Pokémon Academy: Ch 1b: Recruits [IC]

[Chim]

This is for the RoG members only.

August 30, 11.15 PM

“Wait! We got another one!” the blond man said to a woman with a ponytail. All she did was nod while her companion escorted a young man named Ezekiel to deck. The blond man smirked. This brat was easy to read. All he had to do was to tell about RoG and their adventures to get him on board. “No talking to the others!” was all he ordered before going back to the woman.

When Ezekiel arrived on deck, she saw about 20-30 other people. Some looked tired and others, especially the elder males, already had a beard from the long travels. Little did he know most of them came from Sinnoh and travelled to Johto and Kanto first. One of them was a man named Brian Dusk. He was one of the first one on board and saw newcomer after newcomer.

By the cover of the night the ship left in complete silence. When the coast wasn’t visible anymore, the blond man returned. “All of you can return to your cabin now. You, newbie,” he pointed at Ezekiel, “You bunk with this guy.” This time he pointed to Brian. “And no talking! We arrive tomorrow morning at 7 PM!”

The new recruits obeyed without question. All of them were tired anyway and some didn’t see the point in searching the bunks. Most of them arrived with nothing, but it was a part of RoG security.

********************************

“Get up, newbies!” the blond man yelled early in the morning. Ezekiel and Brian woke up, left their bunk and saw an island not far from the coast of Ymora. RoG members were already on their way with small rubber boats.

A bald man with blue eyes watched from the coast as the recruits stepped in the boats. “28 this time?” he asked. “No sir, we received message that there’s a latecomer. 29 in total,” the other one said. This man had a small build and messy black hair.

“Prepare the capsules,” was all the muscular bald man said before leaving.

“Yes sir!”

*******************************

The rubber boats arrived and the new recruits were guided to a small room. When the last one entered, the blond man from the ship closed the heavy iron door and locked it. The only way out now was behind the muscular bald man with blue eyes.

“Welcome new recruits!” he said in a harsh tone. He only used that to speak to his trainees. “All of you have your reasons to be here, but we all share the same goal. We will change this still rotten world in our favor, just like the ones in power now have done. They think their system is great and all, but we fell out of it and there’s no place for us out there,” he said pointing to the door. “If some of you disagree, please leave through the door behind me.”

He waited a few moments and when nobody moved he continued: “Great, I see all of you are prepared. My name is Caleb Hughes. I’m also known as Teach because I’m the one in charge to teach you all to survive and to perform in missions.” He stopped talking again and an awkward silence filled the place, but Teach let it continue for just a little longer before knocking on the door behind him. A small man with messy black hair entered the place, pushing a chart with Pokéballs on it. There were about 40 of them. “Pick one up, go through the door and pick a bunk at your right. Rest up from the long trip and stay there until further orders!” With that said Caleb and the unknown man left the room and took a left, away from the bunks.

[Ojama Yellow]

Brian saw newcomer after newcomer entering the boat. Some looked muscular and cruel, like they should be, but a lot of them were small and timid. If someone would ask him to pick out five newcomers that wouldn't last long, he wouldn't have any difficulty with it. Eventually, the day before their arrival, Brian had been pushed in a cabin with one of the newcomers, Ekeriel or something. He didn't really care. That was mainly the reason why he didn't even bother to start a talk with the guy, and it seemed to be the case the other way around too.

Then, the day came. Brian was one of the first newbies that was ready. Figures, he lived on the streets for years. When he was approaching the deck, he couldn't help but to pickpocket the wallet of a careless aspirant. He reached the deck, and released Zoah. "Look at that, Zoah. Our lives on the street are forever over now. People will fear and respect us."

As he was brought at land with a rubber boat, he was guided to a room with the others. A man was speeching there, but Brian hardly listened. Then the man said to take one of the many Poke Balls lying on the table. Apparently, Brian was the first to take up on his offer. He took one of the balls, and then turned back to the others. "Hey, are you all scared to pick one or something?"

[Chim]

“Who do ya think ya’ re, mister Bigshot?” a man with a face like a rat responded. Brian recognized him as the one he stole from earlier. The man glared at him with his small creepy grey eyes before grabbing one of the Pokéballs on the chart. “Wanna come at me? Or are ya just talk?”

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

Hah! Now this was something new, something interesting. Sure, the folks here seemed rough and mean in a way and pretty much had pushed him to bunk with this older mister (not too old-looking, maybe just a couple of years older than he was). Normally he would've just politely and casually said hi, but didn't bother, feeling that it wasn't really worth wasting time on when he could be checking out the ship and whatnot... which he'd tried to do, but it seemed like the bunk door had been locked. Undismayed, he had plopped back onto his bed, unable to sleep, his heart racing at the thought of this new journey. A flash of light gleamed from the Pokeball he snuck onto the ship, and an Eevee climbed onto his belly. Her heart was pounding too. Ezekiel had known Pixel well enough to tell that she quivered not from excitement, but anxiety. Reassuringly, he rubbed her little ears with a small smile, calming her down as she nuzzled against him affectionately. They were partners; he would never let anything happen to her. Slowly, he drifted to sleep with the warmth of the Pokemon on his stomach...

The next day brought what seemed like their first assembly. After dipping his fingers in the water and having to hold onto his fedora while the rubber boat glided across the sea, being crammed into a small room felt almost like a downer for a while. Then another big, brawny-looking mister man stood before them, introducing himself as Teach. During the silence that ensued, Ezekiel could barely resist the urge to cough or sneeze. After this had passed, they were left with what looked like forty Pokeballs on a chart. As he was about to step up, his previous bunkmate beat him to it, calling the rest out as being scared. Here, he could no longer resist coughing. Scared? Really? The boredom he felt back home was scarier. Wordlessly, with an angled grin on his face, he reached over and picked a Pokeball randomly, unable to tell what was inside, but not before a ratty-looking man cut in and grabbed it just as he was about to pick it up. Annoyed, Ezekiel rolled his eyes and chose another, hastily closing his hand on it before another rodent-like old man could snatch it from him. He then noticed that the ratty mister was glaring sparks at the bunkmate-mister (he really should get people's names). What, did these two already know each other or something? Normally he would've avoided something not of his business, but the giddiness had gotten to him. Walking between the both of them, raising his hands defensively, he said,"Gentlemen, gentlemen! Guys. C'mon. There's no need for fighting here." He paused, then continued to say, "Anyway, the bloody room's too small for this ruckus."

[Ojama Yellow]

Brian smiled at the man's remark. "Sorry, I don't speak rats. And besides, I only battle for good reasons," he said, spinning his two Poke Balls around in his hand. "On the other side, it's been a while since I last battled. If you really want to go, then I accept." Brian smiled again, this time more taunting. "It would be a good time to see if my new mon is worthy of being trained by me as well." He was aware of the kid whose name he forgot again tried to intervene, but Brian ignored him.

Edited September 23, 2014 by Pineapple

[Chim]

The man shoved Ezekiel out of the way. “Move, Kid! This is no playground. I’ll teach this Bigshot a lesson!” He said glaring even more intense at Brian.

“Ratman eeh? I’ll make ya cry for mercy! Remember this Bigshot: the name’s Gustavo. I’ve seen and done things ya can’t even try to imagine without crying…” His tone was more threatening as he threw the Pokéball in the air and revealed a Spearow. “Show him whose boss!” he ordered his newest toy before lighting up a cigarette and showing off his yellowish teeth.

The Spearow came at Brian fast, with a glowing white beak. (Peck)

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

After stumbling backwards, almost bumping into the audience-turned crowd and catching himself at the last moment, Ezekiel huffed and shrugged, then fixed the fedora on his head. He wasn't gonna let two hot-headed misters ruin his fun. "Meh. I tried," he murmured to himself. Not like he wanted to be part of the fight anyway. Leaning against the wall by the door leading to the dorms in case things became too wild, he watched carefully just to see how these other guys planned their attacks. Staying inside the dorm would've been boring, anyway, he reasoned to himself.

Edited September 23, 2014 by ZephyrEnyalios

[Chim]

Zephyr

A blonde woman with her hair in a ponytail walked from the back of the crowd towards the chart and picked a Pokéball without looking. She tossed it around in her hand and smirked at the sight of Gustavo and Brian picking a fight. She was about to walk out the door, when her eye fell on the young boy that tried to interfere earlier.

“Hmpf, males. Always trying to show off and prove who has the biggest pair.”

Edited September 23, 2014 by Chimchain

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

"Don't girls do that, too?" Ezekiel asked, deadpan as he watched. Not that he really cared much for what she said or if she was trying to poke fun at him for trying to stop a fight, but hey, that didn't mean he couldn't take care of himself or that he was wimpy.

[Ojama Yellow]

Brian smirked as the Spearow flew at him, its beck pointed at his face. "Zoah. Confusion." The Bronzor replied by immediately jumping out of her Poke Ball and taking the Peck at full force. It hardly damaged her. Then her eyes turned blue as she prepared to launch the Spearow back.

Edited September 23, 2014 by Pineapple

[Chim]

Zephyr

The blonde woman raised an eyebrow at Ezekiel’s remark before snickering. “Aren’t you a cute and innocent one? I’m going to have lots of fun with you!” she whispered in his ear. She pinched Ezekiel’s cheeks to tease him a bit, but suddenly got distracted.

“Oooh looks like we’ve got someone with at least a little skill,” she grinned. “And he’s about my age too!”

Bibs

Brian’s attack was a direct hit. The Spearow started to flap its wings in an angry way and pissed Gustavo off. “Lucky shot, Punk! And c’mon you useless beast, take that floating thing out!” This time the Spearow’s beak turned black as it started to pursue Zoah.

(Pursuit. But Gustavo doesn’t know the names of those attacks)

**************************

Meanwhile some laughs could be heard in the crowd. And if one looked closely at the chart, they would notice only 10 of the 40 Pokéballs remained while there were only supposed to be 29 new recruits. Unfortunately none of the new recruits knew this.

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

Startled at the woman's advances, Zeke swatted her hand away. What was up with these people? What a weird lady. And what was so innocent about what he said? He knew a lot of girls back home who did exactly the same thing, really, just bitching on each other, picking fights to establish their positions as the "alpha girl" or whatever the heck it was they called it. "Eugh. You mean the ratty old guy?" he blurted. Slowly he inched away from the woman, not liking the attention she gave him or how she showed it physically. Anyway, older women weren't really his type. Not even if they were blond and not too old.

Turning his attention to the battle again, he really couldn't help scoffing at the ratty old man. It was as if he really didn't know what he was doing. Some people were laughing-- that was probably it, that this guy was just making a fool of himself here. Ezekiel shook his head; what a sad sod.

Edited September 23, 2014 by ZephyrEnyalios

[Ojama Yellow]

Brian had too much fun messing with Ratface. "You just don't learn, do you? Physical attacks, even super effective ones, don't even scratch Zoah. Iron Defense." The Bronzor's steel lit briefly, and when the light wore off she seemed even more defensive than before. The attack hit her, but it did a painfully low amount of damage for being a super effective one. "So, you've got enough, or do you want us to humiliate you even more?" Brian taunted.

[Chim]

Zephyr

“Ooh you have a sense of humor! Maybe I should keep you close after all? The blonde said grabbing Ezekiel’s arm. She enjoyed messing with the young boy and wouldn’t let the opportunity slip by. “Anyway, what’s your name, cutie?”

*************

Bibs

Brian’s taunt was effective. Gustavo’s face turned red, not because of shame, but because of pure anger. “Shut up before I kill ya boy!” he threatened. “Here, take this!” he yelled releasing another capsule. This time a Raticate showed up, which caused the crowd to laugh even harder. “Ya stupid bird, ignore that metal thing and attack Bigshot directly! Rat, do the same!”

The Spearow followed command and attacked Brian from above using it’s peck attack. Meanwhile the Raticate’s teeth colored black as it was about to take a bite out of Brian’s leg.

[Ojama Yellow]

"Oh, so we're going to play it the hard way? Fine with me, haven't known anything else in my life after all. And I think you forgot about Zoah's Confusion as well? Send the bird back. Now for this other guy..." Brian said while grabbing his second Poke Ball, "...it seems I have to bring in reinforcements." He tossed the ball, and a...creature came out. It was impossible to see its body, because of the big amount of vines squirming around. Maybe those vines were its body. "A Tangela? That's not even bad. Use that Vine Whip of yours to grab Raticate and throw it backwards as well."

[Chim]

Both the Spearow and Raticate were thrown back, driving Gustavo to the edge. “Useless!” he hissed. “Those things are completely useless! If you want something done, do it ya self.” He glared at Brian and reached for something in his pocket, before suddenly charging at him.

“STOP! THAT’S ENOUGH!!” Teach’s voice range loud and clear through the small room, catching everyone of guard. Some started to look around and noticed small holes in the corners where small cameras and microphones could be hidden.

The blonde woman that was teasing Ezekiel sighed. “Guess that’s my cue,” she said before walking over and flipping Gustavo over her shoulder. She smashed his face to the ground and planted her knee in his back. “Where did you get that rock?” she asked. “Well, doesn’t matter. You probably picked it up somewhere between the rubber boats and this place.”

She stood up removing the dust from her clothes. “Now, where were we, cutie?” she asked Ezekiel like nothing happened.

“DON’T IGNORE ME YA BITCH!” Gustavo yelled. “I CAN TAKE YA!”

The nameless woman just laughed. “Please, your Raticate is much higher leveled, yet you were unable to beat your opponent with it. Your skills are pathetic.”

“Then I’ll just smash your face in with my bare hands!” he yelled charging in.

All his opponent did was open up a Pokéball and Gustavo hit the ground once again; strangled by an Arbok. “Bring him to Command,” was all she said before the snake slithered out the door, still strangling Gustavo who tried to break lose.

“This happens every year, but this one sure takes the cake in terms of stupidity and aggression,” the blonde said. “Anyway, my name is Melody and I’m a RoG member. I’ll be one of your supervisors during training. That’s all I have to say so I suggest you rest up while you can.” She gave Ezekiel a quick wink before leaving the room.

Other recruits started moving and left the small room, some mumbling about what just happened. They took a left and one by one they entered one of the 7 rooms available. All of them had the same basic lay-out. Two bunk beds, one on each side of the room, and a small wardrobe in the middle of the last wall. There wasn’t any luxury.

[Ojama Yellow]

"That'll teach him to talk to me as if he had actually been through half what I've been through..." Brian turned to his new Tangela. "Anyways, you didn't do bad so far. I could use you on my team. Now get back in the ball." As he recalled the Tangela, he turned to Zoah. "Good job, like usual. We make a good team, huh?" He started walking to one of the bunks, then changed his mind and turned around to the kid whom he had shared a room with on the boat, and who had been next to the blonde woman. "Hey, are you coming, or what?"

Edited September 23, 2014 by Pineapple

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

Dang it, this lady won't quit! Reflexively, Zeke pulled his arm away from her. The blondie confused him; based on his experience, girls didn't like snarky guys who made sarcastic remarks aimed at them. He just wanted to-- or, well, maybe not, because this battle was just too sad to see-- watch the ongoing fight in peace. Suddenly the intercom crackled to life and a voice boomed, halting the battle-- sort of. A blond blur rushed past Zeke and the flirtatious woman had disarmed the grandpa-- twice. Which made this old guy even sadder to look at. The lady, though he didn't really care to show it much, impressed him somewhat, with her quick take-down.

... Still, he didn't really like how she threw herself at him.

When the victor addressed Ezekiel, he shrugged as if the excitement hadn't really happened, and turned to follow the older mister. "Looks as if you guys have known each other previously," he said cautiously. Casually, but cautiously. Just to start up some kind of conversation, but so that this guy wouldn't turn on him and (try to) crush his dignity as well.

[Ojama Yellow]

Brian grinned. "There are hardly any people I've known in my life so far, and it's a good thing Ratty wasn't one of them..." Brian paused. He forgot the kid's name again. "Kid, what was your name again?"

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

At least he responded in a good-mannered way, which was a good start. "Dragovich, Ezekiel. Or just Zeke," Ezekiel said. He wasn't sure whether to extend a hand or something. "Nice meeting you, mister...?"

[Ojama Yellow]

"Zeke, huh..." Brian seemed to notice of bit of reluctantness. "The's name Brian. No official surname, but I go with Dusk." He waved at the Bronzor who was still floating next to him. "And this is my partner in crime, Zoah." He reached out with his hand. "You don't have to be 'fraid, those beat-ups are reserved for fools only. Man, it's been a while since I could manipulate someone that easily."

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

Relieved, Zeke took Brian's hand and shook it, grinning a bit more widely now. "Heh, you don't have to remind me to cross you. And I know the feeling; the idiots back home were pretty much all bark, no bite, a hundred percent idiot," he said, rolling his eyes at the memory of the kids who attempted to pick on him or his sister on several occasions before. "Zoah, huh? It looks like it knows what it's doing. Nice to meet you, Zoah." A pop came from Zeke's belt, and an Eevee scampered onto her trainer's shoulder, before peeking curiously at the floating Pokemon and its own trainer. "This is Pixel; I'd like to think of her as my companion. Met her when I was eight. Girl can get nervous easily, but she's a toughie and holds her own well." Zeke reached over to rub the Eevee's head affectionately, to which the little Pokemon responded happily by nudging his hand with her head. With the other hand, the boy raised the Pokeball. "This fellow, I've yet to meet." It was evident that he was excited to do so, but held back. "... But for all we know it could be an Onix-- there's already just about enough room for us here without a huge rock snake crammed in here, too."

[Ojama Yellow]

"Or a Wailmer. We wouldn't want to destroy our new living space, would we?" Brian said, raising his hand holding the Poke Ball of Tangela. "At least we know that not all of the mons on that table were Zubat, or I should've gotten really lucky." Meanwhile Zoah moved closer to the Eevee, Pixel, and looked at her silently. Brian chuckled a bit. "Forgive Zoah. We didn't see a lot of Eevee back in Sinnoh, and Zoah's not the best talker."

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

Shrinking back almost immediately, Pixel peeped at the strange Pokemon that hovered in front of them, and she tilted her head as though she couldn't understand the Bronzor. What is that? It looks like... it's made of hard steel! But... Steel can't float! It seemed as though such thoughts were running through the wee Eevee's head as she inched a little bit closer to try and sniff this new Pokemon.

"I guess it was like a lottery, yeah?" Zeke said, unable to stop smiling at his dear Eevee's mannerisms toward the Bronzor. "Then again, whatever Pokemon that would be inside wouldn't matter if the person was totally brainless.

"We, on the other hand, haven't really seen a Bronzor up close before as there aren't any in Hoenn if I recall correctly, as we had Beldum instead... Pixel doesn't like being confused at all as you can see, but if Zoah's iffy about personal space, I can have her cut it out," he continued after a pause.

[Chim]

As Brian and Ezekiel moved towards the rooms, they noticed some other recruits standing outside. They could recognize some of them from the boat.

“There isn’t enough room. Half of it was already filled by others!” one of them complained.

“Go up the stairs further down the hallway. There are some more rooms there,” a bored looking guy answered before walking away.

Brian and Ezekiel had no choice but follow the directions. The hallway was, just like the rooms, sober grey without any decorations. Apparently RoG members didn’t care about a comfortable hide-out. As soon as they arrived at the upper floor, which looked exactly the same aside from a number 2 on the wall instead of 1, they found a room that was more or less empty.

A pale girl was sitting on one of the beds. She looked rather frail, had long blonde hair and her eyes had different colors.