The Pokeathlon Competition is coming to a climax. There's only one day left. Our competitors need to train their pokemon and get them ready to compete! But for the rest of them, maybe it's time to take a break, instead. In fact, we're going to be taking the story in quite a different direction starting from this chapter; and all because Blake thought that it was important to apologize to Sango! Things are about to get pretty weird.
The Elimination Round of the Pokemon Academy Best Girl Contest 4 has started! Make sure to get those votes in, we've only got a few so far! You can vote for up to 5 girls, so make sure your favorites have a chance to shine!
Nominated: Alcea, Ange, Ayame, Caelia, Callie, Chloe, Cynthia, Dakota, Donoma, Elaina, Gabrielle, Joyce, Kate, Maddi, Misato, Nikita, Rui, Sango, Sylvia, Vic
KedharS: Definitely something epic, alright. And it's going to be a pretty big surprise to boot. We'll see how things go.
Hyphenman: Oh, you have no idea how much Blake can screw this up.
Aakareo Kokokuhikari: It's not quite a retcon. Nick planned to use Mankey and Poliwhirl, then he saw their performances and decided to go with stronger pokemon, that's all.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 1340
"…Huh." Blake looked around, taking in his surroundings. It was the middle of the day, and he was standing on the quad in the center of campus, with students all around him.
Which was not where he had been ten seconds earlier. It had been night time when he checked before, but the sun up above was pretty hard to miss.
"…How the hell did I get here again?" He asked, trying to remember what had transpired over the last couple of minutes.
Blake had been waiting at the Blastoise Fountain for Sango to arrive. His tomboyish friend was unusually late. When she'd agreed to come at 10, he expected to see her at 10. But if she was in the quad with him, she was definitely hiding.
Maybe I should give her a call, he thought, then he changed his mind. No, that might just freak her out more and cause her to back off. There's nothing I can do except wait.
If Sango made him wait the whole night and never actually showed up, it would be everything he deserved. He hoped she wouldn't, though. He wanted to apologize. No, he needed to apologize, and he couldn't just do it through text or over the phone.
Blake hoped that Sango would get there soon.
Hmm? What's that? Blake sniffed the air. A familiar scent lingered for a moment. He looked around, confused. The aroma of lilac, lavender, and mint filled the air. His eyes widened as he realized what that meant, only a second before a flash of green light engulfed him and the world disappeared.
…And now I'm here. Lovely. Blake looked around. The campus looked basically the same. He didn't recognize any of the students walking past, but then, he wasn't exactly the most social person in the world. He'd clearly been sent backwards in time. Or maybe forwards. It was hard to tell. How long? A few days? A few months?
A few years?
"Ryoko?" He called, looking around for the lavender-haired time traveler. She had to be here somewhere. There was only one person he knew who could do something like this. I still can't believe it. I actually traveled through time.
It suddenly became a lot more believable, because all the people that were walking past him suddenly froze in place. The sound of gossip snapped off and he couldn't even heard the bird pokemon chirping in the distance.
Everything had completely shut down. Time was frozen.
"Hello Blake. It has been a long time. Or has it? I cannot be sure."
Blake turned to see a familiar face approaching him through the crowd; the only sign of movement there.
Ryoko walked up to him. She was smiling like always, that same gentle, wise smile.
"Ryoko, what's going on here?" Nick asked. "I was going to meet a friend, why did you send me back in time?"
"The why will become apparent to you shortly," Ryoko replied. She took out her golden pocket watch to check the time. "For now, please be satisfied with the explanation that this was an event that had to be."
Blake frowned. He didn't like cryptic answers like that.
"How are you doing?" Ryoko asked. "When are you in time right now?"
"You should know that," Blake replied. "What, with being a time traveler and everything."
Ryoko sighed. "I only have a short amount of time to spend with you, Blake. Could we not spend some small part of it catching up?"
Blake sighed. "…Fine."
"I am glad. Now tell me, are you eating okay? Getting along with your friends?" She asked. Blake couldn't believe his ears. She'd flung him through time with her pokemon, and now she was trying to catch up like a classmate at their reunion?
"I-I'm fine," he lied out of reflex. But Ryoko's big eyes staring at him made him come clean. He sighed and hung his head. "Actually… no, I'm not," he admitted. "I'm dealing with some really rough stuff right now."
Ryoko stared quietly at him, not saying a word. There was nothing judgmental in her eyes, just the quiet serenity of understanding and accepting.
He felt himself relax in ways he just couldn't around his friends when he was with her. That made the words just come rolling out.
"I actually took part in a Pokeathlon," he said. "I won, too. But just barely. And it's not like I won the entire competition or anything. I still have another Pokeathlon event tomorrow."
He paused.
"Err, well, it's supposed to be tomorrow in my time," he clarified. "I don't know what's going to happen now, what, with the time travel thing."
Ryoko laughed.
"There is no need to worry," she assured him. "Once you have completed your responsibilities here, then I will send you back to the present. Your present, to be clear."
Blake narrowed his eyes. "And what responsibilities are those?" He asked. "Specifically, I mean. There's a reason you brought me here, right?"
"Absolutely," Ryoko nodded. "However, like I said, I am not able to tell you precisely what your responsibility is. However, it is something that you will accomplish."
"And you're sure of that?" Blake asked, raising his eyebrow.
"It is not about being sure of anything," Ryoko said, shaking her head. "It is merely a fact of reality. Right now you are in the past. You will experience events that have already transpired. Those events will transpire again. And then you will return to your present. It is the way that the world works. A fixed moment in time."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Blake sighed. He'd heard it from her many times before now. "I get it, okay? This is the way time travel works. Things have to happen, reality is fixed, blah blah blah."
He shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. "That doesn't mean I have to like it, you know," he reminded her.
"I do not expect you would," Ryoko said, shaking her head. She looked surprisingly sad. "But you will experience it nonetheless. Because that is what must happen."
This was the part of Ryoko that Blake didn't like. While he appreciated the feeling of comfort and acceptance he felt whenever he was around her, the fact that every word out of her mouth was a tautology drove him crazy.
"You have to do this thing because you have to do this thing." Thinking like that would drive anyone up the wall.
"What if I don't do what I'm supposed to do?" Blake asked.
Ryoko raised her eyebrow and gave him a knowing smile. "Ah, but you will do what you are supposed to do," she pointed out.
"Okay, yeah, but for the sake of argument, what if I don't?" Blake pressed. "What if I just let things go the way they are, without doing anything at all?"
"Perhaps not doing anything at all is what you are supposed to do," Ryoko said cryptically. "I will not provide you that answer Blake Harker. Nor will I warn you with horror stories of what will happen should you fail. I have simply placed you in a specific point in time. What will happen next is dependent on your decisions. And more accurately… the chronicle of time."
"Gee, way to be clear," Blake mocked, rolling his eyes. Ryoko just smiled back at him. She withdrew her pocket watch and checked it again.
"It is almost time for me to depart," she said. On cue, an aroma of mint, lavender, and lilac swirled through the air, and the cry of Celebi rang out across campus.
"Celebi!" Celebi danced among the frozen people, circling Ryoko and beginning to glow green with temporal energy.
"Wait!" Blake shouted. "Before you go, you promise you're going to bring me back to the precise time I left, right?!"
"Do you not trust me?" Ryoko asked, tilting her head to the side. An array of green light appeared at her feet. "There is no one who knows the way of time more than I, you should know that by now, Blake Harker."
"It's not about that!" Blake cried. "I had an important meeting with someone! A friend! If you bring me back at a different time, and I miss it…"
Blake didn't even want to think about what would happen if he stood Sango up. The poor girl had enough problems as it was, she didn't need more of them.
But Ryoko responded to his concerns with a smile.
"That is not something you will need to concern yourself with," she assured him. "Such matters have already been accommodated for."
"What the heck does that mean?!" Blake exclaimed. But the light from the array had already practically swallowed her whole; she would be gone in seconds.
"I am happy to hear that you did so well in the Pokeathlon," Ryoko said instead. "Though I do not know what such an event is. Hearing about your success, however, is always something that brings a smile to my lips."
And with that, she disappeared in a flash of light. The world started moving again, and the water in the Blastoise Fountain started running once more.
Blake sighed. He felt incredibly exhausted.
What the hell am I supposed to do? He thought, shaking his head. How am I supposed to know what this responsibility is?
He needed to get back as soon as possible. He needed to apologize to Sango. And more importantly, he needed to see Ayame and his friends again. He couldn't stay trapped in the past!
…Well, actually, he probably could. It wouldn't matter if he spent a few days back in the past, if Ryoko brought him back to the precise moment he left at.
But it was the principle of the matter, damn it! He wanted to get back as soon as he possibly could, this was important!
Blake checked his belt. He still had his pokeballs. That was good at least. He wasn't sure if he should send his pokemon out, or let them continue to get some rest.
If I'm here to fight a battle or something, my pokemon are still worn out from all the stuff they've done over the last week. Not to mention they need to rest in preparation for the upcoming Pokeathlon, Blake reasoned. Better to just not do anything at all.
Blake looked around. Again, the campus really hadn't changed that much. He didn't imagine he was too far back in the past.
Who knows? He wondered. There may even be another version of me somewhere around here, across the world.
He laughed at that thought. But for now, though, he needed to figure out what to do. He was a stranger in a strange land, and he didn't think he could count on anybody to look out for him.
"What the heck?! Where am I? Why is it daytime?! How the heck did I get here?! Aargh, if Blake did something…!"
Blake's blood ran cold.
No way. It couldn't be. Why the heck is she here?
He turned towards the direction of the voice, and he shrank a little as he saw his suspicions tragically confirmed.
Through the crowd, Blake saw one Sango Akana. Apparently, she hadn't just come to the fountain in order to meet him; she'd been there and gotten swept up in whatever time traveling business Ryoko and Celebi were doing.
Things were quickly going from bad to worse.
I was supposed to be spending tonight resting and preparing for tomorrow, he thought bitterly as he pushed through the crowd to approach the blonde. And yet, here I am, forced to work my ass off because of some stupid time travel thing.
It really drove him nuts.
"Silver? Silver, are you here?" Sango called, looking around for her Castform. She knew it was ridiculous; after all, Silver was fast asleep, back in her bedroom where she'd left him. But nothing made sense anymore; just minutes ago it had been night.
"Sango!" Blake came upon Sango, and saw the frantic worry completely slide off her face as she met his gaze.
"Blake!" She gushed, running over to him. Any bad blood between the two of them was completely forgotten, and she threw herself into his arms in gratitude.
At least, that's what was supposed to happen.
What happened instead was a strong right cross.
"You jerk!" Sango exclaimed. "What the hell is going on here?!"
"That's what I want to know!" Blake shouted back, rubbing his cheek. "What the heck was that for, punching me out of nowhere?!"
People were staring at them now, much to his embarrassment. And the fact that they were complete strangers to everyone else only made it more embarrassing.
"I punched you because you deserved it!" Sango asserted. She knew it was bullshit of course. She'd lashed out due to reflex, but Blake wasn't responsible for bringing her here. He was probably dragged here himself.
But it was the principle of the matter. Sango wasn't going to back down after all the shit she'd been through. Blake was supposed to be apologizing, not… not getting her dragged here or whatever.
"What's going on?" Sango demanded, helping him to his feet. Her expression softened. "All these people… what is this place?"
"We're in the past," Blake said, shaking his head. It was a pretty big sell. Just because they knew a time traveler didn't mean Sango would just accept that they'd been sent back in time.
"And how do you know that?" Sango pressed.
"Ryoko," he said simply. "She brought me here. She told me why. I guess she's the reason why you're here as well."
Sango winced, and then hung her head in resignation. If it was Ryoko they were dealing with, well, that was another matter.
"Time travel, huh?" She mumbled. "This fucking sucks…"
"You can say that again," Blake nodded. He glanced around at the people passing them by. Some were looking their way. "Hey. Let's get out of here, okay?"
Neither one of them were thinking about the apology Blake was supposed to be giving Sango. They had way more important things to worry about. Blake took Sango by the hand and led her out of the crowded quad, towards the more open fields by the dorms.
"I don't get it, why are we here?" Sango asked as she led Blake lead her along. "Like, I get it, Ryoko brought us here. I can make sense of that in my brain. But what I'm not sure about is why. What's she get out of this?"
Blake shrugged. "When I asked her, she said she couldn't tell me," he muttered. "Just that this was something that would always have to happen. Whatever that means."
Sango groaned. "Oh, great, so I was dragged here with you because time travel says so? Just lovely. For the record, I've never been flung back in time whenever Cynthia and I hang out. Or when I'm with Maddy or Elaina, for that matter. No, shit like this is specifically a you thing, Blake."
"Well, it could be worse," Blake scowled.
"Oh yeah? How?"
"You could have been dragged to an alternate dimension with the only person to keep you company being Sylvia Driscoll."
Sango shut up. "…Okay, yeah, you're right," she admitted. "That would be like living in hell. Sorry about that."
"Eh. It's fine." Blake was still looking around. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to be looking FOR, but he was looking for it.
There had to be something. Some signal, a sign of some kind, that would tell them why they were here and what they were supposed to do.
"So how do we get back?" Sango asked quietly. Blake could feel her hand shaking. She must have been really scared.
"Apparently I'm going to do something," Blake said. "Or… I guess I've already done something. It's really confusing… but basically, some event is going to happen, and I'm going to be here for it. And then when it's finished, I'll go back."
"…And me, too, right?" Sango squeaked. "I'm going to go back too?"
"…Actually, Ryoko said that you would have to spend the rest of your life in the past, sorry," Blake teased.
"Stop kidding, jerk!" Sango groaned, slapping him in the arm.
"Sorry, sorry," Blake apologized, resisting the urge to burst out laughing. "I'm just trying to lighten the mood!"
"Well, maybe I don't want the mood lightened!" Sango sniffed. "Maybe I prefer my moods to be dark and gritty, ever think about that?"
Blake didn't even know what the meant.
"Look, Sango, it's not that big of a deal," he assured her. "I don't know what I'm supposed to be here for, but it's going to happen sooner or later. We're going to run into something big, and we'll know it when we see it."
"WATCH OUT!" A voice wailed.
Blake turned around to see a lanky girl running down the hill. She was windmilling her arms to try and slow down, but to no avail. He barely had a moment to register the girl's short dark hair. Her bangs covered her face, making it nearly impossible to see her eyes.
She crashed right into him, and the two fell into a pile on the ground.
Oof, that's gotta hurt. Gotta give it to Blake, he's only in the past for a couple minutes and already girls are throwing themselves at him! You gotta be pretty good to have moves of that level. In the meantime, though, forgetting about hooking up with girls in the past, how are Blake and Sango going to make it back to the present?! And did the Pokeathlon arc just get hijacked by a completely different plotline? Yes. Yes it did.