Our cast continues trying to find their way out of the labyrinth. But what surprises await them inside, and what hidden dangers might they have to face? Can one of the girls prove they deserve the title of Miss Pokemon Academy more than any of the other girls trying to win?

KedharS: Blake and Kate? But he's with Ayame, that wouldn't end up being very good. He likes her way more, and Kate was already dumped, remember?

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Yeah, those two are a lot of fun. And yeah, rip to that one guy, the unsung hero of the contest.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 767

Sango had been walking with Gabrielle and Alcea for what felt like hours. Unfortunately, she'd never quite learned how to tell what time of night it was, unlike during the day when she had access to the sun, so she couldn't say exactly how long it was. She didn't have a watch or anything else on her, and there wasn't one in the pack that she had been given.

One thing that she did remember, though, was that there was a compass in the pack, and that was what she had been using as she walked with the other girls. She had checked it just as she'd entered the labyrinth, and the arrow had been pointing to the left when she did. Checking the compass, the found that now, it was pointing in a straight line.

But she didn't quite know what that meant. It probably meant that they were going in the wrong direction, at least in a broad sense, but as she realized from navigating the maze, a compass probably wasn't going to be much use. She'd need it for the third leg of the Toughness Competition, though, that was for sure.

Another bonus was the fact that, with Silver floating along with her, she didn't have to worry about walking in the dark. Using Silver's sunny day, she could create a soft bright light to help light up the path through the maze.

She owed Silver a really, really big thank you, if she was being honest. Without him, then she would probably be in an even worse situation. Not because she would have gotten lost, or maybe missing a side tunnel (which could COMPLETELY ruin their tactic of always turning right) but because without Silver, she would be walking with Alcea and Gabrielle in the darkness.

And walking with them was already uncomfortable enough as it was.

Alcea and Gabrielle were just not good company. Alcea was noble and dignified, walking like a queen. There was no wasted movement, not even her mouth. Sango knew Alcea well enough, and understood that she only spoke when she needed to speak, not wasting words on small-talk, but knowing that didn't make the situation any easier to tolerate.

And then there was Gabrielle. Alcea may not have said a word, but Gabrielle was even worse. She walked with a silence to her that was different; while Sango knew that Alcea was a nice person inside, just very taciturn, Gabrielle was an unknown factor. She was just a very cold girl naturally.

At least that was the vibe that Sango had always gotten from her. Which meant that neither one was very pleasant to interact with continuously.

So right now, Sango was finding herself stuck between a rock and a hard place. She was walking with two girls who weren't saying anything, an uncomfortable silence hanging over them as Sango found herself in a situation that reminded her of a funeral procession.

Normally, she could deal with antisocial types. Cynthia wasn't the only bundle of energy that was great at making friends, and if it was any other silent, withdrawn duo of girls, Sango would have certainly given it a good try, speaking out to them and trying to draw them into conversation, even if only to make things less awkward and uncomfortable.

But that would have been with girls like Maddi or Kitty or Nikita, girls who, for lack of a better word, were "normal". Her peers, people she could reasonably converse with and not have to worry about bothering.

Alcea and Gabrielle were rather scary compared to Kitty, who was less than 4 feet tall. They had high status in school and both were older than her, and while Sango had older friends and had asked older people to do things with her (Marion being a prime example) something about these beautiful and cool women just set her on guard.

She swallowed, and let her insecurities begin to seize hold of her. Just a little longer, she reminded herself. She would only have to keep going through this little charade for a little longer, and then she could naturally break away from the two of them and continue the process on her own, helping her stay ahead of Alcea.

At the very least, she was certain that Alcea would be behind her in the rankings out of the labyrinth, even if the other girls came out first. And that was important, because Alcea was the girl who Sango was most concerned about.

Alcea was well in the lead of the others, and needed to get really low in the finishing rankings in order for Sango, or anyone else, to overcome her lead in the points. Sango wasn't sure she could do it, but a good way to stop her from seizing the victory would be if Sango could keep going forward and stay ahead of her.

And since Sango was naturally faster and more resilient than the noblewoman, even factoring in that Alcea had lived all that time stranded on an island, she knew that if she could take a lead and continue the "go right" strategy, she would ultimately come out the victor. It was all about finding the right place to break away without making things awkward.

Come on, Sango, don't worry about it! She chastised herself. Even if you do move ahead through rather unscrupulous means, you know Alcea isn't going to hold it against you! It's not like you're cheating or anything, this is a contest, and for contests, you have to do whatever it takes to win! She'll understand and won't get mad!

…Right?

Her inner voice wasn't the most compelling person in the world, she knew that well enough after her months of said inner voice telling her to confess her feelings to Blake, and how many times the rational part of her brain had slapped that voice down like a bitch.

Then, they saw movement just up ahead of them, past the line where Silver's illumination with his sunny day gave way to the dark shadows of the night.

"What's that?" Sango asked, squinting. She had the best night vision of the three due to her repeated experience in that field, and she was using it to try and get a look of what that… whatever it was, in the distance.

If Sango could barely see it, she doubted that the other girls could see it all that well, it was up to her. Was it another competitor, maybe? That was certainly possible, and would be rather amusing. Considering that the contest was supposed to be a race, the idea that every girl could walk out of the labyrinth hand in hand was rather hilarious, if she had to be honest.

Then, the shadowy figure drew closer, and her blood went cold. From out of the darkness shambled what at first looked like a zombie from an old movie, or maybe a haunted mummy. But upon closer inspection, it was clear that it was just a pokemon.

The gray-colored pokemon's body had a striped pattern that looked like the wrappings of a mummy, and a single red eye glowing ominously in the night as it approached Sango and the other girls. It raised its large hands high, and they began to shake, moving from side to side as flickers of ominous energy danced through the night.

"Dusclops…" The ghostly pokemon rasped. Ghostly flames hovered in the air around it, producing an eerie effect as the Ghost type pokemon slowly approached.

"Is that a Dusclops?" Sango said, calming down. She glanced at Gabrielle and Alcea, both of whom looked rather shaken. She didn't really understand why, but then, when it came to situations like this, Sango wasn't really the most normal sort of girl. She was the kind of girl who didn't mind Ghost type pokemon, they were pokemon, just like any other. She walked forward and waved at the pokemon, wondering what it was doing here. Had it gotten lost and was wandering around?

It was moments like these where concern for Sango's future and doubts about her capabilities as a Pokemon Ranger began to show. Sango loved pokemon, and while that was a WONDERFUL thing for a Pokemon Ranger, it was also really, really dangerous. Her cautious nature was thrown aside as she approached the ghost, wondering what he was doing here.

"Hello there!" Sango waved. Ghost types weren't scary. She knew her mother was there, looking over her.

Of course, Dusclops might not have been a scary pokemon just because it existed, the fact that it had other things that made it scary was lost on Sango.

"Dusclops!" The pokemon growled, spreading his fingers. They began to glow bright blue, and an orb of blue light appeared in front of his palms. The blue orb shot forward before Sango could even react, hitting her directly and opening up wide, engulfing Sango completely in its sphere.

"What the heck?!" Sango exclaimed, struggling against the orb of light that imprisoned her. "Get me out of here, damn it! This is ridiculous!"

"Castform!" Silver shouted, floating quickly towards Sango, anger filling his tiny frame. But he wasn't really able to do all that much, because he wasn't a pokemon who had any experience with battling. He fired pitiful sparks of fire out of his mouth at the Dusclops. But even with all the power he received, being boosted by the sunny day, his attack was ineffective, and the ghostly pokemon ignored his efforts completely.

Then, with a wave of its hand, Silver was batted down to the ground by the Duscloop, hitting the barrier that imprisoned his partner and getting sucked inside of it along with her.

With a grunt, the Dusclops advanced, not sparing Silver and Sango a second glance as it stomped closer to the two girls left, both trainers preparing to fight against the Dusclops with their pokemon. A single Ghost type pokemon wouldn't be much trouble against the two of them. Sango was relieved about that, at least, it meant she could spare her attention on more important matters.

"Silver, are you okay?" Sango quickly scooped up her pokemon and held him close. The injured pokemon nodded weakly, floating up out of her arms and turning to the barrier, glaring at the menacing pokemon. Sango was surprised. Even though Silver wasn't a pokemon who had any skill at fighting, he still wanted to fight?

Sango herself was feeling a little apprehensive about the whole thing, not sure what she was supposed to do. Okay, so Ghost type pokemon were scary when they were attacking you, Sango could accept that. Still didn't mean she was afraid of them. She gritted her teeth and slammed her hands against the bubble, trying to smash through it somehow.

"Hey! Come on, hey, what the heck's going on?! Leave us alone!" Sango exclaimed, her complaints falling on deaf ears.

With a frustrated grunt, Sango thumped her forehead against the barrier wall. She was going to have a serious talk with Erik when this was over. What the heck kind of labyrinth was this?! It was insane. Sango had no idea what the heck a pokemon attacking them had to do with the Toughness Competition, but it was quite a wrinkle, and one that she hadn't been prepared for. She had to reconsider her approach to the competition. The way things were shaping up, if this was something that everyone was going to have to face…

Well, she could at least breathe a sigh of relief at the fact that the Dusclops wouldn't stand a chance against her allies. That made her feel a little hopeful.

Alcea's eye twitched. "I see, a challenge, is it?" She scoffed. "Rosetta! Petal blizzard!" She was prepared for battle, even if she had been caught off-guard. She found a smile creeping to her lips as Rosetta ran forward, her speed doubled by the artificial sunlight beaming down on them courtesy of Silver's sunny day.

Alcea would have to thank Sango for the sudden boon, and the way she planned to do that was freeing the poor girl from her captivity.

"Roserade!" Rosetta raised her bouquets of flowers and spun, sending a tornado of blue and scarlet flower petals billowing towards the lumbering Dusclops. But the petals struck against another barrier, bouncing harmlessly away.

"DUSCLOPS!" The Dusclops roared, raising its hands and stretching its body up, puffing out and glowing with spectral power.

Then, Sango saw darkness spread across the barrier, and she was trapped in a dome of light unable to see anything outside.

Outside of the dome, things were a little more confusing. Alcea and Gabrielle stared in wonder and disbelief as the Dusclops sunk down into the ground, disappearing into the shadows… and the dome collapsing along with it.

"Sango!" Alcea exclaimed, her cool shaken as she ran to where Sango had been trapped. But there wasn't a single hint of the other girl to be found. Taking a deep breath, Alcea regained her composure and straightened herself out, turning to Gabrielle.

"She's gone," Gabrielle coldly observed, like that was some big surprise.

"Oui," Alcea said, nodding. "But there is nothing to be worried about."

Gabrielle raised her eyebrow. She wasn't worried, but then again, she was a pretty cold person, and Sango wasn't someone who was even close to being on her radar. So it made sense that she didn't worry, but for Alcea, who cared about practically everyone, to not be worried? "No?"

"No," Alcea shook her head. "This is a controlled environment. There's no way that a wild pokemon, or a pokemon used by another trainer, would find its way here. Which means this is another part of the labyrinth, is it? An obstacle, a way to keep us on our toes."

"Oh, I see," Gabrielle said, nodding slightly. "So the Dusclops was here to sew some chaos and separate that blonde girl from us?"

"Oui," Alcea said, nodding, gazing down the pathway. The sunlight was already starting to fade, the shadows drawing closer. There would be more obstacles like that coming their way from now on, that was something to be sure of. "That's why we don't need to worry about her. There's no way that she is in any real danger. If I had to guess, the Dusclops most likely transported her to somewhere else in the labyrinth."

Alcea rattled her fist gently against the rough wall, glancing at Gabrielle to make a point. "Maybe even as close as behind that wall."

Gabrielle considered what Alcea was suggesting. She didn't care much about Sango, but at least the girl probably wasn't hurt or anything. In the meantime, the blonde's face was already erased from her memory, and Gabrielle turned her focus back on the thing that mattered, Alcea and traveling with her through the labyrinth.

Gabrielle didn't ask if there was anything they should do, and neither did Alcea. They would accept things as they were, and keep going. Gabrielle knew that Alcea, while having a soft heart, wasn't a complete fool. This was a competition, after all, and while Alcea may have been concerned for her safety in the heat of the moment, Gabrielle knew better.

This was a battle like any other sort, and Alcea didn't show mercy for her opponents. It would be disrespectful. It was one of the things that Gabrielle liked the most about the other girl. So there was no way that Alcea would risk her chance of winning to go look for the other girl, or even spare her another thought.

Sango was a big girl, after all, and she could take care of herself, just like how they could take care of themselves. If Gabrielle was the kind of girl who smiles came easy to, then the thought that they would be going through the labyrinth alone together again would have definitely brought a big beaming one to her face.

"Gabrielle, there may be more obstacles like that to come," Alcea continued, glancing back to Gabrielle, shaking out of her romantic thoughts. This was no time to imagine an image of a starlit walk with Alcea, not now that the sunlight was gone and they were trapped in the darkness again, with no source of light but the tiny glowing bulbs high up above, embedded in the walls.

"Let's go then," Gabrielle said. Alcea nodded, practically unseen in the darkness. She turned to look down at Rosetta.

"First, we're going to have to do something about the darkness, no sense if we can't see our way," Alcea said. "Rosetta, sunny day."

"Roserade," Rosetta said, nodding, holding up her bouquets. An orb of sunlight shot up and illuminated the night sky once more, showing them the path they were heading down.

Gabrielle brightened with the sky. Perfect, of course Alcea would be able to lead them through the maze herself, she should have figured! The other girl had just been nice, helping Sango feel like she was contributing something.

Truthfully, Alcea was more worried. The reason she hadn't had Rosetta use sunny day in the first place was because she hadn't seen the need. She was fine if Sango wanted to light the way, of course, but she hadn't cared that much about it.

But now that Sango had been abducted by that Dusclops, there was no time to take things lightly. She didn't know what other surprises waited for them, and even though she was going to do her best to face them, and knew Gabrielle was, too, she also wasn't so foolish as to think that the duo were undefeatable.

There was nothing more dangerous than hubris, that was something Alcea kept in mind as she walked through the night, Gabrielle following after her diligently.

Of course, Kate couldn't be convinced at all that Alcea was in the wrong, cheering for her loudly and supporting her efforts in everything. Even now, with the girls having lost contact with Sango, Kate didn't seem to think there was anything wrong.

"Keep going, milady!" She shouted at the screen, having learned nothing from the earlier outburst and the reaction she'd gotten to it.

Blake sighed and rolled his eyes, slumping back down in his seat. He was envious of his friends, not sitting next to Kate. Certainly Kate's obnoxious voice probably made it difficult for them to get to sleep, but they'd been able to doze off somehow.

They were the lucky ones. Blake felt like dozing off himself, but every time the urge came, Kate's obnoxious laugh and her cheers would pull him back. When it wasn't that, it was her booing and demands of the screen to show Alcea again.

…Although, maybe Blake should thank her. After all, if it wasn't for Kate's loudness and her cheers for Alcea, than Blake would certainly be asleep right now, and if he slept then he couldn't root for Aya to win, he might miss something!

Of course, she was currently getting some rest, but still, if she woke up and he wasn't cheering for her and encouraging her, then what would that mean? He needed to be vigilant and stay awake, it was the least he could do to show his support!

So he rubbed his weary eyes and sat up, committing himself to an all-nighter. It would be fine, at least, he hoped it would be fine, and probably wouldn't have TOO severe of a backlash on him later, even if he felt like death.

Another thing that was keeping him awake, besides Kate's obnoxiousness, was his worry about Sango. Sure, he had heard what Alcea said about not having to worry about her because this was just a school-sponsored contest, and yeah, it made sense when she put it like that.

But at the same time, seeing Sango just… vanish like that, it made him a little worried. It didn't help that he hadn't seen her pop up on the screen yet, in another part of the maze.

So Sango has vanished! This competition is REALLY getting exciting now, that's for sure!