I walked down the hall, confused as to what had just happened with Serena and Clemont. Did he know? Of course he knew, he was her brother. She would have told him about incident at some point. I sighed. I knew it couldn't be helped, but it really sucked to know I'd just made one more enemy. And it just had to be Serena's brother. I already know for a fact I'm on bad term's with her family and I've got enough people here who are scared of me or out to get me. It's like the Kalos region wants me to suffer.

What have I done to deserve this? I thought to myself.

Immediately memories of my mom flashed before my eyes. Memories and nightmares. Things I had imagined she must've gone through and things that haunted me in my sleep.

Is this my punishment for that? For treating her that way? For thinking I knew better than anyone could?

I shoved the thoughts out of my mind and turned to open the door to the gymnasium. One problem at a time.

Gym/Battling wouldn't be a problem because of the actually work. I loved a good battle and workout and trained constantly with my Pokemon. The problem would be the people.

I scanned the crowd of students for a spot to stand in, where I could be left alone, when all of a sudden I heard someone shouting.

"Ash, over here!" Barry shouted wildly waving his arms. With him was Misty and Clemont.

I guess he's in this class too, I realized

I sighed and contemplated turning around and walking away. But like I said before, the last thing I needed was to make another enemy. I reluctantly made my way over them doing my best to look happy to see them. It wasn't that I hated them, but I didn't necessarily like them either. So far he hadn't treated me badly. I guess I just wasn't sure what to make of them yet.

Misty waved as well as I made my way over while Clemont glared at me trying to look menacing. Unfortunately for him I wasn't easily scared. Plus, there was nothing intimidating about his playfully styled blond hair, his round face, or his abnormally large glasses. I looked him up and down, sizing him up. He wasn't taller than me, a little shorter actually, and he wore a light blue baggy jumpsuit. It looked like it would hinder his range of motion in fight. I know you should never judge a book by it's cover, but this guy didn't seem like a huge threat. Still, I decided to keep an eye on him

I turned away from him to see Barry and Misty. Barry was smiling while Misty was looking from me to Clemont, and back again, trying to piece together what just happened. I didn't blame her, but it still bothered me a little. It was none of her business.

Barry started jumping up and down shouting about...something. I don't really know what. I had started tuning everything out. It wasn't on purpose, I just had a lot to think about. Plus, I barely knew these people, so I wasn't particularly interested in the conversation anyways 

A sharp, piercing whistle wrang out through the room, snapping me out of my daze. Everyone looked to the front of the gym to see a large, muscular man. He wore white pants, and was, to everyone's surprise, shirtless. He had a funky brown hairstyle and mustache and a white bandage like fabric wrapped around his left forearm.

I cracked a smile remembering the last time I'd seen this man. Chuck the Cianwood Gymleader in Johto.

He noticed me and looked slightly surprised as well but smiled and gave me a quick nod. I nodded back in acknowledgement.

We all made our way over to him, along with the other students and sat on the bleachers. I wanted to sit in the back, but Barry dragged me along with him to the bleachers in the front. I sighed and complied. Misty sat on the other side of me, acting as a buffer between me and Clemont, whether she knew it or not. However, that didn't stop him from sending me one final glare before he turned his attention to Chuck.

"Welcome, students," Chuck bellowed, "to your first day of Gym & Battling. To start things off we are going to have a week long tournament to test your skills."

I looked around to gauge the skills and reactions of the other students. Several of them were nervously looking around while others seemed quite relaxed about the whole situation. Too relaxed. They were the cocky know-it-alls who knew almost nothing. Everyone in this room, or at least almost everyone, was a beginner. I mentally sighed. I had been hoping for something a bit more challenging.

"I'll be pairing you up," Chuck continued, jollily grinning. "The winner from our class will be going against the winners of the other Battling or Gym classes' tournaments after school on Friday. The winner gets the title of School Champion."

Several students' eyes lit up at the mention of "champion". Some looked even more nervous. I looked to Barry and Misty for their reactions. Barry looked like he was ready to explode, bouncing up and down in his seat. Misty looked psyched as well, grinning from ear to ear. Even Clemont had a small smirk on his face.

Chuck listed off the names of the pairs he had assigned, Barry got some kid named Nathan, Misty and Clemont were paired together, and I got some kid named Sawyer.

As Barry went up to battle with Nathan, Misty and Clemont prepared themselves since it was their turn next. So for the time being I was left alone with my thoughts.

I closed my eyes reflecting on the last few battles; so far I hadn't seen anything breath taking. For a class of beginners, several of these kids were really good, and others made several rookie mistakes like leaving too many openings after attacking. Unfortunately there was nothing incredibly interesting about these battles: most of them were a brawl between to starter Pokemon who barely knew any moves.

Barry's battle was more of the same; it was over in an instant. He threw out his Heracross and Nathan tossed his Skitty out.

"Heracross, Horn Attack"

"Skitty, counter with Tackle!"

I watched as Heracross easily overpowered Skitty. The difference in level was blatantly obvious, but anyone with a sound strategy could over come that. However this trainer had a stubborn desire to win through brute force.

After several collisions between the two, Skitty was barely standing while Heracross had barely been hit. Barry looked pretty bored by the whole battle, and honestly... I couldn't blame him; nothing about this battle was interesting. All it took was another Horn Attack for Skitty to crumple to the ground in defeat.

I didn't even listen to the ref.'s call as I stared into space. This was my life now. Sitting in boring classes and battling predictable opponents.

Someone help me.