Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
Pokémon: Pokédex no Isekai
Chapter Forty-four: A school girl's yearning, part three
Juliana was getting ready to face the day at Naranja Academy, getting freshened up in her dorm room. She got clean, got dressed, and got ready for classes for the day. Juliana was ready for what the school day had in store for her, sure. However, there was one thing that Juliana was NOT quite yet ready for, although it had nothing to do whatsoever with school. And what might be that thing that Juliana isn't yet ready for?
Confessing to Arven, the boy who she has a crush on.
Juliana had only recently started her quest to get her senpai to notice her, and she admitted had barely made any headway in that regard. All that Juliana really has going for her at the moment is the fact that Arven doesn't like Nemona, or other girls like Nemona. According to Penny, that fact means that Juliana has a considerable lead in getting to her goal of dating Arven. But that alone will not be enough for Juliana to succeed.
She needs to do more, a lot more, if she's to have any shot at getting together with her beloved Arven-senpai. Luckily for Juliana, she's got it that Arven is really big on culinary arts, he's an aspiring chef who aims to carve his name in the annals of culinary history. Penny thinks that Juliana can get Arven's attention by trying to dip her own toes into the world of culinary arts, so Juliana intends to do so when she has the free time to do so.
Probably after classes today, though. Juliana doesn't wanna fall behind in her lessons.
...
When Juliana was in her math class, she and everyone else was waiting around for their math teacher, Tyme, to show up. However, to Juliana's surprise and the surprise of the other students in class, Director Clavell walked into the classroom instead. "Students, I'm here to fill in for your math teacher Miss Tyme," Clavell said, "I'm sorry for any inconvenience that this may cause."
"What happened to Miss Tyme?" asked a random girl.
"Miss Tyme... had to take some personal time off of work to reflect upon a rather nasty incident she feels she's responsible for," Clavell said, clearly trying to put things as nicely as possible, "I cannot give out any details, but let's just say that one of your schoolmates is no longer a Naranja Academy student due to actions on Miss Tyme's part. Also, when Miss Tyme does return, I implore you to not ask her about what happened."
Math class that day more or less ended up being free period, as Clavell, although rather good as a principal (and even better as a guy who knows how to dress himself), was a shade out of his depth when it came to trying to teach math. Juliana when she later asked Clavell if he was okay was told by him that he would readily admit that most students could have done a better job at teaching the math class than he did. But that's another story foe another time.
As students in the math class wondered what it was Tyme did to make a student no longer be a student at the school, Juliana, after she did what math work there was to be done, allowed her mind to wander off to thoughts of Arven. She was even jotting down a list of sandwich ingredients to get after classes for the day were done, so she could get cracking on learning how to prep food.
Juliana wanted to learn to prep food to impress Arven. Not because she necessarily wanted to cook for him (but she wouldn't mind doing so), but because Arven wants to learn food prepping himself and Juliana figures that it'll appeal to her beloved Arven-senpai if she were to follow at least a bit of the same path that he himself had gone down.
The next class was art, and Juliana sat in a group with Penny, a somber looking Nemona, and Arven. Their art teacher, Hassel, was leading them through a lesson on sketching a live model. "Now to keep things tasteful," Hassel said, "We'll have one of you come up to the front, and everyone else will sketch the student in question. The student who comes to the front will be given full credit for this assignment despite not being able to do it as they're modeling."
"Thank goodness that Mr. Hassel said tasteful," Penny muttered to the rest of her group.
At the front of the classroom, Hassel clapped his hands together. "Now, we'll be needing one of you to volunteer for the role, so I'll pick Mr. Arven as he's the first if we go in alphabetical order in terms of first names."
"Ah geez," Arven said, clearly embarrassed, as he got up to the front of the class.
"That's it, just stand there Mr. Arven," Hassel said as he had Arven stand at the front of the classroom. To the rest of the students, Hassel said, "Now then students, pick up your sketch pads and pencils... and... SKETCH!"
As the students began to sketch Arven, Juliana was having trouble focusing given that she was being told to focus on the boy she has a crush on. "Aww geez, this is so embarrassing," Juliana thought as she tried to calm her nerves, "I have to focus on Arven-senpai? Well, maybe it'll help me if I imagine him in his underwear."
Juliana then looked ahead to where Arven stood and tried imagining him in his underwear. When she did, Juliana saw Arven wearing only a speedo, and he had a well toned and muscular body that was glistening in the light, also action lines came from his body and colored kanji floated near his head. "Oh no he's even hotter!" Juliana exclaimed in her mind.
Seeing that Juliana was having issues, Penny raised a hand. "Excuse me, Mr. Hassel, but I'm pretty sure that Juliana isn't feeling well," Penny said, "I think that I ought to escort her to Nurse Miriam."
"Oh my, I hope she didn't eat any of that stuffing that was served at the cafeteria yesterday," Hassel said, "Raifort had some of it and she's out sick today."
"I hope she didn't eat any of that either, Mr. Hassel," Penny said as she took Juliana up and led her out of the classroom.
...
"Yeah, you drew the short straw in luck when Mr. Hassel picked Arven to be the model for all of us in class to sketch," Penny said as she looked at Juliana trying to make herself settle down.
"How could I not panic when told to focus on him?" Juliana asked, "I mean, I tried the old technique of imagining someone in their underwear to make them less worrisome to focus on, but that had just made things worse for me!"
"Yeah, pro tip," Penny said, "Never imagine someone you got a crush on in their underwear. That'll run a very high chance of backfiring on you." Seeing that Juliana was starting to settle down, Penny said, "We still have a full day of classes ahead of us. You think that you can pull yourself together for the rest of today?"
"So long as I'm not made to focus on Arven-senpai like that, I should be good to go," Juliana replied, right before Penny nodded in the affirmative and proceeded to finish taking Juliana to see Miriam.
Later was Battle Studies with Miss Dendra. The class took place outside in the battlefield area that is locates behind the school building for Naranja Academy. Dendra, as she looked around as her students were all getting into the spirit of battling, noticed that Nemona wasn't her usual peppy self. This drew a look of concern out of Dendra.
"Hey yo Nemona," Dendra began, "Are you alright? You don't look like you're chomping at the bit to get into a battle. That's your usual attitude here in class. Where did that passion for battling go?"
"I... I learned the hard way that not everything is about Pokémon battling," Nemona said, her tone and expression still troubled.
Penny sighed. "She really screwed up yesterday, Miss Dendra," Penny said, "She'll need time to pull herself together."
Hands on her hips, Dendra asked, "Did she screw up like how Tyme screwed up?"
"Nobody knows how Miss Tyme screwed up because Director Clavell won't give any details on what Miss Tyme had done exactly," Penny replied.
Dendra gently shook her head. "Mmm mmm mmm," Dendra said as she gently shook her head in disappointment, "We can cover that nasty business later. For now, we ought to get to the class." Seeing that Nemona still wasn't perked up for battling, Dendra had her sit out while the rest of the class battled. The odd student out sparred with Dendra instead.
...
And that odd student out was Juliana herself. "Oh?" Dendra said as she and Juliana battled, "You're aiming to learn how to cook?"
Nodding once, Juliana replied, "I'm wanting to learn more about cooking and culinary arts, and Penny said she'd help me with it after classes today."
"Yeah, you best seek the help of others when it comes to cooking," Dendra said, "I ain't much of a cook myself." The battle surprisingly saw Juliana won, given that Dendra had a team of all fighting type Pokémon, and Juliana has both an Armarouge and a Squawkabilly, giving her some flexibility and type advantage. Those two really helped Juliana out, as a fair bit of her team is actually weak to fighting type moves.
"Wow, and here I thought you'd be an easy win for me," Dendra said after she lost to Juliana, "That's why I picked you as the odd student out to battle me."
"Well... let's just say that I know what I'm doing," Juliana said, sounding a mite annoyed that Dendra, who is supposed to be a teacher and thusly a professional, singled Juliana herself out due to going on the belief that Juliana would be easy to defeat.
Gesturing to Juliana, Dendra said, "You ought to consider taking on the Pokémon League, see if you can become a Champion ranked trainer of Paldea. It'd be nice for Naranja Academy to have more Champion ranked students than just Nemona who is too down in the dumps right now, and Rimu who isn't even in Paldea right now."
Juliana did have to admit that the idea of becoming a Champion ranked trainer of Paldea did pique her interest. Maybe if she was a stand out enough trainer, she could get Arven to take notice in her. But at the same time, Juliana worried that might make her too similar to Nemona in the eyes of her beloved senpai. She'll have to ask and confirm what Arven would make of it before she gave doing that any serious consideration.
After classes that day, Juliana and Penny were doing a picnic right outside of Mesagoza. "Miss Dendra said what?" Penny asked, looking surprised.
"She suggested that I try taking on the Pokémon League," Juliana replied.
"No, no, no," Penny said, "The thing before that."
Thinking about it, Juliana said, "...Oh. Miss Dendra said she had me be the odd student out to battle her because she thought I'd be an easy win for her. Well a few of my Pokémon ARE weak to fighting type moves, I can see why she'd think that."
Scowling, Penny said, "Figures that the jock teacher in charge of the jock class would look for easy wins like that. We ought to report her for what she was up to."
"But do you think I should actually take on the Pokémon League?" Juliana asked.
Penny folded her arms over her chest. "...You're strong, no doubt about that. But randomly pursuing the Pokémon League may not be the wisest idea. Aside from the risk of making Nemona view you as someone worth battling thus she's bound to wanna challenge you constantly assuming you pass it that is, Arven may not be too keen if he thinks you're a Nemona-type."
Juliana saw wisdom in Penny's words of caution. "You think I should at least check with Arven first and ask him what he thinks of it?" Juliana asked.
Shrugging, Penny replied, "If you word it properly, it shouldn't ring too many bells in Arven's head." And so, Juliana decided that if Arven was okay with her doing as Dendra suggested and take trying on the Pokémon League for a spin, then she'll give it a go.
...
"Miss Dendra thinks you ought to take on the Pokémon League?" Arven said to Juliana when she and Penny met up with him a short while later.
Shrugging, Juliana said, "I think that she was just impressed with how I defeated her in class earlier. So what do you think, Arven-senpai? Should I give taking on the Pokémon League a spin?"
Arven held a hand to his chin as he considered Juliana for a bit. "...Well I can tell you're a strong trainer," Arven said, "But unlike Nemona you aren't battle crazy. And while we're on the subject, that girl doesn't seem as crazy as she usually is. It's like someone had given her the royal dressing down that she's been needing."
"Yeah we can go over that later Arven," Penny said.
Focusing back on Juliana, Arven went on, "It'd be nice to have more than one trustworthy Champion ranked trainer in Paldea aside from just my bud Rimu. But things here in Paldea, with taking on the Pokémon League among that list, have... changed ever since Paldea had become part of the Team Heart Empire. It's quite a bit different, actually."
Looking curious, Juliana asked, "How so?"
"Well for starters," Arven began, "You have to file a request to take on the Pokémon League with the Team Heart authority here in Paldea, then wait to get an approval letter. You won't be allowed to challenge any gym leaders in Paldea without that letter, so if you're wanting to take on the Pokémon League, you had better hope that Team Heart says that it's okay."
"What else?" Juliana asked.
"Originally, Paldean natives taking on the Pokémon League have to pass mini challenges at each gym before they can challenge the gym leader," Arven said, "Rimu's Sinnoh pal and the pals of said Sinnoh pal, when they were all here in Paldea, were able to skip the mini challenges, also they were just getting the badges and not challenging the elite four. But after Team Heart took over, they removed those mini challenges, meaning that challengers can just go right on in and challenge the gym leader."
"Anything else?" Juliana asked.
Nodding once, Arven said, "The gym leaders are allowed two days out of the week off where they don't have to accept challenges. They can if they want to, but they're under no obligation. If they're challenged on a work day, then they have to accept, barring circumstances such as their Pokémon aren't ready for a gym challenge."
"I believe that Rimu said something about being interviewed at the Pokémon League building before he faced the elite four," Penny remarked.
Arven nodded in the affirmative. "Yes, and that interview, called the Champion's Assessment, is still a big part of the process. But the interview itself has been changed to just questions that Team Heart asks to ensure only those who are loyal to the Team Heart Empire can pass. If you answer even one question in a way that isn't looked upon favorably by Team Heart, you can kiss becoming a Champion ranked trainer goodbye. Luckily the right answers, or at least the answers that are right according to Team Heart, are rather easy to guess, so if you know what to look out for you can pass by just paying lip service."
It didn't surprise Juliana that Team Heart was working things to ensure that only those loyal to the Empire and its ideals are allowed to be Champion ranked trainers of a territory under the banner of Team Heart. Gesturing to Arven, Juliana asked him, "So where do I go to apply to try and take on the Pokémon League?"
"There's the Team Heart Empire liaison in Mesagoza," Arven remarked, "Alternatively, an Officer of the Paldea Sector of Team Heart can give approval automatically. Just mention it to them after you get that approval that you're wanting to take on the Pokémon League, and they'll send you the letter of approval. You'll be good to go."
"Are the gyms still in the 'you can challenge them in any order' deal," Penny asked, "Or is there now a set path you have to follow?"
"It's still challenge the gyms in any order," Arven replied, "That part hasn't changed."
Letting out a sigh, Juliana remarked, "So my best bet is to file a request and hope like hell that it gets approved, because barring an extreme bout of good luck, I highly doubt that I'll get the approval of the appropriate Team Heart Offi-"
*CRASH*
*WOOSH*
"OH MY GOODNESS, THE STORE IS ON FIRE!"
Juliana was cut off when she, Penny, and Arven heard the sounds of a store catching on fire and the screams of panicked people that came with it. Forgetting their current conversion, Juliana and her friends all rushed to the scene to see if they could be of any help.
A few moments later, Juliana and her friends arrived on the scene, to see a clothing store that had caught on fire. "What the heck happened?!" Arven exclaimed.
"Two Naranja Academy students were having a Pokémon battle in this area," explained a mildly hurt looking older man, "One of them had a Salandit that used Flamethrower, but the opposing trainer's Swadloon was able to dodge it. But the Flamethrower went right on to crash into the nearest thing, which was the clothes store I work in!"
Penny took a look at the mildly hurt looking older man. "Yeah, those injuries line up with the story," Penny remarked grimly, "So we need to-"
"Armarouge! Tatsugiri! Garganacl!"
Penny was cut off when Juliana called out three of her Pokémon. "Sir, is there anyone inside?" Juliana asked.
"Two kids, some of my co-workers, and my manager," said the man, "A total of seven people."
Looking to her Pokémon, Juliana said, "You three are gonna help me rescue the people still in the burning clothes store!"
"Juliana, are you crazy?!" Penny exclaimed.
"I would be if I stood here and did diddlysquat while there's people trapped in a burning clothes store!" Juliana replied.
Looking worried and grim yet also understanding, Arven said, "...That's pretty big of you, Juliana. And your choice of Pokémon to go in with is wise. They're all resistant to fire, Tatsugiri especially so as it's dual water dragon type, and its water attacks can help put out fire."
Juliana nodded in confirmation before she rushed into the blazing inferno, her Pokémon following along behind her although she carried Tatsugiri who coated her with water before she and all of the others rushed in.
...
The inside of the burning clothes store was a fashionista's worst nightmare, fine and cool clothing burning to ash all around. "Hey everyone!" Juliana yelled out, "I'm here with my Pokémon to rescue you! Follow the sound of my yelling!"
A few adults and one boy came out from among the rubble. "Hey, that uniform," said one of the adults, "That's a Naranja Academy school uniform!"
"Yeah, I'm a student," Juliana said, "Anyway, we need to get goi- wait, I was told there's seven people trapped here but I only count six."
"The fatty has her leg pinned under a heavy fallen shelf," said one of the employees, "Just leave her and let's get out of here!"
"No, we're all getting out of here in one piece!" Juliana insisted, "Where is the girl?"
The boy pointed the way, and Juliana rushed in with her Pokémon. Juliana saw a rather obese girl about her age in a sort of sitting, sort of laying down position on the floor, one of her legs pinned under a fallen clothing shelf. Juliana had her Armarouge lift the shelf away with Psychic, then she had Tatsugiri aim a Water Pulse into the air so it rained water down upon the girl to cool her off.
Garganacl then picked the girl up, the weight of her rather plump form being no issue for such a physically strong Pokémon like Garganacl. Juliana and her Pokémon then rushed back to the other people. "Hey, can you stand while I have my Garganacl bust us a way out of here?" Juliana said to the fat girl she just saved.
"I may need support on my left side due to my ankle being hurt," replied the fat girl.
Nodding once, Juliana said, "Armarouge, support her while she's standing. Use Psychic to keep her up if need be." Garganacl then set the fat girl down and Armarouge supported her, having to use Psychic to support her and lighten the burden almost right away. But Garganacl was able to charge in a straight line and shoulder ram through the doorway, busting it down and making a big enough exit for everyone.
Juliana, her Pokémon, and the people they saved then all rushed out shortly after, with Garganacl going back to carrying the fat girl. The crowd of onlookers all cheered as the people and Pokémon inside of the burning clothes store all made it out safely. First responders began to go right for the people who had just come out of the burning clothes store.
Juliana noticed that the first responders all focused on tending to the fat girl first. "Yeah, they're wanting to prioritize the plus sized young lady," the first hurt older man said to Juliana as she was looking over her Pokémon who helped her, "Granted she is hurt, but compared to some of the others who have more serious injuries, she can wait."
Looking to the first hurt older man, Juliana as she was joined by Penny and Arven said, "They're probably worried that Team Heart will get on their case if they don't care for the fat girl first," Juliana said, "Probably seeing them not tending to the fat girl first as a fatphobic act."
"Well can you blame Team Heart for thinking that way?" a male voice spoke up, making Juliana and the others all turn to look in the direction the call came from. As such, they came face to face with two members of Team Heart. The first one was a female grunt, dressed in the standard outfit for female Team Heart grunts. She had fair skin and her chin length hair was a dark color.
As for the other one, it was a uniquely dressed male. He was also fair skinned, and his chin length hair was a dark bluish color. He wore a black ninja scarf around his neck, a long sleeved pink men's kimono top that was like what a male ninja would wear, black mesh forearm guards, black leggings, pink boots that almost reached his knees, and he had a black Team Heart 'H' on his kimono top over the left pectoral.
The uniquely dressed Team Heart guy gestured to Juliana. "You, girl," began the uniquely dressed Team Heart guy, "I was told that you're the one who rushed into the burning clothes store to rescue all of the people who were still trapped inside. You had even insisted on rescuing the well fed young lady while being advised to just leave her behind. Wanting to save that girl despite the risks fits well with Team Heart creed."
Juliana nodded once. "I was just wanting to make sure that everyone made it out alright."
"And they did," the uniquely dressed Team Heart guy went on, "But I'm getting ahead of myself." Gesturing to himself, the uniquely dressed Team Heart guy went on, "I'm Takuya, Second Captain of the Paldea Sector of Team Heart. The girl with me is Rumi, my Captain's Assistant. We and some of the men came here when we heard that there was a fire."
"But upon the arrival of Captain Takuya and I," said the now identified Rumi, "We were told that a lone girl had rushed in and gotten out everyone still trapped in the burning clothes store. We'd even heard that the girl in question had her Garganacl carry an obese girl out as she was hurt, making sure that she would be alright."
Takuya looked right at Juliana. "And now we know that said heroic girl is you. You'll be receiving an official commendation for this from the Team Heart authority here in Paldea, I assure you."
"Oh, while you're here, sir," Penny spoke up, getting Takuya's attention, "Juliana here is planning to submit a request to take on the Pokémon League."
Takuya turned to look at Juliana. "...Well she has proven to have a lot of nerve," Takuya said as he considered Juliana, "One needs that in order to face off against the gym leaders of Paldea. I see no reason to deny her request. I'll also be sending along the appropriate approval letter with her official letter of commendation, that way she can take on the Pokémon League."
Juliana looked excited. "Really?" Juliana asked.
Takuya nodded once in the affirmative. "It would be nice for Team Heart to have another trainer of the Paldea region who's at the Champion rank." Takuya and Rumi then turned around to go tend to the main issue that was going on, that being the people who had escaped from the burning clothes store, most of which having done so thanks to help from Juliana.
Arven had a concerned look on his face as he saw Takuya and Rumi take off. "...I got a bad feeling that Team Heart intends to punish the person who had suggested leaving the fat girl behind in the burning clothes store while everyone else escaped," Arven said, "It wouldn't surprise me if that's the course that Team Heart here takes."
"Hopefully they'll excuse it as a heat of the moment bit of panic," Penny said, "I mean, everyone WAS caught inside of a burning clothes store, they all could have died. Can anyone blame any of them for something said out of sheer panic?" Turning to look at Juliana, Penny went on, "But that's not what we ought to focus on. Instead, what we ought to focus on is the fact that Juliana here got what she needs in order to take on the Pokémon League."
"Oh yeah, Juliana accomplished one of the methods she needs to try and become a Champion ranked trainer of Paldea," Arven remarked. Looking to Juliana, Arven said, "Congratulations, Juliana. Here's hoping you pass and become a Champion ranked trainer."
Juliana nodded in thanks to her beloved senpai. She still couldn't really believe it. She had, without even really thinking about it, rushed into a burning clothes store and pulled out everyone who was still trapped inside. She had even insisted on saving someone who was stuck due to a clothing shelf that had fallen over. And now, her heroism had earned her the ticket she needed in order to take on the Pokémon League.
She wasn't sure if she would be... no, she WAS going to be successful in the end here. Juliana WAS going to pass and become a Champion ranked trainer of the Paldea region. She WAS going to get Arven-senpai to notice her. Nothing was going to be standing in Juliana's way as she cleared all of the gym leaders and then the elite four and then Geeta herself. All of that stood between Juliana and getting Arven-senpai to notice her.
There was no way she'd fail to pass things here.
Later that evening, Juliana was going over her Pokémon team, in preparation for taking on the Pokémon League. Her Arboliva, Tatsugiri, Armarouge, Squawkabilly, Garganacl, and lastly her Mabosstiff were all in tip top shape. Juliana was confident that her party here would be sufficient in helping her to take on the gym leaders of Paldea.
As Juliana was going over her Pokémon, she heard Penny call out to her. Juliana turned to look, and saw that Penny was leading Nemona along. Nemona looked a bit more lively, but she was still being reserved, as if she was being careful to remain as such. "Umm, Penny told me you're getting ready to take on the Pokémon League," Nemona said.
Nodding once while she called back all of her Pokémon, Juliana said, "That's right. Why?"
"Penny also told me you never got a Tera Orb," Nemona went on, "She explained as such when she and I went to see Director Clavell."
"He wants you to see him first thing in the morning at his office," Penny said, "He'll give you the Tera Orb that you're missing. It'll be a big help in taking on the gym leaders of Paldea."
Juliana nodded once in acknowledgement. She figured that a Tera Orb was going to be needed in her trek through the Pokémon League as she worked to become a Champion ranked trainer of the Paldea region. Every gym leader in Paldea, as well as every elite four member and even miss Geeta, has a Tera Orb. Nemona and Rimu each have Tera Orbs. Heck, even Arven and Penny each have Tera Orbs despite not being part of the Pokémon League in any way. Even most of the staff there at Naranja Academy each had a Tera Orb.
The Tera Orb was going to be rather essential to Juliana's ultimate mission of getting her beloved Arven-senpai to notice her. She also thought about how she was originally going to try to appeal to Arven's passion for the culinary arts in order to get him to notice her, but now she's on the path of the Pokémon League. Juliana thought that it was kind of weird how things like that can change all of a sudden. But Juliana is no-one if not someone who can roll with the punches.
She was going to see this through to the end. Even if Arven ends up turning Juliana down, going through with becoming a Champion ranked trainer of the Paldea region would be really good for her personal growth. With renewed hope and vigor for her future, whatever it may end up being, Juliana was looking forward to the meeting with Director Clavell tomorrow, where she would be getting the Tera Orb that she will be needing as she takes on the Pokémon League.
The following morning in Director Clavell's office at Naranja Academy, Juliana stood before Clavell's desk as the man of impeccable manners (and impeccable sense of dressing himself) sat in the chair at his desk. "First off young lady, I'm rather impressed with how you had put the needs, safety, and well-being of others above that of your own yesterday," Clavell said, "You had proven to be quite the hero with how you saved everyone still trapped in the burning clothes store when you arrived on the scene with your friends."
"Oh, Arven is worried that the one victim I had saved might get into trouble with the Team Heart authority due to suggesting that I leave the plus sized girl behind when I was saving everyone," said Juliana, "Would you know if that person is alright?"
"The Team Heart authority DOES know about that bit, yes," Clavell replied, making a pang of worried alarm go off in Juliana's head. But that pang settled down just as quickly as it sprung up after the director continued, "Luckily, that person was let off with a warning as their remark, which was ruled to be fatphobic in nature, was made while all of the people that you had saved were still trapped in a burning building. The comment was ruled to have been made under duress."
As Juliana let out a relieved sigh, Clavell went on, "Anyway, this is for you." Clavell took out and gave to Juliana a Tera Orb. "I hope that you know how to use this," Clavell said.
Nodding once, Juliana replied, "I've seen Tera Orbs used in Battle Studies class plenty of times. Oh, that actually reminds me. How's Miss Dendra-"
"She's been given... time off... to reflect upon her poor attitude in regards to selecting you as an opponent for her to battle," Clavell remarked, a hint of grim regret in his tone and expression, "But even so, she is expected to come back to teaching before Tyme does. This is assuming, of course, that Tyme actually does ends up returning to teaching here."
Juliana was surprised to hear that Dendra was more or less suspended from teaching because she singled Juliana herself out as an easy win for her in Battle Studies class. Juliana was also aware of how Tyme was off of teaching, but she WASN'T aware that there's a possibility that Tyme may not come back to Naranja Academy. Does this have to do with the incident where Tyme had screwed up when it came to helping a student?
There was quite a lot that Juliana was wanting to know, but she had to put that to the side for the time being. Additionally, in addition to the Tera Orb, Clavell also gave Juliana two letters. One was the letter from the Team Heart authority in Paldea saying that she had the okay to challenge the gym leaders of Paldea, and the other was the official commendation letter for her act of heroism. She would have to present the letter of approval to the gym leaders she challenged before she could battle them, so it was important that she hung onto it.
With everything in hand, Juliana was ready to take on the Pokémon League.
...
"Katy in Cortondo will be your best bet as the first gym leader for you to take on," Penny said as she and Juliana walked through Naranja Academy, "She uses bug type Pokémon. I believe that Katy is the first gym leader that Rimu took on when he went through the Pokémon League."
Juliana nodded once in understanding. "What types are used by the gym leaders of Paldea again?" asked Juliana.
"In the recommended challenge order," Penny said, "There's bug, grass, water, electric, normal, ghost, psychic, and ice."
"A lot of those are weak to a dual fire ghost type like Skeledirge," Juliana said, "No wonder Rimu was able to become a Champion ranked trainer of the Paldea region."
Smirking in amusement, Penny said, "Yeah, Rimu is pretty impressive. Oh, Nemona wants to wish you luck in your going through the Pokémon League, but she's still a bit down in the dumps ever since I sent her to reflect upon herself."
Juliana arched a wry eyebrow out of concern. "You think she'll perk up soon?"
Sighing, Penny said, "Hopefully she'll not be a blunt oblivious idiot again when she does get over herself. But that's besides the point." Smiling to Juliana, Penny said, "You've got a region's worth of gym leaders to take on, so get going." Juliana, excited, nodded once in thanks to Penny before she went to get ready. She had some gym leaders to challenge and defeat, because there was a prize that awaited Juliana, one that was even more valuable than becoming a Champion ranked trainer of the Paldea region.
Getting her beloved Arven-senpai to notice her.
END, CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
Author's notes;
This chapter sees Juliana go through some classes at Naranja Academy while thinking about how to appeal to Arven. She gets the idea to take the Pokémon League, but due to Team Heart being the ruling power in Paldea now, Juliana needs their permission to do so. She gets it via doing a feat of heroism, helped by how she insisted on not leaving behind a trapped fat girl.
Following up from that, Juliana gets both the Letter of Permission and a Tera Orb, both of which she'll be needing in order to challenge the gym leaders of Paldea. But how will Juliana's trek through the Pokémon League go for her? What other issues will she run into along the way? Stuff like that and more will be covered later as Juliana works to appeal to her senpai. Until then, take care.
Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Tsukune (Palkia), Fangfang (Yveltal), Kurumu (Groudon), Sif (Zacian), Veldora (Koraidon), Odin (Arceus)
Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand) Black (Giratina), Zamasu (Necrozma), Shenron (Rayquaza), Porunga (Zygarde), Armstrong (Regigigas), unknown legendary Pokémon
Trip's Pokémon: (on hand) Deelia (Dialga), Villetta (Miraidon), Cameron (Kyorge), Tetsu (Xerneas), Rogers (Zamazenta), Alucard (Lunala)
Mina's Pokémon: (on hand) Scar (male Eevee; scared over one eye), Gardevoir (male), Lucario (female), Umbreon (male; shiny), Espeon (male; shiny), Jolteon (male; shiny)