“Are you insane?”

“How the hell is this allowed?”

“I’m writing to the league!”

The amphitheater erupted into a chorus of shouts and yells. Thomas covered his ears because of the echo.

The two professors remained unmoving on the stage; Professor Larkspur stood resolute, his arms folded across his chest and his face an unreadable mask. Professor Hemlock had her hands clasped behind her back and was wearing a small smirk on her face.

Nessa leaned over to whisper in Thomas’ ear. “What is Mount Silver?”

“I don’t know,” Thomas told her and shook his head. He tried unsuccessfully not to blush and hoped that Nessa didn't notice his face. He felt like an idiot in front of her for not knowing enough about his own homeland. “I’m sorry. I was raised here in Goldenrod on our family’s ranch and my parents don’t speak much about the rest of Johto.”

“It isn’t a big deal, don’t worry about it,” she smiled brightly at him; his heart began to race furiously again.

Okay, seriously? This is going to be a problem, he sighed under his breath.

As the noisy minutes of yelling and shouting started to eventually quiet down, Nessa took the opportunity to raise her hand and repeat her question to the professors.

“Professors? I apologize, but I’m not familiar with Mount Silver. What is it?” She asked eagerly.

Professor Hemlock cleared her throat and addressed Nessa. “Mount Silver is an extremely dangerous mountain located near the Indigo Plateau. Many of the strongest recorded wild Pokémon in existence call Mount Silver their home. The weather and climate are extremely volatile and the summit of Mount Silver is always snow-capped. Multiple blizzards occur each year, sometimes even in the summer.”

She continued on, as if she were reading an entry from an encyclopedia, “Usually, to enter either Mount Silver or its accompanying regions one must have 16 gym badges; all 8 from both the Kanto and the Johto regions. The total number of recorded people who have successfully summited Mount Silver could be counted on your fingers.”

“Comparing Mount Silver and its outlying regions to the Crown Tundra from your homeland would be an accurate comparison, Ms. Anderson.” Professor Larkspur added seriously.

Some of the color drained from Nessa’s face. “I-I understand. Thank you,” she stammered, no trace of the previous eagerness remaining in her voice.

Professor Hemlock walked back to the center of the stage.

“You may write to the League if you wish students, nothing will change,” she said while shaking her head. “This graduation exercise has been a tradition since long before any of you or even your parents were born, and it will continue long after you die.”

“Now to address some of the concerns and help assuage some of your fears. We will inform you that you will not be asked to step foot on the mountain itself; in fact, if you do go onto the mountain, your death is all but assured.” She said this so matter-of-factly Thomas believed her.

“There will also be multiple professors and alumni there to oversee the excursion as well as one of the three currently living people who has successfully summited the mountain,” she told them. “There will be certain safeties in place and we will do our utmost to ensure that everyone is successful and returns from the trip.”

“With that said,” she continued “I will be blunt and state that it is possible someone may die. It does not happen often, but it has happened before.”

“My final words of encouragement are meant to be bittersweet,” Professor Hemlock told them.

“Speaking frankly, many of you will not even reach that final stage, this is a fact. If you are comforted by this truth, by the fact that you won’t have to face something so incredibly dangerous, then I ask that you look deep inside yourself and decide if this is the place that you are meant to be.” She exhaled. “If you wish to remain in this class, look inward and find your courage.”

Professor Hemlock clapped her hands causing half the students in the amphitheater to jump in their seats.

“It is now 10:30. Our class would normally dismiss at 12:00, noon, for lunch but I am going to let everyone out early as it is the first day. Before you go there is a blank slip of paper on the table in front of you. I would ask that you write one thing on that paper that you hope the future holds for you. You may leave it anonymous if you wish and place it in this box on your way out,” she said gesturing to a small box by the classroom door.

“Professor Larkspur’s class will begin at 1pm in the stadium so be sure that you are on time,” she continued.

“If you arrive to class later than 9:30 tomorrow morning, please don’t bother showing up. Collect your 3-year diploma from the front office and then go home.”

“Speak with either of the two of us individually on your way out if you have any concerns,” she smiled. “I hope to see everyone back tomorrow.”

Thomas turned to look at Nessa and then his friends and was relieved to see that each of them looked just as shellder-shocked as he did. He pointed towards the exit and they all quickly wrote something on their papers and deposited them into the box on their way out.

As they emerged from the amphitheater, Jon stretched his arms out and exclaimed, “No wonder no one will ever tell us anything about our fourth year! Anyone who knew all of that information prior to this year and still registered for this course would be a raving lunatic!”

“Shut your mouth Jon, that’s not important right now. ‘Tommy...’,” Aubrey said while straining hard to hold back her laughter. She was clutching Darius’ arm for support and gestured at Nessa. “Would you care to tell us who this is, ‘Tommy’?”

All three of them started laughing so hard they collapsed to the ground.

With friends like these..., he thought, shaking his head.

After a solid half minute of laughter Jon, Darius, and Aubrey finally settled down and stood back up.

“This is Nessa?” Thomas said, a goofy grin on his face.

“Har-de-har, you’re hilarious Tommy,” Darius said, rolling his eyes. “How do you know her?”

Thomas looked over at Nessa who smiled at him encouragingly. He smiled back and proceeded to tell his ‘friends’ about his experience on Saturday.

“What the hell dude!” Jon said, frowning. “You went to the gym match and you didn’t even bother telling me? I would have left work right on the spot to go with you. Who cares if I get fired, working the cash register sucks anyway.”

“I’m sorry man,” Thomas said. “You’re right I should have told you I was going. If it makes you feel any better though I left early so I didn’t get to see Agatha fight anyway.”

“Yeah a little bit...” Jon grumbled. “Still, would have been nice if I could have gone too. I could have sat next to the hot chick once you left...”

Aubrey punched him in the arm. “Don’t be an ass Jon, he said he was sorry. Plus the new girl doesn’t know you’re a moron yet so try to appear somewhat normal?”

He stuck his finger up his nose.

“Well, I guess proper introductions are in order?” Thomas said. He pointed to each of his friends in turn. “Nessa, this is Aubrey, Darius, and Jonathan; guys this is Nessa. Darius is the nicest guy in the school, make sure you don’t get on Aubrey’s bad side, and Jon is an idiot.”

“Nice to meet you,” they all told her.

“It’s nice to meet everyone too. I’m glad I got to make friends on my first day,” she smiled. She clasped forearms with each of them.

Nessa turned towards Thomas, “Also, I’m sorry I called you Tommy in front of the class. I was under the impression you went by Tommy since your sister introduced you as such. I should have realized, it was her nickname for you.”

“Though now that I think about it..." She trailed off. "Didn’t you introduce yourself to me as Tommy when we were in the gym?”

He blushed. “Sorry I was a little bit flustered since it was my first gym battle. Nerves, you know?”

She nodded her head and smiled. “Sure. Sorry again. I can call you Thomas if you prefer?”

He looked over at his friends who were all on the verge of collapsing into fits of laughter again.

“I think the damage is done,” he sighed. “Hopefully I get used to it...”

“Don’t worry Tommy, you’ll be used to it in no time,” Darius laughed.

Yeah Tommy, every time we say Tommy in a sentence from now on, Tommy, we’ll say Tommy at least 3 times, okay Tommy?” Jon said.

“Sorry,” Nessa giggled.

“No harm done,” Tommy tried his best to reassure her.

“Nessa, don’t apologize for giving us the greatest gift we’ve ever received,” said Aubrey. She wrapped the girl in a big hug. “This is the start of a beautiful friendship between us.”

Tommy shook his head, “I’ll be Tommy from now on until forever won’t I?”

“Yeah, Tommy. You’re Tommy forever now. Tommy,” Jon laughed.

“Well, now what?” Aubrey asked, “It’s only 11 so we have two hours to kill before Larkspur’s class. Do you guys want to go eat early?”

Tommy shook his head. “I told my sister I would eat lunch with her since it’s her first day. I need to wait until 12 for the first years to get out of class.”

“It’s Tori’s first day?” Nessa asked him. “I’m excited to meet her again!”

“Yeah, her first day,” Tommy smiled at her. He shifted nervously from foot to foot. “I hope she was able to make some friends.”

“I’m sure she did,” Jon said reassuringly. “She seemed like a sweet kid when we ran into each other on Saturday.”

“We could go to the rec center?” Darius suggested.

“Was your uncle a Gurdurr or something bro?” Jon teased. “If you spend any more time there then you may as well just move in.”

“Let’s go check out the greenhouse,” Aubrey suggested. “That building was locked to us our first three years.”

Everyone agreed so they spent the next hour walking around the greenhouse making small talk and trying to make Nessa feel comfortable. Inside the greenhouse, they found a berry garden as well as some apricorns. There was also another building attached to the side of the greenhouse that ended up being a laboratory and kitchenette where students could create their own Pokéblocks. Tommy was itching to try his hands in the kitchen but he didn’t know if he could just pick whatever berries he wanted; he didn’t see any aides or assistants around that he could talk to either.

After an hour had passed, their group headed over to the first year building so Tommy could pick up his sister. When Tori came out of the building, she saw Tommy and ran up to him, wrapping him in a big hug. He introduced her to his friends and when she saw Nessa again Tori gave her a hug as well.

“Are you ready to go eat, sis?” Tommy asked. “We’ve been waiting for you.”

“Actually I’m going to eat with my friends over there,” she said, pointing to a boy and girl who were standing awkwardly by the statue of Typhlosion and Feraligatr. “Sorry! See you after school!”

She took off running to meet up with her friends before Tommy even had the chance to say anything in response.

“Uh... yeah... See you after school then,” he muttered under his breath.

“Re-Jected” Jon singsonged in an obnoxious tone.

“Well, sorry that I wasted everyone’s time,” Tommy apologized. “We could have eaten an hour ago after all.”

“No problem,” Darius grinned. “Let’s go over to the cafeteria though. I’m absolutely starved.”

“Yeah, and then Aubrey can regale us with her grand adventure of her first Pokémon capture,” Jonathan said, grin splayed wide across his face. “Don’t think I forgot about it Aubrey.”

She frowned at him. “Fine, you’ll get your story. I’m still not telling you guys what she is though. I want it to be a surprise until my first battle in case I have to fight one of you idiots.”

Jon was about to say something back when Aubrey smacked her palm on her forehead.

“Shit! I forgot to talk to Professor Larkspur before we left class!” Aubrey said. She looked so crestfallen.

“Thank goodness for that,” muttered Jon, low enough so that only Tommy could hear him. “Maybe that maniac will get paired up with someone else in the class for her first battle.”

“Hey, we’ll see Larkspur after lunch Aubrey,” Tommy said to her. “You can ask him then.”

“Tommy, Tommy, Tommy... You’re a fucking dead man Tommy!” Jonathan said as he tackled Tommy into the grass. They started wrestling and rolling around everywhere.

“Uh, should we do something?” Nessa asked. She seemed mildly concerned.

“Nah, they’re both morons,” Aubrey said. She was ignoring the scrum completely and was pulling Nessa’s hand, leading her into the direction of the cafeteria. “Let’s go eat.”

“I’ll stay with them and break it up,” Darius laughed. He rubbed his hands excitedly as he looked down at Tommy and Jon grappling in the dirt. “You two go find a table.”

“See you in a minute,” Aubrey sighed.

The two girls entered the cafeteria and found a table to sit at with no problem. Jon, Darius, and Tommy joined them with their food a couple minutes later, clothes disheveled and hair in a mess. Darius had enough food on his plate to feed 3 people.

“You joined in, didn’t you Darius,” Aubrey laughed and shook her head.

“Are you all okay?” Nessa asked them, genuine concern in her voice.

Jon flashed her a smile that was full of dirt.

“Don’t waste your time worrying about any of these three fools, Nessa,” Aubrey told her. “Just stick with me.”

“Well let’s hear the story then,” Jon said, waving his hand at her. “Out with it.”

“It wasn’t really anything spectacular?” Aubrey shrugged. “My dad and I were just out walking and we stumbled upon her. He let me borrow his Pokémon so I could fight and capture her.”

“Booooo, worst story ever!” Jon said, holding his thumbs down. “I demand to be entertained!”

Aubrey glared daggers at him. “It was 10:37 am on Thursday, June 21st and I had just finished eating 2 eggs and a piece of toast for breakfast...”

Jon leaned onto the back two legs of his chair and closed his eyes. He started nodding his head up and down, “It’s like I’m there with you. I can see it perfectly. What color was your underwear that day?”

Darius laughed so hard food came out of his nose.

Aubrey kicked Jonathan’s chair from under the table knocking him backwards to the ground. “Dumbass...” she smiled.

Jon got up grinning and fixed his chair. “I can’t help myself. She’s gonna murder me anyway in our first battle so I gotta poke the bear while I can.”

Aubrey closed her eyes and smiled. “I’m looking forward to it more than I ever thought possible.”

They finished their lunch and waved goodbye to Tori and her new friends.

It was time to head to the stadium.