What other interests are going on this Valentine's Day? And on another note, what is Sylvia up to, now that she's back at the Pokemon Academy?

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 Elimination Round is reaching its climax! Only a few days left! Make sure to get in votes for who you think the best girl is! Also, because it's been brought to my attention that Valerie was indeed nominated to the contest, but was not given a vote, she will be getting a bye to the next round. In the meantime, get your votes in, and we'll determine who will go to the next round at the end of August! It should be exciting! The leading girls may surprise you!

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

KedharS: Yes, hopefully.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Maybe I only have Ian show up when you show up? No, it's just that he's a little tricky to work into this part of the story.

Rowlets and Oshawotts: I don't know. To the best of my knowledge none of the people who submitted one of the initial characters is currently reading my story. Which I mean, it's been a long time since I first published, people move on.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 655

Sylvia stifled a yawn and checked her internal clock to see what time it was. It was already morning. Wow. She'd been up all night, give or take a couple of years. There weren't any windows in the Sandbox, so it was difficult to tell what time it was, sometimes. At least for normal people, but Sylvia found that this was the perfect situation.

I thought I would be tired, but who could be tired with something like this to keep me occupied? She thought, stroking her chin as she looked at the results displayed on her computer. She'd been running every test she could think of on the water samples that she'd brought back home from that fascinating world she'd traveled to.

And what was her effort being rewarded with? What did the mass spectrometer, all of her tests, what did they tell her was in that strange water? What it was made up of? There were so many questions she had, and she'd hoped that the power of science that the Phantom valued so highly would be giving her the answers to them.

What exactly WAS this strange liquid?

…

It was water. That's all the tests showed. That it was normal, everyday water. Sylvia had done everything short of taste it.

"Well, this is disappointing," she pouted. "And here I thought I could do something fun! But it says it's just regular water…"

Then, she thought of something.

"Oh, yeah, it's Valentine's Day," she mused, a wicked smile crossing her face. "That means it's the Star Dance today… hmm… the Star Dance…"

Sylvia briefly considered whether or not she should spike the punch with the water to see what would happen.

Ultimately, though, she decided against it. That would probably cross a few lines, and as much as she would probably enjoy the entertainment that would result, there was a pretty good chance that it would end up going poorly, and she didn't want any deaths on… well, whatever black pit she had in place of a conscience.

Plus, that could possibly result in the entire campus being absorbed by the shadows, and that would land Sylvia right back where she started before. Sylvia enjoyed excitement, but even she had her limits of when an exciting idea would be too risky. And possibly dooming the pokemon academy to hell was juuuuuuust over that line.

With a sigh, she took the two samples, and moved to pour them back into the containers she'd transferred the substances to (water bottles were nice and all, but a little… notable. Not to mention fragile. Refined metal thermoses were sturdier, not to mention more convenient) when another thought crossed her wicked little mind.

Sylvia looked at the tiny droplets of white water smeared on one slide, and then at the tiny droplets of black water smeared on the other. She looked back and forth between the two of them, and a wicked smile spread across her lips.

Well, that's certainly an interesting idea, she mused. She took the slides and set them down on the desk, and then placed one over the other.

Mushed between the two glass slides, the black water drops and the white water drops mixed together and…

…

Nothing happened. Well, nothing exciting, anyway. Sylvia wondered what might occur from adding one to the other, but it wasn't anything that she had expected. Considering that one was water from a so-called "Holy Spring" and the other was from the "Cursed Spring", mixing the water from the both of them together should have, well…

An explosion or something? A rip in space-time? Create some sort of new pokemon mutation, a super-creature born from the abyss of nothingness?

No, all Sylvia could see was a smear of gray liquid between the slides. That was disheartening. But then again…

"I wonder what would happen if I ran these slides through the mass-spectrometer now," Sylvia mused, stroking her chin as she looked at the liquid-covered glass. Her mind was convincing her of all sorts of wicked possibilities.

Now that Sylvia was back among the living, she was going to make the most out of things, and that meant playing with her newest bit of intrigue. Sylvia was the kind of girl where when she got a new toy, she would take it out of the box immediately and play with it until she had figured out everything that she could do with it, and then threw it away never to be played with again.

And if it happened to break as a result of Sylvia's playing?

Well, that was just an unfortunate risk that she sometimes had to deal with. There were more toys where those came from, after all.

Humming to herself, Sylvia walked across the room to the machine and began analyzing the silver-gray water to see just what, if anything, was different about it compared to the two substances that had made it up.

If this failed to produce any results, well…

…Sylvia might just end up taking a swig of one of those thermoses, just to see if something would happen.

Sylvia was done playing with her new toy for now. Her new toy was boring. She'd been playing with it all night, and it hadn't done anything interesting. So she put it away and decided to have some fun with her old favorite.

And today just happened to be perfect for that.

Unlike the other students at the Pokemon Academy, Misato Daisan did not exactly have a room. Certainly, she had been assigned one by the faculty, but she didn't STAY there, it was as empty and minimalist as possible, like no one had ever gone into it before. No, she spent her time in the Sandbox, under the Phantom's thumb.

With this in mind, Misato was very easy for Sylvia to track down. She walked down the hall to where Misato was waiting on standby, and addressed her friend.

"Hey, there's my best girl! How are things?" Sylvia called.

Misato turned to Sylvia. "Elaborate. What do you refer to with the word 'things'?"

Sylvia sighed, and rolled her eyes. "Come on Misato, that's my girl," she snickered, patting her friend on the cheek. "Don't worry about it. It's just nice to see you again. So tell me, how have you been since I've been away?"

"My functions are performing within established parameters," Misato stated.

"'Within established parameters' that's just so adorable," Sylvia cooed. "So tell me, Ms. 'Established Parameters' how well have you established your parameters with cute William, hmm? Are there any parameters that the two of you have… exceeded?"

"Negative. Attempting to exceed established parameters could lead to system errors that would require significant overview," Misato replied. Sylvia clutched her sides and doubled over, laughing at her friend's inability to understand double-entendres.

"I'm not talking about those sorts of parameters," Sylvia said, chuckling. She shook her head and wiped the tears from her eyes before sobering up, standing up straight. "Now then Misato, back on topic, how are things going between you and Will?"

"Elaborate. In what area are you inquiring about a status update for?" Misato asked, which sent Sylvia into another fit of laughter.

"Oh, come on, stop being so coy," Sylvia laughed. "You know there's only one thing to be concerned about between the two of you. How far have you gotten in your… what was it again? Study of human romantic relationships? Have you done anything salacious? I know that certain things might not be possible, but you can certainly be intimate in other ways, right?"

"Confirmation required. Is your statement intended to inquire about the progress of my relationship with Will Harmond in a romantic context?" Misato clarified.

"Sokath! His eyes uncovered!" Sylvia applauded.

"I am not aware of the meaning behind those words," Misato said.

Sylvia rolled her eyes. "It's not important. Anyway, yes, that is exactly what my statement is 'intended' to do, so come on, girlfriend, spill!"

"Understood. Judging by the information I have consumed on the topic of romantic relationships, the appropriate response in a situation where such relationships discussed with a third party is 'I am sorry but I do not kiss and tell'," Misato replied.

Sylvia blinked for a moment, taking that in. She was caught off-guard for a brief instant before quickly switching to a coy smirk.

"Oh, I see," she purred, poking Misato in the cheek. "So what you're saying is that there was kissing involved, hmmm?"

"Negative. That is not a valid conclusion to derive from the information provided," Misato replied. "I cannot confirm that Will and I have kissed to any degree of statistical significance."

"Liar," Sylvia said.

"You accuse me of intentional deceit. Explain. Provide the evidence that you have that has led you to draw this conclusion," Misato requested.

"Women's intuition, that's what," Sylvia smirked.

"The term 'women's intuition' refers to a superstitious belief that one gender has a higher attunement towards insight based upon no factual basis," Misato stated. "The efficacy of such a quality cannot be determined to any degree of statistical significant. It is not sufficient evidence to draw a valid conclusion from."

"Oh yeah, you totally kissed, didn't you?" Sylvia cackled.

"Providing an answer to that question would not coincide with the information that has been provided to my understanding on the topic," Misato replied. "Therefore I do not see it necessary to answer that question at this time. There is no evidence which proves that Will and I kissed to any degree of statistical significance."

Oh, this was interesting! Misato was lying to her! Of course, she didn't know for certain whether or not Misato had taken her advice and actually kissed Will on her "date" with him, but Sylvia knew Misato well and knew that she almost certain would have followed instructions.

So yes, Misato and Will had definitely kissed. But Misato was lying about it! Misato wouldn't lie about something like this unless she was ordered to do so. She was capable of making judgments, certainly, and sometimes those judgments led her to the conclusion that she would need to lie in order to accomplish some other goal, but when it came to whether or not she had kissed a boy? Something like that, a robot should be conveying with the same amount of general "as you know" deadpan as if she were describing the rain.

Misato shouldn't be lying, and yet she was.

This was interesting. This was very, very interesting. All thoughts of the water from that monochrome world had left Sylvia, right now she was focused entirely on the notion that not only was Misato kissing a boy, but she had developed the sense of decorum necessary to not go around telling people about it! Something like that…

Well, something like that just wasn't possible. At least not with how she understood Misato's programming based on their interactions. So Misato was learning. Adapting.

This was quite certainly something to be excited about.

"Well, then, fine, let's not kiss and tell," Sylvia purred. "I have something much better to suggest, anyway, Misato. Would you like to hear my advice for you?"

"Negative," Misato replied, which caused Sylvia to blink in surprise. That was certainly not what she expected.

"Oh, really? Why not?" Sylvia asked, raising an eyebrow.

"After explaining your advice to Will, he informed me that the information you provided was erroneous. I can no longer see you as an objective source of information in the field of romantic relationships," Misato explained.

"…Yeah, well, you never should have from the start considering my experience in that field is zero," Sylvia muttered under her breath. She brightened up. "Anyway, that's not important! But what is important is that you want to improve your relationship with Will, isn't that right? Assuming, of course, that your relationship is romantic in nature."

"Affirmative. If the premise that my relationship with Will is romantic in nature is taken as fact, then the logical conclusion to draw from that premise is that I would be interested in improving that relationship," Misato agreed.

"Honey, use your little words," Sylvia smirked.

"Affirmative," Misato stated instead.

"How about you just say 'yes'?" Sylvia asked.

"Yes," Misato said back.

"Yes… mistress," Sylvia corrected.

"No."

"No?" Sylvia asked, narrowing her eyes, her smirk widening.

"Negative," Misato quickly changed her statement.

"…Sure, sure," Sylvia chuckled. "But anyway, as I was saying, you do want to improve things with Will, isn't that right?"

"If the premise that my relationship with Will is-"

"Yes, yes, romantic in nature, blah blah blah," Sylvia said, rolling her eyes. "You know, for a machine, you're very good at dodging simple questions, did you know that?"

"It is not possible to dodge something that does not have tangible substance," Misato replied. "Therefore it is impossible for one to develop skills in that area to the level that would be considered 'good'."

"…Yeah, not dodging the question at all," Sylvia dryly noted.

"Negative. I am providing you with the most accurate answers to the questions asked based on the information provided to me," Misato countered. "If you believe that my response is not a sufficient answer then the cause of the deficiency must be a lack of clarity provided to me by the individual posing the question."

…

"Don't get snippy with me!" Sylvia scowled, putting her hands on her hips. It was difficult to seem mad when under her face she was practically rolling over with excitement. She couldn't believe Misato could be this adorable! She was perfect!

Sylvia had another thought. Before, she was going to talk with Misato about Valentine's Day and see what she had planned, if anything. Sylvia assumed that the answer was nothing. She would have then given Misato some suggestions about what she could do with Will today. Those suggestions might have even been helpful.

But right now, she had something else in mind.

"Misato, can I ask you something? And I want you to give me an honest answer," Sylvia said.

"Affirmative. As you are aware it is not possible for me to commit an intentional deception unless instructed to by an authority. However I must inform you that I possess information that is classified, and I will not be able to answer your question if that information is requested. Furthermore if I judge that answering that question will violate my intentions then I will also not answer. Are these acceptable terms?" Was Misato's response.

Sylvia took a deep breath and exhaled.

"'Affirmative' would have been enough," she finally said.

"You expressed a desire for an honest answer. That necessitated that I provide you with the parameters for what answers I can provide to you honestly," Misato explained.

"It's not that kind of question," Sylvia assured her.

"Understood."

"Misato… do you consider me your friend?" Sylvia asked.

"Affirmative," Misato confirmed. Sylvia smiled. That was quite the response.

"Elaborate," Sylvia tried. "Why am I your friend? After all, friendship is an emotion, isn't it? So to be your friend, wouldn't you need to have feelings?"

"Negative," Misato replied. "Friendship can exist without the necessity of emotion. Friendship is a relationship like any other relationship, and I am capable of forming relationships. In the case of friendship, it is defined in my programming as familiarity with an individual. My cognitive processors pick up the unique inputs that the presence of an individual provides, allowing me to respond to that individual in a way that is unique to them. Because I am capable of desiring to experience certain inputs, it is therefore possible for me to grow accustomed to the experience certain individuals provide, and even miss those experiences in their absence. Friendship is not an emotional connection but an intellectual one."

Sylvia nodded her head.

"Okay, by that logic, would you consider Will to be your friend?" Sylvia asked.

"I cannot answer that question to any degree of statistical significance," Misato replied. Sylvia smirked.

"More than friends, then," she snickered. Misato did not respond.

"Well, anyway, I consider you my friend as well. So, tell me, Misato," Sylvia continued, "in your experience, is it appropriate for friends to give their friends advice on their relationships with others?"

"Affirmative. That is consistent with the information I have absorbed on the topic of friendship," Misato confirmed.

"So, it would be normal for me to provide you with advice, even if you would not necessarily take the advice, or want to hear it?" Sylvia pressed.

"Affirmative, that is also consistent," Misato agreed.

"So, that's what I'll do," Sylvia decided. "And don't worry, you don't have to accept my advice if you don't want to. Now, tell me, Misato, what is the date? Just the day and month, no need to ruin things with a pesky year."

"February 14th," Misato replied.

"Are you aware of the significance of 'Valentine's Day'?" Sylvia asked.

"Affirmative. It is a day that is considered a significant event for romantic partnerships to celebrate," Misato said.

"So if someone, say, a Mechadoll, were to be in a romantic partnership with someone, it would be considered appropriate, expected even, for them to celebrate Valentine's Day with their partner?" Sylvia pressed.

"Affirmative," Misato agreed.

Sylvia smiled. Perfect.

Well, nice to see that Sylvia is still her plotting self.