In this chapter, the girls get nice and plastered. Please drink responsibly, no matter how fun this chapter makes it look. Remember to review.

JoshGamerV: What do you mean what the hell?

Pokemonking0924: Come on, since when has Cynthia been known to do anything in moderation?

KedharS: Interesting and annoying, certainly.

Rosealine gold: Good. That's more fun to write.

Aquahaze675: Maybe. A little bit, here and there.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 431

Sango felt more than a little uncomfortable.

When Cynthia had returned with the cups, that was when the drinking started, and everyone was having a great time. Cynthia had a big smile on her face, and her cheeks were bright red. She was filled with energy, even more so than usual, bouncing around excitedly as she drank even more. Even Marion was getting into the swing of things, a little redness flushing her tanned face, but she didn't seem to be acting oddly. Which made decent sense. Marion already acted a little drunk. Apparently, she wasn't much different, drunk or sober. Still gushing about fishing with a smile on her face, she just slurred her words a little more.

The real shock was Maddi.

Cynthia smiling and laughing with everyone? Not a big deal. That was Cynthia.

Marion smiling and laughing with everyone? Not a big deal. That was Marion.

Maddi smiling and laughing with everyone? It made Sango think that SHE was inebriated and not seeing straight.

"I can't believe," Maddi cackled, holding he stomach and rolling on the tatami mats, "the you guys actually walked all the way to Mauville City just for fishing! I mean, I know you're kind of ditzy, Cynthia, but I had NO idea you were that dumb!"

Sango stared numbly at the three giggling Mightyenas. Indeed, there was no great evil to dull the minds of the vigilant than that brought by the wonders and horrors of alcohol.

Sango was about to excuse herself and go for a walk, when Maddi whirled around to stare at her, a wicked grin on her face and a naughty gleam in her eye.

"Now that just leaves one person not in the party spirit!" She laughed.

Sango went pale.

"Hey, come on! I'm not drinking!" Sango exclaimed, her cheeks flushing in embarrassment. That… it was just so wrong! Even if it was just among friends, she had always been told not to drink until she was of age. She wasn't… she wasn't debauched like Cynthia! She was a nice girl!

"I can see it in her face," Maddi scowled, pointing an accusatory finger at Sango. "She's thinking that she's too much of a goody-good to drink!"

"…Yeah, I just said that," Sango dryly replied.

Maddi blinked, dropping her finger. She hiccupped. "Oh. Did you?"

She hiccupped again. Cynthia and Marion apparently found that hilarious, bursting out into a chorus of laughter that Maddi got swept up in as well.

"Come on Sango, all the cool kids are drinking, why not have a drink with us?" Cynthia called. Sango rolled her eyes in response. "Hey, if someone as antisocial as Maddi can do it, then so can you! What's the big deal?"

"Yeah, if someone as antisocial as Maddi can- hey!" Maddi exclaimed, shooting Cynthia a glare.

"Sorry, but you guys have fun. I'm not going to give into your peer pressure," Sango said, standing up to leave.

"Hey, don't slander us like that!" Cynthia shouted, crossing her arms and leaping to her feet as well. "We're not peer pressuring you! Take that back!"

"Uh… *hic* yeah we are," Maddi reminded her.

"…Oh. Well, good then! Peer pressure it is!" Cynthia recovered admirably.

"Yeah, you said it, Cynthia!" Marion agreed, clapping her hands. "Pe-er pres-sure, pe-er pres-sure!"

"Forget it," Sango said.

Cynthia blinked. For a moment, Sango thought she saw a spark of understanding in Cynthia's eyes. She nodded her head.

"Uuh… yesshir, if that's what you want," Cynthia nodded, dropping onto her butt. Apparently, standing up that fast had made her lightheaded. "It's okay Sango, you don't have to drink if you don't want to. Don't want you to feel… um…"

Her voice trailed off as she stared into space.

"Pressured," Maddi answered for her.

"Yeah! Impressered," Cynthia nodded.

Sango sighed. She turned to leave, but as she placed her hand on the door, hearing the giggling behind her, she considered things.

Cynthia, Marion, and Maddi were having fun. And Elizabeth had told her that it was okay to let herself go a little, right?

What was so bad about drinking, now that she really thought about it? It wasn't like she could go driving or make a mistake with a guy or anything like that. The only people here were her friends, people that she trusted. The worst that might happen was some light groping courtesy of Cynthia. Sango was always so cautious, and yet…

Sango sighed.

She could be a little bad for just tonight, right? It would just be a dumb little mistake, a night of fun with nothing to worry about.

She took a deep breath and let it out, turning, and walking back over to where the girls were huddled together, giggling.

"Sango?" Cynthia asked, rubbing her eyes and looking up at her friend, confused. She thought Sango had gone for her walk hours ago. "What're you doing here?"

Sango took another deep breath, reached down, and picked up the bottle from where it sat in the center of the girls' circle, unscrewing the lid. Better get it over with in one shot.

Sango brought the rim of the bottle to her lips, and tilted her head back, letting the liquid wash down her throat, gulping it down as fast as she could.

It burned in the most revolting way possible.

"Whooooo!" Cynthia cheered, clapping her hands. "You go, girl!"

"Awesome!" Maddi agreed. "That's totally freaking sweet, Sango! Look at her!"

"She's really knocking it back," Marion agreed.

Finally it reached the point where Sango could no longer ignore the burning feeling in her throat. She tilted forward and swallowed, shaking her head as she lowered the bottle. When she opened her eyes, she wasn't quite sure if she actually had or not. Everything around her was spinning and blurry, and she felt like she was a thousand miles away, and more importantly, no longer standing upright.

She dimly noted that she might have been a smidge too eager to get into the swing of things. She must have chugged down half the bottle.

Luckily, Marion was fast and managed to catch her before she collapsed. She took the bottle from Sango's shaky fingers and quickly set it safely on the mat, Cynthia grabbing it and screwing the cap on tight. Marion eased Sango down onto the floor, the girl's head still spinning. She felt… urgh. She knew she shouldn't have given into the peer pressure.

"Sango, are you okay?" Maddi asked. "You look a little… you know."

"I'm, uh… I'm fine," Sango said, nodding. She glanced at Silver, the small pokemon smiling back at her and nodding as well. She sighed. "Man, my head is swimming…"

"But wow, did you see how much you chugged?" Cynthia marveled. "Must've been, like… hehe-he! So much, heh!"

"I wanna go fishing!" Marion pouted, leaning back and flopping down onto Cynthia's futon, kicking her legs and flailing her arms. "Why can't there be fishing?! Tell me Cynthia! Who do I gotta hurt to get some fishing done?"

"No night fishing," Cynthia laughed, taking another swig from her cup. "Don't worry, I'll get started on it… urgh… tomorrow… but I don't want to, geez! Why do you have to be so damn annoying and persistent?"

"Can't believe you have to dig," Maddi snickered. "Meanwhile WE just get to relax! How's that feeling, Cynthia? Not to great, huh?"

Maddi smirked and Cynthia scowled.

"Hey! I know!" Cynthia said, her face brightening. "Let's play a game!"

Sango glanced down at the pile of cards in front of them. The three of them HAD been playing a game, but apparently that had slipped their minds.

"What, like… cards?" Sango asked.

"No, let's play truth or dare!" Cynthia proclaimed.

"I don't know about-"

"I'm in!" Marion said, interrupting Sango. "I dare myself to go fishing!"

"I'll do it," Maddi agreed, rolling her sock-covered feet over the floor to scoot a little closer to Sango and Cynthia. "Just make sure to keep things… you know, okay, okay? Okay."

"Okay!" Cynthia said, ignoring that Sango hadn't said anything yet. "I'll go first! …Sango! Truth or dare!"

"Uhum…" Sango's thoughts may have been hazy, but she knew well enough to not accept a dare from Cynthia, that was for sure. "Truth," she blurbled out.

"Okay, so for your dare-"

"I said truth," Sango said. "Didn't I?"

"Did you? Yeah, right," Cynthia said, nodding. "Okay! Truth! Have you ever, um… kissed a boy?"

"Oooh!" Maddi giggled, wiggling her eyebrows.

"No, I haven't!" Sango said, feeling her face growing hot. She snatched the bottle and unscrewed the lid, pouring some into her previously-untouched glass and knocking it back. Forget about keeping a level head, if she was going to go through this she needed to have a LOT more booze in her system. She coughed up a little and set the cup down on the mat. "I haven't!" She set again, just to make sure that Cynthia was listening.

"Well, what about a girl?" Cynthia cackled. Sango rolled her eyes.

"One truth or dare per round," Sango smirked, feeling a little coy. Cynthia scowled. Then, her eyes widened, like she'd come across some great notion.

"Hey, wait! Then that means that back when you offered to kiss Blake for a slice of pizza, that would have been your first kiss if he had said yes?"

Sango's jaw dropped, her eyes bugging out. Cynthia remembered that?! Of ALL the things she could have remembered, she remembered THAT embarrassing moment?!

"That… that-!" Sango floundered, her alcohol-fogged brain swirling for something to say and finding itself completely lost.

"Sango, wow, that's…" Marion laughed, shaking her head.

"My, what a dirty little girl!" Maddi snickered, Grim laughing alongside her as she rolled on the floor again.

"It-it's my turn!" Sango exclaimed. "And that… that was just a-! Just me trying to fit in and seem cool! Just forget it!"

"Oh, no, that is LOCKED. DOWN!" Cynthia cackled. "Come on, shoot me!"

"That's not how the game works," Sango said. "Maddi? Truth or dare?"

Maddi's eyes flashed dangerously and she smirked, sitting up.

"Dare."

Once again, Sango was at a loss of what to do. She didn't think that Maddi, of all people, would have taken the dare. Maybe because it was from her? But she had absolutely no idea what to even think of for a dare. She hadn't even played this game before.

"If you can't think of something, Sango, I can come up with a dare for Maddi to do instead!" Cynthia volunteered. "I've got a good one!"

Maddi's face went pale.

"Maddi," Sango interrupted, "I dare you… to chug from the bottle for, um… five, no, three seconds!"

Cynthia, Maddi, and even Marion stared at her. Sango blushed, looking down bashfully. She knew it was a wussy dare.

"…Okay," Maddi shrugged, taking the bottle. She tilted it back, chugging for another three seconds. When she came up for air, her cheeks were red and her face was flushed, and she looked down, embarrassed. She burped.

"Woooo! Me next, I want to chug, too!" Cynthia scrambled for the bottle. Maddi pulled it out of her reach.

"Cynthia, if you have anymore, you're going to hurl," Maddi warned. She turned to Marion, who was blinking in and out of consciousness. "Fish girl! Truth or dare?"

"Uhum… um… dare! No, truth!"

Maddi smiled.

"What are your intentions with the pokemon academy and the other daevas?" She asked. Her tone turned serious. "Are you plotting anything?"

Sango was surprised. That… wow. Maddi was using this as an opportunity to snag some dirt on Marion for the sake of the Commander and his faction? That was some sly thinking. She squinted at Maddi. How much of this drunkenness was for real, and how much of it was just an act, and was about her fishing for information?

Sango snorted.

Heh. "Fishing for information." From Marion. "Fishing!" Ha!

Sango resisted the urge to burst out laughing as she glanced over at Marion. Would Marion fall for it? Did she even HAVE anything to hide?

One glance at Marion's face answered that handily. She was staring off into space with a glassy stare, drool on her lip. Sango could swear that she could hear fuses blowing in her brain. That question was probably too complicated for regular Marion to answer, let alone drunk-Marion.

"Marion?" Sango asked. "You good?"

"Huh? Oh! Right! What my intentions are!" Marion snapped out of her fugue, laughing sheepishly. "Oh, that's easy! I just want all of us to hang out together and get along! All these wars and spats and stuff are a pain, just want to keep everyone happy! Sound good?"

Maddi nodded, that answer was good enough for her. It seemed Marion was exactly as much of an airhead as she suspected.

"Noooo, Maddi, that's not how it works!" Cynthia pouted. "You're supposed to, like, ask embarrassing truths, you know?"

Maddi rolled her eyes.

"Cynthia! Truth or dare!" Marion shouted.

"Da-" Cynthia cut herself off. She normally said "dare" on instinct. But the last time Marion had her do something, she made her walk to Mauville City. No thanks. But still… "Dare."

"Food fight!" Marion declared, pointing her finger at Cynthia and hopping up, stumbling slightly from her dizziness. "You and me! We both prepare our best fish dishes for comparison!"

"Yeah! Sounds like a plan!" Cynthia said, clapping her hands in excitement.

"No!" Sango objected. "Not a plan!"

"What?" Cynthia gasped, surprised.

"Why not?" Marion pouted.

"Because I am nowhere NEAR drunk enough to let you two try cooking in your present conditions," Sango growled. "You two can barely stand!"

Marion and Cynthia looked at each other and burst out giggling. Sango had a point.

"Okay, truth then," Marion said, Cynthia nodding eagerly.

"Gimme, gimme!" Cynthia asked.

"So, like… what's up with you and Maddi?" Marion asked, glancing at Maddi. "You two seem, like… you know? Kind of tense. You guys are friends, right?"

THAT sobered the room up pretty fast.

"No," Maddi said succinctly, answering for Cynthia. "We aren't friends."

"Gawd Maddi, you're too mean!" Cynthia pouted. "Why do you have to be so mean to me like this? I'm just trying to be nice, but I don't know how I'm supposed to act!"

It might have been the haze of the alcohol, but it sounded to Sango like Cynthia was upset, even when she was wearing a smile. She shook her head, clearing her thoughts, and glanced at Maddi.

Maddi stared dimly off into space, before turning to glance at Cynthia.

"Why you gotta, like, be like that?" Maddi asked, rolling her eyes. "It's cuz you're just so… I mean, well… you know what I mean?"

"No, I don't," Cynthia said, shaking her head. She still wore her smile… and then burst into tears, to the surprise of everyone there. Even Maddi was taken aback.

"I-I know I was bad," Cynthia sobbed. She curled up into a ball and buried her face in her knees as she sobbed. "And I'm trying! But I just… I just want us to be friends, and I don't know what to do to make you like me! Why won't you like me? Why won't you tell me what I can do? Is there… I don't know… I don't know!"

Marion swallowed. Clearly she hadn't intended this. Sango shook her head, and sighed.

"But I do like you," Maddi said quietly.

"Huh?" Cynthia glanced up from her legs to look at Maddi, not sure if she had heard the girl properly. "But… but I mean, you said, like… you said…"

Maddi sighed, shaking her head. She scooted over and hugged Cynthia.

"I like you a whole bunch, okay? It's just… I'm not good at dealing with you, so I just kind of… push you away, you know? Because I don't know how to act against someone so forceful and pushy. Trust me, if I didn't like you? I wouldn't say a word to you?"

"Weally?" Cynthia sniffled.

Maddi smiled, and patted the redhead on the shoulder.

"Look, Cynthia, we don't get along, and we aren't friends. But… like I said before. We can be. It might take some doing, but we can get along, I just know it. See, today… it's like… heh…"

Maddi's words were interrupted by snickering, and she quickly calmed herself down.

"Sorry. I was just remembering how good those cookies were. Where was I?"

"You were saying… about today? About how we can get along?" Cynthia asked hopefully.

"Oh, right," Maddi said, remembering it all now. "Yeah, see, from the way you've been acting recently, I can see that you're thinking about your previous behavior. And plus, like… it's just… how do I explain it, I'm not quite sure…"

She sighed.

"Your sister."

"My sister put you up to this?" Cynthia said, her face darkening.

"N-no, no!" Maddi said, shaking her head. She smiled, but her smile was filled with sorrow. "It's just… she reminded me a little of my sister, that's all. And I sort of thought… maybe we're not so different? Maybe I could get to be a little closer?"

"S-So… you really like me?" Cynthia asked, still hopeful. Her eyes were shining with excitement. "You still… you want to be my friend?"

"You're fun," Maddi laughed, flopping back on the floor. "It's been a while since I got nice and drunk. Really perks me up, you know? And I know you're a nice person. So don't worry, we can get along. And hopefully, this isn't just some flight of fancy because I'm drunk out of my piss!"

Maddi snickered at her non-joke as Marion and Sango watched. Cynthia's tears had stopped, replaced with a beaming smile at the girl rolling around on the floor.

"…Glad that was worked out lickety-split," Marion sighed, slumping back on the futon.

"Yeah," Sango said, smiling. It really brought a warm feeling to her heart. Or was that her stomach? Yeah, it was a warm feeling in her stomach, not in her heart. And it was growing in size quickly, spreading through her-"

Sango snapped up in realization, the sensation wasn't a feeling of joy and relief, it was an urge to vomit that was currently building itself up in her gut. She held her hands over her mouth and stormed out of the room, fighting her stomach as much as she could.

Well, this one was a little short, but we got to see the girls goofing off and getting drunk! Cynthia, well, she had her fun, and it looks like things are getting closer towards healing between her and Maddi. And meanwhile, the truth or dare game was interesting… next chapter, we'll probably get to see the less playful side of drinking.