The battle between Gerard and Ian has reached the climax! Diancie vs. Aggron, which one will emerge victorious? Will Ian defy the odds and defeat the mythical pokemon? Or will Gerard overcome his pokemon's taunt handicap, and come out the victor? We'll have to find out!

KedharS: Definitely.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: I definitely have a lot of ships that I know will never happen. One of my favorite "never gonna happen" ships is Cynthia x Sango. I also enjoy all the ships I've teased with Blake, so Blake x Cynthia, Blake x Sango, Blake x Elaina, Blake x Caelia, heck, even Blake x Kate, even though he's with Ayame I wouldn't have teased those ships if part of me didn't like them at least a little bit.

Aquahaze675: Attract is a very funny move to write out, lol. I like purple prose.

JoshGamerV: It's going to be pretty interesting, just watch!

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 562

"Aggron!" Iron emerged from his pokeball with a roar, the massive hulking pokemon of armor landing in the sand, slamming his claws against his chest. He lumbered towards Diana, only stopping when he realized that the sinking pit of quicksand he was standing in was beginning to drag him down, his weight and bulk making it difficult to keep moving. He let out a grunt of frustration, slogging through the sand as best as he could.

"We're at the final bout of the match!" Lila announced, her smile bright and wide. She was excited to see Diancie fight against that Aggron. Even though she didn't want Gerard to win, she wanted to see a Fairy type defeat a Steel type. "Diancie vs. Aggron! Whoever wins moves onto the semi-finals! Gerard or Ian? Let's find out! Begin!"

Lila's announcement wasn't necessary to begin the battle, but the mood was right for it to occur, and the match began.

Lila wasn't the only one excited for the match. Dakota was squirming in her seat, boiling with excitement as she prepared her camera, taking as many pictures of the diamond pokemon as possible. Akira was interested as well, but he was, at least, capable of restraining his excitement.

"Diana, use earth power," Gerard ordered. It was the best move he could use to take advantage of Iron's weaknesses. Iron was a Steel/Rock type, after all, and when she had fought against him before, she had used earth power to tear him to ribbons. It would work again.

"Diancie!" Diana raised her hands and began glowing pink. She released energy down into the quicksand, the pit beginning to shake and rumble. Iron looked down at his feet and thrashed angrily, trying to free himself from the sand, but he was finding it difficult to move.

Then, the ground beneath iron exploded in a blast of earth and flame, striking him with a powerful Ground type move.

"That was a powerful blow," Akira said. "Ground moves already hit both of Aggron's weaknesses, and even though Aggron have powerful physical defenses, their special defense stats are very low. Earth power is the perfect move to use in a situation like this. At this rate, it might not even matter that Diancie is barred from using status moves."

"We saw how strong earth power was in the battle royale," Lila remembered. "That's what took out his Aggron last time."

"Well that sucks!" Dakota pouted. "What am I supposed to say about that?! It's just a big ol' anticlimax, that's no fun! I can't make a good story out of that!"

"AGGRON!" Iron roared, the super-effective special attack hitting him where he was most vulnerable and doing an incredible amount of damage. But fortunately, as low as his special defenses might have been, Iron was still a beast. The attack was more than a scratch, but it wasn't nearly enough to finish the enraged Aggron.

"Iron, you good?" Ian called.

"Aggron," Iron nodded.

"Well, what a pity," Gerard scoffed. "Diana, let's see what we can do about how 'good' that Aggron of his is feeling!"

"Diancie!" Diana nodded, focusing more energy into her body and sending it deep into the ground to release in an explosion from below once again. Aggron were slow pokemon normally, and Iron, in his current condition buried in the quicksand, was hampered even more. He couldn't move, only prepare for the earth power to strike again, and keep striking him until he was down.

That's what Gerard expected, anyway. Reality turned out to be quite different.

"Iron! Magnet rise!" Ian shouted.

"Aggron!" Iron raised his arms up, and his armor began to shimmer with light, tiny sparks of electricity running along it. With the power of electromagnetism running through his metal body pushing off of the minerals in the ground, Iron was lifted out of the quicksand and propelled into the air, where he hovered above the battlefield, free of the sands and immune to the explosions of earth and magma coming from beneath.

"Whoa! What the hell?!" Dakota gasped, shocked.

"That Aggron is flying! But look at how heavy it is! No way a pokemon like that could float!" Lila protested, unable to believe what she was seeing.

"Magnet rise," Akira explained. "We've seen it before. It's a move that use electromagnetism to levitate a pokemon into the air. Steel types and Electric types often use it in order to give their pokemon the ability to avoid Ground type moves, like Aggron is doing right now. Diancie won't be able to hit him with her earth power, or any other Ground type moves, as long as that Aggron is floating. Which should do a lot to level the playing field."

"You're not the only one whose pokemon can float over the quicksand," Ian smirked. "Iron and I were prepared!"

"Aggron!" Iron roared. The electricity building around him grew stronger until it was a full-on electrical current, building up into a charge between his horns. He fired it in a powerful bolt that struck Diana, the small pokemon gasping in pain.

"Last time, we were defeated with those earth powers," Ian said. "Not accounting for that was a serious oversight on my part. I haven't had enough experience fighting with Iron as an Aggron against other trainers. But now, we're ready. You won't get us with a Ground type move again!"

Ian smiled.

"Just like how you taught your Diancie heal bell to deal with poisoning after Ayame Toujou got the better of you, I taught Iron how to use magnet rise after you and Lana Canley used your pokemon's earth powers to take care of Iron!" Ian laughed. "Because I was expecting to fight against you again at some point. Your Diancie was a little too fast for me to use it right off the bat, but now it looks like it's paying off!"

"Without being able to use Ground type moves, isn't Diancie really backed into a corner?" Dakota asked hopefully. "Her strongest moves are Rock and Fairy types, and Aggron resist those really well! Plus, she can't even use any status moves! This is really bad for her! Ian might really pull this one off, don't you think so, Aki?"

"It's certainly put her at a disadvantage," Akira agreed. "But right now, it's not necessarily the case that there's nothing she can do. I think that Diancie might have a trick or two up her sleeve, we'll have to see for ourselves."

Akira knew full-well that, although her strongest moves probably wouldn't be very effective, there were some moves that she had access to that would, at least, help.

"Mystical fire," Gerard ordered, not at all amused by the fact that Diana couldn't use earth power to take care of what should have been an easy pokemon. "You want to fight on our level? Well, fine, let me show you what that looks like."

"Dia!" Diancie created several large diamonds floating in the air around her, glowing a bright pink. The light grew even brighter, turning into full-on burning flames that she sent flying at Iron with a flick of her wrist, the flames swirling around Iron and engulfing him in a cage of fire. As they drew in closer, they began to lick against Iron's armor, the Steel type pokemon thrashing against them, although more in anger than in pain.

"Whoa, yikes!" Dakota said. "Those flames are pretty risky."

"True, but against a Steel/Rock type, they're a neutral hit, right, Akira?" Lila asked, looking to Akira for confirmation. She didn't know a lot about pokemon battles, but she knew enough to know about one of her most feared types, the Steel type.

"Yeah," Akira said. "Fire type moves are neutral. So right now, it's the best of a bad situation. She doesn't have many options available for damaging an Aggron, after all."

But still, Akira silently added, there's something… a nagging feeling like Gerard and his Diancie are preparing for something else…

"Those flames won't get through our armor!" Ian shouted. "Iron's as tough as they come!"

"Not necessarily," Gerard smirked, pointing at Iron's chest. "It looks like at least one thing managed to score quite a blow on it."

He indicated to a deep, painful scar etched into Iron's breastplate, permanent proof of a very painful experience the Aggron had no-doubt underwent.

"And besides, I want to put a stop to any of this pesky 'floating' nonsense," Gerard scoffed. "Diana, now, smack down!"

"Diancie!" Using her powers, Diana raised her hands and ripped a massive slab out of the ground, raising it up above Iron, preparing to knock him back down into the sand.

"Even if you're rising above the ground, if we smack you back down then you're be susceptible to Ground type moves again," Gerard said. "Sorry you wasted all that time teaching your Aggron magnet rise!"

Diana flung the slab down, preparing to smack Iron, hemmed in by his low speed and the flames circling him. But Ian was quick on his feet.

"Iron, autotomize!" Ian shouted. Iron's body began glowing with a shine, and his rough iron armor became smoother, shining like steel. Newly empowered with great speed, Iron leapt back through the flames, avoiding the falling slab and letting out a roar.

"What was that? He moved so fast!" Dakota gasped. "Aki, what was that move that Aggron just used, huh?"

"That was autotomize," Akira said. "It's a move used by Steel type pokemon. By shedding and refining the metal on their bodies, pokemon can increase their speed by a few stages. And not only that, but it also drastically drops their weight."

"Whoa, I wish I could learn that move," Lila mumbled. She realized what she said and gasped. "Err, I mean, nothing. Nothing at all."

His weight drastically reduced, Iron was even faster than just the boosts to his speed, since he was propelling himself through the air. He likely couldn't take another earth power, but thanks to the boost from autotomize that would most certainly never be an option. No way could Diana hit him with a smack down attack now.

Gerard figured the same, and realized that he would need to change his tactics.

"Diana!" Gerard shouted. "Stone edge!"

"Diancie!" Diana raised her hands and dropped more boulders on Iron, but there was no chance of hitting him. Swift as he was, Iron was able to skillfully dodge the stones as they rained down on him, charging at Diana.

"I suppose you're thinking we'll get in close," Ian said. "But we won't take that chance. Iron, use flash cannon."

"Aggron," Iron nodded. He opened his mouth, light compressing into a ball in his mouth, firing a thin beam right at Diana.

"Diancie!" Diana cried out in pain, the powerful beam of light hitting her in the chest. The Steel type move sent her tumbling backwards through the sky, but with her defenses as high as they were it wasn't going to finish her off.

"That was a powerful flash cannon," Lila winced in sympathy for the Diancie. "Do you think that she'll be able to withstand it?"

"I don't know much about Diancie," Akira admitted. "But from what we've seen, her defenses are pretty high. Yeah, a Steel type move is quadruple effective against her, but then, you saw what a move of quadruple effectiveness did against that Aggron. Super-effective moves are powerful, but if a pokemon is tough enough it isn't going to end the battle."

Diana panted, floating back up, injured, but not even close to being out of the fight.

"…And that's a pretty tough pokemon."

Diana's eyes glowed with a fire, and that same pink flame burned around her in a corona, sending it in a wave towards Iron. But fast as he was, Iron easily avoided the mystical fire, so Diana had to take another measure to account for it.

Diana raised her hands and the flames retreated, spinning around her in a makeshift barrier of pink fire, protective her from Iron's attack.

"Do you know why your flash cannon wasn't as effective as it should have been?" Gerard called. "I'll be happy to explain it!"

"It's the mystical fire," Dakota answered for Ian, much to everyone's surprise. Even Akira gave her a look.

"…What?" Dakota asked, turning to look at Akira, rolling her eyes. "Come on, Aki, I have a Braixen, remember? It's one of Delphox's best moves, and I've been preparing for when she evolves into one so that she can use it."

"…Fair enough," Akira admitted.

"So what's so 'mystical' about this fire?" Lila asked.

"Mystical fire," Dakota explained, her voice taking on the haughty quality that it always did when she looked down on others, "is a move that uses spiritual fire to not just hurt the opponents with fire, but burn them in a spiritual sense, as well! Any pokemon singed with flames has their special attack reduced."

"Whoa, so when Aggron got hit by those flames, his special attack took a hit, and so his flash cannon wasn't as powerful as it should have been," Lila realized. "That was a nice move!"

"And not only that, but that barrier of fire is making it hard for Aggron to get closer," Akira noted. "Meaning physical attacks are more risky, too."

"It looks like Diancie's protecting herself with that barrier," Ian sulked. "Iron! We're going to have to make up for your drop in special attack. If she's going to hide in the flames, and if we can't regain our stats, then let's settle for lowering hers! Metal sound!"

"Aggron!" Iron opened his mouth and his body began to vibrate, sending a sonic shriek like the sound of scraping metal echoing across the battlefield. Everyone clutched their ears in pain, Ian and Gerard included, but Gerard wore a smile on his face.

"That won't work!" Gerard cackled. "Diana!"

Diana emerged from the curtain of flames and thrust both hands forward, the flames rolling towards the shrieking Aggron and hitting Iron before he could stop the sonic attack and try to dodge. Iron's wail turned into a cry of pain, and he dodged to the side with a burst of magnetic energy, escaping the flames before they did any more damage to him.

"Look at the beautiful sheen of Diana's crystals," Gerard said. "Thanks to her ability, clear body, moves like your metal sound have no chance of working on her. She'll shake off any attempts to reduce her stats with moves like that. Use mystical fire again!"

Diana sent another burst of flame Iron's way, but Iron dodged it completely this time, not about to get hit by the flames for a second. His special attacking stat had been reduced quite a bit already, and although Ian didn't want to, he knew that if he was going to pull through this, he would need Iron to rely on physical moves instead.

And unfortunately, that would require getting in close.

"Iron, we need to go in full force. It won't be as effective because of your autotomize, but we'll have to use heavy slam!"

"Aggron!" Iron rumbled, nodding. He propelled himself forward and lowered his head, horns pointed right for Diana, charging at her like a missile of solid iron.

Diana flew back, desperate to get out of the way, but her speed couldn't be compared to the autotomized Aggron. Iron slammed into her, sending her spiraling toward the quicksand with a shoulder check, Diana crying out in pain as she fell from the sky.

"Diana!" Gerard shouted. No. This was unacceptable! He would not allow Diana to lose! It was out of the question!

But Ian was far from done. "Now, Iron, iron tail!"

Iron flew down towards Diana, who was still trying to right herself, spinning through the air and bringing his tail down on the falling pokemon. Diana barely had enough time to raise her arms to protect the diamond on her chest, crying out in pain again.

"DIANCIE!" Diana wailed, the powerful Aggron's iron tail pushing her further and further toward the sand, falling like an anchor. Diana used the last of her strength and sent mystical fire out to burn Iron, but it didn't stop him at all. Iron continued to barrel down on her, and everyone could tell the fire was a futile gesture.

"Oh, no!" Lila gasped, heartbroken at the sight of such a beautiful fairy getting defeated by such a rude Steel type.

"Yeah, way to go!" Dakota cheered, excited to run an article about how a mythical pokemon had been defeated by a totally ordinary Aggron.

Akira was in the middle of those two extremes. He could see that even though Diana was attacking back, it couldn't be compared to the amount of health she was losing from Iron's attacks, she was going to faint for sure if she kept this up.

"Diana!" Gerard shouted, still unwilling to accept his loss. "You aren't allowed to lose, do you understand me?! You have to win! No matter what!"

Diana knew that, of course. That's why she was fighting so hard! The way that Crobat had mocked her and her trainer's team, it had enraged her, and she had attacked all-out, desperate to punish her. And boy, had she. She'd torn that Crobat to pieces, and was trying to knock out that Aggron again. So why, why was she losing?! She needed to keep attacking, she needed to…

Diana saw a light in the Aggron's eyes, and it suddenly became as clear as a diamond. She didn't need to attack like this. Not lash out violently like this beast of an Aggron. If she wanted to win, there was no need to just fire off moves without thinking. How had she let that Crobat goad her into fighting so foolishly?

Like a switch flipping off, Diana's entire mindset shifted, and she began glowing pink. Light pushed off of her, a barrier of crystal pulling her apart from Iron, the Aggron's tail bouncing off of the protective barrier as she float back, panting. That had been close, that attack had done a lot of damage.

"No way!" Dakota protested.

"That was protect!" Lila gasped.

"Crobat's taunt must have finally worn off," Akira clarified.

"Time's up," Gerard said, his sour face twisting into a triumphant smirk, adjusting his glasses. "Rules change."

"Aggron!" Iron bellowed, floating up and charging towards Diana again, swinging his tail at her at full power. But no matter how hard he pelted the protective barrier of diamonds, it had no chance of breaking through.

"In case you didn't realize, this is the end," Gerard said calmly. "Don't get me wrong, Ian, you're quite a good trainer. But defeating me? ME?! Your ambitions are far too bold. You set your sights too high."

"Iron, back," Ian ordered. "So you can use status moves again, fine. Your Diancie's taken a serious beating. This fight is far from over!"

"Ian," Gerard sighed, shaking his head. "Ian, Ian, Ian. Have you ever heard the legend of Icarus? He dreamed of soaring through the heavens like a Flying type pokemon, so he took the feathers shed from Pidgey and glued them into a set of wings. And for a time, he certainly flew high. So high, in fact, that the sun melted the glue and his feathers all molted, and he plummeted to his death."

"Diancie!" Diana protected herself against another iron tail attack.

"You think you're my equal, that you can fight me on an equal level. How arrogant," Gerard snarled. "You belong below me. I've let you fly through the sky quite enough, but now let me bring you back down to solid ground."

Gerard snapped his fingers.

"Diancie!" Diana began glowing pink, and a shockwave of energy shot out of her body, shooting out across the battlefield, and as it passed by Iron it didn't do any damage, but it did something far, far worse.

"Aggron?!" Iron gasped, feeling a crushing weight press down on him from above, falling towards the ground like a stone through water. Pulled by the intense gravity, he hit the sand with enough force to send out waves, so deeply dragged down into the sand he was practically buried.

"That's more like it," Gerard said. "You and your pokemon, brought down to kneel before us. Pulled down by the crushing weight of your lofty ambition. This right here, this is where it ends."

"Iron!" Ian shouted. Gravity was a move that was normally used to ground pokemon floating in the air. But it wasn't capable of stopping a pokemon from moving completely, not under normal circumstances, anyway. But with the quicksand sucking Iron down, there was nothing the pokemon could do. The most he could manage was twisting his head to glare up at Diana, opening his mouth and firing a flash cannon at the Diancie.

"You know better than that," Gerard said, shaking his head. "Light screen."

Diana raised her hand, another barrier deflecting the flash cannon easily.

"It doesn't matter how many stones a peasant like you throws," Gerard chastised Ian. "You still won't be able to knock off the boulder on the peak of the mountain. This is what happens when you reach out to try and rise above your station."

Gerard snapped his fingers again, and with a wave of her hand Diana made the ground beneath Iron erupt in a blast of power, the intense gravity pulling the Aggron even deeper into it.

"AGGRON!" Iron roared, the earth power dealing him massive damage, even more than normally due to his position.

"You see? Or do you need more?" Gerard asked, snapping his fingers again and commanding Diana to use another earth power.

"Iron!" Ian exclaimed, the ground attack doing even more damage to his poor Aggron.

"This can end at any time," Gerard replied. "Just give up. How much do you think your Aggron can take? You talk a big game, about how you want to become the strongest, defeat the Eight Leaders, but it's all that, just talk. Your pokemon can't compare to mine. If you want to aim for something higher than your station, you need tools that will help get you there, and that Aggron won't do it. Give up, Ian, is your pride worth so much that you will allow your pokemon to-"

"FINE!" Ian shouted. "I surrender, fine!"

Ian's calm, laid-back personality was gone, there was panic slathered across his face and worry filling his eyes.

Lila had wanted Diana to win, but hated it had happened this way.

"Ian has surrendered the match," she solemnly stated. "Gerard Alkwest is the winner, and will be advancing to the semi-finals."

"…Obviously," Gerard snorted, adjusting his glasses. He recalled Diana to her pokeball. "As though it were ever in question."

So in the end, Gerard managed to win. Ian was close, very close, but unfortunately there was nothing he could do in the end.