Special Chapter 2: Imperfect
"Morning, Kit!"
"Looking nice today, Kit!"
"Love how your fur looks today, Kit!"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever"
I always hated getting showered like this everytime I entered the school. It was one of the consequences of being one of the 'cool kids', as everyone puts it, something I still didn't understand.
You see, I was more of the class nerd, always getting the best grades at the tests, but since I was 'funny' and 'not as isolated as the other nerds', I always had company with me.
"And then she- Oh, hey there, Kit!"
Michael was talking to a small group of three students, which consisted of a Murcrow, a Nickit and a black and white Zigzagoon, who were listening to the story that the Scraggy was telling, all the while Onyx (not an actual Onyx, but a Stunky) stood listening next to Michael. All of them moved away to let me pass.
"Sup, dude. Already telling everyone one of your stories?"
"Sure am!"
"Which one is it?"
"The one time when I beat the ass of some Munna that thought she was better than me. She didn't expect what was coming"
"Come on, Michael! Keep telling us!" The Nickit yelled.
"Yeah! Class is about to start and I don't want to wait until break time!" The Murcrow added.
"Alright, alright! So the thing is that after I told her to fuck off, she started attacking me! But she was so dumb that she didn't know that her attacks wouldn't do anything to me. Long story short, she lost, and she never dared to talk to me again"
A small round of applause followed. "That's cool!" The Zigzagoon exclaimed.
"Who would even dare to fight you of all Pokémon!" The Nickit added.
The bell rang, which meant that it was time to go to class. Everyone in the group grumbled.
"Guess it's time to head to that boring hole of a class" Michael commented.
"Following behind you" I sighed.
The three of us walked inside our classroom. I walked to my seat behind Michael and Onyx when I noticed an empty table next to me that I was sure it wasn't here yesterday. A few more students walked in and after some more time, Mrs. Florges did too.
"Good morning, my dear students!"
"Good morning, Mrs. Florges!" Everyone yelled.
"I got some news for you!" The teacher said, smiling. "Today, a new classmate is going to join you! She has moved from a whole different continent to our little town, so I want everyone to give a warm welcome to..." She added, pointing at the door.
A Zorua walked inside, her face denoting a nervousness and possibly a bit of fear.
Now, I'm going to make a little pause here. That Zorua wasn't the same as me.
You see, a few Pokémon in this world have what is called 'Alternative forms', which is a really weird phenomenon that not even the smartest scientists know its cause.
Being an 'Alternative form' Pokémon isn't going to cost you your whole social life, or anything like that. It's just a really weird thing that happens, and everyone has internalized already.
For example, the black and white Zigzagoon I mentioned earlier? That was an alternative form Zigzagoon, dark and normal type instead of pure normal type.
In this case, instead of one of the handsome, intelligent and funny dark type Zorua like the one that's telling you this story, the Zorua that walked through the door was instead a normal and ghost type, which is the only known Pokémon to have that type conbination.
Fascinating, isn't it?
"H-Hello. I'm Lilith" She timidly said.
"Hi, Lilith!" Everyone yelled back, which made her jump in shock.
"We've got a new introvert in class..." Ironically whispered Michael.
"That's what I like to hear! Now, Lilith, dear. Why don't you go sit in that table next to Kit, over there?" Mrs. Florges told her, pointing to the empty table next to me.
"S-Sure"
As she made her way to her new seat, all the eyes were fixed on her, which made her even more nervous.
Something told me she didn't do too well with people.
Luckily for her, I did. "Hey! I'm Kit, nice to meet you!" I greeted her as soon as she arrived.
She turned to face me with a look that clearly stated that she didn't expect to be adressed. "Hi?"
"Anyway, class has started, so I want everyone to open your textbooks at page 96, please! Lilith, you can share Kit's textbook"
I nodded and moved the now open book a bit closer to Lilith.
"Today's lesson will be about Mega Evolution, so let's start!"
"And finally, who can tell me three Pokémon that can mega evolve?"
"Lucario, Beedrill and Swampert" I replied.
"Well done! I see you know a lot about this"
*Ding Dong, Ding Dong!*
"Alright class, it's lunch break time!"
Loud cheers erupted around the class, and everyone left as quick as they could. Before I could even see her, Lilith was already gone.
"Kit! Come on, nerdy! We've got a break to have!"
"Going!"
The back playground was big enough to hold all of the children in the school, despite being a lot of them. Most of them, however, were piled next to Michael, Onyx and me, wanting to hear more amazing adventures from the Scraggy.
I already knew most of those were fake, though. After all, I could literally change my form to whatever I wanted, so I was the expert at lying in the school.
Half of the break had passed and I was beggining to grow bored of hearing the same made up stories once again. That's when I spoted someone in one of the corners of the field, sitting by herself, reading a book.
"I'll be right back"
"Sure, dude"
I walked away from the crowd, headed towards the lonely Zorua that sat on the grass. She didn't even realize I was there.
"Hey"
Lilith instantly tensed, but then relaxed a bit after she saw it was me. "H-Hey"
"Mind if I sit here?"
"What? Uh, I-I mean, sure!"
After I had sat down next to her, I took notice of what she was reading: 'Myths and Legends, Vol. 5: All about humans'.
So she likes those kind of things, huh...
"Watchu reading?"
"It's uhh, nothing really"
"Oh, come on! I just wanna know"
"..."
"It's just a book about humans. I-I'm really into legends and all of that, even if it's stupid"
"And why would that be stupid? It's a cool subject"
"Y-You really think so?"
"Of course! Plus, it's what you like, so why does it matter if it's stupid?"
"I...don't know"
Some silence followed after that, so I decided to break it as soon as possible.
"I wanna know more about you. What brings you here?"
"You want to what?"
"That I want to know more about you"
"...Really?" She looked away. "No one...ever asked me that"
"Well, there's a first time for everything, isn't there?"
Lilith seemed like she was thinking hard about what to say. "Me and my parents moved from the Mist Continent. My dad was offered to work here and my mom thought getting away from our old home was the best for me"
"And...do you mind if I ask why?"
Lilith stood silent for a long time. "The kids in the other school. They were...very mean"
"That's why you were that nervous this morning and why you are all alone here?"
She weakly nodded. I smiled and patted her back. "You have nothing to worry about, then! Those kids won't bother you anymore! And if you need something, anything at all, just tell me!"
"You...mean it?"
"Of course!"
Lilith smiled. A smile that made me feel happy. A smile that made me feel glad that I chose to come here. "Thank you"
*Ding Dong, Ding Dong!*
"Break's over..." I sighed.
"I thought you liked class? You certainly knew a lot back then"
"Yeah, I'm kind of a nerd, you see" I added, rubbing the back of my head.
"But you are with that Scraggy there. Isn't he 'cool'?"
"Yeah, I still don't really know why"
"You don't need to be with me in the breaks if you don't want to. I don't want to take you away from your friends"
"Pfft, take me away? I was the one that walked to you, remember? Don't worry about it, I'm getting tired of his stories anyway"
When we entered back inside the classroom, we were the first ones to sit down. Next came Michael and Onyx, followed by the rest of the class. The Scraggy walked to me.
"Dude, where were you?"
"Don't worry, just welcoming our new classmate. It's not like I missed anything I didn't know"
Michael looked at Lilith and then back at me. "Why you speaking with the newbie?"
"Because I want to? Not like you should care about what I do"
"Hello, my dear students!"
Michael was forced to sit down, not without first throwing an angry look at me. I winked at Lilith, and I could swear she smiled a bit.
"For the last two periods of the day, we are going to talk about...mythology! More specifically, about something you all seem to like...humans!"
"Hey, look! Didn't you like this a lot?" I asked Lilith.
"Yeah, but...I'm not good at speaking in front of people..."
"Don't worry. I'm just beside you! Just relax and answer the questions. And remember, if you need anything, just tell me. No one is going to say anything to you for answering the questions"
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure"
"..."
"Okay. I trust you, Kit"
"So let's begin with today's lesson! Firstly, who can tell me how humans are said to look?"
No one seemed to know the answer, except for one 'mon. "Come on, Lilith"
"Umm...They say that they are bipedal, and that they have furless body?" Immediately, she winced, as if she were expecting something thrown at her.
"Good! Of course, no one knows how they really look, but that's the closest description we have. I see you really know about this things?" Mrs. Florges replied.
Lilith sighed. "See? No one told you anything. You can answer without any worry. I'm not really good at mythology, so the stage is all yours!"
The ghost type gulped. "Okay. I'll try"
"Last question of the day! What are the devices human use to, as they say, enslave Pokémon, and why are they dangerous?"
"They are called Poké-Balls. They are some sort of metal spheres that capture Pokémon. They are dangerous because if you get caught inside one, you have little to no chance of escaping from it"
"Correct again! Nice job, Lilith"
*Ding Dong, Ding Dong!*
"Alright, class. This all for today! Now go home and don't forget your homework for tomorrow! Have a great evening!"
Everyone stood up from their seats and headed to the exit. I tried to find Michael and Onyx, but they apparently were in a hurry, as they didn't even wait for me.
Whatever.
"Umm...goodbye Kit!"
"Oh, wait up Lilith!"
"Hm? What do you need?"
"Mind if we walk back home together?"
"But...don't you want to walk back with your friends?"
"They left already, so that's why I'm asking you. Maybe we could talk about something? Or maybe I could give you some ideas for the math homework"
"Oh, speaking of that..." She looked away, and her cheeks flushed with embarassment. "Would you mind coming to my house and...explaining it to me? I didn't really understand"
"Then why didn't you ask the teacher?"
"I...don't know"
"Oh, I get it, don't worry. Sure, I'd love to go and explain it to you! I've got nothing else to do, and then we can do homework together!"
"So you will?" Her face seemed to lighten up a bit.
"Of course! But I have to go to my place first. You can come with me so you know where I live!"
"Yeah, sure!"
On the walk back home, we talked about Lilith's experience on the trip here, and how she had to get used to the different timezone.
I realized that she didn't look anything at all like the Zorua that I first met a few hours ago.
"Honestly, the worst part was that my sleeping schedule got completely ruined"
"Geez, that sucks. Honestly, that's the worst part of traveling to very far away"
"True"
Before we had even realized, we were already in Serene Village, and after a few more minutes, in front of my house.
"Just wait for a moment. I'll back in no time!"
"Alright!"
I entered my house, and I saw my mom washing the dishes. My dad was still at work, as he was nowhere to be seen.
"Moooom! I'm home!"
"Hello, dear! How was school? Anything we should be aware of? Tests?" The Zoroark asked.
"Not yet! But today a new girl came to school, and I'm going to help her with her homework!"
"That's great, honey! But remember not to come back too late so that you can study!"
"Yeah, mom!"
I ran to my room and grabbed a small ruler and a compass. After that, I headed outside, where Lilith was waiting. She sighed when she saw me.
"I thought you wouldn't come out again..."
"And why wouldn't I? I told you I was gonna help you"
"It's just..."
"Don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. We still don't know each other too well, so no need to worry"
"...okay then"
"Come on, where do you live?"
"Just a few houses away, next to the exit to the hill with the big tree"
True to her words, we walked through the village, greeting all the Pokémon that were around, and finally we arrived at the last house there was in the road.
Lilith knocked on the door. "Moooom! I'm home!" She yelled, almost exactly as I did, which made me chuckle a bit.
Not too long after, the door opened, revealing Lilith's mother, which unsurpisingly was an alternative form Zoroark.
How did some researchers call them? Hus- No, His...Hisuian? What does that name even mean?
"Hello, honey! How was school?"
"It was...great!"
"Oh, really? Glad to-" She then looked at me. "Who is this?"
"I'm Kit! Nice to meet you!" I told her. "I'm Lilith's...uhhh..."
"He's a friend. He's gonna help me with my math homework" Lilith finished for me.
Her mother widened her eyes hearing that, but quickly replaced it with a warm smile. "That's great! Nice to meet you, Kit! Come on in, make yourself at home!"
The two of us entered the small house and got inside Lilith's room. "I'll make you something to eat in a moment. Good luck with your homework!" Her mother told us.
"Okay, mom!"
"Thank you!"
The ghost type's room was not too different from mine. Her bed had some plushies on it, and a small desktop was to its side. A small poster about some of the Legends with something written in Unown was hung above the table. Through the window, the evening sun was shining into the room, which made it have a warm atmosphere.
"Woah! Your room looks a lot like mine! Wasn't that poster a limited edition, like with only a hundred being made? I remember you had to send some postcards from some cereal boxes in order to win"
"Really? What a coincidence, then. And yeah, that poster was hard to obtain"
"I tried sending a postcard, but I didn't win..."
"One? I sent like a million of them!"
"I see why I didn't win, then..."
She giggled. "That's dedication!"
We sat on the seats near the desk, and Lilith opened her book, while I took out my ruler and compass.
"So what exactly do you need me to explain?"
"I...don't know how to do...algebra"
"Algebra? I could swear that yesterday's lesson and the homework were about geometry..."
"I know, and I understand that very well, but...I never knew anything about algebra before I moved, and I doubt that your teacher is going to explain it again just because of me"
"Ah, I get it"
"So would you please help me? Please!" She begged.
"Woah, don't worry! Of course I will! You don't need to ask as if I was going to kill you for making me do it!"
"I-I'm sorry..."
"Nah, don't apologize. Just tell me what exactly you need me to tell you"
"I don't know how to...hold on, it'll be easier if I just show you"
She picked a pencil and started scribbling an equation: '(29-2) 3 = X(5-3)'
"I don't know how to leave the letter alone so that I can do the equation!"
"Oh, that's easy! First of all, you know the order of operations?"
She nodded. "Good. So do it until you don't know what to do next"
After some more writting, the equation was left as: 9 equals X to the power of two.
"I just don't know what to do next!"
"Well, this is very easy! You just need to leave the letter in one side of the equal sign, and the numbers in another"
"...and how do I do that? Do I just move them?"
"When you pass a number to the other side, you have to invert it's sign. For example, in the situation of X plus 5, you'd have to do X = 10 - 5"
She seemed to think for a bit, and then spoke. "So... If the equation was something like X x 2 = 8, I should put it like X = 8:2?"
"Yeah, exactly!"
"So this example I put...should be..." She wrote more on the paper.
"Square root of nine equals X?"
"That's it! Nicely done!"
"Woah, that's so easy!"
"I know, right? Anything else you need to know before we start with our actual homework?"
"What about when there is more than one letter?"
"Oof...that's tough"
"No need to explain if you don't want to..." She instantly answered.
"Don't worry. It's just it's going to be a bit harder"
"Oh! Alright!"
"Alright, listen up, pupil Lilith!"
I spent the next twenty minutes explaining all about the different methods to find out the value of the unknowns. She had a hard time understanding them at first, but after a few tries, she managed to do it amazingly well.
"Amazing! Congratulations, you already know how to do algebra! At least the basics"
She left the pencil on the table. "I...woah! I just...I can't thank you enough! I never would have done it without your help!" Lilith answered.
"That's what I'm here for!"
"Thank you so much, Kit! I...just can't thank you enough for everything you've done for me until now!"
"Come on, we've known each other for less than a day..." I added, rubbing the back of my head.
"It doesn't matter! You..." She hugged me. "You are the best! I...I'm glad I can call you my...friend!" She added, tears appearing in her eyes.
"I'm also glad I decided to talk to you today!" I replied, hugging her back.
"Guys! Food's ready!" Lilith's mother yelled, entering the room. The moment she saw the two of us in an embrace, she grew a mischievous smile. "I see you've made a really good friend, didn't you honey?"
Lilith immediately pushed me away, knocking me off the chair, her face red as a Tamato berry. "It isn't what it looks like!"
Meanwhile, I was trying to stand up, my head swirling. "Ugh..."
"Sure, honey. Come on, food is ready"
Lilith grabbed my paw and we walked out the door, her mother still with that smile. We sat down next to the table, and Lilith's mom brought us some pancakes.
"Thanks, mom!"
"Yeah, thank you, miss!"
"Oh, please! Just call me Danika, sweetie!"
She walked away and into the living room, leaving me and Lilith alone. "Sorry for knocking you off the chair..."
"Don't worry about it, really. Let's just eat!"
The pancakes were delicious. I had never tasted something like this ever before.
"You like them?" Lilith asked.
"Yeah! Dei arr delifious!" I replied with my mouth full of food.
She giggled at that. "You are funny, you know that? The recipe is from the Mist Continent"
"Well, then I'll have to move there to eat these pancakes every day!"
Once we had finished, we headed to Lilith's room again, but then, a Goodra with what looked like a big metal shell on his back walked inside the house. He had a tired look on his face, but something told me that was natural.
"Hi, dad!" Lilith greeted him.
"Hey, sweetheart! How have you been doing? And who's that little fellow next to you?" He asked, pointing at me.
"He's a friend! He helped me with some school things and we are going to do our homework now!"
"A friend?" He asked, with the same face her mother had put. "That's great! I shouldn't disturb you any longer, then! On you go!"
"Umm, actually...Kit, can we talk with you for a second? Sweetie, you don't mind, do you?" Danika interrupted.
"Huh? Guess not..." She said shrugging, not to convinced.
"You can start without me, don't worry. I'll catch up with you in a minute!" I told her.
That seemed to be enough for her, as she smiled brightly. "Okay, then! Don't take too long!" She added, walking to her room, and closing the door.
"Honey, can you come here for a sec?"
"Sure, but why?" The Goodra asked.
"It's nothing important. And, Kit. Don't worry, you haven't done anything wrong. In fact, quite the opposite"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Sit down, please"
I took the left-most seat on the sofa, and Danika and Lilith's dad sat to my right.
"Alright, so I think we should start by introducing ourselves. My name is Danika, as you already know, and this is Tom, my husband" The Zoroark said.
"Dani, honey, why are you doing this?"
"I think we should tell him why his friend is so socially awkward, don't you think?"
Both of them turned to look at me. "Kit, did Lilith tell you something about why we moved?"
"She told me that her dad was offered a place to work around here, so that's the main reason she had to move" I paused, and looked at Danika. "She also told me that you thought it was the best for her"
"And why is that?"
"She said that...the other kids at school were really mean"
"They were, that's for sure" She sighed.
"What does that mean?"
"Kit, was it?" Tom asked me. "Our dear daughter was bullied at school"
"What?!"
"That's the main reason I looked for another job. I couldn't stand seeing Lilith suffering every day without being able to do anything"
A long pause. "And why are you telling me this?" I asked.
"Because words can't express how thankful we are" Tom replied.
"Huh?"
"Without exaggerating, you are the first real friend she has ever had. You are the first Pokémon in this world her age that has helped her, or even cared about her. And because of that, we can't thank you enough" Danika explained.
"Oh, come on! It's not a big deal..." I added, rubbing the back of my head.
"It is for her, and it is for us. We'd never seen Lilith so happy with a another kid"
"And definitely has never hugged anyone except her family" Danika commented.
"She did what?" Tom questioned.
"Doesn't matter. The point is, Kit, we can't thank you enough for being her friend. She really appreciates it, I can tell"
"I just can't wrap my head around how someone could bully Lilith. She's so...innocent and pacific!"
"We don't know the answer ourselves, Kit. But we will ask you something: Please, don't stop being her friend. We don't know how she could react"
"I'd never stop being her friend, that's for sure!"
"Thank you, Kit. Now you should go back to your homework. I'm sure you can't stay the whole afternoon around here, can you?"
"Nope! Thank you for telling me this, guys!"
"You deserve to know it, after all" Danika added.
I walked away and entered Lilith's room, where she was with her pencil, writting in a sheet.
"Oh, hey Kit! What did my parents want to talk about?" She asked.
"Oh, nothing really. They just asked me some things to know me a bit better, but nothing else"
"That's weird. Well, anyway. Wanna sit here and do homework together?"
"Yeah! Let's get right to it!"
It was around six PM by the time we finished everything. I began tidying my things, all the while Lilith gave the finishing touches to her work.
"It was harder than I thought..." She commented.
"Yeah. But it was fun doing it with you!"
"R-Really?" She looked away. "I thought I was just slowing you down..."
"Nah. You did it a lot better than I thought you would!"
"R-Really?"
"Yeah!"
"Th-Thank you!"
We exited the room, and we were met with Lilith's parents sitting on the sofa, playing a game of chess.
"Oh, hey kiddos! You already done?" Tom asked.
"Yeah!" Lilith answered.
"How did it go?"
"It was fun! A pitty I gotta leave now, though" I sighed.
"Well, you could always have dinner with us if you want" Danika offered.
"Yes, yes!" Lilith exclaimed, doing a small hop around while her tail wagged. She suddenly stopped, blushing in embarassment. "If you want to, of course"
I laughed at her antics, which only made her become even redder. "It's not funny!"
Once I managed to stop with the laughing fit, I remembered I had other things to do, which saddened me.
"Sorry! I'd love to, but my mom isn't going to let me in the middle of the week..." I sadly answered.
"Aww..." Lilith's ears dropped. "B-But maybe you can come tomorrow! O-Or maybe on the weekend?" She begged, small tears in her eyes
"Lilith, I don't think you should-" Her mother began.
"Friday should be fine. I don't have anything to do, and I'm sure I can convince my parents to let me" I interrupted her.
"Kit, if you can't, that's fine" Tom replied.
"It's not a problem at all. I usually have Friday nights free, since my friends don't normally do anything too appealing to me, so, really, it's not a bother"
"Please, mom! Please, dad!"
Her parents seemed to look at each other for a moment before her mother sighed. "Fine. But if you have anything you need to do, just tell us" She then looked back at the board and moved a piece, knocking the king out. "Checkmate"
"You are too good at this, Dani, dear"
"So does that mean he can come?" Lilith asked, with the same eagerness as before.
"As long as his parents let him, he can"
"Yayyy! I can't wait!"
"Well, I think I should go now. Goodbye, guys!" I said, going towards the door.
"Goodbye, kiddo!"
"Bye, Kit!"
"See you at school tomorrow, Kit!"
When I exited the house, I couldn't feel but feel happy. Happy as I had never been in a very long time.
I don't know why, but helping Lilith today was...fulfilling, somehow. The Lilith that I helped didn't look at all like the Zorua that walked inside that classroom this morning. And to think she's like that because she got bullied... it's sad to see.
"Mom, I'm back!" I yelled, entering the house.
"Hello, dear! How did it go?"
"Perfect! Lilith is the best studying partner. She's smart, even if she doesn't show it"
"That's good, kid. Now, go study for a bit in your room. I'll give you a shout when dinner is ready"
"Actually, mom, there's something I need to ask you"
"It better not be asking to skip your learning again, because you know that's a no"
"No, it's not that. You see, Lilith's family asked me if I wanted to have dinner with them, and I told them I couldn't today because I had to study, so they asked me if I wanted to go another day. Would it be okay if I have dinner with them this Friday?"
The Zoroark pondered her answer for a minute, before going back to her book. "Your grades have improved a lot lately, so I think you deserve a night out, but you'll spend double the time reviewing the contents of your next test on Saturday, did you understand me?"
"Yes! Thank you mom!" I yelped, hugging her.
"Yes, yes. Now go to your room, my dear"
"Okay!"
I ran to my room and closed the door. The book about Pokémon biology was as unattractive as always, but I knew that there was no other choice.
Can't wait for Friday night! It's going to be the best night of them all!
Little did I know, nothing was going to go as planned.
The next morning, I woke up and had breakfast. After I brushed my teeth and said goodbye, I grabbed my things and quickly made my way to the school.
For some reason, I was more eager to go to school today.
On the entrance, there stood vice-principal Watchog, with some clipboard on his hands. "Good morning, Kit! How is one of the star students doing?"
"Pretty good, vice-principal!"
"Glad to hear that! Now go to school and learn!"
"Okay!"
Entering the classroom, I saw that I was one of the last ones to arrive. Only Michael and Onyx were missing. I made my way to my place, and sat down next to Lilith, whose nervousness seemed to falter the moment I arrived.
"Hi, Kit!"
"Hey, Lilith! Guess what? I've got permission to go to your house on Friday! Isn't that great!"
"Really? That's great! I'm so glad!"
Just then, Michael and Onyx hurriedly entered the classroom and sat down on their seats. The Scraggy turned to face me. "Dude, we were almost late because we were waiting for you for so much time! And turns out you are here! What were you thinking?"
That's when I remembered that I normally walk to school with them. "Shit! I completely forgot! Sorry"
"No problem, dude, but be more thoughtful next time" He sighed.
"Hello, my dear students!" Mrs. Florges yelled.
Morning class consisted of correcting the math homework, and some more mythology, this time about a Pokémon called Mew, in which me and Lilith were the best, respectively.
Before long, lunch break time had arrived, and everyone was walking outside. My two friends walked towards me. "Let's go. There are some 'mons waiting for us"
"You are going to tell another story?"
"As always. Why?"
"Dude, I'm starting to get bored of them. If you aren't gonna tell anything new, I just can't stay still for the whole break, listening to you"
"What? But I'm not repeating myself, am I?"
"Umm, actually, you have told your stories so many times I almost know them by heart" Onyx commented, before getting punched by Michael.
"Ughh, fine whatever you want" He said, turning around and walking away. I could swear I saw him glance at Lilith a bit angrily.
Apparently, she had noticed it too. "D-Did he just...?"
"Don't worry about it. He can be a bit of a prick when he wants to, so just ignore him. Let's go outside"
"O-Okay. If you say so"
Lilith and I walked away from the crowd that Michael had attracted, and sat down under a tree. We spent the time learning about each other better.
"So what do you like to eat?" Lilith asked me.
"Well, I'm a big fan of those juicy Tauros steaks, but I wouldn't say no to some Torchick wings"
"So you like meat, huh?"
"Oh, absolutely!"
"Honestly, I'm not a big fan of it. I'd much prefer some fresh berries on my plate, but I wouldn't say no to some Torchick wings either"
"Spicy?"
"Yes, please"
"Finally someone who has some taste!" I exclaimed, to which she giggled.
The next questions all revolved around our personal tastes in drinks, books, etc. It was a fun way to pass the time.
"Honestly, I still don't know how some people really have never heard of 'Harry Polteageist and the Philosopher Stone'. It's such an amazing book!" I told her.
"I liked 'The Order of Ho-Oh' more than any other. It was the one with the best plot, in my opinion"
"Wasn't that where Ronald Weavile's dad almost died?"
"Yeah"
"Honestly, that's not a bad book at all"
*Ding Dong, Ding Dong!*
"Welp, break's over. Time to get back to class"
"Aww...but it's so much fun being with you like this!" She whinned.
"Come on, we are classmates! We are next to each other in class! It's not like you aren't going to see me again"
A pause.
"Kit"
"What?"
"Thank you"
"Hey, you are welcome! Now we should go back before Mrs. Florges gets angry!"
The last periods consisted on a short class of philosophy, and biology, in which it was announced an exam.
In no time, the bell rang again, and everyone bolted away from the classroom. Michael once again walked to my table. "Kit, tomorrow night we are going to go have some take out from a restaurant. Wanna come?"
"Really? No disco or anything like that?"
"Nope. This week is a break week"
"That's amazing! I'd love to go!" I then looked at Lilith, who had a sad expression on her face, but tried covering it with a reassuring smile that tried to say 'go on, it's fine'.
"But I already have plans for tomorrow. Sorry"
Michael gasped, and then looked at Lilith too. "So you are leaving us for her? You are leaving your friends for someone you met yesterday? "
"Dude, she was first, you were second. It's that simple. No need to make a scene"
"Oh, sorry! I didn't know that it worked like that!" She took a few steps to Lilith's direction. "What does she have that we don't have, huh?"
"Don't touch her, Michael"
"Answer! What the hell do you have that I don't, huh?!" He yelled at Lilith. She had begun to tremble a bit.
"Get the fuck away from her, dude!" I yelled back, pushing him away.
He didn't expect that, as the Scraggy looked at me. He didn't add anything else, as he motioned Onyx to follow him out. Just before he exited the room, he turned to look at me. "You'll both remember this" And then he went away.
"Asshole" I huffed.
...
"I-I'm sorry"
"What?"
"I'm sorry!"
"Sorry for what?"
"Look at what just happened! That was your friend, wasn't he? You had a discussion with him because of me! I...you should have never even talked to me..." She cried.
"HEY! Stop with that bullshit! Nothing about this is your fault! If Michael can't cope with me hanging out with you, he'll have to look for another friend. I don't want you to blame yourself because he's fucking stupid. Got it?"
"But-"
"No buts!"
She seemed to calm down a bit, and weakly nodded. "O-Okay then"
"See? That's much better. Now let's go home. And don't worry about him. He'll just forget about it by tomorrow" I told her, exiting the door.
"I-If you say so..."
Trying to take her mind off what just happened, we resumed our conversation from before, so by the time we were at home, Lilith was giggling with my jokes. We parted ways in front of my house.
"Mom! I'm home!"
"Hi, Kit! How was school? Any tests?"
"Biology, I think next Thursday. Just that"
"You know what you have to do, then?"
"Yeah, I do. I'll get right to it"
"Have some food first. You can't learn with an empty stomach. And if you are looking for your father, he's at the backyard, cutting the grass, so go say hello to him when you are done"
"Okay, sure mom!"
I quickly ate the small amount of berries, and then walked to the backyard, where my dad was using his attacks to cut the grass.
"Hey, dad! How was work?"
"Very well, my child. How was school?"
"Good. I suppose you already heard about the new student?"
"Yes, the one whom you helped yesterday, correct?"
"Yep"
"That's good. You have to build relationships with as many Pokémon as possible. Now go study to your room. You have to keep those perfect grades of yours"
"Okay! Good luck with the grass!"
In hindsight, I was grateful I had decided to look at the biology book yesterday. The test was going to be tough, and I had to get a ten.
I have to be perfect. That's what they always say.
I spent what was left of the afternoon and a bit more time after having dinner studying, and I knew this was just the beggining. Luckily I was going to be with Lilith tomorrow afternoon.
And nothing was going to change that.
After doing my morning routine the next day, I spent some time waiting for Michael and Onyx, but they never came. I almost arrived late at school, and I found them seated there once I arrived, so I wondered if they were just taking revenge on me.
Both were whispering to each other and gave me angry looks when I passed next to them.
Ignoring that, I took my seat next to Lilith, who smiled. "Good morning, Kit!"
"Hey Lilith! How have you been doing?"
"Pretty good! I'm so excited for this evening! I can't wait!"
"Well, we still have a few hours of class ahead, so you'll have to wait"
The door opened and Mrs. Florges walked inside. "Hello, my dear students! I hope you are ready for today's lessons!"
"Yes, Mrs. Florges!"
"Good! So now let's begin with...geography!"
Today's class was ultra slow. Every Friday's classes were slow, but today's were excruciatingly so. It was as if the clock on the wall didn't tick at all.
Finally, it was time for our lunch break. Michael and Onyx hadn't stopped whispering to each other and looking back and forth all the time.
I was starting to grow worried, as the target for their glances was Lilith. Luckily, she didn't seem to notice.
"What's wrong, Kit?" She asked.
I didn't realize I had been staring at nothingness for quite a while now. "Nothing, don't worry. Let's go out"
"Sure! I actually brought something to eat today! Want an Oran berry sandwich?"
"Yeah, sure!" I exclaimed, picking the sandwich she offered me. "This is delicious!" I exclaimed, taking a bite.
"My mom made them"
"Well, she's an excellent cook! I can't wait to go to your house tonight and try her food!"
"Well, I'm sure she will appreciate your enthusiasm!"
Today's break was faster than usual, which I really appreciated. I couldn't say the same about the remaining class, though. It didn't help that the two periods were history and math.
When the bell rang, everyone ran away from the classroom, screaming loudly.
It was finally the weekend.
"Finally! I can't believe we survived!" I exclaimed.
"Yeah. Class is so boring when you aren't worried about being scared of your classmates" Lilith sighed.
"See how you had nothing to worry about? You just had to believe in yourself"
"Thank you for everything, Kit. I will never be able to repay you"
"How many times have you told me that?"
"Not enough!"
We bursted into laughter, and we didn't stop until Mrs. Florges walked towards us. "Hello, kids. Everything alright?"
"Yeah, teacher. Just enjoying ourselves" I answered.
"That's good! Lilith, would you mind if I talk with Kit alone for a moment?"
"Oh, not at all!"
"Wait for me outside the classroom. I'll be outside in a minute"
"Sure!" She didn't look nervous at all. It was a great thing to see.
Once Lilith got outside, Mrs. Florges looked at me and kneeled down. "Kit, you know why I want to talk to you?"
"Because of my grades?"
"Well, yes and no. I wanted to congratulate you on your grades lately, but that's not the main reason"
"Is it because of Lilith?"
She nodded. "It is. I'm sure you have noticed a change on her behavior, as I have. I just wanted to commend you for talking to her that day. I'm sure she needed it"
"Would you believe me if I told you that this is the second time someone someone speaks to me in private about her? Her parents also thanked me for being her friend. Her first friend"
My teacher was clearly confused after I said that. "She got bullied back where she came from, Mrs. I just can't let her go through something like that again"
Both of us stood silent for a few moments. "I see. Then there's nothing else we need to discuss. You can go now"
"Alright, Mrs."
"And promise me one thing, Kit"
"What?"
"That you will never let Lilith be alone"
"I will, Mrs. I promise"
"Great. Now enjoy your weekend, Kit!"
I began making my way to the door. I'll never let her go through something like that again.
When I exited the class, my heart stopped. Lilith was nowhere to be found.
Fuck.
I ran around the whole hallway, shouting her name over and over again, but there was no answer.
No...where could she be? I...did she just go without me? No, that can't be. Something must have-
"Gah!"
My train of thoughts was interrupted by the same Nickit from two days ago bumping into me.
"Sorry, sorry!"
"What's wrong with you, dude?" I asked him, a bit annoyed.
"Don't you know? Something's going on outside!"
"What exactly?"
"I don't know, but I think Michael has picked a fight with someone!"
He what?
I ran towards the front door of the school as fast as my legs could carry me. Outside, there was a huge crowd gathered around something.
I made my way through the huge amount of Pokémon, fearing to see the scene that was going on.
"...cool, huh?!" I heard Michael's voice shout.
My face went white the second I heard what was said next. "P-Please..." Or more importantly, who.
I quite literally tackled the remaining Pokémon out of my way, and used Agility's speed boost to knock the Scraggy away from Lilith.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't our little Romeo coming to save his precious Juliet..." Michael commented, recovering from the blow.
"What the fuck do you think you are doing, dude?!"
"I'm going to show this bitch that messed with the wrong Pokémon. Now, get out of the way before I beat your ass too"
"Are you FUCKING CRAZY?! What's wrong with you? She hasn't done anything to you!"
"Oh, so you are defending the newbie instead of defending your friends?! I see how it goes!"
"Why the hell are you doing this?"
"Because she's going to regret ever becoming your friend"
"Are you jealous? You don't need to beat her up because I've been hanging around with her instead of with you! And honestly, it's been the best decision of my life! You haven't even been real friends! You have just been letting me tag with you, and why? Because I'm smart! Because having a nerd by your side gets you free help with school shit! And I'm sick of it! If I've been hanging around with her it's your fault, not hers! So I'm going to ask you to go fuck yourself and leave her alone without violence!"
That made the Scraggy burst with laughter. "You are smarter that I thought, nerd. I wanted to make this quick, but I guess I'll have to beat you up too!" He added, cracking his knuckles.
"Why don't you come and say that to my face?"
Michael attacked first. He charged with a Low Kick that almost knocked me to the ground, had I not dodged it.
I used Agility to tackle the petrified Lilith out of the area. She landed in between a few Pokémon that were spectating, where she managed to look at me with a look that clearly said 'Don't do it'.
I couldn't even put a reassuring face before another Low Kick knocked me back. And it hurt.
I knew my strongest attacks weren't going to be effective on him, so I mustered my strength and ran towards the Scraggy preparing a Fury Swipes, which managed to hit twice before I got pushed away.
"You are stronger that I thought, nerd. But don't think this is over!"
His fist glowed with a white light, and he charged at me again. I managed to dodge his Brick Break in the last second, before I used Knock Off on him, which didn't hurt him much, but knocked him away.
At this point, I was starting to get exhausted. I had endured a Low Kick, and dodged and used two attacks, which wasn't exactly good for my stamina.
I knew that I had no chance of winning. Not with my attacks doing so little damage, but seeing Lilith's terrified expression while Onyx fought to keep her from running gave me the motivation I needed to keep up.
The moment Michael was close enough, I concentrated all of my emotions into a Night Daze, which I used to send the attacker flying before using Agility to give him a blow in his stomach.
He landed on his back while landed perfectly on the ground. Suddenly, a jolt of pain erupted inside my whole body. Using an attack I had not yet mastered and one of the most energy consuming moves at the same time after being hit by a super effective move may not have been the brightest idea.
So while Michael was standing up with just a few bruises, I was already nearing my limit, and feeling every single muscle of my body strained.
I was not going to last much longer.
"Dirty trick..." The Scraggy growled.
"You haven't seen this one, then" I replied, creating a few clones of myself around Michael.
All of them used Agility to hit the confused Scraggy while he tried to Brick Break the illusions.
The strategy was working perfectly. I managed to score a few hits on Michael, and he seemed to be growing worried, as his attacks were more random and less precise.
And just when I thought I could win this battle, my body decided it could take no more, and the illusion disappeared while I was in the middle of an attack. Michael reacted quickly, and turned around to score a perfect Brick Break on my jaw, sending me flying back onto the ground.
"Kit!" I heard Lilith yell.
I was panting. My nose had begun to bleed and I felt like if I had been ran over by a Rapidash.
But it was far from over.
"You thought you could win against me?" He shouted, walking towards me. "Against the one that has won so many battles?!"
"Your stories...are faker...than shit" I managed to say, in between breaths.
"And who the fuck do you think you are?!" He yelled, kicking my face. "You are just..." Then my stomach. "A stupid..." My face again. "NERD!" A final Low Kick to my stomach sent me flying against a wall.
I lied still on the floor, without being able to move a muscle. My face was covered in blood, and my ribcage and front right leg felt awful. I was barely holding onto consciousness.
The Scraggy then turned around towards Lilith. "You..." He began, taking a few steps towards her. She was shaking in a way that shouldn't even be possible. "You are so fucking lucky your boyfriend wore me out, or else you'd be just like him. Onyx, get this bitch out of my sight"
The exact moment she was free, she ran to were I lied, and began shaking me. "K-Kit! Please, say something!"
"..."
Once Michael had left, most of the crowd had dispersed, save for a few students who were a bit too stunned by my injuries to move.
"D-Don't stay there looking! P-Please someone, get help!" She begged, and got back to shaking me again. "Please, Kit! Say something! Whatever!"
I finally managed to allow myself a cough full of blood, which hurt a lot, confirming that at least my ribcage was broken.
"I-It hurts...s-stop" I stammered.
"Sorry! B-But you are alive! Thank Arceus!" She then began to cry, and I felt her tears fall onto my body. "W-Why? Why did you do it? You could have just left me, but you didn't! W-Why risk yourself just because of someone you met two days ago?"
Why?
"L-Lilith, you are one of the best things that happened in my life. You have been through horrible things back in the Mist Continent, and despite of that, you have still kept going. You helped me realize that a real friend doesn't have to be popular or cool, but has to care about you. Y-You are strong, Lilith. Never forget that"
I felt my vision slowly become blurry, and I feared the worst. "Can I ask you a favor?"
"O-Of course! Whatever you need!"
I felt my eyes slowly close. "Don't leave my side, I beg you"
"Kit? No! Stay with me! Please!"
I couldn't hear or feel anything else, as everything went black.
...
My eyes slowly opened and I found myself blinded by a bright light.
Where...?
Once my eyes adjusted to the light, I looked at my surroundings and found out I was in a hospital room. One of my legs and my ribcage were completely covered in bandages, as well as half of my head. I also noticed a chair on my left side, and sleeping on it, was Lilith.
Safe and sound.
My happines was immeasurable. She suddenly opened her eyes and stirred, yawning. She immediately stopped when she saw me looking at her.
"K-Kit..."
"Good morning, sleepyhead!"
Tears formed in her eyes as she jumped onto the bed and hugged me tightly. "You are alive! Oh, for Arceus' sake, you are alive!"
"Alive and kicking! Also, can you not do that? I think my ribcage is broken..."
"Sorry!" She exclaimed, immediately letting go of me. I chuckled at that.
"Sooo, what did I lose?"
"Kit, you've been in a coma for two days"
"Huh?"
"The doctors said there was a chance you wouldn't wake up, and I...I couldn't..."
"But you stood by my side, just like I asked you"
"..."
"That's enough for me. Even if I didn't wake up, just know I would have been happy. And hey! Maybe I could have become a ghost, just like you!"
"Shut up!" She yelled. "How can you be joking in a time like this?" She added, with a mixture of crying and laughing, before she hugged me again.
"I can't believe you almost died because of me"
"I didn't almost die because of you. I almost died teaching that bastard a lesson...even if it didn't end too well"
"But why? Why did you do it?"
"I don't know. I just knew it was the correct thing to do. You are my friend, you know that? Well, probably my only friend now, so of course I wasn't going to let you get beaten up!"
"Kit, I..."
Just then, the door opened suddenly and both my mom and Lilith's parents entered the room, but this time, Lilith didn't push me away. "Hey, kiddo! You are up!" I heard the Goodra exclaim, followed by hurried steps.
"You had us all worried!" Danika added.
"Kit, dear, what happened?" My mom asked.
Lilith finally let me go and I managed to get a look at them. Everyone seemed worried, but I could swear my mom's expression was forced.
"A guy was going to beat up Lilith at school. I stepped in and lost the battle, so I got beaten up instead. I don't care, though, as long as Lilith is fine"
Mom seemed to frown to the word 'lost'. "Where is dad?"
"His boss didn't allow him to come to the hospital"
"Oh"
Some silence followed. It was interrupted by an Indeedee with a clipboard entering the room. "I see you are already here. Don't worry, he's fine. He just needs a few days of rest so that his ribcage heals up. No movement, and definitely not going to school. Your teacher has already been notified" She proceeded by walking closer to the bed and motioning the adults to get away.
"Hmm, everything seems stable" She said, before using Heal Pulse on me. "Congratulations, you survived, but just barely. A few seconds more and you may have not woken up. That was a huge beatdown you took"
"It doesn't matter, as long as Lilith made it out fine" I replied.
More silence. The doctor kept using Heal Pulse, and I felt how my injuries slowly began to hurt less. In no time, I was able to move my paw, but not my body.
"That should be enough. As I said, you just need to rest now. In about a week, come back here so that I can check your progress, and I'll tell you if you can resume regular activity. In the meantime, don't move from your bed, alright? No one can teleport you, since you are dark type, so I need your mother to carry you back. Is it alright, miss?"
"Absolutely" Mom answered.
"Good. It's around noon now, and I assume you must be starving. We'll bring you some food, and if everything goes smoothly, you'll be out of here this very afternoon. Miss? I need to discuss something with you, so if you could go outside for a minute...?"
Mom nodded and turned to look at me. "We'll have a talk about this at home" She added before standing up and following the Indeedee.
I sighed the moment the door closed.
She doesn't even care that I have saved someone, does she? She just cares about the fact that I lost.
"Kit"
I looked at Danika. "Please, don't. I don't need a thank you"
"Kiddo, you took a beatdown that put you in a two day coma for our daughter. The least we can do is thank you" Tom told me.
"Seriously, don't. I don't need anymore thanks. The only thing that I care about is seeing that Lilith is perfectly fine. That's everything I need" I said, leaning back, before looking at Danika again.
"I wanted to say this during dinner, but since some unforeseen events made me not be able to attend, I'll say it now. Your cooking is amazing, Danika"
The Zoroark giggled without losing her serious expression. "Thank you!"
"You are something else, kiddo, you know that? Even in this situation you manage to not lose that sense of humor of yours" Tom added.
"I can't thank you enough for everything you've done for our little Lilith, Kit. You really are a very good Pokémon" Danika said, wiping a small tear.
"Kit"
All three of us turned to look at Lilith, who was still sitting on the bed next to me. "I...I can't..." She stuttered, before jumping on top of me and hugging me again.
Now, though, she was crying as if a dam had just broken inside her eyes. "I don't deserve someone like you! I can't even begin to think how I'll ever repay you! I...I..." She couldn't finish, as she was overpowered by her own sobs, and buried her face in my neck fur.
"You don't need to repay me. You just need to promise one thing"
"What?" She asked, looking at my eyes.
"That you will always be my side"
A few seconds of silence followed.
"Always"
END OF S.E. 2
Funny chapter about Ember's past: Done.
Funny chapter about Kit and Lilith's past: Done.
Funny chapter about Jake's past: ???
You wanna know what happens afterwards? I'll tell you: Lilith accompanies Kit to his house and they both make out on the sofa.
(Don't take that seriously)