Coming up with school chapter titles is hard.
Going back to school was a bit confusing this time, but they made it to biology class without incident. Even Juliana.
"Good morning, class!" Jacq began, getting a much more enthusiastic response than he had the first time. "Today, we will be discussing something very important to Pokémon biology, and training as well. Who can tell me where all Pokémon come from?"
Juliana's hand shot into the air, but Jacq called on a young boy in the second row.
"The wild," the boy answered confidently.
"Not all of them, but that is a good guess." Jacq drew a large spotted oval on the board. "The answer is eggs."
"Thank you, Diana," Florian said to himself, leaning back in his chair. "I've got this."
The teacher didn't seem to hear him. "Does anyone know where Pokémon eggs come from?"
Juliana waved her hand, which was still up. This time, she was chosen to answer. "Parent Pokémon?"
"Technically," Jacq replied, wishing very much that he hadn't called on her after all. "But I was talking about where they're found, Miss Juliana, not their technical source. A Trainer can sometimes find an egg while on a picnic with their Pokémon. They like to put them in the baskets, with berries and other things they find on the ground."
The topic turned to Professor Elm of Johto, and Florian was confident in his answers even though he was never called.
They caught up with Arven on their way to gym class, Juliana bouncing and Florian calm. "Hey, pal," said Florian, and Arven nearly jumped.
"Don't do that, little buddy," he protested. "You nearly gave me a heart attack."
"I thought you heard us coming."
"Just because he heard doesn't mean he processed," said Juliana, nodding like she was an expert.
"Yeah, what she said." Arven relaxed quickly. "What's up?"
"Making sure you stay for class again," said Florian. "Your...reason for skipping is doing better." Juliana tilted her head in curiosity, and Florian cleared his throat. "Besides, you know classes can be fun."
"Mr. Hassel let us eat paint once!" Juliana added.
Arven looked her up and down. "That explains a lot."
"The paint was pudding," Florian explained, giving the girl an exasperated look. "He let us paint with dyed pudding."
Arven's face fell. "Well, that sucks. I love pudding."
"Then you should have come to class."
Arven finally focused on his friend completely. "Well, I guess I can give some classes a chance."
Which was, Florian decided, the best he could hope for.
Gym class passed without incident. Most of the other classes did too. Now, as Florian and Juliana walked into history class together, they realized that Raifort was humming to herself.
"Hello, students," she said with a smile that unnerved Juliana and impressed Florian. "Whatever you did yesterday, it is now part of history."
She always opened with the same speech. It was difficult for Juliana to pay attention to what came after, since she knew the opening by heart. Still, pulling out her history notebook, she put pencil to paper and started scribbling in the margins.
Raifort didn't notice. "About two thousand years ago, this region was under the rule of the Paldean Empire. History describes the emperor as quite a dictator. He believed strongly in the treasure that lies in Area Zero - of course, back then our ancestors believed in all kinds of magic and beings beyond human comprehension."
"Aren't Pokémon beyond human comprehension?" Juliana asked. "And what about psychics, and mediums, and whatever it is that Eli Frost and Diana Freeman are?"
"Biology has come to unravel several mysteries surrounding Pokémon," Raifort answered. "Psychics and mediums have human biology, they're just more in tune with the spirit world than the rest of us. As for the famous YouTubers, they either truly are descended from aliens or know how to work special effects."
Some students giggled. Juliana squirmed in her seat. "Ok," she said. "I won't distract you with modern things again."
"Oh, promises." Raifort struggled not to roll her eyes. She cleared her throat and returned to her lecture. "The emperor, desperate to gain more power over neighboring regions, sent droves of people down to the Great Crater, hoping to find the treasure. Not one of them made it to the true depths of Area Zero."
"What stopped them, Ms. Raifort?" Florian asked.
"There are no records, sadly." Still, she smiled. "It could have been some mysterious creature, like in the legendary Zero Book. Much more likely, it was the harrowing journey itself."
"Do you believe in the Zero Book, Ms. Raifort?"
Florian's question was pointed enough that it brought Juliana out of her doodle (this one a Sprigatito eating a strawberry) and made her look at him. He didn't seem to notice.
What's the Zero Book? she asked herself. Does he believe in it?
She never got to ask out loud.
"The Zero Book was marked as a work of fiction," Raifort decided. "There have been several people down in Area Zero after Heath, and none of them reported things like a Donphan that wasn't a Donphan."
As her teacher continued the lesson, Florian scribbled something in his notebook, careful to avoid letting Juliana see.
She'd just have to corner him about it later.
She forgot what she was going to ask as soon as she walked out the door.
Saguaro seemed on edge for the entire class period.
Juliana didn't understand why - she, Arven, Florian, Nemona, and Penny had once again grouped together, but this time Arven had tied Nemona's wrists behind her back with a dish towel, and the class was once again following a recipe to prove they could listen to directions.
Arven and Juliana, the experienced cooks, sat back and watched as Florian and Penny actually followed the recipe and Nemona studied their example. Arven occasionally gave pointers, like how to tell if water was boiled enough as opposed to just hot. Juliana saw a Rookidee.
Saguaro was so intently focused on the five that he barely noticed the screaming, and didn't notice the flames at all until he saw the teenage boy put it out.
"Sorry, Mr. Saguaro," said the boy, but the teacher just laughed.
"That's the expected trouble," he reassured him. Then he turned to the whole class. "Did you all see what Master Antonio just did? Something caught on fire and he used baking soda to put it out. That's how you handle a stove fire."
"Baking soda?" said Nemona, blinking slowly. "You mean you don't use water? Everyone uses water on a fire, that's why everyone knows the type advantage."
"And that's why you're handcuffed," said Arven, and Juliana slowly returned to reality.
She loved this class. She didn't know why, but watching these four fellow weird kids bond made her happy.
And, as Penny turned red and jumped away when she accidentally brushed Florian's hand as she gave him a spoon, she decided it was fun to ship her classmates.
"It's that time again, Juliana."
She and Florian were in the schoolyard, Juliana sketching her Jigglypuff sniffing a flower and Florian, for some reason, holding a sandwich.
Koraidon remembered why. He jumped from his ball and chomped it down at once, glowing once more before settling. That was what made Juliana remember.
"You fought another Titan, huh?"
"Yep." Florian finally seemed proud of himself. "I think I'm getting used to it. They're just really big Pokémon, after all."
"Really big," Juliana agreed, memories of an enormous Klawf jumping from a cliff at her once more playing in her head. She wondered if she'd be able to face another one now that she was stronger.
Then Professor Sada called her again, and Rotom answered without being told.
"Good evening, Juliana and Florian."
Koraidon chirped.
"And Koraidon," Sada added. "I see you're recovering well."
"Let me guess," said Juliana. "You detected some new ability from him, somehow, and you called to tell us what it was."
"Precisely." Sada either didn't notice or ignored the sarcasm in Juliana's tone. "Koraidon?"
To demonstrate, Koraidon, excited for sandwiches, took a running start at his human friends and then, when they were properly terrified, jumped over them, landing on all fours and skidding only slightly.
"Cool," Florian and Juliana said together.
"Truly." Sada looked back at Juliana. "Koraidon's friendship with you -"
"- and frequent sandwiches from me," Florian interrupted.
"And that," Sada conceded, before continuing her message. "What you're doing seems to be working. I'll call the next time Koraidon regains power."
And, once more, she switched off the phone.
Juliana didn't comment on Sada's lack of parenting skills this time. She must have finally gotten used to it.