Chapter 5 – School Years Part 2

Ketchum House - 4 Years Later

"2 feet apart, you two!" The voice of a troubled father calls out.

Lara and I were cuddling close together, as usual, watching the latest World Championship replay. The now 3-foot tall Charmeleon, Pyra, was curled up on the floor in front of us with the Flareon, Grace. Teaching Pyra Minimize was the best decision I ever made...Well...looking at Lara for a second who was scowling at her dad in the way only teenage girls can do, I relent. The second best decision. 

Minimize took a few months for Pyra to learn, and 8 more for her to train to be able to maintain the size as long as she wanted, but it was well worth the work. Not only was she able to be and sleep wherever she wanted again, but it allowed her to safely cuddle with everyone. According to her, this was a very important part of her friendship with Flareon as them sharing their heat, being fire pokemon and all, actually helped to nurture their growth...in some way. Look I don't claim to be an expert, it is just the gist of what she said. 

Speaking of Grace, she evolved 3 years ago and Lara used the method I suggested for her. Instead of choosing her evolution for her, (dare I say, eeveelution!?!) Lara asked her parents to buy her a Water, Thunder, & Fire Stone and let Grace pick for herself. When she was presented with the stones, Grace didn't pick right away. She instead chose one stone a week to curl up with it when she went to bed. Lara said that Grace told her she wanted to try them out and find which one felt right. In the end, after a long cuddle session with Pyra, she decided on the Fire Stone and evolved. She was rather miffed that her partner almost missed her evolution because she was too busy being embarrassed about holding hands with me. The passive-aggressive fight the two had after that was on a legendary scale. -shudder-

When Ash leaves the room again, I kiss Lara's cheek, and she giggles and wiggles even closer into me. We have been through a lot in the last 4 years.

Lara and I had been officially dating for about 3 1/2 years now, ignoring a certain period of time. After the incredibly sweet, like, cavity-inducingly sweet, first date we had, we went on many others nearly every weekend. I let her set the pace and didn't want to define anything until she was comfortable with it. Turns out I had nothing to worry about, however, as about 3 months after we started going on dates her friend Jessica asked if we were a couple yet, as a joke. We had kept our dates lowkey and only told our parents, so to others, it was just like any other normal weekend with us hanging out and doing everything together. 

Lara responded in the most "Lara" way I can imagine. She looked at Jessica, looked at me, then looked back at her friend, and said, "Duh."

Like that, we were officially boyfriend and girlfriend and...well, nothing changed really. The only noticeable difference was that we now held hands. And that was it for 2 years. Not very exciting, I know, but we were kids. There weren't any hormones telling us to do anything else, thank Arceus. I had accepted my feelings for her, but knowing information from my past life still made me feel awkward sometimes. I would doubt myself and wonder if what I was doing was right, but, as if sensing there was something wrong, Lara would always be there with a smile and a hug. She never asked about it and just let me deal with it on my own, and I loved her for it. She knew that if I had a serious worry or issue I would bring it up to her, so she was incredibly patient with me that way. I thought about telling her about my past life memories many times but decided to save it for later. I wasn't ready for that yet.

The next two school tournaments were really intense. After my offer to help train Zeek, more and more kids started showing up after school to learn from me and Lara, who was my second in command and nearly just as knowledgeable and creative as me in tactics., if not more so It got to the point where I was called to the principal's office to explain what was going on and, after expecting him to tell me off and force us to stop, I was completely surprised when he said it was an excellent idea. He made it an official club and my homeroom teacher Miss Poren, now Mrs. Flecher, agreed to oversee it. We were even allowed to use the school field as a practice area. 

We were told to decide on a name for the club, and by we, I mean those in the club. It was nearly unanimously decided that the club was to be called "Professor Finn's Afterschool Trainer Academy." The only vote against the name was, as you might expect, mine. Lara was in a particularly good mood that day, having come up with the name herself.

-Sigh-

"The Club," as I called it, refusing to call it the other name, was held 3 days a week after school and became so popular that kids from different grades started joining in. We needed a council to run the training and instruction side, so it became like this:

President: Me

Vise President: Lara

Trainer Experts: Kimmy, Jessica, Courtney, and Zeek

You read that right. After a few lessons, Zeek took training like a fish takes to water. By the end of the first year his Rattata, Tat, went from 0 wins to almost no losses. It was the fastest Pokemon in our club and one of the most annoying to fight. Grace, even after evolving, was still slower and she lost once or twice to a well-timed Quick Attack followed by a Hyper Fang or Pursuit when she tried to escape. Zeek was not only good at the practical, but he was great at the theoretical tactics and training as well and could help our newer members think of cool and unique strategies to win. This all culminated in our third Dratini School Tournament where, against all odds, Zeek won and his Rattata evolved into a Raticate.

Backtracking a bit, in our second school tournament when we were 11, Lara and I finally got to have our showdown in the finals. It was closer than I would like to admit and was a real nail bitter. In the end, Pyra managed to land a critical Metal Claw onto an airborne and dodging Grace, sealing the win. Lara was a bit disappointed but was determined to train even harder and win next time. The judges and the audience were incredibly impressed by the performance of the whole grade in the tournament that year. This was the event that drew in those from other grades to our club as the 7th-grade class (5-year-olds are 1st grade and it goes to 12th grade for 16-year-olds) had a better performance than most of the 11th-grade class. After this tournament, we had many parents coming up to thank me and Lara. It was a bit embarrassing, but it felt good nonetheless.

The next year was even more intense as most of the kids in the 8th-grade class could go toe to toe with those in the 12th-grade class. Lara and I ended up fighting in the first round this year and we both lost to a double knockout. After 15 minutes of battling, Grace used Quick Attack into a Giga Impact that just managed to hit Pyra's head as she finished her Dragon Dance into Dragon Claw. Both Pokemon collapsed on each other and the crowd went wild. Lara and I smiled sardonically as we returned our Pokemon to their Pokeballs and met each other in the center of the ruined stage to high five. We waved at the audience and left for the day, a bit disappointed, but both proud of our Pokemon. As stated earlier, Zeek managed to use his wit and his Rattata's speed to come out the victor of the finals and win the tournament. His newly evolved Raticate took on the name Kate after that fight so that they could always remember this victory. I felt bad for not being there for him, but he understood that we wanted to get our Pokemon healed up. 

That same year Lara and I shared our first kiss...albeit an awkward one. It was after a date when we were saying goodbye at her door. I decided to man up and progress our relationship as she had been dropping hints about wanting to kiss for a few months but didn't want to push me. I rushed up and grabbed her shoulders and moved in to kiss her, but by grabbing her, she started falling so I ended up kissing her eyelid...yeah...not my finest moment. Lara started laughing so loud that her parents came out to see what happened. When she told them, they had very different reactions. Serena started giggling herself, covered her mouth with a hand, and gave a honest to god, "Ara Ara~~" Meanwhile Ash looked like he wanted to punch my lights out there and then. I was so embarrassed, I was blushing down to my collarbone and up my ears. I tried to run away, like the coward I was, but Lara grabbed my hand, spun me around, and kissed me firmly on the lips before smiling brilliantly at me. I would have enjoyed the moment more if Ash didn't look like he was about to have a conniption. 

After that, Ash liked to hound Lara and me about keeping 1 Pokemon width apart. He would have preferred a Snorlax width but gave in to 2 feet after being scolded by Serena again. Lara loved to ignore this blatantly as she thought it was dumb that we couldn't cuddle like we always had before. This, in turn, lead to Lara's rebellious phase. When her dad would tell her to separate from me, she would instead hug me tighter and she even once kissed me in front of him, just to prove a point. What point that was, I had no idea. Maybe she wanted Ash to hate me? If so, it seemed to be working. 

Just after our first kiss and almost at the end of our 8th-grade year, the puberty monster struck. Not me, but Lara. I was outside her house to pick her up and walk to school together one morning when she came out bawling. She then explained to me that she had her first period and ruined her favorite bedsheets. Gross? Maybe. A part of life and something I had to learn to deal with? Absolutely. I hurriedly took her to the crepe shop she loved, thank Arceus they were open at 7 am, and bought her her favorite chocolate banana crepe and a large mocha coffee. She had started drinking coffee recently, and this was also her favorite kind. It was, honestly, adorable to see her eating her crepe while sniffling and I found myself indulging in some PDA to smother her in hugs and kisses on her cheeks on the way to school.

That day marked a big change in our relationship. Lara, to my surprise and, if I am being honest, delight, became much more aggressive in her affection. Where she used to be happy with holding hands and walking to and from school, she now was now glomped onto my arms and torso. Where she used to be fine with the occasional pecks on the lips in private, she would now kiss me for increasingly longer and longer sessions and sometimes out in public if she was feeling really bold. It was still super innocent stuff, mind you, but it was the amount and the change in intensity that spoke volumes. She also became more emotional. Now, before you crucify me, no, I never told her that or even hinted I was feeling that way about her, but, it still happened. She would cry more at sad movies, laugh more and dumb jokes we shared, and become passionate about hugging, holding, and kissing out of nowhere. All in all, it was puberty. 

For a while there, I thought I had got away scot-free. Maybe because of my past life I was free from the horrors of puberty? Maybe I could stay sane and rational as I grew? Oh, how naive of a child I was. It started a couple of months after Lara's did and it started with hair. Nothing noticeable, and I didn't feel any different, so, again, I thought I was safe. Then my voice dropped. One day I had the voice of a Catholic choir boy, the next I was suddenly a man. The look on Lara's face when she heard it for the first time was priceless. She had a dopey smile for the rest of the day and kept making me say movie quotes to her. I played along because she would hug me and kiss me right after and it...felt better than usual...oh god...oh no...Arceus, please... 

The next 2 years of puberty can be summed up with the following meme:

The past life me would have been jealous of the current life me's growth during puberty. Yes, that too, but I mainly was talking about my height and build. I had kept up working out with Mr. Rook and Pyra and it showed. I went from Taylor Lautner in Sharkboy and Lavagirl to Taylor Lautner in Twilight...not...not that I watched that movie...moving on...My hair growth, luckily, stayed manageable. No crazy back hair and chest hair this time! Small miracles. As I grew older, I had a small tuft of hair on my chest and a bit on my stomach starting from my bellybutton leading downwards. My arms and legs were manageable as well. The one downside was that I was not growing any facial hair. Like at all. I was a full neckbeard status for a while in my past life, and now I was forever a toddler. 

Puberty aside, the next year followed a similar path to those before. Lara and I went to school, trained in our club, went on dates on the weekend, were hounded by an overprotective Ash, and Lara won that year's tournament. A simple and fun life, but the fun doesn't last forever...

When we were both 13, Lara and I got into a big fight. It was really dumb, looking back, but at that moment, it was the biggest deal ever. See, that tournament Lara won? She was convinced I had thrown the fight and let her win in the finals, despite Pyra and Grace disagreeing. She was so sure she was right and that I was lying to her, that she started giving me the cold shoulder.

She would blow me off for dates, skip the club meetings to hang out with some of her other friends, and when we were actually together she was super distant and standoffish. All she wanted was for me to apologize, but I had nothing to apologize for. Stupid teenage pride and all that. She then escalated the fight by talking and flirting with other guys in our class. I know now this was just an act to get back at me in her mind and she didn't really mean anything by it, but I had been cheated on in my past life and felt things were spiraling out of control and towards that end. Feeling lost, hurt, and more than a little emotional myself, I quickly reached my breaking point. 

It was on a walk home from school where she was texting another guy and telling me about how great he was to try and make me jealous, that I snapped. 

"You know what, Lara? If you are so interested in him, then I will make this super easy for you. I'm done. Bye." 

With that, I walked home and left her shocked in the street. 

Things continued to escalate as I ignored her calls and texts and refused to talk or meet up with her in school or outside of it. Oh yes, I am equally at fault in this. It is hard to think clearly when all your hormones are telling you to rage and break things. I quit the club and focused solely on training with Pyra. She was not happy about how things were, but still followed and supported me in my time of need. I started to fall into habits from my old life, blocking out my friends and family and sinking further into the pit of loneliness, anger, and sadness. Blaming everyone but myself for my failings and cursing Lara for betraying me. I would lash out at people who were just trying to help...It was bad, and Lara was having no better time with it.

To say the breakup was hard for Lara would be making light of her feelings. To her, I was her world. - No I am not being a chauvinist or dramatic, this is something she told me herself - She had loved me since we were little and we had always been together. We had always done everything together. She explained it like this:

"It was as if a piece of my soul was ripped out and there was a gaping hole in my chest that was always bleeding. Food lost its taste, pretty things lost their color, and I just wanted to be alone and cry all the time. I couldn't think, I couldn't work, I couldn't eat, I was just shell shocked - Cold and alone. The worst part was, it was all my fault. I didn't blame you for ignoring me after the way I treated you. I ruined everything. My stupid pride got in the way and I had to live with knowing I could have stopped it. I could have believed you and our Pokemon at any time. You never gave me a reason to doubt you before...I would spend hours looking at photos we took together and reliving the memories of our fun dates as I cried until there were no more tears to cry. If not for Grace being there with me...I don't want to think about this anymore..."

So yeah. Bad times. I, personally, think I was equally at fault. At any point, I could have stopped and talked to her about it. Worked it out. But instead, I stayed quiet and prideful, hoping she would realize she was being dumb and apologize to me first. The thing is, she was ready to apologize right after the breakup. Literally, her first text and voicemail was her crying saying she was sorry and begging me to take her back. There were so many of them exactly like that, but by that time I was too far lost in my own anger and vengeful, pride. I would stare down at my phone, smirking, thinking she got what she deserved. I was hurting because of what she did, so she should be too. Eventually, I got it in my head that I hated her and wanted nothing to do with her or anything she was involved in. I was just as dumb and prideful as she was and the fault was shared by us both.

Were we both a bit dramatic about it? Sure. We were 13, everything was dramatic for us then. Did that make these feelings any less real at the time? Hell no!

Lara and I call this time "The Dark Days" and embrace the cringe and dramatics we went through. Yes, we got back together and now everything is fine, so don't worry. How?

It happened kind of randomly, actually, over a year later. I had won this year's school tournament that Lara didn't even show up for, and it was nearing the end of the school year when I saw her by chance. I was walking back into our neighborhood from a trip to the store to get some junk food and soda, - It was one of those kinds of days - when I saw her sitting on the bench in her family's garden, which was on the side of her house in her backyard. I could only see her because the road was raised up over a small hill in this area, allowing me to see into her backyard. She was crying and curled up into the fetal position as Grace stared worriedly at her.

In that moment, the world seemed to stop. I remembered feeling this same way 4 years ago when I saw her looking worried at me on the stage of the opening ceremony. Just like that time, the coiled muscles in my body and tension that had built up over the last year faded into the background. I knew exactly what I needed to do. What I was going to do no matter what. At that moment, I stopped caring about our petty fight and only wanted to see the woman I loved smile again. 

I ran home and let Prya out of her ball for the first time that day. I had not been the greatest trainer as of late, but she was just as loving and understanding as she ever was. I explained to her what I had planned and she roared in excitement. This drew the attention of my parents who cautiously knocked on my door to see what was going on. They had been the prime targets for me to lash out at, so we went through a bit of a rough patch this last year. Realizing this, and how dumb I was being, I swung the door open on Jessie and James who looked at me in shock. Even more so when I tackled them into a hug and apologized for the way I had been acting.

"That's okay, sweetie. Arceus knows we know a thing or two about trouble with our parents growing up...What brought this turn on now though?" My mom asks cautiously. 

I smile at her for the first time in a long while and say, "I am getting Lara back! You can come too if you want, I know this has not been easy on your relationship with Ash and Serena...I'm sorry for being so dumb..."

"Shh." My dad says smiling himself and ruffling my hair, "We love you and want you to be happy. This last year has been tough, sure, but we would face down Groudon itself for you. Go get your girlfriend back. We are proud of you for overcoming this son."

My little sister pokes her cerulean head out of her room and stares at us with her sapphire blue eyes. I can see her Growlithe, Sophia, looking up at me from the floor too, insecurity in her eyes. Rose is 12 this year and I have certainly not been the best brother to her. I promised to help her win her tournament but totally bailed on her. She and Conor, Lara's brother, are still friends, but they are not interested in each other like we Lara and I are. I smile at her and pull her into a big hug.

"I'm gonna do better, I promise, sis."

She nods her head slowly and hugs me back.

"Good luck," she says in her quiet voice.

I hug them all again then quickly grab my guitar and the amps and mics I need as well as a long extension cord and put them all outside in a few trips. I rush to peek over Lara's backyard gate to see if she is still there. I have grown to be around 6 feet tall, so it is a lot easier than I thought it would be. Sure enough, she is still there, still crying. It hurts my heart to see her like that.

'Let's see if I can fix this.' 

I set everything up and ask if Pyra is ready, she offered to help me get everyone's attention before I started. Holy shit. This is like some Pokemon themed 80's movie. Fuck yes, let's get the girl back.

Pyra roars her loudest and I see many people start poking their heads out of their doors or through their windows. It is about 6 at night, so the sunset is at my back as I stand in the middle of the street facing the Ketchum residence. I see Serena open the door and look out with Conor at her side. She gives me a wide smile and a thumbs up. Conor, who looks like a clone of Ash as a kid, scowls at me. I hurt his big sister, I can't blame him.

Nerves hit me once again, but I echo my sentiment from 4 years ago. 'I can do it for Lara.'

I start playing the song~

"I want to be the very best,
Like no one ever was." 

I expected my voice to be terrible. I haven't tried singing since my voice dropped and I had no reason to play guitar with Lara. With a happy surprise, I find my voice is actually better than it was before. The words come to me quickly as I sing into the microphone in front of me. Three amps are set up behind me. One for my guitar, one for my microphone, and one for another microphone that is at my side on a stand with no one in behind it. 

At the first chorus, Lara opens the gate to her backyard and looks at me with wide, red eyes. Grace, at her feat, starts wagging her tail wildly and stares up at her partner. Perfect timing. I lock eyes with her and continue to sing,

"It's you and me,
I know it's my destiny!"

She slowly starts to smile at me and rubs her eyes as if not believing this is real. I smile back and tilt my head to the other microphone. Her smile grows wider and she rushes out barefoot to hug me, nearly taking me to the ground in the process - Song be damned. Her hug derails the performance and I quickly move my guitar out of the way to hug her back. We hold each other, looking into one another's eyes and I try to apologize.

"Lara...I-" But am interrupted as she locks lips with mine. Catcalls and wolf whistles follow from the neighbors, but we ignore them in a world of our own. 

We break apart after a minute both panting a bit. 

"Never again." She says softly. "I don't care how it happened or whose fault it was, but it never happens again. I love you, Finn."

I nod and smile wider than ever before. "Love you too, Lara. Never again." I repeat her statement. "You got it, babe."

Grace takes this moment to run out from the Ketchum backyard and tackles Pyra as the two friends reunite.

Smiling at the two Pokemon, Lara clears her throat and stands up straight. "Now, let's start this over and do it right. Can't have you singing my part!" She says trying to act tough, but happy tears are streaming down her face to tell the real story.

I flip the guitar around and start the song over as Lara takes her mic. I look over and see that Ash has joined his wife and son. He doesn't smile at me, but he does nod. 

'That's the best I can hope for.'

Lara and I sing the song like it is brand new and afterward, everyone claps and cheers as we hug and kiss again. 

A great end to "The Dark Days." We quickly got back to the old routine, both of us apologizing to each other's family, friends, and Pokemon. Everyone was more understanding than either of us could have hoped for. Ash was a bit miffed at me still, but I hurt his baby girl, so I understand. Our club welcomed us back with open arms and cheers. Same old, same old - Only a deeper bond and the seeds of true love sprouting being the difference.

I come back to the present as Lara smirks and asks, "What? You have just been staring at me for the last few minutes."

"Can't I stare at my lovely girlfriend every once and a while?" I respond, matching her smirk.

"You big lug." She says moving in to kiss me.

"2 FEET APART!" Ash yells from the other room.

We both laugh and ignore him as we share a sweet kiss. Lara and I are stronger as people, trainers, and lovers because of "The Dark Days." and, while we hate that it happened, we are also grateful because it brought us even closer together.

Through this, we learned we can overcome anything together.