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

[[Desolate Divine]]

Season 5 Episode 5: Another Wager

Spoiler:

“There is something wrong with those boys…” Justin said loudly as he entered the staff lodge.

It was 1am Sunday morning of the fourth week of summer. Despite the late hour, everyone was still awake. Charlotte was due to relieve Justin on watch, though Justin, having the 10pm to 1am shift, was also having to try and quieten down the campers who were keeping each other awake. Charlotte on the other hand, had to let them be. Jon didn’t want it being public knowledge that one of the interns was awake and on guard at all times. Firstly, because it meant that if the Academy staff had to respond to a threat, like earlier that week, they could maintain the element of surprise. And secondly, Jon had assured parents that students were safe at the Eon Academy, and if they knew that Jon was taking measures such as this, that would only serve to worry them further.

“Sean again?” Jarena asked, from where she sat at the dining room table with Cassandra and Charlotte, playing a card game to keep Charlotte company as she waited for her own shift to start. Abbee and Dylan were at the other end of the table, drinking hot chocolates, whilst Victini sat on the table, helping himself to a bag of marshmallows, which he was gently roasting to perfection. In the lounge, Chris and Violet sat in content silence, Chris reading up on travel routes in Galar, whilst Violet browsed online about job opportunities working for the Pokemon League. At word of one of the students from his group, Chris looked up.

“What now?” Chris asked, evidently sick of hearing one of his students being the source of annoyance so frequently.

“The usual s**t,” Justin sighed. “Honestly, I’d get Jon to handle it, but if I do that, then he just knows that he can get me to give up. But if I gotta keep dealing with this, I may get myself kicked out of the police force before training even begins…”

Though he was only joking, the room went silent hearing this.

“Do you think one of us might have a better chance of getting that cabin to get their act together?” Abbee asked.

Justin considered Abbee’s proposal.

“On the one hand, I’m not sure what you guys can do that I can’t, short of using Shadowcraft to force them to sleep…” Justin said, as Violet stifled a snort of laughter. “On the other hand, maybe someone else has what it takes. Still, I don’t want to make you guys endure that…”

“I have an idea…” Charlotte said, as she dropped her own hand of cards, revealing them before taking the pile in the centre. “Let’s have some fun with this…”

“Why do I get the feeling the children will be scarred by what you have in mind?” Chris asked, though Charlotte ignored the joke, as Jarena grinned.

“A bet,” Charlotte explained, pretending Chris had said nothing. “Fifty dollars to participate, winner takes all. Winner will be whoever can get them quiet the soonest…”

Charlotte looked at Dylan.

“Without just putting them all to sleep via some supernatural method…” Charlotte added, as Dylan sighed.

“That sounds good in theory, but fifty dollars?” Dylan asked. “Why would Justin pay fifty dollars to participate in a competition that is stemming from the fact he can’t do this by himself?”

Abbee nudged Dylan, who realised what he had just said, before looking at Justin.

“No offence…” he said, to which Justin just shrugged.

“If all it costs me is fifty dollars for someone to find a way to get these kids to behave themselves, I’d call that money well spent…” Justin said with a grin. “I’m game…”

Charlotte stood, knowing she technically should be outside already, and stretched for a moment, thinking.

“Who’s in?” she asked. “The more who have a go, the bigger the prize…”

There was a murmur of assent from the other four interns, and to her slight surprise, Cassandra as well.

“Well how about this; tomorrow is a planning day, then the next six nights each of us but Justin has an eleven ‘til three shift overnight. Chris has two, and so do I, so Cass, you can take his second one, and Justin you take mine,” Charlotte explained. “No Shadowcraft, no using Pokemon moves. No asking Jon for help, because Justin’s right. They’ll just think we can’t deal with them on our own. Honesty system for when they go quiet. Whoever pulls it off earliest, takes the three hundred dollars. And once it’s over, we get Sean moved into another cabin. Deal?”

“Deal,” Chris said, with a look of amusement. “Easiest three hundred I’ve ever made…”

“What has you so sure you’ve got this?” Justin asked, amused at Chris’ optimism.

“They’re in my group. They respect me…”

“Tuesday night will answer that,” Charlotte said, before looking at her watch. “I better go. Abbee, you’re up first, Monday night…”

Abbee nodded, wondering how she’d go about this, as Charlotte left the building.

“Do you guys think you can get them to behave themselves?” Justin said, looking to the table where Cassandra, Jarena, Abbee and Dylan sat.

Abbee shrugged.

“I have two days to figure something out. We’ll see…”

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

The two days passed quickly, being a Sunday, with no classes, and the seminar having happened the day before, then the Monday. On Sunday, students were given free time, some of the older students going into Mossdeep in small groups, though most of the more studious ones gathered together for some practice battles against one another, even roping in a few of the interns to join them. Monday had the first classes for the week, and Abbee hoped, though didn’t hold her breath, that the classes, as well as Chris’ group having their training session with Jon, which the worst of the boys she would be dealing with were a part of, would have them tired. It was nearing eleven, which meant that students needed to already be in their cabins, with lights out and no noise from eleven onwards.

“You’re on duty again?”

Abbee looked over to see Rose, Jon and Alyssa’s niece, who had been one of Abbee’s first students, approaching her, wearing a shirt and pair of shorts. Despite the fact that they were keeping secret that they were having someone posted outdoors all night, it was no secret that there was an intern scheduled to try and get students into bed. Despite the fact that there were two hundred students, the bulk of them were usually compliant enough, or just exhausted enough, that they didn’t need to be pestered to sleep. It was the noisy few that even warranted someone trying to get them to behave.

“Every Monday night,” Abbee said with a grin. “Hopefully, you lot make my job easy tonight, and I can get to bed early…”

Abbee knew this was a lie. She’d be up until 3am regardless, as was expected from her shift that evening. She quickly checked her watch.

“Shouldn’t you be in your cabin?” Abbee asked, giving Rose a meaningful look.

“Auntie Liss wanted to catch up after dinner and we lost track of time,” Rose answered plainly. “I’m heading to bed now. Don’t want you wasting your energy on me…”

Abbee sighed, knowing exactly what Rose was referring to.

“It’s gonna be a long night…” Abbee said, as Rose grinned.

“Good luck…”

Rose made her way back to her own cabin, which was quiet already, as Abbee looked towards the infamous cabin she knew housed Sean and his friends. Lights were still visible from behind the curtains, and as other cabins quietened down, she could hear more noise coming from it with each passing second.

“May as well get started…” Abbee said to Victini, who scoffed, knowing full well that the pair were going to be in for a frustrating night.

As Abbee got closer to the cabin, she heard noise coming from it outside of the usual chatter. A heavy, basic beat.

“Are you kidding me?” Victini muttered. “Everyone else is going to sleep and they’re playing music?”

“Just leave it with me,” Abbee said, trying to sound confident, but knowing she wasn’t. She approached the door, and knocked.

“Boys, it’s light’s out,” Abbee called out, her tone sounding casual and friendly. “Can you please turn off the light and music, and go to sleep?”

“Oh, I’m sure saying please will be what wins this…” Victini whispered, which Abbee ignored. She heard a few murmured whispers, before silence.

“Thank you!” Abbee called out, before turning to walk to the nearby bench, where she would perch herself for her shift. Before she had taken two steps however, there was a loud thud and a burst of laughter, and Abbee sighed as she turned back towards the cabin, knocking on the door again.

“Boys, I’m coming in…” Abbee said, hoping she wasn’t making a mistake. She entered the room, where half of the boys were in their beds, watching with grins, as the other three boys appeared to be engaging in a game of sock wrestling.

“This is a boys cabin,” Sean said. “You’re not allowed in here.”

“It’s a cabin, not a bathroom, genius…” Victini retorted telepathically, as Abbee raised her shoulder to disrupt his footing and quieten him.

“I’m an employee of the Academy, so if doing my job means I need to come in here, then I am allowed,” Abbee explained, trying to sound professional. “Either way, you should all be in bed, not keeping each other awake…”

“But I haven’t brushed my teeth,” said Sean, who was still fully dressed.

“You’ve been in your cabin the last half hour,” Abbee answered. “Why didn’t you brush them then?”

“I forgot.”

“Go brush them then,” Abbee answered. “Then go to bed.”

“I haven’t brushed mine either!” said another boy. One by one, each of them said they hadn’t brushed their teeth, as Abbee, knowing now she had to allow all of them to brush their teeth, having allowed one to go.

Each of the boys went to the bathroom that was built in to their cabin, and she heard the boys laughing, before one of them cried out in disgust, as, Abbee guessed, he had been spat on.

“Boys, stop messing around,” Abbee said, her voice sounding sterner than it had ever had to be in this role, though still the most casual of any intern. “I need you all to go to sleep. You’ve got a big day tomorrow, and I need to teach, so I don’t want to be awake all night because of you guys.”

“Sorry,” said one of the boys, though she had a feeling he wasn’t sorry, and simply knew this was a convenient way to defuse confrontation.

The boys gradually found their way into their beds, as Abbee’s watch read quarter past eleven, before she told them again to go to sleep, and left the room. This time, she made it halfway to the bench, before turning around, new noises coming from the room.

“This was a mistake…” Abbee said quietly, as Victini choked back a laugh…

It was half past midnight when Abbee, at her wits end, gave up, knowing that if they weren’t listening to her for the last hour and a half, they wouldn’t start now, figuring that her entering and exiting would simply just keep them amused, and another hour and a half later when they finally went to sleep. An hour later, Justin arrived to relieve Abbee of her watch duty, much to her relief.

“How did you go?” Justin asked, although knowing the answer.

“I don’t know how you don’t slap these kids…” Abbee muttered, as Justin grinned widely. He felt better about his temptation to slap one, now knowing that even Abbee was reaching that point. “2am was when they went quiet…”

“That’s rough…” Justin answered, though felt himself grow excited. His average time of getting them silent was about 1am. If everyone else struggled as much as Abbee did, he may take the winnings. Though, the thought of having to admit that nobody could get them to behave soured the prospect for him.

“Honestly,” Abbee said, unable to hide the grin. “I almost want to watch Chris try and deal with this tomorrow night…”

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

“It’s 11pm,” Chris called out loudly from where he stood in the Eon Academy grounds the next evening. “Light’s out!”

Most cabins by this point were already quiet and over the next minute or so, he saw light disappearing from behind curtains of the various cabins. In five minutes, all the cabins were dark but one…

“Time to make some cash…” Chris said to himself with a grin, as he walked to the infamous cabin. Without knocking, he flung the door open, and stepped in. Two boys were sitting in one of the beds, watching a video on a phone, whilst Sean stood next to the bed, laughing along, until Chris had entered.

“Knock next time!” Sean exclaimed. “You don’t know what you might have walked in on!”

“If you were doing anything bad enough to be that worried, you shouldn’t be here,” Chris retorted sharply. “Jamie, get into your own bed! Sean, I’m sick of hearing about you screwing around! Go to sleep.”

“But I haven’t brushed my teeth yet-”

“Sean, we all know you don’t care if you go a night or three without brushing your teeth,” Chris interrupted. “Stop bulls**tting me and go to bed.”

There was a chorus of laughter from the other boys, as Sean made his way towards his bed. He stopped a few feet shy of it however, before looking around angrily.

“Who took my pillow?!” Sean asked angrily, looking around. “It was here a minute ago!”

All of the boys began loudly denying having taken Sean’s pillow, as Chris looked at them all.

“This is your one and only chance to ‘fess up without us having a problem-” Chris began, before Sean cut him off.

“Blake, give me my pillow! I know you took it!”

“I didn’t take s**t from you!” Blake retorted indignantly. “I see how often you shower, you think I’d want your grubby pillow?”

“Sean, shut up,” Chris said irritably.

“But he’s got my pillow!”

“And how the hell do you know that?” Chris asked, before cutting Sean off without waiting for an answer. “You don’t, you just don’t know when to keep your mouth shut.”

“Oh, I know when to keep my mouth shut. I could talk a lot more if I wanted-”

“Sean, shut up and go to bed.”

“But I don’t have a pillow!”

“You said it was there a minute ago?” Chris asked, and before Sean could give any more than a nod, Chris cut him off again, knowing full well letting this kid talk was not worth the hassle. “Well if you had been in bed when you were supposed to, and not screwing around, you wouldn’t have lost it.”

“I didn’t lose it! Blake stole it!”

“I didn’t steal your pillow, f**kwit!” Blake yelled.

“Blake, shut up and let me deal with this,” Chris snapped at Blake. “Sean, go to sleep.”

“But I don’t have a pillow!”

“Use a hoodie then, you’ll get a new one tomorrow,” Chris retorted, as he walked towards the door.

“I’m gonna sue this place!” Sean called out, as one of the other boys yelled out for Sean to shut up.

“I’m gone after this summer, so I don’t give two s**ts,” Chris retorted, lying about not caring, but figuring it was better to show Sean indifference. He walked outside and closed the door, checking his phone. It was quarter past eleven. The cabin seemed quiet, so he made his way to the bench where he figured he would make himself comfortable before pulling out his phone and writing the time down in his notes.

They had established that the silence only counted if it were final. If the boys remained this way for the rest of his shift, Chris knew he would have this competition in the bag. However, as he wrote pm after the time in his phone, he heard laughter from the boys cabin, before swearing to himself under his breath, and pressing backspace to clear the note. He walked back to the cabin, and pounded the door.

“Go to sleep!” he said angrily, as the cabin went quiet again. For a total of eight seconds, before Chris heard Sean’s voice again. Flinging open the door, he walked in to see Sean, standing by his bed, which was the one closest to the door, now shirtless, and rubbing his nipples, as other boys in the cabin laughed. He turned to look at Chris, with what Chris would describe as a s**t-eating grin.

Chris’ expression didn’t shift. He didn’t show any inclination of surprise, or further irritation. He knew that Sean was seeking attention.

“Sean,” Chris said, his voice level, and speaking as if what he was about to say was completely normal. “Stop rubbing your nipples and go to bed…”

Sean laughed, as did the other boys, however didn’t move.

“Sean!” Chris said, raising his voice. “Go to bed!”

Sean made his way to his bed, climbing in, as the other boys continued to laugh.

“You’re keeping me, the other boys, and people next door awake,” Chris said. “Shut up, and go to sleep.”

“What time?” Charlotte asked smugly as she joined Chris outside at 3am, who, despite the boys having now been quiet for a while, sat in obvious frustration.

“1:15am…” Chris replied bitterly. Charlotte grinned.

”They respect me,” Charlotte said mockingly, reminding Chris of his words of self-confidence from the few nights before.

“They do during classes,” Chris argued, more trying to convince himself. “It’s just bedtime when they start being stupid…”

Charlotte’s grin widened as Chris continued to justify the situation.

“There are stories of Were-Mightyena, people who turn into weird mutant Mightyena on the full moon,” Chris explained. “What about Were-F**kwits?”

“Possible, except one thing,” Charlotte noted, although not believing it at all, and nodding up. ”The full moon was nearly a fortnight ago…”

Chris sighed.

“You have any ideas on how you’ll get them to cooperate?” Chris asked. “You can tell me now, seeing as I can’t do anything more…”

“I have one,” Charlotte admitted. “But I’d rather see if it works before I share too much of it…”

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

It was half past eleven when Justin decided it was time to try and get the boys cabin to be quiet, hoping that if he left them alone for half an hour, the novelty of interns telling them off not being there would leave them bored. It also gave him extra time to plan how he would handle this.

Technically, Justin wasn’t even supposed to be having his turn that evening. Dylan was scheduled for that night’s eleven to three shift, however, in light of recent events, Justin had offered to swap shifts with Dylan.

That afternoon, Jon had another seizure, this time, right as students were leaving Dylan’s team’s training session with Jon. Dylan had managed to obscure Jon, and prevent the students from seeing as they left, however was shaken by the episode. It had been eleven days since his last seizure, which was a consolation in itself, as the last few had been only a little over a week apart. However, all present knew how these affected Dylan more than the other interns, having been living with Jon for over four years now, and working closely alongside him. Dylan hadn’t been at dinner that evening, and Justin, having thought it over, had tracked him down in the evening, and strong-armed Dylan into switching watch shifts with him. This meant that he would be taking both shifts, given his own three to seven shift was that night as well, however, armed with caffeine, and no classes he was responsible for the next day, the idea of an all nighter was nowhere near as daunting.

At half past eleven, Justin had entered the boy’s cabin to attempt to quieten them down, and had as much success as he expected. None. Knowing that the time he had to beat in order to stay in the running for the grand prize was quarter past one, he had left the boys for another half hour, before his next attempt. After multiple more attempts, it was now half past midnight, and Justin had just flung the door open again.

He was not at all surprised to see Sean had climbed out of his bed and onto the vacant top bunk above him, posing as the other boys laughed.

“Sean!” Justin said angrily. “Get into your own bed!”

“But I want to sleep on this one!” Sean whined.

“Really?” Justin asked sarcastically. “Because all of your bedding is on the bottom bunk…”

“I haven’t moved it yet-”

“Then why be on the top bunk before you do?” Justin asked, as Sean went quiet for a second. Justin knew that his university lecturers would have been proud of that retort, being something simple, but enough to win any sort of case in a court of law. He’d almost rather the court of law…

“I just-”

“Sean, don’t disrespect me by treating me like an idiot,” Justin snapped. “Or the other staff members. You ought to show a little more respect-”

“Why?”

The sheer obnoxiousness of the comment took Justin by surprise. He knew Sean was obnoxious, but even at his worst, he had pretended to have some respect for the staff.

“Why what?” Justin asked evenly, making it abundantly clear that he was giving Sean an opportunity to back out of this dangerous path he had decided to walk down with that question.

“Why should I show the staff respect?” Sean asked as he climbed down, with the same smug grin that he had given Chris the evening before. “Or you…”

Infuriated more than he had been in a very long time, more than after being attacked by Agatha’s followers in Goldenrod, or watching helplessly from a hospital room as the world appeared to be reaching its end, Justin stood forward, as a silence enveloped the other boys, who knew that Sean had crossed the threshold from simply being a dumb kid who didn’t know when to shut-up to something worse….

“I’ll tell you why,” Justin said forcefully, now angry, and letting that fuel his words, because if it didn’t fuel them, he worried they may fuel a slap across the face. “Because I’ve done more to earn that respect in the last four years than you have your entire life. By the time I was eighteen, I had discovered and captured a brand new Legendary Pokemon. I was the first trainer here to beat Jon in a serious match, before even Charlotte or Dylan!”

Justin took a step forward, causing Sean to instinctively back away, where he fell backwards onto his bed.

“Before I was even eighteen, Deoxys attacked the Academy, and wiped out power and communications off the island. Alone, I restored power, and sent an SOS, before returning to the Academy and helped the others get Deoxys on the defensive and end the battle! Less than a year later, we survived a targeted attack by poachers, who took Jon hostage, and managed to get them arrested and rescue him!” Justin continued, his voice rising. “Last summer, myself, Chris and Charlotte fought off a squadron of Agatha’s witches who had set their sights on us, and prevented them from murdering somebody!”

Justin didn’t mention the somebody they were attempting to murder was Lance, a now escaped criminal.

“And not even a week ago, myself and the other staff, risked our lives to fight off an attacking force, who came here, hoping to take someone like you, and torture and kill them to try and force Jon’s hand,” Justin yelled. “The very fact you are here, giving me the s**ts, is because I risked my own neck to make sure you could! So yes, you will treat me, and the others, with some goddamn respect, and if you have a problem with that, you can challenge me on the battlefield any time. One of my Pokemon to your six, and I’ll show you just how wrong you are!”

There was silence in the cabin, as Justin looked around. None of the boys were willing to make eye contact with him.

“Now shut up and go to sleep…” Justin said irritably, before walking to the door.

He almost reached it, when Sean, living up to his reputation, spoke quietly.

“I’ll be telling my parents about this,” Sean muttered. “You can’t talk to us like that.”

To Sean’s surprise, Justin laughed.

“Tell them. You can use my phone to call them if you want, right now,” Justin said, holding out his phone. “Because if they really think that I am treating you that badly, I can guarantee you that Jon will be keeping me here for the rest of summer, so they’ll probably just take you home and I can get to bed sooner…”

Sean was silent, before Justin withdrew his phone and scoffed.

“That’s what I thought…”

Justin closed the door behind him, and quickly realised that between his shift ending, and going to bed in the morning, he’d need to fill Jon in. Technically, the way he spoke to Sean wasn’t ideal, but he had hoped that it may finally bring about some change in behaviour.

The cabin was silent when Justin returned to his seat, as he wrote down the time.

’12:40am’

He grinned. This was the earliest time in the bet so far, and the earliest he had managed to get them to be quiet on his shifts. And he had the feeling that nobody was keen to test his patience again that evening.

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

“I swear, if tonight onwards they behave themselves, and I lose this bet having helped you guys…” Justin began, before yawning loudly. It was nearing eleven, and he was keeping Charlotte company as she began her shift. He had stayed awake until shortly before eight that morning, kept awake by caffeine, and quiet conversations on the phone with Candice, as the time zones made it an ideal time to talk, before sleeping for four hours, not wanting to ruin his sleep pattern, especially considering he had three classes and group training with Jon the next day. The effect of that, which Justin was thankful for, was that right now he was exhausted, and knew he would have no issue finding sleep.

“How were they with you today?” Charlotte asked. “Have you seen them?”

“The other boys seem to be treating me like some sort of god,” Justin laughed. “I keep catching them staring at me in awe. Sean on the other hand is terrified of me. I sat at his table during dinner, and he immediately shut up. Almost jumped out of his skin when I asked him to pass the salt.”

“Interesting…” Charlotte muttered, as she considered her own plan of action for the evening.

“You thinking of doing the same thing?” Justin asked. “Throwing your weight around?”

“I had an idea I was wanting to try, and I don’t think doing both would work. It’d just come off as desperate. Especially if you did that last night,” Charlotte explained, as she looked over towards the cabin that had become the source of frustration for all the interns over the last few nights. Her attention had been piqued by the amount of noise coming from it. “I think you can rest easy. If you’re not on watch they’ll be back to normal…”

“Good luck,” Justin said. “Remember, twenty-to-one is the time to beat…”

“Twenty-to-one,” Charlotte agreed, as Justin waved goodnight and made his way towards the staff lodge.

Charlotte waited fifteen minutes, before knocking on the door, and entering the boys room.

“It’s past bedtime,” Charlotte said simply. Her voice was neutral, with no friendliness, or animosity present. She may as well have been reading out the words she spoke. “Time to be quiet and go to sleep…”

There were murmurs of agreement, and an apology from one of the boys before she walked out. Five minutes later however, she could hear laughter and noises. She grinned. This was what she was relying on.

After waiting another fifteen minutes, she knocked on the door, which caused silence, before walking in quietly.

“Well boys, I just wanted to thank you…” Charlotte said, in the same tone as before. She had a theory. Sometimes, what’s worse than someone yelling and getting angry when you’re annoying them, is when they’re dead calm…

“What for?” asked Jamie, confused by Charlotte’s words.

“Helping me figure out how to run my classes tomorrow,” Charlotte said, intentionally visibly looking around to count the boys in the cabin. “You all have practical training with me at some point tomorrow, and I needed to figure out who to get up for the demonstration…”

“What demonstration?” Blake asked, now sounding worried.

“We’re discussing humiliation tactics in class tomorrow,” Charlotte said casually. “You know, for when you’re battling someone who is just a poor sport, and deserves to be put in their place. Like that girl I battled from the College of the North Wind…”

Knowing that all students at the Academy had seen those matches, being the goldmine of tactics they were in Chris and Cassandra’s Tactics and Strategy classes, all knew what Charlotte was talking about. How she had beaten her opponent’s Legendary Pokemon Zeraora without using her Deoxys, and then, when her opponent had sent out a Hydreigon, having Deoxys use a simple trick to cause the Pokemon to rampage, ignoring all orders given by its trainer, before knocking it out with such brutal ease. Of all battles that day two summers earlier, that, potentially tied with Jon’s win over Camilla, was the most humiliating loss for the College of the North Wind.

“See, Jon and I have been planning this, but had a dilemma,” Charlotte explained. “If I were to get any students up to help with the demonstration, it would be humiliating for them. Far worse than back at the College. But if I were to demonstrate against Jon, the tactics may not be as obvious and easy to pick up. I settled for using Jon as the example because I couldn’t think of any students I would be okay with humiliating in class…”

Charlotte looked around as one by one, the boys realised what she was saying.

“But now, I think I know who I wouldn’t mind helping me get the point across tomorrow…” Charlotte said, looking between them. “And I think I have some stuff in mind for all of you to help me out…”

There was silence, as Charlotte considered it.

“But, if I get to go to sleep soon, and don’t have time to come up with new plans tonight, I will just have to have Jon be the victim,” Charlotte said, more to herself, though knew all were listening intently.

“We’ll be quiet,” Blake said quickly. The rest of the boys murmured in agreement.

“Good,” Charlotte replied simply, before leaving. As she walked away from the cabin, she heard a whisper from Sean, before the sharp whispers of the other boys telling him to shut up and go to sleep. This back and fourth continued for another ten minutes, until finally they were silent. She checked the time, and laughed as she realised it was quarter to twelve, putting her in first place

“I’ll let the others know about this…” Charlotte said to herself, as she got comfortable, having a hunch she wouldn’t need to be getting up again, short of an emergency. “After the bet is over…”

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

That morning, once Abbee had returned from her three to seven shift, and all the interns had awoken, they had convened in the staff lodge to clarify the current standings. Abbee was currently in last place, with silence not being achieved until two in the morning, though Cassandra had respected the fact that she didn’t try and pretend it happened half an hour earlier. Chris had been minutely more successful, managing to achieve silence from the cabin at quarter past one. Justin had achieved a personal best, having the boys quiet by twenty to one. Charlotte though, had decimated that, managing to get them silent at quarter to twelve, a mere forty-five minutes after lights out.

“Are you sure you didn’t misread the time?” Chris asked, shocked. “Or that your watch just hadn’t been changed for daylight savings?”

“Ask anyone in the cabin next door,” Charlotte retorted. “They’ll be thanking me that they could sleep before midnight…”

“How did you two do it?” Cassandra asked Justin and Charlotte, knowing that, despite Charlotte being clearly ahead, Justin’s feat was equally impressive.

“I made some veiled threats,” Charlotte said casually. “Pretty much told them that I would use them as examples for humiliation tactics in my classes today if they didn’t get their s**t together.”

“I threw my weight around a bit. Didn’t even mean to,” Justin admitted. “Sean was just being such a disrespectful little… well, he asked why he should show any of us any respect, so I gave him a rundown, from Deoxys, to last summer, to the fact any of us could beat any of those boys in a battle with our eyes closed, or the fact that he was still safely able to be a pain in our a** was because we risked our lives to keep them safe during the attack last week…”

“Damn…” Chris muttered.

“Yeah, Jon and I had a chat about that the next day,” Justin laughed weakly. “He is expecting a complaint from Sean’s parents, but is on my side. He found it hilarious. This whole bet as well…”

“He knows?” Cassandra asked slightly surprised as the other interns laughed at Justin’s revelation.

“Yeah, he thought it was great,” Justin said, before remembering something. “Actually, he made a proposition for us…”

Curiosity flowed across those present in the room, as Justin explained.

“He made the offer that he will add a hundred dollars to the prize pool, but will write a name in a sealed envelope who he thinks will win,” Justin explained. “He doesn’t know the current results. But if we get to the end, and he has guessed right, he’ll take two hundred from the prize pool…”

“So effectively, we can have the chance to win $400, but risk only winning $200…” Chris muttered.

“There's no we about it,” Charlotte said to Chris. “You’re in second last place…”

Justin nodded, before looking to Cassandra, Dylan and Charlotte.

“This only affects you three now. You guys want to accept his offer?”

Charlotte looked at Dylan and Cassandra, before speaking.

“It’s not like double or nothing where we lose the prize. Even if he guesses correctly, we’re still pocketing two hundred dollars if we win…”

“And if he doesn’t, $400 is a lot of money…” Cassandra said quietly. Despite her wage at the Academy being generous, most of that was in the form of lodging, food and utilities. Most of the money she did earn that didn’t go towards expenses not covered by the Academy, went into savings, so she could one day soon make a new life for herself independent of Jon’s help, and earned legitimately. $400 would be a nice bit of spending money she hadn’t accounted for.

“I’m easy either way,” Dylan said with a shrug, though sounding a little distant, which they attributed to Jon’s seizure a few days prior.

“So you agree to it?” Justin asked. Cassandra nodded.

“We’re game. Get him to give you the envelope, and get the money from him and add it to the pool. I’ll be interested to see how this plays out…”

That evening, Cassandra found herself watching as various students rushed back to their cabins, knowing that they were late. She didn’t call any out, knowing that the 10:30 in cabins rule was more so to prevent it getting to lights out and having complaints of teeth not being brushed, or people missing from cabins.

She had only one idea for how to handle the boys tonight. Her classes were more theoretical, which didn’t allow for tactics like Charlotte’s, and the main claim to respect she held was in Shadowcraft, which she could not use to put the boys to sleep, and whilst she could use it for making a scene if need be, she knew that given recent history, using Shadowcraft to make herself clear would cause more trouble than this bet was worth.

She had however, realised something. For years, before people even knew Shadowcraft existed, she had excelled in getting her way with people who didn’t necessarily want to help her. It was a talent of hers, which had resulted in her acquiring Victini many years earlier. Granted, she didn’t like the person she was when she had used this talent, she had been effective in getting her own way. Though the fame, money and influence she held at that time had helped, they weren’t the make or break facet of her ability to manipulate people back then. There was a skill to it.

Normally, she avoided thinking about these prior to S.S. Wishmaker interactions in depth, due to the sheer amount she cringed at her previous self. However now, she endured the cringe, needing to embody her former self. She needed to be Cassandra Silvers, undefeated champion and leader of the Diamond Ladies. Cunning. Cutthroat. Wickedly smart. And, based on present Cassandra’s standards, a bit of a b***h…

After repeating the line that she felt embodied her previous self the most to herself, ’it’s Miss Silvers to you,’ she began planning how she would get these boys to listen to her and go to sleep. It was twenty past eleven when she decided that to spend any more time trying to perfect the persona, would be to risk allowing Charlotte to keep the lead with no real contest. Standing up straighter, to add to her already impressive height, she made her way towards the boys cabin.

The clothes she wore weren’t her standard every day attire, which had now become slightly less practical than the summer before, given the relative peace of the past year, but instead, the only clothes she had from her previous life. The ones Jon had bought from the collector, that she thought she had given to charity. Normally, she made a point of not wearing them, given the bulk of their time with her were with her old self, and also, it disgusted her to think of who had them before Jon bought them back. But, for tonight they added to the image she was attempting to embody. Miss Silvers.

The boys were laughing loudly, as Cassandra opened the door, and walked well and truly into the cabin. Abbee on her night, had made the mistake of not going in further than the door. Miss Silvers however, knew that would be a mistake. These boys were like wild Pokemon, who were territorial. In their own territory, they would be more confident. Cassandra may have been okay with them feeling a little more comfortable in their own space. Miss Silvers however, intended on disrupting that space, and encroaching on their territory enough to make them uncomfortable. She stopped in the middle of the room, as the boys became quiet, the more astute of them recognising that Miss Silvers was not in the mood to be messed with.

“Let me make something abundantly clear,” Miss Silvers said, displeasure obvious in her voice. “I didn’t want to be on light’s out duty tonight, but I owed Chris a favour, so here I am…”

The last four words were said with a sarcastic, exasperated enthusiasm, as she looked around at all the boys. Sean went to open his mouth, however before an intelligible word left it, Miss Silvers had pounced on him.

“Did I say you could talk?” she asked sharply, Cassandra glad that it was Sean who went to speak first, knowing that she got along quite well with a few of the more level headed boys in this cabin, and didn’t want Miss Silvers to damage the rapport she had with them. “No, so listen and listen well. I’m not going to repeat myself…”

She looked around, somehow managing to hold her gaze for an uncomfortable amount of time with each boy in the room, whilst only mere seconds passed.

“I have every intention of being asleep by midnight, which means you will be asleep before then as well,” Miss Silvers said, leaving no room for misinterpretation.

“But Cassandra, can I stay awake if I’m not keeping the others-” began Blake, as Miss Silvers whirled around to face him.

“It’s Miss Silvers to you,” Miss Silvers said sharply. “And no, because everyone here knows that this cabin cannot be trusted to be quiet while they’re still awake.”

She glanced around, making sure all the boys were still focused on her.

“I’m going to go outside and give you boys a chance to go to sleep,” Miss Silvers explained. “And if I hear any noise, the person who I think made it, whether it was them or not, will be pulled out of here, and be waiting outside with me, where I will make it abundantly clear just how infuriated I am that I am at the thought of being stuck staying up because some people don’t understand how to keep their mouth shut…”

There was a nervous murmur of agreement, causing Miss Silver’s gaze to narrow on the boys.

“What was that?”

“Yes Miss Silvers…”

“Good,” Miss Silvers said firmly. “Don’t let me see you again until morning…”

Without waiting for any confirmation, Miss Silvers left the cabin, slamming the door shut behind her, and walking towards the bench where she would spend the remainder of this watch shift. Technically, this eleven to three shift was Chris’ with Cassandra only taking it in order to participate in the bet. However, Cassandra knew Chris was in the student lodge, staying awake anyway. Jon was right. She had gotten stronger as a battler, but was still a while off being skilled enough to potentially handle an emergency on her own unlike the other five. She knew if something happened, her first point of call would be Chris, until Dylan arrived at three to relieve her.

Cassandra noted the time as half past eleven, as the cabin she emerged from remained dead silent. She knew that if they remained this way for the rest of her shift, she would be in first place, but if fifteen minutes passed and they made any noise after, her chances of winning would be gone. And in that scenario, Miss Silvers would be far from happy…

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

Despite not being as invested in this bet as the others, Dylan was surprised to hear the next day that Cassandra had managed to get the boys silent after only half an hour, and even then, that was only on her first attempt.

“How did you do it?” Justin asked quietly over breakfast the next day in awe. He sat at the table in the dining hall with Cassandra, Dylan and Jarena, as students started filtering in, preparing breakfast and finding seats. “If I could figure out how to get them silent in half an hour…”

“I don’t know that you could,” Cassandra said solemnly. “I’m not exactly proud of how I did it…”

“You didn’t use Shadowcraft, did you?” Justin asked.

“God no,” Cassandra answered quickly, raising her hands in a placating gesture. “That would be a nightmare. No. Let’s just say that before people knew I was a witch, I was still very good at getting my own way…”

Jarena choked on her cereal hearing this, and once she had recovered looked at Cassandra.

“Is that why you were wearing your old clothes?”

“Yeah, I was trying to channel a little bit of my old self…” Cassandra admitted, cringing as she remembered what she had said and how she had acted the evening before as Miss Silvers. “I even dropped the Miss Silvers line…”

“Oh God…” Jarena muttered. Dylan looked confusedly between the pair, and Justin asked the question.

“Is that bad?”

“The kids may never be the same,” Jarena said, no hint of humour in her voice. Cassandra rolled her eyes.

“Not that bad,” Cassandra said. “But still, not exactly pleasant either…”

Cassandra shuddered, as Justin nudged Dylan.

“You have to beat half an hour if you want to win this,” Justin said to Dylan. “Any idea how?”

Dylan shrugged, though did try and make a point of caring a little more about this bet than he did.

“What are the rules again?” he asked.

“No Shadowcraft, which you’re pretty safe with,” Justin explained. “And no using Pokemon moves. And common sense. Nothing that would cause problems for the Eon Academy.”

Dylan nodded, as an idea formed in his mind.

“I think I have something…”

Being a Saturday, the evening shifts were instead three hours, with Dylan covering Justin’s ten ‘til one shift, having had his own covered earlier in the week by Justin. Given the next day was Sunday, all the interns agreed to remain awake until Dylan’s shift finished, so they could announce the winner of the bet, as soon as Dylan returned from his shift, with Jon agreeing to meet in the lodge with them as well. The only exception to this was Abbee, who having the four to seven watch, would sleep as much as she can prior, and wake at one for the announcement, before attempting to get a little more sleep.

Dylan had a plan that he knew was a gamble. It was the sort of idea that would either work and work extremely well, or not at all, in which case he would not be able to beat Cassandra. However, given the fact he had half an hour to get these boys quiet in order to beat Cassandra, this was his best bet.

The clock struck eleven, and all the students were in their cabins. And naturally, the cabin which had been the subject of this week's interest, was still lit, and producing noise. At five minutes past eleven, Dylan quietly walked to the door of the cabin, and knocked slowly three times. The light quickly flicked off, as Dylan opened the door, and heard the sound of boys rushing into their beds, not wanting to be caught out of bed. Dylan didn’t address them, but simply walked into the room, looking at the various corners, and not acknowledging the puzzled stares of the boys. After a minute had passed, he finally said quietly, though loud enough for the boys to hear, “this will do nicely…”

“What will do?” Sean asked. Dylan whistled, and there was a flicker of indistinct movement, as his shadow seemed to leap away from him, towards a space between two of the beds. There was a yelp of fright, as the shadow seemed to materialise into form, though all that could be clearly seen was a pale blue eye.

“Darkrai doesn’t like its Pokeball, and can’t sleep in the staff lodge,” Dylan said quietly. “There are too many lights. Things like power lights on TVs and stuff. Can’t get to sleep in there…”

“So what, it’s going to sleep in here?” Sean asked in disbelief. “Why our cabin?”

“Well normally I ask one of the other cabins to take let it sleep in there, but I forgot to do that tonight,” Dylan lied. “They’re all going to sleep now, but I saw you guys were still awake, and knew I still had time to make arrangements in here.”

Dylan looked over at Darkrai, who was barely visible, and standing terrifyingly still.

“It’s quite gentle really,” Dylan explained. “But it does get cranky if it's tired, and can become a bit of a handful.”

“We don’t want it in here!” Sean protested, though Dylan brushed the concern aside.

“Sure you do. It’ll go to sleep pretty quickly, and once it’s asleep, you won’t even know it's here,” Dylan said, before shifting his tone to be a little more nervous. “Just don’t wake it up. It doesn’t like being woken up…”

Darkrai melted back into the shadows, however remained in place between the two beds. In truth, Dylan wasn’t aware of Darkrai being capable of sleep. It sure didn’t seem to show any need for it, or have any fluctuations in behaviour if it didn’t get enough. The boys however didn’t need to know that.

“It’s already asleep. It must be comfortable here,” Dylan said, before walking to the door. “I’ll come get it in the morning…”

The boys were silent, as Dylan walked out of the room.

“Sleep tight,” Dylan said, almost menacingly, as he closed the door behind him, before checking his phone.

11:08pm.

When Dylan returned to the staff lodge at 1am, he found all participants in the bet, as well as Jon, Violet and Jarena waiting for him. Justin held two envelopes, one containing the cash prize, and the other containing Jon’s prediction of who would win the bet.

“Latios has confirmed that all the students in the cabin are asleep,” Jon explained. Using Latios was his idea, as Dylan technically having a shift that finished two hours earlier than the others, had an advantage, given there was less time for the boys to ruin his score by making noise.

“Spill,” Abbee said, the excitement obvious despite the tiredness from having been woken up. “What time?”

“Eleven…” Dylan began, as a collective breath was held, especially by Cassandra. “Oh-Eight…”

“Bulls**t!” Chris exclaimed, before remembering that he and Dylan still weren’t on comfortable speaking terms and going silent.

“How?” Charlotte asked, equally surprised.

“Darkrai is with them…” Dylan began.

“You can’t use Pokemon moves though!” Justin interjected, sounding a little panicked. “If that was okay, I’d have just borrowed Darkrai to put them to sleep myself!”

“I didn’t say Darkrai put them to sleep,” Dylan explained, as Jon grinned.

“What did you do?” Jon asked.

“I told them that Darkrai couldn’t get to sleep in here, because there were too many lights, and since they were the only cabin still awake, it was the only one I could arrange for Darkrai to sleep in,” Dylan explained. “Told them it is completely safe. But just to be careful not to wake it up, or it may be a handful…”

Jon burst into laughter at Dylan’s fabrication, as Charlotte couldn’t help but grin.

“That’s low…” Justin said disapprovingly.

“It shut them up within ten minutes,” Dylan answered. “Would you object to me telling them Darkrai liked their room so much that it will stay there all summer?”

“No!” Justin said quickly, having been worried about not being able to pull off a win like this again. He handed Dylan the envelope full of cash. “I take back what I said. It shut them up. Great!”

“So Dylan’s won the bet then…” Cassandra noted. “The next question is, did Jon figure out who would win it?”

Jon grinned, before nodding to Justin to open the envelope. Justin tore it open, and unfolded the piece of paper. He looked at the name on it, before swearing under his breath, which was enough of an answer for everyone else. He held up the piece of paper, revealing Dylan written in Jon’s handwriting on the piece of paper.

“I very nearly said Charlotte,” Jon said, as Dylan handed him two hundred dollars. “But my instincts told me that Dylan would have the most interesting way of handling this, so I went with that…”

“I just hope that this is enough to keep them quiet…” Chris muttered. “Honestly, most of them are from my group, and it’s embarrassing that I came second last in handling them…”

“Well, I have a hunch I might be able to do something about it…” Dylan said, surprising those present who had seen the conflict between Dylan and Chris two summers prior. “If I’m not stepping on your toes to do it…”

Surprised at the offer, Chris nodded.

“I’d appreciate that,” Chris said quietly, not making eye contact. Abbee looked between the pair stunned.

“Leave it with me,” Dylan said. “I’ll speak to the boys tomorrow. We may not even need to move Sean…”

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

That weekend's seminar was on the Sunday, in which Jon had planned to, alongside Dylan, demonstrate more advanced double battle techniques. Given this, there was not a single person at the Eon Academy who was not present in the stadium that morning. Despite only a few of the interns being scheduled on ro assisst, Dylan’s double battle win against Brad Jenkins, an ace of the College of the North Wind, who battled Dylan with his Legendary Pokemon Cresselia before Dylan even captured Darkrai, was legendary in and of itself, and given the fact Jon had trained him, all present were looking forward to seeing some matches between Dylan, who was known to be unshakable, and Jon, who would likely be going all out more than any of the students, and even some of the staff, had ever seen.

Hype for this seminar had been building all weekend, and because of this, Jon had decided to live stream this seminar publicly, in order to give an insight as to what the level of skill being taught by the Eon Academy is, and hopefully continue to raise interest in potential students for future years.

“Dylan,” called out a familiar voice, as Dylan was ushering students into their seat. “Can we talk?”

Dylan turned, and was hardly surprised to see Blake, accompanied by Jamie, two of the boys from the infamous problem cabin.

“What’s up?” Dylan asked. “We only have a few minutes before the seminar starts…”

“We’ll be quick,” Jamie said. “Can we please not have Darkrai stay in our room?”

Dylan looked at the boys, with a facade of shock.

“Did Darkrai not behave itself?”

“It did…” Blake admitted. “I think. I didn’t really see it until you got it this morning…”

“It’s just… Creepy…” Jamie explained. “It’s hard to sleep knowing it’s just there…”

“Well that puts me in a difficult position,” Dylan explained. “Because Darkrai really needs its sleep, and hates being in its Pokeball, and the rest of the year it normally sleeps in one of the student cabins…”

Blake gave Jamie an uneasy glance, before Dylan spoke again.

“Look, how about this,” Dylan explained. “It’s been tedious trying to find a cabin that I could put Darkrai in in advance every day, and I don’t want other students being burdened with it too often just because they’re trying to help me out, especially if you think it’s creepy...”

“So what will you do?”

“Well, honestly, I think last night worked well,” Dylan explained. “I just chose the cabin which was awake the latest, and put Darkrai in there. It was actually nice, not having to worry about lining a cabin up. So I might keep doing that…”

“But-” Blake began, however Dylan cut him off.

“I mean, if you really don’t want Darkrai in your cabin…” Dylan said, almost as if he were considering the question hypothetically. “I know one way to make sure that doesn’t happen…”

Blake realised what Dylan was saying, before nodding.

“Do it,” Blake said. “Put Darkrai in whatever cabin is awake the latest…”

“I think I will…” Dylan said. “Thanks for being so understanding…”

Blake and Jamie left, both muttering to themselves, Dylan hearing the name Sean mentioned multiple times.

A few minutes later the rest of the students were seated, as were the other interns. Alyssa sat behind a laptop which had access to the stadiums mounted cameras, and controlled the live stream, as Jon began the seminar, with a brief lecture on double battle basics, and how to choose which Pokemon to send out together. He knew, however, that people were here, and watching online, Alyssa noted by the thousands, for one thing and one thing only. Eventually, he placed the microphone he held down, and moved towards the end of the battlefield. On the opposite end, Dylan stood waiting for him.

Each trainer selected two Pokeballs. As they both activated them, Dylan’s side of the battlefield was filled by Metagross and Flygon, whilst Jon’s was filled by Blaziken and Absol. Dylan had never seen Jon use this combination before, however could see a glint in Jon’s eye, that he was expecting to surprise Dylan. He knew that it wouldn’t be a Mega Evolution, given the fact that they still tried to not publicise the fact their Pokemon were capable of it. However, he had a hunch he knew.

“Begin!”

Dylan knew that based on appearances alone, Flygon was the fastest Pokemon on the battlefield, however given Jon’s recent acquisition, appearances couldn’t be trusted. He was certain one of Jon’s two Pokemon was actually Zoroark. His first instinct was that it would be Absol, given Jon’s affinity for using his Blaziken, however wasn’t willing to act on that instinct just yet. Jon’s choice in Pokemon was smart, and he knew Jon would prove that in the opening turns.

“Flygon, Sandstorm!” Dylan ordered. Many lessons he learnt from Jon about battling stemmed from other places in life. For example, the attitude that Jon was taking to secure the Academy, in not letting their enemies know that they are aware of them, was how Dylan was approaching this. If Dylan could convince Jon that he didn’t know one of his Pokemon was Zoroark, he could lure Jon into making a mistake. Although he worried that Jon knew him too well to be able to fall for this.

Dust, dirt and sand gushed from Flygon’s wings, before swirling around the battlefield, reducing visibility, even to those in the stands watching them, and buffeting both of Jon’s Pokemon. Dylan however, knew that this damage was too negligible to force Zoroark to drop its illusion, which would hopefully encourage Jon to get cocky.

“Blaziken, Swords Dance!” Jon ordered. “Absol, Double Team!”

“Metagross, Magnet Rise!” Dylan commanded, however, realised he had made a mistake. Jon had both Pokemon use a move that would make sense for Zoroark. If Blaziken were actually Zoroark, then it made sense to increase its attack power, seeing as there was little chance of either of Dylan’s Pokemon knocking it out in a single hit, which by extension meant that Absol was the real Pokemon, and using Double Team would help nullify its major drawback, being its lack of resilience, making it a glass cannon. However, if Absol were actually Zoroark, Double Team would allow it to maintain the illusion longer, whilst also being a believable move for Absol, and Blaziken was no stranger to making use of Sword’s Dance. Dylan could not determine which was more likely to be an imposter, if either, based on these two moves alone. His next plan would be to monitor Blaziken, to see whether the speed increase from Speed Boost was consistent. Despite not having seen Zoroark in battle anywhere near as often, Dylan had seen Blaziken battle many times over the years, and would not be fooled by Zoroark curbing its own natural speed, and attempting to emulate it. However, his mistake had been using Sandstorm, which reduced his own visibility of Blaziken.

Knowing he needed to identify a potential Zoroark as soon as he could, Dylan switched tactics.

“Flygon, Earthquake!”

“Blaziken, Protect!” Jon ordered. “Absol, Double Team again!”

Dylan grimaced, knowing that this move was the same as the one Jon had made prior. It was equally likely that either Pokemon was or was not Zoroark. He considered for a moment the best way to deal with this, considering using a Dark Type move like Brutal Swing, however knew that both Pokemon would resist it if they weren’t Zoroark, but what they appeared to be. Additionally, all of Flygon and Metagross’ Dark Type moves were physical, placing both of them potentially at Blaziken and Absol’s mercy. Metagross especially would not last in a drawn out match against either of those Pokemon.

“Metagross, Laser Focus!” Dylan ordered, knowing that he was giving away Metagross’ target, however only seeing one option moving forward. “Flygon, Quick Attack Blaziken! Metagross, Bullet Punch Absol!”

Despite knowing he put himself in this situation by using Sandstorm, he knew he had made the right decision. In the blink of an eye, Flygon darted forward to launch a quick strike on Blaziken, as Metagross did the same to Absol, hitting the actual Pokemon, and not one of the Double Team copies.

“Good call!” Jon called out. Dylan watched as Absol took the hit and cried out, however didn’t change. Blaziken however, didn’t make a sound, or even seem to react. The attack almost seemed to phase through it.

“Blaziken is Zoroark!” Dylan thought to himself, as Jon gave his own command, knowing the jig was up.

“Blaziken, Shadow Claw!” Jon ordered. “Absol, Night Slash!”

Both Pokemon took the hit, as Dylan calculated his next move.

“Metagross, Ally Switch!” Dylan ordered. “Flygon, Superpower!”

With Blaziken being confirmed to be Zoroark, it was now relatively less of a threat to Metagross, which meant Dylan had less to lose by placing it in close quarters. Meanwhile, Flygon, having been teleported into Metagross’ original space, lashed out with a brutal Fighting Type attack, striking Absol and knocking it out.

“Blaziken, Shadow Ball!” Jon ordered, as there were sounds of confusion from those who wondered how Blaziken knew Shadow Ball.

Despite Dylan’s slightly higher confidence in placing Metagross there, knowing it wasn’t actually Blaziken he was battling, Metagross still fell unconscious from the hit. Dylan however, now had the upper hand.

“Flygon, Brutal Swing!” Dylan ordered, and found himself surprised when Flygon rushed Blaziken, and struck it, knocking the Pokemon out as the illusion faded, revealing Zoroark. It wasn’t the fact that the attack hit that struck him as odd though. Instead, it was the fact that Jon, despite having the faster Pokemon, didn’t give it a command.

Dylan’s first thought was that being a Ghost Type Pokemon, Zoroark may have used Destiny Bond to force a draw, however that would have triggered nearly instantly, knocking out Flygon already. His confusion disappeared however, as the sandstorm dissipated. On the ground on the other end of the battlefield, Jon lay, convulsing, as the seizure caused him to lose all control of his body.

There were cries of alarm, as Dylan rushed across the battlefield, dodging the unconscious forms of Metagross, Absol and Zoroark, hoping he wasn’t too late. He reached Jon rolling him onto his side, and noticed blood seeping from his mouth, the result of Jon having accidentally bitten his tongue.

Dylan watched in horror as the crowd all stood, and began shouting, asking what was happening, and noticing Jon’s blackened, cursed hand which had fallen out of the pocket he normally hid it in.

“Everyone, please just calm down!” Cassandra was calling out, fruitlessly over the commotion, however the panic in her own voice was evident.

Dylan heard footsteps rushing over to approach him, before Alyssa crouched next to him over Jon.

“Dylan,” she said, her voice breaking a little. “I’ll look after Jon. You need to get this under control…”

Dylan, who was growing more pale by the second, took a moment to register what Alyssa was telling him. It was common knowledge with Academy matters that Dylan was second in command, and for all intents and purposes, his word was the equivalent of Jon’s. He stood slowly, and walked uneasily towards the table where Jon had placed the microphone earlier, knowing it was the only way of getting everyone’s attention.

Lifting the microphone to his mouth, he spoke.

“Everyone, please calm down! Nobody call emergency services!” Dylan said, trying to force himself to remain calm and act rationally. “Jon will be okay, and does not need an ambulance or the hospital. We will try and answer questions you may have at a more appropriate time, but for now, we need you to leave the building, get into your teams, and stay together. Your team leaders will be with you as soon as they can! Team Leaders, please join me here”

Hearing this, Willow, Violet and Jarena began ushering students outside, as Dylan placed the microphone back down, and joined the others.

“Justin, go find a bucket,” Dylan said. “Abbee, go to the house and get the aspirin and nausea meds. Chris, once the students are out, kill the lights…”

As everyone moved to complete their tasks, Dylan, now with the adrenaline wearing off, and his responsibilities having been taken care of, felt the full impact of what had just happened. He felt tears forming, as he realised that this was Jon’s second seizure in four days, the quickest decline yet…