Chapter 6
Eren gritted his teeth. Of all the seventeen possibilities, Derek just had to have the one type that meant trouble for Laxer. He looked across the field to see Derek looking at him with a smug expression on his face, which only made his mood go sourer.
Derek had sent out Kuma, his makuhita, which stood opposite to Laxer poised to fight. Laxer on the hand was a bundle of joy just hopping about its spot, seemingly unbothered with the disadvantageous type matchup.
"We can do this Laxer, let's start with a screech!" Eren yelled. Laxer stopped jumping and inhaled deeply, its stomach slightly inflating. Moments later it opened its mouth and a bloodcurdling scream came forth, causing everyone in the gymnasium to cover their ears. Kuma took a step back, covering the sides of its head with a grimace.
"Stand strong Kuma, use belly drum!" Derek instructed as soon as Laxer stopped screaming.
"Hita!" Kuma shouted as it repeatedly hit its stomach with its arms. Soon, a faint but smooth red aura coated Kuma's body and it once again took a fighting pose. Eren licked his lips.
'Not good now it's all powered up, but now it has half its total health. What should I do?' he thought as he skimmed through various scenarios in his mind.
"Alright Laxer let's try a rollout!"
Laxer leaned forward and somersaulted in place with a slight jump, the momentum causing it to slowly gain speed until it was a stationary blur. Eren knew Kuma was faster, after all, munchlaxes were very slow in general, but he had a hunch that Kuma wouldn't come forward to attack, not to mention rollout wasn't very effective against it in the first place.
Laxer having developed enough momentum, rushed forward to attack, rolling fiercely towards Kuma.
"Intercept it with arm thrust!" Derek called out. Kuma's hands began to glow white, and as soon as Laxer was upon it, it thrusted its arm out to meet the rollout attack. The two forces collided, kicking up a big dust cloud around the two pokemon. Eren squinted to see what had happened.
His eyes flew up, to where a body shot out of the dust cloud and hit the ground, skidding a few feet.
"You okay Laxer?!" Eren asked. The munchlax slowly got to its feet and shook its head clear of the dust. Laxer replied with a "Lax!" and turned its attention back to the slowly disappearing cloud, with Kuma standing as it had been when it attacked, its arms still out but no longer glowing.
Eren couldn't say that he hadn't expected that to happen, after the massive rise in Kuma's attack power as well as the super effective attack, he was glad to see Laxer still standing. The rollout had helped Laxer minimize the damage, but it wasn't enough. The battle seemed balanced statistically, with Kuma's attack high, but defense and health low. On the other hand Laxer had a good amount of stamina as well as better defenses. But the type disadvantage tipped the scales in Derek's favor.
There were two ways to get around this, luck or planning. Eren decided to go with luck.
"Okay Laxer, try for a metronome!" he called out, hoping that his luck would come in handy. Laxer complied by waggling its fingers back and forth, the tips starting to glow slightly. If Eren had seen a group of munchlax doing such an attack together he might have mistaken it for a satanic ritual of some sort.
Derek seemed a bit wary of Laxer and called out to Kuma, "Keep your guard up, you never know what could happen!" Kuma answered with a gruff "Hita!" and brought its arms in a guard similar to that of a boxer.
Meanwhile Laxer had completed its preparation and aimed it fingers at Kuma, as if having a gun in both of its hands. "Munchlaaax!" it yelled as the glowing intensified, Kuma's body tensing for an attack to come flying straight to it.
But it never came. Instead, Laxer's clones appeared in the form of a double team, surrounding Kuma completely. Kuma was shocked and it looked around, not sure how to proceed with the situation. Eren had hoped for a strong attacking move, but this was okay, in fact it was pretty great in itself.
"Great job Laxer! Let's follow up with another rollout!"
All the copies of Laxer became rotating blurs and rushed towards Kuma, kicking up sand all over the length of the field. Kuma looked from copy to copy, not able to distinguish the real from the copies.
"This is nothing Kuma, use close combat!" Derek called out confidently.
Eren watched in horror as the copies were decimated one by one in the blink of an eye as Kuma fiercely fought through the onslaught of rollouts with its bare fists. Despite the force of the rollout attack, the punches sent the copies flying and they disappeared, until only one munchlax was rushing towards Kuma.
"That's the real one Kuma, brace yourself!"
Kuma relaxed its body slightly and waited for Laxer to come to it. Eren pursed his lips. What else could he have up his sleeve? As Laxer approached even closer to Kuma, Derek issued another command.
"Alright use vital throw!"
"Hita!" Kuma yelled as it clamped its strong hands around Laxer, stopping the attack almost instantly. Eren and Laxer both watched with surprised expressions plastered on their faces, as Kuma roared and lifted the heavy little munchlax over its head. Laxer tried to squirm free but Kuma held on tightly. With another cry it threw Laxer to the ground harshly, slightly cracking the field around the two pokemon.
For a moment Eren wondered if Laxer was knocked out, but the munchlax slowly got to its feet, looking a little worse for the wear.
"Follow it up with an arm thrust Kuma!"
Kuma lashed out at Laxer with a glowing arm which sent it flying back, just a few feet from Eren. He wanted to go check up on Laxer but he couldn't unless Laxer was knocked out or until the battle ended. Kuma had used close combat which if Eren remembered correctly was a move it learned at a higher level. But that would mean for some reason Derek had decided not to evolve Kuma. An attack like that could mean real trouble if it was used again.
"You okay buddy? Talk to me," Eren called out. But Laxer showed no signs of movement and laid still on the ground. Eren hoped he hadn't miscalculated Kuma's belly drum powered super effective attacks, he knew Laxer had great defense, and even better stamina.
Autumns raised her hand. "Munchlax is unable to battle, the winner is"- but was interrupted as Laxer cried out. All eyes flew to the munchlax who was struggling to get up, its body bruised and covered in sand. It pumped its fist into the air and looked at Eren.
Autumns cleared her throat. "The battle continues."
"I knew you'd pull through buddy," he said with a smile. Laxer grinned back. Derek suddenly scoffed loudly.
"You should've just stayed down, this battle isn't going anywhere. You can't win this." He said. Eren just smiled at him.
"I'll be honest with you, I'm going to win this, and you can't prevent that," he stated strongly. Derek just shrugged, not convinced.
"We'll see about that."
Eren looked at Laxer again. "Trust me buddy, we got this, be ready to do that." Laxer nodded understandingly and stood with a determined look on its face, an aura of seriousness now emanating from the habitually jolly munchlax.
"Rollout again!"
"Lax!"
The munchlax started running towards Kuma, picking up speed slowly. At a point it jumped forward and somersaulted and started rolling towards Kuma, the strongest rollout so far.
Kuma steadied itself and was alert, ready to finish the battle. Derek waited for Laxer to get closer. Eren bit his lip, anticipating Derek's next move. Laxer was only a few feet away when Derek finally called out his attack.
"Use arm thrust and stop the rollout!"
Kuma obeyed by using its arm to clamp down on Laxer's side harshly. The powered up attack stopped the munchlax almost immediately.
"Finish it with close combat!"
Eren grinned, just what he had wanted, a loose guard.
"Quick use screech Laxer!" he yelled.
Laxer had already halfway prepared the attack and quickly let it loose. Another high pitched scream resonated throughout the gymnasium and once again people covered their ears tightly.
But this time Kuma's hands were occupied and it was too close to avoid the attack. As the screech hit it, Kuma stumbled back and a pained expression coated its face. Eren grinned, this was it, the winning moment.
"Let's finish this with a zen headbutt Laxer!" He yelled.
Derek watched with a astonished look on his face as Laxer's head slowly began to be enveloped in a blue light and moved forward to ram into Kuma.
"Dodge it Kuma!" Derek cried out, but it was pointless. Kuma was too close and not in a stable state to listen to trainers words.
Laxer rammed into Kuma's stomach and sent it flying past Derek and into the wall behind him. Derek looked back with his mouth hanging open slightly. A few moments passed but Kuma remained motionless.
After waiting a little more, Autumns raised her hand. "Makuhita is unable to battle, Munchlax is the winner. The victor is Eren Fenrir!"
The students applauded and there were a few whistles here and there. Eren walked over to Laxer and sat down to hug it, which was returned with even more vigour.
"Great job buddy, I knew you could do it," he said as he rubbed Laxer's head.
Laxer gave a fatigued smile and within seconds began snoring. Eren chuckled and returned Laxer back to his pokeball. He got up, only to see Derek standing right in front of him. Both of them stared at each other before Derek broke the silence.
"Why does it know a move like that? It's not a move munchlaxes learn on leveling up."
Eren was a little surprised that he asked something like that. "Laxer was a specially bred munchlax who I got as an egg on my birthday. One of his parents knew the move zen headbutt and was passed down to him. It allowed him to deal with his only weakness, so it was really amazing." He said.
"I underestimated your munchlax, it's a complete loss."
Eren shook his head. "You had me on the ropes, anything could've happened."
"It was a crappy battle for me, alright? I failed despite having an advantage, that's just crap," he growled.
"Quit being a salty bitch, just admit that I was better than you expected," Eren grinned.
Derek scowled. "In your damn dreams Fenrir, piss off." He said, as he turned around and walked back to the seating area.
Eren laughed to himself. He didn't understand this guy at all, at one time he acts like an edgy teen, the other time he seems humble and apologetic, and now even stubborn. It was pretty hilarious.
He walked back to the stands where Reyna and Brock greeted him with a smile and a clap on his back.
"That was pretty great Eren," Brock said. "I didn't know you could battle that well."
Eren grinned. "Thanks, the credit goes to Laxer though."
"Be sure to take him to the pokemon center later on," Reyna said. Eren agreed by nodding.
"Of course."
"I recorded the battle, in case you want to see it later."
"Oh thanks, are you planning to record every battle?"
Reyna twiddled her fingers. "I think I'll record all of them, but only keep the ones that really stand out."
"Sounds good to me." Eren redirected his attention to the field where Autumns was announcing the next pair. He felt a little giddy inside at winning his first battle where a lot of other students saw his skills.
Reyna moved her head slowly to the beat playing in Cream Works as she waited for Terra to grab their order. After Battle and Tactics she had split from Eren and Brock, who went for Pokemon History while she had Medicine and Health. Since their schedules were different she hadn't met them during lunchtime either.
Terra had no classes in the afternoon and had invited her to hang out in Southern Square, which she happily obliged to since she was free for the rest of the day too.
"Here's your order!" Terra said, setting down a tray. Reyna grabbed her Butterscotch Sundae while Terra took her plain cup of strawberry ice cream.
"Wow this is some good stuff," Reyna said, smacking her lips after a spoonful. "You really did your research on ice cream before coming didn't you?"
Terra grinned. "But of course. Good ice cream is a must."
"You sound like Eren when he talks about food in general."
"I have to say," Terra said, in between bites, "Eren has good taste, his Triple Chocolate Cookies and Cream Sundae plus Milkshake looked pretty damn tasty."
"That sounds like it could be dinner."
Terra laughed. "Yeah it was about three times the size of your sundae. So how was battle and tactics?"
"It was pretty good, the usual teacher was on vacation so Autumns decided to take the class. She paired up people for a single battle. It was Eren against Derek right off the bat."
"What, really?! What happened? Who won?" Terra asked, nearly choking on her ice cream.
"It was really close, but Eren won. It was pretty intense though."
Terra fell back in her chair with a sigh of relief. "I'm glad that prick didn't win, but I feel kinda bad for him, losing two battles already and even being sent to the principal's office."
Well he brought the first loss and the trip to the office on himself, so he deserved it I guess."
"Hmm," Terra trailed off with the spoon in her mouth.
The doors to the café opened and Adelaide walked in, looking as prim and proper as usual. She looked around before spotting the two girls and waving excitedly. She walked up to them and sat down, a glint around her neck catching Reyna's eye as she did.
"Hey guys!"
"Aren't you as excited as always," Terra said.
Adelaide nodded vigorously. "Today in appeal class we were told that the academy holds a contest every november, and the main attraction are the first years!"
Terra's eyes went wide. "Woah really? They didn't tell us that yet. That sounds so cool!"
"That's right! And annually the school also holds a contest where ALL the coordinators of the entire academy can participate. That means we can go up against the best of the school!"
"Wow that sounds like a blast," Reyna said, genuinely surprised that the academy would hold such a contest.
"I know right! So what about you guys, what happened with you all?" Adelaide asked, her green eyes moving between the other two girls.
"Nothing much, I had Evolution and Progression with Marc. She teaches really well, but so far it's the boring stuff that we all know already," Terra said, keeping her finished cup of ice cream back on the tray.
"Nothing much for me either, I was recording the battles that happened in class today. Oh and by the way Eren battled Derek and won," Reyna said, eyeing her half eaten sundae.
"Whaaaa I wanted to see that battle! And he won, that's great!"
"Well I recorded it anyway, want to see?"
Both Terra and Adelaide bobbed their heads up and down. Reyna fished for the case in her bag and removed the camera, turning it on and selecting the video. They all watched the battle and Reyna tried finishing her sundae.
After it was over Reyna put the camera back in her bag and the three of them got up to leave.
"I actually thought Laxer lost when he wasn't getting up, that was a little nerve wracking," Terra said.
Adelaide nodded at the statement. "Yeah exactly, and that zen headbutt was really well played, totally unexpected."
"Laxer was breeded by my parents and they gave him as an egg for Eren's birthday present. One of his parents knew that move, so it was passed down to Laxer," Reyna stated. Terra crossed her arms and nodded.
"There are so many things that can happen because of breeding, it's really interesting, right?"
"Exactly why I want to be a professional breeder. Taking care of pokemon all the time, that sounds great to me." Reyna said.
"Why didn't you choose the appeal course Reyna? You look so pretty, and I'm sure you could do well," Adelaide said with a frown on her face.
Reyna laughed nervously. "Um well, dressing up like coordinators do and then performing is really embarrassing. I don't think I could handle it."
"Aww," the other girls cooed.
"Well it can be kind of embarrassing admittedly, but it's so fun sometimes that I forget all about being embarrassed," Terra said, smiling.
"Well I love dressing up and performing on a stage where everyone can see you and your talent," Adelaide exclaimed proudly.
Reyna laughed. "We already know that you love dressing up, it's so obvious."
"Hehe." Adelaide rubbed the tip of her nose with her finger.
"That necklace looks really pretty Adelaide, where'd you get it?" Reyna asked, eyeing the gold necklace which had caught her eye earlier.
Adelaide looked down and held the locket part in her hand. It was a small, all gold locket with a single horizontal bar through the front.
"Someone who I was travelling with for a while during my gym conquest in Kalos gave this to me just before we parted."
She looked at it with a different expression, but Reyna couldn't quite recognize what it was.
"Definitely from a guy," Terra said, looking over it.
"How'd you know?"
"Well a girl wouldn't give you something like that, only a guy would. Maybe it has some sort of message inside, or like older times, a photo."
"Either you're perceptive, or you watch too many movies." Adelaide said, smiling and letting the locket fall back to its original place.
"Perceptive obviously, wouldn't you say so?" Terra replied.
"Nah I chose movies," Adelaide said, sticking her tongue out.
The three of them shared a laugh as they continued walking in the Square. There was still a lot left to see, but Reyna had other business first.
"You guys wanna come to the bookstore? I need to buy some reference books," she asked the other two.
"I'll pass. I'm going to the market to buy some snacks to keep in our room," Terra said, pointing in the direction of the island's market area.
"I think I'll tag along, maybe I'll buy some fashions mags," Adelaide said.
"Alright we'll meet again at this spot after we're done." And with that, Terra walked off.
Reyna and Adelaide slowly made their way to the bookstore, which wasn't hard to miss with the huge book sign stuck at the top of the shop.
Reyna headed for the reference book section which was in a corner of the bookstore. Her teacher for Medicine and Health, Dr. Mercy, had told her students to buy certain books to help them understand complex concepts easier.
Reyna pushed a lock of hair behind her ear and leaned in to look closer at the titles. After finding the one she wanted she grabbed it and backed up, accidently hitting someone.
She whipped around to see a girl with a jacket full of very small holes and long blond hair in a ponytail.
"I'm sorry, I didn't see you there."
The girl shook her head. "It's ok, I know."
Adelaide rounded the corner to the aisle and waved.
"Hey Reyna, did you find what you were looking for?"
She walked up to them, and looked at the other girl with a mildly surprised expression.
"Oh hey Tanya, what are you doing here?"
The girl seemed a little shy, but spoke normally to Adelaide. "I wanted a book on dragons, like a detailed guide type book."
"Oh that sounds..very much like you actually," she turned to Reyna, "This is my roommate Tanya, she's in Eren's survival class."
Reyna was amused by how contradictory the two girls' fashion statements were, they looked to be literally the complete opposite of each other.
"Oh I know you Tanya. Thanks a lot for helping Eren the other day. It's thanks to you that he's not hurt anymore than his arm, really, thanks a lot," she said with a smile.
Tanya looked surprised at being thanked so much and waved her hands in front of her. "Please it's no big deal. It's basically my fault he even got cut in the first place."
"I'd rather blame his own recklessness."
Adelaide chuckled. "You're too hard on Eren, give him a break already."
"Maybe when he actually learns from mistakes. Anyways, you must really like dragon pokemon I assume?"
Tanya nodded vigorously. "They're the best type ever! Super strong and majestic! I love them!" She cried.
Reyna smiled at her enthusiasm. "It's true that they're majestic and strong, I remember helping my parents take care of a dragonair. It was really really beautiful."
Tanya's eyes glittered at the mention of the dragon.
"Whoa you actually got to take care of one? That's so cool! I still haven't evolved my dratini so I'm really excited for when it happens!"
"I'd really love to see it one day, maybe I could tell you how far it is from evolving."
"Wow you know how to notice stuff like that? That's really cool," Tanya said in awe.
"Alright alright we can talk after we get out of this store," Adelaide said, and she ushered the other two towards the counter, where Reyna paid for her book and Adelaide paid for her mag.
The three of them walked out of the bookstore only to see two guys ganging up on some girl, several feet from where they were standing.
The two boys looked a little older, probably second year students. The girl was taller than Reyna and had dark toffee colored skin. Her dark chocolate hair was pulled back in cornrows over her skull and the rest seemed to fall in curls, Reyna catching a glimpse of the lower parts blending from blonde to icy blue at the hips.
She was wearing a midnight blue sleeveless jacket whose hood was lined with fur, a pale blue tank top and dark jeans. It was hard to tell, but her build seemed quite athletic from afar.
One of the boys looked her up and down. "What the hell happened to you? Your skin's covered in scars you ugly bitch. Why don't you just go back to where you came from, ugly duckling."
The other boy sneered. "Forget the body, the hell is that on your neck? It looks nasty. You're definitely the ugliest girl I've seen, jeez go get surgery or something.
Reyna felt her blood boil at each word that came out of their mouths. Just how pathetic were they, saying stuff like that to a girl.
Reyna began to walk forward but Tanya reached out and grabbed her wrist. Reyna gave her a hard, questioning look.
"You don't need to bother," Tanya said, letting go of her arm. "She doesn't need help, just watch."
Reyna stayed where she was and looked back. The girl hadn't spoken a word yet her face still looking down at her feet.
The boys continued jeering but she didn't pay them heed. She looked up, and Reyna saw the boys visibly flinch under her intense glare. Her passive aggressive look made the boys take a step back.
"What's that look for, are you looking down on us? Piss off!" One of the boys shouted.
But the girl did far from that. She walked closer and angrily bared her teeth, glaring with pressing intensity.
The boys really looked intimidated now, taking a few more steps back.
"You're really a wild bitch, we'll let you off the hook for now. Don't show that face of yours around anymore, no one wants to see it!"
With that they ran off leaving the girl standing alone. A few people had been looking but nobody paid much attention to it.
Reyna walked up to the girl, ignoring Tanya's quiet hiss.
"Hey, you okay? Don't pay attention to guys like that," she said, reassuring the girl. Now that she was closer, Reyna noticed what the boys had been talking about.
The girl's skin was covered in multiple scars running all around her arms. She nearly gasped when she saw the scar on the girls neck, it was huge and covered her throat. But it looked painful instead of ugly.
The girl's jaw clenched, her curved cheekbones catching the sunlight and her smooth eyebrows furrowing.
"No no, I just thought it looks really painful, it must have hurt a lot," Reyna said emphatically. "Something like a scar won't make you ugly, it's what you are on the inside that matters."
The girls dark eyes observed Reyna, taking in her each and every word. The girl gave a curt nod and turned around, walking away from her.
Reyna just watched her leave, Adelaide and Tany walked up to either of her sides.
"That was a little rude don't you think?" Adelaide asked, her eyes on the back of the girl.
Tanya shook her. "A little for sure, but that's just how Kris is. She doesn't really talk to anyone, people say it's because the scar on her throat altered her voice and she doesn't want people to hear it."
"Oh that's kind of sad, I feel bad for her," Reyna murmured.
"A little yeah. But she doesn't try to communicate by any other way either, she's just cold in general to people. Honestly I'm a little wary of her."
"Why's that?" Adelaide questioned.
"She specializes in ice types."
Reyna stifled a laugh. "You sound like a dragon type yourself."
Tanya briskly nodded. "I am one with my pokemon, and we don't like ice."
"Well then miss dragon let's get going already, we'll spend the rest of the time at the dorms," Adelaide said, and they headed back to meet Terra at their designated spot.
Eren's feet hammered against the ground as he ran around the campus roads. It was nighttime, around ten, and he had decided to go out for a run.
Barely anybody was out that this time, choosing to stay in their rooms, but Eren wanted some fresh air. Sweat trickled down his body and the cool air brushed against his face and arms, making him feel even fresher.
Music blasted his ears through his headphones, keeping his energy high. Eren always listened to music that kept him blood pumping, it made him feel energized.
Since there was no curfew time, it made running at night better than early morning, where he would be sluggish and groggy.
He slowed down and came to a stop at an empty bench. With a huff he sunk into the bench, breathing heavily. He wiped his forehead with his already drenched shirt and checked his timer. About an hour had passed since he started his run.
He let out a long breath of air and closed his eyes, just focusing on breathing. The day had gone by pretty normally, after battle class he and Brock had shifted between other classes while the girls basically had zero classes, which seemed pretty unfair to him.
Pokemon History wasn't actually as bad as he had expected, in fact it was kinda fun to know about things that happened long before, but only if they involved more pokemon than people, otherwise it really was boring.
Mythology and Legends was similar to Pokemon History, but much better. Their teacher made the class quite interesting and some stories just sounded really badass. And the library was humongous, he hadn't ever seen so many books in one place before.
The only bad thing so far was that most of the teachers had already started giving out assignments and homework, barely even a week into the year. It was really annoying to write so much stuff.
"Oh hey Latecomer, what are you doing here at this time?"
Eren turned to see Marcella Pallais standing beside the bench with two cans in her hand. She was dressed as she had been in the classroom, a white button shirt with a blue vest and a red tie.
"Hey teach, what are you doing here at this time?" He answered back.
She sat down on the other side of the bench. "I asked first."
"Fair enough. I was out for a run, decided to stop to catch my breath. The fresh air at night is the best. Now you tell me teach."
"Call me Marc, I'm only your 'teach' in the classroom, Latecomer. And I like the fresh air at night too, it feels nice to walk."
"Call me Eren, I was only a Latecomer on the first day," he answered back cheekily.
Marc laughed, and extended a can towards him. "I got an extra, but it looks like you could use one."
"Sorry I don't drink aerated drinks."
"It's cold coffee."
"Oh then don't mind if I do."
He grabbed the cold can, popped the top and took a sip. It tasted nice and cool, with just the right mix of sweet and bitter.
"That hits the spot, thanks. I owe you a drink now."
"Don't sweat it. So how's school so far?" She asked, popping her can too. Eren took another sip from his.
"Better than I expected actually. But nothing exciting happened yet, it's the normal school stuff. So far Survival class has been the best, even though there's been only one lecture. What about you, how does it feel to teach students?"
Marc laughed nervously. "I'll say the same thing, better than I expected. At first it really was nerve wracking to teach when everyone is older than me. I thought nobody would listen at all and just make fun of me, but nothing like that happened. I mean I'm sure that some people don't like me, but maybe it's a form of respect that they don't say anything."
"Sorry but I nearly fell asleep in your first class. The topic was pretty boring," Eren said, grinning.
Marc lightly snorted. "You think I didn't notice? Well I can't blame you either, we have to start with the basics. But don't worry, I'll give you piles of homework soon enough."
Eren held his hands up in cross. "Nope. Please nope. Spare our souls."
"Well I'll see about that soon. Lately the teachers have been preparing for the first years' visit to Primis Island, so they're too busy. That's literal latin for 'first'. Apparently each year it's customary for the teachers to take the students to Primis."
Eren's eyes widened. "We'll get to visit the islands already! Hell yeah! When are we going?"
"Aren't you excited. Maybe a week or two from now, depends on how they divide all the students. They can't take all of them at once. Sadly I don't know the details of what happens there, because I'm being sent as a student too."
Eren felt as if all his energy had returned completely with just the mention of the islands.
"Finally, I've been wanting to explore the islands since I heard about them. Have you been to any of them yet?"
Marc shook her head. "Not even one, I've been a little busy so I haven't had the chance."
The sound of a shrill ringtone pierced the quiet night, and March reached for her pocket. She turned to Eren after seeing the name on the screen.
"Looks like I have some reporting to do." She got up and held out her hand. "Well I'll see you again Eren, don't be late for the next class, and don't sleep either," she added at the end with a smile.
Eren reached out and shook her hand. "That was a one time thing don't worry," he said, adding a wink.
He waited as she left, before getting up and putting his headphones back on and running back in the direction of Ignis dorm. He couldn't get rid of the smile plastered on his face, the excitement was too much. A week was way too far off, he wanted to go right then and there.
The run back to the dorm didn't take too long, since he hadn't strayed too far from that area. He walked into the lobby and shivered at the sudden air conditioning.
He removed his headphones and looked around, it was empty, no sign of Jenna either. A towel momentarily covered his eyes and he turned to see Reyna standing behind him dressed in her pajamas. Since it was moderately cold, she had opted for loose sweats and a t-shirt. Her hair was tied up in a small ponytail at the back and the locks in the front framed her face.
"Thanks," Eren said, wiping his face and neck free of sweat. "Brock said he was preparing some stew, is he done?"
Reyna nodded. "Yeah we were waiting for you to come, let's go."
Together they began climbing the stairs to Eren's room.
"Please tell me you're gonna take a bath before you sleep. You reek of sweat."
"Well yeah that's 'cause sweat doesn't smell like chocolate, or vanilla."
"I wish it did."
Eren gave her a weird look. "So you could keep smelling me? I didn't know you were that much of a pervert, ew."
"What! Of course not, that's disgusting!"
"It's okay, I understand that people are different and have different tastes, don't feel embarrassed."
"Please just shut up."
Eren snickered. "Yeah of course I'll take a bath, I'm very hygienic. Care to join me under the steaming, hot water?" He whispered in her ear.
Reyna shuddered and backed off. "Ugh, hell no!"
Eren laughed. Teasing Reyna really was the best. "Well you just missed a great opportunity, but it's okay, someday you'll realize how mistaken you were to say no."
"That day will never come."
"We'll see." Eren pushed open the door after using his key, and was immediately bombarded by Aquater and Laxer. "Hey guys! You hungry?" He asked while scratching their chin and cheek respectively. Both the pokemon gave a cry of 'yes!' and ran towards the kitchen where Brock was handling a large pot and stirring its contents.
"Hi Eren! Yuck you're so sweaty!" Terra said, retracting the hand she was about slap his back with.
"So I've been told," he replied, glancing at Reyna who just glared at him. He bumped fists with Brock and exchanged a hi five with Adelaide.
"So is it ready yet Brocko?" He asked, his salivary glands hurting from the overwhelmingly succulent aroma.
"Almost, why don't you go shower while I serve it up?"
"Alright I'll be back in a minute."
He quickly rushed into the bathroom with his clothes and showered as fast as he could. He slipped a new pair of shorts and a tee and walked out with the towel hanging on his neck and his hair dried, but messy.
Brock had already served the stew and everyone had started eating. The two pokemon were given the food they liked as well, and they sat in a corner happily eating. The others sat on either of the beds so Eren grabbed his own serving and sat between the two beds.
"You'll never guess what I just found out." He said, eating a spoonful of the stew. "All the first years are going to be taken to Primis Island to explore!"
"Woah really!? Who told you?" Adelaide asked.
"I met Marc, our Evolution and Progression teacher while I was catching my breath. She told me most of the teachers were busy preparing for the trip."
"Alright! I've been waiting to explore the islands ever since we heard of them!" Terra exclaimed, and Eren nodded in agreement, pointing his spoon at her.
"I wonder what kind of pokemon live there?" Brock said.
"I wonder if we can catch those pokemon, that would be so cool," Reyna breathed.
"This is the first of many, I wanna explore every single island!" Eren yelled. Aquater and Laxer both shouted their agreement.
They all sat and ate, chattering about what could happen at the island, and what it had in store for them.
Eren stood on the docks with the gang amongst many of the other first years. A week and a half had passed since he had found out about the island trip from Marc. During the entirety of that time, he had been restless, feeling some relief when the final dates were mentioned.
The freshmen had all been divided into four groups, where one group would go to Primis on one day, the next group the next day and so on. Luckily the gang was in the same group and they were the second group.
Eren didn't know anyone from the first group , so he had no idea what was going to happen there, it was all a mystery.
"I'm so excited!" Terra squealed as she jumped around in her spot.
"So am I, this is going to be fun!" He said, hoping that it really would be.
"Alright now students quiet down!" A voice boomed. The murmuring and shouting of the students came to a halt and all eyes looked at Hawkcrest who stood in front of the crowd.
Beside him stood the tall teacher Eren had seen on the day of the exhibition battle, in the same shirt as that day too. Autumns stood a little towards the side, talking on the phone.
"The two of us, Prof. Hawkcrest and Prof. Ferro will be accompanying you to Primis Island. It's an island that many people visit. We always have a few people stationed at the base level, such as a doctor and a small clinic in general. The island is inhabited by quite a few species of pokemon and yes, you're allowed to catch them, but it's limited to one pokemon per person in order to keep it balanced."
Excited murmurs passed through the crowd before Hawkcrest addressed them again.
"You'll be grouped in squads of five, but they will be the randomized squads we have already decided, you may not choose your own or request a squad change."
Terra and Adelaide looked at each other with a frown on their faces.
"The squads will be dispatched as soon as you land on the island, and certain instructions will be given to you by the assistants we have stationed there. The general reason is to explore the island, but," Hawkcrest paused, and the students leaned in closer to hear. "But, Primis is an island of treasures and puzzles, it's very large, nearly half the size of quake island, so there's a lot to see. I say it's an island of treasures, but they're not easy to find, you'll have to work to find them."
"Holy shit we can find treasure?" Eren whispered, a smile of glee on his face. Hawcrest's words were making his adience flare, the only thing holding him back was the fact that he wasn't on the island yet.
"And there's puzzles and stuff like that too!" Terra whispered back.
Hawkcrest continued. "There's a limit of five hours and we'll be providing you with packed lunches, so that you're not in danger of hunger during your adventures!"
The students shared a laugh at his words.
"Alright now we'll start announcing the squads and we request the students to come forward when their name is announced." Prof. Ferro explained.
As the two teachers began calling out the names of students, Eren turned to the others.
"I doubt that all of us will end up in the same squad, so good luck during the exploration!"
He held out his hand, palm down. The others put their hands on top of his and they shot it up in the air with a 'Yeah!'
"If anyone's in trouble make sure to give the others a call, to see if they can help. Stay safe everyone." Brock added. Everyone nodded in agreement.
"And don't do anything unnecessarily reckless Eren," Reyna pointedly said. Eren pouted while the others expressed their approval of the statement.
"Depends on the situation really," he replied honestly, shrugging. How wrong could an exploration to an unknown island for the first time go?
And that's a wrap on the new chapter, it's a little smaller than the other chapters, but I'll make up for it. This fic had its first anniversary earlier this month *_*.
I'm not sure whether to be happy that people still follow it, or disappointed in the fact that there have been only six chapters in a span of twelve months.
But I would definitely like thank my fellow authors SomeoftheFame, Oly in Flight, The Awkward Trumpet, The Trainer Grimm and Shiny Eeveee for helping me out ever since we became friends, they were very helpful and encouraging.
I apologize for the delay in chapters once again. I just got finished with my senior year in school so I got a little more time to write, but with college entrance tests coming up I'll try best to upload.
Criticism is always welcome, I'd love to know what I'm doing wrong, in order to make the chapter even better ^_^.
QotC: What do you think will happen at the island?