Chapter 8: Pioneer
Akari was awoken by a loud banging on her door. She opened her eyes just in time to see Sprigatito jump on her stomach.
"Oof!" Akari exclaimed as the cat turned to look at her. "I really need to come up with a nickname for you."
The cat mewled and jumped off as Akari started to sit up.
"Akari!" The young woman jumped when she heard Nemona's voice.
"Coming!" Akari grabbed her Arc Phone and booted up the outfits app. She scrolled down until she found her school uniform. When she tapped the "change" button, her clothes instantly changed from her pajamas to her school uniform.
That really is convenient, Akari thought as she made her way to the door, grabbing her bag on the way.
"Morning Nemona," Akari opened the door. Sure enough, Nemona was standing there with a bright smile that threatened to blind the room.
"Morning Akari!" Nemona chirped. "I was wondering if you wanted to do a history class with me. History is soooo boring, but I'm sure it'll be a lot better if we went together."
History… Akari mulled over the question for a bit. She hadn't made any plans for any classes. She knew how to read and write and she didn't feel like she needed to take any math skills. She still had to take classes, but she didn't take a detailed look at the class catalog.
"Sure," Akari nodded and smiled. "Do I have to sign up?"
"We need to go to the front and register, but your dorm isn't that far," Nemona answered.
"Alright," Akari nodded. She then turned and tapped her leg a couple times. Sprigatito, who was pawing at Akari's pillow, jumped off the bed and ran over to the two before climbing onto Akari's shoulder. "Let's go."
"So you two want History with Ms. Raifort?" The receptionist asked.
"Yes please," Akari nodded.
"Alright, your class should be starting in about ten minutes," The receptionist looked at her screen. "You should head there now. I'll add you in."
"Thank you, miss!" Nemona said before grabbing Akari's arm. "C'mon, Akari! The history class is this way!"
"Alright, alright," Akari smiled as she let her friend drag her down the hallway. Nemona's childlike glee reminded Akari of Sabi, but Nemona was much more straightforward.
"Here we are," Nemona stopped in front of a closed door with the number 13 on the glass. Nemona opened the door and led Akari in.
"Oho, what's this?" Akari directed her attention to the teacher. Her hair was unruly and her sleeves were rolled up. Raifort had the eccentric look that Akari had seen in Laventon every time he made a breakthrough in his research. "We have some new students! Take a seat, please. The class is just about to start."
The only two seats available were at the front row in the center, so Akari and Nemona took their seats and waited for Raifort to begin the lesson.
"Now, welcome to history, where I impart knowledge into all your cute little minds," Raifort tapped her desk and screens appeared behind her on the whiteboard. "History is truly a magnificent thing. We get to learn about our ancestors and how they shaped our lives today."
"Today I have something special planned for you all today," Raiford turned around and waved her hand in front of the screen. The image that appeared rooted Akari to her seat. "Today we will be learning about Professor Laventon, the creator of the Pokedex and a pioneer in pokeball technology."
"Professor Laventon lived in Old Sinnoh around three hundred years ago…" Akari stopped listening to Raiford's lecture.
Three hundred years… The words repeated in Akari's head. Although Akari knew she was far from home, she now knew exactly when she was. If she was in three hundred years in the future, that meant Rei and Adaman and Irida and Cyllene and Mai and Ingo and—
"Akari?" Akari physically flinched when she heard Nemona's voice. She turned to see Nemona look at her with an uncharacteristically concerned expression. "Are you okay?"
"I'm…" Akari took a deep breath and paused. "I'm alright."
It was a lie, of course. The information was still sinking in. She knew she was in the future, but being taught about her friends in a history class forced Akari to realize the implications of everything.
"If you say so…" Nemona frowned and turned back to the front.
"Akari, do you have to say something about Professor Laventon?" Akari's head spun to the front to see Raiford looking straight at her.
"A-ah, yes," Akari stood up. She knew her friend. As memories of her adventures with Laventon flowed through her mind, she opened her mouth to speak. "Professor Laventon, the Pokemon professor of Hi— Old Sinnoh lived around 300 years ago. He created the first pokedex for the region that had two hundred forty-two entries in total. He was able to fill out the Pokedex with the help of the Galaxy Team's survey corps. At the time, pokeballs were still a very new thing, likely developed by Laventon himself. The idea of people and Pokemon living together was very rare at the time and…"
Akari's voice trailed off as she realized she was rambling. She looked around to see the whole class staring at her, including Nemona.
"Sorry…" Akari sat down and looked at her desk.
"I… our course on Old Sinnoh doesn't go that much into detail," Raiford said with a shocked expression on her face. "I'm going to have to confirm some of the things you've said with an expert in Sinnoh. You must be quite the historian."
"I... just happen to know a lot about the topic," Akari didn't look up from her desk. Talking about Laventon made her feel homesick. Although he was apparently a very important figure, she saw the eccentric scientist who saved her back then. She saw a friend… she saw family…
"Alright, since we're on the topic of Old Sinnoh, I prepared a fun little activity for the class today!" Raiford moved on, placing a familiar wooden box on her table. "I've prepared a few pokeball crafting sets. Each set comes with an instruction manual. You will work in pairs to make one."
"Making a pokeball is hard, so do your best," Raiford continued as she passed out the portable crafting kits. She also handed out a plank of wood and an apricorn. "You don't have to be successful, but I want to see you put some effort into making it."
"Sheesh, I remember doing this last year," Nemona grumbled as she opened the crafting kit. Akari's eyes widened. It looked exactly like the one back at home. "Making these things are no joke."
"Don't worry," Akari grabbed the apricorn and grabbed a small knife from the kit and sliced the Apricorn in half. She then cut a circle into the apricorn with the knife.
"Nemona, can you please pass the curved pick?" Akari asked.
"O-okay," Akari didn't even notice the apprehension in Nemona's voice as she handed Akari a piece of metal that curved at the end. Akari stuck the tool into the circle she made and pulled the center of the apricorn out. Akari grabbed the chisel and started to scrape out the excess until the inside of the apricorn half was hollow.
"Wow, you're really good at this," Nemona looked around. "Don't you need the instructions?"
"I used to do this all the time at home," Akari set aside the top half of her pokeball and grabbed the plank and a pencil.
At least I don't have to cut off the bark, Akari thought to herself as she traced a circle on the center of the plank. Akari grabbed her knife and cut out the circle she had traced. She then set the cylinder she cut off next to the apricot half and started to chip away at the wood.
"Alright, I'm almost done," Akari grabbed a metal band and a button from the crafting kit. She put the two halves together and placed the button in the center. She traced around the button with her pencil and used the markings to cut a place for the button. Finally, Akari used the band to connect the two halves and put the button in the hole she made.
"Whew, not my best work, but it should do the trick," Akari wiped the sweat from her brow.
"That's quite the pokeball you have there," Akari jumped when she heard Raiford's voice. Raiford walked around their desk from behind and picked up the pokeball, scrutinizing it with narrow eyes.
"There are some imperfections in the bottom and I didn't paint the wood or properly drill out the inside of the ball, but the tools for that weren't in the kit," Akari muttered softly.
"This is exquisite," Raiford said aloud. She then turned to Akari. "Making pokeballs is more of a novelty these days. Mr. Hassel has a whole class on it, but even his students can't make pokeballs this well."
"Well… I used to do a lot of this stuff back at home," Akari looked away.
"Well, you did a good job," Raiforn handed the ball back to Akari.
"Miss Raiford…" Akari looked up at the teacher. "Is it okay if I kept the crafting kit?"
"Well usually I don't let students keep these since there are sharp objects," Akari looked down. "But since you seem to know how to use it, I'll let you keep it."
"Really?" Akari looked up at the teacher with hopeful eyes.
"Really," Raiford nodded at Akari before leaving to check on the other students. Akari placed everything back in the kit before closing it. She lifted it up and hugged the small wooden box. With this, she felt like she was holding onto a little bit of the home she missed so dearly.
Penny wasn't having the best day. She got called out in class for wearing her hoodie (again) and was sent to the dean's office for dress code. She didn't go, of course. She honestly couldn't care less about that class. It was language anyway. No one cared about Salvatore's class.
As Penny walked by a door that led to one of the many outdoor fields, she started to hear music. It was a soft melody that seemed to be coming from a flute. The song made something in Penny's heart ache. The song reminded her of her friends. Of Team Star. Her home away from home. Her irritation forgotten, Penny opened the door and stepped outside.
Penny followed the sound of the music to find none other than her new friend Akari sitting on a rock that watched over Mesagoza. She was holding a small white flute and her eyes were closed as she continued to play. Penny was so captivated by the song that she barely noticed when it ended. Akari slowly opened her eyes and turned. For a brief second, the two stared at each other. Penny almost flinched when she saw the grief in the young woman's eyes.
"O-oh!" Akari jumped, as if she just noticed Penny was there. "Sorry about that. I seemed to have spaced out."
"That was really beautiful," Penny smiled genuinely. It was the first time she had done that in a while, but something about the music Akari was playing made her feel lighter, as if a weight was lifted off her shoulders.
"T-thank you," Akari looked away. "I just… something we were going over in class made me feel really homesick so I was trying to get my feelings out."
"What song did you play?" Penny tilted her head. "I don't think I've heard it before."
"It's a song that I used to play to my Pokemon to calm them down. My…" Akari trailed off. Penny didn't miss the look in her eye. She knew that look.
"Akari, are you alright?" Penny asked. She took a step forward and spread her arms in an inviting manner.
Why am I even doing this? Penny thought to herself. She wasn't good at comforting people. Hell, she didn't even like to be touched. But something about Akari… something about the way she was acting… It reminded Penny of herself.
This… this is what I would have wanted back then, Penny thought to herself. Someone to comfort her. Someone to hug. A friend.
Akari looked at Penny and silently approached her. Penny didn't say a word as she pulled her friend into a hug.
"I miss them…" Akari buried her face into Penny's shoulder. "I miss them all…"
"I understand," Penny murmured. Images of people flashed in Penny's mind. Giacomo… Mela… Atticus… Ortega… Eri… all of them. She missed them all…
"We can stay for this as long as you like," Penny said. Akari didn't say anything, but she nodded. Penny pulled a little closer when she felt Akari start to shake. And so the two stood there, but little did Akari know, Penny was also reminiscing.
I miss them too, Penny thought as she rested her cheek on Akari's shoulder. I miss them too.
Thank you for reading! I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. It's one of the first major scenes I had in mind when starting this fic and I know people were asking about history class so here you go. There are two more chapters of this school miniarc before we finally get to the treasure hunt, so I hope you're excited for that. Please do consider leaving a review! I would love to read and reply to your thoughts. Also please join my Discord! I would love to talk to you all and answer all your questions! I talk a lot about my thought process while writing, so if you're interested in that, do consider joining. The url is discord . gg (forego the spaces) followed by a slash and CpVs7R8KXz. Unfortunately you'll have to type the rest of the url in manually because I'm not allowed to post links. Thank you for reading and I'll catch you on the flipside.