Now that the tour is over, it's time to focus on what our characters will do next on their trip! Where do we go after the Pokemon HQ Laboratory? The Empress's group isn't alone, either, they've met up with Ian and his group filled with a few other characters! Will they stick together? Or will they split up? Where are our groups headed to next?

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: You'd think so, but it's just Ian.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Andre made some appearances at the beginning of the story, but he hasn't gotten a lot of focus until now.

Leppyvstheworld: He has returned indeed.

Guest: Yep, basically. So little screentime I had to cut half the members of their group so they could have more to do.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 983

Hiromi and Andrea were still chatting as they left the Pokemon HQ Laboratory. After saying their thanks to Professor Jovi for everything she'd done, it was time for the groups to go their separate ways, it seemed.

"So you guys are going to Agate Village then?" Hiromi asked.

"You know it!" Andrea grinned. "Agate Village is one of the most beautiful landmarks in the Orre Region! A pristine village untouched by contamination, where life flourishes vibrantly! There are even rumors that there could be wild pokemon in the forests! As a Pokemon Ranger, I can't resist the chance to go take a look, don't you agree?"

Hiromi had to admit, it sounded tempting. "Yeah, you've definitely got a point there," she agreed. "Agate Village does sound lovely…"

She pictured Mt. Silver in the springtime, and the way the ice and snow on the slopes would melt slightly, causing the entire mountain to look like it was weeping. It was truly a beautiful sight, and one that she would miss this year. But the charm of a mountain village sounded like a lovely substitute for home.

There was just one problem…

"Ugh, the forest is so humid!" Lila whined, fanning herself. "I hate it here!"

Darla rolled her eyes. Lila was a wonderful human being who cared about the environment and wanted things to be better for the pokemon. But at the same time, her aversion to dirt, grime, and just general contact with anything that wasn't sparkling clean made her come off as a bit of an insufferable bitch when it came down to it.

She wanted to improve the condition of the environment, as long as she didn't have to go anywhere near actual nature or the outdoors.

Frankly, Darla found the contrast quite adorable.

Hiromi sighed. She'd love to see Agate Village, and she was sure that a lot of the students in her group would enjoy the sight themselves. But try convincing THEM of that. Her daughter may have been raised with a firm respect for nature and the environment, but her friends and acquaintances were all city folk who would rather stay cooped up in the hotel rooms with free wi-fi and room service than risk roughing it in the wilds and getting their designer clothes stained with grass.

Remember, Hiromi, this is for the kids, she reminded herself. This is their trip, so the focus should be on them and what they want to do, not you. You can always come back to the Orre Region later for a family vacation.

Hiromi had been forced to settle down after her daughter's accident. But with the revelation that Megumi could walk, that meant that travel was back on the table! So for now, she'd do what any good adult would do, and set aside her interest for her daughter and the other kids.

"What are you planning to do after this?" Andrea asked curiously. "If you like, you could come to see Agate Village with us."

Ugh. And she had to tempt her with that too, didn't she? Hiromi resisted the urge to sigh, and smiled. "Thank you for the offer, I'll talk it over with my group!" She said diplomatically, even though she knew exactly what kind of response she'd be getting.

While Hiromi and Andrea talked outside the lab, Olivia was focused on another situation entirely. Now that Sango had turned in for the night and they'd all said their goodbyes, Marion's attention was focused solely on chatting with Ian, Erik, and Andre. Even Jessie from their group was joining the conversation.

It made sense. Ian aside, Jessie, Erik and Andre were members of the Mermaid's faction, or more accurately, the Ranger Course and Caretaker Course were. So it made sense that Marion would be chatting with them, since they were all friends.

Olivia was looking at a ripe opportunity to pass the annoyance that was Marion Rivers off onto somebody else.

"So you guys are going to Agate Village, huh?" Marion gasped. "Wow, that's so cool! They've got some great fishing spots, you know?! With that waterfall? I've gone there a few times myself over the past couple of months, definitely recommend it!"

"Thanks, we'll, uh, check it out," Andre smiled, not at all interested in going fishing. Erik nodded politely, but they were both on the same page here. Only Ian seemed actually interested in fishing, but even then, knowing he couldn't catch anything, it was more out of courtesy to Marion than actual excitement at the opportunity.

"You know, Marion," Olivia inserted herself into the conversation, "if you really want to go fishing in Agate Village, why don't you go with them?"

Marion's eyes widened with glee. "What, really?!"

"Yeah, of course!" Olivia smiled, acting like she was Marion's best friend in the world. "You said it yourself, it's a lot of fun, right?"

"Woohoo!" Marion cheered, throwing her hands into the air. "Olivia's going to come fishing with me, finally!"

"…Wait, what?" No, no, that was NOT what she'd said, what was happening right now?

"Well, you said it yourself, right? We can go fishing in Agate Village!" Marion grabbed Olivia's hands, staring at her with sparkles in her eyes.

"N-No, I meant that you could go fishing, you know, going with them," Olivia tried to clarify. And leave the rest of us alone.

Marion frowned. "Well, yeah, but I can't just leave your group or anything," she laughed, patting Olivia on the shoulder.

Yes! You can! Do exactly that! Olivia wanted to scream.

Ian resisted the urge to laugh. He could see exactly where this was going. The other boys were pretty amused themselves. Olivia glared at Ian, and he sobered up quickly. Then she turned back to Marion and put on the politest smile she could manage.

"Now, Marion, you said you wanted to go fishing in Agate Village, but that doesn't mean we have to with you, right? Our group was planning to go to… oh, I don't know, Phenac City?"

Marion's face fell. "Oh… they don't let me fish there anymore," she sighed. "I kinda… made a mess of the fountain a few weeks back, so…"

Olivia feigned sympathy. "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. But you see, if you want to split up with us, you can always go to Agate Village with them, right?"

Marion's eyes lit up and a big smile stretched across her face.

"…Nope!"

…

"Huh?" Olivia needed a moment for that to sink in.

"Don't worry! I'm not abandoning you guys!" Marion grinned, patting Olivia on the shoulder again. "We're fishing friends for life, after all!"

No! We're not! I despise you! Olivia wanted to scream, but as the Empress she needed to maintain her image. She wasn't some brat throwing a tantrum. Like it or not, Marion was a Daeva, and even if she made her want to scream Olivia knew she could cause some real issues if she wanted to.

"Oh? What are you all talking about?" Hiromi asked, walking over to the group. She'd heard talk about Marion splitting off from the group.

Olivia was about to say Marion was considering going with them to Agate Village, when Marion cut in first.

"Olivia and I were just discussing going to Agate Village!" Marion said excitedly. "Isn't that such a great idea?!"

"O-Oh, really?" Hiromi asked, taken aback. She had initially ruled out the possibility since she doubted she'd get anyone on board, but if Olivia wanted to go, that changed things. It didn't take a genius to realized that Olivia was the ruler of her little fiefdom here, and the other members of the group went along with what she said. So if Olivia wanted them to go to Agate Village, then maybe they actually had a chance to go?

Hiromi looked expectantly at Olivia, and Olivia went pale. At this rate, if she didn't say anything, there was a good chance that they actually WOULD end up going to Agate Village with Ian and his group of misfits.

Agate Village. It was one of the nicer, more peaceful places in the Orre Region, and the only place in the region that was actually marked as a worthwhile tourist destination in most travel guides. But at the same time, it was some backwater town that barely had any contact with the outside world. Olivia was loathe to spend time there, not when she could go somewhere more up to her standards like Phenac City. Even Pyrite Town was a preferable choice!

She had to put a stop to this now. She opened her mouth to say something when the ring of her phone cut her off.

Scowling, Olivia fished her phone out of her purse. Who would be calling her now of all-

Alcea?!

Olivia rolled her eyes. Of course it was Alcea. Who else would be so insensitive as to call when she was in such a bad mood? And of course, Olivia couldn't do anything as rude as send her to voicemail, no, she had to take the call.

Because etiquette. And not at all because she wanted to hear the sound of Alcea's voice, not even remotely.

"Excuse me for a second, I need to take this," Olivia said. She glared at Marion. "We'll talk about this later, okay?"

Hiromi shrugged.

Olivia walked a few feet away to the shade of a large tree, and finally answered the call. She was actually very curious what Alcea wanted from her. "Hello?"

"Olivia, is it?" Alcea asked.

Yep. It really was her. "…Alcea. I'm surprised. I didn't think you would still have my number," Olivia mused. So this was how their first phone call was going to go? She was secretly thrilled that Alcea was the one who called her first.

"I would like to talk."

Olivia rolled her eyes. Yeah, no kidding. Unfortunately, she wasn't exactly in the mood to chat. Her irritation at Marion was making her inner bitch rise to the surface. Not that she ever held back when it came to Alcea, though.

"Well, better make it fast," she said, rolling her eyes again. "We just got finished with a tour, and I don't think they're going to be thinking too kindly of me taking calls on the premises. So what is it? What has you so worked up that you would need the help of someone as great as moi?"

Alcea wasn't the kind of person who ever asked for anything. So if she was calling her to talk, this ought to be good.

"I would like to talk with you about myself, is it?" Alcea said quietly.

"Of course you do. Because it's always about you," Olivia scoffed, rolling her eyes for a third time. Selfish Alcea Vermeil as usual. Who cared that she was in a bad mood herself? No, Alcea wanted to talk about something, and she just assumed that the Empress would have the free time to-

"I'm in Agate Village right now, and it is… a very strange place."

Wait, what? Did Olivia just hear that right? Agate Village? Alcea was in Agate Village? That wasn't what she expected.

"So what?" Olivia snapped. "Why are you calling me?"

"I… am not sure," Alcea admitted. "I suppose… I needed to speak with someone."

Alcea was in Agate Village, and she was feeling lonely. That brought a smile to Olivia's lips. Of course, she couldn't just let her good mood make her behave positively no. She just had to let the bitchiness leak out in spite of herself.

"Wow, now that's really sad," Olivia said. "No, seriously, I'm crying over here. The great Alcea Vermeil, the Queen of Queens, has so few friends that she can confide in that she's resorted to calling me for company. I'd burst out laughing if it wasn't so pathetic."

Damn it. Why did she have to keep starting things? She was in a worse mood than she thought. Maybe she should walk it back, be a little less of a-

"Tell me, what is your belief on destiny?" Alcea asked suddenly, startling Olivia.

"Huh? Destiny? What kind of crazy question is that?" Olivia demanded. This conversation had taken a really bizarre turn.

"Ever since I came here, I have felt… off," Alcea explained. "Like there was something here that was calling out to me. I can't describe it, but it feels… it feels like I was meant to come here, somehow. As if… there was a higher purpose, is it?"

Olivia let out a long and exasperated sigh. So much for thinking that she'd have a meaningful conversation with the redhead. No, this was just another opportunity for Alcea to rub in how much more special she thought she was.

"…Why am I not surprised?" She muttered. "Alcea Vermeil thinks she's so much better than the rest of us, believing that she has a higher purpose of some kind that sets her apart from everyone else. Can't just enjoy the natural beauty of the one spit of green in the entire region, no, she has to make it all about herself."

There was silence on the other end of the line. Olivia winced. Why did she say that? She went too far, again. Alcea was genuinely worried about something, but of course Olivia just had to be a bitch about it, didn't she?

"That… was not my intention, is it?" Alcea murmured. "I simply wondered… what your thoughts on the matter were."

"Well, my 'thoughts' on the matter are fuck it," Olivia said. She felt bad about what she'd said earlier, but maybe she could make up for it? She gave Alcea the best advice she could think of. "You think I became the person I am because I let destiny do my thinking for me? No. I did what I had to do to get to my position, and not destiny nor anybody else can tell me that what I did was wrong."

More silence on the other end. Alcea was thinking about what she'd said. Hopefully she hadn't completely fucked this up.

"Hmm. It seems I've become quite the fatalist, is it?" She mused. "I understand. Thank you, Olivia, you have been most helpful."

"Wait, what?" Olivia asked, surprised. She hadn't meant to accuse Alcea of being a fatalist, she'd just wanted to make the girl feel a little more confident about herself, and try harder. That was the duty of a rival, right? "Uh… look, I didn't mean to…"

"I must be going now, thank you for the advice."

Shit. No, no, no, she'd messed it up again. She was trying to be nice for once, and even then she couldn't help but make a mistake. She desperately tried to keep Alcea on the line.

"Hey, wait, if there's anything else you want to talk about-"

"Thank you, goodbye."

The beep of a dial tone echoed in her ear, cutting off any chance for Olivia to fix the mess she'd made. Shit. She'd made things even worse. She'd let her bad mood get the better of her and treated Alcea even worse than usual. And because of that, she'd given the girl the wrong impression when she actually HAD been trying to help her.

She could just scream. Why did she keep making things worse?!

"You done now?" Marion called over to her as she put her phone away.

Olivia couldn't hide the scowl on her face anymore. This was all Marion's fault. Marion had been the one who…

She sighed. No, no, she couldn't blame Marion. Marion was just… Marion. It was her own fault that she'd lost her temper and snapped at Alcea, no one else's.

Olivia returned, her thoughts muddied with concern. Alcea had sounded really worried, and she wasn't able to do anything about it. Even though Olivia hated Alcea, it wasn't like… well, it wasn't like she hated her. She just… hated her.

Or something.

Whatever! It wasn't important!

"Is everything okay?" Hiromi asked. Even though Olivia was trying to smile, there was a tension hanging over her that the chaperone didn't want to have boil over.

"It's fine," Olivia snapped. "Just… just a big mess, that's all. Don't worry about it."

Marion was as perceptive as she always was. She knew, of course, that Olivia was in a seriously bad mood. The problem was, her solution to a bad mood wasn't the sort of thing that Olivia was exactly receptive to.

"Hey, you wanna go fishing?" Marion asked excitedly.

Olivia held back her scream. Fishing. It was always fishing with her! No, no, she DIDN'T want to go fishing! She wanted to go find a hotel room and pummel a pillow! A tan pillow. With sea-green frills. And a straw hat.

She reconsidered. This WAS all her fault! Marion and her stupid "let's go to Agate Village!" suggestions. Marion and her stupid-

Wait, Agate Village?

In her bad mood, Olivia had forgotten something crucial about her conversation with Alcea, something she'd mentioned in passing that had gotten lost in the seriousness of the other discussion topics. That's right, Alcea was in Agate Village right now! And that's why she felt so weird and uncomfortable! And that meant…

Wait. So if Alcea was in Agate Village, and was going through a hard time, she probably wouldn't call Olivia again. Not if she didn't think it would be helpful. And it wasn't like Olivia could lower herself to actually call her back or anything, that was beneath her.

But if she went to Agate Village in person, well, that would just be a coincidence, wouldn't it? Yes, she would coincidentally go to Agate Village and see Alcea directly, and then help her with her problems in person! And then Alcea would be so grateful to Olivia for how helpful she was, that she'd get down on her hands and knees and beg forgiveness for her impudence!

A malicious smirk crossed her lips for a second, and she quickly replaced it with a smile. She turned to Hiromi and Marion.

"Sorry, I guess I'm just in a bad mood from all the stuff we saw on that tour," Olivia lied. "It was really shocking… and that's why I was wondering if we could go to Agate Village?"

Hiromi's face lit up. "Seriously?"

"Why yes!" Olivia said, giving Hiromi a smile that would have scored perfect points in any Pokemon Contest. "I'd just love to see some of the natural beauty of the Orre Region, it would really soothe my worries, and I think that would be the case for everyone else, too!"

"Great! I'll ask them!" Hiromi nodded in agreement. Olivia was a world-class liar.

So it looks like Olivia and her group will be joining with Ian and the other boys to travel to Agate Village, where the Commander is! Everyone's coming together, that should be fun! Of course, we know it won't be so simple since they don't arrive for a few more days… what could possibly waylay them on their travels, I wonder?