Chapter 4: Baptized by fire
Time never went by so slowly inside of a moving car. At least not for Juliette. She was now on her way to her new school, Akala Trainer Academy. The situation reminded her of a time when she went zip-lining during a school trip and the instructor pushed her because she didn't dare to jump herself. Even though this time Juliette's life wasn't in danger, it was just as scary to her. Besides, the sudden change from a rural setting to a reasonably big city was a shock to her. She only hoped that the new school was nothing like the one in Anistar City.
"Julie, is your schedule at hand?" her father asked without taking his eyes off of the road.
"Yes Dad, but I haven't look at it yet. I will when I get there."
Édith— who was there as well to give her granddaughter some support— shook her head and looked at Juliette. "Are you saying you aren't excited to know about the subjects you will be taking?"
"It's not that, it's just that I've put it off many times and I never looked at it." Juliette adjusted her cap nervously.
"We understand that you're nervous about it, but keep in mind that this school is different from the one in Anistar City. You will like it there!" Mainard tried to spread enthusiasm to his daughter.
"That's true. This is a Trainer School while the other wasn't, even if Pokémon were allowed." Juliette shifted in her seat, wondering how long it would be until they made it to school.
"And that's why you shouldn't be nervous," Édith patted her granddaughter's back, "It will be much better, you'll see!"
"If you say so…"
Juliette looked through the car's window and remembered the relaxing atmosphere of last night's dinner and tried to go back to that moment in her mind. She felt great then, even though she was unsure about it at first. The same may be applied now… Juliette has a strong reason to try and make the most out of this school. Her grandmother's promise.
Now that she was about to start attending classes, it shouldn't be long until Édith revealed her intentions behind showing Juliette the interview with Sina and Dexio. A little more than a week had passed since then and Juliette was starting to get restless about it. She wondered how long it would take for her grandmother to spill the beans. One day? A week? A month? When Édith decides to act cryptic there's no way to tell what she has in mind and sadly for Juliette, this was one of these times.
The constructions seemed to grow in size the more their car advanced. If they looked back, the family would be able to see the Hano Grand Resort standing proudly in the distance. On the other hand, the building they were headed for—which was very far from being a holiday resort—was much closer to them. Groups of teenagers were visible on the sidewalks and much to Juliette's dismay, there were quite a lot of people. "Do it for what Grandma told you. Do it for...him." Although unintentionally melodramatic, Juliette's thoughts were the only thing keeping her from trying to jump out of the car. That and her family's presence, of course. They were wishing the best for her and she didn't want to be ungrateful.
The vehicle slowed down as it approached the main gate of the school's building. "This is it." Juliette barely looked at it. She prefered to wait until her father and grandmother were gone to examine the campus by herself, which was a rather brave move on her behalf.
"Here we are!" Mainard said as he looked at his daughter, following the sentence with an encouraging smile.
"Ouah, this school is smaller than the one in Anistar City, but it looks prettier!" Édith looked in awe, an emotion that her granddaughter didn't share. At least not yet.
A light silence took hold inside the vehicle. People minding their own business walked past the car; most of them being kids and teenagers that were headed towards the school. The zip-lining incident memory took a hold of her again. She didn't dare to jump by herself, although she knew she had to do it.
"Well…" she tried, "Er, should I open the door?"
Her father and grandmother looked at her with a sympathetic expression. However, a crooked smile soon appeared on Édith's face. "If you don't do it, nobody else will!" The woman then became a bit more serious, ready to add in a piece of her mind. She leaned in close and whispered, "Plus, if you don't go, you'll never learn more about the interview."
The realization hit Juliette like a truck. That was the final push she needed. Juliette gathered all of her things and left the car at lightning speed, unintentionally slamming the car door. She was aware that some people were looking directly at her now and her face burned in embarrassment because of it. However, she kept in mind that there was something in the end that made going through this embarrassing situation worth it. At least that's what Juliette thought. She hoped her grandmother wasn't using the interview with Sina and Dexio just to convince her to go to school.
"Remember, this is going to be different from Kalos. I hope you have a good time!" Mainard beamed, straining his neck so he could see his daughter from the driver's seat.
"Also," Édith leaned towards the window, "if someone happens to be rude to you today do not hesitate to tell your teacher. They will know how to help you."
"Unless teachers here are as apathetic as the ones in Kalos," Juliette retorted as she sighed and examined her surroundings. Almost everyone was inside the campus, even though the school bell hasn't rung yet. "I think I should go inside already. See you later!"
"See you Juliette, good luck!" Mainard and Édith waved goodbye at the girl before the former started the car. Juliette kept waving at them until she lost sight of the vehicle. The moment of truth had arrived.
Like her grandmother said not even five minutes ago, the school was indeed smaller than the previous one. Juliette slowly walked through the white gates alongside a few preoccupied students, looking in awe at the wide campus. She walked towards a statue that stood in the middle of the yard. It depicted Akala Island's guardian, Tapu Lele. According to what her father told her, the Pokémon also served as the academy's mascot. The high school in Anistar City didn't have a mascot, but everyone there took pride in the fact that the building was not too far from the Sundial.
However, the statue wasn't the only thing that caught her eye. Upon looking to her right, she spotted a couple of battlefields meant for Pokémon battles. There were two more on the left side of the campus. It was inevitable for Juliette to make comparisons to her former school; they didn't have battlefields in Anistar. Students battled in the schoolyard and although that worked just fine, seeing that this school had an area specially meant for battling somehow made Juliette think that Akala Trainer Academy was more complete despite being smaller in size. Besides that, almost everyone on campus had one or two Pokémon out. In Anistar City, students were only allowed to let their Pokémon out during recess.
Although she liked the environment so far, Juliette couldn't help but feel like a Magikarp out of water. She observed how nearly everyone talked to each other rather animatedly while she was one of few who were all by themselves. On top of that, she has been standing in place awkwardly. To her it was like she was wearing a neon sign that read "New Kid". A little group of students that stood not too far from Juliette looked at her in a way that lacked discretion. Luckily enough for Juliette, they looked away from her. She took this as a sign to move along and continued to make her way through the campus.
Not knowing where to go, Juliette walked aimlessly around the campus. Since there were lots of Pokémon out and about, she decided to let one of hers out as well. Juliette retrieved Poppy's Poké Ball from her bag. "She will love this place and getting to see so many Pokémon, no doubt!"
Like Juliette had thought, as soon as Poppy emerged from her Poké Ball she looked around in awe, pausing to look at the grass fields in the school grounds and the variety of Pokémon that hung out with both their Trainers and each other. The enthusiastic Pokémon was about to run off to join a group comprised by a Fomantis, a Trumbeak and a Pichu…but the school bell rang at that very moment. This was the real moment of truth.
Juliette breathed in deeply before picking up Poppy, her legs dangling in the air as if to escape her Trainer's grasp. "I don't want you to get lost in the crowd, you know." With her Pokémon now resting in her arms, the girl headed the towards the campus's front door, which was shaped as an arch and made up of mainly glass and dark wood. Her steps were slow and hesitating. In one hand Juliette didn't want to mingle with the crowd, but in the other hand she knew she had to do it if she wanted to make it to her first class on time. Since it was her first day, she had little to no clue where her classroom was and what subject she will be learning first. But those questions could easily be answered using one particular slip of paper.
Juliette put Poppy on the floor for a moment and got her schedule from her bag. This was the very first time Juliette bothered to look at the dreaded slip of paper. Reading the schedule over, Juliette learned that her first class subject is Pokémon Variations and her teacher was someone named Samson Oak. The name sounded familiar to her… "Wasn't this the principal's name?" She recalled her mother mentioning the school's principal was a man named Samson.
A sudden pat on Juliette's shoulder brought her out of her thoughts. The girl had been sidetracked for so long that she became unaware of her surrounding. She turned around vehemently, not knowing what to expect. The girl froze in place when she saw a bronze skinned man standing in front of her. From his looks she could tell that he was definitely not a student.
"Well this is unfortunate! I didn't mean to Starly you!" The man's long, grey hair was the most remarkable part of his appearance. His outfit was rather garish; he appeared to look like a tourist rather than a teacher.
"It's...fine, I guess. Today is my first day here and I'm a bit lost…" Juliette rubbed the nape of her neck, avoiding eye contact with the man.
"Aha! You must be the new student! It's nice to meet you. My name is Samson Oak; Akala Trainer Academy's principal! But you probably knew that already!" He accompanied his words with the traditional greeting gesture of the region.
"The principal is also a teacher?! I didn't expect this. And that pun…" Juliette greeted him back with the familiar gesture. "I-I read that you are the teacher for the Pokémon Variations subject," she stammered. "Could you tell me w-where the classroom is?" Oak laughed joyously at her question, earning him a questionable glare from Juliette.
"Not only can I tell you where it is, I'll lead you there! We are both going to the same place, after all."
Oak's laid-back attitude was radically different from what Juliette witnessed in the school teachers of her home region. Some even despised their job. "O-oh right! I'll make sure to remember the way there…"
With a brief moment of hesitation, Juliette picked up Poppy and followed her new teacher to the classroom. There were a scarce amount of students loitering around the hallways due to their teachers' arriving late. Oak guestured Juliette to wait as he approached the small group of students.
"Youngsters, your teachers will be here in no time. I'm sure they'll be Happiny to see everyone inside the classroom!" These words were enough for the teenagers to go inside their classrooms without any disobedience. Oak turned around to face Juliette, who had observed the scene in silence. "Alright, let's Gogoat!"
The hallway was not very wide and rather short for a school, keeping in mind the building's size. The walls were colored beige, making the dark wood doors stand out. Small signs hung on the wall right next to each door; C-4, C-5, and so on, indicating each classroom. Watching the doors go by was excruciating for Juliette and she wondered if the doors would go by forever. "Well If you looked at the schedule when Mom and Dad gave it to you, you'd know the classroom!"
Luckily—or unluckily—for her, it only took a minute more to reach what would be her classroom from now on: Room C-8. Oak placed his hand on the doorknob, but he didn't open the door just yet. "I nearly forgot! I'd like you to introduce yourself to the class before we start, alright?"
"No." Juliette's eyes widened. i"Is he really going to put me through this…? But I can't say no to the principal, much less on my first day…" The girl realized her teacher was waiting for her answer. She nodded rather exaggeratedly, "Y-yes! It's fine by me," she lied out of her teeth.
"Good!" At that moment Oak opened the door without asking if she was ready. Without any warning. It was the zip-lining incident all over again.
Juliette followed her teacher with her head hung low. Because of this, the first thing she saw upon entering the room was a Komala fast asleep next to the teacher's desk. The teen didn't know where to look, she didn't dare to look at her new classmates, although she knew she had to. Not even having Poppy snuggled up close in her arms helped her feel at ease. Either way, Juliette was soon distracted by the faint Poké Ball patterns on the dark wooden floor, zoning out what Oak was saying to the class.
"...a new student. Please, introduce yourself!" He looked in Juliette's direction with a kind smile. Again, Juliette felt like Oak was waiting on her.
Hesitating, the girl shifted her focus from the floor to the students in the classroom. As soon as she did, a sharp gasp came from the first row, startling Juliette. She was shocked upon discovering said gasper: Luana, the girl she had just recently formerly met, sat with her mouth ajar, an expression that showed both surprise and happiness. But that was not all; in the second and last row was Kiawe. He looked at Juliette with a small smile planted on his face. "Is this a dream or is it really happening?" The other students seemed more or less curious about her identity, exchanging looks and whispers amongst each other.
The sight of those two familiar faces filled Juliette with slight encouragement. She looked down at her Bulbasaur for a second before directing her gaze at the class again. "A-Alola! My name is Juliette Ronson. I come from Anistar City, in Kalos. I moved here with my family very recently." She shot an awkward look at Oak in search of approval. All he did was nod ever so slightly. "That's all. I hope we can...get along."
"Alola!" The rest of the students welcomed her except for two boys sitting in the last row who looked rather bored, although the day had just started.
Oak then approached Juliette, pointing to an empty seat on the second row which was right next to the wall. "This will be your seat from now on. I sincerely Hoopa feel at ease here!"
"Yeah," she dragged on the word, "I hope so too."
The teen headed for her desk quietly, averting every students' curious glares. Poppy squirmed in her grasp, begging to be let free. The Pokémon wanted to play with the other student's Pokémon that sat next to their Trainers or in other corners of the classroom. Most if not all of the Pokémon were unfamiliar to Poppy. The Togedemaru belonging to the boy sitting next to Juliette quickly caught her attention and as soon as her Trainer put her down, Poppy approached the dual Electric and Steel type.
Juliette was far from sharing her Bulbasaur's social attitude. As soon as she sat down, she slowly but surely took out all of the necessary things for school out of her bag, fixating her gaze only on her belongings. She hoped that nobody would say anything to her, but that was futile. The young boy sitting to her right side wanted to introduce himself.
"H-Hey! My name is Sophocles." The naturally rosy hue on the boy's cheeks intensified as he spoke quietly. "You said you come from Kalos, right? I heard there's a brilliant inventor there."
Juliette didn't know what to answer at first. "He seems kinda shy too. That's...adorable." It took her a few seconds until she remembered who Sophocles was referring to. "Oh, Clemont! I think you're talking about Clemont. He is good at what he does, yes..." Unfortunately, she didn't feel confident enough to maintain a conversation and the girl soon shifted her attention back to her school equipment. Despite her arrival, it was still a regular school day and Juliette intended to pay as much attention as possible. Meanwhile, her Bulbasaur was busy playing with Sophocles's Togedemaru in between their Trainers' desks.
Oak took no time to start the lesson. He wrote the words Totem Pokémon on a large blackboard that was hung behind his desk and in front of the classroom. "Alright, who can explain what exactly Totem Pokémon are?" Luana raised her arm vigorously just as the teacher was done asking his question. Oak gave the floor to her.
"Totem Pokémon are the Pokémon that you battle at the end of every Trial! They are trained by the Trial Captains themselves."
"Raichu are!" He wrote down Luana's statement on the blackboard just below the title in neat bullet points. "Does somebody have anything else to add?" Oak's eyes scanned the room.
A petite blue haired girl raised her arm this time. "They usually weigh two to four times more than Pokémon of their same species."
Oak hummed in agreement and nodded as wrote the new information on the blackboard. Then he turned to face the classroom once again. "Now, does anybody know the reason why Totem Pokémon are bigger than other Pokémon?"
"Because they eat too much, that's why!" A boy with dark blue hair adorned in a matte black tank-top, dark brown capris, and black and white sneakers said aggressively, shooting a nasty look at Sophocles. Juliette caught the boy's stare directed to her neighboring classmate. The aggressor was leaned back in his chair with his legs propped up on the desk.
Although he was sitting on the opposite end of the row, Juliette saw the expression in his dark blue eyes and it scared her. Any little hint of comfort she felt was gone. "What did I expect? Of course there would be bad people in this school. I'm glad I always kept the possibility in mind."
The teacher still maintained his relaxed attitude despite the disruption. "No Cyan, that's not w–"
"It's Chaos, not Cyan!" If looks could kill, the class would have ended at that moment.
"Alright, Chaos." Oak was not fazed by Cyan's explosive attitude. He continued with the class as if nothing happened. "One of the theories regarding the unusual size of these Pokémon has to do with the Aurorus that surrounds them during battle. It has been proven that this aura boosts certain characteristics of these Pokémon. What characteristics are we talking about?"
This time it was Kiawe who requested the floor, "Their speed and endurance, for an example."
"Very well!" Oak wrote the info down on the blackboard. "Please write down the notes from the blackboard. This will be on the next exam!"
"Again, what did I expect? Of course they do exams!" The idea of doing an exam so soon didn't enthuse Juliette, especially keeping in mind that the topics covered would most likely be unfamiliar to her. In her short time in Alola she could tell that the way people lived with Pokémon was different from that of Kalos. She looked at Sophocles—who was writing down the annotations on the chalkboard—and tried to ask him about it, but the words just wouldn't come out.
"Uh…" she started, slightly leaning towards him, "Sophocles?"
"Yes?" The boy barely took his eyes off his notebook, avoiding direct eye contact with her.
"Is there an exam coming up?"
"Yeah, we are having it next week so you should have plenty of time to study."
Juliette nodded and returned to a normal position on her seat. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Cyan—or Chaos—sitting on his chair like it was his home's couch instead. Between him and Kiawe sat a boy wearing fancy attire; a dark brown overcoat, black form fitting pants, and pointed brown shoes made of leather. He sat leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed and his eyes shut, a frown placed on his thin lips. "How can Oak be so calm with these kinds of people in his classroom and do nothing about it? My old teacher would have kicked them out by now!"
Meanwhile, Oak handed out a worksheet to each student. When he handed one to Juliette, she skimmed over the questions briefly. Each one was about Totem Pokémon, as she expected. Before working on the assignment, she decided to quickly jot down the notes on the blackboard...if the murmuring of her classmates allowed her to. She briefly looked up from her assignment only to see Luana smiling at her.
"I can't wait for recess time to come!" she whispered excitedly to Juliette.
Ah yes, recess time. Juliette's least favorite part of the school day. "It shouldn't be long until then, I guess." She was still a bit too nervous to maintain a proper conversation. Luana was dying to talk to her more, but she just nodded and turned her attention to the worksheet on her desk.
However, Juliette did look forward to asking either Luana or Kiawe why they didn't tell her that they would be classmates during yesterday's union. That would have allowed her to feel more confident, knowing that she would find at least a couple of familiar faces. The fact that everyone in the classroom seemed to know each other well didn't help her. Juliette felt like an intruder. Deep down she knew it was an irrational feeling, especially after seeing Luana and Kiawe here as well as the kindness her new teacher and Sophocles had shown her so far, but she still felt that way regardless.
She overheard fragments of conversations between her classmates. "Are we going to talk about that in a couple of weeks, then?" A dark skinned boy sitting next to Luana asked the aforementioned.
"I don't know Hau, we will have to wait until the teacher says something about it," she answered in a hushed tone.
"Mallow, is this an a or an o?" The blue haired girl in the front row asked the girl sitting next to her, showing the worksheet about Totem Pokémon.
"I'm not sure myself, Lana, but it kind of looks like an a to me. I hope I'm not wrong!"
Juliette was surprised to see her classmates address each other by their names. "I need to stop comparing this school to the old one," she told herself, recalling how in her old class every kid seemed to be named "Hey you" or something similar. Plus, there were a lot of people so remembering everybody's name was difficult, even for the teacher. In this classroom there were only ten students. Juliette looked over at Kiawe to see what he was up to. Like almost everybody else, he was working on the worksheet Oak gave him. She then shifted her attention to a well dressed girl in the first row.
Her entire outfit was white, save for some light blue accents. An enormous sunhat rested next to her desk with an Alolan Vulpix snuggled up inside of it. For whatever reason, the girl's bag was still hanging from her shoulder. Juliette rolled her eyes at the sight. "Look at her, she's probably afraid that someone will steal her super expensive bag. Another one to watch out for."
"Crustle up, students! I'll be picking up your assignments shortly!" Oak was now sitting on his desk organizing several papers. The Komala—who Juliette assumed was his—still snoozed next to him.
"Alright, now is not the time to worry about what everyone in this class might be like. I should be doing these exercises or else the teacher won't be too happy...and neither will Grandma." With those thoughts in mind, Juliette started working for good. There will be plenty of time to worry about the personality of her new schoolmates later.
After an explanation about the differences between Kantonian and Alolan environments that lasted more than an hour, the school's bell rang loudly overhead. Recess has begun, much to the student's joy. For most of them, anyways. Juliette had no idea what she will be doing for the duration of the time. The time may be short, but to her it would feel like an eternity. "Sure there's Luana and Kiawe to consider, but they'll probably be hanging out with their other friends…" Juliette sighed and called for Poppy to follow her. The girl had to beckon her Bulbasaur twice because the latter was staring in awe at the teacher's Komala.
When the two were about to leave the classroom, Juliette felt someone lightly grab her wrist. With her shoulders hunched, she turned around to identify whoever was trying to retain her. It was none other than Luana.
"Juliette! How are you?" she cooed.
Baffled by Luana's never-ending affability, Juliette was at a loss for words. "I-I'm doing pretty well," she managed to say after a few seconds of silence. "And you?"
"I'm doing great! Isn't it such a lovely coincidence that we're in the same class? Here, let me introduce you to someone." The boy who sat right next to Luana stood right by her side. She put her right arm around his shoulders and grinned widely. "This is my closest friend, Hau!"
"Alola!" Hau greeted her with a similar grin. Juliette could already tell why these two were friends. Their personalities were practically one of the same.
"Alola!" she saluted back, clueless on what to say next.
Just a few seconds after the exchange, Kiawe joined them with his Alolan Marowak following close by. "Hey, we should head to the courtyard together. What do you say?" His question was aimed at Juliette.
She shrugged, sporting a nervous smile. "That's fine with me, I guess..."
"Great! Let's get going then!" Kiawe said.
Upon leaving the classroom, Juliette was surprised to see such a small amount of people in the hallway. It was easy to tell that the school was small in size at that very moment. She almost sighed in relief, knowing that she would be able to make it to the courtyard without having to thread her way through a big crowd. However, this time she will not be spending recess alone, unlike before. "At least it'll be better than spending it locked inside the janitor's room…"
"Hey Juliette," Luana's voice silenced her thoughts. Now they were located in the lobby. "See those stairs over there? They lead to an indoor battlefield meant for bad weather days! It gets pretty noisy when people battle up there, but everyone is used to it."
"Although it almost never rains here in Alola!" Hau chimed in. "So usually other students go upstairs to hang out during recess."
Luana smiled at the comment. "Better be safe than sorry!"
"That's...interesting," Juliette murmured, taking a quick glance at the stairs.
"Juliette, there's a small canteen in the courtyard," Kiawe changed the subject. "Would you like to get something from there or would you rather go outside the campus?"
"No thanks. I brought lunch from home."
"Hau and I will go get something from the canteen!" Luana then looked at Kiawe and said, "You should stay with Juliette until we come back so she won't have to be alone!"
"Sure. We will be waiting for you near the battlefields," he replied in agreement.
Once the group made it outside, they went on their separate ways. While Hau and Luana headed for the canteen, Kiawe led Juliette to a bench close to one of the battlefields on the left side of the campus. The two of them remained quiet for a few moments until Juliette—albeit with difficulty—decided to break the silence herself.
"Kiawe?"
"Yes?" He looked at her.
"Yesterday when I said that I would be coming to this school, why didn't you or Luana say that we would be classmates?"
"Oh…" Kiawe smiled nervously. "We didn't think that you would be in the same class as us, that's all. But having you here will be interesting."
Juliette almost jumped from her seat. "Wait, you really think so?"
"Yes. Why should I think otherwise?" He gave her a quizzical look, his head slightly tilted.
"Nothing, it's nothing…" The girl sighed and decided to observe the battlefield in front of them.
Two boys had just started a battle. One of them sent out a Machoke while the other settled for a Ribombee. Poppy and Kiawe's Marowak followed the battle attentively. When Juliette spotted her and Kiawe's Pokémon's endearing interest of the clash, she remembered her reaction to learning about Alolan variants yesterday. "That could be an excuse to attempt to start a conversation again…" She felt guilty being so quiet when Kiawe was bothering—in her eyes at least—to keep her company when he could have chosen to go with his friends instead.
"Remember when you told me about Alolan variants yesterday?" She smiled awkwardly.
"Of course I do. What do you think of my vaunted Marowak?" Kiawe petted his Pokémon's head.
"He surely looks different from any Marowak I've ever seen. It's kind of...shocking."
The boy nodded. "That's a common reaction for people who come to Alola without hearing about these variations, so I understand your reasoning."
Just as Juliette tried to think of what to say next, Hau and Luana came back from the canteen followed by their Pokémon; an Alolan Raichu and a Vaporeon respectively. Both of the Trainers were carrying a small paper bag and something to drink.
"Mhm, jelly filled malasadas!" Hau squealed in delight as he retrieved a sugar covered ball of deep-fried dough from the oil-stained bag. Luana sighed playfully from the sight.
"Malasadas, of course. It's like no other delicacy existed!" Luana shook her head, a faint smile appearing on her face.
The newcomers sat next to Juliette and Kiawe. Their respective Pokémon soon began to play with each other. Juliette had Luana sitting to her right and as she expected, the bubbly waitress was eager to start a conversation, "What do you have for lunch?"
Juliette opened her lunch box where a ham and cheese sandwich and an apple juice box sat. "This has been my school lunch for years. Now that we're in a different region I expected it to change, but...I guess I'll have to tell my Dad about it."
"Your dad makes your lunch? How lucky!" Hau exclaimed with a full mouth. "Mine is in Kanto. I wish he could visit me and Gramps more often."
"His father is in another region! And to think I complain about Mom working too much…"Juliette didn't know how to reply to him.
"I guess being the son of a Kahuna is too much for him…" The happy-go-lucky expression and joyous tone Hau spoke with made it sound like his father being so far away wasn't a big deal. "He's a powerful Trainer, yes, but he works far from Alola nowadays."
"Wait, your grandfather is a Kahuna?!" Juliette's eyes widened.
"Yes! He is Melemele Island's strongest Trainer and I aim to beat him in battle someday. Beating him is one of the main reasons I'm here."
"I would know," Luana added, "after we finished the Island Challenge Hau told me he wanted to enroll in a Trainer school because it might help him."
Juliette tilted her head in confusion. "But Hau, don't you live in Melemele? I heard there's a Trainer School there too."
"Yeah, but I thought going to this one would be better because then I'm close to my friends!"
Luana raised her index finger. "As a matter of fact, I live in Melemele too but like Hau said, I prefer this school because all my friends are here."
"Lillie lives in Melemele Island as well," Kiawe commented.
"In Lillie's case, she's here because her mother is convinced that this school is the best for her, for whatever reason." Hau went silent for a moment and then grinned; a faint tint of pink crossing his cheeks. "But I don't mind her being here!"
"Is Lillie the girl with the sunhat next to her desk?" Juliette asked all of the sudden. As the words left her mouth, however, she realized that this was a pointless question.
"Yes!" Luana answered. "For some reason, your question reminds me of when Lillie told me that her mother chose her attire, including the sunhat she wears. I do find it a little odd—considering I've been choosing my own clothes since I was a little girl—but I like to think that her mother likes to do that for Lillie."
Juliette nodded slightly. "I think I was a bit too quick to judge this Lillie girl." From the look of things, she was also a bit too quick to think that recess time would be a bore. Getting to learn a bit more about her new classmates was interesting and so far none of them were rude to her. Deep down she was afraid that this would change as days went by, but she wanted to trust them especially Luana and Kiawe. They seemed to be reliable, at least to Juliette. "Only time will tell," the girl told herself; a slight feeling of uncertainty settling within her.
Time went by strangely fast. Against all odds, Juliette felt at ease during break time. Luana, Hau, and Kiawe proved to be good company to her and she secretly hoped they would stick around the next day too. A little bit of familiarity never hurts.
The other surprise of the day for Juliette was how fast the day went by overall. Now they were facing the last lesson of the day, which had to do with Pokémon moves. The teacher arrived to the class less than five minutes ago. Juliette was shocked to see him wear no shirt under his white lab coat. He was adorned in shorts, exercise shoes, a hat, and wide sunglasses.
"Do they allow people to just go around shirtless in this school?" Juliette asked Luana discreetly, her head hung low as she leaned in towards the girl.
Luana giggled and whispered, "They do. I mean, look at Kiawe! Since it's so hot in this region, we see it as something normal."
"But this man is a teacher…" Juliette murmured to herself.
"I see a new face!" The aforementioned exclaimed, staring in Juliette and Luana's direction.
The girl wanted to hide. "Quelle horreur, I hope he didn't hear me!"
"Alola! You must be Juliette, the new student. I'm Professor Kukui; the professor of the region and a volunteer teacher to this school. I hope you won't find my classes too boring!"
The class laughed with Kukui's comment and again, Juliette didn't know how to react. "Well...I don't think they will be boring," she replied timidly.
"Glad to hear that. Let's start then!" Kukui turned to face the blackboard and began to write on it. The text read The importance of Status Moves. "I think it's about time we Tackled this subject! How many of you use Status Moves regularly?"
"Please," The student with the fancy jacket spoke, "no one uses such moves when all you need is raw power."
"That's what I like to hear, Telford!" Chaos humoured him noisily and then proceeded to fist bump his colleague.
"Actually," Kukui spoke, "you kids will be surprised to learn that it's actually the opposite! Most Trainers don't give Status Moves a chance because the majority of them prefer using powerful moves that sweep their opponents in the blink of an eye. Isn't that right, Telford?"
The boy rolled his eyes and sighed exasperatedly, leaning against his seat.
"Who can tell me one possible effect of Status Moves?" After Kukui's request, Lillie raised her hand. "Yes?"
"Some Status Moves can be used to heal your Pokémon, your allies, and sometimes even your opponent."
"Correct!" Kukui cheered, quickly writing the information down on the chalkboard. "Healing moves are very helpful when you are in a pinch. Besides, you even get to save cash!" The class reacted by laughing heartily. Juliette didn't know what to do because if she feigned her laugh it would be too evident, so she just smiled. "Alright, what are other uses of Status Moves?"
"They can cause Status conditions too! Like Paralysis or Poisoning," Sophocles said.
"Well said Sophocles! Status conditions are possibly one of the best known effects of Status Moves, yeah," Kukui annotated the new information on the blackboard as well. "Status Moves like Will-O-Wisp, Thunder Wave, Hypnosis, Toxic Spikes and many others can cause different effects on the opposing Pokémon. These conditions affect the Pokémon's battle prowess and can grant the user a huge advantage. What else can we do with Status Moves?"
"Some of them boost the Pokémon's stats and power up their strength, like in Bulk Up's case," Kiawe answered.
"That too, oh yeah!" the teacher beamed as he wrote down the information before he faced his students again. "As you can see, Status Moves are actually pretty useful in battle. With the correct strategy, they can be a surefire way to win a battle!"
"Is there something else we need to know?" Telford droned, sprawled out on his seat as if he was watching a boring TV show.
"Yeah, there's something else y'all need to know about Status Moves. Also," Kukui added, "I would appreciate if you sat more normally, Telford."
Telford narrowly looked at Chaos and then at Kukui a few times. He muttered something under his breath to his partner as he adapted a less relaxed position at his seat. Now he was leaning on his desk, resting his chin on his hand with a bored expression across his face. Juliette observed the scene out of the corner of her eye, marveling at how teachers could make students conform to them without making a fuss. "Now I'm almost convinced that Alolan people are indeed different."
Kukui was now ready to start his explanation. "There's something that can make Status Moves even more interesting and that's combining them with Z-Moves. Pokémon Trainers hardly combine the two, which is such a shame." The teacher paused to look at the students' reactions. They looked at him in silence, expecting him to continue. However, they would have to wait because Kukui had a different idea in mind. "Juliette, what can you say about Z-Moves?"
That was the last thing the girl expected to hear. "Z-Moves? I barely know anything about them! Didn't Kiawe tell me something about them yesterday?" Juliette shot Kiawe a short, nervous glance before staring down at the open, blank notebook that sat on her desk. Her mind was as empty as the new notebook itself. She could practically feel her classmates gazes and that made things worse, especially with those two troublemakers scrutinizing her as well.
"Well?" Kukui smiled in an attempt to not make his new student feel pressured. However, this gesture was futile.
"Uhm, they never told us about Z-Moves where I come from. But I heard they are very powerful and…" Juliette looked at Kiawe out of the corner of her eye, trying to remember their conversation on the subject from the previous day. Luckily for her, it didn't take long until it came to her. "Ah! They also require the Trainer and their Pokémon to synchronize their wishes, I think."
"Yeah! That's a real good explanation," Kukui nodded, "but that's just scratching the surface of what Z-Moves are. I'll give you all a brief explanation."
"Okay…?" Juliette said with a tiny voice, trying to ignore her classmates' continuous stares. "Zut, is this really necessary?"
"To sum it up as simple as possible, Z-Moves come from this energy called Z-Power, which is a really mysterious aura that surrounds both the Pokémon and their Trainer. As Juliette said, they can only be performed when the Trainer and the Pokémon synchronize their wishes. This energy is very powerful and after use, you and your Pokémon will be left exhausted, thus only letting you use this power once per battle."
"This does sound a lot like Mega Evolution." Juliette nodded and smiled faintly at Kukui's explanation. "Now I understand better. Thank you for the explanation."
Kukui smiled widely. "No problem! We're here to learn after all, right? 'Kay," he continued, "as I was saying before, not many Trainers think of combining Status Moves with Z-Moves. They're missing really good stuff! For example, we all know how the move Splash does nothing, right? What if I told y'all that, when combined with Z-Powers, this move raises your Pokémon's physical strength drastically?"
The classroom became a sea of baffled faces accompanied by the sound of the students' confused murmurs. "But how is that possible?" Lana asked.
"Sadly, since Z-Powers are such a mysterious thing, there's not much of an explanation to that phenomenon as of today. But maybe someday we'll get an answer," Kukui said. "But that's not all! When Status Moves are upgraded into Z-Moves, they still keep their original effect. If you were to use, let's say Toxic, as a Z-Move, your Pokémon will improve its endurance and poison its foe! Status and Z-moves are fascinating, oh yeah!"
"They sure are!" Luana expressed her excitement out loud. Students laughed at her outburst but also and agreed with the statement.
Juliette wrote down Kukui's observations as fast as she could. "Z-Moves are so curious! They almost sound too good to be true. Maybe one day I'll get to see them in action."
The last class of the day finished with Kukui asking questions about the lesson to all of the students. Everyone—except Telford and Chaos, who were doing their own thing throughout the whole class—was able to give correct answers, even Juliette. She had been paying close attention to all the classes, but Kukui's class has her hooked. She wasn't sure if it was because of the subject or because of the way the teacher explained things, but she was pretty entertained nonetheless. Oak's classes were nice in her eyes, too. Juliette couldn't wait to tell her family all about it and luckily for her, that would be happening in no time. It was already time to leave.
Juliette left the school escorted by Luana, Hau and Kiawe. They insisted on going with her and she couldn't dare to say no, it was too nice of them. She always left school alone—except on the days her bullies waited for her at the exit—so this was new to her. The quartet was strolling through the courtyard, getting closer to the gate bit by bit.
"I wonder why Lana and Mallow weren't with us during recess," Luana pouted. "You should totally meet them, Juliette. They're super nice!"
"Yes, they're very good friends of ours," Kiawe said.
Juliette remained quiet for a bit, not knowing what to say. "They did seem nice during class," she replied.
Suddenly Hau stopped cold in his tracks. "Hold on, what are those two doing?"
Telford and Chaos were cornering Sophocles, not allowing him to go anywhere. It was hard to hear what they were saying but going by Sophocles' expression, it was nothing nice. He tried to walk away from them, but the two pushed him back periodically.
Juliette's heart sank at the sight. She had been in Sophocles' shoes so many times before and just like him, she didn't know what to do to fend off those awful people. She hated how no one would ever do anything to help her or make them stop and without really knowing how, now she was the one watching the bashing happen without knowing how to make it stop. Her companions—and anyone else in the courtyard, for that matter—didn't intervene either and although their faces made it clear that they disapproved what was happening, their passivity ticked Juliette off.
"Isn't anyone going to do anything about it?" Juliette snapped inadvertently. She then covered her mouth and lowered her gaze.
"Poor Sophocles doesn't deserve that," Luana sighed. "Those two are always picking on others. If it wasn't for them, this school would be the perfect place to be."
"Unfortunately there's rotten apples everywhere," Kiawe added.
As they were speaking, Chaos put his leg in front of Sophocles while Telford, who was right behind the latter, pushed the boy without warning, making him fall flat on his face. The duo started laughing noisily, a laugh that drilled the ears of those who were listening. Especially Juliette, whose feelings of guilt were growing with each passing second. She pursed her lips together afraid to say something that could get her in trouble, although at the same time she wanted to defend her classmate. She hated the contradiction heavily.
Chaos was the one who cackled the most vocally. He was now grabbing Sophocles by the collar of his shirt, screaming into his face, "Why won't you do anything? Is the fat blocking your neurons?"
"Hmph, be careful with what you say." A new voice that appeared out of the blue spoke. "Didn't you know the brain is made out of a sixty percent of fat? That means we all have our brains obstructed by fat. Now leave the kid alone."
To Juliette's surprise, Luana began squealing happily as she ran towards the newcomer, who looked no better than Telford and Chaos. His pale skin contrasted against his mostly black attire. His clothes had a few tears here and there, namely on the chest and his long black sleeves. "W-why is Luana so happy to see him? He looks like someone who wouldn't hesitate to get in a fight. Actually the question here is...why did he defend Sophocles? With those looks, I'm sure he is a bully too."
"Gladion!" Telford and Chaos chorused, instantly leaving Sophocles alone. "We weren't doing anything, we were just having a small talk. Right, Soffy?" Chaos feigned a smile, patting Sophocles' back harshly.
"Whatever." Gladion walked away from them without making eye contact. He didn't notice Luana coming towards him with her arms wide open either. "Now, where could my sister be?"
"I'm sure she will be there in no time! She might be talking to Kukui right now." Luana answered, wrapping her arms around Gladion's neck. He did not return her hug and instead patted her arms a few times.
As Luana started a conversation with Gladion, Juliette looked over at Sophocles. Telford and Chaos were nowhere to be seen and now he was all alone. She wanted to approach him and ask if he was alright but part of her hesitated. "What if he gets mad at me for not intervening?" Juliette looked around her. Kiawe was immersed in a conversation with Hau. "I guess it won't hurt to try, would it?"
She approached Sophocles with slow, hesitating steps. He was sitting under a small tree near the fence with his hands on either side of his face, elbows resting on his knees. "I'm so bad at this…" Juliette murmured, "Sophocles, are you...okay?"
"I'll be fine. It doesn't happen that often," he said with resignation.
The girl sighed. "But it's still not right! Aren't the teachers doing anything about it?"
"No, I never tell them anything. Those two said that if I ever snitched to Oak it would get worse."
"They threaten him on top of it…" The girl talked to herself again.
"People here in Alola don't normally get into fights. I guess that's why nobody intervenes. Plus they could get in trouble," Sophocles shrugged.
Juliette felt her hands tremble ever so slightly. "Why don't those two get in trouble then?"
"I have no idea…"
Their conversation was interrupted by Luana's voice beckoning them. Lillie was now with them, so Juliette assumed that Luana wanted them to introduce each other. Plus the end of their conversation was for the best; she was getting worked up over it. She hated seeing others go through the same torment as her and on top of that, it was likely that Telford and Chaos would start picking on her too sooner or later. "I just can't outrun it. It's impossible."
"Juliette, this is my good friend Gladion," Luana beamed, guestering her arm towards him before directing it to Lillie, "and this is his sister, Lillie!"
Juliette tried to contain a surprised exclamation. "Really? Those two are siblings? They're like night and day, like sun and moon!" She blinked rapidly as if to recover from the unexpected revelation. "Alola! My name is Juliette. Nice to, uh, meet you both!"
"She came from Kalos not too long ago. Today was her first day here!" Luana told Gladion, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"I knew you weren't from here as soon as I saw you. Nice to meet you too." Gladion reached out his hand confidently for a handshake, but Juliette didn't trust him.
"How did he know that only by seeing me? Is it that evident?" She reached out her hand like someone being forced to touch fire. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she weakly shook his hand.
"Nice to meet you, Juliette. I'm looking forward to talk to you more!" Lillie's voice became higher in pitch for a moment as she clung her bag firmly but gently.
"M-Me too!" Juliette answered. "I wonder what's going on with that bag. But I won't say anything, I don't want to bother her."
A light silence fell upon the group since Juliette didn't know what else to say. Strange behavior aside, Lillie did seem nice and although Gladion made her uncomfortable, deep down Juliette thought that maybe he wasn't so bad, considering Luana seemed to be quite attached to him. While they all dwelled in the silence, a car horn could be heard. When Juliette looked up and saw the car, she felt a rush of joy.
She smiled sheepishly at the group and said, "My Dad and Grandma are here! I have to go now."
"Alright, see you tomorrow!" Kiawe waved goodbye. The rest of the group said similar goodbyes, making Juliette smile.
"Its been years since the last time classmates were so friendly to me. I hope this isn't just a flash in the pan." She returned the gesture, waving back at them before walking towards the gate.
As soon as she made it to the car, Juliette opened the door and sat next to her grandmother. An overwhelming feeling of safety rushed through her as she settled into the seat.
"Well?" Mainard asked with expectation.
Édith's eyes sparkled in anticipation and she nearly shouted, "Tell us! How did it go? Did you like the new school?"
"It was...good," Juliette nodded inadvertently. She decided to omit Telford and Chaos in fear that her father and grandmother would feel discouraged. "The people here have been nice so far and guess what? Luana and Kiawe are in my class!"
"That's great news!" Mainard exclaimed. "With Kiawe and Luana there I'm sure you will adapt in no time."
The girl shrugged, eyeing her new school out of the corner of her eye. "Let's hope so."