Now that we've heard a little bit more from Reed, will Blake and Ayame be able to help her? What other activities will we be getting up to, now that the Miss Pokemon Academy Contest is over? We're just getting started!

KedharS: Hope so.

Tambry96bj: I don't know. Something tough probably.

JoshGamerV: It's also the name of Kate's Skrelp.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 782

"Zinnia?" Blake tried to remember where he'd heard that name. It sounded familiar, but he'd heard lots of names before, and he couldn't place it. He shook his head. "No, sorry, I've never heard of them."

"She's a student here," Reed explained, her smile not blunted in the slightest. "She's currently enrolled in the Appeals Course."

"If she's officially enrolled in the Appeals Course, that means she's a junior or a senior," Ayame said. "Why are you looking for her?"

Blake glanced at Aya. If this "Zinnia" girl was a junior or a senior in the Appeals Course, then she was almost-certainly part of the Empress's faction, and in that case Aya would HAVE to know who she was. But this Reed woman obviously wouldn't know that.

He resisted the urge to smile in adoration for his girlfriend's cleverness, testing Reed like this.

"Because she's family," Reed answered. "Well, family friend is more like it. I came to deliver a message to her."

"Isn't that what cell phones are for?" Ayame asked, raising her eyebrow. Her suspicion wasn't going to be soothed so easily.

…True, that suspicion may have been rooted more than a little in disdain for this woman, but that didn't change the fact that caution was key.

The woman blinked. "Cell… phone? What's a cell phone?"

Ayame and Blake exchanged a look.

"It's… a phone," Ayame said, like she was talking to a child. "You know, for talking to people. But one you can put in your pocket. A cell phone."

"Oh!" The woman said, her eyes brightening. She nodded her head. "Right! …And a phone, that would be… what, exactly?"

Ayame and Blake exchanged another look.

"Woooooow!" Reed gushed, turning over Ayame's cell phone in her hands and giving it an experimental poke. "So you're saying that with a device like this, you can reach someone across the world in a matter of seconds!?"

"Yes," Ayame said, trying very hard not to get frustrated. What century was the woman out of?

"And you're telling me that EVERYONE has a device like this? Even children?" Reed asked, finding it hard to believe such a thing could be true.

"Yes, literally everybody," Ayame said. "Especially children." Well, apparently not literally everybody I guess…

"You've really never seen a cell phone before?" Blake asked, finding it as hard to believe as Aya was.

"No, if we want to communicate with someone, we would write a note and send it by carrier dragon," Reed explained. "I'm astounded, Celians have advanced so much!" Reed shook her head in amazement. She handed the phone back to Ayame.

Ayame blinked. "Celians?" She asked for clarification.

"Oh, it's nothing, don't worry about it," Reed laughed, waving her hand. "It's just a word my people use for people like you who have abandoned the old ways. Now, about Zinnia, like I said, I came here from my village to deliver a message for her, and, well, it's the sort of message better delivered in person. So here I am."

The things Reed was saying, they reminded Blake of something. Something he had heard a few months ago… dragons… village… a junior in the Appeals Course…

A sudden burst of clarity and Blake knew who this woman was looking for.

"Are you… Draconid?" Blake asked, narrowing his eyes.

The atmosphere around the woman changed completely. Her smile remained, but her eyes were cold and intimidating.

"So you've heard of us, have you?" She asked, looking at Blake like she could see into his soul. "The only way I could think that you would have heard that word is from Zinnia."

Blake kept his cool, he wasn't about to confirm anything either way.

And then, as quickly as that aura of menace had arisen it was completely gone from her smiling visage. She clapped her hands together. "Excellent! Then you must know where I can find her! You can lead the way!"

Blake nearly fell over. The tension was drained from atmosphere but he still felt off-balance. It was a scary thought, but talking to Reed reminded him of when he was getting to know his sister, when he wasn't sure what could set her off. That feeling had been an unpleasant one, and he was feeling it again.

Aya was the one who came to his rescue.

"I'll show you where she is," Ayame said, stepping in front of Blake and holding her arm up to defend him. She could tell how uneasy Blake was feeling about this whole mess, and she wasn't about to let him get swept up by it. She definitely didn't trust this girl now, but as those last few seconds had proven there was no getting away at this point. They could either give her what she wanted, or refuse, and Ayame wasn't sure what would happen if they went that route.

"Oh! That's great!" Reed said, sighing in relief. "I've been trying to find her all night, and it's getting rather frustrating. Thank you so much!"

"Aya…" Blake looked warily at his girlfriend, but she gave him a reassuring smile in return.

"It's fine, Blake, I'm just going to have her meet with the boss, explain everything, and then this whole mess should sort itself right out," she explained. At least, she was hoping it would be that simple. Ayame had put the pieces together herself rather quickly, as soon as Reed started talking about the Appeals Course.

This "Zinnia" was really Darla. All the omens pointed to her, a Dragon type user who was part of the Appeals Course. Blake's question about the Draconids just confirmed it. Ayame wasn't aware of all the details, but she knew that Darla's relationship with her family was complicated. But Olivia would know what to do.

"Well, then lead the way!" Reed said. Ayame gave Blake one last parting look, and led Reed away from him and towards the dorms.

Blake found himself alone and worried. From what Darla had told him, her village didn't look to kindly on her. If Reed was from there, well…

No, there's no sense getting worried about that, Blake thought, shaking his head. Aya left me out of this for a reason. It's probably more business with the Empress, not something that I need to concern myself with.

Blake may have been dating Aya, but technically he was still a neutral element in the conflict between the Daevas. Aya had gone out of her way to make things clear that the burdens of her role in the Empress' faction would not splash back on him.

But that didn't stop him from being concerned.

"Blake!"

A voice he hadn't been expecting interrupted his thoughts. Normally if someone was calling out to him his first instinct was that it would be Claira, Cynthia, or maybe Sango. But it was the last person he would have imagined.

He turned to the owner of the grating voice to see Kata Nomia standing down the path, staring warily at him. Her cheeks were flushed with embarrassment.

"Kate? What do you want?" He asked. Dealing with her meant only bad news in his experience.

Kate stomped up to him, staring him right in the eye. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves, exhaled…

…And then turned and ran back the way she came.

She stopped about halfway down the path and clenched her fists, taking another deep breath, and then turned back around and stomped back to him, her resolve apparently reignited.

"I-I need your help with something!" She exclaimed.

Blake was a little taken aback. To call Kate coming to someone and asking them for help "unusual" would be an understatement. He was so stunned that he had trouble coming up with an answer to her at first. Finally, after regaining his cool, he asked "what do you need my help with?"

"I can't tell you."

Ah. Off to a great start, then.

"Well, then I can't help you," Blake shrugged. "Why don't you go ask Alcea for help, then?" He turned to leave, but of course Kate wasn't going to let him get away so easily. She caught him by the sleeve and tugged him back.

"Please!" She begged. "Her highness… is busy right now. And she has serious preparations to make for the upcoming trip. Please, I need your help. It… It has to be you!"

Blake sighed. He knew he was probably going to regret this. He had just wanted to spend an easy day with his girlfriend after the stress that had been the Miss Pokemon Academy Contest. It seemed like it was just one thing after the other with him, and he didn't have any time to breathe.

"…Why?" He finally asked.

"Because, well… I have to… go somewhere," Kate said, glancing down. "It's the kind of place where… I would, well… want someone with me, you know, for moral support." The look on her face, it was like just talking to him was hurting her.

Blake winced. Considering how things between them had gone in Galar, that might not be too far off the mark. Well, maybe he could humor her a little.

Still, that was different than taking her request and going to a trip somewhere. "Kate, I don't think that's a good idea, for us to go on a trip together, I would have to clear that with Aya, and right now she's kind of-"

"Oh, I already talked about this with her," Kate quickly responded. Apparently, her difficulty speaking only seemed to apply to the actual topic in question. "We met up in the infirmary yesterday. She said that it was okay with her if it was okay with you."

Blake couldn't help the scowl on his face. That would have been a nice thing to know before. No wonder Aya had been so cagey about their plans for this afternoon.

"This isn't some… overnight thing, right?" Blake had to confirm. Whatever Aya may have agreed for him, he was NOT comfortable with an overnight trip.

"No, no, nothing like that!" Kate assured him. Her face lit up like her toxic scowl was a bad memory. "So you'll come?!"

Like Blake's guilt meant he had a choice. He sighed, and nodded his head. "Yeah, I guess, as long as we're back before tonight."

He didn't want to go at all, if he was being honest. Even if it wasn't overnight, the less time he spent with Kate Nomia the better his day would be. But he remembered their time in Galar, and he had to admit that as miserable of a human being she could be most of the time, it wasn't like she was always a pain in the ass.

Of course, spending a few hours in awkward, crushing silence on a boat with her had a good way of changing that perception.

Honestly, Blake wasn't sure why Kate had even wanted him to come along in the first place. It wasn't like they were close. She'd had a crush on him a few months back and tried to get closer to him because of that, but once it became clear that nothing was going to happen there they had returned to their previous relationship, which was to say, no relationship.

But it wasn't like that past had been erased, either. Kate's feelings for Blake, and his rejection of them, were a fact that was indelibly etched into their thoughts.

Because Blake still wasn't sure what Kate wanted from him, he just sat in place with his mouth shut, not wanting to overstep his bounds.

He could only last so long, though. Luckily, before the awkwardness overpowered him and he was forced to ask what was going on, the boat arrived at their destination. They had reached one of the three port cities in range of the Pokemon Academy, and unlike the one that they traveled to for trips, Blake had never been here before.

"Where are we?" Blake asked, looking around. It was pretty similar to any other city in the area, even if he had no idea where he was. Kate ignored his question but she seemed to know the way, leading him down the street with a confident strut.

"Come on," she called over her shoulder. "I'm going to show you something you've never seen before, I think!"

Blake shook his head and followed after her. This had been a very strange day. First he was eating breakfast with his girlfriend, then he met some strange lady named Reed who was looking for Darla, or as she called her, Zinnia. And before he'd even had time to process that, he found himself roped into an awkward boat trip with Kate Nomia of all people.

Yes, this was a very strange day indeed.

Enough was enough. Kate wasn't telling him where they were going or why, he and he was about to demand some answers when she came to a stop, turning back to him and waving.

"Here we are!" She called. She turned and pointed to the massive building that she'd stopped in front of. Blake turned to look, surprised at what he saw.

It was a massive skyscraper. Blake knew he'd seen larger buildings before, but standing in the shadow of this monolithic masterpiece of architecture, he was finding it hard to remember exactly where.

"Kate? What… what is this place?" Blake asked, following her inside. As he looked around the immaculate lobby of the building, he was surprised to see that it wasn't an office building like he had expected. There were people bustling around, with pokemon aplenty. Some were in spacious cages, and others were walking free. The lobby was large, too, maybe the largest room he'd ever seen, with different sections cordoned off by shops, and even a little play structure where children were playing with their pokemon.

What was this place? If he didn't know any better he'd think it was some sort of department store, but there was no way Kate would come to take him shopping, right?

"Blake? You coming?" Kate called. Once again she'd ignored his question, as well as his slackjawed look of shock, and had barreled on ahead. She was standing in front of the elevator, bouncing impatiently from foot to foot.

Blake quickly caught up to her, and as he did, he could see that she was looking really nervous. Like she was anxious about something, or excited. It was easy to tell, because her trademark scowl was broken by a furrowed brow and furtive eyes, and the slightest hint of a blush.

"Where are we?" He asked again. "Is this like… some shopping center or something? Why did you bring me here?"

"It's better," Kate said, shaking her head. She wasn't meeting his eyes, staring anxiously at the arrow counting down the floors.

That wasn't an answer. "Better how?"

"It's… it's a pokemon store," Kate said. She quickly clarified, "not a store FOR pokemon, but a store that SELLS pokemon."

Blake had heard of those. But he'd never been to one before. Whenever he got pokemon, they had been gifts, or he had caught them. He'd never BOUGHT a pokemon before, though. It seemed so wrong, somehow.

"The store hires out to Pokemon Breeders," Kate explained. "They work to find pokemon to suit their customers' needs, and sell them to the trainers. That money is used to take care of the pokemon, you know? They also sell all the equipment needed to properly care for them, too. Actually…"

She glanced down. "I'm a part-timer here, on the weekends," she confessed. "Ah! Here it is!"

They stepped into the elevator, and Kate pressed the button labeled "14". The elevator moved up, and Blake wondered just how much space was needed for a pokemon store like this.

As if she could read his mind, Kate answered his question. "This is the largest pokemon store in the world," she explained. "They have the widest selection of pokemon available, and chains across the globe. It's really an amazing place."

She spoke about it with the kind of reverence she usually saved only for Alcea. Blake was surprised, this place must be pretty great if it got a reaction like that out of someone as negative as Kate.

But that still didn't answer all his questions.

"So why am I here?" He asked. "Just because you wanted to show me? …Hey, wait, why are YOU here, at that? Are you going to buy a new pokemon?"

Kate nodded silently.

"You know, I'm going to be going to the Unova Region in a few weeks," Kate quietly said. "I'm going to be interning under Roxie, the gym leader of Virbank City. And… I'm feeling really tense. I was initially planning to train with Erika, like her highness, but ever since I accepted my love of Poison type pokemon, I couldn't resist. I had a few places I could have gone, but Roxie, well, there's just something about her that felt right, you know?"

Kate turned to Blake and gave him a very rare smile. "So, I'm feeling a little anxious. And I thought, well… it could be an experience, you know? And… I wanted to buy a new pokemon, to raise while I'm there. I've been working here part-time, and saving up for months, but I finally have enough."

"Isn't your family rich, though?" Blake asked.

Kate shook her head. "I didn't want to buy it with my dad's money. I wanted… I wanted a pokemon that I could say I earned the right to call myself the trainer of."

Blake had to admit, that was a pretty admirable goal. Pokemon were definitely something that needed a lot of thought put into, and the fact that Kate was being this responsible about it really showed how much she cared. Before he could congratulate Kate on her responsible decision, though, the ding of the elevator's arrival and the ensuing voice cut him off.

"Fourteenth Floor! Poison Type Pokemon!"

The doors opened and revealed a world Blake had never imagined before.

As Blake stepped out of the elevator and looked around, he found himself surprised. Similarly to the lobby, the floor had had most of the walls removed, resulting in one large flat space filled with people. It reminded him a lot of the underground caretaking facilities back on the Pokemon Academy, but also a lot of Marion's aquarium.

There were cages filled with many Poison type pokemon, more than Blake had imagined. A small herd of Nidoran males and females scurried around a cage about the size of a car, and a Koffing floated about in a glass dome with a ventilator pumping out the noxious fumes. There were bugs like Weedle and Venonat and Spinarak in enclosures as well, and past the more traditional storage areas, Blake could see a different sort of habitat. In the far corner of the massive room was a large artificial marsh where Croagunk were playing in the mud, while Ekans coiled themselves up around the large trees. In another section, a large, narrow cave with a barred door across the entrance loomed ominously over the room, the faint shadow of Zubat barely noticeable within its dark ridges.

The pokemon in the enclosures were definitely amazing, but Blake was surprised by how many people were here, too. Trainers of all walks of life from delinquents to schoolboys to lasses to office workers. A lady walked into the elevator in clothes so fancy they would make even his family take pause, leading a well-groomed Stunky behind her on a leash. A towering bald man whose muscles bulged out of his tattered leather jacket bumped into him and gave him a warning look, walking past him as the most adorable Budew in the world waddled behind him. A gaggle of girls about Blake's age were surrounding a cage full of Gulpin, making cooing sounds as they fed snacks to the crowd of green stomach pokemon.

To call Blake's experience surreal wouldn't do it justice. No wonder Kate was so excited, this was a Poison type lover's dream!

"Come on, Blake! You've been dawdling all day!" Kate impatiently called back at him. Blake snapped out of his fugue and followed after her, continuing to take in the sights of this poisonous paradise. He still hadn't gotten an answer about why Kate had brought him here, but he could honestly say he was glad that she had. This place was really impressive!

While Ayame is dealing with Reed, Kate has taken Blake to a special pokemon store! What kind of place is this? Kate's buying a new pokemon? What will that be like?