[Celeste Bonnaire]

The classroom's windows were opened just a bit, enough to allow a pleasant breeze to sweep through the room, as the sun's rays cast a bright glow on the furniture within. It's like a spotlight, Celeste mused as she glanced up from her laptop, having been in the middle of scanning through her lecture for the last time. How fitting.

The desks had all been turned to face the whiteboard, thanks to the combined efforts of Damien, her Haxorus, and Noelle, her Ninetales, and Celeste offered them a grateful nod as they situated themselves to the sides of the whiteboard. They weren't going to participate much in today's class, but Celeste felt that they should be there regardless. Elaine, Celeste's Delcatty, snoozed from her spot in the sunlight, no doubt enjoying the warmth ruffling her fur, and Yvain, her Milotic, had curled up on the back corner. There, he was mostly separated from the action, just how he liked it. Only Alaire, her Altaria, stood at Celeste's side, chest puffed out proudly, as he knew he had an important part to play in the upcoming lecture.

"It's about time," Celeste murmured as she connected her computer to the projector and turned it on to check that it worked. At the front of the room, on the whiteboard, was the simple title slide of her slideshow; it read "The Basics of Coordination" in a plain, but strangely eye-catching, font. Satisfied with her work, Celeste leaned against the wall, picking up her cup of Earl Grey tea and sipping at it, as she waited for her students to arrive.

---

Note: As this is the first class, Celeste will wait from 24 hours to 72 hours before making a second post. Everyone is welcome to participate, and if you have any general questions, please check out the class syllabus here: link.

[Lithra Trease]

How did one know their calling? Was it an innate thing? Born inside of them the moment they were brought into the world or did it appear haphazardly years later? What if you never found out what you were called to do in this world or, worse still, tried everything and realized your life was void of passion? The emptiness, the senseless of it, chilled Lithra Trease to her very core. It was quite an existential thought for the mind of sixteen year old, but somehow Lithra had started asking herself these questions as she walked to the Coordination classroom.

This was the last ‘profession’ the Academy had to offer that Lithra hadn’t tried yet. It was the last thing she could do before saying there was nothing here that caught her passions and skills. It was the last thing she could try before admitting that the Academy was a waste of money and she would be labeled a squanderer. Her shoulders drooped lower, a flower bent by winds and storms.

Feeling his trainer’s uncertainty, Bell nuzzled into her chest. The Cottonee was a tangible reminder that life wasn’t over yet. “You’re right,” she spoke to him, kissing the top of his curly head. “Today will be a good day.” Dreary thoughts aside, Lithra truly was excited for this class. Over the last few weeks she’d noticed the beauty of her pokemon and their moves rather than their battle efficiency. After that it was only a matter of time before Lithra began researching pokemon contests and their rules. She hoped that today’s lesson with Ms. Bonnaire would spark some kind of...something. 

Holding Bell in her arms, Lithra managed to open the door and walk into Ms. Bonnaire’s classroom. Surprisingly, she was the first one there save for the pokemon that were sprinkled across the room. Gorgeous. Awe inspiring (in every sense of the word). These pokemon and the teacher at her desk demanded Lithra’s attention.

Flushing, Lithra felt a bit star struck as she smiled politely at the woman. “How are you, Ms. Bonnaire?” the Nature student asked respectfully, finding a desk at the front and sitting down. Smoothing her dress, Lithra settled Bell onto her lap and reached for her bag. She kept a careful eye on the teacher, sheepishly enamored by the woman’s presence and potential, as she dug for the class materials. Even Bell restrained himself by only giving one happy ‘Nee’ to the pokemon flanking the whiteboard.

Could this be the place for Lithra and her team?

[Deleted]

She wouldn’t admit it out loud, but this had been the class she was least interested in. She was going to pass it by altogether, but a talk with her parents and the older of her two big sisters convinced her that she should at least cover all the basics of everything the academy had to offer. Sure, she had her heart set on being a trainer, but what if the other paths ended up calling to her? Without exploring them, she could end up missing out on something great. Sure, coordination looked boring on paper, but – for all she knew – it could be the most fun she’d ever have. She wasn’t sure about that, really, but she could give it a fair shot and see for herself if it was something she wanted to focus on.

The young Mana Dorm resident made her way to the classroom at a brisk walk. A notebook and folder were held tight against her chest, and a floating sword trailed silently after her. She’d considered bringing Moonstone to the class at first, but – thinking on it – she worried that she gave the Fennekin more attention than the Honedge. She’d really rather avoid playing favorites, so she decided that Hematite would be her companion for the day. Moonstone was still around, of course, tucked safely inside her pokeball. She only really felt safe if she had both Pokemon with her, even if they were dormant.

Once she entered the classroom, she froze. There were so many strong-looking Pokemon in the room. It was…a little frightening. But they weren’t doing anything, so she did her best to ignore them for now. Instead, she turned her attention to the teacher and bowed politely. “Good morning.”

Then she looked around, blinking in surprise when she spotted a girl from the breeding class and no one else. It seemed the two of them were on time. She smiled at the other girl and took a seat beside her. She might not know her fellow student very well, but she seemed to be someone Lilith was friendly with, and that made her safe. Hematite floated at Toni’s other side, guarding her from an eventual, possibly unknown classmate, and Toni forced herself to relax. She was fine. This was going to be fun, or at least tolerable. She pulled her pencil out of the notebook’s binding and then opened the notebook to the first page, preparing herself for when class officially started.

[Chloe Fath]

Coordination - something Chloe was completely unsure of. As she got ready for class, she could feel her fingers trembling a little. For one thing, she was a bit clumsy so the name was ironic if it turned out she was decent at this. For another thing, she hated the spotlight being on her. Still, she had promised her mother that she would get the most out of her schooling that she possibly could. Which apparently meant possibly making a horrible fool of herself in front of her peers. The thought made her nauseous.

Cal looked at her curiously as she settled him in her backpack for the walk to class. It was his usual spot, at least for any long distance traveling that needed to be done quickly. His legs were a bit too short to keep up with her.

"I'm not sure you'll like everyone staring at you anymore than I do," Chloe told him, stroking a finger over his bone helmet. "But your advantage is that they can't see your face."

"Cu." Cal shrugged, reaching a little stubby arm out to touch her finger. Chloe smiled, zipping the backpack snugly around him and putting it on.

"Well, let's go see. Maybe it won't be so bad, especially since it's only the first class."

Soon enough she was walking into the classroom, and she was incredibly relieved to see that she was actually on time for this one. She was not a person who liked to be late - if only because that made everyone's eyes lock on her when she first walked in. She smiled at the teacher as she passed, but even though everyone else had spoken to her, Chloe couldn't seem to get her voice to work. She blushed a little and headed for a desk in the back where she got settled in, letting Cal sit on her lap. She dug out a notebook and opened it, writing down the title of the lecture from the slideshow.

The Basics of Coordination. She hoped that meant it was more of a theory class and she wouldn't be forced out in front of her class just yet.

[Rex Summers]

Rex grunted a little at the thought of the first class he was going to attend. Must it be Coordination and not Battle Tactics? Surely he would've preferred the latter, but as of the moment there were no classes in session. It was either this one or the Breeding one, and he wasn't so keen on learning that either. Might as well try to take a baby step towards being able to shove those ribbons in his mother's face when he got home.

His Happiny had stayed behind in his room to 'clean' and attend to other housekeeping matters, so it was only Cadence accompanying him for now. The little ball of psychic energy floated nonchalantly near his trainer, observing his surroundings with great care. There weren't a lot of people in the halls that led to the Coordination classrooms, probably because it was still new in the Academy. He had heard there was only one present teacher and one director, which come to think of it, wasn't good news. How was he supposed to earn his ribbons if there was only one director to challenge? He sure hoped that in the coming days, there would be more directors that would join the Academy. Well, it wasn't like he was in a rush to go back home, anyway.

Rex had soon found the class he was looking for and entered casually, "Good morning, miss." his eyes quickly went over the room, noticing his three classmates that had gotten here before him then..."Lord Arceus, is that a shiny Haxorus and a shiny Ninetales?! And a shiny Delcatty too!...and a shiny Mitotic, and a shiny Altaria!" he had to do his best to keep his sheer amazement and fascination, but his eyes were clearly sparkling. Some of these Pokemon were from Hoenn, after all, and he had seen many of their kind in contests, but certainly not shiny ones, "Ah...they're all so elegant...surely fitting for a coordinator of high caliber -" he shook his head before cursing under his breath, "Damn it, that was embarrassing..." he mumbled as he took a seat somewhere further away from the three girls. He tried to avoid eye contact with anyone in the room unless he would be spoken to. Frankly, his Solosis found his reaction funny, as it had let out happy cries before resting on top of his desk.

[Serena Miller]

When Serena thought breeding would be the worst class, she didn't know about this one.  She was sure that coordination was a fine subject, and wouldn't mind watching a few performances, but doing it herself?  The very idea of speaking or performing in front of people made her want to throw up.  She was quite certain this would not be a path she would be able to take, but for once she was actually okay with that.  It wasn't a valued subject back in her home town because it didn't have much practical purpose.  She figured she'd at least attend the first class to see if she could handle the class or not.  Learning as many things as possible was always fun, even if she'd likely never use them.

That said, she could not hide her nervousness as she entered the classroom.  For the first time, she didn't take a seat in the center of the second row, but rather in the third row on the side closest to the door.  She saw some people she was familiar with, and normally she would have set next to them, but she wasn't even sure she could talk properly right now.  She just wanted to be off in the corner, as invisible as possible.  Serena was really glad she wasn't the first student there for once so she could just sit quietly and wait for class to start.

[Celeste Bonnaire]

Celeste watched as a few students walked into the classroom. She returned greetings with simple "Good mornings" or nods of acknowledgement. However, she couldn't help but smile faintly at the red-haired boy's enthusiasm. And, while some of her Pokemon — Damian and Yvain — ducked their heads humbly, others — Elaine, Alaire, and Noelle — perked up and puffed out their chests. Even after years of winning contests, they were still easily swayed by even the smallest compliments.

After a quick glance out the open doorway into the hall for any stragglers, Celeste decided it was about time to start class. Placing her cup of tea back onto her desk, Celeste picked up the projector's remote control. Clearing her throat, she gathered her students' attention.

"Welcome, to the first Pokémon Coordination class of the year. You may refer to me as Ms. Bonnaire. While I expect to be thorough in my lectures, it will be only natural for you to have questions. But, please save them for the discussions or stay behind to see me after class." As she spoke, Celeste made eye contact with every student present. Some were definitely shyer than the rest, and they would have to either grow out of it or learn to ignore their self-consciousness if they wished to pursue coordination. But, Celeste chose to keep those thoughts to herself. This was only the first lesson, after all. "I'm aware that coordination is a relatively new subject that the Academy has decided to integrate into its curriculum. Therefore, before we actually begin learning, I would like to dispel a few commonly heard myths about coordination. First, it is not simply dress up. A coordinator cannot just force their Pokémon into an absurd outfit and expect to win a contest. Second, coordination is no less prestigious than battling or breeding. And lastly, coordination requires just as much skill as battling and breeding do, if not more."

"Today, we will be going over a brief summary of the different aspects to Pokémon contests, both on and off the stage. Now," she flipped to the next slide. "There are five different categories of contests: cool, beauty, cute, clever, and tough. This is pretty self-explanatory, but we will delve into each category in greater depth on another day." Celeste flipped the slide again. The whiteboard was lit up with the image of six small cubes, each a different color. "However, this is what I want to really focus on: Pokéblocks. Can anyone explain to the class what Pokéblocks are made out of and what they're used for? Before speaking, please introduce yourself as well for my benefit."

It was a simple enough question, and Celeste waited patiently for someone to step up and answer it, although she would definitely prefer it if they were able to get a discussion started as well.

---

Note: From all posts after this one, there will be a 24 hour to 48 hour waiting period. 

+1 to Swablu hatch count.

[Deleted]

As she waited, a few more classmates entered. There was a girl she didn’t remember seeing before that went to the back of the class. Toni gave her a quick nod but left her alone from there. She probably didn’t want bothered. Or maybe she was just like Toni and simply too nervous to approach others normally? Maybe Toni would get a glimpse of her personality during class, and if she was the friendly type maybe they could have a conversation or something after. If she could summon the courage.

Next to arrive was a face that seemed vaguely familiar – but of course it would, since the boy was from her dorm. He seemed to be the most outgoing of the group so far, since he greeted the teacher with seeming ease and then commented on all the shiny Pokemon. She knew at least a couple had to be shiny, but she didn’t know all the species well enough to recognize a shiny or normal coloring. Weren’t those supposed to be rare? Their teacher was either rich, lucky, or persistent…

The boy went off to sit on his own, and another vaguely familiar face – this one female – entered soon after. The girl looked even more nervous than Toni felt, and she tried to give her an encouraging smile, but she wasn’t sure if she was noticed. The smile melted into a frown when she also sat away from everyone. Well…she understood. Maybe they’d talk later.

The teacher cleared her throat, and Toni’s attention turned back to the front of the classroom. She did her best not to let her mind wander through the introduction to the class, catching the teacher’s name – Ms. Bonnaire – and the caution to keep silent until the appropriate time. She nodded at that – she could be quiet. She had no real idea what was about to go on, anyway.

Ms. Bonnaire went on to describe coordination, and then explain today’s lesson plan. She listed the different categories, and Toni quickly scribbled them down. That seemed like an important thing to note. Then the whiteboard lit up, and the subject changed to pokeblocks. She wrote down the word and waited to have the concept explained.

Except…it seemed Ms. Bonnaire wanted to see if the class knew anything. She looked around at the other students, wondering if any of them would speak up.

[Rex Summers]

Rex hated himself for losing his composure in front of such grand Pokemon like that, but he felt grateful to them nevertheless for acknowledging him. He wondered how long he would take to be able to assemble a team like that, with such majesty and grace. Even if he wasn't going to use them for contests, he'd still appreciate them in battles, especially with the amazing power behind them.

Still, he didn't like how he acted, but whatever. If they thought of him as some weird Pokemon nerd, then fine, he technically was to some extent. But if the others were going to start flocking him for answers...ugh. He wasn't going to be very happy, that was for sure. Class soon started, and Rex didn't look like he was listening with his eyes on the open window beside him and his hand under his chin, but he was paying attention, and every once in a while he'd glance back at the teacher. The woman would've looked at him too for a moment, and Rex was used to the eye contact. Teachers did this often to get their students feel more involved after all.

He let out a soft snicker at what Ms. Bonnaire said about the myth on costumes. Did people really see Coordinators that way? And after that, his small smirk had become a frown. To him, it seemed that all Coordinators needed to do were some rehashed routines or copying from other more successful people for them to be popular. It was all to please the audience after all. It was just for show.

At some point the class was becoming rather boring for Rex since he was already well aware of the basics of Pokemon Contests. The projector then flashed another familiar picture: Pokéblocks. He remembered having to make a lot of those back when he was still in his previous school, and back with his mom when she wasn't trying to shove her Coordinator dreams down his throat. It gave him mixed feelings, honestly. He glanced around to see if anyone was going to answer the question, but there was no eager soul in the classroom today, it seemed.

So with a sigh, he raised his hand, "They're made out of berries, and they're used to raise a Pokemon's 'condition', which is something like how appealing a Pokemon is depending on their chosen contest." he explained nonchalantly. He then paused for a moment before adding, "...and my name is Rex." Cadence the Solosis had simply watched his trainer recite, knowing full well his trainer should know what he was talking about.

{ooc: trying to get this guy's character is harder than I thought lol}

[Chloe Fath]

Chloe sat towards the edge of her seat, writing down near every word the teacher said. She wanted to succeed in every aspect of this school. Still, she wasn't sure she was going to be able to impress this teacher just with good study habits. The way her eyes looked over the room alone made the quiet girl a little nervous. She hoped she would be able to break out of her shell, but it was going to take her time and it wasn't going to happen all at once. Now, if Faith were here, she'd excel in this class. That perked Chloe up a little - she had gotten a letter from Faith saying how she was interested in attending Gray Haven as well.

Pokéblocks, hm? Chloe turned her attention back to the lecture. She had heard of them before, of course. It was hard not to have, even in Orre. She was pretty sure there was something to do with berries...Some machine that mixed them up or something. Still, if she were wrong, she didn't want to draw attention to herself. Even if she were right, the thought of all those eyes on her was unnerving. She chewed on the end of her pen, hoping someone else would be brave enough to answer. And of course someone did. He sounded like he knew he was right, so Chloe assumed he probably was. Still, she turned her gaze back to the teacher for her response.

Cal had curled up in her lap by this point, but she could tell he was still awake by the movement of his tail every few moments.

[Serena Miller]

Much like breeding, it was pretty obvious this wasn't a subject she knew a lot about.  Serena had never even heard the term pokeblock, let alone knew what it was.  In the end, that's why she was in this class though, she wanted to know more about the subject in general.  It looked like she wasn't entirely clueless though since she never thought that coordination was something anyone could do.  For one, she was pretty sure she couldn't do it since just getting up on stage was so hard for her, and these people were able to do so much more than get up on a stage and stand there.

Serena may not have been able to answer the question, but fortunately it looked like someone else could.  If the teacher was just going to teach like this maybe she could handle this class.  It was a nice thought at least.  Being able to sit back and listen was easier on her, and she was still able to learn effectively this way.  This seemed like a class that would have some more practical aspects to it than her last few, but maybe she was wrong?

[Lithra Trease]

“Toni, right?” Lithra asked as the younger Mana student sat down next to her. She recognized the other girl from their previous class together and, if memory served Lithra correctly, Toni was Lilith’s roommate. She seemed sweet so far and Lithra enjoyed having company in a class, especially one where she might not know anyone else. While Lithra was itching to say more and Bell squirmed in her arms to get closer to Toni, she restrained herself. While she was a person who loved conversation, Lithra knew that a classroom was not the place for such talks. Perhaps she could catch Toni after the class ended or on another day. For the very least, a welcoming hello wouldn’t be rude, especially since Ms. Bonnaire hadn’t even started class.

A few more faces trickled into the classroom, only one she recognized. She gave Serena a little wave as the girl sat down in her own chair. At the sight of the Lava student, Bell’s ears flapped excitedly. For some reason he had always been attracted to Serena and Lithra was only thankful there wasn’t something for him to knock out of the other girl’s hands. She’d never be able to forget how she met Serena. It was still embarrassing.

Both Lithra and Bell’s attention turned towards Ms. Bonnaire as the woman began her lecture. Lithra nodded along to the teacher’s instructions, proving herself to be an active listener even if her gaze hesitated to meet that of the steely woman’s. Her speech was straightforward and Lithra agreed with what Ms. Bonnaire said, even if she hadn’t seen many contests besides the one she’d researched before the class started. If this was to be the route Lithra took then she wanted to be prepared. She wanted to impress Ms. Bonnaire when the time came.

Lithra blinked as the powerpoint flashed to a new slide. She quickly jotted down a few notes, paraphrasing what showed on the screen. While Lithra had done her own research about coordination, it was enlightening to have the material covered by a professional, even if it was only an introduction speech. The Nature student’s eyes glanced up as Ms. Bonnaire questioned the class about pokeblocks.

Pokeblocks. Lithra remembered those! It was one of the reasons why she started collecting berries of late. She had been training her team in the wrong direction, as if she wanted to be a trainer or breeder, rather than if she wanted to be a coordinator. Not, that Lithra had decided yet.

Hesitantly, Lithra raised her hand into the air as she waited to be called on. But before that could happen, someone else was already speaking, already saying what Lithra wanted to had she only been faster. There was no point in adding to the conversation when he had given the correct answer. Awkwardly lowering her hand, she busied herself with stroking Bell’s fur to make it look like she hadn’t been trying to get the teacher’s attention.

She had tried.

[Celeste Bonnaire]

"Thank you, Rex," Celeste nodded at the student. Looking back at the rest of the class, she noted that the brown-haired girl sitting in the front had also raised her hand. Although, moments later, she had lowered it again. Looking back at the rest of the class, Celeste elaborated on Rex's point. "Pokéblocks are very useful tools in preparing for contests. When a Pokémon's condition is high, they look healthier and are generally more eye-catching than the Pokémon who have not been fed Pokéblocks. Different Pokéblocks will also affect different aspects of your Pokémon. Red Pokéblocks raise a Pokémon's coolness, blue raises beauty, pink raises cuteness, green raises cleverness, yellow raises toughness, and a rainbow Pokéblock raises all these categories equally."

Pausing for both the students to finish scribbling down notes and to check the time, Celeste frowned faintly as she realized that class would be over soon. It would be best for her to move on, especially if she still wanted to do a demonstration at the end.

Flipping to the next slide, Celeste narrated, "Different moves will affect both the audience and the judges in various ways. Some are effective in raising appeal, which is to say how much they like your Pokémon. Others are useful for jamming the strategies of the other coordinators by lowering their appeal. Certain moves will also have a secondary effect, which may benefit your standing in the contest. Once again, strategies and such will be covered in a later class. However, do any of you know of any moves that will affect the order in which contestants are allowed to appeal to the judges?"

Since many students had decided to waive the chance to answer the earlier question, Celeste was hoping to be able to offer them another opportunity to speak if they so wished. She also wanted to judge the basic knowledge of the students. While the question was by no means incredibly difficult, it also wasn't something that just anybody would know. At the very least, one would have had to either picked up a book about contests or attended a contest themselves in order to know the answer.

---

+1 to Swablu hatch count.

[Deleted]

The girl from breeding class had asked her name right before class began. She managed a smile and a nod, too taken aback to get her voice working properly. It seemed the other girl was focused on who else was coming into class, anyway. That was fine…with class starting at any time, they couldn’t really have a conversation now, anyway. Maybe after…

There was a noise somewhere in the class as Ms. Bonnaire explained about costumes. Toni resisted the urge to look around and see who or what it was, not wanting to come off as annoying. She was probably slipping into that territory as it was, and being annoying was only fun when it was because she’d said or done something intentionally creepy. This was the wrong setting for that.

It was her dorm mate who answered the teacher’s question. She quickly scribbled down his answer. Berries, hmm? She had a few of those…maybe she should make good use of them.

The teacher responded, thanking the student who answered and explaining more about pokeblocks. She drew a star next to the word “pokeblocks” in her notebook, a reminder that it’d be a good idea to really study up on them as soon as she had a sizable chunk of free time. She noted their effect on Pokemon and what colors helped with what category. It all seemed important, and she hoped she could get it memorized eventually. At least she had her notes to help her out for the time being.

Then Ms. Bonnaire went on to explain the moves. She scribbled down what was being said about appeal, frowning at the thought of someone using moves to ruin someone else’s performance. That wasn’t very nice…but if it was an accepted tactic…she supposed having Pokemon do damaging moves against each other was probably worse.

As she finished off her current note with a point about secondary effects, the teacher asked another question. Unfortunately for her, this one another thing she didn’t know. She really wasn’t that well prepared this time, was she?

[Maximillian Chavant]

Maximillian had wanted to be a coordinator for years. His first class on the matter yet he was already late, disgraceful. He felt a tinge of embarrassment at the subject and, in a manner unlike he normally would, was running to the class. Still being unfamiliar with the school he got lost a few times before finally finding the door to the class room. He stopped outside to catch his breath for a few minutes. He readjusted his tie as Isabelle, his gothita, was peeking out of his bag. On the other side of the door he could vaguely hear what they were talking about at the time and he felt horrible missing out on so much before. Maximillian took a deep breath and adjusted his glasses before openining the door and stepping inside.



"My apologies for being late I uh-" He began and imediately got off track as soon as he saw all the pokemon in the class as well as the females. There was one other guy in the class, making Maximillian cheer on the inside. "Um, yes I got a tad bit lost on my way here. I didn't think I'd miss so much though." He finished his original words as he turned his attention to the teacher. "I hope I haven't missed too much." He sighed with sorrow. He quickly scanned the room and began awkwardly making his way to one of the empty chairs in the second row. He sat down and took Isabella out of the bag and rubbed her head as she ssat in his lap facing the teacher.