The finals are over. But what comes next? Why, the party, of course… and some last-minute conversations about what the hell is going on, for a nice breather.

Rosealine gold: Maddi's backstory will be coming soon.

KedharS: It was quite a struggle.

FinLay Real: Thanks, I'm glad I could do a good job!

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: She should be fine.

Aquahaze675: What comes next is also important.

JoshGamerV: Hopefully it won't come to that.

MikySP: Just like we drew it up.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 400

Elaina awoke in a world of white. She looked around, confused. She was standing… maybe. There was nothing beneath her feet, but there was nothing behind her, either. She stepped forward, but while her foot stopped moving there was nothing beneath it. She turned her head… and suddenly the walls of white were replaced by a wall of mirrors, each mirror reflecting her face back at her. Her eyes widened in realization, she wasn't wearing her mask! She stumbled back and her arms shot up in front of her face.

"You don't need to hide yourself from me." A voice that sounded like hers, and yet oddly strange, rang in her ear. That meant she was… Harmonia!

"Harmonia?" Elaina asked, lowering her arms. Standing in front of her was a reflection like none of the others, because she wore that pale white mask. The image nodded her head slowly. Elaina stared, waiting for her to say something, but she didn't. So Elaina swallowed, and asked first, "what… what is it that you want from me now?"

"You fought well in that battle," Harmonia replied. "Are you content?"

"Of course I'm not content," Elaina scowled. "That… that life… it's a pipe dream! Bringing suffering on others, no matter how much I might enjoy myself…"

She shook her head, resisting the pain she felt in her heart, so scared was she that it would seize hold of her completely.

"I can't! I can't be… that!"

"…So that's your answer, then?" Harmonia confirmed. She raised her hand and swiped across her face, her mask fading away into nothing to reveal Elaina's own face behind. "Indeed, it seems you wish… that I was like you. This is what you want, is it not?"

"I want you to leave," Elaina growled. "I don't want you!"

"Without my help, you wouldn't have been able to defeat that Chandelure," Harmonia reminded her. "That happiness you felt at working with Blake as a team is all because of me."

"I don't need this power to be happy!" Elaina shouted. "I would be happy without it! I just want to be normal, so why don't you just go away?!"

"Maybe you would be happier without me," Harmonia admitted. "But that isn't how this works. You and I are one and the same. You can no more send me away than I can take you over and control your body."

Harmonia lowered her head in a bow.

"I am a part of you, Elaina. Whatever form you wish for me to take, I will follow your wishes. As long as you are guided by a clear heart."

With those words, the room grew brighter and brighter until the light was blinding, and when Elaina opened her eyes again she was staring up at the night sky, right behind Blake's head.

"Blake?" Elaina asked. Her eyes widened and her hand shot up to her face. She felt the cold kiss of porcelain against her fingers and sighed in relief. It was still there.

"Elaina!" Blake's face relaxed and he sighed as well, smiling. "Good. You're awake. I was afraid that like before, you-"

"I'm fine," Elaina snapped. She pushed him back and righted herself, Blake letting go of her back as she stood up. "You, are you… What happened?"

"We won," Blake replied, standing up and nodding to the battlefield. Elaina turned to look where he indicated. She saw Hope floating in front of her, flying over to her, and behind them were the two pokemon unconscious. It all started to come back to her.

"R-right, I… I fought… I used meteor beam, and then…"

"Yeah, after you took down that Chandelure you sort of flopped over. You were only down for like a second or two though."

"Good," she mumbled, recalling her Minior. She didn't remove her eyes from the Chandelure. "That pokemon…" Even though the Chandelure was unconscious, it was still making her feel sick to her stomach. She felt the urge to throw up right until the brown-haired girl returned it to its pokeball. Seeing the Chandelure go was like having a pillow removed from her face, all the pressure and sickness she was feeling vanished into nothing.

"That pokemon, what… what did you see?" Blake asked. "You said it was… off, but…"

"Doesn't matter anymore," Elaina said, shaking her head. She realized that Blake was far, far too close. She pressed her hand against his chest and gave him a light shove, the two separating.

"Oh? What's this? Having a spat already?"

Elaina and Blake turned to see Lila and Darla walking up to them.

"Trouble in paradise?" Darla smirked, adding onto her partner's joking tone. "And here we were, about to give you two your formal congratulations."

"In a minute," Blake said, reaching to his belt and returning Cory to his pokeball. "Okay, what?"

"I have nothing to say," Elaina coldly cut off Lila just as she opened her mouth, the fluffy-looking girl glaring at her. "I'm going."

"Wait, Elaina!" Blake turned to her, but she was already walking away.

"I will find you at the party, Blake," Elaina said, turning back to him for a moment. "We still have much to discuss."

"…Ouch, dumped," Darla said, turning to Blake, knowing full well the nature of his relationship with Ayame. "Anyway, Blake, about your victory-"

Blake looked past the two girls and saw Caelia already taking steps to leave. He needed to talk to her. There was something about that pokemon she had used that wasn't right. "Sorry, but I also have somewhere else to be," Blake interrupted Darla and Lila, stepping between them and heading after Caelia.

"What? He just-!" Lila sputtered.

"Who does he think he is?" Darla demanded. She shouted after him, "hey, Blake, you can't BOTH duck out of the proclamation you know! We have an audience to satisfy! Get back here!"

"Darla, Darla, it's fine," Lila assured her partner, not wanting Darla to lose her temper.

"This is important," Darla replied. "It's 400 chapters! 400! We need to do something to commemorate it, you know!"

"That's what the party is for," Lila reminded her.

"What are we supposed to say then, huh?" Darla asked. "We were going to ask the winners their thoughts, but they blew us off? And you're cool with that?"

"Just be cool," Lila whispered. "That's your role, right? Be cool."

Darla sighed, taking a few deep breaths, and putting her professional smile back on. "Yup, that's right, just be cool."

"Hey, Blake, way to-" Cynthia stepped up to congratulate him, but he rushed right past her. She turned bright red, clenching her extended hand into a fist, turned, and ran after him with tears in her eyes.

"Caelia," Blake said, catching her just past the stands.

"What?" Caelia asked, stopping and turning back to look at him with that dead-looking eye of hers. No, wait, it was different now, there was… something there. He squinted to get a closer look. He could see something small welling up, an emotion that he couldn't quite place on the girl's otherwise flat, emotionless face.

"That pokemon, your Chandelure," Blake said. "What, um… where did you get it?"

"…Gift," Caelia replied.

"From who?"

"Not important."

"I think it is important," Blake said. "That pokemon, I don't know if you noticed, but-"

"I don't care," Caelia said.

"Caelia-"

"Blake, you jackass!" A painful blow to the back of his head sent Blake's thoughts swimming.

"Ow! What the-?!" Blake whirled around to see Cynthia standing behind him, her face flushed as crimson as her hair, her eyes tearing up. She was panting, fuming, really, glaring at him angrily. "Cynthia?"

"I can't believe you just blew me off!" Cynthia exclaimed, jamming her finger into his chest. "There I was, all ready to be the bigger person and accept my loss, and what do you do? You shove me aside like it was nothing! We're friends, remember? We just had an awesome fight, and what, I don't even get to congratulate you?"

"No, Cynthia, I didn't mean to, seriously," Blake said. "Just, Caelia…"

Blake turned back to Caelia, who was already walking away again.

"Forget her," Cynthia scowled. She shoved Blake aside and stomped through the snow, grabbing Caelia by the collar and pulling her back. "I have some stuff to say to you, too! Both of you, sit!"

Cynthia might have been shorter than both of them, but the tone of her voice still compelled Blake to sit. Caelia did as well. Quite a feat on Cynthia's part, considering that "sitting" meant "plopping your ass in the snow." Luckily, Caelia was wearing sweat pants as usual instead of the standard-issue skirt, otherwise that would not have been fun.

"Now then, before the party tonight, I think we need to have a little bit of a discussion on 'not treating Cynthia like a disposable Kleenex', don't you?" Cynthia asked, crossing her arms in front of her chest and glaring down at them.

Blake didn't really know what to say to that. Caelia was as vacant as always.

"I'll start with you, first, since I'm steamed," Cynthia turned to Blake. Her expression softened and her eyes watered. "I was really looking forward to tonight, you know? …I mean, yes, because I planned to win and then rub your face in it, but still. I wanted another battle. And yeah, we got one, but…"

"But you lost?"

"It's not about winning and losing!" Cynthia snapped. "Besides, don't get ahead of yourself! Our score is only 2-1, you know! 2-1! I still kicked your butt in the Fall Festival Tournament, don't you forget it! Don't think you can get all arrogant and think you're better than me just because you happen to be a little ahead for now!"

Who was it that spent the last two weeks boasting about how she'll be the undisputed better trainer after she beat me one more time? Blake didn't want to shove Cynthia's hypocrisy in her face so he just let her keep ranting.

"I wanted to congratulate your victory, but clearly you're too good for me," Cynthia scowled, turning her nose up at him. "Well, fine then. Because I'll be spending all break training with my pokemon to totally kick your ass! Meanwhile, I'm sure you're going to be all lovey-dovey going on an overnight trip with your girlfriend! You're going to be doing this, and that, and that other thing, too! I'm positive!"

"…Girlfriend?"

Blake glanced. Caelia was staring at him, and that look in her eye…

"Uh, yeah, Aya-"

"I see." Caelia turned away from him, her voice sharp. "Winter break. Girlfriend. Trip. Overnight."

She glanced at him again, and narrowed her eye. For a moment, Blake wondered if the shadowy aura he thought he saw emanating from her was what Elaina had been describing.

"This. That. That other thing."

Each statement was like a dagger of accusations driven into his chest.

"Uh, no, we aren't planning on-"

"Don't lie!" Cynthia flicked him in the forehead. "I can see it right now! In explicit detail! And in slow-motion, with a special zoom-in feature…" Cynthia was starting to drool. Blake felt his face get hot and he buried his head in his hands.

"Err… what was I saying?" Cynthia blinked, shaking herself out of her fugue state. "…Right! Illicit sexual relationships! Aargh, I'm so jeal-err, no! Shut up! I'm not jealous! Like hell I'm jealous! Just because I wanted to bring you on a nice romantic getaway myself, the two of us fooling around together in a mixed spring, and then you tell me that Ayame would understand if it was just onc- WHAT ARE YOU MAKING ME SAY?!"

"Don't blame me for this, you're the one who can't keep her damn mouth closed!" Blake snapped.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure you're going to love my open mouth when it's wrapped around your-"

"CYNTHIA!"

"Ahem."

Cynthia and Blake, faces red with embarrassment, turned to look at Caelia.

"Can I go? My pokemon need to heal."

The two of them considered her question, and shared a look. Both understood that whatever had happened was getting way, WAY too out of hand. Cynthia couldn't even remember what she had been mad about in the first place. Blake still remembered his initial goal, but right now he felt like if he opened his mouth Cynthia was going to jump down his throat again. And with the imagery she'd just put in his head, he wanted to avoid that at all costs.

"Well, let's put the idea of steamy hot spring fooling around aside for now," Cynthia said, straightening back up and clearing her throat.

"No, let's put it aside forever."

Cynthia ignored his rebuff and turned to Caelia.

"Now, back to you. Where, exactly, did you think you were going?" Cynthia demanded.

"To the pokemon center," Blake volunteered. "To heal her pokemon."

Cynthia blushed brighter.

"YEAH I KNOW THAT NOW!" She snapped. "A-anyway, Caelia… is that really it?"

Caelia blinked.

"I don't understand."

Cynthia crouched down so she could look Caelia in the eye. Blake was surprised by the genuine emotion in her face, he wasn't used to that. Cynthia only brought our real feelings for special occasions.

"Look, Caelia, I know we aren't exactly friends, but… like… we did just battle side by side as teammates, we've been teamies for the last two weeks. Were… were you really just going to… leave? Like, not even say goodbye, or like, a thank-you, or even a 'see ya next semester'?"

Caelia blinked. "Yes?"

Cynthia glanced down.

"Caelia, I'm trying to say you don't have to be so… distant, you know? Yeah, you wanted to beat Blake and Elaina, and yeah, we lost. But there's always next time, right? We can work together on a plan to absolutely crush him!"

"Don't care," Caelia replied. "Go?"

"No, you can't go!" Cynthia pouted. She didn't want Caelia just dropping off the face of the planet. She'd already dragged Maddi into her life kicking and screaming, she wasn't about to let Caelia stop being her friend. "We're teammates! So we deserve a proper goodbye! You can't just push me aside like an insensitive Blake would!"

"Hey!"

"Oh, we had a touching moment in the works and then you blew me off, jerk, I'm the one who's supposed to be-" Cynthia turned red and coughed a little, returning to Caelia. "Listen, Caelia, Blake's the kind of guy who'll take a girl's first time and then by the third he's pushing her aside without a second glance. But I think you're better than that."

Some students walking by shot Blake a dirty look. That phrasing had to be intentional. Blake was going to make Cynthia pay for that one.

Cynthia searched Caelia's eye for any type of acknowledgment, but the girl had none to give. She sighed.

"This is how friends thank each other while saying goodbye," Cynthia said, wrapping her arms around Caelia and hugging her. Caelia stared vacantly past Cynthia, not feeling anything from this hug. She met Blake's eyes and he knew, too. That wasn't going to do anything for her. But to his surprise, Cynthia brought it up herself.

"Look… I know you can't feel me when I do this," she admitted. "Not… really. But maybe part of you, I don't know… even if you don't feel it, you at least understand it? The warmth I'm trying to give?"

Caelia understood what the point of a hug was. She just didn't care. Still, she felt like the hug would continue until she said yes, so that's what she did.

Cynthia pulled back and smiled, wiping her face. "I'm glad."

"Go?" Caelia tried again.

"Yeah, of course you can," Cynthia said, nodding. "See you-"

"Wait, no, I still need to talk with her," Blake said, standing up at the same time as the two girls.

"Huh? Oh, right," Cynthia said, laughing sheepishly. "I guess in the heat of my loins I kinda forgot about that."

"…Moment. Heat of the moment, you degenerate."

Cynthia stuck her tongue out in response.

Blake turned to Caelia, who was already glancing away, at the pokemon center.

"That pokemon. That Chandelure. Where did you get it?" Blake asked again.

"Gift," Caelia answered again. After all that, they had gotten nowhere.

"From who?" Blake didn't really expect an answer to that question, and clearly Caelia didn't want to give him one. But much to his surprise, it was Cynthia who answered.

"Did Sylvia give it to you?"

Blake blinked. "Sylvia?"

He took another glance at Caelia. She should really play poker. Because she had absolutely no reaction to Cynthia's declaration.

"They were talking in the pokemon center when I got there after our match," Cynthia said. "Did you get the Chandelure from her?"

Caelia blinked. She stared at them in silence, her glassy eye not moving. For a moment, Blake thought she had passed out. But no, apparently she was just thinking. She responded, "yes. Go?"

Blake nodded, and sighed. If Sylvia had given that Chandelure, there had to be a reason for it, and he doubted it was one that she would know.

…

Wait, no. This was Sylvia. There didn't "have" to be a reason for anything she did, and there probably usually wasn't.

Cynthia and Blake watched Caelia walk towards the pokemon center, and much to their frustration she didn't take the awkward silence with her.

Meanwhile, in the Sandbox, the lovely, sweet, and not-at-all troublesome Sylvia herself was staring in silence at the two other people in the room. It was rather amusing. Valon had been talking up this Shadow Pokemon, and it seemed to go down rather easily.

"Ah, well, no matter," Valon said, smiling.

"You aren't upset?" K asked, as he clearly was.

"Not at all. The process of creating Shadow Pokemon is still being refined every day. If that pokemon is not good enough to put up a fight, then we shall keep working until we create one that is. That's what it means to be a scientist, after all."

"…I guess, but doesn't seeing our work get so easily beaten piss you off even a little?" K asked.

Valon glanced at him and gave him a smile like a snake.

"I think we learned quite a lot from that exchange. Especially about the effectiveness of that Chandelure's moves against other pokemon. A fire attack hurting a water type? Marvelous. With a little refinement, we'll be able to get more work… yes, much to do over the break… in the meantime, the effect that it had on that girl was quite something. It bares further study. And that other attack, Shadow Sky… now there's something…"

Valon began to ramble about his Shadow Pokemon, and that was about the time that Sylvia decided to check out of the conversation. She wondered, just how much amusement could she get out of these Shadow Pokemon?

Quite a valid question.