Days went by. Every day was a new lesson, a new partner project, and at the end of the week, a new test. I found out later that there weren't the standard written tests as I had feared. Instead, there were hands-on tests—more-or-less demonstrations—with willing participants from the local Pokemon center. The Nurse Joy there would bring over some of the sick pokemon that were willing and had gotten permission from their trainers, and each student would demonstrate whatever technique they were asked, under the supervision and scrutiny of both the headmaster/teacher, and Nurse Joy. If they felt the pokemon was in danger they would automatically fail the student and finish the procedure themselves. This put me at ease a lot! I always freeze up a little on paper tests, but in-the-field demonstrations I can handle.
Jessee and her new Chansey friend, the one that had been having trouble with the bandages and had met me in the bathroom, were now pairing up most of the time for group activities. I was glad this chansey had befriended someone like Jessee to help her out. Her bandaging skill had gotten almost as good as Jessee's and her grades overall were improving. Jessee had been right, there was really nothing for us to worry about. Most of the techniques we had already done before, or were extremely easy to master. Plus we got plenty of practice time on each technique.
Chansey would sometimes join Jessee and me in our study sessions. When we'd meet up she would always ask how I was doing—if I was still really anxious. I thought it was a really sweet gesture and though she was more of Jessee's friend than she was mine, I couldn't help growing a bit fond of her. She was a little clumsy, a bit ditsy, and couldn't seem to grasp that she was about 40x stronger than the average human, but she genuinely cared about every living thing. She was extremely sweet and always tried really hard to be the best nurse she could be.
Then, the day came that I feared more than all the rest.
It was the week before graduation. So far, Jessee and I had managed to pass all of our tests without any problems. Chansey too. And with graduation just next week what on earth could happen that would cut our chances for graduation now?
The headmaster stepped up to the front of the room, her usual stiff smile on her face. "As you know, next week is your graduation ceremony. You've all done very well so far. You can all breath a sigh of relief because this week's lesson is quite easy." Jessee and I sat forward. "You're last lesson is going to be on using your sing attack to calm restless patients."
The entire class cheered a chorus of "Chansey! Chansey!" But both Jessee and I caught our breath. Neither of us could really sing, and there was no way we could sing well enough to soothe a pokemon to sleep…! What's more, how were WE not going to fall asleep in the process.
The headmaster continued. "Tomorrow we will have a cumulative exam. It will just cover all the techniques you've learned up to this point, to make sure you've retained them all. On Thursday you will be taken to the Pokemon center for the final exam: singing the pokemon there to sleep. Bring your singing voice." With that she dismissed the class and left.
Among the clamor of the class getting up and leaving, I glanced over at Jessee, who turned toward me at the same time. Her eyes were as wide as I'm sure mine were, but finally she cleared her throat and straightened her cardigan on her shoulders. "Well, that means we're just going to have to try to figure out a trick to staying awake. We have four days to train ourselves, I'm sure we could figure something out."
Well if she could feel confident in this time of desperation, good for her. I on the other hand was panicking. Sing attack was 100% accurate: It ALWAYS put any living thing within the vicinity to sleep. I've never heard of anyone, pokemon or human, training enough to render sing useless…
Chansey bobbed happily over to us. She smiled happily, but her smile fell when she saw us. "Chansey?" She asked, turning to me, staring off into space, gripping the desk with enough pressure that my knuckles were turning white. "Chansey?" She said again, taking my hand to check my pulse.
"She's fine." Jessee told Chansey. "She's just panicked because she doesn't know how we're going to pass this last exam…"
"Chansey Chansey?" Chansey asked.
"That's the thing." Jessee replied. "Neither of us has the ability sing, and whenever we hear a song we fall asleep." She paused. "Do you think that you could help us? Maybe if we get used to the attack we'll be able to stay awake for it."
Chansey broke into a broad smile again. "Chansey!"
Jessee began peeling my fingers off of the desk. "Come on Jess, we've got a lot of work to do."