Time for Julia and Kitty to finally have their confrontation! Will Julia be able to save Kitty from these insidious plots? Is Kitty even in the headspace to believe her friend right now?

KedharS: Comeuppance? For what? So far all she's really done is help one of her seniors spend his last year at the school under much less stress, help get two bickering idiots with a shit-ton of baggage with each other together, reaffirm Blake's morality by providing him with temptation, and protect Cynthia from possible date-rape. So if by "comeuppance" you mean a "reward"…

Thunder Fire: Can't fix what ain't broken. Someone trying to "fix" Sylvia's brain would be like taking a cell phone to be repaired by a caveman. Forget lacking the necessary skillset, they wouldn't even be able to explain what the darn thing was.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 351

"Kitty!" Julia burst into the stadium, panting, her face flushed with sweat. Her heart pounded in her chest and she felt like she was on fire, having run all the way here in a big puffy parka that made her feel like she was a burrito being microwaved with the foil wrapping still on.

"Julia?!" Kitty sputtered, her eyes widening in surprise. She and Nikita were standing on the far end of the stadium, so she was the first one to see Julia coming in from the other side. What… what is she doing here?

"Huh? Julia?" Nick turned and looked over his shoulder, surprised at his friend's sudden entrance.

"Reiner?!" Nikita sounded almost as surprised as her partner seeing Reiner enter the room behind Julia, a look of exhausted resignation painted across his face.

"Kitty!" Julia said again, running past Nick and Will through the battlefield, grabbing Kitty by the shoulders. "Are you okay?!"

"Of… what?" Kitty's brain wasn't sure what was going on at the moment. Why was Julia here, and why was she grabbing her? "Of-of course I'm okay! Julia, what are you doing here?! I'm battling you know! We were about to start, and you're getting in the way!"

Kitty shook herself free from Julia and stepped back, her astonished look taking on an irritated undertone.

"Look, sorry, I know you said you wanted your space," Julia apologized, calming herself down. "But look, you just… you can't battle right now!"

The undertones of irritation on Kitty's face turned into overtones. She looked at Julia with a scowl that made the taller girl's heart sink.

"What do you mean?! Leave me alone and just mind your own business!" Kitty shouted, her eyes flashing angrily. "You're always doing this, saying that I shouldn't battle! I'm a pokemon trainer you know! I can battle if I want! Stop telling me what to do!"

"No, it's… that's not…" Julia stumbled over her words as she desperately tried to explain where she was coming from. She looked around the stadium desperately for support, before her eyes landed on Misato Daisan and she remembered what it was she was worried about in the first place.

"Her! It's her fault!" Julia accused, pointing a finger at Misato, much to the confusion of everyone else. Misato herself, who was seated in the front row of the bleachers beside a shocked Callie, addressed Julia's confusion.

"Elaborate."

"What are you talking about?" Kitty demanded.

"Look, it…" Julia ground the palm of her hand into her forehead in frustration. "She, that girl… she working for the Phantom! And she's watching this battle, or recording it, or… I don't even know! She's trying to get details about your…" she leaned down and lowered her voice into a whisper, "…your you-know-what!"

Kitty rolled her eyes. She liked Julia a lot, but no matter what it seemed that the girl was determined to baby her. It was really making her start to get mad.

"Reiner, what's going on?" Nikita demanded of her boyfriend, looking across the room for some sort of explanation.

Reiner let out a sigh and trudged into the stadium, walking onto the battlefield.

"Look, she's not crazy," Reiner explained. Julia scowled at him. Not the best way to start the conversation.

"Then what's she talking about?" Nikita asked.

"Sylvia Driscoll came to talk to us a little while ago," Reiner explained. "She said that Misato was going to be recording the match between your guys' teams, in order to determine how far Kitty's abilities have developed and how strong she is, sort of like a test. Julia was worried that the Phantom would target Kitty again, sort of like how the Commander's people did before. So she ran off to come help her, and now here we are."

"Exactly!" Julia said, standing triumphantly. She gestured emphatically to Reiner. "He said it himself! This is all a plot! I came because I was worried that Misato was going to report everything to the Phantom, Kitty, honest!"

Will blinked, glancing at Misato in surprise. This was the first he'd heard about that. Now he understood why Misato wanted him to fight against Kitty, and why she wanted to watch. But he was still confused. Why would Sylvia Driscoll, who worked with the Phantom, reveal his plan to Julia and Reiner, knowing that Julia would be likely to interfere? It didn't make sense, unless Sylvia was trying to undermine the Phantom for some reason. If Kitty believed the story and chose to forfeit the fight without actually battling, then it would all be for nothing, right?

"Misato, is that true?" Nikita asked.

"I am not under any obligation to answer your questions," Misato replied.

"That means it's true!" Callie nodded. "That's her lying face, I'm sure of it!"

Misato did not respond.

"She doesn't have a lying face," Will replied. Misato's expressions were always unreadable.

"Will, why don't you ask her?" Nick asked, turning to his partner. "I mean, you are the closest one to her, right?"

"He's probably working with her," Julia scoffed, mainly out of annoyance, even though she was unknowingly right.

Will glanced at Misato. Was he supposed to? If he refused, he would give away his collusion. If he said yes, then he could be jeopardizing Misato's mission. He looked to Misato for a cue on what to do, but as usual, her face was an empty slate.

Well, if she doesn't want to jeopardize the mission then she just won't answer, Will reasoned.

"Misato," he began, "are they right?"

"Affirmative," Misato confirmed, much to Will's confusion and annoyance. "I was instructed to use my connection with Will to coerce him into challenging Nikita Willow and Katherine Kuroso to a tag battle in order to observe the progression of harmonia within Katherine Kuroso."

"I said so!" Julia crowed.

"Wait, so Will got played by his girlfriend?" Callie snickered.

"Seriously?" Nick asked, glancing at Will. Will wasn't sure what to say so he just shrugged incredulously and nodded his head, hoping he wasn't giving himself away.

"See, Kitty?" Julia asked, turning back to Kitty. "You can't fight. If you do, then you'll be giving away stuff to the Phantom."

Kitty had remained silent through this exchange.

"…So what?"

Julia blinked, stunned. That was not the answer she had been expecting. From what had been said, wasn't it clear what was going on?

"Kitty-"

"No, stop!" Kitty said, holding her hand up. "Look. I get it. You're right, that the Phantom is interested in me, and wants to make use of my powers. We knew that already! So what's the problem?! Why are you here?!"

"I… I just wanted to-"

"So what if the Phantom comes after me?" Kitty demanded. "I can take care of myself! I'm my own person, Julia! You don't have to come running in here heated up just because you think that someone is recording a battle? So she is, so what? If Phantom comes to try and sway me to his side, I'm going to say no!"

"That's, I…" Julia stuttered, taking a step back. She wasn't used to this much aggression from Kitty, none of them were.

"Right now, we only have one loss in this tournament," Kitty reminded her. "Same as you. So stop trying to act like you need to protect me all the time! I'm a pokemon trainer! I'm capable of battling all on my own, I don't need your help!"

"You can't seriously be planning to go through with this?" Julia protested, looking desperately at Misato. "Even though you're being monitored?"

"I don't care about that," Kitty shrugged. "This is my battle, Julia. I might not be able to beat the Phantom or even his people, but I'm certainly capable of saying 'no' and not giving into his offers. So you don't need to worry about me! I can take care of myself, and you can take care of yourself! Whatever he wants from me, the answer will be NO! So you being here and warning me, it's pointless!"

Julia didn't have anything to say to that.

"H-hey, Kitty, m-maybe she's right," Nikita said, her voice trembling a little. She glanced at Misato, the strange girl staring at them with that unnerving, empty gaze. "I mean, it's not like we need to fight, right? You're being spied on, so maybe…"

"No, it's fine," Kitty said, shaking her head. "The match has already been entered. If we back out now, it's a forfeit, and I'm not gonna drop down to two losses. I don't care if we're going to be fighting under observation, or whatever it is that the seniors are planning. I just… I want…"

Kitty glanced at Julia and looked down.

"Julia, just sit down," Kitty said, turning her eyes up to her. "Sit down and watch, okay? I… I'm going to be giving it my all right now. I'm not weak. I'm going to do my best. So just… please watch, okay?"

Julia swallowed. She was about to open her mouth when she felt a hand clap onto her shoulder. She glanced back at Reiner.

"Julia, it's fine. She's right," Reiner replied. "Let's just take a breath and go sit down, okay? If this is what Kitty wants to do, then there's nothing we can do about it. Just let her make her own choices, okay? You can't hold her hand forever."

Julia didn't want to just sit back and watch Kitty participate in a battle where she would more than likely get hurt by her opponent's attacks. But at the same time, she couldn't really say anything in response. If Kitty wanted her to watch her battle, then even if it tore her up to see her friend get hurt, she would do what she wanted. She bit her lip and nodded her head, letting Reiner lead her over to the bleachers so she could sit down.

Julia took her seat and glanced at Misato, who was sitting beside her. She shot her a glare, scowling angrily.

Kitty let out a sigh of relief. She had been waiting for a long time to say all those things to Julia, but she didn't feel relieved like she had expected. She felt miserable and sick. She didn't like yelling at her friend, but it was something she needed to do.

She still felt rotten over it.

Kitty swallowed, and glanced at Misato Daisan. The girl's empty eyes seemed to be boring a hole in Kitty's head. She averted her eyes and looked forward, her head throbbing in pain.

Now isn't the time to be concerned with something like that, she reminded herself. I still have a battle to fight!

Misato began recording the events.

Not far away from the stadium, in the campus mall, Sylvia sat in a chair in her favorite café, eating one of their trademark donut designs, this one being a pretzel donut with ketchup and flecks of scrambled eggs, a perfect start for a good breakfast. While she was eating, she took out her phone. It was about time.

Indeed, Misato's video stream began. Sylvia's phone was tied directly into Misato's software, so she was the perfect receiver for the data. So as she bit into her donut and watched the match begin, she applauded the Phantom's strategic mind. It was the sort of plan she would have come up with, albeit not nearly as unpredictable.

Misato goes to Will, while I go to Julia, all so perfect, Sylvia mused. She thought back on the Phantom's explanation towards her.

"If Katherine Kuroso isn't useful, then we won't need her," he explained to Sylvia and Misato in his office. "That's why we first need to assess where she is mentally."

Sylvia shrugged. She wasn't sure if the girl would help them anyway, considering the kind of person that she was. And she knew people pretty well. But the Phantom seemed to be good at getting people to move how he wanted, and if Kitty would betray her expectations that would be certainly enjoyable. She was looking forward to it either way.

"So here's what we'll do. Misato will go to Will Harmond and have him agree to challenge the girl… Kitty, I believe she likes to be called? Yes, he'll challenge her to a match and have Kitty accept. Misato, you are forbidden from elaborating any further beyond Will having to challenge Kitty to a match, and you watching. If he asks you for a reason, you are not permitted to disclose it."

"Affirmative," Misato agreed.

"Next, Sylvia," Valon said, turning to Sylvia, "I want you to go speak with Julia tomorrow."

"And what should I say?" Sylvia asked.

"String her along for a little bit, get her riled up, you're good at things like that," Valon said, smiling at her.

Sylvia smirked.

"You know me too well," she purred, giving him a curtsy.

"After you've gotten her worked up about Kitty, I'd like for you to mention just where she's going to be battling," Valon explained. "And more importantly, I want you to tell her exactly what Misato is doing, recording her battle. Really emphasize the part about observing her so that I can analyze her abilities. So then, I expect, she'll be quick on the run to go find out what exactly is going on and confront Kitty and Misato about the situation."

"Oh? But wouldn't the truth come out then, if I did that?" Sylvia smiled. This was starting to get interesting.

"That's exactly what I'm counting on," Richard smiled. He turned to Misato. "If things work as I expect them to, then there will be quite a commotion. Suspicion will fall on you and Will. So here are your orders. Should these two things hold to be true, when Will Harmond asks you to confirm Julianna Keruz's story, you will are to repeat your previous orders as I explained them to you. The conditions for this are 1. Julianna Keruz and Katherine Kuroso are in your presence. 2. Katherine Kuroso and Nikita Willow have officially registered their match with Nick Elwood and Will Harmond. If these two conditions have been met, then you will relay your orders to Will Harmond when he enquires about them. Let me be clear. When he asks you if what Julia is saying is true, you are to say 'I was instructed to use my connection with Will to coerce him into challenging Nikita Willow and Katherine Kuroso to a tag battle in order to observe the progression of harmonia within Katherine Kuroso.' Understood?"

"Affirmative," Misato confirmed.

Sylvia thought this idea was quite fascinating. Outing your own plan to see what would result from it was something that she enjoyed, but the motivation was rather confusing. She had a fairly good guess of what he was planning, though. The way she saw it, Richard Valon was trying to set up a situation where Misato was outed as a spy in front of everyone, including Kitty.

"I don't suppose it would be a problem if I ask you what you hope to gain from this?" Sylvia asked, though she already had a good idea of the end goal. It was a test. Not of Kitty's harmonia, but of her mental state.

"It's a test," Richard Valon confirmed, rising from his chair and walking over to a bookshelf. "I want to see what mental state the girl is in, that's all."

As I figured, Sylvia nodded. She didn't need to ask any further.

When everything was laid on the table, there were three likely outcomes.

Outcome 1: Kitty (and Nikita, but she didn't matter) side with Julia and choose not to go along with the plan and forfeit the match, or request Misato to leave.

Outcome 2: Kitty opposes Julia's desire to forfeit the match, and goes through with it anyway, because she wants to win the match, even if it puts her identity at risk.

Outcome 3: Kitty confesses her love to Julia and the girl reciprocates, and they have sweaty lesbian sex in the middle of the stadium. (This outcome was less likely)

"So I'm right in assuming you want to see whether or not little Kitty will go along with a fight when she knows you're watching?" Sylvia asked.

"You really are clever," Valon cackled, looking up from the bookshelf and taking a thick book from it, walking back to his desk.

"I try my best," Sylvia purred.

"Exactly," Valon confirmed. From what I hear, there's a wedge between that Kitty girl and her friend. I want to see if she will side with that friend, or side with showing off her own abilities. If she wants to win, then she'll fight, even if she knows it will draw my attention. And I would like to know that far, far more than anything about her power."

Sylvia raised her eyebrow. It was an… interesting goal, to say the least.

"And if she chooses to forego the match?"

"Then she's the sort who won't be of any use to us," Valon shrugged, sitting down. "She's too timid and insecure, she doesn't have the faith in her abilities that we need, or she cares more about her friends' worries than she does her own record as a trainer."

"But if she chooses to fight, then that means she's got a streak of competition in her, and a bit of recklessness," Sylvia agreed. "But that girl is quite the wallflower, are you sure?"

"She's been winning quite a lot thanks to that harmonia of hers," Valon explained, his smile widening and his green eyes shining like that of a snake. "And harmonia… when you start out, it's addicting. I may not know the feeling, but I've seen people lose themselves to it. That girl has been taught by that fool of a Mermaid, but she is still just a beginner getting used to that power. If she's the type of person who wants to win, who wants to prove her strength like you say she is, then it's likely that she might end up slipping at one point or another. For someone who wants to be strong, who wants other people to acknowledge her strength, harmonia is a temptation that is all too sweet to resist. That Julia girl doesn't know it, but she's already serving as a decent tool for us. If you whip her up into a protective enough state, then I'm fairly certain you can get her to be opposed to Kitty's continued use of those powers. Harmonia IS risky, after all. "

"And the more she pushes Kitty away with her clinginess, the more Kitty begins relying on that harmonia to show she's powerful," Sylvia replied. "And that's where you come in."

"Giving her a way to really focus her powers and be accepted for them," Valon agreed. "Gerard might have his little weapon, but I can find one of my own."

Sylvia considered this in silence for a moment. "…But still, for her to change in such a way, to become so desperate that she would stop being that shy girl and become obsessed with power, that harmonia is quite scary. It even defies my predictions."

"I told you that if you stuck with me I would overthrow all your assumptions and expectations, didn't I?" Valon asked, holding out his arms. "Well? Is this a worthwhile cause to devote yourself to, Sylvia?"

Sylvia coolly sidled over to him, a thin smile stretching across her lips and she sat on his desk and looked down at him, her blue eyes twinkling.

"You've certainly made things seem appealing, just as you promised," she breathed. "But I'm surprised you can be so confident that Kitty will really turn out as you say she will."

"It's impossible to say for certain," Valon admitted, shrugging his shoulders. "That's why the test. But if she does want to continue the fight, well… I have a pretty good feeling it will turn out how I want it. It has before, after all."

"Before?" Sylvia asked, raising her eyebrow.

"Katherine Kuroso isn't the first young girl with harmonia I've met seeking power at any price," Valon explained, chuckling at a joke no one else heard. "The last one was quite a piece of work. She was so obsessed with becoming stronger than anyone that she threw away everything that mattered to her, even her beloved older brother. Quite a tragedy… I can't say for certain whether or not Kitty will end up the same, in the end, but still. It's a start, anyway."

Well, some major things happening in this one. Looks like everything is about to hit the fan REAL hard!