After Mrs. Briar's lecture, the rest of the morning classes were a bit uneventful. We received basic refreshers in most courses, before being let out for lunch. Tom offered to show me to the cafeteria-- which I happily took him up on, as Rita seemed to disappear the moment the bell rang. It seems like she's just always in a rush.

  "So, you said you're from Hoenn?" Tom asked, as a woman behind the counter made his plate.

  "Mhm. Lilycove City, actually."

  "That's where all the big Pokémon contests happen, right?"

  "Well, in Hoenn, sure-- but Jubilife's contests are probably bigger."

  "Well yeah, I guess you're right. It's just that Jubilife has so much else going on that I kind of forgot about that. I think most people here are all about the battles these days, though."

  "Yeah, the city seems... Kind of intense."

  Tom chuckled. "You'll get used to it."

  I still don't believe that, but I do appreciate the attempt at reassurance, Tom.

  The line moved forward, and I was given a tray of surprisingly good-looking food. Our lunch consisted of a salad, freshly cut fruits, and an egg salad sandwich. Simple-- but from what I recalled of school lunches in my previous life, I was always happy to receive something that actually resembled food.

  As I expected from a world where all of the animals are relatively sapient, most people opted to be vegetarian. That isn't to say that people didn't eat meat, but it was much less common here. I personally had no qualms about this, as the thought of befriending and raising some Pokémon, only to turn around and eat others, didn't sit quite right with me.

  Breaking away from the lunch line, I looked across the crowded cafeteria. Despite most of the tables being packed, there seemed to be an empty swathe cut right through the middle, where a familiar figure sat at a lone, empty table.

  "Do you know her?" Tom asked, perhaps noticing the concern on my face.

  "Not really, but she's my roommate. We just met this morning."

  "And she didn't bite your head off?"

  I frowned. "No? She was actually pretty nice."

  Tom's eyes widened, but before he could say anything, I started heading towards the empty table. "I'll see you later, Tom." I called, my voice slightly straining above the cacophony of conversations taking place.

  "Oh wow. This is actually pretty good," I said, swallowing a bite of my sandwich.

  Rita blinked at me, her face void of any discernable expression. "Do you.. need something from me?"

  "Hmm?"

  "I'm asking what you want."

  "I just want to eat my lunch," I replied, taking a swig of my little carton of milk.

  Rita's eyes narrowed. "You don't have to follow me everywhere, you know."

  I paused. "I'm sorry if I'm bothering you. I could leave if you want. I just.. Didn't like seeing you eating by yourself."

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  "Oh. So that's what this is." Rita stood up. "Well, you can consider your good deed for the day done then."

  "Wait--" I stammered, "I didn't mean it like--"

  "I don't want your pity, okay? Just.. Mind your own business." Rita sighed.

  Before I could say anything else, Rita stormed off, leaving me alone at the table.

  Shit. That could have gone better.

  With Rita gone, the table felt like an island, surrounded by an ocean of prying eyes from all angles. As good as the food was, I doubted I could continue eating now. I wondered if this was how she felt, before I came traipsing in like a white-knight. I'm such an asshole.

  The rest of the day dragged on, though I struggled to pay attention to much. I replayed the conversation with Rita in my head over and over, internally reprimanding myself. Nobody likes to feel pitied. I begrudged my own social ineptitude.

  I walked slowly on my way back to the dorms, mentally rehearsing how I would apologize to Rita when I got there. By now the sun had already begun to set; golden light dappled the courtyard through a canopy of carefully pruned trees. My eyes followed a couple of Starly flying off into the horizon. I wonder if I'll get capture one while I'm here, I wondered.

  Really, any Pokémon would be fine, as long as they were okay with having me as a trainer. My stomach churned with a combination of nerves and excitement. What kind of trainer would I get to be?

  "Pardon me, Peppa." a familiar voice called, snapping me from my thoughts. Beatrice stood before me, fixing the cuffs of her sleeves.

  "Oh, Hi Beatrice. Thanks again for last night." I chuckled nervously as I looked down at her.

  "It was no trouble. Do you have a moment? There's something I wanted to speak with you about."

  "Um, sure-" I stammered. "I'm not already in trouble though, am I?"

  "No, not at all. Walk with me, please."

  I did my best to keep my composure as I followed beside her. Despite her diminutive stature, Beatrice cut a rather imposing figure. She stood perfectly straight, spoke eloquently, and overall seemed to exude an air of importance.

  "I couldn't help but notice you in the cafeteria today." She spoke without looking at me.

  Great, she saw me make an ass of myself.

  "Not that it's any of my business, but you may want to be careful with who you decide to associate with."

  I paused for a moment, but kept walking. "What do you mean?"

  "I'm referring to Rita Joy," she started, flipping her long hair away from her face as she walked. "I'm afraid not much good came come of associating with her."

  "Okay, this is getting ridiculous. What is everyone's deal? Because it seems like bullying."

  "I can see why you'd think that, but Rita is.. Well, an interesting case. She gets nearly perfect grades, never misses classes, and is from a prestigious family. You could call her a model student."

  "So, what's the problem?" I asked, growing impatient.

  "All of this is precisely why it came as a shock when she suddenly attacked a student last year."

  "What?"

  I stopped dead in my tracks. "That.. doesn't sound right." I may have just met Rita this morning, but she didn't seem like the violent type to me.

  "I don't know the exact details of what happened, but another student was hospitalized last year after getting into a fight with her. There were a few witnesses who attested to seeing Rita attack the girl without any provocation."

  "I... see." I paused. "Why are you telling me all of this?"

  "I was advised to warn you. As the future heiress of the Carmine family, it would serve you well to choose your friends carefully, after all."

  I swallowed hard-- I did not like where this was going.

  "How did you know that?"

  "Surely you didn't think the Academy would have sent an escort for just anyone?"

  Beatrice blinked at me, and then laughed. "You are interesting, Peppa."

  I looked down at her, unable to find anything to say in response.

  "Mind you, I know that she's you're roommate, but it wouldn't hurt to exercise caution. People like us have too much at stake to risk being dragged down before our careers even have a chance to start."

  "People like us?" My tone betrayed a hint of bitterness that surprised me when I spoke. Calm down, Pep.

  "Please, you understand." Beatrice smiled.

  "I actually don't--"

  Before I could finish that sentence, Beatrice clapped her hands together, cutting me off entirely.

  "Well, it was lovely chatting with you, Peppa. I'm looking forward to seeing how you fare tomorrow."

  I watched Beatrice's back as she strode off, bile rising in my throat. I didn't have much choice in coming to Sinnoh for my final year, but I chose not to put up a fight in hopes it might get me away from all of the social politics surrounding my family-- a naive thought, in hindsight. There really was no way of escaping my father's scrutiny, it seemed.

  I sighed, pushing away the thought. Dwelling on this now wasn't going to help. Whatever the old man had in store for me, I would just have to deal with it as it came. Moreover, what did Beatrice mean by 'how I fare' tomorrow? Was she referring to what Mrs. Briar said about catching our own partner Pokémon?