Chapter 61: Chapter 61

“Now can anyone tell me, what is the maximum limit of Pokemon that someone is allowed to carry on their person?” Asked Mrs Watanabe, to which several hands raised up in Nina's class to answer.

Meanwhile, Nina herself was trying hard to suppress a yawn and avoid falling asleep. Nina is nine years old now. And in the final year of elementary school, they had a class specifically to teach the syllabus necessary to pass the Trainer License Exam. Which was great since not having a trainer license in the Pokemon society was quite disgraceful.

In this world, a trainer license served as a universal identification of sorts. The singular ID functioned as a passport, Flying license, driver’s license, medical card, and so on. Some people in Nina’s past life might consider it to be a socialist nightmare where the government tracks all their citizens and controls all aspects of life. But in reality, it was just super convenient.

Problem was, Nina had already gone through all the material pertaining to the TLE. In fact, she’s way ahead of the curve after having studied for the Gym Trainer Qualifications Exam as well. Not that Nina intended to become a full time Gym Trainer but the Cerulean Sisters insisted that she take the exam anyway. Because as they said, “Once a Gym Apprentice, forever a Gym Apprentice.”

Nina did not mind, having Gym Trainer qualifications will help to bolster her credentials even further. Though she suspected that they just wanted to use her as free labor whenever she returned home to Cerulean City. Which was fine as well, she did owe the Cerulean Gym a lot for taking her in.

“Miss Jones, a moment of your time please,” beckoned Mrs Watanabe as Nina was about to leave the classroom for lunch.

“Of course, what can I help you with, Mrs Watanabe?”

The teacher smiled and waited for the class to empty before speaking. “The faculty recently had a meeting about the final year school trip, and we were wondering if it was possible to arrange for a tour of the Cerulean Gym this year.”

Nina tilted her head in confusion. “Sure? But isn’t that where the school normally goes to anyway?”

Mrs Watanabe shook her head and explained further. “We would go to the aquarium and the amusement park, yes. Some years we’ll even visit one of the Ranger outposts. But we’ve never had the honor of touring the Gym itself. And since Arceus has blessed our school with your presence, we were hoping that you might help facilitate matters.”

She further explained some of the educational benefits that the students could gain from observing the workings of one of Kanto’s premier Gyms. All of which were pretty standard and sensible to Nina’s ears.

“Okay,” responded Nina. “I don’t see why this would be an issue. But I’ll have to ask Violet about this and get her permission.” In fact, she had an idea on how the Gym could take advantage of this request.

***

“Don’t we already do school tours for the aquarium?” Asked Violet.

Nina nodded. “Yeap, but this will be for the Gym itself. I think this is good. You guys are always talking about rebranding the Gym’s image right. Why not start here by cultivating a more child friendly look for some of the Gym Trainers?”

Nina explained her idea of hosting another monthly event in addition to their usual Monthly Exhibit, by allowing access to the local schools and offering tours of the Gym.

“We can even give some lessons on the basics of Pokemon battling and allow the students a chance to interact with Water Pokemon in person. Cause honestly, seeing all those kids in the Little League blunder their way through a battle then blame the loaners for their loss kinda makes me cringe. This will help to shore up their fundamentals a little bit.”

Violet nodded. “So instead of changing our image wholesale, we can start by diversifying our profile — create a sort of sub-brand that’s more geared towards children. It’s a low risk endeavor that’s well worth the try. I like it.”

Nina concurred. “There’s only about 50-60 students in my final year, so we can use them as a sample and tweak whatever doesn’t work. After that, we can think about expanding the number of participants if it’s enough of a success. I imagine once we do this first tour, there’ll be other schools that’ll attempt to reach out for similar arrangements anyway. Teachers do like to gossip afterall.”

Violet looked through a few folders and began typing stuff on her office computer. “I expect your help in organizing the proceedings, but who else do you think would be good for the job? I don’t know if any of my sisters will be available to take on more work.”

Nina held back a sigh. She had already expected that cheapskate to push the work onto her. The same thing happened with the Little League last time.

“I don’t think you and your sisters need to be too involved,” said Nina. “We can look for volunteers among the Gym Trainers. I know at least a few of them are eager to get away from bikinis. Aside from that, we can have the twins help out as well…”

And that was how Nina ended up leading her entire school year, explaining the ins and outs of the Gym’s workings to her schoolmates.

“...and this is the logistics room where we monitor all of the ongoing battles in each of the arenas. You can see there on the wall of screens who’s battling at this very moment,” said Nina, gesturing at all the different aspects of the room.

“That shelf over there is where we keep all the spare Pokemon, ready to be rotated in if necessary. And that over there is our transfer station that leads directly to the most available Pokemon Center where any injured Pokemon can be healed up with the utmost efficiency.”

After showing the gaggle of schoolkids all of the nitty gritty of the Gym’s operations, as well as giving them a peek into one of the aquarium exhibits, Nina brought the group over one of the spare sub-arenas that had been reserved for their use.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“Now everyone, please join me in greeting two of our esteemed Gym Trainers; Miss Ashley and Miss Aoi!” Nina introduced the two Gym Trainers who had forsaken their usual bikini to don colorful wetsuits decorated in various cartoon caricatures of Water Pokemon. This was the outfit that everyone decided on after much heated debate.

As it turns out, the Gym Trainers were a lot more enthusiastic about Nina’s new initiative than she had expected, with most of them volunteering to help out. So in the end, they decided to take turns.

After a scattered round of applause from the children, Ashley spoke out. “Hi everyone, my name is Ashley. Now then, how many of you have actually touched a Water Pokemon before?” a few hands rose up in response. “And how many of you have witnessed a Pokemon battle right beside the arena before?” Most of the hands rose up in response.

Aoi chuckled. “Ashley’s not talking about being in the audience seat, you sillies.” She then gestured to the arena around us, particularly in a little area that they had marked out with yellow tape right next to the pool. “We’re talking about ringside seats, where you get to experience the battle in close proximity to the Pokemon!”

At this point children began chattering excitedly while the teachers who were looking after them seemed to frown a little in worry.

“Not to worry,” assured Ashley. “Our three capable Gym Apprentices and their Pokemon will stand between you and harm's way.” And right on cue, Nina and the twins released their Pokemon, eliciting murmurs from the audience.

The kids were particularly excited to see Tini and Espy, two extremely rare Pokemon, as they pointed and squealed at the duo. Tini was relishing the attention and struck a few poses for his admirers while Espy just rolled her eyes and remained as impassive as usual.

“Oh yeah, I suppose the kids from my school have never seen Tini and Espy in person before huh? Except for maybe Tini’s performances I guess,” Nina mused.

“However,” continued Aoi. “You’ll be right next to the splash zone. So to avoid getting your clothes all wet, please wear these boots and raincoats that we have prepared for you. You can even take them back home as souvenirs if you like.”

The apprentices then reached into the box that they prepared beforehand and began distributing the waterproof clothing to their guests. “Here, Mrs Watanabe, these are adult sized for you and the other teachers. Let me know if the fit isn’t right.”

The kindly old teacher smiled at her student’s thoughtfulness and thanked her. “I have to say Nina, I was not expecting this tour to be so involved. Thank you very much for expending the effort for us.”

“No worries, the Gym was looking into experimenting with something new anyways,” she replied. And after exchanging a few more pleasantries and confirming that everyone was well equipped, Nina guided the group into position and explained a few simple rules to the kids.

Namely, they shouldn’t leave the yellow marked line, and not to panic if anything shocking happens. “Our Pokemon will keep you safe no matter what. So please remain calm and listen to our instructions if anything unforeseen happens. This will make it easier on us to ensure your safety.”

“Nina! Can you do the honors?”

Nina nodded at Ashley’s request and positioned herself in the referee’s spot. The girl wasn’t an official League certified ref, but this was a casual match so it didn’t matter. “Trainers, are you ready?” She called, receiving cries of affirmation in return. “3… 2… 1, and begin!”

Ashley sent out a Marill and Aoi chose a Seel. They had agreed beforehand to use Pokemon at the level of Little League loaners to showcase the importance of a trainer’s skill over a Pokemon’s inherent strength. They also said they would try and keep the battle above water to allow for easier visibility.

“Seel, use Headbutt!” Called Aoi, as her Pokemon slid across the slippery platform to attack Marill.

“Dodge with Aqua Jet, Marill!” A stream of high pressure water shot out from the aqua mouse’s mouth and propelled the Pokemon out of Seel’s way.

At this point, Natsumi and Fuyumi faced the audience to begin commentating on the battle. “Now, just to give some context on what’s happening,” began Fuyumi. “Big Sis Ashley and Big Sis Aoi are using Pokemon rated to be at the same level as the loaners you would see in Little League.”

Natsumi then chimed in with a faux voice. “But Natsumi… I participated in the Little League and I know for a fact that Marill doesn’t know Aqua Jet. What gives?”

“Well, Natsumi, it’s because most Marills can actually learn Aqua Jet naturally. It’s as simple as compressing water in their mouth and shooting them out while jumping.”

“So you’re saying that the reason why I lost isn’t because my Marill was weak, but because I didn’t take the time to know my Pokemon before the match?”

“Exactly, little Natsumi. A Pokemon is only as good as their trainer after all.” Concluded Fuyumi, at the end of their little routine.

At this point, Nina chimed in as well, since the two seasoned Gym Trainers did not need her intervention. “One of our biggest frustrations about the Little League every year is how little the participants care to interact with their loaner Pokemon. The move list that we provide just shows a standardized set of moves that all the loaner Pokemons have in common among their species.

“But if you actually took the time to get to know your Pokemon before a match, you’ll be surprised to find that the loaners might actually be more capable than their move list suggests. After all, every Pokemon is unique in their own right and it is up to a Pokemon trainer to help their Pokemon reach their fullest potential.”

Meanwhile the match was still ongoing, with Seel sliding around trying to catch Marill, while Marill was zipping all over the arena to avoid being struck.

Ashley narrowed her eyes. “Enough running, use Rollout, Marill.”

Marill jumped, tucked in all its appendaged and began rolling towards Seel, which the sea lion Pokemon narrowly dodged.

“Use Tail Whip, Seel. Launch Marill into the pool!” Said Aoi with a grin.

And right as Marill turned around and rolled towards Seel again with increased momentum, Seel whipped out its tail at an angle and launched Marill into the air. The rolling Pokemon was completely helpless in its predicament as the chubby blue ball eventually landed in the water, splashing a rain of droplets onto their giggling audience.

The twins didn’t seem to know how to explain what just happened, so Nina stepped in again. “Any Pokemon that has a tail will know how to use Tail Whip, that’s just common sense.” Said the girl.

“So again, this goes back to what we said earlier about Pokemon being more than their official move list. In particular, ‘weak’ utility moves like Tail Whip are often dismissed for being useless. But in the hands of an experienced trainer like Miss Aoi, creative use of these sorts of utility moves are what often decides who comes out on top between Pokemon of matching strength. Such as using Tail Whip as a ramp to disrupt an ongoing Rollout.”

Marills were not as good swimmers as Seels. So the moment that Marill fell into the water, its opponent followed suit and bounced the little blue mouse around like a volleyball, much to the amusement of the children.

“Aqua Jet into the air, Marill! Get out of the water and back onto the platform!”

“Rill!!!” Cried Marill as a burst of water shot out from the Pokemon and impacted against Seel to launch Marill back into the air. The Water Fairy Pokemon ended up missing the platform, but it gained enough distance away from Seel that it could afford to swim its way back.

Unfortunately, after the bashing it had just received, Marill was looking quite rough. So Ashley called for a finale. “Aqua Jet into Seel, Marill. It’s time to end this.”

“Take it on with a Headbutt, Seel. Marill is weak, so don’t lose!”

And in the end, the match concluded with an epic clash between the two Pokemon in the center of the platform, with both of the battlers being knocked back from the recoil.

“Marill is unable to battle!” Declared Nina. “Winner is… Seel!”

“Okay everyone,” called Aoi with a flourishing gesture. “I hope you all enjoyed that match. Next up, we have a selection of Water Pokemon that you can interact with.” And with a snap of her fingers a colorful variety of Pokemon jumped out of the pool, having just snuck in from the hidden tunnels built into the arena.

The children all cheered and clapped at the sight.

“We’ll also have Berries for you to feed them with as well,” continued Ashley. “And remember kids, Pokemon are our dearest friends and companions. And to some, Pokemon are family as well. So please treat them with the same love and respect as you would your human friends and family.”

After the end of that battle segment, Nina once again stepped in front of the group to address them, explaining the dos and don’ts when it came to interacting with Pokemon. Some of the students asked if they could touch Tini as well, which Nina obliged since she saw no harm in it. But she declined on behalf of Espy because she knew her Eevee would hate the experience. Same went for Fuyumi’s Artoria. Although Natsumi’s Pururu was friendly enough.

And at the end of the tour, the kids were tasked with writing up a report about their school trip by their teachers. Nina was exempt due to her exemplary performance in organizing and leading the tour. However, she did hand out survey forms to the adults to garner any feedback on how they could improve.

Overall everything went really well, though the adults had their doubts on using apprentices as guards during the battle segment, which was fair enough. So Nina made notes to call in full fledged Gym Trainers for help next time.

“Everyone’s excited to wear those cute new wetsuits anyway…”