denis.d2505: I am glad you find this interesting too. I think without a doubt, if we ended up in a similar situation we'd have Team Rocket. More like Team Rocket's, there would probably many copycats, that is exactly what has happened here. As for the last point, there are many secrets abound, not necessarily just Atticus's. I should not speak too much, I don't want to give out spoilers.
Everyone Else: Feel free to leave reviews, I will try to respond to them each chapter. Love you guys, and enjoy the story.
I sit in the darkened computer lab Nathaira in my lap, our faces illuminated by the one screen that is turned on. The YouTube video we were watching concludes.
"We got 20 minutes until the meeting"
"I see, thanks," I reply.
"This college president, what sort of man is he?"
"He was an ex-general, and a skilled administrator he saved this school from bankruptcy. He view the students and faculty as his "platoon." While he could afford better he stays in student housing, and eats at the school cafeteria," I explain.
"He sounds like you admire him"
"We all do, he is a great person," I reply.
"We should probably get going." She pointed at the time, it read 11:50
"Right!" I replied, realizing the urgency of the time. I exit out of the browser, and put Nathaira on my shoulder and quickly find myself rushing for the stairs and out the door of the science building.
We headed through the back ways behind the humanities building, and went in through the back door to the student center. We hightailed it up the stairs that greeted us to the third floor. The third floor was a massive great hall designed to house many students in the event of a reception or a speaker came to the campus.
The room was awash with the din of many clamoring voices. At the head of the room was an elevated temporary stage set up. We made our way through the crowd of students to a point in which we could get a good view of the stage.
"I don't like crowds, it this meeting really mandatory?"
"It is, I'm sorry, but just bear with me for now, it wont be long," I replied.
"Atticus!" I hear a familiar voice call out.
"Andrew?" I call out.
Through the crowd a pudgy guy with curly brown hair and stereotypical nerd glasses cuts through the crowd towards us. His leather jacket just barely covering Haruhi Suzumiya's face, with the lettering spelling "OBEY" underneath.
"Dude, I got to say, the girl's on this campus, 20% hotter!" said Andrew.
"Chances of scoring still at an all time low," I shrug.
"Haha, you'd think so! The perverted protagonist always score in the end, that is good news for the both of us!" replied Andrew with an evil grin.
But what about this? I ask puffing out my cheeks.
"Ever seen Accel World?" Andrew countered.
"Touche," I reply.
"Damn straight," Andrew replies with folded arms.
"And before you say, Oh well the hero has special powers! I got the best steel and electric types I could find! I'll be a tough one to beat!" He said as he continues to gloat.
"A themed Pokemon team? Like a gym leader or minor villain...Or perhaps the perverted friend character who never scores?" I reply with a evil grin. With that Andrew appeared destroyed, and all the color of his face melted away.
"N-Never s-scores!?" he whimpered as a dark cloud of dejection rained down upon his countenance.
"You mentioned good news for the both of you?"
"Huh" Andrew raised his head for a moment.
"She can write? Wow she can write?! Atticus! I knew you never stopped being a pervert! Why else would anyone get a Ralts but to evolve into a hot Gardevoir!" Andrew excitedly shouted, drawing uncomfortable amounts of attention.
"Dare I ask what my master is like Andrew?"
"You call him master? Cute! My friend! He probably payed for his college from selling panty shots in highschool," he said with a laugh.
Nathaira looked in my direction with a disappointed look on her face.
"Do you seriously believe him!" I ask incredulously.
Nathaira just looks at me wordlessly. That alone was enough to destroy me. Surely this is a joke, she is acting like she believes him to troll me. Then again, she has never met me before today she could believe anything anyone says about me.
She silently turns her red eyed away from me towards the stage. Before I could say so much as a word of protest I was interrupted by the sound of a woman's voice over a loudspeaker.
"Sorry for the long wait, I give you College President, General Kane," the speaker blared, followed by clapping.
Stepping to the stage was a short unassuming man in his sixties. The corners of his eyes bore smile wrinkles, and he had a thin grey mustache. Overall his appearance did not look like someone who was a general, but he had charisma that could hold the attention of a room without even the need to speak.
"Students of Birmingham college, I come before all of you in a time of great turmoil in both this country, and this school. The world as we knew it ended overnight. The city outside this university's gates is on fire, and some of our students have gone missing in the chaos," the president said without an ounce of panic in his voice.
"I say look to the sky!" he accentuated this statement pointing a finger upwards.
"The world may have ended, but the sun still rose this day! It may look different, we may look different, but we are alive and that means we can do something with our lives. You came to this university for this exact reason we will not close these doors. Classes resume as normal starting tomorrow," he continued. His last words causing some students to murmur.
"Of course I have not taken into account the danger, and if it were not for the actions of one brave student, I would have closed this campus if I were not first forced from the premises by Team Rocket," he added.
"This student who I will keep unnamed should be an example to the people of this nation, no, the world to take this change in situation not as a disaster, but a simple change in circumstances to be used to land back on one's feet. So I have done the same and decided to take measures to keep this campus safe from future attacks by either wild Pokemon, or organizations such as Team Rocket. Before I leave the mic to your SGA President Ms. Josephine, I would also like to ask the individual who helped defend this building to meet me at my office at 4:00 so that I may take a moment to speak with him," General Kane concluded motioning for someone offstage to take the mic.
The mic was taken up by a young woman in a white women's suit and high heels. She had long blonde hair and thick brown angry looking eyebrows that did not match her hair, somehow it disturbed the OCD person inside me. The students milled about and murmured amongst themselves and lost their focus on the stage.
"ATTENTION!" she shrieked with a click of the heel. Suddenly the attention of the students quickly moved back to the stage.
"We have not time for layabouts! Those who don't pull their weight can leave. In order to ensure the safety and prosperity of this university, steps must be taken towards it's defense. Hence I am here to announce the foundation of a military branch to the SGA. All able Pokemon battlers are welcome and encouraged to enlist. Those who are unable or unwilling to enlist stay out of our way and DON'T get under our feet. Those who do enlist will attend class like usual, but don't think for a minute that not enlisting will excuse you from attending a mandatory Pokemon battling class. All students must be able to defend themselves and this school in the event of another team rocket attack," she blared over the microphone.
"I have said what I had to say, I will not repeat myself. Internalize what I have said or get out!" she concluded before stepping off the stage.
"I heard she got into her position because the other SGA candidates went missing during the chaos of the great change," Andrew murmured in my ear.
Josephine stepped back onto the stage and picked up the microphone, "To the fat piece of shit in the back who claimed I was not duly elected, it's not like you voted in the SGA elections you troglodyte!"
"Holy crap! S-she noticed me!" whispered Andrew with a blush, not realizing that the entire room was dead silent, so everyone could hear him.
"I-idtiot! I-I didn't notice you!" she said flustered, not realizing the fact that is exactly what she did.
"Classic tsundere response, I am totes giving her the "D" before the end of this fic! She's even an "S" to match my "M"!" Andrew said giddy, still ignorant to the fact everyone can hear him.
Josephine's face turned fire engine red and had an expression of revulsion before she weakly responded, "f-f-f-f-f-FUCK Y-YOU!"
Andrew responds this time calling out, "YES PLEASE!"
"Uggg! YOU'RE IMPOSSIBLE!" she balks and leaves the stage flustered.
The crowd disperses for lunch.
"Atticus!" Xiaomei calls out and approaches us.
"W-Who's this?" Andrew asks.
"Oh just my wife," I reply nonchalant. I am suddenly struck on the head with something large and metallic with a loud clang.
"Don't joke like that!" Xiaomei responds while brandishing a massive wok.
"Where the heck did you get the wok!?" I ask incredulously.
"My back pocket," she responds innocently.
"How?!" I reply.
"Well you see-" she starts but is quickly interrupted by Andrew.
"Hello there my name is Andrew, may I ask your name? Pretty lady," he says suddenly taking on an almost bishounen appearance, pushing up his glasses by the bridge, the light reflected off them obscuring his eyes.
"X-Xiaomei..." she responds.
"Are you Atticus's friend?" she asks.
"Yes, I knew him since highschool," Andrew replies with confidence.
"Oh I see, a friend of Atticus's is a friend of mine!" she replies with a smile.
"F-friend?!" Andrew replies hung up by the word, his confidence evaporating into thin air.
"Let's get some food, I am starving! D:"
"Yah, I'm with her," I reply.
The four of us hit the elevator and head to the cafeteria and get some food and sit down at a table.
"And I shit you not he comes out he comes out of the women's locker room with a slap mark on one cheek, and lipstick kiss mark on the other and the camera in hand!" finished Andrew.
"Interesting, so that's how you two met..."
I have sunk into a deeper and deeper state of angst, shame, and anger as Andrew regales my female friends with embarrassing stories from when we were in highschool.
"By the way Xiaomei, something has been bothering me," Andrew says.
"Hmm? What is it?" she asks.
"What's the cup size on those? I was guessing around A or B, but I don't have the specific measurement so I wouldn't know," he asks pointing at Xiaomei's breasts.
"Wh-whaat?" she stammered.
I see her pull out the wok from behind her back ready to strike. I grab her hand before she could strike.
"No, he's an "M" your painful rebuke would only bring him pleasure," I reply.
"Andrew! I challenge you to a Pokemon battle!" I declare with a dramatic point.
"Wh-what?! Why? I thought we were friends!" Andrew responds incredulous.
"You have crossed a line! I must defend my girlfriend's honor!" I reply emboldened by the chivalrous moral high ground.
I could feel Xiaomei mentally hitting me with a wok with that statement, but restraining the urge to do so physically.
"Fine! Let's take this outside!" responds Andrew.
We head out to an open grassy area near the school's bell tower.
"Are you ready?" Andrew asks.
"Yes, but where is your Pokemon?" I ask.
"Oh that? Hahaha," Andrew gives a sharp whistle and the earth begins to shake.
Emerging from the dirt comes a massive Onix of an odd brownish hue.
"Ready to get your ass beat by my Shiny Pokemon?" Andrew asks.
"Nathaira you sure you can do this?" I ask her, worried to send my one foot tall Pokemon vs the titanic 30 foot something beast.
She wordlessly hands me my phone and steps forward.
"Onix! Use rock throw!" Andrew shouted.
The massive Onix launched large rocks approximately the size of my head at Nathaira. She managed to dodge, but the shrapnel of pebbles, dirt, and grass knocked her down. She looked visibly in pain, my heart sank, she may not be able to stand up against the Onix.
A few stray bits of grass slowly flitted towards the ground in front of Nathaira's face. She suddenly had this look understanding, followed by a smile.
"Nathaira use-" I was interrupted by a sudden gust of wind. Leaves from a nearby tree rush past my head. They had a strange glow to them. Nathaira directed them at the Onix. The leaves cut into it's rocky form, causing it to cry out in pain.
"Onix, use rage!" Andrew shouts.
The Onix rushes forward with anger in it's eyes, but is suddenly stopped by Nathaira using disarming cry. It became rooted in place with guilt, Nathaira responds with another torrent of magic leaves, this time much bigger than before. The Pokemon finally succumbed to the leaves and fainted.
"Do you have any other Pokemon that can battle?" I ask.
"No I left them at my dorm," Andrew replied.
"Then go apologize to Xiaomei!" I respond.
"You were the chosen one Atticus! It was said you would destroy the normalfags not join them! Bring balance to the Virginity, not leave it in darkness!" Andrew shouted melodramatically.
"Apologize to Xiaomei!" I reiterate more agitated than before.
"You were my brother! I loved you!" Andrew replied with Oscar winning tears in his eyes.
"APOLOGIZE TO XIAOMEI!" I shout.
"Fine..." he said with resignation.
"sr...y" he grumbled
"What was that?" I reply.
"SORRY!" he says.
"For what?" I ask.
"Asking Xiaomei her cup size!" he said, just as a couple girls walk past to hear and both give Andrew a WTF expression.
"And?" I continue.
"Being a troglodyte pervert in public," he replies with a sigh.
"Good, I hope you learned your lesson," I say with hands on my hips.
"NEVAHHHH!" He shouts defiantly and rides away on his Onix.
"Um...what?" asks Xiaomei.
"Shh don't question it, he must go his own path" She saluted Andrew as he rode off.
"...sure...," said Xiaomei.
"That was some excellent battling," a familiar female voice called out from behind us.
The three of us turn around. It's Josephine.
"I hope you don't mind I took the liberty to record that battle. The General has got to see it. I won't waste my time trying to talk you into joining us right now, but just know, you will probably be hearing from me again," she said.
Josephine gives me and Nathaira a once over before smiling.
"I'll see you later today, I have business elsewhere. See you in a few hours!" she said before turning to leave.
(TO BE CONTINUED)