Darn, people don't seem to be interested in this tournament, few reviews. Oh, well, it's still important! The tournament continues.

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: She's probably on the fence tbh.

Thunder Fire: Who knows?

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 306

"What pokemon is that?" Nick asked, stunned.

"Volcarona!" Mera roared, flames swirling up around his body.

"…My guess is a Volcarona," Will dryly commented. Strange… it looks almost… like Sol, my Larvesta. Could this be what a Larvesta evolves into?

"Whoa, Caelia! That thing is epic!" Cynthia cheered. "Get 'em!"

"Burn."

It was all Caelia said. With a beat of his wings, Mera conjured a great wave of heat, intensified by the sun's rays.

"Ness, protect yourself!" Will ordered, a barrier appearing around Ness's body to shield her from the fierce, searing winds. Abby was less likely. She could feel her fur start to singe and the ends, wincing at the intense heat.

"Bre…" Tristan was standing behind Mera so he didn't get hit directly by the attack, meaning he wasn't taking as much damage. But the heat was still annoying, and his movements were being hemmed in.

"Well, it looks like we can't get up close thanks to this darn heat," Cynthia griped, wiping the sweat from her brow. "Still, it's not like we can't attack! Tristan, use bullet seed on Abby while she's pinned down by the heat!"

"Breloom!" Tristan puffed up his cheeks and began firing a stream of glowing green seeds at the white pokemon in a swift barrage.

"Abby!" Nick shouted. "Use detect!"

"Absol!" Abby nodded. Her eyes flashed blue, and she leapt forward, ignoring the heat of the fire attack. The bullet seeds rained down upon her, but none of them got anywhere NEAR close enough to even rustle her fur.

"Nice work, Abby!" Callie cheered. "Your evasive skills are amazing!"

"She dodged them all?" Cynthia was stunned. She'd seen bullet seed deflected, blocked, and countered. But when was the last time someone had so easily evaded them like this?

"Now, psycho cut."

"Aaah! Tristan, dodge!" Cynthia reflexively cried, worried for her fighting type. Abby's horn began glowing blue and with a flick of her head she sent a blade of psychic energy. The blade flew across the field, but it wasn't aimed at Tristan.

"ROoooonAaaaa!" Mera buzzed, the sharp blade slicing into his furred body. It was a critical hit, and boosted by swords' dance, so it inflicted a decent chunk of damage, and caused the pokemon some serious pain. The heat began to die down, now that Mera was distracted by the deep gash running through his body.

Nick and Will nodded to each other. They were on the same page, that Volcarona was the far greater threat.

"Ness, use life dew to recover health," Will ordered. The heat wave had died off, so Ness dropped her protective barrier and created some shimmering water, which washed over both her and Abby, healing their wounds.

"Oh, no you don't!" Cynthia growled. "Tristan!"

Tristan fired off another long-range attack, but rather than bullet see, this time he used seed bomb. Spitting large seeds into the air, they rained down on Ness with explosive power, detonating as they landed on and around her.

She's making use of Ness's lack of evasive ability! Will realized. "Nick! Cover me!"

"Abby, after Tristan!"

"Absol!" Abby nodded, running forward. She raised her horn, and psychic energy surged through it, preparing to slash into Tristan.

"Ness, block that Volcarona with your water pulse!"

Ness fired a throbbing orb of water towards Mera, striking him. She followed up with a few more. They did decent damage, and distracted Mera enough to keep him from interfering, but weren't doing enough damage to really be a critical blow.

"Tristan, bullet seed," Cynthia ordered, even though she knew it would be futile. Abby was way too fast, and avoided the seeds with little effort.

Tristan might have the typing advange… but taking that air slash really hurt… Cynthia didn't like it, but she knew what she had to do. Tristan wasn't able to keep doing much more.

"Sorry, Tristan," Cynthia whispered, softly enough for her best pokemon to hear. Tristan knew what that meant and hardened himself, nodding his head. He knew what needed to be done.

Abby was upon Tristan a few moments later, her horn raised. She sliced down into Tristan with the powerful psychic attack.

"Brelooooom!" Tristan cried out in pain. But he refused to fall. He braced himself against the ground and clenched his claw tightly. The spark didn't leave his eyes. He drove his claw up into a powerful counter punch, hitting Abby in the stomach with the full force of her attack, doubled in power, flinging her through the air.

"Abby!" Nick cried.

"Guess you forgot that one," Cynthia smirked. Her expression was leaking concern, however, and she turned her attention to Tristan. He was in very bad shape. Abby had struck at the previous wound Pixie had inflicted, reopening the cut and now it was bleeding profusely. Striking his wound had made the attack a critical hit, and Cynthia could see that Tristan didn't have much strength left.

I'm sorry had to use you like that… Cynthia apologized. But thanks to Tristan's sacrifice, Abby was on her last legs, as well.

"Nick," Will said. "I can restore some of her health, but…"

"It won't be enough, I know." Nick could see that Abby was nearly unconscious. She could barely stand, her buffs were useless.

"Mera, bug buzz," Caelia ordered. Shrugging off the water, Mera raised her head and let out a loud, buzzing screech that sent a wave of sonic energy across the battlefield. The trainers and Callie, save Caelia, clenched their ears, while the pokemon roared in pain.

"Nick!" Will shouted. "I'm going to counter the attack! Can Abby use baton pass?!"

Nick nodded his head. But she would have to do it fast. Abby wouldn't last a scant few seconds.

"Ness! Perish song!" Will shouted over the bug buzz. Ness nodded, and opened her mouth, an equally repugnant sound emanating to counter the previous sounds.

"This is supposed to be better?!" Nick shouted.

"It's a start," Will said. "Now, Ness! Use surf!"

Nick nodded. That was clearly the cue. Before the tidal wave could strike Abby and knock out the rest of her health, Nick recalled her to her pokeball. But he didn't have her use baton pass, much to Will's confusion.

"Nick?! You didn't use baton pass?" Will asked. "But you just wasted the swords' dance and agility buffs that Abby stole!"

"Abby knows perish song too," Nick replied. "If a pokemon under the effects of perish song tries to baton pass, then the count would pass onto the next pokemon to switch in, just like the status increases. Abby can't fight anymore, and I don't want my next pokemon to faint immediately, either."

"…Oh," Will said. Even he wasn't aware of that effect of perish song.

But there is something else I can do, Nick understood. Perish song was a rather insidious move, with a few methods of exploiting it. Nick had never tried this tactic before, but it was something that he might be able to take advantage of.

"Return, Ness," Will recalled his Lapras, and sent Pixie back out.

"Caelia, you have to call back your Volcarona!" Cynthia cried out over the cacophony of bug buzz mixed with perish song that was plaguing their end of the field. "If you don't, he's gonna faint!"

Tristan endured the surf attack, weakened by the sunlight, and Mera did the same, though the effects were clearly starting to take a toll on her. Both pokemon were plagued by the perish song, but their trainers had far different intentions. Cynthia had decided not to switch out Tristan. There wouldn't be a point, it would just open up another opportunity for her opponents to get some initiative. It wasn't like she was saving him for anything, and she rather doubted he would last in battle past the perish song count regardless. In that case, it was better for the both of them if he went out fighting.

As for Caelia…

"Before returning… heat wave!" Caelia ordered. Mera flapped his wings and sent a torrent of hot wind swirling across the battlefield, hitting Pixie directly. Not only that, but Mera had begun to dance. Caelia had been wary of using Mera's quiver dance while that Absol had the opportunity to steal it, but now she would use it to her fullest. Mera would endure. She would have him fight to the very brink of the perish song before returning him, doing as much damage as he possibly could.

"Charmeleon, go," Nick said, sending out his last pokemon, his Charmeleon.

"A fire type?" Will asked. "I hope you know what you're doing. Don't think you need a fire type to handle that Breloom, and as for the Volcarona…"

"We don't have to beat her," Nick replied. "You've handled that well enough already. Charmeleon, use fire spin!"

"Char!" Charmeleon nodded. He ran forward and opened his mouth, a swirl of flames erupting out of his mouth and spinning around Mera.

Caelia blinked.

No.

Unacceptable.

Fire spin. Fire spin trapped pokemon. Mera was trapped. Mera couldn't switch out.

Mera would faint.

Mera wasn't close to fainting.

Still had health.

But would faint. Not fair. Not fair.

"Mera!" Caelia shouted, Cynthia flinching in shock. The girl hadn't broken her deadpan tone until now, but that was anger in her voice. The look on what part of her face Cynthia could see made her blood run cold. Her lifeless eye was burning with rage, and it looked like her dried mess of hair was going to catch fire in the heat.

Cynthia gulped. This girl may be a smidgeon more unstable than Cynthia thought.

"ROOONNNA!" Mera buzzed, the fire swirling around him and locking his movements in place. Caelia couldn't call him back, so he responded by filling the entire battlefield with deafening noise. Nick and Will clutched their ears, Callie falling over and flailing around. Charmeleon and Pixie were stunned, unable to brace the sound, either. The force of the move wasn't very effective to either of them, they weren't taking much damage. But it was the deafening sound that was keeping them immobilized, affecting every pokemon save one.

Tristan couldn't hear any of his trainer's commands. But he knew what Cynthia would want him to do, and that was cause as much damage as he could before he went out. He charged forward and raised his claw, tightening it into a powerful punch.

First, Tristan used mach punch to cross the distance in a flash. His target was clear, since the Charmeleon across from him didn't have any endurance of fighting moves. He hit the Charmeleon in the stomach, knocking him backwards, and turned that move into a pivot, running straight towards the Togetic, who had fallen out of the sky and was currently curled into a ball, holding her ears shut tightly. She made the perfect target.

Will shouted at Pixie to dodge, that the Breloom was attacking. But his orders had been entirely drowned out in the bug buzz, far louder and more damaging than previously with Ness. So Pixie was caught completely off-guard by the attack. Tristan pulled back his claw, and let loose a powerful dynamicpunch at point-blank range. THAT got Pixie's attention, alright. She might have resisted fighting-type moves, but against a move of that power it only got you so far. Tristan had punched her with enough force to crack the ground beneath her, and she coughed, her head slamming against the stadium, stunning her.

The sound continue for a few seconds after that, but before Tristan could get off a second attack, he stumbled, out of energy, and passed out. Mera was quick to follow.

"Mera…" Caelia whispered, the bug buzz dying down. "Sunny day."

With the last of his strength, the Volcarona illuminated the noon sun with a burst of energy, causing it to blaze brighter than ever before. His move completed, Mera slumped to the ground, unconscious, his energy sapped from the perish song.

Caelia and Cynthia returned their pokemon a second time. But unlike before, they had managed to inflict some severe damage on their opponents. Abby had been all but knocked out by Tristan's counter, and Charmeleon had taken a good punch in the gut as well. Meanwhile, Pixie and Ness had both taken decent damage as well, although neither had fainted just yet.

We're behind… this isn't good, Cynthia noted. Will was certainly a problem, but she thought that Nick would be easier than this going in. Even without Abby, she wasn't certain how much of a fight his Nidorino and Charmeleon would be capable of putting up.

Losing that Volcarona is a problem, too, she thought, turning to Caelia. When she did, her brain stopped working for a moment, and her flight or fight instincts kicked in. Cynthia chose freeze.

Caelia was clearly fuming.

"Kara."

Caelia said a single word, but the weight of it sent a shiver down Cynthia's spine. From her pokeball, the large dragon-like pokemon erupted with a roar, sending bursts of flame across the battlefield. Nick's Charmeleon shivered, staring up at his future evolution, and Nick gulped as well. The Volcarona had been intense, his energy intimidating. But this…

Cynthia had asked for Caelia's Charizard, and now she felt herself getting scared of it.

What's your problem? She's on our side! Cynthia chastised herself. Besides… there was something else to be afraid of.

Cynthia and Caelia were down to their last pokemon.

Will still had his Lapras.

His Lapras still knew perish song.

Those details did not paint a very pretty picture.

Cynthia glanced at Caelia and her Charizard. She really, really hoped that Caelia was using her brain right now and not going on a blind rampage, because that would be really, really bad.

She let out a sigh.

If he's gonna try perish song again, then my only choice is…

"James, go!" Cynthia said, tossing out her final pokemon, her Loudred. His soundproof ability would allow him to block the perish song.

Pixie slowly flapped her wings, pulling herself up off the ground. Thanks to her safeguard she had been protected from the confusing aftereffects of dynamicpunch, but that didn't mean her head wasn't still spinning. Luckily, Will didn't need her to do any fighting. He just needed her to switch out.

"Pixie, return," Will said, holding up his Togetic's pokeball. But the light from his pokeball was blocked by a tornado of flames.

"TOGEEEE!" Pixie wailed from within the blazing maelstrom, a column of fire swirling up into the sky from around her.

"Thought you'd get away?" Caelia snarled. Her eye was burning with anger. "Burn."

"Pixie!" Will cried out. Caelia had turned Nick's plan against them, preventing Will from bringing this match to a quick end. Pixie flew in circles, trying desperately to escape the flames, but fire spin followed her wherever she fled.

"Charmeleon," Nick said, glancing worriedly at his own pokemon. "I don't know what you can do, but… ancientpower!"

Charmeleon nodded his head. A rock move was the perfect counter to the fire/flying Charizard. He held his hands up, glowing rocks of energy forming in the air around them. He flung the stones at Kara, but they never got close enough to hit.

"Don't think we'll let that happen!" Cynthia laughed. "James! Use echoed voice!"

"LOUDRED!" James roared, the large speakers on his ears throbbing. He sent a shockwave of sonic energy pulsing across the battlefield, shattering the stones as they flew through the air.

"Char?!" Charmeleon whirled around in surprise, glaring at the large pokemon.

"Kara, finish it," Caelia growled. Kara nodded her head and spread her wings, taking to the sky. She flew straight towards the smaller Charmeleon. By "finish it" Caelia didn't mean the Togetic. It was trapped right now. She just needed a good blow on that Charmeleon. And she knew just how to start THAT off, certainly.

"Dance."

Draconic energy swirled around Kara as she flew through the sky, soaring straight towards the Charmeleon.

"Charmeleon, use another ancientpower," Nick ordered. It was the best he had at his disposal. Charmeleon had neither the strength nor the speed to put up a fight against his evolved form. So he would need to handle this with a type advantage.

"Flare blitz."

Her strength and speed boosted, flames erupted from Kara's body. With a roar, she smashed through the glowing rocks, ignoring the damage they inflicted upon her, and lunged at the Charmeleon, striking him with a powerful tackle of fiery energy.

Charmeleon was flung through the air, flames surrounding his body. Kara landed on the ground, panting, and let out a triumphant roar, flames spewing from her mouth. She didn't bother looking in the direction of the Charmeleon as he hit the ground, the pokemon was certainly unconscious.

"Charizard!" Kara roared again, turning her attention to the pillar of fire before her.

"Uh, Caelia, think we should take out the rest of Nick's team before we deal with Will?" Cynthia suggested. Still stunned from the dynamicpunch and with fire swirling in on all sides, Pixie was less than a threat. It was two on one now, it was time for a decisive victory!"

Caelia didn't really care.

"Burn her!" Caelia ordered, The flame on Kara's tail surging in agreement with her trainer. She opened her mouth and unleashed a powerful sunlight-boosted fire blast, striking the pillar of flames and consuming its power as well, striking Pixie directly.

The Togetic fell out of the sky, badly burned like a charred omelet. Will quickly recalled her, swallowing.

"Ness is the only option," Will said. "Ness! Use perish song!"

Will's Lapras emerged from her pokeball as Nick sent out his last pokemon as well, his Nidorino.

Caelia feigned interest.

"James, use hyper voice!" Cynthia ordered. James took a big inhalation of air and unleashed a mighty roar, sending deafening shockwaves across the battlefield that hit Nidorino, Ness, and even Kara as well. Kara roared from the pain but endured it, flapping her wings and taking to the sky. She flew straight towards Ness, flames coating her body once more as she attempted a second flare blitz attack.

Ness withstood the damage from the hyper voice and opened her mouth, beginning to sing. Will was sympathetic to the fact that Nick would lose his last fight-capable pokemon as well, but this was essential to defeating this monstrosity of a Charizard.

Caelia, well-aware of what was happening, had no longer concerned herself with the outcome. Kara would faint. Maybe now, maybe later. But it was happening, that was a certainty. So there was no sense in preserving her health any longer.

"Burn, burn," she repeated over and over, even as her voice was drowned out in the roaring sounds and shattering screams echoing across campus. Any crowds that may have gathered to watch one of the first rounds of the tournament had long since been driven off. Callie was the only spectator, and even she was worried that she might go deaf after this.

Kara hit Ness directly, her flames engulfing the large water and ice pokemon. Ness let out a wail of pain, her perish song ending, though its effects would remain.

Ness was going to put up protect, but before she could even think of it she was ablaze once more. Kara was hitting her in the face and throat with multiple punches, but rather than using the move fire punch she was unleashing a barrage of flare blitz-boosted strikes, each one taking out a chunk of her health. But for Ness, far more than a chunk had been taken. Kara turned and slammed her burning tail into the side of Ness's throat, knocking her over, and she delivered a powerful kick to the pokemon's belly.

"Lap-!" Ness gasped, skidding across the battlefield. She'd taken some blows earlier in the match, but nothing compared to the sheer rampage of Caelia's Charizard.

"Return," Will said, recalling his Lapras. This was fine. They would be fine. He still had a pokemon left, his Umbreon, and that Charizard was almost unconscious. Nick's Nidorino only had a few moves left before it would succumb, but that should be enough.

"Luna, go," Will ordered, sending out his Umbreon. Though the small black pokemon faced a terrifying Charizard, she remained calm and composed, standing before the torrent of flames as the picture of sereneness.

"One more," Caelia growled.

"Charizard!" Kara roared, her body beginning to glow with an orange light. She prepared to unleash a powerful fire blast, her health too weak to rely on flare blitz.

"Nidorino," Nick glanced at his pokemon. Nidorino was still in fighting condition, but there was no way he could get close enough to that monster without getting taken out. Charmeleon had gone down in a single hit, and he'd resisted fire moves! That only left one choice. "Go after James and Cynthia."

"Nido," Nidorino nodded, his horn throbbing with poisonous energy. He could already feel his body starting to weaken from the perish song, but before he was out completely he was going to do as much damage as he could.

"Caelia!" Cynthia shouted, Caelia snapping out of her fugue. What did that girl want now?

"Caelia, take out the Nidorino!"

"Why?!" Caelia snarled, Kara already preparing to strike the Umbreon.

"Just DO IT, trust me!" Cynthia shouted. "I'm your teammate, right?! So trust me!"

"…Fine," Caelia muttered. "Kara, the Nidorino."

Kara whirled around and unleashed a blast of flames at the poison pokemon just as Will's Umbreon leapt at her. Will raised an eyebrow. He'd been preparing to use quick attack to dodge, and waste the Charizard's time, but apparently Cynthia had seen right through it. The fire blast rolled across the battlefield and caught Nidorino by surprising, engulfing him before he had the chance to dodge. With the sunlight at its fullest and blaze active, Nidorino was taken out in a single hit. And with Abby in no condition to continue fighting, this knocked Nick out of the battle along with him.

Luna kicked Kara in the face, sending her stumbling back, the recoil from her repeated flare blitz attacks beginning to catch up with her.

"Now, finish with foul play," Will ordered. The circles on Luna's body began glowing and darkness surrounded her, drawing in energy from the enraged Charizard and using her overwhelming power for this attack. She lunged forward and struck Kara with her claws, a pulse of darkness knocking the powerful pokemon over.

"CHARIZARD!" Kara let out one last roar of defiance as she toppled over, losing consciousness. Caelia was out of the battle as well.

"Umbre…" Luna panted. She turned her attention to the last pokemon standing, James and his trainer, Cynthia. James' soundproofing had rendered him immune to the effects of perish song. No tricks this time. Cynthia and Will had both lost their partners, and were down to their final pokemon.

"A real battle now, huh?" Cynthia grinned, turning on the diagonal to face off against Will.

Caelia said nothing. She recalled Kara and turned to leave.

"Caelia!" Cynthia stopped her. Caelia turned to face her.

"Not yet. We're teammates, remember. It's important that you watch how I fight. Win or lose, our mistakes in this match were made because we didn't act in unison with our teammate. (Well, Caelia didn't, but Cynthia didn't want to play the blame game while she was making a point.)"

Caelia didn't reply, but she didn't leave, either.

"If you're mad you lost your pokemon, then learn how to work better with me and then next time we won't have to, 'kay?" Cynthia grinned.

Caelia remained silent, but this time answered Cynthia's request with a nod, keeping her eye on the battle.

Nick was also feeling a little down, having recalled his Nidorino. He watched Will, wishing he could have been a bit more help. Each of his pokemon had been taken out in a single powerful hit that he hadn't been able to stop.

"Nick."

Nick glanced away to see Callie approaching him. She looked up into his eyes and took his hands in hers.

"You did your best. Remember when Abby stole those buffs from Cynthia's Gligar? That was so cool. I don't think anyone expected you to do that well. You don't need to feel bad."

Nick didn't have a lot of self-esteem. And yet Callie praised every small success he had, staring at him with those kind eyes of hers. She really knew just how to make him feel better. He smiled, and nodded his head.

Will took stock of the situation. Both Luna and the Loudred had gotten through the match unscathed before now. The Loudred was big and bulky while Luna was fast. Would that be enough?

"Luna, use confuse ray!" Will ordered. Luna nodded her head and opened her mouth, an orb of glowing light flickering in front of her.

"James, eyes closed!" Cynthia immediately ordered. She smirked at Will.

"Our friend Julia has an Umbreon, too. We've fought confuse rays before, ourselves!"

Loudred can lose hearing temporarily by powerful sonic moves, Will remembered. But when they CAN hear, they can locate things in dark caves using echolocation. He doesn't NEED to see with his eyes. In that case…

"Luna, use quick attack."

Luna ran forward and began circling James, keeping her eyes on him the entire time.

"Your Umbreon's definitely fast," Cynthia nodded. "James, screech!"

James opened his mouth and released a loud screech. Would the sonic attacks never end?

Luna winced, her speed dropping as she stumbled, the deafening sounds weakening her ability to defend herself.

"James, to the left! Supersonic!"

James' eyes snapped open and he turned, sending a compressed blast of eerie sounds.

"Luna, dodge and use foul play," Will ordered. Luna evaded the supersonic and charged forward, using her opponent's attacking power to boost her own.

"Low kick!" Cynthia ordered. Will hadn't seen that move coming, but it wasn't an issue. James went own low and swung his foot to knock Luna off balance, and she countered by jumping, driving her claws down into his flesh.

"LOOUUD!" James roared in pain, dark energy surging into him.

"James! Fling him off!"

James swung his large arms, shaking Luna off. The swift pokemon landed on her feet, but she was hit in the face with a blast of sonic energy as she touched the ground. James had used a hyper voice at close range, loud enough to stun the Umbreon as it deafened him.

James reeled from the recoil of unleashing such a powerful sonic move, his ears ringing. He couldn't hear his trainers' orders but he could see his opponent, stunned into motionlessness, and knew what to do. Lumbering forward, he caught the weakened Umbreon in the face with a low kick, punting her into the air. Luna tumbled and hit the ground hard, losing consciousness. That was all he needed. After weakening the opponent with a screech attack, one good fighting move was all he had needed to do to end the match. James panted, still a little woozy from the hearing loss and the pain of the foul play attack, but the match was over.

"Damn," Will sighed, recalling Luna as Cynthia called back her Loudred.

"Whoaaa! That was rough!" Cynthia sighed, collapsing into a crouch. She fanned herself with her hand and glanced up at Caelia.

"What do you think, Caelia? Pretty cool, right?"

Caelia didn't reply.

"Well, we did our best," Will sighed, walking over to Nick. "I guess we were just a few steps behind."

"Sorry, if I had been more help…" Nick started, but Will held up his hand and shrugged.

"I was the one who blew it when it really mattered. Don't even worry about it. We both tried our hardest, we just didn't win this one. Let's get our pokemon healed up and then look for someone else, sound good?"

"Sounds like a plan," Nick agreed, nodding his head.

Callie sighed. At least Nick wasn't feeling down, right? That was good.

So, the first battle is over! I'm going to try and make these battles only take 1-2 chapters, that's in everyone's best interest I think.