With Wes backed into a corner, it looks like Valon will get away with all the shit he pulled, unfortunately. All to keep Maddi safe. And with that, the Orre Region arc has come to a close. It's been a long and grueling arc that took well over a year in real time to complete. But now we're finally going home! Our hardworking cast is finally returning to the Pokemon Academy, and saying farewell to the Orre Region once and for all! It's been great!

KedharS: That's definitely the case. It's sad that Wes is trying so hard, but in the end he still can't do anything.

Venoms Master 2: I wouldn't trust him either. We'll have to see what he's up to.

Jjjdunk1: I don't think anyone likes him. But he's certainly a very smart, calculating bastard, that's for sure.

Guest: Yeah, he really does need some support. He's going to be in for a rough time.

Hyphenman: That's the problem with a situation like this. Even after everything that's happened, there's nothing our heroes can do, and no one they can turn to for help. It's not pleasant, but it's unfortunately the way the world works.

Leppyvstheworld: Thanks! I really put a lot of hard work into this arc, I'm glad to see that it turned out so well!

Tambry96bj: Yup. It must suck to be him. We'll see what happens when everyone goes back.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1246

Callie flopped back into bed, staring up at the ceiling.

"I'm so bored," she muttered.

Everyone else was leaving today. They'd all said their goodbyes and wished the best for her. And then they'd left her all alone.

The doctor said she shouldn't get on a plane for another week. Which meant she was stuck here. She was incredibly grateful to Rui, who had agreed to take her to the airport and fly her back home personally, otherwise she might be in trouble.

But the fact of the matter was, she was stuck here for the foreseeable future. And it looked like it was going to be a pretty boring week. She was lucky they were letting her out of the hospital tomorrow, and that Wes and Rui agreed to host her until the doctor gave her the okay to head home, but there still wasn't very much to do in Agate Village.

She hoped Alcea and the others would be okay.

Heck… it wouldn't be so bad if even my brother was here… she thought, and then immediately regretted thinking it. It isn't like he would-

"Hey there, little sister!"

Callie nearly fell out of bed.

"Rafe?!" She sputtered. "What are you doing here?! I thought everyone went to Gateon Port already to go back home!"

"Well, they all went," Rafe nodded. "But I just couldn't leave my little sister alone!"

He was smiling cheerfully, but Callie could smell a Ratatta.

"You're supposed to be doing your work!" She snapped.

She couldn't believe it. Her brother had taken advantage of her condition to dodge responsibility. How did she not see this coming?

Gateon Port. Although it was a bustling port town, it was also known for being the only city in the Orre Region with an airport. Not even Phenac City, the capital of the region, had a commercial airline within its walls.

If people wanted to come and go in large numbers, they would need to go to Gateon, and that's where the students found themselves as they filed off the busses.

"Mirar," Alcea said, placing her hand on the boy's shoulder. It was often difficult to make him out in a crowd of people because he was so nondescript, but she'd had enough experience around him from when he was a member of the Eight Leaders.

"Yes?" Mirar asked, turning back to her. He looked as plain as normal.

Alcea glanced around and lowered her voice. "That thing I asked you about the other day… you did it, oui?"

A tight smile crossed Mirar's lips. A few days back, Alcea had made a request. It was simple, just three short words.

"Unleash the Dakota."

"It's a relief that she is alright, is it?" Alcea sighed. Although she could not consider the other girl a friend, the fact that one of her schoolmates was alive and well after her attack was cause for joy. Even if she was one of the more annoying students she knew. When Mirar had told the others that she had woken up, she had been thrilled.

"She's fine," Mirar said. Though inwardly he had his suspicions. After all, if anyone would know when something was wrong or when someone was acting weird, it was the man who prided himself at digging into everyone's mental states and figuring out what they're thinking about.

And Dakota… she was okay. But the incident had definitely changed her, and he didn't just mean her new colors. But he didn't press the issue. He'd have plenty of time to see what was wrong with her when he got back to the academy after all.

Alcea smiled. Maybe it wasn't the best thing to do, to challenge the narrative like this. Even she agreed with the decision to not involve the local authorities.

But she thought that the students had a right to know what had happened at least. So without giving any specifics, she and Mirar had agreed to use the most potent tool in their arsenal for uncovering the truth.

And if it kept Dakota occupied so she wouldn't be prying into a certain relationship that Alcea would prefer to be kept on the down low for now? All the better.

"Alcea!"

Alcea raised her head and her expression brightened at what she saw. Three people were making their way through the crowd of students towards her. Olivia! She was leading the way, with the Toujous following behind her.

And Ayame looked alright. She sighed in relief once again. She'd been doing that a lot these days, it seemed.

"Olivia! And Ayame. I take it that you're doing better?" She asked, raising her eyebrow.

"More or less," Ayame grunted. She didn't look very happy, even though she was no longer in the hospital.

Alcea wisely decided not to press the subject.

"So you're both going back to the Pokemon Academy, then?" Alcea asked. With how angry Hiromi had been, she was shocked that the mother wanted anything to do with the school at this point.

"Yeah, she is," Hiromi said, trying and failing to put on a cheerful smile. "Aya needs some time to recover, and the doctor agreed that a familiar landscape would be better for her."

She and Olivia shared a glance. Neither one had told Ayame about their hope that she'd regain her memories from close proximity with Blake.

"I see, that's… fortunate, is it?" Alcea said, smiling politely. "I hope you feel better soon."

"Thank you," Ayame said. There was an awkward tension in the air. Ayame didn't know what it was, but the two of them just seemed so… different around each other. Olivia and Alcea, she meant. She had no idea what it was.

Then she saw the way Olivia's face seemed to heat up when she made eye contact with Alcea, and she suddenly did.

"No way!" Ayame's jaw dropped in shock. "You two are-!"

"YES!" Olivia loudly whispered, slapping her hand across Ayame's mouth. She looked around frantically to make sure nobody else was listening. She didn't have to worry about that, seeing three of the most beautiful women in the academy talking had led the students to give them a wide berth. One of the perks of being so pretty you were unapproachable to most.

"Don't tell anyone. We're keeping it secret for now, okay?" Olivia hissed.

Ayame nodded and Olivia let go. She'd had to strain her shoulder reaching that high.

"But… how? When?" Ayame asked, still confused. "Why?"

"It was when you were being possessed by Samarra," Olivia mumbled, turning red and smiling in spite of her attempt to keep her cool. "One thing led to another, and well…"

"I seem to recall it leading to quite a number of things," Alcea mused. Olivia turned even redder.

"Yes! Well! The point is that we're together now, okay?" Olivia said. "So just… you know, be happy for us, okay?"

She smiled and Ayame smiled back.

"Of course I'm happy for you, boss," she said. "Still, I never would have imagined. You never seemed like the relationship type, you know? That was always more my thing."

She paused. "Wait… no it isn't. I'm not the dating type at all. Huh…"

Alcea's eyes shot to Olivia, staring pointedly at her in confusion. Olivia mouthed "later" as her joyful smile faltered.

It was a long road to recovery, apparently.

While those three were having their conversation, another trio was occupied at the same time. Well, less a trio and more one girl hitting on a guy, while a second girl watched them out of the corner of her eye.

"So I was thinking, when we get back to the academy, you want to catch a movie sometime?" Donoma asked, wrapping her arm around Ian's. "I happen to know a thing or two about film, and I'd be thrilled to have someone to share it with!"

"Sure, sounds like fun," Ian said politely. Donoma forced herself not to frown in disappointment. While he was agreeing to the stuff she proposed, it was clear that there was something forced about his answers.

He's just being polite because he enjoys my company as a person, she recognized. Not because he's actually excited about going for a date, or what would come after. Doesn't this guy have a sex drive at all?!

She was really bringing her A-game here, and yet for some reason Ian just wasn't taking the bait. And it was starting to get frustrating.

Damn it, if it was Lukas, he'd be all over me like the simp he is, she thought to herself with a grumble. Boys are supposed to be easier than this!

It was insulting, really. That was the only word for it.

While that was going on, someone else needed some help, almost as much as Ian clearly did.

"You're insane if you think I'm going to let you take those on the plane!" Kiana said, placing her hands on her hips. She was doing her best to play the part of chaperone, for as long as she still had the position.

So what if their group was basically split up now that all the students had gathered back together and were heading for the airport? Or that a lot of her students were feeling down due to what happened? Gerard most of all. He just seemed… oddly broken. But he'd rebuffed her attempts to get him to talk about it. Still, she was still the leader of this group, and as the leader she wasn't about to let anyone get away with doing something wrong.

And no, it WASN'T just to make herself feel better for how badly she'd screwed things up before, this was serious. She was doing her best here!

"Come on, I need these!" Willa scowled, hugging her sack of suspicious substances close to her chest. "All of the containers are the proper size for travel, what's the big deal?"

"Oh, come off it, you know it's not that simple!" Raizer groaned, smacking his forehead. "Just because your potions are in travel containers doesn't mean they're not a bunch of dangerous concoctions that could get us all in big trouble for bringing them onto an airplane!"

"I'm not giving 'em up!" She shook her head adamantly, looking more passionate about this than anything else the entire trip.

"And I'm not getting put on the no-fly list just because your crazy ass wants to play 'drug smugglers'!" Raizer replied.

The two glared and growled at each other and Kiana nursed the headache that had been building up since the morning began.

Just a little bit more, she told herself. Just a little bit more and then I'm free…

This trip had been an unmitigated disaster from beginning to end. It was a miracle that everyone had made it back in one piece. And even then, not all of the students in her group were even coming. Rafe had elected to stay back and look after his little sister. So after all her hard work, all her struggles, in the end she was finishing this field trip with less students than she started with. She just wanted it to be over at this point.

"If you want me to get rid of 'em so badly, maybe I'll shove 'em all down your throat, how would you like that?!"

"Oh go ahead and try it, I'll snap your twig of a body in half like a pencil!"

Kiana sighed again. Lana patted her sister on the shoulder, commiserating in her unfortunate circumstances.

Off to the side, Ange was on her own. She wasn't paying those idiots any mind, nor giving any thought to the other students in her group. There was something more important that she had to focus on right now, and it was burning a hole in her bag.

The Oracle. Through no small miracle, Samarra had been completely uninterested in the Ground Oracle, meaning Ange had retained possession of it against all odds. And now that she had it, she only had one more duty left to do. She had to get it onto the plane somehow.

It should be fine, right? It was just a rock. That shouldn't be a problem for anybody.

And yet, Ange's intense disdain for technology made her doubt. After all, she had no idea what those bizarre scanners were, that tracked down bombs and whatnot. For all she knew, the Oracle might be giving off some sort of radiation that would lead to a mass panic.

"Someone should just blow up this fucking place," she muttered under her breath as she glared at the airport.

It was statements like that that made the students pull away from her and leave her to her own devices. You don't joke about that sort of thing.

Ange glanced over at the Phantom and Misato. Valon had been gone through the entirety of the Samarra incident, only showing up at the end to pick up the pieces. How interesting. She couldn't quite imagine why he had come back, or what he wanted, but she figured it probably wasn't anything good. "Good" and Richard Valon weren't even in the same zip code.

That had been made abundantly clear after his meeting with Wes, after he'd managed to not only find his way back to them.

Shadow Pokemon. As much as Ange hated the modern world, she hated Shadow Pokemon even more. Using technology to abuse pokemon and turn them into monsters, it was an affront to everything she believed in.

She had relished in the notion that Wes and Rui would give Keahi the comeuppance he so richly deserved, maybe even throwing that scumbag self-proclaimed "student of archaeology" into prison. (What a joke. As if that prick had any respect for the ancient world.)

But it wasn't meant to be.

By hook or by crook, the Phantom had managed to get Keahi out of that sticky situation. Somehow, Valon had managed to convince Wes to not only give him his pokeballs back, but let him go off on his own, free.

It was clear that he hadn't been pleased by the decision. Even now, Rui was glaring murder in their direction. (Wes was back in Agate Village, looking after Callie.)

But soon, Rui took her eyes off of Valon and Keahi, and her expression softened as she turned back to her daughter.

"I'm glad you're alright," she said, hugging Vic tightly.

"Mom, it's fine," Vic snapped, shaking herself free. "You don't need to hug me!" She was embarrassed by her mother's display of affection. Didn't she understand that Vic had an image that she needed to maintain?!

"Don't be a stranger, okay? You can come back home any time, and please, call or write to us!" Rui urged. "We'd just love to hear from you-"

"It's fine, mom!" Vic groaned. As much as she loved her family and had enjoyed her time home with them, and as much as she resented the fact that they had to call their trip early, meaning they didn't have as much time as she would have liked, she still didn't like when her mother was being annoying like this.

On the other hand, she was glad that it was finally just her and the Commander now. Anabel had already split from them when they left Agate Village. They'd said that they were going back to supervise construction on the Battle Frontier with Scott, now that the situation had cleared itself up and their help wasn't needed.

It wasn't like they could just tag along to the Pokemon Academy after all, much to Vic's relief. She didn't need them sniffing around, getting in the way of her time with Alden!

…Alden, who was spending more time looking after Maddi at the moment.

Damn it.

"I'm telling you, we should battle as soon as we get back!" Alden pleaded.

"Not. Interested." She wasted no time in shutting him down.

"But come on! That Eevee of yours is so powerful! You must want to test out what he's capable of!" Alden pleaded.

"Vee wants to rest right now, and so do I," Maddi said. "Besides, I don't want to make a big spectacle out of him. Just leave me alone."

This. This was why she'd been hoping to keep Vee's transformation abilities a secret. Alden would be hounding her for the rest of the year, trying to get a battle out of her.

Vic watched them go, her lips squeezed into a tight line as she resisted the urge to curse the other girl out.

The Commander still wasn't paying attention to her. Some things just never changed.

Rui watched Maddi out of the corner of her eye as well, but her concerns were slightly more serious than her daughter's.

She thought about the deal that Wes had made with the Phantom. Valon. Ein. Whatever the hell he was calling himself now. Wes had agreed not to push the matter of Shadow Pokemon in order to protect Maddi from her secret being outed.

It was a hard decision. The kind of decision that she knew might have broken him. But he made it anyway. Because as much as he hated Shadow Pokemon, hated Ein, and wanted to rid the entire world of the scourge of Cipher…

He couldn't sacrifice an innocent girl's future to do it.

Wes just wasn't that kind of man anymore. Maybe once, as a child, he would have made that heartless decision, but now, the man she loved would put other people before his vendetta.

But while Rui didn't have it in her to condemn her decision, she also wasn't entirely certain it was the right one. If the Phantom's experiments continued, more people, Maddi included, might be in for a lot of pain down the road.

Even so, she couldn't argue with his decision. Because she was a mother, and as a mother she couldn't bear the thought of an innocent girl being thrown aside, even if it was for the good of everyone else. She wasn't that kind of person either.

"WOOOOOOOO!" Marion's cheer broke through the tension of the giant crowd. She was their tagalong. Her practicum at the Pokemon HQ Lab had ended, and now she was finally coming back to the academy. She couldn't wait to see Sango again, and get some good fishing in!

Her mom had headed back home to Alola once she'd finished patching up everyone's wounds, but that was fine. Marion was just happy to see her again.

"Let's go!" She shouted, waving her fishing pole into the air. "I can't wait to get back home!"

When she learned that she would have to check her fishing pole, the enthusiasm drained out of her completely.

She was legally declared dead for most of the flight back, slumped over in her seat.

Well, some things never change. And with this, we say farewell to the Orre Region! We've spent over a third of the series on this one arc, and BOY was it a long one! But with this, we're finally wrapping things up for the Orre Region and heading home! What awaits us when we get back, I wonder? Where will the story go from here? There's certainly a lot to be worried about, but hopefully we can turn things around for the better!