Here's another chapter. Things have been real rough lately. Not sure if Uruka Takemoto will really win or not, and I'm so terrified she won't that I'm losing sleep. But I gotta keep going for best girl.

…Oh yeah, and we get Kanone vs. Gerard in this chapter too, if anyone cares.

Hellraiserphoenix: Yup, they're pretty good friends. Somehow.

Jay Hayden: That sounds about right.

Duskzilla: I figured Serefina would be pretty good at helping her friends through moments like these.

KedharS: You might want to remove those shipping goggles and actually take a look at your nautical charts, because there's a lot of rough waves ahead. And the oncoming storm that is "Akira's standards of basic human decency and respect".

Pokemonking0924: Things between them are improving? He only bought her a camera, it's not like he 'bought her a camera' again. But yes, I'm sure that once the stress of Akira being in a coma is gone that Dakota will completely stick with what she's feeling in the present and not backslide in the slightest. Come on now.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 93

"…Fight you?" Gerard asked, frowning. "You can't be serious."

"Entirely," Kanone smiled.

"If I were so inclined, there's still the problem with everything that's happened here," Gerard smirked. "I can't imagine that, after such a catastrophic event, the school faculty would be entirely too willing to allow for all this to continue. There's no way they'd sanction such an event."

He began scanning the crowds. "Where are they, I wonder? Shouldn't they be here to see this? Shouldn't they be stepping in?"

Silence. He frowned.

"I spoke with them myself," Rafe interrupted. Gerard turned to him. "It seems that they're currently in discussion potential citations and punishments over these events in question, and have left everything up to our judgment on how to proceed with the student body."

"Well in that case, we certainly can't expect to hold another match in a ruin like this. The damage could be-"

"Actually, we can," Alcea interrupted.

"Eh?"

"The guidebook, is it?" She said, withdrawing a thick book from her bag and presenting it to him. "Under circumstances such as these, the Eight Leaders have express permission to legitimize any events they so choose, assuming full responsibility for any consequences."

She pointed out the specific page, smiling haughtily, and snapped the book shut in his face to punctuate it.

"'Express permission', is it?" She smirked.

"It seems you've missed the section where it mentions that for use of that authority, consensus must be derived by a majority vote," Gerard replied. "And with Callie having fled to who-knows-where, the vote would be incomplete."

"Irrelevent," Alcea interrupted. "On matters such as voting, up to two absences are permitted for the vote and all decisions made to be legitimate. And I believe only one of our number is absent, is it?"

Gerard glanced at the others, who were all looking at what his next response would be. Kanone, having taken a step back, had his hands in his pockets and a smile like he hadn't a care in the world.

"…Fine," Gerard growled. "Then we'll vote."

"Excellent," Rafe said, smiling. "Then the votes will be counted by raising a hand in agreement or challenge. Agreed?"

The others nodded, Gerard muttering an agreement.

"Then let's start this democratic process," Rafe smiled.

"Any opposing this fight?" Gerard demanded, glancing around to look for who else was raising their hands. Mirar silently raised his hand.

"We should be prioritizing minimizing these events," Dokukage stated, raising his hand as well. "Drawing things out would make maintaining order difficult."

"And those who think we should continue?" Rafe asked. Alcea raised her hand, making a point to stare Gerard in the eye as she did so.

"Aw, yeah!" Raizer said, his hand shooting up eagerly. "A match between Gerard and the famous Kanone Harker?! That's such a thrilling matchup I can barely contain myself! You bet I'm going to be up for that! Why do we even have to vote on this?!"

Gerard glared at the battle maniac, but it didn't even seem to register.

"I also agree," Rafe smiled, raising his hand. "It seems like a good way to calm things down after such tension. As long as you both restrain yourselves, I don't see the harm."

"Whatever," Gerard spat. "Even if that's the case, there are only three of you. This discussion is over!"

Alcea's lips curled up into a smile.

"Three… is it?"

"What?" Gerard said, glancing around. His face whitened and his mouth fell open in shock.

Elle stood off to the side, her icy blue eyes boring a hole in his face with her harsh gaze. Her arm was raised in a silent agreement with Alcea, Raizer, and Rafe.

"I count four," Rafe said.

"Gabrielle, what… what are you-?!" Gerard sputtered, completely dumbstruck.

The corners of Elle's mouth slowly tilted up in a cold smile, her eyes narrowing into a wicked smirk.

She dropped her hand and turned away from him, walking off the battlefield without a word.

Alcea was stunned at this, but not as much as Gerard clearly was.

"Well, with that, it looks like things are decided," Kanone said, clasping Gerard on the shoulder, stepping past him. "I suppose we'll just have to use this battlefield then, yeah?"

The crowd was cheering now that the battle seemed to finally be getting under way.

This is horrible… I only have five pokemon who can actually battle! Why did this have to happen?! Gerard bit his lip until her drew blood, staring hatefully at Kanone as he clenched his hands into fists. If I lose here… then it's over! My ambitions… my goal to unify the school… everything! It's all over! This… it can't…

What was it all for, then!?

He swallowed, calming himself, and pushed his glasses up his face.

…I need to calm down… If I lose my cool… then it's really all over. The only path left for me… I have to win.

Gerard stepped up to where Elaina had been standing not even half an hour previously, glaring at Kanone.

If I still had her on my side… this match would be feasible. But with just the tools at my disposal, have I really reached a level where my strength can beat his?

"That's quite a scary look you've got on your face," Kanone said, frowning. "Are you really that worried? I mean, I don't blame you for being anxious. After all, you're the one standing on the side of the losers for the first time in a good many years, Gerard Alkwest.

I'll win. With everything I've sacrificed to get as far as I have, I have to win. I'll show you that I can overcome even your powers, Kanone Harker!

"Tell you what, I'll let you in on a little secret," Kanone said, smiling.

"What?" Gerard stuttered in confusion.

"Just to make our match interesting… I won't use my harmonia at all," Kanone said, smiling.

"What?!" Alcea gasped, shocked. She and the other Eight Leaders were sitting on chairs on the sidelines, along with Darla and Lila, who had been informed by Kanone that their services would not be needed.

"You… are you mocking me?!" Gerard snarled in fury. To be looked down on, by someone like you?!

"Oh, no, not at all," Kanone said, holding his hands up in mock-surprise. "I just thought it would make for a more compelling performance for our audience."

His eyes narrowed and smiled, revealing his teeth like a wolf ready to pounce.

"Besides… it's simply unnecessary to use a sledgehammer to crush a single ant."

"Kanone!" Gerard shouted, reaching for his belt, Kanone leaning back and smirking.

"Geez, he's really tearing into him," Cynthia said. "I mean… wow."

"It's a completely different attitude from when we were talking to him a few days ago," Julia agreed.

"Gerard… the President is actually fighting against Kanone?" Reiner said incredulously.

Claire glanced at Blake, frowning.

He might be all smiles… but on the inside Kanone is probably as furious at Gerard for manipulating that girl as Blake is. She shook her head, and sighed. You guys are really way more similar than either of you want to admit, huh?

"Go!" Gerard shouted. "Tank!"

Gerard sent out his Bastiodon, the heavy, armored pokemon landing on the battlefield with a crash, flattening some of the debris.

"That's the Bastiodon I used, huh? That's a good start, but Kanone's going to see something like that coming," Reiner said, frowning.

"Yeah, Kanone can just beat it by taking advantage of a speedy pokemon!" Cynthia grinned.

Gerard smiled, daring Kanone to send out his first pokemon.

"Well, Gerard, if that's how you want it, then fine," Kanone shrugged. "Elle, let's go."

Kanone sent out his Jolteon, the small and nimble electric type growling at the Bastiodon.

"As expected," Gerard smirked. He always leads with that one, and now that I've presented a slow pokemon as bait, he'll almost certainly try to volt switch.

"Tank, use earthquake!" Gerard ordered. Tank began shaking, energy gathering in his body. He stomped on the ground, sending a powerful shockwave coursing through the stadium. The ground split open as a fissure traveled right toward Elle, the shockwave drawing closer to her.

"Baton pass," Kanone smiled, recalling Elle and replacing her with another pokemon.

"Come now, you didn't think I would charge in to such a bait like that, did you?" Kanone chuckled. He held a hand to his chin ponderously. "Now, who should I use… oh, wait! I got it! Megan, come on out!"

Kanone tossed a pokeball into the air, and with a buzz, a massive bug emerged.

"Yan!" The large pokemon roared, her gossamer wings flapping as she harmlessly buzzed over the earthquake attacks.

"Yanmega!" Dokukage said.

"Kanone's fighting a rock expert with a bug/flying type pokemon?" Sango said, shocked.

"Tank! Use ancientpower to knock that bug out of the air!"

"Bas!" Tank roared, creating stones of energy that he flung at the large bug.

"Megan, how about… dodging?" Kanone suggested, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. His Yanmega disappeared, reappearing on the other end of the battlefield, completely avoiding the rock move.

"So fast," Gerard said, frowning.

"Careful, Gerard, she's only gonna get faster," Kanone warned. "See, watching that girl Cynthia make a fool out of that student of yours using your Bastiodon was such a riot, I just had to see what it was like for myself."

Gerard knew a losing battle when he saw one.

"Tank, return," he ordered, holding up his pokeball.

"Megan, don't just let him leave so suddenly, use pursuit," Kanone smiled. Megan shot down, hitting Tank in the face to all of zero effect as he recalled his sturdy pokemon. Then she returned to Kanone's side.

Gerard's eye twitched.

"Nothing like a good boop on the face, right Megan?" Kanone said, congratulating the pokemon on her weak attack that had barely done a sliver.

"Fine then, if that's how you want to play it…" Gerard said, frowning. "Shocker! Go!"

Gerard threw out his next pokeball, and from it emerged a Golem, growling at Kanone and Megan. This Golem wasn't the same as most Golem's, though. Erupting from his back was a massive magnet, that was crackling with electricity.

"Something very strange about this," Kanone said, frowning. "What do you think, Megan?" Megan looked at him and did the closest approximation the bug could do to a shrug.

"Agreed."

"Ugh, what's with that weird Golem?" Ayame frowned. "It's so totally different from mine… what's that weird thing sticking out?"

"It's a form difference," Olivia explained to her. "You know, the same way that pokemon in Galar look different from other places, Golem from the Alolan region have their own differences from Golem in other locations.

"Okay, Megan, let's see what kind of tricks that Golem is hiding!" Kanone said.

"Yan!" Megan said, nodding.

"No need, I'll be happy to show you!" Gerard shouted. "Stealth rock!"

Stones shot out of the ground and began hovering around Kanone's side of the field, Kanone looking around with an uninterested look on his face.

"Well, I mean, it's nice and all, but normal Golem can do that," he shrugged. "Anyway, Megan, if you would…"

Megan opened her mouth and her wingspeed shot up to a blinding level, a piercing shriek echoing through the battlefield forcing everyone to hold their ears. The floating stones shattered into powder.

"…Good girl," Kanone smiled, uncovering his ears. "Now then, if you could be a dear and aim those sonic attacks at rocky over there, it would be perfect."

"Yan," Megan nodded, disappearing, another piercing blast of sound rocking the stadium.

"This is awful…" Julia groaned, annoyed that she could only use one hand to cover her ear and had to rely on her shoulder for the other.

"It hurts…" Kitty whimpered.

Finally, Shocker had enough of the deafening sounds. Electricity began crackling through the magnet on his back, and he released a powerful shockwave that hit Megan head-on.

"Megan!" Kanone cried, the bug pokemon returning to his side, injured.

"So, Kanone, what do you think of my Golem's attack," Gerard boasted. "I traveled all the way to the Alola region to find this one, a powerful mixture of rock and electricity! Quite "shocking" wouldn't you agree?"

"Amazing~" Kanone said in a flat voice, applauding him. "I could never have guessed that a pokemon named shocker would be an electric type."

"Mock me all you like! But in a few more hits, that Yanmega of yours is done for. With the power of shockwave, it doesn't matter how fast you are! How many double teams you try! You'll never be able to escape the raw, destructive power of my attacks!"

"…Cool. Megan, return," Kanone shrugged, recalling his Yanmega. "Okay, Elle, you can come back ~"

His Jolteon reemerged, growling at the Golem.

"Electricity won't be worth a damn against volt absorb," Kanone said. "Now that's a real 'Shocker' for ya."

Gerard wasn't amused.

"We can play this game as much as you like, Kanone, but it won't do a damn thing," Gerard said. I don't get it. This is nothing like how I remember him… The Kanone I've heard of was a monster who would overwhelm his opponents with sheer power, but this…

"Am I so insignificant that he won't even fight me seriously?" Kanone spoke the words that had flashed through Gerard's head. "How that? Close to what you thought? Yes? No? Maybe a little?"

"The answer is yes, by the way," Kanone said. "After all… you're weak. Even Alcea was stronger than you."

"What?" Gerard growled.

"I mean, yeah, sure, judging from what I've heard, you're quite the master of your pokemon, but it's all so… dry. You haven't got and flair. Any passion. You always do just what you've prepared for, thinking that if you know what's to come it will help you win. But it won't. Alcea, she believes in her pokemon. I wonder, Gerard… what is it that you believe in?"

"I believe," Gerard said, his tone unusually calm, "that electric pokemon are weak to earthquake."

"…Okay, well that's not really a belief so much as a fact, but at least you're cracking jokes, and that's always good," Kanone said.

"Shocker!" Gerard shouted. Electricity coursed through the rock pokemon's magnet, supercharging his entire body. He curled into a ball, sending a pulse of energy into the ground. The ground began shaking and more cracks emerged across the battlefield, this time at a much faster rate than when Bastiodon had used it. The shockwaves shattered the ground and the field underneath Elle's feet was splintered, opening her up to falling into the destructive forces below her.

But she never fell.

"What?" Gerard gasped.

"Jolt!" Elle said, glancing back at Kanone, smiling.

"Elle!" Kanone said, his mouth falling open in shock. "You can fly! …Or use magnet rise, which is basically like flying, since it completely removes your weakness to ground types! Wow! What a good idea! If only a master strategist at the head of the Eight Leaders of his school could have seen something like that coming! Though I suppose he'd have to remove his head out of his own ass, first."

"Shocker!" Gerard shouted, his Golem standing upright and mirroring his trainer's enraged expression. "Stone edge!"

"Gol!" Shocker roared, ripping huge chunks of rock out of the battlefield and launching them at Elle.

"Oh, that would never work," Kanone said, waving his hand dismissively. "Elle, just keep using agility to dodge him, sound good?"

"Jolt!" Elle nodded, disappearing in a spark of electricity as she skillfully evaded the rock move.

"Don't let her get away! Keep up the assault!" Gerard ordered, the deceptively fast Golem throwing massive boulder after massive boulder at the speedy little pokemon. But no matter how close the stones came, Elle's agility was just too much. She even slowed down her speed to let Shocker think he could come close to hitting her, before upping it again and nimbly dodging to the side.

Kanone yawned and reached into his pocket.

Blake heard a beaping ring coming from his pocket, much to his surprise. He fished his phone out and looked at the caller ID in shock.

"What the hell?!" Blake yelled into the mouthpiece as he answered.

"Geez, you don't have to be so rude," Kanone said, pulling the phone away from his ear. "What's your problem?"

"Are you seriously having a phone call in the middle of a match?!" Blake exclaimed.

"Well, yeah, this is really boring," Kanone said. "This guy is completely inflexible. He's probably using a bunch of counter ideas that he picked up from watching my matches, so a little bit of improve to shake things up and he falls apart completely. This was a real waste, I'm gonna call it soon."

"Kanone!"

"Hey, look, I'll still tear him down and all, but you said this guy was a challenge," Kanone said. "Last time I use your standards to judge anything. Last time I fought him I actually had to work for it, but now…"

"'Last time'?" Blake said, his tone turning suspicious.

"…Never mind. Just wanted to ask, that girl? The one with harmonia?" Kanone said.

"Elaina?"

"Yeah. Any idea why he was planning on having me fight her?"

"Not at all," Blake said, shaking his head.

"It's a pity that I couldn't help," Kanone frowned. "You know how it is. Emergency in Galar and all that."

"By emergency, do you mean-"

"Don't concern yourself with it. It's not for you," Kanone said sharply. "You just take care of the wind witch and that kitty-cat. Think you can handle things if I'm not there?"

Blake didn't say anything.

"Anyway, time to go. Looks like things are about to get to a level where my input is actually needed," Kanone said, hanging up the phone and returning his attention back to the battlefield.

"So, you aren't quite as ineffectual as I thought!" Kanone said, laughing.

"Oh?" Gerard growled.

"Yeah," Kanone said, nodding.

While Kanone had been busy chatting it up with Blake, Gerard had managed to completely pin Elle down. While the Jolteon had been leading Shocker on a game of cat and mouse, Shocker had been preparing a trap for her the entire time. The position in which he had thrown the rocks towards Elle, and the angles at which she had dodged them, Gerard had seen all of it coming. It had all been for the sake of finally putting a stop to the pesky pokemon's movements. She was pinned in the corner. Walls of boulders on either side of her, her levitation only lifting her slightly off the ground, not nearly enough to get over her stony prison. There was nowhere left for her to run, she was trapped between Shocker and a massive stone.

A single hit will be enough to take down this annoying thing, Gerard smiled victoriously. He was doing it. He was about to defeat one of Kanone's pokemon without taking a single hit of damage.

"Finish her," Gerard ordered, Shocker ripping a massive hunk of stone out with the power of magnetic current, preparing to fling it at the electric type.

"Okay, baton pass time, Elle," Kanone clapped, Elle disappearing in a flash of light and returning to her pokeball.

"Running again?!" Gerard exclaimed, irritation throbbing across his temple.

"Last time," Kanone said, smiling menacingly. "I promise."

The air in the stadium grew cold as his entire demeanor changed.

"Now that Elle's speed was maximized thanks to her little game… I think it's about time I take things a little more seriously, don't you?"

He held up a pokeball, Blake's eyes widening and a triumphant smile crossing his face.

"The crashing waves bring with it the fury and triumph of battle. Cut through everything standing in the way of my path, Sammy!" Kanone shouted, releasing the pokemon that dwelt within.

It happened in a flash. A blur of blue shot across the battlefield with little more than a trace of water left in its wake.

The stones surrounding Shocker were sliced in half, and the rock pokemon fell to the ground, unconscious before he could even register the blow.

At maximum speed, Sammy pulled to a stop in front of Kanone, standing on her hind legs and twin swords clasped in her forelegs. She tilted back her head and roared, the battlefield shaking.

The crowd erupted in cheers as Kanone's strongest pokemon took to the stage, decimating her foe in a single attack. Kanone and Sammy's names were both being chanted, the crowd that had previously been silent from confusion now roused into a fervor.

So this… this is it… Gerard felt a bead of sweat trickle down the side of his face, and his back grew cold.

"Been a while since you last faced her, hasn't it?" Kanone asked. "Now, why don't we stop beating around the bush here, and you send out that special pokemon of yours already?"

"Heh… I don't think so," Gerard said, shaking his head, smirking. "I've already decided… that I would defeat you relying on my own strength."

"…'Your own strength'… and what, exactly, do you mean by that?" Kanone asked, frowning.

"What I mean is that when I defeat you… I don't want there to be any doubts as to why you lost. No one will question my victory! It will be absolute, won through my own strength and no one else's!"

"And what about your pokemon?" Kanone asked, frowning.

"Pokemon?" Gerard laughed, recalling his Golem. "What about them? A trainer's pokemon is just an extension of themselves, didn't you know that? Pokemon, people, they're all just tools in the hands of powerful trainers like the two of us."

"Well now," Kanone said, closing his eyes, a frown crossing his face more serious than the one he had worn before. "When I first heard about you from Blake, I couldn't believe it. To think that the boy genius who used to dominate on the pro circuit would have fallen so far. I can't even recognize you anymore."

"Disappointed in me, are you?" Gerard snorted. "Like I care. Tank!"

Gerard sent out his Bastiodon again, the bulky pokemon staring warily at the calm water type that opposed it.

"Before, I was only trying to see what was really going on. Why your eyes no longer had the same shine they did before," Kanone said, shaking his head. "How a kid who treasured his partner could exploit a poor, defenseless girl for his own benefit. But now I see it clearly. The only thing left in your eyes is a pit of mud."

"Tank! Use earthquake!" Gerard ordered. Tank sent a shockwave through the stadium, but it never reached Sammy. She leapt into the air, swinging her shell swords as blades of water erupted from them. With a slice, she sent a pulse through the ground that counteracted the shockwave, nullifying the earthquake completely.

"What changed you, I wonder?" Kanone mused. "Could it have been losing? I can certainly imagine a proud child like you dedicating himself to winning at any cost… but I still don't understand why you would abandon your dear partner…"

"Stop talking about pointless things," Gerard snarled. "You're fighting a battle here! Tank-"

"Sam!" Sammy shouted, shooting forward, slicing her blade low. She caught the Bastiodon under the foot and with a twirl used the pokemon's immense weight against him, causing him to flip over himself and collapse on his back. Tank struggled, kicking his legs futilely as Sammy leapt into the air, water swirling around her blade.

"Even good razor shell shouldn't be enough," Kanone frowned, and indeed, Sammy's attack had injured Tank, but he was nowhere near defeated. "How about a hydro pump?"

Sammy nodded, crossing her swords over each other, water dancing on the ends and merging to form a single sphere. From the sphere, she released a compressed blast of water that struck the Bastiodon like a tidal wave, pushing the pokemon backwards in spite of its great weight. When the water receded, Tank was unconscious.

"Incredible, Gerard's already lost two pokemon, and Kanone isn't even looking winded," Sango gasped.

"Burei, go," Gerard shouted, sending out his next pokemon, a Kabutops. The large, ancient shellfish pokemon raised his pincers like swords, glaring at Sammy.

"Trying to outspeed me now, huh?" Kanone laughed. "Kabutops are quite speedy, but compared to Sammy, it won't be enough."

"Burei! We can't lose!" Gerard shouted. "Use swords dance, and follow it with aqua jet!"

Burei sharpened his pincers and coated his body in a veil of water, shooting toward Sammy at a blinding speed.

"Oh!" Kanone said, his eyes widening. Sammy parried the blows, the fossil pokemon leaping back before she could counterattack, making use of his high speed to avoid the slashes. "Not bad."

"This one has been trained well," Gerard said. "We won't be taken down so easily."

"Quite a lot of dedication," Kanone admitted. "If only you had actual passion behind your goals, eh? Working with trust for your pokemon?"

"What will trust and love accomplish?" Gerard demanded. "The only thing that matters is success. Someone with talent like me, to be acknowledged for my greatness I will do whatever it takes!"

"Oh, now I remember," Kanone said, frowning. "In spite of your many victories… it was all thanks to the fact that you were using a legendary pokemon, wasn't it?"

"No!" Gerard exclaimed. "Burei!"

Burei shot forward, raising his pincer. He sliced down and hit Sammy in the shoulder with his sharp blade, slicing deep into her hide.

"Samurott!" Sammy roared, lunging forward, her bulky frame overpowering the slender Kabutops. With a flex of her muscles she drove her shell blade down, striking the fossil pokemon, Burei roaring in pain and collapsing, going down in a single hit.

"Two left," Kanone said, smiling. "You should really get over this whole 'I need to win with my own strength' and send her out soon."

"Archer," Gerard said, sending out a tiny Archen, who took to the sky, a trait uncommon amongst Archen being able to fly so easily. "Acro-"

"Now we're just wasting time," Kanone said, Sammy taking the small, underdeveloped pokemon in a single hit. "You should know better, Gerard. You really are losing your cool. Struggling like this? Not thinking things through? Could it be… you're distracted? Thinking about her, maybe? Or could it be… seeing that girl of yours taken to the hospital, and not knowing the condition she's in, it's causing you to not have your head totally in this battle?"

He would never understand… Someone like him… Gerard glared at Kanone. "You would never understand! Someone like you, someone born with a natural talent and abilities far beyond those of normal people, you couldn't understand what it's like to be someone like me! Someone who has to fight and struggle for every last bit of success! And, when you've finally reached the peak, to have those who are beneath you mock your efforts simply because of the pokemon you use-!"

Kanone yawned, shrugging.

"Temblor! Go!" Gerard shouted, sending out his fifth and final pokemon. The hulking Rhyperior landed on the ground with a shake, throwing back his head and letting out a colossal roar.

"Even if it's just that Samurott of yours… I will make sure to win! I'll defeat it… your best pokemon…" And they'll see my ability! The strength I've achieved for myself with my own two hands!

"You won't achieve a damn thing. You want people to acknowledge you? Why don't you start by acknowledging the efforts of your pokemon, first?" Kanone suggested. "But no, all that you care about is you being seen, you don't give a damn about how hard other people try. It's not that no one will acknowledge you because you lack talent, Gerard, they can just see that you're simply a shitty excuse for a human being."

"Urgh…"

"See, don't get me wrong, I do sympathize with you a teensy bit, Gerard," Kanone admitted. "It's not really right for professional pokemon trainers to go around complaining just because you happened to be using a legendary pokemon. Especially when you were just a kid. And yeah, I bet that messed you up a whole heck of a lot, because you knew what I know. A battle is a battle. Win or lose, you do the best you can. There's no room for mercy or debate in a real pokemon battle. You can't blame your opponent for being 'too strong'. Words like 'that isn't fair' are just excuses people use so they can feel better about their loss. But all that's doing is invalidating the effort that the other person put in, right?

"…That being said, I have no interest in acknowledging the effort of someone who treats people and pokemon as tools to boost their own ego. Sammy?"

"Samurott!" Sammy charged at the Temblor, raising her shell blades.

"Rhyperior!" The massive pokemon bellowed, charging at her.

"What do you know?!" Gerard spat. "You have no idea what it's like to lack talent! Ever since I was a child, the struggle I had to-"

"I don't care," Kanone interrupted. Sammy swung her blade, cutting down the Rhyperior in a single stroke, the rock pokemon collapsing to the ground, unconscious.

"Well. That's the end of that, then," Kanone said, brushing his hands. "Unless? No? No legendary pokemon? Pity. I really expected more from you, Gerard. That was hardly the match I think our audience was expecting. What a disappointing finale to this tournament this whole thing turned out to be. How would anyone ever acknowledge someone who doesn't try their hardest?"

"Curse you…" Gerard growled, falling to his knees. "It all would have been perfect… but you-! You-!"

"So furious you can't even see I've done you a favor," Kanone said, shaking his head and recalling Sammy to her pokeball. "Congratulations, Gerard, now you have a brand new obstacle to overcome. This loss should sting quite a bit. But now, I've become a wall that you have to move past in order to get stronger. And isn't that what you wanted in the first place? To have your strength be acknowledged? Well, the real strong people are the ones who take their losses on the chin and keep getting up after the match is over. So now you can stand right back up on your feet and keep pressing forward! …Or don't. I don't really care."

Kanone shrugged, turned, and walked out of the stadium, humming to himself.

So, that was the match. Underwhelming, I assume. But Gerard doesn't deserve some grand and climactic battle. Why would I ever give something like that to someone like him?