Coltar #01 - The Prophecy (Original Region) [M]

Date: 22nd June 1989


James dragged himself out of bed. Tak wanted him to try the Captain’s new rules, and he was willing to make a misery of it. Kitiku, who had been sleeping on the bed next to his, had been awake for over an hour. He had combed his hair tidily and his white shirt was immaculate, as were his grey trousers, which had been pressed to look smart. James threw on his white shirt, which was covered in dust and mud from the day before, his trousers were almost as bad. The black had faded in places. He pulled on his shoes lifelessly before combing his hair quickly and carefree.


The time must have been 6 AM since Tak had already gone to work. Oosho was squelching around the house as always. He stared at them as they left the room. The boys made their way to the stairs, James pushed Kitiku behind him as he raced down them as quickly as he could. He and Okta were ready to cause mischief. Kitiku sat down and slid down the steps slowly but surely. Nashe watched as the boys sat down at the table for breakfast.


“Are you two excited? You get to have a brand new adventure today.” She smiled as she placed a bowl of mashed wheat and berries on the table in front of each of them. James went to stab it with his fork. “No, James.” He looked up at her. “We say thanks for the food we have, don’t we?”


“Yes, Mrs Bryson. Thank you Cresselia for the bountiful food we have received. Without your grace we would be in a world which is cursed by the idol of Giratina. Giratina is without mercy. You give us the light. We follow your light with hope. Your mercy to us is welcomed. We thank you for our meal.”


Nashe smiled, as James finished saying thanks.


“Please strike down the South without mercy,” he added under his breath before diving into the food.


“Now, boys, be good when you get there. Say please, and thank you. Be kind and respectful as this is a new start.” She opened the door as James and Kitiku finished their meal.


“Thank you, mother,” Kitiku whispered, as he hugged her tightly. “Please don’t go anywhere.” She kissed him on the head.


“Good boy, be brave and live up to your name. James, be good.”


“James,” Kitiku whispered, as the boys started to travel towards the town hall along the cobbled streets, “You will try what my father approves of, right?”


“Sure. I will submit to the South and become a puppet,” he snapped back, before realising his reaction was too much. “I just don’t understand why we need to be brainwashed. Lord Madison said that w-”


“Lord Madison abandoned us!” Kitiku interrupted. “Can’t you get that inside your head? If he truly cared about Fehahra, he would have come back.”


“Lies,” James quickly answered.


“Facts,” Kitiku replied. “Besides, if it wasn’t for Lioa and you dreaming of this happy fantasy of what could be, I wouldn’t be like this. It hurt so much. The doctor wanted to cut my leg off. It is partly your fault!”


“Kitiku… I,” James started.


“It is always about you. What you feel, what you want. What about what I want? What about how I feel? Or how the new Captain feels, or my father or my mother? They are people too, James!”


“I am sorry. I didn’t honestly know Lioa was going to push you. I didn’t know the doctor wanted to cut your leg off.” James looked at his saddened friend. “Hey, I promise, from now on no one hurts you. Okta and I will keep you safe.”


“I will hold you to that promise,” Kitiku whispered once more, as they reached the town hall and started to queue to gain entry.


The town hall was packed, and the queue waiting outside twisted and turned. In total, James estimated, around 350 people had turned up. The hall could easily accommodate them, it was more a case of getting inside in an orderly manner. Luckily, Kitiku and he had arrived early enough to be some of the first people inside, which meant they could have second row seats, allowing them to see the stage clearly. It wasn’t long after everyone had been filed inside before Captain Bourbabel appeared on the stage.


“Wow, there are so many of you. I am pleased to see so many people here. For those of you who don’t know, my name is Clarence Bourbabel, and I am the Southern Captain who now runs this town.” Some of the older members of the crowd scowled. “Education is important. It helps us grow as people.” He snapped his boots together, creating an echo which silenced the mumbles in the crowd. James watched him carefully. “Now, here is my proposal. From Saturday morning you will all turn up at the new building at 8am on the dot. You may be early, you may not be late. I understand education is something Lord Madison selfishly deprived you of. That was unfair of him. Today, Lord Piscar sent up some supplies for this venture. This is the first town in which any such thing has been put into practice. He is hopeful, but not expectant.”


“Hey, hey, Kitiku…” Lioa whispered, as he slipped into the seat next to James. Kitiku looked at him, curiously. “Watch this…” Lioa then picked up a Poké ball and hurled it at the stage. It opened in front of the Captain making him step back. Kitiku’s Klink was happily looking at the Captain, before realising it was on stage in front of a large amount of people. Kitiku’s face was that of horror. He wanted his Klink back.

“Lioa!” James hissed. “Go get Rusto back.”


“Why should I?” Lioa thumped James.


“Hello, Klink. How did you get up here I wonder? Either way. I am sure you will be of no harm.” The Captain reached into his pocket and got out a plump Sitrus berry, which Rusto dived into straight away. “Where was I? Oh. Everyone will be allowed to choose a bag, some Starly feather, Staravia feather, Qwilfish spike or Samurott horn quills, with three pots of Octillery ink. In regards to uniform, due to the experimental nature here, a simple green and blue sash will be provided. More good news is at lunch you shall receive a free, hot meal, which Lord Piscar is supportive of. He believes Northern children are deprived of food to grow.”


Rusto was following Clarence as he paced. Causing a few laughs from the crowd. Kitiku felt more embarrassed by the minute. “Still hungry? Here…” He turned and handed the small creature an Oran berry, which it scoffed without a second thought, before continuing his speech. “You will also be given injections against certain diseases, which will help your body prepare to fight them, if they ever come in to contact with you. Your eye sight will be tested, as will your hearts. Your health is very important, particularly as you are already… behind.” The man then started to list the diseases which were prevalent in the North, and their symptoms. He then further went into detail about the after effects of each disease, which made some of the audience cringe.


“I believe that is all of them. I have kept you sitting still for far too long… it has already been two hours. Come up and collect your bags. There are three types of bag: cross shoulder, single shoulder or backpack. There are around one hundred and twenty five of each,” Clarence said, as he pointed to each selection which had been collectively placed neatly by some of the soldiers. “Come on down. I am here if you have any questions. Elsewise, once you have your bag you may collect a quill set and go outside and play. Be back here by midday and not a moment later.”


James and Lioa barged through the crowd to try and get first pick, not because they wanted to attend school, but because they wanted to show everyone how tough they were, also free stuff was considered a blessing. Lioa found that being short did have its advantages, as he squeezed through the legs of some of the people taller than him. James, on the other hand got stuck behind some of the elder students, who had charged forwards also. Lioa picked up one of the single shoulder bags for himself, and then one of the backpacks for Andrew, which he then threw to his little brother before he jumped off the stage. The two siblings then headed for the door. Lioa claimed the Qwilfish spike quills, whereas Andrew decided Starly feathers looked nicer.


James eventually made it through to the front. Most of the single shoulder bags had gone as had the backpacks. The cross shoulder bags seemed the least popular by far. He climbed onto the stage and dashed towards the four remaining single shoulder bags. He snatched one of the last few brown ones up. Kitiku had just gotten there. He was choosing carefully between brown and black, however, as he finally decided on choosing the final brown bag, three of the elder students grabbed him and pushed him to the floor.


“Listen, runt. We first-born, the preferred, get first pick,” they laughed. “Hand it over or else.”


The boy immediately relinquished the bag he was holding and picked up the other two single shoulder bags.


“Take a cross-shoulder one. Looks like that is the only choice you have now, wimp.” They left him on the floor as they walked away.


“Kitiku, are you okay?” James wandered over to his friend who had suffered a nose bleed from the incident. “You have to start standing up for yourself. You can’t let the South or those elders push you around. Here, take mine.” James handed over his own bag, before picking up one of the sandy-coloured cross shoulder bags. “Hey, I am unique. I don’t need them to tell me what to use.” He smiled a false smile. In truth he was annoyed, but he made a promise which he didn’t want to let slide.

“Thank you, James,” Kitiku said, quietly.


“You two coming?” Sutton shouted, after coming back into the room. “If you dawdle any longer you will not have any break time left.” He pushed his blonde hair back, ‘James, you didn’t act selfishly? What are you up to?’ he thought.

James pulled Kitiku up and walked with him towards Sutton.


“No more mischief.” He patted James on the head as he walked past.


James started to scowl as he took the Staravia feather quills from Sutton. Kitiku reached up and took the same. “Smile, your life will improve soon. Also, Kitiku, I believe this… thing… belongs to you.” The scruffy soldier handed over the Klink in its ball. “Be more careful in future. Now go and play.”


Kitiku hugged it tightly upon receiving it.


The two boys left the hall and were guided to the green to ‘play’ and use up energy. Clarence ensured there would be space for all of them to run around for a good two hours before going back to talking about how things would work. Lots of the younger children were running around playing ‘death by rock’. The older boys were trying, in most cases unsuccessfully, to talk to the older girls. Some of the other students were playing a game in which they had to get the Voltorb into the double ring they had marked on the wall. If the one blocker caught the Voltorb the thrower became a blocker. Clarence was playing this particular game with them. He felt that, by interacting with them, he could help make things seem less stressful and more fun.

---

James walked besides Kitiku, who was struggling to crutch along. He had shoved the quills into his bag, which rested across his left shoulder and against his right side. Lioa and Andrew joined them. They wandered to the far edge of the green and tried to leave the area which Clarence had assigned for the students to play in.


“Sorry boys, turn around please. You cannot leave,” one of the soldiers said.


“Why?” James asked.


“Captain Bourbabel stated that you are allowed to play anywhere on the green, but you aren’t allowed to leave it without an escort. He wishes for you all to be present for your first day. No one can leave without permission,” he answered.


“That’s unfair. You can’t treat us that way. We aren’t prisoners,” James shouted as loudly as he could to get attention. “I won’t let you hurt my friends. Let us go, Southern jerks.”


“After you insulted me, not a chance.” The man stood firmer.


“Fine. I’ll just leave on my own. I don’t need your permission!” James shouted as he stepped forward and was knocked over by a psychic field. It was clearly Hishrak’s doing. “Ow.” James rubbed his head where it had thumped into the ground, hard.


“James, what did we say about being careful?” Clarence jogged over to him before sitting him up. “You aren’t allowed to leave. Rules are rules. You have plenty of space to run around and play. Now, let me have a look at that cut.”


“No, I don’t need your help. I can handle myself fine.” James pushed him away, and got up. “Let us go, you jerk.”


“James, that’s enough. No more warrior talk. Please take James inside, as I want to look at the cut he just received,” Clarence said quietly, in order to prevent attracting too much attention from the other students.


James was assisted against his will to the town hall. The walk took a minute and a half but for him it felt like a thousand years.


“Fine, I am now in your stupid hall. I thought you wanted me to run around and play?” James said, irritated.


“That is enough,” Clarence quickly said, “Let me have a look at your head.”


“Stupid South. You ruined everything. Leave me alone I don’t wa-”


“James, I said enough,” Clarence’s voice turned stern.


“Yes, sir,” James replied, sincerely. He had developed a little bit of a headache. “My head hurts inside.”


“I am not surprised. You did hit your head pretty hard. Do you feel sick or dizzy?”


James shook his head to Clarence’s question.


“That’s good. It may be a concussion at worst. However, I think you just gave yourself a bad bash, I think we would know already if it was a concussion. Perhaps I should just Hishrak to wrap I protective field around you?” He smiled.


“My head hurts, can I go home please?”


“I think not. Education is very important. I don’t want you to miss out on important things. You are already lacking in knowledge due to Lord Madison’s preferences.” Clarence was careful with how he worded his concerned.


“I hate this…”


“It’s different to what you are used to.” He pushed James’s hair out of his face. “You will be fine.” Clarence then checked his watch. “11:45, fifteen minutes of break left.”


“…It… it is gone already?” James looked saddened. “That’s not fair. How did it go so fast? I hate this stupid education thing. It’s… stupid. I want to go home. My head hurts too much. I feel…” James tried to think back to the symptoms mentioned earlier “…sick.”


“Enough.” Clarence raised a hand. “I think letting you sit in here would be the best thing.”


“Yes, Southern jerk,” James whispered, giving a false salute, as Clarence got up to assist the soldiers in rounding up everyone still outside. He then placed his head carefully against the back of the seat, slumped and closed his eyes. He didn’t manage to get much peace and quiet before he heard the sounds of the other students returning from break. Lioa sat next to him, Andrew next to him and Kitiku on the end.


Clarence quickly got back on the stage, and took a deep breath.


“I trust you all feel a little more comfortable with the idea of school now. The time is 12:03. All things considered, I think today is already going well.” He smiled at them.


The crowd seemed less agitated than when they had arrived at 8:30.


“On to the rules. I know rules are boring, but they are important to keeping everyone safe, healthy and productive. After I have explained the rules, the doctors will start performing health checks. No need to be afraid or nervous. It is all routine.”


“Lioa, I can’t let them do that to me,” James started to panic. “They might find out who I am.”


“James, we won’t let them. You come up with a plan, we will help you carry it out.”


“Lioa. I know things are a little strange, but please calm down and listen,” Clarence said, calmly.


“No. I hate the South and I hate you. Can’t you lot see? He is trying to brainwash us into thinking Lord Piscar is a good person and that he will care about us, but he is lying. Lord Madison is who we really should be ruled by!” Lioa shouted out.


“Lioa, please calm down.”


“No. I hate you. Ruskuo, use poison jab!” Lioa threw his Gurdurr at the stage and Ruskuo came out of its ball.


The ball rolled in the direction of Clarence.


As the Gurdurr charged towards him to deliver a poison jab attack, Clarence picked up the ball. Ruskuo swung at Clarence, but was simply side stepped. Angrily, Ruskuo then turned to face Clarence, who was now behind him, and charged at him again with a second poison jab attack. Once again, Clarence simply side stepped him before returning him to his ball.


“Hey, that’s unfair!”


“Lioa, I asked you to calm down. You can get your Gurdurr back later.” Clarence placed the Gurdurr into Sutton’s hands before turning his attention back to listing the rules. “Where was I…? The rules: Firstly, be punctual.” He looked as the students more or less pulled a confused face. “Punctual means to be on time.”


They nodded after the clarification.


“Secondly, be respectful of others and don’t interrupt lessons. You are here to learn and develop.”


Lioa huffed at the idea of being forced to listen to a lecture.


“Thirdly, do not fight with any of the others here. There is a war on already, and fighting amongst ourselves is a way to tear our souls apart. Fourthly, all assignments will be completed. Fifthly…” He paused, “please dress tidily and appropriately. Sixth, and lastly, keep your Pokémon inside their balls unless specified otherwise. Breaking rules will lead to punishments. Remember to have fun though too.” He smiled at them. “In a month you will be free to choose extended subjects, but for now let’s stick to the basics: Colrat, mathematics, and Pokémon care.”


Clarence jumped off the stage elegantly as he wandered over to Lioa and placed a hand on his head. “I doubt any of you, or very few of you can read or write. I even noticed at a certain banned festival, which I proudly attended, most Northern participants just put a badly drawn ‘X’ on the agreement. We will teach you to read and write properly. Now, if I am correct, the Lords and doctors are ready, you can make your way to the medical bay in the offices to be given your medical exams. Nothing to worry about at all.” He raised his hand and started to assist in the movement of the group.


“Kitiku, Lioa… Andrew I can’t…” Clarence turned to see James looking whiter than a sheet of clean paper.


“Can’t what?” he asked.


“I don’t feel too well. My head still hurts.” James put on a pathetic voice. “Can I go home?”


“No. This is important James. It will stop you getting really ill.”


The boy frantically shook his head in response. He gripped the seat and refused to move.


“Lioa… Don’t throw it at someone again, and definitely don’t attack them. Okay?” Clarence took the ball from Sutton and placed the Gurdurr back into Lioa’s hand.


“Why?”
 The short boy turned around, irritated.


“Attacking people is dangerous. You don’t want to be arrested for murder or accidental murder, right?”



“No,” Lioa said, quietly.


“Good. Go on, I think you three need to shuffle down to get your injections.” Lioa and Andrew followed Clarence’s suggestion.


James squeezed the seat tighter so his hands had started to become numb.


“James, it’s going to be fine, I promise. I know it’s different and needles aren’t fun, but it will make you feel safer later.”


“No. I don’t feel well and I want to go home,” James snapped. “Why can’t you let me go home?”



“Free food afterwards?” Clarence smiled.


“Can I have the food now, please you jerk?”


“Be polite.”


“I am so hungry, so is Okta,” James whispered, as he had looked around to see that the hall had become empty. “Fine. If I go though I want food when I get there,” James snarled, in an attempt to be intimidating, he also attempted to bulk himself up.


Clarence smiled at James’s defiance.


“You are definitely going to be a hard one to convince, aren’t you?”


“I don’t like you or the South,” James replied.


“I know. Let’s walk together, maybe the air will help your head, I know when I have a headache or feel incredibly stressed a walk helps.”


“We don’t have to go straight to the medical bay, right?”


“We can take a longer route, if you would like. Is that what you would like?” Clarence asked, and was quickly met by a nod. He then straightened his red tie, and pulled his yellow over-coat vest over his head. “Let’s go then.”


James slid off the seat, walked out of the isle and in front of Clarence.


The two walked outside the door together. Clarence was keeping a close eye on James, as he didn’t trust him to stay in one place too long. The boy had a tendency to want to bolt, considering he had short legs compared to the tall man, he certainly could run fast. James kept an eye on Clarence, as he felt safe, despite the man being his supposed ‘enemy’. He knew the Captain wouldn’t let anyone harm him.


“James are you okay?” Clarence asked. “We haven’t walked very far.”


“I said I didn’t feel well,” James said - he didn’t want to have a single injection, let alone how many he would be receiving.


Clarence then crouched down next to him and looked at his eyes.


“You don’t seem to have any symptoms of anything more going on. I think it would be a good idea to let them check that bash when we get there.”


James grunted to his suggestion. 

“It will be fine. You are just worried when there is absolutely no need to be.” They started to walk again, as they did James looked up to the sky. The Starly were flying overhead in big flocks, free, something he wished he could be at that moment.


“Can I ask you something?” James asked, while looking up.


“Of course.”


“You can’t get mad, okay?”


“I don’t tend to get angry, everyone makes mistakes, as it is part of who we are. Mistakes help us grow as people. I assume that wasn’t your question though.” Clarence looked towards the boy.


“What is out there? I mean, we can’t be the only things in the world right?”


“We are,” Clarence interrupted. “Actually, I lie, we are not.”


“Really‽ I knew it!” James said, excitedly. “I knew we weren’t the last people in this world!”


“There is a monster out there. It has eaten every other living creature that it has come across. Anything or anyone out there is just waiting to be eaten now.” Clarence’s face showed true terror. “All those people it has killed already, those trying to leave the island, the ones that got too far for the Guards to stop. It killed them all.”


“What does it look like?”


“I never saw it up close. I just remember when I was ten, maybe eleven, my two best friends and I were having fun on the beach. We saw someone on the back of a Braviary fly out to sea. We watched on as the Guard tried to shoot him down. He flew up to avoid the attacks, and the next thing we saw was him falling off his Pokémon towards the water. He must have been thirty, forty maybe fifty metres out to sea. This thing, it shot up from the water and swallowed him whole.” Clarence’s face remained straight and fearful, as he reminisced the events.


“What about off-islanders who crash here, they must come from somewhere, right?”


Clarence didn’t respond. He seemed cold, and upset by what he had already said.


“I understand. You don’t want to remember what happened anymore.” James hung his head, disappointed.


“It is okay, I just feel like I could have done something.” Clarence placed a hand on the boy’s head. “Anyway, enough with the treason talk. You may be curious, which isn’t a bad thing, but it doesn’t excuse you from the law. I will overlook it this once.” He smiled.


“Okay…” James answered. “Why is it treason?”


“If it wasn’t people would try to leave, and then those monsters would kill them. It keeps us safe,” Clarence explained.


“Surely if there were enough soldiers…”


“There is more than one. Thirty Guards tried to kill the one I saw and none came back. A few days after… corpses… started to appear on the beach.” Clarence looked on, before turning to James and moving his hand onto his shoulder, “Maybe you should become a scholar and discover all the Pokémon in the world. Or maybe you should study to become an expert in mythology. Education will open up all these possibilities to you now.” The man smiled at James. “It is your life. Make something of yourself.”


James looked up to see the offices in sight. “Do I really have to have an injection? I don’t want one. Stupid Southern rules.” He then spat, “I should just get Okta to destroy the building and then I…”


“Would be arrested for murder,” Clarence finished. “Go on inside. I have to help with the overseeing of the building process. I will be out later if you want to talk.”


“Who would want to talk to the South? The South is full of stupid ideas.”


“Yet, we have been talking for nearly forty minutes without issue,” James grunted, annoyed. It was true, they had been talking for a long time.


“Well, I’m not going to talk to you or the South anymore.” The boy then crossed his arms. Clarence smiled at James’s go-to defiance as he walked away. James waited until Clarence had disappeared from sight before taking advantage of the man’s mistake. Leaving James outside to go in on his own was never going to happen.

---

James ran left from the offices in the direction of the park where he had heard the clunking noise the day before. He didn’t get very far before seeing Incaresta Sutton trying to carry his groceries (very badly). He was juggling the berries, loosely, on top of the wheat, sugar and glass milk canister, it was obviously going to end in a disaster. His tower of groceries toppled and he dropped everything, but his milk. He swore in Elkrat under his breath.


“Hey, Mister Sutton,” James called out, “Let me help you with that.” He rushed over and started to pick up the items that the soldier had dropped.


“Thank you Jamés… what do you want?” Sutton eyed him, suspiciously.

“I just wanted to help… please don’t be mad. Captain Bourbabel is right about a lot of stuff…” He tried desperately not to reveal his so called feelings were a lie. He sighed, “Maybe… when I’m older… I want to be like that. Smart and able to help people…” James picked up the wheat and placed it in his bag, before collecting all the berries and putting them in his bag too. Despite his actions appearing to be kind, James needed a berry or two, he thought by feeding the clunky creature it would be friendly towards him… whatever it was.


“I am glad you have someone to look up to, and it is someone you want to look up to.” Sutton smiled his goofy smile, which almost set James off on a rant. “I must say, I am very surprised at you. A pretty flower blooms a bright and new colour.”


“Sure. It would be good to follow in someone’s footsteps.” James walked alongside Incaresta. “Where are we going anyway?”


“Oh, not very far. Two streets down. How were the injections?”



“They were okay. Still didn’t like them, and I don’t want anymore,” James lied. “I suppose he was right though. Everything was fine.”


“I am happy for you. Captain Bourbabel is an inspiration. Lord Piscar clearly values his input, and strange methods. Although, personally I do disagree with a few of his policies, as long as it does the people good that is what matters,” Sutton said with so much glee, James could swear the man let out sparkles. “Just down here.”


James happily followed the Soldier, who had taken him in the direction of the park. They wandered past two or three of the old houses before stopping. Sutton opened the door for them both.
“There you go Mister Sutton.” James placed the wheat on the table before empting his bag of all but three of Sutton’s berries. “Can I help with anything else?” he asked, but prayed the answer would be no.


“No, that will be fine. Thank you,” Sutton replied, James turned to leave but couldn’t quite get out the door fast enough. “Come here, trouble.”


The boy gulped at the thought of being caught stealing. He turned around and walked towards Incaresta, who was still smiling. James sighed out of relief just judging by the man’s expression.


“You still look hungry,” the man reached into his pocket and pulled out a bag, “there aren’t many left but you can have them all. Now be good for the rest of the day.”


“Yes, Mister Sutton. Thank you…” James tucked the bag of sticky, spikey berry juice chewy treats into his bag, before darting to the door.


Sutton was aware James had stolen from him, he just couldn’t bring himself to scold the boy, who seemed to have a change of heart. Scolding him would merely make him turn his back once more. Incaresta released his Electabuzz from its capsule, along with his Fearow, Volcarona, Sableye and Hitmonlee, before wandering over to the fish tank in the corner of his house and releasing his Carvanha.


James scooted along the path towards the park as quickly as he could. He struggled to keep himself upright as he took a sharp turn and scraped his knee. He continued to sprint as fast as he could towards ‘Zanha’ he had named it. He only had two turnings to do: the one at the end of the street, and then the second right. He passed the houses that looked like they were going to crumble. His laces came undone and he ploughed into the ground, quickly doing them up he set off once more with a cut on his chin and right hand. He ran along the cobbles and reached the end of the first street. He shot left at the end of the street and collided with a Lord. James fell backwards.


“Watch where you are going,” the Lord shouted.


“Why don’t you? Southern jerk,” James snapped, before realising who he had insulted.


“Original. Would you like to spend the rest of your life in jail?” The Lord removed his hat to reveal his black hair, which matched his blue eyes. “Or… you can get up and apologise. It is really up to you. My Absol is itching for a fight.” He rubbed the back of his head. For some reason, this Lord reminded James of Sutton a lot. Goofy.


“Fine. I’ll fight you… but not here. Too many people. I am not a murderer unlike you!” James shouted. The Lord looked confused at the boy.


“You really want to go to jail for attacking a Lord? I won’t murder a child, although I am tempted to make an exception for you.”



“Only if you win. If I win you leave me alone, as you have failed in your job, right?” The Lord grabbed James by the scruff and dragged him to the park around the corner and threw him on the floor.



“Absol, time to serve Lord Piscar.” The Lord hurled the ball onto the green and released his Absol. Its black head curved smoothly and stabbed upwards like a knife. Its snowy white coat shone in the sunlight.


“Okta, it is on you!” James pressed the button on his ball to avoid it rolling in the direction of the Lord. As soon as she landed on the grass she used screech.


The Lord held his hands over his ears before issuing a command.
“Use night slash!” The Absol walked slowly towards Okta, gracefully.


“Okta, dig! Don’t let it touch you.”
The moment Okta disappeared the Lord drew his knife and stepped towards James. He wasn’t afraid of being killed by the Onix, whose location was unknown to him.


The Absol suddenly moved to the side as Okta shot up from the ground. Upon seeing her shoot up, it lunged at her. It hit her with night slash and she let out a cry of pain.


The Lord then charged towards James, who was focusing on Okta.


“I will break your spirit and hers,” he shouted as he slashed with the knife at James, who fell. James caught the Lord’s hands as the knife hovered above his cheek. “You dare challenge Lord Piscar?” he spat, “Absol, use night slash again.”


“Okta, get out of here. Please, go…”


The Onix roared loudly before diving underground once more and near enough immediately returned to the surface from underneath the Absol, who was flung back, but undeterred, it used night slash and hit her once more. She panted as she rolled back.


‘You won’t leave me…’ James thought, ‘I won’t give up either. There has to be a way.’ “Okta use dig one last time. If you do it, there is a berry for you.”
The knife touched his cheek and cut him lightly.


“Submit to Lord Piscar’s will. Apologise to me. Work your guilt off, I am sure I could find some tedious task for you to do.”


“It was an accident!”


“Night slash again.” The Lord’s Absol waited for Okta to come up. The dark creature wouldn’t fall for the same trick twice.


Okta on the other hand was waiting underground for James’s orders. She understood his secret message. Wait under his bag. The knife slipped to the slide a little. The stone James had around his neck started to glow lightly, and his thoughts turned to one thing – destroy. He felt a sharp pain in his wrist but didn’t care, he called out at the top of his voice,


“Now Okta!” She shot up from the ground.


The Lord jumped up out of shock and shuffled out of the way. James stood on top of Okta’s head. “Use rock throw!” She let out a war cry, before swinging her tail at the rocks created by her return to the surface.


The Absol didn’t appear ready and took a direct hit. It puffed, tiredly.


It was standing much closer than James could remember. The thought then hit him. The war cry wasn’t a war cry. She was in pain. The Absol had hit her once more. She puffed and panted, bleeding. The Absol’s headpiece had been broken by the attack and it fell over.



“That is enough!” Clarence shouted. “What is going on?” The Lord shot a glare at Clarence.



“Bow down to me, soldier. I am more important than you ever will be, I am a Lord,” the Lord scoffed.



“I believe you just lost to a fourteen year old boy, my Lord.” Clarence said, trying to keep a straight face.



“What?” He checked his Metagross technology, and sure enough his Absol had fainted. “It’s not over. I have five more. That boy must be taught a lesson!”



“Oh James…” Incaresta said, who was watching.


“Touch him once more and I will teach you a lesson,” Clarence puffed himself up, “He is a boy!”


“That isn’t an excuse.” the Lord spat.


“It isn’t. However, what did you hope to achieve? Break his spirit? He is the most adamant boy I have met, your attempts would fail. Learn the people before you accuse them and fight. That helps ensure the occupation is successful.” The Lord spat on the floor once more. “Lord Piscar trusts me to ensure that it is.” He withdrew his Absol and walked away without another word. “James, you can come down now!”


“Sure… Once I figure out how!”


“Ask Okta to put you down? Okta, down.” The Onix used screech at Clarence, before gently lowering James down. She was puffing and bleeding still. “We need to get her wounds seen to immediately.” James returned her to her ball. His bag had been roughed up and scuffed by the battle. James picked it up and put it over his shoulder. His face was straight, but he felt empty. “My office, okay?”


“…yes, sir…” James looked at Sutton, who struggled to look at him. “…I…” The shock started to slowly sink in. What had just happened? It was real, that wasn’t like the festival. That was a real battle with real stakes. “I… I didn’t…” James started, but every word made his throat tighten. He didn’t speak another word.



The walk that took them to the office seemed long and cold. Once there Clarence sat James down on the seat opposite his desk, as he took Okta and gave her to Sutton. Sutton was under strict instructions to take her to the healing bay without delay. James was leaning forward in the chair, nervously tugging on his jacket every few seconds. Clarence had found a couple of small medical strips and coated them in cold water and some sort of wound cleaning material. He stood next to James for a moment.


“Where have you been cut?” he asked as gently as he could, James looked at him for a moment before going back to tugging his jacket. “James, I need to clean the cuts. Where did you get cut?” James then pointed to his chin, cheek, hand and knee. “I should get you wrapped up Musharna dream clouds. That way if you feel you would land on something soft.” He smiled, to try make James less on edge. “What’s wrong?” He pressed the strip against James’s cheek so it would stick.


“I could have killed her.” James started to become teary. “It is all my fault. She is dying and it’s my fault. I am a bad trainer.”


Clarence was slightly surprised to see the boy crying at first. James didn’t seem to come across as someone who would cry.


“It’s done. You cannot change what has happened now.” The man stuck the second medical strip to his chin.


“It’s my fault,” James’s voice squeaked, and he wiped his eyes with his sleeve. “Now you are going to let them have me, right? Then I will never see her again. I don’t want to be without her.”


“James, calm down. She isn’t going anywhere, and neither are you.” Clarence took James’s hand and pressed the strip onto it. “Pick your fights better, perhaps? What happened anyway?”


James frantically shook his head.


“The truth, please. It will help me understand, and then teach you what to do. I just want you to grow, like everyone here.”


“Promise I can have her back soon,” James sobbed.


“I promise you can have her back, once she is in a better state. That means you are going to have to look after her very well though,” Clarence said, quietly as he finished patching James up. “Can you do that?”


“…yes, sir…” the boy whispered. “… I wanted to go see Zanha… So I finished up with school, like you told me to… then I ran into Sergeant Sutton. I helped him with his groceries, and then I went to see Zanha, in the park…”


“Who is Zanha?” Clarence asked.


“She is a Pokémon in the park. I just wanted her to come out. She was there the other day when Sutton used bug buzz. It was hurting her.”


“I see.”


“Don’t hurt her, or Okta,” James tried to shout but once again his throat seized up.


“Please relax. No one is getting hurt. It is nearly 7 PM though. You need to rest. Okta will be fighting fit again by Sunday.”


“I want her back soon though,” James blurted out, upset. “I don’t feel safe without her, please give her back.”



“I didn’t say you would have to wait until Sunday. Today is Thursday… maybe tomorrow evening you can have her back.”


James shook his head at Clarence.


“I can’t make her heal any sooner. The wounds are very deep. A heal pulse would heal the wounds but it would also make her feel unwell…”


The boy then curled up as much as he could.
“I am a bad trainer. I screwed up this time and now you won’t let me have her back,” he sobbed into his jacket.


“James, it’s okay. Admitting to making a mistake is the first step to fixing it,” Clarence spoke softly, as he stood the boy up next to him.


“It is?”


“Yes. The second step is accepting you can’t change what has happened.” James nodded as Clarence pushed the hair out of his face. “Would you like to sit next to her until 8 PM? I can let you do that. Afterwards though you have to go home. It is recommended that children go to bed between 8 PM and 9 PM, so they can get enough sleep ready for a new day under the snow… or in this case, sun.”


“Can I stay with her all night? I’ll go to sleep when you want, I just don’t want to leave her. Please, sir?” James was sincere.


He felt scared without his protector. The reason he survived Rei’s tyranny so long.


Clarence sighed. “Adamant as ever. Okay, but Sutton or I must stay with you to make sure you don’t wander off and break rules. Deal?” Clarence extended his forearm.


“I promise,” James replied. ‘Maybe you aren’t such a jerk all the time. Maybe you are only a jerk some of the time.’ James thought, before his mind turned to Okta. ‘I am sorry Okta, it is all my fault. I will make it up to you, we will become stronger than anyone else in this world. That is a promise.’

Clarence watched as James tried to sneak out of the crowd. The boy was clearly aware he was about to get scolded, so was trying to make a daring escape. Before the trouble maker could get too far, he cut James off.  

“Let’s walk,” Clarence said, calmly. ‘Patience is key, especially with boys like James. He is angry, and understandably. We need to guide him, rather than shutting him down and fuelling that anger and hatred.’ He thought, as he planned what to say.

“James?” 

“What?” James spat. “I hate you, you are no fun.” 

“I am fun, I am also serious when I need to be, and this is one of those times. You almost got yourself killed with your stunts. Lioa is blind at the moment, and Andrew could have been killed too. If a thunder attack had hit either of them directly, they could have both had their hearts stopped.” 

“Oh…” James replied, hanging his head. “We just wanted to help…” 

“I appreciate that, but regardless, you almost got yourself and your friends killed. Therefore you will have to face some sort of repercussions.” 

“What does that word mean?” The boy was confused, by Clarence’s slight mispronunciation.  

“It means, you get punished for your bad actions.” Clarence’s response left James to start to sulk.  

“I won’t let you hit me. Let me go!” James started thrashing around in a panic. 

“Hit you? Why would I hit you? You haven’t done anything that would warrant such an extreme punishment. Scold, yes. Possibly given some sort of tedious punishment, yes. However, I won’t hit you for that. I believing spanking or caning a child should only be used as an extreme measure, when there is no alternative.” Clarence noticed James’s body language relax. 

“You won’t hurt me for fun?” 

“Of course not. That is sadistic. James, is there something you wish to tell me?” Clarence asked, as James looked at him. This man was definitely kind and forgiving. 

“Rei…” James muttered, before changing the topic. “Can we battle please?” 

“I see, and of course… however, I don’t want you using Okta. I’ll lend you one of my Pokémon instead.” Clarence said, as he walked with James to the green, “There are two I would like to keep rested, however, you have a choice: Hishrak (the Alakazam); Barook (the Braviary); Miskiak (The Houndoom) or Falaberot (the Gyarados). You may borrow two of those.” 

“What is a Gyro-dos?” James tried to pronounce the word, with great difficulty. 

“Gyarados? It is a water, flying type.” 

“Can I ride it?” James said, eagerly. “I always wanted to fly.” 

“I would rather you didn’t,” Clarence laughed. ‘An angry boy riding an angry Pokémon…’   

“Hmm… Can I borrow Barook and Mishirak?” James said, in a desperate attempt to remember their names. 

“Barook and Miskiak? Let’s see.” Clarence reached into his pocket and handed the two Pokémon over to James. “We will play Northern rules, okay?”  

James nodded as the man walked away, before turning around.  

“Hishrak, let’s go!” Clarence tossed the Alakazam onto the battlefield gracefully, and the ball bounced perfectly back into his hand. As Hishrak landed he stared at James, eagerly. 

“Miskiak, it is on you!” James called out, throwing the ball hard. It rolled as it hit the ground, and released the Houndoom.  

The dark type let out an annoyed cry as it had clearly been napping beforehand.  

“Use… er… bite?”  

The Houndoom scowled at being told what to do, by what appeared to be a strange smelling boy. Instead of doing as he was told, he simply curled up on the spot and attempted take another nap.  

“Oh come on, get up lazy!” James started to try and push the Houndoom out of his battle box, only to be snapped at.  

Clarence started to laugh. 

James’s inexperience was clearly being sensed by the much more experienced Houndoom. 

“Hishrak, return to me, Falaberot, I think it’s your turn already.” Clarence returned his Alakazam, before releasing his Gyarados onto the field. “Waterfall!” As she came out of her ball, the Gyarados sprayed water into the air, which started to come crashing down where the Houndoom was happily snoozing. 

“Get up, come on…” James was pushing on the Houndoom’s backside, trying to get him to move. Although, secretly, Miskiak was watching the Gyarados’s attack. As the water came plummeting towards him, he got quickly and moved out the way.

James, who fell over from the force he was pushing the creature with, got drenched. Watching the water soak the boy, like a sponge, made the Houndoom snigger, before rolling over, and letting out a battle cry. 

“James, you aren’t meant to get yourself drenched!” Clarence laughed, “Okay Miskiak, be nice. You have had your fun. Falaberot use waterfall!” 

“Use bite!” James returned a move, however, Miskiak didn’t. He ran towards the giant serpent, and emitted listen dark pulse instead, which turned the entire battlefield black for a few seconds. “I said use bite!” James shouted out, irritated. 

“James, relax. A Pokémon can sense when their trainer is uptight.” As Miskiak turned back to face James, he was coated in the water from the waterfall attack, and the hot steam that was coming out of his nostrils suddenly became cold, as he fainted from the attack. “Go and retrieve Miskiak’s ball please, before sending out another Pokémon.” Clarence ordered, James grunted in return, as he dragged himself past the fainted Houndoom and picked up the ball, before returning to his so called battle box. 

“Miskiak, come back. You weren’t powerful at all. You didn’t even listen to me.” James puffed at the ball, as he reached into his pocket and took out the second. “Barook, please listen to me…” James said, as he released the Braviary from its ball, by pressing on the capsule lock. As he did the red feathered bird shot out, and hovered above his head for a moment before landing next to James, and staring him in the eyes. Barook was very big for a Braviary, and was even taller than he was. 

“Use ice fang!” Clarence called out, as the serpent slithered through the air towards the Braviary. 

“Use steel wing!” James shouted. As he did, Barook’s wings turned solid, and he started to flap viciously, before letting out a loud cry, and started to fake-peck at James, before flying up high into the sky, and swooping back down and grabbing a large stick that had fallen from a tree. Barook then preceded to chase one of the soldiers who just happened to be walking by the park on the street.  

“Southern jerk, why won’t they do what I tell them to?” Clarence stepped outside of the assigned box, and wandered over to James, who was annoyed, and dripping with water. 

“See how frustrating it can be when people don’t do as they are told? It can put someone else in danger. Barook, here!” The Braviary immediately stopped fake-harassing the soldier and dropped the stick, before flying over to Clarence and rubbing his head on the man’s shoulder. James then realised that the entire event had been a lesson, to teach him to behave in a manner that didn’t interrupt the transition to Southern occupational life. 

“This was a stupid lesson, right?” James scorned. 

“Not stupid at all. It is an important one. Maybe it was unfair of me to lend you two Pokémon, which I knew wouldn’t listen to you. They understand your language, but they don’t care much for trainers who they feel are weak… don’t take it personally. I don’t think you are weak at all, in fact, I think you are incredibly talented. However, my Pokémon have seen some… nasty battles, if they don’t think you could guide them through those, they consider you weak. If you want to get better,

I don’t mind spending time showing you things.” 

“Why? Don’t you have a town to make miserable? There are a lot more people in this town than just my group of friends.” 

“I know. I spend as much time as I can with all of them. However, sometimes, some people need more attention than others. I feel like you need more attention than most… not because you are an orphan or are angry at things for how they are, but because you have so much potential, and I don’t want you to destroy yourself with it.” Clarence said, calmly and softly. “You are a clever boy, James.” 

“How do you get the stupid ball to come back anyways?” James grumbled. 

“Backspin, and velocity management, if you want I can teach you that. I don’t mind, but maybe not tonight, since it is getting late and you have school tomorrow.” 

“Stupid school…” James grumbled again. “What is velocity?” James asked, 

“Velocity, the speed of the ball in a direction. It’s actually a relatively new concept. An off-islander brought it up under interrogation about… twenty years ago. The Master Guard wasn’t pleased to find an off-islander on Coltar. They could have killed him, yes, but instead they discovered the man had a knack for languages, and something called ‘scientific principle’, he belongs to one of the Master Guard as a servant, and helps him, or her, with their daily work in regard to researching myths.”

Clarence stroked his moustache as he delved into thought. 

“Where did he come from?” 

“Who knows? He confessed to coming from the abyss, and found himself on something called a raft, with knowledge in his head. He couldn’t remember much…” Clarence pondered. 

“I want to see the outside abyss myself…” 

“That is treason. Leaving this island results in death, from either the Guard, or from whatever is out there.” The officer scolded. 

“I…” 

“No, James that is enough,” Clarence’s voice remained calm. 

“Yes, sir.” James whispered, hanging his head and pressing it against the man’s chest. “I want my mother…” James started to produce fake tears, to try and get the man to simply send him back to the Bryson household without any more actions against him. 

“James, I said that is enough. I have a lot of paperwork what needs sorting alphabetically… that could be the punishment. Helps me get out of trouble with Lord Jackson, who is pretty fuming I didn’t send the paper work off two days ago, and it helps you practice reading.”  

Clarence smiled at him, only to see James cross his arms once more in a sulk. “I will be in the office if you need help, but since you should be learning to read the alphabet tomorrow, and basic numbers, I am sure you will have it memorised.” 

“Stupid school…” James grumbled again. 

“You want to be flown home?” Clarence asked, as he pet Barook on the head. “Barook can carry up to the weight of a Metagross, which is very heavy.” 

“Wait… really?” James said, as he came closer. 

“Yes, of course. Braviary is a strong Pokémon, he could lift up Okta if he wanted… not sure for how long, but at least five to ten seconds. Let me just get my goggles from my… ah… it appears I have left them in my office. Oh well, I suppose the
fresh air won’t hurt, as long as we don’t go too fast.” Clarence helped James onto Barook’s back, before leaning over the top to stop the boy from falling off. “I forgot my harness too. I trust Barook to be careful.” 

“What do you mean?” James asked as Clarence pressed James close to Barook’s back, so the boy could only see the back of the bird’s head.  

Barook suddenly shot up into the air, as Clarence held on tightly to his core feathers.  

James’s face represented sheer horror at first, but then he quickly came to enjoy the thrill of rising up and up towards the clouds. James quickly moved his legs to either side of the Braviary, before raising his head a little to see where they were flying.

Clarence kept his body as close to the Braviary’s back as possible, without completely crushing James. Rather, he was using his body weight to stop the boy from sliding off completely. “How high can he go?” James yelled, as Barook climbed higher and higher. 

“As high as I need him to, except if we go too high his wings will freeze, and we will plummet to our deaths… one of the reasons why I hate flying!” Clarence shouted over the sound of the air rushing past them. 

“Why? This is fun, and I’m not even steering yet!”  

“I don’t think I would trust you to steer yet!” Clarence almost laughed, as the Braviary levelled out carefully. “Braviary and Mandibuzz nests are often in the mountains, above the clouds!” 

“What is a Mandibuzz?” James asked, shouting over the gushing air. 

“Imagine General Greiss in a dress, then turn the dress into bones… and make it a lot moodier!” Clarence shouted, as a joke. James started to laugh at the Captain’s humour. “Nearly there, Barook, down slowly.” 

“Already?” James shouted, saddened. “Can we go again?” He asked, as the bird swooped down as quickly as it could. “I don’t think he is going slowly! Faster Barook, I bet you can’t fly faster than a Hydreigon!” 

“No definitely not faster. Barook, slow down!” The Braviary, gently started to slow his decline, as he heard the fear in Clarence’s voice. 

“Aww…” James huffed, as Barook came to a careful stop outside the Bryson household. “Again?” 

“That is why I hate flying, reason number two… the speed of the decline.” Clarence whispered, “I think you need rest first. If you don’t cause trouble I will take you for another flight on Wednesday.” 

“What? That’s unfair, that’s…” James paused to think, “Almost another fast away.” 

“I need to recover, I am not a keen flier. I would much rather teleport, but Hishrak thinks it’s an abuse of his abilities.” Clarence smiled, as James scowled. “Let’s get Nashe to put you to bed.” 

“Hey…” James nudged the man. “Thank you for letting me fly, you Southern jerk.” James’ expression was neutral. 

“Captain Bourbabel, please. I don’t like to be referred to, and I quote, as ‘Southern jerk’, it makes me feel as if I am offending you and everyone else here.” 

“Mister Southern jerk?” James asked, hoping his attempt at a compromising insult of his name would be accepted. 

“We will get there in the end…” Clarence sighed, as he knocked on the door. 

“Thank you, Barook.” James said, as he started to pet the Braviary that seemed pleased with itself. “Next time, can you go as fast as a Hydreigon? I want to fly so fast the world becomes a painting of smudged colours!” Barook, seeing James lighten up a lot, gently and playfully pecked the boy on the head. 

“Please… don’t encourage him.” Clarence said, sternly. 

“Who?” James asked curiously. 

“Both of you. You are both trouble makers.” Clarence smiled at the Braviary and the boy. ‘I suppose at least he has found a personality match with Barook. Definitely. Maybe something like this is a good way to help iron his trouble making behavior
out, or at least make it very manageable.’ Clarence straightened up his trinity knot tie, as he heard Nashe come to open the door.  

As Nashe opened the door to see the man’s face, she didn’t know what to say. She was stunned, if not horrified to see the Captain sent by Lord Piscar, particularly as Tak wasn’t there to fight if things got nasty. Her grey dress became as stiff as she did as she struggled to find the words. 

“I’ve brought James home.” Clarence said, as he went to nudge James forwards. However, when his hand didn’t reach James he quickly turned around. He saw the boy playing with Barook. He was jumping around, trying to avoid the playful pecks of
the large Pokémon. “James. Time to sleep.” James looked up upon hearing his name a second time, before walking over towards Nashe. 

“I suppose he has been causing trouble. Tak will be incredibly unhappy. You are heading towards being thrown out, James.” Nashe scolded, immediately. 

“A little trouble, nothing that I can’t iron out though.” Clarence said, as he watched James go inside. 

“Would you like to come in?” Nashe asked, cautiously. 

“If it isn’t too much trouble, I would love to spend some time with your household. I hope to help everyone in the town as much as I can. Since occupation will last longer than the end of the war, I can imagine.” Clarence said, calmly, as he returned Barook to his ball. Clarence then stepped inside, carefully minding his head on the door, and coming into the dining room. 

“Would you like a drink at all?” 

“No, thank you.” The Captain said, quietly. “Hopefully the boys will be asleep soon. They both have big days tomorrow. Lots to learn, and so much little time than I had when I started to learn.”  

“Why are you doing this? I don’t understand. You pretend to care about us?” Nashe asked, sounding slightly irritated. 

“Lord Piscar cares about everyone in the North. Particularly the new generation. He feels, like I, that if they are taught and educated from a young age, the North can grow powerful and prosperous. Something which Lord Madison’s … policy… would never allow.” Clarence said, cautiously as he heard the sound of the stairs creaking. Kitiku had made his way half way down the stairs. He was tired, but he had just been woken by the noise. Nashe rushed over to see him. 

“Go back to bed, Kitiku. It’s late… you must be tired. Please, you need rest.” She whispered to him, as he reached forward to be held in her arms. “One last hug, then you go and sleep?” He raised his hands, and tapped his right wrist twice with his little finger on his left hand, before clenching both fists for a mere second, and drawing a cross on his right hand with his left index finger. 

“Sorry Kitiku, I didn’t mean to wake you.” Clarence said, as he slumped against the wall. The boy almost jumped out of his skin, as he didn’t notice Clarence appear. “Hishrak can carry him back up, he is like an extra pair of eyes too, so will make sure both of your sons sleep well.” 

“Thank you, it would be appreciated.” Nashe said, as she hugged Kitiku before Hishrak lifted upstairs him using psychic. 

“Has he always been like that?” 

“Like what?” 

“He signs more than he talks.” Clarence stated, hoping to discover why the boy was so shy. 

“He has done that since he was five years old. I don’t know what triggered it, but he has always been a shy child. He signs because he believes that there is no solid interaction between himself and the other person that way.” Nashe said, tentatively. 

“So he feels safer, I presume. His silence does concern me greatly. James on the other hand…” 

“Trying to get James to shut up is the trick.” Nashe interrupted.  

“He is very intelligent; his plans are innovative and his battling skills are outstanding, considering his lack of formal training,” Clarence said, as he pondered upon how to help James develop as a citizen. “He does like to stir trouble though.” 

“Tak has threatened to throw him out if he doesn’t stop soon.” Upon her mentioning Tak, Oosho slipped into the room, he was quietly puckering along the floor. He wasn’t happy. 

“I see. I hope to stop that from ever happening.” Clarence replied. As he did the angry Octillery squelched his way along the floor towards the Captain. He was as silent as he could be. “By the way, I can see you Oosho. I am not blind, nor stupid. In fact, I have eyes in the back of my head… so don’t even think about using hydro pump on me.” The Octillery was shocked, how could this Southern ‘peasant’ see him? He started to have a tantrum. 

“Oosho stop. Tak isn’t here, stop being so ungrateful.” Nashe commanded. The Octillery huffed, annoyed, in response. 

“Moody, eh… not a bad ability to have… can get really, really stressful though, I imagine. Where is Tak anyway? Curfew has dropped…” Clarence quickly asked. “He can’t work today since it is Friday, as it is illegal for him to… so where is he?”

Nashe just stared at him, blankly. She didn’t want to answer the question. “Mrs. Bryson, the truth is important here. I suspect I already know the answer, and it’s not what I want to hear, however, I understand why. So the truth, please.” 

“Please leave.” Nashe said, incredibly uncomfortably. 

“Tak is working, isn’t he?” Clarence prompted. 

“I…” Nashe started, she knew if she asked him to leave again, she would answer his question. 

“It’s a serious offence.” Clarence’s face straightened. 

“We need the money… we can barely pay the rent, and food…” 

“I know…” Clarence stopped, and pressed his hand into his chin, as he thought about what to do. “I can’t let this offense slide. If I let you get away with it, then everyone else will want to try too. However, given the circumstances, I can reduce the outcome.” 

“What is it without the reduction?” Nashe asked, worried. 

“Imprisonment, or a massive fine, whichever hurts the household more. In this case, imprisonment would do that, since Tak earns almost everything for the household…” Clarence sighed, “I can fine you for a first offense instead. The current fine would be over a five hundred Colkara, which I find ridiculous. Considering you struggle to afford rent and food. That would over a whole month’s money gone, and you wouldn’t have paid rent yet. I can fine you three hundred and twenty-eight  Colkara instead. That is probably the least I can get away with, and even then I am probably pushing my luck.”  

“That’s still too much. Tak earns only fifteen Colkara a day, that’s twenty one days of money gone. Please, don’t do this. It was a mistake, an honest mistake.” Nashe was trying her best to plead, “What about our children? They will starve, they already do sometimes because of the war. You can’t expect them to live off of so little!” 

“I don’t,” Clarence paused. “I can’t let it slide, it would be picked up immediately. Particularly, as working requires papers, and Tak must have been noted as being present today, which went on record this morning, before I saw it in raw form. A few
Lords had gone to arrest him already. I have an idea. Tak earns 15 Colkara a day… I can set it up so you can pay it over a long period of time without fear of reprisal. Does that sound like a good idea?” 

“Yes, sir…” Nashe said, she was incredibly upset. 

“If it was to be twelve Colkara a month, as payment that would be reasonable, I think. You would still keep 48. I believe your rent is 30 a month, which leaves 18 Colkara for food. It’s tight, but it will clear the debt quickly, without hurting your family as much as it would elsewise. I will have Tak released in the morning, presuming he has been arrested.” Clarence said, he was desperate to help the Bryson family as much as he could. 

“Yes, sir. What about James and Kitiku? I don’t want us to be thrown out of the house and them to live on the streets.” Nashe worried, 

“It won’t happen. Tomorrow, I will talk it through with Tak too, and we will find the best possible outcome.” 

“Thank you…” Nashe whispered. “I am going to check on Kitiku, I hope he is asleep and didn’t hear this.” Clarence knew her concern was for her only son, and not the orphan boy she had been hiding as her son. 

“I need to get Hishrak back, so let’s go and make sure they are asleep.” Clarence said, calmly, “Mrs. Bryson, it will be okay. I promise I will do everything I can to make this manageable.” 

James hugged Kitiku, who was stressed as he had overheard what had been said in places. The boy’s black hair had flopped over his face, and his eyes dimmed with new found, additional, hopelessness. James reached over to his bed and lifted his jacket, which he had dumped there, and wrapped it around his friend’s shoulders. Hishrak was watching closely, as if he was waiting for James to do something aggressive, but it was becoming clearer by the minute that James didn’t care as much for violence when his friend was scared or hurting. 

“Kitiku, it’s not going to be that bad, there is no way I’ll let him throw us out. I’ll fight him again. I won’t lose this time.” James whispered. 

“It will be. I want my father home.” Kitiku whispered, as he started to get himself worked up. James heard a noise by the door, and he quickly picked up Okta’s ball to defend himself. He was relieved when Nashe came in the door first. She sat down next to Kitiku, who was clearly upset, and sighed. 

“James, Kitiku, you two should be asleep,” She said, softly.  

“Forget it! We know everything. I hate you,” James shouted as he tried to thump Clarence, but missed and almost fell over. “You want to kick us out, because you want to arrest Tak and ruin our lives and starve us and stuff.” 

“Wait… what? James, no. That is not what I want at all. I want to make sure you don’t get kicked out, Tak doesn’t get imprisoned, and you don’t starve.” Clarence sat down next to James on the bed. “Tomorrow morning, I will release Tak from Jail, and he and I will have a long discussion about how the fine the household will receive, shall be paid off. I recommend it is done in chunks, which are large, but go away quickly, while leaving you money for food and rent.” 

James, Kitiku, Lioa and Andrew had arrived at the school building early, in order to investigate it and to avoid being late due to the snow. The building was made of clean-cut grey-white stone bricks, and the door was an arch. 

 

James tugged his sash so it was hidden under his bag strap. His white shirt was cleaner than the snow that had settled on the ground overnight, and his trousers had been pressed by Mrs Bryson, who had insisted the boys make a good impression.  

Lioa’s eyes hurt, he could see everything once more, but after a while they stung due to the strain of the incident the day before. His hair puffed up, and his shirt hung out. He had even done the sash up in a super short manner as an attempt to irritate
whoever was teaching them.  

Kitiku had explained how he was expecting the teachers to be members of the Southern Guard, until more suitable teachers could be found. He was nervous, as they wandered through the quiet corridors and saw Sutton leaning against the wall, clearly unhappy about being roped in to direct them to whichever room they would be in. Incaresta would have much rather been patrolling the streets, or even on cell duty, as he could have had somewhat more sleep. 

“Birthdays?” Sutton asked. 

“Hey Mister Sutton,” James chirped up. “What are you doing?” 

“Assigning people to rooms. Birthdays?” 

“Why?” James asked. 

“Captain Bourbabel told me to. Now, birthdays?” the man said, irritated. 

“15th February, 1975…” James whispered. 

“23rd April, 1975,” Lioa shouted, “Doesn’t mean I’m not better than you though James, just because you are older!” 

“Yeah, James,” Andrew chipped in. 

“Lioa, tidy yourself up immediately. Andrew… birthday?” Sutton pressed, he was clearly not having fun and the boys starting to kick off was the last thing he wanted to be dealing with. 

“27th May, 1977, sir...” Andrew said, quietly. 

“27th August… 1975,” Kitiku whispered, like James had. 

“Come with me.” Sutton walked down the hallway on the left, and all of the boys followed. The first room on the left they walked past was dedicated to those born between 1st January and 31st December 1982, so consisted of six and seven year olds, who were all buzzing with excitement. He continued until he reached the room marked for those born in 1977. “Andrew, this is your stop.” 

“No, I want to stay with Lioa,” Andrew scowled, and slumped against the nice shiny wooden panels. They smelt of freshly cut wood, and the floor shone his reflection. 

“Now, Andrew! I am not playing games, go in the room,” Sutton scowled back. His demeanour seemed off. 

“Y-yes, sir.” Andrew was taken back for a moment, and hung his head in shame as he entered the room, and was directed to a desk by the Lord inside. 

“Let’s go,” Sutton said. James stopped walking and looked back towards the entrance hall. “I said, let’s go James.” 

“Why?” James snapped. 

“I said so. Now hurry up.” James crossed his arms at Sutton’s explanation. The Sergeant rolled up his sleeves before grabbing James by the scruff of his neck and dragging him round the corner down the second corridor. 

“Hey, let go! What’s wrong? You aren’t like this usually…” James asked, desperate to be let go. 

“Classified,” Sutton stated, coldly, as he let James go. “I am under enough stress as it is, please co-operate.” He knocked on the door, and a tall, broad Lord answered. He seemed familiar to James, but he couldn’t quite place him for some reason. “My Lord,” Sutton bowed before him, as did Kitiku (as best he could). James scowled at the man in the dark midnight blue Jacket. 

“Recalcitrant children will be punished. Get inside,” the Lord said, coldly. 

“What does that word mean?” James asked, curiously, but was slapped round the back of the head. 

“I didn’t say you could speak, boy. Get inside and sit down where I tell you to. You three are obviously friends…” The man’s red hair was short and combed back under his hat, and he emitted a strange and obscured aura. He showed the boys in, before slamming the door in Sutton’s face. “You are not sitting near each other.” 

“Actually… Kitiku has to sit next to one of us,” James snapped, as he quickly had to think of a lie before he was going to get slapped and his nervous friend would be forced to sit next to people he didn’t want to talk to, or even be near. “His medication intake needs monitoring, so if something goes wrong one of us knows what to do…” The man smiled for a moment before grabbing James aggressively and shunting him into the wall with his hand. James was pinned with no way out. 

“I can tell when you are lying, boy. I have interrogated prisoners who are at breaking point, whose lies are more believable, as they beg to be let go. I can’t believe Lord Piscar is wasting his time, and mine. While Lord Jackson parades around the castle training the new generation of Guards, I am stuck here, training the new generation of Raticate,” the man barked, “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t use my cane? Just one.” The man raised his finger to James, who was angrily huffing.

Then he remembered what Clarence had said about mistakes. 

“It was a mistake my Lord, it won’t happen again my Lord,” James put on his most grovel-filled voice. 

“Good. Now sit at the back on the right column, where I don’t have to look at you.” He released James from the wall, and the boy quickly scarpered to the back, and sat down, quietly. “You, sit at the front where I can see you, middle desk boy.” Lioa crossed his arms and refused, only to receive a whack on the hand by the man’s cane. “I said, I wouldn’t accept recalcitrant children. Sit down! As for you defective, sit two rows in front of him,” He pointed at James. “To remind him of how foolish he was.” The man then snapped his boots and turned around to write on the board, intermittently turning around to direct the other fifteen students to their seats. 

Sutton sat down in the small teacher’s room as the clock ticked to 8:31. He was feeling a lot of emotions, and he was feeling bad about how he had treated all the children who had asked him questions as they came in. He stroked his Electabuzz’s head, as he thought about the letter he had received from his wife late last night. The letter had informed him that she was pregnant, which had filled his heart with joy.  

However, it didn’t take him long to feel miserable from missing his family, and the possibility of missing the birth of his third child. He was irritated that his request for leave had been denied by Captain Bourbabel on the grounds that of ‘no reason inputted on the form’, but he was more irritated at himself for forgetting to input such an important piece of information. He pondered upon how he would tell the Captain about his mistake, and how he was suffering with anxiety without being labelled a coward. He turned to his dear friend, and started to relax. 

---

Part 2

---

The Lord had written his name on the board in simple capitals, although, it didn’t do much good, since most of those in the room had no idea what it said. He tapped his cane against his right hand, impatiently, as he waited for the final few students to sit down. James slumped against his desk. The desk was wooden, and was slanted. A slot at the top was dedicated to ink pots, and the slot at the side was for the quills. The man’s voice was a drone to him, but he listened as Tak would have wanted him to.


“I believe I am wasting my time here, but Lord Piscar believes this ridiculous trial should go ahead. I will look forward to condemning it in my report. You are here to learn, that is it, no friends during lessons, no talking. My name is Lord Clavouro, and I am chief interrogator within the Southern Guard, and am only outranked by Lord Piscar, and Lord Jackson. Why am I here? That is none of your concern, ask me that and I will feed you to my Houndoom,” the Lord said, with a cold tone.


Some of the students started to sit up straighter and looked nervous.


“I assume none of you morons can read, or write or even count. Captain Bourbabel stated that the first thing you shall learn is your own language…” the man almost spat, “Take out the black books from your desk, then put your ink in the hole, and then your pick up your quills.”


One girl raised her hand to ask a question, which made the man instantly respond with “For the sake of Giratina’s love, don’t make me go through colours…”


She quickly put down her raised hand, and copied everyone else who had placed the book on the desk.


“The Colrat alphabet consists of thirty seven letters. The Elkrat alphabet consists of less, which is why our language is, straight away, much better than yours,” he snarled, as he wrote them on the board. “Copy them down in the correct order please. If you make a mistake in your books or smudge your handwriting you will be hauled up and receive…”


“Yeah, yeah we get it,” Lioa snapped. “Don’t get your Tauros tail in a twist, arrogant Southern bastard.”


“First volunteer, get up.” Lioa shook his head at the Lord’s order, which angered the Lord greatly. The man walked around to Lioa’s desk and dragged him to the front and made him kneel. “You shall recite, from memory. If you get it wrong I will make the month I am here miserable for you. Well… recite!”


Lioa took a deep breath.


“No?”


Lioa looked around for help, and saw Kitiku carefully mouthing the first few letters to him.


“Well, in that case…”


“Wait, I know them, please… it goes… a, á, b, c, d, e, é, f, ff, g…” Lioa paused, hoping he had done enough of it to be sent back to his desk.


“I didn’t say stop, unless you don’t know the rest…” Lord Clavouro, rested his cane under Lioa’s chin.


“G, h, i, j, k, l, ll, m, n, ñ, o, p, qu, qw, s.” He gulped as he realised he had made a mistake. “I mean: r, s, t, u, v, w, ix, yu, zhe, and z.” He was relieved he had got to the end.


“You are missing four letters, boy,” Lord Clavouro scolded.


“I… I am?”


“Do you know why you are missing four letters?”


“N-no, sir? I mean, my Lord…” Lioa stuttered, his brain frozen, in shock.


“It is because you are an idiot.” Lord Clavouro whacked Lioa on the top of the head with his own blank book. “You will stay here, in front of everyone until I forgive you, and then on top of your assignment, you will write up everything that was taught today. Is that clear? You will be working today off of memory. I will ask you numerous questions throughout the day, get one more thing wrong, boy… is that perfectly clear?”


Lioa nodded, frantically.


“Good, if you are a good boy, I will remove this note I have just written down to be added to your file.”


Lioa gulped once more.


“You were missing the following letters: ss, ph, yenba, and ö. All of you will speak the alphabet, and then you will repeat it boy.”


Lioa listened carefully to the class stand up and speak the alphabet in complete sync. He carefully remembered every letter, as it was clear the others were trying to say it in a rhythmic pattern to help him. Lioa took a deep breath once more, before repeating the alphabet, exactly.


“Good. We are finally getting somewhere, and we have only been here half an hour…” The Lord was annoyed at how slow they were at picking information up, mainly due to the fact that those who got behind at the Southern Elite castle, students or trainee Guards, would be punished severely until they caught up, were thrown out, or forced into servitude to make up for the time that they had wasted. Therefore, most trainee Guards and students were quick to pick up things they had learned and would happily spend most of their free time studying.


“Now, here is the alphabet in the lower case. You use this case when writing most letters in a word. Do you know what a word is?” the man said, in the most demeaning way he could. “Good, so I am not dealing with complete and utter savages.” he then grumbled in Elkrat under his breath, “I can’t wait to get out of this dump.”


“Lord Clavouro?” James asked, making the man grunt and turn around, seeing the boy slumped against his chair, “what is a ‘yenba’?” the Lord sharply hit the symbol on the board, “I mean, what does it do?”


“Sit up straight. Good question, the kind of question I am willing to answer. A yenba is a letter used to indicate a silent letter. It must be written, or the word doesn’t make sense,” Lord Clavouro explained, calmer than earlier. ‘That boy, I remember him from the day of this crappy town’s surrender. His defiance was there at the door, but now it is well hidden, beneath the false face of curiosity,’ he thought.


“Thank you, Lord Clavouro for explaining it,” James nodded as he pretended to understand what the man had said.


“Now, let’s move on to basic words. The Northern language is bizarre. It has too many genders: he and she are used for living things. He, she and it are used for immobile things, and finally, he, she and it are used for Pokémon. Although, once you name a Pokémon it takes the gender of the name you have given it, if it is un-gendered.”


James’s attention started to wander. The time was only 09:10, and he was bored out of his mind. He started to think about how Okta could eat this man and then everyone would be free from his classes.


“Boy!” James’s attention snapped up, but it quickly became clear that the Lord was talking to Lioa. “Spell the word: mother,”


“’Ukara, U-k-a-r-a’,” Lioa said, clearly but nervously.


“Good boy, now spell the word: father. Something I doubt many of you have,” Lord Clavouro snarled.


“’Ukaro, U-k-a-r-o’,” Lioa answered, he was starting to feel more confident.


“Spell uncle.” Lord Clavouro demanded.


‘Don’t do it Lioa, ask which one he wants,’ Kitiku thought to himself as Lioa pondered to himself for a moment.


“No?” The Lord poked Lioa with his cane.


“W-which one? There are two,” Lioa asked.


“Father’s side.” Lord Clavouro placed a hand on the boy’s head, as he started to spell out the word.


“’Ukaro-ko’, U-k-a-r-o, yenba, k-o,’” Lioa said, proud of himself.


“Good idiot. Last one goes to you,” Lord Clavouro pointed to a girl in the middle of the room, “Spell the word for grandfather on your mother’s side.”


“Ukara-qwo. U-k-a-r-r-o, yenba, qw-o.” Lord Clavouro slammed on her desk in irritation before scolding her, and whacking her around the back of the head with her book.


“Boy! Spell grandfather on your mother’s side.” He pointed at Lioa, who was tired of kneeling already,


“Ukara-qwo, U-k-a-r-a, yenba, qw-o,” Lioa said, the most confident he could.


“Don’t get cocky, boy. Sit back at your desk, and don’t interrupt me again,” the Lord barked, as Lioa scrambled up and sat back down on his desk, snatched up his quill and quickly started to write what had been written down, to avoid having to do it as an assignment.


James relaxed, and started to go back into a daydream, his book was completely blank. He daydreamed about the clouds, and how they danced outside. He imagined flying through them on Barook’s back, as he had done the night before. He wanted to soar higher than any known creature and to touch the stars, and sing a lullaby to the moon. He wanted to reach up and become one with the magical world above the clouds.


Clarence wouldn’t let him go that high, but he didn’t care, Barook would take him as high as he wanted to fly. Higher and higher he flew amongst the soft clouds, before diving down towards the depths of a lake. James imagined himself skimming along the water on the back of the bird, and watching the Qwilfish swim underneath the clear blue water. He would casually reach down and take the plumpest one he could see, as that would be his evening meal, before flying back home to have it cooked. The meat would be tender and white, as the thin pieces were cut onto a plate, and piled up neatly.


James would reach other hand eat the never ending pile of Qwilfish fillets, before going outside and running around. He would suddenly end up in a battle, in which he would send out Okta, the mightiest Pokémon of them all. She would crush all that stood in his wake.


James heard a bell being rung, which interrupted his thought process.


“Assignments, which will be done by tomorrow and put on my desk when you come in. You will revise basic spellings of the one hundred and fifty words today, and you will write your names in your books, and my name, and the name of the town we are unfortunate to be in, as well as a short paragraph on why learning is important. You will be tested on all one hundred and fifty of the words, if you get less than one hundred and forty right you will stand up in front of everyone while I punish you. Is that clear?” The Lord scowled at them all. “The time is 10:30. You have thirty minutes of break. Then you will come back here, and sit down in silence. Your next topic will be Pokémon care, which… thankfully, I don’t have to teach you…”


The students all got up and left without a word.

---

---

James saw the masses of students in front of him, heading towards the back end of the building. He uncomfortably followed the crowd along the corridors to some double doors. The walls were all blank, waiting to be painted with highly praised work. As he reached the doors he saw where everyone had been ushered to. James felt as if he was imprisoned with no way out. He looked at Okta, who was still recovering from her battle scars, he puffed a sigh.


“Hey James that was super embarrassing. Why didn’t you stand up for me?” Lioa said


“I didn’t fancy joining you,” James smirked. “That Lord… I can’t remember where I have seen him before, but all I have to say is, school sucks. This isn’t fun, this is prison. I’m leaving! You can either come with me, or become a mindless drone.” James went to make a sharp turn but bumped into Sutton. “Watch it, Southern jerk. I take back what I said. You are just a jerk and I hate you.”


“James…” Sutton watched as the boy stormed off, “What is his issue?”


“I don’t know, maybe you made us go to a stupid room with some bully Guard teaching us,” Lioa hissed.


“I’ll go talk with him.” Sutton turned and ran after James. ‘That boy, what are we to do with him?’


James was arguing with some Lords who wouldn’t let him back inside the building. His hand was placed on Okta, ready to fight.


“James, come here, now, let’s go for a walk.” Sutton grabbed James by the scruff of his neck and started to walk off with him. Once he had gotten towards the corner of the grounds he let go of James, “James that was irresponsible. Okta is already hurt, and you want to battle with her again? Did nothing that Captain Bourbabel said to you sink in or what?”


“Coming from you…”


“James, what is with you?” Sutton scowled at him,


“You, earlier. Why did you make us sit through that?” James asked, in a huff.


“Following orders.”


“What is so classified about your moodiness anyway?” James snapped, and Sutton sighed.


“I shouldn’t have snapped at you, yes, but you are a handful…” The man looked up at the snowy sky. “Aren’t you cold without a coat?”


James nodded.


“Break will be over soon anyway, I suppose, then you can go back inside. The Lords have started to heat up the building for you all.”


“Why were you mad earlier?” James pressed.


“I made a mistake. I got my leave forms wrong and… I might miss the birth of my son or daughter. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you or Lioa, but…”


“Wait… you got my name right? Also don’t you have a son and daughter already?” James queried.


“Yes, but I am going to have another one.”


“Why?”


“Come on, why don’t you go and play some sports with the others?”


“Don’t like sports except scoof. Can’t play scoof because I don’t have skates, or a bat, or three Voltorbs, or keeper equipment or anything like that. I really want to see Quigk Mothims play against the Kithuk Zebstrikas. That would be the clash of the season.” James mimicked someone whacking a Voltorb at another player with an invisible bat.


Sutton smiled at the boy who seemed to have drastically calmed down.


“Maybe you will be able to play at some point. I am sure Captain Bourbabel could get the equipment if you asked him nicely, or wrote him a polite letter…” Sutton raised an eyebrow, before checking his watch. “You still have twenty minutes. Go and play with Lioa and Kitiku, be good and have fun.”


“Sure…” James said quietly. He looked around to see Lioa and Kitiku behind him.


“Go on…” Sutton nudged him towards his friends, before sticking his tongue out at him.


“Hey, Mister Sutton, I guess you are alright…” James turned back, before joining his friends.



Clarence sat at his desk in the office, going through paper work with the help of Hishrak, who was sorting them as he signed or declined each piece. He milled through suggestions, arrest warrants, and death warrants. Something he definitely didn’t like doing, and denied almost every one, with the exceptions going to those committing treason or murder. Even then he felt somewhat bad about signing. An unopened letter sat on his desk. It was addressed to him by first and last name, and rank. It was written on parchment and had been sealed with wax.


“Oh Hishrak, I will have to open it at some point… I might as well do it now,” he said, as he placed his quill on the desk and drew his knife, carefully cutting open the envelope. He then sighed as he opened it up.



“Dear Captain Clarence Bourbabel,


It has come to my notice that you performed outstandingly stupid, which caused your arrest. As stated in your garrison contract, these kinds of incidents are not acceptable under Southern law. As punishment for your actions, your leave has been hereby cancelled until the 21st October. Once this date has past you may re-apply for leave again. However, do not expect to receive any. The Southern Guard is watching you and your actions from now on, with closer intent. Furthermore, it appears that you managed to almost cause a diplomatic incident between our Lord Elite Piscar and Master of Coltar, Gere Phillip Filktas, when you offended his Captain of the Master Guard. If another incident is to occur like this, I shall be forced to regrettably arrest you and sentence you in the Southern court.


In regard to the Rei-Spitz hunt, I am delighted you have nothing to report. However, our Lord Piscar has come to the conclusion that Hanson Rei escaped the Charizard attack. His face is burnt unrecognisably, but he lives on. He shall do whatever it takes to scorn peace in Coltar. If you find him, kill him without question or mercy. If you find a member of the Spitz or Rei family you are to inform Lord Piscar immediately, so they can be destroyed.


I am somewhat surprised that you have put yourself forward, and have started to develop that shanty of a town. Although, I do agree that some basic education is required for these savages, I am disappointed you would plan to extend their education to that of a Southern level. Lord Piscar has graciously given gifts to your plans. Do not disappoint him.


Yours faithfully,


Lord Mylious Jackson


Captain of the Southern Elite Guard.”




Clarence sighed, a little relieved that all he had received was a light telling off.



James, Lioa, Andrew and Kitiku sat down on a small bench at the back of the grounds. They were squished in together, which made Sutton laugh every time he looked over at them. However, he was also convinced that they would go to the edge of the world together, and come back. ‘They are a real rag-tag bunch. Lioa and James constantly fighting for control over their group. Lioa is the brawn, not a bright boy, but certainly not the one to get into a fight with. Then you have Andrew, he and his brother were close as close could be. Andrew was much smarter, and taller and generally much more perfect. Kitiku is shy still. Although, I do still have a promise to keep about taking him to the route to Finar and practice catching Pokémon. Kitiku is starting to warm up to me now, which makes me feel good. Out of all of them, he doesn’t fit in the most, he hates fighting, and hates causing trouble and yet…’


The bell interrupted Sutton’s thought process. He looked as the students started to filter back inside.


“Sit where ever you want.” Clarence sat on the desk as the students came into the room, Hishrak had teleported him into the room, only moments prior, as he agreed this was important. “As long as you take notes, do assignments, and do as you are told, where you sit doesn’t bother me. I am teaching every single class Pokémon care once a week. Why would I do such a thing? I care greatly about all of your futures. Today I have filled in paperwork, helped the market stall builders, and assisted the labourers and those who are filling in the holes in the park. I have held a meeting in the town hall, and I did all of this before coming here,” Clarence said, calmly. “So, as you can see, I care a lot about everyone in this town. My name is Captain Clarence Rehan Bourbabel. I know all of you by name already, however, I doubt you all know each other. So let’s start off by standing up and announcing who we are, and what our lead Pokémon is.” He pointed to the girl sitting at the front on the right column, and she carefully stood up, frightened the man would snap at her.


“My name is Laylai Josephine Puanani, and my lead Pokémon is Burmy, sir…” she quivered.


“Burmy, I haven’t seen one of them in ages. Which type of Burmy is it?”


“Plant, sir,” dhe said, and Clarence nodded.


“My name is Archapelo Relo Criborn, and my lead Pokémon is Bulbasaur, sir.” Archapelo said, “Forgive me for not standing sir, but I can’t.”


“Very good, and I am sorry, I read what had happened to you.” Clarence started to note down on the board the names and the Pokémon of each student. Eventually he reached Lioa, who was sitting in front of James.


“Lioa Hiro Takui, and my lead Pokémon is a Gurdurr. Don’t expect me to call you sir. You are a waste of my time. This entire thing is a waste of time,” Lioa said, slumped at his desk.


“Yet, you answer the questions,” Clarence said, his voice soft and calming. “Lioa, please sit at the front, there is a spare seat here.”


“You said you didn’t care where we sat,” Lioa said as he got up with his bag.


“You didn’t do as you were told. In fact you tried to be rude and argumentative. So please…” Clarence pointed to a desk at the front. “You shall sit here until you learn you can’t treat people like that Lioa,” Clarence scolded, as he sat on the desk still, and pointed to Kitiku. Kitiku froze-up. He couldn’t talk in front of all of these people, James watched as his friend started to panic upon standing up.


“Leave him alone,” James stood up and shouted. “He doesn’t want to talk in front of everyone!”


“James sit down. Kitiku, take your time…” Clarence said, but the boy remained frozen, as he saw everyone staring at him. Kitiku looked down at his desk, stressed, and gently shook his head. “I’ll speak with you outside in a minute, okay?”


The boy slowly sat down, nervously, as he thought he had gotten himself into deep trouble. He then placed his head on his desk, upset.


Clarence noted this behaviour, and hoped the boy would calm down soon, as he pointed at James to go next.


“James Tak Bryson. Onix, sir,” James said, quickly before sitting back down. He watched as Lioa shook his head at him, annoyed. James placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder, who remained uptight, and upset.


Clarence continued to make his way around the room until he had noted all but Kitiku’s name on the board. He had split the seventeen names into six groups of three, and one group of two.


“You are now in groups of three. Each group will discuss three Pokémon types, as assigned based on their own Pokémon, in regards to how to look after them. How do you clean them? What do you feed them, generically? How often should you exercise and play with them a day? Is there anything these Pokémon should avoid at all costs?”


“Kitiku… which group am I in?” James whispered, and Kitiku raised his head to see the board, before signing the number four to him. “Thank you.”


“Take notes with each other about what you think, and afterwards we will go through it.” Clarence smiled as the students got up and started to discuss things with each other. ‘A great way to make them think that I am not teaching them anything. Less defiance that way. Also, this gives them a chance to talk with people they wouldn’t usually, and to get to know people who have similar Pokémon to them. Lastly…’


His mind turned to Kitiku, who had been sobbing. Clarence sighed softly as he crouched down next to Kitiku. “Let’s go out into the corridor and talk. You aren’t in trouble, I am just worried about you.” Clarence left the room, and lent against the wall in the corridor, he waited a couple of minutes for Kitiku to arrive.


“Kitiku, I know you hate talking, and I know you don’t like to interact with people you aren’t friends with. However, this is unhealthy…” Clarence said, calmly, as he tried to influence how the boy was reacting. Kitiku continued to sob, assuming he was about to get scolded for being nervous. “There is no need to be so upset. As I said, you aren’t in trouble…”


Kitiku rubbed his eyes with his left hand, while holding himself upright with his right crutch. “This really isn’t healthy… would you like to try and introduce yourself again?”


The boy frantically shook his head before slumping against him, making Clarence sigh once more.


“Do you want to sign your name and Pokémon?”


The boy didn’t move. “Let me rephrase how I asked that… would you sign your name and Pokémon? It would make me very happy if you would.”


Kitiku looked up, and nodded as he wiped his tears from his eyes.


“Good boy, let’s go and do that then.”


Clarence opened the door once more; to the officer’s surprise all of the students, including Lioa and James, were happily working on their tasks. “Okay!” he called out, and everyone in the room turned around. “Go ahead Kitiku.”


Kitiku looked down, as he signed ‘My name is Kitiku Tak Bryson, and my Pokémon is a Klink.’


“There, I shall translate: my name is Kitiku Tak Bryson, and my Pokémon is a Klink.” Clarence felt much happier now that Kitiku had almost interacted with the others. “Kitiku, go and join group four please.”


The boy nodded and crutched over to the group in the corner.


“Is everyone getting on okay?”


“Yes, sir!” A loud chorus rang out.


“Okay, five minutes, and then we hear from each group what they have found out through discussion.” Clarence watched, as they continued to stand and talk with each other. He watched as the clock started to tick closer to the hour. ‘Only forty minutes until midday, considering these kids have five hours left of school, they seem to be coping very well, although school had started at 08:30 today rather than 08:00 due to the extreme conditions. The tiredness will start to hit them soon though. They have been here nearly four hours. I expect a lot of them to take a nap during the two hour lunch break we will give them today. This time will eventually decrease to an hour, but it would be harsh on the first day.’ “Time is up. Group one, what did you find out?”


The students suddenly stopped talking and all faced him.


“Grass Pokémon shouldn’t be allowed near poison-types, sir,” Archapelo said.


“Poison type Pokémon shouldn’t eat foods like milk, because it makes them sick, sir.” The girl standing next to Archapelo said.


“Bug and Pokémon can take baths, but the depth needs to be carefully watched, sir,” the girl sitting at the desk behind them said.


“Good start. Yes it is true, grass and poison types generically don’t get along, however, can someone give me an example of a grass-poison Pokémon? Yes, Dehro,”


“Bulbasaur, Ivysaur and Venusaur, sir,” the albino boy said.


“Very good. Another set is Bellsprout, Weepinbell and Victreebel. Group two, your turn”



“Fire type Pokémon can’t be given sand baths or water baths, sir,” Ana Jun-Seo chirped up.


“Ghost types can fade in and out of reality, and also they don’t eat as much as other types, since their stomachs are… weird,” Alexis Jun-Seo said.


“I am not partaking in this.” Lioa stood, and crossed his arms.


“Lioa, you can spend your lunch with Lord Clavouro then. Since he is your current head of class, despite his moaning and grumbling…” Clarence’s comment did make a few of the students smirk or laugh. “I am sure he will be happy to see you.”


“That’s unfair!” Lioa shouted out.


“It’s happening. Sorry Lioa, but you need to learn you can’t just act up,” Clarence scolded.


“James, do something,” Lioa scowled.


“No. I hate this too but… I promised I would try it… and obey the rules,” James said, with distain.


“Fine! Ruskuo break us out of here!” Lioa threw his Gurdurr at Clarence, who simply moved out of the way of the floor where the angry Gurdurr popped up. “Use poison jab!”


The Gurdurr swung angrily at Clarence, who walked over to the Poké ball that was now sitting on the floor, and returned the Gurdurr.


“That’s cheating. Fight me you coward!”


“Lioa that is enough, come with me. This has to stop.” Clarence’s face turned serious. “You could severely hurt someone at the rate you are going. Let’s go and see Lord Clavouro.”


“Wait… I am sorry, please don’t do that…” Lioa pleaded.


“Sorry Lioa, but no,” Clarence sighed, “The sooner we go, the sooner you can come back.”


“Can we go after class instead? Please?” Lioa pleaded more,


“Sit down, and finish your group’s presentation, please,” Clarence said, calmly once more.


“Fighting types are good on the Earth and stuff, they eat a lot more food that most types of Pokémon because they use it up quicker…” Lioa said, as he hoped Clarence would forget his punishment at the end of class.


“That is true too.”


“Sir?” James asked.


“Yes James?” Clarence almost smiled that fact James had called him sir, rather than ‘jerk’.


“What are your Pokémon, sir?” James gritted his teeth every time he said ‘sir’.


“You know four of them already: Braviary, Alakazam, Houndoom and Gyarados. The other two, I like to keep close to my chest, that way if someone tries to assassinate me for whatever reason, I still have two surprises guaranteed.” He closed his eyes, as he spoke.


“Sir?”


“Yes James?” Clarence answered.


“What was your first ever Pokémon?”


“It was a Machop, James.”


“So… one of your Pokémon must be a Machamp?” James deduced.


“My first Pokémon died when I was twelve. There was an accident. I felt awful even though I couldn’t have done anything to change the outcome. Since then, Barook, my Braviary has been my oldest Pokémon,” Clarence thought hard as he spoke.


“Sir?”


“Yes James?”


“Can you teach us to fly, sir?”


“Not yet, James,” Clarence laughed.


“Sir?” James asked again.


“Yes James?”


“What is your favourite Southern Pokémon that you don’t have, sir?”


“Hmm, that is a tricky one. Quite possibly a Mamoswine… before you ask James, a Mamoswine is a 300 Kilogram, four legged beast, with tusks as long as this desk, and thicker than these walls.” He knocked on one of the walls, “It is tall, and may bash its head on the ceiling. Its snout is pink and giant, so it sniffs everything around it. It is also very stupid, so often walks into things, despite having large eyes…” Clarence drew a very bad chalk picture of a Mamoswine on the board, which made James and Kitiku smile, and several others laugh. “I suppose it is a good thing I didn’t take art as a subject, isn’t it?” He smiled back at them. “I have actually used a Mamoswine in battle before… must have been fourteen, fifteen years ago. Just as you were being born…”


“Wow, you are old, sir,” One of the students shouted out.


“Won’t be long until you are my age, so be careful what you say now,” he laughed.


“Sir?”


“Yes James?”


“Wasn’t that when there was a civil war?” Clarence’s mind shot back to the time of crisis at James’s question.

---

---

Date: 5th July 1974



Clarence stood at the arch way of the throne room in the Elite Southern castle. Hishrak stood by his side. His uniform was coated in blood stains from the days before. His hat was dusty from the shaking of the building. His hair was tied back in braids, as was required, and his moustache was thinner. He was waiting for the enemy to appear. He had to fight them off and protect Lord Piscar. Several Guards had rushed ahead to attack the opposing troops, but none had returned. He could hear footsteps from the other side of the door. He couldn’t retreat, that would be cowardice. He had to be a hero, he had to fight whoever was coming.


A young man, the same age as himself entered the doors. His lip was bloody, and his green hair had become incredibly messed up. His midnight blue uniform and Guard’s cap was destroyed in places. It was clear to Clarence that some of the Guard’s fingers had been broken.


“Aaron?”


“Clarence. Step aside, and you won’t die,” the young man said.


“I… I can’t let you past,” Clarence stuttered, as he thought about the consequences if he surrendered.


“You will be treated fairly, you have my word,”


“I can’t step aside. I cannot betray…” Clarence spoke calmly, but internally he was stressed.


“Then I have no choice but to make you.”


“Aaron, please… it doesn’t have to end like this… I want peace. Why do you think I walked away? Or tried to?”


“Nayhak, clear the room!” Aaron shouted, as he threw his Poké ball into the air. The Steelix came crashing down and roared at Hishrak, before smashing through the wall, allowing the snow to come inside. “Shake the earth!”


“Hishrak, stop him, use psycho screech. You really think a Pokémon like that could do so much damage?” Clarence called back, as the psychic waves shuddered past at a piercing volume. Meanwhile, Nayhak started to thump the ground harder and harder, creating a wall of materials. The psychic sound waves collided with the materials and forced the air to ripple. His opponent stood tall, as his hair blew wild due to the force of the attack. The floor boards started to churn up and Hishrak’s foot caught on the torn up floor, as he desperately tried to hover out of the way. His arrogance at his own power led to him receiving a nasty cut, and a broken foot.


“I believe in all Pokémon, as do you!” The young Lord drew his long sword and readied it into a defensive position. Clarence copied quickly but with his short-knife. The battle halted and silence fell for a moment.


“Psycho screech!” Clarence called out as he charged towards his opponent.


“Earthquake!” The beast shook the earth around her Lord, creating massive cracks, with every thumping of her tail. The Lord collided with Clarence, and their blades met. Clarence quickly started to slide his short-knife along the edge of the sword in an attempt to slice his opponent’s hand. Aaron narrowly avoided being pierced by the blade; Clarence carefully stepped around in a circular movement to avoid the quaking earth caused by the Steelix.


“I said, use psycho-screech!” Clarence shouted as he lent in to try and force Aaron to yield, his anger and frustration focused in on his stone.


Hishrak’s psycho-screech was much more powerful this time, as Clarence’s psychic stone, which hung around his neck, started to vibrate and empower his Pokémon. Clarence’s skin started to crack from his wrists along his veins, and he started to bleed a little. The Steelix’s eardrums burst, as the psychic wave length settled inside her head. She swung at Clarence, hitting his chest and breaking most of his ribs, making him lose his balance, and drop his short-knife, before her tail slammed Hishrak into the wall, making the wall display a cracking-well, as Hishrak collapsed and fainted.


“Just surrender and you will be treated fairly!” the young man called out, as Clarence quickly returned Hishrak and sent out his Houndoom, Miskiak.


“Use fire blast!”


“Dodge it!” Aaron readied his shield, but the fire blast struck the Steelix, making her glow a bright orange, before she collapsed. ‘Why didn’t she dodge?’ He quickly spun his sword into attack position before returning her, and waltzing forward, casually tossing his Samurott onto the churned up hall floor. Clarence held his short-knife in his mouth, biting softly on it, as he drew his long sword into a defensive position.


“Dark pulse and choke it!” Clarence called out, dropping his short knife onto the floor. He shuffled to the side to pick it up as the Houndoom started to work itself up into a frenzy, and fired an epic wave of dark energy spiralled towards the Samurott.


Aaron ran in front of his Samurott letting his shield take the battering, as the dark wave consumed the hall, sucking the life out of the plant life inside, and turning it into a cold dark murky room. Aaron moved so his whole body tucked underneath the shield long enough for Clarence and his Houndoom to charge towards him. “Bite him!”


Aaron raised his shield, as he stood up and swung the shield at an angle. It smashed the Houndoom in the face, sending it flying backwards and crashing into the ground, breaking one of its legs. He then raised his sword and met Clarence’s sword in a cross, before kicking Clarence, who had dropped his guard, in the stomach.


Clarence hit the ground with an almighty thud, and rolled quickly to avoid the sword slicing into his arm. “Bite him!” Clarence called out again, as the Houndoom started to charge forward to save his master.


“Scald!” The Samurott blasted water over Aaron’s head, as Aaron elegantly crouched down and shielded his head.


The water poured towards Clarence and his companion.


The Houndoom quickly threw up a protective field around his master and himself. Clarence scrambled backwards before seeing his Houndoom being kicked over and being blasted once more by scold.


“Miskiak return! Barook!” Clarence bounced the Poké ball hard against the ground, and cracked the seal, as he did the Braviary started to flap quickly, mustering up an air flow and swooped out of his ball and Clarence grabbed on as the Braviary climbed to escape the building.


“Oh no, you aren’t leaving.” Aaron drew his short-knife and tossed it at the Braviary, slicing one of its wings, making it come crashing back down.


However, Clarence expected an attack of some description. Clarence quickly reacted to Barook’s hitting of the ground. Although wounding him, the crash had torn up some of the boards to reveal some rocks.


“Use ice beam!” The Samurott clumsily ran towards Clarence and Barook before blasting ice at him. It became clear that the Samurott had been hurt by the dark pulse attack. Upon closer inspection, its front leg had been infected by a puss like gloop, which was munching away on its energy.


“Crush it with rockslide!” Barook forcibly made the wind pick up around him, by battering the air against Clarence’s shield with his one remaining wing, and started to hurl the rocks in quick succession at the Samurott.


Aaron ran towards the Samurott as it fainted, and climbed over some of the debris before jumping and landing in front of Clarence, striking him hard with his shield. Clarence reached for his knife and ploughed it into the shield, wedging it.


“Barook, use brave bird!” Unknown to him, Aaron had thrown a ball behind him as he jumped.


“Irkaknok use the rocks and use stone edge!” The rocks shot up towards Barook, as the Salamence shot a pulse into the ground. Barook quickly flew up and swooped down, slamming into the Salamence hard.


Aaron kicked Clarence in the ribs, in an attempt to make him drop the short-knife. Clarence swung his legs to try and force his opponent on to the ground, long enough to grab the long sword which was lying a metre away.


“Barook again!” he shouted, as the Braviary struggled to flap its second wing, as when he collided with the beast, he had broken several tips of his stronger wing, “Hit it and break its wing!” Clarence shouted, hoping Barook would crush the Salamence before it could do anymore damage.


“Stone edge!” The Salamence quickly struck the ground with a pulse that forced the ground to tear up and dig into Barook’s body, breaking several of his ribs, causing the bird to cry out in pain, and then faint from blood loss.


Aaron then swung his shield and bashed Clarence hard with it, forcing him to let go. He scrambled towards the long sword, which he picked up, as he went to return Barook. Aaron drew the knife in his boot and hurled it at Clarence, pinning his uniform to the wall, with him attached. Clarence quickly attempted to pull the knife out. Aaron ran his second knife through Clarence’s leg to stop him from kicking or trying to escape.


“Clarence, stop. It is over. You can’t win, not now…” a second voice said, dark, deep and foreboding. “Should I give him an injection now? Or wait until interrogation, sir?”


“Now will be fine. He needs to rest and recover. He will be treated fairly post interrogation, the same as all the others. We will interrogate him once his wounds have been seen to.”


“Sir!”