"Uh, Ian, right?" Ash said, looking at me. Inside the Pokémon Center, we both stood side by side, waiting for his Pikachu to be patched up. It was injured. Ash had been careless and provoked by Gary, which quickly resulted in the guy getting beat up—more specifically, Ash’s Pokémon, Pikachu. Gary owned a Squirtle, that too was a trained one.

I nodded in reply to his query.

"I'm Ash Ketchum, nice to meet you." he offered a hand, and I took it after a weird silence.

It was weird, seeing a character you knew. He appeared to be a little different than I expected. Not that it mattered, though.

"Ian Wright, nice to meet you too."

We shook hands for a bit longer and then broke the awkward silence.

"Thanks, by the way," Ash said. "For the help there."

“That’s fine and all, but tell me what happened.”

"Well..." he started.

He launched into the tale of how he got here, how he was training Pikachu in the training field, and how Gary stumbled upon him with his lackeys. That was when it happened. They began to tease Pikachu and made a scene, which ended up with Ash making some bold claims of becoming a Pokémon Master. Gary, apparently, didn't like that so he asked for a battle. Given that Ash finally had a Pokémon, he decided to battle.

Pikachu lost.

Gary mocked him for it, calling him a loser. But then, I arrived.

I shrugged, "Not your fault, he just had more experience. Don't feel bad about it. Not to mention he had an unfair advantage being a rich kid; he has connections with clans from what I hear." I laid the bait, hoping he would catch it and reveal some more information about the Clans.

"You're right," He said, nodding. "His Squirtle is a lot stronger than Pikachu, he should've had it for a long time I guess. How are we supposed to compete when the rich kids, be it from the Clans or not, already have an upper hand?" he sighed.

"Don't worry about it, you'll be fine Ash," I said with a grin. "Now, how about we go out for lunch now that Pikachu is all patched up?"

Just as I told him that, Nurse Joy was done with Pikachu.

Yes, there was a Pokémon Center in the Academy.

Wait, now that I think of it, in this world, would Nurse Joy have twins? I thought about it. I would have to see, and maybe unearth the mystery behind her. And Officer Jenny.

"Yeah, I guess we could. Hey Pikachu, you good to go?" he asked, turning around to look at Pikachu, who was seated on a chair.

"Pi-ka-chu," the Pokémon chirped in affirmation, waving at me, and then its eyes swept over to my Cyndaquil. It gave a curious squeak, making Cyndaquil blink at it.

"Cyndakiu?"

"Pika-pi!" Pikachu said, standing up and hopping on my shoulder, just beside Cyndaquil.

Ash looked at us and smiled, "Hey, looks like they're getting along well."

"Yup."

"Pika-pika!"

"Cyndakiu..."

Ash chuckled, and we left the Pokémon Center, heading out for lunch. I let them both ride on my shoulders, Pikachu on my left shoulder, and Cyndaquil on my right. They seemed to talk through the whole walk to the cafeteria.

“Hey, Ash, how’d you get Pikachu?”

“Huh, oh, well, Professor Oak gave it to me.”

“Ho?”

“Yes, we’re old neighbors, so he gave Pikachu to me as a gift.”

"I see... what can you tell me about Gary," I began as we sat down. "You guys are from the same city, and he's probably your rival."

The cafeteria provided free meals for the students, three times a day; a simple meal. One could buy something good with money, but I had none... Ash had already gotten his food and I went up to the counter to get mine. I ordered the same as Ash's.

"Well, Gary's a pretty great Pokémon Trainer. His Squirtle is really strong, too."

"Hmhm," I hummed, I was not interested in all that, what I was interested in were the Clans.

"You talked about clans before...?" I asked.

"Well yeah, there are a lot of rich Trainers here, some of them from the Clans, like Gary's friends."

"Ah, I see. Gary's not from a Clan?"

"Nah, he's not. Professor Oak is one of the few people—who is not from a clan—who managed to become a Champion, you see."

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

I didn't care about that either, but I nodded along, nonetheless.

"I heard from Professor Oak that there are several different kinds of Clans. Mainly, however, there are only eighteen clans. Well, not that you don't know already, haha. I won't bore you with that, but there are three big ones. There's Aetheria, Infernalis, and Aquatica. Yeah, that's basically it." Ash explained.

"Eh, I don't see students from those clans here though-"

"There are, they just prefer secrecy."

"Huh, that makes sense."

"But Gary isn't from any of the clans, his father is a Trainer, well, used to be. I mean, busy running Oak Corporation."

***

I sat in my usual spot in the classroom, my gaze boredly fixed on the whiteboard as Frayne began his lecture.

"Today," he began, his gaze sweeping over the sea of faces, "we shall delve into the intricate workings of the Gyms in our region."

Oh, that would be interesting. Was there a difference between the anime and this? There could be actually.

"Gyms," Frayne continued, "are pivotal landmarks in our region, serving as the ultimate test for Trainers seeking recognition and badges. These badges are essential for advancing in the Pokémon League. However, do keep in mind that In order to progress to the second year of the Academy, each student must have acquired a minimum of two Gym badges."

‘What?’ I thought, frowning. That was new.

From the lack of reaction from the students, I deduced that everyone was already aware of this.

"The structure of our Gyms differs slightly from those in other regions," he explained, drawing a diagram on the whiteboard, his lines precise and measured. It depicted a circular structure with multiple rooms branching off from the central arena. "Each Gym is divided into several chambers, each housing a different type of Gym Warden. Trainers must defeat the Gym Wardens in each chamber before they can proceed further."

That was… different.

I scribbled down the key points.

"Once a Trainer has defeated all the Gym Wardens," he continued, his eyes scanning the room, "they are eligible to challenge the Gym Leader. The Gym Leader possesses a diverse team of Pokémon and is considered the ultimate challenge within the Gym."

I made a mental note of the requirement to defeat the Gym Wardens before confronting the Gym Leader. It seemed like a rather straightforward progression, albeit a challenging one given that Pokémon would be rather exhausted facing all the Gym Wardens before finally meeting the Gym Leader.

Frayne cleared his throat, his expression unchanging. "Should a Trainer successfully defeat the Gym Leader, they will be awarded a badge symbolizing their victory—denoting said Gym. These badges are not merely tokens but are instrumental in acquiring entry to the Pokémon League, as well as several conditions inside the Academy.

"The Gym system in our region may differ from others," Frayne concluded, his voice as flat as ever, "but the underlying principles remain the same. Mastery over a specific type, strategic planning, and more, are the key factors in triumphing over the Gym challenges.

“Your ultimate goal, however, is to participate in the League. For that, though, you’d need a Pokémon License. You already have an entry-level Pokémon License, but graduating from the academy would provide you with the highest level possible, alongside other advantages. Students that do exceptionally well, would be, of course, given even more privileges."

With that, the teacher turned his attention away from the whiteboard, signaling the end of his lecture.

This was the end of the lectures, Frayne had taught about different stuff beforehand and then moved on to this. The rest of the class began packing their bags, eager to leave, but I remained seated for a moment, allowing the information to sink in.

Gyms were rather different than what I knew. Not that much really, if one thought about it.

‘Pokémon League, huh?’

I closed my notebook, preparing to move back to my dorm.

Was participating in the League something I wanted? What did I want actually? I had just been going along the flow…

***

I stood up alongside my incredibly cute partner, Cyndaquil.

"Hey, Cyndaquil, jump over my hand," I said, standing tall with my hand.

Cyndaquil attempted to jump over, but his little legs fell short, causing him to stumble. He let out a surprised squeak, his round body rolling onto the grass.

I couldn't help but chuckle at his adorable struggle. "It's alright, Cyndaquil" I reassured him, gently picking him up, “Hmm, how about we try something else?”

Cyndaquil let out an endearing chirp in response.

To start off, I decided to work on his physical prowess. "Okay, Cyndaquil, let's practice your Tackle move," I instructed, pointing towards a target dummy several meters away.

I was in the field.

Cyndaquil's eyes narrowed as he focused. He took a few steps back, his tiny body hunched low. Then, with a burst, he sprinted forward, his little legs pumping as he hurled himself at the target dummy. The impact caused the dummy to sway.

"Great job, Cyndaquil! That was an impressive Tackle!" I praised, unable to resist giving a gentle pat. I could see the satisfaction in his eyes, knowing he had done well.

It took little to further my bond, more so when I was being genuine. There was no need to act. I always had a soft spot for Pokémon.

"Now, let's try using Leer to intimidate our opponents," I suggested, holding up a makeshift cardboard cutout of an enemy Pokémon.

There were cardboard cutouts for different types of Pokémon present here. The fields were not unattended but were taken care of by the staff responsible for them. There was a lot of stuff in there as well, this cardboard cutout was one of them.

Cyndaquil's tiny face scrunched up, his snout twitched determined yet adorable as he stared intently at the cutout, his eyes blazing with intensity.

“Kiuuuuu!”

He let out a squeal of sorts, his gaze piercing through the cardboard as if it were an actual adversary

"Well done, Cyndaquil,” I praised.

Next up.

"Cyndaquil, let's use Smokescreen to obscure our opponents' vision," I commanded, watching as he released a series of tiny, controlled puffs of smoke from his mouth. The smoke created a chaotic haze that made it difficult to see.

As the smoke dissipated, I could hear Cyndaquil's delighted squeak, knowing he had successfully executed the Smokescreen maneuver.

"Cyndaquil, what about Ember?"

With a deep breath, Cyndaquil exhaled a stream of scorching flames from his mouth, engulfing the dummy in a vibrant blaze.

As the training session came to a close, I couldn't resist giving Cyndaquil a big hug, feeling the warmth radiating from him. Together, we had strengthened our bond and honed his skills.

There was still a lot to do, though.