Day 10
Sunny
Current mood: proud
Current location: Nearby the campus of Pokemon Tech; en route to Vermillion City
Dear Diary:
We're resting nearby the campus of Pokemon Tech, a famed trainer school, this evening. I have to hand it to Ash--he taught the students a true lesson, one the students won't soon forget.
It started as we departed this morning--Ash and Misty got into their morning argument again, negotiating suitable terms for the bike incident. Quite frankly I should be the one negotiating the terms with Misty, since I destroyed the bike to begin with.
Brock was getting annoyed by all the arguing after a few miles, so he suggested we make a temporary camp and have lunch. Ash was told to go get some firewood, so we departed into a nearby forest.
After walking along for a while, we came across a group of kids taking with one another. We decided to get close and listen in--they appeared to be discussing the move list of Pidgey. Ash was more interested in a boy running on a treadmill; judging from how he was panting and sputtering, he had been running for a while. He felt sorry for the boy, so he shooed the other kids away, shut the treadmill off, and let the poor boy rest.
Misty and Brock caught up to us a few minutes later while Ash tended to the boy. He introduced himself as Joe, and told us that he was a student at Pokemon Tech, a prestigious school for trainers. He went to tell us that he was at the bottom of his class, and the kids Ash shooed away were trying to "help" him out. Ash wanted to know who was in charge at the school, so joe showd him a picture of a girl named Giselle, saying she was the person to talk to. Ash and Brock were both enamored by the picture, but Misty reminded them that if they wanted to see stars, she would be more than happy to show them some!
When we arrived on the campus, Joe showed us around, and explained the class rankings: beginners had the equivalent of two or three badges, intermediates had about five or six, and advanced students had the equivalent to all eight. If you were lucky enough to graduate, you could go straight to the League, no badges needed! Misty felt that going to the school was nothing compared to actually getting all the badges, and she illustrated her point by thrashing Joe's Weepinbell with Starmie.
About that time, Giselle arrived with the kids Ash had shooed away earlier, and just plain berated Ash! She went on and on about how weak he supposedly was, and just continued ranting for hours on end! Her ranting got so annoying, Pidgeotto, Butterfree, and I covered our ears so we wouldn't have to hear all the yelling and screaming.
Giselle's ranting drove Misty to the point of insanity, so she promptly shushed Giselle by summoning Starmie again! Giselle countered by summoning a Graveler. It looked like Misty would get an easy win, but despite Starmie's best efforts, she fell, defeated. Giselle explained to Misty that Graveler was at a higher level than Starmie, hence why Gravel won the duel.
This was the last straw for Ash, so he marched right up to Giselle's podium and began his own lecture to the students: Pokemon was more than levels, movesets, EVs, natures, and all of that...you needed love and compassion as well. Giselle cut him off in the middle of his speech, and even went so far as to call me, Pidgeotto, and Butterfree weak. Ash just gritted his teeth, stepped down from the podium, whistled for me, and challenged Giselle to duel. Giselle accepted, and summoned a Cubone to face me.
When the whistle blew, I tried to get in a move, but Cubone's constant barrage of Bone Clubs and Bonemerangs made it hard to see and battered me hard. Ash found Giselle's strategy unfairly cheap, and called for me to fight back in any manner I could. And boy, did I ever fight! I scratched him, I bit him, I ran around him until he was confused, and I even turned a Bonemerang against him!
All my attacks proved to be too much for Cubone, so he sat down and started to cry. Giselle realized that Ash had been right all along, and reluctantly declared Ash the winner. We weren't the only ones glad Giselle had been humbled--the students felt the same as well.
Before we could celebrate, Team Rocket arrived and tried to catch me again! Before they could swipe me, Giselle jokingly reminded them of their "homework" they forgot to do; and they were ran off campus by a barrage of Poke Balls.
Joe decided he was going to withdraw from the school and travel to get badges. He told Ash that he hoped to see us again in the League, and with that; we parted ways.
So here we are in camp...Pidgeotto brought me some leftover crepes from lunch, so I'll have some with her.
Until tomorrow,
Pikachu