It's been a long fight. Anabel and Alden have given everything they have, and their pokemon have fought their hardest to come out on top. It all comes to the front here, between these two trainers, the climax. Corin vs. Bolas. Both trainers fighting for the love of the battle, whose strength will emerge the victor? You won't want to miss this thrilling conclusion!

Also, thanks to anyone who checked out my story, I know that it's a little hard to follow from my profile. Fanfiction doesn't let us link stuff anymore really.

We've got a decent amount of girls nominated, but there's always room for more! If there are any other girls you think deserve a chance at the title of Pokemon Academy Best Girl, nominate them here!

Currently Nominated: Ayame, Carrie, Cynthia, Elaina, Kate, Kitty, Maddi, Marion, Nikita, Olivia, Sango, Sylvia

KedharS: Hopefully a finish worth remembering.

Aquahaze675: It definitely is an exciting one, hopefully I can finish it.

Rowlets and Oshawotts: "They" have a Salamence with Moxie, but yes. Broken was what I was going for. We've built up Corin as such an unbeatable champion, she needed an appropriate dragon to slay.

Just a Bad Writer For Fun: Ayame's definitely a top contender, but I think there might be a dark horse in this race. I know certain story events in the future, after all.

JoshGamerV: Over a week actually. But I agree it went too long. Hopefully the climax will be worth it.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 612

"Corin!" Alden shouted. "Agility!"

"Lucario!" Corin kicked off the ground, her speed increasing as she dodged the blast of flame erupting from Bolas's mouth.

"Ah, taking advantage of the fact that Corin is so much quicker than us, now that Bolas is paralyzed?" Anabel smirked. "Smart of you, Alden! But don't think that's going to be enough to dissuade us! We've still got the upper hand here! Bolas! Let's go!"

"Salamence!" Bolas flapped his wings, lifting himself further up into the air, staring down at Corin and letting out a roar.

"You see?" Anabel grinned, their eyes shining. "We've got the advantage with our lovely wings! Now Bolas, if she wants to play hard to get, let's really turn the heat up!"

"Salamence!" Bolas nodded in agreement, spreading his wings wide and sending a wave of boiling heat rolling across the room.

"Heat wave from that high up?" Vic snorted. "Sure that would work on most people, but you think the Commander is going to be sweating about something like that? Not a chance!"

"Corin, detect," Alden ordered. Corin closed her eyes, a blue aura covering her body as the hot air washed over her, the protective veil of her aura keeping her nice and cool even in the face of the massive heat wave.

"Oh, smartie!" Anabel giggled. "Since dodging won't work, you decided to beat the heat with a nice little aura trick!"

"It's good for a starter," Alden nodded, smiling back at them. "Are you done warming up yourself? I know you didn't stack up two attack boosts on your Salamence just to come at Corin and I with a little hot air."

"You know me so well," Anabel shrugged. "And you're right! We're just getting started! Bolas, ready a dragon dance!"

"Oh no, not dragon dance!" Cynthia gasped. Another move she knew quite well from Blake's own Salamence.

"Boosting his attack and speed even more, not good," Maddi scowled.

"Get your boost if you like! While you're at it, that gives us the time to do this! Corin, life dew!" Alden ordered.

The blue aura around Corin had started to fade, but with Alden's instructions it sprang back to life, Corin's eyes snapping open as she turned her palms up, soothing water washing over her fur and healing her wounds.

"Oh? What's this now? I thought you two weren't in on the whole heal-up?" Anabel noted with a wry smirk.

"We just weren't interested in healing on your schedule," Alden replied. "So we got our hit in while we could, to make sure that little roost wasn't as effective as it could have been. Now, we have much less to worry about."

Alden smirked.

"That dragon dance won't be able to help you with much of anything."

Anabel's eyes widened in excitement, their competitiveness flaring up. "Oh, tough talk! Hope you can put your moves where your mouth is! Bolas! Go!"

"Salamence!" Bolas flapped his wings and shot forward, crackling with energy as the power of dragon dance roared around him. He opened his mouth wide, flames burning forth in his fangs, and bit down at Corin. But again, Corin was too quick. She jumped, planting her foot on Bolas's head and leaping up past him, launching herself into the air.

"Now, dragon pulse!" Alden ordered. Corin turned and held her hands up, forming a crackling sphere of dragonic energy that she fired at Bolas. The dragon pulse hit the dragon in the back, Bolas letting out a cry of pain. But he didn't even flinch, swinging his tail and hitting Corin in the side, knocking her away.

Corin landed on her feet, just in time to see Bolas come barreling into her, hitting her in the stomach with a powerful zen headbutt.

"Corin!" Alden shouted.

"Don't underestimate our speed," Anabel warned. "Now Bolas! While she's stunned, get her with fire fang!"

"Salamence!" Bolas opened his mouth wide, flames bursting out of it. He bit down hard on Corin's shoulder and the Lucario let out a howl of pain, the pokemon's powerful jaws and burning flames causing agony to surge through her body.

"Oh no!" Cynthia gasped.

"Corin, withstand it!" Alden ordered. He knew how much damage Corin could take. He was just surprised that Salamence had gotten so much faster with just one dragon dance, it was like the paralysis wasn't even working.

Corin grit her teeth, withstanding the painful assault. While Bolas was gnawing on her shoulder, her arm was unable to get any strength, the pain was too much. But she still had another arm that she could work with! She curled her paw into a fist, pushing through the molten agony running through her, focusing all the energy that she could muster.

"Lucario!" Corin shouted, bringing her fist up into Bolas's stomach, hitting him with a powerful meteor mash.

"Sal?!" Bolas gasped out. The force of a meteor hit him in the gut, ripping him off of Corin and sending him flying up into the air, knocking the wind out of him. Anabel doubled over in pain, coughing, air escaping their lungs as they gasped for breath.

"Lu… Lucario…" Corin winced, raising their paw and clutching their shoulder, thick blood oozing down and out of the jagged wounds.

"Corin, are you okay?" Alden asked. Corin nodded her head, her body glowing blue, using the soothing effects of life dew to begin to heal. But even with the healing power of the water to soothe the light burns and close the gashes, she still wasn't able to heal the wound entirely.

"Nicely… *cough* done," Anabel coughed, raising their head to give Corin a shaky smile, showing there were no hard feelings. "To withstand an attack of that *hack* power and keep it together enough to *hrrg, cough* strike back with a move of your own, and a critical hit at that… I'm legitimately in awe of you…"

"Lucario," Corin nodded in gratitude. She held up her fist, and Anabel could see that it was glowing. Their eyes widened in surprise.

"…Oh, now that's just *cough* not fair… of course you'd get the attack boost," they mumbled, shaking their head. "I would expect no less."

"Meteor mash's attack boost? That's a rarity," Maddi said.

"Yeah! Way to go, Commander!" Cynthia cheered, applauding both Alden and his Lucario. "Go get them you two!"

Anabel finally managed to stand up straight, though they were still short of breath, and focused their harmonia. Bolas regained his composure as well, the dent in his underbelly scales a serious one, but not enough to knock him out of the fight.

"Let's keep going then," Anabel said. "Bolas! We need to be careful of her! Let's not go in for the massive hits like that, chip away with powerful moves that will let you escape, instead! For starters, let's try… an earthquake!"

Corin's eyes widened and her ears perked up, Alden's face souring. Earthquake, huh. He figured it would come to that.

"Let's shake things up a notch!" Anabel cackled, reveling in their horrible pun. "Go, Bolas, send Corin for a loop!"

"Salamence!" Bolas spread his wings and his body began to glow. He sent a surge of energy down into the ground, the room beginning to shake.

"Think we're not prepared for that?" Alden asked. "Corin! Use magnet rise!"

"Lucario!" Corin held her hands out, her aura flaring up and wrapping around her. With a burst, she picked herself up off the ground, lifting herself into the air by the force of her aura, flying straight at Bolas.

"Oh, yeah!" Cynthia shouted, leaping out of her seat and pumping her fist into the air. "Go, Corin! This is right out of Dragon Ball!"

As if proving Cynthia correct, Corin raised her hands and formed a dragon pulse, firing the orb of draconic energy at Bolas. But the dragon didn't even try to dodge, he didn't need to. With Anabel's harmonia, he could withstand the force of the attack, plowing right through the dragon pulse with barely a wince. Shaking off Corin's blow he slammed headfirst into her, biting down hard on her stomach with fire fang and flinging her down towards the ground.

Corin was ready now, though. She braced herself against the attack, holding her stomach as she fell, and held her hands back. A blast of aura broke her fall and she launched herself back up towards Bolas, injured but resolved.

"You can't match us in the air," Anabel warned. "Even with that aura of yours! Bolas, use another dragon dance to speed up again! With that, your attacks will be even stronger!"

"But your speed won't match ours," Alden warned them back. "Corin, extremespeed!"

While the air around Bolas crackled and burned as his attack and speed rose, soaring to unbelievable heights with the aid of Anabel's harmonia, Corin was already preparing to strike. She flashed, disappearing from sight, and reappeared upon Bolas's back, enduring the surge of draconic energy roaring out of him.

"Lucario!" Corin brought her fist down in a punch that made Bolas buck in the air, the dragon roaring out in pain and thrashing around angrily. But with Corin on his back, his methods of fighting back were rather limited.

"Now Corin, use a move that'll really bring them down!" Alden shouted. This was great! It was amazing! The air was literally ablaze with power, the two strong pokemon fighting each other with everything they had! His Sense was surging, this was the kind of battle he loved! He cheered Corin on as she prepared herself, shouting at her to use dual chop.

"Lucario!" Straddling Bolas, clenching the large dragon pokemon tightly between her thighs, Corin raised both hands, draconic energy surging through them. Bringing both hands down in a pair of strikes, she hit Bolas right at the junctions where each wing met his scaly back.

The effect was instantaneous.

"SALAMENCE!" Bolas roared, his entire body convulsing.

"Aargh!" Anabel cried out, clutching their shoulders and falling to their knees. They may have lacked the appropriate anatomy, but the burning pain in their shoulder blades couldn't be denied. They reached out to Bolas, pushing through the pain as best they could, trying to overcome the pokemon's agony by force with their harmonia.

But Bolas couldn't withstand it. The pain in his wings was simply too much, and he couldn't remain airborne. He plummeted out of the sky, roaring angrily and thrashing all the while, the air around him burning with power and rage. Corin was flung off, injured by the pokemon's thrashes, but not severely. Regaining her balance in the air, she held her wounded stomach and gathered herself as she watched crash into the ground.

"Hah… hah… Lu… Luca-" Corin was panting, trying to catch her breath, when a blast of scarlet flames engulfed her. Bolas may have been downed, but he was far from knocked out, the pain in his injured wings driving his rage even further as he channeled it into a devastating flamethrower attack that swallowed Corin whole.

"Corin!" Alden cried as his Lucario plummeted out of the sky, badly burned. She hit the ground hard and lay still, not moving.

"SALAMENCE!" Bolas roared.

"No way…" Cynthia gasped, her jaw dropping. "Is… is that it?"

"No!" Vic protested, leaping to her feet. "It can't! It can't be!"

Vic may have been in denial, but Anabel suspected that she was right on the money. Hence why they hadn't severed their connection with Bolas just yet. Both trainer and pokemon watched the Lucario for any signs of movement… and then saw something else entirely!

Corin wasn't standing, but… her wounds her healing! The burns covering her fur, the bite marks that marred her skin, they were all healing as she lay on the ground, resting up and restoring her health as she slept.

"Nicely done, Corin!" Alden cheered, relieved that Corin was okay. She must have felt how much damage the flamethrower attack was going to do, and took the opportunity to use rest in order to recover!

"So that's your plan!" Anabel said, remembering this strategy from Alden's previous matches. "Bolas, we can't let our opponent sleep the night away! Let's try to wake her up with a rousing hyper voice so she won't miss any of the fun!"

"SALAMENCE!" Bolas roared, his voice amplified by the force of his lungs, the entire room shaking as a massive wave of sonic energy erupted from his mouth. Everyone clung to their ears in pain, the sound attack not doing a lot of damage but snapping Corin out of her rest, forcing her awake before she could fully heal up.

Corin awoke, not quite sure what was happening, but knowing that her hearing was severely damaged. She held her ears, the echoing sound deafening, making it impossible to hear Bolas lumbering towards her. The pokemon barreled forward on his powerful legs, mouth wide, preparing to bite down hard. Unlike Alden, Anabel's harmonia allowed them to give directions to their pokemon without their pokemon needing to hear.

Unfortunately for Bolas, however, Corin didn't need to hear her foe approaching to know that she was in danger. The aura sensors on the back of her head stood up and she felt the dragon pokemon's approach, coating herself in a brilliant blue aura just as Bolas bit down upon her. Detecting his attack she turned and avoided the dragon's sharp fangs, bringing her leg up and kicking Bolas in the side of the face.

Bolas grunted in pain and the echoing finally stopped, Corin taking the opportunity to press the attack before her hearing had even recovered. Right now, she didn't need to hear Alden's orders. Because the only order her trainer would give her would be to fight. And Corin knew how to fight. Anabel and their Salamence might have been connected through the use of harmonia, but Corin and Alden were connected by something just as clear.

Corin could sense what her trainer wanted, and that was all that really mattered in the end.

"Lucario!" Corin howled upon deaf ears, pulling her hand back and gathering silver energy into her fist. She hit Bolas in the face with a powerful meteor mash, the dragon pokemon roaring in pain as the blow struck.

Then it was Corin's turn to cry out in pain.

Bolas endured the blow admirably. It had hurt. Lord had it hurt. But with the power of harmonia from his trainer he had resisted it. Pushed past it. And as he did those things, he felt them urging him to open his mouth and counter the punch the best way he knew how.

As Bolas bit down upon Corin's fist, swallowing all the way up to her wrist, brilliant flames burst out from his mouth, covering Corin's hand in a burning abyss of pain. The flames were everywhere, burning with such intensity that it blocked out everything else. Corin cried out, struggling to pull her hand free, but she couldn't. Bolas's fangs were too powerful.

"Corin!" Alden shouted, but Corin's hearing had yet to return. Even if it had, it was unlikely that she would have been able to focus on anything other than the pain that was burning her paw into cinders. She struggled and thrashed, but it was so, so much worse than when Bolas had bitten down on her shoulder. She had been able to summon the strength to break free with meteor mash, but with her hearing impaired, the sensation of pain she felt was magnified, and it was overpowering her concentration.

"That's the way," Anabel cheered, biting down theirself. "Just a little bit more, Bolas! I'll give you everything you need to finish her off! Go on, take it all! Make this be a finisher that'll really bring down the house!" Their words may not have gotten through, but the sensations conveyed by their harmonia were a blaring signal to their pokemon.

"SALAMENCE!" Bolas roared out around Corin's hand, the strength of his flames intensifying. He could feel Corin's struggle, see the resilience in the pokemon's eyes, but it didn't matter. With the power running through his body right now, he didn't feel a thing.

"Lucario…" Corin whimpered, not even have the strength in her lungs to keep shouting. She was slumping over, practically only standing due to the fact that Bolas was holding her by her arm. She hung limply, unable to even hear the sound of her own voice.

"Corin!"

Corin's eyes snapped open as she caught her trainer's voice. It was muffled, but she could definitely hear it. This was different from sensing his feelings with her aura, she could hear his voice! It was getting stronger and stronger, her hearing was finally returning.

"Lucario…" Corin glanced past Bolas and stared at her trainer, his face adamant.

"Come on, Corin!" Alden shouted. "This is the ending of an amazing match, right? Don't you want to win after all that? Don't you want to give it your all?! My Sense is telling me that a battle like this needs to be given everything, so let's give everything! What do you say?!"

The smile spreading across Corin's lips was a match for that of her trainer. He was right, she wasn't done yet! Summoning strength from within she pushed through the pain and straightened her back, bearing down on Bolas. The dragon pokemon was startled for a second, but his trainer assured him that everything was okay.

"That's the spirit!" Anabel cheered, nodding their head in agreement. "No one gives up before the end, that would be ridiculous! Come at us with everything you've got, and we'll do the same! Let's go, Bolas, just a little more!"

"Corin! Time for our trump card!" Alden called. "This one will really catch these two by surprise, don't you agree?"

Corin nodded, smiling. She did agree. She used all the strength she had and sent it into her arm, willing her nearly-crippled hand to obey her orders. She spread out, her fingers twitching, and then gripped tightly down on Bolas's tongue, not letting go.

"Hey!" Anabel gasped, their mouth dropping open and their tongue hanging out. "Mah tonf! Mah tonf if num!"

Anabel scratched at their tongue in confusion, not sure what this sensation was. The inside of her mouth felt so cold!

When the cold started to hurt, that was when Anabel realized what was happening.

"Boaass!" Anabel blahed out. The flames in Bolas's mouth had been smothered, and in their place, ice was starting to form.

"An ice punch… from inside the pokemon's mouth?!" Cynthia gasped in amazement.

"And that's just the start! Go for it, Corin!" Alden grinned.

"Lucario!" While Corin froze the inside of Bolas's mouth with one hand, the other had some life in it too. She pulled her arm back, ice building up around her fist. She stepped forward while pulling with her other arm, yanking Bolas forward by the tongue as she punched the dragon at the spot where his long neck met his chest, unleashing a powerful blast of icy energy. Bolas let out a muffled roar and she finally released him, the dragon pokemon collapsing.

"Not bad," Anabel panted, wiping their tongue on their sleeve until the sensation returned.

"If you knew that Corin had ice punch, then you never would have let your Salamence get close," Alden said. "All that… was just having Corin hold on until she could seize the moment. It was touch and go for a little bit, I thought she might faint before she had her opportunity. But she managed it perfectly, knowing exactly what I wanted."

Alden beamed at her.

"She was brilliant."

Corin blushed a little, but she wasn't about to let herself get lost in praise from her trainer. Not when there was still an opponent to defeat!

Bolas picked himself up, his body badly injured and slightly iced over. But he wasn't done. Anabel wouldn't LET him be done.

"This fight… has been too amazing… to let end just like this…" Anabel panted. They looked up at Alden, their sweat-covered face flushed with excitement, their lilac eyes sparkling. "You can feel it, right? How this has to end? The only way it CAN end?!"

Alden knew exactly what they meant.

"You're damn right," he agreed. "Let's go, Corin!"

Corin sensed his intention and jumped back, raising her fist. The air around her hand cooled and began to freeze, icy energy swirling around her arm as she prepared her ice punch.

"Right now… this is probably the best we've got for taking you down," Anabel decided. They put every last bit of harmonia they had into Bolas, so much that even his wings began to feel better. Giving them a test flap, he picked himself up off the ground. Not enough to truly fly, but enough to carrying him to where he needed to go.

Anabel cracked a grin, shrugging their shoulders. "After all, one of us had to use brick break at SOME point, right? It would be a waist otherwise."

"Salamence!" Bolas roared, flying at Corin with his head lowered, all his strength concentrated into his rocky head like when he was a Bagon.

"Lucario!" Corin pulled her fist back and punched Bolas's head as hard as she could, unleashing the full force of her ice punch upon the destructive weight bearing down on her.

The two attacks collided in a massive show of physical power that left the audience stunned speechless as they watched with wide eyes, not sure which pokemon would remain standing, or if either of them would.

Neither Alden nor Anabel could be sure what it was, but the collision of the two pokemon resulted in an explosion, a shockwave of power that shattered the magic room and sent both pokemon flying backwards. Corin rolled up to Anabel and Bolas crashed down in front of Alden, a strange little mix-up as they felt the effects of the other's attack.

Neither pokemon rose to continue the battle.

"…So it's a draw then, as I thought," Scott murmured.

Cynthia was stunned, it was the best draw she had ever seen.

"No way!" Vic protested, rising to her feet. "It… it isn't a draw! The Commander wouldn't have a draw like that, no way!"

But her voice betrayed that she was just posturing. The waver of her tone showed just how impressed she had been with the exchange, in spite of herself.

"Nah, she… she's right," Anabel said, their legs giving out from under them as they collapsed to the ground, laughing. "I don't… think I can count this as a draw if you're the only one standing, hah. I'm too drained to even sit up."

"Nonsense," Alden said, shaking his head. Everything felt so clear and fresh. His Senses felt so satisfied, so relaxed, it was amazing. "That was a magnificent stalemate."

"Really thought I had you there in the end," Anabel groaned, flopping their arms out as they giggled. "Golly, this is the first time my harmonia's ever left me feeling this drained. You really satisfied me completely."

The two trainers laughed together. The match had felt like it would never end, and now that it had the pair felt nothing but contentment at a battle well-fought.

Whew. That was a long one. Those two didn't just wear each other out, they wore ME out. Wonder where we'll go next. Will Cynthia remember to talk to the Commander about Blake? Does ANYONE even remember what's going on, after a battle that long? Including this chapter, that was 10 full chapters of pokemon battle, and I think that's the longest battle I've ever written. Yeesh.