For the first time in his life, Alex Murphy was nervous. He'd missed the bus to Hearthome City Centre and now he was having to sprint to stand a chance of making it on time. Yeah, his Dad would say it was his fault for staying in bed until twelve and that it was his fault that he didn't try and get an earlier bus but honestly Alex could think about that later; right now he needed to make it to the testing arena.

He was heading for an audition of some kind for a prestigious school called New Moon Academy. Now that he'd left regular school and turned sixteen, he was permitted to study to become a Pokémon trainer and this test was for the best Pokémon Academy in all of Sinnoh. He just needed to make it there before they finished.

He saw the arena up ahead at the end of the road and two men in blue suits sitting at a table outside the front door. The two of them looked as if they were just about to close the doors.

"Hey!" he yelled just before they could close the doors. The two turned around to see Alex charging down the street, weaving through the crowd of people. He was on a mission and he had to get in.

"Here for the tests?" the man on the right asked.

"Yes sir," Alex panted, "Did I make it?"

"Well you're about a minute late but I think it's close enough for us to let it slide." the man replied. "What was your name?"

"Alex Murphy." he said, walking past them through the doors. "Thanks you two!" Alex gave the two a big grin before walking into the arena. Inside were several battlefields and a giant ring of seating that was nearly filled by those that had already passed, people's parents as well as talent spotters. If Alex was going to become a good trainer, this was the place to do it.

He found an empty seat nearby next to a boy who looked a similar age to Alex. Alex sat down and got a better look at his neighbour. He was fairly short, with wavy black hair that didn't even come close to obscuring his sapphire eyes.

"Hey there," Alex smiled, "You passed your test?"

"Yeah, but only through luck." he sighed. "If my Pokémon didn't have a huge type advantage, I would've lost for sure."

"Why so glum? You still passed right? You got in!"

"Yeah, I guess that's true," he smiled back, "How did your test go?"

"I haven't done it yet." Alex answered.

"Really?! Isn't this battle right now the last one?"

*

Professor Robert Williams had had a long day of testing. Every year the amateurs flocked to the arenas to try and fool him into thinking they had more than a drop of talent within them. Well at least this year there appeared to be a few with a chance of bringing the academy some success. The final test of the day was one of the regular testers against a well built boy with blond, spiky hair who looked as if they could become a star in the future. Within a few moves, the tester had been defeated and the boy - Edward was his name - had earned his place at the academy. Finally, this year's testing was over. He could have a nice hot bath and think about-

"Sir, we've got some news." Professor Williams thoughts were cut short for the moment by one of the men who stood outside the arena checking in the young hopefuls.

"What is it?" Williams snapped. "I'm just about finished here."

"Not quite Mr-"

"Professor!" he shrieked.

"Sorry sir," the man stuttered, wiping sweat from his forehead, "But another young lad arrived wanting to be tested."

"Is that so?" Williams scoffed. "Well too bad he's late. I have no time for latecomers."

"But sir, he arrived just in time!" the man pleaded.

"Very well then," Williams sighed, "But leave his tester and Pokémon to me." If some slacker wanted to show up late to the testing and still hope to get in, the finest teacher in the world, Professor Robert Williams, would have to teach him a lesson. Williams got up from his seat and walked to the battlefield. Instead of those soft tester Pokémon, he'd use one of his own to properly crush him. But to be on the safe side, he'd give the slacker one of the Pokémon recently deemed not strong enough to be used in the tests. That would ensure his victory.

*

"Alex Murphy to the battlefield please." the voice of an announcer said.

"Hey, looks like you were wrong, there is room for more!" Alex grinned. He jumped out of his seat, ready for action.

"Well good luck." the guy he'd been sitting by said.

"Thanks," Alex replied, "What was your name again?"

"Ryan Leonard. But everyone just calls me Lenny."

"Well I'm Alex. See you when I pass!" he waved, racing down the stairs to the battlefield. From the field, the arena looked even bigger and it looked like even more people had joined the crowd. At least he wouldn't get any pre-match jitters, he was well above feelings of worry, he just knew he'd be enjoying himself way too much to be scared.

"Mr Murphy?" a voice said from across the field. Alex looked up and saw a tall man approaching him. He didn't look like the tester that had just finished battling against that other guy. He wore a dark suit and a pale yellow tie and Alex could almost feel his authority. This guy was the top dog around here.

"Present Mr-"

"Professor!" the man yelled.

"Sorry teach, maybe you should wear a badge?"

"I'm not here for you to waste my time young man." he said coldly. "I am Professor Williams of New Moon Academy, deputy headmaster as well as the finest teacher of battling. And I shall be your opponent."

"You?" Alex gasped, his jaw dropping to what felt like the floor.

"Yes, me, weren't you listening?" Professor Williams snapped. "Now take this," he said, thrusting a Pokéball into Alex's hand. "You'll use this for our battle."

"Thanks teach!" Alex smiled, looking at the Pokéball in his hand. Whatever was in here had to be something awesome!

"Now then," Williams said once he had reached his side of the arena. "I'll choose my Pokémon." He unbuttoned his suit and the left side fell open, revealing three Pokéballs suspended within the suit blazer. He took the middle one and rolled it onto the field. "Regirock." The monster that emerged from the dazzling light of the ball was a large creature composed entirely of stones. Some were jagged and sharp, others were big and smooth but they all looked tough and unbreakable. Its eyes were a collection of dots arranged in the shape of an 'H'.

"The heck is that thing?" Alex asked.

"Seriously?" Williams sighed and the crowd gasped at Alex's apparent lack of knowledge. "Regirock is one of a trio of Pokémon that are considered to be legendary. Their strength is incredible, perhaps even unbeatable. It took years to track the three of them down and capture them and only a Pokémon master such as myself could have accomplished such a feat."

"Legendary huh? Awesome, I've always wanted to take a legendary down!" Alex laughed. Williams' face was shocked at Alex's bravery and stupidity. Alex felt the excitement bubble through him as he raised his own Pokéball. He was about to take on a Pokémon only a few trainers would even dream of battling. "Go!" he shouted, throwing his ball onto the field. The Pokémon that emerged was a... butterfly?

"Oh dear, what a shame." Williams laughed. "It seems that your monster is very weak compared to mine."

"No way!" Alex defended his Pokémon. It was fairly small and had a purple body with tiny, blue hands and feet. Its wings were translucent with a black pattern on. Unfortunately, none of that helped for identifying the mystery Pokémon. "This, uh, thing is a totally awesome Pokémon."

"You do know its name don't you?" Williams said, mocking Alex once again.

"Sure I do it's..."

"Butter!" the Pokémon squeaked.

"It's definitely Butter." Alex said confidently.

"No it isn't you idiot..." Williams sighed.

"Really? Damn, I can't believe it's not butter!"

"Butterfree!" the Pokémon squeaked again.

"Butterfree?" Alex asked. The Pokémon nodded. Well at least he knew its name... if that even helped in a battle.

"Well, as the one being tested, you get to go first." Williams informed him.

"With pleasure," Alex grinned, "Just one problem."

"What now?" Williams sighed. "Please hurry up, I've got to get home so I can watch Great Sinnoh Bake-Off."

"I have no idea what moves this Butterfree has."

"Then figure it out."

"Oh. Right. Uh... Use... Uh... Hyper Beam!" Butterfree turned to face Alex with its big, red eyes looking puzzled.

"Oh well, you guessed wrong." Williams smiled, "I suppose I'll kick things off, Regirock use Stone Edge!" Regirock slowly lumbered into action, firing several jagged rocks at Butterfree from its arms.

"Get out of there Butterfree!" Alex urged. This time, Butterfree understood, flapping its wings to propel itself skywards, avoiding the attack.

"Zap Cannon." Williams ordered. Regirock turned to look up at the flying Butterfree and used its arms to aim another projectile, this time a ball of electricity.

"Dodge it again!" Alex yelled. Once again, Butterfree gave a flap of its wings to move out of the way, allowing the sparks from the ball to slide pass and miss completely. "Your Regirock may be strong but it can't land a hit."

"If that's the case then I'll use something you may not have heard of. It's called strategy. Use Lock-On." Regirock's eyes glowed red, pointing directly at Butterfree. Now, whenever Butterfree moved, Regirock's eyes followed Butterfree's exact path line, making it impossible to dodge the next attack. "Stone edge!"

"No!" Alex cried as the sharp stones slashed at Butterfree's delicate wings, sending it tumbling to the ground with a thud. Butterfree was still able to battle but just barely.

"Regirock, finish this with Zap Cannon." Williams commanded. Regirock looked at the still Butterfree on the floor, took brief aim and then fired off another ball filled with surging power, emitting sparks of electricity. Unless Alex got a miracle, Butterfree was toast and he'd lose his only chance to get into the school. Butterfree gave Alex a slight glance but it was all he needed to know everything he needed to know.

"Use Confusion!" Butterfree's body glowed pink and just before impact, Regirock's attack slowed down, spun and fired in the opposite direction, hitting Regirock square in the chest, sending shockwaves throughout its body.

"Wait what?!" Williams blurted out. "How did you suddenly know the right move to use?"

"Butterfree told me," Alex shrugged, "Guess the harmless butterfly has a bit of a sting! Or at least psychic powers."

"That's cheating!" Williams cried.

"I don't think it is." Alex shook his head, "Now, use Sleep Powder!"

"Move out of the way Regirock!" Williams screeched. Alex had him panicking and for good reason. Regirock was far too slow to move its cumbersome body out of the way and Butterfree's sprinkling of green powder put it straight to sleep.

"Now that you're pride and joy is snoozing, I can have some fun!" Alex laughed.

"You keep your mouth shut about my Regirock!" Williams growled.

"Sorry teach, but I can say whatever I want now that I've got control. Now, use Confusion to lift it into the air!" Butterfree shone pink again, using its psychic powers to lift Regirock up to the ceiling of the arena.

"Get my precious Regirock down from there!" Williams ordered.

"Whatever you say teach." Alex shrugged. "Drop it!"

"No!" Williams cried out as Regirock fell from quite a height, plummeting down at breakneck pace and slamming into the ground with a deafening crash. Regirock's own body weight had been too much for it to handle and now the match was over. Alex had won.

"Alright, great job Butter!" Alex punched the air in celebration. He'd made it into the best school when it came to battling, maybe he could go down the career path of being a trainer. Butterfree flew around his head in some sort of dancing manner. Alex guessed Butterfree was congratulating him for passing.

"Regirock, take a good long rest." Williams said to his fallen warrior as he returned it to its Pokéball. He then walked over to Alex, not looking quite so fierce now that he'd lost to a complete amateur.

"So then teach, am I in?" Alex asked.

"Yes Mr. Murphy, you passed." he nodded. "Usually, we take back the Pokémon as we need them for next year but I think this is a special case."

"What do you mean?"

"To tell you the truth, we were going to release that Butterfree. We deemed it too weak for testing as its potential was never really shown to us. The fact that Butterfree communicated telepathically with you having met you mere moments ago illustrates the natural chemistry between you two." Williams explained.

"So you thought Butterfree was no good?" Alex said, taken aback. He'd managed to defeat a legendary with a supposed weakling?

"We did." Williams nodded. "But you managed to bring something out of Butterfree that none of our staff could. So keep Butterfree. I think you two will go far together."

 "Thanks teach!" Alex grinned at Butterfree, his new partner. Butterfree nestled on his shoulder, perhaps knowing that it'd just found a trainer who would be its friend rather than release it for not being strong enough. In any case, Alex agreed with Williams, this could be the start of something big...

Well here's the first part of my new series called New Moon Academy. It will hopefully be 3 books long (if i finish it) and it should be pretty awesome. Please leave a review, praise or criticism.