Kate finally has her Muk! Now, what's next for our enthusiastic poison-lover? Well, some time bonding with her sludgy new friend, of course! Remember to review!

KedharS: Yep, it's nice to see positive things happen to Kate.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Yes, Kate is usually a pretty toxic and infuriating girl to be around, so seeing her let down her defenses and open up like this out of sheer positivity is definitely some gap moe that lets her best side show, small as it may be.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 785

"I'm glad to see you're so happy about finally getting your hands on a Muk, Kate," Josie smiled. "Now, I'm sorry to say, but there's more to purchasing a pokemon than just giving some cash away and accepting the pokeball!"

"What? More paperwork?" Kate groaned, pulling back from Blake, much to his relief. "But I already filled out all those forms!"

"Those were the registration and caretaking papers," Josie explained. "You still need to prove that you can be a reliable owner for your Muk, and for that, we need to go over caretaking methods. What kind of feed you need to give him, how frequently, methods for maintaining his poison levels, what surfaces you can leave him on when he's not in his pokeball…"

"How to get his slime out of your clothes," Blake bitterly added, scraping the toxic mush off of his shirt. He had a feeling that it wouldn't be salvageable.

"…Yes, that too, how to monitor the rate and consistency of his… ahem 'excretions' and dispose of them properly," Josie agreed.

"I already know all that stuff!" Kate whined. "You know me, Josie, I'm an expert! I can probably answer those questions better than you!"

But Josie wasn't about to let Kate get out of this. "In a general sense maybe, but every pokemon is unique," Josie reminded her. "And just because you're his registered trainer that doesn't change the fact that I was the one who raised that little guy since he was a Grimer, I all know all about his peculiarities and habits, and I think it's important that we cover them!"

Blake had no intention of sitting through the little lecture, so now that he was finally left to his own devices he decided to pass the time by going around and actually checking out the different selection for himself.

He wasn't disappointed. This store was really as impressive as he had first thought. Not only were they selling Poison type pokemon, but there were also shelves upon shelves of pokemon food, properly divided based on the needs of each breed of pokemon and the preferences that individual pokemon might have.

Past the food section were health supplements and tools for taking care of pokemon, as well as habitats to let the pokemon play in when they weren't in their pokeballs. And those habitats were LARGE, too, and cost quite a pretty penny!

The more time Blake spent in this store watching people gush over the pokemon, the more he realized just how good off he had it, with the students in the Caretaking Course to look after pokemon while they were outside of their pokeballs. Raising pokemon was an incredibly laborious process, and he'd been taking it for granted.

Even back home, he'd had his family's massive estate to let his pokemon roam free in. Space and taking care of pokemon had never been that difficult for him, but as he looked at the different goods that were for sale, he realized that raising pokemon was quite a lot of hard work for most people.

I really am lucky that I go to the Pokemon Academy, he silently thought. I guess I should stop taking it for granted.

"Blake!"

Blake turned to see Kate running up to him, waving her pokeball in her hands. Her face was bright with glee and Blake guessed that all her business was finished.

"Finally done?" He asked.

"Yep!" Kate said, nodding eagerly. "And I wanted to say, um… thanks, again."

She'd been thanking him a lot. "Hey, come on, it wasn't that big of a deal," Blake said, trying to downplay it. He didn't like Kate being this thankful towards him, it made him feel all weird to see her being so… nice.

It wasn't like Kate at all.

"No, it really was, you didn't have to come, but you did, and it means a lot," Kate said, her eyes brimming with gratitude. Blake averted his gaze, it still just felt so wrong.

"Yeah, you're welcome, any time," Blake said. They were just meaningless platitudes to end the conversation, but he didn't realize how dangerous they were until they came out, and he couldn't take them back.

Fuck. Now he had encouraged her to do this again, shit.

"W-Wait, I meant-"

Kate didn't seem to care about his little slipup though, thank god, and had already moved on. "So Blake, putting that aside, I'm going to have to start working in a few hours," she explained. "I'm going to spend that time getting to know Sludgy better, but there's not really any reason for you to stick around."

She glanced pointedly at the door.

"So, like, if you want to leave, you can leave, I won't mind," she said.

Blake thought about Aya. He didn't know what was going on with that Reed woman, and honestly part of him was a little worried.

At the same time, Aya had said that she wanted to handle it, and he didn't feel comfortable going against her wishes and butting into it. She clearly didn't like Reed having anything to do with him, and he couldn't say he blamed her.

Reed was a little clingy and forward. And as comfortable as he felt around her, he knew that Aya would no-doubt be jealous of someone that pretty being so aggressive towards him. So for her piece of mind, he was going to leave the whole Reed/Darla mess for Aya to deal with.

Which meant that he didn't have anything else to do today. And honestly, he was kind of enjoying this place.

"Actually, I was thinking I might stay around here," Blake said, looking around the shop. "Maybe check out the different floors, you know, stuff like that."

Kate's eyes widened and she smiled brightly. "Really? Hey, if you want to stay here for a little while, then, I was thinking, maybe you could help me out with something?" She looked hopefully into his eyes and Blake was already regretting not taking the out she had given him.

Give an inch, and Kate was definitely going to take a mile. But it's not like he could just rudely rebuff her after already telling her he wasn't planning on doing anything right now, not with how happy and appreciative she was.

He may have been wary, but he wasn't Kate.

"…Sure," he said, smiling as best as he could. "What do you need help with?"

"Well, since I got Sludgy, and he's been spending his time in here for so long, I thought that it would be best to give him some time to exercise," she explained. She smirked. "So, what do you think we have a pokemon battle?" She asked, pointing her pokeball at him.

Blake sighed. "Yeah, sure, why not?" It had been a while since he last battled Kate.

"If you two are going to battle," Josie called from the counter, "then you do it OUTSIDE my store, thank you very much! We don't have any battle facilities, only goods and pokemon. So out, out, out, and be back in time for your shift, Kate!"

As usual, Kate took the lead, heading out of the store with a spring in her step. She was bursting with impatience as they reached the lobby, practically dashing out into the street and to the park across from the large building.

"Come on, Blake! Come on! Battle!" She shouted.

For once, Blake wished he had the dour, surly Kate who wasn't excited about anything. That would be better than this hyperactive girl right now. But he held his tongue and followed after her, hoping this would be wrapped up fast.

As happy as he was for Kate, he definitely preferred browsing the shop over fighting against her new pokemon. But she wanted a battle to test out her pokemon, and that was certainly something he could empathize with.

"Come on, Sludgy!" Kate called, releasing her pokemon into the warm sunny park. "Feel that?" She smiled, basking in the sunlight. "That's the fresh air!" Right now, she could appreciate a rainy day she was in such a good mood. She turned to Blake and urged him to send out his own pokemon. "Come on, let's do this!"

"Okay, go," Blake said, tossing out a pokeball. Weiss emerged, landing in the grass and raising his pincer towards Sludgy.

Kate looked at Blake.

Blake stared evenly back at her.

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Kate exploded. "Don't use your Scizor!"

"I thought you wanted a battle?" Blake asked innocently.

"You know what this is! It's not serious, send out your Crawdaunt or something, don't just be a scummy bastard and use that! You call this a fair fight!?" Kate's good mood had turned sour instantly. "Come on! This is just a friendly battle, you don't have to play like that! Go easy!"

Blake smirked and pretended not to hear her.

"That's dirty!" Kate whined. But it was clear Blake wasn't calling back his Scizor any time soon. "Ugh, fucking fine! Since you're gonna be such an asshole, I guess we don't have any choice, Sludgy!" She shouted. "Use mud slap!"

"Muk!" Sludgy raised one of his hands and flung mud at Weiss.

"Dodge."

Weiss easily sidestepped the mud as Kate pulled her hair out in frustration.

Needless to say, the battle went by quickly.

Kate stormed into the pokemon center, fuming. Blake followed after her with an amused expression on his face.

"I'm not talking to you," she pouted. Blake thought she was about to cry. Honestly he did feel a little bad considering how much she'd been looking forward to the battle and how good her mood had been previously. Luckily, Weiss hadn't actually done that much damage to her Muk, he'd just played around for a little until Kate got frustrated enough to put an end to the fight.

Once Muk was fully healed up, Kate turned and headed out, not even looking Blake's way. As funny as the situation was, he did feel a little guilty, and quickly caught up with her.

"Hey, Kate, sorry, but I couldn't resist," he apologized. "How about a real battle this time? No Scizor, okay?"

Kate perked up at that. Her good mood returned with a vengeance. "Okay, you promise?" She asked, hopeful but suspicious. So much for all the good will he'd built up with her today, but he couldn't say that the frustrated look on her face hadn't been worth it.

"Promise. No Scizor, I'll use whichever pokemon you want." Blake wasn't going to let her win, but he could at least do that much.

"Then… use your Crawdaunt," Kate decided.

Blake was surprised. "Really? I thought you would want me to use Tara. You know, given the type specialties."

"I want a fair fight, not an easy win," Kate huffed, crossing her arms as they waited for the light to cross the street. "Don't go easy on me, you got that? Sludgy isn't a pokemon to underestimate, I'll have you know!"

"Don't worry, I won't go easy on you," Blake assured her. They took their previous positions. "Cory doesn't even know how, I'm pretty sure. We'll give you the fight you want!"

"That's all I'm asking," Kate said. "Sludgy! Come out!"

"Muk!" Her Muk bellowed, coming out for round two.

"Cory, let's go," Blake said, sending out his Crawdaunt.

"Crawdaunt!" Cory growled, snapping his pincers. He immediately began with a bubblebeam before Blake could even give the order.

"Muuuk!" Sludgy winced as the bubbles popped against his grimy body.

"Nice, Cory!" Blake cheered. "Let's give that Muk a bit of a cleanup! Now, swords dance!"

"Craw!" Cory nodded, raising his pincers and spinning in place, heightening his attack in preparation to finish off the Poison type pokemon.

Kate wasn't easily discouraged though. "Not a problem! Sludgy, Weiss's attacks hurt way more than that, right? Shake it off and use screech!"

"MUUUUUUUK!" Sludgy screeched, Cory scuttling back as he recoiled at the deafening sound echoing in his ears.

"Nice! Now, follow it with your poison gas attack!" Kate ordered. Having just gotten her Muk today, she hadn't had time to teach him toxic or any of her other special moves yet. But that was fine, this battle was just to blow off some steam.

"Muk!" Sludgy opened his mouth, and a cloud of poison wafted towards Cory.

"Cory! Hold your breath and use aqua jet!" Blake ordered. Cory made sure not to breathe in any poison as he shrouded his body with water, and shot through the cloud towards Sludgy with his pincer raised, swinging it at the purple pokemon.

Cory hit Sludgy hard in the stomach…? …The portion of his body that wasn't mouth, and the pokemon roared in pain. But it wasn't nearly strong enough to take the Muk down.

"Push through it, Sludgy, and use gunk shot!" Kate ordered. Sludgy spat a massive blast of sludge and grime out of his giant mouth, hitting Cory directly and knocking him backwards.

"CRAAW!" Cory wailed, rolling on the grass as the powerful poison stung him. Sludgy took this moment to keep going, lumbering towards the Crawdaunt.

"Body slam!" Kate ordered. Her Muk hauled himself up and dropped down on Cory, engulfing him with his sludgy hide.

Blake felt like he was going to be sick to his stomach. Poor Cory.

"What do you think, Blake?" Kate crowed. "How's Cory enjoying getting a taste of Sludgy's body, huh? Doesn't look too pleasant!"

"Cory!" Blake cried. Cory struggled under the Muk, feeling the crushing weight of his disgusting, slimy hide pressing down on him. But he wasn't beaten yet. Raising his pincer, he released a blast of exploding bubbles.

The force of the bubbles' explosions were enough to knock Sludgy off of Cory, which gave him enough time to right himself. Before he could press the attack, however, he got a face full of sludge for his troubles, temporarily blinding him.

"And now your Crawdaunt is poisoned!" Kate said. Sludge wasn't a guaranteed poisoning, but she had an eye for telling when pokemon were infected and the way Cory was writhing in pain was more than enough information.

"Cory!" Blake cried. "Are you alright?!"

"Crawdaunt…" Cory panted, scraping the sludge off of his eyes and glaring at the poisonous pokemon. He'd been hurt, but luckily sludge had only poisoned him; if it had been a badly poisoning attack that would have been much worse.

"Good! Now, use night slash!" Blake ordered. Cory surged forward and raised his pincer, dark energy surging through it.

"Oh, no you don't! Sludgy, use your acid armor!" Kate ordered. Sludgy shuffled back and his body shifted into a more liquid form. Cory's pincer slid right off of it, doing considerably less damage than he had been intending.

"Nice! Now, pound!" Sludgy raised his arm and hit Cory in the back, knocking him forwards. But even with his reduced defenses an attack like that wasn't going to do a lot of damage to Cory, and all it managed to do was piss him off.

"Cory, if her defenses have been raised due to acid armor, then our best bet is to raise your attack stat even higher!" Blake shouted. "Use swords dance!"

"Go ahead and try, if you think you can!" Kate smirked. "In the meantime, Sludgy, use disable to stop that Crawdaunt right in his tracks!"

"Muk!" Sludgy nodded, raising his hands and narrowing his eyes. Cory had raised his pincers to begin using swords dance again, but he found himself unable to move; he was pinned by Sludgy's intimidating gaze.

"Cory! What's wrong? Why aren't you moving?" Blake cried.

"He can't move!" Kate crowed. "I've got him trapped with Sludgy's disable attack! Now any time he tries to use swords dance from now on, he's going to freeze up just like that! And while we've got him right where we want him, Sludgy, use venom drench!"

"Muk!" Sludgy bellowed, spitting a massive wave of toxins from his mouth, the spray raining down on Cory and seeping into his carapace.

"Thanks to venom drench, the poison running through your Crawdaunt is doing a little bit more damage than normal," Kate smirked. "Not only is his health draining away, but his whole body is weakening as a result of the toxins! His attack, special attack, and speed stats are all being worn away by the poison, leaving him unable to fight back!"

"You really seem to like dirty tricks, huh?" Blake asked. In spite of his irritation, he had to tip his hat at Kate's ability to be a nuisance. "Well, that won't be enough to beat us! Cory, use crabhammer!"

"Crawdaunt!" Cory was finally able to move again. He shrugged off the poison and scuttled forward, raising his claw and striking Sludgy before the slower pokemon could respond.

"It's okay, Sludgy, with your boosted defenses that won't do much!" Kate assured her pokemon. "Use gunk shot again!"

"Cory, protect!" Blake ordered. Cory raised his pincers, a blue barrier appearing around him and repelling the blast of poison.

Panting, Cory glared through the protective barrier at Sludgy, feeling himself start to weaken, and that made him mad.

Kate only smirked. "Sludgy, there's no way that Crawdaunt will be able to keep this going on for long, not while that poison is eating away at him! Use acid armor again and increase your defenses even higher, okay?"

"Muk," Sludgy said, nodding as his body became even harder to land a solid hit on.

"Cory, try using night slash one more time," Blake ordered.

"Craw!" Cory nodded, scuttling towards Sludgy and raising his pincer, dark energy surging through it. He swung with all his might but he was just too slow thanks to the venom drench, and Sludgy was able to easily slide out of the way with his liquid body.

"Now gunk shot, one more time!" Kate crowed victoriously. Sludgy opened his mouth wide and fired a devastating blast of poison that hit Cory in the back, and both trainers knew that was it. With Cory's reduced defenses and the poison eating away at him, he didn't have the strength to even stand back up, let alone put up a decent fight.

"You did your best, Cory, return," Blake said, recalling Cory to his pokeball. So, he lost. Worse things could happen.

And besides, seeing the way that Kate ran over to her Muk exuberantly, eyes shining with glee as she through her arms around him, uncaring about the chance of infection, he couldn't be that upset about losing.

Kate won her battle with her favorite pokemon, and he should just be happy for her.

Nice to see a little bit of positivity from Blake towards Kate. And Kate won her battle! That Muk may be new, but it looks like he's going to become quite a powerhouse on Kate's party! I can't wait to see what he'll be capable of once he's fully trained!