Sorry it's taken so long to update. I've had some computer problems together with other issues and playing Sun and Moon. But don't worry, this should get back on track now. Sorry!
Jay Hayden: Sango's role will become clearer as she gets more development off of her relationships with her friends.
Daozang: Yeah, I like Joltik personally, it should be good.
Darkhammer: Thanks!
GrumpyDragon: It isn't Ho-Oh.
Duskzilla: Perhaps it can use other things too.
PikaBlast: Perhaps, but it might also be an Alola Pokemon.
MagicRick: Well, we'll see.
Arcana of the North: Pretty soon, don't worry!
SnowGirl29: Sorry, not accepting submissions right now.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 24
It was still dark out when Cynthia was jostled out of her restful sleep.
"Urgh… what?" Cynthia blinked several times, but couldn't see anything.
"Hey, Cynthia."
"Sango, is that you?" The half-asleep Cynthia had trouble making out the voice. "What do you want at-FIVE IN THE MORNING?!"
"Shush! Don't wake up Julia!"
"'Don't wake up Julia' my a-"
Sango clamped a hand over Cynthia's mouth. After a few seconds, she let Cynthia speak again.
"I was having very nice dream. Tell me why you woke me up before I push you off the bed."
"I need a favor."
"What kind of favor?"
"Well, my club is going on a hike up the mountain, and we're told that we're supposed to bring someone with us."
"…Fuck you."
Cynthia turned her body to face the wall and pulled the covers up to her neck.
"Oh, come on!" Sango shook Cynthia again.
"I am NOT climbing a mountain at five in the morning."
"Come on, I'll owe you! Name it!"
Cynthia sat up, rubbing her eyes.
"Fine, let me get dressed."
Sango stepped out of the room, a large pack on her back, Cynthia dragging hers behind her.
"Wait, hold up."
"What?"
"I'm not doing this by myself…" Cynthia yawned. She knocked on the door of the boys' room.
"Hey, Blake, open up."
No response.
Cynthia knelt in front of the door, pulling out a hairpin.
After a few seconds the door swung open, Cynthia sneaking into the room, Sango following after her.
"Geez, how many times do you break into Blake's room, anyway?"
"Only when I need to."
Cynthia began shaking Blake.
"Blake, wake up. We're going on an adventure to Candy Mountain!"
"Fuck you."
"Come on, Sango will do whatever you want if you go!"
"I didn't say that."
"Don't care. I'm sleeping. Go 'way."
Cynthia continued shaking Blake, until he finally sat up. Blake climbed out of bed, grabbing Cynthia by the shoulders.
"…Wh-what?" Cynthia asked, her face flushing.
Blake pushed her out of the room, shutting and locking the door.
"Hey!"
"Cynthia, just give it up. Let's go."
"…Fine."
Thankfully, Cynthia was able to get some sleep on the bus, and by the time they arrived at the base of the mountain, the sun was starting to rise.
Cynthia yawned, rubbing her eyes, as she and Sango headed off the bus.
"Okay, all, here are guidebooks on the mountain we're climbing. We should reach the top by noon."
One of the teachers was giving out instructions, but Cynthia wasn't really paying attention.
"The path is too narrow for a large group, so each of you will head up in pairs in five minute intervals. That way, if anything happens to one of you, the other can go down to the next group and ask for assistance."
While he was speaking, one of the assistants was handing out waver forms.
"Is this really a dangerous hike?" Cynthia asked suspiciously.
"It shouldn't be," Sango said, shaking her head.
"I can't wait!" Cynthia and Sango turned to overhear one of the students talking to a guy who was standing next to her.
"I know, they say the view at the top of this mountain is amazing!"
"Not only that but the top of the mountain… how romantic…"
"Hey."
Cynthia placed her hand on the girl's shoulder.
"Hm?"
"What was that you were saying? About being romantic?"
"Oh, see, Mount Shimmer has a special legend, that if a couple climbs to the very top together, then they'll be together forever!" the girl blushed, entwining fingers with her boyfriend.
"…" Cynthia turned to Sango, leering at her.
"What?!" Sango exclaimed, her face bright red. "I had no idea! Believe me! I thought it was just a normal hike!"
"I'm leaving."
"Come on, they won't let me climb by myself!"
"Why didn't you ask Blake to come?"
"Well, I mean…" Sango looked away. "That'd be worse."
"Oh, really?" Cynthia asked, turning back to Sango, smiling.
"Wait, I didn't mean…"
"Sure."
"Come on, Cynthia, I said I'll do anything if you went with me."
"…Anything?"
"…No. Not anything."
"Oh, come on. It's nothing too bad, I promise."
"Fine… what is it?"
Cynthia's lips curled up into a smile, and she stretched up, whispering into Sango's ear.
"Anything else? Please?"
"That's my price."
"…Fine. When do I have to do it?"
"I'll tell you when, don't worry."
"Fine, so you'll go, then?"
"Of course! I wouldn't want to disappoint my dear friend, Sango."
Cynthia, now reinvigorated, and Sango, now more than a little concerned, joined the other groups, and in a half hour or so, they were headed up the mountain.
Twenty minutes in, and Cynthia was already complaining.
"Slow… down… I can't… breathe…"
"There is no way someone with as much energy as you can be tired already!" Sango, not even out of breath, exclaimed.
"I haven't eaten at all today…" Cynthia complained. "And you're going way to fast…"
"I'm walking."
"Too fast…"
"You know we have to climb a vertical cliff, right?"
"…What?" Cynthia asked, color draining from her face.
"Yeah, the safest path to the peak involves a climb up a 40 foot escarpment."
"That canNOT be the safest path."
"Yeah, well, it is."
"Why can't I have any pokemon that know how to climb?" Cynthia bemoaned.
The two continued their climb, the sun beating overhead by the time they reached the rest point.
Cynthia collapsed onto the bench, resting in the shade of the overhang, her entire body covered in sweat. Sango was barely winded.
"Maybe the reason you're so short is because you're so unhealthy."
"My body… is healthier than yours… scrawny."
Sango glared daggers at Cynthia, who was too busy dying to pay attention.
"Okay, let's go," Sango said, standing up.
"Are you crazy?!"
"Are you coming or not?"
"I'll catch up… in, like… twenty years…"
By the time Cynthia was rested enough to focus, her body was only slightly sore. She stood up, blinking, and noticed Sango sitting on one of the logs that functioned as a makeshift stool.
"I thought you went ahead."
"I did, you just took so long I'm on my way back."
"Great, so we can go back…"
"I'm lying. I wouldn't go see the peak without you."
"Oh really?"
Cynthia tried to put on a flirtatious grin, but she was too exhausted, and it ended up looking more like a wince.
"Yeah, half my entertainment on this trip has come from watching your suffering."
"Don't play coy, I know you invited me on this trip because you like me."
"So, ready to finish the climb?"
"Yeah, no problem," as Cynthia tried to stand up, her legs gave out, sending her sprawling into the dirt.
"Some problems, it seems," Sango said, smirking.
"Nope, I'm not going to do any walking any time soon."
"Welp, see you then."
"Wait, you've gotta carry me."
"No."
"Like a princess."
"Even more no."
"Come on!"
"Even if I wanted to, you weigh way too much. I'm not some sort of super strength freak."
"Sure you are! You're totally a freak with superhuman strength!"
When Cynthia woke up a second time, her jaw hurt.
"Okay, feel better?"
"Can't stand up."
"Too bad. See, Blake and I start our service jobs next week. So if you're able to finish the climb, I might be able to get you pictures of Blake and Serafina's sleepy faces."
"Hey, what do you know? I made a full recovery!" Cynthia jumped to her feet, full of energy.
"That's what I thought."
The two continued their climb, a renewed sense of energy in Cynthia.
"Damn, how can you not be sweating?" Cynthia panted. "It's like a hundred degrees out here."
"Silver." Sango commanded. Her Castform hovered up next to her, breathing cool air on her neck and shoulders.
"…" Cynthia stared in shock for a few seconds.
"You cheater!"
Sango giggled, running further ahead. Cynthia chased after her for about a second before shaking her head, too exhausted.
"Okay, fine," Sango sighed, nodding to Silver, who went to cool Cynthia off too.
"Don't worry, the path is going to level off ahead, we can walk easy for a while," Sango said.
"Awesome."
Sango slowed down, Cynthia catching up to her so the two were walking side by side.
"So, Cynthia, you really are interested in Blake, huh?" Sango asked, smiling.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Oh, come on, you know."
Cynthia smirked.
"What if the answer was yes? Would you get jealous?"
"Blake and I are just friends. Do what you want, I won't mind."
"Uh-huh. Sure." Cynthia laughed to herself, smiling.
Sango smiled, and the cool wind blowing on Cynthia turned into a blizzard attack.
"Geez, I was just joking!"
"You'll appreciate the cold in a second, we're almost there."
Sango stopped, gesturing to the rock face in front of them.
"So, where's the path?" Cynthia asked.
Sango's finger turned up.
"…So, rock climbing?"
"Rock climbing."
"And, exit Cynthia stage right," Cynthia said, turning around, Sango grabbing her by the collar.
"Are you seriously going to abandon me on a mountain?"
"Oh, please! Someone like you could live out here!"
"…Okay, fine. Go ahead," Sango said, releasing Cynthia.
"Fine, I will."
"So, do you think you could find your way back by yourself? This is a pretty big mountain, you know. It would be bad if you get lost."
"Please, I just have to head down and I'll get there eventually."
"A lot of wild pokemon around here. Think you can get past them all?"
"You're just trying to scare me!"
"Please, if you think you could survive out here by yourself, be my guest. But you do realize that I'm the only hope you have for finding your way back, don't you?"
"…So, rock climbing?"
"Rock climbing, sounds great!"
"I've never done it before, can you show me what to do?"
"Sure, I'll lead. I brought all the equipment with me. Just follow the rope and try to get handholds. If the school allowed this trip, it shouldn't be a very difficult climb. We can even see the top."
After Sango hooked up their climbing gear, she turned to Cynthia, holding up the rope.
"Okay, I'm going to attach this, okay?"
"That-"
"And if you say 'that's what she said' I'm going to cut your rope halfway up."
"Well, that would be right around where you would attach a-"
"Cynthia!"
"Fine, shutting up."
As the two scaled the cliff side, Sango realized the climb was a lot harder than she'd anticipated. Probably because she was carrying 110lbs of unhelpful Cynthia behind her.
"Sango, I still can't get a good handhold!"
"Go… to hell…" Sango cursed.
As they continued, Cynthia began getting the hang of it, and the two began advancing their pace. As they got closer to the top, however, Cynthia stopped.
"Cynthia, what's up?" Sango called down.
"I don't know…" Cynthia said, twisting her head as best she could while clinging to the rock face.
"Did you look down?"
"Why, what's down?"
"Don't look-"
"Holy crap!"
"Why would you look down? Tell me, WHY would you look down?!"
"Sango, do you hear that?" Cynthia asked.
"Your scream? Yeah, it was pretty hard to miss!"
"No, it's not that…"
Sango stopped talking, and they heard a soft groan coming out from an outcropping a few meters away.
"Maybe someone got hurt!" Cynthia noted. She and Sango maneuvered towards the noises, climbing onto the ledge.
"It's a Gligar!" Sango said, kneeling next to the pokemon.
"He's hurt…" Cynthia noticed the cuts and bruises on the wild pokemon, gingerly turning him over.
"Poor thing…" Sango said, frowning.
"Oh no… his wing…"
Sango noticed what Cynthia was gesturing towards, a large fragment was torn in the ground type's bat-like wings.
"This is bad…" Sango said, frowning. "There's no way he'll be able to fly like this…"
"What should we do?" Cynthia asked.
"I'm not sure…" Sango said, frowning. "I've got my first aid kit with me, though." Sango unpacked her bag, and withdrew a first aid kit. She opened it, and the two began looking through.
"We can help heal the wound with the potion, but with his wing like this, he won't be able to fly anymore," Sango said sadly. "But if we leave him, then…"
"I've got it!" Cynthia said, her expression brightening.
"Huh?" Sango asked.
Cynthia held up a needle and some thread.
"We can stitch him up!" Cynthia explained, smiling.
"I don't know how to…"
"Don't worry, don't worry, I learned how to sew a long time ago. It's practically a part of lifestyle."
"Okay, don't worry, little guy," Sango said, kneeling next to the Gligar.
Cynthia used a potion to numb the gash, and then moved the flaps of leather into place. She began sewing, and after a few minutes, the wound was somewhat stitched up.
"Okay, we need to wrap this," Sango said. She wrapped the wound with a bandage and set it on the splint to keep the wing steady, as any movement might risk it healing incorrectly.
"Sorry, Sango, I guess we aren't getting to the top, huh?" Cynthia asked, frowning.
"Guess not," Sango said, nodding. "I guess we'll have to find some way to get this guy to the pokemon center back on campus, you think?"
"Yeah, I agree. The question remains how we do that."
"Good point," Sango frowned. "We can't really make the climb back down while holding an injured pokemon, can we?"
"I have an idea," Cynthia said, reaching into her bag. She withdrew a few pokeballs, to Sango's surprise.
"Pokeballs?"
"Yeah. After Blake caught that Joltik I thought it might be a good idea to catch a new pokemon or two for the tournament myself, so I bought a few. This way we can carry the Gligar down without having to worry about injuring it more, right?"
Sango nodded affirmatively, and Cynthia gently pressed the pokeball against the Gligar's forehead, capturing it.
"Okay, let's get going," Sango said, fastening the rope in place. The two girls moved down the mountain face, Cynthia cradling her bag gently. The two touched down on the ground, and made for the base of the mountain.
When they arrived at the base point, Sango spoke with one of the assistants, who said something to one of the bus drivers, and in a few minutes the two were headed back to the campus. The sun just started to set as they made it to the pokemon center.
"Um, we… need some help…" Cynthia, strained from the days' activities, gasped.
"Oh?" The nurse in the center turned to them, concerned. "What's the problem?"
"Oh, um…" Cynthia dug through her bag for the pokeball and presented it to the nurse, the worry evident on her face.
"We found a badly injured pokemon on a hike earlier today," Sango rescued Cynthia, placing her hand on her friend's arm. "We were hoping you could heal it."
"I'll see what I can do," the nurse said, nodding. She took the pokeball from Cynthia and hurried into the back, Cynthia sighing in relief. She moved to one of the waiting chairs and collapsed into it, all the strength suddenly gone from her body.
"Wow, today was exhausting…" Cynthia said, struggling to even sit upright.
"Sorry about all this," Sango said. "I'm surprised that hike was so difficult for you."
"I don't do much of that…" Cynthia said, shaking her head. "I'm sure you can see I'm not exactly she most athletic person."
"Yeah, I noticed," Sango said, nodding. A smirk crept onto her face. "By the way, since we never finished the hike, our deal is off."
"What?!" Cynthia exclaimed.
"You heard me."
"I nearly killed myself on that stupid trek! You are SO doing it!"
"A deal is a deal, and you didn't complete your end."
"I swear, when I can move again, I'll-"
"Excuse me."
The nurse's voice interrupted the two of them, Sango walking up to the counter as Cynthia just tried to listen closer.
"Well, I was very impressed by the first aid used to aid this poor Gligar. Thanks to your quick thinking, it looks like he's going to make a recovery," she said, a smile on her face, much to the relief of Sango and Cynthia.
"That's great," Cynthia said, smiling.
"If you don't mind me asking, miss, are you the one who transported this Gligar in a pokeball?" the nurse asked.
"Well, yes, but I…"
"Would you like to officially catch this Gligar?" she asked. "You see, this pokemon is already caught in your pokeball. If you'd like to officially register it as one of your pokemon here at the school, we can finalize the paperwork for it right now."
"Seriously?" Cynthia asked, excited, jumping to her feet, reinvigorated by this news. "Yeah, that would be great!"
"Excellent," the nurse said, smiling. "Still, you need to make sure he gets a lot of rest. His wounds are starting to heal, but it will be a while before he'll be able to fight."
"Yeah, sure," Cynthia said, nodding.
"Excellent. Well, then, I'll get the forms for you." The nurse hurried off into the back room once again.
Sango turned to Cynthia, patting her on the back in congratulations.
"See? This hike wasn't for nothing after all, right?"
"Oh, you still have to do it."
"Not a chance."
So, I'm back, and I hope I can get these out a little faster now.