The battle is really heating up! Gerard took an early lead, but the Commander is no slouch either, managing to mount a successful counter with his strategies that have led them to an even exchange with three pokemon left remaining each! But who will take the decisive lead that could make all the difference in the match? Will it be Gerard? Or the Commander? This is a real turning point of the battle!

KedharS: Gerard wants everybody's respect. It's kind of his thing.

Guest: Yup. Alden's a talented trainer because he's not as predictable as some of the other trainers he fights.

Hyphenman: Oh, that. Yeah, that was just a bit of a heads up of all the shit that's been going down. Not everything, of course, because Wes is still in the dark about a lot of it, but some stuff. Rui's still processing everything that's happened which is why I'm not focusing on it.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1076


Gerard was enraged as he recalled Temblor to his pokeball. He had planned things out perfectly, and yet, no matter how strong he'd become, the Commander still wouldn't fall to him! This wouldn't be permitted. He would defeat Alden, here and now!

"Archer!" He roared, sending out his Archen. "It's up to you!" He couldn't use Diana. Not yet. He had to save her for the very end. Until then, he would have to hope that Archer would be strong enough to pull his own weight.

"Archen!" The small pokemon squawked, flapping his wings to stay in the air. Under normal circumstances, Archen were not a breed of pokemon said to be capable of flying. In spite of their Flying typing, all evidence recorded on the specimens restored from fossilized DNA stated that they lacked the strength to remain airborne for prolonged periods of time.

But Archer was different. The Archen that Gerard had restored from a fossil wasn't just capable of flying, he excelled at it. Gerard couldn't have been more pleased. He knew that such talent was because it was his pokemon. It was the only explanation for such an anomaly. Even knowing that, though, Gerard couldn't be confident that such a weak pokemon would be able to win.

This isn't how it was supposed to happen, he cursed internally. I was supposed to defeat him! With everything I've obtained from the others, I should be strong enough now to pull off a victory! So why… why am I feeling so insecure all of a sudden?

To Gerard, it was like he was being pressured by Alden's aura as a trainer. Samarrra had acknowledged his strength and given him the understanding and acceptance that h always craved, but at the same time he knew that if he lost here, that would all go away. He couldn't have that. He couldn't go back to a world where no one respected him. Where all he could do was scrape at the upper crust of trainers and never break out into the spotlight himself.

"So that's your next pokemon?" Alden said, his voice calm and without care. "Alright then. We'll take you on, right Tracey? Finn?"

"Cinderace!" Tracey cheered. Finn silently nodded in agreement.

This wouldn't stand. Gerard had already lost one match to the Commander. If he couldn't even defeat him now…

"You don't need to worry so much, Gerard." Samarra's feelings ran through Gerard like electricity. "With my support, you will be able to defeat him. I'm sure of it. And so are you, isn't that right? You've fought so hard for the respect you desire… you know as well as I do that when you finally defeat the Commander, that respect will be yours. No one will think of you as a weak trainer anymore, no one will care. We'll all be acknowledging you."

Gerard could feel Samarra's confidence burning like a torch in her heart. She was right. He could defeat the Commander.

"I won't lose!" He roared. "I'll show you… I'll show everyone… I'm not some weak, pathetic trainer like the rest of them! I'm strong, and you'll see it!"

"Archen!" Archer squawked in agreement, and the ancient pokemon began to glow.

"What?!" Chloe gasped, shielding her eyes from the bright light.

Maddi winced, clutching her eye. This wasn't good.

"He's evolving, huh?" Alden noted.

Indeed, Archer was evolving. The small fossil pokemon that Gerard so often kept perched on his shoulder would never again be able to do such a thing, not in his new form. The light cleared and he floated above the plaza on wings even greater than the ones he'd had previously, his scaled head angling fiercely out in a roar. He spread his talons and flew through the air, long tail dangling behind him. Archer had evolved from Archen to Archeops, through sheer force of will from his trainer.

Gerard was stunned at the sight. But a twisted smile soon spread across his face and he burst out laughing.

"Perfect! This is just percet!" He cackled. "In our last match, I had Archer sabotage your Lucario by giving her a Lagging Tail… but there's no more need for tricks this time! Now, with this new power… we can defeat you with sheer brute force!"

"Not good," Chloe said, shaking her head frantically. "Maddi, that pokemon… oh!"

Her voice cut out as she saw the look of frustration on Maddi's face. The other girl must have realized it too, just what this meant.

"Tank!" Gerard shouted, turning to his Bastiodon. "Use earthquake!"

This was the reason Gerard had saved Archer this long. With a powerful Flying type pokemon in the battle, his other pokemon would be able to use earthquake after earthquake without concern. Tank might not have had the highest attack stat in the world, but with the weakened condition of the Commander's pokemon it might not even make a difference. An onslaught of earthquakes was in their future, coupled with attacks from above.

And the Commander certainly knew it.

"Finn!" He called to his Swampert. "Use protect! Tracey!"

Tracey didn't need orders, she already knew what to do. She sprang into the air on her powerful feet, jumping high above the tremors with bounce at the same time Finn created a blue barrier of light to protect himself.

But this time, Gerard was prepared.

"Archer!" He shouted to his pokemon, "use acrobatics! Knock that Cinderace out of the air, immediately!"

"Arch!" Archer tucked his wings and flew at a speed beyond what he ever could have as an Archen. With talons extended he unleashed a barrage of blows against Tracey, who was helpless in the air as she was. Unlike an actual Flying type pokemon, she lacked the maneuverability of her winged opponent, leaving her vulnerable to attack.

And quite an attack it was. Archer grabbed her leg in his claws and spun, flinging her down into the shaking ground. She hit hard, thankfully uninjured by the earthquake, but it didn't stop there. Archer spread his claws again, flying straight for the injured rabbit.

"Your Libero turned you into the Flying type, granting you immunity from my Ground type attacks," Gerard smirked. "But at the same time, you've opened the door to all the weaknesses inherent to the Flying type as well! Archer, use rock slide!"

"Archeops!" Archer screeched, spreading her wings wide. Stones and brick ripped out of the ground, hovering above Tracey for a fraction of a second before falling upon her in a devastating wave that buried the Cinderace alive in a mountain of rubble.

"No!" Chloe gasped.

"She's completely buried!" Rui couldn't believe her eyes.

Gerard roared with laughter. "Yes! This is it! This is exactly what I always wanted! To push you, to this extent… there couldn't be anything better than this! You've received the respect and admiration of so many people… respect that should belong to me! Well, once you've lost, you'll see… you'll understand exactly what I've been struggling so hard to achieve!"

"You think respect 'belongs' to you?" Alden asked, raising his eyebrow. "That you… 'deserve' it? Well, I've gotta say… respect isn't something that you're 'owed', Gerard, it's something that you have to earn."

That set him off. "I HAVE EARNED IT!" He spat, Samarra's harmonia amplifying the negative feelings that had been growing for so long in his heart. "Every day… my entire life… I've been struggling, forcing myself, becoming the man I needed to be! I've worked harder than anyone to become a trainer worthy of respect, and yet people like you-! People who I can defeat… they still won't even see me as someone worth their time!"

"You think that it's just strength that commands respect?" Alden asked. He thought about it. "I suppose… to a degree, you may be right. I won't deny that there are many people who flock to my side because of my strength as a trainer. And I can't say one way or another if you've really tried harder than I have. It's entirely possible that is the case. But… it's not just strength. It's not just because I have the best record as a trainer in the school. It's because I have something that you don't have, that's the reason why people respect me and not you."

"What?!" Gerard demanded, stomping his foot on the ground. "What could you possibly have that I don't?!"

Alden jammed his thumb into his heart and held his head up with pride. "I have a 'Sense' that you don't have, Gerard. And until you figure out what that means, you'll never get any further than this as a trainer. No matter what strategies you've learned or what moves your pokemon are capable of. It's as simple as that."

Gerard stared blankly at the Commander, trying to filter his words through the cloud of harmonia-fueld rage burning inside of him.

Then he laughed. "What garbage is that?" Gerard said, shaking his head. "Flowery, meaningless words! Your pokemon's been buried, Commander, there's no way she could have withstood an attack like that from my Archeops!"

"You're right," Alden admittted. "She definitely couldn't have."

The rubble and dirt began to crumble away, slipping to the sides to reveal what was buried underneath it.

But it wasn't the battered body of a Cinderace. What was buried was shiny and blue.

Gerard gasped in disbelief, and he wasn't the only one. None of the girls had noticed, which was rather surprising because, in hindsight, it should have been obvious. Even Gabrielle was caught off-guard, a shocking thing attributed to her connection to Samarra and Gerard impeding her abilities of observation.

Finn was nowhere to be seen. When the dust from the rock slide had settled, the Swampert had disappeared, and nobody had paid any attention, so focused were they on Gerard's screaming breakdown.

But he hadn't disappeared, of course. Before the attack had hit he had taken Tracey's place, buried beneath the rubble.

"How-?!" Gerard sputtered, shocked.

"Ally switch," Alden replied, smiling proudly. "Eifa showed it off quite a lot in the preliminary battle royale of the Phantom Cup, but it's a move Tracey knows too. Before she was hit by the rock slide, she used the move to trade places with Finn, who was immobilized in his protective barrier. Thus, the attack harmlessly bounced off his shield, while Tracey herself, well…

He pointed at Tracey, who had been hiding patiently in the shadows of the mountain of rubble up until now, just waiting for the opportunity to strike.

"Cinderace!" Tracey shouted, leaping up off of the rubble and taking to the sky, startling Archer.

"High jump kick!" Alden ordered. Tracey spun through the air and extended her powerful leg, spinning at top speed and hitting the fossil pokemon in the jaw. The force of her spin sent the Archeops tumbling out of the sky.

Tracey landed gently on the ground, catching her breath as the Archeops tried to right himself. But she wasn't going to give him a chance. She charged at him, going top speed, and prepared a powerful pyro ball.

She was moving so fast, she was only just barely able to catch herself and jump out of the way, before the ground beneath her feet exploded.

"Bastiodon!" Tank roared, stomping on the ground angrily. He'd been standing back, barely moving, but he could at least protect his fellow pokemon from attack.

"Tch," Alden clicked his tongue. So much for that plan. No matter, there were others. "Finn!" He shouted. "Hydro pump, now!"

"Swampert!" The barrier around Finn dropped and he opened his mouth wide, firing a massive blast of water at the Bastiodon.

"Tank, protect," Gerard ordered. Tank bunkered down and lowered the faceplate that made up his skull, creating a silver barrier of light around his body that caused the blast of pressurized water to bounce harmlessly off.

"Archeops!" Archer had been able to right himself, and flapped his wings, heading straight for Finn. But he wasn't able to get a good angle for attack because Tracey kept getting in the way. The aerial pokemon might have had the advantage, maneuvering in the sky, but now that Tracey was on the ground her speed couldn't be matched.

"Cinderace!" Tracey shouted, creating an even larger pyro ball than before, kicking it at the ancient pokemon with everything she had. Archer had to use all the maneuverability and agility he'd learned as an Archen to keep from getting hit by the attacks.

"That's the way, Tracey!" Alden shouted encouragingly to his pokemon. "Keep the pressure up, we'll tear him out of the sky soon enough!"

But he knew that Tracey only had a limited amount of fireballs to throw. He needed another method of shooting down the Archeops. Luckily, she had moves in abundance.

"Use shadow ball next," he ordered, and Tracey became the Ghost type, strafing at Archer with orbs of shadowy energy.

While that was happening, Finn was biding his time, waiting. He needed the Archeops handled so he could unleash another hydro pump on the Bastiodon the second the pokemon dropped his barrier. This would be a match of speed, and there was no way the ancient pokemon would be able to match the speed of his attack.

But to Finn's surprise, the Bastiodon came charging out of the barrier like a bullet, head lowered and ready to fight. He barreled forward like a tank, moving so fast that Finn was caught off-guard for a moment.

Gerard smirked. "Did you think Tank was just biding his time, waiting inside that barrier?" He crowed. He shook his head. "No… this whole time, he's been preparing, using his protect attacks to buy time, so he could use rock polish to enhance his speed!"

Indeed, Tank's armored body looked a lot sleeker than usual, and was shining in the light of the street lamps. It was hard to tell at night, but once it was pointed out the truth became obvious to see. He was faster now, much faster.

"Of course, with a base speed of 30, even with his speed stat maxed out he couldn't compete with, say, your Cinderace," Gerard admitted. But your Swampert? Oh, yes, that's a pokemon he can outpace quite easily. Now go, Tank! Double-edge!"

"Bastiodon!" Tank roared, slamming into Finn like a truck. The Swampert was pushed back by the force of the move, and the Bastiodon knocked him into the rubble before he could even attempt a counter attack.

"This isn't good," Chloe winced. She was used to Gerard fighting with slower pokemon. Now he was using an Archeops that could give Tracey a run for her money, and a Bastiodon that was faster than the Commander's Swampert. This wasn't looking good.

She glanced at Maddi, though, and saw the other girl wasn't concerned. Which was surprising.

Well… I suppose she's been working with the Commander for a lot longer than I have been, Chloe admitted to herself. I wonder what she's thinking right now that makes her so confident that he can pull this off?

Alden's brain was going a mile a minute. He had to come up with something, fast, before that Bastiodon overpowered the weakened Finn and put him in a bad position. He glanced at Tracey, and had the perfect idea what to do.

"Tracey!" He shouted. "Focus blast!"

Tracey blinked, startled by the order. But she realized what the Commander was asking her to do, and nodded. She held up her paws and began to focus her energy, scraping together a ball of concentrated fighting spirit.

"Archer!" Gerard shouted. "Quickly, evade it you're your agility!"

"Archeops!" Archer nodded, flapping his wings and increasing his speed, putting some distance between himself and the focus blast. It was a move that was famed for its inaccuracy, so with a decent amount of evasive maneuvering it shouldn't pose any problem.

But Gerard never stopped to consider why the Commander would use such an inaccurate attack. He would have known that a move like that wouldn't have a prayer of hitting Archer. But he didn't consider that line of thinking at all. Because as smart as Gerard might be, he was arrogant. He believed that he was better than the Commander; that he was the smarter, more competent trainer. And Samarra's influence fueled those beliefs, and it cost him dearly.

Because Tracey DID consider that. She knew how inaccurate her own move was, and she knew how fast her opponent was. She knew that her trainer would never seriously consider an order to use the move against her flighty foe, and that left only one target. So when Tracey dropped the focus blast before her foot, pulled back, and kicked with everything she had, it wasn't Archer who she was aiming at. It was Tank.

"Bastiodon?!" Tank gasped, having barely enough time to get out a surprised exclamation at the orb of fighting spirit flying straight at him. It collided in a massive explosion.

"Damn… that was close…" Gerard seethed, wiping the sweat from his brow. Focus blast. Against a Rock/Steel type pokemon like Tank, it would have been the end. Four times the effect. But the move never hit. Because while Gerard was right, and Tank wasn't faster than Tracey, he was still fast enough to get up protect.

But that was exactly what Alden had been counting on.

"Feint!" He ordered next. Tracey turned and ran towards Tank at top speed, ignoring the stunned Archeops who flew after her in vain. Her focus was solely on the barrier around the Bastiodon, and she lifted her fist to deliver a punch strong enough to break through it.

The barrier shattered to pieces and Tank stared back at Tracey, his eyes wide with shock. He just had time to see the mischievous grin wrap around the Cinderace's face before she vanished from sight.

…And Finn showed up to take her place.

"Ally switch!" Alden cheered.

"Bastiodon?!" Tank stumbled in confusion, backing up. But at this distance it didn't matter. Finn's arms shot out and grabbed the bulky pokemon's face, holding the iron shield tightly to keep the pokemon pinned down. It took a considerable amount of strength to hold the heavy pokemon where he stood, but he just needed to do it for a moment.

Finn held on just long enough to open his mouth, and hit the Bastiodon with a point-blank hydro pump.


Nice work, Alden! With an exceptional display of strategy and teamwork, the Commander has taken a commanding lead of the battle! I doubt Tank will be able to keep going after this, so Gerard is down to two pokemon remaining! He fought quite well in the beginning, but it seems that the Commander is quickly regaining ground! Will he be able to emerge victorious?