Marion has dragged Caelia away to go fishing, but what will come of that? Will her overflowing passion manage to sway the other girl and get her to enjoy life? Or has this all been for nothing, and Caelia is just too far gone?

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 story is finally completed! Thank you for reading!

The Semi-Final Round of the second Pokemon Academy Best Girl contest has begun! Which three of these six girls will make it to the Finals? So far we've only got a few votes in, so show your support for your best girl and vote on the poll in my profile! We want this competition to be close, after all! Who's going to win?!

Semi-Finalists: Ayame, Sylvia, Marion, Sango, Elaina, Valerie

Rowlets and Oshawotts: I hope so.

Pokemonking0924: She's probably looking to run away as soon as possible.

KedharS: Yes it should be.

JoshGamerV: As long as you're Marion, yep.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Still, that's a lot of people, and not a lot of games to choose from. I think Blake would probably like Black and White the most because of the ruins, same with Reiner. Cynthia would probably like Sword and Shield because you get to cook, and Ayame, of course, likes HeartGold and SoulSilver for having the Pokeathlon. The others are probably a lot trickier.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 660

Cynthia enjoyed a leisurely stroll towards the lake at Sango's side, not sure what she would see when she got there.

Would Caelia be sitting at the water, fishing rod in hand, loving the hobby with her stoic, emotionless face? Or would she be absolutely miserable? (Again, with her stoic, emotionless face) She really hoped that Caelia would at least give it a shot.

As expected of a Valentine's Day where the boy she loved was dating another girl, today was shaping up to be quite a day of disappointments for Cynthia. When she got to the lake and saw how packed it was, she got excited- until she saw Caelia and Marion.

Marion was practically spinning as she danced around Caelia, talking to her about all the amazing things that fishing involved.

Caelia didn't even pretend to feign interest. She stood there rooted in place like a stone and said nothing, not responding to Marion's excitement at all. Caelia had her back to Cynthia, but Cynthia could still tell that she had that same glassy, vacant stare on her face that she always wore, demonstrating just how empty she really was.

It really broke Cynthia's heart, the poor thing, she just wanted to cry. But Cynthia held her concerns and pushed forward, heading towards the two.

That was the moment Sango took to split off. Seeing that Cynthia was headed towards Caelia and Marion, Sango wisely decided to give the trio as wide a berth as possible and hope that whole mess would just resolve itself.

Instead, she turned towards the line of people getting fishing rods, which had unfortunately not shrunk all that much (due to, well, a lack of fishing rods) and walked over to the counter. There were a few cheers at her arrival, which she felt a little bit of pride in, being the one to step in and save the day with the equipment.

When she got to the head of the line and walked around the counter, the look on Aidan's face promptly took the wind out of her sails.

He was, well, for lack of a better word, completely drained. And she could understand why he looked so exhausted, now that she looked back on what had most likely happened in her absence. When the fishing rods had run out, Aidan, good-natured guy that he was, probably asked for the customers to hold on and wait for Sango to come back with more. And the customers, of course, had probably not reacted to that with the most positive of attitudes. In fact, Sango would wager that they were downright irate, given how loud the cheers and sighs of relief had been when she arrived. There were probably a lot of upset customers that Aidan had been trying to mollify while she was gone picking up more fishing poles and taking her break.

A wave of guilt washed over Sango, she really should have thought twice about what she'd done earlier, shoving him into such a tough job just so she could get away for a little while, even if there had been a legitimate reason for her to leave.

She really shouldn't have taken her time on the way back, how could she be so insensitive? She had basically made use of Aidan because he was a nice guy who was willing to help her, and he was convenient.

He was supposed to be her friend, but she hadn't treated him very much like a friend. She resolved to change that, starting immediately.

"Hey, Aidan, sorry I left you in the lurch like that," Sango apologized profusely, startling Aidan. He was used to seeing Sango look confident and cool, seeing her with such a guilty expression on her face was a rarity, even if she was no stranger to showing concern.

"What?" Aidan asked, surprised. "Oh, no, don't worry! You don't need to apologize!" He said, waving his hands frantically to let Sango know that everything was okay. He didn't really feel too bad about what had happened, or that Sango had left him behind. In fact, he felt a little guilty himself at not being able to do her job for her that well.

"No, I really, really need to say that I'm sorry!" Sango said, lowering her head in apology. "You see, I kind of…"

She glanced at the crowd standing in line, growing more and more impatient by the moment. They didn't care about Sango and Aidan apologizing to each other; there were a lot of couples there, and even THEY weren't willing to let the two awkwardly flirt (at least that's how it looked to outsiders) they just wanted their fishing poles so they could get started.

"…I'll talk to you later," Sango said quickly, wisely deciding that this was neither the time nor the place to mention that she had intentionally taken her sweet time getting back to the lake. "For now, take a break or something."

Aidan was hesitant. While he absolutely would have loved to take a break, considering how worn-out he was listening to all the harassment coming from the people in line, he also didn't think that it was right that Sango have to sit through all that herself, not when he was still fully capable of lending a helping hand himself.

Sango had been having a pretty rough couple of weeks, he'd noticed. Even with all the effort she put into maintaining a positive attitude, Aidan could see that she was burning the candle at both ends trying to balance her coursework with helping Marion out on this project, something that Sango had basically turned into her own personal crusade given how much time she spent on monitoring it.

So yeah, the least that Aidan could do was lend a hand instead of just awkwardly standing off to the side and taking a break.

Besides, it would give him the opportunity to do something that he'd been looking forward to all day, and that was working close with Sango. It was one of the reasons he had come, after all, besides just because he wanted to help her. He liked her, and she pretty clearly liked him, and now they'd get to work side by side! He wanted to show off his best sides to her, she had invited him to help out for a pretty clear reason, after all.

And he was definitely going to show her that she hadn't made the wrong decision by asking him out today, considering how much courage it must have taken. Even if Sango was a courageous person, and very bold and brave, she was still a girl, and she clearly still felt a little shy given that she couldn't even say it was a date in the first place.

Honestly, Aidan found it pretty adorable. But right now, what he was concerned with was helping the girl he liked.

"You don't have to worry about that!" Aidan said, putting on a strong face. He glanced down at Arion, who was sitting on his lap, and raised his head to give Sango a reassuring smile. "I've got Arion right here, and he's giving me all the strength that I need to keep going! You can count on me, this line will go a lot faster if we're both helping!"

Sango was reluctant. She opened her mouth to refuse, but then she heard a grumble from someone in the line, followed by more grumbles and sighs of exasperation, and once again decided that it was the wise move to keep her mouth shut and accept Aidan's generosity once again.

Gosh, he was just the nicest guy in the world! She absolutely HAD to do something for him to make up for how great of a guy he was! But she just couldn't think of anything. Aidan never asked her for anything in the first place, he was just the sort of person who always wanted to help her because he was just that night.

Sango smiled, relieved by his gesture of kindness. The way she looked at Aidan made his heart skip a beat.

"Yeah," she agreed. "We really do have a lot of people here, let's work together! Sound like a plan?" With a big beaming smile she pulled up a chair and Aidan scooted his seat over to make room, and she sat down beside him. They worked shoulder to shoulder on handing out the fishing rods and getting everyone signed up.

Meanwhile, while those two were busy working, Marion was also working, on something far more important.

Well, to her, anyway.

"Okay, Caelia, let's do it! Fishing time!" Marion cheered. The girls had moved from the edge of the lake to one of the makeshift docks, somewhere that they had a little bit more privacy for Marion to allow Caelia to get used to fishing. Burning with excitement for Caelia's first attempt at catching something, Marion handed the other girl a fishing rod that she had snagged from the bin.

Caelia looked at the fishing rod, and Cynthia swore that somehow the look in her eye grew even more empty. She dropped it on the dock.

"No," she refused. Cynthia sighed in irritation, but tried not to let it get the better of her. It was like Caelia was insisting on being belligerent, which was pretty odd for a girl who seemed so detached and uncaring about everything.

"Come on, just do it, it's so easy!" Marion pouted. She really wasn't used to people putting up this big of a resistance to it.

"It could be fun, Caelia, why not give it a try?" Cynthia asked, urging Caelia to at least give it a shot. The other girl might not be all that interested, but she could maybe try, at least, that's what Cynthia believed anyway.

Plus, she still had faith that Marion would be able to come through for her, even given how badly damaged Caelia really was. Marion loved fishing, Cynthia hardly knew anyone more passionate about anything. And she so desperately needed for Caelia to feel that passion coming off of the other girl, in order to, hopefully, get a little bit of a spark into Caelia that could lead her away from this dark and empty path she found herself on.

To her credit, Marion really was giving her the five-star fishing pitch. The problem was, she could dangle the bait in front of Caelia all she wanted, but she still couldn't make the other girl nibble on it. But Marion wasn't going to give up! She'd reeled in catches that were much tougher than Caelia, she just had to be persistent!

While Marion was going through the steps of fishing, trying to play it up and make it seem exciting for the other girl, she was at the same time keeping a watchful eye on Caelia to try and see what the issue was.

Because there was obviously an issue with her, the girl was screaming "damaged" with every move she made. It was blatantly obvious with just a glance at her face.

Marion wanted Caelia to love fishing, but she just didn't know how to go about doing that. And that meant she'd have to switch from being friendly, cheery, excited-about-fishing Marion to being a lot more serious.

Caelia definitely deserved that, at the very least.

"Is there a reason you don't want to try fishing?" Marion asked quietly. Cynthia glanced warily at Caelia, hoping that the girl wouldn't feel threatened by the question.

She should have known better, Caelia didn't care about stuff like that, not anymore than she cared about fishing. The only reason she kept her burns hidden was because it made it easier for her around others, after all, not because she felt ashamed of them.

She hated her body completely, not just the burned parts.

"Not really. No interest. Pointless. Meaningless." Caelia's answers were as cold and heartless as ever, and Cynthia felt a twinge of pain from Marion. But the fishing expert kept her cool, and responded with a reassuring smile.

"That's okay," she said, reaching out and patting Caelia on the shoulder. It was a futile gesture, and on Caelia took no comfort from.

Marion continued with her assurance, in spite of having no idea just how damaged that Caelia really was. "You see, a lot of people don't understand how great it is to fish. To just detach yourself from the world and feel at one with the universe. When I'm fishing, it's like everything just disappears around me, like I'm free in my own little world, understand? That amount of freedom and privacy, just from casting your line, I wouldn't trade it for anything."

Cynthia didn't expect that would be any more successful than any of the other attempts Marion had made at getting Caelia to love fishing.

But surprisingly, those words resonated with the other girl.

They just didn't resonate in a way that was exactly positive.

Caelia had quite a bit of insight into what it meant to be isolated from the world, to be truly alone and free. But unlike Marion, who could leave her world whenever she wished by reeling in her line, Caelia was trapped in her world forever, in the prison of her own body.

Caelia hated her world. She hated her body. If not for her love of her pokemon, she would have ended this miserable existence a long time ago. Blake had given her a taste of what she could never have, a hint that she could experience things that were forever sealed away from her.

And the moment she had lost him was the moment she had truly fallen into despair, ready to cast it all away. Sylvia had come to her then, offered her a way to freedom, the pipe dream that the Phantom could find a way to somehow restore her into a body that could truly experience the world, rather than keep her a prisoner in it.

But she'd thrown that away, too.

And now, here came this girl, telling her that such a thing was good? That she should WANT to live in this world of isolation? Why? Because she did? Because she could go out, experience emptiness for a few hours, and then go back to normal?

For Caelia, such a declaration was one of the few things that elicited an emotion from her.

The emotion was rage.

"Why?" Caelia asked quietly, and Marion's entire face lit up. If she understood the meaning behind that question, she probably wouldn't be so eager.

"Why? Because it's the best thing ever!" Marion said, still oblivious to Caelia's meaning. "You see, when you're fishing-"

"Why would that be good?" Caelia demanded, in one of her more clearer sentences. "Sealing away, new world. Call that freedom? No. Prison. Not like you. Can't escape. Can't be free. Trapped. Fishing worse. Why? Why?!"

Cynthia backed up, and nearly stepped off the pier. Caelia was really starting to frighten her, she could swear that there was anger seeping into her voice with each word, and that was definitely not a good thing.

"H-Hey, Caelia, I don't think Marion meant-" But Cynthia didn't get a chance to finish her sentence, because the other girl on the pier was not nearly as bothered by it.

"Is it wrong to want to cut yourself off from the world sometimes, to truly be one with nature?" Marion asked, raising her eyebrow.

"One with nature? Worthless. Empty. Pointless. Hollow. Hollow, hollow, hollow!" Caelia shouted. "Empty shell, meaningless shell, prison, no escape, can't feel! No point! Why? Why is it like this? Leave me alone!"

Caelia ranted, and Marion was really getting a sight for how damaged she really was. Cynthia was only growing more and more worried, and realized that this was a situation that she had to step in and do some damage control on, fast.

"Marion, I don't think you should make light of Caelia like that," Cynthia whispered. "You see, the thing is…"

Cynthia whispered into Marion's ear, describing the situation that Caelia was in, and why it was probably not the best idea for Marion to treat her like just anyone else. Especially when it came to something like this.

It really pained Cynthia to break Caelia's confidence like that, but then again, Caelia didn't really seem to care much about stuff like that in the first place. And besides, this was for Caelia's own good. If Marion didn't know what was going on with Caelia, then she wouldn't be able to help her get better, and that would be bad.

And luckily, Cynthia's gambit paid off, because Marion DID know how to help Caelia, even if only a little bit.

It wasn't a very easy strategy though, she would have to admit.

"Caelia, you've never tried fishing, right?" Marion asked, raising her eyebrow. Unfortunately, Caelia was reacting a little too hysterically for that to be something that she would listen to, so Marion had to get a little more forceful.

"CAELIA!" She shouted, startling Caelia enough to shut her mouth, which was when Marion stepped in and forced the fishing rod back into her hands. Caelia didn't grasp it though, she didn't even feel it. Which was why Marion had to curl her fingers over it by force.

"Why?" Caelia demanded.

"You haven't tried it," Marion said, narrowing her eyes. She was all business now, the time for explaining the joys of fishing had passed. "How can you be certain that it won't help you if you don't actually give it a chance?"

Caelia didn't respond to that.

Cynthia took this moment to step in and try to lend a hand herself. While it was clear now that Marion wasn't going to help Caelia have some big revelation like she had hoped, it was still possible for this to have a positive effect on Caelia in general, and that was only a good thing as far as Cynthia was concerned.

"Hey, Caelia, why don't you just try it?" Cynthia pleaded. "It's not like it would hurt anything to try, right? You spend all your time doing nothing because you don't care about anything, right? You find everything meaningless? Well, I know that's not true."

Caelia turned to Cynthia, as if she was seeing her for the first time.

"You love your Vulpix, don't you? I remember the way you were bragging about him," Cynthia said, smiling nostalgically back at the days when they were working together, before Caelia had become… well, even worse than she already had been.

Caelia looked at Cynthia with her cold, dead stare and didn't say a word.

"There are a lot of things that aren't meaningless to you, even if you think they are," Cynthia continued. "And who knows? Maybe fishing will be one of them. But if it doesn't matter to you either way, it still matters to Marion and I. So why not do it? For us?"

Caelia didn't change her attitude in the slightest. Cynthia sighed. So much for that, then. "…Okay, well, if we're also meaningless, then why not just do it to prove us wrong, so you can shut us up?" She suggested. THAT might be something Caelia would do. "I won't bother you about fishing anymore if you just give it a try, and Marion won't either, right?" She turned to Marion for confirmation.

Marion looked at Cynthia with her cold, dead stare and didn't say a word.

Cynthia scowled. "And Marion won't either, right?"

Marion pouted. "Fine, whatever," she sighed, nodding her head obediently. She quickly bounced back with a big smile. "Besides, Caelia, you're totally gonna love fishing, you'll be the most fishingest gal in the world after me, I'm sure of it!"

Cynthia let out a sigh. At least Marion was optimistic.

Both girls stared hopefully at Caelia, wondering what her response was going to be.

So, will the empty and broken Caelia give into their pressure and agree to fish? Will the act of fishing have a positive effect on her? We'll have to find out!