Chapter 6 – A Tour and Trouble
Aeden
The rest of the week went slowly, I'm sure you don't want to hear about the boring stuff. Am I right? It begins to get interesting on the first day after that week. What happened next really took me by surprise.
My eyes had mostly healed. I was able to see clearly, but had to focus on some things that were at a great distance. Heh, I guess I became more nearsighted, due to those stupid Pineco, but it was my fault wasn't it?
Crystal and Acura were starting school tomorrow, returning from a two week long break. Ember had enrolled me into their class, and in fact, their grade. So they were supposed to show me around first, in case I got lost, which was bound to happen.
When I first saw the town, I didn't know what to think. It was halfway between beautiful, and just downright weird. It had two tall posts on either side of the road, and a large banner telling us about a certain festival or event that I had never heard of. The buildings inside looked like someone had carved a bunch of square boulders. I saw some weird structures on my way in. in fact, some were larger than their neighbors, had odd shapes or curves, and some had open walls. I didn't understand the meaning for this variety, but I assumed they housed different types of Pokémon.
"What are you waiting for? Let's just get this over with." Acura said. He was upset that he had to drag me around town with him.
"Will you be patient? This is his first time here. Don't forget what you were like when you first saw this." Crystal said, bringing me back down to Earth. I then continued moving, never stopping unless they did.
When we got to the school, I was very surprised to see that it was a large building. Not tall, but wide. It was maybe a whole block.
"It's larger than you thought, isn't it?" Crystal asked. Acura was waiting impatiently, pacing back and forth so we could get moving.
"I was expecting it to be… smaller." I replied.
"Do you want to see the inside?" She asked. At this, Acura's eyes widened.
"Are you kidding? I'm not going in there!" He yelled.
"Fine, then you can wait here for us. Don't leave, or I'll tell mom." Crystal said, opening the door for me.
We walked in and before me lay a vast entryway with smaller hallways to my left and right. Along the walls were doorways where we would slave away, secluded from the outside world and all of its distractions. I looked into a few of the rooms and found wooden benches and tables. I made my way in and I could swear the air changed. The room had a disturbing feel about it, something was telling me that I had to flee before I lost my sanity.
Crystal must have noticed, because she smiled at me. "It feels weird, doesn't it?"
I nodded. My ears were flat, tail dragging, and a shiver ran down my spine as I went back to the doorway.
The tour lasted for another half hour. We saw the "playground", which was really a bunch of stumps, rocks, and trees. It had a small pond for the water Pokémon, but we didn't stay long. After all, Acura was waiting for us. We made our way back to the front of the school and Crystal gasped.
It was horrible. It truly was. When we reached the other side of the door, Acura was lying on the floor. Crystal ran to his side and began crying. I ran up and noticed the blood on Acura's fur. Whatever had happened, he took quite a beating. He wasn't dead, but insanely bruised.
"How did this happen?" I asked.
Crystal didn't reply, and after Acura coughed up some blood, we carried him home. However, fate had other plans, it seemed.
As we were leaving the town, we heard a cry. "There he is! Don't let him get away!"
We turned and saw a band of Pokémon, led by a very scratched up Pikachu.
"What's the meaning of this?" I barked.
"This doesn't concern you Bloodcoat!" The Pikachu yelled, still advancing.
"I demand an answer!" I yelled back.
"Why should I tell you? You're not related to them, so let alone matters that don't concern you."
"Take him home. Tell Ember what happened."
"You're coming too, right? Fighting them is useless." Crystal begged.
"If you won't stand down, we'll have to take care of you ourselves." The Pikachu said.
"Crystal, there's no time. Just go." I told her, and she reluctantly nodded.
As she left, I got into a fighting stance. "I'm not afraid to hurt you." I told the Pikachu.
"Oh really? And what about the rest of us?" The Pikachu laughed.
My tails spread out and my fur began to drift up. The air heated up quickly, and soon enough, they attacked. I jumped into the air, launching a blast of fire down at them. They were a little surprised, but otherwise unfazed. A bolt of lightning shot by and I realized that the Pikachu had expected this. I landed and made a wall of flames in front of me.
The enemy hesitated, but the Pikachu wouldn't let up. He charged forth, launching an electrical attack at me. I dropped to the ground, and two more bolts appeared next to me. I jumped left and shot a few embers through the fire, hitting one of his goons.
"Did I say to stop fighting? Attack him!" The Pikachu roared.
At that moment, I felt an odd surge of power run through my body. I realized as I hit the ground, that he caught me by surprise.
'Darn. At this rate, I'm toast.' I thought. The rest of the battle became a blur of attacks and dodges. I surrounded them with fire on three sides, and as they charged forth, a strange purple light flashed in front of them. They stopped running and now stood there. It took me a moment before I realized what I had done.
"What? No! Attack him! Attack him!" The Pikachu screamed.
"Looks like the tide has turned, Pikachu!" I yelled from across the flames. "You lost, admit it!"
"That's unfair! That's cheating!" He continued.
"Unfair? What you did was unfair! Attacking an innocent eevee for no reason, then coming back and trying to cause him more pain? No, I'd say that that's unfair! Leave the Eevees alone, you got that? Or you will personally deal with me!"
"I will not lose! Not to the likes of you!" The Pikachu launched a series of Thunder bolts at me, and I tried to dodge, but just as I was hit, I heard a scream.
I hit the ground and got up as quickly as I went down. On the other side of the flames, I heard the Pikachu cursing. He stopped battling me, and as I walked through the flames, I saw something I never expected.
The Pikachu was being held down, by a Flareon. "…and I don't EVER want to see, or hear, about you again. Do I make myself clear!" The Flareon whispered in a threatening tone. The Pikachu nodded quickly and was released, running home crying with his goons slowly following him.
Flare then turned to me and bowed. But before I could return it, he asked me, "What do you think you were doing, fighting a group like that?"
I was slightly taken aback, but swallowed to answer him. "It wasn't my choice. Honest, I would have preferred that they left us alone. But he wouldn't let us go and…"
"Us? Was Crystal and Acura with you?"
"Yes." I nodded.
"What happened?" He asked, his voice stern. We had begun walking back home, killing the fire I had made.
"Well, Crystal wanted to show me the school, and Acura didn't want to go inside. When we came back a half hour later, he was lying on the floor. He was bleeding and so we tried to take him home. When we got here, those Pokémon showed up and the Pikachu didn't want to let us go. I told Crystal to make their way back while I held them off. The Pikachu called me a Bloodcoat and sometime during the battle, I did something that should have been really cool. It was like a purple flash, but I didn't see it, and they all stopped charging at me." I gave him the quick summary of the last 20 minutes and he cut me off.
"Confuse Ray."
"Huh?" I asked,
"It's a move. Vulpix and Zubat are exceptional with the ability to confuse others. That's what you did."
"Oh. Anyway, I don't know Acura's condition, but he was coughing up blood. He seemed really hurt."
"Run with me." He told me.
"Umm, okay." Just as I finished, he bolted down the path. I ran as fast as I could to keep up, but was unable to.
Crystal
When I brought Acura home, I immediately yelled for Mother. She came running outside and gasped when she saw us. She grabbed Acura gently and carried him inside to his bed, where she began opening those containers on the walls and mixing items in a bowl.
"Where's Aeden?" She asked, trying to keep from breaking down.
"He told us to go and that he'd catch up." I told her. I then realized and started telling the story at the school.
I did so and when I had finished, mother had begun bandaging his wounds. My cousins were peeking through the entrance but I blocked them from seeing more.
"Go outside and play. Please."
A few minutes later, father ran back and shot through the entrance to look at his son. A few minutes later, Aeden came back, gasping for breath. I walked up to him and lied down. "Are you alright?" I asked.
"How is he?"
I glanced back at the hole. "Mother is treating him now, what about you?" I asked, noting his damaged fur.
"I'll be fine. Just took a thunderbolt at the end. I'll say, those things really hurt." He said.
"I'm not looking forward to going back there." I stated, making my worry no less evident than it had already been.
"Well, your father actually cut the battle short and told the Pikachu that he didn't want to see or hear about him again. I can only imagine what amount of power someone on the royal court has."
"Yeah." I answered replied, laying down against his side. Aeden cast a worried glance at me.
"You going to be alright?" Aeden asked.
"Yeah, when Acura is safe." I replied.
Aeden
Flare came out a couple hours later and walked back to town. Crystal and I walked into the den and took a look at Acura. He looked a little bit better, but the damage was hidden by bandages. Ember was sleeping on her bed, completely worn out.
When dinner time reached us, nobody felt like eating, except the cousins, who didn't really know what was going on.
They asked many questions, but we told them to stop. It was a very long night after that, and Flare returned sometime after everyone else was already asleep. I looked at him, Crystal sleeping against my side. He looked back at me, but didn't say anything. I know I wasn't the last one asleep, and I tried to fake it as best I could.
Acura woke up the next morning, immediately asking for water. Ember woke up at the sound of his voice and woke us up. Crystal and I got up and grabbed a bucket of water and brought it to him. We were then sent to get more. Crystal and I ran through the field, bucket in my mouth, filled it up and began our return trip at a slower pace.
"I feel like I'm the cause for all of this trouble." I said. The bucket made I hard to speak.
"What do you mean?" Crystal asked.
"Ever since I got here, nothing but bad things has happened. I almost died in the river, then I got myself blind for a week, and then he gets hurt."
"That's not your fault. Things happen, and we're going through a rough time. That Pikachu you fought seems to have created his own gang, and I wouldn't be surprised if he decided to go after you too. After all, you did take out his mob and almost equaled him in combat."
"So you heard about that?" I said as we exited the field. We then went inside and put the bucket next to Ember.
"Ah, thank you. Stick around, I'll be needing you soon." Ember replied after turning to us.
"We'll be right outside." Crystal and I said, turning to leave.
"I hope he'll be alright." Crystal sighed.
"Yeah, even though he was a jerk earlier." I replied.
Crystal looked at me and I looked back. "He was, remember?" I said. Crystal glared at me. I sighed. "He was a jerk, but he doesn't deserve this." She finally pulled her eyes off of me. "You wouldn't let me finish." I told her.
Crystal's ear twitched in response and she laid down. I did the same behind her and put a paw on her shoulder and rested my head on the ground. Crystal looked at me and spoke. "I'm not mad."
"Could've fooled me." I replied.
"I just don't like people insulting family."
"I don't like insults either. Especially with what that Pikachu was calling me."
"What did he call you?" Crystal asked.
"Bloodcoat." I said with disgust.
"Does that mean anything bad?"
"Vulpix and Ninetales have a sense of pride with our coats and our souls, and he basically said I was a cold blooded murderer. Hence the Bloodcoat comment."
"Oh." Crystal said, pulling her gaze off of me.
"It's okay though. I don't care what he calls me, as long as he doesn't insult my parents." I said. "Or your family." I added. Crystal looked at me again and put her head against my shoulder.
"We won't be going to school today, possibly tomorrow." Crystal sighed.
"Family emergency?" I asked.
"Of course. I'm guessing it'll take about a month for Acura to heal fully."
"I assume we'll be taking his work home for him then?"
"Yes. Hopefully, that wretched Pikachu won't show up again."
"He was crying when your father let him go. I was so happy to see him finish the battle, but he kind of killed the mood."
"Yes. He does that when he's protective of family." Crystal informed me.
"He considers me family now?" I asked, surprised to hear that.
"I guess, though it could've been helping his daughter's friend." Crystal laughed.
"Hmm, yes. I wouldn't be surprised." I mumbled and closed my eyes again.
"Crystal, Aeden!" We both jumped awake and ran inside.
"Yes mother?" Crystal asked quickly.
"Aeden, I need you to go fetch more water, and Crystal, fetch some berries. After that, I want both of you to go pick more."
"Understood." I said, grabbing the bucket and running out the den. I was back within five minutes, and we headed out with two baskets to go find more berries. So far, today was a very… interesting, and busy day.
I can't say there was a lot to talk about. Mostly doing chores and fetching water when more was needed. It was busy, and we were all tired when night finally came. The same went for the next day.
Two days after Acura had been attacked, Crystal and I went to town for what we were supposed to do yesterday; school. It was busier than when I first saw it, but that Pikachu was nowhere to be seen, thankfully.
We entered the building, signed in, and entered our classroom. It was bright, filled with those wooden benches and desks, and on the wall was a green board. In the corner of the room I saw a Gardevoir. She was sitting at a desk, reading a scroll. She looked up and smiled at us.
"You're right on time. Class is starting." Her voice was gentle and calm.
" Do I have the right room?"
"Ah, you're the new student, right?" I nodded. "Then you're in my class. Have you received your schedule?"
I replied a no and she smiled.
"Then you'll need to go to the office and ask for it. Keep it with you at all times please. We don't want you wandering the halls aimlessly." She giggled before returning to her reading.
"I won't have to introduce myself will I?" The idea had just occurred to me.
"Hmm? Oh no. Not at all. I prefer to let the students take care of those themselves. Now, Lady Gengar will. She has a strange personality." I looked at her, wondering who she was talking about. "I assume you don't understand. Umm, Lady Gengar teaches about ghost type moves and their effects down the hall."
"Oh." I replied.
"Tell him what you teach, Miss Gardevoir." Crystal inserted.
"I teach about Pokémon and their types." Gardevoir answered.
"Oh, and we'll be needing yesterday's schoolwork for Acura."
"Did something happen to him?"
"Yeah. I was showing Aeden the school when he was attacked by a Pikachu and his gang. They weren't there when we got back, but they attacked us as we were going home. I don't think he'll be back until next month."
"That's horrible. Well, remind me after school and I'll give you yesterday's work."
"We'll be having a Staff meeting during lunch, so I'm sure that'll be addressed. Oh, class is about to start. You better pick your seats while you still have a chance." The Gardevoir said, looking up at a clock on the wall. I hadn't noticed it before, and now I was wondering what else I missed.
A Pichu, Buizel and a few other small Pokémon walked into the classroom and took seats in the middle, while Crystal and I took some in the second row. The rest of the classroom was filled by various other Pokémon, the delinquents in the back.
Miss Gardevoir then closed the door and addressed the class. "Good morning children. As most of you don't know, we have a new student joining us today. We will not be doing introductions now as this is a time for learning, not conversing." The Gardevoir said as she stood at the center of the strange green board. "Today, we'll be studying Grass types. Books are being passed out as I speak and you will all shut up before you get yourselves in trouble." I heard some grunts as the books were passed out, floating through the air above our heads. "Now, if you forgot how to use these things over spring break, I will remind you. Open your books to page 76."
I watched as Crystal grabbed the middle of the book with her paw and flip it open. I copied her and found myself around page 31.
"As protocol dictates, I must instruct all new students how to use these. The two tabs you see on the bottom are there for a reason. For those who have paws, all you have to do is press on them to change the page. Make sure yours is working and we'll continue. Remember that we are starting on page 76."
I heard a bunch of pages start flipping, and I pressed on the left tab. The page suddenly turned itself and the previous page was shown to me. I kept pressing it until the outside corner of the page said 76.
The class discussed about grass types until a bell sounded from somewhere in the walls. Everyone got up, put their books away, and began filing out of the classroom for their next classes. I ran to the office to grab my schedule. When I finally had it, I ran to my next class, which happened to be no other than Lady Gengar's.
Crystal saved me a seat and I sat down next to her. The class began, the bell ringing on a lower note this time, but the teacher wasn't there. The students were all looking around and as soon as the talking started, a ghost drifted through the wall. Everyone immediately stopped and faced her.
"Welcome back… class." Lady Gengar said in a hiss. "Today, we'll be reviewing what we've learned." Lady Gengar looked over the class and saw me. Her ears perked up, eyes widened, and a smile dawned upon her face.
'Oh no.' I thought.
"We have a new student here, as I'm sure some of you noticed. Why don't you introduce yourself?" The Gengar asked slowly.
My eyes widened and I shook my head.
"No? Well then, I guess I can't force you."
I sighed, ears back. "Or can I?" My breath froze then, and she was staring at me even more intensely. In fact, everyone was staring at me.
"You're not going to introduce yourself?" Again I shook my head. "Very well." Lady Gengar replied. Suddenly, a horrible screech filled the room and everyone covered their ears.
"Just introduce yourself!" Everyone yelled trying to make themselves heard.
As much as I didn't like the screech, I just let it slide over as best I could.
Lady Gengar stopped after five minutes and frowned at me. "Hmph. Fine, if you're not going to introduce yourself, we'll continue with the lesson."
Everyone was weary of her, and they were all glaring at me. "Should've just introduced yourself." A Sandshrew whispered from my left.
"Today, we will be talking about ghost type moves and the status conditions they can cause. Can anyone name one ghost move? Please don't blurt it out. Just raise a paw or hand."
I rose my paw before anyone else did.
"Yes, Vulpix?"
"Confuse Ray?"
"Yes! Your first day here and you already know something. Can you tell me what status condition it causes."
"Confusion."
"Good, good. Now, here's a tricky one, name three Pokémon that are not ghosts and not in the same evolution chain that can use Confuse Ray?"
"Well, there's Zubat, Vulpix, and… ummm, Stantler."
"Wonderful! Superb! Now, can anyone tell me how you can counter Confuse Ray? Nobody at all?" Lady Gengar looked disappointed. "Well then, we have somewhere we can begin."
Crystal was surprised that I had so much knowledge, despite never being to school, and I could feel the air was tense. Lady Gengar floated to the corner of the room and turned to us. No books came down, and there was no lecture about what we were doing. Suddenly, she spoke up.
"Everyone, what I'm about to show you is a series of ghost type moves, not the after effects. And I want you to try and find Confuse Ray. Now close your eyes."
Everyone did as told and I looked around. It seemed a little odd to be shown something when we couldn't see anything. I closed my eyes and what I saw amazed me. Images were flashing in my mind. It felt more like I was watching something myself. Like we were looking out of the window, except that the screen filled our entire vision. No matter which we looked, it was always in front of us.
The scene showed me a Zubat using supersonic on a Growlithe. Then it changed to a Chimecho using Astonish. That was a horrible experience. A few more scenes flashed by and I found the Confuse Ray. When we were allowed to open our eyes, the room was dark. I could hear muttering about the Astonish move, yet no one knew what it was called.
"That was absolutely horrible. I never want to see that again."
"I agree. Worst sound ever."
The class quieted down after a moment and Lady Gengar spoke up again. "Now, can anyone tell me which one it was?"
I raised a paw but she dismissed me, saying that I have most likely used it before. Another student then answered. The topic continued until class was finished.