The intermission continues. While Sango is thinking about what her plans are, other people might be having some difficulty thinking of how to appeal their cuteness to the audience themselves. For example, what's Ayame going to do to show how cute she can be? There's a lot of potential there, I'll tell you that! Remember to review!

KedharS: Yes, it definitely was nice.

Rus0804: Fair enough. I hope it doesn't end up giving that impression.

Pokemonking0924: Who knows? Olivia definitely has a type of girl she likes helping, as much as she projects onto Alcea.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: I'm also interested in seeing how everyone does, that's for sure.

Thunder Fire: Thank you, I thought so, too.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 742

While Olivia was touching up Sango's makeup and giving her some much-needed advice, there was another girl who could have used some comforting words from Olivia right now because she was starting to freak out.

"Hobbies, talents, what the heck?!" Ayame groaned, burying her face in her hands. Somehow, she just knew that being able to run really fast probably wouldn't make the cut for the Cuteness Competition, which meant that she had no ideas to work with.

Then, a lightbulb went off over her head, and she realized that there was absolutely something she could do, that would be PERFECT for this competition.

A grin crossed her face. And then she turned bright red.

She rushed over to the toilet and began puking her guts up. Her plan was perfect, save for how embarrassing it was going to be. Once she finished barfing, she wiped her mouth, took a mint from her dresser, and headed out. She had to talk to somebody.

While Ayame was planning, Blake, Cynthia, and Maddi were walking through the halls of the Milotic Dome, off on a task of their own. And it wasn't a task Blake was all that enthusiastic about, as he was quick to let his friends know.

"Seriously, why do we have to go pick up the takeout boxes?" Blake grumbled. The Milotic Dome had a ton of concession stands open for this event, selling sealed lunches to the audience so they could eat during the intermission. While the dome was being redesigned, Olivia had recommended to the school that they fix the chairs to work similarly to the chairs on an airplane and have tray tables that folded out of the backs so people could enjoy their meals while watching the performances.

Anything to get people to not take their eyes off of her for one moment.

"Come on, Blake, it's not a big deal," Cynthia laughed, clapping him on the shoulder. "We're getting lunch for 10 people, the three of us should be more than enough to carry them!"

Blake blinked. "10 people? Are you sure you're counting right?" He asked as they stepped into line.

Cynthia paused, running the faces of her friends through her head and holding up her fingers. "Uhum… There's the three of us, Kitty, Julia, Nick, Reiner, Callie, Nikita, and your friend Claire, right? That's 10 people isn't it?"

"…Didn't you tell Kate you would pick something up for her, too?" Blake asked, raising his eyebrow.

Cynthia blinked, scrunching her face up in confusion. "…Did I? No, no, I don't think I did… are you sure you're not mistaken? I probably would have remembered…"

Blake felt a small tinge of pity for Kate, but it was quickly forgotten.

"I still don't see why I have to do it though," he said. Cynthia laughed and shrugged her shoulders.

"Probably because they knew that if we didn't ask you to do it, you'd just run off and go eat lunch with Aya again," she chuckled.

Blake sulked, knowing that she was probably right. Still, that was no excuse! But he held his tongue and soon they reached the head of the line to get their food.

"Hello there, what can I get for you?" The pink-haired woman at the concession stand asked, flashing a smile. "Picking up some lunch?"

She looked familiar, but Blake couldn't place her. His attention was more focused on the irritation that he couldn't go visit Aya and see if she was doing okay. She wasn't winning, which made absolutely zero sense, were the judges blind? But whatever the reason, Blake felt like he needed to pay her a visit, just to let her know he was still cheering for her, and-

"Blake!" Ayame exclaimed. Blake turned in surprise and his face brightened as the crowd parted to reveal the pretty girl in her cool clothes walk through, quickly crossing the hall to her boyfriend with a smile on her face.

"Aya, what are you doing here?" Blake asked, looking at her in confusion. "I thought you were supposed to be preparing for your performance for the Cuteness Competition?"

Ayame blushed, glancing down. "W-Well, uh… actually, I mean… on that subject, I guess I was just kind of… well…"

Why was it so hard to spit out the words!? Ayame could perform onstage in front of the entire school, including her boyfriend, but she still didn't have the courage to bring up something awkward with him? Sometimes she hated herself a lot.

"Ugh, you two are still a stupid couple, it seems," the pink-haired concession-stand runner sighed, rolling her eyes.

Blake and Ayame turned to her, looks of confusion crossing their faces. "Sorry, what?" Blake asked, not sure why the strange woman was talking to them.

"Do we know you or something?" Ayame asked, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.

Now it was the pink-haired girl's turn to be confused. Shocked, more like. She looked back and forth between the two of them and her mouth dropped open.

"Seriously? You guys seriously don't remember me?" She asked, shaking her head in disbelief. But there wasn't any recognition in the eyes of either student. "It's me! Carrie! I've served you guys food tons of times in restaurants!"

"No, don't remember," Ayame said, shaking her head.

"Wait, 'restaurants' plural?" Blake asked, confused. "What are you doing here, then?"

"W-Well, there was an incident at my last- wait, no, that doesn't matter," Carrie protested, getting back on track. "You two seriously don't remember me? We met on Mt. Silver!"

Blake and Ayame glanced at each other. Wasn't really ringing any bells.

"This was only a few months ago!" Carrie sputtered.

"You've lost multiple jobs in only a few months?" Blake asked, raising his eyebrow.

Carrie sighed and slumped down, banging her head on the counter in resignation. "Fine, never mind," she grumbled, glancing back up and resting her chin on the plastic ledge as she stared at them. "What do you guys want for lunch?"

"Actually, that's what I came here to talk to you about," Ayame said, ignoring the stranger who insisted she knew them and turned to Blake instead. Her face was still hot but she wasn't feeling as flustered as she was before. "So, um…"

She looked around and fidgeted. She still wasn't confident enough to say it out loud. There were too many people around. "Just… just come with me!" She said, grabbing Blake by the wrist and dragging him out of line.

Blake shrugged and went along with it. He would much prefer spending time with Aya than bringing lunch to people who had "volunteered" him to go.

Ayame paused, and turned to Cynthia. "Actually, I'm gonna need your help, too," she said, grabbing Cynthia's wrist with her other hand and pulling her out of line.

Cynthia was confused, but she wasn't going to resist. Whatever it was that Ayame wanted, it seemed pretty interesting. She would hear the girl out. "See ya, Maddi!" She called over her shoulder as Ayame led the two of them down the hall.

Maddi blinked.

"Seriously?" She muttered, turning back to the equally exasperated Carrie. "Just one," she said, holding up a finger. She was NOT going to carry a ton of food boxes by herself, they could come get them if they wanted to eat lunch.

Meanwhile, Ayame was explaining the gist of what she wanted from Blake and Cynthia. Blake was excited to help, hearing what she had planned.

Cynthia was less enthusiastic.

"I don't know," she said, crossing her arms in front of her chest and turning her nose up snootily. "I want Serefina to win, after all, so why would I be helping you?"

"Cynthia!" Blake exclaimed in surprise.

Ayame sighed and rolled her eyes. She expected Cynthia to be difficult. "Okay, come on, Cynthia, I know you like Serefina, but are you really that invested in having her win? I mean, isn't it enough to just watch her perform? I mean, that's what you're really after, right? Seeing Serefina show off her best assets to everyone?"

Cynthia considered what Ayame was saying. It did make a lot of sense…

But then, Cynthia wasn't objecting on those grounds anyway, not really. She smirked.

"Weeeeeell, I guess you're right," Cynthia admitted. "Still, what's in it for me?"

Ayame rolled her eyes. Here they were, now the hardball was coming out. "What do you want, Cynthia?"

"Well, for starters, I want to know why you're asking me," Cynthia said, stroking her chin. "I mean, a girl like you, besties with the Empress, surely you'd be able to find all sorts of outfits without having to come to little old me."

"The boss doesn't… wear clothes like that," Ayame said, her face turning bright red. She looked down, feeling a little ashamed. "She… She says they're degrading and not fitting for someone of her station, so she doesn't have any. You're the only person I know off the top of my head who might have what I'm looking for, since you're, well…"

"A degenerate?" Cynthia pressed, raising her eyebrow. She wasn't impressed, even though she was smirking.

Ayame sighed, and rolled her eyes. "No, not that," she grumbled. "It's just, well… the type of clothes that you design are a little…"

There were a lot of other girls in the Appeals Course, but like Olivia, they probably weren't the types of girls who would have what she wanted ready to go at the snap of their fingers. Cynthia, with her love of cosplay, was probably the only one who would.

"I'll see what I can do," she said, smirking. "But, like I said, what's in it for me? Besides seeing how amazing it's gonna be?"

Even though she had no idea what she could offer the redhead, Ayame didn't want to ask Cynthia "what do you want?" because that would put WAY too much power into her hands. Giving Cynthia a free request would be rather like giving a campfire a free drink of kerosene; it would be messy, painful, and probably result in one or more forests burning to the ground.

Then Ayame thought of something she could offer. It was either going to work well, or it was going to put Cynthia on the defensive.

"What if I give you the Empress's contact information?" Ayame offered, giving Cynthia a smirk that could compete with the one she was wearing.

A smirk that had quickly slipped off her face as she considered what Ayame had just said. "Wait, what was that?" She needed to make sure she was hearing properly.

"You heard me," Ayame said. "I'll give you Olivia's phone number. You can do whatever you want with it after that."

"W-What would I want with something like that?" Cynthia asked, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear and fidgeting as she looked down at the ground, her face turning a shade of red that rivaled her hair as she stammered through a grin.

Marion Rivers would have admired Ayame for how well she'd baited the hook.

"I've seen the way you look at her," Ayame said. "And sure, you're in love with Blake, but I know you've got a thing for the Empress, don't you? Hey, who knows, play your cards right, and I might be able to arrange a private evening between the two of you."

Blake was surprised. Not by Aya's apparent pimping of her best friend, even though her being so open about something so explicit was a rarity, but because he hadn't expected to see Cynthia's face run the full gambit of colors of the rainbow. But no, he distinctly saw her flip through several different hues as Aya made her pitch.

Finally, he skin settled on a chalky white.

"I-I don't want anything like that," Cynthia said, shaking her head.

Ayame had her. "What? Don't tell me you're scared," Ayame teased. "I mean, you make a big show about being such a pervert, but the truth is, when it comes to being with someone, you don't have any experience, isn't that right?"

Cynthia's brows nestled into a cold glare as she sucked on her lower lip, fuming. Blake sighed. "Aya, why are you tormenting her like this?"

"I'm not being tormented!" Cynthia sputtered. "And there's no way I'm getting cold feet about the idea of a date with the Empress, not… not at all! I just… I just have other stuff I'm interested in right now, I don't have time for cute girls!"

Blake raised his eyebrow and gave her a look.

"Really?" He asked. No one bought that for a second, not even Cynthia herself. She sighed and hung her head.

"…Okay, maybe I have a LITTLE time for cute girls," she admitted.

"Cynthia, what do you want from Aya?" Blake asked. They were running out of time on the intermission and he wanted to fix this so he and Aya could spend more time together.

"No, don't ask her that!" Ayame groaned, knowing full-well that was the worst thing that could have happened. And indeed, Cynthia's entire attitude changed, turning from flustered and embarrassed to a look of mischievous triumph as she lounged back on one of the comfy chairs of Ayame's dressing room and considered her options.

Cynthia tapped her chin. "What do I want… hmmm, what do I want?" She purred, flashing a grin Ayame's way. "Say, Ayame, you wouldn't happen to have a boyfriend just lying around for me to borrow, would you?"

Ayame's eye twitched.

"Cynthia…" Blake warned.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding," Cynthia cackled. "Tell you what, I'll do it for free! Since you're such a good friend, Ayame. Consider it as my apology for having the hots for your boyfriend, since I know you're not exactly comfortable with that. Sound good?"

Ayame should have been happy to hear that Cynthia's assistance would be coming free of charge. She should have been, but she absolutely wasn't.

Because Ayame wasn't stupid. She knew that, to Cynthia, "free of charge" was not so free after all, and there was definitely a catch.

"What's wrong, Ayame? Why so serious?" Cynthia asked Ayame, batting her eyelashes innocently at her.

"I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop," Ayame dryly replied.

"Well, I wouldn't be lying if I said I would appreciate a sex tape between the two of you-"

"CYNTHIA!" Blake and Ayame exploded, their faces turning red in shock and outrage. Cynthia clamped her hands over her ears and rolled her eyes. She knew she'd crossed the line, that was the entire point of the offer.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding," she laughed.

"If you keep 'kidding' at some point we're going to stop caring and assume you're just being offensive," Blake warned her.

"Fine, fine," Cynthia said, rolling her eyes. "But I'm telling the truth, Ayame. Honest. I'm not going to set any conditions or ask you for anything. Well, only one condition, at any rate."

Ayame groaned. Here it came.

"I get to have final say on any… adjustments I make to the costume," Cynthia purred. "After all, my clothes won't exactly fit you, I'm going to have to tailor them. Luckily, I have all your measurements already so that won't be a problem."

"How do you have my measurements?!" Ayame asked in disbelief.

Cynthia's eyes shot over to Blake, whose eyes shot over to the wall. He began whistling.

"Blake, what did you do?" Ayame asked.

"I don't know what she's talking about," Blake said, still staring at the wall. "Clearly she's just making stuff up."

"He took your measurements. Way back before you started dating, he was… undressing you with his eyes. Like, all the time," Cynthia offered.

Ayame put her hands on her hips and raised her eyebrow. She wasn't amused.

"What?" Blake protested. "Why am I the bad guy here?"

Ayame's disapproving glare quickly shifted into a flirty smile. "Well, I hope you enjoyed them," she giggled. "Were they everything you hoped they would be?"

Blake's face turned red as he remembered, and cleared his throat. Cynthia rolled her eyes.

"Ugh, gag me, I think I'm gonna throw up," she said, hopping up from the seat. "So, Ayame, do we have a deal? I'll go get you your little 'costume' all prepared, while you two can spend your time making kissy faces at each other, sound like a plan?"

Now it was Ayame's turn to go red, for like the hundredth time that day. She leapt off of her seat on the couch in disbelief. "We aren't going to make kissy faces!" She exclaimed, shaking her fist at Cynthia as Blake rolled his eyes and shook his head. She was way too easy to get baited. It was moments like these that confused him about whether his girlfriend was really savvy or really naïve.

Cynthia wasn't listening to Ayame at all though. She cackled, skipping out of the room, leaving the two of them alone.

"I think you messed up," Blake warned her, knowing that right now Cynthia was dashing back to her room to tailor Aya's new outfit, and that it would be a scanty, revealing thing that she would probably be caught dead going out onstage in.

In other words, something he would prefer to save for private. Depending on how it all turned out, he'd probably end up owing Cynthia a thank you.

"I know I did," Ayame groaned, sinking back down onto the couch and cradling her face in her hands. This wasn't going to go well. But she just had to hope for the best. "…Sorry about lunch," she said as an afterthought.

Blake flashed her a smile. "I'm looking forward to it."

Cynthia made it back to her seat just as the intermission ended and the curtain pulled up. She was digging into one of the box lunches as she did, shoveling chicken and rice into her mouth as she weaved through the seats.

"Finally!" Reiner groaned as Cynthia took her seat next to Maddi. "What the heck happened?! Maddi said you and Blake were dragged off by Ayame?"

Cynthia swallowed down a bite. "It's complicated," she said, not looking up from her food as she set it down on the tray table. "You'll see."

"We had to wait in line to get our own lunches," Callie pouted.

"Imagine, getting your own food," Maddi dryly replied. "What. A. Tragedy."

Callie pouted again, unable to rebuff Maddi's admittedly good point.

"Where's Blake?" Claire asked, looking around, confused. "Wasn't he with you?"

Cynthia smirked. "Like I said," she repeated, wiggling her eyebrows, "you'll see."

And with those ominous words left in her friend's minds, the curtain rose for the third round of the Miss Pokemon Academy Contest.