` i choose you, glaceon! ┆( chiaroscuro & ichirohiko )

[ichirohiko]

The first day of class was officially in session at the sound of a shrill bell that rung through every corridor and room of the prestigious academia. Twenty or so students were already in their seats, eagerly awaiting the arrival of their homeroom instructor who was to assign each of them their Pokémon companion for an entire year, or possibly more. The teacher, who also doubled as a Pokémon researcher in her spare time, entered the classroom carrying a covered basket that was undoubtedly filled to the rim with PokéBalls. The red-and-white design of the contraptions glimmered through the cracks, each PokéBall sheltering a random Pokémon that was soon to be a student's roommate and possible friend for the rest of the semester.

Just minutes after the bell rang, the professor centered the basket on top of the front podium and settled the rowdy classroom with a clap of her hands. "Hello," she greeted with a youthful, exuberant smile that betrayed her old age. "My name is Professor Willow. I will be your homeroom instructor for the rest of the year. I had each and every one of you fill out a brief information sheet and check off an attendance list this morning, so we won't go through an official roll call." Even she was aware that all the students were not interested in passing around classroom syllabuses and discussing boring classroom procedures. What they were interested in was the basket on top of her desk.

"Instead, I'll call your names and the type of Pokémon you have been assigned for the rest of the year. As explained in the online syllabus, you will be responsible for turning in a five-page essay based on this Pokémon and a ten minute presentation by finals week," she explained, causing a clamor in the classroom as she picked up the first PokéBall in her hand. "The partner assignments are random, so I hope that all of you will try your hardest to master the elemental type of your Pokémon. Who knows? You may even come to become a type specialist like some famous Gym Leaders."

She tossed the first PokéBall onto the ground and it split open to reveal a Poochyena Pokéboy. "Lilly Lee," the instructor called the Pokémon's partner by her full name, summoning the shy girl to the front of the classroom. "Your partner will be a Poochyena, a Dark type Pokéboy. Poochyenas are known for their tenacious nature." She added tips and bits of information to each and every Pokémon's introduction to rouse the interest of her students, to which she succeeded. She came to the twelfth name on the roster and bounced another PokéBall from the tips of her fingers. This time, a Glaceon appeared in a blink of red light, her sleepy gaze turning towards the classroom once the glimmering aura faded.

The professor called the name of a male student to the front, much to everyone's disappointment who wasn't called to claim the rare Pokémon. "You're very lucky," Professor Willow told him. "Only twelve percent of Glaceons are born female in the wild. Why don't you say hello to your new partner, see if she likes you?"

It was the moment everyone held their breaths for. Some students had already experienced the humiliating moment of being rejected by their Pokémon in front of the classroom. One Helioptile had scoffed in disgust by her assigned tamer and returned to her PokéBall, leaving the student embarrassed and with an aggressive Pokégirl under his care.

 

[Chiaroscuro]

Red was still finding it hard to believe where he was, even if he'd officially moved his stuff into his dorm room the day before. It was a long ways from Pallet Town, after all. And before this he'd been a public school sort of kid. Everything was new to him. Even the air smelled different, somehow. Not even the explanation of what, exactly, went into taming a Pokegirl could keep down his excitement. Somehow he'd managed not to pick up on just how much sex was going to be involved (maybe they didn't want children knowing about it?). His face still burned if he brought up memories of that rather frank orientation. But, being a red-blooded young man, he'd be lying if he said it didn't make him at least a little excited for entirely different reasons.

So, like most of the students in the room, Red was practically on the edge of his seat. He'd brought out a pen and notebook in case he needed to take notes, but found himself drumming the pen on his desk in an antsy, rhythmless manner. He didn't notice the glares his nearest neighbors were shooting him. He didn't even notice the smug, shit-eating grin his rival Blue shot him after randomly drawing a Charmander, one of the most coveted starters in Kanto. Instead, Red was totally engrossed in daydreaming about what sort of partner he would be given. Someone beautiful? Someone strong? What if he got randomly paired with a Pokeboy? What if he was like Helioptile Guy?

Before his racing thoughts could carry him down any stranger paths, he heard his name being called. He jumped, just a little, as if startled...and that was when he saw her. He couldn't keep his eyes off her as he made his way up to the front of the room. She was obviously some sort of Eevee (the diamond-shaped ears were a dead giveaway), but one he'd never seen before. Kanto's temperate climate didn't bless it with a variety of Ice-types.

The young man that stood before Glaceon was lean and athletic, the sort of build that naturally came from living in a remote town where one walked or biked everywhere. Though he was wearing the dark-colored men's uniform, he also wore, somewhat contrarily, a red baseball cap. Underneath the cap's brim was a mop of somewhat unruly brown hair and a fairly ordinary-looking face, but for the earnestness that practically radiated from his brown eyes. He'd stayed up late the night before trying to come up with a cool line, but nothing came to him. That just wasn't his style. So instead he favored her with an easy smile as he held out his hand. "Hi, I'm Red. Nice to meet you, partner."

Red was somewhat unprepared for the encounter. He hadn't quite grasped that, in some ways, he now owned this girl. But he could relate to the idea of making a new friend, at least. Even if it was a friend with benefits, a traitorous part of his mind whispered.

 

[ichirohiko]

The Glaceon's eyes blinked sleepily, her attention now barely registering that she was being spoken to. In response to Red's greeting, she yawned, the noise sounding something like a mewl. The yawn wasn't a sign of disinterest, however. She had just been summoned in the middle of an afternoon nap and while any other easily irritable Pokemon would have protested against being rudely tossed out of bed, she was contrarily a bit mellowed out. Still sleepy, even. Ice types like her breed were notorious for being solitary in nature, and even aggressive towards strangers unlike their kin living in the more temperate climates of the region, but she was nothing like the unyielding element she controlled.

"Hm~" she hummed drowsily, not even paying any attention to the audience that watched them both with bated breaths. "Red..." was all she mumbled before her arms reached out to wind underneath her new partner's arms, nuzzling into his embrace without the slightest display of caution. Even the friendliest Pokemon so far had offered nothing more than a formal handshake to acknowledge their new tamer as just that: their new tamer. But the Glaceon was quick to trust the other male she felt a natural affinity towards, perhaps sensed some security, and buried herself into his arms with her diamond-shaped ears pressed tightly against her top of silky, frosted blue hair.

"Her name's Aurora," Professor Willow explained in the snoozing Pokegirl's place. "She's not usually this... loving." Her past experiences with students being carted to the infirmary with purple frostbite on their hands and face had taught her that much. "But she seems to like you," she said with relief, returning the sleepy Glaceon into her assigned PokeBall for her to rest properly. The Ball was then given to Red for him to carry back to his desk.

After assigning the rest of the PokeBalls from her basket to all of her students, Professor Willow briefly explained the basics of grooming and the importance of a balanced diet for different types of Pokemon. "I don't expect you all to be able to tame your partner on the first day, perhaps not even in the first week or month. Use the rest of the day to familiarize yourself with your partner. I'll see you all bright and early tomorrow," she said and dismissed the class. Immediately, the class was alive with conversation, students approaching each other to exchange numbers and even boast or express envy about their newly assigned partners. Even the "Helioptile Guy" was confident and even hopeful that they would be able to set their differences aside in favor of a stronger relationship.

 

[Chiaroscuro]

Red could empathize. She looked sort of like he felt before breakfast. It was kind of cute, actually. As she buried herself in his arms he found himself embracing her right back, as if it were perfectly natural, not saying a word. He had been a little worried that she'd be cold to the touch, but instead she just felt right. And then, just like that, she was back in her Pokeball. He wasn't quite sure what to make of it all, looking more than a bit stunned before Professor Willow handed the Pokeball over. But he quickly shook it off and made sure to thank the professor before returning to his seat, holding Aurora's ball gingerly as if he were afraid it might break. For the rest of the lesson he took careful notes but his gaze kept wandering to the ball sitting on the desk in front of him.

Finally, class was over, and Red was almost positive he heard faint music right before a familiar grating voice. Blue, of course, wanted to brag about his Charmander and remind Red of the type advantage he had ('tough luck, that' he said while sounding anything but sympathetic). Red, of course, wished that Blue would take a long walk off Vermilion Pier (not that he said as much), and expressed his utmost confidence that he and Aurora could handle any challenge. Somehow this ended with more than a few students gawking at the fireworks and Blue declaring, in his usual style, that he would most definitely tame his Pokemon first - and then he'd show Red what's what. And then he flounced, apparently confident in his ability to deliver on the threat/promise.

Shaking his head at the antics, Red quickly stuffed his things into his bag, somewhat more carefully slid Aurora's ball into his pocket, and hurried off to his dorm in order to turn to the teenager's first resource when seeking information: the internet. He'd intended to use the time to let Aurora finish her nap, and it was probably a good thing too - after first looking up Aurora's species, he'd then started looking up information on the region she came from, and after an hour or so he was simultaneously looking at pages on the uses of ice, Pecha berries, the types of stone in polar regions, and Poffins.

Why does this always happen to me?!

Red finally pushed away from his desk with an emphatic shove, before rising to his feet and stretching languidly. He had never really liked sitting down for long anyway. Sparing a glance at Aurora's Pokeball, he decided to check in on her - she had looked pretty tired in class, but she couldn't sleep that much, could she? He ignored the feeling that he'd just jinxed himself and picked up the ball, before thumbing the release mechanism.

 

[ichirohiko]

The PokeBall split open with a mechanical sound and a brilliant burst of neon light, materializing the Glaceon in her form. She looked more or less alert, but it was obvious that the sleepy droop of her eyes was a permanent trait unaffected by how drowsy she truly was. Thin, pale fingers reached up and rubbed the lashes of her half-lidded eyes, still trying to brush away the sleep from her dulled senses. Eventually, she came to, and her diamond-shaped ears perked up at full attention.

"Red," Aurora spoke softly, introducing herself a second time. "I'm Aurora." Something told her he knew that already. She clasped both hands behind her back, swaying to her right to peek at the screen that was still illuminated on Red's laptop. Another Glaceon's picture was published on top of the article, the passage below it explaining everything from the breed's common diet to their "nature" in bed. She couldn't read, not the whole excerpt, anyway, but she still understood enough from the pictures provided that Red had been doing quite some extensive research on her kind, but not necessarily on her. "You could ask me, you know," her lips curled into a mellowed smile. "If you have any questions. All Glaceons are a bit different from one another, like snowflakes."

Aside from where they originated and what type of food was best for them, Aurora liked to believe one couldn't obtain every bit of information about her from the Internet. Some things were meant to be discovered on a whim.

Hands still clasped behind her back, the Glaceon took a look around, the new dorm an unfamiliar environment to her. After being returned the first time by a first year student, she hadn't been outside her PokeBall since, so it was only natural she behaved so curiously. There wasn't much to explore that she couldn't see within twenty feet of her person, so she tested the single bed first, sitting and bouncing gently in place. She was already familiarizing herself with the place, but not so much with her tamer, yet. "So, what did you learn so far?" she asked, almost convinced that he couldn't have found anything useful on those terribly misleading sites.