Yawning with his maw wide open, Spike stared at the chalkboard covered in notes about different status effects like poison or paralyze with a disinterested gaze. Luckily, Ares, who was already twice the size of when he had hatched and was now sitting on an extra chair next to Spike, seemed to be gaining something from the lessons. Well, that is if his focused eyes and twitching floppy ears were anything to go by. Most of the other kids focused heavily on Miss Johanna’s explanations or took notes as best they could as five or six-year-olds.

Looking out the window at the rain pelting the playground outside, Spike thought, It’s already been a couple months, huh? It’s still hard to believe.’ Then, he turned his eyes back to the blackboard, sighed, and reflected, ‘And to think I’ve still got another ten years of this. Can’t wait for classes that actually give me info I don’t already know.’

While lost in his thoughts, he heard the familiar chime of the Principal’s Chimecho echoing through the halls, signaling the end of the school day. The chiming was a pitch lower than the recess chime. Once Miss Johanna dismissed the kids, she mentioned for everyone to wait for their parents to pick them up today because of the unexpected rain. To Spike’s surprise, one of the other kids walked up to him after putting her things away.

“Um… Hi Dil- um, I mean, Spike,” The girl hesitantly greeted him. She twiddled her thumbs nervously and couldn’t help shying away from the other kids who were staring at her with mouths agape or brows creased with worry. One boy even narrowed his eyes and started chewing his nails, which Spike vaguely noticed but didn’t pay much attention to.

Glancing back at the girl’s long red hair and curved bangs that partially covered her red eyes, Spike paused for a moment. Since he rarely paid attention to the children because of his mental age and always tuned out the roll call, he only recognized her as a girl with an assigned seat on the other side of the room. Unlike her more flamboyant friends who often wore colorful dresses or frilly clothing, she only ever wore jeans and t-shirts. The only reason he even remembered her face was because of her uniquely red hair and eyes. Unable to recall anything else about her, he replied, “Hi… Sorry, what was your name again?”

“Wha?” A boy sitting in the seat behind Spike subconsciously muttered while staring at him as if he lacked brain cells.

Attempting to ignore the other boy’s gasp, the girl noticeably flinched at Spike’s words and quietly said, “I’m, um, Flannery.”

“Excuse me?” Spike blurted out, wondering if he had misheard. “You said Flannery?”

‘No way, right? Isn’t she the gym leader in that hot springs town? What is she doing here in Petalburg? Maybe I should have been paying attention during roll call.’

Small lips curling downward, the girl shifted uncomfortably and nodded.

“Huh. Well, nice to meet you, I guess?” Spike mumbled, mind whirling at being in school with a familiar gym leader. Originally, he had assumed that he had started in a timeline similar to the third generation games or anime, so it had never crossed his mind to learn the names of his young classmates. This changed a lot of things for him.

‘Doesn’t that make me a bit older than May and Brendan, then?’ He mentally concluded in shock before refocusing on the red-haired girl and asking, “Do you need me for something?”

“Oh, um… kind of. I got an egg from my parents. You also had an egg. I thought I might be able to ask you about it since your Pokemon looks happy and healthy. Do you… um… Are you okay with talking about it with me?”

Blinking a few times, Spike’s brow twitched as he processed what was happening right now.

Noticing Spike’s silence, little Flannery lowered her head and mumbled, “I guess not.”

“Haha. Nah, it’s fine. I don’t mind talking with you. I’m just surprised.”

Eyes brightening with excitement, Flannery ran back over to her desk, picked up her chair, and waddled back with it. In her excitement, she failed to notice all the wide eyes and gaped mouths focused on her. The blond and brunette girls who always played with her had it the worst. Their faces paled as though they had seen a ghost. Well, one person reacted differently, at least. Miss Johanna watched the interaction with a wide smile while thinking that, finally, one of the kids wasn’t scared of that little brat anymore. Maybe he could make some friends now!

Spike glanced at the other kids in the room and shook his head. One day, they would understand that they didn’t need to fear him, but he did not want to go out of his way to change the minds of immature children, either. He was a firm believer that actions speak louder than words, even after simple words ruined his last life.

After settling her chair on the opposite side of Spike’s desk, Flannery sat down with a toothy grin that was missing a couple teeth. Her legs swung back and forth as she excitedly asked, “Where did you get your egg?”

“The woods.”

“Oh, wow! How did you take care of it?”

“I just used blankets and pillows to keep it warm for the most part and kept it by my side as often as I could. An incubator helps if you can afford one.”

“Oh, yeah. My grandpa gave me one, and I wondered why you didn’t have one. Why didn’t you use one?”

Feeling a stabbing pain in his heart, Spike turned away and mumbled, “We didn’t have spare money for one, apparently.”

Flannery tilted her head and asked, “Doesn’t your dad work at uncle Norman’s gym? Trainers make a lot of money, don’t they?”

Eyes widening, Spike couldn’t help asking, “Uncle Norman? He’s your uncle?”

“Um, no,” Flannery answered, scratching her head as though confused how to explain it. “My dad always calls him my uncle. I think they are friends or something?”

“Wow. Didn’t expect that.”

‘Huh. Small world, I guess,’ Spike thought, briefly glancing sideways upon seeing a few kids leaving with their parents. For the most part, it looked like the other kids quickly lost interest in what was happening with Spike and Flannery and started playing with the resident Zigzagoons or toys stored at the back of the classroom. The only ones still glaring at them were Flannery’s two friends and the boy who was still biting his nails. ‘I wonder if any of these other kids are characters I know. Well, I guess they are actually people now rather than characters.’

“Oh, right, it took your egg a month to hatch, right?” Flannery asked him, pulling him back into the conversation.

“Yeah. It’ll take longer if you don’t walk with it everywhere. Not sure why that is, though.”

“My grandpa didn’t mention that before.”

“They probably don’t want you to drop the egg and hurt it.”

The girl’s red eyes widened with fear at the thought of dropping the egg she had received. Her small body shivered, and she mumbled, “I think I’ll just leave it at home. I don’t want to hurt it.”

Chuckling, Spike pet Ares’ head and said, “That might be a good idea until you actually become a trainer. Ares and I are a bit of a special case.”

“What’s that mean?”

“Well, I’m sure you’ll figure it out if you ask your grandpa or parents about Lucarios and Riolus.”

The girl nodded, but then an uncomfortable silence fell between them. Eventually, she started twiddling her thumbs again as though trying to think of something to say. In contrast, Spike chuckled at the child in front of him and decided to resume the conversation by sating his own curiosity toward something he had been wondering about since he learned her name.

“Couldn’t you have talked to your grandpa about your egg? He’s a gym leader or something, right?”

Scratching her head, the girl mumbled, “Um, well… I guess…”

“I’m not going to bite you, you know.”

“...Are you sure?”

‘Oh, right, Dilon used to bite other kids sometimes, didn’t he? Maybe a bad choice of words.’

“Yeah,” Spike answered in an attempt to settle her nervousness.

“I, um… I just kinda… felt bad for you, I think?

“Excuse me?”

Waving her hands apologetically, the girl sputtered out, “You never talk to anyone anymore, so I thought something made you sad and lonely… or something.”

“Huh.”

Unable to reply for a moment, Spike simply stared at the girl and wondered, ‘Is she really five years old? No way a kid her age would think such a thing back home. Maybe people mature faster here or something? Maybe I’ve been looking down on all these kids.’ Glancing back at the other kids playing with toys, he shook his head and thought, ‘Nevermind. She is probably just mature for her age.’

“Um, maybe I shouldn’t have said anything…” The girl mumbled in a small voice while shifting her feet back and forth.

“Heh. You surprised me, kid. You’re really nice.”

“Why are you calling me a kid? I’m two months older than you…”

“Oh... Well, anyway, thanks for going out of your way to talk to me. I appreciate it.”

“Mhm,” Flannery replied with a small nod. Then, she asked, “When my egg hatches, do you want to try having a battle?”

Before Spike could answer, Ares’ eyes brightened, and he hopped up onto his feet with paws on both hips as he confidently answered before his partner could say anything, “Riolu!”

Both Spike and Flannery stared at him with wide eyes. A moment later, Spike sighed and shook his head, and Flannery smiled a wide toothy grin.

“Looks like my buddy is up for it, but you might want to do some training with your grandpa’s help first. Ares and I have been training together every day, after all.”

“Okay!”

Suddenly, the classroom door opened again, and an older man with curly graying hair that still had a few puffs of red in it entered the classroom. Instantly, Flannery’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, and she exclaimed, “Grandpa?!”

“Oh, my cute little Flannery!” The man exclaimed. He then walked over with arms wide open and added, “Grandpa came to visit for a few days! Are you happy to see me?”

“Mhm!” Flannery nodded and jumped into the man’s hug.

Noticing the boy who his granddaughter had been talking to just now, the man narrowed his eyes, but then focused on the Riolu next to the boy. One of his eyebrows lifted with a strange mixture of amusement and curiosity.

“Hoh. What a surprise. I never would have expected to see a Riolu while picking up my granddaughter today. What’s your name, boy?”

“Spike, and,” Spike rested a hand on Ares’ head, then continued, “this is my partner, Ares.”

“Hoho. Wonderful. Nice to meet you two. I’m Flannery’s grandpa. You can call me Mr. Moore.”

Nodding politely, Spike replied, “Nice to meet you, Mr. Moore.”

‘I can smell it. This man has good connections. I should get on his good side.’

“Nice to meet you, too, boy. Now,” the man looked at his granddaughter who was now sitting in his arms and asked, “what were the two of you talking about with such interesting expressions?”

“We just promised to have a battle when my egg hatches, grandpa!” Flannery answered with a wide smile that showed off her missing teeth again.

“Oh? Is that so?” The man said while glancing back and forth between Spike and Ares. After a few moments of observing them, his friendly smile disappeared, and he said, “It looks like you two are already quite strong for your age.”

“Yeah. We train every day together. I told Flannery to train with you before we ever battle.”

The friendly smile appeared on the older man’s face again, and he said, “That seems like a good idea. A strong opponent could be good for you two to grow as trainers.”

“Well, I plan to become a Ranger, though.”

Flannery tilted her head as though the concept of a Ranger was unfamiliar to her. On the other hand, Mr. Moore’s eyes widened, but then his lips stretched into an actually genuine smile as opposed to his polite one.

“The world definitely needs more good Rangers. It will be tough on you, but I hope you succeed, Spike.”

“Thanks.”

“Well, it’s time for us to leave, Flannery. Make sure to say goodbye to all your friends.”

“Mhm. Bye, Spike and Ares,” Flannery said with a wave. Then she said goodbye to her other friends and Miss Johanna, though Spike didn’t recognize any names in particular when actually paying attention to them this time. On their way out, Miss Johanna stopped Mr. Moore with an excited smile and asked for an autograph, which the older man obliged. Spike chuckled at the sight of the normally serious woman acting like an excited teenager.

Once they were gone, Spike met eyes with Ares and asked, “So, you want to do some battles, huh?”

“Ri,” Ares instantly affirmed.

“Well, I figured that would come eventually. Let’s sneak out and train later.”

“Ri,” Ares agreed with a vigorous nod.