"C'mon, Papa. It's time to get up!"
Kevin's eyes struggled to stay closed, but they eventually relented from the persistence of a young yet familiar voice that made his heart feel fulfilled. Eventually drawn out of his slumber, the first thing he saw was a pair of eyes that looked just like his own, with long brown hair to match.
Kevin smiled at the image before him. "Morning, Ella."
"Morning to you too, Papa." The child greeted her father. "You up yet?"
"Yeah, yeah. Gimme a sec."
"Okay!" Ella turned and skipped out of the room, allowing Kevin the opportunity to sit up on his bed and watch her close the door behind him. He softly snickered.
"That kid's got energy." He didn't really mind though. After changing his clothes, he walked down the thin stairway towards the small kitchen area. There, he saw Ella was already making pancakes. "You okay to cook?"
"It's okay, Papa. I read the cooking manual thoroughly." She used a spatula and pried the freshly made pancake off the pan and onto the glass plate. She handed it to Kevin. "Here you go."
"Thanks." He didn't know why, but he didn't feel bothered with Ella being able to cook stuff like this. Probably because she was already way above average intelligence. Though, it did make him proud seeing her being self-sufficient like this.
The two sat at the small table, sitting across from each other and ate their respective breakfasts in peace. There was a large bowl of fruit and berry medley between them that they shared; though Kevin watched as Ella ate most of it surprisingly quick.
Perhaps a nutrient-rich diet was a viable substitute for Paraisa to sustain off of.
"Okay, I'll get the dishes. You go brush your teeth and get ready." Kevin instructed.
"You got it!" Ella finished her meal and hopped off her seat. As she whisked herself away back up the stairs, Kevin took the plates and assumed dishwasher duties.
A few minutes went by, but by the time the last of the oil and batter was rinsed off and placed on the drying rack on the right side of the sink, Ella had come back down, looking fresh and ready to go in her white dress with a pink belt around the middle. The dress had edging and accents in the same shade.
Ella walked towards the door, turning back to Kevin with a bright smile. "C'mon, Papa!" She reached her hand out toward him. "We're gonna be late, Slowpoke."
Kevin chuckled. "Yeah, don't worry, I'm coming…" He walked closer towards her as he smiled back. Just when he was about to reach her, the brightness of the open door shined through, swallowing Kevin only as he was about to reach Ella's hand.
The last thing he saw was Ella's smile…
Kevin's eyes opened, the feeling of his soft sheets cushioning his back. He stared at his ceiling with a fresh wave of euphoria and partial shock washing over him.
It didn't take long for him to realize what had happened. 'Oh…that dream again.' He sighed heavily out his nostrils.
To say it was bittersweet would be putting it lightly. Ever since he returned from the island, he would have the same dream every now and again, twice a week roughly. It happened so often that he followed the routine almost subconsciously: Waking up to Ella greeting him, enjoying their morning, and just when they would leave, the dream would end with her only being within arm's reach. As bittersweet as it was, he still oddly enjoyed the dream. Normally, he'd have a dream or two involving rather sizeable women he'd find with his Search Magic, but they didn't leave him as fulfilled compared to the dreams he would have about him and Ella's lifestyle.
Unfortunately, it'll only be just that. A dream.
Realizing he was spacing out, he took a sharp inhale and ran his fingers down his face. He looked at the clock beside him, seeing that it was a little past 8 in the morning.
"Well, guess I can't stay in bed forever." he told himself. He was right, he had work to do.
It didn't take long for him to change out of his black pajama pants and gray T-shirt into his standard attire. He walked down the stairs towards the kitchen area, already accustomed to the numerous spackle stains in place of holes left from Raticate's gnawing during the whole rebellion phase a short while ago.
A lot of his furniture and a window still needed to be replaced, but aside from that, a lot of the damage done was cleaned up. But replacing furniture wasn't cheap, and neither was rent.
He grabbed a Sitrus Berry from a wooden bowl on his counter and headed towards the door. Just before he was about to leave, he subconsciously paused for a second and realized that the door was still shut. He then remembered that at this point, Ella would open it and the dream would end.
'You know…I wonder where we were going? I never figured that out.' With that notion, he took off in the direction of the guild hall, taking a bite out of the Sitrus Berry.
Blue Pegasus was known for its strength, but even more so for its fashion. Kevin learned this the moment he was introduced to the guild. Even with his shades, the guild hall had a glimmer about it that could give Shiny Pokémon a run for their Jewel.
Fortunately, the guild hall was still in one piece, even after the recent incident. Kevin took a glance around and noticed the usual bout of stylish members out and about. After a casual wave and greet in passing, the Pokémon Trainer ventured over towards the gilded Request Board.
Like Blue Pegasus itself, the Request Board lived up to the heights of the guild. To Kevin, it was more like a monumental frame that paneled across the wall with jobs neatly organized from left to right – the difficulty and amounts escalating the farther they went right. It was apparently so that it would be easier to help mages secure jobs more orderly. Fair enough.
"Let's see here. What have we got today…?" Kevin put his hands to his hips as his eyes browsed the influx of requests. 'There's more jobs than usual today. I guess it's because of the damage done by the rebellion. Guess I could take a scouting job like I usually do…'
"Ah! Look who's here!" A voice called out.
Kevin turned towards the voice, seeing his former Guild Master approach. "Mornin', Bob." He greeted the old man.
"You're looking ready to work. Did you find anything that catches your eye, hun?"
"I'm still browsing, but it looks like a lot of these are repair and supply jobs." Kevin noted.
Bob put a hand to his cheek, frowning. "Yes, unfortunately. That would be the outcome from our recent endeavors. You'll be expecting a lot more of these for quite some time, I'm afraid."
Kevin's lips made a straight line. He wasn't particularly against intense labor jobs, but he knew that with his particular magic and Pokémon, he'd be more suited for other jobs like searching like he always did.
His eyes darted around the board for a short while before his gaze fell upon something in the lower-tier area of the board. What stuck out most was the Cambire Foundation approval imprint along the top. He blinked in wonder and unclipped the flier to get a better look.
The job had a picture of what looked like a school building, if one would like to call it that. Below it read the following:
THE CURSED SCHOOL
There's been a recent disturbance in the halls around the local school. Many have become unnerved by these phantom nights and return the next day to find disarray. Please send a mage to deal with this and help the children.
Reward: 92,000 Jewels
"Oh? That one caught your eye?" Bob looked over in curiosity.
"Hm? Oh, yeah. What's this one about?" Kevin asked.
"That one? Hm…it's rather peculiar to me, too." Bob hummed, resting his cheek in his palm. "Though, this job was approved by the Cambire Foundation, so if they're involved, it must have to do with Pokémon."
"Maybe…" Kevin took another look at the flier description again. He found another surprising detail. "Wait, this one's a local job too? Well…guess that'll save me a train ticket."
Bob hopped into the air, his small angelic wings flapping. "Oh good! I'll put that down in the forum and let them know! Good luck, honey~!" He drifted off, leaving Kevin to watch him glide away without even bothering to question why. It was easier to go with the flow at times like these.
Taking one more look at the job, he couldn't help but feel something off. He didn't know what, but it felt like he needed to take this job.
'Guess I should see what this is all about.'
When Kevin laid eyes on his job's location site, even his shades couldn't hide the mild shock in his eyes.
The flier showed a picture of a one-story school building – which this one had – yet it left out the finer details that this one had, such as the cream-colored wall that bordered the school grounds, with brick pillars on either side of the school's front. There was enough space for there to be a small fountain on the left side, with a rather large oak tree on the right. A lone wooden swing sat on a low branch. On top of the school's tiled roof was a fairly tall poll with a red flag on it. Even from an outsider's point of view, the fresh brick arches and windows stood out. The architecture itself seemed credible.
"Wow…education must really pay in this world." Was his choice words. He looked at the flier's address again, then back to the building in front of him. 'The address is the same. Guess I'm at the right place after all.'
"Excuse me?" A quiet but gentle voice called from nearby.
Kevin perked up and immediately noticed someone at the entrance. The person in question was a young adult woman with mid-back length dark brown hair with bangs split down to bangs on either side. She had dark brown eyes that were a tint away from being black. She had a fairly sizeable bust and body that was covered in a white long-sleeved shirt with frilled ends, with a coral-red vest on the body. Her bottom-half was covered in black work pants and shoes, giving her a more professional apparel.
The woman in question stepped forward and smiled. "Is there something that I can assist you with?"
Kevin blinked, taking immediate notice of her figure, but also her apparel. 'Eh, guess it's not half-bad.' He immediately refocused and cleared his throat. "Hey there. My name is Kevin. I just came from the Blue Pegasus guild for this request here." He held up the flier to showcase his evidence.
The woman blinked, taking notice of the flier, then towards Kevin. She looked shocked. "Oh! My goodness!" She immediately bowed. "Thank you so very much! Please, accept my apologies!"
Kevin brought his hands up. "Hey now, it's okay. Not like we didn't know each other before."
She brought her head up and smiled. "Yes, you're right. We were called and told that the job was accepted, but we didn't expect it to be this soon. Please, allow me to introduce myself." She put a hand to her chest and humbly smiled. "My name is Sakura Meela. I'm the teacher of this school. It's a pleasure to meet you, Kevin."
"Yeah, same here." While he meant it, he couldn't help but notice the hand that she touched her chest with. His eyes instantly noticed something shiny on one of her fingers. He immediately recognized it as a wedding ring. 'Damn, she's hitched!'
"We shouldn't talk out here. Follow me, and we'll discuss the detail inside." Sakura gestured to the school's doors.
Immediately putting his desires on the backburner, Kevin walked past Sakura and entered the building's halls.
To his surprise, even the interior of the building looked modern. The walls were painted white, with porcelain tiles lined up neatly with green tiling in the middle acting like a road. Even the green tiling intersected like one when they ventured to adjacent halls. The doors were all locked, save for the one door on the left that went into an office area.
Sakura led him inside said office area. There were a series of books with incantations and runes that he had yet to fully decipher. There was a wooden desk and many papers stacked on each corner. He took notice of the few small chairs in front of the desk and sat down.
Sakura sat in the leather chair, sighing loudly with a smile. "So smooth…" She hummed. Her breath hitched and she immediately straightened her back. "A-anyways, thank you for doing business with us today. We promise full payment and the stamp necessary for you should this job be complete."
"Right. So about this job." Kevin had a serious disposition. "Tell me the details behind it. When did all this start?"
Sakura looked down as she recounted the details. "Right, I suppose I should start from the beginning. Well, it all started about a couple weeks ago, perhaps a week before the major recent incident. We just started up the school, and we had plenty of staff and students to attend to." Her frown deepened. "But then, something strange happened over one night."
"Strange how?"
"When we came in the next day, one of our teachers' rooms happened to be…vandalized. The desks were flipped over, and the chalkboard had crude drawings. At first we thought it was a prank from one of our students, but when we spoke about this, they didn't seem to know either. We even instigated the other teachers just to be sure."
Kevin understood the caution behind that. He heard the Cambire Foundation had cracked down on their background checks and informational gathering after the Alvarez scandal. This was to be expected.
"It only happened overnight, so we never had any witnesses…" she paused. "But then they started occurring during the day. Students noticed the toys moving on their own when they play indoors during recess. And when they go to use the restroom, they say the stalls wail and scares them."
"You don't say…"
"But what scares us the most…there was an incident where our music teacher was about to play the piano, but the keys moved on their own. The entire class was in an uproar. By that point, the teachers and students thought our school was under a curse or spell. We didn't know what to do, so slowly, the teachers and students stopped coming." She looked down guiltily. "And I'm afraid that the rumors will spread, and our school will be forced to relocate. Or worse, close down."
Now things were making sense for Kevin. He sat in silence as he processed everything given to him. He still didn't say anything, but even he knew that something like this was abnormal.
Still, he didn't shy away just because of information alone. "Not to derail the subject, but I have to ask, what's this got to do with the Cambire Foundation exactly?"
Sakura nervously nodded. "Right, you see…this school was amongst the few that was funded by the Cambire Foundation. It was an effort to help enforce affordable education to children. It was thanks to them and their knowledge on their level of knowledge that we were able to remodel the school and expand our education system."
'Guess that checks out. No wonder the architecture is so modern compared to Earthland.' Kevin figured. "Okay, now I have to ask, if you guys were backed by the Cambire Foundation, shouldn't you have consulted them about it?"
"We did. They installed security lacrima when the school was created. But the strangest part about it was that they never worked at night…it's like they're affected by this strange curse." She responded. "They sent someone also to investigate, but they ran out of the building from fright."
''Guess that explains why the Cambire Foundation is involved in this. But still, can a school really be cursed? Not like this is built over an ancient burial ground…' Kevin blinked at the prospect. '…is it?'
Sakura lifted her head. "So that's why we asked for a mage for assistance. Please, would you be willing to help us? Jobs aside, these children need an education in a safe environment. Please." She bowed her head again to Kevin.
Kevin could tell just how much this meant to her. He knew he didn't know much about her – he'll look her up later with his magic to fix that – but he sympathized with the idea of education. He knew the recent scourge with Pokémon had already caused enough uncertainty that would take a while to remedy, if at all, but he also knew first-hand how dangerous this world could be. If kids were going to grow up in a place as such, they needed the resources and the right kind of people for that to happen.
But still, his personal understandings aside, work was still work. He was a mage, not a career counselor. "Yeah, sure thing. I'll look into this and see what's up." He assured her "If the Cambire Foundation is backing this, it'd look bad if we mages who work with Pokémon turn a blind eye without reason."
Sakura lifted her head, looking relieved. "Really? Thank you very much! You have no idea how much this relieves me. We're counting on you to help ensure the children are safe."
Kevin smirked. "No biggie. So, who else am I working with today?"
"Me."
"Sure thing. And..?"
"Just me."
Kevin blinked twice. He sweat-dropped. "Oh…I-I gotcha…"
Sakura immediately put her hands up. "D-don't let that discourage you! The children are all very unique! I promise they won't get in the way or cause you trouble! I'll take full responsibility if they do!"
Kevin scratched his head. "If you say so." He sighed aloud before looking up towards the veiling. "Can't believe I'm saying this…but I guess I'm going back to school. Great."
As soon as the clock struck 9 on the wall on the top of the wall, a bell rung through the small school. The school day had officially begun for Mrs. Meela's class.
Her classroom was the farthest one in the main hallway. The class was a large chalkboard along the front, with stocks of chalk and erasers. There were bookshelves along the back of the classroom, with cabinets that sat beneath with the recess toys inside. The one wall closest to the door had a smaller board and a long shelf with cubbies that held all the children's belongings. The other wall gave view to numerous windows that were sealed tight to keep the heat out.
The class was composed of fifteen desks, all filled with children that ranged between 6 and 7. Sakura walked away from her small desk in the corner and stood in front of the board to everyone.
"Good morning, everyone." She greeted with a sweet smile.
"Good morning, Mrs. Meela." The class replied.
"Glad to see you're all here today. We have a lot to cover, but first, I need to introduce you all to a very special guest today."
"Who is it? Are they here to do tricks for us?!" One of the kids stood up. He had wide eyes with the tannest skin tone compared to his other classmates. His head was also shaved.
"Oh, I hope they can teach us something really cool like magic!" Another boy exclaimed. He had hazel eyes and a lighter skin tone, with messy blonde hair that was slanted off towards his left side and partially covered his eye.
"Did he bring any snacks?" Another kid with a rounder, overweight frame asked.
Another kid with large eyes and small dark pupils scoffed. "Pfft, better be worth our time." He muttered crudely.
"Now, now class, simmer down now." Sakura yielded her class. "It's nothing like that. He's a mage from a fellow wizard guild. He's just here to look around and do an inspection is all." She turned towards the doorway. "Okay, you can come in now."
On que, the door to her classroom opened. Kevin walked in, seeing the numerous children that had a variety of expressions and features to them that made them all stand out.
"Everyone, say hello to our guest." Sakura instructed.
Kevin raised his hand. "Yo. How're you all doing? Name's Kevin." He smirked. "But you all can just call me Mister P."
The first kid stood up excitedly. "Oh wow! You're an actual mage?! Tell me, what kind of magic can you use?! Can you shoot fire from your eyes, or maybe create gold out of thin air?! Or-"
Kevin was taken aback by his brashness. 'Wow, that kid's got energy…'
"Jace, sit down. It's not your turn yet." Sakura scolded. "Don't make me add another mark to your name."
The shaved head kid – Jace – lowered his head and sank back to his seat. "Sorry, Mrs. Meela…"
Sakura cleared her throat and turned towards Kevin. "I apologize. Jace here has a hard time sitting still. He's a very active kid, you see…"
Kevin chuckled and waved her off. "It's no big deal. Believe it or not, I'm used to it." He couldn't help but muse about the kid. 'He definitely reminds me of Raticate.'
Sakura returned to her students. "Now then, why don't you all introduce yourselves." She turned to the student on the seat closest to the door. "Aaron, let's start with you."
The kid with short black hair and dark eyes looked unnerved. "M-me? Uh, okay…" He cleared his throat and nervously smiled. "Hello, sir. Name's Aaron. Pleasure to meet you…" He meekly bowed his head.
"Hey, droopy hair. If you're gonna introduce yourself, at least sound more confident about it." The sharp-eyed student mocked.
Aaron slumped his shoulders, his self-esteem crushed. "S-sure…right…"
The desk to his left was a girl with medium-length black hair with a bang going down the middle. She had large gray eyes and an upbeat smile as she bowed. "Pleasure to meet you, sir. My name is Maple. Thank you for coming to see us today."
"Oh! My turn!" Jace quipped, jumping out of his seat. "I'm Jace! I can't wait to see what you show us! Hope it's some super sweet magic or maybe a story to tell about your adventures!"
The girl behind Aaron raised her hand. She had strawberry red hair tied in two ponytails with bright green eyes. "Oh! Hi there, my name's Anais! And I just love sweets! You got a favorite sweet, Mister P?"
Kevin hesitated. "Er…well, I…"
Sakura cleared her throat again. "Anais, afraid we don't have time to ask those questions."
Anais lowered her arm. "Oh…sorry."
The child next to her cleared his throat as he prodded his rectangular-framed glasses up. He had very short, navy-blue hair that spiked up. "My name is Patrick, good sir." He greeted in a studious tone. "I also happen to be our class's top in our grades."
"Tch, dork." The sharp-eyed kid scoffed.
"Uh, me?" The round kid pointed to himself nervously. "O-okay. Um, hello. My name is Liam. I like food, and my parents run a pastry shop. Feel free to stop by there sometime."
"Hey man, you could stand to sound a little more confident in yourself. You're almost as quiet as Aaron over there." The kid beside him whispered.
Liam flinched and sweat-dropped. "Uh, s-sorry…"
The kid turned back ahead and smiled brightly. "Hey there! Name's Kai! Awesome to have you, Mister P!"
Next up was a girl with short white hair, with a large bang that covered her left eye. She had golden eyes, and her hair had a small cowlick atop. But what stuck out was the small jar of jam that she stuck her finger in and ate quietly.
Realizing she had everyone's attention – especially the discerning grin of Mrs. Meela – the girl slowly retracted the jar from her grip and looked ahead. "I'm Harper. Hello." She spoke softly.
"Harper, dear. Go wash your hands at the sink. It's not snack time yet." Sakura strained herself to not lightly chastise the girl. It was written all over her face.
"Yes ma'am…" The girl acquiesced and got out of her seat to put the sugary treat back into her cubby for later…after she took one more scoop with her finger.
Meanwhile, the classroom greetings continued with the girl the next desk over. She had orange-brown hair tied into a single braid behind her back. She had turquoise eyes that were seen clearly. "Hi there. My name's Carmen. My parents run a bakery shop nearby called the Yeast Bowl! Hope you try them sometime!"
The next student smugly grinned. Like Liam, he was on the larger side, though not as much. Though unlike everyone else, his clothes and dirty-blonde hair were kempt and looked expensive. "That's nothing. My family's the wealthiest in this whole town! Name's Louis Bonaparte III, at your service!" He beamed with pride. "Hey, you there!"
Kai looked back. "Eh, what up?"
"Fetch me my juice from my cubby. I'm parched."
"Um, we're kinda in the middle of class right now…" Kai answered nervously.
Louis sneered as he pulled out a single 1000 Jewel bill. "Will this suffice?"
Immediately, Kai snatched the money and beamed out of his seat. "Aw yeah! One juice, coming right up!"
"Hey! Don't bribe your classmates to do your work for you! You could have just waited or asked more nicely" Patrick chastised.
Louis shot him a look. "I'll pay you twice as much so you can forget that."
Patrick lifted his head and turned away. "No can do! I am a child of integrity. I will get to the top by merit alone!"
The sharp-eyed kid eyerolled. "Of course you would say that, Specs."
"Hey now, that isn't nice at all! This is exactly why you're at the bottom of the class bracket, Brien!"
The foul-mouth kid – Brien – didn't seem bothered by the threat. "Whatever. You can throw money at me all you want, but that mop stiff isn't gonna get me."
Louis shot him a look. "You take that back!"
Brien roguishly grinned. "Oh yeah? Make me."
The two glared at each other with striking gazes, electricity crackling between them. It made the class all the more unnerving.
'And here I thought Beedrill's rivalry with Heracross was something to behold…' Kevin noted to himself.
"Oh, my turn!" A girl greeted. She wore a bright pink dress, with her rose gold hair tied in a side ponytail held by a pink ribbon. Her right bang was longer than her left, and she had dazzling bright brown eyes. "Hello there, I'm Isabela. And you're looking at the future top model!"
"A model you say?" Kevin inquired.
Isabela put her hands to her side. "Mhm! You know those models Mirajane Strauss and Jenny Realight? They're so beautiful that I wanna be just like them!" She had a confident smile to finish the ensemble.
The mention of his guildmate made Kevin try his best to hide a smirk. 'Jenny's got an admirer, eh? She's gonna be over the moon when she hears this.'
And finally, there were two more girls, both looking identical with smooth black hair and brown eyes, though one had a small hair sticking out from the right while the other was on the left.
"I'm May!" One greeted.
"I'm April!" The other chimed. She then turned towards her. "Hey, no fair! April always goes before May!"
"We're still technically twins." May argued.
"No it doesn't! I was born in April, just before midnight struck for May! Which means I'm older than you!"
"Only by a couple minutes."
"Still counts! We get different birthdays!"
"Doesn't make you any less of a tattler. Makes you wonder who's really the oldest."
April growled while her twin blew her a raspberry. They both turned away folding their arms in separate directions.
Sakura nervously chuckled at her class's antics. She turned towards Kevin with a smile. "Sorry about them. They're quite the handful. This is them actually behaving better than most days, too."
"I bet." Kevin mused. He scanned the fifteen students once more to get a good look at them. Between Jace barely able to sit still, Patrick pulling out his worksheets and getting a head start, to Brien throwing a crumbled paper ball at Anai's back and feigning innocence; it went on to Louis paying Kai to pass him his homework that he paid him to do, to Isabela looking at a mirror and combing a stray lock back into place. Harper returned to her seat, and from the way she was reaching into her desk, he could tell it was another jar of jam. Even now, the twins were also glaring and mocking the other.
'Wow…kids these days sure have a lot more personality, don't they?' He mused.
Sakura clasped her hands together. "Now then class, time to get on with our lessons...hm? Hold on." She looked at the seats, but noticed something wrong. "Where's Aidan?
"Here…"
Sakura and Kevin jumped and looked down at their sides. Standing between them in silence was an innocent-looking boy with dark-blue hair with equally dark-blue eyes.
"Oh! Aidan, there you are!" Sakura quipped.
"Sorry, I was a little late. My mom said that was sleeping like a log." He apologized.
Kein blinked, feeling uneased. 'I didn't even see him there.'
Sakura sighed before putting her hands to her hips. "What have I told you about this? I'll have to mark you as tardy again. You know what will happen if that happens, don't you?"
"Right, I'll take my seat!" Aidan hurriedly ran across the room to the last desk in the corner, right besides May. With him present, the class could begin their lesson.
Kevin turned towards the doorway. "I'll be around. If anything abnormal happens, let me know." With that, Kevin ventured into the hallway.
In the back of the class, Brien sneered. "Some inspector the school hired."
"Oh, Brien." Sakura hummed, getting her delinquent student's attention. "Do I have to write you up too? Perhaps your parents would like to hear about your behavior recently?"
Brien immediately shirked in his seat, though he still looked annoyed. "No, ma'am…"
Once more, Sakura cleared her throat and reached for a chalk. "Now then everyone, take out your homework and let's continue where we left off yesterday."
With the class's session underway, Kevin took liberties with his own job. He sauntered through the hallway, noting how despite the main hallway was long, it was at least colorful with numerous child paintings from the art room.
'Definitely looks like an ordinary school building.' Kevin scouted about, his gaze turning critical. His time on the island with Joey and Dereece taught him that not everything was as it seemed on the surface. 'Guess we should start with what we know and work from there.'
Kevin thus began his little investigation. His first order of business was to check the places that Sakura mentioned earlier where some of these instances happened.
His first point of destination was the restrooms. When he looked in the boy's area, he quietly scoped the urinals and stalls for anything that stood out. Though the only thing that he found disturbing about them was how unsanitary the toilet bowls looked. 'They definitely need to rehire a janitor around here.'
He then focused on the music room, which was roughly a quarter size of the auditorium. He saw the many instruments that ranged from flutes, to violins and cellos. He had to assume that those instruments were more for the upper classmen. When he didn't see anything, he held his tongue and closed the door.
Next up was the library. He scoped the small space, noticing how there were a lot of books on the shelves, ranging from history, to even the simple things like stories or animals. He had to assume that this was the Cambire Foundation's idea. Again, nothing stuck out to him.
He checked the auditorium area, which doubled as a cafeteria. He checked the kitchen area to find that the staff was absent from the mishaps as well, so nothing was cooking. He took a glance around and saw that everything was orderly and untouched.
He even went to check on the indoor gym area. He scanned the high ceilings and the equipment, which was mainly a bunch of balls from dodgeballs to soccer balls. "That's a lot of balls…that's what she said." He smirked to himself.
He checked the many empty classrooms across the building. All of them were the same results. Empty. Some had desks and chairs is disorder, but nothing to really call disheveled.
He found himself walking down the main hallway, hands in his pockets as he was coming up to the art room. 'This is odd. It just looks like an ordinary school. Couldn't be Illusion Magic as a façade, right? Is the teacher cleaning up every morning?' He looked towards the ceiling lights, having no clear answers. 'Guess I'll have to keep looking.'
As he walked, he couldn't help but drift his eyes towards one of the framed pictures beside him on the art room's window. One of them was a rather legible drawing, enough to pass for a 6 or 7-year-old. There was a girl that was supposedly one of the students there, and the taller, larger figure beside her was presumably her father.
The longer he found himself staring, the more his gaze fell to where he looked like he was longing for something. He thought about his dreams again, and thinking back to the island made him recall his daughter.
When he found his thoughts drifting, he shook his head and continued his patrol down the hall.
As he left, the art room's lights were off, yet something shifted in the darkness behind the innocent drawing.
The mid-afternoon bell rang, signaling a special time of day for all young schoolchildren – recess.
With the sun shining brightly over their heads, the kids were all out and about across the school's backyard area, which was a massive black asphalt slab with various area for the kids to enjoy themselves, ranging from hopscotch to a small basketball hoop area. Beyond that was a small mulch area where a sizeable swing was set up with metal railing, able to sustain six kids. The rest of the recess area was grassland with a playground area, a small soccer field, and a place where one could do dodgeball or kickball. The fence that helped border the school was lined up with rather large oak trees.
In short, it was spacious with a plethora of activities to keep the kids occupied.
With all the teachers on leave, Sakura was the only one available to monitor them. She could see Adrian in the corner of the asphalt alone, drawing something with chalk. Her attention drew towards the swings, where Louis paid Kai to push him. She even saw Patrick in the swings. Though unlike the others, he had a book about insects. There was even Jace kicking a kickball so hard and running so fast around the bases that the other kids could only watch the ball end up in the branches of a nearby tree, much to all their annoyance and disappointment.
The teacher was watching all this with a frown. Though it seemed like the majority of them were having fun, she could tell that at a closer glance, not everyone was getting along, much to her dismay.
"Yo."
Sakura heard the familiar voice and turned to find Kevin walking up to her. "Oh, Kevin. Is everything alright?"
"Yeah, at least for now." He answered. "Was actually just checking the outside of the school since I looked everywhere indoors."
"Did you find anything?"
Kevin shook his head. "Nothing looks out of the ordinary, at least so far."
"I see." She tried to hide it through her smile, but Kevin could clearly make out her disappointment. He could understand her rising anxiety.
"Try not to fret about it, alright? I'll keep looking around. I won't stop until you're satisfied…that's what she-!"
"Excuse me."
Kevin almost yelped as he was caught off guard again. He whipped around, his eyes on Aidan as he looked at them curiously. "Woah, kid. A little heads up would be appreciated."
Sakura put her hands to her knees and bent down to her student. "What's the matter, Aidan?"
"We have a problem…"
Nearby, Carmen was against a tree trunk. She was minding her own business when she found herself cornered by Louis and Kai – the latter just tagging along. From the way Louis glared at her, he was anything but amused.
"Why do you have to be so stubborn? Just give me your sweets already." He demanded. "We all know you packed them today."
"No, no!" Carmen vigorously shook her head. "I didn't bring any today, I swear!"
Louis scoffed. "Is that so? I don't like liars."
"But I'm not! I can't bring them every day!"
"You can for the right price, perhaps. How much?"
"Wow, you allow your sweet tooth to do all the work for you this time? Petty." Walking into view, Brien looked smug at the rich heir.
Louis turned towards him with a distasteful scowl. "Great. What do you want, impoverish bull calf?"
Brien folded his arms. "Think you can use big words because you goy a couple of Jewel in your pockets than the rest of us. You want something that bad? Just take it! Here, I'll show ya." He started for Carmen, readying his fists.
"W-wait…what are you gonna do?" Carmen felt anxious and fearful of Brien, knowing how he tend sto make his examples, especially when the teachers aren't looking. "No! Go away!"
"Then give up a few cookies already! We're hungry!" Brien reached out to shove her into the tree, but a larger, firmer grip caught his wrist and stopped him. "Huh?!"
Carmen, Louis, and Kai all cringed at who caught them in the act.
"Hey now…the heck you think you're doing?" Standing between Carmen and Brien, Kevin had ahold of the playground bully by his wrist, frowning disapprovingly with a serious face.
"Mister P!" Carmen gasped.
"It's the mage!" Kai quipped.
Sakura and Aidan soon caught up, the former seeing the scenario. "What is going on here?! What did I tell you kids about causing trouble!?" Sakura exasperated.
"I-I didn't do anything, I swear!" Kai put his hands up in defense.
Louis regained his composure and pointed accusingly at Carmen. "Mrs. Meela, nothing of the sorts was happening." He lied. "I was merely persuading Carmen to be more reasonable with the sweets she brings in."
"B-because it's all just leftovers from my family's shop the other day!" Carmen reasoned. "We didn't have enough leftovers for me to bring was all. It's been busy lately!"
"Is that so?" Louis sneered. "Then I guess I should have my daddy have a word with yours. I'm sure he wouldn't mind another business under his belt."
"You wouldn't!" Carmen begged.
A whistle blew loudly, breaking up the argument ensuing. Everyone turned towards Sakura as she looked peeved, or as peeved as a sweet-looking madam would be. "That's enough, everyone! Brien! Louis! Back away this instant!"
The two boys cringed and lowly scowled at each other before turning away. Kevin let go as Brien turned away, folding his arms in a pout. He didn't look sorry.
Sakura exasperatedly sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'm so sorry. It's always like this. I've been trying to get them all to get along, but nothing worked. The best I can do is write them up or call their parents about their poor behaviors." She glanced at the two rival bullies. "Which I will be doing for you two."
Brien and Louis cringed again.
"M-Mrs. Meela, there's no need for that." Louis nervously insisted, pulling out more bills from his pocket. "Maybe a little raise will change your mind. My father doesn't need to know about this."
One look from Sakura told Louis that he wasn't getting out of this so easily. Brien hid it well, but he inwardly sneered. 'Told ya, moron.'
Kevin put his hands to his hips and thought about what Sakura said. "So they need better playmates?" When he thought about it, all the kids were pretty diverse, and there was only him and Sakura to rope them in. That's when an idea struck him. "Okay then."
"Pardon?" Sakura wondered, vaguely hearing his plan.
He reached for his pockets, pulling out a Poké Ball and three Net Balls. "Maybe what these kids need is a change of pace. Let's try something new…like this!" He tossed up his capsules. "C'mon out, guys!"
The four balls clicked before opening at the same time. Emerging onto the playground was Raticate, Krabby, Beedrill, and Sadloon. The four Pokémon were all lined up and flexed upon being released.
"GAHA! Hello world!" Raticate greeted.
"Aye, game time?" Krabby questioned, pinching his claws.
"I sting yo face!" Beedrill shouted.
"Hey y'all, hope you don't mind the extra company~!" Swadloon swooned.
Immediately, all the kids stopped playing and looked surprised, if not startled. That included Sakura. She knew about these Pokémon, but truth be told, she'd never been close to one until now. But that didn't make it any less astonishing for her.
"Are those…?" She gasped.
Kevin smirked. "Don't worry, they're all mine, and I trained them myself. They won't do anything." He assured her.
"Woah! Is that an actual crab?" Anais questioned.
"Woah…that's a big bee right there…" Aaron muttered, feeling his blood run cold from the sight of his stingers.
"Wait, Mr. P. Are you saying…we can actually play with them?" Maple asked.
Kevin smirked. "Sure, just as long as you play nice. Just to warn you, they're a lot to handle if you're not careful with yourself."
While the majority of the kids were in awe at the sight and shocking news, Brien kept his arms folded and scowled at the sight of Kevin's Pokémon, particularly his Swadloon. "Pffft! Like I'm afraid of some bug in a blanket. What's it gonna do? Cuddle me to death? Hehehe!"
Swadloon's right eye twitched. He shot Kevin a side glance, who gave a small nod of approval. "If it's a cuddle you want, I can give you something just as snug." Swadloon chimed.
"Huh?" Before Brien could react, Swadloon opened his mouth and unleashed a web of String Shot at him. Brien screamed in fear before he found himself laced against the nearest tree; his hands pinned within the thread tying him around the trunk.
"H-hey! What's going on!?" He tried to move, but even though his ankles and shoes were exposed, he didn't have any traction being pinned by the silk thread. "Hey! Untie me!"
"Ha! That's what you get! Maybe if you weren't so poor, you'd wouldn't be so stuck." Louis taunted.
"Oh, don't worry. There's plenty more for you." Swadloon chimed.
"Wait, wha-?!" Louis suddenly felt an array of sticky thread attack him. He found himself tied to the neighboring tree trunk next to Brien. "What?! Me too?! What did I do!?"
Aaron nervously sweat-dropped. "Well, isn't that ironic…"
The two kids struggled to break free, wriggling themselves and kicking profusely. But the silk threads didn't allow them any levity of space to move.
"Sorry fellas, but you're both in time-out." Kevin stated, before turning towards Sakura. "That cool with you?"
Sakura quickly got over her initial shock, clearing her throat. "Um…yes." She stepped forward and frowned disapprovingly at her incapacitated students. "You'll both he there for the duration of recess. Afterwards, we'll get you down and call your parents."
"Hey, c'mon teach! That's so not fair! He started it!" Brien blamed his fellow trapped classmate.
"Me?! At least I wouldn't lay my hands on poor people like you do!" Louis backlashed.
"Yeah?! So what? I'm not afraid of anything!"
Before their commotion grew any further, they were cut off by Sakura's loud whistle. "It doesn't matter who started it! Not another word from either of you!"
Her harsher tone made both boys cringe. They both sunk their heads in defeat and shame.
Kevin frowned. In all honesty, he did feel a little bad doing this, but they had it coming. 'Guess this is what they call tough love, huh?' He chose to allow karma be and focused on the rest of the class and their ongoing playtime. "Anyways kids, don't be like these two. Just be nice to my Pokémon and they'll be nice to you. Have fun!"
"Woah~!" An awe got Raticate's attention as he turned around, seeing Jace staring at him with wide, fascinated eyes. "That's a huge rat!"
Raticate eyed up the estrange human as well, focused on his head. "Woah, kid! Your head is shaved! That's so cwazy! GAHAHAHAHA!" He laughed madly.
Jace's eyes got wider. "Those are such big teeth! Can they bite through anything?!"
"Oh yeah! This one time, I ate through a whole rock pillar until it fell over and shattered. It was cwazy!"
"Woah! Rock?! What about trees?!"
"Oh sure! Hey, you wanna play tag?!"
"Would I?! Nobody ever wants to play with me! They say I'm restless!"
"GAHAHA! Cwazy minds think alike! Catch me if you can!" Without missing a beat, Raticate rushed across the grass in a hectic spur.
"Hey, wait for me!" Jace reached out as he charged behind. They were so hyped for the other that everyone else was completely left behind. Not that anyone would try to stop them if they could.
"So you can spit threads out of your mouth?" Isabela got to her knees as she asked Swadloon her question.
"Hm? Oh yeah, that's just one of the perks of being little ole' me." Swadloon hummed. "But don't worry, I can do more than just string up some naughty boys~." He half-teased, referring to the disgruntled pair not too far out of earshot.
"Really? Like what?"
Swadloon hummed. "I'll give you a nice view, sweetheart. Just sit back and watch the magic happen." Swadloon shuffled over to the nearest pieces of twigs around. He looked and saw some fallen leaves in the grass close by. He shuffled over and used the tips of his cloak to pick them up. He spat out a thin layer of thread and applied it to the twigs, weaving them together until they were spiraling and overlapping one another. He kept rolling the twigs until it reached the end, where it got connected together and created a ring bound by thin layers of thread. Using the leaves, Swadloon weaved them all together to the arrangement of a star on the top of it. He held it on the tips of his cloak to Isabela with pride. "Viola!"
Isabela gasped as she took the makeshift bracelet. "That's so cool! You can really make something like this?!"
Swadloon winked. "I'll be more than happy to show you more~."
At the tables, Patrick was so engrossed in his book that everything around him was all but nonexistent. It was only by the sound of tapping did he look up to find his company in Kevin's Krabby. "Whatcha got there, sunny?"
Patrick immediately put his head back down. "If you must know, I'm studying. Of course to a crab, this is nonessential. You don't have to worry about being a scholar in your future after all."
Krabby blinked, confused. "I don't know what that means, but I think I have a solution to that…" He then pulled up a red and black checkered board, with the respective chips already in place. "A game of checkers to get the brain ticking!"
Patrick blinked twice, stunned by the suggestion. "P-pardon? You're saying…that you want to actually play a human boardgame?"
"Yeah! I'm really good at it!" He pinched his pincers excitedly.
Patrick scoffed, pushing up his glasses. "I highly doubt that. Still…" He closed his textbook, being mindful to place a bookmark on the last part he read beforehand. "I suppose one game wouldn't hurt. I happen to be very adept at game strategy. I'll amuse you this one time."
One game of checkers later, Patrick's pride was in pieces, just like the ones that were all taken by Krabby. He was on his hands and knees as he looked emasculated of all his worth. He shuddered at the revelation that was an utter defeat to a merry Krabby.
"I lost…to a crab…" He mumbled in despair. "I…I can't believe it…how am I going to explain this to my father…?"
"That was fun!" Krabby chimed. "Say, wanna go again?"
Patrick continued to shrivel on the ground until he got his bearings. He soon got up and lifted his head, pushing his glasses up with determination. "Fine…I will get payback for losing to you the first time! I won't go easy on you this time!"
Krabby's face brightened with delight. "Yes! I go first this time!"
Off nearby, Harper was walking around, constantly scooping jam with her finger to eat. She looked blatantly content as she was walking off the extra blood sugar, at least until Kevin showed up.
"Hey there, whatcha got there?" He looked at the small jar, which Harper held closer to her body defensively. "Hey, it's cool. Not hungry, really." He put a hand to his hip. "You must really like jam, huh?"
Harper wordlessly nodded.
"Hmmm, in that case…" He reached for something, pulling out a Honey jar. "Why not give this a whirl? It's Honey. Pokémon love this stuff. I tell ya, Beedrill goes crazy for this stuff."
Harper blinked and looked at the small glass Honey pot before her. Though she was skeptical, she didn't want to come off as rude. Curiosity getting the better of her, she took the jar and sniffed the exposed top. It definitely smelled sweet! After a moment of hesitation, she dipped her finger into the sticky liquid and scooped out a small mass that drizzled down the sides back into the pot. It was definitely wetter than jam. Choosing to take her chances, she opened wide and tasted the sweet nectar.
The moment it hit her taste buds, her eyes widened. The whole world distorted around her as she sank deep within a realm of sweet, rich sugar that not only coated her taste buds, but soaked in it. The sea of jelly and jam that made up her daily snacking was quickly washed away by a golden tsunami of Honey that she welcomed with opened arms. The metaphorical wave pummeled her in a way that made her cheeks turn pink in delight.
In reality, she was in deep bliss as she was still on the first lick. Kevin saw her face and knew the answer. 'Heh, gets them every time.'
Harper was so lost in her new sweet luxury that the small poke behind her back almost spooked her. When she turned around, she was met with the visage of red compound eyes that showed envy and displeasure.
"I sting yo face…!" Beedrill hissed.
Harper took notice of where his eyes were trained and looked down at the Honey jar. On instinct, she pulled it closer to her chest, an act that made Beedrill's buzzing all the more rampant. In a quick-ditch save, she held out her half-eaten jam jar to the bee.
"I sting yo face?" He gave the jar a questionable look, then back at Harper. His antennae shriveled at the sugars that were being sensed inside, though not as strong as the Honey was. He acquiesced out of his own curiosity and pinched the jar between his two lances. He slowly dipped his head into the jar and tasted the sugary, berry-flavored jam. It was so tasty that his antennae shuddered stiff.
"I sting yo face!" He buzzed with shocking delight. "I sting yo face…"
Both he and Harper then looked at each other, their bizarre gazes parallel with them looking at the opposite jars and then back at each other. They turned away from each other at the same time and resumed sampling in silence.
For Kevin, he continued watching besides Sakura as recess continued. The two adults were carefully observing the kids as they resumed their recreational period, with the inclusion of Pokémon to help spice things up. From the looks on their faces, they seemed to be having fun.
Sakura let out a sigh of relief. "I was worried there for a second. I didn't realize that you had your own Pokémon."
Kevin turned towards her, getting right to the point. "You still worried about what happened with that rebellion?"
Sakura looked down, guilt washing over her. "I'd be lying if I said it didn't bother me a little…"
To a certain standpoint, Kevin understood her plight against it. He focused on the swings, where April and May were having a competition to see who could swing the highest against each other. April was winning. "Yeah, I don't blame you. That incident really stuck a bump in the road. Even now, the news of people still recovering from the incident doesn't have a silver lining, well, not yet anyways." He commented. "But that aside, really it's more of who influences the Pokémon. I promise you, they may seem eccentric, but they're all good 'mons."
Sakura watched Jace chase Raticate around the grassy fields, seeing the bright smile on his face as he finally had someone to keep up with him. A soft smile came across her face. "Yes…I can see that now. Thank you."
As she was expressing her gratitude, Kevin frowned. He could tell that she was sincere about her being grateful, but there was something else that itched that he couldn't scratch. The longer he stared at Sakura, the more his mind ticked with wonder.
"You seem to care a lot about these kids, don't you?" He shifted towards her. "Not that it's any of my business, but tell me…what made you decide to wanna be a teacher in the first place?"
Sakura's blinked at the abrupt question. "Huh? Oh, that? Well…" She looked out towards the kids playing, that included Liam being saved from a fall off the playground by Swadloon and his String Shot. "It's just like what I said before. It feels like a necessary job to help the kids learn about new things."
"I gotcha. Guess you're not wrong there." He looked far out at Brien and Louis, both looking bored and annoyed as they were still in time-out.
Sakura continued. "Though, if I'm being personal…there is another reason."
Kevin raised a brow. He saw that her tone had dropped considerably as her smile turned hollower.
"The truth is, well…I can't have children of my own…I'm infertile."
This caught Kevin off guard as his eyes widened behind his shades.
"My husband and I, we were trying so hard, but nothing we did worked or lasted as long as we thought it would. It wasn't until we visited a doctor that we learned the truth about my insufficient eggs." She looked down disheartened, but shook her head and looked back at him with a nervous smile. "So…we can't have a family."
Kevin wanted to say something out of condolence, but he was cut off again.
"B-but it's okay, really!" She insisted, trying to gain more composure. "Even if I can't have kids of my own, this job helps with that. I get to see young ones grow and mature, and learn more about them. So you see, being a teacher is the closest thing to raising kids. I know it may seem like a silly reason…but seeing them enjoy their lives knowing I was able to push them in that direction…I think that makes it all worth it, don't you?"
Kevin frowned as he let her words sink deep into his mind. He was left to ponder about. Even though she didn't mean it, it unintentionally made him think of Ella again. Being a parent prior, he could relate to her dismay at the lack of children. But he found himself staring at the numerous children around him that were uplifted by his Pokémon. It left him with this weird feeling in his gut that he couldn't get rid of.
"Hmm…" A small hum escaped him as he continued watching, his contemplation fading to the back of his mind.
As Jace and Raticate were running away by a pursuing Beedrill with Kai between his lances, they passed by a tree, where something was hidden by the shadows of the thick oak leaves observing all the merriment of the children.
After recess, it was time for the kids to have their lunch period. Since the school's staff was all but vacant, they were inscribed by Sakura to bring their own lunches. For the safety of the kids as well, Sakura had their lunch period inside the classroom than the auditorium itself.
Many of the kids had foods that were otherwise fine with ambient level temperatures, as most of their foods were. But that didn't stop them from enjoying their meals.
In particular, this included Liam, whose lunch was the heftiest. His lunch consisted of foods ranging from apples, to an assortment of pastries from his parents' business, which of course didn't go unnoticed by a certain sweet-loving little girl who drooled at the products.
"Anais, stop staring. You're gonna drool again." Maple sighed.
Anais snapped out of her trance and quickly wiped the saliva seeping off the side of her face. "Oh! Hehe…sorry…"
As the majority of the class was enjoying their lunch periods, Brien and Louis were less than enthusiastic about theirs. They had their heads down, embarrassed after what happened. But that didn't stop them from filling their stomachs with their lunches; in Louis's case, prepared by his home chef.
Kevin was chucking down a bottle of Moomoo Milk – with a touch of vanilla for flavor. Another deluxe specialty provided by the Miltank of the Cambire Foundation. He looked around and saw the many kids were talking to each other in groups of their own. Though, he could make out partially what some of them were saying.
"I didn't know Pokémon were that crafty."
"I know, right? That little bug in leaves sounds funny, but he's actually really cool."
"No way. That crab can play a mean game of checkers! Did you see what he did to Patrick?"
"That first one was a fluke!"
"Then what do you call the last three games?"
"That rat was so big and fast! I almost tagged it!"
"That bee was flying so fast, I thought I was gonna fall off there."
"Why does it keep saying 'I sting yo face' over and over though?"
"Probably threatening us if we didn't play with it?"
"I don't know…it seemed pretty calm eating Harper's jam. Maybe it likes sweet things?"
Kevin looked over at Harper, who was still eating the jar of Honey that he gave her during recess. Only instead he saw that she was already halfway done with the whole thing. 'That girl just really love her Honey too now.'
He could also see Isabela showing off the weaved embroidery that Swadloon made for her in front of Anais and Maple, earning awe from her admirers. He noticed Aaron sketching something that looked like Kevin's Raticate – but chose to let him be due to how engrossed he looked. It looked good though. He even saw Kai, who, unsurprisingly, was still picking some of the thread off Louis's clothes for him without a word of thanks.
Sakura, who was eating an apple, turned towards Kevin. "Thank you for allowing the kids to play with your Pokémon at recess today."
"Don't mention it." He dismissed, taking another bite of his berry. "It's not like I'd let 'em out knowing they'd cause a ruckus. When I was in school, we always went bonkers when Trainers came to visit and let us play with their Pokémon. Figured I'd try the same thing and it just worked itself out."
"I see…wait, then does that mean you're from the other world? The one where these Pokémon came from?"
Kevin nodded. "Yeah, pretty much. But it's fine. Not like I'm homesick or anything if you're worried about that. This place isn't half-bad if you give it a shot. It's really not so different if you think about it, aside from the whole magic aspect."
"I…see. So, what was the other world like?"
Kevin turned towards the ceiling. "Well, from where I came from, I lived and worked in a place called Vermilion City in a region called Kanto. It's a pretty subtle port city. People were always mindful of their waste and trash because they didn't want to worry about Grimer like Celadon City does."
Sakura didn't tether to what a Grimer was. She assumed that was another Pokémon. She thought of something else. "It must be distressing being apart from your family and loved ones."
"It was at first." He admitted. "But it's not so bad here either. It's like I'm homesick. Besides, I have a good gig with a mage guild, went on some adventures, and had a…" He trailed off as he thought about Ella once more. He caught his traction before Sakura could put a word in. "…well, let's just say that I learned some things about myself that I didn't know before."
Sakura smiled.
"Mister P?"
Both teacher and Trainer jumped again when they saw Aidan between them. Kevin looked startled again. "We gotta look into getting you a bell or something, little man. Sheesh…"
"What is it, Adrian?" Sakura spoke.
"What was it like back in your world? Were there a lot more Pokémon there?" he asked.
"Oh! Me too! I wanna know what kinds of sweets they've got over there!" Anais chimed in.
"Are any of these Pokémon also smart? Could they understand human games?" Patrick questioned.
Brien folded his arms and grunted. "This should be good."
"Yes! Lunch and story time!" Jace cheered with crumbs around his cheeks.
Kevin saw the many kids were awing at him, some more than others. When he looked towards Sakura, he saw that she was staring expectantly at him. Seeing that she was equally as curious, he knew turning away now would be a crime.
He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Well, where should I start? For one thing – Anais – we've got a lot of different foods like korokke and Slowpoke Tail…"
As he was indulging the curiosity of the class, educating them sort of speak, the cupboards where the toys were hidden away. Everyone was so engrossed in their guest that they didn't see a pair of eyes glimmering in the slightly open door before it silently closed.
With the sound of the last bell, all the kids vacated the school. They all either went home walking, or were picked up by their parents or guardians. Liam was picked up by carriage with a fancy-looking driver with a sleek brown boar towing the expensive-looking luxury. Nobody looked when Brien was getting dragged away by his mother, because if they did, they would have seen him fearing as he was pulled by the ear.
Sakura gave them all one final word as they left. "All of you do your homework for tomorrow. That means you too, Brien!"
It took a while, but once the kids were gone, that left Kevin and Sakura. With the children gone, that left the adults to tend to their own work.
"I'm really sorry about them today. I know that you're here for a job an all." Sakura apologized. "But still, thank you for everything you did today."
"Don't mention it." Kevin grinned. "Honestly, it wasn't as bad as you made it sound." He could still remember their faces when he told them about his adventure to the Alvarez Empire and facing some bad guys. Their eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. It made him chuckle.
"I'm glad." Sakura continued. "But still, it's unfortunate that you didn't find any traces of these strange occurrences. What are we going to do?"
Kevin sensed her distress and out his hands to his hips. "Listen, it's not like these incidents can happen when you want them to. All these sound like they happen when no one's looking. I'll stay over tonight to be sure about this."
Her eyes widened. "Y-You mean it?"
"Of course I am. I came here for a job, right? If I skipped out after just one day, it wouldn't look good for either of us. I'm telling you, I'm not leaving until this problem is solved."
Sakura stared with awe at his response. For the most part, Kevin was profoundly laid-back and mildly calm. Even with his shades on, she could tell how serious he was about his dedication to this job. Maybe it was because he sympathized with her or he worried about his guild's reputation, but he was willing to put up with these problems with no hesitation.
After a period of pondering, the awestruck teacher smiled sincerely gain. "Then…you'll need this." She reached into her pocket and pulled out an item, handing it to Kevin.
"What's this?"
"It's the master key to the building. The Principal had this before me. If you really intend to stay over and see this to the end, that will come in use in an emergency."
Kevin looked down at the key once more before returning the small grin. "Right."
"I need to get home. My husband is waiting for me. Please…be careful." With that, the teacher turned to make her way back home. Her words hung in the air as Kevin interpreted them like some hidden plea for his safety.
Once she was out of sight, Kevin exhaled and turned back towards the school. As fun as a day this was, it was time to get to business. No stone is going unturned with stakes like these. He reached into his pockets and pulled out his Pokémon.
"Alright…come on out, guys!"
Once more, all his Pokémon appeared in front of him.
"Alright boys, we've got another lookout job on our hands. I say we divide ourselves up and catch what these happenings really are." He turned towards Beedrill. "Beedrill, you stay outside and patrol the schoolgrounds. You see anything suspicious…"
"I sting yo face!" Beedrill jabbed the air violently, emphasizing his point.
"…yeah. That." He turned towards Raticate, Krabby, and Swadloon. "And the rest of us will be inside looking around."
"Sound strategy. Nice way to start the game." Krabby pinched his claws.
"GAHAHA! Okay, let's do it!" Raticate yelped.
Swadloon hummed. "I'd say we'd be better off all extra snug with one another, but we can make it work. We always do…Mmmmm…"
With a nod of resolution, Kevin made way back into the building, with Raticate, Krabby, and Swadloon shuffling and pacing behind him to keep up before the doors shut behind them. Beedrill was left outside as he buzzed off into the air.
As the operation went underway, they were unaware of the blinds that peeked from a classroom and watched the Trainer walk back inside. The bare strips of light barely caught four amorphous figures.
"Looks like we've got ourselves another one." One of the figments mused.
"Heh, he looks easy. I wonder how long he'll last before he starts running like the rest?" Another figment sneered, this one having a feminine voice.
"I give him till midnight this time." Another figure spoke up in a harsh whispered tone.
The second figure snickered. "Really? I'd give it before that."
"That one lady's got some nerves when we're spooking the rest this much. The building should be closed by now." A fourth figure whined.
"We know, but then they hire this guy." The first figure's eyes narrowed, his pointed teeth making a smirk. "But not much longer. If we scare him off, they won't have a choice…let's have some fun with this one."
The four figures snickered crudely in the darkness. Unbeknownst to the Trainer, he was in for a long night.
As the daylight sank in the far west, the light lacrima lit up in front of the school's gates. The orange hue in the sky gradually faded to darkness that signaled dusk.
Beedrill buzzed across the schoolyard, turning his head left and right as he scoped for anything suspicious. When there wasn't he buzzed slowly towards another area.
Meanwhile, inside the school's halls, Kevin walked around with a flashlight in his hand. Thankfully, the school had some in the storage area within the gym for him to use in case of emergencies. He knew that since the school's lights were set on a timer so as not to burn out the light lacrima, they wouldn't be on until morning.
Swadloon and Raticate were paired together, the latter's vision giving him a better view of everything that moved in the dark. Plus his whiskers and ears, he was perfect for this job. He didn't mind Swadloon tagging along since safety in numbers. It certainly had nothing to do with Swadloon's personal gains. Not at all.
A door creaked open, allowing for Krabby to scuttle in and look around. With the very low lightning, he could make out that it was another classroom with indigo-painted walls aside from the window wall. After scanning, he pinched his claws together.
"Hm, another vacant space." The checkers-enthusiast crab was about to scuttle back out, until the corner of his eye caught note of something at the bottom of a bookshelf. "Hm? Is that…?"
He scuttled across the ovular rug pass the desks and went up towards the bookshelf. There, at the bottom shelf with numerous other boxed games was one labeled "Checkers". Instantly, his eyes widened with glee.
"Ahhh~…" He awed with delight at the game that made up his word. He looked around to see if anyone was looking, or if Kevin was coming. When the coast was clear, he discretely snipped with a small snicker. "Well…a quick game won't hurt. But just one. Don't wanna make Kevin and the others worry."
The river crab snickered to himself as he reached for the box. What could go wrong?
In a few moments, he had the board sat up, both sides fixed with their respective colored chips in their spaces.
"Alright, now let's see, which should I move first…?" Krabby hummed to himself as he scanned the board. "How about…this one!" T=With his right claw, he pinched a chip and placed it in a different spot.
"Okay, now for the other side." He paused before exhaling. "Man, playing by yourself is never the same. That Patrick fellow from before, he had some grit. That was fun."
Suddenly, he heard a small creak, making him turn.
"Huh?!" He looked back at the door. Worried, he scuttled over and peeked out to see if anyone was there. When he looked left and then right, both directions showed empty halls. He sighed in relief. "Phew…just a squeaky door."
He scuttled back to the board. "Okay, let's move that…huh?" When he looked at the board, he noticed something different about it. One of the opposite chips was out of place. He blinked several times in confusion. "That's weird…did I move a piece? I could've sworn I just started…"
Despite his initial confusion, he chose not to let get to him. "Oh well, guess I can work with this." He reached for another chip and placed it in another spot. "Okay, now it's your…turn…?"
He trailed off for a good reason. Either the darkness was playing with his vision, but was one of the chips actually…levitating. He rubbed his eyes with his claws just to be sure. Sure enough, it was!
In his speechless state, he watched the piece being placed in another square, mirroring the same motions he did.
"Uh…uh…" He blinked feverishly, just he needed to be sure. He cautiously slid another chip. Sure enough, another chip was picked up and moved closer to his side. As the realization dawned upon him, he looked at the board with an epiphany.
"Huh, is the game possessed?" He suddenly got fired up. "Heh…then I guess I'll have to beat you at your own game! Bring it!"
…
Raticate's claws raked across the tiled flooring, but Swadloon didn't seem to mind. As the later was slowly sauntering, he noticed the art door was unlocked. "Oh, what do we have here? Somebody didn't lock up properly."
"Oh! Oh! I hope there's cheese in dere!" Raticate excitedly hoped.
Swadloon hummed. "Hmm…well, guess it can't hurt to look and see what's inside. Follow me~."
He shuffled his way into the door. It opened to reveal the art room, which had one light lacrima going as a lamp. With it, they looked around and noticed all the various art drawings and paintings that were done by the young children that previously attended. The canvases and papers that were pinned to the board and window were an assortment of subjects ranging from daily life, to sunshine and rainbows. A few had animals and some Pokémon in them.
"Aw, what a swank little place this is. These kids sure are creative." Swadloon admired, his head turning towards the picture to his left. To his surprise, it was a painting of himself – or Swadloon in general. "Well, I'll be. I've got some admirers. I wonder who they be~?"
"Woooow~ Swadloon, dere's just so many. I don't know where to look." Raticate ogled.
"Seems like we think alike. Hmmm…"
As the two were walking by some art, they were unaware by the pair of eyes belonging to a picture of a Pidgeotto. With their backs turned, they didn't realize the one visible eye suddenly moved, glaring at them.
…
Kevin walked down the open hallway, scanning everything visible to him shine by the flashlight. 'Looks like nothing's here either.'
He frowned in disappointment. He looked around the whole building, but nothing seemed out of place. He knew better than to look the other way, especially with his past experience backing up that assumption. The solemn feeling in the empty school didn't help his mood either.
'It's feeling pretty dreary now…I would have normally pulled out those 'special files' for my cool, but…' He looked up, noticing the small crystal lacrima edged in the ceiling. 'Better save that for another time. Man, I gotta empty the tank…'
He looked ahead and noticed the bathrooms he passed by earlier. What pure coincidence. He went into the boy's open hall and went for the urinal.
As he unzipped and did his business, he glanced up at the ceiling, seeing the light lacrima were still on. 'I'll probably swing by the cafeteria. Maybe they might have something in their fridges that I can snack on…'
"Hoooo~!"
He froze up when he heard a wailing echo. His neck bones straightened as he felt stiff. As he was still urinating, he looked left and right as the room went silent.
"The hell was that just now?" he whispered.
"Hooooooo!"
His eyes widened as he looked towards the stalls on his left. He could feel the noise from inside the walls of the stalls.
'In there…?' He furrowed his brows in suspicion. He finished his business and zipped up . He flushed the urinal and went over to the sink and washed his hands.
"Hooooooo!"
He heard it clearly compared to before. His eyes trained on the stalls, specifically the one closest to wall. He looked at the tiling and didn't see any feet or shoes – a subtle indication to occupancy. 'No one, huh…is this those screaming bathrooms that she told me about?'
He went over and stood in front of the stall door. He took a moment to take a deep breath and steel himself. He knocked twice using his knuckles on the door and got no answer.
'No response…guess it's time to see.'
He touched the door and slowly pried the stall open.
"AAAAAHHHHHHHHH~!"
A loud, harsh scream startled Kevin so bad that he jumped back and slipped onto his butt. He was in too much shock from the scream that he didn't feel the recoil and veered away in shock.
"The hell was that?!" He harshly whispered. He blinked several times as he slowly got back up. The stall went silent again as he glanced at it with awe and worry.
He slowly approached the stall once more – keeping a greater distance than before. With his arm stretched out, his fingertips nudged the door again.
"AAAAHHHHHHHHH~!"
The sound of a painful scream echoed again. Kevin cringed and pulled his hand away. This time he was much more prepared. He furrowed his brow and tried again, only for another scream to echo. Frustrated, he covered his ears and kicked the door open instead.
However, on the other side, there was nothing put a toilet and toilet paper dispenser.
He frowned heavily. "Okay…something's definitely wrong now."
Suddenly, the stall door slammed shut behind him, trapping him inside.
He whipped around in shock. He didn't close it! And it was pretty light from the touch. He watched as the metal lock moved by itself and locked him inside.
"Okay…don't panic…it's just a bathroom. It can't hurt you." He told himself, trying to keep the last fragments of rationality from jumping out the window.
The ceiling lights gradually flickered overhead. The moment they went off, the entire bathroom went pitch-black, as did his mood.
"Of course. I just had to Jynx myself."
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH~!" The bathroom screeched wildly in its enclosed darkness for Kevin alone.
…
Inside the art room, Raticate and Swadloon were taking a short break for themselves. They satiated their own curiosity with the materials in the art room and found themselves engaged in their own styles of art.
Raticate held up a recently finished drawing with crude but still legible aspects. "Hey Swadloon, check this out! I drew a picture of a Miltank eating a carrot in the middle of a ranch and it's raining and the hills are on fire in the background because it's so cwazy!" He maniacally laughed.
"Aw, ain't that creative." Swadloon chimed, turning to him with rings of construction paper made into a long chain with alternating colors of dark green, bright green, and yellow. "And here's what my swank little mind thought of."
"GAHAHAHA! It looks like a prison chain! You think it can work?" Raticate mused.
"Now don't be silly. It's just a little craft." His pointed mouth curved slightly. "Unless you wanna play knights and crooks. Try and tie me up, rat boy. Mmmm~."
Raticate didn't show interest, if any. "Thanks, but maybe later."
Suddenly, they heard a faint scream from down the hall, making their heads turn.
"You hear that?"
"I sure did. Wonder who be making noise now?"
"I don't know…" Raticate turned to check the door, but his eyes were fixed on something else. "Oh! Hey, did you paint that?"
"Hm?" When Swadloon turned, his smirk faltered. "Oh my…"
Their eyes focused on a canvas that sat on a pedestal for them to see. With the low lighting, they could make out the vague wording with messy slabs of red paint that looked a lot like fresh blood. In crude, big lettering, it had two words dripping down the paper:
GET OUT
Their eyes fixed on the droplets of red falling to the ground. It looked like blood dripping from a corpse; the prospect made their demeanors sour.
"Um, Ratty. Was this you?" Swadloon quietly asked.
Raticate shook his head. "Nope, I didn't draw that one…oh, look!"
Both turned and saw Raticate's recent picture. To their horror – and Raticate's chagrin – they saw that the hysterical scene was overlapped with red paint that spelled the words "GET OUT". It didn't help that the lighting on the lamp flickered to make them uneasy.
"Ohmygod! Not my drawing! Aaaah!" Raticate screamed.
"Oh my…something's telling me that we ain't alone in here."
The realization sank in. The two looked around, keeping an eye out for anything else out of place. Wherever they looked, all the paintings and pretty art pictures were overlapped with the same words telling them to get out. The once cheerful room was soon saturated with red, bloody paint that made them uneasy by the second.
As they both stepped away from the disturbing sight, the shadows behind them had bright eyes gleaming, long black hands slowly reaching out to them with the tips drenched in dripping red. The instant they realized something was behind them, they fearfully turned to look…
Loud screams were heard through the portraits on the window, shading any view of what happened inside.
…
Krabby was so engrossed in his game that the agonizing wails and screams went unnoticed by him. He was scanning the board and saw the numerous spaces that were once occupied by both the black and red chips were diminishing gradually. But he still had a few more than his "opponent".
"Hmmm…" Krabby watched as an opposing chip slid across the board to another spot. Immediately, his eyes widened. He saw an opportunity!
He grabbed his adjacent chip and hopped it across the board, bypassing over numerous pieces towards the other side. "King me!" He pinched his claws in joy.
He waited for what was to happen now that he won…only his jovial mood went south when the gameboard suddenly flipped, sending the chips raining down around him. The startled crab shuffled away with shock and uneasiness.
"Uh…n-now let's…try and be a good sport here." He reasoned. Suddenly, he felt his weight shift drastically. Before he knew it, he looked down and saw that his four legs were dangling an foot off the ground as his claws were up over his head. "Gah! What's going on!? I-I'm not a fan of heights now...hey!"
Suddenly, he was whipped out of the classroom and glided down the dark hallway. "Gah! Help! Okay, fine! We can do best 2 out of 3! Just let me down!"
…
Kevin stumbled out of the pitch-black restroom, borderline falling out. He rested his hand against the wall as he was catching his breath.
"Good Arceus…the hell kind of restroom was that?" He grimaced. "Definitely not kid friendly…"
Just when he felt his heart rate going down, it jolted back up when he heard screams from down the hall. This time with his flashlight, he caught the visage of Raticate and Swadloon running towards him, both smothered in red liquid.
"What the…guys?!"
They both ran up to him, both looking uneasy and mortified.
"GAAAH! KEVIN! IT'S SO CWAZY! WE GOT ATTACKED BY A BLOODY GREMLIN WITH LONG HANDS!" Raticate cried out.
"A bloody gremlin…?" he parroted.
"Well, it's something alright." Swadloon whined. "And whatever it was, it'll take me forever to get these stains off my leaves…"
Kevin's earlier appetite went south as he looked at the red liquid staining their fur and leaves. He used an index finger and slowly traced the red liquid on Swadloon's body. He brought the red finger close to his nose and gave it a small sniff. His nose scrunched with the scent. "Acrylic paint?"
"HELP ME~! I'M FLYING TOO FAST!" From down the hall, everyone whipped around as Kevin pointed his flashlight at the direction of the cry. To their horror and utter disbelief, they saw Krabby gliding through the air towards them.
"Krabby?!" All three panicked.
"OHMYGOD! A FLYING CRAB! THAT'S SO CWAZY!" Raticate yelled.
"You're right for once! That is crazy!" Swadloon agreed.
Krabby nudged his claws as he flailed closer. "GET ME DOWN! I CAN'T STOP FOR SOME REASON! PLEASE!"
Kevin got over his initial shock and swiped his arm. "Swadloon, quick! Use String Shot and reel him back down!"
Swadloon opened his mouth and unleashed a long, thick thread at Krabby. The sticky thread wrapped around his lower-half – while also reducing his Speed as a consequence – and was roped back towards them.
"I gotcha!" Kevin reached out and grabbed Krabby as the String Shot lost its hold on him. "Hey, you good pal?"
"K-K-Kevin…! What just happened?" Krabby fearfully replied. "I-I was just playing a quick game, and then I won, and then the board flipped! And next thing I knew, I was flying!"
"What-?!"
"AAAAAHHHHHHHHH~! AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH~!"
A bloodcurdling cry echoed through the walls. It sounded like a soul reaping vengeance on the living. Kevin and his Pokémon fearfully looked around for any signs of the screaming with the flashlight, but got nothing. Their ears were starting to ache as much as their heads.
'Crap! We're sitting Psyducks right now!' Kevin quickly turned with Krabby still in his hands. "Guys! Follow me!"
"No need to tell us twice!" Swadloon shuffled across the floor as Raticate spurred across the tiling.
Kevin made a dash through the building away from the wailing and outcries. As he drew closer towards the front, he made a turn down the adjacent hallway and turned several corners until he made it to the gymnasium.
"In here!" Kevin opened the double doors and burst in. The moment he did, his eyes widened at the critical mistake that was. "Oh boy…"
All around the other side of the gymnasium, dodgeballs were floating in midair, as if waiting for them. Dozens of dodgeballs suddenly launched themselves at the Trainer and his company.
"Swadloon, quick! Protect!" Kevin commanded.
Swadloon hopped in front and stood ready. "Y'all hunker down! I got this!" He leaned forward and manifested a translucent forcefield that took the bombardment of dodgeballs. They all ricocheted off the barrier's surface in random directions, quickly littering the wooden floor with red rubber.
"Great…it's my childhood all over again." Kevin muttered low. "C'mon!" He turned and ran out the gymnasium, with Raticate hauling Swadloon as the latter kept his Protect going until the doors closed tight behind him. Even from the other side, the sounds of balls hammering the wall echoed faintly.
Kevin ran through the school, heading for another place for cover. 'The cafeteria!' He rushed into the auditorium and assembly area into the cafeteria doors where the meal prep was done. Again, it turned out to be a huge mistake.
The moment he opened it, the other side revealed floating utensils dancing around. For a moment, they weren't minding him until they all suddenly turned and pointed their sharp ends at him.
"You've gotta be kidding me…"
The forks and knives all fired at him. Before Kevin could react, Krabby jumped out of his arms. "I got this one!" His pincers glowed metallic grey as he swiped his Metal Claw, batting all the kitchen utensils back and scattered across the ground.
"Nice going, Krabby! Let's get going before this school decides to serve crab legs!" Kevin ushered Krabby out and quickly closed the door. The small group was running out of breath, and more importantly, places to hide. No matter where they turned, the wails never stopped, and their anxiety was skyrocketing. Any sane person would have probably passed out from fright right about now. But Kevin just needed a place to think!
'At least I was able to use the restroom! No telling how long I'd hold after all this!'
He finally made a turn and noticed the music room. He whipped the door open and ushered everyone inside. He slammed the door shut behind and hastily used a chair to secure the door from opening and let the accursed spirits in.
Finally, they all had a moment to catch their breath. They were so exhausted that they were ready to collapse.
"Geez…what is wrong with this place?! For real!" Kevin outlashed. His patience had reached its breaking point. He used the back of his hands and wiped away saliva from his mouth. "We…we should be good now. I don't hear any screaming from around here."
"I wanna go to bed now!" Raticate whined.
"Oh Raticate. Be a big boy. It'll be alright." Swadloon chimed. "Could be worse."
"How so?" Krabby punctually challenged.
A piano note suddenly went off, garnering their attention. A mixture of both exhaust and disbelief formed on their faces as they slowly paneled towards the piano that sat in the corner. Either Kevin's flashlight was dying out, or they were seeing the piano play itself. They could only watch as the notes had a classy but equally chill feeling that sank underneath their skin.
"Good Arceus…why?" Kevin grunted.
The group watched the piano slow down gradually until the notes were slowly reaching their end. The moment the last high note was met, the flashlight in Kevin's grip finally went out.
"Um, fellows…not that I don't mind being all snuggled up close and all, but…I wanna go home now." Swadloon whispered.
The lights in the room suddenly began flickering on and off. The four nearly jumped when they saw the instruments that were all neatly stacked were floating in the air in various places around them. Flutes, recorders, kazoos, and even orchestra instruments were plucked and blown into by some invisible force. The entire music room became an ensemble of terrible, uncoordinated noises that they couldn't escape from.
"This way! Let's get out of here!" Kevin pried the chair away with haste and tried opening the door. However, the handle wouldn't budge. "The hell…? The lock's jammed! Crap!" He whipped around as he and his Pokémon were surrounded by floating instruments that got closer with every flicker of the lights.
'C'mon, think Mister P! You've got something to get out of this!' His eyes widened as he realized what he still had. "BEEDRILL!"
Outside in the schoolgrounds, Beedrill was laying on a tree branch, his lances pinning the jam jar he was given earlier from Harper. He was enjoying his snack break when his antennae bristled from the faint cry coming from inside the building.
"I sting yo face?" He turned back towards the building, tilting his head slightly in confusion. He could've sworn somebody called him name.
He then noticed the lights flickering on and off inside the building repeatedly. Needless to say, he buzzed his way back into the air and zoomed towards the crisis.
Kevin tried ramming the door with a shoulder charge, but it wasn't strong enough to budge it. After several tries, he stumbled backwards and collapsed against the wall.
'Shit! I knew I should've brought some Escape Rope with me!' A big mistake on his part. He could've used it by now and gotten out of this deathtrap of an education center. He looked at Raticate, Swadloon, and Krabby, all whom were cringing from the instruments playing in circles around them. 'Can't even think straight with all this noise. If we don't get out of here soon, we just might…!'
A flute let out high-strung notes as it was daintily closing in on some. As lights flickered on and off, Kevin was transfixed on the figment drawing near. He didn't have much mental orientation to really move anymore. He just watched in a half-lucid state as the instrument was inches away from his face.
So lucid in fact, that when the lights went on for a brief second, he swore he saw a creature with hair-like appendages holding the flute and playing it.
It wasn't long, but he knew what he saw. 'Wait a minute, was that…?'
In the midst of his epiphany, the door was suddenly broken into by an enormous stinger. There was a huge hole in the wooden door as Beedrill buzzed his way in. "I STING YO FACE!"
"Beedrill!" Kevin snapped back to reality, looking relieved. "You have no idea how happy I am that you're here!"
The Trainer looked at the flute and disregarded the earlier velation. He grabbed the instrument and tossed it aside before rolling away and up to his feet beside Beedrill. He pointed a finger at the numerous instruments in the air.
"Alright, use Pin Missile!"
"I sting yo face!" Beedrill beat his wings even faster as his abdominal stinger glowed bright white. He took aim and unleashed a barrage of four lance-like energy arrows that seared through the room.
As the projectiles whistled through the atmosphere, the music stopped completely and the instruments all abruptly pulled out of the direction of the missiles as they continued through the room, hitting the walls and exploding.
With the move distracting the instruments, Kevin reached through the hole in the door and pulled open the handle from outside. Once open, everyone rushed out at his command, and they all followed him. Though that wasn't to say that they were scot-free as the instruments weren't falling far behind them.
"What do we do now? No matter where we go, they follow us!" Krabby panicked. He was falling behind drastically due to the effects of String Shot, but luckily Beedrill caught this and carried him between his lances.
"We gotta hide! Follow me!" Kevin picked up the pace and turned the next corner on his left. There just a few meters ahead was a door labeled "Janitor Closet". He hastily reached for the Master Key that Sakura gave him earlier and inserted it. The locked turned with a click and he wasted no time prying the door open and whisking himself and his Pokémon inside. The door slammed shut behind him with a loud click.
The floating instruments continued making noise as they flew pass the door, seemingly unaware of the detour their victims had taken.
Kevin and his Pokémon were standing completely still, the only source of light being Kevin's flashlight lacrima, which had begun dimming from excessive use. But it was enough to make out the cleaning equipment they were surrounded by. But that was the least of their concerns as they were all close together and keeping quiet as the music was getting further away.
After a minute of silence, the five eventually were able to let out a heavy sigh as they slowly slumped to the ground.
"I think…we should stay in here for a while." Krabby muttered.
"Yeah, me too. I'm pooped…" Raticate labored.
"I sting yo face." Beedrill buzzed lowly.
Kevin didn't say anything. He just closed his eyes as he was focusing on keeping his heart rate down. It was too dangerous to go back out there. For now, they needed to take a breather while they still had a chance to breathe.
'Just…need a few minutes…is all.' With those last thoughts, his weary mind gradually faded to black.
The sound of a knob turning stirred an uncomfortable Kevin up from his untranquil daze. He was met with a bright light with a figure whose shadow overcast his face. As his vision came to, the blurry visage became recognizable to him.
"…vin…Kevin?!" A familiar voice called out to him.
He blinked twice. "Huh…Sakura…?" He gasped and shot up, but he had a struggle as his back ached. Sleeping against the mop bucket was not recommended, he mentally noted.
"Are you alright? Here, let me help you!" She bent down and helped Kevin out of the closet by guiding him with a hand.
"Gngh, thanks…" He used his spare hand to rub his aching head. As he sauntered out, Beedrill followed behind, along with Krabby, Raticate, and finally Swadloon.
"Gnngh…is it time to come out of the closet?" Swadloon groaned, too tired to acknowledge the irony of what he said.
"I was getting hungry. I was worried I'd have to eat a pillar or two." Raticate feverishly admitted.
Krabby collapsed, looking relieved. "I never thought I'd miss daylight this much! I'm starting to get sick of all these dark, cramp spaces."
"That makes two of us." Kevin groaned.
"I checked the security footage just to be sure. I looked like you were running around a lot like something was chasing you." Sakura worriedly said.
He rubbed his head. "Yeah, that's the sum of it." He realized something and turned towards her. "Hold on a second, did those cameras ever catch anything?"
Sakura shook her head. "Afraid not. I checked almost three times just to be sure, but when I went to see for myself, I couldn't believe it." She still remembered how uneasy she felt when she saw the gym floor covered in dodgeballs, and the art room's wonderful art being vandalized. She didn't want to say it out loud, but last night was the worst case she's seen since the beginning of this whole incident.
"I'm so sorry. I never imagined things would get this far out of hand." Her frown dampened as her gaze fell to the floor. "If even a mage can't solve this, then we don't have much of a choice…we'll have to close the building, won't we?"
Kevin frowned as his gaze fell to the floor. He really didn't like it either, but he understood the situation. "Yeah, you just might…"
Sakura closed her eyes. She felt her heart sink with regret.
"At least until I round up the problem, that is."
Her eyes opened, turning to face Kevin. "W-what was that?"
Kevin put a hand to his chin. "Last night, I probably was hysterical…but I could've sworn I saw something when the lights were flickering. But if what I saw really was the real thing…then there might still be a way."
"What are you saying?" Sakura questioned. "You know how to lift our school's curse?"
"You can say that. But listen." He gave her a serious glare. "Whatever happens, make sure that you keep an eye on those kids. Make sure they don't leave your room alone. We'll fix this before tonight, if my hunch is right."
Sakura slowly nodded. "Uh, right."
"I gotta go get some stuff that I need…" A loud grumble was heard from his stomach. "And get some food and a nice shower…we'll be back soon."
In the main office room, a security footage from the lacrima showed Kevin and his Pokémon leaving the front doors of the building. Little did anyone know, the monitor was under watch.
"For real? That's where he was hiding?" The female figure exasperated. "Ah, and here I thought we drove him out like the rest!"
"Who're you to complain? You had the most fun out of all of us." Another figure chastised.
"Yeah, you scared that guy so bad that he collapsed!"
"Heh, well it's better than you. You got beat to a crab in a boardgame."
"…don't remind me."
"But it looks like classes are going today as well." Another figment hissed. "What do we do?"
"Hmmm…" The biggest figment rubbed his chin with his hand, which had three claws. A small smirk crossed his face. "I guess it's time to stop pulling our punches. Today's education…will be a ghost story."
The school bell rung, signaling the start of the school day. Despite the issues that transpired earlier, Sakura was able to clean up the majority of it before Kevin returned to help finish up the rest. The only thing they couldn't remedy completely was the art room's pictures, which they consequently had to take down.
Sakura began by clapping her hands twice. "Good morning, class!"
"Good morning, Mrs. Meela!" Everyone greeted.
"Now then, I know that you all have homework, but before that, I have an important announcement to make." She noticed a hand up. "Yes, Maple?"
"Uh yes, Mrs. Meela. I have to know…what's Mister P doing with that box?"
True to her speculations, Kevin stood off to the side, having a cardboard box in hand that was filled with products.
"That's a good question, Maple. That's actually what I was about to tell you kids." Sakura continued. "You see, Kevin here has brought with him some valuable equipment here today that he would like to share with you all. Kevin, if you would?"
Kevin nodded. "Sure thing." He reached into the box, pulling out a small can with a green label and a Poké Ball logo on it with a spritz lid on top.
"What's that?" Jace questioned.
"Looks like bug spray." Kai blurted out.
"These? It's a special little thing that will keep this school's curse from getting to you." Kevin smiled, turning towards Sakura. "Right?"
Sakura hummed and nodded. "That's right. Kevin was kind enough to give us these for the time being. So everyone make sure you take one and spray yourselves so the curse doesn't affect you."
"What are those?" Sakura looked at the box of small cans that were neatly stacked in a small cardboard box Kevin held.
"Remember how I said that I had to get something? Well, this was one of them. These are called Repels. They're special repellents that distance wild Pokémon. I had just enough for everyone in the class. Make sure they each get one."
Sakura accepted the box, but still looked confused. "I mean, sure, but what does this have to do with the curse on this school?"
Kevin gave her a serious look. "Trust me, I know what I'm doing. I'll expose this so-called curse. But for now…the kids come first."
'I'll admit, I'm a little apprehensive about this.' Sakura glanced over at Kevin as she saw him pass out the cans to each kid in the classroom. 'But he looks confident that he knows what he's doing. If he's certain this will help, guess I'll have to put my faith in him.'
Though the majority of the class understood, Brien folded his arms and scoffed. "Please, like some stupid can is gonna do anything. And curse? Please!"
"Hey, that isn't nice. Mister P's looking out for us. At least give it a chance." Isabela chided. "Um…do they at least come in different scents?"
"Sorry kiddo, just the one. Just bear with me. It won't stain your clothes if that's what you're worried about." Kevin answered.
"Okay!" Isabela was all for it with that assurance.
"Pffft! Whatever. I'm not afraid of some stupid ghost or curse." Brien muttered low.
Kevin began distributing the Repels across the rows. As he did, he gave out his instructions. "Now kids, to use these cans, make sure that they're pointed at your body and not the air. And make sure that when you press down, the small hole is facing you at least 6 inches. And make sure you keep that away from your face and eyes."
The kids followed his instructions and applied the Repel to themselves as per the instructions. It was a sharp, fresh scent at first, but gradually the smell faded away. Despite his own reservations on the matter, Louis, not wanting to get humiliated like yesterday, acquiesced and got Kai to spray him instead.
When Brien got his Repel, he only gave it a brief look and frowned. All this just because of some supposed curse that he didn't care about? That didn't matter to him. He wasn't afraid! So instead of applying it like everyone else, he secretly stashed it in his desk where he kept his school supplies.
"Hm, you know, it doesn't smell that bad…" Aaron muttered, sniffing his clothes.
Once he returned to the front, Kevin went up to Sakura. "You got it covered?"
She nodded. "Yes, we'll be fine."
"Okay. Be right back." With a subtle nod, he turned and left the classroom, but not without applying Repel of his own. 'This stuff wears of fast, so I better be quick about this.'
Once Kevin left the classroom, Sakura turned back towards her class with her trademark sweet grin. "Alright everyone, pass up your homework, and then then we can begin our lessons for today."
Kevin opened the door to the gymnasium. Despite his reservations, he knew what was at stake. 'Guess I'll be asking for it if a ball hits my face…that's' what she said.' He chuckled to himself at his inside joke. He went over to a corner of the gym, where he pulled out a spare Honey jar. 'I was planning on sharing this between Beedrill and Harper…but I guess this'll suffice.'
He opened the jar's top and sat it down.
'Now, all I have to do is wait.'
"So when you write the letter "a" like this, it's also legible." Sakura wrote a lowercase A on the board, making an O with a line at its end. "It's all a matter of preference. That's the only letter in the alphabet that actually has two known forms."
As the class was doing their worksheets and paying attention, Brien wasn't paying attention much. Instead, he focused on the back of Liam's head and readied to chuck a small, crumbled paper ball at him.
"Brien." Sakura suddenly called, making him freeze as he was pulling his arm back. "Tell me, do you know how to spell Christmas?"
"Uh…" He quickly straightened up, hiding the paper ball behind him. "…i-it, uh…it starts with a K, right?"
Sakura sighed out her nose. She half-expected this from him. "You're close. When you put C and H together, you get that "ch" sound. But in some cases in names like Chris for example, it makes a K sound."
Brien folded his arms and sank further into his seat.
'Please, even I knew that. Idiot.' Louis smirked.
"Now, who can tell me how you spell ghost?" Sakura looked around the class for any volunteers. Her eyes dawdled onto one in particular. "Carmen, how about you?"
M-me? Oh, um…let's see…" Carmen paused as she tried to think of how to spell it. "Um…is it…G-H-O-S-T?"
Sakura blinked, surprised by the answer. "Why…yes, it was. How did you know where was a silent h?
"Because it was written on the board."
Sakura raised a brow. When Carmen pointed at the board, she turned and saw that the word ghost was written on the board in roughly, squiggly lines. But that wasn't the end of it.
'Wait…I didn't write that...'
To everyone's awe and shock, they watched the chalk move on its own. Their eyes showed disbelief as they were witnessing it slowly, and harshly, grind against the chalkboard, making more words.
"Woah, Mrs. Meela! You never told us you could do that!" Jace beamed.
"I-I can't…" Sakura mumbled.
"Wait, then if it isn't the teacher, then who is…" Maple looked over at the words again. Along with everyone else, she saw words being spelled again.
RUN
For several seconds, the whole class fell to an uneasy silence.
"G-guys…is it just me…or is there a message being said here?" Kai questioned.
Out of nowhere, a loud raking sound screeched through the classroom that made everyone cringe and cover their ears. The chalkboard had three long claw marks that underlined the word ghost written earlier. All their hearts were pumping harshly with anxiety.
"T-Teach, I don't feel so good…" Anais whimpered.
Before Sakura could respond, everyone's ears rung again that made them grunt in pain for a few moments. When the audible obstructive tune dialed down, the intercom in the corner of the room spoke up.
"MWA-HA-HA-HA-HA!" A wicked laughter could be heard throughout the entire school. Even Kevin was alarmed by this and looked stunned as he was wandering outside the gym.
"W-w-what's going on?!" Sakura panicked. "Is it…the curse?"
"I'm scared!" Liam quivered in his desk.
"This is all a big prank! It's not scary at all!" Brien denied.
"There once was a class full of children, all happy and proud." The ghastly voice sang. "But then, out of nowhere…"
The lights went off in the entire building.
"They all vanished! MWA-HA-HA-HA!"
"AAAAHHH!" Everyone collectively screamed in the pitch-black room.
"I want my blankey!" Kai shrieked.
"I want my mommy!" April shouted.
"Me too!" May panicked.
"Me more! I'm the oldest!"
"We have the same mom!"
"I think I need new pants…" Aiden whispered in a high pitch.
After what felt like an eternity, the lights eventually came back on. The window blinds that were rolled down at the time suddenly wound up, revealing the bright day outside.
Sakura had a hand over her chest, her back against the chalkboard as she looked like she was having a heart attack. She looked like she saw a ghost…literally. 'That…that had to be it. The curse…!'
The door to the classroom swung open, revealing Kevin. "Hey, I heard the intercom and screaming! Is everyone alright?!"
"Kevin, you're here!" Sakura sounded relieved as the Trainer/Mage hurried to check on the panicked class.
Kevin looked at the many children that were in distress. He saw them all slowly open their eyes and realized that the lights were back on. Some like Anais were clinging towards Maple, and Louis practically paid Kai again to stop holding onto him. He saw April and May in the back clinging onto each other for dear life. The ones who seemed to recover the quickest was Aaron and Maple.
'Looks like nobody seems hurt.' He thought. 'That's good…wait, hold on!'
"Huh? Uh, guys…?" Liam muttered, looking uneasily at the vacant desk near the back. "W-where's Brien at?"
"Brien? Isn't he…?!" Isabella gasped when she saw the empty desk beside her. "Brien…he vanished!"
"Wait, for real? Not like a sick prank, right?!" Kai panicked.
"Please, even he's not bright enough to do something like this." Maple chastised. "But then…what happened to him?"
"D-Did the curse get him?!" Anais fearfully asked. "But I thought that special stuff Mister P gave us would protect us!"
Kevin's eyes widened when his body moved faster than what his brain processed. Before he knew it, he was at Brien's desk, looking around with wide eyes for any clues as to how this happened. When the corner of his eye caught a saint glint in his desk, he saw the unused Repel.
He pulled it out, looking at it with shock. 'Don't tell me…damnit!' He clutched the Repel tighter in frustration.
"Oh no…w-what do we do…?" Sakura was so shaken up that she lost strength in her legs to hold herself up and collapsed onto her desk chair. "A student went missing on my watch…what do I tell his parents…?"
"You're not gonna tell them what happened." Kevin said.
"W-what…?" she quipped. She and the rest of the class saw him stand back up.
"He's gonna tell them himself. Troublemaker or not, not kid's going missing on my watch! That's exactly what my magic's for!" With a swipe of his arm, keeping activated his Search Magic. A holographic search panel appeared in front of him.
The entire class's eyes widened with shock at the new development.
"Woah! Is that really magic?!" Jace beamed brightly. "What else can it do?!"
"Mister P, you can use magic just like a mage can?" Carmen asked.
Even Sakura showed awe. 'I've never seen magic like that before.'
Kevin coolly used a finger and pushed up his glasses. "You can run, but there's no hiding with my Search Magic." He began typing in Brien's name. For a moment, various selections of people with similar names appeared before he started narrowing down the profiles. 'Thank Arceus I looked at their files to know their names.'
As soon as Brien's profile was selected, it showed all of his data, including age, background, and location – the last one being the most important. He saw a red dot close to his proximity.
'The gymnasium. That's where the Honey bait I left was at. And he wasn't wearing any Repel…' His eyes narrowed as he zeroed in on his hypothesis. 'Then it has to be what I think. No doubt now.'
"Kevin, where is Brien?!" Sakura quipped.
"Don't worry, he's not far." He turned, looking dead serious. "Don't worry. I'll save him…and expose this so-called curse at the same time."
When Brien opened his eyes again, he found that everything was still dark to where he barely saw his own hand. "Hey! Where am I? I was just sitting down before!"
"Hehehehe…" An ominous chuckle reverberated in the darkness around Brien, making him stiffen. In fact, it sounded like there was more than one laughter around him.
"What's so funny? What are you laughing at?!" Brien challenged. He suddenly felt a slight buffer that almost threw him off balance. It wasn't enough to hurt, but a dark purple hazy wind whipped around him, stirring up the shadows.
"Why, you of course, you little brat!" The deep echo taunted. "We have been watching you for a while now. Compared to the rest of those sweet apples that you call classmates…you're a far cry from innocent."
Brien balled his fists, growling. "Grr…shut up! Who's doing this!? You better show yourself before I come make you!"
"You? Make us? BWAHAHAHAHA!" The voice laughed again, which was accompanied by several more sneers and cackles around Brien. "You have no idea how big the world is, kid. You're just a Magikarp splashing in a small pond. And as the saying goes…there's always a bigger fish."
"What's that supposed to mean?!"
"We are those fish…fish that will devour you for your bad behavior!" The voice boomed as three dark visages with glowing red eyes glared him down. They all faded in and out of the darkness, appearing only faintly with mocking laughter.
Brien balled his fists, is little heartbeat running a marathon. He bit his bottom lip as he quivered in fear. "I-I'm not afraid of some dumb ghosts or stupid curse! Take this and that, this and that, and that, and that, and that!" He punched and kicked wildly in an attempt to hit something. However, nit a single one met its mark and ended up hitting thin air.
"Hoho~! Being scrappy to hide your insecurities, are you? You have much to learn. But not to worry…" All the eyes glowed brighter. "We have all the time in the world for your eternal torment! BWAHAHAHAHA!"
Brien screamed as he charged head-first, his eyes closed as he pulled back a fist and charged for one of the set of eyes. However, it faded before the punch faded through. He fell flat on his face, getting to his knees and whined. The ghosts mockingly laughed at him, only making him more anxious.
"S-stop laughing at me! STOP IT, YOU BULLIES!"
"GAHAHAHAHA! Oh? A bully? Much like you?" Slowly, a figure faded into view. Brien barely believed his eyes. It was him, laughing mockingly at himself. "Look who's the tough guy now. Everyone will laugh with me, but laugh at you!" The ghost spoke in his stead, sneering at Brien.
Brien fearfully got to his legs. "No! Shut up! I'm not scared!" He punched his faker, only to go right through. He looked back and stared with worry and confusion as his other self didn't even flinch.
"That…tickled…" Slowly, the ghost Brien's head turned and faced him with a wicked, crooked smirk and glowing red eyes. What was more disturbing was that his head was turned completely around like an owl, making it even more disturbing.
This time, Brien paled as he yelped. He fell onto his but and slowly crawled backwards to get further away. "This…this is just a dream…a bad dream…"
"A dream? Or real? What do you think…loser!" The ghostly visage of himself turned back around and slowly approached him. His smile got wider with pointed teeth with black goop-like saliva dripping onto the floor, closing in on him.
Brien backed away, fear stricken across his face. He was so distraught that he didn't feel his hand hit something and dropped onto him. Yelping, he felt something thick and sticky slather his shirt and upper-half. And for some reason, it was…sweet?
Ghost Brien licked his lips. "Just how I like my victims…sweet and easy! HAHAHAHA!" As he mockingly laughed and staggered closer, the four ghastly visages from before slowly drew closer, all reaching their hands out to reach for the young boy.
Brien shuddered uncontrollably, tears in the corners of his eyes as he felt a wall stop him, even though he couldn't see it through the dark haze. He was silently weeping as his shorts were slowly getting a darker stain where his crotch was. Thankfully the sweet sap blocked out its offensive smell.
"I-I'm not scared…I'm not scared…I'm…not scared…" He kept telling himself.
"Oh…you are!" Ghost Brien taunted as his maw widened, showing pitch-black inside.
"AAAAAAAHHHH!" Unable to bear it any longer, Brien screamed in fear and closed his eyes to avoid looking at the vision of fear ready to devour him.
Suddenly, the darkness was snuffed out the moment overhead lights turned on. The haze was replaced by the spacious gymnasium, and the apparitions surrounding the frightened Brien were gone.
"There you are!" Kevin shouted from the gym's double doors.
"Brien!" Sakura cried out.
Brien weakly opened his eyes, seeing that he was in the gym. However, when he thought the nightmare was over, he was shocked when there were four shadows that were exposed in the lighting of the gym for everyone to see.
Floating in midair was a Haunter, a Misdreavus, and finally a Drifloon. On the ground was a Mimikyu.
"Just as I thought. There's your so-called curse." Kevin accused.
The Haunter turned towards Mimikyu. "I thought I told you to watch the exits, now look!"
"I-I'm sorry! I just got into it!" Mimikyu quipped. "Plus, the kid smelled so sweet and tasty…I just couldn't help myself…hehe…"
"Whoopsies." Misdreavus eyerolled.
"A-are those really…?" Isabella fearfully started.
"Actual ghosts! The curse is real!" Aaron panicked.
Kevin pulled out his PokéDex, making sure to analyze them for everyone to hear.
"Haunter, the Gas Pokémon. On moonless nights, Haunter searches for someone to curse, so it's best not to go out walking around."
"Misdreavus, the Screech Pokémon. It gets nourishment from fear that it absorbs into its red orbs. In daytime, it sleeps in darkness."
"Drifloon, the Balloon Pokémon. Wandering souls gathered together to form this Pokémon. When trying to make friends with children, Drifloon grabs them by the hand."
"Mimikyu, the Disguise Pokémon. Although it's a quiet, lonely Pokémon, if you try to look at what's under its rag, it will become agitated and resist violently."
Haunter snickered. "Welp, guess the Meowth's out of the bag now."
"Now it all makes sense." Kevin began reciting the numerous instances that Sakura described hat he went through last night. "So that big curse and all those incidents…they were by you."
Sakura gasped, taken aback by the news.
"Guilty~!" Misdreavus dramatically chimed. "Sorry about those screams, but if it makes you feel any better, at least I feel great!" She beamed as her red orbs shined brightly with energy.
"So then…it wasn't a curse after all." Sakura's eyes widened at the realization. "It was these Ghost-type Pokémon trying to scare us away."
"Fufufufu! Just a little was all." Drifloon admitted, expanding herself a bit. "And we were so close, too. How'd you figure us out?"
"I caught on quick." Kevin admitted. "You didn't target the other kids because of those Repels they wore. Plus, that Honey jar attracts wild Pokémon. Just put two and two together, and here we are."
Haunter clicked his tongue. "Well I'll be…"
Kevin walked past Brien, who was still in shock at what just happened. "You're not a good listener, kid. But you've been through enough." He stared straight into the ghosts' faces. "You hurry back to your teacher…I got the rest."
Brien was left stumped and in awe as he stared at Kevin's back. He was still too shocked and confused to say anything, but Sakura hurried over and pulled him by the arm back towards the rest of the class for their safety.
With the stage cleared, Kevin gave the horde of Ghost-types a serious look. "Listen guys, unlike what you guys did, I'd rather not cause trouble. So I'll only say this once. Either get going…or we're going to have to make you."
Haunter's mouth formed a crude smirk. "Heh, ooh~! Scary. I'm shaking in my boots…oh wait. I don't have feet! GAHAHAHA!" He laughed along with his fellow Ghost-types.
"Well, can't say you didn't ask for this. Then it's on! Let's go, guys!" Kevin threw out his Pokmon all at once. Raticate, Krabby, Beedrill, and Swadloon all stood in front of their Trainer, glaring down their ghostly adversaries.
Seeing the numerous Pokémon brought out, the Ghost-types realized it wasn't a bluff.
"Oh…so he was serious." Misdreavus quipped.
"Well I'm not leaving without a fight!" Drifloon quipped, lifting her string arms and rolled the heart-shaped hands.
"What do we do?" Mimikyu asked.
Haunter sneered. "Guess we got no choice. Time for some fun!"
Realizing what was going down, the entire class had universal shock.
"What's Mister P doing?" Isabela asked worriedly.
"Hold on, I saw this before…" Aron gasped. "Is this one of those Pokémon Battles?"
"No way! An actual battle!? That's so cool!" Jace shouted energetically.
"B-be careful, everyone…" Carmen mumbled low.
Putting their worries aside, Kevin made sure to keep their safety in the back of his mind. For now, he had to get these ghosts to stay focused on him. 'We got a lot of room in this gymnasium to work with. Ghost-types don't affect Normal-types like Raticate, and we have Dark-type moves to use…that's gonna be key.'
As a plan formulated in his head, one of Haunter's detached hands cloaked in shadows with a purple aura before projecting his fist at Beedrill.
"Raticate, intercept with Crunch!" Kevin ordered.
Raticate hissed before he spurred into a breakneck dash. He opened his mouth wide, exposing his long, sharp teeth that glowed and elongated further. He lunged into the air in front of Beedrill ready to intercept.
Haunter's eyes narrowed. "Made you look."
Just when Raticate was about to snap down on it, the fist made a sharp angle turn, then adjusted for Beedrill, landing a hit on his midsection and pushing him back.
"Beedrill! You good?" Kevin asked.
"I sting yo face!" Beedrill assured.
Kevin frowned, seeing Haunter's hands return and wave at them mockingly. 'That's gonna be a problem. That Haunter's fast. Gonna have to fix that.' He swiped his arm to make a counter. "That case, Swadloon, use String Shot!"
"Coming right up~!" Swadloon reared his head back and lurched forward, unleashing a tangent of sticky thread that rushed towards the ghosts.
"Not so fast!" Drifloon shouted, fading in front of the others. "Gust!" She exhaled, unleashing a windstorm-like breath at the array of threads that threatened to slow them down. The threads diffused through the winds as they rushed towards a panicked Swadloon.
"Uh-oh, not good…"
"Krabby, block it with Metal Claw!"
"Guarding an important piece! I read your mail!" Without hesitation, Krabby scuttled in front of Swadloon as his claws glowed metallic grey. He jutted both forward and used them as a phalanx that blocked the winds from hitting him and Swadloon. After several seconds, he separated the winds with his claws, ending the stalemate.
"Woah! So strong!" Drifloon gasped.
"Using a Steel-type move to block a Flying-type move is a nice fallback." Krabby chimed, however, he was blindsided when Mimikyu suddenly appeared on his right without warning. He didn't get anymore than a glance before the wooden tail swung into his side, sending him sliding across the wooden gym floor.
"That was Feint Attack." Kevin looked over, seeing Mimikyu turn his disturbing Pikachu rag face towards him. His little snicker didn't help make the situation better. "Alright Beedrill, Twineedle!"
"I sting yo face!" Beedrill's twin stingers glowed bright purple as he aimed for Mimikyu. With a burst of speed, he closed in on the Disguise Pokémon's Pikachu-like face and didn't give him a moment before one lance struck the head.
But, to his and everyone's shock, the head suddenly collapsed and deflated, much like a mannequin.
"What the heck…?" Kevin gawked.
"Woah! Did its head dislocate?!" Jace awed, much to everyone else's disturbance.
"Eek!" Anais covered his eyes in fright.
"I sting yo face…?" Beedrill tilted his head in confusion at the bizarre situation he was met with. He scanned the rest of the body and noticed two blinking eyes in the body of the costume. "I sting yo face!" He lifted his other stinger and readied for the second strike.
"Not so fast!" Misdeavus cut in with a sudden blast of Psybeam!
"Beedrill, on your left!" Kevin warned.
Catching on, Beedrill was able to react timely and pushed himself away from the oncoming blast that struck the gym floor. He adjusted his balance as he lowly buzzed at Misdreavus's interference. "I sting yo face!"
Kevin felt a wave of relief. If that struck Beedrill directly, it could have been bad.
"Aw! Look what they did!" Mimikyu whined. "They wrecked my costume! It's gonna take forever to get this headpiece upright now!"
"Yeah, real shame." Haunter dryly chimed. "But what's gonna be even more shameful is getting kicked out of our digs. Ready?"
"Ready!"
"Here they come, guys." Kevin warned. All of Kevin's Pokémon braced upon his warning.
Haunter's hands balled into fists and launched again. They flew around the gym, rushing around Kevin and his Pokémon in an attempt to disorient them. The hands moved so fast that they were like rocketing shadows.
"Check it out, I didn't know Pokémon could do that, too…" Maple awed, her tone distilled with anxiety.
Kevin watched as his Pokémon were constantly watching and evading the hands if necessary. As their focus was diverted, the Trainer noticed the ghosts preparing moves of their own. Purple orbs of energy manifested around Haunter and Misdreavus, while Drifloon was inflating and was briefly enveloped in an orange aura that dispersed upwards. Mimikyu was wiggling around, his surrounding turning into hearts that were focused on Raticate, enveloping the latter in a blue aura that sharply reduced his Attack without him noticing.
'They're distracting us so they'll hit us harder. Gotta get rid of those hands!' Kevin knew he didn't have much time, so he had to be quick. "Swadloon, Razor Leaf!"
The Leaf-Wrapped Pokémon's focus immediately returned. "Alright, y'all better take cover! Wouldn't wanna…give you a little cut now!"
Just as Haunter and Misdreavus launched their Confuse Ray, Swadloon's leaves on his head glowed bright green and fires multiple bright green leaves that spun like a funnel in all directions. The foliage shrapnel deterred the hands from his teammates, while the oncoming attacks were cut off by the leaves.
The Ghost-types looked mildly shocked by this.
Seeing an opening, Kevin reached his arm out. "Raticate, Crunch on Haunter!"
"GAHAHAHA! Here, ghosty, ghosty, ghosty!" Raticate eagerly laughed as he rushed after Haunter across the gym floor at surprising speeds. He jumped into the air and opened wide before his glowing sharp fangs snapped down on Haunter.
"GAH!" Haunter felt the intense pain of that Dark-type move, recoiling a safe distance away. Thankfully, Mimikyu's Charm did its job lowering his Attack, otherwise it could've been a lot worse.
"Now Beedrill, Assurance!"
"I sting yo face!" Beedrill rushed in towards Haunter, his stingers ready for his attack.
Realizing the severity of the threat, Haunter cringed. "A little help here!"
"How's this!" Drifloon pointed the top of her head at Beedrill and started spinning. "Ominous Wind!" A cyclone of dark purple wind was released and rushed into Beedrill's direction.
"I sting yo face!" Aware of the oncoming attack, Beedrill – much to his dismay – pulled himself up and out of the wind's wake. With him near the ceiling, he was safe for the time being.
Or so he thought.
He suddenly felt a pair of hairy tendrils wrap around his arms, restraining him from using his lances. He felt a weight hold him up and looked back, seeing Misdreavus smirking crudely.
"Sorry, buzz boy, but you're put on hold for a while." Misdreavus eerily snickered.
"I sting yo face!" Beedrill angrily buzzed.
Misdreavus turned towards the ground. "Hey, wanna have some fun with this one, Mimikyu?"
"Would I?!" He chirped. After what he did to his costume, it was the least he deserved. With a crude sneer, a black shadow snaked beneath him and shot up towards Beedrill, spurring out fast enough that it couldn't be stopped. The attack struck Beedrill's midsection, making his buzzing dilate similar to a grunt of pain. "That's what you get for ruining my costume!"
"Hey, look out! In front of you!" Drifloon warned.
Mimikyu turned to look, but was too late as Krabby had closed the gap with his claws ready.
"Now Krabby, Metal Claw!"
"Checkmate!" Krabby's claws glowed metallic gray as he harshly jabbed Mimikyu's body area. The impact stung insidiously from it being super-effective on him. He cried out as he went tumbling across the gym floor in pain.
"Alright!" April and May cheered.
"That looked like it hurt a lot." Liam realized.
"I didn't know that crab was that strong! That's awesome!" Aaron awed.
Brien didn't say anything. He continued to watch the battle in silence as Kevin maintained a completely calm composure throughout the whole thing. Nothing like how he was before he was rescued. The little kid was left in such awe that he didn't notice Harper trying to gently poke at his shirt and lick the Honey off.
Beedrill struggled in Misdreavus's hairy tendrils. However, he was larger than her, and had other appendages at his disposal.
"Flap your wings, Beedrill, then use Assurance!" Kevin ordered.
"I…sting yo face!" Beedrill's eyes glimmered as he seemed energized. Beating his wings violently, Misdreavus, who was directly behind the bee, felt the harsh range of the buzzing and wings against her face and was forced to pull away.
"Yeck! Ah!" She used her tendrils and rubbed her face.
"I STING YO FACE!" It proved to be a big mistake as Beedrill immediately turned and stabbed her in the center of her face, making a purple burst of energy that shot her into the nearest wall with a pained grunt.
"I sting yo face!" Beedrill taunted.
"Yay…" Harper mulled quietly between her Honey sips.
"Huh?" Finally snapping back to reality, Brien immediately pulled away from her. "Ew! Stop that!"
Haunter shook his head and looked ahead. His fellow ghosts that had the advantage before were slowly losing ground. He needed to think, and fast! He looked around until his eyes stumbled upon the dodgeball rack off to the side. Immediately he got an idea.
"Hey, guys!" At his call, the other ghosts all turned towards their teammate. "What do you say to a little dodgeball?"
Misdreavus, Drifloon, and Mimikyu all gave other glances before they had the same sinister vibe. Instantaneously, they all faded from view, reappearing around the dodgeball rack.
"What are they doing now?" Krabby asked.
"Looks like our little naughty friends wanna play with some balls." Swadloon swooned.
"That's what she said…wait." Kevin's eyes widened at what this meant.
Haunter's detached hands grabbed dodgeballs and held them in the air. Mimikyu's underside exposed shadowy flaps that grabbed some, along with Misdreavus and Drifloon as they gathered dodgeballs of their own.
"Dodge these balls!" Haunter lobbed the dodgeballs like a machine gun. Volleys of dodgeballs headed their way launched by the four Pokémon that closed in Kevin and the others.
'Not good! Can't run out like before!' He knew Sakura and the kids were there. He knew their safety was priority. 'Gotta protect them. Sorry about the equipment.' He made the command. "Beedrill, Pin Missile! Swadloon, Razor Leaf!"
Both Bug-type Pokémon immediately took to the front. Swadloon and Beedrill didn't waste any time in unleashing funneling leaves and streaming energy missiles that the dodgeballs. Rubber burst into air upon impact and littered the gym floor in ball skin. The projectiles continued on both sides in a repetitive crossfire.
'They'll run out of ammunition eventually. Just gotta last until then…' Kevin thought.
Within the crossfire, Misdreavus lobbed a stray dodgeball through the missiles and leaves. In spite of all the bursting rubber and smoke, the ball managed to breach through the other side…but it was driven off course from the smoke and flew into the kids' direction, specifically Louis.
The rich boy's eyes widened as he saw the sphere drawing closer to him, but was paralyzed by shock.
"I gotcha, buddy~!" Time slowed down as Kai suddenly dove in front of Louis with his arms stretched out. The young boy timed the dive just right and was struck by the stray ball in the stomach, immediately flooring him.
"Kai!" Sakura gasped.
As the dodgeball gently ricocheted away to a slow roll, Louis looked down at Kai, who was on his side clutching his stomach area. He looked like he was reeling from that blow in discomfort. "Y-you…why did you do that…?" He muttered. "I didn't pay you to save me…"
Kai opened an eye, his lips forming a weak grin. "Hey…that's what friends are for, right?"
"F-Friends…?" Louis's eyes widened at that word. It didn't click until now what Kai meant. He then recalled what others said about him and lowered his head, feeling a mixture of touch and guilt in his own stomach.
As the barrage was coming to its end, Kevin was keeping his eyes on the smoke bursts, waiting to see if the onslaught would continue. However, his eyes followed to the floor when Beedrill's shadow darkened. "Below you!"
"I sting yo face?" Beedrill and everyone looked down and saw a thick shadow between them. The Shadow Sneak suddenly spurred up, but they all separated in the nick of time to avoid a direct hit.
As soon as Ratiate landed on his feet, he felt something grab his leg. "Gaha?! Woah!" He was picked up by one of Haunter's hands and lifted over the ground.
"Not good!" Krabby shouted, before the base of one of his pincers was also snatched up and lifted by another hand.
"Raticate! Krabby!" Kevin shouted.
Swadloon was looking up at his teammates in their airborne crazed states with wonder and worry. Misdreavus faded into view behind him and snickered lowly as dark flames appeared on either side of her.
"Behind you, use Protect!"
Swadloon gasped and caught onto the warning. Just when Misdreavus's Hex activated, dark flames erupted around Swadloon and erupted into equally dark smoke. Everyone watching looked shocked, but then felt relief when the smoke appeared and a translucent shield surrounded Swadloon, protecting him from harm.
"Now, that was just naughty." Swadloon frowned disapprovingly.
Beedrill scanned the gym for the Ghost-type Pokémon. When he sat his sights on Misdreavus, he went for a beeline with stingers at the ready for his next attack.
"Gahaaaaa! Look out! CWAZY RAT FLYING THROUGH!" Raticate was dragged by Haunter's hand across Beedrill, stopping his advances. This gave Drifloon time to appear in front of him and enveloped one of her string-like hands in purple, via Payback.
"Twineedle!" Kevin's command prompted Beedrill to prod both his lances into Drifloon's swing. Both Pokémon were blown away, though Drifloon received the brunt of it.
"Hey~! Let me down! This isn't funny!" Krabby cried out through the air. "Really! I'm getting kinda queasy now!" He hiccupped, feeling a tinge of foam escape from his mouth.
"Hehe! Oh, I'll let you down alright!" Haunter chimed.
Just as Krabby was starting to feel sick, Haunter let go of both him and Raticate. Both Pokémon fell from high above towards the gym. Swadloon and Beedrill looked up to kind the crab and rat dropping on them respectively. All four floored at the same time, leaving them disoriented.
"You guys okay?" Kevin asked. He looked up and scowled angrily at his opponents. 'They're floating circles over our heads. All they're doing is playing around with us. If only we got a clean shot in…' He paused as he realized something. 'Wait…that can work!'
"C'mon, guys! Beat the scary ghosts!" April shouted.
"Yeah, stop the mean curse!" May cried out.
"Go, Beedrill…woo-hoo." Harper cheered in the driest, unenergetic tone anyone has ever heard. Though to them, that meant plenty that she was supporting.
Brien balled his fists tightly, teeth gnashing. He looked frustrated and equally worried for their only hope. "C'mon…don't let them beat you like this!"
Sakura looked at him stunned. "Brien?"
Brien lifted his head, looking at Kevin seriously. "Don't lose! Beat the ghost!"
"Go, Mister P!" Anais cheered.
"Swadloon, you can do it!" Isabella cheered.
"Krabby, you beat me so easily at checkers! Don't start a losing streak now!" Patrick quipped.
"Show them how cwazy you are, Raticate!" Jace encouraged.
The encouragement of the class echoed through the gym. "You guys…" Kevin looked back, stunned by their united encouragement for him. Not just him even, he saw his Pokémon were also starting to stand back.
"Phew…don't worry boys and girls…I think we got our second wind back." Swadloon stated, his face showing a confidence, sassy smirk.
"I sting yo face!" Beedrill buzzed.
"GAHAHA! What you said!" Raticate quipped.
"Don't worry, Patrick…" Krabby adjusted his footing, pinching his pincers. "This game's…only just started!"
Kevin hummed, adjusting his shades. A serious, but equally proud smirk crossed his face. 'These kids…I don't know why…but now…' He thought about Ella. 'Now we got to win this.'
Feeling his core tightened, Kevin eyed the ghosts with a steady gaze.
"Okay, then let's try this! Swadloon, String Shot!" Swadloon began to open his mouth to make threads.
"Didn't you learn before? I'll blow them away like last time!" Drifloon warned, taking in a deep inhale.
The gym's lighting refracted off Kevin's shades. He saw that coming! "Raticate…Sucker Punch!"
Raticate maniacally laughed before he suddenly spurred after Drifloon at breakneck speeds. Before she could start her attack, Raticate's glowing claw met her face, sending her spinning across the gym with a harsh burst of Dark-type energy.
A critical hit.
"Is she okay?!" Haunter gasped.
"Uh-oh, that's not good!" Mimikyu panicked.
"Not falling for that again." Kevin warned them.
With no obstructions to stop him, Swadloon unleashed a network of silky threads that laced onto and around Haunter, the disoriented Drifloon, Misdreavus, and Mimikyu. All the Ghost-types had a blue aura envelop their bodies as their Speeds harshly dropped.
"Oh yeah? Well two can play at this game!" Mimikyu shouted back. "Mimic!" A bright glow enveloped his wooden tail. Once the tail was fully lit, Mimikyu turned and launched an array of threads back at them.
"Beedrill, Pin Missile!"
"I sting…YO FACE!" Beedrill aimed his lances and stinger at the oncoming threads. He unleashed a barrage of energy arrows that burst the threads to thin air.
"Alright now…all of you need a time-out!" Swadloon inhaled, sucking in the threads and reeling the four captives back towards him.
Haunter the others were dragged so suddenly that they couldn't react promptly, a definite sign of their reduced Speed.
Kevin swiped his arm in an arch. "Alright Krabby, hit a grand slam! Metal Claw!"
"Gotcha!" Krabby scuttled besides Swadloon, reeling back his right claw as it glowed metallic gray. "I'm not into this 'baseball', but I know when it's checkmate!"
The moment they were close enough, Krabby lunged for them, his claw drawn back.
"And this…IS CHECKMATE!" With a loud cry, Krabby slammed his right claw into Mimikyu. The direct impact sent a crushing wake that turned into a domino effect for the four joined Pokémon together. Krabby's attack swung into them as well, and with a strong pivot, the small crab's intense power sent them flying into the overhead basketball hoop. They all struck the backboard and melted down through the hoop net onto the floorboards.
All four laid on the ground, barely able to get back up. If they weren't in pain before, they were now.
"Oh wow! That's amazing!" Jace cheered. "They beat all those ghosts!"
"Mister P really is cool!" Anais's eyes twinkled with delight.
"Give up?" Kevin asked them. All his Pokémon took battle ready stances should they need it.
Haunter weakly lifted an unsteady hand. "Er…we give."
A short while later, the Ghost-types were rounded up and floated a few inches off the ground with their heads down in shame. Kevin and Sakura stood in front of them with the kids just outside the classroom peeking through the door.
"Do you have any idea what kind of trouble you've caused a lot of people?" Sakura continued her reprimanding of the delinquent spirits that had been going on for minutes now. "The entire faculty, no! The schoolboard itself has become entirely in disarray because of you four! We almost lost our jobs because of your antics!"
"We're sorry…" All four lowly apologized.
Kevin crossed his arms and looked concerned. "Still, you were laying it on pretty thick there. Especially overnight. I have to ask, why did you wanna drive everyone out so badly?"
The four ghosts frowned at each other, all searching for an answer. Eventually, it was Haunter who spoke up with what fractured dignity he had. "Look, we weren't trying to hurt anyone. Honest." He started. "We didn't mean for things to get this far out of hand. But you were so persistent…that we had to take drastic measures."
"But why?" Sakura asked somberly.
"You see…we Ghost-types, we're not sure if it has anything to do with our past lives or not, but we have a fondness for empty places or old buildings." Drifloon answered. "We were all just looking for places of our own, and, well…"
"We all just…wound up here a few weeks ago, one night." Mimikyu took the lead. "It was actually a very spacious place with a lot of fun stuff to do. But when morning came, and people and children started filing in…we realized we weren't the only ones using this place."
"Don't get us wrong, we didn't mean to hide like we did. But it got very tedious for us." Drifloon added. "But sooner or later, they'd find out about us, and we didn't wat to be kicked out."
"And that's where you got the idea of this so-called 'curse'." Kevin surmised.
Haunter nodded. "You guessed it."
Kevin cocked a brow, scratching the top of his head. "Okay, I think I follow. But why not picked abandoned apartments or foreclosed homes? Those are bigger than here."
"It's probably because of the recent renovations that happened after the Alvarez invasion last year." Sakura answered their questions. "A lot of homes were destroyed because of the invasion, so after the fighting was over, the rebuilding process began. I can't imagine a single home in this area now that isn't occupied."
Kevin crossed his arms. "Guess that's expected when you live in a country of 17 million people."
"We didn't have any place to go. We Ghost-types actually prefer hollow manmade places." Misdreavus answered. "…it's where we feel most comfortable."
"I get that you were scaring away everyone like you did. Still, couldn't you have just found a better approach than making it look like it was cursed?" Kevin asked.
Mimikyu tilted his head. "What do you expect? We're Ghost-types, it's what we do."
Kevin opened his mouth to argue…only to find the reasoning behind that logic. "Well…guess you're not wrong there…"
Sakura stepped forward. "But still, it's very unconventional for all of us! You're deliberately causing trouble for those who have jobs and to the children. You understand that?"
All the Ghost-types' gazes fell towards the ground. "Sorry."
Haunter lifted his head. "But you know, it isn't like we were trying to kill you guys. Sure, we just wanted to mess with you a little, but not actually hurt anybody."
"Yeah, we have morals too, you know." Drifloon added.
"I get that, but still…" Sakura trailed off.
Haunter lifted his head up, looking dignified. "Look, we get it. We went a little too far. It's fine. We'll just try and find another place to crash. Sorry for the trouble…really."
The four ghosts turned away and began to float towards the window. Mimikyu sauntered behind, his headpiece leaning only slightly from the repairs he's been doing. If he was honest, Kevin didn't feel good about this. Though he understood that it was necessary for the children's safety, it didn't sit well with him how despite their looks, the Ghost-types weren't bad. They were just trying to find a home.
"Wait!" Someone spoke up.
They all turned and saw Brien at the doorway – adorning a clean shirt and shorts. He frowned as he started walking towards the ghosts.
"Brien, wait!" Sakura reached out, but Kevin cut her off. She looked at him and saw that he was watching carefully.
As Haunter was turning back, Brien went up to her. He looked into the ghosts' eyes, but unlike before when he was putting up a stalwart, arrogant front, he seemed a lot more…sincere. Haunter sensed this, so he knew something was different about him.
In an act that surprised everyone, they all watched Brien lower his head towards him. "I'm…I'm sorry!"
Haunter blinked. "For what? We scared you, kid."
"I know! But if I wasn't such a jerk, then you didn't have to scare me like you did. I…I don't wanna be scared anymore…but I didn't know I was that scary to everyone, too…"
'Brien, is he…actually owning up to his mistakes?' Kevin blinked in visible awe.
'My word…' Even Sakura was surprised by this sudden revelation.
"So…thank you…Mr. Ghost…I'm still a little scared, but…" He reached a shaky hand out, but he tried his hardest to not look away. "I'll do better…I swear."
Haunter looked down at the outstretched hand and back at Brien. He could tell from his heartbeat that he was very uneasy, but his eyes were genuine. Despite the troubles they went through, Haunter reached one of his hands out for a handshake. "You're a good kid. You just needed a wake-up call was all."
Brien lowered his head, feeling gratitude for what was said. "I wish my mommy told me that…"
Seeing Brien interacting of his own accord, the majority of the class started filing back into the classroom towards the ghosts with curiosity and slight awe.
"So…is that real hair?" Isabella asked Misdreavus.
"Hm? Uh, yeah? Why?"
"How did you make it so wavy like that?"
"Oh! Uh, well…it's actually just natural. But the fear I drain helps keep it healthy and conditioned."
"Are these actual hands?" Aidan asked, pointing at Drifloon's small yellow hands.
"Oh…yeah. They are." Drifloon answered.
April and May flanked Mimikyu as he looked up at them. "W-what is it? Does my face has a smear on it?"
April poked at the 'head', noticing how soft the fabric was. "Oh wow, this looks so real. Did you make it yourself?"
"Um, yeah. Well, actually I think my parents made it and I learned how to mend and sow it to keep it intact."
"Wait, so you can sow like Swadloon?!" Isabela gawked. "What else can you make?!"
One by one, the kids that were wary had begun interacting and asking questions. Their uneasiness that made them hesitant to approach them minutes ago gradually faded as they were filled with curiosity and admiration. It was a complete turnaround compared to before.
"Those hands of yours were really fast! They were flying like fwoom-fwoom-fwoom!" Jace imitated Haunter's detached hands animatedly with enthusiasm.
"So that screaming in the bathroom was you all along?" Anais asked a nodding Misdreavus.
Kevin watched the kids interact with the Pokémon, before turning towards Sakura. "It looks like they're not as scared as they were before. You really don't think it'll work out?"
Sakura was silent as she thought about what Kevin said. She saw the kids, who were all divided just yesterday morning, now all coming together with shared wonder and curiosity over these creatures. Had it been earlier, she would have considered no other alternatives. But after witnessing Kevin and his Pokémon, the schoolteacher straightened up and looked resolute.
With a serious disposition, she walked up towards the ghosts and kids. "Kids…are you comfortable being around them?"
"I mean, they're ghosts, but still…" Liam spoke up, his tone having confidence. "Mrs. Meela, I really like Pokémon!"
"Yeah! Me too!" April shouted.
"And me too!" May added. For once, the twins didn't argue.
One by one, the class began throwing in their two cents, all of them sharing the same sentiments. Haunter and the other ghosts' eyes slowly widened at how curious they were of Pokémon now.
With the majority vote, Sakura humbly grinned. "I suppose, if it's what you really want…then you can all stay here."
Haunter's eyes widened and gasped. "Wait, you serious?"
Sakura nodded. "Of course. But, I have conditions." She held up her fingers as she listed off the terms. "First, you make sure that you clean up after yourselves by morning. And you don't scare the children or school faculty like you did before. If you're going to be around kids, you should at least respect their well-being."
The Ghost-types all looked at each other, their spirits lifting with smiles crossing their faces; a happy tap by the tail in Mimikyu's case. They all looked back and nodded eagerly.
"Deal!" They all shouted.
Sakura's smile brightened. "Then I guess that's that then. I hope we all get along."
"Yay~!" The kids cheered.
Watching all this, Kevin and his Pokémon were off to side. Kevin smiled proudly, but as he knew the mission was complete, his smile soon became more hollow.
Kevin stood on the opposite end of the desk as Sakura was on the chair side. Both were observing as an associate from the Cambire Foundation came as soon as Sakura informed them of the job's completion. The person in question was relatively young with golden eyes and a small beauty mark on her right cheek. She had dirty blonde hair that was tied in a braid over her shoulder. She wore a neat-trimmed, navy-blue tight skirt and coat with a white blouse and a stripped black, white, and orange tie. A white handkerchief hung out of her coat pocket.
And yet, what was captivating was the Chatot that sat on her right shoulder. Sakura couldn't help but watch his tail move back and forth like a metronome.
The young representative was signing the necessary copies needed for the records. She turned and presented a dated form to him with a pen. "Sign on this line, please." She pointed at the line at the bottom with an X.
The Chatot on her shoulder then glided off and presented Kevin with a thick pen, before hopping away. Kevin took hold of the pen and traced his signature, though instead of ink, it was traced with some magic light that left a fine print of his signature on the paper. A Magic Pen.
They then watched as the associate went ahead and pulled out a damp stamper and pressed on the corner of the job. With a sticky pop, the Cambire Foundation's logo was marked in solid red.
"And with that, your job is officially complete. Thank you for your service, Kevin." The associate thanked the business. She slipped Kevin the envelope of his reward money that he accepted and bowed. "Hope you all have a good day, and good luck with the school."
Sakura nodded politely. "Thank you very much." She watched as the associate took her leave. As soon as she was out of sight, she turned back towards Kevin. "I can't tell you how grateful I am for all your help. Thanks to you, our school can finally get back on track…and the children can get accustomed to Pokémon, too."
Kevin put his hands to his hips. "Hey, that's what I came for."
"Yes…it was." Sakura's tone was more strained, a trait Kevin picked up on. "I suppose this means your business here is done?"
"Yeah, afraid so." Though he flashed his own hollow smile, he was at least more positive about it. "But hey, at least your job is secure. Plus, the kids are in a better mood. Nothing to feel sad over, right?"
Sakura's faint smile curved up some. "You're right. I'm sure the teachers and students absent will start returning any day now." She straightened herself and bowed one last time. "Thank you very much, Kevin."
Kevin nodded back. He turned away and made way out the door with the envelope containing his reward money. Before he got too far, he stopped at the entrance and looked back. "Hey, Mrs. Meela. Can I ask for one more favor?"
She looked up, curious what it was.
"Look after those kids for me. They're brats, but they're good brats."
Sakura meekly chuckled. "…right, I'll give them your regards."
With a nod of satisfaction, Kevin took his leave. As he filed out of sight, Sakura's smile faded to a solemn frown. She knew that as a teacher, she had to be attentive and observant, especially to help her students. She saw it all herself how Kevin and his Pokémon had helped her class and the school's reputation flourish in ways even she didn't see before. For that, she was very grateful towards the Trainer.
Within the comfort of the guild hall, Kevin was sitting on a velvet cushioned stool against the bar area. Despite the success that the job had in the end, he didn't feel like celebrating. Rather, he looked lost in thought.
He swayed the glass of ice water around to satiate his lack of amusement. If he was honest with himself, he felt heavily nostalgic. He hadn't felt this torn up since he came home from the island a while back. He had such low energy that he sat on the stool for what felt like hours. He counted the number of ice cubes in his drink every now and again as a means to keep his sense of time sane. There were a lot less than before.
"Sniff, sniff." A familiar sound of inhaling nostrils got his attention, followed by a strong fragrance. "Ah, Kevin, there you are."
Kevin looked up, noticing his Guild Master and his Spritzee. "Oh…hey, Master Ichiya." He answered lethargically.
Ichiya struck a pose, sparkles dazzling his frame. "I've heard from the foundation. You've completed a job and earned Blue Pegasus another stamp. Great work."
Kevin managed a meek smile as he stared at his glass. "Heh, thanks for the kind words."
Noticing the lack of nonchalant energy he'd usually give him, Ichiya frowned. "What's wrong? Perhaps the job did not compensate you handsomely enough?"
Kevin raised a brow. "Huh? No, nothing like that. Actually, I got a nice little bonus for managing to get it done without much issue." He then frowned. "It's just that…I can't help but think that I left something behind. That make any sense?"
Ichiya and Spritzee exchanged looks. Even without smelling for a clue, Ichiya could clearly see that something was bothering his guildmate. As a very experienced mage himself, he could understand the hardships of some of the more difficult jobs and getting to know certain people. Even if it wasn't for a while, he recalled how Jellal was taken away, and Wendy's guild vanished. He knew very well the meaning of guilt, even if he dazzled all the time.
The rotund master got dangerous close to Kevin's face, getting a whiff of him. "Uh…Master?" Kevin quipped uneasily.
Ichiya pulled away, humming as he struck a pose. "I see…yes, that's it."
"What's it?"
He struck another pose, his face brimming with sparkles. "My young friend, being a mage is more than just doing jobs to earn a living. While that is an incentive, the aroma runs deeper. Along the way, you come across numerous people, places, and come into conflicts that challenges you as a person. There will be times where people will come into conflicts, and perhaps others will lose their way because of it. But," He struck another pose directly at Kevin's nose. "It's those meaningful connections you make that makes you a better man than you were yesterday. No matter what happens to you tomorrow, as long as you remember in your heart those that helped you along the way…then you have a reason to keep going!"
Kevin was in silence at his Guild Master's words. He just sat there and took it all in like a sponge.
"He is right!" Gliding into view, Nichiya struck a symmetrical pose with Ichiya. "If something is dear to you, you should treasure it with your life."
"Man~! Our time is finite, my young friend. Follow your nose…" He pointed two fingers with a serious expression. "And make the world as handsome as you are!"
"Man!" Nichiya quipped.
"You are a very handsome young fellow." Ichiya twirled off the counter, landing on the ground alongside Nichiya. "Don't ever let anyone else sully that beauty. Share that beauty with the world, and the world may very well shine back onto you."
With those words, the two walked off, attending to their guild duties. Spritzee hummed as she followed behind, leaving a sweet fragrance in her wake.
Kevin watched Ichiya off with an epiphany in his eyes. He turned back towards his half-empty glass, noticing almost all the ice cubes had melted. His words stuck to him like a Sticky Web. When he first took the job, he'd be hard-pressed to admit he didn't feel reluctant at first. Losing Ella was a big blow that still stung even to this day, but despite that his mind was clogged of wonders and memories of the class and Sakura.
It wasn't anything weird or romantic along those lines. But he felt more at ease, for a lack of better word.
"Even if I can't have kids of my own, this job helps with that. I get to see young ones grow and mature, and learn more about them. So you see, being a teacher is the closest thing to raising kids. I know it may seem like a silly reason…but seeing them enjoy their lives knowing I was able to push them in that direction…I think that makes it all worth it, don't you?"
Thinking of Sakura's words and what Ichiya told him earlier, he lightly snickered as an amused, yet resolute grin crossed his face. He took the glass and drank the last of it, finally emptying it after hours of contemplation.
The next school day came. This time, there were far more students entering the building than before. With the crisis adverted, the rest of the willing faculty returned once Sakura and the Cambire Foundation informed them of what happened. Suffice to say that the school's reputation was restored and then some.
In Mrs. Meela's class, all her students were in their seats ready to learn. When Sakura looked near the back, she saw that Brien seemed to be paying attention, much to her delight. Though, she could feel a sense of anxiety off them as the class bell rang, signaling the start of their morning class.
With a soft hum, the young lady stepped to the front with an inviting smile. "Good morning, everyone."
"Good morning, Mrs. Meela." The class greeted back.
"Now then, it looks like everyone's here today." She paused as if to wait on something. After a second, she cleared her throat. "I said everyone."
As if on cue, the class looked back and saw Haunter, Drifloon, and Misdreavus fade into view. Mimikyu – who was camouflaged amongst the toys in the bin – jumped out and hustled into view.
Sakura's smile returned. "There we go. Now I can see all your bright smiling faces. Now, I know we didn't have any homework the other day, so let's get on with-"
Aaron abruptly raised his hand. "Um, excuse me, Mrs. Meela?"
Sakura turned towards him. "Hm? Yes, Aaron?"
"It's just that…where's Mister P? I don't see him around." He looked around the class, which the rest of his fellow students realized and saw they were shy by one Search Mage.
"Hey, yeah. He's right. Where is he? Is he coming later today?" Isabela wondered.
"Oh! Maybe he's just using the bathroom!" Jace chimed.
"Yeah, I'm curious too. Is he held up by something? Talking to our Principal and getting thanks?" Patrick inquired.
The entire class started to grow more curious of their fellow guest and his Pokémon. Even the Ghost-types were looking a little worried. Sakura's smile faltered as she didn't know how to answer. 'I was afraid of this.' She cleared her throat, giving her glass a sad smile. "Well, you see…Mister P was only here because of the job he was given. I'm afraid that he won't be coming anymore."
Almost immediately, the class's energy levels dropped. Even Brien, who was looking relaxed, sat straight up with shock on his face. All their expressions fell to abysmal levels.
"Wait…he's not coming back anymore?" Liam realized.
Sakura solemnly nodded. "Yes, I'm afraid so."
The entire class groaned, much to her dismay.
"I…I never got the chance to beat Krabby at checkers!" Patrick's body shuddered in his seat. "And just when I was getting good at it, too! I was hoping to beat it this time!"
"I'm really gonna miss Raticate…he was fun to run around with." Jace frowned heavily.
Harper silently held the small jar of jam she brought to snack on today. She held it close with a frown knowing that Beedrill nor that sweet Honey Kevin shared weren't coming back.
"Grrrr! No…that's not fair! That isn't fair!" Louis pouted. "I'll pay him twice as much than what that job offered if I could see him again!"
"Hey, take it easy…" Kai nervously insisted.
Isabela looked over to Brien's desk. When she leaned in, she saw him sniffling with his fists clenched. "Hey…are you crying?"
"No! I'm not crying!" Brien lied, wiping his eyes with his sleeves. "Something just got into my eye, that's all! I don't miss that guy around! Good riddance!" He folded his arms and turned away, pouting. "He could have at least said goodbye though. That jerk…" he mumbled.
Carmen looked down, sad as anyone else. Drifloon drifted over and put a hand to her shoulder.
Sakura understood how they felt, even though she did a better job at masking it.
"Hey now, why the glum atmosphere? Don't tell me you guys are turning into Ghost-types yourselves on my watch."
Sakura and everyone else turned towards the voice at the door. Immediately, all their eyes widened as they recognized the young man resting his elbow against the doorframe with a smirk. "What did I miss?"
"Mister P!" Everyone cheered.
"What are you doing here? I thought the job was complete?" Sakura questioned. "Did you forget something and came to get it back?"
Kevin walked into the classroom, hands in his pockets. "Just because my job's over, doesn't mean that I don't get a visitor's pass." He flashed a small tag on the lanyard around his neck loaned to him by the school. "Came to see what's up, and just as I thought, I catch you guys slacking."
Immediately, Brien straightened up and smirked. "Ha! See!? I knew he wouldn't go away so easily!"
"Uh-huh. Sure." Isabela dryly chimed.
Maple got up from her seat. "We thought we wouldn't see you anymore. Aren't you busy?"
Kevin shrugged. "Yeah, well, I had a little free time in my schedule today." He turned towards Sakura. "You don't mind?"
Sakura smiled. "Of course."
Kevin smirked and pulled out a Poké Ball. "So…how's about a little spin out by the recess yard to stretch your legs. What do you say?"
"YEAH!" Everyone cheered.
"Look alive!" Brien lobbed the kickball across the field towards Mimikyu, who stood ready. He pivoted his body and swung the ball with his wooden tail, sending it across the field as he hustled towards first base.
Harper was eating jam like before, but then noticed Beedrill beside her holding a jar of Honey. The two paused before they exchanged their respective sweet jars for the other. Satisfied, the two saw Anais salivating over the two sweet foods before they offered to share, much to her delight.
At a table, Patrick was carefully studying the checkers board between him and Krabby. Just when he was about to reach for a piece he was calculating on for a minute, it suddenly moved by itself. The two looked startled before Misdreavus became visible, startling them against their chagrin. She chuckled and sheepishly rubbed her head with a hairlock as she apologized.
They watched as Aaron was drawing Raticate using colored chalk on the asphalt. When he looked up, he saw Jace lob a piece of thick wood up that Raticate jumped for. He energetically gnawed through the bark faster than the eye could blink. When he landed, the wood dropped in front of Aaron and Jace looking like a crudely sculpted horse. "I made a horsey!"
"So cool~!" The two awed.
"Hey, underli…Kai." Louis corrected.
"Yeah?" He saw the rich boy hand him a juicebox. "What is…"
"It's for…well, yesterday, when you jumped in the way and saved me…thought I'd give you something."
Kai saw the flustered look that Louis was trying to hide. He was still prideful, but the innocent boy was touched. He smiled brightly. "Of course! That's what friends are for, right?"
A soft smile came across Louis's face.
Haunter used his detached hands and pushed May and April on the swing set, both looking happy. Drifloon carried Liam across the playground, but he had an immense struggle hauling the hefty boy.
Isabela was nearby, wearing a green skirt made out of weaved leaves and silk that Swadloon made. She looked content as she spun around and watched it expand like a Bellossom's bottom.
Kevin and Sakura watched all this unfold before their eyes, smiles strewn across their faces as they watched the kids and Pokémon exercise more openly.
"The kids are really enjoying themselves out there." Sakura mused.
"Yeah, sure looks like it." Kevin agreed.
The teacher shot Kevin a glance. "I have to ask, what made you decide to want to come back?"
Kevin watched Maple holding the kickball for Brien to kick. When she tossed it, he kicked it so hard that it went right back at her. However, the ball was deflected thanks to Mimikyu's Shadow Sneak at the last second. They could see Maple petting Mimikyu while Brien rubbed his head as he tried to apologize.
"I was just thinking about what you said was all. And you know…it's not so bad." Kevin admitted. "Seeing them all grow and learn like this, it makes you feel something, you know?"
Sakura smiled. "Yes, it does. It really seems like they've taken a shine on you. You sure you want to visit just for today? I know you're busy and all."
"I'll stop by every now and again. Besides," He saw Beedrill carry April in between his laces, while May was carried by Haunter in a flying race. Both were stunned when Raticate spurred pass them out of nowhere. "It looks like my Pokémon are enjoying themselves just as much."
Sakura softly smiled. "You Trainers and Pokémon really are a gift."
Kevin glanced over, surprised by her answer.
"Because of all of you, the children are growing up faster than before. They're all beginning to realize themselves and what kind of people they are through interacting with Pokémon."
Kevin sagely nodded. "Even teachers can learn from their students." He looked out at the kids playing and thought about his mood before. 'Kids really are something.'
"Hey, Mister P?"
Kevin jolted and pivoted, seeing Aidan there. 'Huh…managed to react better this time.' He fixed himself. "Yeah, what is it little man?"
"I was wondering, what other kinds of Pokémon did you see out on your jobs?"
A simple question. "A lot, actually. There's a whole world out there full of them…well, two in my case."
"Mister P! Is it true that you really know Ms. Realight?!" Isabela asked enthusiastically.
Kevin smirked. "Yeah, sure do. If you really wanna meet her, I can put in a good word for you."
Isabela's eyes twinkled in delight. "You really mean it?!"
"Sure, just keep those grades up is all I ask." He winked.
She nodded vigorously. "Deal!"
Kevin chuckled, but then he felt a small tug on his pants. He looked down and saw Carmen present, looking bashful as she smiled with a plate with what looked like baked sweets.
"Um…Mister P?" She nervously started. "Would you like a cookie? My mommy and daddy helped made me for you."
Kevin tilted his head in wonder and looked down at the baked goods on the plate. Upon closer inspection, to his shock and slight delight, he saw that there were five cookies, each one having their own unique shape and design that looked a lot like his Pokémon. There was one of Raticate, one of Krabby, Beedrill, and Swadloon. The one Kevin picked up was what got his attention the most.
The five-ended cookie had a more human shape to it, having brown frosting on the lower tips for his shoes, leading to frosted blue and dark blue for his jeans and dress shirt. Brown frosting made what was his hair, and the two chocolate chips made up his shades, with a small smile on it.
Something inside Kevin pulled at his heartstrings as he looked like he was having an epiphany. He didn't know why, but he felt the corners of his eyes tearing up. He hadn't felt this emotional since Ella's departure. He was so touched, so moved by their gesture of kindness that he almost forgot reality.
Sniffling really quick, he blinked out the mist in his eyes and dropped to a knee to be at Carmen's level. "Thank you…really." He took a small bite of his cookie, noticing how soft it was. He favored the thick dough and custard inside and swallowed with a smile. "It's really good."
Carmen's anxious face brightened. "Can I share the rest with your Pokémon then?"
He nodded. "Yeah, I think they'd like that." He watched Carmen hurry off towards Krabby to share the sweet treat. He never stopped smiling.
"Hey, Mister P! Come play with us!" Brien waved from the playground with the others.
"Yeah, I wanna face you in checkers after this match!" Patrick declared.
"Show us more that they can do!" Jace exclaimed.
"What other kinds of sweets are in your world?" Anais asked.
"Yeah, I'll be right there." He called out to them. He turned towards Sakura, who smiled approvingly at him. When he looked out at the scenery before him, he saw the kids all having no worries and enjoying themselves. It made him want to preserve that.
As he continued looking, he felt something gentle push him forward. His breath hitched and he looked over his shoulder, seeing only the blue sky and the sun. 'What was that?...Ella?'
He could've sworn that he saw things, but he thought he was seeing Ella's spirit smiling and looking at him. When he noticed her gaze shifting towards the kids, he followed and stared at them.
And yet, when he looked back, her spirit was nothing more than vacant air.
The realization dawned as he got the message that he felt she was saying. As he watched them play, his lips formed a smile of pure joy.
'Yeah…things will be just fine.'
With that sound thought, he finished the cookie and put his hands into his pockets and started walking, the sun shining brightly on the bright days ahead.
Decided to make this chapter a special one centered around Kevin, a.k.a Mister P! I wanted to give a little life outside the usual Fairy Tail guild and give some introspection of my other OCs that are also part of the story.
Wanna give a small thanks to my bud Kallerston for providing a few foods mentioned in this chapter. I was looking at various foods that were part of the Kanto region where Kevin's from, but it was very scarce and extremely limited compared to the numerous recipes that Kalos and other regions had for dishes. Still, hope that you enjoyed!
Next chapter, we'll be back on track with the calm after the storm and how everyone is handling these changes. Stay tuned!
