Ask to Join Pokémon Academy

[Captain Cardboard]

Jericho nodded, leaning back up against the tree.
"Yeah. Not gonna lie, I love to battle too. Like trainer, like Pokemon, huh?" Jericho said. "I don't suppose you would be interested in a battle right now?"

Rey kicked the pebble away, juggling it with her foot as she looked down to Sonny. She laughed, giving the other Raboot a smug smile at her apparent victory.

~

As Hanako and Shiori neared the library, an unusual noise caught Hanako's attention. It was from Shiori's metal leg, and Shiori noticed it too.
"O-oh, right." Hanako said. Changing directions, Hanako lead Shiori over to one of the bathrooms.

......

Hearing a voice call out, Maribelle looked over to see another man approach. The same man she had meant earlier, Lewis Fireheart. The student assistant, and former technician of Razor Laboratories.
"Yes, I do recall encountering Ms. Asine earlier when we found that Aerodactyl." Maribelle said. She glanced to Justin. "Currently, we have made it our prerogative to locate the students the teach pointed out in class, the ones he said were most at risk to be the victims of Team Noble. Those students being Hanako Fujimoto and Jake Fisher. It was our hope of speaking with them, to see if they required any assistance. I was able to spot Ms. Fujimoto, but I appear to have lost her."

Maribelle frowned as Lewis began to type on some sort of device on his wrist.
"... What are you doing?" Maribelle asked.

 

[The Heart of Frostfire.]

Lewis looked up from his device and gave a sly smirk before turning it off and turning his full attention to the woman talking to him. He cleared his throat and adjusted his jacket as he began to reply. "Ahh, don't worry about my hologear, I was simply contacting some old colleagues to see if they had any information on Team Noble. Unfortunately, they lack any solid information, leading me to believe this is a local issue." His sly smirk slowly turned into a focused look as he thought about his next option.

"If you are looking for someone, would you care for my assistance as well? If Noble is as dangerous as they sound, it would be my duty to provide assistance! After all, one of my former responsibilties was security and protection, so I am well versed in that kind of thing." He smiled, his eyes briefly flashing behind his eyewear. "Not to mention, my team is also itching for some action, especially after I fell unconcious to my Gardevoir using hypnosis on me by accident." He lied about the last part, but he figured it would at least make a better escuse than his tendency to occasionally fall into a trance as he gets too distracted by his own thoughts.

 

[Draco Nightshade]

"Thanks Hanako." Having reached the restroom, Shiori pulled out and set up a tripod stool before taking a seat in the handicapped stall. Undoing the clamps on her leg, Shiori removed the prosthetic from what little remained of her own leg. With practiced movements, Shiori disassembled the leg and inspected the interior components, making adjustments and replacing old or decaying parts with spares she always kept on hand. When the interior was reassembled, Shiori made sure to oil the joints before putting the outer casing back together. With her leg back in one piece, Shiori changed the cover on her thigh before reattaching the limb and standing up with little to no sound. "Phew, glad I caught that." With a sigh of relief, Shiori cleaned up her tools, folding up her stool and storing her scrap components in a separate bag to dispose of later before walking back to Hanako. "Again, thanks Hanako."

 

[BloodRedRobot]

Jake blinked in surprise and looked at Jericho for a second, before he cleared his throat.

"I mean...we can if you want, but i'll probably be pretty rusty." he chuckled lightly as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Its been a while since my last 'real' pokemon battle, with another trainer, but I can try if you want me to."

Sonny simply rolled his eyes playfully at the female Raboot and seemed to "chuckle" slightly, as he gently stuffed his paws into his pockets once more, "admitting defeat" as he watched Rey.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Maribelle listened to Lewis, nodding as he spoke. She turned her parasol in her hand as she considered the man's offer.
"Well, I suppose if you wished to join us in our venture, it would be poor form for us to turn you down. You seem quite capable." Maribelle said. "Of course, this is not an urgent matter at the moment. Merely an introduction and an extension of assistance, should they wish for it."

Maribelle tapped her parasol on the ground.
"Very well! You shall accompany us, Lewis Fireheart." Maribelle said. "If you have a way of locating Ms. Fujimoto or Mr. Fisher, then lead on. Otherwise, let us go."

......

Hanako waited outside the bathroom, and after a moment Shiori emerged. Hanako nodded as Shiori thanked her.
"You are welcome." Hanako said. Once again, the pair began to walk to the library.

"... Um... As I spoke before, I have an older brother named Shiori. In fact, you remind me of him a little bit." Hanako said.

........

Jericho did a double take when Jake tentatively accepted his request for a battle.
"Whooo..." Jericho said, his grin growing. The red haired boy stretched his arm, walking across from Jake.

"Up to me, huh?" Jericho asked. "Well I do want, but its up to you my man. I really, really want, but I'm not gonna force you if you don't want to."
Jericho returned his Purrserker to its Pokeball, waiting for Jake.

 

[The Heart of Frostfire.]

"Unfortunately, I do not have a way of locating your companions, and Asine is currently in radio silence so to speak, leading me to believe she is in a deep meditation. I will act as your support, you may lead the way." He nodded, adjusting his visor to be fully transparent as to give him a more friendly appearance. He also pulled out a pokeball from within his green jacket and let out his original partner, a Leafeon named Verdent. "This here is Verdant, she's been with me since I was a young boy. She has some experience with locating missing people." He smiled, patting the leaf fox on the head gently. She gave a happy cry and used some vines to attach herself to her trainer, her head popping up next to his.

"I only hope that your companions are okay. There is a growing anxiety within me, however I am hoping it is entirely false and that nothing negative has happened to them."

While Lewis spoke to Maribelle, Asine finished her meditation and cleaned up the roof she was on, neatly disposing of her burnt incense sticks by having her Reniculus using teleport on them with the target location being a random trash can in the academy. After she ensured the roof was the way she found it, a quick gesture to her ace lead to the two teleporting to the outside of the battle hall. Once she was on solid ground, she sighed calmly and opened her Poketech, sending a message to her contacts that she finished her meditation. It had the effect of causing Lewis' holotech to start beeping loudly as a result, however she was unaware of such.

"Thank you, my beloved starter. I think it is time we headed out to investigate this... Team. Oh, if only my visions during meditation were clearer, they would serve better as guidance rather than harbingers of potential events." She spoke to her Reniculus, who gave no verbal cry but a simple spin to show they understood her words.

 

[Draco Nightshade]

"Oh yeah, we were talking about that." Shiori fixed the hem of her left pant leg over her prosthetic when she heard the last bit. "Really, how so?"
While the duo talked, Alice and Duke wrestled with each other. Currently, Duke had Alice pinned under his foot with a clear look of triumph in his eyes. Alice on the other hand had a look of complete defeat. The Houndour tapped her paw on the floor letting her playmate know that she admitted defeat. The Tyrunt removed his foot from on top of Alice and nudged her with his nose.

 

[BloodRedRobot]

Jake looked at Sonny in thought.

"...how many pokemon do you have again? Three or four?" He asked after a second, seemingly in an attempt to figure out how many of his own he would get to use with it still being a fair battle.

"I have six, but I don't mind not using one or two or whatever so the numbers match up."

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Maribelle began to lead the group out into the school, resting her parasol on her shoulder. She smiled at the eeveelution, giving the grass type Pokemon a small nod.
"Good to meet you. I am sure the ones the teachers spoke of are fine, at least for now." Maribelle said to Lewis. "As I said, this is merely a courtesy rather than a search party."

After a little bit of walking, Maribelle turned towards Lewis. But before she could ask anything, a noise began going off on the device on Lewis' arm!
"Good heavens!" Maribelle said, a little surprised by the sudden noise. "What now?"

Hanako smiled, thinking back to her family.
"You both have a very strong moral compass. Jumping up in class and challenging that student to a battle, it just seems like something my brother would have done." Hanako said. Hearing a noise, Hanako looked back and saw it was Shiori's Pokemon play-fighting. Very cute. The girl giggled, looking back to Shiori. "I don't suppose you run around and battle people in costume too, do you?"

Jericho's eyes widened beneath his sunglasses.
"Whoa, all three? Dang man, heck yeah!" Jericho said. Legionidas looked from Jericho to Jake, the members of the Falinks babbling amongst themselves for a moment until the leader silenced them. The group formed up next to Jericho. Noticing what was happening, Rey bounded over curiously.

 

[Draco Nightshade]

Shiori chuckled. "When you stand out as much as I do, a costume becomes redundant. I know I battled some folks that run around in full costume and whatnot, I just never saw any practicality in it. Sadly, I actually haven't battled many trainers before my accident." Shiori's face fell as the memory of her incident flashed through her mind. Seeing their trainer's change in demeanor, Alice and Duke nuzzled against her in an effort to comfort her. "Sorry. Bad memory."

 

[The Heart of Frostfire.]

Lewis quickly looked at his beeping holotech and dismissed the notification with a quick tap on the screen, giving a somewhat annoyed sigh. "Oh, don't worry about that, it was simply a notification from Asine. I need to figure out how to reduce the volume of that thing..." He trailed off, briefly getting lost in thought before turning his attention back to Maribelle. "Of course, that is a fair point. Lead the way, hopefully no further distractions will happen. Today has been uneventful, hasn't it? Aside from the panic over some villanous group, it's felt rather... Dull." He commented, patting his Leafeon on the head. After the incessant beeping from his wrist device, she was briefly on edge, but after some attention from her trainer, seemed to calm down.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Hanako's smile faded as Shiori recalled sad memories for her. The girl couldn't imagine the pain and trauma Shiori must have gone through, losing two of her own limbs...
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean for you to think of that..." Hanako said. The two finally reached the library. Opening the door, they stepped in. It was a truely massive space, going up three floors and absolutely filled with books. Hanako walked in, eyes wide with wonder.
"Oh, my..." Hanako said, turning around and trying to take it all in. "It's... it's so large. I've never been in a library this big before..."
Hanako looked to Shiori with a bright smile.
"Isn't it wonderful?" Hanako asked.

Maribelle nodded along with what Lewis was saying.
"Perhaps. But in my experience, days like these aren't relatively exciting. In times like these, I suppose we must provide our own efforts to bring excitement." Maribelle said.

The group continued on. There was no sign of any of the endangered duo in the classrooms they passed, nor the cafeteria. Finally, the group reached the hallway with windows looking out into the courtyard. Glancing out, Maribelle finally spotted one of the duo that they were searching for. Jake Fisher.
"Aha! There is our man." Maribelle said, pointing towards Jake with her parasol. "And we have arrived just in the nick of time! It appears he is being accosted by the red-haired rapscallion that spoke so violently in the battle room before! Onward!"

 

[Draco Nightshade]

Shiori gave a small smile. "It's alright, it happened a long time ago." Having reached the library and looked inside, Shiori had to agree with Hanako. She made an impressed whistle before nodding to her new friend. "It's a first for me too. I'm pretty sure the biggest library I've ever visited was only a third the size of this one." Shiori looked around the space in awe before turning back to Hanako. "I think I want to research Dragon types for now. What about you?"
@Captain Cardboard

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Hanako thought for a moment.
"Well. There were many things I was hoping to find out here. I wanted to learn about what ancient Pokemon or fossil Pokemon are here. I wanted to find out more about the Wild Area. I wanted to find out more about the Dynamaxing phenomenon here too. I heard you needed a certain stone or device to allow your Pokemon to Dynamax, so I wanted to find out where to obtain it too." Hanako said.

Hanako looked back to Shiori's Pokemon, then back to the trainer.
"Are Dragon types your favorite?" Hanako asked Shiori.

 

[Draco Nightshade]

Shiori gave a light chuckle. "I can't say they're my favorite without upsetting Alice, but I can't deny that they're one of my favorites. We only have Kingdra and the Dratini line back in Johto so I am quite curious about the others. I also want to look up different Electric and Steel types."
Before she entered the room, Shiori remembered her Pokemon were still walking around and sighed. "Sorry guys, I don't think you'll be allowed to come in here with us so return." Returning the duo to their PokeBalls and shrinking them down, Shiori opened a compartment in her arm and deposited the items for safekeeping.
Turning back to Hanako, she added. "To be honest, I'm not actually all that interested in Dinamax or Gigantimax. I prefer good, old-fashioned battles without fancy gimmicks."
@Captain Cardboard

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Hanako smiled.
"I understand. I'm not sure how interested I am to use it in battle too. But seeing Pokemon the size of buildings? I have a hard time believing it just reading about it, I'd like to try it myself." Hanako said.

The two approached the front desk of the library, but to her surprise there was no one there. Hanako looked around in confusion. No staff nearby, nothing. Not even any students. The library was completely quiet.
"Um... Hello?" Hanako said.

There was a sudden bang as something struck the bottom of the desk. Hanako let out a small 'eep', jumping back in surprise. With a groan, a gray haired young man stood up from behind the desk.
"Owch.." The man grumbled.

 

[BloodRedRobot]

Jake looked at Jericho.

"I mean, we don't have to do all three if you don't want to, was just a suggestion." Jake shrugged a bit as he smiled slightly, and looked at his pokemon in thought.

"Up to you how many really, I don't mind any number, just decides how many pokemon i'll use, so it's fair." he said, as Sonny followed Rey's gaze, and raised an eyebrow as he watched and listened.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Jericho grinned, stretching his arms.
"Alright then. You heard him, guys! Three v three it is!" Jericho flexed his bicep, drawing a Pokeball from his belt. Rey's eyes lit up, and she mimicked her trainer's motions as the two stood side-by-side.
"Let's do this thing! Legionidas, you take the lead!" Jericho commanded. The squad formed up into a line, with the leader marching the group into battle. The leader held out its shields in front of its face, waiting for whatever threat Jake would send out!
"First battle of the school year! We've got to make this count, fellas!" Jericho said to his Falinks.

 

[BloodRedRobot]

Jake smiled as Sonny went off and stood to the side for now, as did most of his other pokemon, save for Baltimore, with Jake and the Corviknight sharing a nod, before Baltimore walked over slowly and stood on Jake's side of the "field", and spread his wings to stretch them out.

"Ready when you are..." Jake nodded at Jericho with a small grin as he prepared.

 

[The Heart of Frostfire.]

Lewis gave a nod and followed Maribelle, humming quietly to himself. "I suppose you have a point. I suppose I'm still used to working back home, where there was never a dull day. While it's nice to have less excitement, I've had a hard time adjusting." He commented, adjusting his glasses.

As they came across Jake in the midst of battle, he stayed back, not wanting to get involved in the clashing of Pokemon. "Ahh, I believe it would be unwise to interrupt them, it seems as though they are getting ready for a Pokemon battle. I've never understood why people force their precious partners to fight eachother for fun, however if they both enjoy it, who am I to judge?" He replied, patting his Leafeon gently on the head. She gave an agitated cry and he started scratching her on the back of her neck, which seemed to calm her down. "Now, now Verdant, relax. I understand you don't like violence, but this is more than likely a friendly match. Nobody is going to get hurt, I hope." His voice was lowered as he spoke to his leaf fox, the creature nuzzling into her trainer.

 

[Draco Nightshade]

"The biggest I've ever seen was an angry Steelix." Just mentioning the Pokemon made Shiori involuntarily shiver. Before she could say anything else she too heard the bang and saw the young man that fell. "You alright?"

 

[BlueMew392]

After walking around the school with Maribelle and Lewis, while still carrying Totodile, they finally found one of the students their looking for, Jake. And it seemed like he's getting ready to battle Jericho, the disruptive student from before.

"Looks like we're just in time to watch," he said with Totodile chirping with excitement.

He then looked over at Lewis after he voiced his thoughts in regards to Pokémon battling. "Well, lots of trainers love to compete and see which one is stronger," he began with a smile, "But there's really more to it than just that. Battling allows a trainer to bring out the best in their Pokémon, get to know them, and also form a stronger bond with them. It part of how people and Pokémon live with and understand each other." He not only says all this as someone who's had first hand experience in battling and also was a witness to some exciting battles too.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Jericho pointed to Jake. Completely oblivious to the small audience forming for the battle, he was getting pumped up.
"Heyyyy, I see you getting excited over there. Don't try to hide it!" Jericho said with a grin. "Alright! You want me to get started, I'll oblige!"
Jericho looked down to his Falinks.
"He's sent in the big guns first, boys! But have no fear, you can do this! Now ready yourselves, Focus Energy!" Jericho commanded. The head member of the Falinks, Augustus, turned to his men and relayed the order. All the members of the Falinks let out a cry in response, and they stared down Baltimore with renewed fierceness.

Maribelle frowned, pouting a little as Lewis and Justin quashed her order to charge in and break up the battle. The noblewoman begrudgingly followed after the pair, standing at the ready to watch the battle. Hopefully, it would be an entertaining one at least. She nodded along with what Justin was saying.
"Indeed. In fact, Pokemon battling is a very large part of the culture here in Galar, even moreso than other regions from my understanding." Maribelle said. She chuckled pointing to Jericho's Pokemon with her parasol. "And you cannot tell me that this red haired rapscallion is 'forcing' his Pokemon to fight."

Indeed, while Jericho's Falinks was already in the battle, his Raboot was at his side and waiting. Rey eagerly jumped from one foot to the next, waiting for her turn to be sent in and watching the fight intently.

"Oh my, I know those can be very fierce..." Hanako said. The young man looked up, finally noticing Hanako and Shiori.
"Ah! I'm fine, sorry about that." He said. He sat down on his chair, looking to the two girls. "I'm the librarian here. Welcome. I don't think I've seen the two of you here before, is there something I can help you with?"

Hanako nodded.
"Um... yes, I was looking for information about Fossil Pokemon here in the Galar region?" Hanako asked the man. The librarian nodded, looking to Shiori.
"You as well?" The librarian asked Shiori.

 

[Draco Nightshade]

"I'm looking for information on Dragon, Fairy and Steel types." Although she said that, Shiori added. "And maybe some books with tips and tricks for mechanical engineering and maintenance?"

 

[The Heart of Frostfire.]

Lewis turned away, grumbling softly. If it wasn't any more obvious, he started walking away. "I'm not going to watch this... You can get me when this is over, but... Just seeing pokemon fighting eachother brings back memories... Father didn't deserve what they did to him..." He spoke quietly, the words involving his father being nothing more than a mutter. "You can go ahead and fight, I just don't want to see it... Not after the last time... Perhaps Team Plasma had a point... While they were manipulated by a madman..." He continued, looking back for but a brief moment as he turned away to leave. He headed for the main courtyard, hoping to get some fresh air. Even his Leafeon seemed rather upset, but she cheered up as soon as they were a good enough distance away.

Meanwhile, Asine decided to head into the library herself, her elegant kimono fluttering as if caught in a breeze, even indoors with a lack of wind. She hoped to do her own studies, but gave a quiet gasp as she noticed three others having a conversation. "O-oh my, I wasn't expecting anyone to be here. I failed to feel any aura nearby, I apologize if I am interrupting anything." She spoke quietly, slowly approaching the small group. "May I ask what you hope to learn here? I am well versed in a great deal of topics, perhaps I can assist?" She offered, letting out her Furret. It gave a happy cry and carefully but quickly made its way over to the trainers, giving another cry as if to say hello. "Oh, I should introduce myself. You may refer to me as Asine Fukomachi, and I am a faculty member of this facility. My purpose is to do what I can to assist in the lives of the students around our fine establishment. The furret there is named Gandi, he's a rather kind boy, though he has his rather... Energetic moments." She laughed quietly, covering her mouth with her hand.

 

[Draco Nightshade]

Turning to the newcomer, Shiori decided to greet her. "Nice to meet you, I'm Shiori." Seeing the Furret, Shiori immediately dropped to it's level and started petting it. "Nice to meet you too. My mom has a Furret back in Johto." Shiori's petting quickly turned to scratching and tickling, all with just her real hand. "I miss her."

 

[BloodRedRobot]

Jake admittedly grinned a little as he watched and listened to Jericho, as Baltimore prepared.

Jake had intentionally let Jericho choose his pokemon first, so he could get an idea of who to use of his own team; type advantages and such, thus meaning his best bet was Corviknight.

"Alright, let's start it out with a Peck!"

Baltimore quickly took into the air, wings flapping, before he suddenly dove down in the direction of the Falinks, as his beak flashed white, as he continued to dive down towards the fighting type.