Chapter 13: The Weird Student Teacher! Class is in Session!
”What’re you staring at your waffle with that intense expression for?” Fae asked. Naomi was staring down at the freshly-made, fluffy waffle at breakfast, a glint in her eye.
“It’s so good-looking, I almost don’t want to eat it,” she admitted.
“Just eat it before it gets cold,” Fae sighed.
“Fae, can I see the Cure Dex?” Asuka asked; she had taken the early ferry so she could have breakfast in the dining hall with her friends.
“Huh? Sure.” Fae held out the heart-shaped device, which Asuka opened and began going through. Rotomi’s face emerged from the side screen.
“What are you looking at, Asuka?”
“I just wanted to go over the nega-evolutions we’ve fought so far,” Asuka replied, “We should properly study them, right?”
“That’s very true,” Kailani agreed, “It looks like most nega-evolutions keep their typing, and weaknesses.”
“And our own abilities seem to have typing,” Fae added, “Somewhat, anyway.”
“Oh, speaking of Precure stuff,” Kailani took out her phone, “Apparently three more Precure were spotted in Sinnoh. More and more are popping up as the Nega-Evolutions appear in the different regions of the world…”
“Hey, wait a minute!” Rotomi suddenly blurted out. She zapped out of the Cure Dex, staring hard at Kailani. “Kailani!”
“E-Eh…?” Kailani leaned back a bit. “What’s up, Rotomi…?”
“Since…since when…” Rotomi got in her face. “Since when did you have a phone!? I could have zapped into that and not been forced to try and be roommates with your rotom when I first got here!”
“That’s what you’re upset about..!?”
“Guess you don’t think about that stuff in the spur of the moment, huh?” Naomi chuckled, “Besides, ‘Tomi, now you have the Cure Dex, made just for you.”
Rotomi zapped back into the Cure Dex. “Yeah, I guess that’s true, but still…”
“Anyway,” Asuka interjected, “This is completely unrelated, but I believe our homeroom is getting a student teacher today.”
“A student teacher? We rarely get changes in staff partway through the year,” Fae mused.
“I wonder what they’re like?” Naomi muttered, “I mean, they won’t be our actual teacher, but how will they work with our regular teacher?”
“That’s true,” Asuka agreed, “Our teacher does things a particular way…”
“Well, the job of the student teacher is to learn, just like the rest of us!” Kailani grinned, looking up as the bell rang. “There’s the warning bell! Let’s get going and meet the student teacher!”
“Class, we have a student teacher beginning today,” Mr. Barton announced, “He will be assisting in the lectures and various classes, so please be on your best behavior.”
“Yes, sir,” the class echoed, as the classroom door opened. A tall man stepped in, with a chiseled jawline and thick brows. He had a thick head of brown hair and thin-rimmed glasses. He adjusted his tie, before clearing his throat.
“Good morning, class,” he announced, “My name is Mr. Goodlooks. It’s a pleasure to be working with you all.”
An echo murmured over the class.
“Mr. Goodlooks?” Naomi whispered to Kailani. “Is he joking?”
“Maybe it’s a translated name…?” Fae muttered.
Mr. Goodlooks scanned over the class, his gaze falling on Kailani.
“Gh—!” Kailani flinched, as he walked toward her, seeming to stare her down. The air was tense. Her heart was pounding.
Then, he reached out and shut the window beside her.
“We have the air conditioning on; please keep the window shut.”
“He seems pretty normal to me,” Asuka said as she bit into her sandwich at lunch.
“A little intense, though,” Naomi added, “Fae, you had Barton’s next class; did he do anything weird?”
“Well, he seemed very interested in getting to know the class,” Fae admitted, “We were all put into groups for an assignment, and he stopped by each group to talk to everyone and learn about us. He kept looking at my bag…”
“I’m sorry,” Rotomi spoke from the Cure Dex, “I exited the Cure Dex for a little bit, so I may have nudged the bag.”
“It’s okay; he didn’t seem too concerned,” Fae shook her head with a smile, “Just curious. I poked it with my foot a few times to try and make it look like an accident.”
“Clef!” Clefairy huffed as she bit into a poffin.
“Oh, stop it; he’s not creepy,” Fae frowned, then looked to the group, “Clefairy came out for a training exercise, and Mr. Goodlooks commented on her focus on physical attacks. She kind of got offended…”
“He doesn’t seem like someone who’s all that experienced in battling, so I can kinda see where she’s coming from,” Kailani nodded, when her phone went off. “Oh!” She retrieved it from her bag, reading the message inside.
Please stop by after school with your friends. Have a Cure Dex update. -Alice
“Doctor Pierce wants us to come by once classes let out,” Kailani explained, “She wants to update the Cure Dex.”
“The new update allows you to add your own personal notes regarding the nega-evolutions,” Dr. Pierce explained as she hooked up the Cure Dex to her computer, “There’s also an entry on the shadowlings, and I’ve created three blank entries for the members of Team Dysphoria.”
“You’ve been hard at work on this, haven’t you, Dr. Pierce?” Fae said with a smile.
“I want to solve this mystery as badly as you girls do,” Dr. Pierce replied, when a sudden, loud THUD! was heard. Naomi was facedown on the floor, having tripped over a stack of books.
“Oww…Doc, your place is a mess…”
“You think so?” Dr. Pierce looked around. Clothes and shoes were scattered on the floor, books were placed on any flat surface she could find, and the garbage was close to overflowing. “Oh…I suppose you’re right.”
“Why don’t we help you clean up?” Asuka asked, “It’s the least we can do to thank you for all your help.”
“Leave it to us!” Kailani saluted, “We’ll divvy up the tasks between each other and have it done in no time while you work on the update!”
“Well…if you’re so certain…”
The girls set to work; Naomi gathered up the laundry, Fae took the garbage out, and Kailani and Asuka began picking up the books to place them back on the shelves.
“I think we should separate the notebooks and binders from the actual bound books,” Asuka said, “We’ll put the notebooks and binders on the upper shelves so they’re easy to grab and open.”
“That’s an idea!” Kailani agreed, beginning to stack the binders carefully. As she stood up to place them on the top shelf, she stopped, noticing a framed photo had fallen over. “Oh!” She reached out and set it back up, when she noticed the picture inside. A teenaged Alice stood in the photo, smiling brightly, beside a taller, pale-haired man in a pokemon ranger uniform. Penumbra was in Alice’s arms, while an infernape stood proudly beside the man. “Oh…who’s this?”
“Hm?” Dr. Pierce looked over, and her eyes softened. “Oh…that’s me with my brother.”
“You have an older brother?” Asuka asked, as Fae re-entered the house and Naomi leaned out of the small laundry room.
“Yes…his name’s Logan. He’s a pokemon ranger. He travels between regions whenever there’s severe disasters going on, rescuing people and pokemon. He lives in Kanto, though—with his wife and son.”
“It looks like you two are very close,” Kailani observed as she examined the photo. Dr. Pierce fell quiet for a moment.
“…did something happen?” Naomi asked as she walked over to take a look.
“..a year ago, he disappeared. There was a hurricane in Hoenn, and he went up there to deal with it. He never reported back to his team.”
“Hey, yeah, I remember that hurricane,” Naomi replied, “I think the news mentioned a ranger was MIA.”
“It’s not like him at all…he was stubborn, but he would always keep in touch. Search parties looked for him, but…” she trailed off. The girls looked to each other, before Fae approached and carefully gave Dr. Pierce a hug.
“It’s okay. I’m sure he’ll turn up.”
“…thank you, girls,” Dr. Pierce breathed, when she heard a knock at the door. “Oh, he’s here!” she hurriedly slid the Cure Dex behind her computer.
“Who is ‘he?’” Naomi asked.
“A detective who wanted to speak to me regarding the nega-evolution incidents here…” she went to the door and opened it. “Detective Looker. Welcome.”
Stepping into the entryway was an older man with a chiseled jaw, dark hair and, most notably, a long trench coat. “Dr. Pierce,” he responded, then looked to the girls cleaning up. “Is this a bad time?”
“Oh, not at all; they’re…volunteers from the academy, that’s all.”
Looker stared long and hard at the girls. “…I see. Well, I’d like to have a word with you in private, if that’s alright…”
“Oh, of course! I’m sorry, girls…”
“It’s alright! We’ll see you later!” Kailani replied instantly, pulling Fae and Asuka by the hands while Naomi followed them out the side door.
“But Kailani,” Fae whispered, “Rotomi’s still in there with the Cure Dex!”
“I know,” she whispered back, “But we can’t easily grab it without him noticing! We gotta keep a low profile since we’re Precure! We’ll come back later and get her!”
“An experiment?” Ataxia crossed her legs and tilted her head toward Bedlam.
“I wanna see the limits of nega-evolution. Lend me your nega-ring.”
“What!?” Ataxia huffed and clutched the ring around her wrist. “This was given to me personally by Lord Tumult! I’m certain you’ll get your own in due time!”
“You’ll get it back. I just want to try something.”
“Hmm…” Ataxia looked down at the nega-ring. “Well…”
“Just let ‘im do it,” Entropy groaned as she sat up from her nap, “He’ll keep botherin’ ya ‘til he gets what he wants.”
Ataxia looked between the two quietly, then sighed, removing the ring and holding it out. “If you so much as scuff it, I will end you.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Bedlam slid the ring onto his wrist.
“It’s okay, guys,” Rotomi said as the girls had gathered in the dorm later that day, “The detective was just asking Dr. Pierce what she knew. She didn’t tell him about us being Precure. He just wanted her opinion on the trends to try and predict where another nega-evolution incident would occur.”
“What a relief…” Kailani sighed, “But still…now that there’s a detective walking around the island…”
“I know, it’s unnerving,” Asuka agreed, “But we can’t stop now. Maybe…we can get him on our side?”
“And let another person in on our secret?” Naomi shook her head, “Nuh-uh. Too risky. Besides, we don’t need him telling us what to do.”
“Guys, let’s focus,” Fae spoke up, “We should look at it like this: if we have more professionals looking into this, then that means less of a burden on us.”
“Less of a burden? He’s a detective, not a Precure,” Naomi replied, “This is more of a burden. This is a big island, and as far as we know there are only four Precure here to defend it. The more people who get involved, the worse it is.”
“I get what you mean, but…”
Asuka shook her head, when she looked at the time. “Oh, I better get going to catch the ferry.”
“Get home safe, Asuka!” Kailani said as Asuka picked up her schoolbag and headed out the door.
Asuka navigated the halls and stairs to exit the dorm building, heading down the street. “Maybe I’ll stop by the market on my way…” she mused aloud, when she heard shouting. “Huh..?” She turned down an alley and followed the noise. Stopping at a corner, she peered around. “…!”
“You’re a real pain, you know that? I’ve seen you following me around for the past hour,” Bedlam sat atop a fire escape, leering down at Looker.
“The moment I saw you seemingly phase in out of nowhere, I knew something wasn’t right,” Looker replied, “You’re one of the people nega-evolving pokemon, aren’t you?”
“Then you’re under arrest!”
“Is it really that easy to you?” a smirk tugged at Bedlam’s lips, as he stood up on the rails.
“Get down here and face me like a man!”
“Hm…that’s tempting, but I’m gonna try something first.” Bedlam looked to the nega-ring, then thrust out his hand, as an arcane circle formed beneath Looker. “Nega-ring! Bring out all his nega-energy!”
“What—!?” Looker glanced down, then let out a cry, as a beam of darkness shot up around him. His body vanished, as the energy began to take shape….
“NEGAAAA!” It was a tall, gangly creature nearly eight feet tall, with a magnifying glass for a head, a large eye in the center of the lens; the body was clothed in a black trench coat.
Asuka gasped, a hand over her mouth. “He nega-evolved a human—!?” She scrambled for her phone, when a shadow loomed over her. She looked up to see the nega-evolution leering down at her, charging a beam in its eye. Asuka took off at a sprint, turning corners wherever she could as she heard the explosions behind her.
“Precure! I! Choose! You!” As Asuka transformed into Cure Willow, she summoned a pokeball. “Scizor!”
The steel-type pokemon emerged, standing back-to-back with Willow as they both jumped up, slamming their feet into the lens, causing the nega-evolution to stagger backward a few steps.
“I don’t get it!” Willow cried, “Why nega-evolve people too!? Why nega-evolve anybody at all!?”
“Eh?” Bedlam landed in a crouch on the nearby rooftop, “Oh, look. A Precure.”
“What do you have to gain from doing this!?” Willow demanded, “All this senseless transformation and chaos!?”
Bedlam fell quiet. Then, he clenched his fist. “I don’t have to tell you anything!”
“That’s fine,” a voice said, as Bedlam dodged a diving kick from Cure Starlight, “I’ll just pummel the answer out of you!”
“You so sure about that!?” Bedlam put up his fists.
“Everyone, focus on the nega-evolution!” Rotomi cried as she arrived with Sunrise and Wish, “Before it gets into the street!”
“Detective!” Wish shouted as she formed two balls of light in her hands, “Come to your senses!” She jumped up, landing a foot on each ball of light. The light vanished with a “pop!” and seemed to act as a spring, causing her to jump up to face the nega-evolution at eye level.
“Nega!” The nega-evolution declared, already charging a blast.
“He’s already prepared!” Wish yelped, as the blast knocked her to the ground.
“Wake up—!” Sunrise prepared to send a Wake-up Shock attack, when the nega-evolution spun around, swatting her away. “GYAAAAH!”
“Everyone, focus on teaming up with pokemon!” Willow cried, “He may not be able to anticipate us that way!”
“Let’s go for it!” Wish summoned Clefairy. “Ready?”
“Type: Fairy!” The two stood beside each other, before striking matching poses. “Precure: Helix Moonblast!”
Two beams of pastel-colored light shot out, striking the nega-evolution with a loud THOOM! as it staggered.
“Type: Steel!” Willow posed with Scizor. “Precure: Piercing Drill!” The two leapt up at the same time, a silver light encompassing them and forming a drill shape as they flew into the nega-evolution’s back.
“Type: Electric!” Sunrise hugged Raichu, as the pair nuzzled cheeks, electricity beginning to form; they parted with their arms spread wide. “Precure: Big Bang Bolt!” A large electricity field shot out, stunning the nega-evolution.
“Now!” Sunrise shouted. Starlight looked away from her stalemate of a fistfight with Bedlam, jumping away to join her team.
“PRECURE: QUARTET REFRESH!”
“NEGAAAAAA!” The nega-evolution was enveloped in light, disappearing as Looker lay where it once stood, unconscious.
“Damn…” Bedlam cursed, then looked at the nega-ring around his wrist. It had faded and formed cracks in it. “Oh, great.” With a snap of his fingers, he was gone.
“On it!” Rotomi zoomed over to gather the lingering nega-energy, while Asuka knelt by Looker.
“He seems to be alright…but let’s get him over to Dr. Pierce…”
“So humans can be nega-evolved, too…” Kailani frowned, “This is a bad sign…”
“Like any of them aren’t bad signs?” Naomi scoffed, “Anyway, let’s go.”
“Nngh…” Looker stirred, then opened his eyes slowly. “Where…am I…?” He grunted as he sat up, and the soft bedding beneath him supported him as he glanced around the room; he was back in Dr. Pierce’s home.
“Detective!” Dr. Pierce walked in, holding a cup of tea. “I’m glad you’ve woken up; I was starting to worry.”
“Dr. Pierce, is he awake?” Kailani leaned in the doorway, then beamed. “Ah! Detective Looker!” She stepped in with the other girls. “Glad you’re okay! We found you lying on the ground in town!”
“Precure!” He blurted out in surprise, causing the girls to jump.
“Wh-what are you talking about?” Naomi laughed nervously, “Oh, we did hear the Precure showed up in town!”
“You girls are the Precure, aren’t you?” He pressed her on it.
“Detective, you just woke up; this isn’t the time to…” Dr. Pierce began, but he continued.
“Your heights and facial structures all match what information and photos I have on file for the Unity Island Precures. You match the trend of Precure: groups of girls ranging from middle to high school age, typically in groups no larger than four or five.”
The girls stared back at him, slack-jawed and silent.
“Detective…” Dr. Pierce sighed, “Please don’t admonish these girls.”
“I’m not.” He shook his head. “What they’re doing…it appears they’re more capable than I thought. This is a threat greater than my people can handle alone. And it seems nega-evolution is more sinister than can be imagined…”
Looker glanced back up at the girls. “I came to this island to learn more about nega-evolution, and Precure. Perhaps…we can compare notes? Whatever information you’re comfortable giving me, and whatever information I have the authority to disclose.”
A heavy silence fell upon the room. Then, Dr. Pierce spoke.
“Think it over, girls. How about you come by after school tomorrow to give him your answer?”
“Yes, ma’am,” they chorused, as they bowed to Looker and made their way out. Fae closed the door behind them.
“So what do we do?” Naomi asked. The girls shared glances. Fae chewed on her lip quietly; Asuka shifted her weight; Kailani stared at her feet; Naomi heaved a heavy sigh and put a fist on her hip.
“…yeah, yeah. I get it. We’ll sleep on it.”
