"You want to offer me a scholarship?" I say looking confused at the older man who sits across from me

We have moved now after the introductions to the small wooden table sitting outside on the patio of Elms lab, the director and professor sit opposite while Ryan sit adjacently.

"Well the school wouldn't be offering a scholarship no, however as an inductee into the MB programme with Ryan he reached out and asked if we would like to take on a talented trainer. I spoke with Ms Rainfort whom you met and she had nothing but superlatives to say about your conduct. Plus and while I may be bias I believe any young trainer would benefit from taking part in studies at the Naranja academy"

"Oh I see, so if I didn't go would I lose the scholarship?" I question looking to Ryan who sipping at water

He baulk coughing at spitting

"What?! No of course you wouldn't buddy. I wouldn't do that to you" He coughs

He composes himself and then begins

"I think it would be good for you though. Its different to being out on the open routes travelling from city to city on journeys through Kanto and Johto. You work from a base of the school which I have to say is brilliantly equipped with fantastic teachers and grade one facilities. It would be slower paced journey, you wouldn't have to constantly be on the go, it would be a good change of pace for you"

"Would I still be able to battle for a place in the Junior World Championship?"

The championship was ongoing at the moment, Oscar had made it through to the Quarter Finals of the tournament and was now the favourite to win the tournament. He had asked if I had wanted to come and watch but I declined because I didn't want to be too mopey around him about not being able to compete myself

"Of course, Paldea is now a recognised region in the PBL, in fact all gym leader and registered battle would contribute to you rank. I've looked at it actually, when it reset you will most likely find yourself at around the 1000 positions, you'd have two years to get up to 256 and you'll be in?"

"256?" I question

"Yep its being expanded for the next tournament, with the addition of Paldea it makes sense for more slots to become available. It will all be announced once the master 16 concludes in two weeks"

"Oh yes my apologies Master Ryan, congratulation on making it to the final eight" Clavell says clapping lightly

"Oh thank you, I should be getting there as defending champ, going for the fourpeat hopefully"

"Your battle against Iris was so cool" I say under my breath

"Thank buddy" He says ruffling my hair

"Back to you though, I really do think it would be a great idea Dustin, you don't have to make a decision now but I would think it will only be of benefit to you" He continues

"Okay, I'll think on it, plus I will have to speak to Grandma"

He smiles and nods

"Take your time" Clavell adds

"The semester isn't due to start for another month so I don't need a decision until a day before semester starts as we reserve your dorm rooms till then"

"Thank you sir"

He nods

"Now if you will excuse me, I would love a tour of your facilities Professor they are remarkable"

Elm comes to life

"Of course, it would be an honour. Ah but before we do, Dustin I have a gift for you, for all your help in our research" He says handing me a small wooden box

I pull it open to see a Shiny Stone within

"Oh a Shiny Stone"

"For Togetic, you can evolve it as Togekiss can be used in any tournament you enter now except the Hoenn League"

"Thank you" I nodding to him in gratitude

"Now then, Director let me show you the Pokemon storage area" He says jumping up and leading Clavell off

I sit and sip at my water while Ryan fiddle with his Rotom phone

"Right then, shall we have a chat about how that tournament went?" He says with a small smile

I feel a wave of nerves come over me, I had really struggled over the last month. The tournament had gone really well up until I faced Oscar. At the point of battling him I just crumbled, I hadn't managed to watch the battle back which is something I had been really good at since I set off. I just hadn't been able to bring myself to watch it

"Hey, don't be down on yourself okay?" Ryan says sternly

"You are up against a lot of difficult opposition. There are more trainers than there have ever been. You need to take stock on your progress"

"Take stock?"

He rolls his eyes

"I forget how young you are. You need to look at the bigger picture, you're still a rookie. A rookie that is ranked in the top 150 in his age group. It took me 4 years to get into the top 150 when I started"

"I guess, but I could have done better"

He waves his hand at me

"Stop being pessimistic, you've got the talent and excuse my limited vocabulary but you are a fucking hard worker too"

I baulk slightly at the language but I feel a sense of pride

"You think I'm talented?"

"Of course, I sometimes think it was fate that you walked into Pallet on that day" He says with a smile

"But, you need to have confidence in yourself, that why I think the school will be really good for you. It will give you the support you need while allowing yourself to really show your talent"

"Do you think I could you know, make it to where you are?"

He smiles

"Of course, your talent will open every door you need it too, you just need to work hard enough to push yourself through it"

I smile and nod

"Thank you"

"Right, well I have a surprise for you now" He says before whistling

The patio door pushes open and three figures walk out

"You know were not Lillipup you can whistle and we come" Tom says harshly sitting down in the seat Elm has vacated

"How else was I suppose to signal you big guy?" Ryan says with a laugh

"With you yapping on, I was about to fall asleep in there" Joe adds with a big fake yawn

"May I sit next to you Dustin?" Callum questions

I stare up in awe at him and stammer out an answer

"Uh yes of course" I say quickly scooting my chair across to make room

He smiles and nods

"Congrats kiddo on your tournament placing, sorry to hear you didn't make it to the world championship but you've got a lots of time for things like that" Tom says with a thumbs up

"We were all rooting for you, shouda seen it, Nelly could have been heard from about 2 blocks over" Joe says with a laugh

"Ahem" Callum coughs darting glares at Tom and Joe

"Oh jeez, someone is in serious trainer mode" Tom grunts

"Lighten up Cal" Joe says waving his hand at him

His eyes narrow while maintaining the stare

Tom rolls his eyes while Joe shoot up straight like a schoolkid being scolded

Callum turns to me calmly and begins to speak

"Your were excellent in your battles, however I do think you have some improvements to make"

"Oh right okay"

"God do you have to be so analytical?" Tom spits

"Dustin will do well to learn from us" He retorts

"Let the kid be a kid, he doesn't need all of us butting in and telling him what to do" Tom replies

"I'm with Tom, he doesn't need us all on top of him especially after a loss" Joe says looking to the other three

Ryan who had stayed mostly quiet during the exchange and had sat back in his seat, he moves forward and looks to me

"You let battling a friend get into your head against Oscar Dustin"

"Uh well, you know it was hard"

He was right, the battle against Oscar I had played over in my mind over and over again ever since. To begin with I was okay, I was treating it like any other battle but at a point I sort of lost my head in some aspects, I made a lot of silly decisions especially allowing Oscar to swap his Pokemon over and over to gain an advantage

"It always is to battle a friend" Callum says putting his hand on my shoulder

"Especially when they're really strong, take it from third and fourth" Joe says pointing between him and Tom who in response flips him off causing Ryan to laugh

"But, its not a weakness" Joe adds

"Its not"

"Of course not however, how do you think Oscar felt after the match?" Tom questions

"Well I suppose happy he made it through to the semi finals"

"Well that first but I more meant in regards to your battle, do you think he enjoyed it?" he continues

"He won why wouldn't he?"

Tom shakes his head

"Battling isn't always just about winning" He snaps at me

"Battling is an art, there nothing more beautiful when two trainer go at full tilt against each, synced fully with there Pokemon, going blow for blow, fighting for every inch. Do you think thats what happened in your battle?"

"I hadn't really ever thought about it" I reply taking a drink from my glass

"When you battle Dustin, are you solely focused on winning?" Callum questions

I look down and think on it, there had been a fire within me that felt like I had to win every single match I was going into.

"Its not a bad thing kiddo, were just thinking maybe your putting a little too much pressure on yourself" Joe says with a laugh looking to the others to back him up

Callum stays his normal stern self taking a sip of his water, Tom stay slouch in his chair while Ryan just looks to me with a wry smile

"So, what is it your suggesting I need to do?" I question

Ryan smiles wide and leans forward

"Enjoy being a trainer just a little bit more" he says

"Yeah, I agree, you only get a few chances as a kid to roam about regions battling" Tom adds

"Don't concern yourself with winning, focus more on bring out the strength of your Pokemon and the rest will come" Callum continues

"This is why we all think the academy would be great for you, plus you'll meet new people. Getting yourself a group of friends would be great!" Joe exclaims

Ryan laughs

"Do yourself a favour and vet them before. You don't want to end up like me with Dopey, Grumpy and Serious like me"

The three all shoot glares at him

"If the shoe fits" he says shrugging and sitting back in his seat

"Getting back to the chat shall we" Callum says returning focus to me

"We all think you could be a real star buddy" Joe says in his trademark positive attitude

"A few wee little tweaks and you'll be there"

"You all really think so?" I question looking to the three of them

"Of course, you just have to remember that when it come to pressure, be it your battling someone tough or someone you see as a friend" Tom starts

"Enjoy the pressure, enjoy the stress, enjoy being uncomfortable, your going to feel it anyway so you may aswell harness it" Callum adds

"Never allow the pressure to spoil the enjoyment of the moment" Joe continues

"And once you learn to stay cool from the pressure, you'll succeed in the future" Ryan finishes

I gulp a little in emotion trying to keep my cool

"I'll do my best"

Ryan winks at me

"That all you can do bud"

My phone begins to buzz and I pull my phone out to see Louise is calling

"Oh uh is it okay if I take this?" I questions as Ryan peers over to see who it is

"Louise huh?" Callum questions

"Oooo now that interesting" Ryan says trying to peer more

"We can't give your girl advise unfortunately we are all terrible in that department" Tom says

"Go on, don't keep a lady waiting" Joe say waving me away

I nod and rush off

"He's going to the top, I can feel it" Tom says

"well you could be a little more enthusiastic then" Joe says tapping him

"He has all the talent, he just has to put it into practice now" Callum adds ignoring the other two

"I have every confidence in him, I want us to support him in anyway we can" Ryan says looking between the other three

"Of course, would now be a good time for us all to talk about your trip to that facility" Callum questions

"Yeah we better get onto that"

A month later

"Uh well thank you for having my Aunt Catherine" I say with a smile at the door of her house

"Its no problem Dustin, did you manage to arrange for your post to be sent to the school grounds or do you need me to talk to school?"

"No all sorted" I say hitching my new school backpack up, my phone then begins to ping

I pull it up, it advises in a robotic voice that the Pokédex app is now updated to include Paldean Pokemon meaning I can now catch them. I had been staying with Aunt Catherine for two weeks in the lead up to entering the school full time. I had never really spent much time with her, she was nice enough. She had never had kids and her husband my Uncle Richard works for Marco Comos a Galarian company as a roaming salesman so he not around a lot. Aunt Catherine is an engineer who used to work with a well known Professor and Scientist in designing and building labs. She used to live in the big city in Mesagoza but had recently in the last few years moved to Cabo Poco a small hamlet on the south coast.

"So where are you meeting your handlers?" she questions

"Uh its referred to as the mayors house?"

"Oh that battle mad kids house" she says rolling her eyes before pointing off into the distance

"That where you are headed, good luck kiddo" She says smiling to me

"Thanks again" I say bowing before setting off towards the house

The first thing I notice about Paldea is about how hot it is, even the nights are very humid. Aunt Catherine place had air conditioning which was nice and luckily I had been informed the dorm rooms had it too. I head straight down the path, I had been told to meet the Director alongside a student who was to be designated as my student helper. I wander to the grand house, it seems like the largest house in the small village, it seems to be a hub for the village to as there is a small store to the right and it the only access to a small beach. I spot the director talking with a familiar face

"Director do I really have to do this, me and Arven are meant to be hunting down the titans"

"Now Miss Poppy I understand you have your own goals however since you've been back from Sinnoh it vital that you assist especially as deputy student counsellor"

"Uh hello" I shy say

The pair looks towards me

"Oh its Dustin! Nice to see you again" Poppy says jumping down

"You too, congrats on the finals spot in Sinnoh, sorry you couldn't get the win"

She waves her hand

"Ah it fine, first entrance I think I did pretty well all things considered, welcome to Paldea!"