Louhearst vs. Seathroul

Azalea Antics

Logan, Jett, and Rietta took a seat at the table at a small restaurant south of the Ruins of Alph. The expedition had started moving from Violet City to Azalea Town and the academy tours were to begin the next morning. Logan was taking the tour to Seathroul, Jett was going to the Slowpoke Well, and Rietta would be guiding the visiting Seathroul students around Louhearst. They all had their minds on different objectives. Rietta was only guiding so that she could earn extra credit and hopefully raise her grades enough to be at the top of the class again, Jett had to assist his brother, Jerry, with his date with Emma's sister since Emma was going on the Seathroul tour, and Logan was obsessed with getting his concert tickets back from Sadie Yanes.

"So, Logan," Jett began. "Tell us again how Sadie kicked your ass at blackjack."

"I don't know," he replied. "I talked to those Seathroul guys, Justin and Derek, and they say she does that crap all the time. She even has a nickname. They call her 'Shady Sadie' because she cheats people out of their money and their other important stuff even if it's their Pokémon. Hell, they even said that she stole her Salamence from its trainer before she started Seathroul. Man, Mark was right. That school is full of psychos."

"Psycho or not," Jett said as he glanced at the menu. "This Sadie girl sounds like a badass. Was she hot?"

Logan frowned at him. "It doesn't matter how hot she was. She cheated me out of my tickets, my skull necklace, and my clothes. I had to ride home in my underwear. Some first year girls took pictures and they're probably on the internet by now. It doesn't matter because I'm going to stomp her ass in our battle."

"Chill out dude," Jett remarked. "Right now, we need to be focused on getting some food. What are you guys ordering?"

"I definitely need a salad," Rietta stated. "If I'm going to get my gym grade up, I got to eat healthy, right?"

"Or you could just exercise," Logan told her. "If anything, you need some meat. Protein, Rietta."

Jett grinned. "I taught him that, but listen, being in shape doesn't work for everyone like it does for me. My grandpa knew a guy who smoked and drank every day, ate fatty foods, and hardly ever exercised. Died when he was ninety-two of natural causes. The guy's brother? Never smoked or drank, always ate healthy, and exercised every day. Got hit by a bus coming home from the gym. You never know when you're going to die. That's one thing I learned the hard way…"

Logan shifted around uncomfortably and suddenly stood up from the table. "Jett, just order me whatever you're getting. I need to go to the bathroom." He hurried through the tables, not even looking back as he entered the restroom. Jett's words had made him uneasy and he remembered what Xavier had told him a few months earlier. He turned the water on and stuck his hands under the sink. He had mentioned this strange habit of continuously washing his hands to his family, but he objected to seeing a therapist.

"I'm not crazy…" he thought. "I'm not crazy…"

Looking up at the spotless white walls, he saw the designs of the Unown scattered around the room. He remembered seeing a tile game outside the restroom where the little kids were spelling letters with the small Unown tablets. He had heard legends about the Unown and their dimension from his grandfather, but he knew they were myths. Still, he couldn't help wondering if there was a connection between the Unown and the code. Stepping out of the bathroom, Logan went to the tile game, but stopped when he realized that there were only five slots and that the code was nine letters long. He muttered a few swears as he stared at the Unown tablets above the game. There were five sets of twenty-eight and he glanced at each tablet on the first set before stopping at the V-shaped Unown.

"Wait a second…"

He grabbed the tablet and placed it into the first slot before searching for an E-shaped one. Repeating the process, he grabbed two L-shaped Unown tablets, one from the first set and one from the second set. He put them in the slots and suddenly stopped. Logan stared at the last empty slot for a few seconds before shifting his vision to the A-shaped tablet that rested above the game. Taking a deep breath, he slowly grabbed the tablet and placed it in the slot. Logan took a step back and gazed at the tile game.

"V-E-L-L-A" he spelled out.

Logan grinned to himself as he wiped his face. He knew that it was stupid to get so riled up about a game for small children. He turned in the opposite direction, but suddenly stopped when he saw something dripping on his shirt. His eye widened as the crimson blood began to pour from his nose. Turning his attention back to the tile game, Logan was met with a blinding light.

"What the hell is going on?" he said to himself. "Am I the only one who sees this?"

The bright light subsided and Logan saw the five tablets fall onto the floor and in their place he saw a large black book. As Logan walked closer, he realized that the book was somehow sticking to the wall without any support.

"The book of Saul Vella…"

Logan could have sworn that Dean Horace had left the book with Xavier. He even saw it in Xavier's possession, but he could immediately tell that the book in front of him was not a replica. The title was the exact same with Lord Monsiadem's birth name, Robert Horace, written on it in Old English and the code written on it in big golden letters. Logan grabbed the book and watched in amazement as the pages began turning themselves. Rushing back into the restroom, Logan locked himself in the third stall and began reading:

The Curse

In the time that I had begun my journey towards redemption, I had won the heart of Zipporah, repaid my debts to every villager that my reign of terror had affected, and was ready to start a new chapter of my life. I settled down in my castle with Zipporah and we had many children.

However, all was not well. I began to notice a few of my children displaying terrifying and even downright evil behavior. I could not discover why they were being driven to madness. The healers had told me that they all possessed some sort of mental illness that they could not identify. I immediately sent for the wisest and most powerful sorceress in the world…

Her name was Jahzara Zavala and I could never forget her. She had long, curly, shining black hair, smooth, light brown skin, and emerald green eyes that seemed to be dancing with life. Her behavior was a bit eccentric and she possessed a very noticeable humorous side that constantly manifested itself to the point where she could've been mistaken for a court jester. No matter what the current predicament was, you would always a smile on her face.

Jahzara's Pokémon partner was of a species I had only heard about in legends. It was a Spiritomb and Jahzara mentioned that it helped her with her magic. I took all of my children to visit Jahzara's home in a small Egyptian village and she was able to contact the spirits for three days. She told me that although I had started my redemption, I was still going to be punished by the Original One for my past misdeeds. The punishment was that my children and all of my descendants would have the mental illness that would eventually drive them insane. The Vella Curse as it would be referred to as.

I pleaded to Jahzara to contact the Original One once more so that I could beg for the health of my children and my descendants. For one month, I lived with Jahzara until she was finally able to contact the Original One and plead for me. In the end, she was able to bargain with him. The curse would always exist in each and every one of my descendants and in different ways, but they could all fight off and eventually do away with the curse within themselves if they had a strong urge to do good in their lives.

I agreed that this was only fair after all of my atrocities. Jahzara became a life-long friend and as a token of our friendship, I gave her an ancient relic from my ancestors. It was a silver ornament in the shape of a Pokémon from the future that would be known as Alakazam and she accepted the gift. She told me that our friendship would span into the afterlife and that one day, we would be able to watch the descendants of our children become life-long friends…

Logan closed the book and stuffed it into his jacket. He couldn't believe what he had just read and he sighed in defeat. There actually was a curse that would make him insane, but he would not accept it. It had to be a lie. Shane Clarke came from the same lineage and Logan was sure he didn't have an urge to do any good, but he hadn't seen any signs that Shane's sanity was slipping, except that time when he, Jett, and Rietta had first ran into the Cherry Boys after they had defeated Shane, Rolen, and Tinett. It was the only time that Logan was actually afraid of Shane. He thought about his mother, sisters, and aunts. He knew that his mother had always been eccentric, but she was kind to everyone she came in contact with. Coco was the exact same as their mother just without the quirks and Riri only had a slight attitude problem. They were perfectly sane as was Xavier. His mind drifted to Laurina Clarke. From what he could tell, she was the most normal out of everyone in the family, but all he really knew about her was that she genuinely loved Shane.

"Zaria…" he thought. "She's batshit insane, but it's just a coincidence. Yeah, nothing to worry about. Every family has a murderous psychopath, right?"

He knew that he was trying to make himself feel better. Zaria was indeed proof that the Vella family was messed up, but Logan felt like he was different. He thought about the passage and he arched an eyebrow as he pulled the book back out reread Jahzara Zavala's description. "Curly black hair, emerald green eyes, light brown skin," he read aloud. "Could be mistaken for a court jester…and her last name was Zavala. That's the same as…no way. It must be some sort of coincidence."

"Hey, Martin!" Shane's voice yelled as he entered the restroom. "Martin, you in here?"

Logan stuffed the book into his jacket once more and came out of the stall. Shane was staring at his reflection in the mirror and he seemed to be in deep thought. "What's up, Clarke?" he said, trying not to look suspicious.

"Mitchell and Mackenzie told me that you were in here," Shane explained. "I was waiting outside, but it was taking you all day. I heard that you're taking on Shady Sadie from Seathroul, so there's something I want to give you."

He reached in his pocket and handed Logan a white envelope. Logan stared at it in confusion. "What is it?"

"Five hundred dollars," Shane replied simply. "You don't need to waste your money on a lowlife like Sadie Yanes, so I decided to help you out. I know you only needed four hundred, so go ahead and keep the extra money."

"Wow, I don't know what to say. Wait a minute, what's the catch?"

"There's no catch," Shane answered irritably. "It's just…I had a conversation with the Elder Sage at the Sprout Tower back in Violet City and I don't know, I guess you can say he opened my eyes or whatever. Listen, I'm being charitable so you'd better appreciate it. It's the least I can do after what happened at Mt. Moon last year."

"You mean when you hit me in the head with a rock and put me in a coma?" Logan questioned. "And afterwards when you pinned the explosion on me?"

Shane groaned as he frowned at Logan. "Fine, I'm sorry I kicked your ass! Now, do you want the money or not? You don't have to take it, but listen, Jewel's going to be in a preliminary beauty pageant in Azalea next week. We got the beauty and talent part down, but we need to lame heartfelt speech thing and that's why I need to talk to Emily."

"Emily? You mean, Emma?"

"Emily, Emma, the blonde farm chick with the huge boobs, whatever you want to call her. I need her phone number. She's the only one I know that can help Jewel with her speech and I need to talk to her tonight since I have to be a tour guide to the Seathroul students tomorrow."

Logan handed his phone over to Shane and he copied Emma's number before handing it back to Logan. Shane started out, but was stopped by Logan. "There's something I want to ask you. What do you know about…the Vella Curse?"

Shane looked at him in confusion. "The Vella Curse? Oh, you mean that stupid old myth. My mother told me something about it a few years ago. Apparently, our family is cursed because of Saul Vella. She said the curse manifests itself as some kind of mental illness that's supposed to drive you insane if you do evil, but that's completely retarded. Tons of families have mental illnesses so it's nothing to get stressed out over. Anyway, good luck in your battle…"

The two boys left the restroom and headed in opposite directions. Logan made it back to the table and began eating. Jett and Rietta were in some sort of conversation and he tuned them out. The dessert came to the table shortly afterwards, but it was just three bowls of frosting.

"What the hell is this?" Logan asked Jett. "It's just frosting."

"Oh yeah," Jett replied. "This restaurant is famous for awesome frosting, so I figured we should give it a shot. I got to hurry up and finish before the band shows up. It took me days to convince Rolen to join in and he even bought a bass guitar. I've been working on a new song and my grades are getting better so my brother said that if I helped him out on his date with Sarah, I'll get his old electric guitar."

"You didn't tell us you were working on a new song," Logan told him.

"Or that your grades were getting better," Rietta added.

"Well as far as writing a song goes, you two seemed too busy worrying about other things, so I didn't want to bother you guys. As for my grades, I got a new tutor. That June Hawthorne girl. I don't know, it's like she explains things so good that it makes it easy for me to pick it up quicker."

Rietta arched an eyebrow at him. "I mean, I always tutor you anyway. Why didn't you just come to me? My grades are higher than June's."

"Yeah," Jett started. "But whenever you tutored me, I still got failing grades. It's easier to concentrate when you're not being called an idiot every ten seconds."

Rietta frowned at him. "Well, maybe if you focused more, I wouldn't have to call you an idiot every ten seconds!"

"Excuse me!"

Logan sighed as the two of them began arguing. He attempted to tune them out, but they just kept getting louder and louder until Logan decided that he was tired of listening to them. Every day for over a year, it was the same thing. Rietta would say something to upset Jett and he would snap back and vice-versa. Logan stood up from the table and glared at both of them.

"Shut the hell up!" he shouted. Jett and Rietta's eyes widened in disbelief as they gazed in awe at Logan's furious expression. "No one in the entire school thinks that your arguing is cute. It's freakin' annoying as hell! Ask Z.K., Ethan, Roux, anyone and they'll agree. I'm sick of babysitting you two. Jett, it's good that you're making progress, but you don't have to rub it in her face and you can ignore her if she has some kind of smartass remark. Rietta, maybe if you stop being an ice queen for like ten seconds and actually try to be nice to the people who are supposed to be your friends, Jett wouldn't have to go to someone else for tutoring. So once again, I have to be the adult and reprimand the situation. Eat your frosting kiddos."

He sat back down and Jett and Rietta didn't even look at one another much less speak. "So…" Jett said. "Good frosting, huh?"

"It's decent…" Rietta replied.

Logan sighed. "Sorry I freaked out. It's just…well I don't feel like explaining, but yeah, sorry about snapping."

"Apology accepted," Jett said. "But dude, you got frosting all over your face."

"No I don't."

Jett reached into his bowl and grabbed a large glob of frosting before pushing into Logan's face. "You do now."

Rietta let out a laugh before being pelted with frosting by Logan. "Oops…" he said innocently. "I guess my aim is off."

Immediately the trio began throwing frosting at one another, their mini-food fight drawing attention from the other customers at the restaurant. With all that they had been going through together and individually, they didn't have many chances to just have fun like they did during the previous year. By the time they were thrown out of the restaurant, they realized that they now had to go through Union Cave at night with their clothes drenched in frosting.

"Let's get going," Jett told them as he licked the remains of the frosting off of his fingers. "Man, that is some good frosting…"

Rolen entered the small room of the Azalea Louhearst with his blue bass guitar in his hand and looked at the other four with an indifferent expression on his face. He had been combing his hair when Roux had called him earlier that morning and he was upset that she interrupted him, but he figured he had another chance to brag about his guitar to Jett. They had all met up last night after traveling through Union Cave to discuss the dynamics of the band. Jett would be lead singer, Roux would be lead guitar, Rolen would be on the bass and vocals, Mike would be the keyboardist, Ethan would be on drums, and their Pokémon would provide backup vocals and visual effects for the band.

"We have all month to practice the new song that Jett wrote," Roux explained. "Daisy and the rest of the Frenzy Plants told me that if we're good enough, they'll reference us to Kooley Brothers Records in Goldenrod City. The older brother is the father of Kelsey Kooley."

"No way!" Jett interjected. "Kelsey Kooley. The Kelsey Kooley. We might actually get to meet her?"

"I didn't say that," Roux replied. "I said that we may be able to meet her dad and uncle, but I don't know if we'll meet Kelsey."

"I'm already good enough," Rolen stated. "I'm sure you losers need some practice, but I don't."

Roux sighed. "Listen, Rolen, we've only performed one song together and it wasn't even our song and as far as being good goes, good is not enough. We have to be totally awesome."

"Yeah, I'm definitely in for some practicing," Mike added.

"I think we need a gimmick," Ethan said. "I mean most bands have some sort of gimmick. What do you guys think?"

"Our name is Superego," Jett started. "We just need to think of a gimmick that has something to do with that. How about a Pokémon? What is the most arrogant looking Pokémon that we can think of?"

"Well…" Rolen began. "There is one that I can think of. I saw it when my parents took me to Unova on a business trip a few years ago. It was a grass Pokémon called…Snivy, if I'm correct. It's one of the starters for new trainers in Unova. Trust me, its evolutions are worse. Cooper, pull it up on your laptop."

Mike opened his laptop and quickly began typing. He ushered Jett, Roux, and Ethan over to the screen and they saw the grass snake. It was mostly green with a cream-colored underside, two yellow shapes that came out of its shoulders giving it the appearance of wearing a collar, and a large, palmate leaf with three prongs on the end of its tail. They noticed the eyes of the Pokémon were half-closed and it had a smirk on its face giving it the egotistic look that Rolen mentioned.

"It's so cute!" Roux exclaimed. "I'm sure that they're not all arrogant. It's just the way they look, but it definitely works for our band so I guess our colors are green and yellow. If only we could catch one."

"We can worry about catching one later," Rolen said. "I can pay for our costumes and get them in when we actually become a recognized band. Roux, I recommend you trade out those purple highlights for green and yellow ones. So, when do we start practicing?"

"Tomorrow," Jett answered as he heard a knock on the door. "I have to go to the Slowpoke Well to help my brother out on a date and Roux and Ethan are going on the tour to Seathroul."

"Hey, me and Rolen can stay here and practice by ourselves then," Mike said. "What do you say, Rolen?"

"Sure, why not?"

Jett opened the door and Emma walked in with Jewel following behind her with a small Skitty-shaped notepad and a pen. "I'm teaching Jewel how to be nice for her upcoming beauty pageant," Emma explained. "So, Jewel, did you see how I knocked before entering? That's what's your supposed to do before entering someone's room. Who's all going to Seathroul with us?"

"Me and Roux are going," Ethan answered. "And Ronnie's going to meet us on the bus after she takes Joey to Professor Pine. You ready to head out?"

"Yeah, let's go."

"Wait a sec," Jewel started as she held her pen to her notepad. "Jacobs, how is a nice person supposed to deal with Boyfriend Stealer Roux? You seem pretty calm about the fact that she's pretty much the reason your boyfriend broke up with you. You do know that Martin and Roux made out like thirty minutes after you two broke up, right?"

"Wow, this is awkward," Jett said as he headed out of the door. "Catch you guys later."

"Meet you guys on the bus," Ethan added nervously as he followed Jett out.

"And uh," Mike started. "I think me and Rolen are just going to practice at my dorm. Later."

They quickly hurried out leaving the three girls alone. Emma and Roux could tell that Jewel really didn't mean any harm and that she was just curious to know as they could see by the expression on her face. "Jewel," Emma began. "Umm, there's another thing about being nice that I think you should know. Some things shouldn't be said aloud."

"Hey, Jewel," Roux told her as she finished writing on the notepad. "Why don't you head to the bus? We'll be out there in a second."

"Sure, whatever," she said as she walked out of the door. "Both of you sit by me, so I can take notes."

As soon as she was out of earshot, Roux turned her attention back to Emma. "Listen, I know you and I don't really know each other that well, but honestly, I wasn't trying to steal Logan from you. It's just that one thing led to another and we ended up making out. He doesn't even want a girlfriend right now, so I think we should both just forget about him. We run with the same circle of friends, so maybe we should get to know each other better? What do you think?"

Emma sighed as a slight smile formed on her face. "Yeah, I guess we should hangout more. Let's get to the bus…"

There were two students from each year signed up to be tour guides for the Seathroul students visiting Louhearst. Nina and Kaylee were the tour guides for the fourth year Seathroul students, Nikki and Eliza for the third years, Rietta and Shane for the second years, and Christina and Ilys for the first years. They had all arrived at the front of the building on time except for Shane, who showed up three minutes before the Seathroul students arrived.

"Ugh," he started as he looked at the female tour guides. "I feel like I just entered an estrogen sweatshop. Ladies, if it's your time of the month, I can guide the tour all by myself." All of them except for Christina glared daggers at him. "Apparently, I may be onto something."

"Shane," Rietta started. "I know we're not the best of friends. Can we at least attempt to get alone?"

"If you were Martin or Mitchell, I could try," Shane retorted. "But, you just piss me off every time that you open your mouth. I'll see what I can do though…"

The Seathroul bus arrived on campus and the students began unloading one by one, the last two students obviously being the Seathroul bullies who were a part of Duncan Mendoza's gang. "You see that hot one," Nikki whispered to Eliza. "That's Zack Winters, the guy who had a kid with that second year and helped beat up Ethan." She pointed to his comrade, a tall and thin boy with fair skin, dark eyes, and long, frizzy black hair all over his head. "And that's Adam Tifatillah. Damn, he has a lot of hair."

"Tell me about it," Eliza added. "When he was the last time he went to a barber?"

"Welcome, Seathroul students!" Kaylee began as a crowd gathered around them. She settled the other tour guides in a row before she continued. "My name is Kaylee Arnett and this is Nina Richardson. We will be the guides for the fourth years, so I want every fourth year to make a line in front of Nina. All the third years will make a line in front of Nikki and Eliza, all the second years in front of Henrietta and Shane, and all the first years in front of Ilys and Christina. Please keep your Pokémon inside their Poké Balls and if you have any questions, just ask one of us. Now, let's start the tour!"

Kaylee and Nina led the fourth years inside the main building as Ilys and Christina began leading the first years towards the west side of Louhearst. Rietta, Shane, Nikki, and Eliza were still trying to get their groups together.

"Look what we have here," Zack Winters began as he and his frizzy-haired friend approached the two third year girls. "Nita and Elena, right?"

"Nikki and Eliza," Eliza corrected. "Listen, Zack, we know all about you, so we don't want any trouble."

"Trouble?" Zack questioned as he wrapped his arms around the two girls. "Why would I want to cause trouble especially for you two pretty ladies? If I wanted to cause trouble, I would've brought the rest of my friends. Me and Tifatillah are as harmless as a cluster of Metapod."

"Totally harmless," Tifatillah added. "In fact, we're total angels. You can almost see the halos on our heads"

"Total angels don't jump students in alleys," Nikki remarked as she and Eliza pushed Zack off of them. "You two better behave yourselves. Come on, let's go."

The two girls lead the group of third years towards the east building leaving Rietta and Shane alone to deal with the second year Seathroul students. "I know I'll be able to control our group unlike those two," Shane said.

"Whatever," Rietta replied as she rolled her eyes. "Let's just get this over with."

Before they could address the group, they were approached by a group of girls. The leader was a very slim and slightly tanned girl with slanted chocolate brown eyes and long wavy brown hair. "Hi," she greeted in a seemingly friendly tone. "I'm Brianna Zeno, but everyone just calls me Breezy."

"Why do they call you that?" Shane asked.

"Well, I specialize in speedy Pokémon," Breezy bragged. "And I can run like the wind which is why I don't look gross like some of these Louhearst girls I've seen. So, where are our tour guides?"

"You're looking at them," Rietta answered simply.

"Seriously?" Breezy said as she stared at Rietta in contempt. A grin formed on her face as she turned to the crowd and pointed at Rietta. "Hey everyone, guess who one of our tour guides is? She has brown hair, pale skin, and brown eyes. It's Stella Swanna from Nightfall!"

The crowd erupted in laughter and Shane didn't even bother to keep himself from joining in as Rietta's face twisted in anger. "You got burned!" he said in between his laughs. "Suck on that, Mackenzie."

"Oh!" Breezy continued to the crowd as she pointed at Shane. "And there's her vampire boyfriend, Edwin Colton. Looks like he dyed his hair blond! Where's Jason White the werewolf?"

The crowd laughed harder as Shane turned to Rietta. "Temporary truce? At least until this bitch goes back to Seathroul."

"Definitely…"

Jett lead the first year trio into Slowpoke Well. Asher was dressed as a Slowpoke, Mark as a Slowbro, and Jericho as a Slowking. Needless to say, all three of the young boys were completely embarrassed. Jett had offered to give them money at first, but it didn't work since Asher was almost as rich as the Soul Snakes. He then offered to give Mark some of his old magazines with girls in them which allowed Mark to convince the other two to join in.

"I hope no one saw us," Jericho stated. "Why are we even doing this again?"

"It's Azalea Town," Jett replied, ignoring Jericho's second sentence. "There are Slowpoke everywhere. Now, stand across the water and wave at us when I come by on the boat with my brother and his date. Sarah's probably going to want to take a picture of you guys, so smile if she pulls out a camera. I promised Emma that I wouldn't screw this up and I need to get Jerry's guitar, so I'm counting on you guys. Asher, come here for a second."

The small and meek boy walked over to Jett. "What is it? D-Did I do something wrong?"

"It's nothing like that, Asher," he said. "You're dressed as the Slowpoke. That means you're the main man. You're going to be front and center leading Mark and Jericho. You can handle it, right?"

"Y-Yeah," he answered.

Jett gave him a salute as he led Mark and Jericho around the body of water. Jett made his way to the small boat and made sure everything was right before climbing out of the well. He stood at the entrance for a few more minutes before he finally saw his brother approaching with his date.

Jerry Mitchell was an older, and some would say better, version of his younger brother. Unlike Jett, Jerry had inherited most of their father's physical traits. He had a tall and lean build with warm brown eyes, fair skin, and shaggy brown hair that made his hairstyle similar to Jett's. He kept his dark shades above his head only letting them down when the sun was extremely bright.

Like Jerry was preferred over Jett, Sarah Jacobs was usually more desired than her younger sister. She had long wavy strawberry blonde hair that went down to her shoulders and like Emma, she had cream colored skin, deep blue eyes, and a rather large chest.

Jett and Emma had Jerry and Sarah meet up with them in Violet City while the expedition was there. They had managed to hit it off and had each agreed to go on a second date in Azalea. Jett felt weird playing matchmaker considering the fact that he usually didn't care about a couple if it didn't involve him. In truth, he was just doing his friend and his brother a favor and he wanted Jerry's guitar which was his primary goal.

"What's up guys?" he greeted. "Are you two ready for like the most awesome date on the planet?"

"The most awesome date on the planet?" Sarah said. "Wow, I can't to see what you planned."

"Neither can I," Jerry added as he arched an eyebrow at his younger brother.

"Then you don't have to wait any longer," Jett continued. "By the end of this date, you two will be all over each other like salt on French fries. Now, follow me into the Slowpoke Well or as it will be referred to for today, the Love Tunnel…"

At Seathroul, the tours had been going pretty well. Justin McShan and his girlfriend, Sindy Malana were guiding the Louhearst second years around the academy and for the most part, things were going smoothly. The Louhearst students noted how Seathroul's building wasn't as updated as theirs due to the fact that Louhearst had a handful of wealthy students whose parents frequently made donations to the academy. Justin and Sindy led them into the courtyard at the conclusion of the tour, but attempted to go a different route when they noticed Duncan Mendoza and a large group of students hanging out there. However, they realized that he couldn't really do anything in the middle of the school's courtyard and that his more brutal companions were not even present.

"Look who it is," Duncan taunted as he and a few of his friends approached the group of Louhearst students. "Emma Jacobs, we meet again."

"Listen, I'm sorry I slapped you," she told him straightaway. "Can we just end it?"

Duncan grinned as he set his sights on Ethan. "I see you're better. Did we kick your ass too hard? Remember, it's all Emma's fault that had to happen to you and Ronnie's here too. This is like a reunion."

"Look," Ronnie started. "We're about to leave. Just let us go."

"Of course," he replied. "It's just me and Melvin by ourselves, so we're not going to hurt any of you. Percy and Vic are at Azalea's gym and Zack, Breezy, and Tifatillah are at Louhearst. Zack actually sent me a text a little while ago. He's working on getting some from those two third year tour guides. That's our Zack. Always trying to impregnate dumb sluts. Hey Ronnie, maybe if Zack's lucky he'll run into whoever is taking care of your kid and take a cute picture with his little bastard son!"

Ronnie immediately charged at Duncan and began furiously slapping him before a Seathroul girl grabbed her hair and began roughly yanking it. Emma, Roux, and Jewel attempted to break it up only for the girl to shove Jewel into Roux and Emma, knocking all three down in the process. Emma managed to get up and wrestled the girl to the ground as more Seathroul and Louhearst students joined in on the brawl.

"What the hell is your problem?" Ethan shouted at Duncan.

Duncan shoved him against a nearby wall, but was surprised when Ethan ducked the oncoming punch. He tackled Duncan onto the ground and began unleashing his anger on him in a fury of quick punches. He remembered being lured into the alley by Zack's sister back in Cherrygrove, he remembered how he tried to run only to be thrown against Duncan's car by Zack, and he remembered the vicious four on one beatdown that he suffered at their hands. Now it was time for payback. Despite what he had told Logan, Ethan couldn't help but to be satisfied with himself as he continued fighting with Duncan. A few of the Seathroul fourth years came on the scene along with the professors and their Pokémon and managed to put an end to the brawl.

"This isn't over yet, Louhearst!" Duncan shouted as he was carried off by the professors. "The war's back on! You'd better watch your backs!"

Z.K., Becca, and Rus sat under a large tree in Ilex Forest as they listened to Logan's conversation to his Pokémon. All six of them were standing around in the circle as Logan coached them on their strategy. "I want this battle to be a curb stomp," he told them. "I don't know if it's going to be one-on-one, three-on-three, or six-on-six, but I do know that our opponent is a lying, cheating, stealing troll and she doesn't deserve any mercy, so there's not going to be any! Z.K., come here for a sec."

She walked over to Logan and reached into her pockets as he recalled all of his Pokémon with the exception of Mawile. "Here's the other half," Z.K. said as she handed him half of a small white pill. "You took the other half earlier, so it shouldn't affect you too bad. If you would just go to therapy like your mom said, you'd be able to get a legal prescription for better stuff than this."

"Whatever," Logan said as he quickly swallowed the pill. "Here she comes. Tell Rus that I want him to record every second of this beatdown."

Z.K. went back to join Becca and Rus as Sadie approached Logan with a blue-eyed brunette in tow. "I see you brought your friends, Emo Boy," she taunted.

"They're just here to watch me kick the shit out of you in our battle," Logan shot back. "I see you brought a friend which is a surprise to me because I didn't know anyone would actually want to be friends with a thief who steals Pokémon from their trainers. What's your name?"

"Her name is Lilly," Sadie answered for the girl. She stared into Logan's glazed eyes and arched an eyebrow. "Are you high?"

"Doesn't matter," he said quickly. "Do you have my clothes and the tickets?"

She opened the small green bag that she was carrying and Logan went through it. Everything seemed to be in order until he noticed the tickets. He grabbed them and ripped them in half. "Do you think I'm stupid? Those are faker than you are! Let me see the real ones."

"Someone's grouchy today," Sadie said as she reached in her black tanktop and pulled out the real concert tickets. "Here they are. I'm keeping them warm."

"Listen," Logan said threateningly. "I can't hit you, but if you try anything, I have Z.K. and Becca here to beat the living hell out of you and trust me, they're more than a match for you."

Sadie glanced over Logan and at the two girls who eyed her. From their expressions, she could easily tell that they were not afraid of her, but she didn't care. "Are we going to battle or what? We need to hurry before your mascara starts running off."

"One-on-one?" Logan said.

"Sure," Sadie replied as she reached for a Poké Ball. "You must be pretty damn high to put all your hopes in a one-on-one battle. Get ready to lose four hundred dollars. Omlet, get on the battlefield."

Logan watched as the Togetic came out of her Poké Ball. She shot a quick nervous glance at her trainer before turning her attention back to Logan. Mawile hopped off of Logan's shoulders and stood face to face with Omlet. "Did you steal this one too?" Logan taunted.

"Actually I won her in a bet as a Togepi," Sadie replied. "The trainer didn't know what hit them."

"Did you cheat them like you did me?"

"It's not cheating if you don't get caught."

"You're pathetic." Logan stumbled a bit as he felt the effects from the pill. "You deserve this. Mawile, Sucker Punch! After that don't even use an attack, just stomp the shit out of it!"

Mawile immediately socked Omlet in her face, knocking the Togetic to the ground and began viciously attacking her. Logan made sure that Rus had a good shot with the camera and Z.K. was surprised to see the sheer brutality that Logan was displaying and was completely shocked to see Mawile following through.

"Ancient Power," Sadie commanded.

"Iron Defense!" Logan ordered.

"Tiiiic!"

"Maaaawiiile!"

Omlet unleashed the ball of energy as a light blue aura surrounded Mawile. Omlet's attack managed to hit Mawile, but the protective defense proved to be too powerful for Omlet's attack to do more than just push Mawile back a couple of inches.

"Iron Head, maximum power!" Logan shouted.

"Maaaawiiile!"

Mawile's head began glowing white as she rushed at her opponent at full speed. She knocked the Togetic into a large tree causing several branches to break off and hit it on the head.

"Omlet, Double Edge!"

"Mawile, Iron Head!"

The two Pokémon raced at one another, Mawile leaving a silver streak in her wake and Omlet leaving a gold one. They collided and the impact sent both of them flying into their respective trainers. Logan felt Mawile hit him in the chest and he doubled over on the ground from the pain. Z.K. and Becca rushed over to help him up as Sadie managed to get to her feet by herself.

Mawile succeeded in standing back up, her body covered in several cuts, but Omlet was down for the count. "I-I won!" Logan yelled. He was completely ignoring the pain he was in and didn't even notice the large bruise on his shoulder. "Ha! I told you, I was better. Give me my tickets and my clothes!"

"You know," Sadie started as she handed Logan the tickets and the bag. "I was thinking we could finish up with a double battle. All or nothing and the winner will get two prizes. If I win, I get the tickets back and your four hundred dollars, but if you win, I'll give you…my pocketknife."

"You said two prizes," Logan said. "If you knew how to count, you'd realize that a knife is one thing."

"What else do you want? I can give you some eyeliner. As a matter of fact, that explains why you're such a bitch today. You're not wearing any eyeliner. Emos go crazy without their eyeliner."

"Hmm…" Logan said, ignoring Sadie's comment. "Becca, come over here for a second and stand next to this thing." Becca eyed Logan suspiciously as she walked over and stood next to Sadie. "They're about the same size, don't you think, Z.K.?"

"Definitely," Z.K. said having obviously caught on to Logan's idea. "Becca, do you like Sadie's outfit?"

"Oh…" Becca said as she noticed the look on Z.K.'s face. "That outfit is to die for. I would love to wear it."

Sadie immediately shot an evil glare at Logan who responded with his own evil grin as he put his skull necklace on. "If you win, you get the tickets back and my four hundred dollars," he said calmly. "If I win, get ready to fork over the knife and your clothes. Try going back to school in your underwear and see how many people laugh at you. Trust me, it's not fun! Of course, you could just leave now and accept the fact that I totally wrecked your ass in our battle."

"You're a cocky little shit aren't you?" Sadie said.

"You're not exactly humble yourself, troll," Logan shot back. "What's your choice?"

Sadie reached for two of her Poké Balls. "I accept. Bring it!"

"Golduck, Charizard, come out and get ready to do some major damage," Logan commanded as the two Pokémon came out and got into their fighting stances.

The white aura around Sadie's Pokémon disappeared and Golduck and Charizard found themselves staring face to face with a Sandslash and a Salamence. Charizard and Salamence glared at one another and suddenly, the two flying Pokémon took off into the sky. They began brutally attacking one another completely ignoring their respective trainers. Logan realized that Charizard had been given to him by Xavier and that Sadie had stolen her Salamence from a trainer, so neither of them had actually been raised by Logan and Sadie. He knew that they probably wouldn't listen, but Sadie didn't seem surprised at her Salamence's reaction. She simply looked on in indifference and at that moment, Logan really didn't care about the concert tickets or anything else. He hadn't met someone he disliked as much as Sadie in a long time. Not even Shane Clarke on his worst day was as bad as she was and he just wanted to humiliate her. He thought about the trainer that she had cheated out of their Togepi, but he had mixed feelings about anyone who would put their Pokémon on the line in a battle. His greatest sympathies went to the trainer who had their Salamence stolen from them by Sadie. He knew that dragon Pokémon were exceedingly rare and that they were extremely difficult to raise to their final stage.

"Hydro Pump!" he yelled at Golduck catching Sadie off guard. "And follow up with Zen Headbutt!"

"Gooooolduuuuck!"

The Pokémon shot a powerful torrent of water at Sandslash, knocking the ground Pokémon off of her feet. The moment Sandslash stood back up, it was on the receiving in of Golduck's skull sending her to the forest floor once more. Still, the ground Pokémon managed to get to its feet, if barely.

"Rapid Spin!" Sadie commanded.

"Aqua Jet!" Logan countered.

"Saaaaandslaaaash!"

"Gooolduuuuck!"

The attacks were too quick for either of the trainers to see. The collision of the two Pokémon caused a small cloud of dust to form and when it cleared, Golduck was standing victoriously over the Sandslash. Golduck turned its attention to the sky where Charizard and Salamence were going at it.

"Charizard!" Logan called out. "Fly down and pick up Golduck!"

Charizard dodged an oncoming Dragon Tail and swooped down to Golduck. The water Pokémon immediately hopped on Charizard's back and they took flight. The duo glared at the enrage Salamence who started shooting Hyper Beam after Hyper Beam at them.

"Get control of yourself, Bagel!" Sadie shouted. "I know you hate flying types, but you need to let it go!"

"Do you name all your Pokémon after breakfast foods?" Logan taunted as Bagel continued to ignore his trainer. "Golduck, use Water Pulse."

"Goooolduuuck!"

Golduck raised his hands as a large ball of air and water formed. He shot the ball at Bagel, who was too focused on Charizard. Bagel's expression shifted from chaotic to hopelessly confused as he began shooting Hyper Beams everywhere. Logan just shook his head and he knew it was time to end it. The pill he had taken had helped him completely push his sympathies for the Pokémon out of his head. The Salamence was just winning the battle for him by tiring himself out.

"Hydro Pump and Flare Blitz," Logan ordered in a strangely calm tone. "Maximum Power."

Golduck leaped off of Charizard's back and shot the torrent of water as Charizard quickly flew behind the confused Salamence and coated herself in a burning red-orange flame. She shot at Bagel the second that the Hydro Pump made contact with the dragon Pokémon causing a large explosion in the air as Golduck landed by his trainer's side and began putting out the flames on the trees in order to prevent a forest fire. Logan would make sure to thank him for that. He didn't want to be known as the guy who blew up Mt. Moon and burned down Ilex Forest. Bagel came out of the dust, spiraling down towards the forest floor. He landed in front of his trainer as Logan recalled both of his Pokémon.

"Good job guys," he said to the two Poké Balls in his hand. He turned his attention to Sadie who was just staring at him in disbelief. His first instinct was to hold out his hand, but Sadie had obviously read his thoughts. She shook her head and frowned at him.

"Lucky…" she muttered as she reached in her pocket and handed him the blade.

"Look, I don't want to take your stuff," Logan stated. "I'm not like you and I don't want to be like you."

Sadie simply grinned and refused to take the knife back. "We had a deal. I couldn't win or cheat, so that's how it is. I still can't believe I lost to an…emo. It was a fluke and next time we battle, I swear, I'm going to kick your ass." She kicked her shoes off and reached at the bottom of her tanktop. "Enjoy the show because this is the closest you'll ever get to me."

"As if I'd ever want to even see you again much less get 'close' to you."

"Whatever." She pulled her tanktop over her head and peeled her shorts off before tossing her outfit to Logan, leaving her in a pair of black and red bra and panties. "Lilly, let's get out of here. Listen, Emo Boy, next time we meet, you're done for."

"Yeah right, troll. I just showed you how we do things at Louhearst. Logan Martin, bitch…"

AN: This is currently the longest chapter that I've ever written, so hopefully this is a good New Years present for you guys. I know there's a lot going on, but lately I've been dividing chapters into four parts. There's usually a Logan plot, a Jett plot, a Rietta plot, and a fourth plot. This way I can include more characters, but I do realize that it can get confusing at times, but next chapter is all taking place at one location. Speaking of next chapter...

There's a MAJOR surprise ending next chapter that I don't think anyone will see coming, so I'm letting you guys know right away to expect something you never expected would happen.

Also, if you want to read some funny commentary jokes then check out my brother's reviews at the thread called 'Sebastian's Corner' on the forums.

Later!