Thomas Buizel Poochyena: Ch.2

After a few hours, I was already heading from the old man's house to the School to hang out with a few of my friends. It was lunchtime, so the board allowed me to visit them outside. None of them had a Pokémon YET, so I felt more comfortable when I visited them.

My friends were easy to find for they stood out in a crowd to me. Tucker, the curly red-headed "fireball", wore only red clothing, usually a tank-top and shorts with black sneakers. He was always "on-fire", awaiting barely the ability to have fire Pokémon. Jocinda, wearing a blue skirt, pink sandals, and brown hair that formed into a ponytail, was sort of a daydreamer, always wanting to take to the skies. No wonder her love for flying-types was expected and came through from her. Lastly, Kaname, bulging in a huge tan hooded-coat that covered his black spiky hair, black pants, dark shade-goggles, and brown sneakers, was always the slacker; always complaining, never does anything about it, the laziest kid in the School, but we loved hanging out with him. His strategies and high intellect made him perfect for psychic Pokémon.

Anyway, we sat in our normal spot and as I took my packed lunch out of my backpack and they started eating theirs, I just listened as they continued on about what they had learned and how close they had become to becoming a good trainer.

"I'm so fired up!" Tucker yelled, "I cannot wait to get my hands on a Pokéball and go and catch some hot Pokémon!"

"Whoa, there, hotshot," I said as I motioned him to simmer down, "You'll get your chance to get your Pokémon soon enough. Just hang on, and do your best."

"I just can't," he said grinning from ear to ear. "I just have to have a chance to travel the world and train my team's flare and show our stuff!!"

I sort of envied him and the others at the time; I wish I had the love of Pokémon they did back then. I was such a coward and I couldn't even get near one without freaking out in my mind.

"I am sure you will do just fine," Jocinda said in her motherly voice, "I am sure you will soar to new heights as a great trainer."

"I know I will," Tucker turned to her as he ate some of his sandwich, "but I need to get out of here in order to do that. I just can't sit still and let them hold me back when I'm raring to go, Jocinda!"

Suddenly, we heard a huge sigh from Kaname. We turned to him as he rubbed his neck and looked at us with tired eyes.

"Tired?" I asked, awaiting the obvious answer.

"Uhh, I am so tired. Why do I come here?" he groaned.

"I don't know. Why do you?" I asked him. "You want to be a Pokémon trainer, right? So, shouldn't you want to be here learning?"

I don't know if he gave me a glare through his non-see-through goggles, but he let his head drop and he groaned, "Whatever, what a pain…"

Tucker slammed his hands on the table as he leaned forward and yelled, "Hey, what do you mean 'what a pain'!? You want to become strong with Pokémon, you come here!"

Jocinda looked at both of them as she closed her eyes, sensing tension, "Guys, please. Thomas is here to hang out with us. So don't fight, okay? Please, let's talk about something else."

Before we could though, we heard a snobby voice from behind us say, "My, my. Oliver Gungsten, what a surprise seeing you here."

My right eye twitched as I heard that voice. It belonged to someone I REALLY DON'T LIKE. We all turned around and saw none other than the infamous Mr. Pepperridge standing behind us. The man looked like something out of a comedy story. I mean, he always wore a nice, clean brown suit with brown shoes and a blue tie. However, his face was absolutely SCARY. His eyes were just black dots like a pencil mark, his skin looked like he put on make-up, he had the curliest mustache I had ever seen, and his brown hair had to been "perfectly and neatly" combed. And on top of that, he was a living, walking, breathing stick-figure. I'm serious! I had more fat on one of my arms than he did on his entire body! But, that's not why I disliked him.

You see, Mr. Pepperridge, despite his amazing knowledge of Pokémon and strength in battles, he was a snobby rich man who thought that the poor shouldn't have the ability to befriend Pokémon. He also would make sure that he was the number one trainer whenever someone bragged or thought they did good. But, worst of all, was that he HATED me. The reasons why were numerous, I swore. He had a rivalry with my dad when they were kids and my dad won the majority of their contests. I guess he hated our family when he had a crush on my mom, but was devastated when she told him she was marrying my dad. And, also because of my parents, he wanted me to come to the Pokémon School and be a student. That's right; he was one of the many adults who hated me for following my own choices and wanted me to become something I felt I wasn't ready for. To make my life a living hell, I didn't know, but it felt like it.

My eye kept twitching as I closed both of them and with a sarcastic smile and all my might said nicely, "Mr. Pepperridge, I believe I have told you many times now, my name is Thomas, not Oliver."

He laughed that cynical and snobby laugh and said, "Oh, my, that's right, it seems I have forgotten again, haven't I?"

"Yeah, I'm so sure of that…" I thought.

He put his hands on his hips and said, "So, Thomas, what are you doing here? Why are you at SCHOOL, I wonder?"

I gritted my teeth under my lips; I HATED it when he stressed out the word 'school' when talking to me.

"He's having lunch with us," Jocinda said, putting her hand on mine, calming me down, "He always does. It's nice to have him around."

"Ah, very well," he said, twirling his mustache. He turned to the others and said, "So, tell me everyone, how are all of your studies going? Are all of you having fun?"

They all responded in their unique way. I knew what he was doing; trying to make me jealous of my friends and want to come here! I couldn't stand him!

My friends could also sense my discontent. Kaname said, "We really enjoy our studies, true enough, but we love spending time with Thomas."

"Oh, really?" he said with a polite squeal. "Do you wish he was here more often? Maybe if-"

"Mr. Pepperridge," I interrupted, folding my hands and closing my eyes, "I thank you for believing I have talent for Pokémon and I respect you more than a lot of people here, but you and I have the same conversation every single day I come here." I turned around to his appalled face, opened my eyes, and said calmly, "No, I am not here to become a student; No, I am not thinking about becoming a student in the near-time future; and, no, I do not think you are ugly!"

"Pfft!" Tucker covered his mouth and turned away, so Mr. Pepperridge couldn't see him. Jocinda jabbed him hard in the ribs with her elbow, telling him to knock it off.

Jocinda was like the mother hen of the group; if you were risking your neck in trouble, she would quickly give you a nudge, signaling you to calm down and take it easy. She saved our butts multiple times by doing that.

"Oh!" Mr. Pepperridge fumed at me, putting his hands on his head, "Such insolence! I… I just cannot stand your intolerable behavior! The nerve of you! You have so much talent, yet you refuse to share it with the world! Ugh! Why can't you understand that I want you to succeed and become the best you can be!?"

"Then, if you really want the best for me," I said in a more louder tone, "You will respect my choices of who I am and wait patiently WHEN and IF I am ready to experience the world of Pokémon!"

I loved how I annunciated the words when I spoke to him; I know, terrible. Mr. Pepperridge looked like he was going to attack me, but then Kaname cleared his throat and got all of our attention.

"I agree," he said, "Look, you may have been able to convince me to come here, sir… but what both Thomas and I need is time and our own pace to determine our motivation, skills, and hearts. You can't rush success to your liking. It takes time to become the best."

That's Kaname for you; totally lazy and unmotivational, but when it comes to sticking up for your friends, he'll do anything.

Mr. Pepperridge calmed down, and quickly pulled out his comb.

He made sure his hair was neatly combed and replied nicely, "You are right, Kaname. I am sorry, everyone, especially you, Thomas, for losing my temper and yelling at you."

He looked at me with a smile and said, "Thomas, whenever you are ready, the Pokémon School is ready to accept you with open arms! Have a pleasant day, everyone."

With that, he walked away as my friends looked at me. I put my head on the table and covered my face.

"I hate it when he picks on me," I sighed hurt.

"That jerk is freaking unbelievable!" Tucker yelled, "I swear, if he went to a famous china shop in a fancy place like Evergrande City or someplace, he'd buy every single freaking set in the whole dumb place!"

Despite the hatefulness in Tucker's rude comment, he's right. When Mr. Pepperridge finds exceptional talent or value in you, he'll stop at nothing to bring it out of you and let it shine; even if it means bugging you everytime you try to visit your friends. I mean, he already had a hard time convincing Kaname to come here, but I have yet to see him convince me to come here or arouse Kaname's motivation.

"Aw, forget about him," Jocinda said with a smile that comforted me, "Relax. We can talk about something else if you want and-"

"But you know," we all heard Tucker say as he picked up his apple, "He is right about one thing; you have incredible skill for Pokémon, Thomas!"

"Tucker, do not get brainwashed by 'Mr. Snobby'," Jocinda warned as she wrapped up her garbage.

"Hey!" Tucker snapped at her with a glare, "I'm not forcing him, but you have to admit it. I mean, don't you remember when they asked Thomas just to do a practice battle? He took on not one, not two, but three of the School's best trainers. Three! And he beat them all!"

Kaname said after picking up his milk bottle and drinking some, "He's right, Thomas. You've got skill, but it's up to you how you live your life."

I grabbed my chip bag and snarfed a few down in disgust. However, it soon turned to contemplation, the same feeling I had earlier with Old Man Fellows. Did I really have good talent? I wasn't so sure anymore…

"What a pain," Kaname groaned as I looked at him, "Lunch is over…"

Indeed, the bell then rang and all the students started heading into the building. My cue to leave.

Kaname groaned, but then smiled, "Hey Thomas, I have a gift for you before you go."

I turned to him surprisingly as he handed me a red book.

"It's a Pokémon handbook, you know, so you can know specific Pokémon and what they like, what type they are, etc… Who knows, Thomas, you may need it," he said.

"Thanks, Kaname," I said taking the book and putting it into by backpack, "You guys have a good rest of the day."

Kaname nodded, "We'll see you later, Thomas."

Jocinda hugged me as she said, "Take care, my friend. Don't let disappointed people get you down."

Tucker laughed as he closed his eyes and said, "Hey, when I get out of here, I want a match with you, Thomas, you hear?"

I smiled and rolled my eyes as I said, "Take care, hotshot."

He replied, "In a while, master-man."

We hit our fists together as I grabbed my backpack. We all said good-bye, and departed as they went back to school and I to my house.

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It was relatively getting to the point of 'sunset' when I had reached my house. I breathed a huge relaxing sigh; what a big day today had been. But, something just stuck; what Old Man Fellows and my friends had told me; I have talent and maybe one day I'd become friends with Pokémon. I thought about it as I pulled my key out of my pocket and began to reach towards the doorknob.

"Go to the beach…"

My eyes suddenly opened wide; who said that? I suddenly felt chills up my spine and through my every nerve. I looked around me frantically and tried to find who in the world just talked to me. I thought it was someone like Tucker pulling a prank on me, but the voice was something I had never heard before. I thought about what happened, but then gasped when I realized it: the voice came from inside my head!

I thought about what it just said, "Go to the beach…"

But, why would I want to go to the beach? And, at this time of the day? It was way too cold to go swimming at this time of the day. Besides, my friends wouldn't come; they'd be too tired. I tried to shake this feeling off and just go inside. However, as I kept on thinking about it, my heart felt like I at least needed to check out the beach. Just in case, I decided I should go. I put my key back in my pocket and started on my way to the beach.

The beach wasn't far away from my house than it was for the rest of the city. You see, I was lucky, along with a couple other people, for our houses were right next to a small alcove near the beach. You can reach the beach from the alcove by climbing some huge rock and grass hills to get to the main section. My house was lucky, because I get the alcove all to myself sometimes. All you have to do is cut through the woods behind the houses and you instantly arrive at the alcove of the beach. For the rest of the city, you have to go through massive traffic in order to even get remotely close to the parking lot of that place. So, in my case, lucky.

I passed a few trees and jumped a few rocks in order to finally arrive at my destination. The alcove of the beach, in all of its shining glory. The waves rolled as I felt the wind against my face and through my hair. It definitely was starting to become high tide. I just seemed to lose myself in the peacefulness of the ocean. I swore I could've fallen asleep standing up.

But then, I thought to myself, "Okay, so why am I here? What I am supposed to-"

All of a sudden, I heard a cry; a Pokémon cry. In fact, I heard two of them! I looked over to my left and saw two Pokémon right close to me!

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