Sylvia has arrived to twist the knife in! How will Serefina and Akira react to learning about what happened to Dakota? What will the fallout of this horrifying revelation be? We'll have to find out!

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! The story is finally completed! Thank you for reading!

ON ANOTHER IMPORTANT NOTE! The contest has reached the judging stage! And one of my stories, Love Bites, has made it to the semi-finals of the Impossible Romance category! But I need votes! If you would like to support me, go to MyAnimeList/MAL, find the flag for Impossible Romance, and download the app to cast your vote! It would be much appreciated!

The Pokemon Academy Best Girl 2 Finals are up and running! Who do you think is deserving of the title of Best Girl in the second year of the contest? Cast your votes! We've only gotten a few votes so far, and I know that a lot of people are reading, so come on guys! The poll's in the profile, who do you think deserves to take the crown?

Finalists: Sylvia, Marion, Sango

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: She has a pokemon with surf and the day's been a lot longer than it feels, it's almost over, actually.

KedharS: Or be named best girl, one of those things.

Rowlets and Oshawotts: This is just the beginning, she's got way more to add on, just you watch.

JoshGamerV: I can't really believe it either.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 697

"The Phantom… was the one… who attacked her?" Akira seethed.

"You must know it's true," Sylvia said. "Or at least you must have suspected? The Phantom is up to quite a lot of shady stuff, you know."

"And you work for him!" Serefina accused. "You expect us to just believe you when you say he's the one responsible?! Where's the evidence?"

Sylvia smirked, and turned towards Akira. "You know I'm right. You know he's the one who did it. You can feel it, can't you? Dakota was looking at her photos of the Phantom Cup when she went to the library. And that's as far as she got. She knew that the Phantom was up to something, and she probably found evidence that would expose his plans for good. And the Phantom just could allow that, could he? Of course not."

"Sylvia," Serefina's voice was threatening, but ultimately hollow and empty. What exactly could she threaten the other girl with?

Sylvia shrugged, and smirked.

"I'm as surprised as you are. Normally, the Phantom is the kind of person who resorts to making use of people, giving them what they want as incentive to do what he wants. If that didn't work with Dakota, it must have been something REALLY big she uncovered."

Sylvia let out a sigh. "I suppose it's to be expected. For a girl like Dakota, the only thing that motivates her is the truth. You've got quite a good girl there, Akira. She can't be bought or reasoned with, she'll do what she thinks is right. What a pity."

Serefina could hear Akira's teeth grinding together. It made her shiver. She looked pleadingly at him, hoping that he wouldn't do anything crazy. "Akira, please-"

"Of course, without any evidence, there's nothing the police can do, even if we reported it," Sylvia sighed, giving another shrug of her shoulders. "I suppose that just like a phantom, Richard Valon will never face justice… and what a pity, considering everything he did to that poor girl."

Serefina could see that Akira was on the brink of losing it. Memories of Dakota's bloodstained form were filling his thoughts, blending with memories of losing Satsuki. His memories were burning. Satsuki had given him a stone many years ago, her treasure. He had worn it around his neck with his mother's pendant, and right now it was hot against his chest.

He couldn't even feel it. He was too focused on the anger.

"What are you talking about?!" Serefina exclaimed. She stepped between Akira and Sylvia, putting a soothing hand on her friend's shoulder. "Akira, calm down, remember, Dakota's alive, you don't need to freak out. Let's just let it go for now, okay?"

"If he's still around, then she's still in danger," Akira snarled. "When she comes back-"

"Comes back?" Sylvia loudly interrupted, raising her eyebrow. Her look of surprise was broken by the smirk stretching her face in half. "Whatever do you mean? Why do you think that Dakota will be coming back?"

Serefina was confused. Even Akira's outrage was temporarily abated by surprise.

"What… What do you mean?" Serefina asked. "Of course she's coming back, why wouldn't she?"

Oh, this was perfect!

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" Said Sylvia, with a face that showed she was in no way sorry at all. "I just thought you knew! What, considering that you knew that Dakota was still alive and all, I thought that her family must have contacted you. I surfed here as soon as I could the second I heard about her condition from the hospital."

"What?! Knew what?!" Akira exclaimed, practically foaming at the mouth. Serefina felt very small and scared. She didn't know what was happening, but the look in Sylvia's eye and the expression on her face gave her a bad feeling.

"Dakota is brain dead, you know? She's not coming back. She's not even getting out of her bed. Sorry you had to find out this way." Sylvia's revelation dropped on Akira and Sylvia like a stack of bricks. Serefina stared numbly at her, trying to make sense of what she'd just heard.

"…What…?" Akira's voice was small. Serefina couldn't hear any anger in it, it sounded like the helpless whimper of a little boy.

Serefina understood the shock he was feeling now. If what Sylvia said was true, then that meant Dakota really was gone. She might not have been dead, but she was gone. In every way that mattered, she was gone.

Serefina had given Akira hope. Telling him that the girl he loved was still alive, filling him with the hope that she might come back, a hope he so desperately had believed, had needed to believe, after having lost his first love, and…

And it had all been for nothing. He would have been better off never having that hope to hold onto.

Those feelings of guilt were what had kept Serefina from stopping Akira. She had been frozen in shock, and hadn't been able to react in time when he roared with anger, turning and running down the hall in a blind rage.

"A-Akira!" Serefina cried, turning towards him a second too late. She moved to run after him.

"I don't think so," Sylvia said, grabbing Serefina by the collar and pulling her back. Serefina turned towards Sylvia, shocked and outraged.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Serefina exclaimed. "He was just starting to get better! How dare you tell him that now?!"

"When I left, he thought she was dead," Sylvia said, her tone biting and sarcastic. "I would have imagined that learning she was only brain-dead would be a comfort. But I wonder, who was it that filled his head with other thoughts, hmm? Who gave him that false hope? Because it certainly wasn't me."

Serefina bit her lip to suppress her anger. She clenched her fists, but refused to throw them.

"I won't allow this," she snarled out. "I'm going to stop him!"

Sylvia threw back her head and let out a cruel laugh as Serefina ran down the hall. The cold voice of the wicked girl rang in her ears as she desperately tried to catch up to Akira.

Richard Valon walked across campus with Misato Daisan following loyally behind him. It was rare that he ventured out of the lab, but today was a special occasion. He couldn't look like he had anything to hide, after all, not after what had happened to Dakota Evans. He looked up at the setting sun in contemplation.

"It's a pity, what happened to that poor girl," he mused, glancing back at the Mechadoll. "Misato, do you have any thoughts to share?"

The two of them were in a rather private part of campus, a peaceful path leading out from the Sandbox where other students weren't often to travel. The perfect place for a private discussion while enjoying nature, something that was so rare for the Phantom.

It was nice to see the dusk every once in a while.

"Negative," Misato answered. "It is not a situation that requires my input one way or the other. It is not my place to question your judgment."

"So you would question it, then, if you could?" The Phantom asked, raising his eyebrow.

"That is not a valid conclusion to draw from my statement," Misato replied.

The Phantom suppressed a laugh. "Well, at any rate, it can be determined-"

"PHANTOM!" An enraged roar broke the peace of the twilight. Nonplussed, the Phantom turned in the direction of the howling voice.

Akira stood behind the two of them, his face red with fury.

"Well, Akira… sorry, your last name escapes me," the Phantom shrugged. "How are you doing? I heard what happened to Dakota Evans. Allow me to extend my condolences."

Condolences?! The Phantom was extending his CONDOLENCES?!

"YOU DID THIS!" Akira roared. "You attacked her! You tried to shut her up, and now she… she-!"

The Phantom shrugged. "I'm quite sure I have no idea what you're talking about," he said. "But if you would like my thoughts on the matter, Dakota Evans was always a reckless girl who cared more about being a nuisance than about respecting the privacy of others and the way things work. This was bound to happen sooner or later, unfortunately. She must have upset the wrong person this time, that's all there is to it."

That was IT. Akira wasn't going to listen to another word out of the Phantom's mouth. He tore a pokeball from his belt and flung it into the air, shouting at the top of his lungs, "SATSUKI!"

With a roar far louder than Akira's but just as wrathful, a massive red Gyarados emerged from the pokeball, spiraling towards the Phantom. Crimson lightning and flame burned around her body as she lunged for him, trainer and pokemon in perfect agreement.

Unfortunately, Misato was more than capable of avoiding the attack. She immediately sprung into action, grabbing the Phantom and leaping away, her mechanical body carrying her out of range of the Gyarados's assault. Setting him down, she stepped forward and held her hand up.

"Enemy. Eliminate." Misato's declaration was short and to the point. She took out an orange pokeball with electric-blue accents, and with a push of a button released her rotom. Stripping down to her backless top, her shoulders opened up and merged with Sparky, entering her combat form.

Valon sighed, his thin smile reflecting the twinkling delight in his eyes.

"Well, what can I say? Misato, I suppose you'll just have to educate the poor boy," he ordered. Misato raised her arms, electricity surging through them.

"Discharge," Misato said, releasing a discharge of lightning from her palms at Satsuki, electrocuting the Gyarados.

"GYARAAAAA!" Satsuki roared, but she didn't let the electricity take her down. Her power surged, her rage burning through her as she opened her mouth wide, gathering energy through her body and directing it at the Mechadoll.

"Satsuki, dragon pulse!" Akira roared. Satsuki fired a compressed blast of draconic energy at Misato, hitting her directly. The attack threw her back, but in spite of Satsuki's overwhelming destructive power it wasn't enough to do any serious harm.

"Damage assessment complete. Attack insufficient. Further attacks may result in significant damage. Altering tactics. Lock-on." Misato focused on Satsuki, drawing a bead on the massive sea serpent as she prepared more power.

"Zap cannon."

Firing a massive sphere of electricity, the lightning compressed into a small black orb, flying at Satsuki like a cannonball. The Gyarados tried to twist out of the way, but the electricity changed course, slamming into her gut and releasing a devastating blast.

"GYAAAAAAAAAA!" Satsuki's scream was less the roar of a Gyarados and more the wail of a frail girl. Akira cried out for his partner, practically feeling the electricity shocking him himself. But he could also feel Satsuki's rage. She wasn't going to give up. Neither was he.

The Phantom, of course, found this stubborn persistence to be pathetic. Looking at the trembling pokemon trying to right itself, he scoffed in disbelief and shook his head.

"Ridiculous. There's nothing you can do. As strong as your Gyarados might be, you think she's capable of standing up to electric attacks of this caliber? Just give up."

Akira wasn't about to listen. "Satsuki! You can't give in to something like this!" He shouted. The stone around his neck was burning hotter with Satsuki's anger. "We need to get rid of her! And then… then we'll have him!"

"Gyarados!" Satsuki roared, shaking off the paralysis like it was nothing and lifting her massive body up. Draconic energy surged around her and she barreled forwards. She released her sanity and let her anger take over, charging at Misato with an overwhelming outrage attack.

"Like a wild animal," Valon said, clicking his tongue and shaking his head. "Both trainer and pokemon are ridiculously pathetic. There's no need to both, Misato, just exterminate them. Use another zap cannon, and if that doesn't work, then thunder."

"Affirmative," Misato agreed. She raised her hand and began to prepare a zap cannon. But neither Satsuki nor Akira cared. They were seeing red, only concerned with destroying the opponent in front of them.

"He needs to pay…" Akira seethed. "Satsuki, you have to make him hurt, make him suffer!" He could feel her rage. Satsuki's anger at the powerlessness in the face of her father's abuse, her desire to strike back at her abuser, it was blending together with the rage at Dakota's attacker.

Now she could finally get vengeance, and feed her thirst for blood. But she needed more! More power! Power to completely destroy everything!

"Akira!" Serefina cried, gasping as she finally caught up. "Satsuki!"

She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Satsuki was rampaging, the draconic energy ripping trees down and melting snow as she approached the Mechadoll. And that wasn't all that was happening, either.

"Satsuki!" Akira shouted, not paying any mind to Serefina's arrival. The stone his friend had treasured was starting to glow.

Serefina squinted. At first, she thought that she was seeing a distortion from the flames and lightning of the outrage attack. But no, upon closer inspection, there was clearly something happening to Satsuki in the center of that maelstrom.

Satsuki's body seemed to be growing slightly bigger. The fins down her back began to stretch, growing longer. It was small, so small she had barely noticed it, but it was still happening.

Misato, of all people, was the one who could see it the most clearly. She lowered her hand, to the Phantom's surprise, and leapt back, dodging Satsuki's attack.

"Misato?! What the hell?" Valon exclaimed. She was supposed to take the attack while releasing the zap cannon! She shouldn't be showing such an act of self-preservation when victory was just within their grasp!

"Detecting distortion in DNA," Misato analyzed, and suddenly the Phantom's demeanor entirely changed.

"…What?" He asked, turning to the Gyarados, who was busy thrashing around in confusion.

"DNA structure fluctuating at a discrepancy of .001%," Misato continued. ".002%, .003%, fluctuations increasing at a rate of .0005% per second."

The Phantom broke out into a giant smile. "It can't be… that's not possible!"

"GYARADOS!" Satsuki roared, before collapsing to the ground, unconscious.

"Satsuki!" Akira shouted, his eyes widening in shock. Seeing his partner collapse like that was enough to snap him out of his violent charge.

"What happened?" Serefina asked. She had been rampaging, and then she just collapsed! She looked at the Gyarados, and to her surprise the pokemon's physical changes had completely disappeared, like they had never been there in the first place.

No one noticed that the light of Akira's stone necklace had died down completely, returning to just a normal smooth rock.

"This is perfect! Who would have thought such an opportunity would present itself?!" The Phantom ranted, not paying any mind to either of the humans. His attention was focused solely on Satsuki and her current condition.

He turned to Misato. "Misato, we've finally found an appropriate specimen! A pokemon whose DNA is unstable enough for our purposes! Desist from harm, switch to capture mode immediately!"

"Affirmative," Misato nodded.

"H-Hey!" Serefina cried, grabbing her own pokeball. "You can't do that!" She knew that her team of pokemon, completely unsuited for combat, weren't going to be close to a match to Misato Daisan, or even any of the Phantom's Shadow Pokemon. But she wasn't going to just let him abduct Satsuki for whatever twisted experiments he had in mind!

"My, that's quite something. It seems like I've stumbled on a rather entertaining sight indeed." Serefina glanced up to see Sylvia standing across from her, having come from the other direction. In the heat of this mess, she'd forgotten about Sylvia completely.

"Sylvia, excellent timing," the Phantom said, adjusting his glasses. "Assist with Misato in acquiring that Gyarados, if you don't mind."

Sylvia tapped her chin, before shaking her head. "Sorry, boss, but I don't think that's such a great idea if you ask me."

The Phantom raised his eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Yes, in fact, I would say that you're letting your excitement of the situation get the better of you," Sylvia said. "Now, I don't know why you want that Gyarados, but I can definitely see that it's leading you to make a rather reckless decision. Don't forget, we're still at the Pokemon Academy. And one student can't just go around stealing pokemon from other students, you know. Especially not with the police crawling around."

The Phantom took that under advisement. "Indeed. Thank you for your insight, Sylvia. I must admit, the thought had completely faded from my mind. But you're right. I shouldn't make such a scene, not when I'm under so much scrutiny."

And thus, the Phantom returned to his normally placid, composed look. "Misato, disengage for now. That pokemon isn't going anywhere."

"Affirmative," Misato said, parting from her Rotom and recalling the pokemon to their pokeball.

The Phantom turned towards the unconscious Gyarados and adjusted his glasses. "Misato, have you recorded the fluctuations in its DNA?"

"Affirmative. Ultimately they proved to be statistically insignificant. However, as the distortion was suspended, it is impossible to say that they would not progress under different stimuli," Misato revealed.

"Excellent. To think we would find such a specimen here…" He said this last part under his breath, unheard by Akira or Serefina. But Serefina was cautious of the look in his eye. If there had been any doubt remaining that the Phantom had been the one to hospitalize Dakota, it was gone now.

"Have a good day, you two. Akira, you should really reign in your temper," he added as an afterthought. "…Oh, and take care of that Gyarados. I wouldn't want anything to happen to it."

Akira stared in numb shock at Satsuki. He had no idea what had happened, but right now his heart was torn between hatred for the Phantom and a desire to rip him apart, and concern for his poor pokemon's injuries. He didn't care about DNA or anything like that, he hadn't even noticed. All he'd thought of was anger. And now it was just sadness.

He had been so lost in his rage, he hadn't even had time to mourn. With the haze clearing, Dakota was all he could see.

That mischievous grin she wore that told him something bad was going to happen. The way it would brighten up into a real smile, when she was truly happy. How she would always get huffy when she was mad, and tear up when it all became too much and she couldn't hold it in anymore.

Dakota was gone. He wasn't going to see those faces of hers ever again, or hear her voice, or hold her hand, or give her a hug.

Her laugh was one of the most annoying things in the world, and he would do anything to hear it one last time.

All he had left of her were his tears at the empty hole she'd left in his heart, and they streamed down his face.

Poor Akira. He tried, but apparently, there's not much he could do. There's something else going on, however, and what that entails could be a problem. We'll have to see where things go from here, won't we?