Building up from Area Zero

Chapter 2: New Faces

Bzzzt bzzzt. Bzzzt bzzt. Juliana's rotom phone vibrated violently on her nightstand. "Oh shut up already," she said groggily, "I'm up, I'm up." She blindly reached over towards her nightstand and felt around until she reached her phone to dismiss the alarm. She settled back into bed only to be rudely nudged by Meowscarada.

"Mreow!" It continued pawing at the brunette's arm.

"Okay, fine, I'm getting up. I'll feed you. Don't worry, you won't starve, Meowy." Juliana gave Meowscarada an affectionate pat as it purred in delight. Juliana looked over at her phone and saw the time was 7:07. Oh geez I'm gonna be running late for class. She went over to her closet and picked out a shirt and a pair of jeans to wear for the day. A bowl of Pokémon food was poured for Meowscarada, who happily ate it up. While her Pokémon ate, Juliana poured herself a bowl of cereal and scarfed it down in a hurry.

As she went into the hall bathroom, she noticed that Nemona still never came home. Guess it really was a busy night at the league. Penny's door was closed as usual, but Juliana knew that Penny wouldn't be up this early in the day. If she was awake, then she probably never went to sleep last night. Juliana brushed through her soft brown hair and put a section off to the side into a small braid. Before leaving the apartment, Juliana grabbed her textbooks and stuffed them down into her backpack. For a Friday morning, the market in Porto Marinada was fairly quiet. Koraidon was summoned from its pokeball and Juliana climbed up onto its back.

Class was about to start in just a few minutes and Juliana made it just in time. Unfortunately for her, almost all of the seats were full except for one closer to the back. She quietly slid into the chair next to a guy with white hair. The guy in question had his head resting on the shared surface, as if he was asleep. Why even bother coming to a university level class, only to nap anyways? Juliana shook her head and took out a pen and notebook.

"Good morning," said the teacher, "today we're going to be learning how breeding specific Pokémon together can have an impact on the types of moves a Pokémon can learn. Please turn to chapter six in your textbooks." Juliana scribbled down some notes onto the paper. Class felt like it was dragging on for an eternity.

"Hey," a voice interrupted Juliana's train of thought. She noticed it came from the same white haired guy next to her who was taking a nap before. "Mind if the Drayster borrows your notes? I fell behind." He smiled without shame.

You don't say. Juliana deadpanned and then sighed as she slid her notebook over, "Yeah sure. Just make sure you pay attention from now on. I'm not doing this for you."

"Thanks, pal, you're the best."

"And that concludes today's class," the teacher announced. "Oh! And before I forget, there will be a group project due in three weeks from today. You will be working with the people in your row, so that means everyone is in groups of three, or a group of two if you are Juliana and Drayton."

What? I have to be stuck with this bozo slacker? You've got to be kidding... Juliana looked over at the white haired guy, who she recently found out was named Drayton, then back at her teacher. She sunk down into her chair in defeat. Guess that's what I get for waking up late...

"Your groups are going to do further research on the types of moves pokemon can learn through breeding, as well as any impacts on its nature. I expect written reports in three weeks. That is all. Everyone have a nice weekend."

Once class was over, Juliana hopped onto her Koraidon and made her way to a café in Cascarrafa where she worked. Koraidon looked at her expectantly. Its head was cocked to the side and its slobbery tongue hung out from its mouth. That could only mean one thing—it wanted a sandwich.