Another preview

I think I've tweaked and twiddled the rest of the new Garchomp chapter enough, so I leave it here for you all to see first. The ending is a little abrupt, but getting back into segregating into smaller chapters is a little strange, plus its been a long time since I've looked at these characters - as you all well know. I hope you like the cheeky homage to a character I was at a point considering putting in Cassidy's place during my early planning phase. I'll be posting this up on fanfic very soon hopefully.

This excerpt picks up right after the last preview, all 5100 words of it.

2

Jim wiped the sweat from his brow, looking up at the cloudless sky. The sun was well on its way to the horizon, baking the campus in its healthy afternoon glow, deep shadows being cast from the taller lecture blocks concentrated around the centre of the university grounds. A few other students were out milling between the buildings, most heading in the opposite direction to where he and Cassidy were heading.

The path they followed snaked between the science blocks, the flat path interrupted now and again by a set of stairs. Apparently the theatre club were down near the ovals while the hall was off-limits. Jim liked to think his sports team and their drama club were becoming closer, but it was probably just easier to find a spot away from prying eyes if none of the blocks were available.

They rounded one of the laboratories, Jim catching sight of something up ahead. Between two of the labs was a square patch of gravel, a few clumps of hardy weeds sprouting here and there through the earth. Standing next to one of the windows were three people, two of them towering over the third, Jim recognising him with a start.

“What is it?” Cassidy asked when he stopped walking. She followed his eyes to the trio of boys. “Oh my. Meth heads?”

“No,” Jim said with an amused snort. Poor Edwardo was getting roughed up again, and he didn’t need to tell her that, one of the older boys giving the kid a shove as the pair watched from afar.

“Goodness, are they… extorting that guy?” Cassidy asked, blinking when a couple of ten-dollar bills could be seen being exchanged, Edwardo handing them over with a trembling hand. “That’s horrible! Who’s that getting bullied?”

“I don’t know he’s just some nerd,” Jim said. “Let’s loop around.”

He made to go, but his arm was still locked with her own, and Cassidy didn’t budge. “You’re just going to walk off?” she asked.

“Cass people get bullied all the time round here.”

“Someone who stand by and watches the bully is just as bad as one. Someone, should put a stop to it.”

He looked from her to the bullies. They hadn’t noticed them yet, one of them throwing a pretend-punch that made Edwardo flinch. Why hadn’t he remembered they were always near this spot this time of day? He could have saved himself a lot of trouble.

He glanced back at Cassidy, the Garchomp glaring at the exchange. Any other day and he’d walk on by, but she’d probably loose all respect for him if he did that now. After a moment of hesitating, he grumbled under his breath as he set his bag down.

“Wait here,” Jim sighed, crossing the grass towards the group. Hopefully they were just about done so they could all be on their way.

The gravel crunched under his shoes, alerting his presence to the bullies and Edwardo. The poor guy even had a pair of buckteeth peeking from his upper lip, his eyes hidden behind a pair of dirty glasses. Jim could have sworn the kid didn’t look all too pleased to see him.

“Hey guys,” Jim began, not really sure what to say apart from greeting them normally, he’d never had to stand up to bullies before. “Leave him alone.”

The one doing most of the talking turned, revealing a face under heavy assault by a bad case of acne. Jim decided that would be his name. Something seemed very familiar about the shape of Acne’s face, but Jim couldn’t recall what.

“The hell’s are you’s?” Acne asked, his brown eyes squinting. “You this chum’s boyfriend? You a fuckin’ fairy?”

The other bully snickered, the flab on his arms jiggling as he heaved. Flabby seemed as good a name as any. “Ha, yeah, bet they slurp each other off every day! Ha ha!”

“Stop laughing you idiot,” Acne scolded, turning his attention back on Edwardo. “Piss off’s,” he warned. “this isn’t about you’s.”

“I think’s it is,” Jim mocked, putting a hand on Acne’s shoulder. The moment he did, his elbow came forward and landed squarely on Jim’s nose, the man hearing something crack as he stumbled away.

He blinked his vision clear just in time to see Acne’s fist coming in, Jim catching it just in time before he got lamped a second time. It had been a while since he’d got into a fight. He’d scuffled out on the field of course, but he’d always had his team to back him up. No such help now.

“Get you’s hands off me!” Acne growled, but it was far too late to back down now, Jim coming at him after he recovered. He threw his own punch, but Acne caught it, the two falling into a grapple as they tried to overpower the other. Imagining he was in the smallest scrum, Jim leaned down and speared his head forward as hard as he could, feeling Acne’s chin catch against his temple.

Spittle went flying from Acne’s mouth, his neck twisting at an unnatural angle. Jim pushed him into the brickwork, Edwardo just managing to dodge out of the way. Jim brought his knee into Acne’s stomach, knocking the wind out of him.

He grabbed Acne by the front of his shirt, pulling his fist back and ready to give him a split lip. But before he could he was turned around by a hand on his shoulder.

He met Flabby’s sneer with his own before the bully decked him with a hook. The pain was amazing, Jim almost doing a full spin as he fell to the dirt, bits of rock digging into his arm as he braced his fall.

Jim felt something wet fill his mouth, and he turned his head to spit out a thick wad of blood. He wiped the corner of his mouth with a wrist, looking up to see Flabby’s silhouette standing against the sun. He saw a silvery glint on one of his hands – it was a ring. That explained the blood.

Flabby’s boot smashed into his ribs, Jim wheezing like an old man as he convulsed. He felt a hand close around his throat and hoist him up, Jim finding himself face-to-face with the guy giving him a run for his money.

“Eat this! Ha ha!” Flabby reeled back a fist, but as he did, a draconic shape appeared behind him, and with one swift movement, Cassidy kicked him in the balls.

“Ooo!” Flabby wailed like a girl, his knees twisting together as he clutched at his groin, appearing as if he suddenly had to use the bathroom. He twisted around and threw a wild fist, lamping Cassidy across the snout. The dragoness hissed as she clutched at her face.

It was hard to see through the sun and the pain, but Jim could just make out Flabby’s shocked expression when he saw exactly who had given his nuts a squish. He’d probably been told never to hit a girl, only boys.

“F-Fucking bitch,” Flabby spat, his tone a few octaves higher as he nursed his nads.

“Filthy ruffian!” Cassidy snarled, facing him side-on as her tail whipped behind her. “Take this! Hya!”

She stomped the ground with a foot, her long talons digging into the earth. From where she stood, cracks in the ground started to split apart the ground, inch-deep rifts shaped like spider webs slowly expanding out in Flabby’s direction. Plumes of dust sprayed from between the rifts, a loud rumble drowning out all other noise. Flabby was thrown off his feet. He launched a good foot off the ground as he tumbled away behind the building, rolling down the incline and into the ferns.

When the quake receded, Jim got to his feet, blinking his eyes clear as he nursed his numbing face. Cassidy joined him, folding her arms and staring daggers at Acne, who was still trying to regulate his breathing. He took one look at the pair and booked it, not even bothering to check on his fellow bully as he disappeared around the corner.

Once the dust literally settled, Jim turned to his draconic friend, wiping at his eye. “I told you to wait, Cass.” He rolled his nose and found it wasn’t broken. “You okay?”

“Oh, right, because you looked like you had that all under control.” She rolled her eyes. “And yes, I’m fine,” she added.

He peered at her lip and saw a slight bruising, but it looked like Flabby hadn’t done too much damage. His heart fluttered when he saw the row of sharp teeth hidden just behind her scaly lip.

“You’re bleeding,” she noted, pointing a claw at her own face. “Just here.”

“Oh, yeah, that fatass was wearing a ring. Here?”

“No, left.” She pointed at her cheek.

“Here?”

She shook her head, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a cloth. Before he could say anything she dabbed it across his lips and. “There,” she said after a moment. “You look… a little better.”

“Th-Thanks,” he said, clearing his throat. “Let’s, uh, check up on the downtrodden.”

They moved over to the shaking, stunned individual who’d watched the whole show with wide eyes. He was trembling against the wall, looking to where his assailants had fled, taking another moment to compose himself.

“This is… is…” Edwardo muttered. “this is absolutely… terrible!”

Jim exchanged a glance with Cassidy, who shrugged back. Clearly she wasn’t expecting that response either.

“Normal people usually say something else when they’re helped out,” Jim said. “Something that rhymes with tanks.”

“Helped out?” Edwardo wailed. “It took me so long to come to an arrangement with them! Now they’ll come back worse than ever!”

Jim noticed something black on the ground nearby. Kneeling, he found it was a pair of spectacles, with a little bundle of sticky tape over one of the arm joints. He offered the glasses with a shake. “These yours?”

Edwardo took them, sniffing up a drop of snot dangling from one of his nostrils. “Are you okay?” Jim asked, even though he was clearly not.

“Nothing band aids wont fix,” Edwardo replied, wiping at his face, his hands so dirty he just made more of a mess.

“Come on, stand up.” Jim hefted him up by the armpit. “Cass you got any more tissues?”

“One second.”

She handed one over, which he gave to Edwardo, who blew his nose in it. Jim told him he could keep it when he offered the tissue back.

“You should be okay from now on,” Cassidy said. “same can’t be said for that man’s testicles, though.”

“’Okay’? Hardly,” Edwardo scoffed. “They’ll just bring more of their friends and beat me up, probably thinking I hired you two to save me. This is far from okay!”

“Then get a professor,” Cassidy said, a hint of irritation in her voice. “report those two.”

“You think I haven’t tried? They don’t care unless they catch it in the act, which they never do. The best they’ve done is give their parents a phone call. There’s no point.”

“You’re wrong, the staff can help, they could expel them.”

“Probably would have done that already if they could,” Jim said, gesturing at her. “It’s up to us to sort things out. Old Edwardo here knows that.”

“That’s not my name-” Edwardo began, but the pair weren’t listening to him.

“What are you talking about Jim?” Cassidy asked with an astounded blink. “The staff are here for exactly that reason.”

“Then why didn’t you go get one instead of jumping in?”

“Because it would have taken too long.”

“Exactly my point.”

She went to say something, but faltered as the argument left her in an exhale. “Anyway, just keep away from the unpopulated areas,” she said, turning to Edwardo. “call a teacher, or come get us if they do something like this again.”

Edwardo shrugged, letting Jim know he wasn’t really planning on taking her advice.

“I… I am grateful that you guys showed up,” Edwardo sighed. “don’t get me wrong. A thanks is in order, so… thanks.”

As the kid turned to leave, Jim felt a tension knot in his stomach, and it wasn’t the pain. How many times had he walked past Edwardo and let this happen? Even if intervening hadn’t changed anything, he’d still carried on like it wasn’t his problem to deal with.

He glanced at the Garchomp, guilty that it took herof all people to convince him to step in. What was it she had said? The one who watches the bully is just as bad as one. It couldn’t make up for all the other times, but maybe he should start stepping in more often.

… Damn, was he learning a moral lesson right now?

She caught him staring and flashed him a concerned look. “You alright Jim?”

“Yeah,” he said after hesitating. “We should get going too.”

“Mhm, someone had to have felt that quake.”

Once they were a safe distance away, following the path around and away the science blocks, he asked her about that. “Speaking of quakes,” he said. “the hell was that? That was like some Avatar earth-bending stuff!”

“I’d be lying if I said it was nothing.” She huffed. “That move cost me a lot of energy.”

“It was awesome. Not as good as that kick to that guy’s sack, but a close second.”

She waved a hand, smiling to herself. “Please. You handled yourself well too, even if I had to come in and help.”

“Hey it was two on one.” The path wound around the far northern side of the campus, the theatre hall just visible on their left as they moved downhill. “At least they weren’t dragons,” he added. “Things would have gone a lot differently.”

“We’re not invincible, we’re susceptible to pain, just like humans,” Cassidy said. “Can I tell you something?”

“I love secrets,” he replied, the dragoness chuckling at him.

“If fatso back there had hit one of these, I’d be in trouble.” She pointed up at one of her horns. “Our hearing drums stretch into the horns, and they’re packed with nerve endings. A good smack could send even the biggest Salamence over. Very sensitive.”

“Really? You trust me enough with that info?”

“Yes, despite the inner council of dragon’s warnings, I’ve relented.” Cassidy laughed at her own jest, then fixed him with a serious look. “Of course, if you intend on using it against me I would have to stop seeing you, Jim.”

“Duly noted.”

3

“I guess this looks a little more official,” Jim said.

The familiar faces of the theatre club were gathered beneath the hoop of one of the empty basketballs courts that capped the oval, the rectangular slab of rubber sheltered beneath a tall sheet metal roof, held aloft by four thick columns at the corners, Jim and Cassidy passing through the cage door built into the wired fence ringing the court. There was a little sign beside the door that said Auditions in progress!

There were strangers mixed into the group as well, the dozens of human and Pokémon lounging around a wooden desk, which Kendra and Miss Felix were sitting behind, the teacher flailing about trying to keep her stacks of papers from flying off in the breeze.

“At least there’s one staff member on board with us,” Cassidy noted. “That’s something at least.”

The theatre club welcomed the pair as they sat down, Jim guessing the new faces were the people looking to join up. Most of them stood off to one side, clearly hesitant, reminding Jim of the time he was trying out for the Mythics. He’d been wet behind the ears, and all the established players, even Mr. Bahril, had given him plenty of shit for his rite of passage.

The contrast between how he’d been treated, and how theseactors were, was astounding. The club mingled with them, chatting them up and making them feel welcomed. Even Cassidy was mingling with a human girl and she’d only been sitting for five minutes. It was a pleasant sight seeing them all getting along, but a part of him was concerned. What if these new people got in just because they were too nice to ignore?

He glanced over at their Typhlosion leader, her pudgy features pulled into a taut grimace. At least he knew Kendra would be tough, and he admired that about her in a way.

One by one Miss Felix called the new recruits to front and centre, the colourful cast putting on a few quick recitals each. There were a couple of dragon-types lined up, a few aquatics and even some humans, the latter of which giving him smiles when he met their gazes. It was a little strange being the only human male around in a group full of Pokémon. There were a few human girls in the club, of course, but he was an oddball out in more ways than one.

Isaac might call him the luckiest guy in the world, surrounded by the fairer gender, but Jim wouldn’t mind a few more humans in the club, it would help him feel a little less alien, even if the club had warmed up to him.

There was one particular audition worth recalling that afternoon. After flipping through her notes, Kendra called out the next name without looking up. “Sasha!”

Someone from the crowd rose to her feet, and Jim was truly wondered at how he hadn’t noticed her before. Toes tipped with dark nails supported a pair of digitigrade legs rippling with muscle as its owner raised from the floor without using her arms. Healthy thighs plump with fat strained against an impossibly tight pair of black shorts that matched her scales. A thick tail protruded out from above her rump, where it arced behind her head in a vaguely question-mark like shape, the underside of the appendage a hot pink colour. On both sides of the tail, two additional appendages waved like stands of hair unaffected by gravity, roughly half the size of her main tail and as thin as sticks.

Her smooth hips tapered up to a slim waist where pink and black scales traced ornate patterns across her exposed belly. An equally tight, black shirt hung over a generous bust, a set of slim arms that ended in long fingers lifting up to flatten out the creases of the top. Propped up on a thin neck, a crocodilian-shaped snout peered over a shoulder, a pair of white teeth poking upwards from inside her long muzzle. The sharp, pink eye on this side of her face seemed to glow faintly across her curvy brow.

Sasha the Salazzle. It had a nice ring to it. Jim didn’t have the willpower to resist watching her hips roll with each stride she took, his eyes eventually coming back to rest on hers. The tip of her mouth curved, her eyes closing, but not all the way as she watched him ogle her.

It was a rare sight to see a girl exposing her midriff, but she pulled it off, her toned muscles working into the soft feminine curves of her developed abs. He had to shake his head vigorously lest Cassidy catch him staring.

Miss Felix didn’t share in the lizard brain thoughts that had affected Jim and half the males present, eyes lowered in disappointment as she scrutinised the Pokémon. “Um, excuse me. That dress is highly inappropriate, missy.”

The Salazzle leaned on one a hip, hand raised to her chest to feign some offense. “This? It’s for the character, ma’am. No more, no less.”

Miss Felix wasn’t satisfied, but waved for her to proceed anyway, Kendra clearing her throat. The Typhlosion was too bored to care either way, waving a slip of paper at her. “You will be the red lines, Sasha. I will take the blue ones.”

Sasha nodded, taking the script and stepping back, shutting her eyes. When she opened them, she seemed to change, her lazy eyes now alert and searching, her posture changing to make her seem flustered and excited.

The script had the Salazzle play the part of a mother who was caught speeding, Kendra taking the role of a policeman. Sasha didn’t just recite her lines with her voice alone, she used her expressive eyes to do all the hard work. She used her exaggerated lips to convey her state of mind, tensing her cheeks when she needed to be stressed, accentuating her body language when Kendra’s character threatened to haul her to the station. If she weren’t about his age Jim could almost be fooled into thinking she’d actually lived out this situation.

The audience was enraptured, mumbling their approval as the rehersal drew to a close. The Salazzle bowed to a impressed round of applause, a mischievous grin spreading over her chops. As she turned to leave, Kendra and Miss Felix whispered to each other like they were the judges on the X Factor, the teacher clearly impressed despite her earlier words.

“Alright, Caitlyn, Amanda, Levi, you three are next, we’re doing a group rehearsal this time.” Kendra handed out a few scripts to the newcomers. “Caius, Bernard Cass, I’ll need your help with this one.”

The people she called stood, Cassidy grinning down at Jim. “Meet you back here?”

“Sure.”

The Garchomp turned away, her tail brushing against his knee as she moved off. It was so packed with muscle, as thick around as his waist at its base, and yet it felt as smooth as silk against his exposed leg. Had she done that on purpose? Maybe helping out Edwardo had cast him in a different perspective to the dragoness.

As he watched Cassidy go, something dark filled his vision, his eyes widening when he looked up to see Sasha moving towards him, planting her rump right where Cassidy had vacated. Her snout was angled at the ‘stage’ of the audition, but he had a feeling she was watching him from the corner of her eye.

“Nice job up there,” he said, thinking he should probably say something.

Sasha’s eye on this side dilated, bringing him into her focus. A grin spread across her maw. “Anything to get out of a jam,” she said, her voice low and flinty.

He held out a hand. “Sasha, right? My name’s-”

“Jim, critique of the arts and supporter of theatre. Also the anchor of the Mythic’s sports team. I know who you are.” She took his hand into her own, but not in the traditional handshake he was aiming for. She pinched the tops of his fingers in her claw, forcing his thumb to rest over her middle finger. The gesture seemed like something out of the Victorian era.

“That sounds like me,” he said. She let his hand go and looked him up and down, seemingly waiting for him to continue. “You look me up on the internet or something?” he asked.

“I can’t go five minutes in this club without one of the girls talking about you.” She gestured with her snout at his new friends. “They say you walked in one day and told the Sylveon she could do better, and that despite Kendra’s attempts to dissuade you, you kept coming back. I wonder if there’s any truth to it all…”

“That sounds like the gist of it,” he said, his eyes playing over her strange features. He was aware of a strange smell in the air – a minty scent, the source of which couldn’t be more obvious.

“Prove it,” Sasha said, Jim quirking an eyebrow at her. She leaned back until she rested on an elbow, her other hand on her stomach. “If you’re not afraid to speak you mind, go on, what did you make of me?”

“Your performance?” he asked, the Salazzle not answering him. “Well, it was pretty good, but I don’t think you can persuade police that easily, even with your… womanly charms. I guess that’s more the scripts fault than yours, though.”

“You think it was too suggestive?”

Jim swallowed, suddenly feeling hot under the collar. He wasn’t sure if they were still talking about her performance anymore, carefully choosing his next words. “For the casual audience, it was.”

That seemed to please her, Sasha examining one of her nails. “A good point. I’ll keep it in mind for later.”

“You look like you know the girls well,” Jim asked, changing the subject. “were you a part of the club at some point?”

“Not exactly,” Sasha replied. “I was part of the campus drama club, back before theatre was even a dream in miss hothead’s mind.” She jerked her head in Kendra’s direction. “Our numbers began to stagnate when she took the reins and the staff grew bored of us. She wanted to take us in a different direction, to bring drama back, but not everyone agreed with how she bossed us around.”

“Who would have thought…” Jim said.

“She ended up leaving, taking half the other students with her, and ended the club just like that. I have a feeling she knew it was finished, the way she hid over in that abandoned hall, away from prying eyes. Imagine my surprise when she had the gall to start posting notices again, letting everyone know she’s formed… this.”

“You don’t sound too happy.”

“Kendra’s a control freak, always thought of herself as higher than everyone else. Someone has to make sure she doesn’t go screwing up again because of her fragile ego.”

“Is that why you’re here? For spite?”

The way the hue of her pink eyes seemed to radiate around her sockets like wisps of smoke made him nervous, like she was a specter looking into his soul. “No. You know Amelia, the Lapras? She asked me to come just in case they needed the numbers.”

“You’re going to join up because you were asked?”

“You and Kendra drew the eye of the principal, didn’t you? Impressed him enough to get the hall refurbished, and that tells me he has plans for you all. If there’s any chance at catching extra credit and exposing my talent, it’s with this lot.”

“So it’s more personal? Well, as long as you can act…”

“Is that sarcasm I hear? Don’t be coy, Jim, you are the one who’s been chasing that dragon’s tail this whole time – your reasons are just as selfish if not more so.”

Jim tried to both deny and admit that, and ended up just blabbering out nonsense, the Salazzle giggling at him.

“It does come off as a tad desperate, but some girls like a… supportive suitor. I can’t tell you how many empty words boys have said to me to try and woo me, only to fall short. But I can tell you’re different.” She looked him up and down, not bothering to even pretend she wasn’t eyeing him up. “You know how? Because you alone are the reason this club has come this far at all. I just wonder how much you’d be willing to do to impress a woman.”

“I… care deeply for this club’s future.”

“I can’t tell if you’re lying or not,” Sasha said. “Whether this is all for her, or not, I suppose we’ll find out soon.” She broke eye-contact, her pink eyes slowly blinking. “You ever considered she might be leading you on, holding back? Getting you to help out her club while running circles around you?”

“No,” he replied. “I mean, no, she’s not. W-Why would she do that?”

“Maybe she knows you’re desperate, and is using that to keep her little club afloat, who can say? She’ll make you wait until she’s certain you’re devoted, speaking from experience here.”

“Well I-I don’t want to rush into anything either, so…” He shrugged.

Sasha’s eyes met his, so strikingly pink and alert it was hard to meet them for more than a few moments. “So innocent. You’re pretty cute for a human. I hope we’ll become a lot better acquainted once Kendra welcomes me back into the club.”

She stood up, her snout angled towards the ongoing audition. It was coming to a close, a fresh round of applause filling the court. Sasha looked down at him, her long neck making her appear far taller than him even if he were standing.

“See you around, Jim,” she said with a wink, moving off just as Cassidy was coming back. Jim prayed that she wouldn’t make the cut, but the Salazzle had nailed the audition, so he doubted this would be the last he saw of her.

He tore his eyes from Sasha’s swaying hips, meeting Casidy’s gaze as she sat down beside him. “How’d I do?” she asked him. If she had seen him talking to Sasha, she didn’t show it.

“Good, very good,” he said, despite having talked to Sasha the whole time and hadn’t caught a word of the rehearsal.

“Where’s that famous criticism gone?” A wry smile played at her lips.

“You must be finally getting better,” he said without missing a beat. The Garchomp slapped him playfully on the arm.

“Oh, you’re a tease.”

The afternoon stretched on, and soon all the new people had their shot at the auditions. Kendra told them all that she would get back to who made the cut and who didn’t, ever the hardcase as she scrutinised the new blood.

As the crowd started to disperse, Jim nudged Cassidy’s thorny arm to get her attention. “Hey, uh, you doing anything later?”

“I was going to start finalizing the next report for Mr. Hode.”

“Wait what? We just worked on it before.”

“That was the first assignment, the next one’s due in a few weeks.”

“Oh for fu… another one? I haven’t heard of any new assignment.”

“It’s on the school portal.”

“Nobody actually logs into that thing, Cass.”

“Maybe that’s why you’re running late on your work all the time.”

That hurt. He didn’t think he came off that much as a dummy, but he didn’t want to lie to her. “Yeah, I’m uh… not good at managing my time.” He chuckled nervously.

“That’s alright, we can get stuck into the assignment if you haven’t got training this afternoon?”

“I was kinda hoping we could… go hang out somewhere.”

“We can hang out – in the library! Come on, the sooner we get through the reports the more time we’ll have spare after.”

Trying not to look too disappointed, he got up and followed after her.