3 Endure

Pokémon School, Grade 1-A Classroom.

Noise filled the classroom, as the children talked and bustled about. Today was the day their teacher will show them her own Pokémon. The Pokémon League usually discouraged parents from showing Pokémon to their children, as accidents can happen and may occasionally be traumatic.

Pokémon have an important role in the society, and not being able to work with them due to trauma would make their future bleak.

But exposure to Pokémon at an early age is also important, thus it was considered compulsory. It was adapted to the curriculum to do a live presentation and not just theory.

The students stopped talking and greeted joyfully as Assistant Professor Selia walked into the classroom.

"Good morning, students. As today marks the beginning of the Second Semester, I will now be teaching you all about Pokémon. This subject is called 'Pokémon Basics'." Selia smiled as she saw the uncontainable excitement the children have.

"Pokémon are living creatures that possess great strength and supernatural abilities. They fill every corner of Elendel, with an infinite number of Pokémon running through the lands, hiding upon the trees, lurking under the seas, and soaring high in the skies. Up till now, there are more than 340 families of Pokémon discovered. Before we begin our lessons, do you have any questions?" Selia asked after giving a brief introduction of the subject.

"Professor Selia, where do Pokémon come from? My Mom and Dad say different things." A little girl asked.

"The origin of Pokémon has been debated for years and there are many speculations about how Pokémon came into existence, but there are two theories that are widely known and believed in.

The first is based on some ancient records and written works that have mentions of the God Pokémon, Arceus. Arceus is said to be the One, who created the universe, and brought life into existence as they are. He created and appointed Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina to lord over Time, Space and the Overworld.

The other theory is supported by most researchers. It states that Pokémon evolved from beings called the Originals. These Originals don't have any supernatural abilities and are just another type of natural beings like humans. Like Mareep and Wooloo are descendants of the Original beast 'Sheep'.

There are many proofs that support both theories but there is no concluding evidence unearthed yet."

All the 7 and 8-year-old kids had their mouths agape. It really was not something they could easily understand, but they did not dwell on it.

Raiden felt strange. 'Is this Religion vs. Evolution? Even here, it is still an issue.'

"Ah. I'm sorry children. Let's just play with my Pokémon and learn while we do. Okay?" Selia regained her senses. She should've made the explanation easier for children to understand.

"Okaaayyyy!!"

Taking out a Pokéball from her belt, Professor Selia laughed.

"Cleffairy, come out and play with us!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Five years passed by in a blur.

In this period of time, Raiden learned many things. He was familiar with most of the Pokémon as he had played and watched most Pokémon games and series before. But in Elendel, there were many things that were very different from what he knew.

As Raiden was more mature mentally than others of his age, he had perceived many things and grasped the general behavior of Elendel.

Children become Junior Trainers when they graduate, but not many would want to be or succeed to be a Senior Trainer, which meant becoming a professional Trainer. Everything was not really as great as what it was painted out to be in the core series.

People's attitude towards being a Trainer was more like a mix of a hobby, becoming an Athlete and joining the military. Students could register as a Junior Trainer and start their own journeys, but give it up a few months later.

It seemed fun, but during these 6 years of Pokémon Basics Education, some kids would find it hard and tiring to train and form a close bond with one Pokémon, not to mention more. Pokémon are difficult to handle and many view them as pets.

It was like raising a dog. One or two was okay, but 4, or 5, or even 6 is unimaginable. There was also the problem of being attacked if not trained properly.

Raiden also found a lot more about the geography of the region he was in, and what he learned shocked him greatly.

Raiden lived in the Lynier City in the Azrel Region. Lynier City was a very big city, almost 1000 square kilometers. But Lynier City was officially a fortress called Lynier Fort. It was because there was an impressive 10-meter-tall wall surrounding it like a very big and super long snake.

Thousands of even taller watchtowers were evenly placed to monitor the situation over the walls. This was an impossible feat without the help of Pokémon, and it was built over the decades.

Within the walls of the Fort there were hills, lakes, rivers and forest filled with lush vegetation and thousands of Pokémon of different kinds.

But Raiden took into careful consideration that he was in a Fort. And a Fort was always built to protect something from something else. And he knew that the towering walls were built by Pokémon to keep away other Pokémon.

He also remembered. They, as students, had never been shown records or maps of the Azrel Region, let alone the entire Elendel. At best they had maps of all the 14 Forts of Azrel.

The television gave the local news in Lynier Fort, the regional news, and the news from the Pokémon League of Azrel, who acts as the government. But there was never news about what was going on at the walls, and the people didn't notice. At least, nobody he knew.

To most adults, it was an open secret that Elendel was a wide and beautiful world. The lush forests, the tall mountains and raging rivers, they knew how beautiful it could be. No one was forced to stay within the walls of the fort. If you want to, you can go out anytime.

But without enough strength, not many dared to go out.

To the students who were curious about what was outside the walls, the school didn't forbid them from wanting to go. They just said that you must acquire 6 Junior Badges to be able to go out. And it would maybe take a few years before they could do so and might forget about it entirely. That was to let curiosity remain as curiosity. After all, curiosity when suppressed, becomes unstoppable.

Raiden knew that the Pokémon League was trying to draw a good image of the world. They wanted them to see the world as innocently as the original series. That's what Raiden thought they were trying to do, and he was sure about it. It was a good thing.

But ultimately Elendel was different. There was a risk of death. So, the League had to educate the people properly.

First, and foremost, they show that Pokémon are dangerous. Extremely dangerous. It was never explicitly stated by the educational system as to not terrify the children. But 6 years of studying Pokémon Basics taught students on what stance to take when facing Fort Pokémon, Wild Pokémon and Ferocious Pokémon.

Fort Pokémon are those found within the Forts and those outside the wall were Wild Pokémon.

They painted in the children's minds that may it be in the tall grass, the lake, and the bird Pokémon; as long as they were inside the walls, they were safe. Of course, as long as they remain alert and careful. Fort Pokémon were still dangerous, but they would not attack unless they were agitated or attacked first.

The Wild Pokémon outside the walls still have their primal instincts as they are very protective of their territory and hunt all those who trespass. They fought more fiercely than Fort Pokémon, were harder catch and train, but were inherently stronger and skilled.

But the often appearance of Ferocious Pokémon outside the walls were the reason for the walls to be built. They were monsters. Monsters that will never hesitate to bite you in half. And they will chase after you to their last breath. They killed each other, day and night. And at night when its dark, if you let your guard down even for a second, you may never see the sun ever again.

Ferocious Pokémon were Pokémon who fell into a state called 'Rampage', who lost their minds and attack everything until it dies. Wild Pokémon turning into Ferocious Pokémon quite often thus making travelling outside the walls extremely dangerous. Experts still haven't found the reason for why Pokémon fall into Rampage.

There were also a few times when even Fort Pokémon would fall to a Rampage state, and suddenly attack. At times like this, they were lucky if they were caught by Trainers, and if not, they would be put down immediately.

This, however, did not affect how the children feel about Pokémon inside the walls, as it was portrayed that Fort and Ferocious Pokémon were completely different entities. And the fact that there were walls, the Police, and Trainers to keep them safe, comforted them even more.

Raiden was quite sharp for noticing these things. To him it was obvious, as teachers repeatedly told their students these things time and again, as if brainwashing. But it was not that harmful and was for the benefit of the society.

The school was also slowly changing the children's perception so that they would understand when a Pokémon was killed. Self-defense, Food, Population Control and many more reasons were carefully explained to the students, so that it won't appear morally wrong or twisted in their minds.

Raiden understood this. Pokémon were still animals by nature, and it was the survival of the fittest. The school did everything very carefully to instill the proper mindset and he approved of this.

It was like teaching the students how to take the stairs. It may be very dangerous, even deadly, if you are not careful. But that doesn't mean you should avoid or never take the stairs. As the Principal once said, "Pokémon are part of our lives, you can never avoid doing anything with them".

And after years of studying about Pokémon, on the last year of Primary school, they had finally touched the topic of Pokémon Trainers.

There were a lot of mysteries involving Pokémon and the greatest tool a Trainer could have, a Pokéball.

A Pokéball can capture and store Pokémon of all types regardless of size and shape, signifying the greatest breakthrough of technology in the world.

Raiden was extremely shocked when he learned that a Pokéball was connected to the owner's life force. Catching a Pokémon would require you to subjugate a Pokémon with sheer willpower and energy.

That's why it was necessary to befriend a Pokémon to let you catch it or weaken it through battling.

Every time you catch a Pokémon, it would use your lifeforce to make a connection with it and form a 'Bond'. This bond will stop Pokémon from going into the Rampage state. That was why the Pokémon of Trainers never become Ferocious Pokémon.

Trainers could have any number of Pokémon as long as their lifeforce can withstand the usage, else it would be very dangerous to your life, as your life will slowly crumble.

Stronger Pokémon use a lot of lifeforce to stop them from falling into 'Rampage'. Trainers then have to decide whether to catch many weak Pokémon, a few strong Pokémon, one very strong Pokémon, or a balanced team.

Yes, this world was dangerous. Pokémon were able to kill people in the blink of an eye. But Raiden was determined. What was a second life without adventure? He loved his family, but he wants to live his life the way he wanted, even if it had a tragic end.

Raiden and Max made a promise. As brothers closer than twins, they decided to travel all over the region as Trainers. Despite the hardships of being a Trainer, they wanted to see the world of Elendel with their own eyes. Maybe Raiden had a huge impact on Max as they set their goal to become one of the best Trainers in the world.

For now, it was just a Farfetch'd dream. Maybe they would forget about it or give up, but you never know what happens in the future.

For now, it was time to move along with life, as they are about to enter the real world of Pokémon.