The battle continues, and things grow more heated between our finalists!

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: But you really want to see the Kanone vs. Elaina match. I totally get it. I wanted some good bait to get some of you all rooting for her.

Hellraiserphoenix: Yup, Elaina and Sango both have really good, and really different, chemistry with Blake. Gotta stir up the drama, after all. It isn't high school without a love triangle or twenty. As for who he ends up with? Only time will tell.

KedharS: Ooh, this is fun, I love stuff like this. I can only think of songs for twelve characters for now. Misato's, Caelia's, Ryoko's and most likely Ayame's may not make that much sense since we don't know enough about them, but they'll make sense later on.

- Blake: "Darkness on the Edge of Town" by Bruce Springsteen

- Cynthia: "Wild One" by Faith Hill

- Sango has two: "Who I Am" by Jessica Andrews (normal) and "You Belong With Me" by Taylor Swift (toward Blake)

- Elaina: "I'm All Out of Love" by Air Supply

- Dakota: "Every Breath You Take" by The Police

- Akira: "Black Balloon" by Goo Goo Dolls

- Alcea also has two: "Uptown Girl" by Billy Joel (one half of herself) and "Furr" by Blitzen Trapper (the other half)

- Kate: "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" by Poison

- Misato: "I Don't Have a Name For It" by Steam Powered Giraffe

- Caelia: "The Lonely" by Christina Perri

- Ryoko also has two, though not to capture different aspects of herself (I just couldn't pick because they're both so fitting): "If I Could Turn Back Time" by Cher and "Cleopatra" by The Lumineers

- Ayame also has two, one sung to her and one by her: "Born To Run" (by her) and "Thunder Road" (to her) both by Bruce Springsteen

Tambry96bj: Who knows? I'm surprised he agreed to battle her at all, so maybe?

Draisen: That is a very strong possibility. If there's one thing Elaina isn't good at, it's staying in control and pacing herself. So she could most certainly succumb before it ends.

Pokemonking0924: Win or lose, Elaina's got a long road to recovery ahead of her. She's been through some serious trauma, and that's not the kind of thing one can get over so easily. Especially not while Gerard still has his hooks into her.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 89

Akira bit his lip, staring at the silhouette of Elaina he could make out through the shadowy battlefield. He looked down at his phone, as if he could compel her to answer. He was getting a real bad feeling. It was clear that Elaina was completely lost and scared, and even worse she was refusing anyone's help. It seems Blake couldn't get through to her… so how the hell am I supposed to do anything, huh? But even so…

I failed Satsuki when she needed me the most. I'm not gonna just stand back and watch someone else destroy themselves without doing everything I can!

"Akira." Akira could hear a faint hint of Elaina's voice, compelling his eyes open. He returned the phone to his ear and responded "yeah?" more eagerly than he had intended.

"Enough. I don't want to hear any more." Her voice was cold, and rang with a mixture of finality and resignation. "Just send your next pokemon out."

Well, fine then. It seems I won't be able to get through to her just by talking. Akira reached down and put his phone back into his pocket and then picking up a pokeball off of his belt.

"Maggy, let's do it!" Akira shouted, sending out his Slugma.

"A fire type? That's a good choice!" Lila said.

"Maybe, but that is one of Akira's weakest pokemon," Darla reminded her. "This may not be so easy."

"Maggy! Let's stop that bird from hiding in the shadows! Use flamethrower!" Maggy opened her mouth, a burst of crimson flame erupting from her molten core. The flames rolled over the battlefield and sent the shadows scattering away, illuminating Mukuro with their orange light.

"Now we can see you quite clearly!" Akira shouted. Maggy fired off another flamethrower at Mukuro, the owl flying back into the deeper crevices of the battlefield.

"Mukuro!" Elaina shouted, Mukuro following her command and sinking into the shadows.

"We don't want to give him a chance to attack us from below," Akira warned Maggy. "Use lava plume to burn up the area around you."

"Slug!" Maggy nodded, inhaling, her body bubbling up as she released geysers of magma from her body. The molten rock sprayed out over the battlefield, bathing everything in a sea of heat and steam.

"Whoa, it's getting hot in here!" Lila said, fanning herself.

"You can say that again, Lila," Darla agreed. "With powerful fire attacks like these, Decidueye is losing the initiative."

"It's better than that," Kanone commented. "With these repeated lava plume attacks, the entire battlefield will soon be bathed in magma. When that happens, there won't be any shadows for that Decidueye to escape to."

"Escape? Ha! We mean to do no such thing!" Elaina shouted. "Mukuro! Strike now!"

"Decidueye," Mukuro appeared from the stone walls, an arrow locked and ready to fire. Maggy turned and opened her mouth to release a stream of fire, but Mukuro had already fired by the time she'd prepared the attack.

Mukuro flew out of the way of the flames with hardly a singed tail feather, the ghostly arrow plowing right through the center of the flamethrower attack and hitting Maggy in the side.

"Slug!" Maggy cried out in pain.

"Excellent work, Mukuro!" Elaina said. "Now, let's take it even further! Ominous wind!"

"Decidueye!" Mukuro nodded, spreading his wings, conjuring a powerful gale of spectral energy. The ghostly tornado tore through the magma and sent molten chunks of rock flying everywhere as it surged toward Maggy.

"Maggy, get out of the way," Akira ordered. Maggy nodded and scuttled through the magma surrounding her with no ill effects, moving out of the tornado's path.

"You think that will work on us?!" Elaina shouted, her harmonia flaring up, much to the surprise of Kanone. In response to her shout, the winds almost seemed to lull for a second before returning to a spin with even greater intensity, increasing in speed, size, and destructive force. The wind turned after Maggy and suddenly the tornado was no more; the ghostly gust turned from a pillar into a wave of spectral energy with a singular purpose in pursuing the fleeing Slugma, washing over Maggy and striking her very soul.

"Sluuug!" Maggy wailed as the powerful attack hit her on all sides, reforming into a cyclone once more with the small molten pokemon taking the brunt of its force.

"Now, finish it," Elaina ordered, Mukuro pulling back his bowstring and firing a single arrow that pierced through the wind and struck Maggy directly, the fire pokemon dropping to the ground with a splat.

"And with that furious combination of moves, Elaina has taken the lead!" Lila said.

"That Decidueye is quite the powerhouse! Even as a grass type her use of ghost moves let her turn the tables on Slugma, no sweat!" Darla nodded.

It's more than that, Kanone noted. Her harmonia… she doesn't have any conscious control… but what she lacks in that she makes up for in sheer passion. With such an affinity for the wind, it is almost as though it bends to her will should her mood call for it. Quite potent indeed…

He smiled.

I wonder… what more can you show me? I look forward to seeing every last one of your tricks, my young witch.

"Sorry, Maggy," Akira said, recalling his unconscious Slugma. "Now then… Starla, you're up next!"

"So Akira's next pokemon is his Starmie!" Lila said

"That's right, Lila, but things might not go so well for him!" Darla said. "Starmie is a water and a psychic type, which means they're doubly weak against that Decidueye!"

"Oh no!" Lila gasped. "That really is bad!"

"And that's not all," Darla continued, frowning. "The battlefield is still covered in magma, as we can see! How's his Starmie supposed to find footing in that?"

Indeed, Starla was a bit at odds, standing upright on a small uproot of stone by just the points of their stars, surrounded by magma on all sides.

"Not a problem, isn't that right, Starla?" Akira asked.

"Star!" Starla said, the jewel in their core shimmering with light. Slowly, their body turned the color of the magma that surrounded them, sinking down until they were completely concealed by it.

"Whoa, so that's what he's planning!" Darla said.

"It's that camouflage thing, right?" Lila asked.

"Exactly! Now that Starmie has taken on the characteristics of the lava, not only will they be unaffected by the high temperatures, but they've also become a fire type! He's completely overcome Starmie's dual weaknesses!"

"Wow, that's so smart! Do you think he planned that?" Lila asked.

"Maybe so. If this works, it might just be what he needs to swing the momentum back in his favor!"

"Don't suck his dick too much!" Dakota shouted out. "It's not that impressive you floozies!"

"Hey!" Lila shouted, her cute face distorted into a look of irritation. "Who was that?! Who are you calling a floozie?!"

"Lila?" Darla chastised her, a sheepish grin crossing Lila's face.

"Sorries," Lila giggled, slipping back into character.

I can't see that damn starfish… Elaina used Mukuro's eyes to look across the battlefield, Mukuro coasting on the heat from the magma. But Starla's camouflage had let them blend in seamlessly with the magma.

"Starla, now!" A beam of icy energy shot out from Starla's jewel, though to Elaina and Mukuro's eyes it appeared to erupt from the lava itself. Mukuro swung to the side, the ice attack striking him in the wing. Mukuro fell toward the magma, but luckily picked up before striking it, the heat of the magma minimizing the damage done by the ice attack. He glided over the lava and spread his wings wide, ghostly energy swirling around them. He soared up, and with a flap of his wings sent a powerful blast of ghostly wind across the battlefield.

"Starla, use cosmic power to boost your defenses," Akira ordered. Starla burgeoned with cosmic energy, their defensive stats raising to give them the power to endure the ghostly attack. But this was just the opportunity Mukuro had been waiting for.

Now! Mukuro's eye caught the slight change in coloration of Starla from the shimmer of them having gathered their energy, and drew back the string of his makeshift blow, conjuring a large ghostly arrow. He fired it at Starla, striking them directly into their core.

"Star!" Starla cried, their coloration returning as their camouflage was seen through, though their typing and resistance remained unchanged. But now, Elaina and Mukuro could see them clearly.

"Decidueye," Mukuro growled, readying a spirit shackle attack. He prepared three arrows and shot them out from his bow, chains attached to the ends. The arrows shot toward Starla, preparing to hamper their movements.

"Starla, confuse ray," Akira ordered. Starla fired a swirling orb of glowing light from the center of their core, the eerie orb moving erratically toward Mukuro. Mukuro was disoriented from the confusing attack, and his aim faltered, the arrows shaking haphazardly as they no longer traced after Starla's movements. With the star pokemon's speed, they easily leapt out of the way of the arrows' path, and Mukuro was far too confused to adjust them properly, the attack harmlessly fading away.

"Ugh… again…" Elaina muttered, feeling like she was going to throw up.

"Well, it seems Akira really knows how to hit Elaina where it hurts with those confusion attacks," Kanone commented. "With this increased pressure on her, Elaina will find it difficult to regain her focus."

"Starla, now it's time for ice beam." On Akira's command, Starla fired off another ice beam at the Decidueye, and this time the owl pokemon was far too disoriented to even think about dodging. The attack struck him head on, though the power was weakened, and he plummeted toward the molten ground.

Shrugging off the sudden cold, Elaina held up Mukuro's pokeball with her shaking hands.

"Return," she said, calling back her injured and confused pokemon before he could hit the lava and sustain serious wounds. With Mukuro's temporary retreat, Elaina was able to quickly return to her senses, righting herself easily and preparing for a counterattack.

"Fine then," she murmured. "Ayer! Tear them to pieces!"

Elaina threw a pokeball into the air, her Aerodactyl emerging with a roar of fury. She winced as she felt the pain of the floating sharp stones cut into her pokemon's flesh, but this only seemed to make the ancient pokemon even more angry.

"That's a real flying type, but more importantly it's also a rock type!" Akira said. "And you know what that means, Starla!"

"Star!" Starla pointed the tip of their uppermost star point at Ayer, and fired a massive hydro pump at the rock pokemon.

"An attack of that magnitude doesn't even merit dodging!" Elaina shouted, the splash of water on her face actually refreshing her. "Now, Ayer, earthquake!"

"Aero!" Ayer roared, spreading his wings, power surging through his body. He released it out in a shockwave of energy, striking the stadium ground and the large stone outcroppings surrounding it. The shockwaves pulsed through the stones and the entire battlefield began shaking from the force of the attack.

"Oh shit!" Darla cried.

"It's a big one!" Lila wailed.

Kanone jumped to his feet and reached for his belt, before stopping himself. No… it's not as bad as that. "Thankfully, it seems the battlefield has taken the brunt of the attack."

The stone walls buckled and crumbled under the force of the earthquake attack, the battlefield itself cracking. Stones rained down on Starla as the arena collapsed around them, splashes of magma spraying up into the air as the molten layer was half-buried under a wave of collapsing black rock. When the dust settled, Starla was wiped out entirely, half-buried and battered into unconscious from the force of the dark chamber's implosion.

"That's much better," Elaina said, brushing her hair to the side, her arrogant smile concealed by her expressionless mask. "Now that the darkness is gone, we can see everything quite clearly."

"Return," Akira said, recalling Starla to their pokeball.

"This is looking really bad for Akira…" Lila said worriedly.

"You're right," Darla nodded. "This battle is going very one-sidedly… and after he started out so well…"

"Nami, it's up to you," Akira said, sending out his Vaporeon. With the battlefield in the wrecked state that it was, there was now plenty of room to stand, though lava was still pouring up through the holes in the newly created rubble floor. Nami skillfully avoided those, elegantly landing on a large solid slab of dark stone.

"Ayer! Take that one down next!" Elaina commanded Ayer to unleash another devastating earthquake, but Akira saw the move coming.

"Nami!" Akira shouted. "Hydro pump!"

Nami lowered her head and opened her mouth, firing a massive blast of water straight at the ground. The pressure from the powerful attack launched her up into the air.

"What?!" Elaina shouted in disbelief.

"She's flying!" Lila cheered.

"Well, that's new," Darla smirked.

"Vaporeon!" Nami shouted, flying towards Ayer as she dodged the earthquake attack completely.

"How arrogant of you," Elaina snarled. "Fighting us in an aerial battle?! Ayer! Know it down with your rock slide!"

Ayer moved back and opened his mouth, a wave of stone rising up from the ground and flying towards Nami.

"Nami, water pulse!"

"Vaporeon!" Nami cried, gathering energy into her body. She released a shockwave that shattered the rocks and hit Ayer, staggering the flying pokemon. Nami began to fall out of the sky as she reached the arc of her jump, but she was prepared for that.

"Whoa, look at that!" Lila said.

"Vaporeon is using the rocks from Cradily's stealth rock attack as footholds," Darla said.

Nami landed on one of the larger floating stones, panting, turning her eyes up to look at Ayer. As long as she was standing there, she was safe from the brunt of Ayer's devastating earthquakes and could begin formulating a counterattack. The only effect of Ayer's attack was another large tremor, and a few wider cracks in the battlefield to allow more lava to bubble up to the surface.

I can't use earthquake to attack at a distance, and if we get in too close there's a risk of getting hit with more hydro pumps… Elaina began pondering what to do. Even with the added boost Ayer was receiving from her, this was far from a favorable matchup. Akira's Vaporeon was a pokemon with high health reserves and good defenses; the kind of pokemon where defeating it would take a lot out of them both.

I need to conserve my energy to deal with that Gyarados, Elaina understood. But even so… I can't let him regain any momentum in this battle! Ayer! We're going to beat that pokemon down with as much strength as we can muster, got it?

"Aero!" Ayer roared, opening his mouth wide. Electricity crackled in his massive jaws as he readied a thunder fang attack, flying straight toward Nami.

I don't think Nami has the raw power to take that Aerodactyl down… in which case we'll have to use…

"Nami! Rain dance!" Nami raised her head and cried, leaping from stone to stone to evade Ayer's charge. As she did, the sky darkened overhead as clouds gathered in the afternoon sky, and within moments a mighty downpour began in the coliseum.

"Think we can't handle a little rain?" Elaina shouted. "You're running out of rocks to leap to, Vaporeon! Finish it!"

Ayer flew straight toward Nami, who was now standing on the lowest of the floating rocks, when something unexpected happened. The rain struck the battlefield, and water met lava in a wide burst. The effects were immediate. The lava hissed in frustration as it was rapidly cooled by the torrent of water, releasing a massive cloud of steam as its heat had nowhere else to go. A blast of steam engulfed the two pokemon in seconds, rising up into the air and obscuring Ayer's prey entirely. Akira smirked. Now, they were getting somewhere.

"Damn!" Elaina muttered, instinctively raising her hands to shield her face even though it was Ayer's vision that was obscured. She looked around but neither one of them could make out anything through the scalding steam. And suddenly, a shadow appeared out of the corner of their eyes.

There!

Ayer whirled his head around and opened his fangs, flying straight toward the shadowy pokemon.

And got an ice punch in the face for his trouble.

Elaina's head shot to the side as she felt the full force of the attack, leaving a stinging redness on her cheek. Ayer tumbled back through the sky and hit the ground, the steam dissipating to reveal his attacker.

Kumari stood atop the stone Nami had been standing on, massive paw raised into a fist.

"What the… but how?" Lila looked to Darla for answers, and received a shrug in response.

"He must have had Vaporeon use baton switch," Darla said. "That let her swap places with his Beartic."

"Kumari! Icicle crash!" Ayer shook his head, rising up to his feet, as Kumari gathered icy energy around his body. As the temperature dropped, the rain swirled around the large bear pokemon and froze into massive icicles that he launched in a barrage at the injured rock pokemon. Ayer flapped his wings and took to the sky, but there was nowhere to run. Pressed on the defensive and unable to come up with any ideas, Elaina was battered with the onslaught of ice and rain as she stumbled, coughing, clutching her chest as she felt Ayer fade away from her.

"Return…" Elaina groaned, recalling Ayer. Her hands were shaking with numbness and she was finding difficulty standing, but she still had more than enough energy to keep up the fight.

"Now then…" Elaina said, refocusing herself as she reached for her next pokeball, "Raiver… go!"

Elaina sent out her Braviary, shrugging off the strike of the stones.

"Raiver, first order of business, deal with those pesky rocks!" Elaina ordered.

"Brav!" Raiver nodded, beating his mighty wings and releasing a massive blast of wind. The wind parted the rains and knocked aside the imposing stealth rock attack as Raiver cleared the battlefield, Kumari landing on the ground.

"Kumari, that Braviary is a power fighter so we're going to need to rely on your speed to keep," Akira said. Kumari nodded and covered his body in a veil of rain water as he readied an aqua jet.

"Quite bold of you, Akira! To think you have a chance of defeating me when it comes to speed!" Elaina laughed. "Raiver! Time to regain our initiative! Use tailwind!"

Raiver flapped his wings and air behind Elaina exploded, hitting Kumari and Akira in the face with a massive wave of wind. Kumari charged forward but felt more than a little encumbered by the headwinds he was trying to push through. Raiver lowered his head, his beaked face smiling if it could, and took full advantage of the boost, shooting toward Kumari like a rocket.

Elaina's harmonia flared up even higher and Raiver's speed increased even more, easily dodging around Kumari's attack. With a flap of his wings he sent a massive blade of wind that carved through the water and cut open the bear pokemon's chest, Kumari stumbling backwards.

"Bear!" Kumari howled, turning toward Raiver, but the swift pokemon had already dodged the coming blow. Raiver disappeared completely and carved into Kumari's back with a powerful aerial ace, knocking the ice pokemon to the ground.

"Is the only thing you can do taking your opponents by surprise?" Elaina mocked, Raiver flying overhead as he prepared his finishing attack. "Raiver! End things with your superpower!"

"Brav!" Raiver nodded, shooting toward Kumari at top speed.

"Maybe we were just letting you get a few good hits in," Akira smiled. "Kumari! Avalanche!"

Kumari rose to his feet and raised his head, meeting eyes with Raiver. He raised his hands a torrent of ice and snow surged around him, engulfing the bird pokemon in a freezing blast.

"With avalanche, Beartic has sent all the damage he just took back with double the force!" Darla said.

"Whoa! That's amazing!" Lila cheered.

"But it won't be enough," Kanone said, frowning. Indeed, he was quickly proven right as Ravier erupted from the wall of snow, injured but intact, and struck Kumari with multiple close range strikes with his claws and beak. Kumari had put all his strength into the avalanche attack and was unable to fight back against the swift onslaught of moves, pressed back and finally succumbing, Raiver slamming his head into the ground with his massive claw.

"Beartic is unable to battle!" Lila announced with more than a hint of sadness.

"That means Akira's down to just two pokemon to Elaina's remaining four," Darla solemnly added.

"Come on, Akira! What the hell are you doing?!" Dakota shouted, jumping out of her seat. "You started out so well, what's with this pathetic performance, huh?! After everything I gave you are you really just gonna fold like a little bitch, bitch?!"

"Dakota, sweetie, I know you're worried, but could you tone it down just a tad?" Serefina said, reaching up to gently grab her roommate's arm.

"Sh-shut up, Seri," Dakota muttered, her cheeks reddening as she clumsily sat back. "Y-you're the one who's worried. I'm not worried. In fact, I couldn't be less worried!"

"Oh, great!" Serefina said, smiling brightly. "I'm glad you're so confident that Akira's going to win! That's so sweet of you!"

"N-No! No I'm not! It's not sweet! I'm not the least bit confident in him, shut up! He can go and lose for all I care!" Dakota rambled, trying desperately to hide her embarrassment, but it all washed away in the face of Serefina's knowing smile.

"Oh, so you are worried."

"N-no! Stop it! You're twisting up everything I'm saying, stop it!" Dakota screeched, waving her hands in front of her face.

OH, LIKE YOU HAVE ANY RIGHT TO COMPLAIN ABOUT THAT. Everyone else though in unison, irritated by Dakota to varying degrees of intensity.

Come on guys, she's trying her best! It's hard to be honest with even yourself when your whole job is to make shit up about people for money. The finals will come to a conclusion in the next chapter! Will Akira be able to turn things around? Or will Elaina's overwhelming strength be enough to clinch her victory?