We got to see Ayame and Blake have some fun in the snow, but what about the others? Who else is enjoying their first snow day?

Rosealine gold: Would Maddi be the kind of person to open up to Sango? She doesn't know her very well, and she seems like a pretty private person.

KedharS: They're filled with nothing but wholesome moments. It's so cute to see them together.

Hellraiserphoenix: Most of those other things will certainly happen. I'll try to explore as much as I can, but the emphasis is definitely going to be on the Battle Course, as you can imagine.

Seamitar X: Awesome, glad you could finally get through it all. It's got quite a bit of weight to it, and we're nowhere near done. Hope you keep enjoying it!

Thunder Fire:

Well, maybe they did.

Cut off who?

Idk that's not the case here.

Inviting Ayame explicitly and not just implicitly makes her feel a lot more like one of the group. They aren't just tolerating her as "Blake's girlfriend" but actually consider her a friend in her own right who they want to hang with.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 329

"Why do we even have to do this?" Julia grumbled as she rolled a thick tarp over the Sharpedo tank as snow lightly fell from the sky.

"Well, we gotta keep the snow out of the tankies, silly!" Marion chuckled, holding the other end of the tarp and unrolling it with Julia.

"Why?" Julia asked. "I mean it's just snow. It's just more water. What's more water going to do to water pokemon?"

"You don't understand anything," Marion sighed, shaking her head condescendingly. Julia twitched, really wanting to smack the senior silly. "See, if water and snow were the same, well, we wouldn't have Water Type pokemon and Ice Type pokemon, now would we? Silly Julia!"

Julia scowled in response.

"…Of course, that's not the real reason," Marion added.

Then why did you even say it? Julia wanted to shout at her. Instead, she just let out a frustrated sigh and shook her head.

"Each of these tanks has the temperature properly adjusted to suit the needs of the pokemon living in them," Marion explained, tucking the corner of the tarp into place and fixing it down with a fastener. "It's important to maintain a stable temperature. That's why these tanks are specially insulated to protect against climate. I've been adjusting the heat of the water in order to make up for the cold of winter, but right now it's essential to keep the snow out."

"Is it really that important to make sure the temperature is stable?" Julia asked, genuinely surprised and also a little curious. "I mean, these pokemon look pretty tough, especially this guy."

Julia patted the side of the tank in emphasis, glancing at the Sharpedo staring back at her.

"It's vital!" Marion insisted, her expression unusually serious. "For pokemon, especially fish pokemon, maintaining a stable environment is essential for preserving their health! The ecosystem of a pokemon is a reflection of the health of pokemon, you see, and since water is everything for fish, the quality of water must be maintained at all costs! Foreign elements in the water can lead to sickness and disease, and overall decrease the health and strength of the pokemon!"

Marion's conservationist spiel actually blew Julia away, shocked that this silly girl was actually very well-educated on the subject, far more than Julia knew about any of this.

"The more snow that gets in the water," Marion continued, tucking the edges of the tarp in and pressing a button on the tank, the tarp pulling taut and sealing perfectly, trapping the heat inside the tank. "The more the temperature will drop. Imagine if there was, like, a blizzard or something! Snow will pile up in the water and melt, and then the water will only get colder and colder! And then if that happens, their internal body heat will start to drop, and then they'll get sleepy and lose energy, and if that happens they could even-"

"I get it, I get it," Julia sighed, cutting her off. "Yeah, you're right, this sort of thing is pretty important. I guess I just didn't know."

"Not a lot of people do," Marion sighed, running her hand along the tarp, her blue eyes glistening with sadness. "Pokemon are such a part of our lives, but we forget about how much we are a part of their lives. It's important for both people and pokemon to work with each other, not just having people take advantage of pokemon, do you understand?"

"Yeah, I get it," Julia nodded. She wasn't in the dark about the necessity of preserving the environment for the health of pokemon. The idea that human pollution was making things worse for pokemon made her feel sick to her stomach.

"Even when it comes to things other than the environment," Marion added, staring meaningfully at Julia. "All too often, we think of ourselves, and don't consider the impact we have on others. Even with the best of intentions. I actually… I've been thinking about that a lot, recently."

Julia perked up at that.

"What… huh?"

"When I was young… I had a lot of friends who were like me," Marion murmured. "Special like me, children with harmonia. I considered them my close, special friends. But due to… circumstances… we were separated. Then, when I met one of them again… I was shocked. He had changed so much, I couldn't even recognize him. I thought that he would always be the same, that he wouldn't ever go down that path, that we would still remain friends, because, well, for me, nothing had changed. But it had been years since I had seen him. And even though nothing had changed for me, so much had changed for him. Now I can't help but wonder how much my other friends have changed; what happened to them? And when I think about it…"

Marion wiped her eyes and shook her head, putting a big smile on her face.

"It's important to believe in yourself, Julia! That's what I always do! I always have faith in myself, because I can't be anything but me, isn't that right?"

Julia was thrown by the sudden mood swing, but nodded her head in agreement.

"With that said though…" Marion's upbeat tone had shifted once more, turning serious. She frowned, an unusual look for her. It seemed… wrong to see a frown on her face, Julia felt. "We can only be ourselves. And because we can only be ourselves, it's so difficult to truly get to know those around us. Because I was me, and I hadn't changed, I couldn't understand why he had. And I still don't. I was too afraid to ask what had happened to him, and now I don't know if I'll ever get that chance."

Marion turned to Julia, who was nodding with agreement.

"That's what I'm saying!" Julia agreed. "It's impossible to really see what other people are going through! That's why it's so frustrating when someone won't let you in! I'm trying to understand what Kitty's going through, but-"

"That's not quite right," Marion said, shaking her head.

"Huh?" Julia's expression darkened. What was Marion talking about?

"You're right, Kitty's going through a lot right now," Marion agreed, nodding. "But… are you really trying to get to know her? Or trying to figure out how to get her back?"

"Get… her back?" Julia asked.

"Change isn't always a bad thing," Marion said. "There are some changes that can be for the worse, some people who go down a path that they shouldn't, and need the help of those around them to find out how to get back on the right track. But sometimes, change is just… change."

Marion paused to let those words sink in for Julia.

"Tell me, Julia, if Kitty changed… and part of that change was her deciding that she didn't want you in her life anymore… would you accept that?"

"W-what?" Julia blinked.

"Sometimes people grow apart," Marion explained. "The people we want around us when we're going through one point in our lives might not necessarily be the same people we want around when we're going through another point. If Kitty is living a happy and healthy life, will you be okay with that even if it means you aren't a part of it?"

"That… that's…"

That was a thought that had not even once crossed Julia's mind. She wasn't sure how to respond to Marion's question, so she stood there silently, the wheels in her head turning. A future where Kitty wouldn't want to be friends with her? Kitty had been the first person Julia had really connected with here. Julia liked being around her more than her roommates, if she was being honest with herself (in no small part because Sango and Cynthia's energetic personalities played off each other well, while Julia's more relaxed nature made her feel like a third wheel a lot of the time).

So the thought that Kitty wouldn't want to be friends with her anymore? That…

"Er… uwaaah!" Marion gasped. "I-I didn't mean to make you cry!"

"H-huh?"

Julia realized that her vision was getting a little blurry. She reached up to her face and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. Spots of wetness streaked across the polyester, much to her surprise. She had been crying? But she almost never cried.

"Sorry, sorry!" Marion apologized profusely, bowing her head to the girl repeatedly. "I-I was just trying to get you to think about the 'maybe' of it, if you were only trying to get Kitty back to normal because you wanted to keep her around, and whether or not you'd be happy for her if her personality changed, honest! I didn't want you to think… SORRY!"

"No, no, it's fine," Julia said, shaking her head. "Then you didn't hear anything about it? Like… like I'm a bother, or…"

Marion sighed, regaining her composure.

"That isn't my place to say," she replied. "What Kitty thinks of you is her own business, and it's yours, but it isn't mine. I'm not going to speak for her, or tell you what I think you should do. If you think that you need to talk with her, then you should. All I'm going to tell you to do is get closer with this Sharpedo, and maybe that could help."

With that, Marion turned and headed to the next tank to get it prepared for the winter, checking the water temperature as Julia watched desperately from behind her.

"Well… well what is that going to do to help?!" Julia asked.

"I don't know," Marion called back. "You'll have to figure it out for yourself!"

It was clear that Marion wasn't going to be any more help. Well, in that case, Julia wasn't going to give her any more help, either. She sat down in the snow and looked into the water, much darker now with the tarp covering it. But she could still see the Sharpedo's beady red eyes glowing back at her, glaring at her almost appraisingly in a way that definitely made Julia feel unnerved.

"So what exactly is it you want me to do, huh?" Julia grumbled, staring at the pokemon. She sighed, not getting any response. She wasn't a harmonia user, after all.

Julia's phone beeped. It was Reiner, texting her for a meet-up so they could find someone to battle. They were doing really well, with a perfect record so far, and it was the third day. Julia stared contemplatively at the water as she thought about what to do next, watching the shadowed pokemon inside swimming around slowly, warming itself up.

Get to know people better, huh… Julia murmured, a plan slowly forming in her head. It was risky, risky as hell, that was for sure. But if she wanted to get to know what Kitty, who had harmonia, was going through, and Marion wasn't talking, there was only one other person she could think to talk to. Not that it would be much of a discussion.

Finally deciding what she wanted to do, crazy idea as it was, Julia stood up and said goodbye to the Sharpedo, who she still wasn't sure acknowledged her presence or not. Her arm throbbed with the memory of searing pain, and she swallowed, typing in her response to Reiner to meet for breakfast. Crazy idea that it may have been, it was still an idea either way, right? Heck, Reiner might even be all for it, judging by how competitive the guy was.

"Absolutely not."

Well, so much for that idea.

She and Reiner were eating at a private table outside on the patio of the Snorlax Commons, completely vacant thanks to the recent snowfall. All the other students were packed inside, making it the perfect place to go over a strategy.

Now if only Reiner would stop being such a pain in the ass about it.

"You can't be serious," he followed up.

"Sure I am," Julia shrugged.

"She put you in the hospital!" Reiner exclaimed.

"Well, yeah, but-"

"Don't you 'well, yeah, but' me!" Reiner said, shaking his head. "Have you gone completely mental? Was Kitty the only thing keeping you sane, and now you're just a runaway train with no brakes? You can't seriously think that challenging Elaina Bishop is a good idea!"

"Elaina Bishop AND Blake," Julia reminded him. "Blake's not going to let her get out of control, that's the whole reason he teamed up with her, right?"

Julia wasn't actually sure if Blake would be up to the task or not, but judging by what Sango had said last night, she figured it was worth a shot, anyway.

"Somehow, I don't trust the guy who couldn't keep his own sister under control," Reiner said, even knowing it was a horrible thing to say. He would have never said it to Blake's face, but he just didn't have confidence that Elaina was controllable.

"So what, then?" Julia asked. "Are we going to ignore her?"

"That's…"

"You realize that this is a tournament, right?" Julia continued, a scowl on her face. "And if we want to win the tournament, then we're going to have to beat enough people to make it to the finals, and then win the finals, right? And unless you're expecting Elaina to never even make it to the finals, which, let me remind you, seems unlikely given the fact that her and Blake ALSO have an undefeated record, then I would say we're going to have to take them on at SOME point if we want to win, right?"

Reiner averted her eyes. She was right, but he didn't want to admit it.

"So what's the game here, Reiner? Are we just playing around? Because I'm taking this tournament seriously, and I want to win. If you're not on the same page as me, you better let me know right now, so we can just stop here."

"Of course I want to compete in order to win," Reiner said, scowling. "You know me, why would you think I wouldn't?"

"Then let's fight Elaina," Julia said. "We're going to have to do it eventually, right? So what's wrong with fighting her now?"

"We don't need to, though," Reiner said, beginning to explain why he thought this was an unnecessary risk for them to be taking. "Remember, these preliminary rounds are about getting the best record that we can. Then, the top four teams go into the exhibition matches for the finals. We don't have to fight Elaina at all until then. And even if we fight one of the teams now, we might still have to fight them again if they make it to the finals. So we could end up fighting the same team twice! Which means there's no point in fighting Elaina right now in the preliminaries, because we don't have to. We'd be fighting her now, and then even if we win, we'd still have to fight her later. And if we lose, well, then our ratio gets worse and our undefeatable streak ends, for a match that didn't matter to begin with, you understand? There just isn't a point."

"So you think we can't win?" Julia replied.

"That isn't what I said."

"No, but you implied it," Julia scowled. "If you don't think you have a chance at winning, then why are you even competing in the first place?"

"Excuse me, but didn't you get completely swept by just one of Elaina's pokemon?" Reiner asked her, raising an eyebrow. "You seem rather confident for someone whose previous match resulted in a significant loss."

Julia narrowed her eyes into an angry glare that sent a shiver down Reiner's spine.

"I've been training since then," Julia replied, her expression softening. She turned away from Reiner and looked at the river, snow lightly falling into the water and disappearing. "Maybe not enough to win, but… I still don't think that we should be making a decision like this just because you think that we can't win against her. I think we can."

"It's not about whether we can win or lose," Reiner explained. "It's about not taking unnecessary risks, and this is an unnecessary risk. There isn't a reason to fight against Elaina, if we do, then we're only risking a loss."

"So you're only gonna fight against people where you can't lose?" Julia asked, turning back to him with a sour look on her face. "How is that a challenge, then?"

"No, that's not what I mean," Reiner said, shaking his head. "All I'm trying to say is that our chances of beating Elaina and Blake is a lot lower than our chances of beating pretty much any other team we might fight. So I don't think it's a good idea for us to fight her, you see? If we do, then we're taking a large risk for no gain."

"The gain is in the challenge and the experience, though," Julia explained. "Yes, you're right, there's a big risk of us losing. And yes, you're also right that we don't NEED to fight Elaina right now, if we make it to the finals then we can fight her there. But that isn't what I'm trying to say."

"Then what?" Reiner asked.

"Don't you think it would be a good idea to get some experience?" Julia replied. "Experience against Elaina, I mean."

"Experience against Elaina?"

"Remember your loss against Cynthia in the Fall Festival Tournament?" Julia asked, taking great pleasure in the sour expression crossing Reiner's face at being reminded of that. Her eyes twinkled as she joyfully clarified further, "the one where she completely played you for a fool."

"I remember," Reiner glowered at her.

"She used what she learned about her previous loss against you, and figured out a way to win for real," Julia explained. "I do the same thing, when I can. And I think it's something we should try to do here, too."

"So you're going to throw the match against Elaina?" Reiner asked.

Julia shook her head. "Not at all. We're going to fight like normal, and try to win. But, win or lose, there will still be something we can get out of it."

"I think I get what you're talking about," Reiner said, nodding his head. "So then if we fight Elaina, we can get a better feeling of how she fights. Sure, we could lose, but if we still make it to the finals, then we'll know more about her, and can take advantage of weaknesses we saw in the previous match."

Julia nodded her head and smirked.

"And that's how we win in the end," she finished.

Reiner thought it over. It was certainly a risky plan. The chance of winning the battle itself was slim. But if they did lose… Hmm. It was difficult to think about. The cutoff was four teams making it to the finals. Right now, they were undefeated, which meant they had a pretty good chance of getting in. The rules made it clear that the four teams with the best records would go to the finals. That meant the best win/loss ratio, and the highest number of wins. So even if a team won a single match, and then didn't fight anyone else, that would be weighed against the performances of teams with a higher number of battles, even if they had lost once or twice."

"The thing we have to worry about then," Reiner thought aloud, "is whether or not we can make it to the final rounds with a single loss."

"It is a concern," Julia agreed. There were about ten other teams that were undefeated currently, including Elaina and Blake, as well as Cynthia and Caelia. If four teams went undefeated, then their one loss against Elaina would mean they couldn't make it to the finals then. It was even possible that going undefeated wasn't a guarantee they could get in. To make that tight cut off, it was really difficult to allow for even a single loss. She could see why Reiner was being so cautious.

"We might not need to do it now," Reiner suggested. "We could wait a few days, and see if any other teams get any losses. If our chances of getting into the final four improve enough, then we can afford to take the risk."

"That is a good thought," Julia agreed, "but we really should fight Elaina as soon as possible if we're going to. That way, we'll have more time to plan a counter strategy."

"So I guess it really is looking like we're challenging them today," Reiner sighed, looking at Julia's contemplative face. Neither one had addressed the elephant in the room yet.

Reiner sighed. Apparently, he would have to bring it back up.

"You know, we still need to talk about the risk."

"Isn't that what we're doing?" Julia asked. She knew what he meant, but pretended she didn't. She wasn't sure she wanted to have this discussion, even though she knew it was a discussion they needed to have. "Assessing the risks vs. the rewards for going through with it?"

"I'm not talking about the tournament and you know it," Reiner said. "I'm talking about the risk to the two of us."

Any match with Elaina came with its own share of risk, far more than that of any other trainer on campus. Julia knew that better than anyone, having been on the receiving end of one of her more brutal assaults. And while she was none too enthused for a repeat performance, it was still a chance they would have to take.

Julia let out a sigh.

"What's there to talk about?" She asked. "If we have to take that risk either way, then we have to take that risk, right? Sounds like you're trying to find reasons not to take part."

Reiner couldn't deny that.

"Well, either way… it's still something we've got to prepare for, don't you think?" Reiner asked. "If you're willing to go for it… then I guess I can take it."

"Ah, so since the girl's brave enough to take the risk, you're going to go through with it too, huh?" Julia teased. "How manly of you."

Reiner rolled his eyes.

"You're the one who fought her before," Reiner clarified. "You're the one who's gone through it. I haven't fought her myself, so I'm not really in a position to object when you're willing to take that risk again. If you're up for a second helping, then I'm not gonna be the one to cower away."

"Sounds like what I just said, but whatever you say," Julia said, rolling her eyes. "So I guess we're decided, huh?"

"Yeah, guess we are," Reiner sighed. "Today?"

Julia nodded in agreement. "That's for the best, I think. Get it over with early."

…

The two sat in silence. Neither one ready to pull the trigger.

"Well, uh… text Blake then?" Reiner asked. "It was your idea, after all."

Julia scowled. She took out her phone, but for some reason, she wasn't quite ready to text him just yet.

"You're his roommate, right?" She asked. "You do it."

"Oh, come on!" Reiner scowled. "You're the one talking about how you're so brave and ready to take the risk!"

"Well, you're supposed to be all chivalrous and stuff, huh?" Julia fired back. "Just be a gentleman and text him!"

"My chivalry stops with Nikita," Reiner corrected her. "It was your idea. You should do it."

"So you're saying you don't want to fight her?"

"That's what I've been saying all along."

"But we just agreed-!"

"It makes sense," Reiner nodded. He smirked. "But even if you convinced me, I'm not gonna be the one to make the call. Show me you're ready to take that plunge, and I'm in."

Julia scowled at him, glared at him, tried to convince him to do it with her mind. But Reiner didn't heed her wishes.

"If you aren't willing to go through with it, we can think of something else," Reiner said softly, his face shifting to a look of concern.

Julia sighed in response. Her hands were trembling, and Reiner was right, part of her didn't REALLY want to go through with this.

But she typed up a message to Blake anyway.

"We're all set," Julia said, redirecting her attention back to Reiner.

"Lovely," Reiner said, nodding in agreement.

So Julia and Reiner are going to fight Elaina and Blake! This should be a pretty exciting match, I imagine. Or maybe pretty one-sided. Who can say?