There is almost always a certain something that comes after drinking. And we all know what that thing is. So now, our characters must endure the hard part that comes after a night of partying: the pain and annoyance that comes with a massive hangover, and the misery that it entails. Remember, please drink responsibly.
KedharS: Oh yeah. There's going to be a hole heck of a lot of headaches, both as a result of hangovers and as a result of characters' general annoyance.
Aquahaze675: Yeah, hopefully they'll be able to get over their difficulties soon, and become actual friends.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 433
After the unbearable fatigue and headache that signified the massive hangover she'd endured the morning that followed Olivia's Pokemon Day party, Cynthia had promised herself that she would never, ever drink that much again. She had kept her promise, and drank in moderation that night to make sure that things would be better.
The following morning, she learned the painful lesson that her promise had been to no avail.
"Urgh… awful…" Cynthia awoke with a pounding headache, completely drained of the strength to even sit up. The sunlight streaming into her room was blinding, and even the sound of Sango snoring was like a machine gun going off in her ear.
Wait. What was Sango doing, still sleeping in this late? Cynthia glanced over, and saw that it wasn't Sango who was snoring; in fact, it was Marion, and she was… tangled up in Cynthia's futon? Wait. But that meant…
With no small exertion, Cynthia turned herself over and saw that she wasn't sleeping on her futon. She was lying prone on one of the tatami mats. Well, that explained why she felt so sore. It wasn't just the hangover, it was the horrid feeling of sleeping on the floor.
Cynthia groaned and stumbled to her feet, her body feeling like weighed a million pounds. She nearly tripped over Silver, the small Castform snoring away. That meant Sango couldn't be far.
The flush of the toilet down the hall send another pang through her skull as she winced, nearly doubling over in pain. She turned to the door to see Sango limp into the room, looking like death warmed over and then left out to grow mold.
"Sango, you look awful," Cynthia gasped.
"Don't shout…" Sango winced, reaching up to touch her forehead. "I feel even worse… this is what I get for listening to you, damn it. I should have… urgh. I should have just listened to my gut instinct and stayed sober, if I knew it was going to be this bad…"
"I knew it was a mistake too," Cynthia sighed. "I guess even if you drink in moderation, you can still wind up with a hangover."
You call what you did last night drinking in moderation? Sango wanted to shout, her eyes landing on the empty bottle on the floor. But she didn't have the energy. Instead, she groaned.
"You know what happened to Maddi?" Cynthia asked.
"Wasn't here when I woke up," Sango said, shaking her head. "Grim isn't here, either. Guess she crashed in her room?"
"Hope so," Cynthia said, trudging towards the door. "Might as well go check, just to be safe. Ugh, my head is killing me, I feel like I was poisoned."
"You were," Sango replied, following after her. "Alcohol is a poison. Of course you'd feel miserable after you had that much."
Cynthia didn't have the energy to roll her eyes or call Sango out for being sanctimonious considering the blonde got just as drunk last night as she did, maybe even moreso. Instead, she just muttered "at least I didn't throw up."
"I heard that," Sango snapped.
"I'm thirsty," Cynthia groaned as the girls headed down the hall. "Let's go get some water…"
They made a detour to the kitchen before going to check in on Maddi, only to find that they'd saved themselves a trip. Maddi was in the kitchen getting her own glass of water, and when they ran into her they could see that of the three of them she probably looked the worst for wear.
"…Oh. It's you two," Maddi muttered. She took a swig from her glass, her face brightening. "You idiots come down to get something to drink, too?"
"My throat is killing me," Cynthia moaned, filling herself up a glass and draining it in two large gulps. "God, I'm never drinking that much again."
"Well that's good, tell yourself that enough times and before you know it you'll be swearing off alcohol altogether," Sango said, leaning against the doorframe for support.
"Bite me, I don't have time for your snark this early in the morning," Cynthia griped, already filling her glass up again.
"How early is it, anyway?" Maddi asked, yawning. "I didn't check my phone before I came down."
"It's 11:57 in the morning," a stern voice loudly chastised the girls, all three of them doubling over and holding their heads in pain at the sudden rise in volume over the whispered tones they'd been speaking in out of consideration for each other.
"G-Grandpa!" Cynthia gulped, her face going pale. "G-Good morning!"
"Good afternoon, closer to, I'd say," Roland said, his wrinkled face twisted into a scowl. "I see that you girls are up bright and early."
"W-well, that's…" Sango fumbled for words, not sure how to respond, dealing with the fact that the kindly old man she'd gotten to know over the last few days was now glaring at them with a ferocity like they had killed his prized pokemon.
"Grandpa, we were just-"
"I know what you were doing," he stated plainly, his voice cold and chilling. "More specifically, what you were doing last night. Traipsing all over the inn, throwing up at all hours of the night? A little laughter and roughhousing is fine, especially on a holiday, but I draw the line at you girls getting drunk under this roof!"
Cynthia hung her head in shame, the other girls following her lead.
"If something happened to one of you, and word got out? Your grandmother and I could get in serious trouble, don't you understand that?"
"Yes, sir…" Cynthia mumbled.
"Oh? You do understand? Somehow I doubt that, if you understood then you wouldn't have done it in the first place!"
"It… it was my fault, sir," Maddi interrupted. Roland turned his glare on her, and she winced a little, swallowing.
"Your fault?" He asked.
"I… I was feeling homesick… and I mean, well… this was a really rough time. So I asked Cynthia if she knew where we could get some alcohol, you know, just to party and have fun, unwind a little and relax. So she found it for us. That's it, I swear. If I hadn't have said anything, well… it wouldn't have happened."
Roland said nothing, and turned to look at Cynthia and Sango.
"Is that right?"
"No!" Cynthia protested. "I wanted to do it! I knew that Violet probably brought some stuff in, so I went to her room to go get it, that's all."
"Cynthia, what are you doing?" Maddi hissed.
"It was my fault anyway, shut up!" Cynthia hissed back.
Roland sighed, and rubbed his temples in frustration. He turned to look at Sango, who gave an exasperated sigh, glancing away. Clearly, she didn't understand what was going on much better than he did.
And honestly, Sango didn't really care.
"Look you two, it doesn't matter whose fault this was, you were all drinking," Roland replied, the girls returning their attention to him. "You three, and Marion Rivers, too. Underage drinking? Absolutely not! You four need to be punished. And Violet, too, if she ever comes back, she'll be in big trouble for bringing that stuff into my house!"
Cynthia smiled a little, feeling kind of happy that Violet would be getting punished too. That probably wasn't the right thing to think about, and wishing misfortune onto her older sister was pretty rude and mean, but still. She liked seeing Violet squirm.
Of course, right now Cynthia was the one squirming, her grandfather's glare making her unable to speak up or even raise her head to meet his eyes.
"I was going to have you work on digging that fishing pond that Marion suggested, but with your hangover I don't think that's very viable," Roland scowled, stroking his beard. "And I also don't want you at the front desk greeting guests in your condition, either, you look awful. You three, take a shower, and then report to the front for chore duty. And wake up Marion, too. She'll be joining you. You might be guests, but since you're Cynthia's guests, and her friends, I'm having you girls take the same responsibility that she is."
The three of them collectively groaned, and filed out of the kitchen towards the baths where the showers were located.
"What's up, Maddi? Coming in?" Sango asked, peeking over her shoulder. Maddi was reticent to enter the showering section with the other two, hanging off in the back.
"I'll, uh… I'll go wake up Marion. You two can get started ahead of me," Maddi said. Before Sango or Cynthia could say anything, Maddi had already slipped out. The two girls glanced back at each other and shrugged, not sure what was going on.
They had just finished their showers when Maddi returned, with no Marion. As the girls toweled off, they gave her expectant looks, but the sheepish expression on Maddi's face said it all.
"She wasn't waking up," Maddi grumbled. Marion had been snoozing like a log.
Maddi traded places with Sango and Cynthia, the two girls changing into shorts and t-shirts instead of bathrobes. They headed out into the lobby to wait for Maddi to show up, explaining to Cynthia's grandfather why Marion wouldn't be joining them. He sighed, but he acquiesced, and said that she would join when she eventually woke up.
When Maddi finally came out of the shower, dressed all in black with long dark socks in place of her combat boots, the three girls were finally given their tasks.
If the hangovers had not been enough to get the three of them to regret drinking the night before, their punishment certainly was. The girls would have to use wet rags to wipe down the wood floors of the entire inn. And the floorspace of the inn was LARGE. This would take all day to finish, maybe even longer. Even with the three of them, they probably wouldn't be done by dinner time, considering it was now 12:30.
And to make matters worse, Roland had explicitly forbidden the girls to use their pokemon to help. This was about them learning a lesson, he had explained, and relying on their pokemon wouldn't result in that lesson being learned.
So Cynthia, Sango, and Maddi got to work scrubbing the floors, leaving their pokemon and Marion to sleep off the night in their rooms. It wasn't an arrangement that brought a smile to anyone's face, that was for sure.
"God, this is miserable…" Cynthia groaned. "I knew we shouldn't have gotten drunk… leaning over this much is making my headache worse…"
Sango wanted to throw her soaking rag in Cynthia's face in irritation. She did NOT believe the girl had just said that.
"Let's just get this done," Maddi sighed. "No point in complaining about it. We just need to get it done. It might take a while, but-"
"Come on, Maddi," Cynthia whined. "You can't be serious, my back is killing me! I slept on the floor last night."
She pushed the rag forward, scurrying across the wood floor. She was wary of standing, she knew it would put a major crick in her back, and she was already dreading it.
"I gotta say, I'm with Cynthia on this one," Sango sighed, finishing a section of floor that was particularly difficult to deal with. "This is a real pain."
"We've only been working on it for an hour," Maddi sighed. She was probably as irritated as the other two, if she was being honest with herself. But since it was her responsibility, being the one who suggested drinking in the first place, she didn't really think it was right for her to complain. So she put up with the difficulty of these chores.
Besides, Cynthia had been doing chores like these all day yesterday while she and Sango had been enjoying themselves exploring the city. Maddi could put up with it, right? Even if they had barely finished cleaning the lobby by this point.
"Hey, now that you mention it, it's been an hour!" Cynthia scowled. "Where the heck is Marion, huh?! She should be here helping us out with this, too! She drank just like the rest of us, why does she get to just sleep the day away?!"
"Yoohoo! Did I hear my name called?"
Marion skipped down the hall, waving to the girls, a big smile on her face. Her eyes were shining brightly, and the energy coming off of her body made it seem like the night of drinking and messing around had never happened; no, Marion looked 100%, her skin was practically gleaming with health, while the other three girls looked and felt positively miserable.
"What's up, guys?" Marion asked, tilting her head to the side curiously. "Why are you guys crawling on the ground like a bunch of Krabby?"
The three girls seethed at Marion as she stretched and yawned, unfazed in the slightest by the animosity they were all leveling her way.
"We have to do chores," Sango said tactfully, trying hard not to let her irritation get the better of her. "We're scrubbing the floors because Cynthia's grandfather found out about us drinking last night, and is punishing us for drinking underage."
Marion burst out laughing, which made the headaches of the other three girls, which were just starting to ease up, flare in pain again. They all glared at her.
"Wait, seriously?" She laughed again. "Dang, that sucks! Well, good luck with that, guys, I'm going to go to Mauville to fish! I haven't fished since the night before last, and the itch is really starting to get to me, good luck with your chores!"
Marion turned and strolled down the hall, towards the main lobby. But before she could get there, three sets of hands seized her and dragged her back into the hallway, spinning her around.
"Uh… what's up, guys?" Marion asked, confused and a little bit frightened by the looks in their eyes. She felt like a Goldeen about to be devoured by a horde of Sharpedo.
"Hey Marion," Sango spoke in a voice with the sweetness of oil as she gave a smile just as menacing. She held up a bucket filled with water and a rag, and presented them to Marion. "I don't suppose you would mind lending a hand, now would you?"
"Um… well, you see-"
"Much obliged," Sango said, shoving the items into Marion's hands.
"No, no, I don't wanna! You can't make me!" Marion wailed, struggling at the girls' attempts to put her to work. "I already helped out yesterday, I need to fish! I'm seriously going through withdrawal, I'll get the shakes! The shakes!"
"How the hell does she have this much energy?!" Maddi growled, Marion kicking her in the face inadvertently.
"Come on, Marion! Just help us! You have to take your punishment too!" Cynthia complained, pinning Marion's arm to the wooden floor.
"We're all feeling like death and she's just acting like nothing's wrong, I don't believe it," Sango grumbled. "Marion, just help, that way we can all get this over with quickly, okay? We don't want to do this any more than you do."
"Yeah! Plus, if you help, then I'll be able to start working on that fishing pond you wanted that much sooner!" Cynthia tried to come up with something that would get Marion to calm down, and the only way she could think to do that was by playing into Marion's desire to fish. Even Marion didn't want to walk (or even buss) all the way over to Mauville City every time she had the urge to fish (aka always) so she thought the idea of a fishing pond was something Marion was actually very interested in. Hell, she'd pitched it herself, so it clearly meant a lot!
And lo and behold, the minute that it came to Marion's attention that helping out around the inn would give Cynthia more time to help build the fishing pond, she stopped struggling immediately, the girls stunned by her sudden compliance.
Then, with a burst of strength, Marion shook the three of them off and leapt to her feet, standing triumphantly over them.
"You've got yourself a deal, Cynthia! Let's do this thing! First we clean! Then we fish! Let's work today, to further our goal of night fishing in Mauville City, just the four of us!"
"Wait, no-" Cynthia said, her face going pale. "I didn't ever say anything like-"
But Marion was already off, rag in hand, scrubbing away at the floors with the same doggedness that she pursued fishing.
Cynthia, knowing she was doomed, slumped over and fell to her knees, picking up her own rag and getting back to scrubbing herself.
"…I'm not night fishing in Mauville," Maddi declared a few seconds later.
"Agreed," Sango nodded. The two girls continued their work as well.
They worked in total silence for quite some time, too lost in focusing on the work to really pay much attention to one another. To everyone's collective relief, the time spent scrubbing on their hands and knees had led to their hangovers to slowly recover, and by the time the sun had set they were just a little fatigued, the sickness and headaches all but gone.
Cynthia was the one who first caught the sound of footsteps in the lobby. Guests? Her grandfather did mention that guests would start coming in on Christmas Day, so yes, whoever that was must have been a guest staying at the inn!
Her curiosity got the better of her. She put her towel in her bucket and stood up, leaning against paper door. She couldn't actually spy, but as long as no one could see her, she could eavesdrop a little bit. Whoever it was, she hoped they were hot.
"Cynthia, what are you doing?" Sango asked, standing up and walking over to her.
"Spying, shush," Cynthia said, pressing her ear against the door. "Some guests are signing in at the front desk! I hear two of them. They're women, I think, and they sound hot!"
"How does someone 'sound' hot?" Sango asked.
"Yeah, pretty sure that's not really a thing," Maddi agreed.
"Well, of course you two would think that, you guys sound as plain as you look," Cynthia said, not even paying the scowling girls attention.
"Stop spying, Cynthia, get back to work," Sango snapped, grabbing her by the shoulder and pulling her back. But she underestimated Cynthia's curiosity, the girl struggling against her, which caused both of them to lose their balance. Cynthia stumbled backwards, tripping over the bucket, knocking it over, water spilling all over the floor. The two girls slipped, Cynthia landing on Sango's stomach, causing her to let out a grunt of pain.
"Now, let me show you to your room. A double, right?" Roland walked to the door and slid it open, staring slack-jawed at his daughter, sitting on top of Sango, both girls in the middle of a spreading puddle of water.
They were even more surprised, however, seeing the two girls who the old man was showing to their room.
"Darla Drake?" Cynthia gasped.
"Lila Seelie?" Sango gasped.
The two idols stared at the girls, and their eyes move in unison, leaping from the two on the ground to Maddi, and then to Marion. Their faces turned red as the gears in their heads began to turn. They stuttered, turning even brighter.
"Um…" Darla glanced at Lila.
"It…" Lila glanced at Darla.
Both idols turned back to the other girls.
"IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK!" The two exclaimed at the same time.
Two more guests have appeared! Lila and Darla are checking into the inn… for sexy times, perhaps? Is this a scandal? Someone should call Dakota Evans!