Blake and Ayame have escaped! What awaits them at the base of the mountain? Will things go alright? This arc is winding down to a close here, hopefully everything will be okay for them in the end.

KedharS: Nah, she's not that interested in him honestly, she just likes seeing people suffer in general and he happened to be present.

Thunder Fire: Well, hopefully not!

JoshGamerV: She can't die because she's important to the story. Kate still needs to confront her one final time and get closure, for good. THEN she can die. Or maybe realize the error of her ways and redeem herself. One of the two.

Aquahaze675: Who can say?

VerySeriousPerson: Don't worry, we probably won't see Val again for quite some time. As for OCs, PM me and we can discuss. As for the 4 stories, well… let's see where we are at the end of year one. If we go over 1000 chapters before then I'll consider it.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 421

Blake and Ayame ran through the freezing web of tunnels in the icy caves of Mt. Silver, pursuing the swift Glaceon leading them to safety. This wasn't the path they had taken to get into the cavern, but it was the path that Shirayuki had gone down, pointedly yelping at them to get their attention. She was leading them to safety, and Ayame had followed her without hesitation. Blake was more wary, but there was one thing he knew for sure, as he squeezed Ayame's hand. He wasn't letting go of her. He had feared that they would be separated forever, but until they were safely off the mountain, he knew he was never going to let her go.

"Aya… are you sure about this?" Blake asked. "If they manage to get free, and they get down first, then your family-"

"They won't," Ayame snapped, wishing she was as confident as she sounded. She hoped that the two of them could get off Mt. Silver, get back to her parents and explain everything. Her mom would contact the Pokemon Rangers, and they would be safe. But even if they didn't…

"Blake," Ayame whispered, biting her lip, the tremors through her hand showing Blake just how worried she was.

"Yeah?" Blake asked.

"I'm not going to let you sacrifice yourself," she said. "That's why I didn't hesitate for a second. When Shirayuki called to me, I took you by the hand and pulled you with me, because that's where you belong, Blake. You belong with me. You belong with all of your friends. You deserve the right to be safe and happy, and free. It's not about risking my family, or about letting you trade yourself for my safety. If there's a chance for us all to be safe, then I'm going to run towards that chance with everything I fucking have."

Ayame's words eased the ache in Blake's heart. He clutched at his chest with one hand while feeling Ayame's heart beating through the other.

Aya… you said earlier that you thought I would be ashamed of you… that you weren't brave? How could I? You are so much braver than I am. I was all set to give up, but you never lost hope even for a minute, you continued to think about getting us both out of there. Blake stared at Ayame's back and smiled, picking up his pace. He thought back to Val's words, how she relished in the concept of "hope", and delighted in crushing it just to see the despair on her victim's faces. Blake had already given up hope, thinking there was nothing left, and was willing to sacrifice himself for Ayame.

But Aya… you would never give up like that. I wish I could be like that. Ayame had always been there, it seemed. She had been the one he had needed the most, the one who made him feel like no one else ever could. That was why, when he had lost his sister and had nothing left, her love had been able to reach him, and bring a smile back to his face. Yeah… you really are the person who gives me hope. So I'm going to continue moving forward with you.

Blake tightened his grip on Ayame's hand, bringing a smile to her face. The light from outside was getting brighter, almost blinding the two of them as the light was reflecting off of the icy walls of the cave. Seconds later, Ayame and Blake stepped out into the snow.

"Glaceon." Shirayuki stood in front of them, the two humans panting.

"Shirayuki…" Ayame said, reaching out to the Glaceon. Shirayuki stepped out of her reach and nodded her head to the left, glancing down a snowy path heading towards the base of the mountain.

Ayame looked down.

"Thank you for saving us, but… that stone you were protecting… those bad people got it," she said quietly. "I'm sorry, Shirayuki."

"Glaceon," Shirayuki said, shaking her head. The expression on her fox-like face looked like a smile. She turned and plodded through the snow, disappearing into the brush.

"Thank you," Ayame whispered again. She turned back to Blake, still holding onto his hand. She squeezed it tighter.

"Let's go home," she said, smiling softly.

It took another two hours for them to get down the mountain and onto the trail towards the cabin, but by the time they had, it was clear that their presence had been missed. Police cars were parked in front of the house.

Ayame and Blake glanced at each other. They swallowed, and headed up the steps towards the entrance to the cabin, and knocked on the door. Within seconds, the door was flung open, Hiromi staring up at them through red eyes that brought color to a face that was otherwise pale with fear.

"Mom…" Ayame managed to choke out before Hiromi threw herself upon her daughter, burying her face in the much taller woman's chest. The force was enough to knock Ayame into the snow, finally pulling her hand apart from Blake's.

"Aya! Aya!" Hiromi sobbed into Ayame's parka, staining it with tears and snot. "We were so worried about you! Where the hell did you two run off to?! Without telling us?!"

"I'm sorry, mom," Ayame cried, just happy that her mom was holding her again. After all the stress and fear that had been piling upon her since last night, she let herself go and just cried out all of her worries, hugging Hiromi back. Blake smiled, and felt himself relax too. It would be okay now.

Blake and Ayame went over everything with the police. It turned out that Carrie had also left in the morning before Hiromi or Hideo had woken up. So when dawn had broken and both of their houseguests were gone, as well as Blake and Ayame, they had thought that there wasn't anything wrong at first, that the two had gone off to watch the sunrise and taken the guests with them. But then Hiromi had found that the gear for climbing Mt. Silver that she had kept was gone, and the two of them had left behind their phones and all their pokeballs. That was when they had started to get worried, and called the authorities.

Ayame and Blake were given cups of hot cocoa to warm up and curled up together under a blanket in front of the fireplace. Skorupi had run up to them in tears, grateful that his pseudo-parents were okay. Megumi followed after him, her face filled with relief. Ayame and Blake explained to the officers everything that had happened to them since the prior night, including the Children of the Oracles and Val.

"So these people, the Children of the Oracles, and this woman, Valerie Chiester, they were looking for what, exactly?" The officer asked.

"A stone," Blake said. He wasn't sure if he should say more. "They seemed to think it was really valuable."

"And you've encountered them before?" The other officer asked.

"Twice," Blake said, nodding. "Once on Mt. Chimney in the Hoenn Region, and again in the Galar Region. That's how I knew that Val was dangerous. I couldn't say anything, because she threatened me. She threatened… everyone."

"I see," the officer said, nodding. "I'll inform the Pokemon Rangers. They were combing the mountain looking for you two, but now they'll be advised to be on the lookout for those terrorists."

Blake nodded his head and thanked the officer, but secretly he didn't think it would do much good. They always seemed to get away. Besides, what was most important was that they were all safe, and that Val and her cronies wouldn't be able to hurt Ayame's family anymore.

"I knew there was something suspicious about that Valerie girl," Hiromi huffed. "I didn't know what it was, but I just knew that girl wasn't right."

Ayame rolled her eyes. Hiromi had fallen for her act the hardest.

"How did you two get away?" One of the officers asked. Ayame smiled.

"Shirayuki," she said. "She… she was an old friend of the family. She rescued us, fought off those guys all on her own."

Hiromi's eyes widened, and her face turned bright with a mixture of joy and sorrow that only memories of the past could bring out.

"That's my girl," she whispered, staring through the window off towards Mt. Silver, a small smile filled with nostalgia spreading across her face.

"What about that other girl you mentioned?" The other officer asked, glancing first at Hideo and Hiromi and then at Blake and Ayame. "Carrie, her name was? She disappeared at around the same time as you three, was she taken hostage too? Or was she another one of these… what were they called, 'Children of the Oracles'?"

Blake opened his mouth to answer, but Ayame beat him to it.

"She wasn't involved," Ayame said pointedly. "She was just a tourist we ran into while hiking yesterday, looking for a hot meal and a place to spend the night. That's all. She didn't have anything to do with Mt. Silver at all."

Blake turned to Ayame, trying not to let how surprised he felt show on his face. He had thought he would have to come up with some sort of excuse, but he never would have imagined that Ayame of all people would stand up for the former Team Rocket member.

"You sure there's nothing to worry about then?" The officer pressed. "Maybe she was taken like you were. You mentioned earlier that there were some members of Team Rocket poking around here yesterday, maybe she had some connection with them? It just seems suspicious that so many people were in the area of Mt. Silver yesterday. If there's anything you found suspicious about her, just let us know."

"Nothing suspicious about her at all," Ayame repeated. "Just a girl looking for a place to stay. I'm sure she's on the road right now, maybe hitchhiking to Kanto or something."

"Understood. Well, we'll let you know if we find her," the officer said, nodding.

"Thanks," Ayame nodded. They answered the rest of the officer's questions, until Hiromi finally ushered them out, explaining how her kids had been through enough already and they needed some rest, and they could go over things in the morning.

"Aya, I can't believe you did that," Blake said, turning to her, his face doing a much worse job at hiding his surprise.

"What? You don't even like tiny marshmallows," Ayame said, rolling her eyes.

"No, I mean… Carrie." He lowered his voice to keep from letting the police overhear.

"Oh. That." Ayame let out a sigh, shaking her head. She turned to her boyfriend, running her fingers over Skorupi's scales absentmindedly. Blake could see the guilt in her eyes.

"If I hadn't been so hostile to her, well, you know," Ayame muttered. "I was so sure that she was up to something that I completely missed the devil right in front of my eyes. I don't know, maybe if I had trusted her like you did, well, I might have been able to see Valerie for what she was, and we could have resolved things a different way."

"I see," Blake said, nodding.

"So I figure that I might as well start trusting her now," Ayame said. "I didn't get a chance to apologize for my behavior last night, so at least I can keep her past secret from the cops. Who knows, maybe she'll get a chance to make something of herself."

She elbowed Blake lightly in the arm and cracked a smile.

"That's what you'd do, anyway."

Blake smiled back.

Hiromi closed the door on the police and sighed, her already small body deflating. She quickly perked back up, turned, and clapped her hands.

"Lunch!" She called, rushing over to the two of them. "You kids must be so famished after having to deal with all those terrorists! Let me whip you up a nice big feast!"

Ayame and Blake's faces both brightened. They hadn't eaten since dinner the night before, and while the stress of the situation and the frenzy of talking with the police had distracted them, now that the topic was brought up they both realized that they were completely famished.

"Lunch would be great, mom," Ayame laughed.

"Definitely, I think we're both starved," Blake agreed, nodding his head. Hiromi laughed, and headed back into the kitchen. Megumi had gone off somewhere and Hideo was nowhere to be found, leaving the two of them alone.

Ayame and Blake glanced at each other, their faces flushed.

"…We're back," Blake said, smiling at her. "We're safe now, there's nothing we need to worry about."

"Ye-yeah," Ayame agreed, swallowing. Now that it was over with, the terror from the whole situation was really starting to set in, and she was starting to shake. "I mean… we made it out better than I did last time, right? So that's good…"

"I'm sorry I ended up getting you involved with all this," Blake apologized. "It worked out okay, but I still shouldn't have-"

Ayame reached up and lightly slapped him on the cheek, just a small clap to catch his attention. She shook her head.

"I would rather you involve me," she asserted. "This is your life, Blake, and these troubles are yours. But if it's up to me, whether I want to live in ignorance or stand with you and help you fight your battles however I can, the choice is fucking obvious. You. Always."

Blake reached up and placed his hand over hers, gently taking it from his cheek and setting it down between them on the couch. The two continued to look into each other's eyes, just grateful that they had the opportunity to be together again after everything that had just happened.

"S-So, um, about what… I said, back there…" Ayame murmured, her face flushing and her eyes dropping to her lap in embarrassment. "You know, about… about how we didn't get… to do a certain thing, and, well…"

She couldn't even face him, her face was so hot. C-calm down, she reminded herself, feeling a wave of revulsion start up in her stomach again, the way it always did when she was feeling nervous or uneasy. She swallowed her impulse to throw up, and raised her head tentatively.

Ayame sighed in relief. Blake was as embarrassed as she was.

"Wh-when you say that, you're talking about…"

"Uhum, y-yeah, you know… back in my Secret Base, when we were both, well…" Ayame couldn't bring herself to say it. Implying it once had been embarrassing enough, but to say it outright, well, she'd just have to die of shame, first.

Or maybe throw up. Not that there was anything in her stomach to throw up, of course.

"Aya… I think, um… I think we just got out of a really serious and dramatic situation," Blake replied, coughing a little bit to clear away the nervousness welling up in his throat. He had to resist looking too eager, because he knew that this probably wasn't what it looked like.

"W-well, yeah," Ayame said, nodding.

"S-so, like… I don't think we're really thinking that clearly, you know," he said, fumbling over his words a little in an attempt to explain away the urge that they were both feeling. "And like you said before, you don't want, like, something like that to be the reason we… you know. So let's just take it slow, like we planned, okay?"

"…And if something like that happens again?" Ayame asked, her voice turning cold. "And if we don't get away safely next time, then what?"

Blake sighed. "The fact that you say that completely proves my point, Aya. It's not about us, it's about what just happened."

Ayame's face softened and she sighed. He was right, as loathe as she was to admit it. That didn't mean she had to LIKE it though.

"You're right, I can't deny that what just happened is coloring my thoughts more than a little bit," Ayame admitted. She shifted on the couch, moving Skorupi over to Blake's lap, sitting up onto her knees so she wasn't just a little taller than Blake, but now towered over him. But that doesn't change what I'm feeling.

Ayame tilted Blake's chin up and kissed him. It was a chaste kiss that only lasted a few seconds, and then she pulled back, stepping off the couch and staring down at him, her face red.

"I-I know that what you said makes sense, and so you might not believe me when I tell you this," Ayame said, her voice soft and full of love. "But… even without what happened, I'm ready. I just wanted to let you know. So, when you're finally ready… then I'll be ready. So just say the word, okay?"

And with that, Ayame fled the room, far too embarrassed to remain any longer. She ran into the kitchen and put on as casual a face as she could.

"Hey, mom," Ayame said, smiling at Hiromi as she worked on preparing some slices of steak. "Is… is there anything I can help with?"

Hiromi glanced up from the stove and smiled at her daughter.

"Of course, sweetie!" She cooed. "In the meantime, why don't we talk about this 'thing' that you're supposedly ready for?"

Ayame turned a deeper shade of red than the raw steaks.

"YOU HEARD THAT?!" She exclaimed, wanting to curl up into a small ball and die.

"You're a room away, dear, and you weren't exactly whispering," Hiromi giggled, waving her daughter's embarrassment away with the toss of a hand. She gave her a wink, and lowered her voice into a conspiratorial tone. "But I think Blake's right that you two might be moving a little fast. I trust you my sweet little Aya, but right now, after what just happened, maybe you should take things slow, and let it all settle."

"You… you think?"

Hiromi sighed. "My, how can both my lovely daughters be such failures when it comes to romance? I find it an utter surprise that you were able to even seduce a boy into being with you, you're as bull-headed as a Tauros!"

"…Thanks, mom," Ayame dryly replied.

"Well, it's true," Hiromi huffed. "Yes, the dumber boys will be easy if you run in charging with a take down, but Blake's a sweeter, more sensitive type. He's a quality one. This isn't building snow forts with Megu in the snow, sweetheart, you're trying to build something real, and that takes care and dedication, do you understand?"

Ayame nodded glumly. "Yes, mom."

"Besides, it's too obvious right now. You need to wait until he doesn't see it coming, and then go at him from the side! You'll throw him off his game so much he'll have no choice but to plop right into your bed!"

"Now you're fucking talking!" Ayame grinned.

"I'm glad you're safe, sweetheart," Hiromi smiled, hugging her much-taller daughter.

Those two know I can hear them, too, right? Blake rubbed his temples and sighed. He had to admit, when Ayame had propositioned him in the clumsy way that was just so her, and then when she had so tenderly admitted her real intentions, Blake had felt more than a slight stirring of eagerness. Even his own words of waiting were more insecurity on his part, a worry of… disappointing her.

Maybe I should just…

"Ah! Blake!" Megumi's voice brought Blake back from that line of thinking, and he glanced up to see her seated in the doorway, waving to him.

"Oh, hey," Blake said, glancing at Megumi. "What's up?"

"This may sound terribly selfish of me," Megumi admitted, "but I was wondering, now that you're back, and Skorupi can see that you're safe, would it be possible for me to borrow him again? I really am trying to finish this painting, you see-"

"Yeah, sure, not a problem," Blake said, nodding. He got off the couch and walked over to her, holding the small pokemon in his hands. He followed Megumi to her studio and set Skorupi down on the stool, walking towards the exit as she got her paint set out of her bag. She paused, glancing back at him, and raised an inquisitive eyebrow. He was standing at the door, but had not walked through it.

"Oh? Would you like to stay and keep watching me paint?" She chirped.

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something," Blake said, the tone of his voice catching Megumi's ear and causing her to take on a more serious expression. Whatever this was, it seemed serious.

"…Well, what is it?" She asked.

"Ever since I first got here, something felt wrong," Blake said, his frown deepening. "I could tell that something was off about you right away, but I kept quiet about it. I figured you must have had your reasons, and for Ayame's sake, I didn't bring it up. But after what happened today, I can't keep quiet about it anymore."

Megumi's eyes narrowed and a serene look crossed over her face, her eyes glazing over.

"Oh? Whatever do you mean?"

"I know the secret you've been hiding," Blake said, walking closer to her. "So you might as well come clean."

Oh? A shocking twist? What secret could Blake be talking about, I wonder? Is Megumi hiding something from everyone?