After spending so much time talking about all the damage that's been inflicted on the Orre Region, I thought it would be a good idea to switch things up and spend a little bit of time with one of our other groups, as they see just how much life there still IS in the region. That's right, we're going to be following the Commander, and their group is heading to Agate Village! Remember to review!

KedharS: More friendship moments in this chapter, too.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: You're right, we're changing our perspective, we've spent enough time on this tour, it's time to see what the others are up to!

ArcturusDrip: I'll consider it.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 932

While the Empress and her group were going on the tour of the Pokemon HQ Laboratory, the Commander's group were determining what they would do next on this vacation. Unlike Olivia and her associates, the trip to the Orre Region was about more than just pending a month and a half on vacation in another region.

Vic went to see Alden early in the morning. She knocked on his door and waited for him to respond.

"Yeah? What is it?" Alden asked, yawning.

"Sir, I wanted to discuss what our plan for today will be," Vic explained, glancing around the room. Because the ratio of boys to girls was an even split, Vic had been staying with her mother while the Commander (at her insistence) had gotten a room all to himself.

Of course, there was no sense in not being careful regardless.

Alden stared hazily at her.

"Plan? What do you mean, 'plan'?" He asked, confused.

Vic blinked, stunned.

"Sir, do you remember the reason we came to the Orre Region in the first place?!" She asked, her voice rising in disbelief. There was no way he could have forgotten. "This is going to be the location that we're going to build the Battle Frontier on, we need to scout out where we're planning to-"

She cut herself off when she saw that Alden was trying not to laugh. She made a sour face.

"Sorry, sorry," Alden chuckled, "I know, I know. I'm just messing with you Vic, that's all."

Vic sharply nodded. That didn't matter. "Fine. Well, are you planning to go check out that location that we talked about before? Realgam Tower?"

While that was something that Vic was concerned about, it wasn't the reason she was asking the question. The real reason was because she didn't want to stay in Gateon City. If they stayed here, there was a chance that they would run into the Empress and her group again.

If possible, Vic didn't want to have to spend another day with those people. She would rather they get to work, preferably far away from here.

Luckily for her, Alden nodded in the affirmative. "That's where we'll be going eventually," he agreed. "But before that, isn't there somewhere that you'd rather visit, first?"

Vic wasn't sure what he was talking about. "What do you mean?" She asked.

"What I mean, is that I was thinking that we would leave Gateon City today," Alden explained, "but instead of going to scout Realgam Tower first, we would head to Agate Village instead, and visit your father."

Vic was taken aback by that. She knew that Alden had wanted to meet her father, but she hadn't thought that he would actually choose to go there first. For a moment, she pictured Agate Village in her mind. The beautiful greenery that was so rare in the Orre Region, the wonderful cascade of the falls, the peaceful, tranquil air, it was such a wonderful place.

Alden smirked. "Wow, Vic, I didn't know you could smile," he teased.

"Wh-What?" Vic gasped, realizing that a smile had spread across her face without her noticing. "N-No, I just… um…"

She couldn't help herself. The moment he told her that he wanted to go to Agate Village, she had suddenly been filled with nostalgic excitement. She couldn't stop grinning.

"I'm glad," Alden said. "I talked with your mother about it last night, actually, and she thought that it would be a great idea."

"I see. I think that's a great choice, then," Vic admitted. "I'll head back to my room and get packed. Thank you, sir."

Without another word, only a sharp bow, Vic turned and walked down the hall, heading back to the room she shared with her mother.

"Mom!" She gasped as she burst inside. "Did you tell the Commander that we were going to Agate Village?!"

Rui squinted in confusion. "The Comman-? Oh! You mean Alden! Yes, that's right! We talked about it last night, and we both agreed it would be a great place to visit, you know, while it's still springtime? Everyone should love it!"

She was smiling, but her smile concealed the real reason for her decision to return home.

Yesterday had frightened Rui. When she saw the state that Vic had pushed herself to in order to win a meaningless pokemon battle, Rui had been terrified. She loved her daughter and didn't want anything bad to happen to her. But it seemed that Vic was too much of a threat to her own wellbeing if left like this.

So she had raised the idea with Alden that they could go to Agate Village. Hopefully some time away from the others, surrounded by the tranquil air and relaxed atmosphere of the isolated town would do her daughter some good.

In fact, it already looked like it was working. Vic was a lot like her father, she so rarely smiled, but when she did, those smiles were meaningful. And it may have been faint, but right now, she was definitely smiling.

I just want you to be happy, sweetheart, Rui confessed. And if going home will help you calm down for a while, then I think it's the perfect place.

Also, Rui was happy she'd get to see her husband again.

Excited about the prospect of going home to Agate Village, mother and daughter began packing up their luggage in preparation for their departure.

When Alcea heard about their travel plans, a thrill shot through her heart. Normally far more reserved, even she found her composure shaken when she learned that they would be going to see the famous Agate Village. She couldn't stop the smile that burst out across her lips.

Before the trip had begun, Alcea had read up on the Orre Region, and what she read had not been good. There were the minor, inconsequential things that left a sour taste in her mouth, like the fact that the majority of the Orre Region was covered in desert, meaning there would be little greenery for her to appreciate, and then there were the things that really disgusted her, like all the damage that had been done to the region's ecosystem due to overmining.

But in spite of that, there was one part of the Orre Region that remained green, as if in defiance of all the damage that had been inflicted. Known as the Orrenian Greenbelt, it was a strip of land that stretched out from Gateon City northward along the river and to several great lakes of the Orre Region, right at the border.

And located on that greenbelt was Agate Village, known as the Emerald of Orre. A peaceful place filled with lush wilderness that Alcea had wanted to visit more than anything. But she hadn't wanted to seem insistent, demanding that the others go where she wanted. That would be too rude for someone like her.

So imagine her joy when she learned that their chaperone was planning to take them to Agate Village regardless!

Alcea wasn't the only one excited about this news. Callie was as well, because she could see how excited Alcea was.

As for the others, there was no one really against going to Agate Village. The idea was pretty popular among the group. The beach had been fun, but they were starting to get bored of it. And while Agate Village wasn't necessarily going to be exciting, it was at least going to be new.

Really, the only person who wasn't thrilled by this idea was Tommy.

"Come on, Agate Village?" He groaned as he lugged his bags towards the bus station. "That's gotta be, like, the most boring place in the entire region! What are we going to do there, sit by the river and drink tea?"

"Oui, that sounds like a marvelous idea, is it?" Alcea agreed as she walked past him, climbing aboard the bus.

"That's my hometown you're talking about, Tommy," Vic growled. "So I would appreciate it if you kept your opinions to yourself."

"No wonder you're so high strung, growing up somewhere that lifeless and dull," Tommy muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" She snapped, whirling around to glare at him.

"N-Nothing," Tommy said, shaking his head quickly and sitting down next to Ross. "Just, uh… talking to myself, is all, saying that maybe I wasn't giving the town a fair shot!"

Vic narrowed her eyes. "Yes, I'm sure you were," she murmured.

Once everyone had their things loaded, it was time to head out.

Callie was sitting next to Alcea, of course. Alcea had taken the window seat, which left her in the aisle, right next to Vic and Alden. For a moment, she wondered if she should ask Alcea if she'd like to switch seats, so her friend could sit closer to the boy she liked, but then she realized that as long as Vic was there it probably wouldn't make a difference, so she dropped the idea.

Still, she hoped that Alcea would be able to make some nice memories with Alden. In spite of Tommy's insistence, Agate Village was a popular destination for tourists. From the guide brochures Callie had read, she knew that it had some of the most picturesque views in the region. It was quite a romantic getaway locale, in fact! She hoped that it was true… if she liked what she saw, maybe she could even go with Nick someday!

In the meantime, however, she was stuck on the bus, with nothing to do except look at her phone and talk with her seatmate. And there was something that she was curious about. Alcea hadn't packed the flower she was cultivating along with her other things in the back of the bus, she had kept it separate, and now was holding it gently in her lap.

"You didn't want to put that away with the rest of the stuff?" She asked curiously.

"No," Alcea said, shaking her head. She listlessly ran her fingers along the glass incubator without thinking, as if she were stroking a pokemon's head. "I thought that it would be good to get some exposure to the sunlight, is it?"

Callie nodded, that made sense. "Cool, sounds good. Hey! Maybe it'll pick up some of those magic life-giving energies from Agate Village or whatever, and finally bloom! Hey, wouldn't that be a real hoot and a half?"

Alcea didn't quite know how to respond to that, so she gave a light chuckle and looked out the window thoughtfully.

Her time in Gateon City had certainly been interesting. They'd only stayed there a few days, but Alcea already felt like a completely different person than she'd been when they'd touched down in the Orre Region. Her heart wasn't in turmoil from her thoughts of her crush on Kanone, she had put those childish whims behind her.

She looked out at the city as it slowly shrank in the distance, and sighed.

If there was one positive thing about the three hour bus drive to the isolated Agate Village, it was the fact that the scenery was quite marvelous. As the bus traveled through the forest and wound its way up the road, Rui was sure to inform the students all about some little-known facts of the region.

"In spite of the Orre Region's arid climate, the greenbelt is one area that has remained lush and full of life," she explained. She had stood up at the front of the bus to make her voice carry more, a decision that Callie found of dubious intelligence given the fact that they were traveling up a steep road on very bumpy terrain.

"Right now, you're seeing one of the main reasons for this," she continued. "We're traveling up Mt. Battle right now."

Alden perked up when he heard that, and Vic bit her lip.

"Has anyone ever heard of Mt. Battle?" Rui asked, looking around at her students. No one raised their hand but Alden. "Yes, Alden?"

"It was a facility that used to be located atop the largest volcano in the Orre Region," he answered. "It used to be called Challenge Mountain, but the name was change to Mt. Battle to reflect the gauntlet that had been instituted there."

"That's right," Rui nodded, a smile lighting up her face. "In the past, the Orre Region built a facility known as 'Mt. Battle'. It was a place for trainers to test themselves by challenging a gauntlet of 100 trainers as they ascended to the volcano's peak. Unfortunately, due to the cost of maintaining such a facility and the dwindling interest in testing one's pokemon, the facility had to be closed many years ago."

A rare look of bitterness touched Alden's face. He knew quite a bit about Mt. Battle, actually. It had been his primary inspiration for the Battle Frontier, in fact. A place where trainers challenged themselves to battle their fiercest, he had always wished for the opportunity to take the challenge. But it had never reopened.

"The main reason that Mt. Battle was shut down was because the challengers kept demanding more and more lucrative prizes," Rui said with a sigh. "After all, they were fighting their hardest, and they felt that they were entitled to a reward for their success. In the end, the facility wasn't able to meet these high demands, and were forced to shutter their doors while the more lucrative Colosseum system rose in popularity instead.

Now, both Vic and Alden looked sour. The colosseums of the Orre Region were notorious. Shady places where trainers competed for cash prizebowls, and people in the stands would bet on who they thought more likely to win. It was a rather grotesque mockery of pokemon battles, commercializing and commoditizing them.

The Battle Frontier that Alden yearned to create would be nothing like that, not if he had anything to say about it.

Keya raised his hand. "I'm confused," he said. "What does all that have to do with Agate Village, though?"

Rui laughed, trying to lighten the mood. "Oh, nothing, it's just a bit of trivia! No, the reason I brought up Mt. Battle was due to the effect that the mountain itself has on the Orre Region's ecosystem! Did you know, this volcano is the highest point in the region?"

A few nods, a few shaken heads.

"Well, I'm sure you've learned by now how much of a desert most of the Orre Region is, right?" Rui asked.

That time, everybody nodded.

"Well, the reason for that is due to something called 'the rain shadow effect'. Has anyone ever heard of that term before?"

Alcea was the only one who raised her hand, and even that surprised Rui.

"Yes, Alcea, can you explain what the rain shadow effect is?" Rui asked.

"Oui," Alcea nodded. She wasn't about to stand up to announce it, though. "The rain shadow effect is something commonly observed in mountainous areas. A rain shadow is an area of significantly reduced rainfall on a mountain, is it?"

She gestured out the window. "As you said, I believe Mt. Battle is an excellent example of this. What happens is that wind blows in from the sea, carrying evaporated moisture. But when those winds encounter the higher elevations of a large mountain, such as this, precipitation begins to form, leading the development of rainclouds. Those clouds release the rain onto one side of the mountain, causing the land there to become lush and teeming with life. However, if those landforms are sufficiently large enough, then when the clouds continue over the mountain to the areas inland, they have already been drained of their moisture, is it? Which means that they have no rain to give to the areas beyond the peak, which results in an arid climate lacking the means to sustain growth. Many deserts in the world are formed in rain shadows, hence why there are so many located in proximity to large mountains and crags."

Rui was actually stunned. "…Y-Yes, that's perfectly correct, Alcea, thank you!" She hadn't actually been expecting an answer that detailed.

"Whoa, so the mountain is stealing water from the desert? Not cool," Tommy said, shaking his head.

Alcea groaned under her breath at such a stupid comment.

Callie, meanwhile, was in awe of how well-informed Alcea was.

"Whoa! That's so cool!" She whispered. "I'm surprised you know all that stuff!"

Alcea shrugged. "As a student of plant life, I have done a lot of studies on areas that get high yields of rainfall, and other points in nature," she admitted.

"Well, with knowledge like that, you could definitely make it in the Research Course," Callie chuckled. "Or hey, maybe even in the Ranger Course!"

Of course, she was just being polite. They both knew that Alcea's first love was pokemon battles.

"I gotta say, Alcea, that's some pretty cool stuff!" Alden called from his seat.

Alcea was surprised, she hadn't expected to be called out like that.

"O-Oh, oui, thank you very much," she hastily thanked him, turning her attention back to the window to watch the scenery pass by.

They were getting closer to Agate Village, and Rui kept talking about more little-known facts. But even she had to admit to her surprise at the fact that, even after what had happened in the Orre Region, that the greenbelt was still lush and fertile.

"Berries may not be able to grow here," she said sadly, "but that doesn't meant that this place is totally devoid of life."

A conspiratorial grin spread across her lips. "In fact," she whispered, "there are stories that say that one can even find wild pokemon among the wilderness of Agate Village."

Keya sat up a little higher in his seat when he heard that. There had been rumors over the years that in spite of the damage that had been done to the environment, wild pokemon could still be found in the Orre Region.

Rui sighed. "Nothing has ever been confirmed, of course. But it's still interesting to think about, don't you agree? Imagine, a small spot in nature where life really has continued…"

Honestly, the chances were slim to none. But if there was a possibility, everyone wanted to see it. Keya was excited, Maddi was excited, even Mason was excited.

The only person who wasn't excited was Vic. She had spent her entire childhood living in Agate Village. And in spite of what her mom was saying, she had never once spotted a single pokemon in the wild. The rumors were just rumors.

Right?

So the Commander's group has departed Gateon Port, and are making their way to Agate Village! But what about these rumors? Are there really places in the Orre Region that are capable of sustaining pokemon life? Will our group run into any wild pokemon there? What else can be discovered in Agate Village?