Blake and Sylvia have gone through quite an interesting ritual, to say the least. But what's going to happen to them, now that they've finished? Will the Valdette have any further use for these two? Or will they become victims in another sense? Remember to review!

Also, thank you to everyone who read my story "The Heir to the Dragon". I would appreciate if you continue to read and support it in the future! You can get there through my profile!

The votes for the Elimination Round have begun to pick up, that's pretty good! Hope we can start getting them to role in! I've been very surprised by the results of this poll so far, some people are leading that I never would have expected, and some people are trailing behind who I thought would be frontrunners. Just goes to show how much things have changed since last year!

Nominated: Alcea, Ayame, Carrie, Caelia, Cynthia, Dakota, Darla, Elaina, Elizabeth, Julia, Kate, Kitty, Lila, Maddi, Marion, Nikita, Olivia, Sango, Sylvia

Rowlets and Oshawotts: They grow up so fast.

KedharS: Ironically, it does make sense, if you have context. You just don't yet, lol. Well, some of it is superstition, I will admit.

JoshGamerV: We humans release chemicals that make our bodies bulge in strange ways and grow in different proportions to ourselves, don't throw stones in your glass house.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 635

Blake was shocked. And not just because of the full-frontal nudity. He'd just seen a little child transform into a teenager as old as he was! There was puberty, and then there was this. We was so stunned that he wasn't sure what to say at first.

"Valdette," the former Valetty said, staring at her new figure. She turned and admired her form, and then turned to Blake and Sylvia. Her eyes were shining. Her lips spread into a smile, her sharp fangs shining.

The girl knelt down beside Blake and reached out to him. He was too stunned to shy away from her touch. "Thank you for Offering."

"How do you feel?" The other Valdette woman stepped forward, breaking the circle. The newly-born Valdette rose and turned to face her, still smiling.

"I can feel… so many emotions," she sighed wistfully, swooning a little. "I've waited… so long."

"Congratulations, Valdette," the other Valdette said, nodding. She glanced down at the two humans. Sylvia's brain was working at full power trying to figure out what was going on, and meanwhile Blake was busy panicking, still frozen in the sand.

When he felt the Valdette's gaze on him, he flinched, and turned to look up at her, still shaking with a mixture of confusion, fear, and embarrassment.

Whatever had just happened, it was over now. Now, they didn't have any need for him or Sylvia, and that made him worried. Sylvia didn't seem troubled, but he was hoping that they wouldn't just eat them now that they were useless.

With those fears dominating his mind, he didn't expect what happened next.

The Valdette lowered her head in a bow. "Thank you for your help."

Blake blinked, taken aback. Two Valdette helped him and Sylvia to their feet while the others slipped their gowns back on, heading off.

"We shall provide a tent for your rest," the Valdette woman continued, guiding them out of the tent. The new Valdette walked at the head of the line, her head held high as the other Valdette cheered for her, pride and joy throbbing through the crowd.

While the Valdette and Valetty celebrated, the Valdette woman led Sylvia and Blake to the tent they'd been living in.

"You can stay as long as you want," she said. "Your things will be returned to you shortly. Then you may continue your travels. Or stay, if you wish. We are grateful for your assistance. Do not worry. We shall not ask for you to help us with Feeding a second time. Such a practice is held sacred, and we do not intend to keep you prisoner."

"…Well isn't that decent of you," Sylvia snarked.

"I apologize for whatever discomfort you experienced," the Valdette apologized again. "Feeding is a sacred rite, and when we came upon humans we knew it was our chance for another of our kind to awaken. It is a painful process, but one that we found necessary. We will not bother you any further, do not be concerned."

Her tone was apologetic, reverential, even. She lowered her head in a bow, and closed the flap of the tent, leaving Blake and Sylvia stunned and alone.

"Well," Sylvia said, not wasting a moment now that they were alone. "That was certainly something, wasn't it?"

"What-What the hell was that?!" Blake cried. "That… first she was a little girl, and then she turned into an adult!"

"A little girl became a woman after ingesting your bodily fluids, Blake. That's pretty disgusting if you ask me." Blake could see the look of scorn on Sylvia's face in his mind, and he wanted to punch it off of her, joking or no. But unfortunately he had no idea where she was in the darkness.

"This isn't a joke!" Blake growled. "What was with that ritual?!"

"That was quite an informative ritual, actually," Sylvia said. "They said it was 'Feeding' even though they shouldn't need to eat or drink here. And then they fed that girl our blood, mixed with theirs, talk about a strange ritual."

Blake remembered something else, too. "What was that thing they were talking about? Giving their pain or something?"

Sylvia nodded, her scowl unseen to Blake's eyes. "You picked up on that too, huh? That's some seriously questionable stuff. And they bled us out like that? Ick. Most normal people don't just drink blood, you know."

"Yeah, but they aren't normal people as I'm sure you know," Blake sighed. "Normal people don't have those shadow claws."

Sylvia stroked her chin in contemplation. "Yeah… those shadow claws…" Something about those claws that these Valetty and Valdette threatened them with, the more suspicious she got. And the more she thought about that ceremony… and what had happened to that Valetty, transforming into that fully-grown woman right before their eyes…

Oh yeah, there was a lot about these creatures that she was suspicious of, and she had a pretty nagging notion in the back of her mind. But that sounded just too crazy…

"What about that rock thing?" Blake asked. "That Valetty… she came out of that cave, right? It must go deep under the ground."

"And she was dripping wet, did you notice that?" Sylvia asked. "If I had to guess, I'd say there's an underground spring down there. But who knows how large those caverns might be. It might go for miles and miles. It's curious, it gets my investigative blood flowing!"

Blake felt a shiver go down his spine. He had a bad feeling about this. Sylvia was being Sylvia again, and that wasn't necessarily good.

"Hey, um, do you really think it's a good idea to go sniffing around?" Blake asked. "I mean, that rock seems like it's really important to those people. Did you not just see that sacred ritual they were going through? They're letting us go! They're giving us our stuff! Do you really want them to piss them off and make them keep us as slaves for their blood rituals?"

"They did say we were free to go, I wonder if that means we're free to go into that cave?" Sylvia mused, intentionally ignoring Blake's protests. She paced through the sand. "You may be right, they might take issue with that. But no reason we can't ask them, right?"

Blake couldn't believe how crazy Sylvia sounded right now. Didn't she know how dangerous these people were? He knew she was often crazy and reckless, but right now it sounded like she was being reckless and getting him in danger, which was something that made little sense. "I thought you were trying to keep me safe. This does not sound like 'keeping me safe' behavior. Why can't we just go and leave them alone?"

"Go?" Sylvia asked, turning and glaring in the direction she heard his voice coming from. "Go where, exactly? Do you remember what we were doing? We were wandering in the desert heading in this direction. And now what, you want to keep walking through the desert? Is that it? This is 'where' we were trying to go, remember?"

Blake baulked. She was right about that. It wasn't like there would be anywhere they could go from here, unfortunately. That didn't mean he had to be happy about it, though. "But… do we really have to mess with them? They might get-"

"Or maybe you want to go into the forest?" Sylvia asked. "We could always do that. We can go into that dead-looking forest and wander around there like we did the desert. At least then we'd have the shade. What do you think about that?"

Blake didn't like the sound of that at all. That forest made him feel dread. Real terror. He would never set foot inside it if he could. There was something about it, something in his chest telling him that if he walked into that forest, bad things would happen. He wasn't sure if Sylvia had picked up on that or not, and that was why she was proposing this to him right now, but he knew that she was right. He wasn't going into that forest willingly.

"Okay, no, I don't want to go there," he admitted, shaking his head. "You're right. That's a very bad place there."

"Didn't think so. I don't think we're here by coincidence," Sylvia said. "I don't know how much more desert we have to explore, but that rock definitely feels suspicious. Especially since it's a source of water. Now, tell me something, Blake."

"What?" Blake asked.

"What use is there for water in a world where nobody needs to drink?" Sylvia asked, stroking her chin in contemplation. "If you ask me, I can't think of any reason for it being there. And yet, it is. So what do you think?"

"You're right, it is kind of questionable," Blake admitted. "But even so, I still don't think this is something that we should just be messing around with, these people are dangerous. Aren't you supposed to be keeping me safe?"

"I promise, I'm not going to do anything stupid or reckless," Sylvia promised. It was a hollow promise, considering who was making it.

"Why do I find that hard to believe?" Blake dryly asked.

"Maybe because you have a suspicious mind," Sylvia scoffed. "Look, I get the feeling that these guys aren't THAT bad. Sure, they abducted us, and are used our blood in some ritual to turn one of their kids into an adult-"

"They bit our wrists open!" Blake hissed at her.

"Yes, I know," Sylvia said, and Blake could hear her eyes roll. "But come on. They said we were free to go. Maybe we can just walk right out of that tent if we want to. And think about it this way. These guys have lived in this world for who-knows how long? Maybe they're native to wherever this place is, and they have no frame of reference for what they're doing."

That got Blake's attention. "Wait, what are you talking about? I'm not sure I understand."

"Think about it like this," Sylvia explained. "If you've lived your whole life in some place where any major wound was immediately healed, and you couldn't really die, would you necessarily think of 'pain' or 'hurting others' in the same context?"

Blake took that in for a second. "Um… I don't… I guess not."

"Exactly. We're using our human perspective because from where we're coming from, stuff like biting open our wrists and spilling our blood in ritual sacrifice is horrific. But for these creatures, it might just be a normal form of communication. Like cutting their hair or doing their nails," Sylvia reasoned. "And they did apologize. I don't think they're that bad."

When Sylvia put it that way, she almost sounded reasonable.

"Okay, yeah, that does make sense," Blake agreed, nodding.

Sylvia smiled, but Blake didn't see it. "We'll go to them politely, and try to work things out. There's a lot about this place we don't know. If they can be reasonable, then this could be a good source of information for us. And I can be… very persuasive."

"So what's the plan?" Blake asked, rolling his eyes. "Just go out and make nice with them? I mean, I can see how it COULD work, but you'll forgive me if I don't put the most confidence in it. Even if you're right and they can be reasoned with, we need to do this tactfully. Something tells me seduction isn't going to go well here."

"Come on, Blake, don't you trust me?" Sylvia purred.

Blake let his silence speak for itself.

"Well, on the topic of seduction, you just never know. That girl kissed quite nicely," Sylvia mused. "But you're right. We do need to handle this with delicacy just in case- aaah!"

Sylvia raised her arm to shield from the light, surprised by the sudden intrusion. The tent flap opened, and the head of a Valdette peered inside, her golden eyes shining. Blake was also surprised, and then his eyes widened in realization. It was the Valdette from the ceremony! Noticing that, Blake realized her was a little uncomfortable about her, considering the whole event.

After all, not only had he seen her almost naked, but she had previously been a Valetty! Now, at least, she was fully-clothed in black robes which meant he didn't have to avert his eyes. She was staring curiously at them, almost feline in the way she slinked into the tent, cautiously watching the two of them with a big sharp smile on her face.

"Humans," she giggled. "Come. Come!" She beckoned at Sylvia and Blake. The two glanced at each other, squinting, and nodded. Blake was wary of the Valdette, especially of this one, but he knew what Sylvia was right. They would need to learn more about these people if they were going to find out what was going on.

Maybe, if they were lucky, these creatures might even be able to find a way for them to get back home. It was definitely worth a chance.

They followed after the girl as she led them through the village. It was deserted. Was everyone in their tents? Neither Blake nor Sylvia had any idea where the Valdette was leading them to. Blake wanted to ask, but after what he had seen of her he wasn't comfortable with bringing anything up, so he shrunk away.

Sylvia was less cautious.

"So what should we call you?" Sylvia asked. The Valdette glanced back at her.

"Valdette," she said, rolling her eyes and sighing like a "duh" gesture. Internally, Sylvia wanted to scream.

"No, that's not what I meant," Sylvia said, shaking her head. She pointed to herself. "I'm Sylvia. S-Y-L-V-I-A."

The Valdette blinked at her, pausing on their walk through the village to fully turn towards her, tilting her head to the side in confusion. She pointed at Sylvia. "Human."

Sylvia sighed. This was going to take a while. She pointed to herself again. "Yes, I'm a human. But my name is Sylvia. So please, call me Sylvia." She slapped her hand against her chest. "Okay? Think you've got that? Sylvia."

The Valdette clicked her tongue and narrowed her eyebrows into a confused furrow. "Syl-Via? Syl-Via?" She sounded it out with her tongue. She pointed at Sylvia. "Sylvia?"

"Yes, exactly," Sylvia said, nodding her head encouragingly. She pointed at herself. "I'm Sylvia, you got it!"

"Sylvia," the Valdette repeated, pointing at Sylvia. Then she moved her finger over to point at Blake. "Sylvia."

Sylvia smacked her palm against her face. This was gonna take a while.

Blake didn't know exactly how long it had taken for everything about their names to sink in for the Valdette, but the way Sylvia was talking it sounded like she was on her very last nerve. So it might have been quite some time. They were no longer standing, now they were lounging around as Sylvia wrote their names into the sand.

"Sylvia!" The Valdette said, pointing at Sylvia. She then moved her finger over to Blake. "Blake! Sylvia! Blake!"

"Yes, that's right! Those are our names," Sylvia said, pointing at herself. "My name is Sylvia, and his name is Blake."

"Names," the Valdette mused curiously, like the word sounded weird to her. "Your name is Sylvia, and his name is Blake."

"Yep," Sylvia confirmed. "And you don't have a name?"

"No. Valdette," the Valdette said, shaking her head. "Was Valetty. Now, Valdette. Fun! Humans are fun, they have names!"

"Names are how we tell each other apart," Sylvia explained. "So how do you do it?"

"Do it? Do what?" The Valdette looked at Sylvia as though the girl had asked her how she could breathe sand.

"How do you guys tell each other apart?" Sylvia asked. "Because if you don't mind me saying, you guys all kind of look alike. All the Valdette look like each other, all the Valetty look like each other. So how do you guys tell each other apart without names? How do you refer to each other? Like 'Joan is suuuuch a bitch, did you see she took Ricky out to the sand dune to make out, even though she knew he was taking me to the creepy rock blood sacrifice?' You know. Stuff like that."

Sylvia's valley girl accent made Blake burst out laughing.

"We… just know who we are," the Valdette said, confused.

"Okay, but how?" Sylvia asked. "I'm curious, how do you communicate with each other, without names? Every society needs to have some way to interact with one another as individuals, even if they're sand-dwelling people with sharp teeth."

"We just… feel," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "Like how I feel that you're really upset with me right now, or that Blake is feeling really lonely."

Sylvia gasped, leaning in, interested. "Wait… so what you're describing… it sounds like you guys are empathic!"

Blake was surprised, empathic? These were certainly odd humans, but he didn't expect them to be psychic.

"So, you guys tell each other apart through… emotions?" Sylvia asked. "Not names… interesting. So what, you can feel emotions?"

"Yes," she nodded. "Everyone's emotions are different. So we know who's who because they feel different! Make sense?"

"Well, they wouldn't need names, then," Blake agreed. "I just think that's really odd, don't you, Sylvia?"

"It's definitely odd," Sylvia agreed. "And it's helping with a theory I have. Can you explain to me a little bit more about what happened during that ceremony? The one where you became a Valdette. They drained our blood into that altar and then you drank it. Why?"

"Because it was Feeding!" The Valdette excitedly explained. "Feed. Emotions, we eat them!"

Even Sylvia was surprised by that one.

"You guys feed on emotions?" Blake asked. "How do you even do that?"

The frosty gaze the Valdette turned his way made him feel stupid. She rolled her eyes and pointed at her mouth.

"Feed," she said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"…So that's why you kissed us," Sylvia realized. "That's why you drank the blood."

"Feed," the Valdette nodded. "Needed to Feed. On your pain. Enough pain to evolve into Valdette. Everyone Gives pain, I Feed on pain. But, need more than just Valdette. Need humans. Without human emotions, can't Feed enough to evolve. Can't awaken into Valdette."

Sylvia stroked her chin. She was becoming more and more certain of her theory. And boy, what a theory it was.

"In the desert," Sylvia said, suddenly changing the subject, "the Valdettes attacked us with these strange weird claws."

"Oh!" The Valdette gasped, her eyes widening. "The shadow claw! Yes! That! Look!" She held her hand up, and formed a spectral claw over her hand. That confirmed it for Sylvia, it was just as she suspected. She just needed to prove it.

"Okay, one more thing, then," Sylvia said. "You guys don't have names. But you identify yourselves as Valdette and Valetty. Why do you do that?"

"Because… that's what we are?" The Valdette asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Okay, but where did those words come from?" Sylvia asked. "Because those are names. You didn't just come up with them out of nowhere."

"Oh! From the Guardians!" The Valdette said. "They're the ones who brought us here. We learned the words from them."

"You learned about Valetty and Valdette from the Guardians?" Sylvia asked. She was curious about these Guardians and would ask about that later, but right now she was more interested in what the Valdette was saying. Because she looked confused.

She shook her head. "This was long time ago," she explained. "No longer remember. But it's written down! The Valdette Fed on the Guardians, the Guardians Give their emotions. And then they Gave the Valdette the words, too.

"They… 'Gave' you the words, Valetty and Valdette?" Sylvia clarified. The Valdette shook her head again. "No. The other words. Only Valdette Feed that way. Feed on Guardians, Guardians give knowledge of words, speaking. Valdette learned words from the Guardians. Valdette teach words to Valetty. Then Valetty and Valette had many words. Before that, we could only say one word. Only Valetty, or only Valdette."

"That's… weird," Blake said, not sure what to make of it. But Sylvia did.

"Just as I thought. What a strange thing we have here, Blake," Sylvia chuckled, shaking her head in amusement.

Blake looked at her, confused. "What do you mean?"

Sylvia glanced at him. "Don't you get what they are? They call themselves Valetty and Valdette, but they don't use names. And they might look human, but they don't grow like humans do. No, when they grow up, their bodies glow with a bright light, and then the Valetty turn into Valdette. Does that sound familiar?"

Blake gasped in realization, turning and looking at the Valdette for the first time. She stared back at the two of them, glancing between them in confusion. "No way," Blake said, shaking his head. "There's just no way. It's not possible."

Sylvia shook her head. It was absolutely possible. "They're not strange humans like we thought, Blake. They're POKEMON."

Well. Isn't THAT an interesting discovery. This is my biggest middle finger to canon yet. Yes I can make Fakemon, I can make whatever Fakemon I want.