Who is this surprising person that Sango bumped into? What do they want? Lavaridge seems like a small town, first Marion, now who will they meet next? Remember to review!

Badoobadoop: Yeah, I wrote over 400 chapters because I suck at paraphrasing anyone want to take this one?

Thunder Fire: Yeah they are absolutely not hooking up, no worries. Can't guarantee one doesn't end up with Blake, though.

JoshGamerV: Quite a few, yes. And thank you for the compliment.

KedharS: That's a good word for it.

Aquahaze675: IGN rip.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 428

For a moment, Sango wasn't sure she could believe her eyes. The woman she had just bumped into looked exactly like Cynthia! The same crystal blue eyes, the same fiery red hair, though where Cynthia's was cut short this girl wore her hair long down her back in a curly mane that made her curvy body stand out even more.

That was the real difference between the two that Sango noticed. This woman was tall, even taller than Sango was, and Cynthia's figure couldn't even be called for comparison with hers. She gleam in her eye and the scowl on her face were also out of character for Cynthia, but they quickly passed and the woman gave an apology with a smile.

"Cynthia?" Maddi had to rub her eyes to be sure, because the similarities really were quite distinctive. The way the woman's eyes flashed when Maddi mentioned Cynthia's name told Sango all she needed to know, she knew who this woman was seconds before she introduced herself.

"So you know Cynthia, huh?" She asked, her lips curling up into a catlike smile that was a perfect mirror of the one Cynthia wore. "Short girl? Red hair? Can't sit still to save her life?" The woman bit her lip playfully, batting her eyelashes, "found engaging in rather… questionable activities with relative frequency?"

"She's a friend," Sango said, entirely certain she was talking to Cynthia's notorious older sister, the one she had mentioned last night. What she was doing here Sango couldn't hazard a guess, but she had no doubt seeing that face of hers. It was like Cynthia had grown a foot overnight. "And I'm guessing you're Violet?"

That perturbed the taller girl, though only momentarily, her expression quickly reverting to its Purrloin-esque playfulness.

"So you've heard of me, I see," Cynthia's sister Violet purred, slinking closer to Sango, her eyes narrowing into a razor-sharp glint. "Cynthia talks about me now? I thought she was always ignoring me? How nice. I haven't heard anything about her friends, though. Who are you? One of her schoolmates? Both of you?"

Violet's eyes slid over to Maddi, and Maddi was certain she could see the girl's tongue slip between her lips. It made her shiver. She glanced away from the older woman.

"I'm Sango Akana," Sango introduced herself, holding out her hand. "Pleasure to meet you."

"Heya, Sango!" Violet cracked a grin, her smile wide. "And you?"

"Madison Whitmore," Maddi muttered.

"Whitmore… Whitmore… OH! I do know you!" Violet gasped, surprised. Maddi flinched, surprised, the girl's outburst catching her attention again.

"Huh?" Maddi asked, tilting her head to the side.

"You work with Alden, right? Yeah, he told me all about his other supporters. Madion Whitmore, right?" Violet laughed. "Yeah, he called me a while back, and I talked up Cynthia quite a lot, I'm glad she took the offer!"

"Oh," Maddi said, nodding. She scowled. So Violet was the reason she had to put up with Cynthia all the time? Admittedly, Cynthia was a decent trainer, but…

Wait, the girl was still talking.

"…So yeah, like, she definitely has potential, I'm looking forward to seeing her grow," Violet laughed. "Grow in strength, that is, she's always going to be my 'little' sister if you catch my drift. I knew I shouldn't have dropped her on her head when she was a baby…"

Maddi began checking out of the conversation again. It wasn't until Sango finally said something that she got drawn back in.

"So, anyway, Violet, great to meet you, but we were actually in the middle of trying to find a place, so if you don't mind, we'll be on our-"

"Where're you guys looking to go?" Violet asked, tilting her head to the side. Her eyes were already shining with excitement. "I actually come around these parts quite a lot, so I know a bunch of places! I can serve as your tour guide! Sound like a plan?"

No, it did NOT sound like a plan, and Maddi was about to say so, but before she could open her mouth to shut down the idea, Violet already decided for all three of them that they were okay with it, clapping her hands together eagerly.

"Great! Sounds like a plan! So let's go, where are you guys looking for?" Violet asked.

Maddi resisted the urge to groan outright. They had avoided Cynthia, and left her to do all the chores back at the inn. But this must be some form of divine retribution, because now they were stuck with someone who seemed to be even worse. She looked to Sango, but it was clear that her friend wasn't going to be much help with this, either. Maddi sighed.

"We're looking for the Lavaridge Bakery," Sango finally admitted, turning the horrid map over to Violet. Maybe she could make something out. "They sell these Lava Cookies-"

"Lavaridge Bakery?" Violet snorted. "No wonder you guys are lost. Cynthia couldn't even remember the name of the bakery! No, it's Lava Bakery, Cynthia just calls it Lavaridge Bakery because it's the only one we go to here. I swear, that girl would forget her own pokeballs if they weren't always clipped to her belt…"

"…So you'll show us the way?" Sango asked.

"Please, I'll do one better than that," Violet said, waving her hand dismissively. She gave Sango a wink. "I'll treat you guys! Lava Cookies on me, sound like a plan?"

Sango and Maddi glanced at each other. Maddi had just eaten, so it wasn't what she wanted to do, and honestly, Violet wasn't who she wanted to spend the day with, either. But neither one wanted to be polite to this stranger who just invited them to eat and was going to treat them to snacks, especially since she was the older sister of one of their friends. (Or in Maddi's case, a rather annoying and clingy acquaintance.)

As they walked to the bakery, Sango took the opportunity to get to learn a little bit more about Violet and what she was doing in Lavaridge, asking her all sorts of questions out of curiosity. Maddi was less interested, trailing behind the two and keeping an eye on Grim to make sure he didn't float off somewhere and get lost in a foreign region.

"Why are you in Lavaridge, anyway?" Sango asked. "Cynthia's from Rustboro, right? That's where she said her parents live, and she's mentioned it a few times."

"I'm on a pokemon adventure, didn't she tell you that?" Violet asked. "Wow, she really doesn't talk about me very much."

"No, she mentions you all the time!" Sango said, coming to her friend's defense, even as she realized Violet could no-doubt smell the bullshit. "She just… you know, I just forgot."

"No, no, it's fine," Violet said, shaking her head. "She's always been that way, you know? She's kind of jealous of me, ever since we were kids."

Violet let out a sigh. "Oh, well! Here we are!" She pulled to a stop in front of a nice small shot with a shingle roof and a red sign up front, with a picture of orange cookies advertised on it. They were already there.

Violet turned back to the two girls, her blue eyes shining eagerly. "Come on guys! You've gotta try the Lava Cookies, they're just divine!"

Sango and Maddi glanced at each other and resisted the urge to smile. This girl really was a lot like her little sister. They had quite a bit in common. Cynthia was annoying, but Violet wasn't exactly Cynthia, and she seemed okay for now.

But she was just as pushy as Cynthia was, and Maddi found that a little grating. But she was willing to put up with it. Heck, she was even starting to feel a little hungry herself!

"Okay, we're coming," Sango said, she and Maddi following Violet into the bakery. The sweet smell of cookies and cakes wafted into their noses, Sango taking a big whiff.

She sneezed, rubbing her nose. There wasn't just the scent of sweetness to account for, there was a tinge of… what was that? Spice? She licked her lips, eager to try what they had to offer. She was going to have one of everything!

"Go ahead, pick what you like!" Violet grinned good-naturedly. Sango ran to the counter and got in line, Silver floating after her. Violet placed her hands on her hips and laughed, enjoying Sango's eagerness. "Looks like someone's built up an appetite!"

Maddi glanced at Violet and raised her eyebrow.

"You've never heard of Sango from your sister?" She asked.

"Nope!" Violet said, shaking her head.

"…And you're treating us?" Maddi followed up.

"You got it!" Violet nodded, giving her a thumbs' up.

Maddi nodded. She placed her hand on the side of Violet's arm, patting her gently.

Poor girl.

"…Oh, my poor wallet…" Violet sobbed, cradling her empty pouch of leather against her cheek, tears streaming down her face as she slumped down in the booth, completely drained of all her money. Across from her, Maddi and Sango were seated, and their selections could not be more different. Maddi had chosen a single pair of Lava Cookies to try out. Sango, on the other hand…

Sango had kept to her pledge of trying a little bit of everything, and it was all stacked in front of her in a mountain of sweetness. The other patrons were staring, and even some of the workers had paused to watch her devour her food.

With Sango's mouth otherwise occupied and Maddi not a very talkative person in situations like this, the table was relatively quiet. Violet was the first one to speak up.

"Madison, aren't you going to try your Lava Cookie?" She asked.

Maddi studied it with more than a hint of caution. Sango was saving her Lava Cookie for last, and Maddi wanted her to try it first as a guinea pig. But when she saw Violet's shining eyes aimed at her, she felt herself squirming in her seat. Maddi sighed, took the cookie up, and put it into her mouth, biting down cautiously.

Maddi's eyes flew wide open as her taste buds were barraged with delicious sensations. It was a mixture of sweet and spicy that shouldn't have been possible, and yet was undeniable. It was like eating a warm and sticky piece of heaven filled with pop-rocks that exploded in her mouth with intense flavor. Before she even knew what she was tasting, it was gone. She began desperately licking the crumbs off her fingers.

"…I take it that you liked it," Violet smirked.

"Oh, god, it was delicious…" Maddi groaned, slumping over in her seat. "It was like blinding ecstasy in cookie form…"

Sango was somehow getting hungrier even as she was shoveling food in her mouth. Maddi's reaction made her all the more eager to try her Lava Cookies herself.

Maddi looked at the remaining cooking sitting on her napkin, and reached out to it, ready to devour it. She couldn't believe how delicious these cookies were, how could she have never had them before? She was so eager to eat the cookie that she didn't even realize that Violet was still talking to her.

"Wow, it's like you're entranced," Violet said, Maddi finally snapping out of her food-craze. "I gotta say, I get it. These cookies are delicious. So much so that even I'm having trouble resisting!"

Violet drummed her fingers against the box of cookies in her lap, a gift for her little sister to make up for not being able to come.

Maddi was about to finish off the second cookie, before pausing.

"Duskull?" Grim turned his body sideways, matching the quizzical tilt that his trainer's head always made when she was confused. He didn't know why his trainer was looking at him like that.

Maddi turned back to Violet.

"Can pokemon-"

"Can they eat the cookies?" Violet laughed. "You bet they can, they love 'em! It even makes them healthier! Besides, that Duskull is a baby, right?"

Maddi nodded.

"Then there's nothing better for him, trust me," Violet assured her.

Maddi broke the cookie in half, holding one half up to Grim. Grim began devouring it heartily, the cookie disappearing even faster than the one Maddi had finished off earlier.

"See? They like it better than we do," Violet giggled. Maddi finished off the rest of her own cookie, and stared disappointedly at the crumb-covered napkin in front of her, where once some of the most delicious sweets she had tasted had rested. She sighed.

"And now I'm hungry for real," she mumbled, her mouth filling with drool at the thought of just one more bite of those delicious cookies.

"…You know, you can get back in line," Violet informed her.

Maddi didn't need to be told twice. The seat was empty before they knew it, Grim frantically pursuing his trainer to the front of the bakery.

"Well, you really managed to get her out of her shell," Sango noted.

"The trick to a man's heart is through his stomach, but it works just fine for girls as well," Violet said with a wink, Sango suppressing a snicker. Violet shot her a dirty look. "It's true you know, me and my sister were both taught that, hence why we're excellent cooks!"

Sango shrugged her shoulders. Cynthia's dating life spoke for itself.

"Hey, speaking of Cynthia… how's she doing?" Violet asked, her voice turning serious, taking on a concerned tone as she played with the straw of her coffee.

Sango blinked. "What, like in school?"

"Yeah, like in school," Violet said.

"She never studies for her tests and she copies off of us whenever she forgets her homework, which is always," Sango coldly answered, the bitterness in her voice and the automatic nature of her response letting Violet know that this was something that had been stewing inside of the blonde girl for quite some time.

"…Well, yeah, she's an unmotivated slacker," Violet said, waving the concerns about her sister's academic performance aside with a flick of her wrist. "But that's not what I'm talking about, I could care less about that girl's grades."

Violet sighed.

"And our parents don't really care that much about them, either."

"Her pokemon, then?" Sango asked, wondering if Violet was concerned about her sister's pokemon and her training. "Cynthia's a really amazing trainer, actually, I fought against her in a tag battle with Maddi a few days ago and-"

"Nononono," Violet said, shaking her head. Now Sango was really confused. She finished off most of the rest of her food, staring at Violet with questioning eyes.

Violet fidgeted, and Sango was surprised. She didn't know the woman well, but she carried herself like Cynthia, but with somehow even more energy and confidence. So to see her acting nervous like this was kind of odd.

Violet glanced at Maddi in line, and lowered her voice slightly.

"Is Cynthia making friends at school?" Violet asked. "I know you're her friend, and Madison too, but, well… I know my sister can be a little weird."

"…Nooooo…" Sango said, shaking her head.

"Don't get me wrong, my sister is a wonderful girl, but she has a bad habit of rubbing people the wrong way," Violet said. "Back in middle school, she was actually written up for disciplinary problems a lot, because she was causing a lot of trouble."

"I can definitely see that, but what do you mean?" Sango asked.

"Cynthia would go around and talk about porn and sex and stuff with her classmates like it was totally normal," Violet explained. "And with the bubbly personality she has, her classmates liked being around her, but they always kept her distance. She was kind of treated like a pokemon in a zoo, everyone enjoyed watching her and spending time with her, but always as entertainment, not as a friend. She didn't seem to mind it, but… I know that she did."

Sango nodded.

"She hides herself behind her smile, but she's a regular girl just like everyone else, she cries and feels hurt like any of us," Violet said.

"I know," Sango murmured. "I thought that she was tough and unflappable for a while. She's an amazing girl, honestly. But she's still a girl. Recently…" Sango glanced down bashfully. "Recently, she's been showing me more of herself. I've seen sides of her that I've never seen, and… I feel bad for the way I thought about her before."

"…Amazing, huh?" Violet's lips turned up into a smile. "You think that highly of her?"

"Back at school, she's the center of everything," Sango said, smiling. "She has a ton of friends that she gets along with. We know she's odd, but that's part of her charm. She draws people to her, you know? We all love her, even if she can get annoying sometimes, and is a little bit perverted. But if you're worried about her social life, don't. She has people who see her for who she is. And yeah, maybe only me and Blake have seen her sensitive side, but that doesn't mean that the others don't care about her, either."

Sango reached into her pocket and fished out her phone, opening up her photo albums. She began showing them to Violet.

"So these are Cynthia's friends, huh?" Violet slid around the table and took Maddi's seat so that she could get a closer look at the pictures. Violet smiled. "They look like really wonderful people. Oooh! Who's that cute guy?"

"His name's Nick," Sango said. "And don't bother, he's taken."

"Oh, poo," Violet pouted. "I don't see Maddi here in any of these group shots, though?"

"Maddi… well, she's not exactly Cynthia's friend."

"Yeah, she seems like the kind of girl who wouldn't get along well with Cynthia," Violet agreed. "Like I said, Cynthia's really pushy and forceful, and that girl seems very much like a 'go at your own pace' kind of a girl."

Sango nodded, "yup, that's Maddi alright. But she's slowly opening up to Cynthia, I think."

"Well, she came on a trip with her, that's a step in the right direction," Violet laughed. "Still, part of the reason why I recommended her join up with Alden and his group is because I was worried that she wasn't making friends. Looks like I was just being a meddlesome older sister for nothing, huh? Still, if it's in her best interest, then I guess it's fine."

"She's loving it anyway, don't worry," Sango assured Violet.

Violet nodded. Her face brightened and she turned to Sango, flashing her a coy smile. "So, she has a lot of friends, does she have a girlfriend? A boyfriend? Maybe one of each?"

Sango laughed. Violet knew her sister alright.

"Nah, not exactly," Sango said, shaking her head.

"Ooh, and what does 'not exactly' mean?" Violet asked, wiggling her eyebrows.

Sango let out a thin breath. It should be alright to tell her, right? "…Well, there's this boy."

"Oh, a boy this time?"

"…Yeah, a boy this time," Sango said.

"Which one? Nick? Or that one with the tan? Or the guy with the headphones?"

"Headphones," Sango replied after a pause. "Err, I mean, his name's Blake."

"So, tell me all about this 'Blake'. She serious about him?"

"I mean, as much as Cynthia can be serious," Sango said.

"So why 'not exactly' is she being too wussy to ask him out? I had a feeling this might happen, she's all outgoing and cheerful on the surface but when it comes to the important stuff she suddenly turns timid. I guarantee you, as much bluster as she puts into her talk about loving porn, she'll be all shy and quivering when you actually get her to-"

"THANK YOU, DON'T NEED THAT MENTAL IMAGE," Sango said, holding her hand up to stop Violet from explaining anything further about her little sister.

"Okay, then what's up?"

"Blake has a girlfriend," Sango said plainly. She finished off the rest of her food, with only her Lave Cookies left. "And they're serious. Cynthia tried, and got turned down."

"I see," Violet said, nodding her head. "And did she give up?"

Sango rolled her eyes. "What do you think?"

"Well, ask a stupid question," Violet chuckled.

The two continued to exchange stories about Cynthia, waiting for Maddi to come back.

So things are going well with Cynthia's sister! But what will her reaction be when Violet comes back to the inn, I wonder? That should be a sight to see.