Hard Enough - Chapter 223 - Pewter Academy hard knock lessons (Patreon)

I listened in as my little brother told me all about how he’d spent the early morning going around observing the various pokemon within my reserve. I chuckled, knowing that it would only get more interesting as time went on. 

Man, I couldn’t wait until I had some more ancient pokemon. Huh, I still needed to follow up with Flint about that idea I’d had regarding an ancient Gym format. Then again there was no reason I couldn’t just run it. It would be no different than having a tropical shirt Friday, just more Jurassic-themed with the pokemon as well. 

“—and then I had Cranidos start working on his headbutts but I did it in a different way than usual!” Salvadore said. 

I tilted my head. “A different way?” I said, interested in what he’d devised. I’d been working patience and power with Cranidos. 

Salvadore happily regaled with his training methods and suggestions before coughing. “Then I tried a… jelly sack…” 

I blinked. “I’m guessing by your reaction, that this training method did not work out so well?” 

“You remember how you mention reactionary forces? Something about equal and opposite?” 

“When two objects interact they apply forces to each other equal to each other of equal magnitude and opposite direction?” I asked. 

Salvadore stared at me for a moment. “Huh, I think I actually understood that a little this time when you said it.”

I blinked before coughing, recalling that Salvadore, for all that he was a smart kid, he was a kid. “Sorry, there are a few ways that I can demonstrate that to make it more understandable,” I said. 

I drew out a few pebbles from my pocket, searching around for the right size and weight. “Here,” I said, demonstrating on a table what happened when two pebbles of equal size slammed together. I then showed what happened with one rock being faster, larger, or just heavier. 

Salvadore stared. “But… when pokemon fight that doesn’t always play out? Otherwise, Onix would be one of the strongest?” 

I wobbled my hand. “Things get a lot more complicated when pokemon energy types or energy in general gets involved. That tends to cause a huge shift in terms of how fights play out. This is also not accounting for technique, which can utilise leverage to win out.”

Salvadore looked a little lost so I elaborated. “Think martial arts versus just weight lifting,” I said. 

That earned me a nod. 

I chuckled. “Regardless I got sidetracked there, you were talking about Cranidos and a jelly sack?” I said. Behind me, Rocko began to choke on his lunch. I glanced back in time to catch sight of Dennis swinging his palm into Rocko’s back. 

I grabbed Salvadore by the head and pulled him down in time to duck the chunk of sandwich that was ejected forcibly from Rocko’s mouth. The piece of food slapped into the far wall and I stood back up. 

Everyone gave the piece of food a morbid watch as it began streaking down the wall. 

I glanced back at the two sheepish men. “I would usually have the person who threw the food clean it up, but I think you’re both partly to blame there… so you’re both cleaning that up.”

Rocko coughed and gave a raspy, “That seems fair.”  

Dennis merely nodded, moving to grab a cloth. 

I grunted and looked back at Salvadore. “So?” 

Salvadore rubbed the back of his head and smiled at me. “So yeah I thought it would be a good idea to use something that was more like a pokemon to train against.”

“Ah,” I said, realising how this was going to go. With how Newton’s third law was being used I had a good idea of what was going to play out with Salvadore’s story. 

“— and then he got launched into the air with this wobbling noise!” said Salvadore, shooting his hands up and ending his story. 

I snorted. “That… sounds like it was a great lesson for Cranidos. He’ll have to respect softer targets but I think you started him on a really good path there. There is potential in what you were teaching him but we can expand on it.”

“Oh?” Salvadore said, interested. 

“We can get him to fight pokemon like Muk and Grimer which have much softer bodies that can lead to him getting sucked in. You’re right that his strong legs are a strength of his but he is also limited with his heavy head and small arms. Traps like mud or even quicksand could cause him issues,” I said, thinking aloud. 

I smirked. “I think otherwise? I might introduce him to football. He likes headbutting things and football is perfect for him with kicking and headbutting. Heck, the other pokemon would love it as well.”  

“Oooooh football!” said Salvadore. “Yeah, he’d love that sport!” 

I nodded. “I’ll have to look around and see what I can get as footage to show it off to him. I wonder if there’s a local league?” I asked. 

Dennis, now with a cleaning cloth in hand, coughed. “There’s a local amateur league with eight teams,” he said quickly. 

I blinked at him. “Do you play in one of those teams?” 

Dennis’ chest shot forward. “I’m a reserve goalkeeper!” he said proudly. 

Everyone stared at him. I coughed. “Uhmmm good for you?” I offered tentatively. 

“Thanks! There’s six of us that want that position!” he said and that caused a tidal wave of people to offer their own polite congratulations. That certainly didn’t sound as bad but I didn’t point out that it also didn’t guarantee that they were any good, merely that there was a lot of them.

Ignoring that, I extracted a promise to get some footage from him to show to the pokemon. I toyed with the idea of setting up a game but pushed that back as Alexa moved towards me with a stack of papers. 

“Anything serious?” I said taking the forms and giving them a read-over.   

“Giselle,” Alexa responded, which made me perk up.

“I thought she wasn’t going to be until the last day? Isn’t she the top student?” I asked. 

“She has been growing annoyed with the other’s performances and wishes to show them the error of their ways,” Alexa said. “She is demanding a change from what the academy organised as well. Instead of merely being a straight match against you she wishes to run the gauntlet.” 

“Good,” I said, pleased that she was putting words into action. “I’ll approve it,” I said. 

“The Headmaster might not be happy that you did as it puts the ‘top student’ at greater risk of failure.” 

I shook my head. “Kid needs to live and test her boundaries sometime in her life. This is good I think. If she fails it’s not the end of the world.”

“It might be the end of the world for a preteen girl Brock,” Alexa replied dryly. 

“Hmmm,” I said. I couldn’t really weigh in as I had never been a girl. I might have worn some dresses as gags and for events, but that wasn’t going to let me have any insight. I had a slight angle more from helping to raise Yolanda and the girls but again, it was through a different lens than the girl would use or her peers might use. 

I rubbed my chin and shrugged. “It’s what she wants and I’m happy to give her the challenge,” I said finally. 

"For the fourth badge level?" Alexa asked.

"Bold," I said with a hum, only to nod, committing to it. If she thought she was that good well, I'd put her through her paces.

Alexa nodded, making a mark on her tablet. “Very well, the first challenger will face you now,” she said. 

I made my way forward to find what had to be the most quintessential preppy, and by that, I meant he was a kid with his hair split with his hair sweeping off to the side. His uniform wore him with how it looked like it was pressed onto his body. His tie was a typical schoolboy knot and his shoes hurt to look at with how they shone under the lights of the gym.

I didn’t even want to get started on how high his pants were pulled up. 

It was easier to talk about his socks which were up to his knees. 

Damn. 

It was wrong, but this kid screamed bully bait. Even I wanted to give him a noogie to mush up his hair. 

“Student Joe!” announced Dennis, who’d reprised his role as the referee, shot his hand to the walking ‘kick me sign’ that was the kid. 

I shook my head. Repressing the weird feeling that seeing this kid brought out in me. 

So what? He was an awkward kid who was mostly knees and awkward angles that he tried to cover up with good care. Give this kid a couple of years and he might be a woman magnet with how well-groomed he would be. 

Of course, it would help if he put on some muscle, but that could be handled easily enough.

I made a mental note to give him some advice on how to not be a swirlie magnet as I released my pokemon. Moxy took to the stage with a firm one-two punch, her smaller arms pumping in readiness. 

Joe stared at my Graveler. “Hmmm a Rock-Ground type pokemon meaning that my pokemon will be especially effective!” he said pompously. He tossed out his pokeball, weakly I noted, resulting in his pokemon landing at the back of the battlefield. 

I eyed the distance between our pokemon. Typically it was only about twenty or so metres between the pokemon that started out. Now it was roughly seventy. 

Hmmm that weaker throw might work out for him.  

I gave a nod to Dennis and he got us underway. 

Joe was quick to slash his hand forward. “Weepinbell use Razor Leaf!”

“Dig,” I responded easily, allowing Moxy to dive into the earth and avoid all of Weepingbell’s attack. 

Joe grumbled. “Like we practised Weepinbell!” he said, snapping his fingers. 

Weepinbell began to emit a faint white mist around itself with what I recognized as Sleep Powder. Joe nodded to himself. “With this, when your pokemon emerges it will fall asleep allowing me to close out this match easily!” he said while leaning back proudly. 

Then he glanced to the side, where other Pewter Technical Institute kids were. Huh, that was right. This kid appeared in the cartoon didn’t he? He was getting bullied over something… Having a crush for Giselle? 

That didn’t sound… wrong or right. It had been a minor episode that only introduced a gimmick of advancing to the end-of-circuit tournament. 

Although, I knew from keeping an eye on said event there was going to be an earlier tournament to weed out the weaker trainers with only certain trainers getting to advance without the challenge. 

Those would be specific to only a few trailers from Technical institutes, the highest scoring Exam takers for the Pokemon League Admissions Exam would get that. 

I’d already put in some recommendations for a few trainers such as Brawly, Flannery, Roxanne, Gary, and of course Bugsy to name a few. Not that they’d need it. 

I smirked at Joe. “Is that what you think is about to happen?” I said. 

Joe twitched and glanced about the field sharply. “Yes? No? Yes!” He said. 

I held my smirk, enjoying the way Joe was twitching and second guessing himself. 

Moxy emerged from the ground, launching Weepinbell into the air with a powerful blow only for Joe’s prediction of the next step to play out with Moxy passing through the Sleep Powder. 

Both pokemon hit the ground roughly with Moxy snoring. 

Joe relaxed. “You were bluffing, just bluffing,” he said as he patted himself down. “Weepinbell, use Vine Wh—”

“Sleep talk,” I said, my smirk still present. 

“Whuh?” Joe said right as Moxy unleashed a powerful Bulldoze right into her foe. Weepinbell was plowed through no less than three boulders despite Moxy being asleep. 

When Moxy was done she continued to snore while her foe lay still.

Joe gaped. “Eh? But… blast you had this Graveller prepared for such tactics,” he said after a moment. 

I nodded. “Correct. Sleep Powder is one of the strongest moves in a Grass types arsenal that I think gets underutilised.” I made a show of looking him up and down. “A kid like you though? I think you’re the type to do some homework for yourself.”

“Didn’t do me any favours,” said Joe out the side of his mouth as he returned his pokemon.

“You do any homework on my pokemon?” I asked as he pulled out his second pokeball.

“Of course! Geodude, Gravler, Golem, Onix, Aron, Lairon, Lileep, and Slugma are the common pokemon that you like to use at this level.”

I held in a twitch that he’d predicted my second pokemon of this match with Lileep. I didn’t think many people would have predicted that. It was a good read on his part. 

“Well the issue comes from pokemon also having possible moves that they can learn from a Technical Machine to broaden their capabilities.”

“Urgh!” said Joe with a slump. “I’ll need to do more homework in future!” he said, causing me to chuckle. 

“Welcome to life, homework is what it’s called in school. For us adults, it is just work,” I said.

“Yeah okay old man,” he said, causing me to reel. Damn, that stung. 

“I’m not that old,” I said.

“Okay boomer,” replied the kid.

I twitched. 

Ouch. Kid had snark. 

He sent out his second pokemon and revealed it to be a Psyduck. Psyduck tilted its head and looked left and then right as the crowd began to cheer. The little duck pokemon glanced about before grabbing its head in pain at the noise.

I tilted my head. “Interesting choice,” I said as I watched the Psyduck struggle with a headache straight out of the pokeball. That was rather telling. 

“Psyduck! Water Gun!” Joe said to restart things off. 

“Sleep Talk,” I said and this time Moxy slammed her head into the ground to do a Defense Curl. Damn. 

This time the attack hit and Moxy shuddered but she held on by a finger to her consciousness as the water wiped off the Sleep Powder and she woke up. Alright, not terrible.

“Dig, evasion” I said, getting Moxy out of there and earning ourselves some breathing room. 

Joe grimaced. “Okay Psyduck, like we worked on! Amnesia!”

Psyduck glowed for a second only to stop and tilt its head, looking like it forgot what it was doing. It fell on its backside and warbled pathetically. 

If someone wasn’t as well versed on pokemon, I’d have thought the move failed. Psyduck, while not a psychic-water type pokemon still had a strong association with psychic moves. 

To the uninitiated, the move had failed, but Psyduck as a species had an interesting quirk with their amnesia typically being too effective on it to the point that it forgets what it was actually doing beyond trying to follow a command. 

It did get stronger, but it also forgets that it gets stronger. It was a very strange dynamic but it worked for the little pokemon, especially in clutch moments.

I don’t even have to look at Joe to know that he knows this quirk. He radiates a falseness to my senses.

When I look at him I see he’s chewing his lip. “Not this time either huh?” he said. 

I held back the urge to roll my eyes. Instead, I decided to do something different.

When Moxy popped back up slightly to the side instead of attacking, Joe twitched. “Water Gun!” he ordered. 

“Explosion,” I said, causing him to recoil. 

“Psyduck use—” he started to shout only for Moxy’s last attack to detonate and rock the field. 

When it cleared Psyduck was shown glowing with psychic energy while around him a hexagon-styled dome had formed. I whistled. 

“Don’t see many willing to fork out for Protect,” I said. “Or did you have your pokemon learn it organically?” I asked, referring to the longer method of having it train and study a move that it can learn via Technical Machine. 

Joe tilted his head, revealing he had no idea about what I was talking about. I waved my hand and recalled Moxy as Dennis proclaimed her unable to fight. Psyduck seemed stunned by this turn of events, as though it couldn’t believe it had just won. 

It spun about to Joe and pointed at itself helplessly. Joe nodded, a huge smile on his face. “Yeah! You won that match Psyduck! I knew you could do it!” he said. It almost hurt to look at him with how megawatt his smile had become. I could almost feel the light glinting off his teeth. 

As I reached for my second pokemon a light began to form around Psyduck and I held off as Psyduck began to evolve.

The light built up as Psyduck’s form grew taller and thinner. He lost the round body and instead became a swimmer’s build. The light vanished to show a pokemon with a lush feathery coat and a strong body. 

I whistled. Looks like Joe was a pretty good trainer if he’d developed his pokemon to this level. 

“Yes! Well done Golduck! Now let’s take the fight to them!” he cheered. 

“Let’s go Cradily,” I said with a smirk. 

I wasn’t going to let him have things easily and Joe’s eyes snapped to the field as the evolved form of Lileep appeared. 

“Urgh? This is the ultra-rare evolved ancient pokemon!” Joe announced loudly. 

I coughed. I actually had three of them these days with the training I’d put the plantation of Lileep through, it was bound to result in a few evolving. It wasn’t incorrect with there being only one actual recorded battle thus far. 

Still, to call it ultra rare? 

Yeeeeeeaaaah, not for long. 

“Ingrain,” I said, getting the match back underway. 

Joe grimaced. “Go for Confusion! If that’s the evolved form of Lileep, water attacks won’t be very effective!”

I pursed my lips. Well, that was dead wrong. I flicked my eyes to the side as I caught sight of Giselle putting both hands to her face to hold in a scream. She looked incensed. Joe also glanced in Giselle’s direction and he stiffened at what he saw. 

On the battlefield, Confusion hurled some rocks into Cradily’s prone form which he weaved around only for a few to strike home doing some damage. A portion of that damage was then negated as Cradily’s Ingrain kicked in.

I smirked as I noticed that Joe was still staring at Giselle. 

Well, if he was going to mess up his typings I’d hammer the weak point he’d presented. “Giga Drain!” 

“Eh!?” Joe shouted, caught off guard, his head whipping back around to catch my pokemon draining his with large green orbs. 

Golduck faltered and Joe hissed. “Golduck! Confusion again!” he ordered, trying to double down. 

I sighed, saddened that he didn’t have his pokemon dodge or try to block the attack in some manner. Golduck or rather Psyduck would have been the perfect pokemon to teach Disable to. 

Instead he got himself locked into a slugging match with a type disadvantage where I could drain his pokemon. 

The result was never in question but Joe floundered as Goldduck hit the ground and Dennis raised the flags in my direction. “Cradily is the winner!” he announced.

The crowd politely applauded but most eyes were on Joe as he shifted back and forth. The kid was obviously caught in a mental tailspin. I let it continue for a moment before raising my hands.

I slammed them together while infusing rock energy into them causing the clap to boom through the stadium. “Get it together Joe! Is this the best you have to present to me? You’re not putting your best foot forward!” I said. 

“Is this the display you want the world to remember you for?” I said, gesturing wide at the crowd. 

Joe paused, taking in the watching eyes of the crowd. 

Rather than rallying and straightening up, the kid crumpled, curling in on himself as snot and tears began to dribble down his face. 

“Ah shit,” I said, quickly hopping over the podium railing and jogging across to him. Joe flinched when I launched myself up onto the still-raised platform. I grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him in. “Hey, take a breath Joe,” I said as I lowered myself to his level. 

“W-huhu-whu- what? What are you doing? I’m failing?” he said. 

I sighed and smiled. “So? Failing isn’t the end, nor is it a beginning. It’s just part of life. You haven’t been failing that badly either. You’ve been building up your team for this match, I can tell. That Golduck was strong.”

“But he wasn’t strong enough.”

I squeezed his shoulder. “He was, just as you were good enough. You know what stopped you from winning?”

“What?” he asked. 

“Yourself. You got into your own head about what you needed to do. You were too static with what you needed to do. At the level you’re challenging at to get a passing grade, you need to demonstrate that you can be more dynamic with your pokemon and your style of thinking.”

“Dynamic?” he asked. 

I nodded. “Able to switch it up with strategies, styles, and pokemon, you don’t have to keep the same pokemon out, nor do you have to lock yourself in. Sometimes you have to change it up. That make sense?” 

He nodded and I mirrored him. “Good, good, also, one other thing?” I said quietly. 

“Yeah?” he said. 

I flicked my eyes to the stands where Giselle and the rest of the students were watching from. “You need to not get distracted during a match. She’s a nice enough girl… I’m sure, I said. 

From what few interactions I'd had with her she was a bit spoilt and bratty but for her social status as a rich kid she wasn’t the worst I’d dealt with. 

“O-oh, yeah I guess I shouldn’t, it’s just she’s sooo pretty,” he said.

I nodded. “Yeeeeeaaaah, if you’re hoping to woo her today won’t have done you any favours.”

Joe’s breath hitched only for a small smile to play out. I frowned. Alright, what was going on in that mind of his. 

“I’ll need to spend more time with her for tutoring, so it’s not all bad. I’ll have more chances than I already do! Giselle’s nice like that! She’ll double down with me!” he said resolutely. 

I stared. Yeah, that was… one way of increasing contact but it struck me as very… sketchy and also extremely naive. 

I hardened my heart and decided to rip the bandaid off. 

“She’ll never date you if that’s how you’re hoping to interact with her. She’s always going to see you as a small kid who needs her pity,” I said firmly. 

With my hand on Joe’s shoulder, I could feel him flinch. 

“You don’t know her!” he said quickly, his eyes turning venomous.. 

I sighed at him, ignoring the glare.

I shook my head. “I don’t but I know that any relationship you could hope to have? She’s not going to want to date a kid that she constantly has to chase up and tutor. She’s going to look for someone with confidence and potential. What you’re hoping to do? It’s sinking your chances just to spend time with her.”

“At least I’ll—” he started to say only for me to jostle his shoulder. 

“Really? You’re giving up on her? You don’t think she’s worth the effort? Feh, guess you never had a chance,” I said, shaking my head. 

Joe stiffened. “What?” 

I locked eyes with him. “You have a chance, but it depends on what you do here and now. Your demonstration thus far? I’m not going to lie, it’s been abysmal. But!” Here I made sure to pause and raise a finger into his gaze. “But, you can turn it around. Knuckle down on the studies that I get the feeling you’ve been slacking on. Don’t just rely on the school to force-feed you what you need to know. Get out there and try things yourself. Fight with other trainers. Put in the effort and wow her with how you turn yourself around. That will be something worth recognition,” I said.

“I… I don’t think I can do that.”

“I do, I know you have more in you Joe,” I said. 

Joe swallowed. “W-what do I do first?” 

I sighed. “Right now? Do you think you can keep fighting with what you have left? I have one more pokemon in my roster for this match.”

Joe stared up at me. “Haven’t I forfeited this match?”

I snorted. “You’re not the first to have a breakdown on the podium, nor are you going to be the last. Being a Gym Leader is about being a barrier for people, but also a support for the community.” I squeezed him. “And young kids like you? You’re the future of that community so if I say this match is still playing out then it is. The question is, do you have the spirit to fight on? I won’t pull my punches.” 

Joe swallowed and for half a second his eyes darted to the crowd only to shoot back to me. I held in my smile. That was almost progress. 

“Yes,” he said and I could see a small spark of something take hold. 

I nodded. “Good, now what’s going to happen is probably one of the toughest things you’ll have to endure, but if you can do it with your head held high and come out the other side you’ll be better for it. A lot of people will respect you for that instead of just crumpling, so fight on.” I smiled. “I’m not going to verbalise it, but I’m cheering for you Joe,” I said as I stood up. 

“We’re continuing!” I announced loudly. Ignoring the way Joe was gaping at me. I gave his shoulder another single squeeze, then I winked at him as I hopped over the railing and jogged back to my own. I nodded to Dennis and my Cradily as I passed. 

Dennis coughed and raised his flags. “The pause is now finished! The trainer has one minute to release their pokemon!” he said. 

I smiled knowing that technically, Joe had already used up his minute, but we weren’t going to penalise him. For all that Dennis preferred to stick to the rules, he knew when to bend them. 

Joe took a deep breath and pulled out his next pokemon. “Let’s go! Growlithe!” he said, sending out a small pokemon that barked and did a tight circle. 

I nodded and restarted the match. 

“Ancient Power,” I said, causing rocks to lift and rocket straight into the yipping little pokemon. 

Growlithe was slammed into and hurled aside only to stagger back to his feet. Joe gasped. “G-growlithe! Use Flame Wheel to get back into the fight!” he ordered. 

Growlithe shot forward but I wasn’t going to merely bend over and let things play out that easily. “Earthquake, “ I said and Cradilly twitched before slamming his body into the ground causing it to buckle and break. Growlithe was thrown up and when it landed it didn’t rise. 

A flag rose and Joe quivered as the loss was announced. He looked up at me and I nodded. 

He returned his pokemon and sent out the next pokemon. 

I flattened it even quicker. By the time he reached his sixth pokemon he was shaking physically but he held my gaze and his pokemon registered his need. 

As a Pidgey it was a terrible match up, but perhaps sensing his trainers need to keep fighting it fought hard. Dodging and diving in and around rocks that were sent its way while it fought back as hard as it could. 

I watched on calmly as Joe rallied only for his pokemon to tire and take a single rock to the body. 

Pidgey fell from the air and Joe slumped to the ground. I had the podiums lowered and was at Joe’s side. “Hey Joe,” I said “Hang in there. It’s a rough feeling but you’ll eventually get through it.”

“Urgh,” he said. 

I lifted his tiny frame into my arms. “I’ll take him to the medbay to rest it off. He fought hard,” I announced to the watching crowd. 

It started with a single person clapping and I glanced over to find that it was Salvadore standing and clapping. I smiled and nodded in thanks as others rose and applauded Joe’s effort. 

I shifted Joe in my arms. “Here that? They’re cheering for you, now imagine what it’s going to be like when you are victorious.”

“Victor…” he said sleepily. 

I chuckled. “Just sleep for now,” I said knowing that I’d given the kid a taste of something. I just hoped it would take root. 

I deposited him with Chansey as Mrs Hooper reached me. “Oh Joe you didn’t need to fight that hard,” she said with a sigh as she brushed his hair back. 

I shook my head. “No, I think he did. He pushed himself today, further than even he knew he was capable of.” 

I nodded at him. “Hopefully he takes today’s lessons and applies himself a bit more.” 

“He’s going to be rather targeted in the playground and outside school for this,” Mrs Hooper murmured. “Some of the others are always rougher on him,” she said. 

“So give him a safe space and stop those other people from bullying him. Don’t let it happen. If you have to keep him back for extra training it will suit his goal of getting stronger,” I said. 

Mrs Hooper nodded. “I’ll try everything I can,” she said. 

“Have him come talk with me, I think he’s got some moxy in him,” I said over my shoulder as I moved back towards my next challenger.

The next challenge turned out to be much the same, except for one thing.

Interestingly, they dragged the fight out and managed to eke a win for themselves by having a six-team roster. I couldn’t be sure, but I had a suspicion that if they’d gone earlier today they might have given up.

Instead, they seemed determined to cling on. 

Perhaps Joe inspired them?

I began to notice that all the students that I faced all had the same gumption in their fighting styles. There was a clear break from the earlier matches this morning to now. After Joe’s match, I could see a serious shift in the students getting more determined and focused. Instead of just showing up and expecting things to work out they were putting in their best efforts.

Another change that I noticed was that in the stands the waiting students and even those who had already fought were all sharing notes and talking among themselves now. Heh, it seemed they were doing a little last-minute group study. 

Good, there was nothing saying they couldn’t after all. 

When fights were close the kids rallied and fought on. The other students even started up chants to support each other as they realised they could make a difference. More and more of the kids were willing to push themselves. Some of them until they couldn’t fight anymore which was a huge difference from previous years’ students as two other students joined Joe in resting in the medical bay. 

I had to say I was impressed.

By the time the last student for the day rolled around three-quarters of today’s students had their badges, a marked difference from yesterday. 

Now it was time to see what Giselle, as the Institute’s ace student could muster to finish off the day. 

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A.N. Thanks go to my Patreons for your continued support. 

It also goes to Twmmy for proofreading this chapter.