The reviews are finally back! Just in time for the next step of preparations! We'll be looking in on Sango and Maddi next, to see how they're getting ready for the tournament! These two probably have the most work cut out for them, will Maddi be able to whip Sango into a trainer capable of standing with her peers, I wonder?
The Finals have begun! The Pokemon Academy Best Girl Finals have only gotten a few votes in, I can't wait to see how it goes. All the girls there are pretty good, but as you may have guessed I'm personally polling for Ayame in light of the story direction. How will it go? We'll have to see! Be sure to get your votes in! Only one girl can win, who will that one girl be? Who will be the Pokemon Academy Best Girl?
Finalists: Sango, Ayame, Marion
Rosealine gold: Hopefully this chapter will help you get a close look at how Sango and Marion interact with each other. Should be good.
Aquahaze675: Sango's battling prowess will be explored, for sure. As for Blake and Ayame… I too, hope that they will last. A happy ending for them is something I wish to be able to write.
ConfusedCradily: Yeah, Caelia's quite a risk, that's for sure.
Tambry96bj: We'll see Kitty's progress in this arc, it should be good.
Thunder Fire: Nick's partner will be revealed soon enough. As for Blake and Elaina… well, it's certainly one of the two. And which one it is will define the way their relationship progresses from here on out.
Mercury – Mercuraneous: Well, we'll find out here!
DDDD1416: No, but she always takes the hard path, out of misplaced feelings of responsibility.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 301
Sango's heart was pounding in her chest as she followed Maddi. After classes had let out, the quiet girl had texted her to meet up at the Blastoise Fountain. It made sense; they had already registered, and the official "tournament" would be starting tomorrow morning. The two had only agreed to team up the night before, and Sango didn't even have any pokemon, and her battle experience was zero. Maddi was currently leading her through the forest, but to where Sango didn't know and wasn't sure if she should ask; rather, it seemed that even if she asked, Maddi would not have answered to begin with.
I wonder where she's taking us in the middle of the forest? Sango glanced at Silver, her partner equally unsure. Maybe Maddi was taking them to a secret training spot? She was pretty sure that there weren't any buildings out here…
Sango was quickly proven wrong on that front, when Maddi stopped before a building and turned to face her, her expression clearly saying "here we are."
Sango and Silver's jaws dropped as they stared at the large box-shaped structure before them, standing tall and cradled by the trees surrounding it. It had been painted in camouflage to make it hard to discern from the forest around it, like a secret base of some kind. Sango immediately realized that this must be the facility used by the Commander's organization. She had never imagined that there would be some hideout like this on the outskirts of campus, completely unreported by Campus Security patrols; hell, she WAS part of Campus Safety on occasion, and she had never even heard of it before either. Cynthia had mentioned something a few months back about the Commander having his own "secret base", but Sango hadn't expected her to mean that in such a… literal sense. This really did look like a military facility of some kind.
"Impressive, isn't it?" Maddi asked, smirking a little. Clearly Sango's reaction had been expected. Sango realized her mouth was still wide open, and she closed it.
Maddi turned to the door and held up her ID card, the door clicking as it unlocked. It slid open, baring itself to the two students.
Maddi turned and looked over her shoulder as she walked inside.
"Coming?" Was all she asked. Sango gulped, and nodded her head, following after the girl. Her heart was pounding in her chest, with excitement or fear Sango couldn't say. All she knew was that this feeling of wrongness was rather stimulating; she felt like she was doing something naughty, and it was a rather intoxicating sensation for someone who was normally such a good, sweet girl. Although she wasn't actually doing anything wrong, now that she thought about it. Hell, Cynthia probably came here all the time.
"So, uh… this place is nice?" Sango said, looking around as she followed Maddi down the hallway. "Nice" was an understatement. The building was rather large on the outside, but that was only the part that was above the ground. Inside was much larger, with an elevator heading to lower levels. They passed by several rooms where people were battling pokemon against each other, and other rooms still with pokemon working out on their own and people staring at computer screens filled with pokemon battles and taking notes.
Strange, I thought that the Phantom's group was with all the researchers… and these guys are battle maniacs, Sango thought, surprised at the amount of thought that was going into pokemon battling around here. I guess I shouldn't have such a shallow perception of them… that's pretty unfair to just classify them as meatheads.
Sango quietly apologized to Maddi and the other people she worked with, Cynthia included, for thinking they were just obsessed with battling with no brains involved.
"We're here," Maddi said, opening a large door at the end of the hallway and stepping inside. "You can come in."
Sango entered the room behind Maddi. It was an indoor battlefield, set up much like a stadium (though without any spectator seats) and beside it was a long table. There was a series of trays lined up in a row atop the table, and on each tray was a small container inlaid with velvet, and nestled into each were 3 pokeballs in a vertical line. There were 18 of these containers in all, much to Sango's surprise. That was a lot of pokemon and pokeballs.
"I organized this last night, after the party," Maddi said, yawning. Sango could see the black bags under her eyes. The party had gotten out late, how late into the night had she been working? Maddi caught her staring and averted her eyes.
"…Please. It's not like I was excited," Maddi muttered, still not meeting her gaze. "I just needed to make certain that everything was prepared for when you got here today, that's all. Don't think about it that deeply or anything, it doesn't mean much. I'm not the kind of person to try that hard for other people, after all."
Sango smirked.
"So what are these, anyway?" Sango asked, walking alongside the table and staring at the trays. Upon closer inspection, she could see that each container had a small place-card in front of it, and on the cards were written down different types. Clearly they were meant to indicate the typing of the pokemon contained within the pokeballs, Sango realized.
"As part of my work with the Commander, I've been raising teams of three pokemon each, one for each of the different types," Maddi explained.
"Only 3?" Sango asked, surprised they weren't full teams of six.
"That isn't enough?" Maddi asked, raising her eyebrow. "That's nearly 60 pokemon you know. A full team of 6 would be over 100."
"…Right, good point," Sango admitted.
"Since the tag tournament will involve trainers fighting in double battles and using three pokemon each, I figure that you can use any of the teams that you'd like," Maddi explained. "Each of them has been specially trained to head the orders of trainers besides myself, so you needn't worry about that. As long as I'm on your side, they'll obey you."
"Cool, which team will you be using?" Sango asked, looking at the large selection of pokemon.
"I'm not going to be using one of my pre-made teams," Maddi replied. She reached to the belt of her school uniform, sliding her leather jacket aside to reveal three pokeballs. "Instead, I'm going to be using my actual pokemon."
Maddi pressed the buttons on the three pokeballs, and released three pokemon from within them.
"Eevee!" A small, adorable Eevee emerged from the first pokeball.
"Cyndaquil!" An equally adorable Cyndaquil emerged from the second.
"Seadra." From the third, a sleek Seadra sprung out, floating in the air.
"Wow, they're so cute!" Sango said, kneeling down and admiring the two adorable mammals, who beamed up at her with big smiles on their faces. Sango raised her head and turned to the Seadra. "And this guy looks pretty cool."
"They're my own," Maddi said, feeling more than a little proud of Sango's admiration for her pokemon. "This is Vee, my Eevee, Cynder, my Cyndaquil, and Mist, my Seadra. They may not be the strongest, but they're pretty cool."
"I see, and then I can use any of the other teams?" Sango asked.
"Exactly," Maddi said, nodding. "I may only have three pokemon that belong to me personally, but that shouldn't be a problem since we're each going to be using a team of three. As for your team, what do you think? What's your favorite type?"
Maddi turned to glance at Silver.
"Normal types?"
"No," Sango said, shaking her head. She looked at the selection of pokeballs contemplatively, and then glanced up at Maddi. "What's the strongest team you have?"
Maddi nearly burst out laughing, which was a rather odd experience in and of itself. She hadn't been expecting something that pragmatic to come out of the blonde girl's mouth, the girl wasn't even a battler!
"Well, that's quite refreshing," Maddi smirked. "So, you want the strongest team you can get your hands on, huh?"
"Well, if we want to win…" Sango smiled. The two girls giggled.
"Sadly it's not that simple," Maddi shrugged. "I raised them all so that their levels and strength are comparable to one another. It's not about 'which one is strongest' the teams are all equally strong, you see."
"Oh, wow, that must have taken a lot of effort," Sango said, her eyes widening at Maddi's statements. "In the meantime… hmm…"
Sango went back to considering the different arrangements. Dragon type pokemon were known to be exceptionally powerful in their own right, with very few weaknesses. Steel pokemon as well tended to be rather hardy. Which one should she use? She didn't have any particular fondness for typing, she wasn't like Alcea, a grass specialist, or Kate, who used poison. She hadn't even battled before. This choice was a little too much to make for her right now.
I wonder if it even matters? Sango mused. She glanced at Maddi for an answer, and then thought of something.
"Hey, who's your strongest battler, Maddi?" Sango asked.
"Mine?" Maddi blinked, not sure why Sango was asking her something like that. "Well, it's Mist, of course. He's probably my best."
"I see, he's a water type, right?" Sango said, nodding. "And water types are good against rock, ground, and of course, fire type pokemon."
Maddi rolled her eyes. She ate type coverage for breakfast, in fact, it was her specialty. So what was Sango getting at?
"I made those teams to take advantage of my knowledge of type coverage," Maddi said. "In fact, they're designed to be used in mono-type battles."
"So what I'm thinking, since pokemon teams of a single type are usually weak to the same things, we should combo that with you Seadra's type specialties," Sango explained.
"Oh! That is a clever idea," Maddi agreed. "So what you're saying is that you want to choose a team whose type disadvantage can be offset by Mist's type advantage."
"Bingo," Sango nodded. "So in case someone brings out a pokemon of that type, Mist can take them down."
"Well in that case, we'll need pokemon weak to Fire, Ground, or Rock type moves," Maddi said, nodding. "Fire pokemon are good against Grass, Bug, Steel, and Ice. Ground types are good against Electric, Fire, Rock, Poison, and Steel. And Rock types are good against Bug, Fire, Flying, and Ice type pokemon."
"I see," Sango said, nodding. "So there is a decent chunk of overlap. Sadly, there isn't one type that's weak to all three."
"Bug types are weak against Fire and Rock, and so are Ice types," Maddi said. "Fire types are weak against Ground and Rock, and Steel types are weak against Fire and Ground. We should probably start with looking at those."
"Oh? Good idea. So Bug Team, Ice Team, Fire Team, or Steel Team," Sango said, nodding her head. She took the trays containing each of those teams, and gathered the four containers in front of her. "You're the battling expert, which one should I use, then?"
"Let's look at the other weaknesses," Maddi said, walking up beside her. "Fire type pokemon are only weak to Ground and Rock, as well as Water. Bug types are weak to Fire, Flying, and Rock, and Ice types are also weak to Fire and Rock, but also Fighting and Steel types. And finally, Steel types are weak against Fighting, Fire, and Ground."
"So there's a lot of overlap as we thought," Sango said. "So what do you think?"
"I'd say… not Fire types, for starters," Maddi replied.
"Really? Not Fire?" Sango asked. Maddi shook her head. "Why not?"
"Because I have a fire pokemon of my own," Maddi said, glancing at Cynder. "Mist might resist Water moves and be good against Rock and Ground types, but if any of those pokemon showed up, he's the only pokemon we could really use to fight them. And I don't know if he'll be strong enough to handle a full team on his own."
"Good point," Sango agreed, putting the Fire team back. "What about Bug?"
"Also not a great idea," Maddi said, shaking her head. "Normally it would be a decent choice of team, since my Bug pokemon are rather diverse. But there's something we need to keep in mind when making our team selection."
"What's that?" Sango asked.
"Elaina Bishop," Maddi stated. Sango's blood went cold. In the excitement of picking out the team of pokemon that she was going to use, she had completely forgotten about the girl who was teaming up with Blake.
"Elaina…" Sango's voice trailed off. Maddi nodded her head.
"She uses Flying types. A team that's entirely weak to Flying, it's not something that we can risk. And since I don't have any pokemon of my own that counter Flying types…"
"So we should be taking that into consideration, I see," Sango said, nodding. "Which means we should pick between Ice types, which are strong against Flying types, and Steel types, which resist them. Ice types have more weaknesses and Steel types, and far more resistances, so do you think I should use Steel types, then?"
Maddi contemplated Sango's reasoning for a moment, and then shook her head.
"No, I believe that you should use the Ice team."
"Really?" Sango asked, surprised. "Why?"
"Well, at first I was considering having you swap between teams to account for type differences, but I think it's better if you grow alongside one team. And I think the Ice team is that team, as opposed to the Steel team," Maddi said. "Knowing what pokemon are in it, anyway."
Sango smiled.
"I was also thinking that the Ice team would be the better choice, even though Steel pokemon are more resistant to more things."
"Oh, really?" Maddi asked, a little surprised. "What makes you think that."
Sango picked up one of the pokeballs from the container holding the Ice Team, turning it over in her hands. She glanced back at Maddi.
"Cynthia's ace is a Grass type," Sango explained. "If we're going to beat her, then we need a team with type advantages."
Maddi cracked a smile.
"Now that's what I like to hear," Maddi nodded. "I like the way you think, Sango."
"So, Ice types, huh," Sango said, picking up another pokeball. She looked at the two pokeballs in her hand. "I can't say they're what I expected to be using."
"You don't mind, do you?" Maddi asked. "I think it's the best team we have available."
"Nah, it's cool," Sango said, shaking her head. "I like it. It feels… fresh, for some reason. You don't mind if I send them out now, do you? I'd like to meet them."
"Go ahead," Maddi nodded. "It's probably smart that you get to know them first, before we start fighting together, don't you think?"
"Definitely," Sango agreed. She pressed the buttons on the pokeballs, and released the two pokemon inside of them.
"Cloyster!" From the first pokeball, a pokemon with a shelled body emerged. His surface harder than steel, the thick shells could move to cover the small black core that made up his main body, which displayed a wicked grin. The pokemon clamped his shell open and shut repeatedly in excitement, the extra-reinforced layers of his shell demonstrating his defensive power.
"Vanilluxe!" From the second came a pokemon that was rather odd. His body was made of ice and snow, but appeared to resemble something all-too-familiar to Sango. Shaped like an ice-cream sundae, the pokemon hovered in front of Sango, the air chilling around him. Two large mounds of snow piled up into twin scoops, each with a joyous face on the front.
Sango tried to resist the urge to drool, but the pokemon in front of her was simply too delicious-looking, she couldn't help herself. The Vanilluxe flinched under the gluttonous trainer's gaze, Sango approaching it.
"Wow… they're cool!" Sango said, thankfully not planning to eat the new pokemon she'd just assumed guardianship of. The Vanilluxe sighed in relief.
"Of course they're cool, they're ice types," Maddi replied. Sango rolled her eyes.
"That isn't what I meant."
"No, but it was perfectly placed."
"Then this is the third pokemon…" Sango said, turning and walking over to the table, picking up the final pokeball of the Ice team. She pressed the button on it, and a light shot out from within it, a figure emerging and landing on the ground.
"Ninetales," the snow-white pokemon murmured. Sango's eyes widened in stunned shock. She'd seen Ninetales, before, but this wasn't what they looked like. They had long, sleek bodies of golden fur. But the pokemon in front of her, while just as fox-like, was more… ephemeral. Her fur was a pale blue, almost white, and the tips of her nine tails were wispy and fuzzy, like ribbons, as opposed to the normal sleek tails of the fox pokemon, and the mane on her head was just as free-flowing. Her dark blue eyes glistened to match the beguiling smile on her snout.
"A Ninetales?" Sango asked. "But aren't they Fire types?"
"This one is from the Alola Region," Maddi explained, walking over and running her fingers through the ice type pokemon's cool fur. "She's rather special, and is the key of the team. What do you think? You like her?"
"I think they're all great," Sango said, saying hello to the Ninetales, then the Cloyster and the Vanilluxe. "What are their names?"
"…They don't have any," Maddi admitted. "It might be unfair, but to allow them to more easily bond with other trainers, I didn't want to impress my own naming choices onto them."
"…I see…" Sango said, agreeing that it was a little sad. "Hey, guys. I guess you're my new team for now. Sound good?"
The pokemon all shouted in agreement.
"Well, you've got new pokemon," Maddi admitted. "But that's only part of the preparations, wouldn't you agree?"
"Oh?" Sango asked, having a good idea where this was going.
"It wouldn't do if you went into battle unprepared, right?" Maddi cracked a smile, recalling her pokemon and walking towards the end of the table, approaching the battlefield resting behind it. "Why not… try your hand at a battle first? Make sure you can actually handle it? Getting some practice in couldn't hurt, don't you think?"
Sango looked at the pokemon around her. They were all brimming with eagerness. She looked to Silver next. Her Castform bobbed up and down in agreement.
"…Sure!" She said, nodding. "Let's do this!"
So, next chapter, we get Sango's first pokemon battle! Hopefully she'll be able to figure out how to use her pokemon to their fullest extent, but we can expect that she might make a few mistakes.