Chirp chirp! She pokes at his face with her ear feelers.

Pat pat.

Eventually lunch is over. The teacher announces that they'll be covering survival skills in the afternoon. (A few of the students complain that they aren't doing sparring.)

Oh, that sounds useful.

"Our main lesson for today is going to be on cave safety. Before we get into that, though, who can remind the class what your first strategy should be if you're caught in the wilderness during severe weather or other potentially-dangerous circumstances?"

Everyone except Sebastian raises their hand. "If possible, find a house," says a boy who looks about nine. "The owner is legally required to allow you to shelter there for a reasonable amount of time, and if there's something dangerous outside that'll definitely last until the danger is gone."

The teacher nods. "Very good. I know it an be tempting to try to tough things out, but severe weather is no joke."

??

"In any case, our main lesson for the day is on caves. When we left off yesterday, we were discussing cave navigation. Liz, can you remind us what we learned?"

The class continues on like that for another couple hours. Around 2 PM, the teacher dismisses everyone for the day.

He hangs back to talk to the teacher.

"Sebastian?"

"...I initially came to town to battle the gym leader, but how do I know when I'm ready to do that? I know there's still a lot I don't know..."

"Well, an important thing to remember is that here in Unova you can challenge the gym leader every day -- sometimes more than that, but if they think you're just fighting them over and over they can tell you to come back the next day. So it's fine to try challenging them, and if you fail, you've still learned something."

That is not helpful at all. "Thank you, sir."

Striaton City looks much like it did when he left it.

He doesn't have anything else to do, so he supposes he might as well challenge (?) the gym.

He's met near the entrance by a grey-haired man wearing sunglasses. The man recites what is very obviously a scripted speech.

"Hello! I'm Clyde. I'm the guide for Trainers challenging a Pokémon Gym. We appreciate your challenging the Gym. Take this to commemorate the occasion." 

He hands Sebastian a bottle of water.

"One basic element of Pokémon battles is the relationship between types. If you choose Pokémon with effective types and effective moves, victory is just a step away! In this Gym, you progress by stepping on the switch with the type that is effective against the Pokémon type shown on the curtain."

He steps to the side. In front of Sebastian is a red curtain with a symbol like a flame on it. On the floor are three circles: one with a green leaf, one with another red flame, and one with a blue drop of water.

Water can extinguish fire. Is it actually that easy?

He steps on the blue circle.

The curtain opens! Behind it is a blue curtain with a water droplet, and an identical set of circles. There's a waiter off to the side.

The blue circle was the answer last time, so it's probably not the answer again, and it wouldn't really make sense for fire to beat water. He makes for the leaf.

He is interrupted by the waiter.

"Care for a taste of battle? I'll serve up... you know what, nevermind, let's just get to the point."

He sends out a Lillipup.

Oh, he has to fight more than just the 'gym leader'? (Unless the waiter is the gym leader, but then why is there another curtain?)

He sends out Amadelphous.

Newly armed with basic knowledge of how to give your Pokémon instructions, he's ready to tell her to keep doing the exact same thing she's been doing.

"Amadelphous, use Double Slap!"

She's just a little bit faster than the Lillipup, but that's enough that she can land two hits before it has the chance to react.

"Basil, use Tackle!"

The Lillipup charges towards Amadelphous, knocking her back a little. Less than some other Lillipups have; either she's gotten stronger, or this one is a little weaker, or both.

"Use Double Slap again!"

He doesn't really plan to change his strategy anytime soon.

The waiter he's fighting is mainly here for the Learning Experience, he's not a serious challenge to anyone who's not completely unprepared. Amadelphous takes a few hits, but can dispatch the Lillipup easily.