Change

Hey, Mike, I'm back, come outside. – Elyse

Mike hurried outside and entered what was supposed to be his backyard. Standing in the center, he quickly noticed that almost everything was missing. The chairs and tables on the deck were gone, his mother's garden had vanished, and Blastoise's makeshift pool was nowhere to be seen. The only thing that remained was the treehouse.

"Expecting someone else…?"

Mike froze as his eyes met the steel grey ones of Craig Kelton. Smirking as he held up Elyse's phone just long enough to let Mike know that he had fallen into a trap, Craig threw the device to the ground and retrieved a shard of glass from inside his jacket.

"It's payback time, Mascot Boy…"

Craig lunged at Mike and the younger boy narrowly avoided the attack. He sprinted towards the tree and started climbing the ladder. The treehouse had always been Mike's sanctuary, the safest place in the world for him. He had reached the final step when Craig suddenly appeared behind him and yanked him off the ladder. Mike hit the ground, the sharp pain in his back preventing him from moving.

"No!" Mike pleaded as Craig moved in for the kill. "Please!"

"You brought this on yourself…"

He drove the shard into Mike's heart…

Mike jumped up, his nightmare waking him just in time to see the sun rise. He could feel the sweat dripping down his forehead as he struggled to catch his breath. It had been months since his last nightmare, something that he attributed to his training in Cianwood. Upon that realization, his mood shifted to frustration. He had been back in Saffron for one weekend and was already having nightmares.

"I need to go for a jog…" he whispered, making sure to be careful not to wake Trapinch.

Fortunately, he had enough time to go for a run before he had to get ready for his first day back at his old school. Slipping on a sports t-shirt and a pair of gym shorts, Mike tied his hair back and searched for a pair of running shoes that still fit him. He was used to running barefoot on the beach and had not taken the time to find proper footwear.

"These will have to do," he muttered and slid on a pair of black sneakers. "Hopefully this run helps…"

The run did not help. Mike had to figure out a path that would give him a good workout while also not straying too far from his house. The air was not as clean as the air in Cianwood, despite the suburb of Starview being quite a distance from the busier parts of Saffron City. Ultimately, he concluded that he just needed a bit more time to adjust and things would smooth over.

"I was just about to call you," Mike heard his father say as he entered the house. "If you hurry up and shower, you might have enough time to actually sit and eat before you go to school."

"I don't think I'm that hungry, Dad," Mike said.

"Is everything okay, son?" Rick asked. "I was making you an omelet for your first day and I thought-"

"Omelet!" Mike interrupted. "Change of plans, I'm suddenly hungry. But can you make it to go?"

"Is Loki going to let you eat it in his car that he loves more than life itself?" Rick questioned.

"He will…" Mike grinned. "If you make one for him too."

Rick sighed before nodding in agreement. Mike dashed upstairs, hoping that a shower would be more helpful than his run was. Fortunately, his wish had been granted and once Mike stepped in the shower, it was mere moments before the steamy water placed him at ease. He realized that if he kept comparing his life in Saffron to his life in Cianwood it would be harder to fully adjust. Thinking about the conflict between his friends, the changes at school, and when the federation would strike again; Mike felt as if he was being pulled in different directions.

Partialize. Don't try to take on everything at one time…

Mike remembered his therapy and knew it was important to focus on one thing at a time so that he did not overload himself. The easiest and quickest task to complete would be to talk to Coach Cortez about getting his spot back as the school mascot. With that in mind, Mike hurried out of the shower and got dressed. Once he was fully prepared for school, Mike scooped up the sleeping Trapinch in his arms and gently placed her in his backpack before heading down the stairs.

"Looks like you're all set, son," Rick said as Mike entered the kitchen. He gestured towards the two packaged containers. "There's breakfast for you boys."

"Thanks, Dad!" Mike replied, practically salivating at tasting his father's famous omelet. "Much appreciated."

"Any time, son," Rick said with a laugh before pushing his glasses up on his face. "You know, if you need an extra day or two, you don't have to go back to school just yet."

"Thanks for that," Mike started. "I really do appreciate it, Dad, but I can't just hide at home. If danger's coming for me, it won't really matter where I'm at. Look, if things get too crazy or if I feel like I really can't handle it, I'll call Mom to come pick me up."

"Okay," Rick compromised. "I won't try to push you one way or the other. Just be careful."

The sound of a car horn outside ended the conversation between them. Mike said goodbye to his father and made his way out the front door. Loki's car was parked on the street and from what Mike could hear from the outside, he was enjoying the tunes on his radio.

"Legs for days! Legs for days! I won't beg for bread! I won't beg for eggs! I beg for those legs! Legs for days!"

Mike chuckled at his friend's offkey singing and walked around to the passenger's side of the car. This gave him a direct view of Ellie's house and Mike watched, hoping that she would come out. They had not talked or communicated since the party, and it was clear that one of them had to make the first step. She did come out a few seconds later just in time for Ace's hearse drive up.

"Mike, let's go!" Loki called out obliviously.

The sound of his voice got Ellie's attention. She looked up and locked eyes with Mike. He wanted to call her over to apologize, wanted to wave at the very least, but he did nothing. Ellie for her part seemed to be going through a similar internal struggle, but in the end, she was the first one to break eye contact and get in her ride. Mike sighed as he watched the hearse drive off and tried to refocus as he got inside Loki's car.

"Dad made you an omelet," he closed the door behind him as he handed Loki the container.

"Rick Snowe's famous omelet!" Loki cheered. "Just what the doctor ordered!"

Mike was almost glad that Loki was focused more on eating and driving than he did on talking. It gave him the time to relax his mind and it made the ride to school much more pleasant, even with Loki's disturbing Duskull lingering around in the back seat. Still, there was something he was curious about and once they arrived at school, Mike figured he had enough time to recollect himself.

"So…" he started. "I'm surprised you Esther didn't ride with us. I know what happened at the party was crazy, but it was just a make out session."

"Bro, I really don't want to talk about it," Loki said as he parked the car and they recalled their Pokémon to their poké balls.

Mike did not press the issue. No matter what he thought about the situation, it was clearly affecting Loki to the point where he did not want to talk about it. Instead, he prepared himself for the changes that he would encounter when he entered the halls of his old school.

"Wow…" Mike said as he looked around the main entrance foyer. A smile crept on his face. "It…looks exactly the same. Same tables, same trophy case, same old banners."

"You were gone for ten months not ten years," Loki reminded him. "But one change that did happen is that yours truly got the best locker in school."

"For you I'm guessing that means you got a locker next to the senior girls," Mike replied.

"Okay, second best," Loki said as he led Mike over to the locker located next to the snack machines. "Check it, I can get Flame Burst Habanero chips and Glaciate Gulp soda all throughout the day. Pretty sweet especially since my locker was next to the bathroom in the west wing of the second floor last year. I still have nightmares about that."

"Yo, Mike!"

"Hey, Mike's back!"

"It is Mike! The rumors were true…"

Mike shook hands and fist bumped the students who walked past them and waved to the ones who were on the other side of the hallway. He hardly expected to have been particularly missed by anyone other than his friends, but he had already been proven wrong at Lilly's party.

"Pretty warm reception," Mike remarked.

"You surprised?" Loki questioned. "Mike, you're pretty much a legend here. Look, Craig was the toughest guy at this school for years, right? You're on video kicking his ass and making his entire gang look like chumps. And then you just disappeared for almost a year like an action hero."

"Loki, it took everything I had to beat Craig last year," Mike explained. "And even then, I only got lucky because Wartortle evolved into Blastoise right at that moment and Craig's ribs were cracked by Nidoking's tail. If my dad and the police hadn't shown up, I might've…"

He stopped himself short. He was afraid to verbalize or even consider the possibility that he could have killed Craig Kelton. It was bad enough with Zeb and even though Elyse was the one who technically killed him, it was at least in self-defense. Craig had already been defeated and was no longer a threat and yet Mike had continued to attack him.

"I get that," Loki told him, his voice slightly less jovial than it had been. "But just remember that Elyse didn't exactly get praised when she was in your position at school last year after the party."

"Yeah," Mike sighed. "Yeah, you're totally right. It's just…"

He lost his train of thought the instant he spotted Lilly walking towards the nearby soda machine. She was hard to miss, being significantly taller than most of the other girls and even some of the boys. In the past, she would try to move through the hallways as quickly as she could to avoid attention. Even when she started changing up her look during the previous year, Mike never really gave her much thought as he had entirely too much going on at the time. Now though, the pop-punk girl made her way through the school with her head held up high and this time Mike took notice.

"Delcatty got your tongue, Mike?" Loki teased. "You were in the middle of a sentence before Hot Legs walked into the school. Not that I blame you."

Mike silently cursed Loki for giving Lilly that nickname because it made him notice how the fishnet tights that she was wearing under her black shorts accentuated her long legs. The pair gazed at her for so long that by the time she got a water out of the soda machine, Lilly had long since noticed them.

"Sorry, did you guys need to use the machine?" Lilly asked.

"Y-yeah," Mike stuttered. "The machine, that's it… Yeah, I need to get a water. I'm dying of thirst."

"Oh, he's dying of thirst alright," Loki sniggered.

Lilly brushed her hair out of her face and gave Mike an inviting smile as she walked directly up to him. They were roughly the same height, and he was both intimidated and enthralled by the intense way her amber eyes met his gaze.

"I'll save you a seat in class…" was all she said before walking off.

Mike was at a loss of words. Lilly's style was obviously fantastic, but he found himself more drawn to the way she carried herself. Loki roughly patting him on the back brought Mike back to the present.

"Real smooth, Mike," Loki sniggered once again. "Looks like you caught the 'Lilly fever' like most of the guys in our year. Good luck with the competition, I'll try to help you out."

"What?" Mike started. "I don't even know what you're talking about. I mean Lilly's cool, but after everything that happened between me and Relena last year, I'm not exactly looking to jump back into something so quickly. Besides, she probably doesn't even like me like that."

Whatever he told himself, Mike was hoping that Lilly kept her promise and saved him a seat, if only because he knew it would not be wise to sit next to any of his warring friends until things cooled down.

"Legs for days…" Loki began quietly singing in Mike's ears. "Legs for days…"

"I'm going to class now…" Mike frowned and headed off, leaving Loki laughing in the background.

In Kat's opinion, the salad bar at the Leafy Leavanny was the perfect place to eat lunch. Not only was the food delicious, but the restaurant was only a few blocks from campus which meant that the students who ate there had plenty of time to return to school when lunch ended.

"Order 23! Spicy green salad with avocado!"

Kat received her food from the counter and took a seat at her usual booth. The blonde girl sitting across from her looked up from her phone and took a sip of the green smoothie on the table.

"What did you get?" Felicity asked.

"Spicy green salad with avocado," Kat answered. "Want a bite?"

"No," Felicity replied. "With all the spicy food you eat, I'm surprised your tongue hasn't completely burnt off yet."

"I'm just glad we're fifth years," Kat continued. "Which means we don't have to suffer anymore bland school cafeteria food."

"That's just one perk," Felicity added. "The biggest thing is that we only have one more year after this and I cannot wait. After senior year is over, I'm getting on the first plane to Unova, Galar, or Kalos, basically anywhere but here, and I'm never coming back."

Felicity's response did not surprise Kat. She noticed that there were plenty of people in their year who thought like Felicity. They were counting down the days until they were done with school and could begin their lives. Kat felt like she was halfway there. She was ready to be finished with school but did not exactly have a plan of what she wanted to do next. Her parents had already started emphasizing the importance of getting into a good college and she could feel the pressure building up.

"Move over, Kat. I need somewhere to sit…"

Johnny was suddenly sitting next to her in their booth, almost slamming his spinach wrap down on the table. Felicity gave him a quick glance before returning to her phone. His intrusion was unexpected, but not unwanted as Kat was always happy to make more room for anyone who wanted to join them.

"Good afternoon to you too, Johnny," Kat teased. "Me and Felicity were just talking about plans after graduation next year."

"Have anything to add, Johnny?" Felicity taunted without looking up from her phone. "Judging by the fact that you're eating lunch with us instead of your former teammates tells me that you've been floundering around ever since you got kicked off the battle team."

"I stepped down from the team," Johnny corrected her. "While you're making jokes, aren't you off the coordinating team?"

"I stepped down from the team," Felicity used Johnny's on him. "With all the modeling, endorsements, and auditions, I don't really have much time for it anymore. I'm on to bigger things now."

"Bigger things like your role in that short film over the summer?" Johnny grinned. "You were Useless Chick #3, right?"

"That's right, Johnny," Felicity countered. "I studied Jennifer for inspiration for that role. If anyone knows about being useless, it's her. Tell me, are the rumors true that she's dating a guy from Saffron University these days?"

With that Felicity returned to her phone while Johnny muttered something under his breath before he started eating his wrap. Kat wondered why he kept coming around more frequently lately when all he did was trade barbs with Felicity. She also wondered why Felicity tolerated his presence and concluded that they simply had no one else to hang out with at school. Johnny had mentioned feeling out of place with Nat and Xander since he was no longer part of the battle team. He had been spending a lot of time with Lyndon, but Lyndon also had a girlfriend which frequently meant that Johnny was on his own. Kat felt for him and decided to shift the conversation to see if that could help him out.

"Hey, Johnny, remember my little Zelda?" Kat took a bite of salad.

"Meowth?" Johnny inquired.

"Persian now," Kat continued. "I like to give her treats every now and again, Perfect Pokémon Gooey Gummies to be exact. When she was Meowth, she loved them, but after she evolved, she doesn't really care for them. I've been looking into other brands of gummies, but I haven't found anything that she likes. You know a lot about Pokémon, any suggestions?"

"Check it, Kat," he began. "I had this problem way back when Houndour first evolved into Houndoom. When Pokémon evolve, they go through a lot of changes. Not just what you can see on the outside, but on the inside too. Like their brains literally rewire themselves when they evolve and everything. It's possible that Persian doesn't like gummies at all anymore. Instead of looking for a different brand of gummies, look for a different type of treat and see what works."

"Thanks!" Kat smiled. "Looks like you know about more stuff than battling."

"Oh," Johnny said with a genuinely surprised look on his face. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess I am."

Kat thought back to her mother's psychology book and remembered reading something about the skill of promoting positive thinking and the outcomes that it could lead to. Then she thought about her father's motivational speeches and how he highlighted the joy of having others believe in you. Johnny seemed a little happier and Kat could sense that the hostility between he and Felicity had waned over the course of lunch. The three of them ate and made small talk with Kat herself doing most of the talking and Felicity doing the least until she set her phone down on the table and sighed loudly.

"What's wrong?" Kat asked her.

"Daddy wants me to have dinner with him and this new woman he's been seeing on Friday night," Felicity groaned. "This always happens. He falls for a woman, she turns out to be a gold digger, they break up and the cycle continues. It's a waste of time, but I need to stay in his good graces. To make matters worse, Tyler's working on a class project, so I have to deal with it alone."

"I'll go," Kat volunteered.

"What?" Felicity turned her attention directly to her.

"Yeah, I'll go," Kat repeated nonchalantly.

"Okay…" Felicity said, clearly a bit confused. "Well, Kat, I suppose I should find some way to thank you. Whenever you think of something, text me."

Kat wanted to tell Felicity that she did not have to give her anything for showing basic kindness, but she would be lying to herself if she said that she did not want a pair of new shoes from Cinccino City.

"Looks like it's time to get back to that hellhole we call a school," Johnny said as he checked his phone. "I guess I'll be a gentleman and walk you ladies back to Felicity's car."

"So chivalrous," Felicity rolled her eyes.

Nevertheless, she accepted his offer and the three of them made their way outside. As they walked through the parking lot, Felicity kept her head buried in her phone while Kat and Johnny made small talk. They were in the middle of a discussion about the book that their Pokémon Literature teacher, Miss Motley, had assigned them when the flash from a camera interrupted them.

"Felicity! Felicity Cole! Move closer to your friends! We want to get a shot of all you together!"

Kat knew that Felicity had slowly been building up her celebrity profile, but she was surprised to see that actual paparazzi had shown up. Felicity shifted awkwardly and Kat could see that Johnny was about to hightail it back to his car. The photographers must have assumed that they were an actual friend group simply because they had lunch together.

"Um," Felicity mumbled. "We're not exactly fr-"

Kat hooked arms with Felicity and gestured for Johnny to get in the picture. He gave an exasperated sigh and after a few seconds of hesitation, joined them. Kat was certain that her smile was the only one that was genuine in the moment but was optimistic that it would change over time.

"Rising star, Felicity Cole, enjoying Leafy Leavanny with friends on an autumn afternoon," the first photographer stated.

"Pokéteen is going to love it!" the second photographer added. "It's going to make you look super relatable to your audience."

They scampered away like a pair of Ratatta in a dark alley and Kat was amazed that the stereotypes she had seen about the paparazzi in fiction were in fact true.

"I only did it because you've been letting me eat lunch with you," Johnny remarked. "So now we're even."

"Fine, whatever," Felicity replied. "Let's just get back to campus before we're late to class."

Johnny headed to his car, but he had the decency to watch them until they made it to Felicity's car. The all-white luxury vehicle was brand new, and Kat found it amazing to look at every time that she saw it. The car was a convertible and Felicity liked to ride with top down, so the two girls had to ride with their sunglasses on. Once they got inside, they watched Johnny speed out of the parking lot in his car. Felicity kept her hand on the wheel, but instead of starting the car, she turned to Kat.

"What's wrong?" she asked her from the passenger's seat.

"I was just thinking…" Felicity wondered aloud. "Do we really want to go back to school today?"

"What did you have in mind?" Kat arched an eyebrow.

"Let's do something fun," Felicity grinned. "Cinccino City sound good to you? It's on me."

"Sounds perfect…"

Relena closed her eyes and focused purely on the sounds in the office of the coordinating coach. She heard the noise coming from the vents and the soft ticking of the clock placed on the wall behind the coach's desk. Turtwig was in her lap and the sound of her light snoring added to the melody of sounds in the room. When the door opened and Coach Caswell entered, Relena felt confident that she would have no trouble with communication during their meeting.

"Glad you could make it, Relena," Coach Caswell told her. "So, what is it that you wanted to talk about?"

"Well," Relena started. "I've been working hard winning every contest for our team since Felicity quit. I know the team needs a new captain and I want to put my name forward for consideration."

Participating in extracurricular activities would look good for her emancipation case and Relena figured that demonstrating the leadership skills that the position of captain allowed her would look even better. Fortunately, the gap in skill between her and the next best coordinator on the team was noticeable and it had been obvious that Coach Caswell was aware.

"Listen, Relena," Coach Caswell began. "I appreciate all that you've done for our team especially after Felicity left and I know the team does too. That being said, there's a lot that comes with being captain. I didn't really want to put anything else on your plate."

"I can handle it," Relena replied with a smile. "No worries, Coach."

"You're an amazing coordinator, Relena," Coach Caswell sighed. "That's undeniable. However, I've already decided that the team will be successful with Tammy Pearson as the captain."

"Tammy?!" Relena exclaimed in confusion. "I mean, she's good, shoutout to her, but why pick her over…" She stopped mid-sentence as the dots connect inside her head. "I didn't get the spot because of my breakdown last year, right?"

"It's not that," Caswell said in a sympathetic voice, but Relena could tell that she was trying to spare her feelings. "It's not that at all."

"Yes, it is," Relena lamented. "It's okay, I get it. A mentally ill captain isn't exactly reliable. Thanks for hearing me out anyway."

She stood up from her seat and walked out of the office, clutching tightly onto Turtwig. Relena felt more sad than angry, but she told herself that it was something she would have to live with. Opportunities would be denied to her because of her condition, and she accepted that she would not be able to do anything about it.

Making her way to the girls' restroom, Relena thought of her next course of action. Quitting the team was her first thought, but she loved being a coordinator too much. It was frustrating, but not worth making it a bigger deal than it was. Once inside the restroom, Relena recalled Turtwig to her ball and went to the mirror to fix her makeup. She had thankfully refrained from crying but felt her eyes watering a bit.

"Hey…"

Relena sighed as Ellie approached her. There was only so long you could avoid a person that you shared almost every class with five days a week for over ten years.

"Hey…" was all that she could say, especially in this predicament.

"I've been trying to call you," Ellie said. "And…text you. How have you been?"

"Yeah, sorry about that," Relena replied. "You know, just been busy with things."

"Busy with things?" Ellie questioned.

This was the worst possible time that they could have run into each other. Relena was already in a bad mood and Ellie was not taking the hint. She was usually good at reading a room and it was annoying that she was forgetting that skill in this moment. Yet, there was something in Ellie's tone that told Relena that the other girl was upset about something.

"Listen, Ellie," Relena rolled her eyes and sighed. "I'm sorry I've been lousy with communicating. If that's what's bothering you, then I apologize for it."

"You shouldn't apologize for things you aren't really sorry for," Ellie told her. "And that's not what's bothering me. Talking with the guys was just a mess and I was hoping it would be easier to talk to you, but clearly, I was wrong, so I'm just going to cut to the chase. I just wanted to know why you told Mike about what happened to me when the federation crashed the party?"

"Are you serious?!" Relena snapped. "I was literally in the middle of a mental episode when I told him that. And just so you know, the reason Mike decided to leave Saffron in the first place was because of that. You have the nerve to be mad about that when I was the one who suffered the consequences. Did you forget that Mike and I broke up because-"

"Because of me?" Ellie interrupted. "Because that's the same thing Mike implied at Lilly's party. How dare either one of you blame me for your disaster of a relationship ending when I have done nothing but support you two and Drake for the past twelve years. I supported you guys even when I had my own problems going on with my brother and literally, everything else. I kept secrets from Mike because you asked me to and when the situation was reversed, you couldn't do the same. Do you know how much drama I've been dragged into because of you guys?"

"Wow!" Relena shouted. "I'm so sorry that my entire life falling apart these past couple of years has been so hard for you! I'm sorry that's just caused so much 'drama' for you!"

"I stuck by all three of you because I loved you guys!" Ellie defended. "I put you, Mike, and Drake before myself every single time. The moment that I put myself first for the first time ever, none of you can handle it!"

"I see Ace is teaching you how to be a victim and blame your problems on everyone else," Relena fumed. "No one forced you to interject yourself into everyone's business in the first place! You didn't do it out of love! You only did it in the first place because you have this idea that you have to save everyone from themselves, which you only do because you think that you're just so much smarter than everyone else!"

At that moment, Relena noticed the two third year girls who had wandered inside the restroom. She glared daggers at them, and the two younger girls quickly scampered out of the door. Ellie closed her eyes and took a deep breath and that brief moment of distraction allowed Relena to calm herself a bit.

"Relena, this isn't us," she said. "We don't scream at each other or go for low blows."

"Yeah, well things change," Relena shrugged. "And this argument just proved that the best thing for us to do is to spend some time away from each other. See you around, Ellie…"

She walked out of the restroom and a tiny part of her immediately wanted to turn around and apologize. Some things needed to be said, but she recognized that she was lashing out in anger over being rejected as coordinating team captain. Ultimately though, Relena pressed forward.

"Sorry, Snowe. You can't just leave for a year and get your spot back just like that…"

Mike had not exactly been expecting that he would be welcomed back to the battle team as mascot with open arms, but he had been confident that Coach Cortez would reinstate him with little issue. Now, he was left dumfounded as he sat across from Cortez in his office.

"I don't understand," Mike said. "You said it yourself that I was the best mascot in the history of this school."

"Yeah, I did," Cortez replied nonchalantly. "And I still think it's true. That being said, I can't just kick Keller Trayne to the curb after he earned the position. Besides, I thought you hated being the mascot. Why do you want the position back so bad?"

Mike recalled the events of his first day back at Saffron Trainer's School. He thought about how he had sat next to Lilly and Loki in class instead of sitting next to Relena or Drake or Ellie as he had done every year. He remembered how he spotted Ellie and Amy sneaking a kiss in the courtyard, something that he would have been doing with Relena a year prior. He saw at lunch that both Lilly and Drake were surrounded by admirers when in the past Lilly had made certain to draw as little attention to herself as possible and Drake blended in the background with the rest of the battle team.

"Honestly, Coach," Mike began explaining. "Things have changed so much since I left. I guess I thought that I wanted something to stay the same and thought that it would be easy to be the school mascot again."

"How about this?" Cortez stroked his beard. "There's an open slot on the battle team. How about you try out? You'd be a good fit."

Mike was taken aback. He tried out for the team three years ago and had been sent home in a Poliwhirl costume. A part of him still held resentment against Cortez because of it, but a part of him still craved the recognition that came from being on the battle team. Anything would be better than the notoriety that he now had thanks to the federation. Then he realized why there was an open slot on the team.

"That Elyse's spot," Mike said aloud. "I'm not taking it."

"Elyse McKinley was a big loss," Cortez replied. "But just like with the mascot position, I can't just keep it vacant until she returns. That's why I'm offering you the spot."

"The answer is still no," Mike reaffirmed. "If it were anyone else, I'd consider it, but Elyse has done way too much for me. The last thing I'm going to do is backstab her."

"The offer stands if you change your mind," Cortez finished.

Mike stormed out of the office without giving a goodbye. He realized that Coach Cortez did not see any potential in him when he first tried out for the team all those years ago. He had seen him as a joke because of his size and the way he carried himself. The offer to take a close friend's spot on the team was a slap in the face if there ever was one.

"How'd it go? Did we get the real school mascot back?"

Mike had been in such a rush to get out of the gym that he had not noticed that he had been approached by Drake. It was strange to see him by himself since it had been the opposite all day. Mike had not spoken to him since Lilly's party and felt that it was the right call since he did not want to pick sides in Drake's conflict with Ellie.

"Afraid not," Mike answered. "It wasn't really fair for me to leave and just expect my spot back."

"Are you serious?!" Drake growled. "Don't worry, man. I'm team captain, I'll go talk to Coach Cortez myself."

"Let it go, man," Mike sighed. "Coach said Trayne earned his spot. I don't really have a leg to stand on."

"This is all because of that edgelord freak, Ace," Drake seethed. "He was the one that got Trayne to try out for the spot the moment you left despite there being a dozen other clubs and teams to try out for. And now, he's gotten inside Ellie's head too."

"Hey, man, are you good?" Mike asked, concerned that Drake was showing much more anger about the situation than he was. "I mean, have you been good this past year?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Drake answered him quickly. "Why?

"Well, Holt Wullinger broke your arm and almost killed you last year," Mike reminded him. "Did you ever get help for that?"

"Help?" Drake asked. "You mean like talking to a counselor? Yeah, my parents tried to get me to talk to someone, but it didn't work out. That might work for some people, but it's not for me. I did what I knew and kept battling and things got better for me. The next thing I'm going to do is get payback on Holt for what he did to me and now that I know what happened to Ellie, I'm going to add Gino Dunlap to the list too. Then I'll be really 'helped'…"

"King Drake! Ready to start practice, bro!"

"Catch you later, man," Drake went to join Xander and the rest of the team.

Mike did not recognize the person he had been speaking with. The only thing that made Drake angry was when people insulted his family, friends, or Pokémon. Other than that, he had always been relatively easy-going. Seeing his best friend as angry and vengeful as he had become since his near death experience made Mike finally accept that things had changed.

A/N: And there we have it. Another chapter down. It's definitely always hard to adapt to changes especially when no one is on the same page. Hopefully things improve for our characters before the real challenges come.

The P.O.V. characters for this chapter were: Mike Snowe (twice), Kat Lee, and Relena Serene.

As always, feel free to stop by the forum to chat or drop me a PM!

Until next time!