Alex's Eevee and Lucas' tyrogue took to the field in slight confusion. This wasn't a classroom, nor was this one of the school made fields, so any hesitation was normal. The patch of clearing we were on, in the middle of a forest right outside the school, was a stark contrast to the controlled environments of a school battlefield.
Alexandra's eevee was a source of envy in the school. Only a few students out of every class every got one, and if I'm being honest, I was one of those kids who harbored a little resentment - especially when I looked over my shoulder and saw Pillar comfortablly sitting next to my neck. The mammalian evolution pokemon was short with sandy brown fur; the "scarf" of lighter fur around its collar bristled with spiky hair.
"Mona," the normal fox pokemon's ears perked at its name. Alex pointed towards the tyrogue, who was also looking at his trainer for commands, and said: "Growl." Arching its back, Mona let out a feral growl towards her opponent, though the severity of the growl left much to be desired.
In a flash the tyrogue was upon Eevee, a leg lifted into the air in a devastating looking roundhouse-kick.
"Dodge, Mona!" The mammalian pokemon tried to double-back, but in an instant the fighting type's palm slapped her way.
"Nice fake out Paulie, let's go for the tackle."
Mona shook out the stinging slapped that sent her some yards away from 'Paulie.' With some quick thinking, Alex commanded for a dodge and a sand attack that created a cloud of dirt that surrounded the fighting pokemon.
"Tackle Mona." The fox pokemon darted in and out of the cloud, continuously knocking itself into the side of Paulie. Each bulleted attack elicited a shriek of discomfort from Tyrogue, but the typing advantage in its favor kept it standing relatively strong.
"Go for the tackle Paulie." It rushed into the dust cloud to bomb rush its opponent, but it missed by a long shot and dived into the ground.
"Respond with your own tackle, Mona, end this before it can get up," jumping out of the cloud, eevee landed and, with a not-so-mighty- roar, slammed its body into tyrogue's.
It was clear that Paulie was down and out for the count when it didn't respond to Lucas' pleas to get up; and just like that the match was over in about two to three minutes. A little more lack luster than I had hoped for if you had asked me at the time. That and it went against the principle of the basic typing advantage. Though Tyrogue's evolutionary line didn't learn fighting type moves until they get older, it should have offered more a little more resistance than what I'd viewed - at least that's what the simulators seemed to present as fact.
However, this was the only battle that seemed to shock me; the next ones were predictable in terms of type advantages, and when there wasn't any obvious advantage, those with higher ranks and grades tended to end up on top.
Nathan ended up winning his first battle, his vulpix easily taking out a pidgey that could hardly keep up with the speedy fire type that could attack from long range. The little bird ended up singed in the grass a couple of feet away as it tried to hide in the trees of the forest that surrounded us. The old bones of the berry trees and grand oaks couldn't protect it from the onslaught that the Vulpix provided. Definitely, one of the more entertaining battles of the night. The Hoenn native smiled as his vulpix, Coal, nipped at his ear when Nathan picked him up after their victory.
Soon it was my turn. To say I was nervous was an understatement. In my head, this was incredibly different from the controlled battle situations in class where any outside factors were taken out for a practical lesson. Granted, I wasn't too far from the truth - this was a battle in which there were more confounding variables, but not to the degree I exaggerated them to be.
Looking back, it was a battle of noobs
My opponent, Andy Perkins, resident class clown, had a Mime Jr. as his partner. Mime jr are a weird breed of psychic pokemon- really a weird pokemon in general- in my opinion. They're very - hmmmm - noncombatant, if that makes sense. Not saying that they can't fight, the fuckers can be a terror on the battlefield being part psychic and what not, but rather, Mime jr.'s and their evolution, Mr Mime's, would rather not battle. Their lives are not too unlike that of humans - having families, mostly nuclear, with their own systems of economy and social ethics and classifications of descent if the groups get big enough. Instead of traditional battling, a seasoned mime can create these barriers that are basically impenetrable - barriers stronger than your average protect. The barriers seem to live on their own, defending their conjurers with a vengeance that spells disaster for the attacker. It's said that the mimes can put their mind into the invisible walls leaving their body as a hollow cavity until the threat has been neutralized. One Mr. Mime isn't too hard to handle- if you know what you're doing - but groups of them are too dangerous to attack; to assail a colony of these powerful street clowns is a death wish. Good for the world that these pokemon normally only attack when threatened and actually enjoy the company of people.
And good for me I wasn't dealing with a hardened mime pokemon.
"Both trainers may start now," the child of a referee called out nonchalantly with the flippant twist of his wrist.
"Quick attack!" I yelled excitedly.
My battle style at that age was easily explained - a tactic of quick, hard hitting attacks that could quickly incapacitated opponents. Not a bad one, but not a great one either as I would later find out.
(A tip for any uprising trainer: battling is an art and art cannot be rushed; sometimes it is the tirtouga that wins the race, and a well thought out, and sometimes drawn out, plan is what is needed in order to win a battle or even safe your life.)
Pillar rushed towards his opponent in a streak of pale yellow, kicking up dirt with every stride. When it seemed that impact was inevitable, Mime Jr. danced away with a teasing smile on its face.
"Dance Bobo dance!" Andy shouted, a smirk tugging at the side of his cheeks
And dance it did. Pillar tried his hardest to catch the thing, but Bobo twirled, whirled, and shimmied his way out of Pillar's line of attack.
"Confusion Bobo, let's go." The mimic pokemon spun once more away from Pillar's body, then extended out his tiny, mitten-esque hands, creating air vibrations in front of him, sending out a wave of psychic energy. Pillar shoot backwards with a great amount of force, rolling into the tall grass that surrounded all of us and I heard a thumping as his body slammed against a tree.
"Pillar!" I yelled, though I was less concerned about his well being than my reputation. I peered into the darkness, eyes scanning the forest that was in front of me. Among the various berry tress, Pine trees, and Oak - of the like that looked as if they'd been there since the beginning of time - was no sign of Pillar.
"It seems as if the winner of this battle is-" the referee was cut off as Pillar came streaking out, looking a little worse for wear - He had the beginning of bruises on his abdomen, but in terms of significant and lasting injuries, he was totally fine.
"Ok Pillar, let's go for another Quick attack." Minun glanced up at me with a sort of annoyance and cunning and then-
The little bitch decided to ignore me and began rubbing his paws together furiously.
"Pillar, what the fuck are you doing?" I asked in shock; I could already hear murmurs and chuckles as my pokemon refused to listen to me. "Quick attack, not- not whatever you're doing right now." Still he ignored and rubbed his paws together more furiously, hopping out of the way of subsequent confusion attacks that rippled across space. The murmurs increased to full on whispers and the laughter became raucous. A wave of subtle horror rushed through me as I thought I'd become a laughing stock, a mockery.
It was another tense moment or two before I heard it, a soft cracking sound - a buzz of the lightest kind that increased in volume as time moved on - and then I realized what my pokemon was doing - generating electricity. I mentally beat myself up for not thinking about using his abilities in the first place.
"Bobo, go with barrier to prep yourself for whatever's coming at ya." Andy kept that same stupid smile on his face he wore all the time. The kind that was completely ignorant of what was about to happen, but I didn't mind it this time.
Releasing a shriek , Pillar sparked with it electricity as he sends out a wave of thunder that phases through the barrier, rendering it useless. The thunder waves hits its target and the pink plush toy body seizes and locks up as paralysis sets in.
Thunderwave was a success - Pillar was much more combat smart than I thought him to be.
The murmurs died and the laughter dissipated - I saved a smile for myself, Pillar wasn't half bad.
"Alright, Nuzzle now Pillar." Using the same electricity from the first charge, Pillar ran up and slapped Bobo as hard as he could with his electrified paws. You can hear the cracking and the sizzling of skin when he made contact, and the satisfying whack sound filled the air as the attack finished. A small bright burst of light from the electric contact lit up the night and illuminated the field. The rat pokemon slid across the ground and laid at the feet of his trainer paralyzed in defeat.
"Come on Bobo get up." But the electricity running through his veins from the thunder wave coupled with the Nuzzle, locked the pokemon in a prison of Negative ions.
"Gerand Yates is the winner of this battle," I smiled to myself in wonderment of me winning my first pokemon battle.
It wasn't the most exciting of battles, but I felt proud to have one my first pokemon battle - especially, as I told myself at the time, with a pokemon as low tiered as Pillar. I even celebrated with the little guy, letting him jump on my neck and lick on my face as he sparked with triumph.
"Watch it now," I said with a laugh when a spark zapped my nose. When he didn't calm down, I returned him.
The next five battles proceeded without much of a hitch. Laney beat Johnny, Phillip beat Tom, etcetera, etcetera. It was some time before the final match of the preliminaries ended, and even more time was needed for a break to let the pokemon and their trainers catch their breath and get their bearings before the next round. My bladder was screaming for release, so I broke away from the group and headed deeper into the forest to piss before the next round started.
I tried not to go too far off, maybe only a good two minute walk away from the battlegrounds, anything for some needed privacy. At the time, and even now sometimes, I found the most solace in being alone - especially when I had to use the bathroom. I walked on the beaten, human developed path of route 201, overflowing with weeds and snaky vines. Right outside of Sandgem town and Lake Verity, route 201 has always been rumored to harbor something special to the pokemon world. A pile of shit if you asked at the time, but after some of things that I've seen now, I'd think twice before dispelling any myth.
I found a good, large berry tree to pee on, hidden from view by a couple of bushes. Release was so nice.
Once, I had finish peeing, a good minute or so, I walked back. When I arrived, I was shocked. There was no one there. All traces of human activity had cleared out, spare the crudely cut circle in the ground.
"Huh where is everyone?"
"Mr. Yates." My heart stopped.
"Coach Myers." I heaved out, turning around with my heart pounding in my chest.
"And what was it you were doing out here?"
"Oh nothing at all, just a light stroll. Nothing major nope -"
"Get your ass back to your dorm room, or you'll be doing more than nothing."
And that's how my Battle Royale ended.
For the next couple of days leading up to graduation, I was on edge. Teachers and administrators were cracking down on students as the fateful Day of Ceremony drew near. Someone already lost their walking privileges because of some prank in the girls locker room. I had thrown caution to the wind, and I was praying that the weather didn't send punishment back.
Oddly enough I found my solace in Pillar. He had really proven himself during his battle, granted, I needed to work on his listening skills, but he had showed great promise in terms of instinct and natural intuition. I kept him out of his pokéball more, allowing him to walk beside me, and occasionally, occasionally, let him climb up on my shoulder when I was feeling generous.
Tensions were really high whenever I had to go to my Application of Battling class. I felt Myers' eyes of criticism boring into my soul. I was sure he had already told administration of my, and the rest of my classmates, little outing, and I had no doubt that the heaviest punishments were going to be laid out. I could feel his stare as we ran drills in the gym with the shoddy wooden floors that needed a desperate new coat of wax. He'd cross his arms and I could him thinking out a punishment of a lifetime.
I just didn't know when.
So I lived the next couple of days in a sense of subtle paranoia, nerves sparking and neurons firing whenever anything seemed out of place - and that was a lot as graduation approached.
Eventually our schedules were all shortened with only classes pertaining to battling, survival, and the upkeep of our pokemon kept. It took the stress off of some things; no longer did I have to remember dates like the discovery of the super potion (1968), or when the Kanto and Hoenn Revolutionary war ended (1848), or how and why the settlement of Unova occurred (curse Sinnohan colonialism). Anything I learned now, for the next two weeks, would be privy to my eventual adventure away from class.
"Would Gerand Yates please report to the Administrator Kline's?"
'Fuck, this is it.' I thought, making my way across the campus of the boarding school to the office of our headmaster. The sky was a depressing gray, clouds coating the sky in a thick blanket. Yard workers were outside that day, making sure the upkeep of the lawns was taken care of. Two to three people were in each circular patch of grass operating lawn mowers, or pruning sheers, or weed whackers.
The main building of the campus was in the very center. It was a rather grand structure, stacked together with crimson red bricks and white marble pillars that seemed to speak volumes about the astuteness of my institute. Upon entering, one was instantly met with a sense of light. Though the building was made of brick, there were plenty of windows to let in the sun, brightening up the grand hall as it bounced off the white walls and white tiled floor. I cut across the marble floor and climbed three flights of stairs, cursing the gods who decided that all these stairs without an elevator was needed. It was only a hop, skip, and a jump to the Administrator's room.
I knocked and then let myself in when I heard a strong "enter."
I had met Admin. Kline several times. He was the head of the student affairs organization, and with his normal duties of organizing student activities and keeping the peace between us and the teachers, came a higher amount of interaction with the student body. He was a thin man, his calves about the size of my own wrists and his arms noodle-y and flimsy. He had curly brown hair and a thick, broccoli nose that held even thicker glasses. Despite his awkward, nerdy appearance, he was loved by us students for his kind demeanor and, surprisingly enough, prowess on the battle field.
"Ahh Mr. Yates," he flashed a bright, genuine smile, "just the man I was looking for." His smile put me at a bit of ease, but my heart was still beating a mile a minute.
"Hey Dr. Kline." I replied, my eyes flashing to his doctorates in education and pokemon biological studies that were neatly placed on his desk.
"Mr. Yates, I'm assuming you know why you're here? Though you do know what they say about assuming." His joke was met by forced laughter. "I probably should not joke like that in front of a student, but I think I can trust you to keep this between us," he said with a wink. "Anyway, jokes aside, I called you to my office to talk about graduation."
Oh shit, this was it, he was gonna tell me that I couldn't walk, or I couldn't even graduate. My heart sped at a million beats per second, and I felt the sweat collect in my hands and, impulsively, I said:
"Dr. Kline you have to believe me! I didn't even want to go, I was tricked, duped even! The battle royal wasn't even supposed to be last week, but I thought, you know, since I'm already there why not participate."
"Mr. Yates?"
"And for another thing, my partner pokemon is a minun so it's not like I could even do any lasting damage to anyone even if I wanted to, which, to clarify, I don't. But can we discuss that, why the fuck was I given a minun! Don't get me wrong, Pillar's grown on me, but how am I supposed to survive out in the wild with a class C, BARELY class C electric pokemon. I'm just glad I wasn't given a Pachirisu, that really would've hurt my pride. I'm in the top three of my class, I'm just a little confused."
"Gerand."
"And to top it all of, I'm about to be expelled before graduation and that-"
"Expelled?"
"-I can't handle that, I literally cannot handle not having my official trainer's license."
"Mr. Yates!" Dr. Kline finally yelled. I stopped mid-sentence, grasping for a breath. Damn, I had a fast mouth. "Mr. Yates, if you would take a second to calm down, you would understand this has nothing to do with the battle royal, which I must say I find incredibly responsible but that's beside the point." He took a breath to regain his composure and I did the same. He took a hand a rubbed his curls backwards, a smile returning on his face. " This has everything to do with graduation though. You're in the top of your class so you're to give a speech, albeit very short. No pressure at all."
"Oh," I said, sense coming back to me. "I totally forgot I had to."
"Yes, Mr. Yates, oh." Dr. Kline laughed heartily and wiped a tear from his eye, his eccentricity striking like electricity. "Now it doesn't have to be anything long. Third in the class usually gives a two to five minute speech, highlighting things they've learned during the year, things you're looking forward to etcetera, etcetera. Please, please, please, do not run over five minutes. If I had 100 dollars for every time someone went over, well then I would have 700 dollars at least."
I furrowed my brows at his attempt at a joke
"Well ok Dr. Kilne, I'll get on it immediately."
"And Gerand," he said before I could leave, "appreciate your pokemon because they can always tell when you don't." He winked at me as I let the door close behind me.
Well this was it: Graduation. The weeks leading up to them were grueling - a series of finals, aptitude tests, more finals, late night coffee runs, and late night studying. But all of it was worth it. I'd passed all my finals with Ace grades - bar my journalism elective, but when was I ever gonna need that?
I stared into the mirror, moving my black tassel from my eyes. I smiled brightly in the mirror, eyes taking in everything. Our gowns were a silver that shimmered with every movement, a nice look until we were out in the heat in the open air pokemon stadium.
That was it, my graduation - the beginning of the rest of my life as a trainer. I had no idea what would be ahead of me and I was excited for the prospects to come: oh how naive and innocent I was.
I turned around to Pillar fiddling with his own little cap that I had got him. He hated having it on his head, but I told him that if he kept it on, I'd leave him out of his pokeball more often. It was strange how much he could understand me. I guessed it was because he was a pokemon bred and raised to be able to handle and command easily, but it was still a shock when he would respond to my questions and comments like a real person. He slapped at his tassel, bouncing it from paw to paw and even I had to admit that it was pretty cute.
"Come on kiddo," I commanded with my arm lowered to his level. He climbed up my arm and found a comfortable place on my shoulder.
We were lined up according to number, so I was at the front, albeit two spots away from the very front. In front of me was Summer Rhodes, a girl who had transferred into our school two years ago. She was pleasant enough, incredibly intelligent, but her battling skills needed work. She was much to rash and took too many risks in my opinion and formulated ideas on a whim, whether she was sure they would work or not. Her pokemon was a pretty good one though, a ghastly that acted as impulsively as she did. The gas pokemon had fucked with our classes so many times she wasn't allowed to have him out in class for the last two weeks of school.
Behind me was Nathan, he had been insulting me all day while we prepared for the day. I was just happy that Pillar and Sasha, his vulpix, got along. His vulpix was a bit of a snobby brat, snubbing off any pokemon she didn't deem worthy her time. She was sassy and most of the time it caused Nathan grief which I was totally ok with.
At the very front of the line was our number one: Scott Sterling - even his name was perfect. Not only was the kid incredibly smart, highest scores out of anyone in the history of the school, but he was known as one of the most attractive guys on campus, girls and guys falling all over him like stantler shot by tranquilizers. He was weird, though, in my opinion. He was a little reclusive and never really interacted with most of the student body except a select few - one of them being Alexandra. Not to say he was quiet and shy all the time, but he did what he needed to do and that was usually the end of it.
I didn't like him.
Nor did I like that his pokemon was better than mine. He had an elektrike, electric pokemon known for their prowess and fierceness on the battle field, not to mention their evolution was known to have some of the best electric impulse control when trained correctly, scattering thunderclouds around battlefields and raining down thunderous hell from the heavens themselves.
Regardless of how I felt about him, I did have to admit that he was good - and he's still good now that I think about it.
Anyway, the ceremony had gone off without a hitch for the most part. We stood through the pledge of allegiance - pokemon league allegiance of course. We couldn't dedicate ourselves to a region yet without knowing which ones we were gonna be assigned to yet. The headmaster, Lucas Steele, an old man, hair graying a tell-tell sign of his skill and knowledge in and outside of battle, but his smile holding a softness that made him incredibly approachable, gave a speech entreating us all to do the school proud. We all knew he was a force to be reckoned with. He was a champion in the past, conquering the Sinnoh league with his Torterra that stood firmly by him.
It was finally time for the speeches. The fifth in our class led us in a prayer that I rolled my eyes through. Nathan gave a short spiel thanking the parents and faculty for supporting us and then it was my turn. I'm not gonna bore any of you with too many details - it was a speech like anyone else's, I gave the usual bullshit spiel about how all of us were going to go one to do great things, but we all know this was a farce. I grinned and bore it through the speech and rejoiced when I finally left the stage. The rest of the ceremony went off without a hitch, I walked across the stage, receiving my diploma and file stating what region I was going to be shipped off to.
At the end, before we all threw our caps in a celebratory sign of finalization, the headmaster took the stage one more time.
"Students, I have the delight to say that we have two former students here to demonstrate the skills they have picked up not only from their travels, but no doubt had picked up from the school. After the ceremony, if time and circumstance allows, you may all head to Stadium 1 to watch the battle at 3:00 pm."
It was 12:00, and there was no way I would miss what my future could be if I survived in the trainer world.
I quickly made my way to my room, stopping for pictures with my now former classmates, and changed into something more comfortable - stadium seating was so not the move.
I texted my mom that I was in my room, so the rest of the family could see me before they left. My dad, sister, and an array of aunts and uncles had paid visit to see me graduate. My sister was a trainer herself, who'd graduated eight years before me. The twenty-three year old women was powerful and I'd hoped to elevate past her skill.
Three sharp knocks on my door later, my family crowded in my small dorm room. Extended family didn't stay for too long, hugging me and kissing my cheeks and leaving so they could "miss that damned traffic influx" as my uncle said.
My sister sat on my bed, a backpack next to her that she held protectively to her side.
"Oh your father cried honey, it was just the most... pansy thing I'd seen in a while." My mother heartily laughed and slapped my back, nearly knocking me over. My mother trained fighting types and years of working out and training with them made her as strong as a machamp on most days. My dad's face reddened and he chuckled the insult off.
"Oh Linda, and you wonder why we got divorced." They had divorced a little after I was born, a mutual agreement that both agreed to and they managed to stay friends afterwards. There were just some differences you couldn't overcome.
"Anyway, Gerand, we have to be on our way now. I drove your mother here and I have a meeting in Johto in the morning with the training counsel thing to iron some things out for their next league tournament." My father was one of the head coordinators for pokemon leagues across the globe. He made sure everything ran smoothly and also made sure that the applicants were qualified to actually participate in the tournament of that caliber.
Mom and Dad said their final goodbyes and left, my mom slamming the door.
"Well, you've been awfully quiet 'Thia." My sister's blonde hair cascaded down her shoulders, framing her face like a smooth lion's mane. Her eyes were a piercing blue, adding to her personality of subdued austerity.
"You know how being around the family makes me."
"You know how being around you makes them."
"Touché." She stared blankly at me and my eyes shifted from side-to-side in discomfort.
She smirked, her ego satiated and said, "I'm not gonna stay here any longer than I have to," she sighed, moving her backpack to her lap. She unbuckled the clip and with a 'humph' took out a large glass case that held
"An egg!"
"Yep, little brother, an egg. How exciting," she flatly said. "My spiritomb managed to have children and I'ss will spare you the details on how that happened. I don't have room for that many pokemon on my team and this was a way I could rid of one of the extras."
The white egg sat on heavy padding inside of the reinforced protective case.
"Do you know what it is?"
"No, but I have my ideas, but I can't know for sure until later. The egg is white, all eggs start out white before further development and change color as the pokemon inside grows. Did you actually learn anything while you were here?" She raised a blonde eyebrow and smirked. "Take it though, it's yours, I'm tired of being here in this...place. Brings back unwanted memories."
She hated her time here, thinking it a waste of her god given talents as a trainer. Cynthia took the case and put it on my dresser.
"Call me when it hatches, I'd like to know what you ended up being cursed with." She chuckled and walked out the door, her heels clicking as she walked down the hall.
"Bitch," I mumbled under my breath.
I laid in my bed, waiting for 2:30 to roll around so I could meet my friends at the stadium. I hadn't opened my diploma yet, my mind too nervous to see what my future held.
My phone vibrated.
"About to head to the stadium see you there bitch :) - Nathan"
I sighed as I got up. It was now or never if I was gonna see where I was gonna be headed. Picking up the diploma off the dresser, I thought:
"This is it," and broke the seal and opened the cover.
Hoenn, here I come