The fight against those who have taken over the Battle Frontier has begun! Our heroes have developed a plan, and it's up to two groups to fight back. Alden will be going to the Battle Tower to meet the challenge there, while the others will be going around and serving as a distraction! What will happen? Will everyone make it out okay? Will the decoys get captured and fall under Samarra's control? That wouldn't be good for us!

Jjjdunk1: It's going to be an exciting event. Hopefully they'll be able to overcome Samarra's brainwashed goons.

KedharS: That would be amusing, but it's more like Die Hard.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Yeah, it's definitely not good if Alden gets possessed by Samarra. He's the one they're pinning all their hopes on, so hopefully he'll be able to save everyone else. If not, I don't even want to think about what might happen.

Hyphenman: That's right, it looks like Alden's heading for three battles, back to back.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1101

Tommy was flying over the Battle Frontier on the back of his Tropius, scanning the desert for his former comrades.

Well, they were still his comrades. But for some reason, they weren't willing to accept Samarra's friendship, which seemed crazy to him. Samarra was amazing! The strength she gave him was like nothing he'd ever experienced before.

As he kept an eye out, he thought about the people who'd come. The Commander was here, of course, and so was Chloe, which Samarra hadn't expected. Rui was probably here to see her daughter, but as for the others…

He knew Ian well, the student's reputation preceded him. But that other girl, the one with the Dragalge… Donoma Marima? Yes, that was her name. Yet another benefit of Samarra's friendship. He never would have recognized her before becoming friends with Samarra, but now that he was, he had access to all her knowledge, including about things like the Empress's faction, due to her connection to Ayame Toujou.

Tommy couldn't begin to guess why she was here. And for that matter, where was Maddi? Samarra had made it clear that befriend her was the top priority, even more than the Commander himself. Tommy didn't know why, but he didn't question it. She'd asked him to do something, and so he did it, that was all.

Movement from below caught his attention. There were people running about in the shadows! A grin crossed his face. Oh, there was no way they were escaping! "There they are, Harvel! Use sunny day!" He shouted.

"Tropius!" Harvel released a burst of energy up into the night sky. There was no sunlight to intensify, but the moon worked fine enough. The brightness illuminated the sands below, revealing the four figures. It was the three from before, and Keya as well! No Alden or Rui, but that was fine. Samarra gave him the go-ahead, and he descended upon them.

Donoma winced as sunlight blossomed across the sky. It was like a spotlight indicating they'd been spotted. "We're made!" She shouted, as if it wasn't going exactly as planned. "Achlys! Smokescreen again!"

She sent out her Dragalge once more, trying to obscure their retreat from sight. But while Tommy may have been fool enough to fall for the same trick twice, he was working with Samarra's brainpower now, and she wasn't that dumb.

"Harvel, defog," Tommy ordered. His Tropius flapped his wings, banishing the smoke away and revealing the trainers. Harvel landed on the ground and Tommy dismounted, a wild grin on his face as he looked at the others.

"No getting away now," he cackled.

"Wasn't planning on it," Donoma called back. "In case you didn't notice, it's three against one!"

Ian had his pokeball and the ready, and Chloe was holding one of hers as well, though she wasn't nearly as confident.

Tommy frowned. "Oh? So that's how it's gonna be, huh? Gotta say I'm not a fan. I prefer the purity of single combat. I don't suppose you'd send the strongest one out to fight me?"

"Now why would we do something like that?" Donoma purred, twisting a lock of her hair flirtatiously. "I prefer a big cast."

"…Well, if that's how you want it," Tommy shrugged. The muffled sound of footsteps on sand skilled the night. Donoma looked around, noticing the other workers from the dig site. They were surrounded by an army of brainwashed soldiers! And Mason was standing at the head. The redheaded Ross stood off to the side with a passive smile.

"This… is bad…" Chloe whimpered.

"You got that right," Keya said, looking around warily.

Ian bit his lip. Well, this could have gotten off to a better start.

While things weren't going well for Alden's friends up on the surface, down in the tunnels things were going a little better. The underground tunnels were up and functioning, and he traveled to the Battle Tower quickly. Just a little bit longer.

He stepped out of the tunnel and entered the lobby, not at all surprised by what he encountered when he got there.

Rui gasped.

"Well, hello there, Alden." Anabel was sitting on the counter, the stairs leading up to the elevator behind them. They had a friendly grin on their face, like they were just greeting him like normal. "Come for a battle? The Tower's open."

"I'm here looking for someone, actually," Alden said. "I don't suppose you'd know where Samarra is, by any chance?"

Anabel shrugged. "Not here."

He sighed. "I kind of figured. So I suppose that leaves me no choice, does it? If I want to help you, then I guess we'll have to battle."

Anabel hopped off the counter and stretched. "Help me?" They asked, raising their eyebrow. "But Samarra's already helped me more than you ever could, Alden."

"…I've heard that one before," he said dryly. "Let me guess. She's fulfilled all your wildest dreams, right? All with the glory of her friendship."

"For someone who's not good at making friends, you certainly get it well," Anabel laughed. "But yes, that's exactly right! She showed me how I can be an even stronger trainer than I once was. And that's the goal, right? Becoming stronger, to enjoy battles even more?"

Alden exhaled. It made sense. Like him, Anabel was a battle maniac. There was nothing they liked more than a good fight. So if Samarra had really heightened everything about Anabel, then it made sense that they would fall even more under the sway of the thrill of the battle.

"So what do you say?" Anabel asked, holding up a pokeball. "Shall we have a battle to test our abilities again?"

Alden replied with a cool smile. "Oh? Do you mean having a battle so that you can add me to Samarra's list of friends?"

Anabel blinked. Then they laughed. "It's clear you see things well," they said, nodding. "And you're right, of course. So with that in mind… shall we?"

Alden already had his pokeball ready to go.

"I'll start!" Anabel shouted. "Eava! Kyth! Go!"

"Two pokemon? A double battle?" Rui gasped in shock, taking a step back. She didn't expect that. After all, she knew that Anabel had harmonia. "Are they really able to use two pokemon at the same time with their harmonia?"

Alden narrowed his eyes. "They've done it before," he said. "In fact, they gave your daughter a run for her money. And that was before they fell under Samarra's sway."

He didn't like the look of things. But if it was a double battle they wanted, then that's what he was going to give them.

"Tracey, Jaune, I'm counting on you!" Alden declared, sending out his Cinderace and his Vikavolt. The two pokemon were an excellent combination.

"Nice choice!" Anabel complimented him. "Eava! Start things off with your fake out attack, right at that Vikavolt! Meanwhile, Kyth, hit them both with rock slide!"

It was a potent combination. By faking out Jaune, it rendered the Vikavolt incapable of dodging. That would be devastating when the rocks came tumbling down.

But Alden had seen this strategy from his rival before; it was exactly what Anabel had used against Vic in their battle!

So he knew exactly what to do.

"Tracey!" He shouted. "Sucker punch!"

"Cinderace!" Tracey darted forward with her fist raised, and punched Eava in the jaw as the Weavile ran towards Jaune. She knocked the dark pokemon back, not doing much damage with the attack, but it was enough to prevent the fake out while also getting her out of the target range.

That freed up Jaune to evade, and that was precisely what Alden had in mind.

"Jaune, double team," he ordered. Jaune began to move from side to side and created multiple copies of himself with the afterimages. With a roar, Kyth tore rocks out of the ground and flung them at Jaune, trying to bury the Bug type pokemon. But he only succeeded in smashing through the copies, while the real Vikavolt evaded.

"Bug buzz," Alden called.

"VIKA!" Jaune opened his pincers and released an ultrasonic trill, which send a sonic shockwave across the battlefield.

"WEAVILE!" Eava cried, clutching her ears and falling down to one knee. That was just the opportunity that Alden was looking for.

"We got her now, Tracey!" He shouted over the shrieking. "Use your pyro ball!"

"Cinder!" Tracy nodded. She pulled back her leg and generated a massive fireball, which she kicked at Eava, hitting the stunned Weavile head-on. Eava cried in pain as she was knocked across the battlefield, nearly knocked unconscious by the brutal one-two combo.

"Nice!" Rui cheered.

"So tell me, Anabel," Alden called over to his rival. "The last time I fought one of Samarra's friends, he was telling me all about how strong he was, and how much Samarra had done for him. Can I expect the same from you?"

Anabel didn't seem fazed by the fact that their pokemon was badly injured. "Nice work, Eava," they congratulated their pokemon. "Kyth! Time to take this seriously! Earthquake! And Eava, use baton pass!"

"Earthquake?" It was a surprising decision. After all, one of Alden's pokemon was in the air. At the same time though, it would definitely be good against Tracey.

Eava returned to her pokeball as the ground began to shake. Alden already knew what was probably coming out next; he remembered what Anabel's team looked like.

"SALAMENCE!" Bolas roared, emerging from his pokeball. The fierce Salamence flew through the air, unhindered by the earthquake, and charged straight for Tracey.

Tracey, without even waiting for orders, had leapt into the air with bounce in order to avoid the earthquake. But that was what Bolas had been counting on. He took advantage of his wings to soar towards the Cinderace, raising his claw and smashing it down into Tracey's skull. He slammed her into the ground with a devastating dragon claw. Tracey cried out in pain.

"Tracey!" Alden cried. He turned to Jaune. "Quick, Jaune, use your thunder wave! We'll paralyze him to slow him down!"

"Vika," Jaune nodded, spreading his mandibles. An electric current began to run through it, and he prepared to release the current in a shockwave to electrocute the rampaging Dragon type pokemon and paralyze him.

But of course, Anabel wasn't about to let THAT happen.

"I don't think so!" They shouted. "Bolas, use protect!"

"Salamence!" Bolas spread his wings and a crimson barrier appeared around him. The electricity warped around the barrier, protecting the Salamence completely. And now, Bolas had a new target.

"Flamethrower!" Anabel ordered. The barrier around Bolas dropped and he unleashed a stream of flames upon the Vikavolt to burn up the bug pokemon.

"Jaune, evade with agility," Alden called. But Jaune wasn't moving. A blue aura covered his body, holding him in place for the flames to engulf him

"Jaune!" Alden cried.

"Oh, no!" Rui wailed. "How did that happen? Why didn't he dodge?!"

"He couldn't dodge," Anabel said, their eyes sparkling with harmonia. "Isn't that right, Kyth?" They asked, nodding to their Metagross.

"Meta," Kyth rasped, stomping their legs.

"They sent an order to their Metagross with harmonia," Alden realized. "Ordering them to hold Jaune in place with psychic. And because we couldn't hear it, we couldn't react until it's too late."

"You say that like it's such a dirty thing," Anabel said, frowning. "Come on, Alden! This isn't your first battle against harmonia, you know how this works, don't you?"

"Yeah, I know just fine," Alden said, narrowing his eyes. He wasn't thrilled. He turned to his Cinderace. Tracey was just recovering from the dragon claw. "Tracey! That Metagross is a problem! Take it down with your pyro ball!"

"Cinder!" Tracey nodded. She ran forward and pulled back her foot, unleashing a powerful kick that sent the fireball flying at the Metagross.

"Meta!" Kyth cried in pain as the fireball smashed into their face. They endured the attack well, but there were still two pokemon that were burning nonetheless.

The icing on the plate was that the pyro ball's flames were powerful enough to break Kyth's concentration, allowing Jaune to escape. He didn't fly out of the fire so much as plummet, however, badly burned from the Salamence's flames.

"He's almost finished!" Anabel called. "Take him down with your dragon claw, Bolas!"

"Salamence!" Bolas roared, dive-bombing towards the Vikavolt. He raised his claws, draconic flames and lightning crackling through them as he swung at the Bug type.

Alden was quick on his feet, though. He knew what would happen if Bolas knocked out one of his pokemon; he remembered from his last battle against Anabel! That Salamence had Moxie, and that was an ability he didn't want to get rolling. The more pokemon Bolas knocked out, the stronger his attacking stat. And that was just out of the question. But with Jaune in his current condition, he was easy prey, so the answer was clear.

"Jaune, use volt switch," he ordered quickly. Jaune's eyes snapped open and electricity began to glow around him, crackling and building up a field of energy. He sent it out, hitting Bolas directly, and returned to his pokeball.

"Not bad, Alden!" Anabel applauded him. "But I saw that one coming! Just like how I know you're going for your Mimikyu!"

Alden narrowed his eyes. "Is that something you know because all my friends are telling you how I fight?"

Anabel shook their head. "Not at all! It's something I know because I'm a talented trainer… and I know how you think! So go ahead, send her out! We're prepared…"

"Well, you're right!" Alden shouted. "Mimi, it's on you!"

"Mimikyu!" Mimi chirped, emerging from her pokeball. The false head of her disguise bobbled with excitement.

Rui was less excited. "What are you doing?!" She demanded. "Didn't you hear them? They already predicted that you'd use your Mimikyu! You're playing right into their trap!"

"I don't let my opponent's knowledge of my strategies dictate the flow of the battle," Alden replied simply. "My 'Sense' tells me this is the right play to make- even if she does have a strategy for beating me, I'm not going to let that get the better of me!"

Rui was genuinely impressed. She nodded in understanding, pretty confident that her husband would have said something similar. It may not have been the smartest decision, but she knew Wes would respect it.

"It won't help you, though," Anabel said. "Like I told you, I already know what you're planning! Now then, Kyth, use your bullet punch to break that Mimikyu's disguise!"

"Metagross!" Quick as a bullet Kyth shot across the field, raising their legs to smash the small Mimikyu and flatten her disguise into the floor.

But Mimi wasn't so easily gotten.

"Mimi!" She chirped, sinking into the shadows. By escaping into the darkness, Mimi was able to dodge the Metagross's attacks, and counter with a shadow sneak. She appeared behind them, swiping with claws of shadow that caused the Metagross to cry in pain.

"Salamence!" Bolas roared, flying towards Mimi. Even though the Mimikyu was a Fairy type pokemon, Bolas wasn't concerned about her. He lowered his head, preparing a devastating iron head to strike the ghost. Mimi was too occupied with her attack against Kyth to prepare for this one.

But that's what Tracey was there for.

"Ally switch!" Alden ordered. Tracey glowed, trading places with Mimi. Now it was the agile Cinderace between the two powerful pokemon, and she leapt into the air with her strong legs, just barely evading the attack.

"Sal!" Bolas turned on a dime, smacking Tracey with his tail. Tracey tucked and rolled, leaping to her feet, and put some distance between herself and the two pokemon as well.

"Kyth, use earthquake again," Anabel ordered. Even if Mimi escaped into the shadows there would be no getting away from the attack this time!

Alden winced. He'd been expecting this. Salamence and Metagross were a lethal combination together. While his pokemon were disoriented from the tremors or trying to evade them, the Salamence could pick them up from above.

It was only now that he realized just how dangerous of a situation his team was in. And against Anabel, no less. If he lost to them, then he would be brainwashed by Samarra, and a part of him knew that it would really be the end if that happened.

He refused to let that happen. He shouted his orders to his pokemon, and hoped they'd be able to react in time.

This is really tough for the Commander! He's doing the best he can against Anabel, but this is still a difficult position to be in. Hopefully he'll be able to take the advantage against them, but if he can't, and they win, then he's going to be in for a rough situation. Falling prey to brainwashing isn't a good thing. How will he pull out the win?