Alden has begun the fight to reclaim the Battle Tower! His first opponent? His rival Anabel, who almost defeated him! Now they're back, and with a vengeance! With the access to Samarra's abilities, combined with their own harmonia, Alden's sure to be in for a rough fight. Will he be able to defeat them or not?

KedharS: Well, the previous people we've seen controlled by Samarra were people with huge grudges against their opponents. Anabel has no grudge, they're actual friends with Alden. So of course, Samarra would twist their emotions differently.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Anabel and Alden are roughly equal in strength. Hopefully they won't deal too much damage to his team, though, that would be bad.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1102

The Battle Tower was shaking due to a rampaging Metagross in the lobby. But Alden wasn't concerned. He knew this place was built to take WAY more than that.

What he was more concerned about was the fact that the earthquake was being unleashed by a powerful pokemon, and one that he wasn't prepared to fight with the two pokemon that he had out in battle himself.

"Okay!" He shouted to Tracey. "You've gotta bounce up high!"

"Cinderace!" Tracey nodded, leaping into the air with her powerful legs, putting herself above the shaking floor.

Mimi was in a slightly different situation. While she would have been fine getting hit, since her Disguise ability would take the brunt of the attack, she did want to preserve it as much as possible. That was why she was going to try something else.

"Mimikyu!" Mimi disappeared, and in her place was a ratty copy of her disguise. The earthquake tore the cloth to shreds and Mimi reappeared, head bobbing up and down as usual.

"Oh, so that's what you did!" Anabel gasped in surprise. They smiled. "Not bad, Alden! You used substitute, so your pokemon wouldn't be hit by the earthquake! I gotta say, that's a good play! You took a medium-sized hit to your health in order to use the Disguise protect yourself against a devastating beating in the future!"

"Well, when dealing with harmonia, it pays to be prepared," Alden said, shrugging.

"True, but that won't help your Cinderace!" Anabel said, turning to their Salamence. "Bolas, take her down!"

"Salamence!" Bolas roared, flapping his wings and flying for Tracey. She was suspended in the air due to her jump, and finding it hard to maneuver in her present condition.

Anabel was eager to tear her down again, just like last time. "Now, dragon claw!" They shouted. Bolas raised his claw, and draconic energy began to surge through it. He swung at the Cinderace to smash her to pieces, but she smiled.

Disappearing, Tracey traded places with Mimi once again, thanks to her ally switch. That left Mimi to take the dragon claw, and she took it just fine- it had no effect! Mimi's Fairy type immunity nullified the attack completely, allowing her to counter.

"Mimikyu!" Mimi swung the wooden club that made up the tail of her costume into Bolas' throat, hitting him with a brutal play rough attack. The Salamence let out a choked gasp and plummeted out of the air, flapping his wings desperately to keep from falling. He crashed hard into a table and smashed it to pieces, lying injured on the floor.

"Kyth!" Anabel shouted, silently giving their Metagross orders. The bulky pokemon surged forward, moving faster than they should have. They were using agility to increase their speed, allowing them to take the role of a distraction.

Alden was aware that Anabel was probably trying to keep him from going after their Salamence. But he could work with that. He had Tracey on his side, after all, and she could handle the Metagross while Mimi took on the Salamence.

"Mimi, shadow sneak," he ordered with a nod. Mimi got the idea and her false head bobbed back. She sunk into the shadows and shot towards Kyth like she was going to attack the Metagross, who braced for the incoming attack.

But Mimi shot right under them and kept going, after the injured Bolas.

"Metagross!" Anabel didn't need to give orders for Kyth to respond. They turned and tried to interfere, raising their legs to unleash a bullet punch when Mimi emerged from the shadows. But before they could use the attack, Tracey leapt into the fray.

"Cinderace!" Tracey shouted, her legs covered in flame. She turned and spun, delivering a kick to Kyth's back leg, trying to knock them off balance.

It worked. Kyth stumbled forward, unable to unleash the attack. At the same time, Mimi emerged from the shadows and slashed at Bolas, striking him with another powerful move. Before the Salamence could strike back, she had already leapt away, preparing for another move.

"Swords dance, Mimi!" Alden shouted. Mimi twirled her club like a baton to strengthen her attacking stat, preparing to finish off the Salamence. But Bolas had managed to rise to his feet by that point, and even though he was injured, he was prepared to deal with the Mimikyu now.

"You might be pretty fast for such a tiny pokemon, but you won't be able to do anything to stop this," Anabel promised. They narrowed their eyes, and began to give off an ominous feeling.

"Urg…" Rui held her hand over her mouth as a wave of nausea threatened to seize her. "That's… no way…"

"Rui!" Alden turned to her. "What's the matter? Are you okay?"

Rui shook her head. She looked pale. "That… their harmonia, it's…"

Until this point, Alden and Rui had only seen and heard about Samarra possessing regular people. She controlled Olivia and Gerard easily enough, and Tommy seemed to be no different. And Ayame as well, had nothing the matter with her that might distort the evil woman's control.

But Anabel was different. They had harmonia. And their harmonia was blending together with Samarra's in a way that made Rui sick to her stomach. She couldn't stand looking at them in their present condition, and she was a woman who had stood up against the Shadow Pokemon! It was truly a disturbing sight.

Anabel and Samarra's harmonia was so overwhelming it seemed to produce a kind of aura that even the Commander could see. He stared at them, slackjawed, as the dark red light rolled across their skin, outlining their body in a corona of energy.

Anabel smiled, but it wasn't like their previous smiles. It was a grin filled with malice, and one that made Alden feel even more unnerved.

"Now is the time," they murmured. "Bolas, use shadow claw!"

"Salamence!" Bolas roared, raising his claws. Ghostly energy surged through them, and they burned with spectral force as he flew at top speed towards Mimi. The Mimikyu was normally a fast pokemon, but she wasn't able to compete with Bolas' current speed.

The Salamence crashed into Mimi at full force, cutting at her with everything he had. But luckily for Mimi, she was able to resist the attack, enduring it by sacrificing her Disguise. The head of her costume flopped helplessly over, but she remained uninjured.

That allowed her the opportunity to strike Bolas with a powerful play rough. She put everything she had into the attack, bombarding him with her club over and over and trying to knock him unconscious to finish off the threat for good.

As she did, Anabel withstood the attacks. They were feeling everything Bolas was feeling, and through them, so was Samarra. Samarra gasped, nearly falling over. She was still in the forest of Mt. Battle, but the pounding in her head made her feel like she was about to fall off the damn mountain.

"So this is the backlash of harmonia… I see, it's really something…" Samarra had no pokemon of her own, nor did she want any. So she had never been on the receiving end of the harmonia backlash of a pokemon battle before. It was quite an interesting stimulation, but she quickly lost interest in it before long.

With a shake of her head, she reinforced her control over Anabel, and gave them everything she had to push the fight through.

Anabel cried out in pain, but they didn't fall. And neither did their Salamence. Bolas grabbed onto Mimi with his shadow claws, the searing pain from the attack causing the Mimikyu to wail. At that moment, Kyth swatted their leg and knocked Tracey back, pushing her away and freeing him up to deliver the finishing blow on Mimi.

"Meteor mash!" Anabel shouted.

Alden was stunned. He couldn't believe that even after taking two play rough attacks, one with the boost from swords dance, the Salamence was still able to fight back. He knew that Anabel was strong thanks to their harmonia, but just how much had Samarra increased their abilities?

"Metagross!" Kyth smashed Mimi in the center of her body with a devastating strike, and Mimi wailed with pain. She slumped over and sank into the ground, leaving nothing behind but a shred of cloth from her costume.

"Oh, no!" Rui wailed. Alden's first pokemon had fainted! She looked desperately to him, only to see that he was smiling!

"Now, Mimi!" He shouted.

"Mimikyu!" Mimi reappeared, costume and all, her body covered with ghostly energy. She raised her club, and smashed into Kyth with a powerful strike, knocking them into Bolas and sending both pokemon rolling across the floor.

"What the-?!" Rui was flabbergasted. She had no idea what had just happened!

"It was substitute again," Alden replied with a grin. Seconds before Kyth's attack hit, I had Mimi use substitute to protect herself. Then, before she could reappear when the substitute broke, I had her use phantom force to disappear, preparing for a counter attack! And it looks like it went perfectly, nicely done, Mimi!"

"Mimikyu!" Mimi chirped, scurrying over to Alden. She looked pleased, even with her head drooping the way it was, but it was clear from the state of her costume that she was holding onto the last shreds of her health. She couldn't try that again.

At the same time, both of Anabel's pokemon were also injured, Bolas in just as bad condition as Mimi was. But with the power of harmonia on their side, no one was giving up the fight just yet.

"Salamence!" Bolas roared, flying across the field towards Mimi. It seemed like he just wasn't going to give up.

It was Kyth who got their first, though. Using their bullet punch, they were able to cross the room in a second, preparing to strike Mimi with a series of rapid punches. But Mimi was quick to respond, sinking into the shadows to evade the attack.

With her current health, however, she didn't intend shadow sneak as an attacking move, it was purely to escape from her opponent. She fled to the shadows in the corner, while Tracey took the head to fight off her opponents.

"Tracey, flame charge," Alden ordered. Tracey nodded and dashed across the room, flames licking up around her legs as her speed increased. To Anabel's surprise, she didn't use the Fire type attack against Kyth, who it would have more effect on, but rather leapt into the air, turning and delivering a kick to Bolas' jaw.

The Salamence tumbled back, but he didn't fall. Instead, he raised his claw and swung back at Tracey, but she was already jumping out of the way.

Alden glanced over at Mimi for a second and saw her condition was much worse than he'd thought. He made a quick choice, even if it was a hard one. He could recall Mimi to her pokeball for some rest, but in her present condition, it wouldn't make much difference. She would have a hard time fighting regardless, and would probably go down later anyway. And that would cost her the swords dance she'd prepared, as well.

Besides, he knew Mimi. She wouldn't want to run.

"Mimi!" He shouted. "Let's give them everything we've got! Phantom force!"

"Mimikyu!" Ghostly energy covered Mimi's body and she disappeared into the shadows, preparing to strike back.

Anabel thought quickly. "Get back, both of you, and separate," they ordered. Anabel knew that if Mimi struck, it would be painful, and didn't want to risk the chance of both of their pokemon going down. That's when they realized they had to make a tough choice.

"Kyth, return," they said, recalling Kyth to their pokeball, startling Rui.

"They're calling their Metagross back?!" Rui asked, looking to Alden in confusion. "Why would they do that?"

"Because they're a talented trainer, that's why," Alden said. In spite of the situation he couldn't help but smile, knowing what Anabel was planning.

"Norton, go," they shouted, sending out their Snorlax to replace their Metagross. The fat pokemon let out a loud yawn, sitting up and rubbing his stomach lazily.

"Snorlax…?" Rui murmured, still confused. "What's that- oh!" She finally figured out what Anabel was going for. She wasn't a trainer, but she was aware of type advantages, as well as the fact that Ghost type attacks couldn't hit Normal type pokemon, and vice versa.

"By switching to their Snorlax, it means Mimi only has one target left," Alden said, narrowing his eyes. It was a very risky play Anabel was going for here. They were making the cynical decision to sacrifice their Salamence in order to protect their Metagross.

Before, he would have imagined an attack like this was done with respect for all the pokemon involved, because that was the kind of person Anabel was. They were just like him, after all, and that was the reason he was sacrificing Mimi right now, because he knew that she was prepared for it. But now that Anabel was controlled by Samarra, he wasn't so sure anymore.

Maybe they were just sacrificing pokemon the way Gerard did, making cold and heartless choices for the good of victory.

"That look in your eye…" Anabel's voice cut through Alden's thoughts, startling him. He turned to look at them, and saw a harsh expression.

"You think what I'm doing is heartless, isn't that right?" Anabel said softly. "Only caring about victory, and being willing to sacrifice my own pokemon for the advantage?"

Alden nodded slightly. "Something like that… though I wouldn't say you're particularly heartless. I can't say you're not, though, either."

Anabel pondered that response. "…Fair enough," they admitted. "It would be awfully hypocritical of you, to be willing to sacrifice your Mimikyu and then look down on me for doing the same with my Bolas."

"I'm doing it with respect for Mimi's wishes," Alden replied calmly. "Can you say you're doing the same?"

Anabel smiled. "Absolutely!" They chirped. "Isn't that right, Bolas?"

"Salamence," Bolas snarled, narrowing his eyes menacingly at Alden.

"Bolas wants to keep fighting as much as he can," Anabel explained. They tapped their head. "He's screaming in my head right now to keep going. See, he thinks that he can take on your Mimikyu, withstand the attack, and counter with shadow claw before he goes down. And I'm inclined to let him try."

"Sal." Steam shot out of Bolas' nostrils and he rose into the air, raising his claws. Ghostly energy surged through them to validate Anabel's declaration.

"…Well in that case, I don't have a problem with it," Alden replied, a little surprised at what he was seeing.

"I'm still me, Alden," Anabel assured him with a smile. "I still love my pokemon. They aren't expendable tools, they're my precious partners. Our bond is so strong, they're practically extensions of my body, I would never sacrifice them heartlessly like that."

Alden narrowed his eyes. "You can forgive me if I don't just take your word for that, given the circumstances we find ourselves in."

Anabel blinked, a little surprised by what he said, and then sighed, scratching her head. "I guess that's how it is, huh?" They sighed, shaking their head. "You really don't understand Samarra at all, do you, Alden?"

"Well, make me understand then," Alden replied. Tracey was waiting cautiously in the corner and Mimi was in the other world, readying to strike. He wanted to drag this out a little, hoping it would cause Anabel and their pokemon to get sloppy. Because the truth was, he WASN'T sure that Mimi could finish off Bolas without getting injured herself. He was sure the play rough would finish him, and it hadn't. His "Sense" wasn't telling him anything right now, and if Mimi could get the win without fainting herself, that would be phenomenal.

In short, there was no harm in letting Anabel talk for a little.

"Samarra doesn't control me," the trainer Samarra was controlling assured him. "All she does is unlock my true self."

Alden narrowed his eyes. "True self?"

Anabel took a deep breath, and exhaled. "Do you know why I like you so much, Alden?"

"Is it my winning personality, or my rugged good looks?" Alden joked back, and to his surprise they actually laughed.

"It's your honesty," they said. "There's nothing false about you. You love fighting. It's honest and pure, and intoxicating, I must say. It's something I've always wanted for myself."

Anabel placed their hand over their heart.

"From the day human beings are born, we live in a society that pushes expectations onto us. Because of the body I was born in, I was supposed to do things that 'girls' do. Even in a world where a girl could become a Pokemon Master, or a Pokemon Ranger, or anything they choose, those expectations are still there," they explained. "But me? I'm not a girl. Or a boy. I'm a trainer in my heart, and that's why I battle. For me, fighting is being true to myself. So when I met you, someone who was like me, who cared about fighting for the sake of the battle, not caring one whit about your opponent, or even yourself, it resonated with me. That's why I decided to support you in the Battle Frontier."

Alden raised his eyebrow. He knew about all of this already.

"So what does this have to do with Samarra?" He asked.

"Because you and me, we're special," Anabel explained. "Other people, like Victoria, or Olivia, or Gerard, they couldn't dream of the freedom we have. They're controlled by the perceptions that society places on them, and because of that, they aren't true to themselves."

That caused Alden to narrow his eyes. Anabel had never even met Olivia or Gerard before, but they were speaking about them like they were old friends.

"That's what Samarra does for people," Anabel continued. "She gives them the opportunity to escape from the chains of society. Everyone worries so much about what other people think, but when you become friends with Samarra? It's like none of that matters anymore! You don't have to worry about your image or appearances, because Samarra doesn't care about any of that. You're free to be the person you were meant to be! Don't you see, Alden? It's wonderful! Samarra grants such wonderful, lovely freedom! As someone who's chased that my whole life, I know just how great it is for her friends to feel that acceptance. Just for being who they are."

Anabel held out their hand to Alden.

"Wouldn't you like to try that for yourself?" They offered.

Well, that's one way of looking at it. Samarra does, in a manner of speaking, offer people the opportunity to be themselves. For better or for worse, anyway. I wonder what Alden's response to this will be? What does he think about Samarra's powers?