Poké Pals

Chapter 2: Cedar Academy

With only a bag containing a pencil case, a sandwich, a tamato berry which Torracat had bought by that morning (with tools for her father) and some of her mother's cookies, Emolga made her way to school. The school was up on a hill, just a short and scenic ten-minute walk from Emolga's house, and that was good because Emolga couldn't bare a long walk. She wasn't a fighting type; training wasn't for her.
On the first day, a long walk wouldn't matter though. She was buzzing, for it was the first day! Of course, Litten and Buizel, and learning, but there'd also be the new people and perhaps a cool teacher! Everything was going well so far, so Emolga wouldn't doubt such a thing!
"Hey, Emolga! Wait up!"
And there was Litten... with someone new! This Pokémon floated through the air as if her body was as light as the pale green cotton that covered most of the Pokémon's body. Poking out of the fluff were two leafy green ears, and in-between those were orange, sparkly eyes.
"This is Cottonee!" Litten introduced Emolga to the Pokémon.
"Hello." Cottonee whispered sheepishly, "I don't talk much, but the other Pokémon still like my company."
"I hope they like mine too..!" Emolga giggled, half joking, knowing that things were probably going to go alright.
"Don't sweat it." Cottonee whispered again, implying that whispering was a part of her dialogue.
"Yeah, Cottonee's right! You're cool, our friend group will welcome you with open arms!" Litten agreed.
Emolga thought for a moment. She was so glad to have Litten. Litten made Emolga feel like everything was going to be ok, which was weird because Emolga had only known Litten from the previous afternoon to that morning. Having friends like that was great! And as well as Buizel, there was Cottonee with her now, too! Life here sure was great.
"You two... thanks!" Emolga smiled.
"Don't mention it." Litten shook her head, "We should head to class, before we're too late!"
Emolga, Litten and Cottonee ran towards the clay white building with a rural thatched roof. Elsewhere, Emolga could see a bug Pokémon covered in leaves and a green lizard with eyes more yellow than Litten's. She wondered if they would want to be her friends too!
At the door, there was a tired looking butterfly Pokémon with red, blue and yellow wings patterned like abstract stained glass windows. Her head was white and black, and the skin reflected the early morning sun. Slowly, she fluttered her way over to Emolga.
"Newbie?" the butterfly asked tiredly.
"That'd be me!" Emolga waved cheerfully, jogging to the butterfly's side.
"I'm Miss Beautifly, I'm the teaching assistant here." Miss Beautifly introduced herself.
"What would you like me to do?" Emolga asked.
"Just, I dunno, wait here so we can send you in last for a real introduction." Miss Beautifly fluttered idly.
Emolga nodded and waved at her two friends as Miss Beautifly greeted them in her natural drone. Cottonee winked as she could not wave. Litten didn't wave goodbye and instead she leaned in and whispered,
"Miss Beautifly is a bit boring, but our actual teacher is cool, I promise." and then added, "See you in a minute."
"See you." Emolga smiled.
Litten scampered in as the leafy bug Pokémon and the green lizard Pokémon scampered in behind her. She didn't catch what they said to Miss Beautifly, but she did hear her reply to the leafy bug, "Good morning to you too, Burmy."
Burmy the leafy bug. Got it. Emolga watched her and the lizard go inside and hop on to their seats. Emolga poked her head in. All over the classroom, people were reaching into their bags and pulling out workbooks and pencil cases.
Emolga gulped and Miss Beautifly spoke, "I hear what they say about me. That I'm boring, but it's school so there's always going to be someone who hates the teacher. I'm not that bad, though, I promise."
Knowing to trust adults, Emolga replied, "Ok, I'll bare that in mind."
"You should go in now."
Emolga walked into the room and up to the smiling teacher. The teacher was very tall, and long, and wide, just generally pretty big. His reptilian body was magma red with greyish-brown skin on his belly and chest. With his beady yellow eyes and metallic spikes sticking out of him, he was a scary looking Pokémon. But the small, blue tie he wore made him seem... kinder, somehow.
"I'm Mr Groudon, how are we?" the teacher asked.
"I'm fine." Emolga replied quietly.
"Good, good... class! This is Emolga, she'll be joining our class this year." Mr Groudon announced, to be replied by a few waves and a smile from Litten, which made Emolga feel slightly more confident but not really. The seats beside Litten were taken.
The classroom was large, probably just large enough to accompany Mr Groudon. The walls were painted a warm white colour, possibly almost a cream, and the floor was made of a dark oak that resisted Mr Groudon's weight. There were windows along the right side of the room that shone light on the half asleep pupils. Emolga looked at a desk owned by a pastel pink heart-shaped fish Pokémon at the front. Each Pokémon had their own desk, and this Pokémon was no exception. The Pokémon smiled at Emolga and she smiled back, as she looked at the doodles that had been drawn on the front of the fish's workbook.
"Oh, did I need something to write in?" Emolga frowned at Mr Groudon, not wanting to get in trouble.
"No, there's a book where you'll be sat, you will write in that." Mr Groudon smiled. Emolga nodded in thanks.
Emolga sat in that seat that had not yet been claimed; one that coincidentally was beside the bug Pokémon, Burmy, who was sat beside the window. The seat was in the second row, which in Emolga's opinion was the best row. Close enough to the front so that you can see, but not right at the front so you feel like everyone's watching you. And window seats were also good because more sun could get in and that'd make that area warmer. Again, more good!
Mr Groudon turned to the vast chalkboard at the front of the class, stuck to what Emolga had decided was a cream coloured wall. Emolga could tell that the floors were strong, because as he walked up to the board the shiny wood didn't have a dent on it. But she had already assumed that. But what she hadn't considered was that it might have been specially designed for him.
"Ok, so, Maths!" Mr Groudon said to be greeted with a loud groan from multiple people, in turn making everyone laugh apart from Emolga, who liked Maths.
No, wait. Burmy hadn't laughed either; she instead was adjusting the equipment on her desk. Emolga could see Burny in more detail now; she hadn't seen the spindly little twigs that looked like legs pointing out of Burmy's lower side. Burmy noticed that Emolga was staring at her, and Emolga turned her head away before Burmy could prove what she thought. Burmy turned back to the front before she could make up her mind.
"In this class, we'll be doing something most of you would consider to be a bit more interesting than normal." Mr Groudon walked up to the heart fish Pokémon's desk and grabbed something, showing it to the class, "One in two of you should have an envelope full of cards, like Luvdisc here. Put your desks together, we'll be doing some pair work!"
Emolga saw that Burmy had the cards, so (with some effort) she moved her desk next to her's. Everyone started talking to their buddy and opened their envelopes, so Emolga figured that she should be doing the same.
"Hello." Burmy said sheepishly.
"Hi! I wonder what's in this- oh! Fractions, and... decimal numbers." Emolga smiled, trying to engage conversation.
"Children, match the fractions with their corresponding decimal numbers! Whoever finishes first gets a team point for their teams!" Mr Groudon announced before everyone started to fiddle with their cards.
"What's a team point?" Emolga asked.
"The class is sorted into teams of four, and if you do good in class or something then you get a point. The team with the most points at the end of the term gets a treat from Mr Groudon." Burmy explained briefly whilst pairing together cards reading ½ and 0.5.
"What team am I in?" Emolga asked. She noticed that Burmy wasn't really noticing her in return.
"Litten, Machop and Snom are a team of three, you'll probably be in with them." Burmy sighed.
Emolga had no clue who Machop and Snom were, but the mention of Litten and herself being in a team together suddenly motivated her to put cards together quickly. Burmy smiled.
"Finally helping, are we?"
"Yup, we can work and talk. Best of both worlds." Emolga said, matching ⅘ and 0.8.
"I guess so." Burmy nodded, "I've not given you enough of a chance, have I? I'm Burmy."
"I know, I heard Miss Beautifly say it."
"And you're perceptive! I know I'm gonna like you." Burmy laughed.
"Thanks." Emolga smiled as she paired together the last cards.
Together, they shouted, "Done!"

To be continued...