With Caelia missing, how will the trek up the mountain turn out? Will they be able to find her? Will something interfere? Or will they be forced to go on without her? Review!
Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Oh, his harem powers will definitely be of help in finding Caelia, that's for sure.
Aakareo Kokokuhikari: We'll find out soon enough.
Toragon3110: We've already met his wife. It's Petal.
JoshGamerV: OH YEAH!
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 147
The night before.
Blake and Ayame were walking back to their rooms, chatting.
"Are you looking forward to tomorrow?" Blake asked.
"Yeah, I am…" Ayame said, smiling, but Blake noted that she had a little bit of anxiety on her face.
"You sure? It doesn't seem like it…" Blake said, frowning. "It seems more like… you're worried about something?"
"Nah, don't worry about it," Ayame grinned. She and Blake stopped outside of their rooms. She moved to open the door, when Blake grabbed her hand.
"Wait…" he said, frowning. "Don't… go just yet…"
"Eh…?" Ayame asked, her face turning bright red. Blake moved closer to her, and she shut her eyes, shaking her head. "I don't mind, but… p-please be gentle… it's my first time…"
"Not like that," Blake laughed, "that's not what I meant."
"…Oh," Ayame said, a little disappointed. "Then what do you want?"
Blake glanced at the door leading out to the long garden within the inn, and then back to Ayame.
"Want to go for a walk?" Blake asked.
Ayame's eyes widened and she smiled, nodding.
The two walked out into the garden, sitting out on the lantern-lit porch and staring up at the night sky, and the dark, looming silhouette of Mt. Chimney on the horizon.
"I really am excited about tomorrow," Ayame replied, smiling.
"I wish I could get that excited about climbing a mountain," Blake chuckled. "You've been more excited about this trip than Sango has been, and she does stuff like this as a hobby."
"Well, I should be," she replied. "I grew up with Mt. Silver in my back yard!"
"Mt. Silver?" Blake asked, surprised. "You never mentioned that! Then you're from Johto?"
Ayame shook her head.
"…Kanto?"
Ayame's smile grew wider and her eyes shined, shaking her head again.
"…Now I'm lost."
"My great grandpa was from Kanto, and my great grandma was from Johto," she explained. "When my great grandpa came to Johto, he fell in love with my great grandma. He proposed to her at the Tohjo Falls. It's where they had their honeymoon… it's where they eventually settled down and got married. Then my great grandpa changed the family name to, well… you know."
Blake's eyes widened.
Ayame stretched her arms, and yawned.
"We lived in hiking distance of Mt. Silver, and since I was a little girl some of my best memories were playing in the snow up there," Ayame said, a nostalgic and wistful smile crossing her face. "But… this is the first time I've been on a mountain climbing trip… with friends."
Ayame reached into her sleeve and withdrew her sky-blue hair ribbon. She looked at, smiling, sadly, turning over the strip of cloth in her hands.
"In my freshman year… I didn't have the option to make many friends. Even Olivia… she was the closest one to me, and I still kept her at a distance."
"Really?" Blake asked, surprised. "Everyone looks up to you, though, especially in the Track and Field club."
"Well, that's now, but back then, I was just a shy little mouse of a girl."
"You?!" Blake said incredulously.
"I was self-conscious about my height, you know," Ayame sighed. "But… things changed for me. I grew stronger, more confident, especially when I made my break-out as a track star."
"But that came in with its own set of problems," Blake reminded her. Ayame nodded in agreement.
"You really seem to treasure that thing," Blake said, nodding to her ribbon.
"Oh, this?" Ayame said. "I guess… it's a memento of who I used to be. Someone very important… they gave it to me in my freshman year…"
"Olivia?" Blake asked. She shook her head.
"There was a boy…" Ayame said, her voice distant. She concentrated hard, trying to recall the muddy images in her memory of them. "I barely remember… in truth, I only knew him for short time… but he told me I looked beautiful with my hair tied up like this…"
"Trying to make me jealous, now?" Blake laughed. Ayame smiled back at him.
"Hearing that, gave me the confidence I have now," Ayame murmured.
"May I?" Blake asked, holding his hand out to her. Ayame glanced at his hand and nodded, handing the ribbon over to him. Blake rose up and knelt behind the sitting girl. He pulled her bangs out of her face and wrapped the ribbon up behind her neck, tying it into a rabbit-eared bow atop her head. Two long fringes of hair fell to the sides of her head, framing her handsome face.
"I hate to say it, but he's right," Blake sighed, Ayame smiling at the note of jealousy she heard in his voice. "Your hair is the perfect length for a runner… and tied back like this, to keep out of your eyes, while still emphasizing your handsome face… it shows how you approach others head-on, without guile, always looking ahead. And the ribbon itself… broad and open like the sky, with the tips giving you the perfect hint of cuteness to accentuate your inner adorable nature."
Ayame blushed at the whirlwind of compliments he was giving her.
"S-so… uh… if you're saying all these things, then… have you reconsidered… my… 'offer'?" She tilted her head back to glance at him. He finished tying the bow, moving to sit beside her.
"Not a bit," Blake said, shaking his head. Ayame let out a disappointed sigh.
"Were you really… going to try and… you know, in the bath? …Today?" Blake asked, his face flushing crimson. Ayame blushed as well.
"I… I wasn't gonna be… naked…" she whispered. "I just… was gonna come in in my swimsuit. You know, the one from before."
"But I was gonna be naked."
"W-well…" Ayame blushed even deeper, unable to meet his gaze.
"I'm sorry, I just… it was a stupid idea," Ayame admitted. "I just… wanted you to look at me."
"I'm always looking at you," Blake laughed. "But…"
"Not like that, I know," Ayame sighed. "Not yet."
Blake shrugged, not answering her.
"What about Caelia?"
"Why? Has she said anything about me?" Blake asked, trying to seem as excited about the prospect as possible.
"Well, you seem eager all of a sudden," Ayame snidely remarked, glaring at him.
"It's my turn to try and make you jealous," Blake laughed. Ayame shoved him.
"That wasn't what I meant," Ayame said, shaking her head. "I just meant… I want you to take care of her. Especially tomorrow. I know you might not have room in your heart to let anyone come close to you… but that girl, she's completely closed off from everyone."
Her troubled expression returned, and it didn't go unnoticed by Blake.
"That's what's been bothering you?" Blake confirmed. Ayame nodded.
"I can tell… she's been through some tough times," Ayame told him. "That's all I can say. But… I think you can get her out of her shell. I tried… but I can't get through to her now. I can only look out for her, and try to keep her safe. But you… I think maybe you can make a real connection with her. Become someone who she can call a friend."
Blake nodded.
"I've tried, but… that girl, it's like she's adamant about shutting everyone else out of her life. Any time I try to talk to her, I just get slapped in the face with an unmovable barrier," Blake sighed. "No matter how hard I try."
"I know, I know," Ayame sighed. She took a deep breath and let it out, staring at the starry sky.
"Still… I'm sure you'll be able to do it." She beamed, turning to Blake, her face lit by the candles of the lanterns hanging over their heads. "After all… you managed to get me to fall for you."
"…Please, that was nothing," Blake snorted, destroying the intimate silence between the two of them. "You were head over heels for me from the day we met. All it took was one date!"
"Shut up!" Ayame laughed, slapping him in the arm. "I did not! I absolutely loathed you at the start, don't you remember?"
"That's not how I remember it," Blake said, shaking his head. "All I can remember is the smoldering passionate gaze-"
"I think you mean the glares of disgust," Ayame corrected him, Blake selectively deleting that memory.
"…Or the deep and husky seductive voice," Blake continued. Ayame rolled her eyes.
"I can't help how my voice sounds," she growled.
"Oh yeah, that's the one," Blake smirked. Ayame giggled in spite of herself.
"…I promise," Blake said after a pause, the somber note to the conversation returning. "Tomorrow, I'm going to look out for her. Try and get close to her, get her to… open up, maybe. I don't know if I can… but even so, if there's anything I can do to help her, well… you know me."
"Looking out for those in trouble," Ayame said, nodding, staring him in the eyes, smiling. "I know. That's what made me fall for you, after all."
She leaned forward and closed her eyes, giving him a chaste kiss. She pulled away a few seconds later, her face red.
"See you tomorrow, Blake," she murmured, rising to her feet and heading back to her room, making sure to flip him off as she did so, leaving Blake alone in the garden to contemplate the adventure that would take place the following day.
"Did she get lost?" Ayame wondered aloud, staring worriedly down the hill towards jagged pass behind them. "Or… injured? What if she-"
"Blake?!" Sango exclaimed. Ayame whirled around just in time to see Blake run past her, leaping down the built in wooden steps two at a time.
"Blake?! What are you doing?!" Ayame exclaimed. "Get back here!"
Her cries fell on deaf ears, however, and Blake quickly vanished into the greenery and red rocks of the mountainous terrain.
"Argh, damn it!" Ayame cursed, charging after him. But she was stopped by Sango's tight grasp on her collar. Outraged, she twisted around and slapped Sango's hand away, rage surging through her face.
"What are you doing?!" Ayame exclaimed. "I'm going after him!"
"NO, YOU'RE NOT!" Sango snarled.
"The hell I'm not!" Ayame spat. "This is Blake! And Caelia too! You think I'm just going to leave them behind?! I'm going to go find Blake, I have to! If something were to happen to him, I-"
Sango slapped Ayame across the face. It wasn't a strong blow, but it was harsh and unexpected, the shock of the blow more damaging than the hit itself. Ayame stumbled back, confused, nursing her injured cheek.
"I know you want to go after Blake!" Sango said. There were tears in her eyes, a watery mixture of anger and sorrow. Ayame blinked, the tremble in Sango's voice evident of her inner turmoil. "But we can't… we can't let anyone else get lost, don't you get it? Our phones don't have any signal here, we can't call anyone to help! What we need to do next… we need to get to the Seventh Station, and use their radio to report what happened to the teachers. They can get in contact with the Pokemon Rangers stationed in this area, and then they'll find Blake and Caelia! Those are the correct protocols for someone getting lost in the mountains. If we just go traipsing back down there looking for them, that will just result in more of us getting lost, do you understand?"
Sango grit her teeth, trembling.
"We need… to keep… climbing." Sango growled. "And get help then."
Ayame nodded, reluctantly.
"Yes… you're right, of course…" Ayame said, shaking her head. "I… I'm just worried about Blake, that's all. I panicked."
"Aidan and I are here," Sango said, frowning. "We're training for circumstances like this." She turned to continue the trek up the volcano, her hands shaking. She paused, and whirled around back to Ayame.
"And don't think you are the only one here worried about Blake," she snarled. Ayame gulped, nodding warily.
Reinvigorated with fear and anger pumping through her veins, Sango took command of the group, and left the plateau, continuing the climb up the mountain. The others followed behind her.
Blake ran down the steps of the volcano, through the twists and turns of the jagged pass, his eyes scanning his surroundings for the missing Caelia. Panting, her slowed down, and set his bag on the ground, withdrawing the map included in the travel equipment. He unfolded it, scanning for the information included.
Caelia said that she was looking to catch a Vulpix… Blake thought, searching through the list of pokemon found on the volcano and where they were located. I don't think that she would actually wander off the trail to go catch one, but it's the only reason I can think of for why she would disappear on us like that. There aren't any sharp drops she could have fallen off of, and the trail would be easy to follow… I can only assume that she walked off the trail herself…
He found the information he was looking for.
Vulpix… found in the brush and tall grass between the Sixth Station and the Seventh Station… Blake rolled his eyes. No way that was a coincidence. She really was looking for one. She'd sent them into a big heaping pile of panic and worry, chasing after a pokemon with no concern how it would affect the others. Unbelievably selfish…
Though, was he any different?
Blake glanced behind him. Sango was going to chew him out big time for running off like this. But did he really have a choice? Sango would take command of the group and do the logical thing, get to the Seventh Station and report in for help in tracking them down. There was no way he could just follow with Sango and abandon Caelia on the mountain. That girl… her sense of danger was almost nonexistent. She might end up getting injured or worse. If he had stopped to explain to them what he wanted to do, Sango would have never let him go, and if he still resisted Ayame would have insisted that they all go look for Caelia. That could end up in more people getting hurt or injured. He'd have to find her on his own.
"Oh man… Ayame and Sango are gonna be pissed…" he sighed, shaking his head in resignation. He headed into the center cluster of where Vulpix were expected to be found, and stepped off the trail toward the grassy side paths closer to the center of the mountain.
"Caelia!" Blake called out, stepping slowly up the grassy hill. "You here?"
Now that I think about it… this is a stupid idea… it's like looking for a needle in a haystack… Blake sighed. She could be anywhere on the mountain. It's not like he could really expect her to-
The snapping of a branch caught Blake's ear and he raised his head up to the ledges above him just in time to see a shadow dropping out of the sky, landing directly on top of him.
Whatever hit him was heavy enough to knock him down into the grass, and large enough to keep him pinned down afterwards. At first he thought it was an attacking wild pokemon and he fumbled for a pokeball on his belt, only to realize that whatever had landed on him wasn't attacking him. Or even moving, really. Something dry and stringy was tangled up in his face, and he spit it out. Dry hair, yuck.
"Is someone there?" Caelia's voice asked. Blake's eyes widened. She was lying on top of him!
"Yeah, me, Blake," Blake said.
"Where are you?" Caelia asked, her head shifting around, bumping into his nose. "I can't see you."
"I'm under you…" Blake dryly muttered.
"Under…?"
Blake reached his hands up and pressed lightly on her shoulders, trying to move her off of him. Once he got her upright, she moved the rest of the way, rolling off of him. Their eyes met.
"Ah. There."
"Hey…" Blake said, sitting up, wiping the strands of hair out of his mouth. "You could at least show some reaction to landing on me like that."
"It is not my fault you were beneath me," she murmured. "What are you doing here?"
"What am I-?! What am I doing here?!" Blake sputtered. "What are you doing here?! Why would you walk off the trail like this, are you insane?! The others are worried sick about you! And now I'm gonna get in trouble too, just for coming out to try and bring you back!"
"You shouldn't have bothered," Caelia muttered. "I don't need your concern…"
She tried to stand up in the same unsteady way she had before, looking down at the ground as she slowly rose.
"Whatever," Blake said, standing up as well. He reached out and grabbed her right arm, gripping her wrist tightly. "I'm gonna bring you back."
"Refused. I still have something to do," Caelia said.
Blake turned to look at her, frowning.
"What? What's so important that you'd worry all of us like this by leaving the group?" Blake demanded.
"I'm looking for a Vulpix," Caelia replied. "I told you before."
Blake's eye twitched. This girl…
"How can you be so selfish?!" Blake demanded. "You jeopardized your safety and made us all freak out over your safety, all so you could capture a pokemon?!"
Caelia tilted her head to the side.
"I'm not selfish…" She said, shaking her head. "Leave me to myself. I did not ask you to come after me. I can't control you worrying about me. What happens to me is of no concern to myself; to you, it should be even less of a concern."
"Do… do you really mean that?" Blake asked, stunned.
"I cannot be blamed for your decision to place any amount of value in my wellbeing," Caelia replied, nodding her head, her eye narrowing. "You should have just gone on without me."
Blake could not believe what he was hearing. This girl… her nihilism or misanthropy, whatever it was… those didn't even begin to cover the air of apathy that washed off of her. The dead look in her eye, the tone of utter… emptiness with which she spoke, hollow and devoid of passion… It was like she really, honestly didn't care.
"Then if you don't care about what happens to you, come back with me," Blake ordered her. "For the sake of the others. Can't you at least bring yourself to care about the idea that other people are concerned about your safety, even if you yourself aren't? Are you really that…"
"Pointless," Caelia refused, shaking her head. "Tell them not to bother. I'll do as I choose."
The more Blake spoke with her, the more he was growing to hate the girl. He knew it was wrong to do so, but to be so… uncaring about how others might be worried about her… to completely dismiss the possibility… to see someone so…
Blake leveled a fierce glare at Caelia, but she didn't have any reaction to it whatsoever. It was like her dull stare was looking right past him. He sighed and let go of Caelia, her hand dropping limply to her side.
"…Fine. If you must find a Vulpix, then I'm coming with you."
"As you like," Caelia muttered, turning and beginning to climb up the steep grassy hill again. Blake let out a sigh under his breath, and followed after her.
"How much longer until we get to the Seventh Station…" Will wheezed, running out of gas.
"According to the map, we have one more plateau to cross, and then the steepest incline yet," Sango said. "The plateau, the entrance of the 'Magma Cavern' as it's called. It shouldn't take us more than another half-hour."
"Don't know… if I can make it…" Will panted.
"Don't wuss out!" Ayame shouted over her shoulder. "It's just over this hill!"
True to her word, they climbed the steep path and arrived at a wide expanse of flattened rock and dust, devoid of any plantlife. It seemed to stretch out for quite a distance, almost the size of a football field. At the far end of the plateau, the steep side of Mt. Chimney's peak could be seen stretching up, and deep in the escarpment the large entrance of a deep cave could be seen. It was a hazardous location that tourists were not allowed to enter, and it was blocked off with a strong iron gate.
"Who's that?" Sango asked, narrowing her eyes in confusion as she tried to get a better look at the figures standing in front of the cave.
"One of the other groups?" Aidan wondered, waving to them.
"There's only three of them," Will said. "I don't think so."
"Other tourists then?" Ayame suggested. The two crossed the hot ground as they made their way across the plateau towards the sloping path wrapping around the mountainside.
"Hey, that pokemon, that's a Camerupt, right?" Reiner noted, staring at the large orange pokemon that was mounted by one of the three.
Sango took a good look at them as they got closer. There were three in total. The one in the center was a little girl, maybe only 10 or 11. She reminded Sango of Kitty, mainly in the color of her hair, a pale white that reached her shoulderblades. She wore a bulky grey jacket that covered most of her body, the sleeves draping well over her hands. The girl was astride a large Camerupt facing the cave entrance. Standing beside her was a taller boy, probably closer to their age, maybe a little older. He had the same white hair as the girl, a little longer than normal on a boy, down to his neck. He wore a grey shirt with the sleeves torn off, revealing his pale, muscled arms, and wore faded, partially-frayed jeans.
"Hey, maybe those kids'll know," the guy said, turning to look at them. He had flashing red eyes. "Hey! Over there! Yeah, you!"
Sango walked over to them, confused.
"What is it?" Sango asked. The others followed her, except for Will, who refused to try anymore walking. He sat down on the ground, getting some much needed rest.
"Oh, nothing too major." The boy wore a smile, but it didn't put Sango at ease. It reminded her of the smile of a shark, the way it stretched across his face, while not reaching his eyes. She wasn't sure who these people were, but something about them seemed worrying. "We're just looking for a little something around here."
"Sightseeing?" Ayame asked. "We know a few places, but-"
"No, no, nothing like that," the boy laughed, shaking his head.
"Hey, we were wondering if you could tell us, do you know how to get through that gate?" The third person, a girl in a black sweater and a blue miniskirt walked up to them. Eyeing them up and down, she twirled a bouncing lock of her curly black hair between her fingers flirtatiously. She batted her shiny blue eyes at Reiner, aiming her question at him, a coy smile on her red painted lips. "We'd make it worth your while~"
Sango narrowed her eyes.
"I don't think you can," she said. "It's closed off to the general public."
"Whaaaat?" The girl cried, huffing. "That's no fun!" She turned to her white-haired companion. "Rast, you said it's in there, right?"
"Yup, yup, it is," the boy, Rast, said.
"In what? Where?" Sango could feel it for sure now. Something was very wrong. She took a step back, frowning. It didn't go unnoticed by the boy, who narrowed his eyes at her.
"Ah, well, if we can't get in, that's quite a pity," he said, shrugging. "Guess we'll have to head back. Thanks for your help all the same."
"It certainly wasn't a total loss," the brunette purred, wrapping her arm around Reiner's and pressing her chest against him, smiling up at him. "Hiya cutie. I'm Rui. What's your name?"
"Reiner," he replied, shaking free of her grip and giving her a polite smile. "And sorry to say, but I have a girlfriend."
"Oh, poo," she huffed.
"Rast…" the third member of this strange group, the girl astride the Camerupt, finally spoke. Her voice was soft like a whisper. "We can't give up now, you know."
"Ah, Alk, come on now," he sighed. "We can't draw attention to ourselves!"
Rast… Alk… Sango frowned. Those names sounded familiar. Where had she heard them before?
"Sorry we couldn't be more help," Ayame frowned. Sango looked aside. She was just as tense as Sango was. They both could tell something strange was going on here.
"Not a worry. Sounds like we just got some miscommunications," Rast said, laughing affably. "We'll get out of your hair now."
"Really?" Ayame asked, narrowing her eyes. "Your body language says otherwise."
"…Quite suspicious, aren't you?" Rast asked, his jovial expression turning serious. "But we're telling the truth. At least about not wanting to call any attention to ourselves. See, this mountain here is crawling with Pokemon Rangers. And after Preya's screw-up… we can't risk word of our actions being reported."
Sango's eyes grew wide and she immediately flinched, a series of memories flooding instantly.
"Rast and Alk, you… you're with Preya? You know Marion!"
The two white haired strangers twitched in surprise, the brunette tilting her head quizzically.
"…You know Mar?" Rast asked, narrowing his eyes towards her. "That's right… Preya told us he'd been foiled by Marion and another girl… a rude blonde ranger with a Castform. So that was you, eh?"
His glare was piercing and all traces of politeness had completely evaporated.
"Well, no big deal, we were already going to beat you guys down a little," Rast's laugh was harsh and cruel, nothing like his previous tone. "Make sure you can't report any of this until we've taken the stone and gotten well out of the area. We wanted to be subtle, but it looks like that's passed."
"Oh, but let's not hurt the cute one too badly, okay?" Rui asked, winking at Reiner, who tensed, reaching to his belt for a pokeball.
"This is all pointless…" the young girl, Alk, growled. "Rast… you talk too much." Her eyes flashed and her hair stood on end. The ground they were standing on began shaking, her Camerupt rearing back and growling with anger. He stomped on the ground, the plateau beginning to crack from the tremors.
"Oh, crap!" Ayame shouted, jumping back as a rip opened up where she'd been standing a moment before.
"Alk, you really need to hold your temper," Rast sighed. "It's no good if we bury the Oracle Stone under the volcano you know. Tone back your eruptions a little."
"Sorry, big brother," Alk apologized, the light in her eyes dying down as the tremors lightened. "But still… if we want to get rid of the evidence of our presence here… and deal with the ranger threat…"
Another quake shook the volcano.
"Then maybe it's time Mt. Chimney had another eruption."
"Ah, fine," Rast sighed, shrugging his shoulders. "When you ask so sweetly like that, what's a big brother supposed to do?"
The mountain began to shake again, as though the magma in its very core was resounding to the young girl's will.
No way… Sango flinched, the shockwaves knocking her off of her feet. If this keeps going… forget an eruption, this whole volcano might be ripped apart and take us all down with it!
This doesn't seem very good for our heroes. Will they be able to get out of this intact?! What will happen to Mt. Chimney?