With this chapter, the semi-finals have officially reached their conclusion! Cynthia or Akira? Who will go on to face Elaina in the final round?!

KedharS: Well, we'll see! Cynthia's well-known for having some tricks up her sleeve.

Guest: Good eye. Aki and Divine were a major source of inspiration for Elaina's character arc in this tournament. She's also the inspiration for Elaina wearing a mask. There's also a bunch of N/Ghetsis and Haku/Zabuza, among other things. And don't worry, Blake's Salamence, as well as her reasons for not listening, are going to be explored soon enough.

LegacyReturns: Thank you for your kind words! I sincerely hope I can live up to your expectations when we finally get to the conclusion of this arc!

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Either way, Elaina will be in for one heck of a fight. I just hope that whoever she ends up facing will be prepared!

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 83

"The second half is on Bug Stage 4, Cocoon Nest Field!" Lila and Darla announced.

The battlefield they'd been fighting on was replaced by a strange white stone field, the ground covered in webbing. Large chunks of web stuck to the ground and clung to large pillars of stone, with large cocoons attached to the sides and sticking out of the ground.

"Gross, this field is so gross…" Cynthia said, frowning.

"Harris, come back out," Akira said, sending his Heracross out.

"As expected, Akira sent his Heracross out to give his Gyarados time to recharge," Darla noted.

"What's Cynthia going to use?" Lila wondered.

We have the same number of pokemon left… but I'm definitely at a disadvantage, Cynthia thought. If I'm being generous, it will probably take at least two pokemon to take down his Gyarados… which means I'm a 'mon behind. James won't be able to defeat that Heracross…

She frowned.

I've got no choice, then.

"Tristan! It's on you! Take this guy down!"

"Breloom!" Tristan nodded, emerging from his pokeball.

"Cynthia's sent out her Breloom!" Lila gasped.

"She's really going full force into this one!" Darla agreed.

Akira's eyes widened, a small smile crossing his face.

So that's your game…

"Harris! Use megahorn!" Akira ordered. Harris spread his wings and lowered his head, flying toward Tristan with his horn extended.

"Tristan, dodge!" Cynthia ordered. Tristan moved to run, only to realize that he couldn't move.

"Bre!" Tristan cried frantically, looking down at his feet. They had been entangled in the webbing, keeping him trapped. Tristan tugged on his feet, ripping himself free, tumbling to the side as Harris's horn scored a glancing blow on his side.

Harris stood up, clutching his side, slightly injured but still bursting with energy.

"Not good, the sticky webbing on the ground is really hampering Breloom's speed," Lila said worriedly.

"Cynthia made decent use of the terrain in the first half to take out Akira's Beartic, but now the environment is working against her," Darla said. "If she was using a pokemon that could fly, that would be one thing, but ground pokemon aren't well-suited to this."

"Harris, we need some time to prepare," Akira reminded his Heracross. "We can't let you weaken yourself too much, understand?"

"Hera!" Harris said, nodding.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but don't take your eyes away! Tristan!"

Tristan slammed his tail against the ground and leapt into the air, raising his fist.

"Ah! By using his tail, Breloom has managed to avoid the speed reduction of the battlefield!" Lila cheered.

"Sky uppercut won't do much damage against a bug type, but it's still from a strong pokemon!" Darla agreed.

Tristan caught Harris in the jaw with a powerful punch, sending Harris spiraling into the air. Harris righted himself and charged at Tristan, who had just landed on the ground.

"Tristan, bullet seed!" Cynthia ordered. Tristan opened his mouth and fired a barrage of glowing green seeds at Harris.

"Harris, evasive maneuvers," Akira ordered. Harris dodged to the side, trying to avoid the wide spread of bullets flying at him. But no matter how fast he flew, he couldn't dodge all of them, and with a turn of his head, Tristan sent the entire wave directly into the bug pokemon, the seeds exploding against his shell with multiple explosions.

"Harris, plow through it and hit him with u-turn," Akira said. Harris began glowing and rammed into Tristan, knocking the pokemon back. Tristan tripped over the string on the ground and ended up in a tumble, Harris returning to his pokeball.

"Now that you're wrapped up with something else, it's time to take you down." Akira reached to his waist and threw a pokeball into the air, his Slugma emerging.

"Slug!" Maggy growled at Tristan, opening her mouth and firing a flamethrower attack at the immobilized pokemon.

"Akira's next pokemon is Slugma, and she's come out blazing!" Lila gasped.

"This could be bad," Darla agreed.

"Return, Tristan," Cynthia said, recalling her Breloom. "I expected he'd hold his Slugma for when I sent you out, and it looks like I was right! James, you're my best shot! Take down that fire type!"

"Loud!" James came back out, howling at the molten pokemon.

"I see, so that's your answer. Maggy, use flame burst!"

"Slug!" Maggy nodded. She inhaled, puffing up her cheeks, and lifted her head, spitting flames up into the air, the fire falling back down toward the battlefield. James raised his arms to shield himself, and charged forward through the rain of fire.

"James, use uproar!" James opened his mouth and fired a blast of sonic energy, the soundwaves rattling Maggy's body, Maggy wincing in pain.

"Yeah, now charge in and take her down just like that!" Cynthia cheered.

"Where do you think you're looking?" Akira asked. "Your movements are already cut off."

"Eh?" Cynthia realized that the temperature was warming fast.

"Oh crap!" Darla gasped.

"Uwaa!" Lila cried.

The flames from Maggy's flame burst attack had hit the ground, but rather than dying down after that, they had found something new to burn. The sticky silk covering the ground had been licked at by the flames, and ignited, the field roaring to life in a sea of fire.

"James!" Cynthia cried out, a wall of fire separating her from her pokemon. The fire closed in on James, pinning him down from all sides as the heat grew unbearable and the flames began burning his fur.

"Loudred!" James shouted at maximum volume over the inferno, hunkering down and broadening his shoulders. She barreled through the wall of flames, charging blindly towards where he last remembered Maggy being.

"Slug!" Maggy gasped in surprise as the large pokemon broke through the flames, ignoring his burns and reaching down for the small slug. Ignoring the searing pain of touching Maggy's molten flesh, James lifted her up and held his arm back, flinging her into the air with a mighty throw.

"LOUDRED!" James shouted, firing off a hyper voice at maximum power. The sonic shockwave shorted out the microphones, shattered the television screen, and scariest of all, sent massive cracks and fractures across the glass walls separating the stands from the battlefield itself.

"Shit!" Was the collective response of the audience. Kitty ducked her head and Julia raised her arm to shield the small girl.

"No, not my gorgeous face!" Claire cried, burying her face in Blake's shoulder.

Sango rolled her eyes.

"We're in, like, the 10th row. The glass is never getting up here."

The people in the front rows were much less confident of that fact, and several of them fled from their seats.

"I can't see really well…" Darla coughed, wiping her eyes. "But I think… Slugma is unconscious… hey, is this thing even on?!"

"Maggy, return, that was good enough," Akira said, recalling the fainted Slugma. "You set things up brilliantly."

Akira's voice called out over the flames, "Satsuki! Go!"

The stadium echoed with Satsuki's roar as she flew above the flames, soaring into the soot-covered sky. She spun in the air, and massive clouds gathered around her, a heavy downpour falling over the stadium. The rain pelted the ground and beat down the flames, smoke billowing out as the fires died down to reveal the scorched rock underneath.

"James!" Cynthia choked, her eyes stinging from the smoke as she tried to make out her pokemon's location. "Where are you?!"

James couldn't hear his trainer's cries, having been rendered temporarily deaf by the overuse of his sonic powers. The smoke had begun to clear, but by the time either trainer or pokemon were able to make anything out, Satsuki was already charging toward the Loudred, her body cloaked in a veil of swift waves. She struck the badly injured pokemon with a head-on tackle, knocking James backwards with a powerful aqua jet.

"Yeah! Go, Akira!" Dakota cheered, leaping to her feet. Serefina shot a swift glance up at her, Dakota pausing, her face turning red.

"Er… I meant, go die, Akira!" Dakota corrected herself, swiftly dropping into her seat in shame.

"Well, it seems you two are getting along a little better now," Serefina smiled knowingly.

"Shut up, Seri! No we aren't!" Dakota growled in embarrassment.

"Sure, sure," Serefina chuckled, leaving Dakota to impotently fume in her direction.

James struggled to his feet, panting, Cynthia running up to him.

"James…" she said worriedly.

"Loud…" James smiled, falling to one knee, before collapsing entirely.

"Okay, *cough* we got the sound system back up," Darla gagged into the microphone. "I swear, if this smoke ruins my singing voice, I'm going to-"

"Darla!" Lila hissed.

"Whatever! *cough* Anyway, after taking out Akira's Slugma, Cynthia's Loudred was knocked out by his Gyarados! Now, Akira and Cynthia each have only two pokemon left remaining!"

"And that's not all…" Lila said, frowning. "Look… Gyarados's ability… her attack power has risen again!"

Satsuki was surging with energy, her attack having been boosted by her moxie ability.

"…RRr… It's not the best scenario… but we won't give in!" Cynthia said, shielding her head from the fierce rain and wind. "Elise! Go!"

"Cynthia's last pokemon is her Tailow!" Lila said. "But will that be enough?"

"Against a powerful beast like Gyarados?" Darla said, frowning. "I really doubt it."

Just as I thought… Akira smiled, his confidence burgeoning from having correctly predicted Cynthia's strategy.

"What's wrong?" Cynthia asked. "Not running scared now, are ya?"

"Satsuki!" Akira shouted, his crimson Gyarados glancing back to him. Akira smiled, and nodded. "Return!"

"What?!" Darla gasped in shock.

"Why?" Lila asked, confused.

"What is that idiot doing?!" Dakota exclaimed, grabbing the back of Blake's seat, much to his annoyance. "Don't switch her out, you moron! She's your best bet! Are you throwing this match or something?! Don't take it easy on her just because she's a freshman!"

"Wow, you seem very invested," Serefina smirked.

"Not now, Seri!" Dakota cried.

"…Eh?" Cynthia froze in shock, absolutely flummoxed by Akira's decision. No…

"Harris, go!" Akira sent out his Heracross once more, the bug pokemon flexing his arms and taking to the sky.

"WHAT IS HE DOING!?" Dakota screamed, shaking Blake's seat in frustration.

"Please stop doing that."

"Uh… what is he doing?" Lila asked Darla, confused.

"…" Darla stared at Akira, trying to figure out why he would swap out his boosted Gyarados for a pokemon with a 4x weakness to flying types.

"…I don't care anymore," Darla sighed, rubbing her temples in defeat. "I just… I just can't anymore, Lila…"

"Elise, just… uh…" Cynthia was confused, her Tailow glancing back at her.

"Harris! Mach punch." Harris flapped his wings and flew toward Elise, raising his fist and striking the bird pokemon in the face with a swift punch, knocking her down to the ground.

"Elise!" Cynthia cried.

"Good try," Akira said, nodding to Cynthia. "Very good try. But it wasn't enough. I saw through your plan already."

Cynthia grit her teeth in frustration, Elise flying back up into the air.

"That Tailow of yours… she's wearing another focus sash, isn't she?"

"…" Cynthia didn't answer, but her silence was all he needed.

He really did figure it out…

"So that's it…" Darla said, suddenly reengaged in what was going on.

"What's going on, Darla?" Lila asked, still lost.

"Remember when Cynthia defeated Reiner in her top 16 match?" Darla reminded Lila. "Remember how she took down his Armaldo?"

"Oh, yeah! That trick! I remember!" Lila said, nodding eagerly as she realized the situation.

"I figured it out when we switched fields," Akira explained. "But I suspected before that. That's why I sent out Harris to confirm my suspicions."

Cynthia frowned.

"Knowing the pokemon you have at your disposal, normally you would think to send out you flying type, since Tailow's speed and type advantages would give you the upper hand."

"Well, that didn't work for me," Dakota muttered, sitting back in her seat and crossing her arms.

"Instead, you sent out Breloom, even though you knew he had a disadvantage against bug types. It was a pretty confusing decision, if you ask me. You'd avoided using him the whole match, even in battles when he would have had an advantage. The only thing I could think of was that you were saving him to take down Satsuki. But then you just sent him out, when I still had three pokemon left? And a fire type, no less? There's only one reason you'd do that. Your Breloom was never the trump card you were holding against Satsuki. From the start, you were planning something else, weren't you?"

Akira smiled, gently cradling Satsuki's pokeball in his hand.

"That's why I avoided sending her out this entire time. I wanted to wear down your team until you were out of options. It went exactly as I planned. I figured that, having only seen Satsuki in action yesterday, that one night wouldn't be enough time for you to develop appropriate countermeasures to her. And I was right. So you resorted to a trick that had already proven successful once before. But something like that… a trick like that won't work if your opponent knows what's coming. But still, I need to applaud you. It almost, almost worked. I'm actually amazed that you managed to push the battle into a nearly perfect situation to execute it. In the end, the one and only fault in your plan was the fact that I had already seen it in action, and could prepare my own countermeasure."

"You might have forced her to use her focus sash just now, since Elise has taken some serious damage… but don't think that this is over!" Cynthia answered. "Elise, it's time for endeavor!"

"Tailow!" Elise cried, her body covered in white light. She flew at Harris, sending a powerful wave of energy into the bug pokemon.

"Hera!" Harris cried out in pain, flying back, his health reduced to merely a sliver as he reached parity with the Tailow.

"Finish him with quick attack!" Cynthia ordered. If I just take out this Heracross… then I can still use endeavor on his Gyarados! He hasn't won yet! I just have to…

Elise soared through the sky at high speed, dancing around the injured Heracross. She flew around his back and shot toward him, sharpening her beak.

"Harris!" Akira shouted. Harris whirled on his heel and raised his hand, slamming down on Elise with a powerful counter attack, Elise colliding with his strike and crumpling on the impact. Elise plummeted to the ground as Harris slumped over, the counter and quick attack costing him the last of his health.

"It's a double knockout!" Lila declared.

"Both trainers have only one pokemon left!" Darla announced.

Cynthia frowned glumly, returning Elise to her pokeball as Akira silently recalled his Heracross.

"…Haaah…" Cynthia sighed, glancing up and staring at Akira, rubbing her head while wearing a sheepish grin. "I guess you were a step ahead of me. My strategy was just a little too fragile."

"Oh well! I ain't gonna just roll over and cry about it!" Cynthia said, throwing her last pokeball into the air. "That just isn't my style!"

Tristan emerged from the pokeball and landed on the ground, panting.

"We're gonna fight you until our last breath! Come on now, Akira! Send her out! Let's have a battle we won't forget!"

"Sounds good," Akira smiled. "Satsuki!"

Satsuki came out for the third and final time, roaring joyfully as the rain swirled around her. She curled upon the ground, her long neck causing her to tower of Cynthia and Tristan.

"The last fight of the semi-finals!" Lila cheered. "I'm on the edge of my seat! What about you, Darla?"

"It's getting me excited," Darla agreed.

"Tristan! Seed bomb!" Tristan opened his mouth, firing a massive blast of glowing seeds at Satsuki.

"Satsuki, dodge and use hydro pump."

Satsuki avoided the barrage of seeds and opened her mouth, water gathering in front of it. She fired a pressurized blast of water at Tristan, the grass pokemon taking full advantage of the burned away field to dodge the attack, enjoyed by his newfound mobility.

"Okay, Tristan! Get in real close and put her to sleep with your spore attack! Then we'll be able to take advantage of her sleep to tear her to shreds!"

"Bre!" Tristan nodded, lowering his head to run through the fierce rain. His mushroom head flared up and released a cloud of green spores, which swirled toward Satsuki in an attempt to put her to sleep.

"Satsuki! Blow it away!" Akira shouted. "Use hurricane!"

"Gyaaaara!" Satsuki roared, spinning her tail in a circle summoning a massive tornado. The wind whirled around her, spreading Tristan's spores harmlessly into through the storm. The hurricane increased in power, tearing across the battlefield and slamming into Tristan with a wall of wind. Tristan was flung through the air, crashing painfully onto the ground.

"Don't give in, Tristan! Let's do this!" Tristan was exhausted and injured, rising to his feet, panting.

"Breloom doesn't seem to be in good shape," Lila said.

"Yeah, he exerted himself a lot in her last match, too," Darla reminded her. "He probably hasn't recovered much energy since then."

"Now, Satsuki! Let it all loose with this last attack! Finish it!" Akira shouted.

"Gya!" Satsuki nodded, soaring up into the sky. Crimson lightning crackled in the clouds, wrapping around her body in a veil of bloody clouds and draconic energy. Satsuki charged down at Tristan, a massive storm raging around her body.

"Tristan! Use seed bomb!" Cynthia ordered. Tristan fired another blast of seeds in his final attempt to stop Satsuki. The seeds burned away as they struck the storm, barely damaging Satsuki as she plowed through the attack.

"Gyarados!" Satsuki roared, slamming into Tristan, smashing him into the ground. Tristan fell backwards, coughing, and collapsed in front of Cynthia.

"And Gyarados finishes it off with a phenomenal outrage attack!" Darla cheered.

"And with that, the last match of the semi-finals is over!" Lila cheered.

"And you know what that means, Lila?"

"What, Darla?"

"It means that Akira will be moving on to the finals!" Darla declared.

"Amazing!" Lila cheered. "Let's give a round of applause to our competitors!"

The audience began clapping for both of them. Cynthia numbly walked to Tristan's side, kneeling down next to her unconscious Breloom. Satsuki moved away from the pokemon to give her space, obediently returning to Akira's side. The rain slowed to a stop and the sun began shining down on the battlefield, illuminating Tristan and his trainer.

"You were amazing, Tristan…" Cynthia said, wiping her face on her sleeve. Whether she was wiping away rain water or tears, no one could tell. "You fought so hard this past week… but now you can sit back and rest. Thank you for everything, big guy. I love you." Cynthia returned him to his pokeball, inhaled, and rose to her feet to face Akira with a smile.

"That was a blast!" Cynthia said. "I tried my best, but you really got me! I guess I wasn't ready yet to make it to the finals. That's a real bummer!"

"Oh, but don't get me wrong, I'm not admitting defeat!" Cynthia shook her head, smirking. "The only reason you were able to beat me was because I didn't have enough time to prepare! But next time we fight, I'll be ready for you! So you better keep an eye on your back, got it?"

"Yeah, you do that," Akira said, grinning. He recalled Satsuki and walked over to Cynthia.

"One other thing I noted, you might want to keep this in mind. Your team is pretty unbalanced. You rely on your Breloom a little too much, and not only does that put a huge burden on him, but it weakens the growth of your other pokemon. You might want to focus on bringing them all up to around that level if you're serious about a rematch, sound good?"

"…Yeah, I get you," Cynthia grinned. "Just you watch, we're gonna become the best team you'll ever see!"

Akira and Cynthia shook hands to call the penultimate day of the tournament to a close.

"Geez, I thought he was going to give me a heart attack with that match…" Dakota sighed, fanning herself.

"You seem happy, though," Serefina said, smiling. "And here I thought you'd be upset that Akira's gotten this far. What? Something change?"

"No, not really," Dakota said, glancing aside as her cheeks tinged pink. Serefina giggled, patting her friend on the shoulder.

"Well, I better be going," Blake said, standing up.

"Eh? What's wrong?" Sango asked, looking up at him.

"Nothing, I'm just gonna go get Cynthia," Blake said. "Let's meet up outside later, 'kay?"

Sango frowned but reluctantly nodded.

"Ah, getting a little rendezvous, hm?" Claire giggled suggestively. "Going to give her some 'comfort'? Should I expect to not wait up for you?"

"Go shove it, Claire," Blake called over his shoulder as he walked down out of the stands.

Meanwhile, the Eight Leaders were determining what to do about the following day.

"So all that's gonna go down tomorrow, huh?" Raizer grinned, slamming his fist into his palm. "Man, this is gonna be great! I'm feeling the sparks already!"

"I'm excited too," Callie nodded. "Oh, I just want tomorrow to happen already!"

The two fighting maniacs were discussing the upcoming battle, but Alcea's attentions were elsewhere.

Tomorrow… she glanced at Gabrielle, but the trainer was as cold as ice and unreadable as always. It's important that I figure out what Gerard's real motivations are … Gabrielle has never been anything close to a friend to me… but she's still my best hope at getting information.

Gerard was the only one of their number not present, having left the viewing box the minute the matches ended. He was calmly walking down the hall toward Elaina's room, his thoughts singularly focused on one thing.

"Elaina? Can we talk?"

"Come in," Elaina's calm voice bid him entry and he stepped into the room.

"Did you see that?" Elaina asked immediately, running up to him before he could even close the door. That tone in her voice… it was excitement. Something he hadn't heard from her in far too long. "My match… It… it was only for a moment, but I… I managed to-!"

"Yes, I saw," Gerard said, nodding, trying to hide his annoyance at this hiccup in his plans. If Elaina could control that power of hers without him… then it stood to reason that she… no. He'd get to the bottom of this one way or another, and put a stop to it immediately. "Tell me, Elaina, how did you do it?"

"…How?" Her voice faltered slightly, much to Gerard's pleasure.

"I… I don't know… I just… I was on the brink… I felt I was giving in… losing control… and then… Blake… I don't know how, but somehow, his voice pierced through all those jeers, right through the cloud of uncertainty and all of a sudden… it all became so clear and easy…" She sighed wistfully, holding her hand over her chest. "I should… should I talk to him? I know that I didn't want to get close before, but now-! If he can somehow help me control this, then I should, right? He said it himself, he wants to help me, I'm sure of it!" Gerard couldn't see her eyes through her mask, but he was sure they were sparkling with eagerness.

"Help you how?" Gerard asked.

"I… I don't know…" Elaina said, looking down. "I just… I…"

"Listen, Elaina, I understand, believe me," Gerard said, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You've been through a lot recently, and now you've just had this breakthrough, so it makes sense that you're trying to take some drastic steps, but think about it. We don't know how you managed to control your harmonia, and we don't know if you'll be able to do it again when the time calls for it! Blake may be able to help you, but what if he can't? What if your power goes wild and you hurt him?"

Elaina flinched, taking a step back.

"I… I couldn't, I…" Of course she knew how wrong she was. She could hurt Blake, and very likely she would. And even if she didn't inadvertently kill him… would he still want to help her, after she'd turned his powers against her? The thought of that… no, no, NO!

Elaina shook her head frantically, trying to clear her mind of all these terrifying thoughts.

"I only want what's best for you," Gerard said, taking another step to again close the distance between them. "If you want Blake by your side, then I believe you should have him. But is that really what's best for Blake? I don't want to see him get hurt… and I don't want you to hurt him."

"But… but if he could help me… then I wouldn't hurt him… right?" Elaina asked, the desperation in her voice exactly what Gerard was hoping to hear.

"That's why we've got to focus on getting your powers under control," he reminded her. "Today was a phenomenal start. Now, we can move ahead with what we know. But all that comes later. You've got a match tomorrow, remember? The most important match of the tournament. And you need to win. If you can do that, then even keeping control of your abilities might not be out of your reach."

Elaina nodded in agreement, discarding the last desperate threads she'd been clinging to.

"Excellent. Let's get you back to your room. You need to be well-rested if you're going to defeat Akira tomorrow."

Gerard led Elaina out of the dressing room, formulating a plan to make use of the new information Elaina had just given him.

Whatever else she is, Elaina is still just a teenage girl. So it seems she developed a little crush on the first boy to show her special attention? How sickeningly sweet and naïve. Gerard bit his lip in frustration. If I let these feelings go on, they might develop into something real. She won't be of any use to me as some lovesick little schoolgirl. Before things get to that level… I'll have to take care of the problem myself.

"Soz, boss!" Sylvia stepped into the viewer box as Valon, Misato, and Will were preparing to leave. She wore a look of shame and contrition, but it was masked by a casual veneer that she just couldn't seem to shake. "I tried my best, but that girl's a real monster!"

Will swallowed. After Sylvia's match had concluded, Valon had watched the rest of the semi-finals in complete silence. With that on one side and the statue that was Misato on the other, the atmosphere had been choking him. And just when he was ready to make a run for it, the girl herself had come to set the entire mess on fire.

"Ah, Sylvia, don't worry your pretty little head about it," Valon smiled, walking up and patting her on the cheek. "You did your best after all. And how could I get mad at someone who tried their best?"

Will gave a sigh of relief, mimicked by a subtler one from Sylvia herself. She turned to Misato with a cheeky smile, tossing her the orange pokeball containing her Rotom. Misato snatched it out of the air with a swipe of her hand, running her eyes over it before looking up at Sylvia.

"My freezer." She said simply, Sylvia replying with a guilty shrug.

"Hey, it happens," she said. "'Sides, do you even eat? Don'tcha just plug into a wall to recharge your batteries and then you're good to go?"

Misato didn't deign Sylvia's question with an answer, and Valon took the lull to speak himself.

"Sylvia, there's one other favor I'd like to ask of you."

"If it's not about paying Misato back, then sure."

"There's a certain girl that's caught my attention, one of the freshmen. I'd like you to come bring her to me so I can have a talk."

"Aw, really?" Sylvia grinned sheepishly. "Even after I lost so handily you'll still trust me with something like that, huh? That means the world, boss."

"Yes, yes, well normally I would consider sending Misato, but she isn't as… personable as you are. And this girl in particular is quite the shy little cat, so I figured that a… people person like you would be the best option. But if you're not up to it, there are several others I could ask…"

"Nah, I got it, I'll give it a shot. So, who is she? You said a freshie, right? She got a name?"

Valon's lips curled up into a smile.

Blake met Cynthia as she reached the entrance to the halls of the stadium, standing in the long, empty hallway leading out onto the battlefield.

"Hey, that was a great match," Blake grinned.

"Yeah, I know, right?" Cynthia chuckled. "It was a blast! I tried my best, and we all gave it the best we could, but I guess there's always someone better! Now it's my turn to be on the losing side, eh?"

The two shared a chuckle.

"Hey, the others are gathering outside, want to go meet them? We can all go get food or something. Not a celebration like last night, but just get a meal at Snorlax Commons like always?"

"Yeah, sounds great!" Cynthia said, nodding eagerly. "I just gotta send my pokemon in for a checkup and then we're good to go!"

Blake turned to the door and Cynthia followed after him, but he paused when he felt something hard push against his back.

"Uh…"

"Don't turn around." Her voice was muffled by being spoken through his shirt, but Blake could still hear enough to know what she meant.

"It's frustrating, isn't it?"

"I tried my best…" Cynthia repeated, her forehead pressed against his back. "I fought as hard as I could, so I wouldn't have any regrets."

"I know."

"I thought I wouldn't mind losing… as long as I had fun… But I really tried hard… and I wanted to win." Blake didn't have to hear the sniffling to know how upset Cynthia felt. That was why he'd come on his own, after all.

"Yeah, I get it," Blake sighed. "Don't worry."

Cynthia wasn't holding up her big, sunny smile in that hallway. The face buried in Blake's shirt wasn't the usual one she wore, the one she'd smile as around the others.

"Let's just stay for a few minutes… until I can smile again…" Cynthia said. "I know losing… is just losing… I know I should be just enjoying it for the fun… but even so… I'm just a teensy, tiny bit… upset right now."

She coughed, clenching his shirt tightly.

"Soon I'll be ready to go. I won't let it end here, you know."

"Mhm."

"I won't! I'm gonna train really hard… and then I'm gonna beat him next time, you can count on it!"

"Yeah, I know you will," Blake said, nodding.

"…"

"Why… *hic* why does losing have to feel so rotten…?"

So the semi-finals have come to a close! All the agendas will come to a head the next day, the day of the final match!