"BANGBANG, DODGE THAT ICE BEAM! GRACE, DON'T HOLD BACK JUST BECAUSE THIS IS BANGBANG, SHE'LL GLADLY HIT YOU OVER THE HEAD WITH THAT HAMMER IF YOU'RE NOT CAREFUL!"

You keep spouting directions at your Pokémon, who've you'd split off into groups of two to train against one another. You stand there in determination, Terapagos resting on your shoulders as you have your arms crossed.

You glance over at the front door being slammed open, Grim standing their with unkempt fur and an annoyed expression.

"MYAH! HUMAN!? WHY'RE YOU UP SO EARLY!?"

You tilt your head at the annoyed cat, a polite smile coming onto your face. "Well, it's only 7 am, pequeño gato de fuego, you slept through the alarm."

You step aside, "C'mon! We got some time to help you train before work may start. C'mon! You can fight against..."

You hesitate, your E/C eyes scouring the Pokémon on the field in front of the dorm, looking for one which may not have a partner and may not be too much for Grim to handle.

Hm... oh! Chien-Pao is alone- wait... no. No, absolutely not. They're alone because they've knocked out Hissy, or your Iron Jugulis.

Hm... oh, you know!

"Drifty!" You say with a grin as the Flutter Mane glides over.

Grim groans and rubs his eyes with a paw, "Myah... it's too early..."

You tilt your head at the unkempt cat. You- however- are completely ready, dressed in an old shirt and pants the ghost found for you, which is better than going to school in those robes or your new pajamas. You even brushed your hair and teeth, and did your usual morning routine except for breakfast.

Also, during the morning, you taught Poni how to use a broom. She was pretty excited to run around sweeping.

"Well, how will you become an amazing mage if you don't train with my Pokémon, hm?"

Grim crosses his arms, "I didn't mean this early! Myah..."

You stiffle a giggle and smile at the cat, "Then you can train with us later this evening, mkay?"

Grim smirks up at you and nods, giving Drifty a sly grin, "Ya hear that? Be prepared for the great Grim to easily defeat you!"

Drifty gives you a look of, 'is he always like this?' And you nod in response.

You glance over at Toto out of the corner of your eye, who's buzzing around and taking dozens of pictures. You sigh internally in relief that they haven't come up about that Magicam account yet, as they need your permission to make any accounts. Whew...

"Good morning, Y/N!" You look over at the gate to see Crowley casually strolling in, "Did you sleep well?"

Grim huffs and angrily shakes his head, "Not at all! When I sprawled out on the bed, the mattress fell right through the frame! Exactly how "ramshackle" IS this dorm!?"

You smile politely as you rub the back of your head, slightly amused when Tera gently starts nibbling on your H/C hair, "Well, I slept quite well. But considering I usually sleep outdoors in camping equipment, I suppose I'm simply used to poor sleeping conditions..."

Crowley smiles at you, ignoring Grim. You notice he does that a lot. Most likely he likes you more than he likes Grim, which makes sense considering your much more agreeable and polite than the cat could probably dream of.

"I am delighted to hear you've adjusted so well, despite being sent to another world! And to see how you've decided to wake early and get prepared for the day, well, it warms my heart to see your "Pokey Mans" doing these battles. Do they perhaps do this often?"

You shrug and smile politely, remembering Pokémon don't exist in this world, so naturally Crowley doesn't understand that a Pokémon's nature is often to battle.

"Well, this is simply training right now, but Pokémon indeed adore battles. In fact, it's often their first nature to fight against one another... People in my world have created Pokémon battles to allow Pokémon to fight and provide entertainment."

Grim impatiently taps his foot, "Enough with the explainations, human!"

Both you and Crowley ignore the attention hungry cat, and Crowley nods, "Interesting! Now, speaking of moving on, let us discuss your assignment for today."

You whistle at Ogerpon to get her attention, "C'mere Poni! Were learning what were doing today!"

Ogerpon immediately breaks away, slipping her mask away as she excitedly darts up to you. Grim hops away a bit as Poni tightly hugs your leg, and you scoop her up in your arms and brace for what Crowley has to say.

"Your job today is to clean the campus. That said, the campus is vast, and without magic, it'd be a very Herculean task to clean it all. Therefore, today I'll have you focus on the area spanning from the front gates to the library. Now, Y/N, my dear, I do expect that you'll keep a close eye on Grim, lest he causes another incident like yesterday."

Grim looks offended that he's being ignored, and you nod politely, "Understood, sir. I promise to do my best, please forgive me if I cannot control the pequeño gato de fuego completely."

You ignore the indignant look Grim shoots at you, and Crowley nods.

"And, sir, as a question, am Grim and I allowed to have breakfast?"

You feel a frown tug at your lips as Crowley freezes, obviously forgetting that you needed to eat. How did he even manage to get into a position of power over students..?

"I- uh- Apologies my dear, I believe breakfast may be wrapping up soon. However, you are more than welcome to take your lunch up in the cafeteria! I eagerly await the fruits of your labor!"

And with that, Crowley quickly leaves so you can't call him out on not providing food to the girl and her Pokémon (as well as Grim) who literally have no food supplies or ways to get them.

Well... you do have a few berries and such, but you're unsure if Grim can safely eat them. Oh well.

"Hrmph!" Grim crosses his arms and quietly snarls, "I ain't cleanin' nothin'! I'm here to study magic so I can be blastin' off spells left and right! Like- BAM! POW! FWOOM!"

You shrug a bit at Grim- ever the mature cat- and tilt your head. "One, you can study magic in the library after we finish cleaning when I'm doing some research. Two, you can shoot off your magic tonight if you still want to train against Drifty."

Grim grumbles a bit yet nods slowly, you smile and get all your Pokémon (outside of Poni and Mi) back in their Pokéballs.

"C'mon everyone! Back in! I'll ride you back here after the cleaning and such, Ko. Yep, mhm, alright everyone!" You spin around and grin at Grim, Ogerpon, and Miraidon, feeling in a good mood. You don't despise cleaning, and you're doing it with Poni!

You hum as you climb onto Miraidon's back, Ogerpon hopping in front of you and sitting down. You look over at Grim, who's staring at you blankly.

"...what?" He asks after unmoving and you offering out your hand.

"C'mon, hop up Grim!" You say, raising an eyebrow, "We'll get there quicker on Mi and get it done sooner."

Grim gives you a skeptical look, yet takes your hand and you set him down in front of you and Poni. Miraidon immediately shifts from Low-Power Mode to Drive Mode, and starts cruising off.

-------

You ignore Grim's annoyed complaints as you neatly sweep up the path leading to what you heard was 'Main Street'. You're wearing your new janitors uniform, which- despite being slightly baggy- is quite comfortable. Doesn't look half bad either.

"Hush now, cat." You say with a forced grin, quickly getting annoyed by him. "You're literally just holding the dustpan, not even sweepting."

Grim goes quiet for a moment before muttering, "Myah... not a cat..."

You sigh a bit, "Apologies." You glance over at Ogerpon, who looks absolutely thrilled as she sweeps into a dustpan held in her vines, her nubs holding onto the broom as she has a giant grin on her face.

You smile at the silly Pokémon, thinking about how shocked Grim was when you rode here on Miraidon, slightly impressed that a creature like that exists, though he was hiding it as much as the cat-monster could.

You were impressed too, except it was by the school. So different from Pomelo Academy... Well, makes sense considering this is a literal castle. Looks so much more pretty in actual sunlight.

You look up at the sunny skies. Beautiful for the first day of September...

Grim huffs as he carries the now full dustpan towards a trash can, and you pick him up and help him dump the trash in.

Grim doesn't bother thanking you as his pitch-forked tail lashes slightly as he starts complaining again, though you tune it out.

The three of you walk down, and you look around Main Street, intrigued by the seven statues that surround you.

"Wow! So this is Main Street? Incredible!" You nod in agreement with the excited cat as he continues, "I didn't get to see it much yesterday-" Because you were being chased off campus- "What's the deal with these Seven statues? All their faces look pretty scary." He waves a paw at the statue of a larger woman with a heart-shaped staff and a satisfied expression, "Like, this lady here looks like she gots some reeeeal anger management issues."

You can't argue about that. She looks like she appears sort of friendly at first but quickly becomes angry, cruel, and rude on a dime.

"You don't know the Queen of Hearts?" A new voice asks from behind you.

You turn around, Poni hopping a bit by your side as you see a boy your age walking up to you with his arms crossed behind his head and a smug smirk on his face. He has messy orange hair that reaches his nape, with red eyes and a red heart seemingly tattooed over his left eye. He's wearing a black suit (like all other students are wearing) over a red vest and white undershirt, and a red ribbon tied around his upper right arm.

Immediately, you sense this guy is pretty smug and teases absolutely everyone, and is probably a trouble-maker. You'd avoid people like that, but you have a gut feeling you're gonna get caught up in a lot of situations with this guy...

"Queen of Hearts? Is she kinda some big deal?" Grim questioned, looking confused.

"Elaborate." You say with a tilt of your head, "Please, explain who this reina de corazones?"

You should keep practicing your Paldean, even in another world. Don't want to get rusty and get more confused about what Nemona says when she goes on her excited rants.

The boys arms move from behind his head to be crossed in front of his chest, a sly grin on his face, "She was a queen who lived in a maze-like garden of roses long, long ago. She was a strict woman who prioritized order above all. She wouldn't tolerate a rose being off-color, or her playing-card soldiers being out of step."

"Playing what nows?" You ask, raising an eyebrow in disbelief, "Like... the same cards I'd play Go Magikarp with?"

At the words 'Go Magikarp', the boy gives you a confused look. So does Grim for that matter. Poni- however- grins a bit. Because she loves playing Go Magikarp with you. Absolutely terrible at it, but she does her best and you love her for it.

"...it's a card game-" You start to explain, but you're cut off.

"Uh- sure. Basically, though, she ruled over a kingdom of madness, but not one of her subjects dared to defy her. You wanna know why? Because the punishment for breaking a rule was immediate decapitation!"

You wince back at the idea, grimacing. "Ack..."

You'd read about how cruel ancient kingdoms could be and how some crimes would be punished by death- though was soon outlawed- but the idea of a small rule being broken and causing your death sounds terrible... more like tyranny, than genuine ruling.

"Wah!? That is seriously messed up!" Grim looks horrified, and you sigh in relief internally. Thank Arceus this cat has morals... at least you have someone on your side beyond your Pokémon if something ever goes wrong.

The boy chuckled- immediately worrying you- "Pretty cool, right? I'm a big fan. I mean, who'd want to obey a queen who was kind all the time?"

You don't hesitate raising a hand in sync with Poni, who also looks concerned.

"Yeah, true..." Grim says, thinking, "A leader needs to be strong."

Grim, no-

Stop that line of thinking right now. Please. I don't want to be wrong on thinking you may secretly have morals.

"But puttin' that aside..." Grim crosses his arms and looks annoyed, "Who're you, now?"

"Name's Ace," He puts a hand to his chest, "I'm a first year student here, as of... today! Pleased to meetcha!"

"I'm Grim! I'm a prodigy who's plannin' to be- like- the greatest mage who ever lived. That there's my far less interesting hench-human, Y/N."

You playfully roll your eyes at the cat, "Ha! No. You're not introducing me like that, Grim."

You chuckle under your breath and smile at Ace. "¡Hola! My name's Y/N L/N, and I'm a Pokémon trainer! Not that you'd know what that is, heh heh, but it's lovely to meet you as well! This here is Ogerpon, or Poni, and she's a partner of mine."

Ace tilts his head, "Y/N, huh? Odd ring to it. And Poni?" He smirks a bit, "What kinda partner are they, huh?"

You smile innocently and pat Poni on her head, who has her little innocent smile on her face, "A battle partner, of course!"

Ace looks interested as he calmly strolls up to you, a small smirk on his face, but Grim gets yours and Ace's attention with a question.

"So, tell me Ace, is that lion with a scar in the eye a famous ruler too?" He asks as he points at the statue of a Luxray or Pyroar-like being. Lion... yeah. Interesting how similar creatures are in this world to Pokémon, to be honest.

Ace shakes his head with a scoff, "Of course! That's the King of Beasts who ruled the savanah. But he wasn't born into the throne, he had to earn it through hard work and elaborate schemes. When he became king, he decreed that hyenas would be pariahs no more, and live among his subjects as equals."

Hm... don't royal lineages work through heirs and such? Wouldn't that mean the previous king would've had to die for the King of Beasts to inherit the throne..?

"Sounds like a great guy!" Grim says with a nod, "Not everyone can look past social status like that. Who's the lady with octopus legs?"

You snort internally as Grim sure as the Distortion World itself can look past social status. Or he just doesn't care.

You look over at the statue of a woman that has Octillary tentacles instead of legs, holding a contract of some sort in her hands.

"The Sea Witch who lived in an underwater grotto. She basically devoted her life to heloing troubled merfolk. If they were willing to pay the price, she could help them change their appearance, find love, whatever!" Ace waved a hand dismissively, and you raise an eyebrow. People really can just casually be part Pokémon- you mean animal- in this world... "They say she was so good, there was no wish she couldn't grant. They also say the price was a tad steep, though. But she was granting wishes! Of course it was!"

So she was like Jirachi? Just less rare and much more... cruel, perhaps? You mean, you suppose it's fair for wishes to have steep prices. But depends on what those prices even were...

Grim made a satisfied smirk, "Myaha! So you're sayin' once I'm a great mage, getting rich off folks will be a total cinche?! Oh- OH!  Do the dude with a big hat next!" You glance over at where Grim is pointing at now. A tall man with a large hat (speaking of hats, you miss your sunhat already) and holding a staff shaped like an Arbok.

"That's the Sorcerer of the Sands. He was the advisor to a total dolt of a sultan. He was a smart guy. Really capable sort. He exposed this swindler once, some guy pretending to be a prince in order to trick the princess! After that, he got this magic lamp and became the greatest sorcerer in the world. Then, they say... he used that power to become sultan himself!" Ace grins, looking amused by Grim's excitement.

Well, okay, this Sorcerer does sound a tad bit power hungry, but perhaps the sultan was a very terrible ruler and usurping the throne could be excused.

"Wow! Guess it's true a great mage needs to be an excellent judge of character, huh? And what about this beauty over here?" Grim points at a regal looking woman- appearing to be a queen- who could definitely be deemed beautiful. But that would be if you cared about appearance. You more so judge people for who they are and what things they may have done, but you're pretty forgiving.

"She's a queen who was said to be the fairest in the land. Im fact, she used her magic mirror to check how she ranked on a daily basis! When it looked like her position was threatened, they say she'd do whatever it took to keep it." Ace shakes his head. "Can you even imagine the amount of dedication it would take to keep a record like that? Also, they say she was a master of making poisons!"

She does sound dedicated in a way... but mostly narcissistic. And what exactly would she do..?

You notice a trend with this. Ace never said exactly what these people even did to get to their certain points. Outside of the Queen of Hearts though, but concerning how he seems fine with someone who chopped off peoples heads being idolized.

"Geez, she's pretty, but that sounds kinda scary." You nod in agreement with Grim, and even Poni looks concerned. And she's the same Pokémon that's smiling like 90% of the time she's around you.

"You think so? I gotta respect the hustle!" Ace chuckles at your concerned expressions, and you now think his face looks very punchable...

"F- f- for sure!" Grim quickly stammers out, "Sounds like she fought hard for what she believed in, and never gave up! And the one over there, with a flaming head? Now THAT guy looks scary!" You look over and stare at a statue of an angry looking man with fire instead of hair.

...so people can just casually have fire instead of hair in this world. Weird... but then again, the time machine and Area Zero in general back home... so you don't think you can judge.

"That's the King of the Underworld! Single-handedly ruling a kingdom packed with rambunctious spirits, that takes competence! He make look scary, but he was a straight-shooter who worked tirelessly at a tough job he never asked for. I mean, this is the guy who was ordering Cerebus, the Hydra, and the Titans into battle for him."

Okay... you don't know what a Hydra or Cerebus is. Hydra does sound similar to Hydrapple though... hm. And to be honest, he sounds faintly similar to Giratina. Scary at first, but a hard-worker who is just trying to do their job. Except you instinctively like Giratina more than this guy, and your gut feeling has never failed you yet...

How do you know Giratina? Answers for later.

"Hmm... That is something! T'think he could have that much power and not let it get to his head! And that last one there, with the horns?" Grim pointed at the last statue of a serious looking woman who did in fact have horns.

"That's the Thorn Fairy who lived on a mythical mountain. She was noble and elegant, a master of magic and curses- even by the standards of the Seven! She commanded storms, covered the kingdom in thorns. She could even use magic on a massive scale! She could even turn herself into a giant dragon."

Oh, people can just turn themselves into dragons. Of course they can- wait- covered a kingdom in thorns? Why!?

Grim grins and hops a bit, "OOOH! A dragon! What all monsters yearn to be!"

You shrug, "I have dragons."

Never in your life have you recieved more shocked looks than from these two. Not when you told Carmine you were Umbree and she started fangirling over you, and not when you told Nemona about how you punched Munkidori in the face once.

"What?" Grim asks, his eyes wide, "You have DRAGONS!?"

You nod, "Yep. I have..." You count on your fingers, "Let's see... Chompers, Walking Wake, Gouging Fire, Raging Bolt, Koraidon, Miraidon, and Sweet Apple. That makes seven."

Ace raises an eyebrow, "Sweet Apple?"

You nod, "Yep. That's his nickname."

Ace grins a bit, "Heh. Pretty cool. A whole dragon tamer, huh? Much more impressive than some piddling weasel, but not by much." He smirks down at Grim.

Oh. Oh snap. Grim looks pissed.

"MYAH!?" The cat hisses out, his ears pinning down as he looks taken aback.

Ace burst out laughing hysterically, causing your originally smiling expression to quickly fade into annoyance. If this asshole is gonna pretend to be nice and drop it on a dime, you're sure as the Distortion World itself losing your smile.

"Come on, you're the one's who turned orientation into a fiasco, right?" Ace said mockingly, "The one summoned by the Dark Mirror who can't even use magic and the monster no one summoned at all. It took everything I had not to burst into laughter at the ceremony!"

"You don't have to be a jerk about it." You say coldly, your eyes narrowing a bit.

"So in the end, neither of you got admitted, and now you're janitors? Ahahaha! So LAME!"

You take a deep breath. You promised to avoid trouble, so you're not gonna beat this guy up in sheer rage. You're better than that. You've never been a trouble-maker anyways.

Yeah, it sucks you're cleaning up after pompus boys all day, and of course one had to come over and harass you. Just ignore him and he'll probably go away...

"Ugh... Grim, ignore him. He's just being a total douche and we shouldn't waste our time with him."

"HAHA! You're both so clueless you don't even know who the great Seven are! Not one of them! Maybe before you try getting into the academy again, you should take a second crack at Kindergarten! HAHAHA!"

...What's a 'kindergarten'..?

You glance down at the snarling Grim, feelingly slightly concerned about the cat. Something's about to go really wrong...

Ace finally stops laughing. "Anyways, just thought I'd tease you a bit. And man am I glad I did. It's been a blast! Unlike you, I actually have classes to get to, so I'll yet you get back to picking up trash. Bye!" He waves and strolls past you

Grim snarls, looking enraged, "Myuh-uh! You ain't walkin' away from me! It's too late for that! MYAAAAAAH!" Grim shoots a fireball at Ace's feet, which the boy barely dodges.

...oh dear Arceus save your soul...