While things are going on at the Pokemon Academy, let's check back in on Blake and Kate and see how things are going over there! How does Kate do at her job?

KedharS: Yep, nice and sweet. Just what we want to see between the couple.

Guest: Well, even in the games Dratini are just handed out like candy. Johto games specifically though, of course.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 798

While all that was going on at the Pokemon Academy, Blake was involved in a slightly different matter, and completely ignorant of the fact that his girlfriend had nearly been crushed by a meteor falling from the sky.

Right now, he was still at the pokemon store, practically a world away. He had just been browsing at first, having enough pokemon to take care of as it was. But when Kate began her shift, he was honestly surprised.

"She's like a different person, huh?" Josie smirked, leaning over the counter as she watched Kate work the floor.

Blake nodded dumbly. When Josie had said she needed a better rapport with the customers and had some issues on the job, particularly with her interactions with customers, he had expected that the problem was due to Kate's general toxic attitude. She wasn't exactly a "people person" after all, and had a bad habit of rubbing people the wrong way.

This… was not what he had expected.

Kate stood in front of one of the cages with her head held high, wearing a grin that filled to the brim with pride.

"You see, Ekans are absolutely one of the best breed of Poison types to raise! They might look intimidating due to their abilities, but in fact when raised in captivity they are very tame! As you can see, this Ekans is curled up into a ball. That's a trait that they developed in the wild, to allow them to strike at threats from any direction. But when it's curled up like that and has enough of a relationship with you then you can hold it without bothering it too much! These ones are only three weeks old, so they are still developing their poison sacs. They don't become poisonous until they've fully matured, so right now if they bite you it will only hurt a bit, you won't get infected! But you don't have to worry about getting bitten if you handle them properly. So long as you don't approach from behind, it won't have reason to suspect you as a predator. They primarily eat eggs of Pidgey and Spearow as well, so it won't think you're prey if you just reach out for it normally. They do grow quite a bit longer when they get older so you won't be able to house it in a cage this size, about 12' x 8' x 5' should be enough space to let it breathe when you don't have it in your pokeball. That will also give you the space for two full-grown Ekans as well! It's the standard size for serious buyers, so if you want what's best for the little guy I definitely recommend it, but if you get a 30' x 30' you can house as many as five different Ekans together at the same time! Our cages come with specially-reinforced glass so you won't have to worry about any poison spits or acid ruining your stuff, they're the perfect habitat to let a Poison type grow to their full potential. Another great thing about Ekans is that they're very low-maintenance as well! You only need to feed them once or twice a week, and change their water! They're great for pokemon owners who don't have the time to devote a lot of daily care, as they don't tend to develop affection for people the same way that other pokemon might. They eat about 2-3 eggs each feeding, so you'll need to take special care of how you raise them so they don't get very fat. We sell food in bulk here, and the eggs don't go bad, so it's definitely good to buy in large quantities and store it for months! Another great feature is that they come in a variety of patterns with their scales, the gold markings can make many different shapes so there might be one that especially catches your eye! Just be careful when handling them when they mature, because they ARE poisonous, and the poison is definitely lethal if left untreated. Fortunately, it's easy to get medical assistance because it isn't paralytic, so you can quickly apply an antidote and be fine! If you want to raise them for training then it would be best to get an index on their rate of growth and level progression, and if you like I can give you a quick rundown of what moves they use. And even if you're just raising one as a pet it's still important to get a good look at just what they can do, so it won't surprise you…"

Honestly, Blake thought it was kind of gross. The prospective customer seemed to share his feelings, staring vacantly at Kate with a look on his face that could only be qualified as "regret" as her words practically ran together. It was like listening to an audiobook of a medical text on fast-forward, Blake could barely make out what she was saying.

Josie cackled.

"Like I said, when it comes to customer service that girl is a complete failure. She's so passionate about Poison types that if you leave her to her own devices she'll just keep rambling like that for hours. I can't count how many customers we've lost because they were overwhelmed by the amount of data Kate dumps on 'em, and they just back out of buying altogether!"

Blake had to agree with her, this was definitely not a good look for sales representative. And yet… she looked so happy doing it, it just felt wrong to tell her to stop.

In Blake's dealings with Kate, seeing her excited like this was rare. Hell, just getting a smile out of her was next to impossible. But she was filled with joy right now, preaching about the greatness of Poison type pokemon to someone (she assumed) was eager to listen.

Now if only she learned a little thing called "self-control" she might actually be good at what she obviously loved.

Josie sighed, shaking her head while trying to keep the smirk off of her face. It was clear that she was amused by the situation, but at the same time she had a job to do. "Okay, okay, that's about enough torture. I'm gonna go bail that guy out now."

She walked around the counter and relieved Kate of her duties, but the brunette wasn't about to give up. She spotted a college girl checking out the Weedle cages, and immediately launched into another spiel.

Blake had to smile. Kate may have been a thoroughly annoying person, but there was definitely honesty inside of her. She might have concealed it behind her cold veneer, but when the inner Kate leaked out, the part of her that loved Poison type pokemon, well, Josie was right. It was like she'd become a completely different person.

And if Blake was being honest, as annoying as that different person was (did Kate even HAVE a non-annoying version?) she was someone that Blake liked.

He had a complicated relationship with Kate, but he wished that he could see more of this side of her than the normal one. Problem was, she was only like this when Poison types were involved, which was unfortunately very rarely.

By the time Kate's shift was over, it was already dark out, and she was still smiling just as broadly as she had been hours before. Blake didn't think he'd seen it fade once when they were in the store, and it was still just as weird on her face now as it had been then.

"Ah, Sludgy, you're just the best," she cooed, rubbing the Heal Ball lovingly against her cheek. It was so uncomfortable Blake felt that he had to say something,

"I've never seen you this… perky," was Blake's awkward attempt at small talk. Luckily, Kate wasn't upset by it.

"Oh? Yeah, I guess I'm just in a pretty good mood," Kate said. "Today was a good day at work, AND I finally, finally have my very own Muk! I can't wait to get back home and introduce him to all my other pokemon, it's just gonna be… oh, we're gonna have so much fun together!"

Alcea. That was it. The other time that Kate was perky and excited like this was when she talked about Alcea.

The conversation died off pretty quickly after that, as Kate was more concerned with her pokemon than talking. As the ferry headed off to the Pokemon Academy, Blake sat back and took out his phone, texting Aya. She'd been mysteriously quiet all day.

He was actually starting to get concerned. In spite of what he said, he did have reservations leaving things with that Reed woman to Aya.

She wasn't… Blake didn't get a dangerous vibe from her, or he never would have left the two of them alone. But that was then, and this was now. Now that he wasn't hearing from her, he was wondering if his read of… Reed was wrong.

At the end of the day, he didn't know. All he knew was that, as friendly as she might have seemed, she was still a stranger. She wasn't a student, and Blake had thought she was a guest, but being an intruder, that was a bad thing, right?

And Aya had been rather tense around her…

No… No, I shouldn't think that way, he told himself. He was just getting a little worried about all this, it wasn't like she would actually be in danger. He was just overthinking everything, the way he always did when he didn't know what was going on.

He just wished that the ferry would go a little faster. Anything to soothe the worry in his chest just a little bit more.

"Hey, are you okay?"

He didn't even hear it at first, he was so caught-up in his thoughts.

"Blake. Hey. Are you okay? You've got a weird look on your face." Kate shook him that time, and it was enough to bring him out of it.

"Huh? What?" Blake blinked in confusion. Kate was looking at him with concern on her face, and he had to think for a second to get his bearings. But Kate didn't let him have that second, her brow furrowing with frustration and the slightest tint of worry.

"I said, are you okay?" She tried for the third time, and it finally sunk in that he was the one she was talking to.

It was the surprise of it that had caught him off-guard. They'd gone the whole trip here in basic silence, and he'd been expecting more of the same. But now, Kate had taken the initiative to speak to him herself?

And not only was she talking to him, but she was also paying attention to the fact that he was pretty uncomfortable about something, and actually asking him what was wrong.

In short, Kate was displaying some genuine empathy, and that was so out of nowhere Blake wasn't quite sure what to say.

"I-I'm fine, I guess…" he mumbled, hoping that Kate, in her infinite "I don't give a fuck about you"-ness would drop it.

She did not. Her scowl got deeper.

"Oh, yeah?" She huffed. "Then why do you look like you're sitting on a landmine right now? Something's got you all tense and frustrated, and I'm curious what it is.

"Why do you care so much?" He shrugged. "It's not a big deal."

Her face softened. "Because… I'm worried."

Blake raised his eyebrow, and in a flash she hardened up into a scowl again.

"Hey, what's with that look?" She growled, slapping him on the shoulder. "I'm not allowed to be worried about you?!"

"Not really, no, it's not what I'd expect," Blake said, almost amused by her actions. But his worry about Aya kept him from bursting out laughing at the look on her face. He knew it was mean, but he just didn't expect this kind of stuff out of Kate.

"Look, if you have something that's bugging you, you might as well talk about it," she sighed, slumping down in the seat across from him. "We're… I mean, we're kind of friends, right? I can at least give you some advice."

Blake's first instinctive response was to reply "advice from you?" but he held his tongue. Kate had shown him a lot of surprises today, but he knew she was still a toxic enough person where she wouldn't let that one slide.

Blake sighed and scratched his forehead. He supposed there really wasn't any getting out of this without coming clean, huh? And hey, Kate probably wouldn't be much help, but it wouldn't hurt to have someone to talk to.

Better than uncomfortable silence, at any rate, and who knows? She might have even been able to make him feel better.

"Well… see, before you came to talk to me, earlier, to bring me here, I was with Aya, and we met this woman, Reed Blackthorn," Blake explained. "She was really friendly, but also really strange, you know? And she's not a student here, either."

Kate rolled her eyes. "What a shock, Blake's problems began with a woman, where have I heard that one before?"

"Kate, if you're gonna get snippy, we can go back to silence," Blake said.

"Sorry, sorry, go on, I'm listening," Kate said.

"Well, she… she really likes Dragon types," Blake explained. He wasn't ready to come clean about the whole "Draconid" thing, so he danced around it. As he was explaining, he realized that Reed actually reminded him a lot of Kate, of all people, especially the way she was today. "You know, the way that you really like Poison types."

"Okay, yeah, I can kind of picture her," Kate said, nodding. "Sort of like a dignified scholar with her head held high, letting people know all about the ins and outs of Dragon types, and- what is this face you're making?!"

Blake blinked, wiping the bemused expression off his face. "Sorry, sorry, I was just thinking it was an amusing comparison."

She'd really called herself dignified? Well, that was another thing he wasn't going to say to her face, that was for sure.

Kate could still sense that there was an underlying issue, as far as the miffed expression on her face told Blake. She waved her hand to tell him to keep going, and Blake resumed his explanation. There wasn't much more to say.

"So what I was saying is that she was looking for somebody," Blake explained. "And Aya knew where that person was, so the two of them went off somewhere. That was right about where you showed up, and now here we are."

"Now here we are," Kate echoed. "With you checking your phone every minute even though it isn't dinging."

Blake shot her a sour look.

"There, that right there, that glare of yours just answered my question," Kate smirked, pointing at his face. "You're worried about Ayame, aren't you?"

"Can you blame me?" Blake sighed, staring at his phone again, willing it to ding. "I mean, that girl, Reed, she was a total stranger, not here on the up and up. Like, I said she was looking for someone, right? But maybe she was dangerous. And I just left Aya there because she told me that she could handle it, and I thought it wasn't a big deal, but…"

He sighed again. Why couldn't they just get there already?!

"Blake, Blake, Blake, it's okay," Kate assured him. She was smirking, which kind of pissed him off, it was like she wasn't taking this seriously.

"Why do you think that?" He snapped, which surprised her. He looked up at her and his own face was twisted in shock. He let out an apologetic sigh. "…Sorry, sorry, I shouldn't have snapped at you like that, it's just…"

"No, no, I get it," Kate said, waving her hand. She understood what it was like. "Yeah, I know what it's like to snap myself. You're just tense because of this whole issue with this Reed woman, right? I understand."

For the millionth time today, Blake felt like he had no idea who the heck Kate even was. Now she was even being understanding.

"You know, Kate, I really don't know you as well as I think I do, do I?" Blake snickered a little, shaking his head numbly. "But… yeah. I'm worried. Because what if she's dangerous?"

"If she's dangerous, Ayame's going to break her in half," Kate said simply.

THAT brought a laugh out of him.

"Yeah, knowing her, she probably would," he admitted.

"Blake, you might not want to hear this, but that girlfriend of yours is scary when she wants to be," Kate said. She shrugged. "Sorry, but that's just the way it is, you know it and I know it."

Blake had the basic compulsion to come to Aya's defense, but he didn't bother. Kate was absolutely right about how scary she could be.

"Thanks for talking some sense into me," Blake smiled. "I guess I was just worried. Imagine how strange it is, to have Kate Nomia of all people coming to help me. I didn't think you had it in you, if I'm being perfectly honest."

Kate blushed a little bit and kind of smiled. "Look, I mean… you've done a lot to me. Like I said, we're… kind of friends, right? And coming here today, that meant a lot. It's the least I can do, hearing you out about your troubles, you know?"

Blake nodded. "Yeah, Kate. Thanks. You're a lot of help."

Kate smiled a little, but Blake could see she was forcing it. There was a tense look on her face, like she had something else she wanted to say, but was holding herself back. Blake knew well-enough what that was like in light of their recent conversation.

"What is it?" He asked. "Something else you wanted to say?"

Kate let out a sigh. "…Yeah, there is," she admitted, her voice quiet as a whisper. "See, I know you like Ayame, and you're worried about her. But honestly, Blake, I think you might have a different problem than just worry."

The mood in the ferry took a turn for the worse.

Blake narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"

She sighed. "Look, it's just… well, don't you think you're a little too worried about Ayame? I understand being protective, but… look, maybe I'm overthinking things, because I've never been in a relationship myself, but it's like you're paranoid, you know?"

Blake scowled. "I did leave her with a stranger, I think I have the right to be a little worried about her safety."

"Yeah, maybe if she was ten, but Blake, she's three years older than you!" Kate said. "And you need some girl you're barely friends with to tell you that she can take care of herself? I'm not psychologist but that tells me something's wrong!"

"I just…" Blake didn't want to lose Aya. It was as simple as that. Yeah, maybe he was a little paranoid and overprotective, but… was that so wrong?

"…Maybe I am too overprotective," he admitted. There were a whole host of reasons for that, and at the front of them was one he wasn't proud of. He was selfish. Without Aya in his life, he didn't think he'd be able to be happy the way he was.

But those weren't things he wanted to talk about with Kate. She had helped him calm down, but she'd also replaced his worries with concerns of a different sort.

Kate must have sensed that Blake didn't want to talk anymore, because she shut up and let him think in peace. He appreciated that, because he had a lot to think about.

As the ferry crossed the sunset-shimmering ocean, Blake considered his relationship with Aya in depth. He was worried about her, but… was he too protective?

It was a conversation he would need to have with her, when they got back.

He had a lot of time to think about what to say.

So, Blake and Kate on a ferry, thinking about things and figuring out their issues. What will they find when they get back to the Pokemon Academy?