Not a lot happens in this chapter, but it's still important to see the characters getting along like normal. Casual interactions are good, too. On another note! This is now my story with the most reviews, that's a good thing!

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 7 days remaining! Who will be the Pokemon Academy Best Girl?

Finalists: Sango, Ayame, Marion

KedharS: We'll see.

Aurastar Warrior: Done.

Badoobadoop: Stuff like this is difficult. Having a significant other comes with good things and bad things.

Thunder Fire: Why, does Poliwhirl have a particular evolution or something?

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 320

"What do I do now?" Nick exclaimed, struggling with the fishing pole and the thrashing Poliwhirl on the other end.

"Well, you reeled it in, now you gotta hoist him onto the pier, easy-peasy," Marion chirped, giving him a thumbs' up. "Go for it, Nick!"

"Easy for you to say," Nick sputtered through the shots of water washing over his face as he tried to haul the pokemon in.

"Fair enough, he seems like a rather feisty one," Marion giggled, scratching her hair sheepishly.

"Come on, Nick! Let's do it together!" Callie said, wrapping her hands around his. "Pull hard!"

Callie and Nick pulled back as hard as they could, and managed to drag the Poliwhirl onto the pier. With his feet on stable ground, the Poliwhirl was able to reach up and yank the hook out of his mouth, freeing himself. But rather than jump back into the water, he narrowed his eyes and glared at the two humans who were sitting in front of him.

"So, uh… what do we do now?" Callie asked.

"Catch him, I guess?" Marion answered with a shrug. She reached into her pocket and tossed a dive ball to Nick. "Usually, when a pokemon gets off the line, they try to get back into the water as fast as possible! But it seems like this Poliwhirl here isn't all that happy about being pulled out of the water, lol, so he's looking for a fight! Give it to 'im good you guys!"

Marion gave Nick another thumbs' up.

"I don't even have any pokemon!" Nick protested.

"Use mine," Callie said, handing Nick a pokeball. Nick took it from her and sent out Callie's Riolu, Rio.

"Rio!" Rio cheered, glancing back at Nick and smiling. She ran towards the Poliwhirl and raised her hand, preparing a force palm.

"Poli!" Poliwhirl snarled, opening his tiny mouth. A barrage of shimmering bubbles shot out of the center of his chest, flying through the air and surrounding the approaching Riolu, pinning Rio down in a cloud that threatened to explode around her if she got too close.

"Rio, dodge with quick attack!" Callie shouted.

"Ri!" Rio nodded, lowering her head and shooting forward, her enhanced speed allowing her to maneuver through the torrent of bubbles.

"Callie, I thought I was catching this pokemon?" Nick asked, turning to his girlfriend.

"S-sorry," Callie said sheepishly, looking down. "I sort of got a little bit carried away and got caught up in the atmosphere, you know?"

Rio jumped up and kicked the Poliwhirl in the face, knocking him back. The Poliwhirl narrowed his eyes into a glare, and spat another blast of water at the Riolu, forcing Rio to jump back. Then, with speed belying his bulky figure, the Poliwhirl ran forward and raised his gloved hands, unleashing a barrage of slaps across the fighting pokemon's face.

"Rio!" Nick and Callie both cried out as Rio rolled backwards, quickly righting herself, her eyes fierce. She snarled at the Poliwhirl.

"Use counter!" Nick ordered, Rio swinging her fist up and catching the Poliwhirl in the stomach with an uppercut, knocking him off-balance. As the water pokemon stumbled closer to the edge of the pier, Rio pursued him.

"Force palm!" Callie added, Rio lunged forward and raised her hand, slapping her palm against the Poliwhirl's chest, releasing a shockwave of power through the pokemon, paralyzing him. The pokemon let out a gasp, frozen in place.

"Callie, you did it again," Nick reminded her.

"Sorry, sorry, I keep forgetting," Callie apologized, scratching her blonde hair. "Anyway, now that Poliwhirl is all nice and weakened, go for it, Nick!"

"Right," Nick agreed, lifting up the dive ball and throwing it at the frog pokemon. The ball hit the Poliwhirl in the stomach and popped open, engulfing the water pokemon in a blue light and sucking him inside. The ball snapped shut and landed on the pier, rocking along the wooden logs before coming to a rest.

"Awesome! We did it!" Callie cheered. "You caught a new pokemon, Nick! Way to go!"

Callie held up her small hands and Nick did the same, Callie jumping up to give him a double high-five in congratulations.

"Thanks for the help, Rio," Nick said, turning to the Riolu.

"Riolu," Rio said, turning her head away with a satisfied look on her face, crossing her small arms in front of her chest and standing a little taller with pride. Callie thanked her as well, and called her back to her pokeball so she could rest up.

"That was totes awesome!" Marion cheered, applauding the two. "You guys caught a Poliwhirl!"

"Well, I caught it, but-"

"Ah, details, details," Marion dismissed it with a wave of her hand, not really interested in specifics like that. "Anyway, what's important is that you've got a brand new fishy friend to take care of! Which means you're gonna need all sorts of stuff to look after him! Come on you two, I've got everything you need back at the aquarium!"

Marion grabbed Nick's wrist with one hand and Callie's wrist with the other, dragging the couple along with her as she hummed to herself, walking down the pier.

Callie and Nick glanced at each other.

"So she helps me catch a water pokemon and then she sells me all the stuff I need to take care of it?" Nick asked.

"Pretty good racket she's got going here," Callie agreed.

If Marion was bothered by the insinuations that the two were making, it didn't seem to show on her face. She was as cheerful as always as she led the two into the aquarium to get Nick fixed up with everything he'd need.

"So, Marion, can you explain something to me?" Callie asked, holding a large bag of water-specific pokemon food in her arms that was nearly as large as she was, staring at Marion with an irritated look on her face.

"Hmm?" Marion asked. She was seated at a table drinking some tea.

"Why do Nick and I have to carry this stuff while you and the Poliwhirl get to just sit around and relax, huh?!" Callie demanded, the bag dropping from her hands with a thump as she pointed an accusatory finger at Marion.

"Poli," the rather chill Poliwhirl replied, taking another sip of tea. He was sitting down at the table beside Marion, and all traces of irritation and anger had drained from his eyes. He was now almost pensive as he relaxed.

"We're getting him acclimated to life on land, obviously," Marion explained, taking a sip of tea as well. "Don't want to get him too worked up, now do we?"

"Poli," Poliwhirl agreed, shaking his head and shrugging.

"Callie, it's fine," Nick said. He was carrying a bag filled with various grooming tools necessary for taking care of the Poliwhirl's slick skin, and lugging around a humidifier to keep the water pokemon hydrated and stop his skin from drying out.

"I want tea!" Callie protested.

"This is special tea for soothing water type pokemon," Marion explained, taking a long sip along with Poliwhirl.

"Poli."

"You're drinking it!"

"And?"

Callie fumed, hoisting the bag back up, and stormed out down the hallway, her back lit by the dim glow of the fish tanks. Nick watched her go and sighed, turning back to Marion.

"Thanks for this," Nick said, holding the bag up. "Callie isn't really mad, she's just a little cranky that she has to lug that heavy thing back to my room. Did I really need to buy that much?"

"Discount for bulk orders," Marion nodded. That didn't seem like a fair exchange, but whatever.

"And what about…" Nick turned his eyes to the relaxing Poliwhirl.

"Poli!" Poliwhirl set down the tea cup and turned to Nick, his eyes narrowing into a fierce glare that seemed to say "you dare to speak to me while I'm drinking my tea?!"

"Er…"

"Ha! Poliwhirl, it's fine," Marion laughed, patting the slippery pokemon on the head. "Don't worry, Nick, this one's just a little… he likes fighting."

"Poli," Poliwhirl's blissful expression returned as he took another sip of tea.

"Here you go, Nick," Marion said, tossing the dive ball to him. "Careful though, this little guy likes to fight. So if you want to get along, maybe give him a good opponent to fight? Just a thought. Take care, Poliwhirl!"

With that, Marion rose from her seat and stretched, strolling down towards the back exit to go check up on Julia's status with Sharpedo.

Nick turned to his Poliwhirl.

"Hey there, Poliwhirl. I guess we're working together from now on?" Nick asked, holding out a hand to the pokemon.

The Poliwhirl looked at Nick's hand, and then raised his eyes to stare quietly at Nick, as though he were thinking it over.

"Poli," Poliwhirl nodded, scooting the chair back and lifting up his hand, shaking Nick's. Nick held up the dive ball and returned the Poliwhirl, running to go catch up with Callie.

"Callie!" Nick called out, Callie looking over her shoulder as she exited the aquarium.

"Finally got away, huh?" Callie said. She was laughing, but her voice still held a tinge of annoyance to it, not at all happy about having to lug the bag of pokemon food.

"Want to trade?" Nick asked, offering his bag to her.

"I can manage," Callie grumbled. "Besides, can't have you throwing out your back and spending tomorrow in pain, throwing off your game in your matches tomorrow. We need to get you nice and rested, Nick! Can't have a bad night's sleep!"

Nick frowned.

"Well, that's not fair," he huffed. "Maybe I don't want you throwing out your back, either? It's a long way back to my room, and it makes me feel bad seeing you have to lug that bag of pokemon food around. Can't I help you just a little?"

Callie's face turned bright red, and the bag slipped from her fingers and plopped on the ground, her hands shaking too much to hold onto it.

"Er, um… d-don't say stuff like that, Nick!" Callie laughed, overjoyed in spite of her protests that Nick wanted to look out for her health and safety. "Y-you don't have to protect me or take care of me just because I'm your girlfriend, dummy! Hehe…"

Callie held her hands over her face.

"Besides, I mean, I'm a lot stronger than you, so I'm the one who should be looking out for you, and… you know! Stuff!"

Nick resisted the urge to burst out laughing.

"H-how about… we carry it together?" Callie suggested. She grabbed one end of the bag in her hands, and looked up hopefully into Nick's eyes.

"Sure, sounds like a good idea," Nick said, turning to face her and grabbing the other end, the two hoisting the bag up between them, slowly walking back to the Bulbasaur House.

…

"This is a lot harder than I thought," Callie groaned. "Can't we just go back to me carrying it by myself? We'll be walking all night this way…"

"Maybe, but maybe I should carry it," Nick said. "You might be stronger, but I'm bigger, I might be able to carry it faster."

"I hate to say it, but that might be the only option," Callie admitted, though she didn't like having to make Nick carry the bag when she wasn't doing anything. "Damn it! Marion could have at least loaned us a trolley or something!"

"I guess we can't just have one of your pokemon carry it for us?" Nick suggested.

Callie's side of the bag flopped into the dirt as Callie slapped herself in the face, unable to believe that she could have been that stupid.

"DAMN IT!" Callie griped, reaching to her belt. Nick dropped his end of the bag as well, and resisted the urge to burst out laughing.

Blake woke up the next morning feeling reinvigorated. His conversation with Ayame the day before had cleared up a lot of doubts in his heart, and he felt that they were only going to become stronger as they went forward. He checked his phone, and saw a bunch of texts that Ayame had sent him after he had gone to bed.

"I'm so happy," her last text had said. "Lol I'm actually having trouble sleeping because my heart is pounding too much! Good night 33."

Blake couldn't help but smile. He sat up in bed and stretched, getting out and slipping his phone into his pocket. He wanted to bask in happiness a little longer, but right now he had some more important details to attend to. Today wasn't a morning for taking it easy. He had an appointment, after all, and a very important one.

As he walked across the room, he checked his other messages. One was from Cynthia, two from Kitty, one from Sango, and one from-

Blake tripped over something heavy and fell flat on his face. Whatever he had just stubbed his toe on seemed like it was a made up of a bunch of small objects, packed together in a bag. The first thing that came to mind was a bag of pokemon food, but what was that doing here?

"What's going on?" Reiner blearily called out from above in his bunk. Nick muttered something, and the sounds of fumbling against the wall could be heard, followed by the familiar click of Nick flicking the wall switch, flooding dark room with light and blinding all three of the boys temporarily.

"Sorry," Blake apologized.

"Do you know how early it is?" Reiner griped, sitting up and looking out the window. "It's still dark out, it isn't time to get up yet!"

He grumbled some more and flopped back down on his bed, pulling the blanket over his head to block out the light.

"Sorry," Blake repeated, standing up. "I tripped on something…"

He picked his phone up off the ground and turned his head, seeing that, yes, he had tripped over a bag of pokemon food that was leaning against Nick's bedframe.

"Oh… whoops," Nick apologized. "That's my bad… I caught a new pokemon last night, while I was fishing, and Marion-"

"Say no more," Blake muttered, blinking his eyes to try and adjust to the light. He understood what Marion had done. "Sorry for waking everybody up, gotta head out…"

Nick flipped the lights off just as Blake's eyes managed to adjust to the light, and now the room was flooded with darkness again. Using his phone as a guide, Blake managed to gather his clothes together and headed out the door to the communal bathroom, to take a shower and get changed. Times like these really made him envy his girlfriend, Ayame had her own private shower in her room. He could do for that luxury.

Blake turned back to his phone to check his messages. Cynthia was boasting about her undefeated record, of course. She was teamed up with Caelia? That was… a nightmare of problems that Blake didn't have the energy to address yet.

Kitty, meanwhile, had sent a message about her own loss, but was also saying that she wasn't about to let it get the better of her. Her other message was a little more cryptic; she told Blake that she wasn't going to let him and Elaina win, and that she was going to kick their asses and show Elaina what it really meant to be a harmonia user. It was a surprisingly aggressive message coming from someone like her, and it made him wonder what was going on.

But the surprising message was the one from Sango.

"Blake. Come find me tomorrow."

That message was last night, so she was talking about today. Blake frowned. What did Sango want from him?

"You want to meet?" Blake texted her. Going by the time, she was probably up, right? As he finished typing he walked past the door of the girls' room… just as Sango walked out of it, staring at her phone, Silver floating behind her. She bumped into him and the two looked at each other.

"Uh…" Sango fumbled for something to say.

"Well, er…" Blake wasn't much better, his face flushed with embarrassment at the fact that he had just texted her a second ago.

The two burst out laughing.

"Wow, what a coincidence," Sango chuckled. "Nice timing!"

"You wanted to meet?" Blake repeated his text to her face. She slid her phone into her pocket and nodded her head, oddly serious. She held up a pager.

"Know what this is?" Sango asked. Blake did a double take.

"Wait, is that a-"

"Pokemon Tag Tournament," Sango replied. She paused. "Wait, you didn't know?"

"Uh, no, I'm a little taken aback," Blake replied, still confused. "You're in the tournament?"

"Yeah, it's… complicated," Sango said, smacking herself over the head internally at the idea that she had just issued a challenge to Blake, and had been so worked up about it last night that she'd barely gotten any sleep. And then she found out that he'd had no idea what she was talking about. It was unbelievably embarrassing.

"So, you're actually doing pokemon battles?" Blake asked, putting the pieces together. Sango nodded in confirmation.

"Let's battle," she replied. "You and me. Well, also Maddi, I guess. And Elaina."

"Wait, Maddi, as in Madison Whitmore?" Blake asked, surprised that the antisocial girl was taking part, AND that she was teaming up with Sango.

"Mmhm," Sango nodded. The fire in her eyes was serious. "Believe it or not, we're undefeated. And we want to challenge the two of you to a pokemon battle today. So what do you think?"

Blake didn't really know what to think. Sango was one of his best friends, but the idea of facing her in a pokemon battle had never once crossed his mind.

"You sure about it?" Blake asked. He didn't have THAT much of a problem with it, but… he was concerned. He wasn't sure if he wanted to be a part in one of his friends fighting against Elaina. "Elaina might-"

"I know," Sango said. "But still. It's fine. We beat Kitty, we can beat Elaina."

Blake blinked in surprise. They'd managed to beat Kitty and Nikita? Huh, now he was intrigued. He still wasn't sure, but… something about that look in Sango's eyes told him that it wasn't the worst idea in the world, and he would probably end up facing them at some point anyway…

I'll have to do my best to keep Elaina under control, but otherwise…

"Sure," Blake agreed. "Let's do it."

"Plus you can't run away from your first challenge," Sango reminded him.

"Fair enough," Blake admitted. "So when were you guys thinking of doing this?"

"After lunch?" Sango suggested. "Maddi reserved a stadium we can use for the match."

"Sounds good," Blake agreed. "I'll talk to Elaina about it. When I get things sorted with her, I'll text you. In the meantime, I've gotta head out. Promised to meet up with her early."

"Oooh, and here I thought you were sneaking out in the morning for a rendezvous with your cute little girlfriend," Sango teased. "Ayame isn't enough for you anymore?"

"Come on," Blake groaned. "Elaina and I are friends, you know that."

"I know," Sango laughed. "See you this afternoon, Blake!"

Sango headed the other way down the hall, to begin her morning jog, as Blake headed towards the bathroom. As he walked away, Sango slowed her pace and turned back, looking wistfully over her shoulder.

I was able to have a normal conversation with him, she thought, placing her hand over her chest. In the dim hallway light, Blake hadn't been able to make out the blush on her face, and she'd kept a far enough distance where he couldn't hear her heart pounding away.

Is that what she had to settle for now? Forcing herself to keep away from him and hide behind "normal" conversations, to shield herself from the pain she was feeling at not being able to be with him the way she still wanted to? As happy as she was for her friend… she still felt a little sick to her stomach. Like she was hiding some big secret from him that she was feeling guilty about, and just seeing his face tore her up about it.

Someday these feelings will go away, Sango reassured herself, turning away from him and heading down the stairs. A good run would distract her from all this. She just had to keep their relationship at a manageable distance, and then eventually… these feelings in her heart would fade away, and they could go back to how they were before.

Until that day came… she would bury this pain of hers and pretend like they were just ordinary friends.

That was best for all of them. For Sango, for Ayame, and especially for Blake.

Something pretend.

Sorry, Sango. It must be hard to go through something like that. As happy as you might be for the other person, it doesn't make the pain feel better.