Part One


I ran, my breath quickening with each step. All around me was darkness . . 
lonely emptiness that made me feel so lost. "Kid, I’m not gonna waste a bullet 
on you!" a voice broke the silence. I came to a dead halt. Suddenly, I saw a 
face in front of me, scarred with scratches . . . this was the Hyper Force guy. 
I tried to scream, to yell for help, but could only utter a gasp. "You can run, 
but you can’t hide, kid," he laughed. I turned to run the other way, but then I 
saw more thugs. I was surrounded. Suddenly, a bell’s ring filled my ears. It 
chimed mightily, its mellow tone ringing throughout my head. "Wake up," the 
Hyper Force thug said, "wake up."

I jerked awake, finding myself aboard the S.S. Mary. The sun was setting, its 
farewell displayed in a mosaic of intense oranges and pinks. Atop the ship was a 
bell, ringing to announce that it had arrived. "The bell in my dream," I 
thought. Suddenly, I realized there were two hands on my shoulders. I looked up 
sheepishly to a boy about my own age. He was dark, obviously Hispanic, and he 
wore one of those Hawaiian shirts and khakis. His hair was short, and spiked up 
slightly. "Welcome to the planet."

I felt embarrassed, suddenly, imagining myself flailing to fight the dream. "Uh, 
sorry," I said, rubbing my neck.

He laughed, "Ah, it’s okay. I’m just glad all you were having was a bad dream. I 
almost mistook it for a seizure."

I sighed and pulled myself up, "So, we’re there?"

"Yup, we’re here. Stemrod Town. Sounds a little too sweet to me. Probably packed 
with those inspirational psychos," he said, looking behind him.

I gazed past his shoulder, catching sight of the town. The grass was thick and 
green, swaying softly in the wind. Modest houses, each looking somewhat like a 
gingerbread house, humbly stood next to each other. I also noticed a lot of 
bustle around a few shops and restaurants. The thing that really caught my eye, 
however, stood in the farthest corner of the town, proud and honored by the 
rest, was the Hoenn Academy. Its entrance was in the middle of two giant 
"wings," all covered in tan brick. Behind it, at diagonals, were two other 
buildings, both smaller than the front. As I stared, they began to grow even 
smaller . . . and smaller . . 


"Dude, we’re sailing!" the other kid said, shaking me. I snapped out of my 
trance, feeling the boat surging away from our destination. My heart sped up as 
the boy and I exchanged nervous glances. "Aw, crap!" the boy rolled his eyes, 
then snatched a life preserver off the wall. Running crazily, he hurled himself 
over the ship’s edge and disappeared from my view. I hurriedly grabbed one too, 
then checked to see that the boy was okay. He was paddling to the shore, soaked. 
Sighing, I stood on the bow of the ship and, after a little hesitation, jumped 
forward. The rising feeling in my stomach felt like it lasted an eternity, and 
the warm water broke my fall before I knew it. The momentum of my jump plunged 
me – along with the life preserver – underwater. I floated back up quickly and 
kicked for the shore, where my new friend was now dripping. 

We both broke into laughter as we entered town, both walking in soggy shoes. 
"This is a great look for us," he smiled.

"We must do this again," I agreed, eyeing the young girls that giggled as they 
watched us walk by. "Well, so much for first impressions, huh?"

"I’ll just say you fell off and I rescued you," he said, smiling widely. "from a 
vicious Lapras."

"No, no," I shook my head, "Lapras are very peaceful creatures by nature. If one 
had been nearby, it would have gladly scooped us up."

"All right, have it your way. I saved you from a flailing Magikarp," he laughed, 
shaking himself off as we walked.

"So, what’s your name, anyway?" I asked.

"Ah, yes. You must know the identity of your savior. I’m Toby Rodriguez," he 
looked back at me, "you?"

"Alex . . ." I trailed off, reminded of my "situation."

"So this is the Hoenn Academy," I said to myself, pulling my bag-strap over my 
shoulder. I focused my gaze on the school – it really did look pretty cool. "Is 
that . . . a battlefield?" I asked Toby, my excitement peaking. My eyes had come 
upon a cement platform, half-green and half-yellow . . . I couldn’t wait until I 
was standing there. 

"Looks like it," Toby smiled, "they’ll rename it "Toby" after I get through with 
it!" 

Taking a deep breath, we began toward the building, which seemed gigantic as we 
inched closer. Finally, I reached the door, and all my courage was gone. I stood 
there, trying to get a look at this place from the outside. "You see, how it 
works is you grab the handle and pull it," Toby laughed, "Calm down, there, 
buddy. It’s just a school. Come on, let’s go check in." He pulled the door open 
and walked in. Rolling my eyes with a smile, I followed him. To my right and 
left, there were tiled hallways that stretched about fifty feet, then turned a 
different direction. Right in front of me, there was a carpeted cafeteria, a 
stage at the front. "You coming, man?" Toby asked, walking toward a door near 
the front. I noticed the sign on its front, reading "Office." 

I followed him to the door and, as he reached for the doorknob, the door swung 
open, knocking him backward. "Oh my gosh, I’m sorry," a girl’s voice apologized. 
She looked up at me, her brown eyes sparkling underneath a few strands of blonde 
hair. In her arms was a massive load of bags and suitcases, piled messily atop 
one another. 

Toby jumped up, his face reddening by the moment. "Ah, I’m fine. . don’t worry 
about it."

The girl set down her bags, groaning with relief, and extended an arm, "Um, 
well, I’m Kaeli Carlisle."

The boy shook her hand, "Toby." 

She turned to me, "And you?"

"I’m Alex La. . .Tambridge," I stammered, forgetting my name change.

She grinned, "Alex La Tambridge? You French?"

I shook my head, "Uh . . . no, my, uh . . . middle name is Larry, and I started 
to say it."

Kaeli grinned, her eyes sparkling, "All right, Alex Larry and Toby, I’d better 
get to the Girls’ Wing. See you around." She picked up the countless numbers of 
bags, Toby and I stumbling to help her, and headed down the hallway.

Toby looked over at me, smiling, "Do you always get so choked up around girls, 
Alex Larry?" 

I laughed and followed him into the office. The office was the kind of office 
you’d expect, composed of two cherry-wood desks covered with photos, files, a 
telephone, and a nameplate. At the desk to our left, a man whose nameplate read 
"Mr. Sanders" was busily talking on the phone . . . something about "this year’s 
class schedule." We turned to the other desk, where a woman, probably in her 
mid-fifties, was engrossed in a novel.

Toby cleared his throat, "Uh, we’re here to register, Mrs., uh, Greggory?"

"Ms. Gregory," she corrected, irritated, and set down the novel. "What are your 
names?"

"I’m Toby Rodriguez," Toby said, taking a seat.

"Tobias Rodriguez?" she said, half-smiling.

Toby flinched, obviously not too fond of his given name. "Yeah, that’s me."

"And you, sir?" she continued.

"I’m Alex Tambridge," I said, putting an unnecessary emphasis on my new last 
name. 

She obviously knew my background, her stare making me squirm a little. "All 
right, Tobias and Alex, I’m going to need you to take these surveys back to the 
Boys’ Wing. Fill them out, and then return them here."

"What are they for?" I asked, eyeing the papers.

"They’re going to help determine which pokemon will become your partner 
throughout this year," she said.

I smiled, "Awesome!" I grabbed the paper and gave a friendly goodbye to Ms. 
Greggory. Toby, still annoyed about being called Tobias, said nothing as we 
walked outside the office. 

"Which way is the Boys’ wing, do you think?" Toby asked, shrugging.

I pointed to my right, "When Kaeli left for the Girls’ Wing, she went down the 
other hallway, so I think that would lead to our wing."

Toby laughed, "All right, hall monitor, let’s get going." We started down the 
tiled hallway, our bags in hand.

"So . . . what pokemon do you want?" I asked, looking over at him.

Toby shrugged, "I don’t know . . . something really fast . . . the kind of 
pokemon that’s so quick it’s unstoppable."

"Like Ninjask . . . the fastest known pokemon in the world," I smiled, showing 
off my pokemon knowledge.

"Uh, no, bugs creep me out . . . I think I’m gonna write that down," Toby said, 
shuddering.

We soon found ourselves at a door, whose nameplate read "Boys’ Wing." Toby and I 
exchanged smiles, and I pushed the door open.

I grinned, stepping onto the shaggy blue carpeting and taking a look around. Ten 
beds made up the room, five on each side. Between each pair of beds was a 
dresser and desk, each with a lamp. There was also one at each end of the room 
for the remaining two boys. I spotted my bed, a gold nameplate on its base that 
read "Alex Tambridge." 

I set my bags down on my bed, pulling out a pen. Hopping onto my bed, I suddenly 
noticed the boy on the bed next to me. He wore thick-framed glasses and had his 
nose pressed in a book. "Hey, I’m Alex," I said, extending a hand.

He looked up for a second, then back down. In a nasal voice, he said, "Yes, I’m 
sure you are."

With a bewildered shrug, I looked down at the survey Ms. Greggory had given me. 

No two pokemon are alike. What kind of personality traits would you prefer? 
I put the end of the pen in my mouth, chewing it thoughtfully. My mind trailed 
back to the Eevee I’d met at Mr. Tamina’s pet store. It had been so friendly, 
but the second I was threatened, it had attacked the Hyper Force guy. Shrugging, 
I wrote down "friendly, loyal, and brave."

To you, pokemon are . . . 
"Partners," I scribbled down, "friends that you can share adventures with."

Do you have any preference to your pokemon’s appearance?
I smiled as I thought of Toby writing down the bug thing. "No," I said aloud as 
I wrote it. I looked at the paper . . . that was it? Shrugging again, I jumped 
up.

The boy reading the book looked up, "I’m Vernon."

"Cool beans," I said, giving him a thumbs-up.

He rolled his eyes, "Idiot." He stared into the book again.

"Whatever," I thought and turned for the door. I pushed it open and started 
heading back down the hallway, sighting two boys in the distance. The one in 
front had wavy blonde hair, stood tall, and was playing with some device I’d 
never seen before. The boy behind seemed much less dignified, with his curly 
brown hair and two bags tucked under each arm. "Hi," I said when I reached them, 
"I’m Alex."

The blonde one turned to me and cocked an eyebrow, "So you are." He turned to 
the other boy, "Looks like we will be hanging out, Joel." He then refocused his 
attention on the device in hand and started walking. 

The other boy, "Joel," shot me a strange look. "Sorry, he can be weird 
sometimes. After all, he is the Lance Escott-Anderson the third!"

My mouth dropped, "As in Elite Four Lance’s son? That Lance?"

He nodded, "Yeah, so he can be full of himself. I should know – he’s my cousin." 
He caught the look of admiration in my eyes. "I’m not related to ‘Elite Four 
Lance,’ not by blood anyway. I’m Joel Anderson."

I extended a hand, "I’m Alex Tambridge."

"Joel!" Lance’s voice broke the silence. "Are you coming?" 

Joel sighed, "Yes!" He gave me a reassuring smile, then struggled down the 
hallway.

As Joel disappeared around the corner, Toby appeared, paper-in-hand. "Thanks for 
waiting, pal!" he joked. 

* ~ * ~ *


I fell into bed, feeling more exhausted than ever before. It had been an 
exciting night, meeting my nine roommates . . . well, eight. One of the boys had 
secluded himself immediately, pitching a tent over his bed. Lance claimed he 
felt as if he had checked into a "mental illness facility." Anyway, after all 
that, I was totally and completely exhausted, as were my roommates. A harmony of 
nine snores soon formed . . . a song . . . one of brotherhood, I decided. I 
laughed to myself, realizing just how stupid that sounded. I knew my snore 
wouldn’t join that song tonight. My heart was beating mile-a-minute. Today had 
been a big day, sure, but tomorrow held the promise of a lifelong friend.

~*~*~*~

Well, everyone, that's it. Part 2 is on the way ~ feedback is always appreciated 
- it's like motivational fuel!~ Thanks ~ >>Shadow Master<<