Chapter 63:  Helping Hand (Part A) by Michael Keens/Exodus  

The journeys of the old group in the Johto region had begun, except for one, 
though in a way, he’d started a journey of sorts.  
In Violet City, standing tall was the Pokémon Academy; it’d started out as a 
school for infants to learn about Pokémon, but had since developed due to 
growing interest from other age groups.  
Mildly in the Orange League, and frequently in the northern Rainbow League, 
Tetsubo had come across new types of Pokémon, with many new attacks and 
abilities.  
After his loss in the finals he realised he now didn’t know enough about 
Pokémon to remain a high class master, and so chose to enrol at the Pokémon 
Academy before his journey.  
Because he was a high scoring graduate and a mature student of Pokémon Tech in 
the Kanto Region, Tetsubo only needed two months to study up on the newly 
discovered Pokémon, the new types, and the brand new attacks and techniques.  
As soon as Emily arrived in Violet City, Tetsubo would have completed his 
exams and be ready to set out on his latest journey.  

“Go Weepinbell! Use your Sweet Scent!”  
“To... To...” sighed its opponent, a blue crocodile Pokémon, enticed by the 
smell and unwilling to move for a moment.  
“Now use Razor Leaf!”  
“Snap out of it Gator! And use Rage!”  
Too late to dodge, the Totodile could only use the following damage for the 
next hit and hang in there.  
Temporarily scarred with nasty gashes, the Totodile growled and leapt forward, 
biting hard on one of the Weepinbell’s leaves hard.  
“Gator...  I was going to have you use...  Ah, never mind.” groaned 
Tetsubo, “How it learned Bite before Water Gun is beyond me, three straight 
matches and three times its used Bite without my telling it to do so...”  
The Weepinbell bounced around in panic until it was recalled, and the Totodile 
crashed to the floor.  
“Toto...” it growled in a hiss-like voice.  
“Good job Gator, although cut down on the biting, it’s for your own good.” 
smiled Tetsubo nervously as he recalled it into his Pokéball.  
His hairstyle had changed but was still turquoise in colour, secured by a 
black headband, it now fell to the sides in a curtain style, and Tetsubo wore 
a brown/black waistcoat with a long sleeved yellow shirt underneath, along 
with orange trousers and brown boots.  
“I suppose this match doesn’t count either.”  
“Why would you say that?” questioned Zacky, a long-time student here but too 
young to travel.  
“Well since Gator keeps biting without my permission, it hardly shows I’m in 
control of it at the moment.”  
“Well I don’t care about that technicality, you beat me, but if I’d-”  
“Caught a Pikachu you’d have beaten me, I know this song.” Tetsubo said 
hurriedly.  
“But Tetsubo, I was This close to catching one last year.” said Zacky 
enthusiastically.  
“Catching another trainer’s Pokémon is illegal Zack’, you must realise that by 
now.”  
“Yeah yeah, I know...”  
“Zacky!...” called one of the teachers, a woman with curly black hair and a 
blue dress entered the room, “Your parents are here to pick you up.”  
“Okay Miss...” he called before facing Tetsubo, “I’ll see you tomorrow?”  
“Absolutely.” he nodded.  
“And I wanna battle one of your champion Pokémon this time!”  
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea...” warned Tetsubo, though Zacky was 
gone before he could protest.  
Miss Priscilla returned to the room moments after, “Tetsubo, you don’t mind if 
we lock up this room, do you?”  
“I was leaving anyway...” smiled Tetsubo, connecting his Pokéball to his belt 
and helping to shut the double doors behind him.  
“I hope Zacky isn’t causing you any trouble, we don’t usually allow the young 
students to keep their own Pokémon with them and-”  
“I understand, but Zacky means no harm, and I enjoy battling on a daily basis, 
it keeps my skills up to scratch.”  
“Still training that Totodile?”  
“I won’t rest until it can get through a battle without biting someone.”  
“I know you wouldn’t Tetsubo, but please try not to let that Pokémon roam 
free.”  
“After the havoc this Pokémon caused when it was wild? What sort of trainer do 
you think I am?”  
Tetsubo had caught the fairly high level Totodile on a field trip to a large 
lake to study Pokémon in their natural habitat, the Totodile had been lured 
over by a younger student’s food and scared them, without thinking, one of 
them threw a small rock at it and got it mad, but Tetsubo managed to nullify 
it with his Vileplume and then capture it.  
“Oh, and Principle Earl would like to see you right away.”  
“Then I guess I’d better be going.” smiled Tetsubo, taking his leave.  
Tetsubo sighed before knocking on Earl’s door, he was such a character, one 
Tetsubo wouldn’t have believed existed if he hadn’t seen him with his own 
eyes.  
“La lala lala! Oh! Come in!” he said energetically in his high pitched voice.  
Tetsubo opened the doors and once again saw the eccentric moustached teacher 
spinning on one foot and pirouetting his way forward to greet him.  
“Ah, that was quick of you Tetsubo.  Why not relax with a little dance?”  
“Um, no thanks...” grinned Tetsubo nervously, taking a seat.  
Earl sighed lightly and spun his way to his chair and sat down on it, 
unfortunately, it was a rotating chair, and Earl occasionally spun it in a 
full circle throughout the conversation.  
“Miss Priscilla said you wanted to see me?”  
“Ah yes, we wanted to ask you for a favour really.”  
“You know I can’t stay any longer than two more weeks, once the exam’s over 
and my friends arrive, I’ll be starting my Johto Journey.” reminded Tetsubo.  
“Yes, I’m quite aware of that, this won’t coincide with your plans.  Basically 
Tetsubo, we’ve noticed how popular you are with the younger students around 
here.”  
“I guess I have a gift.” Tetsubo smiled, “Makes me think about doing it 
professionally someday.”  
“Then I’m sure you won’t mind working as an assistant during evenings to help 
the students who need it.”  
“Well, I guess so, but are you sure that’s okay, I’ve learned a lot about the 
Pokémon here but until I finish the exam, there’s no real proof I know enough 
to be passing it onto kids who’ll take my advice word for word.”  
“Oh, you’re a shoo-in for a success; you’re one of the highest scoring 
students here.”  
Tetsubo bashfully laughed, “Still...”  
“Which Pokémon in Johto is the only known Water/Dragon-type?!” asked Earl out 
of the blue and extremely fast.  
“Kingdra.” Tetsubo answered instinctively, “Whoa, I didn’t even think that one 
through; I guess I’m more prepared than I give myself credit for.”  
“Then it’s settled, you can work a few hours a week helping the students 
before you leave us.”  
“Until my friends arrive I’ve not much else to do with my time, I’ll do 
it...”  

The next day and Tetsubo was revising using the school computers.  
“It really works.” he smiled, having performed some simulations; “Sunny Day 
and Rain Dance really do enhance Fire attacks, the speed of Solarbeam, 
enhanced Water attacks and the accuracy of Thunder.”  
“Um... hello?...” called a quiet voice from behind the doorway.  
“It’s just me Tetsubo, you looking to see me?” he called back in a friendly 
tone.  
The young girl at the door turned behind the doorway and called to others “Um, 
he’s here.”  
Tetsubo could hear a large crowd gathering into a line and sighed with a light 
smile, “Guess I’ve got my work cut out for me...”  

“... I find it best to revise type strength and weaknesses every day until 
you’ve memorised it, some are fairly obvious like Water over Fire, Fire over 
Grass, and immunities like Electric having no power over Ground and Poison 
doing no damage or effects on Steel, but others take a little longer before 
they become second nature like Dark-types.”  
“Thanks.”  

“... When dealing with two stage moves like Solarbeam and Skull Bash, attacks 
that take one’s Pokémon off the field for two turns is a great way to dodge 
the opponent and use your own two stage powerful attacks like Fly or Dig.”  
“Cool, I’ll remember that.”  

“... Cutting down on your defensiveness in my advice, there’s no point 
enhancing a Pokémon’s stats if it loses all its stamina, I suggest you either 
use a mix of attacks and enhancements or better yet, an attack to distract the 
enemy and Then working to better your Pokémon’s abilities.”  
“You’re the greatest.”  

“... I’m happily in a relationship, and granted its been a long distance one 
lately, I’ve no plans to end it, so my advice to you is to view recent events 
with your head, not your heart and find someone Available to focus your 
attentions on.  I hear my brother’s currently single.”  
“I don’t want to settle for second best.” frowned Danielle, the young girl 
with a huge crush on Tetsubo.  
She was older and taller now but hadn’t matured, her green hair now stuck out 
to the sides tied with large bows and she now wore colourful summer clothing 
and new skates but with protective knee and elbow pads.  
Danielle had followed any mention of Tetsubo since the Kanto Pokémon League 
and enrolled here just to be with him, she hadn’t taken the news of his 
relationship with Emily well though, “I want you to admit to yourself that I 
mean more to you than some girl you haven’t seen in months.”  
“Why are you taking so long?” moaned a line of kids behind her, “You’re not 
even talking about Pokémon!”  
“We’ll talk later Dani’.” sighed Tetsubo tiredly, he’d done well in avoiding 
her up to now but this new job made it easy for her to find him.  

“... If you get stuck with a Pokémon with a type disadvantage, think outside 
the box and use other methods, personally I teach my Pokémon attacks of types 
different to their own to deal with surprises, but using smart tactics and 
strategies to win your battles is a necessity for advanced trainers.”  
“That’s great, I won’t forget that.”  

By the end of the day, Tetsubo was a little tired from speaking so much.  
“You the last one?” he asked a boy with naturally white hair.  
“Uh huh.”  
“Thank goodness.”  
“Oh...”  
“Oh I didn’t mean anything against you.  What do you want to talk about?”  
“It’s the other kids in my class...  They’re... kind of... hassling me...”  
“Well I’m glad you spoke up about it, I used to be kind of bullied, and by 
someone I knew as a friend, I know you might think hiding it will protect you 
but take it from me, reporting and expelling them is the-”  
“I don’t want to get them expelled.  I...  It’s my fault.”  
“Don’t say that, if you let these kids get away with whatever they’re-”  
“They only laughed at me, its no big deal.”  
“Okay...  What were they laughing at?”  
“I screamed in Practical.  And they won’t stop bugging me cos it’s not the 
first time.”  
“So it’s you that you want to talk about.”  
“Uh huh.”  
“Okay, so what do you think caused this to happen?”  
“A Nidoking.”  
“What? A Nidoking attacked you somewhere... outside?”  
“No, Inside the classroom.”  
“But the Pokémon in the school are all tame.”  
“I know.”  
“Did the Nidoking do anything? I could have someone take a look at it, make 
sure it’s-”  
“It didn’t do anything; I just can’t handle big Pokémon.”  
“And That’s what you want help with...” figured Tetsubo at last, “Not really 
my specialty, but I’ll see what I can do.”  
“Really? I wasn’t sure you’d be interested, I know most people just think of 
you as the know-it-all so I was hoping you could deal with all kinds of 
Pokémon problems.”  
“Thanks.” sighed Tetsubo a little disappointed in the name his reputation had 
apparently given him, “Anyway, the first thing I would say is-”  
“Mitchell.  Your parents have arrived to pick you up.”  
“Oh, okay.  I have to go.” nodded Mitchell apologetically.  
As he left, Tetsubo gave a lightly annoyed gaze at Miss Priscilla.  
“Oh, I’m sorry, were you in the middle of something?”  
“I’ll talk to him later.  Guess I’ll be returning to the Pokémon Centre for 
another night, I feel kinda guilty about using it as a hotel for the past 
couple of months though.”  
“Well, that shouldn’t pose a problem; it’s what they’re there for.  Anyway, 
you remember there’s a trip to the Lilac Woods tomorrow?”  
“Uh huh?”  
“One of the teachers just called to say they’re sick and can’t make it in, 
so...”  
“You need someone to take his place...  I was kinda hoping to study for the 
upcoming exam all day tomorrow, but-”  
“What is Houndoom’s type?” asked Principle Earl suddenly appearing behind 
Priscilla.  
“Dark and Fire.” answered Tetsubo swiftly.  
“And what is Marill’s Egg Group?”  
“Water One, and Fairy.”  
“Pupitar’s evolution?”  
“Tyranitar.”  
“Yanma’s Classification?”  
“Clear Wing.”  
“The accuracy of Zap Cannon?”  
“Fifty percent.”  
Earl finally stopped asking questions and gave Tetsubo a snide look.  
“Okay Earl, I get the point, I’m completely ready.  I guess I’ll see you both 
tomorrow then...”  

The next day, and the group teachers and kids were exploring the woods, 
teaching and learning about the local wild Pokémon.  
“And here you can see some Rattata.” explained Earl, still spinning in circles 
even on the uneven terrain, “Make sure you don’t leave your lunches lying 
around, or these Pokémon will steal it in an instant.  Ha ha...”  
“Are there any Sentrets here?” asked a student.  
“Yes.” answered Earl, “But I don’t think we’ll see any.  Sentrets are common 
but mostly work as a unit, and by using their tails, the scouts of the group 
keep watch and warn the group of any danger.”  
“Aw...” the boy groaned.  
Tetsubo walked away from the back of the group where Miss Priscilla was and 
carefully made his way past the students to the front and spoke to Principal 
Earl quietly.  
“Principle Earl? I read up on Sentrets and quite frankly I’d love to catch 
one.”  
“What are you proposing?”  
“With your permission I’d like to go looking for one, and if I capture one, 
I’d be happy to show it to the class and make that boy’s day.”  
“That’s a wonderful idea, there’s a small area of rocks where we might find 
some.” he smiled, finishing with a single spin, “Okay class, we’re going to go 
look for Sentrets!...”  

End of Chapter 63A  

Back to Chapter 62B
Chapter 63B
Back to Story List #61 - #80
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