Time for the battle to finally begin! Elaina and Blake vs. Julia and Reiner! What tricks will Julia and Reiner use to overcome Elaina's raw power? And what tricks will Blake use to stop them? The only person here without something up her sleeve is Elaina, because, well… raw power has worked well enough for her so far, right?

KedharS: Not until we get Oscar back it isn't.

Aurastar Warrior: Sorry, but I have no idea when I'll find a place for them to appear.

Seamitar X: It really is, they go together way better than I initially thought when I came up with it.

Aquahaze675: Well, maybe this chapter can help change your mind.

KyubiMaster9: Blake was busy elsewhere, so he only knows that it happened. But the reason WHY it happened? Pretty much the only people who know that are Alcea and Caelia, and neither of them are talking.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 331

"Hey, Elaina," Blake said, waving to the masked girl dressed in black. She was standing in wait at the battlefield they had agreed to meet at, another outside arena far away from the main section of campus. Blake felt bad requesting Elaina meet him on battlefields like these; he felt like he was telling her that she wasn't allowed on the main section of campus. But he couldn't help it. Elaina's self-esteem was important, but it was also important to keep the others safe in case she had a meltdown. Hopefully, she wasn't too offended.

She didn't respond to him.

"Are you doing okay?" Blake asked, feeling a little desperate to break the awkward silence hovering in the air between the three of them. He had suspected that bringing Ayame with him would put Elaina off more than a little, especially since it seemed that her feelings for him were a little… tumultuous, to say the least. He hadn't told Ayame about his experience with her in the garden the morning before, and she hadn't asked.

Blake cleared his throat.

"Anyway, Ayame said that she wanted to watch our matches today, if that would be okay with you?" Blake asked, hoping she'd respond to this question, at least.

She didn't.

Ayame stormed toward the masked girl, staring down at her with sharp eyes. Elaina raised her head slightly to face her.

Ayame put on a handsome smile and extended her hand.

"Thank you for looking out for my boyfriend these past few days," Ayame said, her voice conveying genuine gratitude, much to Elaina's confusion. "See, he's been really worried about you, so I'm glad you're giving him a chance to get to know you better."

Elaina had no doubt that her face held a look of surprise, grateful that it was concealed behind a mask so no one else could see her reaction. This girl… she didn't understand what made her want to actually thank Elaina. Elaina couldn't think of a single thing she'd done that would be worthy of thanks. So she stared numbly at the older girl and her hand.

When was the last time someone asked to shake my hand? She wondered, staring incredulously at Ayame.

"What, are you a statue?" Ayame asked, raising her eyebrow. "Come on, it's just a handshake, not a big deal!"

"You don't need to be considerate of me," Elaina said, nevertheless taking Ayame's hand and giving it a tentative shake.

"Nah, that's fine," Ayame shrugged. "You're not so bad, Elaina. You do your best, okay?"

Her expression turned serious, causing even Elaina to shiver slightly.

"But you better not hurt Blake, understand?" Ayame snarled. "He cares about you, so I've got his back. But if you do anything to hurt him, then I'm not going to let that stand, okay?"

Ah, of course. Elaina was foolish to think this girl would try to understand her. She was just another person looking at her with judgmental eyes. She tried to keep her disappointment from showing, and turned away from Ayame, releasing her hand.

"…Blake is aware of the risks," Elaina replied. "I am not responsible for mistakes of his own making. If he wants to put himself in danger by playing the hero, then I am perfectly fine with allowing him to do so. I will fight as I do, and that is all that I will expect from him."

Ayame scowled at the girl. Elaina's disregard for Blake's safety was really pissing her off, and she had to resist the urge to punch that mask right off of her face. Who did she think she was, having such a callous disregard for Blake's safety?!

In truth, Elaina didn't WANT to hurt Blake. Her detachment was an affect she put on to antagonize the taller girl. A bit of pettiness from Elaina to enjoy tormenting Blake's girlfriend. If she couldn't have Blake, she could at least bother the girl who he actually liked. That made her feel significantly better, and was giving her an outlet to her impulse to take her rage out on her through more destructive means that would hurt Blake, as well.

Blake watched the hostile atmosphere between the two and swallowed. Why did they have to be acting like this?

"It's okay, Ayame, you don't need to worry about me," Blake tried to reassure his girlfriend. "Elaina wouldn't hurt me."

"Maybe not on purpose," Ayame snidely remarked, Elaina twitching in irritation. A blast of cold air slapped Ayame in the face, Elaina's thick jacket billowing in the wind as the snow softly swirled up off the ground and danced around her.

Blake let out a sigh. This was how he had expected things to go, but it was certainly not how he wanted them to go.

Meanwhile, Julia and Reiner were getting prepared for their upcoming battle. And that meant a visit from someone Reiner didn't expect.

"Here it is," Kate said, handing over a thin envelope to Julia as Reiner waited outside the Pokemon Gardening Club.

"Thank you," Julia said, taking the envelope. "And you're sure it'll work?"

"Who do you think I am?" Kate snapped. "You just make sure you know what you're doing and give it to a pokemon that can take full advantage of it. Those things don't come easy, you know."

And with that, Kate slammed the door in Julia's face.

"I'm surprised the gardening club still meets," Reiner questioned as he and Julia walked down the hall, heading outside. "I mean, the weather is only getting colder, and now with the snow aren't all the flowers dead?"

"The Roselia Gardens are closed," Julia acknowledged, "but there's still the greenhouse that Alcea maintains."

"You're not calling her 'her highness' like the other girls?" Reiner noted with a smirk, causing Julia to roll her eyes.

"Please. I have a lot more dignity than that, you know. Now, let's head back to the room so we can use this."

After their preparations were complete, Julia and Reiner trudged through the snow and arrived at the battlefield Blake had selected, the arena covered in a thin layer of powder that made it hard to see where the battlefield ended and the ground began. Elaina and Blake were already standing there ready for the match, and much to Julia and Reiner's surprise, Ayame was standing off to the side, as well, watching the two intently.

"What's this?" Reiner teased. "I didn't know we could bring a date to a pokemon match. Elaina not enough for you, Blake?"

"Don't be an ass," Julia snapped at her partner, rolling her eyes. Reiner shot her a dirty look.

"I'm just here to watch," Ayame explained to them. "You guys do your best, I'm excited to see what you've got!"

She turned to Blake and smiled.

"Besides, I know Blake's gonna win anyway."

Blake smiled back. Reiner rolled his eyes.

"Are we done?" Elaina asked sharply, calling everyone to attention. She had her hands crossed in front of her chest, but it was hard to look intimidating in a big fluffy black parka, snow pants, and mittens, even with her mask.

"I guess not much one for small talk," Julia swallowed, her heart pounding in her chest. She was ready for the match this morning, but… actually being confronted with it was…

"Julia, you good?" Reiner asked, giving her a look of concern.

"I'm fine," Julia snapped. "Let's just do this."

I'm fine. I'm fine. I know the previous match was hard, but… I'm fine now.

Julia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She pictured Kitty's smiling face. Kitty, who had harmonia just like Elaina. Kitty, who wouldn't want to hurt anyone. She just had to imagine that the powerful opponent in front of her was like Kitty, if Kitty had lost control. She wouldn't be afraid of Kitty, she would just try to help her. So that was what she was going to do.

"Luna!" Julia shouted, seizing the initiative and sending out her Umbreon. The blue rings that covered the shiny pokemon's black fur glistened in the daylight reflected off the snow, giving her a sparkling sheen.

"Noctre!" Elaina shouted, sending out her Noivern first, as she so often did. The bat pokemon emerged with a blast of wind, a loud howl shaking the sky. She flapped her wings and sent a blast of snow at Julia and Reiner, Julia's hair whipping about behind her as she and Luna braced against the wind. She shivering sensation Julia was feeling wasn't just due to the cold.

This is… that wind… Julia remembered it well, the feeling of terror that had coursed through her veins when she fought against Elaina last. She could already feel the memory of pain shooting through her arm like it was still broken. But it was just a mind trick. Her arm was perfectly healed, good as new. And Julia wasn't going to let some past pain get the better of her!

"Scipio, go," Reiner said, sending out his Armaldo and nodding to Julia. They had agreed that they would start this battle fighting all-out, without any punches pulled. The only reason Julia had not yet sent out Roden was because she was working with a different strategy at the moment. If Julia's suspicions were right, Luna would be an even more powerful weapon against Elaina than her usual ace was!

"I guess it's my move, then," Blake said. Well aware of Julia's Houndoom, he wasn't going to risk Weiss for this fight. He had other pokemon at his disposal, and he would need Weiss for the battles later today, where he wouldn't be sent up against powerful fire types. The best lead he had at the moment against the dark Umbreon and the rock/bug Armaldo was probably…

"Maria, go," Blake said, sending out his Mareanie.

"Mar!" Maria chirped, flailing her tentacles around. She darted over to Blake and reached out to him with her tentacle, but Blake was no fool. He raised his eyebrow in a "you really thought that would work on me?" expression.

"Mareanie," Maria huffed, annoyed that her trainer wasn't taking the bait. She turned away from him and slid out onto the battlefield, glaring behind her tentacles at the Armaldo across from her.

"Blow them away!" Elaina shouted, starting off the match with a powerful start as always, her harmonia surging out at full power. She didn't feel herself losing control, which was good. As long as she could keep her focus and not use too much power, then she should be fine. So long as that girl didn't appear again… who was she? Harmonia? What did that even mean?

Sensing her trainer's wishes, Noctre opened her mouth and let out a howl, flapping her wings. The wind swirled around her in a massive tornado, creating a hurricane of snow that roared around her, tearing up snow and dirt as it raged across the battlefield.

"Luna, confuse ray!" Julia ordered. Luna's eyes flashed gold and the blue rings on her body began glowing. She opened her mouth and a shining orb of pulsing light emerged from within, moving erratically across the battlefield as it approached Noctre, confusing her.

"Urgh," Elaina grunted, feeling a little dizzy and nauseous herself as the odd light danced across her eyes, obscuring her vision and nearly making her fall over.

Her senses completely thrown off, Noctre could no longer properly control the path of the maelstrom as it tore across the field, the tornado drifting toward the center and sending dirt and ice flying in all directions. Luna skillfully avoided the tearing winds as Scipio endured them, scraping at his hide with his claws to polish himself off and increase his speed. He rushed out of the way of the tornado as well, the winds soon dissipating. The moment it did, Blake was ready.

"Maria, don't give her room to breathe!" Blake shouted.

"Marea!" Maria cried, opening her mouth and firing a barrage of poisonous needles at Luna, who dodged with quick attack under Julia's orders.

"Elaina!" Blake shouted. "The only reason you're so disoriented now is because your senses are too closely linked with your Noivern! You can't let your own thoughts become clouded by hers! The confuse ray hit her, not you!"

"Errgh… that's…" Elaina shook her head, trying to force her harmonia to weaken. The results were working well, and her attention slowly returned, focusing her thoughts again. "Sorry… I was dizzy for a moment there, but… no, I got it. Noctre!"

Returning to her senses, Elaina's thoughts were clear. She reestablished her connection with Noctre, this time trying to impose her logic and reason onto the confused Noctre.

"Reiner! She's shaking off my confusion!" Julia shouted.

"On it," Reiner agreed.

"Maria, attack Scipio with your water pulse!"

"Mareanie!" Maria opened her mouth, gathering water together into an orb that she fired at Scipio.

"Not a chance!" Julia shouted. "Luna, use dark pulse!"

Luna jumped in front of Scipio and opened her mouth, her rings flashing blue as darkness surged around her. She fired a compressed blast of darkness at the water attack, breaking through the water and hitting Maria directly, knocking her back as Scipio took the initiative to lumber towards Noctre and prepare to attack.

"Scipio! Use rock slide!" Reiner ordered.

"Arm!" Scipio held his claws up, ripping chunks of rock out of the ground and flinging them at the temporarily disoriented Noivern.

"Noctre, fly!" Elaina shouted, directing her mental focus on her pokemon. Noctre regained her clarity fast enough to flap her wings, narrowly avoiding the plummeting rocks by taking to the sky. The rocks hit the ground hard, kicking up dirt and snow, but the debris barely even scratched Noctre as she flew overhead, opening her mouth.

"Dragon pulse," Elaina ordered. Noctre fired a compressed orb of draconic energy from deep within her gut, the crackling power shooting straight at Scipio.

"Armaldo!" Scipio cried in pain as the energy buried into the back of his carapace, fire and electricity surging through him as he stumbled forward. Stones of energy gathered around Scipio as he prepared an ancientpower, and sent the attacks skyward at the flying pokemon.

"Not fast enough!" Elaina snarled, Noctre easily dodging the ancientpower attack, the energy stones harmlessly flying through the air around her as she darted through the sky. She opened her mouth, and prepared another dragon pulse to fire at Scipio.

"Luna, now!" Julia shouted. Luna appeared over Noctre's head and swung her tail, striking Noctre in the neck with her faint attack. Noctre roared in pain and thrashed. The attack was only a light sting, but it was still enough to throw Noctre off of her game. She quickly righted herself as Luna clung to her back, digging her claws deeply into Noctre's back.

"Noctre!" Elaina shouted. Noctre lowered her head and dove straight towards the ground, spinning her body in an attempt to shake Luna off, but Luna held on tightly. She closed her eyes, and prepared to use her attack. Luna was normally a rather cool pokemon, much like her trainer, but even she was a little worried here. She had never used this move, after all. She hadn't had time to practice.

Hell, she had just learned it today!

But Julia's orders were clear. She wanted Luna to get close, and strike a powerful blow against Nocte. Luna opened her mouth, toxic energy coursing through her fangs, and she bit down hard on the back of Noctre's neck.

"Aargh!" Elaina growled, feeling a shooting pain run down her spine as she was struck by the Umbreon's attack as much as her Noivern was. Noctre flapped her wings and landed on the ground, reaching up and swatting at Luna. Luna, having accomplished her task, leapt off Noctre's back and landed in the snow.

"This pain…" Elaina grunted, feeling the back of her neck burning with a pain she hadn't expected from such a tiny bite. "What did you do to us?!"

"Toxic," Julia explained, smiling. "A little gift from one of my upperclasswomen in the Pokemon Gardening Club. Luna just learned it today. She's infected you with a special toxin, and now your Noivern is badly poisoned! So tell me, Elaina, does that harmonia of yours let you purge painful poison from your Noivern's body?"

Elaina growled at Julia, but otherwise she didn't respond.

"Julia, you shouldn't be boasting," Blake replied, cracking a smile. "I don't think you have any ground to stand on when it comes to your pokemon's superiority in terms of poisoning, right Maria?"

"Mareashishishi!" Maria giggled. She was next to Blake, and wore a smug grin on her face as she laughed mockingly at her opponents, sharing an untold joke with her trainer.

Julia raised her eyebrow, confused. She turned her attention to Luna, and her eyes widened in worry.

"Luna!" Julia shouted, seeing her Umbreon collapsed on the ground in pain. Luna had fallen? But how? Why?

"Um… breon…" Luna panted, pulling herself back onto her feet. Her head was burning with a fever and she was having trouble standing, her paws somehow feeling immense pain while at the same time feeling numb.

"Julia, the ground!" Reiner said, nodding his head. Julia glanced down at the snow-covered battlefield, confused.

"Ah, so much for that," Blake griped. "Guess we couldn't sneak it past Reiner's eyes."

"What? What is it?" Ayame asked, interested in the battle.

"Elaina, lend a hand?"

Elaina scoffed, but nodded her head. Noctre raised her wing and brushed it forward, sending a small gust of wind across the battlefield. The snow covering the section of the battlefield in front of her blew away, revealing the ground underneath…

…And the heavier toxic spikes that littered it, unmoved by the small gust of wind.

"Toxic spikes!" Julia gasped.

"You're not the only one who knows how to borrow tricks from Kate," Blake smiled. "While Luna and Scipio were busying themselves trying to handle Noctre, I had Maria secretly set a few traps on the ground with her toxic spikes! Normally, the solution is to step lightly and avoid them, but that only happens when you can see them coming!"

"So you buried your spikes under the snow," Julia said, looking up at the sky, and the snow-clouds overhead that were even now dropping a gentle drizzle of snowflakes onto the battlefield, quickly starting to cover up the spikes. A few seconds later, and they were buried again.

Blake smirked, and Maria cackled.

"Unfortunately, we couldn't get Reiner before he figured it out," Blake said, glancing at Scipio, who had remained standing in place, not having taken a single step into the field of toxic spikes and thus remaining completely free of poison.

"Scipio and I are not as gullible as she is," Reiner replied.

"Hey!" Julia growled at him.

"Meanwhile, we have some tactics of our own," Reiner grinned. "Scipio! Use rapid spin!"

"Armaldo!" Scipio snarled, lowering his body and placing his pincers on the ground. He shot forward, the scales on his body shaking and spinning, creating a gust of wind that tore the toxic spikes away as he spun towards Noctre, hitting the poisoned pokemon in the chest with his claws. Elaina had been stunned by the pokemon's impressive speed, and due to the fact that she had been expecting everyone to remain still for a while due to the field of poison, both she and Noctre were caught completely off-guard. Scipio blasted both the snow and the toxic spikes away, slashing the flying pokemon hard. Noctre cried out in pain and stumbled back, Elaina clutching her throbbing chest.

"Unlike Julia, I was expecting a trick like that the minute I saw your Mareanie," Reiner laughed. "Pokemon like that have all sorts of tricks up their sleeves. Julia is one thing, but you won't fool my eyes, Blake."

"Hey!" Julia shouted again, getting real sick and tired of Reiner looking down on her.

That being said… she had been so focused on Luna getting off the successful toxic attack that she had completely failed to notice Blake and his Mareanie setting their little trap. So maybe Reiner was on to something.

That little hiccup aside, this will be a good field to test my theory on, Julia reasoned. She suspected that poisoning Elaina's pokemon was a method she could use to weaken pokemon that otherwise seemed impervious to damage and could heighten their offensive and defensive powers, as the poison attacked the pokemon directly. To test that theory, she'd asked Kate if the girl had any Toxic TMs ready for use, and by an immense stroke of luck the poison specialist had just finished one that she'd been intending to sell to someone else, but was willing to let Julia cut the line.

Whether her theory would bear fruit or not, well…

She'd find that out in this battle, wouldn't she?

So Julia's taking a page from Kate's playbook and making use of poison! But Blake saw through that little move and crippled the defensive tank that is Umbreon with some poison of his own! If only Kate was here to see how much the two are copying her, maybe that would improve her self-esteem a little bit, who can say?