Let's get some more training done! Will Julia be able to train her Seedot properly? And what's gonna happen with Alcea's engagement? Remember to review, everyone!
Superblal: Sometimes we forget that Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings is a Pokemon Training fanfiction.
Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Juniors and Seniors are expected to devote their time to their courses. The mindset is if you didn't make the efforts to join in your first two years, then you weren't giving the position enough priority and respect, and probably wouldn't do a very good job even if you won.
Hellraiserphoenix: Alcea's just a big cutie, getting all flustered over Kanone like that.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 129
"Okay, Seedot! Look, there! It's an Oddish, and it looks weak!" Julia pointed at an Oddish eating some fallen leaves next to one of the garden's bushes, its attention occupied. "We should be able to take it down!"
"Seedot!" Seedot agreed.
"Okay, since your absorb attack isn't very good against it, let's go in with a tackle," Julia ordered.
"Seed!" Seedot nodded, waddling as fast as it could toward the small blue plant.
"Oddish!" Oddish turned to see the Seedot moving closer to it, and opened its mouth, firing a spray of acid.
"Seed!" Seedot winced, the poison attack doing some damage.
"Ah! Darn it!" Julia cried, running up to her pokemon as the Oddish escaped. "You weren't fast enough…"
As she knelt down to wipe the gunk off of the grass type, Seedot noticed the frown on her face, and felt bad. His trainer didn't seem to like him very much… she was always so frustrated with him…
He avoided her gaze, a ping of guilt striking Julia.
"Sorry… I'm blaming you again," she sighed. "It's just… I don't know what to do. What am I supposed to do to make you stronger if I don't know how to train you without you getting hurt all the time?"
"Seed…" Seedot shook his head, not sure how to answer the question any better than Julia.
'Well, at least your injuries aren't so bad…" Julia said. "Your defenses are certainly good, but when it comes to fighting… if we can't get any damage in then it's just a slow pummeling, you know?"
Julia shook her head, rubbing her forehead with her good hand as she sat down next to her pokemon.
If I… had harmonia like Kitty… then I could connect with Seedot and figure out how to make it fight the way I want it to…
Julia slapped herself in the face, much to Seedot's shock.
No, I can't go thinking like that. I need to do things that I'm capable of doing. I have to figure out how to make a real connection with Seedot… and get to understand him better.
"Are you feeling better?" Julia asked.
"Seed," Seedot nodded.
"I'm sorry I'm always getting mad," Julia said. "I know… it's not your fault. I've been trying to make you do things you aren't used to… making you fight like this… I'm stupid, so I needed someone else to tell me how weak and stupid I am. So… please just trust me a little, okay? And I'll help find a way to make you strong, okay?"
"Seedot."
"Good boy," Julia smiled, patting him on the head. "No more poison types, now. Let's see if we can find a regular grass type, 'kay?"
"Seed!"
The two went further into the garden, before coming across another grass pokemon, a Shroomish, in the middle of a flower bed.
"There we go! We can beat that guy! Tackle!"
Seedot walked as fast as he could toward the Shroomish, lowering his head into a tackle.
"Shroomish!" The Shroomish lowered its head as well and moved around Seedot, headbutting him in the side, knocking the grass pokemon over.
"Seedot!" Julia cried. No good… he's too slow to land a hit on such a fast pokemon… and he doesn't have the power to take down the bigger pokemon… so how can he get a hit in?
Shroomish tackled the Seedot again, the small pokemon rolling up to Julia's feet.
"Sorry, buddy…"
"Seed…"
If only he was a little fast… he could land a few more attacks… like this, how am I supposed to…
…Wait…
How do Seedot defend themselves in the wild if they're so slow and weak? With their defenses? But then how do they evolve? I wonder…
Julia's eyes widened, and she smiled.
So that's it… that's why her highness was so adamant about me training this pokemon in particular…
All my other pokemon, Roden, Wolfie, Luna… they're all fast and powerful… but Seedot is defensive and slow.
"Now I'm feeling insulted…" Julia growled.
"Seed?"
"Thinking I can't train a defensive pokemon because I'm so used to only using aggressive pokemon and focusing on attacking, milady? Well, let me show you…"
Julia took out her phone, and connected to the school's database on pokemon. She began looking up more information on Seedot. Before, she had just focused on the attacking moves, but now…
"This is it," Julia said, a smile crossing her face. "Seedot! We're gonna get 'em this time!"
The next pokemon Julia and her Seedot came across was a Roselia.
"Okay, Seedot, use absorb to get her attention," Julia ordered. Seedot began glowing green, drawing energy from the Roselia. Because of the flower pokemon's resistances, they didn't do much damage, but they were able to draw its attention.
"Rose!" Roselia, annoyed, turned to Seedot and raised the flowers on her hands up to point at the small pokemon. Thin poisonous needles fired from the depths of the petals, raining down on the small pokemon.
"Seedot! Use bide!" Julia ordered. Seedot began glowing, and the needles fell upon him, pricking his shell.
"Rose!" The Roselia looked frustrated that the pokemon didn't fall from her first attack, and so she sent another barrage of needles at the small pokemon. Still no reaction. He wasn't even moving.
Bide needs to build up power. That's its biggest weakness, and why I discounted it as an attack at first. It's unreliable, and the pokemon who uses it might faint before he even gets to land a blow. But that won't be much different from what we're doing now… We need to be patient. Wait for the perfect opportunity…
The Roselia sent a tornado of magical leaves that cut into Seedot, injuring it.
"Seedot!" Seedot cried.
"Now!" Julia shouted. The veil of light around Seedot's body began growing larger and brighter, and he unleashed the energy in a powerful blast, knocking the Roselia backwards. The Roselia fell into the bushes, unconscious.
"We… we did it!" Julia cheered, scooping the Seedot up in her harm and hugging him to her chest. "You were great!"
She cradled her Seedot on her bad arm, holding the side of his body with her other as she tilted him up to look her in the eyes.
"I'm sorry… I was just trying things my way… I didn't think about how you would be fighting normally… I was too used to my own style. But thanks to you, and her highness… I guess I need to do something besides just attack and attack…"
"Thank you, Seedot. You were really perfect," Julia gushed. "Let's just work on training up your endurance and timing, and before long we won't be able to be stopped!"
"Seed!" Seedot nodded. Julia set him down on the ground, and took a potion out of her bag, restoring his health.
"Oh, by the way, while you were fighting, I thought of a great name for you," Julia grinned. "How about Percy? For 'Perseverance'?"
"Seedot!" Seedot, now named Percy, bobbed up and down in joy.
"Great! Let's go, Percy! Let's find our next opponent!"
"Today is the day." Misato informed Will when he woke up. It was late in the morning, nearly noon. Will hadn't had a lot of sleep during the last night, having finally been freed of Misato's watchful eye… which let him do several activities that he'd been putting off for the past few weeks that doing in front of anyone, even an android, was not ideal.
"What? Huh?" Will blinked his eyes groggily.
"I contacted the Phantom. He informed me that today is the day that Gabrielle intends to implement her attempted coup d'etat against Gerard to seize control of the Pokemon Gym Leader Training Club," Misato clarified. "I advised him to postpone his decision. However, he decided that he would go through with the operation as scheduled. So today will be your last day under my supervision."
"I see… that's fast, huh…" Will said, looking down. "Today looks like it's shaping up to be a rough one, huh?"
"Negative. It is not a rough anything. It is a day in the solar cycle. Days have no discernable texture of any sort, they are a conceptual representation of-"
"Yeah, yeah, it's a figure of speech," Will sighed. "I guess that means today is gonna be the last day I have to put up with this, huh? That's gonna be a relief."
"Understood. I had assumed that being in my presence would be positive for you," Misato said after a pause. Was that… sadness in her voice? No, no, of course not. "I extend my apologies to you if that was not the case."
"Uh-huh," Will nodded. "Well, we might as well get it over with, yeah? We're meeting in about two hours… might as well go early, right?"
"Negative. That decision is not prudent," Misato replied. "It is not an efficient use of time. Instead I would suggest we find another activity that we could use to occupy our time?"
"I mean, I guess," Will shrugged. "But I'd rather get a bite to eat, if you don't mind. You can come with me if you want, but I don't think you'll enjoy it very much. You don't eat, right?"
"Affirmative. My faculties are maintained through a complex system of electrical synthesizers and solar energy regeneration, as well as-"
"Rhetorical question," Will said sarcastically.
"Understood."
"So, ready to go?"
"Affirmative. However, I must inform you that even though my systems do not require human sustenance, I am fully capable of consuming food," Misato continued. She opened her mouth, and stuck her tongue out, pointing at it.
"Mah tongue heth tehn timeth the nundah ov taste reseptoz ath a humahn tongue." She closed her mouth. "I am fully capable of deriving pleasure from mastication."
"You… you can do that?" Will gasped, his face flushing. "I-I thought you didn't have anything… down there…"
"Negative. Mastication is a word that refers to the oral consumption of food, also known as eating. You have mistaken it for the act of onanism. My body lacks both biological and artificial hormones, so the need for sexual gratification is not-"
"Never mind!" Will said, storming out of his room, Misato hot on his heels.
"Your hormone production has increased and your heart rate has sped up. My words have resulted in significant stimulation. Do you require any assistance to regulate your functions? I am quite capable in assisting you through-"
"If we're going to eat, then let's go eat," he practically shouted down the hall. When the two students stepped out of the building, Misato linked arms with him the way she'd done back when she'd first escorted him to the Eon Coliseum.
"Wh-what are you doing?"
"Girlfriend experience."
"Why?"
"You expressed your displeasure with my company. I am attempting to rectify that perception through intimate contact. Furthermore I believe this to be an adequate method of relief for your current tension. My data informs me that prolonged physical contact will result in-"
"You're failing. Why do you even care about the fact that I don't like being monitored like this?" Will asked.
Misato paused, dropping arms. She considered the new information his questioning had presented and worked to come to an explanation for her behavior.
"…Unknown. There may be an irregularity in my behavioral functions. It was not something that I could detect on my internal diagnostic. Therefore I am incapable of determining whether or not there is any malfunction within any degree of certainty."
"…" Will frowned. "If you say so…"
"Either way it will no longer be anything you need to concern yourself with," Misato continued. "As I informed you, today is the last time we will need to meet."
Will nodded.
"However…" Misato's voice trailed off, the first time Will had heard any imbalance in her voice. "If possible, when this operation is over I would like to go to the library with you once again."
Will frowned, staring into Misato's dull eyes for any reason for her statement he could grasp onto. But there was no spark of consciousness to be found, all he received in return was a hollow, empty stare.
"Fine, whatever," he sighed.
Meanwhile, across campus, another lunch date was already in progress, only this time, it was due to be interrupted because Kate was still looking for Blake. Going through her contacts list, Blake's friend, Cynthia, said that he had gone to get lunch, and so she'd gone to find him in the Snorlax Commons.
What she found instead was a rather revolting scene.
"Say 'aaaah…'" Blake was eating lunch with a girl who Kate didn't know, but looked very familiar. She was tall and her dark brown hair was held back in a part by a blue ribbon that resembled bunny ears. She held a spoon in her hand and wore a big smile on her face, offering food to Blake, who didn't seem to be put off by it. He ate the food she offered gladly.
"Wh-wh-what's going on here?" Kate demanded, pointing a shaky finger at the couple.
"Oh, Kate," Blake said, noticing Kate for the first time. "Been a while."
"Why are you doing something… so intimate?!" Kate demanded. "A-and… who is she?!"
"Ayame Toujou," Ayame said, glancing at Kate. "Who the heck are you?"
"A-Ayame…" Kate blanched, finally placing where she recognized the girl. She was a senior? What was a senior doing feeding lunch to Blake like it was the most natural thing in the world?!
"I'm Kate Nomia," Kate answered after she regained her composure.
"Oh, from the Gardening Club, eh?" Ayame said, narrowing her eyes. "Yeah, I've heard about you. You're one of Alcea's girls. What do you want?"
"Before that, answer my question!" Kate exclaimed. "Wh-what are you doing here, by yourselves?! Why are you feeding Blake like it's so natural?! Are… you aren't his g-g-girlfriend, or anything, right?"
"Eh?!" Ayame gasped, her face brightening. "D-does it look that way? Ehehe…"
"We aren't," Blake confirmed, smiling. "We're just enjoying a relaxing date, is all."
"Eh, but… what? Huh?"
Kate looked back and forth between the two of them in confusion.
Ayame offered her no answer but a shrug, and Blake's face was an impassive smile.
"So why are you here?" Ayame asked. "Oh! Are you one of Blake's friends?"
"No!" Kate exclaimed, her cheeks flushing. "I… I don't even like him! Not one bit! Not even in a million light-years!"
"Light-years isn't time… it measures distance," Blake piped up, Kate shooting him a glare.
"So if you're not his friend, then why are you here?" Ayame asked, standing up and leering down at Kate, who gulped. "You're interrupting our date."
"Er… I…" She glanced helplessly at Blake, fidgeting her fingers in front of her. "I-I don't have any business in particular! And it certainly is none of yours!"
Kate's as prideful as always… Blake sighed, standing up.
"Ayame, you're scaring her," Blake said, stepping between the two of them. "Kate, do you mind if we speak in private?"
"F-fine, if that's what you want," Kate said, crossing her arms and turning her nose up at Blake. Blake rolled his eyes.
"I'll be back soon, okay?" Blake winked at Ayame, whose cheeks turned pink, and she nodded.
Blake and Kate stepped out onto the patio, where there were less students around due to the wet tables.
"So, Kate, what's up?"
"N-nothing much," Kate lied, still not meeting his eyes. "What's your relationship with her, anyway?"
"Oh, you know, this and that," Blake laughed, completely dodging the question, much to Kate's continued consternation, the older girl leering angrily at him.
"So… you go out on dates with someone who's just 'this and that'?!" Kate demanded.
"Wow, you seem a little more irritable than usual," Blake noted. "What's wrong?"
"Eh?!" Kate gasped, her cheeks flushing even darker. "Er… uh… n-nothing! Forget it! I don't care one bit!"
"Then what do you want?" Blake asked.
"Um… it's… it's not about me. It's about her highness…"
"Alcea? Is something wrong?"
"She's… getting married," Kate said, looking down. "To some guy she's never met before. Just because her family wants her to, not even caring about her own feelings on the matter… something like that, it's…"
"Uh…" Blake flinched, glancing away from her. "And… what do you want me to do about it?"
"You're part of the Harker Family, right?" Kate asked. "They don't have the same prestige as the Vermeils, but they're still influential and powerful! Perhaps, if you got your family to step in, then maybe they…"
Blake glanced at her, his eyes cloudy. Kate looked down, her face falling.
"S-sorry… I know… I shouldn't ask something like that… but even so, if it would make her highness happy, then I… I have to ask, please!"
"Don't worry," Blake said, shaking his head. "I promise, I'm not angry."
"Then you'll-"
"No," Blake said, shaking his head. "Sorry, even if I did… I don't think it would accomplish very much."
"What?! Why not?!" Kate demanded.
"Well…" Blake turned pale as ash, sweat dripping down his face. "See… it turns out… Alcea's fiancé… is probably me… yeah…"
That's gotta be a big oof. So, Alcea joins the love competition? Perhaps?
…
Probably not.