Young Writers Society

Chapter Four – Unfamiliar Terrain

When Aiden, Tyler and a Solosis came upon Darren, he was sunbaking on one of the pavilions. He didn’t even hear them arrive, so consumed was he in his thoughts. Even when Aiden stopped next to him, Darren didn’t open his eyes. When Aiden finally cleared his throat, Darren started and gazed upon his friend with an uncomprehending expression. His mind then re-joined his body, after which the initial surprise dissipated.

‘Oh, hey, Aiden.’

The Growlithe turned to his other friends. ‘Tyler, Raymond, why don’t you two go have a duel?’

Tyler frowned. ‘Why?’

‘Because the winner gets a Chesto bar.’

His face lit up. ‘Okay! C’mon, Raymond. You’re going down…’

The Axew and Solosis descended the pavilion, claiming a spot of the arena for themselves and initiating the battle. Darren looked at the other Pokémon playing on the arena: Some of the younger students chased each other around, while a circle of older students watched a Machoke and Heracross wrestle. A Ponyta, Minerva’s friend Nicole, happily galloped around the arena, with Minerva herself sitting some distance to Darren’s left, speaking softly to a Simisear.

‘Hey, Darren.’

Said Electrike focussed his attention on Aiden, who had laid down beside him. ‘Hmm?’

‘Why did you say your father’s name was Axel?’

‘I didn’t. I said his name was “Alex Sheridan”.’

‘I know, but you had “Axel” written on your family tree, and you only replaced it with “Alex” right before you went up to speak.’

Darren shifted a bit. ‘So?’

‘So, how come you only “realised” it was a mistake when you had been staring at it for more than five minutes already?’

‘It doesn’t matter,’ Darren said abruptly and closed his eyes again, laying his head down on the warm concrete.

‘I think it does.’

‘Why do you care?’ Darren snapped.

‘Because I’m your friend, and it’s a friend’s job to care.’

‘Well, you’re just being annoying.’

‘That’s a friend’s job too. So, are you going to tell me why you don’t want people to know your father is Axel Sheridan, or shall I just bother you until you do?’

Darren groaned. ‘I choose the third option – we forget about it and bet on Tyler and Raymond’s battle.’

‘All right, I say Tyler’s going to win. What are the stakes?’

‘A Mago poffin.’

‘I already have one, but let’s settle for that. So there, we’ve made the bet, and now I conveniently remember our previous topic.’

Darren recalled what his mother had said the previous day and shook his head, aware of the irony. Fortunately, a fluttering of wings announced the arrival of Leslie Parlan. Ordinarily, Darren would have been annoyed, since Leslie was a tag-along, but for once, he was glad to see the loquacious Spearow.

‘Hey, guys! How are you doing? Whoa, is Darren sleeping?’

Aiden, however, would not be deterred so easily. ‘Hello, Leslie. We were just busy discussing Tyler and Raymond’s battle. Why don’t you go act as referee?’

‘Okay, cool!’ the Spearow chirped happily, flying down to the sparring pair.

‘Distraction dealt with,’ Aiden announced, grinning. ‘Now, let the Skitty out of the bag.’

Dejected, Darren opened his eyes and sat up. ‘My father’s name is Axel Sheridan. He is one of the most famous bandits ever to operate in the deserts of Ytridor.’

‘Oh, damn…’ Aiden murmured. ‘Having a bandit for a father is bad already, but an infamous one is even worse.’

‘Thank you, Aiden, because I wasn’t aware of that already.’

‘Aww, Darren, I’m sorry! You know I sometimes blurt things out.’

‘That doesn’t make the statement any less hurtful.’

Aiden grimaced, ashamed. ‘I’m sure he can’t be that notorious, though…’

‘You know Mightyenas can learn Hyper Voice?’

‘Yeah, what about it?’

‘Nobody knows how he managed to do it, but my father’s Hyper Voice was so powerful, he could effectively use it as Boomburst.’

Aiden’s jaw dropped. ‘You’re not serious, are you? You’re joking, right? You have to be joking.’

‘If only I were.’

‘But… Only… Yeah, sorry, I’m mind blown. I can see why you don’t want to be associated with him. I promise not to tell anyone.’

‘That’s not enough, Aiden; I need you to promise never to speak of this again.’ Desperation had crept into his voice, and Darren hated it, but there was nothing to do.

‘Don’t worry, my lips are as sealed as a Banette’s.’

‘Thank you.’

Darren expected to feel relieved, but he did not. If the truth is supposed to set you free, then why did he feel more nervous than ever before?

‘I won!’

Darren and Aiden both looked at the little green ball of a Pokémon in surprise and asked in unison, ‘Really?’

‘Yip! Can I get that Chesto bar now?’

Aiden chuckled and opened his bag. ‘Sure. Here you go.’

Darren watched in fascination intermingled with disgust as Raymond ate the candy, the gooey substance that was once the bar diffusing throughout the Solosis’ body. Frankly, it was something he’d rather not have seen.

‘Oh!’ Aiden suddenly exclaimed. ‘That reminds me – I still need to give you your poffin.’ He made to rummage through his bag for it, but the bell rang. Looking up at Darren, he said apologetically, ‘I guess it will have to wait until second break then.’

‘Thanks for the Chesto bar, Aiden!’ Raymond said, already zooming away. ‘I have Battle now, so let’s hope I’ll be just as…’ Whatever else he said was audible only as distant sounds, for he was by then at the far side of the arena.

‘Wha’ do we ‘ave now?’ Tyler asked, crawling up to where Darren and Aiden stood.

‘Evolution,’ Aiden answered. ‘Why is your speech slurred?’

‘Cause Raymond used Confusionme.’

‘Ah. Well, you better climb onto my back then.’

Tyler did so, simply to fall off on the other side. He tried climbing on once more, but again, he couldn’t manage to stay on. Fortunately, Darren had been there, waiting, so the two canines cautiously descended the pavilion’s steps and carried Tyler to class. When they eventually reached it, everyone else was already seated and a Furret was busy handing out papers.

‘Did you oversleep again?’ Malcolm called from the back of the class, causing Seamus to start sniggering.

‘Don’t be daft,’ Minerva, who was sitting in front of Malcolm, retorted. ‘Can’t you see he’s confused? Mr Williams, I have a Persim Berry for Tyler. Would you please give it to him?’

The teacher hurried over, took the Berry, and gave it to Tyler, who swallowed it in one gulp. ‘There, all better!’ Mr Williams announced happily. ‘He can write his test now without disadvantage.’

‘What test, sir?’ Aiden enquired.

‘Oh, don’t worry – you should have seen Minerva’s face when I told her she was writing a test about which she did not know beforehand. It won’t count for marks; it’s just to see how much you still remember.’

‘On what are we writing?’

‘Eevee and all of its currently discovered evolutions. Now shoo, off to your desks! The others have already begun.’

After Tyler awkwardly clambered off Aiden’s back, the trio took their seats and began writing. When the bell rang two hours later, they gratefully laid down their pens, exhausted.

‘Have a nice day!’ Mr Williams called after the weary students filing out of his class. ‘Tomorrow, we shall go over the tests, so be prepared.’

‘That was crazy,’ Tyler complained.

‘I know, right?’ Aiden agreed. ‘Let’s hope Mr Kana is more merciful.’

‘Speaking of which,’ Darren said, drawing the other two’s attention, how about we just wait at his class?’

‘Sure.’

Once they arrived, they sat down, Aiden handing Darren his poffin and starting a conversation with Tyler. Darren sniffed the pink bun with yellow sprinkles, enjoying the slightly floral scent, and happily bit into the poffin. He relished the tanginess of the Aspear Berry combined with the refreshing sweetness of the Mago Berry and how the poffin seemed to melt in your mouth. Eagerly, he consumed the rest of the fluffy bun, but as with all good things, it was gone far too soon.

With nothing better to do, he joined Aiden and Tyler’s conversation until Mr Kana arrived to unlock his class.

‘You three must be eager for Strategy & Tactics today,’ the Medicham commented casually. ‘Well, come on in. The bell will go any minute.’ As if that were its cue, the bell rang. ‘Ah, you see? Now, come.’

Darren entered the class and took his seat in the middle of the front row. Aiden sat to his right and Tyler behind him. Since Mr Kana wouldn’t start the class until everyone had arrived, Darren took out his books so long – never an easy feat for somebody with paws – and looked around.

Everything was neat and immaculately arranged, with every item serving a purpose. It made sense, since Mr Kana taught them that every decision in a battle was important, so they would have to make each one count. However, he had already seen the class a thousand times, so he looked in front of him, bored. It was then that he noticed the three bowls. One contained a clump of grass, but the other two were empty. He was curious, but since Minerva had taken her seat to his left (she and Aiden were rivals, so he had to separate them) and she had somehow been the last to enter, the lesson was about to start. Knowing Mr Kana, it was bound to be interesting.