With the final chapter of the water park upon us, it's time to celebrate things the only way our characters know how: by having fun on one of the rides! Cynthia's chosen a special one for their last ride of the day, hopefully things will go well. Maybe Ruka will even be able to go on a slide all by herself? Or even Julia. Remember to review!

KedharS: Don't worry, it should be a lot of fun for everyone! And real fun, not Cynthia just messing with things.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1067

To absolutely no one's surprise, Cynthia's "just one more slide" turned into "every slide on the way to that one more slide, plus two that are a slight detour". Needless to say, by the time they got to the last slide of the day, the park was almost closed. And you didn't need to hear the clock tower's chimes to know there was NO WAY they would be getting back to the inn in time.

Nobody harbored any complaints though. If Cynthia was willing to take the responsibility for keeping them all out late, that was absolutely fine with them. It just meant more water slide time.

"So this is your last water slide, huh?" Sango said. She was surprised. The Milotic Twister was among the top 5 slides in the park, but the lines for it were incredibly long. She'd wanted to go ever since she read about it in the brochure, but had given up her ambitions when she realized that there was no chance that anyone else would be willing to wait the full two hours.

"You gotta come right as the park is closing," Cynthia explained. "Nobody wants to ride on it then. It's such a draw, everyone wants to go on it as soon as they arrive!"

She had a point. There were only a handful of people in line. It wouldn't even take them twenty minutes to get to the front.

There was just one problem though. The Milotic Twister was a very intense slide. Shaped like two Milotic curled into spirals and linked by their tails, it had sharp turns, covered sections, and even a part where you went upside-down for a little. It was one of the most exciting water slides in the park… and it wasn't inner tube accessible.

"I'm not going on that," Elaina said, shaking her head. "I'll drown. I'll definitely drown."

"It's fine," Cynthia assured her. "That's what the water wings are for!"

Elaina wasn't at all convinced. It was less about the drowning and mor that she was worried she might break her neck.

"I-I just…"

Cynthia frowned, disappointed that Elaina didn't want to go. "Okay, well, Caelia, what about you?" She asked, turning to the quiet girl. She offered the water wings to her, but Blake was the one who shut her down this time.

"Cynthia, that's not going to work," Blake warned her. "Caelia can't even swim. Water wings won't help her, she won't even be able to kick properly."

Unlike Elaina who could be taught to swim, Caelia couldn't even feel where she was in the water; getting her body to move properly was a ridiculous task, and it would be more likely that she'd slap all over the place and still drown anyway.

Everyone looked to Cynthia to see what she would say. It was clear that she wasn't happy. She wanted Caelia to go on the slide; like with the wave pool, she hoped that the intensity of the roller-coaster-like ride would be enough to jostle some emotion out of the other girl.

But it was clear that nobody was on her side in this. Even Ruka was against her, signing frantically that she wouldn't go on the ride either.

"…Fine," she sighed, hanging her head sadly. "It's okay. We don't have to go on this one if you guys don't want to."

"Wait, now hold on," Sango said, feeling he obligation to step in on Cynthia's behalf. "We can still go on the ride, just not all of us."

"It's fine, we can just go on the Tunnel of Luvdisc or something," Cynthia muttered.

Elaina was starting to feel bad about saying no. But she took another look at the twisted slide, and decided that her health and safety were more important than making Cynthia feel better.

"I'm willing to try it," Kitty said.

"Sure, I'm excited," Reiner agreed.

"See, Cynthia?" Blake said, placing a hand on Cynthia's shoulder. "A lot of us want to go. You don't need to give up just because not everyone wants to, okay?"

Cynthia understood where he was coming from, and she also understood where the girls were coming from too. But still, she felt…

Someone tugged on the sarong of her bikini. It was Ruka! The Zorua had a contrite look on her human face.

She signed something, staring up into Cynthia's eyes. Hers were blue and watery, like the small pokemon was about to cry.

"She said that she's going to give it a chance," Sango said. Even if she doesn't know how to swim very well.

Cynthia's jaw dropped. She hadn't expected that from her little partner!

"Really? You sure?" She asked, not wanting to get her hopes up. "You know it's not safe to go alone, right? You could drown!"

Ruka shook her head. "I won't drown," she signed. "I'm really tough."

Cynthia's heart went out to the little thing. She didn't know how to swim, but he was going to give it her all regardless and go down the slide! All to make her feel better! It was the most touching thing she'd seen all day.

…But that didn't mean it was okay.

"Ruka, I really appreciate that," Cynthia smiled. "But I don't think it's safe. You can just stay down here, okay?"

Even with water wings, Cynthia was worried that Ruka might hit the water and revert to her original form, in which case they would have no effect.

But that did give her a thought…

"Okay, how about this?" Cynthia decided. "I'll go down first, and I'll wait for you on the side. Then when you come down, I'll be right here. And I'll grab you out of the water before you can drown, okay? So there's nothing to worry about."

Ruka was still scared. But Cynthia's words gave her a lot of confidence, and she nodded. "Zorua!" She agreed, shaking a little.

"Great, then we've got it all worked out," Will said. "Let's get going, we're running out of time!" He was standing in line already, ignoring the heartwarming moments. He was ready to go!

"Okay, I'm comig!" Cynthia took Ruka by the hand and got in line. As everyone else lined up, Blake turned to Elaina and Caelia. They were the only two who weren't able to go on the slide.

"Will you two be fine?" He asked. "I can stay behind if that would make you feel better…"

Elaina shook her head. "I'll be fine," she assured him. "Please, go enjoy yourself."

She smiled, just relieved to not have to go down that death trap. Caelia didn't seem as relieved, but Blake suspected that she felt the same way as Elaina did. Well, either way, it was for the best. He nodded, glad they were handling it, and headed to join the others.

Kitty was pumped up, while Julia was feeling a little more reluctant. But she was still supportive. Even though Julia said she wanted to go first.

"That's okay," Kitty agreed. She didn't mind either way. She was just happy that Julia wanted to go on the ride with her. "You go down first and tell me how much fun you had!" She smiled and patted Julia's arm.

"Sure, whatever," Julia muttered. She didn't want to let on that she was having fun, going on the other slides. She might have had issues with going to the water park, but the rides themselves were fun, annoying as it was to admit it.

Soon enough, they reached the top of the slide. Will went down first, much to Cynthia's frustration, but she leapt down the second she got the okay from the attendant. Her screams of gle filled the sky as she shot towards the bottom.

"THIS IS THE BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEST!" She called. Ruka's heart leapt in her chest as she watched her trainer shoot towards the pool. She was starting to get anxious. She didn't want to back down, because Cynthia looked like she was having fun. But she still felt unsure about going on the ride. She stepped up to the lip of the slide and stared down at the rushing water. There was no inner tube separating herself from the water, and she didn't have Cynthia to support her either. it would just be her, on her own…

"Ruka, everything okay?"

Ruka flinched, glancing over her shoulder to see Sango standing at the head of the line, a worried expression on her face.

"If you're worried about getting in the water-"

"I'm fine," Ruka cut her off by signing, shaking her head. "I just need to think…"

Sango watched anxiously. She knew that Ruka must be in a difficult position; after all, she was stuck in a situation where she would go down a long water slide without knowing how to swim. Of course Ruka wasn't certain that she could do it.

"RUKA!" Cynthia's voice echoed from below. Ruka snapped her head around to peek over the edge, surprised.

Cynthia looked like a little model, standing by the edge of the pool. She was waving her hands frantically.

"Go ahead and go!" She called. "I promise, I'll be there to get you! You don't have to be afraid!" She flashed a thumbs' up and Ruka sighed. She'd only known her trainer a few days, but she could already tell just how much Cynthia cared about her. Cynthia was being honest, the other girl would never let her drown.

Taking a deep breath, she stepped forward, and stepped onto the slide. The water took hold of her and she shot down towards the pool.

Ruka had never had so much fun! Her body was jerked from side to side as she descended down the slide, feeling a strange rush of helplessness. It was like she couldn't control anything around her, all she could do was fall. The slide entered a tunnel next, blocking her vision. All she could see was the blue, red, and tan sections of plastic. Then the slide turned upside-down for a second, and her heart skipped a beat.

Oh, and she was screaming. A constant scream of exuberance escaped her lungs, making her wish that she could go down the slide again the second she hit the ground!

But before she could fully realize those feelings, her body jerked to the side one last time, and she slammed into the pool at high speed. The impact didn't hurt, of course, but the force of the plunge into the water was enough to stop her descent and break her illusion, leaving her as a tiny helpless Zorua again.

One who didn't know how to swim.

Ruka thrashed in the water for a moment, not knowing how get back to the surface. But she didn't need to worry. Cynthia was always true to her word. Two gentle hands wrapped around her waist, lifting her up out of the water as she squirmed.

"It's okay," Cynthia gently whispered, holding Ruka tightly to her breast. "I've got you, sweetie. And I'm never going to let you go."

Ruka had never been so happy to see her trainer before. She felt like she was going to cry. "Zorua…" She sniffled, rubbing her cheek against her. "Zorua!"

"How was it?" Cynthia asked, spinning Ruka through the air. "Did you have fun? It sure sounded like you had fun!"

"Zor!" Ruka chirped, nodding. Cynthia got out of the water, clearing the way for the others to come down. She was still carrying Ruka, and the pokemon hadn't returned to her human form yet. She was tuckered out, and happy to let her trainer carry her for a little bit longer. It was nice and relaxing after all.

The others began to go down the slide. Judging from the screams, they were certainly enjoying themselves. Blake had to admit, even though Cynthia might have been disappointed she couldn't get everyone to go, she certainly had great taste in rides. This was the perfect way to end a really exciting day.

Nick was the last one to get to the bottom. By the time he joined the others, they were all ready to head back to the bus. The sun was starting to set over the horizon.

"Okay, that was a blast!" Cynthia cheered. "Ready to head out?"

"Your grandparents are really going to be upset about this, huh?" Sango's voice was a mix of sympathy and amusement. Cynthia averted her eyes and shrugged. "Well, anyway," Sango continued, "you're right, we should really get going."

"Um… actually…"

Surprised, everyone turned to Elaina. They hadn't expected her to speak up in this situation.

"What's up, Elaina?" Blake asked, confused.

"I, um… I wanted…" Her voice was shaky, and she kept glancing at the slide in spite of herself. "I wanted… I changed my mind," she sighed. "I want to… at least give the water slide a chance… you know, if I still can."

Cynthia was amazed. "Really?!" She gushed. "Really, for reals?! You want to go down the slide too?! Elaina, that's just-!"

"It's nuts," Blake interrupted. "I thought you said you didn't want to go, because you were afraid you were going to drown?"

Elaina flinched, averting her eyes.

"Y-Yes," she admitted. "It's scary… even with water wings, the ride looks really scary… but still… it seemed like so much fun when you all went down… and so I just… I wanted to have some of that fun for myself, you see…"

She glanced up demurely at Blake, batting her eyelashes. "Is that… okay?"

Blake opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He couldn't argue if Elaina was dead-set on going through with this.

"Wow," Cynthia whistled. "Elaina's really got him wrapped around her little finger. I wonder if Ayame knows just how whipped he is, huh?"

"Don't even start," Blake snapped.

"Well, anyway," Sango said, stepping between the two of them before things escalated further, "if Elaina wants to give it a try, I don't see why she can't. This is a once in a lifetime moment for her, she should make the most of it."

"Going on a water slide is a 'once in a lifetime moment'?" Julia asked incredulously.

"Well, if you can't swim, then yeah," Reiner offered unhelpfully. Julia shot him a cold glare.

"I'll be fine," Elaina assured them, trying to convince herself more than the others. She wanted to go on the slide because, as Sango had said, this really felt like a once in a lifetime opportunity for her. She had no idea if she would ever do something this fun with friends ever again, so she wanted to make the most of her chance.

Taking a deep breath, Elaina turned and got into line while everyone else waited for her. The line was even shorter than before as most people in the park had gone home at this point, and after a few minutes she was at the top of the slide.

It was a strange feeling. As someone who could control the wind, Elaina had an affinity for high places and the sky. She took a deep breath, staring out at the sunset. She could do this. She could definitely do this. She had water wings, so she wouldn't sink. And Blake had taught her to swim a little, so she would be fine. And she certainly wasn't repeating to herself that she would be fine because she was afraid that she wouldn't be fine.

Everyone had so much fun. So why couldn't she?

She took a step down onto the slide, and let the water take her away. The rush of wind that smacked her in the face was like an old friend, and as she descended, she felt a freeing sensation of her body connecting with the water completely. There wasn't an inner tube to get in the way.

Elaina had sensed the freeing enjoyment Ruka had felt. That had been the tipping point, not just seeing the other humans going down. She had FELT Ruka's enjoyment, it had flooded into her. And she wanted to feel it for herself.

She wasn't disappointed.

With a joyful cry she hit the water, sinking below the surface. For a moment, she was completely submerged. Then her body slingshot up above the surface with the aid of her water wings, and her head broke out to gasp in air.

"Oh my gosh!" Elaina cried, paddling awkwardly out of the pool. She dragged herself out, panting. "That… that was just… amazing…"

She was completely wiped out, having spent all her energy on that slide. A yawn escaped her mouth and her head throbbed. It was like the sensation when she overused her harmonia.

"How was it?" Blake asked, helpig her to her feet.

"AMAZING!" Elaina shouted. She was still panting. "Come on… that's… whew."

She didn't have the strength for explanations.

"I'm glad you had fun," Cynthia smiled. "Hopefully, we can all come back here someday." She really meant it. She would love to come here with everyone again. Even Will. "But still, I think it's time to go back."

Elaina nodded, no objections there. She'd had enough fun on that one slide to make the entire day worthwhile. She couldn't wait to fall asleep on the bus, and take a nice, long bath when she got back to the inn.

They all left the park with lighter hearts and cheerier attitudes. Even the emotionless Caelia seemed just a little gentler in what little of her face could be seen.

It had truly been a great day. Cynthia glanced at her phone as they got on the bus. A ton of messages from her grandparents. She ignored them.

Yes, a great day.

A nice, fun day at the water park. They certainly enjoyed themselves quite a bit! But it looks like trouble is brewing back at the inn. Will Cynthia's grandparents be happy that she's coming back so late? Well, either way, the others certainly enjoyed themselves. New bonds of friendship were formed, and new pokemon were caught! Altogether, a great day.