'Your invitation, please.' Red handed over his envelope and the man let him through. 'Your invitation, please.' Leaf hastily walked past the man too and sat down on a small wooden bench next to the school's entrance. A metal fence surrounded the school, but the gates were open, and the man standing there was checking everyone. Some people had an envelope, like them, and most of them looked scared, but there were also some people who showed a card and could pass, too. All of them looked older than Red, so he assumed they were upperclassmen. When the three of them had said goodbye to their mother, they walked into the school building and immediately stopped. Pokémon were everywhere. It looked as though everyone was accompanied by one. 'I thought it was prohibited to have a pet,' Flame said, and the other two could only nod.

It didn't take a lot of looking to spot a large arrow with 'Freshmen' on it. They followed the direction it was pointing and soon found themselves standing at the base of some large wooden stairs in a room that was lit by gas lamps and several fires. They walked up the stairs and into an enormous room filled with more than a hundred people, all of them around their age, except for a man that looked more giant than human. He was standing on a stage, but he would have towered over everyone even without it. The three of them sat down on the chairs that were standing in the room, and waited. After a while a man walked up to the giant and apparently said that everyone had arrived, because the giant nodded and cleared his throat so everyone started, stopped whispering, and looked at him.

'Welcome, new students. I am your headmaster, A.Z.. You may or may not have seen me, but unless you are close to someone who has attended this school you probably think I am a scary person who tortures his students. Let me reassure you and say that none of this is true. It's all rumors I started to protect the school. In reality, this is no school for stupid children. You didn't fail the test, either. Instead, it's more accurate to say you were the only ones who aced it. This is not a school for people who have to catch up, but a school for children who have a talent for working with Pokémon!' He paused to let the information process, and looked at the children who were all looking at him with a shocked expression. 'You're all going to pick subjects and follow the lessons associated with them. Some of you might like working with Pokémon, but also want to learn other things like working with computers or chemistry. You can choose those as well. Also, all of you will receive a Pokémon partner. To do that, we'll first test if you connect well with a certain type. But that's for tomorrow. Right now you need to settle into your room and get to know your classmates well. You'll also be assigned a group of people who are your training partners. So you'll have to get to know a lot of people.'

He turned around and picked up a pile of sheets. On this sheet are the groups you'll be assigned to. First, there is your class. There are five classes, and four of them have 33 students, while one has 32. The second group is your group of training partners. Every group has four members. Last is a group of two, which consists of you and your roommate. On the sheet is your room number as well. So when I call your name, step forward and pick up your paper. Ryou, Aaron.' A boy with green hair stood up and walked towards the stage. He looked nervous and absolutely not happy everyone was looking at him. He also seemed to be a little frightened by the enormous man standing on the stage. But he walked up the steps to the man and accepted his paper silently, before returning to his seat. 'Kikuko, Agatha.' A blonde with a serious face stood up and walked up to the stage. After she accepted the paper, A.Z. called the next person. And the next one after that. A lot of minutes had already passed when Blue Oak's name was called. Immediately, the triplets sat up straight and looked if it really was their neighbor. And it was. He was walking up to the stage, face smug but still a little nervous. After accepting his paper, he walked back, like the others. But he wasn't the only one they knew. After them were Crystal and Gold, their cousins, Green, Blue's brother, and Samuel, Green and Blue's cousin. The three of them were called forward, too, and accepted their papers. They quickly checked to see if they knew anyone on their lists, and if they were together in one of their groups.

'I'm in class two.' Flame said. Red looked at the number printed on his sheet. 'I'm class one,' he said, disappointed. Leaf checked hers only to find out that she was in class five, meaning that none of them were in the same class. Although the chance to be together was significantly smaller, they checked their groups and rooms too. 'Group one,' Flame said. 'Group seventeen.' Leaf shook her head. 'Too bad.' Red was still searching for his name. At last, he found it. 'Group 34,' he grunted. This wasn't looking good. 'Anyone you know in your groups? I don't know any of them.' As Flame shook his head, Leaf's eyes got wide. 'I'm with Blue! Oh no, he's such an idiot. How can I possibly work with him?' She looked a little distressed. 'Well, you know him, right? He's probably nervous too, so he'll be nice to you, I think,' Flame tried. Leaf sighed and they were silent for a moment. Then they looked at their papers to see if anyone they knew was in their class. 'Blue's in my class!' Flame grunted, and Leaf shot him an annoyed look. 'First you tell me he'll be nice, and then you're mad yourself?' 'Sorry.' 'Somebody else?' Flame checked again. 'No, just Blue.' 'Me neither,' Leaf said. 'I don't see any familiar names either. Looks like this is gonna be a fresh start for me.' He looked at them Flame. 'Looks like we're in a different room, too.' 'Yeah.'

They talked for a little while, until A.Z. was finished handing out the papers. When the last kid had walked back and sat down, he faced the group and cleared his throat. 'You now all know your class, group, and room. I recommend you go to your room right now to get yourself moved in and get to know your roommate. There are four dorms in total, one for the freshmen and sophomore boys, one for the junior and senior boys, and for the girls idem ditto. Every dorm has a number. The freshmen boys are in dorm three this year, and the girls in dorm four. Now, go on! Please gather at the entrance of the main building at half past six.'

With a dismissive gesture, he walked off his stage and exited the room. After a few seconds of minor confusion, all of the kids got up and started to move towards the exit. The triplets let themselves be pushed along, lost in their own thoughts. The group walked up a hill, where four large buildings stood in a circle around a round plaza with a small fountain. Trees surrounded the buildings, and lanterns were placed next to the path and on the plaza, giving the place a friendly, isolated look. When the group stopped on the plaza, they saw there were a lot of benches, and there was a stone ledge around the fountain, altogether enough space for a lot of people to relax. The grass around the circle of buildings was probably a good place to sit, too. It made Red feel a little more at ease to see that the school had made sure their students could also relax from time to time. It seemed less scary now.

The group split up, the girls going into the dorm with a large number four next to the door, the boys entering dorm number three. Flame and Red, now separated from Leaf, followed the rest up a large staircase to the second floor (which was the freshmen's floor). Then, both Red and Flame (along with a great deal of the other freshmen) looked at their paper to see which room was theirs. '107,' Flame said. '142,' Red answered. At the top of the stairs, the hall split to the left and to the right. To the left were, as Red could read on a plaque on the wall, rooms 101 to 150. Together, they turned left and walked on, looking around to check the numbers on the plaques above the doors. It turned out that the numbers simply went up, with the even numbers on the left side, and the odd numbers on the right. After a short while they reached door number 107 and Flame went in after wishing his brother good luck. Red walked on alone, following the hall as it turned right and eventually reaching his room, number 142. He took a deep breath and opened the door.