Chapter 3: Lunch, Nap, and a Challenge?

The first half of the day went relatively well. Aside from the kids,mostly Nora, trying to pet Rogue or trying to take Zoelle's other pokeballs of course. It was getting close to lunch time and she was starving. Luckily the kids had their small snack break around nine. If they hadn't, Zoelle was sure they would be least she would have been if she was still five. Traveling around you get use to not eating for awhile. Either way a warm meal is always welcome.

Noon hit and to her surprise lunch came to the classroom. It was on a small cart pushed by an chubby middle aged woman with a white apron and a hair net on. The lunch lady Zoelle presumed. On the cart were sandwiches, juice boxes, and a fruit cup. So much for the warm meal. The lunch lady looked over at the new teacher with a sad smile. Almost apologetic.

"Ah you must be the new teacher. I'm sorry about all this truly but our stoves and ovens are broken. We have to wait until tomorrow for a maintenances to look at our kitchen. And I wanted to make sure at least the little ones have a nice meal for their first full day. Oh I'm just rambling. My name is Mrs. Potts. As you see I'm the lunch lady. Head lunch lady at that. You must be the new hiree." The lunch lady rambled.

"Yes I'm Zoelle Morris. But you can call me Ms. Zo." Zoelle replied kindly.

"My goodness you are quite young. How old are you if you don't mind me asking."

"Now it is not polite to ask a woman her age. But if you must insist I just recently turned twenty."

Mrs. Potts laughed. "Goodness that makes you the youngest teacher hear. Now Mr. Garcia won't feel out of place. Well off to the other little ones. I will see you later."

Zoelle said her goodbyes and grabbed her lunch. She debated about letting out the rest of the team but debated against it. It would probably be better during recess. Speaking of. The kids were oddly quiet during this lunch period. Most kids would be chatty, speaking all kinds of nonsense with their friends. But these kids were different. Were they well-behaved? Even so that doesn't mean they shouldn't flapping their gums.

Rouge looked over the humans. Usually small humans were noisy but these guys were quiet. Sure he let one pet him. These cubs were weird. The electric fox looked over at Zoelle. She didn't touch her lunch. At any other time he would sneak over to eat it. However not this time. It was...odd. He wondered if he was going to eat anytime soon or was he was going to wait until he got home. Either way was fine to him. The human lunch did not look appealing at all plus he was tired of eating...what did Zoelle call them again? Oh yeah, sandwiches. Every time his trainer ran out of even the most basic food(both pokemon and human), she always had the supplies to make sandwiches. After awhile she just sent the team to go look for their own food. It wasn't easy since most times they were not in whatever was the natural habitat therefore food was hard to comeby(and usually fought back). But somehow, berries were easy to find and that was good enough to go on for awhile.

The electric fox yawned as he was getting bored with being out of his Pokeball. The black furred cub kept trying to touch him. So did the other cubs but not as much as her. Then he was listening to what sounded like nonsense from Zoelle for most of the morning. Rogue yawned again. It was probably best for him to take a nap. He didn't want to be disturbed so he returned himself to his ball. Maybe something a little more exciting will happen later on.

Once lunch was over everyone chimed in to clean up. At first Zoelle wanted to take the kids out for recess but she saw their eyes were low and droopy. It explained why they were quiet. She figured it was best to move nap time up. She prepared their little cots and grabbed a book. 'The Three Grumpigs'. Who wouldn't like a story before a nap.

The kids laid in their cots. Before the fourth page each one was out like a light. Zoelle set a timer for twenty minutes. That should be plenty of time for everyone to recharge. Then they could have recess after. It does make a person wonder how early these kids had to get up everyday. In all honesty Zoelle wondered if she had enough breaks in between her lessons.

Sighing she wanted to step outside for a bit to let everyone else out to stretch. Before she could do that another young woman who seemed slightly older than her walked into the classroom. The woman had short blonde hair, green eyes, and wore a floral dress. She looked at the new teacher with disgust. The same look Nora's mom gave her earlier. Looking down at the kids, she quietly motioned for Zoelle to meet her in the hallway.

Agreeing Zoelle closed the door quietly and followed what she assumed to be a fellow teacher to the closest water fountain. It was her first time meeting another teacher and already had an enemy possibly?

"Listen Miss, I'm only going to say this once. You are in over your head. Do you think this job is easy or something? Everyone else here had to interviewed, tested, and had to agree to a background test while some random person lost a battle and gets the job. In fact you also have the smallest class while the rest of us are trying to teach twenty kids at a time. I would completely understand if you were some well known trainer but you are not. And unlike you I do my research." The woman scoffed. "In your first league you lost in the first match. You didn't even make it to the Kanto Grand Festival. I mean sure you did better in your other challenges. Heck I even commend you for almost making it to challenge the Sinnoh Elite Four but everything else was boring. All of you're matches and contest entries were boring. And you think you have what it takes to inspire these kids to be trainers. As if! You're lucky if you survive the rest of the week here!" With that the woman started to walk off.

"Hey wait!" Zoelle exclaimed. The woman stopped in her tracks. "What is your name."

"Tch, It's Ms. Norton to you noob. Kindergarten class one teacher." How childish.

"Well Ms. Norton. You were right about me not being a well known trainer. And you are right about me with this job. I honestly have no idea what I am doing or I agree with how I obtained this job. However I am going to do my best, as a teacher and a trainer to make sure these kids follow their dreams whatever it may be. I am a walking truth that not everyone will make it big. I'm sure you are in the same boat. But that's okay. I also don't think my matches were boring at all. If you did you're research as you say, then you will know I can be very unorthodox. " Zoelle replied confidently. Over the years throughout her journeys she definitely became more bold. When she was younger she would have curled up and ran away. Nope not anymore. Especially now that she had young minds watching her every movement.

"Is that so?" Ms. Norton smirked. "I'm guessing you are planning to have recess after nap time. How about we give the kids their first battle lesson. Me and you 3v3 match. How about it?"

"Oh you're on. While we're at it we could teach the kids about type match up and strategies. I was going to teach them more about respect but I think you're a prime example of what kind of people they are going to meet."

"Tch, the kids need to learn that not everyone they will come to meet will be nice. But that's the beauty of having rivals don't you think. They can push you to your limit."

"Of course. You may not like the person but you can respect their hustle. "

"Agreed. It's been a while since I've actually been in a serious match. I honestly can't wait." Ms Norton smiled.

"Neither can I." Zoelle also smirked. Despite coming off as facetious Ms. Norton had a point. Battling each other would be a great way to teach the kids about all types of trainers they would meet. It was also a great way to show off some of the other team too.

'Alright I can't wait to tell the kids. ' Zoelle thought to herself as she made her way back to the classroom..