Chapter 35
Andy went back into his room and silently cried. It wasn’t in his disposition to cry, so he just sat on his bed and took deep breaths. He did that even as West and Claire returned to the room and asked him what was up.
“Nothing, just…Lucy and her brother left.”
“Aw, dude, that’s a bummer.”
“I’m fine with it though. They can be happy, maybe.”
“Well, what can you do, huh?”
“Right.”
So then they just sat down on the couch and began watching Stranger Things. Andy had always heard of how popular and good the show was, and he had always wanted to get started on the series, but he never could find the time until now. After a while, a knock on the door sounded, but the knocker didn’t wait for the door to be opened.
“The Headmaster wants to see you!” Andy recognized it as the voice of the Pokemon that normally goes around to announce curfew.
“Hey, does anyone know who that is? I recognize the voice as the Pokemon that says when it’s curfew.”
“Nope.”
“Heard it was a Sableye, but then again I could be wrong.”
“The knocks go higher than the average height of a Sableye, so maybe it’s the size of an Ampharos.” They just looked at each other for about five minutes before West broke the silence by saying “Let’s just not think too hard about this one.”
They left the room and met up with Xander, who was already accompanied by Josh.
“Oh, you guys came. Why don’t you take a seat?” They all entered the office and sat down.
“So, I wanted to explain to y’all what’ll be happening tomorrow. Y’see, we’re gonna go and have a peace meeting with the Pokextinction ‘faction’ that lives nearby. They said to bring whoever we trust with us, and that’s why you four are here. As the four who has had the most experience outside, would you like to join us for our trip?”
“Sure.” Andy said.
“Alright!” replied West
“Yeah.” Claire said.
“Cool.” Josh answered.
“Alright, thank you. We plan on leaving at about 10:30 tomorrow, so you should get enough sleep tonight. Our plan it to thoroughly interrogate the Pokextinction people to see if their proposals are genuine. Do not talk unless you see something going on that I am unaware of.”
“Gotcha. And what about the Time Gears?”
“I’ve kept those hidden. My plan was to secure them for safety from Pokextinction. Now that they are safe, they are about as big a threat as houseflies.”
“What about the weird dimensional gem thingy you talked about? Shouldn’t we go after those too?”
“Nah, the entire east coast took care of that around the same time you guys came back, so we’re cool.”
“Well…alrighty then, I guess we’re settled.”
“Gotcha. For now, relax, do some training, and, oh! I hear there’ll be a dance tonight! That sounds like fun. Go and enjoy today while you still have it.”
“Thank you.”
They left the office and went back into their room, where tension and excitement was hanging in the air.
“What do you think they’ll talk about? Do you think it could all be one big trap.”
“I dunno, it seems like it could be a good trap. Then again, I trust Xander, and if anything should go wrong I trust he’ll have thought of how to get out of any situation.” So they relaxed and just talked over plans for the dance.
“…Okay, well, I’m going to go do some training, I’ll see you guys…later. Yeah, later, I guess.” Andy left the room and went down to the gym. He entered the gym and found Josh there, but decided there was nothing to say as he went for some dummies.
He trained in that gym for quite some time, even when mealtimes were going on he continued training eventually he was so deep in thought that he entered a sort of trance, constantly taking down target after target.
If you tear a net, you get less holes that you did before, yeah? If you cleaned out a vacuum, would that make you a vacuum cleaner? Why are there flat earth society members all around the globe? Could you make holy water if you boiled the Hell out of it?
These were the deep and philosophical questions that Andy pondered while he was doing his training. Soon Andy snapped out of his trance and noticed the gym was now empty, and some staff members were setting up tables and chairs.
“I guess training time is over, yeah?”
“Yup.” One of the staff said.
“Want me to help you?”
“The best way you can help is by going to your dorm and getting ready for the dance.”
“…Okay.” So he left the gym and made his way for the gym. As he was walking down the hall, he was bumped rather violently in the arm. “Oh, excuse me.”
“No way.” The attacker turned around and cornered Andy. It was a Shiftry, and it looked upset. “Why do you look so annoying? Just being around you makes me want to jump out a building.”
“Dude, what’s your problem?”
“You are my problem! I hate looking at you! Prepare to be demolished.” It stepped back and hurtled Andy with a Bullet Seed. Andy made no motion to duck, he simply stood there and let the pellets hit him. His journey has obviously made him stronger. This attack felt nothing compared to what he has been through.
He brushed off the attack and launched an Aura Sphere. Shiftry was a Dark/Grass type, and Andy was a Fighting/Steel type. It was quite foolish of the Shiftry to pick a fight with a fighting type, especially one that had a move like Aura Sphere to make dodging futile.
It hit the Shiftry and it launched into the hall, which made a good dent in the wall. The Shiftry quickly got up and ran away screaming.
“Y’know what? I’d honestly finish the job, but I honestly don’t feel like it.” He shook his head and turned towards the door. “Besides, I could tell he was just trying to be all dark and edgy for no good reason than me and my friends got to go outside and around the world.” He sighed. “…Yeah, they always do that.”
He made it to his dorm and then he flopped onto the bed. “Aw geez, what am I gonna do? I just feel so bummed out, man.” When he hit his head on the pillow he heard a paper crinkle when his head made contact. He dug the letter out and read it to himself.
Andy,
Me and West will be going to the dance and we have gone to get ready. Won’t you join us when it is time to go?
Claire.
Andy thought it through. It may be the think getting him out of his low, so he decided to go.
***
When it was 8:00, Andy made for the gym. He could feel the ground vibrating with the bass of the gym. Andy went in and saw something amazing. A lot of Pokemon were gathered in the gym, there were multiple tables on one side of the gym, and a snack bar. In the snack bar, there were multiple drinks and a table full of cookies, one type which caught Andy’s eye.
“They have Oatmeal Raisin! Yes!!” He went over to the table and grabbed an Oatmeal Raisin cookie. Not known by many, those kinds of cookies were Andy’s favorite. The best thing about it was that very few people even wanted to look at those cookies, so Andy practically had them all for himself!
“Oh, Andy! You made it!” He turned to Claire and West coming towards them. “I…Wait, you like Oatmeal Raisin?”
“Yup! It’s one of my favorite cookies.”
“Ugh, I can’t imagine eating them myself. How are you liking the dance so far?”
“So far, nice!”
“You’ve been to one of these before?”
“Yup! Though it definitely is not as awkward than when I go with my sister and cousins.”
“Wait, would they be Pokeumans too?”
“…Well, I guess not. Maybe that weird and wonky DNA thing doesn’t work for all members.”
“Well, anyway, what can you dance?”
“I can dance the waltz for slow songs, and I’m a pretty mean break dancer.”
“Alright, well, Jonny B. Goode is on now, care to show us some moves?”
“You kidding? I can do the swing to those tunes! Bring it in, let’s go!”
So, they danced and danced and grabbed treats and danced. When the slow songs came on, Andy would go to girls and offer to dance with them. Occasionally he’d find West in a chair at the table.
“Hey Andy, can I talk to you in private, please?”
“Yeah, sure, what’s up?”
“Well, you see, I want to go on a dance with Claire, but I do not know how to ask her.”
“Why, do you have a crush on her?” Andy said, jokingly.
“…Well, actually, yeah.” West said. Andy couldn’t deny that he was a bit surprised his joke was actually true, but nevertheless he tried to do his best as a friend.
“Huh, well, all you have do is just ask.”
“But don’t you get scared trying to ask a girl to dance? I’ve seen you dance with like six different gals in this dance and I haven’t seen you so much as fidget when you walk up to them. Plus, they always walk in packs. I don’t want to hurt the other girls’ feelings.”
“Hey, no sweat. All you gotta do is be confident! When I started my first dance, I figured out that I would simply ask if any of them would like to dance, and have them figure out who dances among themselves. Plus, from what I can tell, girls may actually get excited when their friends are asked to dance. I always tried dancing with a different girl every slow dance so I can really get the most out of dances. That, and my dad would beat me if I didn’t dance with at least 5 different girls in a single dance, and my sister was his spy.”
“Yikes. That doesn’t sound like you’d actually enjoy going to dances.”
“Yeah, to be honest, I think I much enjoy a dance knowing that my sister, father, and all relatives are dealing with a clone version of me and I’m miles away from them. Shoot, I’m actually enjoying this dance!”
“Y-yeah…”
“Well, anyway, we should get back.” When they got back into the hall, the music was now a fast-pace song. “Oh, yes! These are my favorite kind of songs! Watch closely!” Andy got into the middle of the gym. First he rolled his shoulders back and the rest of his body followed like a wave. He did a little smooth wave with his arms, then grabbed one of his legs. He jumped up and quickly switched legs in the air, so the one he was holding onto in the front switched to the back. When he landed, he quickly crouched down and spun, and continued the spin on his back. The crowd cheered when they saw a Lucario spinning on his back. When he slowed down, he laid on his side with his arm holding his head up and his legs crossed. The crowd went crazy with that.
“Yeah!” Andy called. “That’s how it’s done!”
Soon another slow dance started playing. Andy asked a Lopunny to dance, and they went to the floor. Out of the corner of his eye, he even saw Josh(!) dancing with a smaller female Weavile. He looked to the other side and saw West and Claire dancing. West and Claire looked like they were having the best day in the world, which mean Claire most likely reciprocated the feelings West had for her.
Soon the dance ended, and Andy grabbed a bag and took all the Oatmeal Raisin cookies. Andy was right; absolutely nobody else in the entire base liked Oatmeal Raisin, which means nobody was going to miss them.
Josh came over and pulled him aside. “Hey, I know I’m not the one for saying things like this, but…I took your advice. I want to enjoy life without having to spend it with fighting and violence.”
“Well now…I’m glad to hear that.”
“Well, I’m gonna go to bed, see you in the morning.”
“Yeah, you too man.”
They all went into their dorms and talked about their experiences. They told their stories and laughed a lot, until they simply felt too tired to talk any more, and they all went to bed.
Next: Here
Andy went back into his room and silently cried. It wasn’t in his disposition to cry, so he just sat on his bed and took deep breaths. He did that even as West and Claire returned to the room and asked him what was up.
“Nothing, just…Lucy and her brother left.”
“Aw, dude, that’s a bummer.”
“I’m fine with it though. They can be happy, maybe.”
“Well, what can you do, huh?”
“Right.”
So then they just sat down on the couch and began watching Stranger Things. Andy had always heard of how popular and good the show was, and he had always wanted to get started on the series, but he never could find the time until now. After a while, a knock on the door sounded, but the knocker didn’t wait for the door to be opened.
“The Headmaster wants to see you!” Andy recognized it as the voice of the Pokemon that normally goes around to announce curfew.
“Hey, does anyone know who that is? I recognize the voice as the Pokemon that says when it’s curfew.”
“Nope.”
“Heard it was a Sableye, but then again I could be wrong.”
“The knocks go higher than the average height of a Sableye, so maybe it’s the size of an Ampharos.” They just looked at each other for about five minutes before West broke the silence by saying “Let’s just not think too hard about this one.”
They left the room and met up with Xander, who was already accompanied by Josh.
“Oh, you guys came. Why don’t you take a seat?” They all entered the office and sat down.
“So, I wanted to explain to y’all what’ll be happening tomorrow. Y’see, we’re gonna go and have a peace meeting with the Pokextinction ‘faction’ that lives nearby. They said to bring whoever we trust with us, and that’s why you four are here. As the four who has had the most experience outside, would you like to join us for our trip?”
“Sure.” Andy said.
“Alright!” replied West
“Yeah.” Claire said.
“Cool.” Josh answered.
“Alright, thank you. We plan on leaving at about 10:30 tomorrow, so you should get enough sleep tonight. Our plan it to thoroughly interrogate the Pokextinction people to see if their proposals are genuine. Do not talk unless you see something going on that I am unaware of.”
“Gotcha. And what about the Time Gears?”
“I’ve kept those hidden. My plan was to secure them for safety from Pokextinction. Now that they are safe, they are about as big a threat as houseflies.”
“What about the weird dimensional gem thingy you talked about? Shouldn’t we go after those too?”
“Nah, the entire east coast took care of that around the same time you guys came back, so we’re cool.”
“Well…alrighty then, I guess we’re settled.”
“Gotcha. For now, relax, do some training, and, oh! I hear there’ll be a dance tonight! That sounds like fun. Go and enjoy today while you still have it.”
“Thank you.”
They left the office and went back into their room, where tension and excitement was hanging in the air.
“What do you think they’ll talk about? Do you think it could all be one big trap.”
“I dunno, it seems like it could be a good trap. Then again, I trust Xander, and if anything should go wrong I trust he’ll have thought of how to get out of any situation.” So they relaxed and just talked over plans for the dance.
“…Okay, well, I’m going to go do some training, I’ll see you guys…later. Yeah, later, I guess.” Andy left the room and went down to the gym. He entered the gym and found Josh there, but decided there was nothing to say as he went for some dummies.
He trained in that gym for quite some time, even when mealtimes were going on he continued training eventually he was so deep in thought that he entered a sort of trance, constantly taking down target after target.
If you tear a net, you get less holes that you did before, yeah? If you cleaned out a vacuum, would that make you a vacuum cleaner? Why are there flat earth society members all around the globe? Could you make holy water if you boiled the Hell out of it?
These were the deep and philosophical questions that Andy pondered while he was doing his training. Soon Andy snapped out of his trance and noticed the gym was now empty, and some staff members were setting up tables and chairs.
“I guess training time is over, yeah?”
“Yup.” One of the staff said.
“Want me to help you?”
“The best way you can help is by going to your dorm and getting ready for the dance.”
“…Okay.” So he left the gym and made his way for the gym. As he was walking down the hall, he was bumped rather violently in the arm. “Oh, excuse me.”
“No way.” The attacker turned around and cornered Andy. It was a Shiftry, and it looked upset. “Why do you look so annoying? Just being around you makes me want to jump out a building.”
“Dude, what’s your problem?”
“You are my problem! I hate looking at you! Prepare to be demolished.” It stepped back and hurtled Andy with a Bullet Seed. Andy made no motion to duck, he simply stood there and let the pellets hit him. His journey has obviously made him stronger. This attack felt nothing compared to what he has been through.
He brushed off the attack and launched an Aura Sphere. Shiftry was a Dark/Grass type, and Andy was a Fighting/Steel type. It was quite foolish of the Shiftry to pick a fight with a fighting type, especially one that had a move like Aura Sphere to make dodging futile.
It hit the Shiftry and it launched into the hall, which made a good dent in the wall. The Shiftry quickly got up and ran away screaming.
“Y’know what? I’d honestly finish the job, but I honestly don’t feel like it.” He shook his head and turned towards the door. “Besides, I could tell he was just trying to be all dark and edgy for no good reason than me and my friends got to go outside and around the world.” He sighed. “…Yeah, they always do that.”
He made it to his dorm and then he flopped onto the bed. “Aw geez, what am I gonna do? I just feel so bummed out, man.” When he hit his head on the pillow he heard a paper crinkle when his head made contact. He dug the letter out and read it to himself.
Andy,
Me and West will be going to the dance and we have gone to get ready. Won’t you join us when it is time to go?
Claire.
Andy thought it through. It may be the think getting him out of his low, so he decided to go.
***
When it was 8:00, Andy made for the gym. He could feel the ground vibrating with the bass of the gym. Andy went in and saw something amazing. A lot of Pokemon were gathered in the gym, there were multiple tables on one side of the gym, and a snack bar. In the snack bar, there were multiple drinks and a table full of cookies, one type which caught Andy’s eye.
“They have Oatmeal Raisin! Yes!!” He went over to the table and grabbed an Oatmeal Raisin cookie. Not known by many, those kinds of cookies were Andy’s favorite. The best thing about it was that very few people even wanted to look at those cookies, so Andy practically had them all for himself!
“Oh, Andy! You made it!” He turned to Claire and West coming towards them. “I…Wait, you like Oatmeal Raisin?”
“Yup! It’s one of my favorite cookies.”
“Ugh, I can’t imagine eating them myself. How are you liking the dance so far?”
“So far, nice!”
“You’ve been to one of these before?”
“Yup! Though it definitely is not as awkward than when I go with my sister and cousins.”
“Wait, would they be Pokeumans too?”
“…Well, I guess not. Maybe that weird and wonky DNA thing doesn’t work for all members.”
“Well, anyway, what can you dance?”
“I can dance the waltz for slow songs, and I’m a pretty mean break dancer.”
“Alright, well, Jonny B. Goode is on now, care to show us some moves?”
“You kidding? I can do the swing to those tunes! Bring it in, let’s go!”
So, they danced and danced and grabbed treats and danced. When the slow songs came on, Andy would go to girls and offer to dance with them. Occasionally he’d find West in a chair at the table.
“Hey Andy, can I talk to you in private, please?”
“Yeah, sure, what’s up?”
“Well, you see, I want to go on a dance with Claire, but I do not know how to ask her.”
“Why, do you have a crush on her?” Andy said, jokingly.
“…Well, actually, yeah.” West said. Andy couldn’t deny that he was a bit surprised his joke was actually true, but nevertheless he tried to do his best as a friend.
“Huh, well, all you have do is just ask.”
“But don’t you get scared trying to ask a girl to dance? I’ve seen you dance with like six different gals in this dance and I haven’t seen you so much as fidget when you walk up to them. Plus, they always walk in packs. I don’t want to hurt the other girls’ feelings.”
“Hey, no sweat. All you gotta do is be confident! When I started my first dance, I figured out that I would simply ask if any of them would like to dance, and have them figure out who dances among themselves. Plus, from what I can tell, girls may actually get excited when their friends are asked to dance. I always tried dancing with a different girl every slow dance so I can really get the most out of dances. That, and my dad would beat me if I didn’t dance with at least 5 different girls in a single dance, and my sister was his spy.”
“Yikes. That doesn’t sound like you’d actually enjoy going to dances.”
“Yeah, to be honest, I think I much enjoy a dance knowing that my sister, father, and all relatives are dealing with a clone version of me and I’m miles away from them. Shoot, I’m actually enjoying this dance!”
“Y-yeah…”
“Well, anyway, we should get back.” When they got back into the hall, the music was now a fast-pace song. “Oh, yes! These are my favorite kind of songs! Watch closely!” Andy got into the middle of the gym. First he rolled his shoulders back and the rest of his body followed like a wave. He did a little smooth wave with his arms, then grabbed one of his legs. He jumped up and quickly switched legs in the air, so the one he was holding onto in the front switched to the back. When he landed, he quickly crouched down and spun, and continued the spin on his back. The crowd cheered when they saw a Lucario spinning on his back. When he slowed down, he laid on his side with his arm holding his head up and his legs crossed. The crowd went crazy with that.
“Yeah!” Andy called. “That’s how it’s done!”
Soon another slow dance started playing. Andy asked a Lopunny to dance, and they went to the floor. Out of the corner of his eye, he even saw Josh(!) dancing with a smaller female Weavile. He looked to the other side and saw West and Claire dancing. West and Claire looked like they were having the best day in the world, which mean Claire most likely reciprocated the feelings West had for her.
Soon the dance ended, and Andy grabbed a bag and took all the Oatmeal Raisin cookies. Andy was right; absolutely nobody else in the entire base liked Oatmeal Raisin, which means nobody was going to miss them.
Josh came over and pulled him aside. “Hey, I know I’m not the one for saying things like this, but…I took your advice. I want to enjoy life without having to spend it with fighting and violence.”
“Well now…I’m glad to hear that.”
“Well, I’m gonna go to bed, see you in the morning.”
“Yeah, you too man.”
They all went into their dorms and talked about their experiences. They told their stories and laughed a lot, until they simply felt too tired to talk any more, and they all went to bed.
Next: Here
