Here's the next chapter, the real beginning of the new arc! Time to see what our characters have coming up next! Remember to review!
So, any last-minute suggestions?
Currently Nominated: Sango, Cynthia, Elaina, Kate, Dakota, Ayame, Marion, Kitty, Serefina, Madison
ConfusedCradily: Always nice to see someone making the effort to catch up, thanks!
Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Don't worry, that may or may not be important later, but it isn't what we're covering right now.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 238
"Okay, listen up, all of you," Professor Reinhart said, calling attention to his Pokemon Myths and Legends class as they began preparing to leave. "Everyone who has signed up for the extracurricular trip to Galar Region this Thursday, please remain after class for me to go over the details. Everyone else, please begin your independent reports today, they will be due when I return. Until then, class is postponed."
He cleared his throat over the noise made by the departing students not going on the research trip.
"You, lovebirds! Stop whispering sweet words to each other."
"W-we weren't!" Reiner and Nikita protested, their faces bright red. It wasn't like they were doing anything that bad. Nikita blushed. Reiner had just been telling her a joke, they weren't trying to be a distraction.
Reiner sighed. Nikita, perfect little angel that she was, always insisted on sitting in the front, while at the same time smiling at him in the most distracting way possible. So they got caught. A lot. And this was one of the less embarrassing times.
In total, only 11 students remained in the class. Of those, Blake, Reiner, and Nikita were among them.
"Now then, I'm going to pass out your worksheets," Professor Reinhart walked to the individual students' seats, handing out a thick leaflet to each of them. Nikita's eyes were practically shining, while Blake was significantly less and enthused. He and Reiner glanced at each other over the girl's black hair, their faces pale.
"While we're in Galar, we will be flying into Circhester Town, where we will spend the night at the Hotel Ionia. The first day will be free time, to give you all time to see the sights, enjoy the shopping, whatnot. Then, we'll take the midnight train to Stow-On-Side, where we will begin our examination," the Professor replied.
Nikita raised her hand, an all-too-common occurrence.
"What will we be examining?" Nikita asked. "The mural?"
A smirk crossed Professor Reinhart's face.
"It seems you aren't quite as well-informed on this as you usually are, Nikita," he laughed. Nikita scowled.
"No, you see, recently, the mural on Stow-On-Side had a collapse. Within it, a hidden chamber was found, as well as several more hidden rooms containing ancient artifacts, and as-of-now unexplored side passages. I'll be showing you all a first-hand experience of how a professional conducts an excavation of a historical landmark, and the proper method of classifying artifacts," Professor Reinhart explained. A chorus of "oohs" and "aahs" rang out from the students. "We'll be spending seven days there. While there, I expect each of you to work on an in-depth report about your experience. Details are in the pamphlet."
He stopped in front of Blake's desk, and placed a second pamphlet in front of him.
"Your special guest is no exception," Professor Reinhart replied. "Has she cleared things with her teachers as well?"
Blake shrugged. Even if she hadn't, Sango was looking forward to this trip, there was no way that something like this would make her baulk.
"While we're there, three sophomores in my advanced class will be accompanying us as well. I'll split you up into three groups. They'll be supervising you, understood? Follow the instructions of your chaperones. In the meantime, group up."
Reinhart gave Blake a meaningful look. Sango would be in his group.
"So the four of us, then?" Reiner said, looking at Nikita and Blake. The three agreed.
"Oh, this is going to be so much fun!" Nikita cooed, clapping her hands together. "All four of us working together, going on this trip? It's almost like a double date!"
"Hah, that would mean Blake and Sango were dating?" Reiner laughed. "That'll be the day!"
"Sango and me, yeah, pretty sure she'd rather barf," Blake agreed.
"Oh poo, you boys are no fun," Nikita frowned, her amber eyes sparkling. "Think more romantically!"
"Oh, yeah, nothing more romantic than an old ruin," Reiner said, rolling his eyes. Nikita glared at him.
"Sorry, I'm with Reiner on this one, ruins are cool and all, but romantic?"
Nikita crossed her arms and let out a "humph", being hit on all sides by stupid guys who didn't understand.
"Well, whatever," Nikita huffed. "I ain't letting you guys ruin this for me. This is gonna be great! Didn't you guys read the flier? It's a 20 page report! Isn't that wonderful? 20 pages! You guys should be pumped for this!"
Blake and Reiner looked at each other and sighed.
"Seriously?" Reiner asked.
"She's your girlfriend," Blake dryly replied.
"20 pages?!" Sango exclaimed, flinging the pamphlet in Blake's face. The three of them had invited her out for dinner so they could discuss the trip, since Nick and Callie were going on a date, and Kitty and Julia had their caretaking hours on Monday evenings.
Cynthia, with nothing better to do, was tagging along as well.
"Wow, sucks to be you guys," she chortled. "I mean, I was super jealous that you guys get to miss, like, 10 days of class, but nah. Now I'm just feeling lucky as hell."
"This is so unfair!" Sango scowled. "I don't even like stuff like this! Plus, I'm not even really a student! I'm… a tagalong!"
"The professor says if you want to go, you gotta do the report," Reiner explained. "Simple as that."
"Oh, it's gonna be so much fun!" Nikita gushed, grabbing Sango by the hands. "Taking a look at ancient artifacts and civilizations, studying the development of our pokemon roots? I mean, my first love is pokemon genetics, but to understand the roots of pokemon, we must look at the ancient development of them! Wouldn't you agree? I could write 30, 40 pages on the topic of genetics and ancient pokemon, easy! For example, there are legends of a pokemon known as Mew, who-"
As Nikita rambled on, Sango turned to look at Reiner.
"Reiner, I think you need a new girlfriend, this one is clearly broken."
Nikita shut her mouth and glared at Sango.
"Sorry, sorry," Sango apologized, clearly feeling guilty about hurting the girl's feelings. "I didn't mean to be rude, you and Reiner are great together."
"R-really?" Nikita blushed, fidgeting slightly.
"Yeah, since you both take dumb stuff way too seriously, you're, like, the perfect couple," Sango smiled. Nikita felt oddly miffed and yet still overjoyed. It was a weird feeling.
"Hey!" It was Reiner's turn to snap now.
"Come on dude, don't you remember your whole angst phase in the Fall Festival Tournament?" Cynthia reminded him. "You can get super edgy and serious sometimes."
Reiner rolled his eyes, and Nikita snickered.
"I was so looking forward to this, too," Sango sighed, picking at the mountain of potato salad in front of her. "But now this is starting to feel more like a chore than something I can enjoy."
"Come on, it won't be that bad," Blake said, even though he was a little bit apprehensive of the workload in front of him, just like Sango clearly was.
"Dude, this stuff looks horrific," Cynthia said, flipping through the pamphlet. "This is basically like a ten-day labor camp. How're you going to have any fun following this itinerary? I mean, sure, yeah, you get the first day off, and the last day is like a cooldown, but all I see here is expedition, expedition, expedition. When are you guys going to see the sights?"
"It's not a vacation," Sango snapped, grabbing the papers back. "We're going there to study and get work done, you know. This is important stuff. So even though it sucks, we shouldn't be treating this like something half-assed."
"Exactly!" Nikita agreed. "And besides, writing papers is a ton of fun!"
"Not going that far," Sango said, giving her a fake smile.
"Another plus is that they're taking us on a private jet," Reiner brought up as well. "Apparently, Professor Reinhart is really being given the gold star treatment. They're flying us in on a fancy plane, we're going to be staying in two different 5-star hotels, and we're going to be taking a first-class luxury train car to Stow-On-Side. I can't even begin to think about how awesome this trip is going to be."
"Oh, I know! That's going to be a blast!" Nikita agreed, smiling gleefully as she bit into her salad. "Ah, a first-class sleeping compartment through the wilderness of Galar…"
"See, now that's romantic," Reiner said. "Not some old ruins."
"You want to be an archaeologist, how can you not find ruins romantic?" Nikita demanded, crossing her arms in front of her chest and scowling at him.
"Just a bunch of dumb old rocks and dirt," Cynthia yawned. "Pass."
"Dirt and rocks?!" Blake, Nikita, and Reiner all had simultaneous outbursts of shock at Cynthia's careless choice of words. As they shouted over each other about why she was wrong, Sango rolled her eyes, and chose to disengage from the conversation and focus her attentions on the small grey Castform sitting in her lap.
"Hey, Silver," Sango whispered to her partner pokemon, Silver glancing up at her.
"Castform?"
"Since we're going by private jet, that means you get to fly, too," Sango grinned. "We're going back to Galar!"
"Castform!" Silver's eyes brightened, and he nodded eagerly.
Sadly they wouldn't be going anywhere near Turffield, or she might be able to pay a visit to her ranger friends, or Lucy's farm. But still, it was going to be great to see her father again, and the atmosphere of Galar was very comfortable, so she would put up with having to right a paper.
Besides, it's not like I'm getting a grade in his class anyway, she realized, slapping her face, in awe of her stupidity for worrying. So it's not like I have to try.
"Fine, I get it," Cynthia said, having been browbeaten into accepting the position of the three angry archaeology students. "Sorry."
"But still, imagine, Reiner…" Nikita blushed, her eyes sliding towards him. She tilted her head down, her bangs falling over her face. "W-we're going to stay in a fancy, 5-star hotel… it's gonna be really romantic… don't you think?"
"Well, uh… I guess so," Reiner said, glancing away from her, his face flushing as he imagined the two of them spending time in a fancy hotel, eating a fancy 5-star dinner. Meanwhile, Nikita was imagining them swimming in the luxury pool the hotel no doubt had. Swimming was one of the few non-academic pleasures she allowed for herself, and she knew that a hotel would definitely have a killer pool. Heck, Circhester had its own hotspring!
Cynthia's eyes widened gleefully as she looked back and forth between the two, taking in their blushing faces with a look of awe.
"Oh? What are you two imagining, hmm?" Cynthia asked, licking her lips. "Things you get up to in a hotel, huh? I wonder what those things might be, I wonder? My, my, my, and here I thought you two had a nice, pure little relationship. Oh, my, how wrong I was… I knew that with a curvy body like that, Nikita, there was quite the little minx under that teacher's pet exterior you've been putting up, my how you fooled me!"
"Eh?" Nikita gasped.
"Huh?" Reiner asked, blinking.
The two realized what she was insinuating, their mouths dropping open in shock.
"No! We… we weren't thinking anything like that, r-right, Nikita?!" Reiner exclaimed.
"Uwah, no, no, I seriously just wanted to spend time in a fancy hotel! I-I wasn't thinking something dirty, honest!" Nikita wailed. Her normally dark complexion was filling with color, and she held her hands over her face in embarrassment, shaking her head frantically. "I just thought a 5-star hotel was nice!"
"I don't get what the big deal is," Blake admitted. "Private plane and a 5-star hotel, shouldn't that be the standard for trips?"
"Shut up, rich boy," Reiner frowned. "You have no idea what it's like for us commoners, these aren't exactly standard!"
Sango and Nikita nodded in agreement, and Cynthia snickered.
"But since it's a private plane, that means you can bring Silver with you," Blake noted. Sango nodded, having realized that a little while ago.
"Speaking of which, how're things going with you and that Salamence of yours?" Cynthia asked. "Gotta admit, I'm sweating in my boots at the thought of having to face her unprepared. Gotta come up with some counter strategies, you know."
Blake nodded, rolling his eyes.
"Well, it's a little convoluted now," Blake admitted. "I have 8 pokemon, and a pokemon egg. And since we're only allowed to have 6 pokemon on us at a time, I'm wondering what I should do with my other pokemon on the trip."
"Who're you leaving behind?" Sango asked.
"Definitely not Sarah," Blake decided. "But definitely Uni. I want her to relax here, you know? But she's shy around strangers."
"You could always have Kitty look after your pokemon," Reiner suggested. "She's great at it, after all."
"Oh, good thinking," Blake said, nodding. "In fact, I'm going to call her right now!"
Blake took out his phone and dialed Kitty's number.
"Blake! How's dinner?" Kitty asked over the phone, the desperation in her tone betraying how hungry she was.
"It's fine," Blake said. "Want to get you some stuff in a Kitty Bag?"
"…You mean a doggy bag?" Kitty asked, her dry tone delivering her total lack of amusement with Blake's bad joke.
"Come on, I'm just kidding," Blake snickered. "But anyway, you must be getting hungry, taking care of those pokemon. Is Julia okay?"
"Actually we finished that up," Kitty replied. "Julia headed back like half an hour ago. As for me, well…"
"Kitty! You're never going to be able to catch anything with your rod in one hand and your phone in the other, ya dumdum!" The cheerful voice of a certain fishing enthusiast could be heard in the background. An involuntary scowl crossed Sango's face.
"R-right, sorry!" Kitty gasped. "Sorry, Blake, I gotta go. Marion's still helping me with my harmonia, so… you know."
"Hey, uh, wait, before you hang up, I wanted to ask you something.
"…Yeah?"
"I was wondering, since I'm going to be gone for like 10 days, would it possible for you to look after Uni for that time? She really gets along good with you."
"Of course!" Kitty said, nodding. "I'd love to! But are you going to be okay, missing all these classes? Between this and your injury, I don't know…"
"Don't worry about me," Blake laughed. "It's not like I'm Sango."
"Hey!" Sango scowled.
"Come on, first it was your licensing exam, then it was that practicum you did, and now this," Blake said, shrugging his shoulders. "It looks to me like you're spending a lot more time outside class than in it. Are you sure you're keeping on top of your workload?"
"W-well, of course I am," Sango scoffed. "Besides, those are pokemon battling courses and pokemon capturing courses. And I don't need classes like those at all!"
Blake sighed. Sango was probably in much worse condition than she was letting on, but it wasn't like it was his place to keep pressing.
"Um… I can look after Uni," Kitty repeated, Blake snapping back to reality after realizing that he was still on the phone. "But… you have 8 pokemon, right? Do you need me to look after another-"
"Kitty!" Marion's voice was louder now, and closer. "What's up, huh?"
"S-s-sorry!" Kitty said. "I was talking with Blake, and I was agreeing to look after some of his pokemon, and-"
"Blake? Sweet, I want to talk to him!" Marion snatched the phone from Kitty's tiny hands. "Hey, Blake! You're looking for someone to look after your pokemon, yeah?"
"Well, yeah, but I wanted Kitty to-"
"Well, don't worry! I actually was wondering if I could look after that Corphish of yours!"
"…Cory?" Blake asked.
"Yeah! He was a lot of fun when I got to know him. And if you're looking for folks to look after your pokemon, I'd be happy to help! What do you think?"
Blake wasn't quite sure what to think. It would lighten the load on Kitty, that was for sure, but he wasn't sure about Marion. He didn't know her very well, and while she wasn't untrustworthy, she was very flighty, and he wasn't sure if she would be able to take good care of Cory, or if he would end up neglected, hurt, or worse. He looked at Sango. She was the one who knew Marion best of all, so he'd hear what she had to say.
"Marion says that she wants to look after Cory while Kitty is looking after Uni."
Sango considered this, and shrugged.
"I say go for it," she said. "If there's one thing you can trust about Marion, it's that she loves her fish pokemon. If you leave him with her, I guarantee that she'll take care of him."
"Is that Sango?" Marion chirped. "Hey, girl!"
"Hey, Marion," Sango called.
"Marion, if you promise you can take care of Cory, then I'll be willing to trust you," Blake said. "Since Sango vouches for you."
"Awesomesauce," Marion giggled. "Oh, we're going to have such a blast! Don't worry, I'll take care of him exactly how you like! Heck, you want, I'll even train him up to evolve."
Blake paused.
"If it's all the same, I'd rather Cory evolve when he's ready, and I'd also like to be with him when it happens, okay?"
"You got it," Marion laughed. "I can't wait!"
"Can I talk to Kitty?" Blake asked.
"Sure sure," Marion agreed. "Back to you, Kitty Kat."
Marion handed the phone back to Kitty.
"Um, I also think… you can trust Marion."
Blake laughed.
"I already know that, no need to worry. Just wanted to say, thanks for agreeing to look after Uni."
"Of course," Kitty said. "Uni is positively adorable, anyway."
Blake thanked her again and again, and Kitty brushed it off again and again. Finally, they both agreed they were lovely people, and hung up.
"…Man you and Kitty are so cute together," Cynthia piped up. Sango shot her a dirty look and Blake rolled his eyes.
"Well, with that covered, let's talk about what we want to do during our free day," Reiner suggested. Nikita nodded in agreement.
Meanwhile, another girl was also excitedly preparing for the trip to Galar, imagining what she'd be doing on the expedition, and the sights she was going to see. She wanted to see those awesome ruins for herself.
"You seem… excited, is it?" Alcea asked, noting that Kate was humming to herself as she prepared tea for the two of them.
"Of course I am!" Kate giggled. "I get to visit the mural on Stow-On-Side this week! Oh, milady, it's going to be so much fun!"
"I see," Alcea said, smiling. "That does sound like fun."
"I know, right? I mean, archaeology is really more of a hobby, than anything, but I can't help it! Old ruins, ancient relics, they're so cool! It's like something right out of a movie!"
"And the fact that you'll be going to Galar with Blake, I'm sure that has nothing to do with it," Alcea commented. Kate flinched, the teapot shaking in her hand. Some tea spilled over the side of her cup, splashing on her fingers.
"Yow!" Kate cried, the teapot falling onto the table (thankfully not spilling over). She waved her burned fingers through the air to soothe them, sticking them in her mouth.
"Kate, are you okay?" Alcea gasped, rising from her seat. She ran over to the first-aid kit in the corner to get some burn heal. Always close at hand for whenever Kate was in need of it.
"No, I'm not okay!" Kate cried. "Wh-why would you say something like that? That Blake and I… no! It's not like that."
"…I was talking about the burn," Alcea said, spreading some salve onto Kate's fingers.
"O-oh," Kate said, blushing. "Y-yeah, that's fine."
"But as for Blake… you could always confess to him, you know," Alcea reminded her. Kate's cheeks flushed.
"M-milady! I promise, that's not how I feel! N-not at all!" Kate exclaimed, her face bright red. Alcea just laughed, and shook her head.
"If you say so, Kate," she laughed.
"I'm serious! I'm only interested in the research and the archaeological dig, this has nothing to do with spending time with Blake at all!" Kate insisted.
Alcea smiled, shaking her head.
"If you say so, Kate," Alcea laughed, Kate puffing up her cheeks indignantly.
So, the trip is coming up! How will things change on this little expedition?