Sunday, February 17, 2013

Gakuen Pokémon: Chapter 4 - Seek And You Shall Find...Nothing


I like to call this the chapter in which everyone is tripping on something.  But isn't.

You still know nothing.
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The Mind - the gateway of the Mental Link.  The pure power of thought and dreams, an enlightened voice of reason, the power to usher raw cognitive energy into tangible reality.

The Heart - the gateway of the Corruption Link.  The subtle power of permeation for good or for ill, a sweet voice whispering oil-slick words, the power to expand and manipulate intangible reality.

The Soul - the gateway of the Willpower Link.  The unquenchable power of human and Pokémon alike, a shouting voice of a charging warrior, the power to survive reality against all odds.

The Memory - the gateway of the Legend Link.  The primal energy of those who came before, the voice deep from the mists of time, older than the oldest rhyme, the dark of ages past and the world about to dawn combined in one ideal.
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"Alright, Hydregion, finish him off with Dragon Rush!"


"WHAT?!"


With a menacing growl, the Dark Dragon Pokémon charged into a flying tackle towards its opponent.  The Lucario barely even had time to begin a dodge before it was knocked backwards with a cry and skidded back to the feet of its Trainer, out cold.


"What the actual crap, bro?!" Les cried in defeat, recalling his Pokémon, and then turned his attention back to the triumphant DJ on the other side of the small clearing near the dorms sanctioned as a practice battle field.  "That's the third time you've beat me this week!"


"Sorry about that!" DJ laughed, returning his Hydregion after giving it a congratulatory pat on one of its three heads.  "But you need all the practice you can get if you eventually want to take on Duce.  And that, unfortunately, involves getting experience losing."


"So when do I get to get experience winning?!"


"When you've been in classes for longer, bro!  You've only had a couple of months in Battling Fundamentals."


Les merely huffed.  "But I was one of the best trainers I knew of back when I was training in Unova!  What - "


"Hold up," DJ interrupted, raising a hand in a signal to cease and desist.  "Do you hear that?"


The two boys held still and quiet, and simply listened.  Sure enough, DJ had been perceptive - there were two new voices in the background, faint but audible and coming closer to them.


"...right there with me!  How could you not..."


"...sorry, Duce, I don't know...just couldn't..."


"...don't understand.  Am I the only one seeing them?!"


"I-it seems like it!  I'm just as worried about Team Rocket as you are, but I don't know what I can do to help you get rid of them if I can't even perceive when they're there - "


After a moment of looking around for the source of the voices, Les found it - Duce and Aria walking down the narrow path that connected the dorms to the practice fields.  He found that he was getting used to the nearly-constant Teddiursa that lay flopped over Aria's shoulder.  "Hey, guys!  What's up?"


The upperclassmen started at the sound of the sudden voice cutting in on their conversation, but after confirming the identity of said voice's owner, they didn't hesitate to join him and DJ.


"What the heck were you two talking about?" DJ inquired.  "Sounds like you saw a ghost or something!"


"A ghost, you say?" Aria sighed, then shrugged a bit, being careful not to jostle her sleeping Dolce.  "A ghost may be - it was just like a ghost to me!"


Duce, who still seemed a bit flustered, deadpanned.  "You're quoting song lyrics at a time like this?"


"I was just trying to...anyway."


"Apparently," Duce continued.  "I'M the only one who can see these Team Rocket grunts that have been popping up sporadically over the past couple of months.  And I'm about as confused as a Psyduck tripping on Aguav berries!"


"You did say they'd been appearing more often," Les observed (he'd been let in on the problem since we last saw him), "but only when you were alone, right?"


"That's right," Duce confirmed.  "And the one time that one does appear when I'm with someone else - "


"I can't see them!" Aria appeared more frustrated with herself than anything else.


"That is pretty creepy," DJ said.  "Maybe you really are seeing ghosts, bro!"


"Arceus, I hope not."  Duce pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger, seeming deep in thought.  "I just don't get it!  The first time I fought one of those grunts, it was physical - my Persian and Clefable physically knocked him around!  If this is ghosts - or all in my head - then how are my Pokémon sensing them and how am I tangibly hurting them?!"


"Maybe..."  Aria contemplated for a moment to get her wording right.  "M-maybe they are real!  I'm kind of oblivious, you know that - maybe I just didn't perceive them before they ran off."


"Aria," Duce sighed, "we had a conversation.  He mentioned someone I knew from I don't know how long ago, and exactly what had become of them from when I first saw them until now!  How could you have missed that?"


"Oh...who was it?  The person, I mean."


"That's - not important."


Aria tugged at the armband secured over her the sleeve of her uniform shirt unconsciously to adjust it - DJ noticed this out of the corner of his eye, and the action was enough to help him hatch an idea.


"Tell the other prefects about it, Aria," he suggested.  "They can all be on the lookout for more of these evil dudes - if they find more, then great!  We can get rid of them faster.  If they don't - "  Here he turned back to Duce and laughed a bit.  "Let's just say that I'm not helping out with your psychiatric bills, bro!"


The comment was enough to snap Duce out of his worried trance and cause him to laugh with DJ a bit.  "Wow, thanks, you're so sympathetic."


__________________________________________________________________________

A void - crushing darkness, and nothing but.  Blackness blinding her eyes, screaming silence deafening her ears, the distinct lack of any sensation on her skin almost a sensation in and of itself.  She tried to scream but no sound came - she would be crying but no tears could be felt - the dark was constricting, paralyzing, isolating -


She was alone - !


"No!"


Aria nearly gasped the word as she jerked upward and nearly panicked at her dark surroundings - before realizing that it was merely night.  Moonlight filtered through the open blinds of her dorm room window, the singing of Kriketots and the soft white noise of Aurora Falls could be heard outside.  Her eyes adjusted, and she nearly sighed in relief as she took in the familiar, albeit dimmed, sights of Angie's pile of dirty clothes beside the closet, the posters of the Johto Elite Four and numerous famous Coordinators papering the walls of her side of the room, her sleeping baby Dolce still nestled into the small pillow beside her own and her other four Poké Balls beside it, just in case.  She dared glance over to the second loft bed in the room and discovered that the quietly snoring Angie had been undisturbed by her outburst and sudden awakening.


She didn't realize that she was crying until she tasted salt on her lips.


"Sweet Arceus," she stammered under her breath, pulling her thin comforter around her and swiping her forearm across her eyes.  How much longer will these dreams go on...?


A slight cracking and fizzing sound startled her, but she calmed again at the sweet voice that quietly questioned, "Wiggly?"


"Harmony," she whispered, laughing reflexively at the Wigglytuff that now sat atop her lap.  "You always seem to sense whenever I wake up, huh, girl?"


"Tuff..."  The pink Balloon Pokémon tilted its head (rather, its entire body) to the side a bit, a worried look flashing dimly in its green eyes.  "Wigglytuff?"


Aria shook her head.  "No...I don't think I want to go back to sleep, I'm...not that tired anymore.  Thanks for the offer, though, Harmony."  She gave her Pokémon the best smile she could manage before holding up the Love Ball that was its dwelling.  "You, on the other hand, are probably still tired.  Go ahead and return, okay?"


"Wiggly."  Harmony didn't appear convinced but obeyed its Trainer's command, disappearing back into the Ball as quickly as she had appeared.  Aria's smile dropped as she set it aside - her Wigglytuff had Sung her to sleep numerous times after sudden inexplicable night terrors for how long now?  A month, maybe longer?


Curling further into herself, she reached under her pillow for her Pokétch, accessing the Memo Pad app to record her latest dream.  Might as well comes to terms with these sooner or later...

____________________________________________________________________________


"Hnng!"


Les grunted from the effort of the sheer physical exertion of his exploration - his red hair was matted to his forehead by sweat, and his loose black shorts and red t-shirt were covered in loose dust and tiny shards of gravel.  He was currently dangling from at least an eight-foot rock precipice on which he had lost his footholds - his upper body strength alone kept him aloft.  Despite this, he managed to, ever so carefully, draw out a Poké Ball from his pocket and release its inhabitant onto the ledge above him.  "S-Serperior, get me out of this!"


"Ser!"  The Grass Snake Pokémon quickly reacted, making good use of Vine Whip to tug its Trainer up to join it.  Les could breathe freely again once he was on solid ground.


"Thanks, buddy," he panted, smiling as he affectionately stroked the top of Serperior's head, who let out a low, content rumble.  Curious, Les leaned out over to get a better view of the rest of the rocky terrain - just as he had expected, the other fifteen or so students in his class, appearing as only red and yellow specks, with the rarer blue, from his perch, were either still on the shoreline or just approaching the base of the stair-step rock formation that he had already cleared.


One more day in Geography and Exploration 101, one of the most important required classes for Freshmen Rangers.  This particular exploration trip was taking place on Chiba Island, one of the islands owned by the school for training and recreational purposes - it was almost completely rocky ground and mountainous terrain, with only rare patches of green.  It was by no means barren, however - numerous Rock and Ground Pokémon inhabited its crevices, and Les had encountered many a Geodude, Sandshrew and Roggenrola on his climb.


As Les sat waiting for his classmates at the checkpoint of his considerable lead in distance, he couldn't help but allow pride to well up in his chest.  He had been performing average at best in his Battle Fundamentals class - and even then his professor had commended him for his determination - but in courses like these, it seemed he could truly shine, as if it was a natural affinity for him.  Anything that involved pushing his limits, surviving the challenge, seemed right up his alley.  His own stamina surprised even him when put to the test, and even when the test proved to be far too challenging for his own good, it seemed as if he absolutely could not merely give up.


Just as he thought he was beginning to hear the clamor of his classmates climbing below him, a cry almost like a warning siren jostled him out of his rest.  He lept to his feet and whirled about just as his Serperior coiled in preparation for a strike should anything go awry - and saw the source.  A silvery-white Pokémon was dashing atop the plateau, its blue face and crescent-shaped horn standing out clearly and seeming to leave a streak of color behind it.


"An Absol?!"


It skidded to a stop, as if responding to the utterance of its name, and turned to make eye contact with the boy.  It let out another mournful cry and then was gone just as quickly as it had appeared.


"What - what the actual heck..."


This can't be good, he thought.


___________________________________________________________________________


A laptop slammed shut, with a sandy-blonde head coming down on top of it soon after.  "This is ridiculous!  Any lore on Kanto Legendary Pokémon is IMPOSSIBLE to find!"


"Keep it down, Mr. Hanawa, if you please!" the computer lab supervisor snapped a bit sharply from her seat at her desk, never looking up from her book.


A pair of sheepish blue eyes were revealed as the face was removed from its place on the lid of the laptop.  "Sorry, ma'am," he muttered, leaning down to begin gathering up his books - he figured he had found all the information he was going to find for that day.  After tugging his Suicune-crested jacket and Prefect armband on and slinging his bag over his shoulder, he quickly strode toward the door and opened it - only to collide with his female Prefect counterpart, sending them both crashing to the ground.


"OUCH!"


"Do I need to tell you again?!"  The supervisor flipped the page with a huff, still not even glancing upward to see the commotion.


"Gah, sorry about that, Aria," the boy groaned, righting himself and then helping her up in turn.


"No problem, Josh," Aria laughed it off.  "Find anything interesting for your CRM project?"


"Absolutely nothing," Josh sighed, running a hand through his spiky hair in frustration as the two exited the lab to avoid any more scenes.  "The only thing I can find on the Winged Mirages is their suspected locations and their connection to Lugia.  But I'll keep digging - there has to be more somewhere."


"That's good.  And...sorry to be asking so soon, but have you or the other prefects seen any more...you know?"


"Team Rocket members, you mean?"  Josh shook his head.  "Sorry, Ari, I haven't seen anything.  Neither have the others, to my knowledge."  He laughed a bit, sounding as if he were trying to lighten the mood.  "I guess it's been a generally unproductive day in quite a few ways, huh?"

Aria laughed with him, despite her disappointment.  "Y-yeah, I guess so.  No biggie.  C'mon, Professor Graves said to tell you that she wanted to meet with us about some new project she's thought of."

"Another one?" Josh sighed, but began following Aria out of the Media Center building.  "Onward to AH, I guess."

"It's probably something to do with the Creation Day festival," Aria said, allowing Josh to hold the door open for her and exiting, him following after.  "I guess she figures the Suicunes can organize things like this better than - "

FWOOSH - her words were cut off by a sudden streak of white and midnight blue dashing past at an almost impossible speed.  Part of her mind was expecting it to disappear - but then it skidded to a stop, took on form, jolted her vision.

Josh gaped, eyes never leaving the Pokémon.  "Absol...those are rarer than heck!  What's one doing here?"

Aria couldn't answer, only stand there transfixed - the Disaster Pokémon's steely eyes were locked onto hers.  Its gaze seemed to be trying to say so much that she almost thought it would begin to speak.

And then it dashed off again, disappearing into the distance.

"What..."  Josh snapped out of his own surprised daze quickly.  "Whoa.  D'you think that's a sign that Gravie's project isn't going to work after all?"

"Arceus, I hope that's all it is..."

____________________________________________________________________________


Phase 1 In-Progress Report - Day 57

D. Kazuhira - vital - Mental link - suspected bond forming (NP251?).  Background research complete - ROCKET - RED - REVENGE.  Observation to continue.

A. Higure - vital - Corruption link - bond established (NP491).  Background research complete - INDIGO - SILVER - ESCAPE.  Observation to continue.

D. Sensou - holds potential - link not confirmed, suspected Legend - bond yet to develop.  Background research complete - PLASMA - DRAGONTAMER - PREVENTION.  Observation to continue.

L. Honda - vital - Willpower link - suspected bond forming (NP647?).  Background research complete - CHAMPION - SWORD - SURPASS.  Observation to continue.

J. Hanawa - troubling.  School database to be fortified.  Observation to continue.

Activity at Leohta Ruins intensifying.  Student access continuing to be blocked.

Students being warned of operation.  Measures against this to be taken.

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Original Poetry: Flash Fire

Some say Love begins with a glance -
And perhaps it does.
But the power of a single look -
The spark passing between two souls' eyes -
At times does not reveal itself.

The spark is ignited,
But barely flares -
Biding its time, lying in wait
Until the right moment to
Blaze and conquer.

An accidental brush of hands -
A flicker.
An innocent yet lingering embrace -
A brighter eruption, a warmth
Tangibly sensed in the chest.

A question - a shock - a resolute "yes",
And its time has come -
No longer contained, a shimmering wildfire,
Triumphant at last as it envelops
Two hearts in a torrid embrace.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Gakuen Pokémon: Chapter 3 - Full Swing


First major battle of the story at last!  Shall we get started?
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Morning had long since broken over Central Island - with breakfast and the morning announcements over, students who had spent most of their fifteen-minute countdown until their first class socializing were scrambling to find their assigned locations.

"Hurry up, guys!"  Duce and DJ barely had time to turn around before they were scrambling to duck under a low-flying Togekiss, which upon further inspection had Aria perched on its back.  Just as it reached the entryway of the General Classes building across the quad, she slid off gracefully and returned her partner to its Ball, then waved to her friends.  "You don't want to be late on the first day!"

The two, realizing it wouldn't be a bad idea to take her advice, glanced at each other and then began a frantic power-walk to the building Aria had just vanished into, before Duce stopped short.  "Wait a second!"  Checking the room number of his Pokémon Sociology 301 class, he released his Alakazam and cleared his mind from everything aside the room.  "See you after class, bro - Alakazam, Teleport!"


The Pokémon obeyed, and within a matter of moments, albeit after a slightly sickening feeling of being twisted and hurled about, Duce found himself in his appropriate classroom - in the middle of a tightly-packed slew of other third-years attempting to find their way to their seats in a rather disorganized fashion.


Now he only felt even more sick.  "Ugh!  Teleport to a corner of the room away from everyone!"  Another execution of the move and he was seated in a thankfully empty section of the lecture hall, the back of the third tier of the amphitheater-like room.  With a sigh of relief, he thanked his Pokémon and returned it to its Ball before slumping against the back of his chair as he watched the rest of the seats fill.  Not exactly the amazing way he'd envisioned his first class of the year starting.

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Meanwhile, in Pokémon Sociology 401...

"And that's why Lavender Town has THE highest suicide rate in Kanto!  Either it's just a scary theory or a coincidence, and I don't believe in coincidence."

"Um, excuse me, sir?" a boy named Josh raised his hand as he addressed Professor Jesse.  "I'm from Lavender Town, and I don't think I've ever had the urge to hurl myself from a window because I heard some sort of 'binary beat' broadcast over my Pokégear radio..."

Aria merely sighed and went back to writing her Mahou Gijinka Sho fanfic in her carefully coded notebook.  It would be a while before he got to something that would actually be on the test.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Meanwhile, in Pokémon Ranger Fundamentals...


"To start things off, class, we'll be learning about one of the most invaluable facets of being a Pokémon Ranger..."


Les leaned forward, excited and ready to absorb whatever grand secret was about to be revealed to him and his (small) group of classmates.

"...drawing circles."

BAM, his excitement deflated just as quickly as it had built up.

"What do circles have to do with anything?!" he cried.

"CIRCLES HAVE TO DO WITH EVERYTHING."

_________________________________________________________________________________

Meanwhile, in...what else was this period?

DJ's kickstarter class of the semester was Advanced Pokémon Battling 201.  Unfortunately, his professor had decided to jump right into the physiology of type matchups, beginning with Water, live demonstration and all.  The academy medical staff is requesting that details of his brief panic attack case be kept confidential.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Aria had scarcely left Sociology to head for her next class in the Arts and Humanities building before she was jumped by two familiar faces crossing her path.

"Better watch out," Angie Hino, Aria's roommate, warned.  "The Dark One is on a rampage again."

"The Dark One?" Aria blinked, more than a little confused.  "Who do you mean?"

"Deputy Headmaster Hamilton!" John Sakasumi, also a Suicune and Angie's boyfriend, replied as he rolled his eyes and squeezed the blonde girl's hand.  "He got onto Angie and me for holding hands in the hallway of the GC building.  I think he's got some kind of beef with me or something - "

"Because he's alway been okay with me!" Angie shrugged.  "He never acted that way around me until he figured out John and I were going out."

"That is weird."  Aria shook her head.  "It's not like I did anything to draw negative attention to myself before, so I doubt he'll get onto me for anything.  Still...he's always been like that, I guess."

Angie nodded, then looked skyward with a sigh.  "Arceus help those poor freshmen when they finally start incurring his wrath."

"You and your twenty-dollar Creative Writing words," the silver-haired boy beside her teased.

"Oh, shut up, John."

_________________________________________________________________________________

"And that's it!  Gabite is unable to battle.  The winner is Starmie and the victory goes to Thea!"

After a day of both mishaps and higher points, fourth period had arrived and the students were only thirty minutes away from freedom.  This class, however, Advanced Pokémon Battling 301, was having such an exhilarating competition (to "warm up" from last year and for the Junior Battlers and Senior Coordinators to get a feel for each others' styles, the professor said) that almost none of the students could think about counting down to the end of classes as they usually did.  So far, the Seniors' slight advantage in age and experience was paying off, with about two thirds of the battles in the series of one-on-ones being won by the Coordinators, much to the Battle Trainers' chagrin.  The last battle had, not surprisingly, ended in the Coordinators' favor again, and the victor Thea received many a congratulatory hug and high-five as she exited the section of the floor marked off as the battle rink.

"Alright," Professor Jesse (a different, non-conspiracy theorist Professor Jesse) announced, "about three more rounds and we'll call it quits."  Eyes scanning both sides of the room and both groups, he searched out the next competitors.  "...Kazuhira, Higure, front and center."

The Juniors' side instantly erupted in excited whispers and even outright cheering - the top of their class was up, and there was no way he could lose.  The Coordinators were likewise excited - she wasn't exactly the best among them when it came to battles, but she was well-respected in the class and could hold her own.

Duce and Aria took their places on opposite sides of the field, and the professor was just about to signal for them to begin when he stopped mid-sentence.  "Oh, you're just in time, Professor Hamilton.  We were just having a few practice matches to see if we retained skills from last year's course - "

Professor Hamilton?  The thought crossed both students' minds, and Duce found it strange since the Deputy Headmaster almost never sat in on classes, at least so soon, but Aria was more worried.  Great, on all days, he shows up now...  She worried that his actions towards Angie and John earlier would affect her demeanor in front of him, and she certainly didn't want that.

"Alright, you two, let the battle begin!"

"Ladies first!" Duce called, waiting for Aria to release her first Pokémon.

"If you insist!"  The Suicune removed from a hidden pocket in her blazer a tiny black-and-gold sphere - after tapping the button in its center to enlarge it, she let the Luxury Ball fly.  "Nocturne, take the stage!"  With a crackling whir of red energy, an Umbreon materialized on the field.

"Umbreon!" it cried with a proud toss of its head.

Duce smirked, almost as if he had expected this - Umbreon was Aria's strongest Pokémon and he knew it.  "Let's balance things out, shall we?"  He removed a Premier Ball from the inside of his jacket and let it snap open.  "Espeon, I choose you!"

"Huh?"  Aria couldn't help but blink in confusion as the Psychic-type materialized opposite her team star.  She had expected him to use one of his Normal-types, or even his Dragonite (though he usually saved the rare Dragon-type for especially tough battles), since they both knew at least one Fighting-type move that could overcome any of her Pokémon.  Why go with a weak type matchup?  Was it just for show?  (Unusual for someone like him - he usually set his sights on simply winning and left the theatrics up to Coordinators like her.)

Putting the matter aside in favor of getting her head back into the game, she issued her first command.  "Sing them a dirge, Nocturne!  Dark Pulse!"

"Light Screen, quick!"

The spiraling beam of deep violet energy that Nocturne had aimed towards the Sun Pokémon was well on its way when the carmine gem on Espeon's head began to glow, erecting a glimmering cube of light that easily directed the brunt of the attack around it.  Minor damage seemed to have gotten through, but Duce's Pokémon stood firm.

"Now let's retaliate!  Swift!" Duce ordered.

"Ah!"  Aria didn't know how to counter that - it was impossible to dodge that move.  She watched as the star-shaped rays knocked Nocturne off its feet, breathing a sigh of relief as her partner recovered quickly.  "Counter with Faint Attack!"

Impossibly fast, Nocturne dashed up to Espeon, enveloped in a shadowy aura, and delivered a swift headbutt to its side, sending the Psychic-type skidding backward, a super-effective hit but not enough to bring it down.

The battle continued in this manner - each time Nocturne would use a super-effective Dark-type move, Espeon would counter with a Protect or Light Screen to avoid or cut the damage, then continue countering with Swift and Quick Attack continuously - all no-miss basic damage moves.

What are you trying to pull?  Aria wondered continuously as she ordered Nocturne to keep trying to break through the Sun Pokémon's defenses.  Sure, Psychic attacks don't work on Nocturne, that's obvious...it's almost like he's trying to wear him down - this is going to be a stalemate if we keep going at this pace!  He must have something - oh, NO, there has to be SOME kind of trump card involved -

"Nocturne!  Moonlight, and fast!"

Impressive, Duce thought.  He hadn't expected her to catch onto his plan of action - although his opponent was intelligent, she usually had a bad case of tunnel vision.  It didn't take him long to decide that it was time to end this for better or worse.

"That's enough, Espeon!  Wrap it up with Signal Beam!"

The worn-down and only starting to heal Umbreon couldn't dodge and didn't stand a chance against the super-effective attack - one glimmering beam shot from Espeon's magical cabochon and Nocturne was down, fatigued and obviously unable to continue.

Duce smirked.  "Looks like this song's over - sorry I had to cut your so-called dirge short."

"Umbreon is unable to battle!  The winner is Espeon and the victory goes to Duce!"

"Good job, girl!" Duce praised his Pokémon as she let out a cry of triumph.

Aria sighed, a sound inaudible over the cheers of Duce's half of the class, disappointed at the loss but determined not to show it as she raised the Umbreon's Ball.  "Come on back, Nocturne."
After returning her Pokémon, she and Duce both made their way to the center of the field to shake hands, customary even for unofficial battles like theirs.

"Nice job!" she smiled, extending a hand.  "Very clever strategy, too."

"Did you expect anything less?" he laughed.  "And you were pretty clever for figuring it out."

He returned the offered handshake firmly - but then tugged the smaller girl's hand up towards himself before she had a chance to pull it away.

"Nice battle, Ari-chan," he teased, placing a light kiss on the back of her hand.  With a squeak, Aria jerked back, cheeks faintly flushed - muttering out another congratulations, she speed-walked back to the crowd of Seniors on her edge of the field, the females of which were giggling uncontrollably.

Duce only chuckled to himself (he really had only been teasing but had expected such a reaction somewhat) and exited the field himself - to find Professor Hamilton waiting.  He congratulated him on his win, seeming a bit overly flattering on his strategy and his Pokémon's power.  Duce thanked the Deputy Headmaster with due respect, but wasn't exactly getting good vibes from him for some reason...and it wasn't compliments on his skill that he was already fully aware of.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Project Beta Phase 1 In-Progress Report - Day 1
D. Kazuhira - vital - Mental link - bond yet to develop.  Background troubling - RED - research to continue.
A. Higure - holds potential - Corruption link - suspected bond forming (NP488, NP491?).  Background not notable - minimal research to continue.
D. Sensou - observation compromised.  Possible link - bond yet to develop.  Background unknown - research to continue.
L. Honda - limited potential as of now - Willpower link - bond yet to develop.  Background notable but unlikely to effect subject directly - research to continue.
General student research in progress.  Special attention to G. Kazuhira, A. Hino, J. Sakasumi, J. Hanawa.
Activity spotted in Leohta Ruins, Yami Island - under observation.  Student access to be blocked.
Possible illusions spotted.  Action not to be taken.