Chapter 5

Wishing You Were Here

Joe walked into a classroom for his first class of the semester. He had reenrolled at Pokémon Tech, and he was in the advanced class. He had no idea what type of classes to expect, given that he thought the place was difficult when he was a beginner.

The room filled up quickly with other students, all of whom knew each other. The teacher then walked into the room. Joe recognized her immediately.

"Hello, class, I'll be your teacher for Advanced Pokémon Battling Techniques," the teacher said. "My name is Roxanne."

Many of the male students were mesmerized by Roxanne's looks. Even Joe couldn't resist thinking that she was attractive.

"I come from Hoenn's Rustboro City," Roxanne said. "I graduated with honors from Rustboro City's Pokémon training school, and then I became a teacher there. I became such an esteemed teacher that Pokémon Tech hired me to teach advanced classes here."

"We're glad you're here," a student said.

"Oh, but I'm sure you won't be saying that later," Roxanne said. "I'll let you know that I only plan on passing about half of you, maybe less."

The students looked at each other in confusion.

"And if any of you disagree with me, well, let's just say you're taking this class for no reason," Roxanne said.

"Isn't this a required class for graduation?" a student said.

"That's right," Roxanne said.

"You can't do this! It's not fair!" another student said.

"You may leave now, then," Roxanne said, "because I won't be passing you."

The students sat in silence.

"Ah, it looks like one of our students has been to the Pokémon League before," Roxanne said, noticing Joe. "Why, may I ask, are you here?"

"I want to become a better trainer," Joe said.

"Don't we all?" Roxanne said. "This boy here lost to me in the Pokémon League tournament, and he apparently wants to improve his skills. Well, I'll tell you this: there's no one else better to learn it from."

After the first class, some of the students were complaining about the homework Roxanne had given them.

"Figuring out the exact HP a level-52 Pidgeot will inflict on a level-58 Mankey with its Wing Attack?" a student said. "That's ridiculous."

"This teacher's crazy," another student said.

Joe was upset as well. Roxanne had spent half the class pointing out Joe's mistakes in his battle against her, embarrassing him. He decided to go to the dean's office to complain. After talking to a secretary, he was able to talk to the dean of Pokémon Tech.

"What is the problem?" the dean asked Joe.

"It's a teacher," Joe said. "Her name is Roxanne."

"You're kidding, right?" the dean said. "Roxanne is one of the best teachers in the Pokémon world. You must be a poor student. Do you just want an easy A?"

"No, sir, but-" Joe said.

"Please, Roxanne will not be fired or punished in any way," the dean said. "You may go now."

Joe walked out angrily. The first thing he wanted to do was talk to Giselle, but on his way to his dorm room, he ended up bumping into Roxanne.

"I'm sorry," Joe said.

"You'd better be," Roxanne said. "I'll tell you this right now: you're going to have an incredibly difficult time passing my class."

"Why is that?" Joe asked.

"You already proved to me you stink at Pokémon training, as you caught some really poor Pokémon and tried battling with them," Roxanne said. "You're not going to ever be a Pokémon Master, and I doubt you could ever make it past the third round of the tournament."

"What does that have to do with the class?" Joe asked.

"Do you think I'll allow a poor Pokémon trainer to pass an advanced class?" Roxanne asked.

"No, but-" Joe said.

"There's your answer," Roxanne said, walking away.

Joe was furious. He went to his dorm room and called up Giselle immediately.

"Giselle! Giselle!" Joe called into his videophone.

"Ahhh," Giselle said, waking up from her nap. "Oh, Joe. Hi. How was your first class?"

"Awful!" Joe said. "I have a terrible teacher who says I'm going to have an incredibly difficult time passing her class… you beat her in the Pokémon League tournament. Her name is Roxanne!"

"Roxanne!" Giselle said. "Pokémon Tech must be going downhill if they hired someone like that!"

"I'd challenge her to a battle, but I know I'd lose," Joe said. "She embarrassed me in class by talking all about my tournament loss to her."

"I wish I could give her a piece of my mind," Giselle said angrily.

"Same here," Joe said.

"You know, Joe, I am the Pokémon League champ," Giselle said. "I'll call Pokémon Tech and see what I can do about this. You just give me all the information about this, and I'll file a complaint with the dean over the phone."

Joe gave Giselle all the information about the situation.

"Thank you, Joe," Giselle said. "You know I'm on your side."

"I know," Joe said. "I'll talk to you later."

"You too," Giselle said, before hanging up.

Joe sighed. He had such bad luck. A very important class of his had a teacher that did not like him. Maybe he just wasn't cut out for Pokémon Tech, after all…