Cynthia x Caelia vs. Nick x Will! What pokemon will the trainers use? And will Nick and Cynthia make use of their knowledge of each other to get ahead? Do Caelia and Will have any surprises up their sleeves as well? We'll have to find out! Remember to vote!

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

Aquahaze675: Well, you never know. Cynthia is really good when she has prep time to strategize, but what about Will?

Thunder Fire: No, he has not.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 305

Cynthia, fresh off her escape, had found a battlefield for the four of them to use. It was a small thing, with no fanfare of any sort, not even a set of bleachers. Caelia remembered it as the battlefield that she had fought Alcea Vermeil on. It was kind of cramped for a tag battle, but Cynthia figured it would be okay. Nick and Will were standing on the other side of the battlefield, with Callie standing to the right of them, next to Nick, giving him support.

"Let's start off strong, Tristan!" Cynthia said, throwing her first pokemon out. Her Breloom, as usual. She turned to Caelia. "Come on, Caelia! Let's go with that Charizard!"

Caelia said nothing. But she ignored Cynthia's request, sending out her Rapidash instead.

"No, not Rapidash, I said Charizard!" Cynthia said. "We need to take one of their pokemon down with a strong opening attack!"

"Won't use Kara until needed," Caelia replied.

Cynthia scowled. She just had to be difficult…

"Nick, watch out!" Callie warned him. She's planning to put your pokemon to sleep with that Breloom, and then they're both going to team-up against the other pokemon! It's the exact same trick she used against me, she doesn't fight fair!"

Cynthia stuck her tongue out in response.

"Nidorino, go," Nick said, sending out his first pokemon. It was his trusty Nidorino, whose poison typing should do good against Tristan… assuming he didn't fall asleep.

"Pixie," Will sent out his Togetic, the pokemon's fairy/flying typing being an excellent counter to Tristan as well.

…Again, assuming she could stay awake.

"Excellent! Let's start this now!" Cynthia cheered. "Tristan, go and put that Togetic to sleep with your spore, and then you and the Rapidash take out the Nidorino! Nick's pokemon are fairly basic, he shouldn't be able to handle two of them at once!"

"Bre!" Tristan nodded, running towards the Togetic. The mushroom on his head flexed, throbbing and spewing spores into the air, the sleep spores swirling towards Pixie.

"…Safeguard," Will ordered. A veil of light appeared around Pixie, and around Nidorino, as well. The spores landed on Pixie, but the aura around her caused them to harmlessly slip off of her, not even making her drowsy.

"Ah!" Cynthia gasped.

"Next, air slash," Will ordered. Pixie held up her small hand and flapped her wings, swinging her hand and slicing towards the grass pokemon, a cut in the air slashing into him.

"Breloom!" Tristan wailed, stumbling back, clutching the deep gash across his chest.

"Tristan!" Cynthia cried.

"Nick, what are you doing?" Will barked. "Get in there and attack!"

"R-right!" Nick said, nodding. "Poison jab, Nidorino!"

"Nido!" Nido charged towards the injured Tristan with his horn lowered, painful poison coursing through it. Before he could close the distance between him and his target, a massive wall of fire erupted in front of him, causing him to skid to a stop. Tristan had been cut off from further attacks aimed his way by the interference of his teammate, the Rapidash who had loyally remained by her trainer's side, protecting her teammate with a strong flamethrower.

"Thanks for having my back!" Cynthia said, turning to Caelia with a smile. Caelia didn't return it. She glared ahead, focused on the battle.

"Sloppy. Injured." Caelia chastised her.

"How could I have seen safeguard coming?!" Cynthia protested.

"Pixie, slice through those flames with another air slash," Will ordered. Pixie created another blade of wind to slash through the fire, flinging it at Tristan.

"Tristan can't take it well," Cynthia said, holding up her pokeball. "Return!"

Recalling her pokemon before he could take more damage, Cynthia planned to send him back out later, against a more favorable matchup.

"That was dirty trick," Cynthia complained. "Safeguard!"

"That's your go-to move," Will replied, rolling his eyes. "You can't really expect to keep using the same thing over and over and having no one make a countermeasure.

"Whatever! I bet you won't have a countermeasure for this!" Cynthia grumbled. She glanced at Caelia, then at the burning field. This wasn't a good situation. Normally, she had the perfect counter to this situation. A fairy on one side, a poison-type on the other. Ruby could sweep them away easily, or at least force the switch.

But Cynthia couldn't do that right now.

The real issue with fighting alongside Caelia… Ruby hates fire types! Cynthia moaned internally. She'd been so focused on Caelia's firepower and how useful it would be against Blake that her own pokemon's phobias had slipped her mind. The field was blazing right now, sending Ruby out into that inferno would be horrible for the pokemon. Ruby definitely wasn't coming out in these circumstances, that was for sure.

Sorry, I know you'd be perfect for this, but I'll use someone else, Cynthia apologized to Ruby, choosing another pokeball instead. "Leon! Let's go!"

"Gligar!" Leon emerged from his pokeball and spread his wings and claws, gliding through the air and landing on the battlefield.

"That's what we like to see, Leon!" Cynthia cheered. "Take 'em down!"

"Flamethrower," Caelia ordered. A stream of flames erupted from Racer's mouth, soaring over Leon's head and flying towards Pixie, who just barely managed to dodge it with little more than a singed wing for her troubles.

"Hey! Watch where you're shooting those things!" Cynthia growled. "You almost hit Leon, you know! Be more careful!"

Caelia ignored her.

"Racer, burn."

"Rapidash!" Racer lowered her head and galloped past the Gligar, the flames on her body dancing. She opened her mouth, her mane coursing with fiery power, ready to collide head-on with Nidorino in a powerful attack.

"Nidorino, dodge!" Nick ordered, his Nidorino jumping out of the way just before the Rapidash's flare blitz could hit.

"Pixie, return," Will said, calling back his Togetic as well. "Ness, come out and use your surf attack!"

"Lapras!" From her pokeball, Nick's second pokemon, his Lapras, came out, conjuring a wave of water that she rode onto the battlefield.

"Back," Caelia ordered. Racer took note of the waves that were crashing towards her, quickly returning to her trainers' side to avoid being completely swallowed. The waves still hit her, but the effects were not as damaging as they could have been. Leon was more fortunate, having managed to jump into the air fast enough to avoid the waves entirely, gliding above them. That wasn't good. A surf attack like that would have wiped him out completely. As it turned out, the pokemon who had taken the most direct damage was actually the Nidorino, Ness's teammate. Slower than the other pokemon, he hadn't been able to get out of the way of the waves in time, and had lost a chunk of health because of it.

"Nidorino, are you okay?" Nick asked.

"Nido," Nidorino nodded.

"Sorry," Will apologized. "Surf is the strongest move Ness has in this situation, I forgot it would also hit your Nidorino. I'm not used to double battles."

"No, it's fine," Nick said, turning to look across the battlefield. The tidal wave had led to a clear break in the fighting for their opponents. Cynthia and Caelia were bickering. Well, Cynthia was bickering, Caelia was ignoring her.

"We're supposed to be fighting as a team," Cynthia reminded her. "You can't just do whatever you want! We need to think strategically about this!"

Caelia didn't really care much for this "team" strategy. She preferred to fight with the full power of her pokemon.

But two on one weren't the best odds, so she supposed Cynthia was worth listening to, anyway.

"Sunny day," Caelia ordered. Racer stood up on her hind legs, lifting her horn towards the sky. Her horn began to glow and the sunlight intensified, heating up the battlefield.

"So much for water moves, then," Will murmured. "But that means we don't have to be concerned about hurting our side nearly as much! Ness, use surf!"

"Lapras!" Ness nodded, swimming through the small pool of water her surf attack had created and conjuring another tidal wave to smash the two opposing pokemon with.

"Nidorino, return," Nick said, nodding to Will. He had called back his pokemon before the attack hit. This way, he could have Will's full field attack keep the initiative for Nick's switch, while also protecting Nidorino from damage.

"Leon, dodge it with your agility," Cynthia ordered. Leon nodded and twirled through the sky, his speed increasing.

"…" Caelia could order Racer to dodge the attack with bounce. But it was possibly better if she did something else entirely…

"Racer. Solarbeam." Caelia ordered.

"Rapidash!" Racer whinnied, light gathering in her horn. She opened her mouth, and a compressed blast of sunlight shot out, colliding with the waves that approached her, blasting through them and hitting the Lapras on the other side with a direct hit.

"Ness!" Will cried. The move had been powerful, and had left the Lapras stunned. Because Racer had chosen to attack, rather than dodge, the water still struck her, but it had been weakened by the sun and only had the effective power of a water gun. Still damage, but something that Racer could easily shrug off.

This is perfect, Cynthia thought about the situation, a large smile on her face. While Caelia's direct assault drew their focus, she would have Leon stack agilities and swords' dances while they weren't looking, until nothing could stop him from tearing through both teams.

"Abby," Nick said. It was time to use his ace, his Absol. This was something that Cynthia took note of, smiling.

"That desperate already, huh?"

"Hey, shove it!" Callie shouted back. "Nick loves his Absol!"

"This is our best move," Nick said. "Right, Abby?"

"Absol," Abby said, nodding.

"Good. Then we'll use that to start with, sound good?"

"Absol," Abby agreed, nodding again.

"Got a nice little plan cooked up, huh?" Cynthia grinned.

"It should take you by surprise," Nick said. "You shouldn't underestimate us."

Will was less certain. He and Nick weren't really fighting as a team, which was the problem. They were having their pokemon do their own things. The only reason they hadn't been punished for it was because Cynthia and Caelia's teamwork was equally sloppy, and somehow even worse than theirs. Caelia was quite clearly not one for playing with others, and Cynthia was too headstrong to go along with what she wanted.

"Time out!" Cynthia said, holding her hands out. Will was confused.

Time out?

"We're in the middle of a battle!" Will protested.

"And this is a time out!" Cynthia said, rolling her eyes. "Come on, just let us discuss as a team! You guys can do the same! Our pokemon won't attack or do anything! Just two minutes! No, one minute! I'm sure you guys want some time to talk too, right?"

Will glanced at Nick. Nick returned the look, but more timidly, and yet Will could see that there was something else in those eyes of his. Maybe he did have a plan?

Nick nodded.

"Okay fine, two minutes," Will said, walking over to Nick to hear what he planned to do. Callie listened in as well.

"Caelia," Cynthia whispered, running over to Caelia.

"Battle," Caelia replied. Clearly, she hadn't been as on-board with this time out as her teammate.

"Yeah, I know, listen. See that Absol? See how it's not doing anything?" Cynthia asked. Caelia glanced at the Absol.

"I think she's gonna use sucker punch," Cynthia said. "That's one of Nick's favorite strategies with her. So I'm going to keep biding my time and have Leon buff himself. In the meantime, I want you to keep that Lapras occupied, okay? Push it as far as you can. If I'm right, We should be able to do a lot of damage before Abby can really make a big move, sound good?

Caelia did want to defeat that Lapras, but she wasn't sure if Cynthia's perception of the Absol was right. It didn't really matter to her, either, if the Absol tried to use a sucker punch, since she'd have Racer strike back at it anyway and deal her a powerful blow.

"…Fine," she agreed. It wasn't like she was that invested, anyway.

"…And that's the idea," Nick said. "What do you think?"

"…Risky," Will said. "Wouldn't a normal move be better? I mean, sure, this has the ability to go really well for you, but it could also really backfire."

"Trust me, I know what I'm doing," Nick reassured him. "I know the kind of person Cynthia is. She's really arrogant when she thinks she knows what's going on. If we can do this, then she won't see it coming."

Will glanced at Cynthia, who was walking back to her position with a smug look of triumph on her face. Nick had a point. She did look like she had it all figured out.

"Trust me, I use sucker punch all the time, she'll definitely fall for this," Nick said. "You just have to have Ness use protect to block that Rapidash's attack, and use ice beam when I tell you to, okay?"

"Sounds like a plan," Will agreed.

Callie fell head over heels for Nick all over again. Since when was he a strategist like this? While Callie wasn't normally a big fan of such underhanded tactics, Nick just did it in a way that was so…

Go for it! Show her who's boss! Callie urged.

"You guys ready?" Cynthia called. Will didn't know her that well, and even he could see how impatient she was right now. He gave Nick a final look of confirmation, and Nick's expression didn't change in the slightest. He replied with nothing more than a nod. It seemed her really was sure of this. Will nodded back, and returned to his spot.

Truthfully, Nick wasn't that confident. But Callie had shown him how important it was to exude the air of confidence, even when you were gambling on a shot in the dark, which was what he felt like. Will had a fairly decent point. If Cynthia tried to do anything but what Nick needed her to do, he was about to make a big mistake. Nick was counting on Cynthia's arrogance and staunch adherence to strategies she liked to be the factors that would win the day. Cynthia loved buffing her Gligar. And Will was certain she'd try again.

"Ready Abby?" He whispered. Abby looked back at him and nodded, her muscles flexing as she prepared to respond to her target's attack.

"We're good," Will called.

"Then that's the end of the time out!" Cynthia declared.

"Solarbeam," Caelia ordered immediately, having waited for too long already. Racer absorbed more sunlight, and fired it in another powerful blast of light at Ness.

"Protect!" Will ordered. A barrier of green light appeared around his Lapras, protecting her from the powerful grass attack. Will wasn't sure if Ness could withstand another one of those, and wasn't in a big hurry to find out, either.

"Leon, swords' dance!" Cynthia ordered, Leon spinning the air and sharpening his claws to boost his attack stat.

Nick smiled.

"Abby, snatch!"

"Absol!" Abby howled, her body beginning to glow with a malicious aura. Leon's body began to do the same.

"Wha?!" Cynthia gasped. Leon began to slow down, and his attacking power returned to its base. "What are you doing?! Stop that!"

"Abby's snatch attack," Nick explained. "If an opponent is using a buffing move, like your swords' dance, then it lets her steal all the buffs. So now I've boosted her speed AND her power, and reduced your Gligar's attack back down to what it was before."

"That's no fair!" Cynthia scowled, more irritated at being played than actually objecting to the move. "So it wasn't sucker punch!"

"But we knew you'd think it was," Nick replied. "Abby! Night slash!"

Abby shot forward, her speed and attacking power boosted, turning her into a blur of white as she shot forward.

"Leon, dodge with acrobatics!" Cynthia cried. Leon quickly spun out of the way, but Abby hadn't been charging towards him to begin with. Her long, sickle-shaped horn was glinting in the intense sunlight as she made a beeline towards Racer, who was otherwise occupied with an ongoing solarbeam.

"Racer!" Caelia shouted. Racer turned her attention on Abby, but far too late to make a difference. The next thing the horse pokemon felt was a sharp, stabbing pain from a long, curved blade digging into her side, slicing through her as the pokemon passed. Dark miasma spurted from the wound and Racer kicked out on her hind legs, wailing in pain.

"Once more, to finish it," Nick ordered. Abby slashed Racer again, this time adding her claws to the mix, raking deep gashes across the pokemon's underside. Racer let out a whimper and collapsed to the ground, torn to ribbons by the aggressive dark pokemon.

"Leon! Go!" Cynthia shouted, Leon already flying straight towards Abby, ready to catch her from behind. His pincers and stinger were raised, but they never hit the pokemon's snow-white fur, because his momentum was suddenly stopped by ice that covered his entire body.

"Leon!" Cynthia wailed.

"Good job, Ness," Will congratulated his Lapras. The water pokemon's ice beam was powerful, and it had scored a direct hit on the Gligar. While Leon was a bulky pokemon, he was only physically defensive, not adapted to tanking special attacks. That would be fine normally, but there was also the fact that Leon was four times weak to ice beam, and it had caught him before he had a chance to react, flash-freezing him instantly. Leon plummeted out of the air and hit the ground, the ice around him shattering. He was unable to battle.

Cynthia was stunned. She was certain that she'd figured out Nick's little plan, and was prepared to sweep both of them. Now, not only had she gotten it completely wrong, but she and Caelia had each lost a pokemon because of it.

Caelia said nothing, recalling her Rapidash, looking at Cynthia with a glare that seemed to tell her "I told you so." In truth, there was nothing of the sort, her eye was completely blank and empty as always. Caelia did not particularly blame Cynthia for her mistake. Cynthia might have blamed herself, but to Caelia, it didn't really matter.

"Win anyway… She muttered to herself.

"I can't believe you played me," Cynthia said, recalling Leon to his pokeball. It was one thing for Will to see through her spore plan and prepare a counter, but this was Nick! She had underestimated him, expecting him to fall for her bait.

"You like to be the center of the stage," Nick replied quietly. "I see you fight all the time, so I know a lot about how you do it. But… you don't really pay much attention to my fights…"

"Because you just train," Cynthia interjected.

"You're good when you're prepared, Cynthia," Nick replied. "But you weren't prepared, were you?"

"Exactly!" Callie boasted. "My Nick isn't some warm-up! He's really strong! And he's only getting stronger! You were cocky!"

"…Yeah, I was," Cynthia admitted. Even though it was a battle, Nick could see she felt bad about looking down on him, whether she'd known it or not. That made him feel a little better, anyway. "Sorry, Nick. I really did underestimate you. But not anymore. I'm facing you directly now."

"Good," Nick grinned.

"Tristan! Come back out!" Cynthia said, sending her Breloom out for a do-over. "Let's match him with our best!"

"Breloom!" Tristan nodded. He was still hurt from the air slash, but he had more than enough energy to keep the fight going.

"Abby, come back," Nick said, calling Abby back to his side. He wasn't going to recall her, that would waste the buffs he'd stolen. But having her alone in enemy territory wasn't the best idea, either."

"So? What's the holdup, Caelia?" Cynthia asked, glancing at the quiet girl she'd teamed up with. "We're all back in the battle, gonna toss your pokemon into the ring, too?"

"…End this," Caelia muttered, holding up a pokeball. "Mera."

Caelia tossed out her pokeball, the ball cracking open to reveal what was hidden inside. Before the pokemon even emerged, the first thing that Nick, Will, Callie, and Cynthia felt was the blast of heat that smacked them in the face, made even more notable due to the fact that the heat of the sunny day had yet to fade. What pokemon even was that?!

"Volcarona!" The mighty bug pokemon buzzed, emerging with a flap of his wings, sending up a gust with the stinging force of a heat wave that had Will and Nick sweating, and nearly blew Callie over.

"What the…" Cynthia gawked at Caelia, her jaw dropping in shock. She certainly didn't remember THAT from the Fall Festival Tournament.

"Mera… burn them away," Caelia murmured, her voice devoid of feeling as she ordered her Volcarona to fill the battlefield with flames.

Well, Caelia's certainly brought out the big guns now! Nick and Will were able to take a decent lead, but against a powerhouse like Mera will they be able to keep the momentum going? Or will the powerful Volcarona sweep the two boys away, and maybe even Cynthia along with them?