Here's another chapter, where we see the thrilling conclusion of this girls' foursome! Who will win? Who will get thrown in the water and probably have their underwear showing? Find out!
The Finals have begun! The Pokemon Academy Best Girl Finals is heating up, I can't wait to see how it goes. The race is really close, and it's still anyone's game, showing just how great these girls really are. Any one of them deserves the title of Pokemon Academy Best Girl, but only one of them will be able to win! If you haven't voted for your best girl yet, better get those votes in quick! This contest is gonna be a close one it looks like, a single vote makes all the difference! Who will be the Pokemon Academy Best Girl?
Finalists: Sango, Ayame, Marion
Rosealine gold: Hopefully I'll find a good spot to work it in, currently working on a few ideas in the future.
Aquahaze675: Mist doesn't always listen sadly.
Hellraiserphoenix: Yeah, hopefully Kitty will be able to grow enough where people will look at her as a legitimate trainer.
Tambry96bj: If only they could all win, right…
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 312
Both our pokemon are water types… Maddi understood the risk that Bellossom represented. And not only that, but Sango was on her final pokemon, as well.
"Mist, take out that Bellossom," she ordered.
"Seadra!" Mist nodded, her snout flexing. A beam of icy energy shot through the sky, flying towards Magnolia.
"Magnolia, moonblast!" Nikita cried.
"Bell!" Magnolia held her hands up, creating a glowing sphere of energy in front of her. She fired the compressed blast of fairy energy forward, the attack colliding with the approaching ice beam and sending the crackling rays of energy shooting out in all directions. The various flying beams froze the parts of the stadium they hit, and Marisa and Bubbles both had to be careful not to get hit by the stray attacks.
Hmm, so her speed is good, but the attack lacks power, Maddi observed. She couldn't completely counter the ice beam, only divert its energy into different directions. In that case, we shouldn't have too much difficulty with her…
"Marisa, let's get back in there!" Kitty said, her harmonia flaring back up. "Use your moonblast, as well!"
"Sylveon!" Marisa nodded, creating a moonblast attack of her own, but this one larger and far more destructive than the one Magnolia just fired. But as powerful as the attack might have been, it didn't make a difference.
"Dive down," Maddi ordered, Mist escaping into the water again. Kitty scowled.
"Hiding in the water didn't work last time," Kitty reminded her. "Marisa, use secret power to attack the water itself!"
"Sylv!" Marisa began glowing with energy, a blue aura surging around her.
"Bubbles, use aqua jet to knock her off of her balance!" Sango ordered. Bubbles shot forward and slammed in Marisa, hitting her in the face with a powerful water-boosted tackle that made Kitty hold her nose in pain.
"Now, Mist, aid Bubbles from below the water, keep her covered so they can't get the drop on her!" Maddi added.
Mist popped up from another pool of water, this one behind Magnolia, and fired another ice beam attack. It nearly hit the small grass pokemon, but a long ribbon wrapped around her waist and pulled her to the side, just barely dodging the move.
"Sylveon!" Marisa called out to her teammate, bringing Magnolia beside her. The grass pokemon understood quite well was Marisa was after, and nodded her head.
"Bellossom!" Magnolia agreed. She climbed onto Marisa's back and held on tightly, the small pink pokemon dodging the Seadra's attacks with her quick attack.
We let that Azumarill get the drop on us before, but not this time, Kitty narrowed her eyes, and focused her energy into her feet. She used her harmonia to crank up Marisa's speed, to the point where she could run circles around the large blue pokemon.
"Damn, that's clever," Maddi said, biting the nail of her thumb in frustration.
"What's going on?" Sango asked, still not sure what Maddi was upset about.
"Right now, with that Bellossom riding on that Sylveon's back, they've taken out one of their weak spots," Maddi replied. "That Sylveon is fast, but it's difficult to attack when it's using that speed, since it's relying on quick attack. So when it tries to charge something else, that's an opportunity for Mist or Bubbles to counter with an attack of our own. Meanwhile, that Bellossom can fire off attacks, but she's vulnerable to being counterattacked herself, it looks like. But with this combination, that Sylveon can do all the running and dodging for both of them, while that Bellossom fires off attacks at our pokemon."
Maddi smirked, looking over at Kitty.
"Quite a crafty strategy, I must say."
Kitty smiled shyly, but inside she felt a little guilty. It had been Marisa's idea to let Magnolia ride her, and not Kitty's.
"We've got to cut off their movements," Sango decided. "Bubbles! Use bubblebeam to cover the battlefield, so they won't be able to maneuver as well!"
"Good idea!" Maddi agreed. "Mist, use your bubblebeam attack as well!"
"Seadra!" Mist popped up out of the water and flexed her snout, while Bubbles took a deep breath, and pumped up her cheeks.
Both pokemon spat out wide streams of bubbles, covering the field in a cloud of floating mines that would detonate with a single touch, pinning Marisa and Magnolia down. They could run all over the place with these bubbles around, could they?
"Kitty, you just keep running," Nikita said, glancing to Kitty. "Magnolia and I will take care of those bubbles!"
Kitty nodded her head. "Marisa!"
Marisa lowered her head and ran forward, the cloud of bubbles swirling closer to her as she did, trying to pin the two pokemon down.
"Magnolia, use petal dance!" Nikita ordered.
"Bellossom!" Magnolia held her hands up, struggling to keep her balance, and large petals tore off from her skirt, swirling around the two pokemon. A cloud of petals struck the cloud of bubbles, slicing into them and chaining off explosions that left Marisa unharmed as she ran through them, charging straight at Bubbles.
"Bubbles, dodge them with aqua jet!" Sango shouted. Bubbles wrapped water around her body and shot to the side, the storm of petals flying past her. Marisa spun around, Magnolia sending more petals flying in Bubbles' direction, just as she stopped. As fast as she was, it was difficult for Bubbles to turn on a dime like the more nimble Marisa, and now she found herself with a powerful grass move flying towards her.
"Mist!" Maddi called out.
A wall of water erupted around Bubbles, spinning in a massive water spout. The raging whirlpool smacked the leaves aside with its torrent of water, moving too fast to pierce through. The whirlpool died down a few seconds later, revealing a completely unharmed Bubbles.
"Thanks for the save, Maddi!" Sango nodded. Mist was in the hole in the arena beside Bubbles, having protected Bubbles with his whirlpool attack.
"Any time," Maddi nodded back. "Now, ice beam!"
This time, Mist listened, firing a powerful ice beam over Bubbles' shoulder, the beam shooting straight towards Marisa.
"That won't be enough!" Kitty shouted, her eyes flashing. Marisa opened her mouth, and an orb of fairy light began glowing between her teeth, growing larger and larger. She fired it at the ice beam, and the comparison between Magnolia's moonblast and Marisa's was clear to see. Where Magnolia's attack had caused the ice beam's energy to be deflected, Marisa's simply plowed right through it, barreling across the battlefield and colliding with Bubbles, knocking her into the water. Thanks to her fairy typing, though, Bubbles wasn't that injured.
"Phew," Kitty said, wiping her forehead. She was running out of gas. "Marisa!"
She could tell from her connection that the attrition was starting to get to Marisa, too.
"Sango," Nikita said, running over to Sango. "I've been thinking, and I've come up with a plan. What do you think?"
Kitty listened to the idea Nikita whispered into her ear, her eyes widening. She nodded, her lips curling into a smile.
"That's great! We can get them even if they're in the water that way!"
"Right?" Nikita asked, excited. "But before that, Magnolia locked in petal dance…"
"Bell…" It was clear that the backlash of the petal dance was about to get to her.
"Not a problem," Kitty said, shaking her head. Marisa and Magnolia began glowing with a bright white light.
"Huh?" Nikita gasped, surprised.
"With our safeguard, you're totally protected from confusion!" Kitty reassured her. "And now, it's time to strike!"
Nikita nodded. "Yeah, you heard her, Magnolia! Use grassy terrain!"
"Bellossom!" Magnolia leapt off of Marisa's back and held her hands up, landing on the ground. When she touched the ground, a green light shot across it, covering the field in a bright green glow. Slowly, razor-thin blades of grass sprouted out, growing over the edges of the arena and around the water holes.
"What's the point of that?" Sango asked, confused.
"It'll power up her grass moves," Maddi replied. "Plus, as long as pokemon are standing on the grass, their health will be restored."
Meaning Mist is out of luck, since he's in the water.
"Azu?" Bubbles tilted her head… body… to the side in confusion, feeling her energy slowly get restored.
"Feeling better?" Nikita asked Kitty. Kitty nodded.
"And that's not all, our grass moves have been boosted!" Nikita said. "Magnolia! Giga drain!"
Magnolia's body began glowing green, and she ran towards Bubbles, holding her hands out to try and drain the pokemon's newly recovered strength.
"Aqua jet!"
Bubbles shot to the side, out of range of Magnolia's giga drain, only having a few slivers of health drained, much to Magnolia's frustration. Bubbles circled around her, drawing her attention, as Mist prepared to strike.
"Don't think we'll fall for that," Kitty said. "Marisa!"
As Mist surfaced for another ice beam, Marisa prepared a moon blast. But much to her surprise, that wasn't at all what Mist had in mind. Mist's eyes shot to Marisa, and a blast of scalding water erupted out of the pool, the steaming torrent curling into a tidal wave surging across the battlefield towards Marisa and Magnolia.
"Syvleon!" Marisa cried, firing the moon blast at the wave of water. The attack punched a hole right through the center, but the rest kept coming.
"Marisa!" Kitty cried out, focusing her harmonia. There was still a big gap in the waves, and if Marisa wanted to avoid being hit, then she would have to jump through it. Marisa leapt forward, the waves of boiling water passing around her. Unfortunately, she didn't have the time to bring Magnolia with her, the pokemon taking a few hits of boiling water. They didn't do much damage, but the pain caused her to break her concentration.
"There it is," Maddi grinned.
Through Marisa's eyes and her own, Kitty saw what was happening. Marisa had leapt up through the hole she'd cut in the wave, but that had made her vulnerable. There was only one direction to pass through, and now her Sylveon was in the air. Which was precisely where Mist was aiming a powerful hydro pump.
"Marisa!" Kitty cried, bracing herself for impact. There was nowhere for Marisa to dodge in the air, Mist had baited her into a trap to pin her down.
"Seadra!" Mist spat a tightly compressed blast of roaring water, hitting Marisa directly with the strongest water move she could. To Kitty it felt like being hit by truck, rather than something in liquid form. She had no idea water could hurt that much.
"Ow…" she coughed, her chest aching.
Marisa was knocked out of the sky and crashed onto the ground, letting out a wail of pain.
"Bell!" Magnolia turned to her teammate, which gave Bubbles the opening she needed. She shot forward with another aqua jet and slammed into Magnolia, knocking her aside and slamming her into the water.
"Magnolia!" Nikita cried.
"Mist, that Sylveon is running out of energy," Maddi said. "Escape underwater and find another avenue to strike at her."
"Seadra," Mist nodded, preparing to dive.
"No!" Kitty shouted. She was lying on her side, but Marisa's eyes still snapped open and her body began glowing green, a surge of energy running through the ground. The grass around the edges of the pool grew longer, twisting into vines, that stretched out and wrapped around Mist as she tried to dive, squeezing down on her tightly and lifting her up into the air.
"Mist!" Maddi cried. "What-"
"Thanks to the change in terrain, Marisa's secret power has changed as well," Kitty explained. The vines squeezed down tighter on the water pokemon.
"Mist, fight back!" Maddi ordered.
A battle of stamina, huh? Kitty frowned. She wasn't certain she could win, as Mist was gathering water up again to slam into her.
"Don't worry, Maddi!" Sango said. "Bubbles! Hit her with your aqua tail!"
"Azumarill!" Bubbles charged forward, a whirlpool of water swirling around her tail. She hit the prone Sylveon in the side. Marisa let out a cry of pain, coughing, an act mirrored by her trainer.
"Sylv…" Marisa could feel the energy draining from her. With the last of her strength, she turned her gaze to the sky, a star shooting across it even in the middle of the day. With that, she fainted.
"Sorry…" Kitty apologized, recalling Marisa. The Sylveon had done her best. The vines wrapped around mist receded, and the Seadra fell onto the grass. But she wasn't flopping around like one would expect. She was… asleep?
"Mist?" Maddi asked.
"Secret power," Kitty explained, panting. "On grass… it puts… pokemon… to sleep…"
Mist wouldn't be able to fight while sleeping. Maddi recalled her snoozing pokemon, and sent Cynder back out.
Magnolia managed to climb out of the water, her skirt soaked and her face enflamed with anger. Suddenly, she began glowing, her injuries healed up.
"Huh?" Nikita blinked. "Magnolia? What's going on?"
"I had Marisa use wish," Kitty replied. "Can't have you fall just yet, partner."
Nikita smiled and nodded gratefully.
"Kitty are you okay? You able to keep going?" Sango asked.
Kitty wiped a drip of blood from her nose and nodded, smiling.
"We aren't done yet!"
Sango nodded back.
"Meomo, go!"
Kitty sent out her last pokemon, her Persian.
"We'll start off strong! Meomo, seed bomb!" Kitty shouted, her eyes flashing. Meomo puffed up his cheeks, and spat out a massive seed that flew straight towards Bubbles.
"Fast, but not fast enough," Sango said. "Aqua jet!"
Bubbles shot forward, ducking under the seeds as they exploded behind her.
"Petal dance!" Nikita ordered. Magnolia sent a swirl of petals towards Bubbles, trying to cut through her protective water.
"Ember, Cynder."
"Cynda!" Cynder spat a blast of embers from his mouth, the flames spreading wide (though they were weak) and hitting the petals, turning the tornado into a fire storm, which hit the water and sputtered out into ashes.
"They both have strong grass attacks," Sango said.
"I know, Cynder can tank one or two, but with this terrain…" a wicked smile crossed Maddi's face. She just had a great idea.
"Cynder, use flame wheel!"
"Cynda!" Cynder curled up into a ball, flames leaping from her back as she rolled across the battlefield, and the grassy terrain lit up like a tinderbox. The blades of grass caught fire immediately, and the flames quickly began to spread, before the whole field was lit up.
"Peeerr!" Meomo wailed in pain as his paws were scorched. Kitty felt searing pain in her palms and the soles of her feet, stifling a cry.
"BEEEEEEEEEEELLL!" Magnolia was in much worse shape. While Meomo was hurt from the attack, he was a normal pokemon and that meant he didn't take nearly the damage that Magnolia did. Both Meomo and Magnolia jumped into the water to avoid the blaze, but that was just were Bubbles wanted them. Neither pokemon had much mobility in water, and with the pain as a distraction that meant they were sitting ducks.
"Bubbles, time to play rough!"
"Azuuuu!" Bubbles leapt from the flames, power surging through her body. She raised her fists, and delivered a flurry of powerful punches down on the Persian and Bellossom.
"Magnolia! Moonblast on the water!" Nikita shouted. Enduring the flurry of attacks, Magnolia gather fairy energy in her hands, and released it in a blast that hit the water and knocked all three of them into the air.
"Perfect!" Kitty said. "Meomo, iron tail!"
Steel energy gathered around Meomo's tail as he spun through the air, and he slammed it into Bubbles, knocking her down at the burning battlefield.
"Bubbles, counter with aqua tail!" Sango ordered. Water converged around Bubbles' tail, and she swung it towards the flames, the spray of water causing them to sputter and die, opening up a small area of charred floor where she could land. Bubbles coiled her tail like a spring, the float buffering her fall, and she landed gently on her feet.
The flames died down a few seconds later, the short blades of grass having burned out completely, leaving nothing but a badly scorched battlefield. Meomo landed on his paws, letting out a hiss of pain, while Magnolia crashed into the ground, wailing.
"No more grassy terrain," Nikita decided, not wanting to go through that again.
"My… my precious arena…" Marion wailed, her big blue eyes welling up with tears.
"Sorry, Marion," Sango apologized.
Cynder stopped spinning, the flames having been completely extinguished. Setting her eyes on the badly injured Magnolia, she opened her mouth, and fired a stream of fire at her.
"Meomo!"
Meomo leapt in front of the injured Bellossom, opening his mouth. His eyes glowed white, and large crystals appeared in the air around her, glowing with powerful light. She fired the power gem attack forwards, breaking through the spiralling embers and shooting right at Cynder.
"Bubbles, counter it with bubblebeam," Sango ordered. A flurry of bubbles appeared between Cynder and the power gems, a shockwave of explosions shattering the gems into small sparkles of dust. Cynder fired another ember attack immediately, as Bubbles ran forward to join the fray.
"Magnolia, use synthesis to recover your health," Nikita ordered. Magnolia rose to her feet, the sunlight above intensifying and her body glowing, her wounds healing. She began to recover and climbed to her feet, shaking. She wasn't out of the battle just yet.
"Don't let her, Bubbles! Use aqua jet to get past that Persian and hit her!"
"Azumarill!" Bubbles nodded, coating herself in a veil of water and charging around the Persian.
"Meomo, don't let her get away," Kitty shouted. Meomo nodded, his body disappearing.
"That's faint attack!" Maddi cried out. "Watch out, Sango!"
"Bubbles, she's going to come out somewhere!" Sango shouted, having seen faint attack be used a few times before. And indeed, Meomo did reappear right above where Bubbles was running, timed just perfect to dig his claws into the pokemon's back as she ran past.
"Azu!" Bubbles let out a yelp of pain as Kitty winced, feeling the water scrape across her hands. Meomo dug his claws in deeper, and Kitty could feel her nails digging into flesh.
"Bubbles, try to shake her off," Sango shouted.
"No, keep him occupied," Maddi snapped.
"What?"
"Do it!"
"R-right! Bubbles, grab him!"
Bubbles twisted her body and slammed Meomo into the ground, the cat pokemon letting out a cry of pain. Bubbles grappled with him, twisting around and trying to force through the pain of the cat pokemon's claws, struggling as long as she could to let Maddi's plan take action.
"Cynder, flame wheel!" As Magnolia was recovering her health, Cynder charged forward, rolling into a ball, flames dancing around her body. She hit Magnolia, now that she was no longer being protected by Meomo, and knocked her backwards, the flames leaping up around Magnolia's body as she began to burn.
"Magnolia!" Nikita cried.
"No!" Kitty gasped. She hated to admit it, but things weren't going as well for them as she would have liked. Meomo could handle one of the pokemon, but Magnolia was in too bad of condition to fight back against the Cyndaquil, as the pokemon was barraging her with type weakness attacks.
I can't fight two pokemon while protecting her… Kitty felt horrible for thinking Magnolia was a liability, but as she watched Magnolia struggle to stand up she had to admit it was true. She was too inexperienced, and didn't have the speed or power to do much damage. Maybe with some training, but right now she just wasn't-
"Sorry," Nikita whispered. Kitty glanced at her, surprised. "If we were stronger, then…"
"No, no," Kitty said, shaking her head. "You're wrong! We're a team, don't worry about something like that, Nikita!"
"You… you aren't upset that we can't fight better?" Nikita asked, surprised.
"Not at all," Kitty said, smiling at Nikita. "We'll do our best as a team! We still a trump card to play, don't worry!"
Nikita blinked.
"A trump card?"
Kitty nodded, turning back to Meomo, her eyes flashing.
"Meomo!" Kitty shouted. "Return!"
Light began shining around Meomo's body, and Bubbles' eyes widened. Meomo pushed up, blasting her with a shockwave of power that sent Bubbles soaring through the air, crashing into the water outside of the battlefield.
"What was that?!" Sango exclaimed, whipping her head over her shoulder to see her Azumarill swimming towards them as fast as possible with her aqua jet.
The light around Meomo faded and she rose to her feet, snarling at Cynder.
That return attack was unreal… Maddi felt her throat dry. Kitty looked like she was almost out of energy… how much damage could she have done if she was on full stamina?
"Per!" Meomo snarled, running towards Cynder to give Magnolia some time to heal up with synthesis.
"Cynder, use smokescreen," Maddi ordered. Cynder puffed her cheeks out and exhaled a large cloud of smoke right into Meomo's face, blinding her and filling her lungs with choking smoke, causing both trainer and pokemon to start coughing.
"Now, Cynder, use your leer attack!"
Using leer, Cynder could see a little clearer through the smoke, particularly allowing her to make out Magnolia, whose synthesis attack was making her glow like a beacon. Cynder knew what to do next. She rolled into a ball and ran forward, curling up and hitting Magnolia, catching her completely off guard. Right before she hit the grass pokemon, Cynder burst into flames, slamming into the healing pokemon with a powerful flame wheel that knocked her backwards, Magnolia crying out in pain. She skidded out of the smoke cloud and rolled across the battlefield, coming to a stop in front of Nikita.
"Sorry, Magnolia," Nikita whispered. She knelt down and cradled her unconscious pokemon, recalling her to her pokeball. She turned to Kitty.
"Sorry, I'm done," she apologized. Kitty shook her head.
"Thank you, you did your best," Kitty smiled. "Leave the rest to us."
Meomo tilted back his head and lead out a loud shriek that rang out over the battlefield, stunning Cynder and reducing her defensive power. Glowing crystals appeared around Meomo's body, lighting up the smoke. He flung them out around him, the stones shooting through the smoke and lighting it up, catching shadows and shapes through the darkness.
Now that we've got a general position… swift! Kitty sent a silent command to Meomo, and the cat pokemon opened his mouth, sending a swirl of sparkling stars out into the smoke. The stars chased through the smoke, and a few seconds later Kitty heard the sounds of energy hitting fur, and a familiar yelp of "Cyndaquil!" coming from somewhere to their left.
"Cynder!" Maddi called through the smoke.
Found you… but we need to be careful! As Kitty merged her senses with Meomo, she felt herself run forward, letting Meomo lead while she tried to remember where she was on the battlefield from her own perspective. There should be a pool of water somewhere ahead… the two veered to the right, skidding around it, and got closer. The sparks from swift attacks hitting were getting brighter and brighter.
There you are! Kitty's eyes snapped open and her harmonia surged, calling for Meomo to use another return attack. Meomo slammed into a small bundle of Cyndaquil, raising his claw, and slamming the fire pokemon down into the ground.
"Cyndaaaaaa!" Cynder wailed in pain. The force of the attack blew the smoke away, and actually pounded a new hole into the battlefield, Cynder crumpling in pain and sinking down into the water, unconscious.
"No!" Kitty gasped, Meomo reaching in latching his teeth gently on the back of Cynder's neck before she could sink, hoisting her out of the water so she wouldn't drown.
"Cynder, return!" Maddi quickly recalled her Cyndaquil. She could send out Mist… but would that even help? Mist was fast asleep…
"Per…sian…" Meomo panted. He turned around just in time to see Bubbles slam into his face with a high speed aqua jet, sending him skidding across the battlefield. Meomo quickly righted herself, growling at Bubbles.
Kitty nursed the pain in her jaw. She was nearly done, almost out of energy. And she could see that Bubbles wasn't much better, most of her energy having most of her health torn away by that powerful return. It looked like the Azumarill would fall over with just one more strong attack.
Which worked nicely, as it looked like Kitty only had enough strength to give Meomo one more powerful attack, and then she'd be out of energy herself.
"You look a little ragged," Sango said, staring across the battlefield. "Sure you want to go through with this, Kitty?"
"You don't look so great yourself," Kitty grinned. "And you don't even have harmonia. Bring it, Sango."
"Thanks, Kitty," Sango smiled. "And sorry, about earlier."
"Don't worry," Kitty said, shaking her head. "This battle… it's everything I wanted! Meomo and I, we'll give it our all! So you come right back and match it, you got that, Sango?! Let's end this with a bang!"
Kitty's harmonia flared up to punctuate her sentiments.
"I'm glad you two were my first real opponents," Sango agreed. "Go, Bubbles! Use your superpower attack!"
"Meomo! Return!"
Bubbles ran forward, charging all the power in her body into her fist. A white light wrapped itself around Meomo and he ran towards Bubbles, a fierce snarl on his face. The two pokemon collided, Bubbles hitting Meomo in the side with a strong punch as Meomo headbutted Bubbles, digging his claws into the pokemon's flabby hide.
The resulting shockwave from the two attacks colliding nearly sent all the trainers on the arena flying off the edges. A blinding light from the return attack and the blast of wind released from it sent Sango sprawling and Nikita held on for dear life. Maddi landed on her butt, looking less than pleased. Kitty was the only one who actually fell into the water, because she had been more focused on the feeling of her ribs snapping like twigs than actually trying to hold on.
When the dust cleared, both pokemon were motionless, having taken each other out in a double K.O. Kitty was nowhere to be seen.
"Kitty!" Nikita cried.
"Where is she?!" Sango asked, jumping to her feet and looking frantically across the water for her friend.
"Did she fall in?" Maddi asked, her tone worried even if her face wasn't.
"No need to worry about that," Marion chortled. She held her fingers to her lips and whistled.
A dark shadow appeared in the water, and a large Mantine surfaced, carrying a waterlogged Kitty on her back.
"Kitty!" Sango cried, running across the field to the edge. Kitty spit some water out, sitting up warily.
"Wha happen?" Kitty mumbled.
"Way to go, Mana! You caught me a cute little catfish!" Marion giggled, jumping onto the battlefield and skipping over, patting Kitty's soaked head.
"Both Meomo and Bubbles are unconscious," Sango said, recalling the Azumarill. Kitty nodded glumly and returned Meomo. "So what do we do now? Is it a draw?"
"I guess?" Kitty sighed. "That's a little sad…"
"Ahem."
Everyone turned to Maddi. She stood up and pressed the button on her pokeball, releasing her Seadra. Mist was laying down, snoozing, but with health remaining.
"So we win, right?" Maddi asked.
"Oh…" Kitty looked down sadly.
"I guess so…" Nikita sighed.
"Sounds good to me!" Marion chirped.
"Sorry, I know you wanted to win, but-"
"No, no, it's fine!" Kitty interrupted Sango, shaking her head. "You did your best, and you beat us! And you didn't pity me, you gave me a battle that was so exciting it blew me away!"
She chuckled.
"Literally."
"Are you sure you're okay?" Sango asked.
"I feel a little sore," Kitty admitted, "but without my harmonia active, I'm fine. No injuries at all!"
She hopped to her feet and stepped off of the Mantine, onto the arena, thanking the pokemon for saving her. Mantine chirped in response, sinking back into the water as Marion waved goodbye to her.
"I learned a lot about using my harmonia from that battle," Kitty said. "So now I'm ready to fight our next one. You ready too, Nikita?"
Nikita nodded her head.
Kitty turned back to Sango.
"Thanks again for fighting me for real."
"Of course," Sango said, smiling warmly back at the girl. "I'm just glad you're okay."
Kitty's stomach began rumbling loudly, causing her face to turn bright red.
"I-I guess harmonia really works up an appetite," she stuttered in embarrassment. "Hey! Let's take our pokemon to the pokemon center, and then I'll treat you and Maddi to lunch at the Snorlax Commons!"
"No, no, you couldn't do that," Sango said, shaking her head, the three walking towards the pier. "Not after we beat you! Let me treat!"
"What? No, of course not," Kitty said. "You won, you fought your hardest, and you gave me the battle I was looking for! It's my treat, I insist!"
"Kitty, you've seen how much I eat," Sango laughed. "Treating me might run your card into the red."
The three girls giggled and left the battlefield, leaving Maddi to cradle her pokemon, looking after them. Marion walked up to her.
"Not going?"
"I will," Maddi said. "They're fine, I guess…"
"So, you have a Seadra?! Can I see? I can give you some berries to wake him right up and-"
"No!" Maddi held Mist a little closer to her chest, stepping back from a startled Marion. She calmed down a few seconds later.
"…No, no, it's fine. Just… I'll take care of him myself, don't worry," she mumbled, returning Mist to his pokeball and heading after the other girls.
Marion shrugged, left alone on her slightly singed battlefield.
"Dunno why they left. I coulda treated 'em all to a gourmet fish fry, free of charge. Some folks are just weird I guess."
Marion skipped back onto the pier and walked to the end, casting her line out into the water so she could get to fishing again.
So Sango and Maddi manage to defeat Kitty and Nikita by the skin of their teeth! Sango got her first victory! Though really, it was thanks to Maddi that they won in the end. Anyway, it's a good thing that Kitty's okay! Now, the question is, how will the tournament progress from here, as Kitty masters her harmonia more?