We had a fun little detour with Kate and Blake, but now it's time to return to the Pokemon Academy and see what's going on with Reed and her search for Zinnia! What could she be after? And what will Darla's reaction be?

KedharS: Definitely a strange feeling, for Kate to be accomplishing things.

Guest: Well, she is fun to pick on, but I don't know if I would call that bullying as much as teasing. Either way, Kate's usual attitude doesn't make me feel that bad about it.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 786

While Blake and Kate were off experiencing all the wonders and new horizons that the pokemon store had to offer, things back at the Pokemon Academy were progressing in a rather interesting direction due to the arrival of the mysterious Reed Blackthorn.

Ayame had kept her word and escorted the dragon-loving girl to meet with Olivia, but that was the most she had done. She hadn't needed to bring Reed to the dorms, thankfully. It was a good thing that Olivia hadn't been discharged from the infirmary yet after all!

Reed took to the other girl immediately. She rushed into the luxury infirmary suite Olivia had reserved, her eyes shining eagerly. "Ah! Are you this 'Olivia Himeko' I've been hearing about?!" She gushed, breathing in deeply. "Aaaahh, that's lovely… you train a dragon as well, don't you? Which kind, if you don't mind me asking? I'm an expert of the Dragon types, and I must say, getting to meet so many dragon users today is, well… wow!"

Olivia was sitting in bed, her leg in a cast as her sprain healed. She stared at Reed, not sure what to make of the woman.

"…She's quite a handful indeed," Olivia dryly remarked, glancing at Aya before putting on a courteous smile and turning to her fellow blonde. Aya had texted her before they arrived to let her know a little about what was happening, so she wasn't caught completely off-guard.

"Oh! Where are my manners?!" Reed gasped, as if just now realizing how rude she'd been. She held out her hand. "My name is Reed Blackthorn, and I heard that you would be able to help me with my little problem?"

"And what little problem would that be?" Olivia coolly asked, knowing exactly what Reed was here looking for. She just wanted to see if the other girl would come out and say it or not, to test just how open she was willing to be.

"I'm looking for Zinnia! She's a family friend, and she's a member of the Appeals Course here at the Pokemon Academy! Your friend Ayame said that you would be able to help me track her down, because you know everyone who's anyone in the Appeals Course! So, are you going to help? It would really be a relief!"

…Very open, apparently. Olivia glanced Aya's way again and raised her eyebrow.

Ayame didn't know what else to say, and shrugged her shoulders in resignation. That was just the way this woman was.

Olivia turned her attention back to Reed, and cleared her throat. "Listen, miss-"

"Oh, please, just call me Reed!" Reed laughed. "It'll be easier that way. Besides, we're all friends here, no need to be so formal! Any friend of dragons is a friend of mine!"

"…Well, okay then, Reed," Olivia corrected herself, "this girl you're looking for, Zinnia, why do you think she's here?"

"A trusted source confirmed that she's here," Reed laughed.

Olivia wasn't buying that as an answer.

"…And that source would be?" She asked.

"Uhum, um, I can't really say," she admitted, scratching her head sheepishly. "It's sort of a family secret, see, so I really can't."

"Well, I'm afraid I can't accept that as an answer," Olivia said, scowling. "If I'm going to give you any information about one of my peers, I'm going to need to know who is asking, and what that information will be used for."

Reed was silent, staring at Olivia with a pensive smile on her face.

"…Thank you," she finally said.

"Thank you? For what?" Olivia asked, narrowing her eyes.

"For confirming that you know who Zinnia is, of course!" Reed laughed. "It's not that I don't trust Ayame over there, but she seems like a girl who could be easily confused."

"Hey!" Ayame snapped.

"Aya, she's not wrong," Olivia said.

"Hey!"

"But what you said just now, about not giving me any information, well, obviously that means you have information to give, isn't that right?" Reed said, narrowing her eyes. Her smile had a fierce look to it, and her eyes gleamed dangerously. "I know my Zinnia, and she's not the kind of girl to give away anything to someone she didn't trust. Which means if you know who I'm talking about, and I can see that you do, that means Zinnia must be someone close to you, isn't that right?"

Olivia clutched her blanket and glared at Reed. She was losing her edge, she was still messed up from the last few days, with painkillers pushing through her body. She probably should have declined Aya's request, but now here they were.

"So now that you know, what are you going to do about it?" She asked cautiously. Ayame was immediately on guard. Neither girl knew what this woman was planning or what she was capable of, and they were both tensely waiting for her to make the next move.

Unfortunately, neither one of them were battlers, so if she attacked they weren't sure they would be able to fend her off.

"Do? I'm not going to do anything, of course," Reed laughed, and in an instant the tension drained from the room. She shrugged her shoulders and wore an even smile on her face, like all of the unpleasantness in her expression was just a figment of their imagination. "I'm just going to ask if you can take me to her, I need to see her."

A sigh escaped Olivia's lips and she relaxed a hair, staring warily at the dragon-lover. She wasn't sure what to make of her, but she knew that she was probably bad news. She knew that Darla's relationship with her family was bad, and it wasn't like Reed was doing a stellar job of concealing her motives from them.

"I already told you that I can't reveal that information to a stranger," Olivia calmly replied, hoping that the other woman wouldn't force the issue. "I'm sure if this Zinnia wanted to talk with you, she would have left you with some means of getting in contact. I don't really think it's my place to step in on her behalf."

"Oh, that's fine," Reed laughed. "See, she did leave me a way to contact her! But this isn't the kind of thing where I can just send her a letter, you know?"

Olivia blinked. That was news. She had thought that this was someone from Darla's family, having come to track her down and bring her home, or for some other unscrupulous reason. But Darla was actually in contact with this woman?

If Reed was to be trusted, then it would probably be okay to put the two of them together. But Olivia couldn't take that chance.

"So you know she's here because she gave you an address to send a letter, then?" Olivia fished for answers, trying to determine if Reed was being straightforward. She wasn't sure how she would catch her in a lie, but she needed to make absolutely sure that Reed could be trusted.

"Well, not me, no, someone else," Reed explained. "Sort of a middleman, you know? But like I said, I can't say anything else, it's private."

"…Is that right," Olivia mused, nodding her head.

The two girls shared a smile, giggling like a pair of ten year olds.

Olivia wanted to throw a chair.

This woman was really getting her Gogoat, and she wanted to smack her down. But she had to compose herself. Her ankle was throbbing with pain but she resisted the urge to press the button for another dose of painkillers, she needed to keep her wits about her and the pain was doing a great job of helping her focus.

She didn't want to outright rebuff the woman and show her the door, because she didn't know what Reed wanted or how far she was willing to go. If she was a master of Dragon types like she purported to be, then her pokemon might be able to do some serious damage.

On the other hand, she wasn't giving Olivia any information that she could work with. If she couldn't trust this girl, then how could she let her meet with Darla? She couldn't, simple as that. Which put her in a pickle, as she didn't know how to resolve this little discussion.

It was Ayame who piped up with an actual workable idea.

"Hey, what if, well… I was just thinking, that if you're close with Zinnia, well, what if we just told her you were looking for her?" Ayame asked. "And then we can leave it up to her whether or not she wants to meet with you?"

Reed and Olivia both looked at Ayame.

Olivia could just kiss her! She should have thought of that, these painkillers were quite a drag. If what Reed was saying was true and she and Darla were in contact, then Darla would definitely know who she was and if she was someone that could be trusted. It was a perfectly workable suggestion that would let Olivia get them together without putting herself at risk, or betraying any secrets.

The question was, would Reed be up for it?

Reed wore a smile that was impossible to Reed as she thought through this proposition, and Olivia studied her closely. The woman's response would indicate exactly how much Olivia would be able to trust her.

"Yes, I think that should work! Good idea!" Reed said, nodding. "Tell her that if she wants to meet, I'll be waiting for her down by the beach! I believe I saw a nice little fishing shack, it seems like the perfect place to hook up!"

Olivia sighed in relief, that would work fine. "Then I'll tell her if she wants to meet, she can find you there. Is that everything?"

Reed shook her head. "Oooooone last thing," she added, narrowing her eyes into glittering slits. Her smile deepened and Olivia tensed up.

"What is it?" She asked.

"I would really appreciate it if you emphasized just how urgent it is that I see her," Reed said. "I have something very important that I need to talk to her about, you understand."

"…I'll be sure to pass that along," Olivia said, nodding. She finally felt like she could breathe. "Is there anything else?"

"Nope!" Reed chirped, shaking her head. "I think that'll be everything! Unless you're interested in letting me meet you dragon?" She added hopefully.

Olivia wasn't sure what to make of that, so she shook her head. "Uh… no. See, my Garchomp is busy resting, we had a very stressful last few days, as I'm sure you can guess," she said, indicating to her raised leg.

"Oh, a Garchomp? Wow, that's gotta be just the coolest thing ever!" Reed gushed, her smile filling with equal parts excitement and disappointment. "Ah, well, I hope she's okay! I can give you some special medicine if you like!"

"N-No, that's fine," Olivia said, shaking her head, not quite sure how they'd gotten onto this subject, but just desperate for this conversation to end. "Like I said, she just needs rest."

"Okay! That's good then," Reed said, letting out a sigh. She immediately perked back up. "Now then, I must be off! I'll be down at the pier!"

With that, the tall woman flounced past Ayame and out the door, and both girls in the room took a sigh of relief.

"That girl is really something, isn't she?" Olivia noted, raising her eyebrow. She turned to Aya. "So, Aya, about this… Zinnia."

"Y-Yes?" Ayame said, straightening up a little. She wasn't sure if this was a good thing or not, and she was definitely feeling like putting Darla and this Reed together would make for a very bad time.

"I think that you're right, it's a good idea we at least tell her about what's happening," Olivia said, keeping her voice low and avoiding using Darla's name in case Reed was eavesdropping on them. "Let her decide what to do."

"Yeah, I think you're right, boss," Ayame agreed.

"And even if she doesn't want to meet, she should at least know that someone is looking for her," Olivia said, taking out her phone. "I'm going to text her right now and have her meet me here." Olivia began texting a message to Darla, careful not to let her know what was going on, in case it scared her off. She turned and looked up at Aya.

"I think you should go back with Reed," she added.

Ayame clearly wasn't a fan of that idea, as her face showed. "Seriously?" She whined. "Why? She's just going to wait for… you-know-who at the pier, why do I have to-"

"Do you trust her?" Olivia asked, raising her eyebrow. She had absolutely no faith in Reed keeping her word that she would just go obediently wait on the beach. She was probably waiting at the hospital entrance right now to ambush Darla; it was what Olivia would have done.

Ayame sighed, Olivia was completely right. She turned and trudged out the door to catch up with Reed. She didn't want to spend any more time with that dragon girl than she had to, but she also couldn't just leave her to her own devices.

Olivia briefly wondered if Aya would be safe, but she shook that thought out of her head. She would have to trust that Reed wouldn't do anything violent with a bunch of witnesses when Aya insisted on coming along with her.

She needn't have worried in either case, because when Ayame caught up to Reed she was indeed walking down the path towards the beach, and was overjoyed at having someone to talk to on the trip there.

Ayame was far less overjoyed about it. She learned quite a bit more about dragons than she'd ever wanted to.

"Why does Olivia want to see you?" Lila asked, poking her head out of the shower. She was taking the day off, in the middle of a long beauty regime to recover some of her lost charm from the Miss Pokemon Academy Contest. She'd almost gotten her hair back to its original blonde luster.

"I don't know, she didn't say," Darla said, changing out of her sweats and into something a little more appropriate to be seen in around campus. "But she said it was important, so I'd better go see what's going on."

"Well, have fun," Lila called. "I'd come with, but, well…"

"Yeah, I get it," Darla chuckled. "Your spa day is more important."

"You know it~" Lila hummed, ducking back into the shower. She had a lot more shampooing to do to make sure all the grime was off.

Darla gathered her stuff and headed out the door with a spring in her step. She was feeling pretty good today, having spent most of yesterday sleeping off her fatigue from the Miss Pokemon Academy Contest herself.

That good mood soon turned sour when she made it to the infirmary and got the details of what was going on from Olivia.

"She said that she was Draconid, and looking for someone called 'Zinnia'," Olivia said. She was trying not to sound too accusatory, but she was suspicious. "Now, I don't know who Zinnia is, but if this is someone you know, then this is important and I have to know."

Darla felt her breath stop. She had been fearing this day would come, but it had finally happened. Valon had kept his word up until this point, and she knew that there wasn't anything to be gained from her by outing her to her family, but what else was she supposed to think?

Now was the time to finally come clean. Olivia knew a lot, but she didn't know the full story. "Zinnia… is me," she admitted, feeling like a heavy weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

"…I thought as much," Olivia said, nodding. "I'm not going to ask why you used a fake name, but honestly, it doesn't matter. We all have things in our past we don't want to talk about, so I'm not going to force any more out of you than I need to. At the same time, though, this is something important. If the people after you are dangerous…"

"They… They probably aren't," Darla said, shaking her head. "They… value privacy and secrecy. They wouldn't do anything too… aggressive. Not to anyone but me, anyway. If they want me back, they'd do exactly what they're doing now, sending an agent to recover me."

"That's what I feared," Olivia said, scowling. "She said that you were in contact with her, but I didn't trust her. In that case, I'm going to tell her where to shove it. Don't worry, I'm making you a promise that she won't get anywhere near you."

Olivia wasn't sure how she would go about keeping that promise, but as she saw the confusion on Darla's face she found that she was a little confused herself.

"Wait… she said what?" Darla asked.

"She said that she knew you, that she sent you letters," Olivia said. "Her name was Reed, Reed Blackthorn. Do you know them?"

Darla gasped, sitting up straighter. "Reed? Reed's the one who came here?"

That wasn't the response Olivia had been expecting. Darla had been tense and afraid up until this point, and she still definitely carried that vibe, but it was mixed with something else, like she was more confused than anything.

Olivia could empathize with that.

"Is there something special about Reed?" She prodded.

Darla looked down and stroked her chin contemplatively. "Reed, she's… well, it's complicated. I can't really explain anything else, you know?"

Olivia's eye twitched. She knew that she had told Darla that she wasn't going to force anything out of her, but at the same time she was starting to get irritated with these Draconids and their "I can't talk about it" bullshit.

Couldn't someone give her a straight fucking answer?! She was just trying to help!

While Olivia was stewing in her frustration, it was clear that Darla had arrived at some kind of decision because she stood up from her seat and bowed to Olivia.

"Thanks for telling me," she thanked her. "You said she was waiting at the pier by the fishing shack, yes?"

"Uh, yeah, but Darla you aren't seriously planning to go see her, are you?" Olivia asked. She knew that it was Darla's choice, but everything she'd heard today had convinced her that this was absolutely the worst idea, especially with Darla not telling her anything about what was going on.

"It's okay, boss, you don't need to worry," Darla assured her with a tense smile. "I'm just going to talk, that's all. She's an old friend of mine."

Olivia might be high on painkillers at the moment, but even she wasn't gullible enough to buy that for a second. At the same time, though, there wasn't a whole lot she could say against her. She swallowed her pride and sighed, nodding her head.

"Good luck," she mumbled as Darla headed out. She called after her, "remember, if you need any help, just call me!"

But Darla didn't even turn back.

Olivia flopped back down in bed and sighed, pressing the button for more painkillers. She was nursing a frustrating headache that she wanted gone.

So Reed and Darla are going to meet! What could Reed want? We'll have to find out!