Kate and Blake's date continues! Where will we be going next? Also, it seems as usual, reviews are down. Still, keep up the reviews and the votes for the best girl!
Pokemon Academy Best Girl Elimination Round is still going strong! Keep those votes coming, a few girls are pulling ahead, but it's still anyone's game for making it into the top 5!
Nominated: Sango, Cynthia, Elaina, Kate, Dakota, Ayame, Marion, Kitty, Serefina, Madison, Alcea
ConfusedCradily: You should feel bad. Ayame is definitely in the running for best girl. And it's fine to like Kate, I'm trying to give her more opportunities to make her shine.
Rosealine gold: No need to feel bad about the voting, it's cool. Glad you're enjoying the arc.
Just a Bad Writer for Fun: It's very difficult for Kate to look good in a lot, because she's rather unappealing normally. It really has to suit her.
Tambry96bj: Probably.
Badoobadoop: Awesome, don't forget to vote in the poll!
Rus4408: No worries, any vote is nice to get.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 243
Kate's face was bright red. She rushed through the boutique, desperate to put some space between her and Blake. She couldn't be around him without her heart pounding, threatening to burst clean out of her chest.
It's okay, I just need to calm down. Sure, him seeing me like that was… embarrassing… but it's fine. In the meantime, I'll just put this skimpy thing back.
Kate returned the clothes she wasn't planning to buy, deciding that the only outfit she'd be purchasing was the one that looked best on her, the paisley patterned button-up purple shirt and the light blue denim trousers. Now she just needed to put back the miniskirt and things would be fine.
Right, just put it back… Kate reminded herself. Put it back…
Kate walked back to where Blake was waiting, her face hot.
"Yo, you done?" Blake asked.
"Y-yep!" Kate said, nodding, holding up a shopping bag. "I bought all the clothes I wanted!"
"You bought the miniskirt, huh?"
"Absolutely not!" Kate exclaimed, her face turning bright red. "I wouldn't wear something like that ever again!"
She said that, but the miniskirt was buried at the bottom of her bag, hidden away from Blake's eyes.
This… this is fine! It's just… I mean, it looked really good on me, even if it was too revealing. But, um… maybe… maybe this would be good as a… for when I… I mean, Blake and I… if he wanted to… not that I want to, but, a… well, I mean…
Kate felt a wave of self-loathing roll over her body and resisted the urge to throw up. She caught herself, scanning the boutique for something to draw their attention.
"Hey, Blake!" Kate said, changing the subject. "Did you know they have more than clothes here?"
That was interesting enough to draw him away, she hoped.
"They do?" Blake asked. "What, like cosmetics?"
"Exactly!" Kate said. "Come here, look!"
Kate headed away from the clothes section and towards the makeup portion of the boutique. There were no hair products, since Circhester was also known for its fabulous hair stylists, but there was still makeup and perfume. Kate was scanning the shelves for a brand of perfume in particular when Blake caught up with her.
"Take a look!" Kate giggled, holding up a bottle with a clear liquid inside it.
"Nomia Fragrance?" Blake asked, looking at the brand name. "Wait, Nomia, that's-"
"This is my dad's line," Kate explained, smiling. "He derived the formula in our garage, back when we lived in a rundown old house.
Kate's eyes were glassy as she remembered back when her family was poor.
"I think I've heard of this stuff," Blake said. "Can't remember where, though, I don't use perfume."
"Your friends do, though, right?" Kate reminded him. She chuckled. "This stuff is one of the most expensive money can buy. That's how my dad became the success in scents and appearance that he is today. Take a look. Even Olivia Himeko advertises our stuff."
She was right. Kate gestured to a poster of Olivia in a lovely white dress, holding a bottle of the perfume in one hand while winking and blowing a kiss with the other. That explained where he'd heard of this stuff. It looked like the poster was mocking him. Blake rolled his eyes.
"So what, you want to get some of this?" Blake asked.
"N-no! Of course not!" Kate said, shaking her head. "I just wanted to show off a little, you know?"
She looked down.
"I-I don't get the chance to brag about my dad very much, so…"
"Weird, you seemed like the kind of girl who would go around being all 'do you know who my father is?!' to people."
"Wha-?!" Kate gasped, her mouth falling open in surprise. "Why do you always have such a bad mental picture of me?!"
"You make it real easy, that's why," Blake replied, smirking. Kate scowled at him.
"Excuse me."
Kate and Blake turned to see a woman standing behind them. She was much like the store attendant from the clothing section. They both had the same long, blonde hair and shining blue eyes. They looked like they could be sisters.
"Hello, I work in the cosmetics section, and I was wondering if I could borrow you for a special promotion, miss girlfriend?"
"I'm not his-! What special promotion?" Kate went from outraged (excited) to curious in a flash, looking suspiciously at the older woman.
"We're running a special sale on Olivia Himeko's 'Psyduckling' brand of makeup," the woman explained. "For our sales campaign, we're really trying to emphasize the 'before and after' effect of using it. So we were wondering if we could give you a makeover? Free of charge, of course! In exchange, if the effect is great, we'll use your photos in our campaign!"
"Wh-what?" Kate gasped, her mouth falling open in surprise. "You… you want me?"
Being at the side of the beautiful and graceful Alcea Vermeil, Kate was used to seeing other people praise her beauty. And Kate had always been happy standing in her shadow and appreciating her beauty. But now, someone… someone wanted to use her? She… she had never gotten an offer like this.
"She'll do it," Blake said, Kate whirling around and leering at him, her face hot.
"S-says who?! I don't want to do something stupid like getting a makeover!"
"Right, and I'm just imagining the giddy smile on your face too," Blake laughed, rolling his eyes.
"It-it isn't giddy!"
"Admit it, Kate, you want to get a makeover, don't you?" Blake asked, smiling.
"I… I wouldn't look good, anyway, it would be a waste!"
Blake and the makeup attendant shared a knowing look.
"Nonsense!" The woman purred, hooking her arms under Kate's armpits, pulling her towards the cosmetics aisle.
"Lemme go!" Kate protested, squirming and thrashing against the woman. "Besides, if her highness found out I was promoting Olivia's makeup, it could start a war!"
Blake watched her go, wiping fake tears from his eyes and waving a handkerchief after her, Kate shouting a bunch of expletives at him as she was dragged away.
Kate was plopped down in front of a mirror after having her picture taken for her "before" photo.
"So, what we're going to do is make you out to be as cute as you can be," the woman said, smiling. "Now, could I get a look at your smile?"
Kate forced a smile onto her face. It didn't look like it was happy to be there.
The attendant paused, taking a look at Kate's face.
"Well, it seems we have a lot of work to do," she stated, beginning to match the coloration of Kate's skin.
About an hour later, Kate returned to Blake, her face bright red with embarrassment and deflated with exhaustion. She looked like she'd been through quite an ordeal, but at the same time, she was rather pretty.
Blake had to do a double take when he saw her appearance. Normally, Kate was decidedly average, bordering on unattractive. But skillful foundation and concealer hid the blemishes on her face, amplifying her more natural features. Her sharp eyes and thin face were emphasized, and her blush brightened her normal pale complexion. She actually looked pretty.
"S-stop looking at me," Kate said, a smile creeping up her cheeks.
"It's actually quite the transformation," the attendant said, walking up behind her. "Of course, her smiling face, that was…"
"What's wrong with my smile?" Kate snarled, glaring at the woman.
Blake remembered her smiling face. It could bring up feelings of nausea at times. Kate's stern scowls were much more suitable.
"N-nothing!" The woman said, smiling. "Honestly, thank you for your cooperation."
"…Yeah, whatever," Kate said, more than a little happy that she was able to get a makeover for free. Or, at least, makeup-wise. Her hair was still as big a mess as ever, which was rather unnerving. That such a cute face could be underneath a warzone of bristles and split ends was just… wrong.
"Blake, uh…" Kate gave Blake an expectant look, batting her eyes at him nervously. "Wh-what do you think?"
"I think you're pretty cute," Blake admitted, Kate's face lighting up. "Quite the contrast from normal. I could barely recognize you, to be honest."
"What, are you saying I'm not cute?!" Kate scowled.
"Not usually, no," Blake admitted. Kate let out a huff of frustration.
"…But right now, I think you look great," Blake finished. Kate's cheeks turned pink and she averted her eyes, a shaky smile of glee spreading across her cheeks.
"I-I'm going to get changed back into my new clothes!" Kate said, rushing back to the changing room. To go with her newly made-up face, she changed into her stylish new duds. Brushing the curtain aside, a practically brand new Kate walked outside with a cheery, if unnatural, smile on her face.
"I'm ready to go," Kate said, looking up at Blake with green eyes that didn't belong to her. They weren't filled with bile and irritation. They were shining like a normal, bright-eyed girl's eyes would, instead of the normal dull, dead fish-eyes she often had.
Kate and Blake headed out of the boutique, and moved on to where they wanted to go next.
The door opened out into the plaza, and a blast of cold air struck Kate and Blake in the face. While her new purple shirt was cool and stylish, it wasn't the most well-insulated article of clothing ever. Kate wrapped her arms around herself, shivering.
"G-geez, i-it's s-s-so c-c-c-cold," Kate said, her teeth chattering. It was only snowing lightly, but the temperature was still really low. She glanced at Blake, and shot him a dirty look. Blake looked at her innocently.
"So what's next?" Blake asked.
"Your jacket," Kate scowled. "Gimme your jacket."
"No."
"Seriously?!"
"Didn't you just buy a big fuzzy parka?" Blake asked, glancing at the mint green jacket in Kate's bag.
Oh. Right.
Kate scowled at him, fishing the big, warm coat out of the paper bag and sliding it on. The chills disappeared, and she was soon all snug and toasty wrapped up in her fluffy jacket.
"You still could have given me your jacket," Kate scowled.
"Yeah, but then I'd be cold."
"I'm sure if it was Ayame or Sango, you'd have given them your jacket without them even asking."
"No way, they'd give ME their jackets, because they're actually nice people," Blake informed her. Kate scowled again.
"What? Are you saying I'm not nice?! I'm nice!"
"You're a lot of things, Kate, but nice isn't one of them."
The normally sour look on Kate's face was a little odd, because she looked so cute. The woman who had done her makeup had done a good job of emphasizing her charms even when she was scowling.
"I ask again, what do you want to check out now?" Blake asked. "It's almost lunchtime, want to get something to eat?"
"Hm… later," Kate said, smiling. "I just had a great idea! New clothes, makeup, only one thing's missing!"
"A good attitude?" Blake asked. "Or a likeable personality?"
Kate's happy face filled with rage and she growled something unrepeatable.
"A haircut, obviously," Kate said, rolling her eyes, playing with a twisted lock of scraggy hair. "I mean, I want to commit the image, right? Total makeover? From what I hear, Circhester has a great hair salon, so… can we go?"
Blake shrugged, and nodded. He was always up for checking out hair salons. And he remembered that Olivia had mentioned a nice salon in Circhester he should check out while he was there. If she recommended it, then it must be a pretty stylish place, that was for sure.
When they entered the salon, though, they found that it was more than a little crowded. Which was to be expected, in hindsight, if it really was as good Olivia said it was.
"Well, so much for that idea," Blake sighed, looking at the huge crowd of people in the waiting room. "I can see what you meant by this hair salon being pretty well-known, there are a lot of people here. I think we'll be waiting for quite a long time before we get your hair cut."
Kate fumed angrily. Left to stew, Blake walked up to the front desk to talk to whoever was up there. He waited a few minutes for a stylist to come up.
"Hi, sorry," the woman replied, an apologetic look on her face. She had brown hair cut in a stylish short style, with frosted tips. "We're really backed up right now, two of our stylists called in sick. The wait is another hour, at least."
"Well, that's a bummer," Blake said, frowning. The woman's face said it all, she looked fairly overwhelmed.
"Ever since people heard that Olivia Himeko used to get her hair done here, we've had a large influx of customers," the woman explained. "Understaffed as we are right now, we're pretty overwhelmed here."
Olivia Himeko again. She was like a specter hanging over their heads everywhere they went in Galar, it seemed. How famous was she?
Well, I suppose that she is a celebrity of sorts, Blake acknowledged.
"Um, can I ask something?" Blake asked.
"Hm?" The stylist asked, looking up from her computer. She had just called the next customer up. Blake leaned in close to speak to her, without Kate hearing.
"See, my friend over there, she really wants to get her hair cut. But she's also pretty impatient. So I was wondering…"
"No cutting in line," she insisted.
"No, no, that's not what I meant," Blake said, shaking his head. "Actually, I happen to be a rather skilled hair stylist myself. If you let me cut Kate's hair, I'll be happy to help out until your waiting room is a little more under control. You won't even have to pay me."
"Oh?" The woman's eyes glimmered with a strange look, as though she were appraising him. "How good are you?"
"You know Olivia Himeko?" Blake asked. "I'm her personal hair stylist these days."
"You look like a kid to me," the woman replied. But she was definitely intrigued. "Think you can hold a candle to our standards?"
"Look, trust me or not," Blake said, shrugging. "But I'd like to lend a hand for a little. You said you were understaffed, right?"
The stylist leaned back pressing her thumb under her chin as she looked at Blake.
"How about you cut your little girlfriend's hair?" She suggested. "Won't bother us any, no one's using that space anyhow, so might as well let me see what you can do. If your skills are good enough, then you'll help out, yeah?"
"Sounds like a deal," Blake said, shaking hands with her. "Kate! We came to an agreement!"
"Huh? What?" Kate blinked, confused at what was going on.
"You can use that station back there," the woman said, jerking her thumb to an empty station behind her as Kate walked up to the counter.
"So what's up?" Kate asked.
"I'm gonna be cutting your hair, that's what's up," Blake explained. Kate stared at him in shock.
"Are… are you sure?" Kate asked, a little suspicious of him. "You can cut hair?"
"What, you don't trust me?"
"Not even a bit!" Kate snarled.
"Come on, it's not like I could possibly mess your hair up any more than it already is," Blake said, gesturing to her wild mess of a head."
"…" Kate opened her mouth, but didn't have a response to that. She shut her mouth and scowled instead, sitting down in the chair.
"Head back, please," Blake said, draping a smock around Kate's neck. Kate tilted her head back, bearing her throat to him. Blake took out a spraying bottle, and began wetting her hair.
Geez, all these split ends… Kate's hair wasn't really hair so much as a clump of knots and tangles that was nearly impossible to work with.
"Your hair is a mess," Blake replied.
"Well, excuse me," Kate scowled up at him.
"Close your eyes please," Blake said, not wanting to get flecks of hair or soap in her eyes. "In the meantime, can you do something for me?"
"Pretty sure I'm the customer here," Kate said. "Aren't you the one supposed to be doing something for me?"
"Doesn't work that way," Blake replied. "It's easy. I'd just like you to tell me a story."
Kate's eyes opened, and she looked up at him in confusion.
"A story?"
"About Kate Nomia," Blake replied. "I want you to tell me your story. And in exchange, after hearing what you have to tell me, I'll be happy to pick out a hairstyle that fits you perfectly."
"The perfect hairstyle, huh?" Kate laughed. "That sounds like it would be something nice to see."
She closed her eyes and let Blake get to work, feeling his fingers massaging her scalp, and the thin teeth of a comb gently untangling her hair.
"Fine, then I'll tell you a story," Kate said. "Although I think it's a story you may have heard already. At least bits and pieces."
Kate recalled back to her old days, back when she lived in an old house with her parents, where her story first began.
We'll be exploring some more of Kate's backstory next chapter as her makeover continues! Will Blake help turn that mess of hair into something actually workable? It seems that she's becoming quite the beauty by the time the day is done! …Or at least less unappealing.