Pokémon Loud Version - Sinnoh (New Title)

by SilverNugget

With the Sister Fight Protocol spiraling out of control and his parents not doing anything to stop it, Lincoln wisely decides to get out of the house, like in the canon episode. However, this time...he chooses to call up his grandfather at the retirement home instead of Clyde - a decision that will lead to circumstances that will change the lives of him and of his family forever.

7. Chapter 7 - First Day of Trainer School

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or the Loud House. Those properties belong to Nintendo/Game Freak and (regardless of what happened to him) Chris Savino/Nickelodeon respectively.

Note: Like before, this new version of the story will be based primarily on the anime with aspects of the games, the Adventures manga, and some other stuff mixed in. Also, for the sake of convenience, I will be using the following text formats for these particular parts of the story:

Translated Pokémon Speech

Pokédex Entries/Rotom Phone Speech/Thoughts/Computerized Voices/Flashbacks

-=O=-

Location: Lincoln's Room - Sandgem Pokemon Center, Sandgem Town, Sinnoh Region, Hokkaido, Japan
Time: 7:00 AM JST

'C'mon, Lincoln. Wake up. It's time to wake up.' buzzed Rotom as he flitted around Lincoln's sleeping form, trying to get him to awaken.

The reason why? It was seven in the morning and the first day of school would be starting in an hour or so. He had been trying for the last fifteen minutes to get the white-haired American to awaken, but with no luck.

Deciding to use a more 'fun' way of waking Lincoln up since calling his name wasn't working, a grin appears on Rotom's face before he pops out of the Rotom Phone and into his more natural, plasma-like form.

Hovering close to Lincoln's sleeping face, Rotom prepares a small electric shock to jolt the boy away, only to notice the presence of something electronic in the boy's body. It wasn't a large presence, but the fact it was there still concerned him somewhat.

'Well...might as well take out two Flying-Types with one stone...' thought Rotom to himself before discharging a weak electric shock at the electronic presence in Lincoln's body, shocking both it and Lincoln at the same time.

Snapping awake almost immediately, Lincoln exclaims "GAH! OW!" before shaking off the shock. Once he was done, he gives Rotom an annoyed look and asked "What was that for!?"

'That was because you were sleeping in, bzzt. You DO realize that it's the first day of the school term, right?'

After blinking for a few moments trying to figure out what that meant, the white-haired boy's eyes widened as he remembered that today was his first day attending Trainer's School.

"That's right...today...wait, today!? Oh geez...what time is it!?"

After popping back into the Rotom Phone and checking the time, Rotom answers 'Relax, it's five minutes after seven. You're not late for school. It doesn't start for another hour or so, which is plenty of time to get some grub in your stomach before you set off for Jubilife City.'

"Alright, good. Still, remind me to ask you to set a wakeup alarm or something later. I don't need you waking me up 'that' way again." said Lincoln before getting out of bed and stretching. "Still, to think my first day of Trainer's School would be today. I'm a little nervous, to be honest."

'Nervous? Why?'

"Well, I'll be learning about a lot of things that I'm not familiar with while I'm there. I'm kinda worried that I'll make a fool out of myself or something."

'You'll be fine, bzzt. Don't worry about all the small stuff. Just focus on getting through your first day so you'll get a hang of things.' said Rotom, grinning.

"...Yeah, I guess you're right. I might just be overthinking things." replied the white-haired with a nod before heading into the bathroom to get washed up and changed.

On the way to the bathroom, he looks around and lets out a content sigh, still pleased with the sight of the room Nurse Joy was letting him use. Sure, he had been here for a week now, but after several years of living in a cramped bedroom in a chaotic household, this room was still a sight for sore eyes, even now.

On top of that, it still blew his mind that he didn't have to worry about waiting in a queue to get a shower in the morning. No lines, no arguing about who goes first, no dodging, no ducking, no pushing, and no shoving. Just a nice, quiet trip to the bathroom in order to wash up and get ready for the day.

As he waited for the hot water in the shower to start going, Lincoln pondered on how his family was faring back home, especially with him being away for a week already.

Sure, he had contacted his parents just a few days ago, but a part of him was still a bit curious about how his family was faring.

After thinking about it for a bit, Lincoln mused "...Eh, I'm sure they're just fine without me." to himself, shrugging. "Mom and Dad know where I am and my sisters were so keen on the idea of me leaving when I mentioned it to them, so...eh."

...Yeah, they'll be fine.

-=O=-

Location: Lori & Leni's Room - The Loud Residence, Royal Woods, Michigan, United States
Time: 6:15 PM EST

While Lincoln was getting ready for his first day of Trainer's School, evening time had come to Royal Woods, with the Loud sisters getting ready for one of their weekly sister meetings.

Of course, considering that they were still grounded and with their rooms being probably watched by their parents, they couldn't meet in person for said meeting, which is why they were still using their headsets from the Protocol incident to communicate.

As she looked at the empty space where her phone once sat while it was being charged, Lori couldn't help but pout as she recalled what her mother had confiscated from her and Leni a few days ago...

-Flashback-

Location: Lori & Leni's Room - The Loud Residence, Royal Woods, Michigan, United States
Time: 2:15 PM EST

If there was a word to describe the eldest of the Loud sisters at the moment, it would be 'nervous'. Both were shaking in dread as their gazes turned to their bedroom door, just waiting for it to open so one of their parents could drop in on them.

"Lori...I'm scared..." whined Leni, eyes tearing up as she stared at the door in fear.

"You're not the only one, Leni. I just hope that whatever they take from us, it won't be too much." replied Lori, her voice wavering as she also kept her eyes on the door, watching for the slightest movement of the doorknob.

The two blondes' fears would come true a few seconds later as the door opens, with their mother stepping into the room with a no-nonsense look on her face.

"I presume you two know why I'm here?"

"Y-yes..." stammered the two frightened teens, nodding.

"Good. There won't be any arguments, any discussions or any bargaining regarding what I'll be taking out of your room today. You girls brought this on yourselves by wrecking our home and for what? A dress of all things? So tell me, you two...were those dresses worth it?"

The two teens had the decency to blush in embarrassment as they shook their heads upon hearing Rita's words.

"That's what I thought." replied Rita, nodding. "Lori?"

"Y-yes, Mom?"

"Phone. Now."

Hearing this, the younger blonde's eyes widened in absolute horror. Out of ALL the things that she didn't want confiscated, her phone was at the very top of that list.

"M-Mom! Not my phone, anything but that! I literally need that or I'm going to die!" whined Lori desperately.

"Oh, stop overreacting. You had managed just fine before your father and I had bought this for you on your sixteenth birthday." replied her mother, eyes rolling. "Besides, do you know how much money we spend on our phone bill because you and Bobby won't stop calling and texting each other? Do you really need to call and text him THAT much every day?"

Again, Lori couldn't help but blush in embarrassment before handing over the cyan-colored device.

"Thank you." said Rita before heading over and checking the closet for anything of value, only to notice something 'off' about all the clothes in the closet. Looking baffled, she adds "...These are designer brands. How in the world did you two afford so many designer-brand clothes, especially with the allowances your father and I give you?"

Hearing this, the two blondes give each other aside glances with nervous looks on their faces.

'God, why did Mom have to notice that!?' thought Lori to herself, wincing. 'If she and Dad find out how we were able to afford that stuff, they'll literally flip!'

Looking like she was about to cry, Leni thought 'Oh gosh...Mommy and Daddy are going to be so MAD if they find out how we're getting the money to buy so many things...'

"...Well, whatever the case, these, along with Lori's phone, are all confiscated." said Rita with finality. "I don't know how you two were able to amass a collection like this, but something tells me I'm NOT going to like the answer when I find out."

With that said, Rita leaves the room with all of the designer clothes in the closet while tucking Lori's phone away in her pocket.

Once she was gone, the two teens look at each other with fear in their eyes before saying "Sister meeting." in unison.

-Flashback End-

As the others chattered away about what this week's meeting was going to be about, Lori proclaimed "Alright, I'm officially calling this meeting to order." before banging one of her shoes onto the dresser next to her bed. "So pipe down so we can get this underway!"

At this, the others go quiet in order to hear what their eldest sister has to say.

After taking a moment to let the silence sit for a moment, Lori speaks again, saying "...Okay, I think we can all agree that this past week...hasn't been the best one for us. Not only are all nine of us still grounded, but Mom and Dad confiscated stuff from all of us and sold it off to replace all the stuff that we broke."

Lisa had not only lost most of her machines and expensive equipment for her research, but her surveillance system was completely taken down, Lola had lost her Princess Car and a fair number of her more expensive dresses and toys, Lana had lost her tools and some of her toys, Lucy had lost her Vampires of Melancholia merch collection and all of her vampire novels, Lynn had lost all of her signed sports memorabilia, Luan had lost her camera and laptop, along with a large quantity of tapes about Lincoln that had been found in her closet, Luna had lost almost all of her instruments save for a few she regularly used and the two eldest, Lori and Leni, had not only lost a large number of their dresses and clothes from their closet, but the former also had her phone confiscated.

While Leni whined a bit at the thought of losing all those dresses, Lynn groaned "Tell me about it...I spent years collecting all those autographed balls, bats, and jerseys and now they're all gone, just like that."

"At least Mom and Dad let you keep your sports gear." complained Luan's voice, sounding annoyed. "I lost my laptop, camera, and all of those tapes I had saved up in the closet. That last one is a shame since with everything that's happened lately, I really think we could've used a good laugh at Lincoln's expense."

Several of the others murmured in agreement at that last part of Luan's remark, knowing about the collection of tapes that their comedic sister owned.

With Luan mentioning their brother, Lori says "Speaking of Lincoln, that twerp's nowhere to be seen, despite what we initially believed. It's been a week now and he still hasn't come back."

"Which honestly baffles even myself, since I had assumed that he would have returned to our residence within a matter of days." stated Lisa's voice, sounding perplexed.

She didn't like being proven wrong. It was, in her opinion, an insult to her perceived intelligence.

"Yeah, you said he'd be back in a few days! So where is he!?" complained Lana's voice, directed at her younger sibling

"I don't know. Perhaps he had managed to talk the McBrides into allowing a more extended stay...yes, that must be it. In any case, we're bound to see him whenever the new school year starts. He'll be there."

"Hmm...Lise's got a point, dudes. Out of the house or not, even Linc wouldn't be allowed to miss a single day of school." replied Luna's voice.

"And Mom and Dad can't stop us from making him pay once we're out of the house and at school..." said Lola's voice in a vindictive-sounding tone as she made plans to make her brother pay. "Oh, this is going to be good..."

"And if Clyde or anyone else is trying to hide him from us, we'll make them talk until they give him up!" chimed Lana's voice, followed by the sound of a fist smacking into someone's palm.

"What if we don't find him there either?" asked Lucy's voice, catching everyone's attention. "What if Lincoln WASN'T lying about being away for a year and he's actually gone? Even if it's an unlikely chance, it's still a chance nonetheless."

Scoffing at the idea, Lisa's voice remarks "Please, like he could afford a trip to Japan of all places. A plane ticket to Japan alone would run for a substantial sum of money, and I've established before that the money required for such an endeavor is something our family does not have at the moment. So unless Lincoln's been severely holding out on the rest of us regarding money or he's got some kind of outside connections that can allow this so-called trip to happen, it's very unlikely that he's actually leaving the United States, much less Royal Woods."

Giving her headset a disdainful look, Lori says "Yeah, Lucy. What Lisa said."

"Lisa also said that Lincoln would be back within the week and look what happened there." sniped Lucy's voice right back in return.

"Th-that was just a miscalculation and nothing more..." stammered Lisa's voice, flustered. "He'll be at school tomorrow, I assure you. And speaking of school tomorrow, I suggest we all turn in early tonight so we won't be late. Our parental units are already upset enough as it is and being late for our first day won't make things easier towards regaining their goodwill."

"You heard the poindexter, girls. Lights out early tonight so no one is late tomorrow." said Lori before bringing up the last topic of the meeting. "The last thing I want to bring up...is that Mom may be onto our little 'secret'."

Hearing this, the other girls went into a complete uproar, creating a chaotic cacophony of noise.

"What!? Who squealed!? I'll kill them!" roared Lola, sounding absolutely furious.

"Calm down, Lola. No one's talked yet. At least, I HOPE no one's said anything." said Lori in a 'you little twerps better not have' kind of tone. "...When Mom was raiding our closet for stuff to confiscate, she noticed that Leni and I had a lot of designer clothes in there. Like, a lot."

"Really!? Out of all the things that they had to catch onto, it was your stupid clothes!?" exclaimed Lana's voice, sounding angry. "Did you two also use 'that' money to pay for those dresses that both of you had fought over!?"

The two older blondes remained silent, not wanting to give their younger sister an answer.

While the others remained silent, realizing what this may mean for them, Luna's voice timidly spoke up, adding "About that...uh...I think Dad might be onto us, too. When he was confiscating stuff from our room, he asked where I got the money to afford all my instruments."

"Talk about going from bad to worse. If Mom and Dad find out what's been going on, being grounded is going to be the least of our problems." muttered Lucy's voice.

"I told you imbeciles not to overdo it since they would eventually notice and start asking questions!" snapped Lisa's voice, irritated. "Anyone else want to admit they've been doing it recently, too?"

The sound of awkward whistling came from what sounded like Lynn's voice before she said "...What? Sports memorabilia isn't cheap!"

"...Okay, look. We'll figure out some way to get past this. Maybe even find a way to pin this on someone else so we're in the clear." said Lori, trying to calm everyone else down. "For now, let's just focus on getting ready for school tomorrow morning, alright? Meeting adjourned."

-=O=-

Location: Lobby - Sandgem Pokémon Center, Sandgem Town, Sinnoh Region, Hokkaido, Japan
Time: 7:20 AM JST

Upon seeing Lincoln stepping into the lobby looking clean and dressed, Joy smiles and says "Good morning, Mr. Loud. I see that you're ready for your first day of Trainer's School."

"Morning, Nurse Joy." replies Lincoln in turn, waving. "And yeah, I'm ready. A bit nervous about how things may go since I'm new to this Pokémon thing, but I'm ready."

"There's nothing wrong with being a little nervous about something new, but I think you'll pick up on things just fine. I was the same way when I attended my first day of school as well, but after I got past that first day, everything else went by smoothly."

"You really think so, huh?" mused Lincoln thoughtfully.

"Of course. That first day may seem intimidating, but it's really not as bad as it seems to be. You'll be fine." replied Joy with a reassuring smile.

Hearing this, Lincoln stood there, deep in thought. If both Rotom and even Nurse Joy think that he'd be just fine regarding his first day of school, then he'd take their word for it.

"Well...okay. If you say so." said Lincoln before looking at the lobby's clock. "Almost 7:30. I guess I better get going."

"Take care, Lincoln. Have a good day at school."

Giving the pink-haired nurse a nod of thanks, Lincoln steps out of the Pokémon Center and starts heading north towards Route 202, only to stop upon seeing a group of kids around his age hanging around Professor Rowan's laboratory, with the man himself talking to them.

'Who are they?' thought Lincoln to himself before walking over, his curiosity piqued.

Upon seeing Lincoln approaching him, Rowan nods in approval before stating "Ah, Mr. Loud. I see you're up and ready for your first day of the new term. Excellent."

"Yeah, I'm ready to go, Professor. But...uh, who are they?" asked Lincoln as he eyed the other kids, who looked back at him with just as much curiosity.

Standing at the front of the group was a tall, lanky boy with blonde hair curling upwards and orangish-brown eyes. He seemed to be the apparent leader of the group, given his placement in front of the others.

Next up was a boy with brown hair and black eyes, who stood beside the blonde boy, arms crossed as he sized Lincoln up with his gaze, trying to figure out why the white-haired boy was here.

The third person in the group, a girl with mid-length orangish-brown hair and teal eyes watched on with a raised eyebrow, as if wordlessly gauging something about him. She looked similar to the boy from before, making Lincoln wonder if they were possibly related.

The fourth, a slightly plump boy with blackish-blue hair covered by a red beret-like cap and a dozy look on his face, simply stood there, munching on what appeared to be a doughnut.

Finally, the last member of the group, and the one that had caught his attention the most, was a girl around his age with long blue hair and blue eyes, who stood by with a curious look on her face as she eyed the white-haired Loud with interest.

These five didn't seem to be unfriendly, but the white-haired American couldn't help but feel a little bit nervous at their gazes.

"Professor? Who's this?" asked the blonde-haired boy, eyeing Lincoln with small hints of suspicion and curiosity etched on his face. "I don't recognize him."

"Did he move in recently or something?" asked the orange-brown-haired girl, stepping closer.

"Not exactly. Like yourselves, he's a new student that'll be attending the Jubilife City school today." said Rowan, placing a hand on Lincoln's shoulder. "Unlike the five of you, however, Lincoln here isn't native to the Sinnoh region. He's here on an...exchange program of sorts from the United States."

"An American, huh? That explains why we didn't recognize him when we first saw him." mused the blue-haired girl thoughtfully. "So...he's going to be our new classmate, then?"

"Apparently so, since we're going to be attending the same school together." replied Lincoln before stepping forward, looking a bit nervous. "Um...my name's Lincoln. It's nice to meet all of you. I...uh, hope we can get along during our time in Trainer's School together."

Much to his surprise, the blonde boy grins and drapes an arm over his shoulder.

"Hey, no sweat! Exchange student or not, you're here for the same reason as all of us - to become a Pokémon Trainer, right?"

"Well...yeah."

"Then you're already okay in my book! Name's Barry, by the way." said the other boy, still grinning before pointing at the brown-haired boy. "Over there is..."

"Hey, I can introduce myself, thanks." interrupted the boy before walking over and giving Lincoln's hand a firm shake. "Name's Kenny. And while I'm at it, welcome to Sinnoh, Lincoln."

"Thanks. And you three are...?"

With a lax smile on his face, the dark-haired boy addresses Lincoln with a small smile and a handshake, saying "Name's Diamond. Nice to meetcha. You want a doughnut?"

'Diamond? Interesting name, but not gonna knock it.' thought Lincoln before accepting the gesture. "Likewise. And no thanks, but I appreciate the offer."

"No biggie. I 'doughnut' have another anyway." replied Diamond, causing the others to groan a bit while Lincoln raised an eyebrow at the pun.

'Puns, huh? Man, Luan would get a kick out of hanging out with this guy...' thought the white-haired boy to himself before the orange-brown-haired girl approached him.

"Leona. Nice to meet you." said the girl, giving Lincoln a polite nod and a small, but friendly smile.

Beaming, the blue-haired girl spoke up next, adding "And I'm Dawn. It's a pleasure to meet you, Lincoln. How are you finding Sinnoh so far?"

"It's definitely different than back home, but I kinda like it here." said Lincoln, scratching his chin. "And I think I'll get the chance to enjoy it even more once I graduate from Trainer's School, get my Trainer Card and become an official Trainer so I can explore it in full."

Checking the time on his Pokétch, Rowan cuts into the conversation, stating "Speaking of school, you lot should be heading off now. It's getting close to time for it to start."

"Already? Geez, time just flies by when you don't notice it..." mused Barry before sprinting off to the north. "Well, I'm off! Last one there has to pay a million Pokédollar fine!"

"Barry, don't run off like that! Wait for us!" complained Leona, chasing after him. "C'mon, Dee Dee! Let's go!"

"R-right..." murmured Dawn before following after her.

Pursuing after them, Kenny exclaims "Hey, wait for me, you two! Don't leave me behind!", leaving Lincoln and Diamond behind.

While the latter simply shrugged before polishing off his doughnut and strolling north to Jubilife City, Lincoln started to follow after him, only to stop upon remembering something - the promise he had made to his friends back home in Royal Woods.

'...Right. I told Clyde and the others that I'd talk to Professor Rowan for them.' thought the white-haired boy to himself. "...Professor Rowan?"

"Hmm?"

"When I come back to Sandgem Town later, I'd like to talk to you about something, if you can make the time for it."

"Of course, my boy. You'll know where to find me." said Rowan, nodding. "Now then, off you go. You don't want to fall behind."

After a quick nod, Lincoln hurries off in order to catch up with the others. Thankfully for him, Dawn had stopped long enough for him to catch up to her.

"There you are. What kept you?" asked Dawn, looking at him.

"Had to talk to Professor Rowan about something. Sorry about the holdup." said Lincoln, apologetically. "The others went on ahead, I take it?"

"Yeah. I decided to wait for you to catch up."

Surprised at this, Lincoln replies "Really? Well...thanks. I appreciate it." before he and Dawn started heading through Route 202 towards Jubilife City. "So...uh, are you nervous about this first day, too?"

"A little bit. I mean, what we learn from these classes will play a major part on whether or not we'll be able to become Pokémon Trainers." answered Dawn, nodding. "And there's not many options for careers that don't have anything to do with Pokémon Training in Sinnoh, so...yeah, I'm a bit nervous, just like you are."

"At least I'm not the only one." said Lincoln, causing the bluenette to giggle. "Well...I guess the only thing we can really do is make the most of what we learn this semester, right?"

"Right. We'll have to work extra hard if we're going to earn our Cards and become Pokémon Trainers." said Dawn, nodding again before realizing that she and Lincoln had reached the city limits of Jubilife City. "Well, here we are. Jubilife City. The Trainer's School isn't too far away. Follow me."

"You're familiar with this place, I take it?"

"Yep, especially since my mom brought me along during her trips to Jubilife in the past." said Dawn as she led Lincoln through the city, eventually coming to a stop at a building that seemed to be about the same size as Royal Woods Elementary, but just a tad bit smaller. "Here we are. This is the place."

Making a mental note to memorize the directions to this place, Lincoln thought 'So this is the Trainer's School, huh?' with a look of intrigue on his face. "Well, enough standing around. Let's get inside so we can get to our first class, yeah?"

Nodding, Dawn heads into the school, with Lincoln following right behind her. As she approached a nearby counter with an older woman sitting behind it, the blue-haired girl said "Morning, miss."

"Names?" replied the receptionist, eyebrow raised.

"Dawn Berlitz."

"Lincoln Loud." said Lincoln, causing Dawn to let out a giggle.

"What a strange last name." chuckled the bluenette before quickly adding "No offense intended, of course."

Shrugging, Lincoln replies "None taken. Wouldn't be the first time I've heard someone say that. I've gotten used to it."

After checking a list of names, the receptionist nodded and passed over what appeared to be class schedules before pointing at a nearby door.

"Classrooms are that way. Now move along, because it leaves a bad impression to be late on your first day. Off you go."

After comparing her schedule to Lincoln's, Dawn says "Let's see...Pokémon Types. Guess we're in the same class together. Lucky us, huh?"

"Really lucky. At least I'll be in the same class with a familiar face." said Lincoln, nodding. "Speaking of class, we should probably be heading there now."

"Yeah. Let's go."

(AN: Leona isn't an OC character, I should mention. She's a canonical childhood friend of Dawn's from the anime series.)

-=O=-

Location: Lisa & Lily's Room - The Loud Residence, Royal Woods, Michigan, United States
Time: 9:00 PM EST

Meanwhile, back in Royal Woods, Lisa was using one of the few devices that hadn't been confiscated in order to connect to the tracking device that was in her brother's body.

While she was still certain that he hadn't left the city, there was no harm in checking the tracker just to be absolutely sure...that and providing proof with her findings regarding said tracker would shut Lucy up about that asinine idea of Lincoln leaving for Japan.

No, she wasn't bothered about that crack Lucy made about her earlier. Not at all. Shut up.

'Shouldn't be too hard to prove that ignoramus wrong. All I need to do is link up to the tracking device implanted into Lincoln's body and I can easily pinpoint his location.' thought Lisa to herself as she tinkered with the device in her hands, eventually getting a hit on the tracker's signal.

Upon seeing that the signal was coming from the McBride household, she smirks and sets the device aside, saying "Knew it." with a hint of arrogance in her voice. "And now that I know for certain that he's still in Royal Woods, maybe now Lucy will finally put those foolish ideas of him being out of the country to rest...as well as apologize for doubting my intellect. I'll inform the others of my findings first thing tomorrow morning."

With that done, the four-year-old starts getting ready for bed, not realizing that the tracking device in Lincoln's body, now malfunctioning thanks to Rotom's earlier shock, was sending false 'positives' instead of functioning correctly.

-=O=-

Location: Classroom - Jubilife City Trainer's School, Jubilife City, Sinnoh Region, Hokkaido, Japan
Time: 10:15 PM JST

While his family was getting ready to go to bed back home in the States, Lincoln was sitting at his desk in one of the Jubilife school's classrooms, listening in as the instructor lectured the rest of the class about the various Types that Pokémon can have: Fire, Grass, Water, Ice, Ground, Electric, Rock, Psychic, Dark, Bug, Fighting, Fairy, Poison, Steel, Normal, Ghost, Flying and Dragon.

'Okay...so there are eighteen types when it comes to Pokémon. And all of them apparently have their own respective strengths, weaknesses, and resistances.' thought Lincoln as he listened to the instructor's lesson. 'And some Pokémon can have up to two different types, while others just have one. That might be useful to know when it comes to what kind of Pokémon I'll want to have when I start putting together a team. Still, I wonder if it's best to train one particular type and specialize in it or have a more varied team for any given situation.'

On one hand, having a single-type team wouldn't make it easy to cover bases regarding types that were strong against the one he was using, but it would make training them easier since he'd be more experienced in training that particular type.

On the other however, a more varied team consisting of different types would be good for covering all kinds of ground in battles against opponents, but he'd have to adapt several training methods for all of the different types since he was sure that the same ones wouldn't work for every single Pokémon type.

"Something on your mind, Lincoln?" asked Barry's voice from nearby, catching his attention.

"...Kinda. I'm thinking about Pokémon types when it comes to battles."

"Really? Well, lay it on me then. What's up?"

"I'm trying to decide whether it'd be better to focus on one type since it'd be easier to train Pokémon of the same type since I'd become more experienced with them or to have a more type-varied team for coverage, even though it'd mean having to adapt multiple training methods." said Lincoln, causing the blonde to take on a thoughtful look.

Before Barry can say anything, the instructor walks over and crosses her arms as she glances down at the pair, stating "I hate to interrupt you two, but we're in the middle of a lesson here. Unless it's related to the subject at hand, I'd appreciate it if you two could put off your conversation until after class."

"We...uh, we were talking about whether it's better to focus on one type or have a variety of types on a team." replied Barry, blushing in embarrassment. "Won't happen again, miss."

Nodding, Lincoln replies "What he said. We'll keep the conversation until after class."

Looking thoughtful, the instructor says "...Actually, that's not a bad topic to discuss regarding our lesson on types, you two."

"Eh?"

"If all of you intend to become Trainers in the future, then you'll want to learn about the various pros and cons of having single-type or multi-type teams since you'll have to take matchups into consideration." replied the instructor before writing something down on the whiteboard, alongside what appeared to be symbols that were seemingly meant to represent the various types. "Let's use a Trainer who specializes in the Fire-type like Flint of the Sinnoh Elite Four as an example. Can anyone tell me what Fire-Type Pokémon are strong against?"

Raising her hand, Leona replies "Fire Pokémon are strong against Steel-Types, Bug-Types, Ice-Types, and Grass-Types. And they're resistant to Bug, Fairy, Steel, Ice, Grass and Fire-Type attacks."

"Excellent. Against all of those types, a Trainer like Flint would have an easy time in battle, correct? However, what would happen if a Fire-Type specialist faced off against Pokémon that were Water, Rock, or Ground-Type?"

"Those types are super-strong against Fire-Types, right? I think a Fire-Type specialist would have trouble with those." said Lincoln, raising his hand.

"Exactly. Of course, while it's certain that an Elite Four-class Trainer like Flint has measures to counter his weaknesses, not everyone who solely uses those types would have the means to counter the types that are strong against their Pokémon." said the instructor, nodding. "And that also applies to Pokémon that resist their specified type as well. For example, Fire isn't very strong against Rock, Water, Dragon or as Leona stated earlier, other Fire-Types."

"But there are means to counter a type's weaknesses?" asked Dawn, interested.

"That's right. Let's take a Pokémon like Machop, for example. Being a pure Fighting-Type, it would be weak to Fairy, Flying, and Psychic, while unable to normally harm Ghost-Types, who are immune to Fighting moves. However, it can learn moves like Poison Jab, Rock Tomb, Knock Off, Bullet Punch, and Thunderpunch to counter said weaknesses." replied the instructor, nodding again. "Of course, since there's no type matchup between the move and the Pokémon's type, the attack wouldn't be as effective as it could potentially be."

Hand raised, Barry inquires "And by that, you mean a move like Thunderpunch would work better with an Electric-Type?"

"Sometimes. It also depends on whether the Pokémon in question specializes in physical or special attacks, but we'll cover that subject at another time."

"So what about having a multitude of types on a team?" asked Kenny, eager to learn more about the subject.

"Most Trainers usually choose this option when it comes to developing a team. Not only do you have types that can cover any given situation, but by mixing and matching those types with moves of varying types as well, you can potentially create a strong, solid team of battlers." said the instructor, arms crossed. "Let's use another example with our own regional champion, Cynthia. Her team covers eleven of the eighteen types and has a variety of solid, strong moves of varying types for her Pokémon. Her ace, Garchomp, for example, is known to use Dragon Claw, Earthquake, Poison Jab, Flamethrower, Swords Dance, and Giga Impact - a wide variety of moves with different types for any situation that comes up. And Garchomp's dual Dragon/Ground typing ensures that those first two are going to deal some serious damage."

"So it's a bad idea to focus on one type?" asked Diamond, eyebrow raised.

"Eh...not quite. Sure, a varied team with lots of types is a good idea, but it's a lot harder to manage since you'd have to find different ways to train those respective types. And you also have to factor in things like various diets related to types, as well as raising them in suitable conditions." replied the instructor, shaking her head. "On the other hand, a Trainer who specializes in training Water-Types like Crasher Wake, for example, would only need to worry mainly about maintaining diets and training for Water-Type Pokémon. And most Water-Types tend to have a secondary typing, so they'll have additional coverage working for them."

Raising a finger, she adds "In fact, all of the gym leaders and Elite Four-level Trainers in the major regions specialize in a single type, so deciding to pick one type to work with isn't a bad decision either." before clearing her throat. "...In any case, I believe we should get back to the scheduled lesson for today."

'Hmm...so either way works out just fine? That's something to think about...' mused Lincoln thoughtfully as the instructor continued her lecture. 'Seems like there's a lot more to Pokémon than just catching them and having them battle.'

And the more he learned about Pokémon...the more he wanted to try catching, raising, and battling them for himself.

-=O=-

Location: Luan & Luna's Room - The Loud Residence, Royal Woods, Michigan, United States
Time: 2:25 AM EST

As her sister/roommate snored loudly in the bunk bed above her, Luan was lying in her own bed, thinking deeply about how the past few days had gone since the Sister Fight Protocol incident had passed.

Turning to look at the rest of the room, she thought 'Wow...never thought I'd see our room looking this empty. Dad really did a number on confiscating our things.' with a bitter expression on her face as the memory of that moment passed through her mind...

-Flashback-

Location: Luan & Luna's Room - The Loud Residence, Royal Woods, Michigan, United States
Time: 10:45 AM EST

"C'mon, Pop-Star! I need all of those to jam out!" whined Luna as her father was taking several of her instruments out of the closet that she and Luan shared.

Luan, meanwhile, wisely kept quiet, not wanting to provoke her father further. Already, he had taken her camera, laptop, and several of her pranking gags. She didn't want him taking any more from her.

"And how much of this do you even use, Luna? Answer that for me." replied Lynn, eyebrow raised. "Like that sousaphone over there. I can practically see the dust collecting on it, yet you insist that you still 'need' it, along with all these other instruments you're not using."

The purple-clad rocker couldn't muster a response, save for a blush of embarrassment.

Noticing something else in the closet, Lynn asked "...Luan? What are these?" as he pointed at a large collection of videotapes. Picking some of them up, he mutters "...'Lincoln Goofs It'. 'Lincoln Ruins Christmas'. 'Lincoln Crying (3 Hours)'?! Luan, what in the world is all of this!? How much of this is there!?"

"Um...er..." stammers Luan, unable to formulate a response that wouldn't make her father more upset with her.

Waving one of the tapes about, Lynn asks "Is this how you get your kicks, Luan? By taping your brother's humiliating moments and keeping them like this?"

"It's not that big of a deal, Pop-Star..." murmured Luna, only to flinch at her father's gaze.

"Not that big of a deal, Luna? Do you see me laughing about this? Do you think something like this is funny?" asked the older brunette, scowling. "Do you think it's funny, Luan? Do you?"

"Well...er, I do find it kind of funny, admittedly..."

"Well, it's not. How would you like it if we recorded all of YOUR failures and humiliations and kept a collection of them? Not so funny now, is it?" said Lynn, frowning. "These are going, too. All of them."

"All of them? But Dad, I spent hundreds buying all these tapes to record on and..."

"BUT NOTHING, LUAN!" roared her father, furious. "I can understand your love of pranking and I'll even chuckle at one of your puns, but this? This isn't funny. Not one bit. They're going and that's final."

As he turned his attention back to the instruments, a thought ran through their father's mind, causing a perplexed look to appear on his face that made the two sisters nervous.

"...Luna."

"Erm...y-yeah?" stammered the purple-clad teen, a bit rattled at how angry her dad looked.

"Just where did you get the money to BUY all these instruments? Because I know for certain that with how much you had hoarded away in your closet, they must've cost a fortune to buy them all, especially with how expensive they must've been at retail price."

Upon hearing this, a frightened look appeared on Luna's face as it paled in color.

"Uh...well, y'know...I saved up a lot of allowance?"

"With how much you kids get every week? I doubt it. You'd have to save up for years to afford even a fraction of all of that and I know for sure that you girls always head to the mall on the weekend to spend what your mother and I do give you." replied Lynn, eyes narrowed. "Something's not sitting right here and your mother and I are going to find out what it is. But for now, these are all going."

With that said, the patriarch of the Loud family starts dragging all of the confiscated instruments out of the room, making a mental note to come back for the tapes.

-Flashback End-

'All those tapes, gone. Years of footage on Lincoln, years of raw comedic gold, gone, just like that.' thought Luan, sighing to herself. 'At least I didn't get hit as hard as Luna did, though. She lost almost her entire collection of instruments.'

They certainly weren't cheap, those instruments. Everything their father had confiscated today cost several thousands of dollars alone.

'And if Mom and Dad find out where Luna's been getting that money...oh, she's going to be in even WORSE trouble.' thought the braces-wearing teen, wincing since she KNEW where the money used to buy those instruments had come from.

Almost all of the Loud siblings had done it at one point, with some doing it more than a few times and if their parents ever found out, being grounded would be the least of their problems.

The only ones who hadn't done it were Lily, who was an infant, and Lincoln, who used his skills to persuade his parents to lend him a bit of extra cash. It honestly baffled her and the others how he was able to do it, really.

Going back to the family savings...aside from Lincoln and Lily, all of them had...'borrowed' money from their parents' savings at one point. Sometimes, in Luna, Lori, Lynn, and Leni's case, more than once. And always without permission.

And sure, not all of them were doing it anymore. Lola had her pageant winnings, Lisa had her research grants and whatever else she does to make money and Luan had Funny Business along with her secondary way of making money online via EyeTube videos (though she was sure that if the others knew that she was monetizing videos about them, they'd kill her), but she was pretty sure that the others were still sneaking money from the savings every now and then, which was, shamefully, one of the key reasons why the family always seemed to be on a tight budget.

And that financial noose around the Loud family's necks was about to get tighter thanks to everything in the house getting wrecked.

'I almost don't want to think about how Dad's going to manage a dinner budget with this going on...' thought Luan, wincing. 'Having the same seven meals week-by-week was bad enough, but with the family's budget tightening even more. At least the burden won't be so bad with Lincoln gone, even if it's for a little while.'

As she started to close her eyes, a sudden thought ran through Luan's mind, causing her eyes to widen in realization.

'Wait...Lincoln isn't going to be here tomorrow morning. And tomorrow is the first day of school. If he's not going to be here, then that means...'

As a grin appeared on her face, Luan thought 'That means without him around to thwart my pranks on the others, everyone else is fair game.' before quietly snickering to herself. 'Sure, I'll have to improvise a bit since Mom and Dad took some of my pranking stuff away, but I'll make do. Tomorrow is going to be FUN.'

She just had to wait until she was sure that everyone else was asleep before she'd get to work on setting up everything for her sisters to have an 'interesting' morning tomorrow. It would mean staying up all night getting everything ready, but the end result would be worth it.

-=O=-

Location: Somewhere on Route 202, Sinnoh Region, Hokkaido, Japan
Time: 3:30 PM JST

While Luan waited for the right time to get to work on setting up pranks for her siblings, her brother was heading back to Sandgem Town with Barry, Dawn, Leona, Kenny, and Diamond, having finished his first day of Trainer's School.

And if he had to be honest with himself? The first day wasn't all that bad. Sure, it was a bit awkward at first since he didn't have the advantage of knowing about Pokémon like the rest of his classmates, but he had adapted fairly quickly to his classes.

In fact, he was actually looking forward to going back tomorrow.

'Never thought I'd be saying something like that about going to school of all things...' thought Lincoln in amusement, a small smile on his face.

Deciding to start a conversation while the group continues on their way to Sandgem Town, Barry asks "Alright, question time - what're you guys planning on doing after you get your Trainer Cards?"

"Contests, without a question." replied Kenny, being the first to answer. "Badges are nice and all, but I've got my eyes set on the Ribbon Cup."

Eyebrow raised at the unknown term, Lincoln asked "Contests? What're those?"

"You mean you don't know what Pokémon Contests are!? Where have you been living under the past few years, under a rock?" asked Kenny, disbelieving.

Giving the other boy a lazy glance, Diamond remarks "...You do realize that Lincoln's an exchange student from the States, right? Of course, he wouldn't know about Contests."

Realizing his error, Kenny blushes in embarrassment and says"...Oh. Right. Sorry about that." before starting an explanation on how Contests work. "To summarize things quickly, Pokémon Coordinators - that's the term for Trainers who specialize in Contests - have their Pokémon use moves to show off and appeal to a panel of judges."

"So it's like a pageant for Pokémon?" asked Lincoln, intrigued.

"In a way. After that, those who pass the judges' verdicts in the preliminary round get to move on to Contest Battles, which are the same thing, but with Pokémon battles mixed in." said Dawn, nodding her head. "And if you win, you earn a Ribbon. Five of those get you entry into the Grand Festival competition, which is pretty much the 'League Conference' for Contest Trainers."

"Yep. And believe it or not, but Dee Dee's mom used to be one of the aces of the Contest scene in Sinnoh back in the day." said Leona as she draped an arm over Dawn's shoulder. "Speaking of which, you plan on pursuing a career in Contests?"

"Mm-hmm. I want to try my luck in the Cute and Beauty divisions."

Eyebrow raised, Lincoln asks "...Divisions?"

"Right. Forgot to bring those up." said Kenny, turning back to face Lincoln. "Contests come in specific 'divisions' to appeal to a wide audience: Cute, Beauty, Smart, Cool, and Tough. Recently though, they've added Funny and Spooky to the lineup as well."

Giving Dawn a grin, he adds "And like I said earlier, I'm gunning for Contest ribbons, too. Might not be the same divisions she'll be going after, but I'm going to make sure that the Sinnoh Ribbon Cup will end up with my name on it."

"I've thought about doing Contests, too. However, instead of the usual stuff, I'd like to bring the art of comedy to Pokémon Contests through the 'Funny' division." said Diamond, adding to the conversation. "Mainly through jokes and visual gags using Pokémon moves. Oh, and Pokémon Manzai, too."

Eyebrow raised, Dawn repeats "Pokémon...Manzai?"

"Yeah. Y'know...the whole 'boke and tsukkomi' routine." replied Diamond, enthusiastic. "Except with...y'know, Pokémon. I think it'd be a hit."

"I know what manzai is, Diamond." said Dawn, shaking her head. "I'm just wondering how you'd make it work in Pokémon Contests."

"The way I see it, if there's a will, there's a way. Don't knock it."

"Now that's the kind of thinking I can get behind." said Barry as he nodded in approval. "I'm going for badges myself. If I'm gonna live up to my dad's reputation, I can't settle for anything less than the Sinnoh championship."

"Well, you're going to have to get through me first, Barry." replied Leona challengingly. "After all, you're not the only one planning on chasing badges."

Getting in her face, Barry exclaims "Oh yeah!?"

"Yeah!" retorted Leona in return, her nose pressed against Barry's as the two glared at each other competitively.

Turning to face Lincoln, Dawn asks "What about you, Lincoln? Contests or gym battles?", causing the others to face him as well.

"Well...er, I haven't decided yet. Both sound like they'd be a lot of fun, but..." started the white-haired American, shrugging.

"You gotta go for badges, man!" exclaimed Barry, wrapping Lincoln in a headlock. "What could be better than chasing down the chance to battle the strongest Trainers that Sinnoh has to offer!?"

Nodding in agreement, Leona adds "Barry's right. If you want a strong team, then taking on the Gym challenge is the fastest way to get one started up."

"Well, maybe he'd like to try Contests instead." huffed Dawn, arms crossed. "I'm sure that Lincoln would appreciate what Pokémon Contests have to offer him."

"Yeah, what Dee Dee said! Contests are the way to go!" chimed in Kenny, giving Lincoln a nod.

"Erm..." murmured Lincoln, feeling a bit nervous as the four looked at him expectantly.

"Eh. I really don't mind if he picks one or the other." stated Diamond, shrugging. "Still, it should be his decision to make in the end, right?"

"...Fair enough. In the end, it's Lincoln's call on what path he wants to take." said Dawn, nodding. "Well, anyway...the rest of us should be getting back to Twinleaf Town. Professor Rowan said that you're staying at the Sandgem Center, right Lincoln?"

After Lincoln nods in confirmation, the bluenette smiles and adds "Then we'll make sure to stop by and collect you every morning on the way to school. Sound good?"

"Yeah, that sounds perfect. Thanks." replied Lincoln, giving her a thumbs up.

"Alright, that's all we needed to hear. Catch you on the flip side, Linc. See ya tomorrow." said Barry before sprinting off towards Twinleaf Town. "Hurry up, you buncha Slowpokes!"

"Always in a rush..." mutters Kenny as he watches Barry run off. Turning to face Lincoln, he adds "See you tomorrow, Lincoln." before heading off as well.

As the others chimed in their own farewells before leaving, Lincoln stood there, deep in thought about the discussion he just had with his new friends.

'Battling or Contests...it's tough to just pick one over the other. Especially since both seem like they'd be a lot of fun to try out.' thought the white-haired boy to himself as he mulled over both options. '...I wonder if it's possible to go after both. I'll have to ask Nurse Joy or Professor Rowan about it later.'

After watching the others head back to Twinleaf Town with thoughts about both Contests and Gym Battles on his mind, Lincoln recalls his earlier conversation with Professor Rowan.

'...Right. I said I wanted to talk to him about something when I was finished with school today.' thought Lincoln to himself before heading into Professor Rowan's laboratory, where he found the man in question sitting at his desk. "...Afternoon, Professor."

"Ah, Mr. Loud. Good to see you again. How was your first day of Trainer's School?"

"Well, it left me with a lot to think about. Other than that, today went fairly well. I'm definitely looking forward to more tomorrow." said Lincoln, causing the mustached professor to nod in approval.

"Excellent." replied Rowan, satisfied. "Anyway, I presume you're here to discuss a few things with me, yes? You mentioned something about wanting to talk to me before heading off to Jubilife City."

"Yeah. There's a few things I do want to talk to you about." answered Lincoln, nodding. "One's kinda important and the other's something I've been thinking about after talking with the others on the way back to Sandgem Town."

"Really? Well, let's hear it then. What's on your mind?"

"Well, to start...a few of my friends back home know about what I'm doing here in Sinnoh and they'd like to give being a Trainer a try for themselves, so...uh..." replied Lincoln, shuffling his feet.

"Ah...a favor for your friends back home. I see. Well, as much as I hate to say it, I won't be able to do anything to help out with that since the semester's already started."

"I know. I've already mentioned that to them before coming to Sinnoh and they'd be willing to wait until next year's semester starts."

"Ah. Well, in that case...I can't exactly guarantee that they'll be able to attend either of Sinnoh's Trainer Schools, but I can see about pulling a few strings to have something arranged for your friends in one of the other regions. No promises, though."

"That's all I needed to hear, Professor." said Lincoln, bowing in gratitude. "I know it's a lot asking something like that of you, especially after everything you've done for me already. Thank you."

"Anytime, my boy. So what's the other thing you wanted to discuss."

"Well...on the way back to Sandgem, the others were talking about gym battles and Pokémon Contests. And that discussion had me wondering if it was possible to pursue both options as a Trainer."

"You want to pursue both Contests and Gym Battles?" asked Rowan, eyebrow raised as he tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Well...yes, it's allowed and you could go through with it without any trouble from the League, but..."

Glancing at him, Lincoln replies "But?"

"Taking on both at the same time would be a laborious task for a novice Trainer. Why, even experienced Trainers tend to struggle with taking on both of those options." answers Rowan, holding up two fingers. "In fact, the last known Trainer who was able to pull off doing both at once would be Wallace, the strongest Gym Leader in the Hoenn region. And even then, he's got experience in both working for him to help level things out."

"Whoa...doing both would be a handful for even a powerful gym leader like that?" questioned Lincoln, surprised.

"Indeed. But if you want to try your luck with both, I'm not going to stop you. Just don't overexert yourself and your Pokémon trying to make it work out. After all, there's no shame in choosing to pursue one or the other when you first start. You can always learn how to adapt to the other when you're more experienced."

"I'll keep that in mind, Professor. Thank you." said Lincoln, nodding.

"You're welcome, my boy. In any case, Nurse Joy's probably waiting for you back at the Center. You should be on your way."

"Right. Thanks for your time, Professor. I appreciate it." said Lincoln before sprinting off back to the Sandgem Center.

-=O=-

Location: Lobby - Sandgem Pokémon Center, Sandgem Town, Sinnoh Region, Hokkaido, Japan
Time: 6:30 PM JST

As evening time came to Sandgem Town, Lincoln was hard at work in the Sandgem Center's lobby, having spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening after school on helping Nurse Joy and her Chansey tidy up the Center's lobby.

Even though the place was empty right now save for them and the few Pokémon in the Center's storage, it didn't mean they should slack off on keeping the place neat and tidy.

Watching from the counter as the white-haired boy worked, Joy couldn't help but feel a bit happy at the fact that he was doing so much to help her out around the Center. And with her being the only person on the staff aside from her Chansey, his help was certainly welcomed.

The fact he was cute-looking was just a bonus.

'If only he were a few years older...' thought the pink-haired nurse as she gazed over at Lincoln, who was still mopping away as his Rotom Phone flitted about, looking for any spots that he had missed.

"How's it looking, Rotom? All good?" asked Lincoln, wiping his brow.

'All clear, chief! The floor's looking so good, I can see my handsome face reflected off it, bzzt!'

Rolling his eyes at Rotom's comment, Lincoln gives Joy a smile and says "Floor's all done, Nurse Joy. Anything else you want me to do around here?"

"There's plenty still of work left to do, but I think it might be a good idea for us to take a break before we get back to tidying things up." said Joy, smiling as she sat down on one of the lobby's sofas and patted the seat beside her. "So let's take ourselves a little rest before we get back to work, shall we?"

"Sure, I'm up for a bit of R&R." answered Lincoln before sitting down beside her. "So what's on your mind, Nurse Joy? You've got me sitting down with you, so something's on your mind, right?"

"Just wanted to talk to you a bit while we took a break, that's all. To be honest, I've been a little curious about how your first day of Trainer's School went, Lincoln." said Joy, smiling. "I remember you telling me that you were somewhat nervous about starting something new like this when the first day finally came around."

"Oh boy, that's an understatement. I was all nerves earlier this morning. Had a hard time sleeping the night before too since I was so worried that I'd make a fool out of myself in class since I didn't know anything about Pokémon."

'Yeah, you were shaking like a leaf, bzzt!' buzzed Rotom, letting out a crackly snicker while Joy giggled at the remark.

"Yeah, yeah...laugh it up. Still, can you blame me? Attending a school that focused mainly on a subject I hardly knew anything about. I had every right to be nervous." said Lincoln, rolling his eyes.

"True. Still, the fact your first day went so smoothly is a good sign. You make any new friends?"

"A few, namely a group of kids from Twinleaf Town. They'll be stopping by here tomorrow morning to collect me on the way to school, I should probably add."

"I'll keep an eye out for them." replied Joy, nodding in understanding. "So no problems at school? None at all?"

"None. In fact, I'm looking forward to going back tomorrow." answered Lincoln, grinning.

Letting out a chuckle, Joy says "Most kids your age wouldn't be as enthusiastic about going back to school. I know I certainly wasn't."

"Well, to be fair, most of these classes are teaching me things about what it means to be a Trainer. And coming from a part of the United States that doesn't have Pokémon, this is all new information to me."

Chuckling again, Joy replies "Fair enough." before checking the time. "Huh. Almost seven. Guess we've been working on cleaning this place up a bit longer than I thought. Chansey and I will go ahead and get dinner started up. We'll finish cleaning up some more tomorrow."

As Joy and her Chansey left for the Center's kitchen, Lincoln stayed behind in the lobby, thinking about what she had just said.

'Almost seven? That means...' thought Lincoln before his eyes lit up in recognition. 'That means it should nearly be six in the morning back home. And if it's almost six and it's the first day of school back home in Royal Woods...then the others should be waking up right about...now. And if I'm not there to keep things in order...'

As he thinks about that part, a grin crosses his face.

'Oh, this should be good...to be a fly on the wall back home right now...'

-=O=-

AN: Yes, I'm still alive, thankfully. Chapter 7 is done and once again I'd like to apologize for taking so long to update. It's the tail end of summer and things have been keeping me busy - 15 to 20 rooms almost every day and aside from one other person, I'm the only housekeeper on the premises. Another part is, honestly, me waiting to see what other new Pokemon were going to be introduced in the first expansion for Scarlet and Violet so I can see if they can be implemented or not. Some of the choices they revealed lately, namely the convergent version of Polteageist and the new evolutions for Applin and Duraludon were definitely surprising, to say the least.

Anyway, let's move on to other things, like this chapter's quiz to decide the Surprise Trade Pokemon obtained after the fifth gym badge. The chapter's quiz question to decide the next Surprise Trade Pokémon obtained after the fifth gym battle is this: How many doors do you have to go through at the Hearthome Gym in Diamond/Pearl and the remakes to reach Fantana?

As usual, if you know the answer, post them in your review for the chapter or DM them to me, along with your selection for the Surprise Trade Pokémon. And don't forget that if you've gotten an answer correct before with the previous three questions, you're considered ineligible for any further selections. I should also remind you that only 4 regions are left (Kanto, Hoenn, Alola and Paldea), so...choose wisely.

And while I'm on the subject, congratulations to 'ThunderBasilisk' for answering the previous question correctly. Your choice of a Shiny Totodile (with the Sheer Force ability, Dragon Dance, and Ice Punch) to represent Johto has been accepted. And since this makes two starters chosen as Surprise Trade Pokemon, only one more can be allowed.

I should also remind you that with two starters now selected, only one more can be allowed as a Surprise Trade Pokémon.

Aside from that...not much else to talk about. I know it sucks waiting for new chapters to come out, but I'm trying despite the heavy work load I've got on my back lately.

Still, I hope you enjoy this chapter and look forward to the next one. See you later.