The semi-finals reach their thrilling conclusion in this chapter! Will Blake and Elaina defeat Kitty and Nikita? Or will the girls perform an upset? Will Kitty get through to Elaina? Will Blake get her to keep working with him as part of a team? Which team will move onto the finals? We'll find out!

KedharS: We'll find out! This chapter will be the conclusion!

Aquahaze675: We're going to find out right now!

Arcana of the North: Yeah, teamwork is going to be really important for this one!

Hellraiserphoenix: I hope they can work together well, too! That's definitely an important thing!

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: It's definitely possible for either team to win, but there's only going to be one winner!

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 392

"Go, Weiss," Blake said, sending his Scizor back out. The bug pokemon was clearly still worn down from the fire moves he had endured earlier, but he was still more than capable of putting up a fight.

"Blake has sent his Scizor back out!" Darla reported.

"This should be good!" Lila chirped.

"Elaina," Blake said, turning to his partner.

"W-what?" Elaina asked, not used to being addressed in a battle.

"Attack that Grumpig with your spirit shackles," Blake requested. "But don't worry about pinning him down. Just focus on the damage."

"It'll just protect itself," Elaina replied.

"That's fine, just trust me."

Elaina wasn't sure what he was preparing, but she nodded her head in agreement.

"Weiss, use agility!" Blake shouted. Weiss shot forward, flapping his wings hard and increasing his speed until he became a blur.

"Meomo, use power gem," Kitty ordered, trying to follow Weiss with her eyes. Meomo created large shining rubies filled with energy and flung them at the swift pokemon, but Blake and Weiss were more than prepared for an attack of that caliber.

"Bulley punch," Blake ordered. Weiss unleashed a barrage of swift punches with his claws, shattering the gems into powder. He disappeared in a red flash and reappeared behind Meomo, hitting the cat pokemon in the side.

Kitty grit her teeth and Meomo turned around, disappearing and reappearing behind Weiss, hitting him in the back with an aerial ace attack. Weiss whirled around hit Meomo in the jaw, the Persian shaking off the hit without much trouble due to the boost from Kitty's harmonia.

"Mukuro, fire!" Elaina ordered. Mukuro drew back his bow, aiming not at the two pokemon exchanging hits in the center of the battlefield, but at the large psychic pokemon sitting dumbly off in the corner.

"Hammy!" Nikita shouted. "Protect yourself!"

"Grump," Hammy nodded, holding his hands up. A barrier of blueish-green light manifested around his body, protecting both him and his shadow from the incoming arrow.

That was the opportunity Blake and Weiss had been waiting for.

"Feint!" Blake shouted. Weiss disappeared just as Meomo slashed at him with his claws, much to the feline's surprise.

"Meomo! He's going after Hammy!" Kitty cried. Already knowing his trainer's thoughts, making her outburst redundant, Meomo whirled around and lunged after the Scizor, but he wasn't fast enough to keep up with Weiss's attack. Weiss slowed to a stop in front of the force field, raised his claw, and struck the barrier just at the right spot to cause the entire protective field to shatter into pieces of glittering light.

"Grump?" Hammy didn't understand what had just happened, remaining oblivious to things even as his trainer shouted to him. It wasn't until the thick shaft of an arrow buried itself in his gut that the psychic pokemon realized what was going on, yelling out in pain as he clenched his stomach.

"Using feint, Blake's Scizor was able to open up an avenue for Elaina's Decidueye to make an attack!" Lila marveled.

"A stunning use of teamwork to overcome a pokemon whose defenses were getting rather annoying," Darla agreed.

Elaina smiled slightly beneath her mask, it had gone exactly as Blake had said.

"Weiss, x-scissor!" Blake ordered. Weiss raised his claws and brought them down in an "X" shape on Hammy's chest, striking him with a powerful bug move that made the psychic pokemon let out another cry in pain, falling over unconscious.

"Hammy!" Nikita shouted.

"Get back!" Kitty snarled. Meomo appeared behind Weiss and slashed at him with his aerial ace attack, knocking the Scizor away. Weiss flapped his wings and skidded back to Blake's side, panting.

Meomo stood protectively in front of his partner pokemon, even though Hammy had already fainted. He growled at the two pokemon across the battlefield. The poison he had been infected with was really starting to wear him down, and his vision was starting to get blurry. Kitty felt a wave of nausea rise up in her gut. She didn't know how much longer she could count on Meomo.

"Return," Nikita said sadly, returning her Grumpig to his pokeball. She took a deep breath and sighed. "Magnolia!"

Nikita threw out her next pokeball, sending out her last pokemon, her Bellossom.

"Nikita's last pokemon is her Bellossom!" Lila announced. "That doesn't seem like the best choice now, though."

"I agree, Lila," Darla nodded. "Against a grass pokemon and a bug/steel pokemon, a grass pokemon isn't going to do a whole lot. Unfortunately, that's what happens when you're down to your last registered pokemon."

Nikita swallowed, knowing that they were right.

"It's okay, Nikita," Kitty assured her, smiling. "Let's go!"

Nikita grinned.

"Magnolia, use grassy terrain!"

Magnolia held her hands up, grass sprouting up across the battlefield.

"Oh?" Elaina perked up, feeling energy surging into her body through Mukuro. The grass terrain was recovering the strength of everyone on the battlefield.

Relief washed over Kitty as well, feeling the restorative powers of the terrain soothing Meomo's poison. Meomo was ready to keep going!

"Persian!" Meomo snarled, running forward. Gems appeared around him, and he flung them at Weiss, even knowing that the bug pokemon would be able to counter them with his bullet punch. But much to Kitty and Meomo's surprise, Weiss ignored the approaching gems, shooting straight towards Meomo instead.

Razor-sharp leaves shot from the side, slicing through the gems. With Elaina's assistance, the path had been opened up for Weiss to attack, Weiss lunging forward and hitting Meomo in the face, knocking the feline pokemon back.

Kitty's head jerked to the side, her cheek stinging from the blow. She focused her harmonia, knowing there wasn't much more Meomo could do in this fight, but there wasn't the option to just give in! Just a little more, partner. We're going to do our best!

Meomo turned and slashed at Weiss, the fast pokemon dodging to the side easily. Weiss raised his claw, and fired a flash cannon at Meomo, who jumped out of the way as the beam of light trailed past him, hitting the grass.

"Mukuro!" Elaina shouted, Mukuro flapping his wings and shooting forward. He raised his wing, slashing at Meomo with a powerful leaf blade. Meomo was able to dodge that, as well, but with the poison eating away at him Kitty knew there was no way she could keep this up forever. She needed Nikita to help even the odds.

"Nikita, do it," Kitty called out to her partner. Nikita nodded, ordering Magnolia to enter the battle herself.

"Magnolia, use sleep powder!" Nikita ordered. Magnolia held her hands up, green powder swirling out from her skirt, billowing out across the battlefield. Meomo leapt back, dodging the spores, the sleep powder drifting over Mukuro and Weiss.

"Weiss!" Blake shouted.

Mukuro wasn't bothered by the sleep powder at all, shaking it off easily, but Weiss was less fortunate. He had been so focused on chasing Meomo and attacking him that he didn't have the time to dodge the sleep powder, and it had hit him directly, and now the drowsiness was beginning to set in. He couldn't keep himself standing, stumbling forward and resisting the urge to fall asleep outright.

"A timely sleep powder by Nikita's Bellossom seems to have turned the tide of the battle!" Lila reported to the audience.

"It didn't affect the Decidueye because he's a grass type, but Scizor got a big old whiff!" Darla said. "He's falling asleep!"

Weiss's eyes slowly closed and he pitched forward, falling into the grass.

"Meomo!" Kitty shouted, Meomo lunging forward and striking Weiss with aerial ace, at the same time launching gems to smash into him. Weiss was helpless to fight back! Mukuro lunged at Meomo, slashing at him with powerful leaf blades, but even with the sting of the attacks, Kitty and Meomo weren't going to give in.

Marisa won't be able to fight well if Weiss is there to attack her, Kitty understood, biting her lip as the sharp agony of the blades ripped into her back. Forgive me, Meomo, but I need to let you take these hits. She focused her harmonia, directing as much power to Meomo as she could muster in order to boost not only his strength, but his ability to endure the attacks.

"Magnolia, use moonblast!" Nikita shouted.

"Bellossom!" Magnolia held up her tiny arms, creating an orb of fairy light in her hands. She fired it at Mukuro, hitting him in the back while he was distracted with his assault on Meomo. Mukuro threw back his head an howled in pain, hit by a second moonblast that followed the first, knocking him off of Meomo and sending him skidding across the ground.

"I've got your back," Nikita nodded to Kitty, who smiled back.

Meomo raised his claw, and struck Weiss with another aerial ace, taking out the last traces of his health.

"Scizor is no longer able to battle," Lila reported.

"That means Blake is down to his last pokemon!" Darla announced.

Blake recalled Weiss as Meomo stumbled back, panting. Blood trickled down from the large cuts in his back, staining his fur. The poison seeped out as well, and he could feel his strength start to wane. He was barely standing, and he couldn't keep fighting.

"Finish him," Elaina snarled. Mukuro lunged forward, raising his wing, slashing down at Meomo with a powerful leaf blade. But before the attack could hit, another moonblast deflected it. Mukuro and Elaina both turned to see Magnolia running towards them, her normally cheery face flushed with anger.

"Magnolia, toxic!" Nikita shouted. Magnolia held her hand up and fired a blob of poison at Mukuro, striking the grass pokemon and infecting him just as Meomo had been infected.

"How dare you?!" Elaina exclaimed, coughing. She winced, the poison already starting to eat away at her. She swung her hand frantically, Mukuro's wing smacking Magnolia and Meomo, knocking both pokemon away. Magnolia picked herself back up, but Meomo wouldn't rise again.

"Return," Kitty said, not waiting for the announcer's declaration. She could already feel that Meomo was done. "Marisa!"

"Sylveon!" Marisa cheered, emerging from her pokeball and landing in the grass, running towards Mukuro and Magnolia to protect her partner.

"Electroweb!" Blake shouted.

Marisa's eyes shot to the side, seeing a piece of webbing crackling with electricity flying towards her. The web hit her, sending a current of electricity through the pokemon's body as her movements were tied up.

"Sylveon!" Marisa wailed in pain, pulling out of the webs and stumbling forward, panting.

Kitty glared at Blake and Ruru. The bug pokemon chittered happily.

"Kitty's last pokemon is her Sylveon, and Blake's last pokemon is his Galvantula!" Darla announced.

"That was so rude, attacking Sylveon like that!" Lila pouted.

"Marisa, use moonblast," Kitty ordered. Marisa opened her mouth and fired a blast of fairy energy at Mukuro, the bird pokemon dodging to the side.

"Ruru, use your agility," Blake ordered. Ruru scuttled forward through the grass, her speed increasing as she charged towards the center of the field, getting there before Marisa could. "Now, use bug bite!"

"Galvantula!" Ruru raised her head, her fangs glinting sharply as she bit towards Magnolia. Magnolia jumped back, barely dodging the bite. She held her hands up, and prepared another toxic attack to use on the Galvantula.

Ruru skittered away from the poison, only to be caught off-guard by Marisa, who had somehow closed the distance faster than anyone expected. Even with harmonia, the speed was beyond what she should have been capable of, Ruru being hit directly with a moonblast that she didn't see coming.

Ruru rolled backwards and regained her bearings, looking to Blake in confusion.

"What do you think of my psych up?" Kitty grinned, her eyes flashing and her hair standing on end. "You might have boosted up your Galvantula's speed, but with this, our speed can match it! And with harmonia…"

The implication of "we'll always be faster than you" hung in the air as she flashed Blake a grin.

"Clever," Blake smiled back at her.

"I was thinking about it since our exchange last night, where Larosa and Weiss were matching each other in speed," Kitty reminded him.

"I didn't expect you to put it into practice so soon!" Blake said, surprised.

"Stop complimenting her!" Elaina shouted. "She's our opponent, remember?!"

Kitty getting even more praise? Not just from the audience, but even from her own partner… It had been too much for Elaina to take.

"Mukuro!" She snarled, Mukuro flapping his wings and flying towards the Sylveon. With the boost of grassy terrain, this leaf blade promised to be a powerful one. The problem was, even with harmonia boosting Mukuro's speed, it refused to hit. Marisa elegantly avoided the slashes, her speed far higher than Mukuro's. Kitty was watching carefully, seeing not only through Marisa's eyes but through her own, waiting for an opportunity to counterattack.

"Now, Marisa! Use moonblast!" Kitty declared, spotting her opportunity. Mukuro had put a little too much power behind that last leaf blade, and had stumbled forward more than he had been counting on. Marisa slid back and opened her mouth, taking advantage of the lapse of balance to strike with a powerful fairy move.

No one could see Elaina's face behind her mask, but she was wearing a smirk. Before the moonblast could be fired, Mukuro shot up, now perfectly balanced, and caught Marisa in the jaw with a sucker punch, diverting the moonblast off harmlessly into the air while knocking the fairy pokemon backwards.

"That's real speed," Elaina snarled. "Now, Mukuro, use-"

Elaina's orders were halted by a cough of pain that distracted her. She fell to her knees, clutching her chest.

"Elaina!" Blake cried.

"Uh-oh, what's going on?" Lila cried. "Both Elaina and her Decidueye have collapsed!"

"It's the toxic attack," Darla noted solemnly. "That Decidueye has already taken a lot of damage. And the poison is draining away what energy he has left."

"Oh no!" Lila cried.

"Ruru, protect Mukuro!" Blake ordered. Ruru nodded, skidding in front of Mukuro and raising up her rear-end to make herself look as large and intimidating as possible. But Nikita and Kitty weren't intimidated.

"Magnolia! Put that Galvantula to sleep, too!" Nikita ordered.

"Bellossom!" Magnolia nodded, raising her hands and sending a cloud of sleep powder towards Ruru.

"Not… no!" Elaina coughed out, her eyes flashing. She sent another command to Mukuro, the ghost pokemon sinking into his shadow. The shadow shot underneath Ruru at blinding speed and he emerged, knocking Magnolia backwards. Mukuro spread his wings, shielding Ruru from the powder, the sleep powder landing on him and not on Ruru. It had no effect due to his immunity to it, but that was no longer an issue. Mukuro had no energy left, expending the last of it to protect his partner.

"Whoa!" Lila gasped.

"Elaina's Decidueye protected Blake's Galvantula from the sleep powder!" Darla said, the incredulity in her voice obvious.

Blake was equally stunned, turning to Elaina in shock.

"Not like… we have much left to begin with…" Elaina muttered. "We can at least… help you, right?"

"Elaina…" Blake actually felt like he was going to cry.

"Magnolia, use petal blizzard!" Nikita ordered, cackling.

"Bellossom!" Magnolia held her hands up, a tornado of petals slamming into Mukuro and Ruru, knocking them backwards and taking out the last of Mukuro's health.

Nikita… I don't know if you get it but you're playing the heel right now… Kitty dryly commented to herself. Nikita might have been a prankster, but she was a little bit too into ruining a touching moment of camaraderie.

"With that, all the trainers are down to their last pokemon!" Darla declared.

"I wonder what Elaina's last pokemon is going to be?" Lila mused.

There was only one option, Elaina knew, recalling Mukuro. Her harmonia thrummed, the air around her swirling so violently Blake was nearly knocked back. He had a bad feeling.

"Ayer!" Elaina growled, sending out her last pokemon. Her Aerodactyl flew out, roaring loudly, the ground shaking as he landed.

"Magnolia!" Nikita cried. "That one isn't immune to sleep powder, so try to get them both!"

"Bell!" Magnolia nodded. She sent a cloud of green spores flying to the two pokemon opposite of her.

"Ridiculous," Elaina snorted. Ayer flapped his wing, releasing a blast of wind that blew away the spores.

"No!" Nikita cried.

"Nikita, it's fine!" Kitty assured her, Marisa running up beside Magnolia, firing off a moonblast at the large pokemon. Ayer endured the hit, snarling angrily at Marisa. He flapped his wings and took to the sky, the increased gravity from the beginning of the match long-since dissipated.

"Ruru!" Blake said, catching the attention of his Galvantula.

"Gal?"

"Those two have been slinging status conditions at us, let's see if we can turn the tables," Blake grinned.

"Gal!" Ruru nodded, understanding what Blake was getting at. Electricity began crackling through her fur, and she built up power for a thunder wave.

"Nikita!" Kitty reassured her partner with a grin, shaking her head. "Thanks for the grassy terrain earlier, but I think it's served its purpose. Right now, we've got better things to set up! Marisa, misty terrain!"

Marisa sent a whiff of sweet-smelling smoke out from her body, her fur glowing pink. The grass withered away as a cloud of pink mist spread over the battlefield. When Ruru released the thunder wave, the current of electricity washed over both pokemon, having no effect whatsoever.

"Brilliant!" Lila cheered. "The use of that misty terrain was magnificent! As expected from a fairy pokemon!"

"Not bad," Darla had to admit. "Now, that Galvantula can't paralyze either one of them!"

"That's fine, Ruru," Blake reassured her. "We don't need to paralyze to take them down! Right, Elaina?"

"Right," Elaina nodded. "Ayer!"

"Aerodactyl!" Ayer roared from above, the ground shaking.

"Ear-ear-earthquake?!" Lila stuttered. "The whole place is going to come down!"

"No, this is something different," Darla said. Indeed, it wasn't the shaking of earthquake. Elaina… Elaina didn't want to. She was scared of what would happen. She was scared of hurting Blake. Instead, stones ripped out from the ground of the stadium, floating in the air above.

"Stone edge!" Elaina shouted, dropping her hand. The stones began to rain down on the two pokemon.

"Magnolia, get on Marisa!" Nikita quickly ordered. Magnolia jumped on Marisa's back, the fairy pokemon using her heightened speed and Kitty's harmonia boost to skillfully avoid the falling boulders. But as she prepared to leap out of the way… she found her legs unable to move.

"Sylveon!" Marisa cried, tugging helplessly at her legs. Something hard and sticky was gluing her down!

"No!" Kitty gasped.

A massive boulder crashed down on the two pokemon, sending a cloud of mist up into the air.

"Thank you for using that misty terrain," Blake solemnly stated. "Because of that, Ruru was able to hide her spider webs underneath the mist, where you couldn't see them."

"Marisa!" Kitty cried.

"Magnolia!" Nikita shouted.

"That was a brutal hit!" Lila gasped.

"I don't know if they'll be okay after that…" Darla murmured.

The stones cracked and shattered, revealing Marisa and Magnolia in the mist, badly beaten but still conscious. Marisa pulled herself up first, Kitty's harmonia pushing the pain away and letting her keep going at full power, but Magnolia was a lot more shaky. She tried to stand, but she fell to one knee.

Sorry, Kitty, Blake quietly apologized. But this was what Kitty wanted. She wanted him to fight full force, and that was what he was going to do.

"Ruru, bug buzz!" Blake ordered.

"GAAAAAAAAL!" Ruru hummed, releasing a shockwave of sonic power that echoed across the battlefield, deafening trainer and pokemon alike.

"I hate these!" Lila wailed, holding her ears painfully.

"Not as much as those pokemon do, I bet," Darla said. The sonic hum from the bug buzz hit Magnolia and Marisa. Marisa grit her teeth in pain, feeling the attack sting her ears, but Magnolia was in much worse shape. The attack was super-effective against her, and she held her hands against her ears as she flailed helplessly on the battlefield.

With the sound deafening the pokemon, they were unable to hear orders from their trainers. But that was perfectly fine for Elaina.

I suppose this is also a form of teamwork, she mused, sending an order to her Aerodactyl through her harmonia. Ayer roared over the buzzing, more rocks floating over the stadium, preparing to rain down on the pokemon.

Nikita couldn't give Magnolia orders to dodge. She shouted, but her voice was deafened by the buzzing and humming.

Kitty knew what was happening, and she could communicate without her voice, as well. She sent a command to Marisa, her Sylveon turning and grabbing the flailing Magnolia with her ribbons. She leapt up, jumping onto the rocks from the previous stone edge attack and used them as platforms to dodge the rock slide, not willing to risk running on the ground. As she jumped around the rocks, she built up fairy energy around her, and released a blinding light across the battlefield with her dazzling gleam.

"Aero!" Ayer growled, temporarily blinded. He flapped desperately to stay airborne. Ruru ceased her bug buzz attack, blinking her multiple eyes frantically to push the spots filling her vision away as rays of light pierced her.

Marisa landed on Ruru, much to the surprise of everyone.

"Now!" Kitty shouted, her voice finally reaching. Marisa opened her mouth and hit Ruru with a point-blank moonblast, boosted with harmonia. The fairy attack hit Ruru in the back of the head, Ruru letting out a wail of pain as she lost consciousness, knocked out by the two strong moves.

Marisa landed on the ground, panting, setting Magnolia down gently.

"With that, Blake's the first one out!" Darla said.

"That means it's a two on one!" Lila gasped.

"Don't be so sure, Lila," Darla said, shaking her head. She pointed. "Look."

Lila looked. Magnolia was no longer flailing around, but that wasn't because the bug buzz had stopped. Between the devastating stone edge and the bug buzz, Magnolia had been knocked unconscious in the frenzy.

"Magnolia…" Nikita whimpered. Both she and Blake recalled their pokemon, the match now a one on one between harmonia users.

It's just the two of us… Kitty thought. But between them, Kitty was the one feeling woozy. Marisa had taken significantly more damage than Ayer had. And even if she and Elaina were both exhausted, it was clear which side had the healthier, stronger pokemon.

A small smile crossed Kitty's face.

But that doesn't mean we're just going to give up, now does it?

Kitty had come too far to just give up now! She had been through so much. She had fought to become strong, she had put in so much time and effort into training her pokemon, and now here she was. There had been some hiccups along the way, of course. She had gotten lost, trapped in her harmonia, but she had come out the other side, and now here she was. She reached up and wiped the blood off from her nose, her eyes flashing.

"Let's go, Elaina!" Kitty shouted. "Give me the best you've got! I've come this far, and I'm not about to roll over and let you beat me! I told you, I'm going to fight you and show you not to underestimate me! I'm going to show you what it means to use harmonia the right way!"

Just like Blake showed me last night, she quietly added.

Elaina scowled behind her mask. That girl was asking for it.

"Use it 'the right way'? Ridiculous. This power only brings pointless suffering!" She growled, her hair standing on end as the wind kicked up around her, pushing the mist away. "Stop talking nonsense like that!"

"It's not nonsense," Kitty insisted. "And harmonia doesn't just bring suffering! Sure, for a while, I used it wrong, and I lost myself. But harmonia… it's the power of the bonds with your pokemon! It connects you with them in a way that you never could have connected with them before! Something that requires you to love and cherish your pokemon in order to be strong… there's no way that power can be a bad thing!"

Blake's eyes widened. He might not have been the intended audience for the speech, but… Kitty's words were something that he hadn't fully considered. He needed to think a little deeper on harmonia after hearing that. Maybe… maybe she had a point.

Unfortunately, the girl who the words were meant for was less receptive. Kitty's proclamation fell on deaf ears, Elaina's harmonia flaring up in response.

"Then show me these 'bonds' of yours!" She growled. "I'll take that power of yours, and smash it to pieces! Ayer! Use earthquake!"

"Oh crap!" Lila shouted.

"Hear it comes!" Darla cried, ducking under the table. No false alarms this time. The stadium began to shake, and the ground was starting to tear open.

Kitty felt the battlefield rumble beneath her feet, sadness bleeding into her heart. She could feel the rage and sorrow emanating off of Elaina like waves.

So that must be what I felt like… Blake withstood that from me, and came out ahead. But me… I don't think I have the strength to overcome that power. She could feel the damage Marisa was taking. Elaina was giving this attack all she had, and no matter how much harmonia Kitty could muster, she couldn't help her withstand it. She was just too drained. She could feel that familiar tug, that rush of energy. If she gave herself away completely, then maybe she could. Maybe she could win if she let herself go. But if she did that, she might not come back. And that wasn't something she was willing to do.

I'm not strong enough to use my harmonia to the fullest right now. I might lose myself. But that's fine. I'll only get stronger from here. And soon, I'll be able to fight even better than I did before. But first… I need to fight back! Even if my harmonia won't reach her… if it's just a spark of defiance, I'm going to show her what I can do! And hopefully… if I can't get through to her, then Blake will.

Kitty sent all the harmonia she had left to her partner, Marisa. Marisa withstood the pain from the earthquake, and gathered her power up into her body, glowing pink and preparing to unleash it as she drew in energy from everything around her, even the terrain itself.

"Misty explosion!" Kitty cried. Marisa released all the power she stored up in an explosion of pink mist and fairy light, hitting Ayer with the massive blast. The mist was blown away completely and the entire battlefield was engulfed in blind light.

"Misty explosion now?!" Lila exclaimed, shielding her eyes.

"What a move! This is it!" Darla cried, peeking out from under the table.

Seconds later, the light faded, revealing the results. The mist had cleared away and the webbing had been burned away, and the stones crumbled to dust. The entire field had been wiped, and all that remained were two pokemon lying on the ground. Marisa had been knocked out by expending all of her energy in the explosion, and Ayer…

The Aerodactyl had taken a major hit, and wasn't moving.

"Sylveon is unable to battle, but is it a draw?" Lila wondered, knowing the effects of misty explosion.

"I don't know, if Aerodactyl is able to get up…" Darla looked closely at the motionless pokemon.

"Not like this!" Elaina roared, her harmonia flaring up. Ayer began to stir, Elaina's harmonia forcing him to rise to his feet. The energy flowing through him reinvigorated the ancient pokemon and he stood, letting out a roar of triumph.

"And with that, the battle is over!" Darla announced.

"The team of Elaina Bishop and Blake Harker will advance to the finals, where they'll fight against Caelia August and Cynthia Fafnir!" Lila added.

"Let's give both our teams a round of applause!" Lila and Darla cheered, clapping for them. They were some of the only ones. While Blake's friends and a few others were applauding as well, mostly people were booing. Angry and frustrated that Elaina had once again won, after nearly destroying the entire field with a devastating earthquake.

Sorry, Elaina, Kitty apologized, returning Marisa to her pokeball. It looks like I wasn't able to get through to you. But even if I couldn't… I still think that Blake has the power to show you what you're missing.

A small smile crossed her face.

He showed me, after all. Hopefully you'll open your heart to him yourself.

And with that, the semi-finals are over! The final match will be between Elaina and Blake vs. Caelia and Cynthia! This confrontation is the last scheduled battle of the semester, it's certainly going to be an impressive one!