章 11: A Deal With a Djinn and a Professor.

Silence filled the room.

Olympia gave a dumbfounded expression for a second before letting out a small cough and saying.

"I'm sorry?"

Pulling out my pokedex I showed her the entry with the illustration of Hoopa.

"I know they are here, I can feel them"

From within the corner of the room, a small purple pokemon emerged with an embarrassed expression. They had two golden rings hanging from the horns on the side of their head in addition to the golden ring they wore as a belt.

"Um… it was an accident… I didn't think he would see me, it was only for a second, I swear." Hoopa said while looking at the floor.

Olympia let out an annoyed sigh before speaking.

"If you had just stayed hidden I could have managed the situation…"

She turned to me with a slightly suspicious expression. She was about to say something before I interrupted her.

"Legends of the Pokémon Realm: Unveiling Mythical Wonders by Professor Hale. Once I saw the golden rings I recognized the pokemon that was mentioned in the book."

Olympia couldn't help but let out a defeated laugh before the energy in the room shifted. Her expression became deadly serious, and I felt her pressure fall on me suddenly.

"This is a big secret, Lucas. There are many people with bad intentions that seek to capture Hoopa. I trust Professor Carolina, and she said you could be trusted. The question is. Should I?"

Taking in a deep breath I gave a small prayer to Arceus before trying to channel my fairy typing to the absolute most. At this moment it was of utmost importance that I looked as adorable and harmless as possible. I instantly felt the pressure on me reduce as Olympia hesitated for a moment. I truly wished I could see a reflection of myself at this moment.

"Teacher! I swear I will take this secret to my grave!" Were it not for how effective acting cute was I would feel embarrassed. But who needs embarrassment when you can make almost any adult instantly trust you? I could only hope to make the best of this forbidden power before I grew older.

I saw Olympia's expression turn to a defeated one before the pressure around me completely disappeared.

She pinched the bridge of her nose before letting out a quiet curse.

"Um… teacher… I have an idea…" I said cautiously.

Once she turned her attention to me I added.

"Why don't we see this as an opportunity? From the stories I have read, Hoopa likes to prank people, right? That's what they were doing last night."

Both I and Olympia noticed the quiet Hoopa nod their head cautiously.

"So, how about this? Hoopa can prank me as much as they want and I won't complain. But I want to get specialized lessons from you and Hoopa. I want to become your personal student, instead of getting general classes with the rest of the school."

Hoopa and I looked at Olympia with expectation.

Olympia's face went through several different expressions in just a few seconds before letting out a loud laugh that surprised both Hoopa and me.

"I can see why Carolina likes you so much now. You are just like her before she became a professor. Were it not for the fact that Carolina would die before revealing my secrets I would have thought she gave you that plan herself."

She lightly flicked my forehead before adding.

"And don't try to use that cute expression against me from now on. It won't work anymore. Go get some rest, classes begin tomorrow."

— — —

(Olympia's Pov)

Sitting at my desk I reread Carolina's letter of recommendation. She had been something of a mentor and a friend to me in the past. We met and traveled together on our journey to conquer Kalos' gym trials. She had left Sinnoh to train more before challenging the champion of her region.

And though we had drifted apart we retained our friendship. I had even asked for her assistance to help catch Hoopa. She was an expert when it came to space-time legends, so her assistance was crucial to track down the small spatial distortions Hoopa left behind.

I couldn't help but let out a small laugh.

The little schemer had probably spent the whole night thinking about how to best gain something from his interaction with me. He even had his own knockoff version of the move "Baby-Doll Eyes". He was a crafty one, but I could tell he was good at heart. Were it not for him being sleep-deprived he would have almost fooled me.

Looking at the letter one last time I smiled faintly before murmuring to herself.

"I'll consider this as you cashing in that favor I owe you."

I turned towards the impatient pokemon before giving them a nod.

"Hoopa, go mess with him. But don't wake him up. He needs to rest."

— — —

Waking up I let out a big yawn as I stretched my arms.

I slept great.

In just two days I had guaranteed personal lessons with both the gym leader and a mythical pokemon. If that wasn't being efficient I didn't know what it was.

Looking at the closet I saw that all my clothes had been replaced with extra large adult-sized clothing. My right shoe had also disappeared, leaving me to walk barefoot.

"Screw it, I am going to class in my pajamas." I said to myself before trying to leave. Only to notice that my door had disappeared, left behind in its place was a simple note that read.

"No uniform, no shoe, no lessons. -Hoopa"

…

"Sounds about right." I muttered to myself before dressing up in my ridiculous outfit.

Walking through the halls of the school I could tell everyone was giving me strange looks as I made my way to class. My guide Gabrielle had even burst into tears and ran away as soon as she saw me. She probably thought I had gone crazy, so I had to make a mental note to send her a message that I was fine. She seemed like quite an emotional and caring woman.

"You seem comfortable." Olympia said with a slight smile as she saw me walk into her office.

"I actually kind of am" I replied

Olympia turned to Hoopa before giving them a nod. In the blink of an eye the entire office had disappeared, leaving us standing in what appeared to be outer space. Even the floor had turned invisible.

"Sit." She said as she sat down in a meditation pose. She then added.

"We will start this day with the very basics. And as you learn how to use them we will move on to more advanced versions of what I teach you today. Each mind is different, so what works for me won't necessarily be as effective for you. So as your teacher, I will simply give you a hint in the right direction. If I feel you are straying in the wrong direction I will assist you, but if you are on the right track I will only facilitate your progress. Lesson one.

Clear your mind, embrace,

Experience the world's grace,

Awaken your soul."

"..."

In my opinion, there were better ways to give hints than a strange poem. But I could at least understand the gist of what she said.

Following the same steps I had practiced for years I closed my eyes and began to meditate until I felt as if I was able to see myself from an outsider's perspective. Almost as if I was experiencing astral projection.

Looking at my own ridiculous outfit I couldn't help but notice the mustache and monocle that had been drawn on my face. I almost laughed, causing me to lose some focus.

A few minutes later I could see Olympia open her eyes before nodding in approval.

"Not many can see the world from outside their bodies so quickly. That means we can skip the first lesson and move on to the next. You need to be prepared to defend your mind."

I felt her release her psychic powers in my direction. It caused me to strain slightly as I felt the strong push coming from her.

"There are many ways to protect your mind, while this may not be the strongest, it is definitely the easiest to maintain. Lesson number two.

Power flows like river,

Seek the path of least resistance,

Harness strength with ease."

Another haiku, I guess I now knew how each of my lessons would be presented to me.

In my weird astral projection state I could see her powers crashing into my body as if they were a river. If I were to try to create a mental wall to protect me all I would be doing would be to create a massive strain on my mind.

Thinking for a minute I tried to think of different ways I could divert her attack until I landed on the simple yet useful answer.

I created a triangle-like shield around my mind, with one of the points aiming directly at Olympia. The shape allowed me to divert and redirect the flow of the "river" around me without creating a big strain on my mind.

Olympia nodded her head with approval once again before speaking.

"I can feel you are surprisingly close to the correct answer by how my powers reacted. For now, continue to practice this with Hoopa. It seems I am needed back in the gym, so I will return once I am done with my duties."

I heard Hoopa give a dangerous giggle as they switched places with Olympia.

The next thing I knew, the relatively slow river that was crashing against my mind became something akin to a raging river. It became clear that my simple triangle wasn't gonna work against this.

"I am going easy on you, but if I manage to break your shield then you have to walk around the school and ask random students if they are your parents." Hoopa said with excitement.

At least I had a good motivation to improve now.

~Author's note~

This is a robbery, give me your power stones and no one will get hurt.