This chapter we get to see some more of the fallout of the awkward relationship Blake has with the sisters Vermeil. This can only go well for him, I imagine.

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: Blake needs to take a seat.

Videogamer2004: You can submit one, but I can't promise when I'll be able to use them.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: She's 12 going on 13, and this is absolutely a precocious crush that she will probably give up on eventually. There's finally a harem member with lower odds of winning than Kate.

Guest: We've received a lot of reports about that guy.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 220

The look Blake had on his face as he and Holly walked back into the clearing said it all. Kate saw the empty, sick, and reluctant expression, and saw the fawning looks Holly was giving him, her arms wrapped around his arm as she clung tightly to him, nuzzling up against him like… gross. It was fairly easy to put together what had happened. And yeah. It was gross.

Kate wanted to vomit, seeing the two of them like that.

"And what, exactly, is going on here?" Kate asked, radiating a venomous aura while wearing a horrendous scowl that was even worse than her normal ones.

"What's it to you, commoner?" Holly snapped, squeezing Blake's arm a little closer to her, narrowing her eyes condescendingly at Kate. Kate's eye twitched, and her scowl darkened as she stepped closer to the two.

"Oh, nothing, it's not a big deal," Kate replied, forcing a smile onto her face that was somehow more intimidating than her scowl had been. "I was just thinking, do you really think that it's a good idea for you to be fawning over your sister's fiancé like that?"

Blake whispered a silent "thank you" to Kate, who shot him an irritated glare in return.

"I don't see what the big deal is," Holly snapped, hugging him tighter. "I mean, big sister doesn't even like him, right? So there's no problem if I take him, right?"

"Thae him?" Kate asked, looking at Blake in confusion. "What does she mean by that, exactly?"

"Well, uh…" Blake glanced at Holly's bright eyes. "Holly, she, um… we had a long talk, and I helped her work through some family stuff. So now, she, um… she has a tiny little crush on me."

"Of course! He's just the cutest, most sweetest guy ever! I'm sure big sis won't mind if I take him for myself!" Holly smiled.

Kate reached into her pocket and withdrew her cellphone, typing in a few numbers.

"Hello, campus safety? I have a report of some suspicious activities on campus between one of our students and a girl of questionable age…"

"Kate! I swear to god I have no intention of… whatever it is you're thinking that I'm going to do!"

"That's right!" Holly agreed. "I don't mind waiting. Once I grow up, I'll be a woman even sexier than my sister, and Blake won't be able to resist me!"

Blake rolled his eyes.

"How does a kid like you know what the word sexy means?" Kate asked. Holly stuck her tongue out in response. Kate rolled her eyes in tandem with Blake.

"Well, this has been fun," Kate scowled, checking her phone, "but I have more stuff to do today, so I'll leave you two lovebirds alone. I have a meeting with Alcea to discuss future displays with the Gardening Club, and I need to pick up some food for Reed from the Fishing Club… so I'll leave you two alone… for now."

She shot Blake a dirty look.

"You just make sure you keep your relationship on the up and up, got it?" Kate demanded.

"Believe me, Kate, I don't have any interest in doing anything with her, you understand?" Blake begged of her.

"That's right, all that stuff is for later!" Holly chirped. "Bye, Kate."

Kate growled, turned, and stormed off down towards the paved walkway leading to the main campus, carefully walking around the patches of ruined grass.

Blake looked down at the melted fields, decimated by Kate's poison attacks. Of course Kate was skipping out before anyone caught them.

Who the heck is going to pay for this damage? He wondered.

"Blake!" Holly's voice, much sweeter than he was used to hearing, caught his attention alongside the tug on his sleeve.

"Uh, yeah, what's up, Holly?" Blake asked.

"Oh, you, calling me Holly like it's nothing!" Holly giggled, turning bright red and cradling her cheeks, a joyful smile bursting out across her face. "It's like we're already married! Ehehe…"

God, what a nightmare…

Her cheerful expression turned sour again as she stood a little straighter, pushing her chest out in defiance.

"I don't like that Kate girl," Holly decided, wearing a scowl that could give Kate's a decent run for its money.

"Yeah, not many people do," Blake agreed.

"She keeps looking at you with lustful eyes, I don't like it," Holly huffed. "You need to stay away from that homewrecker!"

"How do you even know what 'lustful eyes' look like?" Blake protested.

"Duh! I have eyes myself, Blake!" Holly said, rolling said eyes at Blake like he was an idiot. "She's always looking at you, she's practically drooling! That toxic attitude of hers is just a cover."

Okay, well, maybe Holly wasn't the biggest idiot in the world after all. Blake wasn't an idiot. He wasn't some dumb, dense motherfucker from a harem manga, anyone with eyes could see that Kate had a very strange and very vitriolic crush on him, and Blake was a very eye-having person. It wasn't like she was even subtle about it. Alcea most certainly knew as well, and who knows how many of his friends had put the pieces together by now.

Still, Kate wasn't saying a word about it, and that was fine with him. Her tsundere self was clearly a façade to keep her walls up, and push Blake away so he wouldn't realize how she felt. Unfortunately, she was really bad at it, and Blake wasn't an idiot. But since she didn't have the self-esteem to come clean with how she felt, or even build up the courage to acknowledge her feelings to herself, Blake wasn't going to say a word, or treat her any differently. But if she did confess to him, well… he had zero interest in dating her. Especially not when she was maintaining her toxic and abrasive attitude towards himself and everyone else in sight. The smiling, happy Kate from the night before was a much more enjoyable person to be around. Just the perfect level of bitchy to be tolerable.

"Nah, Kate's alright," Blake shrugged. "We're cool."

"Hmph. I just don't like the idea of my future husband hanging around with other girls, that's all," Holly scowled. Blake gulped.

"F-future husband?" He asked, his face going pale. This was ABSOLUTELY not what he wanted to have happen.

Great. This girl is crazy possessive… Blake sighed. He supposed in some cosmic way he deserved this. No, wait. That was bullshit. He was just trying to help her, and because of that, now she was making wedding plans. She was fucking 12. He'd been trying to get rid of his one fiancé, and now he'd somehow wound up with 2.

This is the worst… the absolute worst. He had to find some way to fix this mess, before things got even worse than they were right now.

In the meantime, Gerard was putting a lot of thought into Blake's situation himself. He was walking down the hallway of the Pikachu Dorm, where the perfect person for his little dilemma was living. Normally, when he came here, it was to meet with Elaina. But Elaina was not the one he was looking for today. She was still recovering from her coma, and he didn't want to speak with her about anything that might damage her already tenuous mental state. Blake was a hot button issue for her, one if pressed could lead her to do things that he couldn't predict. Thankfully, she had heard nothing about Blake's impending departure; if she had, who knows how she might react? No, no, that was far too much of a risk to take, it was better to leave something like this to a more… unrelated element. Elaina going on a rampage could harm his overall goal, and reflect badly back on him, in turn.

For now… I think that tearing down Alcea by any means necessary is important. Gerard smiled. "Any means necessary" was also staying here, after all. It was like providence.

Gerard knocked on the door with conviction. If what he'd heard was true, this girl did not ever really leave her room. So she was almost certainly there, even if he couldn't really hear anything.

"I'm look for Caelia Auburne," Gerard punctuated his request with another series of knocks. A few moments later, the door cracked open, a single blue eyeball peering out from behind it.

"Caelia?" Gerard asked the empty eye.

No response.

"I'm Gerard Alkwest, I'm sure you remember me," Gerard smiled. "It's been some time, Caelia. I haven't seen you since the Fall Festival Tournament. How are things?"

She still wasn't answering, but she wasn't slamming the door in his face, either, so Gerard chose to take that as a good sign.

"I've heard that you know Blake Harker, I was wondering if you'd like to talk about him?"

The door swung wide open. There it is…

Caelia looked at Gerard, her expression unreadable, barely visible in fact. She stepped aside to let him into the room.

"Blake." Caelia's first word to him, and it was sharp and clear. Gerard smirked. This girl had it even worse for him than Elaina did. Perfect.

"I hear that you have feelings for Blake, is that right?"

"I want him," Caelia replied, her tone ice cold. "He's mine."

"…Is he?" Gerard smirked. Caelia narrowed her eye and stepped closer to him, Gerard moving out of her way and holding his hands up to show he meant no harm to her. "Listen, listen, it's fine, don't worry. I just came here because I was concerned."

"Concerned."

"Well, no," Gerard said, shaking his head. "Not really. I just thought it would be good to talk, considering we have a… mutual enemy."

Gerard took a moment to look around Caelia's mess of a room. The girl was a complete slob. Her room smelled of rot and her clothes smelled of mildew, the girl herself smelling like she'd been marinating in her own filth for some time. These private rooms came with their own showers, did she even ever use one? Her uniform itself was a mess, as well. The left side of her shirt was stained with a weird reddish brown in some places, like something underneath had stuck to the fabric and peeled off, through sweat. The whole place reeked of sweat, in fact, and the temperature was like a sauna. Did this girl not even care that her room felt like a hotbox? Gerard looked around for the radiator, which was buried under a pile of moldy clothes. Well, that was a fire hazard that could get her kicked out. She probably didn't even care. He walked over and pulled the clothes off (they'd been there so long they were actually stiff in their bent shapes, and began adjusting the heat. If Caelia cared, she didn't say a word. As he looked around the room, his eye caught sight of something rather interesting, sitting amongst a pile of textbooks on her desk. It was a round stone, a deep crimson-orange, and about the size of an egg. He raised his eyebrow at that, it was definitely an interesting sight.

"That's a peculiar little rock you've got there," Gerard murmured. "As a rock enthusiast myself, it's been some time since I've seen one of those…"

"Blake," Caelia repeated. "Now. Mutual enemy. Explain. Now."

"Okay, okay, not much one for small talk I guess, that's fine," Gerard smiled, reaching into his pocket and taking out his phone. "I just thought that you might have some interest in something I discussed with an acquaintance of mine. About Blake."

Caelia didn't say anything, but her eye glanced at the phone and her chin bounced up as she nodded. Gerard smiled. Perfect. He pressed a button on his phone.

"I'm only here to extend my well wishes to the bride-to-be." Gerard's voice played back from the phone.

Alcea's voice came next.

"Why, thank you."

"It's such a pity. I was looking forward to our senior year together, Alcea, but it seems you will have to be dropping out early."

"Indeed, a pity, is it? But you need not worry. Only Blake will be leaving. I have permission from my parents to continue my education until graduation, even with a wedding on the horizon. So we shall be spending quite a lot of time together in the future after all, Gerard."

"Extend my congratulations to your fiancé as well, if you would," it was Gerard's voice again. "It's a pity that he won't be able to spend any more time here, we were just starting to get to know each other better."

Gerard stopped the recording. Caelia's eye slid from his phone back to his face. Her expression was completely devoid of emotion. He searched for anything he could grab onto. But Caelia's armor had no chinks in it. Did she not understand what she'd just heard? It had been very subtle, but the important details should have been caught in that recording, right?

"What was that?" Caelia's voice was sharp and cold. But beneath it… was that… anger he heard? Gerard's lips curled up into a smile.

"A recording that I took, of my conversation with Alcea Vermeil. Discussing her engagement to Blake, their upcoming wedding, and also the fact that Blake will be dropping out of school in a few days to prepare for his marriage."

A flicker of emotion crossed Caelia's face for a brief moment. There was the rage he was looking for.

"Where is she?" Caelia's question was matter-of-fact, devoid of any of the anger he'd just seen. But it was chilling, nonetheless. Even Gerard felt a shiver run down his spine. He glanced down at Caelia's leg. He'd heard that she'd injured it on Mt. Chimney, but there was no brace to be seen.

"Your leg looks pretty good," Gerard smiled, nodding at her fully working legs. "Guess you're mobile now."

"Where. Is. She?" Caelia repeated through gritted teeth. THERE was the rage that Gerard was looking for.

"Try the Roselia Gardens, or the Gardening Club," Gerard suggested. "She likes to spend her time in those places."

"…" Caelia turned and stormed towards the doorway, determination clear on her normally stoic face.

"Ahem," Gerard coughed, holding up her belt, which held her pokeballs on it. "You might need these?"

Caelia turned her head back and walked over to him, snatching the belt from his hands without even a thank you. She pulled it around her waist, looking down, and affixed it in place. It was magnetic, so it stuck immediately. Gerard raised his eyebrow. Fascinating. He could see under her glove that her right hand was missing a few fingers, maybe that's why she was using a belt that required next to no dexterity.

Pokeballs in place, Caelia headed out the door without another word. She didn't even bother to kick him out, or close the door behind her as she went. She just… left.

Gerard smirked. He turned to look back at her room, and partially regretted that he had. Seriously, he'd seen dumpsters in cleaner conditions than this. This room was in worse shape than the storage shed his mother used to throw him into for the night when she decided he misbehaved.

But it wasn't all trash. There were a few gems to be found, not the least of which was sitting forgotten on her desk. Gerard picked up the bright red stone, turning it over in his hands. How the hell was something like this found in a place like this?

It had been quite a long time since he had seen an Oracle for himself. Caelia's room was… something. But to think she'd have something like this… she didn't have harmonia, at least not as far as he was aware of, Elaina would have noticed it. And yet she was a trainer of fire types, who just so happened to have the Oracle of Fire in her possession? That was a coincidence nearly as unbelievable as Alcea finding the Oracle of Grass on that island she'd been stranded on. For a coincidence like that…

For a brief instant, Gerard considered pocketing the Oracle. But then again…

She must have found this at Mt. Chimney, Gerard reasoned. I'd heard that it was somewhere deep within those caverns… to think a student would find it…

Caelia probably didn't have any idea what she had on her. Gerard placed the stone back down among the books, covering it with one of them. There was no point in taking it for himself. If it had been the Oracle of Rock, then that would be one thing. But he had no use for a stone that was only for fire type pokemon.

In the meantime… I wonder what damage Caelia will wreak on Alcea… Gerard smiled to himself. This would be quite the show. What he'd heard of Caelia was that she was unpredictable, even violent, and clearly obsessed with Blake. But to see her react like that… it was like using napalm to swat a fly. It would certainly be quite the show.

"How was Holly?" Alcea asked. She was kneeling down at the hedges lining her precious garden, pruning one of the rosebushes. She was paying very close attention to keeping the stems perfectly aligned, so that the effect would look flawless. Kate was standing behind her, reporting what had happened. "How is her training shaping up?"

"She's doing very well," Kate said. Alcea smiled at the tinge of bitterness she heard in Kate's voice, that meant Holly's training was probably going very well.

"And how is she getting along with Blake? Bonding nicely, is it?"

Kate coughed, her face turning red as she remembered Holly's little declaration and her sudden adoration of Blake.

"Y-you could certainly say that," she muttered in agreement. "She really opened up to him, it seems. Now they're practically joined at the hip."

"…And hopefully nowhere else," she mumbled under her breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, milady," Kate said, her voice taking on the high pitch it got when she was trying to cover up with a bad lie. "I-I was just thinking that Blake and Holly are really getting along very well, it seems there's a real connection there."

"I figured there would be," Alcea agreed, trimming another section. Blake's relationship with his brother… like Holly's relationship with me… the two of them are really quite the pair of younger siblings. He's the one who can best support her attempt to beat me.

"Um, milady, this is just a thought, but, um, do you think your little sister might, uh…" Kate wasn't sure how she could word this tactfully, so she decided to just come right out and say it. "What I mean is, it looks like Holly might have a bit of a crush on Blake."

Kate's words came at great personal cost to Alcea, or more particularly her rosebush. The surprise she'd just presented the older student with came as enough of a shock that Alcea, rather than prune one of the dead roses or extraneous stems, had snipped one that was already in perfect alignment. She looked down at the gap she'd made in the hedge, a mistake that would take a long time to fix. Alcea fumed with rage. Mostly at her own carelessness, but also at what she'd just heard. She rose to her feet, and turned to Kate, a calm smile on her face.

But Kate knew Alcea. And that smile was NOT calm. That was a face that Alcea reserved for… special occasions, usually those involving Gerard Alkwest.

"Blake and my sister, is it?" Alcea asked, walking towards Kate with large strides. Kate gulped, her eyes on the hedge clippers still clenched in the redhead's hand.

"My 12 year old sister?"

"Well, um, she's almost 13?" Kate offered shakily.

"In January," Alcea replied. "Not now. And 13 is also not acceptable."

"Y-yes, milady, I never meant to imply otherwise… um… wow, those clippers are sharp…"

Alcea clenched her hand around the clippers, a loud snip ringing through the garden. Kate gulped, and her face went pale. She didn't even have a… that, and she still felt a pain in her groin out of sympathy for Blake.

"Milady, just calm down…"

"I am very calm," Alcea replied. "And I will calmly and composedly rip him into little tiny pieces and use his remains for fertilizer if he lays a single finger on my dear little sister. Do I make myself clear? You'd better make sure that while he's training with her, NOTHING happens."

"Yes, milady," Kate said, nodding frantically, desperately concerned for Blake's genital area. Not… not that she would have anything to do with that region, of course! Absolutely not!

Wait.

"Wait, milady, does that mean that I have to, um… keep helping Holly with her training?" As much as Kate wanted to spend time with Blake- wait, no, she didn't want to spend time with Blake, she never wanted to spend time with Blake. Only idiots would want to spend time with Blake! And seeing Holly fawning all over him?! That would be hell! …Because it was gross and illegal, of course, that's why she was so frustrated and uncomfortable, certainly not because she was jealous. Jealous, over a 12 year old?! Kate was far better than that!"

Alcea didn't have time to respond, because a cold voice cut her off just as she was about to open her mouth.

"Alcea Vermeil!" Alcea and Kate both turned to see a girl stepping out of the Gardening Club clubroom, onto the deck overlooking the entrance to the Roselia Gardens. She stared down at them. She was a real mess of a girl, too. The white shirt of her uniform was stained on one side, and she wore long gloves that covered her arms. Her skirt covered dark tights, and her ratty, greasy hair fell over the right side of her face, while on the left a single blue eyeball could be seen peeking out through the split ends of her bangs. Underneath her uniform she seemed to be wearing a scarf or necktie or something, because there was a black cloth covering most of her neck. All in all, it was quite a strange sight to see, a girl with barely any skin showing, and what there was of it was a sickly pale, her lips twisted into a scowl.

"You're… Caelia Auburne," Alcea remembered the girl from the Fall Festival Tournament, even if she hadn't made it past the top 16. "Is there something I can do for you?"

"Alcea Vermeil?" Caelia asked. The menace in her voice put Kate on edge, and she reached for her belt out of instinct. Her eyes shot to the gardens behind them. She knew that Caelia was a fire type user. One wrong move, and all of Alcea's hard work could be reduced to ashes. Kate would never allow that.

"Oui," Alcea said, nodding sharply. "Business with me, is it?"

"Blake Harker," Caelia replied. "Talk. Now."

Oh boy. This should be good. Caelia is confronting Alcea! This can only go well.