Chapter Text
Steven let out a low sigh as he opened the doors to school. Okay, time for Steven to be real. He hated school. Well, he didn't hate the learning part, more so hated the kids' part. The kids always looked at him like this was the stereotypical rich boy, which like... that was fair. He wasn't going to blame them. It was just that they didn't have to be so rude about it.
The constant bullying and teasing was something Steven could handle. It wasn't anything too bad, so he mostly ignored it. It was when they started getting real personal. Talking about how his mother left him when he was a baby and how he never had his Dad at home. It stung a lot more than the shoves and the exclusion. Steven screwed his eyes shut when he felt another piece of paper hit the back of his head. It was tiresome, but he knew not to give any reaction. If he doesn't respond to their antics, then they'll stop eventually. It's at least what he was hoping for. People enjoyed getting a reaction and finding it fun and funny, but if you don't give them one, then they get bored.
"Alright, class!" The teacher's voice cut Steven out of his thoughts, and he opened his eyes. "Please hand in your work sheets and then line up at the door! We'll be heading outside and doing some practice battling with the school-provided pokémon." Her voice was gentle and soothing but held a lot of power. The kids scrambled to their feet and quickly handed in their work. Steven remained seated and watched them for a minute before he grabbed his hoodie and pulled it over his head. He idly fiddled with on the stings as he got out of chair and began to clean up the paper the kids threw at him. His face was hot with embarrassment as he could feel their gazes on his back.
Steven had a feeling that him cleaning up the mess every time also fueled their want to throw stuff at him, but Steven couldn't bear to leave a huge mess behind. He didn't want to get in trouble, and he didn't want to leave a mess behind for the janitor, so cleaning up the mess seemed to be the only solution. He uncrumpled the paper and pressed it against his desk, doing his best to flatten the paper to its previous state before tossing it into the recycling bin. He very quickly put his work in the hand-in bin before going to the end of the line. Steven hugged himself tightly and picked at the string of his sweater for a bit. He was vaguely aware of the teacher talking, and while she was doing so, Steven began to tie and untie the string repeatedly. He only looked up when he noticed the class was beginning to move. He followed them quietly, his eyes staying glued to the ground and only occasionally looking up to see what direction they were turning.
To Steven, the halls always seemed endless, and it always felt like they would never end. He never felt trapped, but he definitely hated being in the halls. He liked to just work on his schoolwork in the classroom, but since it was a pokémon school, he had to work with pokémon. Did Steven hate pokémon? Well, no- but he didn't really like them either. They made him feel nervous. Steven found it rather challenging to build a connection to any of the kids or any of the school pokémon. Steven felt a bit selfish for wanting any pokémon he used to have a bond with him. The pokémon could sense how closed off he was, and they all preferred to avoid the kid, and Steven didn't blame them one bit. He wouldn't want to put up with himself either.
Usually, for this part of class, he would sit out and deem if the battle was fair or not. Steven knew it was just because he didn't bond with any of the pokémon and they all avoided him like the plague, plus the one time Steven battled with the other kids he came home with bruises because the kids got a little rough with him. Steven knew what to expect. It was the same story for him every time they did this. The kids would partner up, and Mrs. Smith would give them each a pokémon and Steven would go sit on the benches and watch the kids battle. Sometimes, Steven would draw in the mud. Other times, he'd stare into the nearby woods and wonder what it'd be like to go in there and escape school. Would they even notice he was gone? These thoughts crossed his mind on multiple occasions, but he never really had the courage to just up and run away from school.
He couldn't help but wonder if he'd be happier if he just skipped school and avoided it like the plague. Would they call his father? What would his Dad say to him about him skipping or running away from school. Steven gulped, and he watched quietly as the kids all separated into their groups and began to go to the battle fields. Steven quietly made his way over to the benches, watching the sand and dust blow in the wind. He ran his hand against the first and lowest row of the bleachers. The wood was a familiar feeling to him, and he missed it. Steven always sat in the second row of the bleachers. He wasn't too high, and he wasn't right by the ground.
Steven watched the kids quietly as the teacher told them what to do and how to utilize their pokémon's moves. The bonds were the strongest part of a pokémon and everyone knew that. It was hard to grow a bond to a pokémon you're borrowing, so it was quite a challenge for these kids, and while it was a good experience for them, it never sat right with him. He would hate to grow a bond with these pokémon for years to just have them taken away from him, and the same for these pokémon. He can't imagine growing bonds with all these different kids and then never seeing them again. Steven didn't even know how these pokémon continue to try and make bonds with their students. Steven felt like if he was a pokémon he would have given up after the second kid, Steven had already given up after the first class after all.
Steven huffed out a sigh and scared into the dirt under the bleachers. He loved to see the grass patches there, unharmed from all the battling that takes place. He raised his head back up and winced when he was greeted by a bright light. His eyes stung a bit from it, and he brought his hand up to block the light from his eyes. He squinted, and he tried to identify the move used, but he just couldn't focus on the battle.
He glanced back towards the treeline and inhaled deeply. The dark woods seemed so enticing today. He leaned back a little bit, his spine hitting against the other bench. He blinked once before he spotted something silver floating through the trees. He gasped a little bit as it collapsed suddenly, and he glanced back towards the battle. He slowly shifted himself down the bench until he reached the end closest to the woods, then hopped off. He quickly ran to the forest, grabbing his hood and pulling it over his head as he did so. Once Steven reached the trees, he breathed deeply, his lungs stinging from the sudden exercise, and his legs were a bit sore. He typically didn't get out much because he a) wasn't allowed to, and b) it was too dangerous without a pokèmon to protect you. The woods were littered with wild pokèmon who were ready to attack any human for getting too close, but they all avoided Steven as he carefully made his way over to where the blinding sliver creature was.
Steven pushed away the bushes and was greeted by some weird pokèmon laying motionless on the ground. It wasn't fainted. He could tell by the eye, but it was definitely exhausted and seemed injured. Steven sat down beside the pokèmon and began to pet it gently, doing his best to sooth it. The pokèmon shifted slightly and opened its eye to look at Steven. It seemed a bit startled that a human was near it, but also didn't seem to care in the slightest. It shifted closer to Steven and accepted the attention he was giving it.
It was smooth, obviously metal, and considering that it was floating earlier, Steven could deduce it was a psychic type. Steel was a type, wasn't it? Steel-psychic sounded about right.
Steven tried to pick it up to carry it somewhere safer, but it was heavy. Way heavier than it should have been. For such a little thing, it had to weigh hundreds of pounds.
Steven gave up on that rather quickly and slowly got up instead, looking around a bit. "Oran berries?" He managed to ask out, trying to find any wild pokèmon that could possibly help him. He didn't want to just leave the injured pokèmon by itself. Steven didn't know if the pokèmon's attacker was going to come back and finish the job.
Besides, he also has never been in this forest before, so assistance was needed. Heavily.
A wild Zigzagoon was the first to respond. It hopped over to Steven and then sniffed the pokèmon that was just laying there and then blinked up at Steven before hopping off again. It vanished into the bushes, and Steven could only pray that it understood what he wanted. Steven sat back down and continued to idly pet the pokèmon.
It felt like hours before the Zigzagoon came back. It was dragging a leaf that was full of oran berries towards Steven, and Steven could feel his eyes water a little bit in relief. He scrambled up to his feet and grabbed the Zigzagoon, pulling it into a tight hug before setting it back on the ground and carefully picking up the leaf with berries on it and bringing it towards the injured pokèmon. The Zigzagoon followed Steven eagerly and sat down beside the mysterious pokèmon. Steven also sat back down the soft grass and moss and picked out a berry to feed to the Zigzagoon first before picking out another berry to crush up to feed to the injured pokèmon.
The Zigzagoon happily gulped down the berry that was offered to it and watched curiously as Steven put other berry in the palm of his hand before crushing it with his other palm. He rotated his hands together until the berry was mush. He frowned a bit before wiping one of his hands on his pant legs and gently tapping the exhausted pokèmon. He let out a strange noise and opened its eye, where Steven offered the oran berry to the pokèmon.
Steven didn't even think it had a mouth. It stared at the berry for a minute before looking at Steven. "Sorry. I don't know what you eat." Steven apologized. "I don't really... get along with pokèmon." He admitted quietly.
The pokèmon didn't even try to eat the berry. It just stared at Steven. After a minute of this, Steven sighed and offered the crushed berry to the Zigzagoon, who happily licked it off of Steven's palm.
The pokèmon seemed to recover to start floating again, however, as it slowly raised itself towards and was floating a decent three feet off the ground. Steven smiled and that and looked down at the Zigzagoon, which was now eating the rest of the berries once it realized that the injured pokèmon didn't want them.
"Well, Ziggy, let's take this one to a Pokècenter!" Steven smiled. "Nurse Joy can help!"
Ziggy's tail was wagging, and it finished the berries off swiftly before hopping to the other side of Steven.
Steven wiped his hand on his pant leg again to get rid of the saliva and remains of the berry and stood up. "Okay, we're going to take the long way, though. I totally ditched class." Steven's smile was a lot more strained now.
His father was probably going to kill him.