At Blisswood Orphanage, everything is scheduled at a specific time. Breakfast starts at nine-thirty a.m and ends at ten-thirty a.m. Giving the kids an hour to have breakfast. Playtime goes for twenty-five minutes, and begins at one-thirty in the afternoon after lunch, this allows them to either go on the playground located on the grounds of the facility or to play in the Activities Room. Which contains plenty of toys, coloring books, and even a wide-screen TV that plays cartoons and documentaries that are appropriate for all children.
Onto the class times, there are two classes: Class A and Class B. They have school lessons at two different times of the day. Class A starts at ten thirty-one a.m while Class B begins at eleven twenty-one a.m. Five years ago, this timetable was different and was much more lax. Since Lady Drevelle took over the owner position from its previous owner, she changed the schedule to fit with her need for orderliness. Both classes have the same syllabus for what they teach, Miss Mabel always teaches Class A unless the instructor for Class B is out for the day, then she will substitute for that individual teacher while another one takes over the first class for the time being.
This scheduled timetable hasn’t been modified for a long time, since Lady Drevelle doesn’t see the need to change anything in particular. To her, it was a perfect work of organized art, something that didn’t need to be replaced or improved. She always looked it over on her PokéTash Desktop Computer in her office during her freetime, making sure it remained the same.
June 3rd, 8:55 AM, 1995:
Miss Marin arrived from the kitchen holding a jar of oran-berry flavored puree and a metal spoon, the perfect meal for a two-day old child. Nick watched as the jar of puree was being opened, the smell emanating from it was rather pleasant to the young pup. The label on the front read ‘Infant Health Oran-Berry Puree’ in blue and red lettering with an image of a baby rattle located near the bottom of the name. The staff manager stopped in front of the riolu and scooped a small spoonful of puree onto the spoon.
“Open wide, here comes the yum-yum express!” She said to the pup in a sing-song tone. The young one opened his mouth wide as he ate the puree, enjoying the sweet taste of the blue-colored baby food. He babbled happily. “That’s a good boy, got a couple more spoonfuls to go!” While the audino was feeding the pup his breakfast, Lady Drevelle entered into the room and was taken aback by what she was seeing. One of the children was in the dining room before proper breakfast time! This was displeasing, but only to her.
“Ahem… why is that child in the dining room before the proper breakfast time?” asked Lady Drevelle.
“He was hungry, so I decided to get some food in his little stomach.” said Miss Marin as she kept feeding Nicky the baby food.
“All children must follow the proper scheduled times as set in the timetable, or they will face punishment,” said the gothitelle. Angelina was rather annoyed but did her best to keep well-composed as she made her way over to the owner. The snivy said to her “Can’t you make an exception for younger children? Especially those who are infants who need to be fed at specific times?”
“No…. I cannot make an exception. Either all the children follow the rules, or not at all.” said Drevelle as she walked out of the dining room silently. Giving Angelina dagger-eyes on the way out, believing that she was challenging the scheduled timetable. The snivy went back over to the audino, watching as she fed him the last spoonful of puree. When the feeding was done, Miss Marin picked up the baby and gently patted him on the back as he let out a loud burp seconds after.
*BUUURP!*
“Excuse you, Nickster!” said Angelina as she giggled along with her friend. The audino let out a small chuckle as well. The little pup was satisfied with his breakfast. He wanted to have more as he tried to reach out for it with his left paw, but it was out of reach.
“Sorry hun, you can have more later when you're hungry. But for now, it’s time to play in the Nursery.” said Miss Marin as she carried the young shiny pup back to the Nursery room with the two interns following behind her. Upon arriving, the young pup was put on the floor where he played with an assortment of toys that were set out for him, such as: toy balls, blocks, stuffed dolls, and rattles. He really enjoyed shaking around a blue and yellow colored rattle the most. Angelina and Marsha enjoyed watching over Nicky as he played in the nursery.
An hour later, the owner of the orphanage entered the Nursery and said “Hello… I am here to take Nicky for Basic Lessons, and I am going to be teaching him myself. Even if I don’t like doing it.” Marsha and Angelina frowned upon hearing that, since she didn’t actually like children and was worried about what could happen during it. The young pup looked at Lady Drevelle and was instantly filled with fear!
“I must insist that you wait until he is a few years older before he starts schooling! While it's not a bad idea to start schooling early, it may not work,” said Miss Marin.
“I believe my method of teaching will be effective, you’ll see soon enough. My strictness will keep the lessons smooth. I don’t trust any other teacher when I could do the job just as efficiently.” said the Gothitelle as she forcefully picked up the young pup and carried him over her shoulder. The snivy and pikachu watched with sadness as the owner walked away. The staff manager let out a sad sigh as she said to the interns “I’m sorry… I couldn’t do anything about it. She is the owner after all. If she feels that she could do a job better, then she’s going to try doing it her way.”
The gothitelle headed down the stairs to the ground floor, making her way down to the classroom. At this moment, there was a young and familiar squirtle that was watching them head into the classroom. He believed there would be trouble, so he decided to stick around and listen in as the classroom door closed behind him.
The walls of the room were yellow with a puzzle-piece pattern, and the floor was made of polished wood. At the front was a comfy blue circular carpet that the younger kids sat on. Nicky was plopped there while Lady Drevelle went into the classroom closet to grab a few small objects. The pup sat there whimpering to himself as the owner returned with two toy balls: One was a white and soft ball made out of wool, while the other was a hard wooden ball.
“Quit your whimpering and pay attention!” said the gothitelle grumpily as she looked at the two toy balls she set out. “These objects are soft and hard. I will show you.” She grabbed the pup’s right paw and put it on the surface of the soft ball, then over the hard ball to show the difference of how both objects felt. She then let go of Nick’s paw as she said to him, “Now… touch the soft ball!” The pup looked between the two as he shivered in fear. He ended up choosing the wrong ball because of how scared he was. This made Lady Drevelle very angry.
“No, no, no! That’s incorrect! Try it again, and do it right!” she shouted angrily. Nick was on the verge of tears as he stared at the toy balls in front of him, not moving at all. The gothitelle growled at him for delaying, which caused him to burst into tears as he began to cry loudly. She groaned from the loud crying as she exclaimed “Stop crying! It’s annoying!” This went on for over two minutes, as the crying continued. It appeared that the owner was getting nowhere with her method of teaching. She was about to get some other teaching toys when a thirty-one year old British woman with brown hair and blue eyes entered the room quickly, with the same squirtle standing beside her. This was Miss Mabel Lavine, a teacher with a Bachelor’s Degree in Early Education. Patient and gentle to all the children she teaches. Joyful as well at times.
“Thank you Liam.” the woman said to the young turtle as she approached Nicky carefully and picked him up. “What’s wrong little one, why do you cry?” The young pup ceased his crying as he sniffled and looked over at the angry-looking gothitelle.
“I was just trying to teach him the difference between soft and hard objects, but he won’t listen to me…” said Lady Drevelle.
“From what I heard, you aren’t doing it right. You’re being harsh instead of encouraging, some children need encouragement if they don’t get something right the first time. It will show that it’s all part of the learning process. Also… you’re teaching a two-day old infant who is not quite ready for schooling, each student is unique and learns differently. Let me show you how to do it.” said the teacher as the gothitelle stepped back and let her take over.
She’d smile at the young pup as she gently grabbed his left paw. “I am going to show you these toy balls dearie, one has a soft surface while the other has a hard surface. These are a few words that describe how an object feels upon touch.” as she slowly moved the pup’s paw onto the soft ball, and then onto the wooden hard ball. “Okay dearie, can you show me which is the soft one? Take your time.”
Nicky once again looked at both toy balls, observing each one that he felt with his left paw. He ended up picking the wooden ball again like he did last time. Miss Mabel calmly said to him, “You almost got it, dearie. Go ahead and give it one more try.” as she rubbed his back a little. The second attempt was successful as the shiny pup touched the soft ball, enjoying the soft feel of its wooly surface. Annoyed that her teaching method didn’t work, Lady Drevelle left the room quietly. Letting Miss Mabel take control of everything. The young turtle that brought the teacher to the classroom walked over to her with a look of concern in his eyes.
“Will he be alright?” they asked.
“He’s going to be fine, Liam. Just need some calming down.” said the woman as he looked back at the young pup. “My name is Mabel Lavine, but you can call me Miss Mable. I’ve heard about you from the other children, Nick. With the right teaching tools, you’ll receive a good education. I’ll need to have one-on-one lessons with you since you aren’t quite ready for a full-classroom environment. Before I forget… This is Liam. He’s the one who brought me to the room when he heard you crying.”
Nick looked at the two-year old squirtle as he gently approached, curious about him. The blue turtle shook his left paw, which he didn’t seem to mind since he appeared friendly enough. He didn’t have a scary appearance like Lady Drevelle. After the handshake, he was told, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Nick. If that nasty lady ever gives you any trouble at all… let out a scream and I’ll bring some of my friends to help you. We’ve been dealing with her for a while, no one likes how she treats the children.” The teacher nodded her head in agreement as she went to grab another toy from the classroom closet, and then placed it in Nick’s right paw. It was a green jelly-like toy cube that slid around with the slightest movement. This mystified the young pup as he felt it slip around in his paw.
“Feel how it slips around in your little paw? That’s a slippery cube. Anything that is slippery will move around and not sit in one spot for very long, which may make it hard to pick up if it's dropped. It’s like a bar of soap when water is applied and then used for cleaning.” said Miss Mabel as she watched the young pup have fun watching the toy slip around in his paw. Happy that he was in a better mood.
After ten minutes of playing around with the toy cube, the little one let out a yawn as his eyes began to get heavy. He was about to doze off as he dropped the jelly-cube onto the ground as it made a *squish!* noise upon contact. Both the squirtle and teacher gave Nick a gentle pat on the back as he fell asleep on the carpet.
“Rest your head, little pup. You’ve done a lot for now,” said the teacher as she picked up Nicholas and carried him in her arms. She was about to bring him back to the Nursery when she saw Angelina and Marsha enter the room. “Greetings you two, Nick is doing alright.”
“How did his lessons go? I wanted to check on him since I was worried,” asked the snivy.
“You have a kind heart dearie, his lessons went better when I took over. Lady Drevelle wasn’t being very nice with him.” said Miss Mable as she handed him over to Angelina gently. “He’s quite the curious infant, he enjoyed playing with a green jelly-cube that I brought out. I saw the happiness in his eyes.”
“I appreciate the compliment. After all… I want to become a Nurse when I get older.” said Angelina as she gently pet Nicky while he slept in her arms. “I’m bringing him back to the Nursery for the time being.
“Alright then, take care of yourselves. I look forward to having him for my next private lesson,” said the woman as she watched them head out of the room. She hoped to never see Lady Drevelle ever impose her way of teaching on any other students, because she feared it’d make the classroom a scary learning environment. The owner simply didn’t have the qualities of teaching children.
Back at the Nursery, Angelina gently placed Nicky into a crib after Marsha put a light-blue pacifier in his mouth that had a soft white silk strap around his neck. This was to prevent it from falling to the ground and getting dirty. Both of them tucked him in as they said in unison “Have a good nap, little one.” Angelina turned on a small night-light in the room and made her exit with Marsha. Closing the door on the way out. The little pup suckled on his pacifier as he went off into dreamland.
