The bell rang, and everyone sprinted out the door to recess.

Litten walked out, before he realized he had no one to talk to or play with.

Five minutes passed and he was just standing outside, bored.

I wish I could join the cool kids like Cyndaquil, he thought. If only someone would just talk to me.

Litten sat down, watching everyone else play, talk and have fun.

This is why I like schoolwork better, Litten thought. We're forced to be all together. When class lets up, no one cares about me. I hate this.

Litten looked around and saw Rowlet sitting by himself a few feet away.

"Hey, Rowlet? Was that it?" Litten said.

"Yes?" Rowlet said.

"Are you bored too?" Litten said.

"Yeah," Rowlet admitted. "I wanted to engage in conversation with Snivy, but she's constantly with her friends. It's sort of... um, bungling to go over. I feel inept, or uncouth, or ungainly around them."

"Wow, do you memorize thesauruses in your free time too?" Litten said. "It's such a good way to improve your vocabulary, don't you think?"

"Um- this is how I normally express myself," Rowlet said. "What's a thesaurus? Is that a dinosaur?"

"Not exactly," Litten said. "Anyway, I don't care about vocabulary. Do you want to be friends?"

"I've never had one besides Snivy before," Rowlet said. "What do you do?"

"Um, just hang out and stuff," Litten said. "I don't know."

"OK," Rowlet said. "I guess we're doing that right now."

"I guess we are," Litten said.

They sat there awkwardly for a second, until Litten cut in.

"Hey, is that the other new kid, Popplio? What's he doing over there?"

"Everything has a season..." Popplio sang. "Everything has its time. Show me a reason and I'll show you a rhyme..."

"Uh, is he singing?" Rowlet said.

"I think so," Litten said.

"Cats fit on the windowsill, children fit in the snow..." Popplio sang loudly.

"Is he singing a nursery rhyme or..." Litten said. Before he could finish, Cyndaquil and his friends walked over.

"Dude, you sound so gay right now," Cyndaquil said.

"What? I'm not gay," Popplio said.

"Yeah you are," Cyndaquil said. "Take a hint and shut up."

"But I like singing," Popplio said. "Just like you guys like basketball."

"Yeah, but your singing's super annoying," Cyndaquil. "Make like a Caterpie and bug off."

Cyndaquil's friends laughed.

"Good one, Cyndaquil," Bulbasaur said.

"I know," Cyndaquil replied. "Let's go."

Popplio stared after them, confused.

"We should go over there," Litten said.

"Wait, what?" Rowlet said as Litten dragged him over.

"Hey, um, Popplio," Litten said. "You OK?"

"Yeah," Popplio said sadly. "No one likes my singing. I've been to so many schools, and in every one Pokémon tease me. I guess I should stop, but I like singing."

"Um, Rowlet wants to hear the rest of your song," Litten said.

"I do?" Rowlet said.

"Yes, you do," Litten said with clenched teeth. "He really wants to hear the rest."

Rowlet tried to smile and nod.

"Really?" Popplio said and cleared his throat. "Ahem... where was I?"

Popplio suddenly dabbed and started singing.

"Cats fit on the windowsill... children fit in the snow... Why do I feel like I don't fit in anywhere I go? Rivers belong where they can ramble... Eagles belong where they can fly... I've got to be where my spirit can run free... Got to find my corner of the sky!"

Popplio bowed and dabbed. "Did you like it?"

"You're pretty good at singing," Litten said. "I didn't know that was a song, I thought it was a nursery rhyme at first."

"That was actually OK," Rowlet said. "Nice job, Popplio."

"Thanks guys," Popplio said. "That's the first nice thing anyone's ever said to me about my singing. Well, except for my mom."

"Welcome," said Litten. "Hey, you know what we should do?"

"What?" Rowlet said at the same time Popplio said, "Make a grilled cheese sandwich!"

"Wait, what?" Litten said. "No. We should form a squad."

"A squad?" Rowlet said.

"You know, like a group of friends, who hang out all the time, chill and stick up for each other."

"Sure," Rowlet said. "I'm in."

"Me too," Popplio said.

"Now we just need to make a name for our new squad..." Litten said. "How about... um... Back Room Boys? I don't know..."

"How about the Back Corner of the Sky Squad?" Rowlet suggested. "Because, you know, the song sings about finding a corner of the sky, and we sit in the back corner of the class, so..."

"I like that," Popplio said.

"OK, and we can call our squad BCOSS for short." Litten said.

"Paws in, or flippers, or wings," Litten said. "1, 2, 3!"

"BCOSS!"

== AUTHOR'S NOTE ==

OK, when I wrote the story I, at random picked an old Broadway show. I had no clue what it was, I just slapped the title on. OK, Popplio likes Pippen, whatever that is. Popplio, Pippen, it just felt right.

Then it turns out the main song in the show is about fitting in, which is something Popplio wants.

And the corner thing. So much coincidence I didn't even plan.

So I'd like to thank the Pokémon creators for naming Popplio Popplio, because otherwise I wouldn't have Pippen and this wonderful parallel. Oh yeah, and Google, otherwise I wouldn't have known about Pippen in the first place.

Coincidences are wonderful things.

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