Pasio University

Chapter 4- Hit The Ground Running

Professor Kukui POV

I looked down at my list once again of jersey numbers and thumbed through the new ones that arrived to make sure they had the right numbers

Jersey #s
Calem- 06
Brendan- 03
Elio- 07
Hilda- 12
Hilbert- 05
Gloria- 42
Victor- 08
Ethan- 02
Lyra- 16
Dawn- 04

I checked the jerseys. They were purple with a diagonal Red stripe running down, they have 'Pasio University' and the school's shield on the front and the name and number on the back. I held one up and looked it over, these sure are nice, but it's unfortunate they'll probably be the last ones...

I waited for everyone to get to practice, the first one that arrived was Elio. He was about 15 minutes early. "Elio. Good to see ya. I gotta ask, you happen to know Professor Burnet?" He looked at me, "Yeah. I know she teaches here, and my mom and I moved in really close to where she lives in Alola." I nodded, "Ah ok. As you probably know I'm her husband, it's a shame I'm over here all the time and never got to see you." Elio shrugged, "Well you'll be seeing a lot of me now I suppose, which actually makes me wonder, I know we have at least 30 games to play this season, do you have the schedule for that?" I reached in to the box with the jerseys and thew Elio his, "Yeah. They came with these. First game is against Mossdeep Tech. Mid tier team, I think it'll be a good gauge of our ceiling." Elio looked at the rest of the schedule, "And that's next week!? Crazy... Uh, so explain to me how the battles work here." I reeled, "Y- you- you don't know?" Elio looked at me completely seriously, "Not a clue. I figure that Primarina and I will be able to handle whoever is in front of us." I sighed, "We'll do some kind of scrimmages in class... But the gist of it is it is 3 on 3, a team has to have 3 members on at all times if it can, if a pokemon is KOd that trainer is eliminated and the other team scores a point, first to 6 wins. I can substitute in and out whenever I want but yeah. That's how it works." Elio nodded slowly, "I think... I get it... So why don't we have 12 people on the team? Wouldn't it be better to have like, a whole 2nd team to be substitutes or practice partners?" I scratched my head, "We uh.. we only got funding for 10 this year... That's ok though, I can get another teacher or student who feels like it along with myself to fill in for practice." Elio blinked a few times as he was processing all the new information then backpedalled and started to pet his Primarina. I looked at the door as Gloria and Victor came through, talking to each other, quickly followed by Brendan, and then the rest of the team came in relatively soon after that. Then a boy with a red hat came in and sat down to watch us. "Who are you?" "I'm Lucas." "What're you doing here Lucas?" He shrugged, "I like watching battles, strategizing is one of my favorite things to do." I thought for a moment, "...You wanna be an assistant coach?" He shrugged, "Why not?" I smiled, "Cool. I'll fill you in on the job later."

I had the practice start and had the kids get used to 3v3 battling first. I put Calem, Elio, and Brendan on one team, and on the other I had Victor, Gloria, and Lyra. Despite a decently good type match up for both sides, Calem's team absolutely excelled, I mean Elio and Brendan got in each other's way a little bit since they're both really aggressive and attack heavy, but Calem kept them cool and collected, this may be my starting line up next week. I began to quickly fill in my depth chart on how I felt I should use each

Captain
Calem

Aces
Elio
Brendan

Top 6
Dawn
Gloria
Ethan

Fringe Starters
Hilda
Hilbert
Victor
Lyra

Lots of solid talents on this team I think. I could see people like Hilda and Hilbert becoming aces later on, heck I could see almost anyone on this team being in the starting 6, I may even have to fix the lineup depending on the team we're against. I smiled, "Alright guys, practice every day except on the weekends, so I'll catch you back here tomorrow, can I see Calem, Brendan, And Elio here for a second though. The rest left besides the 3 I mentioned.

I put my hands on my hips, "I was impressed with you 3 today especially, as you know Calem is the team captain, but Elio and Brendan, I think you two will be constants on the starting lineup." Elio pumped his fists and jumped up, "ALRIGHT!! We did it Primarina!" Primarina barked back happily. I laughed, that kid was so enthusiastic, he brightened up rooms for sure. Brendan smiled, "I'm honored Professor! I can't wait! You won't regret it!" I nodded, "I don't think I will... Calem you all good with this?" He shrugged, "Yeah. Sounds good to me. Excited to work with you guys." Elio and Brendan nodded excitedly and I clapped my hands. "Alright. Thank you guys, you can go now." They all left moments later.

Ethan POV

I waited outside for Elio, since he was my roommate I figured I should get to know him a bit better. He came out moments later, "Elio! There you are." He looked a bit confused, "Yeah. Hey Ethan, what's up?" I shrugged, "I dunno, since you're my roommate and what not, you wanna go get some food with me and my friends tonight?" He smiled, "Sounds like fun! Thanks Ethan." I gave him a thumbs up and we went to a local fast food place with Lyra, Dawn, and Kris.

We got there and Elio sat next to me with the 3 girls in the booth on the other side, we all got our food and talked. Elio was really friendly and got along with everyone really well. He's a pretty genuine guy, I can see him being a pretty good roommate. Eventually he froze a little bit and entered a deep train of thought, Lyra looked over at him, "You alright Elio?" He shook himself, "Huh? Oh. Yeah I'm good, I'm just thinking." Kris questioned next, "About what, classes tomorrow?" Elio shook his head, "I wish I was that diligent. I actually have a question for you Dawn?" Dawn put her hands up, "Wait! Can- can I take a guess at what you're about to ask?" Elio stared confusedly "Uh- I mean sure...?" Dawn clasped her hands, "You're gonna ask me about the blonde girl I was with yesterday aren't you?" Elio blushed a little bit, "Er- yeah... I think she might be-" "An old friend of yours?" I looked over at Elio who was a perfect combination of confused and defeated. He started again, "Y-...yeah. how'd...how'd you-" Dawn shrugged, "She told me she might've recognized you as well." Elio scratched his head, "Eheh. Yeah. I guess I'll have to see her at some point, pretty cool we ended up in the same place." I smiled, "That's nice for you Elio. Hey Lyra, you want to get some extra practice in tomorrow with me and Typhlosion?" Lyra smiled and answered, "Yeah! Er- I'll have to finish my pre-med classes first but if I get some free time I'll meet you." Kris looked over to Dawn, "Look at them making plans without us. You want to go out and do something tomorrow?" Dawn smiled, "Sounds good Kris, we'll figure out the rest later. We're just making plans to make the rest of them jealous." Everyone at the table laughed. Elio eventually spoke, "Well I appreciate you guys having me out today! I'm gonna head back, I'll see you guys around." We all said our goodbyes as he exited the restaurant. I looked over to Dawn, "Any idea what time practice starts tomorrow?" Dawn sighed, "Same time as today Ethan." I scratched the back of my head. "Yeah that would make sense wouldn't it..."

Selene POV

Kris got back that night later than what I thought she would and I acknowledged her. She nodded and then sat down on the chair near me. "What were you doing Kris?" She shrugged, "Went out to dinner with some friends, hey- Elio was there too, you know him right?" I nodded, "Yeah he's my friend, why?" Kris shrugged, "No reason, I was just curious. He seemed nice enough." I shrugged, "He can be a bit over excited sometimes, but deep down he's a good guy." Kris sighed and then went to bed.

Gloria POV

I ran to my room and opened the door to find Serena on the bed playing on her phone. "Hey Serena." She looked up, "Hey Gloria. You get 42?" I cracked a smile, "Heh. Yeh." Serena shook her head while suppressing her laughter. She then looked at me, "Hey, where were you by the way?" I explained, "Oh. I went to talk with my friends from home, Hop and Victor. We always lose track of time." Serena nodded, "I understand that, I wish I had a couple people I knew here." I shrugged, "What about the captain of the battling team? He's from Kalos." Serena shifted a little bit, "Oh- I uh, yeah I don't know him...yet..." She said the last part quietly and I didn't quite catch it "What?" She looked up, "What?" I shrugged and then began to browse my phone. I kind of miss home, but battling is pretty fun so hopefully this will be a lot of fun.