We've been spending quite a lot of time with the Phantom's group and the Commander's group, with both groups facing some pretty difficult situations, particularly the issue with Eve and the attack on Agate Village. But there are other people on this tour as well! Let's turn our attention back to the Empress's group and see how things are going with them!

The Elimination Round of the Pokemon Academy Best Girl Contest 3 has started! Make sure to get those votes in, we've only got a couple of people who have voted so far! Please, make sure to get those votes in! You can vote for up to 5 girls, so make sure your favorites have a chance to shine!

Nominated: Ange, Ayame, Caelia, Chloe, Cynthia, Donoma, Elaina, Kate, Maddi, Marion, Misato, Ryoko, Sango, Satsuki, Sylvia, Vic

KedharS: Really? I thought it sounded pretty convincing.

Tambry96bj: She's kind of gullible that way, yeah. Probably better than thinking about how difficult the situation might be.

Hyphenman: Well, Kiana's very naïve. But of course, everybody else knows the reputation he has, as well as the fact that Misato would never go run off to stop a mugger. Unless she was ordered to.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 981

While things were going crazy in Agate Village, and then again, in Phenac City and beside the S.S. Libra, another group of students were having a perfectly normal vacation.

Turning back the clock a few days, the Empress and her group had just finished with a tour of the Pokemon HQ Laboratory.

"And here we have the gift shop!" Professor Jovi declared, leading the students into a large room filled with all sorts of things to take home. "Be sure to buy something as a souvenir of your tour, and remember, all proceeds go towards our efforts to help the environmental crises in the Orre Region, so be sure to spend generously!"

Olivia could smell a rat when she saw one. While she certainly believed that the professor was telling the truth about all the money going to fund their environmental research, she still thought that the prices were a little absurd. Seriously? $10 for a bag of rocks? Oh, wait, authentic mineral samples gathered from Mt. Battle, ooh…!

…What a rip-off.

But of course, there was a sucker born every minute, and her group certainly had one.

"Darla! Darla, look!" Lila gushed, running over to one of the shelves. "Pyrite Town Rock Candy! Look at how pretty it is!"

The bag of rock candy was specially dyed to resemble the famous reddish-orange color of Pyrite Town's rocks. Olivia had to roll her eyes. Of course Lila would be into something like that. It was a bag of candy, and they were charging HOW MUCH?

Honestly, though? This was the perfect thing for someone like her. Lila cared about the environment, but only to an extent. It wasn't like she was actually going to make her own life worse-off to do anything about it, as much as she wished she could. She was just not the kind of person capable of making personal sacrifices.

Financial donations, though? She could do that. She had quite a bit of money stored up, in fact, and a gift shop like this was the perfect way she could feel like she was making a difference when really all she was doing was shelling out money hand over fist. And yes, she was definitely helping, but Olivia still found it kind of warped.

Darla picked up on this, of course, which is why she didn't say anything. She was perfectly happy letting Lila spend a bunch of money to ease her guilty conscience. That was why she followed after her with a wry smirk, while her partner shoveled sweets into her shopping basket.

Hiromi just sighed with relief. While she certainly appreciated the tour, and definitely agreed with everything that Professor Jovi had said, it was still stressful, and she knew that a lot of her students were probably freaking out a little after that.

Somewhere like this, a place where they could just relax and take it easy, was definitely helpful for getting everyone to calm down after that emotionally-stressful tour. She was glad that there weren't any larger problems in need of addressing, either. Donoma and Lukas seemed to be behaving themselves, anyway, and that was her biggest concern at the moment.

Let's all just take our time and enjoy the gift shop, she silently urged everyone in her group. Lukcily there didn't seem to be any other issues arising. She went over to Professor Jovi to talk with her a little more, and apologize for the actions of her students earlier.

"Oh, don't worry about it!" The professor assured her with a grin. "Jovi isn't bothered by something like that, not at all!"

Hiromi sighed with relief again. "Okay, I'm glad. Sorry for causing so much trouble," she apologized a second time. "But at least the kids seem to be having fun."

"That's true," the professor agreed. "I know that what we cover on the tour can be… stimulating. But at the same time, it warms my heart to see the children here enjoying themselves, it's part of the reason why we end with the gift shop. Things like puzzles and snacks can help lighten the mood, and remind everyone that it's not as bad as we're making it out to be. There is progress being made here, and if possible, others can help to make a difference too."

"…By buying stuffed animals of pokemon they can't catch in the region?" Hiromi dryly replied. Like Olivia, she wasn't fully convinced by the idea behind a gift shop. At the same time, though, she couldn't deny that it at least appeared to be doing a great service for the kids here, by letting them decompress, so it wasn't like she was against it, either.

Besides, it was still helping the environment too. So as a former ranger, she couldn't exactly be against it, either.

I wonder how Aya's doing, she thought, turning away from the professor and going to look for her daughter. Her eyes scanned the shelves, and finally she spotted Ayame, hanging out with Marion of all people.

Well to be more precise, Ayame was socializing with Sango, who was also hanging out with Marion at the same time. The girls were showing Sango around the gift shop.

Hiromi smiled, and went to go introduce herself.

"Sango, is it?" Hiromi asked, walking over and joining in on the conversation. Sango brightened, turning to see who was coming her way as Marion spun the tablet over towards Hiromi. Hiromi greeted her with a smile.

"Uh, yeah, that's me," Sango smiled. She yawned a little, too. It really WAS getting late over here. "So, uh… anyway, you're Hiromi, right? Ayame's mom?"

"Oh? I believe you mean sister, right?" Hiromi giggled, flashing an innocent smile.

Sango raised her eyebrow. "Yeah, no, I already know, so…"

"Oh, you're no fun," Hiromi pouted.

"Mom, stop embarrassing me!" Ayame hissed, her ears turning red. Marion just giggled, trying not to look too amused by the whole thing.

"So Sango, my daughter says you're in school now to learn how to become a Pokemon Ranger, is that correct?" Hiromi asked curiously.

"Yep," Sango nodded. "I really want to work hard and help save the environment, and the pokemon living in it!"

The tour had reinvigorated her spirit, she wasn't about to lose to something like this! She clenched her fist and began burning with passion, enough so that her previous fatigue seemed like a distant memory to her.

Hiromi smiled. She was glad to hear it. She'd been looking forward to a proper introduction with Sango, given how much her daughter talked about her. And while this wasn't exactly that, it was certainly a good substitute.

"I'm glad I finally got a chance to meet you," Hiromi confessed. "My daughter talks about you all the time, you see, and I just couldn't wait to see who this smart, talented young prospective Pokemon Ranger was."

"Wh-Who, me?" Sango said, blushing. "C-Come on, Ayame, don't hype me up too much, I'm not really anything that special."

Ayame rolled her eyes. "Oh, please, you've got a probationary license, don't you? That means you're practically a ranger already."

"Yeah, yeah!" Marion said, bobbing her head in agreement. "Do you know how long it took me to get my probationary license, Sango?!"

Sango raised her eyebrow. "…Yeah? 13 tries, right?"

Marion scrunched up her face in contemplation. "13? Wasn't it 14?"

Sango just groaned and rolled her eyes. "Something like that," she said. She couldn't keep the exasperated expression on her face for very long, though, before she burst out laughing. "Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean that, I was just saying that even though I did get my license pretty early, that doesn't mean I'm all that."

Hiromi shook her head. "Not at all! Sango, a probationary license at your age is really impressive, don't you understand that?"

Everything the girls were saying just stroked Sango's ego even more. These were three women that were older than her, and all of them were talking about how great she was. Could she help it if she was a little flattered? No, of course not!

"W-Well, I am the youngest person in the history of the Ranger Association to ever get a probationary license," she boasted. "But still, I'm just an ordinary girl!"

Hiromi beamed at her. "That's exactly the kind of thinking that I love to hear," she said. "Sango, I hope that you work your hardest to become a great Pokemon Ranger. I think you'll find that it's an incredibly rewarding job."

"…But not as rewarding as a Pokemon Conservationist," Marion quickly interjected. "Now that's a job. Working hard to protect the environment, defending the habitats of pokemon, it just can't be beat, don't you think, professor?" She asked, turning to Professor Jovi for confirmation.

The professor raised her eyebrow and smirked, shaking her head. "If you think I'm going to let myself get dragged into your little war, think again, Marion," she said. "But yes, I think it's very rewarding to be a Pokemon Conservationist. Whether that's more rewarding than being a ranger or less rewarding, well… that's not up to me, now is it?"

"…I guess not!" Marion admitted with a sheepish laugh. "But anyway! Sango! I'm really glad you could listen in with us, it really meant a lot to me!"

Sango shrugged. "I was happy to do it! See, I'm from the Unova Region, so learning a little bit more about my neighboring region, especially about a topic like this, it's very educational," she said. "Plus, learning all these new things will be helpful for my job when I become a Pokemon Ranger, right?"

Marion nodded in agreement. "Absolutely! But still, it's not the same as having you here," she sighed. "That would have been great."

"Definitely," Ayame agreed with a grin. "It would have been nice if you could come along, Sango," she said, glancing across the room at Donoma, who was busy chatting up Lukas.

"…Instead of certain people…" She added under her breath.

"Aya…" Hiromi warned, raising her eyebrow. She loved her daughter, but she wasn't exactly a fan of the way Ayame seemed to be so hostile to Donoma. Sure, Donoma might have some problems, and she did break the rules by sneaking off with Lukas, but that didn't mean Ayame needed to be so upset with her all the time.

Sango, on the other hand, had another thought cross her mind. She smirked. "Oh, really, Ayame? Are you sure I'm the freshman you want to come around and hang out in the Orre Region with you? Joining your group and going to tourist attractions with?"

Ayame's face turned bright red. "I-I don't know what you mean," she huffed, glancing away from the screen. "Besides, Blake and I agreed that-"

"Oh, Blake!" Sango's face lit up, and she glanced offscreen. "Hey! What are you doing here? Want to come say hello? I'm on the line with Ayame right now!"

"W-Wait, don't!" Ayame exclaimed, shielding her face. "I-I'm a huge mess! The humidity's got to my hair, my shirt's all sticky from sweat, and… and we said we were going to try to stop being so clingy, so you can't-"

"Ayame, she's messing with you," Hiromi said, resisting the urge to laugh at her daughter's expense. She couldn't help herself, Ayame was just so adorable sometimes!

Ayame blinked, momentarily confused. She glanced at Sango, and when she saw the knowing smirk on the girl's face it finally sank in. She turned red with embarrassment, and then that embarrassment turned into fury.

"Sango!" She exclaimed. "Don't tease me like that! It's not nice!"

"I couldn't help myself," Sango cackled. "It was too good of an opportunity to pass up! Sorry, Ayame, but you know how it is!"

The truth of the matter was, Sango was feeling a little naughty. As much as she hated to admit it, she was still very jealous of Ayame's relationship with Blake, because she was very much still in love with Blake.

So while she would never, ever consider doing anything to try and actively mess with their relationship or break the two up, there was nothing wrong with getting a little dig here or there at their expense, right? It was just a little poking fun, nothing that would hurt anybody.

Ayame seemed to have a different point of view as far as that was concerned. "Stop joking around about that," she insisted.

Marion was starting to feel like a bit of a third wheel here, since she wasn't much one for joining in on the boyfriend/girlfriend conversations. So she just laughed. "Well, Sango, I can't speak for Ayame over there, but I can tell you this much! Of all the first-years, you're the one who I wish was here the most, for sure!"

Now it was Sango's turn to do the blushing. "R-Really?" She asked, smiling.

"Yeah, of course! It's been, like, MONTHS since we last got a chance to fish together!" Marion pouted. "I'm going through a Sango fishing withdrawal!"

"We went fishing together the last time you were here!" Sango protested, rolling her eyes.

Marion scoffed. "Oh, please, that was all the way back in February! You know I need WAY more than that to satisfy myself!"

The two girls burst out laughing.

Meanwhile, Hiromi was watching them with a smile on her face. She was glad. Sango seemed like a nice girl, and a great prospective Pokemon Ranger. She was happy that she got along so well with her daughter. And Marion, well… Marion was…

Marion was something else, alright. Another person Hiromi was glad to have in Ayame's life, even if they weren't exactly friends.

There was someone else who wasn't all that thrilled about what was going on, though. Olivia watched from the sidelines with a scowl on her face. She was Ayame's best friend, after all, and while she was happy that Ayame was having a good time with girls besides her, she couldn't help but feel a little jealous.

Especially due to the grudge that she held against Marion as a member of the Daevas.

"You know, Marion," Sango added, "are you sure you really want me up there fishing with you? That doesn't seem like such a great time."

"Yeah, are you kidding?" Marion said, rolling her eyes. "Of course I do! You're a BLAST to hang out with, Sango!"

"Okay, Yes, thank you, but fishing? You realize I went on the same tour that you did, right?" Sango asked.

"What about it?" Marion shrugged.

"Well… I'm just saying, that I know you can't exactly catch much of anything by fishing over there, you know?" Sango said. "Due to all that pollution and stuff? Is it really that much fun to go fishing when you know you can't catch anything?"

Even as she was saying that, Ayame was signaling to Sango to shut her mouth. She had just walked onto a minefield without even realizing it.

Marion burst out laughing. "Oh, come on, Sango! Don't be silly!" She cackled. "It's great, going fishing in the Orre Region! Right, Professor Jovi?"

She looked to the professor for confirmation, but the most the professor could give her was a half-hearted shrug.

"Well, I certainly don't think you should go if you're actually looking to catch anything, if that's what you mean," the professor replied.

Marion shrugged. "Hey, nobody said anything about actually catching anything! Fishing's fun because… well, just because! You get to connect to the water, feel the rod become a part of you, as you become part of the ocean…"

Ayame sighed, smiling in spite of her frustration. "There she goes, we should have seen this one coming."

"Once she starts, there's no stopping her," Hiromi nodded. They just waited for Marion to finish reciting all the ways that fishing was fun and enjoyable even if you didn't actually have any pokemon available to capture.

Sango listened politely even as she recognized the terrible mistake she had made. It was the least she could do. She knew how much talking about fishing meant to Marion, and she was willing to humor her friend for a little while. After all, Marion didn't get a chance very often to talk about this stuff with people who were actually interested.

At the same time, though, that power button was looking pretty tempting…

She yawned in spite of herself, which managed to catch Marion's attention. The tan girl's face flustered. "Oh, Sango! Oh, I'm sorry, am I boring you? I didn't mean to, honest!"

"No, no, Marion, it's not that!" Sango assured her, even as she yawned again. "I just worked really hard today… *yawn* taking care of your dive shop and stuff, looking after the pokemon, all sorts of things, it's a lot of work…"

She yawned again to prove her point.

Marion sighed. "Sorry to push all that on you, Sango," she apologized. "But it really means a lot that you're willing to help me out like that."

Sango grinned, and shrugged. "Hey, come on now, what are friends for?" She asked. "If you need my help, you know I'll help out any time!"

Marion beamed at her. "Yeah, I do. It's what you do for a fellow fishing enthusiast, after all!" She said, giving Sango a thumbs' up.

Hiromi and Ayame glanced at each other, feeling simultaneously happy that Sango and Marion were in such a cheerful attitude and grateful that they didn't have to participate in this conversation.

Honestly, Ayame had been worried about Sango's mood throughout the tour. This was stuff that meant a lot to her, and if Ayame was getting upset about it, she could only imagine what a girl who was aiming to become a Pokemon Ranger must have been feeling.

But Sango handled it marvelously. And that was how Hiromi knew that the girl had a bright future ahead of her.

Hiromi was about to open her mouth to say something, when another tour group entered the gift shop. Everyone turned, just out of partial curiosity, but it was Marion of all people whose attention was captured by it.

"Marion Rivers?!" One of the people on the tour gasped.

Oh! It looks like Olivia's group has encountered another group of students, this should be interesting. Who could they be?