We've switched over to the Empress's group, and let's see how she's doing! So far, they're just enjoying the gift shop, but it seems we've had a greeting from someone! Someone who recognizes Marion! But who could it be? Someone she works with? Or maybe another group of students? Who else could be on this trip? And don't forget to go vote!

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: She seems to be doing okay so far.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: I guess we'll have to see.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 982

Hiromi was surprised to see a group of kids enter the gift shop. They must have been participating in the tour right after theirs, so they were just now arriving at the end of it. A scientist from the lab stepped aside to let them explore the shop, but it seemed like the kids were far more interested in talking with Marion.

Which made sense. They looked about as old as the students in her group, and they clearly knew who Marion was, so it was fairly likely that this was another group of students from the Pokemon Academy, it seemed Hiromi's group kept running into them.

There were a few things she noticed. To start, unlike her group which was mostly girls, with the exception of the chaperone, and older woman, this group was made up of all boys. The other thing that she noticed was that her group had ten students in it, while this one had only five.

To start with, the boy who'd called up to Marion quickly ran over to her with a smile on his face. He had curly black hair with the bangs dyed white, and bright green eyes. He greeted her quickly, and it was obvious that the two knew each other.

The next person was a tall boy with bright golden hair and a big grin on his face. He reminded Hiromi of that other blonde boy in that other group, Alden, his name was? They looked similar, were they brothers? That was her guess, anyway.

The next two students also could have been brothers if not for the slight differences between them. While they both had tan skin and dark hair, the one on the left was tall and well-built with black hair and sharp red eyes, and the one on the right had a leaner build wavy brown hair, amber eyes, and thick eyebrows.

Then there was the woman who was the group's chaperone. She was older than the students by a few years, and at a glance it was clear that she was related to the amber-eyed boy. Their eyes and hair were the same color, although her hair was a little longer and in a ponytail, and she had his thick eyebrows as well. She looked like she would probably be his older sister? Although she was wearing casual clothes, Hiromi could tell by the way that she carried herself that she was a Pokemon Ranger. The Chimecho floating beside her, her partner pokemon, was also a clear sign.

…

Wait!

Hiromi did a double-take. She'd completely missed someone! The last member of the group was a rather plain and nondescript boy with brown hair, the sort of person that was incredibly easy to overlook, almost like he was blending into the background. Hiromi couldn't believe that she'd nearly missed him!

She cleared her throat and went over to make introductions, even though the curly-haired boy was already busy on that.

"Hello there," she greeted the off-duty ranger. "My name is Hiromi Toujou. I'm looking after these kids over there, are you the chaperone for this group?"

The woman's face brightened. "Oh, hello there! My name is Andrea Pollard, nice to meet you! And this is my little brother, Andre." She gestured to the amber-eyed boy, confirming Hiromi's suspicions about their relationship.

Before Hiromi could burst out laughing, the other woman sighed. "Yes, I know, it's strange," she acknowledged with a wry grin. What sort of parents would name their children Andrea and Andre? It's like they had absolutely no clue. We've been getting that since we were kids."

Hiromi did chuckle at that one.

"Now then, for the rest of them, the boy chatting up that girl with the fishing rod is named Ian, and this is Erik over here," Andrea said, beginning to introduce the rest of her students. Erik waved and gave her a stern nod.

"Hi there," the blonde greeted her next with a big grin. "My name's Raizer! And that guy over there is Mirar, he's a little…"

"Hi," Mirar grunted, his face practically devoid of emotion.

Raizer sighed, and shrugged his shoulders. "What are you gonna do? The guy's a bit of a distant dude is all."

"So you only have five students in your group?" Hiromi asked. "I'm surprised, I thought there were ten per group!"

"Yeah, normally that's what you're supposed to do," Andrea agreed. "But since I joined in last-minute to chaperone, and they had a sudden influx of new applicants, I was able to get by with less kids in my group than normal. It's actually pretty relaxing, though I can't imagine how tough it must be to look after ten teenagers," she winced.

Hiromi winced as well. "It's… not that bad…" She said, putting the issues with Donoma and Lukas out of her mind for now. "So how did you guys enjoy the tour?"

Erik's expression darkened. Andre didn't look all that pleased, either.

"I couldn't stand it," Erik muttered. "To think, all the damage that's being done to our ecosystem, and what? A place a like this is the best we can manage?"

"Hey now," Professor Jovi said, coming over with a scowl on her face. "We're doing the best we can, I'll have you know! It's hard work, taking care of the environment and managing things in a region like this, we're fighting daily to improve the quality of life and reduce contamination!"

"Yeah, I know!" Erik said, suddenly defensive. "What I'm saying is that we need to do even more than this, it's just a drop in the bucket!"

The professor blinked, obviously surprised. "…Oh. Okay, yeah, that's a fair point," she admitted. "We definitely could be doing more. But don't make light of the work we are doing, either, okay? We're really working hard here." She asked.

Erik got a little flustered by that, but as always he managed to keep his cool. "Not a problem," he gruffly agreed. "I'm sorry it sounded that way. I'm working on becoming a Pokemon Ranger, so I have a lot of sensitivity when it comes to taking care of the environment, and hearing such an in-depth description of all the stuff that's going on in this region was a little bit bothersome."

That caused the professor to relax even more. "Okay, yeah, I definitely feel that," she agreed. "Sorry if it was a little hard, but we really try to do our best to not only educate everyone, but provide them with some positivity as well."

Erik nodded, but was suddenly besieged by an excited Hiromi.

"You're trying to become a Pokemon Ranger?" She asked, her eyes shining.

"Y-Yes?" Erik said. "Yeah, I am." He was more than a little flustered by her inquiry. "Why, what's up? Anything wrong with that?"

"No, no, nothing at all!" Hiromi said, shaking her head. She quickly regained her composure. "I was just excited because I used to be a Pokemon Ranger, you see, and it always warms my heart to hear that more young people are going into the field!"

"You used to be a Pokemon Ranger?" Andrea asked, surprised. "Why did you stop?"

Hiromi laughed sheepishly. "Oh, you know how it is. After I got married, I tried to keep it going, but once I had two kids to raise, well, I had to settle down, you know?"

Everyone was shocked to hear that, even the normally-composed Erik.

"Two kids?" He asked in disbelief. "But you're so…" He quickly composed himself, he didn't want to say anything rude.

"I'm… wow, but you're so young!" Andrea said, having far less consideration than the student did. She was just flabbergasted, Hiromi looked even younger than she did!

"Why, thank you," Hiromi beamed, her smile practically glowing. "Being a mother is a wonderful experience, Andrea, I hope you get the chance! As for my family, well, I can introduce you to my daughter if you like, that's her over there!"

Hiromi pointed at Ayame a few feet away, who gave an awkward wave.

That resulted in another wave of surprise. Having a daughter was one thing, but having a daughter in high school and looking like that? If anyone had to choose between the two of them, Ayame would look more like the mother of Hiromi than the other way around!

They just couldn't believe it.

Ayame had her own considerations. She was staring curiously at Marion, who was talking with that other boy, with the curly hair. He looked familiar somehow, but she just couldn't place where she'd seen him before.

She turned to Olivia, who had walked over to see what the commotion was.

"Hey boss, does that guy look familiar to you?" Ayame asked. "The one talking to Marion. I know I've seen him somewhere before, it's driving me crazy."

Olivia rolled her eyes. "Please, Aya, do you think any guy looks familiar to me? Boys just look like sacks of potatoes to me, I've never had one that actually seemed familiar, sorry."

Ayame frowned, not sure how she was supposed to take that.

"Geez, Ayame, come on!" Sango groaned. Ayame glanced down at the tablet in her hands. When Marion had gone to talk to Ian, she had passed the tablet off to Ayame, who was busy looking after it, and Sango. And Sango wasn't smiling right now.

"Oh, who is he?" Ayame asked.

Sango squinted, trying to remember. "He's… um… I know I've met him before, his name's on the tip of my tongue…"

"See? You don't know either," Olivia smirked.

Sango shot her a dirty look. "Do too! I just… it slipped my mind is all."

Ayame shrugged. In a way, she could understand where Olivia was coming from. Before meeting and falling in love with Blake, guys weren't really worth her time either. But still, she couldn't shake the feeling that this guy looked familiar.

Marion was the one who finally bailed them out.

"Sango! Come over here and say hello to Ian!" Marion called, waving Sango over.

Sango's face lit up with realization.

"Oh! That's right, I almost forgot! Ian! How could I forget him?!" She groaned, smacking herself in the forehead. It must have been getting REALLY late for IAN of all people to slip her mind.

Ayame walked over to join Marion, carrying Sango with her. Olivia trailed after the two of them, scratching her chin.

"Oh, right, Ian," Olivia said, giving a half-hearted nod. "Yeah. The shoe guy, right?"

"Uh…" Ian didn't quite know how to respond to that one. He turned to Sango and smiled. "Whatever. Hey, Sango, how are things going back at school?"

Sango replied with a yawn.

"Sorry!" Marion apologized, grinning sheepishly. "I've been working her a little hard, see, looking after my shop."

"It's fine," Sango said, yawning again. "You don't need to worry about it… so anyway, Ian, it's been a while, huh?"

"Oh, yeah, it really has," Marion laughed. "I wasn't there to hang out, since I was working over in the Orre Region all this time, but what about you? Get any good fishing done, Ian?"

Ian shook his head, looking a little sheepish.

Sango narrowed her eyes. "Didn't you say that the reason you were gone so much last semester was because you got into a climbing accident? Don't tell me you fell off a mountain again."

Marion gasped in shock.

"Oh, no! That's not good! Don't hurt yourself!" She wailed. "See? This is why I don't climb mountains! Well, unless there's fishing involved. Fishing's the only sport worthwhile, don't you agree? Heck, there's actually a place in the mountains where you can go fishing in a special lake that requires you to cast your line from over a hundred feet above the water! It's a real rush!"

Then she gasped again.

"Wait, was THAT why you hurt yourself?! Because you were trying to fish there?! Oh, Ian, I'm always telling you if you're going to be reckless with your fishing then you need to bring me along! I'm an expert after all, I've fished on that mountain dozens of times!"

Ian gave her a wary look. "No, Marion, it wasn't because I was going fishing in the mountains, it was just a normal accident."

Marion significantly lost interest after hearing that. "Oh. Okay."

Ayame finally realized where she knew him from. "Wait! That's right! You're one of the trainers in the Battle Course, who was being scouted by the Phantom's group and the Commander's group because of your fighting skill, isn't that right? You even got an invitation to the Phantom Cup!"

"Well, yeah, but it's not that big of a deal," Ian said, giving her a modest smile. "Something like that, I just got that invitation in order to fill in the numbers, that's all."

Ayame frowned. As someone who'd gotten an invitation to compete herself, she didn't like the insinuation that someone as talented as Ian had just gotten invited to "fill in the numbers". Now that she remembered who he was, she also remembered how talented he was as well.

"Oh, I remember now!" Olivia gasped. "You're that guy with those designer belt buckles, right? I totally forgot!"

Sango rolled her eyes, and Marion burst out laughing. Ian just gave her a confused expression, shaking his head.

"Boss," Ayame groaned, "if you don't remember this guy, then you shouldn't try to force it, it's just getting weird."

Olivia scowled. The truth was, she did remember Ian, but only because the other groups were hunting for him. But she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that she remembered who he was, mainly out of spite for the fact that he'd rejected HER invitation to join her group as well. He didn't deserve her acknowledgment anyway.

In the meantime, Sango was busy talking with Ian about why he'd been gone. To her relief, it wasn't because he'd gotten into an accident or anything.

"Come on, Sango, what do you take me for?" Ian asked, trying to laugh it off.

Sango raised her eyebrow, not amused in the least. "Someone who gets into a lot of accidents, that's what."

Ian opened his mouth to reply, but then shut it and nodded. "…Fair enough."

"So for real, why were you gone?" Marion asked curiously. "I didn't even notice, though. Since, well, working."

"I wasn't gone," Ian protested. "I was just spending all my free time on training. I need to accomplish my goal, after all!"

Sango blinked. "Goal?"

"What, to fish up pokemon of every species and start a resort habitat where guests can come and fish as they like, while seeing fish pokemon in their natural habitat?" Marion asked, her eyes shining hopfully. "How's that going?"

"…No, that's your goal," Ian frowned.

"…Oh. Yeah, right."

Ian shook his head. "I'm going to battle the Eight Leaders," he proclaimed. "And I'm going to defeat them all! But to accomplish that, I have to train! I've already defeated Callie, after all, and she was the weakest! But it was such a tough match, I know I need to prepare if I'm going to defeat the Second Leader and beyond!"

"…Well, you got Raizer right there," Olivia noted. "Why don't you go fight him right now, and leave the rest of us alone?"

"Boss!" Ayame sputtered. That bit of rudeness came out of nowhere. Olivia just shrugged, not at all concerned.

Ian glanced over his shoulder at Raizer, who waved at him with a grin. He turned back to the rest of them, wearing a sheepish smile.

"…Well, I want to beat them in order," he awkwardly explained. Olivia raised her eyebrow. She wasn't impressed.

"Sounds to me like you're just afraid to fight the big dogs, so you want to test yourself on the small fry first," she noted with a sneer.

"BOSS!" Ayame exclaimed.

"What? It's just an observation," Olivia shrugged. "So come on, what's the big deal? I'm sure you've been training your ass off to defeat trainers on his level, or trainers like Alcea. You're not a weakling, so why all the training, then?"

"Was it because you didn't do as well in the Phantom Cup as you would have liked?" Sango guessed, trying to sound as nice as possible.

Ian shook his head. "No, it's not about that, I have full faith in my pokmon and their abilities," he assured the ladies with a smile.

"Then you don't think you can win, is that it?" Marion asked, laughing. She patted Ian on the shoulder. "Hey, come on, Ian! You don't have to worry about stuff like that! Just give it your all, that's what I always say! Although I'm not much one for pokemon battles myself, you know."

"I do my best," Ian said. "And yeah, in a normal battle, my pokemon can handle their own."

"So what's the problem?" Sango asked.

"Well… the Second Leader… she's not someone who I'm confident I can beat through normal means…" he explained. A shiver went down his spine.

Sango blinked. "The Second Leader? Who's…"

Then she gasped. "Wait, are you talking about…?!"

Ian nodded grimly. "Yes."

Ayame winced, also remembering who he was talking about. "…Yeah, maybe some more training is for the best," she agreed.

Somewhere in Kanto, Sylvia sneezed.

Ian has returned, along with a few other characters we don't get to see very often! What will this small group add to the cast now that they've joined? Will the stick around? Or will they head off somewhere else? For now, let's see where things go!