Cynthia seems to be putting the moves on Blake! Uh-oh! After being told not to have regrets, will she go for a drastic move? Will their friendship be in danger? Or is this all one giant overreaction and there's really nothing to worry about? We'll have to find out! Hopefully everything will work out for the best, and there won't be any major drama happening soon!

The Final Round of the Pokemon Academy Best Girl Contest 3 has begun! Get the votes in! There's less than one week left and 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 last votes in! Can we get a climactic victor? You've only got one vote this time, so make it count!

Finalists: Chloe, Cynthia, Vic

Hyphenman: I won't deny that it was definitely weird.

KedharS: Hopefully without making everything worse, that would really suck. We gotta believe that Cynthia knows what she's doing.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1048

Blake tightened his guard as Cynthia approached. He wasn't sure what she meant about "making sure she had no regrets" but it worried him. Judging by her behavior previously, there was a not so small chance that she was talking about…

"Do you think I'm planning to seduce you?" Cynthia asked quietly. Blake was taken aback. She'd just come right out and said it.

"C-Cynthia, that's…"

Cynthia scowled. She lightly slapped Blake on the face, confusing him even more.

"Cynthia?! What the heck?" He sputtered, holding his cheek.

"That's for doubting me," she snarled. "I promised, remember? I'm not going to do anything to mess up your relationship with Ayame, remember?"

"Okay, but when you come at me all seductive like that, with that look on your face, what the heck am I supposed to think?!" Blake demanded.

"That was exactly my point!" Cynthia's expression was still sour. "I need a friend right now, Blake. And if you're still looking at me, wary that I'm going to be trying to seduce you, then how can I count on you to be there when I need you, huh?"

She looked hurt. Like she was the one who felt betrayed, when Blake had been trying to be a friend all night right up until she'd pretended to be making a move on him.

He couldn't ignore the nagging feeling that maybe she was right. Had he really been there for her as a friend before this? Or had he been holding back out of doubt? Thinking that maybe she was trying something?

No. That's not it. I'm just overthinking it. He quickly shook his head, clearing his thoughts. He had been the best friend he could for Cynthia. And he was going to continue to do so.

"What do you want from me?" He asked. Cynthia's face brightened a little. But she frowned.

"…I don't know, honestly," she admitted. "I guess I just wanted to know that you'd be there for me, Blake. Thanks."

He didn't feel like he deserved her thanks. It was clear that Cynthia was still bothered by something, and he still didn't know how to help her.

If only there was some way to cheer her up… Blake thought. He couldn't make that decision for her, but maybe he could come up with some way to improve her mood, at least.

He just had to think about it.

"Well… good night, Blake," Cynthia said quietly. Before he'd realized it, they'd already made it all the way back to their rooms. "And thanks for being such a good friend."

Blake forced himself to smile and wished her goodnight, heading back into his room. That night, it wasn't the ghosts that kept Blake awake. He was thinking about what he could do to help his friend get through her dilemma.

Cynthia found it difficult to think herself. She laid awake in her futon, staring up at the ceiling. The room was dimly lit by the soft glow of Caelia's nightlight. There was so much on her mind right now. The ghost, her feelings about the Battle Frontier and the future, her doubts about what she wanted to do with her life and what she'd regret doing… they formed a cloud that hung over her head as she drifted off to a restless sleep, listening to a scared Kitty's thrashing dreams.

When Cynthia "woke up" in the morning she was dim and barely thinking clearly. She yawned, relieved that she'd made the decision to pull her futon away from the human tornado that was a sleeping Elaina Bishop.

Sango was already awake and gone, of course, off on a long jog most likely. In the meantime, Cynthia knew that her grandparents expected her to get to work today. She'd gotten free time yesterday, but business would probably start picking up soon.

Which was why she was shocked to come down and find that breakfast had already been prepared for her.

"Grandma Rose? What's this?" She asked, turning to her grandmother. She had no idea why her grandmother had made her such a delicious-looking breakfast before she'd done any chores, but she wasn't questioning it.

"Your friend Blake spoke to me this morning," Rose said, pulling the chair out in front of the table. "He told me that you were having a tough time of things, sweetheart. Now eat up, and let me know if there's anything you'd like to talk about."

Cynthia nodded. She smiled brightly, trying to resist the urge to cry. She was so happy that her grandmother was here to help her, and she was so grateful to Blake as well, for stepping in and trying to support her, just like a friend was supposed to.

Her issues weren't solved, but as she ate a spoonful of warm rice, she didn't really care. She still felt all toasty inside.

"Oh, Cynthia, you're up," Blake said, walking into the dining room.

"Blake!" Cynthia gushed, her face lighting up with joy. She felt like she'd fallen for him all over again, even though she knew she shouldn't.

"I see someone liked their dinner," Blake grinned. "Now then, Cynthia, I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Yeah, what?" Cynthia asked through spoonfuls of rice.

Blake shook his head and smiled. "No, it's fine, it can wait until after breakfast," he assured her. "Just finish eating."

Cynthia nodded and returned to her delicious meal, excited at the possibility that he promised. She couldn't wait!

When she finished her meal, she looked expectantly up at him. He just placed a pokeball on the table in front of her.

That said it all.

She gasped. "Seriously?" She asked. "You want a pokemon battle?"

"Just you and me," he said, nodding. "And not any of that one on one stuff like you did with Caelia, or even a three on three like with Will. We'll do a real battle. Assuming you're up to the challenge, of course," he said, flashing a daring smirk. Cynthia's eyes flared and she couldn't help but grin at the prospect.

Not counting casual training matches to improve their pokemon's skills, Cynthia and Blake had fought three "real" battles up until this point. The first one, on their first day at school, had been Blake's victory. The second, in the Fall Festival Tournament, had seen Cynthia scraping through by a hair. And the final battle had been in the Winter Tag Team Tournament, and Blake had won that one as well- but due to the support of Elaina.

If Cynthia took him up on his challenge, this would be their third match with just the two of them, and her opportunity to definitively pull ahead as the stronger trainer. And that was definitely a compelling motivation.

"You've got yourself a deal!" She declared, standing up and reaching across the table, shaking Blake's hand.

"Hey, what's up?" Julia asked, strolling into the dining room.

Cynthia turned to Julia and grinned, picking up her dishes. "Blake and I are going to have a pokemon battle," she replied.

Julia blinked, and then burst out laughing. "You're kidding me."

"Nope!" She chirped, shaking her head. "We're going to have fun! Just you watch! Bring Kitty too, I'm excited!"

"So what? Do you just have a habit of getting into pokemon battles in the morning then?" Julia asked, rolling her eyes. "First Caelia, now this?"

"You're not going to ruin my good mood!" Cynthia huffed. She grabbed Blake by the sleeve. "Come on, Blake! Let's do it! Now!"

"Please don't phrase it like that," Blake groaned. One of the other inn guests had just entered the dining room, a nice old lady. She glared his way and shook her head in disgust. He forced a polite smile to his face and nodded to her, before looking away in embarrassment.

They headed back to the outside battlefield, with Julia lagging behind them.

"So where's Kitty?" Cynthia asked.

"She's still sleeping," Julia said with a sigh. "Last night really took a lot out of her. And she was too afraid to go to sleep all night, practically. I'd be surprised if she doesn't sleep through the rest of the day, if I'm being honest."

"But on the plus side, I'm here," Reiner said, approaching them. Julia's expression immediately soured when she spotted him.

"I'm here too," Nick said. "What's up? Another battle?"

"Looks that way," Will said. "I'm into that."

Cynthia smirked. "Okay, so if the three stooges and Cynthia are coming, what about Caelia? Blake, can we stop by and get her?"

Blake shook his head. "No, we don't need to." He jammed his thumb over his shoulder. Cynthia glanced past him to see Caelia hanging behind him, peeking out into the hall from around the corner. Cyntha smiled.

A few minutes later, they were outside and ready to go.

"Blake!" Cynthia called. "Last chance to back out! Don't feel bad when I kick your butt again like the last time we fought one on one!"

"Not a chance!" Blake smiled back. He didn't want to bring up the fact that he had a good feeling about winning due to Cynthia's prior track record. That would take the wind out of her sails. And right now, a big part of this fight was helping cheer Cynthia up.

"Okay, I'll start," he said. "Maria, go!"

"Mareanie!" Maria emerged from her pokeball with a wicked smile on her face, her tentacles flopping around. She turned to Blake, and scuttled towards him.

"Maria…" Blake raised his eyebrow in a warning. Maria scowled and backed off, lowering her tentacles. No stabbing her trainer today.

"As I thought, you're leading with Maria," Cynthia grinned. "Don't you have any other moves? Ruby, come on out!"

"Mawile!" Cynthia's Mawile emerged with a growl, smiling coyly at Blake. She turned and bared her fanged horns his way, gnashing the teeth.

"This is an interesting matchup," Will said. "A Poison type vs. a Steel type."

"True, but with the Water typing Maria can resist the damage from both of Ruby's stab moves," Reiner noted. "So it's not a complete rout."

"MAW!" Ruby glared fiercely at Maria, weakening her attacking power due to the intimidation from her fangs.

"Maria, use water pulse!" Blake ordered.

"Mare!" Maria sent a pulsing orb of water at Ruby, who jumped out of the way, avoiding the burst of water.

"Ruby, use faint attack!" Cynthia ordered. Ruby disappeared, reappearing behind Maria, opening her fangs and clamping down on her, squeezing tightly.

"MAAAAAA!" Maria cried out in pain, squirming in Ruby's tight grasp.

"Maria!" Blake shouted. "Use substitute!"

"Mareanie!" Maria disappeared, and in her place a stuffed Mareanie doll appeared, slightly pierced by Ruby's fangs.

Caelia blinked in subdued surprise. That Mareanie doll looked kind of familiar. Oh, right. She'd stolen it for Blake on Pokemon Day.

…

Won. She'd won it for Blake.

"Maria," Blake ordered. "Use toxic spikes!"

Maria reappeared and fired a spray of poisonous spines, littering the field around Cynthia and Ruby, threatening to infect all of her pokemon. Cynthia scowled.

"Mareashishishi!" Maria cackled, an evil glint shining in her eyes.

There was a glint in Cynthia's eyes, too. "Ruby, use taunt," she ordered.

"Mawile!" Ruby nodded. She turned back to Maria, and pointed at Blake. Then she made a kissing face, and smirked.

Maria's eye twitched.

"Maria…" Blake said warningly. But Maria was blocking him out.

"Mar!" Maria cried, bouncing up and down. "Mar Mar Mareani!" She scuttled angrily towards the smirking Mawile.

Blake just sighed, seeing where this was going. "Maria, use water pulse."

"Mare!" Maria opened her mouth and spat a blast of water at Ruby.

"Not gonna happen!" Cynthia crowed. "Sucker punch time!"

"Mawile!" Ruby shot forward at high speed, dodging the water pulse. She raised her tiny fist and drove it into Maria's gut, knocking her backwards.

"Mar!" Maria wailed, rolling back over the ground. She scurried upright, only to see Ruby's fangs heading right towards her, opening wide and biting down on her.

"MAAAAAAARRR!" Maria thrashed against Ruby's crushing jaws, but she couldn't escape.

"She can't even get away with substitute," Nick winced. It was a pretty brutal exchange.

But Blake wasn't beaten yet.

"Maria!" He shouted. "Use liquidation!"

Maria began to glow blue, and released a burst of energy out of her body. A powerful burst of water slammed into Ruby, breaking her grip on Maria, and sending her flying backwards.

"Ruby, no!" Cynthia cried. Ruby scrambled to her feet, fangs gnashing. But Maria was already on it, scurrying forward with her cheeks puffed up.

"Now, scald!" Blake ordered.

"Mareanie!" Maria spat a massive burst of scalding water. Hotter than even the hot springs, the boiling water landed on Ruby and she cried out in pain.

"The scalding water burned her!" Nick cheered. "That's really going to weaken her offensive power! I think Maria's going to be able to turn it around!"

"Ruby, quick, use swords dance," Cynthia ordered. She needed to increase Ruby's attacking power in order to counteract the burn's attack drop. But Blake wasn't going to let that happen, not if he could help it.

"Maria!" He shouted as Ruby began to gnash her fangs.

"Mareanie!" Maria opened wide and fired another water pulse, hitting Ruby directly while she tried to buff her strength.

"Don't worry, Ruby!" Cynthia shouted. Just prepare a sucker punch to take care of her! She can only use physical attacks! …Ruby?"

"Maw…" Ruby stumbled back and forth, shaking her head. She was feeling really dizzy all of a sudden and could barely stand up straight.

"Water pulse!" Cynthia gasped. "You confused her!"

"That's right!" Blake said, glad it had worked out so well. "Now Maria, use scald again!"

"Mareanie!" Maria gathered up hot water from the surrounding hot springs and sent it crashing towards Ruby in a tidal wave.

"Ruby, you gotta dodge!" Cynthia cried desperately, but Ruby couldn't hear her over the swirling madness in her head. The water slammed into her, knocking her over, and she didn't stand back up again.

"Washed away!" Blake grinned. "Nicely done, Maria!"

"Mareashishishi!" Maria cackled gleefully, smirking at the unconscious Mawile.

"Return, Ruby," Cynthia sighed, recalling her Mawile. "Not bad, Blake. I had no idea Maria had learned so many Water type moves."

"She's gotten better," Blake said with a proud smile. "Just like cute little Aud has gotten stronger, isn't that right?"

"Fair enough," Cynthia nodded. She needed to think of who to send out next. There was still the issue of the toxic spikes littering her side of the field. Ruby was her only Steel type pokemon, and she didn't have a Poison type to absorb the poison and nullify its effects. She was in a bit of a bind, she had to admit to herself.

I can hear Kate laughing right now, she thought with a scowl. But that didn't mean she was out of her depth. She still had another card she could play. But would it work…?

"Hey, Cynthia!" Blake's shout snapped Cynthia out of her deliberations and she quickly looked up, startled.

"Uh, what?" Cynthia asked.

Blake was smiling. And not just because he had taken the lead in the match.

"Are you having fun right now?" He asked.

Cynthia blinked as his words sank in. Then a brilliant smile spread across her face.

"Yeah!" She shouted back. "I'm having loads of fun!" And that made all the decision for her. "Elise!" She called, sending out her Swellow. "You can do it!"

"Swellow!" Elise emerged from her pokeball and took to the sky, staring down at Maria. Maria had calmed down since knocking out Ruby, and the taunt had worn off. So now she was able to fight her strongest.

"Maria!" Blake called. "Use toxic!"

"Mare!" Maria nodded, spitting an orb of toxic sludge at the Swellow.

"We won't fall for that!" Cynthia cackled. "Elise, use agility!"

"Swell!" Elise danced through the sky, her swift movements allowing her to easily evade the bursts of poison. She tumbled through the air, circling around Maria and looking for an opportunity to attack her when her guard was down.

Maria was giving her a hard time though. Vigilant, the Mareanie jumped back and kept her eyes skyward, trying to look for an opportunity of her own.

But all Cynthia needed was an opportunity.

"Aerial ace!" She ordered.

"Swellow!" Elise shot forward and disappeared, reappearing behind Maria. She raked into the poison pokemon with her talons and Maria cried out in pain, stumbling forward.

"Excellent, Elise!" Cynthia cheered.

Then she gasped. "Elise!"

Elise had done some serious damage to Maria. But Maria was the one laughing.

"Mareashishishi!" Maria cackled, bouncing upright. Elise flew away from her, but she had a strained expression on her face. One glance at the bird pokemon's leg could tell you why.

Deep purple veins coursed through her body, signs of the deep infection that Maria had afflicted her with. She could barely stay in the air without feeling severe pain.

"When Elise hit, Maria knew it was her best chance to afflict some toxic," Blake grinned. "She might have taken a big hit… but she scored an even bigger one by infecting your Swellow!"

"Oh, nice," Reiner applauded. "And now that Elise is poisoned, Cynthia's classic trick of using focus sash and endeavor won't work anymore!"

"I gotta admit, it's a pretty good plan," Julia nodded in begrudging respect.

Cynthia's plans had been foiled and her Swellow was poisoned. And in spite of the damage she'd been inflicted with, Maria refused to faint.

And yet in spite of that, Cynthia was still smiling. She'd never had this much fun before!

I'm glad that Cynthia's enjoying herself. She's having fun battling one of her best friends! But is this just about making Cynthia happy? Or does Blake have something else in mind? What will come out of this battle, and how will it affect Cynthia's decisions about her future?