Who is this strange girl trying to get into Blake's pants? Right in front of Ayame no less! Will this be a problem? Hopefully their date won't be ruined over something like this, they were just getting to a good spot! Ayame might mess things up by taking this girl and breaking her in half, though. Remember to review!

KedharS: Definitely an interesting turn, that's for sure.

Epifanio Therion: She definitely has eyes for Blake… but she also might have eyes for Ayame. She's definitely got an appraising gaze, alright.

Rus0804: Donoma just happened to have the perfect entrance ready to go.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 817

Blake saw the cross look on Aya's face and went pale himself. Oh no. This was NOT how he wanted their date to start! He- He hadn't done anything wrong! This girl was just aggressively coming onto him in a way that made Cynthia look subtle, but he wasn't tempted by her in the slightest!

"W-Wait, Aya, this isn't what it looks like! I wasn't-!"

But Aya was ignoring him. Her glare didn't even turn his way. She stormed up to the two of them, her focus on the girl.

"Donoma Marama…" She snarled.

Blake was caught off-guard. Wait, what? Aya… Aya knew this girl?

Donoma smiled brazenly back at the tomboy. "Ayame! Imagine running into you here!"

"What are you doing here?!" Ayame barked. "Didn't I ask you to leave me alone?"

"I am leaving you alone," Donoma scoffed, giving an exaggerated sigh. She slinked behind Blake, draping her arms over his shoulders. He felt her boobs press into his back. "But this cutie on the other hand, well… I just couldn't help myself."

Yeah, they definitely knew each other. Blake could sense the hostility emanating off his girlfriend, and he knew he needed to de-escalate this situation fast. Or at least get out of the way.

He slipped free from Donoma's grasp and practically leapt away from her. It wasn't that he expected Aya to hurt her or anything, but…

He was feeling really scared and really tense, and he didn't want anything to happen. He tried to ease her frustrations by distracting her, asking "so, Aya, you know her?"

Immediately he wished he hadn't.

"I know her," Ayame confirmed. Her face lightened slightly, but she was only slightly softer than she had been. It was still clear that her focus was on Donoma, and she was channeling some real anger.

"We're old friends!" Donoma lied through her teeth.

"We aren't friends!" Ayame shouted. "Just because you work with the Empress doesn't make us even remotely close to being friends!"

Ah, so that was it. He thought this girl reminded him a lot of Olivia. So she was in the Appeals Course too? That explained how they knew each other. What it didn't explain was the overwhelming anger Aya was exhibiting. It seemed like this was less about him and more about the other girl.

"Leave my boyfriend alone!"

Oh. Maybe not.

Donoma smirked. "What can I say? I came by, and saw a cute guy, and made my move. I can't be blamed for that, anybody would do the same."

"You KNOW he's my boyfriend, don't give me that!"

"True, but if he's tempted to step out on you it's not like I'm going to turn him down," Donoma purred. "Don't get so jealous, Ayame, it's just little bit of fun in the hay, I'll be happy to give him back to you once I'm done with him."

Donoma was reminding him more of Sylvia at this point. And that wasn't a good thing. Aya had a tendency to get violent, but there's no way she would go on a rampage in a public store, right? She was just upset, right?

"You keep your filthy claws off of him," she hissed. "I told you I don't want you going anywhere near Blake! Stay. Away."

Oh, that explained why Blake had never met her before.

Donoma gave an exaggerated sigh, pressing the back of her hand against her forehead. "Oh, Ayame, you're so melodramatic," she crooned melodramatically. "Fine, fine, since I'm such a big fan of yours, I promise I'll leave your cute little boyfriend alone."

"You said that last time," she growled back. "And now here you are, stalking us here to put the moves on him. You expect me to believe it's a coincidence that the SECOND I take my eyes off my boyfriend you practically throw yourself at him."

"Yes."

Well, the girl was certainly brazen, Blake couldn't deny that.

Donoma finally turned her attention back to him, her eyes narrowing into slits. A smirk crossed her face and she took up the hem of her skirt, curtsying. "Please excuse that bit of unpleasantness just now, Blake. It's nice to finally meet you! My name is Donoma Marama, I'm also a member of the Empress's organization."

Blake glanced at Aya. He didn't want to interact with this girl unless she said it was okay. Aya clicked her tongue and glanced away, but she didn't outright refuse so Blake took that as a yes.

"…Hi." It was the most he could get out with this suffocating air around them.

"There, you've said hi, you can go now." Ayame's glare didn't falter in the slightest. She really, really didn't want to see this girl here on her date. This was supposed to be her special day with her boyfriend, and Donoma was going to ruin the whole thing!

"I can't leave yet! I'm not done with my shopping!" Donoma whined.

"Oh please! You really expect me to believe that you're actually here because you had something to buy?" Ayame scoffed, shaking her head in disbelief at the other girl's arrogance. "You and I both know exactly why you're here, Donoma, don't get cute!"

Donoma smirked.

"I came here to buy some pokemon food, that's all," she said. "You know as well as I do that Dragon types don't tend to eat the same things as other pokemon, or even other Dragon types. Their foodstuffs have to be specifically crafted to suit their needs, remember?"

With that, she strutted over to one of the wide shelves and picked up a large bag, hefting it up for Ayame to see. A picture of a Dragalge was plastered over the front of the bag.

Ayame clicked her tongue in frustration. She doubted Donoma was serious, in fact, she was pretty much certain that Donoma was blatantly lying. But she had a legitimate-enough sounding excuse that Ayame couldn't just shoot her down.

And it was clear that Blake was only getting more and more uncomfortable right now, and she didn't want to do anything else to ruin their date. It was already going pretty poorly, she didn't want to be responsible for wrecking it even more.

"Well, you have your food, now scram," Ayame scoffed.

But Donoma wasn't interested in making a quick escape.

"Come oooooonn, Ayame!" She grinned. "I just ran into you guys! Can't we stay and talk for a little, like friends? Please? Blake?"

The smile she wore was filled with good intentions, but Blake was on Aya's side with this one. This was their date, after all, and he didn't want anything to screw it up. It was clear that Aya was in a really bad mood, and the sooner this girl was gone, the better.

Donoma could see she wasn't getting any play with the idea of being the sudden third wheel, so she shrugged. "Oh, well, worth a shot! Any time I get to spend with Ayame is definitely a plus anyway, don't you think Blake?"

Blake was still not sure what this girl's motivation was. She acted like she and Aya were friends, but it was pretty clear that the feeling wasn't mutual. And either this girl was a phenomenal actress, or she was, at least partly, genuine in her admiration for Aya.

But that could have been Blake's assuredness that Aya was amazing and anyone would admire her and want to be her friend.

"Oh shut up, we aren't friends," Ayame scowled.

"Well, but we could be!" Donoma smiled. "After all, I am your number one fan, Ayame!"

THAT was a new angle. Blake stared at Donoma in confusion.

Ayame groaned and buried her face in her hand. "Oh, please, not this again. Please, NOT this again, I already told you no!"

Donoma shrugged. "I know, but still! Come on, please? You have to admit it would be great, even the Empress agrees with me!"

"No means no!"

"Just once!"

Blake didn't think interrupting was a great idea, but he couldn't help but be curious. "What, um… what are you guys talking about?" He asked cautiously.

Donoma turned to him with sparkles in her eyes. "Yes! Exactly! Mr. Boyfriend is the perfect person to help me convince you!"

Ayame's rage had faltered by this point and now she was just filled with despair. This date was completely ruined.

Donoma took Blake by the hand and turned him towards Ayame. "Take a look at your girlfriend, Blake," she said, resting her chin on his shoulder. "Isn't she just the cutest, most marvelous girl in the whole world?"

"…Yeah, obviously," Blake said, confused about where she was going with this.

"Aaargh! Stop it!" Ayame didn't want to feel overjoyed that Blake was complimenting her, especially not considering that it was due to Donoma's prodding. But she couldn't help the feelings of excitement welling up in her chest anyway.

"Weeeeeeelll, see, she's not just cute, but she's got this handsome, boyish charm that's just perfect for a star," Donoma continued. She let Blake go and stepped forward, holding her fingers up in a square in front of her eye, like a camera.

"And I'm going to be the one to capture it!"

Now Blake was lost. "Huh? What are you talking about?"

Donoma placed her hand above her heart and thrust her sizeable chest out with pride. "I pride myself on being an excellent judge of talent. And certainly, a woman like Olivia Himeko has a face that can move mountains, no one can question her starmaking qualities! But that isn't something I'm interested in, you see! No, no, I'm not interested in that in the slightest!"

She was lying, of course, but right now that didn't matter.

"You see, Blake, the Appeals Course deals in all sorts of types. You have models and actresses like Olivia, idols like Darla and Lila, clothing specialists like Allen, all sorts of people in the entertainment industry! But as for me, well… You can consider me a bit of a talent scout, of sorts! It's my dream to seek out talented stars, and put them on the screen! I've come up with dozens of television ideas to pitch to networks, but tragically, none of them have passed the muster… and the reason for that is simple! You see, I'm lacking the star power necessary to truly sway others!"

She turned to Ayame and pointed a finger at her. "And Ayame is exactly the kind of star power I need to make things shine!"

Blake was having a little trouble piecing together what she was saying, but he had a bit of an intimation. "Wait, so you're saying… you're scouting Aya for a role in a movie or something?"

Ayame let out a wail of frustration.

Donoma's smile widened and she nodded. "But not just a movie, no, Ayame isn't the sort to be an actress! No, my interests fall closer towards reality television, you see!"

"Reality… television?" Blake wasn't sure what she meant by that.

"Yes! Exactly! Picture it!" Donoma said, holding up her hands like she was making a presentation. "Twenty trainers. Twenty pokemon. Two teams. One island. Competitions! Trainer and pokemon working side by side to overcome obstacles and challenges, coming right into your home!"

She made the camera sign with her fingers again, and turned it to Ayame. "And the perfect dark horse for season one is right here in front of my eyes! You can feel it, can't you? That's the sort of face that wins over men and women across the globe, with a body built for survival! You can't tell me that this competition isn't MADE for her! Picture it!"

"I'm not going on TV!" Ayame exclaimed.

"You're already on TV!" Donoma fired back in a huff. "Or did you think that you could be a Pokeathlon star without showing your face?"

"That… That's different!" Ayame sputtered. "That's because my pokemon are the stars, not me! I'm not an actress!"

"Exactly! That's the whole point! It's reality TV, I don't want actresses! I want someone like you, a normal gal with charisma and charm!" Donoma insisted.

"The answer is no! Just leave me alone!" Ayame wailed.

"Come on, Blake, you gotta talk to her!" Donoma turned to Blake, who was still trying to put together an idea of what was happening.

"Uh… what?"

"Talk to your girlfriend! You agree with me, right? She's the perfect girl for something like that! Picture it! Seeing Ayame win a grand prize, hearing the cheers of her fans, imagine the ratings we'd get with a shy tomboy like that leading the polls?"

"Uh…" Blake turned to Aya. He wanted to side with her, he really did. But Donoma was making a pretty compelling case.

"Don't side with her, you traitor!" Ayame could see the desire in his eyes, and while she was flattered, she was ABSOLUTELY NOT going to be in some trashy reality show, especially not one produced by Donoma Marama of all people.

"Sorry, but I'm with Aya on this one," Blake said, stepping away from Donoma and standing beside Aya instead. "Look, I understand that Aya is the cutest girl in the world and would absolutely take the television world by storm if given the opportunity-"

"Aaaaagh!" Mutual parts embarrassment and joy shot through Ayame, and she wanted to die. Don't say stuff like that!

"…But she's made it clear she doesn't want to do this reality show thing, so can you leave her alone?" Blake asked.

Ayame smiled. She was overjoyed that Blake was sticking up for her, she just wanted to hug him to pieces!

"…Nope!" Donoma cheerfully grinned.

…But he had no idea who he was dealing with.

"I don't take 'no' for an answer," Donoma said, framing Ayame and Blake with her fingers. She closed her eye and imagined them on a television screen. "Ayame's going to be my star, she's got exactly the adorkable qualities needed for success."

Blake sighed. This girl was just impossible.

"…But I suppose the survivor island idea can be postponed for now," Donoma smiled. "I've just gotten the idea for something even better."

Blake and Ayame both felt a shiver run down their spines.

"Picture it. A cute boy. A cool, shy girl. Their daily lives. Together in a house. Other couples. Singles. The drama! The sweetness! Touching on the hidden aspects of the pokemon world's number one couple! It could be a masterpiece!"

Oh no. Somehow, she was roping Blake into her ideas now, too. That was a whole different kind of nightmare.

"Uh, listen, I am absolutely NOT going to be involved in any sort of-" Blake's objections weren't going to be taken, either.

"My decision has been made!" Donoma decided, slinking over to the two of them. Her fingers danced across Blake's cheek, moving up to stroke Ayame's chin. "Ayame is a star, but the two of you together… I can picture it now! There would be no stopping us!"

Ayame resisted the urge to sock her in the jaw. But Donoma danced out of the way before she reached the conclusion that it was worth it.

"Anyway, don't say no now. Or later. Because I won't listen." Donoma fished a card out of her purse. "Take my card. Think about it. Then say yes. I can make you a star, Blake."

She gave him a saucy wink as she tucked the card into his shirt pocket.

"And if you're ever interested in a… 'private' audition, well, my personal number is on the back. See you later."

With that, Donoma slinked away before Ayame could wring her neck, snatching up the bag of pokemon food she had used for her alibi.

Ayame practically tore her hair out and screamed. "Aargh! I hate that girl!" She groaned.

Blake could imagine why. While that girl wasn't, well… okay, she was a little bit of a bad person. And she clearly didn't have a lot of respect for anyone's opinion other than her own. She was practically harassing Aya, trying to force her to join her reality shows.

It sucked that she had to deal with something like that.

At the moment, though, things were feeling pretty awkward. Donoma was gone, but the wake of what she'd left behind could still be felt, and it wasn't just the lingering scent of her perfume. They had come on this date to have fun (and, ostensibly, talk about their relationship) but right now it didn't feel like there was a good chance of that happening.

Blake fished her business card out of his pocket and chucked it in the nearest trash can. Hopefully that would make Aya feel better. When he turned back to her, he was relieved to see that she seemed to be doing a little better.

"Hey, Aya, sorry about that whole… mess," he apologized.

Ayame sobered up and sighed, shaking her head. "No, no, it's fine," she assured him. "Heck, I'm the one who should be apologizing to you. That girl, she just… aargh! I can't believe she would just stroll in here like this and just… aargh!"

It was clear that Aya wasn't going to be getting back to normal any time soon.

"I don't mind," Blake assured her. "And trust me, I get it. I know what it's like to have someone annoying constantly hounding you," he said, remembering Sylvia with something antonymous to fondness. "But let's not let her ruin our date, okay?"

Ayame straightened up, looking Blake in the eye. He wasn't bothered at all by the fact that Ayame's… "popularity" had drawn that annoying girl into their date. He was just happy to be here with her, and that was enough.

She smiled. "You know, you're a really great guy, Blake."

Blake grinned back. "You're just figuring that out now? Come on, let's forget about that girl. We have more important things to think about."

He turned to the marshy Goomy habitat. Hopefully it would be enough to brighten Ayame's mood.

"Look, see? They have Goomies here. A lot of them."

But Ayame wouldn't be won over so easily.

"…Can I hold the Goomies?" She asked quietly.

"Uh… I guess we can ask one of the-"

"Can I hold ALL the Goomies?" She asked, more insistently.

Blake grinned. THERE was his girl.

D'aww! Even in spite of Donoma's attempts to ruin their date, they're still getting along great! This date is just getting started!