The Pok?mon Academy

Blair scoffed at the masked trainer before her. She turned on her heel and walked away, her Houndour at her heels. Skye, looking rather bewildered, looked over at Dex.

"Don't worry too much about it," she assured him, smiling. She had finally caught her breath, but rubbed her stomach gently. "I don't know what her problem is either, but maybe it was a mistake?"

Skye looked at Dex kindly, her indigo eyes soft and appreciative of his presence.

"Thank you, though," she added, her cheeks a light pink. "I really do appreciate your defending me."

Agile nodded vigorously in agreement from Skye's shoulder.

Dex nodded.

"It was the right thing to do..." he said, before suddenly, a familiar cane was whacked across the back of his head in a sorta medium strength fasion, to hurt, but not too much.

"....ow..." Dex said at last, turning to see Merlin, who spoke aloud into both their minds.

"Yes, you may have been doing the right thing my child, but in the wrong way, I dont remember bringing you up to start fights, especially not with females." He thought, almost sounding like he was talking aloud, as he pointed his cane at Dex as he talked.

"Sorry Father.."

Merlin nodded slowly. "though I will admit that you had justifiable causes, and I am proud of your Gallant response, now run along to class with Skye, Im returning to our room for Meditation."

With this he turned awkwardly, hobbled a little, the suddenly, started to run, it was like going from a stand still to light speed in an instant, it wasnt teleport, it was just blinding speed, it took him only half a second to be out the door and away over the fields.

"Fathers speed training goes well it seems." Dex said happily, then rubbed the back of his head, "and he has lost none of his discipline... Shall we get going? Ill be glad to carry your books for you should you need.." he said, almost looking he had cracked a smile under his mask.

Skye smiled after Merlin's departure, chuckling inwardly at his reaction to Dex's behavior. She couldn't imagine having her mother at the Academy. Dex and Merlin must have a very strong bond...

"Wow...I guess his speed training is going rather well," she said lightly, casting aplayful glance at Agile. "I think he'd kick your butt in a race."

Agile pouted jokingly, but giggled as Skye tickled her stomach. Skye returned her attention to Dex, as he offered to carry her books.

"Well, if it's not too much trouble..." she replied softly, feeling her cheeks heat up once more. "I mean...you don't have to....but..."

She trailed off, unable to do anything else but smile.

Nat and Ruby suffered through battle tacics and then headed to Battle Simulations. By lunch, Ruby was tired out.

Nat took a seat at the usual table for lunch and took a small bite of her chicken wrap before handing it over to Ruby. She needed the food more then Nat did after the busy morning.

Sitting back, she pulled out her sketch pad and added the finishing touches to her Mew sketch. She then pulled out a leather case holding colored pencils in every possible color. After a bit of searching, she found the perfect pink and began adding color to her sketch. She didn't often do this, but it seemed fitting somehow.

Ali waddled over to Battle Tactics after his class with Professor Liang finished. Ali and Princess continued to try their hardest, but it was only enough to barely pass the assignment, which was to attack a Pidgeotto from a distance, in a water-filled arena, with small stones floating atop it. The simulation was very realistic, and despite the type advantage, the Pidgeotto was much too fast for Princess. Ali found this very bizarre, speed was what Princess was best at. The bell rang, and Ali walked out of the classroom, looking down at Princess, whom he still carried.

"Y'know… Maybe we'll have to talk to Anna about training…" He stated, looking a bit depressed.

"I know you probably don't want to battle, but we're going to have to do something…" Ali was beginning to get worried about himself now, he never though he'd need to rely on the strength of a pokemon, but he found himself stuck on a plateau.

"Whether you want to evolve or not, we still need to at least try to level you up…" They entered the cafeteria at last. Ali quickly caught sight of Nat working on a sketch, so he briskly ran over to her after ordering a chicken salad.

"What are you sketching there?" He asked her, looking over her shoulder, and placing his hands on the table, either side of Nat.

Nat jumped when Ali came to the table. She hardly noticed the ache in her heart now. She showed him the drawing, hoping he wouldn't ask too many questions.

Ruby, meanwhile, began to chat with Princess. Nat looked down at the two, glad Ruby had made another friend. It was then she noticed her wrap was already gone. She smiled to herself and turned back to Ali.

Ali looked back at Nat, after glancing towards Ruby and Princess begin their conversation.

"That's a really nice sketch… Mew is it?" He stared at the sketch, astonished by it's realism.

"It's so realistic!" He told her, leaning closer into the sketch to observe the figure.

"Like you saw it in person…" He slowly backed up from the sketch, and took a seat beside Nat, taking a bite of his salad.

"How'd your classes go?" He asked her, still staring at the picture.

Marina kept glancing on her watch, eager to go to lunch. She grinned as she packed her stuff, even though she wasn't dismissed yet.

"Three...two...one." she mumbled.

As if on cue, the bell rang. She stood up and ran to the cafeteria. She didn't have any problems with her classes, in fact, she was really interested in it, but simply because she was really tired. She ordered a burger and looked for a place to sit.

Dex held out his hands, and the books suddenly shot into his awaiting grip.

"No trouble at all Skye, Shall we be going then?" with this he made a motion to start walking to class.

Skye nodded, and followed Dex to battle tactics. She took her usual spot in the front of the class, and looked over at Dex with a smile. Agile rested comfortably on Skye's lap, looking at Professor Leen attentively.

Professor Leen led the class in a brief discussion on the battle simulations they were going to perform that day. Skye listened carefully, eager to test her skill in a simulation. She took a few notes, and made sure Agile was paying attention as well.

"Now," Professor Leen said sternly. "I'd like you all to pair off, so we can run the simulations."

Skye looked around the room hopefully. Woud she be able to pair with Dex, or would Merlin still be meditating?

On cue, Merlin teleported in next to Dex, he got up and walked across the classroom to Skye.

"your the most competant trainer ive met here yet, Skye, I believe we should, as they say. Pair off?"

Nat giggled nervously when Ali mentioned her being there. "Well, that's not possible... N-no one knows where Mew lives!" To avoid more conversation on that, she stuffed the pad into her bag.

"Classes went fine. Ruby's a bit tired. Battle Tactics and Sims in one morining. But she held out really well. I'm proud."

"How's Princess doing?" she asked, lowering her voice so Princess wouldn't hear. SHe didn't want to upset the Pichu after all. That was the last thing both she and Ali needed.

"Umm… Just the usual…" He told Nat, in a low tone.

"I decided I'm going to go to Anna later on today and see what she has to say about training… I think that's probably what it is-lack of training… I'm hoping she can evolve soon though…" Ali said, taking another bit of his salad.

"You know where Skye and Dex are?" He asked, looking around the room to see if they could be spotted anywhere.

"Okay," Skye said to Dex, and walked over to one of the practice battle arenas. Agile stood at the ready, prepared for battle. Her cheeks puffed out defensively, and she took an aggressive stance.

Skye smiled over at Dex from across the arena. Professor Leen finished her rounds, and indicated for them to start. Taking some interest in seeing Merlin battle, the Professor looked over at Skye and Dex.

"Go Agile!" Skye said, sending Agile into battle. "Use thundershock!"

Dex Clicked his fingers and pointed out in front of him, Merlin suddenly vanishing, with a blur effect that made him look like he ran both left and right at the same time, the were a few blurs of motion as Merlin leapt from place to place, before finally matierialising behind Agile.

"..Psychic." Dex said calmly

Agile was incredibly confused, never battling with a psychic type before. Skye bit her lower lip in concentration, trying to figure out how to dodge the attack, or better yet, counter it.

"Turn around, Agile! As fast as you can! Parry his attack with thunderbolt!" Skye commanded, the determination of a heated battle blazing in her eyes.

The mention of Dex caused Nat to grimace slightly. "No, I havent' seen them..." she said.

Ruby was suddenly poking her leg, as if she wanted to get her attention. Nat ignored her.

Ali noticed Ruby's cry for attention, so he playfully picked her up, rocking her from side-to-side, like he did with Princess.

"Awe… Aren't you just the sweetest thing!" He said to her, nuzzling her nose with his. Princess quickly ran up his leg, as if it were a tree, and onto his shoulder, licking his cheek. Ali giggled,

"But not as sweet as you!!" He laughed, looking up at her.

Nat giggled as Ali picked up Ruby. This was no easy task, as Ruby was quickly gaining weight.

"I think Ruby's getting to be a bit of a pudge," Nat said sadly. "I haven't been watching her diet as well as I should...."

Ali chuckles,

"Nah, Ruby looks fine, a little exercise will get her right back into shape!" He said, observing Ruby in his arms.

"A few days of extra training will probably get her right back to the happy Raichu she probably was earlier!" Ali looked over at Nat, and saw that she had put the sketch away.

"Let's check out the sketch again! I loved the tint of colour you put into the Mew…" He said, delicately.