Harry shielded his eyes as the Dragon Pulse and the Hyper Beam warred for dominance. He could hear the two Pokemon bellowing and battling, putting their all into their attacks, desperate to make theirs the one that would win the battle and seal the victory. Carefully spreading his fingers so he didn't blind himself, Harry watched as the two beams buckled and thrusted, moving back and forth as Vegeta and Serperior poured everything they had into the attacks. But slowly, ever so slowly, Harry's Pokemon forced the beams away from him until, with a cocky smirk, the dragon gave just a bit more and utterly destroyed the Hyper Beam and sent the Dragon Pulse right into Serperior, blasting the grass snake across the field.

Prof. Stale stepped forward, looking at Draco's Pokemon before raising his hand. "Seperior is unable to battle!"

The Gryffindors roared in approval, Harry holding up his hand and waving them off with a grin. He glanced at Hermione, seeing that she was focused on Draco, casually pressing her index finger to her temple. Obviously she was getting something but he needed to continue to egg Draco on, get him thinking about the Order as well as not notice Hermione probing his thoughts. Harry knew that if he distracted Draco with a good battle Hermione could enter his mind easier and do more than a surface probe but he had to keep the blond idiot from noticing.

Harry had come to understand that reading someone's mind was much like using a Speaker ability to force your will upon another. Jack had been teaching Harry the basics of brute force (the 'Apex Predator Pulse' as Jack called it) but had stated that it was very draining (apparently when he'd done it in Fuchsia City he'd barely managed to defeat Koga and escape onto the ghost before he'd lapsed into unconsciousness, with a Sons doctor claiming that Jack had been in a mild coma while others argued he'd just depleted himself so much that he'd been forced to sleep for 49 hours. The point was that brute force worked fine… but it took a lot of power. And Pokemon noticed you doing it. A subtle touch was better, to draw them into the Speaker's Realm and then give small pushes so that you could force your words to imprint on their mind (thus why it was called Speaking). The same was true for psychics as well: Hermione could force her way into Draco's mind but he would know and it would drain her. But be subtle?

"If this is how all future Team Nocturne Agents fight then I'll defeat your master again without breaking a sweat."

Draco opened his mouth to retort only for Prof. Slate to cut him off. "Mr. Potter, will you be keeping your Pokemon out?"

Harry instantly slipped into the Speaker's Realm. "Well?"

"Is there any doubt?" Vegeta snorted in annoyance. "This low class wretch is nothing to me! I'll sweep his entire team without breaking a sweat!"

"If that's what you want," Harry said with a shrug before returning to the physical world. "Yeah, he wants to fight. He's not impressed at all with Draco at the moment. Of course," he said almost lazily, "we are our parents children. I'm Lily's Heir… and Draco…well…"

"What are you getting at, Potter?" Draco called out as he sent out his next Pokemon. Harry scanned the strange creature, with its large head and small body and glowing eyes and grimaced as he saw he was facing an Elgyem. A Psychic type from Unova, believed to be a Pokemon that originated from outer space, Harry knew that it must have been one of the Psychic types that Lucius Malfoy had given his son, seeing as Lucius used its evolved form in his gym battles. Looking over Elgyem's possible moves had Harry mentally grimacing; psychics were nasty pokemon to take on because they could learn a wide array of elemental moves. Worse, they tended to be sneaky fighters who could learn a vast ammount of status moves that could drive an opponent mad. There was a reason that some professors believed that the Dark Type was a merging of Fighting Pokemon skills and Psychic Type trickery.

Harry though didn't express any of this worry, instead deciding to focus on Draco. While Vegeta looked at the Elgyem and folded his arms across his chest, snorting in dismissive annoyance, Harry decided to egg Draco on and get him focused on the right things. "Just that my parents actually fought against Voldemort… they didn't lick his boots like your father did."

"My father bows to no one! Elgyem, Thunder Bolt!"

"Vegeta, feel free to cut loose for a bit!" Harry had a feeling his dragon was going to get trounced in this fight and frankly he needed it. He'd learned that his Kommo-O sometimes needed humility beaten into him by a superior opponent so that he'd actually listen to Harry the next time. After his battle with Jonas' Kong (where Harry too had been served a good helping of humility) the dragon had been far more willing to train with Harry than he had before. Listen to suggestions rather than scoff and turn his head away, claiming that he didn't need any help. And while at Hogwarts Harry had seen that willingness to listen slowly sliding away, reverting to pride and arrogance. Getting tossed around by Elgyem would work… and a win would get Draco distracted. "Oh, right. I forgot the "official" reason," he said, making air quotes.

"Can… can you even do that with only one true hand? Air quotes? You only have one real hand to do it with."

Harry glanced at Ron, not at all bothered by the attack; to prepare for such things Sirius and Remus had spent 2 days mocking him for it until all the insults just rolled off him. "Remember when we bet how long it would take before he began making missing hand jokes?"

"Yeah," Ron said as Vegeta went in and delivered a Drain Punch to Elgyem; it wasn't effective but it did give him a bit more strength and energy.

"Does that count?"

"I don't know. He explained it at the end."

Neville nodded. "Never explain the joke."

"Completely ruins it," Ginny chimed in.

Harry turned back to Draco. "Don't explain your jokes. Even the really weak ones."

"Wasn't even really a joke," Ron pointed out. "Just saying random things."

"Shut your mouth, Weasley!"

Ginny leaned over to Neville. "Was that a joke too? I can't tell with him."

"I think everything with Draco is a joke."

"I think you mean he's a joke," Ron offered.

"Elgyem, Psybeam right in that dragon's face!" Draco called out in outrage. Vegeta snarled and tried to power through the attack only to get sent sliding back, the psychic energy sapping away all of the power he'd drained with his last attack. Snarling, he rushed forward the moment the attack ended and delivered a Close Combat attack but Elgyem was able to use psychic barriers to blunt most of the blows.

"I notice you haven't addressed my comment, Draco," Harry called out. "The "official" story." He did the air quotes again, just to annoy the blond bastard. "You know the one, right? That daddy was kidnapped and held for most of the war? That he wasn't really toady who bowed to Voldie… he was just a pathetic trainer who let himself get captured by grunts that couldn't battle their way out of a paper bag."

"Shut your mouth, Potter! My father is the best trainer in Avalon! Elgyem, Trick Room!"

Harry mentally grimaced. 'That is going to cause problems for Vegeta.' He could already see the psychic dome that Elgyem had put up altering the laws of physics, making Vegeta look like he was walking through syrup while the alien-like Pokemon was able to dart about all the quicker. Draco began to have his Pokemon pepper Vegeta with Energy Balls, which did little to hurt but enough to annoy the dragon. So annoyed that he didn't see Elgyem begin to use Recover to regain his strength. 'He did a similar thing with his Boldre. Speed him up and then build him up. I'd say that was Draco's style but he doesn't have a style other than flail about and claim he is amazing. That's his father right there… and the tutors his father hired for him. Draco's playing off a script and if I can change things just enough I can beat him easily.' Harry's jaw worked as he watched Elgyem fire off a Simple Beam; it wouldn't actually do much to Vegeta, as Overcoat wasn't an ability he relied on often, but it did prove one thing. 'His father is a psychic gym leader, even if they raise grass types. So he's going to know more moves and strategies for that type than he would others. That makes Elgyem far more developed than the Pokemon Draco has been raising on his own. With Boldre once I figured out how to turn his speed to a disadvantage the battle was done. With Serperior I never gave him the chance. But Elgyem has several tricks… Trick Room, Simple Beam… he can adapt. This is going to be interesting.'

Vegeta, realizing that he couldn't actually get in close to Elgyem to deliver punches or kicks, began to go for long-range attacks. Harry was actually impressed that his dragon had thought to use Earthquake, as it forced Elgyem to break off a Psybeam it had been preparing to fire and move through the air. Of course after that was done Vegeta clearly was getting cocky again and Harry winced knowing that would come back and bite them on the ass. Vegeta being cocky was never a good thing.

Sure enough, Elgyem began to use Calm Mind, strengthening his special attack and defense. Vegeta didn't see it though and Harry knew it was no use calling it out to his Pokemon as the dragon would just not listen; when he was in a fierce battle he tended to zone out when he thought it was beneath him… of course that was also when he tended to lose. So instead Harry focused on winding up Draco.

"Best trainer? He isn't even in the same Order as my parents," Harry called out, stressing the word 'order' to get it stuck in Draco's head. "He spent the entire war as a pampered prisoner, if you believe his story. And if he didn't then he was one of Voldemort's top admins but that isn't saying much considering how badly Nocturne got its rear handed to it. Of course, if your father was an admin he must have known how pathetic Team Nocturne truly was… once my mother brought Order to the chaos Voldemort created your father didn't try to seize power…" Vegeta let out a roar, cutting Harry off as he tried to fire off a Focus Blast only for Elgyem to send a series of Thunderbolts at him that blinded him and canceled out the move. "…he instead gave up and crawled to the Ministry begging for help."

"My father was a victim, Potter! You won't mock him!"

"Why not?" Harry asked dryly. "You Slytherins mock my parents all the time."

"Because your father was an arrogant weakling and your mother was a brat with a pisspoor temper who couldn't ever shut her mouth-"

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy, I think that is enough!" McGonagall called out rising from her seat and glaring at the two. "This is a Pokemon battle, not a time for playground taunts. Now either battle or I'll have Prof. Slate call the match!"

Draco bit off his insult and instead called out, "Elgyem, Psychic!"

It was little surprise when Vegeta, faced with the full brunt of not just one of the Psychic type's best attacks but one that was powered up thanks to Calm mind, went down hard.

~MC~MC~MC~

"I knew having them battle each other was a mistake," McGonagall complained as she sat back down.

"They are children," Sprout countered, watching as Harry sent out his Alakazam. She could tell that her friend was in a mood but was hoping maybe, just maybe, she could keep her from dragging down all the rest of them. "Children act childish."

"They aren't children," Snape said dryly. "They are teenagers. That makes them worse. The arrogance of children, the attention span of adults, and hormones screwing them all up." He shot a look at Prof. Sprout as she opened her mouth. "And I know I was the same way when I was their age. Potter and I went at it like Purlions in a wet bag. You've told me many times."

"They are Gryffindor and Slytherin," Flitwick said with a smirk as Elgyem moved to deliver a Zen Headbutt only to be driven back by Dobby's Night Shade attack, "that compounds it by ten."

"Now now," Dumbledore said with a twinke in his eye that so maddened those around him (the old man didn't realize just how patronizing he could be at times), "it is entirely possible for the barriers between the houses to be cast aside. We are all sitting here, chatting as friends."

"We are adults," Snape said, clearly fighting the urge to roll his eyes. "They are brats who alternate between being obsessed with their social standing or allowing their libidos to rule their actions."

"Still, I have seen it happen. I remember a certain potion prodigy and a fierce Gryffindor who were lifelong friends…"

"Lily was my sister, headmaster," Snape growled. Sprout shook her head; it was always risky to bring up Lily in front of Severus, as his sister's death still haunted him. It had been part of the reason he hadn't gone to Harry early on, to reveal their true relationship: the mere mention of Lily some days was like a knife in his heart. His brash bold adopted sister who had been stolen from him. Today at least was a good day and he didn't storm out in a huff. "House rivalries can not match that."

There was a roar from the Gryffindors as Dobby, the moment Elgyem used his Recover, activated Disable to locked the move from the alien-Pokemon's mind, then performed his own Recover to heal himself. He was staying away from Draco's Pokemon by abusing his Teleport, bouncing about the arena. While Elgyem was still faster thanks to the Trick Room being able to move at the speed of light negated that advantage. The result was a battle so fast that it was hard to keep track of, with Dobby and Elgyem firing at one another while always on the move. While the alien-Pokemon had greater strength thanks to the multiple Calm Minds it had used Dobby was far quicker thanks to the Teleports and was able to still use Recover.

"Mr. Potter will have this won very soon," Flitwick finally stated with a nod.

"You noticed it too?" Snape asked.

"Oh yes."

"What have you two noticed?" McGonagall asked. "They look rather equal to me. Which is impressive as Mr. Potter had claimed the first few matches so easily."

"They may be near equal in strength but not when it comes to connection with their Pokemon," Flitwick stated as Dobby began to really screw with Elgyem and began to use Double Teams and Substitutes so that the alien-Pokemon could never quite know where he was. Worse, the Alakazam was fond of appearing next to a Substitute just long enough to fire off an attack, meaning that it appeared many times like he was several places at once. "Notice how Mr. Malfoy has to call out commands to his Pokemon? Mr. Potter has no need." Seeing that his colleagues weren't getting what he was trying to tell them the Pokeball Crafting professor smiled. "Mr. Potter trusts his Alakazam to psychically link with him… Mr. Malfoy does not."

McGonagall's eyes widened as she realized that Flitwick was right. "Most psychic pokemon users make that one of their very first goals though!"

"But the Malfoys are cautious," Sprout reminded her. "Paranoid even. And to be linked is to hold yourself on the same level as your Pokemon…"

"…something Mr. Malfoy is unable to do," McGonagall stated.

After that it was clear the battle was over, Draco just didn't realize it. He got in a few good shots but eventually Elgyem couldn't match what Dobby could do and the strange Psychic type fainted.

"That was rather impressive," Sprout said. "Mr. Potter is a natural at battling. Reminds me of his father."

Snape snorted at that. "James Potter could battle, yes, but Mr. Potter is already superior to him. It's Lily's mind." While he and James Potter had never been close they hadn't been enemies so much as rivals, especially in the final half of their education when James had finally learned a taste of humility, pushing each other to greater heights. Oh, they had gone after each other, with Potter pulling pranks and Snape matching him right back, but that had mostly been because James had fallen for Lily the moment he saw her and thought Snape was a rival for her affections. It was only near their 4 year that the dolt had finally gotten it into his head that Severus would always see Lily as a sister that the two had fallen into a more honest rivalry, rather than a malicious one.

"It's more than that," Flitwick stated. "I studied up on The Pack, as they are known, during the summer… they are all rather impressive. Masters of team work and of strategy. Harry has received training from them and that has only worked to make him better."

"Hmmm," McGonagall said, narrowing her eyes. "I wonder just what else those rebels taught him."

Sprout though rolled her eyes at Minvera's statement even as Draco sent out his Sigilyph. 'Clearly another gift from his father,' she thought, a touch disappointed. She always preferred that trainer catch their Pokemon rather than have them handed to them. More often than not a trainer did not respect a Pokemon and its power if they had not worked to catch it on their own. To her friend she said, "I thought you were trying to be more understanding when it came to Mr. Potter? To reestablish the relationship you spent all summer mourning the death of."

McGonagall grumbled but said nothing and the other professors shook their heads. It wasn't just Potter of course that was making her stubborn. McGonagall always claimed that she was willing to change or try new things and every year she reverted back to her old ways. The woman was stubborn and set in her routine and it seemed that mistrust in Harry Potter had become her newest habit. It was a pity because Sprout knew that her old friend and Mr. Potter would get along wonderfully if one of them just took the first step. But Potter seemed to be entrenched and embittered by his head of house's failure to stand with him during the Grand Trainer Tournament and Minvera, despite her promises to try always slipped back to her old ways. She saw the world too black and white and at the moment Harry Potter was in the shadows.

"Icy Wind!" Draco called out, the frigid cold causing several of Dobby's Double Team clones to shatter.

The sad fact of the matter was that Harry Potter wasn't the student Minerva had dreamed of when she'd thought of him finally coming to Hogwarts. She'd thought that he would cling to her, seek her out and that they would develop a family-like relationship. Not mother and son but perhaps like a favorite aunt. That she would be able to teach him so much, that she would be the adult he sought, to ask about the world and more importantly his past. But then Remus had come into his life, followed by Sirius… and The Pack. And those eight people gave Harry something that Minerva never could: the ability to be Harry and not James and Lily's son.

'Because, despite how she'll refuse to even admit it to herself, she looks at him and sees James and Lily,' Sprout thought to herself.

"Interesting," Flitwick stated. "The Sigilyph has Wonder Guard… that allows him all the benefits of the Life Orb but none of the negatives."

Though she always denied it when Sprout pressed her on it McGonagall seemed to forever look at students and judge them based on what their parents had been like, seeing them not so much their people as extensions of their mothers and fathers. For some this worked out rather well; Neville Longbottom may not have been as friendly and open as his father, as Frank had managed to make friends with almost everyone (which, sadly, had lead to Bellatrix believing he loved her when that was merely his nature to be polite to all), did have his good heart and had inherited his mother's wonderful connection with Pokemon. For others this caused her to see similar traits and not realize that they had different causes. Luna Lovegood was the prime example of that, as her father had been rather eccentric is school but that was mostly just his personality. Sprout had researched untrained Veelas after the comments made by the Veela Mistresses from Avalon during the previous year and been horrified that none of the teachers had seen just how much pain Miss Lovegood was in. As for those who were first time students that seemed to get along best with the Deputy Headmistress, as-

"Dobby is unable to battle! Mr. Potter, select your next Pokemon."

- there were no preconceived notions with them. Hermione Granger would have probably become McGonagall's new favorite had she not joined Potter's Pride; none of the staff truly knew what had happened in the second year but it had destroyed the bushy haired girl's desire to always respect her professors and follow Hogwarts' rules to the perfect letter.

Yes, sometimes things didn't work out well. And sometimes they blew up in McGonagall's face… like with Harry.

"Togekiss, I choose you!"

"Toki!"

McGongall had expected him to be like James or Lilly. 'Much like all of us,' she admitted, as she too had fallen into that trap. How could they not when all of Avalon ('or at least those that had sided with the Potters after the disaster that had been the Order of Moltres' she thought, idly noticing that Miss Granger glance in her direction) had been waiting for his return, knowing nothing about him and thus been forced to use what they knew of his parents to build their vision of him in their minds? But he hadn't been like James who had swept through Hogwarts like a storm, gathering up friends and enemies like leaves in the wind. And he hadn't been like Lily, who had been the oddest blend of shy newcomer and wide-eyed observer who had wanted to know everything. Harry had been excited of course, and he made friends, but he had been more tempered in his reactions. Perhaps it was because he had gathered a strong group around him, like his father, but hadn't become the Prince of Gryffindor like James had been, choosing instead to focus on building up his Pride. That was Remus' influence and the more that Sprout thought about it Harry was more like his guardian than he was his parents.

But that wasn't what McGonagall had wanted.

'It doesn't help that she remembers only Lily and James' greater aspects and forgets their negatives,' she thought as she watched Togekis and Sigilyph wager their air duel, the two fliers throwing every kind of attack they could at the other. An Air Cutter from Malfoy's side, a Dazzling Gleam from Potter's. A Heatwave that nearly sent the Togekiss into a tailspin only for her to counter with a Shadow Ball that had the strange psychic bird screeching in agony. Sprout turned back to her own thoughts and of the young man who was currently battling the self-proclaimed Prince of Slytherin. 'She remembers how wonderful James was with so many, how he was a class clown. But she forgets his malicious streak and how cruel he could be to anyone who caught his eyes and became a target. She remembers how passionate Lily was but she forgets just how many detentions that girl got for mouthing off… and how many noses she broke when she decided to take matters into her own fists. All she remembers is the laughter and the joy and not how both of them made her tear her hair out and break down sobbing because she couldn't control them.'

Sprout shook her head sadly. Most likely the same thing would happen with Mr. Potter. Ten, fifteen years down the line, she would remember only the nice things about Harry Potter. The negatives would fade away and she would only remember all the good. How he was a natural leader. How much he cared for his Pokemon. His courage. Bravery. And… sadly… how she had ignored him because he didn't fit the mold that she wanted him to be in. All because she was disappointed Harry wasn't like a boy who didn't even exist.

There was a violent explosion and Sprout looked down to see both the Togekiss and the Sigilyph knocked completely out.

~MC~MC~MC~

'This is it,' Draco thought to himself as he pulled out his final Pokemon. 'This is where I win.' While he would have preferred to have defeated Potter with a full sweep he realized that this was all the better. Destroying Potter with a sweep would show he was his better, of course, but letting his taste victory only for Draco to cruelly snatch it from him? Oh, that would break him. It would leave him utterly shattered. It was why he had been toying with him, letting him beat him in the earlier matches, only to slowly apply the pressure until he reached the peak moment for shattering. 'Everything is going according to plan.'

~MC~MC~MC~

'Deluded little moron,' Hermione thought to herself before returning to her scans of Draco's mind (and grabbing Luna's hand and sending her a psychic command to begin sending as much positive energy as she could into body because Draco's mind was disgusting).

~MC~MC~MC~

The battle with Potter's Togekiss had been a difficult one, as much as Draco hated to admit it, even to himself. The Fairy/Flying type had been able to use Extreme Speed to amp up just how fast she could fly and she'd thrown electrical and fire attacks at Sigilyph. But his own Pokemon had been just as cunning; not as fast but sturdier, able to take enough hits while dishing out his own to finally bring the Fairy down. That left them here, one final battle, to decide once and for all if Draco was the best in the school or best to ever come to the school.

'You'll fall Potter. Just like your parents should have fell when they deny the rightful lord of these lands.' Draco pulled out his Ultra Ball and gave it a toss. "Bruxish, I choose you!"

"Go Ludwig!"

Draco couldn't help but smirk. "You think you can beat me by using your mother's Pokemon? Pathetic! Bruxish, use Surf!" Draco ran towards the railing, Crabbe and Goyle helping him up before he was stuck in knee deep water while the brightly colored fish with the dark sharp smile summoned forth a massive wave of water, flooding the field and giving Bruxish plenty of room to swim. Potter, meanwhile, did nothing to avoid the wave other than raise his arm to shield his face from the spray, while his Litwick rose into the air, sadly avoiding most of the attack.

"At least I try and catch Pokemon. Ludwig was a gift but I caught Togikiss, Hedwig, and Vegeta the old fashion way." Potter smirked. "And the Beast. I'm sure you remember that I caught him too."

"And stole him from my father-"

"Your father was a fool who followed a monster," Harry snapped back. "Not my fault he let his greed blind him. Ludwig, Confuse Ray and then go Invisible!"

"Bruxish, dodge!" Draco commanded but his Pokemon failed to move quickly enough and got hit by the Confuse Ray right in the face. Draco looked up, trying to spot the pesky fire ghost, only to see empty air. "Hiding like the coward you are, Potter?"

"I'm right here, Draco," Harry taunted. He glanced over at Granger, who was looking oddly pale and gave him a slight nod that Draco didn't quite get, before turning back to face Draco. "And as for my Pokemon I am using everything I have to defeat you."

"Only pathetic losers resort to such tricks," Draco snarled, ignoring the snorts of laughter around him. Clearly they were laughing at Potter, even if they were looking at him. Someone even had the nerve to mumble something about Trick Rooms and Draco fought the urge to snap at the fools; what he had done had been cunning strategy. Using the abilities of his Pokemon to their fullest. Potter was scared of him and was using lazy and fearful moves to try and prolong the battle. "Bruxish, shake it off and use Waterfall to find that Pokemon!"

Harry whistled as Bruxish leapt up in a swelling of water only to flop back down without hitting anything. "Swing and a miss, Draco. Want to try again?" Draco snarled and commanded Bruxish to go with an Aqua Tail, only for his Pokemon, to his disgust, to slam down to hard in the water due to his confusion and injure himself. "So close."

Draco growled low in his throat. 'Cocky upstart little bastard! I'll make him eat that smile!' However, Draco realized he had to find the Chandelure. Draco reached up and began to cycle through the different strategies in his optical reader. His Bruxish knew to continue battling, as he had been trained by his father's Jr. Gym Leaders to continue fighting while his trainer was looking for a new strategy, and thus Draco was able to look over the different options. The problem was there wasn't much on what to do if a Pokemon completely disappeared…

'Kecleon,' he suddenly realized, remembering there was a Pokemon that could practically disappear from the field. Doing a quick search showed him that the best way to find a Kecleon was the throw up something that would let a trainer see where they were, as they didn't physically disappear but visually so. Throwing in that he was using a water type instantly gave him all the moves he needed. 'Potter won't know how to handle this strategy I created!' Draco thought to himself as he read through once more the strategy as laid out by others.

"Getting bored, Malfoy," Harry drolled.

"Then let me give you a reason to quake and tremble! Bruxish, Rain Dance!" The brightly colored fish nodded and began to swim in intricate patterns, specially designed to call upon the waters and create storms. Soon enough it was raining again, though this time Draco was safe in the stands while Potter stood under the downpour, pounding on the surface of the shallow lake he'd created for Bruxish. Draco looked skyward, searching… and then grinned when he saw the steam that suddenly appeared in the air. "There! Aqua Tail!"

"We're found out, Ludwig!" Harry shouted. "Shadow Ball and then move!"

Draco's Bruxish let out a cry as it was hit but it still managed to get through the air and slam a water-coated tail into Potter's Pokemon.

"Crunch!" Draco shouted quickly when a prompt suggesting just that popped up on his reader. Bruxish did as commanded and Ludwig howled in pain as the fish sank his sharp teeth into one of his burning arms and held on tight. "That's it! Nice and tight now! Your Strong Jaw is going to ensure that stupid ghost doesn't escape! It's over Potter!"

"It's not over at all! You sacrificed sure footing for a killing strike! Shockwave!" Bruxish trembled as the electric attack ran through his muscles, making his jaw clench tighter. It did more damage to the Chandelure but clearly Potter didn't care in the slightest. "Now then, Hex!" Bruxish let go at that point, the ghostly attack damaging far more than it should have. Draco's brow furrowed only for him to see a warning on his optical scanner that because Bruxish was paralyzed the Hex attack did double damage.

"Don't you dare give up! Bruxish, fight through it and use Surf one more time!"

"Ludwig, turn that water to steam with Flamethrower!" Potter called out but it was too little to take out the massive wave of water Bruxish summoned up. "Pain Split!" Potter called out just before the water struck his Chandelure, sending it crashing into the water.

"Liquidation!" Draco called out, deciding to make sure he took out the stupid flame ghost before it could mount a final attack.

Nothing was sweeter than seeing Potter's Pokemon being recalled.

"You're done!" Draco laughed in delight, pointing at Potter. "You failed, Potter! Just like I knew you would! You never stood a chance and now all of Hogwarts sees just who the failure-"

"Orion, I choose you!" Potter called out, sending out his Empoleon. "Hydro Pump!"

Draco could only stare dumbly as his Bruxish was knocked out.

"Yeah, they saw who the failure was."

"You… you cheater!" He spun around and looked to the Professors. "Potter cheated! He attacked my Pokemon after our match was done! I demand he be punished!" He whipped around and glared at the pathetic Gryffindor. "My father will see you expelled for this!"

"Mr. Malfoy," Prof. Slate called out, "who said the match was done?"

"…it was!" Draco complained. "I sent out six Pokemon!"

The Battle Professor nodded. "Yes. And so did Mr. Potter. And he recalled Orion after his first battle. He was allowed to do that."

Draco though shook his head. "No! NO! He can't do that! That isn't fair!"

"I won, Malfoy," Potter said, walking over and offering his hand. "Nice try though."

But Draco just glared at him with utter loathing. "This… you set me up! You cheated-"

"I paid attention, Draco," Potter said, lowering his hand. "Try it some time."

And with that he walked away.

"This isn't over! Everyone in Hogwarts saw what kind of trainer you are! What kind I am! They'll never forget, Potter!"

"No… they won't," Harry said with a laugh. And with that he walked away, leaving Draco screaming at his retreating form. It was only when Draco turned to get support from his fellow Slytherins that he found that they had retreated and that while Potter greeted his friends… Draco was all alone.

~MC~MC~MC~

"Well that was fun," Harry said dryly as he and his friends walked through the empty hallway towards the hospital wing. It had taken a lot of half truths to convince the rest of Gryffindor House to hold off on the party for a few hours, as there was nothing that excited Gryffs more than seeing an Arbok get knocked around, but in the end they had agreed. Harry had convinced them he wanted to pick up Leafeon and get the rest of his Pokemon healed and they'd all understood, knowing how important Harry's team was to him.

"You couldn't have beaten him more?" Ron whined. "Malfoy Tears are so sweat."

Ginny crinkled her nose. "Sorry but I'll take never having ANYTHING of Draco's in my mouth."

Luna gagged. "I don't even have a reference to express how disgusting that thought is."

Neville held up his hand. "That will replace the Wailord in my nightmares?"

"That is Harry's line! I can't reference Harry!" Luna complained.

"Guys!" Harry hissed. "Let's ignore Draco and focus on what he was thinking." He turned to Hermione. "So what… Hermione?"

It was only then that he noticed how truly pale she was.

"Harry…" Hermione whispered. "I was able to skim not just Draco's mind but Sprout's mind too. She got thinking about the Order."

"That's great… isn't it?" Harry asked.

Hermione shook her head though. "Harry… the Order… your parents were part of it… the Weasleys too… the Order… they were formed for one purpose."

"What was that?" Harry pressed.

"…to allow Voldemort control of Avalon."

~MC~MC~MC~

Author's Notes: First off, if you aren't following me on Twitter I suggest you do so. Not only do I give updates on when stories are coming out, hold Q&A sessions, and drop tidbits, but you can also see me gush about my likes. Today I got giddy over the Ecto-1 Transformer that was announced (and yes, I did preorder it the first hour it was up, don't judge me!)

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Fights are the hardest for me to write. Because I find fighting boring. Give me great character interaction any day… there is a reason why I can do an Authors of Our Own Fate chapter in 2 days, A Crack of Thunder chapter in about 3 to 4… but this story takes a week to get a chapter written. Fights bore me. But I do try and put all I can into them and I hope you guys enjoy them.

Oh, as an aside? Just so you can tell what kind of stories I like, 'A Game of Stacks' is right now one of my favorite Game of Thrones stories I've ever read. It is a modern story that places the characters of Game of Thrones in the world of college libraries, deals with a ton of talking and interaction… and is hilarious and wonderful. Characters you NEVER would expect to interact do so and the author loves to nod at canon but then move well past it. And it humanizes the characters. Tywin is still ruthless… but he is secretly sleeping with the Queen of Thrones and is mentoring Arya in business and when he finds out Tyrion was almost killed he DOES rush to his apartment to check on him. And dear lord they make me care about Cersei. That is good writing.

And before someone asks… favorite Harry Potter fanfic is "Harry's New Home" (read it 4 times) and Pokemon would be "Ashes of the Past" but usually just Kanto through Johto, as I lose interest in Hoenn's arc. For Downton Abbey it would be the Fox Hunt, or really most of what Rap541 writes.

Let me be clear on Sprout's thoughts on McGonagall… this is for THIS FIC. Not my view of her in canon. Much like Snape she is different in this world… history has changed and so has she.