Ash and Zeraora walked into the school. They noticed eyes on them right away as they made their way to their first class. Half the eyes on them were ones of scorn and anger. The other half was amazement and even admiration. Both could tell this was going to be a rough day, there was no avoiding that.
Ash looked to see Gary with a look that said he wanted to deck him right on the spot. He held the Pokeball he was, until Ash came with Zeraora, so proud of. Odds are he had planned on really showing it off to all today. But while it was well bred to be one of the strongest it was no Zeraora. Ash had stolen his thunder before classes even started. Ash did delight in this a lot.
He made his way to his first class and took a seat. Zeraora sat on the floor next to him not seeming to mind. Kari sat down at the desk next to him. She gave a small smile to him and waved. He was glad to see she was on his side.
"What's up Kari?" Ash asked.
"Hey Ash, nothing much. Just happy to start my first day."
"Where is your Pokemon?"
"Oh, I am keeping my Purlion in her Pokeball. Why are you letting Zeraora out? Wouldn't he rather be in his Pokeball than on the floor?"
Zeraora shook his head at her and gave a grunt that pretty much said all that needed to be.
"I think he would rather be outside his Pokeball. I am fine with that." Ash responded.
"I guess. Still, I feel bad he has to sit on the floor."
"We will have to get you something to sit on buddy."
Zeraora nodded.
He sat and chatted with Kari as the rest of the class started to come in. That Goh boy from yesterday looked like he wanted to say something. He was stopped however by a girl he learned the name was Chloe. Seemed like the students who hated him were in the minority in this class. At least his mornings would be okay. The teacher walked in as the bell rang.
"Welcome everyone to care for your Pokemon." She said. "I am Suzie, a groomer. I will be teaching you how to care for your Pokemon, one of the most important things about being a trainer."
Goh raised his hand.
"Yes?"
"Yeah, can you have him put his away? It's distracting!" Goh complained.
She looked over at Zeraora. "Ummm Ash is it? Why is he out?"
Ash looked down at him. "He does not like being in his Pokeball so I let him out."
She nodded. "It's a good idea to keep your Pokemon stress free. I will get something for him to sit on."
"So we can let our Pokemon out?" Goh asked reaching for his Pokeball.
"No Goh! Suzie, his Pokemon enjoys being in its Pokeball." Chloe said.
She sighed. "Goh your Pokemon is in its Pokeball now. I am sure it's fine."
She walked to the front and grabbed a chair setting it down near Ash. Zeraora looked at it and slowly got on it.
"Now We will talk about food." Suzie started.
As she talked about food Ash quickly took notes. He could feel Goh's eyes on him the entire time. Well, from time to time Chloe would smack him and he would turn back to his work. He was a bit worried about the boy. He spent almost no time taking notes. Would he be alright in this class?
Zeraora staied silent the entire class. He listened in for a while but lost interest fast. This was going to be his life for a while he guessed. He was happy that the human in charge got him something to sit on at least. He glared at that boy from before, he did not like him already. That girl kept putting him in his place at least.
The bell rang and everyone got up to leave. Ash and Zeraora got up and started heading to their next class. He saw that it was battle training, the class he wanted to do for a long time. He looked over at his Pokemon. He wondered how he felt about battling. Would he enjoy it or be more peaceful? He would just have to find out.
The two walked out to the battle class seeing multiple battlefields set up. a man dressed as a Ninja was standing there watching everyone as they came in. Ash saw as he eyed his Pokemon but could not tell how he felt about it. The man's face was like stone. To his delight he saw Gary, perhaps he could battle him.
"Welcome everyone. I am Koga." He said. "I will be teaching you all the art of battle."
"Hey, can we get the cheater out of here?" One boy yelled pointing at Ash.
Koga shot him a look that made him back down. "No." He said quickly and simply. "Now then, I am sure you all want to battle but we must observe first."
Two boys came out. One was an eighteen-year-old man. We had sandy spikey hair and yellow hair. He also had a white stripe over his nose for whatever reason. The other was a well-dressed man also of eighteen. He had light steel blue eyes and hair. They both stood before the class.
"This is Wes and Steven." Koga introdused them. "They are both graduates and will be demonstrating a battle."
Both walked to different sides of the battlefield. Kari looked at Wes for a while looking like she might know who he is. Ash made his way beside her. He was interested in what she might have known about him.
"You look like you know him."
"Kind of." She said. "I think he was someone I saw in the news. If he is he is from Orre and might have been illegally training Pokemon since he was ten."
Ash looked shocked at this. "Really?"
"Yeah, but apparently he put an end to a criminal organization so he was just told he needed to attend school and they just pretended the past few years never happened."
"I see," Ash said as he looked up to see him send out a Tyranitar.
The other boy, Steven, sent out a Metagross. The two started to battle with one another. It was pretty evened out as it was two pseudo legendary Pokemon with some type of advantage over the other. The two traded blows for a while until the Tyranitar got the upper hand. It was able to defeat its opponent.
The two shook hands as Koga nodded.
"Very good you two. Now, you will all start by practicing your moves on training dummies."
Ash went up to his. He looked down at the list of moves the Professor said it had from the scan. Power-up Punch, Furry Swipes, Spark, and Quick Attack, a good set of moves. He looked back up at the dummy and back at Zeraora. It looked at him with an expecting look.
"Alright, buddy! You ready to go?"
He smiled and nodded at him getting in a fighting stance.
"Alright! Power-up Punch!"
His fist started to glow as he ran at the dummy and unleashed a punch on it. There was a loud bang as he did and a small cloud of smoke was made. When it cleared he saw a nice-sized dent in it and a very happy-looking Zeraora. He looked a lot stronger also from doing the punch. They don't call it Power-up Punch for nothing he guessed.
"That was pretty impressive."
Ash spun around to see Wes. "Oh! Thanks! He put a lot into it."
He was silent for a bit before he spoke up. "To be chosen by a mythical Pokemon is a blessing. Remember that." With that, he left leaving Ash confused.
"I wonder what that means?"
Zaraora just shrugged and the two returned to their training. He looked over at the others. It would seem the rest did not have many moves. Kari's Pokemon was only scratching its dummy showing it did not have much on it at all. Anabel was having her Eevee do tackles and tail whips. Iris was the odd one out as she was not focusing on the project, just kinda staring into space as her partner, a Drillbur, just kinda looked at her expecting commands.
"Huh, You think Iris is alright?"
Zeraora stopped and looked over at the two. He was a bit concerned also. The Drillbur looked confused as it looked at its trainer. She looked disinterested in her training and was just waiting for the lesson to end. Zeraora did not know much about having a trainer but he had bonded fast with Ash. This poor Pokemon felt a bond with her and now she was just ignoring him.
"I should see what's up later." Zeraora nodded at him.
The two continued until the bell rang. Koga dismissed everyone as he went on to his next class. It was a class on general Pokemon knowledge. While not the most thrilling it was needed. As he neared the class he saw Oak talking with the instructor Elm. He wondered what they were talking about. This was answered rather fast as he got near.
"Ash! Good to see you, my boy." Oak said.
"Hello, Professor. What's up?"
"Well, it's about you, Ash," Elm said. "Sadly you will not be in my class."
"Huh? Why not?"
"Well, you have a Mythical Pokemon," Elm said. "I and Oak decided you needed to be bumped up to the advanced classes."
"Wait? What?"
Oak continued. "We think you have been selected for a reason. Many legends tell of great heroes picked by Legendary or Mythical Pokemon. Just in case we feel you need more advanced training."
Ash was conflicted on this. It seemed unfair that he got a free pass to advanced lessons over the Pokemon that joined him. But on the other hand, the test was unfair anyway. He looked to Zeraora for his reaction to this. He seemed delighted at the prospect, perhaps he had an idea what this was. He decided if he liked the idea he would go for it.
"Alright professor. If you think I need it, I will take it."
Oak smiled. "I am glad to hear! Come with me, my boy."
Ash was led into the room for advanced lessons. Immediately he was given a cold welcome. Pretty much everyone was a good friend of Gary's and already did not like him. Gary himself was also there and shooting him a very ugly look. He was starting to have second thoughts when he saw someone waving to get his attention. Anabel was waving him over with a cheerful smile. He quickly went over and sat at the desk next to her as Zeraora dragged up a seat.
"Hey Ash, good to see you will be joining us," she said.
"I can see you are the only one happy about it," he said looking at the others.
"Ignore them," she said. "Most of them got into the program just because they got inside information or some unfair advantage. Me included." That last part hinted at disappointment.
"Well, I got in just thanks to Zeraora."
She shrugged. "I think it is much harder to get chosen by a Mythical Pokemon than to study for a test so what's the difference?"
She had a strange point.
Soon Oak started to lecture. He decided to start talking about Electric Pokemon, something Ash felt he had something to do with. Ash took down as many notes as he could. If even one helped him with Zeraoras care it was worth it to have it down. While everyone but Anabel was irritated with Ash they at least did not interrupt the class any. Not having Goh was paying off in this one at least.
A note showed up on his desk. He took it and read it.
'Is everything alright?'
He eyed over to Anabel who was side-eyeing him and nodded. He put down his response and placed it on her desk. They were in the back so there was no worry of being spotted. To the rest of the class's credit, they paid attention to the class. He still had to be careful as if anyone saw them passing notes they would waste no time in calling them out just to get him in trouble.
'Yeah, it has been a mixed day.'
'I heard people have been giving you a hard time.'
'I am here to learn is all.'
'Don't worry, I will help you out. Somehow.'
The two stopped trading notes and continued with the lesson. Ash was able to learn a lot about electric types, more than he expected he would from the normal class. He wished the others could sit in on it. He was amazed to learn that one of the few reports they had with Zeraora was that it had to store electricity from outside sources.
"Hey buddy, how are your electric stores?" he asked quietly.
His Pokemon looked at him and gave him a nod. He had plenty for now.
The class went very well. Aside from getting ugly looks from everyone. The class was dismissed and it was now time for Lunch. Anabel asked if she could join him and he agreed to it. After picking up his and Zeraora's lunch from the cafeteria he looked around to see Iris Slowly eating. He motioned to Anabel to sit with her and they walked over.
"Hey, Iris!"
Iris did not respond. just gave a nod.
Ash took his seat. "This is Anabel, a friend of mine."
Anabel smiled. "Nice to meet you."
"Yeah," Iris responded.
"Hey Iris, is something wrong?" Ash asked.
"I don't feel motivated at all." She said flatly.
"Why?" Anabel asked
"Ash I wanted to be a Dragon Master. Yet not one Dragon type chose me. I got a Drilbur, the only thing that chose me."
"That doesn't mean you can't be a Dragon Master you know."
She sighed. "All the dragons there rejected me. Drilbur followed me until I had to accept him. In my village, I thought I had everything I needed to bond with a Dragon, and yet..."
"I see. Maybe-." Ash started
"Ash, Anabel I kinda want to eat alone now. Thanks for talking to me but I am just not really in the mood."
He just nodded and stood up. He was at least happy to see that she did not hate her Pokemon. Anabel followed him a little slower. He could tell she wanted to talk to her but she doubted she could say much else. They looked around to see Kari sitting with that Chloe girl. He motioned to them and they both went to sit with them.
"Mind if we join?"
Kari smiled. "Sure! Happy to have you!"
They both sat with them and started eating again.
"I don't think we have really met." Said Chloe. It was true even though they knew their names. "I am Chloe. My dad is a Professor so I was able to get in with good grades. Can't believe what they pulled with the test though."
Ash sighed. "Yeah. I almost fail because of that."
"Hey, I am sorry about Goh. He is fixated on Mew and I think it was a blow to him you got such a rare Pokemon."
Ash shrugged. "Zeraora chose me. That's all there is to it." He smiled at his buddy who nodded to him.
"I still wish he would grow up." She said.
"Well, I think it's pretty cool he chose you," Kari said. "Purrloin would be happy to meet him sometime after classes."
"Eevee would like to also!" Anabel added.
"Yammer too!" Chloe threw in.
"Heh well sure! Why not?" Ash said. He looked to see Zeraora seemed to like the idea of meeting with other Pokemon. "Perhaps I can invite a few more."
"You got someone in mind?" Kari ask.
Ash looked at Iris. "A few yeah."
They spent the rest of the lunch chatting with one another. The rest of the day was nothing worth writing home about. Mostly just very general classes. Boring as they were they needed some education in the case being a trainer does not work out. Zeraora pretty much just tuned the rest of the day.
After class Ash headed out to the bus. Bianca needed a few days to set up before she was ready to study Zeraora so the two could just head back. Oddly all three of the girls were not present. He assumed they were out to party again. Anabel invited Ash over to her apartment to eat if they felt lonely so he opted to join later. The bus stopped at his place very fast.
As he stepped off he thought he saw someone watching him. He turned to look to see a man and a Meowth. Though they rounded the corner not letting him have a good look at him. They were both dressed in trench coats and fedoras, very odd. But at the same time, it was nothing incriminating. He shrugged and went to his room.
As expected no one was home.
"Well, buddy. Guess it is just us again."
His Electric partner nodded and walked to the kitchen.
"Hungry?" This was responded with a yes. "Well remember we are going over to Anabel's to eat. So just a light snack."
He gave Zeraora a large berry to snack on while he grabbed an apple. The two had about two hours so Ash got a jump on his homework. It was nothing too hard, mostly just care for Zeraora and a few worksheets. Zeraora was pretty good at communicating they they were able to figure out a way for Ash to keep him groomed.
Two hours later they went down to Anabel's and knocked.
"Coming!" Anabel said. She opened the door. Her hair was wet indicating she had showered recently. "Hey, Ash! Zeraora! Come in!"
"Thanks!" He said as the two came into the Apartment. It was still as nice as before.
"Feel free to take a seat. Eevee is in the living room!"
Zeraora headed to the living room. He and the small Pokemon started a conversation. He took a seat also and started to relax. He heard the shower going and figured it was Angie. Anabel went into the kitchen the finish cooking he guessed. Whatever it was it smelled good.
"So have you got your homework done?" he asked trying to start a conversation.
"I have been working on it while I cook. I can multitask. Eevee is pretty easy to groom thankfully."
"That's pretty cool!"
"Yeah comes with my mind. It is pretty useful!"
"Hey, Anabel?" Ash heard the door open. but before anything could happen he felt Anabel cover his eyes. "Have you seen my- Oh shit he's here?"
"Yes, Angie. I said in two hours. Your shampoo is in the left cabinet."
"S-sorry, yeah! Thanks."
He heard the door close as she uncovered his eyes. "Heh sorry."
"All good! Thanks for saving me from a super awkward situation."
Angie came out a little later. the awkwardness passed pretty quickly. After chatting for a few dinners was ready. Eevee and Zeraora enjoyed a nice Pokemon meal, something he could see Zeraora was thrilled for. Anabel had made a lovely Kalos-styled meal. Ash enjoyed the meal, his mother was an amazing cook. But her scope was pretty much just Kanto.
"So Angie? How are your classes going? Homework tough?" He asked.
She shook her head. "No, not really. Until my egg hatches it will be pretty easy."
"I see. So most work is based on your egg?"
She nodded. "Yeah! I hope it hatches soon. I am a little jealous of the Trainer and performance trecks. You get yours right away."
"Well mine got me a few problems. But I take them all gladly to be with him."
The Pokemon looked up smiled and nodded.
"It is amazing how fast you two bonded," Anabel said.
Angie nodded. "I hope I can bond just as fast."
Ash spent a couple of hours with them chatting and talking Pokemon. Soon however he needed to get ready for the next day. After bidding them a fair well he went back to his room. He was amazed to see yet again that they still were not home. He shrugged it off once again and went to bed. He had his own worries for the morning.