Lenora crossed her arms. She and Kenya were standing outside of the Juniper Laboratory.

"Do I really have to?" Kenya asked. "It seems lame."

"Cedric Juniper is the most esteemed pokemon researcher in the region," Lenora said. "Receiving classes from him or his daughter is a privilege." Kenya imitated her mother's pose, looking up at her.

"Eh."

"You know he was a member of the elite four back in his day?" Lenora pointed out. "He's an incredible trainer."

A few other people were starting to arrive. Parents with their children. A crowd was starting to grow around the entrance of the lab.

Kenya scanned faces, sticking close to Lenora. Lenora grunted, nudging her away. The door of the lab opened and Aurea Juniper was there.

"Welcome all!" She declared. "To the first official Nuvema Trainer School!"

The adults were left outside. Cedric stayed with them, discussing his plans for the future of the school.

Aurea Juniper led the children inside, to a mock classroom.

"In this class, I will be teaching you several things about pokemon, their behavior, catching them, training them, and even battle." Several excited murmurs came from the class.

"Will we be actually catching pokemon?" Cheren asked from the front of the class. Andrew and Bianca were sitting on either side of him. Cerea was seated behind him.

"Probably not," Aurea Juniper said. "This is only a class after all." A few mumbles of complaint came from the class. Aurea Juniper quieted them down. "First, we will…" She hesitated. "Do an icebreaker, I suppose."

Aurea Juniper had the children form two lines. There was an uneven number of children so she joined the shorter line.

"Now, is everyone standing across from their partner?" Juniper asked. Andrew and Cheren were across from each other. Kenya was across from Bianca. Cerea was next to Bianca, across from a boy. "Everyone has a partner?"

"I'm Bianca," Bianca said, grinning. Kenya simply nodded at her.

"For thirty seconds, observe your partner," Juniper said. She procured a stopwatch and started it.

Kenya stared at Bianca, meeting her intense gaze. She took in her blue skirt, her white sweater, her neck-length blonde hair, her big green eyes, and her matching hat. Bianca's smile grew.

"Times up!" Juniper declared. "Now everyone turn around. Everyone will change their appearance in some way, such as adjusting your hair or outfit. Your partner will try to identify the difference. You have a minute."

Kenya's hands traveled her body. She was wearing green leggings and a black t-shirt with long sleeves. She quickly rolled her sleeves up to her elbows and waited.

"Times up!" Juniper called out. Everyone turned around. Kenya inspected Bianca. Nothing had changed, or nothing had seemed to have changed. She glanced up and down the girl, furrowing her brow.

Other kids were calling things out. Cheren had readjusted his tie. Andrew had removed his shoe.

"You rolled up your sleeves," Bianca said. Kenya nodded. "Can you tell what I did?" Kenya frowned and shook her head. Bianca snickered.

"What did you do?" Kenya asked. Bianca adjusted her glasses. She wasn't wearing them before. "Oh!" Kenya blurted out. "Your glasses!" Bianca nodded excitedly.

"Good job!" Bianca clapped.

A bustle started to grow among the students.

"That's enough, that's enough!" Juniper said. She quickly put her hair back up. "Back to your seats!" Bianca smiled once more at Kenya before returning to her seat.

For the rest of the day, Juniper gave a lecture about type advantages. They'd arrived at 8 AM, the class lasted until 3 PM.

Several adults were waiting outside. Lenora wasn't among them. She watched Bianca meet with her mother. Andrew and Cheren met their mothers. The two of them were standing together. Kenya prepared for the walk home.

"Hey!" Bianca called out. She waved at Kenya. Kenya hesitantly approached her and her mother. "Do you want to come over to my house?"

Bianca's mother smiled at Kenya.

"Uh, sure."

Bianca took Kenya's hand.

"We're having pasta," Bianca's mother said.

"My mom makes great pasta," Bianca said. Kenya had never liked pasta much, but she wasn't going to complain to a near stranger.

"I love pasta," Kenya lied. Bianca and her mother led Kenya into their house. The father was seated on the couch, speaking with another man. Bianca didn't greet him. She went straight to her room further into the house. Kenya hesitated in her bedroom doorway.

"Come on in!" Bianca waved her forward. Kenya slowly crossed the threshold. Bianca hopped onto her bed and pulled a magazine from under her pillow. "This has all kinds of pokemon trainers on it!"

Kenya approached the bed, watching as Bianca flipped through the magazine. She reached a bookmark and paused. An image of a blonde woman dressed in black was on the page. Several paragraphs detailed her feats and the pokemon she used. One of her pokemon, a large blue dragon stood next to her.

"She's my favorite," Bianca said. "Cynthia, She's from another region, though. I've never met her in person."

"What kind of pokemon is that?" Kenya asked.

"It's a Garchomp," Bianca said. "It's from the Sinnoh region."

"Wow," Kenya said slowly. She knelt by Bianca's bed. "That's amazing."

"Isn't it?"

"What else is in there?"

The two of them looked through the magazine for about an hour before Bianca's mother called them down for dinner.

Kenya didn't like the pasta much. But she ate every bite.

It was Eight when Kenya was preparing to leave. She knew she'd be reprimanded by Lenora,

"Be safe!" Bianca's mother called out. Bianca waved Kenya off as she stepped out into the night. She approached Route 1, watching the sky.

"Watch out!" Kenya froze. A figure darted across the path. Two boys chased after it. The figure turned, charging Kenya. She dove to the side. The Herdier ran past.

She watched the boys run out onto Route 1, chasing the Herdier. She followed them, running hard. The boys slowly caught up with Herdier. Herdier suddenly stopped and turned. The boys stopped.

Herdier lunged, slamming its head into one of the boys. He was thrown backward into a bush. The other boy backed up. Herdier growled.

"I-I'm sorry!" The boy cried. "I'm sorry!"

Kenya was still a few paces away. She stopped, watching. Herdier bit the boy's leg, hard. He screamed.

"No!" Kenya ran forward. The boy fell, struggling on the ground. Herdier held fast, biting down hard.

"Let me go! Let me go!" The boy cried. Kenya grabbed Herdier's hind legs, pulling hard on it. It seemed to bite harder. The boy cried louder.

"Stop it!"Aurea Juniper appeared, throwing a Pokeball. Kenya had seen a Pokeball. She'd seen Lenora catch pokemon. This Pokeball was different. Herdier whimpered as it was pulled into the Pokeball as if it was in pain.

Kenya stared down at the boy. He clutched his leg, rolling around on the ground.

Aurea Juniper picked up the Pokeball.

"Sorry, that was my fault."