We've spent a lot of time building up Samarra and how much of a threat she is. But now it will all come to a head. This chapter marks the beginning of her assault on Agate Village. What will happen? Will the plans of our heroes to protect the town, and Maddi, from the attack be enough to thwart her? Or will her powers and the people she's managed to sway be too much for them to overcome? We've reached the climax of the Orre Region arc, and from here, the real meat begins! Time for loads of battles!

KedharS: She's a very good liar when she has Samarra suppressing her honesty.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Those are some interesting insights. Some are correct, some are not, but we'll have to see which ones are and aren't, now won't we?

Hyphenman: Well, we'll have to see, won't we?

Tambry96bj: My guess is that there will be several.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1135

Dokukage and Raizer were tasked with one of the most difficult jobs out of everyone in the group. Standing at the border to Agate Village, it was their responsibility to make sure that no one got close to the town without checking them first. If they weren't a trainer, like nearly all of the residents? They'd be let on through. But if they WERE a pokemon trainer?

…Well, that just meant that Raizer would get a chance to do the thing he liked best.

This strategy was more effective than having Maddi stand watch 24/7. If Ayame was to be believed, she was Samarra's biggest target due to her power to see who was possessed by Samarra and who wasn't. While it was definitely a benefit to their side, Wes judged that the risk was too great. In fact, he'd argued that Dokukage and Raizer shouldn't be watching the gate in the first place, that it was HIS responsibility as the guardian of Agate Village. But Raizer had made a passionate plea as to why he so desperately wanted the chance to battle, and how it was his RESPONSIBILITY as a member of the Eight Leaders to be on the defending end of things.

…Then Alcea pulled Wes aside and explained that they didn't want to risk him, their strongest trainer, being taken out by a surprise attack, and he'd agreed readily when considering that.

So that was how Raizer found himself bored out of his skull.

"Come on," he groaned. "I know Agate Village isn't much to look at, but are you telling me that NOBODY wants to come here?"

Dokukage didn't answer. He was grateful that they didn't have any unwanted guests.

"You should be happy that no one's attacking," Mirar said calmly. He had also joined in on the stakeout, though nobody ever really noted his presence.

Raizer made a sour expression. "Come on, Mirar, you know me well enough to know that I wouldn't be doing something like that! I need to fight!"

Mirar rolled his eyes. "I have no interest in indulging your inane desire for combat. The sooner the Pokemon Rangers get here to accommodate things, the better. In the meantime-"

Hearing a noise behind them, Dokukage whirled around and drew a kunai from his sleeve, flinging it at the ground.

"Youch! Hey, watch where you're throwing those things!"

Raizer's face brightened. "Alden! You're back!"

Alden's group had returned. Rui, Donoma, Ian, and Chloe had all made it back with him in one piece, and they weren't alone. Their comrades from the Battle Frontier had come as well. There was Vic, of course, but also Anabel (who Raizer barely knew) Keya, Tommy, Mason, and Ross. Scott had stayed behind with the workers to report everything that happened, leaving just one person.

Dokukage drew a second dagger, narrowing his eyes. He turned the kunai towards Ange.

"Evangeline Moonshadow," Mirar said, also getting defensive. "It's worse than I thought."

"Hey, that's right!" Raizer said, grabbing his golden pokeball. "Ange got turned by Samarra! So that means you're all-"

"Don't be ridiculous!" Vic snapped. "She WAS possessed. But Alden freed her from Samarra's control like he did with me."

"…Can we really trust that, though?" Mirar asked suspiciously. That had been his largest issue with the idea to go to the Battle Frontier. How would they know without Maddi if anyone had been possessed or not? And if they had… well, he couldn't exactly call for Maddi and serve her up on a silver platter, now could he?

Alden wasn't fazed. "Take a look at our pokemon. Nearly all of them are totally wiped out. If we were going to launch an attack on you, wouldn't we have waited a few more days until they were in peak fighting condition, before getting into it?"

Mirar scanned the data from the pokeball he offered. It was his Lucario, Corin, and just as he'd stated, she was almost completely out of energy to fight. With what he knew of how Samarra operated, he doubted that she'd leave such a trump card in a weakened position like this.

"Plus, Keya and I don't even have pokemon," Rui reminded him. "Now, can I go see my husband, or not?"

"…Very well," he nodded. "But we'll be inspecting everyone's pokemon."

They started checking everyone's pokeballs, but then they got to Ian. His team was almost fully intact, just a little bit of wear.

That immediately got everyone suspicious, and Raizer was ready to fight right there before Ross stepped in and clarified everything for them.

"Yeah, that's on me," he admitted with a shameful laugh. "You see, while I was being controlled by Samarra, my pokemon were fighting as best they could to impose rules and restrictions on the battle, but, well… in terms of actual combat, their fighting ability is…"

Mirar didn't need to hear more. Like with nearly every trainer in the Battle Course, he knew what Ian and Ross were both capable of. If Ian fought hard enough to keep Ross from impacting the conditions of the fight with his pokemon's unique moves, then it would have been a cakewalk for the powerful trainer to defeat the senior. He nodded.

"Okay, so that just leaves…" Mirar turned to the last two students who needed their pokeballs to be checked. But he never had the chance.

"Dvalinn!" Chloe shouted, sending out her very-much-capable-of-fighting Excadrill. "Use sandstorm, now!"

"Excadrill!" Dvalinn bellowed, raising his claws and unleashing a blustering sandstorm that swept everyone up.

"Chloe?!" Ian exclaimed in disbelief. "How… why…?"

"Because she's being controlled!" Donoma choked out, having figured out what was going on immediately. "Quick! We need to get out of here!" She was already making a break for the village, at least, the direction she thought the village was in. And she wasn't the only one. But there were some fools as well.

"Like hell I'm retreating!" Raizer snarled. He could barely see through the sandstorm, but that didn't matter to him. "If we back up now, then her pokemon will get into town and who knows what damage it'll cause!"

He could make out a shadowy figure approaching him through the sand and decided to throw his pokeball at it, releasing his Zeraora. The lightning pokemon let out a roar of fury as he raised his paws, preparing to strike.

But they didn't get the chance, because the shadow wasn't Dvalinn. It wasn't a pokemon who emerged from the swirling sand and entered Raizer's line of sight, or even Chloe.

It was a woman with brown hair, one he'd seen before.

"Shit-!" Raizer barely had time to curse before Samarra reached out and cradled his chin, smiling gently at him.

"Hello," she greeted him with a whisper. "Nice to see you again. I've been looking forward to properly befriending you. Now, what do you think about having some fun pokemon battles?"

Raizer smiled a twisted grin, and got to work.

Seeing this, Mirar knew he had miscalculated. He had very much miscalculated. Samarra had seized the opportunity to attack, and because of that, Raizer of all people had gotten turned. Fucking Raizer, of course it would be him.

"Damn it," he muttered, reaching for his pokeball. Of all the potential foes, Raizer was, ironically, the one that Mirar was best-suited to fight, because like Mirar he only had one pokemon. But what a pokemon it was.

I probably won't be able to win, he recognized. But at least he'd be able to buy the others time while they fled. And if he could weaken the Zeraora enough for someone else to take it down, that would have to be enough.

But he didn't even get a CHANCE to throw his pokeball. Because Samarra brushed her fingers across his cheek, and just like that, everything was over.

And Samarra learned everything there was to know about what every trainer at the Pokemon Academy was capable of.

She smirked as she walked down the street of Agate Village like she owned the place. It had worked brilliantly. They thought that Madison Whitmore was the main priority of this assault, just as she'd hoped.

And in doing so, they'd dropped the real key to her victory right in her lap.

As the sandstorm died down, Samarra turned to the others. "Cause as much chaos as you can," she ordered them. Raizer would continue with his rampage, of course, with Mirar and Chloe's assistance. As for the others…

Her friends were already moving in on the village from all directions. The trainers wouldn't know what hit them.

Agate Village was in a clamor. Dokukage had gotten away the fastest, owing to his training as a ninja, and was already sounding the alarm. Not that he needed to, of course. It was the middle of the day, and everyone could see the raging standstorm.

Andrea, Andre, and Erik immediately got to work. Conscripting the members of their group who couldn't fight, everyone got started on evacuations as the trainers braced themselves for battle. But the first thing they needed to do was get to where the others were.

Because right now, they were in a really bad spot.

"Shit," Alden cursed, shaking his head. That was how bad the situation was, Alden was cursing. "They got Raizer!"

"I know," Vic growled. "If only we still had our pokemon!"

Ange said nothing as she ran through town. Agate Village. It had been the one place she'd been looking forward to seeing in the Orre Region, a picture of the past, nearly untouched by the filth of humanity. And now that she was here, she couldn't even enjoy it.

It made her want to-

"ORRAAAA!"

Everyone froze as Zera dropped down in front of them, his paws crackling with electricity. They'd been cut off. Rui turned to see Raizer standing there with a wicked grin on his face. He was flanked by Mirar and Chloe, both trainers' faces devoid of emotion.

"I don't suppose anyone here is hiding any secret weapons up their sleeves?" Alden groused. He scanned the scenery and realized that Mason was nowhere to be seen. Another problem. If Chloe was controlled by Samarra, then that means she'd lost her fight against Mason. But where he'd snuck off to was anybody's guess.

"All my pokemon are still exhausted," Vic scowled. "I KNEW we should have healed them when we had the chance in Phenac City!"

"We were focusing on getting back here as fast as possible," Anabel said. "It might have been a mistake, but there's nothing we can do to change it now."

"My pokemon are still capable of fighting," Ian said, reaching for a pokeball. "It might not be the order I wanted to do things in, but it's better late than never."

He wasn't dumb enough to think he could hold off three trainers at once, though.

"Shit!" Tommy cursed. "If only we had our pokemon, then we could back him up! Can we really not do anything?!"

"The only thing we can do is hope Dokukage got back to the others," Ross said. He was unusually serious, showing just how bad the situation was.

Then Ange stepped forward.

"Ange?" Alden gasped. "What are you doing?"

"Your pokemon went through the wringer!" Rui shouted. "You shouldn't force them to fight in their condition!"

Without even looking at them, Ange held up another pokeball.

"I only used six pokemon in my match against you," she said calmly. "I still have one more. It's not much, but…"

"Every little bit helps," Ian said, grateful for the support. It probably wouldn't mean much, but he was still happy about it. "Now, if we could just find a way to deal with that-"

"Quick attack!"

A flash of yellow blurred out of the corner of their eye, and shot across the field. The blur slammed into the Zeraora's face and knocked him back.

"Ora?!" Zera gasped in disbelief, rubbing his nose. He glared at the pokemon that had struck him, a small Pikachu.

"You, trainers controlled by evildoers," a voice called from behind Alden and his group. "Don't think that I shall allow you to commit further acts of destruction in the name of friendship!"

Everyone turned to see a woman in orange stroll up to them, wearing a mask that covered her face. A long golden ponytail trailed behind them.

"Yellow!" Ian cried, his expression brightening.

The woman smirked behind her mask. "Yellow?" She said, waggling her finger from side to side. "Non. My name is… Amarillo del Bosque Verde!"

"Pikachu!" Her Pikachu cried in support, electricity crackling on her cheeks.

The support Dokukage had called for had finally arrived!

Marion sighed in relief, slowing down her pace. Her mother had made it there on time. That meant they had some room to breathe. At least a little more, anyway.

"You know," Raizer said, staring at Yellow and stroking his chin thoughtfully. "They always said that you were a great trainer. Yep! That's it! I'm feeling all charged up! Let's go, Zera, and show her what we're made of!"

"Zera!" Zera nodded in agreement, building up an electrical current through their fur.

Okay, Yellow's handling him, Ian noted, glancing at Raizer momentarily. As for Mirar…

Ange stepped forward and stood across from Mirar. Mirar's frown deepened. "You then?" He asked quietly.

"You've only got your Ditto, isn't that right?" Ange said. "It seems that since we both have only one pokemon, it would only be fitting."

"And here I always thought you weren't interested in pokemon battles," Mirar said, raising his eyebrow. "You didn't fight a single battle in school. Not once."

"Of course not," Ange murmured. "Don't you know everything about everyone? Then there's no reason to waste words on you. I might despise battling… but it seems like I don't have much of a choice, now do I?"

Mirar scowled, reflecting Ange's disdain. Of everyone here, Ange was the worst opponent he could face. Having never studied her battles, because she didn't have any, Mirar wouldn't be able to reflect her fighting style very well. That was why he was so grateful to Samarra. She provided him with everything he could ask for about Ange's mental state, which would be the perfect tool to ensure his victory.

And yet, Ange seemed remarkably calm.

…And Ange's dealing with him, Ian thought. That just left one person. He turned to see a stone-faced Chloe standing across the field, her Excadrill glaring at him.

"Hey there," he greeted her. "Are you ready to fight?"

Chloe said nothing as usual. But not because she was too shy or uncomfortable to speak, but because Samarra had deemed words unnecessary. The only thing she had to do was win.

While this was happening, the other battlers were helping get Alden and the rest to safety, so they wouldn't be in the line of fire. Wes and Alcea were on the front lines, ready to face any other trainers who might be attempting to fight.

"That's three of them, is it?" Alcea said, narrowing her eyes. "But where are the others?" Samarra had turned several people that she knew of, but the only ones fighting right now had been people from their own group. The others had to be around here somewhere.

So while they watched the three trainers fight against the other three trainers, they kept a close watch, never once thinking that this could be a trap.

"I can't believe this," Maddi said, shaking her head in disbelief. It still didn't seem real that all this was happening over her. She'd been left back in Rui's house to guard Ayame, while everyone else went to go aid in the fighting, or in the evacuation.

The groups had been split fairly evenly. Wes had led the trainers on the offensive when Dokukage arrived, taking with them Yellow, Alcea, Callie, Rafe, Celia, and, of all people, Marion. The fishing enthusiast had rejected the idea of helping with the evacuation, in an odd bit of seriousness.

"I brought my pokemon to fight," Marion had said. "And that's what I'm going to do."

Maddi wished she could have done the same. But she was forbidden from battling. She'd even left her pokeballs in the care of Hiromi, because she couldn't trust herself. The point of that was to make it as difficult as possible for her to be turned. Samarra would have to come and touch her personally in order to possess her.

At the same time, however, that meant she was defenseless. And she didn't like that. It made her feel completely naked.

She at least could have helped with the evacuation. Hiromi, Andrea, Andre, Erik, Olivia, Jessie, Allen, Giselle, Lukas, and Lila were all helping the senior citizens get away. She could have done that! But no, she was forced to hang back and guard Ayame with Gerard.

Maddi heard a shuffling noise behind her and whirled around. Had someone forgotten something? But when she turned, all she saw was a lamp in the hands of one very free Ayame Toujou, seconds before it smashed into her skull.

Then she just saw darkness.

Oh no! Maddi's been attacked! But how did Ayame get free?! And how are our heroes going to stand up against Samarra's assault?! She's turned Raizer and Mirar over to her side, and who knows how many other people she could get to?! This really isn't good! The good guys had a numerical advantage, but because Mason and Chloe were sleeper agents, everything's been turned on its head! Will our heroes manage to win?!