Class #1 - The Basics

[Ninetales]

"Fog Path is on top of a cliff correct? Will, maybe the professor will allow me a chance to see if one of my ideas might be true, you see, I think that we are on the route itself, yet... we are using what I believe is referred to as the school boat. So... I might try and see if I could go fishing, I personally think that we might have Buizel living at the bottom of the cliff, with erosion, we must have caves and little sand bars for the Pokemon to live around." he was getting excited at the prospect of maybe finding out something either way about the base area of fog path.

He looked at Ari a little more carefully. "I think that maybe Gray might enjoy contests a lot more, the battles are not as intense and they focus more on other aspects of the Pokemon, not just battling."

[MorriganFearn]

"Huh, contests," Ari sniffed dismissively, sitting down on the empty desk next to William and swinging her legs back and forth, to make her long skirt flutter. "I suppose that if you're not very good at battling you could try for the contest circuit. I think it's a lot of silly superficial nonsense. As if looks are what really matter."

<Hmph,> Gray Lady shook her head at the exasperating student trainer. Some people would never learn. <I was bred for contests. You're lucky to have such an attractive pokemon.>

"See what I mean?"

[Ninetales]

William looked at Ari. "Some Pokemon are not meant to battle in the Gym Circuit. Instead, they are more suited to other tasks, helping the blind to see, the deaf to hear... some want to be in contests... each Pokemon is a different personality, I bet some Pokemon are bullies and others are passive aggressive... But..." here he began to steer the topic away from something that could cause the two to most likely argue and debate till blue in the face, or his thought so. "What do you think of my hypothesis? Could it work?"

[Lee]

Carolyn grabbed the pokeball back up and stuffed it in her pocket once more, before looking around. She couldn't tell who had a partner and who didn't, but she was hardly going to stand around and wait to see who was left after everyone finally settled down with their partners. "C'mon Bear, let's find a partner."

<For what?> He removed his hand from his mouth only long enough to speak coherently, before reveling in the honey flavor once more.

"I dunno." Looking around she saw two possible groups, and so she decided to target on someone who didn't seem to be speaking to anyone. The first person she spotted was a girl with a notebook, although she didn't see any writing utensils with anyone else. Shrugging away the oddity-Carolyn didn't really pay much attention during the assembly, and so had yet to figure out she was a poketelepath-she bounced forward to stand in front of the desk the girl sat at. "Hey! Want to be partners? I'm Carolyn, and this is Bear. He's a teddiursa. He gets mad if you think he's a jigglypuff."

Bear waved one hand in half a salute, having bounced along after Carolyn, and allowing her to pick him up as she began to speak. It wasn't his fault he looked a bit different from the rest of the teddiursa, but he still couldn't see why people thought he was a jigglypuff.

[Spothie]

Sophie sighed and let out her whiny eevee. She was sitting at the back, hoping that the teacher hadn't noticed she had been late....

Sophie stroked Simpre saying, "Simpre such a nice name! And can you stop crying! I know you miss your 'mommy' and so do I! You're not alone."

She was also writing down some important stuff onto her note pad which she'd brought. Suddenly Simpre started crying.

In poketounge he was yelling, <I WANT MY MOMMY!!!!!!>

Sophie sighed and said, "This is going to be a long lesson."

She tried to calm her loan pokemon down but he wouldn't shut up. Sophie felt sooooo embarrassed! This was her first day of school and already she had made an absolute fool of herself.

She quickly jumped out of her seat and went to the front. She picked up a pokeball and threw it at the bullseye. She had practiced at home so aimed then tossed the ball. It hit the bullseye and Sophie smiled quickly walking back to her seat and tried to calm down the crying eevee. She sighed.

[MorriganFearn]

"Dimpa, don't think I didn't see you," Professor Vervain said as Sophie traipsed back to her desk. "All right, since some people don't seem to understand the instructions "find a partner," Mr. Winride, you'll be working with Miss Dimpa. Mr. Denal you're with me. Carpathia, you and Gonzalez are a pair? Good," he said, not waiting for a nod or verbal reply. "Mr. Guischard, you and Miss Chang are together already. Hamlet and Corsi: stop chatting and pay attention."

He cleared his throat, and shoved the pokeballs off to one side with his foot. "Now, who here can tell me when is it best to capture a wild pokemon? What do you have to do so that the energy transfers embedded in these little steel capsules can easily transfer the mass of a pokemon into an energy based state?"

[Ninetales]

William Hamlet, not risking another repeat of a dead silence raised his hand into the air and waited to be called upon.

[MorriganFearn]

"Honestly, when classes are such such a small size we might as well dispense with the hand aerobics," Professor Vervain pushed his glasses up the bridge of his long nose. "Mr. Hamlet, you have the floor.

[Ninetales]

"Actually, it depends on the Pokeball itself, you see, depending on what model you use, you either have to get the Pokemon weakened but not fainted to catch the Pokemon. Or, you battle till they are fainted and then throw a Pokeball, either way, you need to weaken the Pokemon, otherwise it will be an almost guarantee wast of a Pokeball." He felt that a short answer would suffice, if he needed more information, he would be more then happy to supply the answer.

[Nyaa-Neko]

((Gotta think up an excuse for not replying...^_^;;; ))

I can't count on having a rattata the whole time. That would be highly unlikely - I suppose I'll have to catch a normal-type to please my parents, and since it's the only type I know how to unconditionally win with. But anyway...rattata...I doubt this guy knows Hyper Fang - that's a real shame. With such high attack power, it's pretty much standard, I guess...

But what about stalling moves? I suppose Frederik has enough speed to dodge the brunt, but his overall battle health is poor. I suppose they learn Toxic, so I guess if I need to use him long enough, I can always teach him that. Oh, do rattata learn any status-inducing moves naturally? It would be so much easier than trying to track down that super popular TM...

I don't think they do...shoot...

I know he knows Tail Whip, though, and that's useful enough. But would he be able to last that long in battle to fully use that attack? It's not the best defense-lowering attack in the world, either, so would it hurt me more than it would help me?

Maybe...Double Team? Argh, that's a TM, too. Then again, most normal-type strategies revolve around TMs.

Although...how long will I even have him? Would it be useless to try and track down those -

"...and Miss Chang are together already. Hamlet and Corsi: stop chatting and pay attention."

Wendy snapped to attention out of her strategizing daydream once she heard her name. Partners?

Oh shoot. She hadn't been paying attention - she didn't like being humiliated, so she had to start planning her revenge NOW - and stuff had happened.

She looked up to see that French boy (whose name seemed to elude her) standing near her, looking down at her, and she attempted to smil politely (though the result ended up as more of a sneer). So this boy was her partner?

Hah, he looked pitiful - he was going down.

"Now," the professor continued, eliciting Wendy's immediate active listening, "who here can tell me when is it best to capture a wild pokemon? What do you have to do so that the energy transfers embedded in these little steel capsules can easily transfer the mass of a pokemon into an energy based state?"

However, before her hand could shoot up or an answer could escape her mouth, that Hamlet boy had already answered. Fuming inwardly, Wendy glanced up at the board.

A target...

Oh shoot, did she not get around to doing that?

Oh well, it wasn't like she could discreetly toss a Pokeball (why were they bothering to teach that, anyway? Only an idiot wouldn't be able to throw a Pokeball by high school, and anyone that idiotic shouldn't be there, anyway).

Might as well just... she looked down at Frederik. Go along with whatever. I'll just beat everyone during the first test, or something. I can't believe I got off to such a horrible start - Mew, this school seems stupid.

She then grinned up at what's-his-French-name, trying to be both polite and flirty and cunning and competitive. Her ear was still slightly trained on the speaker, and she scoffed inwardly at his incorrect use of the word "fainted".

[Spothie]

Sophie groaned and retrieved the eevee back into his pokeball. Sophie tried to look happy, walking over to Alex Winride. "Hi." She said politely to the boy. She wasn't going to be late next time. Ugh maybe if that eevee had of SHUT UP then maybe the professor wouldn't have noticed her!!!!! But he was sweet when he cried, kinda. Then she eyed William.... He was a bit of a show off.... Nevermind luckily she wasn't paired with him. "Soooo. How are you?" She added shyly.

[MorriganFearn]

"Good answer," Vervain nodded. "You covered all the basic points. When catching a pokemon, remember that the highest capture rate occurs on fainted pokemon. Yet, sometimes we capture before a total knock out. Why might it be more advantageous to capture before the pokemon is totally unconscious?"

[Spothie]

Sophie thought and then answered shyly, "is it because then, once it's caught, the pokemon will be ready for battle at any time if it's not unconscious, despite how low it's HP is??" Sophie wasn't fully sure on her answer but thought it was a good answer and better than nothing.

[MorriganFearn]

"Nominally correct," Professor Vervain nodded. "Credit for you, Miss Dimpa. In a traveling situation you won't always be near pokemon centers. You could be walking around for days with a recently caught dragonite, but that dragonite is of no use to anyone until it can heal up. While it is true that after a good night's sleep, and maybe a few bandages, depending on the injuries sustained, pokemon can regain their health, if one has been completely fainted it takes a long time for the pokemon to get up to fighting strength, close to a week if you're lucky. It is usually longer. So, if you know there is going to be a long journey ahead of you, perhaps it might be better to reduce the health a little, and then use a status ailment inducing attack. As Mr. Hamlet said you may try burning, paralyzing, freezing, poisoning, or putting to sleep the pokemon that you have chosen to capture, giving you better results than mere health depletion.

"Luckily, all of you, on tomorrow's field trip once you catch your first pokemon you'll be able to bring them back to the school ship for a quick heal up from my chansey. Then you may go out into the wild and train until we need to return. Unluckily, however," he grinned, "tomorrow's field trip is your first test, on everything that we've gone over today. You will be graded on the following:" the chalk squeaked across the board, listing the grading criteria.

"Accuracy of pokeball throwing. That is 20 points right there. For each missed shot five points will be subtracted from your over all score.

"20 more points will be assigned based on battle efficiency. Are you able to control your loaned pokemon in a battle? They aren't yours and might have a different idea about fighting than you do. Can you make the partnership work? This is pretty much an all or nothing score. If you manage to control your pokemon then all 20 points are there. If not, things will most likely go horrendously wrong in the battle, and there go your 20 points.

"Now, this leaves sixty points for the rest of the test. Ten points are set aside for attitude during the field trip. I'll get back to that. When we come back I expect a thoughtful summary from out on why you chose to capture whatever you managed to capture for your first pokemon. The school is providing you with one pokeball each for capture of your true starter, so that we can get back our regular pokemon. This will be the first pokemon that you will receive in your careers. Why did you choose to capture it? Personality? Strength? Type? Why do you think this is the partner for you? This summary had better be at least one spell checked paragraph. If you want to go into what you think you did well in the battle, or did poorly on, go for it. This paragraph is worth 50 points, so don't screw up on it," Professor Vervain eyed the various children, all but glowering.

"All right. Finally, there are ten points that you receive based on attitude and behavior on the field trip. Don't be snotty and cry about the difficulties of clambering over rocks, or the fact that your clothes are wet. You should have been careful about how you dress. You're going to Fog Path, the weather is usually wet and cold, so dress accordingly. For the most part we'll be at the bottom of the cliff, so the worst that can happen is that you fall into a rock pool,"

Professor Vervain looked around. "You're all in pairs right now. I'm not going to force you to stick together like Siamese twins, but while you're on the trip try to watch out for your partner, and make certain that they don't anger a sleeping tentacruel, or anything. Any questions?"

[Spothie]

Despite the others annoyed Sophie smiled and was excited. She didn't show it but she was very excited. But then a question popped into her mind and she called out, "Sorry for this question but what if you don't capture the pokemon?" As she waited for Vervain's answer she got her notebook and read all she had written down. "Lower HP or knock pokemon out before capture. Different pokeballs have different catch rates," she continued to read almost all her notes. She'd ne memorize them before going to bed tonight. And have a word with Simpre. Then she looked back at Vervain, putting her notebook away.

[Lee]

Carolyn frowned, thinking about proper clothing for tomorrow. She'd have to find a pair of pants, or a longer skirt. She'd probably go with pants, because it would be easier to clamber over rocks and stuff in such an outfit.

She eyed her partner slightly, then sighed. So far she hadn't gotten a single response from her, and she had the feeling that her trip with the girl was going to be a rather quiet one. Did she not like her? But that couldn't be possible, Carolyn hadn't done anything to make her mad. Maybe she should have tried for a different partner...

She shook her head, telling herself to stop worrying. Why did he have to go and mention it would be a test? Carolyn never did well on tests. She'd probably be up all night tomorrow trying to come up with a paragraph-If she had even succeeded to catch a pokemon. What if she didn't? What would happen?

Hearing someone ask that question, she paid close attention, hoping that it wouldn't be /to/ bad.

[MorriganFearn]

Professor Vervain looked over at Sophie. "You will not get graded until you physically catch one. If you're not happy with what the route has to offer there is no reason why you should have to take it as your own personal starter. We will be heading over to other routes soon. However, you do need at least one pokemon that is not a school loan to advance in my class, or to get into any of the other programs.

"Now, if you chose to attempt a capture, but fail at getting your target, that is quite different. It means that you aren't applying your lessons, and threw the pokeball before you had sufficiently weakened the pokemon," Professor Vervain continued. "That is five points off on the throwing score, and five points off on the battle score."

[Spothie]

Sophie nodded and quickly wrote it down. "OK. Thanks." She said, now leaning back in her chair and thinking. She wrote some other important notes down, checked no-one was looking and put it back in her bag. Then she wondered about what pokemon would be out there, "Probably pokemon like Krabby and wingull." She muttered quietly and started to chew on her pencil. She couldn't wait! Oh she loved this academy. But thinking of her home made her sad but she shook it away. She was here now and there was nothing she could do about it. But why would she want to? She loved it here already! () A child loving school??? It was possible. Anyway, Sophie stared up at the teacher, then at the board, then Alex Winride, then looked around the whole classroom at everyone then back at the her teacher and the board. But when would class end? She didn't want it to end just wondered. But the young girl just sat there patiently, politely and quiet, smiling as she waited for the teacher's next say and instruction.

[MorriganFearn]

"Well, if there isn't anything else," Professor Vervain said, "class dismissed. If you have personal questions you may come after class and talk to me at any time."

((And this is my last post here for the next ten days or so, so if you do have any questions one of the other mods must auto Cervie ^^))