Blake and Cynthia's battle continues! Cynthia's doing well, but Blake still has the edge. Something's up with the redhead though, she's not fighting like her usual self. Is she still stuck in her slump? Or is it something a little more complicated? Whatever it is, Blake will give it his all in the battle and take her down! But will he be able to win? Or will Cynthia win? And what does victory mean in this context, anyway?

The Final Round of the Pokemon Academy Best Girl Contest 3 has begun! Get the votes in! There's less than one week left and there are three girls in the finals! Who's going to win? Chloe? Cynthia? Or Vic? One of those girls will become the third best girl, so get those last votes in! Can we get a climactic victor? You've only got one vote this time, so make it count!

Finalists: Chloe, Cynthia, Vic

KedharS: It's hard to guess who wins. Blake has the edge, but Cynthia's got her own advantages, and she's known for her sneaky tricks. We'll have to see what they bring to the table, so we can see which one of them emerges the victor.

Hyphenman: It's been a hot minute since we saw either of them fight. Hopefully this is a good showing for both of them!

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1050

Blake was stunned by how the battle was going. Cynthia had put up a good fight like he always knew she would, especially at the start. But right now, she was floundering in a way he'd never seen from her before. She didn't feel like Cynthia, it was strange.

Is she holding back? That didn't sound like her. But then, using James over Tristan hadn't mad sense either. He'd sent out Cory because he wanted to bait Cynthia into using Tristan early; he'd even given his Crawdaunt a Chesto Berry because he anticipated her using spore, and planned to go to Ruru immediately after doing some damage, and trapping Tristan like he'd done to James. But Cynthia had used her Loudred instead.

Maybe she read my play? Is she saving Tristan for later? That was the strategy Blake would have expected from his rival; it wouldn't be the first time she'd read right through him. But she wasn't behaving normally. And not just as a tactic either; she hadn't been normal in her battles for a while now. He could understand the logic for not using Tristan against Caelia's Charizard, even if he WAS her strongest pokemon.

But against Will and his Lapras?

Something's off. It's like she refuses to use Tristan for some reason. Was there something wrong with her Breloom? Had he gotten sick, and she hadn't told anyone? …No, that didn't sound like the Cynthia he knew either.

Well, I can't worry about it right now. If she's planning something, I'll have to find out what it is, and just work around it, he decided.

"Come on, Cynthia!" Blake shouted across the battlefield. "Use your next pokemon!"

"F-Fine!" Cynthia called back. "Leon, go!" She sent her Gligar back out. Nothing unusual about that, Leon was the perfect fit.

"Gligar!" Leon immediately understood what his trainer expected, being sent out in this situation. He glided through the air and increased speed, using his agility.

"Ruru!" Blake shouted. "Use spider web to trap him in place!" It was one of the techniques he'd learned how to use due to Dokukage's teachings. It had worked well against James, so he expected the same thing to happen here. But Leon was a little more well-prepared than the Loudred was, and Cynthia knew what was coming this time.

"No way!" She shouted. "Leon, swords dance!"

"Gligar!" Leon twirled through the air, sharpening his pincers. He sliced through the webs and cut them up before they could trap him in place.

"That's the way!" Cynthia grinned, smiling proudly. "Now, use slash!"

"Gli!" Leon glided straight towards Ruru, raising his pincer and swinging down in a powerful slash. His claw raked across Ruru's back and the spider pokemon buzzed in pain, scuttling away from the Gligar as quickly as she could.

That was a critical hit, Blake judged. And not only that, she evaded my trick at the same time she boosted his attack strength. Well, it seems that Cynthia's instincts as a trainer are still sharp as ever, at least.

…So then why is she acting so weird? He wondered.

"Ruru, bug buzz," he ordered. Electric attacks wouldn't work, and he needed a way to buy some time. Ruru opened her mouth wide and released a burst of soundwaves in a sharp hum that nearly deafened them. Leon reached up to shield his ears, and due to the shape of his body, that made it difficult to glide, so he started drifting towards the ground.

"Great, now use signal beam!" Blake shouted over the hum. Ruru closed her mouth and turned towards Leon, firing a beam of shimmering light from her fangs. The signal beam hit him directly, but didn't do much damage. Leon resisted Bug type moves quite well.

"Return, Ruru!" Blake said, calling Ruru back to her pokeball. He could use her later. For now, he had a better option for fighting against Leon, even if both his Water types were out of the picture. It was a risk though.

"Tara!" He shouted.

Trusty Tara. With a sharp glare, Tara emerged from her pokeball in a swirl of leaves, landing in the dirt. She nodded to Blake in understanding.

"Hi, Tara!" Cynthia waved to the Snivy. She turned to Blake. "Tara already? I thought for sure that you'd save her for when Rose came out to play!"

Blake shrugged. Cynthia was planning to use Rose? Well, she certainly loved her Kirlia, that was for sure, but she had better options. Blake still had Weiss at full power with Ruru as backup, both pokemon capable of doing some real damage to the Kirlia. When was she going to use Tristan?

Well, she certainly wouldn't use her now. As a Grass type, Tara was immune to the effects of spore. That's why he called her out in the first place. He anticipated that this time Cynthia would baton pass to her Breloom; and he wanted a pokemon that could fight against him.

Assuming, of course, that Cynthia didn't just judge that Leon could handle Tara all on his own. Which, given his moveset, was a possibility. That was the risk of Blake's strategy, but it was a risk he was willing to take.

Besides, he had a countermeasure.

Dokukage hadn't just taught Blake the merits of using the baton pass strategy. That would be wasted knowledge as baton pass wasn't a move most of his pokemon were capable of taking advantage of. He'd also taught Blake how to BEAT that strategy, and Blake had the perfect pokemon for it.

She was standing right in front of him.

"Tara, use leech seed!" He ordered.

"Snivy!" Tara raised her hands, firing a barrage of leaves at Leon. The Gligar just barely evaded the attack. But he couldn't dodge all of them. Tara got lucky with her next strike, and the small tendrils began to sprout.

"Leech seed, huh?" Cynthia clicked her tongue.

"If you pass out of battle with baton pass, and your pokemon is infected by leech seed, the pokemon you're switching to will inherit it as well!" Blake called. "Even if it's a pokemon normally immune to it! So go ahead and switch to Tristan, but he'll end up being drained!"

Cynthia winced. "That's… I won't! I'm not falling for that!" She was putting on a brave, playful face, but to her friends who knew her well, something was off.

"What's going on with Cynthia?" Nick wondered.

"What do you mean?" Will asked.

"He's right, there's something off about her," Julia frowned. But she wasn't quite sure what it was, specifically.

"Well, if you won't switch Leon out, we'll keep fighting!" Blake called. "Leaf tornado!"

"Snivy!" Tara summoned a tornado of wind that shot across the battlefield, catching Leon as he tried to glide away. The wind pushed against him and the leaves sliced his wings, but he tried his best to withstand it, even as his strength was being drained.

"Leon!" Cynthia shouted. "Quick attack!"

Leon erupted from the tornado, pincers raised, and shot towards Tara at high speed. His claws sliced into her chest and she stumbled back, but tried to remain standing. Unfortunately, that was just the beginning of Leon's assault. He picked up speed and switched into an acrobatics attack, striking Tara from multiple sides with his claws and stinger.

"Sni! Snivy!" Tara wailed. With his boosts, Leon was just too fast and strong. She couldn't overcome him through normal means.

But that didn't mean she was out of options.

"Use iron tail!" Blake ordered. Leon flew a little too close, and Tara saw her opportunity. Planting her hands on the ground, she spun and swung her tail at Leon, hitting him in the face.

"GLIGAR!" Leon cried, falling backwards. His defenses were high, but that attack was a critical hit. He recovered quickly but Tara recovered faster, draining his strength. Which meant she had the perfect opportunity to attack!

"Leaf tornado!" Blake ordered again, and Tara released another powerful gust. The wind swept Leon into the air and cut into him, but he and Cynthia were more than prepared.

"Leon!" She shouted. "Use x-scissor to break free!"

"Gligar!" Leon withstood the cutting leaves and raised his pincers, swinging them down in a sharp "X". The pincers sliced through some of the leaves, allowing him to break free. He flew towards Tara like a dive-bomber, pincers raised, and slashed into her from two sides.

"Tara!" Blake cried. That was bad. Really bad. His Snivy was barely moving! "Tara, are you okay?! Get up!"

"Sni… Snivy…" She panted, rising to he feet. Sh was bleeding bad and shaking.

"You played a bad hand! Leon and I arm or than prepared!" Cynthia crowed. "Finish hr with quick attack!"

"Gli…" Leon nodded. He wasn't in much better shape than Tara. But he was still able to move. He flew forward, slamming into Tara, not even having the strength to slash her. But he didn't need it; Tara was unconscious before she hit the ground, knocked out by his strike.

Blake frowned, and called Tara back to her pokeball. "Good job," he whispered. "You did really well, Tara."

He turned and looked at the Gligar. In Leon's current condition, it wouldn't be hard to seize the initiative and take him out.

For a moment, he considered using Weiss; but if Cynthia was holding her trump card for the end, then he would as well. And in Leon's present condition, Ruru should be enough to finish the job that she'd started.

"Ruru, come back out!"

"Galvantula!" Ruru buzzed. She was injured from Leon's critical hits, but not enough to where she couldn't fight back. She was certainly doing better than Leon was, anyway.

"Ruru, signal beam!" Blake ordered. The attack hadn't done much damage to Leon before. But he had a feeling things would be different this time. And they certainly were. The light beam struck the Gligar, hitting him hard. Leon cried out in pain and hit the ground, unable to get back up and keep fighting. Another one of Cynthia's pokemon had been beaten.

"Leon… sorry," Cynthia apologized, recalling him to his pokeball.

"Wow, this battle is… huh." Reiner didn't know what to say. Cynthia was doing alright, but she wasn't pressuring Blake all that much. This wasn't the back and forth between rivals of their previous fight, it was like Cynthia seemed…

"Why is she so desperate?" Elaina wondered.

That was it. That was the word he was looking for. It was like she was coming up with things on the fly, and using her skills and instincts to try and make it successful. But that wasn't how a pokemon battle was supposed to go, or at least, not how he knew Cynthia fought, anyway.

"Come on, Cynthia!" Blake called. He was still expecting her to pull a Buneary out of her hat. "What have you got to show me next?"

"I-I'm thinking!" Cynthia shouted back. The desperation had bled onto her face. "F-Fine! Aud, let's do this! Go!"

"Vulpix!" Aud emerged from her pokeball, to Blake's shock. He hadn't expected Cynthia would rely on her, of all pokemon. Against Will, in a casual match, sure. But certainly not in a fight like this, knowing his abilities.

She must be planning something… he decided. "Be careful, Ruru! Use thunder wave!"

"Aud, safeguard!" Cynthia ordered. A veil of soft blue light appeared around Aud, shielding her from the electric current. "Now, ice shard!"

"Vulpix!" Aud fired a blast of ice at Ruru, hitting her before the Galvantula could respond.

And she wouldn't get a chance to follow up, Cynthia would make sure of that. She smiled in triumph. "Now, Aud! Use encore!"

"Vulpix!" Aud cheered, and Ruru swelled with pride. Suddenly, she decided that now would be the PERFECT opportunity to use thunder wave, again and again!

"This is what happened with me!" Will cried. "Right to the letter!"

"Not so fun, is it?" Cynthia boasted.

Blake just sighed in relief. He'd tried that as a test. But yes, Cynthia was the same girl she always was, that was good to know.

"Ruru, come back," he said, recalling his injured Galvantula. He doubted Ruru would be much use for the rest of the fight given her present condition. "Go, Rogen!"

"Boldore!" Blake sent his Boldore out next, the perfect foil to the Ice type Vulpix. Cynthia turned pale.

"A-Aud! Use icy wind!" She ordered. Aud opened her mouth and fired a blast of icy wind at the Boldore. Rogen dug his claws into the ground and withstood the attack. He then dragged stones up out of the ground and flung them at Aud. The rocks rained down on the tiny Vulpix, and while she was able to use her quick attack to avoid most of them, she still got hit by the rock slide.

"Aud!" Cynthia wailed. Her Vulpix struggled to stand, but it was clear she was in pretty bad shape.

"I don't think her Vulpix will be able to stand up against his Boldore," Will judged, frowning. "She's not a high enough level."

Cynthia couldn't deny that, no matter how badly she wanted to. She recalled Aud befoe she took any more damage from the fight.

"Cynthia's used five pokemon now," Reiner counted. "That means she only has one left. I'm betting it'll be her Breloom."

"And Blake hasn't used his Scizor yet either," Julia said. "I think we're heading for the finale now. Should be exciting."

Cynthia's hand shot to her belt, but she caught herself. She took a deep breath and slapped her cheeks, reaching to a different pokeball this time.

"Rose! It's all up to you!" She shouted, sending out her Kirlia.

Blake was shocked. Rose? She was using Rose? Not Tristan? It was madness!

"Are you sure that's your choice?" He asked, confused. "You know that's the last pokemon you can use, right?"

"Yeah?" Cynthia snapped back. "So what?!"

"So… uh…" he didn't really have an answer to that. She really wasn't going to use her Breloom in this battle, then?

"What's she doing?!" Julia asked incredulously. This seemed completely antithetical to the Cynthia she knew. Cynthia seemed to really be making a reckless decision here. Tristan was absolutely necessary for this fight, at least in her eyes.

"Rogen," Blake shouted, quickly regaining his composure. "Use stone edge!"

"Boldore!" Rogen shouted, summoning jagged rocks into the air. He flung them at Rose with all his might. But none of them hit. While Rose wasn't as powerful as Tristan certainly, she was still strong, and her teleportation abilities were second to none. She disappeared in a flash and the stones fell harmlessly around her.

"Great job Rose!" Cynthia cheered as her pokemon reappeared. "It'll be just fine! We don't need Tristan, you and Aud are more than enough to finish off the rest of Blake's pokemon! Now, use psybeam on Rogen!"

"Kirlia!" Rose lifted her hands and fired a beam of rainbow light, bombarding the Rock type pokemon. Rogen withstood the attack, but it clearly did some serious damage. He steadied himself, only to se a barrage of rainbow-colored leaves flying towards him.

"Bold!" Rogen endured himself as the magical leaves cut into his hard body, but due to their mystical nature he couldn't insulate himself from all the damage. He bellowed with anger and charged forward, digging his claws into the ground.

"Bulldoze!" Blake ordered.

Rogen sent a shockwave through the ground that slammed into Rose, knocking her off of her feet. She tumbled back and tried to steady herself, but failed to keep herself upright successfully. Before Rogen could capitalize on this, however, Rose had already teleported away.

"Use calm mind!" Cynthia shouted. Rose closed her eyes and began to glow blue, focusing her psychic powers to strengthen herself. While her special stats increased, Rogen seized the opportunity to bombard her with a powerful rock blast. But to Blake's amazement, the attack didn't hit its target. Rose, with her eyes still closed, evaded the blows.

Blake wasn't the only one who'd learned a thing or two from his teacher. Cynthia and Rose had been learning a lot from the Commander; particularly, from him and Corrin. While Rose wasn't quite at the Lucario's level, she had learned a little bit about how to evade enemy attacks while also concentrating her abilities thanks to her psychic powers. Because of that, Rose was able to dodge Rogen's rock attacks, and prepare a countermeasure.

Rose's eyes snapped open and the aura around her increased in size and intensity. She released the psychic powers she'd gathered and hit Rogenwith a full-force psychic attack, lifting him into the air as he was assault with powerful psionic energy.

Rogen was flung through the air, crashing down to the ground. He scrambled to rise, but with his meager special defenses there wasn't much he could do to resist a calm mind-boosted Kirlia's psychic attacks.

Blake could tell that Rogen didn't have much lft in him. The right thing to do in this situation was probably to order Rogen to blow himself up, but with his current lead, it didn't seem necessary. Right now, with Cynthia…

He quickly shook his head. No. Don't underestimate her. If she's not using Tristan, it's gotta be because she thinks she can win without him. I need to take this seriously.

"Rogen!" He shouted. "Use-"

He didn't have a chance to give the order, because thousands of glowing leaves rained down on Rogen, slicing him up. His Boldore wailed in pain before succumbing to his injuries, collapsing helplessly to the ground.

"…Sorry, Rogen, I was a little slow," Blake apologized, recalling his Boldore. He turned to Cynthia. What's UP with her?

What IS up with Cynthia? She's certainly acting strange. Hopefully, Blake will be able to figure out what's going on. Cynthia's going pretty well, but she's definitely acting odd. If she's not going to use Tristan, then what strategy DOES she have for winning the battle, I wonder?