HOLY HELL I AM ALIVE!

Hello everyone! Long time no see! I've been having some trouble writing anything for a while, but thanks to some lovely friends of mine who have been helping me get my creative streak back, I finally have something written down that I'm very proud of! I hope you all enjoy!

I'm only gonna say this once; I do NOT own any rights to Pokemon Scarlet or Violet. Otherwise I would have made sure the games didn't launch at such a glitchy state.

I do, however, own my character Jason! The others that are included have been included with permission from their owners! I'll name them once they actually make an appearance in the story.

XxXxXxXxX

"...despite the obvious blemish against his permanent record, I don't see any reason why he can't be accepted into our academy."

Jason let out a low sigh as he silently thanked whatever deity allowed the director to accept him. He knew his chances had been slim - having transferred over in the middle of the year and the outstanding trouble he had gotten into beforehand - but at least Augusto would be happy. He focused on his leg, forcing the black boot with blue laces to slow down and cease its incessant tapping, before standing up, picking up his discarded blue jacket and red hat as he did, his emerald eyes turning to the door right as his father and the director exited the room.

"Thank you so much, Director Clavell", Augusto said with a warm, relieved smile. The man was a bit portly, but not unfit. His chiseled jaw and buzz-cut hair made it obvious that he used to be in combat of some sort, but his white button-up shirt, grey slacks, and black tie definitely gave off the vibe of an office flunkey. "When I heard that my son was getting bullied in Unova - and at such a prestigious school - I didn't know where else to go!"

Jason let out a soft "tch", glaring at Augusto. That wasn't what he told him, but he made no attempt to argue his case. He promised he'd stay quiet, and he wasn't about to blab the real reason why he needed to transfer.

"I promise, Augusto, your son will be in good hands", Clavell stated, adjusting his white-framed glasses. The man was definitely older than Augusto, but not by too many years. His white hair and goatee certainly didn't hide his age very well, but he still moved with an energy and gait of someone with purpose. His eyes soon landed on Jason. "So... starting today, young man, you'll be a student of Frutacademia... or 'Fruit Academy', if you will. I'm Director Clavell."

The name plate on your door already gave that away, Jason thought bitterly, but he hid his emotions well. "Nice to meet you. I'm Jason", he stated, mostly monotone in his delivery. "I look forward to having such an enriched education."

Augusto grimaced a bit at that, but made no attempt to move and correct his son's tone. Clavell, seeing that the young man was not much of a talker, cleared his throat. "Well then, we'll have your dorm and uniform set in a flash. If you'll return to the Entrance Hall and speak with the staff behind the desk, you should have your dorm number ready in no time. Mr. Augusto, may I have a little more of your time to finish up the last of the paperwork?"

"Of course, Director", Augusto said with a beaming grin. "Jason, you think you can find your way?"

"Sure, Dad", Jason said, saying it quick enough to not raise any suspicion. "I'll text you my dorm number so I can say bye before you head home." He then beat a hasty retreat, getting away from the adults while Augusto let out a chuckle.

"Man, that kid... he's at that age, y'know... wanting to get away from his dad and break out on his own. Thinks he knows everything." However, once he turned back to Clavell, the grim look on the director's face made his smile falter. "Uh... sir...?"

"Is everything okay with your son?" Clavell asked, concern evident in his voice. "I know you told me he was... tight-lipped about a lot, but he definitely has that air about him... of someone who definitely does not want to be here."

Augusto's smile dropped fully, and he shook his head. "Listen, Clavell... the kid's story isn't mine to tell. I love him just as much as I love his mother, bless her... but he hates people. In general. He didn't want to go to the last academy, either, but he agreed because it gives him an opportunity to learn more about Pokémon from all over the world."

"So we have another antisocial student... as if the issues we've been having with Team Star haven't been enough..." Clavell let out a sigh, but he straightened up. "Well, our activities here at Frutacademia should provide young Master Jason with plenty of opportunities to make new friends and nurture that love for Pokémon. I can see him fitting into the Naranja courses superbly."

"If you say so", Augusto stated, but the frown didn't leave his face. "But I promise you, anyone that wants to be friends with that boy had better be ready to talk about Pokémon just as much as him... I don't see anyone able to be that close to him unless they have something just as special as his Deino."

XxXxXxXxX

Finding his new dorm was pretty easy, especially with signs indicating which way to go and learning that each floor of the academy coincided with the room numbers. Jason stepped into the blank canvas that was to be his new "home", and he noticed immediately that his boxes of books, posters, and spare clothing had already been delivered. "Augusto is lucky that they accepted me, or else he'd be feeling pretty silly to be bringing all my things here so quickly", the teen muttered to himself, before reaching for his belt. A singular Ultra Ball was plucked from its fastener, and once it grew in size, he simply opened it, allowing the creature inside to get acclimated to its new surroundings. "Check it all out, Brutus. Our new dorm."

Immediately, the glow from the Ultra Ball faded to reveal an interesting creature. A quadrupedal green lizard took its first steps onto the orange tiles of the entryway, getting a feel for its new surroundings as his scales sparkled for just a moment. A black collar frilled around its neck, covered in pale purple markings that looked like wounds healing up. Which made sense, considering the black collar extended up the creature's neck and covered his eyes, rendering the little monster blind. Brutus began to sniff around, moving forward cautiously so as to not damage anything, only moving to bite when it ran into the cabinet door of the green kitchenette sink. After a couple attempts to nip at the offending door, Brutus turned back to where Jason was, letting out a bark.

"I know it's different from the last one... but I kinda like it", Jason stated, picking up the box of posters and placing it on his bed so he could rummage through it. "It smells nicer here, doesn't it? Not like the stainless steel that was our last one."

Brutus let out another bark, before nipping at the cabinet one more time. Satisfied that he had "won" against the door, he moved around, getting used to the new environment with minimal bumping. Once the deino had arrived at his bed (and nipping at the covers, just to make sure he knew what he was dealing with), he jumped up, laying down on the mattress before letting out a pleased purr. Jason chuckled at that, reaching over carefully and gently petting behind the singular horn on Brutus' head.

"Glad it exceeds your standards, buddy", Jason said with a small, soft smile, his green eyes showing a gentle warmth. He brushed his long brown bangs out of his face, looking through the posters that he had with great care. He had a few of different Pokémon, showing their anatomy, strengths, and weaknesses, partly official and partly scrawled onto the poster via his own red marker to contrast with the black lettering. He put one up near his bed, showing an Eevee with plenty of personalized notes to show the great care he had taken into researching the small, brown, fox-like Pokémon.

As he made sure his poster was hanging perfectly by the dresser at the headboard of his new bed, he felt a disturbance. Something was nearby, probing gently, but it made no attempt to hide itself. His eyes narrowing,losing any sense of warmth and instead shifting into a scout-like observation, he moved to the door, the sound of his footsteps catching Brutus' attention and causing the small dragon to growl. However, Jason let out a soft shushing sound, quieting his partner down before he opened the door.

There was an entirely different creature. A bipedal figure stood before them, looking like the very embodiment of elegance as it stood before them in what appeared to be a long flowing white skirt. Its arms and head were colored blue, with what looked to be an orange spike sticking out of its chest. The blue "hair" this Pokémon sported was fashioned into a bob cut, curling down and back up on the sides of its white face, while piercing orange eyes stared at him. Jason blinked, staring down at the newcomer, before speaking.

"Huh... didn't think I'd run into a Gardevoir here."

His voice seemed to snap the newcomer out of its reverie, and it blinked a few times before looking around. "Uh... oh no..." came a new voice in his head. Despite the feminine form of the new Pokémon, the voice was distinctly masculine. "H-How did I...? Where even am I?"

"Hey, calm down", Jason said with a gentle tone, raising his arms up and gently motioning his hands down. "It's okay. I'm guessing you got lost?"

"Y-yes... yes I did", the gardevoir stated, looking at the new human with hesitance. "I... I don't know what came over me, I was with my trainer not too long ago, and then I just... had this feeling..." Quickly, his orange eyes widened, and he began to panic. "Oh no! Sally! I have to get back to Sally before-!"

"Hold up", Jason interrupted, catching the Pokémon's hand before he could run off. "You have no idea where you are in the first place. Is it really a good idea to run off without that crucial bit of information?"

The gardevoir, who had tugged at his arm a couple times to try and get loose, stopped quickly at that. He thought carefully about it, before relaxing and nodding, walking back to him. "Uh... yeah, I... I guess that would be kind of important... sorry..."

"What are you apologizing to me for? You're the one who's lost." Jason let out a sigh, before looking back into his dorm. "I'll be back soon, Bru. Don't worry about food, I'll be back to feed you before it gets too late." With a simple bark as his response, the teenager closed the door behind him, looking to the gardevoir again. "So... what's her dorm number?"

"Um... uh..." The gardevoir placed his hands on his head, trying to remember where he needed to go. "I th-think... room 743?"

"Okay, easy enough", Jason confirmed. "Come with me, I'll take you back to her."

Without much of a choice, the gardevoir nodded, and the two began walking through the halls, the shorter Pokémon making sure to stay close so that he wouldn't get separated. At first the walk was in silence, but soon the wayward gardevoir spoke again. "I... don't think I ever shared my name with you. I'm Grace."

Jason smirked at that. "I don't think I've ever heard of a male gardevoir named Grace before."

"My parents have... interesting values", Grace explained.

"Wait, your parents named you? Not your trainer?"

"It's a long story, but... yeah, Sally is very understanding of it and hasn't given me a new nickname."

"I see..." The teenage boy thought it was odd for certain, but he shook his head. Pokémon did things differently than humans in general. Perhaps psychic Pokémon had their own naming system that humans didn't know about. "... so why aren't you in a Pokéball? Are you one of those Pokémon that hate being kept in a ball?"

"N-no... again, long story... but I'm not supposed to be used for battle. I'm a therapy Pokémon."

Jason paused, looking back towards Grace. He observed the gardevoir with an intense gaze, before shrugging. "I guess that makes sense. What better Pokémon to act as a therapist than a psychic type... especially one that reacts positively towards human emotions and are known to protect their trainers no matter what."

Grace's eyebrow raised, surprised at how calm this human was. "You're... taking all of this pretty well, all things considered."

"I like Pokémon more than people", was Jason's only reply. The rest of the walk was mostly silent, and he could feel the gardevoir's eyes piercing into his back. Almost as if to calm himself, he pulled a hair tie out of his pocket, reaching up and gathering his long brown hair into a low ponytail before letting it go once it was secured, giving Grace a chance to spy the single black hoop that was adorned higher up on his left ear.

As they got close to the door that Grace had asked to be taken to, the human turned back. "I'm assuming you have a good idea of how she feels mentally. Is she in there, or do we need to look elsewhere?"

For a moment, the blue gardevoir was about to ask how he knew that, but he shook his head. This human seemed well read about Pokémon, it was possible he had an idea of the psychic Pokémon's tendency to bond with their trainer on a mental note. He brought his hands to his temples, feeling around as he reached out psychically. After a moment, though, he dropped them, a distressed look on his face. "We're too late... she must've gone out to look for me."

Jason's eyebrows furrowed, obviously not liking the answer. "Alright... so then... tell me about her. What she likes, where she might go looking for you, stuff like that."

It only took a moment for the gardevoir to nod, starting to open up a bit more about his master. "W-well... the one thing she loves is cooking... she enjoys learning about different ingredients and how to make them work into any meal she's preparing... but I don't think she has a spot here yet... we've only arrived yesterday."

The young man only brought a hand to his chin, pressing his thumb against his lower lip in thought, before he nodded. "Alright. I have an idea then." And once more, he began walking, heading for the nearest elevator so they could find their way through the massive school.

"Y-you have a-?" Grace asked, stumbling into the elevator to make sure that he didn't get left behind. "You don't know anything about her! How do you have an idea of where she might be?"

"Well, if you two have only been here for a day at most, then there are only two logical places to go look for her", Jason stated, crossing his arms as he leaned against the wall of the elevator. "One; she could be in the library. She might not have realized that you went missing yet, and she's looking up cook books that she can use to try and make new meals with these new Paldean recipes. And two; it's nearly lunch time. So if I had to wager a guess, she's probably in the cafeteria. So we just go back to the entrance, where the library is located, and if we can't find her there, we just move on to the cafeteria."

Grace blinked, before a look of astonishment began to form on his face. "W-wow... that's... really smart! You're right... Sally can get distracted easily when it comes to food... she might just be in the cafeteria then!"

Jason gave a tiny smirk, glad to be praised, but he didn't let it get to his head. He was aware of the looks Grace had been getting in the dorm room halls. He was doing his best to make it seem like they didn't bug him, but he felt his anger rise the more that it was made painfully obvious that Grace was... different than a normal gardevoir.

Once they made it to the ground floor, there was a commotion that immediately caught the two's attention. In the corner of the room was what looked to be a kid, getting pressed against the wall by another student. The older boy was in some weird get up - his shirt was untucked, his suspenders were undone, and he wore a strange white helmet that seemed to come with star-shaped goggles as he wore the Narnja uniform - consisting of a pair of orange slacks. But the younger student got Jason's attention a bit more. He obviously still had a lot of growing up to do, as he stood at what seemed to be the shortest stature he had seen a teenage student stand at, and his face still held onto some of that baby fat that gave him a much younger look, accentuated by the freckles on his tan skin. It was obvious he was in a different class, as he wore the purple Uva shorts to match his white t-shirt and tie. His short brown hair was a bit unruly, especially with the weirder senior's gloved hand messing with it, but the amber eyes displayed an obvious discomfort, and he definitely looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here.

Jason's emerald eyes narrowed. A bully... he thought. I want nothing more than to march over and knock that smug smirk on that guy's face clean off, but I already am pushing it with Clavell knowing about my history... I better play it safe and ignore-

"Hey! What are you doing?!"

The distinct lack of a gardevoir beside him quickly caught his attention, and he realized too late that Grace had begun marching over, reaching out with his psychic voice to yell at the bully. A stressed grimace washed over Jason's lips, silently cursing out the shiny Pokémon.

The star-spectacled punk turned his head, caught off guard by the new voice in his head, but he soon spotted the offending Pokémon and glared. "What's this? When did you get invited into the conversation, bud?"

"I don't need an invite when I see someone getting picked on!" Grace stated angrily, standing between the punk and the kid. "Leave him alone!"

"Hey, I'm not picking on him", the bully retorted, smirking. "I'm on recruitment duty, and I'm just trying to get him on my side!" He looked past Grace, back to the younger student. "Come on! Why don't you get it?! If you join Team Star, you'll shine brighter than any of these bozos!"

Team Star, huh? Jason thought, glaring. He had made no move towards the trio, unsure of what to do, but that didn't mean he wasn't listening. Never heard of them before... they must be some school club or something. Not really a threat or anything...

When the boy said nothing, the punk seemed to get angry, the smirk fading. "Seriously, kid, what's with you? Don't you wanna burn bright with awesome friends like me?"

The boy only winced away a bit, and Grace took the hint. "Obviously not!" the Pokémon stated, glaring at the bully. "I don't know who you are or why you're picking on someone smaller than you, but you need to back off!"

"Oh yeah?" the punk said, pulling a Pokéball from his belt once he was certain there was no staff nearby to mess with them. "And what are you gonna do about it, Shiny boy?"

The aggressive stance and the challenging tone made the gardevoir wince in response, and his defensive stance faltered as he took a step back. "Uh... I... I..."

That moment tore it for Jason. Zekrom dammit... screw it, I can pay the school back later. And with that, he brought his fingers up to his lips, letting out a loud, piercing whistle, startling not only the punk, the gardevoir, and the boy, but also the small crowd that was starting to gather. Once the punk turned around to face him, Jason began walking forward, taking his turn to stand between him and the therapy Pokémon. "Hey, leave them alone", Jason said in a warning tone. "The kid's not interested and the gardevoir isn't here to fight you. Back off."

At first the thug looked a bit caught off guard. Behind those star-shaped goggles, his eyes looked a bit fearful - something that Jason was very used to - but he managed to find the courage to stand his ground and glare back. "Oh yeah? What, is that shiny thing yours, then?"

"Nah, not mine. I just wanted to help him find his trainer", Jason replied casually. "I don't wanna mess with a bully. So just admit defeat already, and go back to where you came from with your tail between your legs."

"O-oh yeah?" the punk said with a bit more bite in his voice. "I don't see any other Pokémon with you! Who are you gonna send out?"

Jason only smirked. "The Pokémon I called when I whistled."

For a moment, everyone was confused. But suddenly, from the nearby stairwell, came the sound of something hitting every wall on the way down and a flurry of feet scraping and scratching against the floor. A loud bark of anger filled the air as Brutus suddenly burst into the entrance hallway, charging at a reckless speed for a blind dinosaur. Before anyone could even react, the green deino had raced towards Jason, and in his hurry to protect his trainer, he ended up bowling over the bully, knocking him flat on his back. Then, with the unfamiliar scent flooding Brutus' senses, he bit down on the closest appendage to him, which happened to be the bully's left leg, eliciting a loud, startled yelp of pain.

"AAUGH! W-WHAT THE HELL-?!"

"Don't move", Jason told the bully. "Deinos have a bad habit of biting onto anything they bump into in order to get a better bearing on their surroundings. If they don't like what they taste, they'll tear it apart so that they can forget the smell better", Jason stated, causing the bully to whine in fear. "But Brutus is also a very well-trained boy. I can order him to let you go, but you have to apologize first. To both Grace and the kid."

However, before anything more could be said, a new man got in the way, grabbing onto Jason's shoulder. "What is going on in here?!" came a booming voice, and when everyone turned, they saw a middle-aged, blonde-haired man. His yellow eyes burned with an intense heat, off put by his green jacket that appeared to have a cape built into it and the sweater vest he wore. "I saw a Deino rushing through the halls earlier, and one of the dorm room doors has been completely knocked off of its hinges!"

Jason let out another "tch", irritated. He knew that Brutus would have had to break the door to get to him but he didn't expect that much damage. "I was trying to get between this bully and that gardevoir over there, sir", Jason stated. "He was bullying those two over there, and since my deino was in my room, my only option on getting help was to whistle for him."

The teacher obviously didn't like that answer, and he stared down at the punk, noticing the deino in particular was still latched onto him. "Well? Let him go! The three of us are going to Director Clavell's office to get to the bottom of this!"

"Of course, sir", Jason replied, obeying immediately. "Brutus, release."

Without hesitating, the deino released his prey, immediately rushing over to Jason's side with a low growl. The teacher, Hassel, noticed that despite the firm grip on his leg, Brutus had in fact not damaged the punk's uniform... or even broke the skin. Sure, a deino bite was guaranteed to hurt, but he expected more damage from the blind dragon.

The punk stood up, at first attempting to run away and avoid trouble, but a wave of psychic energy pushed him back towards the teacher who simply grabbed him by his shoulder as well. In a panic, he looked around trying to figure out what happened, but when his eyes fell on Grace, he glared. "Oh, I am gonna get you back, you shiny freak!"

Before anyone else could say anything, Hassel pulled the punk away, taking him and Jason to the nearest elevator. "Let's go, you two."

"Ask that kid to take you to the cafeteria", Jason thought as hard as he could, hoping Grace would hear him. "Sorry I can't help much more than this."

Only a moment passed before he heard back in his head, "Don't worry about it! Thank you... I'll pay you back, promise!"

As the elevator door closed, Jason let out a soft sigh, smiling a bit. He wasn't sure how much trouble he was in, but there was one thing for certain...

His future at Frutacademia was certainly going to be interesting.

XxXxXxXxX

In a dimly lit room, a couple hours later, a massive curved monitor displayed a certain video. Someone had recorded Jason's actions, and the viewer watched with interest as the Team Star grunt was defeated before a battle could even begin. They stared at Jason's cold, remorseless expression, and they could feel the quiet rage behind his visage.

The boy hated bullies. That much was very obvious.

"Team Star... with his help... I can finally end them..."