Time to return to the Pokemon Academy! What have our students been up to while Sango has been away? This takes place sometime around Sango's first week in her Practicum, so we're jumping back a few days.

As for the Best Girl nominations, still going strong. Anyone else left to add?

Currently Nominated: Sango, Cynthia, Elaina, Kate, Dakota, Ayame, Marion

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 184


Alden walked into the training room within his Battle Facility, with Vic in tow, as usual. One of the students, his newest recruit, was occupying the main training area.

"Yo, Maddi! What's going on?" Alden called out to the goth transfer student sitting on the viewer's bench. Maddi looked up from her book, and frowned. All that could be seen was her red right eye, the other side of her face covered by her long black bangs. She said nothing, staring silently at the enthusiastic older student. Maddi had only been at this school for about a month. Before then, she had been enrolled in another school, in the Johto region, but now everything had changed. All due to that stupid smiling face.

Alden grinned at her without a care in the world, and the look on his face made Maddi think he had to be an idiot. Well, not an idiot, necessarily. That wasn't the right word. "Brainless" was a better fit. The only thing he had on his mind was battling. And that was something Maddi could do very well. It took a special kind of idiot to take a 15 year old girl, forge some paperwork to admit her into the school as a junior, and enroll her in the battle course. But as long as it helped her studies, Maddi didn't really care all that much.

Alden, the Commander, was somewhat difficult for her to take seriously. He always smiled, and though his hair was neatly cut short, the military jacket he sloppily threw over his shoulders made him seem a little careless. As well as his general attitude.

"So how's our newest recruit doing?" Alden asked. Maddi glanced at the battlefield. The training facility set up here was quite good. Using the system in place for the Eon Stadium, the terrain of the battlefield could be adjusted to suit the trainer. And right now, the trainer in question was taking full advantage of it, the battlefield covered in electrical circuits running a powerful current.

The girl's name was Cynthia, Maddi remembered, and she was 15 just like her. But where Maddi wore a red armband over her leather jacket to signify her status as a junior in the Battle Course, Cynthia was just a first year. But even so, Maddi could see the passion for battling in her eyes, eyes that were just like the Commander's.

"…Her training is going well so far," Maddi replied. "I have her fighting against my 'Fire' team right now."

Maddi's specialization was in type advantages. Because of this, she did not often use her own pokemon in official matches, preferring to raise them with her personal touch. One of the good things that had come out of the Commander's offer was the access to resources she had not had before. Because of this, she was able to amass and raise pokemon teams of all kinds for her future work in the Battle Frontier. She had assembled teams of each type, perfect for testing against trainers.

"So how's her 'Sense' developing?" Alden asked. Maddi looked at him with a blank expression. He talked about this "Sense" thing all the time, but she'd be damned if he had any clue what the heck it meant. So she shrugged.

"Pathetic. So you can't even be useful for something like that?" The snide condescension that made Maddi's blood boil could only come from one source. Standing at the Commander's side, her impeccable posture, clothing, and finely cut bowlcut of sharp black hair made Victoria Carver quite the foil to the more relaxed Alden Volt. The stern glare in her golden eyes and her lips set in a thin grimace was the perfect to contrast the Commander's laid-back, placid smile.

Maddi frowned. As usual, Victoria was being unnecessarily hostile towards her. It was seriously annoying. And she wasn't even subtle about it. She was like a possessive girlfriend snarling at any girl who got close to her man, and the implication made Maddi want to throw a punch. The Commander wasn't even close to being her type, and Victoria still looked at her like she was some homewrecker sniffing around, ready to spread her legs at a moment's notice. The fact that she was thought of as such was unbelievably rude. Even more annoying was the fact that, to the best of her knowledge, Victoria and the Commander were not even in any intimate relationship to speak of to begin with. Which meant that Victoria was so hostile and possessive over someone she had no right to be possessive over in the slightest, anyway.

"Hm, yes, she does seem to be coming across nicely." The Commander ignored Victoria's snide remarks, and observed Cynthia's performance from the sidelines, much to Victoria's obvious annoyance. Maddi smirked in spite of herself. Seeing Victoria get this hung up over Cynthia as well made her feel much better. This annoying senior deserved a good kick to the gut like this, and Maddi relished in seeing her squirm.

Alden either didn't notice or didn't care about Victoria's obvious frustration, devoting his attention to the redheaded first year battling at the moment. Cynthia's Kirlia, Rose, was engaged with the Blaziken that Maddi had made the star of the fire team. Cynthia had expressed to her that her team had a critical lack of experience with dealing with fire types, due to the trauma of one of her pokemon. It didn't help that her strongest pokemon was her Breloom, either. So Maddi had graciously granted Cynthia an opportunity to get used to battling against them.

"Okay, Maddi, I think that's enough," Alden said, clapping his hands.

"Sir?" Maddi raised her eyebrow in surprise. "Does that mean you want to…"

"What can I say? I've been a little cooped up since Vic says I need to stay on guard. I've been waiting for a chance to let out some steam, and I want to see just what kind of Battle Sense I can get out of our little Cyn!"

"Sir!" Victoria gasped. "You can't seriously say you want to fight against her?!"

"Well duh, of course!" Alden laughed. "She's a tough one, even if she's just a first year! Don't worry, I'll just use one pokemon."

"But she isn't worth-"

"Vic? Are you meaning to get in the way of my enjoyment?"

"N-no sir," Victoria said, shaking her head. "I just thought it would be more suitable if I fought her, rather than you."

"Nah, who cares about stuff like that?" Alden laughed. "I just want to work up something good! Stir up a real bit of Sense here!"

Alden cupped his hands in front of his mouth. "Yo, Cyn!"

"Wha-?! Commander?" Cynthia gasped, turning to see the Commander standing on the sidelines and watching her training battle, alongside Vic and Maddi.

"Maddi, call that Blaziken back," Alden ordered, walking to the other side of the field and cracking his knuckles. Maddi shrugged and picked her tablet up off the bench, pressing something. The computer simulator recalled the Blaziken to his pokeball.

"Commander, what-"

"Nothing to worry about," Alden laughed. "I just wanted to get in on this fight, is all!"

Cynthia blinked. The Commander had mentioned wanting to fight her when she'd first met him, but the topic hadn't come up since. She'd been training with him for a month now, and it was almost November. Does that mean her training was getting her to the point where he wanted to give her some serious consideration?

"Don't worry, it's nothing serious!" Alden laughed. "Relax, Cyn! It's just a casual one on one match! You choose a pokemon, and I'll send one out, too!"

Cynthia nodded, recalling Rose. Her Kirlia was worn down from the last battle, and if she was going to face the Commander's best, then she'd have to come out swinging.

"I can't say I haven't been looking forward to this," Cynthia said, grinning widely, "but it seems a little sudden, don't you think? I just got back, you know!"

"Fair enough," the Commander said, nodding. "But you've been back from Hoenn for more than a week now, right? That's enough time to get over the trauma of nearly being buried in a rockslide. Beside, nothing cures like a good old battle!"

Cynthia frowned. While she herself had not gotten injured, she'd heard that Blake and Sango had both had some difficulties. And in particular… Ayame Toujou, someone very important to Blake, was in critical condition. She'd brought the topic up to him when he'd come back to campus a few days ago, and he said everything was fine… but even so…

Those guys were attacked by terrorists! If I had been there… would I have been able to help? It's not just about getting stronger out of a love for battling. I need to get stronger if I'm going to stand up for my friends next time!

"Maddi!" Alden called, turning to the stands. "Let's switch this field up, 'kay? Just a normal battlefield, no special tricks. I want a good, honest fight when we're both using our pokemon to our fullest."

"…" Maddi nodded and pressed a button, the electrical current running through the battlefield dying down. The ground began shaking, which was rather scary since this entire training room was under the ground to begin with, and the arena shifted to a more normal stadium.

Cynthia glanced to the stands as well, but wasn't looking at Maddi. Rather, her attention was focused on the aura of malice she saw emanating out of Vic. Vic was seated on one of the benches, a fair distance away from Maddi, he arms folded in front of her. She was fuming with anger, glaring at Cynthia like she wanted to tear her apart personally, not just in pokemon battle. Unlike the stoic Maddi, Vic was so easy to read it was hilarious. Cynthia could practically hear her thoughts with how transparent her expression was.

How dare that girl think herself worthy to fight the Commander? Even I don't get to fight him that often! It should be me standing up there, enjoying a heated exchange with him! Who does that hussy think she is?!

Yup, that seemed about right.

"Yo, Cyn!" Alden called out. "Don't keep me waiting, send out your pokemon."

"Right!" Cynthia said, nodding. "Now, Ruby! Let's show 'em what we can do!"

Cynthia tossed out a pokeball, sending out her Mawile. Alden raised his eyebrow in surprise.

"Well, that's a shocker! And here I thought you'd be using your Breloom!"

"Someone told me that it's not too good to keep relying on the same pokemon over and over," Cynthia replied, smiling. "I'm gonna hold Tristan back for now. At least until I've managed to train up the rest of my crew to their full potential!"

"I like the sound of that!" Alden nodded. "And you're right! The best thing to have is a balanced team, that makes the best battles! I'd like to show you, but if I used my full team against yours, I don't imagine it being the kind of fight that would make my blood boil!"

"Oh? Looking down on me?" Cynthia huffed.

"Not at all!" Alden laughed. "It's more like I can't get a good feel of your Sense if you're pushed into a corner by my tactics. So don't worry! We'll just have good slugfest! Let's show her how, Carin!"

Alden took out a pokeball, and threw it out onto the battlefield. From within emerged a canid pokemon standing on two legs. Its torso was covered in yellow fur, with a single spike erupting from her chest. She had long blue furred arms ending in black fur "gloves" topped with a spike apiece. A long blue tail flicked behind her. She had a head of blue fur with a long snout, black fur covering the area around her nose and red eyes like a mask, with long black bulbs dangling from the back of her head. Her large blue ears twitched in anticipation and she narrowed her eyes into a glare. The Lucario stood ready to battle, balancing on the balls of her feet, ready to leap forward.

"Whew," Cynthia said, wiping her forehead. The Lucario was projecting an aura out of her body, an attempt at intimidation before the match even started. But Ruby? Ruby was naturally intimidating by nature of her abilities, the small yellow pokemon opening her second mouth wide, the teeth gnashing fiercely as she growled at the larger pokemon.

"This looks like it's gonna be fun, Cynthia!" Alden called out. "I think our pokemon are well-suited to each other!"

Victoria clicked her tongue in irritation.

He's not wrong, Cynthia noted. We're both steel types. His steel typing will counter Ruby's fairy moves, and at the same time, Ruby's fairy typing will make up for the steel type's vulnerability to fighting moves. In that case… this match is going to come up to the strength of the pokemon…

"Ruby! Take the first move with fairy wind!"

"Mawile!" Ruby nodded, sending a blast of sweet smelling wind towards the Lucario.

"A special move?" Alden said, raising his eyebrow. "And yet that's a physical attacking pokemon… a weak move with no power behind it might as well be a breeze! Now, Carin! Swords dance!"

Carin leapt into the winds, ignoring the miniscule slivers of health the fairy move drew away from her. Her aura heightened and her attack stat increased. She raised her fist, and swung it at Ruby.

"Ruby, dodge!" Cynthia ordered, the Mawile ducking under the punch at the last minute. "Now, build some distance!"

"Mawile!" Ruby nodded, running from the pokemon. With her heightened attack stat offsetting the decrease from intimidate, a close-quarters exchange was not in their favor.

"Don't let her get away, Carin!" Alden shouted.

"Lucario!" Carin nodded. Her speed turned blinding-fast and she unleashed a barrage of punches at the retreating Mawile, each with the speed and power of a bullet. The fierce barrage of blows knocked Mawile forwards, but when she got to her feet, the frail-looking pokemon seemed none the worse for wear. In fact… her skin seemed to be shining!

"Heh! What do you think of that?" Cynthia asked, smiling. "If you're going to heighten your offensive power, then we'll just boost our defenses with a good old iron defense!"

"I like it a lot!" Alden agreed. "Heighten it even more, then! There's nothing we like better than a foe who can take our punches and keep standing like it's nobody's business! Ain't that right, Carin?"

"Cario!" Carin nodded in agreement, cracking her knuckles.

"Well? Let's see who comes out victorious!" Cynthia said, Ruby standing ready to take Carin's next attack. "Your offense or my defense?"

Alden blinked. The bait was obvious. There was nothing to gain from defensive posturing like that. Which meant she was planning to…

Alden smiled. That was fine with him.

"Carin! If she's just gonna sit there, then hit her with your close combat!"

"Lucario!" Carin nodded, charging across the battlefield at the stationary Mawile. Carin raised her fist, preparing to let loose a powerful barrage on the small pokemon.

"Just what we were waiting for!" Cynthia crowed. "Ruby, sucker punch!"

Ruby swung her head, leaping up and hitting Carin in the jaw with her small fist, knocking the pokemon back from the surprise of the move. Carin stumbled back, disoriented from the surprising blow. Ruby hit her again, this time in the stomach, sending her to her knees. But that was as far she went. With a swipe of her fist, Carin launched the lighter pokemon into the air, knocking her away. Panting, Ruby landed on her feet in front of Cynthia as Carin stood up.

"Lucario," Carin spat, wiping her mouth with her paw, glaring at Ruby. Her aura flared up again.

"Hey, what's this?" Cynthia frowned. "Ruby, you feel that too? Or is it just me? Cause it seems like that pokemon just got a little stronger!"

"You got that right," Alden nodded. "Carin's just like me! She's not a big fan of tricks like that, either! She's got a heart of justice, and any dark move that hits her will only make her power grow even more!"

"Well that's just playing dirty," Cynthia sneered. "Keeping something like that up your sleeve!"

Especially since a lot of Ruby's better moves are dark types… then again, it's not like I planned to spam dark moves against her to begin with, considering she's a fighting type…

"Ruby! Let's boost your defenses some more! Iron defense!"

"Maw!" Ruby nodded, her body shining as her defense increased.

"That's what we like to see! Now, Carin! Take her down without holding anything back! Close combat!"

"Lucario!" Carin charged at the Mawile, raising her fists and unleashing a barrage of attacks upon Ruby's small body. Ruby lowered her horn-mouth behind her, to try and blunt the force of the blows, but even then the onslaught was powerful.

"Yeah! Take her down, Commander!" Vic crowed.

"Ruby, endure it as best you can, okay?" Cynthia cried. "Wait until you spot the opening, and then counterattack with everything you've got!"

Cynthia and Ruby were both keeping a watchful eye on the ferocious Lucario. Close combat was one of the strongest fighting moves there was, but it came with a downside. The pokemon using it unleashed itself without holding back, and saving no concern for any defenses. Pushing all of its strength into an offensive onslaught made it so that the pokemon could often run itself into exhaustion, and open itself up for a counterattack. All Ruby and Cynthia had to do was wait for that moment.

But… it seemed like that moment had yet to appear. Carin continued to pummel on Ruby for minutes at a time, showing no signs of slowing down.

Unreal… such power and stamina… even after boosting her defenses twice, those punches are still doing that much damage… Ruby won't be able to hold out much longer…

"Ruby!" Cynthia cried. "Change of plans! Let's do that!"

Ruby glanced at Cynthia as her back was assaulted, and nodded her head. Carin raised her fist again, deliver a powerful punch right at the back of Ruby's neck, when suddenly it was blocked by something else. Ruby had opened up her large mouth, which she had until this point been using to shield herself from the attacks, and now Carin's fist was flying right into it. Like a steel trap, Ruby bit down hard on Carin's entire arm, the canine letting out a howl of pain as her attack stopped.

"Carin!" Alden cried.

"She used crunch even in the face of a pokemon with justified?" Vic asked, taken aback by the recklessness.

"How bold of you!" Alden laughed, Carin's aura increasing in response.

"That's just my fighting style!" Cynthia crowed. "Facing things head on! The one with the sharpest fangs wins, thus killing bites!"

Everyone stared at her in silence. Cynthia's face grew more and more red with embarrassment.

"Sh-shut up! Nevermind!" Cynthia exclaimed, more than a little flustered at her joke falling short. "Ruby! Don't let go so easy! Bite down even harder!"

"Well, that's fine with us," Alden smiled. "Carin, bone rush!"

The inside of Ruby's second mouth began glowing, and she was blasted forwards by the force of a large bone of aura manifesting itself in Carin's palm, ripping the blue pokemon free of Ruby's clutches.

"Ruby!" Cynthia cried.

"Lucario!" Carin held the bone like a spear, thrusting it at Ruby in a barrage of powerful attacks. Ruby dodged as best she could, but the larger pokemon had both range and height on her, and there wasn't much she could do to parry for long.

"If that's the case, then let's switch to offense! Use play rough!" Cynthia ordered. Ruby turned her head to the side as Carin thrust her bone forward, charging straight at the larger pokemon with her hands raised, pink light glowing in her palms. She hit Carin with a barrage of punches imbued with fairy energy, knocking the fighting pokemon backwards with the force of her blows. Carin skidded back, separating herself from the fairy pokemon before she took any more serious blows.

"Carin, you good?" Alden asked.

"…Cario," Carin panted, nodding.

"Excellent! You're right, this fight is too fun to stop now! Carin, use life dew!"

"Life dew?" Cynthia gasped.

"Yup!" Alden said, nodding, as glowing water appeared in the air around Carin, flowing towards her and covering her body, restoring her wounds. "This fight is getting way too fun to let it end this early! I'm having a blast! I want to see every last bit of Sense you have, Cyn, so show me what else you're capable of!"

Cynthia gulped. Her hard work had just been undone, and now here the Lucario was, fully healed. If she had known that the Lucario had the ability to heal herself, she would have used taunt. But now it was too late. She glanced at Ruby. Her Mawile was breathing a little heavy, but hadn't suffered any serious wounds. But even so… how much more could she withstand?

"Okay, Ruby! We've got to heighten your defenses again!"

"Not just yet," Alden interrupted. Carin shot forward like a bullet, hitting Ruby in the side with a swift punch, sending the pokemon skidding across the floor. Carin leapt into the air, holding her hands up, energy flowing through her fists.

"Ruby!" Cynthia cried. Carin unleashed a barrage of midair punches upon the prone pokemon, overwhelming her with another full powered close combat. Carin landed on the ground and grabbed Ruby by the collar, hoisting her into the air. Cynthia got a good look at her as this happened. Ruby was beaten down pretty badly, and was barely moving, let alone capable of fighting back. It seemed that Alden and Carin were about ready to take things seriously.

"Now, hit her with the big one!" Alden ordered. "Meteor mash!"

"Lucario!" Carin nodded, lifting Ruby up with one hand as she focused energy into the other, hitting Ruby in the stomach with the full force of a comet. The blast of power sent Ruby flying through the air, the small pokemon crashing into the wall with enough force to cause her hardened body to put a dent in it. Ruby fell to the ground, groaning in pain.

"Ruby!" Cynthia wailed.

"Is that all?" Alden frowned. "That's not nearly enough! We can't be nearly satisfied with that, right Carin?"

"Lucario!" Carin nodded in agreement, holding up her hands. A wave of pink light focused itself between her palms, forming a sphere of energy.

"Wait, stop!" Cynthia cried. "Ruby… Ruby can't go on!"

"Heal pulse," Alden ordered. Carin fired the sphere of energy at the half-dead pokemon, engulfing her in an aura field. Light began suffusing itself around Ruby's body, and much to Cynthia's shock, the bruises and broken bones were beginning to mend themselves. Even Ruby's stamina seemed to be returning! The light lasted only for a few brief minutes, but by the time it died down, Ruby was sitting on the ground, a confused expression on her face, perfectly restored to how she was before the match had even started.

"What… what the…?" Cynthia looked in disbelief between her healed pokemon, now walking back over to her, and Alden, her opponent, and also the tool of Ruby's restoration.

"Did you think that would be enough to satisfy us?" Alden cackled. "No! Not even close! I told you before, this fight is too fun to stop now! We haven't even begun to have our fill, and I know you haven't, either! So come on then! Let's keep it going! Show me even more of what your Mawile is capable of, Cyn! Let's battle it out until our pokemon run out of moves, and can't even stay standing anymore! I'll heal your Mawile up nice and good, and keep Carin healthy while I'm at it!"

Alden clenched his fists, his face burning with excitement.

"Isn't this just the best?! A battle without end! Both sides throwing their best at each other, and neither pokemon giving an inch! You understand, right?! This is a true battle! Pokemon exchanging blows with one another, at full strength, without having to worry about the consequences! Come on, Cyn! I know you're feeling it, too! Your Battle Sense must be burning like mine, right?! So let's do it! Let's lose ourselves in our love of battling!"

Cynthia smiled in spite of herself as Ruby returned to the battlefield. The Commander… there was no tactical reason to restore the health of his opponent. It was purely for the sake of keeping the battle going a little longer, because he hadn't had enough fun yet. This guy… he was really something else! A pure fighter who just loved to the brawl!

Cynthia wiped her brow. She was really beginning to sweat now. That last exchange told her that there wasn't much she could do. She didn't really think she could win. But Alden wasn't letting her lose, either. Which means she had the opportunity to try everything she could think of in order to pull out the win! She had to thank the Commander… this was a chance she wasn't going to pass on so easily!


Cynthia vs. Alden! Nothing like a guy who's so caught in the heat of battle he'll heal his opponent just to level the playing field and get his fill of the battle, isn't that right?