"Six: I Guess That Makes It Alright
The battle was over almost as soon as it began. Elaina had gotten Sprigatito to take down those Geodude with one attack each. The girl behind her looked surprised, but as Elaina was given a Star Badge and turned to introduce herself, she noticed her potential new friend was already several paces away. Elaina broke into a light jog to catch up with her.
"Hey, I'm Elaina." She said cheerfully. The girl stood stark still as she looked Elaina up and down. She started fiddling with the strings on her hoodie, and Elaina almost resigned herself to never learning the girl's name when the girl squeaked out a quiet "I'm Penny."
"Well, Penny. You seem rad, at least based on that hair. What dorm hall are you in?" The two had started up the Great Staircase together, and Elaina got a better look at Penny. She was tiny, quiet, and absolutely adorable.
Mental note, I have a thing for dyed hair...
The red and blue adorning Penny's head had added to her charm.
"I'm in Dojo Hall, over by the library." Penny said as the two kept walking. Elaina made a mental note to find both of those places as she moved to turn right and head back to Dragontongue.
Now or never, I guess.
"Penny, you're cute. Can I get your number?" Rotom hopped out of Elaina's pocket and buzzed happily. The deepest of blushes formed on Penny's face as she typed her number into Elaina's phone. Elaina sent the girl a text and Penny saved Elaina's number in her phone. "Don't be a stranger, Penny." Elaina said as she placed a light kiss onto Penny's cheek and made her way back to Dragontongue Hall, a huge grin on her face.
The rest of the day was less eventful. After everyone had moved in there were floor meetings, meet and greets, Faculty meet and greets. Saturday evening Nemona came out of their shared bathroom and announced "There's a party tonight off campus. You coming? Dress code is anything or nothing, just no school uniforms." Elaina looked up from the video she was watching and nodded her assent. She opened her wardrobe and found one of the four outfits she brought other than the uniform and started to undo her shirt. "Whoa, ok, loud and clear. Pop through the bathroom when you're ready to go and we'll grab the goon squad and head out."
Elaina undid another button as Nemona ducked into the bathroom. Eventually she traded her school button down and shorts for a short skirt, a black torn up tee, and her dad's old leather jacket. After some quick makeup she headed through the bathroom to meet Nemona, who had changed into a red cocktail dress. e
It's a shame that girl only likes men…
Nemona's roommate was apparently somewhere else, but with a quick text the two were off to meet her at the back door of the building. As the two made their descent down the stairs to the small fire exit, Elaina grew excited. She hadn't been to a rager since that time in Lillycove after that convention she'd been to a few years back, and this time her mother wasn't there to get pissed. Nemona gave the girl waiting for them at the door a hug and turned to Elaina. "This is my roommate, Allie. she's one of the goon squad's finest." Allie gave a curt hello to Elaina before another group of girls came down the stairs, also out of uniform. Nemona high-fived the lead girl and shouted, "Fuck yeah, Goon Squad!"
The other girl smiled and responded with a loud "Goon squad poon squad." She turned to see Elaina and smiled. "Nemona, you found the leather baby the group's been missing. I'm Trish, goon squad member number four. Who are you?"
"Elaina Plowman, Nemona's suitemate, Sprigatito's trainer, and available." She smiled and gave a sultry wink. Trish blushed Pomeg Berry red as Nemona shuffled the nine of them out of the fire exit and off the side of campus. "So, you guys, how do we get out of here without the Great Staircase?" Elaina had her reservations about the ability to get off school grounds without going down the stairs.
"Easy, we're using the maintenance tunnel. They never lock tunnel B." Nemona and the goon squad led the way through the alleys behind the buildings before heading around a bend and stopping dead in their tracks. "Aww, fuck." As Elaina rounded the corner, she saw an older man standing in front of the door to the tunnel. "Mr. Vaughn, hey…" Nemona muttered sheepishly.
"Y'all going out partying?" Mr. Vaughn asked. Nemona stammered for a minute before uttering a resigned, "Yeah." Mr. Vaughn nodded. "Don't get hurt, don't get killed, watch your drinks, and don't make the news. I was never here." He turned and walked away from the tunnel, leaving the goon squad standing there, stunned. Nemona shook her head. "I'm in his class on Monday."
"He was never here, remember. Let's get a move on." Elaina pushed Nemona forward. She regained her composure and led the way down the tunnel and into Mesagoza. "Alright, someone get out your phone. We're going to Ampharos Tower. Someone type it in, or we'll be guided by girl GPS." One of the goon squad members that Elaina didn't know pulled her phone out and her Rotom led the way.
The walk to the tower was quick, though after the tunnel and the walk Elaina was glad her boots went with her outfit because heels would have been hell. The group all headed inside and caught the ride to the eighth floor, where the party was in full swing. The suite had lights, music, a robust mini bar, and plenty of people having a good time. As Elaina walked in, Trish shouted from behind her "The party don't start 'til I walk in!" The DJ turned and spotted the girls before turning back to his laptop. He hit a button, and the music faded out. After a few seconds, a high-octane melody started thumping through the speakers. "Fuck yes! This is my jam!" Nemona pushed her way onto the dance floor. Elaina turned to Trish.
"Are we sure she's not queer?" Trish looked to Nemona, then back to Elaina. "Pretty darn, given that I was her bicurious crush." Elaina nodded at Trish's statement, then turned to hit the mini bar. As she approached and took stock of the bottles her face fell. The guy pouring a drink noticed her face and turned to her. "Nothing catching your eye, mamacita?" Elaina shook her head. "I'd drop two hundred for a shot of Alolan black rum though." The guy looked through the bar but shook his head. "I have Hisuian style vodka." Elaina nodded. "That please, in Sprite." He turned and grabbed the bottle. "I gotchu." He poured her drink, and she made her way to the edge of the crowd. A guy had joined Nemona on the dance floor, and now the two were in a very sultry dance with one another, him bending Nemona backward and kissing her. The crowd cheered as the two stood back up. Nemona made her way back to Elaina. "Well, that was fun. What you got?" she stumbled.
"Nemona are you good?" Elaina steadied her friend for a second and looked her over. Something wasn't right, but Elaina couldn't tell what. "Sit down and drink some water. You're probably all discombobulated from going too hard." Nemona shook her head.
"I'm good. I am going to hit that water fountain though." She grabbed a goon squad member and the two of them headed out of the suite to get water. Trish put a hand on Elaina's shoulder. She turned to face the girl. "Everything good, Trish?"
"Eyes up, there's a Shuppet near the ceiling scoping the joint." Elaina looked up to where Trish was looking and sure enough, there was the Shuppet on the ceiling. "Grab the Goon Squad. We need to move. See if you can get any other girls you bump into to get out of here, without making a scene." Elaina wasted no time gathering the girls in the Goon Squad, at least the few she remembered. She found Allie first and spread the word. Within five minutes, the Goon Squad was in the elevator, sandwiched between six other girls they'd managed to convince to come with them. The lot of them reached the lobby and headed out into Mesagoza.
"Is anything else happening tonight, or are we calling it and going back to the academy?" Elaina asked as the Goon Squad walked down the block.
"Turn left. We'll get breakfast." Nemona and Elena turned, and when they saw it Nemona almost cried. "A Waffle House. I love you, Trish.
Trish nodded curtly and the Goon Squad made their way down the block. Nemona was the first to reach the building, and as she opened the door and took stock of the place, she frowned. "There's a decent number of people in here." She muttered to the girls behind her. Trish put a hand on Nemona's shoulder. "Don't worry, 'Mona, there's like nine of us, remember?" The girl nodded and the goon squad filed in. After about ten minutes, the girls were happily devouring plates of breakfast food. Elaina turned to Trish.
"So, how did you meet Nemona?" She asked, taking a pause between bites of hash brown. Trish blushed sheepishly and looked down at her food. Nemona chuckled.
"You can tell her, Trish." She said as she surveyed the scrambled eggs on her fork. Trish let out a low sigh before speaking. "We met in the communal shower in Beedrill Hall." Elaina coughed as she tried not to inhale her hash brown bite in surprise. After quickly swallowing her food, she looked at Trish and Nemona. "Y'all met by showering together? Nemona are you absolutely sure you're not gay because this sounds like a lesbian fanfiction." Trish snorted and playfully jabbed Nemona's side. "Yeah, 'Mona. Don't you even a little bit like ladies?"
"Nah, not for me. Have fun though, Trish. Girls are pretty, after all." She popped an entire sausage patty into her mouth and swallowed it. Trish took the time to give a decent slow clap as Nemona drank her water. "Besides," Nemona continued. "I'm too good at swallowing sausage to like girls." It was Elaina's turn to snicker at that statement. Eventually the goon squad finished their food, paid their tabs, and made their way back onto campus. As they climbed the slope of maintenance tunnel B, at the top, leaning on the tunnel wall was Mr. Vaughn. Elaina sighed.
"Mr. Vaughn, I thought you were never here." The teacher turned and counted the girls as they approached. He sighed, and Elaina thought it was a sigh of relief.
"I wasn't, but then I heard about a rogue ghost Pokémon trying to confuse and kidnap girls at Ampharos Tower, and wanted to make sure y'all made it back safe." He stood up from his lean and Gengar rose from his shadow. "Let Gengar check you over. Anyone who's been hit needs to see nurse Miriam." Elaina sighed and stepped forward. Gengar's eyes flashed white for a moment before Gengar stepped aside. The other girls followed suit, but as Nemona stepped up to Gengar, she looked Nemona over and turned to Mr. Vaughn. "Geenngar."
Nemona looked confused as Mr. Vaughn looked to Gengar. He then turned to address the group. "I need another girl to come with Nemona, Gengar and I to nurse Miriam." Trish and Elaina stepped forward without hesitation. "Good, one of you steady her, the other fill me in about what happened as we walk. The rest of you, go to bed." He turned and opened the maintenance tunnel door to reveal Director Clavell, who looked dissapointedly at the girls. He was about to speak when he spotted Mr. Vaughn.
"Mr. Vaughn, I see you have this handled. I'll get your report about what happened in the morning." He turned and walked away, in the opposite direction of the nurse's office. Mr. Vaughn shepherded Elaina, Trish, and Nemona out of the tunnel, while the other girls went back to Dragontongue Hall.
"So, what happened at the tower?" Mr. Vaughn turned to Elaina as the four of them walked. She did her best to fill him in, with Trish helping to fill in details. "You probably saved those other girls a lot of suffering. Good job, Goon Squad." The rest of the walk was silent and when the four of them reached nurse Miriam's office and stepped inside, Miriam was asleep in her chair. Mr. Vaughn tapped her on the shoulder. "Miriam, you fell asleep in your chair again."
The nurse shook herself awake and took stock of Nemona. "What happened? Was she drugged?" Elaina shook her head. Mr. Vaughn spoke next. "Ghost Pokémon, we just need to lay her down and Gengar can take care of the rest." Nurse Miriam nodded and led them to one of the infirmary beds. "Put her here, I'll make sure to witness what happens for the paperwork." Trish laid Nemona down on the bed. After she stepped back, Gengar rose from Mr. Vaughn's shadow and floated over Nemona. "Gengar, use hypnosis." Mr. Vaughn declared, and Gengar's eyes began to flash white in quick succession. After a few moments, Nemona fell asleep.
Nurse Miriam turned to the other two girls. "Go to bed, ladies." Elaina and Trish made their way out of the building and to the doors of Dragontongue Hall. They weren't in a jovial mood anymore, and eventually Trish pulled out a vape. She took a long puff of it and held it out to Elaina. "So much for a welcome back party, huh?" Elaina took the vape and drew in a large puff before letting it flow out of her nostrils.
"Yeah, I'm just glad no one is hurt beyond repair." She passed the vape back to Trish as the two stepped through the dorm hall's front door. They stepped into the stairwell and as Trish and Elaina climbed, Elaina looked to her. "You wanna hang in my room for a bit? You seem really cool, Trish." The girl chuckled. "I don't lick freshman lips, honey. But yeah, we can hang." The two stepped out of the stairwell and made their way to Elaina's room. As they walked in and Elaina flopped onto the bed, Trish pulled her vape back out.
"So, you must actually think I'm pretty rad if you still brought me up here knowing you weren't getting any." Trish tossed her vape to Elaina, who took a puff and passed it back. Elaina's phone buzzed and Rotom jumped from her pocket. She had a text from Silver.
Hey, Kit. A friend of mine told me what happened at Ampharos Tower. You good?
Elaina quickly typed out her response. Yeah, I'm safe in my room. We got out of there as soon as we noticed something was up.
Silver's response took a moment to arrive. Glad to hear that. Take it easy, Silver out.
Elaina put her phone on its charging pad, causing Rotom to chirp happily. Trish sighed as she took another puff. "Must be nice, having a brother that cares about you." The candid comment caught Elaina off guard as Trish continued. "I won't trauma dump to you on the night we meet, but, just be thankful for your brother, alright?"
Elaina nodded thoughtfully and took another puff from Trish. "I love my brother a lot. I don't really see him as often as I like, but I hear you, Trish." The two girls sat in companionable silence for a while, passing the vape back and forth. After about an hour, Trish stood up and made her way out of Elaina's room. "Good night, Elaina. You seem pretty rad too, as you would say."