And we did nothing other than reading.

For the next.

Five.

Weeks.

Read for hours on end in the morning in class, then talk about what we read for a few more, and after that, go back to the dorms and do homework. That was the daily routine.

One of these days of boring work, the four of us had been doing our homework together in the dorm hallway, when Markus slammed his book down on the ground and his head against the wall.

"Why do we have to talk about our Pokemon being paralyzed for the next week." He stretched out his legs as he yelled up at the ceiling, as if a legendary Pokemon was going to come out of nowhere and save him from the torture. "I want to get to the stuff I'm actually here for. Battling."

"Honestly, though." Eris, who was sitting next to me, placed her book on the floor, stealing mine out of my hands and placing it on the other side of her. "I would actually prefer fighting those grunts again, then sit here for another week and read."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." I gave the two a look. I had spoken to my family back home a few times after the Team Galactic incident, but I didn't tell them about it. Just that I was learning everything that I already knew, which was something that I really rubbed in Candice's face. She was the person that I had been the closest to telling about the whole ordeal, but I was scared of freaking her out.

I felt like this was more than just a few grunts.

"It's not like they were hard or anything. Seriously, with Rotom and Swinub being strong against flying, it's simple to beat them if at least some of them have Zubat." Markus took out Shellos's Pokeball, tossing it up in the air a few times. "And while this one can be a brat sometimes, she's still really strong. Maybe even stronger than the rest of your guys's Pokemon." He cocked an eyebrow, as if he wanted to get us riled up.

"And we're not finding that out right now, since dinner's in twenty minutes. I don't know about the three of you, but I'm starving." Aster snatched the Pokeball mid-air, laughing and holding it close to them as Markus tried to get it back from them. It ended in a half-wrestle, half-hug looking thing, with Makus basically crushing Aster against the floor.

"So, I'll be taking these." Markus slid Aster's glasses off of their face, which was followed by a soft groan from the pinned kid. They reached out their arm towards Markus, holding the Pokeball in it.

"I'm sorry, I promise I won't try that again, I'm sorry, ow!" Aster couldn't help but laugh as they were crushed even more by Markus, as he grabbed his Pokeball back. He didn't give Aster their glasses back, though, but instead slipped the glasses into his sweatshirt pocket. He then got off of Aster, who didn't try and argue their glasses back.

"How much you wanna bet that this is a daily occurance?" Eris whispered into my ear, careful to not let the other two hear her. She then picked up both of our books, using the wall to support her as she got up. "Let's put our stuff back and grab your Sleeping Beauty. We'll meet you two at dinner." Eris grabbed my arm, pulling me along as we headed towards our dorm room.

Once we got there, Eris immediately went to the window, just like she did every night before dinner. Always hoping that she would see Dawn or Lucas coming back, so they could vouch for her to start battling sooner.

Don't know what the big deal of it all is, I thought, watching Eris do her daily ritual as I sat down on my bed, after all, it's going to get boring, battling the same people time and time again.

The longer I knew Eris for, the stranger she seemed to be, with her almost obsession on battling, and how she persisted to never drop the subject of Team Galactic and the incident. But, I just guessed that it an in the family. After all, what grandfather gives their granddaughter a Rotom for her first Pokemon?

Probably a scientist.

"Clara, the teacher's talking to someone!" I didn't realize I had been beginning to stare at Eris, until she turned from the window and called to me. I accidentally made eye contact with her, which was something I was still not entirely used to, if I had to be honest. I quickly looked away, pretending to be encompassed in something else.

"What do they look like? Like one of that duo we met?" I asked, wondering if she had noticed me staring. After all, I didn't want to be rude.

"No, he has red hair. But he has a miner's hat." Eris grabbed my wrist, pulling me towards the window. I looked out at the man who Eris was describing. It wasn't just that he was wearing a miner's hat; he was fully decked out in grey and yellow miner's garb. I recognized him, I wasn't even sure how, but Eris kept rambling on before I could speak. "Maybe he's a miner, and we're getting a field trip to Oreburgh! Are there even field trips here? Does that even matter? I just want to get out of here."

"That's not just a miner." I grabbed Eris's hands, making her face me as I looked into her eyes. Not that I really wanted to, but I needed to show I was being serious. "That's Roark, the Oreburgh city gym leader."

"And?" Eris's eyes widened a bit as I had grabbed her hands, but only cocked an eyebrow as I spoke.

"Well, if what my gym-leader-connections told me is true, after I kept complaining about being here, is that if the gym leader is willing to take on a challenger at this school, and the challenger wins, they could get some leeway on their requirements." I could feel my toes bouncing in my shoes a bit, though I felt a small twinge of hollow pain in my stomach as I thought about how much I kept complaining to Candice about Trainer School.

"You're kidding."

"I'm not. I'll even call the Ice Queen herself today, if you want proof." I let go of Eris's hands, moving towards my bed and scooping up Swinub. "Now, we should get going. Don't want the other two waiting too long for us to arrive."

"You mean for the party to arrive?"