We've been building up to it for a long time, but it's finally here! The climax of the Phantom Cup, and the battle between the Commander and the Phantom! Everyone's been excited over this, and it's finally here! Which of the Daevas will emerge the victor? Will it be the Phantom and his plans and his Shadow Pokemon, or the Commander and his Sense and his love of battle? They'll give it everything they've got, and hopefully it'll be an amazing climax!

KedharS: They've reached out to her, but she has issues with self-loathing and a buttload of trust issues to boot.

Guest: A connection? Whatever could you possibly mean?

Thunder Fire: We'll have to find out how this issue is resolved.

JoshGamerV: Why do we fall? So that we may rise.

Guest: It's certainly a popular ship, and for good reason.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 587

The Eon Stadium was still a wreck from the battle the night before. There was no chance of repairing it in time for the final round of the Phantom Cup, which had led to a lot of concerns being raised by the student body. But a substitute was quickly found; the Eon Stadium and its field-changing system wouldn't be available, but the second-largest stadium on campus was still viable.

The Phantom Stadium.

It was rather ironic.

The Eon Stadium had been named after the elusive Legendary Eon Pokemon, the fabled Latios and Latias. But the Phantom Stadium wasn't named after a pokemon. None of the students really knew why it was called the Phantom Stadium, but as the second-largest stadium on campus it saw fairly regular use. While the Eon Stadium was shaped almost like an ancient coliseum, the Phantom Stadium was a little different. Sculpted of sleek metal and painted a shiny black and gold, the stadium gleamed with an advanced, menacing modern state as opposed to the antiquated Eon Stadium. It was fittingly perched on a large overhang above the ocean, rather ominously.

It was intimidating to look at, that's what Lila thought as she stared up at the large stadium. But a smile crossed her face all the same. After all, this time, she wasn't going to be doing her job as an announcer by herself this time.

…Well, Akira and Dakota aside. They didn't count.

Lila turned to Darla, who gave her a small smile. She looked a little drained and still probably could have used some more rest, but she was feeling good enough to do her job, and she was ready to work with Lila again. She took Lila's hand, and the two girls headed into the ominous stadium.

Not everyone was happy with this change in accommodations, however.

"Ridiculous," Olivia scoffed. "Unlike the Eon Stadium, this one doesn't even come with private boxes! Are you telling me I have to sit with the rabble and listen to their cheering?"

She glanced at Blake and Ayame, along with Blake's other friends.

"…No offense."

"Why is she sitting with us?" Cynthia asked, glancing at Blake. She wanted to cheer on the Commander, and that was going to be hard to do if the Empress was there being snooty.

"It's okay, guys, let's all just be friends, okay?" Sango asked, trying desperately to play peacemaker between everybody.

They were all gathered together in the stands of the Phantom Stadium, staring at the large gunmetal battlefield in the center of the six sided structure. Olivia, of course, had chosen that day to accompany Blake and Ayame, as she had no private box of her own, and to Blake's relief, Kate and Alcea weren't sitting with them today. Cynthia and Sango, of course, were causing their own share of problems (okay, Cynthia was) but thankfully, Maddi had tagged (read: dragged) along as well to keep things from getting out of hand as Cynthia often did. Cynthia had argued that if Sango got to bring a date, then she should get to as well, which earned her a withering look from Maddi and an exasperated sigh from both Sango and Ian.

In spite of Julia's concerns, Kitty had chosen to be brave and watch the match, but she was already looking a little green around the gills, and Julia set her hand over Kitty's to give her whatever comfort she could to the smaller girl. Callie and Nick were more focused on each other, or more specifically, Nick was more focused on Callie, who was more focused on talking about how excited she was to see how the Commander's ace, the Fighting type Lucario, would take down the Phantom's ghosts. Reiner and Nikita were also discussing their interest in the upcoming match, well, Reiner was, but while Nick was listening intently to Callie's ramblings, Nikita's eyes were well past the point of glazing over.

"Hey, guys!"

Everyone's heads turned to see three more people walking through the maze of pathways that wound around the isolated islands of students within the stands, towards where their group was sitting. Serefina, Dakota, and Akira walked down the empty row, much to everyone's surprise.

"So, you guys are finally free?" Cynthia joked.

"I'm just glad that Darla's finally taking her old job back," Dakota groused. "I mean yeah, it was awesome getting to see the matches up-close and personal, but commenting is hard!"

"All you were doing was being snarky, which takes exactly zero effort, try again," Akira replied, Dakota sticking her tongue out at him.

"So, is it cool if we just sit-"

Olivia held her fan up and snapped it shut, pointing it at the party of three.

"Seating is scarce, you know," she replied. "It might be best if you sat elsewhere?"

True to form, Olivia did nothing in small measures. While private boxes weren't available, the stands had been divided into batches of three rows of six for a total of 18 seats per "box", and while their "party" had taken up one of those boxes, Olivia had seized one of those rows all to herself. In the front row Nick, Callie, Kitty, Julia, Reiner, and Nikita were seated, followed by Ian, Sango, Blake, Ayame, Cynthia, and Maddi. Olivia sat right behind Ayame, though, with three empty seats to her left and two to her right, and was quite enjoying the life of luxury. It was nice to have a row to herself, and she was a little miffed that there were other people who needed to sit down and watch.

"Boss…" Ayame wasn't quite sure what to say, not exactly approving of the Empress's attitude (even though she understood it) but not exactly willing to call her out, either. Luckily, Olivia realized Ayame's intentions without her having to say anything and begrudgingly nodded, allowing them to sit in the, just to remind everybody, public seating that she had no control over.

"No, not there," Olivia said, raising an eyebrow at Serefina as the black-haired girl tried to sit down next to her. Olivia's warning face slipped away and was soon replaced with a flirtatious smile. "No offense dear, you're quite gorgeous and I would love to have you beside me some other evening, it's just… I enjoy my space, you understand."

Serefina, unfazed by Olivia's flirtatious bedroom eyes, simply nodded and sat at the end of the row, making sure there was a seat's distance of space between her and the blonde.

"Keep moving, keep moving," Dakota said, shoving Akira down the aisle, forcing an irritated Olivia to actually lift her legs to let them past. "You aren't sitting next to her either, don't even think about it, Aki."

Dakota shot Olivia a warning look that said "stay away from my man, bitch" and Olivia rolled her eyes. She was about as far from interested as it was possible to get.

Akira sat down behind Ian and Dakota sat down next to him, making sure there was a human wall of possessive girlfriend between him and any hot girl.

Olivia sighed, stretching out her arms and practically fondling the two empty seats sandwiching her. In another time she might have appreciated bringing in two beautiful flowers to sit on either side and fawn over her, but as she was already compromising just sitting down here in the first place she would have to make sacrifices.

She didn't even get why she had to come watch this match in the first place, she hated battling! But no, apparently, as the only other Daeva on campus, it was important for her to come and watch the showdown between the Phantom and the Commander, it was in her best interest as another one of the superpowers at this school.

Of course Marion, that fishing freak, got to get out of it. Olivia already wasn't a big fan of that annoying headcase, and this wasn't changing her opinion.

But at least she could have some peace and-

"…Geh! Those are the only open seats?"

Olivia turned her head and her professional smile twitched as it froze to her face, stuck there by her reflexive impulse to always look her best. Standing on the walkway behind their row was Alcea Vermeil, and her associate, the sour ugly one who had spoken.

"Alcea? Kate? You guys came after all?" Blake asked.

"Her highness said that it would be important to watch such an amazing match that would determine the fate of the school in person," Kate sighed. "I said we shouldn't bother, but she insisted. We've been looking for seats, but…"

"Kate said that she would take some time to prepare, is it?" Alcea replied.

Kate's cheeks flushed and her sour expression twisted into something even more unappealing as she scowled. "I-I just thought, you know… if we… ran into anyone…"

Olivia had an eye for fashion and a quick scan of the brunette told her everything she needed to know. Kate had tried to look good, she really had. Her clothes went together fine, they suited her coloring, but the issue was that she had a poor foundation to build from. Her cheeks were a little too puffy, her face had acne scars she had done a miserable job of concealing, her lips were too thin to really be alluring, and her eyes had bags that made her normal staring look more like a glare. Olivia could tell that the girl's "time to prepare" had been spent about as well as buying 9 pokeballs. She got what she put into it, but she really should have splurged for that tenth one so she could get a bonus.

Olivia would have had her work cut out for her to turn that girl into anything that could turn heads. And that was just her face. Add in that her figure, what Olivia could see of it, was bony and awkward, and her hair looked like someone had taken a weedwhacker to a mud puddle. It spiked out in more directions than Olivia even knew existed, clumping together and twisted in knots like some sort of dexterity IQ test with plastic rings. God forbid if it grew LONGER, Olivia might had to bring her up on fashion charges. She'd clipped in a small purple hair clip, which to Olivia seemed like putting a band-aid over a bullet hole.

Of course, Olivia would never say any of that, she merely kept her forced smile on her face.

"These seats are currently being occupied," she sweetly told the poison girl, going to great extents to ignore Alcea. She could feel the tension emanating off of Ayame behind her head, and wasn't really sure she was any more happy about seeing Alcea than her friend was.

"All the seats are being occupied," Kate scowled. She might have been intimidated by the Empress's beauty, but she wasn't about to let the blonde deny her highness the chance to sit. They couldn't find any other seats, after all! Kate dug into her maroon jacket and pulled out her ticket. "Besides, we have tickets!"

Olivia almost scowled. She hated the fact that the seating wasn't assigned; it was free seating, where students could enter the stadium and find wherever they wanted to seat. And if these were the only open seats…

Olivia was not going to like this.

"Come on, you guys can sit with us!" Sango said. Olivia wanted to scream. "Right, Olivia?"

"Yes, of course!" Olivia smiled. She gave a look to Kate and Alcea that made Kate scowl. She was going to ask if the Empress could scoot over so she could sit next to Alcea, but that look said "I am not going to move no matter what".

So Kate walked around Akira and Dakota and sat down on one side of the Empress, while Alcea took the other, next to Serefina.

This was not what Olivia had meant when she said she wanted to sit between two beautiful flowers. She wanted… well, beautiful flowers, not a prickly, arrogant rose, or a puddle of toxic sludge.

Olivia already didn't enjoy watching pokemon battles, and the fact that she had to sit between these two meant that this was about to become the most miserable experience in the world. She stared evenly forward at the battlefield, not giving that false queen bitch the satisfaction of looking her way as though the Empress considered her worth thinking about.

Kate, slob that she was, stretched and inadvertently nudged Olivia's arm off the arm rest, propping up her feet on the seat in front of her.

"…Please stop that," Blake said, glancing back at her. She flipped him off in response.

Olivia knew that she shouldn't take pleasure at Blake's expense, but it did make her feel a little better that someone else wasn't having much fun with this whole mess like her.

"Everyone!" The lights on the stadium lit up, even though it was still late in the afternoon. The dark metal of the Phantom Stadium began to shine brightly, and Lila and Darla stepped out onto the hexagonal battlefield.

"I'm Lila Seelie!" Lila greeted everyone with a wave and a wink, microphone in hand.

"And I'm Darla Drake!" Darla added, giving the audience and cool salute. "Back from medical leave and excited to work again!"

"And we're…" Lila began.

"…Your announcers for the final round of the Phantom Cup!" Darla finished.

"It's been a long week, and no one knows that better than you, right, Darla?" Lila asked, turning to her partner with a coy smile.

"That's right, Lila," Darla agreed, giving an appreciative nod to Lila flipping the usual script around. "As a former competitor in the Phantom Cup myself, it feels like this week has taken months to get through! But what a week it's been!"

"It's been amazing, we've seen trainers really give it their all, fighting their hardest against the toughest opponents this school as to offer!" Lila gushed. "And you fought hard yourself, Darla! Let's give her a round of applause, everybody!"

Startled that Lila went off-script, Darla excepted the applause from the audience with a smile and curtsy, before continuing with her own lines.

"And through all those battles, two trainers have emerged, defeating all opponents, and come up to this, the final match!" Darla declared.

"That's right! The Commander and the Phantom have taken on all comers, and emerged the victors!" Lila agreed. "And now…"

"They'll have to fight each other," Darla grinned. "The two strongest trainers in this school will now fight against one another, to determine which one is the strongest!"

"It's going to be an exciting climax, the culmination of the Phantom Cup!" Lila said. "And the winner will receive the glorious prize!"

"…Right, I was a participant, and I never heard about it, what exactly is this prize?" Darla asked, turning to Lila in confusion.

"The prize is… um…" Lila reached into her sleeve and pulled out some notes. "That thing!"

Lila turned and pointed to the announcer's box, which was more of a diamond as it was at an intersection of two of the large walls of the hexagonal stadium. In the center was a large podium, which drew all the cameras towards it. On top of the podium, covered in special glass, sat a shiny golden object.

"…It's a rock," Darla said.

"It's a special rock," Lila replied. "It's bright and sparkly! Maybe it's a gem, or possibly even an evolutionary stone!"

Everyone squinted at the strangely-shaped object shown on the screen. It was the color of gold, strangely a mixture of transparent and opaque. It was covered in angles and facets like a jewel, but they seemed to weave all the way down into the core, which was impossible to make out with the way it reflected the light.

Olivia studied it, intrigued. With her wealth and tastes, she'd seen a lot of jewelry before, but she'd never seen a jewel that looked quite like that. If only she could get a closer look.

"I wonder if it's an evolutionary stone?" Lila continued to muse.

"It's certainly possible," Darla agreed.

But people in the audience weren't so sure. Blake was one of those people.

"Hey, Blake," Sango whispered, tugging on his arm and giving him a worried look. "You don't think that it's… well…?"

She wasn't comfortable with speaking her suspicions aloud it in front of everyone, in case people were clued in to the existence of Oracles. That was something that only a few of them knew, and she didn't even want to think about what would happen if Dakota got her hands on that kind of knowledge. They didn't need "Professor Reinhart uses magic rocks with the students" to become headline news.

"I'm not sure," Blake whispered back. Luckily, they had a little bit of a cheat where Oracles were involved. "Kitty? Anything up with that?"

Kitty squinted, focusing her harmonia. She'd been working on keeping it under control and suppressed right now, knowing that Shadow Pokemon would be coming out to battle soon, but she also understood the seriousness of what this entailed. This tournament was being held by the Phantom, after all, and presumably the prize was being offered by him, as well. So if the Phantom had an Oracle, one that he was willing to risk LOSING in order to have a chance at setting this all up, that was a really, really important thing.

More important than her not throwing up, anyway.

So Kitty closed her eyes and concentrated, picturing herself reaching out spiritually towards the rock. The other Oracle she'd encountered had been loud, screaming at her.

…

Nope, as far as she could tell it was just a rock.

"…I don't feel anything," Kitty said, shaking her head. Her voice lowered into a whisper. "It's not an Oracle, anyway."

"Hmm? Not a what?" Dakota, perceptive as always, asked, peeking over Sango's shoulder. Sango swatted her with her fishing pole in response.

"None of your business," she replied.

Dakota fumed as Akira pulled her back into his seat, turning away from his neighbor and instead focusing on the guy sitting next to Sango.

Ian Davidson. A skilled trainer, one of Akira's biggest rivals. He had been commenting on Ian's battles, but honestly… he wished he could have had the chance to fight Ian in the Phantom Cup himself. Maybe he'd still get that chance later.

"Enough on the prize, don't you think, Lila?" Darla asked.

"I think you're right, Darla!" Lila agreed. "We've waited long enough! We've spent six days and one stadium getting to this moment!"

"That's right, Lila!" Darla nodded.

"So without further ado…" Lila began.

"…Let's welcome…" Darla continued.

"…Our two competitors…" Lila continued as well, stretching this out to build the tension.

"…'The Phantom', Richard Valon!" Darla announced, holding up her arm and gesturing to her right, at one of the two large entrances into the stadium. The Phantom walked out with a smirk on his face, his white hair reflecting against the black metal of the arena.

"…And 'the Commander', Alden Volt!" Lila declared, gesturing to her left, at the other entrance. Hearing his name called, Alden ran out, waving his hands wildly, a big grin on his face, a stark contrast to the composed approach of his opponent.

Lila and Darla vacated the shiny battlefield and retreated to the announcer's box, Alden and Valon walking up the steps of the battlefield and standing at the edge of the hexagon, in the boxes for the fighters.

"Ready to face the greatest challenge in your life?" The Phantom asked with an arrogant smirk.

"More than ready," the Commander replied, his eyes shining joyfully. "I'm excited for it!"

Lila and Darla took their seats in the announcer's box, setting up their microphones.

"Now…" Lila began, smiling at Darla.

"Let the match begin!" Darla declared, smiling back at her, happy to be back.

The final match of the Phantom Cup begins! The Commander vs. The Phantom! Who will win? We've reached the climax of their struggle to determine who is the strongest trainer at the Pokemon Academy! So… who will it be?