Katsu froze mid-punch, a look of irritation crossing his face in response to the unexpected intrusion. He turned around slowly as he snapped, "Who do you think you are? Can't you see I'm in the middle of-" He stopped though upon seeing whoever it was that was behind him. His fists clenched tightly, and he was suddenly tense. "Y-You!"

"What, were you expecting someone else?" the newcomer retorted, moving into my line of sight. While the boy wasn't as tall nor as big as Katsu, he had a leaner edge to him and more defined muscles underneath his black leather jacket and jeans. His head was tilted in such a way that his black hair covered his eyes, giving him an imposing aura. He appeared to be a native, though something about him made me believe he was a foreigner like me. "Would you have preferred Saito-sama instead?"

Katsu chuckled at that. "You're joking, right? Saito-sama can't do anything to me. The worst that could happen is getting suspended, but so what?"

"Yeah, so what?" Riku interjected, for some reason believing that repeating something made it that much more significant.

The boy laughed as if Riku had just told a bad joke. "What's so funny?" Shota growled next to me.

He cut his laughter short to clarify what caused him such mirth. "I'd gladly get you all suspended. At least then I wouldn't have to deal with your sorry asses for a few days."

"Do you want a fight?" Katsu said irritably.

"I'd prefer a challenge, but if all the previous fights are an indication, I won't get one here."

Upon that last statement, Katsu snapped, whipping a Poké Ball from his jacket pocket. "I won't let you win this time!" Shaking in rage, he let out an audible breath, visibly calming his flared temper from his outburst. "And once I'm through with you, I'll get back to business," he added smugly, glancing meaningfully in my direction while I continued to glare at him. Shrugging, he tossed his Poké Ball nonchalantly. A hulking green Pokémon stood between the opposing forces, letting out a fearsome roar as dust swirled up around it. Tyranitar.

"Yeah! Let's show them your incredible power, Braviary!" He threw his own Poké Ball up into the air, the Braviary in question appearing by his side. I found myself seriously questioning just how he planned to defeat this monstrous rock golem of a Pokémon that had a type advantage against his Braviary, especially when the dust only continued to pick up in intensity.

As the battle commenced, I found myself understanding why the two dunderheads still holding me followed Katsu in the first place. These two may have been dense, but by following Katsu, they were granted his protection. And as much as I hated to admit it, that Tyranitar was a powerful force to be reckoned with. Despite Katsu not uttering a single word, the Tyranitar seemed to instinctively know exactly what its trainer wanted. It charged in blind rage towards the smaller flying type with fists coated in electricity. The other boy seemed just as content to let his partner do whatever it chose rather than give it actual commands. Braviary stared the Tyranitar down before it shot up into the air at the last moment possible, narrowly avoiding the Thunder Punch. It quickly gained altitude, its wings sending whirling gusts of wind through the tumultuous sandstorm. With a shriek, it dived back down, energy reminiscent of flames encircling its form before bursting into a blue aura. Its aim was true, and the impact sent the Tyranitar reeling back. Enraged, it lunged forward while snapping its jaws, but its quarry was already out of range. Small sparks crawled along the Braviary's body, though it ignored whatever pain it must have been in. This process repeated itself for several attacks, and it was becoming clear that all that power behind the Tyranitar's moves meant nothing if it couldn't even hit its target. Braviary had taken to flying in lazy circles around its opponent, its calm flight interspersed with the occasional use of Brave Bird. It didn't even need to move erratically to stay out of the destructive path the Tyranitar left in its wake, as the latter's accuracy remained as atrocious as its trainer's had been a few minutes prior.

After the fifth such Brave Bird, the dust finally cleared and settled around the two Pokémon glaring daggers at one another. Tyranitar, realizing its Thunder Punch and Crunch attacks were proving ineffective, changed its tactics, opting to slam its clenched hand into the ground in fury. At first, nothing happened, but before anyone could blink, large, pointed stalagmites shot upward, at long last striking a blow on the faster Pokémon. An involuntary cry of pain arose from Braviary before it plummeted downward. Shota and Riku cheered as the Tyranitar followed up with a resounding snap of its jaws to throw Braviary farther off course, and I knew now was the time to make my move. Being engrossed as they were in the battle, their grip on me had slackened significantly. I lurched forward with as much force as I could muster, easily breaking free of my captors. They started to pursue but stopped when a sudden burst of white light emitted from the direction of the fight.

Having righted itself before it could hit the ground, the Braviary flew treacherously close to the surface. It tore through the air at incredulous speeds and struck headfirst into the Tyranitar's more vulnerable belly. Unprepared for Braviary's sudden retaliation, it was unable to handle the full brunt of the attack. It crumbled to its feet before falling unconscious, its weight causing the very ground beneath us to shake.

"H-How?" Katsu muttered as he returned his battered Tyranitar, barely audible despite the sudden silence. "How could we have been beaten like this?!" Infuriated, he rushed towards the boy who had just defeated him, intending to take matters into his own hands, but halted when Braviary landed in front of its trainer. Its wings were stretched wide as it screeched in Katsu's face. It was as if it was goading him into trying to attack in vain.

"That's what you get when you mess with the Unstoppable Vachir Dzoldzaya! Vachir for short," the boy added in an aside towards me, a wide grin splayed across his face. He turned his attention back to the others. "You chaps better leave now or you won't like what's coming to you," he continued in that same jovial tone, despite the veiled threat concealed within his words. The three bullies seemed to understand the implication, as they scattered like the cowards they were. I watched them scamper away with contempt, but the sounds of someone approaching interrupted me from my thoughts. This Vachir came over to me, his now visible amber eyes holding a spark of excitement from his fight. "You okay? Those guys are tough in more ways than one."

I scoffed at that. "I was handling the situation."

"Pssh. Then why did it seem like you were a few seconds away from being pummeled?"

"I was fine," I retorted.

He gave me a look that made it appear that he was not taking my statement seriously. Either that or he was doubting the validity of said statement. "If that's what you call being fine, I don't wanna see what a crisis would be."

"I told you I was fine," I snapped, turning and walking away from him. "It was nothing I couldn't handle."

I internally groaned when I heard him trail after me. "Wait up!" he called out, though I had no intentions of following through. "Can I at least be honored with your name, fair maiden?"

I froze up upon hearing that. "Fair maiden?" I echoed, bewildered. I turned back towards him. "Is that what you think I am? Just a damsel in distress waiting for her knight in shining armor to rescue her? If so, then you are horribly mistaken. That boy just got lucky. That's all."

Chuckling, Vachir replied, "Alright, alright. Forget the fair maiden part then. But seriously, I've never seen you around these parts, and you don't look like a first year. Who are you?"

I decided the best policy was to forgive and forget, though trying to forget something as baffling as someone calling me a 'fair maiden' was about as likely as a Grumpig sprouting wings and flying away. "Morag Ainsley. I'm a second year."

"Morag, huh?" Vachir replied, leaning against a nearby fence. "That's an odd name."

"Like you're one to talk? What's with this…unstoppable…whatever you said?"

"C'mon, it's supposed to be a badass nickname, y'know? Strikes fear into all who hear it. Like Crasher Wake, or Ghost Eraser," he replied earnestly. "There's one I've always wanted to call someone, too: Flamebringer! You train fire types?"

"No, I don't." I sighed, finding my patience being tested, before asking, "What about the rest of it? I'm assuming that part is your name?"

"Huh? Oh, it's Vachir Dzoldzaya," he repeated, slower this time. "Though I tell my friends to just call me Vachir. It's easier, rolls right off the tongue."

I stared at him for a moment. "You believe I am your friend?" I asked in a neutral tone.

"Of course!" he replied, nodding with his response. I was unsure how exactly to take this. I barely even knew him, and he was basically a stranger right now. He was not the kind of person I would normally be friends with in any circumstance, and already I was beginning to wonder just how much of him I could tolerate at a time. There was only one way to truly find out, though I wasn't sure I wanted to necessarily put myself through the trials of a friendship with this eccentric boy. "We…are friends, aren't we?" he asked after the silence between us had manifested into an awkward one.

"…Sure, why not?" I answered, hoping that I would not come to regret my decision in the future.

"Yes!" he cheered, his sudden movement causing the unstable fence to break right beneath him. Unbalanced as he was, he flailed his arms wildly as he fell backwards into the remains of the broken fence. Beside him, a small black Pokémon hopped up to him, its black plumage ruffled. The Murkrow gently pecked him, as if urging him to get up.

"Are you quite alright?" I asked, not truly concerned about the flying trainer sprawled out on the ground before me. It was not a substantial fall and would leave little more than mere scratches and bruises. "And…is that Pokémon yours?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine," he grumbled, sitting back up. "Not the first time that's happened. And no, the Murkrow isn't mine. Though it always follows me everywhere." He quickly pushed himself up and came over to me, warily staring at the Murkrow as he whispered, "I think it's what causes my bad luck."

"Bad luck? Surely not. It is a mere superstition. Nothing more."

"But but but! It is! Before it showed up, my life was as normal as could be. Then as soon as it started following me, bad things happen to me all the time! Take that fence, for example. It broke when I was leaning on it."

"There was a battle here," I reminded him. "A wooden fence would have been weakened from the force exerted on it beforehand."

"That's not it! I've had normal wooden fences break before, have fallen through a few roofs, been hit on the head by falling tree limbs, and don't even get me started on snowstorms!"

"Very well, I will take your word on it. I'm going to head back to the dorms. I've had my fair share of this place and would prefer a change in scenery."

"Ah, I have a few things I need to pick up from a few stores, so I'll catch up with you later, Flamebringer."

"Again, I don't train fire types," I snapped, but he was already out of earshot. I shoved my hands into my pockets as I made my way back to the dorms, hoping to catch a glimpse of Umeko. I had the urge to tell her everything that had happened today, from the teachers to Katsu and his gang to my newest "friend". Unfortunately, she was nowhere to be found in the ground dorm, and when I asked a few people where she would be, they looked at me as if they were confused by my question. One even had the gall to deny that Umeko even existed, insisting that I must be imagining things. I knew though that he was wrong, as I had not imagined the girl who had been the first student I had made a connection with nor us riding to the school atop her Mudsdale. There was simply no way that it was all inside my head.

With more questions than answers, I opened my dorm room and pulled one of the instant meals I had brought from home out of the fridge. I groaned upon seeing that there were only a few more left. I was by no means a cook, and with the cuisine here being radically different than in Scotland, I had no idea where to even begin when it came to food. Maybe I can ask someone if they know any good places to buy food, I thought to myself as I began to eat. As I chewed, my thoughts wandered back to Umeko. Where could she be? And why was it that nobody seemed to know who she was? There had to be someone who knew the energetic girl who always rode to school on a Mudsdale. I would just have to find her myself tomorrow, since it appeared no one in this dorm was able to help me. Surely there was some explanation, one that I would discover, even if it meant searching through all of Sendai to uncover it.

I am shocked that I am getting these chapters out on a mostly regular basis. For once, overobsession is paying off! If this is what being motivated with writing is like, I'll gladly take it and run.

For ANYONE who wants to leave a review and wants to make sure I see it, I advise both posting a review on here and sending it in a PM. For whatever reason, there's been a glitch recently where reviews haven't been showing up and that automatic emails haven't been sent either. PMs still work, which is why I would advise also sending it that way. I really hope this is fixed soon, because it really is bad for me when I write a long review for something and then it doesn't even show up because the site is being stupid.

Edit: Never mind, it fixed itself shortly before I had posted this chapter. All reviews should show up fine.

Okay, that negativity aside, thanks to all of you for your rivalry suggestions, and I am definitely keeping them in mind as I am writing, as we'll actually start seeing next chapter. A lot of these I never would have originally thought of, so I am grateful to everyone who gave such suggestions. You all know who you are. I still will take any additional rivalry suggestions for a while for anyone who is just coming in now or comes across this in the future, as we have yet to get to the main event where I'll be putting a lot of these rivalries into use.

Responses not covered by my statement above:

-Clarified Conundrum: Ah, yes, Rini was one of my favorite OCs as well, though every OC I have done holds a special place in my heart. And I'm honored that you think my characterization is great, as I kind of see you as the characterization master. Hopefully this chapter will live up to your expectations.

-Umbruhon: Well, late as I am, a chapter with her had come out a couple days ago, so we do get to see more of her. As I mentioned just a few sentences ago, Rini was one of my favorites. And I personally do recommend the Xenoblade games, but I will warn you they are very time consuming, as the first game took me just over 100 hours to beat and Xenoblade 2 is up to almost 150. Also thank you for the favorite and follow!

Trivia:

-So, I said earlier that I based Morag off Mὸrag (that sounded so much better in my head, but I am too lazy to try changing it) from Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Well, Vachir is similar in that respect. He is based off Zeke from said game, though it's not as obvious as Morag. His hammy attitude came, of course, as well as his bad luck. Even part of his name sort of references it, though more on that later...

-Originally, I was set on having Vachir use electric types to reference Pandoria, but when I went to look at all the electric type Pokémon available, I realized…there really wasn't many electric types I actually wanted to do. So, instead, I went to look up Pokémon that are bad luck to bring in Zeke's atrocious luck. Of course, there was Absol, but that was just too predictable, and some could say Absol is good luck because it is trying to warn you of disaster. Then I came across Murkrow, whose Pokédex entries constantly state Murkrow brings bad luck. It was at that moment I knew what Pokémon I wanted to give Vachir. Hence why he is a flying-type trainer instead of an electric-type trainer.

-Okay...so Vachir's full name. I am SO SORRY if I am screwing up the Mongolian culture/names/everything dealing with it. The first part of his name, Dzoldzaya, apparently means "Light of Destiny", and the second part, Vachir, means "Thunderbolt". The latter part specifically references Zeke, as he is sometimes called "Thunderbolt" Zeke. See? I think some things through.

-Speaking of names...the nickname part. Crasher Wake is, of course, the gym leader of Pastoria City in the Sinnoh region. The Ghost Eraser one is from Pokémon Black and White 2, and is the name of the protagonist in the Pokéstar Studio movie of the same name. Flamebringer, on the other hand, is what Mὸrag is known as at times in Xenoblade 2. I only plan on Vachir ever using that nickname, and not very often as I doubt Morag would ever tolerate it, if this was any indication.

-I will say this now but Morag and Vachir are not going to be a ship that I do. Just throwing that out there now before this goes too far...or anywhere for that matter. I have...other ideas in mind for him. smirks