“You’re so full of shit,” Jon immediately said. While Darius and Thomas stood there frozen, mouths agape. “It has to be empty! There's no way that you've already caught a Pokémon!”

“I’d pull her out here if I could but I’m not about to get expelled,” Aubrey was wearing the biggest grin that Thomas had ever seen. “I’m sure our first battle is coming up though so you’ll get to see her soon enough.”

“What is she?” Darius asked excitedly. “You have to tell us.”

She smiled up at them. “I don’t have to tell y’all shit. Whichever one of you three losers has to fight me first with some bum rental Pokémon is going to get their ass beat. I’ve been dreaming about my first battle against one of you three idiots every night since I caught her.”

“You can’t just drop this news on us and not tell us what you caught!” Jon was practically yelling. “What is wrong with your head?”

“I really, REALLY, hope that you’re the first one who has to fight me, Jonathan.” Her smile looked absolutely terrifying. “In fact, I planned to ask the professor after school today if I could request to make you my first fight.”

“You’re an absolute psychopath,” Jonathan whined. He sat down next to Aubrey and put his head in his hands. He looked truly broken in that moment; a man who knew he had no hope left.

Aubrey laughed and put her arm around his shoulders. “Try not to stress about it too hard Jon. I’m only going to demolish you in front of a quarter of the school.”

Thomas put his hand on Darius’ shoulder - they shared a look with one another that said they would never cross Aubrey again.

“Tell us how you caught her,” Thomas asked eagerly as he turned to face Aubrey. “What was it like? Where were you?”

An expression that Thomas didn't recognize passed across Aubrey's face but before she could answer, the door at the bottom of the amphitheater burst open revealing two imposing adults in white lab coats. Every student took their seat quickly and all of the talking died down as the two professors strode across the stage to stand at the front of the amphitheater.

“I’ll tell you guys how I caught her once we go to lunch,” Aubrey whispered to the three of them.

Thomas sat down on the other side of Jonathan and put his arm around him.

“It was nice knowing you bud,” he whispered to Jon.

The woman in the white lab coat took her place at center stage and began to address the class with a small smirk on her face. “Good morning everyone, it is a pleasure to meet you all. My name is Professor Hemlock and this is Professor Larkspur. The both of us are in charge of educating fourth year students. This will be my 5th year working at this institution, while it is Professor Larkspur’s 19th year. We encourage you to seek us out if you need any help or if you have any questions.”

Professor Hemlock was a very short woman who appeared to be in her early thirties. She had shoulder length reddish-purple hair and thick framed glasses.

Professor Larkspur was of average height but he was the scariest looking person Thomas had ever seen. He had a completely shaved head and thick set eyebrows. His arms were the size of professor Hemlock’s thighs and he wore no shirt underneath his lab coat. There was a massive scar that bisected him from his right eyebrow all the way down to the left side of his stomach. His right eye was milky white.

Professor Hemlock continued, “Now before we delve into the details of the class, we have a new student that needs introducing. We are, of course, well aware of the peculiarity of this situation; very rarely does our institution accept new students who do not begin their first year with us. However, due to some unforeseen circumstances that are, quite frankly, none of your business, this student finds herself in an untenable situation.”

“Welcome our new transfer student,” Professor Hemlock chirped. “We will allow her a moment to introduce herself.”

The side door opened once more and to Thomas’ surprise, in strode the blue-haired girl from Goldenrod Gym. Thomas couldn’t believe his eyes, his heartbeat immediately accelerated as it had two days ago and he felt a lurching sensation in the pit of his stomach. He thought back to the last words that the girl had said to him.

“I’ll see you both really soon,” she had told Thomas and his sister.

So she was a transfer student, Thomas mused, I wonder where she came from. His stomach filled with butterflies knowing he was going to get to spend the next...

“Thomas,” he heard Aubrey hiss from a seat over. “Why the hell are you standing up?”

He looked around and saw that every student in the amphitheater was staring at him, the professors and the blue-haired girl as well.

“Is there something you feel the need to share with us? Mr. ...?” Professor Hemlock trailed off, trying unsuccessfully to hide the smirk that was breaking across her face.

“Hartford.” He cleared his throat. “No ma’am, I apologize for interrupting.”

He quickly sat down, slumping into his chair while burying his face in his hands. This was easily ten times as embarrassing as how he had felt at the Goldenrod Gym.

Jonathan put his arm over Thomas’ shoulders. “It was nice knowing you bud,” he whispered with an idiotic smile on his face.

“Fuck you,” Thomas laughed back despite himself.

“Well as I was saying,” Professor Hemlock continued, gesturing to the girl. “Please introduce yourself to your new classmates.”

“Hello everyone, it’s nice to meet you all.” The girl said. “My name is Vanessa Anderson. Feel free to call me Nessa.”

“I come from a region called Galar. It’s an island up north where it gets extremely cold in the winter.”

Her smile was radiant.

“I am looking forward to working with each of you and I hope to get along with everyone. Thank you.”

She gave a small bow as Professor Hemlock cleared her throat.

“Thank you for introducing yourself to the class Ms. Anderson,” Professor Hemlock said. “Now if you would please take a seat somewhere so that we can get started, there are plenty of empty chairs in the front row here.”

“If I may Professor?” Nessa asked, Professor Hemlock raising her eyebrows in surprise at the unexpected rebuttal. “There is actually another open chair I think I see next to Tommy.”

"Next to Tommy..." Professor Hemlock frowned.

Nessa pointed towards where Thomas was sitting. He felt his face heat up and he swore that he could feel the stare of every person in the auditorium piercing his very soul at that exact moment. He looked straight ahead and did nothing, trying to be as still as possible.

Professor Hemlock hid her mouth behind her hand.

“Of course. I think I see the chair in question,” she said, nodding her head up and down. “Off you go then.”

Nessa walked up the stairs seemingly oblivious to the fact that the eyes of every living being in the room were on her right now. Well everyone except for Thomas; he still looked straight ahead, trying to ignore everything that was happening around him.

Nessa stopped at the end of the row and cleared her throat.

“Excuse me,” she asked, grinning from ear to ear. “Are you saving this seat for anyone?”

Thomas turned to face her and looked up into her blue eyes. He didn’t trust himself to speak so he simply shook his head from side to side like an idiot and gestured to the empty seat.

Nessa giggled and sat down next to him. “Thank you.”

He hesitated but then looked to his right to see his 3 friends all staring at him, massive grins splayed across each of their faces.

“Tommy?” He saw Darius mouth silently, while Jon and Aubrey were covering their mouths trying to hold in their laughter.

Thomas winced, rubbing his hands across his face. I’m never living this down. He wanted to cry.

Professor Hemlock cleared her throat once again at the front of the room.

“Well, now that we’ve all been properly introduced to one another, let's discuss the expectations for this course,” she said.

Without pausing she continued on with her spiel. “The course is split into two parts. The first part will be a theoretical and simulated course on proper battle technique. The second part of the course will be actual battle practice.”

“Upon successful completion of this course you will be awarded an apprenticeship,” she continued. “Unfortunately as I am sure you have no doubt guessed by now, there are not enough apprenticeships for each of you. In fact, out of the 323 students here, only fifteen of you will become apprentices and receive a sponsor. That means that as the school year progresses the vast majority of you will be ‘expelled.’”

A wave of nervous shuffling rippled around the amphitheater when Professor Hemlock finished her last sentence.

“So in other words, 95 percent of us just wasted three years of our life?” Someone from further in the back shouted. “Is that what you’re telling all of us?”

Professor Hemlock shook her head. “I understand many of you will be frustrated and if you choose to see things that way, then so be it. However, I hope you’ve learned a lot these past three years. I’m sure each of you will walk away with something, even if it is not an apprenticeship.”

She continued on unperturbed. “Upon your expulsion from this course you will receive a 3-year diploma which is still highly sought after by many employers and can help you secure plenty of respectable jobs; lower level laboratory positions with a Pokémon Professor or an aide position with a Pokémon breeder are a few such examples - but of course there are many other opportunities out there for each of you.”

“Additionally, it is technically still possible to challenge the Johto League Gym Circuit without an apprenticeship and work your way to the Indigo Plateau if that is indeed your dream; just know that it is astronomically harder to do this without a gym sponsor and apprenticeship. Without either of these things you will be forced to fight through a slew of gym trainers before you earn the right to challenge a gym leader, some of those trainers may even be your peers sitting in here right now. With an apprenticeship you can issue a gym challenge directly to any gym leader.”

“Now I would like to speak some on my portion of the course,” she said. “As I’m sure you’ve guessed, I will be teaching the battle theory portion of the course.”

“Each morning you will arrive at this amphitheater by no later than 9:30 am. We will start our day by holding a discussion and lecture on proper fighting methodology as well as various techniques that can be applied in battle; you will learn about every known Pokémon technique currently in existence. There will be a written exam every Monday morning at 9:30am when you arrive, the lowest scoring student will be expelled. If you are late to class any day of the week by even a single minute I will expel you from the course. This is your only warning.”

She looked around the room seriously. “By the end of the course we will be left with the 15 strongest students.”

“I will now turn things over to my colleague, Professor Larkspur.” She told everyone as she ceded the stage to the other professor. “He will speak a few words on the practical portion of the course.”

Thomas heard Darius mutter from a few chairs down, “And I thought that Professor Larkspur was going to be the scarier of the two.”

“Good morning students,” Professor Larkspur rumbled. His voice was deep and gravelly; it reverberated around the entire amphitheater, causing Thomas' chest to vibrate. “For the battle portion of this class, it is encouraged that you capture at least one Pokémon you can train and call your own as early as possible. The more quickly you capture your own Pokémon, the better, as you will be able to form a trusting bond with your partner sooner than your peers who are not able to catch their own Pokémon. For those of you currently without any Pokémon, the school has rentals that you may use in battle.”

“The last weekend of each month will be spent in the field, surviving harsh conditions and traversing various portions of the Johto region. During any of these expeditions, those of you without your own Pokémon may select one, and only one, rental Pokémon to bring with you on the excursion. If you have personally caught any Pokémon of your own, you may bring up to three of them into a field experience.”

“I will personally expel the ten worst performing students at the end of every excursion upon returning to Goldenrod. Do not bother to ask me what my criteria are for expulsions; I will not tell you.”

“The rankings themselves will be public information and will be displayed in the main lobby of the campus stadium at all times. They will be updated automatically after the conclusion of every battle.”

“This course will be rigorous and will test everything you have learned since you first enrolled in the academy. You are free to drop out of this course at any time you choose and go to collect your 3-year diploma. I will also point out that either myself or Professor Hemlock may expel you at any time we wish, if we deem you unfit.”

Professor Larkspur ran his hand across the top of his shaved head and sighed, “If you are one of the select few students that are able to last until the end of the year, then your final graduation excursion will be a trip that will span a week in length.”

A somber smile emerged on his face as he paused for a moment, allowing his eyes to roam around the room. “Anyone who has not personally caught at least one Pokémon by this point will be expelled.”

“The graduation exercise will be the hardest thing you’ve ever faced. I will tell you up front that there is a slim possibility some of you may not make it back from the excursion alive,” he intoned.

The amphitheater was so quiet Thomas thought he had gone deaf for a moment.

“Can you tell us where the final excursion will be held?” Asked a boy sitting in the front row. He had whispered his question to the professor but since the amphitheater had gone so quiet, Thomas heard the boy's question clearly even though he was on the other side of the room.

Professor Larkspur’s smile grew, the vicious scar across his face twisting as his one working eye glassed over. He took a moment for himself before answering, reminiscing about something that no one else in the room was privy to.

“Mount Silver.”