You and Moonstone quickly move towards the fighting Ogerpon and 'cat', a determined expression on your face and a calm expression on the Umbreon's face.

You yelp as yet another fireball is sent your way, hopping to the left with wide eyes as Moonstone quickly uses Light Screen again.

And yet you still lose your footing as you accidentally fall into a guy's arms.

"Oops! I- uh- sorry!" You yelp out, attempting to stand up and pretend you didn't just do this by accident.

"Haha... no issue," You look up at the orange-haired boy, his emerald green eyes twinkling in amusement. What gets your attention though, is the little red diamond marking under his right eye, "Not every day a beautiful girl crashes into me~"

Oh dear Arceus save your soul, he's flirtatious...

You quickly move out of this guy's arm, grinning sheepishly, "Right... yeah... heh, thank you I guess. Be careful of the fireballs though..."

"Can someone catch that blasted animal before it sets the entire school on fire!?" The Headmage shouts, looking furious.

"R- right!" You yelp out as you and Moonstone go back over to help Ogerpon, "Poni! Ivy Cudgel! Moonstone! Confuse Ray!"

"Wait!" The orange haired man says in distraught as you run away from him to help your Pokémon, "You didn't tell me your Magicam? How will I find you?"

You... have no idea what he's talking about and so do not answer.

Both Pokémon use the moves, and the 'cat' barely avoids the Confuse Ray, but gets hit in the chest with the Ivy Cudgel.

"MYAH!? WHY IS THE BAT-THING WET!?" The 'cat' yowls out, reeling back in surprise as it sends more fireballs out.

--------

"Ugh... can I go now..?" The lion-eared man asks as he watches Y/N direct her Pokemon to beat the crap out of the monster-cat.

The handsome boy places hands on his hips with an indignant scowl on his face as he stares in annoyance at the lion-man, "Oh? I thought you fancied yourself a hunter. Go and help the girl and feast upon that plump little morsel..."

The lion-eared man doesn't even look up as he examines his claw-like fingernails, "Nah. Too much effort, not enough of a reward..."

--------

"How are you this nimble?" You ask the cat in shock as it keeps narrowly avoiding the two Pokémon's attacks, "Have you been spamming Moves to raise your evasiveness?"

"MYAH! I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, BUT CUT IT OUT WITH THE STRANGE ATTACKS!" The cat angrily hisses out.

"...no..?" You respond calmly, "Poni, Moonstone, you two are doing great! Keep it up!"

"Allow me to assist you, miss."

You flinch back in surprise and look to your right to see the boy with glasses. It immediately raises your guard because of your gut-senses, but you decide to not resist.

"Oh... uh... sure?" You say hesitantly, raising an eyebrow, "What are you gonna do anyways? I don't see any Pokémon with you..."

"I'm unsure what you're talking about," He says with a polite smile and looks away from you, "Riddle, would you be so kind..?"

You follow his gaze and look at the short, red-haired man. His expression is stern and annoyed towards the 'cat'. "Of course," He says, practically spitting the words out, "Furry miscreant. I will abide by no rule-breaking. You will be judged by my hand."

You blink slowly, processing his words. "Uh... whatever you two do, please be careful of my Pokémon. I would very much prefer them not getting hurt, thanks..."

"Don't worry!" The blue-white haired man says with an amused chuckle, "We will pratice caution as to not harm your little... "Pokémon" companions."

You sigh in relief internally as you nod politely, watching in curiosity as they both pull out two pens with small gemstones (similar in shape and texture to the Tera Crystals in Area Zero and Terapagos). The crystal on Riddle's pen- however- was red, as opposed to the teal on Tera Crystals, and the one on the other pen was a pale light blue, like a desaturated sky.

"Check it!" The 'cat' says proudly as it fires a fireball directly at Moonstone, who barely is able to use reflect to protect herself, "See how strong I am? These monsters don't stand a chance against the great Grim!"

Did it just say your Pokémon don't stand a chance?

...oh it's on.

"Haa!" Riddle yells out as he sends a blast of strange redish energy at the cat. You haven't seen people use Pokémon moves... ever, so you're Shuckle-shocked.

"WOAH!" The 'cat' yelps out as it hops back from the magic to get absolutely slammed with Dark Pulse from Moonstone.

"OW! AY!" The 'cat' hisses, " UNFAIR!"

"How very brazen of you to go breaking the rules in my presence..." Riddle says, his grey eyes narrowing.

...this guy seems to be very much a stickler for rules. Note to self: Don't tell him you regularly break rules by going down to Area Zero.

"Shall we make this quick then?" The white-blue haired boy asks as he pushes his glasses back into place on his face, "I'm afraid we don't have much time to spare..."

You think for a moment. This 'cat' is most likely a Pokémon, so...

"Poni!" You yell out, "Use your vines to restrain the strange Regional Meowth!"

"MYAH! YOU CAN'T STOP ME FROM GOING TO THIS SCHOOL!" It angrily hisses out, sending a burst of fire at Ogerpon and the boys- who easily dodge- and then spins around and runs away.

"You let him get away!" The white-blue haired boy says in annoyance, his kindness quickly being replaced by surprised rage as he places his hand on his chest.

"I let him go?" Riddle says with a huff, "If I remember, it was you who couldn't grab the furball!"

"WE'RE ALL BAD AT THIS!" You throw your hands in the air, "Stop fighting! Thing probably spammed Acupressure, and now it's getting away!"

You roll your eyes internally, "Moonstone! Poni! Chase after the thing and try to get it into a corner! Then, Poni, grab it with your vines and hold it up! Okay?"

Both Pokémon nod and chase after the 'cat', you chasing after both of them.

-------

Both boys are silent as they watch the girl run off.

"...she did have a point." Riddle says after a moment.

"As much as I hate to say this," Azul says with a sigh, "You're right, and we should go after the girl."

And so they do.

--------

The 'cat' looks around frantically, seeing you in front of him, Moonstone to it's left, and Poni to it's right.

"MYAH? IT'S A DEAD END!?" The 'cat' shrinks back into the corner, ready to spit more fire.

But Poni immediately reacts and sends out her vines from her torso, wrapping it around the 'cat' and scoops it up into the air.

The 'cat' squirms in panic, and you think for a moment.

What Pokéball would be the best for this? It seems fairly strong and it definitely isn't the end of the encounter so...

You quickly pull an empty Ultra Ball from your back and press it to the 'cat's' forehead.

But it doesn't do anything.

"...what in the name of Arceus?" You ask as you keep pressing the Pokéball to the 'cat'.

"Ugh... get in the Pokéball already!" You groan a bit, quickly pressing the Pokéball into the 'cat' and pulling back and pressing again.

"Myah!? What's a Pokéball!? Stop pressing me with that strange ball!" The 'cat' hisses, angrily squirming. Poni isn't too phashed thankfully, just holding the 'cat' in the air as she waits for you to catch the Regional Meowth.

"Poor soul..." You hear the white-blue haired boy's voice, "Ran yourself- er... wh- what are you doing?"

You pause with the Pokéball on the 'cat's' head and look over to the confused Riddle and white-blue haired boy, both walking up towards you.

"...trying to catch this gato culo molesto, what else?" You ask, raising an eyebrow.

"...is it working..?" He asks after a moment.

"...no." You calmly respond, "...okay, this isn't working. You two can do your thing."

You put the empty Pokéball away, slightly crestfallen that catching the thing didn't work.

"...stand aside," Riddle says after a moment, and you and Moonstone step out of the way as Poni holds the 'cat' up higher, "Off With Your Head!"

You watch blankly as a blast of red energy from Riddle's pen slams into the 'cat', a red-and-black heart-shaped collar magically appears on it's neck.

"What is this!? What did you do to me!?" The 'cat' yelps, managing to pull its arms out of Poni's vines to claw at the collar in vain.

"The Queen of Hearts Rule 23: One must never bring a cat to a formal event." Riddle says simply, his eyes narrowing as he waves his hand to make his point more obvious, "Your very presence is a violation of order. You vill vacate the premises immediately."

"Poni, set the thing down please..." Poni immediately acts on your request and sets down the 'cat', her vines retracting as she waddles back over to you and seems pleased with herself.

"But I ain't a cat either!" It stomps it's foot, baring it's teeth, "Don't try to collar me! I'll burn it right off!"

It takes a breath and tries to blast fire on the collar on it, and it's ice blue eyes widen when nothing comes out. "Wh- what gives!?" It asks in shock, "My fire ain't workin'!"

"Until I deign to remove that collar, you won't be using any magic." Riddle makes a proud smirk, "You are naught but a pet cat now."

"M- meoWHAT!? I AIN'T NOBODIES PET NOTHING!" The 'cat' stomps it's foot, it's ears pinning down as the fire flares up.

"Oh, you've nothing to worry about there." Riddle waves his hand dismissively, "I certainly have no interest in having you as a pet. The collar will disappear once you're removed from campus."

You give Riddle an amazed look, your eyes wide. "Woah..." You tilt your head, "How'd you do that? That was A-MAZING!"

Riddle gives you a surprised look, a faint blush on his face, "You really think so..?"

You nod quickly as you crouch for a moment to allow Moonstone to hop up onto your shoulders, and stand up as you scoop up Ogerpon into your arms.

"Yeah! I've never seen anything like that? How'd you use a move similar to Disable with out a Pokémon? I'm really impressed!"

It's not a lie. You really are impressed. Though deep down, you're still confused as to why the Pokéball didn't work...

"Ha... You're a gusty one," The white-blue haired one says as he places his hand at his chin in curiosity, "It would be interesting to have someone like you in Octavinelle..."

You look at the boy with a smile, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Y/N!" Crowley says as he stomps over to you, his hands on his hips, "Was I not clear that you are expected to take responsibility for your familar? Now discipline-"

Both Riddle and the boy take a step back, and you give Crowley an annoyed look.

"NOT. MINE." You say as you cut Crowley off, feeling annoyance radiate through your body.

"Oh? Is that so..?" Crowley asks, slightly surprised.

You nod quickly and Crowley clears his throat sheepishly. "Then I shall have it expelled from campus," He says, regaining his composure, "And I shall even spare it from being served as dinner. My, but I AM quite kind, am I not? Someone take this away, please."

You watch as two students come and pick up the squirming 'cat', and drag it away.

"Nooooo! Let me gooooo!" The creature calls out desperately, it's tail lashing, "You fools better remember my name! 'Cause I'm gonna do down the annals of magic history! Just you waaaiiit!" His little voice fades as he's brought away.

That was one... strange little thing...