Show Me Your Smile | Pokémon Fanfiction

12 | there are just too many ups and downs

Music in media: 365 nichi no kami hikōki by AKB48

Life is a paper airplane. It flies with the wishes we set on it, only moving as far as our strength decides. It's not about competing for distance. The most important thing is how and where the paper airplane flies. How does it hold against still air, against teasing gusts? Where will it go? There are just too many ups and downs. Many times we can hardly foresee them, yet we must have confidence in the paper airplane we fold and fly, picking it up and tossing it into the sky when it falls, reshaping it as we learn from trial and error, till the day we can no longer hold it, till the day our breaths take flight in its place.

Four days after the Ring Drop event, Meta has folded a total of one thousand and one airplanes for Rae whose graduation exam is today. He goes as far as asking her for her test papers and telling her that she should turn them into winged machines after the test, that where it touches down on will be the results she seek. Unfortunately for him, Rae's graduation exam is more practical than theoretical, simply decided over a battle with one of the venerated battlers in Johto's history, Kaspar Wolfram.

The moment he's made privy of such alarming information, the cautious part of him gives her a Macho Brace and a bunch of Rare Candies.

"That won't do," Rae mumbles as she takes Noko-Noko's plate off the tatami floor and washes it. The Dunsparce nibbles the Macho Brace placed beside it, Meta pulls the Held Item away, and a tug of war session commences. When Rae returns, Noko-Noko lets go, leaving Meta to roll over with a grumble.

"Shall we head out?"

We head out. Matsuba and Hayato, after the airing of the beach episode, are trapped in their gyms handling an influx of fans and challengers, so they can only send audio recordings of their well wishes. Kaspar's gifts are more sophisticated, full of warnings and disses, and a promotion from Earl Dervish whose hands are full from the enrolment letters flooding into his mailbox. Apparently, there are those who are charmed by Kaspar's clowning and want to be taught by him. Oho, they're putting their chips on disappointment. Kaspar's duality, now eclipsed by his role as a joker, presents a red flag to all parents and aspiring trainers. Ask his clients, and any one of them will give him a five-star rating and never forget to mention the Tactician's serious approach to battling, a stark contrast to his typical decorum.

For some inexplicable reason, Rae isn't going southward of Enju City. Instead, she leads us to the route east of Enju. Once we pass the gate, we join what seems to be an exodus to the town of ninjas. Or at least, it appears that way till everyone stops midway.

"What's going on?" I ask, and Rae directs our gazes to the side of the plain route. A makeshift carnival complete with the typical booths and a large inflatable playground featuring the most renowned species of all time, Pikachu, surrounds an elevated platform where a band of Pokémon plays edm. Flashy bicycles line up at one edge of the bounce house, the symbols of independence sponsored to fledgling trainers on graduation day as per tradition observing their soon-to-be owners with newfound curiosity. Even from afar, the unmistakable waves of white belonging to Kaspar Wolfram, clad in his grey hoodie, can be seen bobbing up and down a sea of faces as he jumps on the inflatable. On closer inspection, the platform doubles as the battlefield most likely for the graduation exam. The Pokémon School has never been this grand and public with their graduation tests, begging the question as to what changed.

Letting the crowd suck us in, we wend our way to the entrance of the inflatable playground. All of Rae's classmates are there chasing each other around, some of their Pokémon playing alongside them, others stuck in their Poké Balls. Kaspar scratches his chin as he looks our way and equips his goofy grin.