The battle begins! Will Blake be able to defeat Elaina? Or will he find himself struck down by the poor girl, unable to fight back? Let's see how the battle starts, and how everyone feels about this whole mess! Remember to review!

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

Thunder Fire: This one's even earlier.

KedharS: Interesting and tragic.

Guest: Yes, yes it was.

JoshGamerV: This one's getting posted even faster.

Hellraiserphoenix: Yes, she's definitely lived a harsh life, that's for sure.

Rowlets and Oshawotts: Well, we'll see what happens.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Let's not give Gerard too much credit. Whatever the result of his actions, the motivation behind them is suspect.

Guest 2: Of course not, the ways of the ninja must remain secret.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 714

Blake waited in preparation. His heart was pounding in his chest. Today was the day. Was he prepared? Honestly, he wasn't sure if he could say that.

But he knew that right now the important thing was to try his best to save Elaina.

He had trained hard, and he was only going to work harder from here on out. Compared to the battle that was to come, the training he had undertaken was nothing.

Taking a look at his pokeballs, he knew that right now, what was important was showing Elaina what he was willing to do.

I'll win. Because I have to win.

There was only one thing left to do. Blake lifted a pendent from his desk and turned it over in his hand, the stone in the center glistening.

"This is a sacred stone from my village," Dokukage had told him. "It is said that those who wear it when facing a crossroads may be granted great power."

"Uh, is that real?" Blake had asked. He respected Dokukage's traditions, but even to him that sounded a little made up.

"I don't know, just give it your best," Dokukage answered, letting his mask slip a little. "Think of it as a good luck charm."

Right now, Blake would take whatever he could get, luck included.

"Ready to go, Blake?" Reiner asked. Blake turned to see his friends standing behind him, Nick and Reiner both. They looked concerned, and Blake felt the same way. But there was no need to worry. He gave them as confident of a smile as he could.

"I'm ready," he assured them. "And I'm going to win."

Blake walked down the stairs, followed by Reiner and Nick. When he got to the common room, much to his surprise, he saw that everyone had already gathered. Cynthia, Sango, and Julia, of course, but Kitty and Nikita had come over from Charmander House as well. And also…

"Aya…" Blake said, staring at her in surprise. She stood at the door, her face hard. He hadn't seen her since the night he had made his challenge to Elaina, he had been too busy training to focus on her. But she had come all this way by herself, even though the curfew rules hadn't been dropped yet.

"We went to get her," Cynthia said, nodding to Sango.

"We thought it was for the best," Sango nodded in agreement. "She deserves to be here more than anyone."

Blake wasn't sure what to say. If she had come to stop him one last time, it would hurt him to turn her down. It might even break his heart.

But no. He saw nothing but understanding in those hazel-gold eyes of hers. A thin smile crossed her lips, and she held out her hand to him.

"Ready to go?" She asked, without a note of hesitation or regret in her voice. It was like she believed in him completely, and that brought a smile to his face.

"Yeah," Blake nodded. "I'm ready."

He moved to take her hand, but before he could, she dropped it to her side, stepped forward, and kissed him on the cheek.

"There's someone else whose hand you need to take right now," she said. "Don't worry about me. Focus on what's coming."

Blake nodded, and stepped past her, heading out the door. The others followed after him. Sango took Ayame's hand to pull her back.

"Are you really okay with this?" She asked quietly, staring at the other girl.

"Honestly?" Ayame asked, glancing at Blake's back and then to Sango. "I'm terrified. But this isn't about me. What Blake needs from me right now isn't for me to worry about him, or even to stand at his side. It's to stand behind him and push him forward, encouraging him to do his best, and letting him know that when it's all over, I'll still be here for him to come back to."

Sango was amazed at how mature she was. She could see it in Ayame's eyes, how much she didn't want to do this. But Ayame never let that leak out when she was talking to Blake. I don't know if I could be that strong. No wonder he chose her and not me.

She shook her head. Now isn't the time to think about that. She flashed a smile identical to Ayame's, and turned to Silver. "We'll be waiting for him, too, right, Silver?"

"Castform!" Silver chirped, bobbing up and down.

There was only one stage that would do for the match between Blake and Elaina. Or more accurately, only one stadium that the campus was willing to hold it, since there wasn't nearly as much to destroy. And that stadium was a lifted platform in a distant clearing, without even bleachers to watch. It had been recently constructed, and Blake wondered for a brief second if it was made exactly for this purpose.

There wasn't much of a crowd. Not that Blake was surprised. He couldn't imagine that a lot of people would want to come out and put themselves at risk, not this close. But there were still a few familiar faces anyway.

Gerard was there, of fucking course. But he wasn't the only member of the Eight Leaders. Callie was there too waving, as well as Dokukage, which came as a surprise to Blake. Alcea had come as well, and Kate was standing with her.

Serefina and Akira were also there, and so was Eli. No one from the Phantom's group had come, or the Commander's. Blake half-expected to see Sylvia, as she seemed to pop up everywhere. But so far, she was nowhere to be seen.

He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

But there was one more face that was truly a surprise to see.

"Claire?" Blake couldn't believe it. Claire Suzuki of all people had come back to campus. And she didn't look happy. Before he could even get to the stage, he saw her walking up to him, and-

She slapped him across the face.

"What the hell?!" Blake exclaimed.

"That's what I want to say!" She snarled. "You stupid Blake! What the hell are you doing, still alive?! They… Sango said that you…"

Whoops. That was another person Sango had forgotten to tell Blake to call. She was not having a good track record with this.

"Sorry, it kind of slipped my mind," Blake apologized. "I just-"

"I don't want to hear it," she snapped. "I'm way more pissed off about what the fuck is happening right here. You think I don't know what this is? You fighting against that girl? It's because she has harmonia, right? Just like-"

"This isn't about her," Blake snapped back. "Right now, this is about me, and about Elaina. I'm going to save her, Claire, not for Gwen's sake, but for hers."

Claire crossed her arms under her chest, her face twisting in contemplation. Then she smiled. "Yep! That's the Blake I know! Get going then, do your best!"

She twirled out of the way and slapped him on the back, giving him that push he needed to go forward. He left his friends, who all gathered around his side of the stage to watch, and walked up the steps onto the platform.

And there she was. Elaina Bishop, staring back at him from behind her porcelain mask.

"Hello there," Blake said, waving to her.

"You were a fool to bring your friends," Elaina said calmly. "They'll be swallowed whole by my harmonia. You should have left them home where they would be safe."

"I didn't need to worry about that," Blake said, shaking his head. He narrowed his eyes. "Because I'm not about to let that happen."

And with that, the match began.

"Noctre!" Elaina shouted, throwing her pokeball into the air. Her Noivern emerged with a howl, the massive dragon flapping her wings and sending a wave of wind rolling across the battlefield, blasting Blake in the face.

Blake was resolute, bracing himself against the challenge issued by the large pokemon. He reached to his belt for his first pokeball.

"Maria, go!" Blake shouted.

"Mare!" Maria emerged from her pokeball, landing on the ground. She began to cackle. "Mareashishishishi!"

"Hopefully that little thing will be able to stand up against that monster," Sango said anxiously.

"She can do it!" Cynthia shouted encouragingly. "Come on, Maria! You show that Noivern what you've got"

"Pathetic little thing!" Elaina said, sneering behind her mask. Her harmonia flared up, preparing to destroy the pokemon in front of her. "Blow that pathetic little pokemon away, Noctre! Use your hurricane!"

"Noivern!" Noctre howled, summoning a massive tornado of water and wind that swept across the battlefield, surging towards Maria.

"Maria, use substitute!" Blake ordered.

"Mar!" Maria chirped, disappearing in a flash, being replaced by a stuffed Mareanie. A smile cracked across Blake's face. Caelia had won if for him months ago, and the adorable little stuffed doll had been sitting on his shelf ever since. Now he was going to make full use of it!

"WHOA!" Cynthia exclaimed in shock. "Blake's Mareanie disappeared! Sango, Sango, did you see that?! She disappeared!" Cynthia grabbed Sango's shoulders and shook her frantically, keeping her eyes glued to the stadium. "That was just like a ninja! How cool is that?!"

Sango was rather impressed, but she responded with a noncommittal grunt. She didn't have the brainpower to spare, focusing all of her attention on the pokemon battle. She was right at the edge of her metaphorical seat.

The stuffed pokemon was swept up in the hurricane, flung off into the distance but not doing any damage to Maria herself. Which worked out perfectly, because now Maria had an avenue of attack without worry.

"Now, toxic!" Blake shouted.

"Marieanie!" Maria reappeared on the ground, right beneath Noctre, and spat an orb of venom up into the dragon's face.

"Wooooooooo!" Kate's cheer rang out from somewhere in the audience.

"Noivern!" Noctre shouted in pain, swiping at her face as Elaina felt the sting of the poison burning her beneath her mask.

"Noctre! Air slash!" Elaina shouted, flinging out her arm in a downward slash that her Noivern mimicked, sending a blade of wind at Maria that struck the tiny pokemon and knocked her backwards.

Blake was quick to respond. "Maria, return!" He recalled his tiny Mareanie to her pokeball, and switched to his next pokemon. "Rogen, go!"

"Boldore!" Rogen said, emerging from his pokeball and landing on the ground, the stadium shaking a little from his weight. He raised his claws at Noctre, they were sharp.

"Rogen, use stealth rock," Blake ordered. Rogen dug his claws into the ground, and large stones tore themselves out of the ground, flying into the air and circling Elaina's side of the field.

Gerard smirked. How predictable. Did you really think that would be enough, Blake? Elaina has trained against me more than enough times to know how to counteract a move like that. She'll blow those stones right away.

"Noctre!" Elaina shouted, sending her pokemon a silent command that sent a splitting pain through her head. Noctre flapped her wings and released a blast of wind that scattered the stones, clearing a path that let her fly straight for Rogen.

"We expected that!" Blake said. "Rogen, use smack down!"

"Boldore!" Rogen raised his claws, lifting up a massive plate of rock that he slammed down upon Noctre to try and smack her out of the sky. But Noctre wasn't about to let that get the better of her. Even with the toxins pumping through her system she had more than enough strength to blast through something as pathetic as that!

"Noivern!" Noctre howled, opening her mouth. Draconic energy crackled between her jaws, and she spat a dragon pulse that smashed the rock into pieces. She flew right through it, and spat another dragon pulse at Rogen, the orb exploding as it slammed into Rogen, knocking him backwards.

"Oh no!" Sango gasped. "That's not good!"

"Blake should have seen that coming," Julia said, biting her lip. "He should know that even if that Noivern is poisoned, it still has immense power."

"Rogen, are you okay?" Blake asked.

"Boldore!" Rogen climbed up and bobbed up and down in a nod, turning his attention back to Noctre, who was circling above him.

"Good! Now, flash cannon!" Blake ordered. Rogen held his claws together and focused his energy into a tiny orb. He fired a compressed beam of light that struck Noctre in the wing just as the pokemon was preparing another hurricane.

Elaina let out a cry of pain, clutching her shoulder.

What are you doing?! She screamed at herself. How are you taking this much damage?! She couldn't believe that she was this weak, not after everything she'd done this far. It was like she was subconsciously holding back.

But that made no sense, Elaina wasn't the kind of person to do something like that! She always focused her energy 100% on her battles, even when she wanted to hold back! It couldn't be, that deep down she was going easy on Blake because she was secretly hoping that he would save her? No, she wouldn't accept that, she couldn't!

"NOCTRE!" Elaina roared. "HURRICANE!"

Her harmonia surged up stronger than ever. She called forth a massive hurricane that swept across the battlefield and engulfed Rogen, lifting the heavy rock pokemon into the air and battering him from all sides with wind and water.

"Rogen, endure it!" Blake cried, raising his arms to shield his face from the water that was spraying against him. Unfortunately, it was Elaina he was fighting. Her harmonia was going wild, tearing the field apart and surging towards him even after it had hit its target.

Continuing on after swallowing Rogen, the hurricane swept Blake up.

Blake, you fool, Gerard thought, shaking his head and suppressing a smirk behind his hand. You know exactly who you're dealing with. Trying to play this like a normal pokemon battle, how pathetic. You'll need to taste a little bit of suffering before you understand, I suppose.

"Blake!" Sango screamed in terror.

"Blake…" Ayame bit her lip and clenched her fists, praying for Blake's safety. The hurricane flung him out, and he rolled off the stage, landing on his feet. He was clearly battered, but surprisingly intact. He panted, wiping his brow as Rogen crashed to the ground behind him.

Elaina was stunned. She had expected that to finish things. It wasn't like she was trying to hurt Blake, but she couldn't control herself. The way he had withstood her harmonia was shocking to her, he hadn't even broken anything.

Blake felt a little stunned himself. His heart was pounding in his chest as he climbed back onto the erected stage Rogen scuttling back up behind him.

He had seen his life flashing before his eyes. He couldn't thank Dokukage enough for his training. That meditation under the freezing waterfall had given him the endurance to deal with the cold winds and waters of the hurricane, and Dokukage's ninja training had actually helped him fall in a way to minimize the damage.

He hadn't been sure why Dokukage had spent so much time in training him on practicing falling, but it was starting to make sense.

"Rogen!" Blake shouted, getting back into the battle right away. "Use rock slide!"

"Boldore!" Rogen lifted his claws into the air, a massive wave of rock and stone rolling across the battlefield and slamming into Noctre. The Noivern let out a cry of pain and stumbled back, practically buried beneath the rubble.

Elaina withstood the bruising stones, still a little shocked by Blake withstanding her attacks. But she didn't let herself get shaken; focusing her harmonia, she directed everything she had into Noctre even as she felt her vision start to blur.

Noctre erupted from her prison of stone with a roar, opening her mouth and firing a massive dragon pulse at Rogen.

"Rogen, protect," Blake ordered. A brown barrier of light appeared around Rogen, the dragon pulse bouncing harmlessly off of it. "Now, rock polish!"

Rogen raised his claws and scraped away at his rocky hide, smoothing himself over. He scuttled forward at a much quicker pace, raising his claws and flinging rocks at Noctre.

Noctre felt her body burning due to the poison, but she wasn't about to let it get the better of her. With a roar, she flapped her wings and sent a massive wave of wind that blew away the rocks, opening the path for her to hit Rogen with a dragon pulse.

"Dodge, Rogen!" Blake shouted. Rogen used his boosted speed to dodge to the side, the dragon pulse exploding behind him. "Now, flash cannon!"

Rogen raised his claws and focused his energy into a thin beam of light, the laser burning towards Noctre.

"Feh!" Elaina spat, swinging her hand. Her vision was blurring from the fever that struck her, but the poison wasn't about to make her succumb. She was giving this everything she had, in order to show Blake that he was a fool.

She wasn't going to lose to him. What was he talking about? Trying to save her? It was exactly like he had promised before, in their last battle, and nothing had changed. Well, she'd show him this time. He couldn't save her. She wasn't about to let him try.

A blade of wind shot from Noctre's wing, carving through the flash cannon and striking Rogen, knocking him over. "Now, dragon pulse!"

"NOIVERN!" Noctre roared. The dragon pulse burned through the air, striking Rogen and exploding. The rock pokemon was flung backwards, crashing hard against the ground. He struggled to stand, but Noctre was on him, a massive explosion of draconic energy striking the Rock type and smashing through his defenses.

With a groan, Rogen collapsed to the ground, unconscious. Blake had lost the first exchange.

"There!" Elaina proclaimed triumphantly. "It's just like I told you, Blake! You can't hope to match me! This no different from our last battle! All you're doing is causing yourself and your pokemon needless harm! You came with such big words, talking such tall talk about how you're going to save me, but look at you! In the end, there's nothing you can do, you can't even save yourself!"

She trembled. Just give up already…

"Enough with all this talk!" She cried, more as a tearful wail than an angry shout. "Just give up already and leave me alone!"

Gerard smirked. Blake, you poor fool. Don't you get it? You no longer have a role in Elaina's heart. She's mine, now, all mine, and there's nothing you can do to get through to her. She doesn't even want your help anymore. Now you're just causing yourself needless pain.

But Blake wasn't about to listen to Elaina's words. Gwen was far further gone than she was, and he wasn't going to give up on her. So he wasn't about to give up on Elaina, either.

"Don't think that it'll be that easy!" He cried. "I'm nowhere near finished, Elaina!" He recalled Rogen, and prepared to send out his next pokemeon.