Mamá Estoy en casa" Juliana yelled opening the door.
"Juliana ay dios mio como te he extrañado!" Juliana's mom ran down the stairs and gave her a big hug.
"How was your first week at school please come sit down and tell me all about it"
Juliana followed her mom into the living room to see it destroyed.
"Mom, what happened in here? It looks like a bomb went off"
"Oh, well funny story I was feeling lonely being heard by myself and"
"Char!" Juliana was suddenly struck in the face by an Ember when she cleared her eyes she saw a Charcadet running around the living room.
"Mom you got a Charcadet!"
"That's what I was trying to tell you I was feeling lonely so I bought this Pokémon egg off Face page and it was a Charcadet" Her mom ducked to dodge another Ember.
"But, well he's got a bit of a rebellious streak he won't listen to a thing I say and completely destroyed the house"
"So I was wondering could you try and get him to settle down for me please?"
"Fine" Julianna sighed.
"Charcadet come here come here" Juliana tried to get Charcadet to come to her, but Charcadet simply gave her the stink eye and ran down into the kitchen with Juliana giving chase.
"Charcadet don't make me do this" Juliana put both her Pokeballs out in her hands.
"Char-Char-Cadet!" Charcadet puffed out his chest accepting the challenge.
"Alright Quaxly, Wooper Vamos!" Tulio and Salvador stared down the Charcadet.
Alright, Salvador what's your plan?" Tulio asked
"Me? Why am I the one planning this?"
"You're the smart one Salvador I'm the pretty one I can't think of anything"
"Hey, look at me I'm up here and you can't get me la la la la" the Charcadet threw some bowls off the counter at Tulio
"Yeesh someone's got an attitude problem"
"Alright I got a plan take this you little punk" Salvador charged at Charcadet and began smacking him with her tail Tulio joined. Julianna watched the three Pokémon tussle on the counter.
Within a minute Quaxly and Wooper were victorious Tulio helped up Charcadet and the two cheered in victory.
"Dios Mio Julianna are these your Pokémon!" her mother squealed patting Wooper and Quaxly on the head.
"So cute I knew you would have good taste in Pokémon. Now do you two want some food"
"Woop!"
"Quack quack!"
Both of them seemed to want food.
Juliana's mom went into the kitchen and came back with food for Tulio and Salvador the two sat down and happily began to eat.
"So Juliana, how was your first week of school?"
"It went great I feel at home there I even made friends with Nemona"
"De Ninguna manera! You mean Nemona O, nare who lives down the road she's head of the student council oh Julianna that's wonderful"
"Did you see any of those Team Star punks I heard from the parent form that they graffitied the school" Julianna decided she didn't need to tell her mother about the encounter she had with Penny and Team Star.
"No, I've heard about them from some other students but other than that it's been fine"
"Gracias a Dios I wouldn't want you getting into trouble"
Juliana was holding up Charcadet's Pokeball wondering what to do with it.
"Do you know what your gonna do with Charcadet?"
"No I've asked everyone in Cabo Poco no one wants to take him said he's too unruly" Juliana suddenly had an idea.
"I could take him!" Julianna offered.
"You would, Oh Julianna that would be wonderful!" her mother squealed.
"What do want to name him?" her mother asked.
"I don't know did you have any names for him?"
"No, I've just been calling him El Rebelde because that's what he's been acting like"
"I think that would be a good name he is quite the little rebel"
Florian sat in the contest hall Aceituna and Miguel at his side. Miguel waged his tail back and forth making deep grumbling noises in delight well Aceituna stood shaking and sweating olive oil nervously.
Florian was wearing his best clothes a suit and pants his mother bought him for formal events and a pair of dress shoes his father bought him last Christmas.
"Un clavel corté. Por la sierra azul, caminito de mi rancho" Miguel sang.
"Come on Aceituna got into the groove man feel the beat of the contest"
"How can you be thinking about music at a time like this think about the noise the crowds the lights the lights!"
"Florian! Oh, there's my little gazpacho!" Florian's mom, dad, and Abuela ran over and hugged him.
"Oh look at my baby boy all grown up in his first contest" his mother squealed in delight starting to get teary-eyed.
"I can't believe you guys came all the way to Cortondo just to watch me"
"Did you think we wouldn't?" his father asked "We wouldn't miss it for the world"
"Aww, are these your Pokémon" his Abuela bent down and patted Miguel and Aceituna on the head Miguel rumbled in delight well Aceituna seemed to calm down a tad which was impressive since the Smoliv was hard to calm down when she was upset.
"Would all contestants please come to the dressing room" the voice called over the speaker.
"I got to go" Florian returned Fuecoco and Smoliv to their Pokeballs and walked into the dressing room.
The contest was a 16-competition elimination tournament with all the rounds randomly generated.
Florian was surprised to see Oort and Kuiper as two of the contestants there Kuiper's Shroodle and Oort's Skrelp practicing.
"Good luck your gonna need it" Trinity and her friend the girls who had poked fun at him in class walked by a Ducklett and Sewaddle on their shoulders Trinity's Ducklet gave Florian a disapproving look.
Florian watched the rest of the matches before his match Oort, Kuiper, Trinity, and her friend who he found out was named Audrey all made it through to the next round.
Florian was up next he saw Oort coming back after winning with his Skrelp and Rellor by having Skrelp lift Rellor's ball with Poison Tail and then having Rellor and Skrelp burst the ball with Struggle Bug and Water Gun.
Florian wondered if he should congratulate him for the win since the window for him to join Team Star was fast approaching.
He decided to go for it he needed to be more social anyways.
"Hey Oort nice performance out there"
"Thanks, man, good luck" Florian was shocked at how well that went other was this what it felt like just to have a casual conversation?
Florian walked out onto the contest stage. The crowd cheered as walked into the light. Florian felt like freezing. All the people, the lights, and the noise were too much, but he forced himself to keep moving; he couldn't freeze in his big moment.
His opponent was a younger girl named Cherry about 13 or so in a pink dress she sent out a Spritzee and Tandemaus.
Florian sent Fuecoco and Smoliv Fuecoco seemed overjoyed well Smoliv was trying not to collapse.
"Use Charm!" The Spritzee and Tandemaus started with charm sending pink hearts flying into the air.
"Fuecoco use Ember on Smoliv's Razor Leaf!" Smoliv launched a flurry of leaves up at the floating hearts well Fuecoco launched an Ember after them causing a dazzling explosion of pink greens and oranges.
Florian looked over at the scoreboard the judges had given him more points which gave him a slight sigh of relief.
The Spritzee went for a Gyro Ball with the Tandemaus standing on top of her the Spritzee slammed into Fuecoco and Smoliv Florian watched his point total drop below his opponents.
Spritzee went for another Gyro Ball with Tandemaus on top but instead of spinning forward, Spritzee spun in place well Tandemaus launched a Bullet Seed sending seeds flying everywhere.
"Fuecoco use Round! Smoliv use Helping Hand!" a golden aura glowed around Smoliv who tapped Fuecoco with one of her leaves invigorating Fuecoco with the same golden aura. Fuecoco let out a loud guttural song sending out powerful shockwaves countering the Bullet Seed and knocking the Tandemaus of Spritzee giving Florian a lot of points.
The Tandemaus went for Double Hit on Spritzee sending the Perfume Pokémon flying towards Smoliv kissing Aceituna with a Draining Kiss.
Right now the score was about even although Florian held a slight lead.
"Use Echoed Voice!" Spritzee and Tandemaus let out a shock wave of musical notes.
"Smoliv use Sweet Scent" Smoliv released a thick cloud of steam from her fruit obscuring her and Fuecoco and blocking the Echoed Voice.
"Fuecoco, Smoliv jump then Ember and Razor Leaf!" Fuecoco and Smoliv jumped into the air launching an Ember and Razor Leaf. Spritzee and Tandemaus had no time to dodge and we were knocked out in a dazzling blast of green and orange.
"Spritzee and Tandemaus are unable to battle Fuecoco and Smoliv are the winners" Florian ran out to the field picking up Aceituna and Miguel. Miguel chirped in delight well Aceituna had calmed down sighing in relief.
"See Aceituna how was that man?"
"Da hu would ya bold ya" Aceituna replied in gibberish still unable to speak properly.
After congratulating Cherry Florian walked into the main hall with the rest of the quarterfinalists.
Florian looked up at the Tv screen displaying the quarterfinal and froze.
Of course, with Florian's luck, he had to be paired with Trinity in the quarterfinals.
"Alright, Miguel and Aceituna you two ready to move on to the semifinal?"
"Grrrar"
"Smol!"
Florian returned them to their Pokeball walking into the both.
"Hey, good luck man" Oort wished standing beside Kuiper. It made Florian feel more confident knowing that he had more people cheering him on than just his family.
Florian entered the stage with the crowd cheering his name this time it felt more natural to be walking onto stage From the stage he could see his family cheering him on as Florian sent out Fuecoco and Smoliv.
Trinity twirled around in her green and white dress sending out a Ducklett and Poochyena to face Miguel and Aceituna.
"Show off!" Florian whispered under his breath.
"Use Hidden Power!" glowing orbs surrounded Ducklett and Poochyena firing them at Fuecoco and Smoliv.
"Smoliv use Helping Hand! Fuecoco use Round!" Smoliv used a helping hand on Fuecoco who let out a shockwave of sound sending the orbs flying upward and exploding in a blast of bright white energy.
"Smoliv use Razor Leaf Fuecoco use Ember!" Fuecoco and Smoliv launched the fire and grass attack on Ducklett and Poochyena.
"Use Roar and Defog!" Poochyena let out a roar well Ducklett flapped her wings blowing the burning leaves right back at Smoliv and Fuecoco.
The leaves fell onto them Miguel seemed to be fine but Aceituna's leaf caught fire the olive began to panic running around the arena and leaking olive oil.
Trinity smirked as Smoliv panicked Florian realized she must have watched him use the Ember Razor Leaf combo during his last match and picked two Pokémon that could counter that attack combo.
Florian was starting to panic he was put on the backfoot extremely quickly.
"Fuecoco use Round on Smoliv" Fuecoco let out a shockwave putting out the fire on Smoliv's head and launching her at Poochyena.
"Smoliv use Tackle!" Smoliv flew forward slamming into Poochyena with Tackle.
"Poochyena use Bite" Poochyena sunk his teeth into Smoliv. "Smol!" Aceituna cried out in pain Poochyena released Smoliv throwing her into the air.
"Ducklett use Wing Attack!" Ducklett flew upward wings glowing white she smacked Smoliv with her wing. Aceituna went flying down to the ground eyes swirling in defeat.
Florian felt like crying as he returned Aceituna to her Pokeball.
"Fuecoco use Em-Ember" Florian stuttered out Poochyena and Ducklett easily dodged the attack.
"Poochyena uses Mud Slap" Poochyena hurled a ball of mud at Fuecoco's face.
"Gra!" Fuecoco stumbled and fell flat on his back face blinded by the mud.
"Ducklett use Water Pulse!" Ducklett fired a round blast of bright blue water from her beak at Fuecoco. Florian already knew the outcome.
Florian couldn't bare to look as the ball of water hit Miguel knocking him out.
"Fuecoco and Smoliv are unable to battle Ducklett and Poochyena are the winners the victory goes to Trinity"
Florian returned Miguel to his Pokeball eyes watering with tears.
"Pathetic" Trinity sneered under her breath.
"Florian ran down the hallway crying rushing past the other contestants.
"Florian, Florian come here it's ok" Florian's mother tried to hug him.
"Don't talk to me leave me alone!" Florian screamed rushing past his family. He had resorted to the one thing he had done since he was a small child in 3rd grade crying because he didn't finish his art project before school ended.
"Dios, Estaba preocupado por esto" Florian's father muttered under his breath.
"Juan please not right now Florian doesn't need that" his mother replayed.
Florian found a small corner beside a vending machine on the other end of the arena.
Florian began to ball like he was a little child again. He hated himself for it he hated crying in the corner just like he was the same blubbering stupid autistic little piece of shit he was in elementary school. The part of him that he was so desperate to leave behind the part he wanted to leave back in Porto Marinada when he started at the academy.
But he couldn't just leave that behind he couldn't delete a neurological development in his brain like you could delete code from a computer. He was stupid to think that he could just get rid of something that had been so important in shaping his life since his parents first noticed his lack of sociability around children his age.
"Hey, dude you okay" Kuiper and Oort appeared.
"Oh, ya I'm fine" Florian made sure to say it with a straight face cool people were the last people he wanted to see him balling his eyes out.
"I just needed a moment"
"Don't worry man it's fine we saw Trinity she's being a real bitch" Oort replied.
"Chica kept bragging about how she won god I couldn't stand waiting for Jessalina's match to end I had to get out of here" Kuiper laughed.
"I mean she is from Unova there good at bragging about how much better they are than everyone else" Oort and Kuiper laughed at his joke it made Florian feel a bit brighter.
"Trust me we've been dealing with Unova students since we started here it's like they can't fathom the idea of Unova not being number one at everything"
"Like ya why do you think that so many of them are ditzy cheerleaders or meathead football jokes"
Florian suddenly had an idea the time to decide if he wanted to join Team Star was probably now.
Florian knew what his answer was going to be.
"Hey um, about joining Team Star I've made up my mind it's yes"
"Oh, my god that is like so awesome!" Kuiper screamed.
"Hey, man that's awesome" Oort put his arm around Florian playfully.
"There's just one thing you need to do before you join Team Star"
"What's that?" Florian asked.
"Everyone has nicknames named after cosmic stuff mine is named after the Kuiper Belt and Oort's named after the Oort cloud. Are real names are Ana and Javier" Kuiper explained.
"Well I don't know much space stuff and I assume all the big planets and stuff are taken so, do you guys have any suggestions? Mabey one that starts with F" Kuiper and Oort thought for a moment.
"Oh, what about Farbauti? It's one of the moons of Saturn" Oort suggested.
"Ya, that sounds like a great name"
"Well welcome to Team Star then Farbauti"
"Also I heard that Team Star has five different squads what's that about?"
"Oh, ya Team Star has 5 different squads that you can be a part of me and Kuiper are both part of the Ruchbah Squad all we have to do is go get you introduced to Ortega and you're good to go"
"Where is the Ruchbah squad base anyways"
"It's up north between Montenevera and Glaseado" Kuiper replied.
"Shit I don't have the time to get all there from Porto Marinada to Glaseado without my parents noticing.
"What about at night your parents are gonna be asleep"
"Wait like you want me to sneak out?" Florian asked.
"Ya, why not I do it all the time my parents have never caught me" Kuiper boosted.
"Alright all be there at um, well my parents go to bed at midnight on weekends so I'll be there at 01:00"
And that's how Florian ended up sneaking out of the house for the first time.
It was actually a lot easier than all Florian had to do was put some socks and a hoodie on and tiptoe down the stairs unlock the door and walk out the door thankfully his whole family was heavy sleepers.
Florian stepped quietly through the backyard unlocked the shed and grabbed his bicycle stepped over the gate and started riding down the street he would have taken Don but he had already transferred his Pokeball to Juliana.
The bike ride up to Glaseado took about an hour Florian enjoyed riding threw the crisp autumn air as the landscape turned from coastal forests to temperate woodlands to open grasslands.
Since Cassiopeia had put the Team Star bases in his phone Florian had an easy time finding the Ruchbah squad base Oort and Kuiper were outside waiting for him.
"Farbauti there you are"
"Sorry, it takes a while to get here from where I live. So where is this Ortega you were talking about?"
"He's inside the base he's supper excited it's been a week since we last got someone to join Team Star" Kuiper and Oort showed Florian the back entrance into the base. Inside the base was swarming with Team Star grunts who all turned their heads to look at Florian"
"Alright, alright, Oort, Kuiper where is that new guy you were talking about" A short boy with pale pink eyes and hair walked over to Florian a Dachsbun at his side.
"Okayyyy, so this the new guy that you got" Dachsbun sniffed over Florian.
"Well, he seems promising it's nice that someone finally got someone to join" Ortega sneered.
"What's your name again?"
"Florian or Farbauti that's the nickname that Oort and Kuiper choose for me"
"Well then welcome to the Ruchbah Squad Farbauti"