Earl's Pokemon Academy was an… odd place, Robb determined.
As a school that emphasized teaching young children how to be appropriate trainers, their structure and hierarchy systems were different that what Robb was accustomed to. As an example, it did not separate classes by age range or skill level, as one would expect.
Instead, classes were determined by what Robb could only describe as random chance. It was essentially a lottery.
One class might be home to primarily nine-year-old students nearing the ability to take their licensing exam, but there'd be a few kids so young they couldn't even read mixed in with them. Another class might act more like a pre-school, in which the students would mainly be between the ages of four and six, without the attention-span needed to appropriately give care to their subject matters, and yet there would be a student like Robb, a late starter, stuck in that situation.
And it made absolutely no sense.
Robb couldn't fathom what kind of administrative nightmare the school must face on a near daily basis. Wouldn't it have been easier to just separate classes based on skill level, if not by age? Some kids knew more about Pokemon than others due to their upbringing, and an interview or two with an administrator would be able to settle competency. There could be a practical showing! Or a test! Something!
Robb groaned just thinking about it. It gave him headaches. At least school only lasted three days a week, rather than a full five. His class also happened to be a more even mix than those previously stated examples, but it still wasn't anything worth much. There were twenty-three children total, including him, thirteen of which were eight or older, while the other ten kids were younger. Robb was the oldest, of course. All of the kids were loud, all were annoying, and all were undeniably, unfathomably, unfortunately interested in being his friend.
A shudder ran through Robb's spine at the thought. The horror.
It wasn't that Robb didn't like kids. Far from it, actually. Of his many odd jobs in the before, his favorite had been as a tutor. He knew a decent amount of amateur video production and editing tricks from attempting to self-audition, and a friend working for the local school district had been willing to let him teach his skills to kids over the summer. His students were all children, varying from ages ten to sixteen, but all of them were interested in what he knew, and all wanted dearly to do something with their skills. Some wanted to also be actors, others wanted to become streamers, hell, one kid just wanted to make and post comedy skits with his friends for no other reason than having a good time. Robb honestly loved that job and was disappointed beyond belief when it shut down after only two summers.
Still, that position helped Robb determine his thoughts on kids, at least. Children were fun. They were honest and interesting and always happy to talk about their going-ons. That said, Robb found himself only able to really enjoy children with some form of maturity running through them. Those that didn't really require too much struggle to interact with.
Those kids that just coasted around or were too young to know what they wanted out of life… those were the ones he had a hard time with.
And while every student of Earl's Pokemon Academy clearly loved Pokemon, it couldn't be denied that maturity levels varied.
Case in point was the here and now. A special visitor had come to the academy, a regular since his elevation to importance, and all the students of the academy, regardless of class times, were out in the courtyard to greet him. Well, greet was a kind word. Too kind. Most of the kids were swarming him without any form of control, really. Robb found himself sat in the grass with a group of only three other kids, all of which too were waiting for the next licensing exams to come through, patient for their turn to interact with the man before them.
Falkner was here, the Violet City Gym Leader.
His face was stern, but boyish and charming, and his grey eyes were partially hidden beneath a styled mop of blue hair. Blue seemed to be his favorite color, for his clothes too were made of the same color. He wore what could only be described as a karate gi, only it was blue in color and cut off at the knee and shoulders, bringing out the paleness of his skin. Over his gi was a teal vest, where six pokeballs were magnetically held in place.
All-in-all, Robb would admit that Falkner was a good-looking man, though his fashion preferences felt a tad strange.
"Settle down children!" Miss Priscilla called out, trying and failing to corral the excited crowd away from Falkner. "One at a time, wait your turns! Mr. Falkner took time out of his busy schedule to meet with all of you. Please do him the courtesy of being orderly!"
Considering it was off season, his schedule was actually quite open. The Pokemon League was going to open back up on January 5th, and they were in the early reaches of November.
"They're fine!" Falkner said, trying to find his footing. He reached at his vest and took a pokeball off of it. "This actually goes really well with what I wanted to go over today!"
"Oh?" Miss Priscilla paused, thinking. A sly smile then spread out over her face, her eyes glinting with something that Robb could only discern to be playfully malicious. "In that case… Children! Have your fun!"
She stepped back towards Robb and the calm kids then and allowed the wave of children to truly crash against him. Robb could not help but think she was a sneak, and snickered at the chaos soon to unfold.
Falkner, realizing he'd just been set up, immediately opened his pokeball, and in seconds, a wave of psychic energy burst forth and held the children back.
A Xatu, with glowing blue eyes, signifying that it was the one to use a psychic attack, was the pokemon to appear from the pokeball. It perched itself on Falkner's left shoulder and stretched out its wings in a dignified manner, not even making a peep.
"Today," Falkner began, scratching at the belly of his Xatu keeping the children at bay. They giggled and started making a game of trying to get past the psychic wall that had been placed around Falkner. "We will be talking about Pokemon with secondary typings. As you can see, my Xatu is both a Flying-type and a Psychic-type. Something interesting about Flying-type Pokemon is that there aren't any that don't have a secondary type that have been discovered as of yet. Because both of these types are combined in Xatu, Fighting-type Pokemon, who are already do reduced damage to Flying-type Pokemon, will do even less damage, due to Psychic-types also having an advantage."
One of the students next to Robb, a redheaded girl name Sue, raised her hand, and Falkner happily pointed towards her.
"But what about disadvantages?" She asked, somewhat nervously. Falkner smiled at her and motioned for her to continue. "Like… I already have my starter. A Gligar. He's great against Electric attacks, but really bad with Ice attacks. What do Xatu struggle with?"
Falkner beamed at her. "Excellent question! And might I say, great choice in your starter! Gligar are fantastic Pokemon. As you know, being an owner of one, Flying-type Pokemon are strong against Grass, Fighting, and Bug-type Pokemon, while being weak against Electric, Ice, and Rock-type attacks. Psychic-type Pokemon are strong against Fighting and Poison-type Pokemon, and weak against Bug, Ghost, and Dark attacks. So, for Xatu, as a Flying-type Pokemon, she has a weakness against Electric, Ice, and Rock-type attacks, while as a Psychic-type, she is also weak against Ghost and Dark-type Pokemon. Because Flying-type Pokemon are strong against Bug-types, and Psychic-type Pokemon are weak against them, they cancel out in Xatu and are considered neutral."
"But!" Falkner barked, startling Robb slightly. "These are generalities! Flying-type Pokemon might have more weaknesses than others do, but they have a great strength that almost all of them share. Can anybody tell me what that is?"
"Speed!" Sue cheered, right in Robb's ear. Ow. "They're all super fast!"
Falkner smiled her way. "Exactly! Flying-type Pokemon, on average, are faster than all other types. Sure, there are outliers like Arcanine out there, though it's unlikely you'll ever run into one, but most Flying-type Pokemon are going to be quicker than the majority of Pokemon in the known world."
Robb felt a smile sprout over his face at the mention of Arcanine. It was not that he wanted one in particular, though he certainly wouldn't mind a giant fire breathing speed-demon-dog. Dogs were great.
It was that the secret to evolving a Growlithe was unknown to the masses.
He'd looked through forums relentlessly in order to prepare for the licensing exam, going through every channel of information available for as many Pokemon as he could, just in case they would be brought up on his test, and was surprised to learn that even though this was the world of Pokemon, it wasn't one he was completely familiar with. This wasn't the anime, nor was it the game or the manga. It was some odd combination it seemed, a mix of all media sources, with its own twists and turns and unique rules and regulations to be seen.
Case in point: Arcanine. Surprisingly, there were currently only seven known Arcanine registered to trainers in the world. Professor Oak had one, Professor Birch in Hoenn had one, Blaine had two, the Growlithe breeder that the Jenny clan rely on had one, the elder of the Jenny clan that worked with said breeder also possessed one, and an up-and-coming trainer from Hoenn named Tucker had the last of them. Arcanine were titled the "Legendary Pokemon" not only because of their great strength, but because of their rarity.
When Robb looked into the subject further, he determined that, similar to Arcanine, nobody seemed to know how to evolve a Vulpix into a Ninetails, or an Eevee into a Flareon. People knew that these Pokemon existed. But they didn't know how to go about looking into them. Rumors stated that Vulpix only evolved into Ninetails when they reached extreme age, and Eevee evolved into Flareon, Jolteon, and Vaporeon only when in environments filled with said element. Umbreon and Espeon were the most common Eevee evolutions, apparently.
Robb had his suspicions. After researching these Pokemon, he then tried looking into fire stones. The moment he did so, his computer crashed, it wouldn't turn on again, no matter how many soft reboots he did, and Mary-Anne determined that the old thing had finally just crapped the bucket. She kindly allowed Robb to borrow a different computer, and that was that.
On her end, that is.
Robb however, quickly came to a different conclusion. The next time he looked anything up regarding evolution stones, he did so at the Violet City Public Library. They were heavily sponsored by the city, and had over 100 computers for the public to use.
Looking up water stones had the exact same effect. The computer he was occupying randomly spazzed out, and wouldn't turn back on. Moving on to the next computer, Robb experimented with looking up thunder stones, and sure enough, that computer also blacked out.
The pattern was clear. Information about evolutions stones were strictly guarded and regulated, and the only entity that could possibly maintain this privacy was the Pokemon League. All information servers were produced and affiliated with the multi-governmental organization, and thus they could all be monitored and immediately destroyed whenever the stones in question were looked into.
Robb quickly chose a to change tactics after this breakthrough. Rather than look up stones, what would happen if he began looking up the individual Pokemon that evolved by way of external sources? Surely there would be speculation available on how said Pokemon evolved?
Surprisingly, Robb learned that, rare though it was, some Pokemon that could evolve from stones could also evolve by other means. Pikachu, as an example, could evolve into Raichu when directly struck by lightning during a heavy storm, and Poliwhirl could evolve into Poliwrath when training beneath a waterfall for long periods of time… somehow. That one didn't make sense to Robb, but then again, Pokemon didn't necessarily have to make sense. That was part of the appeal. Nidorino and Nidorina could also evolve into Nidoking and Nidoqueen after dominating their pack. But trainers that did not know about moon stones were unable to evolve these Pokemon, considering they were no longer part of packs, and moon stones too were heavily secreted.
Curiously, leaf stones and sun stones were open to the public. They apparently spawned in heavily forested landscapes and dry planes and grasslands, and considering those were the area's that most trainers and people found themselves enjoying, it made sense that that secret couldn't be avoided. Hell, in Violet City alone, considering the existence of the Sprout Tower, there were more Victreebel in the vicinity than anywhere else in the word.
Robb had tirelessly done his research. And with said research, he'd come to understand a simple fact that could jumpstart his viability as a trainer substantially, before he even set foot on his journey. It might be considered sneaky. Hell, it might even be considered underhanded. But he knew something valuable, and there were plenty of people in this world that would do quite a lot for what he knew.
People like Falkner.
As Robb refocused his attention on the gym leader, he was glad to see that the lecture part of his presentation was over, and now a general Q and A was happening.
"-ou've got to use a certain amount of force when working with them." Falkner told a young boy in the front row. Robb couldn't see the kids face, but his hair was bone white. It was still quite odd to see hair being so naturally multi-colored. "Nothing dangerous, but certainly a stern hand and word make the difference. Until you are far enough along in your growth to no longer need one, that is."
Robb had no clue what they were talking about, and he had a feeling he didn't really want to know either.
Instead, he raised his hand, and patiently waited for Falkner to call on him.
There were two more students whose hands had been raised first, and Falkner called on them in order. The first one wanted to ride on Falkner's Pidgeot, to which the gym leader said interactions with his Pokemon would occur later. The second one, one of the older kids, wanted to know about the Abra line. More specifically, about the benefits and uses of Teleport.
"I've never owned an Abra," Falkner admitted, rubbing his chin with a ponderous look. "Nor have I really worked with one. I battled a Kadabra at the Saffron City Gym when on my own journey, and I've had trainers challenge me with the Abra line, but that is the breadth of my interaction with the species. That said, I know a little bit about Teleport! Natu are one of the few Pokemon capable of naturally learning the move. Mind, they can only really teleport themselves, their psychic capabilities are not near as strong as an Abra, and thus they can't take passengers, so I'm not as familiar as I'm sure you wish I were. Still, it is a powerful technique, and in the event that you are able to raise an Abra of your own into a Kadabra or even an Alakazam, I highly encourage you to find creative ways to use it. Pokemon Battles are all about creativity, at the end of the day. If nothing else, the ease of burden transportation becomes is worth the investment."
"You!" Falkner called, pointing Robb's way. "In the back!"
"You have a Murkrow, right?" Robb asked.
"I do," Falkner said, nodding shortly. "We can do introductions later on. Now, who's next…"
"Sorry sir," Robb cut in. Falkner looked at him with a raised brow. "That was just the preface to my question."
"Go on then," Falkner encouraged.
"I wanted to know if you knew the evolution process of a Murkrow into a Honchkrow."
Both of the brows on Falkner's head shot up at the question. "That is a high-level inquiry. Much as I wish I could say that I know, that'd be a lie. If I did, I would evolve my Murkrow in a heartbeat. She's certainly strong enough to warrant it."
"And what about a Gligar into a Gliscor?" Robb asked. By his side, Sue also looked up in interest. Considering her starter was a Gligar, that was fair.
"Once again, I do not know." Falkner responded, looking a little disgruntled. "It is clear that there is a hidden requirement to their evolution, just as there are for many other Pokemon species, and the few trainers in the world with access to these Pokemon are unwilling to share the method. Or perhaps they themselves don't know. Accidental evolutions have happened, after all."
Falkner took that moment to direct his voice to the whole of the group. "That is something you'll all have to keep in mind as you go on your journeys. We do not know everything about Pokemon, and indeed there is a good chance that as you go out in the world and find your own Pokemon, you won't be able to evolve them, or care for them in the appropriate way they need. Ask your questions, reach out to professionals, and don't let pride or arrogance hold you back. Pokemon are not trophies. They are your dearest friends, your staunchest allies, and when your chips are down, your best bet at living."
It seemed that that was Falkner's stopping point, for he then announced it was time for a meet and greet. He withdrew the five remaining poke balls from his vest and released his team. His Pidgeot was the first to take shape, materializing with a great "DGEOO!" Then came his Skarmory, the metal raptor haughty and clearly unimpressed by its audience. A Butterfree and a Crobat then took stage, chittering and circling the children with interest. Finally, a Murkrow, likely the very one he had been speaking of, perched itself on Falkner's shoulder, opposite of Xatu, and didn't make a peep.
The mob then occurred. The kids rushed towards the Pokemon, and pandemonium broke out. The Skarmory looked dead and done with the world as children treated it like a jungle gym. Pidgeot took to flying a low canter around the field, with children holding onto its wings, hoving a scant few inches off the ground, shrieking with joy. Xatu teleported to the middle of the playground, and once more a small pack of kids rushed it, held back by a wall of psychic energy. Butterfree and Crobat, smartly, found their niche with the older, more mature children, and enjoyed being basked upon and pampered with appropriately administered scritches.
Falkner and Miss Priscilla took a seat on a small bench. It seemed that with Pokemon now out and about, nobody cared about the gym leader.
None but Robb, that is.
"-on't know how you do it, really." Falkner said as Robb approached, slouching into his seat. "You've got to be a saint or something." His Murkrow crooned in agreement from his shoulder, shooting a glare towards the loud clearing.
Miss Priscilla laughed, smacking his shoulder lightly. There was a clear energy of affection between them, Robb could see. Were they dating? "It's all about delegating. Some children are easier than others, and I make sure they help with the ones that aren't."
"It can be annoying," Robb said, startling Miss Priscilla bad. Falkner just looked on with amusement. "But they aren't thatbad. They have their moments."
Robb preferred not being an on-sight babysitter, of course. But, in his professional opinion, at least it was better than holing away in his room all day on his computer doing research.
He enjoyed learning new details about this world, truly. But that routine could only be followed for so long. At least with the kids, he had something else to temporarily focus his attention on.
"Robb, deary!" Miss Priscilla exclaimed, holding her hand to her chest. "Don't do that."
"Do what?" Robb asked, trying to sound innocent.
By the stink eye she shot him, it was clear that he didn't succeed.
"Don't you want to play with the Pokemon?" Miss Priscilla asked, shooting a look towards the crowd.
"There'll be more opportunities," Robb replied. He turned to Falkner. "And I have something more important to go over."
"Oh?" Falkner voiced.
Robb nodded brusquely. "I'd like to apply to be sponsored by your gym when I go on my journey."
Journeys, while considered a rite of passage, were predictably expensive. Most kids only lasted their first year because they didn't have the funds to continue further. Sure, access to Pokemon Centers was free, but lines were long and actually having access to a room without waiting was rare, and even though there were other subsidies in play, money was still important to the foundation of a journey. Robb, as an orphan and soon-to-be ward of the state, would have an even more difficult time getting going.
That is, unless he was able to secure a sponsorship.
As could be inferred, sponsorships in this context were programs that allowed trainers to go on their journey without the need to worry about financial hardship. Sponsored trainers would receive both a lump sum of money upon their acceptance into a program, as well as a stipend to be received on a weekly or monthly basis, determined based on the regulation of their contract.
"Why should I allow you to use the name of my gym?" Falkner asked, scratching at the crest of his Murkrow. "You look older than ten. That tells me you've failed the license exam."
"I haven't taken them yet," Robb informed. It was a little blunt, but he could understand the confusion. It genuinely was unusual to see an older kid getting started now. Especially in a school such as this.
"Then you were lazy?" Falkner asked. With those words alone, Robb felt a flare of anger roll through him and all understanding of Falkner went out the window. How dare he? Robb wanted to lash out at the gym leader before him, tell him exactly what this body had been through. He quickly cooled down his temper before it could get the better of him, however. That was a lesson well learned.
Luckily, Robb's teacher was on his side.
"Falkner," Miss Priscilla cut in with a wild look in her eye. "You don't know Robb's circumstances. You are completely off base. You always do this, thinking your opinion is the right one before people can tell you different. You need to learn to quit while you're ahead."
"If not laziness, then what is it, Priscilla?" Falkner asked, bludgeoning onward. "I started my journey as a youngster at seven with nothing to my name but my Pidgey, and had to earn my spurs before Leader Bryant took me on for sponsorship. Your name is Robb? How old are you?"
"Twelve," Robb replied. He'd be thirteen by the time the season started back up, too. December birthdays. Woo.
"What reason could you possibly have to delay your journey by two years then?"
"It's none of your concern, Falkner." Miss Priscilla warned.
"No," Robb told her, staring the gym leader down, his fists whitening with pressure. "If he's going to be this much of a prick, then I might as well make it his concern."
"A prick, am I?"
"What else do you call somebody that calls out a kid who only just recently got out of the hospital for a disease that had kept him in a bed for three years?"
Falkner paused, as if about to speak, before slumping and groaning. "Fuck," he said. His Murkrow, on his shoulder, snickered at his trainer's faux pas.
Robb shook his head with a grunt, disappointed. "You know what? This was a bad idea. Shouldn't have even asked. I wasn't going to just hope for the best and pray for you to take on a charity case, I had an actual trade in mind that I thought you might like. But if this is the way you act, then I'd rather just figure things out myself."
"Look," Falkner tried. "I'm sorry kid. I shouldn't have pushed or even said anything. But I get people asking for sponsorships so regularly that it's a defensive mechanism at this point."
"Great excuse," Robb drawled. "Really brings out the prick in you."
"Robb." Miss Priscilla warned. Robb felt that was entirely warranted, so merely clicked his tongue in response.
"What did you think was worth the trade, anyway?" Falkner asked, rubbing his eyes.
Robb looked towards his Murkrow, and as red met grey, he felt as if a quiet comradeship formed between them.
He'd not just decided on a hail-mary with Falkner. Robb genuinely did have a trade in mind. Unless a trainer knew their sponsor in question, it was always expected that the sponsorship got something in return from trainers under their wings. Be it publicity or a long-term tithe, they always got something. Trainers sponsored by lab professors and the facilities they worked with paid them back by retrieving data relevant to their studies, for example.
Trainers sponsored by gyms and high-level trainers also gave something back, as should be expected. Training methodologies into preferred species was a common occurrence, as was information regarding new or improved moves.
And, most importantly, new techniques into raising Pokemon.
Which included…
Evolution.
"I was going to tell you the secret regarding how to get a Honchkrow."
I want to establish some clear changes from canon from the get-go. Certain Pokemon will be rarer than others, and the Pokemon League has a genuine reason why they are restricting the knowledge of most item based evolutions. We'll go into those reasons within the next few chapters.
I portrayed Falkner as a bit of as asshole, I admit. Whether that is his actual personality, a defensive mechanism, or caused due to outside forces, we will find out soon. Or we won't. It doesn't really matter that much, does it?
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