Author notes:
1)English is my second language. Forgive me for any mistake.
2)I don't own Pokemon, obviously.
3)I only own the plot for this story and the eventual OCs
4)Pokemon's speeches are "Like this"
Jack and Mary played during the whole day with Jack's pokemon. Jack, however didn't let her get too close too Fiona because of the ponyta's inability to control the fire of her mane.
But that memorable day was over and Jack, his pokemon and John had to go back home since it was already dark. Thankfully John had called home and warned that they would be having dinner at the Orphanage, so all Jack would need to do was to go straight to the backyard for another 'camping' night.
The boy didn't mind it. In fact, he liked it. Gaze upon the night stars until finally falling asleep was a good feeling for him. His pokemon were already sound asleep, but then the boy was startled by the sound of the backyard door opening.
"Care if I join you?" he heard John saying from behind him.
The man was holding a sleeping bag. The man then said that he wanted to spend some time with Jack to get to know him a little better.
Jack was taken aback by the adult's suggestion, but he felt happy he for it. The two of them laid down next to each other while staring at the sky's stars as they talked.
"What do you think of living here so far, jack?" John asked him
The boy didn't make an eye contact and replied truthfully: "It's really nice, Mr. John. Thanks for letting my pokemon sleep here. I know many trainers keep their pokemon inside of pokeballs almost all the time, but I think that's kinda cruel. I'm sorry if they are causing you any problem."
The man chuckled and replied: "Don't worry, son. If it were a problem I would have said so. Besides I think this view of yours is quite unique. It's the first time I see someone treating pokemon so well."
The boy smiled at the compliment.
The man then continued: "I know you'll like that school. It's the finest one around here. There, you'll be able to choose the carrier you like the most. Besides, think of the new friends you might make there."
Jack was silent for a moment. Up until that moment the only real friends he ever had were his pokemon, Mary and her father. Everyone else thought he was weird. Even in a place where many people, in theory, loved pokemon he doubted he would make any new friends there. The boy then quickly changed the subject: "Does Justin go to the Pokemon Raising school Too?"
John looked at the boy and sighed: "I'm sorry, but he won't. He…is more inclined to the pokemon training part, so he goes to a school that teaches how to train pokemon for gym battles and such. My oldest son, Pete, graduated from this school and is on his trip to get his first badge. He said he wanted to go by foot in hope to catch a rare pokemon. So, it might take some time until you get to meet him."
Jack didn't reply at his father's rant. He never liked the whole concept of making pokemon fight against each other just to make the trainer look good. But, at least, he now knew that he would be among people who thought like him. At least he hoped so.
John noticed jack's sudden silence and realized that was something the boy didn't even like to think about, so he quickly changed the subject: "So, how do you intend to help that little ponyta of yours? She can't learn that from her real parents and you must know she can harm others by accident."
The boy closed his eyes and then replied again: "I'm not sure how I'll be able to teach her how to fully control her flames. I'm going to look for books about ponytas and rapidashes in order to learn as much as I can about them. I'll do everything I can to make sure she won't feel alone. I refuse to shun her away like her parents did."
The man was impressed by the boy's words. He wished some people had so much determination into accomplishing their goals.
John saw Jack yawning and then said with a smile: "How about we continue this conversation tomorrow?"
The boy agreed and after wishing each other a good night, they both fell asleep. However, Jack fell asleep before he could notice Touma moving in discomfort in his sleep.
On the next day, the pokemon woke up quite early, before Jack and his father. Touma was still feeling bad.
The abra hated it. He hated this stupid unknown ache that no doctor could figure it out what it was. He wasn't sure if he should tell his friends about it. He didn't want to worry them. He didn't remember it during so much before. He just hoped it would go away eventually.
But the nidorino saw the abra with a hand over his chest and came to ask him: "Are you feeling that pain again, Touma?"
The abra sighed and knew it was useless to hide, but he wasn't going to tell him he had felt that pain for the entire night: "Yes. But I'm sure it'll go away at some point."
Hiro frowned and said seriously: "Maybe we should ask Jack to take you to a different doctor. That doctor from the pokemon center must have missed something."
The small ampharos woke up in time to see Hiro confronting Touma. "Is Touma feeling ill again?" she asked worried.
"Yes!" Hiro answered for the abra.
Fiona just observed the conversation not really understanding what was the comotion with the psychic type pokemon.
Misaka, noticed Fiona's curious look and then told her: "Before we met you, Jack did take Touma to a doctor. And the doctor didn't find what was wrong with him."
The ponyta just stared at the Abra. She could partially understand what the electric type had just said.
The abra, however had to intervene: "Hey! Don't I get a saying here? I already suffered enough with one doctor. And you guys want me to go to another one? I would rather live with this than endure the medieval torture the put me through!"
The ponyta gasped by Touma's sudden outburst.
Misaka then said to the fire-type: "Don't believe in him. He's overreacting. It hurts just a little. Didn't the farmers back where you lived used small metal looking sticks on you?"
The ponyta then remembered she was vaccine when she was there. They did hurt a little but it wasn't all that bad.
"A LITTLE?" Touma shouted. "Why am I surrounded by masochists?" he continued melodramatically.
To everyone's surprise Fiona said her first words: "Mass..of..kiss?"
The nidorino then replied: "Great! Her first words are something naughty! Touma, watch your tongue next time!"[1]
The ponyta then looked puzzled at the nidorino, but when she saw Jack sitting on his sleeping bag staring at his pokemon she neighed happily and rushed to him to greet him.
The boy smiled and stroked the fur of her face gently. He was paying close attention to his pokemon interacting. He would give away his right arm to be able to fully understand pokemon language.
However by the look of the situation they were all talking to the abra and seemed really upset about it. The guessed correctly it must have something to do with Touma's health problem.
The boy then asked them: "Is Touma feeling sick again?"
The nidorino and the ampharos quickly nodded to prevent the abra from lying.
Jack sighed and called the abra next to him. Touma did as he was told and Jack started to check the psychic pokemon for his vital signs.
"You seem well…" the boy said sadly. It upset him to not be able to identify what was wrong with his friend. "When my classes start I'll see if any of the doctors there can take a look at you."
The abra didn't like the sound of it, but he didn't protest after taking a good look at Jack's face. The boy was really worried it might be something dangerous to the abra. 'Maybe I can endure a needle once…I hope so…' Touma thought.
John had also woken up by the pokemon conversation and just observed the situation. He saw how Jack examined the abra. 'He may have found nothing, but I think he has a bright future as a pokemon doctor if he chooses to be one.'
After that, the man told Jack that they should go inside to have breakfast. The boy nodded and told his pokemon he was going to bring their food soon. Jack got inside of the house and picked up everything he needed and fed his pokemon before he had breakfast himself.
During the rest of the weekend the boy spent the day playing with his pokemon. Even with Touma, who had got suddenly better after the breakfast. But the discomfort returned after he fell asleep.
Jack and his father, who insisted in spending this weekend nights with Jack, who looked sadly at his abra feeling puzzled and sad about his friend's sudden shifts in his health.
John spent a lot of time assuring the boy that if the doctors from the Pokemon Raising School couldn't find which kind of disease the psychic pokemon has , John would personally contact doctors form other towns and someone would definitely find out what the abra has.
That helped jack a little. He just hoped whatever his friend has, it's still treatable.
Time passed and Monday finally arrived. It was a bit difficult for Jack to get out of home to go to school. The ponyta practically begged him to not leave her. Hiro, Touma and Misaka were already used to Jack having classing during a good part of the day back in the orphanage.
They tried their best to explain Fiona how the school system worked. That did little to calm the fire type. Jack promised several times he was going to come straight home as soon as the classes finished.
It broke the boy's heart to hear the ponyta whimpering like that. He didn't need to understand her neighs to understand why Fiona was desperately trying to make the boy stay. She was afraid he would leave her.
He assured her he was never going to abandon her. He told his other pokemon to take good care of her while he was out.
Jack wished the fire type pokemon could fully comprehend what school was. But again, the ponyta is still too young and he couldn't blame her for it.
The boy was taken to school by John who wished him a good first day of school. Sadly, the man said he couldn't help Jack since he received a call earlier saying to him to go to the farm to check a few things. The boy was already glad his father had some time to help him getting to the school.
When Jack got inside at his new school he couldn't help but to feel a bit nervous. He never thought he would ever put his feet in there. He was also nervous if he would fit in in a place like that.
He walked the hallway which was full of kids and teenagers. The Pokemon Raising School offered courses that involved middle school and high school classes. John told Jack to look for the principal who would give him personally the classes he had to attend.
The principal was a tall bald man called Alexander. He told Jack that all kids up until 14 years old had mandatory classes and only after that they could choose which classes they would like to attend. They did so to be sure the kids could get at least some knowledge in different areas and, after experiencing them all, choose they one they relate the most.
Jack would have classes of English, Math, Chemistry, Physics, which were mandatory until the graduation due the importance of them, Introduction to Pokemon Anatomy, Introduction to Pokemon Breeding, Hospital Training, which was a class given in the pokemon hospital area of the school, Literature and Introduction to Pokemon Economics, which is a class where the teachers teach the children how pokemon can work in profitable ways.
When the boy got the schedule of his daily classes from the principal he heard the door opening and his jaw dropped. It was Mary and her father.
"Mary! What are you doing here?" the boy asked both happy and surprised.
The blond girl smiled and replied: "I won a scholarship here. I could have told you last time we saw each other, but I wanted to give you a surprise."
Jake then said: "Sorry about not telling you either, Jack. But I wanted tpo see your face when my daughter told you that. I was really relived when you told me you were coming to this school too."
Jake had the fears for his daughter that Jack had. He was really happy to know that his daughter would have a good friend there and the two could spend some time together during school. Which would be great for both since that would make them comfortable with the sudden change of school.
For their greater joy, they discovered they had the exact same classes during the day. 'Maybe this won't be so bad, after all'. The boy thought as he smiled as he walked to his first class alongside his friend.
End of chapter 9
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please review.
More notes:
[1]Not my joke. I've seen it somewhere but don't remember where.