Gerard's challenged the Commander to battle! And not only that, a double battle! Alden managed to beat him in a one on one, but will he be able to match against Gerard in a double battle? Now that Gerard has all this knowledge from Samarra, his skills are sharper than ever before, and the Commander may be in for a struggle!

KedharS: It would be very bad if Samarra and Alden became friends, and everyone became as good a pokemon battler as he is. Very bad.

Guest: It's definitely not a good omen, that's for sure.

Hyphenman: Wes got a call from Hiromi, explaining what happened with Olivia and Alcea back in Agate Village. We'll get to see that soon enough. If you want a refresher on most of the stuff you mentioned, check out Chapter 1025/1018.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1074

For the first time in an eternity, Gerard felt content.

He'd lived his whole life trying to meet the expectations of his family, and upon realizing that it was unlikely they would ever acknowledge his skills, he found himself having a crisis of faith. But he pushed forward and focused on challenging himself, increasing his strength as a trainer until he reached the point where he was talented enough and thought highly enough about himself to be confident with the assertion that he was strong.

But it seemed that no matter how strong he got, no matter how good of a trainer he became, no matter how skilled he was at battling, it never seemed to be enough. He just couldn't win. People wouldn't acknowledge his strength. It was like he was shouting into the darkness, and there was no one there to hear.

That all changed when he met Samarra.

Finally, there was someone who understood him. Someone who he could trust, who cared about him and wanted to see him succeed. She knew that he was strong. Maybe not the strongest, but she gave him the respect and acknowledgment he craved, and he was finally, finally content.

So when she asked him to become friends with his former enemy, the Commander, of course he was willing to listen. Personal grudges didn't mean a damn thing in the face of friendship, so he was happy to swallow his resentment and bring the Commander into the fold.

But deep inside, in the part of himself that Samarra wasn't bonded with, the part that was Gerard, he felt a swell of irritation at the fact that his friendship with Samarra wasn't enough. He could understand where she was coming from, of course, because she wanted to be friends with everybody. But she couldn't blame him for wanting to b the star of her attention. And to her credit, she didn't. She knew exactly how he felt, and would respect those feelings, but that was the end of it. She still wanted his help, and he would still, of course, give it.

And that was how he found himself teaming up with Gabrielle to defeat the Commander and bring him into their circle of friendship.

"Come on, Commander," he taunted as his Kabutops rose up to his feet, shaky from taking the counter attack head-on but not yet defeated. "Let's settle things. I know you can do better than that!"

Gerard turned his attention away from the wounded Swampert to Alden's Mimikyu. He was well aware of Mimikyu's ability, Disguise, and that it would be a powerful shield against stronger attacks. So before Burei could be defeated, he wanted to at least break through the pokemon's guard. Luckily, he had the perfect means at his disposal.

"Burei, use aqua jet!" He ordered. With the speed from Swift Swim and aqua jet's priority, he would be able to strike at blinding speed, even though he might not do much damage. Such an attack wouldn't finish off Finn, but it would certainly break through the Disguise, which was all that mattered to Gerard right now.

"Kabutops," Burei hissed, scraping his claws together. He lowered his head and dashed forward, the rain swirling around him and forming into a veil of water. Before Mimi could react, Burei was upon her, swinging his blade.

But the slash passed through the air.

Mimi had sunken into the shadows to avoid the attack, relying on shadow sneak to evade. Shes shot under Burei's feet and appeared behind him, striking him in the back with a claw formed of shadowy energy.

"Kabutops!" Burei roared in pain, stumbling forward. He hadn't expected such a blow, and didn't have the strength to withstand it.

"Now, Finn, use flip turn," Alden ordered.

"Swampert!" Finn lowerd his head and lumbered forward,, water swirling around him as he tackled the Kabutops, knocking him backwards. As he did, he turned on his heel and returned to his pokeball for the Commander's next time.

"Tracey, go," he said, sending out his Cinderace next. The rabbit pokemon emered, wiping the rain from her forehead and preparing to run. But there was no need, because the moment she came out, Burei collapsed in front of her, finally succumbing to all the damage that had been inflicted on him.

Gerard sighed. "Well, I suppose that counts as a scratch," he admitted, recalling Burei to his pokeball. "But it doesn't matter. You've still taken far more severe losses than I have, Commander." He smirked. "And here I thought you were an incredible trainer of some sort. You even beat me. And yet, I've been able to take the lead in this little exchange, how do you feel about that, I wonder?" He asked, stroking his chin.

Alden didn't bother replying. The battle wasn't over until it was over. "Are you done?" He asked. "Send out your next pokemon."

"Gladly!" Gerard shouted. "Tank, go!"

Gerard sent out a second ancient pokemon to take Tank's place. The Bastiodon emerged and the ground shook, and he roared furiously as he lumbered forward.

"That's an interesting choice…" Chloe mumbled under her breath.

"Hmm?" Maddi glanced at Chloe and the other girl gasped.

"O-Oh, um, no, nothing. Never mind!" She stumbled over her words, shaking her head rapidly. "I was just saying… oh, it doesn't matter."

"No, tell us," Rui said gently. "You know more about battles than I do, anyway."

"Well… Bastiodon and Rhyperior are both physically bulky pokemon, so it makes sense to use them against the Commander, whose active pokemon are both physical attackers," Chloe explained. "But… they're both slow. Bastiodon and Rhyperior both. And the Commander's pokemon, they're both very fast… compared to before, when he used a fast, fragile pokemon with high attack and a slow, bulky pokemon with high defense, this seems like a much weaker combination…"

Realizing she was getting ahead of herself, Chloe quickly walked back her analysis. "Oh, I mean… this is all just speculation… I don't know for sure, it's just, um…"

"Don't worry about it," Rui said, even though he voice betrayed some worries of her own. "I trust your judgment. But I don't think we need to be concerned…"

And yet she was. The way Gerard was battling… she'd never seen the boy fight before, and she was no expert, of course, but he seemed to know a thing or two about double battles. It reminded her of the times she'd seen her daughter train against her husband.

"Tank," Gerard called, "use iron defense!"

"Bastiodon," Tank bellowed, lowering his head. The dark plates that made up his wide face began to shine, turning harder than steel.

"Not a surprise you would bother increasing your defenses," Alden said. "But you should be wary, my pokemon are capable of more than just physical attacks, right, Tracey?"

"Cinder!" Tracey nodded, running forward. In spite of the rain, flames began to kick up around her legs, and she soon cloaked herself in greaves of fire. Tracey raced in a circle around Tank, and in moments a tornado of fire leapt up around the pokemon in defiance of the pouring rain. The fire attack didn't do much damage, but Tank was immobilized.

"Bastiodon!" The pokemon growled, stomping on the dirt. A silver barrier of light rose up around his body, protecting him from the flames, and from something else as well.

"Now, Temblor!" Gerard shouted. "Use earthquake!"

"Rhyperior!" Temblor roared, stomping on the ground as well. E released a devastating shockwave through the ground, causing the entire plaza to shake.

"Mimikyu!" Mimi wailed as her Disguise was broken, her false head plopping over lopsided.

Tracey was a little quicker on her feet, however. She leapt up into the sky, taking to the air with her bounce attack.

"You won't be able to take us down that easily," Alden snapped. "Mimi, quick, use swords dance!" If his team wanted to break through the massive defense of their foes, they would need to increase their physical strength. Gerard had actually had quite an impressive opening strategy, defeating one of Alden's best special attackers in Espeon and invalidating another in Vikavolt. With Finn's injury, Alden was forced to rely on his physical attackers, which wasn't the most reliable situation to be in.

But he would make the most of it. He could "sense" that this battle was just getting started, and he wasn't about to baulk at a difficult situation. They could do this!

"Mimi!" Mimi scurried towards Temblor, sharpening her attacking strength. There was no sense in going after the Bastiodon after he'd increased his defenses so considerably, it was a better use of her efforts to go after the more vulnerable Rhyperior, who had already been injured from Finn's earthquake attack earlier.

"High horsepower," Gerard ordered. Temblor lowered his horn and scuffed his foot against the ground to prepare for a charge, and then lunged for Mimi. But before he could hit her, Tracey dropped down in front of him, spinning her foot and catching him in the jaw with a powerful kick. The attack itself did almost no damage as it was a Flying type move, not a Fighting type, but it was enough to stop the pokemon's charge.

"Urgh," Gerard growled in frustration.

"Nicely done," Maddi murmured, cracking the faintest of smiles. Due to Tracey's Libero ability, she had turned into a Flying type when she used bounce. Then, coming crashing down to earth, she'd thrown herself into the path of Temblor's high horsepower. A reckless strategy under normal circumstances, but with the Flying type, it rendered the Ground type attack completely ineffective.

But Gerard didn't specialize in Ground types. He specialized in rock. And there were several ways a Rock type pokemon could take care of a pesky flyer, especially one that was too fast to deal with under normal circumstances.

"Tank!" He shouted to his Bastiodon. "Rock slide!"

"Bastiodon!" Tank stomped his foot, ripping several bricks out of the plaza ground and flinging them in a wave at Tracey. But he really should have known better than to think he'd hit either pokemon that easily.

"Cinderace!" Tracey tucked her head in and picked up speed, evading the falling stones with her agility. At the same time, Mimi silently sunk into the darkness, using shadow sneak to dodge the rock slide as well.

"Bulldoze," Gerard ordered. Temblor sent another tremor through the ground, this one managing to trip Tracey up. She tumbled forward, speed lowered, opening up the avenue for an attack to follow. "Now, use earthquake, Tank!"

"Baton pass," Alden snapped quickly. The ground began to shake, injuring Mimi, but Tracey was able to take advantage of the opening, retreating to her pokeball. "Now Jaune, come back out!"

"Vika!" Jaune buzzed, emerging from his pokeball. His wings fluttered and he took to the air, avoiding the Ground typ attacks with his Levitate ability.

"He sent his Vikavolt back out?" Chloe asked, confused. "But why? He still hasn't dealt with the Rhyperior yet…"

Maddi was also confused. But Gerard wasn't. He narrowed his eyes.

"What are you thinking?" He wondered. Then, Rui and Maddi both gasped.

Something had changed about Gerard. Rui stumbled back, feeling a little sick to her stomach. It looked like… like there was a dark aura suddenly surrounding the boy. A mass of writhing spirits seemed to be churning around him, and it almost reminded her of seeing a Shadow Pokemon. It was like a countless amount of people were gathered in one body, all trying to get out.

That was similar to what Maddi was seeing. But unlike Rui, who'd been seeing things her entire life, Maddi's harmonia had only recently developed. She didn't know how to process what she was looking at, and it made her feel sick.

But she could also see something that Rui couldn't. Because now, Maddi could place that ominous feeling she had seen earlier, when Gerard and Elle first came. It had been amplified, and now she knew for a fact what she was looking at- it was this horrific sight.

"What is it?!" Chloe wailed. "What's going on?" She was just a normal girl, she didn't have any of these special harmonia powers.

"…I see," Gerard smirked. His eyes opened, and the aura died down to barely a glow. "So that's what you're planning. I hadn't even considered that possibility."

Alden blinked. "What? What's this, now?"

"You were planning to lower my guard with that Vikavolt, weren't you?" Gerard smirked, pointing at Jaune. "You switched him out before, pretending that Temblor's Lightning Rod ability was crippling. When the truth is… you didn't have any reason to be worried, did you?"

Alden narrowed his eyes. "…I don't know what you're talking about," he said seriously.

"I'm talking about energy ball," Gerard clarified, and Alden's eyes bulged with shock. "…That's right. Just as I thought. Your Vikavolt knows energy ball, doesn't he?"

"That's… how did you-?!" Alden was more impressed than shocked.

"Wait, if his pokemon had a move like that, then why did he switch out?" Chloe asked, confused. "I mean… Kabutops and Rhyperior were both four times weak against Grass type moves. If the Commander's Vikavolt could use one, then wouldn't spamming it have been the right move?" It wasn't a strategy she could understand.

"He was baiting," Maddi said. "In a pokemon battle, when you have a move that's a trump card, you save it for the very end. That's what he tried, anyway. Isn't that right?"

"Exactly," Gerard smirked. "You wanted me to think you're your Vikavolt didn't have a ton of coverage, so that I would be reckless. By making him out to not be a threat, you could you're your strongest move for when you absolutely needed it, and catch me off-guard. That was your plan, anyway, but what you didn't count on was the fact that I knowyou're your strategies. I've got friends who know exactly what you're capable of, and they're all telling me how to beat you."

Gerard tapped the side of his head, his smile wider than ever before.

Alden narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Friends, huh… is that what's going on?"

"Exactly," Gerard said smugly. "They all want you to lose, and me to win. What's it like, Commander? To not be the favorite? To not have anyone supporting you?"

Gerard's chest swelled with pride. He was finally where he always wanted to be. He had the full support of Samarra and her friends. He could feel them all cheering him on through Samarra, supporting him, telling him how much they wanted him to win. He was facing the Commander, the trainer he had always come up short against, and he was actually winning!

"This is my moment!" He crowed. "Temblor, return!" He had no interest in his Rhyperior falling victim to the Vikavolt's energy ball.

"That's not good," Chloe winced. "He saw through the Commander's plans…"

"True," Maddi admitted. "But without that Rhyperior out there, he's let Jaune use his Electric type attacks again. And with this rain, that's a very risky prospect. It all depends on which pokemon he uses next."

She said that, but she had a suspicion she knew who he was going to send out.

"Golem!" The round pokemon roared, emerging from his pokeball. He lowered his head, revealing the large magnet protrusion on his back, which began to crackle with electricity itself.

"As I figured, you switched to your Golem," Alden said, narrowing his eyes.

"Of course," Gerard smirked. "This is what we've been waiting for! You think I wouldn't want to make the most of this rain?"

"Golem!" Gerard's Golem released the electricity he'd been building up into the air, and summoned a massive lightning bolt from the rainclouds gathered ahead. The thunder dropped down on Mimi before she even knew what happened, frying her with a powerful electric attack.

"MIMIKYU!" Mimi wailed, struck by the lightning. There wasn't much she could do to resist it.

"Nicely done, Shocker!" Gerard cackled. "Now, finish them both off!"

"I don't think so!" Alden shouted. "Jaune, use energy ball!"

"Vikavolt!" Jaune opened his jaws and created a glowing orb of grassy energy. Using his long mandibles as a rail, he fired the orb at th Golem, hitting him directly. Shocker growled in pain, but shrugged it off easily.

"You won't get us that easily," Gerard promised. "Your pokemon might be strong… but we're stronger. And we refuse to give in so easily! Shocker, use smack down!"

"Golem!" Shocker charged forward and raised his hands, slamming a massive stone wave down on Jaune, knocking him to the ground. Jaune hit the ground hard, knocked out of the sky, which rendered him helpless to any Ground type attacks that might come.

But Alden and Jaune were seasoned trainers. That wouldn't be enough to take them down.

"Jaune, we can make use of the rain, too," Alden shouted to his Vikavolt. "Use thunder!"

"Vika!" Jaune buzzed, climbing to his feet. Electricity built up in his body and he launched the discharge up into the rainclouds, dropping a powerful bolt of lightning down upon Tank, hitting him with an even more devastating Electric type move.

"Bastiodon!" Tank bellowed in pain, but the thunder attack wasn't enough to defeat him. He let out a roar of defiance and stomped the ground, and th entire plaza began to shake.

"Oh, no!" Chloe cried. "It's another earthquake!"

"That's not good," Maddi winced. "Jaune was knocked out of the air." But on the plus side, Gerard's Golem was four times weak to Ground type attacks. That meant he would be especially vulnerable to the power of earthquake.

At least, that's what she thought, anyway.

"Golem…" Shocker growled. Electricity began to run across his body, and he slowly began to levitate off of the shaking ground.

"Magnet rise, huh?" Alden scowled.

"You didn't really think I'd throw around an attack like this in a double battle without knowing what I was doing, did you?" Gerard smirked. "This is how you do a double battle, Commander!"

The ground shook even harder, and the powerful shockwaves devastated Alden's side of the battlefield. Neither Jaune nor Mimi could withstand them.

Uh-oh. This doesn't look good for the Commander! He's actually losing to Gerard of all people! Gerard's really pulled out all the stops in his quest for revenge, taking full advantage of his skill at double battles from Samarra's assistance to put Alden on the ropes! Will he be able to come up with a winning strategy? Or will he lose, and become Samarra's newest friend?