The climactic confrontation between Sylvia and Blake! What will arise from this, I wonder? It will be a battle of wills, that's for certain. Though it may not go the way anyone here expects… You wouldn't expect Sylvia's battle with Blake to be boring and predictable, now would you?

KedharS: It will certainly be an interesting time, that's for sure.

Rus4408: I don't know if I can take full credit, Sylvia's the one writing herself at this point.

Aquahaze675: Bullet punch isn't faster than real bullets though.

Rosealine gold: I suggest you not hold onto your expectations too tightly where Sylvia is concerned, for your own sake.

Thunder Fire: Depends on how you define a shot. In terms of getting into Sylvia's panties? More than a shot, I'd wager.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 510

"Come on, this is no fair!" Lila pouted, staring at the large black box standing on the center of the battlefield. "We can't see anything! How are we supposed to announce what's happening like this? Everything going on in there is completely blocked!"

"Yeah, this is kinda… anticlimactic," Dakota agreed. "Especially since those were their last pokemon and all." She glanced over at Akira. "Aki, what do you think?"

"I think you're right," Akira mused, his face hard as he stared at the trick room with a suspicious gleam in his eye. "We don't know what's going on in there… but whatever it is, I can't imagine that it's very good, if Sylvia's involved…"

"What is this place?" Blake asked, looking around the strange field that he was trapped in. The walls, the ceiling, even the ground were colored dark and dotted with stars and nebulas, light swirling around him in a way that made it nearly impossible to tell what was where. Where did the walls even start? He couldn't begin to guess. And the strange sensations in the room were really messing with his head, as well. He felt like he was going to fall over, or maybe throw up. He was so dizzy.

"Don't you like it?" Sylvia asked, taking a deep breath and spinning around, giggling. "I just love my trick room."

"I don't know what this is," Blake said, shaking his head to clear out the haze, "but don't think that your tricks will be enough to defeat Weiss!"

Sylvia blinked.

"…Huh?" She asked, tilting her head to the side in confusion. She paused, before realization dawned on her face. "…Oh! The battle?"

Sylvia glanced at Dusk, and laughed.

"…No, we're past that now," Sylvia said. Her tone was frighteningly serious. Blake shivered. Sylvia was an unpredictable girl. She acted like she didn't take anything seriously, like she didn't give a damn about anything, but…

Moments where she was serious were unnerving. Blake glanced warily at Weiss. What did she mean that they were "past that"?

"I don't care about the battle," Sylvia said, shaking her head. "I'll let you win if you like. It doesn't matter to me. I only wanted to fight you… so we could end up here."

…What?

Blake couldn't have heard that properly.

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Blake demanded.

Sylvia shrugged her shoulders and leaned back, smirking.

"This world… this is my trick room. No one inside can interact with anything outside, they can't see, hear, DO anything to anyone beyond this wall." She walked a few feet away and rattled her knuckles on the wall, making a dull sound. But to Blake, it looked like she was knocking on empty space, a massive galaxy a few feet behind her hand. He rubbed his eyes in confusion.

Sylvia turned back to him.

"Take out your phone and check," she called over. Blake fished his phone out of his pocket. She was right, no signal.

"The trick room interferes with radio signals and the like, too," Sylvia said. "No bugs, no calls, no information of any kind can escape."

She smirked.

"And the same goes for anyone out there."

Sylvia sighed, walking back to where she was supposed to be (or at least Blake assumed that was where the trainer box was. In this place he couldn't be sure of anything, she was standing on stars right now to his eyes).

"This world is completely isolated from anywhere outside," Sylvia explained. Blake expected a sex joke of some kind or an attempted seduction, but no, Sylvia seemed to be dead serious. Which was somehow even more unnerving.

"And that makes it the perfect place for a conversation. Unheard by anyone else. Not your girlfriend, not your friends, not the faculty, not even the Phantom," Sylvia said, her voice icy.

"…You aren't trying to fight," Blake said slowly, trying to figure out what she was telling him. "You just want to talk?"

"Oh, no, not me," Sylvia said, shaking her head. "I'm just the hook-up."

She took her phone out of her purse and checked it.

"The person who requested your presence will be here soon."

On cue, a bright green array appeared in the center of the field, between Blake and Sylvia. Blake's eyes widened in realization while Sylvia smirked.

"…There she is right now," Sylvia said, putting her phone away. The light grew brighter and brighter until Blake was forced to shut his eyes, and then it died down to reveal Ryoko standing where the array had been.

"Ryoko?!" Blake sputtered.

"It has been some time, Blake," Ryoko said, her voice soft and warm. She stepped towards him, smiling a calm, small line. ""Or perhaps to you it has been little time at all?"

"Ryoko, what's going on?" Blake asked, glancing from her to Sylvia. "You and Sylvia… you guys are working together?"

"We're the best of friends," Sylvia smirked. Ryoko turned to her and gave her a soft but insistent stare. After a few moments, Sylvia sighed, and corrected herself. "Okay, fine. We're acquaintances."

"There is much that you do not know about me, Blake," Ryoko said, turning back to him. "I spoke with Sylvia some time ago… or rather, some time ago from my side of things. I believe it has been no longer than a handful of days for the two of you. I asked her for her assistance in aiding my conversation with you."

"Why?" Blake asked. "Why couldn't you just… I don't know, come see me normally? Why the necessity for all this cloak and dagger stuff? Why did Sylvia have to fight me and use this trick room, just to let you come here? Couldn't you, I don't know, just come to my room or something?"

"Because it is essential for the three of us to speak," Ryoko replied. "As unpleasant as you might find Sylvia Driscoll, her presence is a necessity for this conversation to continue. As for why this was needed, that question is not something I can answer at this time."

"I can do that!" Sylvia chirped. "See, I'm always being monitored. Well, I mean, not 'always' always, but a lot of the time. Specifically, though, the Phantom is monitoring my movements, making sure I'm not speaking to anyone I shouldn't. When it comes to my privacy, of course, it's no big deal. Which means I can speak with Ryoko as I like."

"I can conceal my presence as I choose," Ryoko replied. "From technological monitoring, at any rate. It is one of the powers granted by the time travel of my partner."

"But the point is, you aren't," Sylvia explained. "See, I've got a bunch of bugs, like, just all over me, so if you and I are talking Ryoko, well, that's not going to go well. My hand will be tipped, and that's not going to be good. So basically, there was no other method for the three of us to speak in private. Make sense?"

"So this whole thing, arranging a battle with me, that was just to get all of us talking where the Phantom couldn't overhear?" Blake clarified.

"It took a lot of preparation," Sylvia agreed.

Blake sighed. "Well, then it was a waste. I have nothing to talk about with you."

Sylvia sighed. "Gosh, you're so stolid! Don't you understand that this is important? Ryoko, explain it to him."

Ryoko stared neutrally at Sylvia, and then turned to Blake with a sad look on her face.

"Blake, this might be difficult for you to hear-"

"Do you have any idea the kind of stuff she's tried to do?" Blake demanded. "She's been trying to completely destroy my relationship with Ayame! She-"

Blake shut his mouth before he blabbed about all the stuff that Sylvia had rubbed in his face about his past. He knew that Ryoko probably knew full-well about all of it, but he still didn't want to say anything, if for no other reason than to spite Sylvia.

"I do understand that your past is a painful memory," Ryoko said, her voice distant and hollow. For a second, Blake thought she might cry. She sighed instead. "Believe me, even the things you do not remember… they are painful. I understand that better than most people ever could. And it is indeed wrong of her to use that for her own amusement, I will not deny that at all."

Blake opened his mouth to add onto that, but she cut him off with a voice sharper than he'd heard from her before.

"But. This is something important," Ryoko interrupted him. "More important than your personal grudges, Blake. I will not say that you should forgive her, but simply set aside your animosity for now, is that acceptable?"

Blake sighed, glancing at Sylvia, who wore a beaming, smug smile on his face. He sighed again.

"As long as she takes this seriously and stops trying to mess with me," Blake requested.

Ryoko turned to Sylvia. She sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Fine, fine, I'll play nice," she purred, slinking over to Blake. Specter and Dusk loomed behind her, a reminder that the battle had not, technically, been resolved.

Ryoko let out a small sigh of relief. It seemed that they might actually be able to talk now. She turned her attention back to Blake.

"Tell me, Blake, what do you currently know about the Shadow Pokemon?"

"Shadow Pokemon?" Blake asked, blinking. He'd… heard some things. Seen some things. Yesterday, he and Ayame had fought against Keahi Revanche's Magnezone, which he had claimed was a Shadow Pokemon. And then there was that incident with Caelia, where she used that Chandelure that was a Shadow Pokemon, apparently. And the way that Elaina and Kitty had reacted to it… and what he had seen from the Phantom's battle against Maddi…

Suffice to say, Blake wasn't the biggest fan of Shadow Pokemon.

"Would you like me to handle this part?" Sylvia purred, interrupting Blake's thoughts. He turned and looked cautiously at her, wary that she would continue to mess with him.

Ryoko nodded, and Blake held up his hand.

"Wait. Before… before we discuss things any further…" he turned to Ryoko. "Ryoko, I want you to tell me something."

"What is it?" Ryoko asked.

"Your relationship with Sylvia. Explain it to me. Otherwise… I don't know if I can trust what you two are saying."

Ryoko looked like Blake had slapped her across the face.

"You… you do not trust me?" She asked, her voice trembling. Blake immediately felt awful about what he had said. But…

"It's not that," Blake said, shaking his head. "I don't trust her! Especially if we're talking about Shadow Pokemon!"

"Good, don't trust me, you'll live better," Sylvia nodded, fully agreeing with Blake's assessment, much to his irritation.

"She's working with the Phantom!" Blake protested. "Look, I know I'm not trying to take any sides in whatever this power struggle is, but you don't get it! The Phantom, he…"

Blake's voice caught in his throat and he shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Listen, I know… Shadow Pokemon, they're bad, right? But the Phantom is the guy tied up in them, right?!" Blake exclaimed. "So why the HELL should I trust Sylvia with anything involved with this, huh, Ryoko?"

"It is… complicated," Ryoko admitted. "I am sorry, but I am not able to disclose anything further."

"I can!" Sylvia said, raising her hand like a teacher's pet in class. Blake glared at her.

Sylvia scowled in return.

"Fine. No playful Sylvia then. If you MUST know, Blake, I helped your little time traveling friend out when she was in a rather sticky predicament. A pokemon friend of hers was at risk, and I stepped in and lent her a hand."

"Out of the goodness of your heart, I'm sure," Blake dryly replied.

"No, out of the boredness of my day," Sylvia snorted. "Who do you think you're talking to?"

"That's exactly my point!" Blake exclaimed.

"I believe that Sylvia has it in her to do good," Ryoko replied.

"If it suits me," Sylvia added. Ryoko gave her a disappointed look. Sylvia scowled, reaching up and twirling her hair, puffing her cheeks out.

Blake blinked, staring incredulously at Sylvia. Sylvia… was sulking? He glanced back and forth between Ryoko and Sylvia.

I wonder what's going on between those two… he thought.

"Hey, uh… I never asked, but… that little guy, is he… okay? You know, after all that," Sylvia asked, trying not to seem like she cared.

"I thought that such concerns would be beneath you, Sylvia Driscoll," Ryoko asked, her solemn expression turning into a coy smile. "Could it be that even you have things that you worry about? That would be quite a surprise."

"My feelings are as whimsical as the wind," Sylvia smiled, her face indecipherable.

"He is fine," Ryoko assured her. "There is no need to concern yourself." Ryoko turned back to Blake, her expression serious. "I understand that you may find it difficult to trust me."

"Ryoko, that's not what I…" Blake could tell that he really had hurt her. But before he could take back his words, she shook her head.

"It is alright, Blake. You do not need to apologize to me. You do not even need to trust me. But no matter what you do, I will tell you the truth. I may not be able to tell you everything you wish that I could. But what I tell you will be the truth. I will always be on your side, Blake. Because you are the most important person in the world to me."

"Why?" Blake asked. It had been a question he had been mulling over for a long time, since practically the moment he met her. Why was she doing all this for him?

She smiled, her golden eyes deep and watery.

"You already know I am not able to answer that."

"Believe her, Blake," Sylvia said quietly. "Whatever else she is, I can confirm that he devotion to you is genuine."

Sylvia's words sounded genuine, and Blake had to remind himself that it was, in fact, still Sylvia, and that she wasn't someone he could trust. But… he could trust Ryoko. Even if he didn't have any logical reason behind it… the look in her eyes was genuine. He could read the sincerity there. He sighed.

"Okay, Ryoko. If you say so. I won't… trust her. But I'll trust you."

Ryoko smiled.

"Good. Because this is something that involves the both of you." She turned to Sylvia. "Sylvia… the Shadow Pokemon… can you explain to him what they are?"

"I can kind of piece it out for myself," Blake said. "They're pokemon who are boosted through some process, to become incredibly powerful and obedient. The Phantom… he called them the perfect weapons, right?"

"That's right," Sylvia said, nodding. "But it's the method that they are created that is really insidious, Blake."

"What do you mean?" Blake asked, his heart sinking in anticipation of the answer.

"From what the Phantom told me… Shadow Pokemon are created by closing a door in a pokemon's heart," Sylvia explained.

"Closing a door in a pokemon's heart? What does that mean?" Blake asked.

"Through prolonged torture, abuse, malnourishment, and certain… icky scientific procedures that would probably make you shit yourself, pokemon are conditioned into being hostile towards anything that approaches them, their strength artificially increased beyond what should be possible through horrific science, while at the same time beaten into subservience to the ones who abused them," Sylvia explained. "And so to that end, they become what someone would consider the ultimate tools… and the cost is the pokemon's very soul. At least… that's how I imagine it. I can't imagine that seeing a pokemon in such a state would be a pleasant sight."

Blake remembered the reaction that Elaina had to seeing Caelia's Chandelure. She had nearly thrown up. And Kitty… Kitty had… was that what they were seeing? The remnants of a Shadow Pokemon's heart, after being twisted and destroyed by this horrid process of creating the "perfect" pokemon to use as tools?

Blake felt like he was going to throw up again, only this time it wasn't due to the room. He turned and glanced at Weiss, who was looking uneasily back at him, not sure what he was supposed to be doing if not fight. Blake thought about Weiss, his partner. All his other pokemon. A door closed in a pokemon's heart… he couldn't imagine what would become of his friends if that happened to them.

"And the Phantom… is making more of these… these things?" Blake asked. "How… how can you just stand by and let it happen?!"

Blake stormed over to Sylvia and grabbed her by the collar of her dress, shaking her.

"You know what's going on and you're fine with it? You can just laugh it all off, pretend like it's not big deal?" He demanded, shaking her even harder. "What's the MATTER with you? If what you're telling me is true, then you're just letting your boss torture pokemon for his own sick goals without lifting a finger to stop it!"

"Do you think I'm some kind of altruist?" Sylvia smirked. "Or have you not been paying attention?"

"Blake, there is no point in this," Ryoko said, shaking her head.

"Oh, there's a great point," Sylvia smiled, her eyes shining brightly. "Go on, Blake. Do it. Do it! You're right, you know. I'm letting the Phantom create those monsters and I don't give a damn! They aren't MY pokemon, after all, so why should I care? All I'm in this for is my own amusement, after all, I'm not going to stop when we're getting to the best part!"

Sylvia grinned eagerly at Blake, and Blake wanted to scream. To choke her, slap her, all sorts of violent thoughts flashed through his head. But it wasn't Sylvia who he was truly angry at, his rage was focused on the Phantom.

Again. Another fucking piece of human garbage who treats people and pokemon like tools to be used, no matter how much it hurts them. Sylvia may have been a complete waste of a human being, but hitting her wouldn't change a damn thing. And worst of all, it was what she wanted from him. She was just BEGGING him to hit her, ever since that escape room, or for all he knew, long before, she had seemed intent on proving that Blake was a shitty person.

Blake took a deep breath, calming down, and let go of Sylvia, to the girl's annoyance.

"How disappointing," Sylvia sneered. "At the end of the day, you're still the same boring and predictable boy you always are."

Blake was still on edge. "You're just lucky you're not the most evil woman I know," he muttered, shaking his head. There was a difference between Sylvia, who believed in nothing, and Valerie, who believed in… he didn't even want to think about that. But if it wasn't for the patience he had built up getting to know that monster, then he might have laid her out on the trick room floor then and there.

Blake turned to Ryoko. He didn't even want to LOOK at Sylvia right now.

"Tell me, Ryoko… is there a way to turn Shadow Pokemon back to normal?"

Ryoko smiled.

Well, that was… interesting to say the least. Not quite the climactic battle folks were expecting, now was it? Where will things go from here, I wonder?