Here's another chapter, where we explore training of a different sort… training of the inner mind. An important step for any trainer. Especially one with harmonia. Review!

KedharS: I have answers, so go ahead.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Who knows? We'll just have to see for ourselves.

Hellraiserphoenix: Kate admiring Alcea was in question? And yes, Gabrielle's feelings for Alcea… they're quite complicated, to say the least.

Aakareo Kokokuhikari: Essentially yes. She's sort of a Kuudere/Tsundere hybrid.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 133

"You're going already?" Ayame asked as they put their lunch trays away. Blake nodded.

"But we just met up! That's no fun! Let's go see a movie or something."

"I have to meet up with a friend of mine to help oversee her training. It's very important. Besides, Ayame, it's not like this is a date," Blake said. "We're just getting lunch as friends, right?"

"That's because you're just being stubborn," Ayame huffed. "Well, fine. I don't want to be pushy, so let's split up here."

She closed her eyes and leaned close to him, lowering her head slightly.

"…What are you doing?" Blake asked.

"Goodbye kiss."

Blake rolled his eyes. "Stop kidding around."

Ayame shrugged, and smirked.

"Rejecting me so easily, damn it?" Ayame called, flipping him off as he walked away. Blake waved back at her, and then gave her the middle finger in return.

Last night was agonizing… Ayame thought to herself, her cheeks turning pink as she walked off, holding her hands over her heart. But today… today was a good day…

It took him a while, but Blake made it up to the Dragon Valley. This time, though, his intention was not to meet with Sarah, but with someone else. So rather than descend into the valley himself, he went into the forest at the lip of it, and the riverbank where they'd agreed to meet.

Kitty sat beside the river bank with her legs crossed in front of her and her hands on her knees. Her eyes were closed, and she was deep in concentration, taking long, even breaths.

"Kitty," Blake called out to her. Kitty's eyes slowly opened, and she glanced up at Blake.

"You took some time," Kitty said quietly. She giggled. "What, you have a date?"

"Something like that," Blake laughed. "How are things going? Are you doing your exercises?"

"Mm," Kitty nodded. "I'm working on regulating my breathing, just like you suggested, and improving my concentration through meditation. And I just returned them in order for me to get some rest, but I've also been spending a lot of time with my pokemon out of their pokeballs."

"Not to fight though, right?" Blake asked. She shook her head.

"No, not having fake fights or anything like that. Just relaxing, lounging in the sun, you know how it is."

"And how's it gone?"

"My headaches are getting a little better," Kitty said, raising a hand to her temple. "Even though the voices are getting stronger."

"It's been a couple of weeks, that seems like your progress is going good," Blake said. "Still… this is mainly just theory I got after speaking with my brother. But I don't have harmonia myself… while we're on a good track right now… things might go wrong… you might slip in a way that I can't see coming, and-"

"Blake," Kitty said sharply, rising up out of her meditative position and standing up, looking up into his eyes. Her red eyes flashed with the light of harmonia. "I understand your worries. But don't worry about me."

She raised her hand up and cradled his cheek, smiling sweetly.

"Even if things go badly for me… even if I lose control of my power, and go crazy like you fear… with you by my side, then I don't have anything to worry about. I may not have faith in myself… but I have faith in your care for your friends."

Blake smiled.

"Thanks, Kitty. I'm glad that someone as kind as you… not only that you're my friend, but that you're the one out of all of us to have harmonia… you're the perfect choice. You've really grown a lot since we met."

"…Is that a jab at my height?" Kitty asked, puffing her cheeks in irritation.

"Little bit," Blake admitted, smooshing her cheeks. "Unfortunately, my brother isn't in contact with me right now… I guess all we can do is work on self-control training… more deep-breathing, more meditation, more contact with your pokemon…"

Kitty winced.

"What about… more attempts to reach out mentally? Right now… the way it's going…"

Blake's eyes widened and he sat down on the forest floor, staring intently up at her. She took the cue to sit down as well, returning to her meditative position and resumed her breathing.

"Something about your pokemon's voices? I don't have harmonia myself, so can you walk me through it?"

Kitty nodded, closing her eyes. "I'm sort of… how do I describe it…"

"It's like being in a river… lying on your back… and the river is pushing against me… the river in this case is the voices of my pokemon."

"I see…"

"Oh, but it's not like actually being in a river, that's sort of… how do I say… just the feeling, you know? Of water… er, harmonia… pushing up against me, washing over me… and I can sort of feel the urge… to let the flow of the water wash over me, or push back against it…"

"Push back?" Blake asked.

"Yeah… think of it like… someone is calling you on your phone. And you have the ability to send it decline or accept the call. So if my pokemon are calling me… then reaching out and pushing against the flow is like accepting the call, and just letting the flow wash over me is like declining the call."

Blake nodded. He could sort of understand that.

"And you haven't accepted the call before?"

"I think… I probably did… maybe a few times… the last few times I battled… I remember it the most vividly… when we fought for the Fall Tournament preliminaries…"

Blake nodded.

"And… I don't want to push back and respond, not until I'm confident that I can bear it. But there's also a tug on me… the other way. To not just let the flow move around me… but also move in the direction with it."

"I see… it's not a perfect analogy… but when you say move with the flow, do you mean just give in and let your pokemon's will impress on your own?"

Kitty nodded her head, and opened her eyes to seek Blake's comfort.

"And that… that is what is terrifying to me," Kitty admitted. "I don't… want that. Of the three ideas… this is the scariest one…"

"If you respond, and push back, then you'll be able to use harmonia… I imagine that Elaina did that, and a lot of other harmonia users… they feel a pressure, and they push back. And that interaction… probably stimulates harmonia."

"So maybe I should start pushing back?" Kitty asked. Blake nodded, but his expression was serious. Kitty looked him in the eyes. There was a fear there that made her less certain of what she should do.

"But at the same time… with your analogy, then if you push back against the river… then it's possible to be pushed back by the river, and overwhelmed to the point where you fall over and get swallowed by the water. Same if you try and go with the flow."

Kitty swallowed. That didn't sound like something that was worth risking. Getting consumed by the power… swallowed by it…

"That's like Elaina, right?" Kitty asked. "She… she was consumed by it, wasn't she?"

Blake nodded.

"I thought so…" Kitty frowned. "In fact… I could sort of get a feeling from her… Like I could feel her harmonia…"

Blake's eyebrow raised. He'd heard similar… was this like what Oscar had told him? About feeling harmonia… probably.

"Oscar's harmonia… it was solid and strong, like a brick wall," Kitty explained. "And Kanone… your brother… being around him was like a ray of sunlight washing over me… but at the same time, it was almost sharp… like I would be stabbed if I pushed against it… but Elaina's was different. It was a feeling… like being hit by a blast of wind. It was like she was the center of a tornado… at least, that's the closest way I can describe it."

Blake nodded his head.

"The other two had much better control, but Elaina's was wild… my headaches would get worse and worse, like she was attacking me… and at other times, I couldn't feel anything at all…"

Probably because she doesn't have any control, so she hasn't been able to pound it into shape, Blake reasoned.

"Blake… what do you think I should do?" Kitty asked. "Keep going like this… or pushing against it… what do you think…"

Kitty was clearly worried about what might happen to her if she pushed back against the harmonia, the way Elaina clearly did. That much was clear to Blake. But he also felt…

"Either way… I don't think you can keep doing nothing for much longer," Blake said. "Like you said, the voices have been growing stronger, right? So it's not unthinkable that if your willpower doesn't build at the same rate, then eventually you might be overrun by your harmonia and lose control…"

I wonder if that's like what Elaina mentioned… about her losing control even when she wasn't using it… probably. If that's so, then I can't just say "don't use it" it becomes a matter of using it in a way that allows one to control it, like with Kanone and Oscar…

Kitty gulped.

"Then… can we keep going like this? The medication Kanone gave me… it suppresses the worst of it, but whether I'm using it or not, the voices are still gradually growing stronger…"

That made sense to Blake, it lined up with what he'd been wondering. It seems that the medication will stop being effective after a certain point… In that case…

"There really might not be any other choice than to get the help of someone who has harmonia, then…" Blake said, shaking his head.

"Do you think we should talk with Oscar?" Kitty asked hopefully. "He has harmonia, and he's a friend!"

"He seems trustworthy enough," Blake agreed. "And when he suspected that I had harmonia, he said he wanted to help me master it. So I'm certain he'd be receptive to the idea. It can't hurt to ask, at any rate. Do you have his contact information?"

"Oh…" Kitty blinked, shaking her head. "No, I don't…"

"Hm, I see…" Blake frowned. There wasn't anyone else at the school who he knew possessed harmonia… it would have to be Oscar… Isn't there anyone who might know how to get in contact with him? Maybe…

"Wait, I just thought of something," Blake said, remembering an important detail. "What about Alcea?"

"Alcea? The woman from the Eight Leaders?" Kitty said. "What about her?"

"She said that she'd been getting information from someone about harmonia, right?" Blake said. "In that case… what you said before about our battle… in the qualifiers… I remembered, do you think…"

The same realization that Blake had clearly already arrived at dawned on Kitty. She remembered that battle vividly. Alcea had been there… and Oscar!

"That's right, Oscar and Alcea were both there, watching the battle!" Kitty said.

"Before, I thought he was there because he suspected that I had harmonia," Blake said. "But it's also possible… he was there because he sensed that you had it, as well. And whatever the reason… it was clear from that battle that he and Alcea are on speaking terms."

Kitty nodded in agreement, her eyes shining with a conspiratorial gleam.

"And that means he's probably Alcea's source on harmonia, too! Which means that he and Alcea must be in contact."

"Exactly. And even if Alcea's contact is someone else, if they were willing to volunteer the information on harmonia to her, they might also be willing to help you keep it under control. Either way, it's worth a shot to give her a call, just to find out. What's the worst that could happen?"

Kitty agreed completely, vigorously nodding her head. Blake reached for his phone.

"…Wait. We're forgetting something important."

"What?" Kitty asked, tilting her head to the side.

"…I don't have Alcea's cell number."

"Ah."

Once again, the two were back to square one in terms of finding a teacher to help guide Kitty's progress with harmonia.

"Oh, wait!" Kitty said, standing up. "New idea!"

"Oh?"

"What about Julia?"

"Julia? What about her?" Blake asked. Then he realized it too. "Oh, right! She's currently training under Alcea right now! She'll be able to act as the go-between!"

"I'll call her right now," Kitty said, reaching into her bag and pulling out her phone. "Hey, Julia! It's Kitty!"

"Yo, Kitty, what's up?" Julia asked. "Get this! I just had a breakthrough in my training that you wouldn't believe!"

"What? That's great!" Kitty said. "Um, anyway, Julia… I was wondering, since you're training with Alcea… would it be possible to put me in contact with her?"

"Uh, I guess, why?" Julia asked.

"Oh! N-no reason, just… er…" She floundered on the phone, and Blake stood up to grab the phone from her hands.

"Julia, it's me, Blake," Blake said. "I need to speak with Alcea, it's important."

"Oh? Blake? So Kitty is training with you? Then why-"

"Nevermind," Blake said. "Just… can I get Alcea's number?"

"Sorry, but I don't have it," Julia said. "It's not like she just gives it to everyone who's a club member, she's pretty private. Though I'm heading back to the Gardening Club right now, and I'm pretty sure she'll be there, so I guess I could hand her the phone if she is… but why the big hurry? What's so important?"

"…We're getting married."

"…What?" Julia asked.

"Uwaaaaah?!" Kitty exclaimed, her face growing bright red. "M-m-married?! Wh-what?!"

"It's complicated, I'll explain later."

"Uh… okay, Blake, whatever you say," Julia sighed, her face a little red in embarrassment, though probably nothing compared to Kitty's. She entered the clubroom. Alcea and Kate were there, as she expected… and so was Gabrielle Breaux? Odd…

"Julia, what is it?" Alcea asked. "Your training is already completed for the day, is it?"

"Not yet," Julia said, shaking her head. "There's still some stuff I need to work out… but until then, I'll keep doing my best. No, actually…"

She held up her phone, with Blake still on the line.

"Blake called me, and said he wants to speak with you…" Julia explained to her. "He said… you guys are getting married?"

Gabrielle twitched, her face darkening, while Kate coughed out the tea she'd been drinking, gagging in shock. Alcea's face was bright red.

"Wh-WHAT?" Alcea gasped.

"Oh… I guess so much stuff happened, I forgot to mention that?" Kate laughed. "Sorry, milady…"

"Wait, so it's true?" Julia gasped. "You and Blake are really-"

Flustered, Alcea stormed over and grabbed the phone out of her hand.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Alcea demanded.

"Milady!" Kate cried. "Please, remain composed in front of the freshmen!"

Blake chuckled, much to Alcea's frustration.

"O-Oui, my apologies," Alcea said, coughing, regaining her composure, though her face was still red. "Bonjour, Blake."

"So I talked with my father," Blake said, "and it turns out what Kate told me is true. It seems we're engaged to be married."

"Oui, I had heard from my family that I had a fiancé arranged," Alcea replied. "But to think it would be you… c'est con…"

"Disappointed?" Blake asked. "I'm actually insulted. Though, maybe you'd be a little more happy if it was my brother you were engaged with instead?"

"Putain-" Alcea gasped, her face turning a deeper shade of crimson than her hair. "Nonsense! Utter nonsense! I would not be happy with anything of the sort!"

"Sure, sure," Blake said, dropping the topic. "Anyway, that isn't what I wanted to call you about."

"Wh-what?" Alcea calmed down once more. "Then what is it?"

"I was wondering… if you could get me in contact with Oscar Silph. He's the one who told you about harmonia, am I wrong? I have something to talk with him about harmonia."

"Oscar Silph?" Alcea nodded. "Oui, I have his contact information… let me find it…"

Oscar… Silph… Gabrielle was going over that name in her head, only half-listening to the conversation. Her eyes widened.

"Wait," Gabrielle said, rising out of her seat. Her voice was forceful, and it captured Alcea's attention.

"What is it?" Alcea asked, putting her hand over the receiver and turning to Gabrielle.

"Oscar Silph… don't trust him," Gabrielle said, frowning.

"Why is that?" Alcea blinked.

"He's working with the Phantom," Gabrielle said. "I've seen them working together multiple times. If we're working against him… then we can't reach out to Oscar. He'll inform Valon about everything."

Alcea frowned. Oscar had seemed trustworthy before… but at the same time, his motives had never been all that clear. And with what Gerard had said about the Phantom gathering together students with harmonia… and Oscar's interest in students with harmonia…

"Blake, on second thought, I do not believe that you should contact Oscar Silph."

"What? Why not?" Blake asked.

"What did she say?" Kitty asked him.

"She said that we shouldn't go to Oscar for help," Blake replied. "Apparently… according to her, Oscar might be working with the Phatom."

"The Phantom?" Kitty shivered. "You mean… that guy who Sylvia is working for? The one who came after me before…"

"That's what I've heard, yeah," Blake nodded. "Alcea, thanks for the warning. I've got to go. I'll figure something out."

"Farewell," Alcea bid him goodbye, the two hanging up.

Blake turned to Kitty, and they shared a troubled expression.

"What do we do now?" Kitty asked, frowning.

"I don't know," Blake said, shaking his head. "I suppose… we need to find someone else… someone else with harmonia…"

This idea wasn't exactly a great plan, and they both knew it. They didn't know where they'd find someone else with harmonia. So how would they start?

I guess we'll have to figure something out… Blake thought, frowning. For Kitty's sake… we need to find someone who can control their harmonia, someone we can trust.

Unfortunately, there aren't very many candidates. I wonder if there's anyone who can help?