524 CH155 (519), Graduation & Reward (1)
Arcday came faster than one would think, and at 9:45 a.m., long after we had eaten breakfast, my parents and I made our way to the Pallet City for my graduation ceremony and the follow-up celebration. We were dressed to the tens since Mom insisted that I/we had to be dressed formally for the occasion.
That was also why we first ate breakfast before changing into fresh/formal clothes to avoid staining them. I personally felt the whole thing was a bit exaggerated, but neither Dad nor I complained and simply followed Mom's arrangements. If our doing that made her happy, then that was enough for us.
Besides, I had to admit I looked even more impressive than usual, decked out in a suit, so I was willing to keep them on for a day. Though, I did not think that I could tolerate wearing them every day like some people seemed to be able to do.
Anyway, the reason we left at 9:45, even though the ceremony only began at 11 a.m., was that the first batch of my guests/friends was supposed to arrive in Pallet City at 10:10 a.m. The last one was scheduled for 10:25 a.m., and once everyone had arrived, we would head to the Pallet City Trainer School for my graduation ceremony.
We would make up quite the crowd, so I was hoping that arriving 20 minutes early would allow us to snag some decent seats for everyone. I actually had to give the school/organizers a heads-up that I was bringing along 28 people aside from my parents since the number was a bit exaggerated considering that everyone else only brought along 2-6 people.
I honestly had not expected such a turnout since most of them were busy with their own things, but somehow all of my friends made sure to clear up their day to come to my graduation. They, along with some of their parents tagging along resulted in my +30.
I made sure to buy all of them a ticket for the follow-up celebration, so it was not as if we were freeloading or anything. Still, the heads up was so that they could prepare accordingly. Namely, seats, food, drinks, and all that stuff.
Back to the matter at hand, we made it to the Pallet City Teleportation Hub a few minutes before 10, and after thanking Horus/Xatu for bringing us over, I moved him back inside Utopia, leaving only Mothra, who was chilling on top of my head in her chibi form, outside.
We were a bit surprised when the Field family walked out of the hub a few moments after our arrival since we had not expected anyone for the next 10 minutes. Rose rushed up to me and tackled me in a hug before congratulating me once on my graduation.
Once Rose calmed down a bit and let me go, Aunt Lily embraced me before congratulating me as well. Uncle Thorn also came closer and pat me on the shoulder while commending me. By now I had realized that none of my acquaintances and friends doubted that I had aced my exams, so I was not surprised to see Uncle Thorn praising me without hearing my final grade.
Also, Jessie thought that she was being careful, but I had already felt/detected her approaching me from behind, so just as she was about to embrace me from behind to surprise me, I turned around, resulting in her hugging me from the front instead.
That ended up causing her to get surprised instead, and I just chuckled a bit before "booping" her nose. I did not forget to tease her that she was a million years too young to startle me like that. She just laughed it off and congratulated me on gaining my freedom, referring to one of our past conversations where I had jokingly compared school to prison.
After that, she greeted my parents and Rose's group. Just a minute later Kinji came out of the TeleHub, and just a few moments after him, Aaron and Yu walked out of the TeleHub as well. While that batch was greeting us and congratulating me, the next batch showed up as well. In the end, it took less than 20 minutes after Jessie's arrival for everyone else to join us.
Wendy, Misty, and Erza were accompanied by their mothers, and while I had seen Misty's mother during my visit to Cerulean City, this was the first time I got to see Wendy and Erza's mom.
Surprisingly, Erza's mom, Irene looked familiar somehow, so I was assuming she resembled the OG somewhat, but Wendy's mother Stacy did not ring any bells at all. Still, familiar or not, all three warmly congratulate me before joining Mom, Aunt Lily, Aunt Rouge, and Aunt Willow's side.
Yep, Ace and Weiss had come together with both their parents. Uncle Roger along with Uncle Jacques joined Dad's side, and I was rather happy that they had come as well since they were able to keep my Dad company.
Sakamoto, Kazuma, Takeshi, Akame, Coco, Yu, Yoruichi, James, and Layla had shown up without any relatives. Well, Akame and Coco were siblings, but that did not count. Seeing how our group of 31 was complete, we did not delay it any longer and made our way to the Pallet City Trainer School.
When we made it there, it was still 10:37 a.m., and thankfully, there were still enough seats in a relatively good area for all of us. Though, once my group had settled down, the middle part of the seats was completely occupied.
Since there were still 20 minutes until the start of the ceremony, everyone was talking with their seat neighbors to pass the time. I was no exception to that, though my conversation partners were sitting in front as well as behind me since Mom and Dad were sitting to my left as well as right respectively.
A minute before 11 a.m., the school director went onto the stage that had been set up for this, and at exactly 11, he began his welcome/opening speech. The speech seemed pretty standard to me. He mentioned the usual points these kind of speeches all seemed to have.
Our experience time at school, the future, and how we were the ones that would be shaping it. That this was just one chapter in our lives and that the new chapter would now begin. As I said it was a pretty standard speech with a few semi-decent jokes incorporated into it.
Still, the best part of the speech was that it took less than 10 minutes for him to move on to the next part of the program, which was commemorating the first-place holder, which was me by the way, and the 3 other top students of our year.
He requested us to move onto the stage, and seeing how I was in the center of the seating area, I simply teleported over, causing a few surprise exclamations to arise from the seating area. The director on the other hand was not surprised by my move, which was not surprising considering that he should have read through my file since he was the director of the trainer school.
It took roughly a minute for all three students beside me to gather on the stage, and once they did the director commended me as the first-place holder with full marks in all 14 final exams. I was then handed my diploma, and he told me that I could choose my reward starter during the choir performance that would happen halfway through the regular diploma handover.
He did the same for the other 3 students and after we left the stage he began to call up the graduates in an alphabetical order to hand them their diplomas. The better students got some small rewards to help their future journey such as gift cards for Pokeballs and Potions, while the others simply received their diplomas under the applause of the guests/audience.
It took more than half an hour for the director to go through half the students, and once he did, the handover stopped, so that the choir could step up for a 20-minute break performance.
That was a sign for me to move to the director's side, so I swiftly teleported over, and he brought me along with the other 3 to another room, where we were allowed to choose our Pokemon/reward in the order of our school ranking.
The director directed me to a table with a case that had three Pokeballs. It was not hard to guess that the balls contained the three Squirtle I was allowed to choose from. Additionally, each ball had a piece of paper in front of it, which I was guessing had some brief information on the Squirtle.
Once I was given the go-ahead, I took a look at the first paper, and it turned out that I was right. The paper mentioned that the Squirtle in ball no.1 was a male with 5-star potential at the (mid) iron stage that was 2 years old. There was also an additional remark that this Squirtle knew/had inherited the move Aura Sphere.
To see if I could find something that was not mentioned on the paper, and to see his proper potential, I called out the Squirtle in ball no.1 and checked his status sheet.
'Species: Squirtle
Gender: Male
Type: Water
Potential: Blue
Stage: Iron-Stage (mid)
(Genetic) Modifier: None
Abilities: Torrent, Rain Dish
Talents: None
Affinities: Water, Aura (weak)'
I was pleasantly surprised to see that Squirtle had an additional aura affinity, even if it was a weak one. The Aura Sphere egg move might have indicated that it had been a possibility, but seeing the confirmation with my own eye was much better.
Aside from that, I also confirmed that Squirtle's 5-star potential was in fact blue potential, which was pretty good. Depending on what kind of percentage his potential had currently reached, Squirtle stood a chance of his potential advancing to light purple after going through the Utopia experience/upgrade.
While I could freely admit that the first Squirtle had definitely roused my interest, I still recalled it before taking a look at the second paper. I wanted to check out all their options first before making any decisions.
According to the information on the paper, this Squirtle was a male with 5-star potential that was at the (mid) iron stage Squirtle as well.
Surprisingly, he too had an additional remark on the file. It seemed Squirtle no.2 knew the move Gyro Ball, which was a decent enough move. Anyway, like before I called out Squirtle No. 2 as well to check his status sheet.
'Species: Squirtle
Gender: Male
Type: Water
Potential: Light Blue
Stage: Iron-Stage (mid)
(Genetic) Modifier: None
Abilities: Torrent, Rain Dish
Talents: None
Affinities: Water, Steel (weak)'
This one's potential was a bit lower than that of Squirtle number 1, but just like no.1, he seemed to possess an additional affinity as well. Though in his case it was a weak steel affinity. Still, while it was a pretty good find and somewhat interesting to me as well, I still preferred the aura Squirtle, to be honest.
After recalling Squirtle no.2, I read through the paper on Squirtle no.3. I saw that it was a female Squirtle with 5-star potential at the (mid) iron stage. I could not help but be surprised when I saw that there was an additional remark for this Squirtle as well.
It appeared that the alliance had chosen to present me with 3 Squirtle that each possessed an inherent/egg move. In the case of Squirtle no.3, the move was Aqua Jet. Aqua Jet was a pretty good water move and it was a rather useful move since it allowed most water types some additional mobility and speed. In that vein, it was a pretty great move for a Squirtle and even a Blastoise.
Anyway, just like before I called out Squirtle No. 3 to check out her actual status sheet.
'Species: Squirtle
Gender: Female
Type: Water
Potential: Blue
Stage: Iron-Stage (mid)
(Genetic) Modifier: None
Abilities: Torrent, Rain Dish
Talents: None
Affinities: Water'
Well, just like No. 1, she had blue potential as well, so that was great. Similarly, there was a chance that she would have her potential promoted to light purple after going through the Utopia treatment. Still, other than her good potential, there was nothing else of interest to see on the status sheet.
I recalled her and placed her ball back in its place before I began contemplating which one I should choose for my team/family. It did not take me long to decide that I was the least interested in No. 3, so she ended up being the first one to drop out of the race.
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