A/N: In my story professor juniper is 31, and professor sycamore is 32
23 years ago...
"Hey, Aug!" A dark-haired boy sat in a corner of the classroom, watching a bunnelby eat. "Why don't you come outside?"
The person talking, another boy with brown hair ran up to him and leaned over his shoulder. "Why do you even like watching pokemon eat anyway?"
"It's so boring." complained his friend, who also had brown hair but it was lighter and he wore glasses.
"it's not boring." said Aug. "I like pokemon."
"Do what you want then." sighed a girl with purple hair. "We're going."
"See ya after break, Sammy, Isla.." the boy fed bunnelby another berry, not realising his friends were long gone. In another corner of the classroom, another girl watched.
She had golden-brown hair, and pale green eyes, unusual for Kalosian girls, as they mostly had blue or grey eyes. She was the only girl apart from Ivy in the Pokemon Academy Level 3 beginners' class, the top level of the beginners, the youngest, and the only one from a different region. Aurea Juniper was from Unova, and she wasn't afraid to hide it. She could talk about Unova, night and day. She wasn't afraid of being teased, or called different, or powerful, scary-looking pokemon. Only one thing scared her.
Aurea sneaked a glance at the boy in the corner. Augustine Sycamore, the popular boy who didn't care if he had a 'girl's name'. The joker, the clown, surprisingly good with pokemon. Not to mention the special pranks and jokes he reserved for her... The time where he swapped her sewaddle for a fake doll...
She didn't want to admit it, but she was a tiny bit scared of him. Or maybe the right word would be nervous about what tricks he was going to pull next.
***
3 years later...
"Hey, Aurea!"
Aurea ignored the calls. She was 11 years old now, and she'd grown even prettier than she was before. She was top of the battle and research class, and the best at working with pokemon, better than everyone else. Almost everyone else.
Augustine Sycamore watched from the side of the hallway. Aurea... She'd finally gotten what she'd wanted. She was the new best, the new popular girl. While Aug still had his own reputation... He had to admit, that feisty little class baby had grown into a beautiful, cool, collected girl who would waste no time in beating him up with her Swadloon, who was so strong it had as much power as it would as a Leavanny. Of course, he had helped there...
She turned down the hallway. She didn't really have any friends left, unless you counted Aug, not that she liked him of course. Isla had left for the orange islands last month, and Delia had gone back to her home in Kanto. That annoying Sycamore...His Fletchling had evolved into fletchinder now, and was extremely large for its species- As large as its trainer's ego. But soon, she would be the top.
Aurea walked past the coordinators' class, when something grabbed her from behind.
"Going somewhere, popular girl?"
Ugh. Typical Aug.
"Let go, Joker." she muttered. "You know battle class starts in five minutes."
"Why go if you're top already?" His eyes bore into her's. "You've already beaten the teacher 3 times."
"It's class, and I have to go." Aurea scowled. "Do you want to be mummified, or don't you?"
"We both know very well you wouldn't do that."
Aurea went pink, but she shook it off.
"Really? Swadloon, use stringshot." she said, sighing and pulled out her pokemon's pokeball.
***
2 years later...
"Aurea, are you really moving back to Unova?"
Isla was phoning her. Aurea sighed for the millionth time. "Yes, and I probably won't be coming back."
"Won't you miss Kalos, and the academy?"
"I never really liked it here anyway. Besides, I don't have any friends left."
Lie. Aug had become annoyingly close to her...To tell the truth, he wasn't that annoying anymore, really... Which annoyed her. A lot. Wow. The times they'd spent together... She couldn't believe they'd ever come this far. And now she couldn't say goodbye.
"Bye, Isla."
"Uh, Aurea-"
"Bye!"
She hung up, and sat back down on her bed. The clock on the wall read 4am. Three more hours till she left this house. There wouldn't be any time to say goodbye...
"Hey, Popular Girl! Open up!"
Aurea froze. She knew that voice. And he was the only one who called her that anyway. She opened up her window
"Joker, what in the world are you doing in front of my house 4am in the morning?"
"Saying goodbye?"
"You never say goodbye. You only ever say catch y'a later."
"Haha, very funny. Now can you please open the door?"
She ran downstairs, and opened the door.
"Here you go!"
"Joker-"
"Catch ya later, Popular Girl!"
***
Cookies. Pokeball cookies, with icing decorations of Leavanny and Talonflame, from when they were each a sewaddle and a fletchling, to swadloon and fletchinder, to their final evolution, One on each. But there was a seventh.
She bit into it, and a note fell out.
Yo, popular girl-
it stinks when you like someone and never have the courage to tell them. Well, I guess it's little too late now.
-Joker.
Even though he wasn't there, Aurea felt herself blush. That Joker.
***
"Hey, professor!"
Professor Juniper snapped out of her memories.
"There's someone outside who wants to see you."
"OK I'M COMING!" she yelled. Geez. Nobody remembered her request for some peace, even on valentine's day. Which happened to be her birthday. He used to call it Valenbirthday. he'd written it on a card when they were twelve, and it'd embarrassed her hair off her.
She ran toward the door, her heart pounding. She just hoped it would be the one she was hoping for...
The door swung open.
That same hair, same eyes, same smile, same face.
"Happy Valenbirthday, Popular Girl."
