After Sylvia so generously set up Akira, Misty has taken him aside to get some special training done! Will Akira be able to maintain the ruse, or will he admit that Sylvia's just blowing smoke up her ass? Will Misty actually be able to help him make some revelations in his training? Will she agree to let them go on their trip to Lavender Town? Will Akira be able to convince her, or is the trip doomed from the start? There's no saying how this could go, we have to hope that everything turns out for the best! Akira's got to make the best case he can!

KedharS: It's definitely a nice relationship building. Especially considering Akira's tumultuous and complicated relationships with the other girls in his life, even the ones he likes. Finally, a little bit of wholesomeness.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: The question is, will Misty be able to leave the gym? And can Akira make a convincing enough case to get her to join them? Those things seem unlikely, it might be better to take a page from Sylvia's book and just sneak away in the night.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 835

"So Akira, what's got you feeling down?" Misty asked. Under the assumption that Akira was having trouble training his pokemon (thanks, Sylvia) she had decided to give him special attention for the rest of the day. She was leading him away from Sylvia and towards one of the other pools in order to continue with his training.

Akira tried to pretend like nothing was wrong, but he didn't do a very good job of it. He wasn't the kind of person who was good at keeping his emotions bottled up, something that had been exploited by Dakota and Sylvia on multiple occasions. So even as he tried to smile and tell Misty that everything was okay, he didn't do so with much conviction.

Misty decided to drop the topic, and the two headed towards one of the smaller swimming pools in the gym.

Sylvia was happy to watch them go. She wasn't worried about Misty's apprehension to the idea of them going out on a trip together, even if she hadn't learned about Lavender Town just yet. When she did, she'd be even less likely to agree, that was for sure.

But Sylvia had confidence in Akira's ability to convince her. She was well aware that anything she said would sound like manipulation, which meant it was time for Akira to once again make himself useful towards her purposes.

When Akira was upset, one of two things would happen. He would get angry and abrasive, or he would get sad and pathetic. And considering Akira's semi-infidelitous infatuation with Misty, there was a pretty good chance "angry" wasn't the way this was going to go.

Which meant that if he asked for help, she would give it- because he was such a pathetic loser she would feel bad for him. It was that exact aspect that she needed for Mr. Fuji; the sad desperation of a boy who thought he'd never see the girl he loves again.

Good work, Akira, she's clearly worried about you, Sylvia silently congratulated him. She's helping you with your training now, but we've got to turn that sympathy and concern into a willingness to let you go to Lavender Town. If you want to help Dakota, well… you know what you have to do, isn't that right? Or… maybe you don't. Either way, this is going to be for the best.

If Akira was a manipulative schemer like Sylvia, then when Misty asked him why he was feeling bad, he probably would have taken the opportunity to tell her about what happened to Dakota, and why it was so vital that they go to Lavender Town, and could Misty pleeeaaase let them take a trip for the weekend in order to investigate?

But Akira wasn't that sort of guy. He didn't want to exploit Dakota's condition for sympathy, even if it would ultimately help him in his goals; heck, the idea had never even crossed his mind, he was only concerned with training right now. And that sincerity was exactly the sort of genuine air that Sylvia was banking on.

"…Well, something's gotta be bugging you, because Sylvia of all people told me you needed some help training," Misty said, finding away to shift the topic away from the issue at hand. "So which pokemon do you need help training with? Is it still your Gyarados? Because we've been making some pretty decent progress, I thought."

Akira shook his head. While he didn't have a problem with furthering the training of any of his pokemon right now, if he was being honest about who needed the most help then Misty was right, it would probably be Satsuki. He still didn't feel comfortable using her in battles, and even when they practiced moves he was trying to hold something back. But his emotional state was too conflicted to consider training her today.

In spite of what Sylvia thought, Akira wasn't an idiot. He was well-aware of the theory that the evolution variance enhancement thingy had happened because he had gotten upset. He had gotten mad, Satsuki had gotten mad, and somehow she had started to mutate. He couldn't explain the "why" of it just yet, but those facts weren't in issue.

It might be completely unrelated and he was overthinking it. Hopefully this "Mr. Fuji" might have some information that could help him make sense of the whole thing. But until he got clarification, the only thing he could do was hold himself back while he trained with Satsuki, at least while his emotions were still muddled.

Heck, with Dakota in a coma… his emotions might stay this muddled and murky for the rest of his life. That was a terrifying thought.

"…Akira I asked you what pokemon you needed help training with, this isn't some million-dollar brain stumper," Misty dryly replied, raising her eyebrow. Akira gasped, coming back down to earth. He realized that he'd been spending way too long thinking and not enough time actually answering Misty's question.

"Ooh, s-sorry," he sheepishly apologized. "I guess I was a little lost in thought. I've been having some trouble sleeping recently…"

That part was true. While he hadn't had any more nightmares of another Dakota plaguing his dreams, his sleep was far from restful; as stressful and exhausting as daily training was, Akira was still kept up into the late hours of the night by his worries.

Misty frowned. "I see, well, I guess I have been overworking you a little," she sighed. "But that's only because I have such a short period of time with you guys, and I need to make sure you're at the level that you need to be!"

The passion shining in her eyes was intense. She clearly believed in Akira's ability as a trainer, and wanted to help however she could.

Akira appreciated the sentiment.

"Thanks," he smiled. "And don't worry, it's not because training is too stressful or anything, I promise, there are just other issues."

Misty raised her eyebrow. "Really? But didn't you say earlier that you were having trouble training your pokemon?"

Fuck. Akira had been so intent on assuring Misty that she hadn't done anything wrong that he'd completely forgotten about Sylvia's lie.

"W-Well, I guess there is one exception, right," he had to admit. "And it's… Sparky."

Sparky was the safest option. As the weakest pokemon, the one who had been with Akira the shortest, and above all, a pokemon that belonged to his girlfriend, not to him, there were a lot of things that Sparky needed to improve on. Misty accepted that answer immediately.

"Yeah, I did notice he was growing a little slower in comparison to your other pokemon," she agreed. "It can be difficult, raising pokemon that belong to other trainers. But you know, the two of you have actually been getting along pretty well!"

Akira was surprised. "Really? You think so?" He asked.

"Yeah, definitely, at least compared to other trainers who use pokemon that originally belonged to someone else," Misty nodded. "See, I think it's because you have such a strong bond with that Chinchou's original trainer, isn't that right?"

Dakota's face flashed through Akira's mind again, and he nodded, smiling a little. Misty caught that and smirked.

"Yup. Just as I thought. That is your girlfriend's Chinchou, isn't it?" She asked.

Akira flinched. He'd been trying to keep that secret, saying that Sparky had just belonged to "a friend" because he didn't want Misty to go nuts over the fact that he was raising his girlfriend's pokemon. She'd displayed some rather… questionable behaviors when the topic of dating had emerged in the past, after all.

But there really wasn't any hope of denying it. He nodded. "Yeah, it's Dakota's," he admitted. "I've been taking care of him for a little while, but… do you really think that's enough of a reason for him to become attached to me? Just because of my relationship with her?"

"No, no, you're not getting what I meant," Misty said, shaking her head. "See, the reason why you're getting along with Sparky better than most people who use another person's pokemon is because you care about the original trainer, and that's conveyed in how you raise them. Here, let me show you what I mean. Send him out."

Akira nodded, and called Sparky from his pokeball.

"Chinchou?" Sparky looked up at Akira curiously.

"You see, when it comes down to getting a pokemon to trust you, it all comes down to the amount of respect and care you give them, right?" Misty asked. It was a pretty commonly-held assumption that not many people disagreed with.

"Yeah, that's right," Akira said.

"Well, then that's precisely it. See how Sparky immediately looks to you for what to do?" Misty asked, gesturing to the Chinchou, who had swum right up to the edge of the pool and was now looking up at Akira.

"Yeah, I guess. And you're saying that's because he trusts me?" Akira asked.

"Exactly. Because you love Sparky's trainer and you have a bond of trust with her, you treat her pokemon with trust and respect because you acknowledge how important that bond that he has with his original trainer is, as well," Misty explained. "Pokemon can pick up on stuff like that. A lot of pokemon, when someone catches them, that's the first time they've ever had to work together with a human, right? I'm assuming all of your other Water type pokemon are this way?"

Akira nodded. "Yeah, Satsuki, Nami, and Starla, I was the first person who caught them, along with all my other pokemon."

…Okay, Satsuki was a little more complicated. The jury was still out on whether or not Akira could really be considered the first human who she worked with, considering the past of his childhood friend. But as dubious as that situation might have been, it didn't change the fact that Satsuki clearly trusted him more than anyone else, whether that was Satsuki the human or Satsuki the Gyarados. So there wasn't a need to unpack that little complication.

"When a pokemon and a human are first starting out their relationship, it takes a while for the two of them to get used to each other," Misty continued. "You both have to learn and grow as a team, and as time passes you both become more comfortable with your style and relationship to each other, and can work together better, right?"

"Right," Akira agreed. That definitely described his relationship with his other pokemon. Heck, that was a pretty good way of describing pretty much every human-pokemon relationship that he'd ever seen, period.

"So imagine if you, as a pokemon, got used to a certain type of style of training. But then you're given to a new human, who has their own style of training and caring for pokemon, and it's not something that you're used to," Misty said, presenting a scenario that Akira could imagine. It was pretty easy to see the difficulties that could arise there.

"Yeah, I see what you mean," Akira said, nodding. "You have to get used to a new method of doing things, and that can be difficult."

"Exactly. It's a lot easier for a pokemon to build a bond of trust with a human from scratch than it is for a pokemon to build a brand new bond of trust with a second human, even if they parted from the first human on good terms," Misty agreed. "Because they're just more used to another way of interacting with humans than the first."

"So then why is my relationship with Sparky different?" Akira asked.

"Well, it's not THAT much better," Misty admitted. "The two of you definitely have room to grow, specifically in the battle front. You don't have much experience using Sparky there in battle, after all, so you have to get used to him. But in terms of the way you treat him and how you care for him, he seems to take to it pretty well, wouldn't you agree? There haven't been many disagreements or behavior conflicts that I'VE seen, anyway."

Akira considered what Misty was saying. She was right, he and Sparky had gotten along pretty well for the most part, once they'd moved past their issues with Dakota.

"Yeah, I guess so. He is pretty well-behaved, but I just assumed that's because Dakota did a really good job of training him, and that he was naturally pretty mellow," Akira said.

Misty shrugged. "And those could totally play a part. But I think a big part of it is you, Akira, and your subconscious."

"My… subconscious?" Misty had finally found something that had stumped Akira. He looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you've spent a lot of time with Dakota, right? And seen how she treats her pokemon? So I think one of two things has happened. Either you and your girlfriend are a lot more in sync than I thought when it comes to raising your pokemon, or you subconsciously picked up on how Dakota trains hers, and are treating her pokemon the same way as she does," Misty suggested.

That was another thing to consider. Now that Akira thought about it, there were probably some differences with how he treated Sparky, weren't there?

"At least as far as I've seen," Misty added, "you've been treating him slightly differently than the rest of your pokemon, so I think it's option number two myself, what do you think? Noticed any other changes between you two?"

Misty was absolutely right. Now that she'd brought it to his attention, Akira had been a little more caring and gentle with Sparky than he had been with his other pokemon. But that wasn't because Dakota was that way, right? He'd done that because Sparky was a new pokemon and he wasn't sure how to handle him, and because Akira felt he needed to be considerate of Sparky's loss. Misty might have been making a bigger deal of this than it was.

And honestly, now that he was thinking about it… no, Akira hadn't paid that much attention to the way Dakota raised her pokemon at all. He'd seen her play with them a few times, and noticed how caring and affectionate she was with all of them (and, as embarrassing as it was to admit, he'd been jealous of their treatment on more than one occasion) but he hadn't thought about it that much.

Akira felt unbelievably guilty. There was a whole other side to his girlfriend that he had just ignored, tied directly to how she treated her pokemon.

If Misty was right, that meant Dakota was much more caring and gentle than Akira was, and Sparky was picking up on that without him even knowing about it.

"Now listen, that doesn't mean you're being too harsh on your own pokemon," Misty interjected, disrupting the flow of Akira's concerns. She must have picked up on the tension he was feeling because she was trying to comfort him now.

Akira shook his head. "Oh, um, no, that's not what I was thinking," he assured her. It was a little bit what he was thinking, but his guilt was aimed in other directions.

"…Well, good," Misty said, sighing in relief. She didn't want to be responsible for breaking the spirits of any up-and-coming pokemon trainers. "Because you know, every person's relationship with their pokemon is special. You might be a little less outwardly-affectionate with them than, say, you are with your girlfriend's pokemon, but that's not a big deal."

Akira winced. When she put it like that, it DID sound like a big deal.

"Hey, um, do you really think it's that bad?" He asked worriedly. He hadn't even considered the idea that he was too hard on his pokemon, but now that Misty had brought it up he couldn't stop thinking about it.

"No, nope, not at all," Misty assured him, shaking her head.

Akira sighed in relief. "Okay, good. I was kind of worried there… because I do love my pokemon. They're wonderful, and they're might best friends and partners."

Misty beamed at him and flashed him a thumbs' up. "Yep! That's exactly what I was thinking too, so you're good! Don't worry!"

"…Then what was all that about just now?" Akira asked, confused.

"Well, I was just saying that from what I observed, it's clear that you love your pokemon a lot," Misty explained. "I just noticed that you were treating Satsuki, Nami, and Starla like adult friends, and Sparky more like a child, I guess."

Oh.

That put things in a lot clearer of perspective.

Akira treated his team like pokemon that could fend for themselves, because they were. He'd trained them for battle and knew what they were capable of, and that's why he considered them pokemon that didn't need as much delicate care as his others. They were a team designed to fight, after all, they didn't need to be looked after.

As she'd brought it up, Akira could suddenly start thinking about the difference in style between how HE raised his pokemon, and how DAKOTA raised hers.

He was a trainer aiming for the Battle Course. So of course he treated his pokemon a certain way, because he was maximizing their battling skills.

Dakota was different. With the exception of a few events that were mainly excuses to get closer to Akira, either because she liked him or wanted to make him suffer, depending on point in their relationship (or honestly, at this point, probably both) Dakota didn't use her pokemon to battle very often.

So she treated them gentler.

There wasn't anything wrong with that, though, that was what Misty had been trying to tell him, and that made him feel a lot better.

"…And honestly… I think that the way you treat your Gyarados is a little different, too," Misty admitted, averting her eyes. She didn't feel good about saying it, but she was making the observation because she wanted to help him.

Akira was confused, and feeling very defensive. His relationship with Satsuki was a sensitive subject for him, especially in light of recent events.

"…What do you mean?" He asked cautiously.

Misty sighed, and rubbed her temples. "Look, Akira, I mean this in the best way possible, really, I do. And there's nothing WRONG with it, I want to stress that right now. It's just… I noticed something about the way you treat her, vs. the way you treat your other pokemon."

"What about it?" He frowned.

"If you treat your other pokemon like friends to spend time with, and your girlfriend's Chinchou like a child to be looked after… well, the feeling I get with you Gyarados… it kind of gives me weird vibes," she admitted, giving him a rather confused look. "Now, don't get me wrong, I completely understand how protective you are. Protectiveness is essential when it comes to raising pokemon, especially ones that are vulnerable."

"Then what's the issue?" If it wasn't about Akira being too protective, then what problem did she have with how he treated Satsuki?

"I guess, well… the way you treat her… it kind of makes ME jealous," Misty said. "You're attentive, generous, encouraging, affectionate… all of it is way, WAY more than you are with your other pokemon. And I get that people have favorites, but… it kind of feels like you're treating your pokemon like a lover, and not like a pokemon."

Even saying it made Misty feel all icky. And judging by the way Akira went white in the face she assumed he was probably feeling the same way.

Yeah. That's probably it. No way Akira could actually be romantically interested in his Gyarados. That would just be crazy!