“Oh, look at you two!” Mom wailed, while, incidentally, not actually looking at me or my sister. This was mostly because she had an arm wrapped around each of and was pulling us in for a tight hug. “My little girls, all grown up. Don’t go yet!” She pleaded.

  “Mooooom,” Cyan whined. “I have to go or I’ll be late. It’s Nemona that can wait a few hours.” My sister shamelessly tossed me under the bus. Rude! And yeah, I can, but we figured it would be fitting to have both of us leave at the same time to head out to school. Clearly it was a bit too much though, given how O’Nare was wailing, and Billy was sniffling behind her, having gotten over his initial outburst which had started this whole situation (Leah was standing off to the side, only the barest hints of exasperation and bemusement slipping past her professional demeanour).

  “I planned that cushion time for my travel for a reason. If I miss my flight, I’ll be late for everything else.” My logic was not enough to weaken O’Nare’s resolve, nor free me from her iron grip.

  “What will we do with all our free time, with our children gone to foreign lands?” Billy wondered aloud. Deciding turnabout was fair play, I gave them a suggestion.

  “Well, I’m sure that Cyan will be close enough to come visit you for dinner often if you have such free time to prepare for that.” I don’t truly believe they’ll be all that relaxed; their jobs are still both quite demanding and busy. Unfortunately my cunning scheme backfired as it just meant that mom let go of my sister while clinging tighter to me.

  “My baby girl, all ready to fly away and leave us with an empty nest. I can’t blame that Glitterati passion, but I feel like life will be so dull here with you two gone!”

  “Calm down mom, it’ll be fine,” I told her, patting her on the back. “Besides, you’ve got two new little ones to look after,” I pointed down at her Pokemon as I talked. She turned and gasped, seeing not two, but four small mouse-like creatures at her side, all of them chittering happily.

  She let go of me (finally!) and dropped down to scoop up the two newest, smallest of the Maushold. “I’m going to call you Nims, and you Cy,” she told each of them and they nuzzled into her arms, apparently happy with the name choice. I shared an embarrassed look with my sister, but I could tell that like me, she felt incredibly flattered and loved by our mother’s choice.

  “I suppose I have to let you go; at least I’ve got a reminder that unexpected joy awaits around every corner.”

  “Such Glitterati wisdom!” Dad declared, before fixing us with a slightly harder stare. “You will of course, still keep in touch with us, correct?”

  ““Yes dad,”” we said in unison. “I’ve got a reminder set in my phone to send you messages or call at least once a day, and I’ll contact you more if anything super exciting happens.” That reminder is called Miles, and they’re an excellent Personal Assistant.

  My words were enough to convince my parents, but there was another teary-eyed individual waiting for me as we moved to the entranceway. “I-I-” Arven only got that far before bursting into tears and latching onto me.

  “There there. I’ll be back next summer, and I’m gonna call you every day.” I patted him on the shoulder, and Miraidon popped out of their Pokeball to help as well. Of course their idea of ‘help’ involves ample amounts of saliva. I cringed slightly as Miraidon licked us both, catching Mabosstiff off to the side, snickering at my plight (while also looking somewhat sad I was leaving).

  “You better,” Arven said with a sniffle.

  “I will, I promise. We’ll keep in touch, and you can tell me about everything you’re doing here.” I hesitated a second before adding, “I’ve heard your dad is coming back home soon, so I’m sure you’ll want to spend plenty of time with him, but if you ever want to, feel free to stay here as long as you want. I’m sure my parents would appreciate it.” I always marvel at how open they can keep their hearts. It took no time at all for Arven to pretty much become family for them.

  “Definitely, you guys have the best kitchen to make snacks in!” He said in that somewhat self-centered, but nonetheless honest and endearing manner in which only kids could. The chefs still don’t like it if he tries to cook while they’re using the place, but his culinary skills have improved quite a bit. He’ll be a regular pro one day - if he decides to go down that path.

  I vaguely remembered something about him deciding that in the post-game from my past life, but not clearly enough to make out any details. With everything I had changed, I couldn’t be certain that would stay the same too, but I was glad to see what the future would bring.

  Speaking of that, I think it’s time to go. Saying one last farewell to Arven, we headed outside (and I gratefully took the handkerchief that Leah offered to wipe off some of the snot and tears left on my jacket from Arven’s emotional goodbye). There were two cars waiting for us. One was the large moving truck with a couple of Hariyama’s lifting an absolutely massive aquarium tank out, filled with white fishes. The other was a sleek limo.

  “I still have no idea how you convinced the school to let you take in a couple hundred Wishiwashi with you,” I told my sister, shaking my head. “How do they even fit in your dorm?”

  “They don’t,” she admitted. “Since we just need them for when my buddy battles, they’re going to stay in the hallway connecting the new library wing.” Something that has been paid for by a generous donation from our family, okay, yeah, that would explain why they’re so willing to accommodate Cyan. Still… “Let me know if any of the students act up there.”

  Cyan frowned, but I continued. “You dealt with most of the people picking on you for our parents or just because, but there will be people at Uva who will get mad at you just because of my new rank and the fact that you’re my sister.” The fact that complete strangers tried to accost me on my Journey proved that. Uva’s bullying issues are getting out of hand.

  My current plan was to wait until I finished at BB and started at Uva to work with Team Star and fully flush the problem out (as well as make sure they were okay), but if my sister was in trouble, I’d throw that out the window in a heartbeat.

  She shook her snowy hair. “I’ll be fine. I might not be a big, hotshot ‘champion-ranked trainer’ like you, but I earned eight Gym badges before you did, and that was without my two - or two hundred and two, depending on how you looks at it - newest team members.” She frowned, looking uncharacteristically worried for me. “Let me know if you have any problems too. School is a big adjustment and some people… well if they feel like picking on you, they might not directly challenge you to a battle.”

  You mean they’ll whisper behind my back, call me names, spread rumors. There was definitely potential for that, but I felt it minimized by Blueberry’s battle focus. “I’ll keep it in mind, but don’t worry. I’ve got Lacey, Carmine, and Kieran over at Blueberry to back me up,” I said, before giving my sister a hug and a farewell wave before walking over to the limo.

  I settled into the car, remembering to strap on my seatbelt just before Leah turned the key and the engine turned on. Feels kinda weird to be in a car. Cars were decently common, and especially among the wealthy. But in the past few years, I hadn’t needed to use one, either travelling on foot or by Flying Taxi/plane.

  Gazing out the window, I saw the countryside pass by, the green foliage blurring slightly as we travelled down the narrow road. “Thank you, Leah.”

  “Hmm? It’s no problem,” she said, missing what I was getting at.

  “No, I mean, thank you for everything. For helping look after the house, and mom and dad, and the Pokemon, and well, me.” I might have needed to rely on her less recently, but even now her unfailing assistance has been great and early on… well, I don’t want to think how bad it would have been without her.

  “And before you say that you’re just ‘doing your job,’ you’ve done far more than that and-”

  “Thank you, young mis- Nemona. It’s been wonderful watching you grow up,” Leah said, and while I couldn’t see her face, I heard the hitch in her voice. I mean a lot to her too. I did my best not to show it and make her or my parents feel worse, but even as I was excited for this, I’d miss them too.

  By the time we got to the Mesagoza Airport, and Leah was handing me my bags, she had regained her composure. She still gave me a very tight (if brief) hug before sending me off. “I have no doubt that you’ll show everyone at the Academy your spirit and genius, just as you have shown all of us.”

  “Th-thanks,” I responded, ducking my head to not show my watery eyes before I waved her goodbye. Alright, that was good, but no need to dwell on the past. Time to head out to a brand new frontier. My school life starts now!

  ***

  It didn’t, actually, start then. There was a lot of waiting at the airport, then the flight itself (which was nice - it always felt great to be up in the air, even if part of me itched at being inside the cramped plane), and then a drive over from Nimbasa to Castelia city, where the docks were. If I had to place a time when it really began, it would be when I first ran into all the other students gathered there, including some familiar faces.

  “Nemona! Over here!” Lacey waved eagerly at me, her outstretched hand barely going over the tops of most of the other students' heads. It was pretty easy to find her, Kieran, and Carmine, as even the red and black haired girl was shorter than most of the older students. Given how she’s even taller than me, I think she’ll likely eclipse all of them once she’s older.

  The fact was that we all stood out due to being so young, but it was hardly the stares I got for being a Champion back home… though that might just be because they didn’t recognize me yet. “Wo-wozers, you're here too,” Kieran said as I approached and I laughed.

  “Of course she is Kiki!” Carmine screeched. “She told us she’d be here and she knew that I’d kick her butt if she didn’t show up after all the hard work we put in to get in early!”

  I chuckled at her antics. “Indeed, wouldn’t want that. Had no choice but to come then,” I snarked and she turned to me, flustered.

  “What’s that supposed to mean? Sinistcha and I could beat you no problem!”

  “Really?” I raised an eyebrow challengingly at that, before I caught up with her words. “You evolved your starter?” The taller girl nodded and I congratulated her. “Awesome, you must have worked hard on that.”

  She puffed out her chest, beaming at that. “Of course I did! Couldn’t let you and Kiki surpass me.” At those words I cast a questioning gaze over at the boy who nodded meekly, but there was a determined fire in his eyes.

  “Dipplin got really strong too, so uhm… don’t be upset when we win!” He declared, his shyness clashing with a drive for battling. I bared my teeth in a grin.

  “I’ve been looking forward to it. What do you say we put that to the test right now?” He gulped, and everyone nearby started paying a bit more attention to us. At least until Lacey stepped between us with her arms crossed in an ‘X’ in front of her.

  “We can’t have a battle in the middle of the waiting hall! It’s just not right!” As much as I wanted to deny her words, I couldn’t help but agree. Having a battle here might be a little dangerous. We can probably wait until we actually get to school.

  The waiting hall itself was mostly just a repurposed warehouse where the hundreds of students had gathered. And it was only one of many, with several more warehouses holding the other returning students. Geez, really gives you an idea of just how massive this institution is. I can see why they call it a ‘sister school’ of Uva Academy - it’s probably the only one that comes close to matching it in scope and number of students.

  “You're looking good,” Lacey commented to me. She's the ‘fashion oriented’ one of my little circle of friends, as much as we have anyone who fills that role. Mostly she just has an eye for what is ‘cute.’

  At first I thought she was referring to the fact that I was wearing the school uniform already (the Autumn version, not that there were any hard restrictions there, and the temperature being moderated meant you could basically wear whatever seasons uniform you wanted year round) until she clarified. “Those Pokeballs look new, when did you get them?”

  I hooked my magnetized belt with my thumb to show them off a bit more. “Most of them I got from my parents for my birthday, good eye.” The Masterball was a reward for achieving Champion rank, and I transferred Dun over to it. Mostly because I don't like the implications of a ‘Pokeball that cannot fail’ to be used on any Pokemon in the wild, but also as a sign that he'll stand at the top one day. Not just the greatest Dudunsparce in the world (which he probably already is) but the best Pokemon full stop.

  The other one I got through finagling with the League which was a Beast Ball for Radiance. Still can't tell if it has to do with this world being different from their origin, but they like the Beast Ball better than the others. Well, ‘hate it least’ to use their words, but I'll take what I can get.

  Carmine peered down. “Are they made of wood?” She questioned, looking at the other Pokeballs with their unique designs.

  “Apricorn. They were handcrafted by someone in Johto and commissioned by my parents.” Aside from Dun and Radiance, I had Miles in a Friend Ball, for being just that, my first friend. Phantasm had quickly picked out the Fast Ball for herself, while Anya had picked the Love Ball. Nightwing had ironically picked the Lure Ball, though I felt it was kinda fitting given her Tera Type. Not that I'd tell her that, or she'd probably choose another one just to be difficult/go against the grain.

  Bahamut chose the Level Ball, recognizing that he had been the weakest when he'd joined us (something that Anya was much too proud to consider). I considered how far Bahamut had come and couldn't be prouder. Athena had picked the Moon Ball in the end simply because she liked it and hadn't had too much of an interest in what kind of Pokeball she was in (though she was still quite polite about accepting it). That would have left a Heavy Ball for Notch, but that didn't feel quite right. Luckily, my parents had somehow (read: through vast amounts of wealth and connections) obtained a Dream Ball. No clue how they got a Pokeball that supposedly only exists/can be made in the land of dreams, but I can't think of anything more fitting for Notch, having achieved their dream, to be in.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  Kieran ‘ooh'd’ respectfully. “They looked nice.”

  “Yeah, they are. Hey, do you think you'll get permission to go home for the festival this year?”

  “I sure hope so. I swear I caught a glimpse of Ogerpon in the crowd last year!”

  “Shut up Kiki! You say that every year,” his sister admonished. I could see her biting her lip though, more concerned about him getting his hopes up and having those dreams dashed than actually disbelieving him.

  “But I thought I saw the mask we made! That proves it has to be her…”

  We chatted together, catching each other up on things that we’d missed in the group chat and our thoughts about what the school would be like. Lacey knew the most out of all of us, having lived here. Carmine and occasionally Kieran chimed in with some anecdotes about what the school had been like from their parents' days, which was interesting, but very different from what Blueberry Academy was now. That had been back when the school was on the mainland rather than a massive underwater structure. Though it’s interesting that they still focused on double battles back then.

  Eventually one of the adults overseeing us, a dark skinned bald man with a pair of blocky glasses, raised a megaphone and got our attention. “Hello students! I am Mr. Tangleson, and I’ll be one of your teachers at Blueberry Academy. We’ve just received word that our transport is arriving shortly. Please line up in an orderly fashion as we get ready.”

  He organized us into groups, and thankfully all of my friends and I were in the same group, though I wasn’t sure if that was because of our early admission or just luck of the draw and being first years. When the vessel rose slightly out of the large pool of water, I heard numerous shocked gasps. I mean, it wasn’t hidden that we take a submarine to get to the school, though I suppose it is more impressive to see in person.

  Only the top part had crested the surface, and it was a sleek black thing. The hatch opened up to reveal one of the crew, working quickly to extend a ramp out across the water with practiced ease. Mr. Tangleson began checking our IDs and marking us off on his list before sending us aboard, only to stop part way through the list.

  “Drayton? Is there a Drayton?” The teacher called out again before sighing. “We’ll have to leave without him the-”

  “I’m here,” a boy I vaguely remembered in a white jacket said, idly strolling in through the door. He’s that kid from the entrance exams. Doesn’t look like he’s in a rush, I thought to myself as the teacher frowned at the slothful boy.

  “Try not to be so tardy next time; no matter who your grandfather is, Blueberry Academy does not wait on you.” He chided Drayton, and while I couldn’t see his eyes from my current angle, I was sure he was rolling them. My Aura sense has gotten better at reading emotions, so it could be that… or it could just be that it’s an obvious response from a preteen boy being told off.

  “...Nemona Glitterati?” I perked up as I heard my name, showing my ID to the teacher. “Very good. And I see you’re in uniform already, that’s good.” I looked away, a little embarrassed at that - not many others, especially among the first years, were in the academy uniform yet.

  At his direction, I stepped aboard, easily walking across the ramp and then up the ladder to go down the hatch. The submarine was quite large, with a few dozen students already sitting in the rows of seats, which were fairly unadorned (at least by my usual standards of Glitterati travel). Spotting Lacey staring out one of the windows, I went over and sat beside her. “How are you feeling?”

  “Excited! It was a lot of hard work, but we’re going to Blueberry Academy now! Dad told me a bunch of how much mining was done to make it, all the materials used, it feels hard to believe, but we’re going to see it all in person.”

  “I’ve heard the cafeteria is pretty good, at least,” a new voice cut in, and we turned to see the white-haired boy, Drayton, sitting down on my other side.

  “Ah, Nemona, this is Drayton. Drayton this is-” Lacey began to introduce us before he interrupted.

  “We met once before, though I gotta say the entrance exam wasn’t nearly as exciting as the video you showed me of her.” I was confused for a second before the pieces lined up in my mind, and I realized this must have been the boy whose birthday party she had to attend during my Gauntlet challenge.

  “Nice to meet you again, Drayton,” I said diplomatically, offering a hand for him to shake. Carmine and Kieran will be annoyed he’s taking the third and final seat in this window row, but there was only one spot anyways, so at least they won’t fight over it and will probably just sit behind us.

  “You too. How’s it going, champ?” The boy asked, shaking my hand. For someone so lazy, he’s got a strong grip.

  “It’s going fine. And it’s true the entrance exam wasn’t the most exciting thing, but it was still a decent challenge. Besides, you wouldn’t want to start at the top, would you?”

  “Ha, guess that’s true,” he admitted. “But climbing up is such a drag.”

  “I’ll admit, I’m eager to test myself here; if the others are as good as you were in the exam then this should be quite interesting.”

  “Glad to see I left such an impression on Paldea’s Top Champion. Had to wake up early for this, which is a bummer, but hey, what can you do?” Welp, there goes any potential of me slipping by unnoticed. To be fair, I had hardly planned to remain an unknown for my entire time at school, and once the gossip wheel got going, everyone would know. Still hoped that I wouldn’t have to deal with this on the first day.

  “It’s noon,” I pointed out, slightly delayed in my response to Drayton’s words due to being distracted by all the students staring and pointing at me.

  Lacey cut in. “Don’t bother; this guy was late to his own birthday party; and it was at his own house!”

  Carmine and Kieran soon entered, and predictably took their place behind us, though not before the former yelled at Drayton too, who just grumbled and waved her off. Once the last student from our trip boarded, the teacher joined us, making sure we were all seated and knew the proper safety procedures (like not opening Pokeballs inside the sub) before directing the captain to take us off.

  The trip didn’t take long, and given where the academy was situated, I felt that had to be a result of the submarine being quite quick. Even with my vision, I couldn’t see much that lurked in the depths outside, though I thought I caught a glimpse of a pack of Remoraids swimming by. The ocean depths remained in part a mystery even in my old world. I wonder what secrets lurk in the depths here?

  Such thoughts also helped distract me from how claustrophobic I had been feeling. I wasn’t sure if it had to do with my Aura Type or something else, but despite being even more spacious than an airplane, I felt cramped and constrained from the moment I got in there, but I did my best not to let that discomfort show or distract my friends, who were all incredibly excited.

  We were swiftly directed off of the submarine upon it docking. Once off, the pilot took it back to the shore, to pick up more students. The teacher hustled us along, out of the exit chamber to make room for the rest of the submarines coming in. The staff moved in a smooth, practiced fashion, as opposed to all of us students, as first years, still slightly disoriented/unused to all of this.

  The teacher led us up an elevator in small groups to the open air. The smell of sea salt hit like the waves lapping up against the shore of the walkway. I was used to dealing with sensory overload, so I only fell a step behind my friends (and Drayton) as I began walking after them.

  The walkway was fairly long, sticking a few meters above the water, with a solid blue railing tall enough that I could only just see over it. At the end was a large open space, the classmates who had already arrived were milling about in the open center, many more lounging in the stands. At the far end of the circle, a woman sat behind a desk with two gates on either side, likely leading down to the far larger school complex proper.

  The only other adult was a man in a suit, but my attention was caught far more by the large battle arena in the center. “Kieran! Do you see that?” I pointed at the arena, an eager grin on my face.

  He blinked and then his eyes widened as he caught my meaning (or perhaps at me running on ahead). “Hey, wait up!” he called out, jogging after me. The others quickly followed us, Lacey calling out.

  “You can’t battle there! There’s people on the court!” Her arguments were true, but I had a clever counter:

  “Hey, can you guys step to the side? We need to have a quick battle here.” I asked some of the older kids in the center, and Lacey shook her head in disbelief. “What? They can stand anywhere. Besides, this school is built on battling, let’s give em a show!”

  My words (or perhaps my reputation) actually did seem to convince them, most of the teenagers clearing the way, eager to watch our battle. The man in the snazzy white suit stepped up with a grin. “What an excellent idea to kick off the introduction tour!” At my look, a confused, almost cross-eyed look appeared on his face before he brightened up. “Oh right, I’m Director Cyrano, and I’ll referee your match, but it sounds like you young uns’ already know what you want,” he added with a chuckle.

  Oh wow, hadn’t expected to see him so soon. He also wasn’t wearing a fedora in the one interview I’d looked up of him. Cyrano was by all accounts a very reclusive, if well-respected man. Fifty-fifty toss up on him being some evil conspiracy/Team leader or just a really nice all-around good guy then. Those seem to be the only way things fall in this world.

  Kieran nodded, looking determined as he took his place on one end of the arena, while I stood opposite him. We each drew our Pokeballs and it felt like the rest of the world fell away, like we were back on that mountaintop. Nightwing, you’ve come a long way from the Gligar you were then.

  Tossing his Dipplin out onto the field earned a bit more excitement than Nightwing’s release, though I guessed that was because most of the audience had never seen the candy apple coated Pokemon before. In form, aside from the syrupy coating, Dipplin was pretty close to Applin in appearance, only a thin spike shooting out the top of his head as a change from before. But as he caught Nightwing’s gaze and glared back, without a hint of fear, I knew that he and Kieran had improved a fair bit too. That Eviolite stuck to the front of his body means he’ll be way tougher than most Pokemon we’ve faced.

  “Students, are you ready?” Cyrano asked, and we nodded. “Then let the first battle of the school year… begin!” Ah, no countdown!

  “Syrup Bomb!” Kieran shouted, and Dipplin reared back, launching a large glob of the sticky red liquid at my Pokemon.

  “Dodge around it! In close and Ice Fang!” I shouted, and Nightwing dipped down, gliding in, but… “That’s not far enough, hard left!” I added desperately, my words apparently enough to help her narrowly dive past the attack. Why was it so hard-? Right, his Ability. It lowers evasiveness.

  Nightwing swooped quickly around from that to continue her attack run at Dipplin. Not needing a command, he shot his head out, wreathed in Dark Type energy to crack into Nightwing for a solid Sucker Punch. I just smirked as she tanked the blow and sunk her fangs into Dipplin, the icy attack causing him to writhe in discomfort.

  Not that much pain though. Nightwing has incredible physical defenses, but Dipplin’s are quite high too, and that’s before the Eviolite. He can take even a double super-effective Move with that item… so let’s get rid of it.

  “Knock Off,” I ordered, and Nightwing swung her tail around, smacking hard into the purple stone attached to Dipplin. Despite the Dark Type energy and nature of the Move, she failed to dislodge it, however. Sticky Hold… Kieran really trained Dipplin hard, I forgot how strong he was in the Teal Mask DLC by the end.

  He wasn’t waiting around either, saying, “You got this Dipplin! Get her all covered in syrup,” as Nightwing literally turned tail. From that close, the strange, sickly sweet scent Dipplin gave off affecting her even more, she had no chance of dodging the Syrup Bomb.

  “Scor!” She screeched as the syrup landed, immediately beginning to weigh her down. By then the Toxic Orb had kicked in, so I wasn’t as worried about the damage she had taken, but the speed drop would be a problem. Especially since she was so quick I never focused on a way for her to increase her speed.

  “Fling, then-”

  “Protect!” Kieran interrupted, his dragon pulling his head and tail back inside the apple and projecting a barrier around himself, which the toxic orb shattered harmlessly on.

  “-Swords Dance, we'll break through one way or another.” I realized my mistake as soon as Nightwing began moving, the usual graceful dance impeded by the syrup, some of it further entangling her wings. I guess that’s how the ‘speed drops for the next three turns’ works outside of the game.

  My mind raced trying to figure out an alternative to deal with this problem, but Kieran wasn’t slowing down for a minute. “How do you like that? We’ve been training hard - we aren’t the same Applin and Kieran you fought last time!” He crowed before telling his Pokemon, “Dragon Pulse.”

  Sticking his head back out, Dipplin launched a great blast of draconic energy, which Nightwing had no choice but to take. “You’ve definitely improved, there’s no doubting that… but we still have a few tricks up our sleeves. Earthquake, break the ground to dust.”

  It was an unusual combo, one we didn’t use often nowadays, but Nightwing didn’t question me or balk at my orders. Diving down quickly, she struck the ground hard with her tail, kicking up a powerful Earthquake, but that did little damage to Dipplin given his grass Type resistance.

  “She’s a sitting Ducklett on the ground, Energy Ball!” Dipplin hissed eagerly and launched a glowing green orb of energy almost as large as her whole body at Nightwing. She mirrored the vicious grin on my own face as I gave my next order.

  “Quick Attack, to the side around it, then back in for a Sand Attack, right in front of him!” For anyone else, the syrup clinging to their body might have kept them stuck to the ground, but as a Ground Type, she practically swam through the sand covered floor (courtesy of the Earthquake she’d just used). Upon avoiding his attack, Nightwing knocked a bunch of sand - and a fair bit of the noxious liquid inside the Toxic Orb - into our foe’s face.

  The follow up Energy Ball hit Nightwing head on, even with the sand in Dipplin’s overly large eyes, he couldn’t miss a shot that easy. Part of me wanted to call Nightwing back to regroup and let her Poison Heal regeneration deal with the damage she took, but I knew I had to press the attack. “Ice Fang,” I ordered. Acrobatics would be better for dancing around Dipplin’s attacks, but Nightwing is too tangled up for such motions right now.

  “Recover,” Kieran called out with a small smirk on his face, watching as Dipplin began glowing with a bright white light, recovering the damage that was done to him even as Nightwing sunk her teeth into his shell.

  “Keep at it,” I called out, unconcerned. While it would usually be true that he could stalemate and potentially even run Nightwing out of energy, that was without considering the toxin coursing through both of them, and how it hurt Kieran’s Pokemon and helped mine.

  The young boy clearly recognized that, changing strategies. “Infestation, those creepy crawlies will take her down!” A swarm of tiny black insect-like blobs crawled out of the apple shell, something that made my skin crawl even just seeing it. The attack had the insect aura constructs biting and attacking Nightwing, mostly ineffectual in their attempts, but they stuck around, targeting weakspots in her exoskeleton as they gradually wore down at her.

  My Pokemon hadn’t halted her onslaught however, and she used the offensive opportunity Dipplin gave her to viciously tear into him with her Ice Fangs, landing a devastating hit that left him mostly frozen over.

  “Is there anything you can’t do? It’s like you’re the hero of a story…” Kieran muttered in frustration before slapping his cheeks and shaking his head. “No! We can’t give up this easily! Dipplin, Dragon Tail to make room.”

  His Pokemon should have been frozen far too solidly to move, but with a burst of strength, he broke free at his Trainer’s command, swiveling around to smack Nightwing with his tail, the Dragon energy surrounding it sending her flying back. “Now, Draco Meteor!” Kieran called, pointing a finger dramatically up in the air.

  I let out a low whistle as Dipplin stuck his head out fully from his freezer burnt shell and launched a powerful purple glowing meteor up into the sky. That attack earned many shouts of surprise and joy from our classmates in the stands, and I could see why. It was said there were two methods of training up Draco Meteor; one that focused on mitigating how much of a drain it put on the Pokemon afterwards to fire it off repeatedly, and one that enhanced the pure power of the Move, to make it a devastating finisher. I can tell which one Kieran focused on. It’s far stronger than Bahamut’s version of it, and with enough strength that it’ll probably win if it connects. If.

  “Protect.” I ordered and saw the dawning moment of horror on Kieran’s face as Nightwing stuck her tongue out and made a shield around herself. The meteor broke into several shards that rained down, most of them honing in to impact where my Gliscor was or around there, proving that trying to evade the attacks by backing up or charging in would have been folly.

  “Aww shucks,” was all Kieran had time to say as the devastating attack finished. Before the dust had even cleared, I was giving my order.

  “Gunk Shot, you’ve got this!” My hearing caught the slight ‘tink’ sound as she stabbed her tail into the ground, picking up on the tremors that gave Dipplin’s position away even without sight. A chunk of garbage soared across the arena, slamming into Dipplin and knocking him into the edge of the barrier, where he rolled to a stop, unconscious.

  “Dipplin is unable to battle, Nemona Glitterati is the winner!” The Director announced to uproarious cheering from the students, many of whom had joined in partway through. Kieran and I quickly moved to tend to and congratulate and talk to our Pokemon before Nightwing and I walked over to them.

  “You did great out there,” I told him, offering my hand to shake which he took.

  “I can’t seem to beat you, though…” He muttered with a dejected look on his face, even as he took the offered hand and I frowned.

  “Don’t think of it like that; it’s not a competition against me, it’s a challenge against yourself, to see how far you’ve come. I know Nightwing has improved tremendously from their last match, measuring her aggression, and striking strategically. And I’d say you two have improved too. Neither of you had any hesitation this time around - Dipplin took on a bunch of Ice attacks from Nightwing without even flinching!”

  “Thanks,” the Kitakami boy muttered, blushing, a little embarrassed. Both of our attention was then drawn to our Pokemon, having their own little chat.

  “Cor, glis, gli gli,” Nightwing stated. Dipplin looked a little unconvinced, but after a moment, he turned around. Nightwing didn’t have to do the same to stretch her long tail out, slapping Dipplin’s once, then again from the other side, then up and down, before wrapping around it and ‘shaking’ the appendage, careful not to poke the Dragon’s tail with her stinger.

  So cute! A sentiment that seemed to be shared by many of the other students who called out to that effect or cheered even louder. I think this is a fine start to my Pokemon Academy life.

  Discord. Thank you, and I hope you have a great day.

  -'Dun' (Dudunsparce, Male, Normal Type, Starter, Master Ball)

  - Tera Type: Normal

  - Held Item: Expert Belt

  - Abilities: Run Away, Serene Grace

  - Moves known:

  - 'Miles' (Rotom, Genderless, Electric/Form dependent Type, Friend Ball)

  - Tera Type: Electric

  - Held Item: Life Orb

  - Ability: Levitate

  - Moves Known:

  - 'Nightwing' (Gliscor, Female, Flying/Ground Type, Lure Ball)

  - Tera Type: Water

  - Held Item: Toxic Orb

  - Ability: Hyper Cutter, Poison Heal

  - Moves Known:

  - 'Notch' (Diancie, Mega-Evolvable, Genderless, Rock/Fairy Type, Dream Ball)

  - Tera Type: Fighting

  - Held Item: Light Clay

  - Ability: Clear Body

  - Moves Known:

  - 'Phantasm' (Hisuian Zoroark, Female, Normal/Ghost, Fast Ball)

  - Tera Type: Ghost

  - Held Item: Lax Incense

  - Ability: Illusion

  - Moves Known:

  - 'Athena' (Lucario, Mega-Evolveable, Female, Fighting/Steel, Moon Ball)

  - Tera Type: Fighting

  - Held Item: Clear Amulet

  - Ability: Steadfast

  - Moves Known:

  -'Bahamut' (Haxorus, Male, Shiny, Dragon, Level Ball)

  - Tera Type: Dragon

  - Held Item: Dragon Fang

  - Ability: Mold Breaker

  - Moves Known:

  - 'Radiance' (Iron Moth, Genderless, Fire/Poison, Beast Ball)

  - Tera Type: Poison

  - Held Item: Booster Energy

  - Ability: Quark Drive

  - Moves Known:

  -'Anya' (Gothorita, Female, Psychic, Love Ball)

  - Tera Type: Psychic

  - Held Item: None

  - Ability: Shadow Tag

  - Moves Known:

  *Custom Moves