiya-kun left the house this morning. Should I contact the police?" She then shook her head. "No, that'll just be more of a hassle…" The frowning teacher proceeded to sigh again "What did I do to deserve this?"
(In the castle)
The last fairy cried as she dissolved in mid air, as a result of getting hit by Arsene's Eiha.
"That's all of them." Ace stated.
"All right! Let's get away before more show up!" Morgana advised.
"Hold on, we can't just leave these guys here!" Ryuji said, still standing in front of the cell.
"You really don't get it, do you? Hrgh… There's no time to explain." Morgana retorted.
"Don't you think you should get out of here before worrying about rescuing the others?" The young Champion said. "You stupid or something?"
"Well, I don't see you thinkin' of a way to get them out of here." Ryuji retorted.
"I would if I could, but there's so much stuff I don't know about this place. My plate is probably already full as it is." He replied, getting angry at Ryuji's narrow mind before regaining his composure. "In any case, you should come back later when you're really prepared."
Ace proceeded to go ahead, with his Pokémon following him.
"And besides, there's no point of rescuing someone that isn't real." Morgana simply said before it followed suit.
'Not real? I wonder what he means by that exactly?' Ren pondered as he took a mental note on what Morgana said.
"Dammit… Fine, I'm coming!" Ryuji reluctantly caught up with the others, with Ren also followed them.
Running a few steps, they proceeded to open the door, which led to the other passageway.
"The entrance hall is right above here! The exit's close… Keep it up!" Morgana told them as they went straight into the passageway where Ace got attacked yesterday. They then proceeded to stop at a hallway with two doors. "We're here!"
"Finally! We're saved!" Ryuji said before he ran towards one of the doors.
"Hold up!" Ace proceeded to pull him by the blazer, stopping him from entering the door.
"What the hell, man!?" Ryuji exclaimed.
"That door only leads further into the castle." The young Champion told him. "I know that because I have been through yesterday."
"You for real?"
"And besides, it's this way!" Morgana said as it went through the other door to the left.
"H-Hey, wait up!" Ryuji and the others proceeded to follow Morgana… right into a room with a bunch of shelves on it.
"Where are we supposed to get out from here!? There aren't even any windows!" The blonde teen told Morgana, oblivious to the fact that there was a way to get out.
"Ugh, amateur…" Morgana muttered, getting tired of Ryuji's idiocy. "This is the most basic of basics."
Ren noticed the ventilation shaft above the shelves before he made an epiphany of how they're getting out of the castle.
"Is it the ventilation shaft?" The frizzy haired teen asked.
"That's right! It seems you have a natural talent for this." Morgana said.
"Oh? I haven't thought about that, to be honest." Ace said.
"I see…" Ryuji finally caught up with what Morgana meant. "Then we'll just gotta get that metallic mesh off!" He proceeded to run towards a shelf. "And a one, and a—" The young man proceeded to climb the shelf to reach out to the mesh. While his attempt was successful, he fell to the floor butt-first, along with the mesh that closed the ventilation shaft. "Oww… Crap! The enemy didn't hear us, did they?"
"They will if you just stand there." Morgana told him.
"Seriously, we're finally gettin' outta here!" Ryuji told Ren.
"Save the celebration until you actually got out of here." Ace suggested.
"Wait? You two are not coming with us?" Ryuji asked.
"Oh I will, in time." The young Champion replied. "After you."
"As for me, I'm staying here." Morgana added. "There's something that I still have to do. For now, we're going our separate ways."
"Thanks for the help." Ren said.
"Heh. You got manners." The cat-like creature told the teen. "Be careful on your way."
Just like that, Ren and Ryuji proceeded to climb on the shelf and into the vents as they proceeded to crawl their way out.
"They're not bad." Ace commented as he pulled out two Poké Balls for Cinderace and Butterfree. "Good job, you two. Now get some rest." He said as two red lights emanated from the button that was located on the center of the Poké Ball, engulfing them as they along with the light returned towards their respective balls.
"That's very convenient. So you actually put them inside little balls?" Morgana asked.
"Well, Pokémon are called "Pocket Monsters" for a reason, you know." Ace answered. "That being said, I need to get going now. There's something that I want to confirm. I'll find a way to come back here once I'm done."
"All right, I'll be waiting." Morgana then saw him off as Ace climbed the shelf and into the vent before he made his way out.
Once he's gone, Morgana couldn't help but smirk at this. "Those three are pretty useful. Especially the frizzy haired one. Though I'm also curious about that one with the hat. If my judgements were correct…"
(With Ace)
Once he had gotten through the vent, Ace proceeded to run out of the castle's main entrance then ran into the back alley. After making some turns there, he made a stop at the main street. He proceeded to look around at his new environment and the many people who were walking past him. The most obvious contrasts are that he didn't recognize some of the buildings from either Galar or the other regions and he doesn't seem to find any Pokémon around him. Which could only lead one possible conclusion...
"I'm in another world." Ace mouthed. He had his suspicions on where he is the moment the two high schoolers he met claimed they didn't know what a Pokémon is until he showed them two Pokédex entries of his Pokémon. Combining that to what he was seeing right now made sense that he's in a world where Pokémon doesn't exist.
"Like I'm tryin' to say… I don't know what's goin' on either!" He heard a familiar voice as he turned to his right, which Ace realized it was Ren and Ryuji. He also noticed that they were approached by two police officers, who didn't seem to believe in their stories.
"We passed Shujin on our way here. There was nothing out of the ordinary about it." One of the policemen told him as Ace proceeded to hide at the alleyway to eavesdrop their conversation. "If you spout any more nonsense, I'll contact your school. Is that what you want?"
"C'mon, say somethin'!" Ryuji told Ren.
"What do you want me to say if there's nothing to say." He told his new friend, shocking him. "We shouldn't really waste more time than we already have. And we're already late as it is right now." He proceeded to leave him, with the intent of heading to the school.
"W-Wait a sec! Is that guy for real?" The blonde teen muttered. As it pained him to let it go, he decided that he had no choice. "... Fine, I'm goin'!" He proceeded to catched up to Ren as he went ahead.
"Kids these days… They shouldn't stick their noses where it doesn't belong…" One of the officers stated as Ace came out of his hiding spot.
"Shujin. So that's the school's name." Ace muttered. 'Now that you mentioned it, I did see a sign that said "Shujin" written in one of the languages I learned back in Sinnoh. And it's not too different from back home too…' He pondered before he nodded himself. 'I know what to do.' He proceeded to stare at the two policemen, who were just done calling someone.
(With Ren)
"Is this for real…?" Ryuji widened his eyes along with Ren as he finally saw the place they had on their mind. Unfortunately, it was not the medieval castle like they hoped for, rather the gray building that they were familiar with.
"It's our school, all right. No matter what we think otherwise." The frizzy haired teen stated.
"I'm sure we came the same way… What's goin' on here… ?"
"That's exactly what I want to ask you." The two troubled teens looked ahead and saw a man coming out of the building. "We received a call from the police."
"Tch! That damn cop snitched on us after all!" Ryuji exclaimed while he kicked the ground.
"Well now, it's rare not to see you alone." The man noticed Ren with Ryuji. "Where were you roaming around until this time?"
"Uhh… a ca- a castle?" He answered bluntly.
"So, you have no intention of giving an honest answer?" The teacher asked again.
"What's this about a "castle"?" A familiar voice could be heard as a certain someone came into view, who was none other than Kamoshida. He was in the attire when he talked to Kawakami.
"Kamoshida!?" Ryuji exclaimed.
"You seem so carefree, Sakamoto." The supposed "king" told him. "Quite a difference from when you did morning practice for the track team."
"Shuddup! It's your fault that-"
"How dare you speak that way to Mr. Kamoshida!" The teacher besides Kamoshida snapped at Ryuji. "*sigh* There's not much leeway left for you, you know?"
"He's the one that provoked me!"
"Do you really want to get expelled that badly? Because we can do that if that's how you are going to behave." The man threatened him. "Whatever reasons you may have, you still need to explain yourself. Follow me!"
"What!? This is bullshit!" He complained.
"Come now. I should have been more considerate, too." Kamoshida intervened. "Let's just say that we both were to blame."
"Well, if you say so…" The man backed off before he looked at Ryuji. "Still, you need to come with me. It's impossible for you to be this extremely late."
"Fine…" The young man replied as Kamoshida turned to Ren.
"By the way, you're that new transfer student, correct? Ren Amamiya?" The coach asked him as Ryuji reluctantly walked upstairs. He glared at Kamoshida one more time before he went inside the building with the teacher. Once Ryuji was gone, the coach looked back at the new transfer student, who the former felt he had seen the latter before. "Hmm? Have we met somewhere before?"
"You were in a car when you offered a girl a ride." Ren answered.
"Oh right. So it was you back at the station. " The coach finally remembered. "Well, I'll overlook this just for today." He then put his hands onto his hips. "I'm sure you've heard this before from the principal, but you'll be automatically expelled if you cause any trouble. Understand?"
"Can you overlook more?"
"Is that supposed to be a joke? I'm not laughing." Kamoshida was offended by the remark. "At any rate, you should hurry up and go to the faculty office. I'm sure Ms. Kawakami's tired of waiting."
Ren proceeded to walk through the stairs. But just when the teen was about to walk past him…
"Good luck trying to "enjoy" your new school life." He said to his ear as Ren kept walking forward until he entered the school building. The young man couldn't help but to notice that the supposed "king" knew about his past.
As Kamoshida went inside, a certain Pokemon Trainer arrived from the back alley shortcut.
"So this is the place. Those coppers weren't lying when they say they saw nothing out of the ordinary." Ace muttered. "One minute's a castle, and then a school the other. Even I can't wrap my head around it…" He then proceeded to shrug off. "If I want to know the connections between this school and that castle, then I gotta go incognito then." With no hesitation, he proceeded to walk towards the building.
(In the faculty office)
"Seriously. How can you be this late on your first day?" Kawakami scolded him as soon as Ren approached her. "You do know this is more about you than it is about me, right?"
"I'm sorry. My train was late." He replied.
"Normally, I wouldn't believe that excuse, but it is true that the train schedule has changed a little ever since the subway accident yesterday. But you're still way too late." His homeroom teacher stated. "But beyond that, I heard you were caught along with Sakamoto-kun."
"You mean Ryuji…?"
"I see you have met him." Kawakami said. "But I wouldn't get too close with him if I were you. That kid's nothing but trouble."
"He's pretty nice, actually." Ren admitted.
"Nice isn't one of the few words to describe him." She retorted. "Although he usually isn't like that when he was spending his time on the track and field though…" The teacher proceeded to look at Ren once again. "Anyway, the break's almost over. Classes will end after the fifth period due to the subway accident. I'll have you introduce yourself when class resumes. Follow me."
After that, Ren proceeded to follow Kawakami as she led him to his classroom.
(Meanwhile…)
"Come in." Kobayakawa responded to the knocking of the door as a certain someone entered his office. "Are you the one that those officers mentioned?"
"Yup. That's me, all right." Ace then sat on the chair that was in front of the fat man's desk.
"So what is it you like to discuss, young man?" He asked.
"I'll get straight to the point." The young man began. "I heard that this was one of the most prestigious schools in the city, isn't that right?"
"Indeed. And it's mostly because of Mr. Kamoshida, who was an olympic medalist, through his contribution to the school's volleyball team." The man stated.
'Kamoshida... So that must be the name of the king of that castle… Interesting. I already see a connection between this school and the castle.' Ace noted. "So what I'm trying to say is that I'm interested in enrolling as a student here."
"You want to enroll here?" The principal repeated. "Is there a particular reason why you want to enroll now of all times?"
"It's not something I want to talk about to just anyone. The only thing you need to know is that I had problems with my previous school when I was a second year. So, I don;t have time to contact this school." He explained, making up the reason on a whim.
"In that case, I cannot allow you to enroll here."
"Oh? But you were completely fine accepting a guy with a criminal record as a transfer student here." He asked, shocking the man.
"How did you know about that?"
"Incidentally, I heard a couple of students gossiping about that on my way to your here." Ace said. "But rather than turning him away, you decided to let him become a student here."
"We had our own reasons to do so..." Kobayakawa started to become nervous.
"I bet you do. Tell me if I'm wrong that you were one of those types of principals who only care about keeping the school's reputation. Well?"
"Y-You're not completely wrong there..." The man agreed. The fat principal couldn't rebuff that statement back to him.
"You already accepted that guy here, so it wouldn't hurt you to accept someone like me here. How about it?"
"Be it as it may, there are other factors to consider-" The man tried to reason but he was interrupted.
"The answer's still no, then? Figures." Ace stood up as he turned his back. "Then I guess you wouldn't mind if people were to "discover" your secret deal with the police…"
"What did you say!?" Kobayakawa exclaimed, shocked that someone would know about that. In all honesty, he didn't actually know what he was saying, but the young man knew he would get a reaction from the fat man if he mentioned something like that. And as he expected, the man took the bait.
"Think about it, what would the media react if they found out about the principal of a well-known school making shady deals with the police? Especially if it's about letting a certain star teacher of yours do whatever he 'll be a huge scandal in your school for sure."
The principal gulped a lump on his throat as what this foreigner was implying. It would definitely damage the school's reputation if he were to let someone such as him go with knowledge he shouldn't be aware of. If that were to happen, he will definitely get punished by him.
"But then again, there's no way they would believe something from someone as young as me. Yeah, I guess I was an idiot for thinking it would work out." Ace then turned to the principal. "Welp, I better get going. Sorry if I had to waste your precious time like that. Bye."
He proceeded to make his way towards the exit. But just as he was about to reach out to the door…
"Wait." Ace turned to see the man, calling out for him. "If I accept your enrollment as a student here, would you promise not to share what you know to anyone?" He told him.
"I might. Is that a yes or a no?"
Kobayakawa thought long and hard about it before he reached a decisive conclusion. It was, but a small price to pay in exchange of Ace not spreading the information.
"*sigh*If that's what it takes to keep you quiet, then so be it." The man finally relented. "However, should you cause any trouble, especially showing disrespect towards our star teacher, I won't hesitate to expel you and have you arrested for blackmail. Is that clear?"
"Fine by me." Ace said. "Just be sure you hold your end of the bargain too."
"I will. You have my word." The man stated as he pulled out some documents onto his desk . "That being said, there's some papers that I like for you to fill. If you can submit them by tomorrow morning, you can start joining the class starting tomorrow. Though you'll have to wait for your student ID, which you can only receive by one week after you submitted the forms."
"Not a bad trade, I'll take it." Ace proceeded to take the papers before putting them in his bag. "It's for the best that you keep this between just the two of us. No one, not even your favorite teacher, should know about this."
"I would love nothing more than to do just that."
"I should get going now. So see you tomorrow." Ace bid farewell as he left the office.
Once he was gone, the man proceeded to lean back as he sighed.
"I just hope he doesn't run his mouth about this immediately." Kobayakawa worried before he pressed the intercom device on his desk. "Can I have Ms. Mizuhara come to my office once the fifth period is over?"
(Two hours later…)
Today's class was finally finished as Ren proceeded to exit his classroom. Still, when he introduced himself to the class, the other students had found out about his record, to which he wondered how it could leak that fast. But before he could leave.
"Amamiya-kun. A word?" The young man turned to see his homeroom teacher walking towards, with the intent of talking something.
"Is there something you want to tell me?" Ren asked.
"Just telling you that you should head straight home. We've already informed Sakura-san about your late arrival, so expect to get a scolding from him." Kawakami said.
"I was just thinking about that, actually."
"I hope you do." She hoped. "Also, I recommend that you steer clear of Sakamoto-kun. He's-"
"I'm what, teach?" The two turned to see the one person that they were talking about.
"Speak of the devil…" She muttered. "What do you want? I heard the police caught you cutting classes today."
"Ugh… It was nothin'." Ryuji simply stated.
"And you haven't dyed your hair back to black either…"
"Sorry about that." The troubled teen proceeded to approach Ren. "... I'll be waitin' on the rooftop." He whispered to him before he went ahead.
Seeing this made Kawakami sighed once more.
"Now you know why I told you not to get involved with him. Understood?" After uttering those warnings, she left him.
Just as he was about to head to the stairs, he saw Kamoshida and the principal walking together as they came out from downstairs.
"Why did you allow a student like him to transfer here? He's already started associating with Sakamoto." Kamoshida questioned him. "A student with a criminal record, and a culprit of an assault case. At this rate, it'd be pointless how much I contribute to the school."
"Now, don't be like that…" Kobayakawa assured him. "This school counts on you, Kamoshida-kun. You are our star." He then remembered about a certain thing. "Speaking of which, there will be another transfer student who will be joining us tomorrow."
"Really? Is it another troublesome kid like Amamiya?"
"I don't know. All I know is that we received a call from the police about a young foreigner who suddenly wants to transfer here."
"And you decide to let him enroll here?" Kamoshida asked with a raised eyebrow. "A foreign student with no clear background?"
"It will be fine, I assure you." The fat principal replied. "Steady built-ups are necessary behind such brilliance, after all.
"Your troubles seemed to never end, do they, Principal Kobayakawa?" The coach then nodded as he smiled. "All right, I understand. I'll continue to do my best to answer your expectations of me."
"That's what I like to hear. I'll be counting on you." The obese man proceeded to walk away as Kamoshida went upstairs, unaware that Ren was eavesdropping on them.
"Time to get going then." The frizzy haired teen proceeded to go upstairs, passing the third floor until he reached the building's rooftop.
When he opened the door, he spotted Ryuji and a certain someone as well, who were sitting by a stack of unused classroom desks and chairs. There was also a small garden box in the corner, filled with some greens and freshly watered soil.
"Glad you can make it, man." Ryuji greeted him.
"Yo!" Ace said.
"What is he doing here?" The young man asked Ryuji.
"Dunno. He's already here when I first came in."
"Just enjoying the scenery, nothing more and nothing less." Ace stated. "I take it you two wants to discuss what happened today?"
"You could tell?" Ren asked.
"Call it a Trainer's intuition." Ace replied, which confused the two of them.
"Anyway…" Ryuji began. "I bet Kawakami were talking about something like, "Don't get involved with him", huh?"
"I think she said something like that." The frizzy haired one said.
"I see. Guess we're in the same boat." Ryuji commented as he Ren sat by a desk. "Turns out, everyone here seemed to know about that criminal record of yours. No wonder you're so gutsy."
"That's what I heard, too." Ace added. "But honestly, that didn't change my view on you though."
"You think so?" Ren asked.
"After the crazy shit you pulled to save my ass, I'm the same. So thanks." Ryuji told him. "But, damn… we almost got killed back there at the castle… Kamoshida and the cat… It wasn't a dream, right?"
"Those events were as clear as day." Ren answered.
"Good to hear I'm not the only one." The bottled blonde teen smiled. "But man, that Kamoshida back there…"
"I think I got an answer for that." The two high school teens turned to Ace. "Based on what I saw back in that castle and how this school spoke highly of him, it's safe to say that he's a king in a way."
"Now that you mentioned it…" Ren turned to Ryuji. "Didn't you say about how Kamoshida is like a king of a castle this morning?"
"I kinda did, but what're you-" The vulgar teen started to understand what he was implying. "I think I get it. But what I don't get is that why that asshole just wavin' around as if nothing happened? He should know about what happened back there."
"That, I'm still working on it." Ace said. "But there's also not much I know about Kamoshida, other than him being a big shot athlete."
"I could tell you two about that." Ryuji told Ren and Ace. "All I know is because of that, everyone's afraid speakin' against him."
"Which would explain why he has more authority than that fatass principal does. And that's why the Kamoshida you saw in the castle acted just like what you've described him." Ace said.
"I get it." Ryuji then stood up. "Why don't we try findin'' a way to go back to the castle tomorrow? There's really something buggin' me that I can't describe."
"Yeah. If we're lucky, we could run into Morgana again." Ren suggested.
"That Morgana seemed to know more than he lets on." Ace added. "Plus, I was plannin' to do just that anyway."
"In that case, we'll do that once school's over." The blonde teen said. "That's all I had to say for now. Sorry to drag you out like this."
"It's not a problem." The frizzy haired teen said.
"You know… Since everyone's been talkin' about how unruly we are, we might as well give 'em what they want as a troublesome duo of the school." Ryuji grinned.
"Don't you mean a trio, Ryuji?" Ace added.
"What do ya mean? You're not a student here, y'know." The vulgar teen pointed out.
"No, but you'll probably will, right?" Ren asked the Galar Champion. "If those conversations between Kamoshida and the principal were to imply something."
"Wait, what!?"
"Good ears, huh?" Ace smirked. "Yup. I'm gonna be a student here, starting tomorrow."
"Are you for real!? How did that principal allow that?"
"Let's just say he needed a little "convincing" before we reached an agreement." Ace smiled.
Ren and Ryuji then shudder as they somehow sense what Ace does to the principal to let him enroll at Shujin.
"You're one scary dude, y'know that." Ryuji commented.
"Why thank you. It means a lot to me." Ace stood proudly.
"That's not a compliment." Ren told him.
"Welp, I'm gonna head home now. Seeya." With that, Ryuji left the room.
"I guess we're done." Ren stated.
"So… Ren, was it?' He turned to Ace. "Mind if I crash at your place for the night? Until I found a place to stay, that is?"
"I don't mind. But in exchange, can you help me with something?"
"Sure, pal." Ace nodded before they left the rooftop together.
As Ren and Ace left the school building, they were watched by the same woman who looked at Kamoshida yesterday.
The woman seemed to be in her early 20's. Her figure was just as tall and slim as Takamaki, as well as slightly endowed as her, and she has mid length black hair with blue highlights and fuchsia eyes. Her outfit consisted of a cyan skirt suit with magenta shirt underneath it and black high heels.
"So that's the one who will be going to my class?" The woman muttered, focusing her gaze on Ace. "There's really something different about him, all right. But I guess I'll know when we meet face-to-face." She proceeded to walk away.
(Few minutes later...)
"Man. I didn't know trains here can be so packed at this time of day." Ace commented as he and Ren had just got off the train from Shibuya.
"You'll get used to it." Ren assured. "After all, it's also because of the accident on the subway yesterday."
"Huh. I guess that's why."
They then proceeded to walk out of the station and into Yongen-Jaya. It didn't take long until they arrived at Leblanc.
"Wow. You're not kidding when you say you're staying at a cafe." Ace commented.
"There are a lot of things you don't know about me." Ren replied. "Stay behind me."
"Got it." The otherworldly young man nodded as the two proceeded to enter the shop.
As they entered the shop, they immediately saw Sojiro, who was standing behind the counter, glared towards Ren.
"I just got an interesting call from school today. Mind explaining yourself?" The cafe owner demanded.
"Well… I was just helping someone out just on my way to school." Ren lied, but at the same time, it was true. "A foreigner got his belongings stolen so I decided to help him out. I didn't realize I was late once I caught the thief with him."
"Did you now?" Sojiro asked, not believing his tale. "If you want to make something up, at least make it believable-"
"I can confirm that, sir." The cafe owner finally noticed Ace, who was right behind him. "Ace Wilbert's the name, and yes I was the foreigner he mentioned."
"So what he said about him helping you out was true?"
"Yup. Though he kinda insisted that he helped me out, even though he was on his way to school."
Sojiro gave a lot of thought about what Ace told him. From how the glasses man observed this unknown young man, he could tell that there was something about Ace that made him take his words for it. To be frank, he knew that they were lying to him, but at the same time, he also knew that they have good reasons to do so.
"Fine. I'll look the other way this time." Sojiro relented. "But only this one time, you understand?" He told Ren.
"I got it." The frizzy haired teen replied.
"It's good that you understand, so I don't have to explain it again. Stay out of trouble and I can guarantee that your probation will run without a hitch."
"I think he gets the picture." Ace said before he smelled something… something familiar. "This smell… Is this curry?"
"You can tell?" Sojiro replied. "Yeah, it's because I also served curry here too."
"For real?" Ace then felt his stomach grumbling. "Yeah. I haven't eaten much ever since coming here. Mind if I can have one?"
"Take a seat, then." The young Champion proceeded to take a seat by the counter. "Would you like to have coffee with that too?"
"Coffee and curry, huh?" Ace smiled. "Sure, let's go with that."
After a few minutes, Sojiro proceeded to bring the meal and drink to Ace, who immediately dug in. Once he tasted the curry, the young Champion was amazed at how delicious the curry is. And it certainly helps that the meal came with a cup of coffee, which also tastes very good. Of course, Ren also had the meal served to him, much to his relief.
"That's… the most delicious curry I ever had." Ace complimented.
"It's good to hear that." Sojiro smiled as he turned to Ren. "I'm closing up shop soon, so don't stay up too late, okay?"
"I understand." The frizzy haired teen nodded.
"All right." The middle aged man then turned to Ace. "Since you'll be staying here for tonight, can I ask that you keep an eye on him for me?"
"No problem." He replied.
Once Sojiro closed the shop, the two teens went upstairs in order to turn in for the day.
"If it's okay with you, I'll go sleep on the couch." Ace told Ren.
"Knock yourself out." Ren said as he changed his current attire to his sleepwear.
"And while I'm at it…" He pulled out a Poké Ball. "Come on out, Mimikyu!"
He threw the Poké Ball in the air as Mimikyu came out its Poké Ball.
"(What's up, Ace?)" The Disguise Pokémon greeted him with choking noises. He then turned to the other teen. "(Is that one of the guys the one you meet at that strange castle?)"
"Is that a Pokémon too?" Ren asked with curiosity.
"Yup." Ace replied to both questions. "Ren, meet Mimikyu. He's been with me ever since I was a kid."
"He doesn't look that strong."
"The thing with Pokémon is that appearance can be rather deceiving." The Pokémon Trainer explained. "He's small as a stuffed toy, sure, but Mimikyu's a competent battler. You'll see what I mean when you see him in action."
Then, the ringing of a phone was heard by the two.
"I'll get it." Ren said to Ace as he went downstairs to pick up the call.
Once the frizzy haired teen was gone, Ace then turned to Mimikyu.
"So what do you think of him?"
"(He's on okay kid.)" Mimikyu replied.
"Glad that you think that way." Ace folded his arms. "I had a feeling something is about to happen."
Ren then entered the attic via upstairs once more.
"So who was it, Ren?" The young Galar Champion asked.
"It was Sojiro." The frizzy haired teen answered. "He forgot to flip the sign when he left the shop, so he asked me to do it."
"I see."
Ace proceeded to pull a pillow from his bag, which surprised Ren at how something like a pillow could fit through a bag. The former stated he has a bike and his camping gear inside the bag, which surprised the latter even more. After that, they decided to go to sleep.
(In Kamoshida's Castle)
"Find those two miscreants!" A golden armored Shadow ordered his men before spreading out.
Once he left, two small animals came out from hiding. The two creatures are undoubtedly Pokémon. One is a Pokémon that Sonia has and the other is an unfamiliar Pokémon.
It is a maroon fox-like Pokémon with a slender body and a large head relative to its body size. It has long, black ears, white spots on its head that resemble eyebrows, and small dots around its eyes that give the appearance of tears and mask-like markings around its yellow eyes. It also has tufts of furs on both sides of its head. It has a white belly and chest, its feet are black, and its tail is long with a black tip resembling a sack.
"(Phew. I think we're safe for now, Yamper.)" The fox-like Pokémon told its friend.
"(If those guards didn't show up, we wouldn't get separated from the others.)" The Puppy Pokémon stated. "(I wonder if they managed to get away from them?)"
"(Who knows? We'll find them as we find our way out of this ugly castle)"
"(I hope they're okay. I'm worried about them, Nickit.)" Yamper barked.
"(Like I said, we'll find them. Let's go!)" Both Pokémon proceeded to go forward through the hallway, hoping that they wouldn't encounter another troop of Shadows.
Next: Chapter 4: An Electrifying Awakening
That's a wrap for today's chapter. Sorry it took so long for it to be finished. You see, I'm busy with group assignments and individual assignments given by my lecturer as well as playing the Complete Edition of Digimon Cyber Sleuth on my Switch. But don't worry, I'll be sure to try and write on my free time.
That teacher that appeared in this chapter? She will be a part of the Phantom Thieves and how will she join them is something that will be explain in future chapters.
See you all in 2021~!