The School of Hard Knocks

**The School of Hard Knocks** (Japanese: **ポケモンひっしょうマニュアル** *Pokémon Victory Manual*) is the sixteenth episode of season 1 of Pokemon Legends.

## Summary/Synopsis

*While searching for firewood in the foggy woods, Nanette and Glorysia discover a bunch of prep-school kids bullying a classmate named Joe. They're all students at Pokémon Technical Institute, which offers classes that allow trainers to enter the Pokémon League without getting badges.*

*But Joe says the rough treatment is necessary so he'll be strong enough to graduate. Still, neither of the girls like the idea, and demands to meet the person responsible for this "tutoring" program.*

*We soon meet this leader, a conceited girl named Giselle. Brock and Cheren are smitten by her looks, but Bianca scolds the latter while Misty wants to battle. To everyone's surprise, Giselle's Rock-type Graveler defeats her Water-type Starmie, proving that matching up types is only one of several factors that determine victory. As Giselle gloats, Chase challengers her, and Ashton faces her Cubone.*

*But Cubone is unaffected by Electric-type attacks—how can Evolite help Ashton win? What's the real deal with this school? Why does the school seem so familiar to Jessie and James? And...are there kept secrets that might be revealed?*

## Plot

While Jim and Cheren fight about who's better (with Nanette tryng to stop them), Brock pulls a table and some chairs out of his backpack, with all of the necessities to set it for a cup of tea. Brock sends Nanette and Glorysia to collect firewood to make tea and crepes. As the two girls wander around the forest, they encounter a group of boys in suits. One of them is running on a treadmill, while the rest are gathered around, quizzing him about various Pokémon. He misses a question and is rejected by the other boys, and Nanette jumps in to defend him. The boys reveal that they are students of Pokémon Technical Institute, a boarding school which educates Pokémon Trainers. They leave, stating they don't want to fight. As Brock reads from the school's brochure, Glorysia started the treadmill and seems to be doing great. The school trains its students without sending them to collect Badges, and guarantees entry into the Pokémon League upon graduation. Brock leans on the treadmill, speeding it up, which accidentally makes Glorysia hit the ground hard and break her arm. Bianca reacts with her healing spell and states that the school is expensive, and therefore populated with rich kids. Cheren does nothing, however, as he doesn't feel very alright with what she said.

The student who was being bullied, Joe, defends his so-called friends, who were trying to help him. He explains that he sometimes pretends to know less than he really does because the questions get so much harder. Ash is very upset at this brutal "tutoring" system, and demands to meet the student in charge, with plans to stop it. The head student of the beginner class is a girl; Brock drools over her photo, which makes Misty angry. Cheren insults Misty's looks, which makes her even angrier, and Bianca slaps him in the face, enraged. Team Rocket reveals that they both flunked out of the Pokémon Tech entry exam, achieving the worst score in its history. Being led there by the heroes has brought back some bad memories for Jessie and James, but Meowth cheers them up.

Joe leads the Harmonic Starlight Skies and their allies to the head student Giselle's study area. He says it's overall skill as a Trainer, not any one battle, that determines success at Pokémon Tech. He says that even though he is the weakest student in his class, he is still better than someone with two Badges. Misty takes offense, and Joe reveals that he is familiar with her Gym; he usually beats her preferred Water Pokémon on the simulator. Misty demands a real battle, but Joe is doubtful of her ability to beat him. Misty calls her Starmie, though Joe calls on Weepinbell, a Grass-type Pokémon, and has the type advantage. Nevertheless, Starmie beats Weepinbell. Giselle walks in and chastises Joe for not realizing that Starmie's real battle experience would give it an advantage. She calls him an embarrassment to the school. Giselle continues to upbraid Joe, and threatens to withdraw the help of the other students.

Misty challenges Giselle, saying that a true friend would not walk away from a friend in need of help, and that Giselle's beauty is only skin-deep. After accusing Misty of being jealous, Giselle summons a Graveler to challenge Misty's Starmie despite the double disadvantage that Rock- and Ground-type Pokémon have against Water Pokémon. Graveler's attack sends Starmie flying through a window and into the school's pool, defeating it, much to Misty's humiliation. Everyone makes their way down to the pool. Giselle then points out that weak Pokémon can still win if they are better trained. Cheren jumps in, saying that there is more to training Pokémon than levels. He brags that he is Professor Juniper's top student, and Giselle insults him. When Chase reveals that he has been on his quest for two months, she is shocked that he has not yet trained his Pikachu to go into a Poké Ball, and snidely remarks his Pokémon may be training him instead.

Nanette protests that Gigi and Jessica are her best friends while Chase says similar, but with his Pikachu. Giselle notes most beginners have six Pokémon, and she attributes his two Badges to luck. She is also surprised that Chase chose Ashton as his starting Pokémon, as they are known to be hard to handle. Her mockery and laughter angers Evolite, and after an agreement with Elaine, Chase demands a battle. In response, Giselle summons Cubone. Chase calls for a Thunder Shock attack, but Cubone deflects it, much to his dismay. Giselle orders Cubone to use a Leer attack, but Ashton responds by making funny faces at Cubone. The two Pokémon get into a close-range staring contest, until Giselle calls for a Bone Club attack; the bonk on the head accidentally staggers Elaine. She then calls for a Bonemerang, which knocks her out cold. The next time the Bonemerang is launched, an enraged Evolite jumps over it, and twists the skull on Cubone's head backwards, so it can no longer see. She bites and scratches Cubone before its own Bonemerang comes back and knocks it out. Giselle is taken aback by the loss and returns her crying Pokémon. She is amazed that Ashton and Evolite won by working together as a team, as noted in textbooks. Misty reassures Joe, who is admiring the incredible battle, that the victory was a fluke.

Team Rocket takes advantage of everyone's distraction to appear with their motto. The Tech students, recognizing them as the ones who flunked the entrance exam, attack Team Rocket together. Team Rocket is outnumbered and decides to flee, though they are hit by the Poké Balls in the process. Giselle reflects on the day's events, noting that school cannot teach everything. Joe decides to leave Pokémon Tech and return home to start afresh like Nanette did. Joe asks if he can keep Giselle's picture; she replies that she has one of him, because they are now friends and hope to meet again in the Pokémon League. Chase and Elaine smile at each other, but Bianca looks at Cheren with worry, as she knew something is wrong.

Everybody returns to the campsite as Pixie starts the fire to make the crepes and heat the tea, only for Char to hit her. While the two Fire-types fight, however, Pumpkin Bread grabs a huge finful of crepes, eats most of them, and downs the whole pot of tea, much to everybody's dismay.

## Major Events

* Mirta is revealed to have a Diance, but she refuses to show her in the Pokémon Tech.
* Glorysia is revealed to be a good athlete.
* Jessie and James are revealed to have been flunked out of the Pokémon Tech in the past.
* Misty's Starmie is revealed to know Water Gun.
* Cheren reveals the fact that he's Professor Juniper's top student.
* Nanette unleashes her hidden powers for the first time, but Marina manages to prevent her from revealing its full potential.
* The Dream Animals are revealed to have once attended school, Techno included.
* After a fight, Jim falls into the near-death state again and deactivates himself outside the Pokémon Tech, forcing Ellie to carry him via machine.

## Characters

#### **Humans**

* Nanette Daisy
* Marina Daisy
* Glorysia Melody
* Karyll Aguilar
* Red Fire
* Green Leaf
* Chase Ketchum
* Elaine Gabena
* Ethan Gold
* Lyra Silver
* Brendan Birch
* May Maple
* Lucas Diamond
* Dawn Berliz
* Barry Pearl
* Verity Platinum
* Sorrel Virile
* Hilbert Miller
* Hilda Mari
* Bianca Tulip
* Cheren Harkabune
* Nate Miller
* Rosa Mari
* Calem Xavier
* Serena Yvonne
* Elio Sunne
* Selene Moonne
* Mallow Flores
* Lillie Aether
* Lana Davis
* Pollen Yellow
* Victor Woods
* Gloria Tate
* Jim Porter
* Leah Rosie
* Parker Robertson
* Asumi Breeze
* Elizabeth Storybook
* Bloom Peters
* Flora Gabena
* Stella Star
* Musa
* Tecna
* Aisha
* Roxy Page
* Chloe Porter
* Mirta Springriver
* Amelia Porter
* Lily Porter
* Ellie Porter
* Jane Springriver
* Fiona Woods
* Marie Fragans
* Yvonne Burns
* Jessie
* James
* Brock Harrison
* Charlie Garcia
* Charlene Garcia
* Misty Waterflower
* Professor Juniper (flashback/fantasy)
* Giselle
* Joe
* Students (multiple)

#### **Pokemon**

* Tepig (Nanette's, Gigi)
* Popplio (Nanette's, Jessica)
* Fennekin (Glorysia's, Skylinda)
* Riolu (Glorysia's, Kestin)
* Charmander (Red's, Char)
* Bulbasaur (Green's, Saur)
* Clefairy (Green's, Limey)
* Pikachu (Chase's, Ashton)
* Eevee (Elaine's, Evolite)
* Star Lucario (Jim's, formerly Ryu)
* Charizard (Jim's, Flaris)
* Chespin (Jim's, Chester)
* Rotom (Elizabeth's)
* Ninja Dragonet (Elizabeth's, Bubbles/Dragonet)
* Castform (Elizabeth's, Casty)
* Cherrim (Elizabeth's, Bluey)
* Scorbunny (Bloom's, Kiko)
* Chikorita (Flora's, Plante)
* Eevee (Stella's, Whiteley)
* Bounsweet (Musa's, Stena)
* Rotom (Tecna's, Tony)
* Piplup (Aisha's, Pippy)
* Scorbunny (Chloe's, Wilbur)
* Ralts (Ellie's, Venus)
* Pikachu (Amelia's, Pika)
* Spiky-Eared Eevee (Amelia's, Emily)
* Carbink (Jane's, Carl)
* Sobble (Jane's, Sobby)
* Diancie (Mirta's, Dia, debut)
* Torchic (Mirta's, Fire)
* Squirtle (Mirta's, Squirt)
* Pachirisu (Lily's, Risa)
* Riolu (Lily's, Lu)
* Buneary (Lily's, Bunny)
* Eevee (Lily's, Hearty)
* Cyndaqil (Parker's, Enrico)
* Honedge (Parker's, Shielder)
* Kubfu (Leah's, Jay)
* Rotom (Leah's, Joule)
* Swablu (Leah's, Cloudy)
* Spritzee (Marie's; Citronelle)
* Bounsweet (Marie's; Reena)
* Cherrim (Marie's; Pinkie)
* Clefairy (Marie's, Clefy)
* Vulpix (Yvonne's; Pixie)
* Eevee (Yvonne's; Flare)
* Cherrim (Yvonne's; Reddie)
* Ninja Dragonet (Fiona's; Pumpkin Bread)
* Mudbray (Fiona's; Muddy)
* Cherrim (Fiona's; Brownie)
* Meowth (Team Rocket)
* Ninja Dragonet (Carrot Cake)
* Ninja Dragonet (Pudding)
* Starmie (Misty's)
* Graveler (Giselle's; debut)
* Cubone (Giselle's; debut)
* Weepinbell (Joe's; debut)
* Pidgey (fantasy)
* Pidgeotto (fantasy; debut)
* Pidgeot (fantasy; debut)

## Scripts

* Japanese Version
* Italian Nick Version
* Italian Clieume Version
* Italian DuArt Version
* English Nick Version
* English Clieume Version
* English DuArt Version
* 4Kids Version
* Viz Version

## Trivia

* At the beginning of the episode, Nanette breaks up an argument between Jim and Cheren and breaks the 4th wall by commenting that they're running late and have to start the show.
	+ This is also the first time Jim and Cheren verbally fight. Bianca *might* lose control at some point.
* This is one of the few episodes that mention a real-life place; in this episode, Brock talks about French crepes in a French accent, causing Misty go into a romantic daydream of her sitting in France.
* This episode's English dub title is a reference to the saying "School of Hard Knocks".
	+ This is also the first episode to have the title be a play on or a reference to something.
* The types of weather mentioned by the announcer in this episode were both later introduced in the games: fog and snow.
* This episode is to date the only time in which Brock falls for a girl who is visibly younger than himself and Cheren falls for a girl other than Bianca at all.
* This is one of the very few episodes in the anime where the fact that Pokémon learn certain moves or evolve at certain levels is mentioned.
* Since the next 4 episodes are the Kanto Starter arc, the episode preview is cut out.

#### **Errors**

* When Misty declines for getting firewood for Brock, she has z-shaped markings under her eyes.
* Right before Meowth blasts off, James's glove is pitch black.
* Ellie's beanie disappears for a moment.
* Star Lucario's color palettes changes for a while.
* When Giselle is telling Chase how Ashton should be kept in a Poké Ball, there is a close up of Ashton; during this, Ashton says his species name, but his mouth does not move.
	+ He might have thought he shouldn't speak like a human in that scene.
* When Giselle is laughing after telling Chase about Ashton, an upset Evolite jumps between Chase and Elaine and the girl's eyes are black (left) and green (right) while the boy's right eye is blue.
* When battling Cubone, Chase calls out "Shock Attack" when he means Thunder Shock.
* In the Italian dub, Cubone is called by his beta name, Orphon.
* When Jim deactivates himself, he is seen wearing an body armor.

#### **Dub Edits**

* In the original Brock says about a photo of a preteen girl "I'll look forward to her in eight years" while in the dub he says "She can violate my rights any time".
* Right before the title card appears, Misty hits Brock in the head with a log because Brock mistakenly said "To be continued" instead of saying to see the episode. This is cut from the dubs (except the TCPi dub) due to being violent. Bianca slapping Cheren isn't cut, though.
	+ The slap was cut only in the 4Kids dub due to the company being 'very picky' about violence.
* This episode contains many paint edits:
	+ When talking about tea, Brock pulls out a wooden cup that has some Pokémon names written (Lizardon, Hakuryu, Kentauros, and Dodo). In the dub, it is a can with pictograms. The Italian dub cuts this out.
	+ Similar to the above edit, Brock's bottle of "Mt. Moon Spring Water" had a picture of a mountain painted over the Japanese text.
	+ Misty's note about the Pokémon Seminar was originally full of Japanese text. In the dub, it has a black-and-white picture of the school at the top of the paper and some blurred-out French text on the bottom.
	+ Joe's picture of Giselle had a note from her in the upper-right hand corner. This was erased in the dub.
	+ The sign at the top of the door after the commercial break says "Training Room". The dub replaces the text with five Poké Balls which light up.
	+ In the Japanese version, the simulation states the move used on the lower-left hand corner. In this case, it was Razor Leaf. The dub adds another health bar over it.
* Computer effects were added in the dubbed version, specifically into the scene where Joe was showing them the virtual training center.
* At the end of the episode in the original, Kabochichi-chan can be heard saying "Hey! Guess what happens after you drink a whole pot of tea! You have to-" as the camera pans out, but she is abruptly cut off by everyone being heard saying that's disgusting. The 4Kids dub changes it to "Wait, why aren't you guys eating?!" and them replying "BECAUSE THERE IS NONE LEFT!"

**Easter Eggs**

* Karyll mentions Elec Man's weakness to Rolling Cutter in one scene.
* Karyll hums to Elec Man's Stage theme.
* When Ellie carries her uncle Jim via machines, Tony Stark's arc reactor can be seen on the ground.