Time for the climactic battle between Gabrielle and Gerard! Will Gabrielle put a stop to Gerard's ambitions? Or will Gerard prove that he actually is capable of winning a battle and not turning into a laughingstock? Remember to review!

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Best girl? Now that's a hard one. But Kate's a good choice, I'm always a fan of the underdog. The best part of her is just how much of a loser she is. Not in terms of her personality, but just the fact that she's constantly the butt of everyone's jokes. Maybe she'll get a win someday…

Hellraiserphoenix: Gabrielle is ambitious, but I think at least her ambitions are in the right place. And yes, Reiner and Nikita are cute together. I'll probably show how they hooked up at some point…

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 131

"Well, would you like to start?" Gerard asked.

"Don't mind if I do," Gabrielle said. "Froslass, go."

Gabrielle threw a pokeball into the air, which her elegant ice pokemon emerged from.

"And people say I'm cold," Gerard smirked. "At least I give my pokemon nicknames."

"…" Gabrielle's cheeks turned a hot pink. "I… I'm just not good at thinking up names."

"Whatever," Gerard laughed. "Diana… let's end these rumors of my weakness once and for all, shall we?"

Gerard threw out a sparkling pink pokeball, and in a blast of glittering crystals and light, a pokemon emerged from within.

The pokemon in question was small and beautiful. She looked like a small sprite in a white dress, the bottom of her body made up of a shiny black stone with beautiful pink gems erupting from its surface. Upon her head was a crown of pink crystals arranged like fancy hair, with four spike-like crystals on the top and two large crystals hanging down on either side like pigtails. Her eyes were a bright red and sparkled like jewels, and whenever she moved she left a trail of shiny dust in her wake.

"Diancie!" The small pokemon hummed, flying up to Gerard and holding her arms out to him.

"Enough of that," Gerard said. "Focus on the battle."

The Diancie frowned, dropping her arms, and turned to face her opponent.

Gabrielle raised her eyebrows in surprise. She'd never seen this pokemon before. Or even heard of it. Diancie, it had said?

"Let's see if she's as strong as she is pretty, Froslass," Gabrielle said. "We'll take the initiative with this move!"

Froslass held her hands up, chunks of ice forming from the cold air around her. She fired the ice shards at a high speed towards the small shiny pokemon.

Diana raised her hands up defensively, the ice striking her and shattering to pieces.

No injury… Gabrielle noted. "Change of tactics. Return, Froslass."

Gabrielle recalled Froslass to her pokeball.

"Retreating already, are we?" Gerard laughed.

"Dewgong, go," Gabrielle said, sending out her next pokemon, a Dewgong. This pokemon was nearly as beautiful as Gerard's, its shimmering white coat shining in the stage light as she landed on the battlefield.

"Dewgong's not so suited for land, so let's give her a little change of scenery," Gabrielle said. "Use surf."

"Dewgong!" Dewgong nodded, opening her mouth wide. She swished her tail from side to side, water generating around her. She stirred it up into a tidal wave, and sent the waves of water crashing toward Diana.

"This one might hurt a little. Use light screen," Gerard ordered.

"Diancie!" Diana cried, holding her hands up. A pink barrier of shimmering crystals appeared around her body, the water crashing into the barrier and washing around it, Diana pushing off the brunt of the water's damage.

"Even if you can defend yourself, that wasn't the point," Gabrielle said. "Dewgong, use whirlpool."

"Dewgong!" Dewgong cried, water swirling around the horn on her head, causing the water covering the floor of the stadium to roil. The water wrapped around Diana, capturing her in a water spout.

"Is that all? Trapping me? The water won't even hurt with a weak little attack like that."

"I may not know much about that pokemon of yours," Gabrielle said, frowning, "but I'm quite aware of how strong it is. And now that you can't move…"

"Dewgong!" She shouted. "Use perish song!"

Dewgong opened her mouth, a sickening, ghastly melody echoing out from her throat. Worse than a chainsaw against a chalkboard, the grotesque shrieking drove into the eardrums of the audience, everyone but Misato clutching their ears in pain.

"So this is your plan, eh?" Gerard shouted, dropping his hands from his ears.

"However strong your trump card might be… she's gonna be fainting in a few turns," Gabrielle smirked.

"Indeed, that would be troublesome. But there's a flaw in your plans! Your whirlpool only lasts as long as that Dewgong remains conscious!"

Gerard cupped his hands around his mouth.

"Diana!" He shouted. "Use diamond storm!"

From within the depths of the maelstrom a pink light began to shine. Faintly at first, and then growing in brightness and intensity until the whirlpool itself was a cascade of shimmering pink water. Massive glittering diamonds erupted from the roiling waves, flying across the stadium.

"Dewgong, dodge." Dewgong moved to dive under the water, but the projectiles were swift and precise, pummeling the sea lion with immense destructive power. The diamonds dug into Dewgong's skin and the white pokemon let out a cry in pain, buried under a mountain of crystalized destructive power.

The crystals shattered into dust, and Dewgong floated in the water, unconscious. The perish song continued to echo in the background, but the whirlpool died down, Diana emerging unscathed.

"Return for now, Diana," Gerard smiled, recalling the partially deafened pokemon, the last echoes of the perish song dying out. "Now, let's see if I can use this water for my own benefit. Go, Shocker."

To take the place of his Diancie, Gerard sent out his special Golem, the electric pokemon crackling with magnetic energy. The rock pokemon let out a roar, stones erupting out of the ground and floating around Gabrielle's side of the field as the pokemon immediately set up a stealth rock.

Gabrielle silently recalled her Dewgong to her pokeball and considered her options.

So after that show of power… he's planning to handle things like business as usual? With this water on the ground, any pokemon I send out will be shocked to oblivion. I guess that leaves…

"Mamoswine, go." Gabrielle sent out her next pokemon, the massive mammoth landing in the waterlogged stadium with a crash, the stones biting into him. The bulky pokemon shrugged off the damage, and let loose a bellow of anger.

"Oh my," Gerard frowned. "That's not a good sign. I'm not sure I can stand up to a pokemon as ferocious as that with something like this."

He raised his hand to recall the Golem.

"Block," Gabrielle ordered, Mamoswine stomping on the ground. The water at his feet iced over, shooting towards the Golem and erupting behind it in a wall that deflected the beam out of the pokeball. "Where are you going, Gerard? I wanted a taste of some of those shocking electric moves of yours."

"Well, that's inconvenient," Gerard frowned. "Shocker, use earthquake!"

"Golem!" Shocker growled, the magnet on his back surging with energy. The Golem curled into a ball, and sent a pulse of energy into the ground that caused the entire stadium to shake. The shockwave of power surged toward the Mamoswine, creating powerful tremors and ripping cracks in the battlefield.

"That won't stop us," Gabrielle said. "Mamoswine, use earthquake as well."

"Mamoswine!" Mamoswine roared, stomping fiercely on the ground, sending an earthquake of his own back in response. The two attacks collided in the center of the stadium, the ground erupting up in a jutting wall of earth and stone that split the water in half.

"You're a fan of rocks, Gerard," Gabrielle said, a small smile crossing her face, "so you should enjoy this."

Mamoswine let out another roar and stomped the ground, rocks shooting up out of the stadium to hover around Gerard's side of the field, both sides setting up stealth rocks in perfect mirrors of each other.

"Cute trick," Gerard smiled, "but your pokemon will take far more damage than I will."

Gabrielle shrugged.

"Mamoswine?"

Suddenly, the ground beneath Shocker's feet erupted in a pillar of earth and magma, the stone pokemon roaring in pain as he was engulfed in the destructive earth power. The Golem fell back, knocked unconscious by the powerful ground move.

"So, while you drew my attention up with the stealth rocks, you attacked from below with an earth power," Gerard said. "I suppose I'll give you that one, at least. Return, Shocker."

Gerard recalled his Golem.

"Now, Burei, go."

Gerard sent out his next pokemon, his Kabutops. The stones around him flew down and struck the ancient pokemon, injuring him slightly.

"Without your Golem's magnetic powers, you can't hold off my earthquakes," Gabrielle declared. "Mamoswine, take that thing down."

Mamoswine huffed and stomped on the ground, sending a massive tremor through the stadium.

"Burei, aqua jet."

The Kabutops covered his body in a veil of water and shot forward, his speed carrying him over the water and above the earthquake, avoiding the attack completely. Mamoswine was far too slow and bulky to avoid the swift pokemon, and Burei raised his claws menacingly. He slashed deep into Mamoswine with powerful slashes, but the pokemon's bulky hide and tough fur let it absorb a lot of the damage.

"Mamoswine!" Mamoswine roared in pain, opening his mouth and engulfing Burei in a blast of icy wind from deep within its belly. Burei stumbled back, his body icing over slightly as his speed lowered. Mamoswine swung his trunk down and grabbed the pokemon in his mighty grip, lifting him up into the air. He slammed the smaller pokemon down into the ground, blasting away the water and cracking the stadium with the force of the impact.

"Kabu-!" Burei choked out, Mamoswine winding up and slamming him down again.

"Burei, use liquidation!" Gerard ordered. Burei raised his claws, water raising up from the field and striking into Mamoswine from below, knocking him off his feet with a powerful wave. The water swirled around Burei, and he charged forward, slamming into Mamoswine and blasting him across the stadium.

That should be low enough… Gabrielle decided. "Return, Mamoswine."

Gabrielle recalled her Mamoswine before he could hit the ground.

"Oh? It looked like that one still had some more fight in him," Gerard said.

"A bad matchup," Gabrielle said. "Here's a lady to take his place. Froslass!"

Gabrielle's Froslass returned to the battlefield, the stones hovering around her cutting into her ghostly body.

"Froslass!" She said, glaring indignantly at Gerard and his Kabutops.

"Now she's mad," Gabrielle said. "You've cut her kimono."

"Send me the bill," Gerard smirked. "Burei! Aqua jet!"

Burei wrapped himself in a veil of water and charged at Froslass at a blinding speed.

"Froslass?" Gabrielle asked. Froslass nodded, holding her hands up. Electricity crackled in the palms of her hands, and she released it in a powerful bolt of lightning that struck the water, electrifying the stadium. The electricity surged up and into the water surrounding Burei, electrocuting the pokemon with enough volts to knock him more than unconscious, the roasted pokemon crumpling and coming to a stop before he could even get close.

Burei skidded across the water, and Gerard recalled him.

"I forgot she knew how to do that," Gerard admitted.

"I'm not surprised," Gabrielle said. "You never pay attention to those you think are weaker than you, Gerard. That's what made it so easy to fool you. If you had looked my way for even a little bit, you would have seen that I never had any faith in you from the very start."

"You're working for Valon?"

"I'm working for the sake of our students," Gabrielle declared. "Nothing more, nothing less."

"How admirable," Gerard smiled. "Temblor, blast them to shreds."

Gerard sent out his next pokemon, his Rhyperior. The massive pokemon landed on the ground, sending the waters scattering, and let out a threatening roar. The rocks shattered harmlessly against his armored body, the bulky pokemon rumbling toward the Froslass.

"Scary," Gabrielle murmured. Ice shard won't have much effect on that thing's defenses… "Froslass, we'll have to work on our evasion. One hit from that thing will be the end."

"Fros." Froslass nodded, holding her hands up. Clouds gathered around the ceiling, and hail began to pelt down upon the battlefield, churning up the waters and burying the field in a blanket of white. Froslass faded into the snow, vanishing from sight.

"Using your snow cloak to escape, eh?" Gerard laughed. "That's fine then. If you're going to hide, then I'll just take my time! Temblor, use rock polish!"

Temblor wiped the falling hail onto his armored body, smoothing out the rough edges, and shaving off the excess weight. This drastically increased his speed, and he charged into the hail storm head-on.

"Fool," Gabrielle said. "Froslass, use blizzard."

The hail increased in power and intensity, turning into a massive blizzard that buffeted the larger pokemon, beginning to freeze it over.

"Let's have no more of this, shall we?" Gerard asked. "Temblor? If you would?"

"Rhyperior!" Temblor roared from within the blizzard, the ice and snow curling away from his body. A tornado of sand erupted from around him, blowing away the hail with a sandstorm, the wave of sand slamming into Froslass and knocking her back, the pokemon becoming quickly visible.

"That's the problem with your Froslass," Gerard sighed. "She's strong and speedy, but land a single blow, and she'll crumple. And without her hail to serve as a barrier, it looks like this will be the end."

Froslass fired a shadow ball at the Rhyperior, but the pokemon barreled through it at high speed, not even blinking.

He took some damage from the blizzard, but even so… I was hoping to save this against that Diancie, but I don't think we'll be able to get that far if he keeps stockpiling on those rock polishes… I've got to take him out now!

"Froslass," Gabrielle ordered sharply. Froslass nodded her head, ghostly energy flickering around her body.

"Rock wrecker!" Gerard ordered. Temblor held his arms up, and a massive stone erupted out of the ground. He blasted it towards Froslass, barreling through the blizzard of ice she'd launched at him.

The rock collided with the slender pokemon, the super-effective attack knocking her out in a single hit. Temblor pulled to a stop, stunned from the aftereffects of the rock wrecker. And… something else.

Temblor let out a grunt and fell over, landing in the water with a splash, unconscious.

"What happened?" Will gasped.

"Exactly like Sylvia," Misato observed.

"You clever girl!" Gerard laughed. "You got me with destiny bond! I should have seen that coming!"

"Like I said," Gabrielle said, recalling her Froslass, "you never pay attention to those below you. So it's not a surprise you don't know much about how I fight. On the other hand… I've learned much about your strategies by watching you."

"I see, so you have been planning this. For how long?" Gerard asked.

"From the beginning."

"Since the Fall Festival?" Gerard said, raising his eye in surprise.

"No. I said, from the beginning. From the day I met you in our freshman year… I could see exactly the kind of man you were." Gabrielle's lips curled up into a cold smile. "I have been watching you… all so I could someday defeat you and keep you from running this school into ruin."

"Well, I must say, you're quite a good little actress," Gerard chuckled. "I suppose I really should have paid closer attention to you. Unfortunately, you just weren't talented enough to be worth my time."

"We'll see," Gabrielle said calmly.

"So if you've noticed everything about my strategies, then tell me… do you know how to handle this one?"

Gerard laughed, and sent out his ace in the hole once more, his Diancie. She winced as the stealth rock hit her, but she managed to shrug it off and remain smiling cheerily.

Gabrielle narrowed her eyes. There it was.

"Mamoswine, come back out," Gabrielle said, sending out her massive mammoth pokemon again. The already wounded pokemon let out a cry of pain, sustaining more damage from the biting stones.

"You really are ruthless," Gerard said. "Using a pokemon I helped you raise to defeat me. I'd actually feel hurt."

"You are a lover of ancient pokemon," Gabrielle agreed. "It seems fitting to be defeated by one."

"Unfortunately, that Mamoswine's seen better days. Just because he won't take damage from this sandstorm doesn't mean he can hold a candle to me!"

"Diancie!" Diana cheered in agreement, smiling at Gerard. He ignored her, glaring at the large pokemon in front of them instead.

"About that sandstorm," Gabrielle said, her Mamoswine stamping his feet, "not really a fan."

A cold wind swirled around the stadium as clouds gathered overhead, a curtain of hail and snow raining down upon the battlefield once more, smothering the sandstorm. Mamoswine vanished into the hail just as Froslass did, a far more impressive feat considering his massive size.

"Running away again?" Gerard questioned.

"A tactical maneuver," Gabrielle replied. "This next one needs to hit. Much easier when you can't see me."

"Well, if I can't see you, I might as well even things up, don't you think? Dazzling gleam."

"Diancie!" Diana cried, holding her hands in front of the crystal on her chest. The pink light in its center began to grow brighter, a blinding light emanating from around the small pokemon, casting the stadium in a blinding veil.

"Unfortunately for you, we've already moved into position," Gabrielle said, shielding her eyes. "Thanks for all that damage by the way. Mamoswine!"

"Mamoswine!" A blaring trumpet of a roar shook the stadium as a massive blast of power slammed into Diana's body, the small pokemon letting out a wail in pain as she was knocked backwards. Diana landed in the water, trembling, the light dying down.

"What?!" Gerard growled. "What was that?!"

"Dian…" Diana groaned, floating up into the air, shaking. She was pretty badly injured, in spite of her massive defenses.

"I might as well even things up," Gabrielle replied, throwing Gerard's own words back in his face. "Don't you think?"

Endeavor! Gerard realized exactly the move Gabrielle had used to bypass Diana's high defenses. "No more games, Diana! What are you doing?! I don't remember you being this weak!"

"Diancie…" Diana glanced back at him, tears welling up in her eyes.

"If that thing is going to hide in this hailstorm, then I'll treat him to a storm of my own!" Gerard snarled. Diana tearfully nodded her head, her body engulfed in pink light. She created a swirling tornado of glistening diamonds around her, the shimmering stones blasting the hail out of the way and flying in all directions, raining down upon the battlefield in the most beautiful bombardment imaginable. Having sustained as much damage as he already had, Mamoswine didn't even stand a chance.

"Return," Gabrielle said, recalling her beaten pokemon. We've both got three pokemon left… but that Archen of his isn't nearly as powerful as the rest of his team… if I can just take this Diancie down, I should be home free… I didn't want to send her out while stealth rock was still active, but it looks like I'm going to have to let her take the hit in order to set things up for the others.

"Frosmoth, go," Gabrielle said, sending out her next pokemon. A large and beautiful white moth emerged from its pokeball, her wings shedding glistening icy scales with each flap, shimmering in the hail. Gabrielle winced for her pokemon as the stones carved into the ice/bug type, taking out half of her health. And Frosmoth was already rather fragile. She wouldn't last long.

"A rather beautiful pokemon," Gerard noted. "How suiting for you, Elle."

"Only my friends call me that," Gabrielle murmured.

"Start with crippling that Diancie even more," she ordered. "Stun spore."

"Fros," Frosmoth flew into the clouds and flapped her wings, sending golden spores out over the stadium. The cloud of paralyzing powder drifted down towards Diana, but the pokemon made no moves to dodge it.

"Safeguard," Gerard ordered. Diana wrapped herself in a veil of pink light, the spectral barrier turning the spores into harmless dust, quickly washed away by the hail.

"Did you think I'd let you hinder me that easily?" Gerard laughed.

"Surprised, but not a problem," Gabrielle said. "Clean it up…"

Frosmoth flapped her wings, sending a powerful gust through the battlefield. Her defog attack blew away the stealth rocks that surrounded them, while also clearing up that safeguard for good measure.

"I'll erect another," Gerard laughed. "As many as I need."

"Only if she's fast enough. Tailwind."

A powerful gust hit Gerard in the face, blowing hail and water into his glasses. In this cold air, he felt himself begin to go numb. Still… the wind was nothing compared to Elaina.

"You won't beat me with petty tricks like that."

"A petty trick like blizzard, then."

Frosmoth flapped her wings again, keeping well away from Diana, and conjured a powerful blizzard. Increased in power and speed by the combination of the hail and the tailwind, the wall of ice and snow was like an immovable barrier between Diana and her frosty opponent, a barrier that was advancing at an incredible rate.

If it's a rock type, its physical defenses are probably stronger than its special defenses. I saw that myself when I used ice shard, and then when he guarded against surf. He was more wary of the special moves. Which means a powerful blizzard like this should do some serious damage.

"I have to thank you for using that Frosmoth," Gerard smiled. "If you hadn't, I might have been in quite a precarious position."

"What?" Gabrielle gasped.

Diana's body was glowing pink, and so was Frosmoth. A beam of light emerged from both of the pokemon's bodies, the rays shooting toward the other pokemon, passing each other. Both beams made contact an instant before the blizzard hit. Diana was buried under a blanket of snow, and even the water of the stadium was frozen solid.

Did I get her…? No… she did… something before the attack hit. What…

The mound of snow began glowing a dim pink from within, growing brighter and brighter as though something was climbing towards the surface. A powerful blast of energy erupted from it, striking Frosmoth in the wing.

"Frosmoth!" Frosmoth wailed, plummeting out of the sky and hitting the icy ground hard.

"Frosmoth…" Gabrielle murmured. That attack was too powerful… as strong as that pokemon is, Frosmoth's ice scales should protect it from special moves like that moonblast… so how did it…

Diana emerged from the snow, only slightly injured from the attack. Gabrielle's eyes widened as she saw the flakes of ice falling off of the crystals on her body.

So that's it. The attack he used was skill swap. He traded Frosmoth his ability, and stole hers, halving the damage blizzard would inflict! And combined with that pokemon's already high defenses…

"You look mad, Gabrielle," Gerard smiled. "Right now, are you thinking 'how did Gerard know my Frosmoth had the ice scale hidden ability and not its normal shield dust? I thought he never paid me any mind at all?' Well? Is that right?"

Gabrielle didn't really want to answer him, calling back her Frosmoth with a silent glare.

"Well, the answer to your question is… maybe I'm not so ignorant as to what my underlings are plotting as they might think," Gerard said. Gabrielle's eyes widened slightly, before regaining her cool.

I was hoping to save this one for the cleanup, but I've got to use it now, while I still have the wind on my side.

"Empoleon."

Gabrielle sent out her Empoleon, the large penguin pointing its armored wing at Diancie threateningly.

"That could do it," Will said. "That pokemon of Gerard's is a rock and a fairy, judging by its looks and its moves. Against a water/steel… Gabrielle might be able to win."

Misato didn't answer him. She had already run those numbers based on the data she'd collected from the pokemon's previous bouts. They were not supporting the outcome that Will was imagining. But if Valon was to be believed, that was well within the expected results.

"Misato, your only role tomorrow… is to observe. Record the entire match. Let me see Gerard in action with that Diancie of his."

"It is possible," Misato finally replied. But it was not probable. However, whether or not Gabrielle could actually defeat Gerard was not relevant. The only purpose of this entire plan was for her to observe Gerard and his mythical pokemon in an actual battle. Then she would be able to start developing an appropriate countermeasure. Gabrielle would make for an adequate simulation.

"Empoleon, use metal claw," Gabrielle ordered. With her special defenses heightened, a swift metal claw has the best chance of doing damage. Her Empoleon shot across the ice, his speed boosted by the wind on his back and his armored wings raised.

Quite a perfect counter, Gerard noted. Unfortunately… I was a single step ahead of you, even until the end.

"Diana, it's time."

"Diancie!" Diana cheered, holding her hands up in front of her chest, creating a large pink crystal between her palms. The crystal expanded, engulfing the entire battlefield, blocking out the hail and trapping the pokemon and their trainers in a crystal barrier of light.

"Empoleon?!" Empoleon gasped, stumbling forward, his movements becoming sluggish and slow.

"Hard to move, isn't it?" Gerard asked. "Welcome to your beautiful finale, Gabrielle."

Trick room! Gabrielle realized what was going on, and suddenly everything felt very, very bad. She'd used Frosmoth's tailwind to boost the speed of her party to blinding levels in the hopes of being able to put a swift end to Gerard's Diancie with a blitz of chained attacks before the slow pokemon could respond, but with this her own strategy had doomed her. Gerard had torn apart her slower, bulkier Frosmoth and Mamoswine, and now the only pokemon she had remaining were her Empoleon and her Glaceon, two pokemon she'd specifically raised to be fast and strong attackers. But now…

"Diana, diamond storm," Gerard ordered. Diana held her hands to her sides and began spinning, firing pink diamonds in every direction. The diamonds ricocheted off of the walls and ceiling of the battlefield, flying at high speeds around the stadium and increasing speed with each impact. Empoleon struggled to rise, his body drastically hindered by the reduction in his speed, and every time he attempted to stand, a diamond would hit him with enough force to knock him back down. Even with the type advantage over rock attacks, he couldn't gain the initiative to move, or even defend himself. And with every strike, Diana's defenses would rise, until they reached their absolute limits. Empoleon was suitably bulky, and his type gave him good coverage, but even he couldn't hold out forever if he couldn't fight back.

"Empoleon… even for just a little more…" Gabrielle said. Empoleon nodded weakly. He clenched his eyes shut and focused on enduring the blows, storing up all his strength for one final attack. Blue light surged around him as his torrent finally flared up, and he rose to his feet, surging forward.

"Empoleon!" Empoleon shouted, holding his wings up, gathering water around his body and launching it into the air, raining a powerful brine attack down on Diana.

"One last act of defiance, huh?" Gerard asked.

Diana raised her hands, and erected a barrier of crystalized energy over her head, the light screen repelling the barrage of water as her stolen ability and already heightened defenses did the rest. The attack cut out another sliver of her health, but in the end, Diana still had not fallen. Empoleon, in turn, could no longer remain standing, another barrage of diamonds pounding him into the ground.

"He's a hardy one, so I'll finish him off with an earth power," Gerard decided, the ground beneath Empoleon's feet erupting and knocking the pokemon out with an overwhelming ground move.

Gabrielle recalled her Empoleon in silence. Victory had slipped from her grasp at this point. The only thing she could do was send out her last pokemon and hope for the best.

"Glaceon," she said quietly, sending out her final pokemon. The small blue canid pokemon felt the force of trick room hinder her movements and she winced, trying to step forward, but feeling an unbearable pressure dragging her down as a result of Gabrielle's own tailwind.

"Gyro ball should finish that one off," Gerard decided. Diana shot forward at a blinding speed, her body spinning, pink light engulfing her. Glaceon opened her mouth and gathered water in front of her to try and finish her off with a water pulse, but the bejeweled pokemon was simply too fast to hit, easily dodging the slow orb and slamming into Glaceon. Naturally slower than the ice type, who had also had her speed "boosted" by tailwind, Diana sent the small pokemon flying through the air with the enhanced rotational force of the attack.

Glaceon crashed into the icy floor, letting out a whimper before losing consciousness. Gabrielle silently recalled it.

"And that's the end of that," Gerard smile, the trick room shattering into a small rain of glistening diamonds. Diana flew up to him, smiling hopefully up at Gerard. He held out her pokeball and recalled her, a look of sadness crossing her face for the briefest moment before she was swallowed up by the pokeball's light and disappeared. Gerard turned to Gabrielle, enjoying his opportunity to gloat. "It seems clear which of the two of us is better suited to be the president of this club. You can go, Gabrielle. You don't need to come back here anymore."

Gabrielle pushed past Gerard, clutching Glaceon's pokeball to her chest. She ordered herself not to cry. Not until she got back to her room. All of her plans, everything she'd done… it had all been for nothing. Her future… what future was that now? Kicked out of her club in disgrace, with the only thing left to hold onto being her title as the Fourth Leader. And how long would that last? When her allegiance with Valon became known… she'd surely lose that, as well.

It had all been so utterly pointless. All for the sake of stopping Gerard's mad rise to power… in the hopes of turning their club, and the Eight Leaders, back into an institution that would look out for the students, instead of a vehicle for Gerard's ambitions. Now, even when the Daeva War resolved itself next year and the seniors graduated… when things returned to "normal"… if Gerard was still there to fill the void, then what did any of it matter?

"Curse it…" she sobbed, running through the campus streets, tears falling down her cheeks in spite of herself. "Curse it all…"

Misato rose from her seat. Her job here was done. If she remained, she would only complicate matters. She was calculating a viable scenario for defeating Gerard and his Diancie using everything she'd observed, and if she was lucky she'd be able to generate a scenario that would surprise even the Phantom. But that would be for later.

She turned up the power of her auditory receptors to catch any sounds of pursuers. But there was no one following after her. Not even Will. That observation caused another irregularity in her functions. An irritation she could not discern the cause of. At the same time, the existence of this irregularity also brought her a significant amount of satisfaction. It meant she was another step closer to achieving her own desire.

Well, unfortunately, Gerard managed to win. And it looks like things aren't looking too hot for Gabrielle, either.