This chapter closes the book on the flashback to Gerard's past. Let's see how he became the ass he is today.

KedharS: Well, let's see what happens.

Aquahaze675: There will be quite a reaction, I can tell you that much.

JoshGamerV: Interesting guess.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Well, we'll have to see, now won't we?

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 579

Gerard led Diancie back to the mansion as he and Elly discussed things.

"So she's a Diancie?" Elly mused, staring at the floating pokemon. "Where have I heard that name before… It sounds familiar."

She studied Diancie, who looked at her with a good-natured smile, tilting her head to the side.

"Diancie?" Diancie asked.

"Okay little brother!" Elly said as they entered the mansion. "Let's go check the library, and see what we can-"

"Elizabeth!" Genevieve's high-pitched voice cut off Elly, who turned around to see her mother stomping down the stairs in her heels. "Where have you been?! I've been looking all over for you all morning! You know how important it is for us to… to…"

Genevieve's voice trailed off as her eyes landed on the Diancie, her eyeballs bugging out of her head and her mouth flopping open.

"Is… is that…" she floundered. "Is that Diancie?"

Elly and Gerard turned to each other, confused.

"Diancie?" Diancie stared at Genevieve and tilted her head to the side, smiling good-naturedly.

"Yeah, it is," Elly said. "What do you…?"

"She's… haven't I told you before, Elizabeth? About Diancie, the Jewel Pokemon?" Genevieve demanded, regaining her senses and crossing the entryway to where Diancie was floating, staring up at her in awe.

"No, you haven't," Elly said, shaking her head.

"A Mythical Pokemon as beautiful as a gemstone, the light of our family," Genevieve breathed. "Your father talks about her all the time, and so did his father. They all sought to find her, to make use of her phenomenal power. There were legends that she was hidden deep within the Glittering Cave, but no one could track her down…"

Genevieve turned to Elly, her eyes shining nearly as brightly as Diancie was.

"But you, Elizabeth… of course it would be you," she beamed at Elly. "Someone of your talents, a genius like you, of course you would be the Alkwest to finally find the legendary beauty we've been looking for for so long."

She turned to Diancie again, reaching out and wrapping her hands around the pokemon's slender waist, pulling her over to Elly, startling Diancie.

"This will be amazing, Elizabeth!" Genevieve said. "Diancie is one of the strongest pokemon out there! It's a Mythical Pokemon, after all! With her by your side, you'll be guaranteed to enter the Masters League, and from there, defeating Kanone Harker will be as easy as cake!"

Elly's mouth opened, mimicking her mother's expression of shock from before, floundering for what to say. But it was Gerard who finally spoke up.

"But… but Diancie is my pokemon…" Gerard said.

Genevieve didn't even turn her head, she was too busy gushing over Diancie and Elly, ignoring Gerard as usual. Gerard was anxious, because he hadn't tried to get his mother's attention this directly in a long time. But he couldn't just sit back and not say anything. So he tugged on her sleeve more insistently, telling her "mom!" with a stronger voice.

For what felt like the first time, Genevieve turned and looked directly at her son, causing Gerard to shrink a little bit, swallowing. His hands were shaking, but he held up Diancie's pokeball to show it to her.

"S-See?" Gerard said. "I'm the one who caught it, mother!" This was it, this was finally it. Something that he had done, that Elly never had. He had caught a Mythical Pokemon. Diancie, the crown jewel of the Alkwest Family. Finally, his mom would see him as someone worthy of her attention! He was finally able to compete with her!

Without a word, Genevieve snatched the pokeball out of Gerard's hands and turned to Diancie, recalling her to the pokeball before anyone could say anything. Then, she shoved the pokeball into Elly's hands, startling her as well.

"M-Mom!" Elly gasped.

"Mom!" Gerard exclaimed. "That-! That's my-!"

"Stop being so selfish Gerard!" Genevieve snapped, turning and glaring at him. Gerard flinched, stunned by his mother's anger.

"M-Mom?" He murmured.

"This is important for your sister!" Genevieve continued. "A Mythical Pokemon like Diancie fighting at Elly's side? It will be amazing for her, and for our family!"

"But mom, this is Gerard's-"

"No, no, don't worry about anything like that," Genevieve shushed her, taking Elly by the wrist and pulling her away. "Your future is more important, Elizabeth! Come along, we have so much more to discuss!"

Elly turned back to Gerard with an apologetic look in her eye, barely whispering an apology before Genevieve slammed the door behind her.

Gerard was left in the entryway, stunned and alone. He had finally caught his first pokemon. A wonderful pokemon that he cared for, who happened to also be a rare and powerful pokemon that was a legend in his family. The kind of feat that should have made his mother beam with pride and heap praise upon him the way she always did with his sister.

Instead, she had been taken from him by his mother, leaving him with nothing once again.

Why? Why was it always like this? He had tried so hard, and sure, maybe he had just stumbled upon her, but still! Why? What had he done wrong?

Why wouldn't she look at him?

Pay attention to me! Praise me! He wanted to scream, but right now he couldn't find his voice. And even if he could, what would be the point?

Gerard grit his teeth and clenched his hands into fists, turned, and pushed past the security guards, running out of the mansion, tears rolling down his cheeks.

It's fine. I just have to try harder. So Elly has a Mythical Pokemon? Fine! Then… then I'll catch another one! No, two more! It doesn't matter how hard they are to find, I'll find them if I have to dig out the entire cave! Then, then…

Gerard stumbled at the cave entrance, falling to his knees. His eyes began to tear up as he scraped his fingers against the rocky ground.

Then will it finally stop hurting so much? He wondered, sobbing.

Gerard took his glasses off and stood up, wiping his eyes. Now wasn't the time to start crying. Crying wouldn't get him anywhere. He needed to find more Mythical Pokemon, something, anything, some way that he could get his mother's attention. And the only thing he could think of was catching more Mythical Pokemon, after seeing his mother's reaction to seeing Diancie. It was what he needed to do, to maybe…

Maybe have her look at him that way.

Of course, as smart as Gerard was, he was still a kid. He had no idea how rare a Mythical Pokemon really was, or that the chances of finding another Mythical Pokemon in the Glittering Cave was zero. So he ran deeper inside on his fool's errand, his feet pounding against the floor and echoing across the walls of the sparkling catacombs, moving past the tourist area and into the deeper sections of the cave, where the wild pokemon were.

He would never regret anything more in his life.

Gerard didn't know how many hours he had spent searching the caves, hiding from dangerous pokemon as her searched for something comparable to Diancie. Of course, he hadn't even had the foresight to bring a pokeball with him, but that didn't matter to him. He just wanted to find something, a wild pokemon that could…

He collapsed on the ground, crying. What was even the point? It wasn't like the pokemon would replace Diancie. He just… why couldn't his mother see how great he was for finding her? Why couldn't she just let him become an amazing trainer like Elly?

"Gerard?"

Gerard gasped, whirling around to see Elly standing behind him, her face illuminated by the shining lights of the cave.

"Elly!" Gerard said, not sure how to feel about his sister right now. While he normally would have been glad to see her, he was still hurt about what had happened earlier with their mother. So he stared at her uneasily, unsure what to make of the tension on her face.

"Gerard, I've been looking for you for hours! What are you doing here?!" Elly demanded, storming over to him. "You were just in a cave-in this morning! And even if not, there are wild pokemon everywhere! Don't you understand how dangerous it is to come here alone?!"

"I know!" Gerard shouted. "I know, but… but!" He looked around frantically, hanging his head and sinking down onto the ground.

"…But I need to find another pokemon… a pokemon more amazing than Diancie…" He whimpered. "If I do, then… then maybe mom will finally…"

Elly's face softened and she knelt down in front of her brother, reaching out and cradling his cheek with her hands.

"Oh, Gerard," she sighed, caressing him gently. "Don't worry about stuff like that…"

"But it's not fair!" Gerard shouted. "It's always you! Always! I-I! Whenever I do something, no one cares! Not my classmates, not mom, they all ignore me! No matter how hard I work, no matter how much I try! I caught Diancie, and mom just-! She just-!"

Gerard began coughing, his throat clogging as he sobbed into Elly's shirt.

"Why won't anyone look at me? Am I really that… that worthless?"

"Shh, shh, it's okay," Elly said, rocking her brother gently as he cried. "Don't worry, Gerard. It'll be okay. I know that mom is… the way she is, but you can't let her get to you. Remember what I said before? You're special, little brother. You work harder than everyone. And someday, people will see that, and understand just how great you are. You aren't worthless, I promise. You're my clever and determined little brother."

Gerard smiled a little, glancing up into his sister's kind eyes.

"Here," Elly said, reaching into her pocket and taking out a pink pokeball. "Diancie belongs to you, Gerard. I never should have let mom take her from you. She's your pokemon, not mine. And I think you should make it official."

Gerard took the pokeball from his sister, overjoyed.

"The best way to show a pokemon your love is to give her a nickname," Elly smiled, helping Gerard to his feet as he clutched the pokeball tightly to his chest. "And I know she isn't mine, but I was thinking that a good name would be-"

"Diana," Gerard interrupted her, staring at the pink pokeball in his hand with a warm smile on his face. "Because Diancie's divine light is so beautiful, she's like a goddess herself."

Elly smiled, and patted her brother on the head. "That sounds like a great name. Now come on, let's get out of here. We've got dinner to get-"

Elly's voice was drowned out by a loud rumble, the cave floor beginning to shake.

"Elly?!" Gerard exclaimed, feeling her hand grasp his tightly.

"Gerard! Watch out!" Elly shouted into his ear as she wrapped herself tightly around him, the sparkling lights of Glittering Cave turning pitch black.

The throbbing pain in Gerard's head was what told him he was still alive. The landslide that morning had been nothing compared to the one he'd just been in. The world around him was still spinning, and he felt like throwing up.

He felt something tight around him, and he blinked his eyes, adjusting to what was happening. The light was a lot dimmer than he was used to, and his glasses had been lost.

"Elly?" He asked, glancing down to see that his sister was still hugging him tightly.

"Hey little brother…" Elly's smile was blurry, and but he could tell she was looking up at him. He could barely make out past her head that they were both partially buried in a mountain of rocks and gemstones. "You okay…?"

"Y-Yeah," Gerard said. Pain shot up his arm. No, no he definitely wasn't okay. "C-Come on, Elly, we need to get out of here."

"Yeah… yeah," Elly murmured, nodding. She coughed. He reached down with his good arm and tried to pull himself free, when his hand brushed against something warm and sticky. He didn't know what was going on at first, but he realized that Elly's breathing was ragged, and her hug was a lot colder than the ones he had remembered.

"Elly?!" Gerard cried frantically. Elly smiled a little more, but it was shaky. She stared into his eyes, her hand moving up and cradling his cheek.

"I'm glad you're okay," she smiled, her hand slipping from his cheek and leaving behind a smear of something he didn't want feel.

"ELLY!" Gerard cried, hugging her. He looked around frantically, spotting Diancie's pokeball lying in the dirt beside his head. He grabbed it and freed her, crying out.

"Diancie?!" Diancie gasped, her eyes wide.

"Diana, please!" Gerard cried. "Help-! Help me!"

"Diancie!" Diana nodded. She raised her hands and began to shine brightly, the rocks covering the two kids rising up into their air. Freed, Gerard held his sister tightly. She was only growing colder, and she wasn't breathing.

"Please, Diana, Elly, she… she-!" Gerard sobbed. Diana floated over to her, raising her shining hand and placing it on Elly's forehead. The light slowly died down and she glanced at Gerard, shaking her head, beginning to tear up herself.

Gerard cried harder, holding his sister's body tightly and wishing he had never come.

Elly's funeral was quite an event. Gerard's father had actually come down from his business trip, and many friends of the family had gathered to pay their respect to the family.

Genevieve was devastated, staring at Elly. She had demanded an open casket so that she could see her beautiful daughter until the very last moment, sobbing openly as she looked upon Elly with her husband and broken son. Gerard's glasses had been replaced, but nothing could replace what he had lost. He had wanted to take attention from his sister his entire life. Nothing had changed, she was still capturing the attention of the family, but now he just wished they could go back to the way that they were before.

Looking at the peaceful smile on his sister's face caused him to begin to cry. It took him back to that night, and he couldn't bear with it anymore. He'd been bottling up his emotions to not make a scene in front of his broken-hearted mother, but he couldn't. Not… not when she was right there in front of him.

"Elly…" He said, his voice cracking.

Crying was the wrong thing to do.

Genevieve whirled upon Gerard, her tear-filled eyes glaring furiously at him.

"How dare you?!" She demanded, striking him across the face hard enough to make him lose his balance, Gerard stumbling back and landing on his butt, his glasses clattering across the floor of the church. Her shout startled the other guests, but no one was more startled than Gerard.

"M-Mom-"

"The nerve of you, you brat! Crying for her?!" She screamed at him. "You ungrateful child! After everything this family has done for you, this is how you repay us?! By killing your sister?! Elizabeth, she was wonderful, amazing, a once in a generation genius! She was going to be something spectacular! She had a bright future ahead of her, and now what?! Gone, reduced to nothing, all to save a worthless child like you who could never amount to anything?!"

Genevieve was making a scene, and she didn't care who heard it. As for Gerard, he couldn't find the strength within him to fight back. How could he, when everything she was saying was true?

"You're the one who should be in that coffin, not her!" Genevieve snarled. "Someone that amazing, dying to save someone like you? You killed your sister, and for what?! Tell me! Tell me why my daughter is dead, and you're still alive?! Elizabeth died for nothing!"

That was all Gerard could take. Cradling his cheek in his hand, he ran out of the church sobbing, his heart pumping tears out with every painful beat.

Elly was gone. His sister was dead. And it was all his fault. If he hadn't gone into that cave, she would still be alive. If she hadn't shielded him from the rubble, she would still be alive.

If he wasn't so worthless, she would still be alive.

"Elizabeth died for nothing!"

That's right. He was nothing. For all his hard work, it hadn't amounted to anything that mattered. No one looked at him. No one cared about him. The only person who thought that he could amount to anything was his sister, and she…

Elly wasn't here anymore.

She had thrown herself over him so that he could live, and for what?

He wasn't a genius. Not like Elly was. All he could do was put in a little bit more effort.

Gerard always told himself that it didn't make sense why no one would give him the attention he deserved for his hard work. That it wasn't fair that everyone paid attention to Elly and not him, because he hadn't done anything wrong.

Now he realized that wasn't true.

It wasn't that he hadn't done anything wrong.

He hadn't done anything at all.

Elly really had died for nothing.

"Perhaps it would be better if I just died too…" he mumbled, his feet carrying him wherever they would go. They brought him to cliff, overlooking the ocean. He stared out at it, wondering if he should throw himself in. Who would even miss him if he did? His parents certainly wouldn't. He didn't have any friends. Elly was gone. But Diana… Diana, she would miss him. But maybe… maybe it would have been better anyway.

Maybe Diana really had belonged with Elly. They could have won the Master's Tournaments as a team. But because he was selfish, because he wanted to be better than her, he had ended up taking everything away from her. What a horrible person he was. Maybe it would make everything better if he did jump in.

But he couldn't bring himself to do it. Clutching the railing tightly, he fell to his knees and cried, remembering his sister's smile.

If I did… then she really did die for nothing… he thought.

A warm hand touched the back of his neck, and a soothing feeling pulsed through his chest. He turned to see Diana smiling at him with those crystal-pink eyes of hers.

"Thank you," he murmured. He had been in a turmoil, thinking about ending it all to soothe this pain he was feeling. But that wouldn't fix anything. Elly had sacrificed everything to protect him. How could he shame her by killing himself? Doing that would just mean Elly's life, and her death, had no meaning. And Gerard wouldn't let that happen.

"Elly didn't die for nothing," Gerard told himself, hugging Diana tightly. "She didn't! I… I'm not nothing! I'll show them, I'll show everyone! I have to win… I have to become stronger, the best trainer ever! Stronger than anyone, smarter than anyone, I have to prove to my family, to everyone, that Elly didn't die saving some failure! She was a hero who protected someone great, an astounding trainer with an amazing future that would be admired by everyone!"

It was so simple. Everyone believed that Elly had died protecting her worthless older brother. A senseless death, throwing away a once in a lifetime talent to save some useless brat who wouldn't amount to anything. But if Gerard showed them how great he was, if he made his mother see that she was wrong, that he was as special as he had always been trying to prove to her, then… maybe then, she wouldn't despise him. Maybe then, Elly's death could mean something.

Maybe that would make the painful, burning guilt in his chest finally disappear.

"I need to become strong, Diana," Gerard sobbed as he tightened his grip on Diana. She was the only thing he had left now. "So strong that everyone knows just how great I am. So Elly can see that she didn't make a mistake in saving me, that there's a reason I'm still alive. But I can't do it alone. I… I need you with me, please…"

He looked into her eyes, squinting through his tears to get as good a look as he could at her face.

"Please, will you help me?" He pleaded.

"Diancie." Diana smiled, nodding her head, leaning over and kissing Gerard on the cheek.

"Corin, bullet punch!" Alden shouted. Corin shot across the gem-covered battlefield, raising her fist and hitting Diana in the chest with a fast punch, Diana crying out in pain.

"Diana!" Gerard shouted, his eyes wild "No!"

I have to win this! He cursed at himself. I have to be the best! I need to show everyone-! That… that it wasn't meaningless! That I deserve to still be alive! I have to win!

I HAVE TO!

The battle will come to an end next chapter. Will Gerard's will to succeed be enough to overcome the Commander's Sense? We'll have to find out.