Here's a new chapter, continuing where things left off with Maddi! On another note, it seems like the poll for the third Pokemon Academy Best Girl Contest Semi-Final Round was having some issues on my profile for the last few days, and people weren't able to vote because it was closed. I want to assure everyone that I fixed the problem, so feel free to go and cast your votes now!

The Semi-Final Round of the Pokemon Academy Best Girl Contest 3 has begun! These are our semi-finalists! Make sure to get those votes in, and choose which of these girls you think should make it to the finals! You can only vote for 3, so make sure to pick your favorites!

Semi-Finalists: Ayame, Chloe, Cynthia, Elaina, Kate, Marion, Sango, Vic

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: I guess we'll have to see who it is. Maybe it'll be a surprise.

Hyphenman: Thanks for that, dude! I'm doing the best I can!

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 997

Maddi's face tightened into a scowl when she saw who had come upon them on the trail. It was Donoma Marama from that other group… and the guy she was with… he seemed familiar, but Maddi didn't remember people she didn't care about.

He was certainly eager to engage with her, though.

"What was that just now?" The dark-haired boy asked, rushing to her side. "You pokemon… that was an Umbreon just now, right? But now it's an Eevee… that shouldn't be possible! Do you have a Ditto, is that it?"

"N-No," Maddi said, taking a few steps back to regain her personal space. She didn't like people that came this close. He reminded her of Cynthia. "Vee's just my Eevee."

"Not a chance," Donoma narrowed her eyes, coming to the boy's aid. "I saw it, too. That Eevee was an Umbreon before, and then it turned into an Eevee. But that's impossible, evolution doesn't work that way. You can't go 'back' to a previous form, so what's the big deal?"

Donoma's eyes were glittering at the opportunity in front of her. A pokemon that could transform back from an evolution? If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she wouldn't have believed it. But it was right in front of her.

What a jackpot!

It all played out perfectly in her mind. Eevee were already very popular pokemon. They were very rare, and seldom seen in the wild, but recent interest among the younger generations for their cute appearances and adaptability in evolutions led to a rise in breeding endeavors, and soon the "Eevee Boom" hit the planet. Now you could find an Eevee as simple as going to a corner mart, it was like people were practically giving them away.

Donoma herself had never understood it. Because Eevee didn't have a Poison type evolution, it wasn't a pokemon that she gave much care about. But that didn't mean that she was naïve to the popularity of the little buggers. Everyone and their grandmother had an Eevee or two.

But nobody had ever seen an Eevee that could actually return to its previous form. This was sensational! She could picture it now, a show starring Maddi and her amazing de-evolving Eevee! Could it take on other forms this way? A Vaporeon, an Espeon, a Jolteon, see it turn into these one after another, everyone would line up to see it! Maddi would be a star for sure!

Dollar signs were flashing in Donoma's eyes, and for the moment she discarded her guise around Ian and let her real self shine through. She nearly knocked Maddi over when she dashed up to her, overwhelming the girl with her dominating aura.

"That Eevee of yours… it can turn into different forms, can't it?" She demanded. "And not only that, it can change back, as well!"

"That's… none of your business," Maddi said, stepping protectively in front of Vee. "Just leave us alone, please."

Donoma didn't take "no" for an answer.

"I don't think you understand!" She said, shaking her head. "With a special pokemon like that, you could be a star! Um... sorry, what was your name again?"

Maddi just glared. Finally, Ian had to step in and play referee.

"Hey, come on now," he smiled. "You're Madison Whitmore, right?"

Maddi kept glaring.

"My name's Ian," he introduced himself. "And this is Donoma. Sorry that my friend here got a little overwhelmed, but well… it was just a surprise, you know? Seeing an Umbeon turn back into an Eevee… but sorry. I'm sure she didn't mean to say anything rude."

Donoma finally realized that if she kept up her normal approach, not only might she drive away Maddi, but she might ruin her image in front of Ian. And if that happened, he might not want to sleep with her, which would be annoying. So she straightened up and smiled, acting casually.

"Yeah, sorry," she apologized. "I just kind of lost myself in excitement there. See, I'm from the Appeals Course, and I'm currently looking for breakout television ideas. And when I saw that you had a pokemon as amazing as your Eevee, I just sort of… lost myself, you know?"

"…It's fine. Forget it." Donoma and Ian could sense that Maddi was still on her guard, which made sense. After all, given how special her Eevee was, they figured that she'd probably had lots of experience with people coming up to her after taking an interest in him.

Of course, neither student had any clue that Maddi's Eevee had been just a normal Eevee less than a week ago.

"Do you mind if I ask you something?" Ian suddenly interjected, surprising Maddi. She thought this whole thing was over and done.

She stared suspiciously at him. "…Ask me what?"

"Your Eevee… it did turn back from an Umbreon, right? Does that mean he could evolve again? Could he evolve into something else, too, like a Flareon or Leafeon?" Ian's eyes were shining with excitement at the possibility, but unlike Donoma who was corrupted by greed, he was genuinely curious about what a pokemon like that was capable of.

Donoma felt like she could kiss him. Those were exactly the sorts of questions that she wanted to ask, but she knew that Maddi would only be on her guard if she tried. But Ian had a way about him that just felt real.

…Not that it made a difference, though. Whether it was Donoma, or Ian, or anybody, Maddi didn't have shit to say. She just coldly stared at the two of them until Ian dropped his shoulders in defeat.

"Oh, well, I tried," he sighed. "And here I thought it might be interesting to try having a pokemon battle against a pokemon like that."

Maddi's eye twitched. A pokemon battle…

"Wow, that would be a great idea, Ian!" Donoma cheered him on. "But only if Madison is okay with it, of course."

"No." Maddi had no interest in battling with Vee. He was already exhausted from all his transformations, so it wouldn't be a fair fight. And not only that, she didn't want to parade him around like some special experiment, or take advantage of these powers just yet.

But for once, she wasn't on the same page as her pokemon.

Donoma smiled. "Well, even if that's the case, it looks like your pokemon might be thinking differently, hmm?"

"Eevee!" Vee growled, staring intensely up at Ian.

Maddi blinked in surprise. "Wait, Vee, are you saying that you want to fight him?" For once, she wasn't on the same page as her pokemon. It was strange. But she could feel that Vee really wanted to test himself right now. Maybe it was all the training they'd done together that made him excited, or maybe he just wanted to see what he was capable of with these new abilities, but whatever it was, Maddi could feel a fighting spirit coming from her Eevee, and it just didn't feel right to deny him.

She sighed in defeat, smiling a little and scratching her hair. "…Well, okay then, if that's what you want," she agreed. She turned to Ian. "Just a short battle okay? And not in front of everyone, either, Vee isn't some carnival attraction."

Ian was just excited for the opportunity. "Yeah! No, no problem! I'd be happy to fight however you'd like!"

Maddi remembered a clearing a few minutes down the trail, so she led the way there, returning Vee to his pokeball to give him a chance at some rest. As she walked away, Ian and Donoma followed right behind her.

"This is so exciting!" Donoma whispered, for once letting her genuine feelings leak out in front of Ian. "We're going to get to see an Eevee with special powers use those abilities in a fight, I can't wait to see this!"

"I'm excited too," Ian agreed. "And not only for the pokemon, Madison's quite a talented trainer. It's too bad I didn't have a chance to face her in the Phantom Cup."

Maddi knew they were talking about her behind her back, but she didn't let that bother her. Right now, she was focusing on the forest around her and trying to concentrate, doing her best to temper her new powers. She wasn't sure if she should use harmonia in this fight or not, and honestly, she was somewhat frightened that she might end up doing so regardless.

She remembered Kitty and how much that girl had struggled to keep her powers under control. Not to mention Elaina Bishop, who was a walking natural disaster. Harmonia wasn't just a power for pokemon battles, it was dangerous. And now Maddi had it.

She'd only used it once, and that was in an emergency. If she hadn't fought off Eve, then she would have absolutely been dead. But now she was going to have a real fight, her first battle since obtaining this power, and it would be with a pokemon that also had a new power that they didn't quite grasp. Would she be able to control her harmonia, or would it consume her like Elaina? And if something like that did happen, how would it affect Vee and his transformations?

Thoughts like those were dominating her mind far more than any worries about some teen gossip from those two.

That didn't stop her from turning back to address them, however.

"One more thing… if I battle you, you can't tell anyone about it, understand?" Maddi demanded. "I don't want you two going back to the others and talking about Vee. Keep quiet about everything, that's my condition."

Donoma nodded in agreement. "That does seem fair…" But then her face turned serious, and a smirk crossed her lips.

"…But then, that's a demand that only a winner gets to make."

Maddi narrowed her eyes. "…Oh?"

"How about this? If you can beat Ian with that Eevee of yours, then we'll keep our mouths shut, okay? But if he manages to win against you, then, well… we'll still probably not say anything because we're nice people, but no promises."

Ian wasn't so sure about that. "Hey, Donoma, it's not a big deal, you know, I don't want to go spreading around secrets like that anyway, so…"

"Ian, think about it like this," Donoma whispered. "Now that we've made a deal like that, she's going to try that much harder to win, don't you see? With the previous arrangement, she might have just sent her Eevee out and let him lose without even trying to transform."

Maddi scowled. Not only could she hear every word Donoma was saying, but they were pissing her off, too. Like hell she would do something like that, she valued her pokemon and wouldn't let Vee get beaten up on purpose just to protect their secret.

Ian could see her point though, and he had to agree. He turned to Maddi for confirmation. "Hey, if you're not okay with this, we can still-"

"It's fine with me," Maddi cut him off. She narrowed her eyes into an intimidating glare and the fringe of hair over her face flared up, revealing her heterochromia. Ian was caught off his guard by her declaration.

"…After all… I don't plan to lose in the first place, so either way it works for me."

That got a smile onto Ian's face. His battler's spirit had flared up, and he rose to meet Maddi's challenge. "Now that's what I want to hear!"

With things settled, the trio stepped into the clearing… and the tension was immediately broken because they weren't alone.

"Ah… ah!" Chloe's jaw dropped, and she nearly fell off the rock she'd been resting on. She'd meant to come out to this clearing to get some space and take a breather, because it was so close to the town and yet far enough away where she didn't have to spend too much time around other people. But she certainly hadn't expected to run into some of the students from school! Especially not the ones from other groups!

Maddi frowned. That wasn't what she expected.

Ian walked over to her and said hello, introducing himself. Chloe stared cautiously back at him, her eyes flickering over to Donoma as she introduced herself as well.

The pressure that Chloe was feeling coming off of Donoma was intense, and she didn't know how to handle it. It was like a curtain was wrapping around her, squeezing her tightly and trying to block her off from the others.

"Uhum, um…"

"Would you like to watch a pokemon battle?" Ian said suddenly, surprising everyone.

"Um… a pokemon battle? Me?" Chloe hadn't ever been invited so… directly like that before. Certainly she loved watching pokemon battles, just like she loved collecting research data about the pokemon who fought in them. But usually she did that from the comfort of her own room, or just stumbled upon them, she'd never been propositioned like this.

Donoma scowled for a fraction of a second before perking up. "Yeah! It's going to be a match between Ian and Madison. It's sure to be a lot of fun! Oh, but you can't tell anyone about it, okay? It's a bit of a private thing…"

Chloe gulped. Not like she was doing much talking to others in the first place. She looked cautiously at Maddi, knowing how private the other girl was. Certainly she wouldn't want her to stick around and watch her fight, right?

But to Chloe's surprise, Maddi seemed rather ambivalent on the matter. The look in her eyes was just one of impatience.

"Well… I dunno…"

"I promise it's going to be exciting!" Ian urged her. "After all, Madison's pokemon is very-"

Donoma slapped her hand over Ian's mouth before he could give away the surprise. "It's going to be exciting!" Was all she said. "I'm sure it's like nothing you've ever seen before!"

She was looking forward to Chloe's reaction when she saw Maddi's Eevee transform for the first time. It would be a nice preview of how general audiences might react.

Ian turned to Maddi. "So you good then? Ready to do this?"

Maddi clutched Vee's pokeball. "Yeah, whatever," she muttered, rolling her eyes. "Let's just get this over with, okay?"

"Works for me!" Ian smiled good-naturedly, walking over to the other side of the clearing. Donoma and Chloe shuffled off to the side where they could get a good view. While they were waiting, Donoma decided to torture the shy little flower beside her with a bit of small talk.

"Hey, so you're a bit of a smarty-pants, right?" She mused, turning to a startled Chloe. Chloe blinked, looking up at her.

"Uh… I mean…"

"You must know quite a bit about Ian's records, I mean," Donoma clarified. Chloe may not have been a big center of attention, but she had a bit of a reputation about her, to the point where even Donoma had heard about her research.

"O-Oh, that, yes," Chloe nodded. "I've… watched his fights before, yeah."

"So what pokemon do you think he's going to use? To be honest, this'll be the first time I've really seen him fight this close before."

"R-Really? I thought you guys seemed close…" Chloe said without thinking. She immediately turned red when she realized how rude of a statement that was. "…Oh! I didn't mean-! It wasn't like I was trying to say…"

Donoma just laughed it off. "Nah, we just met the other day. But as for Maddi… well, I'll tell you this much, which pokemon she's using is going to be obvious."

"Vee!" Maddi sent her Eevee back out, the small pokemon growling at Ian.

Chloe cleared her throat and recalled what she knew about Ian's battle records. "Well… since she's using a Normal type pokemon like Eevee… I would say that Ian will be relying on his Aggron, Iron, in this battle."

She said those words with confidence, which surprised Donoma. She didn't think "confidence" was in Chloe's vocabulary.

"Really now?"

As soon as she said that, Chloe deflated like a defeated Drifloon.

"W-Well… he only has a handful of pokemon… I suppose he could use his Phantump, due to its immunity to Normal type attacks, but his Aggron is still stronger, and besides that, Madison's Eevee knows shadow ball, so…"

Donoma smirked. "Well, we'll see."

The truth was, she'd come to that exact same conclusion, but she was enjoying pretending like she knew more than Chloe did. It amused her, seeing how flustered and concerned Chloe got as she started to second-guess herself.

"Go, Iron!" Ian said, throwing out his Aggron, just as they'd both predicted.

"Aggron!" Iron roared, smashing his claws against his chest plate proudly.

"He did use it…" Chloe murmured, brightening up a little.

"That's the way, Ian!" Donoma called across the field. The she turned to Chloe. "So, Chloe, since you research battle statistics and stuff, who do you think is going to win?"

Chloe turned pale. She really didn't like being the center of all this attention. "W-Well… I mean… pokemon battles can have a lot of variance, so I couldn't say for sure…"

"Aww, forget all that stuff, I wanna know, who do you think is gonna win?" Donoma asked, smiling like it wasn't a big deal.

Chloe shifted slightly on her feet. "Well… Ian's Aggron… has the type advantage… so even if Madison's Eevee can move faster and more agilely in this field… I think he's still going to have a hard time, so… if I had to pick…"

She was couching her words in possibility and uncertainty because she was an inherently cautious person, but the fact of the matter was, Chloe couldn't see any way that Ian wasn't going to emerge the winner of this little pokemon battle.

"…Ian, probably."

Donoma smirked. Of course she'd say that, it was the obvious choice. "Well, in that case, I'll wager on Maddi then," she decided, startling Chloe once again.

"O-Oh… okay…"

"Iron, use rock slide!" Ian ordered, kicking off the start of the battle. Iron threw back his head and roared, summoning a wave of rocks that rained down upon Vee.

"Dodge with quick attack," Maddi ordered. Then she used her harmonia to give a silent command to her pokemon as well.

Vee avoided the boulders with his agility, and as he cleared the last of them, his body began to glow.

Chloe's jaw dropped, and in a second all her calculations about this fight went right out the window.

So Maddi and Ian are going to fight, with Chloe and Donoma as spectators! This should certainly be an interesting match! Will Ian and Iron even have a chance against a pokemon that can change their typing at will?