Time for the conclusion of the tag team match! Who will be able to pull out the win? Will it be Will and Nick? Or will Kitty's harmonia allow her to come out on top? Will Nikita manage to contribute anything?
Rosealine gold: I agree that Sango's the best fit, they have a lot in common having lost parents young.
KedharS: Oh you ain't seen nothing yet.
Thunder Fire: Anything can be a possibility if you think hard enough.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 354
That Umbreon is a dark type, Nikita noted. There were two pokemon she could use in this situation, and one of them was better than the other. The problem was, she wasn't exactly the most friendly of her pokemon, because she used to belong to her father. Glitter still didn't trust Nikita enough to fully listen to her in battles…
Nikita shook her head, pushing those doubts aside. The important thing was that she tried!
"Glitter!" Nikita said, throwing out her next pokemon. A small pink Clefairy emerged, landing in the grass. Blinking, the pokemon looked around for a few seconds, glancing back at Nikita, scoffing. She had a look of disdain on her face that made Nikita wince.
"Glitter, I need your help," Nikita urged her father's pokemon. "This is an important battle!"
"…Clef," Glitter sighed, nodding begrudgingly and turning her attention back to the battlefield.
"Nidorino, go!" Nick said, making his choice after seeing what type of pokemon Nikita had sent out.
"Oh, no!" Nikita gasped.
"It's fine!" Kitty reassured her with a snappish tone that belied her own irritation. "Larosa! Use your howl!"
"Growl!" Larosa growled, bolstering her attack strength with a howl. She charged towards the two pokemon, her eyes flashing angrily.
Kitty felt her harmonia surging through her, energizing her. She couldn't believe the amount of power she was drawing out! Her eyes shot towards Julia, taking pride in the stunned expression on the girl's face.
Do you see, Julia? I've gotten stronger, haven't I? Just watch! I'm going to get even stronger than this now!
"Larosa!" She shouted, putting all of her strength into her pokemon's legs. Larosa charged towards Luna and closed the distance before the pokemon could even blink, slamming her hind legs into the Umbreon's face, knocking her backwards.
"Umbre-!" Luna cried, rolling through the grass. Larosa put her out of mind and used the momentum to roundly charge at Nidorino.
"Nidorino! Use your double kick!" Nick ordered. Nidorino and Larosa traded double kicks, with Larosa's dealing more damage in spite of the Nidorino's resistances.
"Luna, get up," Will urged. "Use your moonlight to recover your health!"
"Umbreon," Luna nodded, rising to her feet, panting. Her fur began shining, the yellow rings on her body beginning to glow gold as light shown down around her, restoring her health.
"Glitter, we need to get in there!" Nikita said. "Use your disarming voice!"
"Clef!" Glitter nodded, running forward. She opened her mouth. "CLEFAAAAIIRY!"
A calming sonic pulse echoed from deep within the small pokemon's throat, the charming sound touching Luna's ears. The dark pokemon winced in pain both emotional and physical, her healing beginning to slow.
"I thought you were almost down!" Kitty scowled. "Well, fine! Larosa! Time for our specialty! Enough of these fighting moves! Use flame wheel!"
"Growlithe!" Larosa growled in agreement, the two feeling as one. Her eyes flashed and flames erupted around her, a massive blaze roaring up as she charged towards Nidorino.
"Kitty, wait!" Nikita cried.
"Just like in our match against Maddi and Sango," Kitty reminded her, sending another pulse of power through Larosa to boost the flames even more. As Larosa rolled forward, the grassy terrain ignited, and in moments the arena became a battlefield of flames.
"Aaah!" Nikita took a step back, shielding her face from the roaring blaze.
"Clefairy!" Glitter cried, the flames hurting her as well. Nidorino and Luna's yelps of pain could be heard from within the inferno as well, accompanied by Larosa's angry howls.
"Whoa, that's hot!" Reiner cried, his face heating up from the waves of hot air rolling off of the battlefield.
"Kitty! Be careful!" Julia wailed.
Kitty gasped in shock. She'd expected for the field to catch fire and lightly burn the pokemon, but this level was beyond what she had expected. Some of the flames were jumping up higher than she was!
"Larosa, stop!" Kitty urged frantically, struggling to sever her connection with the pokemon. But her powers were quickly losing control and she was starting to panic, Marion's instructions about regulating her abilities flying out of her head.
"Glitter!" Nikita shouted over the crackling flames, "use your misty terrain!"
A flash of light came from somewhere within the inferno, and a blast of cool, sweet-smelling wind slapped the trainers in the face, pink for rolling out across the battlefield like a shockwave, smothering the flames immediately. In an instant the hellscape had been terraformed into a calming, misty field that smelled of candy and flowers. It didn't erase the scorch marks, but it soothed everyone involved, bringing the tension of seconds before back down.
"That… that was…" Nick sputtered. Nidorino had been badly injured from the flames, but he was still able to keep fighting. Thanks to the misty terrain's soothing effects, he had failed to sustain any burns, none of the pokemon had. Glitter was injured as well, but not that badly, either. The only pokemon to have fainted was Luna, who had already sustained serious wounds from earlier in the battle.
Larosa panted, weak, the rush from harmonia having worn off and her previous injuries starting to ache again, making it difficult to remain standing.
Kitty was in worse shape. She blinked for a few moments in relief, staring out at the battlefield in stunned silence. Then, searing pain shot through her head, and blood spurted out of her nose as she felt the strength begin to drain from her body. She stumbled forward and fell to her knees, panting, feeling the pain of her harmonia rebounding back on her.
"Kitty!" Julia shouted.
"Kitty, are you okay?" Nikita asked.
Will could see that there was something going wrong, but he didn't have the time to think about it. He recalled Luna, and switched to his next pokemon.
''Agni, Rudra, go," Will said, sending out his Doublade. The two swords flew through the sky, their tassels billowing behind them. "Use shadow sneak to finish off that Growlithe!"
"Doublade!" The dual pokemon echoed in unison, shooting forward, sinking into the ground as shadows and shooting straight at Larosa. They erupted from the shadows, stabbing Larosa from either side with their blades, digging deep into her flesh.
"GROWL!" Larosa howled in pain. Kitty felt an equally sharp, stabbing pain in her sides, her harmonia flaring back up in response.
STOP IT! She shouted through Larosa, feeling the pain welling up anger in her gut, feeling Larosa's fury begin to seep into her. Kitty's eyes flashed and her harmonia surged, crimson flames erupting from Larosa and engulfing the two sword pokemon along with her.
"More… not… not enough…" Kitty panted, pulling herself to her feet, wiping off her blood from her nose with her wrist. Her eyes were shining brightly as she gazed into the inferno, letting Larosa's pain guide her through this, allowing the flames to burn with the strength of her harmonia. This feeling… this was power!
"Agni! Rudra!" Will cried. The two pokemon flew back, badly injured from the flames. Larosa panted, letting out another howl, before collapsing to the ground, unconscious.
"Sorry… Larosa… not… not enough…" Kitty panted, holding up her pokeball. Her hands were so unsteady she was fumbling with the button. She finally managed to recall her Growlithe, the pain in her head returning.
"Kitty!" Julia rose from her seat and moved to run to her friend's side, but Reiner held her back. "Kitty, are you okay?!"
"Julia? Wha-?" Kitty glanced back at her friend, her head still throbbing and her vision blurry. But just hearing Julia's voice was enough to make herself feel more relaxed. She let out a deep breath and composed herself.
"Kitty, that's enough," Julia continued. "You need to stop this! If you keep fighting like this, you're going to get really hurt! You're bleeding right now, you could end up in a coma like Elaina! This battle isn't worth something like that, just stop it!"
Kitty's expression darkened, and the slow relaxation of her harmonia was blown away as it flared back up, the pain returning with a vengeance. Julia… why didn't she understand? She was still treating Kitty like she was helpless, like she couldn't fight for herself!
Her eyes flashed angrily and she tore the next pokeball from her belt, rounding back to the fight and flinging the pokeball into the air.
"Meomo!" She shouted, her Persian emerging with a snarl, landing on the foggy ground and glaring at the pokemon across from her.
"Kitty…" Nikita looked worriedly at her partner.
"Nikita, we're going to win," Kitty reassured her, glancing at her partner with a nod. Nikita didn't feel reassured. Kitty didn't look very good.
"A normal type?" Will scowled. "Agni, Rudra, are you okay? Sorry, I didn't think that Growlithe still had the strength in it to fire off an attack after the beating it had taken, that was my bad. We'll need to take things more carefully."
"Doub! Blade!" The two swords confirmed. Their bodies were a little scorched and their tassels were badly frayed, but they were far from defeated.
"Good! Use autotomize, and follow it with a swords dance!" Will ordered. The two swords flew through the air, circling each other and raising their speed, and then preparing to increase their attacking power as well.
"Glitter, we need to stop them," Nikita said. "Use your charm attack!"
"Clefairy!" Glitter nodded, giving Agni and Rudra a coy wink and a sweet smile, offsetting their offensive buff with her cuteness.
"We can't boost our power like this," Will scowled. "Nick, lend a hand!"
"Right," Nick nodded. "Nidorino! Use poison sting!"
"Nido!" Nidorino nodded, lowering his horn and running towards the fairy type.
"Not a chance!" Kitty growled. Meomo appeared in front of Nidorino and slapped him across the face with a paw, faking the pokemon out and causing him to be temporarily stunned.
"Nikita, I don't think your Clefairy has any moves that are good against these pokemon," Kitty said. "We're going to need your Grumpig!"
"Are-are you sure?" Nikita asked, not nearly as certain herself.
"Yes, just trust me!" Kitty said.
"R-right," Nikita nodded, not used to Kitty being this forceful. "Glitter, return!"
Nikita recalled her Clefairy, and sent out her Grumpig, Hammy.
"Go for that Nidorino," Kitty said. "Meomo and I, we'll take out the Doublade."
Will raised his eyebrow. That should be interesting. But he couldn't take harmonia lightly. Agni and Rudra, without Glitter's interference, had finally managed to complete a swords dance, their attack heightening. They shot forward to slice at Meomo.
"Iron head," Will ordered, their blades sharpening into a shimmering gleam as they prepared to slice at the pokemon from both sides. Meomo ran forward to draw the swords away from Hammy and Nidorino, to deal with them himself.
Kitty and Meomo looked at the two swords dancing around them with quick glances, and Kitty focused her harmonia, building her power even higher. To deal with this speed, she would have to time things perfectly. But first…
A screech!
Kitty opened her mouth and shouted as loudly as she could with her soft voice, but the screech of her Persian drowned it out completely, Meomo letting loose a screech attack that drastically dropped the defenses of the swift sword pokemon.
"Aaagh!" Nick held his ears in pain.
"Ow!" Will wasn't in much better shape.
Even Nikita was feeling the screech hurt her ears, and Nidorino was a little stunned as well, even though he was nowhere close to Meomo. Only Hammy, who didn't really pay attention to stuff like that, was fine with what was going on. Which worked well.
"Hammy, psychic on the Nidorino," Nikita shouted over the screech, holding her hands over her ears.
"Grump." Hammy's agreement was drowned out in the loud shriek of "PEEEEEEEEEERSSIAAAAN!" and he raised his hands, a blue aura covering his body as he lifted Nidorino into the air with his psychic powers.
"No, Nidorino!" Nick cried, still shielding his ears.
"Agni, Rudra, you gotta attack, now!" Will shouted, the sword pokemon flying straight at the Persian, preparing to skewer him.
NOT GOOD ENOUGH! Kitty shouted to Meomo, having seen them coming. Her eyes flashed and blood trickled down her nose, her harmonia surging up. A fraction of a second before the sword pokemon pierced Meomo, the Persian disappeared.
"He vanished?" Will gasped, surprised, his hands falling to his sides as the Doublade's swords collided with a loud clang. Meomo reappeared shortly after… directly above the pokemon, his claws extended and dark energy pulsing through him!
"Feint attack!" Kitty crowed victoriously, Meomo driving his claws down onto the sword pokemon. Her harmonia was burning and the rush was amazing, she felt everything that Meomo could feel! It was her paws that had smashed into Agni and Rudra, dealing them major damage, and there was more to come! Her harmonia, she was so strong now! She could do anything as long as she had Meomo and her other pokemon! Julia would have to admit it now, seeing what she could do! Kitty was strong, all on her own! She didn't need Julia's protection! Her friends wouldn't look down on her anymore, they would see that she was a powerful trainer in her own right!
Meomo opened her mouth and bit down hard on the hilt of one of the Doublade, crunching down with a powerful bite attack for even more damage. She could taste the metal in her mouth, but it was only a slight inconvenience in light of the amazing power she could feel running through her! Kitty raised her hand and Meomo slammed his paw down on the other sword pokemon with a strong assurance, the dark moves making short work of the stunned ghost types, already softened up from Larosa's flames. In the blink of an eye, Will had lost his second pokemon.
Kitty panted, her harmonia waning. She wiped the sweat off of her brow, panting. Meomo snarled victoriously, leaping back. At the same time, Hammy had flung Nidorino into the ground, dealing him some major damage as well. Nidorino forced himself to stand up, panting, while Will recalled his Doublade in frustration.
"See, Julia? Kitty's winning," Reiner tried to reassure her.
"So what?!" Julia demanded. "Look at her, she's barely standing! I knew that harmonia was too risky! That it was bad for her! Where's this 'control' you were talking about, huh? She's almost lost like Elaina was!"
This was a bad idea, Julia had just known it was a bad idea, and it looked like she had been right all along!
"Kitty…" Nikita glanced at her partner. Kitty had used her harmonia in all their past battles, but it hadn't… it hadn't been like this. It was like with that match against Sango, Kitty seemed to be, well… she couldn't describe it, but she was feeling that something was off.
Unknown to anyone, not even Kitty, there was a darkness beginning to seep its way into Kitty's heart. She wanted to win, she wanted to be strong. Julia… Julia always treated her like a child, like she couldn't "do it" on her own, and Kitty had had enough! She wasn't a child! She was a powerful trainer, and she would show Julia that she didn't need to worry about her anymore! Sure, she was feeling a little woozy, but it was just a little! She was in control! She was! And she would show everyone just how strong she was!
Julia would understand. She would have to.
All Kitty needed to do was use more. More power, more harmonia, if she won with such dominating power than Julia would be able to see that there was nothing for her to worry about! She would treat Kitty as an equal, not like… not like…
Julia would never love her if Kitty was just a burden who needed to be protected!
"Not… not a burden…" she muttered numbly, shaking her head. "I'm strong… wanna… need to be stronger, need to… need to prove that I can… that I can win! That I can keep winning!"
Tears rolled down her cheeks as blood rolled down her lip, and she took a step forward, Meomo running towards the injured Nidorino.
Her vision fully linked to Meomo, Kitty only saw what he saw. So she didn't notice the white pokemon released from Will's pokeball, running at her from the side as she darted towards the poison type. Or the flames leaping up around his furry body. She didn't notice a damn thing until she felt a burning sensation searing its way deep into her side, causing her to let out a cry of pain. Meomo lost his balance and quickly righted himself, whirling around upon the new challenger.
"Lar!" A small Larvesta faced down the slinking cat pokemon, flames dancing around him as his speed rose from the flame charge.
"Larvesta's my best bet," Will nodded. "Sol! Use bug buzz!"
"LAAAAAAAAR!" Sol let out a shrieking chitter that echoed across the battlefield, another sonic wave that irritated the battling trainers, but this one did damage.
Kitty held her hands over her ears and let out a wail of pain, hearing twice the intensity of sound in both her set of ears and Meomo's. She lost her balance and fell to her knees, crying.
"Oww! This is almost as bad as the screech," Nikita grumbled. Hammy wasn't avoiding this one. It had dealt him a non-insignificant amount of damage.
"Nidorino!" Nick shouted over the deafening sound. "Go for the Persian, now!"
"Nido!" Nidorino nodded, ignoring the intense sound. He ran forward, lowering his horn, and stabbed it into the side of the stunned Persian, neither Meomo nor Kitty able to hear his approach or Nick's orders with the deafening sound. Kitty felt like her ears were bleeding just like her Persian's, it was too much! But the agony of the Nidorino's poison jab was a bitter reminder. To their fortune, the misty terrain was still in effect, meaning Meomo couldn't be poisoned. But that didn't save him from the pain.
"Hammy! Use psybeam!" Nikita shouted over the sound. Hammy stood up fully, the black pearls on his body shimmering with light. From the pearl on his chest, a beam of rainbow-colored energy shot out, hitting the Larvesta and finally getting Sol to shut up. The sound died down, and while there was still a ringing in Kitty and Meomo's ears, they were able to regain their control.
"Quick, Nidorino, use double kick!" Nick ordered. Nidorino pulled back spun on his front legs to kick Meomo, but the cat pokemon was too fast, swiftly darting out of the way of Nidorino's legs, and raising claws of his own. He pounced on Nidorino and ripped into him with his claws for a critical slash attack, Nidorino crying out in pain, losing consciousness.
Meomo panted, rounding on Sol, running towards the small pokemon and raising his claws in a slash.
"Sol, use your psychic," Will ordered, much to the surprise of everyone there. Sol picked himself up off the ground from where he had landed and began glowing blue, a blue aura wrapping itself around Meomo and lifting him up into the air.
"Hey!" Kitty exclaimed, finding herself unable to move as Meomo hung suspended in the air, desperate to free himself.
"Hammy, power gem on that fire type!" Nikita ordered, desperate to free her partner's pokemon. Hammy raised his hands and his body began glowing with a blue light, large black pearls appearing in the air around him. He flung the pearls at the glowing Larvesta, but before they could hit the fire/bug for massive damage, they were all shattered to pieces. A white blur appeared between Sol and the Grumpig, a curved blue blade glinting dangerously in the light.
"Absol…" Abbie growled, glaring at the Grumpig.
"Just in time!" Will smiled.
"Abbie!" Nick shouted. "Use night slash again!"
"Absol!" Abbie nodded, running towards the Grumpig, her curved blade surging with shadowy energy.
"No!" Kitty gasped, knowing that an attack like that might wipe out Nikita's Grumpig. "Meomo!"
Kitty's harmonia flared up again as her eyes flashed and Meomo disappeared into darkness, the light around Sol fading as he no longer had a target.
Meomo reappeared in front of Abbie and opened his mouth, biting down on the sharp blade before it could strike Hammy.
"Absol!" Abbie growled at the feline pokemon.
"Peeer!" Meomo snarled back. He raised his claw and slashed at Abbie, the dark pokemon leaping back. Both pokemon prepared to strike, but it was Sol that made the first move.
"Sol, use heat wave!" Will ordered. His speedy little firebug began shimmering with orange light, heat pulsing through his fur. A wave of hot air rolled across the battlefield, streaming around Abbie and hitting Meomo and Hammy in the face, blowing the misty terrain away for good measure.
"Aargh," Kitty growled, holding her hands over her face in a vain attempt to protect herself from the searing heat. Meomo snarled and ran forward, even as the powerful headwind made it difficult. Abbie was doing nothing in response. She stood there, composed, almost as though she were building up to something.
"Abbie," Nick shouted. "I know we're still practicing, but we need to land this perfectly!"
"Absol," Abbie nodded, closing her eyes and focusing her power.
"Not good!" Kitty gasped, realizing something was up. She attempted to call off her attack, only to find that the heat had died down, and that her body was once again immobilized. A blue aura had appeared around Meomo once again.
"Per…" Meomo gasped, unable to pull away from Abbie, he was frozen in place once again.
"Abbie, go!" Nick ordered.
"Yeah, that's it!" Callie cheered, excited for what was about to happen. "Go!"
"Absol!" Abbie roared, slamming into Meomo's stomach with a powerful superpower attack. Meomo was flung backwards, the psychic aura dropping down, knocked unconscious with a single blow.
"…Ahk."
Kitty clutched her stomach and fell to her knees. She gasped for air as she felt agonizing pain shoot out from her gut, spreading across her body. She felt like she had gotten hit by a truck. The air had been smashed out of her lungs, and Meomo had been knocked out completely. She couldn't even cry in pain from what she was feeling, breathing was too hard right now. She could only gasp.
"Kitty!" Nikita gasped, looking to her friend, taking her eyes off the battlefield at the worst moment.
"Sol, hit with your bug buzz," Will ordered. Sol sent out a blast of sonic energy that sent an agonizing chirp up into Hammy's ears, the Grumpig letting out a pained wail as he struggled, before finally succumbing to the super-effective attack.
Nikita recalled her pokemon, but didn't send out another. She ran to Kitty's side instead. She wasn't the only one. Julia shook free of Reiner's grip on her wrist and had jumped down from the bleachers, running to her.
"Kitty, are you okay?!" Nikita asked, placing her hand on her friend's shoulder.
"N-… n-…" Kitty gasped, choking for air as she tried to stand. "N-n-no!"
Kitty managed to choke out a rejection, stumbling to her feet, panting. "Stop it! I'm fine!"
She was not fine. She was panting for air and looked half-dead. But the anger in her voice was still enough to freeze Julia in her tracks.
"I… am not… beaten… yet!" Kitty hissed, holding her stomach, her ribs killing her. She glared at Julia with a look so fierce Julia was at a loss for words. "I… don't… need… your… help!"
Kitty tried to shake off the pain. She recalled Meomo, which made her feel a little better, but she was still feeling a ton of accumulated fatigue from her harmonia use, much to her surprise. She wasn't… she wasn't used to this. Harmonia had hurt before, but never but like this. Even so…
I have to win… I need to show her… show her that I can do it on my own… that I'm not a burden, I'm a trainer that can fight at her side… that can challenge her… that can be an equal! And that's why I… I can't lose here!
Kitty sent out her final pokemon, Marisa, and her harmonia surged up again, that familiar rush returning. Deep down, Kitty knew that she was losing control. But right now, she needed to win. And she didn't know if she could do that without fully giving in to her power. With a silent apology to Marion, she connected with Marisa and let her pokemon flow back into her, the two merging as one as she prepared to fight the last two pokemon left.
Nikita didn't say anything, but she was still clearly worried about Kitty. She stepped back and returned to her area, sending Glitter back out. Everything about this just felt wrong, but it was clear Kitty wasn't stopping any time soon.
"Kitty…" Julia whispered.
"Now… we continue!" Kitty growled, light burning around Marisa's body as she began drawing in energy with her calm mind attack.
"Nikita, use misty terrain," Kitty told her partner. Nikita was wary, Kitty's voice was oddly calm.
"Are… are you sure?"
"Just do it," Kitty said. "Don't worry. We're going to win. Just watch."
A wild smile crossed her face, her eyes shining a shimmering silver-pink.
"With this power, we can't."
Nikita gulped, and nodded her head.
"Glitter, use misty terrain," Nikita ordered, a sweet-smelling mist pouring across the battlefield again.
"Abbie, we need to aim for Marisa first," Nick ordered. "Take her down with slash!"
"Absol!" Abbie nodded, lowering her head and charging at the focusing Sylveon, raising her bladed horn for a powerful slash.
"Sol, use bug buzz," Will ordered, Sol sending another sonic pulse to try and stun the Sylveon just as he had Kitty's Persian.
Kitty ignored them. They weren't important now. Not when she could feel the pulse of energy surging through her, her harmonia more powerful than ever before. It was all so easy, so soothing. Marisa was guiding her perfectly, she knew exactly what to do. It would all end so easily with this power.
Nikita realized a moment before it happened what was coming.
"Glitter, use cosmic power!" She shouted, Glitter buffing up her defenses with the power of the stars seconds before Kitty unleashed her harmonia in a massive release of fairy power.
"Misty explosion," Kitty murmured dreamily, watching everything from a distance, like she wasn't even there. She was floating so tranquilly above the battlefield, watching Marisa gather up fairy mist from the battlefield around her, compressing it into energy, and then unleashing it in a devastating explosion that engulfed the entire stadium. Nick and Will were knocked backwards, and Nikita jumped out of the way just in time. The light was blinding, the onlookers having to shield their eyes when it finally died down, the outcome was clear.
Marisa lay unconscious on the ground, having put every last speck of her energy into that attack. Abbie and Sol had been decimated, both pokemon unconscious in the resulting crater as well. The only pokemon still moving was Glitter, whose strengthened defenses had been enough to shield herself. She was deep in the red, nearly knocked out, but still conscious enough to count as a victory, panting frantically and groaning in pain.
"I… I did it…" Kitty murmured hazily, her head throbbing in pain. And yet it still felt so good… She turned to Julia and smiled cheerily. She would understand now, she'd have to. "See… Julia? I did it… I'm stronger now… I'm the… strongest…"
Like her Sylveon, Kitty's consciousness slipped away from her and she fell forward, passing out, deaf to the screams of Julia as her friend ran to her side.
Kitty won! But what price did she pay for that much power? What will the results of this be? We'll have to find out.