The match continues! How will Julia and Reiner fare against Kitty (and I guess Nikita)? Will Julia be able to get through to her, or will Kitty snap and go wild, losing control of her harmonia? We'll have to see for ourselves.

KedharS: It should be pretty good, for sure.

Aquahaze675: It's definitely going to be a conflicting battle. We can only hope for a good ending.

Rosealine gold: It should be a good match. The winter break chapters won't be that long or in-depth (more of a breather) but they should still be nice.

Thunder Fire: That would certainly be enjoyable, but they would still have to determine who wins in the end, how will they do that?

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 376

"Julia has a Sharpedo," Nikita frowned. "I didn't see that coming. But it's not a problem. Kitty, Magnolia and I will handle the Sharpedo with our grass moves, so you can take on Reiner."

"No," Kitty shot her down immediately. "Larosa and I will fight her."

"What?!" Nikita sputtered. "But that's crazy! Larosa is a close-combat pokemon! Weaver is a close-combat pokemon, and he'll be weak to your double kicks! But how are you going to fight against a Sharpedo?! He's in the water, and your Growlithe is a fire type! Everything about this is a terrible idea, Kitty!"

"I don't care," Kitty growled, her red eyes flashing. "We're going to take down Julia's pokemon!"

Oh no, this is awful! Nikita moaned to herself. She had been afraid of this. Kitty was dead-set on fighting against Julia and defeating her, Reiner wasn't even a blip on her radar, and neither was she, for that matter. Even if Nikita and Magnolia had the better chance of victory over a Sharpedo, Kitty was gonna take it head on.

"Come on, Julia!" Kitty shouted. Larosa ran across the bridge, snarling angrily at the underwater pokemon. She reached the edge of the platform, looking at the dark pool below.

"Growwll!" Larosa howled, maximizing her attacking stat.

"She's raising her attack strength!" Julia cried. As expected, Kitty's running right in… she didn't used to be this bold. She's changed so much, I barely recognize her… I've never seen her with this much of a drive to win…

"Fang, use aqua jet!"

"Sharpedo!" Fang shot forward, cutting through the water, waves wrapping around him as he approached Larosa.

"Whooo! Go, Fang!" Marion cheered the water pokemon on.

"It appears Kitty's made a big tactical error sending a fire type to take down a water type," Sylvia smirked. "Although she may be planning something."

Kitty watched the approaching Sharpedo through Larosa's eyes, a wild smile spreading across her face. She focused her energy into her legs, preparing Larosa to spring up.

Fang shot out of the water and barreled towards Larosa, wreathed in a veil of rushing water. Kitty's harmonia surged and she mentally commanded Larosa to jump, the Growlithe leaping right at the Sharpedo.

She's coming right at us! Julia realized, stunned that such a bold move would come from Kitty. She'd been hoping the incoming water attack would disrupt Kitty's plans, but apparently she was so engrossed in the fight she didn't care.

Fang collided with Larosa in the air, the dog pokemon not doing enough to hinder the Sharpedo's charge. Fang slammed into the Growlithe and pushed her back through the air, aiming right towards the water.

"Not yet!" Kitty snarled. Larosa slammed her hind leg into the side of Fang's face, hitting the pokemon in the eye, and followed it with another kick in the chin, knocking the water pokemon off-course. Larosa tumbled backwards, pushed free from the torrent of water, landing hard on the bridge. She didn't let the rough landing get the best of her, quickly picking herself up. But as she tried to stand, both Kitty and Larosa felt searing pain run through their legs.

"Ack!" Kitty nearly lost her balance, it felt like a series of razor blades was slicing into her flesh. Larosa whimpered, her hind legs bloody with multiple cuts from the Sharpedo's rough skin.

"After that exchange, Kitty's Growlithe may have gotten some good hits in on Julia's Sharpedo, but it looks like she's taken the bigger blow," Sylvia observed. "What do you think, Marion?"

"A direct hit by aqua jet and contact with Fang's rough skin definitely did some damage," Marion agreed. "But don't count that boosted double kick lightly. Sharpedo don't have very good endurance, and while Julia's been taking care of it for a while now, this is his first real battle. He took a lot of damage too. He's not surfacing right now, probably waiting for the after-effects to-"

Marion was interrupted by the sight of a large fin emerging from the water, charging right at the bridge Larosa was on.

"Let's go again," Kitty shouted, preparing another double kick.

"Magnolia!" Nikita shouted. "Moonblast."

"Bellossom!" Magnolia said, holding her hand up, compressing light energy into his hands, gathering up fairy energy and firing it in a blast right at the approaching Sharpedo.

"Crap! Fang, dive!" Julia shouted. Fang called off his advance, diving deep under the water, the moonblast exploding harmlessly on the surface of the water, sending a wave up.

"What are you doing?!" Kitty shouted, turning on Nikita. There was a fury in her eyes that startled the trainer, not used to seeing that much rage from her partner.

"I-I just-"

"Weaver!" Reiner shouted. His Zangoose had finally closed the distance between him and the Growlithe, lunging at the dog pokemon while Kitty was distracted. Kitty barely had time to get Larosa to turn when Weaver's crush claw dug into the pokemon's side, knocking her into the water.

"Oh man! That's bad!" Sylvia gasped, unable to put on even the affect of sympathy.

Larosa began paddling towards the shore, but no matter how much Kitty might have used harmonia to boost her speed, there was no way she could outrun a Sharpedo in the water.

Fang came up at her from below, hitting Larosa in the stomach with the tip of her nose, blasting her from the water and sending her spiraling through the air. Kitty clutched her gut and stumbled back, biting her lip in anger.

"You-!" Kitty growled, her eyes flashing. She summoned as much harmonia as she could, glaring across the battlefield at Julia.

Julia flinched, stunned by the rage in Kitty's eyes. Momentarily taken aback, she didn't give any orders to Fang to follow-up his attack.

Larosa landed on her feet, though it hurt, and snarled at Weaver, flames wrapping around her body.

"No!" Kitty cried, sending a silent command to Larosa to back off. Her harmonia link reestablished, Larosa understood her trainer's intentions. She didn't want to fight Reiner and his Zangoose. The enemy she wanted to beat was Julia. Only Julia.

"Nikita," Kitty said, not even looking at the partner she was fighting with. Her focus was directed entirely at Julia and her Sharpedo, her eyes connected with Larosa's in an intimidating glare. "Don't get in our way again. Fight your boyfriend. Your interference is why Reiner was able to get an edge on us just now, when we needed all our focus on that Sharpedo, Fang."

"I was just trying to help, it looked like that aqua jet hurt a lot, so-"

"I don't need your help!" Kitty snapped, Nikita flinching.

"But… Kitty…"

"Sorry," Kitty apologized. "I just… I need to beat Julia with my own strength. Without the help from anyone, please, is that okay?"

Nikita remained silent. She nodded her head, even though Kitty wasn't looking her way. It clearly didn't matter what response she gave.

"I can at least help this way, then. Magnolia, use grassy terrain."

Magnolia sent a wave of energy through the battlefield, grass sprouting up from the platforms and bridges to create a field of grass.

"We're not going with that strategy," Kitty snapped, Larosa's flames dying down as the grass grew up around her.

"It's to help you!" Nikita protested. "The grass will heal Larosa, Kitty!"

Indeed, the energy of the grass had begun to help Larosa's injuries and allow her to recover, the cuts on her legs beginning to mend.

"…Oh," Kitty said.

"…These two clearly aren't the best at teamwork," Sylvia commented.

"They used to be good at it," Marion said, her voice carrying a mournful tone.

"Julia, we need to attack Kitty at the same time," Reiner said. "She's so single-handedly focused on you, it's like she's not even seeing me. We can use that to our advantage."

"Yeah, I know," Julia muttered. She didn't want to do it, it made her feel a little dirty to exploit her friend like that.

But she was trying to keep Kitty safe. Keep her from fighting against Elaina Bishop. So she would do whatever she could to keep her away from that.

"Sounds like a plan," Julia said. "I'll draw her attention. You take her down if you can. But make sure you watch out for that girlfriend of yours, she'll try to attack you, probably."

Julia turned to her Sharpedo.

"Fang! Use aqua jet on Larosa!"

"Sharpedo!" Fang sunk back down into the water, shooting straight at the platform Larosa was standing on, gathering water around her for her charge.

"Growl," Larosa howled, running from the platform and charging across the bridge. She used her agility to increase her speed, keeping her eyes focused on the charging Sharpedo. If the water pokemon wanted to hit her this time, she would find it slightly more difficult.

Nikita watched Kitty avoid the approaching pokemon, trying to figure out what she should be doing right now. She noticed Weaver was watching the two intently as well.

Knowing Reiner, he's probably planning on attacking Larosa while her guard is down and she's focused on Julia's Sharpedo, Nikita reasoned, glancing at her boyfriend.

"Kitty, watch-"

"Larosa!" Kitty shouted, ignoring her partner's words. Understanding the will of her partner, Larosa charged straight at the approaching Sharpedo, lunging at her from behind, as the large shark prepared to turn. If this went as planned, she'd kick at her from the side, and-

"Zangoose!"

Weaver jumped off the bridge and raised his claw, slashing at Larosa. His quick attack let him catch the leaping Growlithe, striking the dog pokemon in the side.

"Growl!" Larosa wailed, Kitty clenching her side and wincing in pain.

"Now, Fang!" Fang turned, leaping out of the water, barreling straight at Larosa like a torpedo wrapped in water.

"Magnolia, petal blizzard!" Nikita shouted.

"Bell!" Magnolia raised her hands and spun, a tornado of flower petals swirling around her. She sent the tornado spinning across the water and slicing at the three pokemon about to collide. The petals struck them.

"Sharpedo!" Fang cried in pain, the petals slicing into his rough scales.

"Zangoose!" Weaver winced as well, the blades cutting more lines of red that stained his white fur.

Larosa was the one who endured the tornado the best, resisting the power of grass moves with her fire typing, and withstanding the pain that there was thanks to Kitty's harmonia. The three pokemon landed in the water, and Larosa was able to swim back to land first, climbing up onto the platform, shaking off the water and slowly healing herself up from the grass.

"Wow, that was quite a blow!" Sylvia gasped.

"Nikita really knew her stuff with that one," Marion said. "She used a strong move that hit all three, but since it was a grass attack, Larosa didn't take as much damage as her opponents did! And Fang has probably taken a lot of damage from that move, too. As for the Zangoose… he probably isn't in that bad of condition? I guess? But hopefully Fang will be okay…"

Neither Fang nor Weaver had surfaced from the water yet.

"Nikita!" Kitty cried. "What did I just say?!"

She looked desperately at the water, praying that Julia's Sharpedo would surface. It couldn't go down this way, it just couldn't! If one of Julia's pokemon was knocked out by Nikita's attack, then Julia… she wouldn't understand! She wouldn't see how far Kitty had come! Kitty had to defeat her, totally, she had to see how strong Kitty was!

Weaver pulled himself out of the water too, but nobody seemed to care.

Fang's fin emerged from the water, and Julia and Kitty both sighed with relief.

"Now! Larosa!" Kitty shouted, bonding with her pokemon, her harmonia surging even higher, her hair standing on end as her eyes flashed with sparkling red light. She felt the wind swirling around Larosa's fur, no, her fur, as she increased her speed with agility, preparing to attack again.

"Kitty, you need to pay attention to Weaver!" Nikita shouted. "Or he's going to try and catch you by surprise all over again!"

"I don't care about that!" Kitty snapped. "I need to beat her! I need to show her! She has to see! She has to see how far I've come!"

Blood trickled down from her nose, and her harmonia increasing in power even more.

I'll make you see, Julia. You won't treat me like a burden, not anymore! I'm stronger now! Strong enough to win! Strong enough to beat anybody! But you won't accept that, not until you see it for yourself!

The harmonia surging around Julia turned into flames that burst up around Larosa, igniting the grass at her feet and setting the entire battlefield on fire.

"Shit!" Reiner exclaimed, holding his arms up in front of his face as a blast of heat struck him, Julia doing the same.

"Zangoose!" The closer pokemon, Weaver roared in pain as the flames hit him, rolling over his body like a tidal wave. Weaver stumbled back and fell off the bridge, landing in the water, much to his relief.

"Magnolia!" Nikita exclaimed, the flames hitting her grass pokemon directly. Magnolia jumped into the water too, but the flames dealt a lot more damage to her than it did to Weaver.

"Such heat…!" Julia gasped, feeling her face heating up even hotter. She was worried that the heat of the fire was growing a little out of control.

"Jeez, all these flames," Sylvia said, fanning herself. "Is the battlefield going to be okay?"

"Don't worry, those bridges are made of non-combustible material," Marion assured her. "They only look like they're made out of wood."

She turned her eye to the water.

"But the water, on the other hand…"

"It's not enough," Kitty growled. She could feel the heat scorching her face, but it didn't matter to her. Larosa didn't mind the heat, and neither did she. She was focused on the shadow moving in the water, the Sharpedo that lurked directly under the surface.

Fang's fin drew close, and that was enough for Kitty.

"NOW!" Kitty shouted, the flames growing even hotter. Larosa leapt from the bridge wreathed in a giant fireball, paws out and mouth open wide. She hit the water and the battlefield was immediately blasted with a cloud of steam, the trainers shielding their eyes. The only one who could see was Kitty, through Larosa's eyes.

Larosa bit down on Fang and dug her claws into the pokemon's rough skin, ignoring how hard the razor-sharp scales dug into her hide. She clung to Fang no matter how hard he tried to knock her off, no matter how fast he swam through the water.

Hold on, just a little longer, Kitty grit her teeth together, clenching her jaw tightly, hoping that the intensity of Larosa's bite attack would cause just a little bit more damage to the struggling pokemon. Her harmonia was starting to flag, but there was absolutely no way she was going to let that happen. Two things were in Kitty's field of vision. The first was the cloud of white, which she saw through her own eyes, and the second was the darkness of the water, which she was seeing through Larosa's eyes. Either way, she couldn't see a hell of a lot. So she focused on what she could do.

And what she could do was strike back against Julia, tear apart her Sharpedo however she could and show her how far she had come.

More! More! Kitty was focusing her harmonia as much as she could, pumping out all the power into Larosa her tiny figure could muster. But she was still running out of gas.

If I can't get more power… then Julia will win. If I can't get more power, then I won't be able to show her how much stronger I am.

That thought, that she would lose to Julia and Julia would think that she was weak, not able to stand up for herself, that was all she needed to give her harmonia another surge of power. Larosa pulled her legs back, and slammed them into the side of the Sharpedo.

Kitty winced, pain shooting up through her legs as she felt Larosa's lacerations for herself, but that wasn't enough to stop her.

Keep going! It's not enough yet! Not even close!

She and Larosa kicked Larosa's legs bloody against Fang's rough scales, forcing as much power into her kicks as she possibly could, even as the crimson spread of blood began to slowly seep into the water as the steam cleared away.

"What's going on? Are the pokemon okay?" Marion asked, squinting through the dispersing steam, the flames having died down as well.

"I'm not sure, I can't see," Sylvia said. "Wait! Look!"

Fang rose up out of the water, knocked unconscious, bobbing up and down with barely a twitch.

"Fang!" Julia cried.

"We… we did it…" Kitty panted, wiping the blood off from below her nose. "We… we got her… Larosa…"

"Growlithe…" Larosa's shaky paw dug into one of the platforms as she scrambled up, pulling herself out of the water. She dragged her hind legs out, blood seeping out onto the platform underneath her, the deep lacerations bleeding dangerously. Larosa could barely keep standing. Her paws and jaw were also bleeding, and the underside of her was sliced up as well from where she'd clung to Fang and refused to let go. But even if she looked like she was about to collapse, she'd managed to keep standing, and that was enough for Kitty to feel a wave of triumph pass through her.

"We did it, Larosa," Kitty said again. "Julia, we-"

"Zangoose!" Weaver emerged from the dispersing steam, burned and soaked, his large claws hitting Larosa in the side, plunging deep into her.

"Growl-!" Larosa choked out, Kitty holding onto her side and falling to her knees, gasping for air.

"Crush claw!" Reiner shouted. Weaver raised his other claw, and slammed it down into the side of Larosa's face, slamming her into the platform with enough force to crack it, knocking the already-damaged unconscious.

"La… Larosa…" Kitty coughed, glancing hopelessly at her crumpled Growlithe as she felt her connection through harmonia fade away as Larosa lost consciousness.

"Both their pokemon are unable to battle," Sylvia said, not letting on that she was a little grateful. Both pokemon looked like they were in really bad shape, and it was good that they wouldn't be able to keep fighting.

Kitty ground her teeth together, standing on shaky legs, feeling her strength start to return. Her head was killing her and she was seeing double, but the pain in her legs was disappearing and she was quick to recover, recalling Larosa as Julia called Fang back.

I managed to win over Julia… but Reiner just had to interfere! It wasn't good enough! I have to show her even more! I have to make her see! Julia, you're the trainer I most wanted to be like, and I'm going to show you that I've become better than you, right here and now!

This is really rough on everyone involved. Hopefully Kitty will be able to keep herself under control, otherwise things could get really bad.