The Striation City Trainer School was actually way more straightforward of a building than Wade had realized. It really was just a building where you listen to some guy lecture about pokemon battles, held items, and abilities. Then you battle the teacher or one of the aids and get a little certificate which was more or less a participation award. Still, it seemed odd that he would be standing in a classroom full of children as a 'Houndour aren't bad' speech. Wade sighed as Professor Juniper patted him on the shoulder. He was about to give a presentation.
The students didn't even seem that imposing, with each student conversing with another while they waited for their lessons to begin. The classroom itself looked pretty standard, with desk-chair hybrids that were probably way cheaper than buying separate chairs and desks. There was a chalkboard, a bunch of generic inspirational posters(with some pokemon names tossed in), and the teacher's desk was actually right by the door. And Wade was still kind of nervous about presenting.
"Don't worry Wade, it won't be that bad. You said you wanted this, right?" The professor asked.
"Yeah, I did. I'm just a wee bit… Okay, I'm pretty nervous. I never, ever did presentations in class, since I was always bad at them. I always didn't seem interested, stuttered, or never talked that loudly… I don't know anymore." Wade looked out at the classroom before him. "You already set this presentation up, didn't you?" He asked.
"Yup, don't worry, I'll be presenting with you. I can do a majority of the talking, you and Houndour just need to look pretty. You think you can do that?" Professor Juniper asked. "For me, can you look pretty?"
"Yeah, I can do that for you," Wade said as the two stepped into the classroom.
"Ah, Professor Juniper! I must say, I was a bit surprised to find out that you'd want to make a presentation at our trainer school. Especially one for Houndour, or more specifically, 'aggressive pokemon'. I suppose this has to do quite a bit with research, doesn't iit?" The teacher asked. The teacher was a guy, at least 30 years old, and looked respectable. He was dressed surprisingly casually with just a white t-shirt and some jeans. He also kept trying to check out Aurea. The professor simply nodded and wrapped an arm around her boyfriend.
"My lovely assistant here actually picked up interests in this topic, since he's heard of how most of the world views certain pokemon. He's a bit nervous, so he asked me to stop by to help him out a tiny bit with the presentation. I'll mostly be doing the talking, while Wade here, gives some of his two cents. I'm also going to look into starting up a little foundation of sorts, to… help Wade, my assistant, combat the main issue that he wants to discuss."
The teacher nodded. "Alright class," everybody in the room then stopped conversing, and all glanced back at the teacher. "The Unovan Pokemon Professor, or as many of you know, Professor Juniper has arrived. While she won't be going over anything revolving around pokemon battles, she has something that she believes is important to discuss with you. If you can please give her and her assistant your full attention, that would be appreciated. If you don't want to stick around, class will properly start in an hour."
Much to Wade's surprise, nobody left.
Professor Juniper walked over to the front of the class, Wade in toe, and both took sides of the chalkboard. The professor then touched a button that went mostly unnoticed, and the chalkboard flashed white. A USB thumb drive was then inserted, and a slide show popped up. It was something Wade had put together(with a lot of help with his girlfriend), and took a deep breath. "Hello class, you obviously know who I am thanks to your teacher introducing me. Today me and my assignments will discuss aggressive species of pokemon, and what you can do to combat this issue. Any questions before we get started?"
"Wouldn't a solution be to just drive those aggressive species to extinction? I mean, what would the world be missing if we killed off a few Poison and Dark type pokemon?" One of the students asked. To Professor Juniper's surprise(a pleasant one at that), Wade spoke first.
"Actually, that would cause more issues than you realize. Each pokemon, excluding man-made ones like the Porygon line, have a place in their respective ecosystems. If you were to kill off Houndoom and Houndour for example, their prey would grow overabundant, the fields said prey inhabit would quickly be run dry of water and plant life. Take out Mareanie, and Corsola would be overampant in Galar. What we'd be doing is playing god with driving species of pokemon to extinction, and would make things worse for us.
"Houndour usually eat pokemon that would love to feast on the crops we grow. How would you feel if we couldn't get apples because a… Stantler decided to eat the apples that we were supposed to import from Kanto and Johto? It'd be like taking out the Purloin line here in Unova. We'd be screwed with the ecosystem, and then we'd be screwing ourselves over. Which is why we are here today… to identify aggressive species and how to deal with them."
Professor Juniper couldn't help but smirk at how Wade's eyes lit up as he spoke. She could tell that her boyfriend, while still clearly nervous(his voice was an octave higher than usual), was passionate about this. She had been told that in his world, certain dog breeds are considered dangerous. The reality was that it was just poor conditioning and training that made said dogs aggressive. And as this slideshow will prove, this situation really isn't different from that at all.
The title slide flipped into the next slide, and the next slide was labeled 'aggressive pokemon'. Juniper looked out at the class. "So class, name some species of pokemon that you'd label as aggressive. Raise your hand and we'll call on you," Professor Juniper instructed. Wade pointed at the first person who raised their hand, a young girl.
"Well, Electike and Manetric are pretty aggressive. They absolutely hate when their trainers touch them, and generally speaking, aren't pleasant to be around," the girl said. This went on for a few more minutes, and some pokemon were labeled with various reasons. Houndour and Houndoom were on that list along with a few other pokemon worth noting. Ninetales, specifically wild Ninetales, made it onto the list. Absol made it on the list(a surprise to Wade), and even Mightyena made it onto the list. There were quite a few others like Gyrados, Meowth, and other villainous team favorites like Muk and Grimer.
"Alright… that's a really interesting list of pokemon…" Wade nodded for Professor Juniper to flip the slide. "But the reality is, there's no such thing as aggressive pokemon. Wild Ninetales, while protective of their tales, never actively hurt people. Heck, there's many cases of wild Ninetales finding lost children, and taking care of them. Some Ninetales even point said children in the right direction that gets them home. Mightyena can be some of the most loyal pokemon, and so can Gyarados… and I don't need to bring up Houndour and Houndoom," with that, Houdour made his presence known with a bark.
"See Houndour here?" Wade scratched Houndour's snout once the canine hopped up on the table he had set up. The canine took deep pleasure in this, leaning into the hand, and had his tongue lolling out the side. Houndour was in pure bliss. "Houndour might not be happy if you touch him, only me, Professor Juniper and one other person can do so without him getting grouchy, but he's not mean either. Houndour just gives a warning nip each time, and will let you pet him if you try enough.
"And so far, Houndour hasn't attacked any of you. For all of the pokemon everybody has mentioned, there are tens of thousands of people singing said pokemon's praises. For instance, while Ninetales are considered aggressive and pretty hard for novice trainers to control, would you consider them bad pokemon?" There was a collective 'no' from the class. "Exactly. Ninetales are the best example of 'aggressive' because their natural demeanor says otherwise. Absol are also generally disliked for being aggressive when most Absol hate battling. Heck, some refuse to Mega Evolve because of how much they hate battling."
Professor Juniper then took over for Wade. "You see, most of the pokemon that are labeled as 'overly aggressive' tend to be pokemon that, sadly more often than not, are more likely to have been abused by their trainers." A bar graph showed up on screen to back Juniper's claims along with sources for all the information. "And most of the time, trainers just assume you have to be rough with these species, purely because of how 'aggressive' they seem." Professor Juniper then walked over to where Wade and Houndour were, and scooped the Dark Pokemon up like a baby. "Wade treats his Houndour with love, respect, and genuinely cares for Houndour's well being.
"My assistant and myself believe that there are many more cases of 'overly aggressive' species of pokemon being very mistreated. And this is why I have asked for an audience with you all today," Juniper took a deep breath, and Wade began to look a bit confused. "We want to raise awareness about these situations where pokemon are abused, and seem to hate just about everybody they meet, because of that abuse. Now, some pokemon are just naturally aggressive, most species are as smart as we are, and have been proven to have differing personalities. Now, are some species more willing to respond to a situation violently? Yes. but even something as docile as a Deerling can bite back if you push it enough. Houndoom in bit competitive tournaments like the League Conference are often found to be abused, where the most cases for pokemon abuse happens for every species of pokemon. It just happens that the Houndour line doesn't tolerate such poor treatment very well.
"So, I have developed a small branch in my lab, only two or three people strong, who are working to remove and rehabilitate pokemon that are aggressive, jumpy, and are skittish from possibly years of abuse. What I'm asking is that you spread awareness of my lab's newest branch, which is yet to be named, and that you can send reports of pokemon abuse through the lab's website… we cannot fully stop cases of abuse, but I believe this is one big step in the right direction." Wade stepped forward.
"You all are dismissed for now. Don't just spread the word in Unova, text your friends overseas, tell government officials, you can make this issue more important by voicing your opinions on it. Together, we can eradicate 'overly aggressive' pokemon, by making sure that the abuse that spawns them is stopped. After all, a pokemon is as nice as it's treated… but don't outright steal somebody's pokemon if they're being abused. Team Plasma is going about and doing this, and it's plainly wrong. In some cases, that's just a pokemon and trainer's relationship to playfully snap at each other," Wade gave a half hearted glare to his sleepy Houndour. "For instance, Houndour and I wrestle sometimes, he nips me, and I put him in air jail for nipping me. Doesn't mean I want to hit Houndour across the back of my head as hard as I can, that's just the two of us playing.
"In other words, do research before you assume. One really nice, quiet pokemon could be a result of it just being too scared to voice its fears of its trainer. One really snappy pokemon could just be trying to get you to play with it. Most importantly, don't engage the… more violent pokemon, as they can very easily kill you without even having to think about it. And pokemon are less likely to have second thoughts before they pull the trigger. Keep yourself safe before you take action… if you firmly believe that a pokemon is being abused, you can contact Professor Juniper's lab online or via phone and we'll respond as soon as possible."
With that, Wade and Professor Juniper dismissed the class before Wade let out a deep, long sigh. "Wow, I talked way more than I intended to," Wade said.
"Well, that's good, you're getting a little bit more confident!" Professor Juniper said as she wrapped an arm around her boyfriend's neck. "Next thing I know, and you'll be the one saying where we're going on dates!" The professor was grinning like a mad woman. "But for now… we did agree to head out for dinner in the Striaton City Gym…" Professor Juniper checked her watch before continuing. "It's a little too early for dinner right now, so do you want to just walk around a bit? I think Houndour would like that."
On queue, Houndour lifted his head off of the professor's shoulder, and then proceeded to jump down, and expertly land next to Wade. "And just like that, he is over cuddles!" Wade joked as Houndour began to paw at his leg whilst making whines and yelps. "What bud?" Wade knelt down, and immediately found Houndour trying to jump into his arms. "Oh I see," Wade let a stupid grin grow as he lifted Houndour up and began to follow Professor Juniper as the two walked around Striation City Square. Now that the moon was rising in the east, the town square was empty. Only a few stragglers were walking by either to home, or to one of the many restaurants in said square.
In the center was a fountain next to a couple battling fields, where there were also a few trainers battling each other. Wade plopped him down on a seat before he began to relax. The night was rather humid, as it was the tail end of summer according to his Pokedex's weather feature, and he was carrying a dog that had a literal fire in its belly. "Say Wade, do you want to battle anybody here?" Professor Juniper asked.
"No… why?"
"Because I'd like to see you battle again, and it's still a little bit before we head in for Striation City Gym's restaurant. It'll give me a good gauge for how you're training your pokemon, and then I can help you from there. While I don't expect you to be keeping pace with those children forever, you aren't battling for sport, it would be helpful for you to know how well you're raising Houndour, right?" The professor asked. "And I must say, as somebody who once took part in the Gym Challenge, you're not bad, and I'm willing to bet that you could even get a couple gym badges if given the time."
Wade rolled his eyes before looking down at Houndour. "Whaddya say bud? Wanna do some late night battling?" He asked. Houndour didn't need to be asked twice, as he shot up from his trainer's lap, and barked a couple times. It was time for some fun! Something exciting! A reason to look tired and pitiful so Houndour can trick his trainer into babying him some more! Houndour bowed and Wade stood up.
"Yo, anybody here wanna battle?"
"I am willing to, I'd like to hear your Houndour speak." Wade turned to see N knelt, who was now trying to per Houndour. Houndour, being the 'very picky with who cuddles with me' type, didn't let N's hand get anywhere near him before he snarled. "I assume you would like just a one on one?" N asked as he stood back up. The man… was N an adult? Wade never really bothered to think about it.
"Yeah, I'm down this time around. Houndour has been itching for a fight apparently."
"He just wants to use this as an opportunity to look sad and pitiful. He wants you to hold him like a baby after all of this, and he thinks that he'll have a genuine reason for you to do so."
"Wait, you can understand me?" Houndour tilted his head.
"Of course. I was raised by a Darmanitan," N said before taking out a Pokeball. Both trainers walked to opposing ends of the battlefield, Wade spun around with Houndour at his heels. "Bud, what did I say about heeling?" Houndour barked. "You don't have to, I'd prefer if you were sitting beside me, Houndour. I do baby you sometimes, but you're a literal puppy, and I can't help but do so."
"Your Houndour likes being babied for the record," N interjected.
"But we're partners. I ain't your master, you're not my slave. We work together, and this all sounds cheesy, but you're my best friend. Best friends don't heel or follow each other. We, as best friends, stand side by side even if we're fighting Arceus himself." Houndour nodded before sitting by his trainer's foot. The canine wrapped his forelegs around Wade's leg, and it melted the man's heart.
"Alright bud, do your best out there, and I'll do my best at directing you," Houndour nodded before stepping out onto the field.
N placed both of his hands on his hips as a big smile grew on his face. "That Houndour trusts you with his life, Wade. I'll give you that, your pokemon does love you, and I can respect that." N whipped a Pokeball from his pocket and tossed it. "Let's see how far that friendship goes with a friendly little match. No wagers, no nothing, deal?" N asked.
"Fine by me, I don't need money for a reason to kick your ass."
A Lilipup was now staring Houndour down, both canines had their lives curled up as they snarled and circled each other. "You're going down, midget," Houndour taunted.
"I'm going to use Take Down on you for that one, Houndour!"
"Alright Houndour, coat yourself in fire and tackle Lillipup!" Wade ordered. Houndour barked, and his body was engulfed in flames… he then bolted towards Lillipup faster than the naked, human eye could see. Wade's bootleg version of Flame Charge or Flare Blitz seemingly did the trick, since Lilipup was knocked out after the first blow. Houndour and Wade had just curb stomped N.