The party has ended. But what comes after? Only time will tell.

KedharS: What will the next arc entail, I wonder?

Aquahaze675: Glad, I'm happy that so many people enjoyed it!

TheStryker190: Thank you, I'm not sure if I'll be able to use them but I'll see if I can!

Pokemonking0924: The fishing trip will be a long time coming, Marion won't be here for most of the semester.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 485

The night of Cynthia's birthday party was cold and sinister, a prelude of dark tidings to come. But this was lost on the travelers in the night, heading to their respective locations. Nikita and Kitty returned to their dorm, bundled up warm in their coats, accompanied by Aidan and his Shinx Arion, who was heading to the same dorm. Meanwhile Caelia stalked off into the darkness, unfazed by the chill in the air. She walked in the same direction as Maddi, but both girls were distinctly walking on their own. Callie had headed off on her own as well, dismissive of Nick's offer to walk her back to her dorm, though she was overwhelmingly grateful for his kindness. Dakota, Akira, and Serefina headed off together in a group, which made Kate a little bit envious. They were all heading in the same direction, but Kate still felt like she was alone.

And of course, Sylvia was the one truly alone, wandering off to parts unknown, just the way she wanted it.

But there was one last group walking through the snow, headed for a private dormitory building that was overseen by the Empress.

"You didn't need to come, dummy," Ayame pouted, irritated on the surface but secretly overjoyed. "Giselle and I could have gotten back home on our own, you know!"

"I wanted to escort you back," Blake said, squeezing her mitten-covered hand a little tighter, smiling up at her. His eyes were twinkling under the hood of his jacket in a way that warmed her up in spite of the chilling wind. "Just to make sure you guys were okay."

Ayame grinned sheepishly, reaching up and pulling her collar a little higher up, to hide her blush. It wasn't just the cold that was making her face flush.

"Dummy, dummy," she repeated. "Coming out here in the cold like this? Your little nose is so red it just makes me want to… boop!"

Ayame reached over and poked Blake in the nose lightly, giggling to herself.

Giselle walked a few steps behind the flirting couple, trying not to get irritated. She'd had a bit of a crush on her fellow senior ever since their second year, but hadn't had the confidence to confess. And Ayame was so serious and so determined, she hadn't wanted to get in the way of the girl's ambitions, or her training, so she'd held herself back.

She would be lying if she said she didn't resent Blake just a little. He hadn't had the same consideration that she had, rather than admiring Ayame from afar, he had gone up to her and brought out the thing that Giselle had always yearned to see, the rare, elusive smile of the handsome girl. Before Blake, Ayame would grin, or smirk, but usually her expressions were tight, stern, and severe. But smiles of joy? Those had remained forever elusive. Now, Giselle saw them all the time.

But it wasn't her that Ayame was beaming at. She hadn't been the one to make Ayame smile, that had been Blake. And it was for that reason that, as much as she resented Blake for being the one to bring out that smile, she couldn't actually hate him. Because whatever the reason, Ayame was bright and shining now, and that made Giselle smile too.

"I'm happy for you, Aya," Giselle murmured.

"You say something?" Ayame looked back, catching the lilt of her friend's voice on the wind. "Couldn't hear! Why are you so far back?"

"Nothing!" Giselle called back, picking up her pace a little. She'd been giving the couple some space to flirt, but if Ayame wanted her to come over instead that was good for her.

Unless they were going to flirt WHILE she was walking beside them. That would be more than a little miserable.

"You don't have to protect me, you know," Ayame said, playing with the fringes of hair framing her red face. "I can take care of myself."

Like she wasn't overjoyed that Blake wanted to protect her? Giselle could see it smeared on her giddy face! Ayame was nearly a head taller than her boyfriend, and her stomach was doing backflips at the idea of hiding behind him and letting him take care of things while she rooted for him like a cheerleader! It would have been adorable if it wasn't annoying.

Thankfully, the tortuous walk was brief, and they finally made it back to the dorm. Giselle skipped ahead, eager to get inside and away from the awkwardness. She wasn't about to go dig a pint of ice cream out of the fridge and cry, this wasn't a broken heart or anything. It was just grating to see her crush flirt with her boyfriend.

Giselle stopped at the door, holding it open to wait for Ayame, who was unfortunately taking her sweet time saying goodbye, her hands in Blake's.

"Are you sure you're cool about Andy?" Blake asked. "I saw you looked a little bothered. I know she can be really forward, but I don't think of her as anything more than a classmate, I promise. We aren't even close enough to be friends."

"I'm not concerned with that," Ayame assured him. She was a little, especially because she'd seen that toned body of the girl, and it was just to his tastes. But she trusted him completely, and Andy seemed genuinely supportive (forget supportive, more like fanatical) so she wasn't going to overthink things. It was just a little bit of discomfort, like when Cynthia flirted with him. Not something for her to get upset over.

"Are you sure you're going to get back okay?" She asked, staring at the sky. It wasn't snowing right now, but the lack of stars alluded to the clouds brooding overhead, and the cold air was choking, for all they knew things could get worse. "Maybe I should walk you back just to make sure…"

"But then I'd have to walk you back again," Blake laughed. "We're going to be here all night if we keep this up!"

"I wouldn't mind that," Ayame admitted, batting her eyes and giving him a smile while she bit her lip, curling the fringe of her hair with her finger. "You and me just walking and talking on a cold winter's night? That sounds like a dream come true."

"Like something out of a fairy tale," Blake murmured. The two shared a heated look while Giselle watched from a few feet away, rolling her eyes.

Ayame leaned down and kissed him, Blake raising up slightly to make it easier for her. The two kissed happily in the dark, parting seconds later and staring wistfully at each other. Blake's hands slipped from hers and they stepped back, Ayame trailing backwards towards the dorm, neither wanting to turn away from the other. Eventually they had to break their gaze, tearfully turning from each other.

Blake began the slow walk back to his dorm, still feeling the warmth of Ayame's hands in his. He clutched his fists tight, trying to preserve it as long as he possibly could.

"Hello there Blake. It has been a long time. Or maybe is has not? I can never keep track."

Blake's eyes widened, and he turned back to see a familiar face standing out in the night, the sweet smell of lavender, mint, and lilac drifting down the wind.

"Ryoko!" Blake gasped, his face brightening.

"How are you right now?" Ryoko asked, retrieving her pocket watch and glancing at it as she walked through the snow towards him. He noticed that she was still wearing the same dress that she always did, but did not seem bothered by the cold of winter. Maybe that was another effect of being an avatar for Celebi, or whatever it was that she was? He wasn't sure.

Blake smiled ear to ear.

"I'm happy," Blake said. "Aya, she… she's amazing, being with her… Ever since Gwen, I didn't think that I would be able to have this kind of happiness again… I don't know how much you know about my sister, but-"

"I know everything," Ryoko assured him. "We have discussed her many times. Though perhaps that has not happened quite yet for you. Nonetheless, it pleases me to hear that you are happy. Your happiness is all that I dream of."

She said that, but Blake could see something on that face of hers. She looked so young on the surface, but the age in her eyes was distinctive. And now, that wise, youthful face was lined with a look of… sadness? He didn't know why she smiled with such sadness in her eyes, but it made him uncomfortable. There was so much about Ryoko that was a mystery to him.

"Your happiness is my greatest desire," Ryoko repeated, reaching out and placing a hand on his jacket, right over his heart. She laid out her palm just like the vicious scar across his chest, which had begun to sting in the cold. Her touch was so soothing, it reminded him of when his mother Cynthia had kissed his wounds when he was a child. So gentle and comforting. A throb of pain went through the scar on his forehead and she reached up to touch that one as well, easing him away from the sting. It felt so good to be around her. She removed her hands and stepped back, looking up at him, her eyes shining with mysterious wisdom.

Ryoko checked her watch again, and glanced back to him.

"I still have some time here. Shall we walk?" She asked. Blake nodded and headed back to his dorm, Ryoko following after him.

"Did you want to talk about anything in particular?" Blake asked.

"Can you tell me more about how things are going for you?" Ryoko asked. "You have met Gwen again, have you not?"

Blake winced at the memory, it was painful to him. He nodded.

"And she met with Cynthia and Sango. Cynthia my friend, not… you know."

Ryoko nodded in understanding.

"That must have been painful to hear," Ryoko murmured.

"Ryoko, you can see the future, can't you?" Blake asked.

"The future? No, it is not within my power to see the future," Ryoko replied. "I simply walk it, like how you and I are now walking down this snowy path."

"But you have seen the future, haven't you?" Blake clarified. "You know what's coming for me, because you've been all over the timeline, right?"

"I have walked across many of the times in your life," Ryoko answered. "I have seen a great many days of your past, and a great many days of your future."

"Then Gwen and I… are we… is she…" Blake was desperate, but he knew there was no point in asking her. The sad smile she gave him said it all.

"You know that I am not able to answer that question," Ryoko replied. "If you were to know, then…"

"I know," Blake sighed, shaking his head. "But… I just wish…"

Blake reached up and clenched his heart. He didn't know if the sting was the cold air making his scar ache, or the agony of the situation he was in.

"I just wish I could know what I'm supposed to do! I want to save Gwen, but if it means betraying Aya, betraying my friends, then how can I? Please, Ryoko, there's got to be a way that I can help both, please, a future where we can all be happy, can't you tell me how to get to that future?"

"Even if I were to tell you, what would come from that?" Ryoko asked. "Do you know how many choices you make in a day? An hour? A minute? A second? Every action has a consequence, and because of that, every action is an action of consequence. Some small, some large, but none can doubt that every action has consequences."

She turned to him.

"If I were to tell you the result of your future… would you not then wonder what steps you must take to achieve it? Would you make the same decisions you would have?"

Blake considered that.

"But doesn't the fact that you can travel through time at all mean that we can't change the future?" Blake asked. "Because then, whatever it is you see… it wouldn't be normal, you know? Time would be changing all the time."

Ryoko smiled at that unintentional pun.

"…Indeed. Time is not capable of being changed. Everything happens as it always has happened and as it always will happen. Even my actions are not capable of changing that. I may walk through time, but the effects I have on the timeline, even they are accounted for. My actions as well, are actions of consequence."

"So just tell me, then, it won't change anything," Blake said. He shook his head incredulously. It… it couldn't be true, could it? He didn't want to believe it was true. But if what she was saying WAS true, then that meant he didn't have free will. No one did. Everything he did was predetermined, and he wasn't sure if that was something that he was ready for right now.

"The fact that it will not change anything is why I am not able to tell you," Ryoko replied. "Because I did not tell you. That is the truth. Because of my connection with Celebi, I know fully which actions I take at every moment. I know that I do not tell you here, what your future will hold. For all of time that is the truth. Because nothing can change time, not my will, not your will, not anything."

A painful look passed her face again.

"Regardless of how terribly I wish I could act to change the painful truth of my future, regardless of how much pain it may cause me…" Tears began to well up in her eyes as she stared at Blake, stunning him. He had seen sorrow on her face before, but this… these were real tears. She was crying. But the impact of those tears were lessened by the weight of what she had just confessed.

"You are not able to know how many actions I have taken that I wish I had the ability to change. But I do not." Ryoko reached up and clenched her pocket watch, right over her heart. "It pains you to not know the future, Blake. But you should be grateful that you do not. For when you learn of the future, that is when you no longer have freedom. It is your lack of knowledge of what the future holds for you that allows you to live a life where your decisions have meaning for you. You can make every choice knowing 'this is what I want to do'."

"No, I can't," Blake said, horrified. "You just told me, I don't have free will! Nothing I do matters, because it will have the same result!"

Ryoko shook her head.

"You do not understand." She reached into her shirt, Blake believing for a moment that she was taking her watch back out, but he was surprised to see that it was a pokeball, instead, minimized in size to be no larger than a marble.

"A pokeball?" Blake asked, confused.

"Look forward," Ryoko said, pointing to the path they were walking down. They had arrived at a fork in the road. "There are two paths. A path to the left, a path to the right. Which one shall you take?"

"…It doesn't matter," Blake replied. Both paths would lead him back to the dorm.

"That is why I asked. Which path you take is up to you. So which do you choose?" Ryoko asked.

"It doesn't matter," Blake repeated. "I see what you're doing, but like you said, whichever path I take is already decided, right?"

"So what?"

Blake did a double-take. It was rare to hear something so brusque coming from her.

"Whether you have true freedom or whether you are walking the path laid out for you, you are not able to know that unless you see your future," Ryoko replied. "So because you do not know which path you will take, that decision remains yours. Time merely knows what decision you will arrive at. And that is why I will not tell you your future. That is why I do not ever tell the future, because that removes from you your ability to choose your own path."

Blake could kind of understand what she meant, but he wasn't sure that he agreed.

"Did you know that pokemon age while they live in pokeballs?" Ryoko asked, rolling the pokeball in her hands between her fingers.

"Huh? Well, yeah, obviously," Blake said, nodding.

"Then tell me. If an elderly pokemon is within a pokeball, can you be certain that it did not die?" Ryoko asked. "Pokeballs are meant to sustain the lives of the pokemon inside them, but that does not extend to when the time has naturally come for it to pass on. So tell me, Blake. If I present you a pokeball and tell you I am not aware that the pokemon inside is alive or dead, which is it?"

"I… I don't know," Blake said, not sure what she meant.

"Correct. You do not know, because you cannot know. Until you open the pokeball and see what is contained within, you cannot say for certain whether the pokemon inside is alive or dead. And the path of time is the same way. For each decision you make, down to turning left or turning right, you do not know if that was the decision you were always going to make until you have made it. Is that not how free will works?"

Blake honestly couldn't be sure. But what she was saying makes sense.

"Now I shall tell you something else," Ryoko said. "I lied to you about not being able to tell you your future. I will now tell you what awaits you, if that is what you like. If you want me to tell you, I will. What is your decision?"

Like her previous tears of emotion had never existed, she gave him a mysterious smile.

Blake didn't know what to do. Would she… would she really tell him, if he wanted to know? And at the same time…

"But remember. If I tell you… that will make your decisions no longer matter. Is that worth it for you? To know that, regardless of what you do, your future is set in stone? Because you will not know what awaits you until I speak. But when I do, that will make it real. Your path will be set in stone," Ryoko reminded him.

Ayame's face flashed before his mind. His life with her had meaning. He was happy with her. Could he say he would still be happy if he knew that his choices would stop mattering? That it didn't matter what decision he made, it would all be the same?

Right now, he had freedom. He didn't know the consequences of his actions, so knowing they were set in stone anyway didn't really change much. At the end of the day the decision was still his to make. But if she told him what awaited him, that would remove all the weight and meaning.

"No, no, it's fine," Blake said, shaking his head. Ryoko smiled.

"I know," she coyly replied.

"You knew I wasn't going to take you up on that offer, didn't you?" Blake asked. He couldn't help but smile. She had been lying the whole time, she was never going to tell him the future, but she also knew that even if she offered him, he would deny it.

"Of course I did," Ryoko laughed. She retrieved her watch and checked it. "Ah. It appears my time here has come to a close. What a pity. I was enjoying my conversation with you, my dear Blake. I shall have to wait for the next time. See you again."

Ryoko glanced up at the paths.

"So have you decided? What path you will take?"

Blake followed her eyes and smiled. "I guess it doesn't really matter, does it?"

"Not in the sense of causality. But it is still a choice that could matter to you," Ryoko smiled, turning back to him. "There is one more thing I must tell you, Blake. I am not able to tell you your future, but I can still help you on your way."

"What do you mean?" Blake asked.

An array of green light appeared around Ryoko, illuminating the snow. The time had almost come for her to go.

"Believe in yourself. Believe in Guinevere. Believe in the ones you love. Your future can only come from believing, Blake. But what that future will be, that I cannot say."

"That was already the plan," Blake replied.

"And that is why I am able to tell you," Ryoko replied, smiling at him, her golden eyes shining brightly and reflecting the green light around her, before she disappeared off into time.

Blake smiled as the light died down and the shadows of night filled their place. He turned to the fork of the road and walked forward, heading down one of the paths.

A lot of philosophy in this one. But what will these revelations mean, going forward? What did Ryoko impart to him?