Trainer Files: Journeys in the Region of Fire

Characters:

Jenny: 11

Laura: 12

Seto: 13

{At the room}

“How’d you do it?” asked Seto.

“Do what?” asked Jenny back.

“Crush the teacher!”

“I didn’t crush him.”

“Yes you did!”

“No I didn’t!”

“I’m getting tired of hearing your squabbles over here!” yelled an annoyed Laura.

“PEOPLE IN ROOM 15, SHUT UP! PEOPLE HERE ARE TRYING TO SLEEP!” said the voice on the P/A.

“Yeah you guys. I haven’t had much sleep since Friday. Good night,” said Jenny, falling asleep instantly.

{15 hours later}

“You know you’re missing the lesson, right?”

“Huh…?” Jenny opened her eyes and saw Seto sitting on the edge of her bed. She looked over at the clock and… “12 O CLOCK?!? You should’ve woken me up or something!”

“I can do whatever I want!” replied Seto. “Don’t you know everything anyway? If I remember correctly, is was you that knew ‘everything there is to know!111one’ about Pokémon!”

“Shouldn’t you be at the lesson?”

“Yeah, well I cut class. There.”

“That isn’t a good idea!”

“I already know everything!”

“Then what types of Pokemon are bug types good against?!?”

“Err…”
“Dark, Grass, and Psychic are right!”

“They must be pathetic to be weak against bugs!”

“Yeah, especially grass types like Bulbasaur.”

“What’s that?!?”

“Nothing.”

“Let’s go,” said Seto, aggravated.

{Outside}

“Children! Why are you late?” asked the teacher sternly. “Again.”

“I overslept! Is that a problem?” snapped Jenny. She was still tired.

“Yes,” replied the teacher tartly. “And what about your friend?”

“I have no excuses for him. Seto, why were you late anyways?” Everyone looked at Seto.

“Err…”

“DETENTION FOR BOTH OF YOU! GO TO THE CELL!” Everyone gasped. The cell was where horrible Gastly and Haunter lived. They were level 20 and too tough for the students. Until now.

{In the cell}

“Great, just great!” yelled Seto. “Now we’re stuck here!”

“Because you didn’t wake me. Anyway, I know how we can get out. Go Quilava!”

“Quillllllava!!”

“Use Ember on the Gastly and Haunter!”

“But Jenny,” started Seto. “The Pokemon are too strong. They’re level 20.”

“Let’s go!”

“Huh?”

When Seto looked, the cell was broken and all the Gastly and Haunter lay fainted!

“How’d you do that?”

“My Quilava is level twenty-three… Or now, twenty-four. Go Ponyta!”

“What, but you can’t have another Pokemon!”

“Just get on so we can get out! Agility, Ponyta!”

“Ppoonnyyttaa!!”

{Outside}

“Ponyta, return,” whispered Jenny so no one would hear. “You’d better keep this a secret!”

“Okay, whatever,” replied Seto.

“There’s no ‘whatever’ involved! Let’s get back to class.”

{At class}

“HIIIIII!!!” rang a voice.

“That sounded like Jenny,” said Laura. Indeed, it was Jenny. “How’d you get out?!”

“Long story,” she replied.

“Your Pokemon couldn’t be level 20!” said the teacher. He opened his Pokedex and had a shocked look on his face. “L--level 24?” Everyone in the room gasped. Murmurs of “What?” and “How is that possible?” went through the room.

“I actually took advantage of the nightly practices,” replied Jenny.

“Well, on the final night it is tradition to let all students train whenever they want! So, if you want strong Pokemon like Jenny, utilize your time!” exclaimed the teacher. Everyone yipped except for Jenny who thought, “Oh no! I can’t train Ponyta anymore if everyone is outside at night!” At night, Jenny waited with Quilava (and did some training) until everyone went inside. Then she sent out Ponyta.

“So, they go in at about midnight…” she noted. “I guess I’ll sleep from 9 until 12 and then sleep from 6 until 8. How does that sound, Quilava and Ponyta? It may only be 5 hours, but I need time to train you both. Plus I need to be on time for class.”

“Quil av.”

“Pony.”

“Okay, let’s go!” As she was about to start training, she saw a strange glowing bird in the sky flying above her.

“Don’t be afraid,” it told her using its mind. “I’m Ho-oh. I have come because I sense your kindness to Pokemon. I congratulate you for that, and wish you the best of luck on your journey…” Then the bird flew off, leaving a highly confused Jenny. She had trouble training since she was so preoccupied with thoughts about that bird.

“Hey, guys, I have a better idea with more sleep involved.” Kindness to Pokémon involved more sleeping, right? “How about training from 12 to 4 and wake up at 8? That’d be two hours more (9-12, 4-8). So what do you think?”

“Quilava, quil quil! (“That’s a great idea!”)

“So it’s a good idea?”

“Quil!” (“Yeah!”)

“How did I understand you? Hmm, could it have to do with that bird Ho-oh?”

“Pony…” (“Maybe…”)

“I’ll think about it later. Right now, let’s train!” They trained for one more hour until it was four, and then her Pokemon went to sleep. Jenny was preoccupied with that Ho-oh. “What did it want with me?” she thought before drifting to sleep at five o’ clock…

{At eight}

“Get up sleepy!”

“Shut up Laura.”

“GET UP! CLASS STARTS IN 10 MINUTES!”

“Okay.”

Jenny got up and got dressed quickly. She took out her Quilava and carefully hid her Ponyta. Then, she went to class, Laura not far behind.

“Today were are going to talk about legendary Pokemon,” started the teacher. They learned about the first three legendary birds, Lugia, Mew and Mewtwo, the three dogs, Groudon, Kyogre, Raquaza, Jirachi, and even a little about the elusive Deoxys! But, there was still one Pokemon Jenny wanted to know about.

“What about Ho-oh?” Jenny asked the teacher. Everyone turned to her with a ‘What in the world?’ look.

“Ho-oh hasn’t been seen by humans for hundreds of years. We have decided to take it out of our program.”

“But I saw it!”

“You couldn’t have. It might have been a Moltres.”

“But it said it was a Ho-oh!”

“Maybe it was a dream.”

“It was not a dream. Right, Quilava?”

“Quil!” (“Yeah!”)

“You are not the first to claim seeing a Ho-oh. One other boy, Ash Ketchum, the Pokemon Master, claims to have seen one at the beginning of his journey after befriending his Pikachu.”

“And then after I saw it, I could understand my Pokemon’s speech!”

“Prove it,” said a boy. “Talk to my Totodile.”

“I don’t know if I can understand other’s Pokemon, I think just my own…”

“Just try it,” urged Seto, his voice clearly showing want for Jenny’s demise.

“Fine. Whatever.” Jenny was never one to back down from a challenge.

“Toto dile?” (“What am I doing here?”)

“These children want me to talk to you to see if I understand you.”

“Toto! Toto, totodile?” (“Oh! So, do you understand me?”)

“Yes.”

“Toto!” (“Cool!”)

“I think so too. So, what do you think about the Pokemon Bulbasaur?”

“Toto?” (“Why?”)

“Just asking.”

“Toto, toto dile, toto? Totodile?! Toto, to to di le! Toto!” (“Oh, you mean those green things? Those little oxygen-wasting idiots?! They should die! Now!”)

“I wish Seto could understand what you were saying!”

“Toto, totodile?” (“Why, does he like that oxygen-waster?”)

“Yes.”

“Toto!” (“Bleh!”)

“Please recall your Totodile, young man,” said the teacher. Just then, the bell rang for lunchtime!

{At the lunch hall}

Jenny was walking past table number 14 when a strange blur went past her! It was panting hard as if it were running away from something. She opened her Pokedex.

“Suicune: the legendary dog of ice. Few people have seen this dog, but those who have usually see a blur since it is running so much. Reportedly seen by a boy named Ash Ketchem and some of his friends,” informed the Pokedex.

“That’s two legendaries in one day…” mumbled Jenny as she approached her table.

“What took you?!” asked Seto.

“Was I supposed to be here or something?”

“Well, you need lunch…”

“Since when have you been caring for my welfare?”

“SHUT UP!” screamed Laura, causing everyone to look at them.

“Quil, quilava.” (Look what you’ve done.)

“What I’ve done? You mean what she did,” Jenny told her Quilava tartly. Then she remembered what Ho-oh told her about being kind to her Pokemon, so she stopped the argument there. Quilava understood it was that bratty Chinese girl with the shoulder-length black hair (which took a liking to Seto, but would never admit it) who started the mess, anyways. Jenny adjusted her white hat with the pink symbol on it and then began to eat, only to be interrupted by an announcement: “If you have seen a Suicune on campus, that was no illusion! There was, I repeat, there was a Shining Suicune on campus,” said the teacher on the P/A. Many people were agitated. One said, “I missed the chance to see a legendary! A shining one too.” Shining legendaries were so rare that only one in three billion people ever saw one. After lunch, unsurprisingly, the conversation shifted to Shining Legendaries. “How common are they?” one person asked. Another asked, “Do they look any different?”

“They are VERY rare. I don’t know if they are different, though,” confessed the teacher.

“Yes, they are!” exclaimed Jenny.

“How do you know?” challenged a student.

“I saw it!” replied Jenny.

“Now, that’s a laugh!” exclaimed the student.

“She’s not lying,” replied Laura, backing her friend up.

“Oh yeah? Prove it,” said the student. Jenny was thinking of the student’s name, and then remembered it.

“Clifton Ng,” started Jenny, “What color is Suicune’s hair?”

“The fur is blue, but the hair part is purple,” he replied. Everyone ‘ohh’ and ‘ahh’ ed at him.

“Well, how do you explain that I saw a Suicune with blue hair?” challenged Jenny.

“You didn’t,” replied Clifton.

“Oh yeah?” Laura called again.

“Wanna fight?” challenged Clifton.

“Fine. You and your Totodile are toast!”

“Stop fighting! Clifton, Laura. SIT DOWN NOW!” exclaimed the angry teacher.

“Err, did you have any lunch, Mr. Teacher sir?” asked Laura.

“No. Why?” asked the angry teacher.

“You might be quite irritable because you have low blood sugar. Why don’t you eat something?” replied Laura, feigning concern.

“I guess. I’ll be back in 10 minutes. Read some pages in your handbook, I guess.” When he left the room, there was a silent chorus of ‘Yes!’. Jenny and Laura were chatting.

“Thanks for helping me out there, Laura.”

“No sweat. Clifton’s such an idiot.”

“I’m glad we get out of this dump tomorrow.”

“Ditto.”

“Where?!?” asked a rather stupid student named Ash Slate.

“Huh?” asked Laura.

“STUPID!” exclaimed Jenny. “NOT THE POKEMON!”

“Hey, are you in any way related to the breeder Brock Slate?” asked Laura inquisitively.

“Yes. He’s my dad,” replied the dumb kid.

“You’re the one who got a Charmander then?” asked Jenny.

“Yes,” replied Ash.

“I really wanted Charmander…”

“I wanted Squirtle!”

“Well, I got Mudkip, and I wanted him most of all!”

“I guess I can settle for Cyndaquil, though.”

“I WANTED A SQUIRTLE! WAHH!” Everyone turned to look at Ash, Laura, and Jenny.

“I didn’t do anything!” shouted Jenny and Laura simultaneously.

The day went as always. (Which meant it was just as exciting as watching grass grow, except time is moving 10 times slower than normal.) The teacher returned and asked them to read some pages. He then asked the class a question (since he could tell no one had read the text.

“What types of Pokemon are bug types good against?” asked the teacher. Seto raised his hand high in the air. “Yes, Seto?”

“Dark, Grass, and Psychic types!” he answered with a grin.

“I’m surprised you knew that, seeing as you didn’t read all the text.”

“Well, I have my sources.” He then acknowledged Jenny with a glance.

The day went on as planned. (Again, growing grass.) Everyone had one night to train, but everyone wanted to sleep. Well, everyone except Jenny and her Pokemon.

“Come on out guys! This is our last night here; better make it a good one!”

“Quilava!”

“Ponyta!”

They trained for the scheduled times and then went to bed at four. Her Quilava was almost level thirty and her Ponyta was level 20. Jenny then heard a voice speak to her.

“So, you’ve been staying up late to train your Pokemon, eh?”

Jenny almost tripped over her own feet.

“W--who’s there? Quilava, light up your flame.” When she saw who it was, she was startled. It was Seto!

“Not so perfect and I-always-follow-the-rules-I’m-such-an-angel, are we, Jenny?” he asked, referring to the rule that no student should be out of their room past one ‘o clock in the morning, and the clock had just chimed four, the exception being the past nights Jenny spent to prepare for her battle against the teacher.

“Just move. I don’t want either of us to get into trouble.”

“Aw, how sweet. You’re protecting me.”

“Not really, more like myself. Come on, back to bed.”

“Fine, fine.”

{In the morning}

Jenny woke with a start. She felt something on her feet and looked to see a present. Then she snapped her fingers.

“Today’s my birthday!” She saw a present from Laura. The package rustled slightly and fell to the ground. The top fell out, revealing an Eevee! Jenny’s delighted squeal woke her trusty Quilava from her slumber. Along with Eevee, there was a note. ‘Meet us in the dining hall. We have a surprise for you. ~Laura.’

“Well, come on, Quilava!”

{At the dining hall}

“Hello, sleepy,” teased Laura.

“Oh, don’t tease her, she did some training last night,” said Seto.

“So, what is this ‘big surprise’?” asked Jenny. She saw two other Eevees, one was Seto’s, the other Laura’s.

“Seto’s coming with us on our journey!” squealed Laura.

“Really? Well… I don’t know what to say!” replied Jenny with a grin. Although they were rivals, the philosophy of ‘the more, the merrier’ applied in this case. “So, where’d these Eevee come from?”

“Well,” began Seto, “the teacher added up the levels of the student’s Pokemon and then gave an Eevee to each of the members of the group that scored highest. And since we have 61 (15 plus 17 plus 29), we got the highest! Oh yeah, he also gave us each one stone. I got thunder, Laura got water, and you got fire,” he said, extending his arm to her. He opened his hand revealing the Fire Stone!

“Wow, it’s beautiful!” She took it from Seto and looked at it for a while.

“Well, anyways, we’d better go to the last meal. They have an announcement,” stated Laura. The three walked off to their last meal at the academy…

{At the hall}

“Well, this is your last with us,” started the teacher.

“Thank goodness,” said Jenny rather loudly.

“Excuse me?” asked the teacher.

“Nothing!” exclaimed Jenny. Laura gave her the ‘you stupid!’ look.

“Anyways, enjoy the last meal!” exclaimed the teacher, as if nothing had happened. Everyone ate like a bunch of hogs and then left the campus.

“I don’t know if you guys are ready, but I sure am!” Jenny confidently left the campus of the Pokemon Academy…