The Conkelldurr opened the gates of the school by sheer force.
"Aren't they supposed to be automated?" wondered Hector aloud.
"They are. However, the power hasn't been turned on yet, to cut down on the costs a little." explained Judiot. The short aired man was looking around in wonder, seeing his idea become reality.
"When we get in, we turn it on." ordered Hector. "What are we, savages?"
The group proceeded trough the gates, the hulking Pokemon closing it behind them. The Courtyard was immense, standing at around 10000 m² of space. A stone path brought right to the entrance of the school, straight ahead. Street lamps followed the path, ready to make light when the night would come. The whole space was full of lively green grass and trees, it invoked such a peaceful vibe despite its supposed usage. By the sides of the stone path, stood two fields. Their ground was exposed, leaving the soil visible, and stands were on both sides for spectators.
"It's groundbreaking technology!" Judiot began explaining to the principal. "A complex mechanism allows the arenas to be modified how you please. You can alter the terrain, add hazards, simulate weather conditions! Even make unleveld fields, flood the arena, it's beautiful! There's also two healing stations for when the fights are over, so you don't have to rush to the school." He was ecstatic.
His geeking out was a bit annoying to Hector, but Eliot found it enjoyable.
"Are the arenas ready?
"...Uh?"
"Are the arenas alredy operative?" the bearded man repeated himself.
"We just need to turn them on and add a few Klings and Klangs, and they'll be perfectly working." Explained Judiot.
"Good. As soon as they're ready, we're having a sparring match."
"Do you have experience as a Pokemon trainer, Hector?" wondered Judiot, in response. "...I'm not really good."
Eliot couldn't help himself, and chukled a bit.
"Is everything alright, Mr Eliot?" asked his visionary friend.
"I found it funny that you asked Hector if he had experience. Do you think I would have picked someone I found incompetent to be the principal of this school?"
"N-No, I'm sorry, Mr Eliot."
"Hector has been my partner back when we used to compete at the Battle Tree in Alola. He's one of the best trainers I know." he explained, reminiscing of the past.
Judiot looked shocked, for a moment, before recomposing himself.
"Y-you two were competitors over there?" he asked, his jaw almost dropping.
"Yes! Good old times, weren't they Oscar?"
The Armarouge was too busy looking at the field to even recognize her trainer asked something. She was remembering too.
"I found the Pokemon World Tournament more enjoyable, to be honest." admitted Hector, in almost a joking tone. It was the first time he showed anything but seriousness since he had placed foot on that island.
"The food in Alola was better." insisted Eliot. The two of them shared a laugh, as Judiot watched, both confused and deeply impressed.
They arranged for the two of them to have a sparring match, as soon at the power would have been turned on. The group moved over towards the entrance. Eliot couldn't ignore the fact that many Bird Pokemons were porched on top of the school's roof already, spoiling the view of the island's mountain right behind the Academy. "We need a Liepard up there." He joked.
At the entrance of the facility, two guards were on stand-by waiting for their arrival, a Chandelure, Boltund and Gengar alongside them. First of the duo was a tall man, with stylish blond hair and a pair of high-end sunglasses over his eyes. He was wearing a nice blue jacket, left open to reveal the white shirt underneath. He had a tight pair of black trousers and what looked like the most comfortable pair of shoes in the world. The woman with him was a carbon copy, except for the fact she was a bit shorter, she had deep purple hair kept in a ponytail, and a pendant hanging on her neck. The trio of pokemon all wore something peculiar: the Chandelure had a lively pair of Choice Specs over his eyes, the Boltund wore a lovely Choice Scarf over his neck, and the Gengar had a beautiful bracelet over her arm.
"Mr Eliot!" the first man shouted, kneeling over. The woman with him kneeled too.
"Aw, on your feet you two. You didn't need to come so early.." He commanded, not liking the two of them staying on the ground.
Both of them went back to standing up in a flash. "We're sorry! It won't happen again!" apologized the girl.
"Let's cut the formalities." hurried up the millionaire, "Is everything ready?"
"Yes, inside everything's fully operational."
"...And they are?" Hector whispered to Judiot.
"The security force of the academy."
"Only two guys?" he pointed out.
"They were handpicked by Eliot." he replied. "We should trust him, shouldn't we?"
"Fair."
Eliot and the two guards exchanged a few words, before the duo stepped aside together with their Pokemon.
"Up for a quick tour?" Eliot asked to his comrades.
Both nodded, Juliot a lot more excited.
The Conkelldurr took the luggages that Oscar was carrying around, leaving the Pokemon free of any weights, and headed inside.
"Conkelldurr will leave your lugagges in your rooms. Want to lead, Judiot?"
The small group stepped inside, Judiot leading the way. The entrance of the school was wonderful: the natural light of the day shined trough the glass roof, lighting up the candid interiors of the school. The checkered floor, the white walls, and various wall decorations -Maps of regions and the island, decorations remishing of the League, and so on- came together to create a welcoming enviroment. A crossroads opened in front of them: right, left, or forwards, outside.
"The school is built based on a squared plant. We have two floors: the upper one is reserved for classes and laboratories, while the lower one has the living necessities. Rooms for the students and teachers, a cafeteria for meals, an infirmary, yada yada. You can guess." Judiot described the school to the principal, ecstatic. The bearded man looked amused.
"What's the center for?" He asked.
"A little park for the students." Judiot explained. "It's a social area. Care to see?"
The quartet entered the central square of the building. To call it a little park was an insane understatement. The whole center of the building was used as a green zone inside school grounds. Vegetation overtook the entire area, the lively short grass and trees breathing life inside the Academy. Benches were scattered everywhere, and a nice stone path brought along to an already working fontain. No roof was in the area, and many Pokemons could be seen flying across the distant Sky.
"That Gyrados remembers me of someone." commented Hector, looking at the stone fountain.
The faucet for the water, on top of the sculture, was a nicely made stone Gyrados.
"Mr Eliot wanted it there..." explained Judiot.
"That's Kai, isn't him?" asked the principal to his friend. "I recognize that fin."
Eliot chuckled. "Nice catch."
The quartet went back inside, taking a tour of the lower floor. The halls extended for quite a while, Eliot had to admit that they really went overboard in size. They had a quick tour of their living quarters. For how much they cared, the students would have lived in groups of three in the smaller lounges, while the staff would have had singular rooms on the opposite side of the Academy.
They skipped their rooms, however, and took a quick look at the cafeteria. It was a large space, designed on the opposite end of the entrance. Nothing too extravagant, just a big area that extened in the backyard to rest and have nice meals in. The group proceeded outside, coming at an halt. The second gate of the Academy stood in front of them, much more reinforced than the first.
"From here we exit and enter the Wild zone." explained Judiot. "Wild pokemon live from this point onwards. We probably shouldn't go out, not now. If you want we can check out the breeding course however, it's right behind the corner-"
"Let's go upstairs." The older men both said in unison.
The quartet proceeded upstairs: every corner of the facility had a few fleets of stairs to move over to the next floor. The upper floor was pretty regular. Nothing out of the ordinary: the classes were bare, only desks and blackboards. The teachers still had to arrive to give their touches. The laboratory was just the same, all deserted.
"...Why do we have a laboratory?" wondered Hector.
"It was Mr Eliot's request."
"Kelvin is coming too. He'll teach proper Item making and usage." explained the peculiar little man.
Hector had to double take for a moment.
"Please, no."
"Why?"
"He'll make this place blow up."
"That's part of the fun, isn't it?"
"We'll have kids here."
"Their families all signed a waiver, at least the ones that still had one. Enough for me!"
Their visit was over already, as neither of the older men of the trio wanted to visit the roof. "Some nets to prevent people falling off is enough!" joked Eliot, as he and his old friend went off. "Turn on the power and get cozy! Tomorrow we'll have a lot of work to do." he ordered Judiot, who istantly ran to the living quarters.
The two men began to backtrack outside.
"Do you think this will work?" Asked Hector, looking at his puzzling fellow.
"Why wouldn't it?"
"That guy seems on the verge of a nervous breakdown."
"It's just excitement. I know you haven't felt that in years, it may look like insanity to you." poked Eliot.
"...Haven't changed at all, uh?"
"I didn't let old age get to me, Hector. I'm still as young as sixty years ago!" he joked, laughing outloud like a kid.
The principal sketched a smile onto his face. The Academy really had invigorated their battle spirit once more. They really needed a sparring match, just for fun, even if the arenas weren't ready.
The trio exited the main entrance of the Academy, the two guards still standing right outside.
"Mr-"
"I told you to cut formalities. Go help that poor guy. He's your boss for today."
The duo bowed, and alongside their Pokemons, and ran inside out of view.
"You didn't find anyone better?"
"Percy Figh, one of the most promising Electric type aspiring Gym leaders of Galar, and Yuna Houly, one of the most promising Ghost type trainers of Unova. Any better names?" Eliot taunted his friend.
"First time doing something like this?"
"No, they're just excited to work for me."
The group preceeded towards one of the empty fields.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" asked Eliot, "They still aren't operational." He knew his friend wanted to, but asking would make him more determined.
"I would have liked to wait too, but now? I'll beat you." admitted Hector, fierce determination in his little eyes.
"That's the man I know!" said Eliot, as he took place on one end of the field. Hector took the other.
"Do you think you can do this, Oscar?"
The Armarouge nodded to her trainer as she stepped forward, her golden armor shining under the sky, her flames burning proud.
"You haven't changed, uh?" observed Hector, watching Oscar approach the white center of the field.
The Pokemon answered by shaking her head.
"I'll make you have fun, I promise." he shouted at his adversary, as he took a Cherish Ball from the pocket of his jacket.
"Alonso!"
A flash of light was the sign of a Ceruledge appearing on the field. The black armor shined under the sun, his blades made out of flames dancing and twisting in their stand-still. A little necklace was attached to his neck, holding a purple crystal. The dark knight istantly locked in towards his lighter counterpart, both staring into each other eyes.
"May the best trainer win." both said in unison.
Alonso was the one to open the dance, by sharpening both his blades with a quick Swords Dance. A red flash passed by almost instantly. Oscar didn't want to leave him any free time however, as her pauldrons slid down her arms in a fraction of a second. Joining the two ends formed her signature cannon.
"Psyshock!"
A pink and blue mass of energy shoot out of her cannon, flying straight at the Ceruledge.
"Shadow Sneak!"
Alonso istantly disappeared, dodging the psychic attack, and reappered from the ground right next to Oscar, ready to strike with his sharpened flaming blades. He thrusted into his target, but the Armarouge was already used to the Ceruledge's tactics: she turned around in a swift motion, deflecting the sword with her cannon. The cannon snapped in two parts again, one parrying the Shadow Sneak from Alonso, and the other ready to defend from the other flaming blade of the dark knight. Alonso swang his second weapon at Oscar, the shining knight deflecting that one too: they were locked in a scissor stand-still, the Ceruledge forces to keep his attack going, and the Armarouge forced to parry it.
"Ah, like the good old times!" commented Eliot, ecstatic at seeing their companions having a little fun every once in a while. "Blind him!"
With a swift kick, Oscar threw up a cloud of dust straight into Alonso's eyes, temporarily blinding him: the knight was forced to call off his attack, and her pauldrons where free again. She left her defensive stance, creating her cannon once again: the Ceruledge tried to close his now freed swords on her, but she ducked down, the attacks swinging aimlessly trough the air. She swept Alonso's legs with a precise kick making him lose balance, before her blaster shot off a powerful Psyshock, the vibrant balls of energy hitting her opponent point blank. The principal's fighter was knocked several feet back, but was still standing despite the powerful attack.
"Resilient as always, Alonso?" taunted Eliot. The Pokemon got right back on his feet, ready to keep going. Hector smiled out of sheer amusement.
"We've just begun, Eliot."
The Ceruledge's swords began to burn brighter. His intention was to use his Bitter Blade to regain some health, even if Oscar resisted the attack as she was a Fire type. He began to sprint towards the Armarouge: instead of shooting right away, however, she aimed at the air, shooting an Energy Ball straight into the sky.
"Shadow Sneak!"
Alonso disappeared once again, but this time Oscar was faster: she followed the Pokemon's shadow on the ground, shooting a powerful Armor Cannon to destroy the terrain and force him out. However, that's exactly what the dark knight wanted: to take advantage of his adversary's powerful signature fire blast. Oscar had refrained from using Armor Cannon until now because she knew that her opponent's ability would have just made him stronger: however, she really didn't have a choice, as Shadow Sneak was incredibly dangerous. One mix-up and she would have been screwed, so she had to choose the lesser of two evils. The fire attack flew his way towards Alonso, who istantly disengaged Shadow Sneak and came out of the ground. He got hit with a clean shot, however, instead of taking any damage, he just began to burn brighter; his Flash Fire was in full effect, and now a Bitter Blade would have done considerable damage even factoring Oscar's resistance.
The Ceruledge began sprinting at full speed towards the Armarouge, who began shooting a barrage of Psyshocks towards her enemy. Alonso elegantly dodged, waving his way between Oscar's suppression fire. A Shadow Sneak would have just been shoot off again and he couldn't get close for a Bitter Blade, but he had other plans.
"Poltergeist!"
The dark knight focused on his opponent. He saw something, hidden deep within her armor: an item. It began moving, and from within, it began attacking Oscar, who was hit with a devastating super effective attack. Here was his opening: he began running towards her currently stunned opponent, ready to heal back up with a Bitter Blade, or even better, finish the match.
However, Oscar had planned for this already.
The outer layer of her armor shot off, aiming straight for Alonso, who easily dodged. However, the realization that now Weak Armor had activated was daunting: his adversary's cumbersome armor had just been removed, making her faster. As he approached, they all saw the Oscar they remembered. The inner section of her armor, now exposed thanks to her Ability, was still stunning after all this time. It was engraved with various carvings, all the results of her past battles: the result was mesmerizing to look at.
"That's the Oscar I know." commented Hector, amused.
A piece of paper, the item that had just attacked her a few seconds ago, caught on fire, and a red flash surrounded the Armarouge.
"A Weakness Policy!" realized the principal.
Oscar was now considerably fater and stronger than Alonso, but also more frail. The shining knight sprinted towards her adversary, shooting a barrage of Psyshocks. Her increased speed was dangerous to the Ceruledge, who barely dodged. The barrage wasn't stopping anytime soon, so he had to improvise. A Shadow Sneak pludged him back into the ground, followed by Oscar's Armor Cannon to get him back out. He jumped, ready to absorb the fire attack again, but to his surprise, the Energy Ball plunged back from the sky, hitting him first. Staying in the ground with Shadow Sneak had hidden the flying Energy Ball to his view. It didn't do considerable damage, however the hit was enough to move him out of the Armor Cannon trajectory, as Oscar had planned. She rushed for the enemy knight, disengaging her cannon and grabbing both his legs, throwing him in the air with her boosted strength. Her cannon was formed once again, and she began bombarding her now airbone opponent with Psyshocks.
Without many options, Ceruledge's only remaining move was to cut through all of them. He began to swing his arms around, cutting Psyshock after Psyshock as he plunged back down towards Oscar. His reflexes really were helping. The Armarouge had to do something. She shot a powerful Armor Cannon again, but instead of aiming for Alonso, she missed intentionally, the shot flying over him. A faster Psyshock followed, making the fire shot explode right behind him. It didn't do any damage, but the shockwave was enough for the dark knight to begin rotating mid-air, confusing him.
Another barrage of Psyshocks was fired, and a few connected, knocking the dark knight away back into the ground, injured. He got back up, however. Both trainers shared a laugh of sheer enjoyment. They hadn't had this much fun in what, years, maybe a dozen of them? They had missed fights, their Pokemons too.
"There's only one way I can win now!" announced Hector, realizing his losing postion.
His sleeve slid up, revealing the wonderful watch worn on his wrist. The Sparkling Stone it was made out of shined under the sun. He began dancing, to the best of his capabilities. Both the watch and his Pokemon's purple crystal, began glowing, and soon, an ominous aura connected the two. Despite his years, the principal was able to quickly finish his choreography, and Alonso began emitting an even more powerful aura.
"Never-Ending Nightmare!"
Shadows quickly swarmed the sky, changing the sunny day to a gloomy night. From the empowered Ceruledge, a sludge of shadows began to flood the field, long hands-like tendrils emerging from it.
"Your Ceruledge isn't living another hit either!" taunted Eliot, as Oscar prepared one final Psyshock.
"Oscar!" "Alonso!"
I wanted to write a little expository chapter, describing the school a little just for fun, and introduce Eliot and Hector's relationship because seeing trainers fighting is one of the most exciting things ever. Who doesn't love friendly fights? No, you don't get to know who won ;)
This is the last update this story is gonna receive until the December 1st deadline, I might do another one introducing the school's stuff but I think it works better if the students meet them alongside the audience.
Thank you for the support the story has been receiving!