So Hiromi has started off the game of two truths and lie with a whopper of a selection, and one that's caused her daughter no small amount of embarrassment! But what will come next, how's the rest of the game going to go? Should be fun.

KedharS: It was really rough on her, that's for sure.

Rowlets and Oshawotts: Gotta switch things up every now and then to keep it fresh, sorry.

Tambry96bj: Well, I wanted things to be a little bit different, didn't want to do the same thing all over again. Plus, well, Donoma.

Hellraiserphoenix: That sounds like something she would do.

KentcasLoL: Totodile can't produce that much water.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: I hope it lives up to your expectations.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 881

Ayame was eternally grateful that no one attempted to probe her mother any further on discussing her love life with her father. That was something that she could go the rest of her life without hearing about, if she was being honest. What she'd heard already was enough to want to make her puke her guts out and never stop.

But she didn't want to keep making a big deal about it. Hopefully if she just dropped the matter completely, they could move on.

And it was Darla's turn next.

Darla thought for a little while about what she'd tell for her truths and lies. Lila knew quite a lot about her, so she had to make sure it was something that she wouldn't be able to guess easily. And she also had to make sure that what she said were secrets that she wouldn't mind getting out.

On the other hand, she didn't care much about winning or losing. So she might as well have a little bit of fun with this game, right?

Lila didn't like the smile on Darla's face when her friend turned to her.

"Okay, Lila, which one is the lie?" Darla asked, almost smirking. "I secretly wear pink on my days off, I enjoy watching monster movies, or I secretly have a boyfriend?"

She asked the questions so fast it took a second for everyone to process them. But once they understood what Darla had just said, all hell broke loose.

"Wait, what?!" Donoma exclaimed, practically springing up from the couch. Her eyes were bulging with shock, she hadn't expected anything like that coming from Darla, of all people!

"A boyfriend?" Giselle gasped. "W-Wow, I thought… wow! Idols aren't supposed to have those though, right?"

"Seriously?" Olivia asked, narrowing her eyes. She'd put some significant investment in Lila and Darla, if that was true, then she needed to know it, now.

"Come on, come on, there's no way it's true," Donoma said, coming down off of her high and seeing things a little more clearly now. "Darla's just messing around, it's the nature of the game! Clearly that one's the lie, and a really obvious lie at that! Right, Lila?"

Everyone turned to Lila to see what she would say.

But Lila was frozen in her seat. Her brain had stopped working after she heard Darla say "I have a boyfriend."

She stared at Darla, her face pale. She was shaking like a leaf, afraid that it could possibly be true. She must have just misheard, that was the only possible explanation. There was no way that Darla had a boyfriend!

"Can… Can you…" Lila fumbled for words. Her throat was unbearably dry. She swallowed and tried again. "Can you repeat the statements again, please?" She asked.

"Sure, not a problem," Darla shrugged. "I secretly wear pink on my days off, I enjoy watching monster movies, and I have a boyfriend. One of those is a lie, now which one?"

She hadn't misheard a thing. Darla was directly stating that she had a boyfriend. It… It had to be a lie, right? There was no way that Darla had a boyfriend. Lila was around her practically the entire time! If Darla had a boyfriend, Lila would have to know about it.

Right?

Lila knew that not only was it the most outrageous statement of the three, but that it almost-certainly couldn't be true. If she wanted to guess the lie, that was her best guess. Call Darla out for lying about having a boyfriend, simple as that.

But her mouth refused to make the words. Her brain wasn't letting her say that Darla having a boyfriend was a lie.

Because what if it wasn't a lie? What if Darla really did have a boyfriend? Lila would be crushed. She didn't know if she'd be able to go on, hearing that from her partner's lips. Forget winning or losing the game. Hearing that from Darla would mean losing something far more precious. There was only one thing Lila could do.

"Y-You…" it was difficult just forming a complete sentence. "You… you don't enjoy watching monster movies," she finally said.

Donoma groaned. "Oh, come on! That one was so obvious!"

Darla scrunched up her face in confusion. That hadn't been the answer that she'd expected Lila to give. She'd expected the reaction to hearing her say that she had a boyfriend, and she knew that Lila would know that she didn't. She'd been aiming to turn it into a sudden moment of scandal for a second until Lila clarified, but Lila had guessed an answer she knew to be true.

Darla loved monster movies. She and Lila had watched dozens of them!

"Uh… no, that's the truth," Darla said, still perplexed by the answer her partner had given. "Lila, we watch them all the time."

Lila flinched. She put on a dopey smile that was just the slightest-bit shaky, and rattled her fist against her head. "Whoopsie! Guess it kinda slipped my mind!" She laughed. But it was one of the fakest, most forced laughs she'd ever made.

Darla looked at her partner like she was an idiot.

"So wait, do you have a boyfriend or not?" Hiromi asked, confused. She wasn't aware of Darla's status as an idol, or the implications of what having a boyfriend would mean for her. So she didn't have a good understanding of why everyone had reacted the way they had.

Darla wasn't about to say anything more on the subject, so she just winked at Hiromi and flashed a cool smile. "Who knows? That's not how the game works. We don't have to say which one is the lie, remember?"

Lila let out a silent sigh of relief. It had gone exactly as she'd hoped. By asking something she knew to be true, she could continue to believe that Darla having a boyfriend was the lie. She didn't want to think about the alternative. So since Darla never confirmed it was the truth, that meant it was a lie! Lila could believe that.

She would have to believe that.

"Lila, you good?" Darla asked, her brow furrowing with concern.

Lila gasped. She realized everyone was looking at her. How lost had she gotten in her own confusion and worries? Crap, she was letting on too much!

She quickly regained her smile and laughed, "sorry Darla! I was just picturing the thought of you having a boyfriend, and I was wondering what kinda guy would be crazy enough to put up with a girl like you, that's all!"

Darla scowled and slapped Lila with a pillow. "Hey!"

Lila rolled on the bed giggling, trying desperately to regain her happy vibes.

It had all been a joke, right? Darla hadn't been serious.

She caught her breath and sat back up, turning to Ayame. Now it was her turn. "Sorry, I totally lost track of my thoughts, I forgot I was going next. Let's see… two truths and a lie…"

It was difficult having to come up with something so soon after having her emotions sent for a rollercoaster ride like that. But she concentrated hard, and came up with some really good ones that no one would be able to figure out!

"Okay, Ayame, figure out this one!" She dared her. "Which one's a lie? My favorite sweets are cupcakes, I've won pokemon battles with students in the Battle Course, or I dye my hair blonde-"

"Dye your hair," everyone said automatically, Ayame included.

Lila's jaw dropped. Yes, that had been the lie, but how had everyone figured it out so quickly!? Her hair looked flawless! And she even made sure to color her eyebrows!

"N-No! This is my natural color! Really!" She fumed. "I'm a real blonde!"

"Even I can tell that's a lie," Ayame said. "Come on, Lila, everyone knows you dye your hair, it's not a big secret."

"I-I put highlights in it, but it's still naturally blonde! Tell them, Darla!" Lila said, turning to her partner for some support.

Darla glanced away, unable to meet her eyes.

"Traitor!" Lila hissed, pelting her back with a pillow of her own.

Donoma laughed. "So that's one point for Lila then!"

Lila hissed at her next, then flopped back down into bed with a scowl. "Your turn, Ayame," she muttered under her breath, taking another whiff of the scented candle. She needed to de-stress a lot tonight, it seemed.

Ayame let out a deep breath and thought really hard about what to say. She was lucky that she was a very private person, so not a lot of people would know when she was lying and when she was telling the truth.

On the other hand, the person who was guessing was Giselle. Ayame and Giselle weren't that close, at least not as close as she was with Olivia. If Olivia, or even worse, Hiromi, were the ones who were guessing, then Ayame would be in real trouble.

But that didn't mean that Giselle didn't know things. She and Ayame were still okay friends, better than she was with, say, Lila or Darla. And Giselle was a very observant person. She was always looking to hang out with her, so she might be able to surprise Ayame if Ayame wasn't careful.

So Ayame decided to be careful.

"Okay, here are my three," Ayame said, confident she'd developed a good trio. "I've gone to school in the Sinnoh Region, the first pokemon I caught was a Wooloo, and the first gift I got from a boy was from my boyfriend, Blake."

Ayame hoped that it would be good. All of them sounded like they could be true, but they also sounded like any one of them could be a lie. She'd never played this game before, but she figured that was a good strategy, or at least a better strategy than an obvious lie like Darla's or Lila's, regardless of what Lila had to say about things.

And equally so, Giselle had to put some thought into it.

"So… school in the Sinnoh Region… or you caught a Wooloo first… or your first present from a boy was from Blake," Giselle mused. She was a little perplexed. While she knew Ayame pretty well, she also knew that her friend was a very private person. Even as close as they were, she couldn't say for sure which one of those statements was a lie.

But she also hated guessing. Argh! It was so difficult! She was used to figuring things out in more clear ways than this.

"Ooh! I know!" Hiromi chirped, raising her hand like a student eager to be called on.

"Shut up mom!" Ayame exclaimed, her face burning hotly. "Of course you know! You can't give away the answers, that's not fair!"

"Oh, pooh! You're no fun!" Hiromi pouted, lowering her hand. "Good luck, Giselle! I'm sure you can figure it out!"

Oh, great. That was some added pressure right there. She glanced at Ayame, hoping that her cool classmate's flustered face would give something away. But she didn't have any luck. Ayame might have been a little redder around the cheeks, but she'd practiced putting on a cool mask since she was little, and could fake it with the best of them.

No help there. Giselle sighed.

In truth, beneath the surface, Ayame was thrilled that this one was going so well. The correct answer, that is, the lie, was that Ayame's first gift from a boy was from Blake. That one was obviously not the truth. She'd received her precious ribbon from a boy, after all.

Ayame's eyes glanced past Giselle towards Olivia, who was wearing a tiny smirk on her face. Olivia was the only person here who knew for sure that her story was a lie. Her mom, of course, knew that Ayame had gone to school in Sinnoh (she'd sent her there) and that her first pokemon was her Wooloo (as a gift) and that had been enough. But only Olivia was there when Ayame had gotten her ribbon, and it was a story that she kept very private.

She didn't THINK she'd told anyone else, except Blake, of course. And with how troubled Giselle seemed to be, she could rest easy knowing that she definitely hadn't told her-

"Is the lie… that the first present you received from a boy was from Blake?" Giselle asked hopefully, throwing Ayame for a loop.

"Wha- buh… h-how…" Ayame was at a loss for words. "H-How did you know?" She sputtered.

Giselle blinked, surprised and delighted that she had been correct. "Well, I just guess, that's all," she admitted.

Ayame groaned.

Giselle explained a little more. "Well, I thought that the Sinnoh Region would be a place that would sound really random to just have come off the top of your head, since you never really talk about it. So it had to have been the truth." She continued, "and that took me to the Wooloo, or the gift. I didn't know if your first pokemon was a Wooloo, so for that one, I really did have to guess."

She shrugged her shoulders and smiled a little, her tan skin reddening just a touch. "I mean… it made more sense to think that someone like you would have gotten lots of gifts from boys before Blake, so that just seemed like the more likely guess of the two, that's all…"

"Aawwwwww," Donoma crooned, resisting the urge to bust up laughing.

Ayame's face turned red. It was such a wholesome guess that she couldn't even be mad that Giselle had gotten it correct. She really did look up to Ayame a little and see her as a cool friend if she thought that Ayame was getting gifts from boys!

Ayame accepted her point without protest.

"Yeah, you're right," she admitted. "I've gotten gifts from guys before Blake."

"Wooooo," Donoma whistled. "Nice play girl! What were they?"

Ayame shot her an icy glare. "I'm pretty sure there's no rule that says I'm supposed to tell you anything like that," she snarled.

Donoma shrugged her shoulders and wisely chose to back off.

"So… now it's my turn, right?" Giselle asked, squirming a little in her seat. She looked shyly at Olivia. She'd known the Empress for a while now, enough to even be considered part of her inner circle, in a manner of speaking. At least enough to be invited into the same group on the trip.

But then, Olivia wasn't exactly close enough to be considered a friend. Unlike Olivia's real inner circle, Giselle had gotten in on merit of being friends with Ayame. She didn't have an influential family that Olivia would want to be a contact with like Celia or Allen, and while she was talented she certainly wasn't a star the way Darla and Lila were.

Simply put, the Empress didn't know a lot about her because she just didn't care much about Giselle at all.

It was something that hurt to acknowledge, but for once, it was actually an asset. Because Olivia didn't really care about her, she wouldn't know if the things that Giselle was saying were lies or truths! Giselle had the upper hand! Plus, this would be a great opportunity to let the Empress get to know a little bit more about herself, so she would be seen as more than "Ayame's friend from Johto with the oriental dresses."

Now she just had to get over the initial intimidation of lying to the Empress.

Giselle swallowed her courage and thought things through. She'd never played two truths and a lie before, because she was naturally very shy and didn't feel comfortable revealing things about herself. So even when she had friends, she'd never really had friends who she was close enough to where she would be invited to stuff like this.

But she was smart, and prided herself in her observational skills. After the last few sessions she'd picked up a little on the strategy, and the harder lies to suss out were the ones like Ayame had just delivered, that were mundane enough that they could sound true.

Between that and Olivia's lack of knowledge about her, it wasn't that difficult to come up with some suitably boring statements.

"Okay, Olivia, I'm ready," Giselle decided. "First, I like reading. Second, I watch a lot of horror movies. And finally, I bake for my pokemon. So, which one is a lie?"

She looked expectantly at Olivia, but the Empress only gave her a dead-eyed stare in response.

Olivia had absolutely no idea. She didn't know the first thing about Giselle. Sure, Giselle was an okay person, but not exactly Olivia's type. She was too shy and meek for that, and besides, she seemed to be a lot more interested in Ayame anyway.

And since Olivia didn't really have a need for any connections she could get from such a normal girl like her, she'd never gotten to know her all that well.

Did Giselle like reading? No idea.

Did she watch horror movies? Not a clue.

Baking? Who fucking knows.

Olivia knew this game had been a dumb idea from the start, and this pretty much cemented it. She let out a sigh and took a random shot in the dark.

"I don't know, baking? Is that the lie? You don't bake for your pokemon?" She asked. She tried to sound sincere, but she didn't put that much effort into it.

Giselle felt a little hurt that Olivia was so flippant, but there wasn't much she could do about it. So she sucked it up and shook her head.

"No, actually, I'm very good at baking!" She said, smiling. "Sweets for pokemon, for people, I can make all kinds!"

"Oh, that's cool," Olivia said. She did think it was nice and all, but she couldn't help the fact that she wasn't all that interested in Giselle.

Luckily, Giselle wasn't deterred. She would just try extra hard in the next round!

With the attention on Olivia now, she turned to Donoma and began to think.

Donoma leaned forward in her seat, her eyes glinting with excitement. She couldn't wait to see what Olivia thought up.

So the game's off to an okay start! Just a little bit of a time killer, nothing too saucy revealed yet… but at the same time, there have been a few interesting reactions. Where will things go from here, I wonder? Does Donoma have a way to spice this game up a little?