"Why did he come here?" I thought again as I walked back home. Did he talk to me because he sat next to me? Or had he deliberately gone there to find me? What really happened? Does he know about my real situation? Or was he just playing cool?

I really think no one would want to befriend someone like me, so I was pretty confident Typhlosion had already forgotten about me. This time, I think it was for the better, anyway.

I took a deep breath and started walking. I needed to clear my head and relax. My thoughts were becoming too complicated for me to deal with.

As I arrived home, I thought about everything I just faced, and about what I just heard. I was saddened. Saddened of being alone. Saddened of being rejected. Saddened of being ignored. Saddened of being useless.

I walked inside, shutting the door behind me. I felt like crying. The adrenaline I used to have was starting to wear off, and I was feeling sad and depressed. Oh god, I hated feeling like this. I had to cheer up and put things right.

I opened the fridge, searching for something healthy to eat, while my phone rang.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Hey, it's me, Jimmy." The male voice replied. "Remember the neighbor meeting tomorrow?."

"Err, yes! Of course!" I lied.

"Well, I've been thinking. I'm wondering if you have the plumber bills settled already."

"Ah, uhmm, yeah. They're all here!" I lied again.

"Good," he replied. " See ya!" I hung up the phone.

Fuck. Another thing to worry about. As I got tired, I prefered to let time take its course and go to sleep. I was hoping that in the morning, I'd forget about the whole encounter. I hoped.

I was woken up by the ringing of the doorbell. I groaned, still half asleep. Who the fuck was coming at this hour?

I slowly got out of bed and opened the door. A young lady was standing on the door with what seemed to be a notepad. She was wearing a blue dress, which was short enough to cover her legs. Her hair was blonde, and she wore a pair of glasses.

"Hello, can I help you?" I asked.

"Hi," she greeted. "My name is Valerie. I am looking for Oliver Baxter. Is he here?"

"Yes, it's me." I answered, opening the door wider.

She smiled. "Great! Then could you please sign a paper for me?" She showed me a piece of paper that was filled with words.

"Wait, what is this thing about?" I asked.

"Please sign this," she said. "I'll explain it to you later."

"You want me to sign this?" I asked, dumbfounded. "Why?"

"Because it's important," she said.

"Important?" I repeated, confused.

"Sign it, please," she insisted.

As I wasn't convinced, I proceeded to read the paper.

"This is a contract between myself and Oliver Baxter, ... The signer assumes he is aware he is pretty bad at battling!"

"What?! No way!" I yelled.

"It's true! There are many witnesses," she said, shrugging her shoulders.

Then, a rather packed crowd of people started to laugh at me. It took a fraction of a second for me to match the identities of the group.

They were no more than classmates from the highschool I went to years ago. They were in their vast majority jerks, but this was another matter.

They saw me as a joke, they judged me, and they laughed at me. "Get out of my house, you bunch of assholes!" I said, fuming.

"I'm sorry, sir!" They said as they kept laughing.

I just closed the door with all my might and went back to bed. I tried to fall asleep, but my mind kept running rampant over the incident. I knew what kind of reputation I had -and it was bad. But this was getting ridiculous. I was sick of it.

I jumped in bed and switched off the light. I laid awake, staring at the ceiling, wishing for nothing else than to be able to wake up and forget everything that happened today.

I wished for nothing else than to wake up and discover I was dreaming. But, alas, this didn't happen. And yet, I knew I wouldn't be able to get rid of this feeling.

The next day, I woke up early, after a long night of insomnia. I grabbed my phone and checked my messages. Two texts from Jimmy:

"Oliver, I need your help ASAP. Can we meet at 1PM tonight?"

"Sure!" I texted back.

I got dressed quickly and left the house.

Jimmy was waiting for me at the park. He was sitting on a bench near some trees. He waved when he noticed me.

"Hey, Oliver!" Jimmy called. "Come join us."

I joined them. As I had thought, the only assistants were the typical elders who were always complaining about things. Such a shame I was the president of the community this year. Too bad.

After three of the most boring hours in my life, and a scolding for not sealing the plumber fees, the reunion finished.

As we were leaving the place, I decided to take a walk around the neighborhood. I wanted to have a relaxing time for myself.

I headed straight to an empty street. Soon, however, I found myself in front of my old school, which was now abandoned. I stopped and looked at it.

I sighed and entered the building. All the memories came flooding back. I recalled how I had spent hours in those classrooms, daydreaming, working, or studying.

As I walked through the hallways, I thought about the events that had happened in this place. I remembered the class when I was first told about Pokémon battling and my reaction. But also sadder memories, as the day I discovered my parents had died in a terrorist attack.

It was like I was reliving my past. I stopped at a classroom door and opened it. I walked inside, shutting the door behind me. I stood there for a moment, lost in thought.

Those moments were so vivid in my memory. But then, I heard a clear explosion somewhere nearby.

Oh shit!

I turned around, but I couldn't see anything. I started to fear that something terrible was going to happen.

I panicked in that very same moment and ran down towards the entrance, trying to escape. However, my heart sank when I saw the entire hallway engulfed by flames.

I hurriedly ran away from the burning hall back to the top floor, but soon realized I was trapped. It was hopeless.

I screamed in despair and panic. I was helpless. I covered my face, my tears falling on my hands.

"No!" I cried.

Minutes after, the fire had spread across the entire school. I looked up, and felt the heat intensifying and the smoke obstructing my vision.

By now, the halls were completely burned down. I was stuck there. I was trapped.

I had nowhere to run.

There was only one way.

I was going to die.

I was going to burn alive.

There was nothing I could do.

I could only wait for death to come.

I waited for it to end.

Soon after, I felt unconscious.