Finally, she notices Dawn and Buneary, who are both stood in gorgeous matching dresses, and the former's wearing a beautiful crown upon her head.

Casey puts two and two together.

"Damnit! We missed it!"


Route 210 - Sinnoh

"We're gonna be late, guys! I know we are!" Ash cries, sprinting slightly ahead of the group as they make a mad dash down the path.

"If you hadn't overslept, we wouldn't have this problem!" Dawn snipes, rushing to match Ash's speed whilst Casey, Duncan and Brock run behind.

"If you hadn't been trying to fix your dumb bedhead, we wouldn't have had this problem!"

Casey can't help but roll her eyes at their bickering. In retrospect, neither of them are wrong. Ash did oversleep, and Dawn did spend ages trying to fix her bedhead. Duncan was ready to go before any of them (even Brock who's always the first one ready), and both Brock and Casey were ready soon after, the three of them knowing how important it is for them to get to the Summer Academy on time.

The last thing they want is to be late on their first day of school. That just establishes an awful first impression that none of them need hanging over them. Sure, Casey, Ash, Dawn and Brock all know Professor Rowan personally, but Duncan doesn't, and even if they do they can still make a bad impression on the other employees at the academy.

"Are you guys always like this?" Duncan asks, looking over at Casey.

"Not usually." Casey pants, turning back to the academy just as they rush through the entrance, the bell chiming as they cross over into the yard.

The entire group bends over, hands placed on their knees as they pant heavily in exhaustion.

"Looks like we made it after all." Brock says once he's caught his breath, standing up straight and sighing in relief.

"But you're late!"

Casey feels the hairs on the back of her neck stand up at the sound of the booming voice. She straightens up in an instant, turning towards the stern-faced Professor Rowan as he approaches.

"Professor Rowan!" Ash says warmly, "It's good to see you!"

"Hmm." The man muses, which Casey figures is a subtle way of saying 'you too' or something. He gestures towards the crowd of other students gathering in the yard, "If you'd like to follow me, we can begin."

They all nod, quietly following Professor Rowan as he leads them over to where all the other students are stood waiting. They blend into the crowd as he goes to stand by his colleagues, who are just wheeling out three massive boards scribbled with information.

"Alright, people. Gather around to find out which class team you're on."

Casey and her friends, much like the other students, instantly flock to the boards in question, scanning them for their names. Casey eyes up the 'Red Team' board first, elated to find all five of their names appearing in succession upon its surface.

"Hey! It looks like all five of us are on the Red Team!" She remarks happily, turning to her friends with a smile that they all return.

She's glad that they're all on the same team. They'll all get to spend time together that way.

"Looks like I'm on the Blue Team."

Dawn jumps with a fright at the sound of a familiar voice by her ear, turning around and finding it to only be Conway, "You're here too?"

He nods, tipping his glasses in the freaky way that he does, "Somehow I just knew that you'd all be coming."

Casey looks over at Duncan, who looks back at her in the exact same way, both of them making the exact same point in their silent exchange.

This guy's really weird.

"Don't forget me!" Another girl, one who looks awfully familiar, proclaims, striking a pose in the middle of the yard, "The name's Jessilinda, and I'm on the Green Team! I'm also the schools resident cutie-pie!"

Casey has to admit: there sure is a wide variety of students attending the Summer Academy.

All of the students assemble in the middle after a few minutes of finding out their teams and socialising, where Professor Rowan is waiting for them all alongside with his colleagues.

"Just as there are various kinds of Pokemon in various parts of our world, budding young trainers are no different. You trainers of different ages and birthplaces have gathered for a week of fun excitement. Destiny has brought you all together, as you meet your fellow students and work with them and their Pokemon in your classes. So, get to know one another this next week, and, while you're at it, have some fun!" He explains with a surprising amount of enthusiasm.

Professor Rowan's usually got quite the stern demeanour, after all.

"Now, each and everyone of you will use these Pokeballs. One Pokeball per student." One of the workers explains, placing a large cardboard box teeming with Pokeballs in the middle of the crowd of students.

Ash, being Ash, is the first out of the students to reach for a Pokeball, going for one right in the middle of the box. However, another student seems to have the same idea as him, as both of them reach for the same Pokeball at the same time.

They bicker over the capsule, with the girl ultimately winning possession of it over Ash, who seems surprised to find out that she's a girl. She only seems to get angrier at that, and Casey doesn't really blame her. But, then again, Ash can be awfully oblivious about most things.

"The name's Angie, and I challenge you to a battle!" She declares, twirling the Pokeball around in her hand.

"You've got yourself a deal!" Ash replies confidently, reaching back down into the box and grabbing a Pokeball for his own, "Oh, by the way, my name's Ash."

"Good! That's the spirit! But tomorrow's when the real battles start." Professor Rowan says, approaching the two quarrelling trainers, "The order of business today is to meet the Pokemon you chose."

"Speaking of." Casey says, reaching into the box herself and withdrawing her own Pokeball. Duncan follows suit, grabbing a Pokeball of his own from the far corner of the box. The two of them move into a clear space, and Casey's the first to toss her Pokeball up into the air.

"Come on out!"

The capsule bursts open and the creature spills out of it, materialising as a Pokemon that Duncan recognises in an instant. The Pokemon looks back at Casey inquisitively once it materialises, clearly trying to figure her out from a glance.

"Wow! You've got a Combusken!" He gasps, staring at the Pokemon in awe.

"Combusken, huh?" She murmurs, pointing her Pokedex at the Pokemon in question as it continues to stare at her.

"Combusken, the Young Fowl Pokémon. Combusken is the evolved form of Torchic. As a Fighting Pokémon, it has the ability to breath raging fire from its beak and to unleash high-powered kicks."

"I've never met a Combusken before." Casey remarks, pocketing her Pokedex and taking a step closer to the Young Fowl Pokemon, "It's nice to meet you, Combusken."

Combusken just continues to stare at her for a moment, and she's scared that Combusken may react poorly to her for a second, but then its stoic expression drops and it cries out enthusiastically, circling around her in a weird form of greeting that makes her laugh.

"What Pokemon did you get, Duncan?" She asks, turning to the boy once Combusken settles at her side.

He tosses his own Pokeball up into the air next, his own Pokemon bursting out of it and appearing by his feet. It looks up at him curiously, small nose twitching, whilst his eyes go over to Casey instead.

"What's that?" He asks, confused.

"A Nidorina." Casey remarks, walking over to the Nidorina and kneeling down at her side. The Poison Pin Pokemon eyes her up, leaning forward and sniffing her hand as she watches her carefully. She backs up, and Casey notices something from her expression, "And she's hungry, by the looks of it."

She can see it in Nidorina's eyes. Brock's been teaching her how to notice certain things with Pokemon. He says that it's important to understand that not all Pokemon can voice how they're feeling as easily as others can.

"She?"

Casey nods, looking back up at him, "All Nidorina are female."

"They are?"

Casey sighs, though it's only out of a good nature, and stands up. She crosses the yard, making her way over to Brock (who's currently stood by a Magnemite that she only presumes is his Pokemon).

"Brock, can I borrow some Pokemon food? Something that a Nidorina would like." She asks politely.

"Sure." He replies, smiling. He reaches into his bag, rifling through multiple canisters and packages before pulling out a small green tin and passing it over to her. "This is the food I give to Croagunk, so it's perfect for Poison-Types."

She accepts it gratefully, thanking him for the tin before making her way back over to Duncan. He watches her, bemused, as she passes the tin directly over to him, "Here you go."

His eyes go down to the tin, and then to Nidorina - who, bless her heart, is just watching him patiently - and then back to her, mouth opening and closing as he stands there dumbstruck, "You want me to do it?"

"You feed your Pokemon, right?" She asks, and he nods back, "Exactly, so it's the same thing."

He still looks skeptical, his eyes filtering between her and Nidorina for a few moments as he tries to figure out what to do. He eventually tips some of the Pokemon food into his palm, kneeling down at Nidorina's side and placing the tin on the floor by his feet. He holds his palm out in front of Nidorina, who initially just continues to look at him in confusion, but then she's smelling the food in his hand and is then eating it with a content cry that makes his eyes light up.

"See, you've got it." Casey praises, smiling; she looks down at Combusken, who's watching Duncan as he feeds the hungry Pokemon at his side, "What do you think Combusken?"

"Enough!"

Before Combusken can offer any kind of reply, the booming voice of Professor Rowan sends a chill up all of their spines. Nidorina even forgets about her food and rushes to hide behind Duncan, who seems both touched and worried by the sight. They turn towards the center of the yard, where they watch as Professor Rowan scolds both Angie and Ash, who both look absolutely terrified underneath the stern mans glare.

All of the young trainers and Pokemon in the yard are dead silent, watching in fear as the professor stares down at the two timid trainers. Casey swears that she's never seen Ash look so terrified.

Professor Rowan looks as if he's going to keep yelling at them when a bell rings through the yard, cutting him off (much to the relief of Angie and Ash).

"That's the end of our first hour. In tomorrow's battle, I will judge how well you've befriended your Pokemon and award points accordingly." Rowan explains before turning away and beginning to walk inside of the school, leaving all of the trainers stood in the yard stunned.

Professor Rowan sure can be frightening, huh?

"Hey, Casey. Do you wanna battle me tomorrow?" Duncan asks, approaching her with Nidorina at his side.

Casey turns to face him, surprised by the sudden confidence in his voice. She looks down at Combusken, wanting its confirmation before she agrees to anything, but it nods back without hesitation.

"You're on!" She replies, turning to him and matching his confidence, "This is gonna be awesome!"


The hours of the day go by far too fast for Casey's liking. They spend the day getting to know their Pokemon and each other. Casey figures that she and her friends have it easy since they've come to the academy as a pre-established group; that hasn't stopped them from branching out and getting to know the other students. They've clicked well with Angie - well, Ash bickers with her relentlessly, but there's no malice behind either of their jibes at one another - and the six of them have become quite the tight-knit group.

They've also been learning some new things in their classroom. Casey's found the new information fascinating, as has the rest of the Red Team, and even Brock's learnt some new things today. Ash and Angie didn't exactly find the information as interesting, which became clear throughout the day when they kept falling asleep during Professor Rowan's assistants (who Casey's come to learnt is called Yuzo) lectures.

They were made to run laps every time, which you think would tire them out. But now, as Yuzo and the other assistants do their rounds of the living quarters, alerting all the students that it's time to go to bed, Casey and her friends find that sleep is the last thing that they want right now.

"Bedtime already?" Brock asks, looking down from his top bunk at Duncan, who's laying on the bunk below his own.

"I'm not even sleepy." Ash says from his bunk, Angie murmuring in agreement from the bunk above him.

"Yeah. Join the club." Casey says.

Dawn leans down from the bunk above Casey, smirking, "You know, I've got a deck of cards."

"Come on guys! Let's play!" Angie says enthusiastically, jumping down from her bunk to sit in the middle of the room.

Casey and the others follow her actions, with Duncan being the last to and admittedly doing it rather hesitantly. Casey doesn't exactly blame him: if they get caught, they'll probably be in loads of trouble. She figures that they'll just have to try their best to not get caught.

They all get comfortable rather quickly, and the six of them sit in a small circle around a lamp in the middle of the room, which is providing them with enough light to play their card games.

"So Angie, you haven't started on your journey yet?" Ash asks after awhile, his comment surprising Casey.

With her boisterous attitude and can-do mindset, Angie seems like the kind of person who would be rushing out on a journey. She's kinda like a female version of Ash.

"No. I've been working in a Pokemon Daycare Center. It's so busy. I hardly have a free moment!" She explains, enthusiasm prevalent in her voice as she talks about the Daycare Center.

Casey's seen some Pokemon Daycare Center's in the past - she can remember a certain one she saw whilst she was in Johto, actually - and in a sense her Grandpa's ranch is kinda like a Daycare Center.

"I haven't set out on my journey yet, either." Duncan says, speaking up for the first time since they all sat down.

"Where are you thinking about going, Duncan?" Dawn asks.

"I don't know yet." He admits, shrugging, "But I'm only gonna go when I'm ready."

"Sounds like a plan." Casey says, smiling.

It still amazes her just how Duncan's come since she met him. Long gone is the boy who cried because he didn't want to battle, and in his place is a boy who actively wants to battle and understands his own limits. It makes her proud to call herself his friend.

"What would you like to do on your journey, Duncan?" Brock asks.

"Well, I can't exactly picture myself as a Pokemon Breeder like you, Brock."

"Wait, hold on." Angie says, turning to Brock with an interested glint in her eyes, "You're a Pokemon Breeder?"

"An aspiring Pokemon Breeder, actually." Brock replies modestly.

"Brock's the best when it comes to taking care of Pokemon!" Ash chimes in, clearly not happy with his friend underplaying his abilities, "No doubt about it!"

Casey has to agree with Ash on that one. If it wasn't for Brock, she doubts that she, Ash, Dawn or their Pokemon would be able to cope.

"What part of lights out don't you understand?" Yuzo yells as he suddenly bursts into the room, startling them all out of their peaceful card game.

They all jump up with a fright, practically launching themselves onto their bunks and hiding out of pure fear of the man. They begin to relax once the door closes, but none of them dare to get out of bed again, meaning that all of the cards just get left on the bedroom floor.

On the bright side, they're all far sleepier than they were before.


"Combusken, you ready?" Casey asks, looking to the Young Fowl Pokemon in front of her with a confident smirk.

Duncan and Nidorina stand opposite them both, with all of the other students and their Pokemon waiting at the sidelines in anticipation for the battle that's about to unfold. Yuzo and Professor Rowan's other colleagues are stood alongside their superior, with Yuzo waiting to initiate the battle when ready.

Casey's been training with Combusken all morning. Their battle is the last of all of the students, meaning that they've had plenty of time to observe. Casey's noticed that Combusken is incredibly similar to Monferno, both in typing and demeanour. That made training with it a far more natural process than it could've been.

But now, as she stands opposite Duncan, who looks just as ready and raring to go as she does, she can't deny that she's feeling nervous. Excited, but nervous.

"Com! Busken!" The Young Fowl Pokemon responds enthusiastically, pounding its clawed fists against its chest proudly.

"Alright, Nidorina! Let's give it everything we've got!" Duncan calls to Nidorina, standing his ground and showing just how ready he is.

It makes Casey smile; she likes seeing him so confident.

"Battle begin!"

Casey goes into overdrive the second Yuzo makes his declaration, calling out Combusken's first attack before Duncan can react, "Use Sand Attack!"

"Dodge it and go in for Poison Fang!"

Combusken kicks up the sand from the ground, but Nidorina rushes to the side and avoids the grainy projectiles with ease. Stunned, Combusken only stands there as Nidorina's fangs glow a bright purple, and then she sinks her glowing teeth into Combusken's arm. The Young Fowl Pokemon howls in pain as Nidorina grips onto it relentlessly, seeping poison into its body.

"Shake it off, Combusken!" Combusken braces itself through the pain and thrashes its arm around frantically, going so far as to smashing Nidorina down onto the ground so that she lets go.

Nidorina goes bouncing back, just barely managing to regain her composure as Casey orders the next attack, "Use Sand Attack, again!"

The sand hits Nidorina directly this time around, so much so that she has to close her eyes and flinch backwards to avoid it. Whilst she's immobilized, Casey and Combusken take their chance.

"Use Flamethrower!"

Combusken sends a torrent of fire directly at Nidorina, which makes a direct hit and makes the Poison Pin Pokemon wail in pain.

Casey's confident in Combusken now, and it's clear from his expression that Duncan's not feeling the same way about Nidorina. He's panicked, and it takes him a moment to bounce back from that before he gives his next order, "Use Dig, Nidorina!"

Nidorina digs herself underneath the ground, disappearing from sight, and Casey notices the way in which Combusken's eyes dart around the battlefield frantically in fear. She doesn't blame it for being scared, but perhaps they can outrun that fear.

"Rush around the field by using Quick Attack!" She orders, and Combusken turns back to her with a look of confusion plastered on its face, but it ultimately relents and obeys her command.

Combusken becomes a blur as it runs back and forth, and Casey hears all of the students gasp in surprise as they watch its remarkable speed. It seems like there's not a chance that it'll get hit, which is why it's so surprising when Nidorina bursts up suddenly and makes direct contact, sending Combusken flying into the air.

"Nice one, Nidorina!" Duncan praises, and Casey watches in horror as Combusken crashes down onto the ground with a groan of pain.

She watches as Combusken tries to drag itself up, but then it stumbles despite its best efforts. It keeps trying, and Casey's heart goes out to it because it's trying so hard.

"Come on, Combusken! You can do this!" She praises, conscious of both Combusken and Duncan and Nidorina.

She knows that they're running out of time.

Combusken knows it too so it tries again, except this time it plays out slightly differently to how it did before. It begins to stand, and then its body begins to glow, and then it begins to grow in size, and all of the trainers and professors watch in awe as it stands tall.

The glow's almost blinding, and even once it bursts away, revealing the Pokemon's new form, the light remains in Casey's eyes.

"Combusken evolved into a Blaziken!" One of the students gasps, though Casey's not entirely sure which one because she's too focused on Blaziken.

She manages to fumble for her Pokedex and aim the device at the newly evolved Pokemon.

"Blaziken, the Blaze Pokémon and the evolved form of Combusken. Flames surround to come out of its wrists, making its punches extremely damaging and dangerous."

She pockets it after noting the new attack that Blaziken's learnt from evolving, and she's just about ready to make her next move when Yuzo steps forward, blowing a whistle.

"And that's it!"

You've got be kidding me!

Casey steps towards Blaziken whilst the other students applaud, placing a hand on its larger arm and smiling up at it, "Excellent job, Blaziken. You were awesome!"

"Blaz!"

She smiles once more at the Blaze Pokemon before turning to Duncan, who's approaching with Nidorina at his side. He extends a hand out to her, "Thanks for a great battle, Casey. You and Blaziken were awesome."

"Thanks, Duncan. You and Nidorina were great, too." She replies, hand clasping over his as they do a solid handshake.

Two rivals - friends - standing alongside each other with equal respect for one another. That's part of what the Pokemon Summer Academy is about.