While Olivia is helping out with Ayame's heart woes, Marion and Sango are trying to win Blake over towards the cult of fishing! Will he be swallowed by the abyss, or will he be able to keep his individuality? They like having fun, for sure, but the issue is that they still don't know what to do moving forward. Hopefully our friends will come up with an idea for some way to get back to the future, instead of fishing in the river all day.

The Elimination Round of the Pokemon Academy Best Girl Contest 4 has started! Make sure to get those votes in, we've only got a few so far! You can vote for up to 5 girls, so make sure your favorites have a chance to shine!

Nominated: Alcea, Ange, Ayame, Caelia, Callie, Chloe, Cynthia, Dakota, Donoma, Elaina, Gabrielle, Joyce, Kate, Maddi, Misato, Nikita, Rui, Sango, Sylvia, Vic

KedharS: Yeah, they definitely need to relax, that's for sure.

Rowlets and Oshawotts: Yep, they really are cute together as always.

Hyphenman: Yeah, it's adorable to see how everyone came together, before they became the people they were, and how it was partially influenced by Blake and Sango the whole time. I think it's all really cute.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1347

Blake stared out at the river, not sure what he was doing.

Why am I fishing again? He asked himself, and found that he couldn't come up with a satisfying answer. He knew WHY he was fishing, because Marion had invited him. But that didn't really answer the question.

He had been brought back in time for a reason. He was pretty sure that reason had something to do with Ayame, but couldn't say for certain. But what he did know was that he wasn't getting anything done just sitting around here fishing. The longer he wasted time like this, the longer it would take for them to get back home, back to his Ayame.

"Claire," Blake said pointedly, turning to Sango, letting her know that he was serious. "I was wondering why we're still fishing when it's almost dinner time?"

They'd practically wasted the entire day.

Sango fixed a smile to her face, signaling to Blake with her eyes that this had absolutely nothing to do with her. This was Marion, through and through.

"I can answer that one!" Marion chirped. Blake looked at her expectantly. "…Because it's not dinner time yet, duh."

She rolled her eyes and Blake wanted to scream.

"I just think-"

"Rei." Sango's voice was even more insistent than his. She squeezed his thigh so hard he thought she was going to draw blood through his pants. "Not. Now."

Blake sighed and hung his head. He'd already upset Sango enough for one lifetime, he didn't want to do even more stuff to get on her bad side.

"Hey, come on you two! Don't be so serious!" Marion hopped up and draped an arm over each of them, pulling them in close. It's a happy time! Happy! Let's see some smiles on those faces, 'cause we're fishing!"

Sango sighed, smiling ruefully at her friend. Marion really was a bundle of positivity. Even Blake had to smile a little bit.

"The reason why fishing is good is because it helps you calm down. Relax." Marion waved her hand in a smooth streak through the air. "Just take things easy, you know?"

"I-I guess," Blake admitted. But he didn't feel relaxed.

"You've gotta give IN to the water." Marion crouched behind Blake and began to massage his shoulders. "Don't try to fight it. Just feel all that tension and anxiety leak out into the river, and get washed away… free up your mind and just… let go."

Blake sighed. He thought that sounded pretty pointless. But he could still feel Sango's fingers digging into his leg (not helping with the relaxation, by the way, thanks a bunch, Sango) and tried to humor her. He closed his eyes and focused on the gentle rush of the stream and the soft caress of Marion's hands on his shoulders, and let himself just slip away.

To his surprise, he felt more relaxed than he had since coming back to the past. Only when he was talking with Ayame was his mood comparable, and that had the benefit of Ayame being responsive and compassionate. He'd still needed to be on edge and worry about not setting her off, but this… it was like he was completely devoid of responsibility, he was-

Blake's eyes snapped open and he felt a tug on his line. "Whoa, what the heck?!" He gasped, nearly dropping his fishing pole as it jerked about wildly in his hands.

"You've got a bite?!" Marion cheered, her eyes shining with excitement. She dropped her hands from his shoulders and pumped her fists into the air with glee. "Yes! Way to go, Rei! Quick, reel that sucker in!"

"I-I… okay! Geez!" Blake struggled to reel in the line, fighting the pokemon on the other end all the way there. He pulled and tugged and finally fished up… an old, moldy shoe.

The three of them stared at the garbage for a second before they all burst out laughing.

"I can't believe you fished up a shoe!" Sango cackled, holding her sides. "Looks like you discovered a new pokemon! What do you think, Marion?"

"Oh, definitely!" Marion sniggered, covering her mouth. "He really put a lot of work in fishing that guy up, I can just tell it's a fighter!"

"Cut it out you two!" Blake snapped. But even he found it amusing. The shoe must have been trapped on a rock or a crevice or something and he had snagged it by accident. What a joke.

"…Well, to tell you guys the truth, I knew that it wasn't a pokemon on the other end of the line," Marion confessed.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Blake scowled. She'd just let him make a fool out of himself, then?

"I wanted you to build up your confidence!" Marion deflected. "You know, fight with something, even if it wasn't a fish."

That didn't help Blake's mood. "So you just, what, let it happen?"

"Well, I mean… look," Marion sighed. "You're going to find this hard to believe, but the truth is… I have a really special ability. But you can't tell anyone, alright?" She looked at Sango and Blake. "That goes for both of you."

The two looked at one another.

"Uh… okay."

"Yeah, sure."

Marion gazed out into the water. "Okay. So… this is going to sound completely crazy, but the truth is… I hear the voices of pokemon."

Sango and Blake both gave her blank stares.

Marion cleared her throat, a little flustered. "That is to say… I can talk to them. Well, I mean, it's not exactly talking, it's more like we just share this connection… look it's hard to explain, alright? But that's how I knew that there wasn't actually a fish pokemon on the end of your line, Rei. Sorry for that again, by the way," she apologized.

Sango and Blake continued to say nothing. Marion looked from one expressionless face to the other, and frowned.

"…I was expecting a bit more of a reaction than that," she mumbled.

"Oh!" Sango gasped, realizing that they weren't supposed to know about Marion and her harmonia. "What… uh, what a surprise! I'm so shocked, aren't you shocked, Rei?"

"Definitely," Blake said, completely deadpan. "I'm completely shocked."

Now it was Marion's turn for a blank stare. She looked coolly at them, not impressed in the slightest by their little shenanigans.

"Very funny," she scowled. "I know you guys don't actually believe me."

"We-We definitely believe you!" Sango said, nodding frantically. "Look! Look into my eyes, Marion, you see if I'm lying?"

Marion squinted at Sango, and looked her in the eyes. No, Sango wasn't lying. But she didn't seem that surprised, either. Which was a surprise in and of itself.

Maybe if Marion was a more inquisitive person, she would have pushed on that. But she didn't. She was just relieved that her new friend didn't think she was crazy.

"I'm surprised you would tell us something like that," Blake said. "It seems like something that would be pretty private."

"Yeah, you're right," the fishing enthusiast admitted, scratching her head. "To tell you the truth, it's not something I like revealing, since, you know, it makes people look at me different."

Blake couldn't believe what he was hearing. THAT made people look at her different, and not the obsessive way she pushed others to try fishing?

Marion sometimes could have zero awareness. But he thought of his sister and all the struggles Gwen had to go through, and found that he couldn't really refute her point. He nodded solemnly.

"I agree," he nodded. "That would be hard to admit. But still, why us? You literally just met us this morning."

"I just trust you guys," Marion murmured. She turned to Sango. "Especially you, Claire. I don't really know why… just one of those trustworthy faces, I guess."

"Thanks," Sango smiled. "That's the nicest thing anyone's said about my face all day!"

Blake winced. Apparently those comments Olivia made had really stung.

"Ah, but enough about that, let's do some more fishing!" Marion urged, dismissing the solemn atmosphere with a wave of her hand. "Let's catch something for real, this time!"

In the end, they didn't catch anything "for real". Well, they did, particularly Marion. She reeled in lots of fish. And she released them all back into the water.

When asked over dinner why she'd done something like that, after going through all the trouble to fish those pokemon up, Marion's answer was pretty simple.

"I don't have the room," she said sadly. "Do you know how much space some species of pokemon take up? I'm living with roommates you know, it's not like I can just install a huge fish tank in my room or something."

She sighed.

"I wish I had a place to go where I could just care for all the little fishies I caught. That's my dream, you know? Just a nice place where I can house all types of fish pokemon from all the waters of the world… and just spend all my time fishing them up. Wouldn't that be nice…"

"Oh, sort of like the Safari Zone?" Sango asked.

"What's the Safari Zone?" Blake asked curiously. He turned to Sango, who nearly fell out of her chair in shock.

"Wait, what?!" Sango's jaw dropped and her half-eaten burger fell from her hands. "You don't know about the Safari Zone?!"

Blake shrugged. "No, I guess not."

Sango couldn't believe what she was hearing. The Safari Zone, the fucking Safari Zone, how did he not know?!

"Okay, so the Safari Zone was this pet project by this guy Baoba," Sango explained. "He wanted a sanctuary for wild pokemon, specifically endangered species. That was the founding goal behind it, anyway, a special, protected sanctuary along with a zoo for people to get to see endangered pokemon in their habitats."

"They also let people pet the baby pokemon," Marion added. "It was a pretty good revenue stream, actually."

"Oh, yeah, I think I heard about that," Blake said, nodding. "Wait, didn't that place get shut down or something?"

Sango sighed. "Yeah, well… the Safari Zone SOUNDED like an altruistic project, right? But this lady from the Pokemon Rights Organization uncovered evidence that Baoba was actually taking bribes to let trainers into the Safari Zone to illegally capture the wild pokemon that he was supposed to be protecting."

"So they shut it down over that?" Blake thought that sounded a little excessive.

Sango and Marion glanced at each other and both shook their heads. Sango continued her explanation. "No, the reason why they shut it down was because the guy got arrested. See, he was upset that this woman was going after his business, so he hired a hitman to assassinate her." She finished off her hamburger in a couple more bites. "Twice."

"Twice!?" Blake nearly choked on his own burger. Once was hard enough to believe, but twice? What kind of wackjob would do something like that?

"Yeah, he got like 22 years or something, and they closed the Safari Zone," Marion said, nodding. "But anyway, that's interesting… something like that, huh… well, maybe I'll do what he did directly," she considered. "I mean, I always wanted to be a Pokemon Conservationist, and also have my own private paradise for fish pokemon… hmm… maybe I can combine the two ideas somehow…"

Marion slapped the table and stood up, beaming at the two of them.

"Thanks Claire! Rei! You really gave me a lot to think about!" She was beaming from ear to ear. "But I gotta be going now!"

"Going to speculate on some more ideas?" Blake asked, raising his eyebrow.

Marion shook her head. "No. I'm gonna go fishing again. That always helps to clear my mind!" She turned towards the exit, but stopped herself. She turned back to Sango with a conspiratorial look on her face.

"Hey, Claire, can I ask you something?"

Sango shrugged. Marion had already asked a ton from her, what would it hurt to humor the girl? "Sure, what's up?"

"Can you tell me, what do you think I should do?" Marion asked. "Wait, let me be clear. So right now, I'm considering some way to get a facility built on school grounds where I could house Water type pokemon. Something like a bait shop, but also an aquarium. A place built just for fishing enthusiasts!" Her eyes were shining with excitement.

"So tell me, is that something you'd be interested in?" Marion asked.

Sango forced a smile to her face, only because it was masking an even wilder smile. She was struggling not to burst out laughing.

"That's… yeah, I think that's… a great idea," Sango agreed, nodding. "If it's something you're passionate about, I say go for it!"

"Roger that!" Marion chirped, flashing her a thumbs up. She turned and dashed away, leaving the two of them with their food.

The second Marion disappeared, Sango slumped over like all the bones in her body just melted.

"I can't believe this…" She sighed.

"So that's where Marion's aquarium came from," Blake said, trying to keep his voice from sounding too mocking. "No wonder it wasn't built yet when we got here, she got the idea from you!"

"This is the worst," Sango groaned. "We're altering the timeline too damn much! Or, well, not altering I guess, just… just influencing it. I mean, how crazy is that? That we're the reason stuff like this happened? It's insane!"

"I agree," Blake nodded. He was making sure to keep his voice down when the subject came to time travel. They didn't want anyone overhearing. "That stuff with Ayame…"

But Sango was more interested in talking about herself. "That stuff, Marion was talking about? That thing, the private paradise of hers?" She popped a fry into her mouth. Classic stress-eating. "You know she's going to go through with it, right? She's going to figure out her dream is to build a resort just like the Safari Zone, where people can come admire the exotic and endangered pokemon, and also fish up the more common ones. It's coming."

"She does have a sense of inevitability about her, I couldn't agree more," Blake nodded. Marion seemed like the kind of person who could get anything done if she put her mind to it- she just never really put her mind to anything but fishing.

Sango sighed and shook her head. "I'm just afraid of what else we might end up influencing. I mean, it's lucky we've only met three people so far, and haven't completely messed this whole place up!"

"I totally get what you mean," Blake agreed. "For now, though, let's not talk about all this time travel stuff, okay?"

He looked around. Sango was being a little loud due to her bad mood.

Luckily, the blonde recognized when she was being abrasive, and held back.

"Can I ask you something?" Blake asked. "Why were you so insistent on us fishing? It was one thing to do it for a few hours, but you practically forced me to stay."

Part of the reason why Blake had been desperate to stop fishing earlier was because he wanted to make some actual progress, on Sango's behalf. She'd gotten caught up in this mess because of him, and he didn't want her to have to spend any more time trapped in the past than she had to. "Don't you want to go back to our own time?" He asked, keeping his voice low.

Sango scowled. "What happened to 'let's not talk about all this time travel stuff'?" She asked. "Couldn't even stick to your own suggestion for, like, half a second?"

Blake realized how hypocritical that sounded.

"Sorry, you're right," he apologized, gathering up his plates and standing up. "We can talk about this later when they're not so many people around."

Sango sighed and grabbed his wrist. She gave him a gentle tug to urge him to sit back down. "It's fine," she said gently. "We can talk about it now."

Blake sat back down, staring expectantly at Sango. He didn't know what he wanted her to say, but he wanted to hear SOMETHING at least.

Sango picked at the scraps on her plate.

"…What do you want me to say?" She finally asked, looking up at him.

"I just want to know why you were happy to waste a whole day of precious time on fishing," Blake said. "We could have been doing work, or… I don't know, trying to figure out what this big thing we have to do is, and instead you just…"

He shrugged.

"…Fished."

Sango shrugged right back. "I figure that whether we look for what we're supposed to do or not, it'll come to us, right? That's how time works, after all. We could spend every day parked out in front of the river, and eventually what's going to happen is going to happen."

"You can't be serious." Blake shook his head incredulously, unable to believe what he was hearing. "You really want to just fish at that river all day?"

"No," Sango said, shaking her head. "That wasn't my point. My point was that everything that's going to happen is fixed, right? So that means we can't control it. We're not actually influencing anything. It'll happen when it happens, and today, I wanted to fish."

"…Is it because of Marion?" Blake asked.

Sango nodded. "A little bit," she admitted. "I'd be lying if I said Marion didn't have a big influence on me. But really? It was because of you."

Blake was taken aback by that. "Me?"

"Yes," Sango said. "The way you reacted, when you were fishing… I wanted you to relax. Like Marion urged you to. I wanted us both to relax. This is a really stressful situation, and frankly? I don't think either of us is handling it okay. We both need some perspective."

Blake took a moment to consider what she was saying. Then he nodded.

"You're right," he agreed. "I think the two of us really do need some time to relax. Unfortunately… we still have to sleep in a tent."

Sango sighed. No two ways about that.

Well, things aren't exactly settled yet, but good news is, Sango and Blake are talking to each other and reconciliation looks like a real possibility! Hopefully, their issue wouldn't lead to any major problems later. In the meantime, things are getting interesting with the others. Sango gave Marion some great ideas, and she's going to hit the ground running. So what will our friends do right now?