Why was he here? What possible reason could he have for visiting New Moon Academy?

"Scizor, finish him off with Superpower!" Darren cried out, his rich voice booming around the arena.

"Registeel, no!" Williams cried as one of his most prized Pokémon was dispatched with ease. Even though he had barely been watching, Lenny could tell that the battle had been a complete cakewalk.

"Wow Lenny, your Dad's the real deal," Alex said, taking his focus off of the redhead in his arms for a moment.

"Yeah. Yeah, he is. That's just the problem though." Lenny slumped back in his chair and sighed. Why would his Dad travel hundreds of miles just to give a demonstration battle and what was supposed to be an inspirational talk? It didn't make sense. If he knew his father, and he did, he surely had an ulterior motive.

Lenny zoned out when his father's talk went on for too long. Something, something, work hard... something, something anything is possible... it was the same old talk that everyone gave just from someone who mattered. Lenny didn't want to hear a lecture from his father. He'd had many of those before and they always ended badly. What made this even worse was that Lenny had a horrible feeling that this was a lecture for him.

"And so that's all there is to it! With a positive attitude and some self belief, you can achieve your goals. The PWT could be yours for the taking!" Darren grinned for a moment for checking his watch in an overdramatic fashion. "It appears that I ran over slightly. Go on then! Don't you have classes to go to or something?"

Lenny hardly even registered that the assembly was over and students had begun streaming out of the arena. He was too busy thinking about how the next few minutes would play out. His Dad was going to want to talk to him and it absolutely could not be good.

"C'mon Lenny, let's go talk to your Dad, I wanna see what he's really made of!" Alex grinned, jumping out of his seat. He took Megan's hand and pulled her along the row of seats, eager to meet the former PWT champion.

Lenny followed them, pondering something entirely different now. Alex and Megan's relationship confused him so much. He thought that they weren't together and that Megan was dating some third year but it looked like they both wanted to be together and they acted like they were together and yet they weren't allowed to be together? If Lenny knew anything about relationships, which he didn't, he'd say they should just make it official again. But then again, what did Lenny know?

"Oh shit!" he heard Alex cry under his breath. In the blink of an eye, his hand went from tightly squeezing Megan's to scratching his opposite ear. Lenny immediately saw the issue.

"Murphy, a word please?" It was Thomas, Megan's overly protective boyfriend. Not wanting to get involved in the drama, Lenny darted past them, heading down the stairs for the main battlefield. He took a deep breath with every slow step, attempting to not make a big deal of the surprising situation.

"Son!" his Dad cried out from across the field as if he needed to announce it to the world. "I was wondering if you were ever going to actually say hello to your old man."

"Hi Dad," Lenny tried to smile. By now, the entire arena was empty except from the Leonard's which was good because it was about to get really awkward and really personal. "Why are you here?"

"Weren't you paying attention for the last half an hour? I've been giving talks to youngsters!" His Dad walked over to him so that he could see his features properly. Lenny wished that he didn't wear his old suit that was too tight for him. A reminder that he hadn't inherited his father's body build was the last thing he wanted and his beefy moustache was as equally distracting.

"So you came all the way here for a half hour assembly?"

"I was invited and so I came," his father replied. "As it so happens, I did want to talk to you about something." Here it came. The true reason behind this surprise visit.

"What's that?"

"Your mother and I received a letter from the school. Apparently you're not pulling your weight like you used to. Dropping grades, less involvement in classes... sounded to me like you're slacking!"

"I'm... I'm doing alright." It was true to an extent. All year his grades had been very slowly dropping. Last month he'd failed for the first time in his life and that was probably when the school had sent a letter to his parents, causing this ludicrous over reaction.

"Point is son, is that you're not," his Dad barked. Typical Dad, Lenny thought to himself. He always thought he was right and that he knew best. He just wanted to stamp his authority onto his failure of an offspring. "What's the point in sending you to the best school in the region if all you're going to do is fail?"

"I'm not failing!" Lenny tried to protest but it was no use. His father had already made up his mind and once he did, there was nothing Lenny could do to change it.

"I talked to your mother and to Cynthia for a long time. I concluded that it's for the best that you drop out of this school."

"But Dad!"

"That way you don't waste your time not learning how to battle properly and you can spend time getting a half way decent job."

"You can't just take me out of school!" Lenny protested. "All of my friends are here! This is my home!"

"It's already decided son. It's for the best."

"No Dad, it's not for the best!" Lenny cried. "This is the one place where I've ever fit in. It's the only place where I've ever made really good friends. I've not had a great start to the year but I'm getting better; I can prove it!"

"So tell me Son, where are your so called friends right now?" Lenny looked around and gulped. Where was Alex right now? He could really do with some back up. "And go on then, prove to me that you're worthy of being my son!"

"I'll take on anyone in the year and win," Lenny said with false confidence. He'd never stood up to his father like this before but he'd gone too far this time. He couldn't take Lenny from his home.

"That proves nothing!" his Dad laughed. "When I was young I could battle circles around the kids my age. No, the only way to prove yourself worthy is to have a worthy opponent."

"What are you suggesting?"

"I'm suggesting a battle. Right here and right now. If you win then you get to stay."

"But..." Lenny's words faded away. He'd managed to strike up some kind of deal. There was a chance that he could stay ate New Moon Academy but to do so he'd need to beat a former PWT champion in battle? It was impossible... completely and utterly impossible. And yet, it was a deal he had to take. "Alright then Dad. Let's battle."

*

Alex wondered to himself what poor decisions had lead to this moment. In a mere five minutes he'd gone from cuddling the beautiful girl that he couldn't stop thinking about to this unfortunate mess. His feet missed the floor. His back didn't like this particular position either. In fact, not a single part of him found this comfortable. Who knew a private talk round the back of the school could've been such a bad idea?

"I'm warning you now Murphy," Thomas growled, his huge hands firmly gripping Alex's collar, lifting him up so that his feet dangled beneath him and his body was wedged against the wall, "Go near her one more time, friendly or otherwise and I will kill you."

"I'm friends with her friends," Alex just about managed to make out, "Sometimes it's not possible to not be around her-" Alex couldn't finish his sentence properly as all of the air rushed from his lungs due to the fist that now resided in his gut.

"Care to reconsider those words?" Thomas snarled. Why, out of all the people to date would Megan choose this psychopath? More importantly, why would she date someone with such a strong punch?

"All I'm trying to say is that occasionally we might run into each other and if that happens then-" The pain came in large bursts every time Thomas struck him. His right fist reared back and swung forward, making a horrible connection with Alex's stomach. He could just about manage a sharp intake of breath between each blow but every time the strike came, all of the air was knocked out of Alex with a pathetic 'oof'.

"Did you honestly think I'd never find out?" Thomas cried as he eventually dropped Alex to the floor. He landed heavily on one side, filling the entire right hand side of his body with a dull pain. Still, it wasn't as bad as a continuous stream of punches. "Did you ever believe for even one second that your little secret meetings would go unnoticed? How thick do you think I am?" Just as Alex thought he had turned to walk away, a giant boot hit him hard on the spine, sending an immense flare of pain through his already weakened body. That one really hurt. Just as Thomas began to walk away, Alex found the resilience inside of him to respond to this madman.

"I can't help it," he breathed through the pain. "I love her Thomas. She means more to me than she ever will to you and deep down, although I don't think she'll ever admit it again, I think she loves me too. She was happier with me."

Thomas turned to face him with an expression of outrage. "Say that again."

"You heard me," Alex said as he just about managed to get onto his feet. "You're a coward Thomas. You're a coward and you're too afraid to admit the truth." The dark look that Thomas gave him should've been enough to make anybody back down but Alex was far too stupid. He knew he couldn't fight him hand to hand so he'd take him on the only way he knew how.

"Put that away," Thomas growled when he saw the Pokéball in Alex's hand.

"Leave me alone," Alex responded. He was itching to hurl the ball at Thomas. He was all too eager to set his Pokémon on him and teach him a lesson. He wanted to do it but there was something holding him back. A tiny part of his brain warning him not to throw the Pokéball. Just as he was about to fling the ball, he glanced at it and inspected it properly. He'd chosen it at random but something about it set off alarms in his head. He realised what was bothering him. It was Marowak. His trusty Marowak was contained within the Pokéball.

"Oh, what's this? A grudge against the one named Thomas Andrews?"

"I... I didn't even know that was his surname." Alex breathed. Something was in his head, filing through the information available and finding out his deepest, darkest secrets.

"It was in there somewhere." If the voice had a face, it was smiling right now. "You want him out of the way? Well you have the tools to do that surely."

The painful memories flashed before his eyes as he readied his arm to swing, to throw the Pokéball and to finally be rid of Thomas. But no, he couldn't do that... if he did he'd... he'd...

Unbelievably, Thomas appeared in front of his Pokémon. He didn't appear to be too surprised. He merely met eyes with Alex, shook his head and cried out in pain as Marowak leapt at him, beating him with its bone. Blood flowed from his cracked skull, until Alex was ankle deep in red liquid.

"Marowak, what are you doing?" Alex cried out, horrified.

"What its master ordered." the voice said. The voice had steadily been getting louder and louder until by now, it was blasting in Alex's ears, bringing a throbbing pain to his forehead.

He fought the urge to swing with everything he had. Despite his beaten up and weakened body, he could win this battle with his resolve. His muscles tensed up and his fingers stiffened. First his arm started to shake and then his entire body was subjected to the involuntary movement. The images flashed in his mind, replaying the darkest days of his existence, tempting him and yet restraining him.

"I didn't... I wouldn't..."

"So young and naive. It starts with the blood of your enemies. Those you hate. But soon, the taste of a victim is just too delicious and soon you need more. You can't control it. Not even your dearest friends will escape you."

He wouldn't let that future happen. He couldn't. He had to protect his friends and if that meant protecting his enemies the so be it. In that moment, he nearly lost control of his body and he so nearly sent out Marowak to end this petty feud. A voice in his head cried out, screaming for him to do it.

"No!" he yelled, dropping the ball safely and clutching his head, trying to free himself of the torturous pictures. He fell to the floor, landing flat on his face with a thud before slipping away and losing consciousness.

Well, this has been in the works for several months and I finally managed to grind it out in a way that somewhat resembled how this played out in my head originally. Man, sometimes it is just so difficult for me to get my ideas down in a way that I can be proud of, hence why I take my sweet sweet time updating. In any case, I really hope you enjoyed this one and if you did, leave me a comment to motivate me because motivation for the here and now is something that I really lack at times. Anyways, thanks for reading!