Some backtracking is required before the story can advance, so we’ll have to return to when I started school for a bit. I’d kind of skipped over this due to getting distracted.

After I was introduced to my new class, I still had to get to know my classmates. Sammi helped, but I needed to talk and interact with them. Unfortunately for me, I was not only bad at doing so, I also stood out. A lot.

A lot of the class avoided me, not wanting to talk to the weirdo. It never developed to outright bullying, but it came close to being ostracized for a bit. I made a few friends, mainly those friendly with Sammi as well as those that had been in the orphanage with me.

However things changed as mid-terms approached. Well, not that the term was actually used for elementary school. Still there were tests, and Sammi was doing horribly in class, so I was helping her study. And then some of our friends joined in, and then their friends.

Eventually we basically started a study group. I found it hilarious all of these first graders being so serious about studying, though it was important for their futures. Then I learned why they were so serious. There was a field trip coming up, and those who failed the tests weren’t allowed to go.

I was unofficially made the leader of the group, and lost my own study time, though I was so far ahead it wasn’t even funny, helping the others. Even those who’d ignored me before joined in, and while I wouldn’t call some of them friends, they at least treated me nicely instead of like a turd to avoid.

Long story short, with my help everyone passed and we got to go on the field trip.

The trip was to a faire, one with all sorts of things to see and do. It kind of reminded me of the Renaissance Festivals back on Earth, though with pokémon involved. I’d wanted to make all my family clothes to wear to the event, but only had time to get stuff ready for Sammi and me. The field trip was for all three levels of school, so my brothers had come as well, and my parents had been chaperons. Mommy was with my class, while daddy was with Henry’s.

It had been a great day, and I’d won some prizes from a few booths. It was easy when you were me. I didn’t even have to use my powers… on all of them.

Don’t look at me like that! They’re tests of skill, and TK is part of my skill set! Also some of the prizes were a cute pink cape and tiara, so I ended up looking princessy.

When I did use my TK I did so surreptitiously so I wouldn’t get caught. Though I ignored the looks from my family saying they knew I’d cheated.

My classmates were a lot friendlier after I’d spent time helping everyone. They’d gotten to know that they could come to me for help when they didn’t understand something, and they helped me get more socialized.

Because of this, I’d gone to a few birthday parties through the year, but it also led to me getting invited to hang out with some of them during the summer.

It was pool party season!

Sammi and I enjoyed the summer, goofing off, visiting friends, and playing with my parent’s pokémon. I’d even gotten her hooked on sewing, so a sewing room we could share had been set up.

We had spent a good amount of time with Patrick, and Argent, before they left since we didn’t know when we’d be able to see them next, but after they were gone we’d spent more time out of the house.

I’d gotten used to being who I was, and enjoyed life.

---

Two years later, Sammi and I had finished third grade, while Henry was graduating from school to go on his journey. His grades were better than Patrick’s had been, since he’d seen how close his brother had come to getting stuck at home for another year or two. He’d asked me to help, and I had been willing to oblige.

Since Henry’s birthday was earlier in the year than Patrick’s he’d also gotten his pokémon far earlier in the year. He had enough time to raise her, he’d gotten a female onix. A jet black one that seemed to be made from polished obsidian. He’d named her Nox. She was cool rather than cute like Argent, but I still liked playing with her.

Although Nox had started off tiny, she’d gotten big really quickly. It was some quirk of the world that pokémon could get larger without having to physically intake enough materials to make it possible, like when they evolve. Regardless, because she was big enough to ride, we got to use her to go places. Not school though. No student’s pokémon were allowed in the school, so she had to stay home.

After school and on weekends were when we got to play with her, though Henry ran off sometimes. One of those times he came back with an injured bulbasaur. I was really surprised, since there weren’t any visible wounds on Nox. Also because we were in a park inside the city, where there shouldn’t have been any wild pokémon, not hostile ones anyway. There were a few flocks of bird-types that hung out to eat discarded scraps, and a few passive grass-type like oddish.

He’d hurried us onto Nox’s back and we took off to the nearest Pokémon Center. He said nothing, focused on taking care of the little guy. He was definitely a newborn given his small size. I’d also noticed the indicator of his gender on the bulb on his back. Being grass-type bulbasaur reproduce more like plants, so their buds, or flowers when they evolve, are involved, no visible dangly bits like humans.

We learned what happened when he gave his report to the nurse and an officer he’d requested meet us at the Center. Someone’s pokémon must have bred with one of the local grass-type, and the egg hadn’t been noticed for some reason. On hatching, the little guy had gotten hungry, but had disturbed some spearow, who could be really nasty when provoked. They knew better than to attack humans, but other pokémon? Free game. And food.

Henry had stepped in and saved the day.

Luckily, although heavily wounded, the bulba baby survived. It also got really attached to Henry, his savior. So before he even graduated or left on his journey, Henry had two pokémon. Add to that the fact that Bulbasaur were uncommon, since they tended to breed less often than many, and he’d gotten absurdly lucky.

The ball he’d used for Basil, as he’d named the bulbasaur was also a friend ball. I’d discovered that we had a large number of the things, and were the only type that my parents and siblings used, unless there was a problem pokémon. There were no pokémon on the grounds that required a different type of ball, since mommy and daddy didn’t want unfriendly pokémon around us kids.

That summer, after Henry graduated and left on his journey, the house was very quiet. It was also kind of lonely without our big brothers there, but there was always something to do. Reading, sewing, playing, visiting friends or having them come visit, playing with mommy and daddy, and their pokémon.

When school started again, we entered the fifth grade. Yes, you read that right. We graduated third grade and entered fifth grade. I’d talked Sammi into getting ahead on her education. She wasn’t able to learn things as quickly as I could, but I was able to link to her mind and do what Naomi’s alakazam did for me years before.

While she didn’t like the headaches it gave her, she agreed to it since it made it faster to learn and therefore she’d have more time to do other stuff. She’d gotten really good at sewing and embroidery, outstripping me. She had a much better eye for fashion than I did, so her creations tended to be better liked than mine, so I bowed to her superior skill.

I also wore the cute clothes she made for me. We matched a lot, though our colors tended to be different. She preferred light colors, where I liked dark ones.

Having skipped a year, school was a little difficult for us at first, not academically, since I was so far ahead and was dragging Sammi along with me, but socially. We could spend time with our friends at recess, during lunch, or after school, but during class we had to get to know our new peers. We stuck out a bit, being the only ones to skip years into fifth grade, but we were able to make more friends.

That year was the first of two years where we skipped grades. After graduating fifth grade, we went straight to middle school. I’d hoped that we’d have been able to skip from third to sixth, but Sammi hadn’t been able to handle the amount of information to skip two years at once, so we’d spread it out over two years.

From this point on, there was no reason to bother skipping grades. Unlike elementary school, where everyone learned together, we didn’t have set classes and could take whatever we wanted, provided we met the requirements.

I surpassed all of the requirements, and had been taking college level classes online for years, just maintaining my grade levels to stay with my sister. In another year or two, she’d have all the information required to graduate high school and be taking college classes too.

Unless she decided not to. I wasn’t going to force her. I’d just talked her into skipping the two grades so that we wouldn’t have to even worry about testing out of the last two years like our brothers had to. We’d have a more relaxed final year of high school.

Or take a break from college if she wanted to keep skipping years. I didn’t really care either way. I got to have fun with my friends and family, so all was good in my world.

Except for those bugs that kept bothering me…

Although most of this time had been mostly enjoyable, there were still annoyances.

Going back to right after I’d joined the Oak family, there had been Agent Smith. There was plentiful evidence against her, and she was sent to prison, but not for long. She’d gotten released after only a year. I hadn’t seen her again, since there was a restraining order against her for mentally attacking me, but her colleagues tried to visit me and entice me to join them.

They’d learned to not try and invade my mind, but that didn’t deter them from trying things. I’d left a warning with Agent ‘Smith’ that the next one to try to get in my head that would end up being counterattacked. They’d tried. They’d been rendered psychically impotent. I’d been able to figure out just what to do to remove a human’s ability to use psychic powers.

Well, it had taken some experimentation, but lab rats had kept coming to me until I figured it out. I’d also figured out how to delve into someone’s mind and extract information without them even being aware of it, while not being overwhelmed by the filth that had accumulated in them affecting me.

I’d become a well-honed blade, where before I’d been sharp but brittle.

And speaking of swords, I’d learned how to use one! I also learned the staff. Weapons were tons of fun, and would also allow me to defend myself physically without having to touch things. Like bug pokémon. They can be kinda gross, though I’m not as squeamish as my sister, I like having the option to not touch them if I don’t want to. After I got a bit better, I’d see if I could play with a halberd or something like that.

The reason I’d learned to wield weapons was to give me something to do physically as well as mentally. I’d always kept up a routine to stay fit, dragging Sammi along for at least some of it, but just doing basic exercises had gotten boring.

I’d convinced mommy to let me enroll in a dojo that taught not just hand-to-hand fighting, but weapons skills, though I’d had to prove to the master I was reasonably strong and responsible before he’d let me play with his swords.

NOT THAT SWORD, PERVERTS! (Yes, my mind went there too as I was writing the line.)

Where was I. Oh! The insects, better known as the League’s PsyOps.

They’d gotten very interested in me because I was powerful, but young. (Little did they know my true age) Since their first attempt had failed, they’d tried other things, among them were those who’d psychically attacked me, but that wasn’t all.

There’d been visits to the schools where they’d hold assemblies about the League and the good it did. They sent invitations to visit their facilities for training. As if we’d fall for that. They tried bribery, offering rare items, even talked about getting a special dispensation to allow me to care for and use pokémon before my sixteenth birthday, along with rare pokémon.

I’d almost been tempted to see if I could trick them into giving me the special dispensation without having to actually give them anything back, but decided against it. Strategy and intrigue was not my strong suit. I’d be more likely to make a mistake and end up in their clutches.

Having failed to bring me to their side, they’d even tried kidnapping me and Sammi. Their agents disappeared without a trace. I got some cool toys, though I’d had to destroy most of the electronics since they were wired with bugs or required special computer systems to operate.

I didn’t like the fact that I had to carry dead bodies with me until I could find a place to destroy them utterly. I hadn’t told mommy and daddy about killing them, just that there’d been an attempt to kidnap us, but that I’d dealt with it. There’d been no evidence of who sent them, and I’d had to act fast since they’d released gas to knock us out. It’d also taken place well away from any cameras.

After their second team disappeared the same way, twenty people, five of them psychics, I think they gave up on me joining them. I might be powerful, but they were wasting too many resources on me.

By the time I’d joined middle school, the most they tended to bother me with were junk mail, physical and electronic, and the school visits that had somehow become a fixture.

Telerean

I hate junk mail so much.