The Tag Team match begins! Nick and Will vs. Kitty and Nikita! Will Kitty and Nikita be able to show Julia that Kitty isn't the same weak girl she once was? Or is it going to go badly thanks to Will's strategies? Will Kitty manage to keep her harmonia under control, or will she snap like Elaina and lose it like she did against Sango and Maddi? Remember to review!
Rosealine gold: Maddi's backstory is a great point of connection for her and Sango, it should be good for showing her vulnerable side.
KedharS: Trying to describe Sylvia as a hero or a villain doesn't work. She's beyond such meager comprehensions. You don't describe a tornado as villainous just because it tore your house down, Sylvia is exactly the same. And why quibble about the means, when the ends have been in everyone's best interest?
Thunder Fire: That is quite an interesting possibility.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 352
"I'll start," Kitty said. "Larosa, go!"
Kitty sent out her first pokemon, her Growlithe.
"Growl!" Larosa snarled.
Nick new his play immediately, and didn't even wait to confer with Will.
"Poliwhirl, go," Nick said, sending out his Poliwhirl.
"He still hasn't given that guy a nickname?" Reiner said, raising his eyebrow.
"I've asked him to, but you know," Callie shrugged.
Julia didn't say anything. Mittens off, she was biting the nail of her thumb in frustration as she watched Nick send out a water type to fight off Kitty's fire type.
No good! Kitty, he has a type advantage, what are you doing?! She wanted to shout, but held her tongue for the sake of her friend.
Will glanced at Nick and decided on a pokemon of his own, something to take advantage of Poliwhirl's weaknesses if Nikita was going to try something. He couldn't use either of his steel types thanks to the Growlithe, and Sol was also out of the question. That left three pokemon to choose from, and out of them he decided it was best to send out an all-around good pokemon instead of something with a type advantage.
"Luna, go," Will said, sending out his Umbreon.
"Who does that guy think he is, naming his Umbreon the same as me?" Julia scowled, crossing her arms in front of her chest in irritation. "And using it against Kitty? The nerve!"
Reiner rolled his eyes.
"Oh, well, mine's shiny anyway," Julia scoffed.
Nikita took a deep breath and glanced at the bleachers. Knowing that they were being watched made this a whole lot more nerve-wracking, and even with her team's streak of wins, she still wasn't all that confident in pokemon battles…
"Nikita."
Nikita glanced at her partner. Kitty was staring up at her with eager eyes, brimming with an odd passion that Nikita didn't quite understand.
"It's okay. I'm nervous too. But we have to do our best!"
Nikita swallowed, and nodded her head. Kitty was normally so shy, and she was the one on the spot right now. Misato was monitoring her. And in spite of that… she didn't seem shaken at all. She should be more nervous, more wary, but she was fighting without giving it a second though. Nikita wanted to be that forward!
"Magnolia!" Nikita said, sending out her Bellossom.
"Bell!" Magnolia cheered, running up to stand beside Larosa's side.
"Groowl!" Larosa howled, her attack rising with her howl. Kitty's eyes flashed with light and Larosa's power rose even higher, the canine pokemon's intimidating glare reducing the attack power of her opponents. Larosa lowered her head and dashed forward, preparing to attack.
"Poliwhirl, use bubblebeam," Nick ordered. His Poliwhirl fired a stream of bubbles from his tiny mouth, the exploding bubbles shooting straight at the approaching fire type.
"Magnolia, use petal blizzard!" Nikita shouted.
"Bellossom!" Magnolia shouted, holding her tiny hands up. A tornado of petals began swirling around her, flying forward. The tornado of petals swirled around Larosa. Although petal blizzard was an attack that damaged allies as well, Larosa's typing and her boosted resistance thanks to harmonia meant she could with stand the petal blizzard nicely, the attack engulfing her in a tornado without doing much damage, especially compared to the oncoming tidal wave of exploding bubbles. Instead, the petal blizzard served as a protective veil, shredding the approaching bubbles to ribbons, resulting in a chain of explosions that destroyed the petals as well, steam covering the battlefield as the bubbles burst in a flash.
When the smoke cleared, the approaching Growlithe had disappeared, leaving no trace but a hole.
"Luna, she's underground!" Will called out, slightly too late. The ground beneath the Umbreon's feet opened up and Larosa leapt out, fangs and claws bared. She bit down on Luna's shoulder, the dark pokemon letting out a cry of pain as she scratched angrily at the Growlithe with her claws to try and pry her off.
"Poliwhirl!" Nick called out.
"Poli!" Poliwhirl ran towards the struggling pokemon, raising his hands. He smacked at Larosa, trying to knock her off.
"Growl!" Larosa let out a muffled snarl, her mouth filled with Umbreon's fur and flesh, tightening her grip on the pokemon. Kitty boosted her harmonia to increase her attacking power, the pain inflicted on Luna increasing.
Fortunately for the Umbreon, Luna's defenses were high, so she didn't take as much damage as she could have. Her fur began shining with energy as the yellow rings on her body lit up, her fur turning dark. She slipped into the shadows, evading Larosa's fangs with her feint attack.
"Poli!" Poliwhirl struck Larosa in the side of the face with a double slap, knocking Larosa back. Larosa skidded away, dodging a blast of water from the water pokemon with her agility.
"M-Magnolia!" Nikita called. "Don't just stand there! We need to get in on this, too!"
"Bell!" Magnolia nodded, running towards Larosa and the Poliwhirl.
"Use your petal blizzard!" Nikita ordered. A tornado of flower petals shot towards the Poliwhirl, intending to slice the pokemon up with a powerful grass move.
"Umbreon!" Luna appeared from the darkness, standing between Poliwhirl and the approaching petals. She snarled, and a wave of darkness erupted from her body, hitting the petals and breaking the wind current, the dark pulse attack disrupting the opposing petal blizzard and sending the petals scattering in every direction. The dark shockwave slammed into Magnolia, sending her tumbling backwards. With that, Luna turned and ran towards the zigzagging Larosa.
"Nick, disrupt her movements," Will ordered. "We'll get her on our own!"
"Right," Nick nodded. "Poliwhirl, use bubblebeam!"
"Poli!" Poliwhirl sent out a stream of bubbles at the evasive Growlithe, trying to lock down her movements. But Larosa continued to dodge with her agility, boosted by Kitty's harmonia raising her speed even more.
"Now that she's distracted, hit her with confuse ray," Will ordered.
"Umbreon!" Luna growled, her eyes glowing gold, as did the rings on her fur. An orb of light emerged from her mouth, floating haphazardly towards Larosa, zigzagging across the field and drawing the eye with its alluring light.
"Growl…" Larosa, entranced by the elusive orb, felt herself slowing down, hypnotized and dizzied by the confuse ray.
Kitty's senses were shared with her Growlithe, and she found herself enamored with the dizzying light as well, a wave of nausea rising up in her gut. She felt the world around her begin to spin, even as she knew what was going on. It was like her clarity of mind was struggling beneath the waves of her consciousness, and she was trying to stay afloat in the middle of a sea storm.
In the midst of her fugue, Kitty could vaguely remember Marion telling her something about breaking out of confusion and keeping yourself balanced when someone confused a pokemon while you were connected to it with harmonia, but her thoughts were too scattered to retrieve that knowledge at the moment.
"Luna, that Growlithe is down," Will said. "Now's the chance! Use your foul play!"
"Magnolia, don't let her!" Nikita shouted. "Use your moonblast on that Umbreon!"
"Bellossom!" Magnolia held up her hands, gathering light together into a compressed orb of light that she prepared to fire at the Umbreon. The blast of fairy power flew forward, straight at the Umbreon, whose back was turned as she was gathering darkness around her, absorbing the power of the confused Growlithe as she ran towards Larosa.
"Poli!" Poliwhirl jumped in front of the moonblast, wincing in pain as the powerful fairy attack hit him directly. He withstood the orb of light trying to bore a hole into his stomach, taking a decent chunk of damage, but he remained standing, managing to protect his partner.
"Umbreon!" Luna snarled, dark energy boosted to the level of power of Larosa's harmonia buffs coursing through her body. She slammed into Larosa, the dog pokemon letting out a whimper of pain as she was knocked backwards, the full force of her harmonia and howl boosted strength brought to bear on her through a powerful dark move.
"Aaargh!" Kitty cried out in pain, the shock from the powerful move sending a jolt of agony through her. The searing pain was enough to distract her, and she lost her grip on her last shreds of focus that kept her afloat in the maelstrom of confusion, the dizziness and nausea overwhelming her and causing her to nearly topple over as everything became a blur. Flashes of pain blasted through her skull as she felt what Larosa had just gone through, the powerful foul play having dealt her Growlithe a non-insignificant amount of damage.
"That dirty-!" Julia exclaimed, rising from her seat. "He just hit Kitty while she was down! That foul play was… was… Well, it was foul play, that jerk!"
"…Didn't you do something similar against Elaina?" Reiner reminded her.
"…Sh-shut up!" Julia scowled. "I mean yeah, I considered it because foul play is such a powerful move against harmonia, but I used poison, remember?"
Reiner rolled his eyes.
As expected, foul play is a useful tactic against harmonia, Will considered, observing the struggling Growlithe who was trying to stand in spite of the confusion. With how much harmonia could boost a pokemon's strength, this is a really powerful move to use against someone who has access to it… quite useful indeed…
Kitty was still lost in a fog of confusion, trying to remain standing even as the world swirled around her and waves of nausea rose up in her stomach. She resisted the urge to throw up and tried to connect to Larosa, but found herself wandering in a haze.
"Alright, Luna, while the Growlithe is still confused, take her down with another foul play!" Will ordered.
"Magnolia! We've got to stop them! But we need to get through that Poliwhirl first!" Nikita ordered. "Blow him away with your petal blizzard!"
"Bellossom!" Magnolia ran forwards, petals swirling around her in a wave of slicing blades. The storm of petals flew at the Poliwhirl and Umbreon, threatening to slice into them.
"Poliwhirl, use bubble to block," Nick shouted. Poliwhirl opened his small mouth and fired a blast of bubbles, creating a pulsing wall of soap bubbles in front of the two pokemon to block the approaching wall of razor-sharp petals.
The two attacks collided, but the difference in their power was clear. The petal blizzards sliced into the bubbles, setting off a chain reaction that destroyed most of the swirling petals, but there were still more to come. The attack had been weakened, but it still had more than enough destructive power, slamming into Poliwhirl with reduced strength, slicing into his slippery skin.
Poliwhirl was knocked back by the blast of wind and petals, crashing into Luna and breaking her focus, preventing her from using her foul play as the petals engulfed both pokemon, cutting into them. The attack did a decent amount of damage, though Poliwhirl took more, but the important part was that Larosa was temporarily saved.
"Kitty!" Nikita shouted, turning to her partner and running over to her, grabbing the stunned and confused girl by the arm. "Kitty, are you okay?! Come on, what's going on with you?"
"Kitty!" Julia shouted.
"Julia…" Kitty mumbled, shaking her head, her fog slowly clearing thanks to Nikita's prodding. "No… no… sorry, Nikita… I was… sorry, what?"
"Focus! I think you got confused thanks to your harmonia," Nikita explained. "You need to focus, okay Kitty?"
"Oh… yeah, no, sorry," Kitty said, shaking her head. "My head's killing me… it's a painful headache…"
"Well, get your head into the game!" Nikita urged.
"R-right," Kitty said, nodding, shaking off the last vestiges of her confusion now that she had been brought back into clarity. Her connection with Larosa was weak. Right now, she could recall what Marion had told her about curing her pokemon's confusion with harmonia, and just in time, because Luna was running towards Larosa and preparing another foul play, and there was already a wave of bubbles heading her way, as well.
Larosa! She called out to her pokemon, sending a wave of energy into her pokemon with her harmonia, her eyes flashing with light and her head throbbing in pain. She could hear Larosa's voice, lost in the haze, and she reached out to it, connecting the confused pokemon's mind to her own. She felt the confusion and nausea rise back up as she made the connection, and forced herself not to give in this time, not to let it swallow her. Instead, she pushed back, urging her pokemon to clear her mind with a little bit of psychic prodding.
Larosa snapped out of confusion, Kitty's harmonia allowing her to be brought out of her fugue. It was just in time, because Luna was upon her.
"Growl!" Larosa snarled, turning on her front paws and striking Luna in the face with a powerful double kick with both her hind legs.
"Umbre!" Luna cried, Larosa's powerful fighting move knocking her backwards. She flew across the stadium and crashed into the ground, injured.
Larosa had been fast enough to hit Luna before she could strike with her foul play, but she hadn't been fast enough to do that while also dodging the bubblebeam that was coming her way as well. The bubbles hit the dog pokemon, exploding with powerful bursts. The shockwaves from the water type moves wracked Larosa's body and sent her skidding across the ground.
The pain of the explosions did significant damage to Larosa, but the damage it did to Kitty was nothing to scoff at, either.
"Ack!" Kitty gasped, feeling the first explosion blast against her shoulder, like she had banged it against a door. Then the next hit her in the side like she had run into a table. With the next explosions she felt bursts of pain in her throat and the side of her face, all down her left side. A particularly critical surge of agony throbbed through her knee, causing that leg to drop. Kitty hit the ground and let out a groan of pain, holding her side as she shared in Larosa's injuries.
"Kitty!" Julia cried, horrified at seeing the expression of pain her face was twisted into. Reiner had to hold her arm to keep her from leaping up and running to her friend's side.
"Kitty, are you-"
"I'm fine," Kitty cut off her partner, standing up, shaking off the pain she was in. It was nothing compared to what Larosa was going through, her injuries were real. "This isn't the first fight we've been in, Nikita. I'm fine."
Nikita nodded. Indeed, she had seen Kitty take some significant chunks of damage in their previous fights. But she still hadn't gotten used to it. Every time Kitty felt her pokemon's attacks, Nikita always felt herself wince sympathetically for her friend.
"Magnolia!" Nikita turned back to her Bellossom. "Use giga drain to take out that Poliwhirl!"
"Bellossom!" Magnolia nodded, her body beginning to glow a bright green. She sent the light out to engulf the Poliwhirl, who had taken his eyes off the grass type to attack Larosa, and she began to drain his health.
"Poli!" Poliwhirl wailed, feeling his strength beginning to be sapped from him as Magnolia boosted her own strength.
"Umbreon!"
From the shadows, Luna appeared behind Magnolia, her claws raised in an attack.
"No!" Nikita gasped, having taken her eyes off of the Umbreon to focus on the Poliwhirl, and the Umbreon had taken the opportunity to use feint attack. She cut into Magnolia with her sharp claws, breaking the energy drain with a strong attack.
"Bell!" Magnolia cried, the dark move hurting her. Luna slapped her aside, the small grass pokemon hitting the ground hard.
"Nick, now!" Will said.
"Right! Poliwhirl, use body slam!"
"Poli!" Poliwhirl panted, shrugging off his injuries. He ran towards Magnolia and leapt into the air, preparing to slam down hard on the grass type.
"Helping hand," Will ordered. Luna's body began glowing with energy, and she sent that energy to her partner, the Poliwhirl's strength increasing. He smashed down upon Magnolia, the grass pokemon letting out a cry of pain that was muffled under the water pokemon's bulk.
"Magnolia!" Nikita cried.
"Larosa!" Kitty shouted, her harmonia burning around her. Her eyes flashed silver and her hair stood on end.
Larosa felt energy surge into her body, and the pain from her wounds were shrugged off as she charged forward, the rush from harmonia letting her ignore the injured state of her body.
"She still has that much strength left?" Will asked, surprised. This was his first match against someone with harmonia, and he couldn't believe that it could make Kitty's Growlithe still able to keep fighting after the powerful foul play and bubblebeam attacks she had been hit with.
Kitty urged Larosa to use double kick with a thought, Larosa's speed rising with agility as she shot across the field, kicking Poliwhirl off of Magnolia and rounding on Luna, charging straight at her.
"Thanks, Kitty," Nikita said. "Magnolia, are you okay?"
"Bellossom…" Magnolia panted, standing up. She seemed to be moving slower than before.
"She's been paralyzed," Kitty realized.
"And she's in bad shape," Nikita noticed. "That body slam and that feint attack did a lot. But it's okay. We can recover some of our health. Magnolia, use grassy terrain."
"Bellossom!" Magnolia nodded. Her body began glowing green, and she sent a wave of energy through the stadium, causing grass to begin sprouting. In moments, the stadium looked like a lawn. It was the first bit of green anyone had seen in days thanks to the snowfall.
"With this, the health of all of our pokemon will slowly recover," Nikita explained to Kitty.
"Thanks, Nikita, this is perfect," Kitty said, smiling to her partner, already feeling the soothing restorative powers of the tranquil, enchanted grass healing Larosa's injuries. "Now! Larosa, take out that Umbreon with another double kick!"
Larosa ran towards the Umbreon, preparing to kick it. But before her legs could connected, the dark pokemon disappeared.
"She's gone!" Kitty gasped, whirling her head over her shoulder as Larosa did the same, turning back to her partner, already understanding what Luna was about to do. Luna appeared behind Magnolia and slashed at her with darkness-infused claws, sending Magnolia skidding through the grass.
"Poli!" Poliwhirl had restored some health as well, bringing him back from the brink of fainting. He raised his hand, slapping Magnolia out of the air and slamming her into the grass.
"Bell-!" Magnolia coughed out in pain.
"Magnolia, use giga drain," Nikita ordered. Magnolia began glowing green, energy surging out of her and into Poliwhirl before the water pokemon could react. Magnolia might have been paralyzed, but Poliwhirl was still far too weak to fight back with any amount of speed either.
"Poli…" Poliwhirl groaned, crumpling and falling over, the last vestiges of his strength sapped away by Magnolia's giga drain, which had been boosted by the grassy terrain.
"Bellossom…" Magnolia panted, standing up. Unfortunately, the health she regained from draining away Poliwhirl's health was meager, the pokemon already being nearly unconscious. This meant that Magnolia didn't have a lot left in her.
"It's okay, Magnolia! We can at least take out that Umbreon, too," Nikita shouted. "Use moonblast!"
"Bellossom…" Magnolia panted, nodding, holding up her hands, creating an orb of fairy light that she fired at the Umbreon.
"That won't be enough," Kitty shouted to her. Thanks to paralysis, Magnolia was far too slow to make any different. "Larosa! You need to get that Umbreon, now!"
"Growl!" Larosa was already in motion, her thoughts in unison with her trainer as she charged at the dark type.
"Luna, quick attack!" Will ordered.
Indeed, Magnolia's speed wasn't nearly enough. Luna shot forward in a black blur, dodging around the fairy attack and closing the distance between herself and the grass pokemon in a flash. Larosa charged after her, but even with her boosted speed, she wasn't fast enough to catch the Umbreon, who tackled Magnolia head-on, knocking her backwards.
"Bell…" Magnolia whimpered, crumpling over as she hit the ground, losing consciousness.
Larosa was quickly upon Luna, but the Umbreon managed to dodge her double kick with a quick attack, putting some distance between herself and the fire pokemon, returning to Will's side.
Nick and Nikita both recalled their pokemon as Julia watched anxiously from the sidelines, worried for her friend. Reiner could tell that she was worked up, so he tried soothing her.
"It's okay, Julia. Each side has lost one pokemon, the match is still anyone's game. See? Kitty's really managing to hold her own!"
Julia nodded her head. She had to admit that Kitty was doing well. But at what cost? She could see that Kitty already looked exhausted. She remembered all the nosebleeds, how Kitty had been hospitalized, the headaches, all the times she had nearly passed out. This… was Reiner really trying to tell her that all this was really okay?
Julia could only feel apprehension and anxiety as she watched the match continue. Not just for Kitty's wellbeing, but for whatever it was that Misato, or more accurately, the people she was working for, had planned.
No. Nothing was okay about THIS.
The match has started, and Kitty seems off to a strong start. But she's already taken some major hits. Will her harmonia help her pull through? Or will the foul play and trickery from Will's Umbreon manage to get the edge out over her? Nick and Nikita are both down a pokemon, but it looks like the match is far from over, just like Reiner said!