Time for Blake's sweet and adorable date with his girlfriend! What will they do together? And what other surprises await the cute couple? Let's find out!

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Honestly, I don't think any of them would do it.

Aquahaze675: They all have their own little dynamics that make them unique, which I find to be pretty good. But we definitely need to develop the ones other than Blake and Ayame.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 569

"Aww, a picnic is the most adorable thing in the world!" Olivia giggled, dancing around Ayame as she stared at her reflection in the mirror.

"You… you sure it's okay?" Ayame asked. "I mean, what you were saying before, about showing off skin, this outfit is a little more…"

Ayame was wearing far more conservative clothing than those Olivia would often recommend. Tight jeans and a nice squirtleneck sweater, a deep violet that made her hazel-gold eyes shine, the same color as the beautiful irises that she loved. And of course, her beloved ribbon was tied in its usual way, framing her bangs perfectly. It brought a smile to her face, seeing how the whole outfit looked on her. The seductive clothes Olivia had given her made her excited in a certain way, but with her current outfit, it felt a lot more…

Well, it felt more her than the other clothes. She felt the most herself in t-shirts and running shorts, but this wasn't the weather for that.

"Well, it's a little too cold outside to go full-on seductress," Olivia explained. "Can't go on a picnic in the snow and look your best if you're shivering all the time, and it's not like you're going there to get all… 'warmed up' since you'll be in the wilds, so…"

Olivia paused.

"Though, I could definitely imagine the two of you being kinky like that-"

"OLIVIA!" Ayame exclaimed, Olivia cackling.

Olivia shook her head and smirked.

"Besides, you don't want to go full-on seductress with him," Olivia assured her. "No, no, that's for saucy dinner dates, or maybe a particularly bold lunch, or, you know, if you two are hanging around in each other's rooms and doing something."

"But not picnics?" Ayame pressed.

"Picnics are nice and wholesome, they're cute," Olivia explained. "You aren't trying to be seductive, you're trying to be adorable and sweet and have a good time, right? So you want to go for something casual, and yet alluring. Enough to make him see you're a cute girl who makes the world shine, but not enough where he wants to throw you down and-"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," Ayame said, her face hot. She turned away from the mirror, unable to bear the embarrassment on her face.

"In other words, this is the perfect little cutesy date for a pair of virgins like the two of you!" Olivia finished with a smirk, Ayame giving her a hot look.

"Don't say it like that!" She wailed. "Don't make it sound so-!"

"Accurate?"

"Childish!" Ayame snapped. "We're… we're going at our own pace! And before you say another word, yes, I'm fine with it! I'll… I'll wait for him however long it takes for him to be ready. I'm… I'm okay with that. Honest."

Olivia shrugged her shoulders and didn't say a word. If that's what Ayame wanted, then who was she to tell her otherwise?

"But you want him to, right?" She just had to get the last word in. She couldn't help herself.

"We've been over this," Ayame said, which was her way of not saying "yes".

"Well, I'll be rooting for your date," Olivia said, patting her on the shoulders and giving Ayame a light little shoulder massage to get her worked up and ready to go. "You've got everything prepared, right? You guys are ready?"

"I made sandwiches," Ayame blushed, nodding her head. "And also some potato salad. Plus, since it's cold, I made some hot chocolate… so, um…"

Ayame fidgeted around in the most adorable way that Olivia could resist, leaning forward and hooking her chink over Ayame's shoulder and nuzzling her cheek up against her.

"Oh, you're just the most adorable thing in the world, why can't you be my girlfriend?! Stupid Blake," Olivia pouted, half-serious and half-joking.

"Get off," Ayame laughed, shaking off her best friend and pulling away from her. "Come on, I have to go, it's almost time!"

"Yes, yes, I get it," Olivia smiled. "Still, don't you think an actual picnic basket is a little too… Grant Wood?"

Ayame rolled her eyes.

"Good luck!" Olivia called after her as Ayame left the senior's studio and headed down the stairs and into the kitchen, picking up the picnic basket she'd prepared. Taking a second check, she made sure everything was as she had prepared it. This was going to be a great date, and nothing was going to ruin it!

Her preparations and double-checking done, Ayame turned and walked out the door, where she baulked in surprise. Blake was standing on the deck, a sheepish smile on his face!

"Blake?" Ayame gasped. "What are you doing here? I thought we were going to meet up at the Blastoise Fountain?"

Blake gave her a sheepish smile.

"Well, I mean… I was definitely planning to," he admitted. "I actually walked all the way there this morning. I was… a few hours early, since I was pretty eager. And, well… waiting for you felt all wrong. I wanted to see you as soon as possible, so I came here instead, and thought, well, maybe we could start our date now?"

The hopeful look on his face made Ayame weak in the knees. Why did he have to be all swoony and make her floaty inside?! It just wasn't fair that he was the one to do that stuff, she never got to make him feel like that!

"You don't play fair," she half-mumbled half-giggled. He looked at her in confusion as she walked over and poked him in the nose. "I was going to go over to the Bulbasaur House to surprise you, you know! I want the chance to catch you all flustered for once!"

"Okay, okay," he laughed, brushing her finger away. "Next time we have a date, you can be the one to skip over our meeting place and come pick me up directly instead, deal?"

Ayame shot him a lip-biting smile and fluttered her eyelashes the way she observed Olivia doing all the time. "Deal," she responded in a throaty tone that made every bit of skin that wasn't covered by his clothes turn a brilliant red. Ha! Two can play at this game, Blake! I can make you feel floaty too, you know!

Ayame 1, Blake 1

The two of them were staring at each other hotly, not sure how to continue the conversation, just enjoying each other's presence. Thoughts of a picnic were the last thing on Ayame's mind right now as she marveled at her boyfriend's cute reactions, and wondered if it was too bold to go in for a kiss before the date even started.

She never got the chance, though. Just as she had settled on going for it, seeing the eager look in his eyes, the sound of a window sliding open caught her ear, followed by Olivia shouting down to them, "are the two of you going on your date this week, or do I need to throw cold water down onto you, huh?! We both know that you guys are too shy to actually start making out right on the porch, you know, so just get a move on it!"

Ayame quickly pulled back, realizing she'd been leaning in a little too closely than was necessary for a picnic. She wasn't sure whether to be grateful or enraged at Olivia's intervention.

"…So we should go, huh?" Blake asked, Ayame catching just a hint of disappointment in his voice. She frowned.

"Yep, let's go," she said, nodding. She shifted the picnic basket into the crook of her left arm and reached her other hand out to take Blake's mittened hand, taking the lead in heading down the stairs and into the snow.

Ayame paused at the bottom of the steps and turned back to Blake, pressing her lips against his. He was surprised for a moment, but then he was kissing back. She sighed into him, glad that she had guessed right. A few seconds later she pulled back, even as Blake continued to lean in, clearly eager for more. That made her feel a different kind of warm, in a lot more places than her heart.

"That, uh… what was that? I'm glad to see you too, but I didn't see a 'hello' kiss coming," Blake admitted, though he couldn't deny he'd been appreciative of it.

"Don't worry, just a thing I had to take care of to prove a point to somebody," Ayame assured him, her face just as hot as his. She turned and looked up at Olivia's window and stuck her tongue out, flipping the window off as well.

Giggling, she turned back to Blake and grabbed his hand again.

"Now let's go."

She was glad that she was holding his hand, because it was all that kept her from skipping off in the snow, which would have been embarrassing. Even though she knew Blake would never see it as an embarrassment.

Although Blake and Ayame were off in their own little world of cheer and happiness, the atmosphere around campus was a lot less upbeat. There was tension in the air, the Phantom Cup coming to a climax very soon. With Dokukage's surprise resignation from the tournament, the Phantom had gotten a bye from the semi-finals and was moving up to the finals. This meant that there would be only two matches left, and that meant someone would have to fight back to back. Whether that was Gerard or the Commander no one could say yet, but in the online polls that Dakota was running (and the underground betting pool that she was covering up with it) the Commander looked to be the favorite to win, and that was something that was weighing on Gerard rather heavily.

Gerard walked through the snow-covered campus with a shadow over his face and a look in his eye that made other students give him a wide berth. He was clearly not in a good mood. Like how the events of the coming semi-final match tonight were weighing heavily on the other students, they were weighing even more heavily on him. He was the one who would have to fight against the Commander, after all, with all eyes on him.

Gerard didn't doubt his ability for a moment. He knew that he was an amazing trainer, and he knew that the problem was no one could see it. That was why he loathed so many people at this school. Thinking that the Commander could defeat him, or the Phantom? That they would be the ones to enter the final match?

It was absurd! Gerard would win, because he was better than they were. Even though he couldn't deny that the Phantom's Shadow Pokemon were tough, he fully believed in his ability to win.

The Phantom and he had been at odds before, but Gerard had come around to respect his line of thinking. They both saw battling and pokemon, and of course, people, for what they were. Means to an end. It was why he was making such excellent use of Elaina, because she was a powerful trainer, a tool he could make use of.

Indeed, he had been far too hasty in denying the merits of working with the Phantom. The man knew what he was talking about, after all. It was rather brilliant, coming up with such an efficient method of controlling his pokemon, turning them into weapons. No one could deny his power.

That was what Gerard wanted so badly. He didn't understand! After he had worked so hard, risen all the way up to become the Eighth Leader, a position that should have guaranteed acknowledgment and respect…

There were still people who were ignoring him! There were people who were still refusing to see how strong he had become!

She was still refusing to see how strong he had become.

I'll win. I'll defeat the Commander, and then I'll defeat the Phantom as well. I'll show them all that I'm the strongest trainer at this school! Diana and I, we can't lose to anyone! I'll make them see that they were wrong, to treat me like a fool! To look at me with scorn, to mock me…

Gerard clenched his hands into fists and quickened his pace as the Sandbox appeared on the horizon, storming through the snow as he got closer. He had to win. He had to show them all just how powerful he was.

Before, he had been tempted by the Phantom's offer to turn his team of pokemon into Shadow Pokemon and defeat everyone who stood in his way with their overwhelming power. But after he'd had the time to think about it, he realized that he couldn't allow himself to make such a foolish choice. As much as he understood and respected the Phantom's thoughts about pokemon, and admired the way he used them, to show just how talented he, the trainer, was…

That didn't mean it was something that Gerard could be a part of.

After all, Shadow Pokemon were the result of the Phantom's research. They were his creation, an extension of his strength.

Gerard couldn't just use Shadow Pokemon to win, that would be tantamount to admitting that he wasn't strong enough to win on his own, that he had needed the Phantom to help him overcome his obstacles.

Gerard didn't need Shadow Pokemon. He was strong enough without them. Diana was strong enough without them. He would defeat the Phantom, and prove to him that it was Gerard who was doing HIM a favor by lending him his strength, not the other way around!

Because Gerard was the strongest trainer at the Pokemon Academy. It was true. It just had to be the truth.

Because if it wasn't… then what was it all for?

I will prove it to everyone… I'm the one who deserves to be respected and admired! I'm the strong one, not Elly! You should be looking at me! Not her! He screamed in his head, the ache in his chest suppressed by the burning rage piling up in his gut as he stormed into the building, vowing that this tournament would be different than the last.

This time, no one would make a fool of him. They would understand just how powerful he was, and how wrong they all were in the end.

Because Gerard was the strongest trainer here.

Ignorant of the tension hovering in the air around campus, Sango was sitting back on the dock outside of Marion's fishing shack, humming to herself as she cast her line out again. Silver was sitting beside her, watching his partner fishing with a smile on her face. Sango was having a blast fishing these past few weeks of the new term. Although she was loathe to admit it, she might owe Marion an apology for making light of her hobby and taking it for granted.

She was having such a good time fishing that she hadn't realized that she wasn't alone on the dock until Ian sat next to her. He didn't have a fishing pole, but he wore a smile and he looked at her with a serene expression as she fished.

Sango glanced back at him, a little weirded out.

"Uh… hey," she said, giving him a wave. "Sorry about your match last night. You really did a good job I thought. I was cheering for you. It really sucked the stuff that Gerard said."

"Thanks," Ian murmured, his smile brightening a little. "But it's okay, you don't need to worry about anything like that."

"Okay!" Sango chirped, turning back to the water and resuming her focus. She didn't mind Ian that much, but she wasn't particularly looking to have a conversation with him, either. Mainly, she didn't really know what she was supposed to be talking about with him. It wasn't like they had all that much in common, even if he was a pretty decent guy by all accounts.

But right now, he wasn't saying anything either, just sitting there and staring at her, and it was making her feel a little uncomfortable.

Sango sighed. If she kept ignoring it, it wasn't going to go away. She turned reeled in her line and set the fishing pole down, turning to him.

"Okay, Ian, what's up?" She asked, raising her eyebrow and flashing him a suspicious look. "I mean, hey, you want to talk, we can talk, though I can't imagine about what, but don't, like… don't look at me like a serial killer dude."

"What?" Ian blinked, almost like he was waking up. "Oh! Oh, sorry! I had no idea. I didn't mean anything, really."

"…Well, good," Sango said, glad she wasn't in the middle of anything suspicious.

"It's just, well… whenever I'm feeling down or conflicted about something, I would always come down here and talk with Marion about it," he sighed, turning and staring out across the water. "She'd always tell me to fish and then I'd talk with her about what my issues were."

Sango blinked. "You'd talk with Marion?"

Ian laughed sheepishly. "Well… I'd talk 'at' her anyway, she wasn't exactly the kind of girl who would be all that helpful."

Sango could picture that, pretty clearly. Marion was exactly the kind of person to offer to help in the sense of fishing.

"And, well, I know she's gone right now, but still, I had some issues to think about. I walked over here, I don't know, because my legs were carrying me here. And when I got here, here you were again, fishing just like her. It was like seeing Marion again."

"Really?" Sango asked, surprised.

"Yeah, seeing you here, smiling and fishing and getting so ingrained in it, it's almost like you're Marion but with blonde hair," he laughed. "I just sort of got caught up seeing her image in you while you were fishing, like you were another Marion, you know?"

Sango shivered, her face going pale. Another Marion? And Sango was one of them? That was a horrifying thought, far more terrifying than the hordes of Shadow Pokemon that the Phantom had cooked up.

"…Well, I don't know how much help we can be," Sango admitted with a shrug, "but if you want to talk about your problems I guess Silver and I can listen."

While Ian talked with Sango, back across campus Blake and Ayame were just getting finished up with their date, and they were all smiles.

"I'm glad we did this," Blake said, staring lovingly at her as he rested his chin in his hands. Ayame was packing up the utensils and plates, feeling full of tasty food and something even more delicious, Blake's love and affection.

"So am I," Ayame said. "So, um… how's the training going?"

The two got up off the blanket and Blake folded it up while Ayame finished packing up the picnic basket, waiting for his response.

His response was a sigh.

"It hasn't started yet," he admitted.

"Oh? But isn't Alcea helping you?" Ayame asked, confused.

Blake shook his head.

"I didn't ask for her to help me train," Blake corrected her. "No, I asked her to put me in contact with someone who could. And I was planning to meet them this afternoon."

Ayame wasn't sure how to respond to that. Blake stood up and handed the blanket back to her, giving her a reassuring smile.

"That's why I wanted to go out with you today, Aya," he explained. "I was hoping to make today be a really good memory, in case the training ended up going really badly."

Ayame was touched. She wanted to kiss him, but she had already had her fill in more ways than one. Instead, she had another idea.

"Can I… can I come with you?" She asked.

Now it was Blake's turn to be touched. And a little surprised. "You want to come with me while I'm training? Why?"

Ayame's sweet expression shifted into a scowl. "Obviously because I want to support you, dumbass," she replied, clapping him lightly on the chin. "So let's go. Who's this person that's going to help you become a good trainer?"

"This way," Blake said.

Ayame followed him deeper into the forest, much to her surprise. But she was really surprised a few minutes later when they entered a large clearing and came upon someone who was already there, sitting on a rock in the center and meditating with his eyes closed.

"I came, like I said I would," Blake said.

Dokukage opened one eye and glanced at Blake, rising from his seated position.

"So you're ready to take being a pokemon trainer seriously?" Dokukage asked. "If that's what you wish, then I will help you. But I warn you, it will not be easy."

Blake swallowed, staring at his new teacher. He was nervous, but… he was ready for this.

Blake has a brand-new sensei! This should be excellent, let's see how good of a teacher Dokukage will be!