It was a typical autumn Wednesday for the students of Hammerlocke University. The campus, which took up a decent portion of Hammerlocke Castle and its surrounding grounds, was swarming with students who shared the common goal of studying Pokémon.
Most of the University's students attend on some sort of scholarship or endorsement; attending post-secondary school in the world of Pokémon tends to be a bit of a niche thing to do. A majority of Galar's careers don't require a specialized degree, but certain citizens use college to gain a greater knowledge of their lives' pursuits.
In Galar, there are three post-secondary education options for those who aspire to be out of the ordinary. In the town of Motostoke, there is a trade school that specializes in welding. Out west in the fantastical village of Ballonlea is a school specializing in the arts, known for its theatre program. And in the heart of Galar lies Hammerlocke University.
The entirety of Galar has its eyes on HU's students in this current era. The champion of the region, Gloria, has decided to attend the school for a Battle Technician degree, which will give her greater insight on competitive battling all over the Pokémon world. The region's newest up-and-coming professor, Hop, who made it to the semifinals of the latest gym challenge, is starting with a Biology degree. He's planning on earning his doctorate before becoming a full-fledged Pokémon Professor. Galar's newest gym leaders, Marnie of Spikemuth and Bede of Ballonlea are also students in the class of 2023, majoring in Battle Techniques and Pokémon Coordination, respectively. Bede's degree program is also well-renowned at his hometown's college, and many Galarians wonder why he decided to attend the region's flagship school instead of staying closer to his gym.
Luckily for the Champion and gym leaders attending HU, the gym challenge takes place during the summer, so their league duties are fairly light during the school year. During the term however, Marnie lets her brother and former gym leader Piers represent her at meetings, but Bede insists on being at each one even if it means flaking on assignments. Champion Gloria makes sure to attend all local and national meetings, but she has assigned Gym Leader Raihan to represent her internationally each year in April due to the final exams schedule.
Alright, back to Wednesday.
Gloria sat at the back of the lecture hall, which was unusual for the champion. The professor was droning on about the science behind type matchups, which was old news, but she'd still usually be paying attention.
She held her Rotom phone behind the notebook which sat in her lap, at least feigning attention to the material. Gloria had received a text right before class started that she just couldn't ignore.
Leon: I got everything squared away early, thanks to you. the tower is gonna b opening this weekend. Friday night, be there.
The Battle Tower. After being defeated in Gloria's championship match, Leon had been working on a project unknown to most of Galar. He'd wanted to be a Battle Technician like so many of the world's great trainers, but his pride prevented him from enrolling at HU at the same time as his younger brother Hop. So instead Leon took it upon himself to rebuild the gaudy Rose Tower into a Battle Facility like the ones he'd participated in during winter residencies in Hoenn and Sinnoh.
Gloria, being ahead of the game in her degree program and well-traveled due to her very worldly family, was Leon's sole advisor during the project. She hadn't told Hop or even her roommate Marnie about the Tower, and they wouldn't know anything about it until it was formally announced.
Gloria: sweet. are the mints really going to be here in time for opening weekend?
Leon: yep, that's what I was waiting on. The first shipment came in this morning. i was worried about the adamant and jolly supply, but I paid more for expd. shipping. thx again for suggesting those, m8.
Gloria: yea np. Do u know when there'll be a formal news announcement?
Leon: I just pulled up to tha news station fr fr
Gloria: oh this is gonna be huge here on campus. Thanks again for tha heads up, im gonna get some train tickets for me n hop and book a room b4 the news goes live
Leon: cant wait to see you guys!
For the rest of the class period, Gloria sought out two-way train tickets to Wyndon and back for Friday afternoon through Sunday morning and booked the Champion Suite at the newly-remodeled Bluebelleon Inn not too far from the center of the capital city. Hop is gonna flip.
After daydreaming about which three of her ace Pokémon she'd want to showcase that weekend, class dismissed for the day. Gloria slipped her phone into the front pocket of her bag and quickly shoved the notebook she didn't end up using into the bigger one. She hadn't even gotten out a pencil for class.
Gloria exited the lecture hall through the doors at the top of the stairs and leaned against one of the walls in the hallway outside, tying her hair up into a high ponytail while her chocolate bangs still curtained her eyebrows.
"Hey, Glor! What in blazes are ya doin' here, I didn't see ya durin' class!"
The Champion turned toward the voice calling to her, adjusting the straps of her oversized bookbag and averting her gaze. My eyes will give away the surprise, she can read me like a book!
"Oi Marnie, you startled me. I was at the back of the hall, had some emails to catch up on. Didn't think the prof would take too kindly to me bein' on my phone."
"Hm. Fair." Gloria and Marnie started off in the direction of the girls' dormitories as their classes for the day had ended. The curtains had been parted to reveal the castle's stained-glass windows that day, which bathed the stony hallways in a colorful sunlight. "I think Raihan's declared it a Sunny Day today. It's been overcast for so long; don't think he could take it anymore."
"I couldn't either. Goin' outside was just like staying in, but worse." Gloria brushed a strand of hair out of her face distractedly, something suddenly feeling off about the conversation.
"You feeling alright?" Marnie was casting a sidelong glance at her roommate, noticing the shift in Gloria's tone. "You're lookin' a little flushed."
"Oh. I'm fine, I think I might be dehydrated." Gloria quickly reached for her water bottle that was a permanent fixture in her bag's side pocket and downed the remainder of the morning's metallic-tasting water. The drink cleared her thoughts enough for Gloria to realize why she'd suddenly acted strangely.
That name…
Suddenly, a familiar buzz sounded from Marnie's handbag. "Oh, there's my phone." She retrieved the device and answered it as the two girls reached the spiral staircase heading for home.
"Oh, hi Hop… Gloria? I think her phone's on silent. She was texting Raihan during class."
Gloria's face burned, but she couldn't quite put a finger on how that comment made her feel. "I was not." She hissed.
"Is tha' so? We're heading back to our dorm, I'll see if I can find the livestream…Thanks mate, I'll talk to ya later." Marnie hung up just as the girls reached the top of the stairs. "Hop says Leon's on the news."
"Hope it's not about him getting lost in the Wild Area and having to call a rescue squad again."
"Nah, it's actually something that Hop says came out of left field for him-"
"Huh? Hop watches baseball? Didn't know he cared for Unovan sports."
"I think so, why?"
"No matter. And hey, can ya stop makin' up stories about me? Didn't appreciate that Raihan comment."
"Please, Glor. I saw your location on Chatter last weekend-"
"I have GOT to turn that off. Also, it was Champion business, I'm trying to arrange an exhibition match for Raihan and someone important from Johto before the summit in April."
"Yeah, but did you have to go to his HOUSE after dinner?"
"…That was all him, not me." Gloria hid her face as she retrieved her room key from the outer pocket of her bookbag, unlocked their shared room's door and threw her jacket and bag onto her bed. "Turn on the news, wouldja?"
"Aight, aight." Marnie plopped down at her desk and took out her laptop, quickly booting it up and navigating to ChuTube. Gloria pulled her chair up to her roommate's desk, trying to hide her excitement of what she knew was to come. Luckily for her, Marnie was fixated on the screen. The gym leader's Morpeko popped out of its Poké ball which was situated on the desk and made itself comfortable in Marnie's lap.
Before the newscast that was #1 on trending fully loaded, Marnie clicked and dragged the scroll bar to the beginning.
"Good afternoon, this is the October 5th edition of Battle Report! I'm Finn Finnegan and I'm here with former Champion Leon from Postwick, who is here to share some exciting news with Galar's trainers."
Gloria winced. "Former Champion" seemed like a bit of a slap in the face. When the camera panned over to Leon, however, the former Champion was all smiles.
And his OUTFIT… oh boy. Why does he look like a history reenactor?
"Hello, Galar! It's been a long time since I've been able to address you all like this, but pretty soon you'll be seing a lot more of the Charizard Master!"
"Oh brother, is that what he's calling himself now?"
"MARNIE, SHUSH!"
"You see, this weekend a whole new place to battle will be opening in the fair city of Wyndon! I've been working on this project with a colleague of mine-"
Gloria cringed. That's gonna get people talking and theorizing. I don't want to take even more credit from him…
"…ever since this summer's Champion Match. I welcome the trainers of Galar to… THE BATTLE TOWER!" The camera panned to the doors of the former Rose tower, now framed by cheery bluebells, one of Leon's favorite plants.
"MATE, WHAT?!" Marnie's jaw dropped at the announcement. It was unlike anything the region had ever seen, and those studying to be Battle Technicians in Galar knew what this meant for them. "IS THIS SERIOUSLY…?" Morpeko lifted its head, clearly startled at its trainers raised voice.
"YEAH, WE'RE GETTING A FRONTIER FACILITY WITH WORLDS RULES!" At Gloria's equally excited shout, Morpeko hopped off Marnie's lap and hid under her desk.
"AMAZIN'- wait, how do you know for sure?"
The livestream continued and took Marnie's attention away from Gloria's suspicious knowledge.
"…frontier battle system. I'm looking forward to seeing Galar's best here in Wyndon starting this FRIDAY NIGHT for season one of the Battle Tower!" The stream cut off just as it looked like Leon was about to strike a Charizard pose, and Gloria stifled a snort. Marnie turned her chair to face Gloria, eyes wide and gleaming.
"Mate, this is BONKERS! You HAVE to go this weekend."
"Um… I already got train tickets…"
"YES- wait, how did YOU know about this?"
"Uh…" Telling Marnie wouldn't hurt. But I have to tell Hop about the tickets right now before he buys his own! Gloria pushed her chair back to her own desk and reached for the bag she'd thrown onto her bed, retrieving her Rotom phone. "Y'know how Leon said he'd been working with a colleague?" she hurriedly opened her messages log with Hop.
"…Tha' was YOU?! You're KIDDING. Gloria, I swear you don't even have to get this degree. You're already doing a Technician's work."
"Leon asked me because we're friends. And I taught him about Nature Mints. Didn't know those existed before coming here."
"You can figure out about those on the internet."
"That's beside the point. It was just a connection." Gloria finished sending her message to Hop. "Hop and I are going up to Wyndon for opening weekend-"
"YOU TOLD HOP?! Why not me?"
"Hold on, I didn't tell Hop. I got our tickets in advance because I knew he'd want to come with me and you're going to be in Spikemuth this weekend."
"Blast. How do you know my schedule better than I do?"
"Just Champion things."
"It's only been three months, Glor."
"Guess it's just me, then."