Chapter 2
"Alright, then- use Hammer Arm!"
Fumiko yipped in surprise as a thunderous crash resounded from somewhere not far off, shaking the ground beneath her. She managed to stay on her feet, but unfortunately the girl next to her did not. With a yell of surprise, Kiyoko teetered, screamed, and waved her arms like a windmill before falling into one of the immaculately trimmed bushes surrounding the college's property. The former of the two pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration and groaned. How was she possibly going to be sharing a dorm with this ball of energy?
It was quite the unhappy fate for one such as herself, who tended to be more quiet and reserved. How could she have known that the two of them were headed to the same school? Quite frankly, she didn't think the younger girl gifted enough to attend. But to be fair, neither was she herself.
It would have been painful enough to live in the same wing of the dormitories with her, where she would've been certain to yell at her every morning on the way to class- but they literally shared the exact same room. 'Roomies,' Kiyoko had called it. Oh, boy.
"Oops! Do you think I'm gonna get suspended for that? Gosh, I sure hope not! Nobody'll notice, right? See? Just one big giant hole, haha. Bushes grow fast. Somebody is being awfully irresponsible, though, battling right in front of the sc- oh my god, someone's battling right in front of the school!"
The question to be asking, Fumiko thought grumpily to herself, was if this woman would ever close her mouth. She'd seemed so quiet when she'd first tapped on her shoulder on the train. But now the girl blew past her like a rocket to a roughly chalked training field on the grass- far smaller than she was used to- surrounded on all sides by a throng of cheering students. What was going on? This didn't look like a typical match. Admittedly a bit curious, she followed not far behind Kiyoko to get a closer look.
"Keep it up, buddy. Listen to what I say, not what he does. Just stay out of range of those physical attacks."
Through the screams of the others, Fumiko caught wind of one of the trainer's orders. So it was a Pokemon match! Her heart began to beat faster. She moved closer and approached the mass, and even elbowed her way past a few other students to get to the front. There, she beheld a spectacle unlike anything she had ever seen.
On one side of the field stood a gigantic, bipedal creature towering at the six and a half foot mark with a murderous rage in its dusty brown eyes. Bony gray plates overlapped one another, shifting and twisting with the creature's movements, covered in gashes and gouges from both past and present battles. It tipped back its head and roared, stamping the ground below it; much to the shrieking approval of the students. Fumiko knew it well- none other than the biggest and baddest rock type Pokemon in Japan... Rhydon.
The other side boasted a much less intimidating opponent- if you could call it that at all. It looked mainly yellow and quite rodent-like in stature, with a curling black tail that ended in a large, yellow bolt of lightning like some kind of ditsy fridge magnet. A pair of large rabbit feet and finger-less stumps for arms only completed its odd appearance. The only feature to its name that could be called remotely intimidating were its eyes, which may not have held unbridled rage, but reflected sincerity and determination in the heat of the battle. Even then, it wasn't much compared to everything else. Its spiky ears twitched attentively as it listened to its trainer.
This was Raichu, the evolution of the far more adorable Pikachu, and within an instant Fumiko was intrigued by the seemingly unfair battle- especially since the former was immune to electricity. She forgot her earlier plan of spending the next few hours settling in and mentally preparing herself to live in close quarters with Kiyoko and tuned in to watch the battle. She could almost imagine the stadium surrounding them and the lights shining down upon each trainer...
The Raichu moved like a blur, as though it were using Agility, but it looked like it were doing nothing of the sort. No stat boosts. No held items. How could it run so swiftly? Her eyes were glued to the electric type as it zoomed around and around its infuriated opponent like an odd kind of carousel. The latter screeched with anger, turning in frantic circles to try and get in a punch, despite its owner's cries to stay focused.
"Ugh! Why the HELL are you so fast? Stand still, ya little rat! Rhydon, cripple him with Rock Blast!"
Evidently the dual type's trainer was struggling. She turned to the owner of the voice and found him to be a flustered young man perhaps in his early twenties, clenching his fists and sweat pouring down his scarlet face. Hm. Trainers were usually not as impressive as their Pokemon, but this was just a bit worrisome. Did all trainers here panic when battles weren't going their way?
The spectators roared as the huge animal raised its arms above its head and began to stamp. A haze formed in the air, crackling with the mysterious summoning abilities of Pokemon, and eventually formed into two large boulders, of which the first it threw with all hell's fury at the tiny Raichu. It leaped over it with almost flawless poise, arcing its back before landing. The rock slammed into the ground and formed cracks where it had been just seconds before. Unfortunately, its flamboyancy came with a cost- balance. It stumbled for a brief moment as it hit the ground. That was all it took. The trainer didn't even need to order it- the dual type rattled the very bones of all the onlookers with its triumphant roar as it snapped its wrist back and tossed the next boulder. This one hit its mark head-on, sending the small electric type crashing into the grass, where it lay still as the same stone it had been hit with. The crowd instantly fell to a hush.
Panic twisted in Fumiko's chest. What were they doing!? Not a single person had moved. They all stared at the brutally injured Raichu and did nothing. Instead, whispering among each other, they turned to the Rhydon's trainer. He cleared his throat anxiously, face drained of all color. But when he tried to speak, not a word escaped him. Then the students exploded into panic.
"Dude, you went way overboard!"
"You deserve to be the one calling the office!"
"No, we can't even do that! He's gonna get expelled!"
"Where'd Raichu's trainer go? He's gone!"
"I can't believe I got roped into this!"
"What if the police get involved? Our reputation will be ruined!"
"The teacher's coming! Scatter!"
This last shriek from one of the onlookers sent everyone in different directions, pushing Fumiko to the ground among the chaos. She yelped in pain as screams rung in her ears, feet stamped on her fingers, and a misplaced kick hit her straight in between the eyes. The world began to spin beneath her. What was going on? She heard Kiyoko's frantic voice, but it sounded far away and oddly quiet. She let herself fall into the grass, staring up into the sun as it quickly started to fade away. There were no dramatic or panicked thoughts in her head, though.
All she could think about was how terribly unlucky she was.
"Let's see here... Fumiko Madoka. She was accepted just last week. Came all the way from the small town of Cherry Flower on the opposite coast to get here. Grades are slightly-"
"Cherry Blossom."
"Excuse me?"
"It's Cherry Blossom, not Cherry Flower."
Just like that, Fumiko's consciousness returned. It wasn't bit by bit, like what happened when she was waking up from a dream. Everything that had occurred not too long ago flooded into her head, and pretty much the rest of her life came right behind her like a second tsunami. The moment she'd heard her beloved small town be labeled incorrectly, she'd just had to redeem it. What kind of ridiculous place was called Cherry Flower? She didn't usually talk back, though. Her hand clapped over her mouth as she realized that six adults were present, encircling the cot she was placed in. One held a clipboard stuffed with paper; another was wrapping her leg in clean white bandages and wore a nurse's outfit. The other four muttered among themselves at her reaction.
"Ahem. I am terribly sorry. I will have it corrected in your files," the one holding the clipboard apologized. He was a middle-aged man with a balding head and ring of brown stubble surrounding it, constantly tapping fingers, and a pair of timid hazel eyes that were constantly darting around the room. Fumiko could have sworn she'd seen his picture on their website... weird. Assistant Head of something? This guy didn't look like he could head a Pichu if he tried. He took a pencil from behind his ear and began to scratch something down on the paper, but a hand stopped him.
"That is, if she can stay at this school at all. I highly doubt it with that kind of attitude."
The severe voice of the second adult had the girl snapping to attention. She was far older than him, with streaks of silver in her jet black hair, but also far more intimidating. Her dark eyes- almost colorless- glared at her from over a pair of wire glasses. Fumiko had also seen her picture somewhere on the site. Deputy Head something. Obviously she was higher ranking than him.
"Now, Yamamoto-san, don't be too harsh on the girl. She just suffered a concussion and was passed out for the last few hours. Can you blame her for being a bit snappish?" the nurse chimed, patting the woman's shoulder. Fumiko noticed that she was winking at her. Well, at least somebody seemed to be on her side- for whatever reason she didn't know. But this Miss Yamamoto didn't seem to give a Hoothoot. She merely huffed and twisted a few strands of hair around her bone-thin finger.
"No matter the situation, I believe that every student who is lucky enough to come to my- ahem, our- school should be able to respect authority. It's not that difficult," she harrumphed, turning her nose into the air. The girl was beginning to like this woman less and less.
"Yamamoto-san, may we please discuss her manners later? At the moment, we have something to discuss with you. It's about her Pokemon," one of the men nodded in her direction. Fumiko stiffened, but Miss Yamamoto looked inherently pleased.
"Good news?" she pressed, hurrying over to them. They began to walk out of the room, and the clipboard man followed them. The last thing she caught was a loud chiming of 'very good indeed,' and a few devilish grins. Then the door closed. The color drained from her face quicker than that of the Rhydon's trainer. What had they been doing to her team? She made an attempt to leap from her cot, but a hand fell on her shoulder, and she looked up at the nurse, who shook her head and lowered her voice.
"Don't worry, dear. Your Pokemon are just fine. I was told that they were removed from their Pokeballs and sedated to avoid any further incidents. I'm terribly sorry you have to go through this on your first day, but if you hadn't vandalized school property or just blatantly broke the rule of no battling, it wouldn't have happened, would it?"
Fumiko did a double take. Hold on, here. Something wasn't right.
"What do you mean?" she asked, genuinely confused. She hadn't been battling, just spectating! The nurse clucked her tongue and turned towards a shelf of strange medicines that she began to rummage through.
"Oh, my. You must have had some memory loss included in that concussion. Do you not remember? Our security footage showed you walking onto the campus with some chalk in hand and a Pokeball in the other. You drew a makeshift arena in the grass and then conducted the battle against another young man who was also taken to the first aid office. We didn't see the entire battle due to the crowd, but when security came on hand and it cleared, you must have taken a nasty fall and hurt yourself. That's why you're here now."
"No, that's got to be wrong. I noticed the battle after it had started!" Fumiko cried out, standing up again and stumbling. She forced herself to sit back down on the cot lest she fall back unconscious. "I just got caught in the crossfire! I didn't even know they sold chalk in the city!"
Okay, that last part was a bit stretched. But she was desperate. Already her first day on campus and she was being falsely checked onto a criminal record! She was a very unmistakable person. Tall, stick-thin to a fault, hair she could trip on if she left it down... the nurse turned around and looked her dead in the eyes.
"Would you like to see for yourself?"
Despite the serious stare on her face, Fumiko's spirits quickly lifted. Of course she did! Then this entire mishap could be cleared up when they saw it wasn't really her. She nodded eagerly and let the older woman take her by the hand over to a computer. She clicked around a little bit with her mouse until a screen popped up. In the corner it said in big white letters, left garden flank. She pulled a little button at the bottom backwards, and then stepped back to let her watch. Her eyes were glued to the screen, ready to pounce upon any little mistake and clear her name. But very quickly she saw otherwise.
There, a little 2D person on a crystal clear screen, walked into the camera's range. They wore what looked to be almost the same outfit she had on. No problem. It was the appearance that mattered. The nurse wasn't lying, though- indeed the person was holding chalk in one hand and a Pokeball in the other; the latter of which was quickly stuffed into a pocket. They began to draw the arena Fumiko had seen outside with flawless accuracy, down on one knee. Then they stood up again, wiped their forehead with a hand, and pulled back their hood. Her breath was taken away immediately.
It was her! Every tiny feature! From the tight ponytail in her hair to the dull sparkle in her eyes, the person looked unmistakably like her!
This chapter didn't take quite as long as I expected it would! I'm pretty proud of progressing so quickly. By the third chapter we'll be beginning to introduce characters. Comment, favorite, do whatever. I hope you enjoy!