Cynthia's suggested quite an activity for our group to take part in! A test of courage on an actual haunted trail, leading to an actual haunted house! Somehow, that doesn't sound like the safest thing in the world… Will everything turn out okay? Or will there be an actual ghost sighted? How will they handle a real haunting?!
The Final Round of the Pokemon Academy Best Girl Contest 3 has begun! Get the votes going in soon! There are three girls in the finals! Who's going to win? Chloe? Cynthia? Or Vic? One of those girls will become the third best girl, so get those votes in as soon as possible! You've only got one vote this time, so make it count!
Finalists: Chloe, Cynthia, Vic
KedharS: That is a very definite possibility.
Hyphenman: The nature of whether or not this house is haunted is something that will be explored, don't worry.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 1044
"…And here we are," Cynthia said in a low voice, shining the flashlight up the long Jagged Pass. The beam skipped over the rocky trail and tilted trees, revealing a thin narrow path twisting up through the wreckage. The warm air they'd felt before was suddenly cold and ominous, and everyone felt a chill run down their spines.
"We… we really have to climb up that?" Kitty gulped, shivering. "A-Actually, I'm not sure if this is such a good idea…"
"Come on, Kitty! It'll be fine!" Cynthia laughed, slapping her in the back. "We've got our pokemon with us, so there's nothing to worry about!"
Kitty was still really worried though. But she swallowed her fears and decided to keep going. "O-Okay, I'm okay. Let's go."
"You sure?" Julia asked. She wasn't scared herself, but she was worried about Kitty. But if Kitty was going to go through with it, then she would, too.
"I'm… sure," Kitty said, not at all sure.
"What about you, Caelia?" Blake asked, walking over to the brunette. She'd been quiet, which wasn't unusual, but given the lack of light around the path Blake was worried that she might be freaking out again.
"…Can see a little," Caelia murmured. Her face was just barely visible in the night. Blake squinted, but couldn't see if she was frightened or not. Hopefully, she would be fine.
"So how are we going to do this, then?" Sango asked. "I've got a great mountain to climb!" She cracked her knuckles. Besides Cynthia, she was maybe the only one really looking forward to this. After all, she didn't care about horror stuff. She wasn't afraid of no ghosts.
"Well, we have four flashlights," Cynthia said, flicking the light of one of them over the bushes. "So I guess we'll split up into four groups. Sound good?"
"Sure, so there's eleven of us, right? Then we should split up into three groups of three and one group of two, right?" Will said, doing the math. "Okay, how are we going to split them up?"
"I've got that covered," Cynthia grinned in the dark. She set down her backpack and took out a piece of paper. She scribbled some stuff down and tore the chunks of paper up and cupped her hands over them. "Okay, I've written some numbers on these slips. Everyone draw one, okay? And the matching numbers will group up together."
She turned to Sango and held out her hands. "Okay Sango, you draw one first. No, not that one. Draw that one."
Sango gave her an unamused look. She grabbed a slip of paper and checked it. "I got a '4' so I guess I'm with group 4?"
"Yep, exactly," Cynthia said, hiding her delight.
"My turn!" Kitty said, digging through Cynthia's slips and drawing one. She checked it. "I got a '3', so I guess I'm on a different team from Sango."
"I'll go next," Julia said, pushing to the front of the line. She reached into Cynthia's hand to grab a card of her own.
"Come on, 3, come on," she mumbled under her breath. She really wanted to be on Kitty's team in case anything happened.
She drew a piece of paper and checked it. Her heart soared. "Yes!" She cheered, making a triumphant fist. "3!"
"Great! We're on the same team!" Kitty said, her face lighting up with joy. "We're going to explore the Jagged Pass together!" She sighed in relief. With Julia by her side, she wouldn't be nearly as afraid as if she was on her own.
Everyone else drew lots, and the teams were decided.
Team 1: Blake, Elaina, Caelia
Team 2: Cynthia, Nick, Will
Team 3: Kitty, Julia, Reiner
Team 4: Sango, Aidan
"Yes! This arrangement is perfect!" Cynthia said, punching the air in glee. "I couldn't have planned it better myself!"
"I can't believe this," Julia said, shaking her head in disgust. She couldn't believe that she was on the same team as that jerk.
"This isn't fun for me, either," Reiner grumbled.
"It'll be fine, please," Kitty assured them, trying to lighten the mood between the three of them, with limited success. "Don't worry! I'm sure we'll have fun!"
The duo grunted, refusing to even look at each other.
"SO, uh… we're on the same team," Aidan said, scratching his head. He had a shaky smile on his face, trying not to look uncomfortable or awkward. "That should be fine… right?"
"Y-Yeah, not a big deal," Sango nodded. She glanced at Silver and tried to smile.
The biggest surprise, though, was the team with Blake, Elaina, and Caelia.
"It… it'll be fine! Yeah, it'll be fine! There's nothing to worry about!" Elaina said, shaking her head. She was looking around frantically as if there were threats in every bush. Then an ominous wind blew across her back and she sprung up, suppressing a scream.
"Yeah, you don't need to worry," Blake said. He glanced at Caelia. "So, uh… we're in the same group, huh? Should be fine."
Caelia nodded, her face illuminated by the flashlight. She crept up to Blake and grabbed his hand, startling him.
"Hey, uh… are you sure?" Blake asked. "You don't need to stick so close you know."
Caelia shook her head. "Need to be… close to light," she murmured. Blake had a suspicion that there were ulterior motives behind that. But he didn't say anything.
"Excuse me," Elaina said, walking over and grabbing Blake's other arm, pushing herself up against him. Blake's face turned red.
"El-Elaina!" He sputtered, turning to her in shock. She was staring away from him and her face was bright red.
Cynthia was enjoying herself quite a bit. But she couldn't spend forever just hanging around here, they needed to get on with it.
"Well, you guys are group 1! So you better get going!" Cynthia said, slapping Blake on the back. "Get going!"
Blake grumbled to himself and headed up the trail. Cynthia waved the three of them off, and then turned back to the others.
"Okay, I think we should go up in ten minute intervals," Cynthia decided. "To the haunted house! We'll explore it a little, and then come back! Anyone who can't make it to the house will lose! And then our group will head there next, sound good?"
"Sure thing," Nick nodded. Will shrugged.
In the meantime, the trio of Blake and the girls headed up the long and winding trail leading towards the ramshackle mountain on the cliffs.
Little did any of them know that someone was watching them from the shadows with a mischievous gleam in their eye.
"Caelia, are you doing okay?" Blake asked. "It must be difficult to walk in your condition, isn't that right?"
Caelia didn't reply. She just squeezed his arm tighter.
"…I-I'm doing fine, too," Elaina scowled, hugging him a little tighter as well.
"…You know, it's a lot harder for ME to walk like this," Blake scowled. He was trying to climb up the long path, but it was difficult with Caelia and Elaina practically hanging off of him.
"…Sorry," Elaina apologized. Caelia mumbled an apology as well.
"On… on the bright side, we haven't run into any ghosts, right?" Elaina said. "And no wild pokemon are attacking us either."
"That's good," Blake nodded. "I wonder why that is though? Shouldn't this area have a ton of Fire type pokemon?"
"Yeah, I wonder why…" Elaina said, looking around.
Of course, she had no way of knowing that the reason the wild pokemon were giving her a wide berth was because the aura she was projecting with her harmonia was driving them away. She was so afraid of ghosts that her harmonia was practically screaming in fear, result in a massive warning sign flashing up all around her.
Eventually they managed to climb up the hill, and the house was looming over them ahead. But then they reached a thin path, boxed in by rocks on either side.
And that's where they saw her.
She was wearing a thin white dress, and her skin was pale as a sheet. She glowed in the flashlight light, illuminating her deep blue eyes. Her stringy white hair clung to her face and she smiled, reaching out menacingly towards the students.
Blake scream. Elaina screamed. Even Caelia screamed, and her voice normally never rose above a whisper.
"NO! GET BACK!" Elaina raised her hands and sent a burst of wind forward. The small tornado slammed into the ghostly figure and blew her away, the phantom disappearing in an instant. Everyone stared at the empty space in shock.
"What… what the hell was that!?" Blake sputtered. "It… it couldn't be a ghost, could it?"
"NO WAY! NO WAY!" Elaina shouted, her harmonia running ramshackle over the Jagged Pass. "THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS GHOSTS! I REFUSE!"
While Elaina was losing it, Caelia dug her fingernails into Blake's arm so hard that he suspected he'd be getting some new scars even if they were through his sleeve.
"That… that couldn't be," Blake mumbled, shaking his head. "Okay, fine. It… maybe it was just a hiker, yeah, that's it."
"WHAT?!" Elaina scream. "So you're saying I just blew away an innocent person?! No way! That's even worse!"
"OH, uh… maybe… maybe it was just a ghost then?" Blake suggested.
Elaina's jaw dropped. "NO! NO!" She wailed, tackling Blake and pulling him into her cleavage, practically smothering him in fear.
"It's time to go!" Blake decided, pulling himself free. The trio ran back down the mountain, getting as far away from the place as possible. They didn't even get to the mansion.
As they fled, the ghostly figure emerged from behind the rocks, a wicked grin on her face. She giggled mischievously.
"Okay, guys, time for us to- what the-?!" Cynthia sputtered in disbelief. She was heading up the trail with Nick and Will when the gleam of Blake's flashlight flickered in front of her. Three frightened students ran down the mountain with abject terror in their faces. (well, two plus Caelia, who was still surprisingly stoic)
"Cynthia! It's real! The ghost is real!" Blake exclaimed.
"What?" Nick gasped.
"Seriously?" Will stumbled back, shocked.
Cynthia stared at him for a while, unable to believe her ears. Then she burst out laughing. "Oh! Oh, oh, oh! Oh, you, I knew you'd try something like this."
"Huh?! Something like what?" Blake asked, confused.
Cynthia laughed, slapping him on the shoulder. "You're trying to scare us off, huh? Brilliant strategy! But no dice, we're heading up to that mansion!"
"Uh… Cynthia, I think maybe he's right," Nick said worriedly. "I mean, even Elaina looks terrified… and Blake isn't the kind of person who'd joke about this."
"I'm also not sure if this would be real," Will admitted. "But they all look scared. So maybe they did run into something? I don't know."
Cynthia was less sure. But she wanted to believe it wasn't true. Because that would mean that there was a real ghost, and she was going to be attacked by it.
She swallowed her doubts and smiled, shaking her head.
"Nah, I'm not gonna fall for that," Cynthia shook her head, patting him on the shoulder. "Let's go, guys! If there is a ghost, I'm gonna see it for myself! Besides, it's probably just a Ghost type pokemon or something, just a Shuppet or Duskull or something, nothing to worry about at all! Come on Will, Nick, let's do this!"
"Cynthia, you're shaking," Blake said, noticing the tremble in Cynthia's fingers.
"Shut up, Blake!" She scoffed, shoving him out of the way. "You're the one who's shaking!" She walked past him and headed up the trail, her flashlight scanning a little too desperately over the rocky path ahead.
Will and Nick glanced warily at each other.
"You… you're sure about the ghost, right?" Nick swallowed, shaking a little.
"I know what I saw," Blake said adamantly.
The two boys glanced at each other and sighed. They headed up after Cynthia, wondering if maybe they should back out of this.
In the meantime, Blake led Caelia and Elaina down to the safety of the start of the trail, where he wouldn't have to worry about dealing with ghosts anymore.
"I hope Cynthia's going to be okay," Blake sighed, hanging her head. He pinched the bridge of his nose. "She really needs to believe me sometimes."
When he got to the bottom of the trail, he decided that even if Cynthia didn't believe him, he'd do the right thing and tell the others too.
When Kitty heard, she felt like throwing up.
"There… there was a real g-ghost?" Kitty shivered. All the bravery from before was blown away in the cold wind.
"No way," Julia shook her head. "Not happening. There's no such thing as ghosts! You're just trying to scare us!"
"What's the matter, Julia?" Reiner smirked. "You're not scared of ghosts, are you?"
Julia turned on him with murder in her eyes, reaching for one of her pokeballs. "My strongest pokemon is a Dark type, so no, I'm not scared of ghosts at all. Would you like to see what he's capable of yourself?" She threatened, stalking closer to him.
Reiner gulped. "Uh… no, that's fine," Reiner said, shaking his head.
"I don't believe it either," Sango said, shaking her head. "There's no such thing as ghosts. Ghost type pokemon, maybe, but not real phantoms."
"Y-Yeah, maybe that's it!" Kitty nodded. "Maybe it's a Ghost type pokemon, that's all, not a real… ghost…"
Kitty's voice trailed off as she realized that she was almost as afraid of Ghost type pokemon as she was of real ghosts. She gulped.
"You never know," Aidan said, shrugging his shoulders. "Maybe there might be some ghosts. It sure doesn't sound like they saw a pokemon."
"It wasn't a pokemon!" Elaina said, shaking her head. "At least… I don't think it was."
"Are there even Ghost types around here?" Sango asked, fishing her tourism book out of her backpack. "Uh… huh. Wow, now that I'm looking… it doesn't seem like there are, no. So maybe it's not a Ghost type then…"
Sango was less sure that it was a pokemon now. But even if it was a real ghost, she still wasn't afraid. "So what?" She shrugged. "So it's a real ghost. I'm not afraid."
"Wow, Sango, you're so cool," Aidan grinned.
"Well, I AM scared!" Kitty wailed. "I don't want ghosts OR Ghost type pokemon! They're scary!" Her knees were knocking and she didn't care who heard.
"It's okay, Kitty, you'll be safe," Julia assured her. She had Roden's pokeball in hand and was trying very hard not to let her see how frightened she was. "Roden, Luna and I will keep you safe! So you don't have to worry."
Kitty's eyes widened and she nodded. She felt a little safer, but she was still terrified of the fact that there was a real ghost on the mountain.
Blake was just shocked. He didn't believe in ghosts, he never had. But he couldn't think of an explanation for what he'd seen. Unless some random person had been playing a prank on them, of course.
"Maybe some random person was just playing a prank on you," Will suggested. "That sounds way more believable than some ghost."
"That's a good point," Sango nodded. "I think we're playing the 'ghost' card a little early. Maybe one of the inn guests overheard our plans or something."
"Yeah, or maybe there's some buried treasure on the mountain, and someone looking for it dressed up as a ghost to scare everyone off," Nick suggested. "You know, like that cartoon."
That was the dumbest thing Blake had ever heard, but the idea seemed to calm Kitty down so he didn't say anything. She sighed in relief. "Oh, thank god."
"Well, with that in mind…" Reiner checked his watch, a wicked smirk crossing his face. "Kitty, your ready to head up the mountain? It's our turn."
He placed his hand on Kitty's shoulder and she screamed, jumping out of her shoes. Julia shot him an enraged look, tempted to jump over and strangle him.
So Blake, Elaina, and Caelia ran into a real ghost! Or was it? Who could be playing these pranks? And what could they be after? Is Nick right? Is this some hoax? Or maybe a pokemon? There are all sorts of things it could be, and we'll have to wait and see just what the truth is! What's going on upon Jagged Pass?