The lake and the air were both rather calm, save for the light breeze that danced through the trees and over the lake. As it spread across the many fields of the campus, it created a calming sound as the flowers and bits of tall grass were blown together by the wind. Some students were calmly sitting under trees, others were doing homework or reading, a few typed away on laptops while chatting with friends; others were making their way to their next classes.
Of course, not everything could be calm, as there was an excited group of students formed a wall to one side of a worn-down battlefield, watching as a wave of fire screamed across the dirt-covered field, and a column of rocks appeared out of the ground. Acting as if it were alive, the pillar moved through the ground, and split the wave of fire in two, both of which missed their target, a Cradily.
"We're not going to let that happen again, right, Vashtar?" Randy jokingly encouraged his Typhlosion. It responded with a short growl.
"Zere is no vay you saw that coming!" called the trainer from across the field, a young man who was dressed for incredibly cold conditions, despite being in the mild climate of Johto; a thick scarf, goggles, and a thick ski jacket, all colored dark blue and grey.
"Well of course I did. It was Protect. And interesting one, but still, that's one of the most basic things that can be done. All you trainers from Sinnoh are the same-"and, for the first time, Dr. Randy Lawson was interrupted.
"And vhat is vat supposed to mean!?" the trainer yelled across the field, and at that instant, the two of them seemed to forget there was a Pokemon battle going on.
"Over confident, arrogant, cocky, ignorant, take your pick, really," Randy Lawson flashed a devilish grin, and waved his arms in overly-large motions to make his point. The gold and silver tattoos spiraling his right and left arm respectively were easily visible in the broad daylight against his olive skin.
"You did not just zey that, vright? Surely, it vas a joke, a vriendly joke, vright?" the Trainer stammered slightly out of a slowly boiling anger.
"Nope!" Randy was beginning to enjoy the other trainer's irritation, and was of course doing everything he could to increase it.
"Ancient Power." The Cradily's trainer was trying to appear calm, but his trembling arms and his face slowly flushing showed that it was obviously not the case. "Full strength."
The Barnacle Pokemon straitened it's neck, bringing it nearly even to the five-foot seven Typhlosion it was staring down. Cradily's eyes began to glow a sharp blue, which almost reached a white color. The glow steadily intensified, slowly possessing the markings on the Barnacle Pokemon's body, and began carving out new markings of light, crawling towards the ground.
"I know you want to do something Vashtar, but this is so much more fun!" He laughed, loudly and clearly at the trainer, mocking him.
"NOW!" the trainer from Sinnoh screamed, his voice echoing through the campus. Cradily's entire body shivered, starting from the top of it's head, down it's neck, and finally it's anchor-body. As it did so, the glowing on it's marking seemingly vanished. It's "legs" dug into the ground, and intricate patterns began to surround the Pokemon, like a crop circle.
When they began to glow with an incredibly harsh light, the ground around Cradily tore open, and rocks began to float in orbit around the Pokemon. As the orbit picked up speed, all the rocks at once flew at the Typhlosion, encased in the same intense blue glow.
"Right then, Vashtar, show them just how hot your flames can get. Fireblast!"
The Volcano Pokemon arched his back, and then quickly stood straight. A giant cone of fire spiraled out of his gaping mouth, shooting upwards into the air towards the rocks. As the flames made contact with the rocks, the intense heat melted them instantly.
"Now then!" Randy laughed, "Do you REALLY want to continue this?" he flashed a mocking grin, watching as the trainer from Sinnoh tried to position his jaw back to its proper place. Two Poke Balls flew out from his quickly extended arm, one returning the Cradily, one releasing an Aerodactyl.
"Vhy, no, I vill not give you that honor ov vacing me in a vattle. Much vess vinishing it. You vill see vin it comes time vor our schools — if you can even call zis place a school — vattle in the tournament!"
As he finished his sentence, he climbed on the Fossil Pokemon's back, and began flying north, presumably aiming to get all the way to Sinnoh on the poor Aerodactyl.
Stubborn.
"Alright, class, what just happened?" Randy asked the slightly awestruck group of students as he called his Typhlosion back into it's Poke Ball.
"You kicked major ass?" One student suggested, though Randy couldn't be sure whether he was joking or not.
With a slightly puzzled look on his face, Randy spoke up, "and who is this?" He laughed, "I'm rather flattered!"
A young man stepped forward, with messy dark hair that was fairly grown out, and a un-shaven face. "I did!" he grinned, which led to a slight mess of giggles and mumbles from the class. He was wearing a white t-shirt, emblazoned with some sort of symbol, and slightly baggy shorts.
"Ahahah!" Randy bellowed a laugh that echoed across the campus, "And what's your name, son?"
"Zacky's what everyone calls me!" he said with a rather large grin.
"I think we'll be seeing a bit of you in this class!" He laughed again, before turning his attention back to the class, "So, does anyone know what happened, other than my already stated ass-whooping?" this was greeted with a fair amount of laughter, mostly from Randy himself.
"You played a mind game." Someone in the back said softly. It was a girl's voice, but Dr. Lawson saw nobody.
"Say that again, louder, please? And if you wouldn't mind stepping forward…." His voice trailed softly as a young lady broke through the small crowd. Her red hair was a complete contrast to the brown, blonde and black that was on the other student's heads, and it was easy to see why she had been heard so softly; nearly a head shorter than everyone.
"You played a mind game," she said, turning to face the group of students, and speaking with a bit more confidence.
"I'm going to go ahead and guess that you're Ferne? Pr. Burry's told me a good deal about you…" Randy's voice trailed a bit, and his mouth curved into a wide grin, "anyway, you're absolutely right! Anyone care to elaborate?"
Ferne fell back into the class, and there was a moment of silence as thoughts were processed.
"Well, yeah, okay." Another student spoke up, "I've got something."
"Come on up to the front here, with me, then, and explain!" Randy laughed.
Another student, probably around the same age as Zacky, stepped forward. She was wearing a white shirt with a colorful design stretching around the top and side, and denim shorts. Her hair was a golden-brown, and reached to a bit past her shoulders. "M'name's Dani." She said quickly, approaching Randy.
"Well howdy!" he said, loud as ever, "whachu got for us?" he said with a gleam in his eyes.
"Well like Ferne said," she began, her thoughts beginning to click, "you for sure played a mind game. And stuff like intimidation and confusing, or angering, like you did, is just as important in a battle as skill….." she paused for a moment, before exclaiming, "Oh yeah! That's got to be it! That's why you called in the trainer for Sinnoh, right? And I'll bet… no… that… could that be it…?" she paused to think, her head titled slightly, her tongue clicking.
"Oh there's no way!" Ferne's voice came from the small crowd that made up the class. She gave a small laugh at the absurdity of the thought.
"What're you thinking, Ferne?" Randy asked, curiously, though rather confident that she was close on her guess.
For a moment, she said nothing. Thoughts were being formed into words, and she bit her lip the tiniest bit. "There's no way that it's… no…" she said softly, not believing even her own thoughts.
"Aw, Ferne, c'mon! What were you thinking?" Randy was genuinely interested at this point
"Well I mean, you could have like…." She paused for a moment, "completely screwed with that guys mind…..you flattered him to get him over here, didn't you?" she said with a slight smirk.
Randy just laughed, and grinned at the class.
(AGH. Short chapter is SHORT. But, the next chapter, with Dr. O'Hara, is set to be freaking awesome. In the sense of an old man going crazy. If you call that awesome.
Also, fans, stalkers, and innocent bystanders, chapters will begin to be even more scarce than they are now, as school begins soon. But I will try to keep on at least a bi-weekly update. That shouldn't be too hard.)
