While Kitty and Julia are having fun off by themselves, Blake's taken the girls to the wading pool! And by "the girls" we mean three girls who have a crush on Blake and are incredibly clingy, and also a Zorua that feels the same way. With a lineup like that, it doesn't seem like we'll be in for a good time. But certainly it will be an amusing time. Remember to review!

KedharS: Well, the purpose of this filler arc is to lower the tension that the Orre Region is building up. That one's going to be pretty intense, so I want to have a break before we get to the really serious shit going down.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1060

Most water parks and public swimming pools had a wading pool. They were places where parents could take their young children to splash around in the water without having to worry about them wandering into deeper sections and drowning. The pool was only 3 feet deep at the maximum, and for most of the area it was only one foot. There were a lot of people gathered today. It was a relief for most, not having to wait in any lines, unlike the rest of the attractions at the water park. The pool was filled with children, many clustered around the shallowest section of the pool, where a large Ludicolo statue was erected, spraying out water like a fountain. The water rolled out along the brim of its lily pad, creating a curtain of falling water that the kids could splash through and hold their hands up in.

Simply put, it was a place that was fun for the whole family. That's why the regular attendees were a little put off guard at the sight of four girls walking up to the pool like they were heading off to fight a war.

"Okay… we're ready," Cynthia said, clenching her fist. This was the moment of truth. They were all here for different reasons. She wanted to have fun with Ruka and the others, Ruka just wanted to cling to Blake, Caelia just wanted to cling to Blake, Elaina…

…

Okay, so the other girls were just there for Blake. That was fine. She could deal with that.

Cynthia smacked Blake on the back. "Tag! You're it!" She crowed, flinging her towel onto an empty deck chair and stomping into the water.

"H-Hey!" Blake growled, setting down his gear beside the water and running in after her. He had to wade through the kids and floaties to chase Cynthia, who was laughing like a maniac as she maneuvered around them herself.

Ruka stared longingly at Blake them as they got further away. She took a deep breath and turned to the other girls.

"We… we have to go too!" She signed frantically. "We can't let our fear of the water keep us from having fun too!"

It took a second to sink in, but it was seeing the blank looks on Elaina and Caelia's faces before she finally realized.

"ZORUA!" Ruka gasped, smacking herself in the head. How could she have been so stupid?! The only people who knew sign language were Sango and that muscle guy! She'd gone with Cynthia and the others, but forgot to ask the one person who could understand her and serve as translator! Now what was she supposed to do?!

Caelia, for the most part, wouldn't have cared either way. She walked over to where Cyntha and Blake had set their stuff down and sat, waiting patiently for them to come back. She wasn't worried about drowning in this water, of course, it wasn't nearly deep enough for that. But that didn't mean she had any interest in actually joining them, either.

Elaina, to her credit, was at least trying to make sense of Ruka's frantic gestures. She couldn't understand sign language, but there was something about the Dark type's efforts that were striking a chord with her.

"You want us… to go in there after them?" Elaina guessed.

Ruka's face lit up and she nodded eagerly. "Zorua!" She confirmed. It was a relief that someone else could understand her. Then she found out why. She felt a firm pressure against her, like someone was trying to dig into her chest. She flinched.

"Z-Zorua?" Ruka stammered, stepping back. Elaina flinched herself.

"What? S-Sorry!" Elaina gasped, holding up her hand. She reached for Ruka and then pulled back, shocked. She realized what she was about to do, and held off. "I-I didn't mean to… I'm sorry. I just… I wanted to help."

Ruka realized that Elaina wasn't trying to be mean or hurt her. She was just trying to communicate the best that she could. Knowing that, she took a deep breath and nodded, reaching back to her.

It was a bizarre and tenuous connection, not nearly strong enough due to their lack of a real connection. They weren't pokemon and trainer, after all, or even friends. But they both wanted to understand the other, and right now, that was enough.

Both girls turned to the water, and froze.

"…Zorua…" Ruka stammered, stepping back. She didn't want to get into the water. She was remembering all the times she'd gotten soaked in the rain, feeling her fur get all matted. It didn't seem like fun.

Elaina wasn't sure she wanted to go in either. It wasn't that she would drown, but…

It should be fine. My… my boobs are pretty big, so… I should float, right? That's right! So I'll be totally safe! Elaina had never been the biggest fan of her large chest. It had never really mattered to her before now. But if it could keep her safe…

At the same time, though, she felt very exposed in this skimpy swimsuit. It was just embarrassing! She took a deep breath, and decided to be the brave one, stepping into the water.

She promptly slipped on a pool toy and faceplanted, startling everyone. Luckily they were in the shallow section, so thanks to her boobs, she had a nice cushion to keep from getting hurt by the fall. It didn't keep her from getting embarrassed though.

"Come on!" she wailed, standing up in the water. She'd just made a complete fool of herself, what a surprise.

Then the whispers of the parents caught her ears. She glanced around, seeing a sea of disapproving faces as wide as the pool itself.

"Look at that woman. What's she thinking?"

"I can't believe she would wear something like that around children!"

"Doesn't she have any shame?"

Trembling, Elaina curled her legs underneath her and wrapped her arms over her chest, trying to seem as small as possible. She stared down at her reflection in the water and sighed. No matter where she went, it was always the same. She would draw hatred and scorn because that's how she was. Something was wrong with her, she was just a complete and total-

"MOVE ELAINA! OUTTA THE WAY!"

Elaina's head snapped up to see Cynthia barreling right towards her. She didn't have time to get out of the way and the redhead crashed into her, the two falling back into the water. Elaina felt the other girl's face pressed into her cleavage and turned red with fury, about to smack Cynthia for taking advantage of her like this, when the other girl sprang right up and waded past her without even blinking.

"Come on, Elaina, get moving!" Cynthia cried. "Blake's coming, and if he tags you, you're it! You gotta run!"

"Wha…" Elaina didn't know how to process this. Was Cynthia serious? Had she really just run into her by accident? It seemed hard to believe, but at the same time…

Her head snapped around and she saw Blake coming close. For a second her heart skipped a beat and she wondered if he was going to crash into her too. But no, he dashed right past her, having eyes only for Cynthia.

"Cynthia, get back here!" Blake shouted, knowing that Elaina wasn't even involved in this game. He wasn't going to drag her into it like Cynthia did him, not if she wasn't comfortable with that. Besides, Cynthia deserved this.

But Cynthia had already climbed out of the pool, so he had to get out and follow her, much to his frustration.

"Don't get out of the water!" Blake shouted over the crowd. "That's cheating! It's freezing out here you know!"

"Hah! That's just the rules!" Cynthia crowed. She looked over her shoulder. "Hey! That's no fair!" She exclaimed.

"What?!" Blake didn't even know what she was talking about.

"Didn't you see the rules?! No running outside the pool!" Shouted Cynthia, who was very much running outside the pool.

Blake rolled his eyes. He caught up to Cynthia in a flash, but she was prepared for that, of course, and had already made it to their stuff.

"Mwahaha! You can't get me now!" She cackled. She was grabbing Caelia by the shoulders and holding her in front of herself as a human shield. "Get back, Blake, my Caelia shield will protect me from your tagging!"

"Leave Caelia out of this, this is between you and me," Blake shouted back, trying to look for an opening. But Cynthia was short and knew how to use it, maneuvering Caelia in the path between them rather easily.

"Okay Ruka! Now suppress Blake with Operation: A!" Cynthia shouted.

"Z-Zorua!" Ruka nodded, running over to the two of them. Her body started to change as she approached, growing taller. In a few seconds, she had turned into a perfect copy of Ayame, to the shock of Blake and anyone in the crowd who happened to be looking their way.

"A-Aya?!" Blake stumbled back as Ruka pulled him into a hug. Shit. She even SMELLED like his girlfriend, damn it!

"Zorua…" Ruka sighed, taking a deep sniff of Blake's pheromones and hugging him even tighter than before.

Cynthia smirked. "What do you think, Blake?" She asked. "This is my ultimate technique, the tomboy suppression spell! With the power of tomboy girlfriends, you've been weighed down, and now I can make my escape!"

Blake smacked Ruka in the head and broke her illusion.

"I thought we talked about you transforming into people without their permission?" Blake asked, narrowing his eyes.

Ruka glanced away, turning back to her normal self. She was red with shame. "…Zorua…"

"Aww, don't blame her," Cynthia said, frowning. "I'm the one who told her to do that because I knew you would like it."

"I know, I'm blaming you. You. ALL the blame," Blake dryly replied.

"Well, that's just rude!" Cynthia huffed. "You were happy, right?"

"That's… not the point!" Blake scowled. "It's still not right!"

Cynthia frowned, and then shoved Caelia forward. "Caelia defend!" She took the opportunity to head back to the pool. Blake was hot on her heels as they both went back into the water.

Elaina watched the two of them from the sidelines, her feet dangling in the water. She wished she could join them. They looked like they were having fun. But she just couldn't bring herself to do it. She just wanted… well…

She didn't know what she really wanted, if she was being honest. She wasn't good at being friends with people. This trip had proven that handily. She liked Blake, really liked him, and she knew that he liked her too, even if it wasn't the way she wanted just yet.

But that wasn't enough to be real friends, sadly. She couldn't have fun with him the way Cynthia effortlessly could.

"The Ludicolo is home base, Blake!" Cynthia shouted from within the curtain of water. "That means it's safe! You're not allowed to tag me when I'm touching it!"

"WHAT?!" Blake shouted. He couldn't hear a word she said over the roaring waterfall crashing down between them.

"I said-" Cynthia stuck her head out of the water and immediately regretted it. The fountain began to barrage her like an actual waterfall, and she was nearly choking on it. The waves were so harsh she could barely keep her focus, let alone keep talking. And forget hearing anything, she couldn't even keep her eyes open! She quickly pulled her head back.

Then Blake reached in and pulled her out.

"You're it," he smirked. She shot him a dirty look.

Then they both burst out laughing.

"WOO!" Cynthia cheered. "Now that's what I call fun! We need to play around like that more often! I wish the Pokemon Academy had a pool like this."

"You know it's an island, right?" Blake dryly replied. "Plus, I'm pretty sure we do have a pool? I think it's in the rec center or something. I mean, there's gotta be, considering all the Water types people have, right?"

"Yeah, but it's not the same," Cynthia sighed.

Then she remembered the reason they'd come here in the first place.

"Crap! That's right!" She groaned, smacking her forehead in frustration. "I wanted to play with the girls, not you!"

"Ouch, that hurt," Blake sniffed. Cynthia socked him in the arm.

"You know what I mean!" She growled. "This whole trip was about having fun with them, and here we are just playing with ourselves!"

Blake couldn't help but smirk. "I never thought I'd see the day when you would be complaining about playing with yourself," he said under his breath.

Cynthia glared at him again, then burst out laughing. "Okay, that was funny. But still. Let's at least get Elaina and Ruka in on this!" She hoped that Caelia would play too, but she wasn't sure that was the best idea. After all, she wouldn't even be able to feel someone tag her, or vice versa. Heck, running in the water might not be the best either.

"Well, look at Caelia over there," Blake said, turning and pointing to the brunette. "If you want her to have fun, maybe this isn't the best way to- oh. Uh-oh."

He was about to suggest that they play something else that Caelia would be able to enjoy, but things had changed. Caelia was stll curled up on the deck chair, but she wasn't alone now. Elaina had come back to join her.

And two dudes with suntans had come over and were talking to the girls.

Blake and Cynthia glanced at each other. This had all the makings of a very bad situation.

While they were having fun in the wading pool, other members of the group were off doing their own thing, particularly Kitty and Julia. They'd dropped off their purchases at their locker, save for the necklaces which they were wearing, and had gone to the Lotad Lagoon.

It was exactly what Kitty had always wanted from a water park. She and Julia were sitting side by side in matching lily pad floaties, staring up at the sky as they drifted down the river without a care in the world.

Even Julia was feeling pretty relaxed from the nice, slow pace. Perhaps she'd been too strict with her disparaging thoughts about the ride. Not everything needed to be a water slide. It was nice to take it easy every now and then.

"This is nice, don't you think, Julia?" Kitty asked, sitting up on her float. "Just lounging back like this… it's so peaceful."

"You can say that again," Julia nodded, giving her a thumbs' up. "How's your stomach doing? Still feeling queasy?"

"No, I'm okay," Kitty said, shaking her head.

"Well, that's a relief," Julia said, relaxing a little more. "I was amazed you wanted to go on that huge water slide though. Weren't you scared at all?"

Julia knew for a fact that she had been, of course, but she wasn't going to deny Kitty's bravery. The little girl had done her best, and Julia was going to respect that. It was the least she could do.

"I… I was a little nervous," Kitty admitted. "I've never gone on, like, roller coasters or water slides before."

Julia sat up, surprised. "Seriously? Never? Not even once?"

Kitty shook her head. A bemused expression crossed her face. "…I could never make the height requirements, so…"

"…Oh."

Yup. That would do it alright. Julia felt like an idiot.

"But water slides don't have height requirements," Kitty continued. "So even though I was worried, I wanted to do it. And, well…"

So maybe it hadn't gone exactly how she'd planned. But it had been fun. The parts that weren't terrifying, anyway, and even some of those.

"Still, if you've never been to a water park, this is a great place to start," Julia said, lounging back in the floaty. "I'm glad you suggested this. I would have just been going on water slides all day with Sango and the girls."

Kitty burst out laughing at how Julia characterized their friends. But something didn't go unheard. "Well, don't get me wrong! I'm not defeated yet! I'm going on one of those slides as soon as I get the chance! Just let me get my strength back up!"

Julia smiled. That was the part about her best friend that she admired so much. Yes, Kitty was a scaredy-cat at times. But she really tried. There was a lot of courage packed into that small body.

"You know, I'm with you," Julia decided. "Let's go on a slide when we're done here! Just you and me. I've never been to a water park before, but if it's with you…"

Kitty was surprised. "Really? You've never been here before? But you're from Rustboro, aren't you? I would have thought you took family trips to places like this all the time?"

She looked at Julia with a confused expression, then she saw the complex look on Julia's face. There was something she wasn't telling her, and she couldn't help but be curious. But she didn't pry, either.

Julia cryptically answered her question.

"My family… we don't really do water activities is all," she mumbled. Her pleasant mood had clouded. "Hey, listen, maybe we're trying too hard here."

"Huh?" Kitty asked, confused.

"Well, I mean, those water slides are really dangerous, you know?" Julia sat up, staring intensely at Kitty. "I don't want you getting hurt if you're not prepared, so maybe we should rethink our plans."

Kitty's jaw dropped. What was the matter with her? She and Julia had just decided they would try water slides again even though it was their first time. But now she was backing out of it? For Kitty's sake? She didn't know what was going on here, but before she could ask for clarification, Julia gasped.

"Kitty! Your necklace!" She cried, pointing to Kitty's chest.

Her throat was bare. The necklace was gone!

Oh no! Kitty lost the necklace that Julia bought for her! What's going on here? Will they be able to find it? I don't think Roden will be much help with this one. What about Caelia and Elaina getting hit on at the wading pool? Will they be okay? Or more appropriately, will the pickup artists be okay? Somehow, hitting on those two doesn't seem like the brightest move.