This match is looking to be a rough one. Hopefully, Kitty won't fall too far with her harmonia. Will Julia be able to keep a handle on things, and help stop her friend, maybe even saving her? We'll have to find out! Remember to review!

KedharS: The most serious we've seen is Cynthia, who is in a coma. We'll have to see if there's worse hazards.

Thunder Fire: That seems like it would be a lot of fun to watch for sure.

Pokemonking0924: We'll have to see. Hopefully Kitty won't completely lose herself. There's gotta be a way for her to come back.

ZenoZen: Thanks, I'll continue to do my best!

JoshGamerV: Fuck is right.

Guest: Well, what would the fun be in that? She's getting a lot of enjoyment out of where she is right now, so even though she probably could (and honestly doesn't need a formal education in the first place with her level of intelligence) she never would. It's not interesting that way, after all. If anything, she'd try and get held back if it suited her.

Aquahaze675: "Local addict makes selfish and poor life-decisions in order to achieve her fix." Not exactly unbelievable.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 377

September

"Julia… you're a really strong trainer…" Kitty brushed her bangs out from under her face and glanced up at her friend as Julia fed a Linoone some berries. The two girls were putting in their caretaking hours for the day. Kitty had wanted to partner with her friend, and had asked Julia if she could work in the same times. Julia was happy to agree.

"I've done a lot of training," Julia explained. "But you know, Kitty, I kind of envy your ability to understand how pokemon feel sometimes, you know? You're so good at taking care of them, it's like you can hear their hearts. To be honest, I kind of wish I could do that."

"N-no!" Kitty said, turning bright red and shaking her head frantically. "I'm… I'm not like… it's not like I can talk to pokemon, it's just… when you care for a pokemon, you can sort of, I guess… see on their faces what they might want. You have to pay attention, is all…"

"Well, whatever it is, you're pretty good at it," Julia said. "So what, are you planning to become a pokemon breeder? Are you going into the Caretaking Course?"

Kitty gulped. She couldn't deny that she was talented at taking care of pokemon. Being raised by pokemon breeders would do that. But at the same time, that wasn't at all what she wanted to do with her life.

"Actually, actually, um… uh…"

"Hmm?" Julia turned back to look at her, and Kitty turned bright crimson again, tilting her head down and hiding her face behind her bangs.

"I… I want to be a pokemon trainer… a battler…" Kitty said. "I-I know that… that sounds stupid… someone… someone as shy as me getting into pokemon battles, but-"

"I don't think that sounds stupid at all," Julia said. Kitty blinked, surprised.

"Err… what?"

"It's what you want to do, right?" Julia said. "So why would I think something like that was stupid? I'm not going to make fun of your goals. So if you want to be a pokemon battler, all you need to do is train and get some experience! A little confidence wouldn't hurt, either."

"B-but… but I'm not that strong," Kitty said. "And I'm really timid… do… do you really think that it's possible for me to get stronger?"

"Absolutely!" Julia grinned. "All you have to do is train your hardest!"

"Um, do you think…" Kitty swallowed, staring at the girl in front of her. Julia was so brave and confident, she was everything Kitty wished she could be herself.

"Do you think that I… could be as strong as you?"

Julia blinked, surprised.

"As strong as me, huh? That's a pretty good goal! Though I'll tell you, I'm not as strong as you think I am, I'm still starting out myself, you know!"

Julia laughed, the smile on her face sending a flutter through Kitty's heart.

"Sure, as long as you try your hardest and keep training, you'll definitely be able to get as strong as me, Kitty!" Julia assured her. "And the day that happens, I'll be sure to congratulate your hard work with a big smile on my face!"

That was the moment. That was when I both… fell in love with you… and decided that I wanted to get strong enough to defeat you. And my feelings since then… haven't changed. Kitty reached up and wiped the blood from her lip, her hand trembling.

I have to win! I have to show you that I'm strong, that you don't need to protect me! I just… I just want you to see how strong I am, Julia! So please, look at me! See me! See that I… that I've trained so hard, all to catch your eye, so you could acknowledge me!

"Marisa, go!" Kitty shouted, sending out her Sylveon.

"Oho! Kitty's next pokemon is her Sylveon!" Sylvia said. "As you might guess, that's a pokemon with a close tie to me due to its name, and-"

"Luna!" Julia recalled her Sharpedo and sent out her Umbreon to replace him.

"Hey! I was talking!" Sylvia scowled.

"…And my interest has waned," Marion sighed, losing all motivation now that there weren't any water types involved in the battle. She slumped over and yawned, feeling her energy begin to drain out as the traditional shakes began, telling her to go fishing. But she had a responsibility, as much as she hated it.

"Bell…" Nikita gasped, running over to the edge of the battlefield. Her Bellossom was trying to pull herself out of the water, badly burned and weakened from the flames. Nikita helped her out.

"Magnolia, can you keep going?"

"Bell…" Magnolia shook her head, falling unconscious. Nikita sighed, returning her Bellossom to her pokeball. This wasn't where she wanted to be. Magnolia was one of her best pokemon, and she had been knocked out not by Julia or Reiner, but by her own teammate.

"I have to use my next pokemon," Nikita determined. This was the point where her knowledge of her boyfriend was going to come in handy. She could see that Weaver, in spite of his sneak attack, was clearly beginning to run out of strength. He wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight, and Reiner would have to use his next pokemon. Against the fairy-type Sylveon, that would certainly be Invictus. They might not be Reiner's strongest pokemon, but they were still the one he was closest to, and his most-trusted battler. Reiner was certainly saving Scipio for last, and that meant Invictus would be his second.

So Glitter is out of the question, Nikita decided.

"Honeydew, go!" Nikita threw out a pokeball, which her Combee emerged from. The small bug pokemon fluttered cheerfully through the air, out over the water.

"Nikita's second pokemon is her Combee!" Sylvia declared.

Julia's pokemon are dark types or fire types. But since she sent out Luna, her last will almost certainly be her Houndoom. This way, Honeydew can do as much damage as she can before the Houndoom comes out!

Nikita felt a smile creep up her face, in spite of how tense the situation felt.

I guess I'm really starting to get in the swing of things in terms of being a pokemon trainer!

"Marisa! Use moonblast!" Kitty shouted.

"Sylveon!" Marisa opened her mouth, gathering light into her body, focusing energy into a single orb. She howled, and the orb of light flew across the battlefield, flying straight at Luna.

"Luna, dodge with quick attack!" Julia ordered. Luna lowered her head and increased her speed, dashing across the bridges and platforms, avoiding the explosion of energy.

"Weaver, use your quick attack, too!" Reiner said. He could see that Weaver's burns were starting to hurt, and he probably didn't have the power to do a lot. But he could at least wear down the Sylveon while she was focusing her efforts on Luna.

"Honeydew, use struggle bug!" Nikita ordered. Honeydew began glowing with light, and small bees shot out from her body, flying towards both of the approaching pokemon. Luna and Weaver's speed and agility let them avoid the larger attacks like moon blast, but against a barrage of smaller attacks they couldn't dodge very well.

"Umbreon!" Luna winced. The attack was weak, but it was still super-effective against her. Even the injured Weaver endured it better.

"Nikita!" Kitty growled.

"Kitty, we're a team!" Nikita snapped. Enough was enough. She wasn't usually a confrontational person, but Kitty's insistence on fighting Julia, and only Julia, all by herself, was not the right way to do this. If Kitty had a problem with it, let her have a problem. "I'm going to get involved in the fight myself! No one's going to think you're weak just because you can't win against Julia all on your own! Julia's getting help from Reiner, too, that's how team matches work!"

Kitty scowled.

Sylvia cleared her throat.

"As expected, Kitty just isn't strong enough to fight against Julia by herself, she needs to rely on her teammate to come bail her out. But what would you expect, right?"

Kitty narrowed her eyes and they flashed red, her hair standing on end as her harmonia flared up again, stoked by Sylvia's goading. Nikita whirled around and glared angrily at Sylvia.

"At least let me help make things easier!" Nikita protested. "If you just ignore Reiner, then you'll-"

"Then I won't," Kitty coolly replied, her hair falling down around her shoulders again. Her rage seemed to have dissipated, but for some reason that didn't make Nikita feel that much better. Probably due to the fact that things still felt tense around them.

"I'll just have to defeat both of them at once, then," Kitty said, her eyes flashing. Marisa howled, her body roaring with power as she ran forward. A pink aura began to glow around her.

"Uh, that wasn't what I-"

"Sylveon!" Marisa's eyes flashed and a blast of light shot out of her body, the dazzling gleam attack engulfing the battlefield in a blinding explosion. Everyone shielded their eyes, the rays striking Weaver and Luna.

"Zangoose…" Weaver coughed, falling unconscious, the last attack enough to knock him down.

"Umbreon…" Luna panted, enduring the attack. It had hurt, but it wasn't nearly enough to take her down.

Kitty brushed the sweat off her forehead, panting. She was getting in the swing of things, now, the energy surging through her body making her feel more alive than ever before.

Yes! This is it! The power I was looking for, the power to take down someone even as strong as Julia! And now just Julia, Blake, Elaina, they'll be next! Let's go, Marisa!

"Sylveon!" Marisa called out, agreeing with the sentiments she felt through her partner.

"Weaver, return," Reiner said, recalling his Zangoose. "Julia, I don't know if you're going easy on her or not, but-"

"I'm not," Julia assured him. "I'm trying my hardest."

"It doesn't feel like it," Reiner said. "This isn't like when we were battling Elaina. It still looks like you're taking it easier on her. Where's your confuse ray? Your toxic?"

Julia bit her lip.

"If you're worried about what's going to happen to Kitty-"

"Of course I'm worried about that!" Julia snapped. "But what are you saying? That I'm supposed to just watch her throw up with nausea like when she fought against Nick and Will? Or maybe I should eat away at her with poison?! I can't treat her so awfully, are you kidding me?!"

Just seeing the brutality of the battle between Fang and Larosa, the amount of damage that Kitty had gone through, Julia was very quickly feeling bad about what she had attempted. She didn't want to do this. She wanted to protect Kitty, not hurt her.

"Kitty is my friend!" Julia cried, Kitty's ears twitching as she heard Julia's words. "I don't want to hurt her, I'm trying to protect her! To keep her from getting injured! Can't you see that?! I don't want to hurt my friend!"

Kitty felt darkness begin to creep into her heart, the power seeping into her growing stronger and stronger. Why? Why was Julia like this? All Kitty wanted was to be seen as a strong trainer. To have Julia see just how powerful she was, how much work she had put towards getting stronger. But all Julia saw was the shy, scared little girl who couldn't do anything! Her harmonia surged.

"Then why are you even here, huh?" Reiner snapped. "Don't you want to stop Kitty from fighting against Elaina?! Because you don't want her to get hurt?! Well, here's the condition we're in right now, Julia! Hurt her now, or let her get hurt later!"

"Ahem, this is a battle," Sylvia interrupted them. "Please refrain from meaningless drivel, and just send out the next pokemon."

"…Fine," Reiner scowled. "Invictus!"

Reiner sent out his Metang next.

"Then let's get going!" Sylvia cheered.

I have to, I'm sorry, Julia apologized. "Luna, use your toxic!"

"Umbreon!"

Luna's rings began shining blue, and she opened her mouth, toxic energy forming into a sphere of venomous poison. She fired the purple orb at Marisa.

"We won't let that happen!" Kitty snarled. "Marisa!"

"Sylveon!" A blast of pink mist spread across the battlefield, curling over the water and bathing the stadium into a sweet-smelling pink fog.

"Misty terrain!" Nikita gasped.

The poison hit Marisa and slid right over her. Due to the effects of misty terrain, the venom was unable to take hold, sliding right off of her fur. She wasn't poisoned in the least, and she dashed forward, her ribbons flailing around.

"Reiner, she might be planning to-"

"I know!" Reiner snapped. "Invictus, use your psychic attack to stop her!"

"Metang!" Invictus raised their hands, their body glowing bright blue. A blue aura appeared around Marisa and she was frozen in place.

"Sylveon!" Marisa scrambled against the psychic attack, trying to break free.

"No!" Kitty shouted, clutching her head as psychic shocks barraged her senses. But no matter how much she struggled, she couldn't force Marisa free. "Marisa!"

Kitty sent as much power into Marisa as she could, Marisa trying to use another dazzling gleam.

"Luna, faint attack!" Julia ordered. Luna disappeared into the shadows before the light struck her, the beams glancing off the steel-type Invictus without dealing much damage. Not nearly enough to break free of the psychic.

"Umbreon!" Luna appeared above Marisa, raising her claws. Her rings were glowing a deep blue as she dug her claws into Marisa's fur, darkness energy striking the pokemon. It didn't do a lot of damage, but it was annoying, and wearing her down.

"I need to get free!" Kitty tried to struggle even more, but her Sylveon was completely immobilized. And sharing her senses with Marisa meant that Kitty felt like she couldn't move, either, even though there was nothing actually holding her down.

"Honeydew, use bug buzz!"

"COMBEEEEE!" Honeydew fluttered her wings and sent a blast of sonic energy across the battlefield, deafening Luna and Invictus and making them cry out in pain. The loud buzzing shook Invictus, causing them to lose their concentration, the psychic energy dispersing.

Kitty didn't even care at this point that Nikita had interfered. She was fully synchronized with Marisa, to the point and she landed on the ground and rounded on the prone Umbreon, opening her mouth and creating a sphere of fairy energy that she fired at the dark pokemon.

"Invictus!" Reiner shouted. Invictus flew in front of Luna, taking the moonblast head-on, the fairy attack bouncing off their metal hide.

"Metang!' Invictus raised their hand and flew forward, metallic energy gathering into their claw. They struck Marisa with the metal claw attack, knocking her back.

"Thanks," Julia said, Luna picking herself up, having recovered from the deafening sound.

"It's not enough," Kitty scowled, clearly not pleased that her moonblast attack hadn't been enough to get through the steel pokemon's armored body.

"Kitty, just let me help!" Nikita pleaded. "You won't be able to get through Invictus with your fairy attacks, I need to use Honeydew's bug moves! I can strike them with bug buzz while you use your fairy attacks on Luna!"

Kitty bit her lip. She didn't like that idea, but at the same time…

"No! I just need more power!" Kitty snarled, her harmonia flaring up even more. She wouldn't ask for Nikita's help, she didn't want it! She needed to show Julia just how strong she was.

But Nikita was done listening to Kitty's ego trip.

"Honeydew! Use your bug buzz again!"

"Nikita!" Kitty shouted, but her voice was drowned out by the sonic buzzing of the Combee, damaging Invictus and Luna badly.

"Luna!" Julia tried to shout over the sound, but her Umbreon couldn't hear her. Luckily, her Umbreon already knew what to do. The rings on her body was glowing blue, light shining around her body as she used her moonlight to restore her health, enduring the pain. Marisa fired another moonblast out at Luna, but Invictus once again flew in the way to protect their partner.

"Come on Invictus, just a little more," Reiner cried out. Invictus powered through the moonblast and the bug buzz, but they were starting to lose strength. "Flash cannon!"

"Metang!" Invictus compressed light into the tip of their horn, and fired it in a beam of steel energy that hit Marisa head on, dealing her even more damage. But Kitty and Marisa were past the point of simply going down due to pain or injury. Kitty could see Luna recovering behind Invictus, and that just made her anger grow even more.

"I'm stunned, utterly stunned," Sylvia gasped. "To think that a steel pokemon would actually be this pressed by a fairy?! I never could have imagined!"

Her heart was pounding in her chest. She wanted to see more, more, more of all of this! What a great sight! To think that there was a trainer capable of that? Harmonia was awesome!

"Invictus can hold on for a while, but they're getting worn down," Reiner told Julia.

"I know," Julia scowled. "The problem is that Combee's bug buzz! But Luna can't fight against Marisa at the same time! Reiner, please, see if Invictus can hold on for just a little longer, Luna… I'll have Luna take that Combee down."

"She might have a type advantage, but she's a very low level," Reiner informed her. "I think it shouldn't be much of a problem."

"Agreed," Julia snarled. There was a lull when the bug buzz stopped, before Honeydew could try again, and that's when she made her move. "Luna! Forget about Marisa and take out that Combee! It's our best chance!"

Luna nodded her head, and turned her back on the Sylveon, running down the bridge towards the buzzing Combee.

Kitty's eyes widened in shock.

I'm not… even worth fighting against? Julia was abandoning the fight against Marisa and attacking Nikita's pokemon? Unacceptable! Absolutely unacceptable!

I'm not weak! Kitty wanted to scream, but her voice caught in her throat. Instead, those emotions leaked out into Marisa, amplifying her power even further. The strain on Invictus from enduring the fairy attacks was starting to wear down even their steel resistance.

"Break through, Marisa! You need to break through!" To get to Luna, Marisa had to get through Invictus first. The Metang was like an iron wall, blocking off her advance. There was nothing Marisa could do except try to smash through it.

"Honeydew!" Nikita cried. "You need to use more bug buzzes!"

Dodging was unlikely, because Luna knew faint attack. So Honeydew needed to do as much damage as she could before she went down, instead.

"Quite a struggle!" Sylvia gasped. "Will Reiner's Metang hold out long enough? Or will Kitty's Sylveon manage to actually defeat a steel type?"

It's not just the fairy moves that are doing it, Reiner bitterly noted. That bug buzz… it's really doing a lot more damage than I'd like… Come on, hang in there…

Another moonblast hit Invictus head on, knocking him backwards. Luna leapt from the bridge, darkness coursing through her, and she slashed at Honeydew, slamming her into the platform. The buzzing ceased, but before Invictus could use their newfound concentration to strike against Marisa, the fairy pokemon hit him with another moon blast, this time finishing the job. Invictus had endured a lot in the short time he had been out. The fairy attacks had been powerful, boosted by harmonia, even if they resisted them. And the neutral bug buzzes had softened them up even more. Invictus fell out of the sky and landed in the water, unable to keep fighting.

"Sorry, Invictus," Reiner apologized, feeling guilty that his trusted partner had basically been relegated to the role of a meat shield for the battle.

"Honeydew…" Nikita wailed, calling back her unconscious Combee, the defensively weak pokemon having gone down in a single blow from the powerful Umbreon.

"Whoa, it looks like a simultaneous knockout!" Sylvia gasped. "They both went down so fast! Now, Nikita and Reiner are down to their last pokemon! And as for Julia and Kitty…"

Luna turned and glared at Marisa from across the water, the two pokemon worn out. Marisa had spent a lot of her energy knocking out Invictus, and Kitty's harmonia was starting to flag. At the same time, Luna had taken a lot of damage from super-effective attacks, and even with her health being required, she didn't have much left in her to keep going.

Things were getting really bad, really fast.

I'd say that's an understatement. The battle is getting into a fever-pitch! Who will come out ahead? Will Kitty's single-minded obsession with Julia be enough to get her the victory? Or will Julia be able to get through to her? And will Reiner and Nikita be able to do anything other than be distractions in the girls' growing feud against one another?