Chapter 3: The Brave Bird
The next morning, the S.S. Elite anchored at the short of the mainland island and alerted each of the students, whether if they were awake or slumbering, that they had arrived at Elite Academy. Ryo got dressed and released Domo but their departure was cut short when they both realized that Duke and Swinus were still comfortably asleep. The beginning of the year ceremony was about to start in fifteen minutes and here Duke was fast asleep and not dressed.
"Uh, Duke?" Ryo said, leaning over the blonde boy and poking him on the face.
Duke muttered something in an audible tone before flipped over to his other side and continued to snore. He surely was a heavy sleeper. By now, Swinus had woke up and hopped off the bed, ready to depart from the room, but his Trainer was far from ready.
"Duke!" Ryo shouted.
"Wha-wha-what!" Duke said sitting up in his bunk as he held his head. His messy blonde hair lay on his head as he swooshed it out of the way with his hand. "Aw crap, I overslept again didn't I?"
"Uh, yeah," Ryo said, taking a step back after Duke had woke up abruptly. "The ceremony starts in ten minutes. We're not going to make it in time are we?"
"Ah, we'll make it in time, I'm sure," Duke said as he got up and got dressed immediately.
The two boys exited the ship as a few of the academy's assistants carried their luggage off the ship. By now, the front lawn was completely deserted, leading the two boys and their Pokemon to run into the large front doors and into the corridors. Once they got inside, they were amazed at how large the main building was.
"This place is... freaking huge!" Ryo said as the two walked down the hall.
"I know right?" Duke responded. "The opening ceremony is taking place in the auditorium. Let's go."
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The auditorium was an immense structure that held hundreds of students. The point of focus though was the stage down in the center where several of Elite Academy's professors sat as they welcomed back current students while greeting the First Year students and congratulating them on acceptance into the academy. After each of the professors spoke, finally, the Headmaster of the Elite Academy stepped to the podium to a voluminous round of applause. The man was an elder, but healthy looking man with short white hair and a white mustache, dressed in a lab robe. It was at this time that Ryo and Duke made entered the auditorium and grabbed two seats near the back.
"Thank you students and staff! Welcome back to Elite Academy and for our First Year students, we greet you with a warm and comforting embrace! For those of you who are unaware of who I am, I am Headmaster Beaugard. I am happy to serve as the leader of this academy for a fifteenth year!"
The crowd applauded the headmaster. Ryo and Duke looked at each other and joined in on the applaud.
"The mission of Elite Academy is to further the knowledge of our youth so that they not only are more prepared the wondrous world of Pokemon, but also that they become good citizens of our world. Several student who have graduated from Elite Academy have gone on to become regional professors, gym leaders, ace trainers, Elite 4 members, and champions!"
The crowd cheered and applauded again before settling down.
"I say to each of you... you all are capable of doing great things! It takes courage, diligence, and determination to become Elite. Here at Elite Academy, we will strive towards our dreams and make them a reality! Here's to another successful year!"
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The first two days at Elite Academy were enjoyable for Ryo. He spent his Saturday and Sunday gathering supplies and materials for class while also doing a bit of Training with Domo and Moju. He occasionally conversed with Duke, who became is roommate due to luck of the draw, but Duke often was in and out of his room since he too was gathering supplies for class as well.
Monday morning came and Ryo was excited to attend his first class.
Capturing 101 was a class that all First Year students had to take, since capturing was the basis of Pokemon Training. Ryo and Duke were both members of the class and walked from their dorm room to the front lawn of the mainland island where they were met by thirteen other students in this particular section of Capturing 101.
Ryo cleared his throat as he glance around everyone Star Tag: a tag placed on the left, outer part of the chest of each Trainer's blouse, jacket, or shirt. Ryo had one star patch on his tag while Duke donned two stars. As he looked around, Ryo noticed that most of the students at one star, until he saw a girl with two stars on her Star Tag.
"She must be pretty strong too. Just as strong as Duke," Ryo thought before diverting his attention to the incoming, red-haired woman dressed in a lab coat.
She smiled brightly at her pupils and said, "This never gets old for me! Seeing young Trainers at the start of the year and then watching them make something out of themselves!"
The students stared at the emotional woman blankly.
"Excuse me, everyone!" she wiped a tear from her eyes. "My name is Professor Fern and I am the head instructor for classes on capturing Pokemon. This particular class is Capturing 101! An easy A if you play your cards right! Today, we're gonna test the waters out for each of you! I'm going to send each of you to a separate location in the Forest Area alone. You need to catch a Pokemon within the hour time limit. Those who catch a Pokemon will receive extra credit points. Any questions?"
"What if we don't catch a Pokemon?" Ryo raised his hand and asked. It was a sincere question from him. His classmates chuckled. "No, seriously!"
Professor Fern raised a brow as she thought for a moment and said, "Ah... well, that has never happened to any of my students in the five years that I've been teaching here. I'm sure you all will do just fine! Any more questions? No? Okay! Everyone line up so you can receive your sector in the Forest Area!"
Ryo shook his head as a few of the students murmured something in reference to him being the boy who struggled at the battle examination. Duke got in line and looked back at Ryo to see if he was getting in line too. Ryo eventually got in place as he waited to receive his sector from Professor Fern. This was definitely going to be an interesting first day of class.
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Deciding to use Domo in his battle against whatever wild Pokemon he encountered, Ryo made his way through the Forest Area, looking around for Pokemon to catch. As he walked, he looked at his map of the island in order to get an understanding of what Pokemon were in the area. As he was walking, Domo started growling which alarmed Ryo.
"What is it Domo?" Ryo asked as he looked up and saw a Spinarak dangling from a web in front of the Houndour.
The Spinarak immediately dropped to the ground and sprayed Domo with a sticky String Shot, which tangled up the Houndour. Fortunately, Domo bit free of the strings and waited for a command from his Trainer.
"Ember!" Ryo shouted, excited that he had encountered a Pokemon so soon in his journey into the forest.
Domo opened his mouth and unleashed a fiery ball towards the Spinarak, but the Bug-type Pokemon was quick to dodge, slinging a web to the tree branch above Ryo and dangling behind the Trainer. Once it was behind Ryo, Spinarak fired another string of web but this time at Ryo. Tied in the sticky, tight web, Ryo tried flailing his way out of the Spinarak's trap, but it didn't work.
"Feint Attack, Domo!"
Domo barked as his body quickly disappeared quickly before appearing behind the Spinarak in mid air. After appearing behind Spinarak, Domo swiped his paw at the Spinarak, sending it flying out of the vicinity. Ryo groaned as he slumped to the ground, still trapped in Spinarak's web after Domo had sent it flying across the forest to who knows where.
"Great, Domo, now we've got to find another Pokemon to catch."
Domo pouted as it trotted towards his Trainer with lowered ears.
Ryo shook his head and smiled saying, "It's alright, Domo. Just get me out of these webs and we'll find us a Pokemon for sure."
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About an hour had past and Duke had made his way back to the front lawn where Professor Fern was. Many other students had successfully captured their Pokemon, but Ryo was no where in sight. Duke figured that the boy was still out catching a Pokemon, but he hoped he would at least find one before the afternoon. In his hands, Duke held the Tympole he successfully caught in the stream that ran through his assigned sector of the Forest Area.
"Ah!" said Professor Fern, "I see you've caught a Tympole! Ain't he a cutie? Wouldn't expect anything less from you, Mr. Duke."
Duke smiled and nodded at the professor, "Yes ma'am. Thank you ma'am."
He looked to his right as he saw, not surprisingly, Kelly walking towards them. When she reached Professor Fern, she held out her PokeBall that contained a Meowth. The good professor was ecstatic for Kelly as she too was awarded bonus points for capturing a Pokemon.
"So that gives you a Sableye, a Swablu, and now a Meowth! Good job Kelly!" said Professor Fern.
Kelly flashed a small smile and said, "Thank you, Professor." She looked at Duke and nodded before walking off towards the main building.
As more students came, Duke realized that Ryo was still out there trying to catch a Pokemon. He waited for him to come back, but after two hours, he was wondering if Ryo was okay.
"You can head inside with your classmates, Duke," Professor Fern stated after watching Duke look out to the forest for a few minutes.
Duke looked at Professor Fern and said, "Ah, I'm fine. Just waiting on my friend, Ryo to come back. He's probably in a tough battle."
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Ryo continued walking deeper into the forest until he was met by a slightly mountainous region. "Okay, I think I'm out of the Forest Area," Ryo chuckled to himself nervously.
He sat on the ground beside Domo as they both observed the map.
"Okay... it says here that we are nearing the eastern sector of the Mountain Region. So it's best if we go east to get back to the mainland island. I'm sure we can find a Pokemon eventually, Domo," said Ryo as he looked to his Houndour.
Ryo stood when he heard a shrilling sound. He held his ear firmly as he looked around for the source of this powerful caw-sound. Domo too was bothered by the sound as he growled immediately when he saw what caused it. A furry little Rufflet emerged from the top of this side of mountain and was swooping down towards the two. A beep was heard from Ryo's Pokedex inside of his pocket.
"Rufflet, the Eaglet Pokemon. Rufflet stands up to massive opponents, not out of courage, but out of recklessness. But that is how it gets stronger."
"Sounds like my kind of Pokemon," Ryo muttered to himself as he ducked out of the way of the swooping, Flying-type Pokemon.
Rufflet swooped back around cawed again before diving towards the two with a Peck attack.
"Domo, Ember!"
Domo jumped up in time to block Rufflet from its Trainer, sending it the other way. He opened his mouth and unleashed a fireball towards Rufflet, scorching the Eaglet Pokemon in the back with flames. Rufflet roared out in pain, but rose back up quickly. It flapped upward and swooped down with more speed, hitting Domo with a quick Aerial Ace attack. Domo fell to the ground, wincing in pain.
"The little guy is fast!" Ryo shouted, looking up at Rufflet who was now airborne again, flapping its wings. It appeared to be enjoying this spar with the much bigger Domo.
Domo finally stood up as Rufflet went at the Houndour again with another Aerial Ace, striking him in abdomen and sending Domo to the ground again.
"I gotta slow him down some how..." Ryo muttered to himself. "Smog!"
Domo stopped as he lifted his maw to the sky, sending out a howl. Smog slowly submerged out of no where, surrounding the battlefield leaving the Rufflet confused and damaged at the same time. Rufflet coughed for breath as it slowly lingered to the ground before landing on its feet, its balance wavering.
When the Smog cleared, Ryo ordered another Ember attack from Domo and the Houndour fired another ball of fire towards the Flying-type Pokemon, knocking it back even further and knocking it out. Seizing the opportunity of a fainted Pokemon, Ryo took out a PokeBall and tossed it at the Rufflet. The PokeBall bounced off the Pokemon, contained it inside, and then landed on the ground and it proceed to wobble back and forth.
It wobbled... and wobbled... and wobbled... until... Rufflet was captured!
Domo panted happily as he bounced up and down. Ryo ran over to the PokeBall and picked up with a smile.
"You're a tough little guy. I'm going to name you... Abel."
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The afternoon had completely zoomed by and it was approaching about 4:00 PM. Ryo finally made his way back to the front lawn where he was met by Professor Fern and Duke. Duke grinned as he finally saw his friend appear from the trees of the forest. Professor Fern smiled as well, happy that he had successfully made it back, despite it being about an hour after the last student returned with their captured Pokemon.
Ryo exhaled happily as he held out his Pokemon that contained his newly acquired Rufflet, Abel. "I captured a Rufflet," the boy said, out of breathe.
"Congratulations, Ryo!" Professor Fern smiled approvingly at her pupil. "Wasn't that bad was it?"
Ryo looked down at Domo and then at Professor Fern saying, "Oh it was bad alright..."
Duke burst into laughter as grabbed Ryo by the neck and gave hem a noogie to the crown of his head, "Ah-ha! You've got to give yourself more credit, Ryo. A Rufflet is an extremely rare Pokemon to catch! But hey, you did it man!"
Ryo grinned as he finally broke free from Duke's grasp by pushing him off. He had capture his first Pokemon at Elite Academy and things were actually looking up for him. He was still a bit nervous, but with three Pokemon on his team, a good friend in Duke, and a new acquaintance with Professor Fern, Ryo saw a positive future ahead for him.
Next - Chapter 4: A Cold Queen