Not long after I left for the dormitory building, it wasn’t that late, but I felt extremely tired, as if the first two classes weren’t enough for a day. Besides, this terrorist family stuff is just enough for my brain to explode. So, it didn’t take long for me to fall asleep once I reached my room.
The following morning, I woke up extra early and felt my stomach scolding me for skipping dinner, meaning I will need an extra-large breakfast.
As I left the building, there were almost no other people around, I just saw some of the building staff during their shift. The cafeteria wasn’t much different, empty tables all around me. I spent a couple of minutes talking to the cooking lady, trying to convince her of my need of a bigger portion, apparently all our meals are carefully planned and the fact I’ve been missing dinner was registered on their system.
With a very large breakfast I sat and proceeded to stuff myself with food. At some point Flavio and Melody arrived and sat next to me, I didn’t feel like speaking about my conversation with teacher Jordan so I just listened to them talking about their expectations for tomorrow’s class, both of them had an egg prepared by their parents so their starter might have some additional moves available upon birth.
We arrived early to the gymnasium, the building where Physical Conditioning 101 is going to be held.
The teacher was already there, a giantess of a woman with an incredibly muscular body, wearing a very workout crop top and shorts, her black hair tied into a ponytail. Most surprising was seeing her working out next to fighting type pokemon such as Machoke, Medicham and Riolu, with our teacher probing herself as fast and strong as the pokemon by her side.
Watching her, distracted me from noticing some students, graduates by the look of their uniforms, sprawled on the floor, clearly tired from exercising.
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Then she noticed our arrival, the smile on her face causing me to take a step back, my intuition telling me I was being stared by an extremely dangerous individual.
“Okay, children it’s time to stop, we have class”, the fighting types all halted their training and walked towards the students on the floor, helping them up and taking them to the seating area, “I expected more from graduates, I thought the assistant job ad specified as requirement top physical fitness, oh well, you guys will do, I will have you in proper shape by the end of this month”, then she turned toward us, “feel free to start warming up, class will start when all of your classmates arrive”.
Feeling slightly uncomfortable with her gaze, I looked towards my companions for help, they seemed even more intimidated by our teacher.
“What are you waiting for?”, some sort of realization showed on her face, “Oh, I know, Rio!”, she shouted and the small pokemon quickly ran to her, “I need you to start jogging around the gym, set an slow pace for beginners to follow, and you”, she pointed at us, “follow Rio here, don’t tire yourselves”.
And with that, she left us alone and went to talk to the graduate students. Riolu began jogging in its place, waiting for us to follow along, so we did. As we went around the gym I noticed one of the graduates sat next to the entrance, a minute later I saw him point toward us as our classmates began arriving and they joining our group afterwards.
Soon enough there were a hundred of us following the little Riolu, after one more round the instructor made us stop.
“Okay Rio, show them the basic stretch routine, you all copy him”.
With determination, I follow Riolu's lead, carefully stepping back and mimicking the hand placement. Despite initial uncertainty, I try to embrace the stretch that engulfs my hip and leg, holding the position for the instructed time. Gradually straightening my leg, I maintain concentration, mirroring Riolu's actions. Switching sides with newfound confidence, I replicate the movements, recalling the steps from before. Lowering my hips once more, I embrace the stretch, focusing on balance and form.
“That will do”, the instructor says, “I am instructor Savannah Smith and I will introduce you to the wonderful world of physical cultivation, your bodies are but seeds in need of proper nourishment and care, which I will make sure you get enough of”
“For today’s class, we will do simple fitness tests to know what we are working with, my assistants here”, she points towards the clearly exhausted graduate students, “will keep a record of your results so we can develop a proper training plan for every single one of you”.
Somehow, I recognize that gaze, the little smile on her face, it looks just like my mom when she is thinking about what punishment I will receive, and with that in mind it sends shivers down my spine.