Here's another chapter! I'm having copy and paste issues, which makes it harder for me to start cause I have to rewrite the title and chapter every time!

Darkhammer: It should be an interesting discovery. Soon to come, likely!

Phantom Knight21: Rereading it was what motivated me to keep it going after my hiatus.

SilverNyxa: Sure. That might help with some stuff, honestly.

Daozang: Kitty was actually his sixth, and Reiner was his fourth.

LucidRain: Not accepting new OCs right now.

Elite Four BLADE: Not accepting OCs right now.

Duskzilla: Welcome back!

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 28


"Really, Julia, I'm fine!" Kitty said. "Really!" The bed in the infirmary she was sitting in seemed to imply otherwise, however. Julia and Blake were sitting beside her, and Julia was not happy.

"You passed out!" Julia snapped. "Blake had to carry you to the infirmary, because you passed out!"

"It-it was just a headache!" Kitty explained. "I think I had some heatstroke or something, I guess."

Kitty winced, and raised a hand to her forehead.

"See? You're not fine!" Julia said triumphantly, gently placing a hand on Kitty's shoulder.

Kitty looked down at her lap glumly.

"This was my second loss… I don't think I'll make it into the main tournament…"

"I know," Julia said, shaking her head. "But maybe it's for the best. You've been over-exerting yourself a lot recently, you need to relax. Please, just take everything a little easier okay?"

"Are..." Blake started, "are you still… feeling that injury? From… Sarah?"

"No, no no no!" Kitty said, shaking her head vigorously. "I'm fine! Really! Just… Julia's right, I just need to rest right now, that's all."

"I'm sorry you won't make the main tournament," Blake said, frowning. "If I get in-"

"When," Kitty corrected, smiling optimistically.

"Thanks. When I get in, I'll make sure to get as far as I can. I don't want your loss to be in vain, after all."

"Yeah," Kitty said nodding. "I'll be rooting for you and Julia both!"

"You're in too?" Blake asked, turning to Julia, who nodded.

"Probably," Julia said, nodding. "I'm undefeated after all. All six matches."

Blake's eyes widened in surprise, a smirk crossing Julia's face.

"And you're not, right? Good luck then. I'm sure there's a lot of folks with one loss and five wins. But I bet you have a shot."

"Man, do I still have a shot?" Cynthia sighed as she and Sango sat down to eat dinner. "Reiner is really strong, like, really strong! How did he get so freaking strong, geez?"

"Well, it looks like I'm not the only one who didn't get a perfect record then," Blake said, coming up to their table with a tray of food.

"Not talking to you," Cynthia mumbled, turning her head away.

"Oh, come on," Blake said, sitting down next to her. In response, Cynthia turned her head the other way. "What'd I do this time?"

"You shoulda warned me how crazy-strong he was! I coulda been ready!" Cynthia fumed. "Argh, now I don't know if I'll get in or not!"

"That's not Blake's fault!" Sango said, frowning.

"…Yeah, I know," Cynthia said, shaking her head. "It's just… stressful, y'know? The not knowing… It's a pain! I'm so freaking worried!"

She turned to Sango, a strange look on her face.

"I'm calling in my favor."

"Favor?" Sango asked, confused. Her face then paled in realization. "You… you don't mean…"

Cynthia nodded, her smile turning evil. "Yes."

"I won't," Sango said, shaking her head.

"Yes, you will," Cynthia said.

Sango looked helplessly at Blake, who didn't know what was happening, and so he shrugged apologetically.

Blake and Cynthia's pagers began to beep, startling the two of them out of their slowly relaxing mood. They looked at the devices nervously.

TOP 64 DETERMINED. FIND YOUR NAME AND ID NUMBER.

A long list of names scrolled up the pager, Cynthia and Blake scanning for theirs.

"I got in!" Cynthia exclaimed, leaping up like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

"Me too," Blake said, sighing in relief.

Sango did not seem to share in their joy, however, though she did force a shaky smile to her face.

"Th-that's great, you two," Sango said. "So, um… Cynthia…"

"Yeeeeees?" The redhead purred. Sango gulped, her shaky smile disappearing.

"D-do I really have to-"

"Absolutely."

"But we didn't even make it all the way to the top of the mountain! We-"

"You dragged me on that hike, in the freaking morning! You aren't backing out of this!" Cynthia exclaimed. Sango looked down, defeated.

"Fine…" Sango mumbled.

"What are you guys talking about?" Blake asked.

"Oh, you'll see," Cynthia said, her wink and smile promising that it would be nothing good.


The next morning as they met up to go to the arenas for the matches, Blake found his suspicions unfortunately confirmed.

To say that Sango's face was red would be like saying that the Hoenn Region was a little wet.

"Yes…" Cynthia said, nodding, a proud smile on her face. "I do good work. I spent all night sewing and readjusting the size."

Indeed, the cheerleader costume that was once too tight and too short and skimpy had been tailored to fit her tall frame, although Blake couldn't help but note that certain areas around the midriff and calf were left a little short, most likely on purpose. Sango looked like she wanted to kill Cynthia, kill herself, and then run away into the mountains, in that exact order.

"Come on, it's not that bad," Cynthia laughed, patting Sango on the back. "Besides, didn't you say you wanted to help the rest of us a little? This will certainly help 'cheer' us up, and keep us motivated!"

Sango did not respond to Cynthia's poor attempt to mollify her anger, and in fact did not seem to be paying much attention to her at all. Her smoldering eyes were aimed straight at Blake, who was having difficulty figuring out where exactly he was supposed to look.

"Sango-"

"Don't say a word." Sango coldly shut him down. "Not. A. Word."

"All right! Let's get a move on!" Cynthia cheered, clapping Sango and Blake on their shoulders. "We get to fight on the Academy Stadium… Oooh, I can't wait!" The three headed off to the largest stadium in the school, though only one of them was truly excited. Another was anxious about what would be coming next, and the other simply wanted to change her clothes.

When they arrived at the stadium, Blake and Cynthia were told they needed to go to the waiting area to prepare. Before the matches would begin, the 64 finalists would be introduced to the audience in a large applause, where the rules of the matches would be explained. Sango was not allowed any farther, and so went to go find a seat.

"Sango!" Sango turned and looked around, not seeing anyone calling her name. She felt a tug on her skirt and looked down to see a small white-haired Kitty staring up at her.

"Kitty? Shouldn't you be recovering?"

"Maybe…" Kitty said, looking down. "But… I feel better, really, and I wanted to watch the matches…"

She mumbled the next part.

"…I'm a little nervous that there are so many people… I can't find a seat…"

Sango paused for a moment, sighing.

"Okay, then… let's go sit down somewhere, okay?"

Kitty was not exaggerating about the number of people in the audience. It seemed like every student who wasn't fighting had come to watch the matches, and the bleachers were positively throbbing with anticipatory conversation. There was an especially large crowd gathered around the box where the Eight Leaders were watching, and that section was louder than any other. Sango could definitely understand why Kitty was afraid of sitting by herself. Sango and Kitty finally found a pair of seats up near the middle of the crowd, Sango thankful she wasn't sitting up front where people would be seeing her… outfit. Hopefully, she could hide herself within the crowd. Silver floated down onto her lap and she looked out at the stadium, beginning to anticipate the coming festivities.

At 9:00 exactly, the stadium lights flashed on, and they could see out over one of the most amazing stadiums Sango had ever seen. There were four large, metal battlefields joined at the corner to form a massive fighting ground in the center of the stadium. Behind the stadium was a box where the announcers would be seated. As the lights reached full brightness, the stadium grew silent, and the roof of the stadium rumbled open to bring even more light to the battlefield.

"Welcome, everyone!" Two lovely voices blended together over the sound system, as two women dressed in blue and black and pink and white respectively stepped out onto the battlefield.

"Thank you so much for attending," Darla, in blue, thanked the crowd, looking out over the bleachers.

"We're so happy to have you join us for this exciting tournament!" Lyla added into her mic, scanning the other side.

"I'm Darla Drake, the cool beauty with the heart of a dragon!" Darla said, giving a wave to the cheering crowd.

"And I'm Lila Seelie, the lovely maiden who dreams of fairy tales!" Lila followed, giving the audience a wink. "And we're…"

"Your…"

"…MCs for today's festivities!" The two finished, the crowd roaring with applause.

"It's been a long struggle," Darla said, "and a lot of students tried their best."

"We were rooting for all of you!" Lila nodded eagerly. "And you didn't disappoint!"

"Even though only a handful of applicants could make it to the final matches here," Darla said, a look of sadness crossing her face.

"You're all champions to us!" Lila finished, the crowd cheering. "Now, since I'm sure you're just as eager as we are…"

"Let's meet the top 64!" Darla announced, the doors opening up.

The top 64 came out to stand on the ground next to the battlefield. It was easy to find the freshmen from the sophomores, since so many of the freshmen were looking with stunned expressions. Sango spotted Cynthia's red hair and snickered, Cynthia actually look frozen for once.

"There's Julia!" Kitty said, waving to her friend, though Julia didn't notice.

"Welcome, all of you!" Darla said.

"From the bottom of our hearts, we want to offer you our sincerest congratulations!" Lila and Darla both applauded, as did the audience.

"But now isn't the time for resting on your laurels!" Darla declared. "Because we have to explain the rules for this next round!"

"But Darla," Lila said, looking back at Darla in mock surprise, "didn't we already go over the rules before?"

"That's true, Lila, but we haven't explained to all our wonderful freshmen about the Academy Stadium's state-of-the-art Battle Arena System!"

"Oh, that's right, Darla!" Lila agreed.

"So, here's how it works!" Darla and Lila each raised a hand, gesturing to the large screens hanging over the stadium, which sprung to life. A giant wheel appeared on the screen, made up of a long ring of small card-shaped images.

"For those of you that have never seen a fight in the Academy Stadium, this is our Battle Arena System!" Darla announced. "You see, it was decided that as exciting as pokemon battling is, battles fought on some basic arena don't just have that little extra flair!"

"So a few years back, the principal designed a special system to allow players to fight on a variety of different battlefields!" Lila explained. "There are 18 pokemon types, and for each type 4 specialized combat areas were constructed to give trainers variety that mimics environments all across the world!"

"That's right Lila, and today our competitors will have to make the most out of these battlefields, particularly in how well both they and their pokemon can adapt to their environment! Because today, we're doing something a little different than normal!"

"Oh? What do you mean, Darla?" Lila asked, turning to her partner and tilting her head to the side quizzically.

"Very simple," Darla explained. "Most of the time when the Battle Arena System is used in casual matches, the people fighting agree beforehand on which battlefield they'll be using. But for this tournament, we decided to mix it up! And we did that… by actually mixing it up?"

Darla held a remote up in her hand, pressing a button, the wheel beginning to spin around a single pointer. She pressed the button a second time and the wheel pulled to a stop, the arrow on a card with a lightning bolt on it.

"For this tournament, all the fields will be decided at random! Our competitors will be assigned an arena to fight on from our 72 different battlefields!"

"That's amazing!" Lila said, holding a hand up to her face. "But Darla, doesn't that mean that the trainers might face problems? What if someone gets assigned an unfavorable battlefield?"

"Exactly, Lila!" Darla continued with her explanation. "It isn't enough to just have the strongest pokemon! Judgment, knowledge of how to make use of the environment, and even luck, all of these things are needed to become better pokemon trainers! True, some people may have better luck than others, but ultimately it's no different than adapting to a type disadvantage!"

"Oh, I understand now," Lila said, nodding. "So just because a terrain isn't favorable for one of your pokemon doesn't mean you can't use a different one! If your team is well-trained and balanced you should be able to adapt to anything!"

"Now that we've handled the technical aspects, let's get into the actual tournament!" Darla transitioned to the next segment of the presentation as the screen shifted to show pictures of the faces of the 64 finalists.

"The Academy Stadium has four separate battlefields," Darla explained. "Which means we can host four matches at a time!"

"So four matches at a time… and two people per match…" Lila counted off on her fingers. "That's… eight people?"

"Exactly right, Lila!" Darla said, nodding. "Eight people will be battling at once, but we have 64 people in total. So here's what we'll do!"

Darla pressed another button, and eight faces on the screen lit up. They enlarged and separated from the other faces, moving into a small box at the bottom of the screen.

"We've divided the finalists up into eight blocks containing eight people each. We've paired up each of the trainers from among those blocks, and will hold the matches for each block from A to H. The winners of each block will advance to the second round this afternoon!" Darla turned to Lila. "So how many people from each block will advance to the second round?"

"…Four!" Lila said, looking up from her fingers with a look of exaggerated excitement on her face.

"That's right, four," Darla said, "and between those four, we'll hold two more matches! The two members of each block that win both founds will make it to the top 16, and continue on into tomorrow!"

"Tomorrow?" Lila asked, confused. "But Darla, I thought tomorrow we were going to have a break?"

"Yes, if you check the schedule, then tomorrow is a day for a well-earned break. However, we've decided to change that schedule, just a little!"

"Change it how?"

"Simple, Lila. The final matches need to be awesome, fast-paced, exciting!" Darla explained. "So we've switched the schedule around a little. The afternoon of Day 4 will be the match to narrow it down to the top 8. This means that the trainers will only get a small period of time in the morning to recover their pokemon's energy. But that's fine, because Day 5 will be the free day instead! Understanding your opponents, training, or just conserving your energy. Then in Day 6… we will have the quarter-finals, and the semi-finals! Super-exciting! Super-fast-paced! Trainers will go from aspiring champions to inconsolable runner-ups one after the other!"

Darla realized she was getting a little carried away, so she wrapped her knuckles on the side of her head, stuck her tongue out and winked.

"Did you get that audience?" Lila asked, smiling. "It looks like these matches will be even more exciting to watch! But first, I want to apologize to all our competitors who were looking forward to their day off tomorrow…"

"But think about it this way, Lila! For 48 of them, tomorrow will be a day off!" Darla turned to look at the trainers gathered before the battlefield. "Besides, I don't think they mind that much… Everyone here's proven they're the best of the best! A real pokemon trainer wouldn't let something like this get them down, isn't that right?"

"I think so, Darla! Let's give another round of applause for our competitors!" Lila nodded, the two clapping as the stands roared out in applause.

"That's all for our announcements today, Lila!" Darla said, smiling. "But don't worry! We aren't done just yet!"

"We aren't?" Lila asked, giving a large sigh of relief.

"That's right we aren't! No, for all the matches going forward, we'll be providing commentary on each and every one of them! So make sure you give us your full support!"

"Thank you!" Lila giggled.

"So before we step aside and let the matches begin, we're going to have a little statement from our frontrunner!"

"Oh? Who is that, Darla?" Lila asked.

"A certain young freshman who got the highest score of all our finalists!" Darla said. She pulled a card out from behind her skirt, and flipped it open. "Reiner Zollern, where are you?"

"Reiner? Really?" Sango said, surprised.

Reiner stepped up onto the battlefield, walking towards Darla. She and Lila flounced over to him, each playfully holding onto one of his arms as they pressed closely against him in a coquettish manner. The screen shifted to a camera view of Reiner, whose face was impassive, even when being flanked by two lovely girls. Cynthia and Blake looked at each other, then back to Reiner. Even though they both lost to him, they were quite surprised that he had scored the highest of all the finalists.

"So, Reiner, you got the highest score out of everyone! And, you're a freshman! That means you're ahead of even sophomores! How does that feel?" Lila giggled, holding her mic up to his mouth.

"I can't say that I wasn't surprised," Reiner said, frowning, "but I definitely expected to not have lost any of my matches. It seems I underestimated how strong I actually was."

"I'll say," Darla nodded. "You pulled of quite some spectacular matches, the way I hear it! And that intensity… Just what I'd expect from our frontrunner! You've jumped from a freshman nobody to the top of the pack overnight! You'll definitely be the talk of the school for days to come!"

"Such a cool, composed, and strong freshman! I bet you'll be pretty popular, don't you think, Darla?" Lila asked.

"Definitely, especially with that mysterious scar…" Darla nodded, looking over Reiner's body. "And that cool stare and confidence, I can't see how you wouldn't."

"Darla," Lila hissed covering the mics, "this isn't the time for your preferences, stay on script!"

"So… how do you feel about the potential attention you'll be getting now, Reiner?" Darla asked. "Nervous? Excited?"

"Not really," Reiner said, shaking his head. "I'm more focused on training my pokemon. Popularity isn't that big of a concern right now."

"How cool!" Darla gushed, nodding. "So, Lila, any other questions we have for our cool and confident freshman?"

"I do, Darla! Tell us, Reiner, is there anything you'd like to say to your fellow competitors?" Lila asked, offering her mic again.

"Yeah, I do," Reiner said, taking the mic from her hand. He gently moved from their grip and stepped forward. "Listen, all of you, I hope you'll all try your best. Because I'm gonna win, and I want to gauge my strength against all of you fighting your best. That way, when I become the strongest, it won't be disputed."

The stadium fell into a stunned silence. No one, not the audience or the other competitors knew quite what their reaction to such a declaration should be. Even Darla and Lila seemed to have broken character, staring at Reiner with shocked looks. They were among the first to regain their composure, however, and Darla quickly resumed control.

"Um, well, that was quite a bold statement!" Darla said, nodding. "I mean, I also hope that all of competitors will try their best, right Lila?" Darla passed her mic over to Lila.

"Yeah, me too, Darla," Lila said, nodding. "In spite of our point leader's claims… I think this could be anyone's match! Let's not count this tournament as done just yet!"

Darla took back her mic, and nodded.

"So let's not keep everyone waiting any longer, let the matches begin! Everyone, make sure to give Reiner and our other finalists one last round of applause!"

The applause was somewhat staggered, as though many people clapping were unsure. If this affected the MCs, they didn't show it. They held Darla's mic between them with matching smiles, and closed out the ceremony.

"We're Darla Drake and Lila Seelie, your Pokemon Idols! Make sure you catch the upcoming matches! Let the selection… begin!"

As the battlefield was vacated, the pictures onscreen began shuffling. Darla and Lila walked to the announcer's box, and began announcing the names of the competitors in each block.


The competitors themselves were watching from the break room, giving Reiner dirty looks as he relaxed on a comfy chair.

"Just because he beats me he thinks he can sound so confident…" Cynthia fumed. "I'm not losing to that guy! We're gonna take him down!"

"Cynthia, they're assigning the blocks," Blake said. The eight groups of eight showed up on the various television screens, everyone looking for their names.

"Oh my gosh!" Cynthia said. "Blake, we're both in Block A!"

"Seriously?" Blake asked, shocked. He confirmed this was the case. Not only were they together in Block A, he didn't know any of the other trainers that were in Block A either. This would make it difficult to win, since he wouldn't know his opponent's strategies.

"Blake, this is gonna be great! We'll be the very first ones to fight in the tournament! I can't wait!" Cynthia was positively overflowing with energy. In the meantime, Blake was looking for other people he knew.

"…Nick… Block E… and Akira is Block C…" Blake found Reiner as well, in Block H, along with Julia. So Julia and Reiner are in the same block… like Cynthia and I…

Blake turned to Cynthia, who was not paying attention to him. If the fact that it was incredibly unlikely for the two of them to make it out of Block A without fighting each other was something that bothered her, she didn't seem to show it.

"Excuse me!" Heads turned to see a member of the overseeing faculty enter the room, holding a clipboard. "Can the trainers from Block A come with me to the Waiting Room? It is almost time for your match to begin."

"Come on, Blake!" Cynthia said, smiling. "Let's do this!"


That was a long one. The matches will begin in the next chapter!