The Eon Academy [S.S. Wishmaker Side-Story]

[[Desolate Divine]]

Season 2 Episode 2: Media Frenzy

Spoiler:

It was well after midnight, when Jon, Steven, Dylan and the four interns found themselves in the lodge that Jon had unlocked, sitting around the dining table with the purple meteorite that Charlotte and Chris found, sitting in the middle.

When Chris and Charlotte arrived back at the group on the beach, Jon had noticed Latios seize up a little.

“What is it?” he had asked Latios with his thoughts, feeling the Eon Pokemon poking around in his mind.

”I don’t know…” Latios replied. "And that scares me."

Latios explained that something had come back with Chris and Charlotte, and Jon noticed the object wrapped in Chris’ shirt. Someone from the shrinking crowd had asked what it was, and Charlotte mentioned finding a Pokemon egg, however Latios wasn’t sure about that. Jon departed soon after, asking Dylan, Steven and the interns to meet him in the lodge back at the Eon Academy as soon as they could.

Upon arriving, Jon asked Charlotte what she was holding, and she placed it on the table, everyone else gathering around in awe and shock.

“It looks like a Pokemon egg, but I doubt it,” Charlotte explained. “It’s transparent for starters.”

“It is sentient,” Jon explained. “Latios was able to perceive its consciousness, and said it was too active to be a Pokemon egg. However its thoughts were too foreign for Latios to understand, or even spend too much time poking around inside its head.”

Chris looked at the object in shock. Could he even call it an object?

“Are you saying this thing might be a Pokemon?” Steven asked, looking over the crystalline orb. “Could it not be some form of bacteria in it?”

“I doubt it,” Jon explained. “Latios is able to perceive its emotions, though not understand them.”

Jon nodded towards Latios who floated in the corner of the room, watching them. Suddenly, everyone was seeing the scene they were in from Latios’ perspective. Around each person was an aura with a mixture of colours, and through guesswork, they could understand what they meant. Steven’s aura was that of great curiosity, whilst the interns and Dylan shared that, however it was mixed more so with confusion for them. Jon’s aura was that of concern.

However, the strangest aura was that surrounding the orb. Charlotte tried to identify the colours, however they were ones she had never seen before, and didn’t think even possible, which made little sense. That and they were shifting from one to another, before she had time to even comprehend.

“There is bacteria everywhere, and Latios’ emotion-sense doesn’t pick that up,” Jon explained. “But this, as a whole, Latios is able to see something, though he doesn’t know what…”

There was a flicker, as everyone’s vision returned to normal, and their focus shifted back to the stone.

“Honestly, I think it may be a Pokemon. I have seen equally strange Pokemon in terms of appearance,” Jon explained. “But a Pokemon from space is completely new…”

Steven sat back in his chair, thinking it over.

“I’m going to take this to the Space Centre to see if they can shed a little more light on the matter,” Steven explained. “Even if they have no answers now, they’re better equipped to find out more about it…”

Charlotte began to protest, however was interrupted by Jon.

“The Space Centre is the best place for it,” Jon interrupted. “We don’t know what it is, whether it is potentially dangerous, and in twenty four hours, will have our hands full enough with thirty five trainers staying here, without having to worry about what this thing is.”

Charlotte sighed. Jon was right. This wasn’t just any Pokemon she had found, but one they knew nothing about, and stood little chance of learning anything worthwhile about. Which meant there was no guarantee it would be safe. One of Jon’s first lessons about being a trainer was that a trainer’s first responsibility is the safety of the people around them. And keeping this thing had the potential to put those around her at risk.

“I will let you know if they discover anything,” Steven explained, as he removed his jacket, and wrapped the object in it.

Charlotte nodded, though still disappointed.

“Go get some sleep,” Jon said, as he stood, calling Latios back to his Pokeball. “There is plenty of time to ponder this during more reasonable hours…”

Steven departed, taking the stone with him, and Dylan and the interns left the lodge behind him, whilst Jon turned off the lights, and locked the building. Half an hour later, Charlotte and Abbee found themselves in the cabin they’d be sharing for the next three months. The cabin itself was large enough. There was a pair of bunk beds, however only Charlotte and Abbee would be in this cabin, so the unused bunk instantly became storage, as well as a desk by the window. It was definitely a downgrade from last year, however the amount of space and funds needed to put every student at the Eon Academy in accommodation like the lodge, as well as the added difficulty in making sure everyone was in their room when they needed to be, made it understandable, and neither of the girls minded.

“I wonder what that thing was,” Abbee said, as she unpacked her belongings on the bunk above her bed.

“Honestly, I think it’s a Pokemon,” Charlotte explained. “Latios’ ability to perceive emotions only works on humans and Pokemon, doesn’t it? And it sure as hell isn’t human.”

“Once they figure out what it is, hopefully they let you keep it,” Abbee replied. “It would kind of suck if you are the person to discover the first extra-terrestrial Pokemon, and you don’t even get to keep it.”

“It would, but I doubt they will,” Charlotte explained. “They’ll be too focused on running tests, I doubt they’d let me take it back home to Sinnoh.”

“You never know…” Abbee said. “Justin got to keep Regieleki. Maybe ask him how he went about that? What sort of deal he had to make so they can research it.”

“Maybe…” Charlotte said. “I’ll ask him.”

As the pair climbed into their beds, and turned off the lights, Charlotte spoke up.

“Did you talk to Dylan?”

“When did I have the chance?” Abbee laughed. “We got back and all of a sudden Chris has spotted a meteor and Dylan and Justin are taking measures to blast it to pieces before it hits.”

“Just checking you didn’t talk to him when Chris and I went off to look for whatever it was we found.”

“No, I’ll talk to him at some point tomorrow…” Abbee replied. “But what about you and Chris?”

“What about me and Chris?”

“You know damn well what I am asking,” Abbee laughed. “Is it purely coincidence that you’re within striking range every time he says something dumb, which happens to be quite often?”

Charlotte went red, though was thankful the room was dark.

“Maybe I am within striking range every time, because I know he will say something stupid, and am hoping that he gets the hint to think before he speaks if I treat him like a Skitty with a spray bottle?” Charlotte retorted. “Really, no, nothing like that between Chris and I. I’ve just known him for years, and seen him most since last summer.”

“Right...” Abbee replied, as she wondered what discussion was happening in the other cabins when they should be sleeping.

“Give me the options again…” Chris said in the cabin he shared with Justin.

“Would you rather skinny-dip in the lake of rage, end to end, if you knew the only other thing in the was a Sharpedo, or slow-dance with Jon’s Scizor…” Justin asked.

Chris grimaced hearing both.

“Sharpedo is the only other thing in the Lake of Rage?” Chris asked, trying to remember how big the lake was.

“It is,” Justin replied.

“Slow-dancing…” Chris said, “Definitely slow dancing…”

“Really?” Justin asked. “Step on Scizor and you might lose half your hand. More likely than the Sharpedo noticing you…”

“Yeah, but I’m not even considering risking that...” Chris retorted, before there was a bang on the wall, from Dylan’s cabin.

“Sorry!” Justin called out embarrassed, before Chris called out.

“What about you? Swimming starkers across the Lake of Rage and hoping the Sharpedo doesn’t find you, or slow dancing with Jon’s Scizor?”

There were a few moments of silence, before Dylan responded, his voice muffled from the room next door.

“I’ll take my chances with Scizor. It’s 2am. Go to sleep…”

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

“We have a problem…” Jon said as he walked into the dining room the next morning, where Dylan, Charlotte and Abbee sat in near silence. Justin followed Jon into the room, hearing his comment as well.

“What’s that?” Abbee asked, as Justin made his way to the counter where dishes and breakfast food was ready to be prepared.

“The press,” Jon explained, as he put a slice of toast in the toaster for himself. “It’s been all over the news this morning that it was Eon Academy students who shattered that meteor. There are reporters outside the gates, waiting for me to come out and make a statement, and we have students arriving in two hours…”

“Couldn’t you just make a statement so they go away?” Charlotte asked.

“Reporters are like stray Houndor. Give them anything and they aren’t going to leave,” Jon replied. “I’m married to one and she is wonderful, but once she sets her mind to getting a statement, or the big scoop, she is near unstoppable…”

Dylan chuckled hearing Jon’s sentiment.

“My biggest concern is that they will get in the way of the students arriving, or harass them,” Jon explained. “I could call the police and have them send them on their way, but it won’t be a great look.”

“So what’re our alternatives?” Justin asked, as Chris wandered into the room with a yawn.

“We need to distract them, get them away from here for an hour while everyone else arrives…” Jon explained, looking over his options.

The incident happened at the beach, and whilst it wouldn’t make a difference to the print media reporters, those on TV would wet themselves for a statement at the scene of the incident. The problem is that if Dylan or Justin indulged them with anything, they would be pestered for days about it, being the two who shot the meteorite out of the sky. So it had to be Chris, Charlotte or Abbee. Abbee would be most used to the media, however he wouldn’t have her deal with this on her own.

“Abbee and Chris, how would you two feel about taking these Mandibuzz hanging around the gate down to the beach and enlightening them about what happened?” Jon asked, remembering their commentary during the live stream. “Keep them busy while we have the students arrive, so they aren’t pestering them.”

“What?” Chris asked, not hearing the setup for the conversation, or what was going on.

“Sure,” Abbee replied, half thankful but also slightly disappointed it wasn’t with Dylan. Whilst it would be awkward, it would force her and Dylan to actually talk, and hopefully get the ball rolling with talking about what happened over New Year’s. But now it seemed like she’d be making this happen on her own.

“Be prepared to be in front of cameras in an hour,” Jon explained. “Alyssa will take the pair of you down to the beach after we let the reporters know.”

Jon left, as Chris sat at the table, his mouth full from the bite of toast he just took.

“What was that about?” Chris asked.

“There are reporters at the gate wanting to hear about what you and Justin did last night, and Jon’s worried that they’re gonna cause problems when students arrive,” Charlotte explained. “You and Abbee are going to deal with it…”

“What, set my Charizard on them?” Chris asked, and whilst Abbee hoped he was kidding, she was slightly concerned when it appeared he wasn’t.

“No, genius,” Charlotte explained. “You two are going to lure them down to the beach to talk to them about what happened last night, and keep their attention there until everyone is here and we can just lock the gates…”

Chris sighed, before continuing to eat his slice of toast. An hour later, Jon escorted Chris and Abbee to the gate where they saw a larger crowd than those gathered on the beach the evening before, however this crowd were armed with microphones, voice recorders and large and expensive looking video cameras.

“Can I have your attention please!” Jon called out, as the group of reporters quietened down, waiting to hear what he had to say next.

“I understand you would like a statement regarding what happened on the beach last night, however I am not the best person to give you that statement as I was not present,” Jon explained. “Additionally, the worker and intern who orchestrated the plan to strike the meteorite are both currently busy with Eon Academy responsibilities, and I don’t wish to interfere with that. So instead, Chris Kingswood and Abbee Strauss, two of the interns who were present during the incident yesterday evening, will make a statement.”

Jon nodded towards Abbee and Chris. Abbee went to speak, however Chris stepped forward, and began speaking first.

“So I understand you want to know what happened last night, in every bit of detail?” Chris asked the crowd casually, as a few confirmed what he was saying.

“The thing is, to really capture the essence of what happened last night, I think we kind of need to go to the beach, and tell the story there,” Chris said. “What do you think Abbee?”

“Yeah, I can’t think of a better way,” Abbee agreed struggling not to laugh at how stupid this whole situation was. “Why tell the story here if we could tell it at the place where it all actually happened?”

“Jon, you cool if we go down to the beach to tell these guys exactly what happened?” Chris asked, as Jon nodded.

“I can’t take you myself, as I have some stuff to do, but Alyssa should be able to drive you down there…”

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

They arrived at the beach and before long, Abbee stood by Alyssa’s side, watching in slight awe as Chris managed to waste the time of every reporter there, but have them unable to leave. He told the story, going into great detail about things that really didn’t matter, such as spending a total of ten minutes finding the exact spot on the beach where they had the fire, and why they chose there, to the positions around the fire everyone was sitting, and the snacks they were eating, as well as going on different tangents of useless information. When it seemed as if one was going to leave, Chris would say something important to draw in their attention, however would quickly return to wasting their time…

“How does this make you feel?” Abbee whispered to Alyssa with a grin, whilst Chris described in great detail the position of the tide through the evening.

“I’m glad I’ve never run into someone like him…” Alyssa whispered back with a grin. “Part of working in media is you are not allowed to lose your cool unless you are being personally targeted. And some of these guys are struggling…”

Abbee noticed a frown on a nearby reporter’s face before giggling to herself. However, as Chris took a breath, one of the reporters turned to face her.

“What about you, Miss Strauss? What is your recollection of what happened?”

Abbee quickly came up with her own game plan before speaking.

“Uhhh, that’s a very good question…” she said slowly, before taking a minute to look as if she were thinking over what to say.

“Well…” she began equally slowly. “Ummmm, firstly, we arrived at the beach at around…”

She continued talking and saw the reporter’s expression sink as they realized she was just repeating everything Chris had said so far, albeit slower and much more interrupted with umms and uhhhs. Alyssa grinned seeing this. They were wasting their time, just like Jon wanted...

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

Jon watched as the last of the thirty five teenagers arrived in the stands surrounding the arena, counting them once more in his head to make sure all were accounted for. He held Amelia, who looked around curiously at all of the people around her.

Justin, Charlotte and Dylan sat on chairs on the edge of the battle arena, waiting for Jon to begin.

The students had all arrived forty-five minutes earlier, where their parents spoke briefly to Jon, and the three interns who remained on site had escorted students to their rooms where they could leave their belongings before making their way to the arena, making a point of memorizing some names, however they still didn’t know which students would be under their care. Jon had kept that a secret.

Once all the students were on the property, about twenty minutes earlier, Jon sent Alyssa a message letting her know that Chris and Abbee didn’t need to hold off the press any longer, and could return to the Eon Academy. He estimated they wouldn’t be far off.

A few minutes passed, before Jon’s attention was pulled.

“S**t…” Chris said, a little too loudly, as he entered the arena, and saw how many people there were.

“Control yourself…” Charlotte muttered, as he realized what he had done. Abbee and Alyssa followed him into the arena, as Jon breathed a sigh of relief.

“You should have seen them…” Alyssa laughed. “They had the reporters in the palms of their hands, and were wasting their time the entire time. I am surprised none of them snapped…”

Jon laughed, as he handed Amelia to Alyssa, before turning to Chris and Abbee.

“Great work,” Jon said. “And you’re just in time. Find a seat, and I will get started.”

Abbee and Chris moved to the remaining two seats with the other interns, as Jon produced a microphone and got the attention of the near three-dozen students chattering in the stands.

“Hello everyone, and let me be the first to welcome you to the Eon Academy!” Jon explained. “Before we begin, let me make something abundantly clear. Whilst this is technically a form of summer camp, think of it more-so as a summer intensive. You are all here because you want to improve your battling, however that will require some work. This doesn’t mean you won’t be enjoying yourself, but you will only get out of this time what you put in.”

Justin felt a twinge of embarrassment hearing the words. Abbee must have noticed his head slump a little, as she gave him a gentle kick.

“You came back here with an undiscovered Legendary Pokemon…” Abbee whispered. “Give yourself some credit…”

Justin nodded, though still wasn’t sure that he completely agreed he deserved the credit, whilst Jon continued.

“Weekdays will run similar to school here. We have five classes, taught by myself, my wife Alyssa, Dylan, who is one of the workers here at the Eon Academy, and Steven Stone, the Hoenn League Champion,” Jon explained, as the murmurs grew, hearing that the League Champion would be teaching them this summer. “Classes begin at 9am, and run for an hour each. There are three morning classes, before an hour for lunch, and then two hour long training sessions here. If your group isn’t involved in a day’s training sessions, then you are finished for the day at lunch, however I do recommend making the most of the free time and finding someone to train with elsewhere on the property.”

Jon paused as he waited for the excited chatter to die down again.

“You were all dropped off at the main hall, and would have seen the dining area. Breakfast is there at 8am sharp, lunch from noon until one, and dinner at six. Out of respect for the cooks preparing your food, I expect you all to be punctual to meals, though if all goes to plan, you will have worked up an appetite and will be wanting to get there as soon as you can,” Jon explained. “Everyone will be in their cabins by 10:30pm, and lights-out is at 11pm. Weekends will be a mixture of leisure events and different seminars. You have probably gathered that there will be a decent amount of free time this summer. Whilst there will be recreational activities both on site and in Mossdeep City, if you want to get the most out of your time here, you will need a good balance of work and leisure. Don’t spend every free moment training, but don’t goof off every spare second you have.”

Abbee rolled her eyes as both Chris and Charlotte tensed up slightly hearing that recommendation, as Jon continued.

“Students over the age of fifteen can leave the property during daylight hours in pairs if they wish to visit other parts of the island, however must let one of the team leaders, or myself know exactly where you are going, and be reachable at all times. This is a privilege and can be revoked at any time,” Jon said, his tone hardening. “It is your responsibility to make sure you have a phone with enough battery when you leave the property, and if we attempt to reach you and are unable to because of something like that, the privilege of leaving the property unsupervised will be revoked.”

“Lastly, you will all be assigned into a team. This team will be the group you do afternoon training with, and one of the groups you attend classes with. Your team leader will be your key contact during your stay here, and will keep an eye on you and make sure everything is okay, as well as help with your own training,” Jon explained. “Be aware that all but one of the team leaders are still students at the Eon Academy, however, attended last year and have more experience both in terms of battling, and life here. Whilst they are working here for the summer, they are here to learn and improve, just like you, so for their sake, please try to not make their role any more difficult than it needs to be.”

Jon looked at Dylan and the four interns and grinned.

“Heading up Team Metagross, is Mossdeep local, and Pokemon Care Extraordinaire, Dylan Squier,” Jon began as he nodded towards Dylan to stand. Dylan stood, slightly embarrassed as Chris began to laugh at the introductions.

“Next, taking care of Team Roserade, hailing from the Sinnoh Region, is the extremely talented, and slightly terrifying Charlotte Jones,” Jon called out as Chris burst into laughter. Charlotte didn’t mind though, giving a slight grin as she stood to her feet to join Dylan. Of all reputations, that’s one she didn’t mind having

“Spearheading Team Dragonite, is the brave and slightly abrasive brother of Clair from Blackthorn City Johto. Chris Kingswood.”

Chris jumped to his feet, hands in the air, lapping up the attention as Abbee laughed slightly at his reaction to being called abrasive. Jon wasn’t wrong.

“Looking after Team Victini, is the daughter of battling royalty, on her way to being battling royalty herself,” Jon began. “Joining us from the Johto Region, Abbee Strauss.”

Abbee stood, making her way to stand next to Chris, as Jon began his final introduction.

“And lastly, we have the explorer of lands unknown, trekker of temples and discoverer of Legendary Pokemon,” Jon began, Justin slightly shocked by the calibre of the introduction he was getting. “Joining us from Kalos, is the leader of Team Regieleki, Justin Collins.”

The students took in their team leaders, most recognising them from the livestream the summer before.

“Now, you’re all probably wondering which team you will be in.” Jon began with a grin, “These guys are wondering the same thing…”

Dylan rolled his eyes, as Jon continued.

“Well, it is nearly lunchtime. So in a few minutes, I will call a one hour break, where I encourage you to get something to eat, and meet the Team Leaders. Then, get keen…” Jon said, as his grin widened and Justin’s expression shifted. “Because after lunch, we will reveal the teams, then Justin will battle Abbee, Chris will battle Dylan, and Charlotte will battle myself, and it will be abundantly clear why these five are team leaders…”

“Hell yeah!” Chris called out, shaking his fist in the air, loving the excitement in the air.

“Be back here at 1:15, and be prepared to have your minds blown…”