Time for the real climax of the tournament! Now that Kitty's been saved, we can begin with the tournament, but first, we still have some preparations to make, and some issues that still need resolving! Sorry for delays!

Rosealine gold: You'll see what I'm planning, don't worry.

KedharS: Hopefully yes.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Kitty was like the first floor boss, Elaina is the mid-level boss, and Gwen is the final boss.

Thunder Fire: Well, Kitty is a fundamentally good person, she just needed to see how lost she was.

JoshGamerV: Thankfully so.

Pokemonking0924: A lot of people have grown since the story began, Kitty and Sarah are two of them who Blake has had a particularly positive influence on.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 383

Maddi sighed and slumped down, flopping down onto her bed and grumbling into her pillow. She wasn't in a very good mood with the news she'd just gotten. Grim floated up beside her, repeating "Duskull", but Maddi was too drained to address him. Honestly, at this point, she just wanted to get some sleep. She had a long day tomorrow.

After tomorrow, though…

Well, Maddi wasn't exactly in the best mood to be thinking of that. She didn't want to go back home to Johto, because, well, she didn't really have a home to go back to. She wasn't allowed to stay on campus, which meant that her one option left was staying with a friend. Problem was, she didn't really have any. The Commander and Vic were the closest things she had to friends besides Sango, and they were both busy with other things. The Commander was going on a trip and it wasn't exactly like she could tag along, and Vic was going back home to the Orre Region, which was a place Maddi wasn't all that keen on visiting. Even moreso because Vic was not exactly pleasant company.

That left… ugh.

Cynthia Fafnir had invited her to go on a trip over winter break. It was exactly what she'd needed, somewhere to stay over break.

But it was Cynthia. Sango would be there, too, and that would make things a little bit tolerable, maybe? But… it was Cynthia.

It wasn't that Maddi didn't like Cynthia, it was just… Cynthia was best in small doses.

And three weeks in Hoenn trapped in a hot spring with her was a dose that seemed way too large for her to tolerate.

"Duskull?"

Grim was pestering her again. She sighed, turning over, yawning. She stormed over to the door and flicked the light off, flopping back down into bed. Hopefully she would be able to get some sleep. She didn't know what she'd end up telling Cynthia, but…

The fact that she had to fight her tomorrow didn't make it any easier.

Maddi turned and buried her face into the pillow. Tonight was gonna be a restless night.

The next morning, Maddi awoke to Grim's prodding, yawning and rubbing her eyes. She sat up and got out of bed, peering at the clock with bleary eyes. She still had some time, but she couldn't go back to sleep. Otherwise she might be in real bad shape. The battles weren't starting until noon, just enough time to get some prep work in.

Maddi picked her phone off the night stand and yawned, dialing Sango's number.

"Maddi? Hey! Ready for today?"

How in the world did she have this much energy at 8 in the morning?

"Yo, Sango, what's up?" Maddi yawned. "Today's the big day, huh?"

They were the first ones up. Maddi and Sango, against Cynthia and…

…

Maddi was drawing a blank on what the name of Cynthia's partner actually was, but she figured that wasn't a huge issue.

"Hey, want to meet up to get breakfast?" Sango asked. "We can discuss our game plan."

"Sure thing," Maddi agreed. "What say 9?"

"Why not now?"

Maddi let out another yawn.

"9," she replied, flopping back on her pillow and hanging up the phone.

Maddi strolled out of the dorm at 9:15, yawning. She was supposed to dress nice for the party tonight, and these were the nicest torn jeans she had. She zipped up her leather jacket and shivered against the cold, Grim flying up beside her. She envied the ghost, he didn't feel the same chilling wind that she had to go through. She got to the Snorlax Commons and headed inside, getting her food and meeting Sango. Sango looked rather impatient.

"Hey, sorry I'm late," Maddi yawned, sliding her seat back and sitting down.

"No worries," Sango said, shaking her head. Her plate was empty. And it was a big plate.

"So, what're you thinking we do?" Maddi asked.

"Caelia uses fire types," Sango said. "I was thinking that for tomorrow, maybe I should use the water party instead of the ice party."

"Cynthia relies on that Breloom," Maddi pointed out. "Are you sure you want your whole team to be weak to her?"

"I'll still be weak to her if I use the ice team," Sango reminded her. "Fighting type, remember?"

"I don't suppose you would be suddenly willing to switch to my Flying team?" Maddi suggested, smirking.

"…Nah, I'm good," Sango replied, shaking her head. "I think that between the two of them, Caelia might be the stronger trainer. Maybe…"

Now that was curious.

"Really?" Maddi asked, surprised.

"Oh, don't get me wrong, Cynthia is really, really good," Sango said. "But from what I've heard, Caelia has a really strong Charizard and a Volcarona, and some other really strong fire types. Cynthia is good, and a really talented trainer, but I don't think she has the same raw power. She's good at trickery and fighting full battles, but three-pokemon battles are about doing as much damage as possible, not prolonged tactics, right?"

A smirk crossed Maddi's face.

"Well, look who's the battling expert now, huh?"

Sango turned red and glanced away from Maddi. Maddi chuckled.

"You're really come a long way," Maddi said. "I think you're right though, I think you're better off using the water team. As for me… I don't know if I can rely on Mist."

"He's still not listening to you?"

"Well, that, and also there's the fact that the battlefield outside the ballroom doesn't really have water access for him to swim in," Maddi replied.

"…Oh. Right." Sango gasped. "Wait! But there's a Whiscash on the Water team, won't that be a problem?"

"Nah, Whiskers can fight on land too, he just won't be very maneuverable," Maddi assured her.

"…Whiskers?"

Maddi blinked. Her face flushed.

"I-I said Whiscash, not Whiskers."

"My nicknames are growing on you, aren't they?"

"Absolutely not."

"I'm pretty sure you just said-"

"Absolutely. Not."

Sango smirked, chuckling to herself. She knew what Maddi had said, and the redness of her face confirmed it.

"So if not Mist, then just Vee, Cynder, and Violet?" Sango asked.

"Yeah, that's what I'm thinking," Maddi said, nodding her head.

"Cynthia's reckless, but she's not going to send Tristan out first," Sango said. "Tristan is her ace, she's gonna save him for cleanup."

"Who's she going to send out first then, you think?" Maddi asked.

"Based on my experience with her battles, my money is on Elise, her Tailow," Sango said. "Her Mawile, Ruby, is another common lead, but if she's fighting beside a fire type trainer, that's unlikely. Ruby isn't good around fire types."

"Okay, so her Tailow?"

"Maybe," Sango admitted. "But that's in a six on six. With only three pokemon per trainer, she might use Rose, Leon, and Tristan for her party. So maybe Elise won't be used. Those three are her best."

"And who's she going to use first, then? Her Kirlia?"

"That's what I think," Sango said, nodding. "But honestly… I can't be sure if she'll use Leon or Rose first, it's too hard to guess."

"Does she know you're using water and ice types? She might not use her Gligar at all," Maddi reminded Sango.

"…Good point. In that case, she might use Rose, James, and Tristan," Sango agreed. "Rose going first."

"Lead with Whiscash then," Maddi said. "I'll use Vee. Whiscash's ground moves will bait out Caelia's Charizard and be difficult for the Kirlia to handle. Tentacruel will have problems with the psychic type moves."

Sango nodded, that all made sense.

"Now we just have to hope it turns out that way," Maddi groaned. If Cynthia always behaved as she expected, then things would be so much easier.

"In the meantime…"

"Hm?"

"Have you considered Cynthia's offer?" Sango asked.

Maddi grunted and slumped over, resting her forehead against the table.

"…Still thinking about it, huh?"

Meanwhile, Blake and Ayame were going for a walk through the snow, along with Julia and Kitty. Blake was cradling his Skorupi gently.

"Thanks for looking out for him last night," Blake said, turning to Ayame. Ayame nodded.

"Of course, dummy. I'm just glad that everything worked out for Kitty," Ayame grinned. She turned back to the two girls walking ahead of them. Kitty wore a big smile, her face flushed with the cold and maybe a little bit of something else. Julia was smiling back down at her. Ayame turned back to Blake, still smiling. "She's smiling a lot more, don't you think?"

Blake nodded. Seeing Kitty the way she was now, knowing how hard it had been for her yesterday, it put a smile on his face.

Ayame reached over and took Blake by the hand. He glanced over at her. She gave him a comforting smile. "Gwen will be the same. I'm sure of it."

Blake winced, but he knew that Ayame was being kind. She was more hopeful than he was. But just picturing Gwen, smiling again the same way that Kitty was now smiling, it made him hope against hope that she was right.

"Yeah," Blake smiled, nodding. "You're right. She will be. But first…"

Blake looked at the pathway leading up to the Pikachu House. He turned to Ayame.

"There's someone else I have to help, first."

Ayame leaned over and kissed Blake on the cheek, taking his Skorupi from him.

"Good luck."

Blake headed off as she rocked the Skorupi, petting him on the head. "We still need to think of a name for you, little guy."

Blake entered Pikachu House and climbed the steps, walking to Elaina's room. He took a deep breath, and knocked on the door.

"Elaina? Are you there?"

"Blake?" Elaina's muffled voice came from within her room. "What are you doing here? I thought we were meeting at 11."

"We are," Blake assured her. "I just wanted to tell you one thing before our match begins."

Blake took a deep breath, hoping that the next words he spoke had the strength he wanted them to carry.

"I fought against Kitty. You were right. She slipped, and she lost control of her harmonia. And I had to fight her, before our match today." Blake paused to let those words sink in. "I brought her back. She isn't out of control anymore, she's happy and smiling now. I brought her back, and I'm going to help you, too."

"Wh-what?"

"I don't know how, but I'm going to help you, the same way that I helped Kitty," Blake assured her. "You might not have faith in your ability to be accepted, but my friends and I all accepted Kitty after what happened to her. And we're going to accept you, too. So you won't be alone."

Elaina didn't have a response to that. Maybe she was thinking deeply about what he said. Maybe she was ignoring him completely, he wasn't quite sure.

"I'll see you at 11," Blake assured her. He turned and walked downstairs, heading to go meet up with Ayame.

"How'd it go?" Ayame asked.

Blake smiled.

"We'll see," Blake shrugged.

"Do your best," Ayame nodded. "Um, uh, Blake… about… about tomorrow… I was thinking we could leave at, um… 6 in the morning? Does that work? We'll get into Viridian City by 8 at night if we do."

"I can't wait," Blake agreed. Ayame blushed like a schoolgirl, batting her eyelashes at him.

Blake glanced past Ayame.

"Kitty and Julia?"

"They went on ahead," Ayame said, nodding her head over her shoulder. "I thought it would be good for the two of them to have some private time?"

Ayame shifted Skorupi into a one-armed cradle, linking her other arm around Blake's.

"Us too," she giggled.

Kitty and Julia walked down the path through campus, Kitty's heart soaring. It wasn't… it wasn't quite a date, right? But after everything had been so murky, after she had spent so much time apart from Julia, just being able to walk with her was perfect.

…But it wasn't a date! They weren't alone, after all! Blake and Julia were there, and…

Kitty glanced over her shoulder to see, much to her surprise, that Blake and Ayame had vanished into thin air behind them. She gulped. So… so they were alone?

"Kitty?" Julia glanced back, confused why Kitty had stopped. "Something wrong?"

Kitty quickly caught up to Julia, shaking her head.

"You sure? Your harmonia isn't bothering you, right? No headaches? Are you feeling nervous about fighting against Blake and Elaina? You don't have to if you don't want to. Wait! But, that's not to say that I don't have faith in you, or I'm trying to protect you from Elaina when I don't have to, just-"

"Julia, it's okay," Kitty giggled. She shook her head. "I'm glad that you're looking after me. I'm glad that you care. I realize now that you aren't looking down on me when you worry, you showed me just how much you cared. Not because you think I'm weak. But because I'd want to protect you, the exact same way you'd want to protect me. I just didn't realize it."

Julia sighed in relief.

"Um… one more thing," Kitty said, looking down. She swallowed. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest, and she almost wished she had some of that confidence that she'd had over the last few weeks. But that wasn't real courage. That was her losing control over herself. She let out the breath she had been holding, and raised her head to look Julia in the eye.

"About that… that thing I wanted to tell you… I'll tell you soon, okay?" Kitty asked. She wasn't ready to confess yet. But she would be. Someday. "I'll… I'll tell you when I'm ready, so just wait a little longer, okay Julia?"

Julia wasn't sure last night what Kitty had wanted to talk to her about, and she still wasn't sure right now. But she knew that it was important to Kitty. So she nodded her head and gave her a smile. "Absolutely, Kitty. I'll wait as long as you want."

Kitty sighed in relief and smiled. "Good. Let's go then."

Kitty and Julia finished their walk, reaching one of the island's beaches, and the pier on it. Passing the large aquarium as they approached the pier, Kitty and Julia saw a very familiar figure fishing away.

Marion smiled while fishing for her fishy friends, and yet as much as she loved fishing, it wasn't taking her mind off of things as it usually did. She was still worrying over Kitty and what she had gone through. It just wasn't fair. Kitty was so sweet, and there was nothing Marion was able to do for her. If Marion wasn't having so much fun fishing, she'd be crying. She'd hoped Julia would be able to get through to her, but even she wasn't able to do anything to help.

"Marion!"

Marion nearly dropped her fishing pole in surprise. Normally, someone calling to her wasn't enough to get through to her when she was having a blast lost in the sea, but the voice calling out wasn't just a voice. She sense… but that wasn't possible!

Marion turned to see Kitty and Julia running across the snow-covered beach, Kitty waving to her. Her mouth dropped and her eyes widened in surprise. What she was seeing… it didn't make sense, but it was. The Kitty in front of her was filled with harmonia. But the harmonia she felt coming off the girl wasn't anything like how she was last night. Marion shook her head. Kitty was bright and shining, her harmonia pristine as it had been the day she met her. Marion's bright blue eyes welled up with tears and she set her fishing pole down, jumping to her feet and running towards them. She caught Kitty and pulled her in a big hug, lifting her off the ground and spinning through the snow, cheering with joy.

"Marion, I can't breathe!" Kitty mumbled into Marion's shirt, Marion letting the girl down.

"Sorry, sorry," Marion laughed, wiping her eyes. "I just… how? What happened?"

"Blake," Kitty explained. "He showed me how big of a fool I was. How lost I was. He helped me realize just how far down the dark path my harmonia was leading me. And when I saw what I looked like at the end of that path… I turned and brought myself back."

"Thank god for Blake, then," Marion said. "So why are you guys here?"

"We wanted to tell you that everything was okay with her," Julia said. "Because we didn't want you going on break being unsure about what had happened."

"You guys are so sweet," Marion giggled.

"Oh, one more thing," Kitty said. She knelt down on the beach and set her backpack down.

"Hm? What is it?" Marion asked.

"I was concerned," Kitty explained, unzipping her bag and taking the light blue egg out from it, holding it up to Marion. "I'm going on vacation, and I was wondering if you could watch it for me?"

"Your egg? Why?" Marion asked.

"Because I'm worried, what if it hatches when I'm home? What if I don't know how to take care of it? You know all about fish, so…"

Kitty glanced down.

"Actually… I'm worried about what will happen if it hatches… and my harmonia… it might overwhelm her… I lost control, and I might lose it again… if it's a newborn, then I'm afraid I might twist them with my harmonia. I know I shouldn't, but…"

Marion shook her head, patting Kitty on the cheek.

"I know you're a little nervous, and a little scared. After what you went through…" Marion gave Kitty a reassuring smile. She reached out and placed her hand on the egg's surface. "But it's okay. Kitty… you're okay to have the love of new pokemon in your life. You won't hurt this little kid. You'll take great care of it, I assure you."

Kitty looked down at the egg, and smiled. She squeezed it a little tighter. She was right, she didn't want to give up the little guy after all. Her harmonia felt nothing but warmth and caring for the egg.

The shell of the egg began to crack, much to Kitty's surprise. It burst into pieces, revealing a small pokemon within it.

Julia peaked over Kitty's shoulder.

"…Does it need to hatch again?"

The pokemon in question was round like an egg, its body light pink. It was nestled in a tiny blue bed, with a thick blue shell wrapped over it.

"Clamperl," the tiny pokemon cooed. Tears welled up in Kitty's eyes and she hugged the small pokemon tightly, it was the most adorable thing in the world.

Kitty's egg has hatched, too! Now the only egg left is Nikita's! Hopefully, taking care of this new pokemon is just what Kitty needs to move forward in her life! The tournament semi-finals will begin next chapter!