Nikita needs some more advice, but unfortunately Serefina doesn't seem to be the best person to go to about stuff like this! What's she going to do now?

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

KedharS: No, not a single guy.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Reiner would presumably show up at some point.

Rowlets and Oshawotts: Breakups are certainly painful.

Aquahaze675: That would certainly suck.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 680

Nikita had to quickly backtrack, fast.

"N-No, I don't worry about stuff like that!" Nikita hastily deflected. Kitty didn't believe her for a second, but she wasn't going to call the other girl on it. Clearly, Nikita was dealing with something, something that wasn't any of her business.

"Oh, good, because I'm sick and tired of dealing with people's romantic problems," Serefina smiled, a venomous edge seeping into her voice that made Nikita shiver. She had really stepped in it this time, but how could she have guessed? Serefina was so nice usually!

"Yeah, I was just curious, um… this incubator! Yeah! That's what I wanted to talk about!" Nikita said, gesturing to the large cradle sitting in front of her. "You know me, my inner scientist just gets so antsy when I see a cool piece of research equipment like this! So, what is it? Because the way I can see it, it doesn't look like the kind of incubators that the other eggs are in." Nikita gestured to the rows of incubators behind her.

"Yeah, good eye!" Serefina nodded eagerly. Her eyes were shining, and Nikita let out a sigh of relief. She'd managed to dodge that minefield with only a little bit of awkwardness. She wanted advice on dealing with Reiner, but she didn't want to die.

Serefina continued her explanation. "So you see, I was thinking that we needed a machine to more carefully monitor the growth of a pokemon in an egg. It could tell us all sorts of things, you know? Like if it will know any special moves before hatching, what stats it will be born naturally excelling in, even the kind of nature that it would have!"

Nikita adjusted her glasses and leaned in close, studying the machinery. She might have liked Reiner, but right now she was more interested with the science behind this machine. She glanced up at Serefina. "Did you design this yourself? I had no idea that you were so skilled at creating something like this, you don't seem like it!"

"Why, because I have big boobs?" Serefina dryly asked, raising her eyebrow. "Not everyone with a nice body is a brainless bimbo, you know."

Nikita gasped. "No, that's not what I meant at all!" She quickly clarified. "I was just saying that you didn't seem like the type, I mean… you care for pokemon a lot, but I've never seen you talk about stuff like science or technology before, so…"

"Well, yes, it must come as quite a surprise to you," Serefina smirked, crossing her arms in front of her sizeable chest and leaning back against the wall. "Considering our long and intimate history together, where we've gotten to learn so much about each other, the fact that there was something about me that you still didn't know must come as quite a surprise."

Nikita baulked. "Well, um, I didn't mean to imply, I just…" Nikita really kept stepping in it, didn't she? She hadn't expected Serefina to be a tech wiz at all, was she really such a prejudiced person? Just because Serefina was a little prettier than most girls…

"Nikita, she's giving you a hard time," Kitty said. Serefina kept a serious expression on her face for another two seconds, before dropping her arms and bursting out laughing, nearly falling over the incubator.

"I'm just kidding around!" Serefina laughed. "Of course I don't know anything about machinery like this, I just had some ideas about what I wanted and put in a request to some of the students in the Research Course to make it for us!"

Nikita smiled a little, trying to get in on the joke. But she was still more focused on the machine. She was tempted to put her egg inside, to see.

"Curious?" Serefina asked. Nikita twitched, nearly dropping the egg in surprise.

"Um, wait, no, it's not important!" She quickly said, shaking her head.

"Come on, don't you want to see?" Kitty asked. She was a little curious herself about what the machine would show, she hadn't ever seen it used.

Nikita shook her head. "I can't deny that I'm curious," she said, shaking her head. "After all, a scientist would love to use this thing, to understand the truth about just what was in my egg, you know? It's just natural."

"So should we fire it up?" Serefina asked.

Nikita shook her head again. "I'm feeling rather strange," she admitted. "See, I actually don't want to know, if you can believe it." A soft smile crossed her face.

"I'd like for it to be a surprise," she said. "Finding out what's inside my pokemon egg. Isn't that so strange? Normally, I'd want to know everything, that's the kind of person I am, but for some reason, when my egg hatches, I really want to see my pokemon for the first time, and get to learn more about them naturally."

It felt so weird to say it. That was the kind of thing that she would have never imagined thinking back when she first came here.

"Is that… is that weird?" She asked, glancing at Serefina and Kitty. The two girls smiled, and glanced at each other.

"I don't think it's weird at all," Kitty said, shaking her head.

"Totally normal!" Serefina agreed. "See, that feeling of awe of getting to meet your pokemon for the first time, that's something it's totally normal to want to experience. Especially considering the circumstances behind getting that egg of yours, since it's a surprise pokemon! And you don't want to ruin the surprise, do you?"

Nikita glanced down at the egg in her hands. It was shiny and black and rough to the touch, and she had no idea what pokemon was inside of it. She could have narrowed it down before, searching through pokemon records to see what pokemon would fit those characteristics, but she'd decided not to, because Serefina was right.

As much as Nikita loved knowing everything, it was definitely more important to meet her baby pokemon for the first time.

"There is one thing that the special incubator can tell you that you might want to know, though," Serefina mused, tapping her finger against her chin in contemplation. "You know, even if you want to keep it a secret."

Nikita looked at her with curiosity. What was she talking about? "Really? Like what?"

Serefina smiled. "Our incubator can tell you how long it will take for the pokemon in that egg to hatch, that's what!"

Nikita gasped. That had been why she had come here in the first place, to figure that out! Why didn't Serefina say so before?!

Serefina smiled at the sight of Nikita's excitement. Yeah, she expected that Nikita would find that tempting. "So? What do you think?"

"Serefina just wants to turn on the machine, I don't think she gets to do it very often," Kitty whispered into Nikita's ear. Serefina scowled for a moment before her big beaming smile returned, not letting Kitty's accurate jab at her get the better of her emotions.

"Nikita, think about what you want," Serefina said. "You were really worried about your egg, right? With this, it would definitely tell you what you want to know."

Nikita smiled, feeling her egg's warmth through her mittens. "Yeah," she admitted, "but I think I'll pass anyway."

Serefina resisted the urge to smile. Nikita's eyes were so kind and hopeful, Serefina loved it so much. She cared about her egg, a lot. That much was obvious. She was thinking about her pokemon, and meeting them for the first time. "Well, if that's what you think."

"I was worried, but you said my egg was fine, right?" Nikita explained. "In that case, I can wait. I don't need to know when my egg will hatch, it's okay. I want it to be a surprise. It could even hatch while I'm walking back."

"Yeah, I think that's for the best," Kitty agreed, smiling at her friend. "I can't wait to see your baby pokemon either, Nikita. My little Pearl is so cute!"

Nikita definitely couldn't wait to start gushing over her baby pokemon, Cynthia and Kitty had made it look so fun.

"Um, there is one other thing I wanted to talk about," Nikita said. She hoped that Serefina was in a good mood now. She definitely seemed to be pretty happy. Maybe she would be nice enough to help Nikita with her relationship problems?

"Caring for baby pokemon? Sure, happy to help!" Serefina said, flashing a toothy smile. "What is it you wanted to know?"

"Well, actually, I wanted to talk about…" Nikita began to explain.

"Thank you, have a nice day!" Serefina sang from inside the nursery, slamming the door in Nikita and Kitty's faces. The two girls had been kicked out before they even knew what had happened.

"That was… um…" Nikita glanced at Kitty, feeling a little sad that the white-haired girl had been banished as well. She seemed to be enjoying her work. But unfortunately, when Nikita began inquiring about her relationship, and Serefina had told her to leave, Kitty had stood up for her and said she wanted to help out.

So Serefina kindly informed her that she could help Nikita out from somewhere else, and now both of them were standing in the snow.

"Sorry, Kitty," Nikita apologized.

"Don't worry about it," Kitty said, shaking her head. She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Serefina has a few issues with relationships, so let's just give her some space right now. I'm happy to help if you need some advice, though!"

Kitty glanced aside, her face darkening. "Well… not that I'm going to be very helpful," she admitted. "I'm not exactly the most experienced person in the world when it comes to romance."

Nikita decided to take Kitty up on her offer. The two girls walked over to one of the benches in the quad, where they could begin their discussion about relationships in earnest. The quad was unsurprisingly deserted; at this time of day, all the couples were probably off doing something romantic, and all the singles were probably hiding out in their rooms cursing the holiday and anyone who was happily celebrating it.

Right now, Nikita felt a little bit closer of an affinity towards the latter camp, even if she was loathe to admit it. But she wanted to be the former, and that's why she was here right now, asking Kitty for whatever advice the other girl could give, in spite of Kitty's repeated protests that she was the worst person to talk to about stuff like this.

Nikita understood that feeling. Being a love coach for Sango of all people had not been a very fulfilling experience, especially considering that it wasn't something she had a lot of knowledge in. Even though she was in a relationship herself, she didn't feel like she knew a lot about how to help anyone. She had just sort of fallen into her relationship with Reiner.

"That's okay," Nikita assured her. "I'm not very good, either. I mean, this is my first relationship, after all, it's not something that I've had a lot of experience with. So if you have something that you could give me for advice, I'm happy to consider it."

She glanced away and self-derisively rebuked herself, "it's probably better than anything that I could have come up with, anyway."

"That-That's not true!" Kitty protested, shaking her head. "Nikita, you and Reiner are really good together, that's what I've always thought! You need to have more faith in your relationship skills, you two seem to be happy."

"We are happy," Nikita nodded. "Well, I mean… I'm happy." She looked down. "Is… is that enough? It doesn't feel like it…"

"What do you mean? Are things not going well with Reiner?" Kitty asked.

That was a rather loaded question. And the worried look in Kitty's bright red eyes only made it harder to answer. If Nikita had to answer honestly? No, there wasn't technically anything wrong. They were getting along great, at least in terms of their interactions.

But was that really enough for a relationship? That was the critical problem that Nikita was facing right now, she didn't know if what they were doing was really a romantic relationship. Because, well, she'd never been in one before.

Nikita was a scientist. She defined things based on context and past experience, as well as authorities on the topic.

And what she knew about romance told her that rather than a romance, her relationship was more like just a friendship. She and Reiner were comfortable together, but when it came to romantic gestures, she always felt like they were coming up lacking.

"It's not that we don't get along," Nikita said, shaking her head. "I'm happy with him, I really am. But the thing is… well, sometimes it doesn't feel like we're really in love."

Kitty looked curiously at her. "What do you mean? You guys seem like you're in love."

"I mean, aren't couples in love supposed to be, well… like Blake and Ayame? All over each other, calling each other cute pet names, and doing big romantic gestures? You know, like Callie and Nick, the two of them are so lovey-dovey. Nick is such a devoted person, and Reiner, well… he just isn't."

Kitty frowned. She didn't think that Reiner wasn't devoted or loving enough. He seemed like a really good boyfriend.

Nikita did have a point, though. Reiner wasn't the most overtly romantic guy in the world, that was for sure.

"Is it because you guys aren't doing anything for Valentine's Day?" Kitty asked. She could relate to that. In her situation, she had felt rather down that she wasn't doing anything for Valentine's Day, either. After all, she wasn't enjoying Valentine's Day, either, and she certainly wasn't spending time with the person that she wanted to be with.

Kitty would have loved to spend Valentine's Day with Julia, but that was out of the question. But unlike Reiner and Nikita, she and Julia were just friends.

Nikita's glum nod only confirmed what Kitty already suspected. She sighed, wondering if there was something she could do to help her friend. Nikita definitely seemed like she needed to do something, but Kitty wasn't so sure.

"Nikita, what do you think?" Kitty asked, which startled Nikita.

"Huh? Think about what?" Nikita asked, confused.

"I mean, you and Reiner aren't doing anything for Valentine's Day, and due to that whole thing with Blake, it seemed like you guys were pretty cooled off, but… did you even want to do anything for Valentine's Day in the first place?" Kitty wondered if Nikita was only worrying about that because she thought that doing this was necessary to have a good relationship. Kitty didn't think that was the case, she thought that every relationship was special to the parties involved in its own way.

"I want to spend more time with him," Nikita said. "I like him a lot, after all, maybe… maybe even love him." She felt her face heat up just saying that, it was so embarrassing! Kitty suppressed a smile, glad that Nikita was at least thinking about that.

"So? Do you think that you NEED to be that romantic with him?" Kitty asked. "If neither one of you are particularly romantic, then maybe it's okay if the two of you just spend time with your relationship and doing the things that are comfortable for you? It's just a thought, anyway, it's not like you have to take it under that much consideration or anything!"

Kitty was frantically trying to backtrack from her advice, not sure if she was in a position to offer any advice on anything.

But Nikita could see where Kitty was coming from. She was thinking with her objective mind at this point, wondering if she and Reiner were just a different type of couple. Curious… Nikita began to consider the possibility that maybe Kitty was right.

"You think so?" She asked.

Kitty let out a little yip, startled by the fact that Nikita was taking her idea that seriously. She didn't expect that at all.

"W-Well, like I was saying," Kitty said, still backtracking, "I don't know enough about relationships, so if you don't think-"

"No, I think… I think you might be right," Nikita admitted. "I'm not that much of a romantic."

Kitty let out a sigh of relief. "Is that such a bad thing? Like I was saying, you guys are just a different kind of couple. You don't need to do things like romantic dates if you don't want to."

That definitely made sense. Nikita wasn't a romantic girl. She was an intellectual!

She was also totally lying to herself, and she knew it.

Because as much as Nikita might want to deny it, the fact was, now that Kitty was really asking her and making her think about it, she did want to have a romantic dinner with her boyfriend. Or at least do something to show that they were happy together on Valentine's Day.

Sure, maybe Nikita wasn't the best AT romance, but that didn't mean she didn't want any!

"No, I think… I think I am a bit of a romantic," Nikita admitted, more to herself than to Kitty. "Like, yeah, I'm always trying to be detached and everything, but when I think about having a romantic date with my boyfriend, the way Blake and Ayame do, it makes me want it."

She smiled shyly, her face heating up. "I didn't know how good it could feel to want it that badly," she mused.

"I think that's great," Kitty said, reaching over and patting her friend on the shoulder. She was happy that her friend was so deeply in love with her boyfriend, seeing Nikita smile like that, it was a rare sight indeed.

That wasn't to say that Nikita was a sourpuss or anything. But she was definitely shy, even if she wasn't as shy as Kitty. But even though she was shy, she still had a flair for excitement, joyfully puling pranks with a smile on her face. So it wasn't like Kitty was entirely unfamiliar with the smiling face of her roommate.

But those kinds of smiles weren't at all like the smile that Nikita wore now. No, this one was filled with love, and it made Kitty feel filled with love, too.

For a moment, Kitty wondered if her harmonia let her connect with humans.

"So if you know what you want to do, why not do it?" Kitty asked. "Go on a date! Nice and romantic! Reiner might not be a romantic guy-"

"Understatement of the year," Nikita interjected. The two girls shared a chuckle.

"Yeah, but you can be," Kitty shrugged. "Like I was saying, Reiner's not very romantic, but that doesn't mean he'd be against you doing something romantic. I think he'd like it, wouldn't you?"

Okay, so Kitty still didn't know Reiner very well. In fact, of all her friends, he was probably the one she got along with the least. Boys were always harder, but Blake was different and Nick was at least as shy as her, which gave them something to bond over.

Reiner was just kind of there. Plus, he always got in fights with Julia, so Kitty wasn't exactly inclined to see him in the best light, especially considering recent events involving Blake's disappearance and the tension there.

But she didn't dislike him, and for her, that was important. And considering he was Nikita's boyfriend, she was going to give her as much advice as she could.

"Yeah, but we can't go on a romantic dinner, because all the restaurants are booked up," Nikita glumly replied. Kitty sank, frowning.

Then, she had a brilliant idea. Well, moderately brilliant, anyway. It made her feel smarter than Nikita for once, and that was good enough!

"Hey, so if not that, then what about…" Kitty leaned over and whispered her idea, and Nikita's face brightened.

So, what's Kitty's grand idea for Nikita's romantic evening? Hopefully it will be good enough to make up for the lack of a restaurant!