Here's some more build up. But don't worry! The climactic battle is drawing close!
Just a Bad Writer for Fun: The reason Mirar and Mimi work together so efficiently is because they're Mirar's only pokemon, so he's dedicated 100% of his training time to getting Mimi's mimicry down pat. If he had six Dittos to work with, he wouldn't be nearly as effective (probably).
KedharS: No idea, that's a question for her creator.
Pokemonking0924: Good eye, his creator said "like Subaru" to explain Mirar's fighting style and abilities. Dakota's secret is definitely not that she's still holding a torch for Akira. Because she's not. Not at all.
Tambry96bj: Yup, Mirar's like a walking clone.
LegacyReturns: Mirar was a submitted character. And the Akira vs. Elaina matchup is intentionally not supposed to be high stakes emotionally between the two of them. If I wanted to go that route I would have cheesed Blake into the final match. I want the real stakes to be what the result means for the school at large, not the two actually doing the fighting.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 86
Alcea's gazebo in the Roselia Gardens was quite warm in the early autumn air, but the temperature was all too chilly that morning.
"I'm so glad you invited me to tea, Alcea," Gabrielle said, sipping her ice-cold tea without taking her eyes off of her redheaded host.
"My pleasure, is it?" Alcea said, smiling at Gabrielle. "Are you enjoying the tea?"
"Chilled to perfection," Gabrielle nodded, setting her cup down in front of her. Her lips were set in a thin frown across her face, her expression cold and passionless.
"I'm glad. Another cup?" Alcea gestured to Kate, Gabrielle shaking her head.
"No, no, I'm fine, I couldn't." Gabrielle shook her head. "But I am surprised. You've never invited me to one of your tea parties before."
"Haven't I?" Alcea asked, feigning a shocked expression with some degree of believability. "A mere oversight, is it? I apologize for being so discourteous."
"…" Gabrielle's lips turned up into a cold smile, her eyes glaring daggers at Alcea.
"…" Alcea's fake smile was more convincing, but no less menacing than her guest's.
God this is so uncomfortable… Kate thought, glancing back and forth between the two women. Is this level of hostility normal between members of the Eight Leaders?
"Enough with the niceties," Gabrielle said, her frown returning. "I have no interest in continuing to play house with you."
"Playing house, is it?" Alcea asked. "No… I called you here… to see where you stand."
"Where I stand, is it?" Gabrielle said mockingly. "Whatever could you mean?"
"You're the vice-president of Gerard's club," Alcea said. "So you must know about Elaina, yes? I don't trust Gerard at all, but you… I always respected you as a trainer, Gabrielle. So I wanted to know… if you're involved in whatever it is he's planning. And if you're not…"
"You 'respected' me?" Gabrielle let out a chilling breath, the air around her turning cold. "How ridiculous. We both know you've always looked down on me."
"What?" Alcea asked, confused.
"Do you remember when we first met?" Gabrielle asked.
Alcea didn't respond. Gabrielle smirked, the first honest display of emotion she'd shown during their conversation.
"I'm not surprised. Someone like you, noticing someone like me? Let me refresh your memory. It was in our freshman year, you know. During the opening ceremony. Of course, I'd known about you before that. I'd seen your records. You were quite an amazing trainer, from such a young age. So I approached you."
"I remember," Alcea interrupted. "That was our first battle, after all."
"I used ice types, and you used grass types," Gabrielle continued. "But even so, you beat me quite handily. That's when I decided to make you my rival. I trained so that the next time we fought, I would win. As someone with the dream of becoming the strongest gym leader and a master of ice types… the thought of losing to you was something I just couldn't stand. But no matter how hard I trained… you were always leagues ahead of me. Even now… I'm only the Fourth Leader, and you're the Sixth… you're always standing above me."
"Gabrielle, I-"
"It's not just about that," Gabrielle interrupted. "It's about everything. We're both strong trainers… and yet, no matter how hard I try… I could never be like you. You're strong and beautiful… and you're loved by everyone. You have so many friends, you're like an idol. Everyone looks up to you, you know. But me… I'm all alone. People might respect me… but it's not like I have any friends. I'm just an outsider. All I have is my strength. And even in that… I still can't compete with you."
The envy that burned in Gabrielle's eyes was unknown to Alcea. To Kate eye, her idol looked shaken by this revelation.
"If you so desperately want to know what 'side' I'm on Alcea… it won't be yours. Maybe Gerard's side…? Who can say?" Gabrielle stood up, tucking her chair back in. "Thank you for the tea. It was quite delicious. I'll you later, Alcea."
Gabrielle turned and walked out of the gazebo, leaving a shaken Alcea sitting there with a worried Kate beside her.
"Agh, what a waste!" Cynthia griped. She was walking ahead of the others as they headed off to get lunch. "Me and Tristan go to all that work, and what ends up happening? Akira takes that stinkin' flashdrive before we even have a chance to look at it! With hardly a 'thank you'!"
"Ignore it for now," Blake sighed, shaking his head. "I mean, he's the one going against her tonight, so he needs to look through all the stuff Dakota found first. He said he'd give it to us after today, right?"
"But aren't you angry?" Cynthia huffed, turning to face him. "You were the one who was the most passionate about this, and yet…"
"Blake~" Cynthia's musing was interrupted by the grating voice of Claire as the cheery girl skipped up to them, linking arms with Blake. "I'm hungry~ Buy me lunch?"
Cynthia rolled her eyes and Sango scowled, Blake smiling at Claire with resignation.
"Fine, whatever," he sighed. Claire narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
"Blake… you good?"
"Perfectly fine," Blake said, smiling. Claire dropped her arms and let him walk by, looking after him worriedly.
"Hey, if we're going to get lunch, is it cool if I invite someone?" Reiner asked.
"Sure, why not?" Julia said, shrugging. "Blake's little girlfriend is tagging along after all, if you want to bring a lady friend yourself it's no big deal."
"Julia," Sango said sharply, glancing at her friend, "some jokes don't need to be told."
"…Cool," Reiner said, a little confused about what was going on.
They pushed a few tables together so they could all sit down, but as they did, another person came up.
"Um… hello…" Nikita glanced at Reiner nervously, smiling.
"Oh, hey!" Blake said, surprised.
"Who're you?" Cynthia asked, confused.
"This is Nikita," Reiner said. "She… she's a friend. She's in our Pokemon Catching class, you don't remember her?"
"It's okay," Nikita said, smiling. "Um… I… I was wondering… is it okay if I eat with all of you? Please?"
"Yeah, sure!" Cynthia said, smiling, scooting over so Nikita could pull up a chair. Nikita's expression brightened and she smiled, Reiner nodding at her. She sat down next to Cynthia and the redhead was immediately all over her, asking her a bunch of questions as they all began to eat.
"So where were you this morning?" Claire asked. "I came over to find you guys, but no one was there! I was sooooo bored!"
"We had some business," Blake answered, rolling his eyes. "And it wasn't any of yours."
"Come on!" Claire huffed. "We're closer than that! What's yours is mine and what's mine is mine!"
"Yeah, well, this really has nothing to do with you," Sango said, a little harsher than she meant to, but Claire was grinding on her last nerve with the way she kept fawning over Blake.
"If it doesn't have anything to do with me then you can just tell me, right?" Claire huffed, turning to Sango.
"Fine…" Sango sighed. "See, long story short, there's this girl, Elaina, you know her, the one with the mask. And she's got these special powers-"
"Harmonia," Claire interrupted, nodding. "I know."
"Right. So anyway, she's being used as a pawn by this guy Gerard, he's one of the best trainers in this school, and that's super not cool. Plus there's this whole thing going on with the other Eight Leaders and these guys called the Daevas, and-"
Claire had already tuned out Sango's half-hearted explanation, turning back to Blake.
"Hey, if you're gonna make me go to the trouble of explaining then you better at least do the respect to listen the whole time!" Sango exclaimed.
"Blake, this guy Gerard… you think he's using this girl?"
"I know he is," Blake said, nodding. "That's why I'm working to take him down."
"…" Claire frowned.
"Is that…"
"Unfortunately, we couldn't get anything out of the Newspaper Club until later," Blake continued, smiling, cutting Claire off. "Still…"
His eyes fell on a group of students walking past the Snorlax Commons, and he narrowed his eyes.
"They aren't the only ones I can go to for help."
To the surprise of everyone at the table, he stood up, not even bothering to take his tray back.
"Hey, Blake, where are you going?" Cynthia called. Blake turned back with a smile, winking at her.
"Oh, you know how it goes, just going to pick up some chicks. I'll meet up with you guys later so we can watch the finals!"
He waved at her and headed off after the crowd of students.
"Picking up chicks, what's the big idea with jokes like that?" Sango growled, not exactly doing the best job of hiding her jealousy.
"Oho?" Claire grinned, turning back to her. She was smiling, but there was something off about her that didn't escape Sango's eye.
"What's up?" Sango asked, frowning. "You look pretty shaken."
"…You wouldn't understand," Claire smirked, turning her body to face the blonde, raising her feet to rest on Blake's now-vacant seat. "After all, you barely know anything about Blake."
"That's…" Sango gasped, incensed. "I mean, I…"
"You lot don't have the years and years of deep, meaningful memories that he and I share," Claire continued, absentmindedly twirling a lock of her hair as she stared haughtily at Sango. "So of course you don't see when something is wrong."
"Maybe not," Cynthia interjected her way into the conversation, wearing an uncharacteristically serious expression, "but I know people well enough to see that you're seriously freaking out right now."
She glanced down at Claire's trembling hands, Claire quickly slipping them under the table and shooting Cynthia a dirty look.
"Seriously, what's up?" Julia demanded. "Blake is our friend. If you have any insight into what's going on, if there's anything we can do, then please, tell us."
"…" Claire glanced down, her haughty expression falling, replaced by a complex look of worry. "It's… not my place."
"…It's private?" Sango asked.
"…" Claire let out a heavy sigh, rubbing her temples in consternation. "…Look, I can't say much… if I did, Blake wouldn't forgive me… and he's seriously not the kind of guy that you want mad at you."
"Really? He seems pretty laid back," Cynthia said. "Though, that one time when he confronted Elaina and Gerard in the hall he seemed real serious. I thought he was gonna snap."
"No, no, I don't mean anything like that," Claire dismissed her, waving her hand. "It's… a lot worse than that."
She gave out another sigh.
"Look, you know how Blake is adopted, yeah?" Everyone nodded, after Blake's little speech in the qualifying rounds, it was now common knowledge that he and Kanone weren't really brothers.
"Well, there was some… stuff, before the Harkers adopted him," Claire tried to half-explain. "It's really not anything I can tell you guys though. If Blake wants to give you the full story, it's up to him. But see… do to some stuff, he's a little… 'overattached' to his family."
"'Overattached' like how?" Reiner asked suspiciously.
"Like… Norman Bates 'Mother says' attached," Claire sighed, shaking her head. "Okay, I'm kind of exaggerating, but the thing is, when we were growing up, Blake would always put his family ahead of everything. See, I've got my own issues with my family, but when I saw Blake, it was like he was overcompensating. Like… hardcore. 'Cause, well, before…"
She frowned.
"It… wasn't good."
"So what does that have to do with right now?" Sango asked.
"Well, just everything, that's all," Claire said, rolling her eyes. "See, I first saw it a few years back. When some kids were picking on his little sister."
"His sister?" Cynthia asked.
"Mhm," Claire nodded. "See, Blake's sister is a little… I shouldn't call her 'strange'. She's atypical."
"Atypical, as in…" Nikita probed, hoping Claire would acknowledge the implication without her having to say it.
"She…" Claire was clearly choosing her words to be as precise as possible. "She was always an outcast in her classes. She didn't really have any friends. Even I tried to get close to her, but… it was like trying to interact with a wall. I love her to death, but she just can't seem to communicate with me. Blake was the only one she really ever got on with, not her parents or even her real brother. And Blake would always take special care of her. But see… kids aren't exactly the most 'understanding' of people with disorders like hers."
Claire held her head in frustration, "agh, why I am I telling you guys stuff like this?! Blake hates talking about his sister! If he finds out I'm saying all this, then…"
She gulped, shaking her head.
"Look, I'm worried. Okay? Because when Blake gets like this… and from what you guys have told me, that's exactly what 'this' is…"
"When he gets like this, what?" Cynthia asked.
"Once, a Blake found out a group of kids was bullying his little sister," Claire said. "This woulda been about… 3, 4 years ago? It was before his mom got sick… But he found out about it, it was three of 'em, pushing her around, making fun of how she acted and how she'd never talk, to the point where she refused to go back to school. Blake… that was the only time I ever saw him get this mad at someone before."
"That would make anyone upset," Julia nodded sympathetically.
"All I know about what happened is that a few days later, those kids all stopped coming to school. It seems that they all begged their parents to send them somewhere else. I don't know what he did, all I know is that his sister was able to go back to school afterwards and no one ever bothered her again."
"See, the thing about Blake… he's one of the nicest guys I know," Claire explained. "But… there's a line you just don't cross with him. It's why I always make sure to tease him in moderation, y'know? Because if he ever got really mad at me…"
She shivered, and wrapped her arms around herself.
"Look, just… make sure he doesn't go too far, okay?" Claire asked. "I don't want to see on the news that Blake went and killed somebody or anything."
The table fell silent, unsure of how to deal with this bombshell that Claire had given them. Sango was the one who seemed the most shaken by this revelation. She knew that Blake had some stuff going on, but to think he scared a girl like Claire this much…
"So what?" Sango asked.
"So what?" Claire raised her eyebrows in surprise.
"Blake's our friend. Yeah, there's a lot we don't know about him, but he's still our friend. I know I'm not gonna be suddenly scared by something like that," Sango said confidently. "I'm just getting to know him, so I'm going to wait to hear the whole story from him. Until then, I'm going to support him."
"Same here," Cynthia nodded. "'Sides, hearing about all that just makes him seem cool, y'know? Like, 'I need to change my panties' kinda cool." Sango rolled her eyes at Cynthia lecherous grin.
"Yeah, besides, Blake's always been pretty nice to us, right?" Nick said, nodding.
"I'm not much one to comment on someone having a dark side…" Reiner frowned. "But I can say that I don't think Blake's anger is misguided in this case. He might go too far... but he's right that he needs to do something."
"It sounds scary… but Blake… he's still a good person, I'm sure of it," Kitty said, nodding.
"Yup," Julia agreed.
"…I don't really know what's going on here, so I'm just gonna keep my mouth shut," Nikita said. "I don't know Blake from Adam."
"Well… it seems Blake has made some good friends," Claire smiled, sighing in relief. "Still… don't tell Blake I told you all this, okay? Like I said, he's really sensitive about his sister…"
Her face went pale, and her expression was pained.
"Yeah… just… please don't. For both our sakes."
The Blake in question, meanwhile, didn't seem to be showing any concern on his face as he sauntered across campus.
"Yo, Ayame, how're you doing?" Blake called out.
"…Geh." The ribbon-wearing girl turned her head, blanching as she spotted Blake, much to the surprise of the girls surrounding her.
"Who's he?" One girl whispered.
"Does the captain have a boyfriend?" Another giggled excitedly.
"He's no one," Ayame growled, silencing the cluster of curious gossips.
"Oh, that's so mean!" Blake said. "When you went so far as to show me your panties…"
"EH?!" The crowd of excited girls was silenced by a glance by Ayame, devolving into hushed giggles as they separated from her to give the two of them some space, watching the exchange eagerly.
"That… was…" Ayame growled threw gritted teeth, glaring at Blake.
"Come on, Ayame, it was just a joke," Blake laughed. "So what's up? Club activities?"
"Something like that," Ayame muttered. "Look, I'm busy, so will you stop bugging me?"
"Fine, sorry, sorry," Blake said. Ayame turned to leave.
"Besides, I like seeing you walk away even more." Ayame responded by flipping him off as she walked away, not even bothering to glance back.
"Still, though, I thought you'd be interested in hearing what I have to say, considering how interested your Empress seemed to be in having me join her organization."
Ayame froze. She knew better. She really did. She didn't want to take the bait, but Olivia really, really wanted Blake to work with them. And if she could help with that…"
Ayame sighed in defeat, turned, and stomped over to Blake.
"What?" She asked, glaring down at him.
Blake looked up into her eyes, and smiled.
"Let's say I was interested in Olivia's offer," Blake said. "Maybe things have changed. Maybe there's someone that I want to completely ruin."
"You are bold, I'll give you that," Ayame smirked.
"Well to flirt with you I'd kind of have to be."
Ayame wiped her sour expression away for the sake of a smooth negotiation.
"You're a lot cuter without your fake smile. I don't mind a scowl."
"If you're just going to brazenly flirt, I'm gonna go. I don't have time to play your little teasing game."
"Who's playing?"
"What. Do. You. Want. If you want to join Olivia, then I'll take you to her. If not, then leave me alone."
"I have other stuff to do today, so tell you what, if you give me your number, then I'll text you later and we can arrange a meet up with Olivia, sound good?"
Ayame narrowed her eyes, Blake returning her glare with a smile. She knew full well what his ulterior motive was, but she still needed to…
She grit her teeth and uttered a string of frustrated expletives internally, pulling out her phone.
"Enter your number. I'll message you tomorrow, got it? Until then, I'm really not in the mood to get any creepy love notes."
"Wouldn't dream of it," Blake said, smiling innocently. "If I was gonna ask you out on a date I would at least bother to do it over the phone, if not in person."
"Why? You want to hear yourself get rejected that badly?"
"Better than just waiting for a reply that'll never come. I told you before, you have quite a husky bedroom voice," Blake laughed. "Your wallpaper is adorable, by the way."
"Gimme that!" Ayame shouted, snatching her phone back. Her face was bright red. "They're Wooloos!"
"Like I said, adorable."
"If you're done then leave!"
"Fine, fine," Blake shrugged, backing off from the clearly annoyed older girl. "Tell Olivia that I'm interested in talking. And make sure to call tomorrow, not text. I at least want to hear that bedroom voice again for my troubles."
"Leave!"
Blake walked off, laughing, Ayame regaining her composure.
After that day, stories began to spread across the girls' track team of their normally cool and boyishly handsome captain's blushing, embarrassed face and her rumored boyfriend, much to Ayame's chagrin.
So, Blake's officially entering the conflict! But what's his goal? Will he be able to help Elaina? Or is there something else he's after? Like a certain upperclassman's nice rear?