We continue exploring the pokemon store, as Kate finally gets her Muk! She's worked hard to obtain one, and it's nice to see she finally accomplished her goal!

KedharS: Plus, she likes it quite a lot!

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Worldbuilding like this and coming up with ways that the pokemon world would actually function is a lot of fun, some of the most fun I've had.

Guest: Yep, it's one of those small notes of worldbuilding that I enjoy about this series.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 784

Josie looked through the forms that Kate had submitted, while Kate waited impatiently, bouncing from foot to foot.

"Hey, Kate," Blake said, turning to the girl and causing her to nearly spring out of her shoes.

"W-What?!" Kate asked, her pale face looking like she'd swallowed a little bit of poison herself. She was clearly a little frazzled. She hadn't been in the back room very long, so the test couldn't have been that hard, could it?

Blake was going to ask why she'd invited him along, but it was becoming more apparent the more he saw how on-edge she was. Josie had said Kate probably invited him because he was important to her, and this was an important time for her, and he could see that she was definitely anxious. Did Kate really bring him here to help make her feel better? Like a security blanket? That was a rather strange thought, as the two of them barely ever got along, and the issue of her feelings for him had only made them more uncomfortable around each other, rather than less, like with Cynthia.

He could see that this probably wasn't the right time to ask any further than that, in case Kate got defensive the way she so easily did when she was backed into a corner. He changed his lane, then, and focused on something else.

If he was here in order to put Kate at ease, he might as well give that a shot, right? So he tried his best to lighten the tension with the question Josie had asked him.

"Well, I was looking at all these Poison types, and that woman over there, Josie, said that you were one of the biggest experts she knows. So I thought trivia might be a fun way to pass the time. I have a question about Poison types that I want to see if you know the answer to, want to give it a shot?" Blake asked. He realized as he said it that this probably wasn't the best way to ease the tension considering she'd just taken another test already, but it was too late now.

Thankfully, this was Kate Nomia, and for her answering Poison type trivia was very relaxing indeed.

"Oh, not a problem!" Kate said, her eyes shining eagerly. "Think you can stump me, huh? As if an amateur like you could know anything about Poison types that would fool someone of my level, but go on, give it a shot," she said, giving him a haughty smirk filled with arrogance.

…Well, she was talking down to him, so clearly she wasn't that worried about how her test was going to go.

Blake sighed, already regretting this, but he didn't really have a choice. "So, Kate, out of all the Poison type pokemon, what are the only two that evolve from a pokemon that isn't a Poison type?" He asked her.

Kate blinked. She had a perplexed expression on her face, and for a brief instant Blake wondered if Josie was wrong, and he'd actually managed to stump her.

"Are you an idiot or something?" Kate asked, raising her eyebrow.

Well… that wasn't the kind of response he'd been expecting to get.

Dumbfounded, Blake looked at her in confusion.

"Wh-What? What do you-"

"There aren't two pokemon that evolve from non-Poison types, there are three," Kate clarified. "Dustox, of course, evolves from Cascoon and Wurmple, and then in Galar Slowbro and Slowking are both Poison types that evolve from Slowpoke, which is a pure Psychic type."

Kate was snickering between words of her explanation. "Wow, you really thought you knew something, huh?"

"B-But…" Blake turned to Josie, his face red with shame at being shown up by Kate Nomia of all people. "She… Josie said…"

Kate sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Josie, did you forget Dustox exists again?" She asked, turning to the counter. The woman flinched, her progress looking through the papers slowing down to a dead stop.

"Err… that's…" Josie didn't have an answer for the other girl, and quickly resumed going over the test results.

Blake was just amazed that Kate knew something that Josie didn't. The other woman was clearly very well-informed on the topic of Poison type pokemon, and she had a Type 3 Certification, whatever that meant, but Kate still knew more.

"Okay," Josie said, putting the papers down. She turned to Kate, wearing a serious expression on her face.

Kate looked like she was waiting to hear whether or not she had a terminal illness as she waited for Josie's answer. It reminded Blake of when Aya was nervous and about to throw up. He hoped Kate wouldn't do the same.

Then Josie's face twisted into a sly grin. "Congratulations, Miss Kate Nomia. This all seems to be in order. Let's get you your license, and see what we can do about your Muk."

Blake had had the dubious pleasure of seeing Kate's smile on a few occasions, but right now her face was probably about as happy as he had ever seen. She looked like she'd won the lottery, or like Alcea had said something nice about her.

Were those tears in her eyes?

"R-Really?" Kate asked, sniffling. She wanted to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming, but she couldn't find the strength to move. It was like all that tension that had been pushing her forward had drained away, and now her body was all loose and relaxed.

"Yup, really!" Josie said. She knelt down and pulled a boxy machine out from under the counter, setting it down and turning it on. It whirred to life and make a squeaking noise, and then spat out a thin plastic card. Blake could make out Kate's picture in the brief moment he could see it before Kate snatched it up, staring in awe at it.

"I… I did it…" she whispered, her hands trembling. She looked like she was about to collapse.

"With that permit, you have official certification from the Pokemon League to own and raise any Poison type pokemon listed under Type 2 Restricted Species," Josie informed her. She handed a few more papers to Kate. "Here are the official documents certifying you, as well as your registration codes with the Pokemon League."

She beamed at Kate, and Blake felt a swell of relief himself that Kate had someone so readily in her corner.

"Congratulations, Kate, really," Josie smiled. "I know how hard you've been working for this. Honestly, I've only known you for a few months, but I'm astounded. Your love of Poison type pokemon has really shown through."

"Thank you," Kate sniveled, holding the card tightly against her chest. The tears were rolling down her face in waves now, but she didn't seem to mind.

Blake wasn't sure what he should say in moments like this, so he just smiled and said "congratulations". If nothing else, he knew that Kate must have worked hard and studied like crazy to get a credential like that, and he was happy acknowledging her success.

Kate gasped, suddenly remembering that Blake was still here. She sniffled and wiped her eyes on her sleeve, turning to Blake with a proud smile on her face. Her smile was actually almost nice.

"I did it!" She grinned, holding up the card. "I managed to get my Type 2 Certification!"

Blake's only response was to smile back. Then she gasped again.

"Oh, wait, you don't know what that means! You see, pokemon are categorized into different types by the Pokemon League, and-"

"Don't worry, I gave him the whole song and dance," Josie laughed, leaning over the counter. "He gets what an accomplishment it is."

"…Oh," Kate said, deflating a little. She'd been kind of looking forward to bragging to Blake all about how great she was. "Well, then I guess you understand just how much I love Poison types now, right? So you should know you'd never be able to stump me with Poison type trivia!"

Blake wasn't sure if that was meant to be a challenge, but if it was it certainly wasn't a challenge he was going to take. "That's right, you really are an expert," he deflected instead, and Kate seemed to be fine with that.

Once she calmed down from the initial high, Kate's smile turned almost tender as she looked at Blake, her eyes watering. "You know… this is all thanks to you, Blake," she murmured.

Blake was a little caught off-guard by that. "Huh? Me?" He asked, confused. "What are you talking about?"

"You're the one who told me I shouldn't hide my real self, did you already forget?" Kate laughed. "Wow, that's pretty lame!"

"H-Hey, I just…" Now that she mentioned it, yeah, Blake had done that, hadn't he? "Well, that was more about…"

"If it wasn't for you, I would have kept being a Grass type trainer and been a completely miserable person to be around," Kate continued, pretending like she wasn't still a completely miserable person to be around even as a Poison type trainer. "But because you helped me see who I really was, here I am, officially Type 2 certified!"

Something dawned on Blake as she said that. Maybe it was because he finally remembered that battle he'd had with Kate, or maybe it was because of the way she was looking at him right now. "Is that why you wanted me to come today?" He asked.

Kate nodded shyly. "It's… a little bit about that, yeah," she admitted. "But also, well… I wanted someone here, for moral support. Because I was really anxious about getting my license. But her highness couldn't be here because of how busy she is, and you, well…"

Her voice caught in her throat and she looked away, her face heating up. Blake tensed up in preparation for another confession, suspecting that Kate wasn't above being a toxic influence even on his relationship.

"…You're probably the closest thing that I have to a friend other than her," she admitted with a sigh, glancing back up at him. Her eyes were wary and weak, like that admission had taken everything out of her.

Blake wanted to smack himself on the face for being an ass and suspecting the worst about her. Kate might have been a horrible person to be around most of the time, but that didn't change the fact that she could still be a decent human being.

"I… appreciate that," Blake tactfully tried to cover up his own foolishness. Silently, he added, although you could be a little friendlier towards me if that was the case…

"Well, look at this, who would have thought that such a touching moment would bloom in our like store of all places?" Josie cut in, completely wrecking the moment. "Let's not get all hot and heavy you two, there are other customers here."

"We're NOT boyfriend and girlfriend!" Kate exclaimed.

"I have a girlfriend!" Blake clarified.

Josie didn't seem to care, and just laughed. "Now then, Kate, I believe this belongs to you."

She reached underneath the counter again, and set a pink and yellow pokeball on it. Kate's eyes went wide and all thoughts about Blake were wiped from her mind.

"Is… Is that…?" She asked, looking hopefully at Josie.

Josie nodded back to her. "Yup. And he's all yours."

Kate reached for the pokeball, but for some reason her hand just wouldn't get there. She was too overwhelmed with joy at the fact that the pokemon she'd wanted every since she was a little girl was right within her reach.

"What's with the pokeball? I've never seen one that looked like that before," Blake asked, turning to Josie. He didn't know how long Kate would spend hesitating to grab her pokeball, and he was curious because it wasn't the usual kind of pokeball.

"It's a Heal Ball," Josie explained. "It's a useful pokeball for us Pokemon Breeders. A pokemon caught by it is fully restored to health."

"Oh, that's nice," Blake said. "So it's like taking a pokemon to a Pokemon Center right as you catch it, that must be good for building a relationship quickly."

"Yes, exactly," Josie said, nodding. "Luxury Balls work better for quickly building up a positive relationship with your pokemon, though, but no way we could afford those. And besides, Heal Balls have another positive bonus as well."

"Oh?"

"See, Heal Balls are standard fare for breeders raising Poison type pokemon," Josie explained. "They don't just heal the pokemon's wounds, after all, the restorative mechanisms in their system also do a good job of purifying their poison."

"Purifying their poison?" Blake asked, surprised. "But… isn't that bad for them? After all, they're Poison types."

Josie shook her head. "No, it's actually a good thing. You see, pokemon like Weezing and Muk, who naturally exude a certain level of toxicity, tend to pollute their ecosystems just by their presence in it. That's the reason why they have Type 2 classification. But with a Heal Ball, that impact on the environment is diminished by naturally conserving the pokemon's natural poisons, so that they can save them for battle rather than let them naturally leak out."

"That's… really interesting, wow," Blake said, surprised.

"They were developed as a collaborative project between Devon Corporation from Hoenn and the Silph Corporation from Kanto," Josie explained. "You see, Kanto's always had a bit of a pollution problem, particularly around Saffron City and Celadon City. And these Heal Balls were developed as a product to reduce the strain of pokemon on the environment."

Josie shook her head and sighed. "Pokemon Breeders like us, we need to take special care of our impact on the ecosystem. If you breed too many pokemon to take care of, you're forced to release them into the wild, which can be damaging if we release invasive species. But so many trainers thoughtlessly breed their own pokemon together, without considering the impact their actions might have."

She raised her arms and gestured around the store. "And that's why places like this are important. Here, trainers can order exactly the pokemon they want, and we can provide it for them, and show them how to best care for it. And unlike people who breed pokemon on their own, we have the proper training and resources to take care of the pokemon we produce, and make sure they can find loving homes."

Blake found himself nodding in agreement. What Josie was describing sounded absolutely wonderful. "I think that's really great," he agreed. "I guess I haven't given much thought to pokemon breeding, but you guys are really doing good work here."

He looked around. The store was filled with a positive atmosphere and everyone seemed to be smiling as they looked at and played with the various Poison type pokemon. It was definitely an environment that would be good for people and pokemon.

"Yep. Although, I have to get back to helping other customers," Josie said. She slid her eyes over to Kate in a knowing look. It was clear that her impatience was starting to get the better of her. She cleared her throat. "Ahem."

"S-Sorry," Kate said, turning bright red. She reached into her purse and took out the wad of cash from earlier, slapping it down on the counter. "Here! Here it is, it's all here! Now…"

She gulped and turned to look at the Heal Ball. "F-Finally…" she murmured, picking the ball up and cradling it lovingly. She looked at Josie and was about to ask for permission, but Josie quickly nodded in agreement.

"Go for it," she laughed. "There's plenty of room."

"…Right!" Kate cheered, nodding eagerly. "Muk! Let's meet you!"

Kate released the Muk from his pokeball, that bulky blob of poison landing on the tile floor.

Blake didn't see the appeal. The pokemon was large and gross-looking, oozing sludge and grime. Its beady eyes stared at Kate and it opened its gaping maw, bellowing out "MUUUUUUUUUUUK!" and raising its gooey hands.

It was one of the worst things that Blake had ever smelled.

Kate didn't seem to mind, though. She looked at the toxic pokemon with adoration, her eyes wide and her face flushed with joy.

"H-Hello there," she whispered, stepping closer to the Muk. "My name's Kate."

She set down her bag and pulled out a set of latex gloves. Blake thought that was a pretty good idea, he couldn't imagine touching that pokemon with a ten foot pole.

Kate slid the gloves on and reached out to her Muk, placing her hand on his head. It sank a good inch or so into the pokemon's body, which made Blake feel like throwing up. But Kate was clearly over the moon.

"Aren't you just the cutest thing ever?" She asked. "Hey there. I'd love to pet you, but until we start trusting each other a little more the gloves will have to stay on. But in the meantime, I'm gonna have to give you a name! And lucky you, I've been thinking of it for years!"

Blake remembered again that Kate had wanted a Muk since she was a little girl, and had to admit that made this exchange a little sweeter, even if he didn't see the appeal.

"I decided a long time ago, I'm going to call you Sludgy," Kate smiled. "Hello there, Sludgy!"

"Muk!" The Muk laughed, clearly taking to his new name and new trainer quite nicely. Blake wondered just how well it had been trained.

"Thank you, Josie," Kate said, turning back to the attendant and smiling gratefully. Blake thought she was going to start crying again. "Thanks to you, I was finally able to get a Muk of my very own!" She was overflowing with emotion, and yup, she was starting to cry again.

"Don't thank me," Josie laughed, shaking her head. "It was all thanks to your hard work and your love of Poison types, Kate, not me. I just helped you along the way a little. You really did your best."

"Yeah," Kate said, nodding, pulling her hand back from Sludgy. She turned to Blake, her eyes brimming with gratitude. "And it wasn't just Josie. You did so much for me too, Blake."

She stepped closer to him, and Blake had a sudden realization about what she was thinking, and he was NOT okay with it. But before he could say one word of objection, she hugged him tightly, thanking him over and over.

He just wished she had taken her gloves off first.

So Kate has a new pokemon! One of her absolute favorites! Good for her, it's nice to see she got a win!