Chapter 3

The scenes of the fight were etched into his brain. It had been only about fifteen minutes since the exhibition battle had ended and the crowd's adrenaline had worn off, but the battle was still fresh in everyone's minds. No one could stop talking about it.

"Can you believe how unfortunate it was that Truant kicked in at such a time?"

"King's endurance was unbelievable, did you see how many attacks he took?"

"That was one helluva battle!"

The crowd's adrenaline had dissipated, but Eren could still feel it in him. He had a sudden urge to battle someone, anyone would do. But the earlier events with Derek made him stay put.

"You look like you're ready to brawl or something, you've got crazed eyes, calm down." Reyna said while packing her camera and tripod back into her bag.

Eren realized how stupid he probably looked and relaxed. "Sorry about that."

He looked around, wondering if anyone else had seen him like that. Luckily no one besides Reyna had, the others had their attention somewhere else.

"Hey hey, Eren! Wasn't the battle amazing?" Adelaide gushed.

Eren chuckled. The blonde girl was still as excited as she was before the battle. But he agreed with her.

"Yeah, it sure was."

Calloway got up from his seat next to Eren and looked down at him. He held his hand out.

"It was nice meeting you man. Second years have to leave now. See you around." He said.

Eren shook his hand. "Same here, see you around. You too Lillianna and Vesper," he said, turning to the two other upperclassmen.

Lillianna smiled and Vesper gave a small grin and a nod. The three of them waved to Reyna and Adelaide too.

The second years all began to leave one by one and the strength of the students was diminished to about three hundred or so once again. Zac and Jake had left not too long after their battle and now only the teachers were present with the first years.

Autumns stepped up to the podium once all the second years had left and addressed the freshmen one last time for the day.

"We hope you enjoyed the exhibition battle! We wanted to show you that you can also become strong trainers and succeed in anything you want as long as you work hard! Now, you will be directed towards your respective dorms by our teachers stationed outside the stadium. Follow the directions and don't stray off. Classes start tomorrow for you all, but it will be a half day, so you'll be allowed to explore more of the island in your free time. Have a great learning experience!"

She ended her speech and the present students clapped. She left along with the lady who was beside her before.

Eren picked his bag up and looked at the two girls.

"Let's find out which dorms we're in." he said. They both nodded and mimicked his actions, picking up their bags, and followed him to the exit. A line of students had already formed, and the three of them joined it.

It took another ten minutes before Eren's turn came. He was surprised to see the burly ponytailed teacher from before. Up close he looked even more ripped and intimidating. His nose was crooked and his stormy blue eyes seemed to bore straight through him.

"Name?" he asked, in quite a loud voice. A few students jumped at the sudden rise in volume.

"Eren Fenrir." He replied without any hesitation.

The man skimmed through the sheets in his big hands. "Let's see.. ..Eren! You're in dorm Ignis! That's the dorm I manage, for your information. You can find the directions from here on the signboard just outside the stadium. It's not too far, so you're lucky. Enjoy your stay and let's hope you're one of the gutsy freshmen of this year!"

Eren wasn't sure what this guy's interpretation of 'gutsy' was, but he gave a brisk nod. His boisterous voice boomed over the area, unnerving a few of the students.

A few whispers starting passing around Eren.

"This guy is kinda scary you know."

"He creeps me out."

"I hope he doesn't teach me."

Eren gritted his teeth at the comments. This teacher was in front of them and they had the nerve to say such things? Pretty pathetic.

But he man didn't seem to mind, in fact he ignored everything and smiled at Eren.

"On your way young man, next!"

Eren walked down the same set of stairs he'd come up from. The area outside the stadium was vacant except for the group of first years crowded in front of the signboard. Eren pushed his way through, and stood in front of the signboard. It was a detailed map of the campus, with properly sized and shaped symbols for each of the buildings. He scanned the map for any familiar buildings and saw the main student office, not too far his current standing. He looked around the stadium for a big red square, possibly the denotation for the 'Fire' dorm. He found it towards the left of the stadium, next to the cafeteria.

Eren smiled to himself. 'Sweet heavens food is close.'

"Eren! You there?"

Eren turned to Adelaide's voice and he slipped out through the surrounding people to see her and Reyna jogging towards him.

"Which dorm did you get?" he asked once they stopped in front of him.

"Ignis!" Reyna exclaimed.

"Aqua!" Adelaide said, with comparatively less enthusiasm.

"That's on the other side of the Ignis dorm," Eren said with a frown on his face.

"I wish we were in the same dorm." Adelaide pouted, her arms crossed over her chest.

"No worries, we can still meet up anytime. We've probably got a lot of similar classes anyway," Reyna assured. Eren nodded in agreement.

"Reyna's right, we'll meet up each day anyways. Catch you later!"

Adelaide grinned and turned away to head towards the Aqua dorm. "See you tomorrow!"

Reyna and Eren turned to the left and walked on in the direction of their new housing. The sun had almost completely set now and the sky was a dark orange, the clouds a light purple hue. It was a peaceful evening.

"Hey Reyna, want to race to the dorm?" Eren asked.

Reyna scowled. "You're asking me even though you know I can't beat you?"

Eren shrugged. "It was worth a try. Let's just walk our way to the dorm then."

They walked in silence for a few moments before Eren spoke up again.

"By the way, the cafeteria looked BIG on the map."

Reyna let out a groan of exasperation.

It wasn't long before they reached Ignis dorm. The building was quite large and there were numerous windows everywhere. It stood at about ten stories tall and five buses wide. It was painted dark red and above the entrance there was a board, with the words 'IGNIS DORM' written in gold. A single flame was painted above the board in complementary hues of orange, yellow and red.

There was a garden to the right of the dorm, which was unoccupied at the time, with many flowers and benches, which were spread around in a pattern. But there was nothing else in the immediate vicinity of the dorm. The other buildings were up ahead, not very close, but at a walkable distance. The closest was the cafeteria, which Eren felt pretty good about.

The two Kanto natives walked in through the automatic glass doors of the dorm. Eren let out a sigh of relief as he was blasted with cool air from the air conditioner. The lobby was decorated in a similar fashion to the main student office, with the marble floor and tall cylindrical glass pillars. There was another line to the reception desk.

Eren joined the line with Reyna behind him. Soon it was his turn and he walked up to the desk. A pretty woman was sitting at the desk with a bright smile on her face, putting her perfectly white teeth on display. Her luscious golden blonde locks tumbled past her shoulders.

"Hi there! I'm Jenna and I'm the caretaker of the Ignis dorm. I'm also the vice-head of the dorm, and I look after the students here. Your name please?" she said in a very professional manner.

"Eren Fenrir."

Her fingers flew across the keyboard and her hazel eyes darted across the screen.

"Let's see..ah there you are, Eren Fenrir, from Kanto, 16 years old, birthday December 6, mother named Elise Fenrir and father named Jason Fenrir."

"Yep, that's me." He answered.

Jenna hit the enter key and the sound of printing came from the machine next to her. A card was freshly printed and handed to him. It had his photo and the words 'Affinitive Academy' in bold at the top.

"That's your student ID card, keep it with you at all times. All your pokemon are registered onto that and you're supposed to register any new ones you catch too. You need it to go to your classes, register for events, and it also acts as your credit card for buying anything from shops or vendors. It can be used all over Quake Island in nearly every shop or restaurant. Any prize money won during events is directly transferred to your card, so make sure not to lose it anywhere and refrain from giving it to anyone. Any questions?" she finished, giving him another smile.

He put the ID away in his wallet.

"Yeah, one actually. How often do you get hit on?"

Jenna blinked, then laughed. "Not as much as you probably think, but quite a bit actually. Seniors can be a pain, even some guests do. In fact, one of the freshmen just asked me to go out on a date with him and be his girlfriend, I said no and he seemed disappointed. But I only joined last year."

"There are other people waiting in line Eren, get going if you're done," Reyna said, pushing him out of the way.

Eren stuck his tongue out at Reyna before turning back to Jenna.

Jenna handed him a key. "Here's your room key, it's for room 414. Also, just for today, dinner is kept in each room for the students so they don't have to go the cafeteria after such a long journey. The cafeteria is open starting tomorrow at seven in the morning, so enjoy your breakfast too. Enjoy your stay at the dorm!" she gave another charming smile, one that could easily make men and boys go lovey-dovey.

Eren waved a bye and headed to the luggage counter at the corner of the lobby to pick up his baggage and headed up the stairs, instead of the elevator.

A minute or two of struggle later he found himself in front of room 414. He unlocked the door using the key Jenna had given. The lights were already on, indicating that his roommate was already here. He walked in and closed the door behind him. The room was very spacious and had a homely feel to it. Eren walked to the center of the room and dropped his luggage.

He looked around and saw that there were two beds with the sheets untouched and neatly arranged pillows. There were also two desks, right next each other, with a drifloon lamp on each of them. There was a closet next to each desk, white in color and not so wide, but enough for a single person. An air conditioner was situated at the top of the window, which was next to one of the beds. A small kitchen area was built in, immediately to the left of the main door. A coffee maker was placed next to a single stove and a mini fridge and freezer was also on the counter.

Affinitive Academy sure knew how to make people feel welcome. There was even a TV on the wall opposite to the window, next to the other bed.

Eren whistled. "This place is great, I'm impressed." He said aloud.

"My thoughts exactly," a voice behind him said.

He turned to see a boy with a slightly dark complexion standing behind him, his torso wrapped in a towel and chest bared with no shirt on. He had spiky brown hair and stood as tall as him.

Eren had no idea how to respond to someone agreeing with his words while standing bare chested and in a towel, and all he could say was, "Uh, nice."

The boy laughed. "Sorry for creeping you out like that, I didn't mean to but it kind of happened."

Eren recovering from his slight shock, shook his head.

"Nah it's ok. I was just a little surprised that's all."

The boy held out his hand. "I'm Brock, nice to meet you."

Eren shook his hand. "I'm Eren, nice to meet you too."

"Cool. You can take whichever bed you want, I don't mind. I'll change till then, make yourself at home."

Brock turned and walked into the bathroom again.

Eren decided to take the bed next to the window. He tossed his backpack on the bed and jumped on. His back sunk in to the bed and he closed his eyes. It felt just like his bed back at home, comfy and sleep-inducing.

He laid there till the sound of the bathroom door unlocking reached his ears.

"Comfy bed I take it?" Brock asked.

"Oh hell yeah. Feels like home alright." Eren replied, getting up.

Brock was dressed in a black t-shirt and plain shorts. He flopped down on the bed next to Eren.

"So where are you from Eren?"

"Viridian City, town of the strongest gym leader in the Kanto region," Eren proudly said.

Brock's eyes….moved? It was honestly hard to tell since they looked as if they were closed, or he was permanently squinting or something.

"Really? Wow we actually lived pretty close to each other then, I'm from Pewter City."

"I'm surprised I never saw you then, I've been to Pewter quite a few times."

Brock shrugged. "Doesn't really matter now that we've met here, speaking of which do you have a girlfriend?"

Eren had no idea how that was related to them never meeting before, but he had already decided Brock was a weird guy, not in a bad way, a little eccentric maybe. He mentally chided himself for judging someone yet again.

"I don't actually, considering our age I'm weird maybe."

Brock had a relieved look on his face.

"Not at all, I don't have one either. I was hoping my roommate wouldn't have one either, admittedly I would feel jealous."

Eren chuckled. "Maybe I would too if you had one."

Brock suddenly jumped out of his bed and pumped his fists into the air as if celebrating some victory.

"But there's probably loads of chicks and beautiful women here, it's paradiseeeee!" he shouted in glee.

Eren sweatdropped at the scene.

"I don't know about the chicks, but Jenna was definitely beautiful." He said.

Brock's head whipped down to look at him, his eyes in the shape of hearts, steam blowing from his nose.

"Oh Jenna darling was beautiful alright, what a woman! She rejected me but that doesn't change the fact that I won't try asking her out again!" he literally squealed.

Eren laughed nervously.

'So Brock was the freshman who Jenna was talking about' he thought amusedly.

The sound of a notification diverted his attention from the now hyper Brock. He took his phone out of his pocket and saw that it was a message from Reyna.

Met your roommate?

Eren unlocked his phone and quickly typed; Yeah, he's pretty interesting.

Reyna's reply was almost instantaneous.

I'm coming to your room with my roommate, be there in a few.

Eren turned his phone off and looked at Brock, who was still gushing about to himself.

"Hey Brock, we're gonna have some company in a few. My friend is coming over with her roommate," he informed.

That got his attention real quick.

"Company you say? Female company? Hmm should I wear that suit I brought or.." he mumbled to himself.

"Chill, you're not going on a date. They're just coming here to meet us. They'll be here in a few." Eren said, amused at his roommate's antics. "I'm going to change, I'll be right back."

Leaving Brock to figure out what do, Eren took his bag with him in the bathroom.

The bathroom was also quite spacious, and was decked with soaps, gels, shampoos and many other things. Eren took off his clothes and slipped on a simple t-shirt and some shorts like Brock. He washed his face with one of the facewashes next to the granite water bowl. He dried his face with a towel and looked at himself in the mirror, raking a hand through his slightly wavy hair, a wet lock curving towards his eyebrow. His own ocean blue eyes stared back at him from inside the mirror.

He left the bathroom and saw that Brock was talking on the phone.

"Take care of everyone Forrest, I'm counting on you. I'll call you later."

"Your brother?" Eren asked once he had hung up, unpacking his luggage at the time.

Brock nodded. "Yeah, I'm the oldest in the family and he's the second oldest, so I told him to take care of everyone."

Before Eren could ask who 'everyone' was, there was a knock at the door.

"Must be Reyna, I'll get it." Eren said as he headed towards the door, but was stopped by Brock.

"Allow me to guide the ladies in," he said in a faux manly voice and he dashed to open the door.

Eren tilted his head to see past Brock's figure and squinted a little at the sudden flash of the corridor lights, which was considerably greater than the dim lights that had been switched on in the room.

"Hello there ladies, welcome to our humble abode," Brock said, his 'manly' voice still in play.

"It won't stay humble as long as Eren is there," Reyna stated aloud.

"I heard that," Eren called out.

"You were meant to."

Brock stood aside and let the girls walk in, closing the door behind them.

Eren's attention went to the girl beside Reyna. She was the shortest in the room, and was wearing baggy sweatpants and a t-shirt, which made her look even shorter than she probably was, though that didn't seem to affect her in any way. Her body was, well, deprived of the joys of puberty, but she still looked attractive in her slim figure. Her almond locks were pulled back into a high ponytail and her bangs reached her long lashes, below which were bright steel grey eyes. Her hair was held up by a sapphire blue ribbon, which seemed to strangely complement her eyes.

Despite being tired from all the travelling Eren smiled at the new face.

"Hey, I'm Eren." He said. He was tired of introducing himself honestly, it was so plain and boring now. But he had no other way so he just did it.

"And my name is Brock, lovely ladies." Brock said, moving his eyebrows up and down.

The girl smiled back, ignoring what Brock had just done. "I'm Terra, nice to meet you. Sorry if I disturbed you in any way, I just wanted to meet new people and Reyna told me that she had a friend who was also here, so I asked her if we could get acquainted."

Eren shook his head. "We were just getting to know each other too actually, so it's a good thing you showed up," he said, throwing his arm around Brocks shoulder. Eren hoped he didn't mind, and was glad to see Brock smile a little at the gesture.

"So Brock, which course did you apply for?" Reyna asked.

"I want to be a breeder, so I applied for the Pokemon Caretaking course, along with battle classes and the other mandatory subjects," he answered.

"Oh cool! We have the same course!" Terra exclaimed. "Reyna said she was also working to be a breeder, so the three of us might be in the same classes quite often."

"Great, so I'm alone in the battle course," Eren mumbled.

Reyna walked up and lightly punched his shoulder. "Make new friends then. And it's not like we won't ever be in the same class." She suggested.

"Guess you're right about that," Eren said.

Terra clapped her hands together. "Oh I know! How about we explore the campus together after lunch tomorrow?"

"Sounds good to me. What classes do you guys have tomorrow?" Brock asked

"Let me check."

Eren had no idea which class he had tomorrow, so he grabbed his phone off the bed and clicked on the first app in the drawer, which said 'Affinitive Academy'. It was a smart idea to develop an application which the students could use to get their weekly schedules, curriculum and other details of the academy.

"Hmm let's see, I've got…Survival classes tomorrow at eight and- ok no, that's all. What about you guys?"

"I've got Appeal tomorrow at nine." Terra said

"I've got Pokemon History at nine," Reyna said.

"I'm with you in Survival Class Eren," Brock said, bumping fists with Eren.

"Nice. The timings are different but we can meet up at the cafeteria or the lobby at around eleven, if that's okay with you guys," Eren suggested. The lectures were about two hours long each for the first day, so eleven sounded pretty good.

The other three freshmen nodded in consent.

"Alright then, we'll meet up tomorrow, don't forget. See you guys."

Reyna turned and walked out the door.

Terra looked at both the boys and said, "Well it was nice to meet you guys, let's have fun and enjoy ourselves here!"

Eren laughed. "You sound too formal, chill. We'll have a lot of fun, no doubt about it."

Terra grinned and headed to the door, waving at the both of them.

"Bye guys!"

The door shut after her and silence hung in the room for a moment before Eren stretched his arms and sighed.

"I'm so damn hungry, how about we eat dinner Brocko?"

Brock eyed Eren curiously. "Brocko?"

Eren shrugged. "I don't think Broccoli would sound good you know."

Brock burst out laughing. "You've got a point there. I'm starving too, let's eat. I wonder what they gave us for dinner."

"Let's find out."

They both headed to the kitchen area to grab their trays. Rice and curry, a salad and pasta was what the academy had given.

Eren's mouth was watering with anticipation and he took the tray and sat on his bed, Brock sitting down the other. He opened the lids and unwrapped the foil and dug in with his spoon.

"Mmm, this is some good stuff!" Eren said happily.

Brock nodded in agreement.

"Tell me more about yourself Brock, what did you do in Pewter City?" Eren asked, stuffing his face all the while.

"Where should I start? Well you see..." Brock began.

The two roommates spent the rest of their time getting to know each other more and enjoying their dinner. Eren felt good about having a roommate like Brock, he seemed really dependable and nice. So far, coming to the academy had actually been a good decision, and he had to admit, he was feeling good about this place. He was looking forward to what kinds of things would happen from now on.

RIINGG!

Eren was jolted awake from his blissful sleep by the scream of his alarm and he scrambled about trying to find where the little shit was so he could shut its mouth. His hands flew across the covers as he looked for it, not being able to rely on his eyes as his vision was blurred and the continuous blaring was getting on his nerves. At last, as he slowly came to his senses he found the alarm behind one of the pillows just between the wooden part of the bed and the mattress. But his hands and legs were tangled in the sheets and as he reached out to shut it he slipped off the bed and hung halfway between the bed and the floor.

"Fuck." Was all he could say. A vein popped in Eren's head as the alarm continued to blare.

"Good morning?" Brock said from beside him.

Eren turned to see him standing in shorts and drying his wet hair with a towel just outside the bathroom door. He tried to move his feet but ended up slipping even more and his head hit the floor.

Eren's head lolled to look at Brock.

"Good morning, good fucking morning indeed." Eren grumbled.

As he tried to untangle himself Brock walked over to turn the alarm off, an amused smile on his face. Eren somehow managed to get free of the bedsheets and he collapsed on the floor.

"I feel so energetic this morning, it's amazing," he drawled.

Brock chuckled.

"You might want to get dressed and ready for breakfast, we have a survival class to attend. Oh and wear shorts, that's what I read about the survival course, there's a lot of stuff that happens so we're supposed to wear something comfortable. Just thought I'd let you know."

"Got it, thanks. I'll be ready in a few."

Eren grabbed his clothes from his closet and walked into the bathroom. He brushed his teeth and jumped into the shower. Soon enough, the air around him was calescent as he turned the hot water knob all the way up. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the heat of the shower. He ran his hands through his hair, cleaning it of any grime of the previous day. Realizing he couldn't be late he turned the shower off and dried himself. He applied some of his favorite deodorant and slipped on his clothes. The weather was a little chilly today so he decided to wear a navy blue sweater and beige shorts. He lightly tousled his hair to make it set down as per usual, with a lock falling at his eyebrow.

He walked out to see Brock putting something on his desk. Eren went to his own desk to pack his bag. He stuffed in an extra notebook and his daily essentials.

"What do you have there Brocko?" he asked as he leaned to look.

"Just a picture of my family."

Brock had told him about his siblings last night, and Eren was really surprised when he got to know that he had nine younger siblings. That was a lot.

"What about you? No family photos?" Brock asked as he grabbed his own backpack.

Eren shook his head. "Not really a photo person, and admittedly I just don't like to," he lied. Truth was, he was just embarrassed about it.

"Well, let's go, we don't have too long before class starts."

The two boys grabbed their respective keys and left their room. The corridor was filled with students shuffling here to there. Some of them looked as if they were older, probably the upperclassmen.

They waved at Jenna as they left the lobby, Eren having to restrain Brock from making them late. The cafeteria wasn't far but Eren wanted to get rid of his drowsiness.

"Wanna run to the cafeteria Brock? I kinda want to wake up," Eren said.

"Sure why not. Guess it'll wake me up too."

The two of them sprinted to the building in sight, past the other students who were walking on the same path. It was just a little after half past seven and weather was breezy. The wind struck Eren's face and body with each stride, and he and Brock ran not too far from each other, careful not to run into anyone.

They reached the cafeteria without breaking a sweat. The smell of food wafted through the air and Eren felt his stomach growl. It smelled so good. The cafeteria was packed with students, but there weren't a lot of freshmen, mostly older students. There were no other familiar faces since Reyna and Terra had classes at nine, so the boys were alone. They grabbed trays from the table and stood in line waiting to get served.

Eren scanned the cafeteria. It was nothing out of the ordinary, but it was quite big and clean. Wooden benches were lined all across the hall, easily seating hundreds of students. Air conditioners were aligned on one wall across the entire length of that wall. The ceiling was arched and except for the metal framework, was made of glass, the sky visible and clear to the eye.

Eren took full servings of a stack of waffles with whip cream and maple syrup, a banana and a cup of coffee with extra sugar on the side. He looked around for a place to sit when a familiar face caught his eye.

He beckoned Brock to follow him as he walked up to that person.

"Mind if I sit here Lillianna?" he asked the girl.

"Uh sure yo- Eren! Hi!" she exclaimed once she saw who it was.

"Not interrupting anything am I?" Eren asked as he sat down across from her, Brock at his side.

"No not all, I was just eating before heading to the first class of today. Who's your friend here?" she asked.

Before Eren could introduce his roommate, Brock jumped right into it.

"My fair maiden, my name is Brock. You're as beautiful as a princess, can I be your prince?" he squealed as he grabbed her hand. Lillianna was taken aback by Brock's antics, and was speechless.

Brock was about to say more when a pokeball on his belt wobbled and he retracted his hand rapidly, and covered his sides and held his breath. The pokeball stopped wobbling in a few moments and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Phew, safe." He said.

Eren first eyed the pokeball curiously, then Brock's nervous face.

"It's uh, nice to meet you Brock," Lillianna said, albeit a little hesitantly. Eren almost felt bad for Brock with his unsuccessful attempts.

Eren had already finished his banana and moved to his waffles.

"So where's Calloway?" he asked.

Lillianna's features donned an annoyed look at the mention of Calloway.

"He's late. As always. It was the same last year too," she huffed.

"You guys have the same classes today?" Eren asked, somehow already halfway through his waffles.

"Yeah, but frankly I don't think I care anyway. For all I know he'll probably rush to the classroom on his roller blades."

Eren remembered seeing the bag of skates yesterday in the stadium. Using skates as transport around the campus wasn't really a bad idea. But Eren preferred running so it didn't really matter.

Lillianna was finished with her breakfast and got up.

"Sorry, but I've got to run. Let's catch up later sometime, okay?" she said.

Eren nodded. "Yeah alright, say hi to Calloway for me, bye."

With that Brock and Eren were alone once again. Brock was still working on his waffles while Eren was done and was finishing up his coffee. He checked his phone for any notifications or messages. There were none except promotional emails. He opened Reyna's chat and sent her a message.

Hey, you awake yet? We're in the cafeteria right now, the food is great here 3.

He knew there wouldn't be an instantaneous reply, so he put his phone back into his pocket.

"Alright, I'm done, let's go," Brock said.

They put the trays on the cleaning counter in one of the corners and left the cafeteria. It was now only a few minutes left till it was eight, and more students had started pouring in.

"Alright Brocko, which direction are we supposed to go in?" Eren asked.

Brock took out his phone and opened up a map. Eren leaned in close and saw that it was a map of the campus, similar to the signboard outside the stadium.

"Survival class usually takes place in the Habitat Dome, which is, right about here."

He pointed to a big green circle, which was close to the stadium, but that was only on the virtual map. Physically it seemed a little far off.

"Well it looks like we have no choice but to run again. Ready Eren?"

Eren tightened his straps and shoelaces. "Always bud."

The two dashed off once again, Brock leading the way to the dome. Eren managed to remove his phone to check the time, ignoring Reyna's message. It was two minutes to eight.

"Let's step it up Brock."

Eren increased his pace and his strides became longer. He felt his feet hammer harder against the pavement with each step. They rounded a corner and saw the dome. Eren hadn't seen it yesterday because technically it was hidden by the stadium. But the dome was even larger than the stadium, and was made of clean transparent glass. He had no idea how thick, but it looked quite durable.

Up ahead, there were metal gates which were open, leading into the dome. Two guards were stationed at the entrance and students were showing them something, like a permit to enter.

Brock slowed down to a stop, and Eren followed suit.

The guards looked at the two boys. "IDs kids." One of them said.

The roommates flashed their IDs and the guards allowed them to enter. Brock's chest was heaving lightly. He looked over at Eren.

"Not even breathing hard are you?" Brock said, noticing that Eren wasn't out of breath despite the long run.

"I'm just used to it," Eren replied nonchalantly. Running every day had its perks.

There was no air conditioning in the dome but it wasn't even needed. There were circular parts cut out nearer to the bottom of the dome, and steel vents were put in their place. The dome was so huge he couldn't see where the other side was, but he noticed that the vents were placed at an even distance to each other, most likely encircling the entire lower part of the dome.

And speaking of the 'habitat' part, it was green as far as the eyes could see. There were a copious amount of trees, that too all diverse. There seemed to be no similar groups of trees next to each other.

"Hey whoa look up there! There's pokemon here too!" someone shouted from ahead of them.

Eren looked up to see little combee flying through the air, and below them, resting in the trees, burmys. The pokemon seemed curious about the new faces they were seeing and descended to a lower height. They circled around the students as if observing them. As a few combees passed Eren and Brock, the smell of honey seemed to drift through the air around them. It smelled really sweet and fresh.

Something clicked in Eren's mind.

"Wait, if pokemon like combee and burmy are here in these trees, does that mean that this place has different habitats and each habitat has its own different pokemon?" he said to no one in particular.

"No shit." A voice behind him said.

He turned to see yesterday's bad guy behind him, none other than Derek himself.

He was dressed in a similar fashion to Eren, a long sleeved t-shirt and shorts and a bag slung over his shoulder.

Eren gave him a look. "If it isn't Mr. Thirsty-for-battle. What brings you here?" he said, ignoring the reply he'd gotten.

"Same reason you're here, obviously." He stated. He began to walk ahead, seemingly not wanting a reply from Eren.

"Just don't thunderbolt someone today!" Eren called out, a grin on his face.

Derek scowled over his shoulder.

Eren chuckled to himself. This guy wasn't really as bad as he had thought yesterday. It was like taunting a male version of Reyna. Just that he much more aggressive, ignorant and silent. Reyna would probably kill him if he said that to her face.

"Who was that guy?" Brock asked, a curious look on his face.

Eren narrated yesterday's events to Brock as they walked to the area were told to go to. The guards had told them to go to Area P, and Eren had no idea where that was, so he just followed the students ahead of him. The cries of pokemon resonated throughout the area, but none of them were visible. Maybe they were a little precautious about new faces.

"The guy's restless as hell," Brock said once Eren was finished.

The students ahead stopped walking and so did Eren. He looked around. The surrounding vicinity was still green, although Eren was disappointed that they weren't in a different habitat yet. He had been hoping to see a marsh or a cold area. All the students had gathered in a clearing and were either sitting or standing. There weren't a lot, maybe about thirty freshmen.

The sound of two claps resonated through the area. Everyone became silent and looked around, wondering who had clapped.

"GOOD MORNING NEWBIES!" a loud voice bellowed.

Eren flinched at the booming voice, reaching for his belt and gripping his pokeball, having a good idea of who it was. The leaves in one of the trees rustled and a shadow jumped out into the center of clearing. Eren noted that the distance between the tree and center was very large, it was no joke.

"YOU READY TO SURVIVE?" the buff man shouted. It was the same teacher from the day before, the head of the Ignis dorm. Today he was dressed in a camouflage muscle shirt and a large pair of shorts. The students were frozen in shock, some even fell on their asses

Brock also had his hand on his belt, but hadn't brought the pokeball out.

The man looked around at the students. He jabbed a thick finger at Eren and Brock.

"You boys! Good reflexes!" he said.

He jabbed another finger at a girl with a rangy physique. Her honey blonde hair was up in a ponytail and she was in a similar stance to Eren and Brock.

"Good job young lady! But you're a little off balance!" he remarked.

The girl only blinked, relaxing her body a little.

He proceeded to point at some the people on the ground. "Not good newbies! You got to stay on your feet!"

He then turned to Derek, who had his manectric, Aiz, sparking in front of him.

"Hmm not bad young man, a little too hasty though. You can call your pokemon back." He said.

Derek did so, but still seemed wary of the man.

The tall man looked over all the students again.

"Well kiddos, my name is Jonathan Hawkcrest and I'm your survival teacher! You can call me Professor Hawkcrest, Mr. Hawkcrest, or just Professor."

Some of the students seemed to be a little at ease due to the fact that he was a teacher and not some psycho who jumps from trees.

"Sit down on your spots newbies, we're going to have a little chat."

The students sat down and looked expectantly at Hawkcrest.

Hawkcrest rubbed his hands together. "So, would anyone like to tell me why they chose the survival course?"

At first no one raised their hand, as if waiting for someone else to. Derek was the first to raise his hand.

"To be able to stay safe and strong in any situation, no matter what that situation is, and not feel useless if a situation occurs." He said.

Hawkcrest slowly nodded. "Okay nice, anyone else?"

This time Brock raised his hand.

"I'm aspiring to be a breeder and I think that I should also be able to survive in a situation where I won't be a setback so I can keep my pokemon safe from any harm."

"Well said boy." Hawkcrest gave a satisfactory nod, his blue gaze shifting to Eren.

"What about you boy?" he asked.

Eren felt uneasy as everyone's eyes were on him. He didn't really have a solid reason like Brock, even though he agreed with it.

"Uh, well I don't think my reason is as strong as my friend's here, even though I agree with him, but I chose this course because I want to learn new things and experience the thrill of adventuring. And I want to be a reliable and dependable person."

Eren heard a snicker, but he didn't know who it was. He felt a little awkward since no one said anything. He looked at Derek, expecting him to be the one who had snickered, but he was only met by a serious gaze.

"That's a good enough reason boy. You want to grow, and that's a good sign." Hawkcrest said with a smile on his face.

Eren gave him a nervous smile. He felt a pat on his back and looked at Brock, who gave him a thumbs up with his other hand.

"Listen up kiddos. Surviving is no joke. I've been adventuring all my life and there have been countless times I felt that I would die. A situation does not ask you to occur. It just happens, and when it does, you have to be on your feet, ready to get through it. At the time some incident happens, mental strength is also important. What's the use of learning how to survive when you lose your mind when you need it the most? You have to use your surroundings resourcefully and carefully. And that's not all, pokemon play an important factor in your survival as well."

He took a pause and made sure everyone was listening, before continuing.

"Your own pokemon and wild pokemon play a major role. Say you get attacked by a wild, scary pokemon. Sure, you can defend yourself by running here and there, but that doesn't last does it. You need your own pokemon to help fend off threats. Your pokemon can also be a very important resource. Take for example a fire type, which can help you light a fire when you need it."

A girl raised her hand. "Professor what about assignments and classwork?"

A majority of the class groaned at her words and her face flushed a bright red.

"Calm down people. And don't worry kiddo, I'm getting there." He said, crossing is arms, causing his muscles to bulge.

"Now see, my survival class, or Survival 101 as I like to call it, is a very practical class. We'll be conducting drills, battles, challenges and other various things. Even though it's mainly practical, I will have you take notes on the stuff I teach so that you remember it. You will use these notes as a reference to quizzes I conduct once in a while, practical or written. Your unit tests, which occur in between certain intervals, will be practical where we will be exploring the neighboring islands and I will give you a certain task to perform. I will explain the grading during that time. Understand?"

The class nodded furiously, elated at the fact that there were very minimal written things to do. The idea of exploring the neighboring islands sounded great to Eren.

"However, I expect you all to take this class seriously and not as child's play, because it won't be." Hawkcrest gave the students a stern look. "Also know this, you are prone to injuries in these classes, I hope you signed up for this with that fact in mind."

Eren knew that something like that was possible, but he didn't care much. It wasn't going to be anything life threatening so it was fine.

"All that aside, we'll have lots of fun in between too, so don't think of this class as a drag, cause it won't be." Hawkcrest said with a smile.

The students began conversing with each other, discussing things about the class.

"I think this class is going to be fun Eren, don't you think so?" Brock said enthusiastically.

"Yeah, I'm pretty excited honestly." He replied. He already liked this teacher, he seemed to be experienced too. He really wanted to be a reliable and dependable person, so people would take him more seriously instead of the goofball they believed him to be. Sure, he was laid back and carefree, but that didn't mean he didn't have a sense of responsibility. Maybe some people needed to realize that by now.

Eren was snapped out of his thoughts by Hawkcrest's voice.

"Now since today is the first class I haven't prepared like I always do. So today I'll be testing you guys in my own away. We'll be playing a game in Area P, which is the area we're in. no survival tests today, I'll be observing your individual mindsets and how you react to this game. Don't sweat it, it's nothing serious, but do your best. I'll explain the game to you."

He brought his fingers to his mouth and whistled. It was a shrill sound that rang through the area. Two assistants came out from the trees, as if they had waiting there the whole time. Both of them were holding a plastic bag each.

Hawkcrest let out another whistle in the opposite direction. The sound of buzzing wings could be heard coming from the direction in which Hawkcrest had whistled. The students were looking curiously at the bunch of trees to see what was making that sound. Suddenly a bipedal pokemon burst out from the tress and landed next to Hawkcrest, the buzzing even more prominent now.

"Oh look it's a scyther!" a student shouted.

Hawkcrest patted the scyther on the shoulder, careful not to touch its rapidly vibrating wings.

"Scyther here is one the local pokemon in the Habitat Dome, and acts as a protector of the other pokemon, especially the young ones. He's very dependable."

Scyther gave a nod of affirmation at the professor's words.

"So here's what the game is. All of you are going to get this ball, and with this ball you have to trap scyther." Hawkcrest said, removing a rugged black ball from one of the bags and holding it out.

Brock raised his hand. "But Professor, that's just a regular ball, how do we trap a pokemon like scyther?"

The others students nodded in agreement. Hawkcrest smiled.

"Watch this boy."

He threw the ball onto the ground and it suddenly expanded into a net made of metal wires. A chorus of 'ooo' came from the students. The assistants began distributing the balls to the freshmen. When Eren got his, he nearly dropped it. It was heavier than he had expected.

"There you go kiddos. This here is what's going to trap scyther. The main objective is to trap scyther using this net ball made by the young scientists we have here in Affinitive Academy. It won't harm scyther in any way so no need to worry about that. But there's a catch. If scyther manages to even touch you, then you're out of the game and will come back to this clearing. Be honest if you get touched, no cheating. Other assistants are stationed around and inside the perimeter so we'll know exactly what's happening. Now you can work in teams or go solo, it's your wish. Just remember, your time limit is forty five minutes. The game ends when scyther gets captured or every one of you loses. Now go and spread out into the forest, you have five minutes to conceal yourself. Oh and I almost forgot, no pokemon allowed, it's just you and your brain. And the game starts… now!"

The students began running in all the directions into the forest, leaving their bags in the clearing. Eren looked at Brock.

"We could work together, but I think it's best we do it solo. What do you say Brocko?" he asked.

Brock nodded in agreement. "I was thinking the same thing. Good luck Eren."

"Ditto, man."

The two roommates separated and ran in opposite directions to each other. Hawkcrest flashed Eren a thumbs up as he passed by. Eren wanted to win this game. He needed to make a mark, a mark that showed he was capable.

'I'm going to win this game!' he thought as he darted through the trees.

Hawkcrest smiled as he watched his students run off.

"Let's see what you're all capable of."

Sorry I was so late on this chapter, I was busy with stuff. Not really any action unlike the last chapter, but you can't always have action. I want to thank you all for the support so far, and the ones who review and critique especially, thank you all very much! I hope I can roll out the next chapter much sooner than this time.

All the characters belong to their respective owners, and Brock belongs to Pokemon or Gamefreak, whichever really.

-Fallen