Beginner’s and Contest Class

The day after, Paul came to school as early as the day before. He found Steven and Amber already there too, thus he immediately sat down on his seat before talking to them regarding their choice of minor subject.

"Hey guys! Good morning." Paul greeted the both of them.

"Hey Paul."

"Hi!"

Steven and Amber spoke respectively. Right after, the three of them asked each other in unison.

"What minor subject did you choose?"

A pause enveloped the trio before they collapsed into laughter. Few seconds later, Paul continued asking.

"Hey, I think you both know each other's minor subject, so tell me yours first before I tell you guys mine. Is that fine?" He asked them.

"Sure. It doesn't matter who goes first anyway. We'll all know it in the end. Mine's the Breeding Class by the way, to learn more about Pokemons." Steven first replied.

"Hmph! Why do we need to answer first though?" She complained before continuing "I took the Music & Art Class anyway, so that I could develop my talent and aesthetic sense for art." Amber finished with a haughty look.

"Stop it. You look ugly." The former told the latter, which ensued to a small-scale fight.

"Hey guys, don't you want to hear my choice too?" Paul intervened in between the blue head and pink head's fight.

"Yeah, I'm interested too!" A voice came from beside them.

"Jake!" Amber immediately greeted. "Great timing! Come and defend me from this swine who has no taste."

"I have a taste, that's why I call you ugly." Steven rebutted.

'Steven's so calm when speaking to others but gets quite lively when he conflicts with Amber. It's quite a sight to see.'

"Hey, stop fighting. If you don't, I won't tell my choice to either of you." Paul mediated.

"Fine. I'll forgive you just this once you iron head." Amber harrumphed as she looked at Steven in the corner of her eyes.

"As if, pig face." Steven coldly retorted before looking at Paul, ignoring the fuming pink head.

"Well, I picked the same minor subject as Steven. I chose the Breeder Class." Paul stated. He was immediately excitedly patted in the shoulder by Steven, who seemed glad to have someone in the same class.

"Oh, I choose the Culinary Class. Eating is the next favorite thing I love to do besides sleep." Jake happily told them.

"Isn't Culinary Class supposed to learn how to cook, and not eat?" Paul asked with a hesitant voice.

"Well, of course. But after you cook, what happens to the food you made? Naturally, you eat them." Jake told Paul in a preaching voice. The latter was quite speechless at the former's statement. It did make sense though.

"It seems like everybody has different minor subjects, besides Paul and Steven. Oh, you lucky two. I hope I can make friends at my minor subject though." Amber sighed.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you will." Jake immediately comforted the only girl.

The classes ensued with no hitch. As the school orientation was conducted the day before, today was assigned for the subject orientations. The teachers mainly discussed the subject curriculum and grading system, the behavior they expect from the students, and what the students could expect from the class.

The first teacher they met was the teacher for Beginner's Class. His name was Cedric Brown; same as his surname, his features, specifically his hair and eyes, are brown. He has pale skin, seemingly smart look with black rimmed glasses, and his white lab coat. Mr. Brown greeted the class with a kind smile.

"Good morning class. As I already introduced myself, I hope that you would be able to introduce yourselves to me too; before anything serious that we discuss during the subject orientation." Mr. Brown started.

The same as yesterday, everybody introduced themselves, their name, age, and hobbies. After that, Mr. Brown finally introduced the subject proper, Beginner's Class.

"The Beginner's Class mainly aims to teach students general knowledge regarding Pokemon. Specifically, we would discuss pokemons of every region over the years, until you graduate from this school. We sometimes invite Professors of different regions, if they have time, to conduct a video conference with us in order to share their knowledge and interact with students if they do have questions and queries." He further elaborated on his next statement.

"Usually, Professor Oak is really generous on sharing his knowledge, as we are able to invite him on a monthly basis. Other professors such as Professor Birch, Professor Elm, and Professor Rowan also accepts our invitation every now and then. Unfortunately, Professor Juniper, Burnet, Westwood V, and Bill are usually busy with their hectic research, thus they rarely accept our invitation. Though, they make time to at least conduct a video conference at least once a year with every class."

"The Beginner's Class mainly teaches different knowledge on Pokemons, and we would tackle the Pokemons, one each day, and a region per semester. For this school year, we would discuss the first entries in the Pokedex, which are Pokemons from Kanto Region, and in the second semester we would discuss pokemons coming from Johto Region."

"You could expect for the next three years to learn more about Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, and Kalos Regions' Pokemons. Your fourth year would focus on some familiar pokemons coming from the Alola and Galar Region, though it won't be much detailed as the researchers and the Pokemon Alliance are still investigating both regions. It would also serve as a recap for Pokemons from all regions that the subject has discussed. So, expect a busy schedule, though I hope you would learn with earnest and interest, as Pokemons are very interesting, and they're part of our lives thus it is only given that we should learn more about them, their hobbies, biology, and characteristics."

Paul was quite excited regarding this subject, as he could learn much more regarding each Pokemon. He has the feeling that this would be his favorite subject. He was also able to learn that Mr. Brown was an Advanced Researcher, which was quite impressive for his age, which was 29 years old. Mr. Brown also teaches the Beginner's Class for second years.

Next was the teacher for the Contest Class, who was a female teacher named Kelly Hazel. She has long ebony hair and hazel brown eyes, with a fair complexion. She had crow's feet on the corner of her eyes, though it made her look more approachable and warmer. She also initiated the class introduction, with the class repeating the routine earlier.

"Okay, class. I know some of you are not interested regarding Pokemon Contests, though it is not a good thing as you will need to study this subject for four years of your life. I've been a Pokemon Coordinator since I had my first pokemon, which was a Beautifly. As of now, I've already won a lot of ribbons, which makes me an Advanced Coordinator. Sadly, I wasn't able to win any Grand Festival that I joined. Despite that, being a Pokemon Coordinator is still my passion thus I wanted to further spread the beauty of Pokemon Contests to other people that's why I teach."

After she told her story, Ms. Hazel further elaborated what they would learn and encounter in the Contest Class.

"This class would focus on the different moves of Pokemon. So, it would also be an educational subject for those who wants to be a trainer in the future." She gave some boys of the class a firm look, which they responded with sheepish smiles.

"Besides proper execution of moves, I would also teach the classifications of each move in the Pokemon Contest System, as each move has responding effect and score in official contests. Also, we would practice cultivating the bond of the trainer with their pokemon. Thus, we would also do exercises that promotes that, such as dancing, singing, and other fun activities with your pokemon. I would also introduce you combined skills, not only for effects but also for efficiency in battles. I would like to let you know that this class not only teaches you fancy move sets, but also the grace of Pokemon Contest Battles."

She further elaborated, "In the next three years, the Contest Class would also focus on these, but their major topic would be different. For example, for a first year, besides the normal Pokemon Performances, Contest Battles, and Pokemon & Trainer Bonding, I would specify on the teaching of Water, Ice, Fire, and Normal type Moves. While next year would be Bug, Flying, Ghost, and Psychic type moves. The third-year class would focus on learning about Dark, Steel, Rock, and Ground type moves, meanwhile, the fourth-year class would focus on Grass, Poison, Fighting, Electric, and Dragon type moves. All classes would specify on some combinations that could be performed with moves on the type that they are discussing."

"Thus, I hope you'll be excited and see a different page of Pokemon Contests, not only seeing the beauty, but also the strength of Pokemon Coordinators. As early as now, I wanted to take off the notion from your minds that Pokemon Coordinator does not have strong pokemons. Actually, Peak Coordinators also have stronger pokemons than most. An example is the Sootopolis City Gym Leader Juan, he is a Peak Coordinator, but also a Gym Leader at the same time. His position speaks of his strength, so I hope you guys would not look at the Contest Class with rose-tinted glasses. That's all."

Paul knew that Pokemon Coordinators could be strong, but with someone really speaking up for Pokemon Contests, he felt his mind opened up to a whole new world. There are a lot of things that a Pokemon Coordinator should learn, and he's quite interested and a little bit excited to be honest. Paul also discovered that Ms. Hazel was 55 years old, despite her appearance being around 40s.