Training School

Not long after the conclusion of the Pokemon ping pong tournament the gang finally arrived in Snowpoint City. Johanna sent the gang new warmer clothing as Snowpoint City was a very cold place. She sent Ash, Tomo and Brock blue jackets while Dawn was sent a red coat, pink boots and a white scarf.
Right now the gang was meeting up with Zoey who also made it to Snowpoint City. She missed her hometown and decided to visit it.
"It's been a while since we last saw you Zoey." Brock said. "The last time we encountered each other was when we met Fantina."
"That's right." Zoey said. "Ash, I know you lost against her in the practice battle, but what about your official gym battle?"
"Tomo and I won our gym badges from Fantina." Ash said. 
He and Tomo showed the badges to Zoey. She was happy for them and welcomed the gang to Snowpoint City.
"Wow Zoey, Snowpoint City looks so pretty." Dawn said.
"Yeah I love Snowpoint City." Zoey said. "It's so peaceful and quiet." 
Zoey and the gang were about to enter Snowpoint City, but then a big green and white Pokemon appeared and fired an Ice Shard towards the group.
"Glameow, go!" Zoey commanded.
Glameow broke the shard with Iron Tail. 
"Alright what was that all about?" Ash said. 
Dawn looked the Pokemon up on her Pokedex.
"Abombasnow, the Frost Tree Pokemon and the evolved form of Snover. It whips up blizzards in mountains that are always buried in snow. It is the abominable snowman."
"Could this Abombasnow be a wild Pokemon?" Brock asked.
"That is incorrect." A voice said.
The voice came from a girl sitting on a tree branch.
"Welcome back Zo-Zo and Glameow." The girl said. 
"It's always a wild welcome from you isn't it Miss Senior?" Zoey questioned.
The girl noticed Dawn's snow outfit and wouldn't stop talking about how cute it was.
"Where did you buy it?" She asked.
"My mom made it." Dawn replied.
"Miss Senior, you should be introducing yourself." Zoey interrupted.
"Oh yes, that's right." The girl said. "I am Candice and I am the leader of the Snowpoint Gym."
Ash and Tomo were happy to hear this. They introduced themselves to Candice.
"Can we challenge you to a gym battle?" They asked.
Candice was happy to know that she had two challengers because she hadn't had any challengers for a while. Apparently because Snowpoint City was a cold place and way up north, challengers didn't come to Candice's gym much. 
"What a silly excuse." Ash said. "I've been to all sorts of gyms no matter where they are, including ones in very cold places or very hot places."
"That's just how some people are, Ash." Brock said.
Just then Candice pointed to a building. It was a school for Pokemon Trainers. 
"Candice and I went to school together." Zoey explained.
"I work there during my free time." Candice explained.
"Ash, how many badges do you and Tomo have?" She asked.
"Six." Ash answered.
"Do you want to come into the school to show off your badges?" Candice asked again.
"It will be a great experience for my class." Candice said.
They weren't in a rush, so Ash and Tomo agreed. 
"Our gym battles will take place tomorrow." She told them.
Candice then pointed to Zoey and told her to get her kiai on because of her Pokemon contests.
"I have four ribbons now." She told the gang. "But I can't seem to obtain my fifth ribbon."
"Neither can I." Dawn replied.
Candice thought this was a good time for Zoey to visit the Pokemon Trainer school and remember her roots.
Zoey and Candice showed them the Pokemon Trainer school. It was a place for children to learn the basics of Pokemon before they become ten. The school also had another training course. This class was for adults that received their Pokemon as children, but never went on Pokemon journeys for various reasons. Candice went to the front of the class while Zoey, Dawn and Brock walked to the back of the classroom. 
"Say hello to Ash and Tomo Ketchum." Candice introduced Ash and Tomo to the class. 
The two brothers showed off their six gym badges.
"So Ash." Candice said. "Do you have any secret regarding your gym battles?" 
"Hmm well." Ash thought about it for a moment. "My secret is...trust and believing in my Pokemon when we battle. And stay calm no matter what tight spot you're in. For me, the best defense is a good offense."
Candice was happy with the answer.
"Okay class." Candice said. "Today we'll be studying about Pokemon and Ash and Tomo will be joining us. Oh and Dawn, you're welcome to join us as well."
Ash sat down to a man named Jeremiah who had a Skuntank. Jeremiah worked at the Poketch company in Jubilife City. He decided to go on a Pokemon journey after seeing lots of Pokemon trainers buy the Poketch, so he decided to attend the trainer school in Snowpoint City to learn about Pokemon training from scratch.
"Okay class, today I will be giving a quiz." Candice said. "Touch the button on the desk to answer the question I ask you."
"Why am I not surprised there would be a quiz." Ash muttered, remembering the quizzes he took at the Pokemon academy.
"I consider this good practice for winning a Pokemon battle." Jeremiah said. 
"I don't." Ash disagreed. "I call Pokemon good practice; I practice Pokemon battling with my Pokemon almost every day."
Jeremiah didn't believe that. Dawn and Tomo got ready for the quiz.
The quiz began and the first thing that happened was a picture of a Pikachu appearing on the screen.
"Question 1." Candice said. "Pikachu is the Mouse Pokemon. True or false?"
Ash quickly pressed his button.
"True." He said. 
"That's correct." Candice smiled.
"You seem to know about quizzes." Jeremiah said.
"I've taken quizzes involving Pokemon before." Ash explained.
Next a picture of a Cyndaquil came up.
"A Cyndaquil is what?" Candice asked.
Jeremiah quickly pressed his button and said it was a Fire Mouse Pokemon, which was correct. Next was a Abra.
"Abra can sleep for." Candice said.
Before she finished the question, Jeremiah quickly answered with 18 hours per day. Next was a Meowth.
"Meowth's most powerful move is?" Candice asked. Ash quickly answered with Pay Day.
Suddenly Candice was rudely interrupted by three men. Their names are Rad, Tad and Nad and they had a Mightyena, Tangrowth and Muk. The three men didn't go on Pokemon journeys in the past because they were the pathetic loser types who had no idea what to do with their lives. They only enrolled in the school so they could find some excitement in their lives.
"Hey teacher, when are we going to learn about Pokemon battles?" Rad asked.
"Yeah, when?" Nad asked as well.
Candice wasn't happy with their attitudes, but she calmly responded.
"This quiz is to help you understand Pokemon because it will help you in many ways when you battle." She said. "You see class, it is only the Pokemon doing the battling in a battle while a trainer just gives orders. As Ash stated earlier, you have to have trust between yourself and your Pokemon."
Rad, Tad and Nad weren't convinced; they called trusting and bonding with Pokemon nonsense.
After class ended Ash, Brock and Tomo sat outside.
"Candice's quiz was a bit hard, but I've seen worse." Ash said, recalling the quiz at the Pokemon League exam school.
"Well I think you did good there." Brock said.
"Yes, but sometimes I like to think of myself better at Pokemon battles than Pokemon school even though I do know a lot about Pokemon." Ash remarked.
"I thought that was the case." A voice said.
It was Jeremiah.
"Despite having six badges, you did seem slow when it came to answering questions about Pokemon." Ash felt that Jeremiah believed he knew everything about Pokemon, just like Giselle.
"It is true that knowledge and wisdom is real power." Ash said. "But it doesn't always end up as better than anything else, believe me."
"I wouldn't be sure about that." Jeremiah replied. 
Then he left.
"Humph! Who does that man think he is?" Tomo grumbled. "I would love to see how he battles if he is so smart."
"Oh, I'm sure we'll find out soon enough." Ash added.
Meanwhile...
Dawn, Zoey, Piplup and Candice were hanging out in the school's shed. Inside was a cushion along with a door for Pokemon to enter.
"I can't believe it's still here." Zoey said, looking at the cushion.
"What is this place, Zoey?" Dawn asked her.
"This." Candice said, after walking in. "Is where it all started for Zo-Zo and me. It's where we raised Glameow together."
Ash, Brock and Tomo walked into the shed just in time to hear the whole story.
The story was when Zoey was eight years old she was walking to school when she met Glameow. At that time Glameow was a baby and had been abandoned in a alley in a cardboard box. Zoey wanted to keep Glameow but her parents didn't allow her to keep any Pokemon until she was a Pokemon trainer. Her parents instructed her to take Glameow to the Pokemon Center. She was determined to keep Glameow though, so she secretly took it to school with her and hid it in the school's shed. Unfortunately, the head teacher, a man named Mr. Honcho, quickly found out about Glameow. Candice stepped in and together she and Zoey convinced Mr. Honcho to let them take care of Glameow together. Glameow became Zoey's partner Pokemon when she became a Pokemon trainer.
"I take it you all got a earful from Zoey about her disapproval of trainers that compete in both gym battles and Pokemon contests?" Candice asked.
"Yes we did." Ash answered truthfully. "She learned her lesson after the Jubilife Contest, where we first met her."
"Yes, she always had a bit of a stubborn streak."
"Miss Senior put all of her effort into Pokemon battles, while I focused on Pokemon contests and became a top coordinator." Zoey said. "So at the time Miss Senior and I promised to only concentrate on one thing. Those of course made me believe those that competed in both contests and battles weren't taking things seriously."
"You saw that you were mistaken after I beat you in the Jubilife contest, right?" Ash asked.
"Absolutely." Zoey admitted.
"Well that's good to know." Candice smiled. "By the way Dawn, you have four ribbons now, am I right?"
"Yes, I do." Dawn nodded. "I did try to earn my fifth ribbon, but couldn't. I feel relieved though as Zoey and I are the same." 
Candice didn't like Dawn's way of speaking and kept shouting that she and Zoey are rivals and need to act like rivals. Brock whispered to Ash and Tomo.
"I've noticed that Candice is the kind of gym leader that's focused." He said. "She'll probably be very hard to beat."
Ash and Tomo agreed.
Meanwhile...
Trouble was brewing while recess continued. Rad, Tad and Nad were up to something; they wanted to steal all the Pokemon from the school. The reason for that is they wanted to get more Pokemon the stealing them way rather than catching them way. 
"Hey Rad, are we going to take the Poke Balls now?" Nad asked.
"Yes we are." Rad said. "Recess is always a perfect time to do something sneaky."
"How are we going to get them?" Tad asked. "I hear they always lock up the Poke Ball storage room."
"Leave that to me." Rad said.
He pointed to Mr. Honcho, who was walking down the corridor.
Rad walked up to the head teacher.
"Um excuse me, Mr. Honcho sir." Rad said in a polite tone. "Um I was wondering. Is it okay if Tad, Nad and I had a look inside the storage room where the Poke Balls are kept? We are curious about it."
As Rad, Tad and Nad were students Mr. Honcho believed they wanted to learn about the Poke Ball storage room. So Mr. Honcho walked to the storage room with the three men and unlocked the lock on the storage room. There were hundreds of Poke Balls sorted in whatever type the Pokemon was.
"Now Nad." Rad whispered to him. 
Nad released his Muk from it's Poke Ball and it used Haze. The storage room was filled with smoke. Mr. Honcho knew something was wrong and he set off an emergency alarm. All the while Rad, Tad and Nad grabbed all the Poke Balls, placed them in sacks and ran away with them.
Candice, Zoey and the gang heard the alarm and ran off to see what was going on. 
"The Poke Balls were stolen." Mr. Honcho told them.
Meanwhile
Jeremiah prevented Rad, Tad and Nad from going anywhere with the Poke Balls. He released Skuntank from it's Poke Ball. Tad released his Tangrowth and it wrapped Skuntank up with Vine Whip.
"Oh dear." Jeremiah said. "Alright, use Scratch."
Skuntank was unable to use Scratch because it was wrapped up in vines.
"Try and use Night Slash." Jeremiah told Skuntank.
It was unable to attack while it was trapped. 
The three men then laughed.
"How do you like this boys?" Rad asked. "This guy knows a lot about Pokemon, but he's pathetic when it comes to Pokemon battles."
"Yeah, he's all brain and no muscle." Nad laughed.
It was true; Jeremiah didn't know a lot about Pokemon battles yet.
Just then Candice, Zoey, Mr. Honcho and the gang appeared. Candice was enraged with Rad, Tad and Nad's scheme. 
"You three are expelled effective immediately!" Rad, Tad and Nad weren't concerned and Rad released his Mightyena for backup.
Candice sent out her Abombasnow and Zoey sent out her Glameow. Ash decided to join in and sent out his shiny Arcanine.
Everyone was impressed with his shiny Arcanine.
"Arcanine, use Extreme Speed on Tangrowth." Ash said.
Arcanine charged towards Tangrowth and tackled it really hard. Tangrowth's vines then released Skuntank after they lost their grip.
"Attack!" Nad shouted at Tangrowth, Muk and Mightyena. 
The three charged towards Arcanine.
"Charge forward with Flame Wheel!" Ash commanded.
Arcanine was surrounded by fire and the three attackers were tossed backwards.
"Abombasnow, use Blizzard!" Candice commanded.
Abombasnow blew a really cold wind out of it's mouth and the three men along with their Pokemon were frozen in their tracks.
"Glameow, Shadow Claw!" Zoey commanded.
Glameow charged at Rad, Tad and Nad with purple claws and they dropped the sack of Poke Balls.
Officer Jenny soon showed up and arrested Rad, Tad and Nad.
"I'm impressed with your Arcanine's performance against Muk, Tangrowth and Mightyena." She told Ash. 
"Ash is a really tough trainer and he knows how to surprise his opponents." Brock warned.
"That's okay with me." Candice said. 
"Thanks for saving Skuntank and sorry for being rude earlier." Jeremiah apologized for his behavior. "I really don't know a lot about battling with Pokemon. And you were right. Knowledge and wisdom isn't always the best thing. Seeing your battle showed me I have a lot to learn."
Candice was happy that Jeremiah came to a understanding.
"Well Ash, Tomo." She said. "Tomorrow, our gym battles will take place. So you two better get your kiai on."
"We will." Ash replied.
"Yeah." Tomo added.
After spending a day at the Pokemon school and dealing with troublemakers, Ash and Tomo could look forward to their seventh gym battles.