Lumiose University - A Degree In Pokemon

Chapter 51: Old Man Bugs

Author's Note:

Apologies for just the one chapter this week, but I've had some busy work stuff to do. But, funnily enough, this chapter was meant to be two chapters anyway. So...still two chapters in a way...sort of...right? Anyway, hope you enjoy.

Chapter 51: Old Man Bugs

It had been a few weeks since the weekend of the IPL match with Shalour, and Ash was already eager for the next one against Coumarine. Training had been going well for him and his friends, and he was quite pleased with the early progress he'd made with Rockruff since the Puppy Pokemon had joined his team. Serena also seemed to be doing well with her newest Pokemon, with Popplio demonstrating some of the flashiest moves out of all of her Pokemon in some of their training sessions.

Classes had been going well, too, and Ash was enjoying his classes with Agatha and Flint most of all, finding that many of the strategies they discusses not only helped him come up with ideas for himself, but plan against potential attacks other opponents might use. While they had obviously discussed certain things in the IPL training sessions, there was a lot more detail available when they were teaching a class. The only thing that Ash struggled with was the occasional written report they seemed to be expected to provide.

As well as things had been going, however, Ash's mind couldn't get away from what they had discovered in the forest on the night before the IPL match. He trusted Officer Jenny, as they all did, but he couldn't help but feel like more needed to be done. Of course, he understood that they couldn't really know what else needed to be done, because he didn't really know, either. All they could really depend on right now was the occasional search of the forest nearby and alerting the other cities to the potential of hidden hunter bases.

Ash couldn't help but feel like he would be more use if he was out travelling like he used to. If he could be looking around more places, he might be able to find something. As it was, he'd barely had time to do his schoolwork and go to training sessions. He'd made a commitment to Lumiose University, though, and he wanted to finish what he had started.

"And that's why different types of Pokemon will need to be fed different kinds of food."

Ash blinked, looking up and realizing he'd zoned out while Brock had been giving his lesson on the different types of food Pokemon eat. Ash had been surprised when he'd found out Brock was doing some teaching at Lumiose University, but he was pleased to be in his class. The Pewter Gym Leader knew what he was doing when it came to this stuff.

"A fire type Pokemon, for example, may prefer spicier foods, and they need that extra heat to nurture their specific typing," Brock continued. "Sometimes, simply including a Tamato Berry might be just what you need."

He finished with a few more examples, and also handed out a few recipes he'd come up with, before finally finishing up. As Ash packed up his things, Serena and Clemont seemed to notice his thoughts were elsewhere. It took him a moment to realize that they were standing and waiting while he was still sitting, his mind back on the hunters.

"Are you okay, Ash?" Serena asked, sitting back down and looking at him in concern. Pikachu gave him a similar look, hopping off his shoulder and sitting on the desk in front of him.

Ash shrugged, looking out the window. "I want to do something about that hunter base we saw. I know Officer Jenny has been keeping an eye out, but I just feel like we need to do more. They're bigger and more dangerous than we thought."

Serena nodded, worry in her eyes as she looked away uneasily. "I understand," she said, pulling out a pokeball, which Ash assumed was Absol's. "We did well in our performance against Shalour, but Absol's been more and more uneasy each day. He senses something."