Chapter 6 – The Best or the Worst

I’m in Ren’s room, lying in his bed, lost in thoughts. It’s a well illuminated room with a single bed, a desk and a shelf with many books right next to a big window. The white walls with the sea pattern on the bottom makes for a perfect ambience for relaxing after a stressful day. Ren is reading a book in his desk, very focused, so I just stay silent for a longer while.

He finally shuts down the book and looks at me. “Hey, are you still thinking about her?”

It’s kinda concerning, the way he always knows what I’m thinking or how I’m feeling. Always so observant. “I… Well… Kinda.”

He stands up and places the book back in the shelf, looking at me with an annoyed look. “Forget about her, she’s stupid. She doesn’t even deserve your attention.” He’s being so blunt, but I guess I can’t blame him.

“It’s just… I don’t know, there must be a reason for her to act like that. And… I wanted to be her friend, I just don’t like being like this,” I say, looking away in a bit of shame.

Ren approaches me, visibly concerned, and sits by my side. “Why does it matter so much? You don’t even know her that much, yet you seem really sad just because she doesn’t like you. Do you… Uhh… Have a crush on her?”

“That’s not it. I don’t know why, it’s just… I just don’t get it! I’m trying to be nice, I’m offering to help, and still, she treats me like garbage,” I let out a deep sigh, for some reason I’m feeling anxious. “I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.”

Ren rests his arm on my shoulder, and I look at him. “Listen, this is not going to get anywhere. Just focus on the pokémon that treat you well, your actual friends, like me, and ignore her,” he says. Then, he looks away, his frown deepening, and speaks with an angrier tone. “Also, I hate the way she treats you. I’m not going to let that pass, no matter how much you want to be on good terms with her. I hate her, and you should too. Pokémon like that are the reason why this world is rotting each passing day…”

That sounds… Different now. I didn’t notice that tone before. Is this really how it happened…? Yeah, I think so, I remember. He’s so dramatic at times, so I guessed I shouldn’t worry, but now…

$&”%&/%&(“/%!·&%/%%”$”%

I’m in my room, lying in my bed, alone. Something’s not right.

I wanna go back to the guild to make sure, so I leave my room and make my way to the main door, now that no one’s home. I quickly go outside, deciding to take the shortcut through the old playground. I’m being cautious, as I don’t want anyone to see me. The rusty swing is moving slightly because of the heavy wind, but it’s still resisting. The same cannot be said about the slide, which collapsed a while back.

As I’m reaching the other side of the park, I suddenly freeze. I can hear their voices approaching from the other side of the corner. I want to turn back and hide, but I trip on a tree root and fall down with a loud thud. I messed up so bad. They hear me, and quickly come to find me lying on the ground, covered in dirt. They found me. And I can already see their looks, telling me that I’m going to have a bad time.

I can’t move, I’m too afraid of making things worse. No, I don’t want to go back to this…

Please… PLEASE, NO!

 

---

 

Ari woke up with a loud gasp. Another nightmare. It was becoming more frequent lately, now that he had new reasons to be stressed. Still, he was supposed to be better than back in those days… Why wasn’t he? Well, it was useless to think about that now. Ari noticed it was still nighttime, but he was feeling restless after that nightmare, so he couldn’t get more sleep that night.

As the morning came, Ari, Nimb, Cora and Romi strolled through town, ready for another day of school. It was still pretty early, as they were used to spending some quality time before classes started, but Cora always took that to the extreme, and now they had too much free time.

“You know, even if Asher has that weird obsession with sandwiches and doesn’t like sharing them often, he’s still pretty nice,” Cora said. “I don’t even know how he manages to be always happy, it’s like nothing ever angers him!”

“Y-yes, but he’s kinda scary sometimes…” Nimb mentioned.

“You’re literally in the same team as Mylo and Sanah,” Cora smirked, arching an eyebrow.

“… Fair.”

Cora noticed Ari more quiet than usual, as if he was lost in thoughts. She pat his back, drawing a look from him. “Is something bothering you, Ari? You seem… Not so epic today.”

“Is this about the nightmares?” Nimb said, connecting the dots.

“I… Well, yes. Nothing to worry about, though,” Ari responded.

Cora pondered that for a moment, while trying to grab his little brother as he tried to run away and cause some havoc. “Hmmm… Hey, I’ve heard there is some kind of incense that helps with that, like, it makes you sleep better, maybe it even prevents nightmares!”

Ari looked at her, interested. “And… How do I get that?”

“I’ve seen it once in the shopping area, but I’m not sure where,” Cora said.

“I see…” Ari then thought about the potential consequences of his next move, but he decided it wasn’t something to worry about that much. “Hey, you three go on without me, I’m going to take a look out there and see if I find that incense.”

“W-wait, I can go with you,” Nimb said, a bit of urgency in his voice. Ari looked at him with concern, but he already expected that reaction.

“I just need some time for myself for once, sorry Nimb, could you stay with them just this time? I’m sure you’ll be fine, right?”

Nimb wanted to retort, but decided to respect his choice. “I… I guess…”

Cora wrapped Nimb around his neck and smirked. “It’s okay, I promise I won’t let anything happen to you!”

Nimb narrowed his eyes, pretty sure she was, in fact, going to let something happen to him, even if there was no danger. Ari left them to their own things as he went to the shopping area, with no actual idea of where to look. Every shop was the same as always, with food, clothing, accessories, seeds and other stuff. He eventually stumbled upon a fancy store with unique carpet designs and weird containers colored with striped patterns. He went inside for a quick glance, and found a lot of herbs lying in different plates, probably for making tea.

As he was staring at the weird scenery, a voice brought him back to reality. “Is there something I can offer you?” Ari looked to the source of the voice, a Xatu, who was the shopkeeper.

“Oh, uh… Hello, I heard there was some kind of incense that helps you sleep better. Do you have something like that?” Ari asked.

Xatu stood there in silence, drawing a confused look from the Riolu, but eventually turned around and entered the door at the back. Ari waited for a bit, until Xatu came back with a blue wooden case. “This incense will calm your mind. The sweet scent it gives is perfect for stressful moments and will help you relax in just a short while.”

“Oh, great! So… Does it also prevent nightmares?”

The shopkeeper stopped, and then took a step back. “I see… So that’s why you need it,” they said. Xatu closed their eyes and hummed. “This incense is useful for falling asleep earlier, as it reduces the stress in that moment. However, nightmares are a different thing. Your subconscious keeps some thoughts deep inside even if you stop thinking about them for a while. And I can sense your mind is also drowning in thoughts at this very moment, even if I can’t read them exactly.”

Ari flinched, not expecting a psychoanalysis out of the blue. He tried to recompose himself, after all, it was to be expected, coming from a psychic pokémon. “Uh… Yeah, you’re right… Well, I don’t think I’ll be taking the incense then, but still, thank you…” He said, sadly. He went to leave, but in that moment, someone else entered the shop. As the snake visitor glanced at the weird products displayed, her eyes stopped on the Riolu.

“Oh hey, you’re Cora’s friend! Ari, was it?” Lyla the Seviper said.

Ari found himself hanging with Lyla while stolling through town. Apparently, she went there usually to buy herbs for tea, something Ari found amusing. Lyla was spending her day off doing some shopping, and surprisingly enough, she was able to carry stuff on a bag that was attached to her tail… back… whatever it was. “So, nightmares, huh? I’m sorry to hear that. I suffer them every now and then, too. So much stress…”

“Stress? Is something bothering you?” Ari asked, wanting to change the subject. It wasn’t that he didn’t like talking about his problems, but thinking about them so much was only making him feel worse.

“Well… Kinda. My job takes so much time out of me, but it’s okay, I’m used to it. Besides, it’s not like I have any other option.”

“Oh, that’s… Not so good. I’m sorry.”

“Nah, don’t worry about that, we were talking about you,” Lyla said, stopping to look at him. Ah, yes, it was hard to avoid that topic. “So, what are those nightmares about?”

“I… Er… Nothing too important, just random stuff that gets mixed without making much sense,” Ari said, fidgeting with his aura feelers. Was he going to tell everything to someone that he just met a day ago? Even if she was nice and easy to talk to, that would be too much for a first impression.

“I see… Still, nightmares don’t happen just because. There must be something bothering you too, so… What is it?”

“Oh, uh… I don’t know, maybe the stress of starting anew in the academy, being far from home, maybe uhhh my classmates, who knows.”

“Classmates? Is there someone messing with you?” Lyla asked. She was already used to stories about school groups and bullies, so she had an idea or two of what could be happening to Ari.

“No, that’s not it! Or… Well, maybe a little,” Ari said. That was the second psychoanalysis he got in 15 minutes, but he didn’t mind anymore. “There was Mylo, one of the Toxtricity brothers, but he ended up being nice, so I’m not worried about that anymore. Even if… I still don’t know why he was threatening that guy the other day.” Lyla had heard about him before, so she was surprised to know this, but she didn’t interrupt. “And then there is Sanah…”

“Wait a minute,” Lyla did interrupt. “You mean Sanah… The Zangoose?”

“Uuuhhhhh yeah, why do you ask?”

Lyla narrowed her eyes. “Of course… Let me guess: she’s being a jerk to you?”

Ari blinked twice. “Yes… But she’s mostly doing that to me. With the rest of the class she’s just rude, but for me it’s like a constant mind battle… I’m trying to be nice, but she doesn’t care.”

Lyla sighed, and then took a moment to choose the best words to use in that kind of situation. It wasn’t easy to be nice when someone didn’t deserve it. “Listen, I’m not the kind of mon to tell someone what they have to do, but believe me, you’ll be better if you just avoid her.”

Ari gave her a look. “Is that because of some experience you had with her, or because of your species eternal rivalry with Zangooses?”

“… Well that too, but I did know her. It didn’t go well, believe me,” she said, as if lost in memories. That was concerning, Ari thought, but before he could press further, she continued. “Either way, you’re free to decide what to do, but be careful with her. Otherwise you could end up being hurt. And I don’t mean physical pain.”

At that, the Riolu frowned. Was Sanah that bad of a pokémon? Even if she was, Ari couldn’t stop feeling like he needed to make things right. “I see… Thanks for the advice, but she’s my teammate and I can’t avoid that. The least I can do is trying to make that experience less horrible.”

“Oh, talk about luck… I’m sorry for you. But hey, I’m sure you’ll manage one way or another,” Lyla said, while gently patting Ari’s back with her tail.

“Thank you… ” Ari smiled. They had a nice time talking for another while, exchanging some stories and tips on how to survive a stressful lifestyle, until they eventually reached the academy. Ari’s classmates weren’t there, so he said goodbye to the Seviper and went inside. As he did, he found that the bulletin boards were being updated. That was where they also put warnings about missing pokémon or outlaws, right? Even if that wasn’t a guild, being well informed was esential to stay safe from any danger. Ari found himself instinctivelly approaching the bulletin boards to check what was new. His eyes stopped on a certain sign and he stared at it for a moment longer that he wanted to admit.

Meanwhile, Nimb was recovering from the usual panic of going through the academy’s corridors passing by countless pokémon that he didn’t know. He and Cora reached their classroom and stood there while other classmates arrived.

“See? There was nothing to worry about,” Cora said, smiling proudly. He wasn’t hyperventilating that much, so that was something. Still, he wasn’t enjoying the experience. He was making progress, but it was going to take some time.

“I know, I know, but…” Nimb stopped, as he noticed Sanah staring at him, with her usual mean face. He tried to say somethig, but the only thing that came out of his mouth were choked bird noises.

Sanah rolled her eyes and groaned. “Are you going to be like that every day? It’s getting annoying.”

Nimb cringed, as he wasn’t expected to be addressed directly by her while Ari wasn’t anywhere near. “I… I u-uhm… I’m s-sorry…”

“He’s getting there, you know…” Cora said, supporting Nimb.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Sanah dismissed, already turning away to ignore any kind of conversation that could start from that point.

As other students arrived, still standing in the middle of the classroom, Asher the Cyclizar waved energetically to both Cora and Nimb, the latter being slightly uncomfortable but waving back nonetheless, with a sheepish smile. Mylo the Toxtricity tilted his head at Nimb as his own way of saying hi, and the Archen tensed for a moment, but then waved him back while also trembling slightly. It wasn’t that bad, he thought. He wasn’t that afraid anymore, it looked like no one there was going to hurt him, or say mean things to him… Well, not too mean at least.

Yeah, he was okay… He was okay! And without Ari! He felt good, maybe a bit nervous, but he was managing. After all that he had been through, it was a matter of time. Everything was fine! Until… It wasn’t.

He slowly felt a pressure in his chest, like something was compressing the air inside his lungs. He started breathing faster, there wasn’t enough air. He panted, like he had just run a marathon, and his eyes wandered all around the room. Why was he there? He shouldn’t be, it wasn’t safe! All of that was a terrible decision. There was danger everywhere, danger, danger, DANGER-

“Good morning, everyone!” Ari said as he entered the classroom, only to be quickly assaulted by an anxious bird that grabbed his arm and trembled by his side. “Huh? Nimb, what’s wrong?” Ari gently rubbed Nimb’s back, but he just kept panting, trying to remember how to talk. He didn’t know what was happening to him, but at least it seemed like it was slowly fading. Really slowly.

“I… I just… I d-don’t know…” His breathing was slowing down, but he didn’t look okay at all. They got concerned looks from everyone else, except from Sanah who just looked confused.

“Damn, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have left, I thought you were going to be okay…” Ari frowned.

“A-and I was… Until j-just a moment ago… I don’t know what’s wrong with me…” Nimb sniffled, but somehow managed to hold back the tears.

“It’s okay, take it one step at a time, you can’t expect to make that much progress in a couple of days!” Ari reassured, and guided him to his desk. Everyone was still looking at them, but nobody said anything to avoid making things worse.

Nimb had eventually calmed down, and both him and Ari went to their seats. Ari took his chance to try and interact with his teammates, even if it was kinda stressful. Mylo seemed as creepy as ever, but he was actually willing to talk, and Sanah… She was there.

“What did you call me?” Sanah glared.

“I just… Asked how was your day going…” Ari said, drops of sweat running down his head.

“Well,” Mylo joined, “my day is as normal as ever. What else can I say? Heh…”

“So what. You expect me to say something interesting?” Sanah said. “I’m not here to entertain you, go use someone else as your personal showmon.” It wasn’t going too well already, and Nimb noticed it, deciding to not take part on the conversation. Ari, on the other hand, was beginning to feel desperate, and he gripped his chair tightly.

“I… That’s not my intention! I just want to get along well with you…”

“Hey, Ari,” Mylo interrupted. “You shouldn’t try to get everyone to like you. You should accept that’s not always a possibility.” Ari blushed as the Toxtricity said that out loud, in front of Sanah. Also, he wasn’t expecting another psychoanalysis, and on top of that, coming from Mylo of all pokémon.

“That’s pathetic,” Sanah shook her head, and turned to ignore everyone. It seemed like that conversation wasn’t going to get anywhere, so Ari gave up for now.

Class started as soon as Maia arrived. After some quick speech to start the day, she gave away the corrected exams to each student. There were some murmurs here and there, Asher asking Velia how it went for her, Cora telling Kyle her own grade proudly even if he didn’t ask, Nimb gasping in surprise at his B+ with a smile, and Ari…

“Oh,” he said, and then looked up as he noticed he said that out loud. Maia, from her own desk, noticed that and interrupted the chatter speaking in an audible tone for everyone.

“I must say I’m quite impressed with you, Ari, you got a perfect grade! You were the only one who got the hardest questions right!” Ari blushed, and everyone else turned to him.

“Wow, you got an A+?” Cora said. “I don’t know why I’m surprised at this point, but congrats!”

“It was to be expected, you’re really experienced,” Velia the Meowstic added. Ari didn’t know what to say, so he just smiled while rubbing his head uncomfortably.

As everyone kept talking about that, most failed to notice Maia approaching Sanah to adress her more privately. She was speaking in a lower tone, but Ari was close enough to hear what she was saying.

“Sanah, I must say I’m a bit concerned about your grade. I know the school year has only just started, but this course requires at least some basic level of knowledge, otherwise things can get very hard for you…”

Sanah the Zangoose flinched slightly at that. It was obvious what that meant: she got the lowest grade in the class. She wasn’t letting anyone know that, of course. “Hmmm… Okay.” Her expression didn’t change, even if it did twitch slighly while saying that.

Maia rested her wing in Sanah’s shoulder and spoke with a calming tone. “Don’t worry, we can still work this out, but you’ll have to give it all from now on, okay?” Sanah just avoided looking at her directly and nodded without saying a word.

As Maia returned to her desk, Ari turned to look at the Zangoose, a bit concerned. Her expression was the same as always, but he did feel like there was something more to it. Ari made sure no one was looking at him, and then he proceeded to do his other main thing aside from the pearl power. He closed his eyes and tapped into his aura powers, his tassels slowly rising as the aura enveloped his body.

With his eyes closed, he could focus better on what he could feel around him. There was joy, probably coming from Asher, slight stress, coming from Nimb, pride, from Velia… And then, coming from Sanah… He could feel anger, distrust, annoyance. But, above all, he could feel… Hopelessness. It was overwhelming, a downside of Ari’s power was that every feeling he sensed with his aura was contagious to him, and now he felt horrible too. Ari opened his eyes and looked at Sanah with a sad expression, but he found that she was also looking at him with a mixture of confusion and anger.

“What the fuck were you doing?” She demanded.

Ari flinched and noticed the others looking at him too. It seems that the blue energy that enveloped Ari while using his aura wasn’t that hard to notice. “I… Uhhhh I was j-just…”

“Ari, it is impolite to use your abilities to peek on others’ feelings in the middle of class,” Maia reprimanded.

“You’re right, sorry…” Ari said, as he lowered his head in shame. For the rest of the rest of the class, he couldn’t get rid of that horrible feeling from before, and he couldn’t bring himself to turn around and look at Sanah directly, even if he did want to.

The class finished and everyone went to the frontyard to hang out during the recess. They could go anywhere, as it wasn’t a closed yard, but it wouldn’t be wise to go too far, as they could be late to the next class. The whole group stayed together in a corner, talking and enjoying some time together.

“Well, as I was saying,” Asher said, before having a bite of his sandwich. “Mhmhmm nom nom. I bet we’ll be going to the abandoned mansion to investigate eventually. I’ve heard all kind of rumours about that place.”

“Or even the graveyard. Those are creepy places, for sure…” Kyle the Scrafty added.

Nimb was starting to tremble at the thought of that. Being in shady places wasn’t exactly what he was after… And Asher noticed that. “Hey, don’t worry, we’ll be okay!” He said.

“I… I guess… ” Nimb answered, but his face showed that he wasn’t feeling any better. And to make things worse, he was salivating at the sight of Asher’s sandwich. His stomach rumbled loudly, and everyone turned to him. “Uhhh… S-sorry.”

Asher felt bad, after scaring the Archen with the whole abandoned mansion thing, so he looked to his sandwich, then Nimb, then his sandwich again. He sighed, and split his sandwich in two and offered one half to his classmate, with a lot of hesitation. “Hey… Do you want ssssome?” He said, squeezing his eyes shut.

Nimb brigthened immediately and accepted it with a quick nod. Asher watched in surprise as he devoured the food in a matter of seconds, Nimb suddenly looking happier than ever. The Cyclizar felt better over the loss of his precious sandwich as he saw his classmate’s face.

“Hey, how come you never share your sandwich with me but you immediately did with him?” Cora complained.

“Uh? Oh, uhmmmm he looked so sad, and I just… Uh.” Asher feared for his life as the Brionne demanded answers.

Meanwhile, Ari was lost in thoughts again, not paying much attention to the discussion. Why was he so obsessed with Sanah liking him? Why does he need to be liked by someone that’s such a jerk? It didn’t make any sense, and still, it happened. While he was thinking about all that, he noticed Sanah wasn’t anywhere near.

“Hey, where did Sanah go?” Ari asked.

Mylo, from the bench he was sitting on, turned to him. “I saw her going inside just a couple of minutes ago. Hm, a bit weird, to be honest.”

“Oh… I think I’m going to go check on her,” Ari said, as he started moving. “I’ll be back really soon, so don’t worry, Nimb. I promise.” Nimb decided to trust his word, after all, he couldn’t get lost for too long inside a building.

“Be careful, she could kill you… Heh,” Mylo said.

Ari smiled sheepishly at him, but didn’t stop. He went inside and looked for the Zangoose, a bit hesitant because of the potential painful words he was going to receive from her. Still, he needed to do this. The corridors were mostly empty, every other pokémon was hanging out in the frontyard, so it shouldn’t be hard to find her. Still, she wasn’t there. He searched trough all the main corridors with no result. That was weird…

Eventually, Ari reached a secluded part of the building and heard a metallic noise, like an object falling on the ground. He heard it coming from a closed room, which happened to be the janitor’s room. After a moment of hesitation, Ari opened the door slowly, not making any noise, and entered the room. It was quite big for a janitor’s room, having many metal shelves and a lot of cleaning products.

He closed the door behind him and went further inside. There was a small window at the end, but it wasn’t enough to lit the whole room. Ari then heard a sniffle coming from the other side of the room, but there wasn’t enough light to see what was there, so he leaned closer. There, he found… Sanah. And she was crying.

“S-Sanah?” Ari called. That startled the Zangoose, who quickly turned to him in a mixture of anger and horror.

“What? What are you doing here?” She said, as she quickly tried to wipe her tears away.

Ari approached slowly. “I was… I was worried, so I came to check on you and… I’m so sorry!”

“I don’t care, leave me alone!” She turned around and kept sobbing, but the Riolu didn’t leave. He wasn’t expecting this of all things, much less coming from the fiery Zangoose.

“But… Really, I’m sorry about earlier, I shouldn’t have read your feelings, but I was worried because I overheard your conversation with Maia and uhhh… I’m sure you’ll get through this! I can help you, just…”

“Shut up! What do you know? You have no idea about anything!” Sanah yelled. “No matter how hard I try, no matter what kind of stupid education I get, it’s just completely useless! I AM useless.”

That was his chance! He could reassure her and make her feel better so she would like him! This was what he needed, he was sure. But… Why was he thinking about that now?

“Hey, you’re not thinking straight. I get that you feel lost, but the year just started, give it a chance!”

“Why would I? Because YOU are telling me? Don’t make me laugh. You just want to feel better with youself for helping me, that’s what you all do. You all wanna feel like you’re on top of the others, and for what?” She said between sobs. “And you, precisely? You’re the smartest in class, and that makes me hate you even more. I don’t want anyone to remind me I’m the worst student, I already know that. I got the worst grade.”

Yes, that was his chance. He could reassure her… He could do it. He could tell her whatever she needed to make her like him. He wanted that. And he could fix it easily and be liked by everyone. However…

“I cheated.”

Those were simple words, said without much thinking, but he could feel their weight in his mind. He wasn’t sure why he said that.

“… What?” Sanah said, slowly raising her head to look at him, eyes widened.

“I… I cheated. I didn’t know most of the answers, so I copied them from Cora and Nimb. If I didn’t, I would have had the worst grade in class. So, I cheated.” As he said that, he could feel Sanah growing angrier and angrier, but he continued. “I thought… I n-needed everyone to think I’m better than them! That’s why… I did it.

Sanah stared at him, unblinking, processing what she just heard. She wasn’t the worst, after all. And yet, that Riolu… She slowly got up while his face went through all kinds of emotions at the same time, but in the end, she looked angrier than ever.

“You… You CHEATED?” Sanah yelled. “And you made me think I’m the worst?”

Ari started taking some steps back, fearing the storm that was coming. “Yeah, I’m… I kinda did. Sorry.”

“You… You piece of…!” She started, but decided to express what she wanted to say but just throwing stuff from the shelves at him. The Riolu took a blow on the head by some paint can, but managed to avoid the rest of the objects thrown at him.

“Hey, hey, stop! It hurts!” He begged.

“SHUT UP! I HATE YOU!”

As she continued her attack, Ari panicked and ran for the door, leaving the janitor’s room to save his life. He got away, but with a bump on the forehead as a memento of that wonderful conversation. Sanah stood there, panting, but slowly calming down, as she organised her thoughts now that she was alone again. She felt slightly better. But that Riolu… He was going to pay for everything.

 

---

 

The recess had ended and everyone returned to their respective classrooms. Ari didn’t want to talk about what happened with Sanah, so everyone decided not to press on that matter. The investigators entered a different classroom this time, as they were about to start a new subject: technology.

The classroom was very different than the usual learning place, as it looked more like a workshop, with large workbenches in the middle and a large variety of tools scattered around the place, some on the tables, some on the ground. Between all that mess, an Ampharos with safety glasses was working on some kind of device with a greyish color and golden buttons, including a screen in the middle. She looked really focused in the task, so much that she didn’t even notice the students coming in. As soon as Velia coughed loudly, the Ampharos flinched in surprise and turned to them.

“Oh! Uhm, wait a second, I’m almost finishing this!” And then she returned to her work, the students staring in disbelief. The Ampharos kept muttering to herself while she did some tweaks to the device, until she suddenly stoop up with an excited expression while shouting “eureka!”. Nimb jumped and hid behind Ari, startled. The Ampharos raised her glasses and turned to the others. “Oh, sorry, I was working on a new function for the Gholdevice, and now it’s done! We can start our class now.”

“Are you our teacher?” Cora asked, while she scanned the room, impressed by all the tools and machinery.

“Yup! The name’s Saga, and I’m the technology teacher,” she said, bouncing a little in excitement, her safety glasses falling back to her face. “I’ll be the one who helps you with some investigations, also. And that takes us to the first topic of this subject: the Gholdevice™!”

“The… Golwhat?” Asher said.

“Gholdevice,” Velia explained, turning to him.

“No no, Gholdevice™, you have to add the trademark,” Saga the Ampharos corrected, and everyone deadpanned. “Well, as I was going to say, this device (invented by me) will be key to you investigations, as it contains multiple functions that take advantage of powerful abilities from different pokémon, especially psychic types. Each one of you will have access to one of these! And that means I’ll have to make many more… Damn, I’m not going to sleep anytime soon, heh…” Everyone looked at their teacher in concern.

Technology was advancing a lot in the recent years, and combining it with the pokémon’s powers, it could create unimaginable wonders. There were few pokémon who actually knew how this technology worked, even less than knew how to create it, so it wasn’t a common thing to see inventions like that being used in daily life, it was mostly used by advanced institutions. Still, it was amusing to see.

Once everyone was seated, the explanation began. “The Gholdevice™ will be your main tool to investigate any kind of crime or mystery, as it has various functions that could make things easier. To begin with, there’s this.” She demonstrated by pressing a button which instantly summoned a purple light out of the small sphere at the end. “I call this the Ultraviolet light, or ‘UV’. It lets you see footprints or traces of fur, scales or feathers left by anyone in any object or floor.” Saga then pointed the light towards one of the workbenches. There were some brilliant spots on the table that suggested that someone had touched that before, presumably the Ampharos.

“Oooohhhh!” Some of the students said in unison. It was the first time they saw that kind of technology.

“Also,” Saga continued, “you can use this as a flashlight too.” She then pressed another button and the light turned white. She handed the device to the students, who were passing it hand to hand just to take a closer look at the gadget.

“Hey, what’s this button for?” Asher said, and pressed it before his teacher could answer. An holographic light appeared in front of it, pointing at Kyle the Scrafty, moving vertically. Kyle didn’t move an inch, if he was surprised he didn’t show it. After a short moment, the light vanished, and an image was shown on the screen. It was… “Ah, Kyle, you’re in here too! Don’t worry, I’ll get you out of there!”

Saga quickly took the device before the Cyclizar could smash it. “That won’t be necessary! it’s just an image… You used the scan function, which allows you to generate an image of whatever you scan with it, so you can save it for later! That’s really useful for keeping evidence, you see?”

Nimb had sparkles in his eyes, forgetting about his anxiety for a moment. He was positively impressed by the magic of the Gholdevice, even if it was supposed to be pure science. As the teacher saw everyone’s faces, she decided it was time to show the newest function she just added. She moved aside and searched for an object, while the students just stared in confusion.

“Okay, here’s another thing you can do, check this out,” Saga the Ampharos said. As she pressed a button aiming towards a screwdriver, an energy trail could be seen moving around it. It looked like a weird smoke that moved erratically, always staying close to the workbench.

“What the hell? Is this some kind of ghost?” Sanah asked, flinching slightly.

“It’s like… An energy coming from the screwdriver!” Ari said.

Sanah grimaced at him. “Did I ask you, moron?” That made Ari stiffen, suddenly remembering that the tension between them had gotten worse.

“Hey, hey, no insults in my class!” Saga intervened. “Calm down, I’ll explain it. This is the kinetic ray, it allows you to see the kinetic energy left by an object, or even a pokémon, that’s been moved in the past few hours. So, yeah, you can see the trayectory it has followed up until the present.”

“So… It’s like seeing the past, but only from an object or pokémon?” Mylo said.

“Bingo!”

“Woaaaah, that’s so cool!” Asher said.

“This will definitely lead us to unravel the biggest mysteries in our world, and pave or way to fame and greatness,” Velia added, posing with her hands in her waist, dramatically. Kyle took two steps back from her, his face not quite showing the embarrasment he felt.

“Well, and that’s the main catch of the Gholdevice™! Interesting,huh? But there are also more things you can do with it. I programmed it so it can be used to communicate with others, no matter how far they are!”

Saga explained the obligatory telephone function to an amused class, answering all kinds of stupid questions about magic and demonic summonings while she demonstrated using two different devices at the same time, showing how both were connected and could be used for sending messages. Really useful for investigations! It would be a shame if they were used for other things not related to that, right?

Adding to that, the gadget could also be used to record sounds. It was a lot and the students were at a loss for words. How could something so small do so many things? And, on top of it, things that only a few special pokémon could do! Technology is incredible!

When all the explanations were done and there weren’t any more questions, someone else entered the classroom. “Oh, here you are!” Saga said. “Everyone, this is Louis, the science teacher!”

It was a Reuniclus. He waved at the students and then cleared his throat and spoke with a raspy but high pitched voice. “Nice to meet you! So, aside from being a teacher, I’m also a scientist that helps investigators with research, analyzing samples and studying the results. Saga and I work together in this kind of stuff, so you’ll be seeing both of us a lot in your investigations!”

“Yup! You’ll be able to send us anything you got with the scanner so we can analyze it. So, keep that in mind!” The electric sheep was bouncing in excitement again, to everyone’s amusement.

“Right, because you’ll be having your first investigation tomorrow,” Louis the Reuniclus said.

“… What?” Everyone spoke in unison.

 

---

 

Technology class ended, and everyone went to their last challenge of the day while they thought of the recent knowledge of the first investigation coming up. This time, they were in some kind of dojo-like room, it was pretty big and had a few punching bags and training dummies, and the floor was covered with soft mats.

“Oh no. D-does this mean…?” Nimb said, already fearing what was to come.

“Oh, did I forget to tell you about this? Whoops, sorry,” Ari smiled sheepishly, resting his paw in Nimb’s shoulder. “Yeah, battle class. You know, for self defense, haha. You never know.”

Nimb turned to the Riolu, in a mixture of anger and fear. “B-but you told me we wouldn’t need to fight if we became investigators!”

“I know, sorry… But this isn’t the norm. Battling won’t be happening a lot, it’s just in case that something goes wrong and… you know… there’s a criminal trying to kill us.”

That didn’t make him feel any better. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too bad, as they didn’t have battle class every day. He was snapped out of his thoughts as a blue cephalopod pokémon entered from a side door, waving at the students.

“Welcome, everyone. I’m Reko and I will be your battle teacher,” the Grapploct said. He had multiple scars around the body, a reminder of who knows how many tough battles he had been in. The pupils were impressed by his imposing presence, thinking they’d have a bad time if they ever had to fight him. “As you know, investigations doesn’t necessarily involve battling, but you must be at least strong enough to defend yourself yadda yadda you know the rest. Let’s begin,” and he then pointed to Velia and Mylo. “You two, come here.”

And with that, the class had begun. Reko the Grapploct instructed them to do a little demonstration of their moves in a friendly one-on-one battle, while everyone else watched. Reko asked them to try to evade the rival’s attacks, but it was quite difficult when Mylo knew the move ‘overdrive’. As soon as he slid his fingers over the organs on his chest, en extremely loud sound wave came from it, creating sparks in a wide range. Luckily for Velia, she was fast enough to move away and cover her ears. She didn’t waste any time to attack with a psybeam that was launched directly to the Toxtricity, but he wasn’t too impressed, as he just duck to avoid the ray, which impacted on the wall. The whole room was made to resist strong attacks, so the wall wasn’t damage at all.

They kept attacking and dodging for a few more minutes, until the teacher was satisfied with the demonstration, as neither of the students were hit. “See, that could very well be your main strategy when facing a strong opponent. It’s important to be able to endure the enemy’s attacks, but it’s also important to be quick enough to avoid them. If you’re not hit, you won’t lose. Keep that in mind and don’t take on foes you have no possibilities with.”

Nimb liked that. When he saw the battle teacher, he expected a tough guy who just cared about brute force, but this was much more sensible. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, but he still had to fight… He just hoped he wasn’t next.

He then called for the next volunteers, who, in fact, did not volunteer for that. “Next! You two, do the same.”

He was pointing to Ari and Sanah. Ari cringed in shock, he couldn’t believe his bad luck. He looked at the Zangoose and got a nasty glare from her, before she approached the battlefield without hesitation. Ari sighed, he was going to die. Nimb felt that tension too, even if he wasn’t the one about to fight, and he wanted to hold Ari’s arm to prevent him from going there, but it was inevitable.

Ari moved to the battlefield and stood there, facing Sanah. It should be easy, he just had to avoid getting hit. The problem was… She looked like she was going to enjoy this, and she wasn’t just doing a friendly practice. After a few seconds of awkward silence, the Zangoose charged forward and tried to swipe with his claws, which Ari quickly evaded by jumping to the side. She groaned and slashed a few more times, but Ari kept jumping and rolling to avoid the damage. He suddenly tripped and fell, watching in horror as Sanah took her chance to swipe at him again, her claws now shining with a greenish energy, a fury cutter aimed at Ari. He quickly formed a protect and blocked the hit, quickly standing up and putting some distance from her.

Sanah frowned. “Why aren’t you attacking?” She said, while she honed her claws.

“I… I don’t know…” Ari couldn’t even try to fight her, he was too anxious and feared that hurting her would make things worse between them. She, on the other hand, didn’t care at all. While Ari was distracted with his own thoughts, he was suddenly hit by Sanah, who was enveloped by the dark energy of a pursuit. Ari hit the wall with a groan, unexpectedly hurt. Dark type moves shouldn’t do that kind of damage to him, so why did he…?

Before he could react, the Zangoose was upon him, and he was slashed on the face with all her fury. And then she did it again. And again. Ari couldn’t even do anything, just like that time in Reverb Grove, when he was attacked by a Corvisquire. Even so, this time was different… He started trembling, he was so scared that he couldn’t do anything. He just curled into a ball and shielded himself with his arms, not thinking straight. He was feeling weaker with each slash, his eyes closing as he gave up, but before he fainted, Reko caught Sanah and lifted her in the air, keeping her away from the pained Riolu.

“That’s enough! I told you this was a friendly demonstration, you just had to hit your rival once! Are you insane?” Reko reprimanded.

“I forgot, I guess,” Sanah said, looking away in annoyance.

Everyone else stared in horror as it happened, Ari didn’t notice Nimb yelling in distress as he was getting beaten up. Cora just held Nimb’s arm as she felt he was about to faint as well, but she was as terrified as him. While the Grapploct helped Ari, Sanah just returned to where everyone else was staring, not saying a word. Kyle, who was closer to Sanah, kept looking at her directly with an unmoved expression, and didn’t change it even when she noticed it and glared back, until she decided to ignore him. Mylo, however, went unnoticed as he glanced at her too with an undecipherable look in his eyes.

“You okay there?” Reko said.

Ari just tried to stand while he pressed his paw against the biggest scratch on his face, trying to remember how to talk. He just nodded. At least he wasn’t dead, but this was certainly not going well. He had tried being nice to her, he wanted to help her so bad, but he messed up bad and now she wanted him dead. He wanted to leave, to return to the woods and just be caught by the Armarouge, maybe that wouldn’t hurt as much. He didn’t want to endure this anymore, but he had to do it for Nimb.

The academy nurse, an Audino, was quick to tend on Ari’s injuries while the class continued, Reko going over a few tips on basic strategies when facing an opponent they wouldn’t have chances against. Evading wouldn’t work always, so they had to rely on items and teamwork. Eventually, class had ended, and the Grapploct went to give Sanah another scolding for her behavior earlier, while the others went to check on Ari, who was sitting in a bench while attending the class.

“Are you feeling better?” Nimb asked.

“Uh? Oh, yeah, don’t worry. She just caught me off guard, but it was nothing serious,” Ari answered.

“Even if that’s the case,” Velia the Meowstic added, “you weren’t fighting back. Just what were you thinking?”

“I… It’s not that easy, you know? I panicked…”

“You look like you don’t want to hurt others,” Kyle guessed. There was a moment of silence, everyone looking to the Scrafty, and then to the Riolu again. Ari opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out of it. Nimb frowned, he knew what that felt like.

“Ari, you were shaking so bad, I thought by this time you would have battled a lot before, so why…?” Cora started.

“Let’s not press him further, shall we?” Mylo helped. Ari smiled, glad that he was dispersing the attention.

In the middle of the fuss, the Audino entered the dojo again, looking really nervous, and quickly approached the battle teacher. “Reko, there’s an emergency!”

“Hm? What is it?” He said.

“A feral pokémon has been spotted near the facilities!”

There was a collective gasp. A feral pokémon here? They have never been spotted outside a mystery dungeon… How could this happen?

“That cannot be… Are you sure?”

He got a nod from the Audino. “We need your help, it’s pretty tough and you’re the strongest teacher here, also, the feral is a normal type. The others are already trying to control the situation, but they don’t want to call anyone else, otherwise the students might find out and the panic would spread.” As soon as the nurse said that, he turned and saw the whole class looking at them, flinching in realisation as it was too late for secrets.

“Okay, let’s go now,” Reko said, and he turned to the stunned students. “Class is over for today, we’ll see next week. Good luck with your investigation tomorrow.” And with that, he left with the Audino, leaving everyone standing there, unmoving.

Nimb shivered. He thought he could be safe from the Armarouge in Bismuth Town. Nothing bad happened ever here, or so he had heard. But now there were also feral pokémon where they didn’t belong. He wasn’t safe anymore.