Reggie and Fin were being led through the flight of steps that ended in the school building’s gate. Reggie looked around as he tried to not collide with any other students. There was barely any space left and if one didn’t watch out they would trip and take down everyone below them. “Chi,” Reggie looked up to see Chigon flying above them; the small dragon never liked to be in a line so it was no surprise.
“The academy sure looks different, doesn’t it, (I’m sure you’ve guessed it by now)” Fin pointed out as he stood next to Reggie. He was right though, the academy was even bigger now and it took up a lot more space. Reggie looked over to the sides, noticing that there were long tubes connecting to the castle from all sides. As he followed the tubes he noticed that they led to the five corners of the island.
The dorms of the academy had been remodeled as well and just like the building they had a lot more space now. Reggie couldn’t help but gasp as he looked at the tall red one toward the left corner. The Charizard Flame dorm, the dorm that he belonged to and a place that he could consider a second home. “Will you have a roommate this year? I heard that Jordan isn’t coming back.” Reggie turned around to look at Fin.
Jordan was Reggie’s roommate the year before and while the two had some friction due to difference in personalities, he was still a good friend. Unfortunately, Jordan decided that he wouldn’t be coming back due to him wanting to become stronger. This was mostly due to the fact that he was an (a, the following word doesn’t begin with a vowel) spectator the year before when the others had to defend the academy.
“I don’t know, I’m still shocked. I mean, the only thing he sent me was an email saying that he was going to travel instead,” Reggie sighed before noticing that he and Fin had reached the entrance to the gate. Reggie stared at the tall golden gate; letting the other students pass him by. “Yeah, even the gate looks amazing, kind of wonder where Brendan got all this from.”
“The school has a lot of funds, and he was champion of Hoenn, but still,” Reggie gulped, feeling a little bit nervous. Now that he thought about it, why wouldn’t he be nervous? He was a second year, meaning people were expecting more of him now and he couldn’t let himself lose especially after everyone started seeing him as a hero from last year. “I don’t think I feel confident anymore.” Fin gasped as he saw Reggie sulking on a corner.
“Hey, cheer up, I’m sure everything will be fine,” Fin chuckled nervously while ruffling the back of his head. “You don’t have to be a the (I’m sure this is just a silly mistake) kind of guy that people expect to be good,” Fin replied while patting Reggie’s shoulder. “Just be you.”
“Oh, come on. Of course people are gonna look up to us! Or at least to you. I don’t want anyone to look up to me,” Reggie frowned as Chigon sat on top of his head.
“Wow. I could hear your whining a mile away.” Reggie’s head went up towards the direction of the voice, his eyes quickly turning into a look of nostalgia and relieve. A girl was walking over to them, her long brown hair waving around as she walked.
She had a pair of brown colored eyes and white skin, complimented by long slender legs and nice hips. She was wearing a short sleeved black shirt along with a jean styled mini skirt. “Miko,” Reggie muttered as he watched the first friend he ever made in the academy walk over.
“Why are you so surprise (surprise-d). Thought I wasn’t coming back?” Miko grinned as she waved at both Fin and Reggie. “I can’t do that. You’ll be getting depressed in a corner for life just like you’re doing now.” Fin tried hard not to laugh after that comment; of course this also got him a frown from Reggie.
“That’s not guaranteed,” Reggie ruffled the back of his head while blushing with embarrassment. “Anyway. I’m glad to see you Miko,” Reggie smiled as he and Miko looked at each other’s eyes; causing a powerful feeling of nervousness well up inside Reggie’s stomach.
“Awww. You look so cute together.” Reggie turned around only to have a pair of arms wrapped around his neck. He could feel a small metallic object against his chest before noticing that it was a digital camera. “You missed me cuz(question mark anyone),” the girl let go of Reggie before smiling. She had long black colored hair along with a pair of blue eyes that matched with Reggie’s. She was wearing a long sleeved black sweater along with a black mini skirt. When it came to height she was about the same size as Reggie; though if Reggie didn’t start growing he would probably be left behind.
“Valerie, I was wondering where you were coming from,” Reggie turned around to look at his cousin Valerie. Valerie, like Fin was a member of the Blastoise Aqua dorm as well as being a part of Reggie’s group. One of the things the bothered him though was her unusual ways to show her care towards him.
“That doesn’t matter. What matters is that I’m here,” Valerie beamed before hugging Reggie once more; causing him to blush slightly as he noticed Fin and Miko chuckling. “While I want to keep teasing you like this I think it would be better if we entered the building already,” Valerie pointed out; noticing that most of the students had already walked inside.
“Jack, Marie, and Darren must’ve passed by while we were distracted,” Fin turned to the gates and began to walk over. “The welcoming speech will be at the auditorium. And considering that we don’t know our way around the new building, I don’t think it’ll be wise to lose the group of students,” he explained before he started running inside.
Reggie looked up at the gates with expectation and nervousness in his face. Once he went through those gates, his second year would start, whether it’d turn out as chaotic as the last or if it’d be peaceful would all depend on how he made his choices once more. “Chi!” he looked down; only to see an impatient Chigon biting softly at his ankle as encouragement for him to enter.
“All right buddy I get it,” Reggie laughed softly before looking at both Miko and Valerie. He couldn’t think anymore; instead he only needed to walk straight forward and wait for what could happened.
***
Reggie looked around the auditorium in curiosity. Aside from the stage he couldn’t really see anything due to the sea of people that was covering his view. He looked at Miko who was sitting next to him. “You look nervous. How come?” she asked after noticing that Reggie had been staring at her.
“It’s just that. Well you know last year was such a disaster and I just want this year to be normal,” Reggie pointed out as he looked down at the floor. “Sure I did a lot last year with battling against Zivok and Charles but I'd rather have a normal second year.”
“I think we both agree on that, buddy,” Miko smiled before putting her foot in front of Reggie’s.
“Chi,” came the voice of an annoyed Chigon as it waited for them to let him out from under the seat.
“Sorry Chigon but Pokémon aren’t allowed in here,” Miko whispered softly; making the Pokémon pout before it retreated to its hiding place. Reggie rolled his eyes at Chigon’s actions. Sometimes he just couldn’t understand why the dragon Pokémon didn’t even want to be in a Pokéball.
“Guess he’s still giving you trouble isn’t he?” Reggie raised his head before turning his head half around to look at the person that had spoken to him. “Yo,” Reggie smiled as he saw a familiar violet hair wave around along with the pair of green colored eyes that met his directly.
“Marie it’s you,” Reggie smiled as Marie gave him a peace sign while smiling. Miko looked back at Marie before shifting to Reggie. For Reggie to react like that would mean that he was still caught up in his crush from last year. Miko frowned as she put her hands on the arms of the chair to try and calm down. She didn’t dislike Marie; at least not anymore; but she wasn’t too accustomed to the fact of Reggie still being hypnotized by her.
“Yeah. I was looking for you guys by the docks but there were so many people that I wasn’t even able to find my way here,” she heard Marie respond with a bit of a cutesy tone. “After I finally saw you guys you had already entered the auditorium. I had to throw some people aside too (not really needed, read better without) just to get this seat,” she laughed making Reggie chuckle slightly before the room was thrown into complete darkness; causing the students to look over at the stage once it became the only source of light in the room.
“Testing. Testing,” Reggie looked up at the man that was now standing atop the stage, his black colored hair that reached his neck and almost covered his ruby colored eyes waving around while he tested the microphone. “I think that’s good enough,” he smiled before realizing that everyone heard what he was saying now.
“For starters I’d like to welcome you all to Elemental Academy. For those of you that are returning then I’m glad that you came back and I hope you can help the new group. For those of you that came in this year then I’d just like to say welcome and I hope you enjoy your stay,” he spoke with a relaxed and unbothered tone; causing the atmosphere in the room to soften and for the students to pay full attention to him. “Oh. I just realized I didn’t tell you who I am. For those of you that don’t know.” He turned around before kneeling down and grabbing a suitcase next to the podium. After he opened the suitcase he took out a white colored beanie with a Pokéball mark in the front. “My name is Brendan Birch and I’ll be your principal starting this year,” Brendan smiled as he put the beanie on; causing the crowd to gasp.
Reggie looked around the room. It was easy to recognize those that were just starting due to their reaction. After all, no one would expect an ex-Hoenn champion to be teaching in an academy, especially someone as famous as Brendan. “Some of you may know me as the ex-champion of the Hoenn League a few years back, but from now on I’ll be your principal, meaning you have to treat me with respect. Of course, I’ll also be supportive if you feel like you want to talk then feel free to tell me anything you want. After all, my heart’s an open book and the door to my office will always be opened.” He replied calmly as he put his hands on the place where the heart was supposed to be.
“Now let’s leave all the depressing stuff aside and become a little bit more cheerful,” Brendan smiled before clicking his fingers; causing the lights to be turned on once more. “I’d just like to say that these years (this year) we have more than just first year students. We’ve also got a new set of three teachers to replace last year’s biology teacher, Mr. Fuse, as well as Mrs. Agatha Shadow who retired, and of course myself since I was promoted from Battling class teacher to principal late last year,” Brendan explained before turning to his left where all the teachers started walking in.
Reggie was able to recognize all of the teachers from last year that hadn’t left. Among these were (was as it’s only one person after) Mr. Grayson, a large muscular brown haired man who was his battling teacher the year before and was probably teaching him again now that Brendan was principal. Next to Grayson was a tall blond haired woman wearing a long sleeved purple jacket along with a purple skirt. She had a pair of round glasses and green colored eyes.
“I’d like to introduce Mr. Grayson and Ms. Rose to the new first years Mr. Grayson will be the battling teachers for those in first year while Ms. Rose will keep her spot as Coordination teacher,” Brendan explained. Reggie looked over towards Mr. Grayson who seemed to grumble at the fact that he was still stuck teaching the less knowledgeable first years.
“He looks mad,” Miko pointed out while scratching the back of her head. “It seems like the summer didn’t do a good job in calming him down.” She then turned back around so that she could see the two other teachers that were now walking into the stage.
The first one was a man wearing a long sleeved lab coat with a green turtle neck sweater under it. The man had a white almost pale colored skin along with a pair of round colored glasses. Reggie noticed that the man seemed to be a bit nervous about standing in front of a crowd.
The woman next to him had long colored red hair that went down to her waist; though by the way she frowned whenever the hair got onto her face could show that she didn’t like it being so long. She had a pair of hazel eyes and was wearing a white colored jacket with a pocket. The jacket itself only reached the top of her midriff allowing people to see her firm stomach; she was also wearing a pair of short shorts to show her legs.
Reggie and Miko looked around; noticing that a lot of the male students were already gawking at the sight of what the teacher was wearing. Reggie in turn couldn’t help but blush a little, with Rose, Stacy and now that other teacher second year might turn out to be really fun; of course he couldn’t actually say that out loud. “You like her too don’t you?” Miko asked with a deadpan causing Reggie to stutter in embarrassment.
“For those of you that have already been here Professor Leroy is already known. However considering your reactions I guess you’ve already noticed that the lovely woman standing next to him is new,” Brendan said while grabbing the MIC as if he was in some kind of game show. “I’d like to present you to Taisha Jenkins from this year on she’ll be the new PE teacher,” Brendan explained before making another signal.
“Wow, looks like things are going to heat up…literally,” Fin pointed out from his seat while grinning mischievously.
Finally, three more teachers walked into the stage. Fin and Reggie instantly raised their head as they recognized Stacy standing in the left corner with two other male teachers right next to her. “She looks pretty too,” Miko pointed out while Reggie tried to hide the fact that he agreed.
The man standing to Stacy’s right had regally paled skin along with long black curly hair that went down to his shoulders. He had a pair of crimson colored eyes that could be seen due to the two spirals he had formed from his hair. He was wearing a long sleeved black open-chested shirt with laces strung together across the chest. He also wore a pair of tight black pants that hid his tall black boots.
The other man had long red hair that went down to his neck. He was wearing a long sleeved red button jacket with golden buttons. He also wore a pair of tight white jean and black moccasins.
Reggie eyed the man with curiosity. For some reason it felt as if he had seen the red haired man before, though he couldn’t figure out where or when. “Well, at least we can get some eye candy too this year,” Miko and Marie both chuckled; making Reggie and Fin roll their eyes. “Oh, stop it with the double standard,” Miko frowned in annoyance.
“Wow, there really are a lot of students." muttered with a little nervousness in her voice (muttered who? Did you miss a word by accident). It was her first time teaching in such a large school and while she had obtained great marks whens he (silly mistake again I bet, most likely the s on the end of when was meant to be on the front of he) became a teacher she was still worried that it wouldn’t be enough for one of the best academies in the world.
“Don’t be nervous,” she turned to look at the man wearing the black shirt. “Frankly, I feel delighted with this turn of events.” he spoke calmly and slyly as he looked around. “With all these students it just means the more pupils we’ll get to teach. Just remember that it doesn’t matter what you teach but how you teach them,” he explained before noticing that a smile had now crossed Stacy’s face.
‘Thanks,” Stacy smiled. “What’s your name?” she asked causing the man to point over to Brendan.
“I’d like to introduce our three new teachers starting from this year,” Brendan extended his right arm so that the students could look at the three young teachers. “Stacy Lewis will be our new Biology Teacher and head of the Blastoise Aqua dorm!” he announced, making Stacy’s eyes widened at the thought of having to take care of a whole dorm.
“Am I lucky or what?” Fin chuckled form his seat. With Stacy as the guide of his dorm he pretty much had it made for the rest of the year. “I think I am.”
“Then we have Siegfreed Vairmourne who will be the new head of the Houndoom Dark dorm!” Brendan announced; signaling for Siegfreed to adjust the neck of his shirt.
“And the last teacher is Kevin Blaze and he will be our new Charizard Flame head!” Reggie and Miko both raised their heads at the sight of their new dorm head who began waving at the group of students.
“Looks like things really are going to be different this year huh?” Miko pointed out while looking at Reggie and Chigon.
“Yeah it really is,” Reggie nodded his head in agreement as the lights of the auditorium turned back on.
