The tournament continues! This time, we'll catch up with Sango and Maddi, and see what they're getting up to! Will Sango be able to do well in her first official tournament, having what little battle experience she has?

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

Pokemonking0924: To be fair, Marion is not the beacon of rational thinking, I wouldn't trust her out of hand, either. I agree, Elaina will probably need to be taught a lesson through force, rather than a rational discourse. But who can say?

Hellraiserphoenix: Welcome back! You've been missed! I'm glad you're happy for Blake and Ayame, they're so cute together! As for harmonia, it varies from person to person. Some people, like Kanone and Kitty, don't have any affinity for a certain type. Other people, like Marion, Elaina, and Gwen, their powers tend to work better with certain types of pokemon. To what extent they can interact with others varies.

Thunder Fire: Maybe, but Nikita actually met the woman in question.

Aquahaze675: We're going to find out soon. And no, Elaina won't be easy to help. This ain't a shonen anime where we can talk-no-jutsu someone out of years of isolation, brainwashing, and trauma.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 308

"So why are we going this way?" Maddi asked. She and Sango were heading down the path towards one of the beaches on campus. "It's winter, don't you think it's a little cold to be going to the beach?"

"We're not going there to swim," Sango said. "We're going to meet someone."

"Who?" Maddi asked, confused.

"Uh… a… a friend? Yeah, I guess she's technically a friend… see, she's something of an expert on water pokemon, and since I'm using the Ice type team, and that team has a Cloyster on it, I was hoping she could give me some pointers on how to use him," Sango explained. "It's worth a shot, at any rate, don't you think?"

"…Is that why you had me bring these?" Maddi asked, looking down to the other three pokeballs on her belt, that accompanied her normal team of three.

"…That's for slightly… different reasons," Sango said, unable to meet Maddi's inquisitive eye. Marion deserved a little bit of a treat, right?

Maddi shrugged, and followed after Sango.

"Marion!" Sango called as the aquarium and the dock came into view. "You fishing?"

Assuming that Marion was in her usual "Fishing Focus" mode and not paying any attention to the world around her, Sango didn't really expect a response. But for once, Marion wasn't actually fishing, she was busy talking with Kitty. So when Sango called out to her, she actually perked up, and turned her way.

"Sango!" Marion's face lit up and she leapt to her feet, sprinting down the dock. Her previous serious attitude was lost. She ran past Nikita and threw herself onto Sango, hugging her tightly. She rubbed her tan cheek against Sango's, giggling.

"H-hey, Marion," Sango laughed.

"Hey yourself! And hey, Silver!" Marion said, turning to Silver and giving him a wave.

"Castform!" Silver greeted her back.

"So what brings you here?" Marion asked. Her attentive eyes turned to Maddi. "Oh, and who's your friend?"

Maddi stared at Marion in shock. That was Marion Rivers. One of the Four Holy Swords of the Pokemon Academy. The Mermaid of the Daevas. And she was cuddling up to Sango like a clingy Growlithe, fawning all over her.

Sango knew Marion Rivers? Maddi couldn't believe it was possible, but there she was, right in front of her.

"Maddi?" Kitty said, surprised. She and Nikita walked up to the other girls. "What are you and Sango doing here?"

Sango turned to Maddi, raising an eyebrow.

"So not just Cynthia, you're friends with Nikita and Kitty, too? Am I the ONLY one of my friends who hadn't met you already?"

Maddi shrugged her shoulders.

"You never told me you knew Marion Rivers," Maddi replied.

"Yup! That's me! Marion Rivers! Nice ta meetcha!" Marion said, grabbing Maddi's hand and shaking it vigorously. "So you're Maddi? I can call you that, right? Hey, Maddi, do you like fishing, by any chance? It's super fun! Hey, let's all go fishing!"

"Uh, no thanks, not right now," Maddi said, shaking her head. "Sango, get to the point."

Marion turned to Sango. She felt something coming off the girl. But no, it couldn't be…

"Sango?" Marion drew closer to her. She reached around Sango's waist, Sango's face turning bright red.

"Hey! What are you doing?!" Sango protested.

"There! I knew it!" Marion stepped back, unhooking the pokeball from Sango's waist and presenting it to everyone.

Kitty and Nikita gasped.

"That's a pokeball!" Nikita stated the obvious.

"Why does Sango have a pokeball?" Kitty asked.

"It is a pokeball!" Marion confirmed, nodding her head. "And not only that, but…"

Marion pressed the button on the pokeball, the small object opening up in a flash of light and releasing the pokemon within it.

"Cloyster?" Sango's rented Cloyster looked to her in confusion, not sure why he had been sent out like this.

"It's a Cloyster!" Marion exclaimed. She threw her arms around the pokemon's thick shell and rubbed up against it, giggling. "Aww, it's so cool! That tough shell, that shining black pearl, what an amazing fishy! But Sango, why do you have it?"

"Uh… it's a long story," Sango said, averting her eyes. Marion's blue eyes were shining hopefully as she looked at Sango.

"You finally came around," she said, resisting the urge to burst out into tears of joy. "You finally, finally came to see the light of the greatness of fish pokemon…"

"That is so NOT what's happening," Sango said, shaking her head. "I'm just renting him, that's all. It's not like he's my pokemon, right Shell? Maddi?"

"Cloyster!"

Maddi nodded in agreement.

"But why are you renting a pokemon?" Kitty asked.

Sango glanced at Maddi.

"Because… Maddi and I… we're taking part in the Pokemon Tag Tournament, that's why!"

Kitty and Nikita gasped.

"What?! Really?" Kitty exclaimed.

"But you don't fight with pokemon, right?" Nikita asked. "So why would you…"

"Because of what happened in Galar," Sango said quietly. "I… I wasn't able to help at all. So… even if I'm not planning to be a pokemon trainer… I don't think it's smart to just keep avoiding battling with pokemon altogether, like…"

Nikita nodded. She understood where Sango was coming from all too well. Galar had led her to acknowledge her own weakness, and her desire to become a better trainer. It made sense that Sango, who hadn't even been able to fight against those terrorists, would be feeling just as insignificant, if not even more so.

"So, you two are fighting together? That's so cool!" Marion gushed. "And you're the one who lent her these pokemon, I assume? Awesome! A cool fishy friend for Sango is just the tops! Thank you so much, Maddi! I could kiss you!"

"…Please don't," Maddi said, still unaware of Marion's jocular nature. She was honestly a little uncomfortable about all of this. Being a transfer student, she still wasn't fully caught up to the power dynamics going on around the Pokemon Academy. She knew that the Commander and the Phantom were the ones vying for the most raw power among the Daevas, and she'd also heard that in terms of financial backing, influence, and connections, the Empress dwarfed the both of them. But Marion Rivers, the Mermaid? All Maddi knew was that she was the center of the Caretakers and the Rangers, the two smallest classes on campus. And that she didn't really do that much in terms of spreading her influence around. The girl in front of her? If Maddi hadn't known better she wouldn't have called her as being a Daeva.

Hell, she wouldn't have called her as being entirely sane.

"Hey, Sango, about what we agreed-"

Marion was already upon her though, so far up in her personal space Maddi had to take more than a few steps away just to feel comfortable, backing away to the edge of the water. And even then, her comfort was rather superfluous. She was uneasy, being around this girl. Not just because she had the bubbly, clingy, insensitive personality not unlike Cynthia, a personality that Maddi could barely tolerate, though that was part of it. But mainly because Maddi was one of the Commander's lieutenants, that meant Marion was technically one of her group's staunchest opponents. That look she was giving her… the look of suspicion, like she was trying to figure out something about Maddi… could it be that she suspected Maddi's allegiance? Had Sango told her something about her association with the Commander? Probably not, but if Marion didn't suspect that Maddi was one of her enemies, the what other reason could she have to-s

"I can feel it! You positively smell of fish pokemon!" Marion chirped, her face brightening. "I can just tell, totally!"

"Uh, what? I smell like WHAT?" Maddi said, sniffing at her clothes desperately. Although she liked to pretend that she didn't care about her appearances, being told that she stank of fish was something that she wasn't comfortable with.

"No, not like that, silly!" Marion laughed. "Not that kind of smell! I just mean that I just feel a bunch of fishies around you, ya know?"

"…Oh."

"Yeah, actually, Maddi and I wanted to show you some of her pokemon," Sango said. "We figured you'd like them!"

She didn't include the part where she'd planned to bribe Marion with them if the girl wasn't willing to help after just seeing Cloyster.

"Fishies? For me?! Oh, you girls are the best!" Marion practically exploded with joy, throwing herself at Maddi in an attempt to hug her, the antisocial girl stepping out of the way just in time.

"Fine, fine, I'll show you, but no hugging," Maddi said, glaring at Sango. Sango shot her an apologetic look and shrugged. Marion was Marion.

Maddi took her three pokeballs off of her belt, and released her Water team from within them, the pokemon landing in the bay behind her.

The first pokemon to materialize was a large jellyfish-like pokemon with a black body and countless long, gray tentacles. Its head was a large blue crown above his eyes, two large ruby-colored jewels glistening on either side of his head. Blue fans curled under his body.

The next pokemon was a dark blue fish, with long yellow whiskers and a yellow "W" on her forehead. She had a big, dopey smile on her face, bobbing in the waves, her light-blue fins keeping her above the surface as she swam in the water.

The final pokemon wasn't a fish, or even that aquatic-looking, but was still clearly a water-type. Her round body was a light blue transitioning in a white underside, and she bobbed in the water, a large blue float of a tail floating beside her, her rabbit ears twitching.

"Tentacruel! And Whiscash! And Azumarill, too! They're all so adorable!" Marion cooed, running to the edge of the water, her eyes wide with excitement. The water pokemon gathered around her and she patted them on the heads each in turn.

"…She's clearly in a good mood," Sango laughed dryly, cracking a smile.

"So Sango… you're taking part in the tag tournament?" Kitty said, still surprised. She walked over to the pokemon Sango had used. "And you're using a Cloyster…"

"Cloyster!" Shell said, smirking confidently at the short girl.

"Yup! And not only that, but I'm going to do the best that I can!" Sango said. "Maddi and I, we're really going to give it our best! That's why I borrowed a whole team of ice type pokemon from her, to use in the tournament."

"Borrowing her pokemon?" Nikita said, walking up to Sango. "What about catching your own? I know it would take some time to train them, but-"

Sango cut her off by raising her hand, shaking her head.

"No, I… I don't want to do something like that," she replied. She turned to Silver.

"Silver's my partner. I don't… I don't want to catch pokemon. Owning pokemon… that just doesn't feel like me. I'll borrow them, and fight with them, but actually catching one is, well… I just don't know if I can do it, you know?" Sango turned back to the girls and gave out a sheepish chuckle, scratching the back of her head.

Nikita didn't get it, but Kitty understood.

"In that case, since you guys are trying your hardest for the tournament…" Kitty said quietly, staring up into Sango's eyes, "can we fight?"

"Huh?" Nikita blinked, surprised.

"Us? Like, me and Maddi against you and Nikita?" Sango asked, just as surprised as Nikita was. She hadn't considered the idea of fighting Kitty in the slightest, she thought they were just talking normally, like they always did.

"Yeah," Kitty said, nodding. Her red eyes were shining eagerly.

"Look, I don't know if you think this is gonna be some easy victory because I'm an amateur, but I'm going to give you a good fight," Sango warned her.

Kitty shook her head vigorously.

"No, no, nothing like that!" She protested. "I'm just trying to get better, and that means fighting against anyone I can! Even you, Sango!"

"What's this now?" Maddi walked up to the three girls. "Do you guys want to battle the two of us? Well, that should be interesting…"

A small smile crossed Maddi's face.

Sango glanced at Kitty and Nikita, and swallowed. Her first battle of the tournament… since yesterday, she'd had several more matches against Maddi. But this would be the first time she was fighting against someone else.

"What about you, Nikita, you up for it?" Sango asked, turning towards the quieter girl, who hadn't really said much on the topic.

Nikita glanced at Kitty. She suspected this would be Sango's first match in the tournament, since it had only started this morning, and this would be their first match, too. She wasn't sure if she WAS ready for this, but what she knew was that this apprehension was part of what she was like before.

Nikita swallowed, and nodded her head. "Y-yeah. Let's do this!"

She wasn't sure if this was the best way to start things, but that meant it probably was. She was trying to be a tougher battler, and that meant doing things that she wasn't entirely sure of. Besides, this was probably a little easier than challenging some random stranger. She'd gotten to know Maddi decently well over the past month of looking after all their eggs, and she certainly considered Sango to be a friend. So maybe this was something she could look forward to!

Sango glanced at the girls, and nodded, recalling the Cloyster in preparation for the battle that was about to start.

"Then it's decided!" Marion cheered, popping up into the center and startling the other girls. "In fact… I've got the perfect setup, too!"

"Huh?" Everyone turned to Marion, confused.

"Just hold on a sec!" Marion said, running over to where she'd left her bag and other equipment. She fumbled around for a few minutes, and took out a remote control. She pulled out the long antenna and held it up, pressing a button. The water beside the dock began to rumble. Sango took a closer look. That section was roped off, with a sign that read "fishing prohibited" sticking up beside it. That was quite an uncommon thing to see where Marion was concerned.

The water in the enclosure began to swirl, and a dark shadow appeared in it, drawing closer and closer up to the surface. The girls gasped. It was a battlefield, rising up out of the ocean! Water drained out the sides as the strange metal arena rose up from the water, locking into place beside the dock. It was large and wide, and rested just above the surface. The majority of the field was intact, but there were sections across it that were cut out, revealing the waters churning beneath. It was a battlefield big enough to hold four trainers and their pokemon reasonably comfortably, perfect for land-based and aquatic pokemon alike.

Sango was stunned. She had no idea that Marion had her own battlefield!

"Whaddya think?" Marion said, turning back and flashing Sango and the other girls a peace sign. "My own private stadium! Pretty cool, huh? And it's perfect for my fishy friends to battle on, too!"

"Is… is it safe?" Kitty asked worriedly. The stadium was floating in the water, and the waves were slowly slapping against it. It looked like a strong wave might flip the whole thing over, and toss them all into the ocean!

"Perfectly! Come on, why are you hesitating? Come on, come on! If you're going to be using water pokemon, it's the perfect place!" Marion skipped down the dock and grabbed Sango by the hand, pulling her towards the small connected platform.

Sango and Maddi looked at each other, the other two girls equally confused.

"We… don't actually have that many water pokemon, though?" Sango said, turning back to Marion.

Marion's jaw dropped, and she froze in place.

"But, but… Maddi has all those fishies!"

"Those are a rental team," Maddi replied. "I only have one water type on my actual team."

"I don't have any, either," Kitty piped up.

"I have a Totodile, but I'm not sure if I'm using him," Nikita added.

"My pokemon are ice types, Shell is the only water pokemon," Sango finished, slipping free of Marion's grasp.

Marion clenched her heart and fell to her knees, slumping over in dejection.

"S'not fair…" Marion sobbed, tracing her finger along a crease in the dock. "I was looking forward to a battle filled with fishy pokemon… all these adorable fishy pokemon… and no one will battle with them… waaaah…"

Yup, Sango confirmed. Marion's still as annoying as ever.

Marion's eyes widened in realization and she hopped to her feet, grabbing Sango's hands. There was a look of hope in her baby blues that made Sango uneasy.

"You're just renting pokemon from Maddi, right?!"

"…Yes," Sango said, not liking where this was going.

"So that means you can use her Water team instead, right?!" Marion asked eagerly.

Sango was correct to not like the direction this conversation had gone.

"I've been training with her Ice team!"

"But… but fishies!" Marion pleaded, her eyes tearing up. Her lip began to quiver. "You… you don't want to use the fishies…?"

"No, I-"

"But, but… I thought you finally came around to liking fishies… and we could finally be fishing friends… you don't want to?"

Sango couldn't meet Marion's pleading gaze. She was 99% sure that Marion was completely playing her, but she still felt herself unable to refuse her.

Maddi walked up and gave Sango a look. She knew full well what it was like to be dragged around by someone who put her needs ahead of someone else's.

"…Fine," Sango sighed, hanging her head in defeat.

"Yippee!" Marion cheered, pumping her fists into the air in victory. Maddi sighed, and recalled her water pokemon, handing the pokeballs over to Sango. The two headed onto the battlefield. Maddi and Sango took the far side, in the center of the water.

Kitty and Nikita glanced at each other and shrugged, following the other girls up onto the battlefield as well, taking the section closer to the beach.

Marion watched eagerly from the docks, standing right in the center of the stadium like a makeshift referee. Not that she was any judge at all, considering she was probably going to be fawning over Sango's Water pokemon the whole match.

This is what I get for doing something nice for her, Sango thought, her forehead throbbing with irritation. She'd just wanted to show Marion some water pokemon, and now she was forced to use ANOTHER brand-new team she had no experience battling with and would have to learn about the hard way.

It just wasn't fair.

Maybe not, but it should certainly be interesting. Besides, Sango should get used to using different pokemon types, right?