The Eon Academy [S.S. Wishmaker Side-Story]

[[Desolate Divine]]

Episode 1: Welcome to the Eon Academy

Spoiler:

10:45am

Charlotte looked at her watch, as she stood by the closed gate to her new home for the next twelve weeks. The meeting time was 11am on this warm Sunday morning, however she had always had the mindset of ”there is no such thing as on time. You’re either early or late… Being the first to show up was nothing new to her, but she still found herself bored at the thought of the next fifteen minutes waiting, knowing what was coming once those fifteen minutes were up. She had already been waiting fifteen minutes so far, so what was another.

“Of course you’d be the first person I’d see here...” came a familiar voice, almost groaning. The sixteen year old turned to her right, brushing her shoulder length blonde hair out of her vision, before recognizing the teenage boy calling out from the last tournament she had participated in. The person who made her a runner up.

“Chris...” Charlotte retorted. “You sure you need to be here? After all, you’re just that good.”

“I never thought I’d hear you flatter me like that,” the fifteen year old replied, as he dumped his own bag by the gate next to Charlotte’s, intentionally ignoring the sarcastic tone.

“Well you have one over me, so maybe I’m lulling you into a false sense of security…” Charlotte explained. “Make it that much worse for you when you lose to me next time.”

“Do you two know each other already?” came a new voice, unfamiliar to the both of them, from on the other side of the gate.

The bickering pair turned to the gate, which was now being opened by someone on the other side. It was a man in his late twenties, who didn’t know either of them, but they both knew who he was. That was the reason they were here.

Jon Drake.

“Junior tournaments tend to not have too many people competing. So when you compete in them as long as we have, well, you tend to see the same faces,” Charlotte explained. “Redhead over here has been a thorn in my side the last four years.”

“Sorry for making you work for that attention you crave,” Chris retorted smugly. “I didn’t ask to get to your level so quickly…”

“I see...” Jon replied. “I wasn’t expecting to have people showing up so early, but hearing the way you two are talking, it kinda makes sense…”

Jon opened the gate, before offering a handshake to the pair of them.

“I’m Jon, but you two probably know that,” he said. “I take it you two are Charlotte Jones and Christopher Kingswood?”

“Chris,” Chris replied, shaking Jon’s hand. “Nine times out of ten, nothing good comes out of someone calling me Christopher.”

Jon chuckled, as he shook Chris’ hand before shaking Charlotte’s.

“Well, I wasn’t expecting people showing up early, but you’re welcome to come through,” Jon explained, as he made his way into the property. The two teenagers grabbed their bags, following Jon through the gate, making their way towards the repurposed monastery, passing a sign on their way through.

The Eon Academy.

“So you guys made your own way here?” Jon asked as they walked towards the hall. “You both got signed off when you applied, so there’s no issue, I’m just curious...”

“My older brother is graduating from college this afternoon,” Charlotte explained. “I managed to convince my parents to let me skip it, but they wouldn’t have been able to fly out from Sinnoh to see me off and be back in time.”

“Same here. Or at least close enough...” Chris said. “Family have some stuff they are dealing with at the moment, so I came out on my own.”

“Fair enough,” Jon explained, checking his watch as he opened the main hall. “Well you’re well and truly on time, so I think we will get along well.”

To the pair of teenagers, and probably any others who showed up, Jon was somewhat of an enigma. He was almost completely unknown until a year earlier, where he managed to take first place in the first High Seas Tournament on the S.S. Wishmaker, from the previously undefeated Cassandra Silvers. Granted, it had been revealed that her and her Diamond Ladies companions had been using witchcraft to cheat up until the semi finals of the tournament, Jon had still managed to take down Cassandra’s Victini, with a Scizor sporting a double type disadvantage, which was a legendary feat in its own right.

The interesting thing was that Jon had been competing for the good part of the decade prior, and whilst not having the undefeated reputation the Diamond Ladies had, had had some success in the competitive scene, but somehow, very little was actually known about Jon’s time before then. Records of him competing prior to the High Seas Tournament were publically available, but very little footage or profiles existed of him, which just added to the polarized nature of his reputation.

On one side, there were those who despised him due to a couple of incidents on the S.S. Wishmaker. Namely an attack that he claims was an accident that many felt should have been ruled a foul, as well as an altercation with the trainer he beat in the semi-finals, on top of the damage his Latios had done to the ship. On the flip side, there were those who saw that famous attack as simply an accident, and that he was in his rights to respond to his opponent the way he did, given the fact his opponent started the altercation. And considering Jon paid for all the damages Latios did out of pocket, they figured there was little point in holding a grudge.

So naturally, when this enigma of a trainer announced he was opening a summer school for teens wanting to improve their battling, teaching the majority of the material himself, it stirred up some controversy. Some said that he was not fit to be teaching teenagers given the circumstances during and after his semifinal match, and seeming lack of control of his own Pokemon, whilst others were for it, seeing his style of battling as a breath of fresh air compared to the culture of relying heavily on type advantages and the almost turn based approach of calling out commands that had permeated competitive battling for as long as anyone could remember. Regardless, spaces were limited, as the first year was almost a demo run for the school, so both Charlotte and Chris, unaware of the other one thinking the same thing, jumped on the opportunity.

The trio entered the main hall, where Jon flicked the light switch, causing the lights to slowly start warming up and lighting up the room. Whilst the main hall had originally been some sort of chapel in the Academy’s previous life as a monastery, right now, it didn’t look anything like that. The room itself was devoid of the pews that would have probably lined it earlier, instead with a dozen chairs lined up near the front of the room, taking up a very little space.

Renovations seemed to be partially completed, with most of the walls exposed brick covered with plaster, though sections that were still incomplete were blocked by scaffolding, with only half the room painted.

Chris looked around the room, surprised at how incomplete the academy was, before being pulled from his thoughts by a new voice, who was thinking the same thing.

“Wow, I knew this place was a bit in-progress, but didn’t expect this,” said a girl’s voice with a friendly laugh. “Don’t get me wrong, it looks like a big job, just surprised me.”

“Abbee...” said a man’s voice. “You’re lucky to be here…”

Charlotte and Chris looked towards the entrance, noticing three figures by the door, however recognizing one.

“Is that Richard Strauss,” Chris asked Charlotte, who was just as shocked.

“I think it is…”

Richard Strauss was a legend of the competitive battling world, and whilst he was now in his fifties, and mostly retired from battling, he was still prominent in the scene, these days working as an author, guest commentator, and occasionally participating in the odd charity match.


“Jon, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Richard said as he walked forward to shake Jon’s hand. Jon himself seemed a little starstruck, but quickly composed himself.

“The pleasure is mine,” Jon explained. “I saw your name on Abbee’s registration, and almost fell out of my chair. If anything, I’m honored you’d let me try and teach your daughter. Speaking of which, I figure this is Abbee, but who is this with you?”

Jon looked towards the third person to enter the room, a teenage boy who looked a year or two older than the others who had already arrived. He had entered silently, contrary to the others in the room.

“This young man is also attending the summer school,” Richard explained. “He seemed a little lost, so we all came in together.”

Jon had a brief look at his list, knowing he was one of two people, however based on his age, Jon had a good idea of who he was.

“Then I take it you’re Dylan?” Jon asked. Dylan nodded, as he shook Jon’s hand, looking around at the others in the room. As Jon glanced at the young man, dressed in ripped jeans, a faded shirt, with long messy hair, he couldn’t help but feel like he had seen him before.

“Have we met before Dylan?” Jon asked. “You seem familiar.”

“I live in Mossdeep...” Dylan explained quietly. “I know I’ve seen you around, so maybe you’ve seen me too?”

“Yeah that’s probably it,” Jon explained, before turning to Abbee. “It’s a pleasure to meet you too Abbee. I’ll be interested to see how the daughter of Richard Strauss battles.”

“Don’t get your hopes up,” Abbee laughed. “Dad has been a great teacher, but I never really inherited that instinct that he has.”

“Well we will see what we can achieve over the summer,” Jon explained. “Dylan, Abbee, welcome to the Eon Academy.”


Dylan made his way towards the chairs, sitting on the other side, away from Chris and Charlotte, whilst Abbee said goodbye to her dad, before making her way to where the others sat, seeing Dylan sitting by himself and sitting with him.

Charlotte and Chris continued stirring each other, as Jon gathered the two had been fairly evenly matched for years, with Chris ducking ahead in the last tournament. Abbee on the other hand kept making conversation with Dylan, who seemed like he was completely out of his comfort zone, trying to respond to the slightly hyperactive teenager.

Jon looked at his watch, seeing it was now past 11, and the last student was now late.

“You will be happy to know that this room is the last one needing improvement,” Jon explained. “The lodge where you will all be boarding was renovated in the last few months and nearly brand new. The five of you will be living in more comfort than I will be.”

Before anybody could respond, there was another voice from the door.

“I’m sorry I’m late!” called out the voice of a young man who was entering the main hall, before slowing down, finding himself distracted by the improvements that were still being made to the large room.

“Justin, come take a seat,” Jon called out. “We’re just getting started.”

The blonde teenage boy rushed towards the chairs, sitting in the closest one he could find, directly in the middle of the two duos.

“So, you will all have a chance to meet each other properly soon enough, but I will introduce myself before we go any further,” Jon explained.

“My name is Jon Drake. I’m thirty years old, and have been competing for the last thirteen years. I started competing late compared to some of you,” Jon began. “I have completed both the Kanto and Hoenn Gym challenges, however held off taking on the Elite Four because I was a little camera shy at the time. Instead, I participated in smaller tournaments, focusing there, until I competed in the High Seas Tournament last year, and took first place there.”

“I spent the first half of my life living in Johto, before spending most of my teenage years in Kanto, and relocating out to Hoenn when I was eighteen. I met my wife Alyssa whilst competing, and we have been married for three years, and we just had our first child, Amelia, three weeks ago.”

Abbee called out with a cheer, much to the embarrassment of Dylan as Jon chuckled at her enthusiasm.

“Thank you,” Jon explained. “Alyssa and I live in the caretakers house on the other side of the property, so you will probably meet her at some point. But if I do seem like I am falling asleep, it’s because we are sharing a house with a newborn…”

“And don’t worry, she won’t be keeping you guys up at night. Our cottage is about a quarter mile from the lodges, so you will all be able to sleep soundly, I hope,” Jon added. “But on to the important stuff. You are all here because you want to become better battlers, am I right?”

There was a general response in agreement, as Jon continued.

“In my humble opinion, the battling scene has gone downhill in the last thirty years. I was taught to battle by my grandfather, and when he competed, Pokemon battles were a tactical gladiator match, where Pokemon battled using their own skill, making their own decisions. Where Pokemon battled with their own strength and ability, and the role of a trainer was to act more as a coach. Come up with game plans, which they then train their team to enact, identifying their weaknesses beyond simple type advantages, and train them in a way to cover it,” Jon explained. “That’s not to say things are completely different and no trainers think that way anymore, but if I am being honest, the competitive scene has been saturated with trainers whose Pokemon can’t act without direct orders, and trainers who don’t have enough faith in their Pokemon’s ability to battle with a disadvantage to even give them that chance.”

Most of the students reeled at Jon’s comments, partially because they knew it was true. The first thing any trainer learns is the type match-ups, but a lot of the time, they become relied on to a fault.

“That’s a pretty massive claim,” Chris asked. “Like, I get you won the High Seas Tournament, but does that give you the right to criticize the way nearly every trainer battles? Even Elite Four and Champions battle that way?”

“You’re right,” Jon said with a smile. “The only major win on my record is that. But remember what I said earlier? About being a little camera shy?”

There were nods of understanding as a grin broke across Jon's face.

“This is as good of a lead-in as any,” Jon laughed. “As I said, I have a newborn at home, and a wife who would kill me if I left her to raise her every day, so I will occasionally be bringing in a guest tutor or two who will be filling in for me. One who has already offered to help, and you will be seeing a lot of is Steven Stone.”

Charlotte’s eyes widened hearing this.

“Steven Stone, the Hoenn Champion?” Charlotte asked with great anticipation.

“The one and only,” Jon explained. “The reason I mention him is that since there was a lot to be said by the media in the last tournament I competed in, and Alyssa and I were wanting to have kids, I decided to take a break from competing. Steven and I met a few years ago, strangely enough, not in a battle, but have become decent friends since then. Part of our weeks is meeting up for a battle once a week and getting a beer after.”

“And like you two…” Jon said, gesturing towards Charlotte and Chris. “We keep track of who has more wins, and right now it is sitting at about a 60/40 split, my way…

“If you aren’t as camera shy these days, why don’t you actually make a formal challenge?” Justin asked. “Surely being champion pays more than this place?”

“It does. But it also comes with all its own bulls**t...” Jon explained. “The regional champion isn’t just the person who is considered the strongest in the region, but comes with responsibilities and expectations. With the league and regional government being so intertwined, being champion means working for the government during times of potential crisis, being a mixture of politician and superhero. That’s why the controversy around Lance on the S.S. Wishmaker was so big, and don’t pretend you haven’t seen that video. I don’t want to be the champion and based on the publicity after the High Seas Tournament, I’m not wanted as Champion. Regardless of battling ability, Steven is much more suited to being champion than I am.”

Chris’ stomach dropped hearing reference to Lance, as Jon continued talking.

“What I was getting towards is, in regard to whether I can make the call about what the battling culture is like, I am the winner of the High Seas Tournament, have beaten Steven more often than he has beaten me, and can say with near certainty, that if Lance were in a position to be taking challengers, I would be pretty confident I could beat him. Plus one or two other battles I legally can’t tell you about…”

The last comment earned Jon some puzzled glances, and realising he had spoken to much, he forced the conversation away from it.

“So in terms of what this summer will focus on,” Jon explained. “There will be five subjects, plus one on one tutoring, mostly with myself but occasionally someone like Steven will fill in. The five subjects are Tactics and Strategy, where we will hopefully teach you to look at a battle and see more than Fire beats Grass, then Practical Training, where you will put what you learn there to the test. There will be Raising Pokemon where you will learn how to raise Pokemon, and figure out how to identify the best way to do that. Not every Pokemon has books on how to raise them, especially Legendary Pokemon, so you need to be able to understand how to identify what these Pokemon need and how to provide it. Then there is Trainer Career where you learn the business and PR side of competing professionally, something I would have benefited from learning at your age, and lastly there is Pokemon Knowledge. There are nearly 900 identified Pokemon and counting, and our goal is for you to learn about each and every one of them.”

“Wait, all of them?” Abbee asked in shock.

“Think of it this way. Legendary Pokemon have that little information that it's not going to take long to teach everything we can find out about them. Between the rest, we will be focusing on evolution families. Most of them are in groups of three, and you are only really going to be battling the final evolution most of the time. Then you have forked evolution lines like Oddish or Poliwag, and even crazy ones like Eevee,” Jon explained. “If you do the reading on each of them before classes, and pay attention, you will be surprised at how much you pick up and how much it helps. Whilst I hate the idea of battles hingeing on type matchups, you would be stupid to not use them when you can, and being able to identify an opposing Pokemon’s types could be the difference between a win and loss.”

Jon picked up the clipboard he had placed on the chair behind him, which contained an envelope for each student, containing a map of the academy, their timetable, and their room key, handing one to each student.

“Classes start on the hour, starting at 9am. Because you are a small group, you will do all of your main classes together in the one room, so it’s only a matter of showing up on time at 9am. Classes will start with or without you at 9am,” Jon explained. “This isn’t like high-school or summer camp. Each of you are here because you want to be here, so it’s up to you to make the most of it. Under normal circumstances, I won’t be repeating myself, so if you show up late and miss out that is on you.”

Jon glanced around, wondering if any of his new students needed to hear this in particular.

“Fact is that even though you are all still minors, consider this a taste of adult life. Breakfast and lunch aren’t served to you. There is a kitchen that is well stocked next to the common area to prepare your own breakfast and lunch, organize your own snacks, and I will provide dinner for you all. Nobody is going to wake you up for breakfast or classes, so if you wake up at 8:55 and miss breakfast, that is on you. Classes run until Period 3 which ends at noon, and then you have an hour for lunch. You can make yourself something for lunch in the morning, and have the whole hour to relax, or you can arrange something during your break. I will leave that with you,” Jon continued. “After lunch, two of you will have an hour rostered for one on one training with me. Everyone who isn’t rostered will have a free period. Consider this your time to catch up on anything you may have missed, arrange to train with someone else who has a spare, or get ahead on readings for next class. Or, as I said earlier, don’t. You will only get out of this summer what you are willing to put in. I’m not going to force you to spend every free period studying, and would encourage you to take a break every once in a while.”

“You are allowed to spend your free time outside of the academy as long as you are in pairs, but must remain on the premises between 9pm and 5am. Look out for eachother and don’t do anything stupid. Any questions?”

The room was silent, the teens shocked at the amount of freedom Jon was giving them, before Jon spoke up.

“Well in that case, it's half past eleven now. I will take you to the lodge to find your rooms, get some lunch and get settled,” Jon explained. “At 1pm, I want you all to meet me at the outdoor training ground with your Pokemon for our first session.”

“What session?” Justin asked, looking at his timetable. “This has no classes on Sunday?”

“Consider this a Session 0,” Jon replied with a grin. “I gotta see what I’m working with here before the real training begins…”

************************************

“Geez, Jon is near impossible to read,” Abbee said as she walked into the common area, where Charlotte had made herself comfortable a few minutes earlier, lounging on one of the couches. Both of them had spent a bit of time taking a look around their rooms, however found little reason to stay there. The lodge itself seemed like a large manor, with common areas on the ground floor, with the accommodation on the first floor.

“I think I’ve got a bit of an idea about him,” Charlotte started, before there was a crash from the adjacent kitchen of pots and pans falling.

“Sorry!” Justin called out with a slight laugh. “I wanted to see how well stocked this kitchen is and bumped something.”

Justin made his way out into the common area, before collapsing onto a nearby couch.

“So what’s your read on the guy? He seems like he wants to make a joke one second and is dead serious the next,” Justin asked.

“In all honesty, I think he is just someone who hasn’t got much tolerance for bulls**t or having his time wasted,” Charlotte explained. “He’s right, nobody is forcing us to be here. So if we half-a** it, and go home getting nothing out of it, why should he lose any sleep over it.”

“She’s right,” Abbee agreed. “Why should he bend over backwards for people who don’t wanna be here?”

“Because we’re paying him? A decent amount…” Justin explained, before speaking up again. “Sorry, a decent amount for us.”

Charlotte noted the tone in his voice as he made that last comment, before sitting up to see how Abbee would respond.

Abbee looked over at Justin, before responding.

“Well if the amount you paid to come here is really that damaging, and you want that to go to waste, then by all means, go for it,” Abbee explained as Chris entered the room. “He told you exactly how to make the most of this summer, and anyone with half a brain could do that, so everything that happens next is on you.”

“What’s going on?” Chris asked Charlotte, noticing the tension between Justin and Abbee.

“Lateness here ran his mouth because being told he needs to put in some effort to have this summer mean anything got his panties in a bunch,” Charlotte explained bluntly, causing Abbee to chuckle.

“Look, I’m just saying the dude could afford to chill out,” Justin explained. “We aren’t all teenage delinquents.”

“Then prove it,” Abbee said. “We probably have to get moving to make it to the training ground in time. You ready?”

“Is that a serious question?” Justin asked. “It’s Day 0, how hard can it be?”

The other three looked at one another before laughing.

“What’s so funny?” Justin asked, feeling like he was missing something.

“Should we tell him?” Chris asked the other two.

“Nah, he has it under control,” Charlotte retorted, though struggling to keep the laughter to herself.

“Guys, seriously, what do you know?”

“The reason we are going out there is so he can gauge where we are at…” Abbee started, hoping Justin would figure it out…

“And?”

“Well that means we are going to battle…” Abbee continued, starting to feel bad for him.

“Goddamn Justin…” Chris said, starting to sound concerned.

“There are two ways this could go down,” Charlotte explained. “Either we all battle him, so he can see where we are at first hand. Or we battle each other…”

“Battling each other doesn’t sound too bad…” Justin replied, hoping that was what happened.

“Except there are five of us, so even if we do pair off, someone is probably going to battle him…” Abbee explained…

“Oh f**k…” Justin muttered, causing Charlotte to burst into laughter.

Abbee looked at the time, before realizing Dylan hadn’t come out of his room.

“You guys go ahead, I’m just gonna get my Pokemon from my room,” Abbee explained, before making her way down the hallway. As the others left she could hear Justin starting to freak out about the one in five chance of having to battle Jon on the first day.

Abbee walked down the hallway, passing her room, and stopping by the one next to hers. The one she saw Dylan enter before.

“Hey, Dylan,” she called out as she knocked on the door. “If we don’t head out now we will probably be late.”

There was silence for a few moments until the door opened, and Dylan stepped out. Without saying a word, he closed the door behind him, making his way towards the exit, Abbee slightly confused at his silence, before following him out.

*******

“So you all probably gathered that you will be battling each other today,” Jon explained, as Abbee and Dylan joined the rest of the group, making it just in time. “Some of you might have even realized that we have an odd number, so I will need to get in on the action…”

“Oh no…” Justin muttered, before realizing he had actually said it out loud.

Jon chuckled.

“To keep it fair, we will draw for it,” Jon explained, pulling out five playing cards. “Here I have two hearts, two spades and a joker. You will all pick a card, and that will determine who battles who. Hearts will battle one another, as will spades. Joker on the other hand, will be up against me.”

Jon held out the five face-down cards, before speaking up.

“So who’s up first?”

Charlotte and Chris, both stood forward, eager to be the first, with Chris getting just in front of Charlotte, getting a card first. Charlotte grabbed the second one, with Dylan moving forward to get the third.

“You want to go first?” Abbee asked, noticing Justin was pale as a sheet. “If the joker is in there, you have a 50/50 chance of not getting it if you go first.”

“You know that won’t make a difference…” Justin replied, as Abbee shrugged, picking a card, leaving Justin to grab the last one.

Once they all returned to their places, Jon spoke up.

“Can the two trainers with a spade please step forward,” Jon asked, as Charlotte revealed her card. Chris chuckled to himself as he revealed his own matching card.

“This will be interesting,” Charlotte said. “Time to show everyone that that last win was a bit of a fluke…”

“Keep dreaming,” Chris laughed.

“Save it for the battle,” Jon said. “What about the two trainers with a heart?”

Dylan stepped forward silently, as Abbee sighed, stepping forward.

“Sorry Justin,” Abbee said quietly.

“Don’t be…” Justin replied equally quietly.

“So that means I’ll be battling you Justin,” Jon said with a grin. “Lucky…”

Jon had the group clear the space where the trainers would be battling, setting up Chris and Charlotte up for their battle, with all of the group, bar Justin who was holding off a panic attack, watching with great anticipation, given the amount of tension between the two trainers that had been shown since they arrived.

“It will be a 3 Pokemon Battle. Both of you select a Pokeball, but don’t let the Pokemon out,” Jon explained. “Under normal circumstances, if the other person has their Pokemon out first, go ahead and give yourself the advantage, you’d be stupid not to. But I want to train you to be able to get a good start in any match, regardless of the set-up…”

Charlotte did what she had done last time she was about to battle Chris, analyzed his team, trying to figure out her strongest lead. She knew he had a Charizard, Kingdra, Dragonair and Gabite. Eventually she chose a Pokeball containing a Pokemon she knew should decimate Charizard on any day, but had learnt a trick that Chris hadn’t seen yet, which would wreak havoc on his whole team, though his Gabite could pose issues. That and all of Chris’ Pokemon were male. Either way, for a leading Pokemon against him it was her best bet.

Chris selected a Pokemon, before Jon called out.

“Begin!”

Charlotte pressed the button on her Pokeball, as a light emerged, materializing as a Luxray on the field, who saw Chris, and snarled, remembering losing to him last time. Chris pressed the button on his, revealing a serpentine Pokemon. Dragonair.


“Brilliant,” Charlotte thought to herself, as Chris called out a command.

“Dragon Tail!” Chris shouted, as the Dragonair leapt forward, flying through the air towards Luxray, darting from side to side, preparing to dodge any counter attacks that may come from its target. However Chris found himself confused by Charlotte and Luxray’s reaction to this, or lack thereof. Usually Luxray would be launching powerful electric attacks…

When Dragonair was nearby, Charlotte finally called out a command.

“Play Rough!”

Luxray lowered itself to pounce, as his tail began to wave excitedly. Once Dragonair launched its attack, flipping forward to strike Luxray with his tail. Luxray pounced, taking the attack, but also launching one that was more effective against Dragonair.

Luxray grabbed Dragonair with his strong jaws, biting down to hold it in place, but not hard enough to do any damage, before shaking his head, swinging the dragon type around like a Houndour with a stuffed toy. When Luxray finally let go, Dragonair was thrown into the air, and hit the ground hard, unable to battle.

Irritably, Chris called back Dragonair and was torn as to which Pokemon to send out next. Gabite would be immune to Luxray’s attacks, however was less experienced in battle and lacked the strength Charizard did. Charizard on the other hand was stronger than Gabite, but knew a Ground type move or two, but was more at risk of Luxray’s electric attacks.

In the end Chris went with the riskier option, having faith his Charizard could take down the Luxray. He pressed the button on his Pokeball, sending out his starter Pokemon, the Pseudo-Dragon flying into the air.

Charlotte grinned to herself, knowing what was coming. Her last battle against Chris ended with humiliation, as his Charizard pulled out an Earthquake, taking out her type-advantaged Luxray. Something she didn’t want to happen again, so had prepared for.

“Fly up in the air, and circle above it!” Chris called out, as Charizard began to ascend, similar to their last battle. One of the issues with Earthquake was that Charizard needed to make contact with the ground, the closer to Luxray, the more damaging it would be, but in the air, it would be harder for Charlotte and Luxray to pick where the attack was going to come from. This was how he beat her last time.

“Charge!” Charlotte called out, as static electricity began building around Luxray. This would power his next attack up even more.

“Earthquake!” Chris called out, as Charizard descended, darting in different directions to throw Luxray off. Last time he did this, Luxray used a Thunder attack that missed, given the inaccuracy of it, and how nimble the target was.

“Discharge!” Charlotte called out as Chris’ stomach dropped. This one was new.

Chris watched in horror as unlike last time, where a single, powerful bolt of lightning was launched from Luxray, the ground was torn up as electricity was launched out in every direction, making it impossible for Charizard to dodge. Normally it was a weaker attack than the targeted electrical attacks but the Charge was enough to power it to well beyond what a Thunder attack would have done.

Charizard hit the ground, creating the earthquake attack, knocking Luxray unconscious, whilst taking the full force of the Discharge and falling unconscious himself. Both trainers were now calling back their Pokemon, however Charlotte had a significant advantage and they both knew it. Chris had two Pokemon left, and Charlotte knew what they both were. And she had a Pokemon with a type advantage against both of them.

“Go Roserade!” Charlotte said with a grin, as Chris silently sent out his last Pokemon for the battle, Gabite. Whilst he had a Kindgra as well, in this environment, Kingdra would be at a significant disadvantage, even though it was more experienced and physically stronger than Gabite.

“Leech Seed!” Charlotte called out, as Roserade launched a cluster of glowing seeds towards her target, which made contact before exploding into a cluster of thorny vines, tangling around the Gabite. Whilst Gabite’s movement wasn’t impeded, the seeds had taken effect.

“Dragon Claw!” Chris called out, as Gabite lunged forward, slashing at Roserade, who took the attack, staggered slightly before sapping health from Gabite, and following her next order.

“Grassy Terrain!”

Roserade held the two roses on the end of her arms against the ground, as long grass exploded from the earth beneath them, powering Roserade’s grass moves.

“Another Dragon Claw!” Chris commanded, as Gabite lunged forward and slashed again, with Roserade taking a second consecutive hit, before having his health sapped again. At a guess, Gabite was still at three quarters of its energy, with Roserade teetering on half. One more attack could possibly put Roserade down, however Chris had seen this strategy before. Next move would be a glass cannon attack. Something like Leaf Storm, to do big damage, but had a higher chance of missing, especially since Charlotte still has one Pokemon left. Chris called Gabite back a little, waiting to see how Charlotte would move, and reacting to that.

“Magical Leaf!” Charlotte called out, as Chris grinned. Magical Leaf was a low level Grass-attack, which was guaranteed to hit, that Roserade had used when it was still a Roselia. It would barely leave a scratch on Gabite…

“Push through it, and hit it with a Dragon Rush!” Chris called out, as Gabite lunged forward, ready to take the full force of the weaker Grass type move, and finish of Roserade.

Except that wasn’t what happened. Instead, the swarm of glowing leaves was over twice the size it was when Chris had last seen it used, striking Gabite hard, and knocking it to the ground. Whilst it still had a small amount of health, Leech Seed quickly finished the job, sapping it and leaving Gabite unconscious.

“What the hell?” Chris asked in shock.

“Well I’m flattered,” Jon said with a laugh as he stepped forward to face Charlotte. “You spent a lot of time watching my battles in the High Seas Tournament, didn’t you?”

“Perhaps…” Charlotte replied, a little surprised he knew those were some of his strategies that she adapted for her team.

“What did she do?” asked Abbee, trying to piece it together.

“Firstly, she found herself in the same situation I did against Ethan Caldwell. An electric type trying to take out an airborne opponent, but managed to take it down better than I did back then. Then the battle between Roserade and Gabite used some strategies from both my match against Ethan and Cassandra.” Jon explained. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but you let your Pokemon take attacks from a Pokemon with a type disadvantage, to buy time to strengthen your Pokemon, and then used Roserade’s Technician ability to take a weaker move that was more likely to hit, and use it to finish the battle. That it?”

“Pretty much.” Charlotte explained. “Though it was a mix of that, and trying to not make the same mistakes I did last time Chris beat me.”

“So your battling history informed your decisions?” Jon asked, as Charlotte nodded. “What about you Chris?”

“Yeah, I did as well,” Chris replied. “Last time we battled Charizard dodged Luxray’s attacks and took it down with an Earthquake. That and I hadn’t seen Magical Leaf used since before Roserade evolved, and back then it didn’t hit anywhere near as hard…”

“Well you’ve both done one thing well,” Jon explained. “Whilst typings played a large role in how you battled, they weren’t the be-all and end-all, which is what I want to see. However, Charlotte, I’d suggest using the buff strategy earlier in the match. You could have quite easily adapted it to beat Dragonair, and had Roserade hold its own against the other two as well, and saved Luxray for a bit more of an emergency. Chris, it’s good that you’re taking note of what has worked for you in the past, but your downfall was relying too much on it. Charlotte, I presume you knowing his team is why you opened with Luxray? You’re going to have plenty of time to come up with new strategies and put them to the test over the summer. I’d be focusing on that.”

Charlotte gleamed at the victory and the praise, whilst Chris hung his head a little at the embarrassment. Charlotte managed to beat him, with only one fainted Pokemon to show for it. Considering how supposedly evenly matched they had been for years, this was a shock.

Charlotte called back Roserade, as the ground returned to normal with the Grassy Terrain now no longer active, as Jon called the next pair up.

“Abbee, Dylan, you two are up next. Show me what you got!”

For Jon, this was the match he was most interested in seeing. The daughter of the famous battler, Richard Strauss, who was here because her father claimed to have taught her all she knows, against Dylan Squier, the one who had said a total of two sentences since his arrival. To a degree, Dylan’s reserved nature reminded him a lot of himself at that age.

“You two know the drill. Choose a Pokemon, but don’t let it out until I say,” Jon explained. “Be creative.”

The duo both selected a Pokeball, as Jon called out.

”Begin!

Abbee let out her first Pokemon, Ariados, as Charlotte made a quiet shriek at the sight of the metre tall arachnid. Dylan sighed, realizing he had made a mistake in his Pokemon choice, before sending out his Sceptile.

Jon couldn’t help but grimace at the significant disadvantage Dylan had out of the gate. He didn’t want to be the sort to write the match off this early, but based on Dylan’s reaction, he had already done the same.

“Double Team!” Dylan called out, Justin, Chris and Charlotte surprised hearing him speak, as Sceptile split into multiple apparitions, only one being the real deal. Jon thought to himself that he’d have done the same in those circumstances, remembering the battle against Victini. He had renewed hope that Dylan could save this.

“Sticky Web!” Abbee called out gleefully, as Ariados launched the aforementioned web all over the ground beneath Dylan’s side of the field. Whilst the apparitions were still there, they were all now slowed down.

“Now Toxic Spikes!” Abbee called out with more excitement, as Ariados began littering the battlefield with yet another hazard.

“Dual Chop!” Dylan commanded, panic becoming more prevalent in his voice, as Sceptile attempted to move forward through the difficult terrain. Abbee said nothing, as Sceptile landed the attack on Ariados, however Abbee took that moment of exposure to give herself the advantage.

“Cross Poison!” Abbee called out, as Ariados slashed at Sceptile with its fangs, hitting a weak spot, causing extra damage, especially with Ariados’ Sniper ability. Sceptile went down, as Dylan called it back to it’s Pokeball.

Dylan sent out his next Pokemon, as a Walrein materialized on the battlefield in front of him. This Pokemon too however was also slowed down by the web, and unlike Sceptile, got caught up in the toxic spikes, leaving it poisoned. Dylan cringed, as Abbee didn’t hesitate in making her next command.

“Sucker Punch!”

Ariados darted forward, launching itself into the air towards Walrein, as Charlotte jumped at the sight of the spider Pokemon moving so quickly. With one of its front legs, it slashed at Walrein who took the hit, not overly phased, before retaliating.

“Icicle Spear!” Dylan instructed, as Jon watched, eager to see where this went. Icicle Spear could hit twice, three times, or if Dylan was lucky, four or five times, which could be enough to put Ariados on the ropes.

Two spears were launched before the attack ended, causing some damage to Ariados’ but far from what was needed to put it down, as Walrein cringed at the poison doing damage to its insides.

“Leech Life!” Abbee said, as Ariados lodged its fangs into Walrein, and the energy began to drain from it, leaving Ariados looking refreshed.

“Icicle Spear again!” Dylan called out, trying not to show how panicked he was.

Walrein launched another attack, this time with four spears hitting Ariados, who took the attack hard, but still clung on to the large Pokemon, fangs draining its strength, as it took more damage from the poison.

“Keep leeching!”

Walrein slowed, as Ariados continued the attack, before finally letting go, leaving the exhausted ice type to try one more time.

“Again!” Dylan called out frantically. Jon watched in anticipation, knowing that this matchup could go either way.

Walrein launched a final Icicle Spear, this time with only two spears hitting, before collapsing on the brink of unconsciousness from the poison, struggling to stay awake, as Ariados scuttled awkwardly towards it, also feeling the exhaustion.

“Fell Stinger…” Abbee said, as Jon realized what she was doing.

The attack hit Walrein, knocking it out, which caused Ariados’ attack power to double. Now Abbee just had to finish off one more Pokemon, and she would have a near perfect victory.

Dylan sighed, as he called back Walrein, before sending in his final Pokemon, Flygon.

“Oh crap...” Abbee muttered when she realized that Flygon was not going to be affected by the arena traps Ariados had set earlier. Which meant that Ariados was now slower, and severely exhausted from the last fight.

“Dragon Rush!” Dylan called out, finally feeling a little more confident that he may be able to take one of Abbee’s Pokemon down.

“You gotta hit it first with Leech Life!” Abbee cried out, as Ariados launched itself into the oncoming Flygon, attempting to dig its fangs in before it took enough damage to fall unconscious. Ariados was thrown back by the attack, as everyone watched in great anticipation.

Abbee thanked her lucky stars when Ariados stood, more energized than before thanks to managing to land the Leech Life in time. Meanwhile, Flygon was looking exhausted, having taken the attack. Both Pokemon were launching heavy attacks, with the next one to take a hit to be the one to go down, however Flygon had a significant advantage in speed. Abbee needed something more than just a big hit. Like what Charlotte did before, something that will focus more on getting a hit in than just hitting hard.

“Earthquake!” Dylan cried out, however Abbee was equally quick to command.

“Sucker Punch!”

Ariados leapt forward, slashing at Flygon, causing it to crash to the ground, as Ariados remained standing.

Dylan called back his third Pokemon, looking at the ground in embarrassment.

“Abbee, you did really well,” Jon explained as he stepped forward. “Some words of advice though, arena hazards are great, but if someone has the right Pokemon, they can be removed, and some Pokemon, like Flygon, are unaffected by them.”

“It’s always tempting to try and get a single Pokemon win, but had Dylan been a little luckier with those Icicle Spears, Ariados would have been knocked out, and now if your hazards are removed, they are gone for good,” Jon continued. “Consider finding a way to remove Ariados once the hazards are out, and using another Pokemon that can take down the opponent in less hits. Then if they remove the hazards, Ariados can bring them back.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Abbee said cheerfully, as she called Ariados back to its Pokeball.

Jon made his way to Dylan, as moved to the sidelines.

“I think the thing that did the most damage in there was your nerves,” Jon said, putting his hand on Dylan’s shoulder. “It seemed like you already had accepted defeat the moment you saw the first match up?”

Dylan nodded silently as Jon continued.

“I think you had the skill to put up more of a fight, and maybe even win there. You just need to learn to cope a little easier under pressure,” Jon said,.“We will work on that in one on one training. Sound good?”

“Yeah…” Dylan replied, sounding defeated, as Jon turned to face the group.

“Come on Justin, you and I are up…” Jon called out with a grin.

“I know, but you better not be using Latios…” Justin retorted jokingly as he made his way to the other side of the field, really trying to cover up how nervous he was in the face of this battle.

“Well, even in junior tournaments, there are no rules about using Legendary Pokemon, so you may end up battling a Legendary outside of here," Jon explained. “But no, I will hold off using Latios.”

Both Jon and Justin selected a Pokeball, before the match began.

Jon sent out his Blaziken, as Justin breathed a sigh of relief, sending out Greninja.

“Chris, you mind doing the honors?” Jon called out.

“Begin.”

“Hydro Pump!” Justin called out. He knew there were a total of sixteen Pokemon that weren’t Legendary or Mega-Evolved that were quicker than Greninja and Blaziken wasn’t one of them. Regardless of its strength, Hydro-Pump should decimate it. It should…

“Protect!” Jon called out with a grin, as Blaziken blocked, creating a barrier to negate the attack fully.

“You can’t do that forever!” Justin called out.

“I don’t need to…” Jon chuckled, as Blaziken began to glow for a second.

“Oh s**t…” Charlotte muttered from the sidelines realizing what Jon had done. This ability was on display during his High Seas Tournament matches. Speed Boost. Blaziken might have been slower out of the gate, but all it needed was one turn to wind up faster than Greninja.

“Endure!” Jon called out, as Justin instructed another Hydro Pump.

Blaziken took the full attack, forced to kneel on the ground, however glowed again as its speed increased, but managed to stand again.

“Reversal!” Jon called out, as Blaziken lashed out, using a fighting move that's power was relative to the energy of the Pokemon using it. With Blaziken now on the bare minimum, Reversal was one of the most powerful moves, equivalent to Self Destruct.

Greninja crashed to the ground like a ragdoll as Justin called the Pokemon back, sending out his next one. One even faster than Greninja. Ninjask.

Jon could see his reasoning behind it, but it was too late. Blaziken was already well and truly faster than Ninjask. However there was one guaranteed way to finish off Blaziken, though Jon was unsure if Ninjask could. He would give Justin the chance to do it, though if he didn’t do it now, chances are he either can’t with Ninjask, or doesn’t know how to…

“Double Team!” Jon called out as Blaziken disappeared, and a number of apparitions appeared around the arena, with Blaziken being amongst them.

“Agility!”

Ninjask began to dart around, gaining speed itself, more so than normal with its own Speed Boost Ability, making it faster than Blaziken.

“Dual Wingbeat!” Justin called out, causing Ninjask to launch two blades of air at Blaziken, missing and hitting one of the copies, as Jon commanded Blaziken to use Double Team again, knowing the chances of it hitting were now shrinking drastically, regardless of speed.

“Again, Dual Wingbeat!” Justin shouted, hoping for another hit, but expecting the worst, as it hit another copy.

“Double Team one more time!”

From there, a cycle began. Ninjask attempted to hit with high damage moves, missing Blaziken, before taking a hit from a Power-Up-Punch, dealing both damage and empowering Blaziken’s attack, with both Pokemon getting faster and faster, until both were nothing more than a blur.

After the fifth Power-Up Punch hit, Ninjask went down, with Justin calling it back and sending out his final Pokemon. Lucario.

“High Jump Kick!” Justin commanded, as Lucario leapt into the air at an impressive height.

“Protect!” Jon called out, as Blaziken prepared to take Lucario’s first hit. The Pokemon crashed into the barrier, leaving Blaziken unscathed and Lucario with recoil damage.

“Drain Punch!” Justin called out, hoping to restore Lucario’s energy, however missed, hitting one of the copies.

“Mirror Move.”

Blaziken leapt out, copying the move Lucario would have used against it, hitting it with a solid punch and draining its energy. Lucario hit the ground unconscious, as Blaziken stood, now with most of its energy regained.

“Goddamn…” Justin muttered as he called back Lucario.

“So what I saw from that,” Jon began. “You have a solid understanding of your Pokemon and their strengths, particularly their speed, and how to do big damage under normal circumstances. Truth is that any one of your Pokemon could have taken Blaziken down with one, possibly two moves that aren’t necessarily big hitters, but have side effects…”

“Wait, what?” Justin asked, trying to think over the moves his Pokemon knew.

“Blaziken got the upper hand over Greninja because of its Speed Boost ability. But Greninja knows a move called Role-Play, which would allow it to borrow that ability, which would have kept Greninja faster. Blaziken only was able to pull that Reversal trick because it had the upper hand on speed,” Jon explained. “As for Ninjask, you managed to get that upper hand back for speed which was great, but could have used Aerial Ace, which would hit regardless of how many copies there were on the field. Lucario had the most difficult time with it, as by that point Blaziken was powered up, but if it could land a Quick Attack or Extreme Speed, Blaziken would have gone down before it could land a hit.”

Justin's jaw dropped as he realised that every single one of those tactics would have beaten Blaziken near effortlessly, having used Jon's tactics against him.

“We will work on this over the summer,” Jon explained, before turning to Abbee. “I think you two would benefit from training together. Abbee, you could do with focusing more on dealing some damage and less on arena hazards and buffs, and Justin, you could do with using some of Abbee’s tricks to give yourself an edge before you go all out.”

Jon looked over the five young trainers who had all just battled. Abbee and Charlotte seemed fine, whilst Dylan, Justin and Chris seemed pretty downcast.

“Don’t stress too much about this. The whole point of being here is to improve. Use this as motivation to make sure when we do the same thing on the last day, we are all better going forward,” Jon explained, before checking his watch. “It’s 2pm now and dinner is at 6pm. I’m a hopeless cook myself, but Alyssa is pretty great at preparing meals, so I’m gonna relieve her of newborn duties, and she’s agreed to prepare dinner for tonight. Take some time to get comfortable, and get to know each other, and be in the dining room at 6pm.”

There was a general acknowledgement, though some of the people involved were less than enthusiastic given the show they had just put on, as Jon waved goodbye and made his way to the small house in the distance on the edge of the property.

“Well s**t…” Chris muttered as Jon walked into the distance.

“You’re telling me?” Justin asked. “I don’t know what’s worse, the fact he decimated my team with one Pokemon, or that he made it sound so easy for me to have taken that damn Blaziken down…”

“Don’t worry too much about it,” Abbee said, trying to reassure him. “Any one of us would have wound up in that position if we drew the Joker, and anyone who says otherwise is a liar. In all honesty, I would be interested to see him battle Dad...”

“I just wonder how he was able to set up that sort of test for me after a single attack...” Justin wondered.

“Sometimes one attack is all you need to see how a trainer thinks,” Charlotte explained. “Same went for Abbee, I could see nothing was going to be straightforward the moment she put out the Sticky Web. Really, I am seeing more after this, what he was saying about not just relying on type advantages but really thinking outside the box.”

“Look at you, being all studious on Day 0,” Chris jeered jokingly.

“Well if you want to beat me next time, you’d better do the same and catch up,” Charlotte retorted as Abbee choked back a laugh.

“What about you, silent type?” Justin asked Dylan, who hadn’t said a word since his match. “What do you think of all this?”

Abbee’s attention was caught as she waited to hear what the shaggy haired boy had to say.

“I don’t know,” Dylan replied, before turning, and making his way towards the lodge. “I’ll just have to get better.”

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

As the clock reached 5:45, the young trainers, bar Dylan, sat in the lounge of the common area, each in their own little world. Abbee sat on a couch with her Eevee on her lap, putting a brush through it’s already tidy and brushed fur, while Charlotte sat next to her with her tablet open, watching replays of some of the bigger League matches. The one on screen was Steven Stone against a trainer from Littleroot Town, though according to interviews, lived in Johto prior, called Brandon. Whilst Steven had won that match, Brandon didn’t make it easy for him.

On the chair opposite, Chris had a guidebook open for the Hoenn Region, that listed which wild Pokemon appeared in which area, whilst Justin sat on the floor against the wall, playing some sort of game on his phone.

The sounds of Abbee’s Eevee, and the battle highlights on Charlotte’s tablet was interrupted by the sound of a door opening, and someone making their way towards the dining room.

“Suppose that’s dinner?” Charlotte asked, closing the video, and placing her tablet on the coffee table, before making her way towards the source of the sound, with the others in the room not far behind her.

Whilst they expected to see Jon there, they were slightly surprised to see a woman in her early thirties setting the table with plates from the cupboard nearby.

“Hey, you guys must be Jon’s students,” the woman asked. “Someone mind giving me a hand?”

“Sure,” Abbee replied, before passing her Eevee to Chris, who acted like he had never held a cute Pokemon in his life, as she made her way to the cupboard to help the woman set the table.

“I’m Alyssa, Jon’s wife,” the woman said, before pulling a hair-band out of her pocket, and tying her light brown hair back. “We’d have both come for dinner, but it took Jon three hours to get Amelia to have a nap, and she is going to be asleep for a while, so he decided to stay with her.”

“I’m surprised he was willing to start the Summer Program, considering how young Amelia is?” Charlotte asked. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad he did, but he would have been pretty justified in waiting another year.”

“He offered to, but I could tell he really wanted to get this started,” Alyssa laughed. “He had the idea a year ago, and has been full-steam ahead getting it running. I think waiting another year would have driven him insane more than the lack of sleep is going to…”

Alyssa placed down a few plates before realizing something.

“I’m sorry, I come in here and ask for help, and don’t even ask you your names,” Alyssa said apologetically.

Everyone quickly introduced themselves, with Abbee being the last.

“There is also Dylan, but he tends to keep to himself,” Abbee explained. “I’ll go get him now, if dinner is almost ready.”

“That would be great,” Alyssa replied. “Jon would just say it’s his responsibility to make it for meals, but from what I’ve heard you all had a pretty big afternoon. And I’m sure Dylan would rather have a familiar face than some strange woman knocking on his door.”

Chris chuckled at Alyssa’s remarks, as he passed Abbee’s Eevee back to her as she walked out.

Abbee could hear the rest of them chatting as she climbed the stairs, making her way to Dylan’s room, knocking on the door.

“Hey, dinner’s almost ready...” Abbee called out. “And Jon’s wife is here to meet us.”

There was the sound of movement in the room, before the door opened, and Dylan walked out, still silent, though slightly surprised to see the Eevee.

“This is my Eevee,” Abbee said proudly. “Haven’t got a nickname for her, or chosen what to evolve her into, but for now she seems pretty happy.”

The Eevee cried happily, as Dylan gave her a scratch behind the ears, and the pair made their way downstairs to dinner in awkward silence, much to Abbee’s distaste.