After a long hike on the road, the group finally arrives at Agate Village! But what awaits them in that peaceful little town? They'll be arriving just on the heels of the terrorist attack by Valerie and Gwen, the same morning that Maddi set out to Professor Decker's laboratory. I'm sure they'll be in for a few surprises!
The Elimination Round of the Pokemon Academy Best Girl Contest 3 is coming to a close! There's only about a week left, so make sure to get those votes in! We've only got a couple of people who have voted so far, so try to vote if you can, if you want your girl to be the third year champion, and if you want this contest to happen for a fourth time! You can vote for up to 5 girls, so make sure your favorites have a chance to shine!
Nominated: Ange, Ayame, Caelia, Chloe, Cynthia, Donoma, Elaina, Kate, Maddi, Marion, Misato, Ryoko, Sango, Satsuki, Sylvia, Vic
KedharS: It's a rarity, but it's been known to happen.
Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Things are definitely getting more spicy, that's for sure. Who can say where it's going to go from here?
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 988
The sun was approaching the peak of its arc in the sky by the time the group of students, led by Pokemon Ranger Andrea Pollard and her Chimecho, reached the end of the trail. They crested over the hill, stopping to catch their breath. And that's when they saw it.
Agate Village.
It was breathtaking, that's what Lila thought when she first laid eyes on it. That was, if she actually had any breath left to give. But she was worn out and exhausted by the climb, and even the calming green aura of the tranquil little town wasn't enough to soothe her fatigue.
It had taken three days to get here. Was it worth it? As far as Lila was concerned, no, it was not. No matter that the actual amount of time spent on the hike was a lot closer to two days, as far as Lila was concerned any day spent exercising counted.
It was beautiful, peaceful and serene, like something out of a fairy tale. The others hadn't been exaggerating. She could feel the calming aura emanating out of her surroundings, gently embracing her and telling her she was at peace.
But honestly, that wasn't what she was thinking about right now. She was too exhausted. She'd been putting up with more exercise than anyone should rightly have to on a field trip, and had managed to will herself to keep going solely on a desire to not spend one second more in that gross forest. So upon finally arriving at their destination, she understood on a fundamental level that she was finally done, and didn't have to keep trying anymore.
And with that, all the strength in her body escaped her, and she nearly collapsed right then and there. It was only Darla's quick acting that kept her from faceplanting right into the grass.
"Lila, are you okay?!" Darla cried.
"Hah… heeenh…" Lila panted, looking weakly up at her partner. "I'm… I'm… exhausted… need to… rest… lie down… I can't… too weak…"
"You should take a break," Hiromi gently urged her. "Wait here for now, I don't think you girls are alone."
She was right, Lila was far from the only person worn out by this hard climb. It had only gotten more difficult in the last leg of their hike, and the people who weren't used to exercising were all pretty worn out. Andrea's group was fine, of course, and so were Marion and Yellow. But from her own group, Celia and even Jessie were both exhausted, Lukas was about ready to die, Giselle looked dead already, and even Olivia was having some difficulty keeping up appearances.
They could all use a breather.
"Okay, how about this?" Hiromi suggested, surprisingly feeling a little winded herself. She turned to Andrea. "I'll stay here with anyone who needs to take a break, so why don't you take the rest of the kids to the Pokemon Center? Our things should have already been delivered, you can just check in using my name. We'll catch up when we're good and ready."
Andrea nodded. "Works for me," she agreed. "Come on, everybody, let's move out." She turned and gestured for the others to follow.
Donoma skipped up right to Ian and resumed her conversation with him. She was apparently in much better shape than anyone gave her credit for. Allen joined that group as well, feeling fine even though Hiromi told him to cut it out with the Flygon. The others all stayed back to regain the feeling in their legs.
Hiromi turned to Ayame, who had waited behind with the others. "What's up, Aya? Don't tell me that climb actually took it out of you?" She teased her daughter. "How can you plan to become a star Pokeathlete if you can't even put up with a hike like that?"
"I'm fine, mom," Ayame replied. "I just thought that since most of my group is here, I might as well stick around too."
"Well, I can't stick around," Olivia said, hopping to her feet. So what if her legs felt like jelly? "I want to pay a visit to someone, so-"
"Not a chance," Hiromi snapped. "We've been over this before. I'm not having anyone go off on their own. I've already warned you once, remember?"
Olivia groaned. "Oh, COME ON! We're in Agate Village!" She waved her arms dramatically. "You know? The most peaceful place in the Orre Region? The tranquil town everyone retires to? That's had, what, one crime in the last hundred years? It's not safe to wander around here unsupervised?!"
"No, it's not," Hiromi immediately replied. "I'm glad you understand."
Olivia suppressed a scream.
"Um…"
Giselle stepped into the conversation, looking shakily over at Olivia, who was warning her with her eyes to watch her mouth.
When Giselle baulked, Ayame came to her defense, saying the words the other girl was too intimidated to spit out.
"If Agate Village is so safe, what's a police car doing here?" She asked, pointing at the car parked in front of the Pokemon Center. A police officer was standing a few feet away, interviewing one of the senior citizens.
Hiromi blinked, surprised. She hadn't been expecting that. Sensing trouble, she immediately shifted to protective mode.
"Girls, you stay here," she said, approaching the officer.
Lukas made a sour expression and Celia chuckled.
Ayame frowned. She knew that her mother had told her to stay behind, but at the same time, she felt that something was wrong, so she followed after Hiromi anyway.
"Excuse me, what's going on here?" Hiromi asked, approaching the officer just as she finished her interview.
The blue-haired woman turned back to Hiromi with a startled expression. Then she put on a gentle smile. "Oh, sorry young lady, I didn't see you there! Don't worry, everything's fine! Run along and play, this is grownup business."
Hiromi's eye twitched. This was getting old. Ayame resisted the urge to burst out laughing.
Not wanting to lose her temper and tear a police officer a new one, Hiromi took a deep breath, exhaling, and put on her sweetest smile. "Thank you for your concern, but I assure you, I'm an adult. I'm also a retired Pokemon Ranger, here escorting these little ones on their field trip."
She turned and gestured to her students. "We hiked all the way here because we heard that Agate Village was a peaceful town with no conflicts, so as you can imagine, we're a little worried that something bad might be happening. If there's anything you can tell us, I'd greatly appreciate it, please. Thank you!"
The officer didn't look like she necessarily believed Hiromi, but the woman was eloquent enough to be taken seriously at least. "Apologies for the misunderstanding, ma'am," she said, tipping her hat. "But just yesterday, there was a terrorist attack carried out here."
Hiromi gasped. "A terrorist attack?!"
Her exclamation got the attention of the rest of the students, who (with the exception of a still dying Lila) came over to hear what was going on.
"Yes, I'm afraid so," the officer nodded. "Two teenagers attacked the village protector and his family in an attempt to vandalize this town's cultural landmarks. A few kids were hurt, but thankfully due to the help of some visiting pokemon trainers, the terrorists were driven off before they could do anymore damage. Right now, I'm here taking statements to help confirm what happened. There's a region-wide manhunt for those two."
Her face turned suspicious and she squinted. "Now that you mention it, you said you all came here hiking up Mt. Battle? So does that mean you were hiking yesterday?"
"Hey!" Olivia scowled. "Excuse me, but don't lump in all teenagers, thank you very much." She held her head with pride. "Someone of my standing could never be mistaken as a terrorist." Under normal circumstances she would have handled that with more finesse, but she was too exhausted to bother acting right now.
"No, that's not what I'm saying," the police officer quickly clarified. "I was only saying that it's possible you kids might have run into them on their way down the mountain, that's all."
Hiromi shook her head. "I don't think so. We didn't run into anyone. …Well, one person, but I don't think she's who you're looking for."
The officer frowned. "Who is this person? Describe her!" She demanded, startling Hiromi.
"Um, a blonde lady… listen, I think you've got this all mixed up, she was with us all day yesterday, there's no way she did anything."
The police officer wasn't convinced. She reached into her pocket and took out a piece of paper, unfolding it.
"You said she was a blonde? Well, one of our suspects was confirmed to be a blonde woman, can you tell me if you recognize her?"
She showed them a sketch of Gwen, a near-perfect likeness. Everyone took a look, but they all shook their heads. Although Olivia thought she did remind her of someone…
The officer sighed. "Oh, well, it was worth a shot. While you're here, would you mind taking a look at our picture of the other suspect, too, and tell us if you ran into her? It didn't have to be yesterday of course, maybe you passed her in Gateon Port, or Phenac City, can you just take a look?"
"Certainly," Hiromi said, shrugging. It couldn't hurt.
The officer took out another picture, this one of Val. She showed it to the girls (and Lukas) and everyone stared at it for a few seconds.
Ayame froze.
"N-No way," she muttered, shaking her head.
Hiromi narrowed her eyes. "Is that… no, it can't be…"
"What?" The officer said, her expression turning stern.
"No, it's nothing, just… that girl…" She turned to Ayame. "She's the girl from before, right? The woman who attacked you and Blake and held you hostage over winter break."
Ayame nodded, a dark expression crossing her face. "That's her. Valerie Chiester."
The police officer gasped. "That's the name we were given! You do know her!"
"She stayed with us for a night, back at our cabin in the ToJoh area, by Mt. Silver," Hiromi explained. "But it was a pretext. She abducted my daughter and her boyfriend and threatened them in order to make my daughter guide her up the mountain. They managed to escape, but the police never caught her."
Hiromi shivered. "I hoped that I'd never have to see her again… but this is her. I'm certain of it, I'd never forget those eyes."
Ayame was shaking. She never wanted to see Val again, either. Whereas Hiromi had just been told about the depraved things Val had done, Ayame had witnessed them firsthand. Among other things, Val had threatened to rape her boyfriend, kicked the shit out of him, and held a knife on both of them as she promised to do all sorts of unspeakable things.
The girl was a monster, and Ayame was staring right at her.
"So you know this Valerie, was a blonde girl with her too?" The officer asked. "Or was she working alone back then?"
"She wasn't alone," Ayame said, shaking her head. "There was a man with her, silver hair, named Preya, and another girl, also a brunette. Um… Rui, I think her name was? But no, that's the first time I've seen that blonde girl."
There was a terrifying thought welling up in the back of Ayame's brain about the possibility of a blonde girl working with Valerie. But she wasn't going to believe it. She didn't want to think that it was true, so she said nothing.
The police officer sighed. "Well, thank you for your help, you two. And if you see this girl Valerie again, please be sure to let us know, alright? Or her friend, Gwen."
"Will do, officer," Hiromi said, nodding. "Thank you for your hard work."
"…Gwen?" Ayame croaked out, her voice tiny like a little girl's. "D-Did you… did you say Gwen?"
"Yes, that's right," the police officer said. "That's the name we were given of her associate." She checked her notes. "Gwen… Harker, yes, that's it."
Olivia gasped. "Gwen Harker?! But that-"
Ayame jammed the heel of her shoe into Olivia's toe, nearly causing her to collapse in pain.
"What was that?" The police officer sharply asked, turning to Olivia.
"That's… a really common last name, I guess," she mumbled. "Ayame's boyfriend happens to be named Harker too."
"I'm sure it's just a coincidence," Ayame said coldly. "No way he'd be associated with something like this."
The officer was just confused at that point. She shook her head and sighed, putting away her notepad and the pictures. "Well, thank you again for your time, and please, don't let what happened here discourage you, okay?" She asked, smiling. "Agate Village is really a lovely place to visit, and the danger's already passed."
"We'll be fine," Hiromi assured her. The officer went off to go ask more people about what was going on, and as she did, Hiromi turned back to the others.
"Well, that was certainly a surprise," she said, trying to laugh it off. "Imagine, a terrorist attack, here of all places! I wonder why!"
Ayame wasn't laughing. She had a dark look on her face that made everyone give her some space, though no one understood why. Hiromi assumed it was because of what she'd been through with that lunatic on Mt. Silver and didn't press the issue, while only Olivia could guess at the truth.
The fact of the matter was, after learning about Gwen, Val and her bullshit didn't matter one whit to Ayame anymore, the brunette was the furthest thing from her mind.
Gwen Harker had been here. She'd attacked Agate Village like a terrorist. Ayame closed her eyes and pictured that face from the sketch. So that was Blake's sister. She looked so young. So innocent. But even through a sketch Ayame could feel the coldness in her gaze.
She'd always empathized with Blake's desire to help his sister. But even though they had never met, Ayame was worried for the first time that it truly might have been a lost cause. It was one thing to be concerned about a vague person, but now she had a face to put to the name. It was so much more real now, and Ayame…
No. Don't think that way. Whatever else she is, whatever she's done, she's still Blake's sister. And that means something. Ayame didn't think that Gwen was totally guilt-free. She believed the other girl should still pay for her crimes in some capacity. But she also felt like she knew her, at least partially, from how Blake described her.
The gentle Gwen he described would never have attacked Agate Village like a terrorist. She wanted to believe in that version of her, in spite of all the evidence to the contrary.
I guess… even though we're on a "break"… I still want to see him happy, Ayame noted to herself, feeling a strange combination of joy and bitterness.
But she didn't have time to think about that. Hiromi was guiding them all to the Pokemon Center, Lila included, now that they'd recovered enough from their hike. But on the way there, Olivia pulled her aside.
She wasn't happy.
"Aya…"
"S-Sorry," Ayame apologized, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment. She glanced down shamefully, not having an excuse for her actions.
"It really hurt when you stomped on my toe, you know," Olivia scowled.
"Boss, you don't understand, I had to!" Ayame sputtered. "I just… you were going to come right out and…"
"And what? Tell the investigator that your boyfriend's sister happens to be one of the terrorists responsible for attacking this town?" Olivia hissed. "Don't you think that MAYBE that's information she deserved to know?"
"No, I don't!" Ayame snapped, startling Olivia.
She recovered quickly though. "Why not? Just because he's your boyfriend?"
"…Urgh…" Ayame couldn't deny that. If it was anyone else, she would have given up everything in a heartbeat, because it was the right thing to do. But it was Gwen. How could she face Blake, knowing that she might have gotten his sister arrested.
"I can't believe this," Olivia said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "You're helping a terrorist elude the police, because she's your boyfriend's sister! And I went along with you, because I thought there was a reason you were keeping quiet, so now I'M dragged into this!"
"Wait, no, it's not like that!" Ayame protested. "Look, yes, I don't want to see her get arrested, I know that would crush him! But come on, it's not like telling the officer who she is would have helped them find her, right? She's already being chased by people who know her identity, and they still haven't tracked her down! Just revealing her family wouldn't change that!"
Olivia frowned. While Ayame had a point that info about Gwen's siblings probably wouldn't have been relevant to the investigation, it still made her feel sick to her stomach.
"Believe me, if I knew anything that would have helped, I'd have told them," Ayame said. "Or let you tell them. But I don't. All I do know is that if Blake gets contacted by a bunch of reporters and investigators looking for his sister because she attacked a village, that's going to destroy him. And I can't be responsible for that, I can't. Please, Olivia, you have to understand!"
Her eyes were wet with desperation as she looked at her friend with pleading eyes.
Olivia stared at her, and sighed. She couldn't do it. She couldn't resist Aya's desperation.
"…Fine," she agreed. "I'll keep your little secret. Because I care about Blake too, and don't want him to have to go through that."
But she didn't have to like it.
So the gang's finally made it to Agate Village! And it looks like things are already off to a rough start. What else awaits them, I wonder? Remember to review!
