[Fastfoward]: Post Expedition

After hours of idle chatter and snacking on Darumaka lunchboxes the students set up camp for the night. The next morning they awoke to the sound of buses lining the perimeter of the lake. The group boarded the appropriate buses and departed, finally making it to Azure Academy after a snore-filled ride back. Trailing behind Cynthia and gathering up in the Grand Hall with all of their belongings, the student body looked up to their Headmistress as she began to speak. "So, would any of you have preferred to stay back at school rather than embark on an exciting adventure as a break from your daily academia?" She joked with a laugh at the end; though perhaps it was only her who had found it funny. For fear of insulting Cynthia, the students remained quiet, but questionable expressions were exchanged amongst one another. "All jokes aside, I would like to congratulate each and every one of you for how well you performed during the expedition. I appreciate that it must have been a lot to take on -- especially for those so young -- which is why you shouldn't fear expulsion if you didn't successfully complete the paths. It was a test to see which of you worked together best and it shows who the most successful of the bunch will be; but fear not, as I was once in the exact same situation as of all of you here today. With hard work and determination anything is possible, and who knows? You may just become the Sinnoh Region's next League Champion!" She smiles and clasps her hands together with a wink; dismissing the lot back to their dorms, as well as herself. The entire trip had exhausted everyone out, so there was no better place to be back in their own nice, warm beds.

Throughout the last few weeks, students had been frantically studying and participating in their midterms, though it didn't help that a variety of the school's faculty had been absent. Rumor has it that, during the expedition, the weather up in the mountains just became too much for them. The temporary substitute teachers that had taken their places happened to be far too eccentric to create a normal lesson for the students to comprehend, prompting most of the study body to eagerly await the return of their beloved professors. However, as the weeks passed by it was time for midterms to come to an end. On the last day of term, Cynthia announced that the whole student body will be taken on a celebratory trip to Lake Acuity -- a beautiful yet entirely intriguing landmark in the Sinnoh region located not too far from the academy. "Thank Arceus," Muttered one student. "At least now we'll be getting away from all the loud banging coming from the basemen.." A few students laughed in agreement, though Headmistress Cynthia quickly dismissed it. "Now, now, boys. It's just the ghost Pokémon getting excited, they get quite rowdy this time of year as Halloween gets closer. It's like they can sense it. It's nothing to worry about!" She said with a smile.