In this chapter, we get back to more training with Holly and Blake, and Kate will show up as well! The battle was a brief distraction, but let's get all the training going for real!

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: That's mean. Caelia's trying her best, she's just broken inside.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Caelia's not the kind of girl who has rational discussions. Pretty sure she'd just lock herself up inside and fall silent if Alcea tried to talk with her.

Videogamer2004: Thanks!

Hellraiserphoenix: Caelia? Take it hard? Nah, of course not.

PikachuKetchup12: It's really awful for her. I'd like to give her a hug, but she wouldn't even notice it.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 224

Ayame walked downstairs and poured herself a glass of orange juice. It was early in the morning, the sun was barely up, and she was all set to begin her day. Normally, she'd be going for a jog right now, but her ribs were still healing and she was told not to do any strenuous activities. She didn't know when she'd get permission to start working out again, but hopefully it would be soon. She was just going through normal physical training, and was starting to worry that she was losing definition. She tilted the glass back and took a deep gulp, the citrusy flavor rolling over her tongue and refreshing her for the coming day.

"Aya."

Ayame gasped, almost choking on the orange juice. She recovered quickly, turning around to see Olivia standing behind her. Olivia had been waiting for Ayame to come down, and had decided to confront her now.

"Boss, what's up?" Ayame asked, wiping her lips. "How was your date?"

Olivia flashed a knowing grin at Ayame, the tall girl rolling her eyes in response.

"Never you mind that," Olivia laughed, waving her hand dismissively. "I wanted to talk to you about Blake."

Ayama winced at hearing his name, but tried to keep a straight face. "Wh-what about him?"

"You never told me how it went," Olivia said, crossing her arms in a way that pushed her chest out, maintaining an imposing figure against the taller girl. "Our plan. Pretending to be his girlfriend? Ring any bells? I found out yesterday that his engagement is still on, so I assume…"

"Yeah…" Ayame admitted, scratching her hair. She shook her head, a mournful, resigned smile crossing her face as she looked down. "No dice. I tried, but in the end…"

"I see…" Olivia's face fell. "I'm sorry."

"Well, what can you do?" Ayame shrugged. "I tried my hardest. But in the end… even if it had managed to convince his family… it's not like it would have turned his attention to me, after all."

Olivia could see the sadness in Ayame's eyes.

"You really did try your hardest, didn't you?" Olivia agreed, knowing full well how much Ayame had put into trying to further her relationship with Blake.

"Yeah. But in the end, I was shot down completely," Ayame sighed, shrugging her shoulders. Olivia could see the way they drooped. Ayame was trying to be strong, but…

"It's okay, though," Ayame continued, shaking her head. "I'm glad I got to know him. And… love him. So as long as he's smiling, as long as he won't regret the choices he makes, then that's good enough to make me happy as well."

Olivia didn't know if Ayame really believed that garbage or not, but she certainly didn't. Her plump lips curved into a frown.

"It's okay, Aya," Olivia walked over to her, hugging the taller girl as tightly as she could without risking hurting her injuries. "You can cry if you want to."

"I-I don't need to cry," Ayame laughed. "Why would I need to… something like that…"

"I told you. It's okay. I know you want to keep a strong face. I know you must feel that if you say anything but support for him… that you'll feel like you're being selfish. You want to put his feelings first, and not focus on your pain. But… it doesn't make you a bad person to feel sad about a broken heart, Aya. You aren't wrong to want to be with Blake, and you can still be happy and supportive of him while at the same time letting yourself cry. I know you, after all. You don't have to pretend like you aren't hurting when you're in front of me."

Ayame's eyes began to water, her lip quivering as her vision grew blurry. She lowered her head and buried her face in Olivia's shoulder.

"I… even though he already rejected me… I thought that if I kept doing my best, and kept pushing, that maybe he'd come to like me back. But even so, I… he…" Ayame sobbed. "It huuurts… It hurts so much more than my injuries… I just… I like him so much, and to think that I won't ever see him again, it's just… it isn't fair…"

"I know, sweetie," Olivia said, patting Ayame gently on the back. "But stop crying, this blouse is a brand."

Meanwhile, the Blake in question was waking up from his own sleep, yawning. It had been a very good dream, but he couldn't remember it. All he could remember was a feeling of warmth in his chest. Then something caught his attention. There was a thin scent in the air… so faint he had to really inhale to catch it. But when he did, it was quite familiar. It was a nostalgic scent of lilac, lavender, and mint.

Blake sat up fully, looking around the room. His eyes fell to his dresser. His headphones and player were sitting next to the makeshift vase holding Ayame's iris, just where he'd left them last night. But there was one more thing among the objects, something that had not been there when he went to sleep. It was a simple folded piece of paper.

Blake got out of bed and walked over to his dresser, picking up the paper. He unfolded it, and inhaled. It smelled of lilac, lavender, and mint. He felt himself relax as Ryoko's familiar aroma soothed him, as it always did. After a few moments, he realized he hadn't even looked at the contents of the note itself.

Blake was surprised. The note was written in old, archaic Japanese. A language he didn't know in the slightest.

Ryoko… I can't read this… Blake sighed, chuckling in spite of himself. Suddenly, the letters began glowing green. They rearranged themselves, shifting into English, much to Blake's surprise. It seemed she had accounted for it, after all.

Blake. It is a pity that I could not meet with you while I was here. But I am happy to just see that you are okay. I hope that you can continue to go forward with a smile on your face, and confidence in your own decisions. Richard wants to do what is best for you, and I only want what is best for you as well. So please, do not listen to anyone else. Listen to yourself.

Love, Ryoko

Blake still didn't know Ryoko all that well, due to the nature of their… relationship. But clearly, he was someone important to her, or he would eventually be. He was grateful for what she'd said to him, the fact that she was trying to comfort him, even if he wasn't sure why.

Well, she is a time traveler. So I suppose I'll get to know her better eventually… Blake decided, a smile crossing his face. He folded the note up again and dropped it onto the dresser, picking up his headphones and putting them around his neck, sliding the player into the inner pocket of his outer shirt.

He checked the clock on the wall. It was almost time to go meet up with Holly. They'd agreed that they'd be doing their training in the forest again, Holly wanting another realistic outdoors experience. And of course, Kate would be there was well. That was something he was both apprehensive about and at the same time, grateful for. While Kate could be a pain to be around, and would certainly cause conflict with Holly, which would be even more annoying, there was something he could be grateful for.

With Kate around, Holly would probably keep the clinginess to a minimum, he hoped. Her "feelings" for him, even though they were a precocious crush that he was certain she'd get over, were still a very large bother. And with the no-nonsense Kate around, she'd be able to keep things on track, and manage Holly so that she wouldn't be completely clinging to him. Holly and Kate were, hilariously, "rivals in love", and as much as Blake was slightly annoyed by their feelings for him (at least Holly's) he did appreciate the fact that it could serve as a good motivator to get Holly focused on battling, or specifically, winning.

These were the thoughts occupying his mind as he got off of his family's yacht and walked towards the forest where they'd agreed to meet, listening to his headphones as he contemplated his situation. Deaf to the world and occupied with his thoughts, he didn't notice he had a traveling companion until she grabbed him by the arm. He jumped slightly, more than a little startled, and glanced to see who it was.

"Kate? What's up?" Blake asked, raising his eyebrow.

"H-hey!" Kate said, her face red. Grabbing Blake by the arm had been very, very embarrassing. That was almost skin on skin contact, if he had been wearing a short-sleeved shirt. "Um, you know, just…"

This was one of the times when Kate was unintentionally annoying. Her crush made it nearly impossible for her to talk with him honestly. He almost preferred the Kate who didn't like him, and was just an annoying and toxic bitch. At least that way she wasn't all fiddly like this.

Almost preferred. This Kate was at least tolerable to be around, even if she was difficult. Part of him just wanted to come clean about the fact that he knew she had a crush on him, so that she wouldn't keep pretending that she didn't. But if he did that, then there was the chance she'd be so embarrassed by the revelation that she'd never be able to bring herself to talk with him again out of shame.

So really, it was all upside.

Still, Blake wasn't the kind of jerk to do something like that, so he pretended like he didn't notice the stuttering speech, the furtive glances, and the face that was a brighter red than Alcea's hair. He just smiled and nodded like some dense idiot from a romcom manga.

"Oh, Blake, I wanted to ask you something," Kate said, glancing at him as they walked towards the forest at the edge of campus.

"Oh? Go ahead," Blake said, nodding. For once, Kate was giving him a rather serious look that wasn't just an angry scowl or a flustered smile. She looked like she wanted to talk with him about something that mattered, so she had his attention.

"Do you know Caelia Auburne?" Kate asked. Blake's eyes widened slightly. That was a name he didn't expect to hear from Kate.

"Caelia?"

"Yeah, she's a quiet girl, really messy hair, like, even worse than mine, doesn't really change her expression much, uses fire types?" Really freaking mental? She silently added.

"Yeah, I know her. She's a friend," Blake replied.

Just a friend, huh? Kate frowned. That was NOT the way a friend acted. She had to warn him about her.

"Well, um, she actually fought with her highness yesterday," Kate replied.

"Alcea? Really?" Blake asked. "Why?"

"She wanted, um… she wanted to stop you from leaving," Kate replied. "She thought that if she could beat her highness, then she could get you to stay. That her highness was the one taking you away, so…"

"That is so not what's happening," Blake sighed, shaking his head.

"Well, we know that, but clearly she didn't," Kate scowled. "She didn't seem to be one to listen to reason, either."

"Yeah, she's a little clingy," Blake said. "Honestly, I mean… I'm her only friend, after all."

Kate blinked.

"What? Really?" That made a lot of sense. That girl… the way she acted, the way she treated others, it seemed like she wasn't the kind of person who would have a lot of friends. If Blake really was the only person at this school who she could consider a friend, then Kate supposed that the way she acted made a little bit of sense.

It didn't make it better, but it made sense.

"I just think that you should be careful around her," Kate said. "She seems a little clingy. And obsessive. It was honestly kind of unnerving."

"Well, she's been through some stuff," Blake chastised her. "You shouldn't judge. We all have our own circumstances."

Kate scowled, but that did make sense. She still didn't like the strange girl, but she didn't want to piss Blake off by shit-talking one of his friends.

"I guess I'm just a little salty because she almost defeater her highness."

That came as a surprise, Blake's eyes widening in shock.

"Caelia almost beat Alcea?"

"W-well, no! It wasn't that close!" Kate fibbed, turning her nose up at the idea of her highness ever being put into such a troubling situation. "Her highness was in control the whole time! She just put up a decent fight, is all!"

Blake didn't buy the crap she was selling. It made sense that Caelia had pushed Alcea pretty hard. She was a fire type user, after all, and that Charizard of hers was quite a monstrosity, he remembered. Alcea probably would have had a decent amount of difficulty, even though she was such a powerful trainer herself. Way to go, Caelia.

"But you're right, I shouldn't just talk shit about her," Kate sighed. She was so used to just shitting on people she didn't like. She knew it was wrong, but it was something that was just really ingrained in her personality. A defensive tactic to protect herself back when she was bullied in elementary and middle school, when she would lash out at everyone around her. It wasn't appropriate to keep that attitude going, but it was something that was such a part of her she was having trouble acting differently.

"You should get to know her better," Blake said. "I think that deep down she's really a sweet girl."

Yeah, somehow I doubt that, Kate answered him internally, rolling her eyes. She was quite certain that she and Caelia would NOT get along that well. Not at all. Especially not if that girl knew how Kate felt about Blake. She'd gone mental on her highness for being engaged to him, even though Alcea wanted nothing to do with the marriage. She didn't want to know what she'd do to Kate if her feelings were discovered. The less time she spent around that girl, the better. Still, she wanted to say something tactful.

"I don't know, she is a little… hard to get along with, I think," Kate said. "Not that I'm much better, but… you know."

"Yeah, that's fair," Blake admitted. "She's really reserved, I guess, she's not very outgoing. She can also be a little clingy around me. I guess she's pretty reluctant to get close to others."

Blake knew he was understating it quite a bit, but it wasn't his place to reveal Caelia's… hardships to anybody. Still, he found himself defending her.

Kate shrugged. "From the way she acted, I definitely get what you mean by clingy…"

"Yeah, she's actually quite a lot like my sister," Blake laughed. "They're both really possessive and really reserved people."

Kate's face paled. Geez, what kind of person is his sister if Caelia reminds him of her?

"Blake!"

Holly's voice interrupted their conversation. Kate and Blake both looked to see Holly running across the field towards them, her butler following behind her.

"Milady, you should not run in those clothes!" The butler, Sebastian, called after her. "If you were to fall in the grass and get that dress dirty, your father would be quite upset with you!"

Holly scowled, slowing down. She walked up to Blake, flashing him a beautiful smile that revealed her shiny white teeth. Unlike the day before, when Holly was wearing an outfit that, while nice, was very casual, today she was dressed in clothes that were rather unsuited for pokemon battling. Holly wore a fancy red dress that looked like it was made of silk, flared out like a ball gown and lined with lace. She wore a dark red corset over it, as well, as though her prepubescent body had any sort of curves to highlight. Her red hair was styled into a beautiful array of ringlets that bobbed with each turn of her head, so bright that they were shining. And was that makeup on her face?

Blake and Kate glanced at each other. Holly was clearly trying to seem a hell of a lot more adult than she was. And they both knew damn well why.

"Pervert," Kate sneered at Blake.

"How? How is this my fault?!"

Kate crossed her arms and put up an aggressive posture, leaning forward in a way that forced Blake to take a step back.

"Hey! Don't be rude to Blake, you commoner!" Holly shouted, grabbing onto Blake's arm. "He's going to be my husband!"

"No, he's not," Kate laughed. "He's going to be milady Alcea's husband!"

Blake had no intention of marrying either girl, and Kate damn well knew that. So why did she have to be such a toxic bitch about it? She was older than him, she was supposed to be mature. So why pick a fight with a girl so much younger?

"I already talked with mommy, and she said it was okay! So there!" Holly stuck her tongue out, Kate's eyes bulging out in surprise. Blake coughed. THAT was a shock.

"Wh-what?!" Kate exclaimed.

Blake glanced at the girl's butler. Sebastian had a look of resignation on his otherwise dignified face, practically sighing. If not for his professionalism, he would probably be shaking his head in frustration.

"The lady of the house told her 'well if that's what you want, then you should do as you like, sweetie!'" he relayed to Blake. Blake planted his face in his hand, shaking his head.

What an irresponsible parent… he wanted to scream, but he didn't want to insult Holly's mother right in front of her.

"With this, I shall take my leave. Please take care of the young lady."

"By, Sebastian!" Holly said, waving goodbye to her butler as he walked off, returning to where the Vermeils would be staying. Holly turned back to Blake and returned her hand to where her other was, holding his arm tightly.

Kate resisted the urge to pry the annoying little brat off of him. Her highness had been clear. Ensure that Blake and Holly didn't do anything inappropriate. To Alcea, that would probably include even holding hands, as pure a girl as she was. Kate was a little more realistic than that.

"Holly…"

"Yes, commoner?" Holly batted her eyelashes and smiled sweetly at Kate, Kate's eye twitching in irritation.

"Holly, what did we talk about?" Blake chastised her gently. "You shouldn't keep calling people commoners."

Holly sighed, nodding her head.

"Yes, Blake," Holly agreed.

"I was wondering if you wanted me to help you with your training," Kate suggested. And get you to split off from Blake.

"No! I want to train with Blake!" Holly insisted, squeezing his arm tighter.

"Come on, just for a little while," Kate said. She reached into her backpack and withdrew something. It was a thin disk, like a CD or DVD, enclosed in a clear case. The shiny surface of the disk was a deep purple. "I wanted to help you teach your Petilil something good."

Holly narrowed her eyes, looking at the disk suspiciously.

"…What is it?" She asked.

"It's a super special move, one of my favorites," Kate said, putting on a big, fake smile. "Come on, don't you want to teach your Petilil some techniques for beating grass types? I stayed up all night making this for you."

"Is that a TM?" Blake asked. Kate nodded.

"What's a TM?" Holly asked, looking to Blake for clarification.

"A TM, or Technical Machine, is a special program designed to teach pokemon special moves," Blake replied. "If a pokemon doesn't learn a move naturally, a TM can be used to teach it to them. Assuming they're compatible with it."

"This is one of my favorites," Kate explained. "It's called Toxic. It's a move that will always inflict the enemy pokemon with a deadly poison. And not only that, anyone can learn it! Pretty much any pokemon is capable of mastering toxic, it's really an amazing move."

"Really?" Holly asked.

"Yup!" Kate said, nodding eagerly. "I figure that with your Petilil's really good speed, you can poison a pokemon and then keep out of reach of their attacks while the poison eats away at them. What do you think?"

"Wow! That's so cool!" Holly exclaimed, her eyes shining. She quickly caught herself, and returned to her usual façade. "Er… that is an acceptable strategy for one such as myself! I thank you for your consideration!"

"…Right," Kate said dryly, rolling her eyes. She missed the irony that she, herself, quite often went back on her initial words out of embarrassment to maintain her façade, a hypocrisy that Blake picked up on and had to resist bursting out laughing over.

"Okay, then do you want me to come show you how it works?" Kate asked. "Blake won't be able to help you master poison moves like I can!"

Holly looked at Blake.

"Are you okay with that?" She asked. It seemed that, as much as she might not have liked Kate as a person, the way Kate had beaten her the day before had really stuck in her mind, and she was looking forward to doing the same to her sister. But she also wanted to spend more time with Blake.

"If you want to beat your sister, I think it's a pretty good idea," Blake agreed. "It's really a good move."

"Okay then!" Holly nodded. "Let's go, common- er, Kate! Show me how to use this 'toxic' move!"

Kate glanced at Blake and nodded, leading Holly towards the forest at the edge of the field to go train her against some wild pokemon.

"We'll be back soon, Blake, so sit tight," Kate called over her shoulder.

"Wait for me, Blake!" Holly giggled, blowing him a kiss. "When I come back I'll show you how great I am!"

"Yeah, sure," Blake called back. The two disappeared into the trees, Blake relaxing. That was two annoyances that had taken care of themselves. He could relax without worry for a few hours.

The moment he thought that, though, a chill went down his spine. Like someone else was peering at him from within the forest, watching him among the trees.

Kate begins to indoctrinate Holly in the way of poison. Will Holly be able to grow stronger with these lessons?