Hey guys, TheDoctor1998 here with another chapter. Last time we saw Cinder meet, befriend, and beat the "unstoppable" A.J., continuing on her journey. Now, on with the show!

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The trio of humans were walking along Route 5 once again, though this time the weather was quite foggy. It was no problem for Cinder, of course, but it did hamper the eyesight of her companions.

"I'm not losing you out of my sight, Cinder, until you pay for my bike!" Misty said, once again starting their argument.

"Oh can you please shut up about your bike for once?!" The heterochromatic girl exclaimed, already tired from the redhead's constant nagging about her bike.

"My name may be Misty, but I'm perfectly clear about what you owe me! And you're not gonna get away without paying!" Misty continued.

"Maybe if you two spent less time arguing and paid more attention to where we're going, we'd already be in Vermillion City by now." Brock sighed. "I think we all need a little break!" The oldest human in the group said, quickly pulling out a table, chairs, and all sorts of things to make/have a nice lunch. "Why don't I throw a little something together?" He then pulled out a machine. "Ahh, there's nothing as satisfying as a cup of 100% Cerulean Coffee." He glanced over at his companions. "You kids are too young for this stuff, but it's really quite good. How 'bout some prune juice?" He asked, quickly putting a can of the stuff on the table.

"I think I'll pass." Cinder said slowly, amazed at how quickly Brock managed to get everything set up.

"How about some herbal tea?" Misty asked.

"You know, that's actually a good idea." Cinder said, nodding.

"Good thing I've brought my official Pokémon tea set!" Brock said, pulling out a fancy looking teapot and cups with images of various Pokémon. "Now, the key to good tea and coffee is good water, and I just happen to have a generous supply of sparkling delicious Mt. Moon pure spring water!" He continued, pulling out a bottle with the image of Mt. Moon from his bag. He then started talking in a bad Kalosian accent. "And for ze special snack, I have for you some Kalosian crepes."

Misty then started smiling. "I love Kalosian things, they're so romantic!" She daydreamed, sitting somewhere in a cafe in Lumiose City, staring at Prism Tower.

"By the way." Brock said, interrupting Misty's daydream. "I can't cook crepes, and I can't boil water, if I don't have a fire!" He said, with a lot more energy at the final part of the sentence. "One of you is going to have to go into the forest and carry back some firewood."

"That's an excellent idea Brock!" Misty piped up. "And I'm willing to sacrifice the excitement of searching for firewood to stay here and keep you company!"

"Well, I guess that means that-" Brock started uneasily.

"Yeah yeah, I'm going." Cinder interrupted. "If you didn't want to go, you should've just said so Misty." The girl said, rolling her eyes as she walked away. "Just let the blind girl search for firewood, don'tcha?"

XXXXXXXX

"Do you see any firewood Pikachu?" Cinder asked her faithful companion.

"Pikapi." Pikacho shook his head, not having seen any dry branches around yet.

"Huh, what's that?" Cinder asked herself, seeing the Auras of some people ahead of her. One of them seemed to be running on a treadmill of some kind, while the others surrounded him while holding something. 'Did I just stumble on a cult?' She thought, worried that one of Torren's infamous cults spilt over into Kanto, before realising that the Auras were too small to be adults. 'What are those kids doing?'

"All right, what's the name of this one?" A red haired kid asked the one on the treadmill, holding up the picture of a Pidgey.

"Is- is it a Zubat?" The kid asked, panting slightly.

"Listen, just because it's foggy out here doesn't mean your brain has to be in a fog." A green haired kid said condescendingly.

Treadmill kid thought a bit before perking up again. "It's a Pidgey!"

"Nice guess." The ringleader said sarcastically. "You just got lucky."

"Okay, now tell us what its moves are." The right hand kid said, sneering at the treadmill kid.

"It, it starts with Gust." The poor boy panted. "At Level 5, it learns Sand Attack. At Level 12-"

"Everybody knows that." The main bully interrupted. "At what Level does Pidgey evolve? And what's the name of its evolved form?"

"Umm." Treadmill boy thought, stumped for a moment.

"Better come up with that answer quickly, or you'll have to run faster!" The right hand taunted as the rest of the kids, all holding candles in a cult-like manner, glared at him.

Unfortunately, the kid stumbled and fell, causing him to be thrown off of the exercise machine. "I'm sorry, I forgot." He groaned, much to the displeasure of the people around him.

"You forgot, huh?" The ringleader sneered. "And you call yourself a Pokémon Tech student? We don't wanna study with the likes of you."

"I'm sorry." The treadmill kid said quietly.

"What the hell is going on here?" Cinder said, her anger barely concealed as she walked up to the bullies.

"There's nothing going on here, mind your own business." The ringleader said dismissively. "This is a private training session."

"There's no room in our Pokémon school for losers who don't even know Pidgey's evolved form. We have to maintain standards." The right hand sneered.

"With students like you, the standards of this school must be pretty low." Cinder mocked.

"That's right Cinder, you tell them!" Misty said, walking up to the group. "You better stop bullying that kid, or you'll have to answer to us!"

"What are you even doing here?" Cinder asked her friend. "Didn't you want to keep Brock company?"

"You were taking so long finding that firewood that we thought we might as well help out." The red head shrugged. "Turns out pretty much all the firewood in the forest got wet from condensation." She then glared at the bullies. "Anyway, stop this bullying, or someone will have to drag your carcasses away when I'm done with you!"

The bully ringleader grunted. "We don't fight."

"Fighting is for cavemen." The right hand backed his leader up. "This isn't the Stone Age, you know?"

"And if we wasted our time having a fight with some little insects like you, it'd just make Pokémon Tech look really bad." A third, black haired bully stated.

"We'll see you back at the Tech, Joe." The right hand said to the bullied kid, before the entire gang walked away.

"Who do those guys think they are?" Cinder asked herself, pissed at their antics.

"So those are the infamous Tech Students." Brock mused to himself.

"Tech Students? Why does that ring a bell?" Cinder asked herself.

"Pokémon Tech, I think it's short for Pokémon Technical." Misty answered. "It's a school for Pokémon trainers. I know I had a flyer about it somewhere." The Gym Leader muttered, grabbing around in her bag. "Yeah, here it is!" She exclaimed, handing it to Brock.

"Hmm, let's see." Brock said as he started reading aloud. "Pokémon Technical Institute: A boarding school for serious Pokémon trainer preparation."

As Brock read the pamflet, Pikachu decided to play around the treadmill, accidentally turning it on and forcing himself to run on it.

"All students guaranteed to enter the Indigo League upon graduation." Brock continued. "Pokémon Technical is the educational facility for exceptional students who want to become Pokémon trainers in a very short time." He then leaned on the treadmill, accidentally causing it to go faster, much to Pikachu's misfortune as the poor Electric Type was launched from the device. "Without having to travel on difficult badge-collecting journeys." He looked up, finished with the flyer. "Oh, so that's the story."

"Sounds like a lazy way to enter the League if you ask me." The heterochromatic girl said, rolling her eyes.

"Wait, there's more." The oldest in the group said, noticing some more writing at the bottom. "Students' entrance fees and tuition are in keeping with the highest standards, set by Pokémon Technical. Scholarships only provided to the most gifted students."

"You know what that means, don't you?" Misty said to Cinder, clearly not liking what she heard. "It's one of those snobby private schools only millionaires' kids can go to."

"Oh yeah, now I remember." Cinder said, snapping her fingers. "I got offered a scholarship for that place a while back."

"Really?" Joe said, befuddled. "Why didn't you come here then? You'd have been an amazing student!" He was simply amazed at her now, as those students with scholarships are always the smartest of the bunch.

"Never really cared for places like this." The girl shrugged. "I always wanted to travel the world, and you can't really do that here. Besides, Professor Oak never cared for this place either."

"Really?" The student asked, suddenly a bit concerned. "Why?"

"Something about how they teach using outdated models involving Levels and saying the students could never make it in the real world as trainers." Cinder shrugged. "I don't know, it's been a while since we talked about that."

"Today's special class, Fog Battle Techniques, has now ended." A voice sounded over some speakers as several Pidgey took into the air, and started flapping their wings with Defog to remove the fog, revealing the school building. "Tomorrow's lesson will be Snow Competition Secrets."

Joe sighed at the news. "Oh well, I guess tomorrow they'll make me into a snowman again."

"Guess they treat you like that all the time?" Cinder asked, already knowing the answer.

"My friends are just trying to help me." The kid mumbled.

"You think those bullies are your friends?" Cinder asked with befuddlement, practically spitting the word "bully" out like it's venom.

"With friends like that, who needs enemies?" Brock asked, walking up to Joe.

"But they help me learn that Pidgey evolves into Pidgeotto at Level 18, learns Whirlwind at Level 21, Wing Attack at Level 31, and evolves into Pidgeot at Level 36, which can fly up to speeds at mach 2." Joe recited, practically showing off his near encyclopaedic knowledge about the Level system.

"Of course, that's just the Kanto version of the Level system." Cinder said. "Every region that used it tried to make their own version, each slightly different, before the entire thing was debunked by some Growlithe using Flamethrower when it couldn't learn Ember." She then looked at Joe. "But why didn't you just say that to those bullies to get them off of your back?"

"Sometimes I pretend that I don't know all the answers." He said, sheepishly. "Because if I do they make the questions a lot harder." He looked down a bit. "But I have to stay here, my parents worked hard and saved money so they could pay to send me here." He then looked at a man sitting and reading under a tree. "See that guy over there?" He pointed at the man. "He's an upperclassman. The classes are so hard here, some students are held back for years. Everybody's too ashamed to go back without getting a diploma." Joe looked at the man with pity. "He's in the beginner's class with me."

"A beginner?" Cinder asked, somewhat curious.

"Beginners have the same qualifications as someone with two badges." Joe started listing off all the ranks in the school. "The intermediate class has the qualifications of four, and advanced students have the same as six. If you graduate, you get a diploma with the qualifications for all eight badges, without having to travel around to collect them." Joe then looked over to his oldest classmate. "That guy is a beginner, but he's so much older than everybody else that nobody bothers to help him like they help me."

"That do the teachers say about that kind of "help?"" Misty asked, clearly not liking this.

"They don't even know about it." Joe admitted. "Or they pretend not to, at least."

"Ugh, this is just a bunch of bullies ganging up on someone. Who the hell is even in charge of this system?!" Cinder cussed, clearly angry.

"Here's a picture of her." Joe said, pulling out a picture of a pretty, dark haired girl.

"It's a girl?" Misty asked, a bit surprised at how the head bully was a girl.

"Well, she's a bit young for my tastes, but she's really pretty." Brock said, blushing at the thought of how she might look when she's older.

"Why are you even carrying a picture of her if she's making your life so miserable?!" Misty asked in sheer confusion.

"I hate the way she treats us, but I like the way she looks." Joe admitted with a blush on his face.

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." Cinder muttered, not being able to see the picture at all.

"I'm gonna find this little witch and straighten her out!" Misty exclaimed, stomping to the school while muttering some choice words about the bully.

"Misty, wait for us!" Cinder called, hollering after the angry girl.

XXXXXXXX

Meowth was staring at the twerps, using a pair of binoculars as his human partners were talking behind him.

"This place brings back memories, James." Jessie said, a tad nervous.

"It certainly does, and none of them are good." James said, remembering the bullying they went through.

"Tell me your tale of failure again." Meowth prompted, slightly smug.

"We studied for the big test." Jessie started.

"So sure we would beat all the rest." James continued.

"And here's the part I like the best~" Meowth sing-sang.

"We frolicked that night, for our future seemed bright." Jessie said, ignoring Meowth.

"But things weren't right." James said, dejected.

"We got the lowest score in the history of the school!" Both of them cried.

"You should look on the bright side." Meowth teased.

"What's the bright side?" The dynamic duo said with some hope.

"At least you guys made your mark on this school." He snipped, causing both of the humans to punch him on the top of his head.

XXXXXXXX

Joe, after Misty had to admit that she had no idea where she was going, guided the trio to a room full of computers. "Giselle always practises here by herself. Even if you beat her in a fight, it won't matter to her. Here at Tech, it's your skill that matters the most, and it counts way more than winning any one battle." The boy sighed. "Giselle is also the top beginner here, which is better than having even 3 badges." He then crossed his arms and closed his eyes. "Even someone like me who's at the bottom of his class is better than someone with two badges."

Before Cinder could say anything, Misty butted in. "And what about Gym Leaders then? I'm one of the Cerulean City Gym Leaders, does this little school mean anyone here is "better" than me?"

"Oh, Cerulean City." Joe piped up, sitting at one of the computers, logging in. "The Water Type Gym of Kanto."

"So you've heard of us?" Misty said smugly.

"I always beat it on the simulator. See?" Joe said, showing the image of a Pokémon simulation. The opposing Pokémon was a Starmie, but the one used by Joe was a pitcher plant-like Pokémon, a Weepinbell.

"A simulation is one thing, but this is real life!" Misty exclaimed, clearly insulted at the idea that someone could beat her simply because a simulation said so. "Let's battle!"

"You'll be sorry." Joe said, almost apologetically as he guided the trio to the arena, none of the kids noticing Team Rocket spying on them in a nearby tree.

"Misty calls Starmie!" The Cerulean Gym Leader yelled, throwing said Water/Psychic Type onto the battlefield.

"Too bad your Water Type won't be able to beat my Grass Type. Alright Weepinbell, let's go!" Joe released his Pokémon, the same species as was shown earlier in the simulation, which triggered Cinder's Pokédex.

"Weepinbell, the Flycatcher Pokémon and the evolved form of Bellsprout. A Grass/Poison Type.

Abilities: Chlorophyll and Stench

Hidden Ability: Gluttony

Gender Ratio: 50/50

Entry: This Pokémon camouflages itself as a plant in the forest while waiting for prey, and sprays poisonous spores and acid on it when it draws near. It hangs from tree branches by its stem to wait or sleep."

"Psybeam!" Misty called out.

Starmie did as it was ordered, and shot a beam of psychic energy from its core at the Weepinbell, knocking it out in a single hit.

"B-but Weepinbell is supposed to be strong against Water Types" Joe said in shock.

"True, but there's one thing you didn't know." The girl from the picture before, Giselle, said as she walked up to Joe, the rest of the bullies behind her. "Your opponent is a Gym Leader, and her Pokémon have much more experience battling than Weepinbell does." She gave the boy a nasty smirk. "Also, Starmie isn't just a Water Type, it's also a Psychic Type, giving it an advantage over Weepinbell's Poison Type. You should've known that, you're an embarrassment to the whole school."

"But Giselle-" Joe started, before getting interrupted.

"I'm the top student in the beginning class of the most exclusive prep school in the world." Giselle said, lost in her own world. "It's sad that others aren't blessed with my beauty, talent, and humble attitude. People call me a star, but I'm just Giselle." She finished "humbly."

"Oh Arceus, she's even worse than Team Rocket." Cinder muttered to herself.

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"I think she's even more conceited than we are." Jessie said, unknowingly agreeing with Cinder.

"Well, she is pretty for her age, I give her that." James said, trying not to sound like a creep.

"Not as cute as a Meowth though!" Meowth piped up, causing his human partners to glare at him.

"All you are is in the way!" Jessie snarled, attacking the cat.

"Stop bothering us!" James agreed, helping Jessie knock the Pokémon out of the tree.

XXXXXXXX

"I want to continue helping my classmates be the very best they can be." Giselle continued, having come back to reality. "To teach each other, to respect each other, and insure the trainers of tomorrow." She smiled as she said that, before scowling at Joe. "But you're a weakling. You'd better get stronger, fast, or before you know it your fellow students will turn their backs to you for good." The bully turned and started walking away.

"Not so fast!" Misty called, stopping Giselle. "A true friend wouldn't walk away from someone who needs their help, only a bully would do that!"

"Beauty is only skin deep." Cinder shrugged.

"Jealousy isn't very pretty either, is it?" Giselle countered with a smug tone. "I'll choose Graveler, go!" The girl said, releasing her Pokémon, something that looked like a much larger version of Geodude, with legs and an extra pair of arms. She roared at Starmie as she triggered Cinder's Pokédex.

"Graveler, the Rock Pokémon and the evolved form of Geodude. A Rock/Ground Type.

Abilities: Rock Head and Sturdy

Hidden Ability: Sand Veil

Gender Ratio: 50/50

Entry: This Pokémon's preferred form of locomotion is rolling, because it's a slow walker. It's known to be free and uncaring, not minding if pieces of itself break off.

Evolves from: Geodude when strong enough"

"Why would she use a Rock and Ground Type against a Water Type?" Brock asked himself.

"My Pokémon are strong enough to overcome such a thing as a Type disadvantage." Giselle answered. "Rock Throw!" The girl commanded.

"Water Gun!" Misty countered.

Both of the Pokémon did as ordered, Starmie spraying a jet of water at the big rock as Graveler summoned a bunch of rocks around it, using them to block the Water Gun before firing them at Starmie en masse.

"Starmie!" Misty called in worry.

"Make sure it can't get up again." Giselle said.

Graveler hurled more and more rocks at the now defenceless starfish, before slamming her entire body into it, throwing the Water Type out of the window and knocking it out.

"Pokémon are only as strong as the trainer who raises them." Giselle smugly said, the two groups having gone down to the pool Starmie landed in. "Any weak Pokémon can still win if it's well trained, it depends on the trainer." She turned towards Joe. "I hope you're learning something from this. A Pokémon's Level is just as important a factor as its Type in deciding a match. A first class trainer can calculate that."

"You know that this Level system is horribly outdated right?" Cinder piped up. "It was just some crackpot scientists trying to quantify the power that Pokémon wield using their own math."

"Who are you?" Giselle snarled.

"Cinder Ketchum, a real trainer." Cinder snarked.

"Let me guess, you're still at the level of a beginner yourself? How long have you been trying to become a trainer?"

"About two months." The Pallet Town native shrugged.

Giselle gasped, as if scandalised. "Two whole months and you let your Pikachu walk free? You haven't been able to tame it?"

"He hates being cooped up in his Pokéball, and I just happen to respect his wishes, you bitch." Cinder deadpanned. "If Butterfree, Beedrill, Pidgeotto or Clefairy wanted to do the same, I'd let them."

"Is that all you have?" Giselle said, annoyed at being called a bitch. "That's funny, because most trainers at this point have at least a full party, and you only have five Pokémon. You sure must be relying on that handicap Gym Leaders give for your first two badges."

Cinder flinched. That strategy was how she beat Brock, even though it was her very first Gym Battle. Though, in fairness, she did only have four Pokémon with her, each with a Type disadvantage.

"I wonder." Giselle mused. "With two months of experience, your Pikachu should be at least at Level 25. But it's probably not there yet, is it?" The bully smirked. "I suppose you didn't know much about Pokémon if you chose a Pikachu as your starter, they can be difficult to handle for rookie trainers."

"For your information, I met him as a Pichu back when I was eight, and we bonded very quickly." Cinder countered. "It's only natural I picked him as my starter, even if Professor Oak had enough starters available for all the Pallet Town kids."

"Pichu and Pikachu do make great pets if you don't let them evolve further, especially for little girls, but for battling they're nothing special really." Giselle taunted.

Cinder noticed Pikachu's displeasure, hearing him growl a bit as he started sending out sparks. She knew he didn't like the idea of evolving further, only giving his previous evolution a pass because it needs a strong bond. "I challenge you to a battle." Cinder said, deathly calm as Pikachu jumped on the battlefield.

"This should be more than a match for your Pikachu." Giselle said, holding up a Pokéball before throwing it. "Cubone, go!" The Pokémon she released was a small, reptilian Pokémon wearing a skull and holding a bone in his hand, which he slapped into his palm as he triggered Cinder's Pokédex.

"Cubone, the Lonely Pokémon. A Ground Type.

Abilities: Rock Head and Lightning Rod

Hidden Ability: Battle Armor

Gender Ratio: 50/50

Entry: This Pokémon wears a skull as a helmet, both protecting its head and hiding its face in its lonely life. It wields a thick bone as a weapon."

"Your Pokémon can't do anything, Ground Types like Cubone are immune to Electric Type attacks." Giselle smirked. "Start things off with Leer, and use Bonemerang directly after."

Cubone's eyes glowed red as he glared at his opponent, which caused Pikachu to flinch as he felt his own defences drop. He then threw his bone at Pikachu as if it was a boomerang, intending to hit and knock the mouse out before he could do anything.

"Quick Attack, aim for the skull!" Cinder ordered. "It's not attached to his body!"

Pikachu got the hint, and dashed off in a bit of blinding speed, jumping over the bone as he rammed into Cubone's skull, twisting it backwards and blinding the Ground Type.

"What?!" Giselle exclaimed, clearly in shock.

"Keep using Quick Attack!" Cinder ordered.

Pikachu did so, dashing off with great speed as he rammed himself into Cubone's body over and over, dashing to and fro the Ground Type before breaking off, allowing Cubone to twist his skull back into the right position. Unfortunately, before Cubone could do anything, he saw his own bone twirling back at him, hitting him in the face and knocking him out.

"I lost." Giselle said in shock, sitting down and smiling at her Cubone as she recalled him. "Good try, Cubone." She glanced over at Cinder with a newfound sense of respect. "None of the textbooks ever mentioned a Pikachu winning with anything other than Electric Type attacks."

"That was a once in a lifetime battle." Joe gasped, not believing his eyes.

"Yeah, that's Cinder for you. Unpredictable." Misty complemented.

"It was cool though, wasn't it?" Joe smiled.

"There's another way to win that's not in the textbooks too, isn't there James?" Jessie smirked from the sidelines, having watched the Pokémon Tech brat get her ass kicked.

"Let's show them." James smirked, equally as eager to take on the successors of their former bullies.

"I can't believe I lost." Giselle said, starting to tear up at the thought of someone who wasn't even a Tech student being able to beat her. Then she noticed smoke entering the area. "Huh?"

"Allow us to introduce ourselves!" Jessie and James said, starting their motto.

"To protect the world from devastation."

"To unite all people within our nation."

"To denounce the evils of truth and love."

"To extend our reach to the stars above."

"Jessie."

"James."

"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth!" The talking Pokémon said, over jumping and getting into the pool before he did a rather impressive manoeuvre to get out. "I love a splashy entrance!"

"I've heard of you two before." Giselle said, regaining her composure. "You're the ones who got the worst grades in the history of this school!" She grabbed her Pokéball, her cronies doing the same. "How about your team against ours?"

Giselle released her Graveler, prompting the rest of the bullies to unleash their own Pokémon, those being a Rattata, Pidgey, Zubat, Butterfree, and Beedrill to fight against Koffing, Ekans, and Meowth.

"Don't forget about me!" Cinder said, throwing all her Luxury Balls to unleash all her Pokémon.

"Three of us against all of that?!" Jessie exclaimed in fear.

"B-b-but the official rules say one on one!" James stuttered, trying to use Pokémon Tech's logic against them.

"Screw the rules! Everyone, attack!" Cinder smirked, watching as the Auras of her Pokémon's attacks all headed towards Team Rocket. Clefairy used Metronome, which became a Flamethrower, Pidgeotto used Whirlwind, Beedrill used Poison Sting, Butterfree used Confusion, and last but not least, Pikachu fired one of his Thunderbolts.

The bullies' Pokémon just stared, in awe of the raw power that Team Rocket got pummelled with. "Looks like Team Rocket is blasting off again!" They screamed, blown away by Pidgeotto's Whirlwind as they were hit by fire, poisonous needles, psychic shockwaves, and bolts of electricity.

XXXXXXXX

The group, after checking their Pokémon out and having dinner, stood next to the pool as Giselle and Joe talked, watching the sunset. "There are some things you just can't learn at school." Giselle said, contemplating her view of the world.

"I'm going back home to start over." Joe said, smiling. "Maybe we'll meet again some day at the League!"

"I hope so." She smiled with sincerity. "I'll try my best to be a worthy opponent if we do."

"Is it okay if I keep your picture with me?" Joe asked, blushing.

"Sure." Giselle shrugged. "I've got pictures of all of my friends too."

"Wait, do you have mine?" Joe asked in surprise.

"We're really friends now, aren't we?" She smiled, holding out her hand. "Good luck with everything, Joe. Don't be a stranger."

"You too, Giselle." Joe smiled, shaking her hand.

"See, why can't you two be more like that?" Brock asked his friends, smirking.

"I'll tell you exactly why. It's because he doesn't owe her a bike!" Misty playfully glared at Cinder.

"I told you, I'll pay you back!" Cinder said, smirking as she rolled her eyes.

"Maybe we'll battle each other again someday." Giselle said, walking up to the trio.

"I hope so." Misty smirked. "I won't make it so easy next time!"

"See you!" Cinder said, walking from the school with her friends along the stretch of road that is Route 5.

XXXXXXXX

Pokémon Seen: 36

Pokémon Caught: 10

Cinder's Pokémon: Pikachu (M), Butterfree (M), Beedrill (F), Pidgeotto (F), Clefairy (F)

XXXXXXXX

And that's a wrap. Cinder battled Giselle, and managed to fend off Team Rocket on her own. I did mention the whole Level thing as being a scientific theory, though one that's easily debunked as different regions had different systems for the same species before the whole thing was debunked.

I did add the whole scholarship thing, which is just a way for the staff at Pokémon Tech to appear generous while in reality it's just to pick up smart students to bump up the average grades. I also gave an example of such scholarships by mentioning Cinder being offered one, as she was taught by Professor Oak himself.

TheDoctor1998 here, signing out.