A classroom full of students was seated and chatting amongst themselves. As in any class at a Pokémon Trainer School, the only topic of conversation was—of course—Pokémon.

  “My dad says Ghost Pokémon are the rarest of them all. He barely saw any back in his days as a trainer,” said a kid with glasses and a nerdy look.

  “Ha! Your dad probably wasn’t looking right. Besides, he couldn’t have been the best trainer in the world if he had to come back to Pallet and start a farm,” retorted a chubby girl with a high-pitched voice.

  The nerdy kid nearly exploded. “As if your parents are any better! They each have only one Pokémon—and that’s just to fix people’s houses!” he shouted back.

  This kind of bickering was routine between the two. The other kids hardly reacted—they knew exactly how the exchange would unfold the moment the first words were said.

  But the argument was cut short as their teacher entered the room, calling out cheerfully, “Good morning, children!”

  Instantly, the room fell silent. Everyone scrambled back to their seats, ready for the day’s lesson on Pokémon.

  “Alright everyone, roll call,” announced the teacher, a brunette woman in her late thirties.

  She began calling names. “Adam Bloom?”

  “Present, Miss Stevens,” replied the nerdy kid.

  Miss Stevens was a beloved teacher at the Trainer School. A former trainer who once competed in the Indigo League, her lectures were always highly anticipated. Her students loved the personal insights she added, drawn from real-world experience. She took her job seriously, determined to ensure that when these twelve-year-olds graduated in two years, they’d be as prepared as possible for the real—and often cruel—world.

  “…And lastly, Victor Stark.”

  Silence.

  “Victor Stark?” she repeated.

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  Turning toward Victor’s seat, she saw a white-haired, dark-skinned boy gazing dreamily out the window, watching the school gardener and his Marill watering the flower beds.

  “Victor!” Miss Stevens called sharply.

  He snapped out of his trance, jolted back to reality.

  “Pfft,” snickered several students. Victor was known to be a dreamer. Among the twenty kids in their class, no one was more passionate about Pokémon—especially battling—than him.

  Victor smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, Miss Stevens. The Marill looked amazing using Water Gun to water the garden. I couldn’t look away.”

  “It’s good that you’re observing Pokémon behavior, Victor, but pay attention in class or you might miss something important,” Miss Stevens said with a gentle scolding.

  Victor nodded quickly, finishing with an unconvincing, “It won’t happen again.”

  Miss Stevens sighed, knowing full well it probably would.

  “Let’s continue where we left off on opposing Pokémon moves,” she began. “We’ve discussed how certain Fighting-type Pokémon can learn elemental punches—like Fire Punch or Thunder Punch. But it’s nearly impossible for a Pokémon to learn moves with opposing elemental energies. For example, once a Hitmonchan learns Fire Punch, it begins to attune to the Fire element. Teaching it Ice Punch afterward becomes difficult, as Fire and Ice are opposing energies.”

  She turned to her whiteboard, which doubled as a projector screen. “Let’s watch a battle between a Hitmonchan and a Charizard.”

  The mention of a Pokémon battle reignited the students’ excitement—especially Victor’s.

  “Is it a video of Ash’s Charizard, Miss Stevens?” he asked, beaming with hope.

  Miss Stevens smiled, recognizing Victor’s admiration for Pallet Town’s pride and joy. But she replied, “No, my dear.”

  Victor’s smile dimmed just a little—but not his energy. He was still eager to learn.

  “Ha! Calm down, fanboy,” said the kid next to him. “We just watched Ash’s battle last week in our Electric-type class.”

  “I know, I know,” Victor grinned.

  Class continued.

  Lunchtime in the cafeteria was always buzzing, especially when Adam and the chubby girl, Aster, sat at the same table. Talk of Pokémon diets and food habits was as common as Pokéballs.

  “Did you watch yesterday’s Sponsor Competition final battle? What a matchup!” exclaimed Adam.

  Even Aster nodded. “Hmm.”

  Victor, clueless, admitted, “I didn’t watch it.”

  “What?! What were you doing?” Adam asked.

  Victor grinned proudly. “I was watching Ash’s interview about the beginning of his journey.”

  The other kids groaned.

  “Again?” someone muttered.

  Victor stood by it. “Of course! It’s a good idea to study the lives of successful people if you want to be successful yourself. That’s what my father says.”

  He wasn’t embarrassed about idolizing Ash—far from it. Victor wanted to be like him.

  “Forget it, Adam. You should’ve guessed it when he walked in today with that T-shirt,” Aster added.

  Adam looked and chuckled. Victor was wearing a sky-blue shirt with Ash and Pikachu printed on it, along with the slogan: Gotta Catch ’Em All.

  With a huge grin, Victor suddenly declared to the whole cafeteria, “Of course I’m gonna follow in his footsteps, become a Pokémon Master, and one day challenge him to a full-on battle! Hehehehe!”

  Dreams begin at school, and the world was waiting to mold aspiring young Victor.