The final chapter covering the battle between Sylvia and Elaina! Their battle is now reaching its conclusion! Will Elaina keep in control? Will Sylvia's tricks emerge successful? Let's find out! Don't forget to review!
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 81
"Owiee…" Kitty felt a throbbing pain in her head that was sadly growing all-too familiar.
"Is it your head again?" Julia asked, rubbing Kitty on the back sympathetically.
"Here." Kitty's head raised to look at a bottle of pills dangling in front of her face, held by Blake's outstretched hand.
"Eh?" Kitty gasped, taking the pill bottle.
"My brother told me to give these to you if your headaches persisted," Blake explained. "He said it would help you."
"Oh, I see…" Kitty blushed, smiling. "Thank you…"
She swallowed a pill, and the pressure she'd felt on her head immediately dispersed, as though there was a swelling in her brain that had been greatly reduced.
"I feel so much better now," Kitty said, thanking Blake again.
So it's as I thought… Blake thought, biting his lip in frustration. He returned his attention to the battlefield, where Elaina's struggles were just beginning.
"What's wrong, Elaina?" Sylvia asked. "Are you that thrown off by an electric pokemon? Why don't you switch out for something a little more your useful, huh? I'll let ya, go on!"
That thing is a ghost… but I can see… at the very least, that freezer body is solid, Elaina observed. Well, if we fail, it isn't like we'll be losing much!
"Raiver, go! Blow that thing away with a fully boosted superpower attack!" Elaina ordered. Strength surged through Raiver's body and he flapped his powerful wings, taking to the sky with a fierce gust of power. Raiver shot like a bullet toward the crackling pokemon, the Rotom grinning widely.
"Whoa, that Braviary is catching some serious speed," Lila noted.
"That's a big blow!" Darla shouted.
Raiver lowered his head and spread his wings, white light encompassing his body as he raised his claws, driving them directly into Sparky's body.
"Ro!" Sparky wailed, flying backwards as Raiver picked himself up into the air again, his stats reduced but not making any major difference when factoring in the boost Elaina's harmonia gave him.
"Sorry, Sparky, that looked like a big hit," Sylvia said. "But she fell for it! That Braviary is as good as fainted!"
"Now, Raiver, we've softened that thing up quite a bit. Fighting and normal moves work, but only because we got the initiative. Now, let's use air slash to maintain our distance from those electric moves," Elaina ordered. Raiver nodded in agreement and flapped his wings, but the wind didn't move.
"Wha-?" Elaina gasped. "Raiver, what's wrong?! Use air slash!"
"Brav!" Raiver cried, shaking his head. Elaina tried to use air slash again, but no matter how hard she tried, it was like she was slamming against a wall; she just couldn't make her pokemon move.
"He wants to use it, but he can't!" Sylvia smiled. "You've fallen for my greatest trick yet, poor Braviary. Take a look at his claw!"
"His claw?" Lila asked.
"Hey, she's right!" Darla said, pointing. Wrapped around Raiver's left claw was a small blue scarf.
"Sorry, but your Braviary was so lacking in style, I thought it would be a good decision to help him accessorize a little!" Sylvia said, proudly brushing her hair back. "I was having Sparky hold onto it! I was hoping to trap your Aerodactyl into a ground move, but this was so much more lucky!"
"That must be a choice scarf!" Darla said.
"What's that?" Lila asked, confused.
"It's a very special item," Darla explained. "It's a scarf that increases the speed of the pokemon wearing it by focusing all of their energy into using a single move. A pokemon wearing it will have their speed drastically increased, but will find themselves unable to use any moves other than the one they first use."
"But how is Braviary wearing it now?" Lila asked, confused.
"Sylvia must have planned for this, and put it on that Rotom to have it use trick. Trick is a move that lets the user switch items with their opponent, or in this case, pass an item onto the opponent!"
"So she put the choice scarf onto the Rotom… and then the Rotom tricked it onto the Braviary before it could use the attack? So now it's stuck using superpower…" Lila put the pieces together. "Wait, but that's so dirty!"
"It's strategy, that's all!" Sylvia said, smiling. "And here comes the best part!"
"If superpower is all we can use, then we'll use it until we can't," Elaina said. "Again, Raiver!"
"Brav!" Raiver crowed, light encompassing his body. He shot toward Sparky, the electric pokemon giggling.
"And here's the second half of the strategy! Sparky, use volt switch!"
Electricity crackled across Sparky's body, and as Raiver struck at them, he was electrocuted by the electrical current. Sparky shot back to the strange pokeball, and was replaced with another pokemon.
"Go, Runja!" Sylvia tossed out a pokeball, her big, pink Jellicent emerging. Raiver passed harmlessly through the ghost pokemon and crashed into the ground, Runja floating up into the air and looming over the bird.
"We've been trapped," Elaina scowled behind her mask, lifting up Raiver's pokeball. "If we can only use superpower, we have no chance against an actual ghost! Raiver, return!"
"Oh, where are you going? The fun is just getting started!" Sylvia laughed. "Runja, use whirlpool!"
Runja raised her tentacles, water swirling around her body and engulfing Raiver in a powerful vortex that cut him off from the light of Elaina's pokeball.
"No!" Elaina cried.
"Oh, shit!" Darla gasped.
"But that's not fair!" Lila wailed.
"Talk about brutal," Julia said, frowning.
"What is?" Kitty asked, confused.
"That Braviary can only use superpower, a fighting move," Nick explained to her. "But that Jellicent is a ghost type, who's unaffected by fighting moves. So Braviary can't do a thing. In a situation like that, the answer would be to switch out, but whirlpool prevents that."
"But that means…"
"Braviary will be tortured until it faints," Blake said. And Elaina will be tortured the same.
"Yeah, get her!" A voice called from above. Blake turned his head to see another student stand up in his seat, jeering at Elaina.
"Teach that freak a lesson, Sylvia!" Another student shouted from the left. The first few jeers were all it took for the crowd to erupt into a wave of vitriol. Students from all across the stands were yelling obscenities at Elaina and taking pleasure in her pokemon's repeated battering at the tentacles of Runja, unable to put up any sort of fight.
"I know she's different, but this is a little…" Eli glanced at the students to her right, scooting in her seat a little.
"Blake…" Claire gave Blake a knowing look of concern. A glance at his face would make the anger and frustration he was currently feeling readily apparent.
"Okay, that's enough!" Darla shouted over the roaring crowd, turning the volume of her mic up. "It's clear that Braviary isn't able to continue this fight any longer! So Jellicent wins!"
"Let her keep it going!"
"She didn't show any mercy to her opponents!" One student pointed out.
"It's what she gets!"
The crowd continued to boo this decision.
"Ahh, shut the fuck up you pieces of shit!" Darla exclaimed, glaring angrily at the crowd. "I'm sick and tired of this crap! This ain't any sort of match, it's just a drawn out torture session, and I ain't having it! So settle the fuck down before we fucking throw you out, you fucking GOT IT?!"
The jeers died down in shock at Darla's outburst, Lila cradling her head in her hands.
"Darla, you're breaking character!" She hissed. Darla rolled her eyes and sat back down, shaking her head.
"Now that we're back on fucking track, both of you, call back your pokemon!" Darla shouted. "You've each lost three, so that means we're changing up the battlefield! It's a fucking wreck as it is, so what's the fucking-"
Lila clamped her hand over Darla's mouth, laughing nervously.
"Um, anyway, just call your pokemon back, and we'll reselect the field for the second half!" Lila said. Sylvia shrugged, recalling her Jellicent, freeing Raiver from the roaring whirlpool.
"Raiver…" Elaina said sadly, recalling her injured bird pokemon. I only have three pokemon left… I didn't expect her to push me so far… but I won't let things go on any further.
"The next field… is Ground Stage 2! Sandy Desert Field!" The counter stopped on a picture of a pile of dirt, and the cemetery was replaced by a battlefield made up of sand dunes cacti, glowing white in the morning sun.
Elaina clenched her fist, putting the reignited jeers of the crowd out of her mind. Her harmonia flared up as she prepared to boost her pokemon with everything she had. There was no way she could hold it back at this point, it was far too overwhelming now.
"Specter, welcome back!" Sylvia smiled, sending her Shuppet back out.
Next… I should use… Elaina bit her lip, blood trickling down from her nose as she planned out her next move. Suddenly, a sound caught her ear, and she whirled around to glance to her right.
"Come on, Elaina!" Blake shouted. He had stood up in his seat in the midst of a sea of boos, holding his hands in front of his mouth. "Don't give in that easily! You can beat her! You can win without having to lose yourself to that power!"
Blake… Elaina stared at Blake in surprise. Even though he had no idea who she was under the mask, he was still treating her with the same kindness he had shown to Elly. He was encouraging her. For the first time… someone was… cheering for her.
Tears began to fall down her cheeks as she smiled behind her mask, the turmoil in her heart settling for the first time she could remember. She turned back to Sylvia with a renewed resolve, reaching to her waist.
"Aw, how sweet!" Sylvia said. "Your little boyfriend is cheering you on! I'm honestly a little touched."
"Ayer, go!" Elaina shouted, sending her Aerodactly out. The large dinosaur opened his wings and took to the sky, letting out a shrieking roar that shook the battlefield.
"Specter, use will-o-wisp!" Sylvia ordered. Specter closed her eyes, ghostly flames dancing around her. Ayer flew toward her, and she sent the flames spiraling toward him.
"Blow those flames away!" Elaina ordered. With a flap of his wings, the flames were extinguished, the ferocious pokemon diving toward Specter.
"Shadow ball!" Specter opened her mouth and fired a sphere of ghostly energy at Ayer. Ayer lowered his head and charged right in, the attack striking him head-on. He plowed right through the attack and opened his mouth, biting down on Specter with a powerful crunch.
"Aerodactyl didn't dodge the shadow ball, and used a strong attack instead!" Lila said.
"That's right. He took the hit, since dodging would lose him initiative! Elaina really isn't playing around, she's fighting this at full force!"
As expected, Specter isn't enough to hold up to any of her pokemon in a one-on-one, Sylvia noted. "Specter, use curse!"
Specter sacrificed the last slivers of her health to lay a powerful hex on Ayer, sapping the ancient pokemon's strength. Ayer growled in pain, his long jaw loosening. The ghost pokemon tumbled out, unconscious.
"You rest easy, Specter," Sylvia said, smiling. "We'll handle the rest! Sparky! Come on back!"
"Rotom!" Sparky cheered, emerging from their pokeball with a crackle of electricity.
"Ayer! The curse limits our time, so we've got to get in as much damage as we can!" Elaina said, sending her pokemon another portion of her strength. Ayer surged with power, spreading his wings, creating glowing crystal stones around his body. With a flap of his wings, he used the ancientpower stones to create a wave of energy tumbling toward the haunted freezer with a roar.
"Sparky, use blizzard!" Sylvia ordered. Sparky's freezer doors opened, and a blast of freezing wind emerged from within. A blizzard began raging in the desert, the temperatures changing completely. The energy crystals shattered in the face of the harsh attack, the icy winds hitting Ayer head on.
"Ayer!" Elaina shouted. "Ice moves?!"
"You aren't the only one with pokemon whose types can change!" Sylvia said. "I knew you used flying pokemon. So to beat them, I had Sparky inhabit a freezer! This allows it to be the ice type AND the electric type! They're the perfect weapon for fighting flying pokemon!"
"Maybe so… but Ayer isn't so weak as to succumb to that!" Elaina shouted. "Ayer! Use sandstorm!"
"Aero!" Ayer howled, flapping his wings. He summoned a mighty gust of wind that tore through the arena, picking up sand from the desert floor and turning into a mighty dust devil that roared toward Sparky, buffeting them with sand and obscuring their visibility, as well as Sylvia's.
"What's going on?!" Lila cried. "I can't see anything!"
"To dodge Rotom's powerful moves, Aerodactyl has summoned a sandstorm," Darla answered.
"Now, since you're an ice type, Ayer! Use fire fang!" Elaina ordered. Ayer flew above the sand and dove into the swirling winds, opening his massive jaws. Flames danced in his mouth and he spotted the crackling electric pokemon through the storm. With a mighty bite, Ayer send a blast of flames through Sparky's body, the electric pokemon crying in pain.
"Now, finish it off with stone edge!" Ayer pulled back, roaring, massive stones wrenching themselves out from beneath the sand, hovering over Sparky.
"Sparky! Discharge!" Sparky let out a pulse of electricity, sending a wave of violet energy that shattered the stones and electrocuted Ayer, and Elaina along with him.
"Stay strong!" Elaina shouted. "And use stone edge again!"
Ayer sent another barrage of stones at Sparky, and this time the electric pokemon could not destroy all of them. Several large boulders struck the freezer, denting it, Sparky wailing in pain.
Ayer collapsed into the sand as well due to fatigue from the curse, panting. He stood up on his legs and shakily rose to his full height, preparing to take to the sky.
"Now, Sparky, use volt switch!" Sylvia ordered. Electricity surged through Sparky's body and flew at Ayer, striking the flying pokemon with a final burst of energy as Sparky returned to Sylvia. Sylvia sent out Runja, her last pokemon, to even the tide.
"Runja, first, use rain dance to get rid of this pesky sandstorm!" Sylvia ordered. Runja raised her tentacles, clouds gathering overhead and blocking out the sunshine. Rain fell on the desert, hardening the sand and pelting Ayer, who had finally made it back to his feet.
"With Runja's rain dissipating the sandstorm, Sylvia seems to have taken a strong lead!" Darla noted.
"Will Elaina be able to overcome the type disadvantage?" Lila asked.
If he knows fire fang, he probably knows thunder fang, too, Sylvia noted. We should keep our distance.
"Runja! Stay back, and barrage him with your brine attack!"
Runja raised her tentacles, gathering a mass of water from the rain pouring down around them, flinging it at Ayer. The water struck Ayer and he gave out a pained whimper, the curse eating away at him as the water pelted down roughly.
You won't stand much longer… we'll have to put all of our strength into this attack! Elaina gathered up more power and sent it to Ayer, who rose to his feet and stomped the ground, releasing a powerful earthquake.
"Jell!" Runja wailed, feeling the powerful tremors shake her, sand pelting up against her as the stadium began to crack.
"Aerodactyl is unable to battle!" Darla announced.
"Both trainers are down to two pokemon each!" Lila reminded the audience.
"Mukuro, go!" Elaina shouted, sending her Decidueye back out. Mukuro had taken some serious damage, but he was still ready and raring to go.
"We don't have much left in reserve," Elaina warned. "You need to handle this as best you can."
"Dec." Mukuro nodded, raising his wing and knocking a spiritual arrow.
Runja probably can't win… but Sparky is my ace in the hole. I don't want them to take much more damage, so I can use them against her final pokemon. Runja… you'll have to weaken that Decidueye however you can. Sylvia's decision was a simple one.
"Runja, use ominous wind!" Sylvia ordered. Runja raised her tentacles, creating shadowy winds swirling around her body.
Mukuro released his spectral arrow, piercing the ghost pokemon. Runja released the winds she had gathered in a powerful gale, pushing Mukuro back as the ghostly attacks beat away at him.
Just a little more… it's so easy! Elaina could feel Mukuro's voice in her head, her harmonia urging her to give him more of her energy. It would feel so good just to let go… she could feel the energy begin to slip into Mukuro's body.
Elaina!
Blake's voice, again! She regained control of her powers, Mukuro getting only as much energy as he needed to withstand the attack.
Is this… what it feels like to control harmonia? Elaina asked herself.
"Another ominous wind, Runja! Do as much damage as you can!" Sylvia ordered.
"Jell!" Runja nodded, crafting more winds with which to buffet Mukuro with. The ominous winds blew across the field, engulfing Mukuro.
"Who do you think I am?!" Elaina shouted. "The winds are mine to control! You won't beat us with our own specialty!"
To echo her statement, the wind howled alongside her, swirling around her and throwing her hair wildly. Mukuro spread his wings and the wind danced around him, blowing back the ghostly attack. Leaves danced in the wind as he unleashed one of his strongest grass moves. The powerful leaf storm whirled in a massive tornado across the battlefield, tearing through the sand and engulfing the large jellyfish, battering her on all sides with powerful blades.
"Runja!" Sylvia cried over the winds, holding up her arms defensively as the leaves sliced towards her. "Now! Use it now!"
"Jellicent!" Runja cried from inside the tornado, glowing with light. The storm raged on before the attack finally ceased, Runja collapsing to the ground, unconscious.
"Jellicent is unable to battle! And with that, Sylvia is down to her last pokemon, Sparky!" Darla announced.
"Wait! Darla! What's that?!" Darla's head turned to see Elaina panting, holding her chest, Mukuro collapsed in the sand in front of her.
"Not… again…" Elaina cried, falling to her knees.
"Oh? Not again, you say? But it worked so well the first time!" Sylvia smirked, recalling her Jellicent.
"Decidueye is also unable to battle, having fallen victim to Jellicent's destiny bond!" Darla confirmed. "Now, both trainers are only left with one pokemon each!"
"What is she doing?!" Gerard growled, rising to his feet, seething with rage. He had never seen Elaina pressed this far before.
"Sparky, come on back out!" Sylvia cheered, the Rotom reappearing with a crackling giggle.
If I had let loose… earlier… then I would have been able to win without much difficulty… Elaina understood this, rising to her feet. She reached for the final pokeball at her belt. But this… this means so much more… for the first time… I didn't give in. I didn't lose myself. I… can I? I don't know how… but for the first time I feel like I'm turning a corner! Finally, I can have hope.
"Come out, Hope!" Elaina said, throwing her pokeball into the air.
Elaina's final pokemon was the first pokemon with neither wings nor avian features. It was not some massive force of destruction, like many in the audience had feared. In fact… it wasn't anything massive at all. It was a small pokemon whose body was covered in a rocky shell, hovering in the air.
"…I see," Sylvia said, nodding. "A Minior. I should have saved Runja, after all. But Sparky will still be enough. Discharge!"
"Rotom!" Sparky cheered, gathering electricity into their body.
"Hope! Autotomize to increase your speed! Then, soar!"
Hope's body began shining, their speed greatly increasing. They shot high into the air, easily avoiding the electricity, piercing through the rainclouds that had begun to disperse.
"How high up is that?!" Lila exclaimed.
"I can't even see it!" Darla said.
"You can't see them. They're gathering debris in the sky to use against you," Elaina said simply. "Like this."
Sand swirled up from the stadium, floating into the air and dancing into a series of tornados that pelted against Sparky's body.
"Sparky, can you see that thing?!" Sylvia asked, shielding her eyes from the sand. "Overcome the sandstorm with your blizzard!"
"Rotom!" Sparky nodded, opening up their freezer, the temperature in the stadium dropping drastically as icy winds roared across the battlefield.
"Stay up there as long as you like! The cold will still get you!" Sylvia crowed.
"You think so? Minior live in the stratosphere, far colder than anything you could hope to summon from a mere freezer," Elaina calmly stated. "This is barely a light breeze for my Hope. Your time's running out. They're almost done.
"Almost done?!" Sylvia asked, confused.
"Now, Hope! Stone edge!" The sky darkened, shadowy figures appearing in the distance.
"That's…" Lila gasped.
"Stones?" Darla asked. "No, meteors!"
"What the hell is this?!" Sylvia exclaimed.
"Hope gathered together cosmic energy and used it to fuse the sand they absorbed into celestial bodies. Take this!" Elaina shouted. The stones fell upon the battlefield with deafening power, battering the ghost pokemon who could not hope to avoid the massive chunks of rock. Sparky attempted to destroy the rocks with blasts of electricity, but at the speed and power they were falling, all it did was spread out the impact, barely affecting the power of the attack at all. Hope plummeted down with them, floating overhead. Sand flew wildly into the sky, the impacts of the stones knocking Sylvia backwards as massive holes were pounded into the stadium floor.
"Run!" One of the students exclaimed. "The sky is falling!"
Other students fled the bleachers, even though the stones were only falling down onto the battlefield, leaving the stands untouched.
When the dust finally cleared, Sparky lay motionless, their freezer battered and beaten and no longer capable of functioning, the ghost pokemon similarly unconscious.
"…My freezer." Misato said.
"Is… is it over?" Lila asked warily, peaking her head up over the announcers' box.
"Yeah…" Darla said, nodding. "In more ways than one."
"Well… that was unexpected…" Sylvia said. She was sprawled out on the ground, uninjured but not bothering to stand up. "I tried my best… I came up with all sorts of plans… but in the end, I couldn't plan for what I just didn't see coming."
She burst out laughing.
"Ha! Who'da thought your ace in the whole would be a meteor shower?! I couldn't do a damn thing! Ahaha! It's so frustrating, and yet I can't even get mad! That… that was just the best!"
She sat up, holding her sides.
"Something that wild is just great!" Sylvia laughed, recalling Sparky. "You got this one, girl! Heck, you can go the whole way!"
Sylvia rose to her feet, lost in hysterics.
"Careful though! Now that I know what you've got ready, I'll be ready for you, too! You'd better consider my offer, Elaina, because if not, there's no way you're winning our rematch!"
Sylvia bid goodbye to Elaina with a wave, the first person of the tournament to leave their battle with her walking under their own power.
"Well done, Hope," Elaina said, cradling the meteor pokemon, her harmonia dying down. "We've won. We're in the finals now."
"She did it…" Gerard sighed, slumping back in his seat. She almost gave me a heart attack, damn it… How?! How did she manage to control it so easily? If we can figure that out… then we'll be able to use her abilities to their fullest! I must speak with her after this!
"Elaina!" Elaina turned to see Blake, still in the stands (one of the few to remain) cheering for her. She burst into a big smile, her cheeks turning crimson behind her mask. She moved to wave to him, but flinched, her hand stopping in midair.
No… I'm grateful… but until I can control this power as completely as before… I still need to keep my distance from him.
She recalled Hope, turned, and walked off the battlefield, smiling in spite of herself.
Still… thank you.
So, Elaina manages to win, and makes it to the finals! And her ace pokemon is a Minior? Strange, I wonder what the story is behind that. Remember to review!