School of Hard Knocks

Ash and the others had been traveling for two days since Ash caught Charmander. It was early in the morning and the air was filled with thick fog.
"I can't see a thing." Bonnie said.
"Stupid fog I can't tell where we are or how close we are to Camphrier Town." Red said.
"I've got it!" Clemont shouted he opened up his backpack and took out a large helmet with big goggles.
"I give you my special anti fog goggles." Clemont said. Ash, Pikachu, Red, and Serena sweat dropped.
"Brother you're going to hurt yourself like you always do."
"Trust me these things are going to get us to Camphrier Town." Clemont said as the eye lenses glowed green. Clemont looked around the area.
"I think I've got something!" Clemont started walking forward. The others slowly followed as Clemont kept moved forward.
"Yes I think I see something ahead." Not a moment later Clemont walked straight into a tree and fell backwards.
"Clemont did you see that?" Red said sarcastically.
"I guess they need some tweaking." Clemont got up and took off the goggles.
"Well maybe the best thing we can do is wait for the fog to lift." Ash said.
"What are the base-set moves for a Chespin?" Red heard.
"What?" Red looked around.
"Tackle and Growl." Someone else said.
"What level does it learn Vine Whip?"
"Level 5."
"Did you guys hear that?" 
"Yeah someone else is nearby." Ash said. They followed the sounds of the voices until they saw them. 5 young men around their age all wearing suit like uniforms with a red symbol on the left chest area, were standing around a smaller boy wearing the same uniform. The 5 larger boy were all holding candles while the smaller boy held two large books over his head.
"What level does Chespin evolve?" One of the larger boys said.
"Uh 35?"
"Wrong! Add more books". Two of the other boys each put another large book in the smaller boys hands as he started to shake.
"Come on guys I can't hold all of these."
"Then you should have studied more. Keep this up and you'll never graduate."
"What are they doing to that kid?" Serena asked. Ash and Red both stepped forward.
"Hey why don't you leave the kid alone." The 5 young men turned towards Ash and Red. They walked forward and surrounded the brothers.
"Why don't you two mind your own business." One of them said in a threatening tone.
"Uh guys maybe we should go" Clemont said.
"You can't just bully someone around like that." Ash said. The younger boy was amazed that these strangers were trying to help him.
"Alright how about we teach these guys a lesson." The head boy said. The boy to Ash's immediate right threw a punch at Ash. Ash used his right forearm to block the boys punch then threw his left elbow into the young man's face. The young man to Red's left tried to grab him, but Red grabbed the young man by the right arm and hurled him over his body as he bent forward.
Another one threw his right fist at Red, but Red pushed his opponent's arm back with his left hand then plowed his right fist into the young man's jaw. The fourth young man hurled himself at Ash trying to tackle him, but Ash used his legs to hold his ground. Once the young man's tackle was halted Ash hit the young man across the face with his palm.
The head boy looked very freaked out by what he just saw. He slowly backed up as Ash and Red turned to him. "Uh , well we've got class so. Let's go." The other boys got up and ran off with their leader. Ash and Red looked back at Serena and the others who looked a little freaked out. Pikachu and Red's Charmander, who were both out, weren't freaked out by what their trainers had done, only impressed.
"Sorry we're still getting used to that." Clemont said. The younger boy dropped the books and slowly walked over to them.
"Thanks for doing that. I don't know how much longer I could of held those books."
"You're welcome, but who are you and who were those boys?" Red asked.
"My name is Josh, and those guys were upperclassmen."
"I'm Ash."
"I'm Serena." 
"I'm Red." 
"I'm Clemont and this is my sister Bonnie."
"Upperclassmen?" Ash asked.
"Wait we're near Camphrier Town, and if you're a student then you must go to Camphrier academy." Serena said.
"Yup." Josh said.
"What's Camphrier academy?" Red asked.
"It's the most prestigious Pokemon school in all of Kalos. Pokemon Schools train students in the studies of Pokemon and Pokemon battles. Upon graduation they are given direct entrance into the Pokemon league." Serena said.
"That doesn't seem fair. It's almost like buying your way into the pokemon league." Ash said.
"It's not quite that simple. To graduate you have to pass all of your classes and exams. Some of them are harder than most gym leaders."
"I doubt that." Clemont said quietly.
"So if you go to Camphrier academy, what are you and your classmates doing out here?" Red asked.
"What do you mean? We're at the academy." Josh said. Moments later the fog lifted revealing a they were directly in front of a campus of buildings. Around the campus were dozens of young men and women wearing the same uniforms as Josh. Many of the students had pokemon with them. Some were even having practice battles.
"So why were those upperclassmen doing that do you?" Red said.
"The upperclassmen are always doing things like that. They say it's trying to help us though."
"That's not helping, that bullying" Red said.
"It will get better when I move up a grade. You see at the end of a class you take an exam. It involves both a written part and a battle against an instructor. If you pass you move on to grade two and you have the equivalent of two badges. In grade two you have to pass two classes each the value of one badge each. In grade 3 you have 3 classes to pass to get another 1 badges. In grade 4 you have to pass 2 very difficult classes to get one badge. Your senior class is only one class but it's the hardest of all."
"What grade are you?" Clemont asked.
"I'm still a grade one, my exam is coming up and I've been trying to study."
"So what grade are those boys in?" Red asked.
"They're in their second grade." Red and the others seemed a bit confused.
"That makes them upperclassmen?"
"In this school it does."
"The entire idea of their assistance to us first graders was made by the top second grade student. Sara Abel." Josh took out a picture.
"Wait a minute she does all of this to you and you carry a picture of her around?" Red asked.
"She isn't very nice but I think she's really pretty." They all looked at the picture and saw Sara was about their age with light skin, green eyes, and long black hair. Ash's , Red's , and Clemont's faces all turned slightly red.
"Well I say we meet her, and uh." Clemont started.
"Find out why she's doing this to uh, her fellow classmates." Red said.
"Right because, this is uh, wrong." Ash said. Serena noticed Ash was blushing and got a little scared.
"Well we can't let her get away with these horrible things she is doing to you guys."
"I don't know, she usually doesn't listen to anyone below her skill level as a trainer. And she's a very good trainer."
"Well Josh is there anything we can do to help you?" Red asked.
"Actually there is, you see I've been doing all right on the written exams. But whenever I try to do a real battle I always seem to mess up. You guys seem like seasoned trainers could you give me some hands on training?"
"Of course we could." Red said. Josh lead them into one of the buildings. The building interior had several battlefields with a few other students having battles.
"Alright Josh if your exam is supposed to model a gym battle you should probably face me since the gym leader of Lumoise City."
"Really that's incredible." Clemont stepped to one side of the battlefield while Josh went to the other.
"Alright lets give Josh a great battle, go Heliolisk!" Heliolisk came out and danced around a little in front of his trainer.
"A Heliolisk cool. Alright go Skiddo." A small goat like pokemon came out in front of Josh.
"What is that?" Ash said as he opened his pokedex. "Skiddo the mount pokemon Thought to be one of the first Pokémon to live in harmony with humans, it has a placid disposition."
"Alright start off with Vine Whip." Skiddo let out two vines from his neck and whipped them that Heliolisk.
"Heliolisk use Eerie Impulse." Heliolisk opened up his frill and let out a powerful pulse that knocked the lines away from him and lowered Skiddo's attack.
"Woah, alright try Tail Whip." Skiddo ran forward and tried to lower Heliolisk's defenses.
"Heliolisk Electrify!" Heliolisk opened his frill and unleashed a powerful burst of electricity that hit SKiddo and turned his attack electric. When Skiddo hit Heliolisk his tail whip had no effect.
"Thunder." Heliolisk opened his frill and unleashed a massive bolt of electricity and hit SKiddo and filled him with electricity".
"Skiddo!" Skiddo fell over and fidgeted as he tried to recover.
"But Skiddo is a grass type, he should be powerful against electric types."
"Common error that a first grader would make." A soft voice said. Josh turned around as the others also looked behind him. Standing there was the girl from the picture Josh had shown them with the same boys who were harassing Josh behind her.
"That is Clemont leader of the Lumoise gym and even though your Pokémon has the type advantage his Pokémon his pokemon is far more used to battling than yours is. You should have taken that into account." Ash's, Red's, and Clemont's faces all turned red when they saw her.
"You know who I am." Clemont said almost shaking.
"Of course all students here have to study up on the current gym leaders. Josh your problem is that you spent so much time trying to battle only Pokemon that yours had the advantage against that they never got he experience he needed."
"Well I."
"Classic Josh always coming up short, you're nothing but an embarrassment to this school."
"Hey why don't you lay off him." Serena said.
"And who might you be."
"My name is Serena and I am a trainer."
"Well how many pokemon and badges do you have?".
"Well I have a Fennekin and a Furfrou, and I'm not interested in winning badges."
"What? you only have two Pokemon and you're not even going after badges. What kind of trainer are you? Everyone knows that the true measure of a trainer is how well trained they are and how strong they get. If you don't go after any gym badges then you clearly don't train your Pokemon well. Thus they never get stronger and you will never be better than a mediocre trainer."
Serena felt like she had been hit in the gut after hearing what Sarah said. Her face turned red and she looked toward the ground. Ash and pikachu now both had angry expressions on their faces.
"Hey who you think you are talking to them like that. Just because you do well as a trainer doesn't give you the right to pass judgment on others especially when you don't even know them."
"And who might you be?" Sara asked.
"He's some punk we taught a lesson earlier." One of the boys said. Red looked at that boy who quietly hid behind one of the other boys.
"My name is Ash Ketchum and I'm a pokemon trainer."
"Well how many Pokémon do you have and how many badges do you have?"
"I have four Pokemon and one badge."
"Four pokemon and only one badge, how pathetic. Is that your Pikachu? If it is why is he out of his Poke Ball. That is the sign of a poor trainer if he can't even control his pokemon."
"Pikachu is my partner, I don't control him".
"You clearly aren't a skilled trainer, I don't see how you got a gym badge." Ash grit his teeth and stepped forward.
"I'm not going to sit here and that you insult my friends and my pokemon. Why don't we just have a battle." Serena looked back at Ash and was touched that he was standing up for her like that. She even blushed a little.
"Very well I don't mind schooling you."
"Teach him a lesson Sara." One of the boys said.
"Yeah show him who you are". Sara walked over to one end of the battlefield well Ash went over to the other side.
"Pikachu let's show them what we can do." 
"Pika!" Pikachu jumped down from Ash's shoulder and took position on this side of the battlefield.
"Well unfortunately for you I have a Pokémon that is not only strong against him but has plenty of battle experience. Go Diggersby." A large gray rabbit like Pokémon came out and smacked his stomach with his hands.
"A diggersby?" Ash said as he opened his pokedex. "Diggersby, the Digging Pokémon, and the evolved form of Bunnelby. Diggersby can easily lift a boulder weighing over a ton with its powerful ears."
"A ground type, this won't be easy."
"Diggersby start off with Mud Shot."
"Pikachu use Agility." Pikachu quickly moved from place to place avoiding each of the incoming mugshots.
"Pikachu is quite fast, but even he can't avoid this attack. Diggersby use Bulldoze." Diggersby slammed his feet into the ground and created the ground quake that shook the entire battlefield. Pikachu was hit by the impact and got knocked onto his back.
"Oh no." Bonnie said.
"We're far from beaten, Pikachu use Quick Attack."
"Even if that does hit it won't have much of an effect. Diggersby use Leer."
"Pikachu Thunerbolt!" Pikachu unleashed thunderbolt hitting Diggersby before he could unleash leer. All the attack didn't have much effect damage wise it did stop Diggersby from using leer.
"PIkachu Quick Attack but slide at the last moment."
"DIggersby use Double Kick." When Pikachu slid like Ash told him to he avoided Diggersby's feet.
"Now whip your tail around." Pikachu whipped his tail around knocking one of Diggersby's feet slightly to the side making him face plant when he hit the ground.
"Stupid tricks like that aren't going to win you the match, strategy is. Well orchestrated tactics that a trainer of my level has plenty of. Diggersby use Dig." Diggersby quickly burrowed himself under ground.
"Pikachu keep moving around don't let him catch you in one place." Pikachu quickly moved around the battlefield trying to keep Diggersby confused.
"Diggersby use Bulldoze underground." Diggersby created a ground quake that shook the battlefield above causing Pikachu to trip over his feet and fall to the ground.
"Dig!" Diggersby came out of the ground right under Pikachu and hit him.
"Damn."
"She's good." Clemont said.
"I told you she is the best second class student in the school." Josh said.
"Don't give up Ash, show her what you guys can do."
"Diggersby use Dig." Diggersby burrowed himself under ground again.
"Not again." Bonnie said.
"Come on Ash don't let her make a fool out of you."
"Pikachu prepare yourself."
"Diggersby use Bulldoze!"
"Pikachu balance yourself on your tail." Pikachu quickly held himself above the ground on his tail keeping himself balanced.
"Perfect now use Agility." Diggersby came up and tried to hit Pikachu but Pikachu was able to move out of the way.
"Pikachu use Slam!" Pikachu launched himself back at Diggersby and hit him straight in the stomach.
"What!?" Sara said.
"Here's a lesson for you, using the same tactic twice in a row leads to opponent with a chance to counter sense they already know what you're going to do." Ash said. hearing Ash say that and having him school her like that made Sara very upset.
"I'll teach you, Diggersby Bulldoze into Mud Shot." It didn't take long for Ash to realize what Sarah was trying to do. Sarah was trying to use bulldoze to force Pikachu to stay in one area than hit him with Mud Shot. It was a difficult situation but Ash had an idea.
"Pikachu dig in and use Double Team." 
"Pika!" Just like with Viola and the ice Pikachu dug in with his tail and make copies of himself around the battlefield.
"Double Team? When did Pikachu learn that?" Clemont said.
"Ash and I were up late last night training. He managed to get Double Team down." Red said. Diggersby unleashed Mud Shot but only hit the copies of Pikachu.
"Pikachu use Slam." Pikachu sprinted forward and slammed into Diggersby's stomach. After being hit by Pikachu again Diggersby was knocked out and fell over.
"What!?" Sara and all of the upperclassmen behind her said.
"Diggersby is unable to battle. The winner is Pikachu." Clemont said.
"Well it looks like being the top student doesn't make you as good as you think it does." Serena said.
"Great job Pikachu." As said as Pikachu ran back towards him and onto his shoulder. Sarah returned her Diggersby and walked over to Ash.
"I was wrong about you, I thought you were just some loser trainer. But you managed to beat my Diggersby with a Pikachu. You really are a good trainer." She said as she slid her finger across his lower chin. When she did this Ash's face turned red.
Serena's face turned red when she saw what Sara was doing. Almost on impulse she grabbed Ash and pulled him away from Sara.
"Alright he's proven that there's more to being a trainer then commanding your Pokémon."
"What are you talking about?" Sara asked.
"Ash one because the and Pikachu were in perfect sync, they trust and understand each other and because of that they were able to perform as partners." Ash was impressed on how right Serena was. Sara and these other students were just obsessed with making their pokemon stronger without building a stronger bond with their Pokemon.
"Serena's right, until you and your classmates learned is more to being a trainer that making your Pokémon stronger he'll never be able to reach your true potential." Ash said.
Josh listened to what Ash and Serena were saying. He realized that he spent so much time doing what his upperclassmen had been doing, simply trying to make his Pokémon stronger. He looked at his Poke Ball and then back at Ash.
"Well we need to get going, let me know if you're coming back here anytime soon." Sara said as she winked at Ash.
"I hope we don't see her again." Serena said.
"You said it, she's mean." Bonnie said. Ash and the others were back at the academy entrance with Josh.
"Well it was nice meeting you Josh but it's time for us to head out." Red said. They noticed that Josh had a suitcase with him.
"Why do you have that suitcase?" Clemont said.
"I called my mom and dad. I told them I wanted to leave the school."
"Why?" Serena said.
"Because I learned something from you guys that I never learned from anyone here. How to raise a Pokemon to be your friend instead of something to battle with. I want to be a great trainer but I'm never going to be one without the real world experience that you guys have from traveling around and bonding with your Pokémon. Skiddo and I are going to have our own journey collecting badges."
"Well good luck Josh I hope we see each-other again." Ash said.
"I do to." Josh said. Ash and the others started walking towards Camphrier Town as the sun began to set.
"Interesting day." Clemont said.
"Yeah Ash has a new admirer." Red joked.
"That girl is a horrible person, he doesn't want anything to do with her." Serena said in an almost angry tone. Ash and the others looked back at her as she started to blush a little.
"Well she is a jerk."
"Serena's right, Sara and her friends are only interested in making their Pokemon stronger. That's not the kind of person I want to be with." Ash said. Serena let out a breath of relief after hearing Ash say that.
"Well Camphrier Town can't be far from here. Let's get to the Pokemon center." Red said.