chapter 3
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8
If you ask Percy how her relationship with the sun was, she would simply say, not good. When she was little, she didn’t like it because it hurt a lot. When she got older and visited a doctor she learned that she had Solar Urticaria, a rare allergy to sunlight that causes her to have hives on her skin when it’s exposed to the sun even for a few minutes and can last for hours. Just another reason for her to be nocturnal, and she had been successfully managed to keep up that habit for 14 years, but all good things come to an end she guesses.
That was what Percy was thinking as she was walking the path that was leading to the Main Street, towards the seven different statues of various figures, trying to stay in her parasol’s shadow as much as possible, with both her shoulders occupied by Mimikyu and Grim, while Cinccino was on her sunhat, the rest of her Pokemon in their Pokeballs. Since Crowley didn’t give her any cleaning tools or products, the best she could do was have Cinccino dust them and then make Vaporeon hose them with Water Gun.
“Wow, so this is Main Street, huh? This is incredible!” Grim admired. “I didn’t get to see much of it yesterday. What’s the deal with these seven statues? All their faces look pretty scary.”
Percy frowned and studied the statues, “I can’t see what’s so scary about them, seems like just some old statues to me.”
“This lady here,” Grim pointed at the statue at the end of the line on the right. It was of a large woman, wearing a dress and a crown, and holding a heart scepter. “Looks like she’s got some reeeal anger management issues, see?”
“You don’t know the Queen of Hearts?” a voice joined in.
The four turned towards the owner of the voice and saw a boy standing behind them. He, as his uniform suggested, was a student. A ginger with eyes of cherries, also he had a heart over his left eye.
“The Queen of Hearts?” Grim asked. “Is she some kinda big deal?”
“She was a queen who lived in a mazelike garden of roses long, long ago.” The ginger explained. “She was a strict woman who prized order above all. She wouldn’t tolerate a rose being off-color, or her playing-card soldiers being out of step. She basically ruled over a kingdom of madness, but not one of her subjects dared to defy her. You wanna know why? Because the punishment for breaking a rule was immediate decapitation!”
“Ccino Cinccino!” The scarf pokemon said while shaking and buried her face in her trainer’s hat in fear. (That’s horrible!)
“Wah! That is seriously messed up!” Grim whimpered.
“Yes, absolutely,” Percy agreed, as someone who always enjoyed living according to her own rules, which was unfathomable chaos, that queen’s kind of lifestyle sounded unbearable to her.
But apparently, the ginger boy thought different, “Pretty cool, right? I’m a big fan. I mean, who would bother to obey a queen that was kind all the time?”
“Yeah, true. A leader needs to be strong.” Grim nodded.
“Yes, strong. Not a tyrant, it just sounds like she’s abusing her power to me.” İntercepted Percy, if you try to rule only with fear, there would be nothing to stop people from rebelling against you once the fear is gone.
“Anyway, but puttin’ that aside… Who’re you, now?” her feline friend finally decided to ask.
The ginger boy grinned a little too widely, “Name’s Ace. I’m a first-year student here, as of… today! Pleased to meetcha!” he introduced himself while he had a black leather glove-clad hand on the back of his head, then he held out his hand.
Percy was still pondering upon whether to shake his hand or not, but Grim didn’t wait for her to talk.
“I’m Grim! I’m a prodigy who’s plannin’ to be, like, the greatest mage who ever lived. Then there’s my far less interesting henchwomaaa—MEOUCH!” Mimikyu pushed him down Percy’s shoulder before he could finish, he already didn’t like sharing his spot with the mangy monster, he couldn’t idly stand by while he belittled his trainer.
Percy didn’t mind that, she herself was getting fed up with the feline monster’s disrespect too. But that wasn’t what she was thinking. She was studying the ginger boy in front of her right now. She lowered her sunglasses on her nose a little to see him a bit better and eyed him up head to toe.
His smile was too wide to be genuine, he looked amused rather than pleased, and she could see the mischief in his eyes. Her instincts were telling him that this boy was a troublemaker. On the other side, the boy in question was starting to get uncomfortable under the gaze of her emerald eyes.
While the girl was trying to estimate him, Ace made a quick observation himself. She had a smooth posch Accent, there was just this aura of elegance around her. She was average height but still very petite looking, her blonde hair was cut just above her shoulders, her face was very dollish with a tiny nose and ruby red lips, and her eyes were a very deep shade of green. She was beautiful in every meaning of the word. He actually never talked to a girl this gorgeous before nor one that looked like she was trying to escape the sun like a vampire.
Percy studied him a few seconds more, then she narrowed her eyes but still gave him the benefit of the doubt, she pushed her sunglasses up on their original position and slowly reached out her and shook his hand. “Persephone Remmington, call me Percy. Pleasure, I’m sure.” She then pointed at her right shoulder, “This is my partner Mimikyu,” Pointed at her sunhat, “and Cinccino.”
“’Percy’?” Ace said as he shook her hand, “Huh. Name’s got an odd ring to it.”
“Might be, I’m not from around here.” She retracted her hand and glared at Grim, who was just picked himself off the ground. “And I’m not anyone’s hench-anything.”
Grim waved his hand at her carelessly and pointed at the next statue beside the Queen. Which seemed like some type of variation of Pyroar with a scar on his left eye. “Whatever. So tell me, Ace. Is that lion with a scar in the eye a famous ruler too?”
And they did this brief history lesson for 10 minutes, back and forth. Grim pointed at a statue and asked who it was and Ace talked about them, while Percy silently listened. Normally she loved learning about new cultures and history but each of these people seems like terrible people to her. One was a Pyroar wannabe with a scar that got his throne through schemes, one was a half Octillery, half Drag Queen opportunist loan Sharpedo, one was a backstabbing usurper that only got his power from a magic lamp, one was a shallow psychopath who poisoned the people that are prettier than her, one, well okay the last two was okay, the lord of the underworld was basically her male version and even had a wife named ‘Persephone’ what a coincident, and the Thorn Fairy could turn into a dragon, how cool is that?
“Pretty cool, huh?” Ace said suddenly his smile turned to a wicked grin, “Not like some piddling weasel.”
“Myah?!” Grim was caught off guard.
But not Percy, oh no, she just thought ‘yup, here it is.’ She saw this coming from a mile away, still, it was still infuriating beyond compare. But she didn’t act, she just crossed her arms in front of her chest and glared at him, not that he could see it through her sunglasses.
“Pfft… Ah ha ha!” Ace pointed at them and laughed at them. “I can’t hold it back anymore! Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!”
“Come on,” he kept laughing and laughing. “You’re the ones who turned orientation into such a fiasco, right? The girl who was summoned by the Dark Mirror who can’t even use magic, and the monster no one summoned at all. It took everything I had not to burst into laughter right in the middle of the ceremony!”
“H-hey! You don’t gotta be a jerk about it!” Grim gritted his teeth and his ears burned hotter with anger. He was basically growling just like the rest of the Pokemon, Percy could feel even Vaporeon, Phantump, Unfeazant, and Sebastian hissing in their Pokeballs.
“So in the end, neither of you got admitted, and now you’re janitors? Ah ha ha! SO lame!” Ace was still running his mouth unaware of the trouble he put himself in.
“What did you just call me?!”
“And you’re both so clueless you don’t even know who the Great seven are. Not one of them! Maybe before you try getting into the Academy again, you ought to take a second crack at kindergarten? Anyway, just thought I’d tease you a bit. And man am I glad I did. It’s been a blast! Unlike you, I actually have classes to get to, so I’ll let you get back to picking up trash. Bye!”
“Ha ha! Oh no, you’re not going anywhere, you two-faced prick.” Percy finally talked, she did not walk through deserts, jungles, and volcanos in six regions and battled countless trainers and mythical Pokemons to let a high school brat jest with her. “Mimikyu, Psychic!”
“What the hell?!” Ace gave out a squick as he suddenly became outlined in light blue, lost control of his body, and start to levitate. Then he turned upside down and started to shake up and down, then suddenly stopped. Which was good news because he was about to throw up everything he ate at breakfast.
“Yeah, Mimikyu! Show this asshole who’s the boss!” Grim cheered.
Percy took off her sunglasses and looked at Ace right in the eyes with a glare that sent chills down his spine, “Listen here, ginger nuts, you dare to tell ME to go back to kindergarten when you yourself have the manners of a toddler, which makes me pity your mother because Arceus knows, that poor woman surely raised you better than this! On what earth do you think it’s okay to insult strangers out on the Street, you sniveling imbecile! So shut your mouth or I will shut it for you, and believe me once I shut it, it will stay shut.”
Then Ace heard the snapping of a finger and he fall to the ground immediately after, with a painful thud.
Percy put her sunglasses back on and turned away from the ginger, “Come on guys, he’s not worth our time.”
“What?!” Grim argued, his anger still burning hot, “That’s it?!”
“Grim, let us not concern ourselves with the actions of this wretched boy. Our focus should remain steadfast on our duties at hand.”
And he was, even though begrudgingly, gonna leave it IF only Ace stayed silent. “Yeah! Go back to cleaning, you freaks.” He muttered.
Unsurprisingly, Grim who heard this, exploded with anger. “That’s it! I’m not gonna let him get away with this! Myaaaaah!”
“GRIM NO!” Percy shouted, but it was too late.
He took a deep breath and spat out a trail of blue flames across the pavement. Technically Percy should stop this but she did warn Ace not to run his mouth, he made his bed and now he’s gotta lie in it. So she just sighed and step out of the fire’s way.
The fire blocked Ace’s way and made him grab his magic pen, “Whoa,”
Grim smirked. “No one makes fun of Grim, Master of Fire, and his henchmens! I’m gonna make that explodey-head of yours explode all over again!” and he let out another wave of flames.
But to give him credit Ace was quick enough to run from it, “Explodey-head?!” he asked now very irritated. “You wanna throw down with me, shorty? You got some guts. You wanna talk hair, huh? I’m gonna shave you like a toy poodle!”
“Myaaaaah!” Another wave of fire erupted from Grim's mouth as he snarled. At their feet were blue flames flickering as the street was ablaze.
Ace was nimble enough to dodge it quite nimbly, waving his pen around in one fluid motion. “Oh-ho! Let’s see how you like this!” The wind blew furiously along the path as Grim stomped down the path, redirecting the fire.
“Cinccino, Protect!”
All grim saw was a fast blur of grey and white shape and the next moment he was with Cinccino, surrounded by a green force shield that protected them both from the flames. The two looked at each other and nodded, silently agreeing on teamwork.
Cinccino climbed on Grim’s back, keeping the force shield on, while Grim kept on throwing fireballs at the boy. But the ginger blew them away with the same spell. “H-Hey! His magic winds are blowin’ my fireballs off course! No fair!”
The other students who saw the commotion were starting to make a crowd.
“What’s going on over there? A fight?!”
“Oh, sweet! Get ‘em!”
Percy shook her head, this was getting too far. “Guys, stop it! You’re making a scene!” but they didn’t listen to her.
“Awww… Can’t hit me with your little fireballs?” Ace taunted the feline fire monster again.
“Grrr… You better believe I’m about to! Take that!” Grim growled and launched another fireball, but Ace continued to look smug.
“Pfft. All it takes is a little gust to—Hah!” In doing so, the flames were redirected toward the Queen of Hearts' statue, which caught fire.
Percy facepalmed, “Good job, you imbecile!” she scolded as Ace finally looked worried.
“Oh no! Now the Queen of Hearts’ statue looks like it’s been flame-broiled!”
“That’s your fault for tryin’ to divert it!” Grim yelled, trying to pin the blame on the ginger, while Cinccino let him go and quickly run to her trainer to climb onto her vacant shoulder, “You shoulda just let it burn you to a crisp!”
“Who in their right mind would ever do that?!” Ace snapped back.
“What is going on here? Cease this at once!” the headmage’s booming voice scattered the crowd of teenage boys in seconds.
“Oh no! The Headmage!” Ace yelled in fear, there wasn’t a hint of his tough boy act anymore.
“Not more lashings of love! We gotta get outta here!” they tried to run but soon both of them were groaning in pain on the ground with a crack of the masked man’s whip.
“Myaaaaah! And I’m still sore from yesterday, too!” Grim whined.
“As if the likes of you could ever flee from me! Haaah…” the Headmage glared at the boys, then turned to Percy. “Did I not just warn you, ‘no more incidents’? and now you’ve charred one of my statues?! You were specifically told to keep Grim under control!”
“The ginger started it first, he’s the one moronic enough to taunt a fire type!” Percy took off her sunglasses and defended Grim. “I told him to stop but he didn’t listen, if you mess with the tauros, you get the horns. He got no one but himself to blame.”
Crowley nodded slightly, still mad though. “Very well, that I understand.” He then turned to Ace, “It’s almost as though you WANT to be expelled though!”
“No!” Ace begged the man, “Forgive me!”
Crowley sighed and shook his head, “State your name and grade.”
“Ace Trappola… Freshman.” He answered reluctantly.
“Then listen well you three. As punishment for today’s infractions, you are hereby ordered to wash a hundred windows!”
“Myah?!” Grim argued. “That’s what you get for makin’ fun of us! This is all your fault!”
Ace looked just as shocked. “Whaaat? I have to do it too?!”
“Mimikyu.” Percy simply said, and her partner knew exactly what to do. He smacked the ginger in the back of the head, hard. ”Thank you, darling.” She then turned to the boy, “Of course you do! This whole ordeal was your fault from the beginning, maybe now you’ll think twice before you try to make fun of people you don’t know!”
Ace shrunk under Percy’s fierce glare. Her green eyes glowed eerily, it also didn’t help that Mimikyu and Cinccino were gleaming evilly from her shoulders, wanting to beat the boy to a pulp.
Crowley remained firm. “You will meet in the cafeteria after class. Are we clear?”
“Yes sir.” The two humans agreed.
“Ugh, I just can’t catch a break!” Grim whined.
“Welcome to my life.” Percy agreed, but she remembered to stop Crowley before he left. “Um, sir?”
“Yes, Miss Remmington?”
“Where can I find cleaning tools?”
“Oh, right let me…”
It seemed to Percy that all she did since she stepped into this place was cleaning.
Crowley led them to a broom closet in the library, where they could find cleaning products, she and her Pokemon had been working tirelessly ever since. She got Phantump, Vaporion, and Sebastian out of their Pokeballs, and they started by swiping the area between and Library. After that, the bubble jet Pokemon filled a bucket with water, and Percy added the soap, and then they started to scrub every nook and cranny of the statues, especially the statue of the Queen of Hearts. Percy and Sebastian did the bottom half and Phantump floated and did the top half.
By lunchtime, Percy was spent. When she arrived at the Cafeteria, she quickly closed her parasol, found an empty table, and throw herself onto the seat. She took off her sunhat and sunglasses, and put them in her bag, then buried her head in her arms, she stayed in that position for a few moments. The rest of her Pokemon and Grim hop onto the table, Mimikyu petted her hair, while Phantump hugged her from behind.
"Sebastian, my dear, would you be so kind as to fetch us something to eat?” she requested without raising her head.
“Dee dee Indeedee.” Percy heard the pitter-patter of his little feet until they faded away. (Right away mistress.)
“Yes! Food! Please! I’m so tired and hungry!” Grim groaned and immediately got slapped by Vaporeon with her tail.
“Why are you tired? You didn’t do anything, it was just me and my friends that did all the work,”
“Even watching you was tiring.” He kept whining, while he melted on the table.
“No wonder you’re so plump! Ha ha ha ha!” suddenly said a cheery voice and finally, Percy lifted her head.
“What? Who said that?!” Grim quickly got up and looked around for the owner of the voice.
“Oh, I know who,” Percy opened her bag and a purple-cased phone flew out of it, "I must admit, I was beginning to wonder if your energy had depleted, for you seldom remain silent for such an extended period."
The phone flew up to her face and the face on the back of the cover started to talk, “I thought you might appreciate it if I didn’t make unnecessary comments while you weren’t in the right mood for them, my queen.”
Percy smiled and reached to grab it, “Why thank you, that’s very thoughtful of you Rotom.” She caressed the phone, while Grim’s ears perked up in interest. He might strongly deny and say that he’s not a cat, but he was naturally curious like a Glameow.
He walked up to Percy and pawed at the strange new device, “Henchwoman, what is this? How does your phone talk to you?”
Percy glanced at him and smiled warmly at the feline monster. yes, he might be infuriating but he was really cute sometimes, “It can talk because it’s one of my Pokemon.”
“What? How can this be one of your beasts? It’s a phone.” Grim asked in wonder.
“It’s Pokemon,” Percy reminded him, “And its name is Rotom, also it’s not the phone, it’s what’s inside the phone.”
“Rotoms have the ability to possess certain machines. Depending on the machines they possess, they get different abilities. And when one possesses a phone or a special Pokedex they get the ability to speak human languages.” She explained.
“Hmph, your monsters are so weird,” Grim said, crossing his arms while trying to mask his interest. Everything about this human girl was new, confusing but intriguing too, she wasn’t afraid of ghosts one bit, on the contrary, she greeted them like they were old friends. She somehow could control all of these new scary monsters he had never seen before, but while talking to them she was kind and not bossy. She even defended him against the Headmage and managed to convince him to let him stay. She protected him from the ginger human’s attacks. Nobody has ever done something like that for him before, he only just met her but Grim felt weirdly safe around her.
Percy noticed that and smiled knowingly at the feline monster but didn’t say anything about it. Instead, she turned her attention to the Rotomphone, “Can you connect to wi-fi in this place Rotom?”
“Hmm, there seems to be a wi-fi server but it’s password protected. Let me see if I can crack it, hold please.” on its screen three dots appeared, and five seconds later it changed into a green tick. “I’ve connected, your majesty.”
“Rotom you’re the best, thank you!” if she was going to stay in this World for a while Percy need to understand how this world worked. Is the proper etiquette the same? What is the Money currency? Is gold valuable here? What are its prices per kilo? And where can she sell it? You know things like that.
She has a Perrserker that knows Pay Day, so she will have no trouble with money.
While she was researching she felt a tap on her shoulder and she automatically corrected her posture, in doing so she made Phanthump float into her lap, then looked behind to see the Oshawott boy from last night, with a boy with long dark hair.
“See Jamil that’s her, that’s the girl and the monsters, who saved me at the orientation ceremony.” He told his long-haired companion but turned to the blond girl without letting the boy speak. “Hi! how are you? Do you remember me?” he waved at her.
“Hey, hello! They’re Pokemons and yes, you’re the Oshawott boy whose arse was on fire.” Percy genuinely smiled at him, she liked this boy’s energy.
“Yes, that’s me! I don’t know what an Oshawott is but I’m sure it’s nice. Um, can we join you?”
“Oh, of course. Ladies can you make room, please? Thank you.” She asked the bubble jet and the scarf Pokemon, who was laying on the table and gestured to the now open seats across her. “Help yourselves, gentlemen.”
With her permission, the Oshawott boy didn’t waste any time taking the seat right in front of her, but the long-haired boy, Jamil, eyed her Pokemon warily before doing the same next to his master.
The Oshawott boy then pointed at Vaporeon and Grim, former was now sitting with a smile from the joy of seeing him again, with wide eyes. While the latter muttered something about food “A look that’s the very monster who saved me and the one who attacked me.”
“Yes, Kalim. You didn’t stop talking about it all night.” Jamil said with a very good masked annoyance. Well, not good enough to deceive Percy, but apparently enough to fool Kalim. She didn’t really like him as much as the Oshawott boy. He reminded her of a Seviper.
The boy with the ruby eyes turned to the blond and smiled, his smile was like a beam of sunshine. “I didn’t have a chance to introduce myself at the ceremony, my name is Kalim al Asim, the Housewarden of Scarabia and this is my vice-Housewarden Jam-Ouch! Why did you do that?!” he squealed when the Seviper boy elbowed him.
“Don’t talk for me!” he glared at the boy for one second, then turned to Percy who was frowning at him, and his face suddenly got an indifferent expression. “I’m Jamil Viper the vice-Housewarden of Scarabia.”
Percy kept frowning at him, something about this boy was really rubbing her the wrong way. She then slowly turned to the Oshawott boy and smiled. “Hello, a pleasure to meet you. I’m Persephone Remmington, but you may address me as Percy.”
The lack of handshaking from the two boys pleased Percy. It is not a well-known fact but boys shouldn’t initiate a handshake when they greet a lady. A true gentleman wouldn’t assume a lady would want to make physical contact and wait for her to reach her hand. And Percy really wasn’t in the mood to make physical contact.
“And this is my partner Mimikyu.“ she introduced as she scratched her partner’s chin, then she gestured to the Stump Pokemon on her lap. “This is Phantump,”
The ghost type waved and smiled brightly at the two boys, but only one of them waved back. “Phantump!” (hello!)
“Cinccino,”
The Scarf Pokemon smiled and gave them a friendly nod, “Ccino.” (Hi.)
“You know Vaporeon and Grim from last night already.”
The Bubble Jet Pokemon skipped to Kalim and rubbed her head on the boy’s arm, asking for scratches. “Pore! Vaporeon Vapo!” (Hi! It’s so good to see you again!)
“Hello.” The Oshawott boy giggled and scratched behind her… fins?
Percy watched the two interact for a moment, “She likes you, little Oshawott.”
“I like her too,” he exclaimed happily while he kept petting her Pokemon.
The seviper boy was a bit warier than his friend, “But what exactly is she? I’ve never seen familiars like yours before.”
“She is a Pokemon, they all are,” Percy answered. “That’s what we call the animals where I’m from.”
“Ohh and where are you from?” Kalim finally turned away from the Pokemon, “Jamil and I are from the Land of Hot Sands.”
“I’m from Lavender Town in Kanto” she then remembered that Kanto didn’t exist in this dimension. “It’s too far away you wouldn’t know.”
“Huh, why is it called the Lavender Town?” Kalim asked genuinely curious.
“Because the atmosphere there is perpetually shrouded in a thick mist, casting a mesmerizing purple hue throughout the surroundings." Percy described, she missed her home. To be honest, Percy could never imagine herself living permanently anywhere besides Lavender Town. It was almost always foggy so she didn’t need to worry about the sun and the perfect size for her to have a quiet life without feeling claustrophobic. It wasn’t much but it was enough for Percy and her friends.
“It sounds beautiful,” Jamil said, for the first time since they sat down being genuine.
“It is. It’s mostly known for its Pokemon gravesites and ghost sightings.”
Before the seviper boy could ask what she meant, a lunch tray outlined with light blue floated in front of Percy and the sound of the male Indeedee’s little feet got heard right after. The Emotion Pokemon then passed the containment of the tray out to each person in their group. Tuna sandwiches for Grim and Vaporeon, a garden salad with lots of cheese and croutons for Cinccino, grilled cheese for him and Phantump, and a big bowl of fruit salad for Percy and Mimikyu. “Dee dee Indeedee,” (There you go Mistress, please enjoy.)
“FINALLY! FOOD!!” Grim stuffed his face into the sandwich right away.
“Thank you very much, Sebastian.” Percy thanked him as she grabbed a fork and gave Mimikyu a strawberry. “Go ahead, sit down.”
She then turned back to the two Scarabia students, “Sorry, you were saying,”
“Is he one of your familiars too?” Kalim asked, now fascinated with the newcomer Pokemon, who can lift objects with his mind.
“Oh, yes. This is Sebastian, my male Indeedee.” She introduced her friend after she swallowed the peach in her mouth.
“Do you use them as servants?” the seviper boy asked with an unreadable expression.
“Well, it’s how Indeedees feed,” Percy simply answered, she didn’t feel like going into detail for him.
“It’s wha—“
“I can explain!” Rotom floated up again.
“Rotom!” Percy yelled but before she could stop it, Rotom had already tapped into its Pokedex app.
“Indeedee, the Emotion Pokémon. A Psychic and Normal type. Indeedees are highly intelligent, sensing emotions through the horns on their heads. These Pokémon willingly serve people and other Pokémon, as they derive energy from feelings of gratitude. Male Indeedees are loyal to their Trainers, and female Indeedees are skilled babysitters.”
“Wow! That’s so cool!” Kalim exclaimed loudly, “Oh, oh do Vaporeon next!”
“As you wish,” Rotom obeyed him, “Vaporeon, the Bubble Jet Pokémon. A Water type. Its form is adapted for movement in the water. The cells of its body resemble water molecules, so it can hide itself in the water as if it had melted into it. Its long tail is ridged with a fin which is often mistaken for a mermaid's.”
“Your familiars are amazing!”
“They’re not that impressive,” Grim talked now that he had some food. “I’m pretty strong too,”
“Yes. Yes, you are.” Percy giggled and reached to carefully scratch behind his flaming ears. “And another thing you are is very cute.”
“I’m not cute, human!” he tried to look intimidating but soon enough he surrendered to the human girl’s scratches and even started to purr.
“If you’re not a part of any dorms,” Jamil started interrupting them, gesturing to Percy’s regular dress, “Then why didn’t the Headmage send you home already?”
"The Dark Mirror's influence couldn't reach my home, unfortunately. So, until the Headmage discovers a means to transport me back, Grim, my loyal Pokemon, and I have taken up residence in the unoccupied building on the Campus." She simply answered.
“But isn’t that place like, ancient?” Kalim asked concerned.
"Currently, it may not be in the finest condition, but I believe it holds great promise." Percy reassured him, "I have previous experience in revitalizing spaces, so this won't be my first endeavor of this kind."
Just then the bell rang, informing the students that lunchtime was over.
“Aww, already? But I wanted to talk a bit more.” Kalim whined but started to gather his belongings anyway.
“Come on, Kalim,” Jamil said while he got up with his tray and dragged Kalim with him. “I’m sure they got other things to do.”
“Bye Percy! Bye, little monsters!” Kalim said while the seviper dragged him away, “Come to visit us sometime!”
“Goodbye Oshawott,” Percy waved, “’til we meet again.”
One by one, all of the students left, leaving the seven alone in the cafeteria to wait for Ace.
And they kept on waiting.
“I’m already exhausted from a full day of cleanin’.” Grim groaned as they waited for an hour, “I can’t believe we still gotta wash a hundred windows!”
“And whose fault is that?” Percy reminded him, while she pets Mimikyu’s stuffed head, “Try and learn from this experience.”
“What’s buggin me is, Ace ain’t even here yet! To make us wait, after what he did… Grrr!” he growled and crossed his arms.
And they waited.
Percy had a nice chat with the kitchen ghosts while holding Mimikyu like a plush toy.
And waited.
The Pokemon played among each other.
And waited.
Okay, this much waiting was too much.
“And now he’s super late! I bet he up and bailed on us!” Grim yelled.
“And I’m going to bail him out of life.” Percy growled, then grabbed her bag, “Come on let’s go find him.”
“Yeah! Ain’t no way am I doin’ his punishment for him!” he hopped on Percy’s left shoulder as she put Mimikyu on her right, Cinccino climbed on her head, Vaporeon and Sebastian followed on land, while Phantump floated behind them.
“I don’t care if I have to drag him kicking and screaming, he’s washing those windows!” she stormed out of the Cafeteria to the Classrooms.
“Hey! Ace! Get over here!” Grim called, as they got into a one. “Try to hide from me, will ya!”
“Thump… Phanthump Phanthump.” The Stump Pokemon said as he looked around the room. (Huh… Maybe there’s really no one here.)
"You're right, Phantump. It appears that there is no one here at the moment." She sighed.
“Oh, I wouldn’t say that. I’m here.” A voice replied.
“Bwaaah! That painting just talked!” Grim screamed.
“Yes, and…? Is a talking painting really such an oddity at this school?” the painting asked. “The lady in the portrait on that Wall talks too. As does the gentleman in the portrait on this one. As long as a painting has a mouth, why wouldn’t it be able to talk? Is that really so strange?”
“Wouldn’t be the weirdest thing I’ve seen.” Percy shrugged. “Terribly sorry for bothering you Mister, but we’re searching for a boy named Ace Trappola. He’s got messy ginger hair and a heart drawn on his left eye. Is it possible that you’ve seen where he’s gone to?”
“Ah, a young lady! Pardon my manners ma’am.”
She smiled. “It’s alright, sir. I’m aware that my situation is quite extraordinary.”
“Someone with good manners, at last. I know the one you’re speaking of. A new student, I believe? Today was his first day at school. I think he went back to his dorm a while ago.”
“Myaaah! So it’s true! He’s tryin’ to ditch us!” Grim snarled, “Do you know which way he went?”
“The door to the dorms is in the eastern building.” The painting simply said.
“Let’s chase after him, henchwoman!”
“Thank you very much, sir. It was a pleasure to meet you. I look forward to seeing you again, goodbye.” She ran out of the room towards to Hall of Mirrors.
“What a well-mannered and beautiful young lady.” The painting of a lady said after Percy left.
“I think it’s going to be an eventful year,” said another painting of a gentleman, and all the rest of the portraits hummed in agreement.
True to the painting’s words, one of the many school buildings littering the grounds opened to a wide display of Mirrors just as large as the one that had declared her unfit for the school. It was similar to the second-floor hallway in that it was purple and buzzing with magic. Though Percy couldn't feel it, she could still see the ripples of light in the mirrors.
“Where are you, you little brat?” Percy muttered, adjusting Grim on her left shoulder, who stared around at the circular hallway in wonder. Seven gigantic mirrors surrounded them with a gleam and were carved with crests and multiple unique designs. They were seated on a few steps in the middle of alcoves.
“Yeah right, like I’m gonna wash a hundred windows.” She heard a familiar voice say. “I’m just gonna go back and—”
Ace was near the Hall of Mirrors, when a white tree stump with a wavy branch on each side, that had a wispy black body cut off his way. Its blue eyes were visible through two holes in the stump and its mouth appeared to be on the stump itself. There were two small red leaves near the tip of each branch. And it looked angry.
He slowly stepped back until his back collided with something. He turned back and saw four sets of angry eyes.
“Hello there, Gingernut.” Percy greeted him with a deadpan voice.
“Ah! How did you find me this fast?!”
“I have my ways and you will take your punishment; you prick.” Percy glared at him and walked around him while keeping eye contact until she blocked his way to the mirror with the playing card design.
“I really don’t have time to talk!” he took a few steps back and then bolted the opposite way. “See ya!”
“No way are you getting’ out of this!” Grim jumped down and sprinted after Ace, with Percy right behind him. “You think I WANNA wash windows?”
They chased him for a good while, occasionally throwing fire and shadow balls at him, till a blue-haired poor bystander got involved.
“Hm?” he turned and saw the ginger boy running his way, but he was too slow.
“Outta my way!” the ginger shouted.
“Hey! What gives?!” the blue-haired stranger yelled in surprise, his teal eyes going wide in shock.
They almost bumped into each other, but Ace dug his heels and hit the brakes just in time, giving Percy enough time to do this.
“Mimikyu, Thunderbolt!”
The Disguise Pokemon jumped out of his trainer’s shoulder, on the air his body became surrounded by yellow electricity, and he fired a beam of electricity at the ginger boy. The boy screamed and fell on the stranger, now paralyzed.
The blue-haired boy grunted as he landed on the cold, hard floor with Ace lying limp on his body, “Can you please get off of me?!”
“Oh Arceus, sorry about that.” Percy said, now catching up to them, “Here, let me help you.”
She rolled the ginger off of the stranger and helped him up.
He opened his mouth as if to say something but when he got a good look at her his eyes widened and he just froze.
“I— uh…” the boy stuttered and blushed but honestly Percy thought he was having a concussion.
“Are you alright? Did you hit your head when you fell?” she asked, she didn’t want to deal with that too.
“No. No. I’m… okay.” He finally could speak in complete sentences. “It’s just that I don’t talk to girls that often.”
“Oh, I see. I apologize that this, dirtbag—” she gave the boy on the ground a little kick, which made him twitch with a spark of electricity. “Fell on you. That was my bad. I’m Persephone Remmington, please call me Percy.”
“I know. I was at the orientation ceremony too.” The boy blurted out.
“Oh, right.” Percy raised her eyebrows and nodded while reaching down to place her partner on her shoulder once again. Soon enough the laughter of the flaming feline ended the awkward silence.
He got close to Ace’s face and smirked. “That’s what you get if you try to mess with my henchwoman, you’re no match for her beasts!”
“Isn’t that the monster who wreaked havoc in the orientation? And why is he calling you henchwoman?” the blue-haired boy asked.
“Yes, this little menace is Grim, he has a tendency to indulge in wild delusions from time to time, much to our dismay.” She introduced the little feline.
The stranger looked at the ginger on the ground and asked, “So, what’s the story with this one?”
“Oh, he? Well, he was shirking detention.” Percy simply explained.
While she saw Ace move around a bit. “Hmm, the effects of the paralysis seem to be wearing off.” She turned to the blue-haired stranger, “You’re a magician, right? Can you please do something, so he doesn’t try to run again?”
He suddenly seemed nervous again and began to mumble, “Oh, sure. Uh, but how to stop him? Like, freeze his legs? Or bind them with a rope? Or maybe I could… Hmm… No…”
“Anything would do really,” Percy tried to calm the boy.
“Anything? Anything, huh… All right! Here goes anything!” he grabbed the jeweled pen from his breast pocket and pointed it to Ace. “I summon thee… something heavy!”
And suddenly a giant cauldron fell on Ace, trapping him where he lay.
“Wwaaah?! Wha?! A pot?!” the ginger screamed now completely out of the paralysis.
“Ah ha ha ha ha! Look, Percy, look! That Ace guy got crushed beneath a giant cauldron! It squashed him flat! Aha ha ha!” Grim cackled.
The stranger looked a bit guilty. “A cauldron?! I wasn’t expecting that. I may have overdone it this time…”
“Rest assured, it was a punishment befitting his actions, duly earned and justly administered, thank you.” Percy giggled leaning onto the cauldron.
“Ahh I can’t breathe! Get off!” the ginger begged.
“I never heard you apologize for your hurtful words to us this morning,” Percy crossed her arms.
“Are you serious?!” Ace cried out from under the cauldron.
“I’m waiting,” the Pokemons and Grim were still cackling.
“UGH, FINE! I’M SORRY! NOW GET OFF!”
Percy decided that he suffered enough and stopped leaning onto the cauldron and gestured for Sebastian to lift it off of him with Psychic.
“What are you bothering me for?” Ace complained as he escaped the weight of the cauldron. “You guys coulda just banged out the work yourself!”
“Mimikyu,” the blonde commanded, her partner knew what she wanted him to do and smacked Ace in the back of the head. “Thank you, darling.”
“There’s no ‘banging out’ a hundred windows!” the trainer scolded him, “And I’m not going to let you slack off when it was you that started it by picking on us!”
“You picked on a girl? Dude, what’s wrong with you?” the blue-haired boy looked at him with disappointment. “And you have to wash a hundred windows as punishment? What the heck did you do?!”
“I was just screwing with that furball a little, okay?” Ace crossed his arms and shrugged. “And the statue of the Queen of Hearts got a teeny bit charred. Sue me.”
“You damaged a statue of the Great Seven?! No wonder the Headmage flew off the handle at you!” the stranger took a step back in shock, “After you managed to get into THIS school, how could you get in trouble on the very first day?!”
“Oh, shut up.” Ace snapped at the stranger. “Who are you, anyway?”
“My name is Deuce. Deuce Spade.” Newly named boy, Deuce crossed his arms. “Don’t you remember your own classmate? Uh…”
“You don’t remember my name either, do you?” Ace snapped back with a deadpan impression.
“That’s not the point!” Deuce quickly said with embarrassment, “You shouldn’t try to shirk an order from the Headmage!”
“Yeah, yeah, message received… Fine, let’s bang out the windows already. Huh…?”
Ace started to look around and this made Percy notice something.
Grim sure has been quiet.
“The furball!” Ace gasped. “He’s gone!”
“Oh, no he’s not! GRIM!!” Percy yelled towards the way the little feline was running really loudly. So loud that the two boys wondered, how a girl this small could make such loud noise. “Get your little furry arse back here, you little Impidimp!!”
“Ah ha ha ha! I’ll let you two handle the rest!” Grim taunted them from the Main Street while running towards the school. “See ya, suckers!”
Percy’s left eye started to twitch while she was seething with anger at this point.
“You caught me so YOU could run yourself?!” Ace shouted, “Hey! You there! Uh… Juice?”
“My name isn’t ‘Juice’. It’s Deuce! With a D!” the blue-haired boy spluttered.
“This is partially your responsibility, you know! So, help us catch that little furball!”
“How is this my responsibility?!”
“Grim’s janitor friend can’t use magic, so she’s useless!”
“Speak for yourself, you ginger twat!” she yelled at Ace while she put her bag back on and put her hat on her head. She then reached for her Pokeball belt, “Unfeazant, after Grim!”
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