7

As he arrived in his battling class, Blake sat down next Cynthia.

"Okay, so are you ready?" Cynthia asked, excited. "We only have until the end of the week to continue with the training!"

"…Training?" Cynthia and Blake turned to see another student sitting behind Cynthia, paying attention to their conversation. He had copper colored hair and green eyes,

"Yes, why?" Blake asked.

"…Never mind," the student said, turning away, frowning.

"…" Cynthia eyed him, frowning.

Blake noticed Julia walk into the classroom, not realizing she had been in the class the last time he was there.

"Okay, students," the professor walked into the classroom, the rest of the students taking their seats. "Since today is the first official class, I have a surprise for you all."

Cynthia was excited at the process of a surprise.

"For class today, we'll be heading to the training area of Charizard Hall," the professor declared. "I assume you all have your pokemon with you?"

After the class affirmed, the professor led them down the hall into a large arena, the class looking around in surprise. "This place is so cool!" Cynthia said, grinning. The dirt stone floor was well maintained and the entire area was illuminated with spotlights, with large bleachers up against the walls for audiences to observe.

"Are we going to get to battle on this field?" Cynthia asked the professor, smiling.

The professor nodded, musing.

"Something like that…"

"Professor Kashita," a voice said. The professor turned to see a girl walk up to him, frowning. She had ice-cold blue eyes and long, black hair. She wore the standard female uniform, with the exception of tight jeans instead of the usual skirt, and a red armband around her left arm, signifying she was a Battle Course student, and a Junior.

"Class, this is Gabrielle Breaux," Professor Kashita said.

"Elle," the girl said.

"She's a student of mine, and is in my Advanced Battle Tactics class," the professor explained. "She's expected to become a gym leader a few years from now."

"Why is she with us?" Julia asked.

"Well, I believe that the best training for each of you will be to battle against her in a one on one pokemon battle," he explained. "She'll use one pokemon against each of you. This will be the best measurements of your skills. Who would like to go first?"

A forest of hands shot up, Cynthia's included.

"Will Harmond, you'll go first," the professor said, pointing at the copper haired student from before. He nodded,

Elle and Will each stood on an opposite side of the arena, the rest of the students in the class sitting down in the bleachers.

"Froslass, come out," Elle said, tossing out a pokeball, which a pokemon emerged from. The pokemon wore a white kimono tied with a red ribbon, and two long hands coming down from her head.

"An ice type, huh?" Will asked. "Well then, Sol, come on out!"

Will tossed out a pokeball, which a Larvesta emerged from, the small bug practically sizzling with flames across its white fur and red antenna.

"Awesome, that fire type should win this!" Cynthia said, smiling.

"Flame wheel!" Will said. Sol's antenna glowed with flames, coating him in a veil of fire. He charged at the Froslass.

"Thunderbolt," Elle ordered. The Froslass held her hands up, blue electricity crackling in the center, firing the bolt at Sol, hitting him head on. Sol collapsed to the ground, shaking in paralysis.

The Froslass flew towards Sol, hold her hands up, a sphere of dark energy forming in front of her mouth, firing it straight at the bug type, exploding against him, knocking him out.

"…Whoa…" Will said, his mouth open in shock, so much so that he forgot to return Sol to his pokeball for a second.

"Amazing…" Cynthia said, shocked.

"Who's next?" Professor Kashita asked. No one else volunteered this time.

After no one else volunteered, the professor began calling out students at random. After a few more students were completely stomped by the Froslass, it was Cynthia's turn.

"Okay, wish me luck, guys," Cynthia said, nervous. She ran up onto the stadium, eyeing the Froslass nervously.

"Ready?" Elle asked.

"Yeah, you bet!" Cynthia said, grinning. "Come at be, Breaux!"

"…" Elle stared at Cynthia in silence, Cynthia's face slowly getting red in embarrassment.

"N-never mind! Ruby, go!"

Cynthia tossed out a pokeball, which her Mawile emerged from.

"Oh, that might do it," Blake said, interested.

"Faint attack!" Cynthia ordered. Ruby disappeared, reappearing behind the Froslass, hitting her in the back. The attack knocked the Froslass forwards, Cynthia cheering in excitement. It was the first attack to successfully hit the ice type.

"Confuse ray," Elle ordered. A sphere of light appeared in the Froslass' hands, moving erratically towards the Mawile. Ruby attempted to follow the sphere with her eyes as it spun around her, before finally falling over. Of course, the Froslass was quick to take advantage of the situation, holding her hands up. Hail clouds formed overhead, pelting the battlefield with hail. In response, large awnings stretched out over the bleachers, protecting the students. Cynthia, however, was not protected.

"Ouch! Ow!" Cynthia cried, shielding her head from the hail pelting her. The hail quickly picked up strength until it was almost a blizzard, completely obscuring the Froslass from view. "Blizzard," Elle's voice could be heard from the downpour of hail. The icy winds began to shift and take shape, wrapping around Ruby's body and freezing her solid.

The hail cleared up, leaving Ruby trapped in a cube of ice, unable to move.

"Oh yes, this is very nostalgic," Cynthia said, frowning.

The Froslass formed a powerful shadow ball and launched it at the enormous ice cube, hitting it head on. The sphere of energy broke through the ice and hit Ruby in the face, sending her flying through the air. Ruby crashed down onto the ground, unconscious.

"Darn, you did such a good job, too…" Cynthia sighed, returning Ruby to her pokeball. Her expression soon returned to a happy one, however.

"Don't worry, no problems!" Cynthia cheered. "Let's continue later!"

Cynthia skipped off the battlefield, sitting down between Julia and Blake once again.

"Julianna Keruz, you're up next," Professor Kashita declared.

"Professor," Elle said, frowning, Professor Kashita turning to her.

"Yes?"

"My Froslass is running out of PP, would it be alright if I could change pokemon?"

"Of course."

"Darn," Julia said, frowning. "My Roden would be able to take her Froslass no problem!" Julia walked out onto the battlefield as Elle returned her Froslass.

"Glaceon, come out," Elle said, tossing out a pokeball, which a Glaceon emerged from, her face bright and excited. The small blue fox pokemon looked around, ready to fight.

"Glaceon!" Glaceon said, nuzzling up against Elle.

"Not right now, we have a battle," Elle said, patting Glaceon on the head.

"So, you're training to be an ice type gym leader, huh?" Julia asked, grinning.

"Correct," Elle said, nodding.

"Well, I've considered becoming a fire type gym leader myself, or maybe becoming the first dark type gym leader," Julia said, shrugging.

"Interesting," Elle said, nodding.

"And my ace will be this guy, of course!" Julia said, smiling. "Roden, let's do it!"

Julia tossed out a pokeball, which her Houndoom emerged from, snarling at the Glaceon.

"Glaceon," Elle said, the Glaceon charging right at the Houndoom.

"Roden, use flamethrower!" Julia ordered. The Houndoom opened his mouth and fired a massive blast of flames at the Glaceon.

"Mirror coat," Elle ordered. Glaceon's body began glowing with a veil of pink energy. The flames struck her fur, and on contact redirected back towards the Houndoom, to Julia and Roden's surprise. The flames struck Roden, and while they didn't do much damage, did catch him off guard.

The Glaceon opened her mouth and fired a beam of ice at the Houndoom, hitting Roden in the paw, causing him to fall to the ground.

The Glaceon ran towards the Houndoom, the blue flaps on its head shooting out to the sides, hail pouring down once more.

Roden looked around, visibility down to almost nothing, Glaceon disappearing into the hail.

"Roden, use inferno!" Julia shouted. Flames shot out from around Roden's body, incinerating the hail as it made contact with him. The flames shot out, Glaceon jumping out of the way to avoid them as the hail clouds dissipated. Roden, spotting the Glaceon immediately, charged at it head on, his mouth open and flames burning in it.

As the Houndoom attempted to use fire fang, the Glaceon smiled. She opened her mouth, water swirling around in front of it. She fired a shockwave of water at the Houndoom in mid leap, hitting Roden straight in the muzzle. Roden yelped in pain and crashed onto the ground, unconscious.

"Darn," Julia said, frowning. She returned Roden to her pokeball, shaking her head.

Blake was really starting to get nervous now. Both Julia and Cynthia were strong opponents, and both had just been easily defeated by pokemon they should have had advantages over.

"Blake Harker, you're up next," Professor Kashita said, Blake gulping. "You'll be fine, don't worry," Cynthia said, patting him on the back. "I'll be cheering for you!"

Blake nodded and headed out onto the battlefield, passing Julia.

"I warmed her up for you, you just have to finish her off," Julia said, smiling confidently.

Blake stepped up onto the battlefield, taking a pokeball off of his belt.

"Scyther, let's go!" Blake said, Scyther emerging from his pokeball.

"Yeah, I love watching Scyther move!" Cynthia cheered. "Come on, Blake! You can do it!"

"Scyther, use bullet punch!" Blake ordered. Scyther shot forward at top speed, releasing a barrage of quick punches at the ice type.

"Ice shard," Elle countered, the Glaceon forming several shards of ice that shot forwards, countering Scyther's strikes.

"When did Scyther learn bullet punch?" Julia asked the question. "Pretty cool right? He learned it when he was having a spar with Tristan." Cynthia answered her.

Scyther realized he was too close within the Glaceon's range and leapt back, but not quickly enough to avoid a shadow ball in the face.

Scyther jumped back, rubbing his face, glaring at the Glaceon. Glaceon howled, hail pouring down around them. She disappeared into the snow, Scyther looking around, frowning.

The Glaceon's call could be heard, the snow swirling around Scyther, as she used a blizzard attack on Scyther.

Suddenly, the wind began to swirl around Scyther, as if he was the center of a tornado.

The ice and snow swirled around him and released out in several blades of wind and snow, knocking Glaceon back.

"Way to go, Scyther!" Blake said, smiling. "That razor wind is pretty amazing!"

Scyther nodded, smiling. He shot towards Glaceon at top speed, pulling his claw back, firing off a bullet punch barrage at Glaceon again.

Glaceon growled, releasing a shockwave of water from around her body, hitting Scyther head on in a powerful pulse, knocking him backwards. Glaceon ran towards him, a sphere of darkness forming in front of her mouth. She fired it right into Scyther's claw, the shadow ball exploding and knocking him backwards.

Scyther shook his head, glaring at Glaceon, who opened her mouth, firing a beam of ice at the Scizor. Scyther jumped to the side as fast has he could, but the ice beam clipped his wing, Scyther slipping and crashing on the ground.

Glaceon opened her mouth, wind and ice and snow dancing around her, hitting Scyther head on, cloaking him in a blanket of ice and snow that he was too weakened to dodge. The snow settled, revealing Scyther, shivering, unconscious.

"Excellent, Glaceon," Elle said, nodding.

Blake was silent, returning Scyther to his pokeball. He walked back over to the bleachers and sat beside Cynthia and Julia without a word.

More students followed after them, and Elle switched her pokemon a few more times, but no student came even close to defeating one of her pokemon.

"Amazing…" Blake said, shaking his head. "So that's the strength of a junior at this school, huh?"

The three of them were walking over to the Snorlax Commons, for lunch.

"Hey, don't get discouraged!" Cynthia said, frowning.

"Well, if she's that strong, and she's a junior, than Akira, even though he's a sophomore, I don't know…" Blake said, shaking his head. "I don't think I'm going to be strong enough."

"Don't say that!" Cynthia said, frowning. "You're plenty strong! You'll beat that Akira guy, no problem!"

"Yeah, with our support, you'll be sure to kick his ass!" Julia said, smiling. The three picked out their food and went out onto the patio.

"Guys!" Sango waved over to them, smiling. The three sat down at her table, noticing the kid sitting next to her.

"Who's he?" Cynthia asked, smiling.

"He's in my battle class," Sango explained. "Just like me, he's trying to become a Pokemon Ranger, so he doesn't like it any better than I do."

"Hi," he said, smiling, holding his hand out. "I'm Aidan."

Aidan was very well built, Blake noting his strong grip when he shook his hand. He had curly brown hair and hazel eyes, and deep tan skin.

"He seems kind of reserved and shy, so I thought it would be best if I just came up to him and said hi."

"Hey…" Julia said, nodding. "You're in our Pokemon Caretaker Course, aren't you?"

"That's right," Aidan said, nodding.

"Really?" Blake asked, surprised. "I still don't know half the people in our classes."

"I'm good with faces," Julia said, nodding. "And he sits in front of me."

"Yeah, I'm not the kind of person that a lot of people notice," Aidan said, grinning. "It's really helpful, because it lets me observe how other people act."

A small blue and black cat pokemon leapt up from the ground and onto Aidan's lap, nuzzling against his stomach.

"Oh, and this is my partner, Arion," Aidan explained. "He's a Shinx."

"Cool," Julia said, smiling. "Can I pet him?"

"Sure," Aidan said, nodding.

"So, Aidan, I'm sure you're pretty ripped under those clothes, right?" Cynthia asked, smiling.

"…What?" Aidan asked, a confused smile on his face.

"Down girl," Blake said, pulling her by the collar of her shirt onto the table bench.

"Keep in your pants, Fafnir," Sango snapped.

"Oh, jealous are we?" Cynthia asked, grinning. "And here I thought you were interested in Blake?"

"Wrong on both counts," Sango said, smiling sweetly. "Although, why are you so focused on who I might be interested in?"

"Out of the deep-seated love I hold for you, of course," Cynthia said, staring with mock-emotion into Sango's eyes. "I want to make you mine, so I don't wish to hand you over to any man."

Sango looked at Cynthia like she was an idiot.

"Don't be an idiot," she said a second later.

"Anyways, Blake, what's your next class?" Sango asked, turning back to him.

"I've got Pokemon Capturing," Blake explained. "Me and Cynthia are in the same class."

"Me too," Julia said.

"Who's your teacher?" Sango asked.

"Professor Green," Blake said.

"Oh, me too," Sango said.

"I thought that we have the same classmates for the Capturing Class as we do for the Battling Class?" Cynthia asked, confused.

"Oh, no, actually," Sango explained. "I talked to my teacher about it, and it turns out that half of each class combines with half of another class, and are taught by one teacher. I guess it's some sort of thing to make us all meet new people."

"Oh, I see."

"Even though Aidan and I are in the same Battling Class, we aren't in the same Capturing Class," Sango explained. "Although now that you guys are going to be in it, I can look forward to it again!"

"Um, how, exactly, are you going to be passing the Capturing Class?" Julia asked, everyone turning to her. "What do you mean?" Sango asked, confused.

"Well, you're trying to be a Pokemon Ranger, which means you don't capture pokemon, you just befriend them, right? So what are you going to do when capturing pokemon becomes a class requirement?"

"…I don't know, I'll just have to see what happens," Sango sighed, looking down. "I really think there's a problem with making Pokemon Battling and Pokemon Capturing mandatory for all freshmen, there should be some way to opt out for people who want to become Pokemon Rangers."

"I agree," Aidan said, nodding.

"Well, either way, you still have to do it now," Cynthia said, shrugging. "So you might as well suck it up and do it, right?"

"…I guess," Sango said, nodding.

Later, Blake, Sango, Cynthia, and Julia walked into their classroom, located in Venusaur Hall, which was located on the very outskirts of campus, almost on the edge of the forest. Leading to the building was a large garden, fenced in by a gate that stretched out into the forest around them.

As they entered the classroom, Blake noticed that Reiner, Nick, and the girl Nikita from his Pokemon Myths & Legends class were also in the class, but a few students from his battling class, like that kid Will, were not present.

"Are you kids just going to stand there and do nothing?" a sharp voice said from behind them. Everyone turned to see a young woman standing behind them, glaring intensely at the students. The woman had brown hair cut down to her neck, with two long fringes hanging down the sides, to her shoulders. She wore a sleeveless blue shirt with black lining, and a pair of red shorts. She looked more like a student, but the glare in her green eyes and her stern expression clarified she was a professor. She wore a red and white porkpie hat.

The woman pushed past Blake and stood at the front of the classroom, frowning.

"Everyone, my name is Leaf, but you all can call me Miss Green," the professor stated. "I'll be your professor for this class, and I guarantee that this class will be nothing like any of your other classes."