Nate's Pov

We waited patiently in our seats while my friends and I talked for a short while before we overheard some cheery yelling "Alright everyone, it's time to begin!" Bianca cheered, walking to the battle field with Cheren, Hilbert, and Hilda "Everyone pick up a number from this jar and whoever gets a matching number will battle together!" Bianca waved a jar.

"We have two jars in total. Nobody will get to pick their partners!" Cheren yelled "but we will form a line by each jar and there will be a likely chance you'll get the same number as the person you want to battle. I don't recommend to let everyone pick out someone they are use to battling. It defeats the purpose of challenging new people!"

"The real world is large and not everyone is the same!" Hilda held her hip "take it from me! There are criminals who will stand in your way! You'll have to train enough to keep yourself and your Pokémon safe! We don't want anyone getting hurt! Fight the ones you least expect!"

"We want everyone to know that if one loses, that doesn't mean you don't pass and won't get a trainer card" Hilbert said "It'll only teach you that you'll need to build up your battling strategies. Anyone who wins will also learn that there are more ways of winning and more ways of losing! Just because you win doesn't mean you won't lose to someone else! This will teach you that everyone out there will either be stronger than you or weaker. You'll hardly know which. Always keep an open mind and don't be cocky!"

"We went this far in your high school years to prepare for this day! Everyone line up in even numbers to each jar! If you plan on battling someone, choose the other jar!" Cheren clapped. Everyone got up from their seats and started lining up. Strangely enough, I close to join Rosa at one jar and our friends chose the other.

"Are you guys really want to battle us or something?" I smirked "Remember, I'm the strongest trainer in school"

"Yeah well, that's what makes it exciting!" May smirked.

"You're going down!" Brendan hyped up.

"I would like to see how Rosa battles, so I'm hoping to battle her" Calem smiled.

"As do I" Dawn giggled.

"The both of you hold a mystery of who will win against the other" Barry said, walking to stand behind me "but I rather battle with the others. At least I stand a chance" he laughed "I'm not quite ready for your level, especially since I only have one Pokémon"

"Same here" Lucas walked behind him. So on the other side of the line I stood in, there was Dawn, May, Brendon, Calem, Serena, and Hugh while on my side it was Me, Barry, Lucas, and Rosa. It's not an even number, but who knows who I'll end up battling.

"Ready?" I asked Rosa. She nodded happily and looked at her bag, seeing it shaking "Is your egg..?" She gasped and kneeled down to set it on the floor. Before anyone got the chance to pick out a number, we all turned to witness it hatching.

"Well, not the kind of excitement I was expecting" Cheren walked over with the others.

"Looks like it's hatching sooner than expected!" Hilda smiled.

"So exciting! What a day it's starting out to be!" Bianca cheered.

"You gave her the egg you were gifted from the studio?" Hilbert whispered to Hilda. I looked at her smiling softly.

"I don't have time for more Pokémon to add into my party. Rosa needs it more than I do" I turned to Rosa becoming anxious next to Zorua, waiting for the egg to hatch. Soon enough, there was a glow. That glow became solid after flashing for a moment and formed into a shape.

"No way!" Rosa cupped her cheeks amazed. I was quite surprise myself "It's a... It's a..." She started sobbing and picked the little larva up to hug. I chuckled and pet her head while everyone congratulated her.

"That's a Larvesta" I kneeled down to hug her sideways "It's the pre evolution of one of your favorite Pokémon!"

"It looks a lot like the drawing on your bookmark" Calem told Rosa.

"It is! I can't believe I have a cute Larvesta!" She squealed and pet it's head as it looked at her confused.

"T-That's cute to you?" Dawn sweat dropped, hiding behind May. Rosa was too excited to really pay attention. Soon after the excitement was over, Cheren got everyone back on track to pick out a number. I stared at my number for a moment before looking at Hilda and Rosa getting to know the newly hatch Pokémon.

"Seemed like yesterday she refused to get another Pokémon" Dawn smiled "Oh wait" she stuck her tongue out playfully "That was yesterday"

"Strangely enough, yes"

"With whatever number you have, we will start with that order!" Cheren announced "Let's go! Number one!"

"Which number did you get?" Dawn asked.

"4"

"I got 7" I looked back at my paper and back at Rosa not even focused on the exam "I wonder who Rosa is battling"

"Got to wait and see then" we took our seats and waited for #1 to take the battle field. Lucas was the first to walk to the field. Feeling someone standing behind me, I looked back to see Hugh standing after talking to Ethan teasing him about something. Them talking? What a miracle! But then again, what he became after a miracle happened with Kris is another miracle.

"So I guess I'll be challenging Lucas" Hugh looked at Rosa "too bad. I wanted to see a new fighting style instead of seeing everyone else's for the millionth time"

"Maybe next time" she smiled. He shrugged and went out to battle Lucas. Ethan tapped my shoulder "hm?" I looked back at him giving me what seems to be a signature smirk.

"Hey, which Pokémon are you going to use? It's one Pokémon only, right?" I stared at his relaxed face and looked down at Kris smiling beside him outside her wheelchair. To think... I slapped this girl just to prove a point to Ethan about not hitting a girl. I feel gross just being able to sit so close to her since she doesn't know what happened back then.

"Uh..." I felt a bit uncomfortable. It won't be easy to get use to this, especially knowing they will be staying in Unova for a little longer so Ethan can graduate "that's a surprise"

"Really?" Ethan raises his brow, amused "Come on! I can't participate, so you can tell me" I snorted.

"Well, lets just say I'll never admit to having it" I smiled "but I wish I never felt so embarrassed" he slowly nodded and leaned back to watch the match.

Hilda was walking away and Rosa came back with her Larvesta in my arms to sit next to me "I got myself a rare Pokémon" her eyes sparkled.

"You've always liked rare Pokémon, haven't you? When we go on a journey together, wanna find some more?" She blushed and looked down.

"I-If it's not too much to ask" I chuckled and pet her head before putting my attention on our friends battling. Hugh had won pretty easily due to Lucas never really practicing his battling skills, but he wasn't mad about it.

After the first pair had battled, our other classmates battled each other before it was time for Dawn to battle against Barry. In my opinion, those two seem more of a rivaled pair than Lucas and Barry do.

"Alright! Time to show everyone what I'm made of!" Barry shouted over his lungs like he often does over his excitement. Dawn flipped her hair, remaining calm as she send out her Priplup while Barry send out his Monferno.

"Dawn is such a lnelegant trainer" Rosa smiled "The two of them seem like good rivals. They're totally the opposite of each other" she tapped her chin "But she's also the opposite of Lucas, and they're related" she giggled "What a interesting trio!"

"We're going to be a trio as well, you know?" She brightly smiled at me.

"For sure!"

"Dawn was always better than me" Lucas said, sitting behind us "At battling and at handling difficult situations. She's totally the rising star of our little trio" he smiled and leaned on his knees "I'll probably hold them back, to be honest"

"Why would you say that?" Rosa frowned.

"I never put much effort into my battling. I'm pretty lazy, and that's on me" he chuckled "The best I can be is a support. Besides, Professor Rowan promised me a internship when I get back! I'm not much of a trainer like they are, and that's okay"

"This is the first I heard of this" I said "What made you come to this school then?" Lucas chuckled again.

"I never got the chance to spend my childhood with my sister, so I suggested to come here with Barry and invited Dawn with us. I don't regret it at all"

"If you truly feel that is what you're meant to do, you should smile more. You got to spend this time with your sister and some more friends. You'll be able to support everyone from how smart you are!" He smiled and blushed.

"Smart?" I asked.

"Don't you know? Lucas is as smart as Calem!" I blinked confused. Calem chuckled from afar.

"You work at the office, so of course you'd know something like that" Lucas chuckled at that.

"And you find it necessary to use that advantage to tease me in front of everyone" Ethan sweat dropped.

"Well" Rosa huffed "You were saying mean things, so why must I let you win?" Kris choked in her laughter. Ethan sighed with a embarrassed expression. I laughed at him and turned back when hearing Barry yelling in defeat. Dawn had won, holding her hip and smiling with pride.

"The winner is Dawn! Great job you two!" Cheren yelled out "Alright, next!" Dawn and Barry came back to sit beside Lucas.

"Hey, what's the matter?" Dawn asked Lucas. Lucas just smiled and shook his head, assuring her that he was fine.

"Hey" Zorua tugged on Rosa's hand that wasn't petting on Larvesta "it looks like fun what they're doing. Can I try?"

"What do you mean? You don't even have a Pokéball" Rosa said.

"Can I have one?"

"You really want to be in my team, huh?" Rosa smiled "Don't worry. I don't mind having you on my side, but I'd like it more if you witness my style of battling first. I'm going to use her as my battling partner, okay?" She winked. Zorua sighed and nodded, sitting by Rosa's feet.

"Can you just tell me what your Pokémon is?" I whispered. She chuckled.

"Nope!"

"Come on! We were in the same line" she placed her finger on my lips, making my heart thump.

"You wouldn't believe what I have even if I tell you"

"A rare Pokémon, huh?" She nodded and put her attention back at her new Pokémon at the same time something got on my head. I touched the top and found something invisible on there... What is that? "Should I be worried?" Rosa saw what I was doing and laughed, shaking her head.

"Next stop, number 5!" After awhile, it was soon my turn. I gulped nervously and looked at the Pokéball in my hands, seeing my hands shaking. Is it really alright to send out this Pokémon? Everyone will start laughing at me...

"Nate" Rosa rubbed my arm. I gulped nervously and felt others staring at me. I couldn't move, not even unclench my fingers from the ball. This is the Pokémon I've kept secret from everyone, all so I wouldn't be made fun of. What made me think to choose it out of everyone else?!

"I-I..." I stuttered, shaking more "I shouldn't... What am I thinking?" Someone was shaking me "I won't do it. I won't-"

"Nate!" I faintly heard the voice of someone and looked at Rosa looking at me with worried eyes "Hey! Nate!" She was shaking me. She started getting blurry. I looked around and saw others surrounding me, but they were just colors. In my mind, I expected they were laughing from the faint noise they were making.

"Stop laughing at me!" I glared at them "Just shut up!" I pulled on my hair, wishing they would stop. The ball in my hand was still clenched in my fingers. Why do I still have it with me..? It's been nothing but trouble.

I can't go too crazy around everyone, so I ducked down to my lap and hid my head. My body continued to shake, but I ignored it and covered my ears. The voices continued to call out to me "Nate!" I heard my name. Remaining my cool, I ignored them and stayed the same way, no matter how much someone tried separating me from my safe position.

My body slowly started lifting from my seat. I panicked and looked around, making my tears fall out my eyes and look at Rosa frowning at me from the ground "Rosa..."

"Vi!" Something invisible patted my cheek. When that happened, I saw a memory of Rosa facing Ethan after she pushed him away.

"I don't live for your option!" I looked at the ball in my hands and screamed when I was dropped to the floor.

"Nate!" Rosa hurried to me. I rubbed my butt in pain and looked at everyone, even the adults, looking worried for me. I looked down and stood up. Rosa followed "are you okay?!"

"Y-Yeah..." I rubbed my head "Sorry, I was just thinking of something" I gulped.

"You said something about someone laughing at you?" I looked down "Nobodies opinion matters more than what you think of yourself" I looked at her looking serious "I saw the way you were looking at your Pokéball. I don't know what you were thinking so hard about, but give this Pokémon a chance" She held my hand with the ball. I looked at our hands joined together.

"Yeah..." I still feel insecure about what others think of me, but I can't allow it to keep me from moving forward. I'm still learning, and I have Rosa to help me learn "S-Sorry..." I looked back at the field "I'm ready"

"Are you sure?" Rosa asked.

"Yo!" Brendan walked up to me "So you're number 7? So am I!" He smirked "Looking forward to battling you" he took out a Great ball "I'm a bit nervous to show off my Pokémon, but I'll do it if you will" I knew exactly what he was talking about, and he knew exactly what I was in a panic about. I was embarrassed that I behaved this way in front of everyone.

"If it's anyone I'm battling, I'm really glad it's you" I sighed "I'm in if you are" he patted my back hard and laughed.

"Don't worry, I'm nervous too, but not that worried!" He pushed me towards the battle field. Cheren had made sure I was okay to battle after what had happened. To be honest, it wasn't what I did that got me bothered, it was what snapped me out of it.

"I-I'm fine!" I yelled back, still a bit shaken up. I glanced over at Ethan talking to Kris and took a deep breath. It's fine... I don't live for anyone's opinion. The only opinion that matters most to me is my own "I'm ready!"

"Alright! Let's get it! Come on out!" Brendan send out his Delcatty to the field, who looked around confused and looked at Brendan, probably wondering why it was out in front of so many people "This is the start of our brand new lives! I won't hide you anymore!" He said. His Delcatty smiled big with tears in its eyes and nodded, facing me. I gulped and looked at my Pokéball, knowing my Pokémon will be just as confused.

"Alright" I told myself before throwing out my Pokémon. It appeared in the field and shook its body once fully out. She looked around confused and looked back at me, surprised that I was doing this.

"Audino..?" She cried out. I nodded and smiled, making a fist out of my shaking hands.

"Audino!" I yelled out "I choose you!" Her eyes sparkled before nodding and facing the field. I was still holding my breath. I glanced around and saw that some people were surprised that I had this Pokémon, but what I focused on more was Ethan, who was leaning on the wall, looking relaxed and not at all seeming like he was ready to throw a joke. That released a huge burden from my chest.

"So cool!" Rosa cheered "we both have the Pokémon from our drawings! Yesss!" She laughed so loud. I felt happy bubbles popping inside me. What was I worried about anyways..? Audino is one of my favorite Pokémon! She deserves more than this! I shouldn't have been ashamed of her... especially how she's such a big help with my anxiety.

"Right, Brendan!" I yelled out "Ready when you are! Audino! Let's go!"