Sorry for skipping midterms, but it was more boring than we anticipated.

With only the Ice-type user Grusha to go, Juliana returned to school in a good mood. Florian was not, studying something like midterms weren't already over.

"What's with that?" Juliana asked, and Florian looked up.

"It's the Zero Book," he explained. "Ms. Raifort brought it up in class."

"You'd know better than I would," Juliana said, and took a seat next to him to look over his shoulder. "Where'd you get it? Why'd you get it?"

Florian pushed it toward her slightly, sharing it with a friend. "It's from the library," he said. "And it's where Arven got the information about the Titans."

"The Titans are in that book? But it looks so old!"

"It is old," Florian agreed. "The author's been dead for hundreds of years."

"The Titans have been here for hundreds of years? Why did Brassius never see the giant Klawf if it's been there since before he was born?"

"I don't know for sure, but I doubt those particular Titans have been alive for that long. Except this one." He turned a page backwards, where there was a blurry photograph. It looked like a giant Donphan with long tusks. "This was the most recent one Arven and I took on. Professor Sada called it a Great Tusk. It doesn't even sound like a real Pokémon name, does it?"

"Not really. What did you call it?"

"Donphasaur," Florian admitted, "but that's not the weird part." He turned back even farther, revealing another blurry photo. "He also saw this one. A Great Tusk - a Donphasaur - can be excused as a possible leftover from ancient history, but this one? It looks like a Power Rangers Zord."

Juliana decided to take his word on that. "So what was it doing in Area Zero hundreds of years ago?"

"I don't know, and that frustrates me."

The bell rang, interrupting the conversation. Together, they walked to biology class, not getting lost once.


"Congratulations to all of you for passing midterms," Jacq began, smiling at all his semi-attentive students. "Today we're going to discuss Pokémon evolution. I'm sure you've all encountered it on your journeys. If you want to complete your Pokedex, you're going to have to evolve your Pokémon."

"What if you want to keep them small and cute forever?" Juliana asked. Her Tarountula had skittered away when she asked him if he wanted to evolve, so she took that as a no. "What if they want to stay small and cute forever?"

"Then you simply don't use them in battle. Or give them an Everstone."

Juliana hadn't used Tarountula for a while, so she nodded along. That really was easy.

"Now, battling alone doesn't mean that a Pokémon is going to evolve," Jacq continued. "Some of them have very complicated methods of evolution - for example, Galarian Yamask is most likely the most complicated Pokémon to evolve."

The rest of the class passed without incident, except for when the bell interrupted just as Jacq was telling them how to evolve Primeape into Annihilape.


Florian was taking notes in math class when something hit him from behind. He got down to pick it up. It was a paper football.

"Florian!" Arven hissed, launching another paper football. Florian ignored it and returned to taking notes. This irritated his friend, who shot another football at his back. "Florian!"

"What?" Florian whisper-snapped, turning around briefly before pretending to take notes again.

"I found the last Titan!"

"We are in the middle of class!" Florian paused. "Wait. Have we shared a math class this whole time? Have you been in school this little?"

"That's not important!" Arven insisted. "This is life or death!"

Florian, recalling how Mabosstiff had looked, allowed him that point. "So we'll finish classes and go Titan hunting. We've done it before."

"This is the ultimate Titan!" Arven continued in his whispered voice. "It lives deep in Casseroya Lake, and no one has seen it and lived to tell the tale."

There went Florian's hope of that last delicious sandwich. "Thanks for getting me into this," he grumbled.

"Boys?" Tyme's voice asked, and Florian and Arven both looked toward her. Her usual smile was gone.

"Yes, Ms. Tyme?" said Florian, pretending that he hadn't been distracted.

Tyme gestured to the board. "The problem?"

Florian tried to figure out the problem she'd written. Arven took a wild guess.

"Four over pi."

Tyme looked it over. She'd written a simple algebra problem. Pi was nowhere in it. "What?"

Arven doubled down on his bluff. "Four over pi," he repeated, and Tyme brought out an erasable marker.

"Care to show the class how you came to that conclusion?"

Arven confidently approached the board. He wrote down a sandwich recipe, handed Tyme the marker, said "I'll see myself to the office," and left.

But Tyme wasn't done. "Master Florian, you go, too."

"What? Why?"

"Were you distracting your friend as much as he was distracting you?"

"He threw paper at me!"

"Then at the very least report that to Director Clavell. I need someone to make sure Master Arven actually goes to the office anyway."


"I was going to have another round of dodgeball," said Dendra, looking over at her class in disappointment, "but after the actions of everyone here..." Nemona raised her hand as if to point out that she was (initially) against Dodge-mon, but Dendra singled her out. "You put that hand down." Nemona obeyed. Dendra continued. "Dodgeball has been suspended indefinitely."

The entire class cheered. Dendra blew her whistle to quiet them down.

"Dodgeball has been suspended," she repeated. "So today I'm going for the other root of all gym classes. Today, students, you will be climbing ropes using your partner Pokémon to help."

Some students got excited. Juliana looked down at Tinkaton, imagining sitting on the hammer and being flung up. Tinkaton apparently had the same idea, and offered her the hammer.

Penny went first. As Dendra's Medicham levitated the rope to allow them to climb, Penny was reminded of the last time she'd tried climbing a rope. She'd fallen, the class laughed, she'd been mocked by the ones who had succeeded...but this time, she had a plan.

Last time, her partner Pokémon had been her Sylveon. This time, it was Leafeon. But Penny released Umbreon behind her back, and gave him the order to levitate her with Psychic.

Dendra watched Penny practically glide up the rope like a squirrel, Leafeon squeaking occasionally to encourage her. A+ for effort, Dendra thought, but why is she glowing?

Umbreon was focused on his duty, so he didn't notice the Charcadet approaching until she sounded the alarm. As her trainer, the boy Umbreon remembered Penny talking to outside a Star base, came to collect her, Umbreon tried getting a mental grip on his own trainer.

It was too late. Penny had hit the ground hard, and was on the verge of tears.

Dendra approached carefully. "Are you ok?" she asked.

Penny looked up. The last teacher had merely sent her back to the crowd. "Yes?" She cleared her throat. "Yes, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

Penny nodded.

"Did you try to cheat?"

Penny nodded again.

"Then you, Leafeon, and your cheating partner all run a lap."

Penny nodded again and accepted her fate.


Penny wanted nothing more than to go back to her dorm room and watch her anime. When she got to the locker room, though, she heard the banging.

"Is someone out there?" came a voice. "I'm stuck in the locker!"

This is just like last time, Penny thought, shrinking in on herself a bit. Except I'm on the wrong side...

"Hello?" the girl's voice called again. "I hear your footsteps!"

"I'm here!" Penny squeaked, looking around for anyone else. No one was there. "What happened?"

"I found a KitKat bar in my locker," the girl explained, "and I got shut in trying to get it."

"How?"

"I don't know. Maybe somebody bumped into it, maybe I did it to myself. All I know is that there was a loud clang, and now I'm stuck."

Penny was silent.

"Hello?" the girl called again.

Penny jumped back. "I'm still here! Should I call the fire department?"

"That'd take too long! I'd run out of air and faint and my candy will be gone by the time I wake up!"

"There's holes in the locker."

There was a huff of irritation from the locker. "I need to pee."

"Ok! Just tell me your combination."

Locker girl was silent. "I'll be honest with you, I usually rely on muscle memory."

"Are you serious?"

"Don't victim blame!"

"The victim is the only party involved!"

Locker girl hummed in thought. "Do you have a crowbar?" she asked. "Or a shotgun? Maybe some butter?"

"Butter?"

"To grease the lock."

"You don't know how locks work, do you?"

"Just the basics."

Umbreon had been watching the whole thing. Seeing that Penny was starting to panic, and locker girl still wanted her candy, there was only one thing to do.

Crunch.

With a Psychic attack, Umbreon ripped the locker door right off its hinges.

"That'll work," said Juliana as she stepped out of the locker. She opened the KitKat bar and handed half to Penny. "Here. Thanks for your effort."

And she walked off, eating her own half.

As Penny lifted the chocolate to her mouth, she felt a light tap from Umbreon's paw.

"I did all the work," he pointed out. "Break me off a piece of that KitKat bar!"