*Nathan's POV*

I take a quick look at my watch, which reads, as calmly as ever,

"2:10."

"Come on," Mark says again, this time forcefully pushing me towards the nearest the door.

"The quad is this way. Ms. Caytlen will probably be there already. She's just a strict as the rest of the school about being late, but, usually, she's always early. We may be able to catch her training or something. Let's go!"

I shrug and finally follow Mark and Sylvia out the door. As soon as we step outside, I am instantly bewildered by the green scenery all around me.

How did we get here?! This is a completely different door than the one we used to leave the quad! But we're back here again?

Sylvia sees the confusion on my face and begins to laugh uncontrollably.

"My Pokemon," she manages to get out, in the middle of a fit of giggling,

"Has powers over the shadows that can bend reality around it. As long as the two of us will it, we can go anywhere on campus using any door, at any time. Pretty convenient, huh?" she asks, and her laughter finally subsides.

OK, then... That was odd... I think for a moment before a sudden gust of wind to my right practically blows me off my feet. Instinctively, I turn around, trying to place the source of the gale. However, all I can see is a tall woman with long blond hair streaming down her back and the smallest glasses that I had ever seen. Before I can ask who she is, I hear a rustle in the trees, and a large bird comes to rest at her feet. It looks to be about five feet tall, its regal yellow and red crest glowing in the wind.

When the woman notices us, she quickly holds out her Pokeball, and the bird disappears in a flash of red light. I look at my watch again.

2:15. Noted. I glance up and back to the woman.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" she gasps.

"Did any of you get hurt by that?!"

I turn to Mark for support, and he answers the question he knows I am going to ask by greeting the woman.

"Hello again, Ms. Caytlen," he says warmly.

"Practicing for your rematch with Sylvia?" Mark asks. Ms. Caytlen nods.

"I was a little embarrassed when a teacher of Battling 101 lost to a new a student on her first day... That Gengar of yours, Sylvia," Ms. Caytlen says to her,

"Is most impressive. Although I have no idea where either you or it got that sort of power and teamwork, I must congratulate you. However, your winning streak against me is going to end today!" She suddenly adopts a more fierce tone, like she's a soldier in the middle of a war.

"Sylvia Cherrywood, I challenge you to a battle!" She holds out her Pokeball towards the girl and throws it to the ground. A brilliant white light ensues, and the bird from before emerges from the prismatic beams.

"Geot!" it cries. I swear that I can see a smirk on its face, although I know that birds can't smirk like that.

"As you wish," Sylvia replies, meekly.

She holds up her right hand, palm open towards the sky, and a Pokeball materializes in her hand. Her eyes glow a bright blue color as she says a single word.

"Gengar..." The word leaves her lips in an incredibly slow fashion, and I can't help but feel unnerved. Her voice has grown incredibly cold, and I wonder how Ms. Caytlen is not as distressed as I am.

Perhaps she's seen this "side" of Sylvia before. Maybe she knows something that I don't, because I sure don't understand what's going on right now...

Sylvia points a finger towards the ground, and her Pokeball opens. That same purple creature from before appears in front of me. It turns to Ms. Caytlen and her bird, grinning. It sticks out its long tongue at her and laughs heartily,

"Kekekek!"

Sylvia laughs right along with it, in the same eerie manner, and I can't quite tell if this new blue-eyed state of hers is plagued with insanity or not.

Ms. Caytlen sizes up Sylvia's Gengar for a moment, then commands her bird to perform the same attack that we saw earlier.

"Pidgeot, Hurricane!"

The bird makes a loud cawing sound, accompanied by a quick ruffling of its wings. Then, with a mighty flash of its wings, the bird whips up an enormous wind that spirals into a vortex, heading towards Sylvia's Gengar.

"Kekekek!" the Pokemon laughs, disappearing into the shadows as the miniature tornado draws closer to it. However, once the wind had reached the spot where Gengar should have been, the gale subsides, like magic, into thin air. Gengar then, reappears on top of a tree once the wind had fully dissipated.

"Focus Blast..." Sylvia smiles. Her Gengar obliges, pulling its ghastly hands together and wrapping around a sphere-shaped nothingness. I watch as a large ball of orange energy soon forms in front of it, which it then flings at the bird with another loud laugh,

"Kekekek!"

The large orb slams into Ms. Caytlen's bird, which cries out in agony as the energy contained within envelops it. A bright flash of light soon explodes around it, which temporarily blinds me. Three seconds later, I hesitate to open my eyes, until I hear Ms. Caytlen bow her head in frustration, cursing under her breath.

"Again... That power is completely unmatched! I wonder if... Never mind, let me finish this quickly, this time! Go get'm, Weavile!"

She throws another Pokeball to the ground, and weasel-looking Pokemon appears out of the light. At least, I think a weasel would be the closest thing that it resembles. The primarily-blue creature bears a red crest of a feather-like material, and it brandishes its razored claws at Sylvia's Gengar menacingly.

"That's the spirit!" Ms. Caytlen crows,

"Night Slash!"

With blinding speed, her Weavile lunges at its opponent and rakes its claws across its face. The Gengar stumbles backwards, jagged red lines across its once-purple face.

"Ugegege..." It falls to the ground, and Sylvia glumly holds out her Pokeball. Her Gengar is soon absorbed into it, and Sylvia then looks at the device with a terrified expression on her face.

"I'll make it up to you... Don't worry," she whispers, before hiding her true feelings behind a congratulatory facade.

"Good fight, to both sides. Truly," Ms. Caytlen says,

"Now, it's about time we test the rest of you... Wait a minute- an odd number? This won't do!" She puts her palm to her forehead, obviously deep in thought.

Then, Maxwell holds out his own Pokeball and feigns pushing the button, careful not to actually activate the device. Thankfully, the ball's top does not flip open and release his Dragonite. I breathe a silent sigh of relief.

"Mine won't open right now. I'll just sit this one out," he says.

"Nathan, Mark, why don't you two battle it out instead?"

Ms. Caytlen smiles, a grin that almost rivals Maxwell's own. I silently thank my friend before turning to Mark, my own Pokeball in hand.

I already know what's inside- that "Shroomish," if I remember its name correctly. I already know what to do with it- I just need to do it!

"Well, I've never really done this before..." I tell him, honestly.

"No worries. I'm just as new," he replies, nervously glancing at Sylvia. I wonder, for a moment, if those two are more than just friends.

I throw my Pokeball to the ground, as I had watched Maxwell do countless times, and Mark does the same. My Shroomish... No, my Pokemon, appears from the light. Mark's, Pokemon, on the other hand, is a small yellow mouse-like creature. Electricity sparks from one of its red cheeks to the other, and it sticks its tail into the air like a lightning-rod.

"Pika?"

The Pokemon cocks its head towards me, curiously eyeing my Pokemon out of the corner of my vision.

"Wait!" Ms. Caytlen holds up her hands. Mark and I pause to look at her.

"Two new battlers?" she interjects,

"Let me help you two out!"

Well, we might as well start somewhere... I think, as the spirited teacher begins her lecture.

"The first thing that you want to note is the Pokemon on each side. Now, as I assume, Mark, that you've already learned in Mr. Richards's class- and Nathan, for reference's sake, listen up- different Pokemon possess inherent advantages over each other. This is know as the Pokemon's type," she says, giving each of us a small handout that looks quite similar to a color wheel.

"This will help you distinguish what types are effective against other types. For instance, in my battle against Sylvia, her Gengar's Ghost-type was weak to my Weavile's Dark-type. Because of that, I was able to easily defeat her Pokemon. You see, it's kind of like chess, only with Pokemon!"

She smiles again.

"Now you try," she says to me.

"And use these to help." She hands both of a red device with buttons on it. I slowly touch it with one finger, and the top flips open. Inside is a picture of my Pokemon and four boxes underneath, each containing a specific name. I nod my head back and forth slowly, trying to both ward off a dizzy spell and understand what I am supposed to do.

Ms. Caytlen seems my confusion and points to the device.

"That is a mock Pokedex, created by our brightest students from the Engineering Building. While it can't store data on Pokemon, you can use it to see your Pokemon's moves in battle. Moves, in essence, are what your Pokemon is capable of doing to the opponent. They can be either an attacking move or a statusing move. Attacking moves should be self explanatory- they hit the opponent and cause it to lose some of its vitality. Meanwhile, status moves are for the strategist. They can do anything from paralyze the opponent to put it to sleep, to so much more. Experiment for yourself, and let's see what you can do! That goes for you too, Mark! Give Nathan a warm welcome into the world of battling!"

I assume that this "battle" has actually started, and the analyst in me instantly wants to use whatever the Shroomish had done to me and Maxwell earlier in the day.

That would incapacitate that little mouse, I guarantee it! Now... which move is that, though? Well, what the Pokemon scattered seemed to be spores... Wait a minute- Spore!

A smile forms on my face, and I can't help but yell out,

"Shroomish, use Spore!"

The miniature mushroom responds instantly. A pore on its head opens up, and the noxious particles which had put me to sleep earlier begin to appear. At first, nothing happens to Mark's Pokemon, but, as the invading spores continue to spiral into the air, it falls fast asleep. Oddly enough, none of us are affected- only Mark's Pokem

"Pikachu... Wake up?" Mark chides, but to no avail.

Umm, what am I supposed to...

Ms. Caytlen senses my hesitation instantly.

"Well," she asks,

"You've got an opportunity to attack- why don't you use it?"

Ummm... I look back at the fake Pokedex and scan the move boxes again.

Spore... Drain Punch? Well it doesn't have any hands... Seed Bomb? Maybe. Leech Seed? Nah, that sounds like another status move, and I already used one... Seed Bomb it is!

"Shroomish, Seed Bomb!" I call out.

The Pokemon's top opens again, and out comes the largest seed I have ever seen. I judge the projectile to be about half the size of a baseball, when my Shroomish flings it at Mark's Pokemon at a surprisingly-fast speed. The large floral cannonball strikes the yellow mouse with an intense force, causing it to immediately ricochet into the nearest tree with a loud crack. A few branches fall from the tree as a result and kick some dust and mud up into the air.

When the makeshift smoke clears, I can see Mark's Pokemon lying on the ground, eyes closed and not moving an inch. Cautiously, I approach it and point towards the fallen creature.

"It's not dead, is it?" I ask, unsure of what to really do.

"Do you want me to go get a..."

"No, no- nothing like that," Ms. Caytlen interrupts me, clasping my hand and holding it up like I had just won the World's Series or something.

"Mark's Pikachu fainted from the attack, meaning that it doesn't have the strength to keep battling. It isn't dead- don't worry. It just needs time to rest and recuperate."

Well... I guess... But is that all battling really is- just an over-hyped chicken fight? No, there has to be more to it than that! I've got to find out more about the science of battling!

Mark walks over to me, holds his Pokeball towards his fallen comrade, and pushes the button on the ball that causes it to open. The Pokemon is quickly taken into the capsule by a bright light. He seems to be conflicted, unsure of whether to congratulate me or feel bad for his defeat. Finally, he just decides to put his hand on my shoulder and tell me the former.

"Well, to be honest," Mark says,

"I didn't know you had such a strong Pokemon. This is your first day, after all. Where did you find a Shroomish like that... Wait a second, are you a Breeder?"

Breeder? Like raising them?

"This is my first Pokemon," I finally tell him.

"I got it..." I trail off for a moment, mentally wrestling with the idea of revealing the existence of my father to Mark.

"I got it from a friend who lives far away, now. If he was a Breeder, I have no idea."

"Hmmm. Well, that's cool. It must be nice to be given a Pokemon like that- as your first one, no less!"

As he says this, a single thought resounds in my mind, and I turn to Ms. Caytlen. I force myself to ask her what's on my mind, as she is the only administrator at Pokemon Tech that hasn't already struck me as dishonest.

"This school was erected recently, wasn't it?" I ask.

The question seems to catch her off guard, and she stutters for a moment before answering.

"R... Recently? Why, yes- Pokemon Tech began only a few months ago. It was founded off a large donation of money from Mr. Geo Vannhi. That man invests so much time into this institution that, when he dubbed himself the headmaster of the school, nobody argued with his decision. 'He will make a great leader,' we all thought. Anything else you need to know about Pokemon Tech?" Ms. Caytlen gives me a curious look, and I don't quite know what to make of it. What she has just told me sets off warning bells inside my head louder than any that I have ever experienced before.

This school... There's something very corrupt going on here, and I need to figure out what it is before it finds me!

However, before I can ask Ms. Caytlen another question, Mr. Vannhi, himself, appears out of one of the doorways. He seems happy to see us, his Hawaiian shirt flapping in the slight breeze.

"Ahh, there you are," he says. I realize that he is addressing our entire group.

"Ms. Caytlen, may I have a moment with our new students? I would like to show them their dorms."

The teacher shows no objections to Mr. Vannhi's demands, further cementing what she had just told me.

"Go right ahead- class is due to end in five minutes, anyway. I don't think I can conduct an entire battle in less than five minutes, so... Class dismissed!" She waves at us and disappears into the nearest doorway.

We would not see her again for the entire rest of the day, or for the rest of our time at Pokemon Tech, for that matter.