Chapter 107 - 3 - We Can Do This!

By lunchtime, as the sun rises over the center of the day, everyone are now eating lunch at the cafeteria, along with their Pokémon. Their food are varied by region and culture, but the most common is freshly steamed rice and veggies and Yellow Curry; for dessert, the most common is Colored Macarons, and for drinks, water and juice are the choices, but sometimes MooMoo milk is the choice for children. The idea of this school came from Professor Campillo, who thought about a school in Kanto that can combine both learning and battling in one day of class. So, prior to Rico's moving to Kanto, Campillo collaborated with Professor Oak, began the construction of a fairly small school compound complete with a cafeteria, a battle hall, a small library, and a small living quarters for the school staff. Back at the cafeteria, everyone and their Pokémon are eating and drinking in harmony.

"Damn it!" Isaiah commented in severe dismay about his battle. "I can't believe I lost."

"That's because you had the disadvantage," Catherine responded to his bad comment. "Water extinguishes fire, you know." Isaiah then ġrȯȧnėd in response and facing down on the table.

"Cheer up, Isaiah, remember what the headmaster said?" Rico attempted to comfort him. "You're still in even though you lost. Well, my training worth the effort." Rising his head up, Isaiah responded back, "Well, you're so lucky, but I'm not."

"It's okay, but at least you did your best out there," Rico happily replied back.

"Yeah, sometimes, you can't expect your opponent to use a Pokémon of a disadvantage against you," Catherine gave her brother some advice. Hearing her, Isaiah sighed in calming down and replied like, "You're right."

Later after lunch, the students went to class led by Professor Ronaldo himself. They are now gathering in, choosing their seats, putting away their belongings, and sat down in good behavior as their Pokémon are playing with each other.

"I think the first lesson is what is a Pokémon," Rico thought about the first lesson positively. A bit later, Professor Ronaldo finally came in with a few books and papers of his work as a teacher, and greeted the students good afternoon.

"Good afternoon, Professor," the students greeted him back.

"Sorry about the strange schedule for today," apologized Ronaldo about their day as he put his stuff down on his desk. "You see, our concept is that training and learning can be combined into one day of school. So, some training and battle this morning, and we can have classes if we still have time before lunchtime, or, if the battles are getting longer, we can readjust it to after lunch. For the exams, we can shorten our morning battles and no battles in the afternoon as well." This delights the kids a lot.

"And finally, after normal classes, we'll have some recess time and short battles and trainings by before 4:00 p.m.," Ronaldo continued on. He then catches his breath, took a deep breath, and continued, "And, our lesson for today is about Pokémon and What it is."

Later on that afternoon, Ronaldo was teaching the kids about Pokémon and what it is as he drew sketches and wrote their names, as well as types and abilities. Listening to him very attentively, the kids are really interested by it, but some are just positive to it, as if they had already learned about it from previous experiences.

"Wow, he's so positive on teaching," Isaiah commented in mind. All this time, they forgot about Ash, who was doing his stuff like training and having fun. But this new phase in his life comes with an issue for Rico's daily routine: It will change his daily training with his Pokémon, which is twice a day. But, will he figure out how to adjust his routine to school days?

By 3:00 p.m., the class's over and the kids are running outside to play in the playground with their Pokémon. Some are on the slide; some playing in the swings, while others are on seesaws. But others are simply playing with their Pokémon, sometimes with toys on hand. For Rico, he was playing with Shinx and Starly at one side of the playground, while Isaiah and Catherine are on a seesaw riding and playing. It was a fun recess time.

Later by 3:32 p.m., the afternoon battles had began, with Catherine battling against a Pokémon Trainer with a Dewgong.

"Dewgong, use Ice Beam!" the Trainer, who was a female, commanded Dewgong. Dewgong then used Ice Beam, striking Sceptile with an icy beam of energy.

"Quickly, Sceptile, dodge it and use Solar Beam!" Catherine quickly and seriously commanded Sceptile. Sceptile then dodged Dewgong's attack and used Solar Beam, absorbing sunlight and then fire it as a beam towards Dewgong, striking it effectively but not too effective due to Dewgong being an Ice-type. This stuns the Pokémon Trainer a lot, and Dewgong only felt a mild-to-medium pain.

"What? Not effective?" Catharine commented in surprise. She then checked in her Pokédex about Dewgong; her Pokédex then responded, "Dewgong, the Sea Lion Pokémon, and the final evolved form of Seel. A Water and Ice-type. In snow, the pure white coat covering its body obscures it from predators."

"Oh, it's an Ice-type," Catherine commented, "an advantage against Grass-type. I understand now." She then put her Pokédex back to her skirt pocket and focused back to her battle.

"Now you know what type my Pokémon is?" the female Trainer asked her in style. Rico, watching this battle, commented in mind, "Wow, she's stylish and high in winning."

"Even it's an advantage, I'm still winning," Catherine retorted back seriously. Then to her Sceptile in commanding, "Sceptile, quickly, use Rock Smash!" Sceptile then charged towards Dewgong and used Rock Smash, attacking it with a punch that can shatter a rock, striking it with power. Dewgong was severely weakened to the ground in pain, shocking its Trainer.

"Wow, sis, Rock Smash is so effective against Ice-type," Isaiah positively noted.

"I noticed that when I battle against Red Eye," Rico added to Isaiah in nostalgic hint.

"Really?" replied Isaiah back positively. "That's cool that you noticed it." Back at the battle, Catherine quickly commanded Sceptile, "Quickly, use Rock Smash, again!" Sceptile then used Rock Smash again, attacking Dewgong with a punch that can shatter a rock, striking it further with power. This shocks Dewgong's Trainer a lot, and this time, Dewgong was defeated, fainting in defeat.

"Dewgong is unable to battle," the school referee announced, "Sceptile wins." Smiling at her defeated opponent, Catherine said with style, "How's that smashing you?" Surprised and shocked by this in the same time, Rico thought in mind, "Ooh, that burns a lot." Luckily the female Trainer didn't do something harshly in contempt and just called her Pokémon back. She then said to Catherine positively, "That was an intense battle we had. That's alright, I know a girl like you can be strong as the boys one."

"Thank you," Catherine replied back calmly and peacefully. "I hoped you'll train more and we will have a battle someday." Her Sceptile then responded with seriousness, concluding the end of their battle.

Later by 4:00 p.m., the students and their Pokémon are now going home, both excited and exhausted from their first day of school. Some running in excitement, while others walk calmly and with conversations with one another.

"I can't believe today's such a hard day!" Rico commented in exhaustion.

"Yeah, you could say that again," Isaiah replied back. "It's alright, I did my best."

"Yeah, but worth it," replied Catherine happily. While walking home, Rico figured out in his mind about his afternoon training: He'll be training his remaining Pokémon as one of his top priorities. It will work, with a right mindset.