Ayame's birthday date continues! Hopefully, it will be a happy time for the both of them. She really deserves to be happy.

KedharS: Well, she IS smarter than both of them and has watched their animes, so that's to be expected.

MikySP: Interesting prediction, let's see if it goes that way.

Rosealine gold: Not entirely sure. Probably not more than 20 chapters. We'll have to see how long it takes.

Aquahaze675: Do something to Blake in the future, do something to Blake in the past, it's all kind of the same thing when you really think about it. Time Flute? Maybe.

Thunder Fire: With a big smile and a happy feeling in her heart.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 369

Ayame looked over the selection of clothes at the boutique, stunned. She hadn't really given much thought to fashion before, leaving most of that up to Olivia. She had no idea that shopping for clothes could be this expensive!

"Um, Blake, we really don't have to shop for fancy clothes like this, you know," Ayame said, looking sheepishly at him. "I mean, heck, I'm fine if we just go to one of those discount bargain stores, shopping here, like…"

"What, you don't like the clothes?" Blake asked.

"No, they're gorgeous," Ayame protested. "But, I mean… they're so expensive, I just…"

"You don't have to worry about that," Blake laughed. "Because Olivia said you could buy whatever you wanted and she would eat the cost."

"R-really?" Ayame said. That did sound a lot like Olivia.

"Honestly I wanted to buy them myself," Blake admitted. "But Olivia said her modeling discount would be better. Then she looked at me and asked me if I was really campaigning for boyfriend of the year, and said that if I did pay for all of it you would, um…"

Blake flushed red, not really sure if he wanted to finish that part of the story. Ayame had a fairly good idea of what Olivia had implied she would do, and was grateful he didn't finish either, turning her own shade of scarlet.

"Let's, uh… let's go back to shopping," Ayame requested.

"Good thinking," Blake agreed. "Remember, anything you want."

Anything I want, huh? Ayame said, glancing over the fancy dresses. Not full-on prom formal, but way less casual than what she was used to wearing.

Hell, Ayame wasn't used to wearing dresses in general.

"You know Aya, you always wear jeans and t-shirts, why not try wearing a dress every now and then?" Olivia had often asked her.

"I like these clothes, they're easy and suitable for me," Ayame had always replied.

Even now, she still didn't think the clothes were right for her.

"Come on, Aya, pick whatever you want," Blake encouraged her.

"But… but what if, like…" Ayame looked longingly at one dress in particular that she really liked. A pretty faded pink color, with frilly sleeves and a lowered neckline. The kind of dress that would look positively gorgeous on a girl like Olivia or Lila, but on someone like her, who looked more like a boy than a girl? It was laughable.

"What if it doesn't suit me?" She whispered. She didn't want Blake to see that side of her. She wanted Blake to see her at her best, not… not looking weird in an unflattering dress. And if he laughed, that would be the end, her heart would break in two.

"Impossible."

"Huh?" Ayame turned to glance over her shoulder at her boyfriend.

"I can't imagine anything wouldn't suit you," Blake laughed. "Do you realize how beautiful you are? Don't think for a second that you wouldn't look great in anything, Aya."

Ayame turned bright red and glanced down sheepishly.

"That's… I'm not…" She wasn't beautiful, not in the way that Olivia was. She was handsome, but like a guy. She wasn't someone suited for princess dresses.

"Just try it on," Blake encouraged her. "I'm sure you'll look lovely."

Ayame glanced at the dress again, swallowed, and nodded. She took it off the rack and held it to her chest, running into the changing room. Her heart was pounding in her chest.

Ayame slowly put the dress on, remembering parts of her past she didn't want to. She felt the compulsion to throw up that she always felt when she got nervous begin to rear its ugly head. She placed her hand over her mouth and swallowed it down, shaking her head.

I'm not right for this. I should just put my clothes on again. I don't want to wear this… this thing. I'm not… I can't wear something like this.

"I can't imagine anything wouldn't suit you."

She felt her tears beginning to well up again. Blake believed in her so much, thought so highly of her, she wished that she could believe in herself that much, too. But she couldn't believe that the dress would suit her, she didn't have that much faith in her beauty.

But Blake did. She didn't have faith in herself, but she had faith in Blake. So if Blake thought she would look beautiful in it, then she would believe him. She'd already taken a courageous step by wearing a dress today for their date, she could…

She could wear this one, this dress too, right?

That was the belief that guided her into putting that pink princess-like dress on, the type of dress she had once dreamed of wearing as a child, before the reality of who she was and what she looked like had set in on her.

She swallowed, resisting the urge to vomit again as she stepped out of the changing room and presented herself to Blake.

"H-How… how is it?" Ayame asked, looking hopefully into his eyes. "Does it… do I… does it suit me, Blake? It isn't… it isn't weird, right?"

"…You're beautiful," Blake told her. He stepped forward and took her by the hands, planting a kiss on her cheek. "Really. You really are."

She was completely stunned by his statement, barely being able to keep her balance as he led her over to a mirror so she could get a better look at herself.

Ayame swallowed down her anxiety, and wiped her eyes.

"Is that… is that me?"

Ayame saw herself in that dress, and it wasn't the mistake she had feared she was. Certainly, she wasn't the beauty that Olivia was, she never would have lit up a room or drawn all eyes towards her. But she wasn't some gangly teen with arms and legs too long for her body anymore. She was still handsome, and in that dress, she was beautiful, just like Blake said she was.

She choked out her tears as she felt the strength draining from her body.

Before she wanted to compete in Pokeathlons, before she wanted to run like her sister, way back when she was a little girl, Ayame's biggest dream was that she wanted to be a princess. It was an ordinary dream, one that a lot of girls growing up had, a dream that many of them had given up on as they got older, including her.

Ayame stared at herself in the mirror, and saw her face, the face of herself back then, when she was a child. Looking hopefully at her. Still holding that dream alive in the flame of her eyes. Ayame hadn't wanted to give up on her dream. It had been taken from her by the cold march of reality telling her that she wasn't beautiful. Not like the real princesses, not like Olivia.

But the her she saw now… the face she saw back in the mirror…

I know that it was a foolish dream… Ayame admitted to herself. A dream I should have given up on a long time ago… a dream I still should have given up on. But even so… I couldn't help it. Deep down, I just… I just wanted someone to think I was pretty, like a princess.

Her face wasn't the only one she saw in the mirror. She saw him, as well. Blake, whose eyes looked at her with such adoration, such love.

When did I… why did I… why did I think that these clothes weren't suitable for someone like me? She cried, hanging her head and letting the tears fall from her eyes.

"Whoa, hey, are you okay? You don't like the dress that much?" Blake asked her, placing a kind hand on her shoulder. "I'm telling you, you look-"

"I love it," Ayame sobbed, turning to look at him, her tearstained face brimming with gratitude and love. "I love it… you were… thank you for telling me this was okay, Blake."

She pulled him into a hug, a flustered Blake finding himself buried in her shoulder. She had wanted to throw herself into his chest and cry like those shorter, frail girls would have done, but her height made that impossible. Blake didn't mind either, this was the Ayame he loved, the Ayame who didn't do things the usual way. So he let her hold him tight, feeling her chin nestle into the crook of his neck as she cried on his shoulder.

"Careful Aya, you don't want to stain that dress, right?" Blake whispered.

"Shut up and let me fucking hug you, you fucking dolt," Ayame giggled through her tears. A few seconds later she pulled away, all cried out.

"Aya-" Blake reached into his pocket, preparing to give her the present he had picked out, but Ayame's attention was now elsewhere.

"Hey, Blake, what do you think of this shirt, huh? I think it would totally suit you," she laughed, pointing to a designer striped shirt that was torn in places to reveal an undershirt.

"…No, it wouldn't," Blake said.

"Come on, same fucking thing, right?" Ayame said, beckoning him over. "You said this dress would suit me, right? Well, I say that even if you don't think it suits you, you would look absolutely fucking adorable in it. We aren't just shopping for me, right? Let me pick out your wardrobe, too!"

She narrowed her eyes in a challenging smirk.

"Or are you saying you don't trust my judgment on what looks good?"

To be fair, that was a reasonable conclusion to draw. Ayame didn't know a lot about fashion, even after all the time she'd spent with Olivia, and her taste wasn't exactly the best. But she did think the shirt would look nice on him.

"It's not that, it's just…" Blake looked down and scratched his arm. Ayame's eyes widened as she saw the turmoil rolling across his face.

"Oh! Oh, no, Blake, I'm so sorry, I totally forgot! I wasn't even thinking about your…" Ayame looked down and placed her hand on his arm.

"It's fine," Blake said, shaking his head. "I don't mind."

Ayame glanced back at the shirt.

"Forget it, then," Ayame decided. "No short sleeves. Let's find you something with long sleeves then, sound good? It's winter so that shouldn't be any trouble at all."

"Oooh, can I get a nice set of high heels to go with it?" Blake teased her, Ayame lightly punching him in the shoulder.

"Oh, shut the fuck up, stop playing around and let's go find you something, okay? But before we do that, I need to change out of this dress."

"What? Don't you like it?" Blake asked. "I thought you said-"

"I love it," Ayame assured him. "Still, though, it's not the most comfy thing to be walking around in, you know?"

"…Fair enough, though I would have liked my date with a princess to go on a little longer."

Ayame's mouth flopped open, and she turned away from him to hide her scarlet face, flipping him off as she walked back to the changing room to put her old clothes back on.

Blake mentally slapped himself in the face as she walked back and pulled the door shut, realizing he had just missed his window to give her the present he had bought. She'd wanted him to get the mood right, and he'd completely blown his chance. Now he needed to think up a new way to get the mood back in the swing of things.

A few minutes later, Ayame walked out of the changing room, back in her own clothes, the dress folded up in a shopping bag.

"Hey, Aya, I was just thinking-"

Suddenly, Blake's phone began to ring, much to his surprise.

"Hey, uh, I think you should get that," Ayame said, gesturing to his pocket. Blake sighed. He had been about to suggest they go get a bite to eat, but he supposed that could wait for a little bit. He didn't know who was calling him as he'd told his friends he wanted his date today to be private. Even Elaina was given the day off, telling her that with their record, it would be almost impossible for their team not to make it into the Final 4 teams.

Blake checked the caller ID. Nick. His stomach sank. There was only one reason he could think of that Nick would be calling him. He had left his pokemon in Nick's care, since Nick was the only one who had the day off, all his other friends in teams that were still fighting in the tournament. Nick and Will had dropped out last week, so he had agreed to look after Blake's pokemon, and his egg, while Blake went on his date.

If Nick was calling him, then the only reason would be because something was going on with his pokemon, and that wasn't good. He really, really hoped there wasn't an emergency he would have to deal with.

"Nick? What's up? Is everything okay?"

"Blake? It's Callie."

"Callie?" Blake asked. "Why are you calling? Where's Nick?"

"He's, uh…"

There was a wail in the background of the call.

"He's occupied at the moment," Callie replied.

"Why? What happened?" Blake sked.

"You remember how Nick wasn't doing anything, so you asked him if he could look after your pokemon?"

"Yeah, obviously."

"Well, I wanted to hang out, so I came over-"

"Callie, I'm in the middle of a special date," Blake replied. "I don't have time for your life story."

"…Rude," Callie said, and Blake could HEAR the scowl in her voice.

"Yeah, sorry, fine," Blake sighed.

"Okay, well, you know how you also had him look after your egg? The one you got as a prize for that escape room?"

Oh no. It didn't…

"Yeah, well, it hatched," Callie said. "Hear that?"

The wailing got louder.

"Well, you've got a brand-new pokemon to look after," Callie said, bringing the phone back to her ear. "And right now, the little thing is crying up a storm. We didn't exactly sign up for this, and we got no idea what we're supposed to do, so you probably need to come back."

"Callie-"

"Look, Blake, it's cool if you want us to play babysitter while you get past first base, but Nick and I aren't exactly equipped to be handling a newborn situation, you know? So get your butt back here!"

"I can't just…" Blake glanced helplessly back at Ayame, his heart aching as he saw the sad look on her face. She had a sinking feeling she knew what was going to happen.

"Uh, yeah, you can," Callie snapped. "I know dates are important, and I know it's your girlfriend's birthday, but this is a whole different level of responsibility, Blake, and you need to get your priorities straight, you got me?"

Blake sighed.

"…Yeah. I get it."

"Good. Get here fast."

With that, Callie hung up the phone. Blake sighed, sliding his phone into his pocket. He opened his mouth to apologize, but Ayame raised her hand to cut him off.

"Let me guess. Something came up."

"My egg," Blake said. "It hatched. I need to-"

"I get it," Ayame said, smiling reassuringly at him. She placed her hands on his shoulders. "So let's go see the little guy."

"Huh?" Blake blinked at her, surprised. "Wait, what?"

"Just because you got a new pokemon doesn't mean we have to end the date, you dummy," Ayame laughed. "Come on, let's go!"

"You serious?"

"I said I wanted to spend the day with you, remember?" Ayame said, linking her arm with his and leading him to the register to refer to Olivia. "I don't give a flying fuck what we do."

Ayame rested her head on Blake's shoulder and hugged his arm tighter, the two stepping out into the mall.

"It's fine, as long as I get to spend time with you. That's the best birthday of all, you big fucking idiot. You don't need to plan out some big perfect date, you are my big perfect date. …Even if you're shorter than me."

"Ouch, that stings," Blake replied, Ayame laughing in response.

"Let's go already!"

The two returned to Bulbasaur House, and Blake had to admit, now that he knew Ayame was cool with it, he was a little excited about meeting his new pokemon.

…Until he stepped into the room, and heard the pokemon's loud wails.

"Good, you're here," Callie snapped, dropping his belt of pokeballs into his arms. "Nick, we can go now. Enjoy your noise complaints."

"Thanks for this," Blake replied. He turned to Nick, who was sitting on his bed, trying to rock the small pokemon to sleep while avoiding its pincers.

The pokemon in question was a rather dangerous-looking one, even for a newborn.

"Skor! Skoooor!" The small striped pokemon cried out, thrashing around in Nick's arms. Nick looked helplessly up at Blake and Ayame.

The pokemon he was holding had skin the same light and dark purple striped pattern as the egg Blake had been taking care of. It was a Skorupi, and its pincers, tail stinger, and fangs had already come in, and were flailing about in the air, looking for targets to strike.

"That's your new pokemon?" Ayame asked.

"Skorupi!" The pokemon cried.

"We don't know why it's crying," Callie chipped in, standing by the door and holding her hands over her ears. "He started the minute the egg hatched."

"Be careful," Nick said, handing the thrashing pokemon over to Blake.

"He looks like he's in bad shape," Callie said. "You should probably take him to go see a nurse, or maybe someone in the Caretaking course."

"Yeah, I'll call Serefina, see what she recommends," Blake said, fumbling for his cellphone while trying to keep the Skorupi steady.

"No good," Ayame said, taking the scorpion pokemon from her boyfriend. She held the pokemon out away from her body, gripping him right under the pincers so nothing sharp could sting her. The Skorupi's tail flailed helplessly around.

"Why? Serefina could-"

"Seri's busy," Ayame replied. "She's in the middle of a big final right now. Same with most of the nurse candidates. Their finals are today, too. The other seniors in the Caretaking Course have the day off, but not anyone else, not today."

"Well we could take him to a pokemon center," Blake suggested.

"True, they'll tell you what's wrong with him," Ayame nodded. "I already know, though."

"He's a baby, he cries," Callie said.

"Callie, maybe we should just go," Nick said. She wasn't exactly being helpful.

"Yup! My thoughts exactly!" Callie chirped. She turned and gave an apologetic look to the couple. "…Sorry. I mean, I know it's your date, but… yeah, sorry. I hope the little guy is okay, but… yeah. Sorry."

The two awkwardly left.

"You said you know what's wrong?" Blake asked. Ayame nodded.

"I've seen it before, back in one of my newborn care classes," she said. "It's something that occurs a lot, actually."

"What is it?"

"Poison blockage," she replied.

"What do you mean?"

"Newborn poison type pokemon… they don't always have the same resistance that grown poison pokemon do. A lot of the time, their poisons infect them when they're born, because their bodies haven't adapted enough to it yet."

"So you're saying he's poisoned?" Blake asked.

"He's poisoning himself," Ayame said.

"So what do we do? Go to the mart and buy an antidote, or to a pokemon center, or-"

"That won't help," Ayame said, shaking her head. Blake gulped. The look on her face was actually really worrying.

"Then… what? Why won't it help?"

"An antidote will work on a pokemon that was poisoned naturally," Ayame said. "But this little guy is poisoning himself. An antidote would be like putting a finger in a bullet hole. Sure, the bleeding will stop, but once you take the finger out it will start back up."

"Well there's gotta be something."

"The main building," Ayame said. "It's got the medicine we need to treat this. It's not common, so the pokemon centers on campus don't stock it, and neither do the marts. But there's a room in the main building of Kangaskhan Hall where they stock up on all sorts of treatments. It shouldn't be a..."

Ayame's voice trailed off and her eyes widened.

"…Fuck."

"What problem?" Blake asked.

"…It's the snow," Ayame groaned. "That damn blizzard, remember? It riled up some of the pokemon last week, and during one class's caretaking practical, the pokemon went wild and the whole place got wrecked. Right now, it's been deemed dangerous to enter, and it's getting fixed up right now. It's gonna be blocked up for the rest of the year."

Blake frowned.

"Okay, then what do we do? The little guy's in pain, we can't just leave him like his!"

"Unless you want to spray antidotes on him for the next few hours, we don't really have much choice," Ayame sighed. "It's not like this stuff is easy to make, you know. And even if we could synthesize it, that wouldn't help. It's a specialized medicine that needs to be apportioned out depending on the pokemon, and the poison levels it's generating."

"So antidotes? That sounds like a poor fix."

"It's not a good one," Ayame admitted. Blake could see the panic in her face. This looked really bad, if she looked that concerned. "It just had to be today, of all days."

Blake bit his lip.

"What… what can we do, Aya? I don't, I just… I don't want anything bad to happen to the guy, he's my responsibility, we can't-"

"Well, I don't know what to do!" Ayame snapped, turning back to him. There was fear in her eyes. "The antidote is the best I can think of, okay?! I'm in the Caretaking Course, but that's for raising pokemon to be pokeathletes! I don't know how to take care of sick newborns, okay?! So unless you happen to know a fucking poison expert with access to the right fucking combination of fucking plants to make the medicine, the only other thing I can think of is to fucking walk through a condemned Kangaskhan Hall, okay?!"

Blake looked at her. He did have… a suggestion. It wasn't a good suggestion. In fact, of all his possible suggestions at the moment, this was probably one of the worst. But the little Skorupi was his responsibility now, and he was willing to put up with some awkwardness and personal discomfort for his sake.

"…I may know somebody," Blake said, already dreading the face-to-face that was about to ensue.

So the happy and heartwarming date is put on pause to deal with Blake's newborn Skorupi! And while it started out so warm and pleasant, making Ayame happy and finally helping her overcome her hardships, it looks like things might be a little problematic now, rocky times are ahead. Hopefully that certain someone Blake's planning to get help from won't be too… toxic.