Pineco, Forretress, and Spearow

The fourth grade classroom was buzzing with chatter. The students were split into two, each group at their own table. As it wasn't time for class to start up again, three were at the teacher's desk up front, examining a Pokemon sitting there. She was two feet tall and one and a half feet across, with no limbs. She did have large steel growths, some squarish and flat, others long and rounded. Although they had looked around her, they couldn't find her eyes.

"Is she sleeping?" one girl asked, gingerly poking at the center crack.

"Ruuu," the Pokemon muttered, sounding like metal fragments were rustling inside her shell.

"Sounds like she's awake," a boy answered.

"But then why's she shut up like this? Hey Pokemon, I wanna see your face."

"Shunk." It sounded negative, but they weren't sure.

"I know how to get her to open up," the second boy said, pulling a berry out of his pocket. "Pokemon like berries. Here, you can have this if you show us your face."

Their teacher came back to the desk. "I wouldn't offer her that in your hand," she warned.

"Huh? Why not? Pokemon don't hurt people."

"Not on purpose. Toss it gently to her."

"Okay." The boy did as instructed. Somehow sensing it, the Pokemon turned a bit, then snapped open its shell to grab the berry. It happened so fast that the only evidence of it was a sudden movement and a loud metallic smash.

The girl stepped back and brought her hands up to her chest. "Wow. Can she bite off your hand?"

"Probably. She wouldn't mean to, like I said."

"But we were trying to see her face," the first boy said.

"I hardly ever see her face. Go on, back to your seats now." After waving them away, she called to the rest of the kids, "All right, class, we're starting a new project today. Since most of you will be turning ten by next summer, you will likely be getting your first Pokemon at the end of school. But you'll need to know how to take care of them. So for this semester, your group will be taking care of a Pokemon. You will all need to show responsibility in this project, and take turns bringing the Pokemon back to your homes when school is over. Are you ready to do this?"

"Yes Miss Jensen," the class said, although many of the students were too excited to really think about responsibility. They were getting a Pokemon to care for! A few were already trying to figure out ways to make sure that he or she would get to take the Pokemon home more than the rest of the group.

"I hope so. And before you ask, you're not getting my Forretress here." She patted the Steel Pokemon sitting on the desk.

The Forretress made her metal rustling sound again.

"Today you're going to meet your group's Pokemon and we'll be learning about both of them. Whoever shows the best understanding in your group will be able to take the Pokemon home tonight." Miss Jensen then came out from behind her desk with two Pokeballs. "The east group will have Spearow and the west group will have Pineco."

Although she released the two Pokemon onto the two tables, she kept the balls for now. The east table got a small brown and red bird with short wings and a large stubby beak. He looked over the group with keen eyes, then hopped over and pecked at one kid's notebook. Over at the west table, there was a bluish Bug that looked much like a pinecone, only larger that a normal cone. He also looked over the kids, but didn't move from his spot.

"Spearow is a Normal Flying type Pokemon," the teacher said, walking back to the chalkboard and beginning to write these things down. "And Pineco is a Bug type."

"So that means Spearow would beat Pineco in a fight," one of the boys at the east table said, a little excitedly.

"Josh," she reprimanded.

"Oh, sorry," he said quieter, about speaking out of turn.

"Both of these Pokemon can evolve," Miss Jensen stated. "These two are young, so it's unlikely to happen by the end of the semester. Do you know what they evolve into?" She turned to the group and picked one of the raised hands.

"Spearow evolves into Fearow," another boy said.

"That's right. And what about Pineco?"

The hands went down, as the children weren't certain what it turned into. The Forretress on the desk shook a bit and chuckled in her steely way. In imitation, the Pineco shook and chuckled in a way that was more like grass rustling.

"They know," Miss Jensen said. "Pineco evolves into Forretress. You can see this in how Pineco and Forretress are often found in the same trees. Now what do you know about Pineco?"

A few more hands went back into the air, eager to impress. The first girl called on said, "My dad says to never climb a Pineco tree, cause if you disturb them, they'll all fall out and explode."

"That's true. They do this to scare predators away."

"Will this one explode too?" she asked, looking a bit nervous.

"Krrrr?" the Pineco asked.

"He shouldn't," Miss Jensen answered. "If he does learn that kind of skill, you should be careful of what he does with it. Of course, you should be careful with any kind of Pokemon skill. Their abilities are often greater than our own." The Forretress gave a quick clank of her shell halves, as if to remind a certain three of what she could do. "What else?"

"He tries to look like a pinecone with his shell," another girl said. "But he's too big for that."

"That is one way to look at it," the teacher said. "But it's also to defend against bird Pokemon who would peck at him, as the shell is tough."

"Is that how he evolves into that?" a boy asked. "Cause he makes his shell tougher so the birds can't get him no more?"

"Right. Now, what about Spearow over there? What do you know about him?"

The boy who was called on said, "I've seen them out in fields before. They hop around on the ground and flap their wings, but don't fly. I think they were playing some game."

"Maybe. But they also hunt for bugs, mostly the non-Pokemon ones, by stirring up the grass the bugs hide in. So what does that tell us about how to feed a Spearow?"

"Let him scatter it all over the floor?" one boy asked, getting some giggles from his classmates.

"I don't think your parents would approve of that," Miss Jensen said.

"You should let the Spearow hunt in the grass for bugs?" another boy asked.

"That's right. Some Pokemon need to be fed with dishes, while others need to be allowed to hunt. And some others, mostly the Grass Pokemon, take in sunlight more than they eat, so they need to rest in the sun for some time every day without being disturbed. What else do you know about Spearow?"

"They have super sight," a girl said. "You can't fool a Spearow with Sand Attack."

"Correct. That is their innate ability, known as Keen Eye."

The lesson went on and the kids were allowed to interact and examine their group's Pokemon. They didn't know it, but Miss Jensen was watching them for more than just deciding their grades. In this project, she was gathering information on who she should recommend to receive an official starter Pokemon from the region's professor. There were many other factors, and none of the kids in her class might make the final cut. But when most of them would get their first Pokemon from their parents, one of them might just be picked to get the special rare starter of their choice at the beginning of summer.

...

Pineco D/P/P entry: It looks just like a pinecone. Its shell protects it from bird Pokemon that peck it by mistake.

Forretress Emerald entry: It keeps itself inside its steel shell. The shell is opened when it is catching prey, but it is so quick that the shell's insides cannot be seen.

Spearow Heart Gold entry: It flaps its short wings to flush out insects from tall grass. It then plucks them with its stubby beak.

Trying out many layers and places in the Pokemon world as usual.