Shauna headed to school with a flutter of nerves.
"little chimecho, are you nervous?"
Chingle-ling~
"Thank you, little chimecho."
Shauna broke into a smile and patted its little head. "And thank you, Rapidash."
Rapidash answered with a soft snort.
At the school gate, Shauna rode Rapidash to the guardhouse.
The same guard from last time hurried out to open the gate when he saw her. The sight of her school uniform made him pause.
"You—are you here to attend classes?"
Shauna nodded.
"I see, but Rapidash—"
The guard looked at Rapidash, conflicted.
After all, the school didn't allow under-age students to bring Pokémon onto campus.
And Rapidash was the kind of Pokémon that could start a fire if not kept under control.
Shauna tilted her head. "Rapidash can't come to class with me?"
The guard nodded, but remembering Principal Sachi's special care for Shauna, he said, "Let me check with the principal first."
He dashed off as soon as he finished speaking.
Seeing that, Shauna thought for a moment and walked back to Rapidash.
"Rapidash, they say you can't come in with me. Go home first and pick me up after school, okay?"
Rapidash gave a gentle nod.
Shauna hugged Rapidash's neck and giggled.
Soon the guard ran back. "The principal says you can bring Rapidash to school."
Shauna nodded. "Thank you, Uncle Guard."
The guard's heart melted at the adorable voice.
"You're welcome, you're welcome. Hurry in, don't be late."
Shauna hummed in reply, then pulled a candy from her backpack and handed it to the guard.
"Uncle, this is for you. Be happy every day, okay?"
Lethal cuteness!
The guard beamed, accepting the candy.
"You be happy every day too."
Shauna rode Rapidash straight to the principal's office. Principal Sachi came out when she saw her.
"Why are you here instead of going to your classroom?"
The principal's face was all smiles; as a grandpa, he had zero resistance to cute little kids like Shauna.
"I brought fresh milk, Principal Sachi."
Hearing this, the principal looked at Rapidash's back and spotted the milk cans.
Right—Shauna always delivered the fresh milk.
"All right, after you drop off the milk, head to class. I'll call your Master for you."
"Mm, thank you, Grandpa Principal Sachi."
"No need for thanks."
The principal couldn't stop grinning. After carrying the milk inside and making the call, he came out to find Rapidash gone.
"Where's Rapidash? Back in the Poké Ball?"
he asked curiously.
Shauna shook her head. "No, I sent it back to the Breeding House. Pokémon aren't allowed at school."
"But I said it was fine."
Shauna shook her head firmly. "No, we have to follow school rules. That's what the guard uncle said."
Principal Sachi smiled and patted her head. "Good girl. But will you be okay without a Pokémon with you?"
The principal had heard from Lucas about what had happened to Shauna before.
"It's fine, I still have little chimecho."
She pointed to the chimecho on her shoulder. "Grandpa Principal Sachi, can I bring little chimecho to class? It's very well-behaved and won't make noise."
The principal glanced at chimecho and nodded quickly.
"Of course, but no whispering during lessons."
"Mm."
Shauna nodded just as her Master arrived.
"Little Shauna, this is your homeroom Master. Go with her to the classroom. If anything happens, come find me."
"Okay, thank you, Grandpa Principal Sachi. Bye-bye."
"Bye-bye."
Shauna hopped along beside the Master, her shoulder-mounted chimecho jingling cheerfully with every bounce.
Suddenly she remembered something, ran back to Principal Sachi, and pulled out another candy.
"Grandpa Principal, this is for you. Be happy every day, okay?"
Principal Sachi's eyes widened. He took the candy and rubbed his shiny forehead,
laughing heartily.
"All right, all right, Grandpa will. Little Shauna, be happy every day too."
"Hehe, Shauna's happy every day. Bye-bye, Grandpa Principal!"
"Bye-bye, little Shauna."
Only after she disappeared around the corner did the principal look away, unwrap the candy, and pop it into his mouth.
Sweet.
He glanced up and spotted a Staraptor in the tree.
He had a feeling he'd seen that Staraptor somewhere before.
When it nodded at him, he remembered—it was the Breeding House's Staraptor.
Looks like Lucas wasn't entirely at ease letting little Shauna come to school alone.
Turning around, the principal nearly spat out his candy.
"Such a sweet candy—oh my goodness!"
The sudden sight of purple chubby cheeks made his heart leap.
Realizing it was Gengar, he exhaled and patted his chest frantically.
"Gengar, next time just speak up. At my age, I can't handle shocks."
"Gengar—
—"
Sorry, didn't mean to scare ya.
Realizing Gengar was apologizing, he took a moment to steady himself, then shook his head. "It's fine, it's fine. Just be more careful next time."
After saying that, he noticed the backpack on Gengar's back. "Don't tell me you're going to school too? Lucas never mentioned you'd be coming."
Principal Sachi said in puzzlement, then pulled out a phone, convinced a message had slipped past.
Gengar shook its head. "Gengar."
"You're saying you couldn't relax, so you secretly followed little Shauna on her first day and are watching from the shadows?"
Principal Sachi tried to interpret.
Gengar nodded non-stop.
"Gengar—"
That was roughly it.
Principal Sachi shook her head, named a classroom, pointed the way, and motioned for Gengar to go.
"Don't disturb class order."
"Gengar."
Rest easy—stash it in my belly.
Hearing that, Principal Sachi felt a sudden shiver run through her as Gengar drifted past.
Why did it suddenly feel so chilly?
Principal Sachi shook her head and returned to the office.
Gengar greeted Staraptor; under its guidance it slipped up through the floor, lurking in the shadow between a trash can and a broom, secretly watching Shauna.
At that moment Shauna stood at the podium, confidently introducing herself to the class.
"Hello everyone, my name is Shauna, I'm eight years old, and this is my good friend little chimecho. I also work at the Breeding House—if you or your family or friends want to buy a pokémon egg, remember to come to the Breeding House and I'll give you a discount. Same for boarding Pokémon, and for breeding eggs—"
Listening to her self-introduction, Gengar stifled a giggle behind its hand.
Little Shauna is so cute.
My little sister is so cute.
When Shauna finished, the Master found her a seat; only after sitting did she breathe a sigh of relief.
Who gives a self-intro and keeps spamming ads?
But she's a Breeding House kid; no one dared cut her off.
As luck would have it, the girl beside her was the one who'd first asked to pet Rapidash that day.
Shauna set down her snack-stuffed backpack and recognized the girl, but stayed quiet during class and listened to the Master.
When class ended she turned to her desk-mate.
"Hi, I'm Shauna—what's your name?"
The little girl's face flushed red.
"I—I'm Chihiro."
"Chihiro, nice to meet you—want some snacks?"
With that, Shauna opened her tiny backpack: a dazzling array of treats.
Chihiro's jaw dropped.
Is this for real?
Isn't a backpack for books? Why is it packed with snacks?
The reason was Lucas knew Shauna wouldn't eat much of them—his and Mime Jr.'s cooking tasted better—so he'd told her to bring them to share with classmates.
If they weren't finished they'd only go to waste; the Breeding House had crates more.
These days every grandparent and auntie stockpiled snacks; whenever Shauna delivered fresh milk she came back with armfuls.
Lucas's head hurt just looking at them.
Perfect timing—send them to school with Shauna to share and win lots of goodwill.
Kill two birds with one stone.
Watching Shauna hand out snacks, Gengar thought Lucas's worries were pointless.
Shauna wasn't some shy little girl afraid to speak—on the contrary, she'd learned from Gengar and Lucas.
A total social butterfly.
Even more like Gengar.
Thanks to the snacks Shauna instantly became the class ringleader.
Next period was PE; she took chimecho and played happily with the kids.
Gengar floated beside Staraptor, sharing snacks—one for itself, one for Staraptor.
"Gengar."
Shauna's having a great time.
Staraptor nodded.
Because she's kind.
Meanwhile things weren't so smooth for Lucas.
Grandpa Manny and Grandma: "Huh? You're delivering the milk today? Where's little Shauna?"
Lucas: "?!"
"What, you don't like me delivering it?"
"Little Shauna must have caught a cold! I told you to dress her warmer—see? My poor Shauna—no good, I'm visiting her this afternoon."
Without listening, Lucas quickly cut in, "Grandma, Shauna's not sick—she started school today."
"Oh, school! That's wonderful. You rascal, say so sooner—you scared me."
Grandma gave Lucas a light swat, took the hot milk, and headed inside.
"Wait, I'll get some snacks for Shauna."
"Grandma, too many snacks aren't healthy."
"Nonsense, the ones we buy are nutritious."
And so it went at every house.
At the last one, Grandpa Yask did the same; Teddiursa ran over and hugged Lucas.
"Teddi~"
Lucas.
Lucas hugged Teddiursa. "Teddiursa, at least you like me."
"Teddi~"
Where's Shauna?
Lucas: ——
I'm done playing with you people!
....
Power Stones PLZZZZZ
[Get 20+ chapters ahead on - P.a.t.r.e.o.n "PokeFicLord"]