Sweet Arceus, this took a while. I am so sorry, after I posted the first chapter, my motivation died for a wide variety of reasons. Anyway, another disclaimer!

I do not own Sally or Val. They are characters that belong to my good friends. However, I've been given permission to use them, and most of what I write for their dialogue and actions will be written with consultation from their owners, to make sure that I get their characters just right!

XxXxXxXxX

Clavell couldn't help but grimace in exasperation at the two boys brought into his office, the disappointment very apparent on his face.

It hadn't even been more than an hour, and already Jason had been brought into his office. He had hoped that the young man would have been a bit more behaved on his first day - he wasn't even taking classes yet! - but Augusto had been right, the boy was an enigma already. Meanwhile, the Team Star grunt... well, honestly, he shouldn't have been surprised by his appearance...

"Alright", he began, turning to the art teacher. "Mr. Hassel, could you please tell me what happened? Why have they been brought here?"

"I came across these two at the entrance hall, near one of the elevators up to the dorms", Hassel began. "I had been chasing after a deino that had caused a ruckus, and it led me to these boys. The deino's master was standing above our friend from Team Star, while the dragon had latched onto his leg, threatening some serious damage."

"That's right!" the punk interrupted, sharing his side of the story. "I had been minding my own business, trying to recruit new members for Team Star, when this jack- uh, jerk, got in the way and started trash talking me! I told him I didn't want to fight, and all of a sudden that little monster rushed in out of nowhere and knocked me over! I wouldn't be surprised if I needed a cast or something, I think my leg is broken and I'm sitting here in this office!"

Jason shot the punk a glare while Brutus growled at the accusations, but neither of them dared to move, considering the situation that they were in. He chose instead to remain in his seat, keeping his perfect posture to show that he was paying attention and giving Clavell and Hassel the respect they deserved. Meanwhile, the aggressor was slouching over, acting as if he owned the place. What a piece of-

"You definitely don't require medical treatment", Hassel stated coldly, sending a shiver up the punk's spine. "You tried to run away immediately, once the deino had released your leg. Your bones aren't broken and you aren't even cut, which... in itself is a miracle."

The punk winced, letting out a low "gk!" as he realized he was being called out on his bluff. Clavell pinched the bridge of his nose, gathering a deep breath to calm himself before he turned to the other boy in his office. "Master Jason, if you don't mind sharing your side of the story, please."

Jason nodded, making sure to keep eye contact with the director. "I was heading for the entrance hall to search for someone. See, a gardevoir had been lost near my dorms, and I was helping him find his way back to his trainer when we both came across the scene of this... representative of Team Star aggressively trying to force someone to join them. Originally... I was going to stay out of it, but the gardevoir took it into his own hands and got in the way, protecting the kid. When our friend here began to get aggressive and moved to start an unsanctioned battle with a therapy pokemon, I had no choice but to intervene to try and reduce the amount of injuries."

He glared over at the punk, his eyes cold and unforgiving. "I only stepped in the way in order to keep his attention on me and not on Grace or the kid. After that... technically, he was telling the truth. I had whistled for Brutus, my deino, and while he's a powerful Pokémon, he lacks the means of opening a door himself and thus had to break it down in order to get to me, and he ended up accidentally running our friend here over." Hassel nodded at this, understanding fully now why Brutus had been in such a hurry and didn't care what noise he had made in his run. "And the sad truth about all deino is that they are rendered blind, leading to them habitually biting anything that they run into in order to get an idea of what's going on around them."

He then reached over to Brutus' head, gently petting the dinosaur and getting a low rumble in response. "But Brutus is used to this, and he used the minimal force needed for his biting. Sadly, it still probably hurt a lot, but at least he didn't cause any serious or permanent damage." Jason looked up at Clavell again, his eyes narrowing. "If I am going to be punished for defending a Pokémon from the likes of him, I only ask that he be punished for bullying younger students and Pokémon."

"Psht, bullying?! Me?!" the punk stated, laughing. "I ain't no bully! Team Star stands up to bullies! It's the whole reason why our team was born!"

Both Clavell and Jason's eyes widened at that. For Jason, it was more out of shock that someone who so brazenly was picking on a younger kid and even threatening an innocent Pokémon could even dare to lie about his position.

For Clavell, however... it was a new piece to a puzzle he had been working on for some time now.

Before more could be said, suddenly, the door to the office burst open, catching all that were present off guard. Jason turned quickly, and his eyes widened at seeing a familiar face... or two. There, standing defiantly and with an intense sparkle in his eyes, was Grace, huffing angrily as he stormed into the room. Behind him was the younger boy from earlier. His disposition being one of worry and panic. There was also... A newcomer? This, Jason assumed, must have been Sally. This trainer was definitely MUCH taller than the kid. With strawberry blonde hair and sun-kissed skin, she looked more like a Paldean than the young boy. Her chocolate-brown eyes scanned the room with confusion and concern. Jason saw a small, star-shaped scar on her right cheek. Probably got a little too close to a wild pokemon when she was younger.

"Director Clavell, sir!" Grace began, speaking up in a way to get everyone's attention. Clavell nodded, giving the gardevoir the floor and confirming he was aware of the therapy pokemon. "This boy, Jason, is innocent! He was only trying to help me and my new friend, Val! That punk from Team Star was the one who started this whole incident!"

"You again?!" the punk said, now sitting at attention and sweating bullets. "You can't just leave me alone, can you?!"

"Director, Grace insisted you listen to what he has to say", the girl, confirming herself to be Sally, interjected, ignoring his outcry. "He can share his perspective, literally. I promise you that if he thinks... uh..." She then turned to Jason, her eyebrows furrowing. "I... don't think you ever shared your name with him."

"Jason", was the curt reply.

"R-right. Jason. If Grace thinks that he's innocent, I promise it's worth looking into."

Clavell gave a sigh, before shaking his head. "No, that will not be necessary, but I do appreciate your willingness to step forward", the director stated. "I do believe Master Jason is telling the truth. And I'm fairly certain our teacher, Mr. Hassel, is in agreement as well, aren't you?"

Hassel gave a nod, looking to the deino as he spoke. "Deinos are notoriously difficult to train, especially for novices. Normally, being bitten by one would guarantee you a trip to the local hospital - I promise you, our nurse wouldn't be prepared to handle injuries like that. The fact that yours is so well behaved, all things considered, is incredible." He reached up, scratching his chin as he reminisced a bit. "I grew up around Dragon type Pokemon as well, and I've witnessed many of my family and friends being bitten by them before. Honestly, our friend here from Team Star is incredibly lucky that it wasn't any worse than what he got."

The punk's face turned white as he started to realize how close he was to getting seriously hurt, while Clavell turned to the two that had been brought before him, a soft but stern gaze pointed at them. "However, I can't let Master Jason's actions go unnoticed. Sadly, for the actual bite and for the destruction of property... I will have to give you a week of detention."

At this, Jason raised his hand calmly, quickly silencing any protest from the two new students and Grace. "If I offer to pay for the door I broke, can I lessen my punishment, even if only a little? I knew the risks for calling Brutus to me, and I am willing to be held accountable."

"... fine. If you're willing to pay for the door, then we'll only have you do one weekend of detention instead", the director agreed, sighing.

"Well, there goes a month's allowance, but I think I can deal with it", Jason stated with a nod. "Am I free to go?"

"Of course", Clavell stated, before turning to the Team Star punk. "You, on the other hand... we're going to need a more serious talk with you."

The look on Hassel's face, his eyes burning with passion, only made the punk swallow nervously, before the other three students left the office.

Jason closed the door behind him, letting out a low sigh, before looking at the other students. They seemed to be staring at him expectantly, their eyes glistening with stars. Even Grace seemed to be watching him with admiration, though he didn't share the same awe-struck gaze that the humans had.

"... well, have a good one, I guess", he stated, before turning to walk away. However, his attempt to escape the situation was very quickly foiled as Sally immediately ran in front of him holding her fists up to her chin in excitement.

"WAIT! Wait wait wait wait!" she quickly said, making him take a couple steps back in surprise. "You helped Grace out when he was in trouble! You gotta let me pay you back for it!"

"I'd rather you didn't-" Jason began, but the other student ran up, getting his attention as well.

"B-but you helped me out too!" he said, adding to Sally's statement as she nodded vigorously. "Seriously, that jerk was trying to convince me to join Team Star for, like, ten minutes! Please let us pay you back!"

Jason had a less than pleased look, and Brutus could pick up on his uncomfortable vibes as he gave a low growl, but Grace decided to chime in. "You might as well allow us all to show our gratitude. Sally won't let it go unless you do."

Jason was about to protest more, but a new growl reached everyone's ears. He paused, having the decency to blush as he moved his arms to cover his stomach.

"... buy me lunch, and we'll call it even."

XxXxXxXxX

Jason's emerald eyes shifted between the two humans who had insisted he go with them, not entirely sure what to do.

True to her word, Sally had immediately bought him lunch. In fact, she even recommended a few things off of the menu, cementing Grace's earlier statement about how much she enjoyed food. He had gotten himself a salad, with eggs and bacon bits for protein and avocado for a healthy fat. Meanwhile, on the side he had gotten a serving of Klawf Sticks (whatever the heck a Klawf was) as a treat for Brutus. He picked up one of the sticks, letting the blind dinosaur sniff it cautiously before he took a bite, letting out a pleased rumble. Once he confirmed that Brutus enjoyed his snack, Jason then turned his attention to the other two people... and of course, Grace, the blue gardevoir.

Sally had opted for a potato tortilla, along with some quesadillas as a side. Currently she had been munching on the tortilla, and while it was obvious she was enjoying it, something about her expression told Jason that it wasn't as tasty as she had hoped. Grace, meanwhile, had been given a kind of rice pudding ("arroz con leche", Sally had called it, "with extra cinnamon"), and there were also two cups of some kind of ice cream, with the lid showing the picture of what looked to be a mushroom made of stone and salt, possibly a pokemon that he had yet to learn about. The kid had chosen a strawberry crepe sprinkled with powdered sugar, stating that he had eaten lunch earlier but was happy to receive the treat.

The Unovan boy only stared at the other two as he took slow bites of his salad, making sure to mix it as he went so that his bleu cheese dressing would be mixed into his meal. What is with these two? he thought to himself. So I helped the kid out with a bully and attempted to get Grace back to his trainer. Big Wooper. Anyone could have done that. Why do they care about paying me back?

"So!" came the sudden declaration of Sally, derailing Jason's train of thought and catching both him and the kid by surprise. "Let's get to know each other!" Jason rolled his eyes at this, but it seemed to go unnoticed by anyone else at the table. "My name's Sally! I'm from Galar, but my dad's Paldean, so that's why I got enrolled here. My hobbies include learning new recipes to cook and researching berries and learning which ones work better for cooking and which ones don't!"

Galarian, huh? Jason thought, raising an eyebrow. She doesn't look Galarian, but... I guess I can see that. Not everyone necessarily looks like their ancestry after so many generations...

"...Um... I suppose I'll go next. I'm Val and um... I'm from Unova but I was born and raised here in Paldea. I really didn't want to go to this school but my Dad told me I would learn a lot about pokemon here so... Here I am..." Val let out a nervous chuckle. "Oh! I do like to learn about pokemon though! Here, you wanna see my-"

"Introductions only", Jason butted in, cutting Val off and stopping him from sending out... whatever he was going to share. "I haven't even been able to say my name yet."

"Oh! Uh... sorry."

No wonder he gets picked on... he has no spine, Jason thought bitterly. Should be easy enough to convince him that I don't want to be his friend. Sally, on the other hand...

"I think that's pretty cool!" piped up the female student, giving Val a friendly smile. "And it's pretty cool that you're part Unovan! I don't think I've ever met someone from Unova before!"

Jason couldn't help but sweat-drop at that statement, before he cleared his throat. "Well, if you both are done... I'm Jason. I'm also from Unova."

He deliberately stopped at that sentence. Sally and Val stared at him, hanging onto his words, but soon becoming confused as he had stopped talking. They shot a look at each other, before Val decided to speak up. "And...?"

"And I don't like people."

Another awkward moment as he intentionally kept from continuing any further into an introduction. He watched them both for a moment, fully expecting someone to say something, anything. However, once a minute had passed and neither of the two annoyances had said anything, he was satisfied, certain that they would just let him finish his lunch and then never bug him again.

"I mean... I don't blame you. That Team Star guy was a real jerk!"

His eyes narrowed as he stopped mid bite, glaring over at Sally. So, apparently his plan hadn't worked.

"I mean, seriously, what was his deal?!" Sally continued, putting down her potato tortilla so she could vent a bit. "Does he know how to take 'no' for an answer? I've heard of 'aggressive recruitment' before but that guy just took the cake on that!"

"Yeah but Team Star is a bit... Unique and not in the typical sense." Val offered, drawing attention to him. "They're fairly new to Frutacademia according to the people I've talked to - well not who I'VE talked to but heard from around the school - it used to be five but I guess something happened and now they're HUGE. It wouldn't surprise me if one-fourth of the student body were a part of Team Star."

"A quarter-?! What?!" Grace chimed in, coughing as he had choked on his pudding. Sally gently pat him on the back, helping him swallow his treat. "You mean that there's that many people like him?!"

As Grace recovered from choking, Jason couldn't help but frown some more, his eye twitching. Val seemed to be pretty smart, but Jason wouldn't be surprised if no one had allowed him to talk as a child.

"Uh, n-no! No, not like him, per say but..." Val sighed. "There's a real big bullying problem here at this school. Team Star was formed to fight against those bullies originally, but now... it feels like they became the bullies themselves, sometimes. Their recruiters are really 'in your face' about it, and the only real way to get them to leave you alone is to battle them."

Great... looks like I might have made a new enemy here, Jason thought to himself. Oh well... I'll just battle any of those suckers if they come asking for one until they stop, and then my school life should be pretty peaceful.

"Well, either way, he definitely went too far", Sally commented, looking over at Val. "I'm sorry that you had to-" However, her words suddenly were cut off as she looked him over, her eyebrows furrowing a bit.

"Uh... Sally? You okay?" Val asked, while Jason decided to continue munching on his salad. He had nothing to add to this.

Sally blinked, before shaking her head. "Uh... sorry, but... why is your tie purple?" she asked, pointing at Val's tie. Jason followed her finger, and true to her word, Val's tie was indeed purple. He raised an eyebrow, glancing back at Sally and noticing that she was, in fact, wearing an orange one. "Is that a difference between the guys' uniform and the girls?"

"Oh! Uh, no, it's because I'm in the Uva courses", Val explained. "I'm guessing you're in the Naranja course?"

"Yeah... but, why the different uniforms?" Grace asked next. "I noticed a lot of different students were wearing those different colored ties and pants. Doesn't that get confusing?"

"It's actually based off of an old saying in Paldea", Val said, smiling a bit. Jason rolled his eyes but said nothing, only paying enough attention so he wouldn't get lost in the explanation. "'Those seeking knowledge need look no further than the grapes and oranges of Paldea'. Before our academy was called Frutacademia, it used to have the name 'Naranja Uva Academy', as the oranges and grapes from Paldea are exported all over the world, used for juices, wines, and more. However, after the first few hundred years, the name was changed to not only make it more inclusive, but also easier to say. To honor the old days, they decided to split the classes into Naranja and Uva courses. Naranja students look more into the past to help shape their own future, whether it be personal history or even using famous historical figures, while Uva students use state of the art tech and styles of classes to help nurture their potential."

"Whoa... so that must mean you're, like, super smart, right?" Sally asked. "I don't think I could ever get into the Uva courses..."

"It's not based off of intelligence", Jason finally cut in, getting a chance to share his perspective. "From what I'm hearing, the Naranja courses are to help students decide what they want to do with their future, and the Uva courses are for the kids who either already have an end goal in mind or have a ridiculous amount of potential in some way, shape, or form."

The table was silent for a moment, before Val nodded. "Yeah... that's the short and simple of it."

"Knowing my dad then, he probably put me in the Naranja courses, too", Jason mused to himself. He then reached over to the Klawf sticks again, reaching over and giving Brutus another tasty treat.

"So! Jay!" Sally started.

"Jason", he emphasized, glaring at her. "I don't like being called 'Jay'."

"Right! Jason!" she continued, not at all intimidated by him. "So, what kind of pokemon is that? I've never seen anything like it before!"

"Considering you're from Galar, I find that a bit surprising", Val interjected. "That's a Deino. They're dark/dragon types, and- uh... is your Gardevoir okay?"

Grace had indeed paled quite a bit upon hearing the typing that Brutus had, and it looked as though he had shuffled quite a bit behind Sally, almost as if trying to shield himself. His human trainer chuckled, looking a bit embarrassed. "Oh, don't mind him... he's got some issues with Dark and Ghost type pokemon. Anyway, you were saying?"

That statement surprised Jason, who only quirked an eyebrow at that. However, he said nothing as Val continued his explanation. "W-well... Deino are Dark/Dragon type pokemon that were originally discovered in Unova. They're very powerful, even before they evolve. They start off their lives completely blind, using their other senses to navigate the world around them and even biting things they bump into in order to get used to scents and sensations. It's pretty common to see their shoulders covered in wounds like those purple marks on Brutus... but..." That was when he looked over at Jason, his eyes sparkling a bit. "... this is my first time seeing a shiny Deino before!" Jason's eyebrow quirked at that. "Didn't expect anyone to notice that... at least, around here, anyway. Took me some time to realize Brutus was shiny."

Sally immediately raised her hand, getting the attention of the two boys. "Question!"

"We're not in class, just ask", Jason pointed out, glaring at her again. Though, as it seemed to be destined, she ignored it.

"What's a Shiny Pokemon?"

That caused both Val and Jason to stare at her. They eventually blinked, but turned their gaze to Grace, making sure that her gardevoir was, indeed, blue, before staring back at her again. "You're joking, right?" Jason asked first.

"You don't know what a shiny pokemon is?" Val asked next, more confused and concerned than anything else.

"Uh… no?" Sally confirmed, starting to worry that the two new friends she made would think she was weird. At first, Val sighed, before taking a breath to explain.

However, Sally had managed to hit one of Jason's buttons… and now he was in lecturer mode.

"A Shiny Pokemon is a term given to an alternate color of pokemon, and was deemed as such because when you encounter one, there is a sparkling effect that occurs", Jason began, now going into a tangent that the other two were not expecting. "A pokemon has their color determined at birth, and very rarely, they can be born different. The reason why Val called Brutus shiny is because Deino are primarily blue in color, with reddish purple spots that dot their colors, rather than green with purple spots. They differ from other Pokemon with alternate formes because, essentially, the appearance is purely cosmetic and does not affect a Pokemon's ability to battle or survive in any way, shape or form. And these alternate colors are so rare that people will go to a multitude of lengths in order to even see one, including hatching as many eggs as they can and releasing every pokemon that isn't shiny in order to free up space for more shinies. Thanks to this breeding phenomenon, the chances of finding a shiny pokemon now is about 1 in 4096. Val, what were the odds previously?"

Val flinched, not expecting to get called on, before speaking up. "H-huh?! W-Why me?!" However, any further questioning or protest was squashed when the older boy simply quirked an eyebrow and glared, and reluctantly, Val answered. "Uh… 1 i-in 8,192?"

"1 in 8,192, that is correct", Jason continued on, dispensing information rather quickly. Finally, he paused, before looking to Sally and Grace equally. "Now… I suggest keeping that in mind in the future. Because it will help you understand why everyone is staring at Grace with such weird looks."

Sally paused at that, looking to her gardevoir. Jason could see the gears turning in her head as she figured it all out, and then, eventually, she voiced her thoughts.

"Cool."

The simple statement, the lack of excitement in her voice, definitely caught the other two off guard. Jason got his thoughts on track first, speaking up to her. "Really? I tell you that Grace is a rarity that most people could go their whole lives without seeing, and all you can say is... 'cool'?"

"Well, yeah. I've known Grace for a really long time, and I never thought of his coloring as something that was anything super rare or anything. I just thought it was part of who he is", Sally said with a smile, and Jason could observe a small smile forming on the gardevoir's face as well. "It's just a part of who he is. And I like everything about him, so knowing the actual term for it doesn't change how I feel."

Jason observed the two carefully, his eyes intense for a moment, before he eventually sighed and nodded. "You know what? Fair enough. It was like how I felt when I discovered how special Brutus is. To be fair, I didn't know he was shiny when I first went on my journey, either."

"How could you not?" Val asked, shocked by his statement. "Deinos are rare pokemon in the first place, so the fact that you had a shiny one should have been very apparent! How did you even catch him in the first place?"

However, that question was when Jason decided that enough was enough. He was already talking way more than he intended, and he didn't like that these two were prying into places where they didn't belong. He took a hold of his tray and stood up, cueing Brutus to also stand up. To be fair, while the others had been talking, he continued eating, so now his salad was completely gone.

"Thanks for the meal", he said simply. "Have a good one."

"H-huh?! W-wait-!" Sally started, standing up to protest. However, a blue hand stopped her, and Grace gently pushed her back into her seat, shaking his head.

"He did agree to only join us for lunch, Sally... I think it's just smarter to let him go for now", the gardevoir stated. "I think that statement about him not liking people in general extends to you and Val here, too. He was hoping to get out of here as quickly as possible."

Val cocked his head to the side in confusion. "If he didn't like us, he could have easily just walked away from us, don't you think? Why would he go out of his way to tell us about shiny pokemon and why would he involve us in a quizzing exercise if he didn't like us? I think something's fishy about this..." Val furrowed his brow in thought, trying to determine what, if anything, Jason's modus operandi was.

"I don't claim to know anything else", Grace stated with a shrug. "But... you are right. His mind is like a steel trap, and it seems like he has experience protecting himself from Psychic types. I could try to force my way in, but that has its own moral issues, leaving out the fact that I could seriously hurt him if I pushed too hard." The three of them watched after Jason's back, observing him as he made his retreat. "Something's up with him... and I for one want to find out what it is."

"Ditto", Sally stated, though she had a friendly smile. "Besides... I refuse to believe that he'll be better off on his own. Everyone needs friends, don't they?"

Of course, Jason heard none of this as he walked away. He made sure everything was properly disposed off before putting his tray where it belonged. He clicked his tongue, helping Brutus find his way out of the cafeteria, and began to head for the elevators, fully intending on finding his way to his dorm again.

This time, however, he spotted two more Team Star punks, harassing a new target. This one was a girl, though she was out of uniform, so perhaps, like him, she was new to the school. Her hair was multicolored, with half of it being blue and the other half red. Some rather large glasses adorned her face, covering her black eyes. She had opted for a black hoodie with a pokeball on it and a pair of black shorts, though Jason also noticed that she was wearing a transparent skirt over them. She also seemed to be wearing dark grey tights with red pluses and blue minuses on them, finishing off her dark look with a pair of boots that went to her calves, with white soles and grey toes. However, the thing that stood out to him the most was the largest, fluffiest looking Eevee backpack she wore, and for a moment, he was hit hard with envy, before he shook it off and focused on the punks instead. "Hey!" he shouted out, his aggressive tone making Brutus growl as well, catching the attention of the punks. However, unlike the first one he dealt with, these two flinched and stepped back.

"Aw, crap! That's the guy that got Reno in trouble!" said one of them, a boy that stood just a bit shorter than Jason.

"Not good! The teachers will pin us right away if we try to battle here!" said the girl. "Cheese it!" And with that, the two took off, leaving the girl behind.

Surprised that they weren't as aggressive as he expected them to be, Jason decided it was best if he just let them go. He walked over to her, looking down at her, seeing as he was quite a bit taller than her. He could see her trembling as she stared up at him, not sure what to do.

"... nice backpack", Jason said simply, before walking away. The girl blinked, watching after him, before finally building up the courage.

"U-uh... th-thank you!" she called out. However, she got no words in reply as Jason and his deino kept walking, vanishing into the elevator.

XxXxXxXxX

After taking time to settle in once again, finally Jason was able to message his father, letting him know where his dorm was. In no time at all, Augusto showed up, quirking an eyebrow at the cloth over the doorframe. "Uh... Jason, do I-"

"Don't worry about it", the teenager stated, reading one of his many pokemon magazines. Augusto stared, slightly exasperated, before sighing and walking in. He approached Bruno, letting the deino sniff him before petting the dragon on top of his head.

"So... already getting into trouble, huh?" Augusto asked, though the tone definitely made it more of a statement.

"You and I both knew that with other people involved, it was only a matter of time", Jason stated. "So... any fatherly advice you want to share with me before you leave me in a whole new region? You sure you can go without me for a full school year?"

Augusto frowned. "Son-"

"Nothing? Then just go", the teen continued, almost nonchalantly. "Don't worry about paying for the door to my room, I already got it covered."

"Jason", Augusto insisted, putting a little more stress on his son's name. "Please... promise me you won't go over your head this time? I can't get you out of here as fast if you get yourself into trouble here, you'll be stuck with the consequences if you do something you shouldn't."

Jason snorted at that. "Like I haven't been fine without you before."

Augusto looked a bit hurt at that. "Look... son, what happened back then-"

"You don't get to call me that", Jason growled out, giving his father a rather angry glare. "Not after the shit that you put me through."

His words silenced his father, before the man sighed, standing up. He looked defeated, and he knew that nothing he said would help his case right now. "Just... write to me every now and then? Keep me updated on your classes... tell me about your classmates... stuff like that?"

That gave the teenager pause. His lips pursed together as he thought about what he wanted to say. Finally, his eyes went back down to his magazine, flipping the page. "Fine... but I don't promise that my emails will be all that interesting. It might not be worth it in the end."

"As long as I hear from you and you're doing your best... that's all I ask." Augusto paused for a moment, looking like he had more to say, he turned to leave, stopping just before the doorway out of his son's room. He looked back one last time. "Take good care of yourself... and of Brutus, Jason."

Jason only let out a low hum, before responding. "Have a safe flight home, Augusto."

The name drop made the man frown, but he did not argue against it. Silently, he left, leaving the teenager alone with his thoughts and his magazine. For a moment, he enjoyed the peace and quiet.

Ro-to-to-to...

However, then his phone went off. He quirked an eyebrow, not remembering giving his phone number to anyone, before his phone, powered by an Electric and Ghost type pokemon, floated above him. The screen lit up, but the caller's face cam was dark, showing that whoever it was intentionally keeping their face hidden.

"Hello? Is this Jason?" came a distorted voice. "I hacked your phone so I could talk to you."

"Wrong number", was Jason's cold reply, and he immediately grabbed the phone out of the air. "Rotom, disconnect from the phone."

"W-wait, you can't just-!" Whatever the caller was trying to say got cut off. The phone fell to the ground, lifeless, as a small creature popped out of the device. It was orange in color, with a needle-like protrusion coming out of the top of its sphere-like body, a pair of blue eyes, and a smaller bulb forming from the bottom. The creature's whole body was wreathed in a blue electro-magnetic field, with a pair of bolt-shaped "wings" humming along its sides. It looked rather worried, letting out a distressed buzzing sound.

"Don't worry, Rotom", Jason assured. "Whoever they are, I doubt they'll want to give up on talking to me so easily since they took the time to hack into your phone. Let's wait an hour before you go back in. You think you can keep their calls from coming through while you're connected back to the phone?"

The rotom's eyes became determined, and with a fierce smile, it buzzed in affirmation.

"Good. It's gonna be tough going to school if I keep getting calls all day long. Let's just hope they give up after a few days... I have bigger fish to fry."