Still can't read any reviews, but I can see 'em coming in! Keep up with it, and we'll get through this together! In the meantime, we finally get to see a real battle from Kate, for the first time in what feels like forever! And against an opponent a little more suited to her skill level: a little girl who got her first pokemon yesterday! Can such a terrible trainer manage to somehow pull out a miraculous victory and defeat Alcea's little sister? Let's find out!

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

Currently Nominated: Sango, Cynthia, Elaina, Kate, Dakota, Ayame, Marion, Kitty, Serefina, Madison

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 217


Part of Kate wanted to send out her Amoongus, Bareru, and just pound this snotty girl into paste. But Blake had already done that. There wouldn't be any point in doing the same…

I guess I should fight her on her level… Kate decided. But my pokemon are poison/grass types, so it's difficult to take things easily on her, especially since she's a new trainer…

Kate fingered the pokeballs on her belt, landing on one that was a bright sea blue.

Well, we haven't had a chance to battle yet… but you're my best fit.

Kate removed the dive ball off of her waist, and tossed it into the air.

"Reed! Go!" Kate shouted. From the pokeball, a small brown sliver of a pokemon emerged. The Skrelp landed in the grass, fluttering his stem-like flippers as he righted himself. He hovered up slightly above the grass, his snout flexing slightly.

"Eww, what a gross pokemon," Holly said, more than a little disgusted by the Skrelp. An irritation mark throbbed on Kate's forehead as her eye twitched.

"Whatever! Let's do this, Reed! This is our first battle together, let's give it our best!"

"Skrelp," Reeded nodded.

"Something ugly like that won't even be a challenge, Petilil!" Holly boasted. "Use your sleep powder!"

"Petil!" Petilil nodded, dispersing a cloud of green spores over the battlefield.

Of course she'll go for status first, Kate smirked. "Reed, use camouflage!"

"Skrelp!" Reed nodded, landing in the grass, his rutty complexion turning a bright green as he blended into his surroundings.

"Ha! Trying to hide? It's a cloud of spores you know!" Holly cackled. "It'll wash right over that dumb old pokemon, even if I can't see it! But thank you, commoner, you've now I no longer have to look upon that filthy thing!"

"You think it's as simple as that?" Kate boasted right back. "I hate to break it to you, but a move like that won't have any effect!"

Indeed, Blake could look closely at the grass and see the spores settling down on the clump of green that was Kate's Skrelp, but it didn't appear to be having the intended effect.

"Hey! No fair! You should be sleeping now! That's cheating, cheating!" Holly exclaimed, jabbing her finger accusingly at Kate.

"Sorry to break it to you, but camouflage doesn't just give my adorable Reed a cool new look," Kate smirked. "It also changes his typing to match the surrounding environment! And now, he's become a grass type, just like the grass he's sitting in! And as anyone from the Kalos region should know, powder moves have no effect on grass type pokemon!"

Kate cackled triumphantly while a discouraged look crossed Holly's face.

Blake blinked.

"So what happened to showing off the greatness of poison type pokemon?" He asked.

Kate whirled around to look at him, her face bright red.

"SHUT. IT. This is strategy!"

"So what if I… er, we, can't put you to sleep?!" Holly huffed. "We don't have to see you to hit you! Petilil, use magical leaf!"

"Petil!" Petilil created a cloud of rainbow colored leaves floating in the air around her, and send them flying in a whirlwind. The leaves locked onto Reed in spite of the pokemon's camouflage, and sliced in him like a barrage of razors.

"Hold on, Reed!" Kate cried. "Burn 'em away with your acid!"

"Skrel!" Reed's snout throbbed, and he spit out a wave of green acid that burned away the leaves, landing in a puddle on the ground. The acid then began to eat through the grass as well.

"…You know, Kate, we might have to pay for repairs to this field," Blake reminded her. Kate flinched.

"It… it's a pokemon battle, so it's fine! Stop pestering me, and just watch me show my skills!" Kate grumbled. "What do you think, Holly? Your attack wasn't that effective, now was it?"

"Rrr…" Holly huffed, glaring at Kate and her Skrelp. The camouflage's coloring had worn down and Reed was back to his normal hue, but the changes to his typing had remained. "No fair…"

"Here's your first lesson then, Holly. Reed is a poison pokemon, but he's also a water type," Kate reminded her. "That means, normally, grass moves are a neutral hit. Poison counters grass, but water is weak to it. But one thing grass is resisted by for sure are other grass pokemon!"

"So what?!" Holly demanded.

"So if you're going to be fighting against her highness and her grass pokemon, you're going to need some strategy!" Kate grumbled. "Attacks like leech seed and sleep powder won't work! And your normal attacking grass moves won't work! You need some coverage! I've hindered your Petilil's ability to hurt me by turning Reed into a grass type. I lose out on the bonuses to my poison moves, but the tradeoff of being able to easily resist what you throw at me made it a worthwhile exchange! And since you're naturally weak to poison anyway, I don't need the STAB to do serious damage!"

"You can't stab me!" Holly shuddered, holding herself defensively. Who was this crazy chick?!

Blake resisted the urge to burst out laughing.

"No, it's the same type attack boost!" Kate exclaimed. "Not actually stabbing!"

"Don't stab me!"

Kate was at the end of her very short fuse.

"Whatever! Reed, use acid again, this time aiming at Petilil!"

"Skrelp!" Reed nodded, firing a sphere of acid at Petilil.

"Petilil, dodge it!" Holly cried. Petilil scurried to the side, avoiding the toxic orb, which burst harmlessly on the ground, only destroying the grass.

Holly cackled triumphantly.

"Hah! What do you think of that?! Petilil is super-fast and dodges all the time! I saw how quick she was for myself when I tried to catch her! We're the best, don't you think?"

"Are we fighting, or just playing tag?" Kate replied.

Holly puffed up her cheeks in indignation at the rude and ugly girl's flippant tone. Who did she think she was talking to?! "Fine then! Use magical leaf again!"

Petilil fired more rainbow leaves at Reed, much to Kate's annoyance. Reed burned them away with more acid.

"That's not going to work!" Kate said. "Use a different move! Coverage! C-O-V-E-R-A-G-E! Grass moves aren't going to work like that!"

"I'm trying my best!" Holly wailed.

"Ahem. Kate." Blake cleared his throat, drawing Kate's attention.

"What?! We're in the middle of a battle, I don't have time for-"

"You might not know this, but Petilil can't learn anything but grass moves naturally," Blake informed her.

"Uh…" Kate blinked, and her face turned bright red. "W-well, even so-!"

"You've been with Alcea this long and didn't know that?" Blake smirked.

"Sh-shut up! The only grass pokemon I focused on were the ones that were part poison type!" Kate wailed. "The other ones didn't really like meee! It's not my fault!"

Holly watched Kate and Blake's back and forth.

"…Petilil, energy ball," she ordered. Petilil fired a blast of energy that hit the unprepared Reed in the face, sending him tumbling through the grass.

"Hey!" Kate exclaimed. "That's no fair! We were on timeout!"

"No fair right back!" Holly whined. "You turned into a grass pokemon, cheater! Can't a commoner win fairly?!"

"It's not cheating, it's a valid strategy to shore up weaknesses!" Kate grumbled, scratching her hair with one hand. "And look who's talking? Is a noble lady really supposed to attack someone when her back is turned?"

"I attacked your pokemon, it's not my fault you weren't giving him orders!" Holly shot back, stomping on the grass.

"Holly," Blake called out to the girl. "Are you going to just keep attacking?"

"Huh?" Holly asked, looking warily at Kate before risking a glance at Blake "What?"

"This isn't some video game where you input attack commands like a monkey," Blake replied. "You should be taking advantage of your pokemon's strengths, and your opponent's natural weaknesses."

"I can't!" Holly replied. "You just said! Petilil only has grass type moves!"

"A pokemon's strengths and weaknesses are more than just their types," Blake reminded her. Holly looked at him like he was crazy. What he was saying didn't make any sense.

"No more talking," Kate huffed. "Reed! Acid!"

Reed spit more acid at Petilil, who dodged out of the way.

Petilil's strengths? Besides just grass type? Holly said, looking at her pokemon in confusion as the grass pokemon bounced away from the acid. That doesn't make any sense…

"Petilil, use energy ball again!" Holly ordered. Petilil opened her mouth, and a sphere of green energy appeared in front of it. She fired the orb at the small pokemon.

"Reed, stop it with bubble!" Kate ordered. Her Skrelp fired a cloud of bubbles from his snout, the energy ball colliding with the bubbles and barreling through it. As the bubbles popped, they unleashed a barrage of explosions that buffered the oncoming grass attack, weakening its power before it struck. Reed winced from the blow, but didn't sustain any major damage.

"It's still not working," Holly frowned.

No, you're getting close, Blake noted, but didn't want to tell that to Holly. If she wanted to be a good trainer, she needed to see what the Skrelp's weakness was for herself.

"Whatever! Try it again! It's the only thing that works!" Holly said. Petilil fired another energy ball, much to Kate's irritation.

"What, don't you know any other attacks?" Kate laughed. "Reed, stop it again with bubble!"

In a mirror of what had happened before, Reed once again unleashed a wave of bubbles to shield against the energy ball, weakening the brunt of the attack again.

"Reed, we've got to take back the initiative, use your acid!" Kate ordered. Reed spit more acid at Petilil, but the pokemon was too nimble, dodging the attacks.

"Kate, you're too far away," Blake called. "You'll never hit her like that."

"We're doing our best, okay?!" Kate snapped, glaring at him. "Just mind your own business!"

Holly considered what Kate and Blake were saying. The commoners had brought up a valid thought. There was a lot of distance between the two pokemon. They were both firing long-distance attacks, but Holly's were the only ones that were hitting. They weren't causing a lot of damage, but they were still doing more than that Skrelp had. In fact, now that she thought about it… Kate hadn't managed to hit her Petilil even once! They were both really far apart, giving each other a lot of time to react and dodge. But where Petilil was dodging, the Skrelp was trying to block the attacks, and wasn't very successful at it, either.

"Why isn't he dodging?" Holly wondered aloud. Kate flinched at this, and Blake smiled.

"Reed, we need to shut down her movements! Use bubble!" Kate ordered, Reed firing a cloud of bubbles at Petilil.

"Cut them up with miracle leaf!" Holly ordered. Petilil sent a wave of leaves to detonate the bubbles before they hit.

"Darn it!" Kate frowned. "Reed, use smokescreen!"

Reed flexed his snout, a cloud of smoke erupting from it, blocking the pokemon from sight.

"They're trying to cut off our sight again," Holly huffed, staring at the cloud of smoke in frustration. "We can't hit our energy balls anymore if we don't know where to aim!"

She caught on… Kate watched Holly warily, scowling. I guess only a little bit longer, then…

Kate wasn't exactly throwing the match. Not intentionally, anyway. But since Petilil didn't have any coverage for dealing with grass pokemon, that meant that she'd have to rely on her speed and evasion, wearing down Alcea's pokemon with a bunch of weak, ineffective hits. Unfortunately, Holly had no idea how to do that.

But a moment ago, she caught onto something important. Something that Kate could take advantage of for sure. So Kate had explicitly changed her tactics the moment Holly realized that she wasn't dodging. Now, the only question would be if she would figure it out or not.

"Petilil, come back," Holly called out. Petilil bounced back to her trainer's side, and they both stared at the cloud of smoke.

"So I was thinking… um, that pokemon put up a smokescreen just now to hide… so I was wondering… maybe the reason why he's hiding and blocking, but not dodging, is because he isn't fast enough to dodge like you, you think?"

Petilil blinked.

"Petil?" She asked, tilting her head to the side. She didn't really get what her trainer was saying, because she hadn't had much experience in battling herself.

"It was just a thought, I mean… I don't think he's really moved at all, you know? So maybe, like, he's too slow, or he can't! Maybe we can take advantage of that and keep attacking him from a distance! We'll wear him down, while you dodge all his attacks, okay?"

"Petil!" Petilil said, nodding in agreement.

So she figured it out, Blake smiled, letting out a sigh of relief, tinged with a hint of pride.

Yup, right on the money. Kate had heard a lot about her Skrelp from Marion, and learned more when she raised it herself. Skrelp didn't move around very much, even in the water. They were very conservative with their energy, it wasn't in their nature to bounce around and pursue their prey, rather attacking from a distance when their target drew in range.

Problem was, Petilil was staying out of range.

"Use magical leaf! We might not be able to see it, but we can sure as heck still hit it, just like before!" Holly ordered, Petilil firing more leaves. The shining leaves plunged right into the cloud of smoke, locking right onto Reed with their magical powers. Reed spat out another blast of acid, melting the leaves before they could even come close. Unfortunately for him, though, the fumes from the acid began blending with the smoke, causing the smokescreen to disperse as the noxious cloud of melting grass and leaves pushed it aside, revealing Reed to the enemy.

"There he is! Use energy ball!" Holly crowed triumphantly, Petilil opening her mouth and firing another ball of energy at the Skrelp.

Well, now that she's learned her lesson, I guess it's time to stop playing nice, Kate smiled, patting herself on the shoulder for her self-restraint. "Reed! Use faint attack!"

"Skrelp!" Reed nodded. His body turned a sickly transparent, and he faded away just as the attack was about to strike, the orb of grass energy whistling harmlessly through the air.

"Huh?! He disappeared again!" Holly grumbled. "No fair!"

Reed didn't disappear for long, however. A moment later, he reappeared, though not where he was before. He appeared behind Petilil, swinging his tail too fast for either trainer or pokemon to react. The dark attack hit Petilil square in the back, sending her bouncing through the grass.

"Petilil!" Holly cried. "But how?! You're too slow!"

"Skrelp!" Reed ignored Holly's protests and fired a blast of acid at the injured pokemon. But Petilil recovered quickly and jumped out of the way, dodging the poison attack. But still… just a glance and one could see that she was a lot worse off than she should have been.

"Pet…" Petilil panted.

"Good job figuring out that Skrelp are naturally slow and trying to take advantage of that," Kate congratulated her. "Unfortunately, just like how you figured out your pokemon's strengths and my pokemon's weaknesses, that was something I was aware of from the start."

"Huh?!"

"Always assume that your opponent is aware of their pokemon's weaknesses," Kate explained. "Don't expect that they won't have a contingency for their pokemon's natural disadvantages, especially when you're dealing with a trainer of the caliber of her highness, Alcea."

Holly's only response was a frustrated grumble.

"Wow, you're actually pretty smart when it comes down to it," Blake said, the honest surprise in his tone causing an irritation mark to appear on Kate's forehead.

"Of course I'm competent enough to know something like that!" She exclaimed. "What do you take me for, some sort of idiot?!"

"Yes."

"Why you-" Kate caught herself, and returned her attention to the battlefield.

"Petilil, are you okay?" Holly asked. "You're injured! Use your synthesis to recover your health!"

"Petil!" Petilil nodded, her body glowing green as she restored her health. But then she began wincing, crying in pain.

"Oh no! What's wrong?!" Holly cried.

"Healing won't be so simple," Kate scoffed. "Take a look at your Petilil's wound."

Holly glanced at her pokemon in confusion. She saw that Petilil was panting in exhaustion and her face was flushed, and even though her health had been restored, she still looked worn down. Then she glanced at Petilil's small back. There was a long gash cut across it, which was oozing a sickly greenish-purple slime.

"Poison?!" Holly cried. "When? How?"

"Who do you think I am?" Kate smirked, flipping her messy bangs off her forehead with the flick of her wrist. "I'm a master of poison types! You think I can't poison pokemon when I want them to?"

"I though faint attack was a dark move, though," Blake replied.

"Hey! That means you cheated! Cheater!" Holly exclaimed. Kate rolled her eyes.

"Skrelp aren't so simple, and neither is poison," Kate smirked. "Many pokemon of the poison variety have a special ability called poison point, that causes infection just with a slightest touch."

"Is that why you're still single?" Blake asked, Kate shooting him a deadly glare. She returned to her prideful boasting.

"But Skrelp have an ability that work a little differently!" Kate explained. "They have the ability to turn their bodies into blades of pure poison. Any move that makes contact with the opponent, whether a tackle, an aqua tail, or yes, even a faint attack, has the ability to inflict deadly poison on the enemy. I can blast you with non-poison type coverage moves all I like, and still make you succumb!"

"We… we won't give in! You might be able to use those faint attacks, but we still have magical leaf and energy ball! You caught us off guard with that, but we won't fall for it again!"

"Maybe not, but you can't fight a battle of attrition like this, now can you?" Kate scoffed. "And in the meantime, we can keep you off your balance at our leisure. Reed! Use acid!"

"Skrelp!" Reed fired more acid at Petilil. The poison was wearing her down, but she was still speedy enough to avoid the attacks, dodging to the side.

Kate smirked. Holly was still playing this like it was the same game of Pikachu and Meowth as before. She was about to be in for a rude awakening…

"Reed! Don't let her get away that easily," Kate called. "More acid!"

"Keep dodging, Petilil! Run!" Holly ordered. Petilil ducked right, scurrying away from the wave of acid that was crashing towards her. But neither she nor her trainer could see the big picture, not the way that Blake and Kate, with their experience, could.

"Now, acid right in front of her," Kate ordered, smiling triumphantly. Petilil jumped back to dodge the acid orb that burst in front of her, catching her breath. She turned to bounce in the opposite direction, but paused. Behind her was a bubbling pit of poison. Petilil turned her head, frantically searching for a way to get out. But there was acid in front of her, acid behind her, everywhere she looked was acid, acid, acid.

Kate had set up a delicious little trap for the precious pokemon with her barrage of acid attacks. With the poison wearing her down and making it difficult to gain initiative, Petilil had been forced on the defensive, running and dodging. But Kate had been having Reed carefully aiming his attacks the way that Skrelp naturally did in the water. Because they were naturally slow pokemon, Skrelp would hunt their prey by setting traps. Luring them in and then dousing them with liquid poison when they got too close. Petilil had run and jumped and moved all over the place… but Reed had been carefully leading her moves further and further away from solid grass, into areas of the ground where the acid was at its highest concentration. All it took was one final attack, and Petilil's routes to escape had been completely shut off.

Now, she was sitting on a tiny island of grass, with a sea of poison surrounding her. She couldn't jump over it, and if she touched it she would be in very dire straits. Petilil's advantage over the Skrelp was her speed, and so the team of Kate and Reed had methodically robbed her of that advantage without her even knowing it.

Even Blake had to admit that the tactic, as cruel as it was, was something worth admiring. He remembered similar tricks back in the Fall Festival Tournament with the use of toxic spikes. Kate's specialty seemed to be in preparing neat little traps like this, she really was quite a master baiter.

"I heard that!" Kate snapped at him. She pointed an accusing finger at him, her cheeks bright red with embarrassment. "You didn't say it but I heard what you just thought you jackass!"

"Not bad, Kate," Blake called.

Kate turned to Holly.

"What now?" She asked. "It's my win. If you keep pushing like this, the only one who'll suffer is your Petilil. I can finish it off with one more attack. Or we can sit here and watch the poison eat away at her. Either way, this battle is over."

Holly wanted to cry. She'd tried so hard, and unlike the last battle with Blake it really looked like she and Petilil had a chance of winning. Kate had opened the door just a crack, and then callously slammed it shut in her face.

"I… I give up…" Holly wailed. "Don't hurt her anymore!"

Kate nodded her head, recalling her Skrelp. Holly called back her Petilil, looking up at Kate with tear-filled eyes as the older girl maneuvered through the pools of poison to walk up to the little girl.

"…'snot fair," Holly whimpered. "I reawwy twied this time…"

"Er…" Kate had intended to enumerate the mistakes Holly had made in order for her to learn from them, but staring up into the girl's teary eyes made that seem…

Kate was really not the right person for comforting children. Or being within 50 feet of them as per court order.

"You, uh… you really did your best, but, like… it's to be expected, you know? No one wins at first, you need to train and get better," Kate mumbled, shirking under Holly's tearful gaze. "Um, look, here…"

Kate reached into her bag and withdrew an antidote, giving it to the little girl.

"U-use this on your Petilil's infection," Kate replied. "I'm not like Naya, I don't like hurting pokemon, you know?"

"…Thanks," Holly said, taking the antidote from her hand. Sadly, there wasn't an antidote for the crushing feeling of defeat that was welling up in her body that was too small to contain it.


Well, Holly didn't win, but she still tried her best. Maybe with the help of Blake and Kate, she can really shore up her defenses and give her sister a run for her money!