After the serious chapter last time, here's a much more light-hearted, casual chapter about some more of our supporting cast getting their time to shine! Remember to vote!

The Finals have begun! The Pokemon Academy Best Girl Finals is heating up, I can't wait to see how it goes. The race is really close, and it's still anyone's game, showing just how great these girls really are. Any one of them deserves the title of Pokemon Academy Best Girl, but only one of them will be able to win! If you haven't voted for your best girl yet, better get those votes in quick! This contest is gonna be a close one it looks like, a single vote makes all the difference! It's almost done! Only 10 days remaining! Who will be the Pokemon Academy Best Girl?

Finalists: Sango, Ayame, Marion

Hellraiserphoenix: They're too strong to break up over something like this.

Aurastar Warrior: There is a few things missing from the template, so when you get to a computer, feel free to do a more in-depth version!

Thunder Fire: Yeah, Blake and Ayame are very close, and they support each other well. Hopefully, they can keep that bond as they go forward together. But no one knows what the future will hold.

Aquahaze675: They are strong, it seems unlikely that they would break up so easily.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 317

"Roden, flamethrower!" Julia shouted.

"Hound!" Roden opened his mouth, and a blast of scarlet flames erupted from deep within his belly, engulfing Abby in a torrent of fire.

"Abby!" Nick shouted from across the battlefield, his Absol emerging from the fire with bad burns.

"Ab… sol…" Abby panted, struggling to remain standing. She let out a weak gasp and fell to the ground, unconscious.

"That's it, then," Julia said, sighing in relief. She glanced at her partner. Reiner's pokemon had already fainted as well, as had Will's. With Nick's last pokemon defeated and his partner's pokemon already out of the battle, Julia and Reiner had won the match.

"Hound…" Roden sighed, feeling the fatigue of a long battle start to take its toll on him.

"That was a close one," Julia sighed, feeling nearly as exhausted as her pokemon. She sat down on arena floor to stretch her legs, recalling Roden for a long, well-earned rest.

"That was a great match," Reiner said, walking across the battlefield to Will and Nick. "You guys worked together really well. Unfortunately, me and Julia don't have the best teamwork. That's something we'll have to work on."

"You two put a lot of effort on taking me down," Will said. "I think you work together better than you might think."

"Against a mutual enemy, maybe," Reiner dryly replied.

"Today was really exhausting," Nick said, glancing up at the setting sun. The days were getting shorter and shorter. It was barely 4 and it was almost night. "We got into a lot of battles. How did you guys do overall today?"

"Perfectly," Julia boasted, standing up. "5 matches today, 5 wins now!"

"Wow, that is impressive," Will said. "This was our sixth match today, and we've won 4. So we have two losses."

"For the first day, that's pretty good," Julia said.

"Cynthia and her partner are tough," Nick sighed. "That girl, Caelia? The one with the fire types? She's a strong trainer."

"We almost managed to win, but it just wasn't enough," Will sighed.

"These battles are getting tougher and tougher, too," Nick said. "I think my pokemon are starting to run out of energy. We barely won the last two battles, and then were lost this one hard. I think my whole team is starting to get exhausted."

"Well, what did you expect?" Callie snapped, storming up to them. "You keep using the same pokemon over and over, Nick! I know you like your pokemon, but this many battles in the row just with the pokemon center's emergency healing, your pokemon are completely pooped! They're low on energy! No more battles today, okay? You need to let your pokemon get some rest."

"You used the same pokemon?" Reiner asked, stunned.

"Well, yeah, I only have 4," Nick replied. "I swap out my third slot depending on who it is, but I don't exactly have a lot of options, you know."

"So that explains it," Julia sighed.

"Explains what?" Nick asked, confused.

"Your pokemon's performance," Julia replied.

"Their… performance? What are you talking about?"

"It was pathetic!" Julia exclaimed, her harsh tone of voice startling Nick. "Your pokemon are in terrible shape, and who can blame them? You've been pushing them way too hard today! Even I didn't use Roden in EVERY battle!"

"That's because one of our opponents was a team that used exclusively water pokemon," Reiner reminded her. Julia ignored him.

"Reiner's exhausted. But I didn't have to rely on any one of my pokemon too much," Julia said, rubbing her temples. "But you… I think you might be pressing your pokemon too much, Nick. By our battle, it was clear that even though their wounds were healed, they didn't have the energy to put up much of a fight. This tournament… it's a gauntlet, you know. To get to the top, we have to fight multiple trainers in succession. Only relying on one team of pokemon won't get you very far."

Nick didn't really have a lot to say to that.

Truthfully, I noticed that too. Will glanced at Nick, but didn't say what he was thinking. I didn't want to say anything to Nick, but it looked like his pokemon were starting to run out of steam… this is a problem. We'll have to give his pokemon more time to rest between battles…

"You're right," Nick admitted, "but even so, my pokemon aren't that…"

Nick sighed.

"I don't want to push them too hard… but I don't have enough pokemon to switch them around so they all get decent rest. I guess my best scenario is that we have to do less battles per day. But if we do that, then our ratio…"

This was complicated. Nick wasn't sure what they should do in this case.

"…Why not just catch a new pokemon?" Callie asked.

Nick blinked.

"Huh?"

"Catch a new one, right?" Callie repeated. "You used my pokemon in the Fall Festival Tournament, and I assumed that you were eventually going to catch some more pokemon, but you haven't yet. If you want to give your pokemon some time to rest, wouldn't catching some new ones be the best idea?"

"Yeah, that's a great idea," Julia agreed. "I just got a sixth pokemon a while back, shouldn't you catch a few more?"

"I have six pokemon now, too," Reiner said. "I got a new one in Galar."

"I've had six pokemon since the beginning," Will added.

"Exactly!" Callie nodded. "Nick, you've had the same four pokemon since you started school! Even if you don't want to get a full party, at least one more couldn't hurt, right?"

"W-well, I guess," Nick said, though from the apprehension on his face, everyone could tell that he wasn't fully convinced. "It's just… the pokemon I have with me… we've been together for a long time, and I don't know if I'm ready to just add another pokemon to my team so easily, is all, I mean… isn't this something that takes a lot of thought?"

Your pokemon mean that much to you and you don't give them nicknames? Julia resisted the urge to shout.

"I don't think you need to think that seriously about it," Callie said, reaching up and placing a hand on Nick's shoulder. "Pokemon are friends, aren't they? And in my opinion, you can't have too many friends. So what's wrong with going out and making some brand-new friends? Even if they don't start out precious or special, the more you get to know of them, the more important they'll become to you. So don't you think it's worth trying, at least? And that way, you'll also be able lighten the load on your other pokemon, don't you agree?"

"Yeah, that makes sense," Nick agreed, nodding. He hadn't seriously considered catching a new pokemon until now… but Callie was right. Maybe it wasn't that big of a deal…

Nick glanced at Will.

If I want to do better as a partner, then I should catch another strong pokemon, Nick realized. "Yeah, Callie, you're right. I'll give it a shot! I'll catch another pokemon!"

"Excellent!" Callie cheered, her face bright. "Then let's go catch you a strong fighting pokemon to really bolster your team up!"

"Yeah, we- wait, what?" Nick raised his eyebrow. He could have sworn she just said…

"How sly, Callie," Julia smirked.

"What?!" Callie said. "You weren't seriously considering catching a pokemon that isn't a fighting type, were you?!"

"Uh, I mean, wouldn't I want to catch the right pokemon for me?" Nick asked, still confused. "If I find a pokemon I like, that pokemon may not be a fighting type."

Callie clutched her heart and stumbled over, bracing her hands on the ground as she fell to her knees in despair.

"What pain… saying something like that…"

"Come on!" Julia exclaimed, slapping her forehead in frustration. "It's okay if your boyfriend catches a pokemon that isn't a fighting type, right?"

"Callie, you know that I only have one fighting type pokemon, right?" Nick asked.

"But you need to catch more," Callie insisted, leaping to her feet. Her face was strangely desperate about this. "If you don't, then my dream…"

"Dream?" Nick asked, stunned by the sincerity in Callie's voice.

"My dream of us become a Crush Couple and travel the world participating in Mixed Pokemon Martial Arts Tournaments…!" Callie sobbed.

"…Yeah that was a hopeless dream from the beginning," Nick replied. He didn't like seeing Callie upset like this, but he also didn't want to give her any sort of false hope.

"Callie…"

Callie turned her head to see Reiner, having spoken up for the first time.

"What do you want? This is a private boyfriend-girlfriend conversation, thank you," Callie replied.

Reiner sighed, shaking his head.

"Look, see… I know you might want something from Nick, Callie, but you are his girlfriend, right?" Reiner asked.

"Yeah, obviously, that's why-"

"Then should you really be trying to sculpt him into being a fighting type specialist?" Reiner asked. "I know that I wouldn't want Nikita trying to change herself in order to suit my desires, not if it wasn't something that she wanted, you know?"

"That's…" Callie flinched. She hadn't meant to force anything on Nick, of course. "Sorry, I didn't think I was… I just had a dream, that's all."

She hung her head in shame and glanced up at her boyfriend.

"I guess I just got a little too comfortable, y'know? Sorry, Nick."

"Yes, you can't force your opinions on others," Julia agreed. "You have to accept people for who they are, not who you want to see them as."

Everyone turned to look at her with rather… "perplexing" expressions.

"…What? What did I say?" Julia asked, confused as to why everyone seemed rather irritated by her statement.

Let's not hear that coming from the girl who doesn't have any idea how her friend feels about her, everyone in the know collectively agreed. The perpetually-clueless Julia had no idea about Kitty's feelings for her, but everyone (except Will, who wasn't really in their little friend group) was completely aware of it.

"I feel like you guys are thinking something really rude right now," Julia scowled.

"Enough from you," Callie dismissively said. She turned back to Nick. "Nick… sorry, I might have been a little pushy."

"You're always a little pushy," Reiner reminded her. "Your entire relationship was established on your pushiness."

"NO!" Callie exclaimed. "It was because Nick was nice to me! That's why I fell for him, and that's how it started!"

"And then you kidnapped him," Julia added.

"Well, that was, er…" Callie stammered, glancing sheepishly at Nick.

Will watched Reiner and Julia cut Callie down in perfect synchronicity.

Mutual enemies indeed, Will noted, smirking. Maybe they weren't as bad a team as they thought they were.

"Whatever! Fine!" Callie wailed. Her short childish figure, about to burst into tears, sent a wave of guilt through Reiner and Julia as they saw her trembling. Callie continued to apologize, gasping, "I'm sorry, Nick, I just-"

"It's fine," Nick assured her, patting her on the back.

"Really?" She asked, turning back to him.

"It's fine, Callie, really," Nick smiled. "I don't mind your pushiness."

"Then the Crush Couple dream-"

"No, still a strict pass on that one," Nick replied. Callie hung her head. "Still, I mean… it's not like I'm against catching another fighting type or anything, Callie, it's just… well, I don't have any specific restrictions or anything, you know?"

"So he yields to pushiness," Julia commented.

"Truly a perfect match," Reiner agreed.

"Shut up!" Callie and Nick exclaimed, their faces turning bright red in embarrassment.

"So what's the plan, then?" Will asked, interrupting the lovey-dovey atmosphere with his to-the-point bluntness.

"Eh? What do you mean?" Callie asked, looking back at him.

"Well, it's like this," Will said, checking his phone. "We still have a lot of free time today, you know? And Nick's pokemon are clearly not in any shape to keep fighting, either. So why not go get your pokemon a nice, long rest at the pokemon center, and while we're waiting we can go out and you can catch a new pokemon."

Callie and Nick looked at each other.

"Yeah, that's a great idea," Callie said, nodding. "Let's do it! Sound good, Nick?"

"Yeah, let's go," Nick said, getting pumped up to catch a new pokemon, even though he previously hadn't put all that much thought into doing so. "We can get my team healed up. You're coming too, Will?"

"Sure, might as well," Will shrugged. "It's not like I'm doing anything else today. Plus, it'll be a good idea to see this new pokemon of yours in action when you catch it, right? That way we can figure out what role it can play on our team."

Nick agreed that made sense. The three of them headed off to the closest pokemon center on campus to heal up Nick and Will's teams.

…Followed by the conspicuous duo of Reiner and Julia.

"…Why are you guys following us?" Callie asked suspiciously, glancing over her shoulder. "Don't tell me you two are tagging along?"

"We're just headed to the pokemon center," Reiner scoffed. "Our teams got beaten up pretty badly too, you know."

"I'm actually tagging along," Julia informed her.

"What?! Why?!"

"You two are entertaining," Julia explained. Plus…

Julia glanced at Will.

There was something off about him. She wasn't quite certain what it was. She didn't actually know anything about him, after all. Reiner seemed to like him decently enough, and Nick clearly trusted him enough to agree to be his partner, even over offers from Reiner and Julia both. She was probably just being paranoid…

But he was hanging out with Misato Daisan, Julia remembered well. She hadn't been on their team in the Escape Room, but it was undeniably certain that he and that strange girl were involved with one another somehow. From the rumors she'd heard, it wasn't the first time, either. They were… were they together? That would make things rather convenient. She was more worried about whether or not it could be something else entirely.

I'm almost positive he's involved with the Phantom, Julia's eyes narrowed. She knew that Misato Daisan was the lieutenant of the Phantom. And she doubted it was any sort of coincidence that Will was spending time around her. Which meant he was likely involved in their organization in some capacity or another.

The Phantom… I've heard that he's trying to gather students with harmonia under his wing, Julia remembered. And that means that he's going to be targeting Kitty! If Will is trying to get to Kitty by being Nick's partner, I absolutely refuse to let something like that happen. Even if I am just being paranoid, that's better than being caught off guard.

"Might as well tag along, then," Reiner shrugged. "After all, we've pretty much finished up with our battles for the day. I need to rest my team, and Julia needs the same. So we might as well pitch in and help you catch a new pokemon or two, don't you think, Nick?"

"Yeah, I'm fine with it," Nick agreed.

"But Nick!" Callie protested. "Our lovey-dovey pokemon capture date won't be the same with onlookers! Don't you want a romantic night excursion?!"

"Romantic?" Nick asked, surprised. "Uh, it's just capturing pokemon, you know…"

"…Did you just forget I was here or something?" Will added. "I don't get why you thought this was going to be some sort of date night, but I'm still here, too."

"…Yeah but you never talk, so you're basically just like scenery," Callie commented.

"Hey!" Will snapped. Eve he didn't want to be told something like that.

"Man, imagine being known as just a quiet dude," Reiner said, shaking her head.

"It must be rough to have people only see you as some stoic, cool guy, and not see you for who you are," Julia agreed.

"You antisocial jerks are the last two people I want to hear that from!" Will exclaimed. "All you guys do is act cool and quiet!"

"Yes, but I'm what's known as a cool beauty, so-" Julia smugly commented, before Reiner interrupted her with an observation of his own.

"You've been so overprotective of Kitty recently, I don't know if anyone really thinks of you that way anymore," Reiner informed her. "I thought you were actually pretty open and caring nowadays, practically motherly."

"Shut up! Says the guy who used to be an edgy loner until he got a girlfriend, and now what? Now you're just like Blake but with less interesting stuff going on about him!" An injured Julia fired back at him. "Your personality has flip-flopped so often I don't think any of the readers actually know what's up with you anymore!"

"I'm not some archetype!" Reiner protested. "I'm just a normal dude! You can't blame me for not being edgy like I used to be! Nikita helped me mellow out!"

"That's just a fancy way of saying that you lost the details of your character that made you interesting! By this point, your girlfriend is a way more interesting character than you are, so what are you even doing anymore?"

"Like you're one to talk! Compared to Kitty, your role in the plot is about as important as a background character!"

"Kitty?! What does she have to do with any of this?! We're two completely different people, why would you compare me to her?"

"Then don't compare me to Nikita!"

"It's different with you two, because you're dating!"

"You canNOT be this clueless!" Reiner exclaimed.

Will silently watched the two of them bicker, signaling for Nick and Callie to quietly make their way to the pokemon center.

I guess I should take back what I said about those two making a good team.

Reiner and Julia only bicker because they're friends. Or they hate each other. Or some combination of both. They'd make a cute couple, except for the everything about them.