Pasio University

Chapter 29- Worlds Apart

TV Studio

"Alright. I've got an interview with the captain of Mauville University of Hoenn in a little bit, any idea what he's in for?" I asked my show's producer. He turned to me, "The kids name is Matisse, he's a superstar trainer from Kalos. Just a sophomore too." I looked down at my notes, "Oh yeah. Says he won MVP this year on an already stacked roster. Beat out a teammate of his... Grant... And that Calem from Pasio in the voting." My producer reacted in a surprised manner, "Calem huh? That's interesting, I heard Matisse say something about him earlier in regards to what he wanted to talk about, maybe ask him about Calem." I shuffled the papers in my hands then mumbled, "Yeah. Only reason we bring up Pasio is because of all the controversy and drama around them." The producer made a clicking noise in agreement and pointed to me, "And that's what the viewers want to see. Realistically this isn't going to be a very competitive tournament. Mauville is going to clean it up so we might as well try to create any stories we can." I nodded.

I sat in front of the camera, then in came Matisse, dressed in a flashy purple and gold suit, he had long curly black hair and looked... Generally perfect. He sat down and gave his hair a subtle flip, "Alright. You ready?" I nodded, "Yep." I motioned the cameras to start rolling. "So Matisse, you guys are going in to the 32 team field ranked as the #1 over all seed. You guys are the favorites by far, finishing your season at 28-2. Want to talk about those 2 losses?" He shrugged, "There are a couple games we didn't prep for, and being the top team, other teams prep for only us all season. So occasionally they'll get lucky, but they were flukes. 100%." I nodded, "That's what most analysts say. So, many people have been hearing murmurs and rumours about you being connected to Pasio University, the 6 seed in the tournament as the Great Islands Champions." He scoffed, "I wouldn't call it a connection, their Captain Calem, I used to beat him all the time. If that's the best Pasio can offer, they're definitely not going to have a chance." I shrugged, agree, but can't say that on National TV. I then asked, "The two seed in the tournament, Lumiose University, from your home region of Kalos, a lot of people thought you would commit there and play for them, why didn't you?" He chuckled, "Mauville is the standard for battling. My path to going pro in 6 vs 6 is so clear, I get to work individually with each of my Pokemon and get better with them. Lumiose is too focused on the college level, and even then we outperform them." I nodded, "With the star-power you have on this roster, that's no surprise, speaking of which, any shout-outs you want to make to a teammate?" He nodded, "Yeah. My teammates Wally and Kayden. Both from the Hoenn region. Kayden has always been a better version of Pasio's Brendan, and Wally was his old rival who worked really hard with us, and we think he's one of our best now." I looked at the camera, "There you have it folks, The Championship is as good as theirs."

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Calem POV

Alright, it's been a nice first week back. I gotta see my schedule for the rest of the semester... We've got Finals in two weeks, The International Tournament in 3 weeks... And the Spring Party in between those things. Serena is really looking forward to that one. I sighed and looked at my book on Pokémon Battle Theory, this is an easy class for me, but I still need to study to pass it. I was sitting around in a restaurant here studying and waiting for, it's a sports bar type place, really cool, I like it. I looked at the TV out of curiosity as they shifted the topic to Pokemon battling. They started an interview with Mauville. I groaned and shrugged. I don't like them. I looked on the screen and saw someone I definitely didn't want to. Matisse. I went in to my attitude that Serena calls 'Airplane Mode', where I Seethe kind of silently and start to act antisocial, of course I laugh when she brings it up, but she isn't here right now. I heard our school's name get brought up and then a lot of people looked to me. I turned my head away as the interview continued to play, I caught a piece of it, "... I used to beat him all the time. If that's the best Pasio can offer, they're not going to have a chance." I put my fist down on the table. A few people looked at me, and I decided to take my food to go. I grimaced and walked outdoors, where winter was still hanging on to some of the weather, making it chilly enough that I could see my breath as it left me. I sighed. I promised Serena i didn't have any baggage from Kalos, but Matisse is a different story. I wouldn't call it baggage necessarily, but he was a bit of a jerk. We battled a few times in our high school days, and he always beat me, he honestly never did that much too me, he just always acted like I wasn't worth his time, like I was a lesser being of some sort. It annoyed me, especially since I had like, no friends in high school. Certainly didn't think I'd make more friends in college. Life is crazy sometimes. But the more things change, the more things stay the same I suppose. Just like Elio, my past woes aren't ready to let me go quite yet. I think I'm gonna talk to Serena, it's only 10:00, she's probably still up. I took out my rotom phone and sat by the fountain. I waited for her to pick up, which she eventually did, she mumbled in a very tired voice, "Mmm...hey Calem." I sighed, "I'm sorry Serena, did I wake you up?" She responded, "Hm? Oh. It's no big deal." I looked down, dang, now I feel bad, "Sorry... I just wanted to talk to you about something..." She sighed, "Ah, sorry, I'm really slow right now, it's about Matisse isn't it?" I reeled, "Wh- How did- How did you know?" She responded, still tired, "I saw the interview earlier. It was some serious trash. I know you said you don't have any drama from Kalos, but it sure seems like there wants to be." I sighed, "Yep. I don't care really. I just wanted to talk to you about it because it still makes me mad..." I heard Serena turn over in bed and start to get more tired, "I'm glad you did Calem. Please let me know if anything else bothers you... I'm gonna..." She yawned rather loudly, "...sorry... go back to sleep... studying for finals is kind of killing me at the moment...Not to mention volleyball practice ran late..." I laughed quietly and then said, "Ok, sleep well Serena." She hung up. She really is the best.