And now, here's the next round! Who's up next?
Jay Hayden: Well, who's to say what his intentions are?
Superblal: Elaina has some people in high places (Gerard) looking out for her, granting her some leeway. And isn't that basically the relationship between Ghetsis and N?
Darkhammer: Hopefully not, that would be horrifying for her.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 46
"So the first match ends with Elaina Bishop victorious!" Darla announced.
"But Darla, the entire battlefield has been torn to shreds!" Lila questioned.
"That's okay," Darla said, smiling. "We were expecting this outcome, so we prepared a spare!"
Darla held up a remote, pressing a large red button. The entire stadium began to shake, and the wreckage of the battlefield was slowly pushed aside as a second arena rose out of the ground.
"Oh, that's great thinking, Darla!" Lila said, her eyes widening in surprise.
Elaina's body was battered, but she was able to walk away from the field with relatively sure footing. Rather than cheers of victory, she stepped up onto the stage to a tense, frightened silence, slowly walking toward her seat.
"Elaina," Blake rose to his feet, reaching out to her. "Are you okay?"
"Don't you touch me!" Elaina snapped, whirling around and slapping his hand away. "Stay away from me!"
"Hey, hold on now!" Cynthia exclaimed, jumping out of her seat, glaring daggers at Elaina. "Blake was just worried about you! And that's a hell of a lot more than you deserve, after the shit you've pulled! What, are you just some kind of freak that likes terrorizing and hurting people?!"
Elaina stepped toward Cynthia, tilting her head to look down on her.
"You had best be careful who you call a freak, girl," Elaina growled.
"Now, now, I think that's enough of that, save it for the arena, ladies," Blake turned to see Oscar step between the two, holding his hands out, still wearing a stoic frown on his face.
"…" Elaina said nothing more, turned, and walked back to her seat, while Cynthia muttered a string of curses to herself. The tense moment winding down, the MCs resumed their roles and the tournament continued.
"The next match of the day will be…" Darla announced, the faces spinning by on the screen, stopping in two locations.
"…Oscar Silph vs. Blake Harker!" Lila finished.
"Well, isn't that fortunate," Oscar said, turning to Blake. "Shall we go?"
"Blake's up already?" Sango asked, excitement bursting across her face.
"And he's fighting against Oscar…" Kitty murmured.
Well, Oscar, Alcea mused, leaning back in her seat, a thin line of a smile spreading across her face, it seems like you'll be getting what you wanted.
"This should be a good match, Blake," Oscar said, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder as they walked down from the stage. "At least, I hope it will be." He reached up to his face and slid his sunglasses down the bridge of his nose. His left eye was a milky-white color, but his right was shimmering with a silvery light. "You know what this is, right?"
Blake's blood ran cold and his face turned pale, swallowing.
"You… but that's…" Oscar had already turned and was limping toward his side of the battlefield, Blake watching after him.
"Hey! Harker! Does tardiness run in your family or something?!" Jolted from his stupor, Blake turned to the announcer's podium, where Darla was shooting him a dirty look. "Get a move on!"
"Sorry, just… thinking…" Blake mumbled, heading to his side of the field.
"Huh? Blake seems weird…" Sango said, tilting her head to the side.
"I'll start," Oscar murmured. "Yanma."
Oscar tossed out a pokeball, which a small dragonfly pokemon emerged from, his wings fluttering at supersonic speed, flittering across the battlefield.
"If that's who you're starting with…" Blake said, throwing out a pokeball, "Rogen, go!"
Blake's Boldore emerged, raising his claws into the air menacingly.
"Hm, this doesn't seem like a good start for Oscar," Darla said, frowning. "We haven't seen much of Blake's Boldore, but what we can say for sure is that Yanma are super weak to rock type moves."
"I agree, this could be a problem," Lila said worriedly.
"Rogen, we've got to go full force from the beginning," Blake ordered. "Use rock slide!"
Rogen raised his claws and dug them into the battlefield, debris from the previous battlefield raising up from the ground, flying toward Yanma in an avalanche of dirt and rock.
"Yanma!" Oscar called out. Yanma shot across the battlefield, his eyes jumping from rock to rock as he maneuvered his small body around the attacks, emerging from the wave of rock unharmed.
"Whoa, what amazing dexterity!" Lila exclaimed.
"Boldore can't land a single blow, Oscar's Yanma is just too fast!" Darla noted.
"Bol!" Rogen shouted, raising a pincer, swinging at Yanma as the bug pokemon shot towards him. Before the blow landed, however, the Yanma disappeared, Rogen's strike hitting nothing but air. Yanma reappeared beside Rogen, headbutting him in the side. Rogen slid across the ground, swinging wildly at the bug, but Yanma easily evaded the blows.
"Rogen…" Sango gasped.
"…Was pushed back?" Julia said in disbelief.
Kanone chuckled, a lazy smile on his face as he looked down at the battlefield.
"Darla, that… was just a normal tackle, right?" Lila asked.
"…Y-yeah…" Darla said, nodding, her eyes wide.
"What level is that Yanma?" Lila asked, turning to Darla.
"According to the information we have on his pokemon…" Darla said, looking up from her tablet, a strange look on her face. "It's level 7."
"Level 7?!" Lila gasped, her mouth dropping open in shock.
"It's level doesn't matter," Blake said, narrowing his eyes. "Rogen, that Yanma is too fast for us. You've got to stay defensive, got it?"
"Bol!" Rogen said, bobbing up and down in a nod.
"Good, use iron defense," Blake ordered. Rogen's body began glowing as a silvery sheen covered him.
"Blake's been forced onto the defensive due to a Yanma?" Kate chuckled. "What the heck is wrong with him?! It's a bug! Fight back!"
"You won't be able to bide your time forever," Oscar said.
"What do you want?" Blake demanded. "Why are you using Harmonia?"
"Because it's mine," Oscar said, shrugging. "Because it's the best way to force you to give it your all."
"Oh, I see, you want my all, do you?" Blake exclaimed. "Rogen! Use rock tomb!" Stones erupted from the ground around Yanma to try and bury the bug pokemon, but Yanma managed to skillfully evade the attack, dodging out of Rogen's range.
"…Harmonia?" Kitty asked, puzzled.
"Harmonia…" Cynthia murmured, holding her chin as she thought back to Blake's encounter with Elaina in the hallway the day before. "Isn't that what…"
"Well, Blake, if you won't show me what I want, then I'll just have to increase the pressure on you," Oscar said, frowning. "I want to have a good battle, not a one-sided fight. The only reason I joined this tournament was for the chance to fight against you, I hope you won't disappoint."
"Rogen, use power gem," Blake ordered. Rogen raised his pincers, large gemstones of energy circling around him, flying toward Yanma.
"Yanma!" Oscar shouted, Yanma opening his mouth, releasing a blast of sonic energy. The sonic boom shot through the air, the gems shattering as it struck them, continuing in a blast that struck Rogen.
"Unlike that girl, this one has quite a bit of control," Kanone mused. "Quite masterful, even, for one so young. Not a single bit of energy is wasted, just enough to give his pokemon the edge in battle, and not a drop more."
"Return," Blake said, returning Rogen to his pokeball.
"Unable to put up any decent offense, Blake has called back his pokemon!" Darla said.
"I wonder what he's going to replace it with," Lila wondered.
"Ruru, it's your turn," Blake said, sending out his Joltik.
"Blake has replaced his bulky Boldore with a small Joltik," Darla reported.
"But will it be fast enough to stand against Oscar's Yanma?" Lila asked. "That's the real question."
"Ruru, use spider web to slow down that Yanma," Blake ordered. Ruru turned her back to the Yanma and fired several blasts of webbing at Yanma to try and trip it up. Yanma spread his wings and pulled back, flapping them at high speed, generating a cutting wave of sonic power, slicing the webbing that was wrapping around him to shreds. Using the momentum from his powerful wingbeats, Yanma shot toward Ruru, lowering his head.
"Ruru, thunder wave!" Ruru's fur sparkled with electricity, releasing a wave of electrical current from her small body, the shockwave arcing toward Yanma. Yanma tried to pull out of the way but the thunder wave struck his wing, traveling up to his body, electrocuting him.
"Don't worry, Yanma, we're fine," Oscar called, Yanma nodding, picking himself up before he fell into the dirt, fluttering up into the air, generating another shockwave of sonic energy. Unprepared for the sonic attack so soon after being paralyzed, the sonic boom his Ruru head-on, sending her flying through the air.
"Ruru!" Blake exclaimed.
"Jolt!" Ruru reassured him, shooting a small spiderweb out from her backside, catching on the ground, latching her into place.
"Even though Yanma has been paralyzed, his speed seems to have barely fallen!" Darla announced.
"Come on, Joltik! You can do it!" Lila cheered.
"Yanma, go," Oscar said. Yanma short toward Ruru, flapping his wings, a blade of sonic wind slicing through the webbing, sending Ruru through the air. Ruru landed on the ground and skittered into hiding underneath a large rock, escaping from Yanma's sight. Yanma fluttered around the battlefield, trying to find Ruru when she would come out of hiding, but she couldn't detect any movement.
"Hiding, now?" Oscar asked.
"Ruru!" Blake shouted. A sphere of electrical energy struck Yanma from behind, electrocuting the bug pokemon, the dragonfly plummeting out of the sky.
"Just trying to find a good position," Blake said.
"So, you were using the rocks to hide your small pokemon's movements, so you could sneak behind me," Oscar said, nodding. "Not a bad plan."
Yanma picked himself up off of the ground, flapping his wings, taking to the sky again, barely injured. Ruru snuck back underneath another stone for cover, eyeing the dragonfly pokemon.
"Hiding won't help, though," Oscar said. "As much as I respect that intellect of yours, I want you to use your power, not try and think it out with a plan."
"Power?" Blake asked, narrowing his eyes. He already had a good idea about what Oscar was implying. Oscar nodded in agreement.
"Harmonia," he confirmed. "You're a good trainer, Blake, but you can be even better. It seems your brother hasn't lent a hand in helping you develop or master that power of yours. But I want to help you, if you'll let me."
Oscar clenched his hand, Yanma flapping his wings, releasing a sonic boom that echoed through the stadium, shattering the rocks that littered the battlefield, demolishing Ruru's defensive cover.
"Ruru! Run!" Blake ordered, Ruru scurrying among the rubble away from the bug pokemon.
"Yanma, use quick attack," Oscar ordered, Yanma shooting toward Ruru, striking her with his tail, slamming her against the ground.
"Joltik!" Ruru gasped, bouncing off of the battlefield, landing in the rubble. She struggled to right herself before her legs stopped moving, except for the occasional twitch, her body slackening as she lost consciousness. Blake returned Ruru to her pokeball, a frown on his face.
"Faced with Yanma's overwhelming sonic powers and speed, Blake has lost the first pokemon of the match!" Darla announced.
"Counting Boldore, that makes two of Blake's pokemon unable to defeat Oscar's first pokemon," Lila frowned. "Will this match be as one-sided as the last?"
"Something doesn't seem right…" Kitty said, frowning. "I feel something strange coming from Oscar…"
"Good eye," Kanone said, nodding. "Or… something else, anyway, there is something interesting about him, I'll give you that."
You're posturing quite well, Kanone thought to himself, chuckling. He could feel the output of Harmonia washing over him like a wave, burning against his face. "It's pointless, Oscar. Trying to direct your Harmonia at that boy is like trying to throw a handful of feathers."
"Hm?" Sango asked, turning to Kanone, frowning suspiciously.
"Nothing," Kanone said, shaking his head. "Just keep watching."
Sango eyed Kanone but didn't say anything, returning her attention to the battle.
"Weiss!" Blake called, sending out his Scizor, the crimson pokemon flying into the air and lunging toward the Yanma.
"Although he's only lost one pokemon, Blake has turned to his ace, Scizor!" Lila said.
"It seems that he might be in a tighter pinch than we thought," Darla said, frowning.
So that kid is trying to fight a Harmonia user with raw power, hm? Kanone thought, his calm smile souring. He just won't learn.
"Good," Oscar said, nodding, "you're taking this fight seriously, that's just what I wanted to see. Yanma, use supersonic to confuse him!"
Yanma released a chime of sonic energy in a disconcerting hum at the steel bug pokemon, Weiss's movements becoming sluggish as it looked around, confused, trying to decipher the source of the irritating hum, paying little attention to Yanma.
Blake… if your Scizor is confused, then perhaps you will rely on your Harmonia to snap him out of confusion, Oscar thought. Let's see if that will be enough to get you to use it.
"Weiss!" Blake shouted, Weiss looking back at him and nodding. He raised his pincer and struck the ground at high speed, the blow resounding like a gunshot.
"To counteract Yanma's supersonic, Scizor used the sound of his bullet punch to drown out the hum," Darla announced.
"What smart thinking!" Lila cheered.
"Without you having to say a word, your Scizor knew just what you wanted," Oscar said. "Are you starting to hear his voice, then?"
"Not a bit," Blake said defiantly, narrowing his eyes. "He just knew what I wanted because he's my friend."
"Indeed," Oscar said, nodding, "the bond you have with your pokemon is quite strong. That's how I know that when you begin using Harmonia, it will be quite powerful; even rivaling that of your brother."
"What are they talking about, Darla?" Lila asked her partner, giving her a look of confusion.
"I'm not sure," Darla said, frowning. "I've never heard of anything called 'Harmonia' before."
"If you haven't felt it by now, then I'm not sure what I should do," Oscar admitted, frowning. He raised his hand to his chin in contemplation. "I've been releasing it for a while now. Even someone whose powers have yet to fully awaken should feel some amount of resonance with it, Blake. But it seems not… I wonder if I may need to take more forceful methods…"
"You do that," Blake nodded. "But you won't get what you want."
Oscar… Alcea thought, looking down at the battlefield, when you told me about Harmonia… you said it was a special power that developed in certain individuals. Knowing that Kanone had it, you were confident that Blake possessed this power as well. But from what Blake told me, it seems you did not give me the full story. All I know is that you're looking for Harmonia users like yourself… I agreed to help you, for the sake of the safety of the other students, but I still don't know what your intentions are…
If Blake is really the one you are looking for… then show me what that means.
"Yanma, let's continue. If confusion won't work, then we'll do something else," Oscar said, Yanma nodding. With a flutter of its wings, it began to generate another blast of sonic wind as it flew towards Weiss.
"Weiss! Bullet punch again!" Blake shouted, Weiss charging forward, matching Yanma's acceleration with a burst of speed of his own. He raised his pincers, unleashing a flurry of blows.
"Yanma, dodge," Oscar ordered.
"Yan!" Yanma nodded, pulling back, preparing to increase in speed to pull out of the way, but Weiss managed to easily outspeed the bug type, catching it in the face with a powerful bullet punch. Weiss continued with another barrage of blows, hitting the fragile, small pokemon with a series of bullet punches, sending it flying through the air. Yanma crashed to the ground, skidding to a stop at Oscar's feet. He tried to rise, but collapsed, falling unconscious.
"That's good, partner," Oscar said, clenching his shoulder, wincing. "You've done well. Return."
So Blake's Scizor managed to defeat my Yanma… did he use Harmonia? No… I would have sensed it, Oscar thought, frowning, returning Yanma to his pokeball. That means Blake defeated Yanma without strengthening his pokemon using Harmonia… Blake, you really are quite a talented trainer… but you won't be able to win this battle without using that power of yours. I don't know why you refuse to use it, or why you've gone so long without using it already… but for the fights to come, I'm going to need your help, you and that power of yours.
"Growlithe, let's see if you'll be able to draw it out of him," Oscar said, sending out a small orange puppy pokemon. His Growlithe looked up at him and barked, nodding eagerly. "But first…"
Oscar looked up and turned to the announcer's podium, a serious look on his face.
"You… Darla Drake…" He called.
"Y-yeah? What?" Darla asked.
"You said before that you haven't heard about Harmonia, right?"
"Um, no… I haven't," Darla said, shaking her head. "…Why?"
"I thought it would be in all of our best interests… if I went into a little more detail about all of this." Oscar reached into his pocket and withdrew a small microphone, switching it on, the feedback going out over the speakers. He turned to the box the gym leaders were watching from, and nodded. As per our agreement.
"He has his own microphone?" Lila gasped.
"Hey! You can't do that! We're the MCs here, not you!" Darla exclaimed.
"What does that fool think he's doing?!" Gerard demanded, his eyes widening and his jaw clenching.
"What's wrong, Gerard?" Alcea asked, staring at him. Gerard turned to her, his eyes blazing with fury. "Is there something you have issue with?"
Gerard narrowed his eyes and turned back to the battlefield, saying nothing.
"Oscar…" Blake said, frowning, "are you serious about this?"
"Yes," Oscar said, nodding. "We need more people to know the truth." He turned to the stage, staring up at Elaina. "I'm sure she feels the same way."
Blake paused, looking down, and nodded.
And Oscar began to speak.
Next chapter we get to hear the explicit details of Harmonia, in near-full explanation.