A New Beginning

Chapter 8

Ash was selected for battling by an unanimous decision by his group, much to his dismay.

He and Nate will do the pokemon battles on Day 2. Barry and Chloe will be participating in the quizes. Barry wanted to protest, but Nate cleverly persuaded him that he was the second smartest person in their group and he was suitable for it. Nate wasn't entirely wrong, because Barry could get good grades if he was serious. His personality is just crappy.

Ash is an intelligent person, due to his experience as a skilled trainer and being an apprentice directly under Professor Oak in his childhood. He was used to be referred as a child prodigy. But his friends had already assumed he was average. Ash realised that and he intended to keep it that way.

It was the day before the competition.

Classes were off for the second years to give the students time to prepare.

Ash was supposedly heading towards a random open area in the campus. He and Nate planned to discuss and run over their strategies once more, though they had another day at hand before their turn. But they decided it would be best to rest the day before and finish the preparations by today. Chloe and Barry were currently studying for tomorrow's quiz competition.

Ash was heading out early before their appointed time. Pikachu was on his shoulder. As he was walking down the corridor he met a familiar person.

"Hey Leaf."

Ash called out to the girl as she turned around and smiled at him.

"Hiiii Ash~" she said as she ran back to him invading his personal space.

"Nice of you to finally call me. I feel like I haven't seen you in loong time," she complained, peering at him with squinting eyes and pouting.

Ash just laughed.

"Guess we all have been pretty busy with the competition huh?" he replied, not bothered by how close Leaf was to him. Of course, she was doing this on purpose to make him flustered, but it didn't work as she backed off in disappointment.

"Yeah...us student council has extra work to do. Preparing for the competition and ourselves at the same time. How tiring~" she whined as both of them started walking.

"That's true. I haven't seen Gary in a while too and he isn't even on the council," said Ash. Leaf snorted.

"Oh please, he is just our dog doing the heavy work. It's pointless if he thinks he can get in the council like that," the girl bluntly stated.

'Shots fired,'  thought Ash, as he stifled a laugh.

But he was interested in one thing she said just now.

"You said the student council was helping in the preparations right? So do they have a hand in anything else related to the exam?" asked Ash, in an indirect way.

Leaf was confused for a moment, but soon understood what he meant. She laughed and said with a sly grin, "Ara~ I didn't know you were so cheeky~ probing me for information huh?"

Ash closed his eyes and shrugged. "I was just curious, that's all."

"Well unfortunately, only the Professors have access to the exam contents, so nope," she answered him straightforwardly.

"So are you in the same group as May?" asked Ash, quickly changing the topic.

"Yes, we are. I mean we are best friends after all," she said excitedly. Despite all the complaining, she seemed hyped about the competition either way.

"I see...best of luck for tomorrow then," Ash said and parted ways from her as she did the same. Once he was alone, he started thinking.

'Even though Leaf has a laid back and friendly attitude, she is still pretty cunning. I need to be careful around her.'