How will Sango react to the revelation that Kate has confessed to? Will she support Blake? Or will she see the problem with this whole thing, and tattle on him like a narc?

We've got a decent amount of votes in the Pokemon Academy Best Girl Semi-Finals! The current lead runners in the polls may surprise you! The shakeup really makes me realize how a girl may be in many people's top 5, but not necessarily in their top 3. So I'm certainly feeling more than a little surprised. But there have only been a few votes so far, I'm sure that more people want to cast their votes! If you want your best girls to make it to the final round and beyond, then make sure to get your votes in! You have 3 votes, make them count!

Semi-Finalists: Cynthia, Ayame, Sango, Kate, Marion, Alcea

Aquahaze675: Secrets have a way of coming up when you least expect them to.

Tambry96bj: Some people just have more ethics and morals than others.

ConfusedCradily: She's pretty decent. Still, probably should have stood up to him in the first place rather than keep the whole "aiding and abetting terrorism" thing quiet.

DDDD1416: Are you sure?

EESDESESESRDT6: Ayame is pretty popular, so she's the one you ship with Blake? Can I ask why? Not questioning, just curious.

Thunder Fire: No he does not. As for what he wants for this meeting, well, we'll have to find out, now won't we?

DJ Dib Dab: Welcome back, those are all good suggestions, we'll have to see for ourselves how it opens!

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 269

Sango couldn't believe what she was hearing. It couldn't be true, it just couldn't be! Blake would never do something like that, he just wouldn't! He was a good person, he would never do something like this. He would talk to the professor, who would call in the Pokemon Rangers to capture the Children of the Oracles… or at the very least, scare them off! But… not… not this.

She turned to him, desperate for him to deny everything. She didn't know what motivation Kate would even have to lie to her about this, but she was desperate to believe that Blake wouldn't really do something so selfish and stupid.

But that look on his face said it all. The shame and guilt in his expression, the way he tilted his head down to avert his eyes, unable to look at her, it struck her like a slap in the face. She shook her head in numb shock. She didn't want to believe it, but there it was.

"Blake… how could you?" She hissed, tears of betrayal stinging her eyes as stormed towards him. "How could you?!"

"You don't understand," Blake replied.

"Then tell me!" Sango pleaded with him. She grabbed him by the collar and shook him, desperate for him to explain it to her, say some magic combination of words that would make all of it make sense in her head. But Blake wasn't so kind.

"It's none of your business."

Sango's mouth dropped open in shock and she released him, stumbling back in a daze. Fine. If he didn't want to tell her, then he didn't have to. But there was no way she was just going to let this go without her doing something about it.

"I'm not going to let you have your little rendezvous with Doctor Karzat," Sango declared, taking her phone out of her pocket and looking at him pointedly. "I'm going to call the rangers and let them know everything that happened.

A note of confusion crossed Blake's face.

"Sango, that's not what I-"

Sango paused, glancing at him.

"I'm listening."

Blake opened his mouth, but then he had seconds thoughts, and shut it.

"…That's what I thought," Sango said, her voice betraying how hurt she was that Blake hadn't come to her with this. She understood why, of course. It wasn't her business, it was something private to him. And he would, of course, have known that if he had told her, she would have done the responsible thing and reported it. But knowing "why" he did it didn't make it hurt any less. He should have known what the right thing to do was. And even if there was something he wasn't telling her, it's not like it would be something that would justify his actions.

Sango turned her attention back to her phone. She dialed a number she'd felt too ashamed to use before.

"Hello? Turffield Ranger Base, Top Ranger Petal Green. If you're using my private line, this is must be important. Report!"

Petal's familiar voice rang in her ear.

"Ranger Green, it's me, S-Sango Akana, from the Pokemon Academy," Sango said, swallowing. She wasn't sure if the ranger would still want to talk with her.

The fact that Petal wasn't responding didn't make her feel more confident about it.

"What do you want?" Petal growled.

"Sorry, sorry… about, um… it's important!" Sango exclaimed. "It's about the Children of the Oracles!"

"What do you mean?" Petal asked, suddenly all business.

"Listen. Right now, I'm back in the Galar Region, with some other students," Sango explained. "Our professor took us to the mural on Stow-on-Side. And, well…"

Sango reported the situation to her. She abridged it for Blake and Kate's sake, though. She just mentioned that one of her classmates had been told about a meeting that would come tomorrow night, at the mural, and that was all.

"…I see," Petal said quietly.

"So, listen! You… you need to get rangers here, as fast as possible!" Sango insisted. "Someone has to catch them, or stop them, or… I don't know!"

"Sango," Petal snapped, Sango flinching at her harsh words.

"Y-yeah, what?" Sango asked.

"We're already on it," she replied.

"…" Sango paused for a moment to take that in.

"Wait, what?"

"Another student contacted our ranger base a few nights ago," Petal replied. "He told us that the Children of the Oracles were planning to attack the Stow-on-Side mural tomorrow night. But if we went there sirens blaring, they might escape. So we have a sting operation set in place to lure them in, and then capture the lot of them when they try to get away."

Sango blinked.

"Wait, but the professor said-"

"We kept it from him, from all of the archaeologists there," Petal muttered, clearly exasperated that the truth had gotten out. "We don't know if anyone there could be a mole. Professor Reinhart himself is particularly suspicious. So we told Blake not to do anything stupid, and keep it to himself. How the hell did you find out, huh?!"

"Uh… never mind. That's good! So tomorrow night, bye!" Sango quickly hung up before Petal could get a word in. She stood on the balcony, overlooking the town below, covered in a cloud of awkward silence.

"I wonder if it would be a painless death if I threw myself onto the rocks from here," Sango mused.

"Sango…"

"What the heck did I just do?!" Sango protested, clutching her bright red face in embarrassment. "I accused you of all sorts of stuff without even knowing anything!"

"Um, yeah, I mean… it's my fault for not coming clean, but…" Blake averted his eyes. Kate looked like she wanted to throw up again. All three of them felt incredibly awkward and uncomfortable about everything that had just happened.

"So you weren't going to just let the Children of the Oracles waltz in and take the Oracle," Kate clarified, looking at Blake.

"Of course not," Blake said, looking a little hurt that she thought that.

"Bastard!" Kate exclaimed, swatting him on the arm. She swatted him again for good measure. "Why didn't you tell me? Why did you let me struggle with this for the last two days? I've been a complete wreck thinking I was helping you aid terrorism you bastard, how could you?!"

"Sorry, I thought you were busy with other stuff, I had no idea that you were tearing yourself up over this," Blake said.

"I'm sorry too," Sango said, walking over to Blake and Kate and hanging her head sheepishly. She gave Blake an expression filled with guilt and remorse. I might have…"

"Not an overreaction, don't worry," Blake sighed. "I didn't want to tell you guys anything about it… and I didn't want to worry you, Sango."

"You could have just told me you had already spoken with Petal," Sango said, scowling at him. "Instead of letting me make a complete and total ass of myself."

"…" Blake had a sheepish look on his face. "…I kind of wanted to see what would happen when you realized."

Irritated, it was Sango's turn to swat him.

Kate felt all the energy in her body drain out, now that she knew that all of this had been one big misunderstanding. Blake wasn't some idiot who would put his own self-interest ahead of the safety of others, he wouldn't just let those terrorists get away just so he could-

"Wait."

That didn't explain the worry in his eyes, and the pain she'd seen on his face when it looked like she was going to out him to the professor. But if the rangers were already aware of what was happening, then why wouldn't he want to…?

"You're still planning to go, aren't you?" Kate realized.

"…Go-?" Sango blinked for a moment in confusion, before the realization dawned on her face. "No way, absolutely not!"

"You're gonna have your little meeting, even though the rangers are going to come," Kate clarified. Blake's face lost the lighthearted softness it possessed moments before, hardening into a scowl again at Kate's accusation.

"…So what?" He asked.

"You can't, are you insane? Blake, these are terrorists, you can't just go have a meeting with them!" Sango protested, Silver nodding in agreement.

"Who is this Anja Karzat person, and why do you need to see her so badly?" Kate demanded. "You can't just spring this on us and expect us to be all 'okay, sure, Blake, go and have your little playdate with the terrorists. Hope you don't get taken hostage when the rangers come in and get yourself killed!' Listen, I was wrong to keep this for so long. I did it because you asked me to, and I wanted to help, but… what you're asking, it's going to… I don't know… I don't want to see you do something this dangerous, and I know Sango doesn't, either."

"Look, it's not like… that isn't…" Blake sputtered, his face twisted in confusion. They kept talking about… whatever. It was more convenient if they thought that was the reason. He didn't want to talk about why he was actually going.

"It doesn't matter," Sango interrupted, glaring at him. "Blake… please don't go."

"Sango…"

"I know that I was wrong to accuse you and everything, I know that you aren't going to be, I don't know, doing something bad, or helping them, but if you go you could get hurt." Sango could feel herself tearing up. "So please, just… don't? I don't know why you're going, and if you don't want to tell me, then I swear I won't pry, but please… I just want to help. And I can't help you if you go off and… I don't know what's going to happen, but-"

"Kate!"

Sango's protests were cut off by the voice of Professor Reinhart, having reached the platform where the rest area was located. Following behind him was a nurse.

"Oh, right," Kate said, sheepishly remembering her little bout of nausea. The nurse knelt down next to her, and placed a hand over her forehead. "Look, I'm not… I'm better, I swear, it was just, I don't know, a bit of… exhaustion."

"It could be heatstroke," the nurse corrected her. "We'll help get you down. We don't want you to exert yourself, young lady."

"Thank you for keeping an eye on her," Professor Reinhart said, glancing at Blake and Sango.

"Yeah, no problem," Blake said, nodding. Sango glanced at him.

"Then let's head back down," the professor said, walking towards the staircase heading down the mountainside.

"We aren't done talking about this," Sango whispered. "I'll keep quiet for now, but you and I are having a conversation about this, do I make myself clear?"

Her face was hard, and her eyes were insistent. It was one of the very few times that Blake felt that arguing with her would be pointless. So he shut his mouth and nodded his head in agreement. Seeing his compliance, Sango nodded back. She and Silver followed the professor down the mountain, Blake trailing after the two of them. At the same time, Kate was assisted down the staircase with the help of the nurse who had taken a look at her condition, and one of the other nurses that had accompanied them.

Blake and Sango went into the Group 3 tent, to hold a discussion on what was going to happen. Or more specifically, what was NOT going to happen, which was Blake going to see the Children of the Oracles at the mural the following night.

In the meantime, after seeing to it that Kate was getting treated in the first-aid tent, Professor Reinhart went to go see Doctor Skye and Professor Sonia. Asking around, he found out that they were both in Elizabeth's tent, working on translations.

"So, how's it going?" Professor Reinhart asked, peeking in on the two of them.

"I hate this," Sonia said glumly, shaking her head. "How on earth can you find this stuff fun, Doctor Skye?"

"Oh, it's great!" Elizabeth gushed, not even looking up from her books and papers. "I just love it! Of course, it's usually easier than this… This is really quite a nightmare…"

"Want a break?" The professor suggested, the two women glancing up at him for the first time. Sonia's eyes pleaded "yes" while Elizabeth was a little more ambivalent on the topic. He took that as a good enough sign to move forward, and reached into his pocket.

"Doctor Skye, can you take a look at this, please?" Professor Reinhart requested her help, withdrawing the midnight-colored Oracle from his pocket. Elizabeth's eyes widened.

"Is that what I think it is?" Elizabeth asked, glancing at the black stone in his hand, and then back up at him.

"What do you think it is?" The professor asked, raising his eyebrow.

"I have no idea what it is," Sonia chipped in. "What, did you find it in the ruins? Is it a Wishing Piece or a Wishing Star?"

"It's not," the professor said, shaking his head. "It's a relic from another place entirely. But I think that Doctor Skye might have somewhat of an…"

"Affinity?" Elizabeth murmured, staring at the dark stone.

"…Basically," Professor Reinhart said, nodding. "I think it has a connection to those ruins, particularly that door that annoyingly remains unopened."

"I see…" Elizabeth said, nodding. She gestured to the stone. "May I?"

Professor Reinhart set the stone on the table, and Elizabeth picked it up. A dark light erupted from the stone, spreading out across her body, covering her in a veil of midnight. Sonia fell out of her chair in shock.

"Whoa, holy… what the hell is this?!" Elizabeth said, less in terror and more in a rush of excitement. What a rush, it was like her harmonia was singing in her ears, and her whole body was listening. The stone was calling out to her. She closed her eyes and focused on it, the same as when she was using her harmonia on one of her pokemon. She directed the darkness surrounding her into the stone, the light slowly slipping away from her. The stone hummed with an eerie, unnatural black glow, but beyond that everything had returned to normal.

"What… what was that?" Sonia demanded, standing up, clearly shaken from what she had just seen. Elizabeth glanced back at her.

"It's… complicated," she replied, she and Professor Reinhart sharing a look. She wasn't sure how he knew about her… abilities, but it was clear that he did. "Um, Professor Sonia, do you mind if the two of us have a conversation in private, please?"

Elizabeth smiled sweetly at her colleague. Sonia glanced at the other professor and swallowed, nodding obediently, quickly scurrying out of the tent.

"So what's that stone then?" Elizabeth asked, turning from the swinging tent flap to look at Professor Reinhart.

"It's called an Oracle," the professor replied. "Strange rocks that people with abilities like yours-"

"Harmonia," Elizabeth clarified.

"…Yes, people with harmonia find themselves drawn to them. They have a strange sort of effect, as you saw."

"The lightshow, yeah, kind of noticed that one," Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "So what exactly are you talking about here? What's the connection with the ruins?"

"I think that harmonia and the Oracles have something to do with it," Professor Reinhart explained. "I think that behind that door… there might be another Oracle."

"I see… and that's an important thing?" Elizabeth asked, still not putting the full picture together about how important these Oracles were. To her, they seemed more like just some special kind of rock, like evolution stones.

"There are a group of people, the Children of the Oracles, that are trying to find them," Professor Reinhart explained. "We have reason to believe that they may be trying to get into the ruins, behind the mural. I called the rangers, but they won't be here for a few more days."

"So what you're saying is that we need to get through that door as fast as we possibly can," Elizabeth scowled. "Great, put more pressure on me, why don't you…"

Elizabeth sighed. She got up and walked over to her bag, withdrawing a pokeball.

"Well, I have one trick that could help," she replied. Her head was already starting to hurt just thinking about it. "I didn't want to try before, but if this really is an emergency, we need to get in that door as fast as we possibly can."

She pressed the button on the pokeball, and from within it, a Xatu emerged.

"Nana, let's go," Elizabeth said, focusing her harmonia into the Xatu, linking with her. The Xatu's eyes began glowing with a light blue energy, her wings spreading open as the psychic power began spreading across her body. Elizabeth also started feeling a glow spread across her.

"Psychic-aided brainpower eh?" Professor Reinhart murmured, raising an eyebrow. "Well, I don't know exactly how this will help, but good luck, okay?"

"Right," Elizabeth said, one of the books floating up off of the table as Nana focused her psychic powers towards it. The professor nodded to her, and stepped out of the tent to leave her to her harmonia-boosted translations.

So, will Elizabeth manage to complete her translations, and will they manage to get through the door? Will Blake explain things to Sango, and will Sango understand? Will Blake go to the meeting, or will Sango convince him that whatever he might discover isn't worth it? We're heading towards a big climax, and we'll see where the dust settles!