A new day dawns, and with it, we get to see our characters approach the tournament with some fresh new eyes! And with those new eyes, we'll see an old friend show up after a prolonged absence once again! Should be good.

KedharS: Trust that feeling.

Thunder Fire: Sylvia already died once, didn't quite work out well for anybody.

Madninja324: "Oh god" is right.

ThatOneUnoriginalGuy: Well, hope you can catch up soon! Here's the next chapter!

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 350

Will woke up feeling rather relaxed. He opened his eyes, and that feeling immediately drained away as he saw who was standing over his bed.

"Will Harmond."

Oh no…

Will resisted the urge to groan as he looked up into the hollow yellow eyes of Misato Daisan staring down at him.

"Your eyes and your heart rate indicate that you are conscious," Misato said. "There is no need I can see for you to continue remaining in your bed. Therefore it would be advisable for you to get up and get dressed."

Will glanced across the room. His roommates were gone. Most likely they had left the minute Misato entered the room, due to her… strange habits and lack of regard for what many would consider to be a sense of shame.

Will let out a sigh. It was too early in the morning for a headache like this. Well, it actually wasn't, Will had woken up pretty late honestly. But classes were over for the term, so that wasn't a huge issue. Still, he had battling to get to. He looked for his phone, to contact Nick, but he couldn't find it.

He had a bad feeling.

"Misato, do you know where my phone is?" He sighed.

"Affirmative. I took the initiative to acquire your phone while you were sleeping and accessed the data to observe your messages. Because it was already attuned to my software it was an easy task."

Will vaguely remembered Misato doing something to his phone at one point a while back, but he was too tired to really care.

"Can I have it back then?" He sighed. "Why did you even take it, anyway?"

"It was necessary to ensure that you were not discussing things that you do not have the authority to disclose," Misato replied.

"And that's why you're here?" Will grumbled, taking his phone back and getting out of bed. "What is this, a parole meeting?"

"Negative. As you have not been incarcerated-"

"Joke."

"Understood."

"So then why are you here?" Will asked.

"Before that, are you deciding not to dress yourself?" Misato inquired. "My internal thermometer calculates the ambient room temperature at 13 degrees Celsius. This is lower than the standard room temperature. It would be advisable for you to dress in warmer clothes if personal comfort is your priority. Furthermore if you intend to leave the room and go outside, it would be advisable for you to wear clothes with a higher level of insulation."

"Yes, fine, I'll get dressed," Will grumbled. "Can you turn around?"

"Elaborate," Misato replied.

"What do you mean elaborate? I'm getting changed, turn around!"

"I have witnessed you change many times previously. What is the purpose in having me turn around at this time?"

"I wanted you to turn around those times, too!"

"Impossible. I was under orders to observe you at all times. I could not turn around as you requested."

"…Well are you under orders to observe me now?"

"Negative."

"Then turn around!"

"Negative. I will continue my observation of you changing clothes."

"Why?!"

Misato didn't respond. She paused for only a second, but for a high-functioning mechadoll with the brain of a super-computer, that second was way too long to be usual.

"I am not able to answer that question," she finally replied. She had attempted to search for an answer to explain why watching him change was necessary, but her processors had failed to determine any answer that was sufficient to explain her decision. There must have been a complication in her programming, some form of error. But she could not discern what, precisely, it was. All she knew was that her operating system had determined that it was imperative to continue watching him change, even if the reasoning behind that conclusion was irretrievable.

Will grumbled something, but it was clear that no matter what he had to say, Misato was not going to let up on her stalking of him.

That's what it was, stalking. Not "observation". Stalking.

No matter how many times he had changed in front of her before, it still bothered him. The fact that she said nothing, only looking at him with those emotionless, unreactive eyes, it made him so much more uncomfortable than if he had been changing in front of an actual girl with actual reactions. Knowing she was a mechadoll should have made it easier. And yet somehow, it didn't.

She's just a mechadoll, he reminded himself, feeling his body grow hotter. You don't have to think of her with any sort of special consideration.

Memories of kissing her, or more specifically, her kissing him, weaseled their way back into his brain, much to his shame. He shook his head, blushing.

Finally finished changing into some warmer clothes for going outside, he turned to Misato.

"Thank you for the wakeup call, Misato, now I must be going."

Hoping that would be the end of it (but knowing that it wouldn't) he turned and walked into the hallway, slinging his backpack over his shoulder.

…Of course, Misato followed right after him.

Will groaned.

"Why are you following me?"

"I am ordered to accompany you for your matches today," Misato explained.

"Okay, but why?" Will asked.

"Richard Valon has given you an order."

Will gulped. This didn't sound good.

"An order? What kind of order?"

"Confirm. Tournament records show that your team which consists of Will Harmond and Nick Elwood has not yet participated in a match against the team which consists of Nikita Willow and Katherine Kuroso."

"You mean Kitty and Nikita? Yeah, we haven't fought them yet," Will replied. "Why?"

"It is imperative that you do so today."

"Why?"

"I am not permitted to dispense that information at this time."

Will sighed. This sounded suspiciously like the first time he had met Misato, where she had told him to throw the match against Sylvia Driscoll in order to join the Phantom's organization. It was also eerily familiar to the match that had been set up between Gabrielle Breaux and Gerard Alkwest.

"So what, you want me to throw another match? Sorry, but we want to win this tournament, and I'm not in the mood for it."

"Negative. The outcome of the match is not relevant. It is simple imperative for me to observe it," she replied. "However, it is important to understand that the likelihood of your team making it to the finals of the tournament is statistically insignificant."

"What?! Why?" Will demanded.

"At present, there are two teams that are undefeated. The team consisting of Caelia Auburn and Cynthia Fafnir are currently in the lead. The second team is the team consisting of Elaina Bishop and Blake Harker. Calculating the relevant variables against those of the other freshmen, the chances of either team losing to any team but the other is less than 22%. Furthermore, there are exactly five teams with only one loss. To make it into the final rounds of the tournament your team must not only sustain no further losses, but it is also imperative that at least four of those five teams sustain another loss, and have a lower overall total than your team. While this is not an impossible task, the chances of it occurring are statistically insignificant."

Will really didn't want to hear that.

"Although your team is currently in the lead in terms of teams that have sustained only two losses, should it come to pass that you sustain a third loss, any chance of advancing in the tournament will reduce from statistically insignificant to a statistical impossibility. At that point, it would require intervention beyond what can be considered reasonable expectation for you to advance."

"Why are you telling me all this, huh?!" Will demanded.

Misato stared at him. In her knowledge of human emotion, she could observe that this was anger and rage she was witnessing. She reviewed her audio files of the conversation. She did not know what it was that she had said to elicit this response. But it was clear that he was upset with her. If he was upset with her, that would drastically reduce the probability of accomplishing the task. She endeavored to adjust that situation.

"I apologize if my words have brought you anger," Misato replied, the tone of her voice not reflecting the sincerity of her apology. She was not capable of feeling bad for her actions, but she did want to make amends in order for their relationship to return to the state it was in previously. That was the most sincerity she could feel.

"Yeah, well, I don't like being told that my hard work won't pay off," Will grumbled.

"Understood. It appears my words were spoken in error. I had failed to account for your desire for victory," Misato explained. "I had meant my words to be taken as a comfort. To my understanding, uncertainty of an outcome is a contributing factor to stress, which my data concludes is a negative human state. From that I drew the conclusion that your expectation of victory in spite of the growing unlikelihood of its achievement was causing you stress. In an attempt to alleviate that stress I attempted to inform you that there was no chance for victory to begin with. I was operating based on the conclusion that if you were made aware that there was no chance of further advancement in the tournament then you would be able to approach the upcoming battles without a feeling of stress. However, it appears that my conclusion did not account for the fact that humans sometimes operate based on desire of outcome, even if that outcome is statistically insignificant."

Will took a moment to process that.

"Yeah, look, I know that it's a long shot, me and Nick making it into the finals," Will sighed. "But here is a little something for your databanks, Misato. You listening?"

"Affirmative. Audio system preparing for recording."

"Humans don't give up just because the odds of success aren't in their favor. Even if the chance of success is zero, if it's something that they want hard enough, then they'll continue to try even if it's impossible. Stubborn humans don't give up. Not when they want something badly enough. You got that?"

"Affirmative," Misato said, nodding. She repeated Will's statement with a perfect reflection of his voice. "'Humans don't give up just because the odds of success aren't in their favor. Even if the chance of success is zero, if it's something that they want hard enough, then they'll continue to try even if it's impossible. Stubborn humans don't give up. Not when they want something badly enough. You got that?'"

"You didn't need the 'you got that?' part," Will sighed.

"Affirmative. Deleting unnecessary data. Saving the remaining data recording to folder labeled 'Illogical Human Behaviors'."

"Listen you little smartass-"

"Negative. It is not possible for any part of the anatomy of my body to possess intelligence independent from my central processor. Furthermore, the measurements of my body have been designed with the intention of being physically compelling. The subjectivity of your description of 'little' does not provide a specific range to elaborate on further, but when comparing with the average range of the human buttocks, the proportionality of my measurements to the standard body mass index indicates that the size of my ass would be considered two standard deviations above the mean for human women within my body mass index. Describing my ass as bother 'little' and 'smart' would be-"

"Not literally."

"Affirmative."

Will sighed, shaking his head.

"Misato, if you want to know more about humans, then illogical behaviors are going to come with the package, so you better get used to them," he sighed.

"I am aware. I have already become sufficiently informed on the illogical behaviors that you display," Misato agreed. "Furthermore, the books I have been reading also carry significant insight into the illogical nature of human beings. In the novel Don Quixote, the protagonist partakes in a series of illogical behaviors that put him in conflict with the workings of society. Acknowledging the illogical nature of his actions he renounces himself and then dies. This is reflected in many other works I have read. My data has drawn the conclusion that a statistically significant percentage of human nature involves making illogical decisions which logically result in failure, then renouncing those decisions and acknowledging the foolishness of undertaking them in the first place. I was merely trying to prevent you from making the same mistakes. Illogical action - regret - death. It is not acceptable for this pattern to apply to you, so I attempted to dissuade you from that course of action."

Will slapped his face with his hand.

"Misato, illogical decisions do not always result in death."

"Affirmative. If that were so then humanity as a species would be extinct. I was outlining the nature behind a pattern of behavior and a statistically significant result of it."

"…Wait, then if not to save my life, why did you want to help me in the first place?"

"Elaborate."

"You said that you said all that stuff in order to reduce my stress, right?" Will asked. "Why?"

"…Unknown," Misato replied after a brief pause. "After examining your current emotional state, I found it to be unacceptable. It is not allowed for you to be stressed. There was a statistically significant likelihood that informing you of the statistical improbability of your success would result in a reduction of your stress to an acceptable level. The logical course of action was then to inform you of said statistical improbability. However, as I acknowledged, this conclusion was drawn without factoring in the relevant data of the propensity of humans to display behaviors that are illogical. That is the reasoning behind my actions. However, I am not able to provide an answer for why my system deemed that your mental state of being stressed was unacceptable. Therefore I can only reply that the reasoning behind my decision is unknown at this time. I must perform a diagnostic in order to ascertain the cause of this anomaly."

"…Wait, so you were just trying to make me feel better?"

"Negative. It is impossible for me to artificially increase the performance of your sense of touch."

"No, when I say 'feel better' what I mean is-"

"I am aware," Misato replied. "The terminology of 'feel better' applies most appropriately to an improvement of the mood of an individual when taking into consideration the context of the other words of the sentence."

Will stared incredulously at her, confused about what the hell was going on.

"It was a joke. Ha ha," She clarified. Will sighed and rolled his eyes. He turned and headed towards Kitty and Nikita's room, Misato following after him.

Will knocked on the door. Kitty's third roommate, a girl named Violet, peeked out. She had short black hair that was very wild, with red highlights. Such a loud girl rooming with two shy girls, the look of repressed irritation on her face seemed to speak volumes. Or maybe she was just irritated by him, as so many people he knew seemed to be, due to his general air of arrogance and isolated nature. But Will preferred to look on the bright side.

"Yeah?" She asked.

"I'm looking for your roommates, Kitty and Nikita?"

"Oh!" She said, her face brightening. "Oh, yeah, sorry, not here. Dunno when they'll be back, either. Anything else?"

Will shook his head. Clearly, the blue-eyed girl was happy for the conversation to be over. She closed the door without another word.

Whelp. Guess she was just irritated by him, then.

"…I ascertained significant levels of hostility from that girl," Misato replied. "Her expression and the tone of her voice indicate-"

"Yeah, I 'ascertained' that, too," Will said, heading for the stairs. He reached into his pocket and took out his phone. He didn't have Kitty's number, as they weren't really friends, but he did have Nikita's. He texted her, asking if the two of them could have a match. Then he replied to Nick's texts, agreeing to meet up now that he was awake. With all that handled, her turned his attention back to the problem at hand.

"So why, exactly, do you want to observe this match?" Will tried again.

"I have already informed you that I am not permitted to dispense that information," Misato replied. "Your task is to fight the two of them while I observe. Nothing more."

"Well great, that sounds nice," Will said, rolling his eyes. He reached the bottom of the stairs and headed out the door, Misato dutifully following after him. He glanced at her in surprise. All the other students were wearing big, fluffy jackets, but Misato was not. She was wearing what she always wore. Her uniform, minus the vest, and left unbuttoned, revealing a sky-blue top the same color as her tangle of hair, and it revealed her cleavage and most of her midriff.

Which, combined with the uniform's skirt, made her outfit more suited for a girl on the town, and not someone traipsing through a freezing, snow-covered campus.

"Aren't you cold?" Will asked automatically, before remembering that it was a stupid question. Some part of him kept treating Misato like a normal girl, even though she wasn't really a girl and she certainly wasn't "normal".

"Negative. My thermal receptors are capable of determining temperature, but temperature does not affect the performance of the functions of my body at this degree. It would take sufficiently extreme heat or cooling to damage my systems. The climate of this environment is not capable of approaching those temperatures. There is no cause for concern."

Will rolled his eyes. He wasn't concerned. He headed towards the Blastoise Fountain, where Nick was waiting. Misato followed silently beside him, before, oddly, being the one to initiate conversation for once. That almost never happened.

"I have an inquiry."

"Uh, what? Oh, um, okay, what is it?"

"Do you still desire to win the tournament?" Misato asked. "Even though the probability of doing so is statistically insignificant, and your concern over it is causing your body unnecessary stress?"

"Of course I do," Will said. "I threw the Fall Festival Tournament, after all, so this is my chance to make up for it! I'm going to do the best that I can!"

"Understood. Then I shall inform you that continuing to try and win is not within your best interest," Misato replied.

"What? Why? Just because I'll get stressed?" Will asked, scowling. "I don't care about that, I can put up with a little stress."

"Negative," Misato said. "If you continue to participate in the tournament, accounting for your two losses will take a significant amount of time. You will not be able to use that time on other things. For example, studying."

"You don't need to worry about that," Will scoffed. "My grades are pretty damn good, and I study quite a lot. I'll be fine on the finals."

"Understood. However, there is another factor to consider as well," Misato said, accepting that premise. The next logical step was to inform him of the other reason that dropping out of the tournament was in his best interest. "If you continue to participate in the tournament, then you will not have the free time to accompany me for another trip to the library."

Aww, Misato is really just jealous that Will is spending more time with Nick than with her! How cute!