After a tense meeting with Leanne, Cynthia was actually offered the job! So she's going to take care of pokemon in the nursery! How lucky for her! In the meantime, though, she's going to be facing some rough hours. And what about the other students who came back? We know what Reiner, Will, and Nikita were up to, and Nick's still sulking in his room, of course, but what about Kitty and Julia? How are things going there?

KedharS: Who can say? Cynthia seems to thrive when she's actually getting her hands dirty with something, maybe nursery work will be easier for her than an interview. I guess we'll have to find out for ourselves.

Arbiter8991: Olivia's definitely up to something, that's for sure. What it could be, we'll just have to find out.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1269

Cynthia flounced back to her dorm with a spring in her step. She'd done it! She'd actually done it! She had no idea how it had happened, but Leanne had actually given her permission to work in the nursery! She was starting next week!

She couldn't wait to get back to the others and tell them the good news.

"Hey Sango, Julia," she said, skipping into her room. Then she paused. Neither girl was present at the moment.

"Guys?" She looked around. "Silver?"

But nope. Everyone was gone. She tapped her chin thoughtfully, and decided to go share her good news with the boys instead. But when she got to the boys' room, Nick was the only one there. Blake and Reiner were nowhere to be seen.

"Hey Nick, what's up?" Cynthia asked, looking around. "Where is everybody?"

Nick glanced up at her and shrugged. "Reiner said he was taking Nikita out to do something, and Blake, well…"

"Say no more," Cynthia nodded. Blake had a pretty odd habit of coming and going at all hours since he got back. She wondered if it was related to Ayame, and that was probably a safe bet. "And you don't know about the girls?"

Nick raised his eyebrow. "They don't usually tell me things, no," he replied. Cynthia sighed and shrugged her shoulders. She skipped over and sat down in a chair.

"Oh, well. At any rate, I've got some great news! Wanna hear? I'm going to be working in the nursery on campus! I'll be taking care of baby pokemon!" She informed him with a toothy grin. Nick was surprised to hear that.

"The nursery, really?" He asked, raising his eyebrow. "I mean, that's cool, I guess."

"It's going to be loads of fun!" Cynthia nodded, grinning. "Only problem is I want to share it with the others too, but they're not here."

She sighed and shrugged again.

"So how are things going with you, Nick? You managed to get in contact with Callie yet?" She asked curiously.

Nick winced and hung his head. So that was a no.

Meanwhile, the answer to where Julia went was a simple one- she was with Kitty.

Most of the time someone asked that question, that would be the correct answer.

"So you got a package from home?" Julia asked, raising her eyebrow.

"Uh-huh! From my parents," Kitty nodded. "I'm really curious what they sent me. They said it was a surprise."

"Hmm," was Julia's only response. She glanced at her friend. Kitty was wearing her school uniform instead of one of her trademark black dresses, since they'd just gotten out of class. But she still had the little tooth necklace on. It was an odd thing. The accessory didn't go perfectly with her usual style of clothes, but it didn't contrast them either. Seeing it in conjunction with her uniform, though? That was a weird sensation for Julia. It looked fairly out of place.

But then, if Kitty was someone who cared about style, she wouldn't wear cat-ear headbands all the time.

The two got to the mail room, and Kitty asked for her package. It was smaller than she expected; too small, in fact, to hold much of anything. Certainly not food or supplies. It was barely big enough to hold a phone!

"So what'd you get?" Julia asked.

Kitty shrugged. She was opening the box while they walked back to the dorm. But when she finally got it open, she froze in place.

"No way!" She gasped, her eyes widening in delight.

"Oh? What is it?"

"It's a pokeball!" Kitty exclaimed, revealing the contents of the box. A single pokeball rested inside, along with a letter.

The ball shook slightly and both girls gasped.

"It's not empty," Julia said, starting the obvious. "Did your folks send you a pokemon?"

"I guess so," Kitty nodded. She'd just recently caught her fifth pokemon. Now her parents were sending her another? She hadn't expected to get this many pokemon this fast; what was she supposed to do with them all?

She pushed the button and let the pokemon out. When she saw who it was, her face lit up with joy.

"Rusha!" She exclaimed. "And little Ru, too!"

"Kangaskhan!" The large pokemon bellowed. Towering over Kitty was a pokemon that looked like it could eat her. Julia flinched in surprise, not expecting such a massive pokemon to come out of the ball. But Kitty didn't panic. She flung herself at the Kangaskhan and hugged parent and child as best as she could.

She couldn't even get her arms halfway around.

"A… a Kangaskhan?" Julia's jaw dropped.

"Yeah! Rusha and Ru live at the daycare with my parents," Kitty said, stepping back and turning to Julia. Then she scrunched up her face in confusion. "But you two are my dad's pokemon, why are you here?" She wondered. Maybe their note would explain everything.

"Dear Katherine

How are you doing? Things here at the farm are going well. Business is great! But we all certainly miss you. I'm so happy to hear that you went on a trip for spring break with your friends! And you say you caught a brand new pokemon? It seems you're really filling your team out! That got me thinking. Your mother and I have been doing so well taking care of the pokemon that we considered that it might be time for you to get a little pampering as well. I know you treasure your pokemon, but the more you have on hand, the harder it can get. So with that in mind, we were hoping that Rusha and Ru would be able to help you with any caretaking needs you might have. These two have been so lonely without you around, it's like Rusha's missing her own child. So we thought you might want to look after her a little, or maybe the other way around! And I'm sure I don't need to remind you how strong Rusha is. We're always concerned about your safety, dear, and we just want to make sure you've got all the tools you need to be a successful pokemon trainer. Think of Rusha as your own bodyguard and helper! We love you, and we hope you'll come back home soon! All the other pokemon miss you, too!

Love, mom and dad."

Kitty was trying hard not to cry.

"My parents are just the best!" She wailed, hugging Rusha again.

"Kanga!" The baby Kangaskhan chirped, patting her on the back. Her mother nodded, patting Kitty on the head as well. Her hand was large enough that she could have easily lifted Kitty up by the head, but her gentle caress was obvious.

Julia suppressed a smile. Lucky Kitty. Her parents cared about her so much that they sent her a pokemon to look after her.

"Ah!" Kitty gasped, her face turning pale(r). "This means I have seven pokemon now! Oh no, what am I supposed to do?!" She fretted.

"Don't worry," Julia patted her on the back. "I have seven pokemon myself. It's not a big deal. I just have Marion look after Fang. We can go see Serefina and see if she can take in one of your pokemon, since handling seven is a little too much."

"That won't be necessary."

Sango and Julia turned to see Serefina approach them. She wasn't amused.

"Oh, Serefina!" Kitty smiled. "Did you see? I have a Kangaskhan now!"

"Yes, I did see!" Serefina said, flashing a smile. Then her expression turned sour. "In fact, all of campus can see. I'm sure you remember the part in the handbook about releasing pokemon of a certain size in the middle of a populated area?"

Kitty gulped. Julia looked around, realizing that a lot of the students had circled around them and were watching reluctantly, not sure what to make of the situation.

"Um, well… this is just…" Julia tried to come up with a good excuse, but Kitty put her foot down.

"But Rusha and Ru are wonderful!" She insisted. "They're very well-trained and won't attack anybody, I promise!"

Serefina raised her eyebrow, unconvinced.

"It's not about whether or not they'll attack anyone," she gently reminded Kitty. "It's about the practicality of it. After all, imagine if everyone wanted to let their giant pokemon out of their pokeballs? We'd have Tyranitars and Dragonites and who knows what else just walking around campus all the time. Does that seem like it's conducive to a good student life?"

Kitty gulped and shook her head. Serefina raised a good point. "I guess you're right," she admitted. She turned to Rusha and Ru. "I guess you guys have to come back."

She recalled them to their pokeball and hung her head. And they'd just reunited, too.

"What was that you were saying before, by the way?" Julia asked, turning to Serefina. "You know, about how we didn't need to go to you for permission or something like that?"

Serefina nodded. "Well, as I was saying, Kangaskhan only count as one pokemon for the purpose of this school. Even though it's a mother and child."

"Whoa, really?" Kitty asked, surprised. "I would have thought that since they're seven pokemon, they just… well…"

"Most of the reason why we discourage trainers keeping ALL their pokemon on hand is because most trainers lack the skill to care for that many," Serefina explained. "I mean, take a look at Blake. He has his Salamence being looked after by Erik in the Ranger Course, yeah? And prior to that, he was looking after his Skorupi as a baby pokemon, so he left several of his pokemon with us. Even as skilled as he is, we still don't let him just keep all of his pokemon with him, even if it seems that way."

"Really? Because Cynthia keeps all of hers," Julia noted, raising her eyebrow.

At the mention of Cynthia's name, Serefina made a sour face again.

"That girl… is a special case," she grumbled. "Don't ask me how she does it, but somehow she's able to take care of all her pokemon perfectly fine on her own. I blame the fact that she's so hyperactive, personally."

Julia had apparently touched on a sore spot for the other girl.

"Anyway, long story short, unless you're a special case like her, we generally discourage trainers from splitting their focus between too many pokemon," Serefina said. "Of course, a Kangaskhan pair is exempt from this rule, the same way, say, a Doublade would be. And don't even get me started on Dugtrio…"

Serefina still wore that sour expression. Julia wondered if maybe there was something complicated relating to Dugtrio in the school's past, but she didn't say anything.

Soon enough, though, Serefina's smile returned. "Whatever!" She laughed. "It's fine. In fact, Kitty, even if there wasn't a special rule regarding Kangaskhan, it would have probably been fine for you to raise seven, or even eight pokemon on your own!"

"Really?" Kitty asked, her eyes widening in wonder. "But why?"

Serefina looked a little stunned, as if she hadn't expected that sort of response. She sighed and rubbed her temples.

"Oh, you're such a good girl," she mumbled under her breath, before clearing her throat and addressing Kitty directly.

"The reason for that is simple," she explained. "You're just that good! When it comes to raising pokemon, Kitty, you definitely show a lot of promise as a first year! In fact…" A devious look crossed her face as she channeled her inner Dakota. "Are you sure you don't want to come major in the Caretaker Course?" She asked hopefully.

Kitty shook her head adamantly. "I know how to take care of pokemon," she asserted. "What I really want to do is be a battler."

Serefina sighed in defeat. "Haah… why did it have to be Cynthia? Why couldn't it be you?" She grumbled, leaning down to give Kitty a big hug that pressed her boobs right into the other girl's face, much to Kitty's embarrassment.

As the short girl fumbled for air, Serefina patted her head gently. She finally let Kitty come up to breathe, and the white-haired girl looked completely flustered.

"W-Why…" She sputtered, shaking her head to clear her thoughts. "Sorry… um… but thanks, I guess? Yeah. Thanks."

"You don't need to thank me!" Serefina grinned. "I was just giving an honest appraisal of your skills, that's all!"

Kitty blinked, then gasped. "…Oh! Oh, um, yeah. Thanks for that, too. Or I mean, only that. And nothing else. Yup."

Being around Serefina was very bad for Kitty's heart.

"But I gotta say, I'm really envious of you, Kitty," Serefina smiled.

Kitty stared at Serefina's lust-inspiring body and found those words to be absolutely hollow and meaningless.

"…Right."

That came out a lot more bitter than she'd expected.

"I mean it!" Serefina said. "I've always wanted to look after a Kangaskhan! They're the pinnacle of what us caretakers should strive for, wouldn't you agree?"

Kitty nodded vigorously. A lot of what she'd learned about taking care of her own pokemon had come from her diligently studying the way Rusha treated her child.

Meanwhile, Julia was standing on the side, growing increasingly frustrated at being iced out of the conversation, even if that wasn't Serefina's intention.

"Hey, I heard something interesting," Julia said, almost forcing her way into the discussion, "Cynthia's going to be joining the Caretaker Course?"

Kitty's jaw dropped.

"Seriously?! Cynthia is? How am I just hearing about this now?" She gasped, turning to Serefina for confirmation.

Serefina was wearing an expression that made her prior sour looks resemble the smiling visage of a goddess.

"Something like that," she muttered. "She's not actually joining the Caretaker Course, to be clear," she asserted.

"Well, yeah, no, that girl loves battling way too much," Julia agreed, noticing she'd stepped on a landmine but finding it too uncomfortable to avoid the topic now that she'd raised it. Apparently, Serefina really did have a grudge against the short redhead. "But Ayame Toujou came by our place yesterday to check out how Cynthia's doing. And Cynthia was boasting that her assessment went pretty well!"

"That's right, it did," Serefina said through gritted teeth. "She's really talented, I'll give her that much at least."

Oh man. Julia was just making things worse, huh? She decided to drop the topic.

Unfortunately, Kitty was there, too. And she had about a thousand questions immediately.

"So wait, what was she being assessed for?" Kitty asked, looking back and forth between the two girls who both knew this was an awkward conversation.

Finally Serefina bit the bullet and forced herself to be professional about this whole mess. "She wants to work in the nursery, taking care of baby pokemon."

"Oh!" Kitty's eyes widened. "She'd be brilliant at that!"

"Yeah, I know," Serefina groaned. That was the worst part. For all the faults the redhead had, she was really just the skilled at nurturing pokemon. It was honestly kind of frustrating. All that talent and skill, and she just had to be a pest.

On some level, Serefina knew she was being overly hard on the poor girl, but she couldn't help herself. Even if Cynthia was improving, and her skills were the real deal, Serefina didn't like perverts as a general rule.

But that was unprofessional.

"I'm sure she'll do a great job," Serefina assured Kitty. "In the meantime, I hope that you give a little consideration to my offer, hmm?"

Kitty shook her head. "Sorry, Battle Course all the way!"

Serefina sighed in defeat and shrugged, giving a half-hearted smile. "Well, I did what I could," she replied. "Congratulations again on your Kangaskhan."

She headed off back to the dormitory, and then paused, turning back to the girls.

"Hey, you two have pokemon that are pretty well-trained, right?" She asked curiously.

Julia nodded. "Kitty's are better trained than mine, but yeah, why?"

"I was just wondering, have you ever considered using them for something other than battling before?" She asked.

Kitty and Julia glanced at each other.

"What do you mean? Like contests?" Kitty asked.

"Nah, that's not for me," Julia said automatically. The last thing she wanted to do was go onstage in some frilly dress and make a fool out of herself. No thank you.

Serefina shook her head. "No, not a contest. Something a little more… oh, never mind. We're still working out the details."

She smiled cordially. "Please just keep an open mind when the announcement comes out, alright?" She asked.

"Uh, yeah, sure, we'll do that," Julia nodded, wondering what Serefina could be talking about.

"We will!" Kitty nodded. Serefina said her goodbyes and headed home, leaving the two girls to wonder what that was about.

In the meantime, though, they had other things to consider. Like getting Rusha and Ru introduced to the rest of Kitty's pokemon. She already knew Meomo, Marisa, and Larosa, and had met Pearl over winter break, but Trixie was brand new. So when Kitty and Julia got to the fields outside Charmander House (Julia was insistent as always about walking Kitty home) she released her pokemon to make some introductions.

"Kangaskhan!" Seeing Rusha dwarf the other pokemon in Kitty's party made it clear why the school had some of the rules that it did.

"Skitty!" Trixie grinned, running circles around the Kangaskhan. The girls played with their pokemon until the sun set.

Meanwhile, Blake and Sango were still nowhere to be found…

Hmm, that's interesting. What could those two be getting up to? Are they together? Or working on separate things? And if they are together, I wonder how comfortable Blake feels, being around Sango after everything he heard her say? His thoughts might be occupied with Ayame at the moment, but I doubt he's forgotten what happened on the trip…