While Cynthia and Blake are having their relationship drama, what other drama is going around the school this Valentine's Day? Let's find out!

Also, thank you to everyone who read my story "The Heir to the Dragon". I would appreciate if you continue to read and support it in the future! You can get there through my profile!

The votes for the Elimination Round have begun to pick up, that's pretty good! Hope we can start getting them to role in! I've been very surprised by the results of this poll so far, some people are leading that I never would have expected, and some people are trailing behind who I thought would be frontrunners. Just goes to show how much things have changed since last year!

Nominated: Alcea, Ayame, Carrie, Caelia, Cynthia, Dakota, Darla, Elaina, Elizabeth, Julia, Kate, Kitty, Lila, Maddi, Marion, Nikita, Olivia, Sango, Sylvia

KedharS: She won't get THAT jealous… probably…

Rowlets and Oshawotts: Harems dry up pretty quickly once you get into a real relationship.

JoshGamerV: Notably, that wasn't "kid Ayame" she was a blonde girl named Ayame. Not the same person at all. As for the song, consider the lyrics and what it might be about.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 652

When Sango woke up, the first thing she thought of was Blake. It was all hitting her now. Blake was back. He was alive and okay. It had all been so much, too much for her exhausted mind of last night to handle. Now that she had gotten a good night's sleep, she could firmly assert that any lingering feelings that she thought she might have had for Blake were just the remnants of her feelings that she had long-since gotten over, mixing with her sense of loss at his disappearance and her joy that he had finally returned.

Sango sat up in bed and stretched, a confident smile on her face. It was early in the morning, and she was a brand-new Sango! All those conflicting feelings that she'd had were nothing to be concerned with, she was just a happy girl who had missed her friend, who just so happened to be a boy that she used to have a crush on, and now no longer did. He was her friend, and she loved him dearly, but again, it was just as a friend.

That was all it was.

Definitely.

It absolutely was not the case that she still had feelings for Blake.

NONE.

He was just her best friend! She loved him, fine, but the way she loved a friend! Like Cynthia! Yeah, Blake was just like Cynthia, only without the boobs. Or the perverse attitude. Yeah, Cynthia, with a smile that made her heart just-

Nope, she was NOT thinking that, not at all. Those were the kinds of thoughts that dreary, exhausted, emotionally-overloaded Sango would have, yep! Normal, morning, refreshed, absolutely-not-in-love-with-Blake Sango nodded her head, assured of her feelings. She climbed out of bed and looked out the window, it was still dark out; the snow glistened in the light of the street lamps in a way that was just so beautiful it made her heart yearn.

Blake's probably still asleep right now, she thought with a sigh. Wait! No, it's normal that I'm thinking about him, considering that he's back. Maybe we can go get breakfast later, catch up, since it's been so long that I've seen him, and we haven't really had the chance to catch up and hang out together in so long, but…

Sango smacked herself across the face, what was she thinking?! It was Valentine's Day! Blake was with Ayame, and they were going to be going out on a date today, for sure! If anyone missed Blake the most, it was definitely her, and she was actually selfish enough to think that Blake should be spending his first day after coming back, and Valentine's Day, of all days, with her instead of with his girlfriend? Sango shook her head, banishing those thoughts from her head.

She turned and looked around, and realized that she and Silver were alone in their room. Julia and Cynthia were nowhere to be seen. That was definitely odd. It wasn't often that she was the last one to wake up in the morning, especially considering that it was 4:45 in the morning.

But right now, Sango had more important things to focus on. She changed out of her clothes, realizing that she hadn't even worn her pajamas, and put on a spare uniform. She was going to the lake in the morning, to meet up with Marion.

She had to make sure she got there before Marion fished up all the Luvdisc herself, after all, maniac that she was.

Sango headed out of her room, Silver floating eagerly behind him. She stifled a yawn, surprised at how exhausted she was. Now that she didn't have the drive of keeping her thoughts about Blake out of her head, she could feel all of her exhaustion from the past two weeks beginning to catch up with her. Once Valentine's Day was over and she no longer had the weight of responsibilities bearing her down, she vowed that she would get some rest.

Then again, early morning walks were a form of rest and relaxation that Sango was rather comfortable with. She timed her schedule so that the Snorlax Commons were opening just as she passed by, and ordered a light breakfast consisting of a couple dozen pancakes and two pounds of bacon and sausage before going to meet up with Marion, climbing up the large hills leading off-campus.

The large lake gleamed in the setting moon, the sun of dawn not yet having risen up to greet the water. Well, it wasn't water anymore. The cold temperature was starting to freeze it over already, in spite of Sango and Silver's best efforts. Luckily, thanks to the underwater heaters, the temperature was still nice and toasty for the Luvdisc, who were used to a warmer climate.

Marion hadn't minded the ice at all. Sango could see her shadowed silhouette sitting on one of the long dock paths stretched out over the lake, having cut a hole in the ice that she was fishing out of. A large tank was at her side, packed full of the pink fish pokemon.

Sango rolled her eyes and suppressed a laugh. Marion just didn't change. Of course she was fishing, after Sango had left her the night before, she had said she was going to make some finishing touches on the decorations.

Needless to say, the finishing touches had not yet been finished, and Marion was fishing away without a care in the world. She had probably been fishing all night long.

"Marion!" Sango called, waving at the girl. "Are the fish biting?" She could snap at Marion for slacking off on her duties later.

"Sango!" Marion chirped, turning and waving back at the girl. "The Luvdisc are snapping up a storm, that's for sure!"

"Make sure you save some for our guests," Sango smirked, walking up onto the dock and crouching down beside her. "We've still got a lot of work to get to, you know, you haven't even hung up the banner or posted up the announcement board yet. Not to mention, you still have to bring up all those spare fishing poles from the aquarium that you promised to let us use, don't forget." She clapped Marion on the shoulder. "Let's get to work, shall we?"

"Awww, come on, Sango!" Marion pouted, kicking her feet against the ice in frustration. "I'm fishing right now, come back later! I'll do it in the morning!"

"Marion, it is the morning," Sango said, holding up her phone and showing it to Marion, and then pointing at the first slivers of light out on the horizon.

"…Oh. Drat," Marion pouted, sighing in defeat. She reeled in her line and stood up, turning to Sango, her sadness disappearing in an instant and getting replaced with a big smile, flashing Sango a thumb's up. "Let's get started! We've got a lot of work ahead of us!"

Sango sighed in relief. Maybe this was something that she could work with after all. Marion actually seemed to have a work ethic for once.

Sango was not the only one preparing for a long Valentine's Day.

Serefina awoke with a yawn, just as early as Sango had, prepared for a day that would probably be just as busy and arduous.

Not because she had a date or anything, she still hadn't found that special someone, and wasn't sure if she ever would. No, her Valentine's Day plans were mainly going to be taking care of the pokemon that all her compatriots were going to be ignoring so they could focus on their romantic liaisons, not that Serefina minded getting the holiday shift.

She loved looking after pokemon, after all, and she certainly thought more about that than going out with some guy who was just going to spend the whole evening staring at her boobs and then get pissed off when she sent him on his way at the end of the date without letting him get anywhere near them, pokemon were much better.

So why was Serefina dreading Valentine's Day so much? Well, the answer to that question had nothing to do with her plans, and everything to do with her roommate.

"Hey, Seri, just in time! I wanted to ask, do you think this thing about how the pokemon in the Luvdisc Fishing Day are actually stolen Luvdisc illegally transported from the Hoenn Region for heart scale harvesting sounds like something worth looking into? Seri?"

Serefina took a deep breath. She didn't know if Dakota had been up all night or not, and frankly, she didn't care.

"Dakota, I'm going to tell you right now, you realize it's like 5 in the morning and you have a romantic dinner with your boyfriend planned, right?" Serefina scowled, looking at Dakota's unkempt appearance. Her eyes were more bag than eye and her hair looked like it hadn't been brushed in weeks. She was a complete mess, and if Akira took one look at her he'd probably go running for the hills. She loved Dakota, but the girl really took her boyfriend for granted sometimes.

"I can't help it, Seri, this is important!" Dakota exclaimed.

"You're writing an article about fish! What's so important about that?!" Serefina nearly exploded, before reminding herself to keep calm. She was just a little high strung because she hadn't had her exposure to cute pokemon for the day. She took a few deep breaths, and put a smile up onto her face as she waited for Dakota to respond.

Surprisingly, Dakota wasn't really that mad. She was staring at Serefina calmly, although at second glance, Serefina saw that it looked more like she was just tired. Which made sense, since as far as Serefina knew Dakota hadn't gotten much sleep in the last few nights. Or two weeks. Dakota wasn't exactly skilled at taking care of herself, which was why Serefina often felt like a mother to the girl, as much as she didn't like it.

"Seri… you don't understand," Dakota yawned. Even the few seconds of distance from the screen of her computer were already having an impact on her tiredness, and Serefina assumed that if she could get the girl talking long enough she would collapse on her own lack of energy. So she waited calmly for Dakota to continue.

"What don't I understand?" She asked softly.

"It's not just the article," Dakota wailed. "That's just my normal workload! I have to study this… thing, as well!"

Serefina sighed. Dakota's special project. She shook her head. Dakota had been working on it for the last two weeks, and wouldn't tell her anything about it.

"If it's that much work, why not just take a break?" Serefina asked softly. "You want to spend time with Aki, right? Haven't you been looking forward to this romantic date? Look in the mirror, Dakota, you look like a mess!"

Dakota glanced at the mirror hanging on the wall and winced. She had to admit, Serefina was right. But she shook her head. Even if that was the case, this was important! She had to take her own issues into consideration, take care of this tablet research that Olivia cared so much about! If what she'd said was true, then…

It was the only way to get Blake back. She'd managed to squeeze that little bit of information out of Olivia, and that's how she knew just how serious the issue actually was. Her research was maybe the only thing that could do it.

Dakota and Blake weren't particularly close, she didn't even really like him very much. But she still knew just how important this was, and she wasn't about to let him be trapped forever in wherever the hell it was that creepy thing brought him!

A shiver went down her spine. She had been able to read those words. She didn't know what they'd meant, but she'd almost read them. And now, knowing what she knew, she knew that she had almost doomed herself along with him.

And that's why she'd spent the last two weeks figuring out everything she could about the tablet, so that she'd know for sure. So that she'd be able to find some way to bring him back. She didn't like him very much (and she DESPISED Sylvia Driscoll, who was also trapped) but she would do whatever she could to help.

But she'd hit a roadblock. She'd dug up every scrap of info she could find in her spare time, and right now was feeling more than a little overwhelmed. She was running on fumes, and yes, it would feel so, so good to just forget about all this for a night, clean herself up, and go spend an evening of happiness with her favorite guy.

But this was more important. Especially when she took a step back and analyzed the futility of her own situation.

"I'm busy with important stuff," she muttered under her breath, shying away from her hideous appearance in the mirror. "And besides, even if I went on that date, it's not like it would matter anyway. You know as well as I do that me and Aki aren't going to last. I could be doing the best that I could, and I'd be lucky if we made it to our third year together."

"Don't say that," Serefina said, forgetting about her irritation immediately. She crouched down next to Dakota and placed a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder. "You two are just in a rough patch, you can get through it. You love each other!"

Serefina had helped Dakota and Akira through a lot of issues in their relationship in the short time they'd been dating (not even 6 months?! This was insanity) to the point where she felt like an unintended third party to their couple. And she hated it. It was one of the most inconvenient parts of her friendship.

At the same time, though, it gave her a lot of insight into the two of them, insight that was coming in handy right now as she studied Dakota's behavior.

Dakota would often come to Serefina in tears about how she had messed up, or about how her relationship with Akira was doomed, or one of a dozen other complaints that were really, in the end, completely baseless and more about her just being lazy and bitching to Serefina about something that wasn't much of a big deal.

The times when Dakota's complaints were legitimate, Serefina could feel the real desperation oozing out of her, real fear that things could be over mixed with genuine desperation that she wanted to fix the problem and make sure the relationship didn't come to a tragic end. Another thing that was annoying to deal with, but Serefina was at least a bit more willing to help her through.

Which was what made this whole thing so much more confusing, because staring at Dakota right now, Serefina honestly couldn't tell what her mental state even was. Dakota didn't seem to be exaggerating or frantic. Serefina had no idea if this was one of the times when she was just being unfairly pessimistic, or if this was a real issue that Serefina should be taking seriously.

Dakota looked more like she was legitimately dead inside, and that frightened Serefina right down to her bones.

Sure, it could have just been the fact that she was tired and burned out from all the hard work she'd been doing, staying up for weeks with a bare minimum of sleep, but Serefina didn't want to risk that, not with her friend.

So she decided to air on the side of caution and treat Dakota's issue like it actually was as serious as it seemed to be, and hoped that she would be able to help somehow. The pokemon would wait for her, but Dakota couldn't wait.

And it was issues like this that made Serefina not look forward to Valentine's Day, having to help a friend out of a romantic rut like this.

Dakota still didn't seem convinced by Serefina's assertion that they were in love, so she tried again, with something a little more forceful.

"Come on, do you think that Akira would be trying so hard if he didn't honestly want to make things work?" Serefina asked, trying to sound hopeful. She wanted to give Dakota a comforting headpat and pet her, but she thought better of it; in Dakota's present state, Serefina honestly didn't really want to go anywhere near her hair.

She settled for a comforting hand on her shoulder instead, and thankfully Dakota seemed to respond to that pretty well. She smiled a little, but it was an awkward, hollow-looking smile. Serefina sighed. She had a lot of work to do.

"Sure, he's trying, but… that won't be enough," Dakota said, shaking her head. Serefina scowled. Pessimistic Dakota was rearing her ugly head.

"Who says it won't?" Serefina demanded. "Maybe you just have to make it work!"

"We're fracturing, Seri," Dakota said. Her eyes had life in them again, but not the kind of light that Serefina was hoping to see. It was more indignant than hopeful. Dakota scowled up at her friend, and Serefina winced at the sight. "I know he's trying his best, and I'm trying my best, too…"

"Giving up doesn't sound like trying your best," Serefnia snapped. Dakota's scowl deepened.

"I am trying my best!" She cried, springing out of her seat. She paused for a moment to regain her balance, her head feeling a little woozy. She really was tired. "But… you don't understand. No matter how hard I try, I wouldn't be surprised if one of us ended up dead with how toxic things can get sometimes!"

Serefina sighed. Dead? Now Dakota was just being dramatic. She stood up and hugged her friend, letting Dakota cry into her shoulder.

"You'll be fine," she assured Dakota. "You just need to make sure you really give it your best tonight. Get some rest, put on some makeup, run a brush through the brushfire you call hair, and then Akira won't even know what hit him."

Dakota shook her head. "I can't!" She pouted. "This… the work I have to do, my secret project, it's important!"

"You keep saying that, but I think it's just an excuse," Serefina snapped. "What's so vital that it's worth putting your relationship at risk?"

"Blake's life!" Dakota sniped back. Then she gasped, her eyes going wide, and clamped her hands over her mouth. "Err… I mean…" She hadn't meant to say that, it had just slipped out because she was so tired.

Serefina crossed her arms underneath her chest and leaned forward, pressing her boobs insistently against Dakota in the way she always did that made Dakota feel so insecure. She narrowed her eyes into a glare.

"Blake? What are you talking about?" She growled. Dakota gulped. She couldn't keep it hidden any longer. And then it all came spilling out.

Serefina listened to the whole thing in disbelief, shaking her head.

"…And so if we want to get Blake and Sylvia back, then I need to find out more about this tablet! I reserved a research room in the library and everything for today!" Dakota finished. "You see now? I can't worry about a date!"

Serefina could see alright. She could see that Dakota was running on some serious lack of sleep. That wasn't to say that she didn't believe her entirely, crazy as her whole story sounded. It did make a lot of things make sense, like how Blake had somehow disappeared for the last two weeks and left his pokemon in the care of his friends.

But he was back now, so what was Dakota even doing?

"Dakota," Serefina said, pinching the bridge of her nose, "you do know that Blake is back, right?"

Dakota blinked wearily, not sure if she'd heard properly. "What's that now, Seri?" She asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Blake. He's back. He's fine," Serefina explained, raising her eyebrow. "I saw him just yesterday myself, he was picking up his pokemon. I don't know what you're trying to figure out about that tablet or if that's really what happened to him, but if you're just trying to get back Blake and Sylvia, Blake's back. Which means Sylvia probably is, too."

"No no no, you're just saying that so I go to sleep," Dakota said, shaking her head. "I know your game, Seri, and I'm not going to fall for it! I appreciate what you're doing, but the answer is still no!"

Serefina sighed, rubbing her temples. "You said Olivia hired you to find this stuff out, right?"

"Yeah, why?" Dakota asked suspiciously.

"Well, when Blake came to me yesterday, Ayame Toujou was clinging to him like a Shellder on a Slowbro. So that means the Empress knows something about this," Serefina said. "So why don't you call her on whatever private line that she set up for you, and get the truth from her? You'll see."

Dakota rolled her eyes, giving Serefina a triumphant smirk. She pulled out her phone. "Yeah, why don't I just do that?" She said smugly, dialing Olivia's number.

"Hey, it's Dakota."

…

"Yes, I know what time it is."

…

"No, I DON'T care about your beauty sleep, this is important."

…

"My, such language, my next article about you is going to be quite informative."

…

"Oh please, you don't have the power to crush me. Besides, we're getting off topic. This is about that thing you asked me to look into, the tablet."

…

"What do you mean 'what about it'? My friend Seri here says that Blake is alive and well, do you know anything about that?"

…

"I see."

…

"Okay, and you were planning to tell me about this when?"

…

"So he just popped back in last night? You expect me to believe that?!"

…

"…So I wasted my last two weeks is what I'm hearing right now."

…

"No, you can't have the check back."

Dakota hung up her phone and slammed it down onto her table. She glowered at Serefina.

"I'm going to bed," she muttered, trudging over to her bed, untouched for two weeks, and flopping down into it.

Serefina smiled, this was much better.

"Good night, Dakota!" She hummed, heading out to get started on her work as Dakota snored away.

So, people have all sorts of plans for Valentine's Day! How will the day go for our cast?