Chapter Four – Sharpedo Attack

I picked up my chin, sticking my nose up in the air like the rest of the super-smart serious snobs I encountered today had. Then, I took a deep breath and started walking, and I continued right past Cheren—albeit forcefully considering the group of people was so thick—until I had barely passed him. I could picture his double-take.

"Hilda?" he asked, and I turned around with fake surprise. His jaw dropped, his eyebrows raised so high that the creases in his forehead looked like they had been drawn on with permanent marker. He resembled a shocked clown, or perhaps an old person, but the awe in his eyes blew me away. Now he had to believe that I was serious enough for him.

"Oh, my gosh! Cheren!" I exclaimed, holding my arms out and taking a step towards Cheren. He stayed plastered as he was; his face would be forever carved in my memory. This would be the first day of the rest of our lives together. Officially, anyway. "Wow, what are the chances of me running into you here? I totally forgot that you go here."

He finally blinked, shaking his head several times before asking, "What are you talking about? Why are you here?"

I furrowed my eyebrows; if this whole Pokémon Professor thing didn't work out, acting could totally be an option. My feigned obliviousness was completely winning him over, I could tell. Because the more I faked it, the more serious I was about being here. After all, I came here to learn—wink, wink, nod, nod.

"I go here, too!" I put my hands on my hips and smiled.

Cheren raised his eyebrows even higher, as if even possible, and the creases flattened out so now his face was stretched. He seemed skeptical of this whole situation, angry even, and I supposed I couldn't blame him for that. It wasn't like school was that big a deal for me before now. "You got into the Pokémon Academy? You got into the Pokémon Professor program of the Pokémon Academy?"

"What, like it's hard?" I said anyway, laughing and rolling my eyes. Every color of emotion passed through his face then, and as I went to apologize for not telling him sooner, someone tapped on my shoulder.

"Hilda." I turned to face Hilbert, and he held out a piece of paper towards me. "This must be yours."

I grabbed the piece of paper from him, looking quickly at Cheren and smiling before turning my gaze back to the slip Hilbert handed me. I sighed in relief. "This is my schedule! Wow, thank you so much, Hilbert. You didn't have to come all the way back here to give this to me. That was really sweet of you."

He shrugged uncomfortably and ran a hand through his hair. "Well, actually, I didn't follow—"

"She actually goes here?" Cheren interrupted, and Hilbert laughed with increasing nervousness. The longer he stood here, the stranger the situation seemed to be getting for him. Of course, it was rather rude of Cheren to interrupt the poor man. When we were married, we would have to work on improving his people skills.

Then, with a loud creak, the doors to the classroom swung open. The dark wood walls and desks gave the room the appearance of a dungeon, but I would have to learn to love these hallowed halls. Cheren and I would be living in these classrooms for the next few years, after all, so getting used to the dankness of the buildings would have to be part of my becoming "serious".

"Cheren," I said as sweetly as possible, touching his arm so gently that it would have to leave him wanting more. "Let's meet up after class, okay?"

We all gathered into the room, some people standing and talking with their arms crossed in an unwelcoming way. Cheren took a seat as far away from me as possible, joining the girl from the circle earlier. I raised my eyebrows, but I didn't think too much on it—up until she shot me a disgusted look, anyway. Then that was all I could think about.

"Okay, if everyone could please settle down. Professor Oak will be here any minute," Hilbert called, and I turned my attention back to him. I hadn't realized he was anyone important, but maybe that was what he had tried to tell me—he didn't follow me to return my schedule; he needed to come this way for this class, anyway. Well, either way, it was still nice of him to return it at all. Something told me the girl next to Cheren wouldn't have.

The boy and girl immediately to my right became whispering, though their hisses were loud enough for the people around them to easily hear. "I can't believe we get to take a class with the Professor Oak! He's a legend. He has an internship in the spring semester for his best students, and they say that the interns who get it always get the best jobs when they graduate."

I leaned towards the two, furrowing my eyebrows in an attempt to look inquisitive. "Who's Professor Oak?" I asked.

"You're joking." The boy narrowed his eyes at me, and when my expression didn't change, he laughed. "Wow, you're not. Geez. Professor Oak is only the most celebrated Pokémon Professor of all time. He invented the Pokédex? He's the symbol of the program? Anything ring a bell? You'd think someone in the program would know that…"

I swallowed. This reached me in a way that nothing else had so far. I didn't even know who Professor Oak was… and I called myself a Dex Holder. Maybe I really didn't belong here. Maybe I didn't deserve to get in at all. If I was in the Pokémon Professor program and didn't know anything about the symbol of the program… I clearly didn't know anything. These people were all so out of my league.

Hilbert cleared his throat, his eyes fixated on mine as I looked over at him. "I sat in your seats just a few years ago—my first day at a new school with new people. It was a little scary. There were so many rumors going around, and I was convinced I didn't know anything about anything. I heard and asked all the same questions you did."

When he put the enunciation on all and smiled at me, I felt a little better. I nodded, lowering my gaze now. That was sweet of him. He didn't know me—well, maybe he did from newspaper clippings and TV interviews, but he didn't know me—but he still stuck up for me. And no one had done that for me in years. I always had to fend for myself ever since I left on my adventure all those years ago.

It was kind of nice.

"If you don't know, ask. That's the best advice I can give you all. It seems basic and, perhaps, elementary, but I can assure you that you will be more successful if you follow my advice. There are plenty of people here who will be more than happy to assist you, myself included." Hilbert shuffled his feet, forcing me to look back up at him, and shoved his hands in his pockets. Then, nodding, he took a step back and sat at one of the desks in the front of the room.

The door swung open again, and an older gentleman with spiked gray hair walked into the room. He didn't say anything; instead, he sauntered right over to his desk, slammed some books down, and turned to the blackboard with a piece of white chalk in his hand. On the board, like chicken-scratch, he wrote, "Pokémon Ethics 101."

"If you don't think you are meant to be here, leave now," he finally said, his voice squeaky but scratchy, like someone who smoked and breathed helium regularly. I wouldn't put it past this man to do either.

I thought, briefly, that I ought to get up and walk out. But then I glanced back at Cheren and the girl and decided I was better off sticking around. Maybe I could prove myself not only to Cheren—but to everyone. They seemed to have judged me far too quickly. I was accepted for a reason, and although that reason was unclear to me, too, it meant that I was meant to be here. Didn't it?

I shuffled in my seat, but I didn't get up. No one else even breathed.

"Good. Now, I take it that all of you have examined my syllabus and aimed all questions at my assistant, Hilbert?" he glanced around the room. Everyone took a packet out of their bags, and I swallowed. Did I miss something? "Fine. Now, in my younger days, I worked solely as a Pokémon Professor and researcher. However, now that I've retired, I've taken up teaching here and educating you fine folks. I want you all to be me."

Everyone smiled now, as if one big happy family of robots all designed to do the same thing. My mouth twitched but not upward. I didn't know what he was talking about. Was being him a good thing? Well, I assumed it had to be considering all the praise from the boy and girl next to me. But he seemed sort of… loopy to me—the kind of guy who wouldn't remember his own grandson's name. He was nothing like Professor Juniper.

"But," Professor Oak continued, raising one shaky finger, "only a select few of you—if any—will be me. I know what it takes to be a Pokémon Professor, and this is where it all begins. If you can't handle the rigorous academics that I have in store for you in a level-100 class, then you will never survive in the real world. I don't care how many of you are phenomenal trainers. Being a trainer won't help you here."

I swallowed, curling my hands into fists on my desk, and I noticed Hilbert's gaze travel to them. I didn't think his look was meant to be accusing—in fact, I was pretty sure he was checking to make sure I was okay—but I couldn't help but think it. The only thing I was good at was being a trainer. In the end, that was what it came down to—I was a trainer.

"I have four slots open for my spring internship. You will be working with Pokémon in a controlled environment and working on a research project which I have been designing for several years." Professor Oak raised his finger even higher into the air, and the whispers that had begun to hiss silenced. "However, the spots are highly selective. I will choose the best and only the best from this class to work with me. So, I suggest you do not try your best in this class—I suggest you do it."

He lowered his hand and stared out at the class. I was glad to see that everyone else looked as scared as I felt right now; even the super-smart serious snobs feared this class. But that only meant that I would have to try even harder to be the best—no, not try. I would have to do better than them. And the chances of that happening…

No. I got in here, too! I could be the best like no one ever was.

"That said, I expect all of you to work hard and perform at exemplary levels. We only allow the best at the Academy, and to receive this internship would be the greatest honor," Professor Oak concluded, walking behind his desk and picking up one of the books. "Now, we'll dive right in. In chapter six of Ethics: To Raise or Not to Raise?, what did the author say battles were meant to do for the relationship between humans and Pokémon?"

A hand of every person went up into the air… except mine.

Professor Oak turned his eyes on me, and I inhaled sharply and smiled. "You. Tell me, what did the author write?"

I opened my mouth, gaping at him for a few seconds before sighing. "I'm sorry. I wasn't aware that we had any reading due."

Professor Oak stared blankly at me for a few seconds before nodding. "Oh, I see," he finally settled on saying, as though he was having a silent fight within himself as to how he should approach this situation—how he should approach me. He turned on his heel, looking at the girl sitting beside Cheren. "Roxanne. Let's say you teach a class at the Pokémon Academy, but the girl on whom you call hasn't done the reading. Should you let it slide or should you—"

"Kick her out of class," the girl—Roxanne—said. "I was a Gym leader and a teacher back in Hoenn, so I know how frustrating it is to have students who fail to do the assigned work. It's better that they learn their lessons."

My jaw dropped. We didn't have Gym leaders like her back in Unova, either. If this was what the rest of the world was like, then I was sorry I ever left my little pond. Our Gym leaders were all caring and sympathetic. This girl… she was just as bad as, if not worse than, all the other super-smart serious snobs here.

"All right. You heard her," Professor Oak said, pointing at me. "You can return when you're prepared for class."

I narrowed my eyes, picking up my bag and swinging it over my shoulder. I shot one last glare at the girl from my circle group before passing through those dark wooden doors an hour and a half too early.

I shouldn't have worried about getting up and leaving earlier. Professor Oak already decided for me.

Author's Note: I had to throw that line in there: "But he seemed sort of… loopy to me—the kind of guy who wouldn't remember his own grandson's name." Oh, Professor Oak. He's so absent-minded. Or crazy. Both work.

And this line: "I could be the best like no one ever was."

Don't hate me. It was just way too tempting to throw those two lines in there. Seriously. I had to do it. XD

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or the musical/movie on which this is based.