Chapter 4 – Our New Life

All they knew was fear. It happened so fast, yet it felt like an eternity. In all his journeys, Ari had encountered many threats, but this one wasn’t like any other he’s seen before, yet it wasn’t the most scared he’s been. Despite that, it wasn’t easy to think clearly in that situation. Ari clashed against the twisted knight with his metal claws as they threw his fist forward with a move that he’s never seen before. It had a blue aura that distorted the air around it. It was too much and Ari was sent backwards, but he landed on his feet, quickly defending himself with a protect that stopped the flames that were thrown at him in a blink of an eye. It was too much.

In all his life, Nimb had been avoiding every conflict, but this one had chased him down and there was no escape. He had seen things that really scared him, but in the end it was a rather peaceful life, so this was a nightmare fuel for him. He couldn’t react as the Armarouge charged towards him, but luckily Ari stopped them… Just for a second. Flames bathed the area and Ari could only defend himself, but not Nimb. The Archen was scorched and quickly rolled on the ground to put out the fire, which had severely damaged him. It was too much.

Ari quickly ran towards Nimb, crying out for him in panic, but Armarouge extended their arm and trapped the Riolu in a psychic grip. Ari felt the air squeezed out of his lungs before the twisted knight gestured down, throwing him to the ground with a loud thud. Ari struggled to move, so Armarouge took their chance to charge forward enveloped in flames, but they were interrupted by some rock shards that were thrown to them from behind. They turned around and saw the Archen approaching them slowly, limping and shaking in fear.

“L-leave h-him alone! P-p-please…”

The Armarouge immediately caught Nimb in another psychic grip and started squeezing him. Ari managed to stand up and yelled. “NIMB!” His body started glowing in his distinctive red tone, and the red aura emanating from his pearls enveloped Nimb as well. The bird was thrown to the ground repeatedly, then to a near tree, then to a rock. He was getting thrased with psychic over and over again, and even though he was enduring it thanks to Ari’s power, it was still painful. Armarouge grew tired and finally launched Nimb towards Ari, the impact sending both of them a fair distance away.

“Arggh… Are you okay, Nimb?” Ari asked.

“I… I think so…” Nimb said, trying to stand.

The knight was coming for them again, and Ari quickly started throwing aura spheres desperately with both hands. Most of them were destroyed by a fire barrier that the Armarouge generated, and the few that hit barely did any damage. Nimb tried to help by throwing more rock shards at them, but they jumped aside and avoided all of them. They were too fast. It was too fast.

Armarouge formed a sphere of dark energy in its hands which grew bigger and bigger. Ari quickly stood in front of Nimb and stopped the shadow ball with a protect, but it was really strong and he recoiled. As he saw the knight approaching him, he quickly dug his bag and grabbed a wand, but it was faster than him. Before he could use the wand, Armarouge grabbed him by the head and slammed him to the ground, the wand falling from his paw and ending a few feet away. Ari let out a pained yelp, unable to release himself from the grip. It was really going just for him.

The next few seconds became an absolute hell. Armarouge stomped Ari’s head hard on the ground again. That sounded really bad, and Nimb froze in fear. Ari’s head was stomped again… And again… And again. His vision was becoming blurry, he was losing conciousness. Nimb could only watch, not a single noise escaping his mouth. He could see blood. Oh, no. No, no, it couldn’t be real. That’s not how things were supposed to end. Not that soon.

THUMP!

It was too painful.

THUMP!

It felt familiar.

THUMP!

Did he… deserve that too?

Armarouge then lifted Ari by his neck. He just limped motionless, eyes slowly closing. It started choking him with his bare hand, and Ari could only gasp, struggling to breathe. It kept choking him, there was nothing that could be done. That was it. A blue aura escaped the knight’s eyes, reaching for Ari, but somehow, it was dispelled. Armarouge stared at the poor Riolu with its blank eyes, expression still unreadable. But, slowly, a somewhat pained look could be seen in its face. Ari saw that before he finally closed his eyes. He had lost.

The last thing he could hear was a voice he couldn’t recognise.

“I… I-I’m… S-sorry…”

The Armarouge was slightly loosening its grip on the Riolu, but still wasn’t letting go. What it didn’t notice, however, was the Archen finally moving. Nimb desperately reached for the wand that Ari had dropped and pointed it towards the Armarouge. The wand magically generated an energy ball that hit the knight, suddenly making it fly really far away. It was a whirlwind wand. Nimb was surprised by the effect of the wand, but quickly ignored it and ran for Ari.

“Ari! Ari, p-please, say something…” But Ari wasn’t responding. There were bloodstains on his head, and it looked really bad. Nimb panicked and started tearing up, but he could hear the beast approaching in the distance, so he had to act quickly. He grabbed Ari and carried him on his back, looking for a place to hide, since he wasn’t fast enough to run away, much less while carrying his unconcious friend. He walked a short distance before panicking as he could hear the Armarouge destroying everything that stood in its way, slowly approaching. Nimb resolved to hide behind a giant rock, gently laying his friend down. He nudged him, but he still wasn’t moving.

“P-please… Please, Ari, I can’t d-do this…” Nimb stammered. He reached for Ari’s bag and grabbed the remaining oran berry, but then realised he couldn’t give it to an unconcious pokémon. What could he do now…? Nimb trembled, it was all his fault. He just stood there as Ari was beaten up. If only he was a little more brave, and strong, maybe he could have-

Suddenly, the Armarouge jumped over the rock and landed right in front of them. It was over. Nimb embraced Ari and closed his eyes, preparing for the worst. It turned to them and pointed its arm towards the duo, generating a fire ball that was slowly getting bigger and bigger. It was ready to attack, to end it right there. Only, it was met with an unexpected guest.

A big bird-like pokémon crashed into the Armarouge from the side, flying at a low altitude. The knight recoiled and its attack was deflected, crashing into a distant rock. Nimb, noticing he was still alive, opened his eyes and saw the figure that was now standing in front of them, facing the Armarouge. White and light brown feathers, big talons and a green hood covering her head, a Decidueye had come just in time to save them. Wait, to save them? Could she be trusted? Nimb was hesitant, but it was better than the other threat, that was clear.

The Armarouge stood up, but before it could move, Decidueye took one of her feathers, tensed her lace and used it as a bow to throw the feather like it was an arrow. Armarouge avoided it, but it wasn’t expecting the arrow to actually land on its shadow, immediately making it unable to move. Decidueye quickly approached the fainted Riolu and the shaking Archen.

“It won’t last too much, we have to go now!” She said.

Nimb flinched at the sight of the hooded owl, but didn’t move as both him and Ari were enveloped in wings as Decidueye took them and started running. Armarouge simply stood there unmoving, watching while twitching erratically, as it lost its preys and something more. Ari was badly hurt and Nimb had gone through his most stressful experience yet, but somehow, they survived. But even so… What in the name of Arceus was that vicious pokémon?

---

Pain was the first thing Ari felt once he woke up. Was it all over? He wasn’t dead if he was feeling his head spinning like that. He slowly opened his eyes, finding himself in some kind of wooden house. The ceiling and the walls were made out of wooden logs with a light brown color, and there were a couple of bookshelves and a desk on the right side of the room. He was lying in one of those modern beds, filled with hay but wrapped in a soft sheet. It was really comfy.

As he glanced to his left, he found Nimb besides him, watching and smiling widely.

“You’re finally awake!” He said.

Ari blinked twice, and stared at him with a confused expression. “What… happened? How did we survive that? And… Where are we?”

Before Nimb could answer, a female voice could be heard entering the room from the bottom right corner. “Ah, you’re awake! You took some time, I was getting worried.” Ari tried to sit up to look at the source of the voice, but a wing stopped him. “No, you still need to recover! You took some nasty blows on the head, you’ve been sleeping for a whole day!” He could see she was a Decidueye.

“A day, huh? Well… I guess it could have been worse,” he said. “Oh, um… Did you save us from that pokémon?”

“Indeed, it was me. I heard some noise and went to see what was going on, and when I saw that weird looking Armarouge about to attack you two I quickly took you and ran away. I managed to stop it for a short while, so I took my chance.”

“I see… Well, thank you so much then, we owe you our lives!” Ari said, with a shaky smile. “But… What happened with that Armarouge?”

“About that…” She looked down with a sad expression. “I quickly warned the authorities, but they couldn’t find it anywhere. Seems like it ran away…”

“Oh… That’s not good,” Ari frowned.

“Sorry… Your friend here and me had some time to talk and he told me it was mostly going for you. Do you know why?”

Ari glanced at Nimb, who just stood there silently, from the other side of the bed. He seemed like he was still having trust issues with strangers, even if she had saved their lives, but at least he had talked to her. “Yeah, now that you say so… It did attack both of us at first, but then it seemed to be focused on me. I don’t know why… I didn’t do anything. And the worst part is that it is still out there somewhere…” He glanced away with a fearful expression.

“Don’t worry, you’re safe here. You’re in Bismuth Town, by the way, I took you to my house and treated your injuries by myself. Luckily I know a lot about medicine, and your wounds weren’t so bad in the end. You’ve endured them pretty well, actually.”

“I guess, but it still hurts,” Ari said, reaching with his paw to feel the bandage he had wrapped around his head. He then turned to Nimb. “But… I hope you weren’t hurt.”

“I’m okay… Mostly,” Nimb said.

“I had to treat some burns he had, but luckily it wasn’t anything serious. He was pretty brave, I found him trying to protect you before I showed up,” she said, smiling at the Archen. Nimb didn’t say anything, he just glanced away with a guilty expression, something Ari noticed.

“Really? Thank you so much, Nimb!” Ari said.

“Oh, let me get something for you two to eat, I’ll be right back,” Decidueye said, leaving the room. Ari nodded and waited for her to leave. He then turned to Nimb.

“Hey, I can tell something’s bothering you. Wanna talk about it?” Ari asked.

Nimb gripped one wing with the other and looked at the Riolu for a second before looking away again. “I… That wasn’t brave. I didn’t protect you, I just stood there while that thing almost killed you. I’m sorry…”

Ari frowned. “Don’t say that, I understand… You froze, it was a traumatising situation and it all happened too fast. But if what she said is true, you ended up helping me before I got completely obliterated, which is nice, you know. And I’m so glad you were there for me, because… It was going for me, and you could have left me there.”

“I would never do that! I… I think…” Nimb sighed and rested his head on the bed.

Ari gave a gentle stroke to his head to reassure him. “Of course you wouldn’t.”

Before they could say anything more, Decidueye came back with a couple of bowls with soup on a wooden plate. She helped Ari sit up, preventing him from making any effort, and gave both of her guests their bowls. While they ate, they resumed their talk.

“Oh, I haven’t introduced myself. My name is Maia, nice to meet you!” Maia the Decidueye smiled.

“I’m Ari, nice to meet you too! And this here is…” Ari began.

“Nimb, yes, he told me while you were sleeping,” Maia said. “I see he doesn’t talk too much with strangers, it took him a while to answer me,” she smiled at Nimb.

“Uh… S-sorry…” Nimb said, before taking a sip of his soup.

“Don’t worry, I won’t judge you.” She then turned to Ari. “By the way, you’ll have to rest here at least until tomorrow, your head is still in a delicate state. I hope that’s not a problem for you.”

“Really? But I don’t want to bother you anymore, you’ve already helped us a lot, I’ll be okay!”

“Nonsense!” Maia retorted. “You’ll stay here and rest, end of discussion. I won’t let you hurt yourself anymore.”

Ari was caught off guard. “I… Uh, well… If you say so, I guess we’ll stay for the day… Thank you then!” He smiled, and Nimb nodded, adding his part of gratitude.

After finishing their food, Maia took the bowls and the plate to the kitchen and left the duo alone. Now that they had a bit of privacy, Nimb decided to speak.

“Hey, Ari…” He said. Ari looked at him without moving his head. “I was thinking about the Armarouge that attacked us…”

Ari frowned. “Yes, it’s kinda concerning… I must admit I’m terrified with the idea of running into it again.”

“Me too, but that’s not what I was going to say,” Nimb started, getting a confused look from Ari. “That pokémon… I’ve seen it before.”

“Huh?”

“Remember when we first met? I was acting like crazy and all…” Nimb sighed, his voice shaking a little. “I finally remembered. That’s when I was first attacked by it.”

Ari flinched, suddenly turning his head towards Nimb and feeling the physical pain returning to him. “Wait, that guy attacked you before? That’s why you were so shaken?”

Nimb nodded slowly. “For some reason I completely forgot about it, my memories of that day are really foggy…”

Ari thought about that for a while. It was too much coincidence that they got attacked by the same pokémon twice, and… How did Nimb survive the first encounter in the first place?

“You don’t remember anything else from that time?” Ari asked, getting a headshake from Nimb. “Huh… This is getting complicated. And the fact that it’s still out there is worrying, it could be dangerous to other pokémon as well. I wish we could do something, but I’m also scared…”

Nimb turned to look through the window in the left corner of the room. It was kinda cloudy, but some sun rays could be seen getting through the dense clouds. Nimb sighed and closed his eyes, deep in thought. Maybe that was their chance. What else could he possibly do…?

“What if we investigate it?” Nimb finally said.

“Hm?” Ari looked at him.

“Maybe if we join the academy, we’ll learn and… we can investigate this together. W-without having to fight it,” Nimb explained, fidgeting with his feathers.

“Yeah… we could even get help from others there,” Ari added, his expression slowly brightening.

“That too, right… I think I do want to join the academy in the end,” Nimb resolved with a smile.

Ari grinned. “Great, because I do too! Luckily we’re already at Bismuth Town, so we can go sign up at Gholdengo’s Academy tomorrow.”

Maia interrupted, opening the door. “Did I hear it right? You two want to sign up in the investigation group of Gholdengo’s Academy?” Maia entered and approached the bed, drawing confused looks from the duo. “Ah, sorry, I overheard your conversation, my bad. But if you want to sign up, you must do it today, since classes start tomorrow.”

“Really? Damn, I gotta go then!” Ari tried to stand, only to be stopped by Maia once again.

“No, not you! You stay here, I’ll go sign you two up,” the Decidueye said.

“But… Are you okay with doing that for us?” Ari asked, but Maia was already going for the door.

“Of course, the academy isn’t too far from here, I’ll be back soon. You two stay here, okay?”

She didn’t wait for them to answer, as she was already out. Ari and Nimb stayed together the whole time, Nimb being a bit more talkative with him now that they were alone, but Maia returned in about 30 minutes, having signed them up for the academy without any issues. It was a long day, and Ari staying in bed was making him really bored, which didn’t help. Nimb was fine, being used to his lonely lifestyle without any action. They talked about their plans for the next day, and told Maia about their adventures of the past 3 days. She was shocked when she heard about the kidnapping part, and couldn’t help but worry about them. After all, they were still kids, even if they were old enough to take care of themselves.

Ari was already feeling better when night fell, but he still wasn’t allowed to leave his temporary bed. Nimb finally decided to spend some time outside that room, leaving Ari with his thoughts and a bit of quietness. Nimb kept pacing in the living room, his body feeling numb from not moving in so much time. The big owl lady was there too, but didn’t say much as she didn’t want to make him uncomfortable. Despite that, she did break the silence later.

“So… I get that you’re only comfortable with Ari, right?”

“W-well, yeah, he’s nice, and uhhh… I d-don’t know, I trust him,” Nimb said, not looking directly to the Decidueye, who seemed concerned with him still shaking when talking to her.

“But you do realise you’ll be sitting with other classmates in the academy, right? And you’ll have to team up with them.”

Nimb definitely hadn’t thought of that. He started getting nervous, or well, more nervous, and began tearing off some of his feathers unconciously. Maia noticed that and approached Nimb, puting his wings down.

“Hey, hey, relax, it’ll be okay! Ari will be there with you, and you’ll have time to get to know your classmates, you don’t need to interact with everyone from the very beginning, or be with them all the time!”

“I-I s-suppose…” This time, the Archen looked directly at her, appreciating the support.

“Tomorrow will be a good test for you. Just remember to focus on Ari and whenever you feel like everything is too much, close your eyes and take deep breaths, okay?” Maia said, with a soft smile, and Nimb nodded. Somehow, her tone was soothing and almost made him feel safe, not as much as with Ari, but it was enough to prevent him from jumping out of the window and run.

After that, Nimb returned with Ari and slept with him in the same room, in a new bed that Maia placed besides Ari’s. That night was peaceful, they were used to sleeping outside but really enjoyed having a comfy bed and a ceiling. Lucklily, there were no nightmares this time.

---

It was the day.

Ari was almost fully healed, so he didn’t have to wear the bandage anymore. Nimb was a bit anxious, he never went to school before and knew it had a lot of pokémon who could hurt him. Despite that, he had Ari by his side, so he focused on that.

After having breakfast, Ari took his bag and checked he had everything ready, while Nimb just stood there waiting. Once they were set, they went to the main door and greeted Maia.

“We’ll have a look around to get to know the town before going to the launch conference, we still have much time,” Ari said.

“Okay, but be careful and don’t hesitate to ask for directions if you can’t find the academy, alright?” Maia suggested.

“Uh… Right, okay. And thank you so much for taking care of us! It was so nice out of you, really,” Ari said with a smile, and gestured for Nimb to say his thanks.

“Y-yes, t-thank you,” Nimb added, bowing his head.

“Ah, it was nothing, I’m glad I could help you! Well then, enjoy your first day at the academy and take care!” Maia waved as Ari and Nimb left the house, setting foot in Bismuth Town’s streets.

It was a lovely town, full of vegetation and with colourful pavement on the main streets. Many pokémon strolled around, some talking with others or going to their respective jobs, or to the academy. The river that led to Deepsoul Lake flowed through the eastern part of the town, leaving a few houses separated from the rest.

Ari and Nimb took some time to explore, passing near the fountain in the center of the town and visiting the shopping area in the northwest part. There was a keckleon shop, as expected in every town or city, and also a dojo and a warehouse. There was a bit of everything, which was more than Ari expected in a small town. He took the opportunity to buy some items, but Nimb wasn’t enjoying it too much, as the shopping area was too crowded.

As they continued their stroll, they reached the main residential area in the southwest part of the town. Maia’s house was in the southeast area, so it was kinda different, as that part had less houses and they were separated from each other. The houses in the southeast area were placed one after the other, and had similar designs. While Maia’s house was a wooden cottage, these houses were made from bricks, and some of them had two stories.

They walked through most of the residential area, and when they were reaching the end of it, they ran into a house that looked somewhat different to the others. It looked old, had a broken window and the door had a hole that was poorly covered with a wooden plank. Nimb felt curious and approached it, with Ari following him.

“What’s wrong, Nimb?” Ari asked.

Nimb cocked his head, inspecting the facade. “This house looks abandoned, but at the same time… It’s like someone bothered to clean the windows and front door. Do you think someone lives here?”

“Good point, I also think that someone lives there, but… Whoever it is, it looks like they aren’t exactly-” He cut himself as he heard footsteps approaching the main door. It suddenly opened, revealing an annoyed looking Zangoose wearing an almost empty bag. The Zangoose, a female she was, glared at Ari and Nimb as they stiffened.

“What are you two looking at? Am I funny to you?” She spat, voice filled with anger.

“What? Uh, n-no! We were just… Passing by, that’s all,” Ari answered, abashed. Both him and Nimb stepped back, the latter shielding behind Ari, visibly afraid.

The Zangoose closed the door behind her and started walking away, but stopped to glare at them. “This is some kind of show to you, right? ”

“No, wait, I’m sorry, I swear we were just-”

“Fuck off,” she said, as she walked off, leaving the duo standing there, confused.

“… That was something,” Ari said.

“She’s scary…” Nimb added, not letting go of the Riolu.

“Yeah…” Ari sighed, patting Nimb on the back. “But don’t worry, no one’s gonna harm you. Unless you count psychological damage.”

Nimb deadpanned. “That’s not helping.”

“Right, sorry…” Ari said, smiling sheepishly.

Leaving that behind, they decided it was time to end their tour and finally go to the academy. It was almost time for the conference, and they didn’t want to be late the first day. They walked for about half an hour to reach to the other side of the town, the academy being in the top right corner, a bit secluded.

And there they were. It was an impressive building, made of red bricks, and the main entrance being decorated with golden spirals around the huge gate. The same golden spirals could be seen on the top of the building, along with a huge medal with a symbol that looked like an arrow with its tip inside a circle.

After staring at the building for a while, commenting on its fancy decoration, they finally stepped in. The corridors were wide, the walls being red and white colored, also decorated with golden spiral patterns. Many pokémon came and went, most of them going towards the conference room. There were pokémon of every type and size, from kids to grown adults, it seemed like it wasn’t only a place for learning.

Ari and Nimb reached the conference room and found a huge crowd of pokemon standing in front of a big stage. The Archen didn’t take too long before he started trembling, gripping his friend’s arm and closing his eyes, following Maia’s advice. Ari soothed him as best as he could, while also approaching the crowd to join the conference. They waited for about ten minutes, getting some concerned looks from other pokémon as Nimb kept shaking and gripping Ari’s arm, until a golden bipedal pokémon appeared on stage, drawing everyone’s attention.

“Silence, silence, please, we’re about to start,” the golden pokémon cleared his throat. “Ahem. Welcome, everyone, to Gholdengo’s Academy! As you probably know, I’m Gholdengo, the principal and founder of this academy. Here is where all of you will grow and learn to become the golden pillars of our society! Well, that sounds a bit exaggerated, but you know, it had to sound deep and thoughtful.”

Many pokémon exchanged confused looks, but the ones that stood on the back of the stage, potentially teachers, rolled their eyes like they had gotten used to it.

“This academy has four different disciplines, all of them offering golden opportunities: general education, economy, justice and investigation. Each of them have four groups, except the general education one, which has eight groups, so you’ll have to check the bulletin board in the entrance hall to see which group you’ve been assigned with.”

Ari turned to Nimb and whispered, “I’ve already checked before coming here, we’ve been assigned with group B.” Nimb nodded.

“As you know,” Gholdengo continued, “this institution has an advance golden education system that focuses on praxis over theory, and grades are earned mostly by daily activities, instead of having just a single final exam where you’d risk it all. I hope this motivates every single student to give it all in classes everyday! Regarding the previously mentioned praxis, this academy is also unique in its way of organising activities. Each discipline has different kinds of activities that will be explained after this conference by your teachers in your respective classrooms.”

“Now that I’ve explained all of that, let’s get to the unnecessarily long talk about the rules of this institution. Let’s see…” The principal then unrolled a visibly long paper that almost touched the ground.

As he started to read all the rules, the students groaned in desperation, some of them sitting on the floor or talking to others, not paying much attention. It took a long while for him to finish the list, and some pokémon were already sleeping. Once finished, Gholdengo dismissed everyone and sent them to their classes, and so everyone made their way to the exit in a very uncoordinated way.

Ari and Nimb traversed the corridor looking for their classroom, but the building was quite big and they got lost pretty easily. As they turned a corner, they found a small crowd of pokemon making a fuss, and, in the middle, there was a blue and purple bipedal pokémon with two electric crests on his head threatening another pokémon, a Poliwhirl, as Ari remembered.

“Hey, answer me! Why did you break your promise?” The blue Toxtricity yelled.

“I-I’m sorry, I c-couldn’t do that! P-please…” The Poliwhirl stammered.

“I don’t care! You break your promise, I break your face. Sounds, fair, right?”

“Enough!” A Noivern, probably a teacher, interrupted the conversation, approaching the duo. “Threatening others in the first day? This is not how we do things here, you better behave or else.”

The Toxtricity glared at him, ready to retort, but finally decided to walk away, leaving the frightened Poliwhirl and the dragon teacher talking about what happened. Ari and Nimb had seen everything, the latter already clinging to his friend as the scaredy bird he was.

“Y-you said n-nobody would h-harm me!”

“And it still haven’t happened, don’t worry about that, we’ll stay away from that guy and everything will be fine,” Ari said, trying to calm the Archen. “Still, what a weird way to start the year, I wonder who that pokémon was…”

Another voice, a serene one, joined the conversation. “Hmm, that was one of the Toxtricity brothers,” it was a Scrafty who talked, and the duo turned to him with curiosity. “They’re, like, super famous for getting into trouble a lot. That’s why they had to repeat course more than once.”

“Oh… So they’re bullies?” Ari asked. “Well, it’s a stupid question, I just saw it.”

“Mhmm, it seems they get into fights easily. Luckily the yellow one didn’t do anything to me when I was in the general education group last year, but the blue one threatened me once. It’s really scary.”

Nimb whimpered, and Ari patted him in the back. “Uhhh relax, there are teachers here, we’ll be okay,” the Riolu said.

“Hmmm yes, and as long as he’s not in you class, you’ll be fine,” Scrafty added.

Ari then turned back to him. “By the way, do you know where the investigation classroom is? Uh, I mean, the group B classroom. We’re kinda lost.”

“Ahmmmhm, I do, because we’re in the same class in fact, so you can come with me.”

“Cool! See, Nimb? We already have a nice classmate that won’t hurt you.”

Nimb frowned, embarrased for talking about that in front of others. “… I g-guess.”

They walked a bit more, following the Scrafty, until they reached the farthest part of the building’s right wing and entered the classroom. It was a cozy room, not too big but enough for a small group like theirs. The design was much less quirky than the rest of the building, without those golden spiral patterns and mostly decorated with wooden furniture. There were large windows and the walls were pure white colored. The floor was made of wooden planks, different from the tiles in the corridors. Somehow, it felt familiar…

The first thing Ari and Nimb noticed when entering was a grumpy Zangoose they had already met before. She turned to them and narrowed her eyes at them.

“Ah, great, it’s you two. Ugh…” Zangoose rolled her eyes and walked away, sitting on a secluded seat.

“Oh… Uh, hi there…” Ari didn’t even have time to talk to her as he was epically ignored. Instead, he and Nimb were greeted by someone else.

“Heeeeey, helloooo!” Cora the Brionne approached them, beaming. “So you decided to sign up here in the end, I’m so glad!”

Nimb flinched at first, but didn’t hide behind the Riolu this time, and even waved at her, hesitantly. Ari, on the other hand, was really excited to see her again, and as a classmate.

“Cora, it’s you! How lucky that we ended up in the same class,” Ari said, with a grin.

“Right? Actually, I said that we would be classmates if you joined but I had no idea that there were different groups, hehe.”

“I see… Well, this class seems nice, even if… You know,” Ari glanced at the Zangoose, but quickly averted his eyes when he noticed her looking at him. “Uh, y-yeah, it’s nice.”

As he looked around, he saw a Cyclizar and a white Meowstic conversing nearby, and the Scrafty from before, who had already sat at one of the desks. It was a small class, with only seven pokémon, but maybe it was too early and someone else would come-

Suddenly, everyone looked towards the door, as another pokémon entered the room. Bipedal, purple and… yellow. Ari stiffened, and so did Nimb. The yellow Toxtricity approached, a sinister smile in his face, eyes sligthly narrowed. He stopped near the duo plus Cora and stared at them for a long moment.

Nimb trembled and leaned closer to Ari shielding behind him, and Ari found the courage to say something. At least one word. “H-h-hi…” As for Cora, she just pretended she wasn’t paying attention, looking at the windows like she had seen something.

“… Heh,” that was the only response the Toxtricity gave, in a low voice, before walking off and sitting at a random desk.

Ari, Nimb and Cora all sighed in relief, but didn’t comment anything on the matter, as the classroom was small enough for the Toxtricity to hear them. Ari noticed Nimb shaking and rested a hand on his shoulder, gently stroking it. It was going to be a stressful year, wasn’t it?

“Good morning!” A familiar voice entered the classroom. “Please, take a seat, we’re about to start.”

Everyone turned to see their new teacher and found… a Decidueye.

“Maia?” Ari and Nimb spoke in unison.

She laughed softly and smiled at them. “Surprise! I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I was going to be your teacher, but I wanted to see your faces.” As she approached the teacher’s desk, Nimb let go of his grip on Ari, feeling slightly, minimally, safer.

Cora turned to the dumfounded Riolu and asked, “Wait, you know her?”

“Yeah… She basically saved my life. Well, and I guess Nimb’s too…” Cora gasped at that, but was interrupted by the call of education.

“Okay, you can continue your conversation when class is over, please sit down,” the teacher said.

Ari, Nimb and Cora sat at the desks that were unoccupied, the three in the middle row, Nimb being in the left one, Cora in the right one and Ari in the middle. There were three rows with three desks each, and in the front row were, from left to right, Cyclizar, Meowstic and Scrafty. Ari was a bit uncomfortable by the fact that Toxtricity was right behind him, Zangoose being in the bottom right seat.

At least there was no one behind Nimb. That made him feel a little less anxious, but the one sitting in front of him had other plans, as his tail accidentaly bumped Nimb’s face, making him squeak. The Cyclizar turned around with an apologetic expression and a soft voice.

“Ow, I’m sorry, little buddy! Did I hurt you? My tail is too big and sometimes I can’t control what I’m doing with it!”

Nimb rubbed his beak until he was reminded of his social anxiety. “Uh… I-I uh… N-n-n-no…”

“Are you okay there, pal? Just know that you can count on me if something’s bothering you!” The Cyclizar was smiling so brightly, being so nice, it was like staring at the sun. It could make anyone blind. Nimb froze, this time for more than one reason. He didn’t even know what to say to him, so he just nodded rapidly. “Oh, I’m glad then! Have a nice class, little friend!” And so, he turned forward again.

“Well, we can begin our class now,” the Decidueye said. “As some of you know, I’m Maia, no need to call me Ms. Maia or anything like that. I’m going to be your teacher for most of the subjects, so we’ll see each other a lot this year! Before I explain the basics, what about getting to know each other first? Go on, introduce yourselves, starting over there,” she said, pointing to the Cyclizar.

“Oh, well then!” The Cyclizar started, turning to face the others. “Hello everyone, my name’s Asher! I recently moved to Bismuth Town and I love meeting new people! I hope we all get along well!”

“Okay, my turn,” the meowstic continued. “The name’s Velia, and my father is one of the most famous detectives in the world!” She then jumped in her seat and stood in top of her desk, posing.

“Oh no, there she goes again…” Asher the Cyclizar said, with a sheepish smile.

“I’m a mystery enthusiast! I will become the best investigator in the world, even better than my father, and discover many undiscovered discoveries!” Everyone looked at her, dumbfounded. “Also, Asher and I are neighbors.”

“Yeah, haha…” Asher added.

“Er… That’s great, Velia, but please, sit down,” Maia said. She did as asked, but her expression didn’t change.

“Hmmm, I guess I’m next,” Scrafty said. “I’m Kyle, and uhmmm, I guess I want to study here, I dunno,” he shrugged.

“That’s it? You don’t want to say anything else?” Maia asked.

“Hummm, no, that’s pretty much it.”

“Okay… Well, it’s your turn!” Maia pointed to Nimb and nodded, smiling. “Tell us, what’s your name?”

Nimb noticed everyone staring at him, and started shaking, again. “I… I am… I-I…” He couldn’t take it. Ari saw him hypeventilating, and before Maia dismissed him out of pity, he stood up and wrapped his arm around Nimb’s neck.

“He’s Nimb, and he’s my friend! He… Uh… He loves eating berries and enjoys peace and quiet! But he’s a bit shy, so be gentle, okay?” Ari smiled sheepishly, fearing any reaction from others that could make Nimb cry.

“It’s okay, take your time, Nimb!” Asher reassured him. “And nice to meet you!”

Cora joined them. “Nice to meet you, Nimb! Well, we already met, but still, it’s nice to see you!” She waved exaggeratedly. Nimb looked at both and his panic attack decreased a little, but didn’t say anything.

“Alright, don’t push yourself, Nimb. Let’s hear about you now, okay?” Maia said, looking at the Riolu. Ari gave Nimb a gentle pat and got back to his seat.

“Okay, so… I’m Ari! I’m from Iris City and I used to be an explorer, but decided to go see the world. And then I just… suddenly decided to study here, huh.”

Velia the Meowstic turned to inspect him. “I can’t help but notice that you also look different from normal Riolus.”

“Hmmm, right,” Kyle the Scrafty added. “Your neck fur and tail are weird, hmm. And those pearls look funny, but hmmm nevermind.”

“Yeah, about that,” Ari answered. “I used to look like a normal Riolu, but a year ago or so I changed out of nowhere.”

Velia suddenly leaned closer to Ari, narrowing her eyes, and he flinched. “That DOES sound mysterious… What if you’re infected with some kind of virus from an alien that plans on taking over our world, and it’s using you as a puppet?”

Ari cringed. “W-w-what?”

“Don’t sweat it, buddy,” Asher intervened. “She’s too obsessed with conspiracy theories, haha.”

“But I COULD be right, don’t deny that,” she retorted.

“Alright, let’s not scare him anymore,” Maia interrupted. “Again, Velia, please sit down.” The Meowstic did as asked, and Cora took it as permission to do her part.

“Hello everyoneee, I’m Cora, nice to meet you!” She beamed, with the same energy as always. “I’ve been living in Bismuth Town with my family my whole life, and I want to discover new things out there, that’s why I signed up for this!”

“Hello, Cora!” Asher waved at her, and Ari looked at them, amused at the amount of energy and happiness both the Cyclizar and the Brionne radiated.

Now, there were just two more students left to introduce themselves. Everyone waited for the Toxtricity, but only Velia and Kyle dared to look directly at him. An awkward silence took over the class.

“So… Could you please introduce yourself?” Maia asked.

Toxtricity looked up. “Huh? Yeah, why not. Mylo, you can call me Mylo,” he started, slowly getting more looks from the others. He looked at the Riolu, who quickly averted his eyes. “Heh. I like trying new stuff. And if we ever have to interrogate suspects in our investigations…” He joined his right fist with his left palm. “I’m really good at making them talk by force.”

Ari and Nimb shivered. That was kinda concerning…

“I… see,” the teacher said. “Good, now let’s hear about you!” She pointed at Zangoose.

“I’m Sanah,” the Zangoose started, her tone cold and dampened. “I’m going to become the best investigator. That’s all.” She then turned to face the window with her annoyed expression, ignoring the looks from everyone.

Maia looked at her with concern. “Well, I hope you can tell us more about you in the future! But now that we’ve got to know each other a bit, I shall explain some things about what we’re going to do here.”

And so, the class had officially started, and Maia explained the basic stuff about the subjects, the grades and everything related. It sounded complicated, and Nimb was just realising the mess he’d gotten himself into. It was too late to turn back now. Ari, on the other hand was excited for it. He felt like he was revisiting school but with much more knowledge and maturity.

“That’s all regarding theory,” Maia continued. “Now, moving to the interesting part… As you may already know, a big part of the activities we’ll do aren’t exactly theory. We’ll have practical lessons which are more like real investigations rather than actual classes.”

Everyone started whispering excitedly, as it sounded way more fun than normal classes. Will they act like real detectives out there?

“Calm down, everyone” she continued. “Yes, the investigations will be a hundred percent real, as you’ll be taking care of actual cases, starting with small ones, that will be supervised by me. And following Gholdengo’s model, you’ll get actual rewards for successfully solving cases. Think of it as paid internships.”

“Woah, really?” Asher beamed.

“That sounds soooo cool!” Cora added her own cheers.

“It’s even better than I expected!” Ari said.

“Indeed, but be warned that there could be dangers out there when you’re investigating potential criminals” Maia continued. “Luckily, we’ll start with small cases, like missing items.”

“Hmmm that sounds kinda boring, but alright,” Kyle said.

“Also for the investigations, you can’t all be together, as a group of eight wouldn’t be efficient. That’s why you’ll be splitting into two teams, and those in your team will be your partners for most of the practical AND theoretical projects.”

Two teams? That sounded interesting, Ari thought. He already knew who he wanted to form a group with, and he turned to Nimb, smiling, and then to Cora, who was also looking at him.

“But the teams are already decided,” Maia said, and Ari pouted. “The first team will be Asher, Velia, Kyle and Cora, and the second team will be Nimb, Ari, Mylo and Sanah.”

Ari’s eyes widened. It couldn’t be. Ari turned back to look at his new partners, the Toxtricity and the Zangoose, but quickly turned around as he noticed the sinister smile in the former and the grumpy look in the latter. Nimb, on the other hand, couldn’t even turn to look at them, as he completely froze, his mind racing. He was trying to process it, accepting his potential death.

The other team were celebrating it, even Cora, who was just happy to work with anyone, but eventually turned to Ari and Nimb. “It’s a shame that we can’t be in the same team,” she said with a sad smile. “But we’re still classmates, and I’m sure we can help each other out at any time!”

“Yeah… I guess…” Ari said. He could feel the looks from Mylo and Sanah on the back of his neck. The anxiety was growing, but he couldn’t show it, at least not in front of Nimb, who was probably worse than him.

“Okay, everyone, that’s all for today! Tomorrow we’ll start with normal classes, I hope you all take your time to get to know each other better! See you tomorrow!” Maia dismissed, and everyone started leaving, saying goodbye to their teacher.

Ari comforted Nimb, who looked like he had seen a ghost, and stole a last glance to his teammates, who were already leaving. Sanah the Zangoose stopped and turned to them with a glare. “I warn you: don’t bother me, or else.” And just like that, she left.

Ari sighed, this was not what he was expecting. He wanted true companionship, friends who he could trust and have fun times with. This was hell. Without letting go of Nimb, he turned to the Decidueye. “Hey, Maia? Can we… talk about something?”

Maia finished collecting her books and started leaving. “Yes, but not here, come with me.”

Ari and Nimb did as told, and followed Maia to her personal office, the investigation department. It was a small room with bookshelves, a little window and a desk, along with a pair of chairs for visitors. Maia sat at the desk and the duo followed, sitting on the pair of chairs.

“Tell me, what’s the matter?” She asked.

“It’s about the teams…” Ari started, looking at Nimb, who had stopped shaking but looked really upset. “Couldn’t you… Change them? I don’t think Nimb can bear with the stress of being with those two…”

Maia frowned. “Is it really only about Nimb?”

“I… Well… Sorry, I shouldn’t use Nimb as an excuse, I guess. Yeah, the idea of being with Mylo and Sanah is really stressful. Mylo looks really scary, and I’ve heard that he and his brother are well known for being agressive and getting into fights a lot… And Sanah hates us for no reason, she’s mean to us since the moment we saw her in town.”

“Ari, you know I can’t change the teams just like that, someone would have to go with them. And I even organized the teams in a way that Nimb is in the same team as you, so you should be happy about that.”

“I know, and that’s great, but… I don’t want to be bullied.”

“M-me neither…” Nimb added.

Maia sighed. “That won’t happen. You shouldn’t judge them, you barely know them yet, that’s what teams are for. You two should try to get to know them, talk to them, and you’ll see there’s nothing to worry about. I know it might be scary at first, but I assure you, what Mylo and Sanah need are trusting partners that treat them nice and don’t judge them. You would want the same, right?”

Ari and Nimb looked at each other, not knowing what to say. Were they biased by the first impression? Were they being mean with their teammates? Maia continued organizing books and other material in her drawers, and went back to look at them as she finished.

“Will you try to get along with them?” She asked in a soft tone.

“… I guess… We’ll do,” Ari said.

“O-okay… I’ll try,” Nimb added.

“That’s good to hear,” she smiled. “Now, I wanted to ask something.”

“Hm? What is it?” Ari said.

“Say… Where are you going to live from now on?”

“I… Well…” Ari looked at Nimb, whose eyes widened, as he realised the issue. “I must admit I expected the academy to be like the guilds, with their own bedrooms for members, but now that I saw that’s not the case… I have no idea. Maybe we can check in the residence that’s near here.”

“Unfortunatelly, you arrived too late, and there aren’t any rooms left on the residence,” Maia frowned.

“… Oh.”

“B-but we could stay, uhh… In t-the outskirts,” Nimb contributed.

“Right! We’ve been sleeping out in the open, we can still do-” Ari stopped, as he was reminded of his recent trauma.

Maia wasn’t too convinced. “You really want to sleep out there? After what happened to you?”

Nimb gripped Ari’s arm, panic coming back to him. “I… I d-don’t think I like t-the idea now…”

Ari rested his paw on Nimb’s wing. “Then… I- uhm, I guess we can… We… There must be…”

“You can stay with me,” Maia resolved. Nimb’s eyes widened, looking at her, while Ari took a longer moment to realise what she just said.

“… Wait, wait, what?” Ari looked at her. “You mean, like… Living with you? Really?”

“That’s what I’m saying, yes.”

“But… What? Are you sure? You barely know us!”

“I know you two enough, and I’m not going to leave you like that. You can stay at my house.”

“R-really?” Nimb asked.

“But I don’t want to be a burden, we’ll find another way!” Ari insisted.

“Enough with that, you’re not a burden! You’ll stay at my house,” she decided. “I don’t mind, really.”

“I…” Nimb started. He looked at Ari, who didn’t know what to say either. “I t-think I like the idea…”

Ari pondered that for a moment. Living with his teacher was weird… But she was nice, and they didn’t have any other option. He felt like he didn’t deserve it, but for the sake of Nimb…

“Alright, we’ll stay at your house. Thank you so much, Maia!” Ari smiled, still hesitant.

“Y-yes, thank you!” Nimb added.

“Great, then! I’m more than happy to have you there. Now, if you excuse me, I have some work to do. See you later!”

Ari and Nimb said goodbye and left her to attend her own matters. That wasn’t the best of starts, but at least they had somewhere to stay where they could be safe from whatever’s out there. As they traversed the empty corridors, most of the students having already left, they turned a corner only to freeze in sight another stressful scenario.

There was Mylo, the yellow Toxtricity, suddenly punching a wall near another pokémon, a Golduck, who looked in a mixture of anger and fear.

“Did I make myself clear?” Mylo asked, his tone threatening but soft. The Golduck nodded quickly and left as soon as the Toxtricity lowered his arm.

Mylo then spotted the Riolu and his partner Archen, and they stiffened. He walked towards them with an unreadable expression and stopped besides them, resting an arm in Ari’s shoulder.

“You haven’t seen anything, right?” Mylo asked, with the same soft voice as before. Nimb was gripping Ari’s other arm while shaking.

Ari panicked. He’d been in worse situations and dealt with aggressive pokémon many times, but this felt different, and he didn’t want to mess things up with his new teammate.

“… N-no, nothing… W-we were just passing by…” Ari stammered.

“Good,” Mylo said, and noticed Nimb shaking more than the Riolu. He stared at him for a moment longer than usual, and then started to walk away. “See you tomorrow, partners.”

Once he had left, Nimb dropped to the ground and Ari sighed in relief. That was only their first day at Gholdengo’s Academy. It was going to be a tough year.