A/N: Welcome back, readers! It's been a while since I've been busy with work but I've been working on this chapter little by little here and there because honestly, I've been excited to show the conclusion to the Felicity vs Mallory battle. I didn't get to characterize each character in the last chapter and there are little bits here and there but I wanted to introduce a big piece of the story's lore before diving too deeply into the characters.
I'd like to thank everyone who has submitted a character so far. Now that I'm starting to get an even number of male and female characters, I won't emphasize submission of one gender over the other. You guys submit whatever you guys want to. Now to the people who haven't gotten an answer back from me, I do apologize for taking so long. It's easiest to say it here where there's a good chance that you'll read it than to message each of you. I am still looking over your characters and thinking of modifications to make to them so that I can have a good idea of the best way to use them in my story. Even recently, I just messaged the creators of two of the rivals to pitch some changes that I want to make to their characters so that it works best. Now I don't have to make suggestions but I like to keep you guys in the loop so that the character isn't completely different from how you envisioned them without any heads up. Anyways, I will get back to you about your characters. I just need some time to think. Now, with all of my author's notes out of the way, enjoy the chapter!
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. I only own Shu and the rest of my OCs.
Chapter 8: The Sun and the Meteor
Shu's leg vibrated vigorously against the concrete floor beneath him as his excitement tried to escape from his body. He could not get close enough to the battlefield as he slouched forward in his seat. His eyes were glued, darting back and forth as attacks were thrown back and forth across the field. Explosions shook the ground beneath him, sending shockwaves to his very core. The hairs on the back of his neck stood sharply, sweat was dripping from his face, and his mouth was dry like an arid desert but none of that mattered. Shu was mindless at the sight of this intense battle.
He had never witnessed such a battle - not even at the Eterna Gym. None of his father's pokemon had shown this amount of power or even skill. Felicity's vivillon, despite appearing so harmless, whipped up the most violent of hurricanes. Mallory's braviary could soar from one end of the field to the other with one powerful wing beat. Move for move, Felicity and Mallory's pokemon traded blows, each doing its part to carry its trainer and the rest of the team to victory.
The battle had taken its toll on Felicity's outfit. Her once spotless salmon-colored dress now matched the field below her feet in some places, particularly near the bottom on the front. Her neat, wavy hair was unruly with strands sticking out here and there. Despite this, not once did she lose her composure or get distracted by her appearance.
Mallory's mohawk was swept back, falling out of line, and her dark skin was coated in a strong layer of dust. Other than that, her outfit had gotten dirty but it was less noticeable on her than it was on Felicity. Like the tiny blonde, Mallory kept focus on the battle, expertly calling out commands to counter her opponent's.
After struggling against Felicity's first two pokemon, Mallory was able to regain lost ground as her final pokemon, her houndoom, leaped into the air and ensnared Felicity's vivillon in its burning jaw. The orange-winged butterfly screamed in pain as flames consumed his tiny body, darkening his scales in the process. When the vivillon stopped struggling in the houndoom's jaws, Mallory ordered her canine to release the scale pokemon. The houndoom practically spat his opponent out of his mouth as he violently whipped his neck.
Like her carbink and the other pokemon that Mallory defeated, Felicity called her vivillon back into his luxury ball, whispered into it, and collapsed it to place it back on her bracelet. Now the two trainers were each down to their last pokemon. Mallory and her houndoom, Rex, against Felicity and Luxious just like all of their previous battles.
Felicity brought forth Luxious' ball and said, "Mallory, the time has come for me to end this battle."
Mallory simply nodded. Her arms were crossed as she stood unflinchingly against the ampharos that emerged from the luxury ball and the storm of electricity that he brought with him. Just his mere presence supercharged the air in the arena. The glass-like red orbs that sat atop his forehead and on the tip of his tail were spotless and shiny just like the white stone with the red, yellow, and peach sigil on his collar. The red orbs glowed brightly like Christmas lights as Luxious channeled electricity into them. The sparks had been so potent that a group of four meowstic were immediately dispatched to erect a pyramid of four Light Screens to contain the stray bolts.
Mallory rolled her eyes at the theatrics of it all. Rex too was unamused as he dug his heels into the dirt and ignited his mouth with Fire Fang. He growled menacingly as he glared at his target. Luxious was unintimidated, however. He simply bobbed his head from left to right, almost oblivious to the fact that he was in a battle. Regardless, Mallory and Rex were both prepared for the ensuing battle - perhaps their most difficult one yet.
Felicity looked into the bleachers, focusing her gaze somewhere in the first few rows. Shu tried to follow her eyes but could find no one. Just a bunch of wealthy people taking up the first few rows which, he had to admit, did look very comfortable compared to the metal bench that he was sitting on. Felicity brought herself back to the match to find that nothing had changed. Rex was still baring his burning fangs at her and Luxious and Mallory maintained her unwavering resolve. The tiny blonde closed her eyes and took one large breathe through her nose before exhaling from her mouth. Her long eyelashes fanned up as she opened her icy eyes and gazed into Mallory's magenta infernos.
The two girls knew that this was it. After tonight, one of them would walk away as the champion of the school. The spectators all around knew it too and were left in suspense as they waited to see who would make the first move. Instead, the trainers just continued looking right at each other and their pokemon did the same. Cool confidence met burning determination. Peaceful leisure met powerful aggression. All was still, not even the wind howled in this moment. The audience members felt the tension between both sides of the field. It was thick like tar. Nothing moved inside of it and nothing could escape it.
The stillness ended in one burst of movement. Rex darted across the battlefield at full speed, dodging all of the craters that had been carved into the battlefield by Jule's Ancient Power. Luxious too began running but his rounder shape was less aerodynamic as he awkwardly ran in and out of the craters. Just as the ampharos was about to come out of one of these craters, Rex pounced on him, sending them both into a tumble. Rex quickly got to his feet as he slid down the slope while Luxious simply rolled to the bottom. When they both stopped, Mallory's houndoom leaped at Luxious' throat with his fangs ignited.
"Discharge!"
While laying on his back, Luxious began charging electricity throughout his entire body before unleashing a stream of lightning in all directions. The current struck Rex who had flinched from the shock but proceeded to dig his fangs into the sheep's arm.
"Ros!" Luxious cried.
Felicity quickly ordered her ampharos to use Thunder Punch but Rex quickly released his hold and backed away just as sparks began dancing on the yellow hoof. Rex landed a few meters away, gaining some distance from Luxious. The ampharos jumped to his legs and slammed his lightning-infused fist into the ground, releasing a streak of lightning columns towards the houndoom.
Rex sidestepped the attack and unleashed a beam of intertwining violet rings. The gem on Luxious' forehead shined brilliantly as he shot out a flashing beam of light with tiny colorful shapes floating around inside. The two attacks collided and flashed brilliantly and dimly like a large strobe light that alternated between yellow-green and violet. At the center of the attacks, a small ball of light formed and expanded outwards, filling the Light Screen pyramid until it could no longer grow. In a split moment, the flashing orb shrunk and imploded, sending out a shockwave. The pyramid shattered like glass allowing a gust of wind to pass through the bleachers. People in the audience screamed and shouted as they fought against the powerful current in an attempt to stay seated. Some were knocked back, some lost their hats or glasses, and some were almost carried away completely.
Felicity had been whisked away by the violent winds. Her dressed fluttered wildly as she kicked for some sort of support. Luxious was too far away and not fast enough to catch her and bring her down safely but he ran toward her, without any care that he would be disqualified for leaving the field's boundaries. Felicity started to change directions as she began plummeting from the sky. There were gasps and screams as trainers from the crowd - students, faculty, and others - threw out their flying type pokemon to save her. As she dropped in a free fall, the necklace around Felicity's neck began to slip from her neck. Before she realized it, her hand clutched the pendant and brought it to her chest as she closed her eyes and said, "Like the sun above our heads and the core beneath our feet, shine brightly in the darkness!"
"Ampha!"
Bright beams of light slipped through Felicity's knuckles and shot towards Luxious, causing the surrounding flying types to flinch and hesitate. At that moment, the stone in Luxious' collar also lit up, consuming his neck with a bright yellow light with beams that slithered through the air until they met with the beams that came from Felicity's necklace. When the beams connected, they sent waves of energy through each other, transferring between the necklaces. Luxious was engulfed by a crystal pink orb with surging magenta energy.
The orb shattered revealing a transformed ampharos. The sheep that once lacked wool now had long white tresses that flowed in the wind and a bushy tail littered with shiny red orbs. His stubby horns had grown in length around the jewel atop his head that gleamed with the fading magenta streaks of energy. Luxious stood proudly and majestically with his head tilted upward and as his hair flowed softly.
There were oohs and ahs in the crowd along with the flashing lights from the holo casters, especially from the new students who were completely bewildered by the phenomenon. Among them, Shu was speechless.
'But wha- But she- and he- How did they do that? Is this what the professor was talking about?'
Felicity's icy eyes flashed open as she called out, "Luxious, Cotton Spore!"
"Aros!" Luxious yelled as he concentrated his energy into his mane and tail, causing them to glow green. He whipped around, conjuring a blanket of fluffy white cotton from his own fleece. In addition, small green clumps appeared all around the area, covering the hard ground to cushion Felicity's fall. The tiny blonde landed in the soft white sheet, throwing up small pieces of cotton on impact. The crowd, which had been overcome by a deafening silence during Felicity's descent had erupted into a roar of applause and cheering as she pulled herself out of the Cotton Spore.
Mallory, who had kept herself low to the ground but was still tossed back, had just gotten back to the edge of the field and waited patiently for Felicity to do the same. With her arms crossed, she kept her gaze forward and let out a "hmph" as Felicity dusted the wispy cotton from her cardigan and dress. The tall girl rolled up the sleeves of her jacket knowing that the match was just now going to get serious.
"You weren't planning on mega evolving your ampharos, were you?"
"I wanted to prove to myself that I wouldn't have to rely on that power but I have to admit that you are deserving of my and Luxious' full power."
Mallory simply nodded as a second pyramid was erected in place of the first. A second team of meowstic was sent onto the field to provide an extra layer of defense. Luxious turned to face Rex and readied himself for battle against the hellhound. Felicity raised her hand high in the air and commanded Luxious to use Thunder. The mega ampharos supercharged himself with lightning and shot a large bolt into the tip of the pyramid where it separated into a rain of powerful bolts.
Rex ran from side-to-side, avoiding the bolts as they struck the ground near him. The bolts left dark burn marks as they tossed up small chunks of the earth. Rex's messy fur was bombarded by fragments of rock and small clouds of dirt as he raced across the battlefield like a zigzagoon to avoid Luxious' attack. One final bolt crashed down from directly above Rex, striking him on the back. The impact forced the houndoom to collapse onto his belly, filling his body with electricity. He growled as his muscles stiffened. His claws dug into the dirt as he pressed against the ground with all of his might to stand back up. In one swift motion, Rex tilted his up, releasing a powerful howl as he forced through the paralysis. Sparks ran around his body. They forced his body to flinch and cringe. Despite the burning sensation running through his muscles, Rex began sprinting forward at half his normal speed, which was still enough to close the distance between himself and Luxious before the ampharos could fire off another electrical attack.
"Fire Fang!" Flames burned violently in Rex's mouth as he opened his maw with the intent to snap bones.
"Thunder Punch!" Luxious charged lightning in his hoof and threw a right hook to Rex's cheek.
The dark pokemon snapped at the incoming fist, sinking his teeth through the yellow wool and into Luxious' skin. This came at a price as more lightning ran through his body. The two pokemon stood there for several moments, refusing to submit to the opponent as Luxious' lightning-infused fist transmitted lightning through Rex's body and Rex's burning fangs singed Luxious' wool and skin as they dug deeper. Rex growled at the charge running through him while Luxious grunted because of his darkening hoof. The two were at a standstill with neither one giving in however, Luxious had a second hoof. Rex only had one mouth. The ampharos charged a second Thunder Punch and drove it into Rex's skull from above. Despite being struck by a powerful attack, Rex refused to let go. His jaw was locked tightly and flames danced inside his mouth. Luxious threw a second punch but it was not until the third that he slammed Rex down into the ground, forcing him to release his bite.
From point blank, Felicity ordered for Luxious to use another Thunder and to direct it at Rex. In response, Mallory had her houndoom charge Inferno. Felicity's ampharos lit up like the sun on a July afternoon with sparks shooting out in all directions. Less than five feet away, Mallory's houndoom was standing in a low crouch inside a circle of flames, some of which were coming off of his fur. In one swift moment, both pokemon unleashed their attacks.
More meowstic were called out to suppress the collision as the two-layered pyramid was engulfed in a ferocious storm of flames and lightning which instantly broke through the first barrier. Several other Light Screen pyramids were formed on top of each other, shattering just as quickly as they were formed until the last one was created just inches from the ground level seating. Faculty and members of the student council began moving away. Felicity and Mallory had taken steps back away from the plasma storm, giving the meowstic room to create their barriers. With more than twenty meowstic currently on the field, they abandoned the pyramid shape for their barrier and created a complex, multi-sided shape to contain and concentrate the explosion upward. With a way out, the fire and lightning shot up high into the sky before bursting so brightly in one huge flash that the night sky resembled midday for a quick moment.
When the explosion faded and the sky darkened once again, the dust settled inside the barrier revealing that both pokemon were still standing inside though the winner was obvious. Rex was having difficulty standing with his trembling legs as he breathed heavily. Luxious, on the other hand, was covered in scratches and burns but still with just a minor hunch in his back. Rex looked up at Luxious with his burning eyes before finally collapsing to the floor.
The referee announced loudly into the microphone, "The houndoom is unable to battle. All six of Mallory's pokemon have been disqualified! Felicity is the winner of the battle and champion of Soleil Academy!"
Cheering erupted all around the stadium, filling it with a thunderous noise that the people in town could easily hear. Bright lights flashed, especially closer to the field as photographers and reporters attempted to capture the best of the moment as Mallory recalled Rex into his poke ball and walked off of the field, leaving Felicity and Luxious to be showered in cheers and claps. With that, Dr. Maple and a well-dressed man with platinum blonde hair stood up from their seats and walked over to congratulate the winners in the center of the field.
Dr. Maple said, "That was absolutely spectacular! Felicity, I would like to thank you, Mallory, and both of your teams for truly one of the best battles that has ever been held at this academy in my time here at Soleil. You both exemplified the spirit of battle and upheld the legacy of the trainers who attended this school. I believe that your father would like to say a few words. Ladies and gentlemen, I present Malcolm Dulumiere."
Dr. Maple passed the microphone to the man beside her. He was shorter than her, mostly because of her heels, but he had a wide frame and strong features. His face was shaved clean, save for the mustache that rested above his lips. His shiny, blonde hair was combed backward neatly, ending in curls at the back of his neck. His suit looked very expansive - as did the black case that he held in his hand.
"Good evening, everyone. Firstly, I'd like to say that it brings me great joy to see the people of Kalos gather together to celebrate a tradition that has been upheld in this region for thousands of years. It is an essential part of my family which is why we support this academy every year along with Kalos' other noble families despite the differences that we sometimes share. That is neither here, nor there, however. Tonight, I stand here proud as both a father and a former champion at this academy to have watched my first born daughter perform so magnificently. She and all of her pokemon brought forth every ounce of their potential and prowess which is why they were victorious tonight."
Malcolm turned to Felicity and held the box in front of him as he said, "Felicity, as the champion of Soleil, you have earned this."
She looked up at her father with a smile politely as she accepted the box and offered him a curtsy.
"Go on and open it," he said.
Felicity nodded as she slid the lid off and handed it to her father. She stared into the box with a look of satisfaction as she picked up the collapsed premier ball from inside. The ball expanded in her palm though she did not immediately open it. Instead, she stared at it hesitantly. Noticing this, her father placed a firm hand on her shoulder and gave her a small smile and nod.
She nodded in return and tossed the premier ball up, creating one final flash of light with small sparkles around white-flamed chandelure that materialized. Just his presence alone caused a rise in temperature in the lower parts of the stadium. There was no surprise that Felicity had already begun sweating from being so close to him as he slowly descended until he hovered right in front of her.
"As a long-standing tradition," Malcolm said into the microphone, "I, the current Dulumiere family head, will grant the new Sun Queen the power of her predecessors, Lumiere, the chandelure."
At his name, the chandelure began dancing around Felicity, Malcolm, and Dr. Maple, waving his ivory flames to the crowd.
Malcolm handed the mic back to Dr. Maple so that she could say, "Felicity, I know that you are not a coordinator but how would you like to display Lumiere to the crowd before we leave?"
Felicity smiled and nodded to the dean with a curtsy as she said, "Gladly. Thank you for the opportunity, Dean Maple."
Malcolm and Dr. Maple gave Felicity space as she called Luxious back into his ball, leaving only Lumiere and herself in the center of the field. She used no pokedex to study his moves, nor any cheat sheets. As soon as she opened her mouth, the luring pokemon did her bidding.
"Start with Will-O-Wisp," she said.
Several orbs of wispy violet flames formed around Lumiere and rotated around him in a circle. Felicity was starting very slowly, allowing herself to see what her new pokemon was capable of.
"Now use Fire Spin around yourself."
Lumiere cried cheerfully in agreement as a small ring of white flames formed on the ground beneath him and began rising into a tornado around him. They mixed with the Will-O-Wisp, turning the fiery tornado violet. The arena was bathed in the same violet glow, darkening everything except the firestorm.
Felicity brought her hands up dramatically and called out, "Mold the flames with Hex!"
The pillar of fire began spouting out small shadowy flares in all directions, some of which came dangerously close to the audience. They enjoyed the thrill of it, though, since they made sure to capture it on film.
"Shoot Flame Burst directly up!"
The audience saw nothing happen until a white ball of fire shot up from the eye of the tornado and separated into smaller flames which each exploded like fireworks. This light show continued for several more minutes until Felicity had Lumiere cease it all at once. The fire stopped rotating and vanished into tiny embers around the chandelure and the crowd cheered on the performance, showering the two in praise.
Felicity politely waved to the crowd while Lumiere danced around joyously. When the tiny blonde looked over to her father, she noticed a look of satisfaction on his face. Next to him, Dr. Maple was applauding in tears from the display, truly moved by it all. Mallory had long since left the arena and Bastien was clapping his hands along with the rest of the council by his side, among which was the vice president whom she had noticed was missing earlier. Felicity then looked around at the audience and found Zygos and Austin who waved back to her in return.
Shu looked over at them in amazement and then back at her. He was sitting among some of the best for the current champion to acknowledge them. This excited him, making it difficult for him to sit still as he stood up in his seat, causing Austin and Zygos to turn to him but more importantly, for Felicity to look over at him. Suddenly, the boy was washed by a wave of anxiety. He had not thought this through completely. He wanted her attention and now he had it but what was he to do now? His brain began to slow down in the moment and Felicity's gaze escaped him, leaving him standing up alone until other members of the crowd around him stood up in applause. Now he was surely lost in a sea of faces.
Shu whipped his head to the side as soon as he felt Austin's hand on his shoulder with a concerned look on his face.
"You alright?" he asked over the roaring cheers around them.
"Y-yeah...it's just that all of it was just so awesome!"
Austin laughed, "See? I knew you'd like it. We're going to get something to eat so let's head out now. That way we don't have to fight through the crowd to get out. They're just going to have a few closing statements. The good part's over."
"Okay, let's hit it."
After escaping the final speeches of the ceremony, Austin and Zygos led Shu to a small pizza parlor in town. It was hidden in a small corner of the town in the first-floor courtyard of an apartment complex. Despite how hidden it was, there was a lot of motion inside though most people came by to pick up their order so it was easy for Shu and the others to find a table.
While waiting for their pizza to arrive, Austin told Zygos, "Benji will meet up with us in a bit. He got stuck on his way out of the stadium."
Zygos merely nodded.
Austin then turned to ask Shu, "So what did you think of the battle, newbie?"
"I think that it was insane! The explosions were huge! And their pokemon were so strong! So that was the best of the best, huh?"
"Ahem!" Zygos grumbled loudly.
Getting a good look of Zygos, who had to put his shirt back on or no service, Shu noticed that his arms were covered in scabs which gave him a scaly - almost reptilian-like - appearance. The Sinnohan boy found himself staring so he looked up to find Zygos looking back at him with a knowing smirk. The dark-skinned boy knew exactly why Shu was looking at him. He had gotten used to the looks..
Deciding to carry the conversation, Shu said, "Oh right! You're fourth place, right?"
Zygos appreciated that and said, "Not for long because pretty soon I'll pass up pretty boy, the mutt, and miss perfect with a smile."
Shu gave Austin a confused look to which the brunette responded, "He's talking about the three ranks above him. I didn't get a chance to talk to you about this during the match so let me lay out how the school works since I know you were kind of just rushed into all of this. So there are several programs that students can study here with the most popular being the battle, performance, and medicine programs. Now you want to get into the battle program so I won't bore you with details of the others."
"Wait, you aren't in the battle program?" Zygos interrupted. "What program are you in?"
"Sycamore started me in the breeder program because it's really the only thing I have experience in. One of his aides is going to have me work at the breeding lab on campus."
"Okay, so you want to get into the battle course. I'm assuming you've had some experience."
"Barely any but I know that it's what I want to do. My whole life, I've been around pokemon. My dad was actually a professional trainer until he decided to settle down with my mom in Eterna so they could raise my brother. He got a job offer at the gym so I've gone to see some of his battles and they always excited me. The first time I ever battled with a pokemon listening to me, my dad was there to see me and even though he and his team did most of the work, I helped take down the giant hypno that we were fighting and it felt like I had earned his respect."
"Did you say a giant hypno?" Austin asked for confirmation.
Shu quickly explained his experience at the Old Chateau to which Austin said, "This hypno is similar to a totem pokemon but not exactly."
"A what?"
"A totem pokemon. I didn't think they existed outside of Alola because they're pokemon that trial captains - you can consider them Alola's gym leaders - train up and release into trial sites where trainers go to battle them. They're bigger and stronger than common pokemon found in the wild. From what you're saying, this hypno sounds like one except he acquired his size and strength from all of the humans that he ate. I guess that's beside the point, though. You were saying?"
"Yeah, so it meant a lot to me to be able to help in the battle. See, my dad was getting on my case because my grades were slipping. I was never good at school but now I have a real shot to do something that I think I'm actually good at. I can take care of pokemon and battling makes me feel like I can do anything!"
Austin nodded and said, "That's great and all but you realize that you are at a school, right? You'll still have to study and do good in your classes, especially if you want to enter and stay in the battle course."
"Yeah but I actually like this stuff. Besides, if I don't give it a shot, how will I ever know if it's possible?"
Zygos responded and laughed, "Well said. To that, I say we have a battle. I want to see what you're made of."
"Right now?!"
Zygos chuckled, "No, after the food. Food always comes first."
Austin agreed, "Yeah, dude. Food always comes first. No! Napping, then food, then battling, then exploring ancient civilizations. Maybe throw another nap in there for good measure."
Zygos shook his head, "Don't listen to him. He'll infect you with his bad habits."
"So he should pick up your good habits like stripping every chance you get?"
"Can't help it, I'm warm-blooded."
At that moment, the group heard something press hard against the glass beside them and turned to find a tall, pasty boy with a buzzcut and his machoke both pressed against the restaurant's window. Shu flinched but Austin and Zygos simply laughed and shook their heads while the other boy and his machoke quickly ran inside and sat down beside the cyan-haired boy, squishing him against the wall.
"Guys! You'll never believe what happened after the battle!"
"Choke, choke! Machoke!"
"I made a solid crystal materialize in my hand and Shu met ghosts. You really think we'd have trouble believing anything, Benji?"
"Who's Shu?"
"I'm Shu!" the boy said as he waved his hand from between the machoke and the wall.
"Ma machoke!" the machoke said apologetically as he pushed Benji out of the booth to give Shu some space.
"Ohko!" Benji yelled as he tumbled onto the ground.
Ohko quickly turned in his seat and began apologizing to his trainer, "Ma machoke!"
Benji stood up and said, "It's okay pal. You just gotta be careful, let me go get a chair real quick and I'll tell you guys what happened." Benji left and came back. He started, "So Ohko and I were coming this way and I ran into Becky!"
The older boys groaned at her name.
"No, no, hear me out! This time is different!"
"Who's Becky?" Shu asked.
Austin explained, "She's just this girl that Benji has no chance with. It just hasn't gotten through his head yet, though. She also happens to be my girlfriend's cousin. Not that that's important but just to paint a picture in your head."
"Oh yeah, where is your girl?" Benji asked.
"Probably stuck at the stadium still. I don't think I'll get to see her until Thursday during a gap that we both have."
"Your guys' schedules don't line up too well this semester?" Zygos asked.
"Nope," he sighed.
"Okay, well that's not important guys!" Benji said. "So Becky was working security for the battle today and she was showing people the way out. Now her job is to get people going on their way to tell me why I was there for a cool five minutes talking to her and making her laugh?"
"Oh wow, five minutes," Austin said with an eye-roll.
"Extra large pizza with everything on it?" a young girl asked as she approached their table.
Benji looked her up and down and smirked as he said, "You can set that pizza on the table and you can set something else right here."
He shot her a wink with his comment to which the girl rolled her eyes and carelessly dropped the pizza onto the table to get away from his as quickly as possible. Austin and Zygos scrambled for the pizza to make sure it didn't fall. Benji was too busy watching the girl walk away to notice that Austin was about to smack him upside the head.
"Ow! What was that for?!"
"You almost cost me a pizza!"
"But did I?"
"Shut up and eat before I change my mind on letting you get any."
As the four began eating (Ohko was withdrawn into his poke ball), Shu asked Austin, "Hey so what were you telling me about the battle course?"
"Oh, right! Sorry, sometimes if I change the topic, I forget what I was talking about before.
"No problem, dude."
"Okay, so as a student here, you have your focus course and if you choose, you can have an elective course. Now, the battle course has exactly 650 students, including those who choose it as their elective course. The way that the school keeps this quota is that they admit exactly 300 first year battle course students every year. They offer room for changes in courses throughout the academic year but by the end of the second semester, a certain number of students will be cut from the program meaning they either have to find another program or they transfer to another academy and hope to do better there. With me so far?"
"Wait, how do they decide which students are cut?"
"Well if you fall below a certain rank, you're eliminated from the battle course. Every first-year class consists of 300 students, second year 200, and first year 150. That means that at the end of your first year if you're rank 201 and at the end of your second you're rank 151, you'll be out of the program. The program is really competitive, with good reason. I mean you saw just how big the match tonight was. It was broadcasted all over the region and officials from all over showed up just to watch it."
Zygos added, "All of the royal knights' matches, whether it's among each other or students ranked sixteen or lower, are held in the AZ Memorial Stadium. Not all of the matches get that kind of turnout but talent scouts do come often to keep up with how we perform in hopes of signing contracts with the best up-in-coming professional trainers."
"What kind of contracts?"
Zygos answered, "Well going on a pokemon journey is expensive but if you get signed with an agency, they'll sponsor you and basically manage your career. They'll market your journey and get a cut of the profit, though I'm pretty sure their cut is bigger than yours since they are paying for your journey up front."
"So then being one of the strongest trainers here means that you have a chance to get paid for going on your journey? That's super cool! So how do I even get in?!"
Austin responded, "I wouldn't know. I came into the school as a battle course student. You'd have to ask a counselor about that. Try on Monday whenever you have a gap in your schedule."
"Oh yeah, you mentioned something about a gap earlier. So you mean I won't be going from class to class back to back?"
"That's right," Austin said through the mozzarella. "Pull up your schedule in your email and I'll show you."
"I haven't even looked at it yet. I guess now is better than ever."
Shu took the holo caster out of his pocket and clicked the email icon on the touchscreen. He was met with the sign-in screen and got stuck.
"So...I didn't know I even had an email," he said with a chuckle.
"Your school email address is your first initial, your last name, and the last two numbers of your birth year at. Your first time, your password is your date of birth but you should change it once you log in."
Shu quickly put in the information and logged into his email to find that he already had a few messages inside. The most recent one was from Dr. Maple which struck him as odd.
"Hey guys, I think I got an email from the dean."
All three upperclassmen dropped their slices onto their plates and crowded around him.
As he tried pushing them off, Shu asked, "What's the big deal, guys?"
Austin responded, "The dean never emails students directly unless there's something important that she needs to discuss with them."
"Usually it's either something really good or really bad," added Benji.
Zygos said, "And we don't mean like you got good grades all semester. We mean like you are representing the school at an inter-regional event or you found a cure to Pokerus or something. Which makes me wonder why she's interested in you."
Shu flinched at that. Zygos did not put any emphasis on that last word but the statement as a whole struck a chord with him, leaving him frozen. The other boys did not notice this as Austin had grabbed the holo caster to get a better look at the email. As his fingers wrapped around the cool metal, a shock ran through his hand, forcing him to drop the device. Shu realized what had just happened and dropped to grab the holo caster only for a pair of electric wings to sprout from the sides. To all of their surprise, the holo caster floated in midair by itself and Denki's face appeared on the screen. He flashed them a smile and wink before flying all about the room, leaving a trail of energy behind him wherever he went. Some of the other people began panicking until Denki landed in Shu's hand.
"What was that?!" Zygos asked as he stared at the holo caster, cautious of any sudden movements.
"Oh, right…" Shu said with a chuckle. "You haven't met Denki yet, have you?"
Benji poked his head out from behind Zygos' shoulder and asked, "So...I'm assuming that was Denki?"
Denki lifted himself out of Shu's palms with his tiny wings and made a couple digital noises as a greeting to Shu's company.
"Yeah, but I didn't know he could do this. I just thought he could hide inside electronics but now I don't have to hold my holo caster when I'm in bed watching-actually, never mind. Anyways, I guess this explains the washing machine from last night."
"Oh so that's why the hallway downstairs was wet," Austin said, having caught on quickly. "That rotom is pretty energetic, isn't he?"
"Yeah, he is," Shu said as he smiled at his companion.
"So does it still work like a regular holo caster?" Zygos asked.
"Yeah, he doesn't ruin it. Denki, can you show me the email from Dr. Maple?"
Denki nodded and quickly went to the page they were looking at.
"E-excuse me…"
The four turned to find the waitress from earlier who seemed frightened by Denki's surge earlier. She approached them cautiously and made sure to keep her distance from them. Benji got between her and the others as he walked towards her with a confident smirk.
"I knew you couldn't stay away from me."
She took a few steps back as she said, "No! I came to ask you guys to leave. I can give you a box for the pizza but my m-manager doesn't want that thing inside here."
Denki's face replaced the email on the screen and dropped to a disheartened expression.
"Hey! Denki's not a thing!" Shu fought back.
Austin placed a hand on his shoulder to hold him back and said, "We gotta respect the establishment or they can call the cops on us. We'll be out of here, miss. Sorry for the bother."
While Austin put the pizza in a box and plastic bag, Shu looked around at the people that stared at Denki with worry. He knew that Denki meant no harm to anyone - that he himself had just been startled by the foreign touch and was just a little dramatic. He was left with no choice but to leave with the others.
As they walked outside, Zygos turned and asked Shu, "So are you ready?"
"For what?"
"I said we'd battle after the food. Are you ready? Because after seeing that, I'm interested in battling your rotom."
"Denki's not a battling pokemon. He's my friend."
"Are you serious? You're not going to use him in battles?"
"Y-yeah, sorry...I have a gastly if you're still interested in battling, though."
"Well, I did say I wanted to see what you've got so let's do it."
A/N: This chapter was running a little too long and I don't want to spoil you guys all the time so I'll cut it off here. Now I didn't write the full battle between Felicity and Mallory because I really wanted to focus on their aces and I saw no point in revealing their full teams. Almost all of Mallory's has either been shown or mentioned but that's fine with me. I just really wanted to get right into the climax of the battle. Let me know what you thought of it in the reviews and I'll see you all next chapter!
