Poké Pals

Chapter 4: The Project

"They're going to announce the team projects today. I hope you actually get added to a team before then." Machop said, his voice muffled by the mouthful of toast he was lazily chewing.
Litten and Chikorita had had a sleepover the previous night and Charmander was apparently always late, and that the previous day had been his alarm clock actually working for once. So, both Emolga and Machop were left without people to walk to school with and had therefore chosen to walk with each other.
"I hope it's yours." Emolga sighed.
"Why, because of Litten?" Machop asked.
"Well, because of both of you. You're pretty cool too." Emolga smiled. She was actually also pretty intrigued by Snom, but she wouldn't tell anyone that.
"Heh, thanks." Machop laughed sheepishly.
"It's ok." Emolga nodded, "What team is Chikorita in?"
"She's in one with Buizel and a particular annoying pair which you've not met yet called Budew and Skitty." Machop grunted.
Emolga cocked her head, "How are they annoying?"
"They say that Litten and Skitty used to be besties, but when they were put on separate teams they became rivals. So they hate each other, of course." Machop explained.
"That's awful."
"Well, I don't really know what else I expected from them. They were always competitive." Machop shrugged.
Emolga and Machop looked glumly at the ground as they trudged along, their feet dragging through the dirt like an apprehensive schoolchild with their backpack (which Machop was; Emolga was a bit more enthusiastic). Emolga didn't like the idea of Litten being... what, lonely? Of course she wasn't lonely. So what was it Emolga felt for her? Maybe it was that she didn't want Litten and Skitty to have a sour relationship?
Speaking of Litten, "Did Charmander sleep in again or what?"
"As always." Machop quickly adopted a smile, "What else is new?"
"Litten ate all the oran berries I bought!" Chikorita laughed.
"No I did not!" Litten objected.
Litten, Chikorita and Machop all laughed, and Emolga smiled too. She didn't really get the joke; maybe it was a thing that happened often among them?
"So, team projects being announced today, right?" Chikorita asked Machop.
"Yup." he replied.
"Ugh, I have to do mine with Skitty and Budew. You two are so lucky." Chikorita sighed.
"Machop was just telling me about them. What are they like? How are they bad?" Emolga enquired.
"They're just so snarky, it's quite frankly a bit cringe." Chikorita scowled.
"So they just bad mouth everyone?"
"Exactly!"
Flashbacks to Emolga's old school flashed through her mind, but she shook them away. She didn't need to be dealing with that today. As quickly as a light bulb, Emolga was able to switch the thought off. These people were better.
"That's awful." Emolga replied simply.
"Yeah, but once you get over it it's fine." Chikorita shrugged, "They're like very bad villains. Their insults don't hit hard enough."
Emolga nodded. If the whole group considered Skitty and Budew to be pains then they must be. Hopefully Emolga wouldn't have to deal with them too soon.

***

When Emolga entered the classroom, the desks were rearranged so that they were in groups and not on their own. Emolga imagined that she would not he sitting next to Burmy today. She sighed, every ounce of her being slumping a little, but then remembered that she'd be sat next to Litten and Machop (and Snom) so it'd be not so bad.
Miss Beautifly tapped Emolga on the shoulder as she and her friends hopped in. The pupils all found their ways to their groups and Emolga waited. Miss Beautifly yawned as she fluttered around to face her.
"Do you know about the groups?" Miss Beautifly asked.
"Yes... Miss, are you tired?" Emolga tutted, concerned.
Miss Beautifly smiled, "You don't need to worry about me, child. You can find a group to join, myself and Mr Groudon don't mind."
"Thank you, Miss."
Emolga sat down beside Litten and Machop, who were talking joyously, and Snom, who sat there like the ice shell on his back had frozen him solid. Emolga shivered at the thought, but nobody noticed. Not that she wanted anyone to or anything.
"Class! I'm sure that you're all aware that it's team project day today." Mr Groudon announced, "I'm going to tell you what it is, then we're all going to have a chance to work on it, does that sound alri-"
"AHHH! I'M LATE AGAIN!"
Charmander exploded through the door and sat down beside the Wooloo twins and Treecko, who stared at him annoyedly. Charmander laughed uncomfortably before getting up and joining what Emolga guessed was his actual group; one containing Mudkip, Phantump and Cottonee. Everyone laughed at him. Emolga could imagine how that felt.
"Nice of you to join us, Charmander." Mr Groudon smiled and shook his head. Miss Beautifly glared at Charmander with nuclear eyes.
"I'm so sorry sir, I overslept and then I burnt my toast and-" Charmander began to apologise before grinding to a halt, "I don't feel very well."
"Just take a breather, ok? You can step outside the class if you want to." Mr Groudon suggested patiently.
"I'm fine, sir."
"Good boy. Now, the projects!" Mr Groudon began to the response of excited whispers.
Emolga hoped that the project would be interesting. Not that it would matter to her; she would try her hardest anyway. She just wanted Machop and Litten to be involved enough that Emolga and Snom (if he wasn't lazy) weren't left in the dust.
"The project is to..." Mr Groudon riled up the crowd, "make mini versions of this very island!"
Many kids groaned, but none of Emolga's teammates made negative comments so she supposed that they were at least on board to some extent. Contrarily to her classmates, Emolga found herself to be quite interested! Georgraphy was one of Emolga's favourite subjects, along with... well, pretty much every other one but THAT DIDN'T MATTER. She was going to enjoy it, that was what was important.
Emolga was beginning to visualise the island in her head when Chikorita appeared with her teammates. Buizel and two others. Of course, Emolga already knew them: the fabled Skitty and Budew.
With a cold smirk on her face, Skitty stared at a disgruntled Litten. Skitty had stereotypical unicorn pink fur, along with vanilla coloured fur on her face and belly. She looked about as evil as the others had described her to be (judging from that snide stare alone, of course).
Budew's grin could only be described in one word: toxic. The leaves on her body looked so green that Emolga considered that they were painted. Her face appeared to be a very saturated yellow, the same colour as a solar beam.
"Ready to lose again?" Skitty grinned.
"Not really." Machop shuffled.
"You never are ready, are you? Budew sniffed. She pronounced her 'are's as if she was trying to prolong their existence.
"Well, we're going to win and it's going to be hilarious watching you cry again, Litten." Skitty sneered.
Without another word, Skitty and Budew stormed off. Buizel apprehensively paraded behind, and Chikorita mouthed "sorry" before disappearing too. Emolga sighed in annoyance. To her, it seemed that her friends' descriptions had been a bit off. They were worse than they had said... but Emolga found herself to still not be discouraged.
"Snom, you better actually do something this time!" Litten hissed.
"Sure." Snom spoke for once. His voice was brittle like ice, but there was a depth of whit which Emolga had to admire.
"It's not just that, Litten. Emolga, you promise that you'll try your hardest now that we're a four?" Machop asked politely.
"I love Georgraphy! Guys, we've basically already won!" Emolga attempted to empower the team.
"Skitty's parents are the mayor and mayoress, Liepard and Delcatty. They always find ways to pay the island's industries to make them win." Litten spat.
"Doesn't that just ruin the fun?" Emolga gasped.
"They don't care about that." Machop sighed. He looked utterly defeated.
"Well, we have to try!" Emolga clapped her hands, "Come on!"
"Emolga's right. There must be a map in here somewhere..." Machop shrugged before jogging away to search the room for books with the island's map in them.
"I just as well help." Litten smiled before joining him.
And then it was just Emolga and Snom. She could feel his eyes on her, burning into her like a particularly strong ice beam. There was something about Snom which chilled Emolga to the the core.
"Machop has heart, but that Litten is a bit bratty, not on the levels of Skitty of course." Snom tutted.
Emolga turned around sharply, "Excuse me?"
"I'm just saying what is true. Not having anyone to talk to means I can get on with surveilling and understanding the people I share this class with." Snom replied nonchalantly.
"Litten is not a brat! I don't know what's up with you, or why you give me the creeps but I don't care about that if you don't even have the decency to treat my friends like living things, not like subjects on an experiment!" Emolga scowled, having enough of Snom, and yet simultaneously not in a funny way.
Snom thought for a moment, "Hmm... you know, you aren't as kind as I thought you were. But then that makes you tough. If you ever get bored of Burmy then I'll be here."
Before Emolga could get in another word Snom was gone. Thankfully, the chatter that was going on had muted their conversation. Nobody had heard. So, Snom was insane. That was why he gave Emolga the creeps. At least that was sorted. Like a balloon, Emolga let out a puff of air.
"Emolga! We have an atlas, and- hey wait, where's Snom?" Litten lost her excited attitude a bit.
Emolga gulped, "I don't know, he just went."
"Damn, he lied to me."
"Huh?" Machop grunted.
"He told me he'd try, and he left us! So much for team spirit." Litten groaned.
Even though Emolga considered Snom's mystery to be over, there was still something that intrigued her to look into the weirdness and uncover something more. Something was really bugging her, and it wasn't Snom's bug typing.

***

The bell rang for the end of the school day, and quickly all of the Pokémon in the class rushed out of the room. Emolga was bumped into by both a fuzzy, lilac coloured bat and a similarly coloured gloopy slug, who Emolga was sure ate with her at lunch. Their names, Emolga had heard in the project chaos, were Noibat and Goomy respectively.
Emolga knew that she had to capture Litten and Machop to discuss the project quickly before they left. Finding Snom was... optional. He didn't really seem at all motivated to help. Litten and Machop were annoyed at him, and Emolga wasn't looking to sour their moods.
"Litten! Machop!" Emolga retrieved them.
"Yo!" Litten leapt over to her. Machop, along with Charmander and Chikorita, followed soon after.
"Are you guys going to do any research for the project tonight?" Emolga asked.
"The more Skitty suffers, the better! Don't expect me to participate until the teams are shuffled next year." Chikorita sniggered.
"I was actually asking Litten and Machop, but now I'm intrigued." Emolga explained, "Doesn't Buizel care that you aren't trying?"
"We have a mutual agreement to not care." Chikorita shrugged as if that was obvious, "He'd rather just eat berries from the cafe anyway."
"Well, anyway, Emolga! I'm not researching tonight but I will, I promise!" Litten nodded.
"Neither will I, sorry." Machop looked at the floor.
"That's fine. Is there a library in town?" Emolga asked.
"Yup, it's in the square, you can't miss it." Machop directed her.
"Thanks guys! See you tomorrow!" Emolga waved.
Her friends all chorused in their own goodbyes before they left. Emolga figured that she should ask Mr Groudon if she could borrow a map so she could take notes. She would need it if she couldn't find any books on island geography.
And then it appeared that she would not be doing that. Stood behind Emolga was Phantump, smiling in that kind way he'd done since they'd met. Emolga forced herself to stop blushing. She needed to study, she needed to-
"Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to go for a walk? There's a lovely forest space right by the town square." Phantump asked, his beady red eyes blinking frantically. Emolga's heart beat so fast that she could practically hear her BPM rising. Was it her blood pressure making her neck sting a little, or was it her imagination?
"Haha, ok!" Emolga cringed internally as she just went along with it. It was particularly painful hearing the town square mentioned, since she was supposed to be going there anyway but not for her intended purpose.
"Lovely! Should we get going, then?" Phantump asked.
Emolga nodded.
Before she left the classroom, Emolga was aware of something: the pain on her neck was certainly not her imagination. However, what she wasn't aware of was the classmate that was watching her. None other than Snom.

To be continued...