Time to look a little further into the Orre Region, and catch back up with the Commander and his plans for the Battle Frontier. What will he have up his sleeve this time? Is he still working on planning out the Orre Region trip?

KedharS: No I just included it for no reason.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 811

Vic walked down the hall, her heart pounding loudly in her chest.

The Commander had called her back. She had messed up the other day and interrupted him, but now he was calling on her.

She took a deep breath to calm herself, and put on her usual hard expression. She knocked on the door. Even though he had called for her, she would never enter without his express permission. That would be the pinnacle of insubordination.

She stood in the hall and awaited his judgment.

"Come in, Vic," the Commander called. Her heart skipped a beat. He knew she was here! …Obviously, as he was the one who called her in the first place. But the fact he was waiting for her still made her feel wanted.

As long as Vic had a purpose for the Commander, that was more than enough.

She entered with her head held high. She had a good idea of what the Commander was after. He wanted her help to figure out where he would begin construction of the Battle Frontier, obviously, which meant that she could be of use to him.

She had never wanted anything more.

Vic stood at attention and waited for the Commander to address her. She wouldn't presume to speak in his presence.

Alden brightened at Vic's entrance. "Vic! Good, glad you came," he greeted her. "I needed some help with the plans."

"Sir," Vic nodded tersely.

Alden rolled his eyes. "Come on, relax, take a seat. You're always so pent-up, you don't need to be so serious all the time!" He laughed. Vic didn't share in the joke, but she did follow his wishes and take a seat across the desk from him.

"How may I help you, sir?" She asked.

"I was going over these ideas about the Orre Region," Alden explained. "You know, location scouting and stuff. There are a surprisingly good amount of locales where we could begin construction, you know that? Orre has a wide variety of open spaces to choose from.

"Yes, sir, it's an excellent place to begin construction of the Battle Frontier," Vic agreed. She had grown up in the wide, wild deserts of Orre, and knew just how vast of a region it was. Unspoiled and filled with potential, and the Commander was the one who would see that potential realized.

She felt her chest swell with pride at the idea of everyone else coming to acknowledge his greatness, as they obviously should.

"There are so many places that I don't think we'll be able to get to all of them," Alden said, sighing in disappointment. He quickly brightened. "But that's okay! I want to make sure we go to the best of the best! So since you're from the Orre Region, I thought you would be the perfect consultant in how we'll plan out our free time in the schedule!" He explained with a grin.

Vic nodded. That was exactly what she expected. "I would be happy to help you any way I can," she agreed. "Where were you considering, if I may ask?"

Alden shrugged. "Oh, all sorts of places, here's the folder." He passed a file over to Vic, and she began flipping through it. It was like a tour book through her memories as waves of nostalgia passed through her. When she was a little girl, her mother and father had taken her all over the region, showing her the locations they had traveled to.

And, in her father's case, the places where he demolished Team Cipher trash.

"I noticed that even though there isn't anything like a Pokemon League or a Gym Challenge, the Orre Region isn't as hungry for battle institutions as I had thought," Alden confessed.

Vic shook her head. "While Orre is short on wild pokemon, and must rely primarily on imports and repopulation measures, there is a significant chunk of the populace who battle pokemon as a pastime." She silently added, because there isn't much else they can do there…

"Yeah, I heard about that when I was doing my research," Alden nodded. He seemed a little disappointed, shockingly. "But most of those trainers… Those are criminal elements, right? Not the same thing as a real, honest league of battle lovers."

That was something that pained Vic, too. In most regions, Galar in particular, pokemon battles were seen as something to be enjoyed. A fun and regulated sporting event for the pleasure of trainer and pokemon alike, and the excitement of the audience.

That wasn't the case in the Orre Region. In Orre, pokemon were seen as a means to an end. The purpose of a pokemon battle was to win, at any cost, because for most people that was the only way you got food on the table that night.

Battles weren't about competition. They weren't about sport. Winning was everything, and weakness was a crime.

It was something that had always disgusted her. As someone far more in tune with her pokemon thanks to her harmonia, she could also sense the feelings of the pokemon around her. And everywhere she went, every battle she fought in the Orre Region, it broke her heart a little more to see how little the humans regarded their pokemon, and how much of that feeling was tragically mutual.

"…Alden…" It escaped her lips as a slight whisper. She hadn't expected to say his name, but it had just come out. She rose her head and looked at him with watery eyes as he stared back at her in quiet surprise.

"…Yeah, Vic? What's up?" He asked, sitting upright in his chair. This had just been a casual meeting, but she looked so serious. And not in the way that she always looked serious, but like she was dealing with some really serious emotions. The fact that she had used his name was enough of a giveaway, because she NEVER did that.

"I just… I just wanted to thank you," she smiled. It was something she never did, so it was always a treasure when someone got to see it.

Alden was grateful for the gift, but he wasn't sure what she meant by it. "Huh? What for?" He asked curiously. He couldn't remember having done something recently that warranted thanks from Vic, certainly not to the extent that she would begin to tear up.

"For being you," she murmured, wiping her eyes. She tried to return to her serious expression but found that she couldn't. "You're… so much different from everyone else."

"Nah, not really," Alden shrugged. "I'm just a guy who likes battles a little more than your average person, not anything to really celebrate. But thank you for your consideration, that's always appreciated!"

Vic laughed and shook her head. "No, no, you don't understand. How are you still this dense?" She had explained it to him so many times before, and every time had felt like the first.

Vic had gotten so lost in the flow of the conversation that she had completely missed the fact that she had called her beloved Commander dense. It was the kind of behavior that would have warranted a major verbal lashing, and maybe even a real lashing, if it had come from anyone else. But right now she just couldn't help herself.

When she realized the gravity of her sin it was like a pit had welled up in her stomach. How could she be so impudent?! She had to regain the flow of the conversation and keep from insulting him even further or this would be intolerable.

She cleared her throat, feeling her face heat up with shame. She needed to set things right. "Commander…" that was a good first step, referring to him by his title. She was about to continue when he interrupted her.

"Hey, Vic, you don't need to do that," he assured her. "This is just a casual chat between friends, you don't need to stand on ceremony here. You can just call me Alden if you want."

No, she couldn't. She could NEVER do something like that!

…Okay, well, actually, she could, and in fact she had, several times. But that was different! She hadn't meant to! To call him by name intentionally, that would just be…

Well, it wasn't going to happen, simple as that!

"That's an order," he followed, and somehow that made it easier.

Feeling the burden slip off her shoulders, she breathed out his name for a second time. It sounded so foreign coming off her lips. "Alden… you were right about the Orre Region and their trainers. They don't care about pokemon battles. They don't even care about their pokemon. It's the reason why Cipher was able to get such a foothold in the region to begin with."

The average trainer would never consider using a Shadow Pokemon for an instant. A pokemon who had closed its heart to you, filled with torment and pain and a lust for battle and destruction, whose only purpose for existing was to be a tool of victory? Only a monster would consider using a pokemon like that.

"Because they have such weak bonds with their pokemon, they desire only victory," she glumly explained. "A big part of that is because of how terrible the economy in the Orre Region is. Without a Pokemon League to aid local businesses and facilitate tourism and travel, in a region as naturally inhospitable as that, it becomes incredibly difficult to earn a decent living."

In spite of how Vic spoke about it, the Orre Region wasn't some post-apocalyptic fallout monstrosity. There was still so much that was wonderful about it, places where people could live happy lives, locales teaming with life and flush with greenery, her home in Agate Village being one of them.

But on the whole? Places like the Under and Pyrite Town, where crime and criminals prospered? That was the unfortunate norm of the region. Because honestly, no one who lived there cared.

It was a dreary, grim existence, and one that Vic didn't like to think about. It was why she loathed the region so strongly, in spite of how much she treasured parts of it as well.

"When I was a little girl, I used to train my pokemon to battle," Vic explained. "Because I loved them, and because of my harmonia, I felt a connection to them." She sighed. "See… my mother had my gifts. But she never had pokemon of her own. She traveled with my father for years, but never once took part in a battle herself."

Alden nodded. He knew about Vic's parents, and he knew that in spite of what she was saying, Vic's mother had more than pulled her own weight in the relationship. But he let Vic continue with her explanation.

"So when my dad noticed my connection and my powers, he didn't think twice about teaching me how to battle," she continued. "And I grew to love it. It was a way I could be close to my dad and my pokemon like never before."

She smiled nostalgically as she recalled her childhood with her father. He was so often absent, but when he would come home and they would battle…

Those were precious memories for her. And she had nearly lost that passion.

"The problem was… Agate Village is nothing like the rest of the Orre Region. As I traveled with my dad, I tried to battle other people, and all of them…" She shivered, her voice catching in her throat. What she had seen back then couldn't compare with the horrors of Shadow Pokemon, that much was obvious. She knew that, clearly.

But it was horrifying all the same.

"The trainers and their pokemon… it was like there wasn't any light in their eyes. They didn't have any passion for battling. The only thing that mattered was winning. Win, win, win. Like the thought of losing wasn't even an option. It was nothing like the battles I had with my father. And every time I fought one of them, and felt that rage and desperation coming off of their pokemon… it was like a tiny part of me had died."

Alden remained silent. As someone who loved to battle, the things that Vic was describing were horrible things to think about. But he had to wait for her to get it all out. This was her time to clear her thoughts, and he couldn't intrude on her past and her pain, not even to help her. She had to do this for herself if she wanted to be over it.

"As I grew up, I began to resent pokemon battles," she explained. "I loved my pokemon, and I loved fighting with them, see, but knowing that every time I would battle with them I would encounter people like that… people who only thought of their pokemon as tools… I couldn't do it. I couldn't hold onto that love no matter how hard I tried."

She was really starting to cry now. It was shameful. Victoria did not cry. She was not that sort of person. She was the kind of woman who would hold her head up high and continue on with strength, not burst out sobbing like some brat.

But she couldn't help it. She was too overwhelmed.

In spite of her tears, however, she was relieved that the Commander didn't judge her. He understood that she was letting out her pain, and he let her. With a smile on his face. It was the kind of understanding that made her love him even more.

She wiped her eyes and smiled warmly. She gazed in admiration at her beloved superior.

"You changed that for me, you know."

Alden blinked. "I did?"

That made Vic burst out laughing. It was another uncommon sight. But she couldn't help herself. "Yes, you did, I told you already!" She cackled, even though the fact that he had forgotten still stung like a dagger in her heart. The Commander really did have a head only for pokemon battles. Little things like this didn't matter to him.

She was fine with that. As long as she could stand by her side, she didn't need him to look her way. That was what she always told herself.

It was the least she could do, for all he had done for her.

"My dad saw how much I had been broken by the trainers in Orre," she explained. "And that's why he suggested sending me away. He wanted to help me. So that I could love pokemon again, and enjoy battling for what it was meant to be."

When her father asked her to go to the Pokemon Academy, she had initially been against that idea. She had assumed that it would just be more of the same, that people there would hold no love of pokemon or battles, and only care about their pokemon as tools. But he had insisted, telling her that she needed to grow, she had to experience more of what the world had to offer than just what she could see in the Orre Region.

And she was overjoyed that he had. Because she had experienced so much.

"Do you remember the first day of school, Alden? Our freshman year?" She asked. Of all the things she had brought up today, and so many times before, she was certain that this would be the one that had stuck with him.

Alden's face brightened, and she had to smile. Yeah. Of course he did.

"Right! Our first battle!" He remembered it fondly.

"The headmaster told us we needed to fight the person sitting next to us, and there you were," she smiled, remembering how bright and innocent he had seemed that day. She'd thought he was just another naïve fool at the time, but look where she was now.

"If my memory serves, you were completely defeated in that battle," Alden mused, and Vic's smile turned sour.

"Yeah, well, what did you expect?!" She exclaimed. "It was a single battle! My fighting style is for doubles! That whole match was unfairly weighted!"

Alden practically fell out of his chair in laughter as Vic calmed down, wiping her brow and settling her emotions again. He certainly knew how to get a rise out of her, that was for sure.

"That day… everything changed for me," she smiled. "You, Alden. You changed my whole world, you know that?"

"Really?" Alden definitely knew that pokemon battles could influence people, but he had never thought that Vic would be one of them. The intensity with which she had battled that day, the strength of her "Sense", he had felt it from the start.

"You were the first person besides my father that I could feel true joy from in your fight," Vic murmured. "You weren't fighting in order to win at all costs. There wasn't any desperation in your eyes, or your pokemon's. You fought because you loved fighting. You wanted to win, sure, but it wasn't a necessity. What you needed was the thrill of the fight."

Alden shrugged. "Hey, that's just normal."

But it wasn't. Not to her.

Vic shook her head. "Seeing you fight… it changed my whole world. You pulled me out of the darkness of Orre, and showed me how wonderful pokemon battles could really be. You brought me into the world that I had always wanted to see. I couldn't help but be drawn to it like a Venomoth to a flame. That's why I follow you, Commander, because I know that as long as I stand by your side, I'll always be close to that light."

"Aww, Vic, you're making me blush!" Alden laughed, scratching his hair sheepishly.

She shook her head again. "I'm not done. That's why I need this project to be a success. Because you changed me. And I know… I know you can do the same for them. The people of Orre view pokemon battles as a means to an end, but that doesn't have to be the case. The Battle Frontier will open up new jobs, new opportunities, it will be just what the region needs to be lifted out of the mire that they've been wallowing in forever."

There was a fire burning in Vic's eyes, and it was the same one that blazed in Alden's heart. They were united on this, in perfect agreement.

Alden nodded. "Exactly right."

"With your light, I know we can lead the Orre Region into a world where pokemon battles can be fun and exciting for everyone," Vic beamed. "And that's why I think I know where the perfect place to make it should be."

"Oh?" Alden was intrigued. They were returning to the original topic of the conversation, he had almost forgotten about it.

"There are a few good places that would make a difference, too," Vic had to admit. "Under Colosseum, Pyrite Colosseum, heck, even the defunct Mt. Battle, those would all be locations where you could bring the love of pokemon battles to the people."

But none of them would do.

"But there's somewhere else," she continued. "Somewhere that truly needs progress like this. A monument, created by Team Cipher as a symbol of their power before falling into disrepair with their defeat."

She handed the file back to Alden, turned to one page in particular.

"Realgam Tower. It was proposed as something not too different from the Battle Frontier in the first place," she explained. "And it's surrounded by a vast array of unused land. I think… the best way to remake the Orre Region into the kind of place it should be… is to start there. Take this testament to Team Cipher, and rebuild it into a symbol for pokemon trainers everywhere."

What was she saying?! Vic wasn't the kind of person to make sappy speeches like that!

But Alden was in complete agreement. He smiled. "I like the way you think, Vic," he nodded. "This is exactly why I called for you."

"Oh?" She asked, surprised.

"Your connection to the people of Orre, your understanding of what the region needs, there's nothing more valuable for this project. If you think this 'Realgam Tower' is the place where we should build the Battle Frontier, then I believe in you completely," he assured her.

Vic's heart soared in her chest. For her, there could be no higher praise than the Commander's acknowledgment.

Aww! Vic's got a great little dream there! Make Orre Great Again!