So Kitty has won and moved onto the finals. What will be the fallout of this? We'll have to find out what's next.
KedharS: Oh, definitely.
Just a Bad Writer for Fun: I'm not saying that I intentionally made their relationship have romantic undertones to set the framework for developments in the future… but you know. Kitty's arc still has a little ways to go.
Pokemonking0924: Well, we'll be exploring the complicated fallout here.
Thunder Fire: Maybe so.
MikySP: I haven't planned any yet.
JoshGamerV: I wouldn't say that.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 380
"Blake!" Ayame cried, following Blake through the stadium hallways. "Blake, wait up!"
Blake stopped and turned back to his girlfriend. Ayame's eyes widened at the shadow over his face and she winced, slowing down. She walked over to him and reached out to him tentatively. Blake was holding his Skorupi to his chest, trying hard not to squeeze the poor thing to death. Thankfully, the pokemon was gently snoring away.
"Blake, are you… okay? I know that was an intense match, but-"
"I failed," Blake said. His voice cracked and Ayame gasped, wondering if he was about to cry.
"You… what?"
"I failed," he repeated. "I… I was supposed… supposed to do it different. Things we're supposed to happen like this. I thought… I thought that Kitty…"
"Hey, hey," Ayame said, rubbing his cheek. "It's fine. Kitty might be a little wild right now, but she's still the same-"
"Gwen was the exact same way," Blake snapped, startling Ayame. "She wanted to get more powerful, to defeat anybody, and now she's become twisted into something I can't even recognize."
Blake winced, shaking his head.
"And now I've lost Kitty, too. I thought that I… I thought that I could do something different, that if I helped her, was there for her, I could guide her better, get Marion to help her, get her… you know, to learn how to use her harmonia in a way that wouldn't tear her apart. And for a while… I thought… I thought that she was okay, that she would be okay. But now, now…"
Ayame could see that Blake was about to cry. She reached out and pulled him into a hug, letting him cry into her chest. It was a little awkward with a Skorupi in the middle, but they made do.
"I'm sorry," Ayame whispered. She felt like crying, too. She wasn't that close to Kitty, but Kitty had seemed like a sweet, lovely little girl. And now… now she had become just like this. It stung her. And seeing Blake like this…
All Ayame could do was whisper "sorry" over and over again.
"I don't know what to do," Blake sobbed.
"I don't either," Ayame admitted. "But I don't think that Kitty is lost. Because I know Gwen isn't lost. Not as long as you're there for her."
Blake didn't know what to say, so he just repeated "I don't know what to do" again.
Back in the stadium, the fallout was a little more tense. The battlefield was shifting and returned to its original flat appearance.
"I'm hungry," Kitty decided. She patted her stomach. "Using my harmonia like that really took a lot out of me."
A stab of pain passed through her head, but she pushed it aside. She wasn't going to let her harmonia get the better of her.
"Julia! Want to go get dinner?" Kitty asked excitedly. She seemed… almost back to normal? But Julia could see it was still a façade. Kitty was smiling, acting like nothing was wrong, but Julia hadn't forgotten what she had said. She knew that Kitty would be back to her near-crazed self again the minute she entered another battle.
Julia didn't want to eat dinner with the person in front of her. Right now, she just wanted to go back to her room and cry.
"Sorry…" Julia said, forcing a smile onto her face. "I'm not that hungry right now… I need to take my pokemon to the pokemon center right now."
"Oh, I almost forgot!" Kitty said. "So do I. Hey! Let's go together, okay, Julia?"
"…Yeah, sure," Julia said, giving Kitty a pained smile. The two girls walked out of the stadium as the other students began to leave, too. As she left, Julia gave one last look over her shoulder at Reiner. She felt a little guilty. Due to her selfishness, she had denied him the opportunity to go on to the next round, the semi-finals. And for what? She hadn't even managed to get through to Kitty. The short girl walking next to her… she didn't seem anything like Kitty, and it made Julia want to cry.
Reiner himself was also feeling troubled at seeing what happened to Kitty. He wasn't as close to her as Julia was, but it still made him feel sad to see a friend so lost in herself.
"So what are you going to do now?" Reiner asked.
"Wh-what?" Nikita flinched, surprised. She had been so lost in her own worries that she hadn't even realized what was happening. She turned to look at her boyfriend.
"You're still Kitty's partner, right?" Reiner asked. "So what are you going to do? Are you going to keep fighting on her side?"
"…Huh," Nikita said, looking up at the sky and touching a finger to her lips in contemplation. She turned back to him with a thoughtful look on her face. "…Reiner, can we go for a walk?"
Reiner nodded, not sure what she wanted. The two left the stadium, and walked across campus. They walked in silence for a bit, before Reiner finally asked, "so is there somewhere we're walking in particular, or-"
"Here is fine," Nikita said, stopping on the peak of bridge going over the river running through campus. She turned back to Reiner and gestured for him to follow her.
"So what's so special about here?" Reiner asked.
"Nothing really," Nikita smiled. "I just wanted to talk privately with you for a little."
"About Kitty?"
"About Kitty."
Reiner and Nikita leaned on the railing, looking over the river.
"So you're going to keep fighting with her in the tournament?"
"I am," Nikita replied.
"Even after what just happened?" Reiner asked. "Are you sure?"
"And would refusing make it better?" Nikita asked.
Reiner didn't know how to answer that.
"I remember a few months ago, a certain boy had gotten a little too edgy and anti-social, and alienated a lot of his friends," Nikita mused nostalgically. Reiner winced, blushing in embarrassment. Nikita giggled.
"It's okay, Reiner. I know you were going through some stuff. But so is Kitty. I don't understand harmonia at all, it's so unscientific. But I can't deny it, either. Whatever it is, it's affecting Kitty in a way that is clearly bad for her mental state, and it's something that's happened before. With Blake's sister, remember? From how he and Sango described her, it looks like she's behaving the same way. Right now, she's at a dangerous spot, mentally."
"And that's why you want to team up with her? Because she's at a dangerous spot mentally?"
"When we talked, you needed a friend, remember?" Nikita asked him. "You were lonely and needed someone to talk to, and I was there. And even though I couldn't really do anything to help, just having me there helped you in its own way, didn't it?"
Reiner nodded.
"Yeah, it did," he agreed. That was a good memory for him to look back on, remembering how they had first met. Well, really met, anyway.
"That's what I want to do for her," Nikita said. "Even if she doesn't want my help, I still want to be there for her. So I'm not going to leave her behind. I'm afraid that if I do, well… she might fall even further than she has now."
Reiner could imagine that.
"So maybe she doesn't want to say anything to me," Nikita shrugged. "Maybe I'll just sit by and watch her sink further. But if she needs me, I'll be there for her. It's the least that I can do for my friend."
"I wanted to be helped, though," Reiner reminded her. "Kitty likes where she is."
Nikita winced. He made a point that she couldn't really argue.
"…Maybe you're right. But I'm still going to try and be there for my friend." She looked down into the water and sniffled. "That way… even someone like me… won't be useless, right?"
Reiner nodded, and put a hand on her back. "You aren't useless, Nikita. Kitty would never have said that if she was in her right mind, you know that, right?"
"Yeah," she cried, nodding her head. "But I can't help my friend… I still feel useless…"
After taking their pokemon to get healed, Julia and Kitty stopped and got dinner after all while they waited for their pokemon to get healed. It was a tense dinner. One that Julia didn't find enjoyable, but Kitty seemed to be enjoying.
"So I'm fighting Blake and Elaina tomorrow," Kitty said, super excited. "Then, I'm going to battle against whoever wins between Sango's team and Cynthia's team, and I'm going to defeat those girls, too. I can't wait! It's going to be an excellent pair of matches."
"You're confident, but what if you lose?" Julia asked.
Kitty scowled.
"I'm not going to lose," she said, dismissing the notion with a wave of her hand. "It seems you really don't get it, Julia. Why won't you just accept that I'm strong?! I managed to defeat you, didn't I? Because I'm the better trainer! With this harmonia of mine-!"
"Kitty, that's not what I-"
Kitty bit down angrily into her burger, glaring at Julia. Julia looked down, a guilty expression on her face. She had managed to set Kitty off again, unfortunately. Julia tried again.
"Look, I'm just saying that I fought Elaina and Blake myself, remember? And Reiner and I put up a good fight, but we still lost. So maybe you'll lose to them too, right? It's possible. And maybe you'll get hurt if you do."
"Julia, I thought we handled this?" Kitty scowled. "You can't keep me safe! You're still looking down on me, even though I'm stronger than you are! I'm stronger than you, and I'm stronger than Elaina! I'll defeat her with the power of my harmonia, you don't need to worry! So just stop it, okay? Let's just enjoy our meal!"
Julia winced, staring at the angry girl. She nodded her head and smiled as honest of a smile as she could force. "Yeah, let's enjoy our meal."
While they ate their food, Julia's mind was racing, trying to think of anything she could say to get Kitty back to the way she was, to help her become her old self again. But at the end of the meal, she could only think of one thing to do. The two left the commons and headed back to the pokemon center, where they picked up their pokemon, and then headed off back to the dorms. But when Julia walked towards Bulbasaur House, Kitty turned to her in confusion.
"You're going?" Kitty asked. "I thought we could go back to my place and watch a movie?"
"No, I…" Julia wasn't sure what to say.
"…Oh," Kitty scowled. "You aren't sulking, are you?"
"Huh? Sulking?"
"I thought that once I showed you how things were, we could go back to being friends again!" Kitty snapped. "Isn't that what you said?! That when I became stronger than you, you would congratulate me with a smile?! Well that isn't what's fucking happening! You're all surly and upset, and I don't understand why!"
Kitty's face took on a hurt look that was so close to how Julia remembered her that she almost looked like a dream.
"You're my friend, right?" Kitty asked. "I thought you would be happy for me. Are you… are you really just going to be upset because I finally won? Were you only my friend because I was weaker than you? Because you wanted someone you could look down on?"
"No, I never thought-"
"But you're still trying to look down on me!" Kitty snapped. "Even now! You're treating me like I'm a bother even when I beat you!"
"Kitty, please, I swear, it's not that!" Julia begged.
"I'm finally strong now," Kitty said. "And I thought we could still be friends. So tell me, why not?"
"We are friends," Julia insisted, grabbing Kitty by the shoulders. "No matter what happens to you, I promise, you are still my friend. I'm just… it's just been a long day. I need some time to think, okay? I swear, I'm not mad at you. You're still my best friend, okay?"
Kitty sniffled, wiping her eyes.
"Really?"
Julia smiled and hugged the girl, patting her on the back.
"I'm glad," Kitty smiled at her. The two separated. "And you'll come to watch my matches tomorrow, then?"
"Absolutely!" Julia said, giving her a smile back. It was forced, but still held the traces of care she had for the girl in it, so it wasn't as fake as she thought it was.
"Good," Kitty said, sighing in relief. "And… after I win… I'm going to tell you something important, okay?"
Now Julia was curious. "What?"
Kitty winked at her and wiggled her finger from side to side.
"You're just going to have to wait!"
She giggled, turned, and flounced away, Julia relaxing and letting out a sigh of relief when she was out of sight.
I don't know what to do, she admitted. There's only one person who I think might.
The only question was whether or not he was up for it.
Julia knocked on the door of the boys' room frantically, and sighed with relief again when Ayame opened it. She'd been sighing in relief a lot recently.
"What is it?" Ayame asked, confused.
"I… I need to talk with Blake," Julia said. Ayame could see how pale her face was. She let the girl inside.
"Blake's kinda going through some stuff right now, but he's okay to talk, if you want."
Julia followed her into the room, seeing Blake rocking his Skorupi, who was still napping.
"I need your help…" Julia winced, her voice cracking.
Meanwhile, across campus, Cynthia and Sango were walking back from the Snorlax Commons themselves, when Sango got a ring on her phone.
"Oh?" Sango checked her phone. "Yeah? Blake? What is it?"
She blinked, confused.
"Maddi? What about her?"
Maddi was less than enthused.
"You want me to what?" She looked at Sango, then turned to Cynthia, her expression shifting into a scowl.
"We need an arena," Sango explained. Maddi glanced back at her, and sighed.
"Since all the campus stadiums are closed and the outside ones are snowed over, well, we were wondering if we could use one of the Commander's?"
"You want me to convince Vic to let some people who aren't part of our organization in to use one of our advanced battlefields?" Maddi turned back to Cynthia. "You can't seriously expect Vic to go along with this, can you?"
Cynthia cracked a sheepish smile and shrugged.
"Dusk!" Grim plopped on Maddi's head, Maddi sighing again.
"…Fine. I'll ask her, Sango. Happy?"
Kitty leaned back in her bed, a warm smile on her face. Her headaches had started to fade, and she was feeling the warmth of harmonia flooding through her.
I can't wait for tomorrow… she smiled, resisting the urge to giggle. She was going to win her battles tomorrow, it was going to be so easy!
"And then I'll tell her… that I love her." Kitty giggled and hugged her pillow tighter, kicking her legs eagerly.
Kitty's phone began to ring and she sprung out of bed, startled. Only a few people had her phone number, and that ringtone was-!
She giggled. She had just been thinking of Julia, and like a miracle, there she was, calling her!
"Hey! Julia, what is it? Thinking of me? You want to chat?" She asked. Her smile turned serious at what she heard from the other end of the line. "You want me to go where?"
"…No, no, you're right, I'll do it!"
Kitty pulled on her big fluffy white parka and skipped out into the cold night, humming to herself. She walked across campus to where Julia had told her that she wanted to meet up. It was a large, blocky building in the middle of the forest.
Kitty took her phone back out and called Julia again. "Okay, I'm here."
The door rumbled open and Kitty stepped through, being greeted by an angry-looking older girl. She had sharp golden eyes and dark hair cut into angular bangs that framed a stern face.
"So you're the special girl, huh?" Vic scowled.
"I'm Kitty," Kitty said, extending her hand out to the older girl. Vic didn't take it. She narrowed her eyes. Kitty winced in pain. A small smile crossed her lips, and her eyes flashed. She dropped her hand.
"So you have harmonia too?" She whispered. Vic snorted, her eyes flashing angrily. She whirled around and stormed down the hall, Kitty following after her. She added another person to her list of who she wanted to defeat.
Kitty stepped out of the elevator.
"Hey, Julia, you here?" She asked, walking down the hall again and reaching the next room. She stepped through the door, bright lights hitting her in the face. "Huh?"
Kitty blinked, wiping her eyes. She was standing in an indoor stadium. She watched Vic walk past her, over to the stands. Kitty followed her with her eyes, seeing Julia, Cynthia and Aud, Sango and Silver, Nikita, Reiner, and Maddi. Even Nick and Callie. She walked forward, confused.
"What are you guys doing here?" Kitty asked.
"Kitty."
Kitty turned to see Blake standing on the other side of the room, in the trainers' box of the stadium.
"Blake? What's up?"
"I saw your battle today," Blake said.
"Oh, really?" Kitty smiled. She walked closer to him. "Come to say congratulations? I worked really hard, I did my best."
"Not exactly," Blake said, shaking his head. He reached to his belt and took a pokeball off. "I want to battle you."
Kitty's face lit up. "Really? You want to battle me?"
"We're going to be battling tomorrow, after all," Blake said. "Why not cut to the chase and settle things tonight? Unless your pokemon aren't ready to fight again."
"…Perfectly healed," Kitty said, her eyes flashing. Blake was one of the people that she wanted to fight most. "Are you sure you want to do this though, Blake? I am stronger than you, after all. Don't you want to wait until tomorrow, when you'll have Elaina on your side?"
"You think you'll win?"
"Of course I'll win," Kitty smiled. "I have harmonia, after all. No matter how good you are, Blake, you won't be able to beat me. I'm not like Oscar, you can't get an edge on me." Her eyes flashed again. "I'm going to show you how strong I've gotten."
Blake shook his head. "You're mistaken, Kitty."
Kitty scowled.
"What do you mean by that?" She demanded.
"I mean, you don't know anything about what it means to be a strong trainer," Blake replied. "Just because you beat Julia, you think you're stronger now? Not even close. I'm going to defeat you, and show you just how weak you really are."
Kitty's eyes widened, and she glared angrily at him.
Blake vs. Kitty! What will this match entail? Will Blake be able to get through to her, where Julia couldn't?