"Eeks!?" Riah exclaimed, dropping her controller, causing me to knock the Lucario she was playing as out of the ring. "You're going to form a team with Eeks!?"
"I never said I was going to for sure." I said. "I said I was offered by Gabriella."
"Still... Of all the people, EEKS!?" Riah shouted.
"You're not going to start picking on me too, are you, Mew?" Ricky asked.
I smiled. "Of course not, why would I?"
"Eeks is one of the head bullies." Riah explained. "He's never had anybody help him, though."
"Well why would he start now?" I asked. "We would probably just conquer some gyms, followed by the Elite Four."
"No way." Ricky said, throwing a digital aura sphere at my digital Espeon, knocking me out of the ring. "People on a team are guaranteed to be great friends!"
"They're also guaranteed to hook up." Riah said.
I stared at her blankly.
"You know... Put a male thing in a female thing?"
"Oh, so something I don't need to worry about, then." I said, causing Riah to giggle. "What did I say that was so funny?"
"Nothing, nothing." Riah said. "I guess I forgot your legs are empty."
"DINNER!" Lucy shouted before I could comment on that.
"What is it?" I asked, as I floated downstairs.
"Smoked Magikarp." Lucy said.
"Magikarp?" I asked.
"Yeah, it's a type of fi-" Lucy started.
"I know what it is, I just got an idea is all." I said, grinning.
"What is it?" Riah asked, as Ricky and she arrived at the bottom of the stairs.
"I just know how I'm going to handle the Ghost-Type gym with Eeks is all." I said.
"Wait, you're actually going through with that!?" Riah asked. "Why!?"
"Well I might as well get through the gyms. Why not bring someone along for the ride?"
"I would suggest starting with the rock gym." Luke said, as he sat down. "Most people start there."
"Well of course you did, at least." Ricky said. "As we are fighting types, rocks like them crumble under the might of our fists!"
"Yet you don't know any fighting moves." Riah said. "Mew knows more fighting moves than you and he isn't even a fighting type."
"You wanna repeat that?" I asked.
"Uh... It?" Riah asked, nervously. I nodded, as I started eating my Magikarp. "I don't think you could tackle or quick attack your way through the Rock-Type gym."
"Well it doesn't matter, you're both too young to fight gyms in the first place." Lucy said.
"Oh, about that." I said, while stuffing my face with Magikarp. "I was actually going to ask Riah to join my team with Eeks."
Lucy and Luke stared at me. "Who's Eeks?"
"This Rotom from school that I had to beat to get in." I said. "He doesn't talk about himself very often."
"Quite a strange name." Lucy said.
"I noticed, too." I said, setting my empty plate down. "So, is it alright with you?"
"No!" Lucy shouted. "Riah's only a kid, and I'm not letting her get hurt!"
"Hold on, honey." Luke said. "Riah, sweetie, do you want to join Mew to fight gyms?"
"Well I really don't like his teammate." Riah said. "I mean I would smack him with a bat given the option."
I sighed. I guess I'd have to find 4 other teammates.
"However, I think I want to join him." Riah said. "It's just something that has to happen at some point in my life."
Luke smiled. "Then you go right ahead."
"Honey-"
"Don't stop her."
There was a long silence in the room. Not wanting to intrude on what was clearly a family moment, I simply floated away to the room I was staying in, and shut the door.
THE NEXT DAY
I opened the door, and proceeded to fly through it. On the other end, I saw Lucy.
"Were you just standing there waiting for me to walk out?" I asked, landing on the ground.
"I don't like what's happening here." Lucy said. "I don't like the idea of my baby girl fighting. Not yet, it's too soon."
"Would you prefer me to talk her out of it?" I asked.
"No, it's like she said, this is something that has to happen." Lucy said. "As much as I dislike the idea, I'm going to support it."
"Oh... Uh... Thanks." I said.
Lucy smiled, rubbing my head. "I'll be rooting for you."
I smiled back. "So, what's for breakfast?"
"Oran soup." Lucy said.
I flew to the table, where a bowl contained some water with a blue tint. I slurped it up immediately, and it was delicious. "Thanks."
"... You're still very strange, you know that?" Lucy said.
"Last time you said funny." I said. "How long until school starts?"
"Just a little bit, why don't you go wake Riah and Ricky?" Lucy said. I nodded, as I floated up to their rooms, and opened their doors. Ricky was still in bed, however...
"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Riah shouted, slamming the door. "Don't you know you should knock before barging into a girl's room!?"
"Did I see something I shouldn't have?" I asked. "It's not like there was anything special about anything there."
"Just go away!" Riah shouted.
I shrugged. She was awake. "Hey Ricky! Out of bed!"
"I'm up!" Ricky shouted, jumping out of bed.
"Great, now get changed." I said, shutting his door. I went back to see Lucy. "They're definitely up."
"Really?" Lucy asked. "How?"
"Well Riah was already up, and Ricky got up when I told him to." I said. "Now they're both changing."
"Huh... Are you sure you need to leave when you find out who you are?" Lucy asked.
"That depends." I said. "I may have nowhere to go."
"Aww, that's not something you should be saying." Lucy said. "Besides, I was just kidding."
"Oh, I see." I said, as I balled up on the table. "I'm just going to lie down here for now. Tell me when we leave."
IN THE CAR
"So, have you given any thought to who else you're going to have on your team?" Riah asked.
"Hm?" I hummed. "What do you mean by that?"
"Well it's not going to be the best team if it's only the three of us." Riah said. "I just figured we could be stronger if we doubled our members."
"That's a good point." I said. "Only issue, the only people I know are you, Ricky, Eeks, and a Smeargle named Sammy, who didn't look like he could fight."
"Are you kidding?" Riah asked. "Smeargles can learn any move they see, and with how much time Sammy spends in front of televisions broadcasting gym battles, he's seen a lot."
"It's one thing to know a move, it's another to know how to use it." I said.
"Alright, I'll put it this way:" Riah said. "if you didn't fight Eeks when you joined, it would have been Sammy."
"Really?" I asked. "Is he that good?"
"Definitely." Riah said. "I'm surprised the two of you together didn't attract a crowd."
"Do you want to do the hook up?" I asked, placing Riah's face into shock, and causing the car to stop abruptly, as Lucy turned to face the backseat.
"She is 11 years old!"
"Don't most pokemon do that around 10?" I asked.
"NO!" Lucy screamed. "Who gave you that ridiculous notion!?"
I shrugged. "It just sort of made sense."
Lucy sighed. The rest of the ride was silent.
AT THE SCHOOL
I hopped out of the car and floated my way down the parking lot, followed by Riah. Ricky split up to go join his friends.
"Why did you have to say that?" Riah asked.
"Because I didn't know it wasn't what pokemon did at 10 years old." I said. "However was I supposed to know?"
"It's should have been obvious!" Riah exclaimed. "When we find out where you're from, I hope it's a hole, because so far nothing else makes sense!"
I stared at her blankly. "Is that supposed to be a bad thing?"
Riah sighed. "Yeah, but whatever."
"Alright." I said. "You never answered my question."
Riah quickly brought her hand in the air, and brought it down on the back of my head, knocking me into the ground. "Don't you ever ask that again!"
"Who's the girl?" I heard someone ask. I tilted my head up to see who was talking.
"Eeks!" I exclaimed. "This is Riah, I'm sort of living with her. I was going to get her to join the team if you were to say yes."
Eeks sighed. "Just don't get in the way."
"Who're you talking to?" someone else asked. I turned my head to see a small, grey wolf with a combover. He had a red streak on top of said combover, as well as on and above his eyelids, plus red feet. Additionally, he had a black collar.
"That's Mew. He can't talk normally, so he needs to use telepathy." Eeks said. "Mew, this is Zeer. He transferred from Unova."
"Nice to meet you." I said.
"Yeah he can't hear you." Eeks said. "Zoruas like Zeer are Dark-Types."
"Exactly." Zeer said. "We're immune to Psychic-Type moves, which includes telepathy."
"I was thinking Zeer might make an excellent addition to the team." Eeks said.
"I'm not sure this... 'Mew'... Would be good in a fight." Zeer said, studying me.
"He beat me." Eeks said. "Using only normal and fighting moves, too."
Zeer looked at Eeks. "You're joking. The great and all powerful Eeks lost to some cat pokemon with no species?"
"Alright, make your jokes." Eeks said. "I also invited my friend, Diddy."
"Well I was going to ask Sammy, one of my friends from Normal-Type class." I said.
Eeks stared at me. "The hell are you doing taking a Normal-Type class?"
"Maybe it was because I used Endeavor on you." I said. "And it worked."
"I guess it could be that." Eeks said.
"Or when I used Foresight on you." I said. "AND IT WORKED."
Eeks sighed. "So, this friend of your, Sammy... He wouldn't happen to be a Smeargle..."
"Yeah, actually."
"Oh this is gonna be SWELL." Eeks said.
"What's the matter?" Riah asked.
"Well... Sammy and Diddy don't really get along very well." Eeks said. "About as well as the Riolu and I are going to."
"Uh, I have a name." Riah scoffed.
"Not to me." Eeks said, as he floated away. "I told the gym to expect us during our Ghost-Type class, Mew. I expect you to show up."
AT NORMAL-TYPE CLASS
"Why are you asking for me, specifically?" Sammy asked.
"Well, you're supposedly strong, according to my friend Riah." I said.
"Riah? The golden Riolu?" Sammy asked.
"Uh, yeah, that's her." I said. Upon hearing this, Sammy's eyes brightened right up. "She's on the team, too."
"I'll do it!" Sammy exclaimed. "I guess I could skip art class for this."
"Really?" I said. "Is it because you want to do the hook up?"
"Well don't tell anybody!" Sammy said.
"Why? It's not that embarrassing." I said. "I have learned that it's wrong to do that when you're 11."
"Aw, gross. Of course it's wrong to do at 11." Sammy said. "Why would you think otherwise?"
"Well, why should I not?" I asked.
"Uh... Well... You see..." Sammy stuttered, causing my to laugh. "Shut up, it just is."
"But you still want to." I said. "Is that even possible?"
"I don't know, I haven't taken Egg Group Ed yet." Sammy said. "Well, anyways, I'm in. Better Eeks than someone like Diddy."
"Diddy?" I asked. "Funny story, actually."
AFTER CLASS, OUTSIDE THE GYM
Our group was completely silent. Sammy and Diddy made their points standing on opposite sides of the hall from each other.
Diddy was a light blue shape, which appeared to be made out of some form of non-newtonian fluid. It had two black dots for eyes, and a black line for a mouth.
Riah and Zeer were chatting up against a square post. What they were talking about, I didn't bother trying to learn. After seeing how red her usually golden face was, I somehow knew I'd be hearing all about it later either way.
After about 5 minutes, I was about to snap. Although believe me, it was worth the wait.
"Eeks! What took you so lo-" I started asking, before I saw how he looked and burst out laughing.
"What's so funny?" Eeks asked, with an aura colour deeper than normal, along with the exterior of a washing machine and the right arm of a hose.
"Hm?" Zeer hummed, turning his head. "Well well, I didn't know you still used that forme."
"Well, I prefer the fan myself," Eeks said. "but that wouldn't have helped us in this gym."
"Oh, so we can't just repeat what I did with you?" I asked. "That stinks."
"Well it wouldn't be fun if it were easy." Eeks said.
"So you put yourself in a washing machine because..." Riah started.
"Because this gym is going to be tough either way, I might as well make it just a little easier." Eeks said. "It's only fair."
I rolled my eyes.
"Let's just get this over with." Diddy said, as it went through the door. "We have a show to put on."
"He's right." Eeks said, as we floated through the gym doors. The inside was very dark "And we don't want to disappoint everyone in the AUDIENCE!"
The doors slammed shut behind us, and after a second, the lights turned on
Surrounding us were a bunch of brown boulders, which lay across a flat, brown ground with a white arena shape painted on it.
There were rocks along the walls in a circular motion, giving the appearance of an alcove of some sort.
"So..." a deep voice said at the other side of the room. "Who's up first?"
The first gym battle is underway, everyone! Who will win? Find out in the next chapter!
