“Haha, that was wonderful!” Director Cyrano was the first one to step forward, clapping loudly along with the rest of the students. “Great to see how driven our new students are,” he congratulated us.

  As he got close to us, he continued. “That being said, the official battle strategy of Blueberry is Double Battles. I hope you can use that in the future; I think it leads to some really exciting strategies and combos.”

  “Aheh, sorry sir,” Kieran said, blushing slightly at an authority figure chiding him (however kindly).

  My own cheeks grew a bit warm as I realized the slight gaff we’d made. “Ah right, I’m eager to try out double battles more, I just- this was just kind of a personal moment for them.” I explained, hoisting Nightwing up onto my shoulder, her long tail wrapping around my waist to avoid trailing against the ground.

  “We caught both of them in Kitikami on the same day, two years ago. They had their first battle as trained Pokemon a week after that, before Nemona went back to Paldea. This was the first time they’ve been able to fight.” I cringed a little at that, recognizing that it was my fault. I ran off during my birthday party last year after having a fight with Arven. Kieran probably wanted to challenge us back then but didn’t feel like it would work because of all that.

  “Sounds like quite that tale there! Reminds me of the time Snackworth-” Cyrano began before a very beautiful girl with long white hair stepped up beside him, clearing her throat.

  “Sounds heartwarming,” the girl said with a voice like ice, matching the gaze she sent mine and Kieran’s way. “But all the first years have gathered now, so it would be best to stay on track and start the tour, sir.”

  Geez, what’s her problem? Then again, he does seem like the sort to ramble. I didn’t have time to ponder that as she turned around and strode to the back, letting the Director call everyone together.

  “Right, right. For another time then.” He clapped his hands together loudly once, getting the attention of all the excited students.

  “Welcome, first years, to Blueberry Academy! What do you think of the color scheme?” He asked, waving an arm out at the bleachers and walls. There was a moment of silence which dragged on, becoming awkward as we realized that he actually wanted a response to the question and it wasn’t just rhetorical.

  “Umm, it’s nice.” I blurted out, and then wished I could dive into the ocean as everyone stared at me and a few kids snickered. He asked!

  Cyrano beamed at my response. “Glad ya like it! Took me forever to come up with just the right blueberry color, it was the hardest part of making this place.” There’s no way that’s true, right?

  He continued, oblivious to my (and likely most of the other hundreds of students gathered there) doubts on that. Turning around, the Director said, “Follow me! We’ve got a bunch for you newcomers to see. First stop, our entrance desk, where the lovely Miss Rose will hand out your student IDs,” he waved over to the secretary sitting behind the desk. “She’ll make sure you get your physical and electronic IDs setup. Make sure to keep them on hand, they’ll be useful for later.”

  We all lined up and Miss Rose (as well as dozens of assistants whom I imagined were just stationed here for today to help deal with this bureaucratic volume) and got the small plastic ID cards handed out, as well as shown how to download and use the ID app on our Rotom Phones (which worked with Xtranscievers, Pokegear, and regular smart phones too). Then as that was all finished, he took us down into the school proper.

  Cyrano directed us to the elevators, of which there were several sets, each one large enough to hold even a Steelix or Wailord within comfortably (though there was a sign indicating that Pokemon as big as a Snorlax or larger should be stored within Pokeballs when using the elevators). “These are the main elevator lines. They can take you all the way down to the Terarium, or even to the geothermal power regulator,” Cyrano informed us.

  I paused. “That’s cool, but where are we going next?” He hasn’t exactly told us much yet.

  He paused, going cross-eyed again. “We’re going to umm, hmm… where were we going again?”

  The white haired older girl cut in. “The central rings, sir.”

  Cyrano snapped his fingers. “Oh, right! You should probably do this tour stuff, it’s not exactly my strong suit.”

  “I think the Director giving the welcoming tour sends a good message,” the teenager shot back dryly. Her tone was polite, but her face said ‘No way in hell am I doing that for you.’ I can’t say I like her from my first impression, but she does have a point there about him being the one to do this… even if practically speaking Cyrano is probably right. He seems like a good guy, but a bit airheaded. I wonder how he got the job as Director?

  We exited the elevator out onto a very large, wide, curved hallway, with numerous rooms on the side. The walls had a very futuristic decorative pattern to them, and slightly stuck out jagged white patterns, almost like tree branches. There were plenty of bright lights and screens on the walls to illuminate the interior. The screens displayed mostly imagery of the outside, clouds and sky, likely in an attempt to make people feel less like they were trapped in a metal coffin.

  From those walls hung plenty of signage to help direct any student to the nearest amenities, and give them an idea of where the most important places were in relation to them. Around us people and Pokemon were walking about, chatting, or going about various jobs. Most of the other students weren’t here yet, but obviously a lot of staff was needed to keep the place running.

  Director Cyrano led us down the hallway. “Welcome to the inner rings of Blueberry Academy. These serve as the central hub of the school and connect the five outer rings- ohh, there’s a great little study hall over there.” He pointed at one of the rooms before taking a moment to gather his thoughts.

  “Where was I? Oh right, the inner rings. It has most of the administrative features and rooms, though there’s lounges and libraries in here too. There’s three levels to each of the rings, and you have to travel through the central ones to reach any of the others,” he told us, pointing out another hallway sticking out to the side. My eyes caught onto the lines around the edge connecting it to the inner rings, and how they were repeated down that hallway, and along this one.

  Clearly some sort of mechanism designed to cut off water from flooding, if need be. Might even be used to trap or block intruders in a pinch, depending on how much control they’d have over the system to utilize it like that, but that might be risky. My thoughts wandered as the rest of the group moved ahead.

  There’s so much here. So much knowledge, so many people and Pokemon all stored here. I’m sure there’s more redundancies than the ones he’s shown us here, more protocols to keep people safe in the event of a disaster, but I can't help but worry about how bad it would be if something happened. Pokemon and even the technology of this world can be so powerful and I can just imagine it all sinking to the bottom of the ocean…

  But on the other hand, is anything truly safe in this world? Entire civilizations have risen and fallen leaving only scant ruins and legends of their existence. Legendaries could wage battles that could raze the mainland entirely, but Blueberry’s separation might be the only thing that keeps it safe.

  “Hurry up, slowpoke!” Carmine’s voice jostled me out of my thoughts and I rushed ahead to keep up with the taller students, already walking away. “Geez, how are you getting your head lost in the clouds already?”

  “Haha, guess I just fit more up there than down here,” I joked and she gave me a thoroughly confused look before shaking her head. Cyrano brought us over to a big directionary/map.

  The interactive map was in the center of the hallway, and while it was large, the group was too big for everyone to get a clear view of it, especially the smaller kids in the back, which most definitely included me and my friends. We were able to hear the Director’s explanation, though.

  “This map shows all the major locations within the school, which we will do a brief tour of today. There’s the battle arena and entrance above. Outside of the Terarium that’s the only arena, so keep your battles to one of those two places!”

  “Next we have the inner rings, where we are, right about… here! They lead to the Classroom Rings, both basic and advanced, the Science Ring where we do our most intensive research, the Recreational Ring, where the cafeterias, libraries, school shops, and most club rooms are, and finally the Dormitory Ring, which has all of your rooms. But I just like to think of them as the Green, Blue, Purple, Red, and Yellow rings, color coded so it’s easy to keep track of them all!”

  Is he serious? Cyrano doesn’t seem like a bad guy, but he’s kinda… out there, for the Director of such a large faculty. “All of the outer rings have lifts to take you down to the pride and joy of Blueberry Academy, our Terarium.” I caught more than a few sharp intakes of breath amid my own. The Terarium is one of the biggest draws of Blueberry Academy and I would be lying if I said it hadn’t played a huge role in me wanting to go too.

  “Beneath that is the geothermal processor that powers the school and more, real fascinating stuff that. We won’t be going over it in too much detail, but you’ll get a brief looksee of it before the tour is done.”

  “Do we get to see the Terarium?” One student asked among the crowd, and he just chuckled.

  “Of course you’ll get to see it. But you can’t spend too long there; don’t want to risk losing you before the term’s even begun. Each of the tour groups will have fifteen minutes there, but I’m sure you’ll spend plenty of time all around the Academy in the future.” Disappointing but it makes sense, we’ll see it more later. I think we even have some classes inside the Terarium itself.

  Some more teachers had joined us, and were dividing us up into different groups. My friends were all split up, but I remained in Cyrano’s group as the quirky Director led us through the school.

  We didn’t spend too long in the classrooms, but they all looked functional and easy to navigate. The school app updated automatically to show us our schedules, which would mostly just be orientation for the next two days before we got to the real work. The entrance exam is weighted a bit tougher for early admittance students, but I’m actually looking forward to even the regular school stuff. It’s been a long time since I had to do any of this.

  Next came the dormitories, where we got to find our rooms and put down our personal belongings. Each one (I presumed since I only saw the inside of my own) had a comfy bed, desk, cabinets, fridge, and little kitchen station. A little bland at the moment, but I can customize it with time, and it has everything a student/young adult would need in a home.

  After that Cyrano took us to one of the cafeterias in the next ring over. “Basic meals will be included in your tuition, but if you want something fancy, our chefs can whip something up for you, in exchange for some Blueberry Points.”

  “What are Blueberry Points?” A girl in the back with pale blue hair that stuck up somewhat asked, and Cyrano’s ‘assistant’ sneered.

  “It should have already been covered in the introductory guide you got when you received your acceptance letter, but since you couldn’t be bothered to read it, I’ll spell it out for you.” That earned a few snickers, to which the older girl glared at the rest of the students. “And for everyone else who failed to properly prepare themselves,” she added, which shut down most of the people laughing. Despite her attention being drawn to the girl who asked, she noticed that some of them had looked curious when the other girl first asked her question too. She's sharp.

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  The older girl stepped up onto a table bench to loudly lecture us. “Blueberry Points, or BBPs, are the currency of Blueberry Academy. It does not matter how rich your parents are-” her gaze locked on with mine for a moment and I just crossed my arms in response. Bring it, I don’t need Glitterati money to shine on. The moment passed so quickly it could have been my imagination as she continued. “Or how great your lineage or whatever might matter outside these walls. If you want anything more than the basic amenities here, then you need BBPs. With these you can order fancier meals, buy rare Technical Machines, Vitamins, and more from the shop, remodel clubs, and far more.”

  “You earn BBPs by doing well in classes, winning tournaments and big battles, from club leaders, and can earn some assisting the teachers and staff with small tasks, colloquially called ‘Blueberry Quests’ or BBQs. You can also exchange BBPs with other students, provided the transfer is authorized by a teacher. Any questions?” She asked acidly.

  That makes sense - without a teacher involved, there’s a chance that people could trade BBPs for money or other things that the staff wouldn’t approve of. Already I can see ways in which the rules around those might get bent, to say the least. Still, it is an interesting system. Like a personalized House Points from Harry Potter except you can use them for more than just what color the banners are at the end of year feast… okay, it’s not much like that at all, then.

  I had read the attached guide pdf thoroughly, but that hadn’t mentioned transferring BBPs over, or all of the examples this rude girl had given, so I was still thinking it over, but I did have something I wanted to ask. “Yeah, two questions: First, who even are you? Second, why are you even here if you seem to hate everyone and everything?”

  There was a look of shock and flash of hurt I thought I saw (but could have easily been imagined on my part) before she replaced the surprise with cool anger. My response earned a few snickers her way, and while the glare she sent out smothered most of them, the drop in temperature silenced the rest as she glared at me. It’s not super dramatic, I doubt most people consciously picked up on that, but my senses are improved, and the temperature definitely dipped a bit in response to her anger. Must be the work of an enemy Aura user!

  I held my defiant gaze as she answered. “My name is Elsa Death, and I’m here because it’s one of my duties as head and champion of League Club. Fulfilling that duty is what gives my club Blueberry Points we can distribute to others - and the League Club has the largest budget for BBPs to hand out to the student body.” She finished with a smirk, watching as the students perked up, looking eagerly towards her.

  “And what a zealous job you do filling those duties,” Cyrano said with a light smile. The words could be perceived as a compliment, but from the glint in his eye and the downward turn of Elsa’s lips, I could tell that the admonishment wasn’t missed by her as she stepped off of the bench. “Now, as a reward for you all making it to our school, I’ve had our chefs prepare a number of the deluxe items for you to feast on,” he declared, waving a hand to the platters placed out across the counter. “Let’s take a break from our tour and enjoy ourselves!”

  The students formed a line (with a bit of pushing and shoving), eager to get some food after a long tour. I was hungry too, but still mildly disturbed by this ‘Elsa’ person. On the one hand, she is just a kid, and it’s only a League ‘club’, not an official institution. But on the other, I’m an even younger kid, and that Aura use… it doesn’t necessarily mean she’s a super strong Trainer, but most of those who are the former, are the latter too.

  Elsa stood back, not keen to talk to me and I didn’t really feel like engaging with her either even if I was curious, so I just went and had my lunch. And what a lunch it is! They have all sorts of different meals here, plenty of regional specialties laid out to like Malasadas, Johtoan Bento boxes, and so much more!

  I, like the basic bitch I am, had a steak and fries. Something which drew a few eyes from some of the other students sitting nearby. “Not going for the sandwich? This is great!” A stocky boy asked beside me, digging into his odd sandwich that had an over-easy egg placed atop the bread rather than between the slices. He had short black hair with two puffs on either side of his head and a very bulbous nose.

  “She probably gets plenty of those in Paldea. That is where you’re from, right? I heard a rumor…” The blue-haired girl from before trailed off, suddenly feeling nervous. Don’t blame her after Elsa nearly bit her head off.

  “I am from Paldea, though I was born in Unova and I’m honestly not a huge sandwich fan. Though I’ve never seen one done in that style before,” I said to the boy.

  “Yeah, it’s a Kalosian style I wanted to try but never had before. It’s really good!” He took another bite before saying with a mouth full of food, “I’m Victor. Everyone calls me Chum though, because-” he paused, suddenly looking awkward.

  “Cause you're such a good friend?" I offered, and he took that new interpretation of his nickname, nodding vigorously.

  "Yeah, just call me Chum! Or uh, maybe Chumley." He added after a split second. Must want a way to differentiate that from people who might mean it derogatorily. The kid was awkward, but I could relate, having once been an awkward teenager myself. And knowing myself, I'll probably be plenty awkward in a few years too, no doubt. Or at least, about as unsure as I am now of social situations. People had so many hidden rules going on with interaction, Pokemon were so much easier.

  "I'm Nemona,” I said, considering offering a hand for him to shake before seeing how messy his was and turned instead to the girl sitting across from us. She was quite small, so much so that I thought she might have been an early entrant too, but no, she just tiny. Neither she nor 'Chumley' have more than one Pokeball, so I guess the regular entrance must be easier than the early one.

  “Ah, I’m Sally. So you’re really her? A Champion… what’s it like?”

  I laughed, only slightly awkwardly. “I mean, it was a huge achievement at the moment and I’m so proud of my team, but uhh, it’s like anything else right now? I’m just me, a girl going to school at the moment.”

  “Huh, that’s really down to earth. You don’t really see that from celebrities.” Chumley commented and I gave him a sidelong look.

  “And you’ve talked to plenty of celebrities, have you?” He blushed and mumbled something indistinct, taking another bite of his sandwich. “Haha, relax, I’m just ribbing you. I wouldn’t really know too much about celebrities either.”

  “Not even with your music?” Sally inquired, and I shook my head.

  “I haven’t really had the chance to do much of that recently, too focused on training.” Not that I can complain, but it does feel like there’s never enough time. “I was hoping to do a music shoot inside the Terarium at some point, but that might take a bit of work.”

  Cyrano, who had been walking nearby as I said that, gave me a thumbs up. “We’d have to go over the details, but I think that sounds wonderful. It could promote your music and the school.”

  “Ah, thank you sir.” Hmm, on that note… “Who funds the school, exactly? I know Blueberry gets some funding from the Unovan League but that can’t be enough to cover everything.” My research into financial matters had led me down a bit of a rabbit hole regarding Blueberry Academy.

  Part of the reason why they seem so separate from Unova is because after they made the switch to this separate, underwater school, the Unovan League didn’t increase any funding towards it. It was understandable, as Blueberry’s decision came after the first Plasma Crisis, and then the blueprints and plans were finalized right as the Neo Plasma Crisis passed. The League was bleeding money trying to recover while Blueberry wanted to move away, but it does raise the question of who supported all the initial financing, even if the programs they run currently could shore up the extra costs in supporting the students and staff on campus.

  A mystery that was apparently very easy to answer. “Oh, I do.”

  “Like… all of it?”

  “Yup! Cost a pretty penny, but it was worth it.” He said with a big smile on his face. “Ooh, is that someone dipping a Malasada in a smoothie? I’ve never tried anything like that before,” He said, quickly walking off to investigate the culinary experiment.

  That… that’s more than a ‘pretty penny.’ I don’t know the exact state of my parent’s finances, but I think even they would have trouble affording that! Then again, they have enough money that they could take out loans and finance such a project, even if it would raise quite a few eyebrows…

  “You have five minutes to finish your meals,” Elsa’s voice cut out across the cafeteria, spurring me out of my thoughts and to quickly eat up the rest of the delicious meal. Part of me was tempted to be upset with her forcing the issue, but as I saw the next group being led to the cafeteria as we left, I could begrudgingly admit she had a point in keeping us on schedule (and that the Director wasn’t likely to keep as close an eye on things).

  Next up was the school shop, and I was already eyeing some nice gifts I could grab for my family, like a Scald TM for Cyan and a football jacket (is it even called that here? Yet another thing to carefully research with Miles before opening my mouth and making it obvious I don’t quite fit in with the culture of the world here) for my parents. Hmm, I should talk with Cyan about getting one from Uva as well, that way Mom and Dad would each be able to have a jacket from one of us.

  Considering we didn’t have any BBP yet, we didn’t spend too much time at the store before doing a quick tour of the clubs (mostly just the League Club room, which was nice, but didn’t look like anything too special despite how Elsa puffed up in pride as she showed it off), and then to the final of the outer rings, the ‘science ring.’

  “While we run some experiments within the Terarium, there are other delicate procedures and equipment stored here. For the most part you kids won’t be here often, but a couple classes take place here, and you might be asked to assist some teachers as part of your BBQs.” Cyrano explained as he led us through the rings. We didn’t go inside many of the rooms but from the outside we could see and hear things like heavy machinery moving, an explosion and…

  “Colress?!” I questioned, breaking off from the group to see the man with incredibly oddly shaped hair inside a room. The scientist in question had a clipboard in hand and was standing in front of an odd contraption, like a frame with four points pointing in from the corners. From those points it created a field that I instinctually felt like backing away from, with a Solosis floating in the center of it.

  He turned to me, looking only momentarily surprised. “Ah, Miss Glitterati. What brings you to my lab?”

  “Uh, I just saw something- what’s going on here?” I asked, pointing at the machine.

  “Solo, sis, so.” The Psychic Pokemon responded, and Colress nodded, noting a few things down before turning off the machine and letting the Psychic Type float out.

  “Two things. The first was an experiment to see if Psychic Types had any difference, difficulty or ease, when using their powers within a vacuum. The other was to see how Magic Guard might prevent a Pokemon from being hurt in outer space.”

  “And that device simulates a vacuum?” I asked, even though I was fairly certain in my assumption given how I felt and my Aura.

  “Correct, as well as some of the other factors, radiation and the like, that would be applicable in outer space. The machine can let me scale up those factors slowly to avoid harming the Pokemon who volunteer for the tests.”

  “That’s good. Why though? For the Psychic testing in outer space, not the keeping Pokemon safe part,” I quickly added.

  “Because no one else had tested such a thing.” I mean, yeah, that’s probably true. “I was also curious as I’d heard rumors that Deoxys came from outer space, and was a Psychic Type. The Clefairy line has connections to the Moon and is known for possessing Magic Guard, so I was curious about that as well, and the viability of having those kinds of Pokemon assist us in setting up research bases and colonies among the stars.”

  “Whoa.” I mean, it’s not that crazy to think about. Poke-world technology is a lot more advanced than our own and with Pokemon by our side, we could discover so much more about planets beyond ours. Terraforming would also be much easier with Grass and Water Types. There are Steel Types like Magnezone that don’t need to breath - using them could make repairing a ship much easier if it ever got damaged in a long flight-

  “Interesting ideas,” Colress said, snapping me out of my thoughts which I had apparently not kept nearly as silent as I’d thought. “I’d love to discuss this more with you Miss Glitterati, but it appears your tour group is going on ahead.”

  “Ah! Sorry, yes, we should talk later. And call me Nemona!” Miss Glitterati makes me feel old. I mean, I am old, but- enough of that, got to catch up! I sped out of the lab and down the hallway to catch up with the group. Not many people noticed (since I hovered an inch off the ground with my Aura to avoid making any sounds and literally fly there faster), but Elsa whipped her head around to catch my gaze as I joined up with the end of the group.

  Did she notice me using Aura somehow? Tulip could sense Aura use around her without seeing it, but we figured that was because hers was Psychically aligned. I’d never managed it, but had enhanced senses to make up for that.

  There wasn’t any time to dwell on that though, with the Director ushering us onto an elevator. This one didn’t have anywhere to go up, however, going straight down. “Each of the outer rings has a lift going down to the edge of the Terarium - it’s honestly easier to reach that space from these than the central elevator.”

  We went down a fair ways, and I noticed the elevator dinged twice. “All right here we are, the beating heart of Blueberry Academy; The geothermal engine room!” Cyrano proudly declared as the doors opened up.

  “Huh?!” Was the response from most of the students as we were greeted with a bunch of steel pipes, machines, and sweltering heat. The only one not surprised was Elsa, whom I caught sight of tugging at the collar of her summer uniform, beads of sweat rolling down.

  “I did say I was going to show you this, didn’t I?” The man said, scratching at his chin as he tried to remember.

  “You did sir, I think we were just expecting the Terarium, is all.” I told him, gathering some cool air around myself. I was certain Elsa noticed that time, but I hardly cared with how hot it was. Pretty sure I’ve got her pegged too. The bigger question is how the heck does Director Cyrano deal with all of this while wearing a three-piece suit??

  It was a puzzle I’d have to solve later as he led us through an abbreviated tour of the place, which mostly got covered as ‘don’t touch that’ for most of the apparatus down here and to follow the directions of the technicians who worked with the stuff for a living. We did get to peer down a large glass cutout over the ground in one spot and see part of the super thermal vent the school was placed atop of, which was cool (Haha, heat jokes!).

  With that out of the way we were taken up a slight distance to what would serve as the actual end point of the tour and what we’d been waiting for: The Terarium.

  Discord. Thank you, and I hope you have a great day and a great next year!

  - Tera Type: Normal

  - Held Item: Expert Belt

  - Abilities: Run Away, Serene Grace

  - Moves known:

  - 'Miles' (Rotom, Genderless, Electric/Form dependent Type, Friend Ball)

  - Tera Type: Electric

  - Held Item: Life Orb

  - Ability: Levitate

  - Moves Known:

  - 'Nightwing' (Gliscor, Female, Flying/Ground Type, Lure Ball)

  - Tera Type: Water

  - Held Item: Toxic Orb

  - Ability: Hyper Cutter, Poison Heal

  - Moves Known:

  - 'Notch' (Diancie, Mega-Evolvable, Genderless, Rock/Fairy Type, Dream Ball)

  - Tera Type: Fighting

  - Held Item: Light Clay

  - Ability: Clear Body

  - Moves Known:

  - 'Phantasm' (Hisuian Zoroark, Female, Normal/Ghost, Fast Ball)

  - Tera Type: Ghost

  - Held Item: Lax Incense

  - Ability: Illusion

  - Moves Known:

  - 'Athena' (Lucario, Mega-Evolveable, Female, Fighting/Steel, Moon Ball)

  - Tera Type: Fighting

  - Held Item: Clear Amulet

  - Ability: Steadfast

  - Moves Known:

  -'Bahamut' (Haxorus, Male, Shiny, Dragon, Level Ball)

  - Tera Type: Dragon

  - Held Item: Dragon Fang

  - Ability: Mold Breaker

  - Moves Known:

  - 'Radiance' (Iron Moth, Genderless, Fire/Poison, Beast Ball)

  - Tera Type: Poison

  - Held Item: Booster Energy

  - Ability: Quark Drive

  - Moves Known:

  -'Anya' (Gothorita, Female, Psychic, Love Ball)

  - Tera Type: Psychic

  - Held Item: None

  - Ability: Shadow Tag

  - Moves Known:

  *Custom Moves