Kitty and Blake have reached the climax of their battle. Will Blake get through to Kitty? Will Kitty slip further into insanity? Let's find out right now! The fight for Kitty's soul will be settled, here and now! We can only pray for Blake's success! Remember to review!

KedharS: We can only hope.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: We can only hope that Kitty will return to her shy and sweet, adorable self.

Rosealine gold: For now I'll say no.

Thunder Fire: Nope, different pokemon.

Pokemonking0924: Kitty doesn't treat her as tools. She loves them and plays with them all the time. If she wasn't, her harmonia wouldn't work.

Kunoichi69: Kitty was taking her pokemon into consideration. If she wasn't, then her pokemon wouldn't be able to respond the way they do with harmonia. She loves her pokemon, after all, everyone with developed harmonia does.

JoshGamerV: We can only hope.

Hellraiserphoenix: More interesting indeed.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 382

"Sarah!" Blake shouted, throwing the pokeball into the air. The pokeball burst open, and massive roar echoing through the stadium.

Sarah flapped her wings, a massive gust of wind blowing across the battlefield as she flew level with the ground, landing on the floor and letting out another roar.

"Uwaaah!" Cynthia gasped, falling back in her seat. "I forgot about Blake's Salamence!"

Sango held Silver a little tighter, biting her lip. She knew how wild and violent Blake's Salamence was. He still didn't have permission to use it in school-sanctioned pokemon battles. And with how it reacted to Kitty before, she could only hope that nothing went wrong.

"Kitty…" Julia felt anxiety well up in her breast as she looked upon the Salamence, the pokemon's violence and destructive power a painful memory for her. But far more painful of a memory for the girl facing her down right now, that was for sure.

Kitty stared wide-eyed at the massive dragon roaring angrily in front of her. She went numb. The glare in the Salamence's eye… her nightmares were flashing back through her mind, those nights when the wild, angry dragon and others like it went wild, hurting her and her pokemon, killing them, nights when she awoke panting in cold sweats, terrified out of her mind. No, why… why was she here? It couldn't be true, she…

I'm… I'm shaking? Kitty glanced at her trembling arm and she grabbed it. No! No, I'm not scared! I'm… I'm past that! My harmonia… I've gone past that! I'm not the same girl I was when that thing attacked me before! Now… now I can…

She gulped.

I'm strong now!

She connected with Larosa, hoping the strength of her dear partner would overcome this terror and anxiety rising up in her chest. The rush of harmonia was there, but… facing down that Salamence, it wasn't…

"L-Larosa…" Kitty's voice was trembling. No! No! I'm not scared, I'm not!

Larosa ran towards the Salamence, refusing to be beaten down by her trainer's fear.

We'll overcome this thing! Kitty cried out with her harmonia, focusing her abilities in determination to defeat the creature that had plagued her nightmares once and for all. Flames rose up around Larosa as she approached.

"Sarah, dragon claw!" Blake ordered. Sarah raised her claw and swung it at Larosa, knocking her backwards.

Kitty coughed, holding her stomach. She had boosted Larosa's speed and power, so why wasn't she getting through?!

Blake sighed in relief. He had to hope that Sarah would listen to him long enough to get through to Kitty. He couldn't see her harmonia, but he could see the pallor of her face and the terror in her eyes. As he had counted on, seeing Sarah, who had caused Kitty so much pain in the past, Kitty, with her fear of large dragon-type pokemon, had been enough to shake her confidence and bring the fear that she had been ignoring and suppressing thanks to her harmonia out to the surface. Harmonia interfered with the emotional state of the person who had it, but if that emotional state was even more disturbed through an outside source, it drastically affected the user's ability.

The fact that Blake knew that now brought him nothing but pain. There had been times in his battle with Gwen, a battle that felt like a lifetime ago, where she had cracked. Where he had been able to get through to her, and her harmonia had weakened. He had been able to do it because of Gwen's inability to understand how her brother could be fighting her. It hadn't stuck, but it had caused her to fluctuate. Kitty was in the same situation. The way she had been shouting at Julia, demanding she acknowledge her strength, it had been exactly the same way that Gwen had been shouting to him. He could see his sister in Kitty, so much so it was like Gwen was standing right in front of him. But Gwen's desire for power was motivated by a desire for him. Kitty…

Kitty wanted to be strong to stop being weak and scared. Which meant that if he wanted to strike at her, he had to rip off that fake power hiding her weaknesses and show her that no, she really hadn't grown stronger. Sarah still terrified her, and she was a symbol of Kitty's weakness. Even when she visited him while he was training Sarah, she had that terror in her, he had seen it. If Kitty had really grown stronger, then facing down her fear would have probably served to strengthen her resolve, to increase her power in her desire to win and conquer her fear.

But that wasn't what was happening, because Kitty hadn't grown stronger.

"You're shaking," Blake noticed. Kitty flinched, glancing at her hands. He was right, she was shaking. She bit her lip and clenched her hands, shaking her head.

I'm not afraid! I've grown stronger! I'm not afraid of losing against… against this, this… Salamence! I'm not afraid of her anymore! Kitty was desperately yelling at herself, cursing the fact that she was shaking like a leaf.

Larosa picked herself up, panting. The connection with her trainer was growing tenuous, because Kitty's emotional state was totally disrupted. But she wasn't about to give in! Larosa could feel Kitty's fear coming through, and it was threatening to overwhelm her, and there was no way that could happen! Kitty didn't want to embrace her fear, either. So she sent as much power to Larosa as she could, the dog pokemon running towards Sarah again. Sarah was big and powerful, but not very agile. Larosa was able to run circles around her, both she and her trainer looking for an opportunity to strike.

Sarah brought her head back and opened her mouth wide, a deafening roar shaking the stadium. "SALAAAAMENCE!"

Kitty flinched, reflexively stepping back and shielding herself from an attack that never came. Energy began to crackle around Sarah and she flapped her wings, ascending into the sky with her dragon dance.

"Growl!" Larosa raised her head and growled at Sarah, but her flames were nowhere near the size they had been when she had attacked Weiss before. Sarah ignored the barking fire pokemon, her eyes shifting towards her current target. The human giving off the foul odor of harmonia. She clenched her jaw and her eyes burned with loathing, flapping her wings and flying straight at Kitty, her claws raised.

"Aaaaaah!" Kitty wailed, falling on her butt. All her pretense and courage drained out of her, and raised her arms to shield herself. No! No! Please! Not again, don't hurt me!

"Growl!" Larosa ran as fast as her small legs could carry her, desperate to close the distance and protect her trainer. She outran Sarah and ran towards Kitty, not knowing that this was exactly what Sarah was counting on. Draconic energy crackled through Sarah's claw, and she slashed at Larosa, hitting her in the side and flinging her into the wall.

"Larosa!" Kitty wailed, feeling her pokemon's pain, looking desperately over at the unconscious Growlithe. A shadow crossed over her, bathing her in darkness, and her blood went cold. Trembling all over, she turned her shaking head to see Sarah towering over her, harsh, cold eyes glaring down at her, the pokemon's hot breath like boiling steam against her face.

"*Sniff*, *hic*," Kitty sobbed, tears welling up in her eyes. She felt like she was going to pee her panties. "Don't… please…"

Sarah snarled, opening her mouth and lunging forward.

"Sarah! Don't!" Blake shouted, afraid that she'd gone too far, hoping his words would stop her.

"Kitty!" Julia leapt from her seat, her face pale with fear. The point of this match out of her mind, she was only desperate to get to her friend's side to protect her. Sango leapt to action too, forgetting that she didn't have her capture styler with her.

As Sarah drew even closer, Kitty shut her eyes tightly and held her hands against her head, shaking in terror and waiting for whatever was going to happen.

Sarah's tongue licked Kitty up the face.

Kitty's jaw dropped in shock. Julia and Sango paused, stunned.

"Uh…" Kitty didn't even wipe the hot drool off her face.

"Salamence," Sarah huffed. She turned and swatted Kitty on the nose with a flick of her tail, almost like being snapped by a finger. She lumbered across the battlefield and over to Blake, leaving Kitty dumbfounded and still trembling in fear.

"I… I'm alive?" Kitty gasped, unable to believe it.

"Sarah!" Blake snapped. "I know that you're supposed to scare her, but don't you think that was a little much?!"

"Salamence," Sarah growled, ignoring Blake and turning her head to glare over her shoulder at Kitty, making her flinch.

"So, Kitty?" Blake asked.

"S-so?" Kitty fumbled, confused. "'So' what?"

"So, if you're so strong and confident now, then why were you so terrified just now?" Blake asked. Kitty gulped, averting her eyes. "In the end, I was right, wasn't I? You're still afraid, deep down. Seeing Sarah…"

"Stop!" Kitty shouted, tearing up again, shaking her head frantically. "Don't say it!"

"You're afraid!" Blake exclaimed. "Even now, you're still afraid, you can't even stand, can you?"

"It's not-! I'm not-!" But Kitty couldn't keep lying to herself, no matter how much she protested. The truth was, she WAS afraid. She had tried to hide it behind her harmonia… but Blake had showed her that she really was as scared and weak as she had always been.

"I… am… afraid…" Kitty sobbed, hanging her head in shame, tears streaming down her cheeks. Blake looked after her sympathetically as she hiccupped and cried.

"So what are you going to do?" Blake asked.

"Wh-what?" Kitty asked.

Blake nodded his head at Larosa. "Your Growlithe needs you, right?"

"She can't… fight anymore," Kitty admitted. She recalled her Growlithe to her pokeball. She could already feel her harmonia waning now that she knew just how weak she really was. She had gotten such a big head off of a few victories, and it hadn't made a difference. Harmonia… harmonia just helped her win. She wasn't strong. Not like Blake or Julia.

"Then call her back and send out your last pokemon," Blake replied. "Or are you just going to sit there and feel sorry for yourself?"

"Wha… huh?"

"So you finally figured out your harmonia isn't helping you get stronger, so what? You're just going to give up now?" Blake demanded. "Is that how you plan on getting stronger, Kitty?"

"That's… I mean…" Kitty's eyes dropped sheepishly.

"Come on, Kitty!" Blake said. "Send out Meomo and actually fight! Use your harmonia to the fullest! But don't mistake it for actual strength!" Blake slapped his hand against his chest. "Real strength comes from right here! You don't need your harmonia to be strong! You were already getting strong, all on your own. You just got… a little distracted along the way. But if you actually work hard, then you'll be able to beat Julia, all on your own! No one here thinks you're weak, Kitty! But you don't have to rely on that power to prove it! You just have to work your hardest all on your own!"

Kitty swallowed, wiping her tears. She rose up, her legs shaking, a small smile on her face. She recalled Larosa to her pokeball.

"Let's… let's do this!" Kitty shouted, sending out her last pokemon, Meomo. The Persian snarled angrily at Sarah. Kitty took a deep breath, and focused her harmonia onto Meomo, connecting to him.

I'm not strong enough yet to fight with you properly, Kitty told her partner pokemon, closing her eyes and seeing through his. But I'm going to keep getting stronger by your side. Right now… right now everyone is watching me. So even if our opponent is something scary… you'll protect me, right?

She smiled at her Persian's response, her human eyes snapping open.

"Meomo!" Kitty shouted, Meomo running forward and striking Sarah with a quick smack of her claws, the fake-out attack stunning the Salamence. Kitty felt the rush of harmonia running over her, and she gave into it again, embracing that side of her. But she wasn't insecure anymore. She didn't have anything to prove.

We're just going to do our best, Meomo!

Large gems floated in the air around Meomo, surging with power from Kitty's harmonia. But Kitty was drained. Her mental and emotional state was in tatters, she had more than overused her harmonia today. So the most she could do was connect to her Persian, she could barely strengthen him at all. But that was fine.

Meomo fired the power gem attack at Sarah, the dragon pokemon flying straight into the barrage.

"Sarah, go!" Blake ordered, feeling a little foolish because Sarah was already going. Draconic energy swirled around her like a maelstrom and the gems shattered as they struck her hide. She raised her claw and hit Meomo in the face, slamming her down into the battlefield with a powerful dragon claw boosted by dragon dance. Kitty winced, but the pain had already waned. Her harmonia was too weak now. Without the boost on Meomo, the powerfully destructive Salamence dealt massive damage to Meomo. But she wasn't out yet!

"Come on, Meomo!" Kitty shouted, sending as much of her strands of harmonia she had left to her pokemon. Meomo, shaking, leapt to his feet, snarling at Sarah as Sarah flew around to make another charge. "Use play rough!"

Meomo surged with fairy energy and a smile crossed his savage face as he ran towards Sarah, leaping into the air and raising his claws. Kitty was sending as much power to her as she could.

"Sarah, outrage!" Blake ordered. The draconic energy swirling around Sarah grew even more violent and destructive, and the two pokemon slammed into each other, their power colliding. Meomo was strong, but Sarah overpowered him, the cat pokemon hitting the ground painfully, letting out a whine before losing consciousness. Sarah flapped her wings and landed on the ground, panting, her body covered in cuts and bruises from Meomo's attack, but she was far from beaten.

Kitty sighed, her face falling. She recalled Meomo, looking at the pokeball sadly. Searing pain went through her head and she nearly collapsed, panting. She remained standing for another few seconds, and then collapsed for real. But before she hit the ground, a strong and yet gentle hand grabbed her by the shoulder, stopping her fall.

"Huh…?" Kitty blinked, still woozy, looking up to see Julia staring down at her. "…Julia?"

"Kitty, are you okay?" Julia asked, kneeling down on the ground and gently easing Kitty down. Kitty rested her head on Julia's lap, drained of energy.

"I'm… Julia, sorry…" Kitty murmured.

Blake recalled Sarah and ran over to Kitty's side, kneeling down next to her. Kitty's other friends from the bleachers ran over to her side as well.

"Kitty!" Nikita cried, getting to her first.

"Nikita…" Kitty glanced at her friend, a surge of guilt washing over her. "I… I'm sorry… my head was… I said a lot of stuff that I shouldn't have…"

"Huh?" Nikita blinked.

"My harmonia got out of control… I forgot everything that was important to me," she sniffled, wiping her eyes. She glanced up at Julia, and then back at Nikita. "Nikita… you've helped me so much, and I… I called you useless… and Julia, you… and I… and I said… UWAAAH…!"

Finally freed from the mental fugue that harmonia had put her in, temporarily drained of her powers and thinking clearly, she burst into tears, turning her head and burying her face in Julia's lap, crying sadly.

"It's okay, don't worry about it," Julia assured her friend, stroking her hair gently as Kitty sobbed. "I'm just glad you're feeling better. I'm… I'm glad we can be friends again."

"R-really?" Kitty glanced up hopefully at her. "We… we can still be friends?"

"Of course you dummy!" Julia laughed, wiping her tears from her eyes. "We're best friends!"

Kitty sniffled, a shaky smile crossing her face. She glanced at Nikita, sitting up. "Nikita, I-"

"You don't even have to say it," Nikita assured her, placing a comforting hand on Kitty's arm. "I don't care at all, silly."

Kitty's smile brightened.

"Then, um… would you please… still fight by my side? In the semi-finals tomorrow?"

Nikita grinned. "Of course, silly!"

Kitty nodded, and glanced at Blake. "It's not going to go the same way next time, just you watch. We'll beat you tomorrow."

"Confident, huh?" Reiner walked up to her. "It seems like you've still got some of that harmonia strength left after all, huh?"

"Err, no, I'm… I'm just being tough," Kitty admitted, blushing. She glanced at the others as they gathered around her. "Then… you guys forgive me?"

"Pfft, isn't that obvious?" Cynthia snorted, rolling her eyes. "Of course we do, dummy. You just got a little too caught up in the competitiveness of the tournament, same as Reiner did, you know?" She patted Reiner on the shoulder, Reiner rolling his eyes in response.

"It's a little more complicated than that," Sango smiled. "But she's right, Kitty. None of us are upset. We're just happy that you're okay. And we're sorry for how we made you feel."

"Yeah, we won't act like you're a weakling anymore," Cynthia assured her. "It's not like you're Nick."

"Hey!" Nick and Callie exclaimed, Kitty laughing at that.

"See, Kitty? No one here thinks you're a weakling," Blake assured her. Kitty smiled sheepishly and nodded her head, her cheeks flushing.

"I really was quite an idiot, huh?"

"Ahem. This is all well and good, touching, happy ending, yada yada, but if we're quite done here?" Vic asked, clearing her throat, tapping the exit impatiently. "Please get out."

"Aww, you're kicking us out already?" Cynthia scowled. "Come on, we just got Kitty back! We want to have a celebratory party!"

"Leave," Vic snapped, Maddi shrugging her shoulders. Cynthia sighed, and Sango nodded, agreeing with Maddi. Julia let Kitty use her shoulder to rest, and she helped the girl out. The others followed after her, and they headed out. Cynthia and Sango were the last to leave, Cynthia pausing and turning back to Maddi.

"Cynthia? Coming?" Sango asked, glancing back at her.

"In a sec. Maddi, can I ask you something?"

"What?" Maddi asked, sighing exasperatedly, her Duskull floating around her head. It was late and she wanted to go to sleep.

"You got any plans for break?" Cynthia asked.

Maddi blinked.

"Plans? What?"

"You going home?"

Maddi shifted on her feet, an uncomfortable expression crossing her face.

"…No, I don't… I don't really know what I'm going to do, why?"

A catty smile crossed Cynthia's face.

"Want to come stay with me?"

Maddi felt a little vomit well up in her throat.

"Uh…"

"My grandparents have a hot spring in Hoenn!" Cynthia explained. "Sango's staying with me, and we have room for another, easy!" She draped one arm over Sango's shoulder, and another arm over Maddi's. "Come on, what do you say?"

Maddi's mouth flapped open and closed, and she glanced at Sango. Sango shrugged.

"Ahem," Vic said, clearing her throat, pointing at her wrist as though she was wearing a watch to indicate "what's taking so long?"

Maddi felt a little nauseous.

So Blake managed to get through to Kitty, and she's recovered. Will she stay sane? Hopefully she won't backslide, but right now she's back on the right track!