I am very sorry for the long wait. This chapter should be fun to do, considering who is introduced in this episode. Word of warning, some parts have been changed from the original version, especially concerning Team Rocket.

-:-

Name Translations:

Sato – Ash

Lila – Anabel

Takeshi – Brock

Kasumi – Misty

Kojiro – James

Musashi – Jessie

Seiyo Yuto – Giselle

Jun – Joe

-:-

Still on their way to Vermillion City, the Sato-tachi was making their way through the foggy woods. It would have been a quiet trek, had Sato and Kasumi not have gotten into another argument.

"Grr, will you just let it go?" shouted Sato, glaring at the Tomboy Mermaid. "It's not like I destroyed your bike on purpose!"

"I don't care! You're still going to buy me a new one and I don't care how long it takes!" yelled Kasumi, glaring back at the raven-haired boy.

Lila, Pikachu, and Takeshi could only let out sighs at their friends' behavior.

"Takeshi, do you think Sato-kun and Kasumi will ever stop arguing?" asked Lila, looking up at the older boy.

"I don't know, Lila. Though it does seem that they should stop acting childish and put this whole thing behind them," said Takeshi.

WHAM!

The next thing anyone knew was that Takeshi was on the ground with a lump on his head. The cause happened to be Kasumi, who happened to be wielding a log.

"The only one acting childish is Sato no Baka! He won't admit to owing me a new bike!" yelled Kasumi, eyes enflamed with anger.

Sato, Lila, and Pikachu were shocked by the act of violence Kasumi showed. Both Lila and Pikachu were hiding behind Sato, away from Kasumi. Sato on the other hand remembered the last time Kasumi showed how violent she could be.

'Last time she was violent was when she slapped me after she pulled me from the river. Gomen, Takeshi. I should've warned you earlier.'

"I-Itai…"

"You okay, Takeshi?" questioned Lila.

"H-Hai. I'll be okay," said Takeshi, rubbing the bump on his head. "L-Let's just stop for a while and have some afternoon tea."

Takeshi then proceeded to pull out chairs, a table, and the other necessities needed from his backpack.

"…How'd all of that fit in your backpack?" questioned Sato with a raised eyebrow. Kasumi and Lila also wanted to know.

"They're collapsible," grinned Takeshi. "Anyway, I was thinking along with the tea I'd make some French crepes!"

"Ooh! I love France! It's such a romantic country!" squealed Kasumi as she fantasized about being in France.

CRUNCH!

Her fantasies screeched to a halt at the sound. She turned towards the table to see Sato munching on one of the cookies Takeshi placed there.

"These are pretty tasty. You should try some, Lila!" grinned Sato, turning to look at the lavender-haired girl.

"Th-That's okay, Sato-kun," said the girl, her cheeks a faint pink.

Kasumi's eye started to twitch a bit. She was angry that her fantasy was interrupted and was about to hit Sato with the log she had. Luckily, Takeshi came to the rescue.

"Sato! Do me a favor and go and collect some firewood. I need to be able to boil the water if I'm to make the tea."

"Sure thing, Takeshi. Come on, Pikachu!"

"Pika!"

The two then ran off to find the firewood, leaving behind Takeshi, Lila, and a still steamed Kasumi.

-:-

"Even though we're in the woods, this would probably be easier if there wasn't so much fog."

"Chu."

Sato and Pikachu were cautiously walking through the woods, looking for the firewood they needed. Both of them were able to find some sticks and twigs, but they really needed to find bigger pieces of wood. As they went deeper into the woods, they started to hear voices.

"There are other people out here?"

"Pika?"

The two soon stumbled upon a group of kids Sato's age who were all wearing uniforms. One of the kids was on a treadmill five other kids had him surrounded.

"Come on, Jun, you can't be that stupid. Now what Pokémon is this?" questioned a kid with spiky red hair as he held up a card.

"Th-That's a Pidgey!" said the boy on the treadmill.

"Very good. Now, what's the strongest attack that Pidgey can learn naturally?" questioned another kid with wavy green hair and a smug look on his face as he raised the treadmill's speed.

"Ano…"

Before the boy could answer, he lost his footing and fell off of the treadmill. The other uniformed boys sneered at the fallen boy.

"Man, how pathetic can you be, Jun?" taunted the spiky red-haired boy.

"Leave him alone!" shouted Sato as he and Pikachu ran up to the group.

"Hn. What's it matter to you?" questioned the wavy green-haired boy, glaring at Sato.

"I'm not going to just stand by while someone gets bullied," said Sato as he helped Jun off the ground.

"And neither will we!"

Sato and the others turned to see Kasumi, Lila, and Takeshi standing nearby.

"What are you guys doing here?" asked Sato.

"We were wondering what was taking you so long with the firewood," said Kasumi, giving him a deadpan look.

"Let's get out of here you guys. These people aren't worth our time," said the spiky red-haired boy as he and the others turned and left.

"Good riddance," muttered Sato.

"So those were Pokémon Tech students, huh?" said Takeshi.

"Pokémon Tech?" questioned Sato.

"I think it is a school that educates Pokémon Trainers, Sato-kun," said Lila.

"Really?" asked Sato, turning to Lila.

"Here. This should have more information about it," said Kasumi as she pulled a piece of paper from her pocket.

"Hmm, interesting," said Takeshi as he took the paper and read it.
It says here that the school trains it students so they don't have to go out and collect badges and guarantees entry into the Pokémon League upon graduation."

"It can't be all that great if the students are like that! Where is this place anyway!" exclaimed Sato.

"Over there," said Jun.

The fog soon lifted and revealed a large building that looked like a mansion.

"They're not that bad, you know. They were just helping me study," said Jun.

"What are you talking about? It didn't look like they were helping!" exclaimed Sato.

"Sato has a point. It looked more like they were bullying you," said Takeshi.

"But if they don't help me study, I'll never be able to graduate," said Jun. He then pointed over towards an old man who was sitting under a tree. "See that man? He's been a student here for almost ten years. That's how hard the exams are."

The Sato-tachi were shocked at how things were at this school. Sato then turned to Jun looking for answers.

"Whose the student in charge who is letting them get away with this?" he demanded.

"This is her right here," said Jun as he pulled a photo out of his pocket.

The Sato-tachi looked at the picture and when they did, Sato and Takeshi started to go a little bit gaga and drool over the girl in the photo. The girl in the photo had long brown hair and wore the school's female uniform with a short skirt.

"Wow. How can someone who looks that good have a bad personality?" questioned the drooling Takeshi.

"Don't know. At least she's not someone who treats you bad and looks even worse like someone I know," replied the equally drooling Sato.

While the boys were fawning over the picture, they didn't seem to notice the building anger from the girls, even though Pikachu was trying to warn them. Kasumi's anger was directed at both Takeshi and Sato, especially Sato because she knew he was talking about her, for acting like perverts. Lila on the other hand, who was feeling her own rarely felt anger, was directing it all on Sato. What little rationality that was being surrounded by the clouding anger she had told her that she should be angry with both of the boys, but she couldn't help but be mad at Sato only. While Lila had her inner debate with herself, Kasumi was the first to explode at the two boys.

"Would you two ero-baka stop making fools of yourselves? If you're not going to do something about how that little witch treats the other students, then I'll have to do it my self!" screeched Kasumi. She then stomped her way towards the school, leaving the now shaking-in-fear boys behind.

"What was that all about? Lila?" questioned Sato, turning to the lavender-haired girl. He raised an eyebrow in question when the girl ignored him and followed after Kasumi. "…Girls are very confusing, Takeshi."

"I'll have to agree with you there, Sato."

-:-

Meanwhile, watching the Sato-tachi from afar, Team Rocket were contemplating on what their next plan was.

"Fancy looking school, nya," said Meowth, who was looking through a pair of binoculars.

"Maybe there's something worth stealing inside," suggested Musashi. "What do you think, Kojiro?"

"…"

"Kojiro?" questioned Musashi, turning to the blue-haired teen.

Kojiro seemed to be staring off into space as he was staring at the school. Not liking that she was being ignored, Musashi walloped Kojiro's head with her fist.

"Itai! What was that for?" whined Kojiro, turning to the purple-haired girl.

"You were ignoring me! Now come on! We're going to see if there's any Pokémon to steal inside!"

Team Rocket started to make their way towards the school. As they were walking, Kojiro was thinking about the school.

'Who would've guessed I'd come back here after all this time?'

-:-

With the Sato-tachi, they were standing in a room filled with large computers.

"What's this place?" asked Sato.

"This is the study area used by the head student, but others can use these battle simulators for their own studies," answered Jun.

"Battle simulator? Wouldn't it be better to participate in an actual battle?" asked Lila.

"Maybe, but it's the overall skill as a trainer, not any one battle, that determines success here at Pokémon Tech," replied Jun.

"I doubt that. Real world experience is a must have if you want to be a successful trainer, in my opinion," said Sato. He then pulled out his two badges. "If it wasn't for my own experiences, I wouldn't have these!"

"You only have two badges? I may be the weakest student here, but I'm still better than someone with two badges," said Jun, making Sato and Kasumi angry.

"Now hold one a minute! You have no right to say something like that! I battled against Sato and he may not be the best trainer out there, but he did earn that Cascade Badge," exclaimed Kasumi. Sato sweatdropped when she bluntly said he wasn't the best.

"So you're the Cerulean Gym Leader? It's not all that hard to win a Cascade badge considering…"

"Considering what?" growled Kasumi.

Jun walked over to one of the simulators and stared a battle on the machine. The battle showed a Starmie going up against a plant-like Pokémon that was yellow in color and shaped like a bell.

"As you can see, since your Water-types are weak against Grass-types, all a trainer needs is a well trained Grass-type and they will win every time," explained Jun as the Weepinbell on the screen defeated the virtual Starmie.

"That's not the same! I demand a real battle! I'll show you what my Starmie can really do!" yelled Kasumi.

"You'll be sorry," stated Jun as he picked up a Poké Ball from the shelf.

Getting into position, Kasumi sent out her Starmie, while Jun sent out a Weepinbell. Taking the first move, Kasumi had Starmie use Water Gun, which shockingly to Jun, knocked Weepinbell out.

"How's that for you," said Kasumi, with a smirk.

"But how? I had the advantage," said Jun in shock.

"Isn't it obvious? Starmie has real battle experience, which gave it an advantage over your Weepinbell," said a voice in a chastising tone. "You're such an embarrassment to the school, Jun."

Everyone turned to the source to see the head student, Seiyo Yuto, standing there with a smug look on her face.

"Wow, she's even prettier in person," whispered Sato, a blush on his face. Takeshi nodded in agreement, while Kasumi wanted to hit them for swooning over Seiyo and Lila was getting angry with Sato again.

Outside, up in a tree looking in through a window, Team Rocket had been watching the whole thing. Musashi noticed that Kojiro was looking at Seiyo in the same way Sato and Takeshi were. With an eye twitching in annoyance, she smacked Kojiro upside the head.

"Itai!" exclaimed Kojiro as quietly as he could.

"Stay focused," hissed Musashi.

Back inside, Seiyo continued to upbraid Jun.

"It seems that even with all the time you have been here, Jun, you still have not learned anything. Maybe I should make it where the other students cannot help you anymore as that might give you incentive to actually study and work," said Seiyo. She then started to walk away.

"Hold on a minute!" yelled Kasumi, making Seiyo stop in her tracks. "How can you just walk away from your friend like that? If you're really Jun's friend like he says you are, you'd help him!"

"I'm not his friend. Why would I associate with someone as weak as him?" stated Seiyo.

"You know, you remind me of the old saying "never judge a book by its cover". You may be pretty on the outside, but you're rotten to the core!" yelled Kasumi, glaring at the preppy girl.

"You seem to be jealous of me. Then again, not every girl can be as beautiful and smart as I," said Seiyo, flipping her hair.

"Why you… Battle me! Right here, right now!" demanded Kasumi, her temper getting the best of her.

"If you insist," said Seiyo as she picked up a Poké Ball.

Seiyo threw the Poké Ball and out came a rock-like Pokémon with four arms.

"A Graveler?" exclaimed a surprised Takeshi.

"Graveler?" questioned Sato and Lila.

"Hai. It's a Rock/Ground-type Pokémon and the evolved form of Geodude," explained Takeshi. "So why would she use it against a Water-type like Starmie?"

"Graveler! Jump and use Body Slam!" commanded Seiyo.

"Graveler!"

"Dodge it, Starmie and then use Water Gun!" called out Kasumi.

"Hoh!"

Starmie did as it was told and dodged the incoming attack from the Rock Pokémon. As it floated in the air, Starmie blasted a Water Gun attack towards Graveler, who jumped back into the air and was spinning towards Starmie. With the Rock Pokémon spinning at a high speed, the Water Gun had no effect when it hit and Graveler was able to smash into Starmie, smashing its gem core, sending it threw a glass window, and into a nearby swimming pool.

"…I…lost?" said Kasumi, a look of shock on her face.

-:-

Everyone, including some Pokémon Tech students, had now gathered at the pool. Kasumi was holding her now damaged Starmie close.

"Care to try and battle again?" taunted Seiyo, only for Kasumi to glare at her.

"I'll battle you!" exclaimed Lila, stepping forward. This surprised Sato, Takeshi, and Kasumi.

"Are you sure about this, Lila? This would be your first actual battle," asked Sato, saying that last part as a whisper. He was worried that if Kasumi could lose as easily as she did, what would happen if Lila battled.

"…I'm sure, Sato-kun," replied Lila, a look of determination and something else in her eyes. She then took out one of her Poké Balls. "Come out, my friend!"

Lila threw the Poké Ball, sending out Clefairy, surprising the Pokémon Tech students with such a rare Pokémon.

"Fairy!" cheered the Fairy Pokémon.

"How interesting. I never would've expected to see a Clefairy since they are very rare Pokémon," said Seiyo. "No matter though. I will still win this."

Seiyo threw a new Poké Ball and out came a small brown Pokémon that had a skull over its head and was holding a bone.

"Bone. Cubone!"

"Clefairy, start off with a Doubleslap!" called out Lila.

"Cubone, stop it with a Bonemerang," ordered Seiyo, sounding bored.

"Cubone!"

The Lonely Pokémon threw his weapon with great force. Clefairy and Lila didn't have a chance to retaliate as the bone collided with the Normal-type, making her collapse.

"Cle…fairy," said the now swirly-eyed Clefairy.

"Clefairy!" cried Lila, rushing over to her fallen Pokémon.

"A Pokémon is only as good as its trainer, you know. Even weak Pokémon could win if they were trained better. I bet that Clefairy of yours hasn't been properly trained, has it?" questioned a smug Seiyo. "Some trainer you are."

Lila could feel her eyes start to tear up. Before she could break out crying, she was surprised when Sato stepped forward with anger written all over his face.

"Don't talk to Lila like that!" shouted Sato, glaring at Seiyo. "If you want to look down on someone, then take me on in a battle!"

"Pika!" yelled Pikachu stepping forward, ready to battle.

"You're going to use Pikachu?" questioned a surprised Seiyo.

"Hai. Pikachu's my friend and my starting Pokémon. Together, we'll show you that it takes more than level when it comes to training," said Sato.

"You chose a Pikachu as your starter, even though they are hard to handle? Then again, you can't even keep it in a Poké Ball," chastised Seiyo. "With that in mind, I know I'll win this battle as well."

"Cubone!"

"We'll show you! Pikachu, use Thundershock!" called out Sato.

"Pikachuuuuuu!"

Pikachu sent a small bolt of electricity at Cubone, but the Lonely Pokémon spun his bone and deflected the Electric-type attack.

"Nani?" exclaimed Sato, his eyes wide with shock.

"Didn't you know? Electric-type attacks are useless against Ground-types like Cubone," explained Seiyo. "Now Cubone, use Leer."

"Try to stare it down, Pikachu!"

The two small Pokémon marched towards each other, trying to out stare the other. It wasn't until Seiyo ordered Cubone to use Bone Club that the staring contest ended.

"Cubone," said the Ground-type as he hit Pikachu on the head with his bone.

"Cha!"

"Use Bonemerang!" ordered Seiyo.

The Lonely Pokémon obeyed and threw his bone at Pikachu, knocking the Electric-type down to the ground.

"Pikachu!" called out a worried Sato.

"See, I told you that you wouldn't win. Finish this with another Bonemerang!" ordered Seiyo.

"Cubone!"

"Dodge it, Pikachu!" called out Sato.

"Pika!"

As the bone flew towards Pikachu, the Mouse Pokémon jumped over the flying weapon. He followed this up bounding over to Cubone and turning his skull mask around as he jumped over the Ground-type.

"What is this?" demanded Seiyo.

"Pikachu, finish this quickly!"

"Pika!"

While Cubone was still trying to fix his mask, Pikachu attacked with various scratches and bites. Just as the bone was making its return, Pikachu finished with a kick to Cubone's mask, which spun it back into place. Cubone didn't have the chance to dodge as his own weapon hit him, knocking him to the ground and giving a victory to Sato and Pikachu.

"Yatta! We won!" cheered Sato.

"Pi Pikachu!" cheered Pikachu.

Seiyo sunk to the ground as Cubone sat up and started to cry his little eyes out.

"I can't believe I lost," muttered Seiyo to herself. She then looked up to her crying Pokémon and gave a sad smile. "Don't worry, Cubone. You did your best so don't cry."

She returned Cubone to his Poké Ball and then turned to Sato, who was talking with Lila.

"Are you and Clefairy okay, Lila?" he could be heard asking.

"H-Hai. Arigatou, Sato-kun," she said in return, a faint pink on her cheeks. Sato then turned to Kasumi.

"How 'bout you and Starmie, Kasumi?"

"Starmie should be fine once it gets to a Pokémon Center, Sato."

"I must say, I'm impressed that your Pikachu was able to win a battle without the use of an Electric-type attack," said Seiyo walking over to the Sato-tachi. "Out of curiosity, how many Pokémon and badges do you have?"

"Including Pikachu, I have three Pokémon and two badges," replied Sato with a grin.

Seiyo was surprised once again. She lost to someone who didn't even have a full team of Pokémon? Before she could ask anything further, billows of smoke appeared and surrounded everyone. Coming from the smoke, the sound of laughter, which was recognized by the Sato-tachi, filled the air.

"Not them again," groaned Sato.

When the smoke cleared, Team Rocket stood on the other side of the pool.

"Who are these three?" asked Jun.

"They're Team Rocket, a bunch of Pokémon thieves," explained Takeshi.

"That's right and we're here for any Pokémon you have, nya!" exclaimed Meowth.

"If you hand them over without complaint, there won't be any trouble," said Musashi.

Unfortunately for Team Rocket, the students didn't give them their Pokémon. Instead, the students had started talking amongst themselves and giving Team Rocket sidelong glances.

"Who do these clowns think they are?" asked one student.

"Don't know, but the blue-haired guy looks familiar," said another student.

"He should look familiar," said Seiyo. "He was a student here, but dropped out halfway through the semester."

Musashi and Meowth turned to Kojiro with stunned expressions.

"You were a student here?" questioned Musashi

"It was a long time ago. I dropped out though because there was too much pressure," explained Kojiro, a gloomy look on his face.

"And it looks as if you turned to a life of crime afterwards," said Seiyo. She then held up a Poké Ball. "I think we should show you thieves the way out."

Team Rockets eyes widened when they saw the other students also hold up Poké Balls ready for battle.

"This doesn't look good, nya!" yelled Meowth.

The students through their Poké Balls at Team Rocket, who had started running away as they were bombarded by the red and white spheres. Yelping in pain, Team Rocket barely made it out of there.

-:-

Hours after the students chased away Team Rocket, the sun was setting and Seiyo sat near the pool watching. Jun soon walked over to her.

"Hello, Jun," greeted Seiyo, turning to the boy.

"Oi, Seiyo-san," he greeted back.

"Something on your mind?"

"Well, I was thinking of leaving school and traveling on my own journey," said Jun. Seeing Seiyo's confused look, he explained further. "After seeing Sato-san's battle earlier, I figured I might be able to learn more with a hands-on-experience with Pokémon."

"I see…"

"I was wondering if we could still be friends even though I won't be here," said an embarrassed Jun. Seiyo turned to him with wide eyes.

"Y-You still want to be friends with me? After all that I put you through?"

"Hai."

Seiyo stood up and faced Jun, extend her hand. Jun got the message and grabbed her hand, giving a firm handshake.

"Then from this day forward, we're friends, Jun," smiled Seiyo. Jun smiled in return.

A few feet away, the Sato-tachi watched on as Jun and Seiyo said their goodbyes.

"Oi, Kasumi, how come you and I aren't friends like Jun and Seiyo are?" asked Sato, looking over at the tomboy.

"Because Jun doesn't owe Seiyo a bike like you owe me, Sato no Baka," growled Kasumi, giving the boy a sidelong glare.

'You sure it's not your attitude that's the reason?' thought Sato.

Saying all of their goodbyes to the Pokémon Tech students, the Sato-tachi headed out for their next destination, Vermillion City, where Sato will battle for his third badge.

TO BE CONTINUED…

-:-

Added and changed a few things with this episode. Added a battle, albeit short, between Lila and Seiyo. The battle more or less is suppose to help Lila wanting to become better as a trainer, like Sato.

As for the change, I made it where only Kojiro was a student at Pokémon Tech instead of both him and Musashi. It is very expensive to go to Pokémon Tech and considering how it is always shown that Musashi grew up poor; I doubt she would've been able to go to that school.