After meeting Cynthia's sister, we return to the inn to see how her day's been going. I'm guessing it's not going very good, considering the state Sango left her in, and the fact that her only company was Marion.

Arcana of the North: Indeed, in spite of the hardship, Blake and Ayame had a wonderful holiday. As for Cynthia and Violet, well… that'll happen here.

Thunder Fire: Oh, don't worry, I didn't leave her out. If I could have had her be Cynthia's sister I would have, but unfortunately Cynthia's sister is in her backstory as someone else.

Aquahaze675: Thanks for your summation! He's read a lot of the story before, but I don't know when he dropped off, so that was very helpful!

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 429

Cynthia was a big mess of grumbling. It was Christmas Eve day, and instead of hanging out with her friends, she was scrubbing the bath floors. It made no sense. It was underwater, what was the point of cleaning it? But alas, she drained the water anyway and had gotten scrubbing, muttering out her irritations all the same.

It didn't help that she just wanted to go back to sleep. Marion had dragged her out night fishing the night before, and while she had tried to resist, she had enjoyed the walk.

…At first. She had no idea they were walking all the way to MAUVILLE. By the time they got there she was too sore and tired to do any fishing at all, but that didn't seem to matter much to Marion. Between the all-nighter and the jet lag setting in, by the time she made it back, she just wanted to sleep… but it was working time.

And the most irritating thing of all?

Marion didn't seem fazed in the slightest by their night of no sleep. She was watching Cynthia with eager eyes, apparently not having anything better to do.

"Don't you have some fishing to go do somewhere?" Cynthia exasperatedly sighed, not meaning to sound as bitter as she did. She just wanted to be left alone to sulk and get her work done, and Marion was getting on her last nerve. She was used to laughing that stuff off, but no sleep had worn out her patience.

"Yup! That's why I'm waiting for you to be done," Marion chirped. "Then you can put the water back in and I can get to fishing!"

"YOU CAN'T FISH IN A HOT SPRING!" Cynthia snapped, startling Marion. She just laughed it off, waving her hands.

"I'm just messing with ya, dum-dum!" She giggled. "Come on, I'm not THAT stupid."

"If it wasn't for you and your stupid night fishing I wouldn't be in this mess…" Cynthia scowled, scraping away at the stone floor of the bath with her scrubber. "But no, you had to drag me all the way to Mauville."

"Sorry," Marion said, the contrite tone of her voice actually catching Cynthia off-guard. She glanced up, surprised.

"Huh?" Cynthia asked, not sure if she heard right.

"Fishing makes me feel better, so I figured it would help, y'know?" Marion said, scratching her hair sheepishly. "But… you know, I forgot, you know? That the closest fishing hole was over in Mauville. When I get the urge to fish, I just, well…"

Cynthia could see that Marion was twitching. It was clear she was getting antsy.

"So… I'm sorry that I, you know, ended up keeping you out all night," Marion shamefully apologized. Cynthia sighed, shaking her head. She put her scrubber down and stood up, presenting Marion with the bucket.

"If you want to really make up for it, then could you lend me a hand?" Cynthia asked. "I also have to do the sweeping in the hall, and about a billion other things, so if you help out here, then that means I'll have time later to take a nap."

Marion took the bucket and smiled, nodding.

"Sure thing! Let's get a move on!" Marion skipped past her and knelt down on the cobblestones, resuming Cynthia's work and scrubbing away at the stones. Cynthia yawned, strolling back into the inn. She had the urge to just go back to her room and go back to sleep, but that wouldn't be fair to Marion, even if she was the one responsible for keeping Cynthia out all night. She really, really should have just told Marion where to shove it, but the girl had been so pushy and insistent that Cynthia had just gone along with it.

I wonder if that's what Maddi feels like when I ask her to do stuff, Cynthia wondered, shaking her head. Probably. That made her feel even worse. She'd have to make things up to Maddi later, if there was a way for her to do it. In the meantime, she'd see this as a kind of ironic penance, forced to work for her grandparents when all she felt was a massive urge to sleep.

Then she had an idea. A mischievous smile spread across her face.

"Okay, guys! Let's go!" Cynthia walked out into the garden and tossed her pokeballs into the air, all seven of her pokemon emerging, ready to help. She took stock of her staff, considering how each of them could make use of their abilities to help out around the house.

"Okay! Chris, you use your water to help out Marion with the baths, okay? I want them spick and span!" Cynthia declared. "Sound good?"

"Spheal!" Chris rolled back and clapped his flippers excitedly, rolling out of the garden towards the baths that neighbored them. Cynthia turned to the next pokemon.

"James, you help him out too, okay? There's a lot of space to cover, and Marion and Chris won't be enough, they'll need an extra pair of hands, and yours are the biggest ones I've got, sound like a plan?" Cynthia asked, slapping her Loudred on the chest encouragingly.

"Loudred!" James bellowed, nodding, heading after Chris.

"Okay, Leon, I have to re-shingle the roof," Cynthia said, turning to her flying pokemon. "You and I can work on that together! You bring me the shingles from the ground while I hammer them down into place, sound good?"

"Gligar!" Leon nodded, lifting his claw into a salute.

"Great! Now, Ruby, Tristan, you two have some great dexterity, so you guys, can you handle the sweeping? All of the corridors and halls. Is that okay?"

"Breloom!"

"Mawile!"

Both pokemon were on board, Cynthia pushing brooms into their hands. That just left Elyse and Rose, and Cynthia only had a few chores left. She would have to handle taking over watching the counter for her grandpa tonight, but other than that, things should be fine.

"Elyse, can you clean up the dusting outside?" Cynthia asked. "Just use your wind to blow away the rubbish and leaves into little piles, and we can get them later."

"Swellow!" Elyse nodded.

"And that leaves you, Rose. Your psychic powers are going to be a lot of help, okay?"

"Kirlia?" Rose tilted her head to the side, curious.

"Can you use your psychic powers to turn over the futons in our rooms?" Cynthia asked. Just put them in the laundry room, and I can handle that part. Then, when you're done there, can you also use psychic to fix the fence? I know it's asking a lot, but with your teleport you should be able to handle it all, do you think that's okay?"

"Kirlia," Rose said, nodding.

"Okay! Great!" Cynthia clapped her hands together, and everyone left headed off to handle their tasks. Cynthia headed inside, Leon following after her as she went to go get the ladder, hammer, and nails. Cynthia felt rather proud of herself. She had managed to come up with a great plan to get her pokemon to help, and had managed to shorten the amount of time she would have to spend on doing chores considerably!

…That being said, even with Leon helping, reshingling a roof took a lot of time. Fortunately, it wasn't as damaged as she thought it was. After a few hours, Rose was done with fixing the fence as well, and had teleported up to come help, and after another hour they were both done.

"Great job, guys!" Cynthia grinned. "Leon, go help Elyse. Rose, can you go and help James, Chris, and Marion with the baths? In the meantime, I'll go do the laundry you set up. Then, I'll go gather the stuff in the lawn when you're done, Leon."

Both pokemon nodded, and went back to work as Cynthia climbed down off the roof and put her ladder away, going off to do her laundry. The sun was high in the sky by the time all the chores were done, Cynthia thanking all of her pokemon and sending them back for a nice, long rest.

"Thanks for all the help, Marion," Cynthia said, turning to her friend, her eyes shining with gratitude. "Without you helping me, I would probably still be on the roof, or maybe airing out the futons. You came in clutch."

"I'm happy to," Marion beamed at her. "Glad to help! Need anything else?"

"No, that's all," Cynthia said, shaking her head. She checked her phone. "I'm going to be working the counter in about three hours, so after I eat lunch I'll go take a nap. Wake me up at 4:30? That would be amazing."

"Sure! As long as I can remember to do it after I go fishing," Marion added. "I always get so lost in the fun of it, you know? I'll try and keep it in mind!"

"Marion…"

"Kidding, kidding, you take it all so serious!" Marion laughed, clapping her on the shoulder. "But you know? If you really wanted to do something cool? You guys should install a fishing pond here for Goldeen and Seaking! It would be great! Guests could watch, and even fish! What do you think, sound like a good plan?"

"Uh… sure, yeah," Cynthia said, shrugging.

"Plus, you can take a bath in the pond, along with the fish pokemon!" Marion cheered. "That would be such fun! Swimming with the fishies? It would be the best!"

"…Yeah, that doesn't mean what you think it means…"

"So you'll talk to your grandparents about it? I'd be happy to finance! Catch fish pokemon for the pond, anything!" Marion seemed really excited about it. "I was thinking about it the whole time I was cleaning the men's bath, we could put it over there? Near where the private rooms' baths are? Right by the garden. I can totally plan it all out for you!"

"That's where the zen garden is."

"It can run right through it! Just let me handle everything!"

Cynthia sighed. She was too tired to deal with this.

"I'll go get my grandpa. You can pitch it to him over lunch," Cynthia suggested with a sigh, heading inside. Marion bounced after her. Cynthia glanced over her shoulder. "Oh, and by the way, I'm assuming YOU'LL prepare the lunch?"

"Rightey-o! Anything to help!" Marion chirped. "I'd just like to see your grandpa resist my amazing pitch! And as long as I can ingratiate myself, maybe he'll be a little bit more, you know, willing to listen, right? And after my sushi, he'll be putty in my hands."

Marion winked at Cynthia, a shrew smile on her face. Cynthia rolled her eyes. There was no way her grandpa was going to go along with this zany scheme, no matter how good the sushi Marion made for him would end up being.

…And that was how Cynthia found herself tasked with a new chore come Christmas Day, getting started on digging a pit in the ground based on Marion's suggestions. What a lovely Christmas present for her, it made her want to sock the "helpful" Marion in the face.

What a big help. Needless to say, Cynthia's nap wasn't as restful as it could have been. So she was still in a somewhat bitchy mood while she was watching the reception for the inn on Christmas Eve. If Mary and Joseph came here looking for a room she'd probably slam the door in their face; right now, she just wanted to sleep.

Cynthia was lucky that there wasn't anyone coming in. She leaned over the counter and snored away, before the rattle of the front door startled her awake.

"I-I'm up!" She gasped out, rubbing her eyes. "H-How can I help… you?!"

Cynthia's jaw dropped, and for a second she thought that she was still dreaming, because the sight in front of her eyes was not possible, not by any stretch of the imagination. And yet, as she rubbed her eyes again, and pinched her cheeks, and shook her head frantically, the vision in front of her wasn't disappearing.

In fact, her smile was growing even more infuriating.

"Hey there Red," Violet greeted her with a wave. "How've you been? Seems like you're rather rested to my eyes!"

"V-Violet?!" Cynthia sputtered. This was no dream, she really was here. "What are you doing here?! I thought you were in, like, Fortree or somewhere, earning your next pokemon badge!"

"Well, you know," Violet said, shrugging. "I was just going to head back home to visit the folks. But then I heard that you were here, and I just had to catch up with family. …Well, that, and you're not the only cute redhead in Lavaridge I've got my eye on, if you catch my drift."

Violet gave her a wink. Cynthia rolled her eyes.

"And you say I'm the pervert."

"Well, you are."

"That's beside the point. Now, you've said hello. Are you just here to mess with me? Because you've done that already, you don't want to keep that gym leader waiting, now do you?" Cynthia dryly asked her.

Violet smirked.

"Well… I also ran into your friends," Violet said, nodding her head to the side. Cynthia finally took her eyes off of her sister to see Sango and Maddi standing in the entryway beside her, sheepish looks on their faces.

"Guys?" Cynthia asked. "How… what?"

"We went to the Lava Bakery," Violet explained, strolling up to the desk. "Just had some discussions, you know how girl talk works, right? And after what I heard from them, well, I just had to pay you an extended visit. Seems like you've grown up quite a bit since the last time I saw you."

Violet glanced down, a sympathetic look crossing her face. She shrugged her shoulders. "In some ways more than others, in any case."

Cynthia answered her with a growl.

"Oh, don't worry about that! I come bearing gifts! Merry Christmas!" Violet laughed, placing a box of Lava Cookies on the desk in front of Cynthia. She reached over and rubbed her hands through Cynthia's hair, Cynthia slapping her hand away in irritation, scowling at Violet.

"Can I get a thank you?" Violet followed up.

"Thanks," Cynthia said, crossing her arms, clearly eager for Violet to stop messing with her.

"Grandma and grandpa in?" Violet asked. "Gotta go say my hellos before heading out."

"You're heading out?" Cynthia asked, her voice turning hopeful. Less Violet around, the better for her. That might have been mean to think, but, well…

Today wasn't exactly playing great with Cynthia's patience. She couldn't wait to go to bed for real and actually unwind. She looked at Maddi with sympathy. She'd put up with a lot today, and Maddi probably put up with just as much from her.

"'Course I'm heading out, Red," Violet laughed, giving her a flirty wink. "I've got a certain redhead to put the moves on, I've got no interest in spending Christmas alone with my family when I could be enjoying some… pleasurable company."

Violet wished her sister goodbye, heading into the back. Cynthia sighed, slumping back down into her chair, exhausted.

"You okay?" Sango asked, walking over to Cynthia.

"Long day," Cynthia groaned. "I'm tired as hell."

Cynthia turned to Maddi.

"Maddi, you had the right idea yesterday. Remember how tired you were? I feel your pain, girl, believe me."

"What do you mean?" Maddi asked, confused.

"Urrrgh…" Cynthia's groan was her only response.

"Last night, Marion dragged Cynthia out to do some night fishing," Sango explained. When she saw Maddi's expression, staring at the two of them like it wasn't a big deal, she clarified with: "in Mauville City."

Maddi blinked, and began to snicker, before bursting out laughing.

"Oh, that's just great!" Maddi laughed.

"Hey!" Cynthia pouted, but she couldn't get that upset. She might have been laughing in Maddi's position, as well. And plus from Maddi's point of view, this must all seem deliciously karmic. Even Cynthia began to chuckle. Yeah, it was funny, as miserable as she felt about this. Even Sango laughed a little.

"At least we got you cookies," Sango offered, gesturing to the box of cookies. "We had some, and they were delicious!"

"Thanks, guys," Cynthia said, taking the cookies. "So how'd the rest of the day go? I'm sure with Violet, things must have been pretty exciting, huh?"

Maddi's face fell, and Sango sighed.

"Violet, well, she was a lot of fun, sure, but… she's a real drain," Sango translated for Maddi. "I think even Maddi would have preferred you to her, don't you think Maddi?"

Maddi glanced at Cynthia. She could see that Cynthia looked hopeful. So she shrugged her shoulders and nodded. "Yeah, too bad you couldn't have joined us."

"Well, I mean… this might not be the best, but according to the clock I'm only gonna be on for another half hour, then maybe we could go do something?" Cynthia offered hopefully, trying not to stare at Maddi while she said it. "Oh, but Maddi probably wants to rest, so… never mind then."

"I think you need rest more than I do," Maddi dryly replied. She glanced at Sango, then back at Cynthia, and smiled a little. "…Sure, I don't mind hanging out for just a little bit. Maybe we can do something later, when you're done, too."

"Really?" Cynthia asked, her face lighting up. Sango was pleasantly surprised at Maddi's decision all three girls knew that Maddi was extending an olive branch, of sorts. Maybe she felt sympathetic, seeing the state that Cynthia was clearly in, and was willing to inconvenience herself a little to make Cynthia feel better. She might not like Cynthia very much, but in Sango's eyes Maddi was a great person on the inside.

A few minutes Violet came back into the waiting room, having changed surprisingly fast into rather flashy red dress, looking ready to kill. She must have only given a passing greeting to their grandparents, if she'd actually said hi to them at all.

Cynthia whistled as Violet walked out.

"You look… Damn."

"She won't resist me," Violet winked, slinging her purse over her shoulder. "Don't wait up, Red, no need to prepare me any dinner, either. Ta!"

With a wink and a wave Violet strolled out the door into the cold.

Cynthia sighed.

"…And that, was my sister. You guys see where my self-esteem problems came from? Imagine looking like me, and growing up with that. No wonder she got with every girl I had a crush on when we were growing up," she bitterly replied. "At least she's just into girls. Hell, she might make a move on Blake if she ever met him."

Sango winced. That must have been rough.

"You know, I was the one who thought Flannery was hot first," Cynthia pouted. "Stupid Violet."

It was Maddi who spoke up, to break the tension.

"Your grandparents keep any booze?" She asked.

Now that's a thought. Good suggestion, Maddi, a drunk Cynthia, Sango, and Maddi, with Marion thrown in as well? That can only be a good thing.