With a great heave, and one of many previous, Dane managed to haul his trunk up two more stairs to get to his third floor bedroom in Fire House. Muttering obscene words under his breath, the curl topped sixteen year old prepared for another haul up the stairs. What had his mother packed in here that he didn't know about? Fire house was different than what he had expected. They seemed to be pretty full of themselves…..well, their president did. Not that it would mean everyone else in the house would be. Still, they all seemed competitive and strong willed…
"Want some help?" Isla asked, leaning on the second floor banister several steps up; her black Fire House shirt proudly displayed with a few alterations so it fit her snugly, the gold, orange and red flame standing out brightly on the dark background.
"NO!" Dane replied hotly as he hauled it up another step. "I can do it myself!"
Isla rolled her eyes and looked at her nails. "Suit yourself." She replied in irritation. "I was just tired of hearing all your grunting from down the hall, is all."
Dane shot her a glare. "You cannot!" Dean blew some hair from his eyes and muttered "Bloody hell."
Isla picked at her nails for a few more minutes and then rolled her eyes. "Look, kiddo. I'm just trying to help. Don't you want to get settled in before midnight?" Isla stepped down to Danes' level and grabbed the trunk lifting it up the steps to the second landing and then working on the third level before Dane had even moved from his spot.
Scowling, Dane followed her. "I can do it myself, really."
"There." Isla dropped the trunk on the third landing. "Was that so hard?"
Dane pursed his lips. "I….have two more."
Isla's triumphant smirk faded. "Are you kidding me?!"
Nerds. That was Tristan's first thought as he looked at the group of Frosh he had been placed with. Nerds, Nerds, Nerds, Nerds, Nerds! How could he possibly be stuck with such a huge group of utter Nerds? He, himself, was a self-proclaimed anti-nerd. They were all preppy dressed, flood pants among some of them. Tristan stuck out like a sore thumb in the group, with his casual dress and obvious dislike of the group.
His worries were relieved a little when he met their president, a very good looking girl who dressed casually like himself and was outgoing and talkative. Not that Tristan was overly talkative, but it was nice to know he wasn't the only alien.
He managed to get himself paired with a roommate who was the most unusual kid he'd ever had the privilege of laying eyes on. James Malov was tall, lanky, and one of the fashion disasters that sported too-short pants. Whether it was because he was oblivious to the breeze around his ankles or they were in style where he lived, Tristan knew that it was wrong, so very wrong. And he didn't even care about fashion or looking all that great anyway! He had decided that the bathroom joining their rooms would always remain locked on his end. If being with these people all the time didn't kill him, seclusion would. He'd lock himself away rather than hang out with majority of these kids.
His last thought as he shut his door almost rudely in his roommates' chatter-box face, was: Fantastic.
Phae took the Lightning House frosh on a tour of the grounds after breakfast. He showed them where all of their classes would be held in the main building and then the gymnasium, the pool, the library and the study rooms as well as the battle rooms. The battle rooms were for technique classes and were not available until the second semester of the three in a year at the school. There were five in total, four of which were indoors and the fifth open to the sky. They were at the north end of the main building connected through the main hallway. The four battle arenas surrounded the one open aired battle ground. The first was a plain grassy field; the second was full of rocks, both large and small; the third was a water field with several floating islands that moved; the fourth was a basic gym with a rubber floor. The fifth one in the center was a mixture of dirt and grassy patches left to the elements.
He introduced them to the secretaries on the first floor, and he was an obvious favourite of the ladies, judging by the way they teased him.
"Corrupting another group of first years?" One lady asked with a smirk on her face.
Phae feigned shock, "Of course not. We don't corrupt; only gently guide them in the proper direction." He finished with a wide grin. The secretaries chuckled and shooed him out of the office with the first years in tow.
After the tour of the main buildings he led them down the main road to the school. They walked for about 10 minutes before he led them down a smaller road, to the right and east of the school. After a few minutes a small building came into view; it was made of the same material of the school, grey stone with ivy growing wildly in spots, with a slate-like roof. It was one storey high, but long, with what looked like a greenhouse attached to the end on the right. On either side of the building a fence began and went for some distance along, and sometimes into, the surrounding woods. As Lena peered into the visible parts of the field, trees and rocks often obscuring her view, she saw a group of Rattata participating in a group grooming session, while some of their group napped in the warm autumn air.
"This will likely be the highlight of your day." Phae said as he ushered them into the brightly lit building. "Welcome to the Nursery."
"This is where you pick your Pokemon." He continued. "You can look up what is available on any of the computers on campus and they'll send them up to the school, but I recommend the short walk down to visit. Not all species are available all the time; it depends on the Detainer."
Lena looked puzzled. "Detainer?" She whispered to Ben who looked positively bored.
"Pokemon Detainer; that's what they call the people whose job it is to go out and catch the Pokemon the school uses in its reward program. It's a pretty great job; they hire people in late spring for the break." Ben eyed the computers, obviously antsy to see what was available.
Lena nodded, turning back to Phae who was explaining how long it takes to accumulate points. "If you do well in class you earn points there, as well as through extra-curricular stuff and participating in school events like the Spring Carnival."
Rania interrupted him by asking, "So what Pokemon have you got, Phae?"
A small smile played on his lips as he fished in his pocket for his pokeballs. "I have: Elekid, Houndoom, Pidgeotto, and my newest, Turtwig; just got him last week." Phae released them all and the first years stared at them with awe.
Lena eyed the Turtwig with curiosity. It wasn't often they got to lay eyes on less common Pokemon, especially ones from other regions. To Lena, Turtwig was foreign looking, a little odd. But she supposed local Pokemon to her would be foreign to those who didn't see them on a regular basis. After a little distant inspection Lena was quite sure that none of these Pokemon interested her in the least; they suited Phae but not her.
Phae returned all but his Houndoom and led them into the lobby of the Nursery just off to the left of the desk. Computers lined the same wall as the doorway while bookshelves filled to near exploding lined the opposite wall. Off to the right again there was a doorway leading into what looked like a reading room filled with squishy sofas and chairs; the room was brightly lit as it was all windows looking out onto the property that belonged to the Nursery.
"Phae, first group of the season!" A middle aged man barked as he emerged from a door behind the desk. He wasn't a tall man, at only 5'8", but he was broad and muscular. His dark brown hair was beginning to pepper with white at the temples and wrinkles appearing around his green eyes. Other than the wrinkles and bit of white hair Professor Dillon was young and spry.
Phae smiled. "As always! We like to keep ahead of the rest, you know how it is."
"Yes, yes, I do very much." He said dropping a box on a chair and coming out around the desk.
"Well Frosh, this is Professor Dillon. He heads the Nursery and teaches a few advanced classes each semester. If you need help with your Pokémon, he's the man to see." Phae smiled and placed his hand on top of his Houndoom's head with affection. "He's the reason Houndoom was my first!"
Professor Dillon chuckled. "Phae had a hard time accumulating points his first year,"
"Did not." Phae grumbled.
Ignoring Phae, Professor Dillon continued. "And when he had finally accumulated points for a Level 2 I helped him choose his Pokemon. Has anyone spoken to you about levels?" He asked the Frosh and then looked to Phae.
"No, I left that for you!"
"Well it's quite simple." He brought up a list on the closest computer and asked the Frosh to gather around. "100 points will get you a Level 1 Pokémon. These are Pokémon that are very common and easy for the Detainers to get. We usually keep a high stock of them in at all times. They include Pokémon like Pidgey, Sentret and Nidoran. As you increase your levels the harder it is for the Detainers to capture them and make them available. 210 points will get you a level 2, 310 a level 3, and 415 points will get you a level 4 Pokémon. Level 5 Pokémon are very rarely available and can include anything from Absol's and Skarmory to Dratini and Riolu. You will very rarely ever see them in here and their point exchange can range from 500 to 580 depending on their training level and breed. Feel free to have a look on the computers and learn more about levels. We advise all students to research very carefully which Pokémon they choose for partners, hence the library of books on this side."
Phae shooed them away so he could talk to Professor Dillon alone and most went directly to the computers to look up some Pokémon. Lena perused the level 5's firstly; it seemed that the Professor was right. Currently there were only three level 5 Pokémon available: two Dratini and a single Tropius. Level 4's were mostly evolved Pokémon, like Charmeleon, while Level 3's were mostly baby Pokémon like Magby and Pichu and included some breeds that were not necessarily rare but more difficult to capture due to their habitats and distance from the school. It was the level 2's that interested Lena the most; they were more common Pokemon but those that took a bit of skill to acquire in the wild. Pikachu's were listed among this group, and the Nursery currently had 6 of them.
"Pikachu are absolutely adorable!" Quinn cooed from her spot next to Lena. "I want one. I think it will be my first."
"How long do you think it will take to accumulate points? It took Phae a long time; he's in his fourth year and only has four." Lena asked. Hopefully it wouldn't take her that long; she wanted six by the end of her fourth year.
Quinn shrugged. "You'll get them when you get them I suppose. You get them for doing well on assignments and papers, I know that much."
"My sister had two by the end of her first semester, but she had a hard time accumulating the points. She mostly got it through getting A's. If you get an A on a test or a term paper you get 10 points." Ben said leaning on the desk Lena was at. "And don't forget that we've already got points!"
Quinn pouted a bit. "I forgot that you two and Rania won the first challenge. I wonder how many points you got?"
They didn't have much time to wonder, as Phae called them back together again and marched them back up to the school for lunch. After lunch Phae gave the group free time and some advice. "You should pop down to the village to get your uniforms and pick up your materials and books at the book store in the village today or tomorrow or you'll be docked points on Monday classes. Also register for your courses today; you can do it online. See you at supper." With a wave Phae picked up his tray and put it on the trolley while his Houndoom obediently followed on his heels.
"Hey, Ben!" Saird said as he slid his tray from further down the table to be closer to their group. He was Ben's roommate and from what Lena could tell he seemed like a nice guy. He wasn't overly tall, only about 5'6" with green eyes and curly unruly hair like Dane's, though he definitely was not as childish looking. He's facial features were a little more mature and he sported a bit of scruff on his face. "We should head back to the house and sign up for our courses then head down to the village before supper to get our supplies and uniforms."
"Yeah, sounds like a good plan!" He turned to the girls and smiled. "Would you care to join us in our room to pick courses?"
"Yes!" Quinn exclaimed. "I want to take courses with people I know, I hate not knowing anyone!"
Lena smiled and nodded as she ate the last bit of her pasta and pushed her tray forward a bit. The group finished up their lunch and headed back to the house, up the stairs to the second floor and off to the right wing. Lena keyed open her door and grabbed her laptop from the desk, unplugging it, and crossing the hall to enter Ben's room. The rest of their group, Rania, Quinn and Saird, were already seated and Lena took the last place available in the window seat.
Her computer was already on and she eyed the main screen, clicking on the link that would take her to the school's website. She was prompted for a username and a password and she had no sweet clue what either was. "Anyone know what I put for username or password?"
"I think," Saird said from his spot on the bed, "that it's your first name for the username and your birthday, month then day then year for the password." He said as he typed in his and smiled. "Yup, that's it!"
Everyone quickly typed their information in. The main page pulled up with a picture of the plateau and school from an aerial view. On the left-hand side were links. Lena clicked on the one that said "Register for you courses" and it brought up a list of available courses for first years. Lena frowned slightly; they seemed to be pretty basic courses: Intro Poisons and Antidotes, Intro Breeding, Intro Care and Growth, etc.
"So there are three that we have to take." Rania said, flipping through the catalogue that Lena seemed to be missing. "And then we get two electives."
"Where did you get that catalogue?" Ben made to grab for it, but Rania moved it out of his reach.
"It was in our top desk drawer, didn't you even look in there?"
Ben gave her a look. "I was much too busy decorating." He made a motion with his had to point out his posters, pictures and ornaments. "Any way, what courses do we have to take?"
"Intro Care and Growth, Intro to Pokémon Anatomy, and Intro to Pokémon Behaviours." Rania listed them off.
Lena pulled up the three courses and had a look through the times. Care and Growth was offered at 9:00 am and 11:00 am and ran an hour and a half long on Tuesday and Thursday; there were two options for Anatomy, from 2:00-5:00 on Monday or 1:30-3:00 pm on Tuesday and Thursday; and Behaviours was offered Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 12 noon until 1:00. Lena made a note of the times of the courses on a post-it-note that Ben had passed around to all of them, and then went to browse through what her electives were going to be. There really weren't a whole lot of options open to first years as electives, but Lena found a course on the History of Battle offered on Tuesday and Thursday from 2:00 until 3:30 that she decided on as well as a course called Pokémon and Human Relations offered from 5:00 until 8:00 pm on Thursday nights.
"Lena, when are you taking Care and Growth?" Quinn asked from the foot of Ben's bed.
Lena gave her a look. "Definitely the 11am one, I'll never wake up for the 9am one. As for the rest of Tuesday, I have History of Battle at 2 and that's it. Monday I have Behaviours at 12 and Anatomy at 2. Wednesday I have only Behaviours at 12, the same for Friday, and on Thursday I have Care and Growth at 11am, History of Battle at 2 and Pokémon and Human Relations at 5."
At the end of their registering Lena had all of her new friends in her Behaviours course; Rania and Ben in her Care and Growth; Saird was taking History of Battle with her while the other three took the History of Show in the same time-slot; she was the only one in the Pokémon and Human Relations course, but that didn't bother her and they all decided to take Anatomy at the same time.
They had only spent about an hour picking courses, and it was just past 1 o'clock when they headed down the road to the village with their bags and purses in tow. It was a good half-hour walk down-hill to the village and they met a few other groups on their way back up, each of them struggling with packages and bags filled to the brim with books and clothes and supplies.
To be continued........
Will be updated very shortly! Finishing up my exams and term papers! Stay tuned!
-gin