---

It was hot, albeit dry August morning. The sky was painted varying shades of blue: cerulean, cornflower, and turquoise, richly opposed to the white, puffy clouds that hung about in the sky. The sun’s light leaned more towards the easy, golden pallor of morning than the harsh glare of afternoon, thankfully; but the real savior of the day was the constant, cooling breeze of salty air drifting over from the ocean.

As the students walked from their dormitories to the castle amphitheater, they could see the vast, rolling acres of green with colorful flowers dotted about and tall, shady trees. The main castle building loomed from the distance, magnificent and towering, pagoda towers racing each other to reach the sky.

Some students decided to take the indoor corridors and annexes. Most opted for the myriad of outdoor pathways and shortcuts though, because pokemon were allowed to freely stroll about in the open, fresh air. Barring a few exceptions of course, but nobody was going to bring their Wailord out on the dry land of the campus grounds.

The amphitheatre could contain roughly 5,000 people, though the opening ceremony for the sophomore class was at a more intimate number around 110 people or so, trickling in. Seventy five sophomore students, plus faculty such as professors, the board, even a few faculty pokemon: A Slowking, a Hydreigon, a Drapion, and a Flareon. They were powerful creatures, that much was evident, as they took their own places on the stage with the faculty.

The transfer students had taken their own seats, or they would eventually find them as they had been assigned. The five of them would be sitting together in the theatre, in the third row from the front, far right. As the crowd began to settle, there was still just some time to chatter and keep their pokemon out. The current students all had name tags with their class and year, and the transfers were no exception. Inadvertently glancing at each other’s name tags, they would have recognized that they would be in class 2-A together for the following year. Perhaps this was a good time to introduce themselves.

So go ahead, introduce yourself.

Tim Wolfe



It was beautiful day on the island, the sun was shining, the Pidgey were chirping, and the flowers were in full bloom. Under normal circumstances, this would be a good day for Tim. However, today was his first day at Pokemon Masters Academy, and he was dreading it. He got so much crap from other kids at his previous school, and now he was meeting new people. Would they torment him too? Maybe things would be different here, and he’d actually make friends, but he wasn’t sure...

Tim slowly made his way to the castle amphitheater, Rocky, his Rockruff bounded ahead of him. The Rock type Pokémon was actually happy to be here. When he got there, he saw a bunch of students. Tim took a deep breath. “Ok... here goes... something...” According to his seating assignment, his class was supposed to be in the third row.

As Tim nervously approached the third row, he was racking his brains on what to do or say to the others when he got there. If anything at all... Suddenly, Rocky let out a bark, and ran up to a boy in his row, and nuzzled on his leg. “Ruff!”

Tim ran after his Pokémon. “Oh Rocky no...” He scooped the Rock type up into his arms, and apologized profusely. “I-I-I’m really sorry about him...” He said to a boy with dark gray hair that had the name Troy written up on his name tag. He supposed now that he was in this situation, he had to say something. “Um... this is Rocky, and um... I-I-I’m Tim...” He managed to stutter out, only to mentally chastise himself for saying it. He was wearing a name tag, he could see his name.

---

PP: 1

---

Troy

It was almost eerie, returning to an old routine long forgotten. Still, once the crisp morning air washed itself over Troy, it felt like he had never left Nimbasa City. Well, not quite, since keeping your pokemon out of your pokeball seems to be quite popular on campus, but Troy didn't have time to take in the sights with Shuckle since the opening ceremony was starting soon.

Not long after finding his seat, a Rockruff came up to him and began nuzzling him, grinding the sharp rocks on its neck into Troy's leg. It was absolutely adorable.

“Oh Rocky no...”
“I-I-I’m really sorry about him...”
“Um... this is Rocky, and um... I-I-I’m Tim...”

Tim quickly scooped up Rocky, for which Troy mentally cursed Tim, as if willing him to suddenly disappear so Rocky could continue. Troy didn't let this show on his face, but that isn't saying much since he was frowning beforehand anyway. He calmly responds, "It's fine, I don't mind." Supposing that he should be polite to Rocky's owner Tim, Troy reciprocates Tim's introduction in spite of the nametags. "My name is Troy."

With summer flowers of every hue lining the paths, the campus looked every bit the opulent castle garden. Perfect for Antoinetta, who strode towards the building, head high, shoulders back, glossy shoes clicking against the paving. First impressions mattered. She had to exude an air of poise. Which would be easy, if not for one thing.

She was late.

Well, hopefully not late for the actual ceremony, but most everyone had gathered inside by now. "Come on, Mel," she called, speeding up her steps as the little Combee fluttered along. "We've got our mark to make." All these blooms meant Mellona had been spoiled for choice, the three heads struggling to agree on which ones to visit first. Instead of taking her on that impromptu mini-tour of the grounds, Antoinetta should have told her to wait until lunch time. She wondered if part of it had been her own hesitation about meeting the other students.

Her stomach turned as memories whispered in her mind. "Oh, so you're a little larva to two weirdos?" She smoothed her hair as if she could brush away the thoughts, but wayward strands kept sticking up. "Scuttle on back to your nest, nerd-spawn." She resisted the urge to hunch her shoulders. She wasn't that scared, awkward kid any more. "Chew on some leaves, creepy-crawly!" She wasn't, and yet she could almost taste the handfuls of leaves those other children had shoved into her mouth.

No. No point thinking about that. Upon moving to Marvalo, she'd cast off her old self like a shed skin. If she'd made a good impression at her last school, she could make an even better one here. Holding on to that thought, she sashayed into the hall.

"Hey!" She strutted to the third row, forcing a self-assured smile. She couldn't let any nervousness show. A chink in a carapace would get pecked at. One of the other students, however, seemed just as uneasy as she felt, stammering an apology to a tall, grey-haired boy. Knowing such situations all too well, Antoinetta hoped the ceremony would put people at ease - and yet, more selfishly, found herself relieved that she wasn't the only one this tense.

Her eyes flicked to the Pokemon in his arms, an adorable little dog she'd never seen before, although the rocks around its neck made its type obvious. She suppressed a wince. What if he asked her to battle later? With Mellona's quadruple vulnerability, she wouldn't stand a chance. Nonetheless, Antoinetta struck up a conversation. "Cute Pokemon all round, huh? Yours is almost as cute as Mellona here." She gestured to the bee hovering by her shoulder, whose six curious eyes studied the group. "I'm Antoinetta, but you can call me Netty. Coordinator in the making." She swept a glance around the other transfers, a proud look that hinted to watch out for her on the stage in future. "How about you? What brings you here?"

---

Zaria had received her first pokemon in her dorm room. It had been waiting for her on a sleek, cylindrical stand that was perched on-top of a dresser. She noticed it immediately, though there were quite a few things that hit her at once. One, how grand and spacious the dormitories were, two, how she was finally truly here at PMA, and three, how exhausted she was from her journey. New Bark to Marvolo had been a two-day string of connecting flights that were either late or delayed. Not to mention, sleeping on planes was terrible.

But she was here, thankfully, at last, and PMA was more than Zaria had imagined. She definitely hadn't expected a pokeball to be out in her room waiting for her, but there appeared to be one. There was an envelope right beside it, so Zaria hurriedly shrugged off her sparse luggage and hastily went to retrieve them. [color=lavender]"A pokeball! Does it have a pokemon in it? From who-?"[/quote] Her eyes glistened as she read the note.

It was a gift from the New Bark Rangers! "Oh no, they shouldn't have! Ah, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't completely thrilled! A pokemon, wow!" Though the school hadn't required anyone to have a pokemon to enter, and promised plenty of catching opportunities, it had been a nagging worry in the back of Zaria's mind. And just like that, it had been solved. "Thanks, you guys! That's one less thing I have to worry about!" What pokemon had they given her? "Oooooh, I've always wanted to say this! Go! I choose you! Take the stage!" Giddily, she pressed the release button on the pokeball.

In a flash of light, a creature coalesced. Shiny, round, and metallic, they opened their single eye to study Zaria.

"Uh, hmmmm..." Zaria furrowed her brow and studied the creature right back. "Wow, you are completely not what I expected! What are you called again? Magnetite?" It didn't sound quite right but it was close enough as far as she was concerned.

The pokemon sounded back a metallic, drawn out, "maaag."

Zaria reached forward and patted the Magnemite. "I'll just call you Magnet for now... Or something. My name's Zaria, and from this day on, we're partners." She stretched her arms out. "And, oh! It's so late. We gotta get to sleep soon. The opening ceremony's tomorrow, but let's talk while we get ready for bed!"

"Maag."

---

She was going to be late! Zaria had overslept, and the amphitheatre was quite a walk away from the dormitories. She had to gun it! "I'm late! Shooooooot! This is gonna be my last day if I don't hurry! Magnet come on!" Magnet, of course, didn't need to hurry as much as Zaria did, but breezily floated by her anyways. She was pretty sure he was laughing at her, but that couldn't be helped right now.

She was sprinting, trying not to muss herself up or get too sweaty but that wasn't working. After what seemed like ages, the amphitheatre loomed in the distance and Zaria could see a group of stragglers making their way. So she had made it! She took a moment to compose herself outside before straightening her shoulders and heading in.

Entering the theatre, it took her a moment to figure out how the logistics of everything worked. But once she understood she was heading to third row with her class, Zaria made her way through. So she had made it to the entrance ceremony with her pokemon and not too many things had gone wrong. This was okay. She had nothing to worry about- she was falling suddenly. Her foot had slipped out from beneath her, and she tumbled into a girl with green hair and a pretty dress before she realized it. "Oh no! I, um, sorry!"

The night before the opening ceremony, a restless young woman found herself unable to sleep. Yet, it wasn’t excitement that kept the small girl’s eyes open despite an aching desire to close. No, rather, one need only look towards the countless brightly colored wrappers lining the once pristine and lavish bedroom’s floor. Sugary sweets and artificial treats had given her an unfortunately timed burst of energy. When she should be calmly resting before what could very well be one of the biggest days of her short life, Valerie was…

Ready.

To.

Rip.

By the stroke of midnight, the small girl was out of bed and pacing, exploring her new “nest” as she had taken to calling it. Sleep was out of the question, obviously. Well...for her. The girl found herself gazing at the bed with utter disdain and, to be frank, a splash of envy. Laying sprawled out in the center, taking far more than its fair share of mattress real estate, was a bloated blob of fat and fur. Her “partner”, Munchlax.

It wasn’t fair. Val crossed to her sleek mahogany desk and found a pencil laying across it. She picked it up, fiddling with it while she stared daggers at the snoozing slob. It wasn’t FAIR. She pressed her thumb against the writing instrument absentmindedly, yearning for that sweet, satisfying snap. No luck. It WASN’T FAIR! She found herself gnawing on the pencil, but black thoughts overcame her. No time to worry about potential dental damage, there was INJUSTICE at foot.

AND IT WASN’T FAIR!!!

It was HIS stupid idea to have a snack or two before bed. HE insisted on it! HE’S the one who kept dragging packages towards her. HE ate the Litleo’s share of the junk food feast. SO WHY WASN’T HE THE ONE SUFFERING?!!

It.

Was’t.

Fair.

In her silent nest, illuminated only by brief moments of moonlight peeking out from behind the clouds, Valerie stood still, eyes trained on her slumbering PokePal. The gears in her head began to crank, and with each pass, a mischievous grin began to sprawl across her face.

Quietly - ever so quietly - Valerie made her way across the room, careful not to make a sound. She approached the bed and gently grabbed the covers and bedsheet. Once she was sure of her grip, the girl gave the Munchlax one final smile before enacting her grand plan to right the wrong she saw before her. With all the gusto she could manage, Valerie pulled and tugged and ripped at the fabric…

...which didn’t even budge. She struggled and struggled, trying her damnedest to expose the big lug to the elements but...no dice. Val grunted and cursed, putting her back into trying to dislodge the damn things…

And…

Munchlax, in its deep slumber, rolled. Which was at the perfect time to cause the sheets that Valerie was so desperately trying to remove to finally slip out from underneath him. Unfortunately for Valerie, who had not exactly thought her plan through in her sleep-deprived sugar-fueled mania, the momentum she was putting into the fabric carried through, causing her to be fall backwards with her next tug, trying out out muscle a resistance that was no longer there.

She landed on her butt with a thud. Silence filled the space where her grunts and groans had once been. She had all the time in the world to reflect on her actions.

…

A toot came from the bed as Munchlax, still fast asleep, passed a little snoozy-time gas.

Defeated and starting to experience a sugar crash, Valerie wrapped herself in the covers and sheets and curled up on the floor, secure in her cocoon of shame.

---

Early the next morning, Valerie was up. She hurried to get ready, taking what might have been the world’s fastest shower and dressing herself in a blur. She managed to get her top on, but didn’t notice that it was inside out. Her jean shorts were at least buttoned and zipped properly, but she couldn’t manage to find a pair of matching socks - not that she looked that hard for them anyway. She was running late. She had to hurry. Who cares if one sock stopped at her ankle while the other one claimed towards the knee?

Once she met the bare minimum of “dressed”, it was time to accessorize. Val slipped on her bear slippers, creepy necklace, and goggles before forcing a still-sleeping Munchlax into his ball and leaving the room. He would be a bit miffed at her later, but to be fair, he wasn’t exactly in her good graces at the moment.

She doubled back in and crossed back to her desk before quickly sprawling out her name in red crayon across a flimsy little nametag and affixing it sloppily to her shirt with a safety pin, unaware of the sticky back.

Valerie tore across the campus, reaching speeds she didn’t know were possible for someone like her. She didn’t see a single soul on her way, which was...terrifying. Was she really that late? She didn’t quite care if she made a poor first impression: it was more that...well...to be honest, she didn’t want to miss the opportunity to snoop on her classmate’s Pokemon. Missing an opportunity to see so many different ‘mons from all across the world? Valerie would rather die.

And die she almost did once she finally made it to the amphitheatre only to find its doors unmoving - locked from the inside. She tugged and tugged, desperately trying to find some purchase, but there was no luck. She had missed it. Woe to her…

...that is, what she thought in the brief moments before the door opened and a tired face peered out, looking downright perplexed. The man, a hard looking guy in his mid-forties by her estimate, asked what she was doing there so early.

Then it clicked. Why she hadn’t seen a single person on her trip. Why it was so hard to see the path in front of her. Why it was so damn dark…

Valerie checked her phone for the time.

5:46am.

…

She apologized to the man and turned around, ready to make the walk of shame back to her dorm room when he asked if, since she was already here, if she wouldn’t mind lending a hand setting up. Val silently blessed her janitorial guardian angel and eagerly took him up on the offer.

So when, some time later, her classmates began to flood into the rather spacious amphitheater, Valerie was already squarely in her assigned seating area. She had the perfect opportunity - a front row seat, even - to see all the wonderful Pokemon accompanying their trainers as they came in. But, as a consequence of her poor life choices and lack of planning, the poor girl found herself unable to keep her eyes open for even a few moments after plopping down in her chair. She zoinked out, finally catching up on some much-needed Z’s.

Even the entrance of her somewhat rowdy classmates weren’t enough to rouse the slumbering Ms. Cypress, who sat sprawled out in her chair like a hot mess. The commotion was enough to rouse Munchlax from his sleep, however, as when the fuss over the cute dog ‘mon began, he burst from his ball, eager to see what all the hubbub was over. Just in time to see the clumsy classmate tumble into the confident one. Which Munchlax found funny enough to belly laugh at.

It was the small things in life, no?

---

@jujube

Before anyone could answer Antoinetta's question, some total klutz burst in and tumbled right into her. "Waaugh!" She toppled to the floor in a rather less than elegant heap. So much for first impressions. A point that a nearby Munchlax drove home, its laughter filling the room.

Netty's cheeks burned Razz berry red. "Hey! Watch where you're going!" she huffed, straightening her hat and propping herself up. Mellona, hovering above the two, glared down. Not at the clumsy newcomer, but at her trainer.

"Beeeee!" the Combee scolded, swooping down and whipping up a mini-Gust that swept the red beret right off of Antoinetta's head.

Fuming, Netty caught the hat and placed it back on her mussed hair. "Great way to help the situation." She stood with a sigh, dusting off her dress. Why had Mellona chided her and not the other girl? Surely the klutz was the one in the wrong? Still, Antoinetta held out a hand to help up the girl - Zaria, as her name badge read. "You ok, at least? You really should be more careful."

Ok, she supposed she got Mel's point. She knew how nerve-wracking fears of lateness were. Even so, couldn't Zaria have arrived with a little more finesse?

Troy

Hearing a Munchlax start laughing beside him, Troy focused his attention on the girl sitting next to him, who had been here before him. There were quite a few students around, so she hadn't initially caught his attention at first, but upon closer inspection, her attire stood out like a sore thumb.

Now, Troy is someone who can appreciate a lax dress code. In fact, he isn't a prude; his classmates could come to school butt-naked for all he cared, so long as they didn't get touchy with him. Still, he was surprised that a teacher hadn't forced the girl to change her clothes considering her tank top was in tatters with multiple prominent holes in them while her shorts appeared to be a subject of debate among theoretical physicists. Maybe it was the lab coat proudly proclaiming her a scientist of paintball fights that gave her a pass?

In any case, with the two other girls arriving and subsequently tripping over each other, that made three people who keep their pokemon out of their pokeball. The Munchlax was a new arrival, but coming out unprompted like this implies its trainer wouldn't mind anyway. In Troy's mind, it was pointless, but looking around, it seemed he was in the minority, with almost as many pokemon about as there were students. There were even pokemon on stage with the faculty. Maybe it was a matter of pageantry? The PMA does teach pokemon coordinators after all, but that would only explain one half of the equation.

A Magnemite, a Combee, a Rockruff, and a Munchlax. He supposes he should exclude the first three since they are fast enough to take a jog with, but Munchlax? Literally as slow as Shuckle, and unlike Shuckle, far too heavy to carry. Does she return it to its pokeball every time she goes somewhere just to bring it back out when she arrives?

Maybe he was thinking too deeply on this. Still, there is no logistical reason to keep pokemon out of their pokeball. However, if he did reveal his Shuckle, other trainers might target him, since Shuckle is a pokemon with obvious weaknesses. In the worst case, it could make finding someone to train against much harder, which was Troy's first priority now that his father wasn't around. Whether not respecting a Shuckle's capabilities or thinking a Shuckle's taunt-vulnerability is representative of all Shuckle can do, it would be bad if others regarded Shuckle as too weak to be worthwhile to train with. He would have to prove Shuckle's worth first before flaunting Shuckle if he wanted the best results and the widest options for training. Failing that, he would have to round out his team with another pokemon first.

Back to reality, Troy just noticed that the girl next to him is wearing bear slippers and a severed teddy bear head as a necklace. There really is absolutely no dress code, huh.

Anyway, seeing as how she's the only one (out of two people) sitting down next to Troy who has a pokemon that can't learn taunt, she'd probably be the best candidate to try training with. Problem is, she's asleep, and it's hard to imagine being friendly with someone who just disturbed your sleep, context be damned.

Troy eyes her Munchlax.

Initially, Troy thinks of getting Munchlax to wake her up himself, but quickly realizes how easily that could go wrong. Instead, Troy pulls out some pokemon food and places it gingerly on the seat between himself and the sleeping girl in order to coax Munchlax to him. If nothing else, he can get friendly with her pokemon, and the rest should follow suit.

Munchlax's soft fur is the farthest thing from Troy's mind right now. Not even thinking about it a little bit, nope, no sirree.
@ogobrogo

Zaria Brightly

---

She had fallen on her face, cheek pressed to the ground as Zaria bent her elbows to break her fall. It was a common and simple trick they taught rangers since the ability to fall safely was the difference between being fine or having several broken limbs.
"Waugh..." She dragged her palm across her cheek as she looked up, realizing her foolishness. "I didn't mean for you to fall too! Ooooh." Zaria winced, how had she done this to herself and someone else? Damnit! I can't do anything right!

These ten seconds easily had to be some of the worst in her life. Falling in front of everybody bustling about! Sure, they were on the far right side of the amphitheatre, but there were so many snickers she swore she could hear around her, along with the guffawing Munchlax that was pointing directly at them. How have I screwed up this bad already? Ugh... I am the world's biggest asshole, Zaria solemnly thought as she rose to her feet. I have to fix this somehow! I have to!

There were some poffin and berries in her bag, Zaria remembered. She was always packing snacks; they were a necessity for being out long periods of time. I think those would help sweeten the situation. She gratefully accepted the extended hand that Antoinetta offered. "Ah, yeah, I'm okay. Again, I'm really sorry about that." Her heart was racing; surely she must have appeared to be a fool in a front of everyone, especially this girl. Whoever she was, she had a presence.

"But, I have some berries in my bag, and some poffin, and I don't know, I thought maybe I could offer some... Let me get them, stay right there!" Zaria was on it, her bag was in her seat and there was nothing in her way, except Magnet. She felt her skull ringing as her forehead collided with Magnet's, sending her stumbling over Valerie and plopping her into her own seat. "Owww..." She slumped, pressing her palm to her brow. "Magnet, maybe move next time..."

The Magnemite let out a sympathetic, "maag." He hovered just above Zaria, concerned. It was clear he was still learning, and had not quite realized how physically hard his body was. "Mag?"

"You're fine, I just need a second..." This was the worst.



@LuckyBlackCat@Ogobrogo

Tim Wolfe



Troy said he didn't mind Rocky's behavior, but Tim wasn't so sure about that... His stoic facial expression just read like he was mad at him. "Um... ok..."

There was a well dressed green haired girl with a Combee who introduced herself. She explained that she was a Coordinator, but before Tim could make a comment about that, a girl came crashing into her causing both of them to fall. Tim sympathized. He had been in similar situations before. Usually the people he crashed into were even bigger jerks about it. 'Hey, watch where you're going whimp!" Tim winced just thinking about it.

There was also a sleeping girl who looked like she got dressed in the dark that morning, but Tim wasn't one to judge other people's fashion choices. Her Munchlax let itself out of it's Pokeball, and laughed. Munchlax were relatively rare Pokemon. He had Pokemon Food he had made just for Rocky he could offer it. Munchlax weren't exactly known to be picky eaters after all... But... Troy was already offering it food, and Tim didn’t want to bother him... Besides, Rocky probably wouldn't approve of Tim giving his food to another Pokemon...

Instead, he went to check on the girl that bumped into the green haired girl, who had now just crashed into her own Magnemite... "Um... excuse me... A-a-are you ok...?" Tim asked while shuffling his feet nervously, not really knowing what else to say. Social interaction was not his strong suit...

Rocky let out a "Ruff!" As if to remind people he was still there.

@Ryik

---

PP: 2

---

Munchlax, a fairly simple soul, has but two passions in this world: munchin’ and laxin’. And right now, in the amphitheatre surrounded by absolute chaos in the form of chattering people, Pokemon, and what just might be either the clumsiest or most unfortunate human Munchlax had ever seen, he wasn’t doing either.

And that, friends, just wouldn’t cut it.

You see, for a suave, sophisticated specimen such as the Munchinator, there was a certain image he needed to keep up. And absolutely paramount to this image was his impeccable physique. After all, just look at him. That soft, flowing fur, those constantly quivering fat rolls, cheeks chubbier than a Skwovet in a Berry tree...he alone stood at the top of the Pokemon world, a Golden God amongst the common rabble who could only hope to one day attain even a fraction of his perfection if they were truly lucky.

Why, one could sit here all day marvelling at the majesty of Munchlax…

…

…

…

Truly a mesmerizing marvel of the modern day…

Hmm? Oh! Terribly sorry about that. One got lost in his glory. Now where were we?

Right. To maintain his magnificence, Munchlax requires a substantial amount of food to fuel his daily 20-hour beauty rest. And, as it would happen, Munchlax now found himself awake, but not currently eating. Truly a modern day tragedy. He found himself looking towards his servant, Valerie. She was asleep on the job. Munchlax was disappointed, yet not surprised. She was hopeless. That it would fall to HIM to wake HER up so that she could fulfill her duties of feeding HIM? How uncouth. Perhaps he would need to get a servant for his servant? Hmm...yes. He would get her on that right away! But first -

As Munchlax prepared to communicate his hunger by slapping the girl across her face with his tongue - the universal language for ‘feed me’ - something piqued his attention. A delicious aroma filled the air.

Sweet.

Mouth-watering.

FOOD.

Munchlax, trusting it’s impeccable sense of smell, snapped its head towards the empty seat between his servant and some other peasant.

How fortunate!

Had he managed to materialize food out of sheer force of desire? Or perhaps the Gods had decided to bless their favorite subject in an attempt to curry favor with him?

There was no time to muse. With each passing moment, Munchlax felt himself edging closer and closer to finally succumbing to starvation. And what point would the world have in existing without his presence? For the sake of every soul on the planet, it was Munchlax’s responsibility - no, his sacred duty - to eat that food.

But alas, the evil in the universe had decided to conspire against him. Before the Munch King could reach the planet’s salvation, the walking calamity masquerading as a human bumped into what seemed like a floating jawbreaker - note to self: consume the floating jawbreaker later - before stumbling over the servant.

Which, normally wouldn’t be a problem.

Because normally, the servant could balance herself.

Buuut...in her unconscious state, the servant slowly began to fall forward. The Munch King, fixated on the feast waiting for him on the cushioned plate, was not aware of this before it was too late. She fell on top of him, pinning him to the floor.

The Munch King squirmed and struggled, trying to free himself from his servant’s unconscious body, but the dead weight was too much. Desperately, he strained his neck out to reach the offering, but it was hopeless. He was too far away. He was stuck. He was trapped.

He hungered, yet could not reach the feast before him.

In what might possibly become his final words, the Munch King, utter a profound statement, blessing those around him with his infinite wisdom.

“Munch.”



It was the usual dream again. Weightless, floating in the inky void of space. There was no air, but there was no need to breathe. Only expand. Infinitely. In all directions. Escape the known - create the unknown.

Munch.

In the distance, one could see forever. But how long was that?

Munch.

One could explore. Time was meaningless. One could explore time, but that would be meaningless too.

Munchlax.

Space shifted. Careful. It drained towards the bottom. The bottom of what?

Down.

There is no down in space. There are no berries there.

Munch.

But one is dragged downwards.

Maybe one is not in space?

“Munch.”

Valerie opened her eyes, but the light flooding her senses left her blind. She could hear the commotion going on around her. Voices overlapping. People laughing. Munch.

Wait.

Val brought a hand to her eyes and rubbed away the spots. Her pillow seemed to be a bit squirmy this morning.

”Lax.”

No, not really lax. It was fairly soft. A bit on the hairy side though.

Valerie let out a yawn and looked down at the Munchlax she had pinned to the floor. He was squirming, obviously wanting out but...too bad. While she hadn’t planned this, it was a nice surprise to wake up to. She had unconsciously enacted her revenge. Way to go Sleep Val!

”Munch.”

She looked over towards the others who seemed to be congregating around her area, rolling onto her back as she did so while still pinning down Munchlax. A couple were seated, others seemed to be standing and having a bit of a chat. The old man had told Val earlier that people would be seated with their classes. Did that mean that these were her classmates?

Huh. Well then. Perfect chance to introduce herself to her new friends, yeah?

Not quite picking up on Zaria’s mini-crisis, Valerie looked at the girl then over towards the boy that seemed, to be perfectly frank, just a bit TOO interested in...Munchlax? Well, him or her.

”Munch.”

Whatever. She flashed a wide, cheesy smile at the two from below and held up her hand in a peace sign.

“Good morning, my dudes. Nice to meetcha!” she said with a yawn, stretching out her arms and legs for that oh-so-satisfying morning pop of the joints. ”Y’know, it’s actually really comfy down here.”

”Muuunch.” Munchlax whined, finally admitting defeat.

---

---

The crowd wasn’t the largest, and it was easy to attract attention when you were a group of five transfer students that were just a little rowdier than the others. The transfer students may not have noticed it, but one by one people had been turning their eyes towards them, whispering, pointing, laughing. With Zaria’s more than apparent stumbles, the gusting Combee, the barking Rockruff, the boisterous Munchlax, Valerie’s clothes, and Troy’s blank expression, they were looking quite notorious.

To the other students, the transfer students seemed weird. Their pokemon seemed untrained and rude, not to mention the whole lot of them just appeared sort of unimpressive in general. The crowd was aflutter with whispered jeers and muffled laughter. Who were these newbies? They were lame!

“What a bunch of weirdos,” someone scoffed.

“Aren’t they the transfer students? They’re not really one of us…”

“They’re idiots, just causing a ruckus!”

“They’re pretty entertaining. What a bunch of losers!”

The transfer students were making names for themselves, that was for certain. Things were still settling down, they just had to get through the next few minutes… Would they keep their heads down and try to assuage the situation? Or would they bark back? And would their bark prove to be less— or more— than their bite?

Zaria slowly opened her eyes, skull ringing and still feeling very tender. "Ow..." She touched the giant swelling bump on her forehead. She was not only an idiot, she now looked like one too. Magnet beeped, increasingly worried as he saw Zaria's facial expression change several times before scrunching into an upset look.

A concerned voice broke her thoughts, and she looked over to see a kind, good-natured looking boy shuffling his feet. He was stuttering as he asked, "Um... excuse me... A-a-are you ok...?"

Zaria wondered if she had scared him, why else would he have seemed so afraid of her? Until she realized the whispers she had feared earlier had turned into shouts and laughter. Her heart racing with cold dread, she turned to face the crowd that had gathered.

How had this happened? A quick glance around the surroundings told her she couldn't be sure how the others were taking it, since she didn't really know the lot of them. Self-conscious and full of doubt though, Zaria couldn't help but wonder: did any of the other four blame her? A part of her wanted to defend herself, say it wasn't her fault. But then another side of her was convinced that if she hadn't tripped, none of this would have happened. Either way, it was one thing to ruin the first day of school for yourself, it was another thing to ruin it for a bunch of other people. She took a deep breath, feeling her lower lip tremble. No, she couldn't cry here. Not now. Not ever. It was too embarrassing.

And yet, she could feel the hot tears squeezing out when she blinked. Nooooo! But it was too late, trying to hold them off was futile. They were already here, streaming down her face. I must look like such a pathetic wimp... She cried too easily, she tripped too easily, she was just a walking disaster. Why did this day have to start off so horribly? No, no, try to think about something different. You have to calm yourself down. Else she'd just turn into a blubbering mess. The memory of her father telling her she could never be a trainer flashed in Zaria's mind, and her melancholy began to churn, boiling into something else.

How did these little assholes dare to mock them when they had hardly done anything wrong? When she really thought about it, what were these stupid kids laughing at anyways? They were acting as if they had never tripped in their lives, never had a pokemon that disobeyed them. The more Zaria fixated on it, the angrier she became. Who were these other students to judge them and say they were idiots? This was exactly the way her father had used to make her feel. Inferior, less, unworthy... They deserved to be there, just as much as any of them. She marched out of the aisle, just a little more towards the crowd, closer to the group of five transfer students they were. At least they were in this together, sort of.

"LEAVE US ALONE!" Well, she wasn't the greatest with comebacks, but she hoped she seemed a little tougher at least. Hugging Magnet tightly even though he was way too hard and it hurt, she stood shaking from the adrenaline surging throughout her body.

@Ogobrogo

The chaos was far from over, with Zaria not only stumbling AGAIN, but knocking someone else right out of her seat. "Oh for Arceus' sake," Antoinetta muttered, heading over to check on the two.

Not that the girl on the floor seemed fazed, smiling up from her wriggling Poke-pillow and greeting them as if nothing had happened. Well, that was to be expected, considering her equally nonchalant clothing choices. Netty raised an eyebrow. "Uh... Nice to meet you too...?" She read the barely legible scrawl that was the girl's name tag. Valerie. Like the Kalos based fashion designer, whose range was popular with coordinators all throughout Sinnoh. Ironic considering this girl thought a paint-splattered labcoat and Teddiursa slippers were appropriate attire for the first day at a prestigious school.

At the sound of snickering, Antoinetta's face turned red once more. All eyes were on them, and not in a good way. Taunts filled the air. Weirdos. Idiots. Losers. Her insides squirmed. No, no, this couldn't be happening all over again. She'd put her all into building up a good reputation at her last school, only to watch it come undone at this one. It only now struck her how high the standards would be here. Had joining PMA been a mistake?

Whether it had or hadn't, there was only one thing she could do - salvage the situation, just as Zaria tried to. Acting as unaffected by the jeers as a Forretress faced with a Poison type attack, Antoinetta stood tall and grinned. "Entertaining, huh? Just you wait, you'll know true entertainment once Mel and I get a few contest ribbons." She stepped back, gesturing to the Combee. As she did, she trod on the rucked fabric of Valerie's lab coat. Her foot shot out from under her. "Aah!" She landed on her rear end, more laughter going up around the room. Dammit, they were all like dominoes today.

She made to stand, toppling again as her shoe didn't comply. Looking down, she groaned. The heel had snapped right off of it.

Well, this start to the school year just got better and better.

He tried to comfort the girl, but Tim didn’t think he did a good job... Before he could say anything else, things went from bad to worse really quickly. Other students that were present in the auditorium were watching them. They were whispering amongst themselves, and not saying nice things. They were calling them weirdos, and idiots, and losers. Did they not know they could hear them? Tim was immediately taken back to his younger days. What a way to start out a new school year.

Everyone reacted in their own way. The two girls tried talking to the bullies, with varying degrees of success... Tim could never do that. In his experience, it only made the problem worse. Instead, he just sat down where he stood, and started bawling. Tears were streaming down his face. He clutched tightly to his Rockruff. This would no doubt make things worse, but he really didn’t know what else to do. He was brought right back to his childhood. And all the kids that made fun of him back home.

Rocky made a whimpering noise, and licked Tim’s face. He was trying to be helpful, but it didn’t seem to be working.

Troy

Valerie, the cunning snake, deftly and effortlessly foiled Troy's evil plot to pet her Munchlax. Behind Troy's unchanging and forever neutral frown, he grit his teeth, completely forgetting that waking Valerie up was his original plan to begin with. Troy kicks his plans into overdrive, mentally landscaping a complex game of metaphorical 4D chess, a tightly interwoven galaxy of social motivations and calculations which are shattered in an instant when he gets distracted by a sudden yell.

"LEAVE US ALONE!"

Geez that's loud... A perfect opportunity. While Valerie is distracted, Troy flicks the pokemon food towards Munchlax and it lands directly in front of his mouth, a perfect shot. It disappears in the blink of an eye. Mission complete! Troy does a mental fist-pump.

Actually paying attention to his surroundings once more, he realizes that other sophomores have begun throwing jeers at them for being transfer students. Sure, there was the tripping and the scantily-clad teddy bear scientist casually chilling on the ground on top of her pokemon, but the fact that they were targeting their group as a whole solidified the fact that they didn't have any real justification. Well, not that acting like a grade schooler is justifiable, but it goes to show that nothing but bullshit was coming out of their mouths.

Troy addressed the young lady standing in confrontation, if only because seeing this continue would be hard to watch. "Just ignore them. They're only engaging in the worst form of tribalism. The ones hurling insults like children could care less about anything embarrassing you've done and the rest are either apathetic or subject to the bystander effect." Honestly, he expected better out of the student body of a school as prestigious as this one. Teaching students how to discipline pokemon is one thing, but teaching students how to discipline themselves is a vital part of any profession relating to pokemon. If they can't even recognize the underlying cause of their behavior, then they will be swayed easily by their emotions and controlled by simple psychology, two fatal flaws for a pokemon trainer, or coordinator for that matter.

Returning to his excessively reserved attempt at networking, Troy started taking note of the names on the nametags of those around him, expanding his attention from the two people sitting next to him to include the two girls who recently arrived. Zaria, the loud one, and Antoinetta, the one who fell three times consecutively. With these four people, he has a nice blend of an easy matchup, (Combee) a neutral matchup, (Munchlax) a disadvantageous matchup, (Magnemite) and a nigh-impossible matchup (Taunt Rockruff) for his Shuckle. He might need more training targets partners when he fills out his team further, but this this will do for now.


@jujube

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Zaria couldn't help but feel powerless after the situation worsened. The proud girl from earlier had tripped and the boy who had tried to talk to her was crying. They had both tried helping her, but proximity wise Zaria was closer to the boy with the Rockruff. Besides that, he sort of looked like he needed more help anyways. Just as she was about to go to him, the blank-faced trainer spoke to her.

"Just ignore them. They're only engaging in the worst form of tribalism. The ones hurling insults like children could care less about anything embarrassing you've done and the rest are either apathetic or subject to the bystander effect."

"I, well..." He was difficult to grasp, and his being intimidating didn't help. Everything about him was so brusque and brief. So was he angry or something? Or was he looking down on her? After all, it was easy for him to tell her to ignore it. He hadn't tripped once today! Unable to get a proper read on him, she took a deep breath, trying to stop from shaking.

The other trainer's intimidating vibe, combined with the jeers and bullying in the background, wasn't conducive to a productive conversation in the least bit. And in spite of his words even resonating with her some, Zaria saw them more as a form of lecturing or criticizing than friendly advice, unfortunately.

"I don't know," she said in a low voice. "But I couldn't just ignore it! It didn't help!" The latter burst out of her. "I can't just-- maybe you don't get it. Nevermind. I'm sorry, okay?! Just leave me alone! She avoided his gaze and went over to the trainer with the Rockruff.

"Hey, I-" she had no idea what to say. Her eyes slid down to his nametag. "Tim?" A pause before she sat down next to him, finally releasing Magnet from her grip.

"Tim? Is there anything I can do to help?"



@Ryik@Crimson Flame

"Tim? Is there anything I can do to help?" Zaria, the girl he had been speaking to earlier had asked him as she sat down beside him.

"I... don't know... Can you stop bullies from existing?" Tim replied in between sobs and sniffles."I just got here, and people are already talking bad about me, and I didn't even do anything to them. I already got enough of this in my last school. I didn't want it here. Now it's going to happen again. I just want to be a Pokemon Breeder and raise a lot of Pokemon. Not endure the wrath of other kids...

Rocky let out a few friendly barks, and Tim rubbed the dog Pokemon's head reassuringly. He took a breath, and his eyes went wide. "Oh... um... Oh gosh... I'm sorry... I didn't mean to unload all that on you..."

@jujube @Crimson Flame @Ryik

For someone who usually relished being the centre of attention, Antoinetta wanted to disappear. She staggered to her seat on uneven shoes, nails digging into palms, thoughts racing for ways to remedy the situation without making it worse. Not an easy thing to do while the taunts all around grew ever crueller. If she couldn't deal with this, how would she handle the other challenges PMA was sure to present?

"Beeee?" Mellona fluttered over to check on her. The Combee, at least, was by her side through this despite the earlier Gust.

"It's fine," Netty insisted, although the tremble in her voice hinted otherwise. "If they can't recognise stars in the making, that's their problem." Her eyes stung with tears, but she fought them back. No way was she giving the bullies that satisfaction.

Tim, however, was the next one after Zaria to cry. Netty cringed. That would only add fuel to the fire, as she knew from experience. As the cool and calm guy - Troy - made his attempt to help, albeit a rather heavy handed one, Netty nodded. "You said it!" Not that his advice actually helped Zaria, who right away snapped back. Wincing again, Netty stared at the ground. The trick was to pretend to ignore it, but she couldn't exactly tell Zaria that now, not in front of these jerks.

Mellona flew over to Tim and Zaria, friendly smiles lighting up all three of her faces. While Combees primarily served their queen - or, if captive, their trainer - they were community oriented Pokemon. If there was any way Mel could help these two, she would, and one means of helping was to entertain. She launched into a waggle dance, her tiny body shaking from side to side as she twirled. Even if it didn't amuse them, it was a show of support.

Watching her Pokemon keep it together way better than she did, Antoinetta took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. "Then let's make sure we have the last laugh when we get to the top and they're all in our dust," she chipped in to the conversation. She stood up, holding on to the chair so she didn't topple again, and swept her eyes around the room at the bullies. "You hear that? How can you act like Pokemon masters to be when you can't even act your age? So just watch us. Believe it or not, by the end of the year you'll see us rather differently, as we show you how it's done."

More guffaws went up, which didn't surprise her, but it was only when Mellona stopped dancing that Netty realised her mistake. A cold sensation sank through her, settling in the pit of her stomach. Her 'rousing' speech was likely going to have the opposite effect, considering the burden she'd just placed on the group, and the way she'd inadvertently gone and egged on the other students.

If the standards had been high before, now they dwarfed Mt Coronet.

And now she wanted to disappear more than ever.

Troy

"I don't know, but I couldn't just ignore it! It didn't help! I can't just-- maybe you don't get it. Nevermind. I'm sorry, okay?! Just leave me alone!"

Hrmmm...

Although Antoinetta seemed to understand, Zaria implied it was Troy who lacked understanding. Judging from Tim's ongoing mental breakdown, Zaria isn't the only one who feels this way either.

Troy thought back to Zaria's exact words.

"I couldn't just ignore it!"
"Maybe you don't get it."

The statement, 'Troy doesn't get why Zaria can't just ignore it' is a true one, though the knee-jerk assumption would be that Zaria simply lacks the competency to control her emotions. Unless you can recognize outward influences and evaluate their validity objectively, you are subject to being psychologically manipulated by others; this was one of the first lessons Troy's father taught him. He can't help but reason that they should be able to just ignore it, but by making that assumption, Troy knows he risks falling victim to the Dunning-Kruger effect.

Zaria called Troy out for his lack of understanding, and if she isn't just deflecting, then that must mean there's a bigger picture here he isn't seeing.

Although it's true that Troy underwent homeschooling between elementary and now, he's never had a shortage of people, usually his father's employees, who made disparaging comments about him. After all, he is a rich kid who uses expensive vitamins on his pokemon. In their eyes, he is but a pampered child trying to substitute skill or hard work with piles of money. Even if you cut them out of the picture, Troy's father never minced words with him, no matter how harsh. Troy knows what having harmful words thrown at you is like, especially when they're true, because his father doesn't lie. If Zaria meant that Troy should check his privilege as someone who hasn't tripped, then she's succeeded, though not to any meaningful effect, since Troy still stands by his earlier statement.

Ruling that out as anything worth consideration, Troy tries to think up another possibility. After all, it would be rude to assume Zaria just can't comprehend the idea that Troy would not be phased in her position. Troy knows that he wouldn't be phased in her position because he would even offer to stand up and fall on his face in front of everyone to prove it if it didn't go against his entire point to begin with. Her disbelief in him is not enough to control his actions, and while it might be helpful in getting friendly with her so he can use her to train train with her later, it might ultimately repel some other partners, especially when Tim over here is crying us all a river solely because he was peer-pressured into it. When dealing with those who let themselves be controlled by social hierarchy, a degree of popularity might be necessary.

This line of thought is getting off-topic. Back to what Zaria said, why couldn't she 'just ignore it'? Was she hoping to accomplish something by yelling 'LEAVE US ALONE'? Ah, of course!

Troy looked back at Munchlax. Was she in on the heist? Well, the reverse heist. Mentally measuring the angle between Zaria and Munchlax, visibility between the two was undeniable. If Munchlax somehow sent a message to her, then that would explain her actions, but Troy was watching Munchlax the whole time. Unless they had met beforehand, there was no way for Munchlax to send her a message before she stood up to make that announcement, and from her angle, there was no way to see the pokefood Troy had set on the seat between himself and Valerie.

If that was not her aim, what else was it? 'Leave us alone'... surely, it wasn't the content of the message that held meaning, unless she was addressing someone specific in the crowd over a separate situation. It was definitely possible for her to meet others before getting to the amphitheater, but seeing as how all five of them were grouped together on account of being transfer students, it was unlikely that she knew anyone in the school well.

If it's not the content of the message, perhaps it was the volume. Maybe she was trying to attract someone's attention, perhaps the faculty of the PMA. If that's the case, then she should just walk up to them and inform them of the situation. Yelling reflects more poorly on her than leaving her seat would, if keeping in the staff's good graces was her goal.

Unless... she's also trying to manipulate the rest of the students. After all, you can't be snitched on if a teacher catches you in the act. If the teachers took action, it would take care of the jeers without drawing unnecessary ire from the ones throwing them, essentially conditioning the students into being nicer to her while putting her in the good graces of her fellow transfer students. She even followed up your response with the innocent and sensitive girl act, which was a nice touch. For a while, Troy even felt like he had to prove his sincerity in order to make her cooperate get her on friendly terms with him. There may be more to this Zaria person than meets the eye. Troy respects the play, but he'll have to be careful around her from now on.