He thought he'd be ready for any challenge that New Moon Academy could throw at him. He was wrong. One girl was all it took to prove him dead wrong.

Alex waved goodbye to his bald father and scatty mother, wearing his usual broad grin. He was standing on the deck of a colossal white ferry, jam packed with students all in matching uniform. It felt strange to be wearing his old uniform again after such a long time away but now that he was back in the navy blazer along with his sky blue tie he felt at home.

The farewell with his parents had been almost identical to last year. His mother was worried he'd forgotten things and his Dad had just patted him on the shoulder and told him to be safe. Alex chuckled. Staying safe just wasn't his way of operating. Last year he'd almost been cut to pieces by his own Garchomp and he still hadn't given up training it. As long as his parents didn't know about what he got up to, he had nothing to worry about.

The next part of the journey again felt very familiar. Professor Robert Williams, head of Uxie house as well as battling had instructed everyone to go to their respective rooms for their houses. Alex being in Azelf house followed Professor Brock Harrison to a room containing all sorts of different forms of entertainment. It was there that trouble began brewing.

"And remember; no battling." Brock finished before slumping into a recliner chair and appearing to fall asleep, murmuring things about Officer Jenny.

"Stupid rules." Alex sighed. He was itching to find a new challenge. A summer spent battling Lenny had been very useful but it had gotten old very quickly. He was looking forward to see how his other friends had improved.

"Alex!" came a familiar cry. He looked to the voice and saw a tanned blonde girl with sparkling blue eyes striding towards him.

"Bella!" He grinned, walking over to her, receiving a hug and surprisingly a kiss on the cheek. Bella was a very smart girl who almost always came top of the class in tests but she wasn't a geek or a nerd. She was full of determination and was a very good battler, one of the only people in the year to have truly put Alex's skills to the test. Despite this, he'd emerged victorious every single time which had sparked quite the rivalry between the two of them.

"How was your summer?"

"Productive." Alex replied. "Spent the whole summer training. How about yours? Weren't you going on some camp or something?"

"Yeah I went to Kalos to go on Camp Coumarine." Bella nodded. "I had such a great time and I made some really great friends as well. There were only really two real problems. There was this interesting thing that popped up which disrupted activities for a bit and then there was..."

"Hi there." Alex got a strong sense of déjà vu as Edward, the spiky blonde haired cocky smooth talking guy, entered the scene, attempting to chat Bella up for the millionth time.

"Edward." Bella said, rolling her eyes.

"So, you want to pick up where we left off on summer camp?"

"What does that even mean? I hardly even spoke to you."

"Come on Bella, we don't have to keep our relationship a secret any more."

"For the last time," Bella groaned, "We are not going out!"

"How about I leave you two to catch up," Alex grinned, "And I'll go get us some drinks. Maybe I'll find Lenny as well."

"You do know they only serve tap water right?" Bella said.

"Hey, you let me worry about that. I'll see what I can do." Alex winked before turning and leaving her alone with one of her least favourite people in the school. Chuckling to himself, he made his way towards the bar, weaving his way in and out of new first years who had no clue what was going on. Their confused little faces offered minor amusement to Alex but they soon just got in the way, meaning he had to force his way through the crowd until he reached the bar.

He glanced at the menu, finding that Bella had been correct as she always was. They only served water. Annoyed, he went to find a bartender to see if they had any secret stock that he could convince them to give to him. Instead, he took a few steps before bumping into a girl with fiery ginger hair.

"Sorry." he mumbled. Before he could continue onwards, the girl turned and Alex hadn't been ready for it.

"Oh hi Alex!" she smiled. It was Megan, the girl who he'd been going out with for over six months before she broke up with him at the school prom.

"Megs! I mean, Megan... I mean Miss Carter... I mean, Megan. How are you? You look great." Alex stuttered. Pretty much all summer he'd been trying to forget about Megan and just when he'd gotten close, there she was, right in front of him, forcing him to relive the pain of his first break up.

"Well yeah." she shrugged. "You don't look too bad yourself." She was smiling at him so naturally, like they were two old friends meeting up again, like nothing had ever happened between them. Alex on the other hand was completely clueless as to how to handle the situation. Was he supposed to hug her and greet her like a friend? Or should he keep his distance? Either way, things were going to get awkward very fast if he didn't do something.

"Thanks." he smiled back, trying to make it seem natural. "So, how've you been?"

"Not too bad." she replied. "I had a really relaxing summer. Went to Undella Town and spent a lot of time chilling out on the beach."

"Huh. Doesn't your skin burn really easily?"

"Just because I'm ginger doesn't mean I catch fire in the sun." Megan laughed, playfully slapping him. "There's this thing called sun cream. You should try it sometime."

"Well maybe you could show it to me sometime." Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad. Things didn't feel too awkward between them. They were just friends now. "Hey, I was just wondering, do you want to go have a drink and... talk or something?"

"Um actually, I've already got a drink coming."

"Great, I'll just get mine then." Alex said, looking around for the bartender.

"No, Alex you don't understand..." she began but she was cut off by a guy, over six foot tall, tapping her on the shoulder and passing her a diet coke.

"Sorry I took so long babe, it took a lot of persuading to go off the menu." the guy said with a deep, rich voice. He wasn't just tall. His dark hair and chiselled face made him very handsome and Alex couldn't help but notice his large biceps that gave him a very muscular look. He looked like Arceus' gift to women.

"And why did you get me a diet?" Megan asked, mocking being offended. "Is there something you want to say about my weight?"

"Of course not babe, that's all they had." Before Alex could get a word in, the guy leaned towards Megan, planting a kiss on her lips that lasted far too long for anybody's comfort.

"Well this is just wonderful." Alex interjected.

"Oh, Alex," Megan said, breaking the kiss, "Did I forget to mention that in Undella Town I met third year total hunk Thomas and now we're like madly in love?"

"You know, I think it may have slipped your mind." Alex forced a smile but on the inside, his heart sank further than he knew possible. She'd moved on. Just like that. Was everything she said last year all a lie? She had told him that she loved him but here she was making out with someone else right in front of him.

"So you're Alex?" Thomas looked at him, puzzled. "I've heard a lot about you but I think this is the first time we've actually met. You're shorter than I expected."

"You see that's funny because I've not heard anything about you."

"Well then we should get to know each other some time."

"Yeah. Let's do that." Alex said, trying to hide his sarcasm. "Well I've actually got someone waiting for me - a girl actually and she's really fit so I should probably leave you two to it."

"Really? Who?" Megan asked.

"Um.. ba... Umba. That's her name. Umba." Alex said quickly, thinking on his feet.

"Huh." Megan didn't buy it for a second. "Well, it was really nice to see you again. See you around."

"Yeah, nice to see you too. And really just fantastic to meet you Thomas. I'm just so happy." Alex turned, not even bothering to mask his sarcasm any more. "And I'm actually of average height I'll have you know." he muttered to himself when out of earshot. By the time he made his way back to Bella and Edward, they'd been joined by more friends, Lenny and Lucy, and they were engaged in a deep conversation about experiences they'd all had over the summer.

"Hey Alex," Lenny said, seeing his friend approach, "Are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Not a ghost. But a very attractive man who seems to be a very good kisser."

"You kissed a guy? Alex you're gay?" Bella exclaimed.

"I didn't kiss him, I was watching." Alex explained. "Now does anybody know a girl called Umba? Preferably a really attractive girl called Umba."

"I don't think that's a name." Bella said.

"In which case, I've made a fatal mistake."

*

"Murphy, over here. Now!" Professor Williams barked. Alex groaned. What could he have possibly done wrong this early in the year? The boat was literally only just now pulling into the harbour on New Moon Island.

"What did I do this time?" he asked, slowly shuffling his way over to the tall professor.

"It's not what you've done but more about what you will do."

"Less cryptically please?"

"Still got that annoying attitude I see." Williams shook his head. Maybe he was still thinking back to last year where Alex had beaten him in a battle despite all the odds. "The headmistress wishes to speak to you immediately. Something about a speech."

"Oh no." Alex groaned before reluctantly following Williams off the gangplank and along a track leading up to the main building of the school. It was modern, using glass and windows as its main material rather than brick and it was three storeys high. It was oddly shaped, like a pill, giving curvature to the front and back entrances. The roof gently sloped up from the edges to join together at one point in the middle.

Williams stepped into the building and began making his way through the corridors, heading for what seemed to be the battling arena. Alex hadn't been looking forward to this and he'd completely forgotten on the boat due to his mind being on... other things. At the end of last year, Cynthia had given him an award for his part in dealing with the Darkness Warriors. However, she'd also asked him to make a speech to the school to inspire the students, particularly the new first years. Alex had opted to ignore her request and now he was regretting it.

"Welcome back Alex." Cynthia said, beaming at him. She was standing in the entrance to the battlefield, where you usually stood just before a battle. However, inside the arena there was no battle waiting. Instead, an eager crowd of the entire school awaited, all expecting something from Sinnoh's ex-champion - not him. All of a sudden, Alex felt incredibly nervous.

"Hi, Miss." he replied.

"I trust you have your speech ready?"

"Of course." Alex said, lying through his teeth.

"Excellent." Cynthia smiled. "I'll go out there and do my usual thing for the first years and then I'll introduce you, you'll come on, say what you have to and that should hopefully be that. Got it?"

"Um..." Without even waiting for a response, Cynthia turned and strode out onto the battlefield where a lone microphone stood and confidently began addressing the school.

"You don't have anything do you?" Williams asked.

"You just let me worry about that." Alex said, wiping some sweat from his forehead. Desperately not wanting to embarrass himself in front of so many people, he quickly thought up a few words, readying himself for Cynthia's cue.

"So without further ado, please give a warm welcome to Alex Murphy!" Cynthia said, gesturing Alex to enter. With his legs feeling like they were made of lead, he dragged himself onto the battlefield to the microphone, still completely unprepared.

"Um... hi." Alex began when the clapping died down. "So... last year I stopped the Darkness Warriors plans by beating their leader in a battle..." His voice faded away. He'd been looking into the crowds and he'd spotted his group of friends listening intently. Amongst them was Megan. Their eyes locked together and he could tell he was bringing back all sorts of horrible memories for her. The reason they'd broken up in the first place was because he was responsible for her getting kidnapped by the Darkness Warriors.

"You know what?" Alex started again. "Forget that part. I was never trying to be a hero. I was never trying to save the day. I had no idea what the Darkness Warriors plans were or how to really stop them. All I knew was that I made a lot of mistakes last year and I was just trying to make up for them. I was just trying to save my girlfriend. So if you're gonna take anything from whatever this speech is supposed to be... just don't make the same mistakes that I made. Thanks for listening."

He didn't bother looking back into the crowd to see their response. He didn't bother to look at Cynthia either. He just walked off the battlefield and out of the arena. He'd made his message perfectly clear. It may not have been the inspirational message that Cynthia was after but it was a message that he'd needed to deliver to Megan. He just hoped it had gotten through.