As the first chapter on the break, I thought it would be nice change of pace to do something completely different. It's a special holiday, so for Christmas Eve, here's a special bonus chapter to celebrate the holidays!
Thunder Fire: I spent a full week on escape rooms what do you think?
JoshGamerV: Yeah, it went on for way too long. Part of that was because I brought in a bunch of plot points that weren't initially planned, and were supposed to be saved for the second semester. Shadow Pokemon was one, and Caelia's emotional issues were another. Because of story directions, I ended up bringing those plot points into play earlier than I intended. Honestly, this was less a whole arc than a wider arc with a bunch of smaller arcs in it (Ayame's birthday, Kitty's harmonia problems, Maddi's character arc, etc.) so it ended up getting way longer than the Fall Festival Tournament, which didn't really have that many story arcs running parallel through it.
KedharS: We can hope.
MikySP: Well maybe it will go well.
Rosealine gold: Interesting, I can work with that.
Aquahaze675: It'll be fine.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Bonus Chapter 6: Yes, We're Actually Doing "A Christmas Carol"
Blake awoke with a start. It was the middle of the night, and he was in his room. Not his room at the Pokemon Academy, but his room back home, in his father's mansion. What was he doing here? He had vague memories of it being Christmas Eve, but other than that… didn't he fall asleep on the plane headed for Johto? So why was he here? Blake hadn't slept in this bed in months. Pokemon Academy, Ayame, reuniting with his sister, they couldn't all have been dreams, could they?
A low, mournful moan echoed in his ear, and he flinched. What… what was that?
"Blake… Blake Harker…" a disembodied voice that sounded distantly familiar rang out. Blake sat up in his bed and gathered the sheets tighter around him, looking around. He was starting to sweat. Was someone in the room with him?
A distant clanking, like the rattle of chains, drew closer to his room, accompanied by the unearthly moaning. Blake was getting frightened now. What… what was this? A ghost pokemon? Wait… chains… ghosts... Christmas… it couldn't be-
"Blake Harker…" Cynthia's head poked through the door, a translucent shimmer against the white wood. Even in death, she wore a coy smile on her face. She passed through the rest of the door, stepping into the room. She wore a tattered white dress as see-through as the rest of her, and a heavy box was bound to her with chains.
"What… what do you want with me?!" Blake cried, not recognizing the ghost for a moment.
"Ask me who I am…" Cynthia moaned. Blake didn't have to ask. He recognized her now.
"Cynthia, I know who you are."
"ASK ME!" Cynthia demanded.
Blake sighed, reaching up and rubbing his temples. Yeah, this was THAT alright. "Who are you…"
"IN LIFE, I was your dear friend!" Cynthia boomed, exalting in her role. "Cynthia Fafnir! I have come-"
"Look, I get it, I saw the movie too," Blake interrupted her. Cynthia shot him a dirty look. "Yeah, so this is some dream, right? I'm gonna go wake up now."
Blake leaned back in bed and closed his eyes, willing himself to wake up. He put the rattling chains and shouts of irritation out of his head. This was all just a dream…
"Stop ignoring me!"
Something heavy and hard slammed into Blake's stomach and he let out a cry of pain.
"OW! That hurt!" Blake exclaimed. Cynthia had smashed him in the chest with the lockbox she was bound with.
"Why do you deny me as a dream, Blake?" Cynthia demanded.
"Because you're not dead."
"…Anyway, setting that aside-"
"Setting that aside?!"
"Setting that aside, because if you don't just go with it, we're going to be here all night!" Cynthia explained. Blake didn't want that, so he shut up. "Good, that's what I thought. Can I continue with my speech now, please?"
Blake obediently nodded.
"Good." Cynthia cleared her throat. She reached into her dress and removed a thick book, flipping it open. As she scanned the pages with her finger, Blake resisted the urge to burst out laughing.
"You didn't memorize your lines?"
"Shut up! Why do I have to be Marley's Ghost just because I'm your best friend, huh?! Okay, here it is."
Cynthia regained her composure and put her spectral affect back on. "It is required of every man-"
"You're a girl."
"Shut. It. It is required of every man or woman that the spirit within him or her should walk abroad among his fellow men and women, and travel far and wide; and if that spirit goes not forth in life, it is condemned to do so after death. It is doomed to wander through the world – oh, woe is me! – and witness what it cannot share, but might have shared on earth, and turned to happiness! I wear the chain I forged in life. I made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my own free will, and of my own free will I wore it. Is its pattern strange to you?"
"Lotta big words there, you don't read novels very often, do you?"
Cynthia flung the book at him in irritation. Unlike the box, it sailed right through his head.
"Fine, forget the script," she shrugged. She hoisted up the box and presented it to him. "In live, I was deviant and perverse. I drowned in my own debauchery. And now this is the sin of lust I bare. I must walk with the weight of my pornography, the materials I collected, weighing me down in death as they unknowingly weighed me down in life."
Well… that was a new take, anyway, Blake had to admit.
"Can we get on with the ghosts now? I'm not sure what lesson you want me to learn here, but-"
"A GRAVE lesson!" Cynthia rebuffed. "You, who do you think you are, surrounded by lust and yet unwilling to partake?! Sinful boy… In my life, my spirit never left the depths betwixt my thighs-"
"Gross."
"But you? You who drown in female pleasures, but rebuff them at every turn. For me, it is too late. But I have come… for your sake, Blake. As part of my penance, I have come to warn you, and to offer you a hope and chance of escaping my fate. You will be haunted by three Ghostly Waifus."
"Wait, wait, wait-"
"Waifus. You heard me. And since we're doing this all in one chapter, forget all that 'stroke of midnight' stuff, we're going to play it by ear." She smirked. "Besides, maybe you'll spend more time with them than I'm expecting, you dirty boy."
She turned and began making for the door.
"Look to me no more, Blake," She said, turning back to him. Blake did as he was bade and laid his head back down on the bed, ignoring her. Cynthia scowled in irritation, and stormed out.
Unlike in the book, Blake had no time for rest. Because the moment Cynthia left, she was replaced by someone else.
"Blake!"
Something heavy landed on Blake for the second time that night. But this was something warm and soft. His eyes snapped open and he sat up in bed, staring incredulously at the figure who had just invaded the privacy of his room.
"Claire?!"
Claire glanced up at him with a coy smile, dressed in a sleek white dress with gold trim and a plunging neckline that revealed her cleavage. She winked and shook her finger from side to side.
"No… I am the Ghost of Waifus Past," Claire said.
"Claire, why are you here?" Blake sighed, in no mood to go along with this fantasy.
Claire pouted at him.
"I guess we're doing this the difficult way." Claire reached up and snapped her fingers, a flash of light filling the room.
Blake shielded his eyes, and when the light died down, he was in his room once more, but the sun was up in the sky.
"Huh?"
"I have taken you to the past," Claire smiled. She took him by the hand and pulled him from the room, leading him down the hall. "It is now Christmas Day, 4 years ago. Back when you were still young, and thoughts of waifus could bring a smile to your face."
"I don't think that was EVER-"
"But look at you there," Claire said, stopping in the living room. There was Blake, 12 years old, watching TV with 12 year old Claire snuggling up next to him. Claire's voice sounded wistful as she reminisced. "Your family situation… may have been tough. But I made sure I was always there for you, Blake. Because to me, you're the most important person. I would spend every Christmas with you, if you would let me."
"Claire, why are we here?" Blake asked, his voice pained. He couldn't bear to look at himself any longer, that haunted, vacant gaze of his bringing nothing but pain as he remembered the circumstances that had put it there. "If you wanted to make me miss the past… then you should have brought me back further. Back to mom… and Gwen… Back to when I was happy, not… not back to this empty, meaningless existence."
"It wasn't a coincidence that I brought you to this time," Claire said, the look in her eyes solemn. "This is the time you need to see."
"Why?" Blake asked. "What's so important about this Christmas?"
"…M*y boobs didn't start growing in until I was 12, so-"
"I'M LEAVING." Blake shook free of her grip and stormed down the hall. Claire was a tease, but this was really low.
"Wait, wait, wait! I was kidding! …Kinda. But I wanted to show you what you could have had," Claire cried, frantically running after him. "What you still could have. Back then I worked hard to keep all those girls fawning over you away. But I realize now, that was wrong. You need to change your life, Blake. If you don't… then you'll be filled with nothing but sadness."
Blake paused. While the steps were… odd, to say the least, Claire at least sounded like she was TRYING to fulfill the obligation of the A Christmas Carol. Even if Blake had no idea what the message was this time around. It certainly wasn't about embracing the true meaning of Christmas, of that he was pretty sure.
"You say that I need to change my life," Blake said. "But… what do you mean? What does showing me this… have to do with anything?"
"You don't see it?" Claire asked quietly, glancing over to her younger self on the couch. "Blake… this is about you becoming happy. By finally obtaining your harem end."
Blake stormed out of the house and slammed the door in her face.
"…Well, so much for that," Claire sighed, shrugging her shoulders. "Guess we'll have to wait for the next one to convince him."
As Blake exited his father's mansion he found himself not in the courtyard of the estate, but back on Pokemon Academy Island. He glanced behind him. Gone was the mansion, and in its place stood Bulbasaur House.
"Blake!"
The must be "Waifu 2", Blake dryly thought, turning back to the path to see who was approaching him. It was Sango, jogging through the snow in her floofy white parka. She gave him a wave.
"Sango, hey," Blake said, stepping down the stairs to meet her. "Let me guess. You're-"
"I'm the Ghost of Waifus Present," Sango said, nodding.
Blake gave her an incredulous look. He narrowed his eyes and raised his hand to his chin in contemplation.
"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" Sango asked, a flutter of self-consciousness reddening her face.
"I'm just confused," Blake said. "I mean, judging by what Claire said, this is some sort of stupid vision quest to get me amenable to the idea of forming a harem, right?"
"Err, yeah, something like that," Sango said, unable to meet his piercing gaze.
"So why are YOU involved?" Blake wondered. "I mean, Cynthia and Claire, they're both all onboard with this whole harem thing because Cynthia likes me and Claire is a degenerate, who if I had to guess, probably likes me too, but why do YOU want me to form a harem? I doesn't really make sense-"
"GEE YEAH HOW CONFUSING I WONDER WHY!" Sango exclaimed, her face turning crimson. She whirled around and walked robotically through the snow, her face so hot Blake could see steam rising off of her head. "PROBABLY BEST NOT TO THINK ABOUT THIS KIND OF STUFF. YEAH, TOTALLY MAKES NO SENSE, I'M AS SURPRISED AS YOU ARE. Hahaha…"
This was a lot more trouble than it was worth. Blake rubbed his temples in irritation for what felt like the hundredth time that night (although, once again, it was day for some reason) and followed Sango off through the snow.
"Look, Sango, this harem plan is ridiculous," Blake said. "I'm not interested. There's only one person I love, and that's-"
"We know you like Ayame!" Sango snapped, turning back to glare at him with teary eyes. "Like we could ever know otherwise!"
"Then why?" Blake asked. "My feelings aren't going to change."
"And what about our feelings, huh?" Sango asked. "Is it so wrong for us to be in love with you? To want just a tiny piece of the happiness that you and Ayame gorge yourselves on every day? To feel pain whenever we see the two of you together, don't you understand how we-"
Sango caught herself and cleared her throat.
"Err… not 'us' but 'them'," she clarified. "As in, girls who have feelings for you. But not me."
Sango cleared her throat again, and headed back down the path.
"Sango, it's not that simple," Blake said, following after her. "My feelings-"
"Ayame makes you happy, doesn't she?" Sango asked quietly, even though she knew the answer. "But can you be sure that she's the one you want to be with? Can she make you more happy than any of the other girls in your life? More happy than all of them combined? That's what you need to decide, do you under-"
"Yes," Blake automatically answered. Sango glanced back at him, her lips pressed in a tight smile.
"We'll see. Come."
"Where are we going? To see Tiny Tim?"
Sango didn't answer his dumb joke of a question, leading him across campus to where a certain someone was.
"Look," Sango said, pointing at Kate, digging in the snow in the Roselia Garden.
"Kate?" Blake asked, surprised. "What's she doing?"
"Gardening," Sango said quietly. "Because she's all alone. Without a boyfriend, without you, her holidays will be spent in sadness, working fruitlessly in a frozen garden."
"Maybe she should wait for spring first before doing this?" Blake suggested. Sango shot him a dirty look.
"Because of her caustic personality, she won't find anyone to love her. I find it extremely unlikely that she will ever move on from you, or obtain happiness for herself." Sango's voice was low and mournful, and it caught in her throat. "But… if you were to bring her into your harem, you could certainly bring a smile to her face. Is it worth it, Blake?"
"Huh?"
"Ayame, are her feelings worth it?" Sango asked, turning to look at him. "Worth the pain that you might bring to others? To Kate? …To yourself?"
"Sango, I love Ayame, and that isn't going to change," Blake stated again. "And yeah, it's sad to see Kate, and it sucks that I hurt her with my rejection. But I'm not going to lie to myself or give her false love just to satisfy my own feelings of guilt. She deserves better than that."
Sango smiled, and brushed the tears from her eyes. "Well, go on then."
"Go on where?" Blake asked. Sango pointed down through the garden to a pathway deeper inside. He turned back to look at her, but both she and Kate were gone. He was alone in the cold garden. He turned back to the path, but it wasn't a path anymore. The garden was gone. He was in a forest.
Blake swallowed, and walked forward in the direction that he thought was correct. Walking through the large, dead trees in the ghostly twilight sent a chill down his spine. He wasn't planning to go out into the snow, he had been in his pajamas when Claire had dragged him out of bed. And yet somehow he was in his jacket again.
The sky overhead darkened, and he stepped through the trees before finally reaching a large clearing, where he met with what he hoped was his final visitor of the night.
The figure standing before him was dressed in a long black cloak with its hood pulled over their head. The only detail on them Blake could make out was the shining white of the mask beneath the hood, which told Blake everything he needed to know about the identity of this third phantom.
"Elaina," Blake said, walking closer to her.
"No, I am the Ghost of Waifus Yet to Come," Elaina declared, her voice deep and menacing. Like Cynthia, it seemed she was really getting into the role. "Come, Blake, and I shall show you your future, should you choose not to accept the path of the harem!"
Elaina turned and stepped aside, revealing a tombstone in the center of the clearing with "Blake Harker" emblazoned on it.
Blake stared at the headstone for a few seconds, and then turned to Elaina.
"Not choosing the harem route results in my death."
"Correct," Elaina said, nodding.
"How, exactly?" Blake sighed.
"Apparently, you get set on fire in your sleep," Elaina replied. "I would have guessed it was me, but evidently not. But if you choose the harem route, then said girl will have no reason to set you on fire." Elaina cleared her throat. "So, in summary, if you wish to survive, it is imperative that you choose the harem route. For not just the sake of the girls who love you, but for the sake of your own life."
Blake had had about enough.
"…Yeah, I'm still not onboard. No harem."
"…But you'll die."
"Yeah, this is just a dream, I doubt it. Besides, am I even really buried here?"
"Uh… what do you mean?"
"Somehow, I find it hard to believe that me not getting a harem will result in my death, no matter what you might say. So let's just drop it, okay? I'm not interested. No harem. I love Ayame, and I'm going to continue dating her."
"But…" Elaina glanced at Blake, then turned her head away from him, then back to him. Blake couldn't see her face, but the way she was glancing…
Blake turned in the direction he had been looking, and saw a flash of red out of the corner of his eye.
"…You have got to be kidding me," Blake said, cradling his face in his hands.
"D-don't worry about that!" Elaina exclaimed, following after him as he stomped towards the trees. "There's no one over there!"
Blake walked around the trunk of a particularly large tree to see Cynthia, Claire, and Sango kneeling in the snow.
Cynthia was the first to speak.
"Okay, so I know this looks bad-"
"WHY are you doing this?" Blake demanded. "What's this 'I die if I don't choose the harem route' bullcrap?"
"W-well…"
"I told you two this was a stupid idea," Sango said.
"Shove it, Sango!" Claire growled.
"Yeah, harem route banzai!" Cynthia agreed. "Even Elaina is up for it!"
Sango ignored the annoying duo and turned to Blake.
"So, Blake, I take it you're confident about whether or not your feelings for Ayame are worth the potential pain you might cause?" Sango asked.
"I haven't doubted it for a second," Blake replied.
Sango smiled.
"Well, good. Because a certain someone is happy to hear it." Sango pointed over her shoulder. Cynthia and Claire glanced past her, their faces turning white.
"Well now, this seems like quite a fun conversation," Ayame said, walking through the snow a calm smile on her face, her cold eyes oozing with murderous intent.
"Sango you traitor!" Cynthia shouted.
"Why did you call the killjoy?" Claire pouted.
"Look, I'm not involved in this," Elaina said, frantically trying to downplay her actions.
Ayame didn't respond, walking closer to the three girls and cracking her knuckles.
Ayame woke up in a haze. "…Bah, humbug! What?"
She glanced up to see that she was snoring away on Blake's shoulder. That whole crazy thing had just been a dream of hers after she had fallen asleep on the airplane. She sat up in her chair and yawned, admiring her boyfriend's sleeping face.
"This is all your fault," she pouted, poking the snoozing Blake in his cheek. "All those girls who like you gave me all sorts of dreams." She ignored the insecurity, and smiled. Just as the Blake in her dreams had, she was certain that the real Blake sleeping next to her would stand with her no matter what.
Ayame leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, nestling back down onto his shoulder so she could pretend to be sleeping, a smile spreading across her face as she waited for him to wake up.
Just a little bit of levity for Christmas, happy holidays!