Anabel has been defeated, and they've been released from Samarra's control. But it wasn't an easy battle. Alden lost nearly all of his pokemon! With what trainers are still left in the Battle Tower, that doesn't bode well for his success! Hopefully, he and the others will come up with some way to win, or else this is going to get really bad, really fast! Remember to review!

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: It's a very difficult position to be in, and Alden really does need some way to heal his pokemon. Hopefully they'll think of something.

Hyphenman: Yep. I'm really trying to up the emotional intensity of these battles. And while we are going to pop in on the squad, we're still heading straight for the next fight in Alden's celebrity tour of asskicking.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1109

"Hendrix, use overdrive!" Donoma ordered.

"Toxtricity!" Donoma's Toxtricity roared. His blue mane flared up and the organs on his chest throbbed as he released a sonic blast imbued with the power of lightning. The shockwave slammed into the opposing pokemon and knocked it unconscious.

"Aaargh!" The worker cried, clutching his head and collapsing to the ground. Samarra's influence left him instantly.

"Phew, that's another one down," Donoma sighed, wiping the sweat from her brow. She turned to the others. "How are you two holding up?"

"It's fine!" Ian shouted back. His Aggron was trying to defeat Tommy's Hitmonchan, and was having a fair bit of luck. "We should be able to win!"

"I-I'm trying!" Chloe wailed. Like Donoma, she'd taken on the flunkies.

Keya, in the meantime, ran over to Donoma with a potion in hand. He tossed the medicine to his unlikely ally so she could keep her team healed up and ready for the incoming attack.

And wouldn't you know it? Here came someone now. Mason shambled forward, pushing up his glasses. A pokeball was in his hand.

"Well, ready to dance?" Donoma purred, giving her Toxtricity a spurt of the hyper potion. "I don't know how many of you are left, but I feel like I could take on a dozen of 'em!"

Chloe trembled. She was feeling far less confident. Even if they'd defeated a good chunk of the mob, she still felt incredibly fatigued. The four of them had run through the night, attacking to whittle down their opponents and then escaping. But in spite of Donoma's claims, these tactics couldn't last forever. If they were swarmed…

She shook her head. No, this isn't a zombie movie! She reminded herself. You just have to win! If you win, then everything will be fine!

Right now, though, not a damn thing felt fine.

I just hope the Commander is having better luck than we are…

"Hmmung… ungh… what?" Anabel opened their eyes slowly. The world was trapped in a hazy blur. They looked around, wondering what was going on. It felt like they'd been sleeping for a hundred years, everything was too bright.

"Anabel, are you alright?" A gentle voice called out to them. Anabel squinted and blinked, and the shadow in front of them sharpened into clarity. It was Alden!

"Oh, hey Alden…" They mumbled blearily, trying to stand up. But they didn't have any strength left. "What's going on…?"

Rubbing the sleep from their eyes, Anabel finally managed to get into a sitting position. But they still didn't know what was going on.

"Are you feeling okay?" Rui asked worriedly. "How's your head?"

"It's… it's fine," they said, shaking their head. There was a bit of a sore throbbing but nothing they needed to worry about. They glanced around at the unfamiliar room. This was the lobby of the Battle Tower, right? But it looked like a hurricane had been swept through. They gasped, and saw their precious Kyth, lying unconscious. "Kyth! Are they okay?!" They would have ran to their pokemon's side, but they still didn't have any strength in their legs.

"Do you remember what happened?" Alden asked cautiously. Anabel shook their head. Forget remembering, they didn't have a clue.

"Did I pass out or something? I'm so tired," they said with a yawn.

"Tell me, what's the last thing you remember?" Rui asked gently.

Anabel squinted and tried to remember. "There was… a girl… I think… she had blonde hair and really strong pokemon… we were battling, but after that…"

After that, their memories were a fog. They shook their head. "No, it's all blank. Sorry. Do you know what happened to me?"

"You were being controlled," Alden said matter-of-factly. "By a woman named Samarra. She was using you to defeat other trainers and brainwash them as well."

Anabel burst out laughing. "Oh, come on! That's a riot!" They said, shaking their head. But Alden wasn't smiling. And deep down, they knew he was telling the truth, but they didn't want to think about their body being used to serve someone else's ends.

A shiver went down their back.

"I was… possessed? For real?" Anabel's voice was small and quiet.

Alden grimly nodded. "Samarra manipulated your love of pokemon battles in order to get you to defeat me," he explained. "And it almost worked. But instead, I managed to beat you, and I freed you from Samarra's control."

"What?! We had a battle?!" Anabel exclaimed, disappointed that they couldn't remember. "And I lost?! Darn!"

Anabel looked around at the carnage strewn across the room. It sure lent credence to Alden's story.

"…Well, damn," they sighed, shaking their head. "And after all the work we put into restoring this place, too."

"The important thing is that you're safe," Rui said, giving them a smile. Anabel returned it, but they didn't feel all that thrilled. Rather, the more important thing to focus on was finding out more about the situation.

"So what now?" They asked, turning to Alden. "I take it that I'm not the only person who was being controlled."

"That's right," Alden nodded. "They also got Tommy, Ross, and Mason as well. And even Vic. Everyone's being controlled."

"And the only way to free 'em is to win a pokemon battle?" Anabel clarified, shakily rising to their feet. "Well, count me in! I've got this one in the bag!"

"I appreciate the sentiment, but…" Alden nodded to Anabel's belt, and their pokeballs. All their pokemon were in bad shape. Not one of them was fit for battle.

With a sigh, Anabel recalled Kyth to their pokeball. "I get the point," they admitted. "So what do we do then?"

"I don't know," Alden admitted. His pokemon were as injured as theirs were. "But we can't go back. We need to keep going, even if Eifa's the only pokemon still able to battle.

Just me and my injured Espeon… I've been in worse situations than this, but not many. Alden doubted that Eifa would be able to do much of anything by herself against Vic's team, which was optimized for double battles.

"Um… excuse me…"

Alden turned to Rui, who had a look of tension on her face.

"Yeah Rui? What is it?" He asked.

"I know your pokemon are injured… but do you think… would it be possible if I took a look at them?" Rui asked. She raised her hands, and a green aura spread across her, wafting off her palms like vapor. "My harmonia lets me heal pokemon, so…"

Alden gasped. He'd been so focused on the battles ahead that he hadn't even realized! "Y-Yeah, of course," he nodded. This was exactly the pick-me-up his team needed!

Alden set his belt of pokeballs on the ground after recalling Eifa, and took a step back. Rui crouched over them and held out her hands, releasing the healing powers of her harmonia. But she could tell that it wouldn't be enough.

Not yet… just a little more… She winced and bit her lip, trying to draw out even more of her power. They needed Alden's team to be in as good of shape as possible if they were going to stand a chance against her daughter and whoever else was waiting for them in the Battle Tower. Using her daughter's safety as a motivation Rui put everything she had into healing Alden's pokemon, to the point where she worried her own life was in danger. But after a short amount of time the light on her hands began to fade, and her powers trickled away.

"There…" She panted, nearly collapsing. "It's done… it's not as good as a Pokemon Center, but they're ready to fight…"

They'd better be. She'd practically killed herself healing them. She didn't even have the smallest bit of power left for Anabel's team, she was totally drained.

Anabel didn't seem to mind, though. They were totally in awe of what they'd just seen. "Wow!" They gasped, jaw dropping. "That was amazing! I can't believe your harmonia lets you do something like that! It's so cool!"

"It's not as pleasant as it looks…" Rui mumbled. She nearly fell over when she tried to stand up. "It took everything I had."

"Well, I still think it's amazing," Anabel assured her, helping Rui to her feet. "Come on now. Let's get going. We've got a long road ahead of us, after all."

Rui nodded, giving Anabel a grateful smile. They were right, they needed to get going. Alden's pokemon were rested up and healed, and an even more challenging battle waited for them above.

"I don't suppose you know where Vic is," Alden said as they stepped into the elevator.

Anabel shook their head. Disappointing, but predictable. He sighed.

"So what, should we check every floor then? Because I don't think-" A jolt from below caught him off-guard, cutting off his complaint. The elevator slowly rose up to the next floor, and then the next, picking up speed as it continued.

"I guess that answers that," he muttered. Nobody had pushed a button; the elevator was being guided to the next floor all on its own.

"She really likes to make a big deal out of everything, huh?" Anabel sighed, shaking their head. "Your girl's really dramatic, Rui."

Rui didn't say a word. She was conserving her strength, trying to stay conscious. The only thing that was helping her was the fact that she had almost reached her daughter. Hopefully, they'd be able to save her, too.

The elevator pulled to a stop with a ding, and the doors slid open to reveal a shadowed room. They were on the 50th floor, halfway up the tower.

"So do we just go?" Anabel asked, looking to Alden for confirmation. It could be a trap, after all. But Alden wasn't going to hesitate. With a determined look in his eye he stepped into the yawning abyss in front of them.

The minute the trio left the elevator, the room was flooded with light. Alden winced and shielded his eyes from the spotlights, taking a moment for his vision to adjust.

When it did, he was greeted with quite a sight.

Vic sat perched on a balcony overlook a large battlefield. She was in repose, lounging across a long velvet couch. And she wasn't wearing her uniform anymore. She traded her schoolgirl duds for some new threads, with a color scheme that screamed "black leather". She had on a tight button-up jacket with red trim and wore a short pencil skirt, showing off her long legs. Half of them, anyway, because the other half was covered in high cut-off leather boots. Her normally straight bob was uncharacteristically tousled and she had a wicked smirk on her lips- painted ruby red.

Give her a whip and she would look like a bizarre "fascist punk Barbie".

Rui's jaw dropped at seeing her daughter's "rebellious faze". She had half a mind to shout at her before catching herself, remembering that everything she was seeing was a result of Samarra's influence poisoning her daughter's mind.

Alden was remarkably cool about the whole thing. He approached his former number 1 with an affable smile.

"Well, hey there, Vic. You're certainly looking intense."

"Oh, do you like it?" Vic purred. Rui was stunned her daughter could purr?!

Vic pushed herself up off the couch and strutted to the edge of the balcony, staring down at the Commander. Her eyes were shining.

"I thought that a wardrobe change might be in order," she continued, extending her arm and twisting to show off her looks. "Are you a fan?"

"Looks fine, I guess," Alden shrugged. He hadn't come here to trade fashion tips, he'd come here to defeat his friend and free her from Samarra's brainwashing, and that's what he was going to do. "I can't say I care much either way."

A dark look crossed Vic's face and her brow furrowed. "…I see. Well then. I can't say I expected anything different from you," she said. "Besides, that's not why you came here, is it? And it's not why I brought you here."

"And why did you bring me here?" Alden asked. "Because Samarra told you to?"

"She did make the suggestion," Vic admitted, leaning over the railing. "But I wanted you all to myself. So I could hardly wait, and sent the elevator down to greet you personally."

"Well, now I'm here," Alden said, holding out his arms and letting them drop back down to his sides. "What now? Are we going to fight it out? Or did you want to just stay up there all day?"

"I'd be happy to battle you," Vic assured him with a pleasant smile. "But to come down there? …No. No, I don't think so…"

She took a deep breath and exhaled in a pleasant sigh. "No, you, staying down there, and me, looking down on you from up here, that's how this is going to work out," she declared. "I'm finally above you, Alden, and it feels… exhilarating."

Alden narrowed his eyes. Vic never used his name. "It seems you've become a lot more familiar since Samarra began controlling you."

"The old me was too stuck up," Vic laughed, mocking her former self with her harsh tone. "She wanted to control everything, because she was insecure. But the new me… the me that Samarra showed me how to be… she doesn't have to stand on ceremony here. Not with you, not with anyone! I'm my own woman now, and I'm not going to be satisfied with being the Growlithe at your beck and call, do you understand?!"

She ended her sentence with a harsh shout, which startled Rui. She could hardly recognize her own daughter! Vic might be rude and abrasive, but even at her angriest she was never like that with Alden. Or her, for that matter.

Vic hadn't even looked at her once!

"Victoria!" Rui cried, feeling the strength returning to her body. She pushed Anabel off and ran to Alden's side, staring desperately up at her daughter. "Victoria, it's me, mom! I came here to talk with you! Just talk!"

Vic regarded her mother with the briefest of disinterested glances. "Well, I have nothing to say to you, mother," she replied coldly before turning her attention back to Alden. She pointed a finger at him. "The only person I have business with right now is standing right there."

"…Victoria…" And just like that, all the strength Rui had recovered drained from her body. She knew her daughter wasn't herself, she was being controlled by Samarra. But that didn't make her dismissal sting any less. Anabel helped her off the battlefield, leaving a very unamused Alden to stare back up at his former friend.

"So it seems this 'new you' doesn't care very much about her family," Alden said. "Is that really the kind of person you want to be? The kind of person you want Samarra to turn you into?"

"I love my mother," Vic assured him. "But right now, I refuse to let even HER ruin my big moment. This is the day I've been DREAMING of, Alden."

"Dreaming? Of a battle with me? We've had plenty of fights before," Alden said. "If you just wanted a battle then you could have asked at any time."

Vic shook her head. "I don't care about the battle. I'm going to win anyway. It's about what comes next. After you lose…"

She sighed, and cradled her chin in her hands. The smile on her lips was a weird amalgamation of joy and malice.

"Finally… when I beat you, you'll be all mine…" She murmured.

Alden raised his eyebrow. "…All yours?"

"She promised me," Vic explained. "If I can defeat you, and help you become friends with Samarra, then she'll give you to me. You'll be all mine, now and forever. I can't think of anything greater than that."

"Oh, Victoria…" Rui winced. She couldn't believe her daughter's feelings for Alden could be twisted and perverted to such a degree.

"Well, that's certainly a surprise," Alden said with a laugh. "I had no idea you wanted something like that."

Anger flashed across Vic's face. "Of course not! How could you!? That would require you to pay attention to what's going around you for more than one fucking second!"

"…Oh, I think I see a lot more than you think," Alden said, taking a pokeball off of his waist. "But that's neither here nor there. You should know me well enough by now, Vic, that I'm not the sort of guy who becomes someone else's tool. The only ambitions I fight for are my own, so even if we're friends I have no interest fighting for yours. Especially not when they're really Samarra's."

Rui blinked. Did… did Alden really think…?

"You think I want you to battle for me?" Vic laughed. It was a laugh that was devoid of mirth; cold and harsh, and filled with bitterness. No matter what she said, he just wouldn't understand. "It doesn't matter anymore," she sighed, shaking her head. "When I defeat you, then you'll have no choice but to become mine, Alden!"

"So you say," Alden replied. "Then put your pokeballs where your mouth is, and let's do this. Because if battling you is the only way I can bring you back, then that's what I'm going to do. And when I'm finished and you're back to normal, we can talk about these ambitions of yours."

"We won't need to talk," Vic promised. "Once I defeat you, you'll understand fully just what my ambition entails."

Time for the next battle! It's Alden vs. Vic, the match you've been waiting for! Now that Vic is under Samarra's influence, her worst behaviors have been amplified, and she's completely transformed into a yandere obsessed with the Commander! Will Alden be able to defeat his friend and bring her back to normal? And will he somehow remain in the dark about how she really feels towards him? We're going to find out the answers to those questions and more by the end of this fight!