A Champion in a Twisted World

Chapter 27 - A Tip From a Cat

It doesn't take you long to find Ace, Deuce, and Grim. They're all sitting in the mirror chamber and grumbling, with Grim furiously trying to pry the collar off and Deuce looking like he's close to another existential crisis.

"You three alright?" You ask, all the boys pausing and looking over at you.

"Y/N! You're alright!" Deuce stands up, with the brightest grin on his face, and runs over to you, tightly hugging you. The force of the hug nearly knocks you over.

"H- huh? Why wouldn't I be?" You ask, genuinely confused.

Ace stands up and shrugs. "He was worried about you being stuck with the Housewarden."

You tilt your head. "Well, one, Riddle seems to like me so I'm not in any danger around him. And two, even if I were to somehow get collared, it wouldn't affect me as I don't have magic. Anyways, I'm fine. I appreciate the concern, though."

"Y- yeah... I can see that now." Deuce grins sheepishly.

"Yeah, you're fine! Except I'm stuck with this stupid collar!" Grim yowls at you, hopping over to climb onto your shoulder.

Ace groans and kicks the floor, looking furious. "I hate that little ginger megalomaniac! Does he think he's the Queen of Hearts?"

"Ace, you're more ginger than he is." You comment, raising an eyebrow.

Deuce shakes his head, looking disappointed in himself. "Banished by the housewarden from my own dorm. My dream of becoming an honor student is slipping further and further away..."

"Stupid collar! It's so tight!" Grim growls as he struggles with his own collar.

An amused chuckle comes from behind you. "You're really racking up those collars. Quite the impressive collection~"

"Hm?" You turn around and make a quiet screech, immediately sending out your hand to bap the... floating head? "AH!"

The head laughs hysterically at this, amused that your hand is still on top of it.

You're Pokémon seem a bit startled, which is valid. Ace and Deuce seem panicked, and Grim is freaking out. "MYAH!? A ghost head!"

"Oh dear. It seems I'm not all here." The rest of the stranger slowly appears. You see he has short, choppy purple hair with his bangs cut in a curve, as well as three bobby pins pinned to the bang on the left side of his face. He has a pair of purple cat ears with a couple piercings on both of them and has yellow, cat-like eyes. He wears a baggy white button up over a striped purple t-shirt and blue pants, He has purple painted nails and wears a couple rings along his fingers. He also has a long, bushy tail that has purple stripes.

"...cat boy?" You ask in confusion, raising an eyebrow.

The stranger only laughs. "Haha. I like you, you're fun. The name's Artemiy Artemiyevich Pinker. Am I a cat? Am I a purrrson? A mimsy borogove, perhaps? A mome rath with a knack for magic?"

Ace lets go of your shoulders and steps beside you, "Uh, look, Ar... Arte... Run the name by me again?"

You roll your eyes at Ace in a teasing manner, before smiling at Artemiy, pulling your sunhat to your chest. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Artemiy Artemiyevich Pinker. My name is Y/N L/N, but you're welcome to simply call me Y/N."

Everyone- outside of your Pokémon- are startled. Even Artemiy. "Hm? You... actually managed to pronounce my name?"

You tilt your head. "Am I supposed to be unable to?"

"Oh, no." He shakes his head, his ears flicking. "It's just you're the first one outside of close family to pronounce it correctly, especially so quickly."