Elaina vs. Blake continues! Blake keeps battling Elaina on two fronts, trying to knock her down in battle while trying to get through to her with his words! Will it work? Does he have what it takes to get through to her? Or will he find himself the victim of her overwhelming urge to destroy?

The Pokemon Academy Best Girl 2 Finals have reached the final day! This is the last day to make sure your vote counts, and get your voice heard! Who do you think deserves the title of being the second Pokemon Academy Best Girl? Cast your votes here, and let everyone know what you think! We don't have very many votes, but I hope you'll be able to make the right choice!

Finalists: Sylvia, Marion, Sango

Rowlets and Oshawotts: Hopefully he'll be able to.

Guest: It has been a while.

KedharS: I hope so, too.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 719

Elaina was furious. She wanted to tear Blake to pieces, but she was currently settling for leveling a wicked glare at him instead, one that was unfortunately limited in effectiveness due to the mask that covered her eyes.

As much as her harmonia was urging her to destroy everything in sight, she had to keep a clear mind about all this. She focused, trying hard to keep her powers under control as she seethed at Blake and his pokemon, even as the wind tore the air apart around her.

Blake passed on two buffs from iron defense and a boost from swords dance with that baton pass, Elaina noted. Physical attacks are unlikely to be of much help… fortunately, Doria, your special attack is more than enough!

Tapping into her harmonia, Elaina connected with Doria, sending her as much power as she needed to unleash a devastating hurricane. Doria flapped her wings and sent a powerful wave of wind roaring across the battlefield.

"Watch out, Ruru, you're going to have to endure it!" Blake shouted, knowing that the trick room had made Ruru far too slow to dodge. There was an ace he had to play, of course, but now wasn't the time to use it. He had to get more out of Elaina and draw out her harmonia even further before he could make his move.

"Galvantula!" Ruru chittered, nodding. She braced for the winds to sweep her up, the green barrier from her light screen doing a good job of heightening her defenses. Unfortunately, Doria's hurricane was powerful, and Uni's light screen had taken quite a lot of abuse up until this point; Blake could see it wouldn't hold for much longer.

"Alright, now, hit her with your screech attack, Ruru!" Blake shouted over the raging gale.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLL!" Ruru howled, opening her mouth and releasing a sonic screech that made Doria wince, and sent another splitting headache crashing through Elaina's skull. Even though it felt like her ears were bleeding, she withstood the assault, clenching her fists and bracing herself against the pain.

"You passed your buffs onto your Decidueye the last time Doria fought, didn't you?" Blake called out to her when the screeching stopped, the winds flinging Ruru to the ground. "Well, now that your defenses have been lowered, feel like doing it again?"

Elaina's response was a guttural growl, and another boost of harmonia. Doria shrugged off the reduction to her defense like it was nothing, flapping her wings and spinning forward in an elegant dance, sending blades of wind like needles flying Ruru's way.

The air slash shattered the remains of Ruru's light screen, cutting into her fur and causing Ruru to wince. Doria's strength was definitely impressive, and Elaina was just getting started.

"Now, teeter dance!" She ordered. Doria began to move back and forth, shaking and twisting in an erratic stance, designed to confuse and disorient her opponent. But it ended up having no effect on Ruru, who quickly disappeared from the battlefield completely.

In her place, remained a simple log.

"Substitute again!" Cynthia cheered. "Yeah, take that! There's no beating a ninja!"

"I taught most of Blake's pokemon how to make use of the move substitute," Dokukage explained. "And the ones who could learn are now capable of baton pass, as well."

"Bug type pokemon are your specialty," Callie agreed. "It must have felt quite nice, training his team to use your tactics."

Sango wasn't convinced. "I still don't get it," she said, shaking her head. "Why would Blake use Ruru? Why in this situation? Why right now? Ruru is a really fast pokemon, the way Blake has fought with her up until now is to make use of her speed along with her spider webs and thunder waves to cripple the speed of her opponents, and combine that with her agility boosts to quickly and decisively finish them off. But a strategy like that won't work under trick room, right?"

"Sango, Sango, Sango," Cynthia said, shaking her head and patting her friend on the shoulder. "There's so much you just don't understand about pokemon battles yet. You see, just because a pokemon specializes in something, that doesn't mean you should limit their abilities to just that role."

Sango looked at Cynthia in confusion. Ayame perked her ears up, listening off to the side even as she kept her eyes on the battle in front of her.

"So, look, it's like Tristan, right? He's my strongest pokemon, and my main strategy is to his my opponent with his spore attack and then jump in while they're sleeping and punch them up, you get it?" Cynthia explained. "But what happens when I'm fighting against a trainer with a pokemon that can't be put to sleep? Grass type pokemon are completely immune to spore, after all, you think I just can't do anything if I fight one?"

"I would think you'd send out a different pokemon," Sango replied.

"Yeah, and usually, I would," Cynthia agreed. "But let's say that Tristan's my last one. You've gotta be flexible about stuff like this, you know? Play to your pokemon's strengths, definitely, but in a situation where you can't, you make the most out of what you have, you get it?"

Sango definitely got it, it just seemed a little off to her. In the video games, the correct move was usually to build your team so that each pokemon had a specific purpose in mind, whether that was as a pivot, or a wall-breaker, or a sweeper, or a tank, but if you tried to design a pokemon to suit multiple roles it usually wasn't that optimal.

But she also had to acknowledge that Cynthia was the battling expert and she wasn't, so she nodded in agreement.

"I just hope this new, slower strategy works," Sango said, turning her attention to the battle.

"Another attempt to hide behind a substitute, like that would make a difference," Elaina said, sneering behind her mask. "Doria, use hurricane again!"

Elaina closed her eyes and linked with her pokemon. She needed to not only break down that substitute with this next move, but the pokemon hiding behind it, as well. And for that, she needed to gather as much power as she could. She could feel harmonia's alluring tug, and she embraced it, letting the power swallow her as she released herself over to it. Her hair was captured by the wind as Doria's strength doubled, then tripled, and then climbed even higher still.

"ORICORIO!" Unable to make use of her teeter dance, Doria resorted instead to bombarding her foe with an even more powerful blast of wind. Elaina sent all the energy she had towards her pokemon for this next devastating attack, the torrential gale roaring across the battlefield and sweeping up the log. But while the substitute was absorbing the damage meant for Ruru, Blake and Ruru were working on a plan of their own.

Doria had set the stage for it perfectly.

"Ruru, use thunder!" Blake shouted. The log disappeared, replacing itself with Ruru, the Galvantula crackling with electricity. From the repeated hurricanes generated by Doria, the climate inside of the trick room had significantly altered. Now, clouds had gathered near the ceiling, conjured into being by the gale storms, belting out rain onto the field. And Ruru was going to make full use of them in this next attack. She released the current she'd built up in her fur into the clouds, ignoring the damage she was sustaining from Doria's attack.

Elaina had focused all of her harmonia towards this attack, attempting to end things decisively. Because of that, she had reduced the energy she had been using to fortify Doria's defenses, leaving the pokemon just as vulnerable as if she had been an ordinary Oricorio.

She felt the consequences of that strike her like a bolt from the blue.

The clouds opened up, the electricity discharging in a massive bolt that dropped down upon Doria, sending millions of volts through her body. The bird pokemon let out a massive squawk of pain, her wings flapping helplessly as she struggled against the overwhelming pain.

It was some of the worst pain that Elaina had ever felt. Pain blossomed across her body and her arms shot out to the sides, twitching and shaking as she stumbled back, losing control of her faculties. There was so much pain that she tore herself free of her connection with Doria just to prevent from passing out.

"Elaina!" Blake shouted. He hadn't expected the thunder attack to be that devastating; it must have been a critical hit. He wasn't even concerned that Ruru had been flung from the hurricane and crashed to the ground, his focus was solely on the injured girl who had just collapsed herself. He moved from his position on the stand and ran around the battlefield to try and get to her. "Elaina, are you alright?!"

"GET BACK!" Elaina shouted, managing to push her trembling body up into a kneeling position. The occasional twitch still sent her flailing. "I don't… want… your help!"

"Elaina…" Blake knew he was playing a dangerous game. Facing a harmonia user was about more than just putting your own body at risk, it meant the chance of seriously injuring your opponent, as well. It was a risk that Blake knew he had to take if he wanted to get through to her, but one he so desperately wished that he didn't have to go through.

Looking at Elaina and the state she was in, it made him want to cry. But he needed to remain strong and keep focused.

Elaina was in bad shape, that was clear. But what about his sister? How much damage would he have to do to Gwen, before he could burn the harmonia out of her, drain her energy and finally get her to start thinking with some sense?

He grit his teeth and turned his back, returning to his position. Now wasn't the time for bleeding hearts. If Elaina thought he was pitying her, it might be even worse for her. She was the one who was setting the terms, not him. So if she wanted a fight, then he would fight her.

He just hoped that he could save her without killing her first.

"Ruru, are you okay?" Blake asked, turning to his Galvantula. Ruru stood up, shaking, a little miffed about being rejected in favor of her trainer's opponent. But she nodded her head, showing that she was a little battered, but none the worse for wear.

The same could not be said of Doria. The Oricorio had taken a severe hit from that thunder attack, and lay crumpled on the ground, paralyzed.

But she wasn't finished yet. As Elaina rose to her feet, Doria did the same, their link established once more as Elaina fed her pokemon more energy. She was surprised she still had so much to give, but it seemed to just be pumping out of her, drawing from the stores of anger and pain she'd stockpiled for so many years.

"You made… a big mistake…" Elaina panted. Her throat was still raw from the screaming, and her whole body felt twitchy and numb. But what was still working just fine was her anger. And it was all pouring into Doria right now. "That thunder wave… paralyzed Doria… reducing her speed… even more… and now…"

Doria regained her balance, still shaking just as much as her trainer. But like the dancer she was, she wasn't about to let that overwhelm her.

"Now… she can fight you… even faster…" Elaina rasped. "There's no escaping her now… finish her off, Doria… hurricane!"

Elaina put even more power into her partner, sending as much as she could spare. Doria spread her wings and the wind began to swirl around her in preparation for another powerful cyclone, maybe even stronger than the last.

But they would never find out.

It killed Blake to do it, but he had to play his trump card now, while Doria was on her last legs. "Ruru!" He shouted. "Use sucker punch!"

All of Doria's speed meant nothing. Before she could release the winds she'd gathered, Ruru shot forward, scuttling on her four fast legs. She appeared in front of Doria before the bird pokemon could react, and slammed her legs up into Doria's jaw, knocking her off of her feet.

Elaina felt her head shoot backwards and lost her balance again, falling against the wall of the trick room behind her. She saw stars for a second, helplessly watching Doria crumble to the ground, knocked unconscious by the sneak attack.

The audience went wild at the sight of it. Elaina, who, up until this point, had seemed like an indomitable foe, completely undefeated by anyone, had now lost half of her pokemon while Blake was only down by one.

People like Cynthia and Sango and Nikita and Claire were cheering excitedly, and even Julia and Nick were getting in on things. Serefina and Eli cheered too, and if Kate hadn't been such a miserable person, she'd have joined in on the festivities as well.

But those who knew better weren't cheering, because they could see what the truth of the matter was, and that this match was far from over. Alcea watched patiently, her stoic features pressed in a look of concern. Akira shared it himself. If Cynthia had been less swept up in the mood, she'd have seen it, too.

Blake may be ahead in pokemon, but the rest of Elaina's team was basically uninjured. Meanwhile, Blake's five pokemon had all expended some energy at one point or another, in various states of injury or fatigue. That was what Ayame was concerned about, and that was why she wasn't smiling and joining in on the cheering.

She was no expert in pokemon battles. But as someone who trained with her pokemon every day to make sure they were in peak physical condition, she knew what the opposite looked like. She had watched Blake's pokemon fight and scrape and claw at every last advantage they could get in this match, and slowly watched their conditions deteriorate with each exchange.

Blake's party was really weak right now. They were exhausted, like they had just run a marathon, a marathon that was also punching the crap out of them. And Ayame had to watch on, cheering for Blake as best as she could and hoping that he and his pokemon could make it out okay.

But suffice it to say, this was far from a favorable position to be in, and any experienced trainer could see that Blake was asking for his softened-up team to be swept away by the devastating power of Elaina's destructive pokemon.

It was just a matter of which one would withstand Blake's attacks and have enough strength to do the damage.

Kitty also was in no mood to celebrate Blake's situation, but for far different reasons. It wasn't the state of Blake or his team that was getting to her, it was Elaina's condition. Of all the people here, she was the one with the most awareness of the strain that harmonia was putting on her, and she could see that Elaina was being torn apart from the inside.

Harmonia had gathered around her like a dark cloud, shadows clinging to every part of her heart and filling it with pain, feeding off of her misery to grow stronger and more oppressive. The only sight Kitty had seen more horrific was when she gazed upon the aura of a Shadow Pokemon.

She wished she could do something to ease Elaina's heart. She tried to connect to the other girl the way Marion had connected with her, but found her attempts blocked by an invisible wall cutting off Elaina's heart. Kitty didn't have nearly the experience or the skill to reach out without direct contact with the other person, and she didn't know if she could even get through to Elaina if she did.

She lowered her head in resignation. There wasn't anything she could do for Elaina, she had to have faith in Blake now.

At the same time, while the more experienced like Ayame and Alcea were watching with caution and worry, Gerard was celebrating.

How foolish of you, Blake. You and your pokemon are struggling so hard to defeat Elaina, but in the end all you're doing is weakening yourself needlessly. Your team of pathetic pokemon has done well to come this far, I'll give you that. I wouldn't have imagined that you'd be able to take out three of her team. But that's as far as you can go, isn't it? I can see it, after all, you've played most of your tricks. Your team is fragile and weak, Elaina's next pokemon should be able to finish you off nicely. He smirked. And in the end, it doesn't matter. That girl's heart is too closed off now to listen to anything you have to say, even if you could manage to defeat her. These past weeks I've been doing everything I could to drive the two of you apart, to make her see that I'm the only one who can save her. Do you honestly think I would just give away my best tool to someone like you? Of course not. Elaina is my trump card, the weapon I plan to use to seize my rightful place as the strongest trainer there is, and I'm not about to just sit back and let you ruin her!

Gerard had nothing but loathing and contempt for the boy, along with an overwhelming amount of pity for how pathetic he really was.

But please, give it your best shot. I look forward to seeing how desperate you get, as pokemon after pokemon of yours crumbles before the overwhelming power of harmonia.

Elaina had no knowledge of Gerard's thoughts, but she felt the same, her power surging through her and telling her to destroy everything in sight. And her next pokemon would be perfectly suited to making that a reality.

"Raiver! Take to the sky!" She shouted, flinging her next pokeball into the air. Her Braviary emerged, spreading his wings and soaring over the air. He roared triumphantly.

"She's using her Braviary? I would have thought she'd turn to her Aerodactyl," Cynthia said, surprised. "After all, then she could have done some serious damage with those Rock type moves, right?"

"Yeah, but if she did that, then she would still be vulnerable to the trick room," Ayame said, narrowing her eyes to look at the Braviary. "That Braviary's condition, his base speed is only 80. That's pretty high, but Ruru's is still higher. That means for this match, Elaina is putting emphasis on speed."

"Raiver, be careful of that sucker punch," Elaina warned. She focused her harmonia around a more even spread. The Galvantula was already low on health, she didn't need to go all-out on it. "Instead, we'll prepare a whirlwind!"

Dokukage narrowed his eyes.

"Oh, shit!" Cynthia exclaimed. "Not whirlwind!"

"So that's why she sent out her Braviary," Akira realized. "It wasn't because of the speed difference, it was to destroy Blake's entire strategy!"

"What? What's going on?" As someone who didn't participate in pokemon battles, Nikita had no idea what was going on. She looked to Sango, surprised to see the worry on the other girl's face. Even Sango knew what whirlwind did.

"Whirlwind is a move that's perfect for this exact situation," Dokukage informed them. Everyone was surprised that he was the one talking, considering how stoic he was. "It is a move that is the scorn of tactics like mine, and the reason I choose to set up taunts against the opponents I face, when I can."

"Why, what does it do?" Julia asked.

"Whirlwind releases a powerful gust that does far more than push a pokemon away," Dokukage said. "It blows a pokemon back, back, all the way back, until they have been swept into the pokeball completely and forced to switch out. Along with every buff they've managed to stack up."

"Oh no!" Kitty cried.

"You've spent your time boosting your pokemon's stats, trying to give yourself a nice little shield to protect against my harmonia!" Elaina declared. Mirth rose up in her breast at the thought of how panicked Blake must be feeling right now. It brought a smile to her lips and almost made her laugh. "Now, you'll be totally helpless and defenseless! All that planning, all that preparation, all those sacrifices you and your team made, thinking it would pay off in the end with your victory?! I'll blow all those foolish notions away, and show you that no matter how hard you try, there's nothing you can do! No matter how much you hope, no matter how much you struggle, you'll never be able to resist the overwhelming power of harmonia!"

Elaina believed the anger in her voice was directed towards Blake. But Blake could see that the one she was shouting at wasn't really him. He winced. Was that really how she felt? That her struggles and sacrifices were worthless?

He braced himself against the wind. No. That wasn't true. He wouldn't accept it. This was going to be rough, but it was something that he would have to endure. Because he and his team… they would be able to make it through this storm.

Because they had to.

Uh-oh! This isn't good! Elaina's going to force Ruru to switch out, which means all the status buffs Weiss passed onto her are going to disappear! Blake fought so hard trying to keep his team ahead, but right now it looks like that isn't going to work out! What will he do? Will he be able to come out ahead? Or will this be the end?