While most of the academy still slept, an academy for fighters from across the world held multitudes. Kaius was not alone for long. Even as the sun groggily blinked at the horizon another had joined him. A tall woman with bronze skin and a gang if pokemon coming in behind her. Just like Kaius, they two began their own morning routine. As they each found their own area to begin their routines, she yawned, arching her back and stretching as far as she could. She did not seem quiet as comfortable with the dawn as the other man here. The biggest of the group. A grizzled Hariyama big even for his species found an open area to begin with some general calisthenics, but they never kept to a particular workout for long. A diminutive Nuzleaf followed his every movement. Thirty or forty push-ups, then they went on to the next, sit-ups, squats, the likes. The large woman looked on with a nod; she knew exactly what they were doing. Greasing the groove, or at least the Nuzleaf, was. The massive hulking frame of Hariyama had a much harder time, and frequently the Nuzleaf finished his work out early, and cheered on his bigger buddy as they finished a push-up or crunch. It was harder when you were massive after all. Not far away, A Sawk moved through a Kata, its slow, deliberate movements turning into an explosive burst of aggression. Frequently, he would find his footing off or a strike not quite sharp enough, and he would repeat the movement until he was satisfied, not with any shame or embarrassment, but with the diligence expected of a warrior. A ledian stood not too far behind, studying these movements and trying to mimic them with much less precision. The longer one watched, the more it would become obvious that many of the Sawk’s repetitions were not for their sake, but for the Ledian. They seemed to want to do everything fast and add their own flair. The woman watched while she stretched, doing what you might expect of an early morning warm-up. Getting the blood flowing, getting limber and ready for the day to come. Then suddenly, she shot up and looked about, eyes swiveling past the entire other Pokémon team as she searched for something. Her head whipped back after she finally noticed Kaius. A rapid flash of emotions flitted over her face in an instant: Shock, alarm, embarrassment, then a bright smile, brighter than the rim of the sun peeking past the horizon. She gently waved to him before looking around a bit more. Then, finally and somewhat begrudgingly, she made her way to this other person in the training fields. “Excuse me, sir.” Her voice came off as trying to be gentle and utterly failing. Even trying to lower it put her voice well above that of a friendly conversation. Her voice was rich and energetic, the youth creeping in with it. “Have you seen a little rabbit? About this big?” She added, putting one of her calloused and massive hands to her knee, having to bend down to reach. [hr] The cafeteria was more like a cafe than anything. The dormitories, ‘blocks’ as the teachers and staff referred to them, provided the basics for survival in the communal kitchens. Not everyone was content with living off the same three bland meals for the foreseeable future, though, and the Cafe offered a wide enough variety of meals to supplement this. As such, many students flocked here, and over time, it had become a bit of a social hub. Today, though, the students all seemed to be on edge. Any talking was more whispers, and people looked about shiftily, the way a coyote does, scared but opportunistic. The entire vibe of the cafeteria was wrong today. “Do you mind if I sit here?” A voice came just before someone sat down, not bothering to wait for an answer. They sounded posh, to put it bluntly, but they sounded delighted to be speaking to Felix, even if the two of them had never met before. They were a lithe figure, someone dressed bizarrely in a flashy yet tight fitting red gym wear. They had an androgynous look to them, lanky and lean but their golden eyes sparkled with a child-like wonder with something hidden just beneath the surface: an unyielding competitive spirit. They had skin that was bordering on pink, perhaps sunburnt? A hand extended towards Felix, along with a wry grin. “I’m Flint” They said as they sat down. In front of Flint was a veritable mountain of food. Enough that the paltry provisions provided in the dorm commons would have been gone in a day. Such a skinny young person needed all of this? [hr] The pools left the area a bit cooler than the rest of the facilities, though the heat from the saunas seemed to claw at the edge of the room in a constant and turbulent battle with cold. The largest one, an Olympic sized pool, smelled strongly of salt water. Chlorine and bromine from surrounding pools and other facilities. A bubbling tub of freezing water sat nearby, and a few doors in the back lead to the saunas, showers and snoring hot springs. Snoring? A loud and audible snore barely managed to sneak through the door to the hot springs. Or was it multiple snores? A chorus of snores gave the pool an ambient sound. There was something else too: a faint chuckling from the bathrooms, like someone had just seen the funniest thing. [hr] The commons of block B were the same as all the others, aside from a few bumps and scrapes built up over years that weren't quite worth fixing. It made the place feel like a home. The dorms were on the second story, but a balcony with stairs on either end connected the room. The room below was massive: a large kitchen and living room separated only where the tiles met the hardwood. A couch and coffee table sat in the living room: four cups on coasters and bowls of oatmeal with various berries sprinkled over the top sat on the living room table. Across the room sitting on the counter was a young man, bordering on losing that title and being called a boy. His hair was a crew cut that had grown out a bit longer than standardized. He was squat, a sort of short but study build, and currently staring down at a steaming cup of tea before Luz entered. He smiled and offered her a brief wave. Not far from him, a combee buzzed about in the large open space of the room. Beside the young man sat a tiny little brown bear pokemon. Teddiursa was currently munching down on his own bowl of oats. “Good morning!” He tried to sound cheery, but the whimsy was lacking in his voice. “I had meant to wake up earlier, I wanted to make everyone breakfast” he stated, looking over to the oat meal. “But they must have gotten up earlier,” he added bashfully, chuckling a bit to himself before taking a swing of his drink. “I hope you slept well”