Chapter 11:  Old School, Old Bullies (Part A) by Michael Keens/ Exodus  

Strolling down Route 24, I realised this was the path to my old college, I was 
usually dropped us off just ahead.  
“Guys, this is the way to Pokémon Tech.”  
“Really?” asked Emily with genuine interest.  
“Yeah, so?” muttered Chad.  
“I used to study here.”  
“This is where you learned about Pokémon advantages and weaknesses?...” asked 
Chad with a sly grin.  
“Uh huh.  Come to think of it, I’m meant to pick up some certificates to prove 
I passed the course.  Why don’t we all go visit?”  
“Sure.” said Emily.  
“Maybe they can teach me about my Pokémon’s strengths and weaknesses.” pondered 
Chad.  
With that, we hurried up the path.  

Entering the gates, the class bell went off, if I wasn’t here with Emily and 
Chad, force of habit would have made me feel I was late for class.  

“Are you sure its okay for us to come in with you?” asked Emily.  
“Yeah, it’ll be okay, I held quite a record here, so everyone knows of me.”  
“Is that Tetsubo?” asked a familiar voice, it was Mr Takanichi, my favourite 
teacher, he had spiky brown hair and glasses, today he was wearing a purple 
suit.  
“Its good to see you again, you left so quickly after your exams.”  
“I’m sorry, but you remember why, it was my birthday and my family are very 
obsessive about those things.”  
“So you’re succeeding in training Pokémon normally, rather than being admitted 
straight into the Pokémon League?”  
“That’s right.  This place taught me a lot about Pokémon, apart from how to 
properly train and form a friendship with one, and I’ve had a lot of fun 
travelling with my friends.”  
“Yes, who are these people?”  
Some of the old students I knew of noticed and slowly surrounded us, listening 
in.  
“Well, this is Chad, and this is my best friend Emily.”  
“Your internet girlfriend?!” asked a younger student loudly.  
“Now I wouldn’t say that!” I spluttered.  
“Where on earth would he get that idea?...” asked Emily suspicious of me.  
“Honest, I never said that!”  
“Tetsubo! What Pokémon did you get?” asked a young student.  
“Well...”  
I released all the Pokéballs except for my Abra, I knew he would just teleport 
away.  
“Staryu!”  
“Exeggcute!”  
“Pidgeotto!”  
“Ran!”  
“Odddiiissshhh!”  
“And I’ve got a Venomoth back home.” I explained, it was nice to show off for a 
change.  
“Wow, cool!” said some of the younger students.  
“Anyway, I was in the area so I thought I’d pick up those certificates I left 
behind, my parents wanted to frame it”  
“Of course...  Tetsubo, people speak highly of you here after you left, would 
you please give a lecture on Pokémon friendships to the juniors, I’m sure you 
have a lot to say.  Please?...”  
“Okay...”  
I couldn’t resist a plea like that, and this would keep my reputation strong 
around the college.  
“Be at the rear entrance of Room 44 after lunch.”  
He went away to search for what I had asked for.  
“Now what?” asked Chad.  
“I guess you can go wherever you want, apart from the classrooms of course...”  

Later, Chad went to battle some kids.  

“Hey, do you want to battle CHAD THE CHOSEN?”  
“Huh? Okay, he sounds cool, where is he?” asked a teenage student with spiky 
black hair in the blue school uniform.  
“I’m Chad the Chosen.”  
“You?”  
“Don’t you watch TV or talk with people?”  
“The only person with any fame around here is Tetsubo, I’m afraid I’ve never 
heard of you.”  
“Come on, Pokémon Battle!”  
“Okay then, I’ll use Sandshrew.”  
“Perfect! I’ll use Entwine and beat you!”  
“How come you’re so sure of yourself?”  
“Cos Tetsubo told me about Grass-type advantages and Ground-type Pokémon is one 
of them.”  
“What else did he say?”  
“Uh, I don’t know, I wasn’t listening.”  
“I’ll show you not to judge the results of a match by the type difference.”  
“Sand!”  
“Gela!”  

“Sandshrew, the Mouse Pokémon.  This Pokémon of the Ground-type burrows deep  
underground in dry places far from water.  They usually emerge to hunt for 
food.“  

Emily decided to spectate from an above balcony and used her Pokédex.  

“USE STUN SPORE!”  
“Dig.”  
The Sandshrew dived into the ground before the Stun Spore consumed the area.  
“ENTWINE, WATCH OUT, RUN TOWARDS THE POOL!”  
Sandshrew struck and Entwine flew back.  
“Ge-aaaa!”  
“Fury Swipes.”  
“Ge-aa, Ge-aa!”  
Entwine flopped onto the floor.  
“ABSORB ITS ENERGY, ENTWINE!”  
“Gela!”  
“Slash it.”  
It happened very fast.  
Sandshrew was charging forward and the Tangela pulled some energy away from it, 
but was hit by the claws before it could use the stolen energy.  
“Ge-laaaaa...”  
It fainted.  

“How?...  Grass-types are strong against Ground-types!”  
“I’m afraid you underestimated Sandshrew completely.  This is a high level 
Sandshrew, level difference can widely affect a match and Pokémon can learn a 
range of skills outside their type.  Perhaps you should attend the class, I’ll 
show you the way...”  
Dismayed, Chad recalled Entwine and allowed the kid to lead him to the class...  

“Giselle! What are you doing here?” I asked in surprise.  
"I just came to clean out my locker.  I heard you completed the exams but did 
what Joe and I did and started over properly on Pokémon.”  
“That’s right.”  
Giwelle was an old classmate of mine, she had long black hair and was wearing a 
pink dress and white skirt, she was a little conceited at times and used to be 
in charge of helping the younger students, though her methods were a little 
rash.  
She and Joe, one of the younger students, left to learn things outside the 
textbooks and simulations after they both suffered their first losses.  
Apparently a Pikachu beat the Cubone she was using, how, I did not know because 
I was taking some exams that day.  
Joe had short brown hair with curls and wore a green coat and jeans.  
“So how many badges do you have? I’ve got 5.”  
“Only 1, that doesn’t even match me up to a beginner, but I’ve kept all my 
studies in mind and I’ve got 7 different Pokémon, 9 if you count evolutions.”  
“That’s great Tetsubo...”  
“Giselle, I’ve been talked into doing a Pokémon Lecture, perhaps you could join 
me, you can help too Joe.”  
Joe was thirteen and a little shy, apparently he had been travelling with 
Giselle for a short time.  
He was the reason I first got tormented by Bryan, but I didn’t hold it against 
him.  
“Tetsubo, I challenge you to a match.” Giselle said suddenly.  
“Huh?”  
“I just want to see how much you’ve learnt.”  
“I’m a little inexperienced compared to you.”  
“But you passed the final exam.”  
“And you started training earlier than me.”  
“Then I’ll use a lower level Pokémon.”  
“You’re on.”  
“I choose Psyduck.”  
“Psyduck!”  

“Psyduck, the Duck Pokémon.  Though this Water Pokémon looks totally vacant, it 
uses powerful Psychic attacks when it has a powerful enough headache.”  

“Then I’ll use my own Water Pokémon, Twinkill!”  
“Staryu!”  
I could have used Scramble, but Giselle was tricky when it came to battles.  
I had lost to her in class battles because she knew how to fool people into 
thinking they had the upper hand.  
This way, there was no difference, Psyducks were known for their Psychic attacks, 
but so was Twinkill.  

“Psyduck, use your Confusion.”  
“Twinkill, Minimize!”  
Twinkill appeared behind Psyduck.  
“Swift!”  
“Confusion.”  
The Swift was very accurate, but not powerful enough, Twinkill flew into the 
wall and shook itself off.  
"Psyduck, Disable."  
Twinkill was in no position to dodge, and was frozen on the spot.  
“Psyduck, another Confusion.”  
“Psy!”  
“Star!”  
Twinkill was being telekinetically controlled and swung into lockers, this 
attracted a couple of students, and then became a small audience.  
“Twinkill! Aim a Water Gun at its head!”  
It did as told and squirted in time with the momentum, Psyduck was distracted.  
“Tackle!”  
“Psyaiyai!” the duck squawked as it fell down.  

In the past I would have expected a tantrum from Giselle, but she had changed.  
“Good job Psyduck, Return.”  
“You too Twinkill.”  
“Like I thought, you are not a beginner, I have faith you’ll win more badges.”  
“You wanna go get lunch?” I asked.  
“I’ll meet you after I get my things...”  

Giselle and I caught up on old times, I couldn’t see Emily or Chad around, I 
hoped she wouldn’t feel jealous.  
After Cerulean, I didn’t really know what she thought about me.  
“And that’s how I got my third badge.” finished Joe.  
“You’ve grown up, I remember when you couldn’t defend yourself.” I explained, 
though not to put the kid down.  
“I made him a little more assertive.” added Giselle.  
Joe looked down, then spoke up, “Tetsubo, I’m sorry about Bryan.”  
“What do you mean?”  
For a moment it felt like he knew about Bryan and his theft, or thefts as the 
case might be.  
“About how you stood up for me a few years ago and he started bullying you 
instead.”  
“Don’t worry, unlike you I don’t just stand by and let things happen, but 
still...  I nearly gave up two years ago, and I have you to thank for preventing 
that.”  
“Did he really get expelled?” asked Giselle.  
“Yeah, he tried to change his final grade and got caught.”  
I couldn’t say anymore or risk letting the secret slip.  
I wondered where the others were...  

“And that is the Poison Pokémon chart.  Yes Chad?” said Mr Poparan, a very calm 
teacher of mine that specialised in teaching type differences.  
All the students called him Mr Drowsee, due to his tiresome-sounding voice.  
He was a middle-aged man with purple hair that hung to the sides and glasses.  
He was getting a little annoyed at Chad’s persistence.  
“Please, I am CHAD THE CHOSEN and could you run through the Fighting Chart 
again, I haven’t quite got it.”  
Poparan groaned.  
“Everyone else, the lesson is over, unless any of you are unsure about anything, 
like Chad.”  
The whole class cleared out.  
“Once again...”  

Emily was out in the courtyard near the entrance, she had just been exploring 
the place I had told her so much about.  
A big man bumped into her by accident, she looked up a long way, he was huge, a 
little chubby in certain places, in a navy blue suit and tie.  
Three strange looking students stood behind him, their faces obscured by large 
straw hats.  
“I’m sorry miss.  Is there a boy called 'Capture around?”  
“You mean Tetsubo?...  Uh, yeah, who are you?”  
“I used to attend this college with him, could you tell me where he is?”  
“I’m not sure where he is now, but after the lunch hour he’ll be doing a 
lecture in Room 44.”  
“Thank you.”  
The big man walked forward, the three others following him like pussy cats, 
Emily couldn’t see past the hats.  
“Oh well.” she thought.  
Emily decided to return to the canteen...  

Meanwhile, the large man and the other three were hiding in the back alleys of 
the courtyard.  
“Okay, if you go up the stairs one floor up and then down the corridor to Room 
53, the college’s best Pokémon will be there.”  
“And if we run into anyone?”  
“Just act like students.”  
“But Ah ain’t never been no student.” said one of them.  
“These clothes are just terrible.” said the female.  
“Shut up you two, just let me do all the talking.” said the last member of the 
strange trio, “And what will you do while we steal them?” 
“Tetsubo Capture is doing a lecture, most of the students will want to be 
there, and I’ve just got to be part of the reunion.”  
“Okay Bryan, we won’t let you down...”  

End of Chapter 11A  

Back to Chapter 10B
Part 11B
Back to Story List #1 - #20 
Back to the Pokézone