I Hate it here…

This is the worst, how could this have happened to me.

So, apparently Mudkip is a pokemon that is 'protected' by the government as it is one of the three national pokemon of Hoenn. I don't know why exactly we Mudkip, along with Torchic and Treecko, are the national pokemon. My guess is that the answer can be found somewhere in the Nation's history, or those specific pokemon were just chosen by random chance. I can't really explain why every country in my previous world had a 'national animal' either. Eagle is the national animal of America, the Lion is the national animal of the British. Brown bear for Russia…Heh.

Point is, everything concerning those three evolutionary lines is Heavily regulated. Natural habitats are guarded by an army of rangers. The trading of those pokemon to others, if you own one, is forbidden. You can't buy one on the market at all.

The only way to legitimately get a national pokemon is by passing a series of rigorous tests and getting a license, even then you can only get one if a state sponsored breeder who specifically specialises in dealing with those pokemon graces you with his attention. Having the license that allows you to own one and actually owning one is all the difference.

Alternatively… you can obtain a National pokemon by being a high achiever. A set number of National pokemon are given out every year to the highest graded teens, just when their education finishes and they become fourteen. I won't really comment on the educational system ending when someone reaches fourteen years of age. The schools back in my old world were terrible and most of the material you learned you never used.

Anyways, concerning my situation. I'm a Mudkip. I'm a National pokemon. Meaning I'm subject to those same rules and regulations.

Glancing to the other side of the bench I'm sitting on I see my assigned 'Trainer'. A high achieving one apparently. I've made sure to make as much distance between us as possible.

Why was I given to the one person I hate in this life?

'Danny', as he gets called by everyone, is completely unremarkable. He has brown hair and brown eyes. White T-Shirt and blue shorts. That's it really, excluding his backpack and pokeball belt which is holding a single pokeball - Mine. It took me a while to recognize him but once I did I was seriously unhappy.

I think the months spent amongst Mudkip have messed up my ability to recognise human faces. I can still tell the differences between different kids no problem, but I need to really focus on them for a couple of seconds whereas before just a glance would have been enough. The fact I didn't immediately recognise Lt. Surge just shows that I have a problem. Let's just hope that it's caused by my lack of human interaction and not because I've changed species.

The sudden look of realization dawns on his face, replacing his thinking expression. Hah, it appears like the tackle to the stomach I gave him a couple of minutes back has finally rattled his brain enough for him to register why I'm so angry at him. Finally remembered me from two months ago did you?

He stands up from the bench and sheepishly approaches me, lowering himself to the ground until both our heads are on the same level of height.

"Are you... the Mudkip I gave the spicy berry to?"

Damn fucking right I am that Mudkip, dipshit! In the flesh! And you call that thing spicy? That was pure pain condensed into berry form by Satan himself! I really thought I was gonna die!

My inner monologue doesn't reflect my outward actions. My body remains completely still as I gaze directly into Danny's big brown eyes. After a few seconds pass and he starts looking uncomfortable I nod my head.

My following nod seems to cause his pupils to shrink a bit in shock, after which he gets up and starts pacing around the bench. After a while of his pacing he sits on the other end of his bench again. I look at him with curiosity as he starts rummaging through his backpack.

He picks up some sort of a chocolate snack bar and removes the plastic wrapping on it after which he turns to face me again.

"Um…I'm not sure how to say this…" He shuffles uncomfortably on his seat. Thinking over his words. I keep my eyes locked onto him all the while.

"I know that what I did was terrible. I'm not happy with what i did and I truly regret it with all my heart."

"If it helps, I thought that the berry is only mildly spicy. Braaagh!" Wrong choice of words boy, don't try to justify what you did to me! That just really pisses me off!

Danny clutches his stomach after I smash into him for a second time.

I walk back to my own spot on the bench afterwards and lock my eyes onto him again.

It takes about a minute before he collects himself. He turns to me again and this time he presents the chocolate bar to me.

"I'm really sorry about what I did, I really am. Can you forgive me, Please?"

What? You want to bribe me now?

I think I can see tears welling up in his eyes, and his skin is really flushed red. He's trembling a bit too. He's obviously on the verge of bursting into tears…

"..."

Geez, what the hell am I doing?

I'm just bullying a seven year old kid. Everyone's done one or two moronic things in their time.

He's probably been disciplined by both the teacher and his parents for what he did after we beat him into the ground. I have technically gotten back at him for what he did. But letting him go is one thing. Truly forgiving him and allowing myself to be his Pokemon is something else completely.

Actually…scratch that. Hehe.

I think I know how I can get back at him in such a way that both my emotions and my logical mind are at peace, as opposed to only my logical mind. I could probably raise a stink and get given to a different kid. The people here seemed pretty reasonable so they'd switch him with someone else if I did... But what I have in mind is way better. Yes, this will actually work out wonderfully for me.

Before that though…

I walk up to the chocolate bar and bite into it.

This is not chocolate. Shame. It still tastes good though… fruity.

Danny's expression does a complete 180 the moment I take a bite from the snack bar. His sad and tense expression is replaced by a smiling one and his eyes obtain a glint that wasn't there before. Though there are still small droplets of tears in the corners of his eyes.

He reaches his other hand to my head and tries to pet me. I allow it.

His petting is really mediocre and crude, I don't feel anything from it. Meh, I think this is his first time petting a pokemon. One would think that you need at least some basic knowledge and experience to join the trainer's school. Petting experience more specifically...Guess not.

Now, to put into motion the plan that will set my heart at peace.

After finishing up my fruity snack I jump down from the bench to the ground and motion with my head for Danny to follow me.

"Uh, alright? I'm coming." He picks up his bag and comes after me. I lead him to an exposed, soft patch of dirt. Perfect.

I start using the stubby fingers on my leg to draw on the patch of dirt. Danny crouches next to me and starts looking at my work with curiosity. He follows my actions carefully with his eyes but doesn't say anything.

What I'm trying to draw is fairly simple, something that would have taken me seconds had I still been a human. Now it takes me two minutes until I'm done completely. A simple cylinder, three or four times as high as it is wide with rounded down edges, resembling the shape of a medicinal pill. Around a dozen 'V' shaped spikes are jutted down on its body.

"That's a.. Spelon berry?" Danny calls out from the side.

"Yes it is." I respond, nodding my head.

Talking to a human as a pokemon is not a fruitless endeavor per se. While people won't be able to understand what you say, the spirit and the energy of your words will still transfer through to them. If you're angry and shouting at them at the top of your lungs, chances are, they'll understand that you're angry. They just won't understand the exact meaning of your words. In the current case my tone of voice will transfer my agreement with his words.

I point to the drawing of the Spelon berry with my frontal leg and then to my mouth, opening it and emitting an "Aaaa" noise. And then… to him~.

He immediately gets the meaning of my gesture.

"You want me… to eat a Spelon berry?"

"Yep, yep, yep!" I nod my head several times energetically at that.

"I don't know…" He scratches the back of his head.

"Oh no you aren't! You're not getting away from this if you wanna be my trainer." I take on a threatening posture, like I'm about to tackle him again.

Looks like three hits to the stomach would be a bit too much for him to take in a single day since he immediately covers it with his hands and backs away.

"Alright, alright, I get it. My father has a couple of Spelons stashed away at home. I'll try and sneak one away. But it can't happen right now, Okay? I can't exactly run back home and grab one right now."

"Good enough." The promise is all that I needed, I have serious doubts that he'll try and break it.

I approach him and get up on my hind legs, balancing myself. He looks at me curiously.

I wiggle my frontal legs as I look into his eyes. "Come on, what are you waiting for?"

A brilliant smile forms on his face as he crouches down to pick me up from the ground.

He speaks up as he starts holding me against his chest. My legs stretched out into the air, poking from between his arms.

"Haha, you're my first pokemon, we're going to be best friends! We're going to do so many great things together. It will be so amazing!" Suddenly full of energy he starts walking in the direction of the biggest building in the school. The 'place where trainers learn', at least going by Wuwu's words. That place is actually constructed from concrete and rebar as opposed to black stone but it still keeps the Renaissance look.

Danny continues. "Our first class will teach me how to better take care of you. What kind of food you need, how to keep your skin nice and glossy and stuff like that. Then we have math class."

Math huh? That's… fair enough. Math is a pretty universal thing that has an application basically everywhere in the world.

- o - o -

"First things first, you'll need to fill out your pokemon's record. I've placed the required papers under your desk. Fill out what you can right now then come here and line up so we can weigh and measure them." The teacher, a tanned man in his forties, speaks up. He's standing in front of the room's whiteboard.

The Arbok next to him follows and says something as well "Please cooperate with your companions and remain patient, they'll most likely be a bother at first but they'll learn with time." The Arbok has a really gentle feminine voice. In my mind I've categorized every Arbok as a male so that surprises me a little.

What's interesting is that this is actually their first school day. I got the impression that I was dropped off in the middle of the school year. Why were there so many kids visiting us at the forest pond then? Was it just a thing the school organized for the summer vacation? But that doesn't explain why they don't already have pokemon if they were a part of the school.

Ugh… I'll just assume that they were taught basic stuff like reading, writing and math in their previous years instead of having them deal with pokemon. I'll have to investigate that for later.

Looking around from my vantage point on the school desk I see a variety of different pokemon, I think there's a pokemon from every region here.

I've already seen Nidoran and Wooper, those are from gen one and two respectively. No point in searching for gen three pokemon since I am in Hoenn. I can spot a Shinx and a Starly in the corner of the room, also a buneary… a Minccino for gen 5. I don't think I see any pokemon that's from gen six and onwards, weird.

"Wah!" I slightly flinch away as Danny pats me on the back. I turn around to face him, shifting my attention from surveying the room.

"Do you happen to know when you hatched?" He asks me as he holds a pen to a section in the paper. Interestingly enough I can read just fine, everything seems to be written down in regular old english. Moving my gaze I see the words 'hatch date'. Ha! You expect me to know? Hell no! I haven't seen a clock in months, I don't even know if you're using the same calendar as the one in my previous world.

I shake my head at his question, indicating to him that I don't know. Wait a second…Hey! Even if I knew how am I supposed to tell you the exact numbers without you messing it up?

"I guess I'll fill it out later." He turns his head back to the papers.

Humph! I guess you realized that I wouldn't be able to tell you even if I knew when I hatched.

Following his example I start reading what's written on the papers.

Name… that one's blank, I guess he'll give me a name later. Point of origin - 'Breeder near Rustboro City'. Height, weight… guess I'll be measured by the teacher in a bit. Gender - Male. I don't know how he's aware of that considering people have a hard time distinguishing whether or not Mudkip are male or female but I won't question it. I continue reading.

Name of Owner - Brendan Daniel Birch…

Hol up, what?

Name of Owner… Brendan. Daniel… Birch.

"..."

WHAT!

I whip my head up and my eyes on Danny. He gets startled from my action and looks at me questioningly, a bit worried. Probably worried that I got pissed at him again for something he did, we did just make up less than twenty minutes ago.

"Is something wrong buddy?" I shake my head at his words and walk up to him. Reaching my left leg I touch his arm, doing a gesture of assurance.

"Heh, thanks" He pats me on the head and goes back to filling out the paper.

Now that I think about it, I should have realized this sooner. Of course he isn't called Danny, that's just a nickname. I should have picked out immediately that his name would be either Daniel or Brendan, there aren't a lot of nicknames you can transform the name 'Brendan' into. It doesn't really matter at the end of the day, I would have found out sooner or later… I forgot that Brendan doesn't actually have white hair too, that was just the color of his hat.

With my desire to read what's on the paper gone I lay myself down on the desk to rest. The classroom is filled with the sounds of scribbling pens and silent chatter. Glancing at the teacher I notice that he's doing some paperwork himself. His Arbok's eyes briefly go over me but they shift to the kid on the desk next to the one I've laid myself on shortly after. She's surveying the classroom for any trouble, I assume.

After a minute or so spent like this Brendan calls me.

"Hey buddy, is it alright if you come with me? We need to go to the teacher to weigh and measure you."

Wait, he's done already? The kid I've let my eyes linger on doesn't appear to be even halfway done yet. Getting up from my spot I do a little stretch after which I jump from the desk to the wooden floor of the classroom.

I walk up to Brendan "Alright, lead the way."

We make our way to the teacher. From his introduction at the start of class I know that his name is Oliver. The Arbok whose name I don't know sees us and slaps him over top of the head with the end of her tail. The funny thing is that he barely reacts. That's most definitely not the first time she's done that.

"That was fast." He stops doing paperwork and gets up from his chair. "Might I ask for your name?"

"It's Brendan." He puts down the papers he just filled on the teacher's desk after which he crouches down to pick me up into his arms.

"Brendan it is then." Oliver picks up whatever was left on his desk and quickly examines it "I just ask you not to get disheartened if I happen to forget your name. I have about one-hundred and fifty new students to teach this year and it will take me a while until I remember all their names." He's incredibly nonchalant as he speaks, probably caused by him repeating those same words thousands of times.

"No problem teach!"

"Hmm, I see that you haven't filled out the 'date of hatching' and 'date of capture'. And you have a Mudkip?" He glances at me after which he gets back to reading the papers. "Could you give me his pokeball for a bit so I can see his information."

"Huh? How does the Pokeball help you see his information?" Brendan asks him, confused.

"Guess I'll explain to you pokeball serial numbers, if you can just give me a second here." Oliver begins explaining as he brings out a chunky computer from below his desk. The thing looks like the first commercial computers which were released way back in the 1960s. "Every pokeball has a special number etched to it." He motions with his hand, showing the computer. "This machine here can connect to the school's database, I can type in the number of your pokeball and see whatever information we have attached to that specific number."

"Alright." Brendan detaches the pokeball from his belt and hands it to the man.

He inspects it for a bit after which he shows something on it to Brendan. "There, you can see it here." He points with his finger towards the black band in the middle that separates the red and the white half of the pokeball. Looking closely I can faintly pick out some symbols carved into the band of the pokeball.

"I didn't even know that was there…"

"That's why you're here aren't you? To learn!" A smile crosses the teacher's face as he starts typing in the numbers of the pokeball into the device

"There we go, you have your pen with you right? Perfect. Date of hatching is the third of march 1803."

So the pokemon world does follow the Christian calendar model.

Brendan scribbles the date on the paper.

Oliver continues "Date of capture is… yesterday. On the 14th of September." He steps up from his spot and motions towards the scale. "Please place him on the scale so we can measure his weight"

I'm placed on the scale as Oliver pulls out a tape-meter and measures my height.

"Alright, he weighs 8.8 pounds… and he's 0.8 feet tall." (4 kilograms and 24 centimeters)

"Can you give me these so I can look them over one last time?" Giving them a final look Oliver hands the filled out papers back to Brendan. "You can go back to your desk and do whatever, just don't cause a ruckus. I'll probably be busy until the end of class dealing with all the others."

- o - o -

The first class was so absurdly boring that I still can't believe it. It was just the teacher and everyone else that isn't a pokemon taking care of a truckload of red tape. The Pokemon record, the Class's Book that holds everyone's grades and whether or not they've been absent and whatever else. It took sooo unbearingly long.

It doesn't take me long to find out that I'll probably be bored to death. Just like in a regular school, Heh Heh.

We were given the opportunity to leave and go have fun outside during Math class. I refused to leave, deciding instead to stick with Brendan.

I was actually pretty good at math when I was a human, enjoyed it even. Top of my class. Me not being able to solve a mathematical question was actually enough to demoralize everyone else into not even trying to solve it. Fun times. That's why I decided to join Math class, I simply enjoy the subject even if it's at grade school level.

The only pokemon left other than me are an Eevee and an Aron. They're both chilling in the corner of the room and not doing anything though. Not that I'm any different. I'm currently positioned on the desk with my legs tucked under me.

I'm observing Brendan solving some basic Math problems. They're all very simple and what you'd expect to be given to kids their age. One of the main reasons I decided to remain was to see the level of math they're taught here. If it's any different from what I expected.

Since they have a new Teacher she decided to have a short twenty minute exam to see everyones level.

There are fifteen math problems from the sort of 'Solve 678 + 425' or 'Solve 13x11'.

There's a block of text at the bottom of the page with a more complex problem which reads 'A boat leaves a village's port at 1 P.M. and travels down close to the coastline in the direction of a city at a speed of 30 miles per hour. At 3 P.M. a second boat leaves the same port at a speed of 50 miles per hour, following the same path. If both of the boats keep their course towards the city at the mentioned speed, when do the two boats meet?'...

*Yawn*

I think I'm gonna pass out. I underestimated how boring this would be. Twenty minutes of the teacher talking and introducing herself to the class and now this random test.

A hand reaches out to pat me on the head.

"Tired aren't you." He doesn't move his gaze from the paper as he keeps petting me. I don't give out any indication that I agree or disagree with his statement…

Brendan seems to be really good at math. He better be, we Mudkip are supposed to have the most competent of trainers. Glancing at the clock positioned above the whiteboard I see that he has about fifteen minutes left and he's already on the final question. Nice.

- o - o -

The rest of the school time isn't anything to really write home about. After Math class there was a second school 'Pokemon care class' with Mr. Oliver and his Arbok. There me and Brendan learned more about a pokemon's dietary needs. Oliver also touched up a bit on the magical aura that seemed to make it impossible for me to get hungry but didn't go in depth.

There are interestingly enough differently attuned auras throughout the world based on the elements. Ever wondered how rock, ground and steel pokemon like Onix and Steelix can survive spending their entire lives in caves and underground, a place where almost nothing grows? Earth 'Energy fields' as they're named. I'll still call it aura though.

Pokemon like Leiron and Aron, for example, can gain energy from the Earth aura. However, them gaining energy from the aura doesn't translate to them having 'material' to build their bodies with. That's why you'll see colonies of Aron forming around stuff like mineral springs and ore deposits. There they can obtain the necessary material to 'build' their bodies with since they are quite literally made of metal. Aron can filter out the metal ions from the water, transform them into pure metal and use them to grow.

Not every Pokemon can absorb elemental aura but those who can are able to eat regular food no problem. Going back to the Aron, since there isn't an Earth Energy field around the school they're perfectly fine eating regular food as a source of energy.

Pokemon can feed off of elemental aura and survive for a while without food, much longer than a human, but they'll grow weak with time and eventually die due to a multitude of causes, most of the time gruesome. Fair enough, scurvy is a thing. It's deadly. And that's only caused by a lack of Vitamin C in the diet.

The one exception to this rule is Magikarp, Oliver told us. They can feed almost purely off of aquatic aura and breed at a crazy fast rate. Because of those characteristics they're present all over the world and are generally considered a very dangerous pest.

Yea, a Magikarp evolving into a Gyarados and killing you doesn't sound really nice.

We had an hour long break after the second Pokemon Care Class but Brendan and I spent that time playing hide and seek together and eating. It was like the spat we had at the beginning of the day didn't even happen.

Following that there were two consecutive school classes of 'language and literature' which I skipped because Fuck that. Dear lord, I think I have actual PTSD from my experiences in literature class. I physically recoiled when Brendan said that's what's next. Thankfully I am a pokemon and I can opt to skip it.

If me not being able to solve a Math problem was enough to demoralize everyone in class. Me actually being able to correctly deal with a literature question was enough to raise everyone's confidence. I ended up with a 'D-' in literature class most of the time, barely keeping myself afloat.

I tried to find someone I know outside but nobody seemed present, not my siblings and not any of the Wooper or Nidoran from yesterday. Not even the crazy one who got high on shrooms is around his pond so I spent the whole time lazing around, too tired to socialize with anyone.

What greatly surprised me that day was that Brendan was able to take me to his home. I had assumed that I'll remain in the school for the night. Something about me being a national pokemon again. From what I understand of the system here, at the end of your school years you can choose to buy the rental pokemon from the school, something that I'm sure about 99% of students do. And the buying and selling of National pokemon is forbidden. It really makes it seem like I was forced into the school as an exception if those are the rules…something to think about.

Ugh, another question for the list. I don't even have a list, I've probably forgotten half of the stuff I want to get an answer to by this point.

In layman's terms I'm owned by Brendan… most likely his parents actually since he's a tad bit too young to deal with legal mumbo jumbo. I don't really know how laws here deal with pokemon, it adds a whole new layer of legal code to an already complex system. Just thinking about it is making my head spin.

Professor Birch himself came to pick Brendan and myself up with his SUV. Right now both of us are seated in the back of the car. Brendan, having put his belt on, is holding me in his arms.

"Haha, so how was your first day of school my little man?" Birch is in really high spirits right now. He's had a smile on his face from the moment he picked us up.

"It was great! I finally got my first pokemon, he's amazing!" He extends his arms, with me in them, to show me to his Father. Oy! He's driving, genius. I don't want to be the cause of a car crash!

Luckily Birch keeps his eyes on the road. That doesn't stop him from talking though. "Hah, of course he's amazing. That Mudkip is one of the very best out there! Did you know that the City's Mayor transferred a total of twelve Mudkip to the school because of how unprecedentedly fast they grew?"

"There are other Mudkip?" Brendan asks immediately.

"Of course! Though they were given out to others from the school who performed high in last year's national competitions. And to think you were shying away from math at one point. Hah! Look at what you got for your work."

"Blergh, talk it up dad. You're not locking me in my room to solve math problems again!"

"Bwahhahahahahaha!" Professor Birch's loud laughter fills the SUV after he hears Brendan's response, the small amount of space in the car amplifies his voice. I think my ears are gonna bleed. Brendan actually covers my ears with his hands instead of his own, thanks man.

Wait…what do you mean we grew unprecedentedly fast? We just played random games together, admittedly we got incredibly good at them but that shouldn't count as 'unprecedented'. It's not like we had much else to do other than play and eat.

- o - o -

"..."

So here we are. Me, Brendan, In his room. A single Spelon berry stolen from his father in his hand. I don't know how I didn't notice the obvious Red flag when he gave it to me. The thing just screams pain when you look at it, It's blood red and covered in spikes… And I somehow mistook it for a snack. It resembles the shape of a… Heh.

Alright, this is incredibly childish but starting today I'll be calling any Spelon berry I see 'Satan's turd'

Yep, perfect name to describe what it is.

Brendan's standing on a chair, holding the accursed turd between his index finger and thumb. He's obviously incredibly uncomfortable.

"Alright… here we go" He says, a slight tremble to his voice. Sheepishly he bites off half of the berry.

*chew*...*chew*...*chew*...

...*gulp*

"It's…Not that bad?" I can see his tongue moving under his lips as he licks his teeth. "Kind of nice tasting actually."

True, the berry does have a good taste… for like thirty seconds.

"The other half, Eat it!" I point to the second half of the berry that's still in his hand.

"Alright, alright. No need to be so pushy, I don't see the problem you have with this berry. Honestly."

Throwing what remains of the berry in his mouth, he finishes it much faster.

"See? All don…" Brendan suddenly freezes mid sentence. His pupils slowly dilate to an unnatural level.

After around a minute of him just standing in his chair, perfectly still, he bolts out of his seat. Forcefully opening the room's door he runs off.

"Hah, finally got hit by the meat of it didn't you?"

I follow after him at a sedate pace. Going to the kitchen, I find him with his head ducked under the sink. He's blasted the thing to full throttle, water is pouring into his mouth at max speed.

Perfection.

And with this my soul is at peace~