Tommy walked back across the darkened campus to the dorm where he would be staying from now on. He slid his ID card into the electronic lock and the door opened noiselessly, allowing him access to its interior. He heard the television going in the front room and he poked his head inside to see Spencer spread out on the couch watching a battle on the television. Harper and Max were each sitting in armchairs watching the battle as well but neither of them was moving a muscle nor speaking. Tommy smiled as Spencer cheered and groaned, trying to goad the other two to show any sort of reaction all the while failing spectacularly.

He continued on, passing the library where Krista was already studying, and walked into the kitchen where Zach and Melanie were seated at the table speaking with one another. Zach waved Tommy over so he went and sat down at the table across from the two chaperones.

“How were the goodbyes?” Zach asked.

“Tougher than I thought,” Tommy smiled sadly. “I’d rather fight Team Rocket anyday.”

Zach laughed. “You’ll get your wish soon enough. Professor Larkspur and some of the other higher-ups are tracking their movements, keeping a close eye on them. They've gone quiet for now but I dare say that it won’t last.”

“Is it wise to share this information Zach?” Melanie said. “They are only kids after all. They won’t be able to fight until they graduate.”

“Aren’t you only a year older than us?” Tommy asked Melanie.

She smiled at him a bit condescendingly, “Yes, but I’m an adult and you aren’t; I’m 16. Besides, I’m stronger than all of you and I wasn’t the one who ran away from Team Rocket, was I?”

“Well you weren’t stabbed in the back by your best friend were you? Betrayed by someone you considered a sister?” Tommy snapped back. He could feel heat rising in his face. “You weren’t shot through the leg by an arrow were you?”

Melanie regarded him calmly as she drew a dagger from somewhere inside of her shirt. “I wouldn’t have been hit by an arrow in the first place. You can be sure of that.”

Tommy opened his mouth to retort again but Zach stood up and cleared his throat. “I think that’s enough now, you hear?”

Tommy glared at Melanie who just smiled sweetly, twirling the dagger deftly between her long spindly fingers. She slipped the dagger back inside of her shirt, “Of course Zach. Whatever you say.”

Zach sat back down and let out an exhale.

“Does your boss not care that you’re here?” Tommy asked Zach, a bit more harshly than he had intended to. “I’ve been wondering about that for a while now, how you can be spared from work so often.”

“The school knows that Zach is here, Tommy.” Melanie laughed. “What are you talking about?”

“My employer has many employees, you understand Tommy?” Zach said shortly. “And that is all I will say on the matter.”

He looked at Zach, then Melanie, and back again. He nodded and excused himself from the table, heading upstairs to check out his room and see if his luggage had been delivered. His three suitcases were on his bed and he started unpacking them, putting his clothes away in the dresser. He grabbed his hiking backpack and opened it, withdrawing the Pokémon egg and clutching it close to his chest as he collapsed onto his bed. The egg reminded him of the ranch and his sister who he already missed dearly.

“Tommy!” Spencer walked into his dorm room with a big grin on his face. “You didn’t say hello when you came in! Whoa, is that a Pokémon egg?”

“Yeah, I have no clue what it will hatch into though,” he passed it over to Spencer who accepted it gingerly. “Sorry about not saying hey either, I got into a bit of an argument with Melanie already.”

Spencer began to rub the egg, holding it up and examining it carefully. “She’s a bit of a wild card isn’t she? She must have a lot of surprises to be selected as a chaperone so young.”

“Yeah, she must be strong.” Tommy agreed. He was worried now that he might have already put his foot in his mouth.

“Hey,” Melanie strode into Tommy’s room and looked over at Spencer. “Leave us.”

The boy looked between the two of them and then handed Tommy his egg back. “I’ll be down in the game room when you’re done.”

Tommy nodded and Spencer left his room; Melanie closed the door behind him and then sat in his desk chair. A minute passed and still she said nothing, she just stared at him unblinkingly while spinning back and forth in his desk chair. He started to feel uncomfortable as she continued to stare at him in silence until eventually he couldn’t take it anymore and spoke up. “Was there something that you needed from me Melanie?”

She broke eye contact finally and leaned back in his chair, smiling to herself as if she had just achieved some great victory. “Nope. Just wanted to apologize about the things that I said earlier. It wasn’t very becoming of your teacher. Sorry!”

Is this girl crazy? Tommy thought. He wondered why she hadn’t just come out and said that when she walked in.

“Let me see the egg,” Melanie said, extending her hand.

He passed it over to her and she gazed intently down at it. “How did you get it? Tell me the story.”

“Why?” Tommy asked suspiciously. “We’ve never spoken before. What’s your sudden interest with me?”

She shrugged. “I’m bored and you seem interesting? You seem to be the center of whatever this whole fiasco is? Take your pick. I heard the story from Professor Larkspur and the principal. Hell, even Zach told me that some crazy shit happened when you went on your first excursion with him. I wish that I could have been your chaperone instead, you sound fun.”

“Fun?” He managed to spit out as civilly as possible. “There was nothing fun about any of the horrible things that happened to me or those students.”

Melanie shrugged her shoulders and asked again. “So are you going to tell me the story or not?”

The door opened at that moment and Nessa did a double take. “Oh, Melanie. Sorry, was I interrupting something?”

“Nope!” She smiled cheerily. She stood and handed the egg back to Tommy then walked out of his room. “Good to see you again Nessa!”

“What was that all about?” Nessa asked him as she watched Melanie head down the staircase. She walked into his room and sat herself down in the desk chair that Melanie just vacated.

“Honestly, no clue. She seems like she’s not right in the head,” He frowned at the empty doorway. “But hey, how was it saying goodbye to your family?”

“My mom will make it through,” Nessa told him. “I went to a summer camp before back in Galar that ended up turning into an entire year away from home basically. So it’s nothing she hasn’t been through before.”

He nodded his head while she spoke. “And what about your dad? Did you get to say goodbye to him too? He wasn’t there last time I came over.”

“I said goodbye to my father a long time ago,” Nessa said curtly and she promptly stood from his desk chair. “But I’m tired and I know you’re probably tired and want to sleep.”

“Oh, yeah. I actually am a bit tired,” He told her as he awkwardly stood. He immediately realized that he had somehow put his foot in his mouth for the second time that night.

“Well, good night then,” Nessa said as she turned to leave.

“I’m going to get up at 5 to cook breakfast in the morning, so join me yeah?” He blurted out before she could leave. “I want to hear all about your excursion if we have time in the morning and whatever happened between you and Team Rocket.”

“Okay,” Nessa smiled. This time she did leave and Tommy bid her goodnight, collapsing onto his bed and drifting off to sleep.

Tommy’s nerves kept him from sleeping well that night, he tossed and turned a lot and drifted in and out of sleep. He was anxious and excited to get started with his new training, but at the same time he was worried about how far behind everyone else he was. At a quarter to five, he decided to get up and go downstairs; he didn’t want to lie in his bed anymore.

“I expected to be the first one up,” He said. He walked into the kitchen and saw Zach seated at the table reading a newspaper, munching on some toast. Jon was there too but he had his eyes closed and head down on the table.

“Couldn’t sleep,” Jon muttered, not opening his eyes or lifting up his head. “I feel so tired.”

“Want some breakfast?” Tommy asked as he rifled through the cabinets looking for pots and pans. “We need to eat before strength training this morning.”

“You’re gonna cook for me? Bless you O friend of friends!” Jon said as he raised his head off the table and regarded Tommy with newfound hope in his eyes.

Tommy shrugged. “Yeah, sure. Why not? I’m cooking for myself anyway. Not that much more difficult to throw a few more eggs in the pan.”

“Careful now,” Zach smiled around his paper. “They might put you in charge of all of the cooking, are you sure you want to do that?”

“Yeah I don’t mind,” Tommy smiled back. He threw sausage and bacon in a pan and then started looking around the pantry, seeing what else he could find. “As long as someone else does the dishes. I’m not cooking and doing the dishes.”

“Hell yes,” Spencer said, walking into the kitchen. “I’ve been waiting to eat your cooking again ever since our expedition. Everyone will take turns doing the dishes as long as you cook.”

“I’m just making eggs and bacon,” Tommy laughed. He found some potatoes and sweet potatoes in the pantry and started to peel them. “You guys all act like you’ve never cooked in your life.”

“I haven’t,” Jon said. “Mom always cooked for me.”

“I can cook a bit,” Spencer sat down at the bar top and was watching Tommy cube the potatoes now that he had them peeled. “I don’t enjoy it much. Hunting is way more fun.”

“Morning,” Nessa walked into the kitchen rubbing her eyes. She walked over to where Tommy was cooking. “Do you need help?”

“Sure, you want to flip the meat for me?” Tommy pointed at the sausage and bacon.

Nessa watched the meat while Tommy threw the potatoes in a pan with some oil and let them fry. His restless night was already out of his mind and he wondered to himself how his first day back would play out while he and Nessa cooked side by side. He began to pass dirty dishes to Spencer who was true to his word and began to clean up. It felt weird living with all of his friends; well almost all of them.

Aubrey wasn’t his friend anymore, he still couldn’t believe everything that she did, and according to Jon, Darius was also working for Team Rocket. He was still waiting to hear the full story.

Everyone else was awake by the time the food was done and Tommy and his friends wasted no time shoveling anything and everything into their mouths so they would have energy for the day. Once everyone finished eating, most people went back upstairs to change for their upcoming workout and Zach said he was going to head over to the rec center and to not be late. Melanie wished everyone well, told them to not be too tired for her session this afternoon and then went upstairs to go back to bed.

At 6 o’clock everyone had assembled in the rec center and it was time to start the first day back. Zach started everyone out running on a treadmill, and it quickly became apparent who was in shape and who wasn’t. Unfortunately for Tommy, he was one of the people who wasn’t in shape. He, Ashley, Krista, and Jon were run ragged.

After running Zach made everyone swim, bike, and jump rope. Tommy and the other out of shape students couldn’t touch any weights until Zach deemed them fit enough, so the only other thing he allowed them to do were calisthenics.

All in all, Tommy lasted a little over an hour, with Jon lasting a bit longer and Krista and Ashley lasting less.

Max, Spencer, Nessa, and Harper may as well have been machines though. The four of them were able to condition for almost the entire two hour period and Tommy could only shake his head as he watched Harper exercise. She was easily lifting more weight than Max and she was doing almost as much as Spencer. She was working out in leggings and a sports bra and her arms and stomach were absolutely shredded.

After the two hour session finally ended, Zach gave everyone a few minutes to go use the restroom. When everyone was done, the eight of them gathered around and listened to him talk for the next two hours. It was quickly evident that he was just as knowledgeable as Professor Hemlock had been but he was easily a hundred times more interesting to listen to. In addition to talking about battle techniques he also informed them that they would be schooled in all sorts of useful information that they had forgotten as their years progressed. Different types of plants and animals, shelter construction, weather, Zach had been disappointed in the students’ theoretical knowledge and promised to turn them into walking encyclopedias.

Tommy was exhausted by the time Zach let them leave at ten. The man had said they were free to go anywhere on campus, even back to the dorm if they wanted, but he encouraged them to go to the cafeteria and eat something before weapons training. Everyone took his advice to heart, hitting up the cafeteria for lunch before they were to return to the rec center to meet Melanie for class. Tommy and a few others stopped by the dorm to grab their weapons then they were off.

The eight of them walked back into the building and found Melanie waiting for them in the sparring room. The walls were bedecked with different types of weapons; swords, daggers, bows, and all sorts of scary looking things Tommy didn’t know the name of. Melanie stood in the center of the room, her face a serious mask for once.

“Alright everyone, today we’re going to select weapons to train with,” she said. “For those of you that don’t already have something in mind, I’m going to have you handle as many weapons as possible so I can figure out which one will suit you best. First though, everyone needs a physical, so line up.”

It was the weirdest experience Tommy had so far. Melanie ran her hands along his arms, feeling his shoulders, hands, and muscles. She felt his torso, chest, then worked her way down his legs. It took her around ten minutes to complete everyone’s physical examination and she didn’t speak one word the entire time she worked. When she was finally satisfied she stepped back from Jon while mumbling under her breath.

“We didn’t have to do anything that weird last year when we did our weapons training,” Krista said. She ran her hands up and down her arms as if warding away chills.

Melanie regarded her for a minute. “That’s because whoever was in charge last year had no clue what they were doing. I don’t even remember their name anymore, they were so unqualified. I was excused from weapon’s class my entire third year after I beat our Professor in one on one combat on the first day.”

“Can you handle every weapon in here?” Harper mumbled. Tommy could count on one hand the number of times he had heard her speak up since he had first met her yesterday.

“For the most part,” Melanie casually shrugged. “There’s a few I’m still teaching myself to use. Why is there one you have your eye on that you’re hoping I can teach you?”

Harper nodded and Melanie took a step back, sweeping her arm out and gesturing towards the racks of weapons lining the walls. Harper strode past Melanie across the room to the biggest sword Tommy had ever seen in his entire life. With what looked like no effort at all, she grabbed it with one hand and pulled it down from the wall. The sword must have been well over a meter, maybe nearing two, since it was almost as tall as Harper was.

Melanie walked over to where Harper was standing and reached for the sword. “A claymore? One of the more difficult weapons in this room to wield. You’ll have to put in a lot of work over these next few months to even be a passable fighter.”

“But can you teach me to use it?” Harper asked again.

Melanie grinned cheekily and took the sword from her student. She assumed a combat stance and ran through a few different slashes and thrusts, every student in the class watching her as if mesmerized. The sword must have been taller than she was, but Melanie easily wielded it, twirling, spinning, and warding off imaginary assailants that existed only in her mind. After what could only be described as the most gorgeous of dances, Melanie came to a halt and extended the sword back towards Harper; she didn’t even look winded.

“It’s not my best weapon but I know enough to teach you,” Melanie shrugged.

If Melanie was claiming that she wasn’t good with a claymore then Tommy shuddered when he thought of the damage she could do wielding a weapon she was proficient with. He recalled facing the business end of her dagger last night and was suddenly wishing that he hadn’t said anything stupid to her. Harper took the claymore back from Melanie and thanked her teacher for the demonstration.

“Okay, who’s next?” Melanie asked.

Spencer stepped forward, he had a quiver on his back and had readied his compound bow while Melanie had been talking to Harper. “I’m already familiar with the bow, I go hunting a lot and have been using it since I was a boy.”

“Hit that target,” Melanie told Spencer, pointing across the room at a target that was hanging from the wall.

Spencer reached into his quiver and pulled an arrow out, nocking it on his bow and drawing a deep breath. The target was a fair distance away and though he had never seen Spencer shoot, Tommy was confident his friend would hit the target no problem. A twang resounded, followed by a whistling and the arrow streaked across the room, embedding itself dead center into the bullseye. Melanie opened her mouth to say something to Spencer but before she could he had already loosed a second arrow, followed quickly by a third. Everyone stared in stunned silence as all three arrows hit the bullseye within centimeters of each other. Spencer lowered his bow and looked at Melanie expectantly.

“Okay, pretty good there,” Melanie admitted with a grin on her face. “I’d like to see you hit something a little further away than 20 or 30 meters but I’ll admit you know how to shoot that thing. What’s the furthest target you can actually hit?”

“50 to 60 meters reliably,” Spencer said, trying to sound modest. “But I took a buck down from what I think was over a hundred meters on a hunt once.”

Melanie raised an eyebrow. “You’ll have to show me sometime this week, but if that’s true it’s almost unbelievable. You may very well already be one of the best marksmen in the kingdom. Can you use anything at close range to defend yourself with?”

Spencer shook his head, “Never needed to. I’ve never needed to use a weapon like this before.”

“A simple shortsword then,” Melanie said walking over to a rack of swords up against one of the walls. She beckoned Spencer over and took a couple of minutes making him hold different swords. They all looked the same to Tommy but apparently Melanie could tell the difference as she kept shaking her head and making him hold different ones. Finally she smiled and nodded as Spencer brandished one that looked no different from any of the others.

“Did anyone else bring their own weapon? Or familiar with using a weapon?” Melanie asked.

Max and Ashley stepped forward with Tommy. Max was gripping a long, curved sword and held it out with both of his hands for Melanie to inspect.

“A tachi?” she spoke reverently. She reached out to grab the blade but Max took a step back, refusing to let her touch it. The scabbard was made from solid black wood and was polished beautifully to reflect the light. The base of the scabbard was wrapped in a green cloth in a criss crossing pattern and the handle was similarly wrapped to match. The guard had some sort of engravings on it that Tommy couldn’t make out from where he was standing.

“Apologies. I shouldn’t have attempted to grab your blade,” Melanie said in a cowed voice. She then actually dipped her head slightly in a respectful manner towards Max. “Can you draw it? I would love to see the blade itself.”

Max nodded and drew the sword slowly from its scabbard, holding it out so Melanie could look the blade up and down. The sword had a wave-like ripple pattern along the entire length of the blade and the immaculately polished steel gleamed wickedly in the light of the room as Max held it out for his teacher to look over.

“This must be worth a small fortune, easily more than a house in the city,” Melanie mumbled mostly to herself, though Tommy and his classmates' eyes widened in amazement as they overheard her. Melanie narrowed her eyes at Max suspiciously. “Who are you?”

“I’m no one important,” Max replied. He belted the scabbard to his waist and then moved to sheath his sword but Melanie held up her hand.

“I would be honored to cross blades with such a fine sword,” Melanie spoke. She reached underneath her shirt and produced two daggers. The first was a simple blade, perfectly symmetric and the one she had brought out in front of Tommy last night. The second was curved wickedly with one serrated side. The hilt was carved to resemble a dragon’s head and the guard was shaped into two spread wings. “Will you fight me?”

Max nodded, took a fighting stance and gripped his sword tightly in his hands. Melanie couldn’t contain her excitement and charged right at him.