Weather Changes, a Rival, and a Friend?
The teachers respectfully returned their partners. Ms. Norton sighed. She did not expect to lose the first match...quickly at that. Looking over towards Zoelle, she smirked a bit. Despite everything that was said earlier it was good to face her one on one. Ever since becoming a teacher, Norton hasn't had any real battles. As much as she hates to admit that Zoelle was right. Not everyone can make it to the top. Heck even her dreams of becoming a pokemon master was cut short. However that doesn't mean she should have to stop training. No even better she is training future trainers.
"Very nice. However this match is far from over! Come on out Sandslash!" Norton called out. The ground type came out energetically showing off its claws. It made like a growl like sound that Zoelle thought was cute.
Zoelle thought about sending out her dewgong showing off type advantages but first she had to make sure her students knew all the types of pokemon on first. Which she sure they had a clue but still. Instead she decided to go with her persian, Regal. Since he lost his last match, Zoelle figured he would want a redo. Knowing how prideful her cat pokemon can be, this would be perfect.
Zoelle instructed Regal to use fury swipes. To counter the attack Sandslash used dig as instructed by Ms. Norton. The elegant cat pokemon didn't panic. Instead Regal waited for the ground pokemon to pop up from the ground to begin attacking again. Unfortunately Sandslash got the hit in first.
"Great job Sandslash. Now use rollout!" the ground mouse curled into a spiky ball rolling towards Regal at high speed. Once again hitting him over and over. Getting slightly irritated Regal patiently awaited his next move before it was about to go his own.
"Try slowing him down with an iron tail Regal." Zoelle commanded.
"Sorry that's not going to work! Use sandstorm!"
Zoelle quietly cursed under her breath. The rollout already took a toll on Regal but now with the sandstorm in effect who knows how much longer the cat will hold out. If the sandslash has the ability of sand veil they could be in real trouble. Maybe she should have gone with Rosco. No she wasn't going to give in that easily.
Zoelle smiled. "That's okay we have one trick up our sleeves. Use water pulse Regal!'
Ms. Norton was slightly stunned that the persian had a water type move in its arsenal. Being a normal type it wasn't shocking it would learn the technique. Maybe it taught for contest? Either way, Ms. Norton had the upper hand in the match. She knew the cat was at a disadvantage now with the weather effects.
Norton smiled. "A little late for that you know. Now sandslash use rollout again!"
The sand mouse/shrew once again curled into a ball going full speed towards Regal. Not only with the sand cutting into his fur, but each hit of the rollout hurt worse than the last. The elegant pokemon did not have any more energy to battle and he knew it. He hated the feeling of being weak. He didn't want to lose a second time. He must push through this. He has been through a lot tougher things than this. With newfound energy he withstood the last hit.
Zoelle smiled widely. She knew Regal was not the type to give up so easily. He had way too much pride to lose in such an undignified manner(to him at least}. Nay, he was going to get the last hit in. Zoelle commanded Regal to use water pulse again this time making a hit. For now Sandslash was at a temporary halt.
"Okay Regal, let's try to take charge. Use torment!" Zoelle exclaimed.
'Using torment to make sure Sandslash does not use rollout continually. Not bad' Oda thought. 'But she has already lost this match. Between the constant rollouts and the sandstorm her persian is finished. '
"How negligent to force an exhausted pokemon to keep battling." Roberts commented. Oda couldn't help but agree. "Then again she knows her pokemon better than anyone."
Oda nodded, "Yes I actually battled this persian of hers. He is without a doubt quite strong. And from what I can tell strong willed as well."
"Well hopefully this battle will not last any longer. The kids need to go home soon and everyone has work that needs to be done." Roberts said crossing his arms. "Plus I think it is going to rain later today." With that he turned his heel and headed back to his office. Oda once again looked at the sky. Sure enough the clouds started to become dense. It was such a pretty day too.
"That's not going to stop us! Sandslash use dig!"
"Regal try to get a feel from him and try to dodge it okay!"
Norton smiled. "Sorry Miss but that is not going to work"
With the sandstorm brewing along with the final hit from Sandslash, Regal slumped in defeat. Zoelle thanked him for a job well done and returned him. She had to admit Norton's strategy was almost full proof. It was clear as day that Norton must have been...no she is a strong trainer. Maybe they could be rivals? Yes a rival! Not only was she going to win this last match but she was going to become a great teacher too.
"Persian is unable to battle! Match goes to Sandslash!" Garcia announced.
"My class have you been paying attention to the battle?" Zoelle asked despite the sandstorm still being in affect.
"Yes Ms. Zo." Her class responded.
"Good job. As you see weather can help pokemon out in battles. Do you guys understand?"
"I think so?" Spinda replied unsure.
Ms. Norton also turned to her students, "It's quite hard to explain. With sandstorm for example, will not hurt Sandslash. It gives him kind of a boost like when adults drink coffee in the morning. But for pokemon who are not ground, rock, or steel, or have sand veil as their ability can get hurt by it.
Aoki raised her hand. "So if you're like in the dessert or something and it has a sandstorm does it do the same thing?"
Zoelle was surprised that Aoki came to such a conclusion. "Yes but it desert not dessert sweetie. But being in a desert sandstorm is dangerous for people too. You need to have proper equipment and plenty of water to cross one. When a pokemon creates one it's more control to say the least."
"Not only that you have to be careful of the wild pokemon there as well. You would be surprise on how adaptable some species can be. And you have to be careful of people too." Norton added in. "Not everyone is friendly. I would say traveling across a desert is one of the hardest part of your journey. But enough about that. Return Sandslash."
The smaller children tried to process all of the information they just heard. They even came up with their own hypotheses that were not too off the mark. Lily even joked that Zapdos created thunderstorms and eats lightning. Spinda chimed in saying that it was impossible to do so. Listening to the kids bicker put a smile on both teachers faces. It was interesting to see what the kids were thinking and how they retained it. But it was also a way for them to get the sillies out too. Turning to face each other once again, the teachers nodded. This was going to be the final round. At this point both teachers knew this had to count for something. That and was almost time for the kids to go home.
Since Ms. Norton had the advantage of using sandstorm, Zoelle decided to release Rosco, a dewgong, to use hail. But looking at the sky it seemed it might rain soon. Either way would give them an edge. Ms. Norton pondered about which pokemon she could use. The obvious choice would to be to use her golem, venusaur, or raichu. No instead she opted out for Golduck. Unfortunately she did not have the cloud nine ability but she did have swift swim. Plus it would be interesting to see how two water types would battle. The children could learn how to handle a match when set up with pokemon of the same type. It honestly could go either way depending on the moves.
Zoelle hesitated before commanding Rosco to use hail. It was a fifty-fifty chance that the weather changing move would not work. Luckily it did. Sighing in relief the she also commanded that he use protect. She also commanded the sea lion pokemon to follow up with blizzard. This time she wanted a leg up in the match. If she was luck the move would have freeze the opponent. But that was wishful thinking on Zoelle's part. She was lucky Rosco didn't spray her with water when he was released. Ms. Norton being a few steps ahead ordered for Golduck to use protect. Dang. But they can't use protect forever.
After about twenty minutes of battling Mr. Garcia decided to end the match as draw. Not that it wasn't entertaining but the school day would be over soon and he was tired of the possibility of hypothermia. With the kindergarten teachers using rain dance and/or hailstorm back in forth he would be surprised if anyone showed up tomorrow. Not only that he had lesson plans and emails to look over. He still need to give out paperwork to his students for their parents to look over and sign. But he was curious about the kindergarten teacher himself. Garcia noticed how she looked at him. Like how could she not. He was hot! Enough of that. His curiosity was more on the fact that he wanted to battle her as well. That would be hard since the main building and the kindergarten building was separated. Well separated by the courtyard which had a walkway. They main building teachers didn't even share a faculty lounge with the kindergarten teachers so they rarely interacted unless it was a special occasion or outside of work. Garcia told his students to line up and wait on the side of the field while he talked to Zoelle.
"So you the new teacher eh?" Garcia inquired. "Do you want to have dinner with me and some other teachers. It would be a good way for all of us to get to know each other since we might end up teaching your kids someday."
"Umm sure. Why not? But Principal Roberts have me filling out paperwork right after work." Zoelle replied unsure.
"Don't we all. It won't be until like seven. Should give everyone a chance to wind down. By the way nice battle. Also where are from? Your accent is cute"
"I'm from Hoenn but my dad is from Kalos. So my accent is kind of a mixture like me," Zoelle smiled. "Where are you from?" I never heard your accent before."
Garcia smiled. "I'm from the Orre region."
"Wow really!?" I've never been there! I always wanted to go but everyone says it dry and hot with nothing to do and no pokemon"
Slightly annoyed by that remark Garcia spoke up. "Well its ninety-five percent hot and dry. But we are starting to have more pokemon appear in the wild. They are just more adapting is all. We have the best gear and food if I do say so myself. The colosseums are great way for trainers to show off their skills. Whenever we have our long break I would love to take you. But you have to treat me to a trip to Kalos trato?"
"Huh?"
It mean deal. Not only that but I want to challenge you to a battle as well. I'll see you at dinner tonight. Hasta luego amiga."
Zoelle had no idea what Garcia said with his last statement but amiga sounded nice. It reminded her of the Kalosian word 'ami' which means friend. Did Mr. Garcia wanted to be her friend? Like an actual human friend? She did not have many of those...at least around her age. First she randomly gets a teaching position, a rival, and a friend. All within one week. Who knows what the rest of the have in store for her.
In his office Mr. Oda was drinking a cup of green tea while looking at a picture of a young woman and her husband. The young woman had long wavy maroon hair that was in a high ponytail. Her almond shaped eyes were brown and accented her tanned round but small face. Her husband behind her was a darker skinned man from the western region of Kalos with bright blue eyes. It was no wonder he was Kalos top beautiful trainers. Due to the nature of the world some people did not agree with their relationship. But that wasn't really what had people upset. No it was the fact that they had a child at the the age of nineteen. The prime of the career. Despite the negative press, the young couple manage to balance their career along with raising a child.
A child they unintentionally left behind. It was right after the child's eleventh birthday. The parents were invited to an event in the Alola Region. They were going to bring the child but the child was sick. The mother decided to leave her baby in the care of her own mother and step-father.
"It is only for a few days sweetie," The mother said reassuring the young kid.
"Mon cherie , we'll be back before you know it," the father added in.
"We love you!" was the last words that anyone heard from the young couple. It was three hours after their plane took off that an incident occured. No one did not have a clue how it happened. All they knew was that there were no survivors. The grandmother sick with grief began treating her grandchild differently. People saw it but did not say anything. It wasn't until the grandmother lost her husband that the grandchild truly felt alone and afraid. The grandmother believing that the child was a curse stopped caring them all together. Knowing it was not a safe environment anymore the child stowed away on a ferry to Kanto.
The child somehow manage to get a job delivering packages to earn money. Ironically on the child's thirteenth birthday, the age to receive a pokemon, they were delivering a package to Professor Oak. By a misunderstanding the professor thought the child stole one of the pokemon after the delivery. Nay, the pokemon put itself into the young child bag. According to Oak, this particular pokemon was not being picked due to its attitude. So much so that the professor started to have backups for the starter. The starter destroyed the rest of that day deliveries so the child convinced Oak to keep the trouble maker to help them make up for the lost paycheck. Oak agreed as he was finally able to get rid of that pesky pokemon. He gave the child a license and extra pokeballs. The child had no real interest on starting a traditional journey but it happen. And well the rest is history as they say.
"Well Honor and Marcel. Your baby is doing just fine now. I'm sorry I wasn't there like I should have been, but I am here now. This won't make up for everything but at least its a start. When the time is right I will tell her the truth. For now I'm just happy to see and help her the best way I know how." Oda smiled with a tear running down his face.