Cinderace (F)

Percy got Cinderace as a Scorbunny from Professor Magnolia at the start of her Galar journey. She learned that her accent was a Galarian accent and she got her accent from her mother, which meant that she was from Galar. This meant that Percy was at least Part Galarian, so she wanted to learn about her roots by having a complete journey in Galar.

Shiny Alolan Marowak (M)

Percy was searching for an Alolan Marowak on her Alola vacation after she saw one dancing on Poketube and she found one in Wela Volcano Park on Akala Island. He and his friend Braixen are very popular in Pokemon Contests for their Fire Dance.

Kantonian Rapidash (F) (Flare)

Percy and Flare met when the Fire Horse Pokemon just came out of her egg as a Ponyta. She imprinted on Percy, so naturally, Flare followed her wherever she went. Now Flare adores her trainer, the others not so much, she has a very fiery temper (pun intended). She didn't get her name till she met her mate Sylas.

Shiny Kantonian Ponyta (M) (Theo)

Theo is the eldest of the Ponyta twins, he's a very competitive young pony also he is very protective of his younger twin sister Winona. He likes running on grasslands and sugar cubes.

Hisuian Typlosion (M)

Typhlosion was given to Percy by Professor Elm as a Cyndaquil at the beginning of her Johto adventure. He evolved into a Quilava in Johto but reached the end of his evolutionary line in Hisui as he evolved into the Hisuian variant of his kind thanks to the energy emanating from Mount Coronet.

Pyroars (M&F) (Davina and Dante)

Dante was the leader of their pride once, he had the brightest and the most beautiful mane but he wasn't the best fighter. No, that title solely belonged to his mate Davina, who was a fighter through and through. But when a younger and stronger male Pyroar stepped up they had to leave their pride and ended up in The Friend Safari, where Percy caught them. Her first target was Dante because his beautiful mane and noble appearance were amazing for contests but to catch him she had to get past Davina to do that and that's exactly what she did. She wouldn't separate them anyway, they were a mated pair after all.

Shiny Charizard (M)

Percy caught Charizard as a Charmander in the Charicific Valley Natural Reserve during her Johto journey. He was just a Charmander at the time, the runt of his clutch. He was weaker than his brothers and sisters. They used to bully him a lot both because of his unusual looks and for being weak. But then came Percy, she was up to the challenge of training him *Que the lengthy training montage*. She did manage to get him to the point that he was able to beat the first of his siblings who evolved into a Charmeleon. Seeing that Percy's training regiment was the best one working for him, he joined her. He is cold to everyone but his trainer, in whose hand he turns to putty.

Shiny Braixen (F)

Percy caught Braixen from the Friend Safari too. She was searching for a Fennekin because she liked their sly and mischievous nature, but what made Percy pick this particular Fennekin was because of her unique coloring. If you couldn't picked up by now Percy certainly has a fondness for the strange and unusual. Braixen is one of her Contest Pokemon, after she learned how to dance with fire, she and Marowak became a duo. 

Arcanine (M)

Percy caught him as Growlithe in the Volcanic Cave in Sinnoh. He got separated from his littermates and got lost. Long enough for it to get hungry, but then he smelled something delicious from the depths of the cave and followed his nose. Which is how he found Percy, she was camping and making dinner when suddenly this little Growlithe came in whimpering while giving her Lillipup eyes and you know what they say if you give scraps to a stray it will never leave you.

Skeledirge (M)

Percy chose Fuecoco at the beginning of her Paldea journey because she knew that he would eventually evolve into Skeledirge who was a semi-ghost type. She also named the little bird resting on top of his head Sonata. He likes to sing lullabies to the baby Pokemon.

Ceruledge (F)

She is one of Percy's knights. She, Aegislash, Escavalier, and Iron Valiant trained under Sir Wikstrom of Kalos' Elite Four in the Castle of Chivalry to learn how to protect their queen better. She and the rest of the knights are very loyal and protective of their queen, like how Sebek is with Malleus, only quieter.

@queenofdahlias4life

Started: 22/06/2022

Last Updated:01/01/2023

POKEDEX

PROLOGUE: Welcome to the Villains’ World

Chapter 1 

Lessons 1 to 4

Chapter 2

Lessons 5 to 8

Chapter 3

Lessons 9 to 12

Chapter 4

Lessons 13 to 16

Chapter 5

Lessons 17 to 20

BOOK 1: The Rose-Red Tyrant

Chapter 6 

Lessons 1 to 4

Chapter 7

Lessons 5 to 8

Chapter 8

Happy New Year, guys! Hopefully, 2023 will be better than last year.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

“Bwah!” Ace cried once he finally turned around, looking as pale as a ghost, “Housewarden!”

“Fletchinder~” the Ember Pokemon chirped from his perch point on his trainer’s shoulder. (You’re in trouble~)

It was safe to say that Riddle Rosehearts, the Housewarden of Heartslabyul, wasn’t amused at all. He had a dollish, heart-shaped face, which Percy thought complimented his last name perfectly, with fair skin and neutral red hair that was cut short in the back and a bit longer around his face. His bangs curve inwards, and two prominent strands of hair on top of his head fall forward and form a heart shape. His eyes were bluish-gray with a stern look.

“Hey, Riddle! What’s shakin’, pal?” Cater made an attempt to diffuse the situation to cover for Ace,” You’re lookin’ adorbs, as always!”

“Hmph. Cater, keep running that mouth and you’ll lose it—” Riddle shot down the orange-haired boy, “Along with the rest of your head.”

“Sorry, sorry!” Cater raised his hands in surrender, “My bad!”

“Myah?!” Grim hid behind Percy for protection when he finally recognized the red-haired boy, “That’s the guy who put that stupid collar on me at the orientation ceremony!”

“And you’re the monster that made a mess, I’ll ask that you not refer to my signature spell as s ‘stupid collar’.” Riddle glared at the feline with his arms crossed, “The headmage’s habit of tolerating rulebreakers like you is going to send this entire campus spiraling into chaos one day. Those who break the rules should have their heads removed immediately, without exception.”

“There is more than one way to discipline someone,” Percy said as she got up to reach out a hand for a swift handshake, “Greetings. Persephone Remmington, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

From up close, Percy noticed that her fellow Housewarden was a lot shorter than his peers, shorter than her, even without adding her heels.

Riddle looked at her for a moment, holding back a blush, before clearing his throat and shaking her hand, “Likewise,”

She was, for the lack of a better word, beautiful, Riddle thought. Her posture was perfect, her accent was smooth like butter, she had gorgeous emerald-green eyes and the fact that her chest was right at his eye level didn’t help.

“At least you have manners,” the red-haired boy then glared at Grim again, “Too bad the same can’t be said about your familiars.”

“Yes, you have to excuse Grim, I’m afraid he’s not as used to human society as my other companions,” Percy gave him a curt smile and scratched Fletchinder’s head, who was still perched on her shoulder. “I assure you; the rest of my familiars are much more well-behaved.”

“The Headmage may have forgiven him, but if he breaks any further rules, I assure you I will not,” Riddle warned her.

And Percy did agree with him, she couldn’t imagine what she would do if the rest of her Pokemon was like the fiery feline. Grim was relatively much worse than her most disobedient Pokemon even. But Grim wasn’t a Pokemon, was he? Pokemons were dignified, loyal, virtuous creatures but Grim reminded her of the team Rocket’s Meowth. And she would rather get eaten alive by wild Pyroars than be the trainer of that kind of lowly creature.

“Riddle, I promise you from the very bottom of my heart,” she grabbed his shoulders firmly and looked him in the eyes, “If he ever pulls something like that ever again, I will chop him to pieces and feed him to the rest of my Pokemon myself.”

“Wha?!” Grim shrieked.

She said it so seriously Riddle completely believed her.

“The things you say and the way you look are totally different,” Ace muttered to himself, but then turned to his Housewarden, “So, uh, listen, Housewarden, sir… Any chance I could get you to remove this collar?”

He interrupted the two Housewardens’ battle of wills, which Percy was totally winning by bloodthirst advantage, and made them turn to him.

“I had intended to remove it once you’d taken an opportunity to reflect upon your crimes. But I’ve not detected so much as a hint of remorse in the foolishness I’ve heard you spout today. So, I think I’ll let you keep that for a while.” Riddle shook his head to bring himself back to the situation, “Don’t worry, the freshman curriculum is more focused on magical theory than practice. And your inability to use magic will help prevent incidents along the lines of what happened yesterday. Now, if you’ve finished your meal, you should quit gossiping and prepare for your next class. Rule 271 is quite clear: ‘One must leave the table within fifteen minutes of completing their lunch.’ You DO understand what happens to rulebreakers, I trust?”

“More insane rules…” Ace sighed.

“I believe you mean to say, ‘Yes, Housewarden!’” Riddle boomed with irritation.

“Yes, Housewarden!” Deuce had been so startled by the red-haired boy’s commanding voice that they ended up joining Ace in his chant.

“Very well, then.” Riddle nodded as he crossed his arms.

“Don’t worry,” Trey reassured the redhead, “I’ll keep an eye on them.”

“Hmm. As Vice-Housewarden, I trust you’ll avoid any further indiscreet conversation. Now, as per rule 339… ‘The post-meal beverage is to be lemon tea with two sugar cubes.’ Thus, I must go to acquire my sugar cubes. Farewell.” Riddle excused himself, making quick eye contact with Percy, who already sat back down and was nonchalantly petting her Pokemon partner, “Don’t even get me started on their violation of running out of sugar cubes…!”  

“Yeesh!” Cater sighed as he collapsed on the table in relief, “That was terrifying.”

“You and that guy…” Grim started to Percy, as he climbed back on the table, “Has some serious issues!”

“Hey, don’t disrespect them!” Deuce scolded the fiery feline.

And he wasn’t alone, Mimikyu and Fletchinder were glaring at the feline that insulted their trainer.

“Pray tell, what issues do I have?” Percy calmly asked as she rubbed her partner’s head to calm him.

“You said that you’d chop me up and feed me to your monsters!” Grim yelled at the blonde girl.

“And I meant it,” Percy told him with icy cold eyes, “I don’t tolerate disobedience, so if you don’t want to be my Pokemons’ chewing toy behave yourself and don’t cause trouble.”

After that Percy didn’t pay him any mind as he kept complaining about how cruel she was. She listened to the chatter inside the Cafeteria. Yes, she could be cruel from time to time, but whatever she did was for the betterment of her people. As the Champion of Kanto and its neighboring region Johto, she had a duty to protect the wellbeings of both people and Pokemon. When she put a rule, it was only for their safety, she could never take away their freedom of choice though.

But it seemed that the same couldn’t be said about the Queen of Hearts’ rules. To Percy, rules, like not eating a hamburger on Tuesday or drinking the with only two sugar cubes, were ridiculous and redundant. And it seemed to her that the students in Heartslabyul thought the same as her. She could see that their nerves were stretched like a spring, they could snap at any given moment. They were resenting Riddle, if nothing was done it might as well be off with HIS head.

And it wasn’t just her, Cater and Trey could see it too. The two boys shared an uneasy look before the latter sighed.

“Riddle managed to secure the Housewarden title before the end of his very first week at school. I know he can come off a bit harsh, but he’s not a bad guy.” The green-haired boy tried to defend his red-headed friend, “Everything he does, he does because he thinks it’ll improve the dorm.”

“I don’t see how dictating people’s eating habits or collaring them can improve a dorm,” Percy commented.

“Yeah! Would a good guy go around putting collars on strangers’ necks?” Grim argued, flicking his forked tail in annoyance.

“That was your fault for causing trouble, Grim.” Percy reminded the fiery feline, making the boys chuckle.

“Grrrrr…” Grim gritted his teeth, “But that collar really hurt, and it shut off all my magic! That’s just rude!”

“Hm? You’re curious about Riddle’s signature spell?” Cater perked up.

“That means, like… it’s a spell that only he can cast, right?” Deuce asked unsurely after he pondered for a bit.

“I doubt he’s the only person in the whole world…” Trey pushed up his glasses, “but yes, a signature spell is a magical ability that is, generally speaking, unique to its user. You’ll learn about them in class soon enough.

“Riddle’s signature spell allows him to temporarily seal away the magic of another.” Cater explained, “The spell is named—”

“Off With Your Head,” Percy answered for the orange-haired boy. She still remembered how he collared Grim.

“Yes. To a mage, losing the ability to use magic is about as painful as losing your head completely.” The orange-haired boy gently grasped his own neck, was it because he knew the feeling personally, or was it that he imagined how it was? Percy couldn’t tell. “Which is why all of us at Heartslabyul House try hard not to violate Riddle’s rules.”

“And as long as you are following the rules, Riddle isn’t so scary.” Trey continued.

“Chinder Fletch Fletchinder, Fletch?” the Ember Pokemon commented. (He’s deep in denial, isn’t he?) 

“Absolutely.” The blonde girl agreed with her Pokemon.

“Speaking of which— are you still not gonna let me into the dorm until I buy a tart, Cater?” Ace asked, yet it was obvious that he already knew the answer.

“Don’t @ me, but… yeah. That’s rule 53, so my hands are tied.” Cater shrugged apologetically with a small smile. “Also, Riddle always looks forward to having the first slice of a tart. So if you want him to forgive you, you had better bring a whole tart!”

“What happened to ‘We’re all from the same dorm, let’s try to get along’?” Ace retorted, “Throw me a bone here!”

“That’s one thing. This is another.” The upperclassman laughed at the groaning ginger.

“A whole tart has gotta be pretty expensive.” Deuce guessed.

“I don’t have that much money!” Ace cried, throwing his head back.

“You can always bake it yourself,” Percy suggested not looking up from her Pokemon partner as she petted him.

“Oh yeah,” Ace said with newfound excitement, “You can bake right? You made those delicious pancakes this morning, please help me Housewarden Remmington!” he begged.

This made Percy smile and slowly looked up, “I can help you, Ace.”

Ace smiled in relief only for it to drop with the blonde trainer’s next words.

“I’d be delighted to bake you a tart,” Percy said, but then her smile turned into a sadistic grin, “In exchange for a chocolate croissant and iced latte.”

“Seriously?!” Ace cried, and looked at Percy like she just killed his Lillipup in front of him, “You’re cruel Housewarden,”

“I told you I would remember it, Gingernuts.” Percy leered, another thing about her she tended to hold grudges. For a very long time, might I add?

“Trey can help you,” Cater chimed in, jabbing a thumb at the boy with glasses, “He made those three tarts by hand, after all.

“You made those tarts, Trey?” the ginger boy looked at his Vice-Housewarden as if he was his salvation, “That’s incredible! That was like something you’d find at a bakery!”

“Heh. I appreciate that.” Trey blushed at the compliment, “We do have most of the stuff you’d need, but… I’m afraid I’ll need something from you in return.”

“Not you too,” Ace reared back in fear, “You’re really gonna charge me to make it?!”

“Nah, I wouldn’t take money from a freshman!” the green-haired boy reassured him, “But I’m gonna need you to gather a ton of chestnuts.”

“Like that’s any less of a hassle.” The ginger boy whined, “But… fine. How many do you need?”

“Well, it’s for the unbirthday party, so…” Trey made a mental calculation, “Probably two or three hundred?”

“Did you say HUNDRED?!” Deuce and Grim shouted.

“And they’re all gonna need to be roasted, shelled, and pureed.” Trey continued.

“All right, can we head out?” Grim asked Percy, having lost interest.

“I’m leaving too.” Deuce joined the fiery feline without hesitation.

“You heartless cowards!” Ace scowled.

“Hold up!” Cater stopped them, “Haven’t you ever heard that food tastes better if you make it whit your friends? This’ll be a memory to treasure! It could even be your chance to make a splash as a cooking blogger!”

“Don’t tell Riddle, but chestnut tarts are at their tastiest when eaten right out of the oven.” Trey fixed his glasses into place with a knowing smirk and uttered the words that lit a fire in Grim’s eyes, “And the only people who get to experience that culinary privilege are the ones who make it.”

“Well, when you put it that way…” The fiery feline was already drooling, “Come on, humans, let’s do this!”

“You sure changed your tune quickly.” Percy muttered to herself then turned to the boy with glasses, “A Mont Blanc, huh? A bit of a risky choice if you ask me, the tart he ate was a strawberry one.”

“Well yes, but Riddle wanted a chestnut tart next, so I’m trying to hit two birds with one stone here.” Trey sheepishly scratched the back of his head, “I heard there’s a whole bunch of chestnut trees in the woods behind the campus’ botanical garden.”

“Hmm, the botanical garden is really close to Ramshackle,” Percy hummed, then turned to the group, “I’ll stop at the dorm really quick to pick up some of my Pokemon for help, then I’ll meet you guys there.”

“You said you weren’t gonna help, what changed your mind?” Ace asked the blonde girl.

“I never said that I wasn’t going to help, gingernuts. I just said that I would do it in exchange for a chocolate croissant and iced latte.” Percy reminded him with a grin, “You can give those to me tomorrow at lunch, and plus, the sooner you apologize to your Housewarden, the sooner you leave my dorm.”

“Ugh, fine, whatever,” Ace groaned, annoyed at his words being used against him, “Plan made. Let’s meet at the botanical garden after the last period.”

“We’re gonna be up to our ears in chestnuts!” Grim cheered.

Trey was right. Behind the botanical gardens, there was a large clearing of chestnut trees among the apple trees.

After the last bell, Percy ran to the Ramshackle dorm and gathered the Pokemon she thought would be helpful. She kept Fletchinder to roast the chestnuts and got Alreamie, Mary the Indeedee, and Sneasel because they loved to cook and bake, Sebastian the Indeedee to help pick the chestnuts, and Gastly who just wanted to follow his beloved trainer. She also grabbed a gallon of Moo Moo milk for good measure.

The trees were covering most sunlight but some of it still managed to filter through, so she gave her parasol to Mimikyu on her shoulder to work comfortably.

“Whoa! There really are a ton of chestnuts just layin’ around. I’m gonna be livin’ large on chestnut tarts! Mmm! Let’s get grabbin’—YOWCH!” Grim exclaimed as he climbed one of the trees to grab a chestnut, only to recoil instantly and whipped around to face his human counterpart, “Myah! Percy the chestnut spines pricked my paws!”

“Be careful Grim,” Percy scolded him and kneeled down to hold his paw to inspect it for injury, “There’s no blood, you’re lucky the spines didn’t puncture that deep.”

“I don’t think we can do this with our bare hands. And we need something to put them in too.” Deuce pointed out.

“Maybe we can find some supplies in the botanical garden?” Ace suggested pointing back to the building behind them.

“Let’s take a look inside.” Percy said as she stood up and reached down to her belt, “Gastly, Come on out!”

In comparison with the Ramshackle building, the greenhouse-like structure was quite gigantic. It was filled with vibrant and colorful plants normally only found in tropical regions like Alola.

“Whoa, I didn’t realize this place was so huge.” Ace was awed as he looked around the area.

On both sides of the main path, there were two paths that crossed a flowing stream.

“If it’s this large, it’s got to have a groundskeeper.” The blue-haired boy muttered, “Let’s split up and look.”

“Sure.” Ace shrugged, “Dibs on the right side.”

“Then how about we’ll go straight ahead,” Percy then turned to Deuce, “While you go left?”

“Kay, let’s do this!”

The group parted ways, Percy and her companions followed the main path down to the center of the gardens, and immediately the Gas Pokemon took off to search for the supplies his trainer needed with Grim on his tail.

“Hey, come look at this!” Grim said as he sniffed the air and found some delicious-looking fruits, “There’s a ton of fruit growing here! Smells like they’re ripe too!”

“Don’t pick anything you don’t know, Grim.” The blonde trainer sighed and quickly walked towards the feline monster to stop him from accidentally poisoning himself, not noticing the brown tail in her path in her haste.

“Ouch!” a low voice hissed.

“Feels like I just stepped on something…” Percy muttered and looked at her feet to see that she stepped on a tail with brown fur sticking along the brick path.

“Hey!” the low voice hissed again; this time Percy noticed that the voice was coming from behind the bushes. “You got some nerve steppin’ on my tail and just walkin’ away!”

When the owner of the voice emerged from the bushes Percy realized that she recognized the boy from the orientation ceremony, the Housewarden of Savanaclaw, if she wasn’t mistaken. His voice was raspy as if he was just woken up, and judging by his drowsy eyes, he was.

On Leona’s side, he smelled them before he saw them. He picked up on a human, a feline, a creature with a faint sweet smell before the human stepped on his tail and woke him up from his nap. It wasn’t hard enough to hurt him, but it was still an annoying sensation.

“Ain’t nothin’ worse than bein’ in the middle of a good nap and havin’ some jerk step on your tail.” He scowled as he rose up from his napping spot with his fists clenched to find out one more thing about the intruders, the human was a female.

Leona's home country, the Sunset Savanna, had its own cultural customs. Having respect for women was the law everyone had to follow, and for good reason as well. The women in his country were fearsome and outspoken. Many of them served as royal household soldiers of the highest rank.

When news broke about a girl attending the school, there was a huge commotion, but Leona didn't care. It is against the law in his country to fight her, and he doesn't intend to help her either.

“I’m terribly sorry,” Percy apologized, and she was genuine about it too. She knew how sensitive tails can be if you stepped on a Pyroar’s tail it would most likely fry you on the spot, “I didn’t see it, I apologize.”

“You… I know you.” Leona’s frown turned into a smirk, “You’re that herbivore with the beasts from orientation who couldn’t use magic.”

He then did something that caught Percy by surprise, she had to admit. He leaned down, getting uncomfortably close, and sniffed her. Making her step back in shock, while Mimikyu clawed at him, hissing from his partner’s shoulder. All of her Pokemon were now angry at the boy with Pyroar ears.

“Huh. It’s true.” He hummed at himself as he pulled away with a smirk, “You don’t have magic at all.”

“I dunno what’s up with this guy,” Grim trembled as he hid behind the blond trainer’s leg, “But when he looks at me, it makes every follicle of fur stand on end…”

“No one gets to stomp on my tail and just walk away without payin’ the price,” Leona growled; he might not be able to touch her, but her beasts were fair game.

Okay, she tried to be nice but now he started to get on her nerves.

“I would love to tumble with you Skitty, but I have a job to do right now, I’m afraid,” Percy snapped her fingers to signal Gastly, and he understood exactly what she wanted him to do, “So just go back to your sleep.”

“Gastly,” the Gas Pokemon got in Leona’s face and his eyes started to glow red, putting his opponent to sleep in a matter of seconds. (Look into my eyes,)

“Good job, sweetie,” Percy praised Gastly who beamed at the compliment, then turned around and walked away from the boy with Pyroar ears.

“Not sure the groundskeepers oughta be talkin’ to students that way,” Grim squicked as he followed her, “What is up with that nutso?”

“I don’t think he’s the groundskeeper, Grim.” Percy answered right before Ace and Deuce emerged from the foliage.

“Yo, guys,” Ace called out, “We found baskets and tongs.”

“What in the world happened to you two?” Deuce asked seeing Grim was still shaking a bit.

“Oh nothing, just encountered a wild Skitty is all,” Percy simply explained.

“Oh, right, the chestnuts! We gotta gather those chestnuts so I can get my tart on!” Grim exclaimed, suddenly remembering why they were here, to begin with, “We’ll fill ‘em in on the crazy groundskeeper while we forage.”

They got back to the woods behind campus and get to work immediately, the humans and Grim used tongs, and Gastly and Sebastian used Psychic to pick the chestnuts while Mimikyu held Percy’s parasol for her so she could work without worrying about the sun.

“Yeah, no way was that guy the groundskeeper.” Ace muttered after Grim finished them what happened.

“Y’know, now that I think about it, he WAS wearin’ the golden vest of that Pajama-clog dorm.” Grim concluded.

“I told you he wasn’t, Grim,” Percy said as she put the last chestnut in her basket, “And it’s Savanaclaw.”

“You know, I’m starting to think that there’s an awful lot of delinquents here at Night Raven…” Deuce muttered to himself.

Percy agreed with him, she was no stranger to fighting with street rules. Heck, she did pick a lot of fights herself to mark her turf in the backstreets of the Lavender Town, but she never in the 19 years she had been alive, ever picked a fight she couldn’t win. She watched and learn about her opponents before challenging them to a battle. The guys in this school, however, jumped into fights all blind, without knowing the strengths and weaknesses of their opponents. Which, to Percy, was a very clear sign of arrogance and stupidity.

“All right, that should be enough chestnuts.” Ace announced as he picked up his basket from the ground, “Let’s get these baskets over to Trey!”

“Myahaha! Now that we’re all gassed up,” Grim punched the air in excitement, “It’s destination: Flavortown, baby!”

When they reached the school kitchen, they saw that Trey was already set up and was waiting for them.

“Welcome back. Looks like you got plenty!” He greeted them with a warm smile and looked impressed at the sight of their baskets full of chestnuts, but then he noticed the Gas and the Emotion Pokemons who were following them, “And who’s your new friends?”

“This is Gastly,” The female trainer introduced each by gesturing to them, “He and a few of my other Pokemons will help us with backing. Say hello honey.”

“Gastly,”

“Never mind him,” Grim said impatiently as he scampered up the counter, “Now you can make us some massive tarts!”

“Well, the bigger the tarts, the harder it’ll be to peel all these nuts, So…” Trey commented once he looked away from the black spherical Pokemon surrounded by a haze, “Good luck with that!”

“We have to peel all of these…?” Deuce looked at the baskets overflowing with chestnuts and groaned, “Suddenly the whole room is spinning…”

“Don’t worry Deuce this is why I brought these guys,” Percy reassured him and reached into her belt, “Mary, Sebastian, Sneasel, Alcremie, Fletchinder, come on out!”

As she threw their Pokeballs in the air, all four Pokemon appeared in a flash of light with a cry of their names. The first and Second ones were dark purple and white bipedal creatures, both had white faces, rounded heads, pear-shaped bodies, and white hands and feet with three digits on each of them. But one of the had upward-turned spiral horns, blue markings in-between its eyes, a generally more navy body, and whiter around the legs. While the other had downward-turned spiral horns, pink markings above its eyes, and the white markings on her body were in the shape of an apron.

The third one had a white body with purple colorations on her face, chest, shoulders, and forelimbs, the feathers on her tail and ear were light purple, there was a yellow gem on her forehead and chest, and she had very sharp-looking claws.

The fourth one was vaguely anthropomorphic and her body looked like it was made of whipped cream, its head resembled several clumps of whipped cream styled like hair, with a large crowning blob flanked by two loop-like ‘bangs’, each of those bangs were topped with purple ribbon shaped sweets, her lower body was similarly composed of two dollops of whipped cream resembling a dress, she had two stout arms with three fingers each extending between the dollops of her body.

“Wow, these are the ones in the kitchen this morning, right?” Deuce asked with awe and took Percy’s Pokedex out of his jacket’s inner pocket and pointed it to the cream-looking creature.

“Alcremie, The Cream Pokemon. The Ruby Cream form with Ribbon Sweets,” The purple device started with a robotic voice, “The cells that compose its cream fluctuated suddenly during evolution, giving the cream a sweet and tart flavor. When a trainer gains Alcremie’s trust, she will treat them to berries with cream. The content of Alcremie’s cream can become richer and sweeter, the happier it feels. Due to the cream it makes being very delicious, many pastry chefs seek to have Alcremie as a partner.”

“No wonder they do, this little cutie is like a walking cream puff,” The boy with glasses walked over to Alcremie, who was on the table, to scratch her chin, “Hello little one.”

“Cremie.” The Cream Pokemon giggled. (Stop.)

Deuce then turned the Pokedex to the dark purple and white creatures.

“Indeedees, The Emotion Pokemons,” the Pokedex said, “These Pokémons willingly serve people and other Pokémon, as they derive energy from feelings of gratitude. They sense emotions by touching their horns to determine others’ needs and serve them better. Males are skilled at being valets while females are excellent babysitters. Indeedee is always bustling around, searching, for and serving those with happy feelings. The Indeedee never leaves its Trainer's side. It uses its psychic power to predict their Trainer's actions and take care of everyday needs. Indeedee dislikes conflict and throws things at any combatant who attempts this using its psychic powers.”

“Cool,” Ace commented, “So, they’re like free butlers.”

And next up was the white creature with claws.

“Hisuian Sneasel, The Sharp Claw Pokemon,” the robotic voice spoke once again, “Hisuian Sneasel’s sturdy and curved claws allow it to climb and travel through the walls of precipitous cliffs where it lives. It has been observed that Hisuian Sneasel lacks the spitefulness of its Johtonian counterpart, and it has been theorized that differences in their environments account for the differing personalities.”

“Those claws look really sharp,” Deuce said as he eyed Sneasel’s razor-sharp claws.

“Yes, they are, which makes her perfect for peeling the chestnuts,” Percy brought them back to the task at hand, “My Pokemon will help but they will not do your job for you, so come on boys get to work. “

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Ace groaned as he took the chestnut clip from her, “We’ve come this far. We’re not giving up now!”

And the group got to peeling. Mary, Sebastian, Gastly, and Alcremie used Psychic to lift the chestnuts, Fletchinder used Air Cutter, Mimikyu used Shadow Claw and Sneasel just used her claws. Percy and Ace just used chestnut clips while Deuce and Grim peeled the chestnuts with their magic. Almost an hour later, they were finally finished.

“My arm is killing me…” Deuce groaned holding his wand holding wrist.

“Nice work.” Trey praised them, the Pokemons more than others, “It still amazes me how your familiars can use magic.”

“We just call it moves in my reality,” Percy said nonchalantly as she gave her Pokemon head pats.

“Your reality?” the green-haired boy asked unsurely with wide eyes.

“Yeah, apparently miss Beast Master over here is from an alternate reality.” Ace rolled his eyes.

“And I thought I saw all the weirdness this place could throw at me…” Trey muttered to himself, still looking at Percy and her Pokemon with wide eyes when Grim prevented him from saying anything more as he stared at the chestnuts Fletchinder was roasting with a hungry expression.

“The smell alone already has me droolin’…” the fiery feline drooled making the green-haired boy shake his head to get a hold of himself again.

“I just need to add butter and sugar to the chestnut paste,” He paused for dramatic effect before saying the ingredient that made others turn to him with a horrified expression, “And a sensible splash of oyster sauce, that’s my secret ingredient!”

“Oyster sauce?!” The group snapped their heads up with alarm.

“I use this one here: Walrus-brand Young Oyster Sauce.” Trey said as he took out a little sauce bottle, “All the best bakers use it in their tarts.”

“Really?” Deuce questioned with an unsure voice, “But isn’t oyster sauce like, super salty?”

“Some folks put chocolate into curry, don’t they? Maybe it’s the same idea.” Ace guessed.

“Seriously, guys!” Percy looked at them with disbelief, her Pokemon looked ready to throw up and so was she, “He’s kidding you, at least he better be!”

“Pfft… Ah ha ha ha!” Trey burst out laughing, “Of course, I’m kidding! No one in their right mind would put oyster sauce into a pastry.”

“What?! So, you were just yankin’ our chain?” the ginger boy glared at his Vice-Housewarden.

“Ah ha ha! I mean, if you’d used your brain, you’d have realized how ridiculous it was!” the third year kept laughing, “Let that be a lesson to you. Don’t believe everything you hear.”

“You’re giving these idiots too much credit.” Percy muttered.

“Next, I’ll put in the cream… Oh!”

Because of the abundance of chestnuts, they had to use three bowls and three food mills to puree all the chestnut paste. As Trey prepared four blind-baked tart crusts for the celebration, he must have taken that into account.

“Next, I’ll put in the cream… Oh!” However, he didn’t consider how much whipped cream he needed for the chestnut buttercream.

 “What’s wrong?” Ace asked.

“You guys gathered so many chestnuts that we may have overdone it with the chestnut paste. I don’t think we have enough cream to mix in.” Trey admitted.

“Can’t Alcremie fill the rest?” Ace asked Percy.

“No, not this much,” the blonde trainer quickly shook her head, “Alcremie’s cream is good for decorating cakes or adding to the existing cream in small doses to enhance the flavor.”

“Then I’ll go buy some.” Deuce volunteered, “Do they sell it at the school store?”

“They sell pretty much everything, so… probably. Can I have you pick me up a few other things?” Trey answered, then picked up a pen and paper to scribble some other ingredients, “I need two cartons of milk, two packs of eggs, some muffin cups, five cans of fruit…”

“You don’t need milk, here…” Percy said as she took 2,5 gallon of Moo Moo milk out of her backpack and put it on the table, “Believe me, whatever creature you get milk from, this is better, and Deuce can’t carry all of that by himself, I’m going with him.”

“Thank you, Housewarden.” Deuce beamed.

“You’re welcome, and besides, I need to learn the way to the store.” Percy shrugged then looked at her Pokemon,” Mimikyu, Gastly, come on.”

“Then I’m comin’ too!” Grim exclaimed as the Ghost Pokemon made their way to their trainer, “I’m getting dizzy from all this stirrin’. I need a break!”

Mister S’s Mystery Shop was very strange, but to Percy, it was a good kind of strange. Upon entering they were greeted with a variety of items on sale. The inside was very spooky, and Percy liked it very much.

The wall was lined with bookshelves containing grimoires and other spellbooks. In one corner of the piano, there was something sticking out that Percy had no idea what it was. The low green light from the overhead lamp added a layer of mystery to the shop by coloring everything the same shade. Along the shelves of the establishment, Percy saw bottles in languages she couldn't read.

“Hello, can I get some he—Whoa. This shop is wild.” Deuce commented as Percy and her Ghost Pokemon eyed the crystal balls and voodoo masks with childlike wonder, “They have crystal skulls, grimoires, taxidermied… Uh, I don’t even know what animal that is!”

“You think they really sell cream here?” Grim asked as he looked around.

“Greetings, my stray imps, how are you today?” A man in purple pooped up in front of them and greeted them cheerfully but when his eyes landed on her, he took his hat off and bowed to her with respect in a theatrical manner, “Ah Persephone Remmington, the Ghost Queen of Ramshackle, Welcome to Mr. Sam’s Mystery Shop.”

Oh, Percy likes this guy, “Greetings to you too, word travels fast among the dead, huh?”

“Indeed, it does,” He agreed then gestured to his shop, “What among my humble selection interests you? A charm from a secluded land? The mummified remains of an ancient king? A cursed tarot card?”

“Not today, I’m afraid,” Percy lightly refused and gave him the list Trey gave them, “We just want the items on this list…”

“Ring up two cans of tuna while you’re at it!” The fiery feline added.

“No, Grim!” The blue-haired boy scolded his feline friend, “We’re not here for tuna!”

“What’s this? Cream and eggs and…” Mr. Sam read out loud then smiled at them and scurried off, “Quite the sacchariferous list! I’ll get everything for you.”

“Whoa…” Deuce awed at the man, “He really does stock that stuff, huh?”

“Here you go. It’s pretty heavy… Are you sure you can carry this?” And the shopkeeper was back as quickly as he was gone, with arms full of grocery bags. He stacked them next to the register with a grunt. And pointed to the miniature UFOs with flashing lights floating up behind the shopkeeper. “Luckily for you, our 1/100th size flying saucers are 30% off today. Perfect for carrying groceries!”

“Ooh, lemme see!” Grim cheered while jumping up and down like an excited kid at a toy store, “That sounds awesome!”

“We’re fine, thank you.” Deuce placed thirty Thaumarks on the counter, scooped Grim up into one arm and two grocery bags into another, and dashed out the door. “Let’s go, Grim.”

“Deuce, wait for us!” Percy said as she gestured to Mimikyu and Gastly to pick up the rest of the bags, “It was a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Sam.”

“Until next time, my little imps.” The shopkeeper waved her goodbye as she ran after her friend, “Do come again! Ciao!”

The sun was setting by the time they were crossing the Main Street. Which meant Percy didn’t need her parasol, hat, and sunglasses anymore.

“That store was amazing,” Deuce said on the way back.

“Yeah, and you’re amazingly cheap.” Grim stuck out his tongue.

“Who are you calling cheap?!” Deuce yelled then looked over at the blonde girl and the bag in her hand, “Percy, looks like you got the bag with all the cans. That must be heavy. Let me take one. I’ve got a little trick for carrying heavy bags.”

Before she could refuse, he was already carrying the bags and seeing how comfortable he was with it, she did not argue.

“Well, aren’t you quite a gentleman?” Percy mused while smiling at Deuce lightheartedly, “Do you usually buy a lot when you go shopping?”

“Yeah. My mom always used to stock up at sales, and the bags would get ridiculously heavy.” A soft flush spread across his face. As he spoke, his voice softened. Getting fonder. “I was the only man in the house, so I got to do all the heavy lifting, and— Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to monopolize the conversation.”

Deuce felt like he could talk to Percy. Sure, she was strict and sometimes cruel but only to those who treated her badly and to Ace and Grim’s misbehaving. She had been nothing but nice to him ever since he met her. Also, his mama taught him to respect women, all right?

“No, it’s okay, sounds like you took good care of your mom.” She then thought about her own mother, and gave out a hollow laugh, “What a blessing to have a mother who cares.”

Sensing her dark thoughts Mimikyu patted her hair making her smile. Mothers were a sore subject for her, she envied the good ones and despised the bad ones.

Grim's face displayed a strangely calm expression during this conversation. He did not say anything, just looked between them. The sway of his tail looked almost contemplative as it slowed in its sway. Although she had a momentary desire to ask whether the monster had any family, she decided not to. So, she remained silent because Grim would've said anything already if he wanted to. He could do so on his own when he felt like telling them.

“No, it wasn’t like that at all. The truth is, I— Owww!" Deuce started solemnly but before he could continue, he bumped into a student, dropping the eggs in the process.

“Myah! The eggs!” Grim shouted.

“T-the carton of eggs is totally smashed!” Deuce cursed, “And now the bag’s dripping egg good everywhere.”

“Ouch! Why don’t you watch where you’re—Hey!” As Percy raised her head, she stared at the attackers, those same two upperclassmen from the scrimmage. One of them clutched his shoulder when they recognized each other immediately. “You’re the jerks who broke the egg yolk on my carbonara!”

“I’ve had enough of you punks. You need to learn your place!” His friend yelled.

“My place is above you imbeciles.” Percy glared at them, “And I saw you run right into him on purpose.”

“Are you saying it’s my fault, girly? Watch how you talk to your seniors!” the asshole with white hair got into her face.

“I’m older than you, you simpletons!” the blonde trainer and the idiot who dared to anger her were now toe-to-toe. While her Pokemons were hissing at him, if they weren’t carrying bags, they would scratch his eyes out. Actually, Percy was going to do the scratching herself if only Deuce didn’t get between her and the assholes.

“Leave her alone,” the blue-haired boy growled, “Please reimburse us for the eggs. And then apologize to the chickens.”

“Ooh, look who’s got his big boy pants on.” The idiot with red hair scoffed, “You sure are makin’ a big deal outta some stupid eggs.”

“What?” Deuce’s eye twitched and his fists were clenched as he took deep breaths.

“They haven’t even touched the ground, so they’re still edible. Quit whinin’.” The white-haired one snickered.

“You should thank us for savin’ ya the trouble of crackin’ ‘em!” his friend joined in his laughter.

Percy clicked her tongue, annoyed that the idiots hadn’t learned their lesson. But before she could motion for Gastly to attack, she heard Deuce.

“That ain’t funny,” Deuce mumbled.

“Huh?”

“I said, THAT AİN’T FUNNY!” Deuce shouted in an uncharacteristic outburst, stepping forward and cracking his knuckles loudly. The expression on his face was livid. “You don’t get to call my eggs stupid. You don’t get to call ANY eggs stupid! Those eggs may not have gotten to be chicks, but they were gonna make some amazing tarts! Do you get it yet? DO YOU?!”

“What is with this guy all of a sudden?!” A cold sweat broke out in the red-haired one, he was taken aback by his change in demeanor, as he backed away from the approaching first-year.

Percy backed away too, but not from fear, just to watch the show more comfortably.

“You owe me six eggs.”  Deuce cracked his knuckles, a vein bulging from his head. His low voice gained the same guttural edge that it had back when he’d nearly punched Ace in the Dwarfs’ Mine. “If ya ain’t gonna pay me for ‘em, then you’re gettin’ a bruise for each one!”

“Are you serious right now?!” the white-haired one screamed.

I live! sorry for taking so long guys my mental health took a swan dive and I had exams to think of but now I'm back again with book 1. By the way, what do you guys think about the new Pokemons from Pokemon Scarlet and Violet? I really like some of them and Percy got a few new Pokemon.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

The first thing Percy did when she finally managed to make her way through the doorway of her dorm was release Gengar and ask her if she could find her some bath supplies, she didn’t care from where. She had no problem resorting to thievery when she needed it, and having Pokemon that can turn invisible and phase through walls made theft very easy.

She released the rest of her Pokemon from their Pokeballs and let them join the others before she introduced Sableye to the rest of them. She left them to interact as she let her Panpour out of the PC and made her way to her room with him on her shoulder and Mimikyu still in her arms. She found Grim snoozing on the bed already before she walked into the connected bathroom and asked Panpour to fill the tub with Scald, then sat on the armchair in front of the fireplace that was lit by Chandelure and waited for Gengar to return. The water should cool down to a bearable degree til then, though as she petted her partner’s head she fell asleep at some point.

Stupid Housewarden Rosehearts and his stupid rules. To hell with that dorm.

That was what Ace was thinking as he passed the front gate of the Ramshackle dorm. Once he reached the front door, he started banging on it, “Oi! Percy, it’s me Ace! Just let me in, all right?!”

He waited for a response for a moment but got none, he was about to knock again, but before his knuckle could make contact with it the door slowly opened by itself.

“Percy?” he asked as he cautiously stepped inside, “Grim?”

Percy was having, probably one of the weirdest dreams she ever had, about talking playing cards painting white roses to red, before she was awakened by a loud banging noise. In her sleepy haze, she couldn’t recognize her surroundings for a second before Grim’s voice snapped her out of it.

“Myaaah… Hey, Percy…” the fiery feline said as he rubbed the sleep off his eyes, “I know it’s the middle of the night, but I think we’ve got a visitor.”

The blonde girl got up with a sigh and reached an arm for him to climb onto her shoulder, while her other arm hold Mimikyu in place.

“Maybe it’s those pesky ghosts again?” Grim asked, “They just don’t know when to quit.”

“I don’t think the ghosts would be banging on the front door Grim,” Percy said as she made her way downstairs.

“Man, the inside of the dorm is just as creepy as it’s outside” Ace muttered, then he slowly walked into a dark room, “Percy?”

Suddenly he heard something quickly run in the dark on all fours, “G-Grim? Is that you?”

“what are you doing here?”

A voice suddenly asked from behind him making him throw himself to the ground and wail in terror. “AAAAHHHHHH!”

And low and behold right in front of him was the newly appointed Housewarden herself, looking down at him with a very tired and very annoyed expression along with her partner, while her feline counterpart was laughing himself to tears.

“And how did you get in?”

“T-t-t-the d-door opened by itself,” he managed to stutter, still trying to even his breathing. He felt like his heart was trying to beat out of his ribcage.

"Of course, it did," the blonde trainer sighed and then turned to talk to the shadows of the empty room, "Guys, what did I say about scaring people you don't know?"

The sound of giggling echoed inside the room and slowly Shiinotic and Shaymin in its landform came out of the shadows.

"You two spend too much time with Mismagius, at least check out who it is before scaring them to death, you little rascals." Percy put a hand on her hip, then turned to Ace, "And again what are you doing here, gingernuts?"

"Yeah Ace?" Grim spoke from her shoulder, "It's the middle of the night!" but then he yelped when he saw the red and black object around the ginger's neck, "B-bwah! that collar!"

"I can't go back to Heartslabyul dorm," Now that he calmed himself enough to talk, his anger returning full power. "I'm joining your dorm. For good."

"Myah?! Come again?" the fiery feline shrieked.

Percy sighed again and turned around towards the kitchen, "I'll make some tea."

The tea in the kitchen was spoiled ages ago however, thankfully she always carried emergency teabags in her bag. So, after she wiped two cups with some baby wipes and asked Panpour to use scald once again, Percy served it to the fuming ginger sitting in the Ramshackle lounge.

Good thing sugar had no expiration date.

"I'd recognize that collar anywhere," Grim claimed, now sitting on one of the couches in the lounge. "It's the same one that psycho stuck on me at orientation! What'd you do to get shackled with that?"

"I ate a tart." Ace grumbled as he crossed his arms grumpily.

"You... ate a tart?" Percy, who was now sitting on the rocking chair with Mimikyu on her lap, in front of the crackling fireplace, repeated in confusion.

"Yeah, that's it! that's all I did!" he retorted, "I was a little hungry, see, so I went down to the dorm kitchen and found some tarts in the fridge. Three whole tarts! Big ones, too!"

he then told them how he ate just a slice of pie and how his Housewarden collared him on the spot.

"And... here I am."

All three of the Ramshackle residents silently stared at him for a second.

"So... The point is you're both terrible," Grim spoke first.

And Percy followed, "You really couldn't handle being alone for 10 minutes, could you?"

"You don't think that it's insane for my magic to get sealed away for eating ONE slice of tart?!" the ginger insisted. "And there were three whole tarts! THREE! It's not like he could eat 'em all himself! C'mon, you KNOW this is messed up!"

"It depends," Percy took a sip of her tea, "Was there a note on it?"

"NO!" Ace shouted, "There wasn't any NOTE!"

"Then it was fair game," the blonde shrugged, "In a place where multiple people share a kitchen, like a dorm, if you don't put your name on your food in the fridge that food belongs to all inhabitants of the dorm."

"Riiight?!"

"Yeah, but... " Grim argued, "I mean if there were three of 'em they were probably for a party. Maybe it was someone's birthday or somethin'? Lookit that! I'm, like, a master detective too!"

"A birthday party, huh...?" Ace scratched the back of his neck.

"They should write that it's for an event then, at least for the freshman" She shrugged again and then gestured to Ace, "He's gone to school for literally one day, he's not familiar with the customs of his dorm yet." she then turned to the ginger, "Did you at least apologize?"

"Wha? I thought you were on my side!" the ginger whined once again, looking very much like a grumpy child, “I’m a victim of the Housewarden's tyranny here!"

"A tyrant he may be, however, he's the only one who can take that collar off. Therefore, whether you like it or not you have no other choice but to apologize." Percy simply said as she silently sipped her tea and kept rubbing Mimikyu's chin, silently hoping for Gengar to return swiftly.

"Yeah, and don't go messin' with another man's meal in the future..." Grim started but then suddenly stopped, "Hey, wait a minute! I just realized I never got those cans of tuna the Head mage promised me!"

"All right, all right. Fine. I get that I should apologize." Ace gave in, "But you're coming with me, Percy. This was your idea, after all."

"Aww, would you like me to hold your hand like your mommy too, wittle baby?" she teased with a baby voice, but then shrugged and normally said, "But fine I have nothing better to do."

"So, anyway, you got a place for me to crash tonight?" Ace yawned and stretched after he finished the rest of his tea.

"You were serious about that?" Grim asked with a deadpan look, " Outside of the bedroom me and Percy use, this entire dump is buried under a foot of dust. So, if you wanna crash, you better start cleanin'!"

"Dude, no way! I hate cleaning!" Ace moaned, but then he grinned and slowly started to inch closer to Percy, "Just let me stay with you, Percy. I'm really slim. I won't take up much space and I can really warm you up on this cold night."

The moment he stopped talking Ace felt several eyes glaring holes in him and suddenly a growling filled the lounge.

"Mimikyu,"

*SMACK*

"OUCH!"

"Thank you, darling" she put down her empty cup and looked at the ginger boy with a red mark in the shape of The Disguise Pokemon's three-fingered appendage, that bitch slapped him all the way across the couch. "If you dread cleaning that much, this sofa has your name on it."

"Tch. You're about as flexible as a brick." the ginger grumbled.

"You either sleep on the sofa or on the outside, make your choice," Percy silenced the boy and got up from her rocking chair when she felt the familiar chill just in time to see that Gengar has arrived with an arm full of bath supplies, "Gengar, thank you, you're just in time. Now I'm off to the bath, see you in the morning, good night."

She took the supplies from The Shadow Pokemon and started to make her way toward her room with Mimikyu in her arms and Grim on their tails.

"Well, fine. The sofa it is." Ace said as he lay on the couch and tried to make himself comfortable, "Night!"

After the day she had, a lavender-scented hot bath felt like heaven, and after she made sure that the curtains were closed shut to block out the morning sun, she slipped into her comfortable nightgown, put on her sleeping mask, hugged Mimikyu on her chest and Percy was asleep the moment her head made contact with the pillow.

In the morning she woke up to Grim's screams and Phantump's giggles.

Percy sighed and took off her mask to see Grim on the ground and the Stump Pokemon pointing and laughing at him.

“Is this gonna happen every mornin’?” the little feline whined.

She lied on her back, lifted her partner up in the air, and smiled at him, “Good morning, my darling.”

Mimikyu smiled at him too, even though the Disguise Pokemon didn’t have a visible mouth she could see in his beady little eyes.

She hugged him to her chest and got out of bed. She had so much to do.

First, she got all of her Grassland, Forest, Water’-edge, Sea, and Urban Pokemon out of the PC, then she sent Gengar for a supply run while she settled her Pokemon to their new homes. Once the Shadow Pokemon came back, she, Sebastian the male Indeedee, and Blissey got to the dishes right away. While they cleaned all the cups, glasses, dishes, containers, and cutlery, Mary the female Indeedee cleaned the cabinets.

After the cleaning Percy showed her Leavanny the examples for her school uniforms that Crowley thankfully didn’t forget to send, because of her sun allergy she couldn’t just wear any fabric, it needed to be a very tight weave. Leavanny made the fabrics with Mareep’s wool, Wooloo’s fleece, Eldegoss, and Whimsicott’s cotton and then colors them with fabric dyes, cuts them with her cutters, and then sews them with her Tarountula’s strong thread. She is also the best fashion designer Percy knows.

She then grabbed the two 2.5-gallon jugs that Gengar ‘acquired’ and made her way to her Miltank and milked all her daily milk, she gave the jugs to Sebastian and walked to the berry garden to pick some Mago, Pecha, and some Pinap berries for breakfast.

She decided to make Blissey pancakes with Mago and Pecha berries and Pinap berry milkshakes. It’s called Blissey pancakes because she uses Blissey eggs instead of normal ones and as they are huge, she gets enormous amounts of pancake batter every time. Which is a good thing because she got 50 hungry mouths to feed right now.

“Myah! It smells amazing in here!”

Speaking of hungry mouths…

“Good morning Grim,” Percy said as she left the pancakes to Sebastian and started to put the Pinap berries Sneasel chopped into pure into a bowl and mixed it with Moomoo milk.

“Who are these three?” the fiery feline asked, pointing at the Happiness, the Sharp Claw, and the Cream Pokemons.

“These are Sneasel, Blissey, and Alcremie,” the blonde trainer introduced as the ruby cream with ribbon sweet Alcremie who was standing ready on the counter started to pour her cream into the bowl. Percy then gestured at the table that Mary was setting, “Go ahead sit the breakfast will be ready in a moment.”

She didn’t need to tell him twice, Grim was on one of the seats faster than a Sharpedo on the hunt.

“Where’s explody hair?” the feline asked, while Blissey using Ice Beam, formed a light blue ball of energy in front of her mouth and then fired a light blue beam at the bowl as Mimikyu mixed the milkshake, “Didn’t he woke up yet?”

“Well—” Percy started to say as she poured now ready Pinap milkshake into three tall glasses but got cut off by a loud scream that made her smile at Grim, “He’s certainly awake now.”

And on cue, a disheveled Ace ran into the kitchen with Furret, Poochyena, and Alolan Vulpix hanging on him.

“GET THEM OFF OF ME!” he shrieked as he tried to shake them off, “GET THEM OFF!”

“Okay guys, the playtime is over, your breakfast is getting cold.” She giggled at her baby Pokemons ‘antics as they let go of the ginger boy's shirt and ran to the backyard at the mention of breakfast. She then turned to Ace and gestured for him to sit, “Good morning, gingernuts. How was your sleep?”

“The couch was uncomfortable, something kept poking me all night, and I got woken up by your animals attacking me. What do you think?” he glared at her.

“Well, look at it on the bright side,” Percy took a plate full of mouthwatering pancakes and waved them under his nose then put it in front of him, making Ace’s stomach grumble, “At least you get to have a scrumptious breakfast. Now, maple syrup or chocolate sauce?”

The ginger boy looked between the sweet condiments outlined with a light blue that was floating to him courtesy of Mary, with a pout on his face, “Chocolate sauce, please.”

“Where did you get all these anyway?” he asked as he cut a piece of the pancake.

“Myah! Never mind where she got it, “Grim answered with his mouth full and his eyes sparkling from the flavor fest on his tongue, “These are so fluffy and sweet it feels like a cloud in my mouth, the cream is sweet and just the right amount of tart, it makes me feel so happy!”

“Yes,” Percy giggled and took a sip from her milkshake, “Blissey pancakes have that effect on people. I make it with Blissey eggs, they can cause a sense of bliss if you will.”

“What’s a Blissey?” Ace asked after he swallowed the piece in his mouth.

“Her.” The blonde said gesturing to the creature with a large, ovoid body with a pink upper body and white lower body. It had hair-like curls on either side of its head. White, wing-like tufts grow from its hips and shoulders, creating the impression of a dress. Its stubby arms, which it was waving at him with one of them with a warm smile, and feet were pink and lacked any digits. A small, pink pouch on its belly held a single large egg.

And Rotom, the ever so helpful servant of its queen, assisted her by opening its Pokedex app and floating up to its fellow Pokemon.

“Blissey, the Happiness Pokemon. A female-only species. Blissey senses sadness with its fluffy coat of fur. If it does so, this Pokémon will rush over to the sad person, however far they may be, to share an egg of happiness that brings a smile to any face.”  

“Yeah, basically,” Percy said before she took a bite of her pancakes and gave her Pokemon partner some too.

Ace looked like he wanted to ask another question when a loud knocking sound interrupted him. “Who is pounding on the door at this hour?!”

Just as he asked that a bird with orange and black plumage flew in and perched on Percy’s shoulder. It had a sharp, black beak, black eyes with yellow, mask-like markings behind it, and a small, pointed crest on the back of its head. Its upper side was reddish-orange, and its belly was gray. There was a flame pattern on its breast where the two colors meet. The tips and undersides of its pointed, black wings are yellow. Its legs are also black with sharp talons and two toes facing forward and one back. Two white, V-shaped markings are located near the tip of its long black tail feathers. Its tail ends in two points and has another feather sticking out of the base on each side, resembling the fletching on the end of an arrow.

“Fletch Fletch Fletchinder.” It chirped to his trainer. ‘There’s a blue-haired boy outside.’

“Is there now? Wonder what he’s doing here.” Percy hummed as she got up to answer the door.

“Is he here?”

“Good morning to you too, Deuce.” The blonde girl opened the door wider for the blue-haired boy to enter the dorm. “And yes, he’s here.”

“Morning, and I figured I’d find him here.” He said as he followed Percy to the kitchen.

“Yo! Remmington who was ı—” the ginger boy started but when he saw who it was his face turned into a scowl, “Ugh. Deuce…”

“So, you ate the Housewarden Rosehearts’ tart.” Deuce said, putting a hand on his hip, “You really are an idiot, Ace.”

“Oh, shut up! Like you’re one to talk!” the boy with the collar snapped, “Anyway,uh… Is he still mad?”

“What do you think ginger nuts?” Percy asked him then turned to Deuce, gesturing to the empty seat on the table, “Sit down, Mary would you please set a plate for him?”

“Thank you, and not at all. Maybe a touch irritated if anything. A few of our dormmates overslept this morning… but only three of ‘em got your treatment. “Deuce said while a plate slowly floated and landed in front of him along with a fork and a knife.

“You call that ‘not at all’ mad?!” Ace exclaimed, “Sounds like he’s still on the rampage, to me.”

“Well, it’s your own fault for stealing from the Housewarden and why is it so dark here?” the blue-haired boy asked as he looked around and saw that all the windows were covered with thick drapes that didn’t let even a drop of sunlight in, the rooms were illuminated by the lamps.

“Yeah, Remmington why are you avoiding the sun like a vampire?” the ginger boy asked Percy.

“Because I’d burn up like one if I go into the sun, gingernuts.” The blonde girl simply said as she put a bit more diced berries on her Pancake, surprising the three boys in front of her.

“What?” Grim asked after he finally finished his breakfast.

“I have a rare sunlight allergy called Solar Urticaria. It causes an itchy rash or hives that appear on any part of my skin if it gets exposed to the sun. the longer I stay in the sun the more serious the reaction is, it can cause anaphylaxis and that can lead to respiratory failure, seizures, shock, coma, and even death.” Percy explained, making the boys gasp. “That’s why I’ve been living nocturnally for the last 14 years but it’s obvious why I can’t maintain that habit any longer.”

“Wow,” Ace said slowly, “That sucks.”

“Yes, it most definitely does,” the trainer said while she finished the last of her pancakes, just in time for Leavanny to come in with her new uniform, “Now if you please excuse me, gentlemen, I need to get ready, and you need to quickly finish your breakfasts, it’s almost time.”  

She brushed her hair, put on her Drop Dead Red lipstick, applied her sunblock, wore her uniform, put on her backpack, grabbed her parasol, and with her loyal partner Mimikyu on her shoulder, she was ready to go.

“What do you guys think?” she asked as she walked downstairs.

The boys were flabbergasted the moment they saw her, but they didn’t need to say anything, what they were thinking was obvious from their flushed faces.

“Well then let’s not dilly-dally, or else we’ll be late.”

While the three humans walked down the Main Street, their feline companion was practically skipping with joy.

“Move it! Outta the way! Night Raven Collage student comin’ through!” Grim show off to no one in particular.

“Someone’s happy this morning,” Percy muttered to her Pokemon partner, who made a crackling sound in agreement, as she held up her parasol to shield them both from the shiny ball of skin cancer known as the sun.  

“Oh? Did my collar catch your eye? It is way better than the one you’re stuck with! You know, the one that makes it so you can’t use magic?” The feline monster then turned his fiery little head to Ace, who was not at all happy. “But hey, the school could always use another janitor! Bwahahaha!”

Mimikyu joined Grim’s laughter with his cackling too. He didn’t like the ginger boy one bit ever since he met him, so the Disguise Pokemon saw no problem in laughing at his misfortune.

“Come on you two stop torturing the poor sod,” Percy scolded them while she poorly tried to conceal her own giggling, “He suffered enough.”

“Grrrrr! Trust me Grim, when I get my magic back, your hide is first up on the chopping block!” Ace growled back.

The blonde trainer immediately stopped giggling and her smile turned into a cold scowl, “Just you try, I’ll chop you up before you can reach for your pen.”

“Didn’t the Headmage JUST tell you yesterday, no more incidents?” Deuce reminded them, “Regardless, Ace you’re not going to be able to participate in class if you can’t use magic, so why not just apologize to the Housewarden? It’s a small price to pay for having the collar removed.”

“I already told him that, why else do you think that we’re going to the Mirror Chamber?” the blonde trainer told the blue-haired boy with closed eyes, then turned to the ginger boy and gave him a condescending look behind her dark-tinted glasses, “The wittle baby needs somebody to hold his hand while he apologizes to his big scawy Housewarden.” She said with a baby voice, making her Pokemon partner cackle again.

“Aaaaarg! I hate this so! SO! Much!” Ace growled again.

“Hmm. Ya know, we do still have some time to kill before class starts. And I am kinda curious about the other dorms.” Grim said as he climbed Percy’s other shoulder, “Guess I’ll go along and scope out the place while you make with the groveling.”

“Since when did this become a field trip?!”  

 They finally reached the Mirror hall and go through the one decorated with roses, playing cards, and little mushrooms. The dorm itself wasn’t much different from its mirror, it was a red castle decorated with spades, hearts, diamonds, and clubs, surrounded by a garden full of red rose bushes and a hedge maze.

It was beautiful but it was nothing next to the garden she had back in the lavender town, which was created by her blue Florges.

“Dang, this place is swank!” Grim said with awe, “This is nothing like our dumpster of a dorm.”

“Oi, our dorm is a work-in-progress all right,” Percy scolded the feline monster, “It’s going to be bloody gorgeous when I’m finished with it.”

In the depths of the Rose Maze, there was a heavy paint smell was dominant in the air. Percy soon understood where the smell was coming from as she saw the white roses half-painted red.

“Aww yeah, I am getting my paint on! They all gotta be red, or it’s ‘off with my head’!” the group heard a voice say.

‘huh, talk about déja vu.’ Percy thought to herself.

“Ah, someone’s here.” Grim being Grim, he jumped from her shoulder and run towards the voice.

 “Grim!” the blonde trainer whisper-yelled after her fiery dorm mate.

They discovered that the owner of the voice was an orange-haired boy with a red diamond under his right eye, who was on a ladder with a paintbrush in his hands painting the white roses red.

“Huh…?” The boy turned to them when he noticed the group approaching him and got down his ladder, “You guys need something?”

“What are you doing there?” Ace asked blatantly.

“Are you blind? I’m painting these roses red,” the boy simply answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Yes, we can see that, but why?” Percy asked while she and Mimikyu simultaneously tilted their heads with curiosity.

“Ah ha ha. So naive, you put the ‘n’ in newb.” The boy laughed while light-heartedly shaking his head, but stopped when he got a good look at Ace and Deuce, “Hold the phone, I know you two! You’re the ones who broke a billion-thaumark chandelier and nearly got expelled for it, yeah?”

Both boys lowered their faces in shame.

“That chandelier is gonna haunt us till the day we graduate, isn’t it?” Ace whined.

“And YOU are also the one who ate the Housewarden’s tart that same night!” the orange-haired boy laughed, “You guys are THE hot topic around campus! I’ve gotta get in on this fleeting fame. I’m just gonna grab a selfie real quick…”

Fortunately, Percy was wearing her sunglasses or the sudden flash from that phone could blind her like the rest of the group.

“It’s cool if I post this on Magicom, right?” the boy asked but without waiting for the answer he was at it again, “Gimmie your names so I can tag you.”

“I’m Deuce Spade.”

“Ace.”

“He’s Grim, this is Mimikyu, my partner,” The blond girl introduced her companions first, then took off her glasses and was just about to introduce herself but… “And I’m—“

The orange-haired boy gasped and interrupted her, “You’re Percy The Ghost Queen!”

This made Percy furrow her brows, “How do you know that nickname?”

“You’re famous at Magicam!” the boy exclaimed excitedly.

“But I don’t have a Magicam,” the girl said in a not any less confused tone.

“Yeah, you do. See?” he said as he pointed his phone to her face, “You became famous overnight!”

On the phone, a video was playing. A video of her commanding her Glacion to aim an Ice Beam at the ground and her Pokemon jumping and landing on a perfectly made arctic rose. Her old Pokemon Contest recordings.  

“But how?” How could her contest recordings get uploaded to a social media platform of this reality? She then heard a giggling coming from her backpack. Of course. She shut her eyes, “Rotom!”

 “Nevertheless,” She shook her head and gained back her composure, “I am Percy Remmington, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

“Uploaded! Sweet.” He turned off his phone and put it away, then turned to the group, “Oh, I’m Cater Diamond, by the way. I’m a junior here at Heartslabyul. But Cater is fine. Or Cay-Cay if you’re cray-cray! Soooo nice to meetcha!” the boy, Cater, winked at her, which made Mimikyu growl and started to glow with an angry blue aura again.

Just when he was about claw out the orange-haired boy for daring to flirt with his trainer, Percy stopped him by raising her hand, “Now, now love let’s not make a traumatic first expression.”

“Ah, you’re also our first female student and the beastmaster Housewarden of that so-called Ramshackle Dorm, right?” Cater crossed his arms, “Like, I can’t believe you actually live there! It’s all gloomy and looks like hot garbage on Magicam. No filter could salvage THAT dump.”

“Y’know, you’ve done nothin’ but diss us here, pal!” Grim growled while crossing his arms.

“Gah, what am I doing? I don’t have time to chat!” Cater’s eyes widened when he noticed the time, “The party’s tomorrow. If we’re not ready, it’s ‘off with my head’! hey, you kids wanna help me paint some roses?”

“Yeah, uh … Why are you doing that again exactly?” Ace asked.

“Because red roses are so much more photogenic! Or… something…? And after that, I’ve gotta start getting things ready for the big croquet tournament. And that means coloring all the flamingos.” The orange-haired boy sighed.

Percy didn’t get it, if you want red roses just plant red roses. It’s easier than painting all of them yourself and smells better too. And while talking about not getting it…

“You’re colorin’ flamingos now? Isn’t anything the right color around here?!” Grim grumbled.

“This flamingo you’re speaking of can’t be a tall, avian creature with a pink rounded body and Wings, a long neck that’s tied into a knot at the base and long thin white legs with webbed feet, a white face, a curved beak with a black tip by any chance can it?” The blonde girl asked curiously.

And it got really silent all of a sudden.

“Uh… Yeah.” Deuce answered slowly, “Except for the knotted neck. Why?”    

“Huh, what do you know maybe our realities have some similarities after all.” Percy mumbled to herself thinking about the Synchronize Pokemon Flamigo, then turned to Cater, “Nevermind that, why are you dyeing live animals? Those better be non-toxic dye and what are they even doing in a croquet tournament?”

“Don’t worry we use magic to change their colors, it’s totally safe.” The orange-haired boy reassured her, “And they are needed for hitting the balls, it’s all in the rules you see.”

“Okay, aside from the flamingos, now it’s coming into focus, Ace.” Deuce said, wanting to keep the ball rolling, “That tart you ate must have been for the Housewarden’s birthday. That explains his reaction!”   

“Hm? Oh, no, it’s not Riddle’s birthday.” Cater corrected his underclassmen.

“It’s not?” Ace asked, clearly done with this conversation, “Then whose birthday is it?”

 “It isn’t anyone’s birthday.” The orange-haired boy answered smiling cheekily at them, “Tomorrow is our dorm’s traditional unbirthday party. It’s a special tea party we throw when no one has a birthday—if the Housewarden feels like it.”

“And why would you do that?” Ace yelped.

“Again with the questions!” Cater cut him off, waving his magic pen around, “Listen, I need these roses to be red. Like yesterday. Can’t you guys help out with magic or something? Oh, but Ace is on magical house arrest and Percy is a total normie, so you two better stick to paint.”

“Hmph,” Percy gave him an airy laugh but her emerald green eyes remained cold upon the normie comment, “Well, this normie is not a member of your dorm so,” she said as she walked up to a nearby bench and sat down gracefully, “She doesn’t have to help with anything, meaning; she will just sit here in the shade while you boys do what you do.”

She wasn’t about to be tricked into doing anyone’s job for them, thank you very much.

“Recolor the roses with magic…” Deuce muttered to the unfamiliar practice nervously.

“Can’t say I’ve ever done this before,” Grim said unsurely, he could agree with his Housewarden and go sit in the corner, but he did want to try. He was going to be the best mage ever, he could do this with his eyes closed.

“Relax, it’ll be fine. You got this!” Cater encouraged his underclassmen, “But maybe do it before I lose my head? K-thankx!”

While Deuce and Grim were hilariously failing at their jobs by either turning the roses into the wrong color or literally setting them on fire. Percy calmly scratched Mimikyu’s chin, who was still glaring at the orange-haired boy.

“You really don’t like him, huh dear?” she asked her partner as she watched the boys. “Me too. he’s simply too superficial and smily.”

 “Red… Red… BAM!” Deuce tried to do the spell but yelped when the flower turned into the wrong primary color once again. “Wh-whoa! It turned blue?!”

“Change, o foul color! Change! AHA!” Grim chanted loudly, but he too failed to turn the white rose red. “BWAH! The rose caught on fire!”

Percy sighed at the idiocracy of her classmates and turned her head to stare deeper at the maze, but her eyes widened at the familiar sight of a Budew. The Bud Pokemon was just minding its business waddling inside the maze and just when she was about to go after it, Cater’s loud voice interrupted her train of thought.

“Wow!” the orange-haired boy awed at the boys’ failures. “You’re even less competent than I thought.”

“Yo, maybe you should just leave the roses white!” Ace snapped back at him, “They look perfectly pretty ‘n stuff to me.”

“It’s a matter of tradition.” Cater explained, “You can’t have an unbirthday party without the roses being red. And you can’t play croquet without seven-colored flamingos as mallets and a hedgehog for a ball. Oh, but of course, the roses need to be white when the garden flowers put on their spring concert. That’s absolutely crucial.”

“All your rules are completely insane!” Grim whined.

And Percy agreed with him. Kinda. The rules were odd sure but a day of just having a tea party and playing croquet with a weird version of Flamigos and whatever a hedgehog was, sounded very pleasant to her. She earned her living by battling super-powered creatures, playing croquet with them was nothing to that.

“They say the Queen of Hearts made up these rules herself—she was one of the Great Seven, you know. And Riddle is all about tradition. Probably more than previous Housewardens, T-B-H.” Cater told them cheerfully, but then he guiltily scratched the back of his head, “I’ll admit that he’s well… a bit extra.”

“Yeah, no kidding. I sure don’t have time for this nonsense.” Ace said finally realizing the time. “Is Riddle here? I gotta talk to him.”

“Yeah, probably.” Hummed the orange-haired boy, “But are you sure that’s wise? Did you even bring an apology tart to replace the one you ate?”

“Uh, no…?” the ginger scratched behind his ear, “I came here first thing in the morning!”

“Ah ah ah… That could be a problem.” Cater warned him, “Have you forgotten rule 53? ‘Stolen items must be replaced.’ If you’re not in compliance, I can’t let you in.”

“Are you serious?!” Ace argued.

“All dorm residents must obey the rules. If I let you slide, it would be off with my head next! I hate to say it, Ace, but I’m gonna need you to leave before Riddle spots you. Thanx.” The orange-haired boy got out his magic pen and was seemingly ready to fight.

“I… think this guy is for real.” Ace yelped turning to the rest of his group, “You guys, do something!”

“Why should WE do anything?” Deuce shouted back.

“C’mon, please! I can’t use magic! Hurry, he’s—“

Before he could finish Percy was already on her feet. She finally had a reason to beat that annoying fake smile off of the orange-haired boy’s face.

“Mimikyu, Shadow Ball!”

And before he knew it, a ball of black and purple energy with black static around it collided with Cater’s chest and sends him flying back.

When he managed to stand on his feet again, he somehow cloned himself.

“Hm, you’re spamming Double Team on me huh?” Not the most honorable of tactics but it is effective, “Well two can play that game. Mimikyu, Double Team then Wood Hammer!”

With the command of his trainer, Mimikyu’s body glowed white and he created multiple copies of himself then his and the copies’ stick-like tails grew larger and became surrounded by a whispy, dark-purple aura; they then strike their tails hard onto the Cater clones multiple times.

The copies tried to fight the Disguise Pokemon but ultimately his magic pen flew off of his hand, his copies disappeared and Cater was on his butt on the ground once again.

Percy picked up the pen from where it fell and pointed it to the orange-haired boy’s face with a cruel grin. “Did you have enough or would you like to try again?”

Cater gulped nervously, of course, what was he thinking? Even though she was magicless, she was a Housewarden. People don’t become Housewardens just because, they had to be powerful in some way. And her power was her familiars, she was a Beastmaster after all.

He saw how powerful her familiars were in those videos and he didn’t want to find out what else she got up her sleeve the hard way.

“Nope, the lesson learned,” he put his hands up in surrender smiling nervously, “but I still can’t let him in unless he comes back with a tart. Sorry.”

“Very well,” Percy dropped the pen on his lap and turned to the ginger, “Ace needs to find a tart.”

“What?!” Ace argued.

“It’s only fair.” She picked up Mimikyu from the floor and put her sunglasses back on as she turned around to walk back to the Mirror Chamber, “Now come on the class is about to start.”

“Do make sure to bring that tart next time, m’kay?” Cater waved as they left, “Buh-bye now!”

“Was that guy for real?!” Ace growled as they walked to the front of the dorm.

“He cloned himself, maybe he was using some kind of illusion magic?” Deuce guessed.

“So let me get this straight: we walked in there, totally tartless, but this dude still made us do that whole song and dance before throwing us out?” Ace summarised, “He just wanted to make us paint his stupid roses!”

“We sure look like a bunch of chumps.” Grim crossed his arms. “Wish Mimikyu scratched the hell out of him.”

  “You’re just gonna have to suck it up, and bring a tart next time gingernuts.” Percy said calmly,” I can only do so much for you. In the meantime pick up the pace the class is about to start.”

“Myah! I don’t wanna get a blemish on the first day of my glorious Night Raven education!” Grim said as he quickly climbed on Percy’s shoulder, “Shake a leg, chumps! To the classroom pronto!”

“Hey, so what class are you guys in, anyway?” Ace asked as they ran, “You’re freshmen too, right?”

“The Headmage said we’re in Class 1-A in his text.” The blonde girl answered.

“Hey, that’s the same one I’m in.” Deuce informed them, “We got Potionology for the first period.”

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

Thankfully the group made it to class just in time. The Laboratory looked just like the ones Percy had seen Hex Maniacs have, with bubbling cauldrons, crystals, herbs, and colorful liquids in vials of all kinds of shapes.

Percy guessed potionology would be just like cooking, just follow the recipe, and you’d be fine. know what’s good for what, how one ingredient goes with another, and how much of it is needed, she did it all the time while making face masks, lotions, creams, and Pokemon food.

As she was thinking this the teacher walked in. He was young looking man with dark grey eyes and short white and black hair. He was wearing a fine suit and a faux fur coat over it. Fabulous, Percy thought as she saw him walking over to her.

“You must be Ms. Remmington. I’m your Potionology and homeroom teacher, Professor Divus Crewel. You may call me Master Crewel.” He introduced himself, and he had an accent too just like Percy. He then gestured to her lab coat and uniform with the pointer that was attached to a red collar, “I’m surprised that you got a uniform tailored this quickly, got to admit it fits you well. It’s a pleasure to finally have a puppy instead of these unruly mutts. If any of them get out of hand, don’t hesitate to tell me.”

“Thank you, Master Crewel, I know an amazing seamstress,” she thanked him with a kind smile while petting Mimikyu, who was currently on her lap, “And don’t worry sir, I have a vast amount of experience disciplining wild animals myself.”

“Excellent, good girl.” He praised then turned to the rest of the class and smacked his pointer against his palm, silencing the entire class. Then introduce himself again. “My name is Divus Crewel. You may call me Master Crewel. Now, take your seats. Class is about to begin. We’re going to start with the basics. And by that, I mean beating the names and distinguishing characteristics of one hundred herbs and poisons into your tiny brains. The mycelia are another matter. But eventually, I’m hopeful you’ll be able to take a walk without putting anything poisonous into your gaping maws. For now, I realize you have all the self-control of voracious hounds. But I will not abide a single student failing this class. Expect to be drilled accordingly.”

“Huh. So…” Deuce whispered to them slowly, “does anyone know what a mycelia is?”

“The vegetative part of a fungus, consisting of a network of fine white filaments,” Percy answered as she took a look at the potionology book. Oh yeah, she was sure she was gonna excel at this class.

She might’ve not been an official student since she was five, but that doesn’t mean that she was stupid. Percy had a proclivity for analytical thinking and unofficially, she was academically brilliant. She is a fast learner and she was natural at subjects such as mathematics, physics, biology, science, and chemistry.  

“I’ve never been one for like,” Ace took one look at the textbook and grimaced, “Memorizing what things are, ya know?”

“All I care about is how to tell the yummy plants from the yucky ones,” Grim said with his paws on his hips.

“It’s important to know what’s poisonous and what’s not Grim, just like the Nightshade berries, just because it’s sweet doesn’t mean it can’t kill you.” Percy said without looking up from the book.

The next was History of Magic.

The old gentleman gave Percy a curt, yet polite greeting upon entering. He was a tall elderly man with small grey eyes and greying, neatly combed back hair, but the most interesting thing about him was the creature he held in his arms. It was a chubby Purugly-looking creature with long black fur, a white muzzle, and golden eyes.

“I am your History of Magic teacher, Mozus Trein.” He introduced himself then lifted the creature in his arms for all of them to see, “And this is my familiar, Lucius. You are here to learn the rich history of magic, and how it has sculpted the world that you now so easily take for granted. I grade based on classroom behavior as well as the quality of work. Don’t let me catch you sleeping. Now, let us open our books to page fifteen. This section concerns the magestones discovered in the Dwarfs’ Mine.”

Okay, that took Percy’s attention from the professor’s familiar and she quickly turned the page.

 “As knowledge and awareness of magical energy began to spread across the globe from this point, this year is considered Year One of the Magic Era.” The teacher started again putting his familiar down.

Who then slowly made its way to the blonde girl and rubbed up against her leg just like her Purugly did when she wanted attention. She put Mimikyu on her desk and leaned down to pick up the creature.

“Well hello, Lucius.” She quietly greeted him and scratched his chin just like her Purugly liked; it seemed to do the job for this feline too. Lucius purred in his arms as she listened to Professor Trein’s lecture.

Normally she wasn’t in history, but knowing the history of magic from a different reality might come in handy while she was here, so she listened closely.

But that cannot be said for the rest of her classmates, as most of them were already dosed off, including the two Heartslabyul boys beside her. Ace was yawning loudly, and while Deuce’s attempts to be interested were unsuccessful, he did at least tried.

“Fascinating… ‘Dwarfs’ Mine’…” the blue-haired boy mumbled in his sleep, “Mhm, mhm… ‘magical energy’…”

“Maaan…” Grim groaned, “When do we get to the classes where we blow stuff up with magic?”

“You can’t get to those classes without learning their basics, Grim.” Percy scolded him silently as she took notes with one hand to not bother Lucius on her lap.

The rest of the class went normally, save for one incident where Mimikyu and Lucius hissed at each other while fighting for her lap.

And up next was Physical Education which was taught by a very muscular, broad-shouldered man with a thick neck and thick chest. He had dark brown hair styled in a pompadour, small blue eyes, and a thin beard framing his face.    

“I’m Coach Vargas, and physically educating your feeble little bodies is my responsibility. Great sorcery begins with a great physique! Behold!” he exclaimed gesturing to his body, “The muscles you can build with a diet of raw eggs! A great mage needs a great physical constitution! So gimme twenty laps and a hundred push-ups!”

“Bleah.” Ace groaned as they walked to the running tracks. “The forced exercise is bad enough, but meatheads like this guy drive me nuts.”

“Finally!” Deuce boomed, “A subject I’m good at!”

“Explain to me the appeal of runnin’ around in circles! Do I look like a hamster?” Grim complained to his human counterpart.

“Let’s do our best!” Deuce yelled.

15 laps later…

Both boys and the feline monster were breathless. Even deuce who was confident in his abilities was panting.

“I feel like I’m gonna throw up.” Ace wheezed.

“Normally I like running,” Deuce agreed while running next to him, “But not for this long.”

“I can’t feel my paws!” Grim cried.

And then there was Percy, jogging to them with Mimikyu running next to her, who was cackling at the boys’ condition, without even breaking a sweat. And snickering at them

“You guys are so weak, it’s not even funny.” She taunted.

“How are you still not out of breath?” Ace asked, he didn’t have the energy to be angry.

“I have been walking the entire length of continents since I was 10, mate. This is nothing.” Percy bragged.

The boys didn’t have anything to say to that.

“See you at the finish line losers.” She said and suddenly bolted finishing her 20th lap and starting her push-ups.

“Very good, Very good, Remmington!” Coach Vargas praised her as he counted her push-ups.

“Thank you, Coach.”

“And may I ask why your uniform has a hood?” Coach asked curiously, it was warm outside and most people tend to shed their clothing as they worked out, but the blonde girl was covered head to toe.

“Because Coach,” *Push-up* “I’m allergic to sunlight,” *Push-up* “So you see,” *Push-up* “I need to wear,” *Push-up* “Covering clothes,” *Push-up* “When I’m out,” Percy answered him between push-ups.

“All right, I’ll accept it. Keep up the good work.” He said as he left.

“Let’s see, our next class is…” Deuce started but didn’t finish his sentence.

“This so-called magic Academy feels a lot like a lame, ordinary school,” Ace said while using the wall as a crutch, he stretched out the lingering tension in his legs from P.E. “It’s not what I expected, but at least this collar won’t be much of a problem after all.”

“I wouldn’t know,” Percy shrugged, she was now carrying Mimikyu in her arms like a doll, “I haven’t been to school since I was 5.”

“What?!” Deuce interceded.

“Well, some things happened when I was 5 and I couldn’t go to school anymore. That’s all I wish to say about it.” She said sternly as she hugged her Pokemon partner tightly to her chest, but then she loosened her grip on him, “Also things function differently in my reality. Kids go to school until they become eligible for a trainer’s license at 10. Then they usually go on Pokemon journeys, fighting in their region’s gym circuits, and then when they’re done, they go back for a few more years of school for jobs, unless they’re like me and they make a career in Pokemon battles.”

“Lucky.” Ace whined, “Can I go back with you to your reality? I wouldn’t mind traveling around the world with a bunch of powerful monsters, battling with other people for a living.”

“If I find a way to and back, why not? But I’m warning you, it’s not as easy as it sounds.” She warned.

“Still, it sounds so much fun,” Deuce said with admiration, “Don’t you think so Grim? Grim?”

Percy had a bad feeling about this…

They look around but the feline monster was nowhere to be seen. Mimikyu hissed, pointing toward the window with his extended black hand-like appendage to his trainer. Percy then saw a gray form running away in the courtyard.

“He’s cutting the class on the first day?!” she fumed at the insolence of the fiery feline.

“Boy, that guy is not a fast learner.” Deuce shook his head.

“Not a good look to lose your only student on your first day as Housewarden.” Ace smirked at the girl, making both her and her partner glare at him, “Want help catching him? I’ll do it if you buy me a chocolate croissant.”

“I’d do it for an iced latte at the cafeteria,” Deuce added with a smile.

“I will remember this,” Percy glared at them, then looked down the window to see how high it was, “To hell with you two!”

“Uh, Percy what are you doing?” the blue-haired boy asked as he looked at her worried when she sat on the window edge.

But Percy didn’t pay any mind to him, you see she guessed something like this could’ve happened, so she planned accordingly. Fool her once, shame on you. Fool her twice… there won’t be a second time.

She opened her parasol and jumped off the window with Mimikyu in her arms while yelling, “Mimikyu, Psychic!”

Mimikyu’s entire body started to glow light blue, then the glow spread to Percy too and he got them down slowly.

Percy then reached her belt for a Pokeball and pointed in Grim’s direction, “Fletchinder, Quick Attack!”

In a flash of light Fletchinder appeared, flew at Grim as fast as an arrow, and slammed into him. As he flew he left behind a white trail of energy with silver streaks inside it. Once Grim was on the ground Fletchinder grabbed him from behind of his collar with his talons and flew back to his trainer while the feline monster struggled to break free.

“Mrrah! I had it with these boring classes!” Grim screamed as Mimikyu grabbed him from Fletchinder by his tail from his spot on Percy’s shoulder as she dragged him back inside the building.

“Then you will never become a great mage!” she shouted back.

“UGH! When did you get all bossy?”

“I was always bossy, are you just noticing it now?”

“Wooo! Lunchtime at last!” To no one’s surprise on the way to the cafeteria Grim was on the lead, once he saw the buffet he was already drooling like a Snubbul, “Whoa! They got some good-lookin’ grub!”

“Hmm, a buffet. That’s unexpectedly fancy. Mimikyu,” As her partner handed her a tray, she checked out the choices. “Thank you, darling.”

Now, what to eat? Its lunch should keep it light, a tarragon chicken salad would do, lemon tea with a teaspoon of honey also meat buns for Mimikyu and Fletchinder. She calmly picked up her food, meanwhile…   

“Look how fluffy those omelets are!”

Her feline counterpart was drooling over everything on the buffet.

“Ooh, grilled chicken! And a bacon-and-egg tart!” Grim exclaimed with stars in his eyes.

“Shhh! Dude, inside voices!” Ace shushed him, shaking his head, “Where was this energy earlier today?”

“Percy, grab me the grilled chicken! There’s only one left! And an omelet too. and that jelly-filled bread. Just fill your whole tray with ‘em!” In his excitement, Grim bumped into another student. “Ow!”

“Hey! Watch where you’re goin’!” the boy then looked at his tray and stuttered, “M-my carbonara! You broke the yolk!”

 “Whoa, that’s messed up! Pokin’ the egg is the best part! You better make this right, pal!” his Buddy joined in.

“I’m gonna need that grilled chicken of yours as compensation.” The boy reached for the plate in the feline’s paws.

“Myah?! No way! Hands off the bird, chump!” Grim guarded his food,” I need my protein, because I am HANGRY!”

“Hey! That’s no way to speak to an upperclassman!” the Buddy shouted getting close to Grim, “Catch me outside and I’ll teach you some respect!”

“Hah, respect? Respect is for people with class. You two, however,” Percy ran to the feline’s aid, no one can bully her beasts when she was around, “not even worth the dirt to bury you in. So run along now little boys, while I’m still letting you,”

“Why, you—“

the boy tried to get in her face but Deuce got in between them. “Um, excuse me, sir, but it said in the handbook that fighting with magic was prohibited…”  

“Fighting? You got it all wrong. “ The assholes smirked, “ this is just me helpin’ an ignorant freshman know her place.”

“Now, let’s see just how many ways there are to skin a cat, heh!”

“Hmph, you two are not worth the effort,” Percy clicked her tongue, looking at them as if they were the mud on the bottom of her shoe, and turned to her partner with a sadistic glow in her eyes and a sharp grin, which reminded to those who were watching a certain Leech twin, “Mimikyu darling, can you please take out the trash?”

Que the two assholes hitting the wall behind the garbage cans.

“Thank you, love. Mangy little runts, not even fun to beat up.” She then turned and walked to an empty table.

“Pfft! I knew you were all talk! You better hope I never see you again!” Grim yelled at the knocked-out bullies and then walked toward his human.

The fight ended quickly. Like embarrassingly quick, but after seeing how easily the Disguise Pokemon kicked Cater’s ass this morning the boys weren’t that surprised. They were slowly getting used to how strong their otherworldly female friend and her familiars were.

“Can we just get some lunch already? I’m about to collapse.” The ginger boy whined and walked with the feline.

“I guess this is my life now.” Deuce sighed but followed them anyway. “I can’t believe this. Textbook bullies at an Academy that’s supposed to be famous for producing exceptional mages…”

The group was now all seated and happily eating their lunch.

“This omelet is as fluffy as a Cloud, and practically burstin’ with cheese!” Grim commented with his mouth full while munching on his food, ”So, I saw you guys’ dorm, but what are the other ones like?”

“Yes, I got to admit they pique my interest too.” Percy agreed, taking a sip of her tea.

“I’m sure you’re familiar with the statues of the Great Seven?” A familiar voice asked behind them.

They turned to see Cater approaching them with an unknown male with glasses, green hair, and a club under his left eye next to him. Mimikyu hissed at the orange-haired boy and was just about to use Shadow Claw when Percy stopped him by raising a hand, she was interested in what the boy was saying.

“Night Raven College has a dorm themed after each one.” Cater continued.

“Bwah! You’re that guy from this morning!” Ace yelped.

“You tricked us into paintin’ those dumb roses!” Grim growled with his paws on his hips.

“’Tricked’ is such an ugly word. Do you think I wanted to spend MY morning painting roses?” the orange-haired boy pouted, scratching the back of his head, “It’s dorm policy! I was just following orders.”

“Fletch Fletch Fletchinder.” The Ember Pokemon, who was now out of his Pokeball, happily pecking his meat bun, chirped. (Then maybe don’t smile like a fiend while doing it.)

Percy smiled at the comment her Pokemon made for a moment then turned to Cater with a neutral expression, “Still doesn’t change the fact that you did trick them to do your work,”

“Now, now, Percy. Outside of the dorm, I don’t care what rules you follow.” The orange-haired boy said with a cheerful tone, “Here, I’m just a friendly mentor figure!”

“I don’t recall giving you permission to call me Percy,” the blonde trainer glared at him coldly, making his smile drop, “And you better be, unless you want to taste another round of Shadow Ball from Mimikyu.”

“Ah ha ha. That’s just how Cater shows he cares.” The green-haired boy laughed, then pointed at the empty seats at their table, “May we sit?”

“Fine,” Percy said after she took a second to contemplate, “I’ll allow it.”

“And who are you?” Ace asked the stranger slowly.

“Ah, I should introduce myself. The name’s Trey. Trey Clover. I’m a junior at Heartslabyul, like Cater here.” He introduced himself after they sat, then turned to Percy, “And you must be Persephone Remmington, the new Beast Master Housewarden of Ramshackle dorm. I heard the whole story from Cater. Thanks for looking out for our boys yesterday.”

“no harm, no foul,” Percy paid him no mind and got back to her salad.

“I’m sitting right here.” Ace pouted but his words were ignored.

“Hey now, we’re all from the same dorm, right? Let’s try to get along.” Cater teased then pulled out his phone and held it out, “Here, gimme your digits.”

“I can do that!”

Percy’s Rotomphone flew out of her backpack and up to Cater’s phone to type the number with a mischievous emoji on its screen, making him recoil in surprise.

“Wow, that’s unexpected,” Trey’s eyes widened.

“Rotom! Don’t do that!” Percy yelled sternly and quickly grabbed her Rotomphone from where it floated, “You know that I don’t like you to going up in people’s faces like that and don’t you think that I forgot about your stunt from this morning, we’re going to have a talk when we get home.”

“I’m sorry but I couldn’t help myself, my queen.” The emoji on Rotomphone’s screen pouted, “I just had to show the people of this world that you’re the most wonderful Pokemon Champion of all.”

“O-M-G!” Cater exclaimed before Percy could talk, his eyes were sparkling as he looked at the purple phone in awe, “That’s the most amazing phone I’ve ever seen in my life! What brand is it? Where can I find it?”

“I don’t think you can find anything like Rotom around here,” Percy tried to end the subject and put her Rotomphone on the table screen down but the next thing she knew, Cater’s face was right in front of her, uncomfortably so.

“Aww, come on don’t be like that. You and I can make it a phone-shopping date!” Cater winked, making Percy cringle her nose in disgust.

“Cater, you’re freaking out the freshmen.” Trey pulled back his friend, staring nervously at the hissing Disguise Pokemon, “Maybe take it down a notch?”

“Ha! Sorry! I can get a little extra sometimes. What were we talking about…  The dorms, yeah?” The orange-haired boy giggled as he sat back in his seat, “Ah, what fun to mentor new students! Go ahead, A-M-A.”

“Before you get into the other dorms, I wouldn’t mind learning a bit more about ours.” Ace spoke up, crossing his arms as he glared at the collar around his neck, “Like, what’s the deal with all this ‘Queen of Hearts’ rule number whatever’ junk?”

“I’m sure you’re familiar with the legendary Queen of Hearts already?” Trey asked making the freshmen group collectively nod, “She had to rule over a kingdom of weirdos, and did it by emphasizing order and making strict rules.”

“Our dorm, Heartslabyul, is an homage to her.” Cater added, “By tradition, we wear armbands with red and black of the Queen’s dress. And we live by the rules she created.”

Percy looked at her own armband, she just chose two of her favorite colors and didn’t think too much about the symbolism. Guess that was one of the perks of making a new dorm from the ashes of its former self. Now Ramshackle dorm was whatever Percy wanted it to be.

“Not as much as you, my queen, but she is indeed an impressive monarch with a list of rules longer than the Kalos Pokedex!” her Rotomphone spoke as Percy picked it up to see that, it was showing her all 810 rules of the Queen of Hearts.

“Huh,” Percy hummed as she took a sip of her tea.

She did hear from the ghosts around the school, how strict the red-headed boy she saw at the orientation was, but she didn’t expect him to be strict enough to hold teenagers accountable on 810 rules. That was just unnecessarily cruel and an unrealistic goal, teenagers don’t even follow the easiest rules let alone the ones as strict as these.

“Pfft.” Grim scoffed with a bored expression, “Can you make me any more bored?”

“Now, the degree to which we adhere to the rules depends on the sitting Housewarden.” The orange-haired boy explained with a sheepish look, “Past wardens have been much more lax.”

“Riddle though? He doesn’t mess around.” Trey continued for his friend, “Basically, you could say that we’re honoring that tradition to the utmost extent possible.”

“Bleah. Just my luck…” Ace groaned.

“Fletch Fletchinder,” The Ember Pokemon chirped as he perched on his trainer’s shoulder, who scratched his head, now that he finished his meat bun. (That’s rough Buddy.)

 “So what are the other dorms like, then?” Grim interceded.

“As Cater mentioned earlier, the dorms of this school are themed after the Great Seven. We have our dorm, Heartslabyul, modeled after the strictness of the Queen of Hearts. To run down the rest of them for you, we have…” Trey explained in order, ” Savanaclaw, based on the persistent spirit of the King of Beasts. Octavinelle, based on the benevolent heart of the Sea Witch. Scarabia, based on the mindful personality of the Sorcerer of the Sands. Pomefiore, based on the tenacity of the Fairest Queen. Ignihyde, based on the diligence of the King of the Underworld. And finally, Diasomnia, based on the noble spirit of the Thorn Fairy.”

Percy remembered the names from yesterday, she only liked the last two, the rest she didn’t care for. But her feline counterpart on the other hand was looking quite overwhelmed.

“all those names are way too long!” Grim cried, “How’s anyone supposed to remember ‘em?”

“Ah ha ha! Well, you get the idea.” Cater laughed, “Want to or not, you’ll learn them soon enough.”

“At orientation, the Dark Mirror picks a dorm for you based on the essence of your being.” Trey continued to explain, “As a result, each dorm ends up with a distinct sort of… flavor, we’ll call it.”

“That is sooo true. I totes see it.” Cater agreed.

“’Flavor,’ huh…?” Deuce asked with a confused look.

“For example, look at that guy,” Trey said as he pointed at a tan, muscular boy with a pair of cute fluffy Lycanroc ears. “That rough-and-tumble vibe he’s got has Savanaclaw House written all over it.”

“I can’t express how much I want to pet his ears,” Percy smiled as she pushed her finished tray aside and rested her chin on her palm.

“No doubt. That dorm is full of scrappy guys who are into, like, working out and fighting.” Cater nodded in agreement and then described the dorm, “How should I describe the vibe…? Macho dudes? Gruff big brothers? Something along those lines. The black and gold armband is another giveaway.”

“Huh. All right, so what about that guy with the grey and purple cord wrapped around his arm?”

Grim pointed to the silver-haired boy with glasses Percy saw at the orientation, who was looking in their direction too. Well, more like looking at her Pokemon, which made Percy glare at him. Once he noticed her glare he turned back to chat with a pair of twins that sit across him.

“He’s gotta be from Octavinelle House.” Trey answered the feline monster and then pointed to the table Kalim and Jamil were sitting at, “And the student at the table in front of him has a red and gold armband—“

“Scarabia’s colors.” Percy answered for him.

When the cute Oshawott in human form known as Kalim noticed Percy looking his way, he smiled widely and excitedly waved at her.

“Oh? You know them?” Trey asked surprised.

“You can say that,” the blonde trainer said as she waved back to the little Oshawott.

“Those dorms are for the smart students. They’re always neck-and-neck in the academic rankings.” Cater said with a grin, “Ah, but the current Housewarden of Scarabia doesn’t seem to be all that great of a student…”

“Cater if you insult my adorable little Oshawott again, we’re going to have a problem, you and I.” Percy threatened the orange-haired boy, who immediately raised his hands in surrender.

“Okay… Let’s get back on topic.” Trey intervened before things could get heated and pointed to the table where a large group of students with the best postures Percy had seen in this school sat, “You see the flashy ones with the purple and red armband? Those are Pomefiore colors.”

“Whoa!” Grim jumped out of his seat and pointed to a student with remarkable lavender locks, “The girl with the potion books, I really like her!”

“What’s SHE doing in a boys’ school?!” Deuce yelped.

“Mimikyu,”

*SMACK*

“OUCH!” both Deuce and Grim shouted as they rubbed their cheeks where the Disguise Pokemon slapped them with his black appendages.

“Thank you, love.” Percy then turned to the two of the idiots in their group, “One, I’m right here, and two, are you two blind? That’s a boy. I’m the only girl here.”

Yes, he had a very feminine face but he was obviously a boy.

“WHAAAT?!”

Mimikyu smacked them again but they already got the attention of the lavender-haired boy.

“Speaking of girls, there’s a portrait in the west hall who’s a real beauty. Name’s Rosaria.” Cater teased the boys with a cheeky grin, “If you’d like to meet her, I’d be happy to introduce you. Maybe we can set something up?”

“A painting? Hard pass!” Ace loudly declined, “I don’t care how cute she is if she’s two-dimensional!”

  “Come on, man. Who cares how many dimensions she’s got! Anyway, they take vanity pretty seriously at Pomefiore.” Cater explained, humming delightfully, “It’s basically a dorm full of models. Their Housewarden has 5,000,000 followers on Magica, but don’t worry Housewarden Remmington, I’m sure you’ll top him in no time with how quickly you reached 1mil already.”

5 million was not bad, not bad at all. But it was nothing next to her 47.5 million followers in Pokevision.

“Hey now, they’re not all just pretty faces.” Trey cut in, “The students at Pomefiore are among the best at potions and casting curses.”

“Heh heh. True dat,” Cater laughed, “Next, we have Ignihyde… Their armbands are blue and black, but I don’t see any around here. They tend not to be the most outgoing of students. Even I don’t have a single friend from that dorm. They’re kind of the polar opposite of us sunny, fun-loving Heartslabyuls.”

“So they’re gloomy and miserable?” Grim blurted out.

“Now, now Grim,” Percy scolded as she petted Mimikyu’s head, which made him purr with affection even though it came out as creepy cackles to the boys, “There’s nothing wrong with enjoying solitude in darkness.”

“Yeah,” Trey agreed, “They just have a reputation for being quiet and serious, is all. That dorm tends to attract magical-energy engineers and students who are good with tech.”

‘Tinkatuff would love that dorm, and they would love Magearna.’ Percy thought. ‘Maybe they can replicate Pokeballs, if more wild Pokemon appeared in this reality I might need them.’

“And that just leaves… Diahonyalara, was it?” Deuce muttered the last part silently and quickly hoping no one noticed that he totally butchered the name.

“You were off to a good start, and then you rammed right into the guardrails.” Ace facepalmed, “It’s ‘Diasomnia.’”

“I know that! I just misspoke, all right?” the blue-haired boy lied while he blushed with embarrassment.

“Diasomnia House is, hm…” Cater glanced around before his eyes fell on a few students, “Ah, look over there. Those guys are in the special seating area. You can tell from the neon green and black armbands. They’re basically campus celebrities. The vibe they give off makes it really hard for regular schmucks like us to even approach them. And their Housewarden is that times a thousand.”

Percy, for the life of her, couldn’t understand what Cater was talking about. She didn’t sense an unapproachable vibe from them, to her the only thing out of ordinary was one petit boy, who looked fairly young. His blazer was draped over his shoulders, probably because he was small and his cropped black hair with magenta-pink streaks looked like he deeply offended his hairdresser. His pointy ears and blood-red eyes were another subject.

Then again she never had a normal sense of approachability, her specializing in Ghost Pokemon was proof of that.

“There’s a little kid in that group!”

And apparently, he stood out to Ace too.

“Ah, we do get some child prodigies here. But that guy there is no kid. He’s a junior like us. Name’s—“

But Trey was cut off by that very person, who was now hanging upside down in front of them. From up close, he reminded Percy of a Noibat.

“Lilia. Lilia Vanrouge.”

BWAH?!

The whole table shrieked. Except for Percy, she was around Ghost Pokemon since she was 5, Jump scares didn’t phase her anymore.

“H-he just teleported!” Grim yelped.

Lilia then gracefully jumped to the floor, no longer floating, with a very amused grin. “I understand my apparent age interests you? As this bespectacled fellow accurately noted… Despite my fresh-faced, boyish good looks, it would be inaccurate to call me a ‘child.’”

“’ Fresh-faced’ he says…” Trey muttered in disbelief.

Lilia’s magenta eyes then looked into Percy’s emerald greens as he tilted his head with interest.

His father senses were tingling, he just knew that the blonde girl was an orphan. She had that look in her eyes, the look all orphans had, the look you get when you’ve been left alone. He just couldn’t stand seeing that look in children’s eyes. “Greetings, young miss.” He reached out a hand.

On Percy’s end, she could see in his eyes that he was much, much older than he seemed. His eyes were very old and she could tell that he had seen too much, “Greetings,” she shook his hand.

“You need not gawk at us from afar. You may feel free to speak with us directly. We are schoolmates, are we not? All of us at Diasomnia House welcome you without reservation,” Lilia bowed with all the poise of someone who’d been trained in it and extended his arm towards his table.

“And yet, those guys over there aren’t exactly Rolling out the red carpet in terms of approachability…” Deuce remarked.

Lilia glanced at the silver-haired young man and a taller boy with slick mint-green hair, who was glaring at them and chuckled before turning back to the group, “Forgive me for appearing above you during your meal. I do hope we can speak again.” On his way out, he grinned at Percy in particular.

“Their table has got to be over twenty yards away from ours.” Ace whispered to Trey, “And they overheard our conversation? That’s WAY creepy!”

“Well…” Trey readjusted his glasses, “Diasomnia House does have a bit of a reputation for having lots of special students. Some of them are extremely talented at magic. Their Housewarden, Malleus Draconia, is considered one of the five best mages in the world.”

“Malleus is reeeeeal bad news. Though I suppose the same could be said of our own dear Housewarden.” Cater winked.

“No kidding! He collared me for eating one slice of tart!” Ace ranted, “All of his rule obsession is outta control!”

‘There he goes again’ Percy thought, she had listened to him whine about his Housewarden all mourning. And as fun, as it may be to watch him be miserable at the beginning, it was starting to get old. But then Percy noticed the short red-haired boy approaching them hearing Ace complain, and She had to hold herself from breaking into a fit of laughter.

“My ‘rule obsession’ is ‘outta control,’ is it?” the red-haired Housewarden drawled out, deceptively calm.

“You bet it is.” Ace kept going, not noticing he was digging his grave deeper, “Riddle’s just a petty tyrant who leans into the whole ‘rules’ schtick as a pretext to keep everyone under his puny thumb!”

“You’re an Imbecile, gingernuts,” Percy mused, watching the comical scene, while Mimikyu and Fletchinder snickered at the ginger boy’s misfortune.

“Ace! Behind you!” Deuce harshly whispered as he kept pointing behind Ace.