[PKMN OPEN] The Pokemon Trainer Academy [T]

Too confident

"Well we're not exactly going to learn a lot if we keep winning. Whole point is to learn how to get stronger not body everybody we come across and call it a day. I'm sure the Gym Leaders here would feel the same way. They're still learning the same as us right? What would they get out of using their best and what would we really learn out of that?" Ivrant stated, writing down notes on what Sammy was saying. Especially considering how to deal with the nervous nature of Knox.

But how was he supposed to make Knox feel comfortable on defense? Have it get hit by heavier stuff? Perhaps it wasn't confident in its ability to seriously take a hit and Ivrant wasn't really sure of a non violent way to have Knox be comfortable with that kind of thing. Ivrant found the poor guy on complete accident when Buster accidentally ran her over. Perhaps that was why she got so afraid. On top of the type weakness, Buster was a truck. Maybe she lost motivation to try tanking hits ever since then.

"What about the reverse situation though? A Pokemon that's TOO confident in its power and is just overall reckless? Well... I suppose "cocky" would be a better way to put it. He listens to me just fine but its just the execution that's an issue."

Not your everyday class​

Cyan had remained rather quiet for the entirety of the class. It's not like he wasn't paying attention, he was just drifting off more than usual. Maybe the pressure from his next test finally hit him. Or he was thinking about how his recent battle went... But the new teacher finally caught his attention when she mentioned her own defeat and why she lost.

It was similar to why Cyan had lost his battle. He kept using the same strategy over and over because it worked before, without adapting. That's how even a weaker Pokemon was able to beat him with ease. He had to reflect more on that later, because now he realized how much of the class he actually missed, so he scrambled a bit and finally got a pen and paper to write things down. 'Gym Leaders give badges to challengers that beat them..." As he began to write down, he noticed the discussion had already moved on, and he had barely written a damm sentence down.

He began to raise his hand to ask the teacher to repeat what she said, but then put it down quickly. The last thing he wanted in this class was to be known as the guy who spent the entire class daydreaming. So he just sat there quietly, trying to figure out what was happening right there and then.

Party

Allowance​

"I've had that problem too," Sammy smirked at Ivrant, "Although that was with my Pancham. Little brawler just wanted to work his knuckles on anything that passed him by and wouldn't listen to a word I said, or consider that there were some fights he just shouldn't pick. I can't give you any advice that'll instantly fix your problem because every Pokemon is different of course, but what worked for me anyway was helping my Pancham understand that discipline was going to win him more fights than what he was doing. Of course then he evolved and we had to start all over again," she grinned.

She listened to what Rylie had to say, frowning with a little concern at the girl. "Hell, you can talk to me whenever you want. And you can keep making as much or as little trouble as you want - this is your time kid. But sure, we can chat afterwards." She walked around her desk and grabbed Rylie's chair, moving it out to the side so it wasn't difficult to get to, then resumed her position in front of the class. She didn't say anything, but the invitation was there for Rylie to get her chair back if she wanted it.

"So just to be clear, yes, Gym Leaders are also still learning. So are Champions for that matter, our job as Pokemon Trainers isn't ever done, y'know? There's always more we can learn, more training we can do, new challenges. A Gym Leaders main job is to help other Trainers with their journey, because what do we do in gyms? We train. That's my understanding of the whole system anyway, but it takes a special sort to be a Gym Leader and it's definitely a career path that attracts the eccentrics. Don't be too shocked by how weird some of them can be."

Sydney raised her hand again, not waiting to be called on before speaking. "Samantha, I understand that we have access to all of these Gym Leaders and that it's an incredible opportunity, but with Finals close by don't you think we should be focusing on our academics rather than battling?"

Sammy crossed her arms, looking down at the tooth-achingly eager young girl asking the question. "If your goal is to be a professor or something, sure. If you want to be a competitive Trainer, maybe not. Figure out what your goals are and focus on what you need to do to get there, put the work into the areas you want to succeed in most. Do you want to be a successful Trainer in the Leagues? Put the books down and battle more. Do you want to be a breeder? Spend more time studying and volunteering at places like the Pokemon Centre to get hands on experience. Don't waste your time on things that don't matter to you."

Inside info

The idea of battling Samantha appealed heavily to Ivrant. He got a serious thrill battling people better then he was. It's just lately his unorthodox methods of battling usually caught his recent opponents off guard which netted him a win at times. Hearing an opinion from a seasoned trainer or a gym leader could at least give Ivrant a more steady goal on how to move forward from here. He'd ask after class though. They had things to learn and all.

What did Ivrant want to be though? He couldn't see himself being a teacher that's for sure. He barely had the patience for such a thing... so maybe the Gym Leader route wasn't right. Being a simple competitor in tournaments around the world just felt more his speed. Taking down gym leaders, going around the world to defeat the competition... it just felt right to him. At least Ivrant knew he was focusing on the right areas for that kind of career path. He had to make himself the top dog in this school! The trainer that others would strive to defeat! And not just students, he'd have to face teachers at some point too and get to the point where he could even rival them! Perhaps it wouldn't happen during his time in the school but he could set his goals as high as he'd like!

He hadn't heard of any announcements as of recently but he just had to ask! Sammy might be on the inside with this kind of info! "The school probably holds tournaments here right? You wouldn't happen to have an estimate when one would be starting would you? I'd be surprised if Mr. Oak didn't hold one before graduation!" Ivrant asked. It's been white noise as far as that kind of competition goes! Ivrant wanted to be ready for that kind of day!

Dallas Yukira: Class

Halloween had ended and number of days had passed. The Malamar Incident between him, his friends and two other kids had finally ended, taking up much of the first semester. Once the problem ended, Megami decided to leave the academy to help her mother. Dallas was saddened by her choice, but he smiled, accepting it. Before she left, she handed him a recipe for Poke Food for the pokemon in his egg. Since then, he hadn't cooked much, nor had he spoken to Jenna. He did sometimes speak to Megami via internet or C-Gear.

One morning, not long after Megami left, the egg he had received at the start of the year, started to crack and shake during breakfast. He removed the egg and a Gible popped in fin like head out of the egg, reminding him of a Sharpedo in the ocean. Dallas was surprised that it had been a Gible. Not many new trainers had ever started with one, nor had he seen one on the island up until now. The incubator fell apart and he threw it away. He crushed up the poke food that Megami gave him and the shark like dragon loved it. He decided to name it Siege.
_____________________________

Present day...
Winter was coming as Dallas looked out across the ocean from one of the docks. His hands were covered by gloves, his blue jacket flopping in the wind. There was a pokemon out there he wanted to meet, but it was still unknown. After a few minutes of waiting, he decided to head to class before he was late.

In class, he had remained silent through all of the.... well he wasn't sure what was going on. He had never been in a class that was so chaotic. He was surprised that Rylie was acting like she was, then again, he had really only ever spoken to her in the first class of the year.

He hadn't really spoken to anyone in this class before, but he knew them from gossip around the school. He had also battled Ivrant on Halloween, but Dallas had lost against him.

The conversation about what you wanted to do in the future, started to grab Dallas' attention. Ever since Megami had left, Dallas had wondered if what he wanted to do in the future, was really all he wanted to do.

Considerations​

Sydney settled into her seat and stared at the notes she had almost automatically taken down about what the teacher was saying. The gist of it was simple enough, focus on taking steps to achieve your goals rather than spending your time on things you weren't personally invested in for the long term. She had come to the Academy with the goal of becoming a serious Pokemon Trainer and, depending on your criteria, she supposed she had sort of reached that goal already. She'd gone from one Pokemon to four and now had first hand battle experience against both wild Pokemon and other Trainers, whereas back in Unova she'd had none. So to many people she could be considered a real Pokemon Trainer now.

Beyond that though she had always wanted to compete in the Leagues and help show off that a Pokemon like Miko had to potential of becoming a force to be reckoned with even if she wasn't a typical powerhouse. But it felt as though it had been forever since she'd thought actively about that, it had become so important to do well at the Academy, to stand out as an excellent student. Was that the same thing as an excellent Trainer though? When had her focus shifted? She frowned, forced into introspection by Sammy's cavalier advice.

Sammy barked out a laugh, "Me? A Gym Leader? I'd be terrible at it, I hate losing too much. It used to be that if I lost to someone I'd get obsessed and just challenge them again and again until I won which you can't really do if you're running a Gym. Not that that's a bad approach to getting stronger, but you need to put a little more thought into it between battles than I used to. And truth be told, I can't stick to one place for too long," she shrugged, "I grew up on whatever ship my old man could find work, the closest I ever had to a home was this place. So travelling around and seeing new sights, new Pokemon, new challenges... that suits me just fine."

"Tournaments? Oh, sure." She replied to Ivrant. "Sometimes we organised them ourselves, sometimes they were ones run by the school. But even if the school is going to run more in the future you shouldn't wait for opportunities like that to present themselves. I guess that's the lesson of the day. It's on all of you to make whatever you want to happen, happen. So quit listening to me and go do your thing," she said as she checked her watch, "class is over in five minutes anyway, so consider yourselves dismissed. I'll be on the island for a little while longer helping out with a thing so if any of you find yourselves at a loose end and want a kick up the butt, feel free to come find me. Our upstanding member of the student body there," she nodded to Rylie, "called first dibs though, so the rest of you can skedaddle."

Sydney sat there for a second before realising that Sammy was serious and wanted them to head out. Once it clicked she packed up her belongings and stood up, making her way out of the classroom in a bit of a daze. Had everyone in the Chatot Room been serious when they were so unconcerned about finals? Should she be worrying less about the goals the Academy was setting for her and more about the ones she wanted to set for herself? She hadn't ever been this confused about what to do next before...

Arwyn Wilton - Wow....

Arwyn kept quiet during the entire class. How is this even a class? The teacher was more childish than most of the students here, and we ended up learning... nothing. Arwyn almost wished he wouldn't have come, as this seemed like nothing more than a waste of time. She probably didn't even check attendance, so what's the point? He learned nothing... or at least, not enough. The trainer that gave class was definitely a skilled trainer, but she lost because she didn't pay enough attention....that doesn't seem like a great fit for a teacher.... When she dismissed everyone, Arwyn took the opportunity and left immediatly. What would he do the rest of the day? Maybe studying for finals was a good idea, since he still has quite a bit of work to do...

Dallas Yukira: Class

Too Dallas, it seemed like a number of people were ready to challenge Samantha to a battle, but Dallas could careless. Sometimes it was best to do nothing at all. However, what happened at the door as he got ready to leave, caught his attention. A ping of annoyance rose within him, but he took a deep breath and allowed it to pass.

'So much for the nice girl I thought she was.' Dallas thought, as he finished gathering his stuff.

He looked to the front of the class as the girl he thought was Sydney. He still hadn't thanked her for waking him up Halloween morning. He thought about doing it now, but decided against it.

'She probably doesn't want to be reminded about that morning, especially not in front of all these people. I will have to find her later.'

Dallas walked out of the class room, avoiding Rylie for now, but Dallas would definitely be watching the battle if it happened later.

As he walked away, his wrist started to vibrate. He looked at his wrist and was surprised to see it was Jenna calling. He found a bench to take a seat at, and pressed the Cam button and Jenna's head appared on his C-Gear.

"HOW DARE YOU LET YOUR EGG HATCH WITHOUT ME! I TOLD YOU TO TELL ME! NOT TO MENTION I HAD TO HEAR IT FROM OTHER PEOPLE!" Jenna yelled.

The sudden burst of yelling made him jump back, near flipping over the bench.

"Geez... You scared the Hoopa out of me. How did you know?" Dallas said, his heart still racing.

"It isn't every day when trainer has a egg hatch, in the lunch room, and end up being a Gible.... besides.... I may have been.... practicing my reporting.... skills." Jenna said.

"You mean spying." Dallas stated

"No! Not spying! RE-PORT-ING!" Jenna explained.

"Ok fine. Yes the egg hatched, but I didn't think you cared anymore. We haven't spoken in a bit."

"Yeah I know. Some friend you are. Hmph." Jenna closed her eyes, turning her head.

"I really need to make more friends..." Dallas sighed.

"What was that!?" Jenna opened her eyes, narrowing them.

"Nothing at all."

There was a small pause in their conversation, "Listen. One reason I wanted to call you is to ask if we could meet up. Maybe in the forest. I want to show you a video I found. Besides, you stopped cooking, so I want to know what's up." Jenna said.

"I'm going to watch a battle later, but I guess I could come." Dallas said.

"Fine, just want to show you something awesome from Unova. I will see you then." Jenna said.

"Alright, bye." Dallas said, hanging up the C-Gear.

He searched his bag for a bottle. Using Megami's recipe, he had come up with a liquid form of the Pokemon food she had made. He brought the bottle out, full of blue liquid. Then he pulled out a pokeball.

"Siege, time to eat." He said, letting his Gible out.

"This will probably be the last day you need liquid. You are growing fast. Soon you can eat solid food." Dallas said, as he started to feed Siege.

Fine... I'll do it myself!

"Do my own thing huh..." Ivrant thought long and hard about that. No answer on the academy holding a tournament. Well if they weren't going to hold a competition for trainers to get stronger... what was stopping Ivrant from holding a small one? Why not? A friendly competition between students to see who was the top in class! A chance to learn from better trainers among peers! A light of inspiration was glowing in his eyes. Where did he even begin?

"Alright then! If you guys aren't going to set one up then I'll make a tournament of my own!" Ivrant said excitedly. "Uh... d-details at a later date though! Gonna need like, fliers or something. Eheh... uh... Sammy! After your finished with Rylie I want to go at it with you as well! I want to see how wide the gap is!" Ivrant asked, excited for the rest of the day. He had a hell of alot of planning to do! He could see alot of rivalries forming as is. It could even be a fun way to settle things with Sydne- No no... one thing at a time. He promised Rylie! Oh! Look it's Arwyn!

"Hey Arwyn! What's up?" Ivrant called out. They hadn't caught up in a hot minute. Now that Ivrant was getting all kinds of ideas for a tournament he had to tell somebody!

Arwyn Wilton - A wave

As he was leaving, a voice called out to him. When he looked around, he saw Ivrant, saying hello. ''Oh, hello to you too Ivrant. I'm fine... I guess. What did you think of that class?'' Arwyn clearly looked uninterested. He almost wanted to say something to the teacher, but it wouldn't do any good most likely. It was studying, studying, studying for him and he shouldn't allow distractions to take place. No procrastination allowed today!

Dallas Yukira: Forest

It had been a while since Dallas was in the forest. He had walked there for a little bit, training all of his pokemon along the way. He threw sticks and stones into the air to work on their and asked them to move in certain ways to help with their balance and movement. He even got Siege, his new Gible, to practice on leaves and other easier to break things. Dallas knew if he was going to start battling, he needed to train more and more.

Dallas entered the forest, making his way inside, not going too far in. The remaining leaves that had yet to fall, were blowing in the wind. The forest floor was beautiful with fallen leaves as well a pokemon gathering as many berries as they could. He stopped when he heard a voice up ahead.

"See Dad! It is so beautiful here. I just wish you could see it. Mom to. She loved this time of the year. It is hard to get in the spirit of anything when both of you are gone. I thought maybe I could feel the void in my heart in time, but without you guys... it is still so hard. But don't worry. I made two new friends, although one left the island, but I think we will see her again at some point. My other friend, Dallas, should be here soon. So I am going to have to go. I love both of you so much and I hope it is far warmer up there than it is here." The voice finished.

Dallas couldn't help, but feel sad for the girl. He looked through the woods and saw Jenna, a girl slightly older than he was, standing in the center of a leaf covered clearing, some of the remaining leaves falling around her. She wore the same jacked that Dallas' mother had got them. Her hair was more red than it used to be. And it looked like she was filming herself speaking. Dallas didn't want to interrupt her moment, but she had wanted to meet him here. So he walked out into the clearing. There was no way to approach silently as the leaves crunched under his feet. Jenna looked up, a passive look on her face.

"Sorry Jenna. I heard everything you just said." Dallas said, as he approached.

"That's fine Dallas." She said, turning away. She brought her gloves hand up to her face and looked like she was drying her eyes. She turned back around with a smile, "Anyway, I am glad you are finally here!"

"Yeah, came over as soon as you asked me to. I was training along the way, so it took me a little longer."

"That's good. I figured we could film Gible here. It might be more at home. Plus it is beautiful this time of the year." Jenna said.

They both talked for a little bit, catching up with one another as Jenna got her equipment ready, trying to get the best lighting possible. Once she was positive everything was good, she counted down. 3...2...1...

"Hello everyone! It is your girl Jenna coming at you from the forest on PTA Island! Today I have my friend rejoining us for the first time in a while! Dallas Yukirah and his pokemon Gible! Say hi to everyone!"

"Hey guys! Been a long time. I am Dallas Yukirah and this is my pokemon Gible!"

'Gib! Gib! Gibby!' Gible cried, making a thumbs up sign with one of its claws.

"Oh. Gible isn't shy at all! I thought he would be! Just like his trainer I guess!" Jennas smiled, "Anyway, you may remember Dallas talking about his egg a while back. Well this is the pokemon that was in that egg! Can you tell us where he hatched Dallas?" Jenna asked.

"Well... I was eating breakfast one morning and well... Gible hatched on the table... In front of so many people." Dallas said.

"Seriously? I guess he likes food as much as he trainer does as well! I guess this pokemon picked up your personality when you were caring for it in that egg."

"I guess so. I didn't realize he had such a personality till now. I guess he is just like me." Dallas said.

"Gible, do you mind if I pet you?" Jenna asked.

'Gible Gible.' Gible gave another thumbs up with its claw.

Jenna place a hand on Gible and tried to pet it, but it was hard, "Gible's skin is quite rough. I can't pet it too much because of that. But he looks and feels healthy! What have you been feeding it?"

"Well, my friend Megami actually made the recipe before she left. I let Gible try it and he loved it. So I made a liquefied version of it until he is older. Which I think today will be the last day. Tomorrow he can start eating solid food." Dallas said.

"Speaking of food Dallas, how is your own cooking coming, I know you wanted to be a great chef the last time we spoke." Jenna said.

Dallas knew that she would some how manage to ask the question at some point. But now he was being filmed and struggled to find an answer. He looked down at Gible. After a few seconds of silence, he looked up at Jenna, their eyes meeting. Her face showed concern.

"Well.... when Megami left to help her mother and to choose to become a type of Cafe owner instead of a chef... I... I don't know. I guess I just started to wonder if what i wanted to be was enough or even possible."

"Anything is possible if you try, what makes you question it? I mean you are only 14. Is it really just your dream or is it because Megami left?" Jenna pried.

"Well of course I miss Megami. She was my first friend here on the island and we both... no all three of us went through a lot in a very short amount of time. When she decided to change her dream, finding something she liked more, it made me start to question my own skills and dream. Do I continue to cook or do I expand my horizon?"

"Cut!" Jenna yelled, pressing a button on a remote she had in her hand.

Dallas looked up, unsure of why she had stopped, "Why did you stop?"

"Because, I want to show you something, as well as throw an idea at you. But first... Let's have a 3 on 3 battle." Jenna smiled.

"3 on 3? You have another pokemon?"

"I do! You just wait! Now... let's begin!"

Shelby Hampton

"I'm astounded and nonplussed"

Shelby blinked sleepily and rubbed her eyes. She picked up her glasses from the desk and stretched. They must have fallen off her face when she fell asleep. Wait... fell asleep? She looked around the classroom and saw that it was mostly empty, with a few exceptions. Had she really slept through the entire class? Audrey would kill her if she found out! Then again, it was Audrey's fault in the first place. If she hadn't been so obsessed with pulling all-nighters, this wouldn't have happened.

Hopefully she doesn't ask me how class went, Shelby sighed, packing up her things. She wasn't one for note-taking, so she could pass her empty notebooks off as normal. Maybe it would be best if she avoided her sister for the day. She needed some time to herself, anyway. She couldn't spend her whole life walking around with Audrey by her side. When they were younger, their mother had always tried to encourage them to do their own things.

Shelby gnawed on her bottom lip as she left class. She had originally planned on taking a nap after class, but she didn't really need to do that anymore. Maybe she could try to catch a Pokemon, if she could manage to get Cream to stay in a battle for more than two seconds. She wasn't interested in being a strong trainer or anything like that, but she wanted to at least have some battle experience. It would be impossible if Cream ran away all the time. She shook her head and grabbed a candy bar from her bag. One problem at a time. She had to decide where she was even going to go to catch a new Pokemon.

A Distraction!

"That class? Well... I liked it alot! It was interesting seeing a perspective from another seasoned trainer... I guess you could say things were a bit too general but still, it gave me alot of ideas on what to do with my team. I definately need to put Knox through some excercises." Ivrant said, looking the complete opposite as the rest of the classroom. "And besides, it gave me a great idea on what to set up for the school! I seriously gotta figure out how to organize this!" Ivrant was already pulling out his notebook and sketching down different thoughts.

"A tournament! It can be small and among friends but if we could get other students involved in this kinda stuff then we could seriously have an awesome setup to see who's to top trainer! I know there's alot of rivalries sparking in the school so why not have a contest to settle the score?" Ivrant said all excitedly.

"Oh uh... by the way, what did you plan on doing? I was gonna see if Teacher wanted a battle but guess Rylie got first dibs..."

Swing And A Miss​

"Oh, woah kid," Sammy held her hands up, "I ain't gonna slug you. You were a jerk but I'm not all twisted up about it, y'know? I mean, I get it, it seems like a straight forward way to move past it but there's a few reasons I won't do it. One, I'd get £$&%in' arrested and I don't need to add assaulting a minor to by rap sheet. Two, instead of just clocking you and movin' on I'd rather you told me why you acted up. I know the teacher who isn't sticking around and completely half assed a lesson is an easy target, but why do it at all? If you're not going to bother with class I couldn't care less, but then spend the time doing something that'll help you end up with more than a black eye, right? Oh, and three. I've been training in boxing since before I could lace up my own gloves," she said with a wide grin, "I'd have to spend the next week cleaning your face off my knuckles. So instead of asking a relative to stranger to break your jaw why not tell me what your deal is? Why were you trying to push my buttons?"


Sydney kept turning things over in her head, trying to figure out if she was failing to pursue her real goals by investing so much time on her studies. She was no closer to an answer by the time she got back to her dorm room, dropping her back onto the bed and kicking her shoes off. It had been a while since she'd felt so turned around about something, normally she'd have settled on an answer without much hesitation. Which meant that the only thing to do was clear her head, even if the weather wasn't exactly ideal for it. She quickly changed into an emerald green tracksuit and tied her hair back with a scrunchie before filling her sports bottle with water and grabbing her pokeballs, heading outside into the brisk air.

"Alright team, out you come," she said as she released all four of her Pokemon. Miko, Titania and Smiler all let out their own little greetings to her, while Faustus just... floated there. His gems flashed a little pattern that she decided to interpret as unconditional love. "Okay guys, I'm feeling a bit, like, wiggy today, so we're going to do one of my favourite things to help me get my head on straight. We're going to go for a run," she said with a smile. Miko let out a little cheer and immediately began to do some warm up stretches, which was a little comical given that her arms were effectively stubs. Titania and Smiler both looked a little confused while Faustus' gems gave the very clear pattern for enthusiasm and worship.

"It's great, we'll just head to Oak Town and back," she explained as she began her own stretches, "It'll give all of you a really good workout actually because you're all pretty small, so it's kind of like a bigger run for you guys like relatively speaking. And we've kinda been slacking off in that department lately because of Finals, but my mom always said that you need to reset your brain sometimes. Sound good?"

Titania did a lazy loop in the air, mostly just happy to get some real time outside of her Pokeball, while Smiler dragged his hands down his face and groaned. This was the opposite of mischief, this was downright wholesome...

After more than a few more words of encouragement Sydney finally got even her more reluctant Pokemon moving on a run to Oak Town, sticking to the side of the main path. Miko had no problems keeping up and Faustus just levitated beside Sydney, while Titania and Smiler were both clearly getting a real workout! Cutiefly could give a surprising turn of speed in short bursts but a longer flight like this was hard work and Smiler just didn't seem like they'd spent a lot of time as a wild Pokemon doing any great amount of cardio. Sydney on the other hand took a deep breath of the cool morning air and smiled, not having realised how much good a break from the books would do her.