What is the Phantom's master plan? What will Gerard's reaction be when he hears it? We'll have to see, I wonder if anyone's been able to guess? Remember to review!

Also, thank you to everyone who read my story "The Heir to the Dragon". I would appreciate if you continue to read and support it in the future! You can get there through my profile!

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: Alcea, Ayame, Carrie, Caelia, Cynthia, Dakota, Elaina, Julia, Kate, Kitty, Maddi, Marion, Nikita, Olivia, Sango, Sylvia

Rowlets and Oshawotts: I was hoping more people would come to that conclusion. Quite the schemer, as fitting for a member of the Research Course.

Just a Bad Writer For Fun: That's quite an interesting theory. An uncrowned king? Hmm, or even a "Phantom" Ruler, one might say.

KedharS: No that's Sylvia probably.

Thunder Fire: Exactly. It wasn't a battle, it was a war. And I think you might be right, Sylvia really does seem like their only hope now. It may be up to Blake to make some "persuasive arguments". In the genital sense.

JoshGamerV: That may or may not have been intentional.

Aquahaze675: Reality mirrors the games so yeah that's where I was going with this lol. Fuck the Battle Frontier, too.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 618

"So what is it?" Gerard demanded. "This reasoning of yours?"

"Before I explain, let me ask you something," Valon said, suddenly shifting the topic. Will you agree that, as I've stipulated, people want to see those who are just like them succeed?"

Gerard nodded. "Yeah, that makes sense, the way you said it, even if it's ridiculous."

"Now, there's one key flaw in that mindset, do you know what it is?"

Gerard shook his head.

"Why do you think it is that people celebrate captains of industry, but disparage lottery winners?" Valon asked.

"…Huh?" Gerard had no idea. That was… quite a leap of logic.

"Well, think about it. People want to see those who are like them succeed, correct? So why is it that we so resent those who make their fortune from the lottery, but in many places we celebrate those who do so through connections and hard work and businesses, even if they start out at a far higher level? Between someone who made their winnings in the lottery and someone who was born into a wealthy family but successfully runs their own business, who do you think is more often seen as the more respectable person by the common people?"

"…The businessman," Gerard said after a pause.

"And why is that?" Valon mused. "Both received their wealth doing quite little. So why do we praise the heir and despise the pauper? A simple phrase. 'That's just how it is'."

"…'That's just how it is'?" Gerard asked.

"There's a common perception of how the world 'should' work, and how the world 'does' work. We want those like us to succeed, but there has to be a proper avenue for their success," Valon explained. "A poor person has to lift themselves out of poverty with his own work, to be respected. People look at him and see something to admire, someone that they could become if they put in just a little more effort. But a man who wins the lottery? What did he do? Spend a couple bucks on a ticket? And for that, he becomes richer beyond his wildest dreams? Is that 'fair'? Of course not. It's 'cheating'. And people HATE cheating. Or more specifically, they hate when others cheat. When other people cheat it's 'unfair' but when THEY cheat and win the lottery, it's 'because I deserved it'. They rationalize their easy success."

"So what's even your point, what does this have to do with pokemon?"

"This reasoning applies universally," Valon explained, shaking his head. "In this instance, people like you and Elaina are the 'cheaters'. Harmonia is an absurdly powerful ability that not just anyone can get. And because of that, people without it fear and despise them. You've even tried to use that for your own ends. And a Mythical Pokemon, like Diancie? That's just like winning the lottery. 'Why does HE have a Mythical Pokemon? I could win if I had a Mythical Pokemon! It's unfair!' You've faced that quite a bit, haven't you?"

Painful memories of Gerard's previous dismissals stung his heart, reminding him of why he had all but abandoned Diana in the first place, thinking he needed to get strong on his own for people to respect his strength.

"And then you have someone like the Commander. Someone who did things the 'right' way. He trained his pokemon hard, fought and defeated cheaters like Misato, a Mechadoll, and you and Raizer, who relied on the crutches of your Mythical Pokemon, and then finally came up against me, the Phantom, with the greatest cheat of all," the Phantom laughed. "Shadow Pokemon! An ordinary pokemon, boosted beyond the level of any normal pokemon!"

"But your cheating failed, you faced off against the Commander and lost! You made him out to be a hero, and-"

"Haven't you been listening to me?" The Phantom sighed, shaking his head. "If you have, then you'll notice exactly why a Shadow Pokemon, cheat though it may be, is not nearly as unacceptable as Elaina's harmonia, or a Mythical Pokemon."

"What?"

Valon smirked.

"Gerard, what brought you here in the first place, again?"

"That's…" Gerard's thoughts began to trail off as he put the pieces together, and suddenly he understood it perfectly. Valon's eyes were glowing.

"Exactly."

"But that's…"

"People hate cheaters on the surface… but deep down, it's rooted in resentment. 'I did everything right, why are only they getting ahead?! It's not fair!' and when they begin to think like that, the mind begins to shift to 'it's not fair, so why even work hard to begin with? Why shouldn't I cheat?' This is why so many people resort to such shady activities. On the surface, everyone will cheer for the Commander, the 'right' person who 'should' win, because he did everything the 'correct' way. But you know what they really saw, watching that match? What I convinced them?"

Gerard understood now. It was truly a diabolical move.

"What they saw was someone who was never reputed to be a powerful battler match up against a trainer who had spent years cultivating his abilities to be the very best. Who tried and trained harder than anyone. The kind of guy that anyone would want to be, or even could be, if they put in as much effort. But people are fundamentally lazy. And this is where the difference between myself and the rest of you exists." Valon smirked.

"Opportunity."

Gerard nodded, feeling the energy drain away.

"'I could be in his shoes if only I won the lottery!' Take someone who thinks like that, and give them a winning lottery ticket. That's what a Shadow Pokemon is. They saw the Commander defeat me, but what left a bigger impact wasn't the winner of the match, it was the fact that someone with no skill could fight evenly with the strongest trainer on campus through the use of a cheat!" The Phantom proclaimed, rising from the couch with such suddenness that Gerard stumbled back in surprise, nearly falling over. "And naturally, they would begin to think, even as they rooted for the Commander to win, 'what if I could have a Shadow Pokemon? If I had Shadow Pokemon… then I could fight against the Commander, too! And because it's me, I could WIN! Because at the end of the day, people are fundamentally lazy. No one 'wants' to work hard, not if they don't have to, and certainly not if other people are cheating to get ahead. But it's 'wrong' to think that way. But give most people the option to cheat, and they will. By building up the Commander as the strongest trainer who can defeat anyone with just hard work, and then showing them the 'miracle' of Shadow Pokemon that can give him a run for his money without any effort on my part, then they begin to think. Now, I may have lost control a little there, of both myself and my pokemon, and it would have been better if I had won outright, for sure, but in the end, I think I made my point."

"Unlike Mythical Pokemon, or harmonia, Shadow Pokemon can be acquired by anyone," Gerard explained the conclusion he had arrived at. "By using the Commander's strength a demonstrative, you can market Shadow Pokemon to anyone who wants to get stronger without having to put in any of the work that the Commander did. The Phantom Cup was one big advertisement for Shadow Pokemon, using the Commander for 'brand recognition' the same way a celebrity endorsement would be used. The Empress would be proud."

"'The Commander is strong, because he trains'. That is something everyone agrees to be true," the Phantom shrugged. "And by matching that strength with something that can be made in a lab… when I begin distributing them, would anyone want to work hard to train their pokemon after that? Knowing that they don't have to? Of course they wouldn't. Even you, having lost against the Commander's strength… that's why you came to me today, right? Because you wanted that power for yourself. You began to fear that there was a limit to your ability, that you'd never be able to get to where you wanted on your own, and then you saw the possibility. So easy. So simple. Turning your pokemon into Shadow Pokemon will allow you to become the trainer you want to be. So what do you say?"

Valon held his hand out to Gerard, who stared at it uneasily.

They returned to the Sandbox lab, where Caelia was waiting patiently, even if it was against her will. Misato was holding her in exactly the same pose, as she didn't need to move.

"As you can see, Sylvia's pokemon are still here," the Phantom said, holding up the tray. "She doesn't have Blake. She's a prisoner as well."

He didn't exactly seem torn up about that.

"Understood," Caelia nodded. "Sorry. Mistake."

Gerard looked around at the wreckage. The apology felt a little hollow considering the damage that was done.

"Misato, you can let her go now," the Phantom said, Misato releasing Caelia. Because of how she was holding her, Caelia fell forward, not flinching as she hit the ground. It took her a little bit of time, but eventually she scrambled to her feet. It was honestly a little pathetic.

Valon smirked in amusement as he watched her struggle, Caelia finally managing to pick herself up off the ground and turn to him.

"Kara," she said, holding her hand out.

"…Of course," Valon smiled, handing her the pokeball. Caelia took it, but she wasn't going anywhere. Valon raised his eyebrow. "Is there anything else you need?"

"Blake."

…And here we go again.

"I told you, we don't know where he is," Valon shrugged. "He and Sylvia both seem to be missing, I'm sure they'll turn up. Be patient."

"Find him," Caelia replied. Clearly, patience was not in her vocabulary.

The Phantom sighed.

"Finding Blake and Sylvia are not currently our priority. Now, I'm willing to forgive you for the carnage that occurred just now, considering the state you were in and the Empress's manipulations of your fragile mental state. But this and that are two separate things. I have neither the time nor the interest to track down a useless existence like Blake. As I hear, you're quite a skilled stalker yourself, maybe you can go find him."

"Uh, that's not a good idea," Gerard interrupted. The Phantom looked at him and raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Oh. You're still here? Do you need anything? Are you going to have your pokemon become Shadow Pokemon after all?" Valon asked.

"It's not about that, it's about those two," Gerard said. "Blake can stay gone for all I care, but Sylvia's disappearance is concerning. Think about it, what would be the point of abducting someone like her? Clearly, it's a move against you, right? So don't you think we should find out what happened to her, and why? This has the potential to blow up in your face, and if it does then I'm going to be going down with you."

The Phantom sighed, and shrugged his shoulders. "I will make inquiries, then. Misato, let's start with you, shall we? Do you know where Sylvia is?"

"Negative," Misato automatically replied.

"Do you have any notion where she might be?" He tried again.

"I have not been provided with enough data to arrive at a conclusion with any degree of statistical significance," Misato replied.

Valon sighed and turned back to Caelia. "There, you see? It's going to be difficult. Unless, of course, maybe you'd like to ask her some questions? I'm fairly certain Misato was the last person to see her, as she stays in this laboratory and doesn't sleep. But she doesn't know anything, unfortunately. Maybe you'll have some better luck?"

Caelia didn't say anything. She wasn't a talking sort of person.

Gerard groaned. This was infuriating. He didn't really even want to find Sylvia, or Blake, for that matter. The bigger concern at the moment, however, was pacifying Caelia. Right now, she was like a grenade with the pin pulled out, and the only way to disarm her was for Blake to be safe. In the meantime, it was necessary to stall her, to push back the clock on that explosion, or else things would go really, really badly. So they needed to at least pretend like they were looking for Blake.

Gerard didn't want to know what Caelia would do if she was left to her own devices. As someone trying to maintain order on campus, Caelia was an enormous threat to that.

Which was another reason why he wanted to find Sylvia, as well. To call Sylvia an agent of chaos would be charitable. That girl, whatever happened to her, it only meant bad things. And he couldn't predict what those bad things would be. And if she was tied up with Blake, that meant that things might be even more of a problem.

This was a time when he actually had to take his responsibilities seriously and not exploit his position for his own benefit. He actually needed to look out for the students.

The bigger concern was dealing with Elaina Bishop.

He had Elaina in a fairly good place at the moment. When she had learned about what Blake actually thought of her, that she was just an experiment, a test, and she learned that he was only helping her in order to better help his sister, and that he only cared about her as an extension of his sister, something had broken in her.

Gerard didn't think that was true, of course. Blake wasn't that sort of person. He honestly cared for Elaina, there was no doubt about that. But since her realization that not even Blake truly cared for her as a person, Elaina had become much more dependent on him. Much more compliable. And that was perfect to his purposes.

So he would take advantage of her broken heart if that's what it took to keep her under his thumb, because right now her feelings for Blake were making it hard to get a grip on where she was emotionally.

So he honestly did, to an extent, want Blake to come back.

If, for no other reason, than the fact that if she found out he was missing, well…

That would have broken her a few weeks ago.

But right now, she was already broken. And if Caelia was unpredictable and dangerous, then in her present state Elaina was even more unpredictable and dangerous.

I wonder what the better play would be for my own interests… if I keep her in the dark and he never returns, the inevitable discovery might push her over the edge, and then even I might be in danger for hiding it from her. But if I tell the truth at such a critical juncture, she might break down. Blake returning immediately would be preferable, unless I could guarantee he never returned, and then I could tell her that he was gone for good… what should I do…

Gerard considered his options warily.

Eventually, though, he arrived at the conclusion that he would have to tell Elaina. In a controlled environment, without her learning the truth through someone else, he could get a good judge on her mental state and maybe even be able to calm her down. It was worth a chance, anyway, and perhaps, if he was lucky, she wouldn't even care.

But first, I need to cover my bases and actually work to find those two… how ironic. Blake has been such a consistent pain in my ass, and yet I'm actually working to figure out what happened to him. Who would have ever thought?

"…My, that's quite an evil look there, Gerard," Valon mused.

"…Apologies," Gerard said, adjusting his glasses. "I'll be going. I have some new things to work on. I'm assuming that you're not at all interested in helping Blake and Sylvia?"

"Why, of course I am," the Phantom lied, smiling that wicked smile he had. Gerard rolled his eyes and sighed, turning to Caelia, who had been standing patiently by.

"I'll track those two down," he said. "Don't worry."

Caelia blinked, staring at him.

"Liar."

Gerard blanched.

"Wh-what?" He asked, confused. "I'm at least going to try, I just-"

"Liar," she repeated, narrowing her eye. "No honesty. None. Leaving now. Find Blake. End this now."

She turned and stormed out, and Gerard felt a great swell of panic begin to rise. He swallowed. This wasn't good. Unfortunately, Caelia didn't see him as very trustworthy. He sighed, and turned to the Phantom, shrugging his shoulders.

"I'll leave you to your investigation, Gerard," Valon replied. "This isn't something that concerns me at all. If Sylvia's gone, then that means she was only that useful as my pawn, nothing more. But go ahead and find her if you like."

Valon turned and headed towards his office, Misato moving to follow after him. But Gerard needed to ask her something, first.

"Misato, wait, I have a question for you," Gerard said, grabbing her by the wrist. Misato turned back to him, staring at him with those dead eyes of hers.

"What is it?" Misato asked.

Well, she didn't know where Sylvia went, and had no great ideas about where she could be at the moment. But at the same time, she was probably the last person to see Sylvia, which meant she was absolutely the best lead to finding her.

The only problem was, Misato was Misato. If she really was a computer, that meant she probably didn't have the instinct to seize upon potentially-irrelevant information on her own and draw her own conclusions. A huge clue could be staring her in the face, and unless she was told that it was relevant she wouldn't think to tell him it was. So he would have to be smart about this.

Fortunately, Gerard was extremely clever.

"Are you capable of storing and replaying audio to conversations you engage in?" Gerard asked.

"Affirmative. My auditory receptors record auditory data that is observed and store it for later access," Misato confirmed. That was good.

"Are you capable of distinguishing voice patterns in your audio recordings?" He asked next. It was a throwaway question as he was quite certain that she could, but he needed to make sure if he wanted to phrase his next question properly.

"Affirmative I am capable of measuring vocal pattern changes, tone, and inflection, and separate those sequences to determine the identity of the speaker to a degree of-"

"Yes, yes, that's enough," Gerard interrupted, raising his hand. "Now, please replay all audio recordings you made containing vocal patterns identified as 'Sylvia Driscoll' from two nights ago, please. Start at… 10:00 PM and continue until the end."

"Affirmative," Misato complied, beginning her playback.

Gerard smiled. Now, they were getting somewhere.

So Gerard is actually… helping? What insanity is this?!