Let's see where things go from here. Julia and Reiner are going to fight Elaina and Blake? That should be interesting! As for the others, well… there are a few other concerns at the moment, as well. Remember to review!

Rosealine gold: Makes sense. When we get back to focusing on the two of them, I'll see where things go.

KedharS: Julia and Reiner are pretty skilled in their own right. Reiner just barely lost to Cynthia, and she just barely beat Blake. I'd say they're pretty decently matched, but of course, we'll have to see for ourselves. And Julia's no slouch either, she's been training with Alcea for a decent period of time.

Hellraiserphoenix: Well, it should be interesting, that's for sure. Hopefully it's a good fight.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 330

"So how's the tournament going for you guys?" Ayame asked the first years she was eating in the Snorlax Commons with. "I know Blake defeated Sango and Maddi-"

"Obviously," Cynthia snorted. Sango shot her a dirty look.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sango snarled.

"Well, Maddi's a talented trainer, no doubt about that, but as for you, well…" Cynthia's voice trailed off and she finished her sentence with a smirk and a shrug.

"That's not fair!" Blake came to Sango's defense.

"Yeah, that's right!" Ayame agreed. "You didn't see the match, so you're not really one to talk. Those two really put up a great fight!"

"…Oh, really?" Cynthia asked, her smile widening and her eyes shining excitedly. "You're that good, huh?"

"Um…" Sango swallowed and nodded her head.

"In that case, I'll give a call to Caelia," Cynthia said, already hyped up. If Blake thought Sango was a decent fight, then Cynthia definitely wanted a piece of that action. "We can have our match today! Doesn't that sound great?!"

"Actually, Maddi said she would prefer to forfeit the tournament than fight someone as annoying as you," Sango replied.

"Hey! That's mean!" Cynthia exclaimed. Blake and Ayame resisted the urge to break out laughing at Cynthia's disappointment.

"I still can't believe you and Caelia teamed up," Blake said. "You didn't seem to get along very well back when we were doing the escape room."

"Caelia Auburne?" Ayame asked, a shiver going down her spine at the mention of the girl's name. "That girl? She really kind of weirds me out…"

"Ayame," Blake chastised her, giving her an aside glance. "That isn't very nice. Caelia isn't a bad person, you shouldn't be so judgmental of her. Just because she has a few oddities doesn't mean you should be so weirded out. If you got to know her, you'd see that she's a very nice person deep down, even if she acts a little off."

Personally Cynthia thought that it was Ayame who had the right idea here, but decided to keep her mouth shut.

"She's a little quiet and withdrawn, but she's really a good girl," Blake continued. "I think if you two got to know each other, you'd see that she's not so bad. You might even get along well and become friends, you know."

Yeah, somehow Cynthia didn't see that ever happening.

Is he really that clueless? Cynthia wondered, staring at Blake as he explained to his girlfriend all the good points of the girl who was obsessed with him to a stalkerish degree. Cynthai had seen it in the girl right away, that this was someone who was more than a little crazy. It was why she had gone to great lengths to keep her away from Blake, and had taken special care to not mention the fact that Blake currently had a girlfriend and it wasn't her.

Caelia is a strong trainer, but mentally… she's got more than a couple of screws loose. Cynthia knew that better than most, having been fighting beside her the last few days. She sighed. She wasn't sure what Blake saw in her. She remembered how devotedly Caelia had clung to Blake during the escape room, and wondered if that might have had something to do with it.

Hmm… it might help me keep the girl under control if I learn a bit more about her connection with Blake, Cynthia reasoned. She glanced at Sango.

"Hey, Sango."

"Uh, yeah, what?" Sango asked, looking up from the mountain of food she was devouring.

"Don't you think we should give these two a few minutes alone?" Cynthia purred, Sango rolling her eyes. Blake and Ayame looked at her in confusion.

"Why?" Sango asked.

"Come on, come on," Cynthia laughed, getting out of her chair already and tugging on Sango's arm. "Unless you want to see the two of them doing that 'say ah' couples crap. It should be a crime being that lovey-dovey in front of single girls like us, don't you think?"

"I don't really care," Sango lied. "Besides, I'm still eating, so-"

"The food will be there when you get back, come on," Cynthia insisted, tugging on her arm again. Sango sighed and dropped the fork, getting up.

"Silver, make sure they don't eat my food, got it?" She ordered her Castform, the hailstorm shaped pokemon nodding in agreement. Blake and Ayame watched in confusion as Cynthia dragged Sango back towards the buffet.

"Okay, good, they can't hear us or see us," Cynthia said, peeking over her shoulder to make sure she was out of sight of the couple. Just to be safe, she pulled Sango into the girls' bathroom and shoved her into a stall so they could talk in private.

"No, they can't, now would you mind explaining what the hell is going on with you?" Sango demanded, crossing her arms over her chest. She sat down on the toilet and stared at Cynthia, irritated. "I'm still hungry you know, I was just getting to the part of the hash browns where the brown was gone and it was all potato."

"Forget that, this is important," Cynthia said, her expression turning serious. Sango straightened up, seeing now that Cynthia wasn't just playing around.

"…Yeah? What is it?" Sango asked, a solemn expression on her face. Was Cynthia serious about wanting to fight her? No, that wouldn't explain the weird mood…

Cynthia looked around cautiously.

"Caelia…" Cynthia said, her voice hushed to just above a whisper.

"Yeah? What about her?" Sango shrugged.

"Remember that field trip to Mt. Chimney?" Cynthia asked. "The one where we stayed at my grandparents' hot spring in Lavaridge, and then the terrorists attacked you guys on the volcano and we had to end it early, because Ayame and Caelia were sent to the hospital? Remember that?"

Was Cynthia being serious right now? Sango rolled her eyes.

"Vaguely," she sarcastically replied.

"Okay, so like, you got to know Caelia pretty well on that trip, right?" Cynthia asked. "I mean, you guys were in the same group and you spent a lot of time together, so you must have gotten to know some stuff about her, isn't that right?"

Sango didn't remember having a single conversation with Caelia, and told Cynthia as much. Cynthia frowned.

"Well, what about Blake?" Cynthia asked.

"What about him?"

"Did he and Caelia, you know, get close?"

Sango paused.

"If I remember right, Blake was trying to get to spend more time with her on the trip," Sango recalled. "And when she went missing, he rushed off to go find her even though the rules said not to do stuff like that."

Cynthia slapped her palm against her forehead. That fucking hero complex! No wonder that girl is enamored with him.

She sighed, "anything else happen?"

Sango considered things for a moment.

"Well, Blake told me later that he and Caelia had gotten trapped within the volcano and that the two of them worked together and managed to make it to the surface?"

Fucking suspension bridge effect, fucking hell. Cynthia groaned, shaking her head. Sango raised an eyebrow at her.

"What's with all this curiosity about Blake and Caelia?" Sango asked, not sure what Cynthia was asking her about. What was the big deal?

"Well, see, the thing is…" Cynthia looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping.

"Cynthia, we're in a bathroom," Sango dryly replied. "Why are you being so cautious?"

"Whatever, doesn't matter," Cynthia replied. "Anyway, the thing is, I'm positive that Caelia has a crush on Blake."

"Wait, what?!" Sango gasped, her mouth falling open in shock. "Caelia? The quiet girl, who seems practically emotionless? She likes Blake?! That's… I can't believe it, I mean, I know that he was trying to get along with her, but for her to have feelings for him, I mean, that…"

"You weren't here when we hung out on Pokemon Day," Cynthia reminded her. "When we were doing those escape rooms. Caelia was with us, and, well… she basically clung to him the whole time, following his instructions to the letter. It was like watching a loyal Growlithe obey her master. She's got it BAD for him."

Sango was stunned. So not only did she, Ayame, and Kate fall for him, and possibly Elaina, but Caelia Auburne as well?

"Are you sure? Maybe she's just bad with people and that's how she treats her friends," Sango suggested, thinking of Maddi, who also wasn't very good around strangers. "It doesn't necessarily mean that she likes him that way."

"Please, Sango," Cynthia smirked, holding her hand over her chest like a haughty noblewoman villainess from a dating game. "I'm incredibly perceptive about things like this! I picked up on those feelings of hers right away, no one can hide their crushes from me!"

Smug as Cynthia might have been, Sango didn't really trust her judgment that much, and for good reason.

"…What about me, then?" Sango dryly asked.

"What, you like someone?" Cynthia asked.

Sango rolled her eyes.

"Never mind," she sighed.

"Anyway, since Caelia likes Blake, I think that there's an issue with the fact that Blake has a girlfriend. Now, you might not understand this, but when someone likes a person, and that person gets a significant other, that can make them get angry, or sad, you know. Well, I mean, when you like someone with a girlfriend you'll get it."

It took all the self-control she had in her for Sango to not smack Cynthia across the face right here. But she wasn't gonna tell the girl about her feelings right now, if ever, so she kept her temper in check and settled for simply cursing the girl out in her head for being completely fucking annoying and thinking Sango had never once had romantic feelings or jealousy.

"So what's the big deal?" Sango asked. "I mean, even if Caelia does like Blake, he's with Ayame, do you really think that if she gets jealous then she'll… I don't know, what?"

Cynthia shivered. She wasn't positive about what would happen, but…

"Let's just say that I have a bad feeling," Cynthia sighed. "I feel like Caelia… she's not… she's not 'all there' you know? Like, there's having a crush, and then there's… I don't know, it just feels a lot more serious than that, you know? Like if she figured out that Blake had feelings for someone else and was in a relationship with her, that she might do something bad, you know? She might break down or get upset, and if that happens, well…"

"What, you think she might hurt someone?" Sango asked. She hadn't seen anything from Caelia to suggest that she was violent or unstable, but she'd heard some rumors about a match between her and Alcea that suggested maybe she would.

Cynthia didn't need to listen to rumors. She had seen with her own eyes the kind of girl Caelia was when she was pushed to the brink. The reaction she'd had to her pokemon getting hurt or knocked out against Nick and Will had just been the first of many similar instances over the past few days. It was clear that Caelia was more than a little damaged.

"I think it's possible," Cynthia admitted. "That's why I'm trying to keep her and Blake separate, at least for now."

She neglected to mention the part where she had used Caelia's feelings for Blake and her desire to impress him and seduce him in order to manipulate her into teaming up for the tournament. Sango probably wouldn't have understood that part.

"Yeah, if what you're saying is true, it would probably be for the best. That being said…" Sango let out a long sigh that Cynthia shared in. They both understood there was a big, gaping hole in the strategy of "keep the truth secret from Caelia".

"That lovey-dovey couple isn't exactly playing things cool and casual," Cynthia agreed. Sango shook her head. "If those two keep acting like that, well… Caelia's gonna catch on quick. I've convinced her for now to stay away from Blake in order to surprise him in the finals by showing off her power, but that's not exactly a long-term strategy."

"I don't think we can keep her from finding out forever," Sango agreed. "Problem is, you think she's going to snap if she finds out? So what do we do? You aren't suggesting that the two of them break up or stop acting like a couple in public, are you? Because that's not fair to either of them! They've both tried so hard to get to where they are, and… and it wouldn't be fair if you did something like that, just for that girl's sake!"

Cynthia smirked.

"My, you're rather passionate," Cynthia laughed. "I had no idea that you shipped them so hard! Aww, how cute!"

"I don't ship them," Sango huffed. Still, better to let Cynthia think she was a shipper than to find out how Sango actually felt about Blake and Ayame. Although in spite of her feelings for him, she did support their relationship to some extent. Better Ayame than anyone else, in her opinion. And if Blake was happy with her, then she was happy for him. Still, to call herself a shipper, well… that wasn't the right word for it, was it? She tried to explain to Cynthia how she felt about it. "It's just… it's not fair, you know? To make them have to go through something like that after how much they've already been through."

"Yeah, you got a point there," Cynthia said, nodding her head. "So what's the plan, then? Sit back and watch her blow up?"

Sango didn't really know. They were sitting on a powder keg here, and the two of them didn't know how to defuse it. Blake might, but he didn't even know how Caelia felt.

"I wonder why she's so obsessed with him," Cynthia sighed, turning and resting her forehead against the door of the bathroom stall. "That girl…"

"She's isolated," Sango replied, remembering Caelia's state of living. "She doesn't really speak to others or get along with people very well. If she met a guy who managed to get through to her, and she could connect with, then…"

"Yeah, but every isolated girl doesn't act like this," Cynthia said, turning back to face Sango. "If you ask me, that girl needs some serious help."

Sango nodded her head. There was something else about Caelia, though. Something that she didn't know if Cynthia was aware of. Sango closed her eyes and thought back to the first time she had really seen the real Caelia. When she had seen her in the bath.

Caelia was a lot more broken than Cynthia knew.

Those burns covering her body… that grotesque appearance of hers… Sango could only begin to imagine the state that girl was in mentally and physically. She must have been through a lot more than Sango knew. She had felt sympathy for the poor girl back then, and even now she felt bad for her. She wondered if she should talk to Cynthia about this…

Ultimately, Sango decided not to. It might have helped Cynthia… but if Caelia wasn't revealing it to her, then she wouldn't be the one to do it. The guilt she'd felt when she and Ayame had basically forced Caelia into the hot spring, only to see what she had been hiding beneath those baggy clothes of hers, it was clear that she didn't like people looking at those scars of hers, and apparently that also included Cynthia.

"Well? Can you think of anything else to tell me about her?" Cynthia asked, staring at Sango with great interest. "Anything else happen on the trip that we can use to figure out what we should do about Caelia?"

"…No, I can't really think of anything," Sango lied, shaking her head. Maybe this wasn't the best decision she could have made, but outing Caelia's burns might not have been for the best, either. If she really was as mentally unstable as Cynthia was making her out to be, then she might not have the best reaction to something like that. That was what helped Sango make her decision to keep her mouth shut on the topic.

If it was something that Caelia was keeping secret from her partner, it wasn't Sango's position to reveal that.

Cynthia sighed.

"Well, I guess that's that. So what do you think, should we bring it up with the two of them, then?" Cynthia asked.

Sango shook her head. That was a definite "no" from her.

"That'll just make things more complicated," she replied. "Ayame doesn't need to be worried that someone could be watching her from behind, or following after the two of them and trying to break them up. And as for Blake, well…"

Cynthia laughed.

"Blake's probably so dense, even if we told him to his face he might not get it!" Cynthia kept laughing, so wrapped up in how funny she found herself that she missed Sango glancing away from her, more than a little irritated at Blake's denseness herself, for reasons entirely different from Cynthia's amusement. He wasn't THAT dense, but it was still annoying.

"Yeah, let's keep it to ourselves," Cynthia agreed, the two heading back.

Meanwhile, Blake and Ayame were eating breakfast and discussing their plans for the day. Unfortunately, Ayame's plans weren't exactly compatible with Blake's.

"Come on, why not?" Ayame asked.

"Don't you have finals to study for?" Blake asked. "And classes to get to?"

This was the last week of classes, after all, and they both needed to attend. Being a senior, Ayame's classes were all across campus. Blake only had one class today, and it was after lunch. Ayame's schedule, he knew, was a lot more packed.

Ayame gave him a sour look.

"I can miss one or two days," Ayame huffed. "Besides, at this point, the only thing that really matters are the final tests coming up in a few weeks, we don't REALLY need to go to class."

"Is that really the sort of impression you want to be giving to your juniors?" Blake asked, raising his eyebrow. Ayame snorted, rolling her eyes.

"What's the big deal, anyway?" She asked. "Do you really want me to not watch your matches that badly?"

"Ayame!"

"Aya," Ayame insisted, turning her nose up and glancing away from him. "When we're alone, you promised to call me Aya, not Ayame, remember?"

Blake sighed.

"Aya, come on."

"Why don't you want me to come with you, huh?" Ayame asked. "I just want to watch my boyfriend fight close-up, is that such a big deal?"

It was what Blake deserved, really. Julia had sent him a text a few minutes earlier requesting a match with him and Elaina, and while Blake had agreed to her request, Ayame was now insisting that she wanted to come too.

"Aya, it's not safe," Blake told her. Ayame scowled at him.

"So it's safe enough for you, but not safe enough for me?" Ayame asked.

Crap. She'd caught him in a trap. Blake sighed, and lowered his head.

"Look, that's not what I-"

"Yes or no? Do you think it's safe enough for you to fight with your friend Elaina, but not safe enough for me to do the same? If that's what you fucking think, then there's no fucking way I'm gonna let you keep putting yourself in danger!"

"Er…"

"If it's safe enough for you, it's safe enough for me," Ayame continued. "And if it's NOT safe enough for me, then why would you think I'd be okay with YOU fighting with her, huh?"

Blake couldn't really argue with her. He let out a long sigh.

"I… I think it's okay," Blake finally admitted. "Look, okay, fine. If you really want to come, you can, just stay back and be careful, okay?"

"Thanks! You're the best!" Ayame giggled, hugging him from the side, much to his embarrassment. They were in the cafeteria, and she was starting to draw attention to the two of them. Still, he couldn't say he didn't enjoy it.

He just hoped that everything would go okay. He still hadn't heard from Elaina, and began to wonder when she was going to reply to his message.

So, concerns for Caelia, and what might happen to Blake and Ayame's relationship. Things are going to be very interesting soon, I would imagine.