Time to get on the road! With the inn behind them, what awaits our heroes in Slateport City and the contest hall?
KedharS: Sadly, not a lot of people (don't think any) actually submitted gay male characters or trans characters. I'll fight the battles I'm given.
Aquahaze675: None of them.
Rosealine gold: Would contests be something she would be interested in?
Thunder Fire: There are. But none of our main characters are in the Appeals Course so they aren't featured like the battles are. We'll see some in the coming months.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 443
Idling outside the inn was a small bus/van that could seat 16. It was a rather fancy thing, Olivia not being the type to travel in anything other than style.
The boy sitting behind the wheel of the van had short, chopped black hair with a streak of silver in it, and his tall frame was squeezed into a seat that was a little too small. He turned his head and when he saw the group approach, his eyes lit up.
"Well, Cynthia Fafnir! Nice to see you! It's been a while!" He chirped, a coy smile crossing his face. He turned in his seat to face them, and opened up the door so that they could enter.
Cynthia blinked.
"Uh… do I know you?" Cynthia asked. The boy's face soured.
"Yeah, it's me! Lukas? Lukas Legato?" He said, pointing at himself.
Cynthia blinked again, then forced the most fake smile anyone had ever seen onto her face. "Oh! Right! Lukas! Totally!"
"…You don't remember me at all, do you?" Lukas asked, his face falling.
"Are you some minor character from like the first twenty chapters or something?" Cynthia asked. "Because I my memory doesn't cover background extras."
Cynthia's words were like an arrow that pierced Lukas' chest, and he slumped over the wheel in disappointment. Olivia snickered. She strolled up to the van and opened the passenger door, sitting down, gesturing to the others to file into the back.
Surprisingly, it wasn't that tight of a fit in the back of the van. Apparently, Olivia hadn't invited as many people along on this excursion as they had thought. Including Darla and Lila, there were only a handful of others from among Olivia's entourage; Giselle Kaiser and Allen Alastair were the two that Cynthia recognized. There was another girl there, as well, a tan girl who was short, and looked like a freshwoman, with orange eyes and long, black hair, wearing a bored frown and an orange jacket. But the most surprising person there was Eli, from the Pokemon Friends club.
"Eli?" Cynthia gasped. "What are you doing here? Are you on Olivia's side?"
"N-No!" Eli blushed, shaking her head. "I just, well…"
She glanced ahead at Olivia, sitting in the front seat, and blushed a little bit more. That told Cynthia all she needed to know. She sat down next to Eli, excited to tease her for the rest of the drive down to Slateport.
Violet sat down next to Lila, who had wisely decided to be the wall that separated the older woman from Darla, withstanding Violet's flirtations with the smile of a professional until Violet got the message to cut it out.
"I think you guys have already met Giselle and Allen at the party, right?" Olivia called over her shoulder as the van headed off down the road. "In that case, the only introductions that need to be made are with Danica."
Olivia glanced back and gestured to the tan-skinned girl sitting by herself, who glanced up from her phone with a bored look.
"Danica, this is Cynthia Fafnir and Sango Akana," Olivia introduced her. "They're first-years just like you. And over there is Madison Whitmore, she's a junior, though that's just through technicalities. She's actually your age. Cynthia, Sango, Madison, meet Danica Banks."
Danica gave them a half-hearted wave.
"Hey there! So you're in the Appeals Course?" Sango asked.
"…Yeah," Danica said, glancing down.
"Your pokemon are adorable," Cynthia said, glancing at the two pokemon cuddling next to each other on the seat beside the short girl. A Snorunt and a Bulbasaur, who were staring back at them with big, curious eyes. "You like keeping them out of their pokeballs?"
"…Yeah," Danica said, nodding again. She was clearly not a woman of many words. Maddi could jive with that. Grim floated across the van over to the girl, circling around her. Danica eyed him warily, tensing a little.
"What are their names?" Sango asked.
"This is Alma," Danica murmured, petting her Snorunt, "and this is Burr." She moved her hand over and patted her Bulbasaur on the head.
"I'm sort of taking her under my wing," Olivia explained. "She's a shy one, but I'll make her into a star! Just you watch!"
Danica blushed bashfully, curling up a little more and sinking deeper into her seat.
"You guys get to know each other a little better, we've got a long drive ahead of us," Olivia said. "It's going to be a fun ride, for sure."
During the drive, the students got to know each other better. Maddi and Danica were both private people so they didn't let much on, and Allen's charming, playboy attitude was found to be irritating by Cynthia and Sango, so they weren't that interested in getting to know him much. Sango did enjoy conversing with Eli, though, and getting to know more about Danica, what little she was willing to open up about, but the real stars of the night were Cynthia and Giselle, who bonded over their surprising love of cooking and baking, becoming fast friends by the time they arrived in Slateport.
"So you've never made pokeblocks before?" Giselle asked, surprised, the shy girl from the party the week before seeming like a thing of the past. "Or poffins?"
"Never had the need to," Cynthia shrugged.
"Oh, you've just got to!" Giselle gushed. "Don't worry! The contest hall has a berry blender that we can use to make pokeblocks! And I brought a portable poffin stove, so we can cook poffins later tonight, too! They're just the most delicious things ever, your pokemon will love them!"
"Oh, I can't wait!" Cynthia giggled, squirming in her seat. "Lukas! When are we getting to the contest hall?!"
"In a few minutes," Lukas laughed. "You're so impatient, it's almost like you're participating tomorrow! Hah!"
"The only problem is that we don't have enough berries," Giselle bemoaned. "We have a few, but not nearly enough to make all the pokeblocks and poffins I'd like…"
"Well, what are you going to do?" Allen shrugged. "It's not like you can just take whatever berries you want, you know. They're a vital part of the ecosystem, and we can't pick too many, without saving enough for the pokemon."
Sango stared at him in surprise.
"So you're not just a flirt," she said.
"I care for pokemon," Allen replied. "Don't read too much into it."
"Well, anyway, maybe next time," Giselle sighed, glancing down at the small satchel in her lap. She only had a handful of berries left, barely enough for a couple pokeblocks.
"Excuse me," Sango cleared her throat, Giselle glancing up at her.
"Y-yeah?" She asked.
Sango set down her backpack and pulled out a thick burlap sack, pulling it open to reveal a mountain of berries that sent a wave of gasps through the bus.
"Th-those…" Danica murmured.
"So many!" Giselle exclaimed.
"I, uh, pick berries a lot," Sango said, grinning. "You know, as part of being a ranger. So if you guys want, I'll be happy to share them with you! I even have a trusty guide that tells us everything we need to know about them!"
"You sure?" Giselle asked.
"Thanks, Sango, you're the best!" Cynthia grinned.
"Well this is all nice and touching, but we're here!" Lukas declared. The van pulled into the large parking lot of a massive stadium, a wide, curved dome towering over the surrounding buildings, though dwarfed by the skyscrapers in the larger part of the city. The lights were still on, so it was still open. They slid into one of the many vacant parking spots, Olivia practically bursting from her seat. She turned back and addressed the other passengers.
"Now then, anyone interested in signing up for a Hyper Rank Pokemon Contest, come right along inside, it's time to get started!" She declared. She then turned to Cynthia. "Or, anyone interested in cooking up a batch of pokeblocks."
Cynthia brightened, and headed out. Lila and Darla stayed, and so did Violet, who was taking a nap. Lukas stayed as well, having explained on the ride over that he had already reached Hyper Rank in Hoenn. Allen, Eli, and Danica all scooted out of the van, Danica's pokemon following after her. Sango got up as well, slinging the berries over her shoulder, and glanced at Maddi.
"I'm assuming you're staying?"
Maddi yawned, and nodded. She had no interest in signing up for a pokemon contest.
"Whoa, this place is so awesome!" Cynthia said, her eyes wide. She marveled at the inside of the contest hall. The lobby was wide and bright, lit well and painted the color pink, with pink tile as well, and dozens of seats for people waiting to get in. They were all empty, though. There was no one there but the attendants, the place was deserted. There were massive television screens on the far wall, behind the counters, where people could watch the performances. But they weren't on at the moment, it was far too late for contests. There was a section of the lobby filled with picture frames, as well. Cynthia, not one for sitting still, had already gone to check it out.
"That's the Champion's Wall," Olivia called after her. "That's where people who have conquered all the Hyper Rank contests in the hall get their portraits hung, alongside their winning pokemon. Just watch! By this time tomorrow, my portrait will be hung up there, as well."
Cynthia was surprised there were so many. She stopped counting somewhere after one hundred.
Giselle went over to sign up for the contests first. "Cynthia, go check out the berry blenders over there, I'll join you when I'm done here." Giselle pointed at another section of the lobby, where a row of machines were set up.
Olivia was the first to address the attendant. There were five counters in total. Because the lobby was round, the counters were spaced an equal distance apart, with doors leading back. Sango wasn't sure, but she assumed that they were there for each of the contest categories. Coolness, Beauty, Cuteness, Cleverness, and Toughness, right?
"Hey there," Olivia said, flashing the cute attendant a flirty smile as she leaned over the counter, showing off her cleavage. "My friends and I are signing up for some pokemon contests tomorrow, is this where I go?"
She reached up and twirled a lock of her hair around her finger, batting her eyelashes.
"Yes, this is the place to do it," the attendant chirped, smiling cheerfully. Olivia straightened her back and sighed, the girl wasn't taking the bait. Oh well, more fish in the sea. "What contests will you be signing up for?"
Olivia stroked her chin.
"When are the contests scheduled for?" Olivia asked. The attendant showed the forms.
"We have three contests in each category scheduled at five different times each day, for a total of 15 contests in each category, with 4 slots open for each, so a total of 60 potential participants per category. Because of demand, we are not allowing multiple sign-ups for the same category, even if you have multiple pokemon you would like to participate. But, you may sign up for as many categories as you like. Would you like to see the current openings?" The attendant handed a printed sign-up sheet listing available slots. There weren't many.
As the priority, Olivia signed up for five contests, one of each category. The Beauty contest was the first, followed by Toughness, then Cuteness, then Cleverness, and then Coolness. The others began signing up as well. Fortunately, everyone was able to sign up for the categories they wanted, and even more lucky, no one was signing up for any contests with another member of their party in them, so they wouldn't have to compete against each other, either.
"I'm surprised there are so many people signed up," Cynthia said, staring at them. "I mean, I've lived in Hoenn all my life, so I've seen a few contests on TV and stuff, but what that lady said, doesn't that mean that there could be 300 people, potentially? That seems like so many… I guess contests really are a pretty big deal."
"Hey," Giselle said, walking over to them. "Already signed up. The Empress is working out the schedule with the others, so you want to make some pokeblocks?"
"That fast?" Sango asked, surprised.
"Well, I'm only signed up for one contest," she admitted. "For a Beauty Contest."
"That's cool!" Cynthia grinned.
"Yeah, but unfortunately, the Empress is going to be in all the time slots, which means that no one is really going to be watching," Giselle sighed.
Cynthia frowned.
"Hey, I'll come check them out!" Cynthia decided. "What time slot?"
"Um… uh…" Giselle wasn't sure what she should say. "At the 10:45 time slot."
"Okay, so the second wave of contests, then," Cynthia said. "That's when Olivia is going to be doing which contest?"
"Toughness," Giselle said. "Right after her Beauty Contest. We're both even going to be in the same stadium."
"Oh, then I'll need to sign- tickets?!" Cynthia gasped. "We forgot to get tickets!" She pushed past Giselle and ran to the desk, panting. "Olivia, Sango, Maddi, Violet and I will need tickets, in order to-"
"It's fine," Olivia grinned. "Participants get 4 bonus tickets reserved for spectators. You'll get to watch any five contests."
"Oh, phew," Cynthia sighed with relief. "Then we're going to watch all your contests but the Toughness one, and we'll watch Giselle then. Or at least, I will. Not sure about Sango or the others. Pretty sure Violet will want to watch yours, though."
"Oh, okay then," Olivia scowled, shooting Giselle a dirty look from across the lobby for a fraction of a second before her game face turned back on. "Don't worry, we'll get it all taken care of. Go work on your berry blending."
"Right-o!" Cynthia nodded eagerly.
"Oh, right, almost forgot!" Olivia's eyes lit up, and she turned back to the counter. "Miss, two of my friends are going to be berry blending, but they don't have pokeblock cases. Could you-"
"Of course!" The attendant nodded. She reached under the counter and withdrew two thin, rectangular containers with a lid curved like a pokeball. She handed them over to Olivia, who took the tab onto herself. She handed them both to Cynthia. One for her, one for Sango. Cynthia nodded, and rushed back over to Giselle, Sango, Silver, and Aud, who was still in her case.
"Here, Sango, catch," Cynthia said, tossing one of the containers to Sango.
"What's this for?" Sango asked, glancing at the case.
"Storing pokeblocks," Giselle said, pulling out her own case, which was half-full. "So, you guys ready to blend?"
"Gimme a second," Cynthia said, kneeling down next to the machine and letting Aud out of her carrying case, propping her up on the boxy machine.
"So what do we do?" Sango asked.
"Let's start with something easy," Giselle said. "What kind of pokeblocks would you girls like to make?"
"Kinds?" Cynthia asked, tilting her head to the side. Sango rolled her eyes and Giselle sighed.
"There are different kinds of pokeblocks," Giselle explained. "Red, Blue, Pink, Green, and Yellow, that each raise different stats. There are some other colors, too, but they're very rare. Normally, I would be making some Blue pokeblocks, but my Beauty already has her stats maxed out, so there's no point. What stats of your pokemon do you want to raise?"
"Well, my only pokemon is Silver," Sango said, glancing up at her Castform.
"I want to give some to my sweetie Aud!" Cynthia said.
"Well, if you're raising them for contest performances, Beauty pokeblocks would be good for your Castform," Giselle said. "And Cynthia, I actually have an Alolan Vulpix myself."
"You do?!" Cynthia gasped, her face lighting up. "Did we just become best friends?! I want to see her!"
"Sorry, I left her back at the Pokemon Academy with the caretakers," Giselle apologized. "I'll introduce you next term, sound good?"
"Sounds GREAT, that's what I say!" Cynthia nodded eagerly.
"Well, right now, I'm working on boosting my White Snow's Beauty and Cuteness," Giselle explained. "I think the same thing would be good for your… what's her name?"
"Her name's Aud," Cynthia said proudly. "Aud, say hi to the nice coordinator."
"Vulpix!" Aud greeted her, Giselle reaching out to pet Aud's fur.
"So I think we should start out with making some easy-to-make Beauty pokeblocks," Giselle decided. "So, Sango, we're going to need some Dry berries. Start with common ones. It's easier to make pokeblocks with more common berries. Chesto Berries and Oran Berries are a good place to start for basic berries."
"Oh, I've got mountains of those," Sango nodded, digging through her bag and pulling out a few of each of the berries she just named. "Anything else?"
"Next, we'll need to work with the level," Giselle replied. "The higher the level of the pokeblock, the more it raises the stats. But you can make high-level pokeblocks with even low-level berries. Do you have any Rowap Berries?"
"I don't think I've even heard of those," Sango said, shaking her head.
"They ARE exceptionally rare, not surprised. What about Apicot or Ganlon Berries?"
Sango shook her head again.
Giselle sighed.
"What about Coba, Yache, or Passho Berries?" She tried again.
That time, Sango's face brightened.
"Yup! I have a few of those!" She looked into the different slots in her bag, before finding two Passho Berries, blue and yellow in color.
"Good! That's enough to make some decently high-level pokeblocks!" Giselle said. "Okay, let's try to combine Oran, Chesto, and Passho Berries into the blender."
Each girl put one of the berries into the machine, and closed the lid.
"What now?" Cynthia asked. "How do we do it?"
"We start up the machine, and it begins whirring," Giselle explained. Now, see those red lights?"
At each corner of the machine, a red light in the shape of an arrow was pointed at the lid.
"Yeah, what about it?" Cynthia asked.
"Stand in front of each of those lights," Giselle said. Sango and Cynthia both moved to stand in front of one. "Now, as the blender will spin, this little arrow on the lid will pass it by. As it lines up with the light, press down on it, like a button. See?" Giselle pressed the button and it lit. "That will make the machine speed up. The faster it goes, the better blended the pokeblock will be. You guys get it?"
"…My blender at home has a 'Liquify' function." Cynthia said.
"Okay, yes, it's a little complicated, but that's just how it works," Giselle sighed. "Let's go! Let's berry blend!"
With that, she started up the machine, and the blender began to whir. The others came over to watch as the girls got started on the process. Giselle had the experience to know just the right way to press the buttons, and Sango had the reflexes to do well, too. Cynthia didn't have the reflexes of her partners, and made the most mistakes, but her cooking expertise and ability to adapt on her feet was letting her catch up fast.
A few seconds later, and the machine slowed to a stop. With a ding, a slot on the base opened up, and a cup was revealed, holding the soupy dark blue mixture. Giselle knelt down and took it out, along with a tray of four squares, like ice cubes.
"So next, we pour in the mixture like so," Giselle explained, pouring the blended berries into the different slots, filling up three of them. "Next, we put them in the auto-freezer, and…"
Giselle slid the tray into a slot on the machine and replaced the cup, and pressed a button. A hiss came out of the machine, and the tray slid back out, three crystallized pokeblocks shining a bright blue color right in the center.
"That fast?" Sango gasped.
"We'll crack it open, they'll be touchable in a few moments," Giselle said. "It's not exactly 'freezing' as much as 'hardening', it's hard to explain. The machine just speeds it up."
She set the tray aside, cracking the pokeblocks out onto another, larger tray, and slid the small one back into the machine for later.
"Okay, good. Here, try them," Giselle said, handing one to each of the girls. Cynthia was surprised, it wasn't very cold. "They're a decent enough level, not enough for a pokeblock+ though."
Cynthia looked at Aud, and held the pokeblock out to her. The small pokemon lapped it up immediately as Sango did the same to Silver. Both pokemon loved their pokeblocks, their faces lighting up brightly, their eyes shining.
"Castform!" Silver cheered.
"Vulpix!" Aud nodded in agreement.
"Wow!" Sango smiled, Cynthia grinning as well.
"They love them, thank you," Cynthia said, turning to Giselle. "Ready to do another one?"
Giselle nodded, her face brightening. She'd do this all night!
"We only have time for one more," Olivia said, checking the time. "Make it count, you two. You'll have more time to blend tomorrow."
With that, the girls put the remaining berries into the blender, and fired it up again.
Cynthia and Sango have made a new friend! What will the contests tomorrow be like? Will Cynthia make some more pokeblocks?