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

[[Desolate Divine]]

Season 3 Episode 11: Pride

Spoiler:

“I can’t believe it,” Charlotte said, as she looked at the Master Ball in her hand, before yawning deeply. Through the high windows of the stadium, she could start to see colour rising in the sky from the east, marking the start of a new day. Opposite her stood Jon and his Mega Scizor, who had just knocked Deoxys out with a well placed attack. “Twice now…”

Jon nodded, though he was a little more sceptical than he let on. The evening before, or more accurately, the morning before, Scizor had beaten Deoxys, knocking it out. And whilst Deoxys followed instructions and didn’t rampage like it had the summer before, the more surprising part was when it had been let out of its Pokeball during this session, having rested, and not gone on the offensive like Jon and Charlotte were partially expecting. Like Jon and Charlotte’s other Pokemon, it seemed to be battling without perceiving the battle itself as a threat, and retaliating. Even when Jon got to sending out Scizor again that morning, Deoxys fought it the same way it did his other Pokemon, albeit a little more determined to win.

It was shortly before five, Sunday morning, only two days since the prom. Charlotte had left the prom at half past nine, going to bed, as did Jon, and waking up a little before midnight to use the stadium to train Deoxys in secret, without students, or more importantly, their parents, realising Jon was training the Pokemon that nearly wiped out the island, on the same property where their kids were sleeping. They had trained until four, before going back to sleep, Charlotte until nine. The evening before, they had done similar, Charlotte getting to sleep at approximately nine, waking up at midnight, and training all during the early morning until five, knowing this would be their last chance to train Deoxys before the challenge, and if they couldn’t be comfortable with Deoxys now, or rather, the control Charlotte had over Deoxys as it’s trainer, it would not be used in the battle against Beth Thomas of the College of the North Wind, giving Charlotte somewhat of a disadvantage.

“So what do you think?” Charlotte asked Jon, eying the Master Ball. “Deoxys hasn’t lashed out since we started training it, and now, your Pokemon are throwing everything they’ve got at it, and it isn’t even blinking…”

“I don’t think I have ever seen Deoxys blink to begin with,” Jon joked, earning an eye roll from Charlotte.

“Point remains,” Charlotte replied. “At some point, we have to stop treating Deoxys like a ticking time bomb, and treat it like a Pokemon. Do you think that time could be now?”

Jon’s brow furrowed, as he considered Charlotte’s question. She was right. The appeal Jon made to keep possession of Deoxys, and then allow it to stay with Charlotte, was that he wanted to train it, rehabilitate it, and live a normal life. And whilst Deoxys had exceeded both their expectations during the four months of training that Jon and Charlotte had subjected it to, not lashing out, beyond self defence when Latios had a minor panic attack and attacked it, Deoxys had still proven itself to be an exceptionally dangerous Pokemon, it taking the combined efforts of Chris, Charlotte, Dylan and Abbee to keep it occupied, only really being able to contain it when Justin returned with Regieleki, and only able to be captured when Jon returned with Latios.

“I don’t know,” Jon answered, as Charlotte’s shoulders slumped. “But honestly, I can’t say that my answer will ever change…”

“In that case, what’s the point?” Charlotte asked, but Jon gestured at her to let him finish.

“I’m not the person who needs to make that decision,” Jon answered. “The result of the hearing was that Deoxys would remain in my possession until a time when it was safe enough for you to take responsibility for. Well, Deoxys is safe enough for it to be in your possession. You are it’s trainer, the one it is bonded with, and given its telepathic capabilities, that is an important bond…”

Charlotte realised where Jon was going with this, feeling both a sense of pride, and also a fear growing inside her.

“You’re the person best equipped to make the decision on when the right time to use Deoxys in a real battle is,” Jon answered. “Better than I can…”

“Well if it were Rayquaza at this point, and you wouldn’t be thrown into an underground prison, would you battle with Rayquaza?” Charlotte answered. Jon frowned.

“The two Pokemon have very distinct personalities. It’s like asking if I’d lend you my car because I lend it to Dylan…”

“Would you?” Charlotte asked, now curious.

“No, because my insurance won’t cover you, and s**t happens,” Jon answered. “Granted, if Dylan didn’t have his car, I’d change the insurance…”

Charlotte grinned at the somewhat diplomatic answer, before persisting.

“Different personalities aside, if Rayquaza had rampaged, and you had it to the point where it wasn’t showing any violent tendencies in training battles, would you consider it safe?”

Jon thought over the question, before relenting.

“Safe to battle with, yes,” Jon answered. “But I didn’t capture Rayquaza planning to battle it. And I don’t think I can release it yet. I think it will be too restless after being with me, battling on an island for the last two and a half years, and it may cause trouble…”

Charlotte groaned, having hoped for a simple yes or no answer from Jon. She would have been fine with Jon making the call and saying Deoxys wasn’t ready. Or saying Deoxys was. But deferring it to her, meant that she had to live with whatever consequences came of it.

“I’ll bring it with me to Jubilife anyway, given how useful it proved when we were attacked,” Charlotte answered. “And will think it over a little more.”

Jon nodded in agreement.

“Always wise to sleep on it…”

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

It was nearing eleven that morning when the waiter dropped off the two plates at the table in the cafe where Dylan and Abbee sat, albeit awkwardly. Part of the fact that all the Eon Academy students had rented outfits from a few local hire shops for the prom, had meant that there were over a hundred outfits needing to be returned to three or four different shops, a detail Abbee had skimmed over until she was back in her room in the lodge, getting ready for bed after the prom. The next day had frantically been spent making sure everyone knew to get their outfits ready to return by that evening, and recruiting Dylan to drive his car, now comically full with bags containing suits and dresses, into town with her to return them.

They had returned them first thing Sunday morning, taking over an hour to get to the different stores after they opened at nine, and making sure the right rentals went to the right places. When the car was finally empty, Abbee suggested getting brunch, figuring it might be the last opportunity they could do that this summer. Internally however, Abbee was worried about this being the last opportunity to talk about the other night. She had intentionally waited until their food had arrived, as to not be interrupted by wait staff at the cafe, before bringing it up.

Looking up from the pancakes that sat in a neat pile on the plate in front of her, she looked at Dylan, who was cutting a section off the large omelette that sat in front of him.

“I can’t believe it’s over,” Abbee said with a sigh. “For weeks, all I was doing was planning and preparing for the prom. Now it’s over, I don’t know what I’ll do with my time…”

“Eat pancakes?” Dylan asked, nodding towards the plate in front of her. Abbee grinned.

“All the pancakes I can,” Abbee remarked. “Maybe train for this battle between servings…”

Considering Dylan was the most disadvantaged on paper, he was surprisingly relaxed about his battle, more so because the anxiety he would normally have allocated to the battle was around what happened after, making the battle seem insignificant.

“So you’re meeting Brent?” Abbee asked, concerning Dylan with her timing. He nodded.

“He’s offered for me to stay a few days in Canalave. I called yesterday to confirm, and it’s all in place,” Dylan answered between bites of his omelette. “We arrive in Jubilife next Saturday, battle on Sunday, and I’ll be meeting Brent Sunday night…”

“I don’t know how I’d be sleeping until then,” Abbee remarked. “I’m worried enough about this battle alone…”

She said the words, though realised they weren’t entirely true. The battle worried her, however once the battle was over, she’d be returning to Johto to gather her belongings, before moving less than a fortnight later to Unova, starting a job at the Gym there, and whilst she was excited for the job, and what could come from it, she was terrified of moving to a new city, alone.

Realising that they’d never talk about it if she didn’t work up the nerve to bring it up, Abbee spoke, asking the question that was on her mind.

“On Friday night, when you got that email before leaving…” Abbee started. “You never answered the question…”

“What question?” Dylan asked, though knowing full well what it was.

“Why did you turn her down?”

Dylan stopped eating, as he considered whether or not he should just say it.

“I turned her down because there was someone else that I was thinking a lot about,” Dylan answered, forcing himself to not look away. “She already knew that was the case, and took it really well…”

Honestly, Abbee had expected as much. What she hadn’t expected was how much she liked hearing that. However, she had to be sure…

“Is this someone else from the Academy?” Abbee asked. Dylan nodded, which prompted her to continue. “An intern?”

“We intentionally don’t have many students seventeen or older,” Dylan answered. “So you’d wanna hope so…”

“Is it Charlotte?”

The question was posed as a joke. Deep down, Abbee knew the answer, and when Dylan gave her a look of utter confusion, she couldn’t help but give a wide smile. Dylan after a moment, resumed eating, not wanting to make a big deal out of this, on the chance that Abbee didn’t feel the same way.

“About the other night…” Abbee said apprehensively. “I wasn’t completely honest.”

“How so?” Dylan asked casually, taking another bite of his breakfast.

“I told you I wanted to be able to look back on that night, and remember being with my best friend,” Abbee answered. “Really, I want to look back on that night, and remember being with you…”

Dylan felt his heart skip a beat hearing this. However, given Abbee’s affinity for making light of these sorts of serious moments, he felt it only right to do the same.

“I didn’t realise there was a difference,” Dylan said casually, taking a sip of the apple juice in the glass in front of him.

“A big difference…”

The pair sat in relative silence, hearing the chatter of those also having meals at the tables around them, oblivious to the conversation that was going on between the pair.

“Look, I’ll be real with you,” Abbee said, growing slightly tired of dancing around the subject. “I’m glad I had you with me for the prom. I’m glad we got to dance together, even if it was for just one song. And I guess what I’m trying to say is that before I was with Chris, and since he and I broke up, I’ve wanted more from you than just being friends…”

“Best friends?” Dylan asked, forcing himself to remain aloof. Abbee looked at him blankly for a moment, before giving up and laughing.

“More…” Abbee said, before continuing. “But at the same time, I don’t think what happened Friday night was the wisest thing I could have done…”

Abbee sighed. She had seen Charlotte come into the hall, seeming anxious about something, and the pair had listened to Jon’s attempt to reason with Chris, who she had realised was taking the sight of her and Dylan being so close badly, and was lashing out.

“Charlotte made that abundantly clear,” Dylan explained. Whilst he held no grudge towards Charlotte, and vice versa, the next day Charlotte had told Dylan that Chris was on the brink of apologising to him, and trying to make things right between them, and between him and Abbee. “Jon also told me that Chris has said he is done with the Academy…”

Abbee nodded, having heard that from Charlotte, and remorseful that things had gotten that way. She wanted to be friends with Chris, and was open to it. And it seemed like her not thinking about how her slow dancing with Dylan would affect Chris, seemed to have shattered any chance of that.

“What I’m trying to say is that I like you, as more than just a friend, and unless you’re a lot more dense than I realise, I think I’m pretty safe in assuming you feel the same way…” Abbee explained. “But I think anything happening between us right now, is a recipe for disaster…”

“Because of Chris?” Dylan asked.

“Because of everything,” Abbee sighed. “Chris is a small part of it. I don’t want to risk acting on how I feel about you, and realising I’m rebounding when it’s too late. Or risk this being me struggling with moving to Nimbasa and being alone there. And I know you have a lot on your plate right now, with Brent, and the potential bad news that might come from meeting him…”

Dylan nodded. He wished this wasn’t the case, but Abbee was right.

“So what then?”

“Let’s just be friends… For now…” Abbee said. “Friends without having to worry about crossing lines by setting each other up, or grudges with less than pleasant partners. Let’s be friends, and work past what we have going on in our own lives, and see where we are at after that…”

“You know even if I agree to this, I’ll still be coming to see you in Nimbasa, once you’re settled in?” Dylan asked.

“I’d be pretty disappointed if you didn’t,” Abbee retorted. “But let’s do that. And come next summer, see where we are at, and go from there…”


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

“Regieleki, dodge it!” Justin called out.

Dragonite darted forward with the Dragon Rush attack that Chris had instructed, striking the space that Regieleki had inhabited almost a moment earlier. Dragonite wasn’t a particularly slow Pokemon by any means, however, compared to Regieleki, it may as well have been a Shuckle. Regieleki had been able to dodge the attack effortlessly, as Chris swore under his breath, though not meaning anything hostile by it. Justin couldn’t help but grin, especially knowing that Regieleki had enough time to follow up with its own attack.

“Now, Thunder Cage!”

Regieleki cried out happily, launching its own attack, trapping Dragonite in a snare of lightning. However before Justin could follow up, his attention was drawn to something in his vision, that took him a moment to realise wasn’t there. The shimmers of light, that looked like flickering stars, appearing and disappearing, obstructing his view.

“Oh s**t,” Justin said quietly, realising what was happening. He quickly shut his eyes, covering them with his hands for good measure, as Dragonite broke out of Thunder Cage, and launched its counterattack.

Chris watched as Dragonite managed to hit Regieleki with a Dragon Tail attack, looking over towards Justin to see the look on his training partner’s face when his extraordinarily quick Pokemon took an attack from his average speed Pokemon. It took him a moment to see something was wrong.

“Dragonite, hold back!” Chris called out, as Dragonite relaxed, while Chris walked towards Justin, cautious of Regieleki, given the lack of facial features that Chris relied on to help him distinguish a Pokemon’s disposition. Only Justin really understood the Regieleki. He approached Justin, who held his palms tight over his eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“Migraine,” Justin answered. “Not here yet, but it’s coming…”

Chris’ eyes widened. He had shared a room with Justin the summer before and a small handful of times, this had happened. Justin was lucky, in that his migraines tended to not last very long, an hour at most, however there were the occasional ones that put him out of commission for half the day.

“I’ll get the lights…” Chris said, remembering what Justin had asked of him during his attacks the year before.

Chris, after returning Dragonite, quickly made his way towards the remote that was mounted on the wall, pressing the button on it which caused the motorised blinds on the windows to lower, blocking out nearly all of the natural light, while Chris found the light switch. By the time Chris had returned, a bottle of water from the fridge on the edge of the arena in hand, the only source of light in the room was Regieleki, who slowly hopped from one foot to another in nervousness.

“Sorry buddy,” Justin said weakly to the Pokemon, the visual warning signs already gone, and the pain arriving, and the light emanating from the Legendary Pokemon only managing to worsen it. He fumbled for Regieleki’s Pokeball, making sure to look away so he didn’t see the bright light of Regieleki being returned to the Pokeball, before he fumbled in the near pitch black room towards the bench on the sideline, where he could lay down. He spent a moment draining the bottle of its contents, knowing that keeping hydrated would shorten the length of the migraine, and given the pain in the side of his head, it was an easy thing he could do.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Chris asked, his tone showing more concern than Justin had ever really heard in it.

“Another bottle of water?” Justin asked quietly. “Maybe two. And don’t make any loud sudden noises…”

Chris didn’t respond, knowing the sound would worsen the pain, before opening the fridge quietly, and getting another two bottles. After handing them to Justin, who placed one under the back of his neck, and drank from the other, Chris took a risk by asking a question.

“Would painkillers help?” Chris asked softly.

“Not for me. They never have,” Justin replied, before wincing. “I caught it before it set right in, so it should be fine before too long. Don’t feel like you need to stick around…”

“I got nowhere better to be,” Chris replied, not exaggerating. There was nothing left between him and Dylan after Friday night, and by extension, Abbee had been avoiding him more than ever, granted he was okay with this. He knew that if he were to run into Jon, he’d be lectured, and if he ran into Charlotte, it’d likely be worse. With Candice now on her way back to Snowpoint, Justin wasn’t otherwise occupied. “I’ll just sit quietly, and be on hand if you need anything…”

Justin groaned, not in the mood to argue with Chris if he wanted to spend his Sunday morning keeping him company as he suffered in the dark. He simply kept his eyes closed, as natural light filtered in through cracks in the doorway, and attempted to keep his breathing calm and controlled.

The pair sat in relative silence for a little over an hour, the only breaks to the silence being the odd groan of pain, or Justin asking for another bottle of water, half the time acting as a cold-pack against the back of his neck. Chris, who sat on the ground with his back against the wall, had partially dozed off, when the pain began to subside, and Justin slowly sat upright, continuing to drink, and control his breathing. When the pain had all but disappeared, Justin stood slowly to his feet, stretching his cramped limbs, and sighing half-contentedly. He wasn’t himself, and knew he wouldn’t be likely for the rest of the day. He still felt a little light headed, and somewhat weak, though it was very slowly but gradually disappearing.

The sigh was enough to stir Chris’ attention, who had dozed off a few minutes earlier.

“Feeling better?” Chris asked. Justin nodded.

“I’ve had migraines since I was little, but mine tend to be pretty short compared to the average,” Justin said, somewhat weakly. “It’s on its way out. And my breakfast didn’t make a reappearance, which is always good…”

Chris nodded, remembering having to quickly find a bucket for Justin the year before during one of his attacks.

“Well, I’ve had less this summer than last, so if I’m lucky, I might have less next summer,” Justin tried to joke. “I won’t need you to find me a bucket…”

“I won’t be here next summer…”

Justin sighed. He had known that Chris had flipped out at Jon during the prom, disrespecting him and the Academy, and telling Jon he was done, and not coming back after this summer. He had made his own comment, hoping Chris had just been upset and acting out in the moment, and if given the opportunity to pretend the incident didn’t happen, he might have taken it. Chris heard the sigh, and felt the need to explain himself.

“I’ve always had to work twice as hard as other people for Jon’s approval. Dylan especially. Honestly, I’d bet he only punished Dylan for hitting me because he couldn’t hide the fact it had happened,” Chris muttered. Justin tensed a little, hearing this, though Chris didn’t notice and continued. “And now, he is treating me like I’m some problem child that he needs to straighten out. He talks to me like he has it all together, when he hospitalised a dude the night before he won all the cash that he used to buy this damn place…”

Justin had tried being sympathetic to Chris. Whilst he hadn’t thought about it too much when it happened, he knew if Candice broke up with him, and he saw her with another guy, he would have been upset. However, Chris had been directing the pain he felt at anyone who mildly aggrieved him, and was finding himself more isolated, and by extension angrier, for it. His hands turned to fists as Chris continued.

“He thinks he is some life mentor to the lot of us, when none of us asked him for that, and he’s just as f**ked up as the rest of us…”

“Chris, can you just shut up?”

Chris was shocked to hear Justin speak to him so bluntly, and that shock was what kept him quiet, as Justin continued, instead of retaliating angrily like he normally would.

“You know why I f**ked around so much for most of our first summer?” Justin asked. The room was still dark, and Justin only just perceived Chris shaking his head. “I f**ked around so much because I didn’t think I’d be able to amount to much regardless. I figured if I didn’t take anything seriously, you guys would all think I was going nowhere because I just didn’t care enough to try, not because I just couldn’t keep up…”

Chris remained in his stunned, silent state as Justin continued.

“Jon was the first person to hold me to the standard of who he thought I could be…” Justin continued. “He didn’t take any s**t from me, but didn’t write me off like I wanted everyone to do. He actually wanted to know who I was, not who I tried to tell everyone I was. And when I finally wanted to try and challenge myself, he had my back. Without even knowing what I was wanting to do, he told me the sky is the limit, and to go for it, even though I’d spent most of the summer wasting his time…”

Justin, not for the first time, thought over where he could have been.

“If I hadn’t come here, I think right now, I’d be bouncing between dead end jobs, and getting nowhere quickly. But I did. I left here, and three months later, trekked across a frozen wasteland, where I discovered and captured a new Legendary Pokemon, made up for the time I wasted during summer and got stronger, as well as met the girl of my dreams. All of this before getting into one of the hardest law degrees in the world based on merit more than anything. If someone told me that I’d do all of this three years ago, I’d have laughed in their face,” Justin said passionately. “Then, when the rubber hit the road, and Mossdeep and the Academy were in danger, Dylan, who knocked in my door the year before because I had been acting stupid, actually trusted me to get help, and when that was done, I was able to actually help keep the people of this island safe from Deoxys. And even now, when we’re about to face the College of the North Wind, and I am the one to set the starting score, Jon has faith that I can get us off to a good start, and for the first time, I actually believe him…”

“Justin, I didn’t mean it like that-”

“What did you mean then?” Justin asked, though Chris couldn’t answer. “Look, if you think there’s nothing left for you here next summer, then that’s your decision, and I wish you all the best. But don’t s**t on Jon and s**t on this place like that. Because you’re just s**tting on the rest of us who still need something from this place…”

“You’re right,” Chris said, feeling a sense of shame that Justin had to bare his soul, and all his insecurities like that to get him to listen to reason. “I’m sorry…”

Justin nodded, though didn’t feel like his work here was done.

“Get the lights. We still have training to do…”

“What about your migraine?” Chris asked.

“Do I look like I have a migraine?” Justin asked, though hoped Chris didn’t notice how uneasy on his feet he was. “If you honestly think you’re done with this place, you’re going to have to prove it…”

Chris sighed, before making his way towards the light switch, and curtain remote, pretending not to notice when Justin winced a little at the light filling the room. Justin sent out Regieleki, as Chris sent out Dragonite again, planning on resuming the match from before. The pair battled, and whilst Chris would argue he was holding back against Justin, he’d been lying. Justin beat him effortlessly, only managing to further prove the point he was making about his own growth at the Academy.

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

The next week was a blur for Jon and the interns, as the summer program came to a close. The week was spent trying to nail some final lessons for the students before they left, with every other spare moment spent in training. Chris, avoiding Jon, Dylan and Abbee, spent his time training with Justin and Charlotte, the latter he knew would lecture him about his behaviour at the prom, but thankfully didn’t do it more than once. She knew that being repeatedly lectured would be counterproductive with Chris, but a verbal beating was usually enough to get him thinking a little more critically of his actions.

On Friday afternoon, the students were picked up by family, all of whom having grown somewhat during that summer, and given the fact that the summer wasn’t interrupted by a rampaging Legendary Pokemon, there was a lot of ”I’ll see you next summer” being said by students, leaving Jon wondering whether the facilities will be large enough for the majority of students who seemed to want to return, as well as the potential influx of new students if they made the most of the publicity the challenge from the College of the North Wind could bring.

After the students had left, and Abbee, Charlotte, Chris and Justin had quickly finished packing the last of their belongings, Alyssa and Steven drove Jon and the five interns to the ferry depot on Mossdeep Island, where they caught a ferry across to Lilycove City, and from the Lilycove depot, a shuttle bus to the Lilycove City Airport. It was ten in the evening when they found themselves on a plane, taking off for Jubilife City.

“So where are we heading?” Justin asked Jon, as the group walked through Jubilife City Airport in the late hours of Sunday morning. “The bus terminal?”

“Camilla has organised a driver to meet us,” Jon explained. “We’ll be staying in the College’s accommodation. It’s all organised. We just had to get ourselves here, and be ready for a battle…”

As he spoke, the group had arrived at a small escalator, walking onto it one after another, before descending towards the main entrance to Jubilife City Airport. As they reached the bottom, Justin replied.

“So where is this driver?”

Jon didn’t answer, instead looking around at the various people holding cardboard cards with various names.

’Blackburn.’

‘Steele.’

‘Reed.’

“Over there,” Dylan said, pointing towards a driver well dressed on to their right. His card didn’t have a name written, instead a drawn silhouette, familiar to all from the Eon Academy. The silhouette of Latios, that made up the logo for the Eon Academy. Jon chuckled seeing it.

“Always with the theatrics…” Jon muttered to himself, earning a grin from Justin.

As the group made their way towards the man holding the card, he noticed them in his peripheral vision, and before Jon could confirm whether he was after them, he had recognized the group, and began greeting them, before guiding them to the car.

“I wasn’t expecting this…” Jon muttered, as he and his students took in the sight of the limousine that stood parked in front of them.

“There’s six of us…” Abbee offered. “Maybe it was cheaper to rent a limo than two cars and drivers?”

“Even if it was, do you really think that would be the case, given what we have seen of these North Wind guys?” Charlotte asked, as Abbee sighed.

“Not a chance…” Abbee replied.

“Exactly,” Charlotte answered, before following Chris to the open boot of the limousine, where their enthusiastic driver was placing his luggage.

Once all six trainers were in the limousine, Chris remained largely silent, as the others, though largely Jon, Abbee and Dylan, took in the sights.

“Goldenrod City is about the same size,” Abbee mentioned to Jon as she stared out the window at the buildings, knowing he grew up there. “But this is just… different. You know?”

Jon had the same feeling about the place, having never been to Sinnoh before.

“It seems like a more relaxed place than Goldenrod,” Jon noted. “People here seem… happier?”

“I wouldn’t say happier,” Abbee remarked. “But not as stressed…”

“Drive past the university and tell me that,” Justin remarked, earning a chuckle from everyone in the stretched car, even earning a grin from Chris, who had remained silent and kept to himself, being unable to avoid being with Jon, Abbee and Dylan.

“So you’re from here, right?” Dylan asked Charlotte, who seemed the most content to relax in during the drive and not take in the sights.

“Since I was born, but on the edge of the city,” Charlotte answered. “Far enough away that we don’t get the convenience of living in a big city, and close enough that we still get all the noise and traffic…”

“You’re a real ray of sunshine, aren’t you?” Dylan asked patronisingly, earning a raised eyebrow from Charlotte.

“Because you think Mossdeep is so amazing?” Charlotte retorted, as Jon grinned, now tuning into this exchange.

“Wouldn’t want to live anywhere else…”

It was a half hour drive due to the traffic of driving into the centre of the city, before they arrived at a large property that housed a series of well maintained, heritage buildings, all looking to be centuries old. The stark difference in the style and spaciousness of the property compared to its neighbours was shocking.

“Is this it?” Chris asked Charlotte quietly, trusting that being a local she would know the place.

“This is it…”

“They could probably house five times as many students here as we do…” Dylan muttered, Jon murmuring in agreement.

A small paved road turned off of the main road that they drove along, that the driver turned onto, before stopping before a boom gate. However, without need for the driver to put down their window to speak through an intercom, or scan an ID card, the boom gate opened, letting them enter, as the limousine continued along, before turning to the left, and entering a large cobblestone car park, opposite a flat area covered in lush grass, between them and the main building of the College. Standing on the path that led towards the building was a lone figure, who was recognized by all in the car.

“That’s Camilla,” Jon confirmed, whilst the driver slowed to a stop. “Let’s see if the theatrics continue without the cameras around…”

The limousine stopped, before the driver got out of the driver’s seat, and made his way to the rear door, opening it. Jon allowed the students to climb out first, and stretch their legs, before Jon climbed out himself, noting Camilla walking towards them with an air of authority and purpose.

Camilla was in her early fifties, though looked to be ten years younger, given the availability of surgery to temporarily hide the ageing process to someone of her standing. Her hair was ash blonde, complimenting her piercing blue eyes. She was shorter than she appeared on screen, being only as tall as Abbee, the smallest of the group from the Eon Academy. She wore dark grey pants, with a dark blue blouse, and somehow, given the summer heat, a black coat over the top.

“Jon Drake,” Camilla said, sounding as if she had been rehearsing the name for the last hour. “Let me be the first to welcome you and your students to the College of the North Wind…”

“It’s our pleasure,” Jon remarked. “Your challenge provided us with solid motivation to kick things up a gear. I think we’ll all be better off for this…”

Camilla nodded, before looking around the group in front of her, counting quickly, then continuing.

“Let’s speak more inside. My students are waiting for us there,” Camilla said, before nodding towards the driver who stood by the car. “Mr. Davison will take your belongings to your accommodations.”

Jon nodded, causing Camilla to turn towards the large building before them, and lead the way. Justin followed, as did Dylan and Abbee, before being followed by Charlotte. Jon looked at Chris, who seemed to be waiting for something.

“After you,” Jon said casually. Chris however didn’t respond, simply following Charlotte, as Jon sighed quietly, following behind his somewhat estranged student.

Justin couldn’t help but be in awe as he entered the hall behind Camilla. Despite attending one of the most prestigious universities in the world, Camilla had managed to find a more impressive building for her college in the same city. Despite the clear age of the building, it was in immaculate condition, with nothing out of place. The ceilings were high, and ornately decorated. He was pulled from his awe by the sound of voices ahead of them. At the other end of the hall were five people, the youngest close in age to Dylan, with the oldest a couple of years older than her.

Sitting on a chair off to the side, not bothering to hide her boredom at having to wait in the hall in the name of Camilla’s theatrics, was a girl with shoulder length black hair, dressed in torn black jeans and a thick black jacket, wearing makeup that added to the black motif. Natasha King, the trainer of Glastrier, who would battle Chris. A few metres from Natasha were a guy and girl, both a little shorter than Chris, talking, having not noticed their guests arriving. Beth Thomas, and Matt Campbell, trainers of Zeraora and Shaymin, and opponents of Charlotte and Abbee respectively. Beth had perfectly straightened red hair, which sat just below shoulder length, with dark brown eyes, only now fixing on Justin and those behind him. She wore a floral sundress, which seemed to clash with her harsh red hair. Seeming to notice them after Beth turned away, Matt looked over, curiosity painted across his face. He had blonde hair, however recently it seemed to have been shorn off to a short fuzz. He wore a plain white tee, under a black button down shirt, with a pair of black skinny jeans.

On their right stood a girl intent on her phone. Sophie Williams, the youngest of the group, had blonde hair that hung somewhat messily below her shoulders, wearing a simple sleeveless blouse and a pair of blue jeans. Her green eyes were friendly, and she flashed Justin a smile, taking him by surprise. Sophie, the trainer of Melmetal, would be his opponent, and until now he had thought of her, for better or worse, as the enemy. She quickly pocketed her phone, before standing up a little straighter, waiting for Camilla to move proceedings along.

Finally, on the far right, stood Brad Jenkins, almost as tall as Dylan, with brown hair, similar in length and style, or lack thereof, to Justin’s own. He wore a black singlet, over a pair of khaki shorts, and stood with his arms crossed, looking towards the crowd of trainers that entered. Considering the perception people had of Cresselia, it seemed odd to Justin that this guy was her trainer.

Once all were gathered, Camilla joined her students, Natasha reluctantly standing from her chair and joining her teacher.

“Let me welcome you again to the College of the North Wind, the most prestigious battling school in the world…”

Charlotte’s first instinct was to ask for Camilla’s source, however knew that Jon wasn’t the sort to take comments like that to heart, and would rather let actions on the battlefield speak louder than their words of protest now. She hid a grin.

“My name is Camilla Blakely, and I am the former Sinnoh Champion, and now principal of the College of the North Wind. Among my previous students is the current Sinnoh League Champion, Cynthia, as well as many Elite Four members from all over the world,” Camilla continued. “In order to allow our students to excel, we only allow those with untapped potential to enrol, and dedicate all resources at our disposal to allow them to exceed all expectations, and take the world by storm…”

“I’d happily forfeit now if it ends this any sooner,” Chris whispered to Justin, earning a nudge to the ribs from his elbow.

“Of course, in a mere three years, your Eon Academy has become a household name, especially given all the media attention from other matters…” Camilla continued. Jon understood the message. The Eon Academy is known for Legendary Pokemon attacks, their staff being targeted by poachers, and the Hoenn Military trying to take their property, more than for their battling prowess.

“And given that, we’d love to put on a show for the world to see, pitting prestige against rising fame,” Camilla concluded. “We are so glad you accepted our challenge…”

As she spoke, Dylan couldn’t help but notice a pair of eyes on him. Brad Jenkins, his opponent for the challenge, hadn’t looked away from Dylan since noticing him enter. Dylan, who had been seeing this in his peripheral vision, looked over, making eye contact with Brad, who noticed, flashing a smug grin Dylan’s way.

“I figure you’re all tired from your trip, and want nothing more than to relax?” Camilla asked. Jon nodded in response.

“Our program ended less than twenty-four hours ago, and we’re starting to feel it…” Jon replied. Camilla smiled in response, and whilst it seemed genuine, it still made him uncomfortable.

“Well, I’ll escort you to your rooms, and you can take the rest of the day to unwind and relax,” Camilla explained. “Dinner will be at seven, and we can become more acquainted with one another then. After that, the battles will commence at ten tomorrow morning…”

Jon nodded, as Camilla, leaving her students, moved towards them again, leading them out of the hall. Charlotte hung back, grabbing Abbee and Justin’s sleeves, getting them to do the same thing.

“Can you guys help me with something this afternoon?”

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

The day passed slowly for Chris, as Charlotte had left the property, with Abbee and Justin in tow and not a word of explanation, leaving Chris, Dylan and Jon behind. The group had been escorted to their accommodation, which was a large suite of rooms, situated around a communal area between them. Each trainer had their own room, larger than those at the Academy, sharing the communal lounge, as well as bathroom facilities.

After settling into his room, Chris had made his way into the lounge, waiting for Justin and Charlotte to emerge from their rooms, and when they didn’t, proceeded to call them. Neither answered their phones, and Jon, having emerged from his own room, figured out what was going on, and told him the three interns had all left for a few hours.

Chris spent the afternoon on his phone in relative silence. While he considered training one last time before the battles that were scheduled for the next day, he didn’t want to train with Jon, and really didn’t want to train with Dylan. And given they were less than twenty-four hours from the battle, after weeks of intense training, he figured that the difference would be negligible. If he couldn’t beat his opponent, Natasha, now, training that afternoon wouldn’t change that.

Abbee, Charlotte and Justin returned shortly before six in the evening, and when Chris asked the two he was on speaking terms with where they were, Charlotte simply said she had something she needed to sort out, and the pair were helping her, though avoided the question when Chris asked what, causing him to give up, especially seeing as they had dinner with their opponents scheduled to start in a little over an hour.

The six Eon Academy representatives found themselves sitting at a large table that took up most of the room it was in, Jon on one end, and the five on one side. Opposite Jon on the other end of the table sat Camilla, and opposite the five interns, were Camilla’s five representatives.

“This is delicious,” Jon said, trying to break the awkward silence over the table. “We really appreciate your hospitality.”

He wasn’t lying for the sake of conversation. The food was incredible. The College of the North Wind kitchens had prepared a curry that evening, which Jon could not fault if he tried, only wishing it were a little spicier, however knowing his affinity for spice may not be shared by those present. The flavours of the curry blended together excellently, and the meat was cooked to absolute perfection, absorbing the flavours of the sauce, and simply falling apart. Camilla smiled, and again, whilst Jon didn’t believe it to be insincere, he still felt uncomfortable.

“Our chefs are some of the best,” Camilla explained. “Given the generous cost of attending, and the fact that our students will spend most of their year living on site, we figure it's a worthwhile investment for student morale. I’m just thankful that I could convince a small team to return to work early in order to cater for everyone.”

Jon nodded, taking another bite, before he continued.

“So your program will start in the next few weeks?”

“Two weeks from Monday,” Camilla explained. “Myself and my students here have been staying on site the last month, so we could issue the challenge, and also prepare for it. So it was worth getting a few chefs back here early…”

“That’s quite the risk,” Jon commented. “Having your students return, when I could have simply ignored the challenge?”

Camilla smiled again, Jon relying on sheer willpower to not look away given the discomfort he felt. He wasn’t completely sure why, but had a hunch. Whilst Camilla was sincere with her comments, they seemed to all be laced with a hint of superiority. Not that Camilla thought less of them, but merely in comparison to her and her school, they weren’t worth considering. Jon was near certain that the only reason she issued the challenge was to attempt to utilise the Eon Academy’s rising fame.

“See, I didn’t think you would. You’ve never been the sort to back down, Jon,” Camilla answered, acting as if she had known him for years. “You didn’t during the High Sea’s Tournament, or when Hoenn’s military were trying to take your school. Why would you turn me down after fighting through all of that?”

Tired of the conversation being dominated by herself and Jon, Camilla looked across the five students Jon had brought, choosing one at random. She chose the girl with shoulder length blonde hair, that sat in the centre of her side of the table.

“Miss Jones, is it?” Camilla asked, surprising Charlotte by asking her directly. She nodded politely as Camilla spoke. “I recall the broadcast that the Eon Academy produced during the summer of 2018, where you all battled, and you took the win. How are you feeling about tomorrow?”

Charlotte considered the question. She had been noticing less than friendly glances from some on the opposite side of the table, some more obvious than others. And whilst she didn’t want to make a bold statement she would regret if she lost the next day's match, she also didn’t want to let their opponents think they were going to be walked over.

“I’m feeling reasonably confident,” Charlotte answered, though her tone seemed to imply more confidence than she spoke of. “We’ve had plenty of time to train, and all of us have learnt some new tricks this summer. Of course, I can’t speak for certain, but I have a good feeling…”

“Any particular reason for that?” Camilla asked, as she looked down at the bowl of food in front of her.

“None that I’d be caught sharing the night before our battle,” Charlotte answered, her tone sickly sweet, causing her fellow interns to wonder whether she had hit her head. “Loose lips sink ships, Camilla…”

Whilst there realistically was no hard and fast social rule that the young trainers should refer to her as Miss Blakely, Camilla carried an air of superiority that made the concept of a teenager referring to her on a first name basis seem so foreign. Charlotte noticed Sophie, Justin’s opponent, and the only one who seemed like she genuinely wanted to befriend her opponents, look nervously between Charlotte and Camilla.

Camilla looked to Jon, nodding in Charlotte’s direction.

“I like this one,” Camilla said with a short laughter.

“She can honestly be quite terrifying,” Jon replied, which Camilla found to be hilarious. Before anything else could be said however, Jon felt his phone buzz. He removed it from his pocket, glancing at it.

“I’m sorry, I’d better take this,” Jon explained to those present. “The last time I left Hoenn without my wife, I got attacked at gunpoint by poachers, and because of that, if I don’t answer her calls, I worry she may send the regional guard…”

“Take all the time you need,” Camilla answered, before standing herself. “I may take this as a good opportunity to see whether dessert is on schedule. Why don’t the ten of you take this as an opportunity to get to know each other a little better before tomorrow…”

Jon left the room, followed by Camilla, shutting the door behind her, leaving the ten trainers sitting in awkward silence.

“I’m really looking forward to tomorrow,” Abbee said, trying to invite more conversation. “It will be good to battle some new trainers that won’t hold back…”

Sophie nodded in agreement, though there was an awkward silence before anyone responded. Whilst they had considered introductions, there was little point. With the exception of Dylan, who was hard to learn much of online, all students were well aware of who sat opposite them at the dinner table.

“Well I hope the battles last long enough to be worth the trip,” Brad said, Charlotte knowing instantly that she didn’t like him. “We’d hate to have you come all this way, only to send you packing by noon…”

“You don’t think you might be setting your sights a little high there buddy?” Chris asked, his words being friendly, but his tone anything but. Brad set his sights on him.

“Well considering half your team would be wiped out by a cold breeze, I think my sights are set just about right…”

Chris felt his anger rise, though Charlotte retorted before he could say something to drastically escalate the situation.

“What’s the rush Brad?” Charlotte asked casually. “It’s not like you got a date to rush off to or something? Why can’t we take our time and enjoy ourselves…”

Brad was taken aback by Charlotte’s very pointed backhanded comment, and when the sound of Sophie choking back a laugh reached him, he looked towards her, glaring for a moment.

“Is something funny?” Brad asked, his tone indicating there was only one correct answer. Sophie stammered trying to come up with an excuse on the fly, though was interrupted by Natasha, who seemed like she wanted to be anywhere but in that room.

“The thought of you having a date Brad,” Natasha said, sounding bored. “It’s like imagining a bright pink Rayquaza. Hilarious because of how unrealistic it is…”

Chris couldn’t hide the grin at what he just heard, now glad he didn’t get the chance to speak. Seeing Brad embarrassed like this was more satisfying than punching him. Brad looked towards Natasha in distaste, it being obvious to those there that Brad and Natasha tended to clash frequently.

Wanting to take the attention off of him, he looked towards Dylan, who sat quietly at the far end of the Eon Academy’s side of the table, his expression stoic, and giving nothing away.

“I say we’ll be done by lunch, seeing as I’m up against the one trainer without a Legendary Pokemon,” Brad said, before his tone turned to complaining. “I don’t know what they were thinking. It’s going to be over before it begins…”

Dylan looked at Brad, not saying a word, however knowing exactly how to put him in his place. He let a smug grin cross his face, however Brad’s attention was taken a moment before by Abbee speaking up.

“Legendary Pokemon or not, Dylan beat Jon who battled with Latios, at the start of summer…” Abbee said, irritated that Brad was making such stupid comments about Dylan, and partially wishing he’d stand up for himself.

Brad’s eyes widened.

“So Camilla should have no trouble beating Jon then?” he asked, though before anyone could answer, Sophie chimed in.

“Brad, cut it out,” she said, though her tone seemed to lack the confidence that her words tried to imply. “Do you see any of us trash talking? Can’t we just enjoy a meal together?”

“They might not be saying it, but I know I’m not the only one who thinks it…” Brad remarked, before looking towards Beth. “Beth, you’re smart. You should see that this can only go one way…”

Beth, who hadn’t been paying a great deal of attention, looked at Brad, before rolling her eyes.

“If you must know, yeah, I agree…” Beth said, her tone exasperated, her attention turning towards their guests. “It’s nothing personal. We’ve seen videos online of you guys and know you’re the real deal. But we spend nine months a year at this place, and have been battling longer than you guys. I’m not the sort to go out of my way to say this, but Brad hasn’t given me much of a choice…”

Charlotte found herself more irritated with Beth than Brad, and was now very thankful she’d be facing her the next day. She could handle Brad and his comments, because his loud mouth and meathead attitude made it impossible to take him seriously. Beth however, was diplomatic, and whilst she looked down on them, her demeanour of superiority that she shared with Camilla made her opinions that little bit more believable.

“She’s right,” Matt said, his tone even more arrogant than Beth’s. “We’re just on a different level…”

“And what makes you say that?” Charlotte asked, sarcasm obvious in her tone.

“It took six of you, three with Legendary Pokemon, to take down Deoxys last summer,” Matt answered, Charlotte’s temper flaring further at the use of her Pokemon as a tool to belittle them. “We’re trained specifically to take on the Elite Four. Our six Pokemon against their twenty-six-”

Before he could continue, Beth nudged him with a shoulder. Whilst she’d happily say that the College of the North Wind had the competition in the bag, she didn’t want to risk their victory being diminished by Matt running his mouth and giving their opponents ideas.

His ego still bruised from earlier, Brad spoke up again, having carefully selected his next target. Justin, who had remained silent during the exchange, not wanting to try and make peace with them like Abbee would, not wanting to retaliate and provoke further fighting like Chris, or more subtly put them in their place, Charlotte would.

“I feel sorry for you most of all,” Brad said to Justin. “Being the first up…”

“Why’s that?” Justin asked.

“Because when you lose, you’re setting the standard for the rest of your school…” Brad sneered. “You’ll go down, and everyone else will go down after you, Jon included…”

Justin didn’t reply, and Chris felt his heart break a little when Justin’s shoulders slumped. The well earned confidence that Justin had shown during their training session the weekend before, feeling like he had a good chance to get the Academy off to a good start, was leaving him. Especially having had Justin bare all his insecurities that he had worked his a** off to work past, now visibly eating away at his confidence. The heart-break however, turned to righteous anger.

“Listen here, you bootleg teen-movie antagonist, personality of a mouldy potato, pretends to like beer in front of his friends, when really he thinks its tastes yucky, stuck-up motherfuc-”

“Chris,” Jon said, not raising his voice, but letting his tone speak volumes. “Sit down…”

Chris looked at Jon, who had just entered the room, having finished his call, and had been listening by the door, unnoticed by all in the room, bar Dylan.

“You heard him Chris,” Brad said smugly. “Sit down…”

Jon turned on Brad, looking at the young trainer, who was starting to realise the folly of getting on Jon’s bad side.

“Hey, Tank Top, the adults are talking,” Jon said, nodding towards Chris, who ironically was a month off of turning eighteen. “And I’d be learning when to keep your thoughts to yourself. Bad sportsmanship will kill your career faster than you can afford to spare…”

Chris sat down as his fellow interns, and even a few of those sitting on the other side of the table struggled to hide grins at Jon’s verbal lashing of Brad. When there was silence, Jon looked over all present, before speaking.

“I’m glad you’re all fired up and wanting to put on a good show tomorrow, but save all of this for the battlefield,” Jon said, “Talk is cheap, and anyone can say they’re going to win. The difference between those who make it, and those who don’t is nothing to do with who can talk the most s**t. It’s who can actually deliver results when the rubber hits the road…”

“I couldn’t agree more…”

Camilla, having returned shortly after Jon, entered the room, glaring largely at Brad, though saved some of it for her other students.

“Jon, I’m sorry that some of my students left their manners in their dorm rooms,” Camilla said.

“And I’m sorry some of mine weren’t being the bigger people like they should…”

Jon’s tone was even, and gave no indication of any ill will, however, after being looked down on by Camilla all evening, and hearing her students attitudes towards him and his own, something that whilst may not have necessarily been taught, was likely not discouraged either, he had to have one jab himself. He was only human.

Camilla looked at Jon, her expression remaining the same, though her eyes hardening.

“I guess we will have to see how all of this translates to tomorrow’s challenge…”

“I guess we will…”

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

“I can’t wait to put these guys in their place tomorrow…” Charlotte said as she sat, surprisingly with all the other interns in their lounge. Whilst Dylan and Abbee were on one side of the room, and Chris on another, with nothing being said between the two groups, Charlotte was still surprised they were even in the same room, however she knew Chris would be far too bored to stay in his room whenever Dylan and Abbee, who weren’t putting themselves out to avoid seeing him, were present.

“Some of them are less than pleasant,” Abbee remarked, looking between Charlotte and Dylan. “The three of us drew the short straw in our opponents. Sophie seems friendly, and Natasha seems like she’d be nice once you got to know her…”

“Brad has about as much personality as a door handle…” Dylan muttered, earning a chuckle from Chris, surprising everyone, none more so than Chris.

“Brad’s a d****ebag, sure, but Beth gets on my nerves more…” Charlotte said. “I can live with high and mighty, but obviously stupid, because people realize pretty quickly their not worth listening to. But she’s actually got half a brain in her skull, and is just as arrogant, if not worse than Brad. People are actually likely to listen to her…”

“Matt’s hardly any better,” Abbee muttered.

Chris looked over towards Justin, who had barely spoken since dinner. After Jon and Camilla’s return, the two teachers both made a point of carrying the conversation, addressing students on each side, as to get through the rest of the meal without another altercation. Even when addressed directly by Camilla, Justin hadn’t been himself. The fighting spirit he had when he put Chris in his place the week before seemed all but gone.

“I swear, if they keep this s**t up tomorrow morning…” Chris muttered.

“You’ll do nothing, and let them make idiots of themselves and their school…”

Jon had emerged again, this time from his room. His call with Alyssa earlier that evening had been cut short because he could hear voices raised, and the tone of the conversation, leading him to tell Alyssa he’d call her later, because he had to deal with something. Surprisingly, it wasn’t Chris that objected to Jon.

“Jon, they’ve been disrespecting us all night,” Charlotte protested. “I am all for making them pay on the battlefield, but everyone has their limit of how much s**t like this they can take…”

“Charlotte’s right,” Chris answered. “Beating them would be great, but at the cost of everyone thinking we lack the backbone to stand up for ourselves, without getting Pokemon involved? These a**holes have been looking down their noses at us since we got here!”

“Sophie has been friendly,” Abbee interjected. “And I get the feeling Natasha is standoffish to most people, her teammates included.”

“Fine, one is nice, and the other is neutral,” Chris said, surprising Abbee by replying to her directly. “I’m not talking about tearing into them…”

“The stupid one stopped talking to Dylan when he gave him nothing…” Jon noted, having heard about what was said. “Honestly, they want a reaction. The stupid one in particular, and it seemed like he started it all off.”

“Justin didn’t give him a reaction, and he copped the worst of it!” Chris argued. Justin glanced up nervously, wishing that Chris didn’t bring him into this. He was worried about the battle tomorrow, and whilst he agreed that the College of the North Wind needed to be put in their place, he didn’t want to deal with this as well. Jon looked at Justin, considering him carefully. He had noticed Justin hadn’t been himself, and now started to understand why.

“Justin, do you think I’m a better battler than the guys you’re up against? Forget Camilla. If I were to go up against Tank Top, who do you think would win?”

Justin looked at Jon, a little puzzled by the question.

“You, definitely,” Justin answered, wondering why Jon was bothering to ask.

“And of all you guys, you were the first to beat me in a serious battle,” Jon replied. Justin grimaced.

“I’d shown up with a Legendary Pokemon you’d never even heard of, with tactics you had no reason to expect,” Justin muttered. “This is different…”

“How is it different?” Jon asked, continuing before Justin could answer. “The only battle of yours posted online is from before you caught Regieleki, and when you hadn’t really shown a heap of improvement. Sure, everyone knows now you have Regieleki, but you wiped out most of my team with Alakazam before Regieleki even made an appearance. That, and these guys have no idea what your Pokemon themselves are capable of…”

Justin remained silent, though couldn’t make eye-contact with Jon.

“If you think I could beat any of these guys, then you’re just as capable of beating them,” Jon said, before widening his statement. “That goes for all of you…”

“You’ve beaten me every other time?” Justin asked. “You trained a fourteen year old to beat me last summer…”

“Because I know how you battle, and have seen you battle so many times I’ve lost count. Dylan could probably train a student to do the same thing to me,” Jon answered. “These people haven’t seen what your strengths and weaknesses are, and are going to be improvising, just like you. But I know you improvise better than most people…”

“At least Camilla seems nice enough,” Chris muttered. “Wish that’d rub off on her students…”

Jon snorted.

“Camilla spent years in the public eye as the Sinnoh Champion. She knows how to keep in people's good graces. She thinks we’re below her, not because we are necessarily lesser, but that she thinks that highly of herself…” Jon muttered.

“How can you tell?” Charlotte asked.

“I’m used to being looked down on. Granted it’s by people who think I’m less than them, not strictly that they are more than me,” Jon answered, before shrugging. “Same s**t, different smell…”

“So why take it?” Chris asked, his tone less passionate, and more curious. “Why be okay with this?”

Jon looked at Chris, surprised a little that Chris was wanting more to understand him than argue with him.

“Pride comes before the fall,” Jon answered. “And tomorrow, we’re bringing that fall to them…”

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

The matches were due to start in half an hour when the Eon Academy representatives found themselves in the giant stadium where their battles would take place. Whilst they were used to battling on a battlefield the size of a tennis court, this battlefield was the size of a football field.

“This works in our favour,” Jon said quietly to his students. “We tend to be a little more controlled with our Pokemon, so we don’t damage the stadium. But here, we have room to go to town…”

Around the stadium were multiple expensive cameras, in addition to drones flown by expert pilots wearing first person view goggles, watching from the drone’s perspective, something Jon was well and truly accustomed to, given Latios’ sight sharing ability.

“The battles will be broadcasted worldwide, on television and online,” Camilla explained. “I figure, these battles will be some of the biggest since the first High Seas Tournament, so it’s worth making sure everyone can see exactly what’s going on…”

“This is some high end equipment here…” Jon said, looking around.

“We even hired some high speed cameras, that should be able to do slow-motion replays of the big moments…” Camilla explained.

“We’ll have to make sure our Pokemon look photogenic when they land those attacks then,” Chris noted, his voice calm and friendly. Camilla seemed taken aback a little, and seeing the opportunity, Jon spoke up.

“Actually Camilla, now that you’re here I think we should discuss the format of the battles…” Jon said, as a look of slight confusion came across Camilla’s face.

“What’s there to discuss?” Camilla asked. “Both trainers battle with six Pokemon until one trainer either forfeits or has no Pokemon left to battle…”

“League Standard, I’m aware,” Jon explained. “However, we use Tournament Standard, which is each trainer chooses three Pokemon, in addition to a blind selection rule, in which both trainers choose their first Pokemon without knowing what Pokemon their opponent will choose.”

Hearing the commotion, Beth and Matt quietly made their way over to hear this.

“Well that is fine, but we’re battling here at the College,” Camilla replied, trying to remain composed. “Surely you didn’t think that we’d use a different format?”

“Well considering you challenged us without specifying a format, and challenge etiquette clearly states that if a challenge is made without a format being specified by the challenger, the party being challenged has the right to decide the format, I expected that the former Sinnoh Champion would respect our right to choose,” Jon said, as Camilla’s eyes widened, realising that she hadn’t considered this, being too preoccupied with the theatrics of her challenge. “Three Pokemon with blind selection will make for a better battle anyway. Waiting for the other person to select their Pokemon and choosing something advantageous is a cheap tactic I have trained my students not to rely on. And only having three Pokemon gives decisions higher stakes, and means that the later end of the match is more unpredictable. You may beat my Latios and Blaziken, but I could still send out one of four Pokemon as my final one…”

“Miss Blakely,” Beth said quietly, a hint of concern in her voice. “We don’t have to oblige.”

“Tournament standard?” Matt asked, his tone derisive. “This is a challenge, not a tournament…”

“A tournament is a series of contests between multiple participants for an overall prize,” Charlotte interrupted. “We are donating the prizes to charity, but that was only because Jon requested it. Your initial challenge included a prize for the winning school. So what part of this isn’t a tournament?”

Camilla was quiet, looking for any way out of this. Whilst few formal challenges were made of this nature, there were unwritten rules, and whilst there was no punishment for going against these rules, their reputation would suffer. Jon was right. She hadn’t specified a format, which means that Jon has every right to choose. Whilst she could argue, and get Jon to go along with League Standard format, any wins they accrued would be hollow, and would serve to damage her institution's reputation more than bolster it, like was the intention.

“Three Pokemon each, blind selection?” Camilla asked. “Nothing else you want to bring up?”

“That will be the standard,” Jon explained. “However if both trainers want to do something different, as long as it’s a legal format, then we won’t prevent them…”

Camilla nodded, unhappy at being cornered in her own school, but figuring the difference this change made would be negligible at best.

“So be it.”

Camilla turned to leave, leaving Matt and Beth nearby, from where they listened in.

“This is a load of s**t…” Matt muttered. “We have six Pokemon for a reason…”

“Surely this just means you’ll beat us quicker?” Charlotte asked patronisingly. Matt glared at her, before looking past her to Justin, who had remained silent.

“Just means that it will be sooner that the bar is set,” Matt said, earning a glare from Jon. “Good luck…”

Matt left, as Jon turned to face Justin.

“Justin, forget everything they have said…” Jon said quietly but firmly. “Battle exactly how you normally would, and you’ll wipe that smug grin off their faces…”

Justin nodded, trying to put on a brave face. He was thankful that his opponent was the most pleasant of the bunch. He wouldn’t have to worry about her trying to play mind games like the others were.

“You have twenty minutes before your match starts,” Jon said, nodding towards the side of the battlefield reserved for the Eon Academy. “There are rooms just through that door, big enough for whichever Pokemon you want to send out. I recommend you brief your team, and make sure they’re prepared to hit the ground running when the fight begins…”

Quietly, Justin made his way towards the doorway Jon was referring to, forcing himself not to spiral into self doubt. Jon had faith in him, but somehow, that was just stalling the inevitable collapse he felt.

“Justin, wait!”

Justin turned to see Chris jogging from the rest of the group to meet him.

“What’s up?” Justin asked, trying to sound more confident than he felt.

“I’m glad that you’re the one kicking this off,” Chris said firmly. “Because I know you will set the standard high for the rest of us, and make us want to try harder than we thought possible just to meet that…”

Chris looked over towards the group of North Wind students, where Matt and Beth were now telling Brad about the format change.

“When you beat Sophie, Brad is going to have to watch his own classmates, one by one, get beaten, until it’s just him and Dylan, and he won’t stand a f**king chance…”

Justin was slightly surprised that Chris was indirectly praising Dylan. The shock of that was enough to have Justin take Chris’ words a little more seriously.

“You got this,” Chris repeated. “Kick a** and take names…”

Justin nodded, feeling a renewed sense of confidence.

“I’ll see you on the other side…” Justin said. “The side where we’re winning…”

“That’s the spirit…”

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

Fifteen minutes later, Justin emerged onto the battlefield, finding his place on the edge, seeing on the other side, Sophie waiting as well. The remaining students from each team were at a corner on the outskirts of the battlefield, with a large screen nearby allowing them to see the close-up action from the large arena, as captured by the camera crew. Latios, wanting to watch the battles, hovered by the Eon Academy students, watching intently. On a table in the centre of the outside edge sat Jon and Camilla, with a screen on the ground in front of them, and a camera pointing at them directly, whose operator was counting them in.

“Welcome to the College of the North Wind,” Camilla said to the audience. “I’m former Sinnoh Champion and college principal Camilla Blakely, and joining me is first High Seas Champion, and founder of the Eon Academy, Mr. Jon Drake…”

“Thank you for inviting us here Camilla,” Jon answered, before addressing the viewers. “On Friday evening, our summer program students went home, and myself and five interns, all boarded a plane for Jubilife, in order to take up the challenge of the College of the North Wind. And now we are here, with our first battle ready to start…”

Camilla nodded.

“Our viewers haven’t tuned in to see the pair of us chatting away, so without further ado, we will begin the battles, starting with Sophie Williams of the College of the North Wind, versus Justin Collins, of the Eon Academy…”

Camilla gestured towards the referee that she had hired to moderate the day's battles. He looked between the two trainers before calling out.

“Both trainers select a Pokemon, though do not send it out until I start the battle!”

Justin didn’t need to look at his belt. He knew exactly which Pokemon he was sending out first. Sophie took a moment to choose, before the referee called out again.

“Begin!”