Perryapsis

Chapter 2 - The Speed of Light

Here's chapter 2! I was planning on including a variety of new scenes in this chapter, like battling and a couple others, but the chapter got too long; I'm aiming for about 2k words per chapter. Also, I was beginning to think it was a bit too early to introduce the main antagonists. So what you see is what you get. For the time being, I've got as much time as I need for writing and doing as much as I like, so expect new chapters every 2-3 days for the next week. It's the holidays in the UK. Thanks to St Elmo's Fire for reviewing.

Disclaimer: I don't own any Pokémon, and I don't own Pokémon.

"Umm, they're... circles," replied Perry completely absent-mindedly as he found some useful-looking information about orbital inclination and its relation to transfer.

"I got that much," giggled the Quilava.

"Hey, what's it like, finally having a friend?" a female Bagon snidely remarked.

"Hey, I'm his friend!" yelled Sam indignantly.

"I can make you all shut up. You know, psychic powers and all that," said Miss Enguard with a slight smirk.

"Sorry, miss," said Sam.

"Yeah, you-" started the Bagon, when all of a sudden she simply was unable to produce sound from her mouth, which earned a few suppressed laughs.

Good, something's got her attention, thought the Treecko, finally reprieved from April's constant small talk. He returned his own attention to his book for about five seconds before he was interrupted by Miss Enguard; "Alright, I've got some announcements. This lunchtime it's the choir auditions, after school is the swimming test for those who signed up for rowing last year and tomorrow after school, at the arenas, the battling try-outs are to take place. Oh, your fourth period PE lesson is a fitness test by the way. Off you go to your first lessons," she said with her signature "You should be looking forward to this" smile, nodding to herself. Perry had signed up for the choir, but only because his father was worried about his son's voice condition, which was extremely raspy and low for a thirteen year old. Lucas didn't understand that intensive singing could actually damage the voice, especially for "juvenile" Pokemon like Treecko. Two years ago, Perry actually had quite a sing-song voice, being young and small. How he had changed. The other part of the announcement that caught his attention was the battling try-outs. He was still undecided as to whether or not he should show up. He would undoubtedly be mocked, but in all honesty it couldn't get much worse. Also, his talent would no longer be a secret. But the more he thought about it, he realised it was pointless hiding his talent. Why would anyone mock him for being strong? They'll think of me as some kind of psycho, he thought to himself, Well at least nobody will be interested in me. He was suddenly awoken from his pondering and shame by Miss Enguard, who was used to his behaviour, mainly due to her psychic powers. "Something the matter?" she asked softly.

"No, nothing," he mumbled in reply. He hastily stuffed his book in his bag and ran after his classmates, without the assistance of a Pokemon move.

April definitely liked the Treecko, somehow. He was rude, dismissive, obsessive and tardy, and also had voice problems that made him sound like an elderly Snorlax. He wasn't ugly, however. But that wasn't why the Quilava liked him. Something about him made her want to help him. She could easily tell something bad had happened in his life, and rather recently, she deduced. All his symptoms indicated some form of depression and low self-esteem. April was great with other Pokemon, and felt it her duty to help the Grass-type. Another indicator of problems was that he still hadn't evolved. Most Pokemon tend to evolve at a certain age when they are happy. They don't need to be having the time of their life, but simply need to be comfortable with how they are living. This Treecko was at the right age, but clearly wasn't comfortable. He probably pretended to himself that he was, and that he would be better off on his own, like how he currently was. Additionally, April could tell that at one point he had been different. At one point he had all he could want, but something horrible had happened and all that remained of that happiness was his obsession, or fascination. He was still clinging onto the one thing that reminded him of his old life, but now it was the only thing left, so it had expanded into a complete focus of his life.

When April had left the classroom, Perry wasn't moving, or even responding. He was simply staring off into space. He simply sat there, presumably day-dreaming about something. Probably self-pity. She decided to hang back in order to keep an eye on him in case he didn't recover, but Miss Enguard went over to him and he immediately "woke up". Either she had used some sort of psychic power to achieve this, or Perry trusted the Gardevoir a lot. Perhaps both. Gardevoir in general are very caring and understanding, and this one seemed to be no exception, except for the one death-stare she gave to Perry when he arrived late, but April figured it was probably to put on a show for the headmaster.

She heard a rapid patter on the floor behind her and whipped around to see the Treecko dash past her a few metres before stopping, putting on a scowl. "Um, w-why aren't you with the rest of the form?"

"I kinda got lost," she said quickly and unconvincingly.

"Well, you clearly didn't. You're on the way to the next lesson, but you fell behind. You hung back to see me in the classroom, didn't you?" April added 'highly observant and logical' to her already long mental list of Perry's characteristics.

"Um, I meant to say I stopped at the toilet," April said, updating her alibi, her voice faltering for the first time.

"How convincing," said Perry, sounding very irritated.

"Okay, okay, yes, I wanted to see you after everyone else had gone. I just want to know what kind of Pokemon you are."

"I'm a Treecko."

"Well, I got that much... I know your life has probably been hard, but I only want to be a friend. I don't want to be annoying, irritating, to get in the way, I don't want anything from you, except a mutual friendship, okay?" she explained, trying her absolute best to replace her frustration with kindness.

"After the battle try-outs."

Perry realised how incredibly stupid he had been earlier. He had told an annoying Quilava exactly where he would be the following day after school. He would undoubtably be dropped for the team. He looked down at his hands and shook his head as he dragged himself onto the running track for their fitness test. He shrank to the ground with the rest of the form.

"Alright, ladies and gentleman, I'm your PE teacher for the year, Mr Shank, but you can all call me... How about coach? Sound good? Maybe Divine-Guardian-of-Keeping-Fit? Alright, I hope you get my vibe. I want to make this enjoyable and fun, but I won't stand for any slacking. Actually, you can call me what you want. 'Gale', 'Coach', 'Sir' or whatever you want," rambled the apparently humorous Gallade, peeking at his watch. "Anyways, today is a fitness test, as you already know, and I expect your absolute best."
There were a couple of groans, but Mr Shank's attitude seemed to keep most of the Pokemon in high spirits, except for the Bagon who had been humiliated during the form period.

"The first tests will be stamina tests; how long can you run for. If you run outa' steam, quickly get to the edge of the track and make your way here. I will be... tracking you performance and I'll know if you give up when you still have energy left. You will be setting off in groups of six, at different intervals so we can get through all of you. I may ask one or two of you to run separate tests afterwards," Mr Shank looked down at his register, "How about I do this by first name for a change? Adelaide Rockhopper, Alph Ruinston, April Fuji, Ash Korrona, Ben Carnage and Bonnie Eeree!"
Six different Pokemon raised themselves from the low-cut grass. Adelaide puffed up a bit as she stood, as Prinplups do, and April literally jumped up, causing a few Pokemon around her to jump themselves. Her expression was enthusiastic, as if this was a lifetime goal of hers. She bounded to the closest lane to the middle of the round track. Ash the Raichu followed a little slower, stopping in the second lane, Adelaide following into the third and so-on.

Mr Shank clanged his blades together with psychic force and all six Pokemon immediately started running. Overall the group seemed pretty well paced and even. Adelaide was a surprisingly fast 'runner' for a penguin Pokemon, making large bounds to make up for her short legs. However, it was April who caught Perry's attention.
She was so elegant in her stride. Each stride had precise timing, and after every four steps a little blaze of fire would erupt from the red spots on the blue side of her body. Perry didn't realise he was staring, but Sam did. Perry was mesmerized by this.

"Hey, creep, why you watchin' the new girl like that?" asked the Dewott with a smirk.

"W-what do you mean?" stuttered Perry.

"Well, you're staring. Staring. You like her," said Sam matter-of-factly.

"What? N-no! No way! She's annoying and so far she's just gotten in the way."

"How's she getting in the way, and in the way of what?"

Perry had just been outsmarted.

"Why is she getting in the way? Is she diverting your interest?" said Sam persistently.

"She... She keeps on talking rubbish."

"Oh, I'm sure she does."

Sam and Perry watched various groups of Pokemon run out on the track until it was their turn.

"Perry Salyut, Pam Chan, Stan Red, Sam Otto, Sally Mandy and Trevor Told," boomed Mr Shank's voice, amplified by psychic waves.

Perry, Sam, a large Pangoro, a Charmeleon, the Bagon from earlier and a Frogadier all walked to the starting line. Sam was in the first lane, Perry in the second, and the other Pokemon filled in the other lanes. A loud clang sounded, and all six Pokemon were off. Perry paced himself and was steadily in the lead, with Sam a couple of paces behind. Further back, Perry could see Sally the Bagon annoying Stan the Charmeleon, who fired a few embers at the Bagon, which shut her up.
After running for a couple of minutes, Perry realised his group was now directly in front of the remainders of April's group, of which three were still running, April included. He snuck in a few discreet glances at the Quilava, which he disguised as glances at his own group. He shook his head in annoyance with himself, which Sam noticed. "What's up?"

"Nothing, just checking on our group," replied Perry.

"Of course, I would never doubt you," said Sam with a smirk. Perry was beginning to get a little bored of this and he began to theorise some rocket designs.

"You're in better shape than I thought," remarked Mr Shank.

"Erm, am I? I m-mean thank you, sir," said Perry after an entire half-hour at what seemed to be the sprinting speed of most Pokemon.

"You're going to be running again. I know you've got energy left," said Mr Shank, earning a sigh from Perry and an open laugh from Sam, "And you too, Sam."

"Hey, impressive stuff!" complimented April, tapping Perry on the shoulder, which made him jump a little.

"Er, th-thanks, I guess," said Perry, flushing a little.

"I had no idea you could do that."

"Yeah, yeah... I guess I've kept it quiet," said Perry, annoyed at himself for allowing the conversation to start.

"Okay, can I have Ash Korrona, Perry Salyut, Sam Otto and Sid Woody, please," said Mr Shank. Ash, the Raichu, along with Perry, Sam and a Sudowoodo all took their places on the track; "This is going to be a two-hundred metre sprint. You can use whatever methods you want, and yes, this is a race."
Perry was having a bit of a mental battle with himself. Should he use Extreme Speed or not? His battling skills would no longer be a secret, but again, he was thinking about why he was bothering to keep such a talent from exposure.
"On your marks, get set, GO!"

The group launched themselves forwards and Perry held the lead, but after a few seconds the Raichu was gone in a flash and was streaking ahead with a Quick Attack. This is your last chance, thought Perry. He stopped for a second, earning a strange look from Sam, before he rocketed forwards at twice the speed the Raichu was travelling, who was two-thirds of the way to the finish. Three seconds later he had finished the race, Ash in second, Sam third and the Sudowoodo fourth.

XXXXX

April watched in awe of the Treecko, who clearly knew how to use Extreme Speed, but she was shattered to see Perry collapse on the floor at the end of the race. She sprinted desperately over to the unconscious teen and thought of the events of the day. When he arrived at the form room, he zoomed past her with so much speed, not at 'Extreme Speed' speeds, but holding the momentum of such a move. He then fell to his knees. This Treecko had used a move it was supposedly unable to learn not once, but twice, and in only a few hours. She didn't notice, however, the Shiny Prinplup who frowned at April's behaviour. She didn't even notice how everyone watched in surprise at the events unfolding before them. They eventually decided to follow the Quilava to see exactly what had happened.

Perry was lying on the track, his muzzle in the dirt. He was hardly moving, it barely looked like he was breathing. "Wass'up with him?" moaned Sally the Bagon, tired of the situation already.

"Can't you see? He's unconscious! He blacked out!" exclaimed April. Mr Shank pushed through the crowd of Pokemon.

"Settle down," said the Gallade calmly. He raised Perry's unconscious body using his psychic powers in the air a few feet in front of him; "You are all dismissed. Go to your next lesson." He began to walk off, Perry floating in front of him, a pink outline around his body. The rest of the class, except Adelaide and April went off chattering to the form's next lesson. April went straight after Mr Shank and Adelaide followed closely behind.

"Hey, what're you doing here?" asked April in a friendly tone, despite her choice of words.

"I could ask you the same question; what are you doing here?" retorted Adelaide, her tone much less kind.

"What're you both doing here?" said Mr Shank a little angrily, "You should be at your next lesson."

"I wanted to see Perry and see if I could help," said April innocently.

"Me too," added Adelaide. April now realised why the penguin Pokemon was behaving in that way. She has a crush on Perry, and doesn't want any competition. April, on the other hand, only wanted to help the poor Pokemon... Or do I?

XXXXX

When Perry collapsed, he could feel the auras of the Pokemon around him. There was, annoyingly, April and Adelaide, before the rest of the form joined them. His mind was being overwhelmed by their auras as it automatically tried to identify each Pokemon that crowded him. The strain on his fatigued brain put him fully to sleep.