Pokemon: Academy Life (Year One)
Chapter One
Red opened his eyes to see a black void surround the area as nothing could be seen for miles. He had no idea where he was or how he got there but he also felt no need to try and leave. The only other one who was there with him was his trusted pokemon Pikachu, who also had a face of confusion but continued to stay right by Red's side. All of a sudden, a familiar face appeared before him. It was an elderly man in a lab-coat with nearly perfect white hair. He looked directly at Red and began to smile before speaking to the young man.
"Hello Red" the man started. "It's me, Oak. But most people call me the pokemon professor."
"Hey professor" Red responded. "Why did you want to talk to me?"
"Well" Oak continued "As you may know, we live in a world inhabited by extraordinary creatures called pokemon. They come in many shapes and sizes, and all have unique abilities. Over the years, people have learned to live in harmony with pokemon and interact with them in many different ways. Some keep pokemon as pets while others train them to compete in battles. I personally, prefer to study them and learn as much as there is to know about them." Oak then looked down at Red's pikachu with yet another smile. "ah, I see that you also have a connection with pokemon. Since the day I gave you that pikachu, the two of you have been inseparable."
What Oak said was true. Ever since Red got Pikachu six years ago, they had been the best of friends. Not a day went by for Red with the comfort of his first pokemon. Pikachu looked up at Red, and from that look, Red knew that Pikachu felt the same way.
"Red" Oak continued "Now that you are sixteen years old, the time has come for you to discover where your place is in the beautiful world of pokemon. I know that you are destined for great things!" Oak then suddenly disappeared, leaving Red and Pikachu left in this black void.
"What do we do now Pikachu?" Red asked his trusted pokemon. In response Pikachu let out a loud "Pika-chuuuuuu" as he shot a bolt of thunder right at Red.
…
Red woke up feeling a rush of energy going through him, causing him to jump immediately out of bed. He felt a bit dizzy and he saw on his door mirror that his hair was all that he knew exactly what had happened and looked down to see Pikachu staring up at him with an innocent smile on his face. The little pokemon got good at playing cool when doing something mischievous like abruptly waking Red up. Red couldn't bring himself to be annoyed and ended up smiling back at Pikachu.
"Hey there buddy" Red said to Pikachu "I guess this means you're hungry huh?"
Pikachu responded with an enthusiastic "Pika!" in which Red then went over to his dresser to take out some pokemon food for his friend.
As Pikachu ate, Red thought about the dream he just had. He wasn't surprised by what Professor Oak had told him in the dream because his future was something he had been thinking about all summer since he graduated from Middle school. Normally at his age, there were two choices. Either stay home and work, or apply for a boarding school, and as much as Red cared about his home, he wasn't all to thrilled about the idea of staying in Pallet town for the rest of his life.
"Red!" a voice from downstairs shouted. "are you up yet? You promised Professor Oak you'd help him with some of his work today!"
"I'll be down in a minute mom!" Red responded as he got dressed in his favorite red jacket. He was about to walk right out the door with Pikachu before his friend pulled on his leg and pointed over at his red hat on the dresser. "Oh right! Almost forgot! Thanks Pikachu!" Red responded as he put his hat on.
Red then went downstairs to greet his mother "I'll probably out out a while mom, Oak's work can be a bit time consuming."
"Remember, the application deadline for most boarding schools is this Friday"
"I know mom, I'm working on it" Red responded with a smile to contrast with his slightly annoyed tone. "See you tonight!"
Red then made his way to professor Oak's house with Pikachu on his shoulders. There wasn't a whole lot to see in Pallet town, as there was barely a population of a hundred. There was this inside joke that the town was so small that it only consisted of three houses, which was obviously untrue but in reality it wasn't that much bigger. It was a nice simple life however. Not much happened good or bad so it just depended on each individual person on how they felt about living there.
To pass time, Red had been volunteering to work with Professor Oak in his studies on Pokemon. There weren't really a whole lot of options in town but nonetheless Red enjoyed it. While not entirely sure of what he wanted to do with himself, he loved learning about Pokemon. He always felt he had some sort of unique connection to them, especially to his Pikachu.
As Red was about to knock on Professor Oak's door, it opened right before him to show the one downside to visiting the professor. Before Red stood a young man the same age as him with a blue-gray jacket and spiky blond hair. The moment he noticed Red in front of him, he gained an annoyed look on his face. "Ugh! What the hell are you doing here Red?" the young man asked.
"Save it Blue", Red responded "I'm here to help your grandfather with his research"
"Pff, whatever" Blue responded back. "like you're even smart enough to comprehend what research gramps is doing!"
Red noticed some envelopes, assuming they were school applications. "So, I guess your're applying to several schools?" Red asked in a friendly manner
"Pfft, yeah gramps said I should apply everywhere but whats the point? I know I'm a shoe in for Kobukan Academy!"
Kobukan Academy, the most prestigious Pokemon training school in the world right in the middle of the Kobukan region. Everyone strived to get in but very few were actually accepted. It was no surprise that Blue was trying to get in as it has been his life long goal of being the next pokemon champion.
"I hear that's a pretty tough school to get in, good luck" Red responded.
"I don't need your pity! And I don't have time for you! Smell ya later!" Blue then shoved Red out of the way and walked down into town.
As Blue walked off, Red couldn't help but think about what happened to the two of them. As children, they were the best of friends always playing together and getting into trouble, but by the time that they got into middle school, Blue started focusing on his own personal goals, causing him to become much colder to Red. Red himself had nothing against Blue, but he would get annoyed by the annoying things Blue would say to him.
"Ah Red! Is that you out there?" Red heard the voice of Professor Oak. "Come on in!" As Red walked into the house, he saw Oak sitting over by the fire place surrounded by books. "Just in time my boy! I was just about to log some notes on Normal pokemon! And I see you brought Pikachu with you, I'm glad to see how well you've trained him"
A few hours passed as Red helped Oak log information on pokemon up until Oak asked the young man a question "So how are your applications going if you don't mind me asking?"
"Oh," Red responded "Well, I'm sending one to every school here in Kanto, and this one school in Johto, and"
"Have you considered Kobukan Academy? I'm going to be teaching there next semester"
In truth, Red hadn't considered it at all. He still was unsure of what he wanted to do with his life and Kobukan Academy accepted only the best most qualified students "Well, professor" Red began to answer "I wasn't really thinking about it. "I don't think I would get in"
"Oh come now Red!" Oak argued. "You are an incredibly smart young man. Don't count yourself short."
"sure, but doesn't that school look for students with the most potential of becoming pokemon trainers? I can't really say I have too much experience"
"While yes, Kobukan academy has a high reputation, I just have this gut feeling that you would fit in well, there, you have already proven to me with how well you have raised Pikachu"
"I appreciate the enthusiasm, but I just don't know" Red said back
"Just do it as a favor to me Red. I'd really appreciate it."
Red thought about it for a second. Oak was always very supportive of Red since he was really young. He knew that Oak wouldn't suggest he do something if he didn't think it was a good idea.
"Ok, professor" Red finally said. "I'll send one to Kobukan, just for the hell of it, but I'm not to worried if I won't get in, I'm sure some school will accept me"
"Good" Oak said, "Now lets go ahead and finish logging this information."
…
The next day Red and Pikachu made their way to the post office to mail his applications, including one to Kobukan academy. Really he filled that out for fun and as a favor to Oak as he was sure he wouldn't get in. Kobukan Academy looked for the best around the world and Red was just a simple boy from a small country town. Why would a school like that ever even consider him? Oak seemed to have faith in him, but he wasn't sure what the professor saw in him. Sure, Red raised Pikachu well, but this would be on a whole new level for him in terms of becoming a pokemon trainer.
Red entered the post office to see a rather expressive Blue making a scene at the front desk. "What do you mean I don't have any mail yet?" Blue yelled at the clerk.
"You only mailed your applications yesterday Blue, it'll take a week at least."
"Ugh! It shouldn't take Kobukan academy to realize that I'm perfect for them!"
"That doesn't matter, the letters will be mailed directly to your house anyway. now can you please move out of the way? There is somebody waiting behind you"
With that, Blue turned around to notice Red holding his applications and had an annoyed look on his face, a look that Red had gotten used to seeing over the years.
"well well well" Blue started "Looks like you got your applications ready, not that it matters, like you'll be accepted anywhere"
While Red never really had anything against Blue, it did frustrate him how Blue would talk to him at times. "Cool off" Red started. "I'll be out of your way in a minute" As Red walked over to the desk, Blue noticed the Kobukan symbol on the top letter and on instinct swiped it from Red's hand.
"Are you kidding me?" Blue started up again. "You are applying to Kobukan academy? You're more delusional than I thought!"
"Give me a break man! I'm doing it as a favor to somebody, It really doesn't matter if I get in"
"Yeah, keep telling yourself that! You know what? Mail it! I wanna see the sad look on your face when they send you a rejection letter!" Blue than slammed the application on the desk and walked away laughing, not before saying a farewell "Smell ya!" to Red.
Pikachu noticed Red's feelings and laid his head on Red's as he sat on his shoulder. While this usually wouldn't get to Red, he couldn't help but feel frustrated by not only Blue but by the thought of never being able to figure out who he is going to be. All he knew was that he loved to interact with pokemon, but he wasn't sure where he would go with that yet. What he really wanted at that moment was to show to Blue that he was worth respecting, and a worthy friend.
…
A week had past and summer was soon coming to an end. Pretty soon, Red would be hearing back from all the schools he applied and would find out what he would be doing for the next three years. Whatever it was, he felt that had become ready for any outcome.
Red was out on a walk through town when he saw Blue dashing and screaming to his heart's content holding a letter. "Read it and weep losers! I'm going to Kobukan Academy!" he stopped as he noticed Red on the other side of the road and decided to walk over to show his achievement. "Check it out chump!" Blue started again. "This is my next step to becoming a pokemon champion! Something you can't even dream of getting to!"
Red, trying not to let Blue's taunts get to him kept a calm manner. "Congrats Blue!" he said in a genuine tone. As annoying as Blue was, he was happy to see somebody get a chance to chase their dreams.
"Pff, like you care!" Blue responded. "I know you're jealous because you know you won't get in!"
"whatever, believe whatever you want to, I am happy for you" Red said as he walked off.
Red spent the rest of his walk home thinking about what the results may be of his applications. While at first he wasn't concerned about Kobukan Academy, part of him wanted to be accepted just to prove to Blue that he was worthy of something. Nevertheless, he was ready to find out where he would be going, if he were going anywhere at all.
When Red entered his house, he saw his mother in the kitchen with a rather shocked looked on her face. It was a look Red rarely saw as his mother tried her best to be a good mood.
"uh, are you ok mom?" Red asked in a concerned tone. It wasn't until he asked that he noticed her holding an envelope with the Kobukan academy symbol on it.
"I saw the letter come in and I just got excited, I didn't mean to open it" Reds mother told him. "But, well, take a look." She then handed Red the letter for him to read. Red took a deep breath and read out the letter.
"To Red from Pallet Town. We are pleased to inform you that you have been officially accepted into Kobukan Academy! You are to move into campus by the end of August to begin your first year with us. We look forward to seeing what you have to offer!"
Red couldn't believe it, and clearly, neither could his mother. Pikachu look up at both of them in silence waiting for it to break which it eventually did when Red let out a loud "Wahoo!" and hugged his mother who began to cry tears of joy.
A few minutes later, Red ran out into town to tell Professor Oak. He was practically knocking the door down to tell the professor who gave a reaction just as happy as Red's.
"I knew you'd get in Red!" Oak said "I expect great things from you in the coming semester!"
"Thanks Professor, it really means a lot!" Red said.
Blue, having come downstairs to see what the commotion was all about was shocked to learn the news.
"Well, I guess we're gonna be classmates" Red said in a friendly tone.
"Bullshit!" Blue exclaimed. "There is no way! There must have been a mistake!"
While Blue's response was unsurprising, Red was a little hurt to see that Blue still wouldn't let go of his unexplained grudge against him.
"Look, its not a big deal" Red said. "We probably won't even be in the same classes"
"pff, whatever!" Blue said as he walked backed up to his room.
Red knew he couldn't please everybody, especially Blue.
Red eventually went back home to do some early preparing for his trip to the Kobukan region, and he was excited. What started out as a favor to his friend turned into the beginning of an all new adventure for him. And he couldn't wait.
