Summary: High school was said to be the most defining moment of your life. What happened there would shape your entire future. Lacey knew choosing to go to Blueberry Academy was the right choice for her and would help her make her dreams come true. What she didn't expect was to completely take down the academy's hierarchy while making five new friends along the way.

Or

Lacey becomes a freshman at Blueberry Academy. While making new friends along the way, they take down the current BB League to restore peace and harmony among the student population.

Today was the start of something new.

A new journey.

For Lacey, this was the first day of high school.

High school was the penultimate experience for the average Unovan teenager. With this in mind, Lacey spent a lot of time figuring out which high school she wanted to go to. She could have gone to one in her hometown of Driftveil City, where her parents lived. Or she could have chosen one in Nimbasa City, where she previously attended middle school.

But high school was so important and would certainly define her entire career. And Lacey had big dreams and big shoes to fill. She wanted to become an incredible trainer. She wanted to show others that cute pokemon could be powerful too. She wanted to be a gym leader like her father or reach for even greater heights and become a member of Unova's Elite 4. However, in order to get there, she needed to prepare well and get into a good college.

That's where Blueberry Academy came in.

While Blueberry Academy was only a couple of decades old, it had quickly risen in the ranks. It was currently ranked as one of the top ten best high schools in the region and one of the top three trainer schools in the region.

What better place for her than there?

Though Blueberry Academy was a very expensive, private boarding school, it was also extremely exclusive.

In order to get accepted, one would have to send in an application, pass a standardized test, interview well, and submit a portfolio of the work they had done so far.

Blueberry Academy was a school that had grades 6th through 12th. Their middle school classes would have class sizes of 30-40 students. Once high school hit, most classes received a big influx of students which caused classes to be around 60-80 students.

There were so few spots, but Lacey was able to obtain one for herself.

Lacey was so ecstatic when her acceptance letter came in the mail. It felt like the beginning of the rest of her life.

The first day of school was bittersweet for Lacey.

The first day was more of an orientation with a convocation at the end, but students' parents were able to attend.

Both of Lacey's parents were with her to help her move into her dorm as well as say their goodbyes. Though, as Lacey wanted the utmost privacy, she was able to move into her dorm room earlier than everyone else.

While this wasn't her first time being away from her parents since she did go to a boarding school in Nimbasa City for middle school, it was still hard to see her parents go. While she was in Nimbasa, her mother would come visit her every weekend and bring her home cooked meals. And every month, Lacey would visit her parents in Driftveil City. But it would be different now. Blueberry Academy was not only further away but also harder to get to, and while her parents would spare no expense when it came to their daughter, they did realize that this was time to let go a little.

Lacey would miss them. She knew she would. She was so close to them. But she promised to text and phone call often, and even send the occasional letter.

After dorm move in, orientation, and an official tour of the academy, convocation soon started.

Convocation took place at the Sky Deck, which was where the entrance to the academy was and where the underwater world met with the surface.

Convocation first started off with a speech from the current Student Government Association (SGA) president. The current president was a male student in his senior year. He was tall with a slight tan; a bit lanky but full of charisma. He really got the crowd energized.

Their second speaker was Director Cyrano. He was the founder and head of the Blueberry Academy. Director Cyrano was born to a Paldean mother and a Unovan father. He spent his school days at the prestigious Uva Academy in Paldea. He loved his schooling so much that he believed he had to bring that type of structure here to Unova but with his own twist.

While creating the academy, Director Cyrano recruited Briar Hidalgo, a famous Paldean researcher who studied Paldea's terastalization phenomenon. Professor Briar was their third and final speaker for the day. She talked about her research and how she was able to bring the terastalization phenomenon to the famous Blueberry Academy terrarium.

Each speaker continued to confirm for Lacey that she made the right choice. She was so excited to go to school here and was looking forward to what more this place will bring.

After convocation, Lacey left to go to her dorm. There was a small social event after, but she was too tired for that. She figured she could socialize more tomorrow when classes actually started.

So Lacey got dressed in her favorite pink pajamas and slippers while putting her hair in two pigtails with a fuzzy headband keeping her bangs back.

She decided now was a good time to decorate her dorm room.

Her parents helped her to set up the base of everything and get everything organized, but now it was her favorite part. To make everything look pretty!

Each dorm in the Blueberry Academy was like an individual apartment. Each room had space for a large bed and a desk; as well as having an en suite bathroom, full kitchen, and an in-unit washer and dryer. She really had all the basics that she needed.

Lacey got out her blankets, pillows, and a box of photos and got to work.

As she was half way through decorating her room, she heard a knock on her door.

Her heartbeat sped up a bit. Who could possibly want to see her? She didn't even know anyone here yet, except for one person.

"Hey Lacey, open up!" said a strangely familiar voice, "It's me."

Lacey let out a breath of relief and opened the door.

"You could have at least texted me before coming over," she huffed.

"Where's the fun in that," smirked the boy walking past Lacey entering her room, "I wanted to surprise you."

The boy was tall, much taller than Lacey. He was wearing jeans, a band t-shirt, and had his white hair quiffed up. His golden eyes peered playfully at Lacey.

"Drayton! You nearly gave me a heart attack! If you didn't say anything, I definitely wouldn't have let you in."

"Good thing I did then," Drayton said looking around Lacey's room, "Don't mind me though. Keep doing whatever."

Lacey just rolled her eyes and went back to hanging up her fairy lights around her dorm room.

Lacey and Drayton had known each other for a long time; their whole lives really.

Lacey was the daughter of Clay Hassani, who was known as the gym leader of Driftveil City in Unova, the CEO of Hassani Mining, and the President of the Pokémon World Tournament.

Drayton was the grandson of Drayden Featherstone, who was known as the gym leader and mayor of Opelucid City in Unova and the director of the Opelucid State Academy (one of the top ten trainer schools in Unova).

Clay, Drayden, as well as Lenora were all three gym leaders and best friends. So naturally their progeny also became close.

Drayton and Lacey spent a lot of time together growing up. Even though they weren't blood related, it was hard not to see each other as family.

"I'm surprised to see you here to be honest," said Drayton, "I would have thought you would have stayed at the Battle Institute for high school."

The Battle Institute was located in Nimbasa City and was not only a private college, but was a K-12 boarding and day school for prospective trainers. It was known to be one of the top five trainer schools in Unova. They were especially known for their famous alumni such as Caitlin Blakemoore and Grimsley Adams, two of the current Unovan Elite 4.

Because of their prestige and reputation, it was a no brainer for why Lacey initially wanted to study there.

Lacey shrugged her shoulders, "It didn't really work out. As great as the teachers were, I didn't feel as if I would be able to reach my full potential there."

While Lacey was speaking, she continued to clip polaroids of her family and friends along her fairy lights.

"I wanted to be at a school where I could actually make friends and socialize."

Drayton raised an eyebrow, "So who were all those people you showed me in your pictures then?"

Lacey rolled her eyes, "Those were some friends that I met in Nimbasa but none of them were from my school. Everyone at the Battle Institute knew who my father was, and it shaped all my interactions with everyone. No one really wanted to get close to me. Even though daddy keeps me out of the spotlight, the administration kept talking about it. Soon, everyone at school knew. I wanted to go to a school where no one knew me."

"That's not very smart considering I'm here."

Lacey huffed, "You're just one person. But don't you dare say anything to anyone!"

"Chill," Drayton said, raising his hands, "I'm not gonna say anything. The Drayster has your back on this one."

"Ugh!" groaned Lacey, "You are so annoying."

"How 'bout I make it up to you then since I'm so annoying," Drayton said, giving Lacey his signature smile, "Let me show you around campus tomorrow and give you a proper tour, not one of those boring ones given at orientation."

"No!" Lacey shouted, quickly turning around to look at Drayton. She blushed when she realized how loud she was.

"Let's not do that," she said in a much calmer voice.

Drayton raised an eyebrow, "Why not? There's no harm in a little tour, Lace. Besides, you will definitely get lost tomorrow without me."

"That's not the point, Dray. Once people see us together, they'll talk. They may even try to put two and two together. I really want to try to make friends without the outside influence of my status."

"Allright, allright, I'll yield," sighed Drayton, "Jeez Lace, you wound me."

Drayton pouted and pretended to wipe a tear from his eye. Lacey just rolled her eyes. She was used to Drayton's antics. But she also smiled internally. As annoying as Drayton could be, she's glad to see him (not that she would tell him that). It was nice to see a familiar face when her environment was so unknown to her. It threw her off a little, but having Drayton around grounded her.

"I hope you're not too annoyed with me though. I have a present for you," smirked Drayton holding up a pretty, pink gift bag.

Lacey eyed the gift with caution, "What's in the bag?"

"Relax, Lace. I'm sure you're gonna love it."

Lacey doubted that. The last time Drayton had a surprise gift for her, let's just say that she was washing out his "gift" from her hair for months.

Though, being cautiously optimistic, she took a seat next to Drayton on her bed and took the gift bag from his hands. She carefully took out the gift paper hiding the item from view. What she saw made her heart skip a beat.

It was a photo album.

Lacey was immediately intrigued. Drayton had been interested in photography for a few years now. Even since Uncle Draydon had gifted him a camera for his birthday, he's been obsessed. Surprisingly, Drayton actually took the hobby quite seriously. That made her even more interested to see what was inside.

Lacey carefully placed the photo album in her lap and slowly opened it. Flipping through the pages was like unearthing a time capsule. There were pictures of her and Drayton since they were tiny. Her parents, Uncle Drayden, Auntie Lenora, and even some of their other friends were in there too. The album seemed to be a catalog of them from when they were babies until present day.

The gift was so moving, Lacey really couldn't help but cry a little. She didn't realize it until now, but she really missed her friends and family. Even though she wanted to go to Blueberry Academy, it was so far away from everyone she loved. This photo album was like a balm to her heart; soothing every part of her that "missed" and "longed."

Who knew Drayton could be so thoughtful.

Well, Lacey did know, but it was rare to see this side of Drayton.

Lacey looked over at him and said, "Thank you. I really love and appreciate it."

Drayton just smiled, got up off her bed, and headed towards her door.

"Just don't be a stranger, Lace."

And with that, he left.

Word Count: 2,150

Date Published: Saturday, January 13, 2024

A/N: Thank you for reading this story! I really fel in love with the characters in the Teal Mask and Indigo Disk DLCs. I hope to explore them more in this story and show a little about how they became friends and made it to the top of the BB League.

Let me know what you think in the comments down below 3