So now, it's time to deal with the aftermath of the cataclysmic battle. Some of it literal, some metaphorical.
Pokemonking0924: We'll see a lot of Gerard and Elaina's future in the coming chapters, don't worry.
KedharS: Huh. I thought all of them were pretty fitting, though I definitely know the characters better than you, I guess, so it makes sense we'd have different impressions. Don't worry, there still might be a battle to be had.
Just a Bad Writer for Fun: I don't know, Gerard hasn't won just yet.
Hellraiserphoenix: Yeah, I really wanted to play up the character interactions in that chapter.
Duskzilla: I don't want to think about it.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 91
The stadium was in chaos. Callie was pushing her way through crowds of people to try and find her way through, but there was just too many. People had stopped rushing now that the noise behind them had ceased and the stadium was still intact, now just looking around in confusion. Rafe's announcement had just come over the loudspeakers.
"What's going on?!" Someone shouted. "Are we getting out of here or not?!"
"Everyone!" Heads turned as a particularly commanding voice broke through the crowd, Erik Lynch at the head of a small group of rangers. The crowd of students filling up the hallway quickly fell into hushed whispers as Erik raised his hands.
"Everyone, it's okay. The match is over, and we've received word that the danger has passed. So far, we've had no serious injuries reported, it appears that members of the Eight Leaders interceded before things got out of hand." This resulted in several happy murmurs, the atmosphere of the crowd picking up. Erik continued, "extra people from Campus Safety are coming, as well as medical personnel to check for injuries. Anyone who was injured in the… incident, please remain here if you are in need of medical assistance. Otherwise, please return to your seats in an orderly manner so we can do a headcount and make sure that everyone is accounted for. Understood?"
Murmurs echoed out and heads nodded, Callie sighing in relief.
"Excellent. File up into two single-file lines, in front of me, one for injured and one for non-injured. I'll begin assessing the injuries while we wait for the medical personnel, in the meantime, Andre, you begin leading the others back into the stands. Remember everyone, in situations like this, most injuries are the result of panic, very few can actually be attributed to the underlying cause itself. So please, remain calm and proceed in an orderly fashion, thank you!"
Ignoring him entirely, Callie pushed past several other students and broke out to the front, catching eyes with Erik.
"Callie Crawford, Eighth Leader," Callie said, holding up her student identification. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Oh!" Erik said, his face brightening. "Yes. Can you go assist Andre with crowd control?"
Callie nodded, scanning heads for the taller ranger.
Akira was feeling shaken. The loss wasn't taking him down, but the aftereffects of the damage he'd sustained was making…
He took a step toward Satsuki, and suddenly ran out of ground to walk on somehow. The next thing he knew, he was staring up at the sky, the parting clouds spinning around his head as he blacked out.
"Akira!" Dakota shouted, leaping to her feet. Her camera clattered to the ground as she pushed past Serefina and ran down the stairs, pushing through the emergency exit at the bottom of ring. She jumped down and ran onto the battlefield, to the surprise of Rafe, Lila, and Darla.
What did I say? Sango shouted in her head, her face bright red. She couldn't even look at Blake. What… what was I about to say?!
"Akira!" Dakota slid down next to him, placing one hand in front of his mouth and the other on his neck. She gasped. She could feel a pulse, but…
"Come on, Akira," she whispered, her vision blurring as she gently tapped his cheek. "You're gonna be fine, you're gonna be fine, come on, come on…"
"Dakota!" Serefina called out after her.
"Seri!" Dakota cried, turning to her friend with tears in her eyes. "Akira, he… he's not…"
"Attention!" Heads turned to see a group of medical officers storm out into the stadium. Four men carried stretchers between them, other people carrying various pieces of equipment Dakota didn't recognize.
"What's the situation?" An older man asked Rafe, the biggest authority present.
"Rough battle," Rafe began to explain. "The girl, Elaina over there, collapsed just now. Akira was doing a little better but he just fell too. Akira took a pretty serious blow from some debris in the battle earlier. As for Elaina, I'm not sure. She just sort of collapsed. I think-"
"He's not breathing!" Dakota choked out. "Please! You've, you've gotta… he can't, I-! I-!"
Dakota fell to her knees and started hyperventilating, Serefina kneeling down next to her and putting a hand on her back.
"Get the respirator, one of the EMTs said, helping move Akira onto the stretcher, placing a mask over Akira's mouth.
"What about the Gyarados?" One of the people asked, glancing at the large, unconscious pokemon.
"DON'T TOUCH HER!" Dakota shouted, her voice choking. "They… she… they need to be together, they… When he wakes up… if Satsuki isn't there, then he'll… he'll-!"
"I'll take custody of the Gyarados," Serefina called out, the paramedics turning to her. "Bring me his pokeballs, I'll bring her and his pokemon in. It's okay, I'm with working as a prospective student in the Caretaker Course." She showed the older official her student ID. He nodded and called one of the paramedics assisting Akira, who brought his belt over to Serefina. She found Satsuki's pokeball and recalled the unconscious pokemon, returning to Dakota.
"Are you okay?" Serefina asked, kneeling down next to the collapsed girl. Dakota muttered something and nodded, still trembling.
"Thanks Seri…" she sobbed, clenching at Serefina's sleeves.
"I need to take Akira's pokemon to the center," Serefina whispered softly. "Are you going to be okay?"
"Mmmngh…" she mumbled back vaguely.
"…Oookay," Serefina sighed, draping her arm under Dakota's and clasping her shoulder, lifting the girl to her feet. "Let's go, then."
"Excuse me, gentlemen," Kanone walked up to the paramedics carrying Elaina on a stretcher as they were beginning to leave. He glanced down at the unconscious girl. Her mask had been removed, and she had been fitted with a respirator, letting him see her face for the first time. It was a pity. It was far too pretty of a face to be covered. "I can explain what's going on with her. Someone I know was afflicted by something similar." He wrote down a note and handed it to one of them.
"Either you, or whoever you bring her to, have them contact my doctor at this number. Tell him Kanone Harker referred you, explain the situation, and tell him that I suspect it's the same condition as Cynthia. He'll be able to walk you through the next steps."
Serefina led Dakota out of the stadium following the medical teams, while the other students were corralled back into the stadium.
"That was close," Valon said, frowning. His box had been stricken harder than the most by the tremors, actually sustaining damage and injuries. He wasn't among them, of course. But there was a large hole in the roof, much to his consternation. "We'll have to get that looked at."
"I'm fine, thanks," Sylvia commented, glancing down at a chunk of rubble. "And so's he, thanks to a certain someone."
Misato rose up from the ground, a large chunk of stone falling off her back with a heavy thud. She was pinned over Will, shielding his body with her own.
"Urgh…" Will muttered, holding his head. "What the hell…"
"Breathing." Misato said, standing up.
"Thanks…" he said, blinking until the lights came back on. He glanced at the large chunk of stone lying beside him. "Whoa… how did you…" He glanced back at Misato, his mouth falling open in shock.
"…" Misato stared back at him in silence. She had protected him, but hadn't come out of it uninjured. Although… undamaged was evidently the more apt word. A large gash was cut into the side of her head, her face torn open above her left eye. Her back was even worse, her uniform torn apart and all the skin scraped off from the impact of the rocks. The skin on her right arm was entirely shorn. In spite of all this, not a trace of blood could be seen. Where there would be, he could only see the cold sheen of metal and the glow of electronic veins.
"You… what?"
"Oh, wow," Sylvia said, her smile widening. "Told ya didn't I? When he found out he'd be all 'bwuh?' Didn't I?"
Misato reached down and wrapped the torn skin back up over her arm to partially cover the exposed electronics.
"My constitution is unique." Misato stated, as if that was a more delicate way of saying "android".
Valon clapped a hand on will's shoulder, lifting him to his feet.
"That… is just the beginning," he whispered ominously into Will's ear.
"…Well, we're not dead," Ayame said, standing up.
"It's a miracle," Olivia said, nodding. "What's up?"
"Nothing, nothing," Ayame said, shrugging. "Just need to make a call, that's all."
"A call?" Olivia asked pointedly.
"About our little prospective associate," Ayame said. "Now that everything's a little more clear…"
"Ah, you're worried about him?"
"Shut it," Ayame called back. She stepped out of the room and began jogging down the hall, already feeling better just to be in movement. She scanned through her contacts, rolling her eyes when she saw what Blake had put his name in as. "'Handsome Blake' huh? Ugh…"
"Hello?" Blake answered. He was still in his seat. He stood up and walked down the aisle to get to a place he could hear better.
"You're alive, huh?" Ayame said dryly.
"Well, hello there," Blake smirked. "And what are you wearing?"
Ayame rolled her eyes and was severely tempted to hang up the phone.
"You done?"
"Not yet, but if you make things a little more stimulating I think we can get there together."
That got her to hang up.
She sighed, shaking her head, and brought herself to call him a second time.
"Be serious," she snarled into the phone when he picked up.
"I'm just glad you're thinking about me."
"If you die it would be inconvenient. Olivia has great expectations for you."
"I bet you say that to all the boys."
"Are you busy tomorrow?" Ayame asked.
"Extremely," Blake smiled. "But for you I can be free as long as you'd like." He could hear the eyeroll at this point. It was adorable.
"Let's arrange a meet-up. I'll text you the details."
"Sure. Oh, Ayame. Thanks for worrying. Your gap moe is cute."
She hung up on him with a growl, slowing her pace to a walk. She turned and headed back to Olivia's box.
"'Where's Blake?'" Was the first question asked when Julia returned to her seat with Kitty in tow, followed by Nick, Reiner, and Nikita.
"And Dakota and Seri?" Eli asked.
"Dakota and Serefina went to go with Akira," Cynthia explained. "Blake got a call and ran off, so I don't know where-"
"Cast!" Silver drew everyone's attention as he bobbed his head behind them. Pushing through the crowd, Callie burst into the aisle, scanning the seats desperately.
"Callie!" Nick said.
"Nick!" Callie cried, her face lighting up. She stepped around legs as she urgently ran over to him, hugging tightly. "I'm so glad you're okay…"
"Aw…" Blake walked up behind her, smiling. "I wish everyone could be that honest."
"Who was that?" Claire asked suspiciously.
"Someone far out of my league," Blake chuckled. "But I had another call to make. Don't worry about me, Claire."
"…" She nodded, frowning.
Kanone hung up his phone, a smile on his face.
"Won't be long now," he smiled.
"What's up?" Lila asked, glancing to him.
"We're in for a show," he smiled. He turned to see Gerard, alongside the other Eight Leaders (with the exception of Callie) walking into the center of the stadium.
Gerard stepped up to him, the two exchanging pleasant smiles. He then turned to Darla.
"May I borrow your microphone, Drake?"
Darla nodded, and handed it over to him, Gerard turning out to look across the stadium.
"Now I'm sure you're all quite worried about recent events, but I'm happy to let you all know that thanks to the work of Campus Safety and our students in the Ranger Course, we have everything under control." He gave a placating smile. "You may be worried about our competitors, but don't worry. The medical team is seeing to them, and we believe they'll both be alright."
He paused, to no applause.
"Now then, I'm happy to announce the winner, Elaina Bishop!" Gerard smiled, once again to no applause, but this time there were some boos for a change. Alcea looked on with a sour expression. "…Well. I would like to thank Kanone for helping out, protecting our announcers from getting injured, he's certainly done his fair share."
He glanced to Kanone and held his hand out to gesture toward him. This got applause.
"I hope though that your pokemon weren't too exhausted," Gerard smiled. "After all, you have a match with Elaina to get to soon, isn't that right?"
Kanone smiled, but didn't answer. Lila and Darla glanced nervously at him.
"Well… about that," Kanone said.
"Oh? Are you going back on your word?" Gerard asked, narrowing his eyes. His smile went ice-cold.
"No, no, nothing so rude," Kanone said, shaking his head. "But circumstances have changed. I have an appointment in Galar tomorrow, which means I must be leaving tomorrow afternoon. But I'm a man of my word! If Elaina wants to fight me, then I'll be happy to oblige her. Tomorrow. Assuming, of course, that she's in any shape to do much of anything."
Gerard's smile was now a cold glare.
"You promised her a battle," he coldly stated. "You promised all of them a battle. They're still waiting, you know. Even with all that's happened."
"Indeed… I wonder why. Strange policy, halting an evacuation and filing everyone back to their seats like this. Did this come from Campus Security? Or was it an idea of yours, I wonder?" Kanone asked. Gerard's silent glower was answer enough.
"Fine, fine." Kanone took Lila's microphone, stepping up next to Gerard and putting on his best competitor's smile.
"That's what you all want, right? A battle! Then a battle's what you're going to get!"
Cheers rang out from the crowd, Gerard smirking triumphantly.
"Excellent. Then if you'll remain until Elaina wakes, I'm sure-"
"No, no, like I told you. My plans are ironclad. But like you said, I did promise a battle, and I'd hate to let my fans down!" He clapped a hand on Gerard's shoulder and smiled. "But come on now. What sort of show would it be? She may be the victor, but she's only a freshwoman. These people deserve a show, don't they?"
"And compared to her… I think the strongest of the Eight Leaders would be a much more fitting performance, wouldn't you agree?"
Gerard's face froze, Kanone smiling. The crowd gasped and fell silent.
"…What?" Gerard asked, shaking his head.
"You're the strongest of the Eight Leaders, am I wrong?" Kanone shrugged. "Sounds to me like that makes you one of, if not the, strongest trainers in the school. Wouldn't that be a much better match for them all to see?"
Gerard's mind was racing to think of ways to turn what was happening around. Fighting against Kanone Harker? He'd heard of Alcea's match with him and how soundly he'd been defeated. There was no way he could allow the same to happen to him! The entire point of this plan was to cement the danger harmonia represented and build confidence in the Eight Leaders' strength to keep the student body safe. If the strongest of their number was to lose so easily in front of the entire school… There might not be any hope of recovery.
"I understand," Kanone moved the mic from his mouth and stared Gerard in the eyes. "You're reluctant. I get it. After all, you're going up against one of the strongest trainers in the world. It's fine if you don't want to take me up on my offer. Anyone would be scared to face me. You don't want your pokemon to get hurt, do you?"
Alcea was loving this. Seeing Kanone tear into Gerard like this and finally wipe that smug grin right off his face? She watched the entire exchange with a big, shit-eating grin that was entirely out of character for the regal and reserved persona she was so used to. She rather enjoyed such a feeling of juvenile spite, seeing Gerard twisting in the wind.
Gerard could feel his back pressed against a wall. If he accepted, was there even a chance at winning? He seriously doubted it. But what would he do, say no? If he fled from the match, that would be just as bad at losing. He'd be a coward who wouldn't be willing to participate in a friendly exhibition match out of fear of losing. It might even be worse.
Kanooonnnee… Gerard growled in his mind, glaring daggers at the calm face of Kanone Harker. All of it… all his schemes, his plans, it was all falling apart, and there was nothing he could do about it.
I must thank Blake for his call earlier, Kanone reminded himself, reveling in the anger on the man's face. This is turning out to be more fun than I ever could have hoped.
Blake watched the exchange, smirking. Claire glanced at him and rolled her eyes, fairly confident at what he had just set in motion. So this is phase one of your little blood feud, eh?
So, this might be interesting. Rather than Kanone vs. Elaina… what about Kanone vs. Gerard?