The trip to Cheren’s Trainer School had been a short one. Lilith followed Bianca down the hill into the city. It was close, only having to walk three or so blocks east until they reached the entrance.

The front building looked like a barn. Its roof was large and angular, tipping down on both sides. The building sported an ugly orange color exterior while the front entrance had two large Pokeball statues flanking each side of the door. The foot traffic was heavy along the sidewalks, but no one entered the school. Pokemon occasionally ran down the center of the street with traffic.

Lilith followed Bianca up the set of marble stairs and entered the building. A plain waiting area opened up as Bianca walked up to the receptionist. Office shrubs lined the walls. She motioned for Lilith to take a seat as the two talked. The receptionist typed away on her keyboard as Lilith looked around. Soon enough, Bianca called for her to join them.

“League Identification Card and citizenship papers please.” the receptionist said.

Lilith reached into her bag and pulled out the card and piece of paper Melinda had handed her the day before. She examined the red card with a black trim. The left side held her name and photo. To the right of that said ‘Pokemon Trainer: 0 Stars’. The League Card told everyone her title and current strength along with specializations and feats, neither of which she had currently. What a 0 Star Trainer was, Lilith had no idea; only that she was told she would learn in school.

She handed the Items over to the woman. She scanned the card before copying some of the information on the piece of paper into her system. The citizenship papers were only temporary, it functioned more like a Visa but no such thing existed. Apparently travel Between regions was generally encouraged if one had the strength. It was incredibly hard for an average person to traverse such distances themselves, so anyone visiting was a boon to their security.

“All set! Unfortunately today’s class just ended. The upside is that you've only missed two days and catching up should be easy.” the receptionist handed Lilith back her things.

Lilith nodded as Bianca ushered her outside. Their objective had been completed so it was time to move on. Their next stop was the mall. Lilith needed clothes and needed them badly. She wanted to punch whoever thought it was a good idea to journey on a Flying Pokemon while wearing a dress.

The first thing she had told Bianca was that they needed to go shopping. Binaca had practically squealed before saying they would make a day of it. To her disappointment, Lilith made record time. The mall was well organized and she had all the necessities much faster than Bianca would have liked. They even had time to stop for an ice cream cone. They had purchased multiple short and long sleeve pants and shorts. Some of the weather around Unova changed considerably so she planned ahead. It was always good to plan ahead. They moved around the mall, purchasing anything and everything she pointed at. Lilith had fallen in love with a black punk styled jacket. It was black leather with silver cufflinks and buttons down the middle. Lilith bought it on the spot, it was tottaly her style.

“Are you sure that’s all you want? We could go look at hats? Gloves?” Binaca asked.

“Hmm.” Lilith looked around the mall.

All of the clothes stores were grouped together. Everyone in this world seemed to love efficiency. That made it easy for her to know what she wanted and where to go.

“A scarf.” Lilith decided.

The two went through multiple stores before she could make up her mind. Lilith didn’t bother checking prices. Bianca was paying for everything and she knew that made her a bad person, but this was a vital opportunity to gather supplies and she wouldn't miss the chance.

“This one.” Lilith said.

She pointed at a black scarf with a pretty silver snowflake pattern down the middle. It was a configuration of shapes and went well with the jacket she had already picked out. Lilith put the scarf around her head as Bianca bought it for her. She started to feel a theme coming together.

Lilith left the store in a happy mood. Her wardrobe was squared away, her courses in Trainer school were scheduled. If only her Egg would hatch soon. She had been carrying it everywhere she went and had received some weird stares. Apparently people usually left them in special incubation pods. Bianca had offered but Lilith turned her down. She liked the feeling of carrying her unhatched Pokemon around.

“Wow that egg is so big!” a young voice caught Lilith's attention.

Two young Trainers walked up to Lilith and Bianca, one male and the other female. The boy walked up to her with a wondrous expression. He ogled the Egg in her arms while the girl hung back behind him. A permanent scowl rested on her face.

“My name's Sam, nice to meet you. What kind of Egg is that? It looks so cool!” Sam inspected her Egg curiously.

The boy had on a regular set of jeans and a T-shirt. Nothing special jumped out at her.

Lilith noticed the Pokemon at his feet. She was almost entirely round. The Pokemon could have been mistaken for a tiny red ball if not for the stubby arms and legs sticking out. She had cloudy orange eyebrows that stuck out. Darumaka stood beside Sam.

“An Egg.” Lilith said

The adventurous boy looked between her and the egg.

“Oh, so you don't know the species? That's too bad.” Sam said in a sad voice.

Lilith looked between him and the girl that was with him. Sam got the hint and introduced his friend.

“This is Levy. Don't worry about her, she acts like everything offends her but deep down she cares a little too much.” Sam said as Levy gave him a deadly glare.

The Pokemon in Levy’s arms had caught her attention. He resembled a tiny dinosaur and was very familiar. A horn grew at the back of his head, and in his mouth were two large tusks. Axew would grow into a very strong Pokemon in the future. If Levy had him as a starter, that meant someone strong had given him to her.

Levy was dressed similar to Sam, but she definitely looked out of place. She gave her one more scrutinizing look before turning away.

“If that’s all, I'm leaving.” She said.

Bianca looked disappointed that Lilith hadn’t wanted to talk to the other kids her age. Despite her feelings, she went along with her decision. Bianca called out Samurott from his Pokeball and he helped the two carry all the bags of clothes home for Lilith. Sam waved goodbye to the trio as Levy dragged him away in embarrassment.

The rest of their trip was shopping for supplies, Lilith focused most on her Egg. Food and toys along with other necessities filled their trip. Once complete, Bianca showed Lilith the directions to her new home.

***

The Next Day

Lilith walked up the steps of her new school. Multiple other teenagers went in the same direction as her. Despite Lilith’s arguments, everyone was forbidden from bringing Pokemon into the building. That included Pokemon Eggs, something about them being a distraction to learning. Lilith had been in a grouchy mood ever since waking up, not being able to take care of her Egg.

She had compensated by wearing her new outfit. Her black combat boots paired with her black jeans and gray T-shirt. She was definitely making a statement. Lilith liked the color black. Her new jacket was worn proudly with the scarf around her neck. The scarf was particularly large and covered half her face. It was one of the main reasons she bought it; that and she like the color. Lilith wasn’t shy, but just didn’t want people to talk to her. The new outfit was picked so less people would apprach her.

She opened the map of the first floor as she tried locating the room her class was in. The building was not very large, Only 10 classrooms in all. Each room held around 20 students, making a total of about 200 League sponsored Trainers. They were the most promising of recruits from all around the Region. People could still become Trainers without attending, but the ones accepted were always the most successful. They could also pay to send their kids to a Pokemon School. The League-sponsored one was free to all acceptees.

“7, 7, 7.” Lilith turned into the right wing.

She followed the right side containing all the odd number rooms before finally stopping in front of her room. Lilith stuck her head inside. Multiple other people were already there mingling with one another. It was set up like any regular classroom.

“In or out.” A voice came from behind her.

Lilith turned and met face to face with Levy. She wore a more formal attire than the previous day, with gray pants and a white button up shirt.

“It's you!” She shouted “What are you doing here?!”

Neither was expecting to see the other. The entire class all stopped talking and looked towards the commotion. Lilith's eyebrows furrowed. This wasn’t how she wanted her first day to go.

“Levy! What’s the problem?” Sam asked

He peeked out from behind his friend who hadstopped short. Before he could speak, a mature woman in business attire followed behind him. Lilith turned, hearing another familiar voice, but was met with someone much older.

“Ah you must be Lilith.” The woman said. “I am Madam Shirley Rose, the Teacher of this class. Welcome, you can just call me Shirley.”

Shirley looked at the clock that hung above the door. as everyone moved inside.

‘5 Minutes till class starts.’ She thought.

“Please follow me.” She said.

Levy watched with a gaping stare as Madam Shirley rushed by as she brought Lilith to her desk for a chat. Sam stood next to her with a smirk.

***

“So our first class was mostly an introduction. We learned everyone's names and what kind of Trainer they wanted to be. Then we went into all the different Pokemon Types and how they generally interact with one another. I was told you already understand most of that so it will be easy to catch up.” She paused

“The next day we went over Pokemon identification and how to go about approaching unknown Pokemon. This is a much more important skill so I’d like you to stay after with me today so I can drill you on the basics. Don't be one of those morons who relies on the Pokedex to get by.” She gave Lilith an awful glare. “And that brings us to today, so I’ll introduce you to the class and well get started.” She finished.

Lilith was impressed; Shirley had talked incredibly fast despite being understood. She was obviously very passionate about her job. She nodded, yes she could stay after. Traversing locations with Pokemon was a good skill to have, and she had learned the hard way. Lilith wouldn’t miss the opportunity to learn the right way.

Shirley smiled and stood up from behind her desk.

“Alright everyone! We're going to start a little early! This is Lilith, she had some logistical troubles in her journey here! That is why she is late, so let us all make her feel welcome!” she said.

All the students scrambled for their seats and got ready for the day’s lecture.

“This will be the most important lesson I will be teaching, and the reason why you even bothered to join this class. So pay attention” The class calmed down at her exclamation.

“This is a fundamental rule on how Pokemon battle! Each Pokemon is born with a membrane. This bubble of energy around them protects their body from harm as they battle. Attacks whittle away at their barrier until they are no longer able to protect themselves! This is crucial because all Pokemon, no matter how strong, become vulnerable when completely out of energy. Direct damage to the body is not good, it takes much longer to heal the body than the Health membrane. Only a fraction of energy is used to defend themselves. Some has to be used to send out attacks or increase their mobility. As a general rule, the more Type energy a Pokemon collects and stores in their body, the stronger they become!