Callie's in a pretty rough position! Her Crabominable and her Hawlucha are both down, and Rafe's lost his Delphox, too! Those are some pretty powerful pokemon to lose, but that doesn't mean this battle is over just yet! They've both got some pokemon left that can deliver heavy hits, but at the moment, it looks like the same thing applies to Shinobu and Shima as well. This battle is still anyone's game at this point!

KedharS: That's good, things are only going to get more intense from this point on, I hope!

Leppievstheworld: Oof indeed.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1094


Mirar watched the exchange with a curious eye. Something didn't feel quite right. He turned to Dokukage to share his thoughts.

"Don't you think that something weird is going on with that Woobat?" He asked.

Dokukage blinked, hiding his surprise at the question. Or more that Mirar said anything at all. "Oh? What do you mean by that?" He asked curiously.

"Rafe is the president of the Pokemon Friends Club," Mirar explained. "But Woobat is a pokemon that evolves through friendship. I just find it odd that in a situation like this, we're dealing with a trainer who just has a Woobat."

Dokukage realized what Mirar was talking about. Rafe's pokemon deeply trusted him, and it was clear that he treated them well and had a very strong bond with them. So why had his Woobat not evolved already? It was a glaring question that warranted an answer, but he didn't have any to provide to the other trainer.

In fact, shouldn't that be something that the nosy Mirar would know? Well, Dokukage wasn't sure. But he certainly wasn't going to push the subject, and instead decided that it was better to focus on the battle itself.

Things weren't looking very good, after all.

"Return," Callie said, recalling Ken to his pokeball. Her hands were shaking. That made two of her pokemon easily taken down. Rafe was doing a lot better than she was, and they still had a decent advantage over their opponents, but it couldn't be denied that she was in a really state right now, given what pokemon she had left.

Callie glanced across the battlefield. The biggest problem she was dealing with right now was that Araquanid. The Pinsir was powerful, and was the pokemon that had finished off her Crabominable, but the Araquanid and its incredible speed when inside trick room were an unquestionable fact- and a very threatening one.

With a Water pokemon out here, I can't rely on Ferno, Callie thought to herself. She wanted to use Rio, but her newly-evolved Lucario was still getting used to her new body, and her current speed was too high for the trick room.

She took a deep breath, and exhaled.

It's not a problem, she convinced herself. You're just getting nervous over nothing. What are you doing? Are you really afraid of using one of your pokemon because of the chance that the opponent might have a type advantage?

She knew that in her current condition, the pokemon that had the best chance to turn things around was her Infernape. The only thing standing in her way at the moment was the fact that Araquanid had a major type advantage over Fire type pokemon due to its Water typing and (probably) its ability, as well as having a major advantage in speed.

I asked Rafe to use trick room for the sake of Ken, but it looks like that's coming to bite me in the ass, she thought, biting her lip fretfully. She shook her head. There was no point getting upset over this. She needed to give it her all, and she couldn't afford to hold back!

"Ferno!" She shouted, flinging the pokeball into the air. "We need your help!"

"Infernape!" Ferno roared, emerging from his pokeball. The mane of fire spurting from his head burned intensely, and he beat his chest with pride.

"Another Fire type…" Shinobu was smiling behind her mask. "Kisara! That's just what we were hoping for! Use liquidation!"

"Ara!" Kisara chirped, rearing up on her hind legs. She summoned a torrent of water that wrapped around her body to form a massive bubble, and then shot towards Ferno like a bullet moving at high speed.

As expected, that speed's an issue. Callie was worried, but not incredibly so. Compared to before, when dealing with the Vivillon, it was a much better situation for a Fire type pokemon. And if Ferno had to get hit by a water move or two, then she would make do.

It wasn't like her Infernape was powerless.

"Ferno!" She shouted to her Infernape. "Use thunderpunch!"

"Infernape!" Ferno was slowed by the trick room, but he wasn't debilitated by it. He raised his fist and electricity began to gather through it, but not nearly fast enough to counter Kisara's attack. The Araquanid slammed into him, pushing him back, but he pushed forward, bracing himself on the grass, and engaged in a shoving match with his opponent.

With a growl, Ferno took a step forward and began to gain ground on the Araquanid, who was lacking the sheer power to hold up against the Infernape. Kisara realized she was in a bad position a fraction of a second too late to do anything about it.

"Infernape!" With a roar, Ferno delivered a devastating thunder punch on the Araquanid, electrocuting the water bubble covering her body. The Araquanid wailed in pain as the electricity surged through her, but she didn't fall. She scurried back, panting and badly injured.

"Great work, Ferno!" Callie cheered her Infernape on. A broad smile spread across her face. They were doing it! They were really doing it! They had a chance to win! She was thrilled that she'd decided to bet on her pokemon!

"Kalito, take down the Infernape," Shima ordered. He decided it was better to ignore the Woobat for now, and turn his attention to the bigger threat to both teams.

"Pinsir!" With Ferno on the battlefield, Kalito was no longer the slowest pokemon in the trick room. He lowered his horns and charged forward, his bulky body moving surprisingly fast in comparison to the monkey.

"Infernape?!" Ferno gasped, feeling Kalito's horns wrap around his stomach before he could respond. He kicked and thrashed as Kalito lifted him up into the air, squeezing him tightly with his powerful horns, dealing damage with a strong submission.

But some borrowed Fighting type moves wouldn't be worth spit in the face of a Fighting type expert like Callie. She kept a cool head, knowing the risks of a move like that. Kalito was putting so much force into thrashing Ferno that he was ignoring the backlash to his own body, causing himself some harm in order to deal damage.

Well, two could play at that game.

"Ferno!" She shouted. "Use flare blitz!"

"INFERNAPE!" Ferno roared. The flames spurting from his head increased in temperature and brightness, the intense fire wrapping around his body and cloaking him in a veil of destructive flames. The fire was so hot it even hurt Ferno himself, but that was nothing compared to the damage they did to Kalito, who was holding him so tightly.

"PINSIR!" Kalito chittered in pain, letting go of the burning hot Infernape and taking a step back, panting as his horns glowed white-hot from the effects of the flare blitz.

"Before using a move like that, you should really consider who you're using them against!" Callie crowed. "We won't be beaten by a couple Fighting type moves! Now go, Ferno, take him down with your flames!"

Ferno landed on the ground and turned towards Kalito, charging at him with a corona of flames burning around him.

Shima smirked. "Kalito, vital throw!" He ordered.

Kalito hunkered down, relying on his strengthened body to tank the hit. Ferno hit him head-on, and in a bizarre reflection of his exchange with Kisara, began to push the Pinsir back as Kalito braced himself against the grass.

But there were some slight differences. Kalito had prepared a vital throw attack, which meant he was expecting the charge. And because of that, he had lowered his body so Ferno had charged right into his horns.

Like a pair of tongs on a hot grill, Kalito grabbed Ferno gingerly with his horns and flipped up, using mostly Ferno's own momentum for the attack. He sent Ferno flying over his shoulder, the burning monkey thrashing helplessly through the air as he crashed to the ground.

"Ferno!" Callie cried. He'd already taken a severe backlash from the flare blitz, and that vital throw looked like a critical hit. She looked desperately to her brother for support only to see… Rafe was roasting fucking marshmallows. "RAFE!" She screamed. "What the hell are you doing?!"

Rafe glanced up at her, confused. "Snack," he said, offering a toasted marshmallow to his sister. "We need to keep our strength up for this battle, don't you agree?"

Callie wanted to punch him in the face.

"Woobat!" Formalin cried. Luckily, Rafe's pokemon were more invested in the battle than he was. As Kisara and Kalito advanced on the injured Infernape, a barrier of light appeared around Ferno's side of the battlefield, creating a reflect to block their physical moves.

"That won't work," Shima warned. "Kalito, use brick break to smash through that barrier!"

"Pinsir!" Kalito raised his horns and charged forward, smashing through the reflect like a sledgehammer through a window. He was charging straight for Ferno.

But he never made it there. Because Formalin had followed the reflect up with a psychic attack, and had lifted the bulky Pinsir up into the air with his psychic powers. Kalito struggled helplessly against Formalin's psychic grip. There was nothing he could do.

"Excellent work!" Rafe cheered his Woobat on. "Like that, there's nothing he can do!"

"Oh, so now you're getting invested?" Callie scowled. She shook her head. There was no point in focusing on this. She needed to pay attention to the battle or she would be no better than her annoying brother.

"Infernape!" Ferno rose to his feet, panting, flames burning on his fists. He charged at Kalito and unleashed a powerful fire punch that hit Kalito in the chest, sending him flying through the air with the air of Formalin's psychic power.

"Nice work!" Callie cheered both pokemon on.

"Kisara!" Shinobu shouted. She was more bothered than Shima was by Kalito's fall, and she was relying on her Araquanid to take them both down. Kisara charged at Ferno and covered her body in water, moving fast enough that there was no way for Ferno to dodge.

"Wooooo!" Formalin cheered, glowing. He switched places with Ferno, taking on the brunt of Kisara's liquidation, getting flung backwards by the force of the blow. Which opened things up perfectly for Ferno to turn and unleash a thunder punch on the Araquanid, hitting her in the back.

"ARAAAAA!" Kisara cried in pain as she was electrocuted once again. She collapsed to the ground and her legs twitched. To Shinobu's regret, her pokemon had fallen.

Keeping her composure, though, she recalled Kisara to her pokeball. It was time for her next pokemon, but which should she use? Her Parasect was out of the question. Even with the trick room in play, a Grass/Bug pokemon being used against a Fire type and a Flying type was a ridiculous choice. Similarly the case for her Forretress as well, who would be burned to cinders by the Infernape's Fire type moves, leaving only two options.

One option was her Heracross. A powerful, reliable pokemon, but also vulnerable to Flying type moves from the Woobat. The other was her Wormadam, again, a reliable choice. But there was a problem with using her.

Like her trainer, Minori adapted to suit her environment, changing her cloak depending on where she was fighting. Normally Shinobu could rely on her to be a powerful pokemon thanks to this, but that wasn't the case here.

Agate Village didn't have much in the way of sand and dirt. Nor trash, for that matter. It had a lot of greenery, but that meant that Minori's adaptations were limited. She would be stuck as a Bug/Grass type pokemon, and again, that was completely out of the question.

Before she could make her choice, though, the trick room collapsed, and that answered her question for her.

"No more trick room means no more speed for slower pokemon," she said. "Muramushi, I'll rely on you now."

"Heracross!" Muramushi growled, emerging from his pokeball. He beat his horn against the grass and stomped, lumbering towards the two pokemon he was facing

At the same time, Kalito stood up, clicking his horns together, and joined his comrade.

"It's a double beetle beatdown," Rafe noted, laughing at his bizarre attempt at a joke. Callie wasn't laughing. She knew how dangerous a Heracross could be, and that Pinsir had proven himself to be a threatening pokemon as well.

Dokukage was thinking similarly to Callie. He knew just how strong Shinobu's Heracross and Shima's Pinsir were.

Dokukage's very first pokemon was his Scizor. Back then, though, Muramasa was just a Scyther. They had all received one. Dokukage had been given Scyther. Shima had been given Pinsir. And Shinobu, the darling of the village, had been given a rare Bug type from the Johto Region, a Heracross. And they had all trained their pokemon to be as strong as could be.

Dokukage had felt himself falling behind his friends. Muramasa had evolved, he was the only pokemon of the three who had done so, gaining the powerful Steel typing. But he still doubted his own abilities, and still couldn't fight either of their pokemon as well as he would have liked.

He could only hope that Callie and Rafe would prove different.

"Muramushi!" Shinobu shouted. "Use rock blast!"

"Heracross!" Muramushi dug his horn deep into the ground and ripped a massive chunk of rock out of the field, flinging it at Formalin, along with several other rocks. The Woobat had been stunned from Kisara's liquidation, and wasn't in any shape to protect himself at the moment.

"We got this, Rafe! Don't worry!" Callie assured her brother. "Ferno! Use mach punch!"

"Infernape!" Moving at incredible speed, Ferno charged at the incoming rocks, and unleashed a lightning-fast punch that blasted the boulder into powder.

Callie smirked triumphantly. "What do you think? Like you said, ninja boy, psychic terrain protects pokemon on the ground from priority moves, but not those in the air- or the attacks that are in the air, for that matter!"

She felt pretty good about that, and patted herself on the back. More importantly, without the trick room in play, Ferno could use the full advantage of his speed! A stinging pain shot through her chest and she winced. Her wounds were acting up, and she needed to take care of this battle fast. She was sure they could do it now!

"Go, Ferno!" She ordered.

"Infernape!" Ferno charged at Muramushi, flames leaping up around him. He wasn't so reckless as to use a flare blitz, however. So he settled for a flame charge. The fire burning over his legs caused him to pick up speed, and he lunged at Muramushi, hitting the Heracross in the face.

"Hera!" Muramushi endured the hit easily, and smiled. He lowered his horn and struck Ferno in the throat, lifting him up into the air and flinging him back.

"Ferno!" Callie cried.

"That was reckless," Rafe warned her, shaking his head. "Callie, you need to think better than that, you should have known she was-"

"I don't want to hear it!" Callie snapped. "You've been reckless and careless this entire fight! You always are! Charging in when pokemon are about to use their attacks, I swear, the fact that you haven't gotten hurt is honestly-"

"Callie, listen to me!" Rafe snapped, startling his sister. The amount of times Rafe raised his voice could be counted on one hand.

"Wh-What is it?" She stammered.

"That pokemon isn't like the rest of the ones she used," Rafe said, calming down slightly. His smile had returned. "It's strong. The Pinsir is strong too. These are pokemon that have been raised to fight, like yours. Not just trained in how to use their moves, but actual combat."

Callie turned pale. In the Pokemon Fight Club, trainers sparred with their pokemon not just to increase their own physical abilities, but to help their pokemon develop the techniques to fight with things like martial arts.

If these two pokemon could fight like that…

"You walked right into that counter," Rafe said. "That's not like you. Are you sure you're okay? You're behaving pretty impatiently."

Callie's hand shot to her chest, where the throbbing pain from her injuries was a brutal reminder of how much damage she'd taken in her last serious battle against the Children of the Oracles. She may have been healed, but the scars remained, especially the ones on her soul.

"I-I know," she muttered, shaking her head. "You don't have to remind me!"

"Infernape…" Ferno rose to his feet, panting. He wasn't in very good shape. She didn't know how much longer he had left to fight, and that frightened her, even though she still had three pokemon left she could call on.

Rafe sighed, staring at the pokemon approaching. The Pinsir was injured, but still looked like quite a threat. And the Heracross was even scarier.

He turned to his own pokemon. Formalin was back in the air, ready to lend a hand. That made him smile. Perhaps this wasn't as much of a lost cause as it seemed.

"Oh, well, I guess there's no helping it," he decided. "I guess we'll have to take things a little more seriously, buddy. Don't you think?"

"Woobat!" Formalin bobbed up and down in agreement.

Rafe's smile grew wider. "Great! That's just what I want to hear! Okay, we'll use that! But I hope you won't have any regrets."

Dokukage was on the edge of his metaphorical seat. What was Rafe planning to do?! Some secret technique? A hidden trump card, some special Psychic type uber-move?

"Formalin, fling!" Rafe ordered, to everyone's confusion. Formalin flew forward and swung his wing, sending a small stone flying at Muramushi. It hit the pokemon in the face, bouncing harmlessly off of his tough shell.

Confused, Muramushi picked the smooth rock up to examine it. It was a pale grey color, and completely uninteresting.

But Mirar recognized it as an Everstone, and the last piece of the puzzle fell into place.

"Woobat!" Formalin cheered. Then he began to glow.


Well, that was quite a trick from Rafe. I don't think anyone saw weaponized evolution as a tool in his disposal! Now that Formalin doesn't have the Everstone, he can begin to evolve into a Swoobat! That should definitely help to turn the tide of this battle! When Rafe takes things seriously, he goes all the way it appears!