With Blake and Sango stuck in the past, they've found themselves in a tricky situation! They'll have to think very carefully about how they're going to get out of this. But for now, though, they need to find some way to actually survive in the past, when they aren't even students at the Pokemon Academy yet! Things are definitely going to be tricky for the two of them, but hopefully they can put their brains together and figure out a plan! Remember to review!

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: I don't think you'll be expecting what happens in this chapter next, either.

Silver's C. Jay: Yeah, that would definitely help.

Hyphenman: That's quite an interesting theory. Let's see if it pans out!

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1341

"AAAAH! S-S-S-Sorry!" The lanky girl cried, pulling herself up from off of Blake.

"No, no, it's fine," Blake said, picking himself up off the ground. "Are you okay?"

He got a better look of the gangly girl, and needed to do a double-take. She was tall. Taller than he'd thought at first, given the way she slumped down and shyly hid behind her bangs. Almost as tall as…

"Ayame?" He whispered, his eyes widening in surprise.

"Yeep! What?!" The tall girl stood up straight, her hazel-gold eyes widening in shock behind her bangs. "Um… uh… do I… do I know you?"

"No way…" Sango's eyes were bugging out too. But now that Blake said it, she couldn't miss the resemblance. Their hair was about the same length, they were about the same height, same frame… and the part of her face that Sango could see looked pretty familiar. If this wasn't Ayame, she was a damn good copy.

"You're Ayame Toujou, right?" Blake pressed. If he'd been thinking clearly, he would have known better than to speak out to her, considering the possible effects such an action could have on the timeline. But he wasn't thinking clearly. He was looking at the past version of his girlfriend, how could he? So even though he was a stranger in this timeline, and Ayame didn't know him, he hadn't been able to control himself.

"I, uh… gotta go, bye!" Before Blake could stop her, Ayame turned and ran away, her face red behind her bangs.

"Wait, Ayame!" Blake moved to follow her, but Sango grabbed his wrist and held him back. "Sango, what are you doing?" He snapped.

"What are YOU doing?! Are you just going to chase after her like some deranged stalker?" Sango hissed. "Need I remind you that we're in the past? If that's really Ayame, then she doesn't know you! What are you trying to do?"

"That's… yeah, you're right." Thankfully Sango had been able to calm him down, and he could start thinking rationally about this.

"So what do we know?" He asked, turning back to Sango. They needed to figure out what to do next, or they'd be in trouble.

"Well… we were sent back in time, that's for sure," Sango said, checking her phone. She was surprised she hadn't thought to do that before. "Judging by the date… it's the same day. But three years in the past."

"Three years… so that means that Ayame is a freshman then," Blake said, quickly calculating that. "And we aren't even at school yet."

"At least we're in uniform," Sango said. "That's pretty lucky. No one's looking at us suspiciously, they're thinking we regular students like them."

It was indeed something to be grateful for. But there was another problem that came with that, namely the fact that, in spite of looking like students… they weren't. And wouldn't be for another two and a half years.

Which brought them back to another, more pressing question.

"What should we do now?" Sango asked. She was deferring to Blake's experience here. He was the one Ryoko had brought back to the past, after all, she was basically just along for the ride. But Blake didn't really have any ideas either.

"I'm not sure," he admitted, shaking his head. "It's not like this comes with a fucking manual or anything."

"Well, did Ryoko tell you anything?" She pressed, desperation leaking into her voice. "Anything at all! Help me out here, Blake, we need to think about what to do!"

"Look, all she said was that the problem would sort itself out eventually," Blake said. "Calm down, okay? Whatever's going to happen, it's going to happen. Then we'll both go home. Beyond that, she couldn't tell me anything."

Sango stared at him for a while, clearly trying to determine whether or not she could trust his words. Finally she let out a resigned sigh and nodded.

"Okay. So what should we do?"

Blake looked around. The part of campus they were at was close to the dorms, but still not completely isolated. "…I'm not sure," he admitted. "I'm still shaken from running into Ayame. I mean, what are the odds, right?"

Sango narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. Blake looked distracted, like he was thinking of something. Or not telling her the full story.

"What aren't you telling me?" She demanded.

Blake flinched. "N-Nothing! I just… look, there's gotta be a reason we were sent this far back, right? Why we're here, now, instead of some other point in time?"

"Well… yeah, obviously," Sango snorted, rolling her eyes. "Didn't Ryoko basically tell you exactly that? That's why she brought you here."

"That's what I'm saying, I think our first course of action should be to get as much info as possible about any big events that might be coming up," Blake suggested.

"And what then? Enter?" Sango shook her head. "Are you nuts? What, are you going to enter another pokemon tournament with your team? Shake things up? You realize our school IDs aren't valid, right? We can't even go back to our rooms because other people are living in them! No, if we're going to do this, then we have to be like ghosts. No one can know we were ever here!"

Blake winced. She may have been berating him, but he didn't have the strength to argue back. Besides, she was right. There was too much they couldn't account for right now.

"But that brings us to another problem," Blake said, frowning. "What are we going to do about food? Like you said, our ID cards don't work. It's not like we can just stroll up to the Snorlax Commons and get lunch."

Sango frowned. "We'll have to forage, then," she said. "You know, get berries from the wilds and live off those."

Blake looked a little sick to his stomach. "…Seriously?" He asked.

Sango nodded. Her expression was grim. "Seriously."

"And then what? Are we just supposed to sleep in the forest, too?" Blake groaned. Already this was seeming like a terrible idea.

Then Sango's eyes widened. "Wait! That's it, I almost forgot!" She dug around in her skirt pocket and took out a key ring.

"…What's that?" Blake asked.

"The answer to our problems! Follow me!" Sango took Blake by the hand and confidently headed back towards the center of campus. Then she began heading in the other direction, towards the beach. Blake followed her, confused.

"Remember when Marion left for her practicum?" Sango asked. "And I volunteered to lock up the beach shop after her?"

"Yeah, why?" Blake asked. Then he realized what she was saying. "Wait, are those keys-"

"You got it!" Sango grinned. "With this, we just have to sneak in and hide out in there for however long it takes!"

A grim expression crossed her face and she let out a long sigh. "…Besides, it's not like that place gets many customers anyway…"

Blake winced. His sympathy for Sango's position had only grown.

"Sango…"

"Forget it," she scoffed, waving her hand. "Just forget it. We're almost there. Any second now- huh?! What the fuck?"

They made their way out of the woods and reached the beach- but it was empty. Marion's little aquarium had vanished into thin air. In its place sat a rickety shack that looked to barely be able to stand on its own weight.

"What happened?!" Sango exclaimed, dashing down to the sand. She looked around in confusion. "Where's the aquarium? And the pier?"

The pier where she'd spent so much time fishing with Marion was gone; instead, a thin spot of wood barely enough to tie a boat up to stretched a few feet out over the water.

"We're in the past!" Blake groaned, slapping his forehead in frustration. "That place must not have been built yet!"

Sango scowled. "Great. Well, that was my plan. What now?"

Blake's next plan was a risky one. "Look… I still have my wallet," he said, taking his wallet out of his pocket. "And my credit card."

"Yeah… so?"

"So, my family is rich," he reminded her. "And I still have access to all my accounts. Worst comes to worst, we can catch the next boat to the mainland and stay in a hotel. Right now, past me is an edgy middle schooler dealing pretty badly with what happened to Gwen. I wouldn't notice if I withdrew some money secretly."

Sango frowned. Then she turned bright red. "W-Wait!" She sputtered. "A hotel?! With you?! Absolutely not!"

Blake realized how big of a mistake that was. "Oof, uh… sorry. Yeah, that wouldn't fly, huh?"

There were more than a few problems with that plan. For one, while his past self might not register any unusual activity, the bank might. And if they contacted his father… yeah, that was a troubling issue that he didn't quite know how to handle.

"It would be better if we stayed here anyway," Sango pointed out. "After all, whatever's going to happen, it's probably going to happen on this island, right?"

Blake nodded. That was a safe assumption.

"So we're back to our original plan," he sighed, hanging his head. "Sleeping out in the forest. Well… maybe we could find a cave…"

Sango tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Well… maybe not."

"Huh?" Blake looked curiously at her.

Sango grinned, and held up her key ring again. "Maybe I have a solution to our problem after all, Blake!" She giggled.

"What are you talking about?" Blake didn't like the look in her eye.

They hid out until nightfall, waiting for everyone to turn in for the evening. Unfortunately, sunset was only getting later and later since it was spring. By the time the sky turned dark, the campus was a ghost town.

Blake and Sango stealthily snuck their way through the quad, heading for one of the buildings closer to the edge of the forest. They had to climb a small hill, but it was worth it. Pichu House, where most of the students in the Ranger Course stayed in their third and fourth years, was as silent as the grave as they slipped past, heading towards the clubhouse beside it.

"Are you sure this is okay?" Blake hissed.

"It's fine," Sango replied. "Hardly anyone comes around to the Survival Club at this time. At least, they didn't in our time. I just hope they haven't changed the locks in the last three years…" Sango jangled her key ring, finding the right key.

That was a pretty big gamble. But the payoff might just be worth it. Sango said a prayer as she inserted the key into the door, and turned it.

The "click" the lock made caused them both to sigh with relief.

"Yes! Thank you, stingy campus budget!" Sango made a fist of triumph as the door swung open. Inside was everything they needed.

"Okay, we'll need a pup tent, two sleeping bags, two thermoses for storing water, a flashlight… Blake, are you listening?"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," Blake scowled. He didn't like being treated like a pack mule. But given the fact that it was his fault Sango got involved in this mess, he felt like it was the least he could do. "Are you sure this isn't stealing?"

"It's not stealing, it's borrowing," Sango replied. "Students from the Survival Club have the right to use any of this equipment that they want, any time they want. And it may be in the future, but I am a member of the Survival Club, remember? So this isn't really stealing."

The pair of thieves grabbed as much as they could get away with without drawing suspicion to themselves, and fled the building. They headed deep into the forest, where no one was likely to stumble across them accidentally, and set up camp in a clearing right beside the river.

Blake stood back, impressed by how skillfully Sango set up the tent. It was a good reminder that she really was a pro at this.

Sango glanced back at him, her face lit by the filched lantern. She was scowling.

"Are you going to help, or just stay back and watch?" She demanded. "Go fill up the thermoses already, we'll need the water!"

"Sorry, I was just surprised," he apologized. "I've never seen you in action before, so…"

"Oh, this isn't me in action," Sango said, cracking a grin. "Trust me, you'll know what that's like." A few minutes later, he returned with the water, and to his amazement the makeshift campsite was done. Sango sat on a log, poking the first with a stick.

"Wow, uh… this… wow." Blake had no idea what to say.

Sango cracked a smile. "We may be in the past, but I still know these woods like the back of my hand thanks to my patrols. Stick with me, Blake, and you'll have nothing to worry about."

She passed him a small tray. A bunch of berries sat on it. Blake's stomach sank.

"Seriously, we couldn't take ANY of that canned food?" He complained.

"Borrowing equipment is one thing, we can just give all this stuff back. And there's enough spares that it'll take them a while before they realize everything is missing," Sango explained. "But the food is a different story, the larder is restocked regularly. We don't want anyone to notice, remember? Shut up and eat your berries."

Blake did as he was told. But it did little to solve the hole forming in his stomach. The Pokeathlon had caused him to work up quite an appetite, and that had been practically a day ago. He'd been expecting to treat Sango to a late dinner as part of his apology; it had nearly been 24 hours without real food. He couldn't be blamed for not finding berries filling enough.

Their "dinner" ended far too soon for either of their liking. There wasn't much left to do now but go to sleep.

Sango and Blake looked at each other. Then they looked at the tent.

"…Did you have to get one so small?" Blake asked. They'd practically be pressed up against one another all night.

"I don't like it any better than you," Sango scowled. "But the club has a lot of pup tents, and not very many multiple-person ones. If we took a bigger one, they'd notice. It was this or nothing."

Blake almost wondered if "nothing" would be a better option. But he kept that thought to himself as they got inside.

He had been right. It was a pretty tight fit. And just because they slept back to back didn't make it much better. Blake could feel Sango breathing, her heartbeat traveling through the sleeping bags to his back. He assumed it was the same for her.

But he was too tired to care at this point.

"Sango…" He mumbled as he felt sleep take hold of him. "I'm sorry… you know… for everything…"

"…We'll talk later," Sango said after the mother of all awkward pauses. "Let's wait until we get back home, first."

She sounded curt. But they both drifted off to sleep with smiles on their faces.

Blake was woken up the next morning by the pain of his stomach eating him up. At least, that was how it felt.

"Ugh… ungh…"

"You're hungry too, huh?" Sango poked her head in through the tent. She must have woken up first. "Well, come on. We might as well go get food together, then."

Blake didn't even care about not having a change of clothes for the day. He was too hungry to care about anything.

"I swear, if you're going to get us more berries…"

"Fuck berries," she scowled. Blake stared at her in shock.

I guess the lack of food got to her more than I thought, he realized. If there was one thing you needed to be warned about Sango, it was not to get between her and a decent meal.

"We need to catch some fish," Sango said as they reached the river. "But we don't have any fishing poles."

"What, you don't have a fishing rod in your backpack?" Nick teased. Sango shot him a testy look in response.

"I may have come around on fishing since we first met, I'll give you that," Sango admitted. "But fishing is still not a sport."

"Yup, I couldn't agree more! It's a way of life!"

Blake and Sango walked a few more steps towards the riverbank before they both stopped. They whirled around.

Standing behind them was a tan girl about their age with a big smile on her face. She had long green hair cascading down her back, held in place by a straw hat, and her crystal blue eyes were as clear as the morning sky.

"Hey there! Nice to meetcha!" The girl giggled, waving at them both. In her other hand, she held a fishing pole draped over her shoulder.

Sango was so shocked she stumbled back and nearly fell into the river.

Well, here's a new wrinkle. I think we all know who this little lady is! Sango tempted fate too much with her statements, and now she'll pay the price. And what price will that be? Well, we'll have to find out. In the meantime, now that they've been discovered, it's time for some quick thinking! How does any of this relate to the reason Blake and Sango were sent back in time?