Things are still a little tense with Gerard. Just because he was freed from Samarra's control, that doesn't mean that everything is back to normal. There are still a lot of problems that need to be confronted, and the issue with Samarra is only going to keep growing. If our heroes want to stop her, then they'll need to get prepared quickly! But are there other problems abound?

KedharS: I would be pretty worried too, if I was in her shoes. I guess we'll have to find out.

Hyphenman: You're right, things with Gerard are pretty problematic for Diana. At least her defeat made for an epic moment.

EeveeCatlette890: That is one issue, but also the form isn't really filled out properly, and there aren't enough pokemon.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: That's a lot of interest and speculation. Very well-thought-out. I will tell you one thing that you may not be happy about, though, and that's the fact that this arc WILL have a lot of battles involving Alden. It just will. Three more, at least, and they're all as important as this last one was. There's a reason we took a break in the middle to go to Hoenn, to prevent too much fatigue building up.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1082


"What do you mean?" Alden asked, narrowing his eyes. "Why do you not want to go back to the Battle Frontier?"

Rui looked a little queasy. "It's not that I don't want to go back," she said quietly. "I do. I think it's important that we make sure everyone's safe. But the problem is, there's something else important in Agate Village that I think we need to check up on."

"What's so important in Agate Village?" Maddi asked.

Rui turned to her with a solemn expression on her face.

"Gerard isn't the only one who was possessed by this Samarra, it seems," she said. That was the other thing her husband had told her. Hiromi had called Wes, and explained what had happened in their absence. Everything about what had happened with Olivia, and the way she had challenged Alcea to a battle, only to return to normal after Alcea had defeated her.

"So you think Olivia was possessed by this Samarra," Alden said thoughtfully. "But was she really able to put up such a fight against Alcea? Knowing her ability as a trainer…"

"What do you mean?" Rui asked, confused.

"Olivia is well-known at the Pokemon Academy to have about zero aptitude for pokemon battles," Maddi explained. "She's just not a very good trainer. So the fact that she was able to fight Alcea so well, it doesn't make sense, even with possession."

Chloe remembered the time that Olivia had fought against Alcea in the Miss Pokemon Academy Contest, and had actually given her a run for her money. But she didn't feel like now was the right time to offer that information.

"Well, what the hell does that mean?!" Gerard demanded. His throbbing headache, frustration from losing, and overall unpleasantness at being forced into this situation with people he despised were putting him in an irritable mood.

"I think it means that when Samarra possesses someone, she… does something to them," Alden mused, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "Maybe she even has the ability to make them into stronger trainers. I know that Gerard really gave me one hell of a fight."

"And that means that Samarra boosted my abilities?" Gerard growled, narrowing his eyes. "I'll have you know that I'm more than capable of defeating you in an actual battle, Alden!" He shouted, storming over to the other trainer.

Alden gave him a cautious look and shrugged his shoulders. "If you say so," he said. "I'm not interested in verifying that one way or another." It was one of the very few instances where Alden had no intention of engaging in a pokemon battle. It was a combination of knowing that there were more important things to take care of, and a general lack of respect for Gerard as a pokemon trainer and as a human being.

"Why you-!" Gerard stormed towards Alden but Maddi stepped between the two of them, pushing him back. She was glaring. Maddi had gone through enough shit tonight, and she didn't want to deal with more bullshit right now.

"Back off," she growled. Her frustration was leading her to be actually proactive, which was a surprise. She sighed and turned to Alden. "It's up to you, dude. What do you want to do? She honestly wasn't sure what the right call was in this situation. Do they head back to Agate Village to regroup? Or do they waste time catching up to the others?

Chloe fidgeted. She had something she wanted to say, but wasn't sure if now was a good time to talk. She was afraid that everyone would hear her and call her out for her statement.

"What is it, Chloe?" Rui asked quietly, turning to the other girl. Chloe flinched, staring up at Rui. It was clear that she was stressed about this herself; how couldn't she be? Her daughter was at risk- everyone was!

Chloe knew that in spite of what she'd said, Rui really wanted to go back to the Battle Frontier to be with her daughter. But she was trapped between a rock and a hard place.

Well… Chloe didn't want to make her burden any heavier. That would just be awful, if she said what she said. So she held her tongue.

But Rui didn't. She pushed forward. "I'm serious," the older woman said, reaching out and placing a comforting hand on Chloe's shoulder. "If you have something that you want to say, we're all willing to listen. This is important, and it's clear something is bothering you."

Chloe didn't know what to say. Even though her face was fully covered, this woman still seemed to be able to see right through her. It was honestly rather unnerving. She still didn't want to say anything, but the insistence in Rui's eyes was weakening her resolve.

She sighed and hung her had, glancing away from Rui. Is this something about harmonia? She wondered. Some amount of perception? I just can't get around that…

Not seeing any other options, Chloe explained what she was thinking about.

"I was just thinking… Olivia isn't a pokemon trainer, right?" Chloe reminded everyone. "She's a Pokemon Coordinator first."

"Yeah, so what?" Gerard scoffed, and Maddi shot him a glare telling him to shut the hell up. He fell silent and glared back.

Chloe flinched, baulking under Gerard's harsh words. But she pushed on regardless. "I-I'm just saying, well… it seems unlikely that she would challenge someone to a pokemon battle, right? Or even accept one…"

"That's what we're saying," Alden said. "It's gotta be because she was under the influence of that Samarra woman."

"Um…" They just weren't getting it! But Chloe's timid nature made her voice get softer and weaker, instead of more forceful and sure of herself. Her next words came out as barely a whisper. "I-I mean… before that…"

Everyone took a moment to process that.

"What do you mean?" Rui asked, confused.

"Well…" Chloe glanced cautiously over at Gerard. "When Gerard was… influenced by Samarra… was it because he lost a pokemon battle? I can imagine that, but… what if it was simpler than that? Because if Samarra and the people she's controlling turn trainers by winning pokemon battles… how does Samarra turn the people who don't use their pokemon for fighting? Or the people who don't even have pokemon at all… you know?"

She weakly ended her statement with a question, not at all sure of herself. But she'd put the thought out there, and other people were quick to run with it.

"You've got a point," Alden said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. A shadow crossed his face. "A really GOOD point. Yeah, you're right… there's no way that woman would have gotten into a pokemon battle of her own accord. She must have been turned some other way."

Chloe's heart soared. Vindication! She wasn't crazy after all!

"R-Right!" She said, nodding her head eagerly. "So there must be some other way to sway people under her control!"

It made logical sense. But it still didn't raise any major concerns.

"Alright, say that's the case," Rui agreed. "What do you think we should do with that information? What does that change?"

"W-Well…" In Chloe's mind, it changed everything. But she had to get the words out. "It's like… if you don't need to win a pokemon battle to control someone… like, say, if you could just touch them, then… why would Gerard have a pokemon battle in the first place?"

"To prove myself," Gerard snorted, causing Chloe to flinch again. There was so much hostility in his voice, and she didn't know how to deal with it. Luckily Maddi was there to give him another warning look.

Chloe pressed on. "But… Gabrielle was here too, and she fled. Wouldn't she have stayed and tried to control Alden or one of us, while we were exhausted and our guard was down?"

"So you're saying that Gabrielle couldn't just turn us by a touch?" Maddi clarified. "Okay, so… what ARE you trying to say, then?"

That was a very good question. And Chloe was having trouble trying to articulate the answer. She took a deep breath and sighed.

"What I'm saying is… Gerard and Gabrielle couldn't change people just by touching them, or sending mental signals to them, or anything else. Gerard explicitly had to battle the Commander, right?" She looked around to everyone for confirmation. "But… we also know Olivia never would have battled either of them, or anyone else, for that matter. The only person she'd ever have a pokemon battle with is Alcea."

"So what are you saying?" Rui asked, trying to be as encouraging as possible.

Chloe took a deep breath and exhaled. This was it. She'd either blow this whole thing wide open, or be laughed off of the battlefield.

"What if those two can only change people by pokemon battles, but Samarra herself could do it easier?" She asked. "I mean, think about it. Rafe and Dokukage said that they ran from Samarra after she turned everyone in her group, which includes Gerard and Gabrielle, right? Could someone really take on, and win, against the both of them so quickly? And so absolutely that talented trainers like those two would run for help?"

"My group also has the Phantom, Richard Valon, in it," Gerard offered. "And Evangeline Moonshadow as well, she's a very talented trainer. Lana and Keahi too."

"That's a lot of very skilled trainers," Alden agreed. "You're right, Chloe, I don't see how it's possible for one person to defeat all of them in pokemon battles one after another. Even I would have trouble with a gauntlet like that."

"So you're saying there has to be something else involved," Rui said, going a little pale. "Some other way to turn people?"

Chloe didn't like the fact that that was what she was saying, but she couldn't deny it, either. She reluctantly nodded her head.

Everyone else looked at each other and sighed. This was really bad.

"So that means Samarra might be somewhere close to Agate Village," Maddi said, her bluntness letting her once again say what everyone else was thinking. "She must have used this other method, whether through touch or something else, to turn the Empress into her servant. And she might still be in the area."

"R-Right," Chloe said, relaxing a little since it appeared that she and Maddi were on the same page. "So what I was thinking… it might be for the best if we go to Agate Village after all, and regroup with everyone. We don't know when Samarra might attack there if she really is so close, and if we're lucky, then…"

She didn't want to say anything because she didn't want to jinx it. But all of them were on the same page. If they did get to Agate Village, there was a chance they could find Samarra quickly, and stop her before she made any more "friends".

The only problem was, that meant they would have to leave Vic and the others behind at the Battle Frontier while they went to check on Agate Village. And that wasn't something that Rui was particularly comfortable with.

She took out her phone and tried to call her daughter again, but it went straight to voicemail. There just wasn't any signal that far out in the desert, unfortunately.

"I can't reach her," Rui sighed. She didn't know what to do. She was the adult in this situation, she should be able to come up with something. But the only thing she could think of was calling the police for help.

Two problems with that. The first problem was that the police of the Orre Region were notable for their incompetence, at least, the ones who weren't outright corrupt. This was the same police force that had been routed by Cipher and Team Snagem over twenty years ago, and things hadn't exactly improved for the region since then.

The second problem was, well… what exactly was she going to say? "There's this strange woman, who might have been staying at Mt. Battle, and she's controlling a bunch of trainers that, if they defeat you in a pokemon battle, will cause you to become possessed like them. Oh, and there's also a chance that she can control you just with a touch as well. Good luck!"? She would sound like a complete fool. There was no way that would work.

So the police were out of the question. That meant they'd have to rely on the trainers themselves. And with Orre not being home to the most altruistic type of folk, her husband as the Hero of Orre would be the only recourse left.

Him, and whatever kids they could conscript.

It could be worse… these kids are older than I was, when I was fighting with Wes. She knew that teenagers could do what needed to be done to save the day; her husband had proven that a long time ago. But as an adult, as mother, it just felt wrong having these children fight her battles for her. If only she had a pokemon of her own…

Rui quickly shook those thoughts from her head. There was no use worrying about stuff like that. She didn't have a pokemon, and that was that. But that didn't change the fact that she needed to take charge. She was the adult here. It was her responsibility to look after the little ones and make sure that everything turned out okay.

"Okay, here's what we're going to do," she declared, startling everyone with her forcefulness. It was the same tone she used with Wes, when he was really being an idiot. "Alden! That woman friend of yours, Anabel."

"Um, they're nonbinary," Maddi corrected. Rui blushed sheepishly and cleared her throat. In the heat of the moment she'd forgotten.

"…Yes. Excuse me. Do you trust them? Are they a strong trainer?"

"They're as strong as I am," Alden confirmed. "And in spite of the way they act sometimes, they're definitely responsible. And Scott is there too."

"Good," Rui nodded. "Then we'll leave the others with them. As for the rest of us, we're going to Agate Village. We'll regroup with Wes and the others, and track down this Samarra. Maybe if we defeat her, everyone she's controlling will be freed."

It was a pipe dream, but it was all she could bet on right now.

The others were shocked by Rui's declaration.

"Are… are you sure?" Alden asked. "You don't want to take a detour to go pick up Vic? It would only be a couple days or so…"

"Do I look sure?" Rui snapped, narrowing her eyes. "You're damn right I'm sure. The Orre Region is my home, you know! It may be a screwed up wasteland, but it's MY screwed up wasteland, and I'll be damned if I let some body snatcher bitch terrorize it! We're going on the offensive here, do you understand me?"

Internally she was smacking herself in the face for cursing in front of the kids, but she kept up her hard exterior. Vic didn't get it all from her father.

"Wow, that's… really something," Maddi said, nodding. "Okay. You're right. I'm in. Let's do this. Agate Village and regroup with the others, then we'll comb the mountain for this Samarra."

Chloe was too nervous to articulate her confirmation, but she nodded eagerly.

"You don't even have to ask," Alden said, smacking his fist into his hand. "I'm up for a battle all the time. And it sounds like this is a fight with something important at stake."

Rui nodded, pleased that everyone seemed to be on board with her suggestion. There was just one person left. She turned to Gerard.

"What about you?" She asked. "I know that things between you and everyone else here are tense, but you're a talented trainer, and we could really use your help here."

Gerard was caught off-guard by that. Rui had just given him a compliment. And honest to goodness compliment. He could see from the resolve in her eyes that she wasn't just stroking his ego with platitudes, what would even be the point? She genuinely understood that he was a skilled trainer, and wanted his help.

"That's… I mean…" Gerard's self-esteem wasn't so bad that he would capitulate to anyone who recognized his skills. But he had his own reasons to agree. "…Fine. If you all need my help so badly, then I'll go with you for now."

He turned to the Commander, who glanced away. Alden had nothing to say to the other boy, and he certainly wasn't going to validate Gerard's need for acknowledgment.

"Then we're ready to go," Alden said, turning to the others. "We know that Gabrielle is possessed, and probably the rest of Gerard's group as well. That means 7 people, 8 if we count their chaperone, I believe. And that's…?"

"A lady named Kiana, she's Lana's sister," Gerard said.

"And is she a pokemon trainer?" Rui asked.

Gerard just shrugged, how the hell was he supposed to know?

"So that's 7 trainers in total we have to worry about, then," Maddi said. "And honestly, probably more, since then. This woman… who knows how many people she could have brought under her sway since then, if she managed to possess Olivia? Hell, for all we know, we could be walking into a trap."

Chloe turned pale. The thought HAD occurred to her. For all any of them knew, these phone calls from Wes were just smokescreens; everyone could have already been possessed by Samarra, and they were trying to lure the Commander in.

"It's not a trap," Rui said, shaking her head. "There wouldn't be a point. Wes called me BEFORE Gerard attacked us. And it's pretty clear that he didn't intend to lose. What would be the point in setting a trap for someone who you already expect to have under your control?

That made sense. But Chloe still couldn't be sure. Maybe Samarra really was just that cunning.

"Well, we won't find out anything if we don't go," Alden said. He wasn't one for wondering about maybes. He was a man of action, and was fine with charging into the fray. Everyone agreed, and they headed for the Pokemon Center to recover their pokemon and get a place to sleep for the night, before setting out for Agate Village in the morning.

Gerard said nothing as he followed after them. But there was something in the back of his mind that apparently hadn't occurred to anyone else, but that he found very suspicious.

This Samarra woman… she controlled me with her powers. But could something like that work on a Mechadoll? There's no way that's possible…

So what the hell had happened to Misato then?


That is a very good question. What did happen to Misato? And for that matter, the Phantom? They disappeared. Have they fallen under Samarra's sway? Or does the Phantom have his own agenda that he's planning to implement? And for that matter, are Maddi's suspicions correct? Could Wes and the others have been converted off-screen, and they're just leading everyone into a trap? We'll have to find out!