Pokémon Almia U

[I liek Squirtles]

Hi all! I've been working on this fic since July of last year (ish). Because of college, I had to stop, but I've picked it up again! It's one of two fics I'm working on. I don't have any particular direction except some vague arcs I want to explore. Without further ado, let's get started!

Chapter 1​

“Kahuna Hala’s and Brawly’s Hariyama seem incredibly evenly matched as they grapple fiercely with one anoth- oh?! OH?! Is the Alolan Haryiama LIFTING ITS OPPONENT UP?! LADIES AND GENT-”

The room went silent as Artur closed the tab. His hand tousled his hair as he constantly refreshed his email. Nothing.

He pulled his phone from his pocket, his sweaty grip almost letting it fall to the floor. Again, nothing, as if checking his phone would make the wait any less shorter.

His feet maneuvered dexterously across the clothes, books, and notebooks scattered haphazardly on the floor. The teen sprung onto his bed, exhaling deeply into his Pyukumuku pillow. He lay there, his heart desperately flopping in his chest like one of the many, many harmed Magikarp his parents routinely nursed back to health.

A notification buzz awoke him from his reverie.

His fingers danced across his phone, opening an email that just popped up in the notifications bar. Its topic read plainly yet foreboding: “Your Ever Grande University decision is enclosed within.”

His heart pounded incessantly, trying to burst its way out of his chest. He clicked the link in the body of the email.

“I am very sorry to let you know that we are currently unable to offer you admission to Ever Grande University. Please know this does not reflect on the quality of your application or you as a student. Thank you for applying to our institution, and we wish you the best in all your future endeavors.”

His heart sank into the depths of the globe. Breathing deeply, he restrained himself from throwing his phone and placed it on his dresser.

Perry, Artur’s older brother, knocked twice on the door, poking his head in cautiously. He was taller than his sibling and had a harsher face, with thicker eyebrows and sharper cheek and chin bones. “Hey, I heard EGU came out… You ok, Art?”

Perry got a faceful of Totodile plush.

"Please, go away." A frown scrawled itself across his face.

"All right. If you're hungry, dinner's in a bit. Come down if you want."

"Okay."

Perry walked up to his younger brother, having a bit more trouble traversing the mess, comforting him with a hug. Art recoiled. "You'll go where you need to be."

Art pushed his brother away. "Easy for you to say," he scoffed between tears.

Perry abruptly crossed his arms over his chest, trying his best to obscure the Ever Grande U logo on his shirt.

"Ah, sorry about that. I expected... happier news." He took off his shirt and threw it into the mess. "Better?"

"Uh. Kinda? I dunno." He laughed awkwardly, thumbing his eyes to wipe the tears away.

"Come on. You better eat something. Mom made a kickass Berry fricassee tonight."

With a reluctant nod and a pat on the back, the duo walked past framed pictures of a beaming family posing with a variety of aquatic Pokemon on their way to the dining room.

The circle dinner table was stacked high with files and books, as usual. The two began clearing it a little, revealing its light brown surface.

"Clear the table, guys! Dinner's coming in piping hot!"

Their mother came in, teeth clenched, wincing while holding the pan with her bare hands. She gingerly placed it in the middle of the table while her husband came in with plates and cups. A Politoed followed close behind with a pitcher of Nomelade.

His father thanked the Pokemon without turning around. "Thanks, Rene! A big help, as usual."

"Poli!" he replied.

After the Water type set the pitcher, and all five of them sat down, Art broke the news.

"Oh, honey, you'll be all right," his mom commented. "You applied to another school, though! You'll be fine wherever you go."

"Yeah, but it's Almia. Don't get me wrong, great school in its own regard, but I have issues with it. Almia's a Ranger school, mostly... so I dunno what that'll do to my prospects of being picked up by a pro Trainer team. I think it's everything but a Trainer school." He played with his food as he spoke, lifting Berry chunks and letting them splash back into the sauce.

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong, kiddo!" his father chirped, raising a finger. "Almia's a great place to study! Don't sleep on 'em; just because they're no big shot Ever Grande or Indigo doesn't mean you can't count 'em out. All U-Almians I know became accomplished professionals-"

"Yeah, but how many of those became top-ranked Trainers?" Art retorted.

"Oh. Right. That was what you were talking about."
"Probably not the best of times to sound like a brochure, Santos," suggested Art's mom.

Art got up and picked up his plate. "I'll finish up in my room if you don't mind. I got a bit to mull over."

Once in his room, he sat down heavily on his bed. His slow munching was interrupted by Rene's sudden appearance.

He cracked a smile. "If it isn't the resident troublemaker. What'd you want?"

The Politoed plopped himself down next to him, curling his vibrant green body against the teen. "Agh. Seems I'm trapped." Rene let out a deep, croaky purr, content with his prisoner.

Art played with Rene's hair. "I'll miss you out there, Rene. You're the best 'Toed ever."

 

[I liek Squirtles]

Chapter 2
​

A shake awoke him from his slumber. “Hey, kid,” Perry whispered. “We’re here.”

Art shifted in his window seat. A forested expanse stretched before him, suddenly cut off by a harsh outcrop of mountains. Hues of brown, gray, and white washed over the jagged peaks. Towns and winding roads broke up the lush vegetation, but the wilderness was otherwise untouched. He sighed. At the very least, Almia was pretty.

Art glanced cursorily around the plane, taking note of the many other kids his age: some slept as he did, others chatted cheerily with their companions, and a few were engrossed in a book. A peculiar feeling washed over him. Soon, he realized, he’d know a good number of these other people.

They landed in a hangar on the outside of the university grounds. Planes were scattered about its exterior, people and Pokémon alike helping the new students unload. Once the plane stopped on the makeshift tarmac, he eagerly unbuckled himself and jumped up, hitting his head in the process.

“Take it easy, Art, you don’t wanna knock yourself out before even seeing your dorm room,” his dad quipped.

Once off the plane, Art picked up the two ponderous suitcases filled with things his parents insisted he bring. His parents were the paragons of simplicity, though, each with a small duffel bag that carried only a few changes of clothes and the most basic of toiletries. Perry brought even less, just his regular Trainer bag.

An amiable Primeape helped Art with his bags. The five of them climbed up the stairs leading to the main campus on the top of the plateau. Five tall buildings dominated the quad, with the Main Building, the old Ranger School, standing tall at the very end of campus.

“They sure do train these bellhops well around here. Not a whit of complaining from that one…” his mother remarked. “Imagine René doing this work.” Art and Perry snickered; his dad guffawed.

An older student waved them over to the building on the right closest to the stairs. “Dorms are this way!!” she yelled. “Welcome to campus!” she beamed as she held the door open for the Fighting-type.

The lobby teemed with people and Pokémon. New students posed as their parents snapped photos, and more than a few parents and students were teary-eyed. To the left of the entrance were some beanbag chairs; students who’d already settled in sat there, talking of home, some with their own Pokémon out. A Skitty mewled happily, as it swatted an annoyed Azumarill’s tail. One of the students nudged another and pointed to Perry, whispering excitedly. Perry smiled, but Art just gritted his teeth.

To the right of the entrance, a smattering of tables with a few rolling whiteboards. A student had doodled a smiling Wigglytuff in marker on one of them, the balloon Pokémon warmly welcoming all the first-year students.

A little behind the tables was a long reception desk, currently staffed by five or six students who helped students check in. A queue stood before each one. Opposite the desk, an enormous flat screen television hung over a dormant fireplace, surrounded with couches.

“I think this is the place. Thank you, Primeape,” Art said. It huffed, putting down the luggage. Art reached into his bag and offered it a Sitrus Berry. It gladly took it and snacked on it before heading out once more, to assist whatever other newcomers had arrived.

Art and his family took a spot in the shortest queue. It wasn’t long before his turn came.

“Name, please?” the student at the desk asked. His badge had a Chatot cheerily proclaiming, “Hi, my name is Miguel!”

“Artur Lapielle, A-r-t-u-r,” he began. The student typed in his name as he said it.

“Ah, gotcha. Battle major?” Miguel cut him off.

“That’s me.”

“Just a second!” he flashed a smile. “Can someone get me the box for the ‘A’s?” he asked one of the others at the desk. Once he received it, he rifled through it until he pulled out a small white envelope no bigger than the palm of Art’s hand. “You’re on the third floor. Your resident assistant is Kiki, she’s over there,” he pointed to a green-haired girl at the right end of the desk, “and I believe your roommate’s already checked in. We have a dinner for the new arrivals at 6, don’t forget! Welcome to Almia University!” He flashed a smile he had certainly smiled a hundred times during the day, yet it seemed no less cheerful.

Art thanked him and headed to the elevators at the far left of the room. Those, too, were very crowded, but the volunteers once again ensured the drop-off process was smooth. He and his family climbed on, telling the girl at the elevator to please press three, thanks.

They stepped out into a hallway that stretched to their left and their right. A sign noted the rooms numbered 300 through 320 were to the left, while 321 through 340 were to the right. The family headed left and saw that another hallway ran perpendicular to the one they were now walking down.

A short walk later down that hall and they stood in front of room 314. Two name tags were on the door: his own, adorned with an Araquanid, and his roommate’s, decorated with a Reuniculus. Art knocked, to see if his roommate was there.

“A moment,” a voice said.

A tall bespectacled boy opened the door. His arms were subtly muscled, and the veins in his arm bulged.

“Cyrio, a pleasure,” he said, extending his hand.

“Artur, but you can call me Art.” He shook his hand solidly.

“Pleasure to meet you, Cyrio,” his dad interrupted as he pushed through his family. He extended his hand and held Cyrio’s in a vice grip.

“Pleasure,” Cyrio blurted out awkwardly.

The family walked into the room. It was sparsely furnished: two beds, one at each wall, a desk at the foot of each bed, a chair for each desk. The bed on the right was full of orderly stacks of clothes and school supplies. Art and his own family helped him lug his suitcases up to the other bed, making quick work of the luggage.

“So,” Art started nervously, cautiously breaking the ice, “you’re a Genetics major, right?”

“Oh, like Eggs?” his dad piped up.

“Yeah-”

“Geneggtics…” Santos finished, before Cyrio could answer.

“Santos, please,” Art’s mom said under her breath. She rubbed her forehead exasperatedly.

Cyrio smiled. “Kind of. It’s the theoretical aspect. My younger siblings all love Eggs and babies and all that. I’m not such a big fan myself.”

“I can relate a little,” Perry said through a smirk.

Cyrio adjusted his glasses as he studied Perry. “Sorry for staring, but I feel I’ve seen you before somewhere.”

Perry cleared his throat. “Where ya from?”

“Lilycove.”

“That explains it. I go to EGU.”

“Ah, I got it. You’re always in the tournaments. Nice to make your acquaintance, then.”

Art’s brother tensed up, his left eye twitching a little. It was very unusual for Perry to meet someone who didn’t hold him in high regard.

“You got any Pokémon, Cyrio?” Art’s mom asked.

“See for yourself.”

A Duosion burst out in a flash of light. She gurgled happily in her cytoplasm.

“This is Mito,” Cyrio beamed, “I’ve had her since the eighth grade. She’s been my faithful lab assistant ever since.”

Art’s mom squished the Psychic-type’s cheek-adjacent glob excitedly.

“Well, aren’t you just an adorable little lady?”

His dad’s face was scrunched up, clearly put off by the slime.

“L-leave the little blob alone, okay, Marta?”

She rolled her eyes at him and kept playing with Mito. The Duosion bounced at her pokes.

“We should get going, I think. Art needs to settle in, and we need to check into our hotel in Pueltown.”

Art’s parents hugged him for a long while, tears welling in their eyes.

“Be good, okay, sweetie?” his mom said, giving him one last hug.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, champ.”

Art smiled, holding back his own tears. “Sure will, Dad.”

Perry clamped a hand on his little brother’s shoulder. “This is where you’re supposed to be. Trust me. Knock ‘em dead, kid.”

A little while after they left, someone knocked on the door. Cyrio opened it, and there stood the green-haired girl from the registration desk, now clad in the Rangers’ trademark red jacket and accompanied by a Sawsbuck. The proud green leaves that adorned it during the summer were already drooping, the foliage on its head mottled with shades of orange.

“Hi, Cyrio, Art, I’m Kiki, your RA! This is my partner Serra. We’re right down the hall in 300. Dropping by just to remind you guys again that the Rookie Dinner’s at 6 in the Basement Pavilion! I’m really excited to get to know you this year.”

Cyrio thanked her and closed the door. No doubt Kiki was going to the next room over to deliver the same speech over to their neighbors.
“Hey, by any chance, do you know who’s in the room next to us?”

Cyrio scribbled something into a planner. “A couple of girls, Bea and Mya.” He glanced at his watch. “Ah, would you look at the time? I better start getting ready for the dinner.”

“It’s 4.”

“What’s your point?”

 

[Negrek]

I totally didn't realize that you wrote fic, so it's cool to be able to have look now. Since some people already checked out your PMD story, I figured I'd give this one a look. Always here for a good "pokémon but humans too" fic!

That rejection letter was such a pitch-perfect "thanks but no thanks" corporate let-down, dang. I hope you don't have a ton of experience with them to have captured the tone so well.

"Nomelade" cracked me up for some reason. It makes sense that that's what they'd have in the pokémon world, but I don't think I've ever seen it in fic before.

It did seem a bit weird that Art was discussing his disappointment at not getting into EGU with his family like he'd never brought up his reservations with Almia University before. This seems like a conversation they would have had much earlier in the application process. I think it would have worked better to get this info across in a brief narrative bit, like, "Art sighed as he turned the acceptance letter over in his hands. It wasn't like Almia was a bad school, but everyone knew that for training, it couldn't compete with EGU" or whatever.

I like how you have the pokémon living and working together with humans here--something that can get lost often in stories with high school or college settings. I look forward to seeing how the university is made different by the presence of pokémon! Since Art's majoring in battling, I imagine we'll be seeing lots of pokécentric classes, too. Majoring in battle is interesting to me; seems like majoring in football or something, which you can't do in a real university. What kind of jobs would a battle major be qualified for?

The little bit with Marta and the duosion was cute. In general I think the first chapter does a great job of setting the scene at the university--it felt very genuine to the "first day of college" feeling and the kinds of things a new freshman would be going through. It'll be fun to see Art explore the university more in upcoming chapters. And... perhaps end up going into ranging instead of straight battling? Since you called out that Almia's better for rangers than for aspiring trainers, and there's clearly a bit of tension between Art and his brother about his brother's renown as a battler, that's my best guess so far for where the story's going.

This is a quiet opening, but pretty much what I'd expect for this kind of story. More of a slice of life kind of thing than an epic adventure... should be plenty of opportunity for worldbuilding! Like I said, it'll be fun to learn more about the university and Almia in general. Welcome again to the forums, and I wish you good luck with breaking your "not finishing fics" streak with one of your current stories!

 

[Umbramatic]

Perry, Artur’s older brother

"You see, Perry the Platypus, this is my fanfic-review-inator. It leaves helpful and constructive reviews on people's fanfiction, thus boosting their morale and also encouraging them to read mine. Soon everyone on the Thousand Roads forums and Discord will have read my fanfiction, and I will use that power to CONQUER THE ENTIRE TRI-STATE AREA"

Jokes aside RANGER FIC RANGER FIC RANGER FIC. The scene is so dominated by PMD including your PMD fic and my upcoming PMD fic that seeing fics of other spinoffs is a nice suprise (though I am eternally craving Conquest fics). Also Ranger has that emphasis on human-Pokemon bonds that I neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed. And you're already delivering with the Politoed scenes!

I like that this is portrayed as a normal college experience with RAs and everything. I do hope Artur here isn't too swamped by exams. Poor guy's dreams have been crushed enough already. And also by his dad's dad jokes.

I don't have too much else to say since things are pretty much getting started in-story but it is a good start. Also. Politoed cuddles. My heart.

 

[kyeugh]

good to see this fic posted here! it's not my first time reading the first chapter, but i think this is the first i've seen of the second one. at any rate, i'm excited to see where this story goes. it's a pretty quiet and low-key premise so far, which is always nice... keeping track of all the moving parts in various different longfics can be pretty exhausting sometimes, so light and down-to-earth fics like this are always welcome in my book.

“Kahuna Hala’s and Brawly’s Hariyama seem incredibly evenly matched as they grapple fiercely with one anoth- oh?! OH?! Is the Alolan Haryiama LIFTING ITS OPPONENT UP?! LADIES AND GENT-”

i really like this bit right off the bat, hahaha. there's some commentating on pokémon battles in canon but it's fun to think of it as the hokey, overblown type of commentary you get in real-world sports. makes me wonder what it's like at smaller scale events, like trainer little-league or whatever

the portion about arthur awaiting his university decision really hit home. i didn't really have this experience with university specifically since i didn't apply to anything outside of my reach (lol), but i've definitely been in that spot wrt to job applications recently, just days of anxiously thinking "god what if they say no, what am i going to do, i don't want to have to think about it." and you captured that really well! i'm second-hand anxious for arthur here.

Perry got a faceful of Totodile plush.

incredible.

Perry walked up to his younger brother, having a bit more trouble traversing the mess, comforting him with a hug. Art recoiled. "You'll go where you need to be."

Art pushed his brother away. "Easy for you to say," he scoffed between tears.

Perry abruptly crossed his arms over his chest, trying his best to obscure the Ever Grande U logo on his shirt.

"Ah, sorry about that. I expected... happier news." He took off his shirt and threw it into the mess. "Better?"

"Uh. Kinda? I dunno." He laughed awkwardly, thumbing his eyes to wipe the tears away.

this is a pretty awkward, but realistic, interaction. for some reason it feels like an inverted version of this spongebob scene, lmfao. anyway, i think this paints a pretty good picture of art and perry's relationship without saying much outright. art wants to be upset and is resistant to perry's attempts to console him, but he can't keep up his facade up for long, and within a few sentences he's laughing. this demonstrates their closeness pretty well, and is just a really cute scene overall.

His father thanked the Pokemon without turning around. "Thanks, Rene! A big help, as usual."

"Poli!" he replied.

d'awww. this reminds me of the little fake chores my parents would give my little brothers to make them feel like they were helping out. i love the idea of pokémon being perpetual four year olds.

"Yeah, but it's Almia. Don't get me wrong, great school in its own regard, but I have issues with it. Almia's a Ranger school, mostly... so I dunno what that'll do to my prospects of being picked up by a pro Trainer team. I think it's everything but a Trainer school."

haha, damn if that ain't a mood. again, this feels like a very real situation to be in. Dream School Reaction isn't a new trope, but you've written it in a way that feels down-to-earth and nuanced. almia u isn't just the second-best school; it's a specialized school for a field outside of art's interest. it seems kind of weird that his second choice is a specialized one given that you'd expect battling to be a pretty big deal with lots of schools centered on it. but that's definitely a thing that happens (i lived through it!), and it's an interesting direction to take a fic, i think. maybe he'll learn to like being a ranger and change his mind about his preferred career path?

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong, kiddo!" his father chirped, raising a finger. "Almia's a great place to study! Don't sleep on 'em; just because they're no big shot Ever Grande or Indigo doesn't mean you can't count 'em out. All U-Almians I know became accomplished professionals-"

get the fuck out of here, dad. this feels like very dadly advice though. "it'll be fine, sport! there is literally no difference between good and bad things! don't worry about it!"

He cracked a smile. "If it isn't the resident troublemaker. What'd you want?"

i think you want "What d'you want?" here; "what'd" reads to me like "what did," so it comes off kind of awkward.

as negrek said, this is as pretty quiet opening chapter, but i think it does a good job at establishing the tone of your fic: subdued, down-to-earth, and character-driven. we get a decent idea of what the characters are like and what art's motivations are, specifically, and we get a decent share of worldbuilding too, although it never feels forced. mechanically your writing is really good too, and there's just the right amount of description. really promising stuff so far! onto chapter two...

A shake awoke him from his slumber.

god this line is upsetting. fuck waking up, honestly.

Art glanced cursorily around the plane, taking note of the many other kids his age: some slept as he did, others chatted cheerily with their companions, and a few were engrossed in a book. A peculiar feeling washed over him. Soon, he realized, he’d know a good number of these other people.

i found myself quoting a lot of passages similar to this, so i'm just going to address this one and apply it to the rest of the writing that follows. i think you do an excellent job of portraying the lively, hectic atmosphere of your first day on campus through the lens of a grumpy dissatisfied student. that was totally me! i really feel for art here, but the energy in the scene shines through despite the protagonist's lack of it. your descriptions are solid.

“Ah, gotcha. Battle major?” Miguel cut him off.

“That’s me.”

hmmm. the first chapter seemed to suggest that battling is kind of analogous to popular sports in this world, so i wonder if majoring in battle is kind of like athletes who major in sports medicine or whatever just so they have an excuse to be at university while they play for the team. or is battling maybe considered a more serious, academic field in this world than sports-related studies are in our own? are pokémon trainers the jocks of this world, or something more? this is a ranger school, too, so maybe the local opinion on battle majors is more negative than the broader one.

“Pleasure to meet you, Cyrio,” his dad interrupted as he pushed through his family. He extended his hand and held Cyrio’s in a vice grip.

lol, it's so weird that your parents meet your roommate at the same time as you. i remember feeling pretty weird about this myself. you do such a good job at capturing his dadliness.

“Be good, okay, sweetie?” his mom said, giving him one last hug.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, champ.”

Art smiled, holding back his own tears. “Sure will, Dad.”

Perry clamped a hand on his little brother’s shoulder. “This is where you’re supposed to be. Trust me. Knock ‘em dead, kid.”

awwwww, this is a sweet scene. it seems like art is a pretty soft guy, and i'm all for protagonists like that. hopefully his first few weeks away from home at his second choice university won't be too hard for him.

“It’s 4.”

“What’s your point?”

this is kind of an abrupt ending. i think that might've been the intent, but it still caught me off guard, for whatever that's worth.

some closing thoughts: either this fic just aligns very closely with my own experience, or you're just that good at evoking those First Day At University feelings and putting the reader in art's shoes. i'm more inclined to believe it's the latter. :p it seems like this is going to be a laid-back, slice-of-life style fic, and it's really good for what it is. i felt pretty consistently immersed in the story, and although there's not a lot to go on yet, i think it lays a pretty solid foundation of the situation and its characters here. that said, there's not really a whole lot going on here aside from exposition, but we're only a couple chaters in and they're pretty short, so it's not a big deal. hopefully the next chapter will throw some conflict his way.