Blake's birthday continues! What other gifts are in store for him? Please review!

As for the Best Girl nominations, still going strong. Anyone else left to add?

Currently Nominated: Sango, Cynthia, Elaina, Kate, Dakota, Ayame, Marion, Kitty, Serefina, Madison

KedharS: We'll have to see.

Tambry96bj: Ayame's a regular old sweetheart.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Hope it pays off.

Guest: He deserves a happy birthday. It was a good day for him.

Rus4408: Glad I could give you some heartwarming moments.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 204

The sun was setting as Blake and Ayame walked back from Floette Fields towards the center of campus. With some work on Olivia's part, they'd managed to organize a reservation in the general assembly room in the main campus building. Usually it was used to hold faculty meetings and school events, but today it was host to a private party.

"Ayame," Blake said, Ayame pausing at the door before they headed inside.

"Hm?" Ayame murmured, glancing back at him.

"Thanks for today. It really meant a lot."

Ayame smiled warmly at him.

"Did it make up for not being with your sister?" She asked quietly. Blake winced, but he turned that flinch into a small smile.

"It did make it hurt less," Blake admitted, smiling at her. Ayame nodded, and turned back to the door.

"Also… you really do look pretty with that flower in your hair," Blake added, Ayame's face turning bright red just as the door opened, Blake walking past her and laughing to himself, amused.

"Happy birthday!" Everyone shouted. Blake's eyes went wide as he stepped into the room. Sango and Cynthia had said it would be a small party, but it seemed like Cynthia's height had caused her to misjudge what exactly "small" was supposed to mean. There was the usual group, of course, Cynthia, Sango, Julia, Kitty, Nick, and Reiner, but Callie and Nikita had come as well, accompanying their dates, which was a bit of a surprise. Fortunately, neither Olivia nor any of her posse had crashed, but another senior was present, Marion Rivers, who Sango had invited herself. Callie's brother Rafe was there, even though Blake hadn't really ever spoken with him, along with Serefina and Eli, the other members of the Pokemon Friends Club, and along with them were Dakota and Akira. And…

"What are you doing here?" Blake asked, glancing at Kate Nomia. Kate crossed her arms over her chest and tilted her nose up at him, "humph"ing in refusal. Blake rolled his eyes. Including he and Ayame, there were 18 people in all, which was about twice the number he was expecting. The large room was decorated with streamers, and the tables were pushed together in the center to make room for a stack of presents as well as a cake. It was modestly decorated, but honestly… the smiles on his friend's faces were a nicer sight to see.

"This is… quite a party," Blake said, surprised. He shot Sango a look. She smirked, and raised her shoulders in a "oh well" sort of way.

"I invited Maddi, but she said no," Cynthia sighed.

"Come on, it's gonna be a blast," Ayame laughed, walking past him and patting him on the shoulder.

"We've only got the room for a little," Cynthia admitted. "Just an hour. So we don't really have much planned, you know? So let's just eat and drink and party!"

"NO alcohol," Blake snapped, glaring at her. Cynthia smiled sheepishly.

"Blake!" Kate intercepted Blake as he sat down in a large comfy chair at the front of the table, clearly intended for the guest of honor. "Er…"

She handed him a wrapped package, not meeting his eyes.

"I… I came to give this to you, but don't think it means anything! I'm just here as a representative of her highness, after all! A-and I just wanted to get you a good present, so… here!"

"Hey, no fair!" Cynthia protested, lifting up a large and long box, taller than her. "Blake, open mine first! You're gonna love it!"

"Are we just not eating then?" Sango asked, glancing wistfully at the pizza.

"Dibs on the one with Basculin on it!" Marion called, clearly less interested in the celebration than the others.

"Ah, forget the food, it's present time!" Cynthia said, flopping down into the seat to Blake's left. Ayame was on his right, her presence being a fairly common occurrence. Kate grumbled something and sat a few seats away. Everyone sat around the table, and Blake felt a little uncomfortable. All eyes were on him, and some of those eyes were eyes he didn't know well. Particularly, Dakota, who was eagerly watching him, her eyes flickering between Blake and Ayame with a clearly suspicious glint. Akira shot her a dirty look, and she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

It was still a total shock that they were dating.

"Blake! Open mine first!" Cynthia insisted, pushing the large box into his arm.

"No, save the big one for last," Julia called. "Start with one of the smaller ones."

Cynthia huffed. Blake shrugged, and turned his head to the pile of gifts, grabbing a small box. He glanced at the card, it was from Julia. He rolled his eyes. It made sense. He tore the black wrapping off and opened it up. There was a flashdrive inside it.

Blake glanced at Julia, a look of confusion on his face.

"What?" Julia asked. "I put a load of songs on it! Some of my all-time favorites, Night's Aggron, the Banette Sisters, Twisted Spoons, all their greatest hits and so much more! Just wanted to share some of my music taste with ya, Blake!"

"Thanks, Julia," Blake smiled. He knew that their tastes in music did not overlap much at all, but he appreciated the time she put into it, and would listen to them when he had the time.

"Kitty, how about yours next?" Julia asked, glancing at Kitty, who nodded eagerly.

"It's the one with the, um… cats on it," Kitty blushed, her face turning as red as her eyes. She lowered her head, the black cat-ear hairband drooping in response. Blake laughed and picked up the medium-sized box. He heard a ringing sound. He opened the box, and found a ball the size of a grapefruit with a bell inside of it rolling around at the bottom. Blake blinked.

"…It's a ball," he said, turning to Kitty.

"Uh-hm," Kitty nodded, glancing down. "I… I really wanted to do something nice for your birthday, especially after… what you told me about it, but…"

"She was knitting a scarf," Julia clarified. "But she was a little clumsy, and, well…"

"I couldn't finish it in time," Kitty glumly admitted. "So, um, instead I got that for you…"

"Thanks, but what is it?" Blake asked.

"It's a pokemon toy," Kitty explained. "Pokemon like chasing it, and playing with it, since is makes noises. Especially baby pokemon. We used to use one on my parents' farm, so…"

"That's a great gift, Kitty-Kate!" Marion chortled.

"Oh, th-thank you!" Kitty gasped, glancing at Marion in surprise.

"Thanks, Kitty," Blake smiled, picking up the ball and turning it over in his hands so the bell would ring. "When the pokemon in my egg hatches, I'll have them play with this."

"S-so you like it?" Kitty asked, sighing in relief. "And don't worry, I'll finish that scarf for you soon, too! Just as soon as I get some more yarn…"

"No, no, it's fine," Blake laughed. "This is more than enough, honest."

"Okay," Kitty said, nodding. "Just wanted to make this day really special for you, since… you know."

Blake and Kitty smiled at each other, an expression that didn't go unnoticed by a certain pain in the ass.

"I don't know," Dakota rudely interjected herself into their conversation. "What's up, you two?"

"Dakota, I said you could come if you didn't cause any trouble, take pictures, or ask questions that are none of your business," Akira told her.

"What, so you don't want me to be myself?!"

"No. Be somebody else, anybody else."

Dakota stuck her tongue out at him, and Akira narrowed his eyes in response. Again. Blake still could not believe they were dating.

"Blake, open Nick's and mine next!" Callie suggest. "Nick's is the one in the flat box, and mine's over here!"

Blake took Nick's present as she passed it to him, and opened it. Inside the flat box were several sheets of paper, each one depicting one of Blake's pokemon drawn on it. And at the very bottom of the piles of paper was a picture of all of his pokemon, grouped together. Smiles were on the faces of all the ones who could smile. Even Sarah had been worked in.

"You drew these?" Blake asked, turning to Nick in awe. "Wow, these are really well done."

"Well, everyone kind of decided that we wanted to give you meaningful stuff, you know?" Nick said. "And I thought that you might like them, you know? Drawing's one of the only things I'm good at, so…"

"When did you do this?" Cynthia asked, taking a peek at the drawings. "I don't remember Blake's pokemon posing for these, unless you drew them from memory?"

"Some of them, yeah," Nick admitted. "Like his Salamence. The other ones, though, not the same."

"Nick asked to borrow some of my pokemon a few times," Blake explained. "I thought he was just using them to train, I had no idea it was for this."

Nick laughed.

"Mine next!" Callie said, handing him a beige box slightly larger than her head. Blake took it, stumbling a little due to the weight, nearly dropping it. What could be so heavy?

Blake tore off the wrapping paper and looked inside. In the box was a small lifting set, and strange training equipment to attach to pokemon. It wasn't odd for Callie to give him training equipment, but… why?

Blake glanced at Callie.

"What is this stuff?" Cynthia asked, looking over his shoulder.

"It's a macho brace!" Callie boasted. "It's a special training tool to raise a pokemon's natural stats through hard work! You'll gain double the status developments as you grow stronger!"

"Whoa, that's so cool!" Cynthia gasped. Blake definitely agreed that it was cool, but he preferred to raise his pokemon in a more natural way. But still… looking at Callie, and the gleaming pride in her eyes, he couldn't say "I don't know if I'll use this." So he figured he might as well give it a shot.

Kate was watching this and sulking, leering at Blake as he set aside Callie and Nick's presents.

"Blake!" Kate yelled, startling the boy and drawing his attention. She got out of her seat and walked around the table, holding a wide, flat present wrapped in purple to her chest. She pushed it over to him.

"H-here," Kate said, handing it over to him. It seemed she was too impatient to wait.

"Thanks, Kate," Blake said, taking the package. It was light and bent slightly in his hand, and judging by the shape it was likely a book. Blake pulled apart the purple skull wrapping, and proved himself right.

"Everything to Know About Poison and Poison Types," Blake read the title, glancing at Kate.

"W-well, you have a new Mareanie, right? Y-you need to train it properly after all," Kate replied. "Plus, that egg of yours, it's probably a poison pokemon, so you need some experience with raising poison types."

"Wow, thanks, this is gonna be a lot of help," Blake said, Kate beaming with joy.

"Look!" Kate said, opening the book in his hands. "I've marked all the important pages and left notes in the margins, stuff I've tried that works, notes that the book doesn't include, um…"

Kate's voice trailed off as she realized everyone was looking at her. She coughed and leaned back, regaining her composure.

"Thanks, Kate, it looks like you put a lot of effort into this," Blake said, smiling.

"W-well, don't misunderstand," Kate humphed, looking away from Blake with an indignant expression. "It's for your pokemon, understand? Your pokemon!"

"Thanks, Kate," Blake repeated, his grin growing wider.

"Hmph!" Kate turned and returned to her seat so Blake wouldn't see the embarrassment on her face.

"If it's books you want, I've got the best one!" Reiner boasted, handing Blake a present of his own. Blake peeled off the wrapping paper to see a book labeled 'Pokemon of Legend' by Professor Aurore Reinhart, a compendium of known and speculated legendary pokemon. It was even autographed.

Which wasn't much to say, considering that the book was written by their professor, and getting an autograph wasn't a difficult thing to do. Plus-

"Um…" Nikita spoke up, glancing at Reiner. She had an ashamed look on her face.

"What's up?"

Nikita sighed, and fished out her own present. Wrapped in green wrapping paper, was a present suspiciously similar in size to the one Blake had just opened. She pushed it across the table towards him. Blake took the present and peeled off the wrapping paper, looking at a book identical to the one in his hand.

Reiner glanced at Nikita.

"You got the same present as I did?!" Reiner said.

"I didn't know! You didn't tell me what you were going to get!" Nikita said, frowning. "Great, now what? He doesn't need two of them!"

"Guys?" Blake said, the couple turning their heads to him.

"…I already have this book," he told them. "Autographed by the professor, too."

Reiner and Nikita blinked, and then looked at each other before bursting out laughing.

"Sorry, we had no idea!" Nikita chuckled.

"That's great!" Reiner cackled.

"This is mine!" Marion called out, lifting up a long, thin box wrapped in blue, with fishies dancing across the paper. "Don't worry, I'm certain you don't have one of these!"

"…Is it a fishing pole?" Blake guessed. Marion's mouth fell open and she gasped in shock.

"How did you know?!" Marion exclaimed. "Are you psychic?!"

Sango burst out laughing at that, like it wasn't obvious. Blake took the fishing pole anyway, thanking Marion, even if he didn't plan to make much use of it.

"And if you want lessons I'll be happy to teach ya!" Marion followed up. "Anyway, Sango, you next!"

"Me?" Sango said. "No, I mean, that's okay, I don't have to… um…"

She got out of her seat and walked over to Blake, whispering something into his ear.

Blake blinked, glancing at her.

"You sure?"

Sango nodded.

"…Yeah, that's fine," Blake said, nodding. Cynthia and Ayame both looked at Sango suspiciously.

"What's that about?" Cynthia asked.

"Don't worry about it," Sango said, shaking her head.

"What, gonna give him his birthday present 'in private'?" Cynthia cackled. Ayame shot her a glare.

"It's not like that," Sango said, leveling a glare at her as well.

"Me next," Eli said. "It's the one in orange and pink!"

Her gift was pretty large, and Blake opened it to see a caretaking kit. It had brushes and combs and a hair-dryer, the perfect starting kit to help take care and maintain a pokemon's appearance.

"I know that you like taking care of your pokemon, Seri's told me so," Eli said. "So all of us at the Pokemon Friends Club got together to give you some stuff to take care of your pokemon, especially your new baby pokemon when it hatches."

"Really?" Blake asked.

"Yeah, here's mine," Serefina said, passing a pink present down the table. "It's a cookbook for recipes that pokemon love, and especially baby pokemon! It improves their health conditions."

"And finally mine," Rafe said, gesturing to a large, cylindrical present wrapped in blue. Blake unwrapped it and opened it, looking at several stacked jars of jam. "They're a special blend of berries and herbs that I prepared. Pokemon generally do not like the bitterness of herbs, but their effects are too useful to pass up. So by blending them with berries, you get the best of both. Perfect for maintaining the health of your pokemon friends."

"Thanks, guys," Blake smiled, taking the combined presents from the Pokemon Friends Club and stacking them together. There were only a few presents left.

"Blake, this one's from me," Akira said, handing Blake a flat box with red wrapping paper.

"It's from both of us," Dakota interjected. Akira shot her a dirty look.

"What? You told me this morning, I didn't have time to pick something out!" Dakota gave him a dirty look right back.

"It's fine," Blake said, taking the box and unwrapping it. It was rather small, barely a couple inches thick. He took the lid off, and found, nestled on some cloth, a sleek and shiny red scale.

"What's that?" Cynthia asked, confused. Blake took it out of the box and ran his fingers across the smooth surface. It was about the size of his hand, and glittered in the light. "It's so pretty!"

"It's a scale from Satsuki," Akira explained. "Gyarados shed their scales often, but most of them come off broken or cracked. It's said that if the scale of a red Gyarados is found intact, whoever has it will be granted exceptionally good luck.

"Wow, you're really okay with giving me something like this?" Blake asked incredulously.

"Sure, not a big deal," Akira grinned. "Satsuki's always shedding, I can always get more."

"Gimme one next," Dakota insisted. "It can be your first present to me."

Blake laughed, sliding the scale back into the box and putting it with the rest of the presents. There was only one left on the table now, and everyone but Cynthia had already given their presents to him. But it wasn't hers. Cynthia was still lovingly cradling hers, even though it was bigger than she was.

"Whose is that?" Blake asked. Ayame let out a sigh.

"Claire Suzuki," Ayame said. "When she was visiting, she gave me that and asked me to deliver it to you for your birthday."

Blake blinked, a little touched at the gesture.

"Awesome, we'll open that one, and then it's time for this one!" Cynthia boasted as the other students began digging into the pizza.

Claire's present was flat and light, like another book, and wrapped in white with little pink hearts.

"There's also a card," Ayame said, handing Blake the card. The look on her face should have told Blake all he needed to know. He read it.

Happy Birthday, Blake!

I know times are tough right now, and I'm sorry I can't be there in person, but I had the most perfect present made for you! It's a calendar, with 12 pinup pics of the lovely and perfect me! So don't cry on your birthday, instead drown yourself in my delicious-

Blake stopped reading after that point and crumped up the note, tossing it over his shoulder.

"Burn it," Blake said, not even bothering to open the present. He still put it into the pile with the others though. Whatever his feelings on the matter, he wasn't ACTUALLY going to toss something that Claire had spent so much time and effort on. But he wasn't planning on using it, either.

"MY turn! Finally!" Cynthia cheered. "And I promise, Blake, it's absolutely perfect, you'll love it!"

Blake had a feeling he wouldn't. He unwrapped the long wrapping paper and peeled it off of the large box. With a pair of scissors from Eli's kit, he cut it open, and opened it to reveal what was inside. It was a long body pillow. While that would normally be innocuous, like most body pillows it hat the image of a girl emblazoned on it. And that girl was…

"WHAT THE HELLLL?!" Serefina screamed, leaping out of her seat.

"It's my custom-ordered Serefina Body Pillow," Cynthia said, crossing her arms in front of her chest and giving an accomplished smile.

Now THIS was a present that merited burning.

"How could you make something like that?!" Serefina exclaimed, storming over to Cynthia.

"It's fine, don't worry, it's just you in your school uniform," Cynthia tried to calm her down, but it clearly wasn't working. Somehow, that didn't make Serefina feel better. So she clarified. "I could have gone with slutty nurse, or slutty Lopunny, but I-"

Serefina was seeing red.

"I-It wasn't all me!" Cynthia gulped. "Dakota gave me the photos to use!"

Serefina whirled around and glared at her roommate, Dakota turning away from her piercing gaze.

"Get. Rid. Of. It." Serefina snarled.

"B-but…"

"GONE."

Cynthia tearfully removed the cover from the pillow and handed it over to Serefina, who stomped back to her seat. Blake almost felt bad looking at Cynthia. Almost.

Cynthia really just felt lucky that Serefina didn't know about the one she commissioned for her private use.

"Thanks, guys," Blake said, looking at the presents in front of him. He hadn't really said a lot… but what could he say? In all the years before now… his birthday was something that he had only celebrated with his sister, and his mother, and Claire would come over too. His father and brother rarely ever had the time to celebrate it. So really… this was the first time he'd ever been on the receiving end of this much good will from other people.

"Blake… are you crying?" Ayame whispered.

"Wh-what?" Blake blinked, realizing his face was wet with tears. He thought back to his birthday a few years back, him and his sister, sitting in the dark and eating cake by themselves. Claire coming in to lighten the mood, only leading to awkwardness due to her relationship with the birthday girl herself. His mom coming home late with presents for the two of them, a smile on her face. It was warm and comforting, but also… so lonely. But now…

Something like this… I didn't expect that I'd have friends like this back in those days. That I could feel a happiness like this…

"This… all of this, it just… it means… so much…" Blake sobbed, tears hitting the wrapping paper in his lap. Ayame reached out and placed a comforting hand on his back, Cynthia moving up and hugging him tightly.

"Don't worry, next year's gonna be even better," Cynthia promised him.

"Cake time!" Dakota cheered, unwilling to read the mood as usual.

"Dakota," Akira hissed.

"Nah, she's right," Blake said, wiping his face and smiling. "Let's do it!"

Blake moved up to get the cutting knife, when a sharp, loud knock on the door shook the room.

Sango looked to Cynthia, who shrugged. Security guards, maybe? A noise complaint? It wasn't that kind of party though. Maybe they went over time without knowing it?

"I'll go check," Ayame said, rising from her seat.

"I'll go as well, as the person with the most authority here," Rafe said, following after her. Ayame opened the door, glaring out at the visitors in the hallway.

"This is a private party," Ayame said. "Sorry, but-"

"We're looking for Blake Harker." The sharp voice of a young woman cut off Ayame. It was a voice that Blake recognized, and made his blood turn cold in his veins. He gulped, turning on his heel. Cynthia caught his pale face and the look in his eye, and it startled her. He looked like he had seen a ghost.

Standing in the doorway was a tall woman with short, windswept blonde hair that touched her neck. She had piercing gold eyes that glared down at Ayame behind a set of tinted glasses, quite a feat. She was taller than even Ayame, and her face was stern and intimidating, a long fringe of hair swept over the right side of her forehead. She wore a subdued suit and black tie, wrapped around a body that to Ayame's professional eye could see was toned and developed while still voluptuous. She raised a black-gloved hand and pushed past Ayame with purpose, Ayame a little startled at how easily she'd been flung aside. She walked up to Blake and he swallowed, his hands beginning to tremble.

"Hello, Blake. It's been some time."

Entering the room behind this imposing woman was a man dressed in a fine Kalosian suit and bright yellow tie. His dark brown hair was combed back and cut short, and traces of grey should be seen in it. He had a thick mustache that covered most of his mouth, and segmented into a trimmed beard that left the sides of his face bear, only covering his chin. He had an air of prestige around him, an imposing figure who looked the part of stern patriarch and businessman. There was not one whit of warmth in his eyes as he stared at Blake, sending shivers down the spines of everyone in the room.

"…Father…" Blake murmured, the man's eyes narrowing at him.

So Blake's father has finally appeared. What will that result in? Let's find out.