Chapter 1 Beginnings
The walk to the school didn't feel that long, but surprisingly it took a good deal of time. It was 6:30 A.M., now it was 7:15 A.M. They were all surprised when a car pulled up. Since they didn't want anybody seeing them, they hid behind a bush and a tree.
"Who in his or her right mind would come to school this early?!" Zeta cried.
"Besides the two people in that car, us; so I suppose you should shut your mouth." Upsilon remarked.
The trio watched them get out of the car. There was a young brunette wearing a huge, silly white hat, a red jacket with a white collar, some weird overalls that looked like a cross between that and shorts, and some white stocking-looking socks. Her hair was in semi-gravity defying pigtails. On the other hand, there was a somewhat stocky looking woman wearing generic country clothes. Her hair was also in gravity defying pigtails.
"How do they do that?" Zeta asked, amazed.
"I guess it runs in the family genetically, or they use plenty of hair gel." Upsilon said, "Besides, shhh! Wait!"
Chi and Zeta stared at him.
"Do you know who that is?"
Zeta studied her carefully. She looked very familiar.
"Looks like somebody I know, can't quite place my finger on the name though."
"That's Proton's wife!" Upsilon hissed.
"Oohhh. That bitch that hangs around Boss. She's a pain in my ass."
Chi glared at him, "What did I tell you earlier!"
"Well, she would tease me to the point which she sounds like a rapist, but then she would whine and cry to Proton who yells at me for days for 'pulling that crap.'"
"Even mild profanity is inappropriate."
"Oh whatever. She is a thorn in my side."
There was a moment of silence.
"Let's get going." Upsilon said. "We shouldn't waste daylight hours loitering around here."
"My goodness! How do people navigate through here? This is practically an organized mess that architects call a masterpiece while I call it a maze. What is up with the random school posters and the columns? Seriously, what is up with that?!"
"Shut your yap. We're here on business."
"Oh shut up, I can't make a few delightfully comical comments now?"
Upsilon smiled and started wagging his finger, "Well, some of these 'comments' that you make are very inappropriate for young children your age. You should be focused on things like playing chess or speaking Spanish."
"That's what you like to do, you're a nerd."
"Stop it! That's enough! Like he said, we're here on business."
They walked to a corner that they assumed led to the main office. Turned out their assumption was correct. They were greeted by a woman who had a tuft of black hair stick out in front of a red headband. Her weird "ponytails" hung at sides of her head. They looked like a hair version of hoop earrings.
"Why hello there children! How may I help you?"
"We would like to become students at this school!" Chi replied, "Except for my little brother here, can we apply for the middle school here?"
"I'm sorry, but you would have to go down to the middle school. It is a ten minute drive from here so you'll be fine! And yes, Principal Giovanni is here right now!"
Zeta's and Upsilon's eyes grew wide. Zeta was more surprised because it looked as if his jaw was going to drop to the floor.
"Is there something wrong?"
"No, no, not at all!" they both responded.
"Well, I need to go get him now. Can you please wait here?"
"Certainly." all three said.
A quick look told them that this was the waiting room. The real office was where the woman disappeared into.
They decided to slump into chairs and space out into the TV.
A few minutes later, two people came out of the office, the same woman from before and an intimidating man with slicked, brown hair, an orange suit, and a red tie.
"Where are your parents?"
"Dead." Chi lied. "Murdered. The police could never find their bodies. I'm the only responsible one."
Zeta started to cry, and Upsilon shot her a look.
"I'm sorry, he gets pretty upset when somebody brings it up." She pulled him closer to her and comforted him.
"I'm sorry to hear that." Giovanni responded. "Well, I guess you'll have to fill out the paperwork instead."
"I'll do it." she said, "Anything for my brothers."
Giovanni laughed, "You only get to do twice the paperwork."
Zeta stopped crying.
"Hahaha. Little boy, high school's too big for you just like your clothes."
Zeta pouted and crossed his arms.
"Don't feel too bad though, one of these days you will be big and fit for high school. In the meantime, work on being big and fit."
Chi left the room with Giovanni (who was in a laughing fit) and disappeared into his office. The two brothers were left with the woman and the TV as company.
Honestly, the paperwork wasn't that bad. Even though she couldn't fill out the part about living establishments, she promised Giovanni that she would once they buy a house. She was about to answer the last question when he interrupted her train of thought.
"Do you have a minute from that?"
"Yes, but please hold on."
She quickly wrote an answer.
"Okay, done!" She handed the clipboards to him.
He accepted them then stood from his chair and looked out the window.
"Chi, I don't usually say this, but…" he paused himself there.
"Yes, go on."
Giovanni turned around and looked Chi in the eye. "I see some talent in your family. Some real talent."
"What are you insinuating?"
"You, your brother, even your youngest brother should join Team Rocket."
"Excuse me?! I do not affiliate myself with such vile, cruel barbarians!"
"I beg your pardon. What on earth are you talking about?"
She paused and carefully planned out her next move.
"I'm sorry for my outrageous outburst. I thought you were talking about a crime syndicate. Where I come from there is a group of hooligans known as Team Shock' It. These monsters torture innocent water-type pokémon with electric types. Their goals were to capture Zapdos, Raikou, and Thundurus and destroy every water-type."
Giovanni nodded sympathetically. "Ms. Psychicus, Team Rocket is a gang here at our school. Not one of those gangs which you hear about on the news, but a sort of club that students associate themselves with. There are five different ones here that specialize in different things. Each gang has a sponsor who is usually a teacher, but occasionally they get other sponsors, too. Are you interested in hearing more?"
Chi nodded.
"Good. As I mentioned before, there are five. There is Team Plasma sponsored by Ghetsis, the economics teacher. They usually volunteer for pokémon shelters and such. They hate pokémon abuse and neglect. Ghetsis's son, N, strongly supports Team Plasma's cause. Are you interested in joining them?"
She laughed. "Hahaha. I see what you pulled there. I might be against those things, but I'm not cut out to join an order of knights."
"Excuse me?"
"Sorry, we are familiar with noble pokémon-loving knights, go on."
"Next is Team Galactic. They have a huge interest in space, maybe even an obsession, but I'm not going to cross that line. However, through that interest, brings great investments such as donations to the school for finding new astronomical objects. Cyrus, the mythology teacher, sponsors them. Would you like to join them?"
"No, not the astronauts ether."
"Third is Team Magma. They specialize in land-based activities such as cleaning parks and such. For some reason, some of the members have no problem throwing litter in the sea. I, myself, think that you should keep both the land and the sea clean. Possibly because of this, they have a huge rivalry with Team Aqua. Maxie, the literature teacher, founded them. It's kind of funny that he has some tension going on with Archie. Are you interested in them?"
"I'd rather jump into a volcano then join them."
"I think you're getting rather rude."
"Like I said earlier, I'm sorry. It's just they remind me of certain crime syndicates over in my region."
"You must have a lot of crime over there."
"Well, onwards please."
"After Team Magma is Team Aqua. They are basically the swim team. Their love of water seems to top everything else. They clean the beaches, pick up floating litter, swim in the ocean, water-ski, and so on. The biology teacher, Archie, supports them dearly. Would you like to join them?"
"Nope, no pirates."
"Last, but not least is Team Rocket. I founded it when I went to school here. Unlike everyone else, we specialize in making money." Giovanni rubbed his thumb and index finger together. "We run fundraisers, food stands at afterschool games, tickets for the games, heck even…"
"I'm not joining the mafia." Chi interrupted.
Giovanni's face turned a light shade of red.
"I am not interested in joining of them. I rather be with everyone else."
"I respect your decision." Giovanni's color contradicted that though.
"On a different note, however, my brother, Upsilon, would probably love to join Team Rocket. He specializes in technology and business."
Giovanni's face turned a normal color and he grinned. "Well, ask him to come see me sometime."
He reached in his desk and pulled out two golden sheets of paper. "And here are your schedules. The locker numbers and combinations are on here, too."
"Thank you!" she said as she opened the door.
The woman looked up from her desk at the two boys.
"Well hi there sweeties! We have never properly met! My name is Mrs. Hibiki."
"Good morning, Mrs. Hibiki."
"I have a son around your age." she directed her attention to Upsilon. "His name is Ethan. He is currently a junior here. I would have him help you, but right now he's helping someone else. This is actually the second time we had newcomers today! She is a sweet young woman by the name of Lyra Kotone. You should really meet her!"
Zeta's lip twitched.
"Well, I have been talking too much now, what are your names?"
"Z" Zeta replied. "My sister's name is X."
"U" Upsilon answered.
Mrs. Hibiki frowned. "Well, that was some creativity on your parents' part."
"Thank you very much. I am happy that they gave us very unique names." Upsilon coldly responded.
Mrs. Hibiki continued to frowned, but the silence was interrupted by Chi opening the door and saying, "Thank you!"
She smiled at Mrs. Hibiki who responded with a smaller one, and then looked at Zeta. "We'd better take you to the elementary school, right away!"
"NOOOOOO!" Zeta cried in his seat
She pocketed a piece of paper and gave the other one to Upsilon. She then turned to her youngest brother. "Come, let us make haste."
She ended up dragging him by his arm through the room and out the door. It was kind of an embarrassing sight.
Giovanni poked his head out of his office. "Upsilon Psychicus, I would like to see you."
"Naughty boy," Mrs. Hibiki scowled, "Lied to me about his name."
"I didn't exactly lie. I can shorten my name to a U if I wanted to. After all, I'm named after a Greek letter."
Mrs. Hibiki looked surprised and curious. Since she had no one else to talk to besides the TV, she decided to look at her paperwork.
"Upsilon, take a seat here." Giovanni pointed to a chair directly in front of his desk.
"Yes sir." he responded as he sat down.
Giovanni's chair was facing him. "I have discussed this earlier with your sister, and we have both agreed on it. I think you have what it takes to join Team Rocket. She thinks you should join since it corresponds with your interests. Personally, I think she should join, too, but she refuses."
The principal turned around in his chair and faced Upsilon. "What do you say?"
Upsilon felt his heart rate increase instantly. He cracked a genuine smile and reached for Giovanni's hand.
He started shaking it. "Why of course, sir! It is my honor to be privileged with being asked to join!"
Giovanni removed his hand and made a serious face, "Are you sure? Are you positive? The problem with most gang members is that they miss out on a good social life with other people. Any gang's activities might interfere with your friendships with other people, especially ones with other gang members."
Upsilon laughed, "Ha! What do I need friends for! Why yes, yes! Of course, I'll join!"
The principal also showed a genuine grin. "Good, good!"
He reached in his drawer and pulled out a pin with a red R, a black newsboy hat, and a black booklet with a red R on it.
Upsilon frowned at the hat.
"Do I have to wear the hat?"
"It's part of the uniform."
"Do you something else. I really don't like wearing that. That's something that my little brother would like though."
"Hmm…" Giovanni pulled a marvelous white lab coat from his drawer.
"A colleague gave this to me. He said I could probably use it for something. As you can tell, it's really clean. No foreign chemical spills on it or hazardous bacteria."
"I'll take it! Thank you very much!" Upsilon traded the hat for the lab coat.
"But I'm not finished explaining. Whenever you go to a meeting with your fellow Rockets, you'll be wearing this lab coat. It is highly recommended that you go to meetings since you might be missing out on some important information."
He picked up the pin. "This pin will always be with you. You are not allowed to throw it away. This shows who you affiliate yourself with even though you are welcome to not wear it. Most Rockets wear it as a symbol of pride since most students fear them. I scared away a good bunch of people back in my day."
Upsilon pocketed the pin.
Giovanni picked up the booklet, "This is your club rulebook. The punishment varies on the rule broken, but my general saying is 'You shouldn't break a rule unless you have a good reason.' You should always keep this with you, even though some members throw them away. Don't tell them I know that." he winked.
Upsilon picked up both the lab coat and the booklet and started to leave.
"Good luck on your first day, Rocket!" he called out to him.
Mrs. Hibiki looked up from her paperwork. "Oh dear, you must be the new recruit. I recommend hiding that booklet. Rockets might be scary and all, but they are generally frowned upon by everybody else."
He took her advice. He also realized something.
"By the way, what time is it right now?" he asked.
"Why it is 7:55 A.M."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
Chi better hurry up, or she's going to be late for school!
Ten minute drive? More like twenty minute walk, but then again she had to drag some weight. Chi was still dragging her little brother by his arm.
"I said I don't want to go!"
"Too bad, I don't want to go through another year of high school, but I am forced to, too, aren't I? The pain's shared. Stop complaining."
She widened her eyes in realization of something.
"I hope you do realize that all of this dragging is ruining your clothes."
Zeta widened his eyes, too.
"You're right. I never thought of that."
He looked at his pants and the bottoms of them were covered in dirt.
"Big sister, will you carry me?"
"Why of course, anything for you, Zita."
He pouted but still let his big sister pick him up.
"Wow, this is pretty quick. In fact, I see the school right there." Chi remarked.
She carried him into the office which was conveniently at the front door.
"Let me get this paperwork finished, and we'll be all set. Hopefully, they have uniforms."
Zeta patiently waited for sister on the chair. She appeared a few minutes later.
"All done, and here's your uniform."
"A sailor outfit?"
"Do you want to go around school wearing baggy clothes that might fall off?"
"Fine."
He quickly got changed in the boys' bathroom, handed her his old clothes, and was escorted to his first grade classroom. They opened the door to reveal an old woman with crazy, bushy hair surrounded by children building forts out of blocks, a few of them were drooling morons with fingers in their mouths.
"Um hi! This is my little brother Z. I can't stay long because I have high school to get to so please take care of him, bye!"
She left Zeta with him and quickly rushed off towards the office. She stopped and looked at the clock.
"7:56 A.M.? I can't make it there on time!"
"Use a pokémon." the lady at the desk replied, "I sometimes keep a Ralts handy when I'm almost late for work."
"That's right! Thank you for the advice."
Chi headed outside and summoned Abra.
"Use teleport!" she commanded.
She communicated through telepathy, "I would like to be at Central Plains High School. Remember what it looks like?"
"Why yes I do."
The abra focused on emitting a psychic power which warped the environment around them. Next thing, they were both standing in front of CPH.
"Abra return!"
She rubbed the pokéball, "Thank you."
Chi then ran up the steps to meet up with her brother.
"What took you so long? It was Zeta, wasn't it?"
She nodded.
"Well, let's get this over with. I really want to get out and find a new home after this."
They both pulled out their schedules and studied them. They were going to need a lot of help.
Author's Note: Well hope you like this chapter as well! This is too much dialogue, less action. It's also too much my character, not much other characters ether. Hopefully we'll get to see more of Lyra in Chapter 2 (actually Chapter 3).
Oh, and also. The reason why Upsilon shot her a look was because Chi said she was the only responsible one.