While Blake and Cynthia were having fun in the wading pool, some guys came to hit on Caelia and Elaina! Those might not be the best girls to try and pick up, though. Hopefully nothing bad happens. If one of them has a breakdown, that could result in some serious problems. What will Blake and Cynthia do to de-escalate the situation for them?

Hyphenman: Here, I updated later, just because you asked.

KedharS: It definitely doesn't seem very good, you're right.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1061

"Hey, you ladies doing anything right now?" A couple of tan dudes were hitting on Elaina and Caelia, and neither girl was very receptive to their advances. Caelia was staring off into the distance, her gaze vacant and hollow, while Elaina was just frozen. She had absolutely zero experience when it came to being hit on, even though her body was so appealing. She didn't have any skills to tell them that she wasn't interested, so the most she could do was hope they got the message from her refusing to interact with them.

But if these two gentlemen were the sort of folk who could read the clues that a woman wasn't interested they wouldn't be here hitting on anyone with a pulse. So of course, they took the lack of immediate rejection as an invitation to keep pressing.

"Oh, are you a little shy?" One of the guys asked Elaina. He sat down beside her on the deck chair and she froze, shaking a little. His compatriot was even more forward, draping his arm over Caelia's shoulder. She didn't even notice his presence.

"…" Elaina opened her mouth to tell them to leave her alone, but her voice refused to come out. She just wanted to get out of here. Why couldn't they leave her alone?

If only Blake was here… then he'd come and help me… Elaina had an absurd amount of hope placed in Blake; nearly at the same level as her devotion to Gerard, and almost as toxic. After he'd broken her mask, she was now convinced he could help her with anything; and she wasn't about to have that assumption be challenged.

But Blake wasn't here right now. She only had herself.

"Wheew, it's cold. I didn't expect it to be so windy today!" The guy sitting next to her shivered as a cold gust of wind smacked him in the face. "Say, want me to give you a massage? It should help warm you up."

Elaina clenched her fist. She had to control herself. She couldn't let her harmonia go wild here no matter how much she wanted to hit this guy with a hurricane. Don't lose control… don't lose control… she pleaded with herself. Again, if only Blake was here. He was always able to help her keep her powers in check.

"Hey, what's going on here?"

It wasn't Blake who spoke up though. It was Cynthia. She ran over to them with a scowl on her face, Blake right behind her.

"Oh? Who're you?" The guy making the moves on Caelia asked, glancing up. His expression soured when he saw a guy with her.

"We're all just chatting nice and friendly here," the guy hitting on Elaina said. "We're not bothering anyone, right?"

He gave Elaina a smarmy smile, and she shivered. She tried to rebuke him, but her voice still wasn't working. For so much of her life, the only attention she'd received was scorn and hatred; people wanting to hit on her was a foreign concept, and she didn't have the skills to properly deal with it.

But that's what Cynthia was for.

"I don't buy that for a second! Our friends want nothing to do with you, and neither do I. So back off and get lost," she demanded.

Even someone as socially screwed up as Elaina could feel the change in mood from the two men after Cynthia chewed them out. The one who was hitting on Caelia stood up, advancing on her with a dark look in his eye.

"Hey, listen, we're not causing anyone any trouble. If you and you're your boyfriend aren't interested, that's fine, but these girls haven't asked us to leave, so I don't think you have the right to demand it, got it shorty?"

Cynthia's eye twitched. Blake stepped in front of her to keep her from totally losing it. But at a glance it was clear that he wasn't handling this much better than she was.

"Those girls are our friends," he growled. "And they're not very good around people. They might not have the courage to tell you to get lost, but I am. So you better back off, got it?"

The other guy narrowed his eyes and grabbed Blake by the collar of his shirt. "Oh? And do you think you can?"

Then a strong hand grabbed his wrist, yanking Blake free. The wannabe pickup artist turned to see who had just gotten in his way, and baulked a little.

A hulking mass of muscle was looming over him, with a look in his eyes like a wild pokemon who'd spotted prey.

"Aidan?" Cynthia sputtered in disbelief. Blake was surprised too. Hadn't he gone off with Sango and the others.

"Let go of me!" The guy said, yanking his hand free.

Aidan raised a beefy arm and with a quick swing, drew four red lines of blood across the man's tanned chest.

"Uweh…" Stunned, the man glanced down at the cuts across his chest, and stumbled back. His buddy leapt away from Elaina like she was radioactive.

"H-Hey, what the hell?!" He shouted, coming to his friend's aid, but a glare and growl from Aidan let him know just how bad of an idea that was.

The two guys exchanged frightened looks, and both decided that it wasn't worth it, running in the other direction.

Cynthia sighed in relief. "Dude, that was awesome!" She said, turning to Aidan. "Thanks for the save! But where'd you come from?"

Aidan just smiled. Then his body shrank, and he turned back into Ruka.

"Zorua!" She chirped, flashing a smile.

"Aww, Ruka, you absolute dream!" Cynthia gushed, pulling her Zorua into a big hug. Elaina just stared at the two of them in shock. She hadn't expected either Cynthia OR her Zorua to come to her aid. She glanced over at Blake. He just looked relieved.

"U-Um…" Elaina finally found her voice. She stood up on shaky legs and approached Blake. "Thank you… for saving me."

"Uh, I didn't really do anything," Blake said. He recognized the starry look in Elaina's eyes, and absolutely didn't want her infatuation with him to get even more serious. Contrary to popular belief, Blake wasn't at all dense to the fact that he seemed to have a tendency to attract girls. Ayame was one thing, but Kate, Cynthia, and even Caelia had all developed various levels of affection for him as a result of their interactions.

It made sense that Elaina might be fond of him. After all, he had done a lot to help her, and was one of the few people in her life who genuinely cared about her well-being. But the problem was, he didn't think about her that way. He was in love with Ayame. Elaina… she was like his sister. That was the extent of his feelings for her. Friendship, certainly, but nothing else.

Unlike with Kate, though, he was reluctant to shut her down. Because he knew how important his presence was in Elaina's life, and wanted to help her. If he broke her heart, that could cause her even more pain.

I know it's a shitty thing to do… but I have to help her. Blake forced a smile to his face. "Look, Elaina, I'm glad you're okay, really. But it was Cynthia and Ruka who really helped, I was just kind of there." He really hoped this would transfer some of Elaina's gratitude to them. Even if it was just a small part it would be good enough.

Fortunately, she seemed to go for it. She nodded, turning to the other girls, and tried a smile on for size. "Um… thank you."

"Hmm?" Cynthia glanced up, surprised. "Oh, yeah, no problem. We're friends after all, of course I've got your back, you and Caelia!"

Elaina blinked, surprised. "…Friends? We're friends?"

"Yeah, why else would I invite you?" Cynthia asked, shrugging. She cracked a grin. "Come on, don't think too much about it! We're friends, Elaina, that's that! Although… we haven't really made it official yet, I suppose…"

Elaina was too busy riding the surprising high of Cynthia considering her a friend. "Um, what do you mean?"

A dark grin crossed Cynthia's face and Blake immediately realized where she was going with this. "Hey, Cynthia, that's not a good-"

"If you REALLY want to be friends, the only way to do that is a pokemon battle!" Cynthia proclaimed. "We haven't had a chance for a one on one! Akira robbed me of that in the Fall Festival Tournament, but hey, any time you're ready, just let me know!"

Elaina froze. A pokemon battle. That was…

"Um… I-I don't want to do that," she said, taking a step back. The wind had already begun to whip back up around her. "A pokemon battle with me, that would be…"

Even now, Elaina couldn't say she had control over her powers. In spite of Blake's presence, in spite of Gerard's help, in spite of coming to terms with herself and throwing away her mask, there were still things that she just couldn't do.

Cynthia was disappointed, of course, but she understood where the other girl was coming from. She sighed and nodded. "Well, if that's what you want, I suppose there's nothing we can do about it," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "In the meantime, there are lots of other ways we can prove our friendship!"

Elaina blinked. "Other ways? Like what?"

Another dark smile crossed Cynthia face.

"Seriously, Cynthia?" Blake groaned, rubbing his forehead in frustration. "Thisyou're your bright idea? You realize that Elaina, Caelia, and Ruka ALL don't know how to swim, right?"

"Who needs to know how to swim?" Cynthia shrugged. "It's the wave pool, Blake! You don't swim, you just sit and let the water lift you up and down."

They were staring at the rising and falling waters of the wave pool, and were the only two people who were comfortable with it.

Ruka shook her head back and forth frantically, unable to sign "no". Elaina was equally uncertain.

"I'm not sure this is a good idea…" she said. The wading pool with all the 5 year olds seemed like a much better fit for her athletic ability.

"Come on, Elaina, stop whining," Cynthia groaned, rolling her eyes. "You've got a couple flotation devices that big strapped on your chest and you're still worried about not being able to swim? Come on now."

Elaina glared at her and crossed her arms over her chest. "That is… completely inappropriate!" She seethed.

"Fine, fine, it is the wave pool, so we can rent you guys some flotation rings." Cynthia walked over to the attendant of the ride, and came back with a pair of inner tubes and some water wings.

"Why do I have to get stuck with these?!" Elaina complained.

"Because there's no way I can get those boobs of yours through this tiny hole, that's why," Cynthia answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Elaina's cheeks turned bright red in response and she grabbed the rubber air sacks.

"…Don't you think you're forcing this a little too much?" Blake asked. This didn't seem like something she should be caring this much about.

"It's important, Blake," Cynthia said. She pulled Blake to the side so they could talk in private. "I'm doing this for Caelia's sake."

That wasn't what he expected to hear. "For Caelia? What do you mean?" He asked, confused.

"Have you ever bee in a wave pool before?" Cynthia asked.

He shook his head. "No, I told you, I've never been to a water park before."

"Okay, well wha about an amusement park? Ever been on a roller coaster?"

Blake shook his head again. "No, never."

"…Wow. You just had the most depressing childhood in the world, didn't you? I'm sorry," she winced, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

He gave her a disinterested stare and raised his eyebrow. She shrugged in response. "Well, listen. When you're in a wave pool, you go up and down. A lot. And rollercoasters are the same thing. And that causes this weird floaty feeling in the stomach."

"Okay, so?" Blake wasn't sure where she was going with this.

"Well, Caelia can't feel anything, right?" Cynthia whispered, glancing at her silent acquaintance. "Because of her burns. So I was wondering if, since this isn't, like, a touching thing, but more of a feelig in her gut, well…"

"You think maybe she'd be able to feel it?" Blake finally realized what she was getting at. "Hey, well… I think that could be possible, yeah…"

It was certainly worth trying out, at any rate. If that was something Caelia could experience, then they had to give it a chance.

Cynthia grinned. "Yes! I knew you'd understand! So I'll leave it to you, then!"

"…Wait, what?" Why did he have to do it?

"You convince Caelia. She'll listen to you," Cynthia said. "Meanwhile, I'll work on Ruka!"

"This is your dumb idea, you should convince both of them!" Blake protested.

"You just said you agreed with it!" Cynthia scowled. "Come on, what's the harm?"

Blake sighed. "Okay. Fine. I'll do it."

She did have a point after all. If Caelia would listen to anyone, it would be him. That didn't mean he liked his chances of convincing her though.

He walked over to Caelia and prepared for the worst.

"Caelia, would you go into the wave pool with us?" He asked as gently as possible. He didn't even expect her to respond.

But he didn't know her as well as he thought he did. She turned to stare right at him with her pale blue eye, and murmured, "I can't swim."

"W-Well, you don't have to swim," he said, gesturing to the inner tube Cynthia had smacked into his hands. "If you just use this, then you won't drown. You'll float."

He knew he sounded like the biggest moron in the world. But what was he supposed to do? Cynthia was right. If this could help Caelia somehow, then it was worth asking.

She just stared at him silently, as if she was waiting for him to get to the point.

With nothing else to say, he just awkwardly held the inner tube out to her. But she didn't take it, either. She just kept staring at him.

Finally, she spoke. "…Do you want me to go?"

Her voice was softer than he knew, almost tender. So un-Caelia he wasn't sure he heard it. But there was a flicker of life in her eye that was unmistakable.

It put him in a difficult position. He wanted to say yes, but he knew that with Caelia, it was a lot more complicated. Her feelings for him… well, he didn't quite know what they were. It had been a very long time since the two of them had anything resembling a conversation. But whatever they were, they were strong. He would almost use the word obsession.

Like with Kate, he had to be careful in how he interacted with her. He didn't want to lead her on and then break her heart. He wanted to distance her from him naturally, but he didn't know how with a girl like her.

What he did know was that if he said "yes" here, Caelia would do it. Because that's what he wanted. And that was absolutely not the behavior he wanted to cultivate from her. So he couldn't give her an answer to her question.

She kept staring at him, as if pressuring him to say yes. Finally, he relented.

"…I think it would be good for you," he finally said. It was the best he could do. Hopefully, she would think for herself.

"…Okay," she finally said, and took the inner tube. Blake sighed in relief.

Putting it on was another matter altogether, though. She couldn't exactly slide it on, given her complete lack of dexterity. So Blake had to help, asking her to hold her hands up while he slid it over her head and around her waist.

It was a bizarre sight to see. A girl devoid of emotion, dressed in a wetsuit like she was about to go diving, with a pink flower-patterned inner tube around her waist. Blake would have broken out laughing if he didn't know the context behind it.

"Looking good, Caelia!" Cynthia cheered, coming over to applaud her. "Ready to get over your fear of the water?"

"Not afraid," Caelia mumbled, just barely shaking her head. "Can't swim."

"Well, there will be no drowning today," Cynthia assured her, patting her on the shoulder. "And if there is, Blake will perform cpr this time!"

"Hey! Don't promise her that!" Blake growled. He was glad that Caelia didn't seem to respond to Cynthia's little joke.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" She laughed.

He didn't find it funny.

"Don't you have someone to convince yourself?" He asked, pointing at Ruka, who was hissing at the other inner tube like it was trying to eat her.

Cynthia's smile fell away and she glared at him. "Fine," she muttered, heading over to try and convince Ruka again.

Well, the pickup artists were scared away! Next is the wave pool, and it looks like Ruka and Caelia might actually get in the water this time! Is Cynthia right, and the wave pool will actually help Caelia? Or is it just wishful thinking? Either way, it should be a lot of fun. And I bet Cynthia is planning something when the waves push her into Blake and Elaina…