Here's another chapter! A bit of build-up is coming in this one, but no major revelations just yet.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: I guess we'll just have to see.

KedharS: Yup, as I've said before, Aki and Divine were a big source of inspiration for Elaina and Gerard's arc. But it will certainly go a different route, I hope. I don't want to just rip it off completely, no matter how much I'd like to see Gerard get eaten by a giant lizard.

Tambry96bj: It will certainly be interesting.

Number13teen: Yeah… "fake" flirting, right… And I'm surprised how seamlessly Galar slotted into Olivia's backstory, it really was the perfect fit.

Pokemonking0924: Don't worry, we'll get back to Sarah soon. There's still a lot to resolve there.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 84

A young girl, maybe three or four, was curled up at the base of the tree. The forest around her was normal enough, but to her eyes it was the scariest place she'd ever been. The branches of trees stretched out toward her like hands, and the shadows crept toward her across the ground. The sun was setting, and the wild pokemon were howling in the distance. The little girl curled up into a tiny ball, burying her head in her arms as she began to tremble in fear.

"Momma… I'm scared… momma…"

"There you are!" A kind voice rang out from above. The girl raised her head, her eyes wide with joy at the woman, her smile beaming down on her. It was so bright, the small girl couldn't even see the rest of her face. All she could make out was the woman's kind smile.

"Oh, Elly, I finally found you~" The woman crooned, picking up the small girl. She cradled her gently, rubbing her cheek against the small girl's. "Don't cry, don't cry~ Wherever you are, I'll always come find you~!"

"Momma…!"

"Momma!"

Elaina's eyes snapped open and she panted, sitting up in bed. It was still dark out. She held her hand over chest, feeling her heart beating through the thin nightdress. Slowly, her breathing returned to normal as her rush of adrenaline wore off.

"Momma…" she sobbed, tears falling into her lap as she looked downwards, staining her sheets. "Momma… why haven't you found me yet?"

Kitty woke up with a yawn, and got out of bed. She looked in the mirror and rubbed her eyes, trying to brush out the dark circles under them. Her hair was tangled mess of white, and she lazily ran her finger through it, half-asleep.

She felt like a mess. Last night's dreams were as rotten-feeling as the night before, and the night before that. Kitty had never been exactly the healthiest girl in the world, but this murkiness made her feel like something was seriously wrong. She unscrewed the cap of the pill bottle Blake had gave her and swallowed a pill with a long gulp of water. The pressure on her head lightened and the uneasiness in her stomach settled somewhat, leading to some much-needed relief. She began brushing down her hair to force it into place, getting ready for the day.

Kitty walked out of her dorm building, still yawning. Her half-asleep eyes landed on the image of a Shuppet floating in front of her, smiling.

"Shup!" The ghost pokemon said cheerily. Kitty was wide awake now, and she jumped back with an "eek!"

"Hey there, cutie!" Kitty, shaking, turned to see Sylvia smiling down at her, with Specter hovering at her shoulder.

"Uh, um…" Kitty murmured, looking aside.

"Oh, don't worry, Specter's really sweet!" Sylvia said, gently "petting" the ghost pokemon. "Anyway, I came here today to see you, you're Kate, right?"

"Uhum…" Kitty gulped, nodding.

"Awesome! I'm Sylvia Driscoll, you might have seen me in the recent tournament, yeah?"

"…Yeah…"

"So, like, I've heard a lot about you, you know. You're quite a special little girl."

"Um… no… I'm not anyone special…" Kitty fidgeted, looking down, her face flushed.

"Oh, don't say that!" Sylvia said, shaking her head. She reached out to place a comforting hand on Kitty's shoulder, Kitty pulling back from her with a worried flinch.

"Kitty."

Kitty's head turned and her face brightened in relief as she looked over Sylvia's shoulder. Sylvia glanced to see Julia standing behind her with a suspicious glare. Sylvia's eyes narrowed and she smirked, turning fully to confront the newly appearing girl.

"You're… who?"

"Just a friend," Julia said dryly. "Kitty and I have something to do, do you need anything?"

"There's a boy who'd just love to meet her," Sylvia smiled. "I just came to invite her to a little sit-down."

"Oh?" Julia said, glancing to Kitty. She swallowed, and shook her head in a quick jerk.

"Seems like she's not interest," Julia said, glancing back to Sylvia.

Sylvia sighed, shrugging.

"Oh, well, can't say I didn't try."

Sylvia turned to go, her heels clacking on the steps as she walked past Julia, glancing back at Kitty over her shoulder with a predatory smirk, her Shuppet cackling.

Kitty shivered, and Julia rushed to her side, placing a tender hand on her back.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm… fine…" Kitty said, her voice shaky. Julia wasn't sure just how "fine" she was, but didn't want her to be too meddlesome. It was better to just keep a close eye on her to make sure she's okay.

"So, um, where are we going?" Kitty asked. "You texted me you wanted to meet up, but… why?"

"Last night… after you came back here, when we were headed back to our rooms, something happened," Julia explained.

The night before:

"I don't care if there's a spare bed!" Sango shouted. "You are NOT sleeping in the same room as Blake! …And Nick!"

Claire rolled her eyes, shrugging.

Blake, Cynthia, Sango, Nick, and Julia were all standing in the hallway outside of their respective rooms, with Claire as the only outlier.

"I'll sleep on the floor, so you can have my bed," she suggested.

"No, if I sleep in your bed then I'll catch your mannishness."

"Wha-!"

"Ahem."

All heads turned to see Reiner standing awkwardly behind them, an expression that was a mixture between tired and sheepish on his face.

"Oh, hello," Claire blinked, flashing him a flirty smile.

There was an awkward pause for a little while, as things had been a little tense between Reiner and the rest of the group.

"…What's up?" Cynthia asked. "Where've you been? We haven't seen you in days."

"…A long story…" Reiner said, shaking his head. "There was a hole involved."

Another dead silence.

"I just… I'm sorry," Reiner sighed, looking down. "I know I've been kind of a jerk recently…"

"Well, if you mean since the first day of class, then yeah, recently," Cynthia nodded, smirking.

"I'm trying to be serious about this."

"Yes, but do you really need to?"

"Well, I mean, I was rude to you guys, and I acted like a jerk, and-"

"Dude, seriously, it really isn't a big deal," Cynthia continued, cutting him off again. "You were busy with other stuff, right? And you still think of us as friends, yeah?"

"Of course!"

"Then what's the problem?" She asked, shrugging. "We're cool. What about you guys?"

"Yeah, actually, we've been kind of worried, you know," Blake said. "I thought you were in some kind of downward spiral after losing considering how you were acting before, but it seems like everything's cool, yeah?"

"Yeah, there was… some stuff," Reiner admitted. "But… I've got a clearer grasp on things now."

"Then stop looking like a guilty kid already," Julia snapped, punching him in the shoulder. She smiled. "Come on, dude. You've been thinking way to hard about this."

Reiner flinched, and then smiled.

"Also, your bed's been co-opted by a squatter."

"Huh?"

"Hey, if you're up for sharing, I'm down," Claire grinned, batting her eyes at him.

"No, please, how about we don't do that," Nick interjected. "I really, really don't want to see any of that going on."

"Yeah, I'm also, uh, not 100% comfortable with this either, so…" Reiner said, Claire shrugging in response.

"Your loss. Guess I'll just have to snuggle up with Blake then."

"Hah, what a funny joke," Blake said, smiling coldly at her, Claire shivering.

"…Fine, fine, crossed a line," Claire sighed. Julia patted her on the shoulder, Claire resigning herself to having to room with the girls.

"Blake," Reiner said quietly, glancing at him.

"Yeah?" Blake asked.

"It's about Elaina. And Gerard."

"What about them?" Kitty asked. The two were walking on the side of the river toward the center of campus, where most of the clubrooms were located.

"Reiner said that Gerard is probably planning to have Elaina win in order to use her prize to challenge someone to a map," Julia said. "But we don't know who, or why. That's when Blake came up with an idea. That's why we're going to the Newspaper Club."

"The Newspaper Club?"

"Makes sense now that I think about it," Julia said, nodding. "He figured that with the kind of nosy snoop Dakota is, she must have dug up something about Elaina and Gerard, and so we're going to go find out about it. So we're going, strength in numbers, you know? I guess since this school is practically on the brink of civil war or some garbage he figured we should all stick together."

Kitty frowned. She wasn't really sure she wanted to be involved with any of this, and it seemed Julia didn't, either. She really, really didn't want to get any closer to Elaina. She was scary… and just being around her made Kitty feel sick to her stomach and gave her a headache.

"Hey, listen, if you don't feel up to this, we don't have to go, you know? We can just go get some breakfast or something."

"…" Kitty looked down. She really didn't want to… but at the same time, part of her did. It was like something was telling her she had to go.

"…Okay, it's okay," Kitty tried to reassure Julia with a comforting smile. "I don't mind."

"Cool," Julia said, smiling.

"Hey, guys!" Cynthia called out, waving to the two as they walked up to the building. "What's up?"

"Nothing, just got stuck with an annoying girl trying to talk to us, no big deal," Julia dismissed the earlier confrontation with Sylvia with a wave of her hand. "So, are we going to do this, or what?"

Nick, Blake, Sango, and Cynthia were all present. The only one absent, strangely, was Reiner, who had said something strange about not being done with sleeping on an actual bed. Claire had decided that she didn't really give a damn one way or the other the night before, so no one was remotely surprised by her absence.

"Now, let's go and… um…" Cynthia's confident cheer slowly quieted as she glanced back to the others. "What were we asking for, again?"

"Information on Elaina," Blake answered.

"Yes, but why?"

"Because Gerard is up to something," Blake said, stepping past her and walking into the building. "Because the Four Daevas are scheming to overthrow each other, and if we're not careful we're going to be dragged into the middle of it."

"Or maybe you're gonna be dragged into the middle of it…" Cynthia muttered.

"Huh?" Blake asked, glancing back at her.

"I said, maybe 'you're' gonna be dragged into the middle of it!" Cynthia said, louder, putting her hands on her hips. "Look, just because you're getting in all nice and cozy with the Empress…"

"What, are you jealous?"

"Hell yes! Why do they want you and not me, huh? I beat you, after all." Cynthia quietly fumed, and Kitty looked down at her feet worriedly. What Blake was saying… about them being pulled into the middle of things, she…

"Uh-um…" Kitty said, stepping forward, drawing everyone's attention. "S-something happened to me this morning..."

"Kitty!" Julia said.

"What was it?" Blake asked. "Did you have another headache?"

"No! W-well, yes, b-but I took my pill, and… well, I mean…" She gulped. "See… that girl… from the tournament… the ghost lady…"

"Sylvia Driscoll?" Reiner said, his eyes widened.

"Y-yeah, her," Kitty said, nodding. "She told me… that someone wanted to meet me… she was… being really pushy about it… and Julia, um, came to my rescue, but I…"

"I think that maybe it isn't only Blake, I mean…" she whispered, averting her eyes from Cynthia in fear of seeing the girl angry.

"Okay, that does it!" Cynthia snapped, hitting her fist into her palm, Kitty flinching in fear. "Blake's one thing, but now these guys are targeting my cute little Kitty? Not a chance in hell!"

Kitty's eyes widened and she looked at Cynthia with newfound gratitude, overjoyed that the redhead was willing to stand up for her.

"Wait," Reiner interrupted. "Kitty… are you sure it's Sylvia Driscoll you saw?"

"Um…"

"It was her," Julia said, nodding. "The girl's clothes make a pretty bold statement."

"If that's so, then this is more serious than I thought."

"What? Why?" Sango asked.

"Because Sylvia Driscoll works for the Phantom," Reiner said. "According to Gerard… the Phantom is the biggest threat to the Eight Leaders' position of the strongest group in the school.

"Um, quick question," Sango said, raising her hand, "why does any of this matter? This is a school. Why are we talking about all this like it's a gang war?"

"It might not seem very important, but the fact remains that people are getting hurt." Nick, who had stayed silent up until now, lent his voice to the conversation.

"I was talking with Callie last night…"

"Oooh~" Cynthia grinned.

"…On the phone," Nick sighed, rolling his eyes. "According to her… there's a lot of pressure going on right now among the Eight Leaders. She needed someone to let it out on, so… well… apparently Alcea and Gerard don't get along very well. And their conflict is leading to a schism of some sort… and apparently her brother isn't saying anything, so, well…"

He sighed.

"Look, Callie's not exactly the best one at reading the room so I can't say for sure, but the fact is that she's worried. And she's worried because Alcea's worried. And Alcea… well… she doesn't seem like the kind of person to just worry over nothing, you know?"

Julia and Blake both nodded in agreement at that.

"Agh, this whole thing is making my brain hurt," Cynthia sighed, scratching at her hair. "Look, at the end of the day it all comes down to who wins, right?"

"Uh…"

"So we just gotta train up and be the ones to rise to the top, that's all!" Cynthia grinned.

"Big talk from someone who got knocked out of the tournament yesterday."

"Wha-a-a-t did you say?!" Cynthia snapped, whirling around, her eyes widening as she saw Akira standing behind them.

Akira shrugged.

"What are you doing here?" Cynthia asked. "Shouldn't you be training for your big match tonight?"

"I have an appointment," Akira said, frowning. "And if I don't hear what it is now, then tonight will be too late."

"It's about Elaina, isn't it?" Blake asked. Akira nodded.

"I asked Dakota to run a background check on her a few days back," Akira said. "She texted me this morning saying she's got the information ready."

"Well it looks like our goals coincide," Blake said. "Mind us tagging along on your little briefing session?"

"Don't see the harm," Akira said, shrugging. "Come along then."

He stepped through the open door and walked around Blake, heading for the elevator. The others tagged behind him quietly.

Unsurprisingly, on the day of the final match of the tournament, the newspaper club was alive and bustling with people running here and there. Some were typing things up on computers, some were printing out pamphlets, and someone was drawing a careful picture of a Gyarados in red marker on a poster.

"Wow, you know, with how Dakota acts all the time I expected this place to be, like, a one-woman show, but this place actually looks like a legitimate club," Sango said, surprised.

"Impressive, isn't it?" A familiar voice of a certain redhead boasted in her usual annoying tone. "Yup, this is one of our busiest times!"

Dakota waved them down from the desk she sat at, at the head of the room, with a big emblazoned "President" in front of her.

She turned to Akira and smiled.

"So, what brings you here? Trying to get in good with what's going on? Making a little pre-game bet? Tell ya what, I've got it on good authority that Elaina is gonna make Akira her bitch, only losing two pokemon." Dakota smirked, her eyes flashing daringly at Akira.

"You texted me to come here," Akira said.

"I text a lot of people," Dakota mused, turning her attention to a loose strand of red hair she was curling in her fingers. "Gonna have to be more specific…"

"Dakota…"

"President," she corrected him.

"Vice-President," he replied. Dakota flinched, and her carefree expression slid off her face to reveal a glare underneath.

"That's just a technicality," she frowned. "That guy is so boring! I'm a way better president than he could ever be. That's why I'm in the big chair and he's just minding his business doing grunt work on the floor."

"Yeah, see, I really don't care about whatever internal power struggle you've cooked up in your deluded little brain, so can we cut to the chase? You said you had something on Elaina for me."

"Yeah…" Dakota looked down, her face going pale. "See, about that…"

"I crushed the story," a quiet voice came up from behind them, startling the kids.

"Who's this guy?" Cynthia asked, pointing at the guy who'd just sort of… walked up and joined in on the conversation without anyone noticing. He was the epitome of plain. His hair was a boring brown. His eyes were dull and empty, and also the same boring brown. He wasn't very tall, but he wasn't really short. He had no presence whatsoever to speak of, which is what made it so easy for him to go unnoticed by the others.

"Crushed the story? That was a private request. What? Why?" Akira demanded.

"As one of the Eight Leaders, it didn't seem fair for you to have access to inside information on your opponent. The newspaper club's job is to report the news. Not alter the facts to fit our own narrative."

That last part was sharper and pointedly directed at Dakota, who whistled innocently.

"Hey, then what about the story of Cynthia and Blake going out?!" Sango demanded.

"That was the tabloid section. Different standards."

"Sorry, Akira," Dakota shrugged. "I wanted to help, but my hands are tied."

"Well, mine aren't!" Cynthia interrupted with a smile.

"Cynthia Fafnir… freshman… top 4 finalist…" the boy rambled off a short list of things about her, much to the confusion of the others. "What is it?"

"Akira said you were one of the 'Eight Leaders' right?" Cynthia asked, holding up a pokeball.

"I'm Mirar. I'm the Second Leader."

"I see, then that's perfect!" Cynthia grinned. "Let's have a match! If I can manage to defeat you, then you spill the beans on everything that's going on!"

"Absolutely not," Mirar shut her down immediately. "We don't have the time for that."

"Hey! Come on!" Cynthia said, frowning.

"Listen, Akira, I know you want to figure out how to beat Elaina, but honestly…" Dakota looked down. "I don't think it will be able to help. I… I found out stuff, but… not about how she fights, or anything like that. No strategies, no nothing… she just goes power, power, power…"

"That's fine. I already knew all that anyway…" Akira sighed, looking down. "That wasn't what I was concerned about, though. What I wanted to know… was about the person. Who she is. Why she… is the way she is. If I could learn that, well, then… I'll have a better chance of defeating her."

Mirar stared silently at Akira for moment, considering some things. He glanced at Cynthia's frustrated face.

"I've decided to change my mind."

"Eh?" Cynthia asked, excited.

"I'll fight you, if you want. A short battle. One pokemon each. If you can win, then I'll give you whatever information we have on Elaina. If you lose, then you go."

"Yes! Alright!" Cynthia cheered.

"We'll go to the arena downstairs," Mirar answered. "You lot go first, I have something I need to… prepare."

"Why the sudden change of heart, boss?" Dakota asked, waiting until the visitors had departed before questioning the president's decision.

"I was never reluctant to begin with," Mirar explained. "As usual, I was just… getting into character, as it were. To keep things seeming on the level."

Dakota rolled her eyes.

"The current climate among the Eight Leaders is… frosty," Mirar sighed. "And when I graduate this year, things may get… complicated."

It isn't directly stated, but it's commonly known by most that the other goal of this tournament is to find prospective students to replace graduating members of the Eight Leaders. This year, only Rafe and I are graduating… normally, we would just give the positions to the two finalists, but I'm anticipating Alcea will have some… pushback to that.

A thin smile spread across his face.

We may very well need to dip into the till, as it were. It's quite lucky that this one came to me all on her own. So far, my assessment of her tells me she's nothing impressive. But before the match tonight, it will be good to see her abilities up close, beyond the lens of a camera.

"You heading down, or what?" Dakota asked.

"In a moment," Mirar said, lifting a lone pokeball off the desk and placing it on his belt. He walked over to the far room and opened the door. "Just need to get into character first."

Things are escalating towards the match tonight, but before that, a short battle to whet our appetites! But after her blazing loss to Akira, will Cynthia be able to stand a chance?