After that confusing moment with Maddi, making us wonder whether or not she has harmonia, we now return to the tournament! Blake vs. Sylvia, in what is sure to be a matchup that won't be boring or predictable. What will Sylvia do against him? Will Blake be able to keep his cool? And is Sylvia going to have any plans that he would need to be wary of? And what's up with her, anyway?
Rosealine gold: I hope it will be worth it.
KedharS: It's going to be an interesting fight. Sylvia's quite skilled, in spite of her demeanor.
Hellraiserphoenix: This tournament is certainly going to have a lot of intense moments still to come. Enjoy the easier fights, like Maddi's, while they last.
Thunder Fire: It's certainly going to shake things up.
Aquahaze675: It varies. Usually it comes naturally as a result of puberty, but trauma can cause it to trigger. But even before it awakens, people with harmonia should still be able to tell at least a little. Maddi is certainly not ordinary.
JoshGamerV: Maybe she does, maybe she doesn't. Maybe she's born with it. Maybe it's Maybelline.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 508
Kitty fidgeted nervously, staring at Maddi, who was resting on the couch. She didn't exactly get along great with the stoic girl (not because she was mean or anything! No! Kitty… she just wasn't that good at making friends, and Maddi wasn't the friendliest girl…) and the thought that she might have harmonia made the idea of getting closer to her even more tricky…
But at the same time, it might give her something to work with.
"Um, Maddi…"
"What?" Maddi asked, glancing at Kitty. Kitty flinched. She could see Maddi's miscolored eyes, the left red and the right blue, and the look in them was unnerving. Kitty swallowed. She wasn't about to give in now, though.
"Do you mind if, um… I try something?" Kitty asked. "To see if you really have harmonia or not? It… it won't hurt." …Probably…
"…Uh…" Maddi wasn't sure if she should agree or not. But Kitty said it wasn't going to hurt, so she was okay with trying it, at least. Maybe it would dispel the notion that Maddi had harmonia from the girl's mind. "…Okay."
"Phew, good," Kitty sighed in relief, feeling more at ease now that she knew Maddi wouldn't be glaring at her for the suggestion. "Okay, um… I've only been on the receiving end of this, but I think I know it well enough to try?"
"Hey, if this is gonna be, like, a lesbian thing-"
"NO!" Kitty sputtered. Why… why did Maddi even think she was a-?! Well, she was, but Maddi didn't know that! "It's a harmonia thing!"
Kitty gathered herself and took a deep breath, scooting her chair over to where Maddi was lying on the couch. "Can you, um, sit up, please?"
Maddi sat up and faced Kitty, wondering what the short girl was planning. Kitty held both her hands out, palms up.
"Um, can you place your hands over mine…?" Kitty asked. Maddi nodded, holding her hands over Kitty's and pressing her fingers against Kitty's palms. Kitty closed her eyes and began to focus. Remember, like with Marion. Reach out and call to her…
Kitty probed Maddi, trying to call out to her with her harmonia, but she couldn't feel anything. No, wait, there was something! But… it wasn't harmonia… was it? Kitty wasn't sure. Marion would know, but Marion wasn't here. She was trying to get a grasp on what the weird sensation coming off of Maddi was. It was like… harmonia, and yet not harmonia. Like there was something else mixed up in their somehow, a strange fog keeping her from really getting a good look.
Kitty sighed in defeat and dropped her hands.
"Nothing?" Maddi asked, her voice hopeful. "See, I told you, I don't have harmonia!"
"It's… it's not like that," Kitty said, shaking her head. "I don't know how to describe it, but it's like you… maybe have it? I guess…? I can't say it any clearer than that."
Maddi groaned, rolling her eyes. "I thought this was supposed to help make things clear!"
"I know!" Kitty grumbled. "But… I'm not very good at this… if Marion was here, she would probably be able to do something, I'm sure of it! But… but me, I'm just… you know."
Maddi sighed, rubbing her forehead and flopping back over on the couch. "It's fine, Kitty. Don't worry about it. It'll all sort itself out. I'm feeling better anyway. I think I was just in a daze or something from the match, honestly."
"…So you don't feel anything from me anymore?"
Maddi glanced at Kitty and squinted. She could still feel a warm, soothing aura coming off of the girl. She sighed. No such luck.
Meanwhile, Blake had stepped out onto the battlefield, panting. He had rushed out as soon as he could, not wanting to lose to a disqualification.
"Well, look who it is!" Lila said, her voice cheery but oozing with sarcasm. "Blake Harker has seen fit to grace us with his presence!"
Blake only gave her a passing glance. He had more pressing matters to deal with than a bitter idol, and a different girl to waste his time on.
"Well now, you sure know how to… build anticipation." Standing across from him on the battlefield was Sylvia Driscoll, her Shuppet Specter floating over her shoulder. Sylvia licked her lips and batted her eyelashes at Blake, causing him to roll his eyes in a mixture of annoyance and disgust. He wasn't here to flirt.
"Okay! We're a little behind the clock, but there was probably some stuff that needed to be sorted out after the last match!" Lila stated. "Anyway! The third battle of Round 1! Blake Harker vs. Sylvia Driscoll! Begin!"
"Do you mind if I lead?" Sylvia purred, reaching to the belt of her elegant black and white Gothic Lolita dress, taking a great ball from it. She paused mid throw. "Oh! Wait! Before we start, how about a little deal? If I beat you, you take me out on a date!"
Blake's eye twitched with homicidal rage. Sylvia smirked.
"Well, that's…" Lila wasn't sure how to respond to that. Dakota was just resisting the urge to break out laughing.
"Blake does it again," Dakota purred, pleased that this match was being recorded. This would be quite a story alright.
"Don't start," Akira chided her, Dakota rolling her eyes and sighing in exaggerated frustration.
"This isn't the time for flirting," Lila said, trying to keep the edge out of her voice. "And I'm sure that Blake has no intention of cheating on his girlfriend."
Sylvia snorted.
Blake silently thanked Lila for cutting through the bullshit.
"Well, fine then," Sylvia purred. "Letty, let's get started!"
Sylvia tossed her great ball into the air, her Golett emerging from it. The stocky golem pokemon landed on the ground, staring silently out across the battlefield.
"Sylvia's decided to lead with her Golett!" Lila declared. "What will Blake choose?"
"Come on, Blake, take the offer," Sylvia giggled. "Just let me win and trade in that boyish girlfriend of yours who won't put out for a real woman."
THAT did it.
"Cory, go!" Blake shouted, throwing out his first pokemon. His Crawdaunt emerged, snarling, snapping his pincers with excitement for battle.
"Whoa!" Lila gasped, smiling eagerly. "That's a really strong one!"
"A water/dark type is a good choice against a ground/ghost," Akira agreed.
"Cory, use bubblebeam!" Blake ordered. Cory scuttled forward, raising his pincers and firing a barrage of bubbles at the Golett.
"What?! You're going to use your Crawdaunt already?!" Sylvia exclaimed. "I thought you would at least have some fun! …Oh well!"
Without missing a beat, she quickly recalled her Golett before the bubbles hit, and with a flick of the wrist of her other hand, she sent out a replacement pokemon. Her large pink Jellicent landed on the stadium with a big smile, the bubbles slamming into her and getting absorbed by the bulky pokemon's watery hide.
"Water absorb?!" Dakota gasped.
"That idiot," Akira groaned, slapping his hand against his forehead.
"What- what just happened?!" Lila asked, looking back and forth between her co-hosts on either side of her.
"Blake got baited," Akira said, shaking his head. "By a really obvious trap. She taunted him into putting himself in a tactically bad position by using his water pokemon against a pokemon with water absorb by providing an easy target and then taunting him into attacking it."
"That moron," Dakota said, shaking her head. In spite of that, though, she was finding herself quite amused. This would be great for ratings.
"Blake! What the hell are you doing?!" Cynthia shouted angrily. "Don't let her get to you, you moron! I know you're mad about what he said about Aya, but don't lose your head over it!"
"Calm down," Sango said, pulling on Cynthia's shirt to keep her from climbing over the seats in front of them and running over to smack Blake silly. "It was just one move."
"Yeah, it's fine," Ayame agreed.
"Not if he gets caught up in her pace, it isn't," Callie calmly stated. Because of how she was, they had sort of forgotten that she was the one here with the most fighting experience. But everyone still looked at her, realization dawning.
"Oh, don't blame him," Sylvia called to the announcers, twirling a lock of hair. "Blake can't help himself. He's just so easy to play with. And you like when I play with you, don't you, Blake?" She asked, sliding her eyes to him, keeping her voice low and throaty. "You just love getting… baited. Especially when I'm the one… baiting you. You're a master at getting baited, aren't you? Why don't you… work off some of that aggression with me, hmm? If you don't release your tension, then you might… explode, after all, and we wouldn't want that…"
Lila's face got redder and redder at Sylvia's innuendos. Blake was getting red, too, but not out of embarrassment.
Calm down, she's taunting you again, Blake told himself, taking a few deep breaths. He wasn't about to let her get the better of him. That's what she did, and he wasn't getting caught up in her games. He knew he could beat her if he kept a cool head.
"Cory, ret-"
"Runja, whirlpool," Sylvia said, twirling her finger.
"Jellicent!" Runja raised her tentacles and spun them around, a massive spout of water appearing around Cory, engulfing him in a powerful torrent that pelted him from all sides. The whirlpool battered him, while at the same time preventing Blake from recalling him.
"Sylvia's Jellicent has trapped Blake's Crawdaunt in a massive whirlpool, preventing the water pokemon from switching out!" Lila gasped.
"Where are you going, Blake?" Sylvia cooed. "We were just starting to have some fun!"
"But that means that Blake can't take advantage of any of Crawdaunt's water moves," Lila gasped. "She totally trapped him!"
"Yeah," Akira nodded. "She set him up pretty well. But that doesn't mean this is going to be an easy matchup for her. Crawdaunt may be a Water type, and her Jellicent might have water absorb, but that isn't the end of it. Crawdaunt is a Dark type, too, after all, which means that Blake can still use some super-effective hits. And those would be better than water moves anyway."
"Oh! That's right!" Lila gasped, brightening up. "Yeah, this match isn't over by a long shot!"
Dakota didn't think it would be that easy. Sylvia's tricks had defeated MIRAR, in a ONE ON ONE, which was his specialty. She had totally maneuvered him into a battle where she could abuse the rules and steal his position as a member of the Eight Leaders, all while taking advantage of his particular method of fighting. Sylvia wasn't someone who was easy to beat by conventional means. And the worst part of all…
"But she looks like she's just toying with him," Dakota said. "Look at her. She's not taking this seriously at all. She's fighting like she doesn't care what he does."
"It's Sylvia," Akira reminded her. "Maybe she doesn't."
Fair enough.
"Cory, break free with aqua jet!" Blake shouted.
Cory covered himself with water to shield from the surge of the whirlpool, and shot out of the water, heading straight for Runja. He raised his claw, the water dispersing from around him before he attacked the ghost.
"Now, night slash!" Blake ordered.
"Craw!" Cory snarled, dark energy surging through his pincer. He slashed at the ghost, knocking Runja backwards.
"Jeeeelll!" Runja wailed in pain, rolling across the ground, badly injured from the powerful dark move.
"With that night slash, Blake has gotten back in the swing of things," Lila cheered.
"Runja, use will-o-wisp!" Sylvia ordered. "That attack looked painful, and we don't want any more moves that strong."
"Jellicent!" Runja nodded, raising up her tentacles. Orbs of ghostly fire floated up around her, and with a fling she sent them flying straight for Cory.
Normally, Cory could counter a move with bubblebeam, but Blake wasn't going to take that chance.
"Cory, dodge with your aqua jet," he ordered. Cory nodded, coating himself in water, shooting out of the way of the fireballs.
Sylvia smirked. "Just as we hoped! Runja, go! Tackle him!"
"Jellicent!" Runja lumbered forward, moving surprisingly quickly on her tentacles, heading right in the direction that Cory had just scuttled away in.
Blake realized immediately what she was planning, and he wasn't about to let her get away with it. "Cory! Keep away from her!"
Cory jumped back before Runja could tackle him, dispersing the water surrounding her body.
"Aww, Cory's just as shy a boy as you are!" Sylvia purred. "My Runja isn't doing anything wrong, she just wants a little hug, that's all."
"We aren't going to feed your water absorb," Blake snarled. "I'm not that stupid."
Sylvia smirked, before sighing, shrugging her shoulders in resignation. She glanced at Specter, shaking her head.
"I guess he's not going to fall for it, Specter."
"Shuppet," Specter sighed, looking down in disappointment.
"Oh! But that's okay!" Sylvia chirped, brightening. "Runja will just have to take care of herself, then! She's a strong woman who doesn't need no man! Runja! Use giga drain!"
"Jellicent!" Runja nodded. She raised her tentacles and began glowing green, a green aura surrounding Cory as well. Cory felt his strength begin to get sapped away as Runja healed herself.
"No way! She's using giga drain!" Lila gasped.
"So she wasn't just trapping Cory in order to negate his water moves," Akira realized.
"Of course not," Sylvia said, rolling her eyes. "You think I would prepare Runja to fight water pokemon if I didn't have a way to finish them off? Keep drinking your fill, Runja."
Sylvia turned her attention back to Blake, and smirked.
"There, satisfied? Your Crawdaunt wasn't going to help, so Runja had to take what she needed from him herself!"
"Cory!" Blake shouted, ignoring Sylvia's taunting. "Ignore the energy drain! You've got to hit her with another night slash!"
"Crawdaunt!" Cory nodded, charging forward, raising his pincer and infusing it with dark energy.
"Runja, get back," Sylvia ordered. Runja skittered away, but she was nowhere near fast enough to escape the swift pincers of Cory.
"Craw!" Cory snarled, slashing his pincer at the Jellicent. He was able to score glancing blows against her tentacles, but he couldn't hit the real meat just yet.
"Your Crawdaunt is faster than I anticipated," Sylvia laughed. "This is starting to get fun! Runja, use energy ball!"
"Jell!" Runja turned and raised her tentacles, firing a green orb pulsing with nature energy at the advancing Crawdaunt.
Blake had to think quick. He needed to get ahold of the slippery Jellicent somehow, but night slash wasn't getting there.
"Cory, dodge the energy ball and use crunch to crab one of her tentacles!"
"Crawdaunt!" Cory nodded. He ducked under the energy ball and his pincer shot out, opening wide, clamping down on one Runja's tentacles and squeezing tightly.
"Jellicent!" Runja wailed, Cory tightening his grip even harder.
"Runja!" Sylvia shouted. She almost sounded worried, but her face never lost that wicked smile she was wearing, even as her Jellicent struggled.
"That's a good move!" Dakota clapped. "With that crunch, Sylvia's Jellicent can't get away!"
"Right, but now Cory has put himself right up next to her," Akira reminded everyone. "Which means dodging her attacks isn't going to be easy."
Blake ignored that, even though he knew it was something to be concerned with. Right now, if he wanted to defeat Sylvia's Jellicent, it would require some aggression.
"Cory! Use night slash!" He ordered.
"Craw!" While clamping down on Runja with one pincer, his other began pulsing with darkness as he prepared to strike the squirming pokemon.
Sylvia smiled, her eyes twinkling. Blake was so naïve, this was almost too easy.
"Runja, use acid armor," she ordered. Runja released a slimy film over her already slimy skin, turning her body slick and increasing her defenses. She continued squirming, but this time, she was able to just barely slip free from Cory's powerfully clamping crunch, twisting away just as Cory struck her with the night slash. The attack's power was reduced by her heightened defenses, but it was still nothing to scoff at.
But now, Cory was right where Sylvia and Runja wanted him.
"Energy ball!" Sylvia triumphantly declared. Runja began glowing green, and fired a sphere of nature energy at Cory, hitting the water pokemon at point-blank range.
"Craw-!" Cory sputtered, rolling backwards. Sylvia wasn't about to let him get his bearings, though.
"Runja! Now, replenish some of our lost health with your giga drain!"
"Jellicent!" The green aura around Runja increased in brightness, and she began draining even more of Cory's strength. Blake desperately tried to recall his Crawdaunt, but the second he did the whirlpool roared back up, deflecting the beam.
"This isn't good!" Lila cried. "Jellicent's powerful grass moves are really hurting Blake's Crawdaunt! He's trying to fight back with dark moves, but they just aren't getting there!"
"Crawdaunt is a powerful offensive pokemon, but Jellicent is a very good wall," Akira noted. "Which makes this a rather lopsided matchup, even with the type advantage. All that Jellicent has to do is restore health faster than Cory can damage her, and if she can, then there's nothing that he can do to fight back. That's the danger of a move like giga drain against such a fragile pokemon."
"I thought you weren't an expert on Water Types yet?" Dakota snidely remarked, shooting Akira a sideways glare. "Isn't that why you're going off to train under that tomboy of yours?"
Akira rolled his eyes. "Not this again. This is NOT the time."
"Cory!" Blake shouted. Cory climbed onto his feet, trembling, and raised his pincers, lunging for Runja. He unleashed another night slash at the bulky pokemon.
Sylvia nodded to Runja, who understood, taking the attack head-on even as she continued to drain him.
"Jell!" Runja winced. The attack was strong and had dealt a decent amount of damage, but it was nowhere near enough to finish the ghost off.
"And finally," Sylvia purred, the aura around Runja growing even brighter as she increased the force of her drain, sucking the last of the energy out of Cory, the Crawdaunt slumping over onto to the ground, unconscious.
"Blake's Crawdaunt is unable to battle," Lila announced. It didn't make her happy, but she hoped that Blake would still be able to pull off the win.
Sylvia licked her lips, winking at Blake as he recalled his Crawdaunt.
"Runja really sucked him dry," she called. Blake wanted to scream.
Sylvia continues to be an absolute troll. But she's still a competent trainer, and she completely took Blake for a ride that time. Will he be able to turn things around? Or will she have a good time just playing around with him before knocking him out of the tournament?