When we finally got to the school, we got signed in and they assigned us to our dorms. I was happy to see that we got a dorm together. Honestly this would only make sense, since we were the only two humans on campus, but still I was relieved. Pikachu though I had to hide in my saddlebags at admissions and would need to keep hidden in my room at all times while we were here. The administration seemed ok with the rapidash so long as they were kept in their pokeballs the entirety of our stay. I don't know what would have happened if they found out we had a pokemon that didn't have a pokeball like Pikachu. Suspension probably. Then Jessee would never forgive me for ruining her dream.

This was a relatively short program, only about six months total, since it was designed for pokemon who were already naturals at this sort of thing. But if things went well here we could possibly apply for one of the human schools and get accepted on merit without needing a recommendation from a member of the Joy family.

Jessee chose the top bunk right away. She leapt onto it and lay on her back staring up excitedly at the ceiling. "I'm so anxious. I wonder what tomorrow is going to bring for us." She rolled over and looked down at me while I was still unpacking and rearranging items from my saddlebags. "What do you think, Jess. Do you think these classes are going to be hard? What kind of things are we going to learn here?"

I shrugged as I pulled out my nightgown from the pack, refolding it and setting it aside for later. "Jessee, I honestly can't say. I don't think they'll be too terribly difficult for us, seeing as how we've learned a lot of stuff just from living on the ranch, but we will probably learn some new stuff too, like how to take blood, or how to insert an IV."

Jessee shuttered. "I didn't think about that."

I laughed. "Last chance to back out now if you don't think you can handle the pressure."

She chucked a pillow at my head. "Not a chance. I'm not getting this close just to give up on the doorstep." She folded her arms and stared again at the ceiling. "I've given vaccines to rapidash, stitched wounds, put tubes down their throats for colic…If I can do that, I can handle anything."

I chuckled again. "Yeah…I was generally the one to do all of that stuff. You mostly stood back and watched, maybe fetched water or something, but you were always too afraid of getting yourself dirty or gross."

Jessee chucked another pillow at my head. "I did it sometimes….!" But she was smiling. She laid back into the mattress. "I can't wait for tomorrow. I'm here! I'm finally here doing what I've always wanted to do."

I smiled to myself as I went about folding up the saddlebag and sliding it under the bed. I was just happy that she was happy. But in the back of my head, the image of my brother still floated around. I STILL hadn't come up with a plan for how to get him out…I tried to convince myself that an idea would come to me when the time was right, but that did nothing to calm the whirring in my mind.

"Hey, Jess?" Jessee asked, interrupting my thoughts. "Do you think you're going to be up much later?"

"Probably not, but I was going to read over these textbooks and try to get an idea of what to expect for tomorrow."

"Ok, because I was going to turn in early to make sure I'm up and ready tomorrow morning." Jessee explained, climbing back down the ladder to the bed and picking up her nightgown and toothbrush. "If you don't mind, using the small lamp on the desk or a flashlight please?"

"Sure Jessee, not a problem." I replied with a small smile toward her as she left the room to go to the dormitory washrooms.

That night, as I lay in the dark on this foreign bed, Pikachu curled up as always beside me, I couldn't help but feel a sense of emptiness. The realization of what was happening was hitting me again. I had literally nothing but what was in my saddlebags. No home, no job….my stomach clenched a little. I hoped that this all wasn't a big mistake. If things didn't work out, I would have nothing to go back to…I gripped the comforter, which I guess disturbed Pikachu, because he picked his head up and looked at me groggily. "Pi?" he asked, stifling a yawn.

I gently stroked the fur on the back of his head right between his ears where I knew he liked it most. "Its nothing to worry about, Pikachu. Go back to sleep."

Pikachu yawned and scooted up a little closer to me. I rolled onto my side to cocoon around his body to let him be more comfortable. He soon drifted off to sleep, but I was still wide awake. I was too anxious. So I just lay there listening to the silence until our alarm went off.

Jessee was quick to respond to it. She practically leapt off of the bed and tapped the alarm to turn it off, flipped on the light and ripped the covers off of me. "Time to get up; the rest of our lives are about to begin!"

Pikachu tumbled out of the mess of covers, miffed at being so rudely awakened. He shot a dirty look at Jessee, but then shook off and went about cleaning his face and ears. Then he tapped me lightly on the hip. "Pika pi."

"Yeah, I know, Pikachu." I replied reaching out and rubbing between his ears, which earned me a cute little "Chaaa!"

Jessee was floating around the room getting dressed, humming a little song that she was making up on the fly. Her hair was still in the two braids I had put it in the day before. She seemed unbelievably chipper—more than I could say for me. My eyes were swollen from no sleep and the light was burning them. But I forced myself to rise anyway.

"Good Morning Jess, I hope your ready for a big first day." Jessee chirped, smiling toward me, oblivious to my sleepless night.

I forced myself to smile back despite the pounding in my head. "G'morning, Jessee…" I picked up my dress clothes from where they sat folded on the dresser. "I'm going to go wash up. I'll be back in a moment."

I walked down the dormitory hallway in my nightgown to the washroom. The halls were filled with a chorus of "Chansey, Chansey, Chansey." I could see the large pink pokemon filing in and out of the bathroom and was suddenly hit with a nervousness. Jessee and I were literally the only humans on this campus besides the teachers. Everyone else was a pokemon. I felt my anxiety well up again. I felt so out of place, like I shouldn't even be here. I tried to shake it off. "They're just pokemon," I told myself. "No different than Pikachu or Rapidash. Just Pokemon and other students. And if Jessee doesn't feel uncomfortable neither should I."

I got to the sink and splashed a handful of cold water on my face. It was all going to work out. Jessee was finally realizing her dream. She was on cloud nine and that's all that mattered. Once we'd established ourselves we could go find James. Everything was going to be ok.

I wiped the water out of my eyes and looked into the mirror to see one of the chansey staring at me. "Oh…I'm sorry…did you need the sink?" I asked, moving out of the way. Chansey smiled at me and chirped an ever happy "Chansey" as she stepped up to the sink and went about washing her face.

For some reason I still couldn't shake my discomfort though…Chansey were known for being super intelligent and unbelievably strong, as well as for having a naturally caring and nurturing demeanor. That's why they were usually favored by the Joy family as their nurses aids. As I changed into my knee length skirt and white button up shirt, I tried to figure out why I was feeling so uncomfortable. Was I being speciesist? How? I loved Pokemon! All types of Pokemon! I had never had a problem with chansey before! Was it just because I felt outnumbered by them? That I stuck out like a bright green ball in this field of pink? I banged my head against the bathroom wall. I was being ridiculous. Jessee couldn't find out about my sudden trepidation…it would tarnish her excitement—and I enjoyed seeing her happy like this…

I felt eyes staring at me and peeled myself off the wall to look at them. It was the chansey from before, looking up at me with its huge round eyes. It cocked its head and bounced a little as it chirped, "Chansey?"

"Yeah…I'm sorry. I'm fine." I replied, trying to give it a confident smile, but I wasn't feeling any of the confidence I was trying to convey. I hoped Chansey didn't pick up on it. She did anyway, and patted me on the back chirping again, "Chansey chansey!"

"I know…everyone gets nervous on the first day, but it's a little more than that…" I replied uncertainly." Chansey cocked her head waiting for me to go on, but I didn't want to. So I just smiled at her again. "Don't worry about it. I'll be ok—really." To my surprise, this time my smile didn't feel forced. Chansey had somehow made me feel a little better.

Chansey gave me a small smile in return and hopped off singing "Chansey chansey chansey." I too finished getting ready and headed back to my dorm.

When I got there, Jessee was already dressed and waiting for me. She was as giddy and excited as ever, touching up her hair, making sure her uniform was straight; I couldn't help but smile a little over her sheer joy. There was no way I could let her know how uncertain I felt now.

She looked up and smiled at me. "You ready to go, Jess?"

I forced a smile back. "Ready as I'm going to get."

Pikachu hopped onto one of the bedposts. "Pika pika!" He exclaimed perking his ears up.

I smiled at him and rubbed his head. "Thanks, Pikachu. Your support means a lot."

Jessee picked up her small bag of books and pencils. As she pushed past me she grabbed my arm. "Come on, Jess, we're the only humans here—we don't want to make a bad impression by being late." She dragged me out of our room and I barely had enough time to lock the door as she pulled me down the hall.